#the Worst exes™

[lili-home-to-embraces-and-hugs]

Jason knew damian from the league BEFORE he knew he was his little brother and it is… so much worse

Okay so. listen.read.

jason todd. 17. freshly lazarus-pitted. feral. the human embodiment of “i lived bitch” with rage issues and a 72-hour insomnia streak. the league takes one look at this hot mess of trauma and goes “yes. this is exactly the energy we need in our murder boy band.”

enter: tiny baby assassin gremlin™ damian wayne. 6 years old. fluent in six languages, can kill you with a butter knife, has already named his sword and buried a man for disrespecting alfred the goat.

and someone. SOMEONE. in the league decides, “you know what would be funny? pair the murder toddler with the zombie disaster and see what happens.”

Heres how that went

ra’s: jason, your assignment is to supervise damian.

jason: you want me to babysit.

ra’s: guide.

jason: babysit.

ra’s: test.

damian (deadpan): i don’t need a babysitter. i need a better sparring partner. the last one cried.

jason: okay i like this kid.

they do missions together. which is to say, they cause crimes while technically completing the mission. jason teaches damian how to actually knock people out without breaking his own fingers. damian shows jason how to poison a blade using pomegranate juice and pure spite.

they bond over shared trauma and mutual hatred of everyone else. jason steals food for damian. damian teaches jason new ways to dismember people. it’s beautiful.

damian (6, holding a flaming knife): i’m going to defenestrate that man.

jason (17, holding a mango): hold on i’m eating.

damian: that’s MY mango.

jason: finders keepers.

[30 seconds later jason is bleeding and laughing]

but then jason leaves the league. rage. escape. redemption arc pending. damian stays.

and they don’t see each other for years.

until jason storms into the batcave like:

jason: not here to bond. just stealing med supplies. don’t talk to me or my trauma.

damian (offscreen): you dare show your face here, todd.

jason (freezes): oh my god. oh my god. i KNOW that voice. i KNOW that gremlin growl. there’s no fucking WAY

bruce (tired): jason, meet your little brother. damian.

jason (SCREAMING INTERNALLY): THAT’S MY EX-TINY MURDER ROOMMATE?!

damian (smirking): i see the pit didn’t fix your face.

tim (whispers): what is happening.

from that day forward: chaos.

damian starts following jason around like a very stabby duckling. calls him “akhi” in the most possessive tone known to man. sharpens jason’s knives without being asked. threatens the replacement on his behalf.

jason pretends to be annoyed but teaches damian how to make homemade explosives and saves him the last slice of pizza.

jason (grumbling): you’re still a brat.

damian: and you’re still emotionally unavailable.

jason (softly): shut up.

one day jason finds a drawing on his fridge.

it’s two stick figures. one has a red helmet. the other has a sword. they’re both labeled “BROTHERS – THREAT LEVEL: MAXIMUM.”

jason doesn’t talk about it. but he frames it.

bonus: group chat

dick: wait. you guys KNEW each other before this family?

jason: yeah. i babysat him once. worst two years of my life.

damian: i tried to stab him over a mango. it was glorious.

tim: that’s the most terrifying sentence i’ve ever read.

cass: ❤

bruce was like “you’re brothers now” and they were like “we BEEN brothers?? get on our level B/father”

[paradoxlemonade]

Leon (the penguin man) has terrible taste in men

It came to me in a vision

[1982grapejuiceblues]

Stranger Lanes - Masterlist

~series~ - ongoing

Summary: Y/N’s summer starts with a betrayal and a very long car ride. Her boyfriend leaves her for Claire. Claire, who also happened to be dating Harry. Now Claire and Ben are together, and Y/N and Harry? They’re the ones left behind—with a cross-country drive to a friends trip they no longer want to be part of. They don’t know each other. They don’t like each other. And they definitely weren’t supposed to share a car, a room, or anything remotely close to trust. But between gas stations, terrible playlists, and late-summer silences… something shifts. Because the worst part of the trip isn’t being stuck with Harry. It’s realizing she doesn’t want it to end.

Tropes: Strangers to reluctant allies to lovers | Forced proximity (one car, two exes, zero escape) | One bed (motel edition™) | Road trip romance | Exes of exes |Slow burn with tension so thick it could shatter | Quiet pining & internal monologues of doom™ | “We don’t talk about it” energy | Grumpy x guarded | Emotional repression Olympics | Falling in love in silence first

Warnings: Off-page infidelity / cheating (by secondary characters) | Breakups / heartbreak (past relationships and emotional fallout) | Emotional repression / avoidance | Loneliness and grief surrounding failed relationships | Light alcohol use (coping, social, and isolation contexts) | Mild language and sarcasm-as-defense-mechanism | Complicated friend group dynamics | Moments of emotional vulnerability, crying, and self-doubt | Subtle themes of trust rebuilding, emotional intimacy, and fear of abandonment

Word Count (so far): 50.1K

Change Of Plans

Passenger Seat Purgatory

New Roads, Old Rules

The Scenic Route

The Space Between

Just For You

Next Part (Coming Soon)

[hoziersong]

oh but they have indeed made use of their ten episodes because there has not been a SECOND of rest. capsized cruise ship. bi crisis speedrun followed by the worst date in history. catholic guilt guy feeling Catholic Guilty. rebar guy gets encephalitis and hallucinates his fiancee's abusive ex-husband. tragic past™ guy's past gets even more tragic. entitled woman takes child away from her mothers. carbon copy of mr. avoidant's dead wife enables his self-destructive behavior. house on fire and cardiact arrest and yet another coma. 10 hours of the most harrowing, fear-inducing screentime ever

[bluedandylyon]

What She-Ra did for me

It's She-Ra appreciation week, and I can't imagine a better way to start it with than by sharing how Spop saved my life. I know it sounds hyperbolic, but there really is no other way to put it other than that. Let me explain.

CW for mental health / BPD symptom discussion and everything that entails. 

Back in 2018 when it first aired, my friend was obsessed with Catradora. I was in senior year in High School and I kept catching her drawing during breaks, and she kept taunting me with The Dip (™) to get me to watch it. But I was fresh off watching SU as it aired, and the clusterfuck it was to be a fan during it airing. Not to mention voltron queerbaiting. So I kept saying no. No to the potential hurt of queerbaits, no to the potential cancellation. No. I told my friend “get back to me if Catradora is canon and then I’ll watch it.” 

And then the kiss happened. 

And then she got back to me begging me to watch it again, telling me that my ex and I would make a great Catradora cosplay. I thought Catra looked cool as hell so I indulged her. 

And I finally said yes.

It was the pandemic, my uncle had lent us his place and we had nothing to do. My ex and I were sitting on the couch, and I finally said “we should get around to watching she-ra if we’re gonna  be Catradora for halloween, we should be accurate after all.” 

And then we didn’t move from the couch in three days. I think at one point we didn’t even move to the bed, just camped there in the living room with takeout boxes, tissues for the emotional devastation, and cozy blankets. 

I didn’t realize right away that it would change my life. Sure, I had loved the show, but that was it. There was something that I couldn’t get past though.

I could not stand Catra. 

I hated her, I felt like she had been forgiven too readily and that she didn’t deserve it. And then I watched Five by Five Takes’ “Why Catra Matters” and I realized the truth. I saw too much of myself in her, and I couldn’t deal with it.

 I had been diagnosed with BPD some months prior to the pandemic, and I was regularly experiencing the worst of my symptoms. My arms were full of bite marks and bruising from my self-hate, my relationship strained regularly due to my severe abandonment issues, and I had to keep a little paper list in my pocket to remind myself to stay alive. When I watched that Catra analysis, I broke down in tears. Here was a person who had worked to become a better person, to apologize, after everything that had happened to her, and she had been forgiven. Maybe if she deserved love and compassion, even after everything she had done, I deserved it too. And so I started to rewatch the show, mere weeks after we first finished it. 

And this is when it started to change my life. 

The more compassion I felt towards Catra, the more I understood her, the more compassionate I became towards myself. I started filling out BPD workbooks, searching for resources. I started to understand that my hate would not heal me, only compassion would. I started to see myself in Adora’s perfection, in her fear of disappointment, in her fear of never being enough. Seeing the two love each other and help each other heal would heal me in turn. Through the storms, through the hate, through the months of depressive haze, the unstable living conditions, the plans to end my life, She-ra was there. She-ra with its love, She-ra with its queerness, She-ra with its forgiveness.

I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for this show. It was my only safe space when all else failed, when I had isolated myself so thoroughly from everyone around me that I felt like I couldn’t reach out because I had disappointed them, because I felt like I had been a bad person. 

And even when I stabilized, when I healed, when the spirals and BPD episodes went from daily, to weekly to monthly to yearly, the show was not done with its gifts. 

It made me realize that I wanted to be an author, that I wanted to give people the gift that Catra and Adora gave me with characters of my own. It helps me draw every day after years of art block, it still helps me remember compassion, and forgiveness and love. It’s given me a community, (which I will talk about in a different post bc these people mean so much to me), and that above all, we’re gonna win in the end. 

So thank you, from the bottom of my heart thank you to this show, because it truly gave me the greatest gift in life. It reminded me that life is worth it, and that it’s always worth it to try. 

[junespriince]

Wally: I sit here today because my uncle retired and you guys just dragged me in here, I didn't have a choice. I was working my own city, the Titans, and sometimes helped other heroes and now I have to work here and come to almost daily meetings? How can I get fired? Can marrying your son in Vegas make you let me leave? I want out of this.

Bruce: the dimension overlord said you must be here, we need a speedster or balance will be distributed.

Wally: how about you disturb deez nuts old man. I don't give two donkeys pucks about this "balance" when I'm forced to look at my two biggest enemies all day.

Oliver: I know Barry raised you, but could you have manners kid?

Wally: can you stop getting pegged by my therapist?

Oliver, blushing as if the league doesn't already know this:

Wally: no? Okay, then shut up.

Bruce: this is a bit excessive, West.

Wally: says the guy who fights his ex father in law/enemy shirtless. I don't know about you, but if my son grandfather challenged me to a duel the shirt stays on.

Bruce: how?

Wally: what does "dating your son" mean to you? Self proclaimed greatest detective over here lady and gents, give him some applause for being stupid. Though, with all the smart women you attracted I guess it has it charms to a certain group.

Clark: a lot of sass today, huh?

Wally: and rightly so Mr. Kent—

Clark: kid, you've known me for years and marrying my kid, it's uncle Clark now.

Wally: sir, I was raised my a Midwestern woman, it's sir, ma'am, and whatnot, deal with it. Anyways, it's rightly deserved, I'm losing a lot of precious time spending it here because Gotham's playboy bicycle decided now he'll have a standard and not fix this problem by helping the dimensions asshat get laid. Do you understand how much this cut into my personal life outside of heroing, Bruce?

Bruce: well—

Wally: shut up sir, you don't because unlike you I don't have a son I was blackmailed into adopting that can run the business, no, I'm an average man here working a real job, and trying to make time for my boyfriend. We get it, you're an emo furry with a tragic backstory that makes it hard to emote, well bucko guess what, I had shitty parents, uncle Hal thinks I have no friends, and what else... OH yeah! I was stuck in the speed force trying to get out and everyone I loved stop trying to save me and assumed I was dead. So, fire me!

Bruce, and his ego™: no. Balance needs to be kept.

Wally: I will make you regret this choice.

Both of them glaring at each other:

Diana: well, at least meetings will be interesting.

Hal: in my defense you didn't have friends over when I visited so how was i supposed to know...

Oliver: didn't Barry told you one time to come because Wally was at my house having a sleepover with Roy?

Hal: ... Okay I'mma be so real right now, I heard come over and the rest was white noise.

Wally: ew. I'm right here.

Hal: kid, hush, the adults are talking.

Wally: ... I'm 29, dude bye. I'm done with this. *Gets up and leaves*

Arthur: he has grown up so much.

Bruce, who knows Wally at his worst teen years: yeah, he's gotten worse.

Oliver: so about this fighting shirtless with your ex father in law.

Bruce: so about you getting pegged by our therapist.

Oliver:

Bruce:

Oliver: I hate you.

Bruce: yeah, yeah, love you too idiot.

[chamerionwrites]

I need to stress that I am not shading anybody here, but until I go peeking in the tags on Tumblr I always forget that Krennic is Sexy Evil™ to a bunch of people. Like truly I wish you all the best and I am not impugning your taste, Mendelsohn is an objectively handsome man and also a very compelling screen presence, intellectually I can see and understand these things.

However.

I do have to say that my personal impulse to go peeking in Krennic's tag is inextricably intertwined with his absolute swaglessness. I have eyes to see but I'm afraid none of those signals are getting through, because the brain is too preoccupied with how a guy can rock a cape whilst radiating such off-the-charts loser energy. He's giving reasonably smart guy who only uses his brain to cheat on the test. He's giving reasonably handsome guy who talks about himself for the entire date. He has a very particular je ne sais quoi which takes the form of trading razor-edged barbs with Mon Mothma whilst also managing to channel someone's worst conservative uncle being belligerently wrong after two (2) beers. He spends the entirety of R1 alternately embodying the galaxy's most wretched-yet-terrifying stalker ex, and a man having a pissing contest with his coworker over the use of the office printer AND LOSING. It's like Mendelsohn took all his stage presence and multiplied it by -1. Negative charisma. It fascinates me I wanna put him under a microscope like a bug.

Anyway like I said no shade I'm just. Trying to capture the hilarious experience of going into the tags like I wonder who else is rotating this PATHETIC LOSER in their brains-- o right that's Ben Mendelsohn

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Insufferable Love Interests Poll Semifinals:

Propaganda why Solas is insufferable as a love interest:

"Egg ass bitch"

"Arrogant, condescending asshole who’s currently trying to commit his third genocide. But everyone thinks he’s peak romance because he’s (allegedly) hot (???). If romanced he has a relationship with someone based on lies and then breaks up with her because the knowledge that she’s actually a real person gets in the way of his plans to murder everyone and he really wants to murder everyone. Also, kinda racist."

"An optional romance in the third game of the series, but a huge chunk of fandom acts like it’s the canon story and also the most important thing in the whole series. Some of the writers also seem to be under this impression. The romance is locked to female characters of a specific background (dalish elf, an oppressed ethnic group in game) and Solas spends the entire game belittling her culture. He actually disapproves of dalish player characters standing up for and being proud of their culture, and approves when they join in the dismissal and belittling. He tries to remove incredibly important cultural tattoos from the pc when romanced. He breaks up with the player character, and is then later revealed to have been the villain behind the inciting incident of the game, and also plans further villainy. For some reason the romance is still made central. In the next game the default worldstate is for the romance to have happened and for the cultural tattoos to have been removed, because isolation from your culture and family is oh so romantic. This default player character will wax lyrical about how much she loves Solas, who is actively trying to destroy the world and kill everyone in it, because he does not consider them to be real people. She has not spoken to him in over ten years and they were together for less than a year under false pretences. The “romantic” ending of the game has her throw her entire life away and imprison herself in a magical prison filled with deadly corruption to be with her ex from ten years ago forever, with no way out. This is presented as romantic. THIS IS PRESENTED AS ROMANTIC."

Propaganda why Ted Mosby is insufferable as a love interest:

"Ugh. Just another “nice guy” who consistently belittles any woman he’s with. Really doesn’t help how transphobic he is."

"I hate his vibes"

"HE IS THE WORST™. LITERALLY TELLS A WHOLE ASS STORY ONLY TO END UP WITH *spoiler*. AT LEAST BARNEY WAS HONEST ABOUT HIS ASSHOLERY. BUT NO, TED WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE AWE-SHUCKS GUY, BUT HE'S JUST AN ASSHOLE AND JUSTIFIES IT BY HOW HE'S JUST A LITTLE GUY. GUYS LIKE HIM ARE WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD."

[popponn]

so what if you are michael kaiser's ex. like just one of many, the one that broke up with him a year ago. the catch is that despite hating this guy's guts, somehow you always ends up meeting him again at least 3 times a month. 20 times, if you are particularly unlucky that month.

your friend drags you to a party? bam, kaiser is there—with a new date. a job meeting with someone in the cafe? wow kaiser is sitting two tables away. you got lost in some big city in another country with your phone battery dying? would you look at that—it's kaiser.

and, probably the worst part, it isn't as if kaiser isn't also sick of you. he is probably your #1 hater at this point. gone was the charming bad boy from the first date and only a bitter ex is left.

the funny part is that this particular bitter ex is one that accompanies you in the party when your friend left you ("my date gets boring," he said); one that looks ready to punch a guy and helps you when your client turns out to be an asshole ("why did i help you?" he parrots your question. "if i ignored that it will just be worse for me in the way that i don't want it to be."); and the one who makes sure you reach your hotel safely ("idiots like you need pity to stay alive.")

the one that doesn't want any present he gave to you returned, but also the one who scoffs whenever you ask "Why?" or "Why the fuck?"

(if kaiser is also one that couldn't swallow his pride to ask you back, that's for everyone except you to know.)

(and if you still never date anyone after breaking up with him that's your own problem and no one else's.)

i have been itching to write ex!kaiser since like. idk. last month?? a bit tempted to also include the 'we knew each other too long to cut each other off' trope, but that's for another time. he is enough of a complicated asshole already. so it's just 'exes who still clearly have feeling for each other' + 'exes who acts like sworn enemy' with a pinch of 'everyone knows and are sick of them' trope. this dude and this idea is hilarious to me because like he is kind of a himedere in my head, but he is so interesting and not just t h a t in a very 'i want to punch him' way. but anyway very brainrot but this guy, i believe, despite his narcissistic tendencies and all his self centered issues, seems like someone who will love deeply when it came for the one™. like dude is like that with soccer, the capital c commitment is strong. it's just reaching that stage that's hard, because he is also capital a asshole.

[five-flavor-soup]

This is technically in response/as an addition to a post on the supposed ‘double standard’ in the fandom between Zuko and Jet as Katara’s love interests, but it’s been so long since it was posted and I figured the OP would be entirely uninterested in my word vomit, especially after like one and half years—so, separate post. I added a link for those interested. There's a cut because this got quite long lmao.

In short, the post supposes the argument that though Jet would’ve made Katara kill people (something Zuko very much Did Not Do, no matter what you think about The Southern Raiders), he cleaned up his act after this. Zuko, on the other hand, did lots of Really Bad Things to Katara & Co. with far more frequency than Jet did and got redeemed after a multitude of episodes doing Various Things Moste Evile. To then slap Jet with The Toxic Ex-label and see Zuko as the ‘healthier’ and ‘better’ option creates a Double Standard(™) within the fandom, which is supposedly bad and not an arguably incorrect reading. 

But the differences in fandom perception between Jet and Zuko as Love Interests for Katara (one of which canonically, and the other potentially and apparently talked about in the writer’s room) are easily explained, as can the Supposed Double Standard—just by thinking about it from Katara’s viewpoint, or even the audience’s. Because, well, the worst things Jet ‘almost’ ended up doing didn’t happen because of outside interference only. 

That’s the important bit here. He 100% would’ve drowned an entire village just to get rid of a handful of Fire Nation soldiers, had Sokka not managed to evacuate everybody. He 100% would’ve grievously injured two people who, as far as Jet and everybody else were aware, were refugees who might not even be firebenders — considering nobody else saw Iroh heat up his tea, he could’ve been wrong — in an attempt to prove his own hunch. Had the guards not been there, had Zuko not been able to fight back with swords, Jet would’ve genuinely attempted to wound them for as much as a puff of smoke. And Jet consistently involves bystanders (innocent or not) in his desperate quest to harm and defeat the Fire Nation: the Gaang (and particularly Katara, through explicitly manipulative means) and the villagers in Jet; Zuko, Iroh, and the people in the teashop in City of Walls and Secrets. Additionally, we don’t see more violence from him because he’s not a main character like Zuko is—though it’s implied that Jet beats up villagers who are supposedly in cahoots with the Fire Nation often, only agreeing to turn over a new leaf when he, Smellerbee, and Longshot decide to move to Ba Sing Se. 

Zuko explicitly and frequently doesn’t harm people: that, or it isn’t important to the plot. He doesn’t burn down the village on Kyoshi, he literally only manages to lightly singe it. He threatens people with violence frequently but never actually goes in for the kill. I’d argue that the most explicitly violent thing he does in Book 1 is breaking Aang out of the Pouhai Stronghold—for his own ends obviously, but if it’s spelled like treason and sounds like treason, it’s probably treason. When he thinks of robbing the pregnant couple while he’s on the run, he stops himself of his own volition; when he considers using Appa to catch Aang (this was a point made against Zuko in the post), he’s unaware of what Appa’s been through prior to that point and sees him as no more than an animal used for travel, much like the ostrich horse he stole earlier in the season. 

Zuko’s schtick throughout Book 1 and 2 is that he doesn’t want to think of the consequences of his actions. His plans are never fully complete. He doesn’t think of how he’s going to get a chained, notoriously slippery little eel of an Avatar to the Fire Nation, and he doesn’t think about what would happen to twelve-year-old Aang after they got there—which is horrible of him, but it also shows an odd, ignorant kind of innocence that you’d associate with a kid who’s got a hard time telling right from wrong. Like, I love Zuko dearly, adore him even, but kiddo doesn’t think ahead until the Book 2 finale and even that’s debatable. He’ll eventually start thinking ahead a little bit but for the most part, he doesn’t. Not saying that takes away responsibility, because it absolutely doesn’t, but it is telling of Zuko’s character: he’s an ‘act first, think later’-kind of guy, all ‘fuck around; find out; maybe success’. His sole goal throughout Book 1 and 2 is going home, without even thinking on how to get there beyond like, Avatar in my custody => back in Fire Nation with Avatar => dad loves me again. And he says that his only intention is to go home too, in Ep 2 of Book 1:

Aang: If I go with you, [He holds his staff in front of him as an offer, making sure Zuko understands that he does not wish to continue fighting.] will you promise to leave everyone alone? [The camera cuts to a side-view of the area, Zuko's men still surrounding him, spears poised. After a brief moment of hesitation, Zuko erects himself and nods in agreement. Aang is apprehended by Zuko's men, who take his staff . . . ] Zuko: [Boarding the ship up the walkway. Determined.] Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home.

(Added emphasis for my point)

Zuko is not the Big Bad. He’s not The Largest Threat. He never is. In Book 1 it’s Zhao, in Book 2 it’s Azula, and in Book 3 it’s Ozai. Zuko is a consistent threat, yes, but not a particularly large one no matter how good of a fighter he is. Because he’s presented to us as a disastrously hurt and traumatised little brat who we, the audience, are supposed to feel sorry for, and slowly grow fond of. Because we learn in The Storm that the notion of “caring for others is weak” has literally been branded into him. Because he keeps getting back up to fight, but consistently holds back. We are shown that he knows, on some level, that what he’s doing is wrong: the text suggests that Zuko is actively suppressing his morals. And by the time Zuko hires an assassin to ensure the Avatar is dead, we know that Zuko is incredibly unhappy with his choice(s) and is desperate to be safe; that he’s uncomfortable but wants to be comfortable; that he’s incorrect about the source of his fear while he’s back in the palace. The audience is shown this explicitly. 

By contrast, we’re shown that Jet is fully aware that those villagers will die. He’s fully aware that, if he manages to prove the two refugees are firebenders, they’ll be arrested and probably mutilated (if the hand-crushing is any indication). I love Jet and his character, but he’s supposed to be the example of poisoning yourself with your hatred, anger, and hurt. He’s revenge that goes too far, because he doesn’t allow himself closure. He knows the consequences and isn’t shown to care for them, as long as his goal is furthered.

And there is the small, but significant, difference between the two characters: Zuko initially just wants to capture the Avatar, is purposefully remaining unaware of what will happen when he does so, and is clearly shown to change, while Jet just wants to punish firebenders and is very aware of what will be necessary for him to do so, with a handful of lines of how he ‘stopped being like that’. And honestly, Jet is far more mature than Zuko is for quite some time, regarding the violence of war—basically as mature as Zuko eventually becomes at the tail-end of his redemption arc. But Zuko’s maturity is at that point healthier, because he doesn’t want to genuinely do harm. 

In regards to their separate relationships with Katara, there’s these fantastic points that @sokkastyles made in reply to the post:

The fact that Zuko actually did change and Katara actually forgave him makes ALL the difference. [ . . . ] The thing about Jet is how manipulative he was with Katara. He not only almost made her kill innocents, but he lied to her about the man he attacked having a knife when he was called out, so that Katara would see her as righteous. Someone who is willing to lie in order to make themselves seem good and someone who says they are going to change but then does the same things doesn’t have a good track record, and that’s a more troubling relationship dynamic than someone who acts as an upfront enemy but then sincerely changes.

And: 

I do think it makes sense to focus on manipulation being worse than being a cartoon villain when we're talking about personal relationships. I think many people can relate to having someone like Jet in their lives who seems nice but who lies and manipulates to justify their own bad behavior despite repeatedly claiming that they will change. Not that many people will experience being tied to a tree by someone who wants you to tell them where the Avatar is, and it is completely reasonable for people to be more forgivable of things Zuko did as a villain than things Jet did to Katara when he claimed to be a friend.

I actually don’t have anything to add to this, lol. It’s succinct and well-worded.

Lastly, in addition the relatability and the relationships being different (the manipulative, emotionally hurt, and self-proclaimed anti-hero versus the initially childish, explicitly confused and desperate cartoon villain, plus the girl they hurt horribly), there’s also the problem of Jet not being a main character. Jet is a relatively well-written side character, whilst Zuko is very quickly established as a main-ish character with his own POV (as the writers decided during the conceptualisation that he’d be joining Team Avatar eventually). Zuko’s troubling, self-destructive nature that has been forced upon him and his Tragic Childhood is shown in high definition. The audience is supposed to eventually be okay with Zuko and hopefully like him, slowly adding puzzle pieces to complete the picture of a horrific earlier youth and treatment by nearly everybody he knows except Iroh. Something like this isn’t necessary with Jet, not just because he was already incredibly likeable and understandable from his introduction and onwards, but also because he’s neither a villain nor a main character. 

There’s multiple reasons as to why Zuko is often seen as the ‘better’ option, just like there are multiple reasons why Jet and Zuko are compared so frequently—they’re both traumatised teenage boys who ‘rebel’ to get some semblance of control back, but we see Zuko change into a kid anyone would be a little bit proud and fond of and that doesn’t happen with Jet. Double standard or not, Zuko and Jet are different characters who the writers also treated very differently, on purpose. It makes sense to me that the audience would think Zutara is the ‘less bad’ or far better option. We know far more about Zuko than we know about Jet; and Jet’s redemption arc, if we can even call it that, halts permanently when Zuko’s is reaching the height it for him to go into a freefall, ultimately culminating in a genuine redemption. We, the audience, know this. So does Katara.

[sunshineandspencer]

Has to be a joke (Iridescent, Part 1)

A/N: I will be writing more based on these two (I'm currently writing a fic but wanted to put the ideas out) and wanted to show their first meeting :) I hope you enjoy <33 also this is set for postprison!spencer, except I'm too much of a wuss to go past season 10, so expect inaccuracies into how that all goes down.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!BAU!OC.

Summary: Spencer doesn't like the name of his new partner.

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: swearing, spencer is an ass™ (I have no idea I've never done this before sorry)

Parts: Pt2

Let me stress, this is not Maeve from the show, but my own Maeve just named the same to send Spencer into hell whenever he thinks about it.

In all the mind-fucking ways that the BAU have slowly tried to help her adjust - by that, her very first case was a misogynistic cannibal that seemed to like her a touch too much - this had to be the worst.

Granted, she is a pushover, and so she agreed to do this, so honestly she brought this upon herself.

Spencer Reid, the man she had been acting as a ‘replacement’ for while he was in prison, was finally coming back. Some might assume, ‘oh- this means you’re going back to cyber crimes right’. A fair enough assumption, and one she had made herself.

However, Emily, her Unit Chief, liked her work so much that she was asked to stay permanently. Of course, blaming the pushover-ness again, she agreed.

Now, not only did she find herself potentially becoming Spencer’s partner but she was tasked with cleaning his desk before he got back.

For the most part, they kept it clean in his absence, but an uptick in cases and zero free time meant that it became neglected. Everyone quickly agreed that the germophobic man would not like to come back from prison to a dusty desk. In comes his new partner, agreeing with a self-depreciative laugh as she stayed behind to dust off the desk and array of personal items.

Not that it’s wholly surprising that she was the one left behind. She is the newest member, had never met Spencer, and a massive sucker.

Just as they walked out JJ mentioned that he had an eidetic memory, so everything had to be put back perfectly or he’d notice. The last thing she wanted was her new partner, the sought after and beloved Doctor Reid, to hate her.

Quietly grumbling to herself as she dusted and set back the third Doctor Who figurine, very nearly done.

But she heard voices from beyond the bullpen and swore. Doing a final sweep with the microfiber cloth and then chucking it behind her onto her desk. Reaching out to spin a pen back into place and stepping back to stand beside her own desk, wondering if she looked as insane as she currently felt.

Thankfully it seemed like they’d had a good drive in, after all, he’s only coming in to get reinstated properly and then he has to take thirty days off. Emily’s rules to make sure that he gets to stay for good.

Nervously, she pulled on a bright smile, lacing her hands together painfully to stop herself from reaching for a handshake. Germaphobe, she reminded herself, don’t offer your fucking hand.

Spencer, as he walked over, must’ve either sensed the pure waves of anxiety crashing off of her, or just profiled his way to the conclusion that she was losing her mind, because he put on a soft and welcoming smile.

Right in character for the man Garcia had painted him out to be.

Once she realised he was waiting, so damn patiently for her to start talking, she blinked softly and seemed to restart with a friendly smile.

“Hi! I uhm.. I was your replacement while you were.. Gone. But they-- Emily, liked me and asked me to stay on as your new partner. I hope that’s alright, I’m still kind of new here.”

Oh thank God he seems like an absolute sweetheart right now, because she honestly couldn’t have been able to cope otherwise. She’s not good with confrontation or high emotions.

“That’s completely fine, as long as you don’t mind an ex-convict.”

This man, immediately, had a giggle bubbling up in her throat. A giggle. She’s a fucking grown woman.

So she stamps it down, to maintain her own image and save face in front of this downright gorgeous man.

“Of course not! I’ve read your work thousands of times, and everyone here has told me so much about you. A little jail time isn’t going to scare me off.”

Soft banter, she can do that, that’s something normal and socially inclined people do. Even with very attractive people that kind of look at them as if they clearly know how they turn people’s brains to mush. Like he’s doing right now.

Penelope and JJ had shown her so many photos of Spencer so that she’d know exactly who she’d be covering for - and then working with. And honestly, she’d been absolutely destroyed by him in sweater vests and looking like he doesn’t know how to use his own limbs. They’d described him as a ‘human bambi’, but clearly they still had rose tinted glasses on.

Because somewhere in the last decade they seemed to have missed the way their little sweater-vest-wearing boy completely grew into a man, and decided to use his Godhood to pick on his new partner.

When she finally stopped thinking about all the ways she was going to murder Garcia for not preparing her for this, she caught movement on his face. His eyebrow raising and the corner of his lips seemingly unable to decide whether or not he wants to smile.

“Wh- What? Sorry, I didn’t.. I didn’t catch that.”

He smiled, clearly fully aware of himself and how he’s destroying her ability to think, and she nervously returned it, wondering how hard she’d have to jump for the floor to crack open and let her drop.

“Your name, angel.”

Angel?! Oh, she’s fucked.

“N-Name? My name? Right, sorry. I’m Maeve Donnelly, but no one really-”

He visibly jolts, small but she’s hyper-aware of his every move right now, and that one certainly didn’t look positive. His eyes finally moved from her face to look up at Emily’s office, and she had to be careful to remind herself to breathe.

When he looks back, all signs of willing friendliness have gone, and suddenly she’s being scowled at, causing a lump to rise in her throat.

Confrontation is a bitch, especially when she doesn’t know what she’s done.

“Your name is Maeve Donnelly? Is this a joke?”

“I- no?” She was the one to flinch this time, by the sound of his voice and just how harshly it met her ribs clack against her lungs. “It’s- It’s my name, what’s wrong with my name?”

Tossing his bag onto his desk, he shoved past her to sit down, and she’s trying to piece together what had happened to make him react like this, completely unprompted. All she did was say her name, he’s the one that asked her to.

Still scowling at her as he starts packing away case files to work on at home, clearly not wanting to be around her anymore.

“What isn’t wrong with your name?! Honestly, if this is your idea of a joke, I don’t think we’ll be together for very long.”

Storming past her again, he starts the walk up to the chief’s office, and she’s slowly coming to terms with the fact that she might not actually have a job after today. Especially when he turned back one last time.

“And I know you touched my fucking desk, my stuff has been moved. Don’t fucking do that again.”

Just like that, as he stormed into Emily’s office and she stayed feeling small and entirely unwelcome by her new partner, she reminisced on the brief moment that she found him attractive and how she’ll never get to feel like that again. Considering he’s a massive arse who just judged her entirely by her name and refused to elaborate.

Damn, at the very least, she won’t have to deal with him for long if he gets his wish of getting her kicked off the BAU, maybe then she can finally go back to cyber crimes.

Want more?! Good!

[mamawasatesttube]

the other thing abt tim&tam that fascinates me is like... she met him when he was at rock fucking bottom and clawing his way back up. and it's partly by virtue of how comics often are written but their romance reads a little rushed to me - she kisses him for saving her life, and that's that. she's into him now. she sees him and she realizes he's sad, he's hurting, he's a little freak, but how well does she actually know him? she trusts him with her life because he's saved it before, but does she know that he used to go to baseball games with his dad, or that he goes to car shows for a good time, or that he's struggled with the vigilante-civilian stuff for years? what does he know about her? (hell, what do we the reader get to know about her that's not related to tim or her dad?? not even her college major???)

and i know it being a romance that just ... happens + tam getting kinda shafted as "The Girl™" is kind of part and parcel of the comic book medium, that the romances are often rushed bc the focus is on the action and plot, but. i think leaning into that in this case as an in-universe phenomenon is fun. because tam idealizes tim for being her hero when she was in mortal danger, and because tim's never had a civilian friend be in the know before, and he's reveling in that novelty, because he doesn't have to lie to her... until he does anyway, because old habits are hard to break, and he still has that same mental dichotomy of "person he can respect/trust enough to work with as equals, versus person he needs to protect and therefore keep out of the loop" (see also: how he and frankly all the bats treated steph in the past).

and i think that actually makes their breakup so compelling. she was willing to look past all his flaws or just see them as exciting because he's a hero and he saved her and she's his confidante. he is in the fucking pits mental health wise and he has Not worked on figuring out how to deal with his worst habits. he's entrenched in the vigilante business and he's jumping from pitfall to pitfall. tim doesn't even think he did something wrong - he thinks keeping that lucius was alive from her was necessary even if it cost him her friendship. like, it sucks and he wishes it didn't have to be that way, but he doesn't think it was a mistake or the wrong choice. of course they fall apart. it's inevitable. if it hadn't been over faking her dad's death and not telling her it was fake, it would've been something.

anyways i just think them both having a slow burn from awkward exes/ex-friends into real actual friendship for the first time would be so good. like both of them actually getting to know each other in ways they didn't before. like, tim has to do enough character growth to get out of his mental health pit and work enough on his identity issues etc. to understand that he didn't have to shut her out. that will take him a hot minute. and i think tam realizing how little she actually knew him outside of being a hero is also just sooo juicy.

so it should take time. but after they get to the point of being able to have actual conversations again, i wanna see tim talking to her about things other than business. and tam actually getting to tell him about her interests. gimme them growing to care about each other for who they both are as people, not just because circumstances brought them together and then kept them there because she knew too much for tim to walk away.

[hp-hcs]

mattheo with sick! reader? idk something fluffy about mattheo taking care reader or angsty about reader trying to hide some sorta sickness or maybe mattheo's the sick one you ask for mattheo I shall deliver - yxdls

‼️WARNING: hella gross‼️ like, it goes into genuinely nauseating detail! i’m in a weird mood right now! i don’t know!

fine (chapter one of phoenix tears) — ex-death eater! injured! mattheo riddle x gn! reader

GRAPHIC GORE WARNING

seriously, don’t read if you’re easily grossed out. or eating. actually, just don’t read this at all. it’s pretty poorly written. i’m so sorry yxdls, for whatever this is 😭

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“…and for which scenario would each of the following listed Charms work bes-”

Mattheo was cut off by another of his loud coughing bouts, hacking into his elbow.

Your brow furrowed. “Baby, that’s like, the seventh time you’ve coughed in the last five minutes. Are you sure you’re okay?”

He waved a hand in your direction. “I’m fine. Just a little cough.”

You set down your flashcards, leaning across your bed to lay the back of your hand against his forehead. “You’re burning up, baby.”

“So you think I’m hot?” He asks with a cheeky grin, waggling his eyebrows.

You roll your eyes and lightly smack his arm with the sleeve of your hoodie. “Yes, you idiot. But you also have a helluva fever.”

He grimaced. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

~~~

It was, in fact, Not Fine™. It looked horrible. The skin was sunken in, to a worryingly deep degree, and the edges were blistered and raw, slowly leaking pus and refusing to scab over. Mattheo grimaced as he peeled off the old bandages, biting his bottom lip to keep from screaming when the gauze got caught on part of the torn edge. He was forced to look away as he hastily rewrapped his forearm, trying desperately not to vomit.

The minute he had deserted his father, his Dark Mark had begun to burn, to brand itself into his flesh. The tattoo sank deep into his skin, into his muscles, and into his tendons; Mattheo was convinced that at this point, it was entirely carved into the bone.

It would never go away.

The skin over the tattoo had first erupted with bright red blisters and a sickening rash, which sent Mattheo into a feverish daze for two days. Despite his friends’ protests, he refused to go to the hospital wing.

Nobody could see the Mark. They’d know. They’d know he had been a coward and a fool.

But then, his skin had begun to rot. It was unsettling. Not to mention that the Mark wriggled still, now more furiously than it ever had when he’d been a follower of his father. Combined with the state of his arm, the odd frantic movements of the tattoo felt like phantom maggots, crawling all over him, crawling under his skin, into his eyes, his mouth, Merlin-

~~~

“Riddle, man, you good?” Theodore nudged him and spoke quietly.

Mattheo startled, his eyes flying open from where he had begun to drift off standing up.

Sleep had become impossible. His arm was now constantly afflicted with burning, never-ending pain. Occasionally, random bursts of an even sharper agony would grate up his bones and make his teeth rattle. It felt like being Crucioed, but with no forewarning, no nothing.

“Mattheo!”

He startled again, not even aware that he’d started falling asleep again.

Theo put his hand on Mattheo’s shoulder, even just that small touch sending stomach-churning zaps of fresh pain down his arm. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so.

Theo glanced around the room, waiting for the Herbology professor to turn her back before talking to Mattheo again.

“Dude, you seriously look like you’re about to keel over any second. You should go to the infirmary.”

“‘m fine,” Mattheo rubbed his eyes, his words slurred with feverish delirium. “Don’ need’a go anywhere.”

“Matty, dude, you look like a dead man walking.”

He opened his mouth to protest, when the worst pain he’d ever felt in his entire life struck him out of nowhere. It felt like what Mattheo imagined being beat with a baseball bat, run over by a semi-truck, and being Crucioed at the same time would feel like.

He dropped like a rock, the unrelenting pain forcing the edges of his vision to darken and then fully go black.

~~~ Mattheo woke up to quiet.

His eyes slowly creaked open, and he was greeted with unfamiliar white walls. He blinked quickly to rid the sleep from his eyes, before surveying the room.

It didn’t look like the hospital wing at Hogwarts, but it was definitely a place of medicine, if the bleach-heavy air was anything to go by. Maybe St. Mungo’s?

The overhead lights were off, thank Merlin, leaving the room lit only by the overcast afternoon sky peeking through the window.

But he started to panic when he saw that his arm lay across his chest, freshly wrapped and sore as all hell.

Someone saw.

Somebody saw the Mark of his cowardice.

Of his yearning for his father’s approval.

Fat tears started to roll down Mattheo’s cheeks. His sobs became louder when he saw that you were there.

You probably knew. You probably saw.

Merlin damn it. Why wasn’t there a magical version of HIPAA?

You’d pulled up the visiting chair all the way to the side of Mattheo’s hospital bed, your crossed arms lying on top of the mattress, and your head resting on your arms as a sort of makeshift pillow.

At least you were asleep. Mattheo couldn’t even fathom what he’d have done if you’d been awake.

You surely must hate him now.

How couldn’t you?

He started to raise his right arm, his only currently working one, to wipe away his tears, but the movement was held back.

He had the fleeting but terrifying thought of those cliché leather restraints on hospital beds in horror movies. Honestly, it wasn’t even that far-fetched. He was a criminal. A traitor. A psycho.

Mattheo looked down, expecting the worst.

Instead, he saw your fingers interlaced with his, your thumb slowly skating over his knuckles in a soothing back and forth pattern.

You were holding his hand. Asleep still, yes, but you were actively holding his hand. You were choosing to be near him.

Mattheo burst into tears again, but this time in relief.

If you were still by his side, despite everything, then maybe things really were fine.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

chapter two

[heretyc]

Tips for Barbi trials

Barbi's hot but he's also a major fucking douche and I'm here to save y'all from his clutches that we call "trials". Both of his trials are most disliked or described as hard, so here are some tips from your certified Whore™.

Not really accounting for perfect grades, so if you're fond of speedrunning and getting a good grade, this probably isn't for you lol

Poison the Medicine -

It's long and annoying as fuck. We all know this. You THINK it's gonna be easy, but nooooo. He's EXTRA.

Keep an adrenaline on hand for when you need to push the cart. It occupies a spot, but pushing it is easy as pie and the ex-pops aren't too much of a concern. You can outrun a large grunt easily (assuming they're a decent distance away from you BEFORE you push).

There will always be a large grunt at the spawn. Like fucking clockwork. There are two spawn points for them, and there are two entrances you can take if they spawn right in front of the main entrance (with the metal door). If they spawn on the docks underneath, just be cautious and crouch the whole way. Three in total spawn on this map; one at the start, one after waking Barbi and one after you get all of the drugs from the train station.

When you get to the machine, open all of the doors and walk to and from depositing the drugs. The ex-pops are hella annoying but walking will make sure they don't hear you as much.

The symbols can be hard as shit to spot. The decoder will go off if you're near one. Make sure you're not near the symbol right at the beginning because that, too, will make it go off.

Franco loves chilling in the upstairs after he first spawns. Let him spawn, then let him fuck off to the upstairs before you begin your search. Another ex-pop will be present, so just stay cautious. Barbi's much worse than an ex-pop, though.

I say this with love but Franco's kinda stupid in the dark. I've stood in place for 3 minutes one time because the symbol wasn't lining up and all he did was run back and forth...back and forth...back and forth. If you're in the dark, don't worry too much about hiding from him. He does, however, shoot behind him if he hears noise. Stay motionless until he's in another room or around the corner.

The gas chamber is lowkey the worst part and nobody likes it. Make sure you have the door bashing amp and run and break amp. You have 20 seconds in the room before you start taking damage; the room has hiding spots, so take advantage of those. Quickly hop in and hop out to reset the timer. The canisters aren't always in the gas chamber. There's a few doors you can open to other areas that DON'T have vapours in them [hence why I recommend the door bashing amps above] and you'll be given a notification if there's a canister nearby. Once you have one, place it in the chamber so you don't get lost. When you get both, simultaneously carry them both to the machine. Carry one for 10 seconds, carry the other for 10 seconds.

The worst part, in all of this trial, is the end where you need to stuff the drugs. Barbi will shoot the glass and run into the room. Best thing to do is jump out after him, but DON'T immediately go down into the ship as he'll run in and fuck up your time with the mules. Let him get lost and begin to search the area ABOVE SHIP before you go down there. Cutting the mules makes no noise, but Barbi just LOVES running in and out of the room if he thinks you're down there. Because his dumbass is a mouth breather, you can pretty much hear him coming. Keep your inventory completely clear so you can cut and go. Best way to do this is cut one mule, stuff him, then go back and get more drugs to lead Barbi away from the room itself. Assuming you don't have the amp that silences your running, he'll be lead elsewhere. You need 6 drug bags, and even with the extra slot, you'll only have 5 in total, so you'll need to go back anyway. Once the mules are full, now's the time to leave the trial. He spawns at the shuttle doors, so go UNDER the docks and try to trigger a soundtrap.

Pleasure the Prosecutor -

...Yes, he's literally jacking it right in front of you. Lupara's on the table, see?

This isn't a tip, I just thought I'd mention it. For no reason. [Also would you believe me if I told you I wrote "lord have mercy" with a mouse? Why the fuck is that so clean...for a MOUSE.]

Not as annoying as Poison the Medicine but still extremely hella annoying. Best way to hide is to stick to the shadows and use hiding spots whenever possible. Remember the lights will come on after you flick the switches, so quickly make your way into a hiding spot or dark corners. THE EX-POP'S AI HAVE BEEN MODIFIED, so they will IMMEDIATELY search the area for you after breaking chase. That's why this trial is insufferable. If you can, try not to reuse the same hiding spot. Keep moving around the area to prevent them from catching you.

Mannequin locations vary. One may spawn in the dining area, one may spawn in the clothing store. The clothing store is the best and the worst; it's big. And it's...big, which means more switches to keep an eye on.

There are two mannequin spawns where large grunts will be present; in these, keep a bottle or a defensive rig on hand if they spot you.

BARBI WILL ALWAYS BE PRESENT ON THE MAP. Unlike Poison the Medicine, he will NOT despawn. After you trigger the first mannequin, he will spawn and stay on the map until the sequence near the end. In my experience [and the millions of times playing this trial], he'll linger in the motel area UNLESS you lead him away from there. You can hear him breathing and everything so avoiding him is disgustingly easy. He can, and WILL, fuck up a mannequin for you if you let him and lead him to where you need to sit and wait. He will also scare the Scapegoat if you're not careful.

There are three Scapegoats; one you will need to trigger !!THREE!! times and the other two will only need a trigger once. For the hard one, keep an eye on the tracker as he can spawn in the same area, just a bit further away. If you can, move in a way to make him attack you; it's possible to trigger him twice if you time it just right.

The sequence at the end will always end in blue. The blue mannequin is what kills the DA off by decapitating him. If you're not the best at remembering sequences, just remember the first four colours. I hope this helps! If he makes the trials hard for you just fling Yo Mama jokes at him 💕🤭 what's he gonna do, tell his mom??

[corey-wh0re]

I can't believe we're probably gonna have to wait another 2 years for more episodes.

-Everything I was saying the whole season about Shauna driving everybody away & isolating herself coming to fruition & this food is SO fucking delicious! Even as much of a fan & enabler of her as I am, we have GOT to address how Shauna was getting WHACKED harder the whole of this finale than the verbal lashings Melissa gave her back in her kitchen. From Jeff & Callie abandoning her to Tai's "Just don't." + "It's Shauna's fault that Van is dead. Really, it's her fault that Natalie is dead too," to Misty's "The shock of you taking responsibility for your actions just might give you a stroke" + "She was desperate for someone to talk to :(...you were busy eating your ex-girlfriend's arm, soooo :/" to everyone agreeing to the hunt to fool her to Travis directly. throwing Jackie back in her face to Melissa LITERALLY whacking her in the face with that fuckin log, this is the most we have seen the writers pile onto Shauna at one time that I just HAD. to laugh my ass off something else happened because not a bit of it is registering to her like it should. As much as I can either ferociously enjoy the violence she indulges in or be frustrated with her actions on behalf of other characters I love, she was sooooooo hard to take seriously this finale, particularly with her present day monologue in mind. Like, it is honest to god embarrassing when every currently surviving member of the YJs has shown a capability & means for violence, ESPECIALLY now that Van is dead giving Tai & Misty a reason to take up arms against her while Melissa is fucked off to wherever. Despite E V E R Y T H I N G we have seen her do & what she is capable of, Shauna thinking that she's gonna ~start taking it back~ after blowing up her whole life in the context of EVERYTHING. else this season & this finale is so utterly ridiculous that the only thing you can. do is laugh. The fact she is out here like, "Yes, baby, I was THE QUEEN!" in the same breath that we're getting to see that Antler Queen™ was literally JUST. the rest of the characters going, "We are doing this to placate you, you deranged animal, because you are so self-involved & transparent that we knew nothing else would work than manipulating you in this obvious way," is the worst possible thing (positive) these writers could've done to Shauna's character because it is such a slap to the face & she has succumbed so completely to her own ego that she does not see it I just fdjkshjdfskdsfj. Absolutely phenomenal work by Sophie Nélisse & Melanie Lynskey once again, though. We better be seeing some award recognition after how much work they have put into this disaster bisexual terrorist dictator from hell.

-On the directly opposite end of the spectrum, I'm sorry, but YES, Lottie's death was straight up doodoo bullshit. I have tried to keep an open-mind the whole of the season when she just died offscreen & they made her death this Big Mystery To Solve™, but that was the most unsatisfying way they could've gone about resolving it after all was said & done. I'm glad that it was like, actually. somebody who killed her (because, despite what Callie says, no, that was NOT an accident just like none of her mother's acts of violence aren't) instead of the writing's frequent tendency of, "They tripped on a necklace & fell into a meat grinder," that so many of the adult deaths give off, but the handling (or lack thereof) of Lottie is gonna leave a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I think about this season (& I say that as somebody who did not. hate the season as a whole). I was always on Simone's side on this issue when she publicly expressed her grievances, but I am even more so after that "lol whatever" ass death. Even though anybody with eyes knew Callie was gonna kill SOMEone this season & many of us suspected she was the culprit behind Lottie, this is just such an, "Okay...?" moment that it's difficult to understand why they even spent all this time circling around the issue beyond just killing her off to give Callie development. Like, Callie, keep telling yourself whatever, girl, but, "You're just like her...but more," is the exact. reason why your mom doesn't love you. I don't think Lottie was 100% on the money with classifying it as "jealousy" (she is partially correct, there's just more) because Shauna already does not love herself. so why would she love a daughter that was exactly like her? Literally all that can really be said about Lottie's death cause Jeff is repeating the same patterns with Shauna by telling Callie everything's fine+going into hiding & it's not gonna end well.

-With that being said, I do think this episode has concretely confirmed people's suspicions that we'll be seeing something like ~another reality~ with the dead characters when the series ends. I'm not sure if/how the writers will be able to convince much of the adult cast to return if they already aren't fond of the trajectories that their characters have gone on, but stuff like Lottie in the morgue with her younger self going to "meet her," her conversation with Callie, & telling Mari, "You see where we are? We've been here already, Mari. You could let it be different," right before she dies does feel a little too intentional to ignore. As much as I am decidedly not. a fan of how Lottie actually died, the way she seems to drift seamlessly through timelines in her visions as a ~physical presence~ in these realities indicates she knew that A) Callie is meant to be the actual. Antler Queen™ while her mother was just the "pretender to the throne," as it were, all along, B) She was supposed to die on those stairs & egged Callie on with the express purpose of getting her to kill her, & C) She had likely already had a vision of Mari's death (& no doubt others) & was trying to encourage her to change it (which, obviously, was not gonna work with how much Mari had turned against Lottie recently). So, even if I technically should. take more issue with this "resolution" we have been given with Lottie's fate, this episode did end up giving me so many juicy insights into both her character & the supernatural element that there's nuance to my thoughts.

-Even though I knew it was coming & expressed those thoughts during the premiere because it was too obvious to not. be the case, Mari being "pit girl" has done such irreparable, untold damage to me as somebody who loved her & her hater isms dearly. As much as I contend what I said earlier in the season that there was NOBODY. else actually deserving of the HONOR to actually be "pit girl" than her, I am gonna desperately miss seeing Alexa Barajas on our screens moving forward & how lovable she made Mari despite her stubbornly hating so many things. I think this season did a wonderful job of expanding her depth, getting us to see more involvement from her with the group, & once again, honoring her in the moment of her death with characters expressing sadness or regret or their attempts to intervene (Gen's "Mari's my friend. I'm just trying to give her a fighting chance," hit me the hardest by far</3). She went out being the iconic bad bitch we knew her to be getting some of the most apt lines of her tenure on the show by telling Shauna, "You deserve everything that's coming to you!" in the same episode Shauna's entire being is in free fall & giving Lottie her final, "My god, fuck AWF!" Fly high, Hater Supreme Mari Ibarra™. We lost a real one today!

-I'm kinda disappointed that Tai & Van rigging the card draws immediately. backfired like this cause it feels like such a wasted opportunity to explore & exploit the idea that Van ended up being ~punished by the wilderness~ for stacking the deck & giving the both of them more time. This could very well still be something S4 expands upon before they're rescued, but I don't think it'll have the same zest as everybody theorizing that they'd rig the draws for seasons now that it's blown up so spectacularly like this. While it DOES make for good writing that Shauna was the one to notice & try to circumvent it since she is. driven by paranoia & would naturally suspect something was up, not to mention how the episode mirrored the burgeoning conflict between her & Tai in the past & present, this really kneecapped a potentially engaging conflict before it even got started. The hard line in the sand drawn between Tai & Shauna is the most exciting thing to come out of this specific plotline for me cause it directly addresses many people's concerns asking, "What happened to Tai & Shauna's close relationship?" by showcasing that that relationship had been dead for a LONG time & was only reinforced by everybody deciding to "keep the past in the past [to] protect one another." But now that Van is dead & Tawny gave one of THEE. performances of the episode with burying Van & eating her heart, all bets are off & I am so fucking excited to see what she gets to do next season after all this! Even though I initially thought everyone was gonna be gunning for Melissa, it makes so much more sense that everyone is like, "Actually, no, Shauna is & always HAS. been the problem, & she's ruined everything again. Fuck her."

-God, I will never stop mourning the loss of Natalie as THEE. character death that impacted me the most. Like I said last week, after the way things have gone with her in the past timeline, there is no way anybody will ever be able to convince me that the writers intended for her to go like she did cause it feels so obvious that she was being positioned as the opposition against Shauna in the present from how much they've butted heads in the wilderness & this finale just made that even clearer. Even if she technically was not as present as most of the other characters, her crash-out over the transponder, having to keep up appearances on the surface, & convincing the saner members of the group to help her pull off the farcical hunt for Shauna's ego/the switcheroo for her to slip away underlines what we've always known: she always has. been & always will. be THE. leader. Regardless of what Shauna has done to wrestle control from her & weaponize anger to her advantage, this is one of Natalie's most triumphant moments as a character, reflected in how Tai & Misty are paying tribute to her in their present conspiring against Shauna, & it is g l o r i o u s to watch. My girl has gone through it the whole fuckin season & I know there will be worse things to come for her when S4 picks back up unless she manages to evade Shauna's Wrath™ by being a better hunter, but she fr is about to get everyone rescued by being the strategist of the group & I couldn't be more satisfied with how her arc has concluded this season.

[kulvefaggoth]

FFXIII legit had the most insane pair dynamics

20 something ex-military lady who's so emotionally repressed she might as well be catholic who also had to raise her little sister since they were young x upper middle class teenage gayboy who's having the WORST day of his life and having to process copious amounts of trauma.

Annoying himbo (i don't use this word lightly) with a hero complex that's dating ex-military lady's teenage sister x ancient lesbian who wakes up from magical cryogenic sleep with no fucking memories of anything and was just running wild through the city until the Good Cops™ found her and offered her a job.

The smaller ancient lesbian who's just pretending to be amnesiac but is actually riddled with guilt over almost destrying the world a couple centuries ago and is lowkey suicidal x recently widowed single father whose son was chosen by the asshole gods to be a tool and taken away by the military and this guy just wants to reunite with his son in peace.

These six beautiful human disasters go on to somehow manage to work together and bring down god(s).