#obvs there is an extremism to this which goes too far. but like in general. just let the girlies have fun. who cares.

[lesbianlenas]

i have to say i find the way ppl talk abt gaylors to be strange…..i’m not one myself but as a lesbian i don’t like the way ppl act like gaylors are evil somehow for calling tswift a lesbian like in reality who cares…….truly i think it’s bc they r the only mainstream group of women speculating on the sexuality of a celebrity woman to that degree of fame. bc tswift fans who r obsessed w her heterosexual dating life r not in any way subject to scrutiny by ppl in general no one cares. and as much as there has been general debates on the ethics of speculating the sexualities of celebrity men and making fun of ppl that do there is a vastly different tone abt it. like ppl make fun of them and say they shouldn’t do it and whatnot (although i would like to point out that similarly this is mostly done by woman & all of this very much takes on a look at these silly women tone) but like there is a tone of superiority around ppl who dunk on gaylors and very much a tone of like look at these delusional women who have convinced themselves that someone sooooo obvs heterosexual is a lesbian aren’t they crazy. there is smth in particular abt talking abt a woman possibly being a lesbian that really rubs ppl the wrong way perhaps bc it is the antithesis of a woman’s role & it makes ppl uncomfortable to think a celebrity woman who has been marketed to them as being an ideal woman could potentially defy her expected role……i personally don’t think she is a lesbian but like other ppl calling lesbians delusional for thinking she is bothers me……so i am coming out to you all as a gaylor ally i stand w gaylors

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

I'm posting this now because I'm impatient and also because I just got that commission done by jerribbit (go look at it and admire it 🥰) which is based off of the same thumbnail as this drawing (lol) 'cause I had one of those moments like, "wait this concept is too good for me to not also draw this picture," so even though I paid someone else to draw it, I decided to also draw it. But expanded upon.

anyway it's AU-related and I plan to actually put this in a post with some other images later but I have to like, draw the other images first...

these are both Kaine as he looks in Houston in windowverse; left in mid-october or thereabouts and right in mid-november ish. 2015. he's 26/27/28/6 years old depending on how you start counting. (lol) (he's 27 and a half)

originally, I was gonna put his costume underneath, but I ended up deciding to bare his neck, just for the like... cohesion of the image as a whole.

closeups/details under the cut:

left pic is Kaine in mid-October ish as mentioned, mid-to-late really... he ran out of medication and he's not doing so hot. some breakthrough spots as his immune system kicks back into gear.

some of those spots (the little ones) are just from picking at his skin though.

then he gets eaten by werewolves.

also shaves his head. the white pupil is a cataract he's had for a few years at this point. a combo of meds + physical trauma when he was a few years younger.

also it turns out shaving a character's face and making his cheeks rounder really shaves off the years.

he may be going through some shit and adjusting to new medications and so on and so forth but at least he's eating enough ❤️

stop chewing your lips dude. anyway i spent at least an hour on coloring his scars in the second pic lmao, i just enjoy that. Like, lighting? no. texturing? yes. it's just a bunch of overlapping marks of cain. mark of cains. handprints :) a la Spider-Man: Redemption.

opposite side obviously.

some red hairs in his scraggly little beard :p

his voice is fried, for the record. that scar is right over his voice box. it's like five years old though, so it's well-healed.

and then it gets even more fried, probably. this relatively fresh extremely gnarly scar is from getting his throat ripped out by a werewolf lol.

He died! Then he got better. Obv being eaten by werewolves is directly lifted from his Scarlet Spider solo, though not everything is identical.

i had to bullshit the way it looks also cause idk about you but it seems like asking for trouble to try and google, like, "scars from wolf mauling" or something. lmao.

in the windowverse setting, the Other heals injuries but existing scars stay put, and in this case the life-threatening injuries he sustained made new scars rather than healing away to smooth skin, on account of, hey, he got torn limb from limb by werewolves! not exactly a papercut, you know???

admire his hair. the only reason it's not one big fluff is because of his expensive hair products.

oh yeah blue pullover hoodie because that's what Ben has :)

and the charcoal gray hoodie is a $345 Derek Rose hoodie he got from Saks after Aracely decided that she liked his blue hoodie and it's hers now.

oh right as far as his age goes—

this pic is, as mentioned, how he looks in fall 2015.

he was ''born'' on 4/1/2009 (so if you must be literal he's 6 years old)

he reached 22 the day after Peter's 22nd birthday (10/31/2009) (so he's 28)

but his 22nd birthday wasn't until 4/1/2010 (so he's 27)

according to the birth certificate wally gets made for him in this au he was born on 4/1/1989 (so he's legally 26)

He usually counts from his observed 22nd birthday in 2010 so generally he would consider himself 27 at this point. as long as he can remember his fake birth year it doesn't matter if he forgets what age he's ''supposed'' to be and since he was born in 2009 technically that makes 1989 much easier to remember.

also aracely was born in 1999 in this universe so this makes her both 10 years older than and 10 years younger than him :) which was another factor in why i picked 1989

[dreamhot]

taako is SUCH a fun character i would love to hear your thoughts on him

ouh i missed this yesterday I LOVE HIM . SO MUCH like tbh magnus is prob my fave character overall but taako is like... my guy. he's Mine. i claim him. yknow how it is

i think he's the clearest example of the dramatic changes between the goofy tone at the start of the podcast and how deep things ran by the end. one of justin's first statements on taako's character is that he's dumb as hell - which, while played a bit for laughs in the beginning, obviously fades away pretty quickly (thank god). cos the thing is, while taako is certainly flippant and unserious at times, he's far from being an actual idiot. he's a brilliant wizard, which comes out a lot more as the story develops obv, so i'm glad juice decided to do away with the stonecold moron approach from early on

while i haven't ventured too much into fan meta spaces, i'd wager that he's probably the target of the most accusations of character inconsistency (evidenced by justin himself mentioning this in ttazz). and while i get why people might say that - though i'd chalk some of it up to the silly undercurrent to the podcast - i never really felt that he was legitimately inconsistent. since day 1, he was been relatively self serving and standoffish, and that doesn't wholly go away by the end. sure, he naturally forms more of a rapport with his teammates and other recurring figures as time goes on, but it's trust hard earned - and easily broken, as we see in the reunion tour lunar interlude. he cares deeply but is Extremely reticent to put that care into something (or someone) who doesn't deserve it. and once you've destroyed that trust, it's not likely to ever come back fully (as in the case of lucretia)

taako is an entire independent being, but in certain ways he's still one half of a whole - so i think it stands to reason that he would've inadvertently doubled down even more on his self-preservation in the absence of some integral part of himself that he didn't even know was missing. you can't really blame the guy for having a difficult time finding a comfortable social place in which to settle, even if it means he can come off dismissive or selfish at times. it's more or less just a protective measure (on top of an existing ego, which isn't exactly unearned especially as his skills develop)

travis describes magnus as lawful good which is . WELL i mean tres horny boys are a bit too murdery for that in general, but juxtaposed to that, i'd almost be inclined to set taako in neutral good... or maybe even neutral. i don't think he'd serve sinister agendas - some moral compass within him definitely seems to pit him against what he perceives as shitty or unfair - but i also don't think he'd go out of his way to do the 'right' thing unless he had stake in the cause. he is, as he's said numerous times, good out here

[fbfh]

Leo Valdez relationship and intimacy headcanons

As with all steamy/nsfw works, the characters are aged up to 18+/college era

so

let’s get started ‘,:)

(1.2k, get ready)

When you’re making out he’s a top

But when things get heavier

Bottom as hell

Like he’ll instigate

He’ll dance with you and playfully grind a little

He’ll kiss you and bite your ear and whisper things in spanish that shouldn’t be translated

But as soon as you reciprocate

Oh

Bottom mode: fucking on

[plankton voice] I didn’t expect to get this far

Later on in the relationship he might get a little more confident and top you on occasion

Or more if you encourage it

But if he could have one image for the rest of his life 

It would absolutely be you hovering over him about to go to town

Dies in the best possible way if you push him onto the bed/couch/wherever

Gets very excited when you straddle him

Please please straddle him

His hips will automatically go up a little before you even do anything

Really loves when you straddle him 

Loves holding your waist and loves squeezing your butt and loves touching your hair

Genuinely loves all the parts of you

Ass? Yes. Tiddies/pecs? Yes. Legs? Yes.

Big fan of making out

B i g fan of grinding

You could absolutely finish him by grinding

I’m not saying it hasn’t happened before

Like if you grind against him at all even a little

Shabam

Putty in your hands

If you do that little swirly thing with your hips that he loves he’ll moan so loudly

Speaking of which

He is so vocal

S o vocal

Half to break the tension half cause he can’t help it

Makes the absolute nicest noises

Like he takes in a sharp breath and then moans it out

It’s n i c e

A little part of you wants to bite his neck and record the noise as his ring tone in your phone

L o v e s  when you grab him by the collar

If he’s wearing a tie grab him by the tie

Lowkey started wearing a tie more often jus so you’d do this

Generally loves being in a very close proximity to you

He’s the type to be at least a little horny all the time 

His love manifests as horniness a lot

I’m talking any time any place

Especially if it’s inconvenient

Grocery store, clothes shopping, bumping into an old friend

Wake you up in the middle of the night to see if you’re feeling frisky kinda shit

And how could you not be with this boy

The morning after he’ll wake you up with neck kisses

And in his gravely ass morning voice 

“So… you up for round… what round are we up to?”

Goes feral when you lift up his shirt/hoodie by running your hands up his abs

Member 2/2 of the growl/purr thing club

He’ll say something dirty in spanish and punctuate it with some kind of purr snarl and maybe a well placed bite

It’s extremely effective

Don’t let him know that though

Otherwise he’ll do it all the time and have too much power

Speaking of power

Call him papi and he bursts into flame

“Whatever you say, papi…”

!!!!!!

He’ll genuinely freeze in shock

Red as a firetruck

But you can only do it like once a year or he’ll actually die

It’s that powerful

Really likes lacy underwear

If u wear bras and you happen to wear like 

An unlined lace bra

Esp if it’s like burgundy or red

Obvs

Or if you genuinely want to end him then wear matching bra and panty sets

The top of his head unfolds like a cartoon and animated rockets and fireworks spray out  

Another fun thing you can do to ruin him:

Trace your fingers over the lines of his muscles 

Especially his v line

Makes him shiver every fucking time

If you surprise him by pushing him onto the couch, straddle him and grind until he’s bucking his hips and moaning

Dw it doesn’t take long

He will literally genuinely unironically propose marriage if you do that

The type of person to cancel plans if you take off your shirt

Have you seen those tiktok videos where people surprise their s/os by walking out naked

The first one in this compilation is all I have to say about that

H i c k i e s

This man and his hickies,, eye-

He fucking LOVES giving you hickies

Will not object in any way shape or form if you give him a few on his chest and neck

Will “accidentally” let them show without an ounce of shame

r/oopsdidntmeanto

Bite his collar bones really gently

Just trust me his reaction is worth it

Very very worth it

Squeeze his thighs from time to time

It’s a nice surprise for all parties

He is a total hoe for egirls 

You cannot convince me otherwise

Like if you put on any kind of egirl outfit/makeup he loses his shit

Do an ahegao face as a joke 

He actually stumbles backward and falls onto the nearest surface

And then bursts into flame

He just stares at you and you know you’re in for a long night/afternoon/morning

“H-how… how do I make you do that again??”

If you combine the face with the egirl look just uuuh

Time it at the beginning of a vacation or three day weekend

Cause neither of you will be doing anything for a while

Except each other

An “every surface in the house” kinda guy

Literally genuinely such a good lover

Like he’s so focused on you 

Gets serotonin just from you being around

Much less you trailing your hands under the waistband of his underwear

Oh do that too

Like you unbutton his pants and start to tug them down

But kinda play with the band and material of his underwear before you finish undressing him

Drives him fucking wild

m u t u a l  g r o p i n g

Very into foreplay/fun teasing

But won’t die without it

It’s like,, you get a cake and it’s amazing

And the more frosting decorations and sprinkles you add it gets even better

You’re just so excited you have dessert 

Idek if that makes sense but you probs get what i mean

He has a unique brand of aftercare

Ig it’s like,,, more focused on bonding than one person taking care of the other

Good luck not cuddling with this man

Let him sleep with his face in your chest

We all know he’s a stomach sleeper

Esp if you have boobs

If he could purr he absolutely would

If you try to wham bam thank you maam without cuddling after like 

He’ll survive

But when he finally gets you to cuddle he will absolutely make up for that lost time

His favorite thing ever is when he gets to see you just like,,, being organically yourself

Like watching you take off your makeup

Absolutely the type to watch you get dressed the morning after

Like you don’t even really realize he’s awake 

But you get that feeling like eyes are on you yk

You turn around and see him looking at you all sleepy and lovey

“...What?”

“Nothing…”

So you keep getting dressed

But the look doesn’t fade 

And you know it’s not nothing

The way he’s looking at you now, you know you’re the something

He makes it feel really nice to be the something 

Cause like you view yourself as his something

But he deadass sees you as his everything

And he will do everything he can to make you feel euphoric in as many aspects of your life as possible

[mego42]

Shamelessly stealing @foxmagpie​’s monthly rec thing without the ability to get my life together to do these on a monthly basis so, seasonal recs! So excited to see if I manage to do this again with anything remotely resembling consistency but i’ve been keeping the notes for approximately 43 years (or since ~september, whatever that means) so by god i’m gonna use them. 

found my thrill - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe​

Turner POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guys turner is SO OBSESSED with Beth and Rio

both canonically and in this fic

it’s gr9

also features a weirdly soothing and relatable cord untangling moment as a metaphor

truly disturbingly relatable turner pov tbh

relentless boomer disdain, always a plus

led to the creation of this monstrosity, not sure what kind of a monster would do that

War In My Mind - mintletters16

Backread!!!!

post-213, gorgeous character study 

guaranteed to make you feEl stUfF

I really love the like, cyclical, fractured pattern of Beth’s internal monologue, it gives the whole thing a really affecting at times dreamy, at times haunted vibe

the end twist is *chef’s kiss*

mourning bells - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet​

Backread!!!!

Later s2 era, Rio’s at a funeral, gets drunk and calls Beth

V short, kind of…..mmm, not sweet, but almost? Idk

It’s got a wistful sort of almost/i can be quiet with you vibe that i go extremely bonkers for

delinquents - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Lol are any of you actually not reading this yet?

g o d ch 8 where do i start

First off how ABSOLUTELY VERY DARE for the tragic angst that is delinquents!beth boland. This poor baby, this precious bean. MUST PROTEC

SHE’S TRYING HER BEST AND I LOVE HER

zero percent deserves dean’s clammy hands, no i have not forgotten, tattooed on my brain, will never forgive

I also love love love love LOVE the ruby/stan subplot happening

(and ruby’s mom!!!!!) (seriously though you write the best moms)

oh god and baby beth starting to have confusing feelings about rio?????? *chef’s kiss*

p sure i was just like, straight screaming the entire end of the chapter

the dugout is like, pure serotonin

I can’t even talk about the closet

tHe teNsiOn

thank you i will take eleventy billion

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul - medievalraven / @medievalraven

am a desperate heaux for any fic that features rio and mick friendship

you are all incredibly shocked i know

still would not be mad if this swerved into rio x mick fake dating but beth x rio is cool too i guess

Speaking of things i am a desperate heaux for: DIANE!!!!!!!!

and DATING ANNIE???????????? Blessed

honestly this fic is worth it purely for the assertion that mick watches queer eye

Why don't we go to Venus? - watermelonriddles / @bensonstablers​

another grief study! 

apparently i was working through some stuff in september, idk, that was like 4 years ago

considering it’s the premise of the fic, i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this fic is canon divergent and working with the premise that rio killed beth in 302

he is uh, not coping well

extremely haunted you might say

lots of marcus and rhea which is a delight!

rhea is to good for him tbh

i said what i said

truly top notch dream (nightmare?) sequences

the conversation at the end is extremely uncalled for

drop the game - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet​

Backread!!!!

Am going to die mad Beth and Rio didn’t hook up in 211 but luckily this fic scratched the itch 

(temporarily, it’s a fairly permanent itch)

Bonus rec: missing scene series i wanna do bad things to you featuring 2x02 and 2x04

Viva Voce - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx​

Whoops we woke up married Vegas shenanigans!! 

So cute!!!!! So sexy!!!!! 

What more do you want?

am desperately obsessed with how beth can’t help stalking rio

feels right, feels organic

this makes me feel a lot of stuff about how they could be without their canon garbage between them

🎶 we could’ve had it aaaaaaaaaaall 🎶

you showed me colors (i can't see them with anyone else) - gild_fire / @gild-and-fire​

really into the use of color to illustrate beth’s emotional state, i feel like there’s a word for that but idk what it is

UNIMPORTANT

really nice job capturing beth’s inner vulnerability balanced by her outer stubbornness

am DESPERATELY into Mick playing matchmaker

more please???????

Both Sides of the Law - JoeyLee / @joeyjoeylee​

LAW SCHOOL AU! I suuuuuuper love Beth and Rio here (alt pov!! a gift!!!!) I love how initially prickly they are, I love how it’s evolving into a grudging respect, I love how INCREDIBLY AND HILARIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER THEY ARE and neither one of them seems to see it

listen I know we’re all already foaming at the mouth over this one but as it’s gonna go down as one of my all time favorites it bears repeating/rereccing

cannot stress enough how masterful the use of POV is here, both voices feel completely true and distinct and I love how the alternating chapters revisit, reveal and emphasize pieces of each other

i can’t talk about this fic without hyperventilating

I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS

the slow burn is going to ACTUALLY KILL ME

rip, no regrats

Earned It - wakeupflawless / @wakeupflawless​

spanking

that’s it that’s the pitch

H O T

living for beth’s exit in the first chapter, rio and i are both incredibly into it

second chapter also features violently possessive Rio who cannot deal with anyone messing with his girl so if that’s your thing boy howdy get on it

shake, baby, shake - openhearts

backread!!!!!

according to my bookmarks this was a reread but ???????

must’ve read it in the fugue state that followed reading for a moment we were strangers which is gr9 and I believe I have recced it before. If not, horrible oversight, reccing it now

beth and Rio POV lead up to the bathroom break, beautifully done, low-key feel bad reccing it bc the end point of both chapters makes me want to throw things but it’s super worth it for the tEnsiOn. ENJOY

What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have - flashindie / @pynkhues​

I’m assuming all of y’all are already reading this

If not OH MY GOD FIX YOUR LIVES

P I R A T E  A U

I’m sorry maybe you didn’t hear me piRaTE aU

meticulously researched, brain-meltingly vibrant, already painfully sexy slow-burning PIRATE AU

god where to start okay so first off, the world-building here straight up breaks my brain, sophie’s put in the work and it SHOWS

second, the atmosphere. i’m generally a pretty like, vague mental picture sort of reader but the sensory detail here grabs you by the throat and like, forcibly hauls you in whether your brain’s wired that way or no

and hey speaking of throats if you, like me, go a little funny about the knees at the idea of beth holding a knife to rio’s throat (he’s fine, calm down), there’s a v excellent beth-in-a-barrel moment for you

oh christ and the sexy tension

it’s gonna be a race to see which slow burn takes me out first, this or law school

Stunner - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Another high school AU, this time with baby Rio absolutely head over heels for his older sister’s bff

stunner!Rio has an emotional earnestness about him that I feel like delinquents!Rio has already outgrown and it’s so SWEET I can’t get enough

Desperately cute!!!!!!

alL he waNts iS foR beTh tO bE hiS girL

also unreasonably angsty???????

ANN ARBOR IS NOT THAT FAR MEGAN

A Heart's A Heavy Burden - tooshyforthis / @bathroombreaks​

Howl’s Moving Castle AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Howl’s!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect opp to roast Rio for being a Dramatique Heaux 

and it’s gonna be 9 chapters?????? H Y P E

author’s note boldly presumes I did not know I needed this AU when the reality is I did in fact know I needed this AU, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to deliver

so blessed

author also claims to not be team nose stud and yet it features prominently in all its magnificent glory

what is the truth dot gif

A Bit of a Stretch - septiembre / @septiembur​

SO????? CUTE?????????

would be on this list for Rio calling Beth E alone tbh

really really really really really love this Rio POV of being settled into a relationship with Beth

It manages to be sweetly domestic af while still holding the edge that makes brio brio which is a neat trick

@septiembur may be a witch

beth’s approach to getting rio to do yoga with her is hilarious and exactly right, canon-typical amounts of subtlety 

1000000/10

Post Break-Up Sex - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs​

stg this was called Hit Shuffle

no matter

h O T

with a side of damn i’ve made some questionable choices in my life haven’t i introspection

(no regrats tho)

(esp not with this fic)

not the point of the fic by a long shot but i’m also extremely obsessed with Weed Eddie, so real

She drains my soul... she drains it not - niham87 / @niham87​

ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS CONCEPT

am a complete sucker for paranormal world building that satirizes bureaucracy 

Is that a trope? If so that’s my favorite

I did it. I’m picking a single favorite. You know what that is growth dot gif

ANYWAY i love the concept, i love the humor, i love beth instantly clicking with annie

I love her and mick’s sort of grudging professional courtesy

Love beth as a champion of environmental responsibility and all of the underworld being like …...okay??

cannot wait to see where this goes

Nine-Tenths - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

sometimes i think about rio putting beth’s hair in a ponytail and have to go lie down

science please explain why this rUinS mE

wait hold on i skipped ahead

HEY KIDS DO YOU LIKE UNBEARABLY CUTE DOMESTIC TENDERNESS

opens with rio sleepily holding beth’s hand to his heart so that’s the kind of thing you’ll be dealing with

uGH theY’RE sO CUTe

idk why precisely but rio adding hair ties to his bracelet collection is my undoing every time

Missed Call - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Rio doesn’t come home from a job when he’s supposed to. Beth (and I!!!!!!!) slowly loses her mind

Truly a masterpiece of rising tension

Will literally never forgive her for calling this light angst

I was SO STRESSED OUT

The first person to point out there was an author’s note at the beginning I obvs didn’t read is getting blocked

crush - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Listen even though this is centered around two OCs, they are OCs FROM a (n iconic) brio fic AND Beth, Ruby and Rio all make cameos (I mean, Rio’s pretty present since he lives in Mar’s mind rent free bc they are THE SWEETEST MOST ADORABLE BEST OF FRIENDS so idk if i’d call it a cameo but whatever)

and even if it didn’t feature any official GG characters I’d still rec is bc that’s mY SON AND this fic is TOO CUTE

I have so many feelings over mar and rio growing up and not knowing how to cope with girls becoming a Thing in their life and how it affects their friendship and mar feeling left behind but (SPOILERS) at the end of the story rio starts feeling that too and it’s so poignant knowing how that’s going to continue in delinquents

while mar may be my son, i also claim elena’s #1 stan status

before you’re like meg you’re only reccing it bc it’s a bday present ask yourselves do i really strike you as the kind of person that wouldn’t be equally obnoxious about this either way?

truly cannot fathom how hard i have fallen for these OCs i don’t normally do that

@foxmagpie is definitely a witch

The Ottoman - Niham87 / @niham87​

look i will be the first to admit that i don’t go near as bonkers over the ottoman line in 308 as y’all do

(don’t get me wrong, i love it!!! I love that he laughs and i love that she’s pleased it just doesn’t hit my lose my whole mind button like idk, the dubby or the 306 convo, idk why)

BUT i v v v much love the context this delightful Rio POV pwp gives it

am also absolutely feral for 209 missing scene fic

and anything that captures the complexity of Rio’s s3 feelings for Beth and how twisted they’ve become

so this scratches a bunch of itches, is what i’m trying to say

Bet On It - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

That’s what my brain does when I think about Beth and Rio meeting in ch 1

am DESPERATELY OBSESSED WITH the tension between the two of them in this fic

I love how it plays with the ways they have to rely on but don’t trust each other

plus FAKE DATING and BED SHARING (fair warning hasn’t happened yet but the set up is there)

originally supposed to be 2 chapters, already up to 4, prayer circle it goes on forever

do you like drugs (tonight) - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe​

v important focus on hydration, other fic should take note

extremely about the use of cut to and then flashback to enhance the ‘we were on drugs’ vibe

speaking of, beth and rio absolutely would take ecstasy to prove they are fun bc they are the exact kind of idiots that would peer pressure themselves

so glad beth kept her purse, got a bit stressed there for a second, clutches in that kind of circumstance are A Risk

not that i would know

FLAWLESS USE OF VOICEMAIL TBH

really love the ongoing denial that they are remotely into each other while proceeding to demonstrate how they are in fact, extremely into each other, great vibe

rio dances

I know my brain broke too

mmmm bacon

Navigate A Broken Path - flashindie / @pynkhues​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

I have a long standing tradition of getting unreasonably obsessed with side characters so i’m not like, entirely surprised by how obsessed i am with both Mick and Mary Pat but i never in a million years considered them as a ship

AND Y E T

they fit????? so perfectly?????? It’s amazing how she developes them individually enough that i look at them together and think ah yes this makes perfect sense for both characters

and they’re such an amazing foil to Beth and Rio? 

can ships have foils? do i know what a foil is? 

unimportant

GUYS you dON’T uNDERStAN d 

hell i don’t understand

how absolutely very dare you make me care about YET ANOTHER set of gg ‘verse children

do not read this fic if you have no interest in feelings you zero percent asked for

wHA t hAPPeNED iN aLASkA?????????

A Moment’s Silence - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs​

*makes sign of the cross*

y’all are gonna make me rediscover religion

extremely appreciate the author’s note approach to backstory top notch prioritization

listen it’s basically 3k of beth deep throating rio idk what more you need me to say about it

it is…..good stuff

bless the kinkmeme or fest whatever we’re calling it

praise - civillove / @blainesebastian​

I mean you had me at “three times rio calls beth a good girl and one time he really means it”

ephemeral rio

I left that note for myself in here in the middle of the night and haven’t the foggiest what i was thinking but i stand by it none the less

okay okay i think i know what i meant, this fic (as do all of my fav civillove brio fics) has this sort of like, liminal, in the quiet moments feel to them that makes the moments and feelings somehow feel like i’m catching a glimpse of something secret and precious???

idk i just really like it okay

Heart and Soul - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo​

oh look more unbearably sweet domestic tenderness, this time to music

thank you ma’am for my life

rio remembers beth used to play piano and gets her one and revoltingly cute shenanigans result

also hilarity

and sexiness

this fic has it all, truly

shout out to mick who sees no reason to keep rio’s feelings to himself

good girls tumblr fic - prettylittlementirosa / @hypermania​​

cheating and reccing a whole series

It’s my list and i can do what i wanna

stop crying about it, it’s four fics and they’re all AMAZING absolutely impossible to pick a fav

truly flawless characterization, next level ability to capture evocative mood, cannot get enough

three’s a crowd: who knew ballroom dancing while dean watches and grinds his teeth could be so sexy 

(trick question everything about that premise sounds A++++ and boy howdy does it live up)

feel it on the way home: rio tries to break up with beth, it goes about as well as you’d expect

(thE angSty tenSioN)

i want to play the game: [from the floor] i’m still not ready to talk about it

(rio/turner, missing scene, 10000000% a taste of what went down in that hotel room)

june after dark: pitch perfect annie pov, really really love the take that Annie is the baby whisperer, can’t fully explain why but it feels incredibly right

(ANNIE X NANCY COULD WORK SO WELL YOU GUYS)

[cutest-silly-nb]

eh whatever guess I’ll get some personality traits out of the way

Kris

enby

never uses two words where one will do

loves Ralsei (and all their friends but mostly R) very much

pretty messed up kid and they know it

would probably hurt their friends by accident

very cheesy person, especially around Ralsei (like I wouldn’t put it past them to have a repertoire of cheesy pickup lines backstocked)

moirails with Noelle, probably

They’re going to end up auspiticising Noelle and Berdly eventually

takes pranks too far oftentimes

generally a gremlin child

Will protect their fluffy boi at any cost

likelihood to swear: moderate

likelihood to swear around their boyfriend: very low

likelihood to randomly kiss ralsei out of nowhere: extremely high

likelihood to eat an entire shoe: extremely high

Is always there for Ralsei. No matter what.

hates being touched, with the exception of Ralsei, Toriel, Asgore, and maybe if they’re really down Noelle and Susie (don’t count on it tho)

talks in all lowercase, oft using abbreviations

Susie

not as mean as she lets on

problem solver

by which I mean, problem puncher

as in problems are going to be wiped off the floor by swatchlings

basically same as the original game

gets pissed whenever kris and ralsei just randomly kiss

shut up she’s not jealous (probably)

has a crush on noelle but doesn’t realize it

likelihood to swear: high

likelihood to eat an entire shoe: very high

likelihood to kill someone: none

likelihood to beat someone to a pulp and pin them on a cross: relatively high

talks in all lowercase, no abbreviations

might end up auspiticising between Noelle and Berdly depends how it goes

is probably kismeses with Berdly

if she is I’ll put them on a stab-date or smth don’t worry

Ralsei

soft and bakes cakes

head-over-heels for kris and he mostly has no idea why

has amateur fire magyyks but isn’t very good with them, so he uses it only on the cauldron

likelihood to swear: he doesn’t know enough for it to be out of the negatives

likelihood to eat an entire shoe: low

likelihood to faint when kris inevitably kisses them because they made a pie or whatever: very high

has a genuine interest in light world customs

likes to make presents for his friends

doesn’t actually think very much of himself

internal monologue is almost exclusively screaming when kris is around

is always there for Kris. No matter what.

doesn’t know Noelle that well but does express genuine interest in getting to know her better

would be an amazing auspiticise probably

Perfect grammar, but will sometimes use all lowercase and abbreviations around Kris… wonder why

Noelle

likelihood to eat an entire shoe: if Susie is watching, high. Otherwise, none.

definitely realizes her feelings but she tries to ignore them

moirails with Kris. they tell each other a lot.

likelihood to ask Kris for help with her crush: ……moderate.

likelihood to accidentally freeze Berdly to death: high

likelihood to “accidentally” freeze Berdly to death: ……… let’s go with… moderate

bad at controlling her ice powers

even worse when Susie is around

actually very kind

once she tried baking cupcakes with ralsei

turned out ok

she and berdly are not and will never be kismeses

Always there for Susie. No matter what.

all lowercase, lots of abbreviations, like Jade

Berdly

Annoying AF

Perfect grammar. Very snooty.

His halberd is a halberd in LW and DW

Armor plays cheesy Game Boy Advance-quality voice clips

You name it, he’s played it, and has a very strong opinion.

likelihood to eat an entire shoe: moderate

likelihood to swear: moderate-low

Basically a blank slate for me to project internet culture onto

Toby

This one only exists so that I could mention that Undertale canonically exists in-universe, though with modified characters obv.

Likelihood to eat an entire shoe: Extremely high

[woogurl]

WOOSAN’S RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS

yeah, it’s your girl, it’s me again, i’m back with another analysis, ‘cause i’m bored in quarantine. 

so, basically, i wanted to share my opinion on what i think woosan’s relationship is. as a woosan shipper, obviously i’m biased, but i’m going to be as practical and as impartial as i can possibly be. i wanted to do this because i know people think they’re either best friends, friends with benefits or actually romantically involved. i can say that i’m actually pretty uncertain about it, but i want to argue why i do think think they are at least in a intimate relationship. 

again, i’m not a professional body language reader/psychologist/analyst or whatever. these are solely based on my observations.

REASON ONE: woo’s body language/relationship with yeosang is completely different than his relationship with san. 

Now people argue that they’re both woo’s best friend. which i agree that you can certainly have two best friends. however, in this case, it’s still different? woo puts a lot of emphasis on his relationship with both san and yeo.

yes, i know you can all hear this picture, woo always needs to emphasize his four years of friendship with yeo, and even picked yeo when he had to choose between him and san as his bestfriend. also keep in mind that woo left bighit bts for yeo. that’s a real ass friend.

which left san devastated, i mean look at the way he looked at mingi, like wtf, you’re not woo. lmfao. 

woo and yeo have been friends for four years, yet i think most of us can agree that the nature of his relationship with san, is just different.

woo sees san as his other half/twin, by the way he’s been friends with yeo for five years now. again the language is completely different. on the other hand, san wrote:

i’m not entirely sure what he meant by you also, the not sure was the translator’s note. but as you can see their responses for the chemistry that they have for each other is entirely different. 

Let’s move on to the legendary asmr video. 

again, they’re super physical, just look at the way san touches/grab woo. anyhow, we aren’t there yet.i wanted to emphasize something else. that being the talk after.  i’ve highlighted the parts that i think are important to take note of.

WY: You always go along with whatever I do

WY: And you take interest in the things I like

WY: I'm very thankful for that

WY: No one takes care of me better than you

WY: If you think I'm exaggerating, it's to the point where even my parents asked him to take care of me

ummmmm.....

WY: Take care of me in the future, too, please

S: You're cool

S: You’re cool and

S: I honestly

S: Now I can sincerely

S: To the people around me or my relatives

S: I can proudly say that my friend is Wooyoung!

S: You're that kind of friend

S: To that point where I'm not embarrassed

S: Or rather say you're my friend that's worth showing off!

S: I think this is more than enough!

you can’t tell me that this doesn’t legitimately sound like a love confession.

Next, the handshakes man? i don’t think i should include all of their handshakes as this would get too long, it already is, but you guys get the gist. they have so many like jesus christ. whyyy?

Lastly amicus and aras. The fact that woo really went searching for a word or saying meaning a friend forever is very telling to me. also note here they were the only ones in each others fancams which was super sweet.

REASON TWO(yeh, we JUST got here): woo’s obsession with san, now a lot of people think woosan is one-sided because woo is very good with hiding his emotions on cam. but a lot of us now are a lot more aware that woo sticks to san like gum. 

san literally asked him if he was a piece of glue, also hi baby yunho. 

literally like glue, you can’t tell me this isn’t boyfriend culture. 

as soon as seonghwa leaves for the mission on wanted film woo goes back to san. lol, i know he was prob just tryna get a better view but i wouldn’t put it past him. anyway, like glue. 

woo’s leg over san’s, like glue. or that time woo ended up in san’s bed, even though he was supposed to be with hongjoong/yunho/etc?

don’t believe me? then just take san’s word for it.

also, it’s supposed to be, “you really like me more than i thought.” so even san is surprised by woo’s clingyness.

i don’t even much to say about this interview it speaks for itself. woo was literally all over san during it. this is also one of the interviews that completely solidify my beliefs of them being in an intimate relationship whatever it may have been. i just felt like this interview was like, “yeh, we’re together.” that’s just the aura i got from it also it was valentine’s day or at least themed?

also, i’ll mention but not add all the times san has said that woo comes to his room. it’s very often there’s plenty of vids that we avid woosan shippers know of. moving on with woo’s obsession with san.

that time the members were supposed to post pics of themselves, and most of woo’s at least three pics were of him with san. don’t you like san too much woo?

REASON THREE: Body language in general

The stares man, the stares...You just don’t look at friends this way. 

including these stares: 

i’ve also noticed in a couple of videos that wooyoung tries to avoid san’s stares,  there are times where he just doesn’t even look at him even though he knows san is staring at him. sometimes he literally turns his face completely away from san and i think it’s to avoid getting lost in san’s eyes. i want to express that woo does this very intentionally, as i said before he’s much more aware of the camera than san. it’s hard to notice because these aren’t motion pictures, but i want you to watch their moments and you’ll notice that most, if not all the time that woo always turns his head away first while san stare’s linger for at least one second longer.

otherwise, we’d just get more moments like this:

REASON FOUR(very important): How touchy they are with each other.

san’s nono is square on woo’s ass, that’s far from straight. anyway, moving on, they’re very touchy and the fact, that they’re even more touchy when the cameras are off is very telling to me. like i said the valentine vlive was enough to convince me that they’re physically intimate and the fact that san said woo likes to come to his room a lot. i also want to note that anytime san mentions this woo gets incredibly uncomfortable? why? you can just say you like playing games together or whatever, but woo always freaks out. lmfao. also apparently they were in a room together and in bed together according to woo. i think something may happened, because woo was more clingy than usual on camera, and their expressions were quite transparent.

REASON FIVE: The time they spend together off camera

Since the vlive from a while ago, the christmas one, we learned they spend a lot of time together off camera. i already did an analysis about this for the woosansang drama post. but the fact that the members felt so pouty about how much time they spend together tells me that they spend a lot of time together. i also want to note that i think mingi’s comments are important because after watching him stuff his hands in his pants and literally reading off the piece of paper that the staff writes telling them to do something it’s obv this boi skipped idol training. ‘cause he fcking pours tea. lol but anyway mingi said that one day while with yeo, yeo said, “san really likes woo, huh?” and they all started screaming that’s weird ‘cause obv, it’s so gay.

here’s another moment, where mingi is exposing their asses. lol. even the members say they’re constantly afraid that he’ll say something he’s not supposed to. mind you that they’re probably having a semi-casual convo.

lol. why bring up woo so suddenly mingi?

mingi’s like btch stop lying.

so, mingi laid it all out for us, but san said, “no no no, he’s the clingy one, woo’s the one always following me--WELL, we follow each other.” anyway, i do feel like san brought this up because people always assume that he’s the clingy one, after all he didn’t have to read it i felt like he read it to check us lmfao.

REASON SIX: people may not all agree on this, i get that this will be extremely controversial but i honestly do believe the escape woosan vlive was solid proof enough for me that they are physically intimate.

i know i said before that i think they were tired, but someone said it was apparently only 4pm, so now i’m convinced they were drunk. lmfao. anyhow, there’s a lot of moaning, and “stop rubbing”, as i already made an analysis about this i’m just gonna comment about the part that sold me and that was the part where san literally shouted woo’s name as he was holding in his voice. which convinced me that woo was being a little shit rubbing him inappropriately. let’s be honest, woo is THAT type of person(to secretly rub someone off in public) lol. there’s just no explanation for that shout, and the “you want me to tell?” and woo’s “no!” yeah, no, you can’t convince that they weren’t doing some freaky shit. lol

lastly.

REASON SEVEN: Their commitment to woosan.

now we can agree that most ships do not like being shipped, but woosan came up with their own ship name and handshake, as well as phrase for it. amicus ad aras as well as san: WOO woo: SAN. also, the time they walked together holding hands on tour with little umbrella’s that read woo and san. your ship could never.

do i think some of it is fanservice? sure, i mean KQ even made an entire woosan vcr.

but, definitely not all of it, and woo has said himself during the lie detector test, that it isn’t just business.

they even have a fandom name, i mean? come on? i’m sure the company isn’t forcing them to do it lol. i think they really just are committed that much to each other. also, when someone asked about woosanhwa, they said they’d think about it. lmfao. what woosan share is something entirely different than what we’re used to.

anyway, thas it. thank you for your time. c;

[omnipah]

Okay so. Since I brought it up before and also @campanulaflora​ has been Encouraging me I’m gonna go ahead and yell about The Communication Of It All cus. it’s good.

So like. obviously this is another one of those things that develops over time cus when ur nd and communicate in ways people consider annoying or nonstandard, it’s gonna take some learning even if u are Also nd. But this is why it’s so cool to me that wwx is actively trying to understand, and of course it goes both ways, though it takes lwj a while to notice that that’s what wwx is actually doing and trust that it’s sincere, but it ends up being the foundation of their relationship. Like, wwx consistently shows affection by infodumping or just bothering people, cus his love language is primarily about giving attention, while lwj is the kind of person who’s like. if he thinks ur cool he’ll just. be near u until he doesn’t want to any more. And by the time the timeskip happens, both of them have kind of learned to adopt each others’ love languages (like, lwj finding things he think wwx would like is his way of showing attention, and I think the way they play music together is another way of just Spending Time together that doesn’t leave wwx unfocused and fidgety), while also accepting that even if they express it differently, that’s the intent behind it.

But there’s something very sweet and earnest about seeing the two of them be a bit abrasive and make communication mistakes in the beginning, cus its pretty clear that there’s no like. nd network for either of them to pull understanding from, and all their later understanding is based on that very active intent to empathise and meet each other in the middle.

And like. a decent amount of the flashback stuff is also pretty good communication-wise, the exception mostly being whenever they talk about their own feelings about each other. When they’re actually doing something together, there’s an implicit understanding of how to function as a unit, because they have the previous experience to tell them that they’re working towards the same goal and they understand each others’ strengths and weaknesses, while also presumably being just. very good at reading each others’ body language. And when they’re talking about political stuff, they’re both pretty clear and well-spoken. The only time when it starts to break down is when wwx is being deliberately obtuse to push lwj away, which is both a misguided attempt to keep him safe and an expression of his fear that lwj doesn’t actually approve of him the way he’d started to let himself think he did.

Like, as far as I can tell, 90% of their communication issues stem from wwx being in a bad mental place and misinterpreting lwj because lwj doesn’t use his words, and normally lwj can trust that he’ll be understood by wwx, which is why he doesn’t really seem to know how to handle it when wwx starts like. projecting. That’s another thing tho, that he seems to have picked up on after the fact, cus all the times he sees that wwx needs unambiguous validation or clarity post-timeskip, he makes sure to use words when he probably wouldn’t have before. And that confirmation is part of what allows wwx to see his other gestures of affection as they’re intended, cus lwj making the effort to speak his language gives context for the larger pattern of behaviour.

Both of them do seem to just. decide to understand each other at some point, though, presumably cus it matters to them that their second chance doesn’t go to waste – the second time round, there’s no hesitation or shying away from vulnerability, and they both pay active attention to each other. Like it’s very cute and funny that they’re always staring at each other and/or gently clinging, but I think there is an extra layer there that they just. really really don’t want to miss something important that the other is expressing.

Which brings us to. the expressions. Cus lwj is such an excellent case-study in how autistics can be incredibly expressive, but completely ignored because their methods of communication are things people aren’t used to paying attention to. And like, we, the audience, are encouraged to understand him, cus the camera’s always on him when we need to notice that he’s reacting to something, and how, and it always shows us his reactions on his terms, which is usually a matter of where he holds tension or whether he’s relaxed. But it’s easy to see how someone who doesn’t care enough to pay attention, like jc, or someone who’s actively interpreting in bad faith, like su she, would miss those things if they didn’t bother to learn that those were significant to him.

Like. I get soft over lwj’s microexpressions as much as the next guy, but those are very much a part of a bigger picture. A lot of how he expresses himself is through his actions, which is most obvious when it’s something like just moving out of the way when he doesn’t want to be touched, but with him it’s also about potentially months-long patterns of behaviour, like how he consistently chooses to be around people he likes and avoid people he doesn’t. And there’s that delightful meta post about his speech patterns as well, which is super interesting for other reasons as well obvs, but also very much works as an in-depth analysis of how he’s clearly autistic, cus what it comes down to is that he’s super formal (i.e scripted), well-spoken and has a good vocabulary, while also being essentially semi-verbal, especially when he’s stressed. And like, combining that with the fact that he doesn’t move his face unless he has something specific and probably relatively extreme to communicate, he doesn’t make eye contact, and has suuuper strong morals, it’s. Very Very easy to see how someone who already doesn’t like him would use that to call him rude, or stubborn, or arrogant, and other people who are more neutral might just. decide he’s too much effort to get to know properly. Which is why wwx is so special to him, cus he not only made an effort (despite his own insecurities and unacknowledged nd needs) but he also helped lsz to understand how to get to know him in the same way.

And wwx kind of has the same problem for the opposite reason, cus his face is so mobile and he uses so many words, that people often miss the subtleties of like. what comes up a lot for him, or what he’s doing while he says stuff, or even just why he does or says the things he does. Like, in the same way as with people assuming lwj is arrogant because he prefers to observe and listen before expressing himself, people often say the exact same thing of wwx because he’s ‘too’ quick to express himself, especially when it’s a moral thing; people are always accusing him of virtue signalling or whatever instead of genuinely believing what he’s doing is right. I think, again, the fact that wwx spends so much time around lwj, combined with the fact that lwj cares enough to learn what he’s about, means he often sees a side of wwx that people don’t tend to, and he learns to read between the lines of what he’s saying. There is also the fact that wwx just kinda seems to be a pretty good actor, and generally knows how to make people overlook the things he doesn’t want them to see, so it takes some trial and error before lwj realises how unhealthily selfless he is, among other things.

[partyinthemysterymachine]

Of Jellicle Worldbuilding pt. ?????/??????????

beyond ye olde cutte is the beginning of spitballing lore for the new world in which the Jellicle Tribe is a part of. 

this is literally just spitballin and i assure you this may or not make sense, but either way, i hope y’all dig it LOL

as it develops i’ll just slap everything up here and see where it goes lmao

now for some assorted information such as humanoid/anthro (idk i like ‘anthro’ call me old fashioned) animal status/territory information and number of tribes/society information and rehash on Tugger’s storyteller/bard status as well as his shocking decision to groom himself as he did/Jellicle Junkyard territorial map/And More

TAKES PLACE HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER FALL OF HUMANITY, DON’T ASK, DOMESTIC CATS HAVE EVOLVED TO HUMANOIDS NOW

OTHER HUMANOID ANIMALS INCLUDE:

RATS

DOGS (BREED SPECIFIC)

WATER FOWL/BIRDS ARE RARE AND KNOWN BIRDS INCLUDE:

3 SWANS EASTERN USA AREA, 1 IN NY/NJ

2 DUCKS IN MIDWEST

1 CANADIAN GOOSE IN MIDWEST

1 OWL, 1 FALCON IN NORTHWEST

5 PIGEONS (RUMORED) IN WEST COAST

OTHER RUMORED/RARE:

GATORS

SHEEP

DEER

BOVINE

MOUNTAIN CATS

FOX

POSSUM

RACCOON

THESE ARE CONSIDERED RUMORED/RARE TO MOST TRIBES, BUT SPECIFICALLY IN EASTERN US/NEW ENGLAND

the tribal society that takes over New York State is considered “upscale” for the lack of a better word rn and probably one of the oldest and most respected societies.

there are roughly 50 tribes in the whole state. they are somewhat ranked and they have fluctuated throughout the years, of course.

TRIBAL TERRITORIES (NEEDS CAREFUL THOUGHT LOL)

tribal territories vary as being very close together and very far apart.

for the Staten Island Society, there are 3 tribes.

for the Manhattan Society, there are 4 tribes.

for the Brooklyn Society, there are 4 tribes.

for the Queens Society, there are 9 tribes.

- JFK AIRPORT TERRITORY ALSO ENCOMPASSES FROM BREEZY POINT TO FAR ROCKAWAY. THIS IS AN ENORMOUS TERRITORY AND HOME TO PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOLS AND ELITE.

- THERE ARE MEMBERS FROM OTHER TRIBES THAT LIVE HERE. MIXED OPINIONS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS SEEN AS SPURNING THEIR TRIBE OR BOLSTERS THEIR REPUTATION.

the Jellicles have been highly ranked in the top 15 for the past 60 years or so, as Deut’s leadership has gotten stranger. whereas they’ve been solidly in the top 3 - 6 for decades, they’ve been lingering around 9 - 12 and have even dipped to 14 since Macavity’s exile. this does have many repercussions.

tribal territory varies. the Jellicle Junkyard is considered one of the more medium-sized types.

tribal territory are essentially towns, or even cities if they’re large enough. the tribe that occupies Central Park is one of the smaller tribes, of course, but have a damningly incredible location. that tribe also hosts a guard that’s nearly unmatched. they also offer training there and a market that’s very, very highly sought. they are known for their rugs, woven items like bags/baskets and even clothes

CLOTHES ARE UNCOMMON, AS A WHOLE, THOUGH THERE ARE A FEW TRIBES THAT HAVE TAKEN TO FULL OUTFITS

IT’S CONSIDERED VERY STRANGE TO EVEN HAVE ACCESSORIES, AND TRIBES WITH FULL WARDROBES TEND TO “DRESS DOWN” IN MAJOR SOCIETY

GROOMING TO SHORT HAIR OR EVEN SHAVING IS WHAT IS DONE WITH THE SICK

TUGGER HAVING GROOMED HIMSELF TO A MANE AND SHORT HAIR AND WEARING ACCESSORIES IS SHOCKING, ESPECIALLY SINCE HE WAS A FULL LONG HAIR AND HE’S CHOSEN TO MESH BOTH LONG AND SHORT

(this was a ballsy idea and when he did it, Deut raised hell about it. Tugger very well could have destroyed the Jellicles’ social standing even more, and there was a huge uproar and the Jellicles were embarrassed. however, Tugger has proved himself - since this grooming was so revolutionary and rebellious that they expected him to be like Macavity in the way of a turncoat. it even affected his ambassador duties, since some tribes turned him away, refusing to have him amongst their people like that.

Tugger’s storytelling/bard abilities are highly valued in this society (and such talent is valuable elsewhere, too; the ? Festival in which he goes to compete against other storytellers across the country is two weeks long. it’s extremely competitive and even semi-finalists are treated with high honors. he made wild waves showing up to the Festival looking like that, as grooming is a mixed bag in other societies.

either way, his placing second that year was HUGE in his representing the Jellicles and the NY/NJ societies so that really softened opinions (but didn’t stop grumbling). he was invited back to tribes that had turned him away and the Jellicles’s ranking was saved - and improved.

however, his enormous steel balls are influencing society more and more, not just locally but across the country, since the Festival is bi-annual, and storytellers are the highest level of celebrity, considered extremely valuable and even revered. not many are bards as well as storytellers, and Tugger being both, as well as placing #1 at the Festival three years running, is doing stupid amounts of good for the society he’s a part of.

that should have been keeping the Jellicles high in their ranking in itself, but Deut and Macavity’s exile/leadership of the Syndicate/Outliers Clan is doing continuous damage.)

TRIBES ARE LARGELY GENERATIONAL, HOWEVER WILL WELCOME POTENTIAL TRIBAL MEMBERS FROM OTHER TRIBES (WITH RULES/LIMITATIONS) AND TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP FOR TRAVELERS (LIKE A VISA) OR HOSPITALITY (LIKE A HOTEL)

(the Outliers Clan is only one piece of many under the Syndicate ofc, and his leadership of the Syndicate actually spans past NY/NJ, and this is an enormous deal, as the Outliers are growing in numbers and territory and this naturally makes A Lot Of People Mad).

landmarks are often named after their human (probably a new word for them) names (Old Times Square, Old Portland Bay, Old Jersey City, etc) though some have gotten new names.

for NY, the Empire State and Chrysler Building are destroyed.

TRIBE: JELLICLES

LOCATION: Manhattan, OLD TIMES SQUARE

CIVILIAN/RESIDENT POPULATION: 800?

PERIMETERS: SEE MAP (TENTATIVE)

SIGNIFICANT TERRITORIAL PROS:

- PENN STATION

- TIMES SQUARE

- BRYANT PARK

- FLATIRON BUILDING

- RADIO CITY

- 2 MUSEUMS

WINTER GARDEN THEATRE LMAO

TERRITORIAL CONS:

- FIGURE THAT OUT LATER LMAO

MANHATTAN FROM STERN TO STEM ~4hr WALK STRAIGHT DOWN

THE PROWL CAN PROBABLY PATROL THE ENTIRETY OF MANHATTAN AND WILL POSSIBLY MOVE TO BROOKLYN/BRONX/YONKERS SOMETIMES

THE PROWL is a HIGH HONOR and HIGH RANKING patrol/guard within The New York Tribal Protection Collective (NYTPC). the Prowl itself consists of Protectors from each tribe, sometimes two or three representing. they patrol their own section (Manhattan, etc) and will move across lines.

Munkustrap and Alonzo are members of the Prowl. there’re talks to promote Plato, too.

subways are used as pathways between areas obv and defunct train cars have been disassembled and they’ve basically unfolded them for easy walking across the rails, it’s very good merchant space and actually well air conditioned and heated as necessary.

electricity does exist and it’s constantly being updated and worked on; outages are a risk and there are electricians and engineers working 24/7 in shifts

Skimbleshanks is called the Railway Cat because he’s pretty much always on the railways as an electrician/engineer. he’s helping build and improve a facility in hopes of better transportation/making trains work again. he is a HIGHLY VALUABLE member of the Jellicles and society (across the entire country) and is a part of a coalition/guild for engineers/electricians/etc that are working to improve cross-country as well as local transportation and electrical advances.

other worldbuilding posts: 

the first one i did lmao

[aeolianchemistry]

hi, i hope this is ok to ask? a couple of years ago you responded to a post about singing voice on t, and i was just wondering how your range is now?

hey! i have no clue how long this has sat in my asks bc frankly i never check them, but in case you’re still around, here goes! i’m not sure what sort of details you are interested in, so i’ll give a general overview of my vocal situation. i apologise in advance for the length of it.

i believe last time i spoke about my voice was while it was in a very awkward spot. it has developed a lot since then, and additionally i have two other choir friends who have since started T, to compare notes with! i haven’t done a proper range assessment for a while, but iirc correctly my range now runs from about F2 up to upwards of C5 (possibly up to E5 on a good day?). within that there’s a lot of kinda baffling tone and strangely placed breaks. i don’t seem to have a normal falsetto; instead, it very much feels and sounds like i’m an alto when i sing above my break. that break does not sit in the same place most tenors/baritones have a break! mine is around A4 for some reason, and for quite a while it was a big problem to sing in that area - which is ofc where a lot of tenor parts are written in choral music lol. i still occasionally have to swap to another voice part if a song spends too much time around G4-B4 bc my voice gets very stressed and tired (this used to mean dropping down to baritone, but now it usually means hopping up to alto!)

below my break i do sound like a more typical low tenor/baritone, and it is in many ways easier than my high range. i can get pretty decent volume without too much work, and it’s comfortable! what i really love, tho, is the return of my high range.

idr what i’ve discussed in the past, but my higher range was a source of a lot of stress for a long time. about three months into T i was losing high range, and it wasn’t too long before everything above C4 just disappeared, and the few notes above what is now my break were extremely weak. i had a very narrow range for a while and sung a lot of baritone/low tenor. i spent about a year like this, i think, and towards the end of it (this would’ve been spring 2019, so around my one year anniversary of T) my voice sloooowly crept back upwards and reinstalled those higher notes, and now i have a lot of my prior alto back!! aside from that,

the next biggest challenge i faced was projection. for the first probly year of T, my singing voice was extremely weak. it was prone to cracking, it got very thin in the few higher notes i had, and i could not project at all. i could barely be heard by people singing next to me in choir. i worried. i was stressed. i wondered if i’d made a horrible mistake. i missed some very meaningful solo opportunities. i went from being one of the strongest voices in choir to one of the weakest. it was frustrating on a very personal level. i couldn’t even really laugh properly! it honestly wasn’t until last fall (almost a year and a half on T) that i noticed any significant change on this front. i suppose it had been gradually stabilising since earlier that year, but last fall was when i felt i could really be heard again. this coinciding with the return of my high range and also joining a new choir (whom i’d idolised for my entire choir career!!) with and extremely enthusiastic and supportive conductor meant that, after a year of fending off despair and burying how upset i was about losing my voice for so long, i could finally open up again and really sing. and be heard!

which brings us to now. i’m a lil over 2years on T now, and i am typically placed as Tenor 1 in choir, with stints upwards into Alto. after sitting down w fellow trans singers, and also once or twice w my conductor, we have discovered that my voice is very unique (even for a trans voice)! most prominently bc of my strangely placed break and the alto quality of my higher range (which i still hesitate to call falsetto: i more often use the term head voice, which is typically used by treble voices, bc it feels like my old head voice used to, just a bit lower), which differ from other trans singers i’ve spoken to. it makes it a bit tough to find parts that work for my voice, and tracking down solo audition pieces from typical repertoire is a challenge. but overall i am extremely happy with how it has settled!

as a final note, for anyone who is considering transitioning, or perhaps in the midst of it, and to whom singing is important? it is going to be difficult and disheartening at times, and it will feel like you are going backwards. but the best thing you can do is keep singing through it all. obv take care of you and your voice, don’t push it harder than it is able to go, but don’t give up on singing even when it is a challenge and it doesn’t sound like you want. it’s important to get to know it as it changes! i was in and out of multiple choirs throughout all this, and that was invaluable to the development of my voice.

if this is a topic that is meaningful to many people, i could ask my other trans choir friends if they’d like to write about their experiences? they’re not quite as far along as i, but their experiences are already quite different from mine.

(also, if people want clarification on any terminology i used, pls ask! i have been a musician surrounded by musicians for most of my life so, while i think i avoided anything too technical, im not sure what terminology people are and are not familiar with!)

[admutual]

any hayley or steve childhood headcanons hell add stan if thats ok!!

oo !!

hayley ones:

hayley was always bringing weird animals inside and trying to convince stan and francine to let her keep them. multiple instances of her running inside, covered in dirt, and holding a garter snake begging ‘please please can we keep her??’ while steve screams in terror.

that hc i mentioned of francine always standing up for the other kids ,, hayley inherited that trait. my god she was The Most protective kid during her school years, she absolutely refused to let anyone get walked over when she knew they didn’t deserve it.

hayley was a wolf girl growing up,, change my mind. and black wolves were always her fave.

hayley definitely read animorphs growing up. those books shaped her and her fave character was cassie,,, also once she got more comfortable with living with roger she bullied him for not looking as cool as an andalite or a hork-bajir.

hayley went through an emo phase during her middle and high school years. she tried really hard to get an emo fringe, she was always blasting mcr and the used and three days grace, and her first job was at a hot topic.

hayley and stan were obviously tight-knit buds back in the day. like ,, she’d set up tea parties for them in the backyard, going out to movies was almost a weekly activity for the two of them, they were always planning picnics together,, they were really close. also every time they went to familyland together, hayley was always trying to drag him along with her to the more Extreme rides. francine kept telling her she’d go since she knew stan wasn’t the biggest fan of those rides like she was, but hayley kept insisting and it’d always end with stan near traumatized. big cia man goes on scary missions daily but he can’t handle a little roller coaster.

hayley’s hair was . pretty often a Mess when she was young. it was staticky, always sticking up at some angle, she often got too excited that she never took the time to comb out her hair in the mornings. plus it’s always been a habit of hers to play with her hair whenever she gets too excited or nervous, so even if she got it all straightened out it’d still turn into a mess by the end of the day.

hayley was always covered in scrapes and bruises. there was never a day where she didn’t have a bandaid somewhere.

she was a really tall kid during elementary school. she was almost always the tallest kid in her class. around high school everyone outgrew her though and now she’s . really short compared to most people her age, but yeah when she was little . Tall Girl (2019).

hayley skateboarded in middle school, and she was really damn good at it. she got in loads of trouble for skateboarding on school property and she thought she was the coolest kid for doing it.

stan and francine tried really hard not to curse around hayley when she was little (once steve came around they gave up trying), but occasionally something would slip out and hayley would always parrot it. stan looking at a bill and muttering ‘shit’ and then in the living room hearing what is obviously a toddler screaming ‘SHIT’

hayley, like steve, was always kinda lonely during her school years. steve eventually found friends in snot, barry, toshi, and roger too once he moved in, but hayley never really learned proper social skills as she was often pushed away for being the loud rowdy ‘annoying’ kid, and they always viewed her attempts to try to get close to others as too ‘desperate’. she has found friends in her adulthood, but yeah during her childhood she mostly just stuck around her family.

hayley was That Kid who would always use those fake clip-on earrings you’d get from claires, as well as cutting up the spiral from her notebook to use as a fake lip piercing, and she’d spend all day trying to convince her classmates ‘yeah no it’s real’

hayley liked stealing her dad’s camera and using it to film fake vlogs. they have multiple reels that go from cute family videos, to hayley making lps vids and fake cooking tutorials.

hayley drew a lot growing up and francine still has dozens of her drawings magneted to the fridge. hayley’s always cringing and asking her to take them down, but tbh francine’s never going to.

hayley’s always loved being outside at night. occasionally she’d sneak steve out with her to play in the backyard and it’d always lead to them in the treehouse, and stan catching them because they kept shining their flashlight against their bedroom window.

steve ones:

steve’s definitely adhd, autistic, and dyslexic. (the latter’s literally canon, and the two former ones are hcs that to me feel so obvious that i’m always a little hesitant calling it a hc). i really like imagining his parents being really patient with him in this area, even stan learned to be more composed and gentle with him when it came to this, and the two of them helping him find ways to cope. francine especially enjoyed nights helping him read.

steve’s interest in birds has been with him for pretty much his entire life, i like to imagine it’s always been his biggest special interest. also i’ve noticed there’s random scenes where stan’s displayed a bit of an interest or at least an appreciation of birds, so i kinda like to imagine stan used to take steve to the park for birdwatching trips when he was young before steve started going with roger. sometimes francine and hayley would tag along, but mostly it was just stan taking steve out and listening to him ramble about all the birds he’s spotting,, every time steve had a bad day stan’s immediate solution was to take him to the park.

when roger first moved in, he and steve were inseparable. steve was obsessed with learning everything about him and his species and his home planet, while roger saw steve as the one safe person to be around (francine, hayley, and klaus were still anxious towards him while stan was too strict and controlling for him). for a good few months until he started bonding with the rest of the fam roger would get really mopey whenever steve would go to school or leave to hang with his other friends, and the second steve walked through that door roger would excitedly hug him and try to lead him off to go do something together.

@a-d-lesbian got me into the hc that steve’s a theater kid and like ,, i’m always thinking about steve getting a tiny little background role in a 6th grade christmas show that they were required to do as a class, and he just loses his mind. he convinces stan and francine to let him invite the grandparents, he has francine film every scene he’s in where he just . Stands There. and then after the show when they get home he makes them all rewatch them all because he’s really damn proud of himself.

steve’s fave books growing up were always xenofiction. stuff like warrior cats and guardians of ga’hoole and redwall. he loved that shit. like i’m just imagining him trying to get his friends to larp warrior cats but none of them read it so they don’t know what he wants them to do, and he keeps assigning them warrior cat sonas and calling them by warrior cat names at school,, and he keeps calling god ‘starclan’ (which makes stan. Mad). am i projecting? that’s a secret, i’ll never tell.

steve was absolutely the Anime Kid in middle school. the amount of times he got yelled at for naruto running in the hallways was far too much. and his faves were fruits basket, nichijou, and k-on.

i’m so obviously projecting with my steve hcs here but i’m not gonna stop and i’m gonna say steve’s a trans guy. i know it makes no sense in canon, but canon’s dead it’s mine now. anyways he’s known since around the time he started middle school, and stan and francine love him and support him and i don’t have much else to say without getting Too Projecting, but yeah steve’s trans.

steve was pretty socially anxious growing up. he did get better as he grew older obv, but when he was little he was A Mess in school.

steve loved making flower crowns when he was little. he learned how to in his 2nd grade art class and just obsessed over it for a good few years and he was always making them for the fam. francine, stan, and hayley didn’t mind, they thought it was cute. i can see hayley learning to make them too and the two of them exchanging crowns,, and francine probably learned how to make some too during her college years and steve would always get really excited whenever she tried making some with him. poor roger though, once he moved in, steve took him as his new model and roger was forced to suffer through sitting in the hot sun while steve covered him in flowers.

steve never stopped singing. oh my god, stan loves him but he eventually reached a point where he started hiding their disney movies because steve would always loudly sing along and he just wanted some peace and quiet to work.

i like to imagine klaus has a sibling-esque relationship with pretty much the entire fam, but especially with steve. he was always pretty protective of him despite not really being able to do anything if he got hurt, and klaus was always there to talk to whenever steve needed it.

steve’s always liked to help francine bake. originally it was just so he could claim the mixer of batter before hayley could, but he quickly got really invested and he still loves helping out.

and in general for the both of them:

steve was the type of kid who bonked his head against the table a little and would spend the rest of the night crying while francine comforted him,, while hayley was the type of kid who could fly down the stairs and leave an actual dent in the wall and she’d still jump up assuring everyone ‘i’m okay!!’

hayley and steve used to play pokemon together growing up. hayley was more casually into it while steve was more obsessed (i like to imagine it was a special interest of his growing up). nowadays hayley doesn’t play it too often, but every now and then some big news will happen like new starters getting revealed, and steve will show her and hayley still can’t help but get at least a bit excited each time.

francine tried to do cute little family halloween costumes a few years. the idea of them doing an addams family group costume is precious.

francine always took them out for christmas photos every year. just dozens of photos of the four of them in the tackiest sweaters. they don’t do it as often anymore (or at least they don’t take as many photos outside of a few while they’re setting up the tree) but they still have framed photos of them that they set on the fireplace mantle every year.

listen …….. there were definitely multiple instances when they were really little of stan coming home from work ,, and steve and hayley excitedly tackling him,,,, and stan dramatically acting like he’s being attacked and losing ,,,

despite roger being a Dick, he was super protective of the two of them back in the day. either of them come home from school with a bruise, and roger’s already planning out an elaborate revenge scheme.

as for stan ,,

i’m adopting @stancine’s hc to say he was definitely a country boy. i kinda like to imagine his uncle on his mother’s side lived on a farm, and stan was really close to him growing up and it just sorta became monthly to take weekend trips to see him.

stan loved horses. he was definitely a Horse Kid, and his fave breeds are clydesdales and friesians.

sheep too!! one of his favorite yearly activities is during the springtime when his uncle helps him out with shearing the sheep.

also stan loved camping. he loved going out on walks through the woods and he especially loved fishing, but the second the sun went down he cowered in the back of the tent next to his mom because he was terrified of the noises coming from outside.

stan was a really quiet kid growing up. he sucked at properly standing up for himself, that’s kinda the reason he’s so harsh on steve for accepting mistreatment because he knows how hard it is and he doesn’t want his son to go through the same shit he did.

mother’s day was always one of his favorite holidays. he’d be obsessed with planning the whole day around trying to make it perfect for betty. making her breakfast in bed and saving up his allowance to buy her a gift, and he’d always make elaborate art projects for her every year.

stan . tried to learn how to ride a motorcycle in high school. it was this random obsession he got for no reason where he just really wanted one, but he always panicked whenever he got the chance to try one out. never even got his permit because he was so scared.

stan had a lot of pent-up anger as a kid that he never even recognized as anger until he got older. because of that he often broke his toys on accident because something wasn’t working correctly, and sometimes he’d snap at teachers on accident. obv he still had a problem with it but at least now he knows what’s going on and can at least try to work on dealing with it.

betty used to read to stan at night when he was really young. they didn’t have many books around so it was just stan listening to her read the same four dr. seuss books over and over. he didn’t mind though.

stan’s always loved writing and a good chunk of his free time was writing little short stories. he took a creative writing class in high school and he almost immediately became the teacher’s pet.

stan was a pretty lonely socially inept kid and i like to think growing up he tried getting a lot of his ‘advice’ on how to interact with others through television. one time he tried to get a girl’s attention by doing the ‘throwing pebbles at their window’ trope, but he fucked up and got too big a stone and threw it too hard, and just shattered this poor girl’s window. and stan spent the rest of the night crying in his room before caving and turning himself in.

i can see him being really into superheroes when he was younger. just him bounding around the house with a blanket for a cape, acting out random scenes he read out of the latest issue he bought.

stan was obv a dog kid. he’d often find himself going to the adoption shelter near his house just to see the dogs there whenever he was feeling down. and his fave breeds were golden retrievers, pit bulls, and shelties.

god i have tons more for all of them but i’m gonna stop because this is already long enough as it is.

[forffax]

give me the aced attorneyed takes friendo

THANK U FRIENDO,,, aced tourney on the brain

favorite female character

HM.... man there’s so many!!! maya obvs is so fuckin good watching her open up and her good natured bullying of nick and her lesbianism,,, love her so much! all of the family shit she goes though... she rlly only has nick and pearl as far as family even if mia is watching over her and despite that she is so damn strong!! love maya 

ALSO TRUCY,,, everything abt her from her design to her and nick taking care of each other to her still maintaining a childlike innocence through a (understandably) v rough childhood? she’s so good Ultimate Daughter and i would kill and die for her 

special mentions to franziska, kay, pearl, and ema!!!! they’re all v good as well :)

favorite male character

mr. miles edgeworth i love you more than most fictional characters from any media i’d die and kill for you sir. his character arc being the driving force behind the first game and his gradual growth throughout the rest of the series, especially the culmination in aai2.... fucking superb i am close to tears thinking abt it!! emotionally stunted but extremely fatherly law men make me :cryingcat:

i love phoenix but for a long time i just kinda ignored his characterization in aj but after reconciling the two as The Same Phoenix i guess i have a better appreciation for his character? he’s a good dad and just a bit stupid i love him

apollo justice makes me lose it but also i kinda ignore all the plot that happened in aa5-aa6 just bc i Don’t Like Those Games Much so rlly my opinion is based on aa:aj! his biting sarcasm and general goofyness really make him seem WAY younger than aa1 phoenix which i like! also he’s gay and trans 

favorite book/season/etc

u know before u streamed aai 2 i would’ve said that my favorite game was apollo justice but now? ace attorney investigations 2 is honestly a game that any aa fan needs to at least watch through at least once that game actually changed me as a person

favorite episode (if its a tv show)

oh him this is a hard one too!! as far as the original trilogy it’s probably either farewell, my turnabout (2-4) or bridge to the turnabout (3-5)! bridge to the turnabout especially is such a good conclusion to the trilogy, not to mention Edgeworth Defense Attorney makes me lose it (he wore the badge!!! he wore the fucking badge!!!!)

conversely farewell my turnabout,,, adrian deserved better and even though we got her cleared of suspicion in the end the fact that we had to accuse her and bring all that to light anyways always made me feel awful which! is how you’re supposed to feel abt it!! it’s such a good case in how it rlly makes u (as nick) question your ideals! and then the duality between phoenix struggling to find his answer and deal with a lose-lose situation and miles being resolute in his new core beliefs,,,, it’s fucking tastey 

ALSO KEY POINTS

- but the miracle.... never happen 

- censored penis lobster

cannot discount turnabout goodbyes either! basically last cases of aa games are generally so so good!!

favorite ship

DOES IT NEED TO BE SAID..... phoenix wright and miles edgeworth are married and in love!! also a big fan of klapollo, franmaya, and junithena! 

character I’d die defending

klavier deserves to work through his awful awful trauma and is a genuinely fantastic character i wish capcom loved him as much as i do instead of reducing him to a one-case-per-game cameo character!! he just deserves resolution at the very least please!!! same with apollo that man cannot be okay after All That 

also ron delite did nothing wrong he’s one of my fav defendants

character I just can’t sympathize with

GODOT MISOGYNIST PRIDE i hate him i really do 

kristoph is also The Worst i’d kill him myself if i could 

COMPLETELY ERASED THEM FROM MY BRAIN BUT LIKE 90% OF THE BIG BERRY CIRCUS IS AWFUL THEY’RE SO BAD moe and regina can stay though they’re cool. man what is it with aa and clowns 

character I grew to love

oh i hated franziska when i started jfa but by the end i loved her!!! she’s the best

ALSO. seb and justine from aai2..... amazing how like a few lines can re-contextualize how u think and feel abt characters but i love them both so dearly!!! bring them all back i would like to see them 

anti otp

NARUM*YO BAD!!!! IT’S BAD TODD!!!

[carnoshin]

Making art, with slashy boys of your choice? ( (|) ) W ( (|) )

Bro, idk why I’m crying in the club rn. This is such a cute and soft idea, I’m...

((I interpreted this as, like. Painting together or whatever as a couple activity. So I hope that’s what you meant;;; If not, just send in another ask~))

Bubba

Bubba is extremely hesitant about making art with you. He loves the sentiment and imagines it would be fun, but. 

He’s big and he is kind of. Likely to fumble, if just through sheer nervousness.

If you can manage to get him alone, away from his brothers, he’ll be more comfortable, but that voice at the back of his head will be like. “You’re going to fuck it all up, Bubba.” 

:(

At first, he’ll be too nervous to try anything. But there’s an easy fix to this!

Just. Take his hands and lead him through it. Like, hold his hands and move them for him. After a couple of minutes, he would be far more likely to do it on his own.

If you’re doing more than one piece together, he will have you lead his hands every single time. And he’s clearly had fun by the time you’re done.

Every time he sees the thing you made together, he just gets. So happy. He keeps it in your guys’ bedroom and if he catches it out of the corner of his eye when he walks past your doorway, his heart just warms right up.

:)

Billy+Stu

Honestly, good luck.

Stu is more likely to get bored and move on to his own piece, but it’s??? Surprisingly contained and kind of minimalist. Like, he’s not making a mess at all and it comes out really pretty.

Billy on the other hand is like. The worst. Evil incarnate. Like a toddler slamming their hands in paint. And he’s methodically slow about it too, which is all the worse.

You and Stu in tandem as Billy slaps the canvas and sprays paint everywhere: Bill-ly!

Billy, acting like this is a normal human approach to bonding with your partners: ... What?

Jason

In general, Jason seems like the type of person who just. Is good at arts and crafts. And enjoys doing them. Like, he looks like he knits.

He knows how to make friendship bracelets-- the realy cool ones that are an inch thick. So if you off-handedly mention that you never learned how to make them, he sets an entire day aside to teach you.

He also teaches you how to make the coveted, holy, all-powerful... bead lizard.

It’s very cozy and it doesn’t even feel like it’s something he set-up. It’s like a day off, basically.

Imagine this man walking around with a bead lizard that his partner made for him on his belt loop. I’m gonna start crying, dude.

Sam (obvs fully platonic)

He. Is. Baby.

Craft time is a pretty common thing in your household-- it’s one of the main reasons he’s even staying with you, honestly.

He colors dead crows a lot and is like. “Put it on the fridge.” And you have to explain that if people come over and see that on the fridge, they’re going to call CPS on you-- no, it doesn’t matter that he’s not technically your child; most people don’t know that in the first place anyway.

You have a lot of different containers of craft supplies. The crayons and white paper are always out, but. You’ve bought him so much now that he’s got a giant moving box full of different kinds of materials. His favorite is the construction paper.

If you help him with something, it’s usually something kind of difficult or that requires a lot of clean up. Like sand art or spin art or whatever. 

He picks which one goes on display and has you frame it, then you put it on the wall. He also has a little binder where all of his paper art goes.

[always-la-belle-epoque]

hi what is mash and why do you love it so much because i need to know if i need to love it too thanks

Hello, anon! It took a bit because I wanted to put time into my answers, so here you are! 

What Is M*A*S*H: 

M*A*S*H is a tv show about doctors/nurses stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H) unit on the frontlines of the Korean War. The show focuses on the medical staff as they desperately try to save the lives of young soldiers. Many of the doctors are draftees and they are faced with trying to cope with the horror of a war they want no part of and that is the absolute antithesis to their professional calling. They fight against death every day, struggle against military bureaucracy, and try to keep their sanity. Often that deep stress is released in humor, practical jokes, and wildly unmilitary antics, but the true costs and realities of war are never treated lightly. I’ve never seen another show that can make me laugh so hard and then turn on a dime to make me cry just as deeply a second later. The show is a beautiful examination of human nature, heart, found family, loss, helplessness, despair, exhaustion, humanity, and hope,. 

M*A*S*H ran for 11 years, from 1972-1983 and the finale, Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, is still the most-watched television broadcast in history (the NYC sewer nearly faced collapse because people would all flush the toilet at the same time during commercials, and the streets were totally empty of cars as over half the country, 150+ mil people, watched the finale live together all at the same time. Can you imagine?!). Plus, it’s been in continuous syndication for 45 years which is impressive. M*A*S*H is for all generations, it resonates far beyond the era in which it was made, or which it was made about.

Why Do I Love M*A*S*H So Much (in general):

I don’t think there is another show out there in the history of the world that has written such narratively wonderful, deeply moving character arcs. I don’t know if there’s another show out there where the characters grow so much from their relationships with one another. Or a show that depicts masculinity in such a healthy, tender way. It is normal on M*A*S*H for male characters to: Cry. Hug. Tuck each other in. Hold hands. Perform emotional labor. Actively listen. Dance together. Sleep with teddy bears (and not have it be a joke). Admit they were wrong. Change and grow from being wrong. Etc, etc. 

And while Major Margaret Houlihan is the only female lead, her character arc is the most beautiful of any character I have ever watched or read. The show doesn’t start out particularly feminist, but it definitely ends that way (both male and female characters evolve here and it’s wonderful). And if more tv shows had characters half as complex as Margaret Houlihan, tv would be a whole lot more interesting, and women would be a whole lot farther along toward equality, imo. 

Why Do I Love M*A*S*H So Much (the personal): 

I was 15 or 16 when I started watching M*A*S*H. I was going through a very dark time in my home life. But my Mom would usually have M*A*S*H on while making dinner or just after. It was their weird time of day where it seemed like a truce between us. Sometimes I’d even sit all 5’8 of my gangly teenage body on her lap and we’d just watch like that with her arms around me (which given that things were darkly terrible the rest of the time it was like being a small kid again in a way I really needed). We’d talk about the characters. We’d talk about the stories. We both loved Margaret Houlihan (it’s interesting that Margaret has the most valuable traits I learned from my Mom - things I like most about her and am grateful she taught me despite all the bad stuff). 

Soon I was racing home after school and jamming in a blank VHS so that I could record each ep. I’d cross reference between tv guide and IMDB to try to see if any eps that I hadn’t seen yet would be on so I could record them for my collection. I made an elaborate cataloging system because they weren’t shown in order! And some eps were shown only rarely!! (I’m only 28, it amazes me that this was how things were not that long ago lol). 

Anyway, the DVD box set came out and I saved up alllllll my $ for it. Thank goodness, because then I got sick and for a few years the M*A*S*H characters were the most consistent and truest friends I had. The show is deeply personal for me. I can watch it over, and over, and over. It makes me laugh, and weep, and cheer. It’s like having friends. Like having family. 

Should You Love M*A*S*H too?

I want you to love M*A*S*H. I want everyone to love M*A*S*H! And M*A*S*H holds up. It’s still radically progressive. It’s still - in this time where North Korea is a frequent headline, where we have a government we do not trust, in a world where we have been at war since 2001 - deeply relevant. 

Here’s the thing though: it was made in the 70s, about events in the 1950s, and this is 2019 tumblr-land. You’ve all read the roasts about lack of critical thinking skills on this website and ability to contextualize, and those posts are unfortunately not wrong. And the world has changed - and changed for even better than what was, at the time, truly radical! Even terms that were the liberal, pc term in the 70s have changed now and are not liberal or pc anymore which for the 2019 watcher might raise eyebrows. But the show is extremely pointed about calling out racism, homophobia, sexism, military fetishism, colonization, etc. I think maybe the only other show I can think of that goes so hard at dogged and relentless political call outs would be One Day at a Time. So I feel protective of M*A*S*H because in 50 years maybe we will look back at ODaaT and say yikes about certain things, though that feels crazy to say now. 

If you do want to watch, here’s my advice (pull down your pants and slide on the ice (sorry, omg M*A*S*H jokeee)): 

Do not start with S1. Start with S4, or S5 even. For one thing, there are some cast changes at the start of S4 so you get intro-ed to everyone again in “Welcome to Korea pt 1 & 2” and “Change of Command.”  It’s a really good starting point to see a lot of characters on the brink of change. Don’t get me wrong, I still really love S1-3 but the characters haven’t grown yet. I love going back because I know them so well, but if you’re just meeting them, I recommend getting to know them in the middle of their journey, watch them evolve, and then go back and see where they started. And I think Col. Potter/BJ really elevated the tone of the show.

Because M*A*S*H is an older tv show, most people who love M*A*S*H never watched the show in order because we could only watched it in syndication! And you don’t really need to watch in order! In fact, CBS had the final call for episode order so sometimes even the air order is different than the writing, filming, intended order. Also, because they had 11 years of content over a 3 years of war, the show itself isn’t chronological. Due to probability (there are just more Potter/BJ eps) I saw more S4+ eps when I was first watching the show so again that’s my newbie preference. Now that it’s on Hulu (and remastered OMG) it might be tempting to watch in order, but really do recommend skipping around or at least starting later in for sure. You’ll learn context as you go (recs below). Then once you get the characters and their arcs it’s suuuuper fascinating to watch in order. 

 Fight me: Is everyone bisexual on this show??! Yes, yes they are. This is where I go full 2019 tumblr-brain, lol, but looking back I think it’s one of the reasons I loved it before I understood myself. It’s gentle, tender, pretty wavy. Alan Alda’s Hawkeye Pierce is, like, arguably canonically bi, like I even wonder if he was intentionally written/played that way on the dl. It’s pretty blatant?? And don’t even get me started on Margaret Houlihan. Godddddddd. 

 On that note, and maybe you will fall over, but Margaret and Hawkeye are my actual, #1, forever OTP. Which is weird for you, dear readers, I’m sure, as I run a v strict wlw blog and I’m very proud about that. But broken people who heal and change and grow because of the other is my tea, jam, and bread (”crackers and jam! too bad!” ;) ),  and so far the writing of other characters and relationships hasn’t a hope of even coming into the range of depth these characters have (obvs not just wlw ships, all other mlw ships are The Worst as well, we’re all doomed, why does tv suck). But anyway, I would take them over any ship any day of the week goombye (but also….shipping Margaret is kinda like….not the point of Margaret Houlihan). 

It’s worth noting that M*A*S*H has a character named Maxwell Klinger who wears a dress to try to get out of the army via a Section 8 (previously known as a “psycho”) discharge (remember lgbtq was still classified as a mental illness, smh). Obviously, this is potentially triggering. And, obviously, not okay in today’s world. To me the show does call out that it is the policies/laws/politics that are crazy, not Klinger. I think there are still some fairly modern ideas in his portrayal in that anyone who treats him like he is crazy, or is disrespectful, is very pointedly shown to be bigoted/an antagonist. Klinger is excellent at his job, brave, loyal, true, and that’s all anyone who is a protagonist cares about (and I do think they try to show to the extend they could during the time it aired that even if Klinger were not doing it for a discharge, they would respond the same way). Fwif, imo, Klinger isn’t played as a one note joke for wearing dresses, in fact, to an extent, he does wear them utterly sincerely. He loves, deeply loves, clothes and fashion because loving something gives him something to live for. It becomes his passion, not a gag. The gag is that Klinger will do anything to get out of the war through any available loophole he hears about (having an imaginary pet camel, eating 10 sausages in a single day, eating a jeep, trying to get into West Point aka join the military to get out of the military), etc. His comrades in arms treat him very sincerely and are very protective. Early on, a jeep comes in with wounded and Radar pulls Klinger away from the blood, “careful, you’ll get your dress dirty” in the most serious, sweet way. Col Potter is always very serious and sincere about telling Klinger when one of his dresses is a fav, and Klinger positively glows. When Klinger has to trade his dress collection to local women in exchange for shelter for the wounded during a bug out, Col. Potter, regular army in his 3rd war, tells Klinger (who is in tears) that it’s the finest act of bravery he has ever seen (and he means it). When Margaret desperately wants to look pretty and Klinger pulls out one of his best frocks and helps her dress in it - Margaret who grew up in combat boots wanting a crew cut - it’s pretty emotional (and I bawl when he gives her the wedding dress, goddd). As for Klinger himself, he’s one of my favorite characters. He has the biggest heart and I love him (and yes, I might feel differently if I had a different life experience than I do - that is why I’m flagging this as something that might not be for everyone, or might be trigger - because history already is triggering, and not everyone might be as moved by him as I am).

If you’re a 30 Rock fan you will know the star Alan Alda as Milton Greeen, Jack Donaghy’s father, and if you love Beauty and the Beast you will know that the actor who voiced Cogsworth is a major (lol pun) character in S6-11! But that’s all crazy to me because they are always M*A*S*H, first and forever, and always in my mind! I can’t believe they’re all in their 80s now, or that so many of them have passed.  :( They are truly my whole heart, my family, my home. 

If you do want to watch, recommend you start with the following eps (omg this list is long but it feels so short):

Welcome to Korea pt 1 + 2 (s4)

Change of Command (s4)

Aid Station (s3)

Death Takes a Holiday (s9)

Carry on, Hawkeye (s2)

Bug Out pt 1 + 2 (s5)

Dear Sigmund (s5)

Period of Adjustment (s8) *my first ep ever :,)

The Bus (s4)

Sometimes You Hear the Bullet (s1)

Tuttle (s1)

Crisis (s2)

O.R. (s3)

5 O'Clock Charlie (s2)

The Nurses (s5)

The Interview (s4)

Movie Tonight (s5)

Abyssinia, Henry (s3)

Hepatitis (s5)

Your Hit Parade (s6)

Peace on Us (s7)

Eye for a Tooth (s7)

Old Soldiers (s8)

Life Time (s8)

Stars and Stripes (s8)

Hey, Look Me Over (s11)

There’s a million more things I could say about the show. I feel like I haven’t summarized it justly. If anyone wants to chime in with why they love M*A*S*H, what your fav ep is, etc, please do :)

[jq37]

Ok thoughts on Six on Broadway fresh out of the theater (2/16; 3PM show):

First and most importantly it totally lived up to the hype that I've been trying and failing to not build up in my head since last year. And this might be the hypest audience I've ever been in. Everyone in line was talking like they already knew what was up and I saw a good amount of people in like crowns and space buns and stuff. And every single time a Queen got burned during the show, everyone “OOOOOOH”-ed like we were on Wild ‘N Out or something. 

While I was in line, I’m 95% sure I saw Toby Marlow sprint past me and then return 10 minutes later with a slice of pizza. 

I got a pin and I asked the dude for an Aragon pin and he was like, "Is that queen of the castle?" Like lol buddy welcome to your first weekend working at Six.

Before the show starts, they play pop songs but I assume with the keyboard set to organ or harpsichord sounds. The two songs I recognized were Truth Hurts and Havana.

If you’re here looking for intel on the seating situation, I had seats second from the top and way to the left and I still saw everything fine (and I am not a tall person) so I wouldn’t worry too much about where you’re sitting.  

Like I said before, it's such a hype show. Like even if you've heard the soundtrack or seen the show through ~other means~ I promise you're not ready.

Right when the show starts, they project out these Tudor rose projections into the audience which is a nice touch. It’s such a nice looking set in general with the lights in the back and the band up on stage. I really like how highlighted the band members are in this show as compared to other shows I’ve seen. It’s a hard job and I bet it’s nice to get the props. 

“Live in Consort” is the best pun in Six because it’s a reach but said with such confidence that you have to give to to her. 

"Donde esta my crown?" is already a funny line but it’s even funnier when you picture two British 20-somethings conceiving of the line.

Any time Aragon waves at the crowd, which is a lot, she Princess Diary waves which I love. 

A lot of people have had a lot to say about the American accents and it's honestly ridiculous. Like, we're already taking these historical figures so out of their original context that could hardly be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Like, Kathrine Howard can sing a Brittney Spears song but it has to be in a British accent? Come on. And I actually think some songs (like No Way and Get Down in particular) sound a little more natural in an American accent considering the artists they’re taking inspiration from.

I can’t believe they do this show without a break. This is like 90 minutes of pure cardio. It’s, “I’m getting exhausted watching you,” choreo. They didn’t stagedoor after and, tbh, good. Go lay down before the 8pm show please. That’s 100% what I’d be doing.

I have heard the Anne Boleyn intro before but it’s a million times funnier watching her actively peace out as she’s being talked about and then take a selfie and quickly stash her phone before the song starts. 

They really scrubbed as many of the “mate”s out of the show as possible which I get but I feel like I would have just left them alone since it’s such a common British-ism that I feel like people know. 

I was led to believe that in “Wearing Yellow to a Funeral,” Anne is cut off from calling Aragon a massive bitch but lol that was def a hard C and not a B they stopped her after. 

“What a weekend,” is also a killer line imo. 

Still wild that Elizabeth is never mentioned in this show except indirectly when Anne says when she had a daughter Henry killed her. 

Heart of Stone has def grown on me since I first heard it and Abby Mueller is obv amazing but it’s still weird to hear after a song about how this dude literally decapitated someone (“You’ve got a good heart?” Jane, what? Citation needed) and I think it’s good that it’s basically undercut immediately by the, “Severed head,” line by Anne. Also, I lowkey spent most of the song preparing for the cut to Haus of Holbein. 

I was not prepared for the cut to Haus of Holbein. 

Literally, I could not wipe the stupid grin off my face during the entirety of Cleves’ pre-HoH speech because I knew exactly the nonsense that was about to happen and it still surpassed my expectations. 

If I didn’t already know that Boleyn’s line was, “the whole of the Holy Roman Empire,” there is no way I would have understood any of that. The German accents during that scene truly do sound like they were told, “Do literally whatever,” and it’s so funny. 

Cleves’ throne rising out of the stage so she can sit in it is such a Moment.  

Brittney Mack’s operatic riff or whatever it’s called during the slow-mo part of Get Down is so, so, so fill the room amazing. Man it was so good. Also, I 100% did not realize that on the “take my fur” line, they breakaway rip her little jacket off and it’s this cool sparkly bodice piece under. Based on audience reaction, neither did they. 

I feel like everyone always talks about Boleyn’s energy in this show and they should because they’re right but--speaking for the Broadway cast--she’s for sure second to Cleves in terms of raw energy. 

During the roast, I think to Aragon, Howard strokes her cheek with the back of her hand which is super funny, as is her shaking her fists at the sky after the, “When will justice be served,” line to Jane.

Not a Surprise: I also Wasn’t Ready for All You Wanna Do. 

AYWD is the song I was most curious to see audience reaction to (w/ HoH being a close second) because, you know, it’s an ostensibly fun song except that it’s awful. But I think the mood of the audience kinda followed Howard’s. When she was joking around, everyone kinda felt like they had permission to joke around too--like there’s a part in the choreo that happens more than once where they put her hands on her and she shrugs them off and the first time it happened there was a laugh but when it happened again during the third verse when she’s clearly Over It and dancing in a really rote and exhausted way, no laugh.

(Sidenote: The juxtaposition of Cleves and Howard--arguably the most and least successful Queens--is always to interesting to me. The placement of such a “I’m so Dope,” song next to a, “My life was trash,” song. And, now having seen it, there’s a part in the Get Down choreo where all the other queens have their hands all over Cleves in a hyping her up kinda way and, as, in contrast, Howard is getting touched constantly in AYWD and it’s Bad.)

(Double sidenote: During verse four of AYWD, there’s a part where everyone walks in front of Howard and they duck so they don’t block her and Andrea like basically didn’t duck at all. It was lowkey super funny). 

Anyway, the breakdown was rough. By which I mean extremely good but rough to listen to. Like, I know it’s a part of the song so I knew it was coming but I’m so used to the studio version that listening to her full on sob through the last chorus was A Lot. You could feel the air sucked out of the room. Huge props to Sam Pauly.

So, iirc, in the West End version of the show, post Howard’s song is the fight which dissolves into literal hair pulling/having to break people up. In this version, it doesn’t got that far. They get to comparing miscarriages and the Cleves breaks it up and tells Parr it’s her turn. Then, she gets an intro to an upbeat sounding song that we never actually hear because she can’t bring herself to sing it. Then she goes into the same (or at least a similar) speech about, “We shouldn’t do this,” which leads into IDNYL.

When Katherine does the, “Katherine de Valois, I mean I don’t know,” line, Cleves looks at her like, “Bitch what?”

When Boleyn gives the, “Everyone notices that Jane can’t dance,” line, I didn’t catch Jane’s reaction like I wanted to because Aragon immediately breaks into a sidebar with her like, “Right? That’s totally true.”

During Jane’s verse in Six, everyone is actually pretty down with the Tudor Von Trapps line and then she says Royaling Stones and loses everyone. 

I didn’t realize that they did the same couples choreo during the Six that they do for Ex-Wives but I like that a lot. Very circular. 

It is extremely hard to not sing during a show like Six, especially once you’ve conditioned yourself for the past six or so month to start spitting out lyrics the second you hear any of these songs start. I really really hope they have Sing-A-Long tix at some point because I am willing to shell out for that and I think a lot of people in that audience would have as well.

Some random dude at a light say me holding my playbills and asked how I liked the show because he’d good things which, if an omen for the show’s prospects, is a good one. Opening weekend is probably not a fantastic gauge of show longevity because of course all of the hypest fans would be out now but if it can keep up this energy then man they’re gonna have a hit (well, a further hit). 

[mego42]

207 Discussion Q’s

shout out and thank you to @pynkhues for putting these together even though she wasn’t gonna be here this week

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

obvs the dubby but underrated fav is Ruby and Jane in the closet, idk exactly why but I am starved for the families interacting with each other content (screw the timeline, the most unrealistic aspect of this show is that they aren’t constantly in and out of each other’s houses with ben and sara continually being called on to babysit) so this little snippet makes me levitate

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

the annie and noah scenes for sure. I mostly feel betrayed bc I really liked them the first time I watched (i have a lot of built in affection for sam huntington let me live) and now I’m like BEGONE FOUL BETRAYER and feel pre-emptive fatigue over annie’s taste in men and how that’s not going to get better any time soon

3. I know time does not exist in the Good Girls universe (or in reality anymore), but let’s start with a timeline question! The implication of the opening montage is that a bit of time has past since Beth strongarmed the partnership with Rio at the end of 2.06. How long do you think it’s been? And more importantly, what do you think these early days of their partnership looked like?

I tend to lean towards at least 2 months, maybe more based on:

the number of shoeboxes and how many times Beth’s shown making a closet deposit

how lived in their annoyance over Beth’s dividing her time and Rio pushing back feels

the implication (at least how i read it) that Rio’s annoyance stems from having to track Beth down which presumably implies they’d grumbled their way into a semi-functional working relationship prior (supported by their ease with each other in 208) and if the montage has only been a month, that would be a maximum of 4 meetings and I don’t particularly think that’s enough time for them to get over being extremely prickly with each other

the fact that Beth goes to Rio for help when Jane’s missing (again, to me implies a longer period of time to get over some of their antagonism than a max of 4 meets)

I imagine their initial partnership went something like Beth being a smug brat about forcing her way in, Rio being deliberately unhelpful and trying to force her to admit she’s in over her head (while still keeping enough of an eye on things that his money isn’t jeopardized), Beth stubbornly refusing to and finding ways to rise to the occasion, Rio being grudgingly impressed, Beth being annoyed with herself for how pleased she is over that. Lather, rinse, repeat until they’ve worn a cantankerous but bizarrely comfortable groove into each other.

meanwhile, Mick, Annie and Ruby are absolutely disgusted by everything happening in front of their eyes.

4. The first scene between Ruby and Turner in this episode is a really dynamic one! It’s pretty clear that Ruby’s afraid of Turner, but what do you think Turner thinks of Ruby?

I think he sees a big cartoon canister labeled "Beth Boland Bait"

5. Taking the kids to the drop was a pretty big mistake! What do you think Beth should’ve done in this instance? Do you think saying no again to Rio was an option?

CALLED BEN OR SARA FOR A BABYSITTING ASSIST. For fucks’ sake.

And yeah, I think she could’ve said no to Rio but he would’ve kept her cut of that drop and, even worse, would’ve been able to hold the fact that she didn’t deliver that one time over her head forever more.

6. The krav maga teacher offers some sage advice telling Dean to not order the hit and instead just divorce his wife, haha. Do you think that he thought the baby hitmen would come through for Dean? Or do you think he was deliberately setting Dean up to get robbed?

I choose to believe the krav maga teacher knew exactly what kind of an idiot Dean was and set him up because the dude clearly had at least two brain cells to rub together and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would never get tangled up in a murder plot with Dean standing on the street corner telling random bystanders in detail how he wants to kill the guy that fucked his wife what do you mean established means and motive Boland.

7. During Ben and Annie’s tense conversation, Ben tells Annie that she’s hard to keep track of - she’s parent mom, cool mom, sketchy mom. In a lot of ways, this feels like a parallel to Ruby talking to Beth in the last episode and calling her ‘drug Beth, gun Beth, human trafficking Beth’. What do you make of this? And how do you think it relates to the show’s themes?

I defer to @foxmagpie’s answer because I like it a lot. 

8. The scene with the girls in the house! Tell me all your thoughts please!!!

I love this scene a lot

Beth’s channeling Rio in general but also specifically in 201 you will never ever change my mind

Sometimes I lie awake at night wishing Rio had seen it

Prayer circle that he sees a version of it in s4

Can you imagine the nightmare level of boner he would get? The sheer narcissism!!

Ruby’s obvious wish for new friends is The Most Valid

I really love the main drug den guy, I love Blake Shields’s energy, it makes the scene crackle, and I wish they’d bring him back purely bc he’s gr9

9. Annie meets Noah in this episode! What do you think of their introduction to one another? And how would you rate Noah on the scale of ‘Garbage Annie Love Interests’?

at least he’s not her therapist I guess

10. Beth has two pivotal and emotionally revealing fights this episode - one with Dean and the other with Rio. How do these fights compare? And what do you think they tell us about her respective relationship with them?

UUUNNNNNFFFFFFFF

I L O V E how hard the show goes on Dean’s obsession with Beth and Rio as the primary source of his angst

the fact that he’s trying to rope Stan into murder while looking for Jane who isn’t even MISSING but Dean had NO IDEA bc instead of giving a shit he went straight to HOW CAN THIS BE THAT GUY’S FAULT

I love how clearly they delineate that it isn’t about Beth but specifically about someone else ~*~taking~*~ Beth from him and how emasculated that makes him feel (something something something the storyline opens with the krav maga guy choking him out and then telling him to divorce her and Dean being like I reject your rational and logical solution bc it doesn’t punish the man who touched my property, idk i have a half baked thought there but i can’t pull it out of my brain)

and then it’s all underscored how little Dean’s worried about Beth and her safety by him bringing her work up specifically as a gotcha (which, unless I’m forgetting something, is p much the only context Dean ever brings it up in besides maybe the sit down fight but that’s again, about Beth acting out vs genuine concern)

Meanwhile, this is contrasted with:

Beth flipping tf out at the mere suggestion Rio would ever hurt her children, showing how deeply and instinctively she trusts him in regards to her children aka what’s been established as her Most Important Priority over and over (in the same breath that she rips into Dean for losing Jane in the first place)

which is doubled down on her immediately going to Rio for help

and he is FURIOUS at her, but the thing he leans hard on isn’t how she could have jeopardized the business deal (aka his money, what’s been established as his Most Important Priority over and over) but how she jeopardized herself and how badly she can fuck up if she doesn’t take this seriously

putting himself in a vulnerable position (presumably burning a connect, letting on that Beth means something to him beyond business) to look out for Beth’s emotional well-being

And then, just to drive it home a little further, @sothischickshe pointed out the Beth and Rio fight over Beth’s self preservation is directly paralleled with Stan freaking out at Ruby over the IA stuff because he’s worried about her and I had to go and stare at a blank wall for a few minutes to calm down.

anyway, draw your own conclusions.

11. Ruby takes Jane being missing as an opportunity to try and find evidence on Beth for Turner and, in the process, finds Jane too. How do you think this scene captures Ruby’s moral dilemma? And do you think it’s a satisfying turning point in the Ruby-Turner arc?

I struggle a lot with the Turner and Ruby plot specifically because I HATE that Turner’s ruthlessly leaning on Ruby as the weak link but I’m also ferociously attracted to him so I’m less bothered by it than I feel like I should be so mostly I just try not to think about any of it.

Idk, I see it in some ways as a continuation of Ruby’s fight with Beth and Annie in s1 where Annie said she isn’t blood. They put Ruby on the outside but when push comes to shove, Ruby still puts the two of them above her own family. As far as I’m concerned, Annie still owes Ruby a massive apology for that. Beth I let off the hook a little because by the end of the season she’s ready to turn herself in to make it all go away for all of them (I think, unless I’m misremembering, which is entirely possible bc I don’t think I’ve ever rewatched all of 213)

12. RIO GETS BETH THE DUBBY!! That’s it, that’s the question. Please discuss.

I think a lot about how the gesture is so baldly honest neither one of them can face it either at all (Rio) or without taking a shot first (Beth) which, now that I’ve typed it out, is also an interesting flip of their general MO bc under normal circumstances I’d put Rio down as the one that, of the two of them, is more willing to face stuff whereas Beth’s the one that hides from it.