#tfw + team dynamics

[shallowseeker]

My favorite new thing is that even when Cas was having a psychological breakdown, he still found a way to rag on Sam about his annoying personality.

[the-woman-upstairs]

[silver-stake-through-the-heart]

I'm finding the depictions of Dean and Sam parenting of Jack a little… caricatural maybe? With Sam being 100% supportive and Dean acting like John 2.0. This post is not to blame Sam or to pretend Dean acts perfectly, but I find some points are left aside too often.

Cas, about Jack (season 12)

Cas planned to kill Kelly, at first.

Cas (12x19): This has nothing to do with my reputation. I am doing this for the Winchesters. I-I stole the Colt to keep them out of this mission and to keep them safe from Dagon, and I– I will kill this girl so that Sam and Dean don't have to.

Dean and Sam know this. They know Cas' plan. They know what Cas did in the past (in particular to Lily Sunders and her daughter) and they try to come with another solution, removing Jack's power so he and his mother can both live.

The first shift about Jack is in episode 12. He uses his powers on Cas and, suddenly, Cas says: "I've been so lost. I'm not lost anymore. And I know now that this child must be born with all of his power. (…) I have faith. We have to go."

Kelly: What did he tell you? Cas: He didn't tell me. He showed me. The future.

Cas (12x23): I saw… I saw the future. I saw a world without pain or hunger or want. I saw the world that this child… that your child… will create. And it is a world without fear and without suffering and without hate. I saw paradise.

(Paradise being

okay, okay, I stop)

This change leads to:

Dean and Jack (end of season 12 and beginning of season 13)

Dean to Cas (12x19): Okay, whatever that thing did to you, we're not just gonna let you walk away.

Dean to Sam (12x20): Okay, so last night…that Super Mario power-up crap? That wasn't Cas. That freaking baby isn't even born yet and it sock puppeted him. Think about it. Cas said that he had faith in Lucifer Jr.? What the hell is that supposed to mean? (…) Seriously I mean up until now if Cas messed up, if he did something wrong, but he thought it was for the right reasons, I got it. Right? But last night, when I looked at him, I did not recognize the guy staring back at me.

And this is Dean who, at this point, saw Cas being mind-controlled by Naomi and used as a vessel by Lucifer. Both times he felt something was off, without quite figuring it out. (He also met Jimmy Novak, Meta!Misha and the Leviathans)

Episode 12x23

Cas: You don't have to worry. The child, he opened this door. He'll close it. Dean: You sure about that? Cas: I have faith. Dean: Really? In your unborn baby-God? Cas: Yes. Dean: Well, then, you're a dumbass.

Dean, to Sam: Yeah. You know, Cas has faith in this kid. (…) I hope he's right. But me? I have faith in us. You, me, Mom, Cas. And Crowley. Sometimes.

Episode 13x01

Dean: No. No, nothin's changed. He's still the Devil's kid. He's still evil. He still brainwashed Kelly and Cas. And even if he hasn't gone Big Bad yet, he will. Sam: You don't know that. Dean: Yeah, I do. 'Cause when have things ever gone right for us? So until I figure out a way to end him, we'll bring him home. At least there, the only people he can hurt are you and me.

Episode 13x02

Sam: Look… losing Mom and Cas, that’s a lot to process, Dean, especially on no sleep. And the kid— Dean: The "kid"? Come on, man, you know how this plays out. Look, when we try to bend the rules, pretend that the bad guys aren’t so bad or that things will get fixed, that’s when people that we care about get hurt. And then we end up doing what we should've done in the first place, which is end the problem. So this time, let's start with the obvious. Soon as I find a way to take care of… It. Sam: Okay, look, yeah, Jack is on Lucifer's family tree. But we don't know if that DNA is stronger than Kelly's, or his connection with Cas. Dean: Oh, you mean the connection that got Cas killed?

Episode 13x03

Dean: I told him the truth. See, you think you can use this freak but I know how this ends and it ends bad. (…) Look, I know you think that you can use him as some sort of an interdimensional can-opener and that’s fine, but don't act like you care about him! Because you only care about what he can do for you! So if you want to pretend, that’s fine! But me? I can hardly look at the kid! Because when I do all I see is everybody we've lost! Sam: Mom chose to take that shot at Lucifer. That is not on Jack! Dean: And what about Cas? Sam: What about Cas? Dean: He manipulated him, he made him promises, said, paradise on earth and Cas bought it and you know what that got him? It got him dead! Now you might be able to forget about that, but I can't!

There are two major points straining Dean's beginning of relationship with Jack: what happened to Cas and the Winchesters' past experiences with trying to make exceptions.

And then-

Episode 13x04

Dean: All right, well, you said you wanted to help, so, uh… dig. Sam: Dean, what's up with all the orders? You're starting to sound like Dad. Dean: That a bad thing? Sam: I'm just saying his drill sergeant act worked with you… but it didn't work with me. And that's not the way we're gonna get through to Jack. Dean: Look, you wanted the kid here, he’s here. All right? But I'm not gonna hold his hand and tuck him in at night. Pass. I'm not gonna be his mother, and neither are you. And the kid can dig, so I'll give him that.

Dean: You gotta snap these cuffs. Jack: I can't. Dean: Yes, you can. Sammy believes in you, and when he believes, he'll go Hell for leather…but you gotta try.

Dean, to Jack: You did good today, Jack.

So, Sam compares Dean's behavior to John's and, in the very same episode, Dean starts treating Jack differently. I will not believe the two points aren't connected.

(Not-truly-related-note but I would have liked Dean being able to acknowledge to Sam he didn't think their father perfect and their childhood nice, instead of telling to literally everyone but him :/)

Dean, to Sam: And maybe you're right, about the kid. I mean, he tries. I'll give him that. And he tapped his powers, saved our ass, so that's a win.

(And in the next episode, Dean tries to die, but everyone remembers that.)

Sam and Jack (beginning of season 13)

Sam wasn't only caring about Jack's well-being. He was also interested by what his power could do for him. He doesn't talk about guiding him, but about teaching him and molding him according to his principles.

Episode 13x01

Jack: I don't know why these things happen. It's like I'm me, but… not me. Sam: Jack, look, before you were born, you opened up a door to another world. Do you remember that? Jack: Yes. Sam: Okay, could you do that again?

Sam, to Dean: Jack is not evil. He—he—he's just a kid. (…) We need him.

Sam: You wanna say anything? Jack: I… What do you say? Sam: Right. Thank you. You say thank you. And you say you're sorry. You hope they're somewhere without sadness or pain. You hope they're somewhere better. You say goodbye.

(The 'you say you're sorry' imply some guilt)

Episode 13x02

Sam: Dean, "the problem" might be our only shot at saving Mom.

Sam: So, Jack, we know Kelly taught you things before you were born. And obviously, you can, you know, make people or things move with your mind. But, what else can you do? Jack: I don't know. Sam: Okay. For instance, say you wanted to be someplace else right now. Could you?

Sam: Dean, whatever his powers are or will be… if we train him properly, they could be used for good.

Sam: I'm just saying, Jack doesn't have to be evil. We can teach him not to be.

Sam: I'll tell you what. You got some special skills, Jack. That's for sure. We just need to make sure we get a grip on them, so… so you don't hurt anybody. (…) And right now, we need to protect you. But we may also need to protect people from you. Jack: Maybe I'm not worth all this. Sam : Your mom thought you were. So did Cas. So do I.

Sam: He seems to have a real attachment to his mom, but only kinda a fuzzy idea about his dad. And his mom, Kelly, was a really good person, so that makes me think Jack can be molded the right way. Asmodeus: Mm, molded. I hope you're right.

(And a little parallel with Asmodeus' intentions)

Episode 13x03

Sam: Dean, we need him. (…) Mom…

Jack: Train me. To what? Sam: I've seen what you can do, Jack. You're powerful, but you have to learn to control it. You know, to focus. Jack: So I don't hurt anyone, anymore. Sam: Exactly. See this pencil? I want you to move it. With your mind.

(Another emphasis on Jack's possibility of turning wrong.)

Jack: I can't. Nothing. I'm useless. Sam: Alright. Jack, when you did use your powers, what was it like? Jack: I don't… It was like, breathing, blinking. It just happens. Sam: Even with Asmodeus, that just happened? Jack: No, he made me. It was like, like he was in my head. Sam: Okay, then imagine him doing that. Jack: No! Sam: No? Why not? Jack: Because I don't want to! It's just… I can't do this!

(Which wasn't the most thoughtful, empathic and caring idea)

Sam: Okay, but why is it so hard? I've seen you throw people across the room. I've been thrown across the room by you. I've seen you open a gate to hell and now nothing? It doesn't make any sense.

Sam: I think that, after everything that's happened you're probably scared to use your power, and me pressuring you certainly isn't helping. Jack: Really? Sam: Really. What do you say we call it? Until I figure out a better way. How does that sound?

Episode 13x04

Sam: Jack, I really think this would be good for you. You know, maybe a change of scenery might— Jack: Get my powers working again? Sam: Yeah, maybe. Jack: So I can be your "interdimensional can opener"? You're using me. Sam: Jack… when you were born, it ripped a hole in reality. Like a—like a door from this world to another, to a… a really bad, bad place. So—so Dean and Cas, and I, we—we closed that door. But… our Mom, Mary, she's trapped on the other side. If we can get your powers back, maybe we can open that door up. Maybe… Jack: You wanna save her. Sam: Yeah. Yeah, I do. But… if this doesn't work, if that can't happen, that's okay, because I do care about you. But I should've told you. I'm sorry. It's a lot and, uh… Jack: Dean can't even look at me. He wants to kill me. Sam: I won't let that happen. Listen, if there's one thing that Dean respects, it's effort. So come along. Help us out. Let's go be the good guys.

About Mary's death (seasons 14 and 15)

Episode 14x20

Dean: Sam, I know this isn't easy, okay? He—I know how much he meant to you. He meant a lot to me. He was family. But this? This is not Jack anymore. He's hurting, he's killing people. This isn't gonna be easy, but we're gonna have to do the hard thing. We're gonna have to do the ugly thing. (…) Ain't like it's the first time, though, right?

(Which was basically the whole reason he hadn't wanted to treat Jack as a person in the beginning.)

Dean: He killed our mom. Sam: I get it. I was mad, too. Or you know what? Hell, I'm still mad. And a part of me wants Jack dead. It really does. But, Dean, we haven't even tried to save him.

And, in the end, he wasn't able to kill him.

Episode 15x14

Jack: Do you still think I'm a monster? Dean: Okay, I'm just going to say this, okay? Just get it out there. Jack. I'm trying, okay? I really am. But what you did, that's not easy to forget. Now I was angry with you, for a while. And maybe I still am a little bit, okay? But I'm not gonna let some evil Mary Poppins take you out. Do you understand?

Dean was working on forgiving Jack about Mary's death. I repeat: Dean was working on forgiving Jack about Mary's death. Mary, the only person John loves, the one whose disappearance destroys their family (from Dean's POV). She's supposed to be protected above everything else.

About Cas' and Sam's view of Dean about Jack

Episode 13x04

Jack: Dean can't even look at me. He wants to kill me. Sam: I won't let that happen.

(Great implying Dean would actually kill him.)

But-

Episode 14x20 (after Mary's death)

Cas: You should never have tried to lock him away. Dean: You know what? You're right. I never wanted to put him in that damn box. I wanted him dead. Cas: Dean. Dean: He's dangerous, Cas, and you knew it! You've known it for a long time! But that's okay. You know why? Because me and Sam, we've killed just about everything there is. And this -- Jack -- oh, we'll find a way. Because he's just another monster. Cas: You don't mean that.

Remember that one of them thought the Colt was in the safe while the other knew where the Colt truly was in fact.

[dalkyeom]

JOSHUA Insta story: The desert photos 🏜️🌵

was hoping he’d drop the photos he and Hoshi took when they were abandoned in the desert

[samsrosary]

if u guys want tfw to have a kid write an  AU where they adopted jesse (the antichrist) and magda. idiot

[lethimsoak]

Hi new to the community and wanted to say that there seems to be a mutual feeling among Joe’marr Tumblr that Ja’Marr is the feral one between them too and I just don’t agree . I’m mean Joe could barely walk and was telling the organization to draft his college buddy , wore his GAME WORN JERSEY off the damn wall unwashed still smelling like him , acts like grumpy and shit until Ja’Marr is in his sights ( the Suns game that he definitely made him come to cause he was uncomfy try w whole time 😭💀,) and also the Natty game all with no hesitation like that ?? Yeah Joe’s a goner

if you’re a dedicated mia-lethinsoak fan who keeps track of everything i say here (/j) then you know i’ve been a vocal advocate for the feral joe / normal ja’marr dynamic for a while. ja’marr is a WR ofc he’s gonna do everything to defend his dear quarterback. it’s normal (some WRs itl are slacking in this department but what do i know) that said, we shouldn’t forget about these ancient sacred texts though:

on the other hand we have joe burrow, another regular straightboy from midwest fallen to Weird and Unhinged About College Buddy Turned Teammate Syndrome. he’s been treated like shit (can you believe his coach called him a girl. wtf) at OSU i get why he became Like That in LSU. it’s so insane to me that joe (who keeps up the cool calm collected facade) does all the unhinged shit you mentioned and acts like it’s normal. it’s not 😭 tfw your college situationship becomes kinda obsessed with you and he personally makes a move to get his team to draft you just because his special interest is you:

(also is it just me or do y’all also find it funny that whenever joe mentions ‘friends’ he always means ja’marr and justin not his other college friends 😭 LSU did something to him)

[hoonsuniverse]

The Feeling When (TFW)

08 - destined to remain

y/n hadn't anticipated the sinking feeling in her stomach when she received jungwon’s text inviting her to a casual hangout. normally, she would have jumped at the chance to spend time with her friends, but jungwon’s careless addition of "jaeyun and the others will be there too" had shattered any semblance of excitement. jaeyun. the name alone conjured memories of battles, arguments, and everything in between. they had clashed like fire and ice, leaving scorched marks on each other's pride and reputation.

despite her reservations, y/n reluctantly agreed to join. as she approached the café where they were meeting, she took a deep breath to steady herself. the warm glow of the setting sun cast long shadows across the tables outside, where her friends were already gathered.

"hey, y/n!" yizhuo waved her over, a wide grin plastered on her face. y/n managed a tight smile in return and slid into the seat next to wonbin, who greeted her with a hug.

the initial pleasantries with her friends were a welcome distraction until she felt a shift in the atmosphere. a group of guys approached the café, led by none other than jaeyun. his presence seemed to darken the very air around them, and y/n found herself involuntarily stiffening.

"hi," jungwon and riki greeted with smiles as jaeyun and the others settled at the table.

"hey," jaeyun replied casually, his eyes lingering on y/n and wonbin for a moment longer than necessary before turning his attention to his friends.

y/n tried to focus on the conversation around her, but she could feel jaeyun’s gaze burning into her, a silent challenge that she refused to acknowledge. they had barely exchanged a word since their last confrontation in the classroom, and she had no intention of breaking that silence now.

as the evening wore on, the tension between them only seemed to thicken. y/n noticed how their friends hesitated whenever the topic edged too close to including both groups in the same conversation. awkward pauses punctuated the air, and y/n found herself gritting her teeth to suppress the urge to leave.

"why did jungwon and riki have to invite him?" y/n thought bitterly, feeling a surge of resentment towards her friend for putting her in this position.

throughout the evening, jaeyun and y/n avoided direct interaction as much as possible. they spoke only when absolutely necessary, their words clipped and devoid of warmth. each glance exchanged between them was laden with unspoken animosity, a testament to the years of rivalry and disdain.

at one point, jongseong attempted to lighten the mood with a suggestion to play a game. "how about we play a round of trivia?" he suggested brightly, clearly oblivious to the palpable tension between his friends.

"sure, why not?" riki chimed in, trying to diffuse the situation.

y/n reluctantly agreed, if only to distract herself from the uncomfortable dynamic. they settled on a game of general knowledge questions, with teams formed randomly among the group. y/n found herself paired with wonbin, yizhuo, jungwon, sunghoon and heeseung, while jaeyun ended up on the opposing team with sohee, riki, jongseong, gaeul, and sunoo.

as the game progressed, y/n's team managed to pull ahead, answering questions with growing enthusiasm. despite herself, she found a small measure of satisfaction in their lead, a fleeting sense of victory in a situation where she felt otherwise powerless.

across the table, jaeyun’s team was equally competitive, and she couldn't help but notice the way his friends cheered him on whenever they scored a point. their camaraderie was starkly contrasted with the strained atmosphere at her own table, where even the smallest victory felt hollow in the face of unresolved conflict.

by the time the game concluded, the tension between y/n and jaeyun had reached its peak. they had managed to avoid any direct confrontations, but the underlying animosity hung thick in the air like an unspoken challenge neither was willing to acknowledge.

as the evening drew to a close, y/n felt a mix of relief and frustration. she had survived the hangout, but at what cost? the rift between her and jaeyun seemed deeper than ever, a gaping chasm that no amount of time or distance could bridge.

with a heavy heart, y/n bid her friends farewell and headed home, the weight of the evening settling heavily on her shoulders. she couldn't help but wonder if things could have been different—if they had been able to let go of their past grievances and move forward.

but deep down, she knew that some rivalries were meant to endure, their roots too deep to be easily uprooted. especially after what he said about her. and as she walked away from the café, y/n couldn't shake the feeling that tonight had only reinforced the bitter truth: some enemies were destined to remain just that

a/n : sorry it took me forever to upload 😓

taglist : @enhaslxt @ghostiiess @dreamiestay @faithnsstuff @jakeslucifer @thvvcut

[danothan]

i hope batlantern and halbarry enjoyers get along, there’s a lot of potential with this messy string of dynamics

i like the idea of hal and bruce being a short-lived but meaningful fling, like a “right time, right moment” situationship. seeing as they’ve both had their “we’re more alike than you think” and “you’re getting in your own way” observations abt each other, it could be productive and therapeutic to sort out their feelings thru their reflections of the other. they don’t have the compatibility or even desire to make this a lasting commited relationship, but i just think if they fucked, they could chill tf out lmao

i don’t need to go into halbarry, i feel like it speaks for itself loud and clear lol. long story short, they’re endgame to me and the most likely to be committed to a relationship, which is rly saying smth consider half of this dynamic involves hal. but regarding how they connect to batlantern, i just think it’d be rly funny in the context of JL:war. barry obviously had a crush on batman upon introduction, immediately inciting hal’s petty jealously (seriously, how do these 3 not get talked abt all together as a trio). so if we go by the idea that hal and bruce had a fling, i can only imagine what kind of conversation that would be once hal and barry got together

- B: “you slept with BRUCE? as in THE batman bruce??” / H: “yeah, it was a while back.” / B: “WHERE WAS I IN ALL THIS”

bruh as far as barry is aware, hal doesn’t even like bruce and even got mad at BARRY for not hating him too. and then he goes ahead and sleeps with the guy smh the double standards, barry’s gonna be up thinking abt this one for a few nights. tfw your boyfriend and your crush got together without you </3 hey, at least it’s fantasy-fuel right?

as for bruce and barry, their relationship is i think the most complicated of the three. they clearly have smth special, and while i do think barry’s little crush was one-sided, i also think bruce treats barry differently from the rest of the team. he already had a lot of respect for barry to begin with, but the letter barry delivered from bruce’s dad in flashpoint HAD to have changed their dynamic. if you haven’t read it, thomas credits the flash for teaching him that he can’t live for the people he’s lost, he has to live for the people he still has, and so he passes on this lesson to his son. how would bruce feel abt that?? how would he feel abt his DEAD dad telling him to cherish his living relationships, meanwhile having barry as the only thread between both?? that his friend got to meet his dead dad and become his reason for living? that the words of wisdom his dad is passing on to him were essentially from barry himself? barry’s probably gotten over his starstruck phase with bruce by now, and he’s got too much integrity to pry or even know what impact he’s had on either of their lives, but i think bruce WOULD learn to cherish his relationships from this. i think barry has a soft spot in bruce’s heart in a way that no one else does ;__; lord knows what barry sees in him or hal, but the guy’s got a good heart, so he must be doing something right

[soullessjack]

so uh suncaptor blocked me and although they can’t see it, i do first want to say i am sorry if I’ve upset them or made them feel like they’re being accused of anything. that wasn’t my intent and never is. but I rlly can’t stress enough that the forefront of the problem with their perspective is inherently seeing jack as an infant within canon. like this isn’t an ableism thing, it’s just a factually wrong thing.

Asmodeus says that Jack is new to the world, but not a child.

Jack says twice that he could not be and is not a child.

The only person to ever call Jack a child is Michael, and he explicitly says so to belittle Jack and make him feel weak.

There is plenty of merit in discussing Jack’s limited experience as a factor in his character, but I’ve only ever seen it taken in the vein that he is infantile and therefore a perpetual victim of everything because of it is, which just wrong by the show’s own portrayal. Not only that, but it does it disregard the actual power imbalance he has with TFW, and how that itself so factors into his character. I don’t know how or why it’s brushed off so much, but Jack is literally “the most powerful being in the universe.” He’s regarded as a threat constantly, and repeatedly expresses the very real fear that he might hurt his family or anybody else in a moment of lost control.

I also feel that the idea of his dynamic being considered as exclusively mistreatment by TFW/the other hunters is just. Not true. Like, Dean’s bullshit lasted for two weeks before he got over himself and he canonically never forgave himself for it for the entire two years he got to know Jack better. And again, Jack is the strongest person in the team. Nothing they have can remotely hurt him, and he’s very much aware of it, hence the sunshiny golden boy act. Jack is constantly trying to make himself appear safer. It’s about being liked, of course, but it’s also about being distinctly Not A Threat Because to jack, That’s Why He’s Hated.

when Mrs Butters states that Jack is so powerful Sam and Dean should be afraid of him, he never outwardly refutes that he’s powerful. he only says “but I would never hurt them.” when Michael is monologuing to him about how powerful he’ll become with age, he “doesn’t want to admit that could be possible.” Jack is very painfully aware of his power and what it means for the people around him, and he’s also very aware of their fear when it’s directed at him. He’s felt that fear.

Jack has an interesting and confusing dynamic with TFW from the start: that he must be protected from harm while also being kept from causing harm himself. re this post about his autonomy, and how he wants to be seen as trustworthy and safe, it’s extremely upsetting to Jack when he thinks that dynamic has shifted or changed. he’s blatantly annoyed to have everybody check up on him and look over his shoulder, to give him food tests for his morality; to not really trust him, especially after all he does for them and to belong with them.

I know a LOT of this stuff stems from Jack In The Box and I understand how and why it did and frankly that episode is its own can of worms so ill be as brief as I can and highlight a few things about JITB first:

• re his limited experience being a factor in his character, jack is incredibly naive to the point of it being a fatal flaw, one he cannot afford to have and is very aware of the cost it comes with. he views his naivety as a weakness, as stupidity, and him “sucking when it matters,” and per his need to be Safe and Trustworthy he is always trying to be Smarter and Stronger and Better and More Capable than his flaws or perceived weaknesses. that is one of the horrors of his character, and one which inherently drives him through all of his arcs, especially agreeing to be locked up under false pretenses because, again, HE KNOWS HE IS DANGEROUS AND WANTS TO BE SAFE.

Dean was reliving his childhood trauma after decades of living with it and never fully recovering from it; he had every reason to be behaving the way he did. His conflict with Jack is very easily summarized as two insanely unstable guys spiraling and hurting each other in their own grief. And again, he spent two years regretting and unforgiving what he did to Jack early on and making concerted efforts to amend for it as a father/friend/mentor. He’s a better parent than he’s given credit for is what I’ll end with.

The box was never going to keep Jack forever. We already knew he would get out. It’s hard to say this in a way that doesn’t undermine the trauma Jack indefinitely has from it, but it cannot physically hurt him and cannot kill him. Sam and Dean tricking him into it is not a threat or imbalanced abuse (and I cannot stress enough, these are not normal healthy people with normal problems or normal healthy solutions). In fact, the entire scene of him breaking out and leering out at them through smoke with pure hatred in his eyes just shows that he is the one on the other side of the imbalance, not them. Jack is the threat, and the dynamic is tense because of it.

I’m kind of losing myself in the ramble, but what I am trying to say is that

A) Jack is not an infant. Never was one, never will be, and he hates being called one because it’s almost always in the context of belittlement and him being weak/incapable. he shows sexual and romantic interest, he has a love interest, he’s regarded as a young adult by everybody who respects him (so not Michael). he wants to pull his own weight, and resents being considered a burden.

B) Jack is not helpless; he is a nigh-omnipotent demigod with apocalyptic levels of power, especially in the case of mental/emotional instability. He deeply fears hurting his loved ones, and strives to have constant control over himself so that he can be safe for them. The power imbalance only lies in his choice to not hurt them, which he has chosen against in those silly fits of rage that nobody ever acknowledges

B+ ) and he isn’t a helpless victim of child abuse either; for all of their dysfunctions and “I might have to kill you”s (which have always been there pre-jack), TFW2.0 does genuinely love each other as a family and make efforts to be better for each other. They’ve faltered before, but again, they aren’t normal people dealing with normal situations and they do not have the liberty to respond normally or even appropriately.

C) Jack’s lack of experience and knowledge is a very real thing, but it’s more about him constantly trying to make the right decisions and earn peoples’ trust in him that he will make them, as well as avoid making the wrong ones because that consistently leads to him hurting people who don’t deserve it. All of which is wrapped up in a little pink bow as to Jack asserting his autonomy/personhood and arguing for his capability/responsibility at any chance.

••

I’m not angry and I’m not ever trying to attack anyone. It’s just incredibly frustrating that this specific misconception fumbles the rest of the discussions people have around jack and only ever makes it harder to have them. which in turn is even more frustrating on a personal level because he’s my special interest and I can never not think about him, but there’s hardly anything to engage with on a broader level

[marukrawler]

hi! from the ask game, i‘n curious for your thoughts on mylene / shadow, ace / shun?

for mylene/shadow

Ship It

what made you ship it? don't remember but it's probably the fact that they spend so much time together lmao

what are your favorite things about the ship? their dynamic is fun to watch, they look so good together, love that shadow would follow mylene to the ends of the earth (and he did!) i don't ship it a lot but i can't deny that they're iconic lmao.

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? mmm i don't think i have?

for ace/shun

Don’t Ship It

why don’t you ship it? it's an okay ship and i can see it but i've read some ace/shun fics and the way these two tend to be written has completely turned me off from this ship. @shunsellon compared them to klance and i have to say YEAH lmao

what would have made you like it? i think shun and ace could work out but only if their respective brainrots were toned down (aka shun's phoenix brainrot and ace' mira brainrot.) this is all jam's fault ahsdgajshkas but every time i think about aceshun my mind goes to this

(tfw there's a conflict of interest because one guy wants to save his bae and the other guy also wants to save his bae)

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? i liked their team-up episode

send me a ship and i’ll answer three questions based on if i ship it or not.

[alivegirlmari]

which skamiverse character do you think would fit in best with the Yellowjackets?

OKAY INSANE QUESTION. had to spend all weekend thinking. idk whether you meant who would best fit as in like, who would be friends with the team?? or who would just generally exist in the yj universe?? so i'm doing a bit of everything <3 long as fuck so under a read more.

mailin is, i believe, the only canon girl soccer player, so the most boring superficial answer ofc is that mailin is the best fit. however:

nora m. and lottie would be a bittersweet type of almost, i think, if they were ever in a group project together. one time everyone bails on a meeting so lottie is like let's ditch the library come over to mine my parents are out. at some point they pause for a break and have a drink (lottie offers something alcoholic, nora declines, lottie doesn't question further but Knows something is up and grabs them both sodas). i don't think they'd be completely honest about their respective mental illnesses or family situations, ofc, but there'd be a shared, quiet understanding borne from a few anecdotes and the implications underlining them. it's nice to be able to breathe for a few hours, to admit the depth of your loneliness and momentarily allow yourself to cast it away. at one point, lottie puts on some music. they dance and laugh and let themselves be teen girls before lottie's parents come home. i think they'd say hi to each other in the halls, and nora would cheer when lottie scores a goal (the cashqueens go to mailin's games), but i just can't see them - for multiple, complex reasons - becoming besties. or at least, not publicly? i think it's one of those 'we'll have the magic of that night and i'll always be grateful for it' dynamics. fuck i actually want a fic of this now lmao.

in many ways shauna/jeff/jackie is just a parallel universe eva/jonas/ingrid situation. so i think shauna would be friendly at school with some of the evas (i'm thinking og eva and megan, not an eva but she'd also like liv imo), but they'd never quite click, either. shauna recognizes something in them she doesn't like - or, she can't recognize herself at all bc in her mind her situation is worse. but they'd share notes sometimes.

rip javi you would've LOVED being a tiny big brother to umut inci <3 there's a world where javi, wanting to become closer to his dad (or perhaps forced to go with him? similar to how he and travis go on the nationals trip) goes to mr martinez's games & training sessions and sees the u12 boys team warming up first and talks to the sullen kid kicking balls really hard. tfw you love your elder sibling but things are hard and neither of you really has the language to express it all.

constantin and randy. obviously. they have drinking competitions at parties; constantin eventually hates randy for not being an alpha male like him. unforch it is the 90s and randy does not have the emotional intelligence to recognize constantin is an alcoholic spiraling. (was that plot like...ever addressed?)

zoe m. and mari besties, spiritual sisters, and soulmates every friday and saturday night. berlin slash wiskayok you are NOT ready. but i don't think zoe is as bitchy as mari is. or as smart, tbh? mari would def hate the instas's s5 stunts. it'd be a very intense, fiery, party-focused short-lived friendship. a 24/7 drunk girl in the bathroom vibe. always about to collapse but absolutely beautiful while it lasts. pre-s2 cris would also love both zoe and mari btw.

yara and tai are the resident It girls who run things bts. i'm assuming tai did multiple extracurriculars. she meets yara, class president, overseer of all, at one of them. they immediately just get each other's vibe and have the 'can work in silent tandem and get everything done in ten mins OR will spend an hour giggling' type of friendship. yara faux-casually lets slip that she's bi once. does she already know tai's closeted and wants to make her feel a little less alone, or is she just hoping she is, desperate to know she's not reading too much into it, wanting to feel a little less alone herself? (tai freaks out regardless. they make up, eventually. yara becomes the world's first tai/van shipper. they smile at each other, a little wistfully, across the room and over the crowd at parties.)

tai would think redouane was a bit of a class clown at first, but she'd see him on the other side of the gym sometimes, always working out, playing with the younger students, putting away equipment correctly, and she'd come to respect him. van would LOVE his lil films. he'd be on the yearbook committee and make sure to take really good photos of van for the yj page, and give her the outtakes, and they'd talk Cinema. bilal comes along once and he and van invent the Just A Goofy Little Guy Convention. but i also think they recognize something in the other - a desire for More from life, but a situation beyond their control that may not allow for it - and maybe they wouldn't talk about it, but she'd sneak him movies for zak and he'd sew her something to pin on her jersey.

pre-s6 lola would love pre-crash nat in the sense that they'd both skip classes to smoke behind the school. unforch lola would rather die than exercise so she also thinks she's better than nat bc she's not an athlete. max also likes pre-crash nat for her bisexual smoker swag.

nobody hates this more than me but tiff is v mistycoded like her first response to being rightfully slapped in the face is to fake a broken neck with a brace to make people feel bad for her. they also only have one friend. they'd absolutely HATE each other though. s6 tiff would def bully her. s7-10 tiff doesn't, but keeps a wide berth, and offers no real apology for her past actions. moira's existence is the only thing that stops misty from putting a dead rat in tiff's locker. the second moira's 18 though? oh it's over.

(tiff is also 10000% the allie stevens of the yj universe, btw.)

some of the william remakes, mostly senne & noah, give me jeff vibes. as in the fandom loves to think they're better men than they are but if you think about it for more than two secs you're like, hold on...but didn't they once...? however alejandro IS travis and i mean this in a way complimentary towards both. alejandro & travis: guys who eventually become one of the girls. guys who love their gfs but love isn't always enough. guys and their almosts, their what ifs, etc.

lucas r loves paul's aesthetic, esp. his earring. he also loves mari. but i don't think mari loves him. tragic (misty loves him bc she loves a gay man she can put in a cage. he doesn't love her at all. less tragic.)

lucas vdh would light a cabin of girls on fire no question. he doesn't even need to know about the cannibalism to do it.

crystal is obvs those two theatre/musical kids that approach the evas in every season one. i could not tell you their names if you put a gun to my head. they might not've even been theater kids. but that's her: Very friendly, Very unable to read a room, Very much deserved better. speaking of deserving better: ava and crystal musical duo when???

jackie [handshake emoji] maya: girls who are doomed by the narrative. girls with complicated families. girls who love really hard. girls who are in love with, and have their heartbroken by, their best friend*. i actually don't think maya would like pre-crash jackie tbh. she's too normie for her. but college jackie and maya meet when jackie's roommate drags her to a campus enviro protest, and they'd become friendly, esp. when maya spots jackie hesitantly entering the lgbt students union. jackie helps maya shave her head once. they talk about femininity and gender and lesbianism and something clicks maybe they become roomies. maybe they raise a plant together. (*yes max is maya's canon bestie but s9 took everything from me debshirley are NOT taking my lola/maya besties headcanon too)

anyways um. did not mean 2 write an entire essay here. sorry for taking ages with it. lmk ur thoughts anon <33

[mihai-florescu]

Hi as my designated Madara mutual could you tell me about Double Face pls also hi hope you’re having a wonderful day ily

Omg hii yes well. What do you know already? I'll give the quick tldr of their first event: Kohaku was tasked to investigate a shady producer, Madara was also interested in this man's downfall because of his connections to Leo, so the 2 joined forces to take down gfk under the name Double Face (which was initially used yeeears ago by Godfather to form a duo but it didn't stick cuz the other person died. I'm sure that's um. Irrelevant though...👁👁)

They continue Double Face even though initially it was supposed to be a one time teamup situation and they investigate Ibara and Valkyrie in Antique Legend. Their dynamic works because they both have quite dark backgrounds, Kohaku's assassin family and Madara's whole yakuza-police-cult childhood. So neither reaaally fits into "normal society" although Kohaku's more well adjusted since 1. He was shielded from much of the family's business, for better or worse, and 2. He has Crazy:B as well. So, despite initially not wanting to team up, in the end Kohaku's the one pushing Madara to open up and realise he's not as alone and damned as he thinks. Tfw a 15 yo is more emotionally mature than you. Rip😔

In Secret Service, Madara and Kogaku have a reaaally good showdown, I cannot even begin to describe it, I really recommend reading it. Kohaku threatening to kill Madara (who had formed an alliance with Gatekeeper to ensure he progresses in SS) since their duo was only formed by coincidence and they're not even friends and Madara being certain Kohaku can't follow through with the threat is something you have to experience yourself, i'm still wrapping my head around it rereading from time to time. Secret Service has some of my favorite quotes exploring Madara's loneliness.

I think the last story they were both in is Spring Evening's Respite where Madara tries to shut down Double Face by faking a (i dont remember exactly) journalist or blogger or paparazzi that is alegedly capable to figure out his and Kohaku's pasts if they gain more traction as a unit, so it's better to just disband now. Which was another one of his attempts at distancing himself from people cuz he thinks he'll inevitably hurt them but Kohaku calls him out on this and doesn't let him end Double Face so easily. They have a live where df, crazyb and mam all perform (and 2wink but we're not focusing on them rn) and i really love that they got to participate with All of their units. Even brought back MaM! And that's it, we're up to date, I'm sooo curious what their next story will be like.

[mdpikachu]

I’d love to hear more about Mephistopheles’s friendship with Sakata Kintoki. I’ve never considered that dynamic before.

borrowing daku's art bc i dont think i've drawn them together but. also i write mephi, daku writes taro.

Friendship summary: Local area man meets a clown and immediately gets the clown's name wrong (and calls him Moose for short). Said clown decides this is hilarious and sticks around to see what other dumb things happen. here's a readmore

Mephi's plan failed within ten minutes. Oops! Shared interests! (golden bear, dozing bombs. machinery. also, safety but that came later) That, and while Mephi intended to just lie to Kintaro constantly about mundane goofy things, this also failed. Mephi has the majority of the brain cells between them (usually), which is funny because you'd think the clown would be the idiot.

Taro's the doof supreme (affectionate) brawn, Moose is the nerd (affectionate) brain. Together they make an actual team bc Mephi's good at strategic planning/traps (witchcraft/bombs) and Kintoki hits like a truck and has an easy escape option (golden bear).

I'll make it a decent format instead of name: dialogue bc that's a slog. Kintaro was initially based on just info from the JP server and tl'd dialogue so he's a lil dumber than canon sorry about that. mephi is never wrong bc im never wrong (<- was violently wrong about a bit of faust lore thats critically important to mephistos character. oopsy. tfw u suggest mephi lying about killing faust and then reread the interlude after introducing ghost faust DERAILED, MOVING ON)

----

(Scene opens with Kintaro's Master with his head in the sofa, avoiding human contact. Overstimulated. too many guests. Mephi's Master isn't present at the moment.)

Pointing at this was Mephisto, who had returned to be unnecessarily difficult.

"Wow, it's a wild sofa ostrich! I've never seen one in the wild before!"

"Hey, hey! He's no stupid ostrich, youuuu…. er….." Kintaro trailed off, staring at Mephisto. He wasn't actually sure what he was looking at.

"I'll wait!" Mephisto announced, pulling his legs off the ground to sit cross-legged in midair. His tails wagged slowly as he watched Kintato go through a variety of facial expressions while thinking.

"You trapeze artist!" Kintaro shot back well over a minute later, "That's what that get-up is supposed to be, ain't it?!"

Mephi grins and holds up two fingers. "Nope! Two tries!"

Kintaro "Ehhh"d for a moment, before announcing that he needed a hint. Lancer Elizabeth was standing nearby, rolling her eyes in disbelief. Even she wasn't this stupid! She had no right to judge, though, having attempted to sing on the roof to the new neighbors.

Mephisto gave Kintaro a big grin before tapping one of the horns on his hat as his hint. This man could probably guess a demon, or an oni, or--

"Oh, a deer!" Kintaro guessed confidently, and completely incorrectly.

Mephisto put a finger down. One guess remaining!

"Wait, wait, wait! Wait! I know! I know!"

Mephisto sat back in the air and waited for Kintaro to excitedly make his hypothesis known.

"You're a moose!" Kintaro announced, throwing his hands up, "I love meeses!" ---- (Mephisto broke out laughing before correcting Kintaro with more info than anyone else got. The trust was Instant. kintaro also wants to get piledriven by a moose, takes 10 dmg from mephi giving it an actual shot in the backyard, and then proceeds to get evaded by mephi like 4 times. eventually a bomb blew up, ash-facing both of them. scene ends with this. skipped him giving mephi a helmet and mephi accepting it. we also joked that this was a ship but its a friendship. mephis master does nothing to stop any of this, and neither does taro's.) Kintaro: [he picks up Mephisto] We're going to go on a drive! A drive into your heart! If no one else is going to befriend you, I am, Moose! Our friendship will be golden!! (other dumb shit they did together: clothes shopping (safety on bikes!), use an ouija board (mephi hated every second of it), i know theyve fought together at least twice, i dont remember what else. theres like 25 documents of this nonsense i dont remember shite. im not putting this in the tag i say putting it in the t)

[thewickedbohemian]

Because holy crap did that So Help Me Todd ever need a debrief

Cool to see we didn't just have an episode with basically all sleuthing just happening to take place partially in the world of law but it basically went from 0 to film noir in no time a homage further intensified once I found out the episode's title ("Dial M For Margaret")

And I guess that's just another thing contributing to how this episode similarly to the S1 finale kinda had a shoe-on-the-other-foot-reinforcing-the-bond-between-them type plot (and just like that one had lawyer!Todd (which made some of fans want that to be his eventual path-he-ends-the-show-with after many seasons of detecting, I think if that happened it'd have to be at the very end to not lose their Librarian/Guardian-esque dual dynamic perhaps like how Bones ended with Hodgins becoming "king of the lab") this had "Margaret Wright P.I.", further cementing the kind of two-sides-of-a-coin thing you usually get with romantic soulmates in shows like this)

Speaking of mothers and children, my mom who I've mentioned I've been watching the show with noticed a connection I doubt even most older viewers would notice, that as two older-older female sisters with a yen for detecting the Lee sisters could have been a reference to the title characters of obscure-ish 70s detective show The Snoop Sisters

Dick Franks doesn't just feel like another dramatic foil to Todd (in this case the Dark Mirror kind of foil, y'know, a negative example of what our hero could be if he didn't have his team etc. and now I'm again comparing Todd to Flynn Carsen as didn't he have a character like that too) but like if the SHMT fandom was as big as I wish it was Dick is the metaphorical embodiment of what I think Todd's bad-fanon-characterization would be

But one good thing (other than helping save the day of course) he did provide was the second thing this season that could be taken as a hint towards Todd liking guys (the first was basically everything about Todd's undercover-internship for that TV weatherman), hmm....

First episode all season-so-far where no one was a fashion disaster, sure Margaret and Lyle were technically pattern mixing but Lyle's could barely be seen behind his sweater vest and both their combos (Margaret's top and coat (specifically that blue outfit) and Lyle's shirt and tie) were in the same relative color family. And even for what time she appeared Susan in particular was looking especially stylish (Todd's still my #1 crush on this show by a country mile but Susan might still be moving forward (just not anywhere near catching up) the more she continues to be the prettiest chick on here, so help me Todd why is everyone so attractive?!)

Tfw you're having to hold in wanting to yell at the TV "Margaret, stop fangirling over the decor"

I honestly wasn't expecting even the trailer for this episode as given the plot emphasis on when the continuance was to last episode I thought the Tuttle case would be a two-parter

[fromcenotaphy]

Dean and Sam hunting together: well that’s the show isn’t it? saving people hunting things etc etc. brotherly moments that make you either go awww or want to throw them off a cliff. practically reading each other’s minds on hunts bc they’ve been doing it for so long. terrible communication any other time

Dean and Cas hunting together: hunter husbands. standing 1.5 inches away from each other at all times. constant bickering constant eye sex constant rifling through each other’s pockets oh god they’re so fucking married

Sam and Eileen hunting together: extremely sweet together. heart eyes while discussing lore and/or tactics. pretending not to be worried about each other because they each really want to respect the other person’s independence and hunting skills.

Cas and Eileen hunting together: murder besties. taking turns beating the shit out of villains while the other person nods approvingly. roasting their boyfriends during stakeouts. mutual agreement not to tell dean and sam how many people they’ve blackmailed.

Dean and Eileen hunting together: sky-high levels of competence. kicking ass left right and center. off-the-charts wittiness. spn would only be 1 season long if it was about these two because they would immediately solve every apocalypse in the most practical way possible and then spend the rest of the season getting drunk together at dive bars.

Sam and Cas hunting together: terrible, terrible idea. the case may get solved but fifty new problems will be created. maximum chaos minimum planning. all ancient curses and alternate dimensions are fair game. cosmic regime changes ARE on the table. 90% chance that one of them ends up in a coma.

[spn-lesbian]

tfw 2.0: