#plain and simple

[1989deluxealbum]

The Tortured Poets Department is a great reminder that women don't owe the world pretty. Taylor Swift doesn't owe anyone an easily digestible pretty pop album wrapped in a bow with short songs you can make TikToks to. She's allowed to present something raw, uncomfortable, and vulnerable to the world.

[primedirectiveposting]

Let them be in love! It's plain and simple

[elmegyekmesszire]

[libertine-past]

They’re the same picture 😭

[thehannibalextendeduniverse]

Watching Hannibal (as I spend most of my time doing) and I was on the season 3 finale and I just kept thinking about how people who deny they lived exist and somehow think they're correct. Which, no. So here's a little rant disproving that.

I need to talk about the post-credits finale scene. I’m sorry but the people who say Will and Hannibal died and Bedelia cut off her own leg are just objectively wrong. Of course there’s a lot in Hannibal with multiple meanings that you can interpret, but Will and Hannibal surviving is an undeniable fact, just like them being in love is. The people who adamantly deny it just piss me off because, did we watch the same show??? Or are you just that media illiterate. The show itself gives us the pieces to put it together.

From Hannibal calling suicide the enemy, hinting that he wouldn’t let them die to it, to the table being set for three. Bedelia did not go crazy, cut off her own leg, and serve it like Hannibal would. Hannibal and Will did that. It’s such an important scene because, well, they go after Bedelia — Will keeps his ‘promise’ to her and put “meat back on the menu”. It shows they both lived and are working together, that they are partners. Hannibal is clearly following Will’s direction and his desire to get back at Bedelia, so that’s what they do (again, Hannibal’s devotion to Will).

Bedelia grabs the fork and conceals it, a weapon for her to use — because Will and Hannibal are still there and she’s trying her best to not go out without a fight/to somehow get out of it. Even the song says “I will survive, live and thrive” (referencing Will and Hannibal, as well as, when focused on Bedelia, her desire to survive them). It is spelled out for everyone to see. There is literally no excuse for not reaching the logical conclusion that Will and Hannibal survived and are happily living together somewhere.

Even if you ignore what the show hands to you on a silver platter, there was going to be a season four. What the fuck do Hannigram survival deniers think s4 was going to be about? Their ghosts?

Also, it does not take that much effort to find the interview where Bryan is asked about what he thinks of people interpreting it as Will and Hannibal dying and him laughing at it and confirming they lived. So. No excuse. Hannigram survived. For the love of god, stop claiming they’re dead when they’re so obviously not.

[katsitsiyo]

Here’s a Krumione piece I comm’d @/len0leum (on insta) to create!

Obviously they go on dates to the library together (for old times sake) and Viktor follows Hermione around like a puppy dog carrying all the books Hermione could possibly want. 🥰🥰🥰

[sazernac]

Sadly, I knew the moment Vic told Oz he was like family to him that he had fucked up.

[starboybutler]

if you hate oliver quick you're wrong, btw

[neutron-stars-collision]

The thing is, something like a 100 million people have watched the show between official streams and piracy, right? And out of all those people, something like 2,000 ended up shippers across the various platforms, and that's maybe a generous estimate. They're a loud but extremely small minority. It's maybe 100-200 here. All of us saw the same WT and didn't see these supposed soulmates, we saw costars who get along really well, that's it, and that's lovely in its own right. The shipping is clearly fulfilling a need for specific individuals who have had certain experiences, it's not a universal thing by any means. I don't know why these people continue to come into our inboxes assuming we're in the same boat as them or trying to convince us of something we don't see (*whispers* because it isn't there).

No idea. Seriously. And they are so very loud at that. It’s like you can’t go into Luke’s tag (probably Nic’s too) or even Polin without encountering some weird shit.

And what annoys me so much is that the tone is often like: We all saw- No, we didn’t. We didn’t all see the same thing. Because as you mentioned what I saw was two coworkers who clearly like each other (platonically), are possibly close friends and are having fun throughout this strange experience. That’s it. We didn’t see soulmates, lovers or whatever tf you all imply sometimes.

So it would all be more bearable if the shippers didn’t get up in our faces like that on the daily. And if those that had been disappointed with the fact that Nic and Luke aren’t who they expected them to be (prefect and in love), would just shut up and leave those two alone. Instead of spewing hate, coming up with stupid theories and denying what is rather obvious.

[highly-flammable]

Told y’all Robert Aramayo would hate the idea of Elrond kissing Galadriel.

[facetimebuddies]

does buck love eddie? yes.

does eddie love buck? also, yes.

are they each other's soulmate? also, very much abso-friggin-lutely YES.

[lucy-moderatz]

[quantumcartography]

Just finished the Magnus Archives 39 and I very much appreciate the answers to the questions bugging me.

I always chaulked Jons performances in reading the statements as a character trait, a flair for performance, as well as just being more fun to listen to. I like that the answer is actually more spooky.

Loved the episode where tim basically reads corrections from the listeners and Jon refusing to rerecord them. And I'm very glad they explained the case number system too because that was bothering me.

Insights into the characterization is really nice in addition to a change in format. I'm also really happy that they have a good explanation to why all these recordings are genuinely spooky shit and not just bullshit if the Archive takes statements from just about anyone. I do very much still want to see their tagging system and how they catalog everything.

Also, the fact that Elias put in a CO2 extinguisher system in the archives is a safety hazard and I think Jon should sue. They need better fire suppression than that, they're a god damn archive. But considering he's recording on a tape recorder it could well be a funding thing

Last, I did notice the bit from episode 32 where Jane Prentiss derided "those fools chasing fractals" which I can only assume is a reference to a different entity which reinforces my idea that these entities are not allied with each other, or at least are mildly adversarial to one another

[ironworked]

911 and closure

We've all already talked about how Buck and Tommy's relationship is different from his previous ones, and how the breakup itself is also different.

But what about other breakups? (I'm very probably not saying anything new and there might be clown makeup all over this, but I need to yap)

Chim proposed to Tatiana, who couldn't say yes and ended up breaking up with Chim while he recovered from his rebar-through-the-skull injury. They ran into each other at the hospital months later and met for drinks a different day.

Hen was visited by Eva as part of her 12-steps program before leaving LA (Karen went to see Eva too).

Maddie was kidnapped by Doug and killed him 🔪. Later she revisited the scene (with therapist Frank) so she could really let him go.

Non-romantic relationships/events? Chim and the Lees had a ceremony for Kevin in s7; Bobby had his talk with Amir; Athena solved that old case from her childhood, then also found Emmett's killer and made peace with him...

Then we have this firefighter with the 118 who was on a date when his partner dropped a bomb on him. He had to talk to his people and think about his future, and on the next date decided to take a step forward in the relationship, but his partner left him instead.

I could be talking about Buck and Tommy, but you know who else?

Eddie and Shannon.

She wanted to divorce, and then she died. And here's Eddie, who still hasn't found closure for this relationship.

Of course they are different people, with different personalities and baggage, and different conflicts. It's not about paralleling the relationships. What I mean is that Eddie and Shannon's relationship was truncated, and he still canonically mourns not just what could have been, but the chance to say his piece.

Now, we have Buck and Tommy whose breakup has the same beats but a completely different significance (Shannon expressing different priorities vs Tommy's fear) and a radically different aftermath (Shannon died; Tommy is bubbling Buck). Sub-zero closure.

So we have three options now:

The story ends here. This would make it rare in this show's history, and either make Tommy The One Who Got Away for Buck, or they'll have to weirdly move on like nothing happened. The first is just unsatisfactory, and the second unlikely given they just said it's the most transformative relationship since/surpassing Abby (depending on how you read that line) and they aired that texting scene.

They give them closure. This is more 911's style. The downside is that they'll have put Buck on the hamster wheel again, but the bar will have been raised for any new LI (will be compared to both Abby and Tommy, etc).

Second chance. 911 is also the second (and third, and fourth) chances show. The upside is that they don't have to create or cast a new LI, but Buck isn't super settled already either; they could have them take things slow if that's a concern in the writers room.

Which one will they choose?

Well, I obviously don't know, but I'd say that if it were #1 they could/would have made the breakup itself more final (just changing 'See you around, Buck' to 'Goodbye, Buck' would have done it) and/or not included the texting.

The texting! I keep going back to that, because we already have the whole Buck Baking Thing that came with an explanation and a visual; it's now shorthand for 'Buck misses Tommy' so the emphasis on texting is superfluous unless it's leading somewhere isn't it?

[retellingthehobbit]

One new (and one "old") drawing of Belladonna Took, for @lotrladiessource's LOTR Ladies Week Day 1 prompt "Hobbits!"

[ninyard]

I don't think andrew would kill neil though like he loves him so much he loves neil more than he loves kevin.

I disagree personally! Not at that point in the books, anyway.

Andrew trusted Neil to take care of Kevin. Andrew’s deal with Kevin is to keep him safe from Riko. If Kevin ends up going to the nest, regardless of what happens to him there, that’s the ONE thing Andrew had to do. Don’t let Riko near him. Protect him from Riko.

He started trusting Neil after he protected Kevin from Riko at Kathy’s show and there was nothing Andrew could do - everything is for and about Kevin for him.

Then Andrew comes back from Easthaven and Kevin is dead, gone or injured because Neil didn’t hold up his end of the deal to keep him safe? Neil goes to the nest: he said he’d keep him safe, not stay by his side all the time etcetcetc. Whatever. Kevin goes to the nest: not good.

We already know (at least as far as I remember anyway) Andrew would’ve never forgiven Neil after Baltimore if he hadn’t gotten him to break his promise to keep Neil safe. Kevin going to the nest causes Neil to break his promise to Andrew, in turn causing Andrew to break the one promise that’s keeping him there. Andrew’s “purpose” is Kevin. And then he comes back, suddenly unmedicated (which was the whole basis behind their deal anyway) and Kevin is hurt?

We saw how important the deals and promises were to him. So yeah, I do think that Andrew would hate Neil if he was the reason why he broke his promise to Kevin. If Kevin died, or he was never able to play again, I fully believe that Andrew would have to kill Neil, or make him leave. He has no real ties to him beyond the “side effect of the drugs” crush he has on him at this point. That being said he obviously did say he would protect Neil, but I think this would be a scenario where him pulling out of the deal would be justified.