#rewatching under pressure and god

[sampilled]

they put me on the electric chair for being a Dean Forester apologiser

[chushanye]

watched the nsbu finale with my sinuses under so much pressure it feels like my head is going to explode, body temperature up, so high off of the drug cocktail I'm taking to deal with this illness and i don't think I'm convinced anything is real. my ears are ringing and atp i can't tell what from, i don't know which parts of that episode were hallucinations and which weren't. I'm never rewatching it because it needs to stay in my brain as this half-formed fever dream. god intended it that way

[kimoralov3]

Back Home to You

pairing: tasm!peter parker x reader

description: peter made a mistake letting you go. it takes traveling to another universe for him to do something about it

warnings: reader uses she/her pronouns, swearing, angst, fluff

word count: 2171

a/n: i wrote this all in one sitting after rewatching nwh so don't come at me for the quality. also tagging @arkofblake because i told her about this last night and she freaked

read it on ao3

“Peter? Where are you?” You asked as you walked into your shared apartment, putting away your coat and your purse. By the time you had gotten your shoes off, there was still no response. “Peter?”

“In the bathroom.” You heard his voice softly call. It sounded as if he was in pain, so you rushed to see what was happening.

Peter’s suit was halfway off, a large gash on his right side and smaller cuts and bruises littered around the rest of his body. He was currently attempting to stop the bleeding without much luck.

“Oh my god, Peter.” You mumbled as you walked over to him, grabbing the towel from him. You pressed it into the wound, causing him to wince in pain. “Sorry, sorry, this is the only way to stop the bleeding. What happened?”

“I was trying to stop Vulture and he got the better of me. It’s really not a big deal, I’ve had worse.” Peter says through clenched teeth. You roll your eyes at that, quickly peeking to see if the bleeding had stopped yet. It hadn’t. “What?”

“Nothing, Peter. I just— I’m tired of seeing you like this.” You say as you grab his hand and place it over the towel, making sure that Peter kept the right amount of pressure on it as you got the first aid supplies out.

“What do you mean? Seeing me like what?” He asks as he turns to face you. You ignore him, getting out the needle and thread, as well as the disinfectant. “Y/N, what do you mean by ‘seeing you like this’?”

“Peter, you have a fucking gash the size of Texas on your side. Don’t act dumb.” You snap as you remove the towel from his side, wiping the excess blood away. Peter groaned in pain again, flinching away.

“Y/N, I knew what I was getting into when I became Spider-Man. A couple rough days are nothing to me. I’ll be fine.” Peter says as he gently places a hand on your shoulder. You mumble something under your breath as you thread the needle, although Peter couldn’t understand what you said. “What?”

“Peter now is not the best time to have this conversation. Let’s just drop it.” You say dismissively as you get ready to stitch up Peter’s wound.

He rolls his eyes, deciding to let it go for now. Once you had gotten him stitched up and left, Peter was left to his thoughts as he showered off. What could you possibly be talking about? Yes, being Spider-Man was dangerous, but he knew that. You knew that, and you accepted it. At least, that’s what he had previously thought.

He got out of the shower a few minutes later, getting dressed, and heading into the living room to see you pacing back and forth. “Y/N? What’s going on?” 

“I don’t think I can do this anymore, Peter.” You whisper as you continue pacing. Peter gives you a confused look, stepping closer and placing his hands on your arms to stop you.

“Do what? What can’t you do anymore?” He whispers softly as he looks into your eyes, hands moving up to cup your cheeks.

“Us. I don’t think I can do this relationship anymore.” You say. In that moment Peter’s whole world crumbles. What had he done wrong? How had he made you unhappy?

You placed your hands over Peter’s, moving them off of you. “It’s not something you’ve done necessarily, it’s just… I’m not cut out for this anymore. I can’t stand to watch you come home like this every day. You’re not taking care of yourself properly, and I’m scared that—” You’re cut off by a burning feeling in your throat, tears welling in your eyes. You take a step back, wiping them away.

“Scared that what, Y/N?” Peter asked, tears forming in his eyes now. 

“I’m scared that you won’t come back, Peter. I’m scared that one day, I’m gonna come home and instead of you there’ll be police at my door, telling me that my boyfriend died fighting some giant fucking lizard, or a guy who has some high-tech suit that costs more than our whole apartment building! I want more for myself, but most importantly I want more for you. And I wish that I was the type of person to be selfish, and ask you to give up doing what you love. But I’m not. So I’m leaving. It’s better for the both of us.” 

There’s a moment of silence. Neither of you know what to say. Peter wants you to stay. He wants to tell you that he’ll do better, that he’ll be better for you. But he can’t. Because he knows what that means, and as much as he would like to think so, he’s not ready to stop putting his all into being Spider-Man. Even if it means losing you.

The silence is enough for you. You take a deep breath, moving past Peter to your bedroom to pack some clothes. You come back a few minutes later with a duffel bag and your purse. “If you change your mind, I’ll be staying with my sister.”

Those are the final words Peter hears from you before you leave the apartment. Before you leave him.

—

Peter never considered himself to be jealous— especially of other people’s relationships. But seeing how much Peter 1 and MJ cared for and trusted each other— it made him sick. Not because they didn’t fit together— it was almost as if they were made for each other. It was because it reminded him of you. Of what the two of you had before he went and fucked it all up.

The first few weeks after you left were hard for Peter. He’s ashamed to admit that he stopped being as kind as he was before. Quite a few of the villains he ran into left their encounters beaten within an inch of their lives. He stopped visiting May as much as he used to— which he really regretted because she had done nothing wrong and was honestly the only person he could’ve gone to about his troubles.

But he isolated himself because he thought that that was what was best. It wasn’t, he knew that now. After he finally realized that he was just proving your point, he started to better himself. He stopped being reckless, started thinking about why he was actually doing what he was doing.

By now he knew he was a much better man than he had ever been when he was with you. But it wasn’t enough, at least not in his mind. He’d almost texted and called you multiple times, even showed up on your doorstep a few times. But he could never bring himself to say or do what he needed.

For now, he was content with just checking in on you every once in a while. You had found an apartment about 15 minutes away from where the two of you used to live. You had decorated it nicely. That was always something you were good at, figuring out what looked good together.

“What are you thinking about?” Peter 2 asked, grabbing Peter’s attention. 

“Nothing.” He said quickly, prompting Peter 2 to give him a knowing look. “It’s just…seeing them together reminds me of someone.” He says with a little smile.

“Oh? Is this someone someone special?” Peter 2 asks as he takes off his saftey goggles. 

“She was—is. She is special to me.” Peter mumbles as he finishes writing the equation for the formula.

“Was? What happened?”

The question causes Peter to sigh. “I fucked up, really bad. She cared so deeply for me, and I took that for granted.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. I think that’s one of the downsides of doing what we do, especially if you don’t have everything together. It’s usually the ones we love the most that end up getting hurt by our foolishness.”

Peter takes a moment to think on what was said. “Wow, that was really deep.” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “So, how did you get the courage to try and win her back?”

“Honestly? I didn’t. I ran into her one day and everything just…came pouring out of me. If we hadn’t of run into each other, I honestly don’t think I’d ever have gotten the courage to talk to her again.” Peter 2 explained as he worked. Peter nodded, understanding what he meant.

He had a lot to think about when he got back home. 

—

When he had finally gotten back to his home—his universe— Peter had immediately collapsed on his bed. He had every intention of going to you that night, but it was extremely late, he was tired, and he had just fought off 5 different villains. The man needed his rest. 

That rest turned into 2 days, then 4, then a whole week, and he still hadn’t gone to speak with you. Again, he had fully intended to, but something was stopping him. He kept telling himself that he was going to do it the next day, but he knew deep down that that was a lie. 

It was late at night when he got the urge to see you again. This had become a normal occurrence over the past few years. On nights when it was pretty tame, he would sit on the fire escape of your apartment and make sure you were alright. Sure, it was a little strange but he didn’t particularly care.

Only this time, when he came to perch on your fire escape, you were sitting on your windowsill, a mug in your hands. “Hello, Peter.” You say with a soft smile as he lands.

He gives you an awkward smile, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. He wasn’t used to this feeling, especially when it came to you. “Hey.”

“You know, for a superhero, you’re not the most stealthy person in the world.” You say as you hand him the mug. “It’s tea, just the way you like it.”

“Thank you.” He says. He takes a sip, humming at the taste. He looks up at you behind the mug. “So, are you uh, are you upset that I’ve been spying on you?”

“No. I expected it.” You whisper with a giggle, leaning your head against the windowsill. Peter nods, not sure of what to say. He sets the mug down, running his hands over his face. He couldn’t believe that he was doing this.

“Look, Y/N, I am so sorry for how things ended 3 years ago. I hate that I hurt you, that I made you worry about me when I wasn’t even worried about myself. I took your words to heart and I got better. I stopped being impulsive and started being more calculated. And I so badly wanted to come to you, but I just… I couldn’t. I didn’t want to risk hurting you again.” He finishes, slightly out of breath. There was a moment where nothing but looks were exchanged. Finally, you got up and walked over to him. “What are you doing?” Peter asked softly as he looked down at you.

You don’t say anything, just smile and pull his face down so that your lips touch gently. He practically melts into the kiss, his arms finding their spot around your waist once again. He’s missed this. You’ve missed this. 

When you pull away from each other, it’s all smiles. Peter is grinning like a child on Christmas and you love it, reaching your hand up slightly to move his hair out of his face. 

“Does this mean that you forgive me?” He whispers. You chuckle at that, playfully rolling your eyes.

“You get a kiss like that and you’re questioning whether or not I forgive you?” You ask, causing Peter to throw his head back with laughter.

“What, I feel like it’s a fair question. Don’t leave me hanging.” He says as he playfully shakes the two of you. 

You laugh, shaking your head at his antics. “Yes, Peter Parker. I forgive you.”

This causes the smile on Peter’s face to grow even wider. He leans down, giving you another kiss. You lean up into it, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer.

“I love you, Y/N. And I promise that I will never, never hurt you again. And if I do, I give you full permission to beat my ass and never look back.” He says once the two of you pull away.

“I don’t think that I’ll need to do that, but thank you for that.” You say with a smile. Peter and you share another laugh, before you turn and look inside your apartment. “It’s a little chilly out here, why don’t we head back inside?”

Peter hums, allowing you to pull him into the warmth of your apartment. He was glad to have a sense of normalcy back in his life.

[candyskiez]

rewatching once upon a time in the waste makes me so emo dude. because catra was so, so much happier the second she got far away from the horde. no constant question if she would be replaced, no constant need to justify every action, no feeling like the only reason people respected her was because of her rank. scorpia had shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that she cared about her, genuinely. I think that's why she was so carefree in the wastes. she was away from the constant expectations, and someone was watching her back. she could take her damn time because hordak didn't expect it all under a short deadline. she had scorpia to look out for her, they could goof off because they had time to mess around and she didn't have to constantly prove every single bit of worth. she showed she could do shit and people listened.

and the part that gets me is catra denying that she's miserable in the horde. when...yeah, she is. she literally hated it there, she was constantly stressed, she was constantly on the verge of a breakdown and it was completely unsustainable. scorpia was genuinely stating the facts. she hated the horde. she felt safe in the wastes because there was so much less pressure and she had someone who had her back. without that "come back with results, or else." over her head, she was so much less on edge.

but she goes back, because letting shadow weaver get away with hurting her feels like admitting defeat. it would be the best for her mental health, no doubt. but all she sees is that shadow weaver HAS to pay for what she did, she has to make her hurt like she did because of her. shes so caught up in rage and hurt. she could've been happy. she was just too scared to. she wanted to make shadow weaver feel the hurt she did, and all that ended up doing was denying herself what she really wanted: to be safe and wanted.

scorpia chose catra. catra was just too blinded by the fact shadow weaver didn't to see it until it was almost too late. fuck, man.

made princess scorpia hit so much harder. scorpia tried so hard to help catra. but she cannot fix her problems if catra wasn't willing to change. catra had to make that choice herself. scorpia deserves to be treated well too, and seeing her realize that was so cathartic. and no matter how much I love catra I am SO glad scorpia got out. god I love this show.

basically s3 was so good and set up the rest of the show so well thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[macdenlover]

My fucking god. There is so much to take apart.

This episode gave us a peak into Dennis’s mind and it’s the closest thing we’re gonna get to putting him under a microscope like a little bug and studying him in a lab. It isn’t what I expected from this episode but man oh man am i glad to have it. There’s a few things we need to establish first that’s gonna be the basis of my analysis. Dennis is angry, but he ultimately uses that anger to mask fear, pain, and every other emotion that he doesn’t allow himself to feel. Also, the entirety of the episode— every little detail was intentionally conjured by Dennis’s mind either consciously or subconsciously so none of it is off the table to dig into.

There’s two big things at play here— one, his desperate need for control; and two, his instinct to self sabotage. This episode did one hell of a job at showing how woven together the two are.

The essence of Dennis’s character is this impenetrable shell he’s built to protect the vulnerable part that sits at his core, and we finally got to see HOW he builds that shell piece by piece. This is the pressure-cooking of the diamond— if you apply enough pressure it’ll harden the shell.

Everything is thrown out of balance when Dennis learns about his high blood pressure, but what really bothers him about that is the inevitability of aging— something we’ve seen him be insecure about for many seasons. But what’s different about this episode is that while his usual fear of aging comes from vanity, this time it’s combined with Dennis being so afraid of the world around him changing and leaving him behind. This follows the thematic trajectory of this season— all the characters struggling to cope with inevitable change. 

A stress-free day at the beach is a pipe dream. Happiness is something so hopelessly distant from him that he builds a fantasy about chasing it while never getting there— sabotaging the plan because he either thinks it’s too impossible, something he doesn’t deserve, or both. This is not the first time we’ve seen this from him. In The Gang Saves The Day, the rest of the gang’s fantasies revolve around them finally getting their dream ending, while Dennis’s stuck out from the others as a barely comprehendible mess of his own misery. (I’m gonna rewatch this episode soon and give you a full breakdown of my thoughts). Dennis self sabotages in his own fantasies because he can’t imagine a reality where he is capable of getting what he wants. Dissatisfaction is something so permanent to him, and Dennis Takes a Mental health day is all about him trying to cling to things that are permanent to regain his sense of control. He is creating uncertainty in his own fantasy so that he can be certain about it. He is such a broken man and it is such a fucked up cycle— one thing continues feeding into the other. “The pin’s the key to the phone, the phone’s the key to the car.” 

The primary source of his frustration in this episode was the automated systems, which I think holds place to represent more than one thing. It’s a symbol of the changing world that he can’t control or escape from, but it also represents the parts of himself he’s fighting against. He forms systems in his life that are so methodical and complicated that it gets in the way of his ability to have real human connections. They went right on the nose with it in this ep by having him spelling out his own name as an acronym in a fit of rage. Subconscious Dennis’s d.e.n.n.i.s. system is fucking crazy. 

D- “Deliver me from this”

E - “Engage with human”

N - “Nightmare”

N - “NIGHTMARE”

I - “Is this real?”

S - “Somebody help me”

If you interpret this as his frustration with not only the state of the world but himself and his perpetual loneliness it gets incredibly heartbreaking. Guys I’m really tearing up here. 

His interactions with others in this episode also say so much about him and the inner conflicts he’s experiencing. He knows he establishes control by taking his frustration out on other people, but he simultaneously struggles with that making him a bad person. He yells at the customer service workers and then APOLOGIZES and reassures them that it’s not them who he’s really mad at. He doesn’t mean to take it out on them. (Potentially wild implications for Dennis woobifiers here.) He wants to take his frustration out on people who he believes deserve it, like the CEO. He gets to see himself as a hero in this story even if he’s miserable. If happiness is a pipe dream, he can settle for second best which is the rush he gets from taking his pain out on the guy who fucked him over. But he is simultaneously the person he spent his entire fantasy craving a real human connection with. He doesn’t know how to do that. It got weird and a little sexual (he definitely wanted to fuck that guy till the room stank). he is vindicated with violence at the end, which is ultimately what he will always resort to because it gives him the sense of power that desperately needs to make the frustration, vulnerability, and weakness go away (mentally AND physically). This is his cycle. 

I’m not sure Dennis could have an episode where he breaks down and cries and has a huge cathartic moment and then goes back to his regular self the next episode the way Mac and Charlie have. Dennis is a whole other can of worms. RCG are comfortable with exploring different sides to these characters as long as they are kept in a state of limbo for the length of the show, but letting Dennis openly express his feelings (even to himself) might make it impossible to come back from because this is literally the entire crux of his character. The last time he opened up emotionally he fled to another state only come back a year later more hostile and emotionally distant than ever. They had to put a hard reset on him after season 12 because they knew that version of him didn’t have longevity in the show. I WISH so fucking bad that they would explore the vulnerable parts of him more explicitly on the show but for now I will settle for being a little vulture and picking it out of the carcass of this season. 

[megamilfluvr]

Headcanons about Kate

These are just a few things I personally deem as headcanon about Kate, after rewatching and analyzing her interactions and personality traits. Please remember that this is just my perception of her. If you have anything you consider to be headcanon about Kate let me know.

- likes being playful and teases you a lot

- leans against EVERYTHING (example: doors, counters, couches, tables. hell, she’d probably even lean against you if you let her lmao)

- manspreads. always. (if you ask why she sits that way she’ll tell you “i don’t know. it’s just comfortable,” and you know what i can’t argue that)

- can’t sit straight. (if you find her sitting properly, it’s probably because of a formal gathering or a meeting)

- likes stealing kisses from you (you could be sitting, standing, laying down it doesn’t matter she’ll still manage to steal one from you. AND ITS ADORABLE)

- randomly does something that only makes sense to her and just confuses you (things like her leaving a half empty cup ramen with tinfoil over it and her explanation? “what? i was in a hurry to leave.”)

- always wears socks

- loves cereal, specifically Frosted Flakes

- can accurately shoot up to five arrows at the same time

- loves to spoil you

- sometimes likes to splurge on perfumes (she’s not big on jewelry but fragrances? absolutely.)

- has a spacific playlist for working out

- made a playlist for you

- can’t take care of live plants, so she buys fake ones (she just doesn’t have a green thumb. any greenery you see in her apartment or dorm isn’t real lmao)

- loves target

- tried to hit the target logo with a plunger arrow (this is very on brand for kate)

- somehow burned water??? (we’ve established that she can’t cook multiple times by almost burning the apartment down. the one time the apartment burned, wasn’t her fault, but still kinda was lmao)

- collects squishmallows (she definitely buys the 24 inch squishmallows)

- if she doesn’t get her way she’ll start cutely pouting

- gets flustered when you’ve out rizzed her

- loves to act cocky around you (whatever you do don’t challenge her to a game of fencing, she wins. she’ll let that go to her head lmao)

- loves going to the movie theater with you

- gets excited to get a slushy and popcorn

- when she talks about you to someone she gets shy

- mumbles stuff under her breath (when she was talking with yelena in episode 6 she’s LITERALLY doing it. “yeah, i know what box mac n cheese tastes like, okay? i know it’s- i know it’s delicious.”)

- she’s insecure about her rambling but you always reassure her that it’s fine and you’re listening

- she’s spent too much money on a gaming pc

- only owns a pair of boots (it doesn’t matter what she’s wearing, she’s going to wear her boots even if it’s a dress)

- super clumsy (somehow in the field she’s good at not being clumsy, but oh my god she’ll make your blood pressure spike 100%)

- always thinks outside of the box (it's impressive how quickly she thinks on her feet)

- is surprisingly calm under certain serious situations (i mean she took down men double her size running right at her, i’d panic and run the opposite direction)

- doesn’t give up easily which results in her being stubborn sometimes

- you having to remind her to shut up or low her voice in very quiet places (you could be on a mission with her and a few others and she just randomly “hey, did you see that tiktok i sent you this morning?” “SHHH, is now really the time for that?”)

- will send unhinged texts at worse time (you’re both in a debriefing and she’ll just text something like, “okay, so hear me out… we kidnap him.” “what?! no. kate we’re not about to steal rocket!”)

- loves sending memes (that’s literally all of her tiktok fyp)

- ALWAYS LOSES HER APARTMENT KEYS (someone give this girl a tile… you know what she would also end up losing that too lmao)

- loves ring but ends up losing them

- has a matching arrow necklace with you (again, she doesn’t wear rings much since she’s always losing them, so she’d go with a bracelet or necklace)

- loves hats, hoodies and sweatpants (after seeing that one picture of hailee wear her hawkeye hat, it’s headcanon for kate)

- still somehow makes you laugh even when you’re upset with her

- it doesn’t matter what time of day it is, when she’s been assigned a mission. she’ll always make time to video chat with you

edited: i’ve proofread this like three times, if there’s still typos or anything just ignore them lmao

[acheronist]

yayyy tag games @sadmoooose 🖤

rules: answer and tag people you want to get to know better and catch up with

favorite color: black..... immediately followed up by wine red / or creamy beige yellows.... the color of very old lace. you know it.

last song: 0898 heartache if your calling me's a mistake then tell me why we're both still on the line ⁉️

currently reading: image of me stressed out and laughing. i've said this before but i have an awful problem with starting books getting halfway and forgetting to finish them. the current stack looks like this: we have always lived in the castle, russian criminal tattoo encyclopaedia vol.1, our wives under the sea, the art thief, this collection of romantic poetry about death and dying, may we be spared to meet on earth still technically but i'm nearly done with it, red doc>, the bone orchard, saturnalia, dead mountain, a house with good bones, and i've got queen of the damned staring at me very impatiently. which is fine.

currently watching: augh i dont know.. i miss iwtv. i wish ldpdl was on my television again. i suppose i'm in a terror rewatch again but honestly mostly when i have time to watch things i'm on youtube watching this irish lad do wood carving vlogs at a living history museum :-( OH god i need to finish black sails as well huh. whoops

currently craving: big glass of cold water & the weather to stop being humid and hot. and a hug would be nice too if i can be honest

coffee or tea: TEA MY BEST FRIEND TEA

hobby to try: something doesn't aggravate my wrist pain pleeease and thank you

current au: strong as fuck ice mummy monday ghosts on beechey island 👍 which i just know is annoying to the majority of my followers but what EVER

no pressure tags mwah

@hexgh0ul @caleblandrybones @petoskeystones @perenial

@twinsfawn @monstrousdaughter @jartnell @thedissociatives

[oneatlatime]

The Siege of the North Part 1

I'll be watching parts 1 & 2 separately.

Once again, audio commentary is off. Saving that as a treat for rewatches.

Hey look! A giant breach in an otherwise impenetrable wall! Bet that's plot relevant.

This episode has already won. It's already perfect. This face is the last thing the patriarchy sees before death. Katara has so earned this.

And then they pan to the casualty line as well! This opening would have had me hollering at the screen if I had seen this as a kid. Doing my Spice Girls Girl Power pose and everything.

Pakku is still Poophead. At least his writing is consistent.

This is what Aang's all about. This is who Aang is. Just a goofy kid indeed.

Try Off.

Yue! Sweetheart! You're allowed to be confused but you're pushing this mixed signals stuff a little far. "This is wrong; I'm engaged!" *Does the bison-riding equivalent of the yawn and stretch like two minutes later.* I get it and I'm sorry, but you can't literally put the moves on a boy you've explicitly stated it's wrong for you to see. Excellent recovery from Sokka though. Totally not awkward at all.

Given the isolation of the Northern water tribe, are the Gaang the only ones who know what the black snow means?

Zhao the asshole's ego has been turned up for the season finale. And since when can he order Iroh around?

"Do you have a plan?" "I'm working on it Uncle." Translation: Nope!

I get it. She's under the massive pressure of her whole society's expectations and traditions and she just wants to be happy for a bit. But seriously, hot, to cold, to hot, to cold, in five minutes of run time? Not to mention last episode's flip flops too. At what point does it go from teenage angst to stringing the poor guy along?

"I like you too much. It's too confusing to be around you." Ouch. Talk about a no-win situation.

"You don't understand. I have duties to my father, to my tribe. I have to do this." AHEM

These two should sit down and really talk to each other instead of making googoo eyes. I think they would find they had a surprising amount in common.

RIP eleven arctic foxes.

When the chief talks about faces disappearing from the tribe, it pans to Yue, Poophead and some guy with a large amount of chin. Foreshadowing?

Is this the total population of the Northern Water Tribe? Why is the Fire Nation bothering to attack? All they have to do is wait 40 years and the isolationism will do the job for them.

I've been ragging on the Sokka x Yue Knots Landing melodrama, but this is just sad. Real talk, it's ouchy.

"The stillness before battle is unbearable." How would you know? Haven't you been behind your walls for decades? I guess it's set up for Aang's line, but it's a bit clunky.

One fireball just displaced their entire defending force. That inspires confidence. These guys are going to get flattened, aren't they.

One man army Aang is back!

The hammers used to trigger these catapults are making inches deep dents in the catapults' frames. That metal is way too soft. There's no way these things wouldn't tear themselves apart under the stress of operation.

Tying the catapults to the ship and to each other is clever. I wouldn't have thought of that.

OH MY GOD

Hang on what's her name

Jojo Siwa works for the Fire Nation ?!?!?

Appa murdered Jojo Siwa?!?!?

Math time! There are five waterbenders in each boat, five boats on this side, and judging by the ice spikes on the other side of the ship, five boats on that side too. That makes ten boats of five waterbenders, which makes 50 waterbenders, one Appa, and one Avatar to take out one fire nation ship.

Not the clearest shot, but I see 117 ships. So it's going to take 117 Appas, 117 Avatars, and 5850 waterbenders to take out this force. I bet they're regretting not training their female benders now.

You and me both Sokka. The Chief praises Sokka and calls Han on his behaviour twice in this scene. Makes me think that he knows that Han is an ass. Which makes me wonder why he's letting him marry Yue? I was ambivalent about the Chief until now, but if he's knowingly shackling his daughter to that, then I think the Chief is a jerk.

More math time! I count nine waterbenders here. This includes Poophead, who's apparently good enough to teach the Avatar, so let's round up and call it ten. Ten waterbenders per fireball.

Jojo Siwa's ship has five catapults. Assuming that all 117 ships have five catapults each (which is a big assumption, because some of them must be support ships), then that's 585 fireballs without reloading. At ten waterbenders each, they're going to need an additional 5850 waterbenders behind the walls to catch incoming fireballs. I bet they're really regretting not teaching women how to bend now. And with the fireballs, how many of the healers have already been pancaked?

Interesting exposition from Iroh. Waterbenders are werewolves.

It's the problem from a century ago in The Storm episode again! The world needs a fully realised Avatar; the best Aang can do is just one (goofy) kid.

Ooof. Zuko is far from my favourite character, but the dynamic between these two is so comfortable, so well-worn. They feel like they've had no one but each other for years, which has made sense from Zuko's side of things since The Storm, but apparently Iroh has a dead kid (?!!?) and suddenly his side of things makes sense too.

"Remember your breath of fire." "Put your hood up." "Pack a lunch." "Bring a sweater." "Listen to your teacher, learn lots, have fun!" "Call me when you get home" "Eat your vegetables" "Call your uncle. He misses you already."

Han is so well liked that when the guards see him getting attacked, they all collectively decide not to do anything about it. "Should we interfere?" "Nah, it's been a long time coming. He deserves it."

Zuko approaching the wall is accompanied by Blue Spirit music, but he's not wearing his Blue Spirit costume. Thoughts?

HYBRID ANIMALS!!!!! HYBRID ANIMALS!!!!! HYBRID ANIMALS!!!!!

Zuko is such a dumb smart guy. He can figure out that the turtle seals are coming up for air, but he can't figure out that marine mammals and humans might have drastically different lung capacities. Then again, if what the deserter says is correct and firebending is all about breathing, then firebenders probably have training on the kind of breath control that lets you hold you breath for extended periods. On the other hand, they probably learned that in water that wasn't so cold that it made you gasp involuntarily, so we're right back to dumb smart guy.

Does the Avatar world's moon cycle not work like ours? Our moon is out pretty often during the day, but Katara's waterbending is stronger at night. So the Avatar world's moon only appears at night?

Is there a connection between the spirit world and bamboo? The giant panda grew bamboo in the village gate, now we see a gate with bamboo behind it.

Strange face. Do not like.

You smack turtleseal? You smack turtleseal like a football?

Thought that was a palm tree for a sec.

Couldn't the Chief have reassigned Sokka in a way that didn't embarass him in front of all the other warriors?

Zuko's got some crazy swimming skills. He's also frozen to death at least three times by now.

"SHADDUP!" -Aang.

Avatar hypnotised by fish, more at 11.

How does Katara know that Aang's body can't be moved? Last time he went to the spirit world, she was sitting in a village gate cradling her brother's boomerang and Aang was ragdolling into a giant panda statue.

Might want to check your ego there Katara. You may be crazy skilled now but there's nothing wrong with backup.

Zuko having the same problem as Sokka and Aang with announcing his sneak strikes.

I love that when Zuko shows up Yue's just like Biyee!!! I wish I could make that into a gif. She ZOOMS.

It's a good thing that Katara knocked Zuko unconscious because otherwise there's nothing permanent she can do to stop him. Ice cage? Melt it. Water cage? Turn it to steam. Fire always undoes water.

Firebenders are powered by photosynthesis. Zuko one shots Katara here. Even powered by a full moon it took Katara a whole lot of moves to incapacitate him, then he gets one sunbeam and knocks her out with the recoil of one blast. Katara may be the best student Poophead's ever had but Zuko's got years on her.

Clever use of the otherwise counterintuitive ship doors: combination battering ram and landing ramp. Neat.

I normally don't agree with Zhao on anything, but my math shows that inevitable is the right word for the outcome of this battle.

"Where did they go?" How about up the giant very obvious path that is the only way out of the oasis that isn't through a city full of waterbenders on high alert?

Verry cool image to end on, but wasn't the fact that it was brilliantly sunny two minutes ago actually an important plot point?

That's it?

Well. Ok. That's a bit of a cliff hanger.

Final Thoughts

This one's really an obligate two parter huh?

How long has the Gaang spent in the Northern Water Tribe? It feels like maybe a week? Zuko couldn't remain undetected indefinitely on Zhao's ship, so it can't have been too long. I feel like Katara's amazing skills would make sense even after just a week, because we've seen how she progresses quickly when she has the opportunity (the waterbending scroll really did work, loathe as I am to admit it). But I feel like Sokka and Yue's story arc, particularly Yue's changes of heart, would work a lot better if it was established that they'd been around each other for a while. They're both aware she's engaged, but they both make the resolution to just be friends, and before they know it they've spent countless hours together and fallen into horribly deep love and now they're in too far and they have to quit cold turkey but they just keep pulling each other back in like their love is inevitable and before either of them know it, they can't stop loving each other. Yue panics and the scene on the steps of the palace as soot falls happens. They both know that maybe it's wisest to stop seeing each other, but then the Chief assigns Sokka to protect Yue and now they're unavoidably thrown together and they're right back where they started and they can no longer even pretend to deny their feelings and the sheer strength of their love acknowledged wipes out the entirety of the fire nation fleet and when the firelord hears the news he has a heart attack and dies so the war's over and Aang goes into the jewellery business and everyone lives happily ever after and Aang and Katara get married when they're both 35 and Sokka and Yue rule over a joint north-south water tribe matriarchy.

Seriously. Yue is giving me Eowyn vibes. I am WORRIED.

I have my suspicions about the Chief. He'd rather a stranger from the southern tribe guard his daughter than her fiance? I wonder if Han was the politically powerful choice. I guess having only a daughter in a patriarchal society doesn't make for a firm power base. I wonder if the Chief's council or whatever picked Han, and the Chief didn't have the power to refuse. So instead he sends Han on a suicide mission and arranges it so that Sokka can spend time with Yue. Is the Chief aware of Yue's feelings for Sokka and trying to help sneakily? If that's the case, I rescind calling him a jerk. Maybe he has to be seen to favour Han in public, so he takes Sokka off the mission when he and Han fight with an audience, but assigns Sokka to his daughter when it's only Sokka in the room. Maybe the Chief ships them as much as I do?

Anyways...

The Northern Water Tribe have been staying out of the war completely, so why are the Fire Nation even bothering to waste resources on them? Their mandate is to capture the Avatar alive, so a full-scale indiscriminate assault on where he's staying feels dumb.

Zuko's one-sided banter with Katara recalled their interactions in the Waterbending Scroll with the pirates. Kind of off-putting, kind of insulting, kind of creepy.

Aang had a neat fight scene, but not much beyond that. I have a feeling he'll be the star of the next episode. Congrats to Appa on the murderous assist. Air nomads may have been pacifists but their bison sure weren't.

This episode set up a lot of dominoes. The next one is going to have to do a lot of things very quickly.

[foolforharrry]

Darling - Harry Styles Oneshot

Summary: Harry has always felt like something was missing in his life despite the vast fortunes he possessed. Julia has been through hell and back in her young life and all she needs is love and safety. Maybe they're exactly what they need in order to live the lives they were meant to

If you want to check out more of my works, this is my masterlist

I hope you like this 🫶🏻

Harry has always been a level-headed guy.

Never been one to crack under pressure or let his nerves and anxieties affect his work. It’s always impeccable. He wouldn’t be the man that he is today, wouldn’t have the career he does, if he let his fears control him.

And god has he had a lot of times where he’s wanted to let them take the reins. But he can’t recall a time when he’s been shitting his pants the way he is at this very moment.

And it’s all a result of the night he decided he was truly done waiting on life to be perfect.

-

“Are you sure about this, mate?”

Harry looks up from the marked spot on the page to meet his best friend of 14 years' eyes. His own confidence contrasts the cautiousness written all over the otherwise fearless man.

Without letting himself ponder over the decision for a second longer, Harry lets the pen glide over the paper, his name now drying in ink as he exhales through pursed lips.

Will laughed in disbelief, “Well shit. Now it’s done.”

At that moment Harry was convinced that he was making the right decision. No matter how many times he’d been asked if he wasn’t just getting impatient and acting irrational. If he needed help getting laid to get his head back in the game. If he had thought this true.

The truth was that Harry had been thinking about this through and through for a year before he even brought it up to Will.

“Let’s just hope I’m lucky and they don’t give me a little serial killer.”, Harry jokes.

Will smirks knowingly at him, “What would you do if it ended up being one?”

It takes Harry all of one second to reply with; “I guess I would just have to rewatch ‘How to get away with murder’, now wouldn’t I?”

-

Family.

When harry was younger, he saw himself living in a cosy house with a wife that would always make fun of the way he can’t physically bring himself to watch a horror movie without a pillow on hand for when it gets too scary.

Little children. The perfect combination of him and who would’ve been the love of his life running around the house. Their shared laughter and giggles are what would’ve made it at home.

However, as he grew up and started living the life he is with the job he has, that fantasy seemed more and more like just that.

A fantasy.

It had taken Harry quite some time to truly accept that and give up on his fantasy. After countless, failed dates that ended with him spending all night working to keep himself from truly feeling the loneliness fuelled by the hollow space in his heart.

The one thing his empty house and longing house seemed to be craving was the one thing he was being denied time and time again.

Love.

And man did Harry have love to give.

It wasn’t until he was talking to his client about the floorplan they wanted for their new lake house that it clicked for Harry.

And now here he is. Shitting his pants with nerves as he sits in the middle of his large, grey sofa, feet planted on the floor and fingers being twisted by his long fingers. His socked feet are tapping impatiently, the thuds muffled by the soft, pastel-coloured rug that anyone but Harry finds ugly.

His eyes are trained on the clock as if time would move faster if he did.

He really does wish that time would move faster right now.

Maybe he shouldn’t have rushed so much with getting the house ready at such short notice.

Harry had gotten the phone call just as he was about to leave work two days ago. He didn’t even have to think before he was saying yes. The next day the social worker, Ophelia, came over for a short visit to make sure that everything is the way it was supposed to be and talk to Harry.

Ophelia gave him all the information she deemed necessary for now but made it clear that he could call her if he had any more questions.

Is calling Ophelia to ask her favourite colour something the social worker deemed necessary? Probably not. And even though she didn’t know the answer he was looking for, she assured him that all that stuff would work out with time.

Realising that the room he had designated for her would have walls covered in granny wallpaper had made him question whether or not he should try to change his office into a bedroom instead. He’d only put the wallpaper there to piss off Will when he was renovating his home.

Now it’s really come back to bite him in the ass.

Wallpaper might be a weird thing to fret about 10 minutes before your life is going to be permanently changed forever. But that still doesn’t stop Harry from going looking for a prettier one on his phone as if his life depends on it knowing damn well that it’s in vain.

It keeps his mind occupied. And for right now, that’s what he needs the most. Or he might have just lost his mind if he looked at the clock for one more second.

It would’ve been the clock and definitely not by reading about all the worst-case scenarios while running around his house looking for anything he can make look better that would’ve driven him crazy.

“Fuck.”, Harry mutters, his body tenses slightly at the sharp sting of pain from chewing too hard on the inside of his cheek. The sound of his doorbell ringing had nearly given him a heart attack as it is.

On his route through the house, he stops to peek at himself in the mirror, feeling the need to make sure that he is happy with his outfit and that everything looks right.

He went with something simple. A striped brown and white t-shirt tucked into his favourite pair of dark, flared jeans. Black belt to keep the trousers from sagging.

A quick hand through his barely gelled curls and he deems himself good.

It’s with a shaking hand that he’s unlocking his front door before pulling it open. The nerves and excitement feel like they’re about to make him fucking levitate.

Harry is met first by Ophelia. Her face is warm as she greets him with an excited hello. Returning the greeting, he goes to shake her hand when he notices that they’re both occupied. One by a pink suitcase and the other clutched around the straps of a blue children’s backpack.

Ophelia must see the confusion on Harry’s face and the way his eyes are scanning from left to right for the person he was so excited to meet because she is chuckling with a shake of her head. “She’s coming, don’t worry. I think she’s making sure she got all her things from the car.”

“Phew.”, Harry pretends to wipe the sweat off his forehead, finally letting his eyes land on the run-down, grey Toyota parked just outside his gate. It has his brows furrowing. “How come you didn’t just park here?” He gestures to the spot next to his car.

“She insisted on parking as far away from your car as possible.”, Ophelia explains with humour evident in her tone, “According to her I would break a car probably worth more than I make in half a year.”

Harry pretends like he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. “Yeah. Totally. Women these days. Can’t drive.” The extra sigh he added for effect makes it harder for him to keep a straight face than it already was with the whirlwind of emotions that’s been coursing through him like a whirlwind for the past two days.

Ophelia just shakes her head at him, having learnt pretty early on not to take his jokes too seriously.

Just as he’s about to offer to take one of the bags from Ophelia, he spots her half running down the cobblestone driveway.

Harry takes the time it takes her to reach the bottom of the steps to straighten up his posture and wipe the sweat off his increasingly clammy hands against the rough fabric of his jeans.

After reading book after book, Harry thought he would know what it was going to feel like. Going through what felt like a million different blogs where people shared their experiences with the world. All their little tips and tricks. How it was for them.

But boy was he wrong.

Nothing could have prepared him for the rush of emotions going through his entire body when his eyes meets hers. It feels as if the air got sucked right out of his lungs for a second before he can gather himself.

“Hi, darling. I’m Harry.”, he manages to fumble out, hoping this girl doesn’t think he’s a complete idiot.

He’s taking in her features as she replies shyly, “Julia.”

Julia has black, slightly wavy hair that nearly reaches her elbows. Her small face is sprinkled with warm freckles, more noticeable around her nose and below her pale, green eyes.

“Let me take these for you.”, he offers with a kind smile on his face, gesturing to the duffel bag slung over Julia’s shoulder. She thanks him, a faint smile gracing her lips without meeting his eyes. Hers don’t stay still for a second, seeming to be taking in everything around her.

“Do you want me to come inside with you, sweetie?”, Ophelia grabs her attention, her tone almost motherly as she speaks to the young girl. She wraps her up in a short hug when Julia shakes her head no. “You have my number if you need anything.”

“And so do you.”, she points at Harry before she sets the backpack down on the ground. “If there’s anything at all.”

Then she is saying goodbye to the two of them, trotting down the driveway after giving Julia one last hug.

It was obvious to Harry that they were close.

“Do you want me to show you your room?”, Harry asks her, picking up the backpack left on the ground, sliding one strap over his shoulder next to the duffel bag’s.

He takes her small nod as a yes to his question, dragging the suitcase with him inside.

The way she is trailing after him quietly with her eyes trained on the floor has a new kind of anxiousness making his hands clammy again.

“What’s your favourite colour?”, Harry asks her.

Much to his joy, she seems eager to answer, her eyes lighting up and her voice no longer a quiet mumble. “I don’t really have one. Or I do. But it changes all the time. Right now, it’s green. But not like grass green. It’s more like the inside of an avocado kind of green. What’s yours?”

“Last couple of years I’ve loved a deep purple.”, Harry answers with zero hesitation.

Julia stops, tilting her head at him with a thoughtful crease between her full eyebrows. Confused, Harry stops as well, copying her as he waits for her to say what’s on her mind.

Harry didn’t know what he expected to come from her mouth. But what he didn’t expect was for her to simply say, “That makes sense, actually.”

It catches him off guard a bit, but he doesn’t get the chance to ask what she means when she changes the topic. “What do you do?”

“For work.”, she clarifies when he just looks more confused.

Harry doesn’t even bother trying to suppress his smile. “I’m an architect.” He truly loves his job.

“I didn’t know architects made this much money.” Julia says. “I should rethink my career ambitions.”

“C’mon.” He continues their journey through his house, shaking his head with a laugh at her bluntness. “As much as I love being an architect, the majority of it comes from my company.”

Her eyes widen in surprise, “Really?”

“Yup.”, he nods, stopping in front of a plain, white door, “I’ll tell you more about that later if you’d like.”

Julia almost looks disappointed. But that’s quickly replaced by what looks to Harry like shock when he opens the door, “For now, this is your room.”

She slips past him with her mouth slightly ajar as she takes in the room.

“Sorry about the wallpaper.”, Harry starts, staying put at the entrance to give her some space. “I was gonna have my friend, Will come over and take it off before you got here. He didn’t have time but if it’s alright with you, he said he could come by tomorrow to help?”

Gently, she’s feeling the comforter on her bed before she sits down at the foot end of the bed. “That would be cool.”

Harry lights up at that, excited to introduce her to his best friend. “And since this is your room.” He sets the bags and suitcase by the door before he plops down on the small sofa by the window. “We’ll do our best to make it whatever you want it to be, yeah?”

“You don’t have to change anything, Harry. It’s great the way it is.”, Julia insists. Not very convincingly.

He feels his smile falter momentarily. Not because he’s hurt by anything she said. But because he was 99% sure she was lying about it being what she wants to please him.

Instead of taking her at her words, he tells her as sincerely as he can; “We don’t need to change anything if you truly don’t want to. We’ll do it at your speed. As I said, this is your room. However you want it is great. And it’s completely up to you. Even if you’d want it to look like a freaking haunted house, we’d find a way.”

As a final word to assure her, he points to the horrid wallpaper, “To be honest with you? I only used this shit because my friend that I told you about absolutely hated it.”

“Why?”

“He’s an interior designer.”, he says simply. Julia seems to get understand it though because she rolls her bottom lip into her mouth as she nods slowly with a hum. She has an abrupt laugh erupting from Harry when she looks him right in the eye with the most serious expression on her face, “I’ll pray for you. Because this?” The wallpaper. “It’s a crime against humanity.”

They make small talk for a few more minutes before Harry notices her seeming more and more distracted. So he gets up from the chair, “I’ll leave you to get settled a bit, yeah?”

Julia nods. It’s when he’s at the door he hears her ask him to stop, turning around to see her walking towards him.

He’s about to ask her what she needs but he doesn’t get to it as she wraps her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly.

It takes his brain a few moments to comprehend what’s going on, but when it does, he hugs her back happily. His heart might as well swell in size when she says thank you without specifying for what, the side of her face is smushed into his chest.

He just says, “No need.”, and waits for her to let go of him first, pressing a protective kiss to the top of her head without thinking. Already feeling a need to keep this girl safe that he can’t really explain.

Once he’s back in the same spot he sat just 30 minutes ago shitting himself with nerves.

Harry is instead bursting with joy. He was nearly sick to his stomach with the sheer amount of emotions he was feeling for the girl upstairs.

Did he ever see himself taking in a freshly 13-year-old foster child at 28? No. Did he think he would be a single parent? Never in a million years.

But now that Julia is here, any trace of doubt he had has vanished.

It was meant to be.

-

I know this is a bit of an unconventional route to go about with dadrry. But just bare with me, yeah?

In case it wasnt completely clear, Harry is not Julia's foster dad.

Please do let me know your thoughts on these babies.

Ily

[more-better-words]

Ok dude so that kiss meme.

Like, whatever ur feeling, but 20 or 31 for something spicy

Or some hurt/comfort or angst? 👀 43. 20 could also rly hit here. Or 40.

*throws numbers in a shaker*

How's a 31/40 sound?

(just rewatched The Forgotten, so that's where I am with this)

-------------

Trip couldn't sleep.

Not in the insomniac sense, not this time - no, he literally could not sleep, because right now, sleep wasted precious time. How could he possibly devote hours to unconsciousness when seconds mattered?

It was almost enough to make him miss insomnia.

There'd been a remedy for insomnia, too, but T'Pol's careful, steady hands couldn't fix this mess. Not that she'd seemed very careful or steady lately. Even she was frayed to the point of breaking, and that was a little scary to contemplate.

God, he was tired.

Wasn't there a neuropressure posture that could help her relax? He couldn't remember the name of it for the life of him, but he'd have her lie on her back, and gently manipulate the points in the arch of each foot, and her calves-

…and he'd lean over her, and kiss her thighs, first the left and then the right, brushing his lips against her soft skin with just enough pressure to make her inhale deeply, a little hitch in her breath. It was impulse, taking advantage of the position, but he knew what he was doing, and so would she.

Maybe she'd let him linger, or maybe she'd reach for him, pull him up to kiss his mouth, holding his face in her hands, his body against hers-

"What the hell, Tucker," he muttered to himself under his breath. Sleep deprivation really was a hell of a drug, and he had too much to do to get stuck in adolescent fantasies.

…though it would be awfully nice to help ease that line of tension in her brow. And maybe kiss her there, where it had been, and down her cheek and throat…

A cold shower might help.

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

I rewatched 1x08, 2x01 and 2x02 with my sister recently, and some of the things that I noticed:

I’m not gonna lie, if I haven’t seen an episode of the show in long enough, I start to think that people are exaggerating how religious Alicent is. I almost forgot about her putting up the FOTS sigils all over the Red Keep, and her “The Father will compel me to forget the allegations made by you here” line is peak religious passive-aggressiveness. Rip Alicent you would have loved/hated Catholicism.

“They used to tease me because I was different” buddy you have an autistic sister I don’t want to hear a word about how you were “different” because you didn’t have a dragon before hitting double digits.

“Aegon the Strong?” “My nephews have already claimed that title” I DIDN’T CATCH THAT THE FIRST TIME CAUSE I WAS SO STRESSED I LOVE IT.

My sister has also not seen most of Season 1 (Episode 8’s the only one she’s seen in full) and it is very funny to try and explain the context behind Alicent’s actions only to realize how absolutely HORRIBLE she sounds. Just “oh yeah she gave that scar to Rhaenyra because she was trying to cut out Luke’s eye when he was six. Which is obviously bad but she was under a lot of pressure in the moment. Yes this is right after she made Rhaenyra present Joffrey to her right after giving birth.”

Once you’ve seen Vaemond’s main scene once every time you watch it from then on out you have to say “Her children…are BASTARDS!” along with him. It’s the law.

Also didn’t pick on this during my first viewing because I didn’t know where it was headed, but there are so many points in Rhaenyra and Mysaria’s first proper conversation where Rhaenyra is just…staring into Mysaria’s soul, looking her up and down, etc. If she wasn’t already aware of her attraction to women, she was questioning a lot of things during that conversation.

My second watch of the ending of 1x08 has completely confirmed for me that Alicent didn’t truly make a mistake. I’m sure “I misunderstood” is what she tells herself to sleep at night, but it’s made pretty obvious in that scene that she was hearing what she wanted to hear and nothing else. Viserys is out of it, continuing a conversation they never had, referring to “Aegon’s Dream,” and all of the questions she’s asking him are 100% leading questions. “Our son Aegon?” at that point he could have broken out into a coughing fit and she would have taken it as confirmation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s because she wants all of her suffering to have been for something, but at that point her mind would have twisted anything to mean “I want Aegon to be my heir.” It’s not the writers forcing a misinterpretation, it’s Alicent trying to give herself plausible deniability of her own involvement and guilt.

The other line I’m legally required to say along with the character is, of course “Each of them brave, handsome…strong.”

Ugh Luke was such a sweet kid I miss him. I very much suspect that he’ll appear at Harrenhal, though, so hopefully we’ll see more of him.

Rhaena’s Season 1 wig was BAD, my god.

I still think Blood & Cheese was well done, and my theory now is that the moment where Helaena stops and gasps is the moment that her dreams end. That’s the moment where she realizes that it’s actually happened, that this is a nightmare she’s never waking up from.

I miss HOTD Sundays.

[divine-donna]

manners maketh man

i think everyone knows which pedro pascal edit went viral on tik tok. and consequently, i got kingsman edits. and then i rewatched the movies. so in the end, we get this post.

have fun with these headcanons! we can even call this a spy au since the kingsman franchise falls under that genre of films.

ser criston cole

a man on an exchange assignment from the dornish red wine company, criston is a suave man that you get paired with for the assignment. your goal is to show him the ropes. but the dornish tend to do things a little differently and the two of you clash heads because of your different way of doing things. despite the differences, you have immense respect for criston. he even saves your life when you let your guard down.

“it wouldn’t do me any good if my partner was dead. i would be an awful dornishman if you died on my watch.”

daemon targaryen

a more senior member of the seven kings trading company, the man has been out of the game for quite some time. he’s very particular about his safety due to his work experience. and daemon is very shocked to find you at his doorstep, a new member of the seven kings trading company. something has happened to his brother and viserys told you to go to daemon in case anything went wrong. of course his brother was able to figure out how to locate him long ago. begrudingly, he becomes your partner to teach you his own tricks. and maybe he even learns a few from you.

“now (y/n), the secret here is to- no! please do not do that! not unless you want us to get caught and for the whole building to explode! geez. what do they even teach you guys now?”

rhaenyra targaryen

it was expected of rhaenyra to step up as a member of the seven kings trading company. after all, her father had led them and she must prove her worth as a trainee. she had no issues completing it and becoming a formidable spy. but the woman lacked...restraint. she was impulsive and went into things head on. you were assigned as her partner to get her to stop being impulsive and think about decisions. you both did not mesh well and it wasn’t until you get kidnapped did rhaenyra finally learn to think things through first. and you? you learned to blow shit up more.

“listen the reason why you suck at talking to people is because you are more concerned with how you are perceived and the way you look. here, look at me. loosen your posture. unbutton the top buttons of your shirt for gods’ sake!”

alicent hightower

alicent hightower is a notable member of tech support. she’s created a variety of new weapons for the seven kings trading company and you just happen to be her favorite agent to work with. you’re quite oblivious to the looks of longing she has towards you, how she always keeps a stash of gadgets and parts for you specifically that no one else can touch, the fact that she clears her schedule just for you. she’s a busy woman after all. however, you’re too caught up in fieldwork to notice her affections. or even pick up on them.

“oh nyra what do i do?! i have done everything and (y/n) still does not notice me!....what? no! i can’t just loosen up and tell them! it’s a lot more complicated than that and you know it! i’m not you or (y/n). i’m just...alicent!”

aegon targaryen

you loved your boyfriend. you really did! were you a little frustrated that he never really talked about his family and you knew nothing of his background? yes. but you decided not to pry. you both were happy and content. that was all that mattered. but when aegon came home after grocery shopping, he found the apartment in disarray and a single message: (y/n) for sunfyre. he hated seeing that name and it led him back to the seven kings trading company. aegon left the life of espionage when he was able to. it was too much pressure to perform. but now you were on the line and he had no choice but to go back in.

“why don’t we just give them the goddamn usb! i don’t have to do anything, (y/n) is safe and unharmed, and we all go about our lives! i don’t even want to be here but i have to be because of you guys. and my partner was kidnapped because of me!”

aemond targaryen

when you were younger, you were a trainee alongside aemond targaryen. he showed a lot of promise and he beat you out of becoming a field agent. but you were approached by his father for something else. your skills could serve off the field. so you became a medic and a researcher. aemond came to you often since the two of you were relatively close during your training days. plus you had to measure his eye so you can make him a new prosthetic that fits accordingly. what you don’t notice is how he comes in with small injuries just to see you or even his flirtations. he’s pretty obvious about it but you brush it aside, thinking you were just imagining things.

“(y/n)! talk to me for a little bit. ignore your work. i’m sure the files can wait....okay maybe not, but this is important because i was wondering if you and i could go get dinner sometime? you rarely leave this place and your home. it would do you some good to get some fresh air.”

helaena targaryen

you loved using a variety of poisons and nonlethal weapons in the field. it made getting information out so much easier, as well as sneaking around. of course, you always took a visit to your favorite toxicologist: helaena. she tended to work in isolation as one of the very few toxicologists at the seven kings trading company but she was the best. her mother was alicent hightower after all, so brilliance ran in the family. you have been enamored with helaena since you first met her after completing training. but you’ve never had the courage to make a move and helaena doesn’t seem to notice how you’re always flustered around her whether it’s awkwardly laughing, your cheeks feeling hot, or your very specific compliments about her outfits, hair, or the product she’s giving you.

“(y/n), have you met dayron? i hear he’s an interesting fellow. i’m mostly asking because he put in a request for something. oh and i got this for you. it’s nonlethal. in case you want to get high after a job.”

jacaerys velaryon

the job interview took a long time and was very vigorous. you were excited to be a new member of the seven kings trading company’s tech team. one of the more experienced members of the group that you started working with was jacaerys. a lot of people were surprised he went into tech considering his parents’ reputation as field agents. but he enjoyed a life that was a little more peaceful and meant he wouldn’t die getting shot at. you liked jace but you failed to notice how his feelings grew stronger than friendship. and after working in tech for so long, you began to ask him if he wanted to do more than tech. jace loved you. he was ready to support you in whatever endeavor you wanted.

“i never really wanted to go into the field. most people found it stranger that i became tech support instead since my mother is a skillful field agent. but if you want to go into fieldwork, know i am behind you one hundred percent.”

[jemmo]

his man 2 ep 8 and 9 thoughts!!!! I started ranting bc a lot happened and I didn’t cover everything (ill rewatch later with my mom and sister) so ill put it under a read more, but tl;dr

POETIC CINEMA ^^^^^^^^^

there is…. so much to unpack. but let me start of with YES and YES. yes to everything about sungho and junsung’s date, and yes to everything about minsung and hyungjun’s date. and having them sandwich the date between yonghee and seonwoo shows me even more how different the vibe and interactions are, bc yonghee and seonwoo together had like this melancholy… idk how else to describe it, maybe bc seonwoo planned for this to be with sungho, but he just felt emotionally removed. I get that he might’ve felt unexpectedly weird bringing someone to where he works and those worlds clashing, but even after, it leaves me with a bad taste that yonghee was so forward and sharing and honest and when he tried to ask seonwoo something he couldn’t get a solid answer in return. the whole point of these two dating was to determine whether there was something there, and still seonwoo can’t give him anything to be certain about. and just when I felt like yonghee could start to look elsewhere, he’s tied down to these unanswered questions bc of the possibility there is something there. we’ve made no progress, and it’s frustrating.

and completely 180 to that… god. i could gush about that sungho and junsung date forever. it’s the way it felt both comfortable and familiar but also new and exciting, like they were the same people they’ve always been and didn’t let the pressure that this is a proper date effect their behaviour, and instead just let it feel exciting, let it take it’s course and see what happens, and i love that. i love that they could take nonsense and bicker and also talk about more serious things and there was never any tension. and just the closeness, the ease in each others presence, not even doing anything, just going to eat and chat and walk by the beach, like they don’t need an activity to bring them together or break the ice bc they’re past that. god it just felt so electric and soothing and I don’t know how that’s possible but I adored every second. and i cannot believe they then left us on the cliffhanger of what that voicemail is and then gave us that preview bc I don’t want to think about all the other mess, pls just let me be happy for now.

and sticking on being happy for now, minsung and hyungjun. minsung and hyungjunnnnnnnnn god it’s happening all over again. he may not be showing it as boldly as junsung did to sungho, but I know that hyungjun is down for minsung just as bad. the way he watches him and just smiles and is so endeared, god it’s sickening to watch people in love. but again, their date was so comfortable, the way you could see hyungjun trying so hard to do everything he wanted and express himself properly after being misunderstood before, and minsung being able to mess with him and tease him, like I can see them both endearing themselves to each other so well, it’s so good. and don’t even talk to me about them dozing off, don’t even talk about the list, don’t even talk about the dumb couple rings, it’s just too much I could scream. and I love love LOVE how minsung approached hyungjun after agreeing to hyungjin after refusing him, hyungjun worrying about the situation and him just saying just give me a yes or no, as to say don’t worry about others, that’s my stuff to deal with, but I’m making this decision so just respond to that, like… how good is that. minsung i adore you.

as for hyungjin and jungwook… sigh. a lot happened but i almost can’t bring myself to talk about it. the date was lovely, but the whole time my heart was breaking thinking that jungwook had planned this for yonghee, after that first date and them talking about dogs, like he really wanted to further that connection, it meant something to him, and that breaks me. and it breaks me that this misunderstanding muddies the comfort and encouragement he felt from hyungjin bc it clearly moved him, even though there’s no affection. I do appreciate hyungjin for wanting to clear that up and not have jungwook misunderstand his intent, but I just think the way hyungjin approached it, and approaches things generally, he can come off very serious mostly bc I think he does like to have things resolved, he doesn’t want to have these worries lingering, but jungwook is very chill, and I don’t think he’s offended at all by hyungjin clearing up that there’s no affection bc I don’t think he felt that either. it was very clear to him that this was friendly, so that being verbalised I don’t think hurt him, but for hyungjin to say he wouldn’t have gone on the date after the fact, I can see how that would hurt jungwook after sharing so much. it did feel like hyungjin was stepping in to something much more intimate that he wasn’t prepared for, and like he was experiencing something he shouldn’t be, like it wasn’t for him, but in the face of jungwook doing that anyway and sharing himself, yes clear up that it wasn’t with affection, but don’t then backtrack. I get that he doesn’t want to take it back and their meaning does get lost when they talk, he’s saying he wouldn’t have gone bc he didn’t want to create a situation that can be misunderstood. the mission card says invite a crush and by inviting him, that implies something so he’s saying I wouldn’t have gone with you bc I don’t feel that way. there’s good intent there, and I don’t think it is that deep, I just hope it doesn’t leave either of them feeling bad.

and finally, god I can’t believe I have to wait 2 full weeks to hear all these voicemails, but the ones we did get… wow. i was expecting hyungjin’s voicemail to be for either seonwoo or yonghee, and while I would’ve preferred yonghee bc I want someone to say those exact words to him, stop waiting around and explore other options, im also kinda glad it was for seonwoo, if only bc I want other people to play on his mind and keep him away from sungho, but then he does call him so I guess not. i mean… it’s pure opinion at this point, and I want seonwoo to keep away bc I like sungho with junsung so much, but I can’t exactly sit and complain that he’s sticking to him if he has genuine feelings, it just maddens me that I can never know what’s going on in sungho’s mind. I just know that when I hear that full voicemail of sungho to junsung next week I might cry. i mean… you’ve waited a long time??? god you know how to destroy both me and junsung. I’m just so glad junsung is actually getting these things now tho, that he has something to have faith and strength in that this isn’t all pointless. and the yonghee voicemail… I just adore him, and I can’t help feel like all his charm is wasted on seonwoo bc he is just so lovely, and I’m glad he is finding meaning and comfort in other relationships, and I’m so glad seonwoo didn’t get a voicemail from him bc it sends this ever so subtle message of he won’t go after you forever. those feelings can only be unwavering up to a point. look and sungho and junsung. idk if junsung would’ve given up if he got notbing back, but the fact he is getting signals in return gives him the faith to keep going. if seonwoo continues to not reciprocate in a meaningful way, I just need him to know that yonghee will not be there forever, and I hope that not getting a voicemail tells him that.

[atimeofbeing]

tagged by @kdramamilfs thank youuuu!

last song: O by Hwasa (the new album is on repeat on repeat)

favourite colour: the phthalos (phthalo blue and phthalo green my *absolute* beloveds)

currently reading: oh god, so much. The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin, Rosewater by Tade Thompson, like 5000 different articles and chapters and theory and philosophy for my dissertation

currently watching: rewatching Little Women (last ep tonight!); watching Sell Your Haunted House & Under the Queen's Umbrella

last movie: Moonlit Winter (one of 3 films I've watched this entire year but oh its so good and beautiful and melancholy and hopeful)

sweet, spicy or savoury: i have a wicked sweet tooth, and ginger-lemongrass drops have been my constant companion the last few weeks

relationship status: single

current obsession: I'm so obsessed with Good Partner, the kdrama about divorce lawyers, you do not understand. I have many many thoughts about Han Yu Ri and her MILF boss who she definitely is in love with, and tragically I have no time or ability to write the 40k fic of them pining for each other that they deserve

tea or coffee: tea

the last thing I googled: frankenstein movie new (because I was discussing the new Wuthering Heights adaptation with Jacob Elordi who is apparently frankenstein's monster in the new frankenstein)

tagging: @lesquatrechevrons @avalencias @sourslip ; no pressure though!

[keyofjetwolf]

Yellowjackets S01E06 spoilers under the cut NOT FOR PRYING HOLLIGAY EYES

"Jackie just adored rabbits."

OH MY FUCKING GOD AND AN AVALANCHE OF THOUGHTS JUST CRASHED DOWN ON ME AND I'M TAKING YOU ALL WITH ME

I'd filed away that Shauna has A THING about rabbits. We've seen her kill two, going so far as to expertly skin, disembowel, butcher, and then make a chili out of the thing to serve to her family. (Who loved it when they had no idea what was in it, hello I see you clear parallel.)

Yet we've ALSO seen that Shauna has bunny shit absolutely everywhere, all these tchotchkes that didn't seem to fit. Not only in what we're gathering about her general lifestyle, but in her apparent relationship to rabbits. She hates them! Murderously! But she also cherishes them? Or at least the still, silent representations of them that can't eat her garden.

Couldn't make sense of it, but it was too obviously placed as a contradiction to not make note of it, so note it I did and moved on.

UNTIL NOW AND HOLY SHIT

JACKIE IS THE RABBIT. I've been wondering what happened to her (as I have everyone we haven't also seen in the 2021 timeline), but I feel SUPER confident now saying she's dead dead so fucking dead.

Shauna loves her. They've been best friends for how long?

Shauna is IN love with her. That much was obvious immediately, and is I believe 10000% the reason she hooked up with and later married Jeff. (Can't have the girl? Have the guy who can.)

Shauna hates her. This part I'm shakiest on right now, but if Jackie is the rabbit (JACKIE IS ABSOLUTELY THE RABBIT), then I know it's true. Maybe Shauna hates her because Jackie can't/won't/doesn't return her feelings. Maybe Jackie's kind of selfish and terrible sometimes. Shauna was going to (or was at least wrestling with) passing up Brown to go to whatever shitbag local university Jackie was going to, and was that because Shauna wanted to, or was pressured to, or felt obligated to, or...?

I don't know that piece yet, but I DO know people are complex and can be many things at once, and so even without filling in the details, I have zero problem accepting that Shauna loved and hated Jackie all at the same time.

Bringing us to today. Shauna cherishes the idea of the rabbit, enshrines it almost, while Shauna also kills and eats the rabbit.

So if Jackie is the rabbit (AND JACKIE IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE FUCKING RABBIT), oh that bitch became dinner and I'd lay two shiny quarters that Shauna is the one who took the first bite.

Because how else to love Jackie, to take her in so completely, than literally consume her?

THAT IS FUCKED MY FRIENDS

THAT IS FUCKED UP AND I'M INTO IT

#oh shit oh shit #and a couple episodes ago where jackie DIRECTLY SAYS she's not cut out for all this #this isn't her world #the others can adapt and do what it takes to survive #jackie can't #the poison ivy #that means something too #not getting it right now but that's also symbolic of something filing that away too #anyway yes jackie basically ANNOUNCES IT THERE that she's doomed #oh man and what did the head coach say about her being team leader aahhh #gotta rewatch brb #'when things get tough out there those girls are gonna need someone to guide them' #GUIDE #not lead #because jackie isn't a natural leader it's painful whenever she tries #the leader is clearly taissa #guide though #influencer as he also says #fuck me yeah it's all right there #a guide shows the way #girl you were dinner before you ever set foot on that plane #ANYWAY SORRY I'M HAVING A LOT OF THOUGHTS IN THIS CHILIS TONIGHT

Edited to add: "JACK RABBIT" IT'S ALL JUST SITTING RIGHT THERE FUCK YOU GOODBYE

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Rewatched the vld pilot i have uhhhh opinions-

First things first, it was good!!! Like both as entertainment and as writing wise it was good!!! It sets up the characters and introduces the plot really well, it was good ok! It was good!!

It also hurt SO MUCH knowing what happens later on like both because so many things in the pilot gets undermined or completely forgotten and because the show really had a lot of potential

Like it sets up so many themes that really didnt go anywhere- Shiro's backstory, whatever shitty energy thing Keith has, Lance's potential arc, Allura's arc, Lion bond, destiny etc etc

It feels so nice to be vindicated about Hunk. Like he is bitchy! He loves to complain! He will go through your personal stuff! I love him, he is kind but absolutely not nice, i love him!

Could have done with less fat jokes though like ugh stop

Also Lance really was great here, like i might be biased but like he was genuinely more complex than people give him credit for. Like he is showboaty, a jerk and a pompous cunt, but he is also great at noticing what people need, making right snap decisions under a lot of pressure, knowing when to jump in but also when to not do that and is genuinely kind and accepting, but also all of this undermined by his fucking personality

Also where are my 1000 and 1 fics of Lance who genuinely thought he saw Hunk die and when the battle is over he is getting a bit protective of Hunk to the point of being overbearing.

And i love how Coran and Lance did not like each other makes whatever is going to happen next all the more compelling

Also why the fuck do people act like Lance bullied poor Keith like the garrison trio are WAY bitchier and meaner towards each other, like Keith is not a victim and he's definately not passive and defenseless about it either he was literally calling Lance a non essential weight

Also speaking of Keith, he was BARELY there, like aside from the story taking its time to go on about how special and amazing Keith is, the bike and the red lion scene he was just barely there. Like the others felt like they were present even when the scene wasnt focusing on them but you can easily forget Keith is supposed to be there

Like seriously even Shiro was more focused with Pidge

Like no wonder they had to screw over and undermine the entire cast and the plot to make Keith the Protagonist™ because otherwise he would not have been this popular

They should have kept this trend honestly

Also god i missed Pidge being actually interesting and likable, like she was flawed and could be mean but also just a girl desperate to find her family, god if only LM didnt decide to make her a flawless self insert

I still think they should have killed her father and/or her brother, like just for the flavour it would have been great

Hell she was trying to save the prisoners who even fucking Shiro was ready to abandon! Granted it was to look for her family but still!!

Also Allura!! My girl Allura!! God she didnt deserve any of this shit!!

Like she tries so hard to be strong and lead and save universe but also god! But also it was just so clear that the loss of Altea was breaking her and she only Just started to process it

"You must sacrifice everything to form voltron" petition to bring back Alfor AI just so i can kick its ass again, cause like SHUT UP!! SHUT THE FUCK UP! NO SHE DOES NOT! SHE ALREADY LOST SO MUCH AND SHE WILL LOSE SO MUCH LIKE HOW DARE YOU! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!!!

"If i could i would take the burden away from you" THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FORESHADOWING! HE SHOULD HAVE CAME BACK TO SAVE ALLURA AND TELL HER THAT SHE MUST LIVE NOW! THAT SHE DIDNT NEED TO SACRIFICE HERSELF! HE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN HER BURDEN! I AM GOING TO FUCKING LOSE IT!! SHUT UP! SHUT UPPP!!!!

Sendak is..... twinkier than i remember

"We must wipe out that filthy race, once and for all!" Zarkon says about the Altean race while his Altean wife whom he claims to love is right there

Anyway yup this was my experience, i loved the pilot