#i can finally put this to rest. i didn’t even do the dream sequence

[lemonlimestar]

i am finally done with my sick fic 🫡 look at my gays with questionable medical histories, boy

[twstinginthewind]

A little story for @theocxcanonweek! I used the prompt "A kiss in the snow" for this little scene between my OC, Punch Carder, and his canon crush, Epel Felmier!

Harveston by Night

“Aw, nuts.”

Punch put down the big mug of hot, spiced cider he held between his mittened hands, and looked over at his companion. “What’s the matter, Epel? Anything I can do?”

The flickering of the bonfire bathed Epel’s pale skin with warm light, making it look like his face was almost glowing against the dim, snowy backdrop of the Harveston village square. The only element that kept Punch from thinking he was in some sort of crush-fueled dream sequence was the intense scowl that crinkled up the other boy’s face.

Epel spat into the fire, then exhaled sharply, his breath puffing into the cold air. “It ain’t nothin’ you kin fix, Punch Carder. Doncha get yer shorts in a bunch on my account.” He crossed his arms. “It’s just that I gotcha all the way up here fer th’ Sledathon, n’ yer not even gonna race, ‘cos that housewarden a’yers grew a spine, finally. N’ I can’t even do the other thing I gotcha up here fer.”

He must really be frustrated, Punch thought. He’s lapsed into Deep Rural, AND used my full name. Yikes. “I’m fine just watching the race, that doesn’t really bother me all that much,” he fibbed. Sure, he’d rather share the victory experience with Epel and the others, and he would LOVE being able to compete. But he was there strictly as a backup in case Idia were to flake on the rest of the team. If Idia was intent on living his Sled Over Heels otaku fantasy, Punch’s job was just to shout and cheer, and he was intent on making sure he was heard. “Why, what happened with the other thing?”

“Clouds.”

“.... beg pardon?”

Epel stamped a foot. “I ain’t stutterin’, ya idjit. I said clouds.”

“No, I heard what you said,” Punch held up his hands apologetically. “I just wasn’t sure what you meant.”

“I meant clouds’re messin’ with what I wanted to show ya. Sheesh.” Epel pouted again, and Punch hoped for his own sake that the light from the big bonfire would hide the sudden flush of his cheeks. Well, he could always chalk the redness up to the cold.

“Is it really that wrecked?” Punch grinned, a bit sheepishly. “I mean, maybe we can go and look anyway?”

“Yer kiddin’, right?” Epel’s expression was blank as he looked the taller boy in the eye.

“Well, I don’t know what you wanted to show me.”

“Fair enough.”

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, watching their companions around the bonfire. Idia was deep in conversation with Epel’s grandmother, an uncharacteristically giddy smile plastered on his face. Sebek was busy sampling the cuisine from all of the food carts, his arms laden with items to enjoy. And Jade was deep in conversation with a craftsman, rolling a wooden carving over and over in his hands, and wearing a smile that said he would be profiting from this interaction later.

Epel stood up. “Aighty. C’mon, if yer gonna be like that about it.”

“Wha—? Like what?” Punch tilted his head.

“Jus’ get yer big butt up already, Punch.” Epel sighed. “I’ll show ya why it’s wrecked.” He waved to Punch to follow, and without waiting for acknowledgement, started off away from the village square.

Curious, Punch rose from his seat and trotted along after Epel. It didn’t take long for him to catch up; his long strides cleared the distance between them before Epel left the square proper, but once caught up, he fell into step with the shorter boy. “So, uh. Where we headed?”

“You’ll see,” Epel grunted. He lead Punch along a series of little paths, winding through his family’s orchards and up onto a hill. Occasionally, he would step a bit too close, and his shoulder would bump up against Punch’s arm. Finally, at the top of the hill, he stopped, and turned to face Punch. “Welp, this here is it. A whole load’a disappointment, if ya ask me…”

Punch looked around him. The view from the hilltop was magnificent; beyond the bare snow-crusted apple trees, he could see the entirety of the town of Harveston, lit up like a brilliant gem set into the snowy countryside. “It’s… not? It’s really pretty, actually. I mean, it might be better with some moonlight, but—”

“Not down there. Up here.” Epel pinched the bridge of his nose. “But it’s so clogged up with clouds right now it ain’t gonna call any attention to itself, anyway. The sky, Punch. I know yer a city boy, n’ when I saw how you were actin’ so excited at the observatory at school, I wanted to show ya what a real, clear night sky was like. ‘N what happens? This!” He gestured upwards angrily, and as if the weather itself was determined to spite him, tiny snowflakes began to drift down from above. Epel puffed out his cheeks.

Punch’s face went soft, smiling mistily. “You brought me along for that? Epel…”

“It ain’t just that. We did need a backup for the Sledathon team, too. But… y’know.” Epel shifted his weight slightly, and he dipped his chin as he looked up at Punch. “I, um. Figgered it’d be somethin’ special to share, n’ all. What with us bein’ classmates n’ such, right?”

“Right…” Punch’s voice was soft, and a little dazed. Did this mean… wait. Did Epel know that he had a crush on him? Did he have a crush back? Heck. He needed a moment. Punch looked around, and spotted an old wooden bench. “Is it ok if I sit?”

“I ain’t gonna stop ya,” Epel said, hesitantly. Punch walked over to the bench and sat down heavily, feeling Epel’s eyes tracking him. The flurries in the air were beginning to get heavier, and he could hear Epel cursing the change in the weather under his breath. Something about how it was gonna mess up the conditions for tomorrow.

Punch sat and looked up into the sky. The snowflakes were starting to swirl in the breeze, dancing round and round above the little clouds of his breath. He could hear the soft crunch of snow underfoot that meant Epel was coming closer, and he shifted a little on the bench. He wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable by having to sit too close together.

The bench creaked and shifted. Punch turned to face Epel…

… and found their faces were VERY close together. Epel was kneeling on the bench beside him, leaning in slightly. “Close yer eyes, idjit. Ain’t nothin’ to see up here right now anyway.”

Punch closed his eyes.

And a moment later?

He was seeing stars.

[bettercallstan]

In Defence of Watching and Dreaming

Quotes can be found here at the specified timestamps> https://youtu.be/mn4WmyIdsrE

People often accuse me of hating Watching and Dreaming, but today I’m going to dispel that myth by providing a genuine defence of the episode, focusing only on its positives. Watching and Dreaming is the final episode of The Owl House and is focused on concluding the story in a satisfying way. It provides a well constructed bookend to Luz’s development by showing how she’s grown via contrast to previous episodes. It also does a good job at showing that not everyone can be redeemed, actively making fun of the idea and having Belos die brutally in an excellently pathetic death scene. It also continues the show’s commentary on the chosen one archetype, having Luz receive godlike powers not because she was chosen, but because of the strength of her character. This is achieved through the introduction of Papa Titan, a well executed take on a trope that so often goes awry. The Collector is also redeemed in an incredibly believable way, and the timeskip at the end provides a deservedly happy ending whilst also showing the audience how their favourite characters have grown. As well as this the soundtrack is excellent and the animation is phenomenal – especially in the fight scenes, which are just as well shot and choreographed as the rest of the show’s action. Overall, Watching and Dreaming is a thrilling conclusion to an excellent show.

Okay. Everyone who likes Watching and Dreaming, you can leave now. The essay is over for you, unless you’re curious, that is. Because all of that is how I would attempt to defend Watching and Dreaming. Every aspect I just praised are things I genuinely believe to be strengths of the episode. With some information omitted. Okay, a lot of information omitted. The purpose of this was to establish an understanding, to make it abundantly clear that there are many aspects of the episode that are well constructed. The problem is that this defence heavily relies on the reader not thinking too hard because if they do they’ll realise how much information I omitted and how many things I mentioned were technical aspects. This is essay is The Flaws of Watching and Dreaming. I will only be covering issues within the episode itself and not any issues that stem from previous episodes, because if I were to cover all the problems of Season 3 this essay would be many times longer. The purpose of this essay is not to illustrate why I feel the way I do about the episode, but to provide an argument that challenges the general consensus. The critiques I make are not simply things I didn’t like but things I hope to prove are flaws in the writing with arguments and citations.

I suppose it makes sense to start at the beginning. Watching and Dreaming opens with what I’m going to call the Dream Sequence. This segment represents many problems that are prevalent throughout the episode, but conceptually it’s pretty interesting: our main trio have been put into a shared dream by the Collector that forces them to relive their greatest fears. Luz’s dream involves her interactions with a mind controlled Hexsquad who are being puppeteered to jab at her deepest fears. Character wise this provides nothing for the Hexsquad since they’re being mind controlled; they don’t mean any of the things they’re saying. Eda and King’s segments serve to reiterate their fears, but this is ultimately pointless as both of them have already had their arcs wrapped up and their fears aren’t relevant to the rest of the episode. The only character aspect that this sequence is relevant to is reminding the audience of Luz’s guilt complex, but the problem with this is that it’s unnecessary; it has been a main focus of the last quarter of the show. It doesn’t even do anything to advance this arc either, simply to remind the audience that it’s there.

Plot wise the only thing this scene serves is the conversation between Belos and the Collector, which could be easily retooled to have the same outcome without this sequence. It’s pointless at worst and extremely wasteful at best. There’s also the logistics of it; Luz can only escape the dream because Amity knows that the light glyph can cancel the Collector’s magic. The audience knows this – it was established in the previous episode – but Amity doesn’t, or more accurately she shouldn’t. The entire plot hinges on Amity having access to a piece of information she simply couldn’t know, and this is a common problem that plagues the episode. It’s also worth noting that this sequence takes up seven minutes of an episode that is already strapped for time. The Dream Sequence adds nothing to the episode and does nothing but waste time, so why does it exist? Well, if you watch the trailer for the episode it’s almost entirely composed of clips from this sequence; it’s trailer bait. However I think it’s most likely that it was an idea the writers had that they couldn’t bear to fully cut, which is a running problem in Season 3.

The final battle is an important aspect of any finale, so how does Watching and Dreaming’s hold up? Like many other aspects of the episode it is flawed. A good example of this is how it starts; Luz breaks into the throne room and immediately runs to Belos’ body. The first problem here is that when Belos first possessed the heart his body got completely covered in a protective coating [0:00] which has since vanished with no explanation. This is significant because Luz would have taken longer to defeat Belos if she had to first break through the coating, which might have given him enough time to stop her. The second problem is the pacing, the battle starts incredibly suddenly with very little buildup. There’s only about thirty seconds between Raine making a joke about Luz’s Titan form and Belos being nearly defeated. This would be a less sudden tonal shift if there was a fight scene in the throne room where Luz had to fight her way to the heart rather than getting to it immediately. It’s very rushed as a climax because it lacks buildup. The counter to this would be to say that the fight scene at the Draining Spell pedestal was the buildup to the final battle, but there is over two minutes between those scenes, including a quiet reunion between lovers which is very clearly a break in the action. The tone shifts very drastically in very little time, going from bombastic action to a warm reunion to climactic and suspenseful all with very little transition time.

The third problem is Belos, namely: what was he hoping to achieve? It seems reasonable to assume that due to how long the Titan has been dead for he’s not able to make it stand up and roll over, so it makes sense that he’d try and raise the arm to slam it down on the Titan’s body. On paper this follows, but in practice less so. If he wanted to slam the arm down then why did he reach all the way up into space? He didn’t need to reach nearly that high to slam it down, so it seems like he’s just being stupid to give the protagonists more time to defeat him. The final problem is also related Belos. When he first possesses the heart it is shown that he only needs a tiny pocket of good to possess it [0:19]. This creates a massive problem for his defeat as there is clearly goo left on the heart after he’s pulled off of it [0:37]. This begs the question: why did yanking him off the heart work? A counter to this is that possessing the Titan took all of Belos’ power, but this still doesn’t justify it. Before Belos possessed the Titan he was unable to keep his goo form but after doing it he was able to recreate his human form, so there’s no reason to believe his power has been diminished. If this is the explanation however, this should be telegraphed to the audience in some way. There’s a difference between the show implying something and the audience writing the story for the show by extrapolating an explanation that isn’t even there.

The episode’s B plot starts with a wonderful piece of contrivance; the Hexsquad puppets were abandoned on a floor that’s dusty enough to draw a glyph on, that’s pretty lucky for them I guess. Amity is also able to move to draw the glyph despite it being previously stated that puppets can’t move of their own volition: ‘You’re not supposed to move on your own, how did you break your spell’ [1:28]. An argument against this could be that Amity was able to move because she got she got freed from the mind control in the dream, but unfortunately her eyes are shown to turn back to their mind controlled appearance once she’s grabbed by the magic tendrils [1:34], so this defence doesn’t hold. The plotline continues by explaining that the witches can’t use their magic due to exhaustion. As much as this seems like an idea that should’ve been introduced earlier it does make sense; the problem comes from the fact that it’s a pointless plot beat. Nothing changes if the witches were able to use their magic to help them free the puppets so why waste screentime introducing a useless element?

Moving on, the end of the plotline is similarly half-baked. The Hexsquad see the Collector helping to keep the Archives together and assume he’s there to help them, which is an attempt to justify them forgiving him later. The problem here is that there is no reason for the Hexsquad to believe that the Collector is helping because he wants to save people; from their perspective it would seem more likely that he doesn’t want his toys to get destroyed. The problem here is similar to Amity somehow knowing to use the light glyph in the dream; we as the audience know that the Collector is only trying to help, but the Hexsquad don’t. They haven’t seen any of his development, they don’t know that he didn’t understand what it means to be mortal. All they know about him is that he caused them to be locked away from their families for months, took over their home, and uses people they care about as toys. Sure they know he’s a child, but that doesn’t justify them just forgiving him immediately. This is fundamentally out of character for all of them. Another issue with this plotline is that it adds very little to the episode. The Hexsquad free a lot of puppets but the Collector frees all of them at the end anyway. No character development is achieved either and it seems like it only exists because the writers knew people would be angry if the Hexsquad didn’t get any focus, so they just threw them in there despite them not really having anything to do. What makes this worse is that the storyboards tell us that Odalia was originally going to be a part of this plotline, which likely would’ve justified its existence if she was utilised to develop the characters in a meaningful way.

This was likely cut for time despite the fact that it has the potential for satisfying character moments, but the Dream Sequence was left in the episode despite having even less relevance. On the note of the Hexsquad it’s a massive issue that Hunter – who was raised and abused by Belos his entire life – doesn’t get a single line acknowledging his death. In fact he doesn’t get a single line acknowledging Belos at all, which is strange because Belos is a massive part of his character so having him not comment on his death is incredibly jarring. The entire plotline is very much a less or more situation. They could’ve done more by developing the plotline further to justify its inclusion, but equally they could’ve cut it entirely and whilst people would’ve been justifiably angry, being able to more effectively utilise that screentime would be an improvement over the shoddy middle ground we received.

A distinct problem with Watching and Dreaming is how the Collector is handled as he acts very inconsistently with how he did in For the Future. In that episode he was led to believe that King was plotting to kill him:

- ‘The Collector needs to be stopped for good, and I think I know a more permanent solution.’ [1:49]

- ‘Obviously to help King put an end to you and your little games.’ [2:01]

- ‘Luz has come to help King get rid of you for good.’ [2:08]

The line ‘I think I wanna play a new game’ [2:15] combined with his tired, resentful expression tell the audience that Belos’ lies have worked; he’s angry with King and Luz, tired of being betrayed by people he called his friends. The line clearly states that he is done being friendly, but this is walked back on at the start of Watching and Dreaming. When Belos suggests killing the witches, the Collector says ‘I want to be their friends’ [2:23]. This is in absolute opposition to his attitude at the end of the previous episode and it should be plainly obvious why. On top of that, the Collector believing that King was planning to kill him is only referenced one time: ‘King lied, Belos lied, even they lied’ [2:30]. This misunderstanding is never brought up again even after the Collector realises it was Belos all along, despite it being the event that caused him to create the dream world in the first place. Speaking of which, let’s talk about that. Putting the characters into the dream makes sense for the For the Future version of his character; he’s angry and vengeful, it tracks that he would make them relive their worst fears. But because Watching and Dreaming retcons his character, this action makes no sense. Why would he do this if he wanted to befriend them? Even from the point of view of a child that doesn’t make sense. He even says ‘King is gonna hate me for this’ [2:19] despite previously thinking King already hated him. Watching and Dreaming misunderstands the Collector’s development and regresses him back to an earlier point in his arc, causing many of his actions to make no sense.

Another issue in the episode is the Collector’s Warp Star, the flying star that Belos steals to get to the castle. It first appeared in For the Future and is also used by the Collector in the finale to fly to the Archives. He is shown to be able to summon [2:34] and de-summon [2:43] it at will but despite this keeps a spare one in his bedside table. You do have to wonder why he kept a spare if he’s able to summon it on command but at the end of the day he is a child so maybe there’s a little wiggle room when it comes to carelessness. However, the star still presents significant issues in the finale. The question that seems most prescient is how Belos knew the star would be in the bedside cabinet. I think it’s reasonable to assume he looked through the drawers whilst the Collector was setting up the dream but given how significant this is to the episode’s plot it probably should’ve had more of a setup. The more important question is how Belos even knew what the Warp Star did since he wasn’t present at any of the times it was used. It’s not an impossibility that he saw the Collector use the star offscreen but this is so significant to the plot – it’s vital to allow Belos to possess the Titan – that it deserves an explicit setup rather than relying on the audience’s headcanon.

Speaking of Belos, I think it’s time to acknowledge the elephant in the room: no matter how much people say it, he’s not just an evil bad guy who is evil for evil’s sake. He’s an irredeemable monster for sure and fully deserved to die horribly, but one thing he is not is simple. Belos is a pretty complex character, and I cannot stress this enough, complexity does not equal sympathy. The show had been building up his complex characterisation since Hunting Palismen, but it really kicks into gear in Hollow Mind. Starting there, we get the general gist of who Belos truly is; he’s a bigoted witch Hunter who wants to commit genocide because he’s so intrenched in his bigotry that he’s convinced himself that he’s saving humanity. We also get glimpses into his past where he murdered his brother Caleb for betraying the ideals they’d been raised with to be with a witch. A lot of the stuff we learn about Belos in Hollow Mind is quite vague but it works well as a setup. King’s Tide gives a deeper look into his head. He killed Caleb for betraying the ideals they both stood for, and in Belos’ mind he was putting him out of his misery because he believed that the witches had warped Caleb’s sense of reality. This is obviously absurd to any sane person, but the important thing is that this is how Belos thinks of things – even if it is illogical, it’s consistent. We can see this in how he clearly sees Caleb in Luz, stating that he wants to help her – in his own messed up way – and only trying to kill her when he believes she’s been fully corrupted by witches, just like his brother. We can see this when he states ‘I do pity you. These witches have warped your sense of reality, so perhaps it’s best if I put you out of your misery’ [0:48]. All of this happens in just one scene and it is an incredible exploration of his character and how he sees things.

Moving into Season 3, Thanks to Them doesn’t have much for Belos outside of killing Flapjack, who he sees as a symbol of Caleb’s betrayal. Now, I know For the Future is a bit of a wet fart of an episode but the scene between Belos and his hallucinations is actually pretty good. Here we see his cognitive dissonance on full display; he believes killing Caleb was because in his own words ‘I tried to save your soul, it’s your fault this all happened’ [0:57] – this can reasonably be extrapolated to apply to Luz in King’s Tide too. I think it’s safe to say that this should have been the point where the show went in depth on Belos’ backstory, but I don’t think it’s fair to blame Watching and Dreaming for another episode’s mistakes. What I can blame it for is not even alluding to his relationship with Caleb and stripping many of his complexities away. A good example would be that when he kills Luz. There’s no moment where he justifies it or even acknowledges this despite the fact that we know his twisted mind would see killing her as merciful. And say what you want about Belos, but one of his core traits is that he does not change, ever. So what applies in King’s Tide would still apply in the finale. Given that Caleb and Luz were both people he killed to ‘save their souls’ this would have been the prime time to reference his relationship with Caleb. Another example would be during the final battle, he doesn’t have anything interesting to say to Luz aside from the most generic villain dialogue ever. You’d think he’d still be shocked that she’s somehow alive, or that he would try and play mind games with her again, but no. Belos’ past is completely forgotten until the very last scene, his character is absent, replaced by a hollow shell that acts like him on the surface but is missing all the depth and complexity he once had. They decided it was best to turn him into a kaiju instead of utilising his character. Admittedly his death is pretty good – even if I’d have preferred he went out on a more serious note – but it’s built on poor foundations. One good scene can’t redeem an entire episode of wasted potential.

Even his relationship with Luz and how they both saw the Boiling Isles as a fantasy is just brushed off by saying ‘You assume Belos’ goal comes from a genuine place. That man doesn’t care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion’ [1:08], and whilst is true to an extent it’s an idea that warrants more explanation than just a passing acknowledgment. However, note that I said it’s true to an extent. Take the line ‘I just need to live long enough to see this through’ [1:17] in Elsewhere and Elsewhen. This establishes that Belos believed in his goal enough to die for it, implying that becoming the Witch Hunter General and being recognised for ‘saving humanity’ was just an aspirational bonus. This is supported by the fact that he only starts outwardly obsessing about his need to be a hero in King’s Tide, after the Draining Spell has already started and he’s basically already won. Papa Titan’s comment cited earlier ignores this piece of characterisation in favour of supporting the new, simplified Belos. The counter to this would be that Papa Titan was only referring to Belos’ belief that he was doing things for the good of humanity when he said that his beliefs aren’t genuine. This would be true; Belos has simply convinced himself that he’s saving humanity, it’s part of his hero complex. However, this is a singular belief and Papa Titan specifically says beliefs, plural. Maybe it was just a small grammar mistake but given that this character is essentially god and we are supposed to take the things he says to be true, it has wide reaching implications on Belos’ character. Even forgetting all that, to say that Belos only cares about his need to be a hero is just wrong. He is a man fully committed to horrific ideals first and an egotist second. Both are important aspects of his character but neither is the sole motivator for him to do what he did. Watching and Dreaming misunderstands this and makes his ego his sole motive.

With all this established, I’m going to make what will probably be the most controversial statement in this essay: Belos is character assassinated in Watching and Dreaming. This moustache twirling kaiju man is not Belos, he’s a caricature; the character the fanbase thinks he is. The writers did quite a good job with Belos throughout the show, crafting an incredibly complex and compelling yet completely irredeemable antagonist who perfectly juxtaposed the show’s main themes. It’s a real shame they fumbled the bag so hard at the last hurdle as it really harms his character.

In conclusion, Watching and Dreaming has significant flaws. Characters consistently know information they shouldn’t, both major antagonists act incredibly out of character, the previous episode’s cliffhanger is walked back on, a huge amount of time is wasted, the plot is resolved in a nonsensical fashion and the final battle has many issues. As I stated at the beginning, the episode also has many positive aspects.

People often accuse me of hating Watching and Dreaming. I think it’s more accurate to say that I mourn Watching and Dreaming.

[moonhoures]

hello moonie! i know it’s been a while but i just finished my current semester so i’ve finally got time to login heheh anyways i’m here to share my very recent brainrot that’s been eating up my brain for 3 days but i had to put aside bc of deadlines (ofc it’s kyun related) so 1, i was re-reminded at how strawberry is his fav fruit [https://twitter.com/96x1x26/status/1621118201643020294?s=46&t=7K5GlOWER2OJ1YwGhr2e2g] and 2, [https://twitter.com/everlasting1m/status/1704098850464846198?s=46&t=7K5GlOWER2OJ1YwGhr2e2g] this recent behind look for his photoshoots

ok so idk what to call this a fic idea?? it’s a p specific scenario¿¿ blurb?? in my head, so imagine this: it’s anniversary day, the day has been great, good date, good dinner he gets y a real nice flower bouquet blabla all the love and romance from our resident loverboy. you guys get home, ask him to start a bath for u while u do some light cleaning and put the flowers in a vase and all, but him being him the sweet little romance man he goes over and beyond to somehow find the time to not only set it up w a nice bathbomb, but also rose petals and a candle. kyun even finds the time to wash and prep fresh strawberries in a bowl for you to snack on (gasp how does he do it was it all a big plan??), and he uses this as leverage to allow himself to sit on the floor next to the tub saying he needs to “feed you” or “share it together” but he just wants to spend more quality time w you. so as you’re on your phone or watching a show or reading a book, you miss how he’s looking at you with his starry boba eyes like you’re not real and he’s so in love and this was not in the flow of plans but suddenly he’s just taking whatever was in your hand away, flustered as you watch him step into the bath with you, still clothed as he pulls you in for a kiss. his shirt and pants are wet and it’s sticking to his skin and his slacks look so tight poor loverboy couldn’t wait until after shower time he’s wet whining and begging to let you fuck him in the bathroom so you let him and he’s just extra lovey today constantly professing his love for you and worshipping you like the goddess you are and it’s just so new to you bc he’s usually so dominant you’ve never really seen him so desperate and whiny… and maybe afterwards you bring up how you were gonna show him this new set you planned to wear post shower if he didn’t take you then and there and he gets all pouty asking you for a show and you comply and round 2 that was supposed to be round 1 happens in bed, (but the thing is kyun swore for this years celebration to end in a more domestic and soft fluffy way bc he wanted both of you to relax as you’ve been both busy, so your plan to show up in a set was supposed to be the big surprise, but he ended up winning that game, unintentionally too)

the way my thoughts are so long and detailed but i don’t have the mental capacity nor skill to write a proper piece i can only jot this down as if i’m recalling a very detailed dream i woke up from HSHSDH anyways i did my best to communicate the vibes i was having in my brain thank u for reading til the end if u did… idk why my brain does this but these thoughts usually flash thru my mind in a sequence of still images anyways hope u have a good rest of the week love!!

- 💐

the thought of fully clothed kyun climbing into the bath to make out is something i didn’t know i needed this bad 😭😭😭 that’s so hot??? and he would just be so passionate about it, that’s what’s driving me insane 😵‍💫 like water is def splashing up and out of the tub, he’s got your face cupped in his hands, and you’re gasping in shock but he doesn’t care. he’s using that as a means to run his tongue through your open lips. god i need him so bad 😩❤️‍🩹

[arctosv]

Hauntober Prompt 24: Nightmare

Nightmare Fuel

“Freddy Krueger isn’t scary, he’s just a guy with finger knives.” Dan complained as he plopped onto the couch behind him. Watching as Gavin slipped a disc into the DVD player before rushing over to the couch and nearly tripping over himself along the way.

“Of course he isn’t scary, but he is a horror icon. If we didn’t include him in our movie marathon it’d be like Christmas without Santa or something.” Gavin explained as he started the movie.

“But he’s the most easily avoidable guy, just don’t fall asleep!” Dan exclaimed, it just didn’t make much sense for a bunch of people to be easily defeated by some guy wearing an ugly sweater.

“Dude, you can’t just put off sleep forever, you have to fall asleep eventually or your body will just force it to happen.” Gavin countered. “Nancy is the only smart character in the movie unfortunately. That is why she’s the final girl and not Glen.”

“Well Glen couldn’t have been the final girl anyway.” Dan interrupted.

“You knew what I meant.” Gavin countered with a laugh.

“I mean Glen had one job and he fell asleep, that’s a bad friend. Like sorry mate I know you asked me to stay awake but I got bored.” Dan joked as they turned their attention back to the opening sequence.

The pair watched as one by one Nancy lost her friends and the fedora-wearing demon taunted her. Applauding for the special effects used during the scene with Tina in her room during a nightmare. Cheering as Nancy set up traps throughout the house for Freddy and finally bursting out laughing as Nancy's mom was pulled through the front door window at the end.

“How was this approved for release in theaters!? That was so laughably awful looking.” Dan groaned.

“Did they seriously not think pulling an inflatable doll through a small window would look bad?” Gavin laughed as he shook his head. “It’s a shame how such a small part can throw off the whole film, but to be fair the rest of it is pretty good.”

“I’m just looking forward to watching

Dream Warriors

and New Nightmare. Those are great, the others not so much. Freddy’s Revenge is a weird one, cause it’s not bad, but it also doesn’t feel like a Nightmare on Elm Street film even though Freddy is in it.” Dan explained as he listed off the films in the franchise.

“You don’t like Freddy vs Jason?” Gavin gasped from shock.

“Now hold on, I never said I disliked that film. I just consider it more of a crossover film than in line with the main series is all.” Dan answered, easing Gavin's minor shock.

“For a minute there I thought I might have to end our friendship and get someone else to do The Slo Mo Guys with. Just dodged a bullet there.” Gavin teased with a grin as Dan shoved him.

“Good luck finding someone else willing to let you test all of your video ideas on.” Dan retorted with a laugh.

AO3 Link

[pickypickypeak]

I wanna stress this, you really don’t have to make warnings or be nervous, after all this is fun fandom discourse and what makes it fun is that we can discuss it with no pressure, we’re talking about fictional characters after all :)

About the original post: I still believe that scene pretty much confirms Magnifico recognizes that most wishes aren’t getting granted, maybe I could have worded it better lol but that’s the point, up until then no one in Rosas had realized the wishes were being “judged” by him and whatever you put it, Magnifico purposely hid that from people. Yes they gave their wishes purposely, yes they knew it wasn’t a 100% wish granted situation, okay; did they know Magnifico was gonna judge their wish and just discard it if it was considered “vague” or “dangerous” (for his criteria which is, let’s say, a little biased, though for valid reasons)? No, they didn’t. Whatever you put it, the truth, for whatever noble and valid reason, was hidden from people.

Then you made all great points about Magnifico only wanting to protect Rosas; like I said, his trauma and backstory fully justify (plot-wise) why he does what he does, something that people irl (not you) often miss and just say he’s a badly written character. So yes, I agree, he had the best intentions in mind. He also had fully rights to make his system work the way he wants, since people went to live in Rosas willingly. He had rights to not trust Sabino, because he didn’t know him.

Still, wasn’t it an injustice for a 100 y/o not only to basically lose his wish, but also to spend the rest of his life uselessly hoping it would be granted? Yes I know he never got a guarantee, but then again, shouldn’t have been right of Magnifico to just tell him he couldn’t grant it and return it, this way he could at least try to make it come true?

This leads me to a major point of the movie: taking the wishes from people does affect them. Magnifico himself explains wishes are the most beautiful part of a person, it’s what makes you you. Also it holds memories? So that alone makes you understand why it’s wrong to deprive a person of it forever, while having the best interests at heart. And while it’s true that people of Rosas look happy, we’re meant to take a deeper view during the This Wish sequence: we’re seeing through the eyes of Asha who now knows the truth, and we, just like her, realize that people are only half-happy, because without the most beautiful part of them, they’re only half-living. They literally don’t know what they’re missing. It’s not only Simon and Sabino (even though they act as an example for the audience, since they are 2 main characters who gave their wish). Take bird woman; is she happier at the start of the movie or at the end, when she actually gets help with her dream?

(Again, I’m not saying Magnifico should have granted any wish, your points on him trying to do what’s best for Rosas still stand. Maybe it was wrong to even take the wishes in the first place.)

Finally, I can totally get behind Magnifico getting redemption. I remember thinking he was gonna get redemption myself when first watching the movie in the theater. I think in the end the reason his character got that treatment was because of people who have been asking for years for a classic villain, and they maybe made the mistake of making him sympathetic and traumatized, not plain evil.

In the last paragraph you really summarized my thoughts on the matter, THAT is the lesson people should take away from the movie, instead sadly I see it often broken down to “bohoo magnifico good because hot and asha evil because yes😡😡 should have been starboy”

@frowerssx2 I made a quick edit x//

So here’s Magnifico confirming Asha’s very straightforward sentence; she also explicitly says “most” and he doesn’t remotely correct her. Most wishes (even innocent ones based on the only one we get to see judged) are not getting granted, Magnifico had that figured long before Wish events.

Which, before someone points it out, makes perfect sense for him given his background. He’s trying to protect his people, alright. Why couldn’t he just give back Sabino’s wish again?

[buckybarnesdiaries]

wakanda

bucky barnes x reader. ⎢ masterlist.

Steve gives you Bucky's dog tags for a reason.

word count: 2.4k (lol, sorry)

warnings/tags: none. bucky being a cutie.

author notes: none of my stories contain reader’s body descriptions to be inclusive.

Join the tag list here.

“Welcome to Wakanda, agent (Y/N)”.

A second after you crossed their airspace, you were courteously greeted. The views from your ship were indescribable. Peace invaded you just at the sight of the open fields and the warm colors of autumn. You could get used to that place too. To live in calm, work hand-to-hand with Shuri, and have time to spend it with Bucky. The reason why you were flying there. Removing your right hand from the control and grabbing in a fist the dog tags hanging on your chest, you took a deep breath while closing your eyes before getting ready to land. T’Challa was waiting for you at the entry of his kingdom, accompanied by his excited little sister and some of his guards.

Pressing a sequence of buttons above your head, to pull the control back, the ship went down slowly folding its wings. As you landed and turned off the engineers, you freed yourself from the seatbelt and the huge headphones to step out. Shuri received you with a friendly hug, breaking protocol and being just Shuri. You built a strong relationship since you met a year ago, when you brought Bucky to that beautiful and magical place, to let him recover. To let him rest.

“Your highness”. You uttered to T’Challa crossing your forearms in the traditional salutation of Wakanda.

“Agent (Y/N)”. He corresponded walking closer. “The white wolf asked me to let you know he wouldn’t want to be… bothered with visits today”.

You couldn’t help but frown. The last time you saw him was around three months ago. You usually interchanged letters from week to week, being one of the fewer persons he trusted in. And it wasn’t just a question of trust. Steve told you about his feelings, his shyness, and insecurities, his fears. What Bucky didn’t know, again, it wasn’t a question of trust from you either. That’s why the Captain gave you the dog tags, after more than thirteen years under custody. You wanted to see him, to know if he was happy there as he wrote you in his letters one million times.

“He doesn’t wear his arm here”. Shuri clarified, taking a position close to his brother.

By the look on their faces, you were aware of two things. One, they noticed too that something was growing between Bucky and you, and that it wasn’t a simple friendship. Two, they weren’t going to stop you. Oh, quite the opposite. They’d bring you to him on a golden platter and a big red bow on your head. The king beckoned a hand to urge you to follow him to the inside of the building and use one of their ships to fly above the place to the white wolf’s location.

You were nervous. You didn’t sleep more than a couple of hours last night thinking about him and how he’d react to having back his tags since the forties. Your eyes were focused throughout the window on your left, watching different citizens taking care of animals and plantations, children running from one side to another, playing and having fun. Oblivious to the horror of New York, where you resided. One of the cities in the world with the highest rates of street violence. Serial killers or simply killers, rapists, kidnappers, drug dealers (...). It was a minefield and Wakanda seemed and felt like Heaven.

“Did you think about the offer?” Shuri nudged you to push you back to reality, turning your head towards her.

“Since you dropped it to me”.

“So?”

“I…” You needed to put away your gaze again, focusing on the blue opened sky in front of them. “I want… to consult him first if you don’t mind”.

“Of course, (Y/N)”.

“I don’t want to put his world upside down, now that he’s not the…” You couldn’t finish the sentence. You couldn’t pronounce that detestable nickname and the pain beneath it.

Shuri nodded in silence, not needing your explanations. She knew how you felt. She understood you. The talk didn’t continue, stretching your right hand on your lap to calm your nerves and make you comfortable with the situation. The flight didn’t last longer than five or ten minutes, losing the track of time deep in your thoughts. The pilot indicated to you through the headphones that you were about to land, glancing at a complex of small houses in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and wilderness.

You were the last one jumping outside with your hand grabbing the tags on your chest, trying to find the encouragement there to follow T’Challa’s hand pointing at a man working with goats and collecting hay for them. Licking your lips and assenting with your chin, you guided your steps towards him. Slowly. As if you wanted to turn around at some point. But you knew it was too late when he was the one turning at the sound of your heavy boots cracking the grass under them.

Bucky didn’t look annoyed for your visit, nor the lack of attention to his petition. Although there was something in his pale blue orbs you weren’t able to decipher, until he bowed down his head unconsciously to his left shoulder covered by a dark fabric matching his eyes. You had to do your best to not roll yours, shortening the distance setting you apart. You had been dreaming about that encounter since the last time you were there before Shuri accessed the darkest place of his mind and cleaned it from any trail of HYDRA. Now, he was free. And he looked in good condition as the bags under his eyes had disappeared and his hair was almost tied with a bun. His cheeks seemed a little more chubby and you just wanted to pinch them. But it’d be weird and out of place. For the time being.

Bit by bit, a sweet smile widened in your lips, curving them as Bucky stared at you again when he was conscious that you didn’t care. With or without a metal arm, your feelings were exactly the same. You couldn’t admire him more than you were admiring him at this point. You couldn’t love him more than you loved him already. And God was a witness of how many times you practiced to confess to him and tell him that the only thing you wanted in life was to be by his side. Bring happiness to his days, bring him peace and harmony.

“I'm sorry…” “I brought you…”

You two spoke at the same time, breaking in a soft giggle that jumped your hearts in complete sync.

“You first”. He let you, waving his hand.

“I… brought you something”. You susurrated, loosening the grip around the metal hanging on your chest to take off the necklace.

You noticed the way his eyes widened in surprise and confusion. Why did you have them? Who gave them to you? Why now? Bucky gulped watching you stretching the dog tags between your fingers towards him. He didn’t know what to do, taking a second before he was able to react. He couldn’t remember when was the last time he saw them, and the amount of memories they gave him overwhelmed his whole brain.

In slow motion narrowing his eyes, Bucky held the chain with two fingers to hang the necklace from it. You thought he was about to wear them, but he destabilized you as he directed his hands to above your head, to place them where they were an instant before. You didn’t understand. Didn’t he want them back?

“I want you to keep it”.

“But…”

“I want you to have something mine”. Bucky recognized with a shy smile decorating his lips. “Those tags and my arm are the only things I have from my past. And… I won’t give you my arm…”

“Well, I bet it’d look good hanging from my neck”. You jocked tilting your head.

In his gift, you found the encouragement you needed to talk about T’Challa’s job offer. It wasn’t as if you were proposing to him, in the end, you were just friends even if it felt quite the opposite. You licked your upper lip, kissing your teeth after it, earning more than his attention.

“Shuri said, uh… I could come here, work with her. We’d do great things together, not only for Wakanda but for the world”.

Bucky’s gesture didn’t change a single inch, focused on the nervousness you were trying to hide from him and reading the reasons beneath.

“So T’Challa offered me to stay here”.

“Permanently?”

“Yeah… Permanently”. You assented pressing your lips, breathing through your nostrils.

“Did you accept?”

“Not yet. Not until talking to you about”.

He nodded then a couple of times, turning to the goats behind him coming closer. “Got to finish some stuff… Maybe we can talk later about it unless you have to leave”.

“No, no. I, uh… asked for the day off. Banner didn’t need me at the lab today”.

“Okay, good”.

While the king was showing you the new level for research and investigations, Bucky took the advantage to go and find Shuri without your knowledge. He found her in the surroundings of the main building, working on your ship as you said it made some kind of random noise that put you out of your nerve during the flight.

“I need my arm”.

The princess squatted close to the left wing, turned at him without standing up. Pulling her sunglasses to the top of his head, she raised an eyebrow.

“For what”.

“You know for what”. He clicked his tongue, placing his hand on his left shoulder.

“No, I don’t”. She lied while cleaning the grass and oil in her expert fingers.

“I need to have two arms”.

“You’ve been working the last months with one arm only. Why do you need it now?”

“C’mon… Argh…” Bucky rubbed his face with boredom. “I want to hug her, okay? Can you just… give me back my damn arm?”

“Not enough reasons, you can hug her using your right”.

“I want to have two hands when I kiss her”. He finally confessed in a hiss, provoking a triumphant smile growing on Shuri’s lips.

“If you lie to me, if you don’t kiss her, Sergeant Barnes… I’ll code it to punch your face”.

“Wait…” Bucky wrinkled his nose drawing a horrified gesture on his face, as he turned his blue eyes towards his left shoulder. “Can you… do that?”

“Try me”.

No, of course she couldn’t, but he didn’t know. Which were a good push for him to not go against her and her petition.

“C’mon. I’ll set it up and help you to put it on”.

Your eyes were traveling from one picture to another. He put some of them around his small house and it looked better now. More like a home. A place to stay. And for a second you felt a twinge straight in your heart when you noticed one photograph of the two of you, close to his bed. It was after your first mission together. Steve insisted on taking it, after noticing the sparkles between you. But you didn’t know he brought it to Wakanda with him, as your copy is on your nightstand too. And you used to fall asleep every night looking at it.

The curtain being moved and some steps in pulled you out from your thoughts, turning to find Bucky staring in silence at you. Your orbs landed on the metal arm. It was different too since the last time you saw it, with golden strips forming between the silver ones. You couldn’t help but sigh.

“You didn’t need to…”

“Yes, I did. I did need it”. He interrupted you, breathing through his parted lips and his heart about to fly off from his chest.

“Why?”

“Because, otherwise, I couldn’t do this”.

You were about to ask what he was referring to, watching him breaking the distance between the two of you in three fast strides. You closed your eyes at the moment his hands held your neck and Bucky slammed his lips on yours. The kiss, the contrast of cold and warmth on your skin, the everlasting longing for it to happen… All of this caused you to gasp, tangling the tunic at the height of his chest in your fists, not wanting him to take a step back. Your mouths fit perfectly without looking for it, made for each other, as he secured his fingers on the back of your neck. And you felt your knees weak when he pecked your lips one more time, before caressing your nose with his, not being able to open your eyes. Neither of you.

“I don’t have the right… to ask for anything”. He babbled. His insecurities coming afloat even if you hadn’t pushed him away. “But… I want you to stay here. With me. I… I don’t have much to offer you, but I promise to make you happy”.

At this point, your eyes were filled with tears, strongly closing your eyelids to not let them fall. You swallowed a sob, moving your hands from his chest to his middle back, embracing him tighter as you could.

“You’ve been making me happy since we met, Bucky”.

He chuckled breathless, intuiting he was too at the edge of his crying because of that affirmation.

“Every Tuesday, I wait at the stairs of my apartment for the mail, for your letters. I’ve… read them so many times I can recite them… by heart. Every word you've written to me”.

“I will continue writing them for you, even if you stay with me”.

Your voices were low, barely audible out of his place. Like secrets. Bucky kissed you again, bending enough to raise you by the back of your thighs and urge you to surround his waist with your legs. The dog tags on your chest clicked against the other, as you moved your arms to his shoulders and neck, and you were unable to stop kissing him. You two could die right now and not be bothered because you were finally together, and that was all you deserved in life.

“Tell me you will stay… please”. His beg brushed your lips, still pecking them between syllable and syllable.

“I will…” You replied without hesitating as you could, eager to correspond to every gesture from him. “I will stay with you”.

feedback is appreciated, please, leave a comment to let me know if you liked it and/or reblog it.

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[adobe-outdesign]

Ranking + Mini-reviews of All the DHMIS TV Episodes

Two important things to note before we start:

DHMIS is an amazing series, and as such there are no episodes that I’d say are bad, or even mediocre. This isn’t an S to F-tier ranking, this is an S to B-tier ranking.

Because all episodes are great in their own right, everyone’s going to have their own opinions on which ones are the best. These are just my personal picks.

With that said, going from worst to best:

Episode 3: Family

Starting us off is Family. While I still like this episode a lot, I do have to put it at the bottom of the list for a few reasons.

First, most of the episode is spent in Lily and Todney’s house, which means there’s not as many of the beautiful sets that the rest of the series provides. This episode also didn’t have many stylistic shifts—the only one being a brief moment of Deep Dream AI rendering. Most people may not mind this, but as someone who’s always loved the artistic elements of DHMIS, this was a bit underwhelming.

Secondly, I found this episode to be a bit messy structurally. For example, Bird gets kicked out first, so he has a long sequence talking about how he doesn’t want to be in a family... that goes absolutely nowhere. Likewise, Red’s arc felt like it had a lot of build-up but little payoff, while Yellow has the least motivation yet the biggest payoff (this may be because early concept art shows Red being the last one standing; Yellow was a good swap thematically, but it feels like they needed to swap the two’s motivations as well).

And finally, while the “found family is more important than biological family” moral is always lovely to hear, it is mostly outright stated; I feel like the best episodes simply allow the viewer to infer the moral for themselves (if they have one). Furthermore, the episode doesn’t offer much commentary on families beyond this basic idea.

With that said, this episode has a lot of great moments in it, including the entire climax with Roy and the funniest moment in the entire show at the end. But comparing it to all the other episodes, this is the one I personally got the least out of.

Episode 4: Friendship

While enjoyable, this episode has some issues in the message department. The whole “your friends don’t hate you, it’s just the worm in your brain talking” thing is great moral, and speaks to everything from depression to intrusive thoughts.

However, the execution is a bit botched. Red and Bird’s jackassery has been cranked up to 10 in this episode, to the point where they feel slightly OOC (such as swearing at Yellow, which is the only time they’ve done so). Thus, when Yellow assumes his friends hate him, it’s less of a “worm in your brain” kind of thing and more of a... logical assumption. The whole thing’s a bit confused and many will walk away with a slightly sour taste in their mouths despite the hilarious ending scene. Other episodes do a much better job of establishing the trio’s love-hate relationship.

The analogy also falls apart because Yellow makes this assumption on his own; Warren has little to do with anything, and Yellow becomes upset long before he enters his brain. It would’ve made more sense if Warren went into his brain to retrieve the password, only to realize that Yellow’s brain is great for ego-stroking. Thus, he convinces Yellow that Red and Duck hate him so he can stay there or something like that.

Another thing is that while most of the TV episodes feel like their own thing, this episode felt like a less effective version of DHMIS 3 (Love) from the original shorts. Both involve Red and Duck upsetting Yellow, who runs away (either psychically or metaphorically) and encounters an insect who teaches him about some interpersonal relationship before his friends show up and apologize and there’s a plot twist that makes you question the reality of the situation. But in 3, the situation that upsets Yellow is far more minor, the apology is more heartfelt, the moral is stronger and much more nuanced, etc.

However, this episode does have a lot of enjoyable gems in and of itself. Warren perfectly captures being a bad friend and is the worst thing Ever, Colin’s appearance was fun as were the brain friends sequences, and I liked the moral they were going for as well as the slightly surreal moment at the “the worm in your brain has a worm in its brain” part (to the point that I kind of wish they leaned into that more for the ending instead of the chainsaw fight). It’s a good time; it’s just up against stiff competition.

Episode 2: Death

This episode was great overall, and it has a lot of good stuff going for it. I love the commentary on how grief and loss is handled by society and the problems it can cause, the coffin’s probably my favorite teacher out of the bunch, and the comedy was fast-paced and effective.

So why isn’t it ranked higher? It’s mostly because the horror/comedy balance feels off. In most episodes, you get a good blend of both; but in this episode, you mostly get comedy and nothing else. There are one or two eerie moments—I liked the scene with Yellow and Red saying it was just them now “until the other guy comes back” with a close-up on Duck’s empty chair, as well as the scene with the mourners—but they don’t hit as hard as they could.

I think the big problem are the scenes with Duck in the coffin. Red and Yellow’s A-plot is where the commentary is, and where the hardest-hitting moments of this episode come in. However, while doing nothing after you die could be existentially terrifying, ala the ending to the original DHMIS 2, it ends up just being funny shenanigans here. And I like funny shenanigans; but I feel like the humor kind of distracts from the deeper, subtle moments of the A-plot, which shouldn’t be the case.

For example, I feel like Yellow digging up Duck would be a lot more impactful if the coffin left earlier, and Duck was starting to rot more. This would add more a lot more tension to the climax, as there’d be something at stake on Duck’s side rather than solely Yellow’s. Likewise, seeing Yellow try to drag around a rotting corpse and convince himself its still alive would’ve been really haunting.

also I have to subtract a point for the piss scene

Like I said at the beginning though, this is still a super fun episode with a lot going for it. It’s just that 20% too much comedy that prevents it from ranking even higher.

Episode 1: Jobs

Episode 1 is the very first episode to kick off the new show, and I’d say that it was a good pick—it’s the one that’s arguably the closest to the original series in terms of plot (a teacher shows up, sings a song that (technically) lasts the entire episode, and the trio ends up traumatized). 

On top of being similar to the shorts, it also happens to just be a strong episode in general. The humor is great as always, and there are a fair amount of horror elements in there.

My favorite part of the episode is definitely the commentary on capitalism. Being promised a bunch of good jobs before being saddled with a terrible one, the HR people that are more concerned with making people useful to the company than helping them, the way the laziest people get the highest positions, the “blink and 40 years have passed” thing, the meager pay at the end (which is later referenced in episode 2)... it’s all really great stuff, and is delivered subtly in a way that really sticks with you.

My only real complaint is that the bathroom scene was mostly pointless (side note: has anyone else noticed that Yellow address the audience in the first two episodes and then never again?), and the beginning is a bit slow. Outside from that, it’s pretty perfect.

Episode 6: Electricity

DHMIS 6 was my second favorite out of the original shorts, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the last episode gets the same spot here. This episode is pretty amazing—not only do we get introduced to Lesley, but there’s an overwhelming sense of dread throughout the episode that leads to some truly terrifying scenes. As an added bonus, we get some wonderful character development for Yellow that hits especially hard if you happen to be neurodivergent.

The only reason I rank this as the second best episode instead of the first is that it doesn’t feel like as satisfying of a conclusion as DHMIS 6. Lelsey’s reveal doesn’t hit as hard as Roy’s because we don’t know who she is or what her motivations are, and we only get a vague idea of what’s going on by the end of the episode. One could argue this is the point—they do shred the book, after all—but it makes it feel much less satisfying as a conclusion.

And this is more of a minor thing, but it’s also strange that after Red’s mental breakdown in the last episode, he’s right back to normal in this one. It’s possible this was intentionally reflecting the “reset” nature of the universe in this series, but it really undermines the horror of 5 a bit and feels like a missed opportunity for character development. If they wanted to go the reset route, I feel like it could’ve been driven home harder than it was, as it feels more like a continuity error as-is.

With that said however, this is still an incredibly strong episode with some of the series most poignant and haunting moments. It’s only slightly beaten out by...

Episode 5: Transport

While the entire series is a masterpiece, this episode in particular Is A Masterpiece. There is scientifically nothing wrong with it. Everything here just works.

First, I love the plot direction. Instead of the teacher showing up and sticking around like we’re used to, they instead just keel over and die immediately, and the trio hijack their corpse to kickstart the plot. It’s refreshing, and adds a sense of unpredictability to the plot.

And on top of that, despite being one of the only times that events take place primarily outdoors, Transport has the greatest sense of dread and claustrophobia out of all the episodes. Watching Red slowly reach his breaking point and become more and more frantic until it ends with the reveal that there is nothing out there is haunting, especially with the little Lesley tease at the end.

It also throws some additional bits of horror in there—Yellow Guy’s dream abruptly ending with him getting hit by a car hits particularly strong, being viscerally realistic. However, it also has some incredibly funny moments (read: the entire sequence with Time Child). The trio’s chemistry is strong in this one, the puppetry with the car is great as are the two stylistic shifts, and the songs are good. You can’t go wrong with any of this series, but if I have to pick a favorite, this one’s the clear winner.

[nanatsumu]

📞 RENT A BOYFRIEND

08. a guide on how to run away from your problems

everything was going so well.

you were able to snatch a scholarship from one of the best universities in tokyo— which also served as an opportunity to escape from hyogo and the unpleasant memories given to you from one whom shall not be named— and then you struck gold by landing your dream job alongside your best friend, fresh out of university with an english degree. oh, and not to mention, a small, trustworthy group of friends who have stuck with you through tough times and kept you stable time and time again.

so as you stand there, hand on your doorknob with a grip so tight that your knuckles were beginning to turn white, you think that this is god’s way of punishing you for being blessed with so many good things within a short period of time.

the first thing you come to notice is that suna’s physical appearance has changed drastically since the last time you saw him back in high school: his short hair was no longer parted in the middle, but instead it was a few inches longer and swept back. he looked a lot leaner and finally fixed that god awful posture of his that you always reprimanded him for back when you two were dating. but out of everything that changed about him, the one thing that stood out to you the most was that his narrow eyes no longer held onto that dull gleam anymore but was instead replaced by an unfamiliar warmth you couldn’t exactly pinpoint.

suna clears his throat which snaps you back into reality and makes you realize: this isn’t supposed to be a heart wrenching reunion between you two. this was a mistake.

“listen y/n, i—” he starts to speak, but you’re quick to cut him off.

“what the fuck?!” you yell which startles the man in front of you, causing him to flinch at your harsh tone. “i... seriously— what the fuck!”

you rub your eyes until you start seeing spots and then open them back up, only to see suna still standing there, on your doorstep, with a puzzled expression on his face and a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

so doing what you do best, you slam the door in his face and try to steady your racing heart.

after a brief moment, you put your shaking hands against the wooden door in order to give yourself some stability and peer out of the peephole. and to your dismay, there is a sight much worse than the one you saw just a second ago that causes your stomach to churn and suddenly you feel like you’re about to puke up whatever you had for breakfast this morning.

“tetsuro you always fucking pick the worst time to show up.” you curse him out silently.

“y/n? y/n?” you hear knocking on the door and you’ve never felt more annoyed to hear that stupid knocking sequence of his. “i know you’re in there, i literally heard you say ‘what the fuck?!’ at the bottom of the stairs.”

you reluctantly open the door, but just enough so that you can look out the tiny slither you created from the inside of your house.

“i wanna know what the fuck that guy is doing here.” you say and kuroo is shocked to hear the hostility in your voice.

“u-uh... he’s your date?” kuroo stammers, immediately jumping to the conclusion that your hostility was directed towards him.

“y/n, please, just let me talk to you.” you hear suna say, his voice laced with desperation.

“suna you had your chance to talk to me years ago,” you open the door this time and while your head is still spinning at the fact that suna was actually here, in tokyo, you were able to collect your thoughts and stand your ground. “and i told you this already, i don’t ever want to see you ever again.”

“just 5 minutes, y/n, that’s all i’m asking for.”

“no suna!” you snap, not realizing that tears were starting to form in your eyes. “you can’t just waltz back into my life and ask for 5 minutes of my time just to talk to me when you had all the time to do so 5 years ago!”

at this point, all of the other residents in your apartment complex were curious to see what all the ruckus was about and so as they all start to file out of their homes, you feel embarrassed that you’ve created such a commotion.

“y/n?” you hear the voice of the grandma who lives in the apartment across from yours. “is everything alright dear?”

“hi ma’am!” kuroo’s oddly cheery voices throws you off. “everything is fine, these two were just practicing their lines for a scene in a play they’re acting in but they got really into it.”

you wipe your tears and throw the lady an apologetic smile, not forgetting to apologize on your behalf as well.

“let’s go inside, shall we?” kuroo says as he turns back to you and suna.

you open your mouth to protest, but your efforts are in vain as kuroo begins to push you two back inside your apartment. you knew there was no point in trying to thrash around in an attempt to get him to release you, but that didn’t mean you didn’t try.

“t-tetsu! let me go!” you scream.

he throws you on the couch and you can’t help but feel so vulnerable under his heavy gaze.

“y/n, i need you to explain to me what your relationship with suna is,” his eyes darted back and forth between you and suna. “and if you can’t, then suna can explain to me.”

“i’m her ex.” suna breaks the ice and you watch as kuroo’s mouth falls agape.

“y/n, you had an ex and you never even told me?” kuroo looks genuinely offended, and while usually you would tease him for being offended over something so trivial like he usually does, this was not a trivial matter in any way shape or form.

“i need you to leave, like, now,” you stand up and grab suna’s wrist before dragging him back over to your front door. “i can’t handle seeing you, and i don’t think i ever will be able to handle seeing you without wanting to throw up.”

when you open the door, you let go of suna’s wrist and then roughly push him out of your home without a second thought.

you wished you hadn’t looked up at his face one last time out of curiosity because if you didn’t, then you wouldn’t have to see the anguished look on his face— an expression that felt so foreign coming from him.

“suna, don’t look at me like that,” your voice gets quiet and you feel like a heartbroken high school girl all over again. “just... leave, please.”

and when you shut the door in his face, you’re you’re suddenly brought back to the day where he left you heartbroken— and the days where you were left all by yourself to pick up the pieces of your broken heart.

༄ directory

༄ next: a penny for your thoughts

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[beyondspaceandstars]

While You Sleep

Chapter 14

Relationship: Bucky Barnes x Reader Warnings: depictions of panic attack, suggestive content Summary: Soulmate!AU - Throughout life, you’re given glimpses of your soulmate through dreams. As you sleep, memories flash in your mind showing you the life your soulmate has lived. Everyone around you raves about how their soulmate reads great books or volunteers in their spare time. But you can’t relate as your dreams end up being more like nightmares. Through initial images of death and violence, you come to learn your soulmate is the Winter Soldier.

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

After a couple of days had passed, Bucky had approached you with the idea of going on another date. At first, you were greatly hesitant. The memories of the Hydra man telling you their first glimpse of you was during a date couldn’t escape your mind. You had brought it up to Bucky as gently as you could but he assured you, you had nothing to worry about. Those at the facilities were…”gone.” He had simply put it at that. You didn’t want to think about how deep the organization may actually run seeing as they had been able to be under the radar for a while. But you forced yourself to put the rest of your great concerns away and, eventually, agreed to a date. 

Bucky thought the movies could be a fun thing for you two to do. He admitted he hadn’t been to one in quite some time and was interested to see what was out there in terms of genres. That led you two to sitting at the kitchen counter in the compound, leaning over the newspaper, skimming the movie showtimes. You didn’t have the heart to tell him you could've just looked this up on your phone.

“What about an action movie?” Bucky asked. You scooted your stool closer to read the title he was pointing at. You had to admit, you were getting pretty comfortable at the compound, having declared this one particular stool yours in the kitchen. You were harboring a lot of concerns over your apartment. It still sat in your mind as the, well, the initial scene of the crime. The start of that incident. Thankfully, no one seemed bothered by your extended stay and you thought Bucky seemed to secretly enjoy playing house in this capacity. 

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. “They’re so hit or miss. We might not like it.”

Bucky hummed. “If we don’t like it, it’ll just give us an excuse to make out.”

You couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped your lips. It was a rare occurrence lately and Bucky always looked relieved when you’d show any signs of getting closer to peace. “Is that why you want to go to the movies, Buck?”

Your soulmate scoffed, shaking his head with a little cheeky grin. “You mean to tell me you really watched every movie you went on a date to see?”

“Oh, hush,” you smirked back as Bucky playfully rolled his eyes. “I guess nothing really changes over the years.”

This banter was good - it felt good. You weren’t in pristine condition but this was maybe showing some progress. Crying in bed with Bucky seems like a lifetime away despite just being a day or so ago. Concerns of various formats weren't vanishing so fast, though. Especially in the realm of nightmares. You hadn’t brought it up to anyone but it was like something had reset in the bond. While they weren’t as obnoxious, you weren’t getting dreams of Bucky reading or any cute shit like that.

“How about a horror movie? That could be fun,” Bucky said. “I can hold you when you get scared.”

You bit your lip. “Who said I get scared during horror movies?”

Bucky shook his head, letting out a light laugh. “You’re making this impossible, doll.” 

Before you could tell him to quit it, someone entered the kitchen. The person came up behind you two and began looking over your shoulder at the movie times. “Going to the movies?” Steve asked. 

You and Bucky turned to him, nodding. “We can’t figure out what we want to see, though.”

Steve hummed as his eyes raked over the page. “How about a romance?” He suggested. “Bucky used to cry his eyes out over those.”

Immediately, Bucky began spewing protests left and right calling Steve the biggest liar while you couldn’t help but genuinely crack up at the situation. It was a nice thing, you thought, sitting here laughing over something silly between Bucky and Steve. Almost like you were getting on and everything was figuring itself out. Maybe today would be the day it all finally took a turn. 

“Alright, alright,” you said, trying to calm Bucky. Steve looked greatly amused while your soulmate was just annoyed. “I think that’s settled then. My curiosity has peaked. I wanna see a romance.”

Bucky groaned. “It happened one time.”

Steve shrugged. “Maybe she can hold you just in case it happens again.”

“Thanks, Steve,” Bucky scoffed. “Want to share anything else with her? Any other embarrassing stories from back in the day you think she just desperately needs to hear?”

You looked excitedly towards Steve. “Yeah, Steve, is there anymore?”

He smirked. “Trust me, there’s plenty. But I wouldn’t want to waste them all now. I’ll save them for your wedding day.” And with that, Steve nodded, possibly quite proud of himself for dropping that, and exited the kitchen, back on his path to wherever he was going. He left you two practically with a bomb. 

Wedding day - the idea of that was something that has never crossed your mind. And from the looks of it, neither had it crossed Bucky’s. It wasn’t uncommon for soulmates to get married. Most didn’t see the purpose outside of the legal side but you didn’t fall into that. You were hopelessly guilty of daydreaming about your wedding day...

Bucky cleared his throat. “So,” he looked back at the paper, “romance it is, then?”

You took a deep breath, snapping your thoughts back into place. “Sure.”

***

Steve’s claim hadn't been that too far off. As you two were exiting the theater, having just watched an hour and a half of two people being oblivious when it comes to love, Bucky wouldn’t meet your eyes. You were commenting on the movie but he was stuck looking at the hem of your dress. You had gone with a light sundress having not much effort to get that dressed up but still wanting to look good for your man. It was decorated with little polka dots. Apparently, the dots were the most fascinating thing in the world to Bucky.

“Bucky,” you nudged him as you were walking down the street, “are you even listening to me?”

“Hmm?” Bucky jumped, his eyes finally meeting yours. And sure enough, they were wet. You couldn’t help the little giggle that escaped you.

“Steve wasn’t kidding,” you smiled, “romances really get to you, huh?”

Bucky playfully rolled his eyes and looked away. You took the opportunity to take your hand in his as you two continued your walk. 

After a moment, you spoke again, “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Buck. I think it’s quite endearing.”

He scoffed. “You’re just saying that.”

“I am not,” you protested. “I think it’s very sweet you love love that much. I see it when we’re together.”

Bucky finally turned back to you. “Really?” He asked so gently. His eyes had a glimmer of hope in them. Your heart was melting. 

“Of course.”

Abruptly, he stopped you two right there on the sidewalk. He looked like an absolute dream in his nice shirt and slacks, illuminated just by the glow of the night and the flickering street lamps. He was looking at you like you had hung the moon and stars. You went to ask why you two were stopped but before you could, Bucky’s lips were on yours. They were so soft and gentle yet fierce and loving. You had forgotten how much he channeled in these kisses as you hadn’t been quite intimate since before the kidnapping. You had been scared, quite honestly. Despite the sequence of events not exactly being related, the last time you slept with your soulmate you were whisked away. It was a stupid, ridiculous fear you felt slowly dissipating the more your lips moved in sync. 

Suffice with the moment but leaving a bit to tease, Bucky eventually pulled away. “Let’s get back to the compound.”

You bit your lip a bit more hesitantly than you had intended but still nodded. You knew where this was going and you had to run with it. You had to let Bucky guide you to it. He was it for you, you had to remember. He was your soulmate for a reason and you were getting through this together. As cliche it seemed, you walked with him into what felt like the unknown. 

***

The second you were outside the shared bedroom, Bucky couldn’t keep his hands off you. He was the perfect gentleman on the way back and even all through the compound but once the coast was clear, his hands were trailing up and down your sides, dipping scandalously low. You tried playfully shooing him away but then he’d reach under your dress and pinch the inside of your thigh and, well, after that, you were practically done for. 

You were absolutely amazed by how naturally you fell back into this rhythm with Bucky. You figured something had just been needed, some kind of push to get you back on track. Maybe this date had been that. You didn’t want to think too much anymore, though, so you followed Bucky as he walked you back into the bed. 

He was on top of you in a matter of minutes, lips locked fully with yours as his hands continued to roam. It was all happening fast. Very fast. Bucky was a skilled multitasker in more ways than one. As he was taking off his shirt, he was already working on getting your dress off. You paid little attention to any of it, trying to let yourself get lost in the movements and lovingness of your soulmate.  

Once your dress was discarded, long forgotten in the room with Bucky’s shirt, next came his pants and your bra. All while doing so, Bucky kept stealing kisses from all over your body. Your lips. Your neck. Your chest. Your stomach. He was like a starved man and maybe, in some way, he really was. Part of you had denied him from so much, including sex, after the…

Your eyes shot open. Your heart was suddenly pounding but not in the excited, horny kind of way. Not in anticipation for your soulmate’s touch. In fact, you wanted the exact opposite of that. You felt like you were suddenly suffocating. You became very aware of Bucky’s body on top of you, the weight of him holding you into the bed that was so soft you felt like you were sinking. 

Bucky was seemingly oblivious to all of this despite your breath becoming shallow and unsteady. You wiggled under his touch trying some way to get him off but he mistook it for pleasure and kept his teasing work around your panties. 

“Bucky-,”

“I know, doll,” he hummed, his lips back at your neck while his metal hand dipped a little into the waistband. You shook your head.

“No, Bucky, please-,” your voice was barely there as you tried to convey your nervousness. Your brain felt like it was cloudy. You didn’t know what to say, what to do, to get his attention. You gasped, overwhelmed.

Bucky pulled away from your neck immediately, brows furrowed in confusion at your sudden switch in emotion. He said your name, voice so full of concern, but he felt so far away.

You couldn’t find the words anymore so you just tried to push him off. While naturally impossible, he took the sign and quickly lifted himself off of you, going as far to leave the bed. He stood at the foot of it, watching you try to prop yourself up on your elbows. 

You were struggling to breathe still and trying so hard to get your brain focused on something other than the feeling of being held down. It didn’t make sense, though. It really didn’t. You hadn’t been held down like that but there was something about the logistics of it your brain couldn’t separate the actions. You couldn’t move, you were dominated once again. And then you suddenly remembered Bucky’s involvement and it all just… It was all just one giant fucking mess. Your hands were shaking. 

Bucky tried again, “Sweetheart, are you okay?”

Your eyes shot to him, realizing how wild you must look. You were having a panic attack in the middle of sex. How much more could your life be affected by those goddamn-

“Doll, please, breathe with me,” Bucky pleaded as he leaned down to your eye line. You sat up further and he took the chance to take your hands in his. He held them as they shook uncontrollably. You stared into his eyes, regaining some order in your breathing.

“I-I’m sorry-,”

Bucky shook his head. “No, don’t you dare apologize. It’s alright, I understand. Just focus on your breathing. There’s nothing bad here, sweetheart. Just me.”

You nodded slowly and closed your eyes, focusing on your heart which was finally settling down. You pushed away the thoughts. The images of being strapped down. The way you were tossed around like a ragdoll. The look Bucky wore as he killed those men-

You shifted your attention to the weight of Bucky’s hands in yours. They had done so much bad but were also doing you so much good. 

It was over. Everything you had endured was over. Those men were gone. That Bucky wasn’t really that Bucky. He was still your Bucky. The Bucky that walked you to work and cried over movies. You had to drill this into your brain before something else overtook you.

After a moment or so, you felt you could finally reopen your eyes. Bucky was still watching you intensely.

“B-Better?” He seemed nervous to ask.

“Yeah,” you said, finding your voice again. “Thank you, Bucky.”

He let out a small sniffle and that’s when you finally saw the tears forming in his eyes. You looked down at your connected hands, unable to bear seeing what you had caused. 

“Anytime, sweetheart,” Bucky whispered. “I’m here whenever you need me.”

You gave a small, shy nod. “Can we just go to bed now?”

Wordlessly, Bucky stood up and grabbed one of his shirts for you. While you threw it on, Bucky began unmaking the bed. Once he had set up your space with the blankets you cherished, you crawled right in and tried to let sleep take you.

It wasn’t very pleasant in your dream world as the memories of the kidnapping filled you, despite all your best attempts to suppress it. 

But you stood no chance escaping these because they weren’t your memories. They were from Bucky’s perspective. 

Unknowingly to him, you were seeing all the steps he had taken when it came to murdering the Hydra men. You felt the anger, the determination. The absolute disregard for them. You could practically feel it as his fist collided with them. As he drained their life from their bodies. 

You didn't want to react, though - God forbid you give Bucky another reason to worry -  and instead, you gave in to them.

[lingerlikeastolenkiss]

the archer theory about taylor swift coming out.

well, i've seen some people talking about this song and i had to listen to it again, since it's one of my favorite songs on lover and it also has to do with the theories and the meaning this song has to me.

i don't want to apply this to anyone so feel free to SKIP and NOT READ if you don't agree that this is a LGBTQIA+ song.

pure my own interpretation but you don't have to come to me if you don't like, she has a lot of songs and some of them are free for interpretations and they have different meanings to different people.

the first line it's:

“combat, i'm ready for combat / i say i don't want that but what if i do?”

this line to me has the deepest meaning and it comes along with the one in you are in love “and you will understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars” and in ivy “this is the goddamn fight of my life and you started it” and both songs are before and after the archer which makes the archer in the middle.

the combat she's (maybe) referring to it's about coming out being (still) the american dream and the woman everyone looks up to when it comes to pop music, she says she don't want it but what if she does? what if she want to fight for it, fight for who she is and who she wants people to see that she really is? it's a combat because you can't come out if you're not ready to start a war against the world.

“cause cruelty wins in the movies / i've got a hundred thrown-out speeches i almost said to you”

cruelty here, to me, it's about how cruel it is to not have the story of your life in the big screen, like, we grow up seeing the bad stories about LGBTQIA+ couples and it's always about how they didn't end up together or how bad they are treated. the “speeches i almost said to you" looks like something she was ready to say to us, her fans, and she didn't had the chance or she wasn't really ready.

“easy they come, easy they go / i jump from the train, i ride off alone / i never grow up it's getting so old, help me hold on to you”

when i first saw the miss americana documentary, i highlighted that part where she is trying to convince her father and the rest of the team that it was a good idea/good move to speak up about the politics and the situation of the trump thing. and it was very hard for me to watch because it was clearly a bunch of old men that grew up and still have in mind their conservatory concepts that goes against what taylor wanted to tell her whole life, they were just trying to silence her and she decided to do it anyway because she is a grown woman and she never spoke up about those things before the reputation era.

the easy they come and easy they go line goes for the fans, they are always in and out and sometimes some of them never want to come back and stay because in the first bad thing that happens to her it pulls them away. she jumps from the train and ride off alone, the train maybe is about her life that never stops and she takes a break from it, the media, the relationships, the image she has in front of the whole world and she ride alone because there's no one in the world that could understand her more than herself. she never grow up when it comes to being more mature when it comes to some things and having the capacity to speak her truth, she's asking us to let her hold on to us when things go harder and when everyone else has left her.

“i've been the archer, i've been the prey / who could ever leave me darling, but who could stay?”

i fucking love this line so much because when you are a LGBTQIA+ kid growing up, you always has to fight against being the bad person and the good person, you grow up seeing in the news that you will die young and that there's people out there that will try to tell you that loving someone of the same sex is the wrong thing to do. being the archer and also the prey is like haunting yourself until you realize who you really are, you have that idea internalized in you, the homophobic jokes you grew up listening and you're also the target and it's like both sides of a coin. who could ever leave her for being a (bi, pan, lesbian) woman? who could ever stay if she's a (bi pan, lesbian) woman? it's like “who could stay in the darkest of the darkest times here with me because it looks like i am lost and i don't know where to go”

“dark side, i search for your dark side / but what if i'm alright, right, right, right here?”

the dark side is not the bad side like people point out, the dark side of someone is like when the moon is half shown and half hidden, and you can only see the part that's out for the light. here the dark side of taylor is the one she haven't showed to us, and to me this line is not about a potential lover but about herself. and this song feels like a mirror, so to me, she's talking to herself and trying to find her dark side in front of her own image. the sequence “alright, right” it's like the dark side saying “i am here and it's good”.

“and i cut off my nose just to spite my face / then i hate my reflection for years and years”

this fucking line is the deepest for me, because it's like, she cut a part of herself to looks like someone who she wasn't made to be, it reminds me of having to hide your true side in despite of being hurt or left aside. how many LGBTQIA+ kids and teenagers has to hide from their parents? we change our way to see the world, we lie to everyone about our love interestings, we hide in the closet and we don't face ourselves because this is not who we are and then we spent the rest of our life hating our reflection because we don't recognize this person but everybody loves this version we created, it's easy, it's very easy to love a straight person but it's the hardest thing to let a queer kid feel loved. it's very easy to not tell a straight person how to be but it's the hardest thing teach a queer kid how to love themselves.

“i wake in the night, i pace like a ghost / the room is on fire, invisible smoke / and all of my heroes die all alone / help me hold on to you”

she's s ghost to the people who live with her so she's not seen, everything is burning and there's an invisible smoke that's where she fades in, and all of her heroes, probably the queer ones that are dying everyday all alone and the ones who died were left alone in their final days. again she's asking if she can count on us to keep going if things go hard.

“i see right through me / they see right through me / can you see right through me?”

seeing through someone means that you see their true version, like if you're looking at their soul and they're so open that you can read anything. it's understanding someone and knowing someone inside and out. just like the lover mv where she's inside the fish tank, it's a metaphor for a thing that can be seen by everyone just like a mirror. and the delicate mv where she's not seen until she enters the bar and sees a person. she can see through herself and people are seeing through her but not in the way she wants to be seen and then she asks (for the fans?) if we can see right through her. could we fight the wars with her? be the shoulder for her to lean on? stay even when she's about to face the fight the biggest war of her life?

“all the king's horses, all the king's men / couldn't put me together again / cause all of my enemies started out friends”

king's horses and king's men also align with the chorus and the universe of being the prey in a world of men. also it can also be the world of a society that lives inside a bubble and cannot accept diversity. not even the men, (her father, team, men she dated?) could put her together again after all that she have been through, and it matches with the “i cut off my nose just to spite my face”. all of her enemies once were friends which implies that she can't trust anyone and as the song goes as (in my vision) a LGBTQIA+ letter to her fans, she's saying that there's no one that could handle this secret and she already tried to tell them but it ended wrong.

that's it. to me this song has a deep meaning and i couldn't put everything i wanted to in this post. also i just want taylor to know that there's a lot of sapphic connotations in her songs and i will always stay.

[davidmann95]

Sooo… Superman and the Authority?

magnus-king123 asked: Your thoughts on Superman & the authority Give it to me...lol

Anonymous asked: Seeing Bezos take his little trip into space the same day Morrison puts out a Superman comic that touches on how far we’ve fallen from the days when we dreamed of utopian futures where everyone explored the stars was a big gut punch. Not used to Superman being topical in that way.

Anonymous asked: What'd you think of Superman and the Authority#1?

This is far beyond what I can fit in the normal weekly reviews, so taking this as my notes on the first six pages, with this and this as my major lead-in thoughts:

* Janin's such a perfect fit for Morrison - the scale, the power, the facial expressions selling the character work, the screwing around with the panel formatting as necessary to sell the effect, the numinous sense of things going on larger than you can fully perceive amidst the beauty and chaos. It's a shame he wasn't around 25 years ago to draw JLA, but I'll take him going with Morrison onto other future projects.

* His intro action sequence is such a great demonstration of why Black actually does have something to offer, and also how he's such a dumbass desperately needing Superman to save him from himself.

* While Jordie Bellaire didn't legit go with an entirely monochromatic palate the way early previews suggested, it's still an effect frequently and excellently deployed here. And glad to see Steve Wands carry into this from Blackstars since there's such an obvious carryover from its work with Superman.

* "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others." Great both because of the obvious - hey, Superman's nodding at me! - and because it's a phrasing that reinforces that this take on him (and let's be real Morrison) is old as hell.

* I'm mostly past caring about whether this is an alt-Earth Superman until it becomes indisputable one way or another, this and Action both rule so what does it really matter? But while there are still a couple signs in play suggesting some kind of division (the Action Comics #1036 cover, Midnighter up to time-travel shenanigans) the "lost in time" quote clearly thrown in after the fact to explain how he could have met Kennedy outside of 5G that wouldn't be necessary for an Elseworlds, the assorted gestures towards Superman's current status quo, the Kingdom Come symbol appearing in Action, and that Morrison would have had to completely rewrite the ending if this wasn't supposed to be 'the' version of Clark Kent going forward as was the intent when they first planned it all say to me that no, no fooling around, this is our guy going forward one way or another.

* Janin and Bellaire making the first version of the crystal Fortress ever that actually looks as cool as you want it to.

Anonymous asked: I like that Superman and The Authority is basically the anti-All-Star; instead of the laid back, immortal Superman who is supercharged, we have a stressed, ageing Superman whose tremendous powers are fading. The former will always be there to save us, but the latter is running out of time and needs to pull off a Hail Mary. Also, he mentions in his monologue to Black that he was "lost in time" when he met JFK, so maybe he is the main continuity Clark. Or he's the t-shirt Supes from Sideways.

* You're absolutely right - the power reversal is obvious and the ticking clock in play seemingly isn't for his own survival but everyone around him as he wakes up and realizes all the old icons grew complacent with the gains they'd made and he's not leaving behind the world he meant to. Both, however, are built on the idea of preparing the world to not need them anymore - it'll still have a Superman in his son, but that'll only work because of the others he empowers and inspires. The question is what happens to Clark if he's not going to live in the sun for 83000 years.

* Clark's 'exercise' here does more to sell me on the idea of Old Man Superman as a cool idea than however many decades of Earth 2 stuff.

* Intergang being noted alongside Darkseid and Doomsday speaks to how much Kirby informed Morrison's conception of Superman.

* This isn't exactly the most progressive in its disability politics but at least it makes clear Black's being a piece of shit about it.

* It's startling how much Clark can get away with saying stuff in here you'd never expect to come out of Superman's mouth. "I made an executive decision" "Privacy, really...?" "You have nowhere to go, Black. Nothing to live for." "There are few people in my life who I instinctively and viscerally dislike, and you've always been one of them." It only works because there's zero aggression behind it, he's just past the point of niceties and being totally frank while making clear none of these assessments preclude that he cares and is going to unconditionally do the right thing every time. He is absolutely, per Morrison, humanity's dad picking us up when we're too drunk to drive ourselves home.

* The story doesn't put a big flashing light over it, but it's not even a little bit subtle having the material threat of the issue be a ticking timebomb left by the carelessness and hubris of generations past.

* Manchester keeps trying to poke the bear and prove his hot takes about Superman and it's just not working. The front he put up under Kelley is gone after decades of defeats, and as Morrison understands what actually conceptually works about him as a rival to Superman underneath the aging nerd paranoia he's exposed as what he absolutely would be in 2021: a dude with a horrific terminal case of Twitter brainworms. I was PANICKED when I heard there was an 'offensive term' joke in this, I was braced for Morrison at their well-meaning worst, but it's such a goddamn perfect encapsulation of a very specific breed of Twitter leftist who uses their politics first and foremost as a cudgel and justification to label their abrasive, judgmental shittiness as self-righteousness (plus it's a killer payoff to a joke from way back in his original appearance). Cannot believe they pulled that off when they're so very, very open about basically not knowing how the internet works.

* @charlottefinn: Manchester Black using his telekinetic powers to force someone he hates to fave a problematic tweet so that he can screenshot it and start a dogpile

@intergalactic-zoo: “Once they cancel Bibbo, Superman won’t be *anyone’s* fav’rit anymore!”

* Friend noted this issue had to be fully the conversation because the whole premise stands on the house of cards of these two somehow working together, and with three 'silent' inset panels the creative team pulls off that turning point.

* So much of this feels on the surface like Morrison bringing back the All-Star vibes with Clark, but when he drops a "That's all you got?" in a brawl you realize what's underlining that bluntness and confidence in the face of failure is that deep down this is still the Action guy too. This dude ain't gonna get wrecked in his Fortress while the other guy chuckles about him being A SOFT WEE SCIENTIST'S SON!

* Bringing up Jor-El made me realize that Morrison already spelled out that this is the final threat to Superman, what he faces at the end of the road:

"Now it's your turn, Superman."

* A l'il Superman 2000/All-Star reference with the Phantom Zone map!

* There's so much intertextuality going on here even by Morrison standards - Change or Die with the old hero putting together a team of morally nebulous folks out to 'fix' everything, Flex Mentallo with the muscleman trying to redeem the punk, Doomsday Clock with the fate of the world hinging on whether Superman can get through to a meta stand-in for an idea of 'modern' comics cynicism, DKR and New Frontier and Kingdom Come and Multiversity and Seven Soldiers and What's So Funny and All-Star and Action and the last 5 years of monthly Superman comics and Authority and probably Jupiter's Legacy and Tom Strong - but none of that's needed. You could go in with the baseline pop cultural understanding of the character and not care about any of the inside baseball shit and get that this is a story about a leader of a generation that let down the people they made all their grand promises to as inertia and day-to-day demands and complacency let him be satisfied with the accomplishments they'd made long ago, looking at a new era and seeing the ways its own activists are dropping the ball. The only thing that fundamentally matters in a "you have to accept you're reading a superhero story" sense is that because he's Superman he's willing to own up to it and listen to people who might know better about some things and try to set things right while he and those who'll take his place still have a chance. And yes, the oldster looking back on their legacy with a skeptical eye and hoping for better from the next generation, hoping most of all that their little heir apparent can fulfill the promise inside of him instead of being a provocating little shitkicker, is obviously also autobiographical.

* The overlaying Kennedy reprisal is such a great visual of a sudden intrusive thought.

* The Kryptonite secret is the obvious "This is going to matter!" moment, but "He lied about his son" is a bit that doesn't connect to anything going on right now so maybe that's important here too? More significantly, the Justice League can't actually be the villains here but that Ultra-Humanite's crew are in an Earth-orbiting satellite makes pretty clear what's up.

* I've said before that between Superman, OMAC, and a New Gods-affiliated speedster this was going to use all of Morrison's favorite things. King Arthur playing a role isn't exactly dissuading me.

* Love the idea that all the antiheroes have their own community in the same way as the capes and tights crew. They definitely all privately think the rest are posers though and that they alone are Garth Ennis Punisher in a mob of Garth Ennis Wolverines.

* Manchester's fallen so far he's gone from trying to convince Superman to kill to convince him to dunk on people for their bad takes and Clark just doesn't get it. Official prediction of dialogue for upcoming issues:

"According to these bloody Fortress scans, the only thing that can restore your powers is an unfiltered hit of dopamine. Don't worry, Doctor Black has a few ideas."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll plant a nice tree?"

"...fuck you."

* Ok I already talked about how great the Fortress looks in here but LOVE this library.

* A pair of pages this seems like the right spot to discuss from Black's original appearance that underlines both his and Superman's inadequacies up to this point:

Responding to the problem of "the government and penal system are hopelessly corrupt" neither of them has any actual notion of what to do about it in spite of their respective posturing beyond how to handle individual outside actors - each is in their own way every bit as small-minded and reactionary as the other. Clark's coming around though, and he's holding out hope for the other guy.

* Superman: Have a lovely mineral water :) proper hydration is important :)

Manchester Black: *Is a dude who can get so mad he vomits and passes out. At water.*

* That last page is the one to beat for the year, and does more to put over the idea of this as an Authority book than that Midnighter and Apollo are literally going to show up. It also feels like Morrison tacitly acknowledging all the ways the premise could go or at least be received wrong - from Superman saying 'enough is enough' to who he's bringing into the fold to go about it - in the most beautifully on-the-nose fashion imaginable. Maybe they'll save us all! Or maybe they'll drown us in their vomit.

[robotlesbianjavert]

MVA is a Matryoshka Doll of Character Development & Framing: Yes This is About How the Anime Failed. Whatever.

Breaking it down, the My Villain Academia arc serves two (2) main purposes in the overall narrative.

→ Put the League of Villains back in a position where they can be a credible threat to the heroes after losing All for One and their potential partnership with Overhaul falling through. Obviously accomplished by upgrading Shigaraki / Twice / Toga, giving Shigaraki the Meta Liberation Army, Ujiko’s assistance, Gigantomachia’s loyalty, etc. 

Of course the anime undercuts all of this by letting the heroes know what the League is planning before the League can take advantage of their new position (ergo narratively giving heroes the advantage, as seen in the manga’s war arc) before we even get to see HOW they got all these cool new toys. So why bother. That’s a different sin that the anime has committed, we can put this on the backburner.

→ Pseudo-reboot the direction of the story so that villains are characters on equal standing with the heroes, rather than being obstacles to beat up. This involves a lot more factors, but it’s all rooted in how the arc and characters are framed, and how the characters are developed.

I talked a bit about my concern about the sympathetic framing of the League in MVA way back when we first learned about the anime arcs being shuffle here (my triumph of objectivity). The gist of it is that the arc switch undermines the way the League are portrayed as underdogs—broke, aimless, and relatively weak compared to the heroes and the army coming for their heads—and I was right! Worse, they didn’t just undermine that underdog framing, they straight up didn’t bother. There is zero context for the League’s situation post-Overhaul, pre-Gigantomachia. No explanation for how they have to rob other villain groups to get by, that their equipment is breaking down, that they have no solid end goal or means to achieve anything of note. Just a challenge from Ujiko and Gigantomachia that loses a lot of pressure without understanding the sorry situation the League is in.

Tellingly, they don’t even let the League kill the fantasy racists. Who doesn’t want to see the fantasy racists get murdered! Outside of the existence of the CRC being an interesting bit of worldbuilding that confirmed the existence of heteromorphic discrimination, which is likely to continue playing a role in the manga, it’s an easy way to let the villains be villains while allowing the readers to go with the flow into this villain-focused arc, without having to be outraged by their actions.

From the get go, we’ve lost the framing that made MVA an arc worth paying attention to when it was first released, which indicates a) that the anime doesn’t care about the actual purpose of this arc outside of setting up a flashy hero vs. villain fight for season six and b) that we shouldn’t expect much from the rest of the anime arc. Even if they get the technical aspects of it right, we’ve already lost the weight of the narrative.

MVA is also obviously known as being the big push to develop the villains as characters. We’ve gotten some character development for them before (Twice and Toga’s adventures with Overhaul, Shigaraki’s consistent growth from “brat” to a capable villain and leader in his own right), but MVA is the first arc solely dedicated to their stories and humanization. However, there are “tiers” of character development and focus here, nested within each other, that are tied into the arc’s narrative structure.

Getting them out of the way: Dabi and Compress didn’t get to do much, though we do get to see their relationships with the League in action, plus stuff like Dabi’s quirk limits which come up later. Otherwise, their actual storylines only come into fruition or start with the PLF Raid arc (which in itself is dependent on MVA but that’s another argument). 

More memorable and meaty is the development for Toga and Twice. We learn more about their backstories, we get to see them push themselves to the breaking point for the sake of survival, Toga gets to evolve her quirk while Twice finally uses his to its full potential. We also get to understand their personal philosophies, relationships with society, how they view the world around them, and their loyalty to Shigaraki and the League. And with the manga’s underdog framing and the life-threatening situations they were thrust into (plus at the time they didn’t have guaranteed plot armour the way the students and heroes did), the audience wants to root for them, even if they’re the bad guys!

Toga and Twice’s development are undeniable highlights of the arc, contribute strongly to the story as a whole, and justifiably receive a lot of attention. However, they are also primarily moments nested within the arc, tying into their personal ongoing storylines (Twice’s starting with the Overhaul arc and ending tragically with the PLF Raid; Toga’s storyline carries on into the PLF Raid with the loss of Twice and her confrontation with Uraraka). But they aren’t the primary storylines of the arc.

A primary storyline of MVA is in Shigaraki being able to identify the direction he wants to take the League in and make that a reality, as well as answering the questions of his past. MVA starts with the League’s aimlessness and with him revealing how little he remembers of his origins; the arc climaxes with him regaining his memories and having the confidence and strength to earn the Ujiko, Gigantomachia, and Redestro’s loyalty and resources, giving him the means to finally enact his dreams of destroying hero society. Toga and Twice’s development is encased within Shigaraki’s storyline, and that storyline provides a concisive beginning and endpoint structure of My Villain Academia—

Except Shigaraki’s narrative structure is encompassed by a layer even beyond that: Spinner’s story. When the arc begins, before Shigaraki can discuss his dream of a destroyed horizon, Spinner is the one challenging him about the League’s lack of direction and purpose. When the arc ends and Shigaraki stands victorious, Spinner is the witness who now understands that the destroyed horizon can be their reality. Spinner is the one watching Shigaraki throughout the arc, Spinner’s gaze is emphasized at the beginning and end of Shigaraki’s MVA storyline, and Spinner is the one who undergoes the most radical change from frustrated Stain flunky to Shigaraki’s devoted follower.

To paraphrase from @stillness-in-green, My Villain Academia is “about what Shigaraki coming into his own looks like to the people watching him”.  To Re-Destro, to Ujiko and Machia, and most importantly to Spinner.

It’s been frustrating enough over the past two years to see people who have read the manga discard Spinner’s role in the arc just because he isn’t a basic easy pretty boy didn’t get an elaborate flashback sequence the same way that Toga, Twice, and Shigaraki did. Seeing the anime not even bother emphasizes that lack of comprehension. But why does it specifically matter that the anime screwed over the Spinner & Shigaraki premise of MVA?

Aside from the anime’s decisions taking all the weight out of the story: In the current manga, Spinner is the only one left at Shigaraki’s side who is specifically loyal to and cares for him.

Barring executive meddling, Horikoshi changing his mind on plot points that he set up, and straight up bad writing (which can all very well happen): You don’t go through the effort of developing a character like Spinner, explicitly in conjunction with your main villain, as the framing perspective of an arc that is so vital to your story, without having a plan for that character. With the way Spinner is positioned right now, there’s a lot that can be done with him! And if that potential does get utilized, then the anime lost out their chance to give that potential its due.

Between the immediate loss of set up and context, tossing the pseudo-protagonist framing of the League, and gutting the emotional core of Spinner’s developing regard for Shigaraki, the anime adaptation has already lost. The rest of the episodes could be perfectly competent, but without the actual base of the arc it all falls flat. Hell, they could stick Spinner’s confrontation with Shigaraki in as a flashback in his fight against Trumpet and it won’t matter; that just nests Spinner’s story within Shigaraki’s the same way Toga and Twice’s is, when it should be the other way around.

Of course there are other reasons why MVA anime arc is set up to fail without reany spect for the source material (I know that the MLA got screwed over in the PLF Raid arc but that’s no reason to not even TRY with introducing them into the show properly just LET Rikiya be his fun, threatening, and engaging self!), but the fact of the matter is that I’m not going to get my Spinaraki AMVs and I want to fucking die about it.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 19, part one

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Chilling in Yiling

We start off with Wei Wuxian hanging out in a busy area of Yiling, which is a really dumb place to pick for a fugitive rendezvous.  

He's wearing a fashionably distressed brown robe, and a woven disguise hat, that makes him invisible to his enemies until the moment he takes it off, kinda like the mask he wears in his second life. Unfortunately he is a polite boi so he takes off the disguise hat when he goes indoors to get a bite to eat, and promptly gets smacked down by Wen Zhuliu. 

Xiao Zhan's stunt double is really good at this wire-pull+table-smash move; this is the second time Wei Wuxian goes crashing through a table (the first one being when Yu Ziyuan was beating him). This time he clutches his now core-less abdomen, in a move we're going to be seeing a lot of, going forward. Abdominal surgery is a bitch. OP can personally attest to this.

Wen Zhuliu provides some comic relief by looking at his hand in puzzlement; he clearly can tell Wei Wuxian has no golden core, but he isn't going to bother telling Wen Chao that.

Wen Chao gloats and steps on Wei Wuxian's hand while Wei Wuxian stares at his shoe and OP wonders, not for the first time, how they make rubberized zig-zag treads in Ancient Fantasy China.

(more after the cut)

This is all happening in the Yiling Wine house where Wei Wuxian will later share the most important meal of his life, the one in which A-Yuan lays claim to Lan Wangji, ultimately giving LWJ a reason to live long enough for Wei Wuxian to be resurrected. If that doesn’t deserve a good Yelp review, nothing does. 

Dream a Little Dream of Me

While Wei Wuxian gets ready for his big whump scene, Jiang Cheng is dreaming, and looking absolutely breathtaking in this deceptively simple robe, that's made of a really complex fabric, that catches the light all over its surface.  The lighting here is warm and romantic, giving everything a nostalgic glow.

He looks around the courtyard in his dream, and sees Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian come running in the gate carrying kites. 

A child fetching a kite was the first casualty of the Wen attack on Lotus Pier, so this image may already be a little fraught for Jiang Cheng. In this initial image of his family, Jiang Cheng isn't present as a child, but then his junior self comes running up, to be warmly greeted by his mother.

Jiang Cheng's reaction to the scene playing out in front of him is not a simple one. We've seen him externally expressing his trauma at the fate of Lotus Pier and his family - his anger and his despair - and this dream shows us his private, interior trauma. 

His body has been repaired by Wei Wuxian and the Wens, but his psyche has not.

This family interaction can't possibly be one that ever happened. It's too lively, too affectionate, too comfortable. The family he was part of as a young adult was cold, angry, cracked.  Families don't change that much in 10 years, unless there's a major trauma that alters things in a fundamental way.

Even the glimpses we got of his childhood contradict this image. This warm group is not the family of "I sent your dogs away" or "wait in the cold until Jiang Cheng lets you in" or "I won't tell Clan Leader Jiang what happened" or "I'm only 11 but I'm in charge of soup and bedtime already"

Jiang Cheng smiles at the affection he sees enacted in front of him, but quickly moves to grief. When a toxic person dies, you don't just lose the relationship you had with them; you lose the hope for a better relationship. Perhaps Jiang Cheng has always imagined this version of his family; now nothing like it can ever come to be.

The pleasant scene vanishes into nightmare, as his mother starts bleeding from her eyes, ew. This is like Nie Mingjue when he qi deviates, but dream Yu Ziyuan is perfectly chill about it. 

Jiang Cheng is not perfectly chill about it. 

He turns around to see Lotus Pier burning. When he turns back, his family has been replaced with Wen Zhuliu, who is particularly gleeful as he reaches into Jiang Cheng's chest and melts his core.

Jiang Cheng wakes up on the mountain, alone (as far as he knows), and quickly stands and boots up his new golden core.

It's purple, because of course it is. King. The nightmare is gone and he smiles, maybe for the first time since the attack on the pier.

In a moment that is probably going to feel really embarrassing in hindsight, he kneels and bows toward the mountaintops to thank Baoshan Sanren, who is totally not there. 

Wen Ning, on the other hand, is there, although we only see a little bit of his belt and robe as Jiang Cheng walks off to Yiling to meet his brother.  This entire plotline walks a very weird line in which the audience is told just enough about what’s really happening to be confused, but not surprised.

Do the Whumpty Whump

After some initial roughing up, Wen Chao has his dudes stand Wei Wuxian up so he can question him without actually getting any information out of him at all. They take turns calling each other dogs, with Wei Wuxian saying that when Wen Chao talks he just hears a dog barking. (Of course if he really heard a dog barking he'd be terrified) 

Then he says "isn't that right" to Wang Lingjiao, and Wen Chao gets super pissed; don't disrespect me to my woman. 

He has his minions do a Nancy Kerrigan to Wei Wuxian's knee and then kick him for a while.

Then they kick the shit out of the camera operator.

Wen Chao is really not about fighting his own fights.  He also keeps threatening to have Wen Zhuliu melt Wei Wuxian's core, and Wen Zhuliu keeps popping up his hand and then putting it back when Wen Chao changes his mind, which gets more hilarious every time I watch it. Feng Mingjing’s physical embodiment of Wen Zhuliu is endlessly entertaining, even in scenes where he has literally no lines. 

I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost

Wei Wuxian continues to goad Wen Chao, telling him that more torture is good because then he'll die with loads of resentment. He says that after he dies, he will come back as a ferocious ghost, which is...almost exactly what happens, except he stays alive for the ferocious part. 

They go back and forth about the feasibility of this whole haunting plan. Wang Lingjiao is the voice of reason, for once, arguing the "ghosts aren't real and anyway fuck this guy" position.

Wen Chao thinks that he can’t haunt them because of cultivator security hardening procedures soul-calming rituals, but Wei Wuxian wasn't born into a gentry family so didn't have the anti-fierce-ghost treatment that other cultivators get.

This is the only time in the whole of the show when Wei Wuxian says, himself, that he's the son of a servant. He's using his reputation as a commoner to bolster his threats. 

Wei Wuxian is working hard to put on a scary-guy persona, which works pretty well on Wang Lingjiao but not as much on the rest of the group. Three months from this time, however, he will have become the scary, vengeful creature he's currently spitballing about.  He will also become way, way better at torture than the people who are currently mistreating him. 

Wang Lingjiao and Wen Chao go through a whole sequence of ideas about what to do with him. For whatever reason Wang Lingjiao doesn't insist on chopping his arm off even though she's been craving it for ages. 

She does gleefully burn his burn some more, causing it to bleed directly into the giant obvious bag he has hanging from his belt leaking resentful energy. Which the Wens do not take away or search.

Wen Chao, incidentally, starts calling him Wei Ying during this encounter, which is rude of him. Tch.  Finally Wen Chao decides on a plan, which involves sword-flying effects so terrible that no soul can survive them.

Jiang Cheng is looking for Wei Wuxian in town, wearing a woven hat like Wei Wuxian’s.  This...is not a disguise. If you want to be inconspicuous, maybe take that giant piece of silver off of your head.

He hears random people talking about the Wens being in town, and then he apparently looks up at the sky and sees the Wen dudes flying on their swords with Wei Wuxian, but it looks so ridiculous that Jiang Cheng's mind cannot process what he is seeing.

While they "fly," Wen Chao delivers a massive brick of exposition about the burial mounds, while Wei Wuxian looks genuinely frightened. The VFX of random, undifferentiated mountaintops and clouds do nothing to sell this menace, but the exposition is actually pretty good, creating a real sense of disturbance and threat.

Then they toss him in, and we go from the terrible VFX of sword flying to a visual effect that they mercifully did really well throughout the show - the black resentment smoke. This time it catches Wei Wuxian and holds him for a few moments, before dropping him the rest of the way to the ground. It also apparently pulls the turtle sword out of his belt bag, but we don't see that part.

They Say That Every Man Must Fall

Having seen Wei Wuxian at his lowest point (so far) and dream Jiang Cheng also in deep distress, we go to the Dafan Wen sibs, who have also reached a breaking point. Because they helped Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, they are traitors to their clan - unquestionably so - and are being punished for it, with Wen Ning having been tortured in addition to being locked up.

I see my light come shining From the west down to the east Any day now, any day now I shall be released

You know how Lan Xichen successfully argued for Wen-Clan-Member Meng Yao's life and status, because Meng Yao betrayed Wen Ruohan to help them? Even though Meng Yao killed a bunch of Nie guys? Wen Ning and Wen Qing also betrayed Wen Ruohan and helped the Sunshot Campaign, without killing a bunch of guys. They should have been treated as allies by the four other clans, but they got diddly.  

I’ve Been Dead Once

We return to Wei Wuxian in the burial grounds, where he's lying on the ground surrounded by resentful energy and by strained, desperate voices calling his name. This whole sequence is remarkable, since it effectively communicates the horror he's experiencing, through little more than Xiao Zhan's face and good sound design.

I hang around dying to be tortured  You'll never be alone in the bone orchard

The voices call four versions of his name. A variety of voices call him Wei Wuxian, Wei Gongzi, and Shixiong, which (I think) is what the young Jiang disciples would have called him. And in the midst of those voices, Lan Wangji's voice, low and calm, saying "Wei Ying." Upon hearing that Wei Wuxian starts to drag himself up.

For a show with definitely no zombies in it, they sure do use the visual language of zombie films for Wei Wuxian's first motions after hitting the ground. Starting with twitching fingers, then gradually pulling himself halfway up and crawling, lurching across the ground. Wei Wuxian comes slowly back to life, the very first member of his army of the dead.

He makes his way across the ground toward the floating turtle sword. Along the way he accidentally grabs the world's most bowlegged thigh bone; the lack of sunshine in the burial mounds puts the skeletons at risk for rickets.  All of the skeletons in the show are exactly what you would expect from the practical effects team that made the demon hand and the animatronic dog.

The turtle sword is roiling with resentful energy, and is talking to Wei Wuxian as he crawls toward it, asking if he wants revenge. And what a coincidence, he DOES want revenge. 

He grabs the sword and plunges it into the ground in an explosion of resentful energy. (Ground: why you gotta take it out on me?)

The sequence ends with the most compelling, ominous shot of Wei Wuxian's face...a new man. 

Soundtrack: 1. I Shall Be Released by Bob Dylan 2. Beyond Belief by Elvis Costello  

Writing Prompt: The Day Wei Wuxian arrived, from the POV of a Burial Mounds ghost. 

[spencers-renaissance]

I found my way home

Summary: After Spencer tells Hotch about his recent autism diagnosis, he expects that to be the end of it. Somehow, though, it keeps coming up, and Hotch keeps proving himself to be the best father figure he could have asked for. 

Tags: autistic spencer, protective hotch, hurt/comfort, fluff, paternal hotch, team as family

TW: mentions of ableism, one small instance of ableism & homophobia 

Pairing: Gen 

Word Count: 4.1k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

This was borne from my conversations with @criminalmindsvibez about the lack of autistic spencer fics and her amazing headcanons. While I'm not autistic, Emily is, and helped me to portray Spencer's autism as accurately as possible. That said, please feel free to correct me on anything I got wrong :)

Spencer had made an effort to get into work even earlier than usual today. He’d ridden the metro through the city, dipping his hand into his messenger bag every few minutes to compulsively check that the slim letter he’d received in the post the other day is still in the front pocket where he’d safely placed it that morning. He brushes his fingers over the paper once more as he enters the near-empty bullpen, the letter cool from the winter air.

It’s still so surreal to him that this is where he works. After years of dreaming of working for the FBI he’s finally here, and even though it’s been his place of work for almost two months now, he’s still not used to it. The warm offices are a nice reprieve from the wintry December wind, and he can feel himself relaxing as he heads to his desk. Leaving his coat and messenger bag on his chair, he pulls the letter out of the front pocket and runs his index finger along the edge. He finds himself biting his bottom lip as he tries to work up the courage to go and see Hotch. 

Sucking in a deep breath, he marches determinedly up to Hotch’s office, entering as soon as his knocks are answered. 

“Reid,” Hotch says pleasantly as he takes a seat opposite his desk, realising belatedly that he probably should have waited until he was invited. “You’re in early. What can I do for you?”

Nervously, Spencer hands him the letter he’d couriered across the city so carefully. He’d taken care to open it neatly with his letter opener but the return address on the back has been stamped at a crooked angle, and it bothers him every time he notices it. He can’t stop looking at it now as he taps his fingers anxiously against his leg in the pattern of the Fibonacci sequence, a safe and familiar reassurance played out by his nervous fingers. He watches apprehensively as Hotch pulls the letter out of the envelope, unfolding it and skimming his eyes down the page, taking in the news Spencer’s been so anxious to share with him.

Diagnosis: Asperger’s Syndrome

God, it had been a long process. He’d had to seek out a doctor in DC who diagnosed adults, paid for all the consultations and diagnostics himself — his insurance certainly wouldn’t cover it, not that he’d feel comfortable using his cushy FBI insurance for something so personal anyway — and the whole process had taken far longer than he’d expected. Finally, though, the envelope had arrived in the mail, and he officially had a diagnosis. 

Of course, he’d had his suspicions for years, especially after one of his professors during his second PhD had casually asked whether he’d ever been tested, planting a seed in his brain that led to many late nights in the library, reading all the literature available to him. It’s why he’d found it strange that it had felt so validating to finally receive that letter in the post. But it had.

The label made sense, and now that he had a diagnosis from a medical professional he felt comfortable to share it with others; he’d been far too paranoid about being questioned, not being believed or lectured about the evils of self-diagnosis no matter how he was confident in himself. He didn’t tend to be an insecure or self-conscious person, but after years of bullying and trauma surrounding what he now knew for sure to be his autistic traits, he couldn’t help but feel almost protective of his affirming label. 

Now though, it’s an irrefutable statement. Dr Spencer Reid has autism, and the first person he wants to tell is Hotch.

“I had no idea you were getting tested, Reid,” Hotch says, a hint of surprise bleeding into his voice. “Is there any specific reason you wanted to share this with me?”

“Well… I felt like someone on the team should know,” Spencer starts carefully, afraid to give too much of himself away, “and I thought that someone in a leadership position was the best option. Gideon has never been very… supportive of my autistic traits or behaviour, so I thought that you— that you would be the best option.” He feels awkward, fidgeting in his chair as he watches Hotch’s serious face and kind eyes absorb the information. 

“That trust in me means a lot, Reid,” he says, a rare smile making its way onto his face. In that moment, Spencer knows he made the right decision. “How can I make things easier for you? Is there anything you need me to be doing differently?”

“Uh—” He hadn’t really been anticipating that question and it catches him off guard: he’d predicted a quick nod of acknowledgement, a request to photocopy the letter so it can be put on file followed by a swift dismissal, but the letter is now sitting on his side of the desk: clearly, Hotch intends on keeping this between them. This is far from what he expected.

“Why don’t you start by telling me about autism and how it might affect your work?” Hotch corrects himself, recognising quickly Spencer’s need for specifics. “I’ll admit I don’t know much beyond some probably rather unhelpful stereotypes.”

Spencer nods. He can answer that question. “As everyone knows I often go off on tangents,” he begins, “and that’s because my special interests — or hyperfixations — often coincide with our work, so I know a lot about the topics we’re investigating. If I do that, just redirect me to the case and I’ll be fine. It’s also really hard for me to have to present myself in a certain way all the time. Vocal stims and gestures are the most satisfying to me but I often have to mask them, which I’ve never been very good at anyway, and it’s fairly exhausting. That’s why I often excuse myself; I go to the bathroom or a secluded hallway and stim on my own. My doctor also told me I tend to overcompensate in social situations and over-perform emotion. Those are the basics, I guess, but it’s a very complex disorder and since it makes up me as a human being, I can’t exactly explain all of it in one conversation.”

“No, that’s fine, Reid, you’ve given me a good picture of what to expect, thank you.” Hotch smiles at him, fondness in the crinkles around his eyes and the softness invading his usually stern expression. “First of all, you never have to feel like you need to excuse yourself to stim. Do you think it would be helpful if we told the rest of the team so they know what to expect? I’m assuming vocal stims are saying certain words or making sounds…?”

Spencer nods. 

“Okay, so if you needed to do that we could just continue the conversation while you get it out of your system. Gestures certainly wouldn’t be a problem. How do you feel about that?”

He hadn’t really considered telling the rest of the team but it seemed sort of intimidating, like he’d be opening a vulnerable side of himself to people he didn’t even know that well. On the other hand, they’d all been so understanding of his quirks and odd behaviour so far without even knowing the reason behind it. He’d never once been made to feel the way he used to at school, forced to either pretend to be someone else completely or be isolated and ostracised. 

He settles for, “I’ll think about it.” 

“That’s fine. There’s no pressure,” Hotch assures him. “I’m very happy you told me, Reid. I hope you know you can come and talk to me about anything, whether it’s about this or something completely different.”

Spencer leaves his office with the letter back in his hands, no notes or copies having been made, feeling almost elated. Never in a million years would he have expected that to go so well. 

⭐️

He doesn’t really expect it to come up again. He’d told Hotch so that he could understand him a bit better, and also because Hotch had quickly assumed a protective, almost paternal role in his life and he wanted to share the piece of news with him whether he was leading his department or not. That was supposed to be it, though, he didn't think anything would materially change, especially since he decided not to tell the team about the diagnosis just yet.

But almost immediately after he’d told Hotch his diagnosis, his rambles began to be gently redirected back to the case, sometimes without him even noticing. He wasn’t rudely cut off by anyone anymore, Hotch always steering him back on course before anyone else can jump in and hurt Spencer’s feelings. It’s so… kind that it almost feels foreign, and he finds himself gravitating towards the older man more and more, sitting next to him on every jet journey and staying glued to his side during cases. 

His newfound protectiveness over Spencer is only demonstrated more clearly a few months after their conversation in Hotch’s office when they’re on their way to New Mexico for a case. The second he spots that the murder victims had all been found with different Fitzgerald quotes scrawled on sheets of paper found in their own personal notebooks, ripped out and left for investigating officers to find, he launches into an info-dump to rival info-dumps. 

He can’t help that literature is a special interest of his, made all the more intense by the fond childhood memories of reading to his mother in her bed. Fitzgerald had been her favourite author of the Modern Era, and he’d spent hours analysing significant passages in his novels as a child, so he starts explaining the literary merit of each of the quotes left at the crime scenes. 

Apparently, he doesn’t hear the first two times Hotch tries to direct him back on topic, but he hears it when Gideon shouts, “Spencer! Long and unnecessary tangents are not conducive to actually solving these cases. Get back on topic. Now.” He’s loud enough to briefly knock him back several decades to memories of his father screaming at his mother’s schizophrenic babbling, when she’d become convinced that the villains of her favourite novels were trying to break into the house.

Spencer stops mid-sentence and stares at Gideon, who is staring right back. Everyone’s watching the two awkwardly, but the short moment of silence is quickly broken by Hotch. “There is absolutely no need to be that rude, Jason,” he says disapprovingly, while he lays a hand on Spencer’s arm in a light, absent-minded sort of touch. “Reid may have been off-topic but he deserves respect just like everyone else on this team. Nobody needs to be shouted at like that.” He directs his attention back to Spencer. “Why don’t you tell us how those Fitzgerald quotes could help us solve the case, Reid?” 

He gives him an encouraging look, and when he looks around the jet, everyone else is, too. Carefully, he starts speaking again, a little afraid of being cut off again, but after a few sentences of relevant explanation he regains his momentum. It’s more than a little vindicating when it’s his ‘unnecessary tangent’ that ends up being the key to cracking the case. 

⭐️

Soon after Hotch’s split from Haley, he approaches Spencer one evening when they’re the only two left at the office with a dinner invitation. Within the hour, they walk into a nice, low-key Italian place in the city and take a seat in the far corner of the restaurant. 

“Is everything okay?” Spencer asks a little uncertainly, confused as to why his boss is suddenly taking him for dinner. 

“I had this idea almost as soon as you told me about your autism,” Hotch explains, knowing by now that preambles and niceties only frustrate Spencer instead of setting him at ease. “I wanted to take you out for dinner every week to try and give you a space to ramble about all your special interests and not feel like you have to mask around everyone. But when I was with Haley, all my personal time was obviously spent with her and Jack. Now, I have the time to dedicate to you and all the incredible knowledge you’re hoarding in that brain of yours.”

“Really?” Spencer asks excitedly. The idea of uninhibited space to talk about the recent knowledge he’s acquired and not have to feel insecure or worry about performing social skills he doesn’t see the point of is everything he’s ever wished for, and something so wonderful being provided by Hotch only makes it better. 

“Really.”

Spencer wastes no time. He dives right in. “I was just watching a documentary the other day about volcanoes and their ability to trigger lightning storms with their voltage,” he begins. “Basically, magma rises toward the volcano’s surface, its water rapidly turns to vapor, which shatters the molten rock into tiny particles and creates charged particles. When the ash plume erupts into the atmosphere, the densely packed particles collide, driven by momentum. Friction then affects their electrons, becoming electrically charged. Positively and negatively charged electrons separate in the ash plume which creates a charge imbalance that builds an electric charge strong enough to trigger a lightning storm.” 

“That’s incredible.”

“I know,” Spencer says excitedly. “If the ash plume rises high enough in the atmosphere ice forms, and when ice, hail, and supercooled liquid droplets collide, the rates of lightning explode, it’s crazy.”

They’re briefly interrupted by a waitress taking their orders, but as soon as she leaves, Hotch gets him to jump back in. “What about that lecture you attended last week… the literature of 18th Century England or something?”

“19th Century English Lit, yeah!” He’s so eager to finally share this with somebody who will genuinely listen to him, and he can’t help it when his arms start to flap excitedly. Remembering where he is, he doesn’t try to mask it, pin his arms to his sides and simply deal with and suppress the innate urge to stim, he lets his body do what it wants to. Instead of eliciting a strange, sideways look, Hotch just smiles fondly.  

“The lecturer had this fascinating theory on Dickens. I’ve always seen him as a pretty straight forward author of picaresque fiction, obviously combined with facets of melodrama. And it’s common knowledge that he was inspired by the novel of sensibility, of course. But I’d never thought about the stylistic and lexical choices in his works beyond standard analysis, and this lecturer went on a deep dive into his use of collocation and it opened my eyes…”

He spends the whole evening stimming to his heart’s content while detailing every current interest of his to Hotch, who simply listened intently while eating his meal slowly, dragging out the meal for as long as Spencer needed. “Let me give you a lift home,” Hotch insists after footing the bill, leading him out into the warm evening air.

“Oh, I don’t mind taking the metro,” he replies truthfully. 

“I know. But it would make me feel better to drop you home safely. It’s late and seeing you into your apartment building would give me peace of mind.”

“Sure,” Spencer agrees happily, he’s still buzzing from such a nice evening and the least he can do for Hotch is let him rest easy tonight, so he climbs into the passenger side of his car. A few minutes into the car ride home, he realises he should probably actually verbalise just how much he enjoyed dinner. “Thank you, Hotch. I don’t think anybody’s ever done something so nice for me before.”

“Don’t mention it, Spencer,” Hotch replies, smiling even though he doesn’t take his eyes off the road. Spencer very much likes it when Hotch uses his first name, and he’d been doing it all evening. He doesn’t really understand why it feels so nice, just that it makes him feel… special, maybe.

“Don’t mention it, Spencer,” he repeats, before freezing as he realises what he’s said. He’s got so used to not masking all evening, he’s not in the right rhythm and mindset to suppress the urge to repeat Hotch’s words. He’s been so nice the whole evening, the last thing Spencer wants is for Hotch to think he’s mocking him. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Hotch reassures him, tapping his arm lightly as he smiles encouragingly. 

“Don’t mention it, Spencer,” he says again, repeating it a few times in relief before the itch is satisfied. He really does have the best boss/friend in the whole world. There’s no doubt about that. 

⭐️

Rossi’s initial reaction to Spencer had admittedly been a bit rocky, and having Hotch undeniably on his side was the only thing that made those first few months bearable. He never let them go off on their own; never put Spencer in a position where he’d have to be alone with him. Gradually, though, Rossi adjusted to his quirks and he became almost as protective of Spencer as Hotch.

That doesn’t bode well for the local sheriff when they’re on a case in North Carolina. He’s been prickly since they arrived, being as stubborn and uncooperative as possible, slowing down their progress on actually solving the case, and Spencer’s noticed him being a little extra rude to him in particular. It doesn’t massively bother him — it’s not exactly like someone’s aversion to him is a novel concept — but he can feel some sort of tension coming from the others. It happens a lot more now that they know about his autism and are more aware of themselves and others.

He tries to ignore it the best he can; he puts his head down and focuses on the geographical profile, going wherever he’s sent. Besides, the sooner they solve this case the sooner they can get out of North Carolina and back to DC. On their third day on the case, he’s working quietly in their designated corner of the police department alongside Hotch and Rossi while the others are out investigating in various different places. It’s a nice environment, and even though both men are his superiors, he feels more relaxed in their company than in anybody else’s.

It’s a relatively pleasant morning — considering the whole trying to catch a brutal serial killer thing — until they need to ask the sheriff a question. He saunters over, a tense and angry expression on his face, and Spencer can’t help but feel a little off, the confusing tension in the air that Spencer can’t quite identify making him anxious in his inability to properly decipher it. “Gentlemen,” he says, already frustrated. Spencer suspects it’s a pride thing; not many police departments like being shown up enough to have the FBI called in.

Eager to know the answer to their question, Spencer’s the one to jump in and ask. “Sheriff, we were just wondering whether the town gets much traffic from the local university or—”

He’s cut off by the sneering, towering man. “I’m not taking any questions from your kind,” he says aggressively. 

“I’m sorry?” Spencer squeaks as Rossi and Hotch both prepare to say something in response.

The sheriff cuts them off before they can get their likely diplomatic and calming words out. “Homo retards aren’t welcome around here.”

“Hey!” Rossi shouts as he leaps out of the chair, grabbing him by the collar as he’s helped by the element of surprise. “You don’t fucking talk to Spencer like that, you hear me? Weak, cowardly men like you—”

“Dave,” Hotch says placatingly, putting a hand on his shoulder and diffusing the situation. “Listen, Sheriff, we are only here to help you. But if you can’t respect my agents then we’re going to have a problem. Either you’re civil to Dr Reid, or I’m reporting you to the NC Sheriff’s Association. You hear me?”

The sheriff’s pride is clearly wounded, but he at least nods before giving them all a scornful look and walking away. 

“We didn’t even get to ask the question,” Spencer says anxiously, suddenly feeling out of his depth, like he can’t quite get enough air. 

“Dave, try and get an answer,” Hotch directs, taking charge of the situation. “Spencer, come with me.” He takes him into a secluded hallway for a little privacy, sitting him down on the cool linoleum before sinking down next to him. “You’re okay.”

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Spencer whispers over and over to himself as he rocks backwards and forwards, trying desperately to self-soothe.

“Do you want me to touch you?” Hotch asks. He’s been in enough of these situations with Spencer to know he’s usually in two very different headspaces: he either longingly craves the grounding touch of a hug or a hand on his back, or he needs complete space. He’s also learned that asking outright is the only way to get an direct answer. 

“Yes,” Spencer replies, before repeating it over and over again as he’s wrapped up in Hotch’s arms, head pressed against his chest, his hand pressing gently against the back of Spencer’s head. He starts to calm down as he manages to breathe to the heat of Hotch’s calm, steady heartbeat, the comforting touch of someone he trusts with his life also helping to bring him back down to earth. A good ten minutes after the altercation with the sheriff, he’s feeling much better and brings his head out of it’s safe cocoon between Hotch’s chest and hand. 

“Come on,” Hotch says kindly. “Let’s get back to the case, yeah? You can just sit and work quietly until you’re ready to hold a proper conversation again. How does that sound?”

Spencer nods tiredly, knowing that work will perk him back up again, and being surrounded by his team will make him feel safe, asshole sheriff or not.

⭐️

Over the years Hotch helps him through any hurdles that come his way, learning the exact nuances of Spencer’s characteristics and requirements, making sure to accommodate him in every way possible.

He brings an extra, super-soft sweater in his go-bag in case Spencer ever forgets his and needs something gentle on his skin but tight enough to make him feel secure. He buys him stimming toys, dropping them on Spencer’s desk before he even arrives at work and lets him use his office whenever the lights and noise of the bullpen get too much, drawing the blinds and giving him the space he needs. Rossi doesn’t even question it anymore when Hotch shows up with a stack of paperwork and moves into his office for the morning. 

It wasn’t until Hotch made a concerted effort to make his life easier that Spencer realised how hard it had been fighting through life on his own. So when he realises Hotch’s birthday is coming up, he decides he wants to show his gratitude. It’s never been easy for him to express emotions, especially since he’s never really found it rude when people don’t thank him, but he knows that for most neurotypical people, appreciation is important. 

So he talks it over with Derek and on Hotch’s birthday, he comes into work to see Spencer waiting in his office with balloons, a cake, a card, and a present. He’d spent hours trying to find the right words to explain how he feels, to find the right words to show Hotch just how much everything he’s done for him means, but eventually he’d settled on something simple:

Caroline B Cooney wrote: “I found my family. I found the right thing to do. I found my way home.” 

I found all of these things when I joined the BAU, but more specifically when I walked into your office, hands shaking, clasping a letter I’d been waiting for all my life. Thank you. 

Hotch reads it with tears in his eyes before taking in the cake, a classic birthday cake Spencer had bought at the store, the words “Happy Birthday Dad” written in blue icing. He didn’t really understand why the cake had stood out to him, or why he associated the word ‘dad’ with someone who wasn’t related to him at all, but he’d trusted his gut and with Derek’s cheerleading, he’d bought it. 

“Oh, Spencer,” Hotch says tearfully. “Can I hug you?”

Feeling only mildly uncomfortable at the visible display of emotion Spencer doesn’t know what to do with, he nods and steps into Hotch’s comforting embrace. “This means the world to me,” Hotch murmurs quietly as he stands, hugging Spencer for as long as the younger man can stand it. 

Spencer’s still not completely sure why he’s managed to make him so emotional, but at least he can trust that it’s a good thing, that Hotch is happy and pleased and reassured. And if he can make him feel even a smidgen as happy as Hotch has made Spencer over the years, well. He’ll consider his long and boring trip into the city to buy the cake, present and card worth it.

Quick Note: Spencer is diagnosed with Asperger’s because that part of the fic is set in 2005. These days he would be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @strippersenseii

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 327 Spoiler Analysis: Home Sweet Home

OH MY GOD, GUYS!!!  DEKU GETS A BATH!!!! 🎉🛁 🧼   My broccoli boy finally gets squeaky clean, gets some sleep, and we finally get some R&R time with the Class 1-A kids.  It’s not close to the happy-go-lucky days of old, but it’s some time with the kids nonetheless.  I’m glad Horikoshi put some heart and humor in this chapter because god knows we needed it.  But, let’s be real, this is the calm before the storm:

The chapter starts off with what everyone and Horikoshi has been wanting for Deku since he went on his mission: A motherfuckin’ bath 🛀 🧼🛁!   Kaminiari and Kirishima lead the Class 1-A boys to carry Deku into their side of the UA Alliance bathhouse (looks real nice btw) and give him a good power-wash.  The whole sequence is very comical!  The boys are rushing in and poor Deku has this O_O face on him like “what is happening?” 😂 We also see some of the boys butt naked 😳  It’s clear that Horikoshi had fun drawing this thing and it was fun to read 💚

Bakugo is with them of course and you can actually see his scars from when Shigaraki stabbed him.  He’s not bleeding, but you can see those scar patches on his skin.  I’m curious of how fan artist are going to draw him from now on.  I would like to see that fan art 👀

There’s also some bubble sfx coving Bakugo’s crotch and a translator said it might say dick or penis.  I’m curious what the officials will say.

But, Bakugo being Bakugo is still aggressive towards his classmates.  More playfully than before, but still.  He reminds everyone that he still intends on being the best there is and that everyone is still his rivals (also friends, Bakugo).  HE EVEN MAKES AN ATTEMPT TO CALL DEKU IZUKU!  LIKE HE ALMOST SAID “DEKU” BUT HE CHANGED IT TO IZUKU AT THE LAST MINUTE!  AND DEKU SAYS THAT CALLING HIM DEKU IS JUST FINE LIKE THAT ANGER THAT ORIGINATED FROM THE NICKNAME ISN’T THERE ANYMORE AND IT’S A FREINDLY NICKNAME BKDK FRIENDSHIP GROWTH YOU LOVE TO SEE IT 🧡💚  

After Deku’s bath, he’s sitting in the commons talking to the rest of Class 1-A.  Well, most of them.  Mina tells Deku that Ochako and a few other students went to bed after everything became ok again.  So, I definitely didn’t see Tsuyu, and it looks like Shoji, Aoyama, and Hagakare weren’t in this chapter either.  Ochako I understand; her speech must’ve been emotionally taxing.  Aoyama and Hagakare are the top suspects for being the traitor in the fandom and this isn’t helping their cases.  I don’t know about Tsuyu and Shoji though.  They’re both mutant-types, but characters like Ojiro or mutant-like people like Jiro, Mina or Tokoyami didn’t get outcasted.  Horikoshi did hint that Shoji would be getting something soon.  But, I really am just speculating here.

Now that Deku’s back, everyone has questions for him.  Though I understand why, this has gotta be overwhelming for Deku.  At least they’re not mad at him for hiding OFA.  They seem very understanding actually.

Then my ❄️🔥 boy, Shoto Todoroki, comes in all handsome right out of the baths 💙  He’s drying his right side while you can see a steam cloud on his left.  So, it is canon that Shoto drys himself naturally with his heat. His entrance is so pretty that even Mineta’s questioning it (shut up, Mineta, you’ll never be as beautiful as him).  And yes, I might be a Shoto simp, don’t judge me I see y’all too 👀

Anyway, Shoto asks everyone to let Deku sleep since that was pretty much the whole reason they brought him back.  Problem is, Deku can’t because he really needs to apologize to All Might for abandoning him.  AND AFTER HE SAYS THAT THERE’S A DETAILED PANEL OF SHOTO POINTING TO ALL MIGHT LIKE “UH, MIDORIYA? HE’S RIGHT THERE” AND ALL MIGHT LOOKING FROM THE WINDOW LIKE A HORROR VILLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE 😭

All Might comes in and apologizes to Deku for not being able to support him when he needed it, but Deku says that All Might support him more than enough.  Mina also scolds All Might for not saying anything when he left.  She wants All Might to apologize to everyone for that.  Though I’m glad Deku and All Might have reconciled (I honestly thought that last convo between them was going to be THE LAST for a hot minute), Mina has a point.  All Might did bail on all of them without any warning.  Kinda messed up in general.

All Might apologizes and he is going to fight with everyone regardless of his physical state so that he can see that flame continue to shine.  However, he warns the kids that they got info on the villains and that the final decisive battle is coming soon.  If the whole “Final Arc” thing hasn’t been hammered into your head, there you go.  I’m also glad that Stain’s speech did end up motivating All Might further.  Who knew?

So, All Might is off to help Endeavor since he’s got unfinished business to take care of.  But, the kids are wondering why Endeavor (and probably Hawks) isn’t entering UA entirely yet.  Shot reminds them that Endeavor is still connected to Dabi and that his presence alone would cause more discourse.  People’s minds can’t change that easily.  Shoto of all people would know.  

As Deku FINALLY SLEEPS 💤 and Shoto puts a blanket over him (possibly warmed by his left side 🔥) 💙💚 Shoto acknowledges how his presence might be making people anxious too even though it’s not his fault at all (thank you, Kirishima for doubling down on this btw ❤️🪨).  But, things are different and Shoto’s going to show that so that everyone can be at ease like he wants as a hero.  There’s even this sweet small smile on his beautiful face as he says this.  He’s grown so much and he’s pretty to boot I love him so much *HANDS IN FACE* 💙❄️🔥 

EVEN KIRISHIMA’S CRYING FROM HOW MANLY SHOTO IS I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!!

And now Jiro steps up and says her piece.  That she knows how hard it is to convince everyone to change their minds for the better.  Like with those two critics from the Culture Fest.  Even so, they accomplished this before, so she thinks they can do it again.  She even gathers all the band members to emphasize on this.  I love how Jiro uses her earphone jacks to rally the band and how she literally drags Bakugo by the shirt for a cute group shot.  None of these kids are afraid of Bakugo anymore LOL 😂!  Also, Momo is the tallest out of all of them in this line up shot (except for Bakugo who’s still being dragged on the ground).  I think she’s roughly 5ft 6-7 inches?  She’s the tallest of the girls I know that, but damn.  She towers all of them.  Even me...  She’s also very pretty in this shot and it’s her birthday as I’m posting this, so happy b-day Momo ❤️

And we get a beautiful panel of Jiro leading everyone to make sure that they’ll go beyond with making everything better than it was before.  We get a nice group shot of the rest of the class agreeing with her with a smile including Shoto with a small one (did I mention that I love him?) 💙💙💙 And Deku’s in the center still sleeping away.  I hope he has good dreams *kisses forehead*💚  And go Jiro for stepping up to the plate too 💜!  All these kids have grown so much.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Finally, the last pages show Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist going somewhere, maybe Tartarus.  They got info out of Dr. Ujiko via polygraph and the Nomu Research Group at Central Hospital.  They predict that they have 2 months until Shigaraki’s ready to go again, so they’ll need 1 month of preparation.  But, the info Stain gave All Might gave them more info.  His letter ended up being a personal letter to All Might (Stain really is that nuts...), but there was a microchip in the blade Stain left containing the security records from Tartarus.  It’s not stated how this info affected the mission at hand, but it sounds like it has to do something with the time frame.  So, I’m curious if they have less time to prepare or more?  Given how this is the Final Arc, Imma say less.

Finally, the teaser asks “How are the villains moving?”  I wonder if that means we’re switching to the villain’s next week.  I would love to hang out with the kids more, but I would also like to know what our villains are up to.  Like, where the hell is Himiko Toga?  Is Spinner still questioning shit?  What happened to Mr. Compress after he mauled himself to help Shigaraki and the others escape?  Also I think we need more info on this dude’s backstory given he’s the grandson of the famous Robin Hood villain who’s name definitely didn’t escape me... 😐  Is Dabi laughing his ass off from the utter chaos he started?  Is AFO still smiling like the evil mastermind he is?  Is Shigaraki as crispy as he was earlier?  I was going to ask about Twice but... 😭

So, yeah!  Love this chapter.  Really good transition chapter into whatever happens next.  I’m kinda sad we didn’t see Deku fight off more past villains during his vigilante days.  We got Muscular and Overhaul and I think that’s it?  Didn’t see any of Overhaul’s minions or that teeth-blade villain (Fish-something?; he broke out, but we haven’t seen him since) or Re-Destro or his goons.  I don’t count as Gentle or LaBrava as villains anymore and they were never truly evil to begin with.  Regardless, it was a really cool arc to see a more dark side of Deku.  I’m really glad Horikoshi made great use of his bunny hood and metal mask finally.  Deku really did look demonic for some time.  Also, seeing Deku badass is always a plus.  And seeing the deconstruction of hero society and the possible reconstruction of it was really good too.  Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, unfortunately, but we can do our best to make it that way.

I’m also glad that we finally got our kids back in top form.  Not just being heroes, but being teenagers too.  They all had great moments especially Iida, Ochako, and now Shoto as they should.  But, Bakugo’s apology was peak for me.  Over 320 chapters of development and build-up lead to that moment and it really is one of the best in the series.  It lives in my head rent free.

So, we got 1-2 months in-manga-time until what is probably the final battle of the series.  God, I can’t believe we’re actually nearing the end of this series.  I started reading it back in 2018 when shit was rough for me. I found this series after listening to the music and reading the hype around it.  I watched the show then I read the manga and it really helped me.  Saved me from a dark place actually.  I will miss this series when it’s done and I will be greatly for the joy Horikoshi has gifted us.  I’ll try to save the farewells for later.  I’d say this series has at least 1-1 1/2 years to go.

Me @ the kids and All Might: