#i wish we’d seen more of it tbh

[collectivecloseness]

Robin Buckley from st and 9 please

Okay but Bejewelled by Taylor Swift is such a sweet one for Robin haha 💖

(Cw: set in 80s so tiniest mention about society not being super open minded but that’s it, it’s v fluffy)

Robin Buckley x reader

Your girlfriend Robin had had a pretty lousy day yesterday.

She came home nearly screaming, grunting long and hard as she threw her face into your chest as she (just successfully) landed on the sofa and your lap. When you stroked through her blonde hair to ask her what was wrong, she told you about this girl Kelly from her old high school who came to Robin at work and asked her out.

You were a little stunned, blinking and giving a small “Wow” as you kept petting your love’s hair. Robin at least turned her face up from your boobs, glaring up at you with that sharp eyeliner around those shiny blue eyes. Groaning “Uh huh!!” In exasperated agreement.

You were shocked Kelly had even been so blunt to ask, knowing what the townsfolk around here are like, but you lightly massaged Robin’s scalp as you let her explain, vivid hand gestures clanging her bracelets around, and all.

“Steve didn’t know whether to go to the store room, or stay and back me up, but like, I didn’t even know Kelly was gay! And she was always so mean in high school, I didn’t know if she was trying to out me or something.” Robin explained, cut off from her ramblings as she looked up to your huff in suspense at the small noise, cutting off her train of thoughts.

“Oh baby, I’m sorry.” You frown a little, stroking her freckled cheek with the back of your hand where you held her.

Robin just made some vague waving hand gesture, quickly moving on to keep up with what she wanted to tell you. “So yeah I said something like ‘Uhhh... no thanks! Sorry, no, I mean, I won’t tell anyone of fucking course’, goddamn!” Robin sighed annoyed “‘But yeah, sorry, not for me-‘ you know polite crap like that.” Robin looked up at you nodding, and you of course nodded back in solidarity.

“You’re very polite babe.” You sort of half lied, confidently though.

“Yeah! Exactly! But then she went all... mad! And started asking me ‘Ugh, what’s your damage?!’ And saying that I wasn’t hot anyway and she had plenty of dates lined up anyway!” Robin rolled her hands in the air, wafting near your face. “But then, like, why ask me out at all? Asshole! She clearly couldn’t handle me.”

Robin looks up to you, serious eyes from where she lays in your lap. And you can’t lie, sometimes you find the side of Robin that can be confident, mean, sarcastic, that side of her, pretty hot. And with her tone and her expressions right now, she was definitely hitting that part of her personality.

“She wanted you babe.” You nod seriously, and Robin’s blue eyes widen, some pink flushing beneath her freckles as she leans up so fast you have to swerve your head back, now sitting on your lap as she slaps her hands down to her knees, tucking them up with her. “That’s what I’m saying! Plus I wasn’t sure if she actually meant it or not, I mean she was never exactly ‘nice’ to me before.” Robin makes air quotes with her ringed fingers. “And then she turns around and says I’m ugly anyways even though she came to my work to try and pick me up!” Robin scoffs loudly.

And what your girlfriend is saying actually distracts you from the fact that just as much Robin can’t sit in a chair properly, she doesn’t really do the same in your lap either.

“Wait, she called you ugly?” You ask, a big expression of disgust turning on your face now, your hand going straight for the side of Robin’s chest where you can hold her, as it’s your turn to scoff. “Wow, you must’ve really demolished her self esteem Robin babe. I mean, to be fair, who can survive being turned down by you?” You exhale incredulously, pissed off someone would say that to Robin, even though you both knew they were just deflecting, but deciding to turn it around so the both of you could continue slating this complete loser, which is clearly the vibe that was happening right now.

“Right!” Robin throws her hands up one more time, before sighing, and turning her attention to cupping and stroking your face between her long fingers and sharp nails. “Well at least I never had to do that to you.” She smiles, finally feeling as vindicated as she knew she would be, coming home to complain with you.

And you let Robin pull you in for a kiss, that you more than happily joined in with. You let her be her more dom self as you carried her up to your room too. Although you knew Robin wasn’t done. Even if it wasn’t for her staring up at the ceiling in bed, and also stroking her hands kind of evilly.

Robin had a plan in mind. And she was more than happy to wake you up just as you dozed off on her chest, to ask you if you knew if Eddie and Nancy were free tomorrow night also.

One of the first things she did after smacking loads of kisses on your face until you were awake, and after the moment she said hello to you, was running with a blanket wrapped around her into the hallway; just as you’d woken up enough to be about to roll over, and cuddle her.

But it was easy to tell when your girlfriend was on a mission. You hear her saying “Steve! Listen!” But that’s about it, and you’re not surprised she woke him up too, at least it made sense where she was running off to.

You had an idea why she was eager to go talk to Steve, but Robin all but confirmed it for you when she came back, and told you she has a plan.

“That’s great babe.” You said right into the pillow you were face down in, with a pointed thumbs up, literally about to fall asleep again.

But then, Robin’s slender hands were running up your bare shoulder blades that the quilt just wasn’t covering. And you were smiling even before you opened your eyes, as you turned your head so your cheek was laying on the pillow instead, to see Robin standing above you. A different kind of devious smirk on her face and sparkle in her eyes.

Robin had said for you to hang out with Eddie and Nancy maybe, just to have some fun today! Because she needed to go out after lunch to meet up with Steve.

You kissed her goodbye after sharing a salad bowl together, and smacked a kiss onto your hand before slapping that on Steve’s temple, as he waved at you from the drivers seat, besides where your girlfriend was getting in.

“Thanks.” Steve gave you, eyes crinkled from the sun, and your sudden hand on his face, looking up at you, before you said bye to them both and waved them off.

Robin had told you before she left that ‘you’re all going out tonight’, having sounded very convincing on the phone to both Nancy and Eddie, as they also knew what side of Robin’s personality was shining today.

You were all meeting up at Steve’s house, which was the designated hang out zone, and luckily you all had keys, so you let yourself in pretty early in the day. Nancy had spent the past hour and a half with you in Steve’s home, and Eddie have arrived about twenty minutes later, all of you waiting for Robin, and Steve, as you played some Uno while waiting.

You all turned your heads up, different sounding “Hey!”’s from all three of you, when you heard the door finally open and shut. But you could barely spot a flash of your girlfriend, Steve right behind, and seemingly being dragged by Robin by the hand, as they both rushed up the bannister.

“Sorry babe, guys! We’ll be down later! Keep hanging out!” Robin encouraged you all. And even though you and Nancy shared a look of intrigue, Eddie already helping himself to more of the popcorn you’d brought out a while ago, you heard Steve’s bedroom door slam. And with a shrug, decided to leave Robin and Steve to it, they’d come down when they were finished. ...With, whatever it is they were doing.

You hadn’t even noticed that well over half an hour had gone by, until Robin was calling you from the stairs.

“Are you guys ready?”

You, Nancy and Eddie quickly got up, you sending her and Steve a “Yeah!” As you three stood up in the living room, waiting on in intrigue, until Robin and Steve finally walked through the door.

Robin walked down in a drop dead sparkly dress, glittery and her colour, with beautiful eye make up, and her shiny lips smiling open mouthed in anticipation at you, and all her friends. Steve was in a matching sparkly jacket too, that he’d been ‘persuaded’ to wear by Robin. With a long shirt tucked mostly beneath his going out pants, Steve could make anything look good you swore it was a superpower. But your girlfriend... your jaw dropped to the floor, in a wowed and breathless laugh.

When she walked in the room, the whole place lit up. Reflections of her dress by the lamp illuminating the room, and a bright beam on her face, causing the whole room to shimmer and glow, or maybe you just truly felt that, looking at how happy and stunning your girlfriend Robin was right now.

“Woah!” Eddie breaks the silence first, clapping his hands together once as he takes in the pair. While behind you Nancy gives an “Oh my God.” As you’re already on your way, running up to Robin.

“Wow babe.” You admire.

Robin opens her arms up, with a bright grin on her beautiful face. “Baby love.” She calls you, as you wrap your arms around her back, her own hands cuddling your arms in your hug.

Your hands run up her bare shoulder blades - that feel really silky smooth right now, wow - as you hug her close. Pulling your head back to look her up and down, admiring every little detail Robin poured into herself. “Wow... you look beautiful Robin.”

Robin bounces in her flats, rubbing your own biceps a bit - you’re sure she must’ve put some cream or powder on her hands too because they are just, so soft - before she leans in, to peck a small kiss to your cheek. And you can feel the sticky lip gloss leaving a small mark there too. “Thanks my love.” She smiles, still bouncing eagerly.

You hear Steve laugh at something Nancy says, seeing her pinch the fabric of his sparkly jacket between her fingers, both giggling. Eddie paying attention too, nodding approvingly at Steve. “Yeah, you polish up real nice Harrington.”

Which is met with a response of “Shut up.” By Steve who bitch flicks Eddie’s hand away from where he is, admittedly, prodding at him. But Steve smiling all the same, and it makes you smile too, even though he’s not looking at you.

You love to see him so happy helping Robin out, that’s he’s genuinely not upset at her taking his day away to get him all dressed up to match with her in a big sparkly outfit for her plan, or to have his friends staring and poking at him for it, any of the sort. He’s not complaining about the outfit, in fact no ones making fun of any of them, and to be fair, they’re styled so well they actually look amazing. But you do sincerely love, that Steve is your girlfriends best friend. You couldn’t imagine anyone better for that role for the love of your life. And you’re glad Steve has Robin too.

Steve noticed you smiling at him then, turning to face you. And as you caught his brown eyes, your smile only warmed. And Steve, the true friend he was to you as well, kept smiling back all the way.

Nancy comes to give Robin a quick hug, both holding each other’s elbows as she asks about what stores Robin has been to all day, when Eddie came over and pat Robin’s shoulder too, and she turned up to smile at her friend.

“That actually suits you too Buckley. And when you made your grand dramatic entrance, with all the lights and shit,” Eddie waves his hand in the air “you aura was totally moonstone... or like, diamond, or... shit which one of them is really sparkly?”

Robin just snorts, looking up at Eddie with a hand to her mouth. And Steve has that mom look on his face again, the one where if Robin saw it, she’d definitely laugh harder.

“Did you smoke before coming here?” Steve does the gesture to his lips, asking Eddie.

Nancy popping in, telling Steve and Robin “He says he had an edible maybe two hours ago? I don’t think he’s exactly down yet. At least because we all know Eddie’s stuff works pretty well.”

Eddie just beams, full teeth, straight at Robin and Steve, with his hands proudly behind his back, rolling on the balls of his feet.

You roll your eyes, smiling at your friend, but turning to Robin. Holding both her hands outstretched in each of your own, your thumbs rubbing softly across the knuckles of her cool fingers. “I declined.” You inform her.

Robin gets that big, put on ‘that’s surprising, in a delightful way’ sort of look on her face, as she tilts it at you. “Wow. Oh my God, you didn’t accept Eddie’s free weed this time?”

You shrug, still swinging your hands between both your bodies. “I knew it was gonna be your special night!” Is all you needed to respond with.

And God, if Robin doesn’t love you so much...

She gently grasps your hands as she leans over, pecking your lips solidly, and smiling at you the entire time she leans backwards. “Thank you my diamond.” She calls you, and you tilt your head with a smile at the new nickname. But when she turns to face Eddie after those words, with her raised brows and a knowing look on her face, it all makes sense.

You giggle, getting her attention swiftly back, and her blue eyes only twinkle more as you raise her luxuriously soft hands up with your own, and kiss over the backs of both of them.

“Mmh!” You can’t contain your excitement for Robin. Letting go of one of her hands and raising the other, twirling her grinning when she squeals and whoops with the movement. Making sure you focus on catching her in your arms because you know Robin’s not the most balanced when she’s wearing her usual sneakers, never mind flats.

With her in your arms, you just want to playfully growl and happily kiss all up her neck, burying your nose in there to kiss fast and lots, but you know the others around may not be quite as appreciative as Robin would be. So you settle for planting a sweet kiss to her jaw, lifting her back up straight, but still holding her in your arms, as you ask what you’ve been wanting to all day.

“So? What is the plan? Why are you and Steve all dressed up? I’ve been dying to know.” You hold onto her hand and wrists, Robin leaning in close to you, and you definitely notice her eyes not peering anywhere but your lips as she smiles. Even as Eddie and Nancy ask the same as you.

Eventually Robin looks up, seeing Steve was waiting for her to explain as the floor was hers, if she wanted it, and Robin stood up straight, rather than leaning into you, although she still kept you holding her.

“We’re going to the club tonight. Brava. The one where Eddie can get us in because he helped them fix their sound one time-“

Eddie bows, so lucky accidentally walking past and knowing *something* about speakers actually gave him and his friends a free pass to one of the better clubs in Hawkins.

“And it’s the one where Kelly works at.” Robin looks pointedly at you, and you slowly nod as you begin to get it. Steve’s nodding along too, clearly the first privy to Robin’s master plan.

“We are going to turn up there, looking stunning. We’re all going to dance, a full group of friends, we’re going to drink and have fun. And I’m going to be able to show you off.” Robin points her nose out close to you, her face adoring and admiring, and twinkling with delight at her scheme.

You smirked. Some people may be glad Robin wasn’t going there just to, maybe, show herself off to Kelly, as if to say ‘see I’m hot’, but you very much want to go to the club and praise that fact. I mean, you’d love being able to show everyone how smoking hot your girlfriend is, whenever the chance arises.

Robin smiles at your in on the plan expression. And she turns to everyone else, giving a coy shrug. “If she’s going to show up at my work and cause a scene, then I’m going to let her know what it feels like. Except I’m just going out and having fun with my friends and girlfriend.”

You squeezed Robin’s hip in approval. Kelly doing all that at Robin’s work was out of line. Plus, she was lucky it was only Steve around to hear, as you knew Robin was already out to him, not like Kelly would have. It’s nice to see that side of Robin coming out to kick ass, and go girlboss mode, as she rightfully should.

Nancy and Eddie eagerly agree with the plan, happy them all having a good night out and getting vengeance on behalf of their friend can be done at the exact same time.

“I wanna really dance with you there!” Robin says facing you. Your heart pumping as Robin brings her hands to the side of your chest. Rolling her palms along your skin and muscle, as her fingers slither to your spine. Catching yourself opening your mouth halfway, as if you let Robin in to kiss you. And you have to admit, a certain throb ran through your thighs when you saw a smirk just light up on her face, as her eyes found your lips, and you knew she’d realised what had just happened.

But, extremely unfortunately for you, Robin couldn’t grant you what you wanted because Steve who’d completely missed those subtle movements was wrapping his arm around Robin, and giving a big speech to Eddie, Nancy, and also you, about how wrong this girl was and how they all have to go out and defend their friend. Robin smiles and hugs into Steve’s side as he went on passionately, sticking up for her even in a room full of people who love her. And you absolutely just have to love Steve, no matter if he interrupted a kiss or not, there was no way you could care about his himboness traits coming into affect around his lesbian best friend.

Eddie cheers along with Steve’s little speech, and you and Nancy cry along too with approval. Steve bouncing happily on his feet at doing so well for getting his point across for Robin, and he looked down at her still underneath his arm, and with the way she was grinning, Steve felt proud for not only helping her get through a pretty crappy time, but really making it wonderful for her.

Although Steve did mention how he and Robin had been sharing a bottle of champagne upstairs while they were getting ready, and probably mostly talking and talking and talking, as per usual, due to how long they took. You presumed he got it from his parents cabinet, although you were slightly surprised to learn this because you just thought Robin and Steve were happy, because those two were usually the ones to get drunk first, if they were drinking together. Maybe they were slightly tipsy. You did want some of the champagne though if they hadn’t finished it off.

“You guys pre’d without us?” You ask, faux offended.

Robin extended her arm out at you. “You guys could’ve been drinking all evening if you wanted! Steve still had to drive us back.”

Eddie mentions something about how he should’ve brought booze and weed tonight, to which Nancy just shakes her head, at least with a smile, at him. Causing Eddie to smile back.

But you ask Robin and Steve for some champagne, and they both nod. No one here cares about swigging from the same bottle as each other. You’re well passed that.

“We’re definitely drinking tonight, especially with Eddie’s free pass for us all at Brava.” Robin points out, and she wraps her arm over your shoulders. “I’m tired of being a good girl right now. I feel like I’ve been doing that for at least a month.” Robin moans. “We’re going out to the club, we’re all drinking, and when we get back I am really dancing with you. And maybe if no one’s passed out we can see about Eddie’s thing.”

Steve and Nancy fake groan at Robin’s suggestive nature of how she’d be dancing with you when it would just literally be them in a room together, but Eddie’s too busy fist pumping the air at being right about bringing edibles with him to the party just in case tonight.

“In fact, to not only show off our dazzlingness, but to all be on theme together, Steve and I have got you all matching sparkly outfits!” Robin finally reveals, and Steve laughs as he’s finally not having to hold that detail back anymore.

“Oh my God.”

“Holy shit!”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

You, Eddie, and Nancy all chorus, as Steve goes and brings three bags out from the hallway, you and your two surprised friends gasping and grasping onto each other, shocked but so eager to see what’s in store.

Nancy’s was simple, and had some glittery tights and sparkly jewellery, to go with the outfit Nancy had said she was bringing, as when Robin had called her she’d asked about the fashion code tonight and what everyone was wearing. And Robin already knew what outfit Nancy was bringing, knew what to buy to go along with the set.

Steve head actually been the first one to spot the sleeveless denim jacket, that had the shiny silver spikes on the shoulders. You were trying to tell if some other parts were rhinestones, or just other spikes, or silvery buttony parts, but Eddie was already too busy moving it all about as he admired and inspected it.

To be honest, you knew no matter what, and you thought so did Robin and Steve buying this piece, that Eddie would 100% be down for commitment to the bit, and that he didn’t care about standing out. Especially when not all of you would be standing out ‘shining’.

“And of course,” Robin turned to you, Steve did too. The excited looks on their faces making your heart pump. Your eyes swivelling from them, to Nancy and Eddie who were now fully paying attention to you too, and down to where Robin’s double ringed hand reached down into the bag. “I bought a dress for you.”

Your jaw drops, a smile still on there of course, and Robin’s big blue eyes are delighted up at you. “I also got you shoes as a present. I wanted your outfit all to match.”

Your cheeks are heating with every extra stretch of your wide smile, your hand darting out and gently landing on top of Robin’s wrist in the bag. “Ohhh no, sparkles or sequins are not super my thing.”

Steve was the first one to respond, placing his hand down behind your neck. “Yeah, well, tonight it is.” He just smiles.

Robin shoved whatever was in the bag back down, removing her hand, but when you catch her eyes, her shoulders lift up, and she grins at you very excitedly, lighting up like a kid on chirhsmas.

Robin grabs your hand, and drags you up to Steve’s room with an eager screech. And as you follow suit quickly, so you don’t fall, letting her pull you with her thrilled sounds, as Eddie and Steve bellow laughter from downstairs, you are pulled into Steve’s room, Robin closing the door to show you what she picked out, and let you get dressed.

You fawned and gasped, and ooh’d and ahh’d when Robin spread your dress out on Steve’s bed, already eager for you to try it and make sure it definitely fit.

You were definitely glad she at least got you a style she knew you wore. And as you ran your hands over the lush material, you turned to face your awaiting and encouraged girlfriend, who you didn’t realised had her face just inches from yours, happily anticipating.

Giggling, after your initial tiny flinch, you leaned those three inches in and kissed her lips. Robin allowing herself a small moment of calm, kissing them back sweetly and shortly as she looked to you.

“Thank you sweetheart. It’s really pretty. I’ll definitely wear this more than once. Even if I have to purposely find an occasion to do so.” You smiled, your heart bursting as Robin laughed with glee, so happy you liked it!

You really did! It was sparkly and pretty and the dress was very much in your style, Robin knew exactly what to get you that would match the group, and specifically match her intentionally too, but also was something you’d like, even if you wouldn’t have thought it before. Because Robin knew you, and your clothes, and your style so well by now.

The shoes were actually very comfy too, especially for a first time wearing them. You supposed if after a club night in new shoes the comfort factor went extremely down hill, you had at least three people out of the four who’d be able to carry you home, back to Steve’s. Honestly actually, you wouldn’t put it past Nancy to do so if it was life or death enough either.

You place your hands on Robin’s face, finally in the quiet of an alone room together, and you look deeply at your wonderful love. Robin matching your expression and looking back. Her hands tenderly coming up to rest on your forearms, her head leant into one palm as you kept holding her face. Robin’s eyes trailed to your lips, then back up to your eyes again, but her own were now hooded after a glance there.

You smoothed your thumbs over her cheeks, getting Robin to stop leaning in the second she was about to move another slow centimetre or two, and looking to you as you softly spoke, a loving smirk on your face. “You know, if we’re gonna complete your look, your eyeshadow needs to shine too.”

Robin’s eyes, surrounded by her smooth make up, shone in excitement, and you removed your hands to look in the bag you still have strapped over your shoulder, having been ready for her when Robin came downstairs with a camera in there, although getting caught up in the moment.

You whipped out a massive make up bag, with nearly all the make up you’d collected over the years, having a feeling you’d need it tonight with the hints you were able to pick up from Robin, whether she’d meant to give you all of them or not. Robin clasping her hands together and linking her fingers as she gasped happily down when you opened up the colourful bag.

Throwing it next to the bottle of champagne, courtesy of Steve, that you and Robin would be finishing up soon.

“Okay, get on the bed,” you ordered Robin “I don’t want the floor to ruin your pretty dress.”

To which Robin eagerly agreed, with a small closed mouthed scream. Lying flat down on Steve’s bed, you crawled slowly over her body. Sitting yourself down on top of her lap, your legs either side of hers. Before slowly leaning the top half of your body down. Your chest just about touching, with every little breath or movement around. Your eyes excited and with that cheeky love there that you both used to feel when you’d just be ‘being playful with each other’ when you both had a mutual crush. Flitting them all over Robin’s face, as you watched her eyes shimmer with the exact same look. Pink flushing hard underneath that pretty make up and those gorgeous freckles. Biting down on her bottom lip, a look you really couldn’t tear your eyes away from. As her hands came running up your thighs, to gently secure your hip, to hold you safe while on her.

Resting your hand caressing on Robin’s soft cheek, you can feel her eyelashes brush over your thumb, when she leans into your hand. Just as you apply more sparkly eye make up to her first layer.

Focusing really hard, even if you’re constantly smirking down with such adoration at Robin, as you gently hold her face, while she carefully holds your hips. Brushing your fine make up over her, and taking lots of care into making sure it worked well with what she was wearing, and all was done properly to perfection. Making sure Robin really would shine out tonight.

Knowing your girlfriend will give you the same treatment back at some stage. Whether she’s on top of you and doing your make up with care before, in between, or after you’ve gotten undressed, and changed into her very pretty dress. That Robin got just for you, and for her special night.

[aardvaark]

oh i kinda hate how leverage: redemption season 2 ends. astrid just believes sophie & says she’s family? i love sophie, and i know what it’s like to hurt someone when acting in self-preservation or fear… but that’s exactly why i think that astrid deserves to feel however she wants to feel about what sophie did. she was sad and angry when we first saw her. she said she’d devoted her life to catching grifters because sophie ruined her and her father’s lives. like… you don’t just get over that in the course of a day! and you shouldn’t have to!

if she wants to forgive sophie, that’s really great too, i’m not against forgiveness lol - but we saw that astrid very much hadn’t forgiven her just hours earlier, and we didn’t get to see astrid express any of that anger & sadness or come to terms with this whole situation at hand. plus the show had been setting up a very emotional arc for sophie & astrid for quite a few episodes, and then we never actually get much of a payoff. and no proper explanation for why she trusts sophie’s plan and doesn’t want to arrest her.

but instead it makes no sense!! and was super crammed for time, which is probably why we didn’t get much of an explanation. we got more of sophie feeling guilty than astrid getting to process & discuss the thing that was done to HER. i loved all the build up to the finale episodes, but not the episodes themselves :( feel free to disagree though, id kinda like to hear more discussion & perspectives on this!

[l00rem]

Hz ep65 rambles

This is going to be a long post because as expected I am just so incredibly normal about this episode. As someone who has wanted a deeper look into liko and amethio’s dynamic since forever i’ve been fed well. When it was clear Amethio wouldn’t be in this arc much I hoped we could at least get an episode with him and liko somehow but i gave up on the possibility, only for the title of 65 to get leaked which made me unable to sleep that day lmao

I know a lot of people are annoyed it’s taken the series so long for them to have a meaningful interaction but tbh i don’t really mind. The pokemon anime seasons last around 150 eps, and with gen 10 looking further away than most next generations hz might be lasting closer to the dp animes length, which makes sense considering it feels more like a one-shot series that won’t carry over into the next gen. It also just makes sense to me that they haven’t had a chat like this until now because why would they? as amethio says, liko was just the girl with the terapagos to him, there was no reason for him to go out of this way to chat with her and she was running from him because he’s the enemy. This episodes made it clear that their dynamic matters with it being the title, so i’m sure they’ll get a lot more moments from here on out.

Anyway, I absolutely adored amethio’s characterisation in this episode. Going into it i’d hoped we’d get to see his softer side and did the writers deliver on that! I love how it’s amethio who makes the initiative easier to talk with liko, there’s no reason for him to do this and what he said only motivates her (his enemy!!) and yet he most likely sees himself in her and so wants to comfort her as there was never anyone there for him… what he said really reminded me of friede’s words at the end of ep45 as well. I wonder if he could potentially become more of a mentor figure to her later on now that he’s been fired, as friede and roy have always felt closer to me in terms of mentor-student bond so it would be nice if liko got that with someone too.

he’s also the one to reach out his hand, which btw is the first time he’s made any physical contact with someone which wasn’t him flying on corviknight. Of course his hands were gloved, i wonder if he’ll take them off at some point? something something gloved symbolic for vulnerability, taking them off shows his trust and comfort…

The timing of putting Amethio next to Grusha also feels very intentional. They’re both cold on the surface but have better intentions deep down. I wonder if the whole Grusha being happier when he was younger will be true for Ame as well?? I can’t help but think about that Charcadet back from ep57 , which seemed so happy and friendly… He even made sort of a smile in this ep?? I don’t think i counts as a proper one, but his eyes are filled with so much love and warmth that it certainly gives the illusion of one. So, of course, order had to be restored by immediately making amethio suffer right after he finally displays some level of happiness

I find it really interesting how Gibeon seems to be bringing up Amethio’s dad in repose to Amethio showing comradeship with the enemy.

I know a lot of people think Amethio was born into explorers, but my personal interpretation is that ame’s dad left after meeting ame’s mom and decided there was more to life then chasing his dad’s wishes. Perhaps she was also a target for one of his missions but he ended up falling in love with her … (i don’t ship ameliko btw, i think the parallel is more love in general than specifically romance). I also don’t think amethio’s dad is alive, amethio seems to cling to gibeon for some reason so my theory has always been that gibeon killed ame’s dad (perhaps he tried to take gibeon down, now we’ve seen what the eternal blessing can do he wouldn’t stand a chance) and then manipulated amethio under the illusion that he’d been abandoned. And now he’s been abandoned again… Gibeon clearly doesn’t give a shit about him, in ep54 he goes all ‘how long has it been since we met like this?’ which sounds warm, like seeing your grandparent in person after so long… but then you realise that gibeon is literally just a long ass corridor away and could call amethio at any time. he chooses not to because he doesn’t care. ‘special regard’ my ass, it’s all manipulation to isolate amethio into thinking he could only belong to explorers. This also makes me wonder if gibeon didn’t actually fall for spinel’s plot as much as he seemed to, maybe he just knows amethio will get desperate in banishment and will try even harder to reclaim his honour (fucking pokezuko lmao) it’s a very evil scheme in that case, gibeon has been shown to hold a lot of intelligence so i hope it does turn out to be the case or else he looks kinda stupid imo

Another detail I loved in this scene was the others reactions, particularly Sango.

She looks genuinely shocked, I think from her pov amethio has always been this pampered prince whose been given everything on a silver platter, she didn’t realise how fragile his place in explorers actually was. I expected this from Onyx, but it shows a lot of nuance for Sango to feel this way too. Also, I’m a Hamber hater so i’m always gonna perceive his actions in a bad light- i don’t think he was showing genuine concern for amethio, it’s more that he knows amethio’s character better than gibeon and so would know that amethio would never betray gibeon. he saw the torture amethio put himself through in training, and said himself he was impressed by his resolve. Hamber’s concern comes from loosing a valuable asset to his master, not because he genuinely cares imo.

This does make me wonder how Ame and Liko will interact from here on out. I think he’ll blame Spinel mostly, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s colder to her next time to make a point to himself that he’s not soft on the enemy. But I hope Liko will notice this, perhaps realise he’s been banished and use this as an opportunity to get to understand him better. She showed him vulnerability this ep, so i hope the tables will turn next time.

I really liked this line too, especially considering liko is a character so centred around empathy. Allow me to speak in my girl who only thinks about umineko voice for a second, but it really reminded me of the core theme ‘without love it can’t be seen’. Liko’s learning that if she doesn’t try to see the perspective of even people who seem to have ill intent, she’ll never understand them. A good lesson for a girl who wants to understand the hearts of others!

Now, as for amethio’s future… Considering his own advice to liko he’s definitely not going to give up like that. He’ll probably continue to train so he can seize terapagos, but in the process will potentially get closer and closer with liko and the rvt. This depends a lot on his situation now he’s been fired- like will he have money? will zir and conia follow him? i get the sense that the writers want to isolate him from them to make it easier to focus on his development (as much as i miss them as a trio) it’d be interesting if they got given to spinel temporality but i’d fear for their safety…

It seems that he’ll be important next arc, i hope now that he’s not in explorers it’ll be much easier to make him show up in a casual setting. I’ve always hoped he’d be relevant in getting Kleavor, mainly bc both Kleavor and Cerueldge have weapon hands so a battle between the two would be cool, especially if he teams up with liko!

Perhaps this is a reach but i’ve been humouring the idea that he might actually form a bond with Carmine.

He is next to her on the poster, which might not actually mean anything… but amethio’s always given me Keiran vibes, i’d love it if she saw keiran in him (especially if he’s going through his emo era) and so wanted to reach out to him as perhaps a way to work out how to approach her brother. It would be really sweet for amethio to get a familial figure who genuinely cares about him, now that he’s in his homeless arc maybe she could take him in for this arc like the sad sopping wet kitten whose been left in a card box in the rain that he is.

So yeah, those are most of my intelligible thoughts that aren’t just me screaming and jumping on the spot. Inevitably this is already my favourite hz episode we’ve gotten so far, and i’m so excited to see where amethio goes from here on out! Please, just let him smile and be happy, he’s suffered enough :,)

[signed-sapphire]

The Fallen Star ✨

A Wish rewrite

Cielo design 💛

The boy is here! The most ever! The Fallen Star’s very own Starboy!

So I lied and don’t have the finalized designs for King Maggie or Queen Ams yet soooooo *throws confetti at you* take this Starboy reimagining in the meantime!

Eugh boy the name gave me trouble. I didn’t want to use Aster since that’s the name of a a couple popular Starboys already (@annymation/@gracebeth3604/ @mythartist21) and while the Greek name is cool, I wanted something a bit different.

SEE-EH-LO, for anyone wondering. He/they pronouns <3

I was heavily considering choosing Estrella and making Starboy a Stargirl, and then we’d have a gay romance. But this is supposed to be SOMEWHAT of a homage to early Disney. This may not be KoW, but… idk. Cielo is a gender neutral name. Literal manifestation of light. Go ahead and draw them as a female-presenting figure and it’s still TFS!canon~

Aaaaaaanyways. Here’s the actual rewrite!

First of all! Cielo is NOT the Northern Star! He’s a baby star like… in the bottom right

However, the Northern Star? Evangeline? Yeah, she’s gonna be in my rewrite

But Cielo is NOT her

For now I’ll just say Evangeline is sort of a mentor-figure to Cielo and leave it at that

So not all stars are wishing stars, and similar to Kingdom of Wishes, a wishing star is born when first wished upon

Once a wishing star fulfills their first wish, they become Stars (capital S), and are free to help anyone that needs it

The more wishes a Star fulfills, the more powerful they become

Idk maybe it’s like a Rise of the Guardians thing, where the more people that believe, the stronger your magic is

Sparkles and hope and glitter and shit

Until, as explained in my rewrite… the Stars grew bored and started simply granting wishes

Then people grew lazy and started demanding wishes

And all this belief made the Stars go overpowered

Basically it became Wonderland, everything coming true, kingdoms burning and villages destroyed

Yeah. So Magnus god rid of them eventually

Though who would suspect that it would be the king’s own daughter that would bring back his greatest fear?

Yep, Asha brought Cielo down

Not purposely, but even if she had done it purposely, she wouldn’t have chosen Cielo

He’s a little baby, a dwarf star maybe

Only ever gotten one wish in his life…

Huh never seen that before *side eyes KoW*

Personality traits

Optimistic

Very Anna-coded

Probably ADHD tbh (autism x adhd duo unite)

Stubborn

HE’S the quirky Disney princess

Although more Flynn than Raps

Backstory

Fuck around and find out

(And by fuck around I mean wait for my rewrite to come out bc I haven’t slept in two days and I’m too tired to articulate their story accurately)

Design

Due to popular demand, Cielo now has the Charlie Morningstar cheek thingies

Also @gracebethartacc got an ask about canon!Star being marketed with a star over their right eye so… vitiligo mark, anyone?

Yeah I don’t have many colored refs but basically Cielo’s star eye mark and cheek thingies turn into vitiligo marks when in their “human form”

Uh take this

Ye sort of like this^

Heart shaped face! His part is also supposed to resemble a “V” shape to make the top of the heart

My sister said they looked like Viva and I’m crying but too late to take it back

I guess they’re both Spanish? Ajdjajhsjajajs

Thin slutty waist. Imagine Lucifer from Hazbin Hotel bc Jeremy Jordan is Yes.

Like I’m obsessed with that wet cat of a character I’m thinking about Cielo’s voice being Jeremy

Although his younger VA days as like Varian would better suit Cielo…

ANYWAYS

Design by @mythartist21 save for the Trolls hair and cheek thingies! Those were my additions

Uhhh pointy ears, poofy sleeves

Idk is the star eye mark AND the cheek thingies too busy? Lmk and I’ll try to post a colored ref of that helps

[shrinkthisviolet]

Savitar and Reverb for the character ask game, just to be a bit cheeky here if you're okay with it :))

YESSS 🥳 I love the chance to talk about Savitar more, thank you thank you

Savitar

How I feel about this character: I really like him, but uh…in canon, he’s just fine. He’s much cooler in fanfics, canon dropped the ball on him. He should’ve been more Comics Future Flash, less Comics Savitar/Zoom 2.0

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Reverb 💞

(Also Iris and Cisco, but like...not in an actual relationship lol more in a toxic one-sided kind of way. The dynamic intrigues me)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Barry (you might've noticed I don’t tend to ship doppelgängers 😅 but I do love their platonic dynamics, I feel like that says a lot about them!)

Killer Frost would be here if Savitar ever treated her as an equal 💀 unfortunately, he didn’t (it baffles me how some fics act like he canonically did?? She was very much his underling, that’s no secret)

My unpopular opinion about this character: he was terrible in s3 apart from the episodes where he was unmasked. Everything else was a waste of time

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Get rid of the scar, have him impersonate Barry throughout s3. Sporadically, and without alerting Barry, but in such a way that he slowly erodes Barry’s relationships and makes him think he’s crazy. You can even still have the Flashpoint meta nonsense going on in the background...but here, it’s a distraction, and it’s working. And then, either to us or to Barry, reveal Savitar unmasked by like...episode 10 or 15 or something. Maybe just to us in episode 10, and to Barry in like...episode 17 or 20

Then cut out the amnesia plot or make Savitar central to that episode. And just like that, he’s more of a threatening presence without trying to make him a Zoom knock-off.

I have another potential fix-it involving him, Iris, and Barry, but...I’m plotting that currently, so I’ll keep my lips sealed about it for now 😉

Reverb

How I feel about this character: He’s awesome! An awesome foil to Cisco 💞 and super underrated

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Savitar

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Killer Frost, I feel like they had a really cool underexplored dynamic that I would’ve liked to see more of

My unpopular opinion about this character: I wish we’d seen more of him tbh 😭 maybe in Cisco's nightmares in s3?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: To expand on the above: we know from s2 that Cisco struggled with one day becoming Reverb and worked through it. Which is great, but...when Caitlin started fr turning into Killer Frost, it would’ve been neat if Cisco once again struggled with turning into Reverb and had nightmares about it. And maybe he could’ve fr turned (perhaps with some prodding by Savitar, who loves Cisco deep down and wants him by his side), and we could've gotten an E1 Saverb (or Savifrostverb, if Savitar felt like treating KF as an equal) team-up 👀

Alternatively, as in this fic (thank you @kitkatt0430/@starstruckpurpledragon, you’re a gem in this fandom), Savitar could’ve pulled Reverb out of his timeline and teamed up with him that way. I just really wish I could've seen a Saverb team-up, it would’ve been SO COOL 😭

character ask game!

[obsessedwithfandoms]

Lee Joon Gi knows we’ve all been clamouring for this scene for YEARS so he’s thrown us a bone. At least now we get to see a little more of what could have been as a modern day Wang So (I’ve only ever seen the hand with the handkerchief tbh).

I think season 2 of Moon Lovers could be shown right now (how I wish) and we’d all be riveted yet again!

[elialys]

I’ve finished season 2 of The Newsreader two hours and a half ago, and I’ve yet to be able to talk about my feels with ANYONE, so I’m doing what I do in most cases when I have too many feels about something—opening a new word document to write things down.

This season genuinely surprised me so many times. I had no actual expectations, but I had thoughts on what might happen from the season promo and the episodes' synopses. Most of the time, turned out I was absolutely wrong, and I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

This is not very coherent, more ‘string of thoughts’ than anything else, and I’m skipping soooo many things but here are my main thoughts/emotions on each episode:

Episode 3 Greed and Fear

I knew it would be about Helen’s past being dug out and was so worried. Didn’t expect to be laughing so much?? Like, only a couple of scenes but god those were genuinely funny. Gerry’s wife telling Helen’s about her torn vagina from giving birth? Lindsay’s song about Charlie being hit hard in the economic crash? Absolute gold.

The "hey let’s get married to give that columnist something else to write about” idea from Dale and Helen’s reaction to it went about as well as I expected it to go.

I have to say, I did not expect the Helen & Charlie’s interactions to get that real that fast but I…kinda liked it? I still think Charlie’s a shit head but I loved that they made him feel like an actual human? Genuinely fond of that scene of him and Helen in his office waiting for midnight, with her on his couch telling him about her past, it just felt genuine.

Don’t get me started on Helen and Dale on HER couch at the end of the episode though. Just, I want to live there, in that scene. With them cuddling on that couch, and nothing bad ever ever happening to their couple, ever.

Episode 4 The Hungry Truth

This episode was a punch in the gut. The way the approached the Bicentennial event and the Aboriginal side of the story was so poignant and heartbreaking. That shot of them watching the cheery News at Six promo at the end instead of the planned interview with Lynus was captivating in a ‘I feel sick in the stomach’ kind of way.

Helen’s convictions and hard work being cast aside and spat on again at the last second was infuriating, she tries SO HARD to stand up for those who don’t have a voice and she hits walls every step of the way.

Dale’s real proposal? I'm still recovering. When I read the initial synopsis, I worried he was going to do something *big*, but he didn’t. It was intimate and romantic and sincere, and holy hell couldn’t have happened at a worse time ??? I know there was no way for him to really ‘hide’ his preparations from Helen at that point but ugh.

That end scene had me in tears tbh, both Sam and Anna just killed me. Because you can tell Helen loves Dale and he loves her yet she turns him down and everything hurts?

Episode 5 A Model Daughter

Let me just say I’ve loved Kay’s character. I love the extra depth it brought to the Walters family, and I love how she allowed for the very real issue of heroin addiction to be explored this season. And obviously, I love how her story intertwined with Helen’s and the way it made this episode unfold, like, DAAAAMN.

But first of all, Helen and Dale. Oh the pain. Oh the sweet sweet pain. I binged so I barely had time to process any of my feelings, but I felt all the feelings. It was dramatic without being overdramatic. Again, all of it felt so human. I wish we’d seen more actual conversation between Helen and Dale with Helen explaining exactly why she doesn’t want marriage and why she broke it off completely, but there’s enough there to get it and just hurt with them.

That scene of them in the make up room, after Dale realizes there’s been some ‘flirting’ going on between her and Charlie? SO many things are said without them needing to actually say them, it just hangs in the air and OH THE DELICIOUS PAIN.

That award party was so good, they were all so drunk and I was so worried about Dale. And then the whole Gerry, Tim, Dale thing was wholesome for about two and half seconds. I wasn’t sure when the ‘gay club’ scene would happen or how Dale would end up there, I didn’t expect things to happen that way, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. I feel sad for people who ship Dale and Tim because I’m sure this is not how they hoped Tim’s character would come back—and that the random dude Dale wakes up next to is not who they were hoping for. Dale’s whole spiraling out this episode was just painful in a painfully perfect way.

Everything about Kay’s interview, every character involved…ugh so damn good. The interview itself made me cry, but that’s probably because of my own issues haha. Kay going to Helen and begging her to take her part off the story, not knowing Lindsay decided to make the story ALL about her and her parents against Helen’s assurances that they wouldn't do that.

Helen’s demeanor sitting at that desk, finally deciding that enough is enough. HELEN STANDING UP, GETTING THE TAPES AND DESTROYING THE TAPES WHILE WALKING OUT.

Actual Queen. Might be my favorite sequence in the entire season, but don’t take my word for it yet. Of course she goes to Charlie and jumps on him right after that but everyone’s human hahahaaaaa.

Episode 6 Fireworks

I don’t even know what to say, I’m still trying to process this. They gave us time with everyone, and I loved every second of it, but I still begged for more time with Helen and Dale, individually and together. Now I get what Sam meant by ‘Dead Dale’. Oh yes he’s the Big Guy now with the Big House, King of News and all that but he’s clearly dead inside too, so that’s nice I guess.

The way they resolved the issue of “Helen and Charlie” being a thing in under 3 minutes combined was beautiful to be honest. I was losing it watching that short, extremely distressing montage of Charlie and Helen like, might have clawed at my face a bit. But the way she threw him out of her life the second he dared say some shit about Dale? Beautiful.

Lindsay needs to die in a fire though. I’m so glad Dennis punched him in the face but someone needs to push him in front of a bus. That scene between him and Helen in his office was just VILE. What a pathetic excuse for a human being, all these things he did to her and SAID to her, I am not okay. And him sabotaging her at her new job like, DIE ALREADY OMG.

Was it really Gerry who told the columnist about Tim though??? Because that scene between Gerry and Dale, all unspoken? GOD. This damn show.

Gotta end with Helen and Dale. I am so upset. I think/hope they will find their way back together WHEN we get a 3rd season, and I believe them learning to live apart is needed and necessary, BUT GOD I AM GENUINELY HURTING. Helen’s desperate proposal was so upsetting. The fact that Dale was too dead inside to tell her more than “no” and “just do your job” like.

I don’t even blame him because he’s a hot mess trapped in his own catatonia but THE PAIN. That airport scene, someone put me out of my misery please, how dare they use THAT song (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, anyone??). Also, I realize I’m extremely biased given how much I love Anna Torv but??? She doesn’t say a single word in that scene as she watches Dale on the tv yet you know exactly what she’s thinking and feeling and everything hurts.

Noelene and Rob? So sorry I didn’t mention you at all in this post yet, you were so lovely and precious and so necessary for my emotional sanity, absolutely love how they “mirrored” and contrasted Helen and Dale, even if it adds to my pain as a Helen/Dale shipper who just watched three failed proposals in the span of 8 hours.

This show better be renewed. I need them to fix this mess. Wonderfully crafted mess but still a mess.

[horsetailcurlers2]

YET ANOTHER long and obnoxious stream of my thoughts while watching greys anatomy for the first time (SEASON EIGHTEEN bc i’m nearly caught up!)

-i don’t like teddy and owen getting married but teddy looks really cute

-why did it take me a ridiculously long time to remember who the fuck nick marsh is

-why would he ask her to marry him a THIRD time after her second no

-this is a really interesting storyline about the racial assumptions still being the bases of some diagnostic formulas. i remember a science teacher in middle or high school trying to tell us that black people have less nerve endings which is such an insidious myth

-i don’t know how i feel about blonde jo you guys. it’s a little disconcerting. like when ur a little kid and your dad shaves his beard for the first time and it makes you cry

-i like that the show gradually got a lot more queer over time

-“she’s like my sister. you’re like my sister” IS IT ADDISON? IS ADDISON COMJNV ???? my love

-i’ll forgive the cheesy dialogue bc she looks great

-ik it’s a logistics thing with the actors but it would make a lot of sense if jake was here working on uterine transplants too considering he was really interested in it when he was introduced in PP. like, i feel like it would just make a lot of sense for this clinical trial to be a joint endeavor, especially considering he’s the fertility specialist

-addie’s scrub cap!!!

-while i’m at it, i really wish we’d gotten addison scenes or mention when derek died. this elevator scene is great and i love it but i think it’s often minimized how big of a part addison played in his AND amelia’s lives. like obviously i get it. it would be weird to bring up your brothers ex wife in front of his grieving widow but in my head i think addison could have really been there for amelia because they could have shared memories that meredith wasn’t there for. and at the time meredith had no interest in grieving with amelia. like, they were together for a decade and a half. just because they’re no longer married doesn’t mean that death wouldn’t have hit hard. especially because mark is gone too.

-“there was tension” yeah and they should kiss about it

-they forgot how to write addison a little bit. also the convo with amelia feels really ooc. i get it’s showing how the pandemic fucked with everybody’s mental health but “truly hate” is a bit much and …. “i hate that for you” ???????? what

-my bestie tom looks good with a little gray in his hair

-ooh! meredith is in her kicky heeled boots era. love it

-i really like maggie’s hair this season

-bailey’s timeline is so fucking confusing. she was still a resident in seasons four and five (which span one year) which means she must have only been a fourth year in seasons 1-3 (also one year). yet she’s seen having way more authority and autonomy than any other class of residents had at her level. and she’s always going on and on about how she’s responsible for shaping and teaching meredith and her year of residents… which yeah sure but not in a very large capacity until maybe later on bc she was only a fourth year resident when they met. i’m so lost.

-i’m getting a little tired of the random car crashes you guys

-i’m not invested in link/amelia tbh but jo/link doesn’t interest me at all. none of the relationships are interesting rn

-oh my god this scene with all the blood and the waterfall on the podcast is so unsettling. there’s no way they’re going to continue the webber method after this

-i know it’s not going to happen and i know this makes me sound like a horrible person but god i would love it if hayes left and owen died in this car rn

-OH MY GOD OWEN TOTALLY KILLED THAT GUY AND HE TOLD HAYES BC HE THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA DIE, RIGHT? is that what they’re hinting at with hayes bringing up mercy killings to meredith? bc that would make this boring episode interesting to me

-link has a right to be upset but he’s pissing me off. he’s rewriting history and hasn’t been listening to amelia at all since the initial proposal

-didn’t they used to do m&m s in a much bigger lecture hall?

-i think the show was not necessarily less cheesy and melodramatic in season one but i will say that the cheesiness and melodrama was much more fun when everyone had flip phones and they were playing tegan & sara and the script in the background. not to mention everything is far too well lit and high def now it makes their bad choices look less sexy.

-now that farouk is older he looks really familiar. i’m trying to figure out what else i’ve seen him in

-“she’s ruined every good thing in my life” i feel for link, i really do, but i am so done with his whining.

-little ellis looks SO MUCH like ellis senior it’s insane. a+ casting

-owen sucks (x9)

-i was just reminded of that time in the earlier seasons when teddy and cristina’s patient wanted physician assisted suicide or something and owen got all weird and angry about it and overstepped a bunch. and now look at what he did. huh

-bailey needs to take several hundred seats

-addison looks so good !!!!!!!!

-do you guys remember a couple of seasons ago when jackson wasn’t gonna do that new bottom surgery for the trans woman and catherine yelled down the hallway “jackson avery!! i thought you were woke!!” ? that’s me rn but with teddy.

-am i supposed to like link??? is it an unpopular opinion that i don’t

-i feel like kai doesn’t vibe with kids and i think they should be up front about it before things get more serious

-i would play boggle with teddy :(

-ooh they’re using songs from the early seasons’ soundtrack

-let her LEAVE!!! why is nobody else taking any responsibility for the state of things. this in no way should fall on meredith’s shoulders. bailey especially! i get that she’s stretched too thin but that’s part of the problem.

[oreo102]

I am vocally very very supportive of 13’s era and vocally don’t understand the writing complaints

However. I do have my complaints with the writing, so I’m gonna talk about what I don’t like of the writing

A) consistency

The consistency of the writing is… off? They flip flop on how much 13 dislikes guns quote a bit in s11 (hating them in ep2 and 4, fine with the shot gun in 6, refuses to talk to the woman in 10 until she puts the gun down but will talk to the brother in 6 with one in her face etc) and I feel like they forget about the points system a bit (mentioned in 3 and I think 8 but j don’t remember it being mentioned again until s12 with Ruth/fugitive doctor, but I could just be forgetting), and this one is more nitpicky than consistency but I feel like they should’ve kept with Swiss army sonic for at least one more episode, if only with Ryan and Graham

Another nitpicky point but speaking of the fugitive doctor I wish they would’ve done more with her, even just as a mention which I’m including as consistency cuz she really just disappeared after that episode

B) character arcs

Yaz is basically the second main character imo, and she doesn’t really get a character arc? She definitely grows as a character, adopting bits of the doctor’s personality, taking charge when separated from the doctor, etc, but to my knowledge she doesn’t get an arc? Or maybe I missed it? She definitely gets the most screen time/character of the fam + Dan but I think even background characters got better than her sometimes (the first that comes to mind is Bella from s12 ep3), I could be wrong on this of course, I don’t like- analyze media and I totally might’ve missed shit but moving on

Dan also wasn’t dealt with the best. I mean- I really didn’t like him the first time I watched s13 and while now I think he’s fine I’m not sure I’ll ever truly like him like I do with most/all other characters? I feel like he’s under utilized and doesn’t really fit into the story very well? I think it’s good when he’s comic relief or a supporting character for yaz but a lot of the time he’s just… boring/plain

Graham and Ryan I think served their purpose actually pretty well and Graham in particular had one of my favorite developments, like he started off as kinda a jerk but he grew to love everyone a lot and I like that they were able to explore his grief pretty well, although I hate the message of s11 ep10. I think in s12 he worked pretty well as a comedic character that had some deep moments

Ryan, out of the original fam is my least favorite but not because he’s bad, I just think the other 2 are better. I don’t think I have much to say about him, tbh? Like overall I think he was used really well and had some nice development (s11 ep9 with the blind kid, his relationship with Graham, his fear of the earth becoming orphan 55, him being the first to want to leave the tardis) and I don’t really have any notes- I with we’d have seen more of him and 13 but that’s a common theme of all the companions

C) resolution

I think resolution is a terribly boring episode, and I’m sure that’s not a super popular opinion but any time where 13 or yaz isn’t on screen it feels like it drags on, which of course, could just be my bias. But like- I don’t really care that Ryan’s dad is back so for half the scenes im just… bored. It could be a really interesting topic if they had incorporated him more, have Ryan get a letter or message from him one or two times, have Ryan be jealous of the relationship between a kid and their dad, smth like that

But as it is, I think the extra characters are boring and under used, Ryan’s dad has no emotions connected to him, and while the dalek is cool it could have been better used?

Also 13 and yaz should have been allowed to hug and hold hands more, like let them be affectionate damn

None of this is especially bad, though. Other than resolution, which is easy enough to just- not rewatch, it doesn’t retract from my enjoyment of the show, in any way

[5and3nevermind]

https://x.com/army__tww/status/1821032988936700057

Not sure what to make of that line "he asked himself if he could ever really love someone" and just the whole response from Pdogg tbh. It's a bit puzzling to me. Makes me wish Jimin was giving his pov instead of a third party speaking on his behalf.

Maybe you could shed some light after reading the article/interview?

Hi anon! I feel like my thoughts are going to be a little scattered. We’ve got the statement about Yoongi (he’s fine, if anyone hasn’t seen it yet; just go look at Weverse), and now this interview that is confusing to me.

Anyway, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be in terms of shedding light on this. There were a few parts of the article that stood out to me.

First of all:

So…Pdogg is clear that the album tells a fictional story. He also links it to Sgt. Pepper which is considered a conceptual album (and that word has come up multiple times now in regards to Muse).

Then we have this, which is the part you linked to:

So…Pdogg says that the album (which he’s already established is fictional) is about looking for an imaginary woman, while Who is about the reality of feeling lonely.

I think the part that surprises me the most is the part you mentioned about him wondering if he can ever love someone. Regardless of what we think about the various ships, I think we’d all agree that Jimin loves Yoongi and the other members and his dear friends, etc, etc. So, I find this statement confusing, even if I set aside my opinions about yoonmin.

Then there’s this:

Pdogg says that while Face was personal, Muse is “more abstract” and isn’t about “Jimin alone.” He relates it to the millennial/gen Z experience.

My initial feeling about Muse—and I’ve seen this opinion expressed by non-shippers as well—is that we aren’t supposed to take any of this literally.

My sense had been that there were two layers to Muse: an (imaginary?) love story, and then a second layer involving the artistic process and finding one’s inspiration (muse).

Pdogg keeps mentioning that the album is conceptual, but he hasn’t mentioned much about that second layer (the muse analogy).

Anon, I wish I could offer you some clarity on this, but I’ll admit: I’m confused. Jimin predicted that there would be lots of theories and he asked us to “please get the wrong idea.” I wish he was here to speak for himself, and it would be wonderful in these uncertain moments if we could see the guys together (all of them).

I hope Yoongi’s ok. I hope someday Jimin will be able to speak to us openly about Muse. I hope the next year goes by really quickly. 😔

I don’t know. I’ll have to let this roll around in my brain some more and see if I have any new thoughts tomorrow. If I do, I’ll reblog this. 😉

[releasemefromthevoid]

MY ATLA LIVE ACTION S1E8 THOUGHTS

EP7

Alright guys, this is the end of it. Not gonna lie, I thought this was a little… underwhelming. They’re focusing a lot on the aftermath of a battle, which could be cool if done correctly. I wasn’t that into it.

At the very least, this episode, the visuals went crazy! We had the red color grading when Tui was captured, and the monochrome gray with the specific highlights when she was dead. La’s possession of the Avatar looked incredible as well. They sold it as a fairly awe-inspiring moment, but I think this moment was undermined a little in other ways.

I think there are a lot of little inconsistencies throughout the show that really culminated here. Some of my worries were resolved, but some of them really weren’t. 

In any case, I think this was fine for a season finale. It fit the tone of the show and went harder than the other episodes to end things off. 

I’ll write a full series review tomorrow, I’m trying to go to sleep.

Live reactions under the cut

well i do love seeing strategy sokka

disappointed by the lack of catapults on the ships so aang couldn’t creatively use them to destroy the ship

did iroh just tell zuko to swim in freezing waters? lol

wait we already did koh, so what’s up with tui and la? how are we gonna figure out where they are? are we even gonna see the spirit oasis? 

oh so. we’re introducing the war balloons now? early for the fire nation? with a vague reference to the mechanist? how’d they even get the plans? sure do wish we’d seen more about those before, besides just making them. maybe used one to take down the firebenders invading the northern air temple? maybe a fire nation soldier could’ve found the remains of a balloon. just a thought

the. ice moon?

AND YET THEY INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF LION TURTLES NOW!! this is BAFFLING to me

so tui and la only take physical form once a year in this version? huh

and he’s gonna kill tui with KURUK’s spirit knife. interesting macguffin

THEY ALMOST KILLED OFF MOMO????!!! JAIL

okay so there is the spirit oasis. and they’re using it to bring back momo

sorry that was actually genuinely deeply upsetting. they just did something illegal i swear to god. don’t fuck with the animals

i am Not believing that katara is skilled enough to fight zuko. sorry but it’s not happening. she hasn’t even been trained. “you found a master haven’t you”. no zuko, she hasn’t. NO ONE HAS TRAINED HER. “yes, you’re looking at her.” katara, someone called you a master once, girl, that doesn’t mean you Are one

good lord that’s so red. i like that they kept that visual cue though

tui: dea. the color grading on this is still good too. the only colors we really see are the flashes of yellow and red with the fire balls being thrown around. theoretically, everything else should be grayscale/monotone, with the exception of yue’s blue eyes (which i don’t believe are blue in this adaptation). i don’t really have complaints about the look of things

okay la, your turn

do we need a “reality of war” moment again? tbh i feel nothing for these people. 

oh yue’s eyes ARE blue. chill

hey what do you mean “you’ll be lost forever”. something something killed in the avatar state killed forever can’t reincarnate

okay la possession looks cool as hell. obsessed with these visuals

though idk if it’s just me, but people are really trying to get the “avatar is gone”, “there’s no more avatar”, “you’ll be lost forever” thing across huh. i feel like that kind of undersells the moment when seemingly everyone knows what’s going on. 

zuko’s gonna fight zhao now why? purely so zhao can give zuko a moment of realization, got it

and then he tries to kill zhao. i still think zuko would never.

and now zhao is almost certainly dead, because iroh pushed him off. and zuko didn’t have that moment of offering mercy, and zhao didn’t have the moment of rejecting that mercy. this IS a downgrade

woahhh hahn dead confirmed. wish i could celebrate, but he’s nice now

so pakku is NOT becoming katara and sokka’s grandfather in this one. i bet we won’t even learn the significance of katara’s necklace

SHE IS NOT A MASTER STOP SAYING THAT. SHE LEARNED OFF OF ONE (1) WATERBENDING SCROLL WITH ZERO SUPERVISION

sorry are you relying on bumi for earthbending training? you haven’t even started waterbending. this bumi is barely reliable from your interactions with him

oop there goes omashu. weird that we’re seeing the takeover

okay. sozin’s comet. i thought you were taking that out? was that just a lie then? shouldn’t aang know about that? might actually make him learn waterbending. considering the series just ended. and he HASN’T EVEN LEARNED WATERBENDING YET

liked: the visuals went so hard, no kataang romance

worried about for potential season 2: zuko's arc

disliked: zuko and zhao's fight, katara "mastering" waterbending despite never having trained with a master, aang literally not even once showing that he was the avatar outside of the avatar state (not learning ANY waterbending)

[redheadbigshoes]

I’m having some pretty bad anxiety about being a lesbian (probably maybe) right now.

I’ve thought I was one for a minute but long story short one of my male friends I h th ought had a crush on me and who I think I was having like a comphet crush on (as in like I didn’t like him but wanted him to like me and internally felt similar to a real crush except the liking him) has said that he thinks he’s gay. Fully gay. He used to identify as bi.

And at first I was a little disappointed which I feel really bad for lol because I wasn’t even interested although I convinced myself that maybe I was and maybe I did like men a little

But then like shortly after…I felt free. He didn’t like me (odd because he really seemed to like me, like a lot). So I didn’t have to think about it anymore.

but oddly I’ve gotten anxious about it again, I think because one I really opened up about my sexuality confusion to him and a few other people and everyone thinks yeah I’m a lesbian. And I don’t want to be. I want to be normal. I want to like men.

but also and I feel really bad about this I do feel slightly anxious maybe because he doesn’t like me, which I don’t know why. maybe because I liked the validation. maybe because him liking me and me thinking maybe I like him or we’d be a good couple (when I have these “comphet crushes,” I somehow end up thinking that I’ll just end up dating them and magically like attracted to them now) he was kinda my crutch out of homosexuality, maybe I’m weird and insecure and I don’t like that he isn’t attracted to my gender, maybe because hearing him talk about his attraction to men has made me take a step back and realize I don’t think I feel like that, maybe it’s because I’m non-binary or something, I ’m really not sure.

Sometimes I wonder if I do like him but I really don’t think so. It feels almost like an instrusive thougjt when it crosses my mind.

I also don’t feel like I had this anxiety after my inital disappointment faded until around now, some hours later. I do notice that after seeing him previously like during the interaction I’d be like “yeah I don’t like him lol” but the longer and longer I hadn’t seen him, the doubt would creep in

I feel kinda like when I lost my religion rn tbh, and I’m not even certain why. The anxiety won’t go away. And I’m not sure how to deal with it or what it’s source is.

I feel bad for saying it, but I really just want to be normal. And like boys. I don’t want my life to be…just so different from how I thought it would go. I really wish I had someone I could talk to rn, like, one of my loved ones like my childhood best friend who’s like a sister to me or my parents, but I can’t.

Have you thought that maybe the reason why you feel disappointed that he realized he’s gay is that it makes you question more whether you’re attracted to men or not? And that if you’re actually not attracted to men - therefore not attracted to him - these intrusive thoughts you’ve been having (from what you said especially after he came out as gay) might be your brain only being comfortable with the idea of “liking” men when you know they’re not available/unattainable?

I truly get what you’re feeling right not, that feeling of wanting so much to be “normal” and like men, the fear of recognizing and accepting the fact that you might be a lesbian, therefore you might ruim the expectations you’ve put in yourself (as well as a lot of people around you).

This is a safe space to vent about being a lesbian. I know that someone like you (questioning your sexuality) probably needs more than anyone else somewhere to go to vent about your sexuality and to try to come to terms with it. You’re not alone ❤️

[paperstorm]

_The more I read about the break up and how heart broken carlos was the more I get pissed at tk...yes I understand that what carlos did was wrong but damn tk's reaction was so OVER THE TOP, he acted like carlos and their relationship is worth less then nothing to the point where he made carlos doubt his love...not gonna lie I'm still angry that they made carlos forgive him so easily..it gives the impression that tk can hurt carlos as much as he wants with no consequence because carlos will forgive him every time._

I've seen so many people say this and that tk doesn't deserve carlos and I want to know your take on this because I really love to read your thoughts on tarlos🧡

So I just wanna preface everything by saying that I am deeply, unbearably in love with Carlos Reyes. I just. Adore him. I love him so much. I love his heart and his kindness and his caretaker nature and he’s just so so so good. He is my favourite he is my angel I love him absolutely to pieces.

But I understand TK. Maybe because we’re alike, maybe because we’ve had similar lives in a lot of ways and we have similar scars and types of damage that we carry with us. And I just don’t get anyone who feels the way the person you quoted does. He makes mistakes and he hurts people like literally every human but then he learns and he tries to be better and really what more can we ask for than that? And how boring would a character be if they were perfect, if they had no flaws, if there was nothing we could point to and say “oof he shouldn’t have done that but I get why he did”, because isn’t that what’s interesting about a well written character? That they’re so unbearably human? That they’re complex and you can see bits of yourself in them, both good parts and bad parts? Idk I will never understand this need some people have for their characters to be perfect and ethical and the absolute model of mental health at all times. That sounds dreadfully boring to me. Even children’s media isn’t that reductive so why would you want your adult media to be?

I’ve never gotten the impression that the writers intended us to think TK can hurt carlos as much as he wants and always be instantly forgiven. I think it’s very much implied that they had a lot of long, difficult, but ultimately healthy conversations while TK was in the hospital, sorting out all their issues that had gone unaddressed. I wish we’d gotten to see it on screen! But I understand this is an ensemble show and there isn’t always time for everything. But I think it’s crazy to assume they didn’t and Carlos just instantly forgave him. That requires someone to completely have blinders on about all the times the show HAS shown them having healthy communication, which tbh is more than any show I’ve ever seen. That isn’t a good faith reading of the intentions of the writers.

And I just. I don’t ever want to gloss over the fact that what makes their breakup so interesting from a character standpoint is that it’s both of them who were wrong. Carlos is my beloved and I don’t like what he did. Owning real estate is a financial burden, even if you have a good job. It’s something that you have to put money into on basically a daily basis, with mortgage payments, with renovations, with repairs when shit breaks. Putting that onto someone else without asking them first is not being respectful of that other persons agency. I too would have bristled if I were TK.

Because the thing is, TK might have been fully on board with this, if Carlos had asked first. If Carlos had said “I love you, and I know how much you love this place, and I want us to have a home together. I know you can’t afford it but I can, and I want to take care of you and provide for you.” Maybe TK would have said yes. Maybe TK would have found that a beautiful gesture and sweet and loving and maybe he would have been over the moon about it.

Or, maybe he would have said “you know what, I love you too, but that makes me uncomfortable because it makes me feel like we aren’t equals. Why don’t we get an apartment together and save some money for a while and then we can buy a place together when we’re both able to contribute to it.”

The point is, tk didn’t get to make a decision that felt right to him, because Carlos took the choice away from him. And I love Carlos with all my heart, and I know he was trying to be romantic and trying to give TK a home and trying to do this big, beautiful declaration of love, but I personally don’t find that particular gesture to be one I would be comfortable with so I understand why TK didn’t either.

Now, the way that TK reacted to it is a different story, and that’s definitely where he was wrong. TK had a learned habit/coping mechanism of running away, often because he gets upset and then he can’t get the right words out to explain himself and he gets frustrated when he’s being misunderstood and he leaves. That’s his issues causing unhealthy communication and that’s something that he needed to work on, and it’s evident in canon that he did work on it because by 3x13 he wasn’t running away anymore. He was communicating firmly but kindly to Carlos what his needs were, he wasn’t being a doormat, but he didn’t run away when they disagreed. And I adore that growth. It’s so good satisfying to watch them grow. That’s what a good person does. Not never make a mistake, but learn from it and recognize when you’ve acted badly and work to correct that behaviour. They both do that in this show and honestly if these mostly angelic fictional characters don’t deserve love then I guess none of us do because real humans are far more imperfect. And idk, isn’t that what makes us beautiful?

[larryrickard]

1, 9 and 12 about da ghostie guys :)

omg thank you bestie!!

01. Who are your 3 favourite main ghosts? ok. i'm going to NOT be a larry simp and will limit myself to ONE of his two mains, and say robin. second would be the captain, and third... tbh, it kind of depends on my mood. rn i'm gonna go with mike, but pat, kitty, and thomas usually make the rotation. 09. What are the 3 most touching scenes for you? hm. i'm not going to let myself think too hard on this one otherwise i'll be here forever, so i'm going to go with these. in no particular order: ✦ everyone watching pat's christmas present together. it's really sweet and jim does an amazing job. also, mike showing up and seeing that alison is playing it for pat. he's SO excited for pat to be watching it, and he doesn't even "know" him. god, i love mike. ✦ the ghosts singing a christmas carol with alison :') ✦ the memorial scene in gone gone. i cry every goddamn time. and then seeing the captain get choked up is just such an extra punch to the gut. 12. Is there a flashback scene you wish we’d gotten? definitely something with the plague ghosts. we only ever got the one small flashback--which i'm super grateful for--but i'd have loved to have seen more about them. BUT i'd also have loved to see robin through the years. like. bro has been around for tens of thousands of years. i can't even begin to fathom what that must be like, other than it would probably drive a person insane at least once. bc like.... at what point does time just.... not seem real anymore?

[ bbc ghosts ask game ]

[alivegirlmari]

cant believe they gave van cancer….need them to find a cure NOW i dont care how many people lottie has to sacrifice and if its her whole cult!

when the exchange rate for Wilderness Brand™️ immediate cancer cure is three men so jeff walter creepy cop all get sliced and diced and van lives forever <3

no but shsjsks the cancer thing…i remember reading those reddit theories and feeling insane like?? why would she have CANCER how are you thinking CANCER based on some pills…would pill addiction not be the first thought…and yet here we are!!!! umm not a massive fan of it tbh. i mean i love this post but like. kinda wished we’d gotten to see more of van before this reveal ngl? especially if she does eventually die? but then the discourse abt this reveal is interesting too cause ive seen some ppl say it’d be worse (in an offensive way, and just bad writing way) if they do a sacrifice and she’s miracly cured, and i guess that would be 100% confirming the supernatural (for lack of better word) side of things rather than keeping it ambiguous since van seems very positive that it’s terminal and no treatment will work. i rly have no horse in this race tbh like i can’t say what’d be better or worse i just don’t want van to die and am willing to reach thru the screen and strangle as many purple people necessary!!!

anyways. i fear lisa may be sacrificed just bc of tawny’s comment abt how people will hate tai by the end of s2 which. not possible <3 but i am trying to think of shocking dark things s2 could end with that also sets up s3 since all the cast keep talking about it that way…what are YOUR (extremely correct) thoughts dearest ‼️🤔

[hattywatch]

J. Vesey - July for the Whole Year 4

A/N: Chapter 4. Tell a friend to tell a friend. Comments, critique, and conjecture encouraged. Jimmy's looking so fine these days y'all. NYC agrees with him.

<< Chapter 3

March 2020

Jimmy: The season is going to pause, wish I was back in ny. We’d have nothing but time to catch up on GoT now.

Like I’d let you in my bubble. 

Jimmy: Who are you kidding, I’m the best bubble partner. 

No comment. :P

______

April 2020

Do you have toilet paper, should I send you some? You never remember until it’s too late.

Jimmy: lol, my mom sent me some. Good looking out. 

______

“I’ll tell you when to hit play! Don’t hit it without me!” It’s makeshift for sure, but you figured out how to watch Netflix together over video chat. Everyone has been going crazy over this Tiger King show and there’s literally nothing else to do, so what’s the harm. You haven’t seen another human in about two weeks, save when you went to the grocery store to pick up some essentials for Mr. Callahan and he waved at you as you left the package outside his door. Even that was exciting contact. Plus you’re missing Jimmy extra.

“I cannot believe you talked me into this. This looks like the dumbest thing I have ever seen.”

His laugh, you’ve missed that laugh so much. Your cheeks hurt as your smile stretches, “I miss you so much.” You don’t mean the words to blurt out like they do; honest and out there for him to hear, read into, draw conclusions from. 

Jimmy’s face is a welcomed sight, so your smile doesn’t even falter when he pokes at you. “Oh my Godddd. Shut up! You get to pick the next one. Probably going to make me watch something Boston, so I have to listen to that terrible accent for hours on end.”

______

“Yeah, me too. Like a limb,” his smile is a little soft, a little sad, but he’s Jimmy and he’s notoriously stoic, so he straightens up on his couch and grabs his remote, “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

 

May 2020

Who do we cheer for now, Brady, Kevin? An unknown third party?

Jimmy: I’m gunna flip a coin. Tampa looks good though, hate to say it. 

Gross.

______

October 2020

Jimmy: You gunna to visit me when the borders open back up? It’s pretty cool up here, I think you’d like it. 

Only if you’re paying for Tim Hortons. 

Jimmy: Not with this contract.

______

December 2020

Jimmy: Did you get a package 👀👀

I have to check the mailroom when I get home, why?? Did you buy me something! 🙃

Jimmy: Maybe. Keep an eye out.  

______

As soon as you get in the building you rush to the mailroom and it’s there. A plain brown Amazon box, but when you open it, there's another box inside, shabbily wrapped in blue paper, tied in a white ribbon. 

You snap a photo and send it to Jimmy, 

It's here! Proud of your wrapping tbh!

Tucked under the ribbon, you start with the envelope, pulling out the Christmas card. It features a cartoon Santa proudly proclaiming "I hear there's some Hos in this house?" shaking a judgmental finger at the naughty list in his hand. 

Jimmy's tight, sloppy handwriting covers the inside of the card and your smile grows, happy he thought of you enough to fill the left panel of the card entirely with a handwritten message. 

When you finally tear the ribbon off and the paper open you're not surprised to see the bright blue jersey with the Leafs insignia on it. You are slightly surprised that Jimmy's name is across the back and his number is on the sleeve. You're warm to your toes thinking about him branding you in this way, even if you also have Kevin's jersey in the back of your closet and have never had a second thought about Hayes being stitched across your back. 

(Y/n),

I thought you'd like this card, since I've seen your Spotify unwrapped and you've played this song more than any one person should. Freak. 

Here's a new jersey so you can remember who your favorite player is. I had to change my number, which sucks, but I can't have you representing Philly. That's gross and blue looks way better on you anyway.

I know I said I couldn't afford Timmies on this contract, but here’s a bag anyway. Their coffee is really good and I don’t know when the country will re-open so you can visit and get a real one. I got you plain, French Vanilla is superior though. Even if you disagree. 

We can’t have you embarrassing yourself at family skate again, so I hope these are the right size. Take them to the rink when it opens, have the blades sharpened and the skates baked. They’ll fit your feet better and they won’t hurt as much. Whenever I get to come visit we’ll practice.

Hope you like it, miss you. 

Merry Christmas, 

Jimmy

The skates do fit. He got you hockey ones so they’re chunky and black and not at all the sleek ice skating ones the rinks usually give you when you rent them. It’s so Jimmy that your heart skips at the idea of him spending time, thinking of a thoughtful gift, trying to figure out your damned shoe size, and wrapping the box alone in his apartment. 

You’re not sure when you started sniffling, but the card is damp from the few tears that have slid down your face and you laugh in spite of yourself. The distance definitely hasn’t made any of this easier. 

This is really thoughtful. I can’t wait to try them out. <3

Jimmy: You’re crying, aren’t you?

______

January 2021

Jimmy: Did you listen to this new Drivers License song yet? Seems up your alley. 

RED LIGHTS STOP SIGNS!!!

Jimmy: I’ll take that as a yes.

______

The phone only rings once before he answers. “Hello?” His camera is facing the ceiling, so you can’t see his face, but it looks like he’s eating lunch.

“Watch Bridgerton with me?” it’s not really a whine, but it’s a little pitchy. He heaves a sigh and he picks up the phone so he’s finally in frame, munching on his pizza. You continue before he has the chance to turn you down, “Please? Everyone at work is talking about it, it’s only 8 episodes, please? You made me watch all those Ben Affleck movies last year! I barely even complained even though Matt’s the better actor.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m off Sunday we can start it then,” he tears into a piece of crust. 

Smiling, you remind him, “You’re my best friend,” before you hang up and send him a calendar invite. 

______

March 2021

Jimmy: I take it back, you’d like Vancouver better. 

Missing me, Jimbo?

Jimmy: Maybe

______

July 2021

With restrictions eased up, you find yourself toying with the idea of a weekend trip to Boston. You’ve typed out about 60 messages to Jimmy telling him you may be in town, but you backspaced each and every one, because you’re a coward. 

You haven’t been in the same state in almost two years, stuck video chatting during lock down, which has become a weekly ritual that you haven’t dropped since the world began slowly opening back up. Still though, something about seeing him in person has your heart rate picking up and your palms sweating.

In the end you sleepily reveal it when Jimmy calls you to say goodnight.

Your phone jingled loudly in your ear, you could probably put it on silent while you slept, but then you'd miss these calls, Jimmy's profile picture smiling on your screen before you answer and clear your throat.

"Hey," you sigh into your pillow at the content feeling that blankets your body. 

"Hey, I'm walking home from the bar and I wanted to say goodnight."

"Okay, goodnight," you're quietly breathing into the phone, smiling to yourself at the sweet gesture. 

He laughs, "ooookay, you don't want to talk to me? You already asleep?"

"A little, but I always want to talk to you." You'll be embarrassed by your admission in the morning. In the dark it's just honest and you feel light saying it out loud. 

He's quiet now and you hear the cars passing him by as he walks. 

"I haven't seen you in forever," he trails off and your decision is practically made for you.

"I'm thinking about taking the day off Friday and shipping up to Boston for the weekend, but the hotels are so much money" you're slightly more awake now, nervous for some reason that you both will feel differently in person since it's been so long. 

He takes in a breath, "Do it. You can stay with me." 

"Okay," it's Jimmy, it's Jimmy, it's Jimmy- your heart thumps. No reason to be nervous. 

"Okay!" You can hear his smile through the phone and when you both hang up you slip easily back into sleep. 

______

Jimmy's laughter booms through your headphones, "What do you mean 'what if you don't recognize me?' We video chat like every day you know what I look like."

You're feeling silly and giddy and bubbly only 2 hours away from Boston according to your itinerary. 

"I should like, bring a red rose like Lorelei and Rory do in Gilmore Girls, just in case. So you know who I am." You look out the window in the train, watching the landscape blaze by. 

"Any excuse to bring up the fuckin' Gilmore Girls. I'm sure we'll be okay."

"I'm hanging up on you, you interrupted my music and now you're slandering the Gilmores. See you soon."

You cut off whatever he was about to say and hang up, cackling with delight as he calls you back immediately. 

"This is (y/n), how can I assist?"

"I can't stand you. When is 'soon?'"

"Two hours. You better be ready to eat. I'm starving."

"Okay, soon."

______

South Station is pretty empty, which you expected considering it's noon on a Friday. You try to call Jimmy but his phone goes to voicemail both times you call, so you stand and wait, knowing he'd never leave you hanging, so you find a bench and open your phone, scrolling through mindlessly. 

Someone sits down next to you so you slide a little to the left without looking up wondering if you should call Jimmy again, but the person clears their throat and shoves a bouquet of roses at you. 

Pushing them to the side you see Jimmy's smiling face. "I figured it's been a while, maybe one rose wouldn't do the trick if you forgot what I looked like."

In that moment, Jimmy smiling at you in a train station at 12 on a Friday, it takes everything in you not to lean over and kiss him square on the mouth. 

______

"So what do you want to do today?" Jimmy says around a mouthful of sushi. Between you and Kevin constantly shoving your rolls at him, he's by no means an aficionado, but he's come around. 

"I don't know. Last time I was here we did a bunch of touristy things," you pause chopsticks halfway to your mouth, "Show me Harvard."

Jimmy's too happy to oblige. 

The two of you pile into his Jeep and drive to Cambridge, stopping briefly to grab coffee. "I used to come here all the time," Jimmy places his order and lets you keep looking, "sit at that table and try to finish my papers before midnight. Is it weird that I miss it?"

"Not at all," you confirm. His eyes are fond and you're happy you're here to see this version of him. "Can I have the same?" You place your order to the young girl behind the counter, her glasses are wide and her chemistry book is sat next to her, pages face down, spine bent to save her place. 

"You're going to hate it, it's sweet," Jimmy warns, but you shrug your shoulders and nod to the barista to continue making your copy of Jimmy's nostalgic order. 

______

You spend your day traversing the campus, being suitably impressed by the history and slightly in awe by the IQs you're surrounded by. The art museum is a particular delight- full of classic Van Goghs, Degas, and Stieglitzes, but also housing fine Japanese art, Buddhist statues, and textiles you haven't seen before. 

He sidles up behind you quietly and you don't realize until he whispers, bent down and leaning over your shoulder, "Four years here and I never came in here. Kinda crazy."

Swatting him you answer, "Uncultured swine," and grab his hand to pull him to the next room.

It's full of earlier photography, and you stop in front of Stieglitz's The Glow of Night, depicting an empty street, glowing in the evening; only a few horse-drawn carriages sit in the distance under the glow of the streetlights. 

"I miss New York," Jimmy mumbles under his breath.

Your eyebrows raise, "You're Boston through and through, I can't believe you just said that outloud." 

He shrugs, "I love it here, I do. But I guess I miss the early years. Us and the boys, young and stupid." 

He sounds doleful and it stings your heart. "I think we all miss that," you reply gently, hand looping through his arm. 

"Do you think you'd ever move," it's close to the topic at hand, but a distinct deviation, so you think on it, staring intently at the photo in front of you. 

"I don't know. A few years ago I'd have said never..." Jimmy nods, seemingly content with your answer, but looks at his phone and notices the time. 

"C'mon. They're going to close soon, let's go home."

You're not home. 

You're about 200 miles away to be exact, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. 

______

Sunday morning you're sat in a hole in the wall getting breakfast with Jimmy. Your train leaves in the late afternoon and Jimmy's trying to pack as much into the day as he can, so you appreciate the quiet time at the table with him. 

He's fidgeting a little and you can't take it, a little on edge from the close proximity of the weekend. 

"Just take the bed!" He's not shouting but it's definitely as close as you've ever seen him to being short of patience. 

"No! You're letting me stay for free! I saved so much money not staying in a hotel, I'll sleep out here!" 

Jimmy picks up your bags and tosses them onto his bed. "Night! There's clean towels in the bathroom. Shout if you need anything." He gently pushes you into his room and closes the door behind you. 

His bed is plush and you snuggle in after huffing at your defeat, washing your face, and changing into your pajamas. You would have thought you'd fall asleep quickly, a long day of travel followed by a ton of walking typically tires you out, but you're in Jimmy's bed. 

You're in Jimmy's bed and it smells like him.

You're in Jimmy's bed and it smells like him and you're having a crisis. 

"Do you think you'd ever move?" His question replays in your mind. 

A few summers ago you told Gracia never, but you're not so sure that you couldn't be easily persuaded if the right person asked.

"You're ignoring me." Jimmy flicks your coffee cup. The tinkling noise pills you from your daydream and you shake your head. 

"Sorry, what?"

"I said," He repeats himself, "I'm a free agent in the fall… maybe I'll end up on the East Coast and we can do this more often…" he smirks, "you know, having breakfast and you ignoring me." 

Desperately you wish you were annoyed at his teasing, but you can't find it in you, "That would actually be awesome. Is that a possibility?" 

Stirring too much sugar into his coffee he looks optimistic, “Anything is possible.”