#irreconcilability

[scribz-ag24]

opposing views

[yeyinde]

thinking many thoughts about a therapist reader stuck with price after he gets himself written up for mandatory anger management sessions by laswell…

he'd fight that on every level imaginable. poor reader. in storms this burly bear of a man who is uncommunicative (at best) and aggressively pacing around the room like a caged tiger, ripping apart the fundamentals of your profession (at worst).

i see Price as a mix of his traditional upbringing and someone struggling to circumvent some of the uglier aspects of these values that he doesn't believe in. on one hand, he can respect therapy as a whole. but on the other, when it comes to him and his problems, it's pseudoscience. a man of many, many contradictions. he's very much a "respect is earned, not given" kinda guy in my head and i don't think he really holds any love for what he sees as someone trying to change him (even if it's for the best).

but also. i love pairing him up with smart, ernest people. i think the juxtaposition between him (eternal grump) and them (burgeoning sunshine) is just spectacular. and his therapist having that easy-going, i'll split my hard earned cookie in half so everyone gets a piece/yes, i did bring enough gum for the whole class i'm so glad you asked! temperament would be impossible for him to deal with. anyone else and he'd just blow up. leave. throw his impressive weight around to get what he wants.

but then he's faced with this competent person (which he respects) who is just genuinely trying to help him because they see something in him that he doesn't want to admit is still there, and ahhhhhh. i'd love to see him flustered. uncomfortable. and i think that'd do it. (plus. i love throwing a person at him who is the model of his speech he gave Gaz, which i 100% believe was ALL bullshit. i think he felt Kyle slipping away and needed something to reel him back in, and also; it's Cope. he prescribed himself a serious dose of Cope, and it's so obvious. UGH. what a dumb, emotionally stunted, manipulative man. gimme him RIGHT NOW. and then you pop up and it's a slap in the face against everything he pretends to believe in!!!!)

anyway!!!! the first thing he says when meeting you would be some eclectic mix of disrespect and grumpy old man yelling at clouds.

"this might work for other people, sweetheart, but it won't work for me." and you just sit, stunned, and try to wrap your head around that.

[ooooo-mcyt]

Scott Smajor (cc) is such a good story teller actually and the common themes he uses in his storylines captivate me. I think we should talk about how good he is at Themes more often. If I wasn't so tired I'd write essays.

[loumandism]

the iwtv fandom is always having the discussion of who of the established characters would actually stick up to marius when he returns to abuse armand again and what’s really fucked up is the only real answer is claudia. there’s louis (historically not very sensitive when it comes to armand’s “daddy vampire” and armand’s biggest hater atm), lestat (victim blamer who wants to fuck marius) and daniel (who basically implied armand lied about the entire thing). but then there’s claudia, who because of their shared experiences with white supremacy, class, sexual assault, orphanhood, sexually violent and abusive makerdads, and a lack of a true “home” to stake a claim to (“dad didn’t want me”) she’s on an infinitely more even emotional playing field with armand than anyone else in the show. there’s no major gap in understanding like is present with all of armand’s other relationships, whether it’s the french aristocrat or the former pimp. the only one who really got him, saw right through him, was and remains claudia. it would be her sticking up to marius, if she were still around. if armand did not doom the only person he’s met in hundreds of years that understands him. but the brutal truth is that it is exactly because of this shared understanding that armand could not tolerate her existence; in dooming her, in insisting upon the death of all too similar to him, he dooms himself.

[possessable]

sol fusions happened for some reason, Eigong + Ji and Yi + Goumang

[bonefall]

Big question cause I’m so mad about how they were used: any ideas on changing Berryheart and Curlfeather from this book?

I have ONE controversial opinion and you must allow me this;

Curlfeather not apologizing to Frostdawn kinda rocks as an idea.

Obviously it reads as insulting because of how they gave Berryheart a Tom the Wifebeater ass Redemption Death in this book, and the general way that they've not approached her with the nuance she deserves is frustrating. I agree.

But hold my hand and walk with me. Imagine Curlfeather, mauled and bloody before the daughter she died saving. Frostpaw's gone through so much fixing the damage she caused, furious at the state her mother's in, the mess she made of RiverClan, all the suffering everyone's gone through... and Curlfeather says,

"I don't regret anything."

"Really? REALLY? I go through all of that, I come ALL this way, and you won't even give me a rotten little sorry?"

She doesn't give her mother a chance to respond, lashing her tail towards the grimmace that hangs off the side of her shredded cheek, "You're not sorry for how you lead to yourself looking like THAT?"

Frostpaw shoves her scarred throat foward, "You're not sorry for THIS?"

She claws dig into the sodden black earth of the Dark Forest, "You're not sorry you're HERE?"

Curlfeather is quiet, her remaining eye stoic like a stone. Frostpaw begs furiously, "NOTHING?"

"I will vow on our blood that I will not lie to you anymore," the demon's tone is soft and honest, "and I hope that means more than the insincere apology I could offer you otherwise."

Just when it feels like Frostpaw has so much anger that her body can't handle it, pain stuffs itself inside her in equal measure. Her stomach is sick with love, throat choked with affection. It takes her a minute to form the word,

"Why?"

"When my father, Reedwhisker, was taken by the Kin, I saw how they broke him. His uncle, Stonefur, did not buckle under Tigerstar. My grandmother Mistyfoot quietly rescued the Clan from his accomplice, Leopardstar, while Mistystar willingly worked alongside a vicious impostor."

Now that Frostpaw is the one who's waiting quietly, Curlfeather's voice flutters hopefully, "I was willing to do anything to restore my Clan to greatness," the specter pads foward, touching her nose to her daughter's trembling forehead, "except sacrifice you."

She didn't expect to feel the harsh sting of her daughter's paw smacking her across the nose. She reels back.

"You don't get it! It's not about YOU! It's about everyone you hurt! Dont try to pretend it was all worth it, you didn't make anything great, you just broke it!"

"I had to break it so it could be set back stronger. I gave you the chance for the power, and now you are making it better than it was."

"That was in spite of you! You told me to trust no cat and I had to unlearn that!"

"I saved you when I could have escaped with my life."

"From a situation you caused in the first place!"

"It was a warrior's death!"

There is a silence that settles over them. Curlfeather is snarling in offense. Frostpaw looks, again, at her mother's fatal wounds, the defensive stance. She's reminded of how the cats of other cultures don't always see scars as rewards for a fight survived-- just reminders of pain you've gone through.

"...it was a warrior's death," she agrees, gently, watching tattered hackles smoothen out, "...and now you're dead, while I'm still alive."

The emotion in Curlfeather's face is solemn, but otherwise incomprehensible to her daughter. The expression on Frostpaw's is equally unreadable to her mother. This is the only thing they will ever understand about each other-- that there is an irreconcilable difference between them, steeper than the divide between sky and earth.

The last words the demon speaks to her daughter are, "I love you."

It's only years later that Frostdawn can say, "I love you too."

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

So, uh, to recap on the ladies of Andor, the pinnacle of progressive writing according to internet consensus:

Bix: After her character consisting only of "good at mechanics", formerly crafty (in the first Ferrix arc) and "traumatised", Bix gains a new character trait this arc - helpless rage and ✨✨✨drug addiction✨✨✨! Goodie. I'm so mad at this arc for her. We never see this woman happy independent of her trauma. We see her make happy for men - the shopkeep, Cassian occasionally, Brasso and co. in the first arc - but the only time we get an unobserved smile is when she gets her big Girlboss Yay Feminism revenge. And the featurette has everyone going "oh this is her moment", "this scene is about her" - IT'S NOT!! It's about Gorst! It's more trauma porn! Her happiness and functionality once again are dependent on men! She couldn't save herself from her trauma - she needed Cassian to help her get the drop on Gorst (and let's ignore how fucking improbable all that is for a moment, how does he even know where Gorst is???), and her happiness is fully dependent on Gorst living or dying. Her character does not EXIST without him this season. Why do we only ever see her take charge of her life to kill her abusers? The only other positive thing she's done for her life this whole season is to clean up the apartment, and she was doing that to *checks notes* hide her drug habit from her overprotective boyfriend. Feminism!! Please don't read this as an indictment of people struggling to cope with trauma, or substance abuse - I'm just so tired of everyone acting like this is such an uplifting, empowering narrative for this character, because I really, really, really don't see it.

Bringing up Maarva and Kerri as people Cassian failed to protect and nothing else is so telling. That's not even what happened! He was abducted as a child, he didn't abandon his sister, and what was he going to save Maarva from? Old age?? But that's their whole narrative purpose to the writers I guess...

Mothma: Well, I know the constant political downward trajectory is her whole thing, but we really spend the whole arc seeing her do nothing but failing to convince other politicians (mostly men) of anything and being made to look like a fool for even bothering. So far all we've given her this season is being too soft and emotional (which, by the way, is why it's a little odd to me they're pinning the same thing on Cassian - why do we need this narrative redundancy here?). And her one "big moment" (read: over thirty seconds of uninterrupted talking) she gets to have this arc is either a front for Kleya's and Luthen's business or a pointless and reckless lashing out at Krennic's overt imperialism and propaganda.

Dedra: Yeah, she's holding all the strings, but in a weird way, her whole narrative is dependent on Syril now, and I have a bad feeling this is all leading up to him being butthurt about being used. It's a great spy storyline, but just like Mothma's part, great as it is, in combo with the deeply uncool treatment of Bix, it starts to feel like an unfortunate pattern.

Cinta: I actually liked her scenes a lot! Especially the scene in the café - it had an interesting ambiguity, for a moment there I was wondering if Cinta was running Vel, getting back with her to keep her on track on someone's orders. I think I may be giving the script too much credit here, given how weirdly stilted the other two romances were handled this arc it might have rather been a case of "the writer really thinks lovers talk that way". But even if it was an accident, I think that would be an interesting feature in the show, because they're the one couple who genuinely seem to be compatible and on the same page about what they want! And I get that they were making a point to get her killed so uselessly, by friendly fire, on accident. But man, this show refuses to give a woman happiness, even for the span of a timeskip. Whenever any of the ladies seems happy or get something she wants for herself, you can already be sure she's about to die or have something incredibly heinous happen to her immediately after. And the execution of that scene pissed me off, because if that scuffle had even just been relocated to the tunnel entrance, I would have bought it. But no, they're in a really wide, mostly empty alleyway, the blaster was mostly pointed at a wall and trapped between the two men wrestling for it, and you don't even see anyone being close behind them, and yet Cinta not only manages to get hit but instantly killed - what are the fucking chances? And yes, it's a metaphor, but again, with the overall bad aftertaste, it feels targeted and cruel at this point. With how little we got to see of Cinta, it really made her death seem like an afterthought. Like Brasso, this could have packed a punch, but we knew so little about her and had seen her even less, so it just fell flat.

My only positives(ish):

Vel: Her character is really growing on me! She has such a nice, well-executed, subtle development compared to most other characters on this show. She's clearly learned from Aldhani, and she's learning from Mothma and Luthen, too, and her resentment at the life she's leading is so beautifully expressed by her last scene: The greatest punishment she can imagine is recruitment to her cause. Because that's what she's doing to this guy. Recruitment. This is on you forever, this is all your life is now, you owe me and everyone whatever you have to make up for this. That's so heartbreaking, and so real. Am I pissed that Vel is constantly and pointedly denied happiness at absolutely every turn? Yeah! But at least for her, it feels like there is a little more agency, because she chose this life, even though she clearly has options. For her, it feels a little more tragic and narratively weighty, and less like a pointless onslaught of misery.

Kleya: I love her so much. And I could (and should) point out that it feels a little shallow to have her be completely reduced to "being the only competent person among men who are losing their shit at all times". We know nothing else about her, other than that she is Girlboss(TM). But, unlike with Bix, we actually see her be outstandingly competent completely on her own merit all the time, and even though the script neglects her, too, there is an implication that she has actively and deliberately sacrificed the rest of herself to be this spymaster - instead of the writers simply forgetting to give her anything more. And I just think Elizabeth Dulau is KILLING IT. In a weird way, Kleya is giving me the power fantasy that most Star Wars gave to little boys. It's not exactly a win for feminism - it's yet another flavour of "women can either be competent and powerful OR express their emotions and be vulnerable with people" - but I do have a soft spot for her, and her moment at the exhibition was the tensest shit I've seen this whole season. Nothing more gripping so far than watching this woman attempt to turn a screw.

[kittykatninja321]

I understand the fixation on forgiveness and reconciliation in fiction but sometimes I think the bitterness and resentment should last forever. “I hope you die I hope we both die etc etc”, you know how it goes

[shrikeseams]

I wish I had less strong celegorm opinions, because I can no longer entertain a reborn celegorm who hasn't turned as comprehensively on orome as huan turned on celegorm.

Like. Given the chance, I think post-beleriand celegorm *would* help a near-stranger damn orome to everlasting darkness.

[thatsbelievable]

[fuumiku]

Roleplayer on cosplayer violence

"Your little collar's cute. Bet it's faux fur, hm?" "Well your ears are fake first of all-"

Watched a drawfee clip and the laicion brain fungus got to me again

[crispy-art-on-fire]

Was Shockwave ever a senator (or prime) in your AU? Did he have students? If so, wonder what happened to them.

Autobot society in TFA is ruthless as all heck, so being an outlier is probably even more looked down on then in IDW.

And just for the optimal angst potential. Imagine Bumblebee and Soundwave finding out the have six dead psudo-siblings all judging 'em from the grave.

No, Shockwave was never a Senator- or in tfa one the Council. Not to say I haven’t thought about it (Shockwave being punished for speaking up against the council and having his frame modified to be a warframe IS compelling) but it’s not really fitting for the type of character Shockwave is in this au.

Senator Shockwave however does influence the story but that’s “Pretending to care is a fool’s folly” spoilers so I’ll save that for the read more.

As for sg!adoption au- it is more to say that it was a dream Shockwave had. That one day he’ll be able to settle down from war and be able to become a teacher and teach others that they were worth more than they knew, more than a tool or cog in a machine. He wanted to be able to teach the world how to be kind and his biggest regret that he had failed in that.

As for the Calculated Love spoilers:

Senator Shockwave isn’t his past but his future. He’s dissatisfied with the system but instead of breaking it with cold logic with the Decepticons he is slowly learning what compassion is. He’s starting to think about the future and making it better than it is currently. It’s why I included the little scenes of Longarm with the sparklings and Shockwave with the jettwins, if he had never been made for war he would’ve been a teacher.

[djkerr]

Uh-huh.

NCIS 22x19 Irreconcilable Differences

[miadelioncourt]

AND REMMICK PRACTICALLY BAPTIZING SAMMIE????

[mysterycitrus]

HAS ANYONE SAID BRUCE HEADCANONS YET

Headcanon A:  realistic

in his head, rattling around like whispers in the dark are the words if you slip once, if you tighten your grip, if you falter, if you fall, you will be a killer. he hears it as he stands at the gallery with damian, as he watches cass dance, as he sits through duke's debate club, as tim sits beside him in the cave, as dick smiles at him, again, the same as he did when he was robin. you will kill your children. it's what you really want, isn't it? to make people hurt. to make them feel the way you do. he doesn't, obviously. the thoughts are intrusive. they hold no power in the daylight. he knows this. he knows he knows he knows.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

sometimes bruce just... doesn't remember people's secret identities. like, he knows them. he has them on file. he has built a flamethrower robot with the face of their first love to cause maximum emotional damage should they ever go rogue and steal a nuke, but otherwise? the league recruits so many similar sounding people that he just can't bring himself to give a shit. what's that new guy's name? who cares. his costume is ugly and he looks like a hedgehog.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

his greatest fear is watching the people he loves be gunned down in front of him, again, while he is helpless to watch. but what he fears, truly, buried so deep that even crane could not draw it from him, is that everything he's done to dick, everything he's said, all the times bruce has pushed him away and made it hurt, is hanging over his head like the sword of damocles. dick's anger is loud. he simmers then explodes, but there are some things that remain unsaid. how close is he from turning away from bruce entirely? what if bruce loses him while he still breathes? why can't bruce stop doing it?

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

one time as bruce wayne he spent an afternoon flirting with ronan farrow at an event, because he was so afraid that ronan was going to start asking him questions about like... why he keeps mysteriously disappearing and how all his kids keep dying. it was fine. he played it cool. he had to hide from michael lewis in the bathroom.

[howifeltabouthim]

'What use could I be to him, with all my thoughts about him poisoned? What should we find to say to each other? How could we even look at each other without feeling ashamed?'

L. P. Hartley, from My Fellow Devils