#i will die on this hill. i saw what i saw

[howtosingit]

Tag Game: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Tagged by @rmd-writes and this is probably the first tag game I've done in... *checks calendar* I can't count that high 🤷🏻‍♂️

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I've been watching since the pilot premiered on Sunday, January 19, 2020 🙃 I actually was still watching OG 911 at that time with @emisfritish and we were trying to decide if we wanted to watch the upcoming spinoff or not, so we checked out the trailer. Saw that first little clip of Carlos Reyes and that moment of Tarlos getting down to business in 1x02 and I was suddenly way more interested in LS than I had ever been in OG (sorry not sorry). And though she never really joined the LS fandom, I do still get to experience @emisfritish watching LS episodes for the first time (even if it's sometimes months after they air) and it's one of my favorite things.

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3, for sure. Best viewing experience of any season, really strong storylines, so much more Carlos than the previous 2 seasons (combined), the full tarlos arc from exes to fiancés and all the really good growth for them in-between those two moments... I don't know that the show will ever reach those heights again, but I'm so glad I got to experience every moment of it in real time.

[Seasons best-to-worst, imho, are: 3, 4, 2, 1]

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

LOL such a mystery, my favorite character is obviously Caleb. Love that dumbass. (Real answer: my top 3 characters are Carlos, Grace, and Judd.)

Top five episodes. Go!

Oh goodness, okay...

Push Bad Call Saving Grace Riddle of the Sphynx Donors In Sickness and In Health (sorry I know that's six but rafa is just so fucking good)

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

First I will say that I'm really happy that we don't do "Begins" episodes with LS because I remember wanting to skip so many of those when watching OG (never grew attached to any of the characters, maybe I'd like them better in LS but let's not risk it) and I think there are more organic ways to incorporate backstory into the narrative than to say "here's 45 minutes of backstory!"

ANYWAY For a very long time my answer was uncontestedly Carlos Reyes, and I would still love to get every single moment of his life from his birth until now, but also... I don't know, I think at this point in the show we've gotten so much of Carlos's history (through what is sometimes messy writing, sure, but we still got it) that it feels selfish to keep asking for more when a character like Paul still feels really undervalued on the show. So, maybe Paul? But, also Carlos because... I'm me 🤷🏻‍♂️

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

Honestly, I would like to see Carlos have to face the consequences of his actions in the s4 finale. I love him, I would die on every damn hill for him, and I fully tracked his rationale for why he did what he did, but it was still really messed up, and I would love to see him battling with those decisions and what they mean for him at the top of the season. I'm not against Carlos struggling and messing up sometimes (two of my favorite episodes are "Cry Wolf" and "In Sickness and In Health"), but it's a way more interesting narrative if we actually see him confronting his mistakes rather than them disappearing into the unknown like most of the consequences on LS... Also, Rafa would destroy scenes like that and I always want to see Rafa at the top of his game.

Would also love to see him get a different job but that seems unlikely and we'd lose that glorious utility belt strut

What do you think is going on in this still?

I do think it's most likely related to Gabriel's murder. It could be an update on where the Rangers are at in the case, it could be them calling Carlos in to assist with something (undercover Carlos mayhaps?), or maybe Carlos got suspended after what he did last season and this is him receiving a call from his boss with an update on his job status... honestly, no idea, but it's making me want to know things so fuck you tim minear

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

See, I thought elements of the 2x12 sex scene were better than the 1x02 sex scene because there was all of this added intimacy and emotion between them, which just makes every touch and kiss and look and breath that much deeper and richer and sexier. Like, that look Carlos gives TK after taking his shirt off while straddling TK's thighs? That's sex right there. So, honestly, I don't know what they're going to go through between 5x01 and 5x04, but as long as the 5x05 scene contains all of that context that makes the moment about them and how they feel to be with each other, it's already topped 1x02 in my opinion. Rushed, casual, fun sex is great and hot and obviously I didn't hate it, but the combination of lust AND love? You can't ever beat that.

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

You know, I honestly don't know... I haven't really thought about it. Their honeymoon has kind of been a non-thing for me, so I hope wherever it was it was peaceful and exactly what they both needed.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

I know this says one, but there are so many different types of creations and I won't be able to mention all of them (it's been FOUR YEARS OKAY) but I want to try to share a range...

I absolutely have to start out with all the incredible work that @reyeslonestar gave this fandom: I have this one printed and framed, but I also love this one and this one and this one and THIS ONE. Also love this one by @whatsintheboxmh so much. I also love these two NSFW pieces by @a-kinkajou (but the AO3 links seem to be broken so you'll have to look at the SFW versions here on tumblr and just trust me).

ALSO I really love fanvids and in particular this one and this one (SOBBING) and this one and THIS ONE. While I wish I could list every gifset that has sparked an emotional response for me, it would be impossible, so I'll share this one (@maxbegone) because it makes me smile, these two because the vows are ev-er-y-thing (@danieljradcliffe), and this one because the Carlos Reyes Strut is also everything (@evanzbuck).

I mean, the Teacher AU. It's the teacher au. You don't understand, it's THE TEACHER AU (@three-drink-amy). I'm already so in love with Call Me, but that's no surprise since it's from the writers of iconic works like these (@welcometololaland @rmd-writes) The Knave verse is beyond iconic at this point (@liminalmemories21). This Carlos begins fic is really beautiful (@freneticfloetry) and this early fic has one of my favorite Carlos characterizations ever (@singerofsimplesongs). I'm always down for a firefighter!Carlos AU (@reyesstrand) because the man should be wearing turnouts.

Tagging: I'm not going to tag anyone because I think this game was going around a few days ago and I missed the train, but if anyone likes the questions and wants to answer, they should!

[andi-o-geyser]

just watched Top Gun: Maverick, and I can’t be the only one who noticed that Rooster and Hangman absolutely radiate hostile ex boyfriend energy, right? I hate to say that I can only report what I see, folks, and the fact is that those two have something going on

[eeblouissant]

s01e08 of the golden palace confirming that Blanche & Rose felt “abandoned” when Dorothy left them will never fail to make my heart shatter into a million pieces like I’m watching it for the first time again, every time it’s brought up. All I can see is the hurt on Blanches face and the three of them searching for Dorothy after she’s left for the last time. I refuse to think thoughts about that moment replaying in Blanche & Roses’ heads a thousand times over after the fact.

& Dorothy asking why they never asked for her help with the hotel :’) Blanche & Rose both just going “we didn’t want to bother you” 😭 THATS YOUR WIFE OF COURSE SHE WANTS TO HELP!!! She’ll do anything for time with you both what are you on about!!!!!

I’m taking this information as Dorothy wishing it ended differently. That’s all.

[softquietsteadylove]

Who do you think is Ajaks favorite child?

So, Ajak would say that she loves all her children equally. She would never have favourites!

But yes she does and it's Sersi--hear me out!

It's not just the picking her to take over as Prime, because that's obvious. But I'm talking about how I think Sersi is the most human of all the Eternals.

Ajak loves all her kids. They function all together, as a family, even the cantankerous Druig and stubborn Ikaris and prickly Thena. Ajak wouldn't change anything about them.

But Sersi is different. From the moment they first awaken Ajak knows Sersi has insatiable curiosity, and passion, and love for all she does. Ajak sees how much Sersi loves life in all its forms and admires it, maybe even envies how much more freely Sersi can love without the burden of the truth weighing on her.

Ikaris is her secondhand, and he knows all that she does (mostly). He becomes a confidante to her in a way none of her other children are. And yet this ultimately dooms them both to never actually being able to depend on each other in an emotionally healthy way. Both are a pillar of the irrevocable truth and fear how it will crush their family if they move from that.

But that's why I think Thena's role in this is so fascinating (my bias is showing, I'm well aware). Because Thena also knows the truth, on some level, even from the beginning. It can be argued even before then--maybe she always gets Mahd Wy'ry, maybe she always remembers the horrors that they facilitate in their missions.

Ajak knows this. That's why she suggests erasing Thena, because she really does love her, and she knows firsthand the burden of knowledge. Thena already had wisdom, it's the knowledge that really endangered her.

I also think that's why Druig's relationship to Thena is so much deeper than what we got in the movie. He speaks up for her--he speaks up for her against Ajak, and Ikaris, and Arishem himself. He believes that Thena has a right not to want to forget their lives, and he obviously doesn't trust the answers he gets from Ikaris or their Prime.

Ajak is a very complicated character. She's not entirely right, she's not wrong either, and I do believe that she does the best with what she has. And that she loves her children. That, above all else, is what drives this person: love for her children and for people.

And that's Sersi's favourite thing: people. Sersi loves life and the people in it, and everything in between. Sersi is who Ajak could be if she didn't have the burden of their mission on her. And yes, she does impress that onto Sersi and burden her with that. It's hard to reconcile, and confusing, and it creates hardship for Sersi. But Ajak did so knowing Sersi was the right one to take this on.

Because this mother has high hopes for her daughter, and she knows what she can handle because she forged this child's soul from her own.

[franeridan]

I really wish yamato had gone with luffy and I love that he asked to be considered a crewmate anyway and that luffy told him he'd always have a place on the sunny so I a hundred percent consider him a mugiwara but in my ideal one piece where the war ended differently and ace is still alive yamato is his. like obviously ace is dead and he hadn't been a captain for a while before then anyway, but in my ideal one piece yamato belongs to him. he's a spades. he's ace's crewmate first and foremost.

[koravelliumavast]

Kaladin aroace moments chronicalized by me, an ace

| TWOK | WOR | OB | ROW | KOWT |

TWOK ch 10: stories of surgeons

“Sani’s head rolled to the side, and she mumbled, drugged. She wore only a white cotton shift, her safehand exposed. Older boys in the town sniggered about the chances they’d had —or had claimed to have had— at seeing girls in their shifts, but Kal didn’t understand what the excitement was all about. He was worried about Sani, though. He always worried when someone was wounded.”

•••

TWOK ch 16: cocoons

“More and more, Kat found that he liked looking at Laral, Kat knew, logically what was happening to him. His father had explained the process of growing wich the precision of a surgeon. But there was so much feeling involved, emotions that his father's sterile descriptions hadn't explained. Some of those emotions were about Laral and the other girls of the town. Other emotions had to do with the strange blanket of melancholy that smothered him at times when he wasn't expecting.”

•••

“Kal found his eyes lingering on her again. That hair of hers was beautiful, with the two stark colors.” (Ok this reads as aesthetic attraction to me more than anything.)

•••

“Kal, if you go to war and find a Shardblade, then you’d be a lighteyes… I mean… Oh, this is useless.” She settled back, folding her arms even more tightly.

Kal scratched his head. She really was acting oddly. “I wouldn’t mind going to war, winning honor and all that. Mostly, I’d like to trace. See what other lands are like.”

•••

TWOK ch 17: A Bloody, Red Sunset

“Always keep a glowing sphere in your pocket,” Kaladin said. “It’s good luck.”

“You certain you don’t want a love potion?”

“If you get caught in the dark, you’ll have light,” Kaladin said tersely. “Besides, as you said, most people aren’t as trusting as you.”

•••

TWOK ch 25: The Butcher

Kal glanced up at the mansion again. “That’s why you encouraged me to play with Laral so much. You wanted to marry me off to her, didn’t you?”

“It was a possibility,” his mother said, returning to her work.

He honestly wasn’t certain how he felt about that

•••

How would he feel marrying someone like Laral? He’d never be her equal. Their children would have a chance of being lighteyed or darkeyed, so even his children might outrank him. He knew he’d feel terribly out of place. That was another aspect of becoming a surgeon. If he chose that path he would be choosing the life of his father. Choosing to set himself apart, to be isolated.

If he went to war, however, he would have a place. Maybe he could even do the nearly unthinkable, win a Shardblade and become a true lighteyes. Then he could marry Laral and not have to be her inferior. Was that why she’d always e chaired him to become a soldier? Had she been thinking about these kinds of things, even back then? Back then, these kinds of decisions—marriage, his future—had seemed impossibly far-off to Kal.

He felt so young. Did he really have to consider these questions?

•••

TWOK ch 37: Sides

Would he see Laral here? He was embarrassed by how infrequently he thought about her these days.

•••

So much had changed. It had been so long, and seeing her brought up old emotions. Shame, excitement. Did she know that his parents had been hoping to marry him to her? Merely seeing her again almost flustered him completely.

•••

TWOK ch 40: eyes of red and blue

Ok I don’t want to quote the whole thing because it’s like three pages. But the conversation between Kal and Sigzil at the end of the chapter where Sigzil says stuff about Kaladin being a leader and whatnot. Yeah.

•••

TWOK ch 44: the weeping

Some might find that dark hair sprinkled with foreigner blood to be unappealing for its indication of mixed blood, but to Kaladin it was alluring.

(Dictionary definition of Alluring: powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating)

•••

TWOK ch 46: child of tanavast

“Your face has strong lines. Square and firm, with a proud chin. We would call it a leaders face among my people.” [Sigzil]

“I’m no lighteyes” Kaladin said, spitting to the side.

•••

TWOK ch 62: Three Glyphs

“I tried to rescue, Tarah…” He hadn’t thought of her in some time. His failure with her had been different from the others, but a failure it was nonetheless.

•••

I dont remember what chapter this is from but holy fuck that’s the gayest thing I’ve heard Moash say and Kaladin following it up with a cool thanks bro can you go help those two? KALADIN

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

yknow when I first watched identity crisis at an age where I could process thoughts about media (ripe old age of 11) and my first thought was "whoa he's just like me fr" despite NEITHER version of danny being even remotely similar to me i really should've. considered.

[coelacat]

just know if you take a faceless character (covered by a helmet, hood, anything like that, just generally a masked face) and give them a face this is ruining autistic representation. just so you know

[leafyloveslaughing]

this quest became less Weinlesefest and more Bully Kaeya hours

[tracybirds]

not to project too hard onto a fictional character but at what point did it just become so standard for John to get high grades in academics that his family stopped acknowledging it because that was the norm

[caramel-mousse]

This is completely brought on by the last post but it really bugs me when people are so insistent that a story needs Monsters or Extra Terrestrial Beings to be scary.

The two examples used were Infinite Ikea and the Backrooms but like. At very least to me the addition of monsters just makes the story go from really good to fucking boring so quickly.

The horror is being stuck in an overly familiar place that you would expect to have an exit and being unable to find one. It's being seemingly infinitely lost in a place you would normally be able to traverse with no issues. It's like... weaponizing the familiarity of places you know and making what was once thought to be safe, possibly dangerous.

You put a monster in it and you just turn that whole idea into just "What if you were in the Minotaurs labyrinth would that be fucked up or what"

[sbd-laytall]

GarTim + Touch in "Mother Mayhem"

[girlwiththegreenhat]

cannot fucking believe i saw a god damn confederate-flag wearing sw-stica-tattooed n-zi at fucking walmart in GOD DAMN ILLINOIS

[a-heart-of-kyber]

It is actually incredibly interesting when you consider Peter and forgiveness in that within the timeframe of the show...HE forgives Ridiculously easily for someone who has a laundry list of grievances regarding Both Walter and Olivia by the end of s2. And then Olivia essentially treats him like he's the perpetrator of his own SA in s3. Resulting in him being so incredibly skittish in s4 because of his own victimhood as someone who has been lied to, used and/or gaslit to some extent by literally Every Member of his 'family*' and/or their doppelgangers and blamed for that too.

Peter forgives Easily and yet is so rarely forgiven himself.

Wild.

*Astrid is exempt from this.

[immamapletreekid]

person who thought going through 3hopes support dialogue on a work night would be a good idea

[tothesolarium]

It’s my story and I can- put fairy lords in it if I want to