#the first new eps of s3 got me on my knees

[windshieldwiper]

bsd sketch because it’s been the only thing invading my mind recently

[manic-pixie-dream-dude]

GIVE ME ALL YOUR VARIPUNZEL THOUGHTS!!! THEY NEED META!!

THEY REALLY DO!!! THEY REALLY REALLY DO!! I tried my best to sort out my thoughts into something that could at least be called coherent but uh. It got super long lmao, so! please enjoy: Varian, Rapunzel, and the insanity they sparked within me

Individually:

To start, these two are my favorite charas in the entire series. The other characters I enjoy the most when they're interacting with each other but Var and Raps are fun even on their own, or just when they're talking to their Animal Sidekick.

Varian is such a good character and you can tell by how he shines even though he only appears in 3 episodes of S1. ONLY THREE. He's a delight to have onscreen, and he's got so much depth as a kid who's done nothing but fail yet still remains optimistic and resilient through it all. His development into the antagonist is very natural, being as he's only ever had his dad as his family and was avoided by everyone else, you can't help but sympathize and root for him. His personality is just… dorky little shit who’s well-meaning but just the slightest bit unhinged. I love him lots. His skepticism about magic is funny (and a nice contrast to Rapunzel's usually magical view of the world) but I like to think that, because of Rapunzel, he eventually does believe in it.

As for Rapunzel, I adore what they did with her character. Fleshed her out and gave her flaws that made her so human. Obviously, the "princess stressed about her role" trope isn't anything new but the way it's tackled here is great! She's only been out of that tower for several months and immediately thrown into duties and expectations all at once but still hangs on to her sense of wonder and curiosity, much like Varian.

--

Together:

from the first ep, I just found their interactions SO cute. They start off with Varian being so... LIKE THAT when he meets her, amazed and infatuated cus "WOAH THE PRINCESS IS HERE SHE SOUGHT ME OUT" and he's obviously trying to impress/seem cool. I love how Varian literally gets on one knee and exclaims "look at you!" to Rapunzel.

(and his fixation on her hair, being interested in its qualities and later using it as a sort of plushie, is insanely endearing).

And Raps was so excited and interested about his field of study, compared to how weary everyone is. The girl lets herself be strapped to the equivalent of a torture bench ffs.

They're both nerds! Rapunzel is shown to be super well-read and a dork in her own right, (usually being an art nerd while Varian is a science nerd) and I can so easily imagine them rambling to each other and sharing their interests.

It’s really cute how Varian matches her energy and almost juvenile excitement/optimism/persistence about everything while still grounding her because of his personality, both when he's just her friend and when he's her enemy.

Even in their later interactions, I like how Varian still seems to care for her, until his anger and fear for his father wins over (I like the idea that the "I used you" line was more out of spur of the moment frustration rather than genuine malice.)

Their dynamic in general is insanely compelling to me with its potential, I do function on my own fanon chain of events but even canon gives us a lot of it, both when they're friends or enemies.

when he IS antagonistic, it's dramatic and heartbreaking and FUN. I like their banter in S1 the most but S3 as well, even if sometimes the writing for it is a bit meh lmao. Varian going all out on the whole villain thing makes way for endless entertainment, especially when he slips into Dork Mode in the middle of it.

What's more romantic than undergoing a corruption arc in tandem with the MC’s hero arc and having both your destinies tied to the point where your downfall is her becoming, and you're both set up to be a perpetual motion machine of chaos and balance?

I enjoy their rivalry more in S1 and their friendship more in S3, and I think I'm not alone given how their interactions have been gif'd to hell and back. After everything, they've obviously grown much closer.

All I'm saying is that Disney are cowards have missed their opportunity with these two.

--

Canon:

Some cute similarities I’ve found is that both get bonked on the head by their equipment, both have a knack for making Rube Goldberg machines, and both draw (and have drawn one another).

It's also so sweet how she always encourages him and her joy around him and his interests makes him bashful, like when she sees him at the science fair and goes "Hi, Varian!". It's so cute.

And there's also the entirety of The Alchemist Returns. This being one of Many favorite scenes:

something I personally found really 👀 about them is how Rapunzel KNEW what Varian's plan was. She knows how he thinks, and he prepared for it cus he knows how she thinks. This mutual understanding of each other's thought process is VERY Inch Resting, esp since that moment could’ve easily been written so Cass figured out his plans as a show for her strategic thinking but no! Raps knows him well and vice versa.

And If I may skip ahead a bit, There's also their relationship in S3. and Yknow, I'm actually not done watching S3 yet (I know, I know) but from what I've seen, the number of Fond Gazing scenes is delightful. Also, I'm forever thinking of this moment:

I'm sure there would be a lot to say about them in S3, and I might return to add my thoughts once I'm done w it, but for now...

--

Complaint (oh boy):

Rapunzel is, everything considered, the only person who's ever really respected him and is his friend. Varian only has his dad and her (and debatably Cass and Eugene, though in S1 they still seem to have a 'this is my friend's friend so I'll be nice to him' approach).

She doesn't use him or undermine his sorrow, she gets him. Which is why her dislike near the end was so. Confusing. She canonically values promises (to quote: "I never break my word. Ever.") so her having to actually break a promise, and to him, she'd surely understand and sympathize.

I personally find it… Odd. that her reaction was hatred. At first, at least. Raps is an empathetic person, her whole schtick is inspiring villains/criminals to reform. Seeing her friend in the process of becoming one and, for once, not knowing what she’s supposed to do or how, should’ve made her distraught and feeling helpless. I could see her tipping into anger during the automaton fight, where everything sort of snaps as it dawns on her that she can’t save everyone here by talking it out or being nice.

I wish their development nearing the s1 finale was based more on the pain of having to go against one another rather than anger. Varian has to save his one family member, Rapunzel has to be a princess (and I don't think it’d be a reach to say she’d go to similar lengths to save any of her loved ones, let alone her only loved one).

Also, I'm gonna bitch here for a second and say: you're telling me he was helping her figure out more about the rocks and we don't see a SINGLE scene of her sneaking out to study the rocks with him? Or any mention of them communicating afterward? I really wish we had more screentime with those two but since we didn't, I’ve chosen to believe that they did interact often in the 6-month duration of S1 and were good friends. [the whining of a harrowed shipper]

Another thing, It struck me how... Present, Varian was in her thoughts, even after S1. We didn't get to see much of him or their friendship but she obviously cared, that much was implied. Cared enough that his cries echoed in her nightmares even though, at that point, he hadn't shown any resentment towards her. He's her guilt and the reminder of her destiny, that she can’t stay as simply ‘Princess Rapunzel’. Because of him, for him, she becomes more.

Also, because of this noticeable presence, his subsequent absence is damn near palpable in S2. When I was watching, I was just wondering to myself if we’d see wanted posters for him sometime soon, if he’ll still manage to follow them, even if just in spirit. It’s why him appearing as her fear/sadness felt so right to me, I almost stood up and cheered

episodes after the storm, where Rapunzel doesn't think to check in or visit him herself, feel so SO out of character. This has been noted before, but there are times when the writing feels like it's fighting AGAINST the characters just to ensure the plot goes in a Specific Way even if it would make sense for it to go differently.

(Though It's beyond me why they had to have Raps get a note from Varian when THAT episode could've gone similarly if Raps went by her own volition.)

To me, if they allowed the characters to lead the plot based on their own internal logic, morals, etc, Varian and Rapunzel arcs would’ve been more involved with one another and we would've gotten a deeper bond than what we did get in canon. It’s why I also think it makes waaay more sense for Varian to have been seeking out the moonstone as well. He's connected to them in his own way!

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE TOPIC

--

Moonstone Varian (oh boy part 2):

I’ll say this now and I’ll say it with my finger pointed up so everyone knows I mean it: Varian being the one to speak of her destiny while black rocks sprout around him in her dreams, being the only one to translate and understand the scroll piece, and his colors being LITERALLY CALLED MOONSTONE BLUE, the fact that Varian wasn't her "other half" or the Moonstone holder was BULL.

Moon Cass vs Moon Varian is a whole ramble of its own so I won't get into it too much (my thoughts could be summarized here and here). Just know, it should've happened. Their arcs should've been switched.

I mean… his design, man…. In s1 it’s a stark contrast to Rapunzel; blue and pink, dark and light, simple and intricate. Plus, him being the only one with Eccentric Hair besides Raps… C’MON MAN.

But the dream thing is what I’m really hung up on, it’s as if he's set up as knowing more, or at least trying to learn more. He's the first one shown to have a connection to the Dark Kingdom, he's the one who relates the rocks to Rapunzel and the Sundrop, it would've made so much sense if he broke out in s2 and followed the rocks as well.

They could've both had the same goal, making way for a slowburn enemies to rekindled friendship arc.

Keeping them separated when it would make sense to weave their arcs together was dissapointing. Disney knew they'd be too powerful 😔

--

TL;DR: They're an amazing pair with lotsa canon set up and had the potential to become something more but the writers did my boy Varian so dirty and I'm gonna be redirecting my bitterness about it into drawing them kissing. The End.

[americachavez]

did cas really tell dean to kneel before their new god? did that actually happen? i thought him beating the shit out of dean in that alley was the most unrestrainedly horny thing this show had ever done ACTUALLY you know what scratch that new question: top horny moments from the cw's supernatural (2005 - 2020)

getting this ask feels like my sins of the last week have been weighed against the Trials I Have Gone Through since the premier of supernatural on the wb in september of 2005 and I’m not sure if it is a punishment or reward

some notes before we begin:

the ep with dean’s male siren was like, conceptually horny but not actually that horny because the dude was uglie. I’m sorry to this man

all you sam girls out there. I respect you but I do not respect jared padalecki who is JUST tall and has zero sex appeal. but those eps where he’s like, drinking ruby’s blood and then eating her pussy are. you know. I’ll give you that

I am ONLY UP TO SEASON 10 so fair warning this is not comprehensive but the horniness does seem to drop off sharply after the mark of cain is no longer in play lol gotta love a good demon murder tattoo plot

this is easily the most insane thing I’ve ever done, including the destiel manifesto

S1 EP12: the scene where dean gets healed by the faith healer, on his knees with a hand in his hair and looking somewhere between religious ecstasy, brain death and an orgasm. starting this list off great

S1 EP22: azazel possessing john winchester. no I will not explain further if u know u know <3

S3 EP10: dean being taunted by a dream version of himself, this is where we first got the daddy’s blunt little instrument line. still burned in my hippocampus a good 13 years later thank yew

S4 EP1: dean crawling out of his own grave covered in grave dirt. hot. the HANDPRINT. HOT. also tangent but this reveal after the s3 finale was WILD back in 2008 I hollered in my dorm room after canvassing for obama. simpler times man

S4 EP 1: cas’ intro scene. the barn. the shadow wings. the hair??? getting stabbed in the chest by the man you just pulled out of hell. getting aaaallll up in that personal space. his little eyebrow. “you don’t think you deserve to be saved.” OUTRAGEOUSLY FLAMING

S4 EP02: “I dragged you out of hell I can throw you back in.” <<< this angel tops. mark dean down as scared and horny etc

S4 EP16: this ENTIRE EPISODE but specifically the part where dean tortures alastair as some kind of foreplay and then alastair kicks his ass. carved you into a new animal. jesus.

S4 EP16: wait I forgot about the part where cas also gets his ass kicked and looks all....hm. dazed and covered in blood while he’s on his knees and about to die. yeah.

S5 EP4: I mean this entire ep is unfairly horny considering everyone is dying of a zombie plague and hasn’t showered in like, 4 years but if I had to pick one hmmm. the dean/dean interrogation scene with the panty kink yeah I know it’s not original but hm. it happened. also misha collins just being able to convey that CAS IS A FLEXIBLE SLUT with a single roll of his shoulders. who SAYS this man can’t act!!!!!

S5 EP18: the ALLEY SCENE. DEAN DOESN’T FIGHT BACK. CAS HOLDS HIM UP OFF THE GROUND AND THEN THROWS HIM ACROSS THE ALLEY. WHY DID EVERYONE THINK CAS COULDN’T TOP. you all had brainworms.

S5 EP18: when cas locks dean in the panic room to stop him from saying yes to michael and “well cas not for nothing but the last person who looked at me like that I got laid” I hate this show. wait I think the blow me cas line is in this episode too what the fuck were they on here

S6 EP5: the scene where dean gets turned into a vampire. between the old dude who I think calls dean a pretty boy (??) and soulless sam....watching??? no ******* but there were just some absolutely foul energies in that scene and I still do not understand WHAT they were thinking

S6 EP20: cas doing a double smite on two demons by slamming them to the ground and then shoving another demon back in its vessel and then smiting him in the same motion. TOP. ENERGY.

S6 EP22: season 6 is possibly cas’ horniest season because he’s like, going through angel puberty after getting his first boner for dean, but the final cas eps are. whoof. cas eats a bunch of souls and proclaims himself to be a new god in order to handle said boner, and then the season ends with cas telling them to bow down and profess their love to him, their new lord, or he will destroy them. note: the way this is framed makes it look like cas is only staring at dean while he says this, even though sam and bobby are also there. the season ends with dramatic zooms on both cas and dean’s faces respectively. this made me actively regret ditching this show after s5 lol

S8 EP??: literally EVERY SINGLE PURGATORY FLASHBACK. cas dean and benny are all purgatory hot in the “pop 10 cranberry pills and risk the UTI” kind of way but also. dean being the hot girl bottom between two tops who hate each other. I really. whew. I need to go take a shower.

S8 EP17: if I get canceled for including the crypt scene on this list I blame you bud. but dean on his knees begging a brainwashed cas to stop killing him WAS sexy. how many times has dean been on his knees in this list wait there’s another one coming up next jsldjfsldkjf

S9 EP2: abaddon getting dean on his knees (YEAH) and pulling his hair and praising him for always coming when called HELLO???? the only thing that ruins this is dean says “I can’t tell if we’re gonna fight or make out” because this is the CW and they won’t let him say fuck

S9 EP6: ah. this entire episode is Emotionally Horny but the horny horny part is when they’re in the car and dean is telling cas to unbutton his shirt and. watches. I know this was on my destiel manifesto but I need it here too

S9 EP9: cas, covered in blood, slitting another angel’s throat and eating his grace after getting tortured. that shot alone made me understand why this website was so goddamn horny for misha collins for nearly a damn decade

S9 EP11: MARK OF CAIN BABEY. cain watching dean beat up a bunch of demons as an audition for taking on the mark, while crowley also is a fucking voyeur to the whole thing. cain is also a hot silver fox with daddy energies. I said what I said

S9 EP 16: dean getting the first blade. he’s chained to a pillar and being menaced by a foppish dandy who wants to add him to his “collection” (WOW). dean then kills him with the blade and whew. murder is sexy sometimes

S9 EP21: dean being pinned against a wall by abaddon’s power, then using the mark of cain to break her hold, calling the first blade to him psychically and then killing her. god the mark of cain is hot

S9 EP23: dean waking up with the demon eyes NUT

S10 EP2: demon dean beating up that dude with the boring backstory and kicking his ass. really was a go on baby I got your flower moment because I hated that dude and I love demon dean

S10 EP3: demon dean being chained up and taunting sam about how his brother is gone, then hunting sam through the bunker. demon dean in general was VERY fun for me, someone who loves trash

S10 EP9: dean going berserk and killing a bunch of pedophile rapists/child abusers. I’m sorry I know this show is trying to preach morality at me about monsters and unnecessary murder and humanity or whatever but we blew past that like 8 SEASONS AGO. also the mark of cain is sexy

S10 EP14: the rest of this list is really gonna be mark of cain stuff isn’t it look I’m here to have fun. cain and dean’s fight. cain continuously tossing his mane of hair back and taunting dean with the picture of what he’s going to become, who he’s going to kill. dean begging cain to tell him that he can stop, and then ultimately killing him. rip daddy.

S11 EP4: again I have not watched this however. every shot of this episode is PRESTIGE TELEVISION because driving a muscle car is sexy. and especially the shot of dean all beat to hell and begging his car to start and giving her a little kiss from his fingers to her dash. ugh. masculinity.

S12 EP10: the bearded salt-and-pepper daddy look returns, only it’s an angel this time and he’s wearing a vest and shirtsleeves and he swordfights with a hot redheaded lady in a suit and an eyepatch. this show is good sometimes!!! and oh fuck lol I just realized this is the same guy who played krissy’s hot hunter dad in s7 probably the first guy who’s hotter as an angel than a hunter. huh.

S12 EP 11: dean riding larry the mechanical bull to “broomstick cowboy.” I have no idea where this factors into the ep but I have seen. the youtube clip

S13 EP23: from what I can tell s13 is way more emotionally horny than boner horny, although dean burning cas’ body was sexy. but the horniest part was dean saying yes to michael and then michael taking over and saying “thanks for the suit.” we are going to ignore the silliest fight scene in existence as well as the final shot ending on a FREEZE FRAME like a goddamn tiktok

S14: not gonna pick a specific moment because I have not watched yet!!! but michael dean is hot. idk why michael is weirdly hot and I cannot stand any iteration of lucifer on this television programme. it should be the reverse but I’m forever an older sibling stan apparently. someone who is catholic could probably explain this better.

S15 EP13: genevieve padalecki and danneel ackles fight flirting as ruby and anael I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY HELD OUT ON THIS TILL THE LAST SEASON

I know I am missing things but this is already an absolutely incomprehensible screed. I know I’m missing shit from the latter seasons but give me time I’m pacing myself

[ayellowcurtain]

SKAM NL S3 EP3 - Lucas Van Der Heijden

EP 2 -

“I don’t really like sports and I guess the teacher likes me, so…” Emma fixes her high ponytail, shrugging and looking at Lucas when she was supposed to be in her class, working out or something.

He should be trying harder to care, but she’s really not his type. She’s nice and Kes thinks she’s hot (way too hot for Lucas), so she’s hot. With long and thick brown hair, a tiny and kind of skinny figure, Lucas is not a big chest type of guy, but she might have good looking boobs.

But Lucas is still digesting his Friday afternoon with Milan. He thought they would have long hours alone, smoking, drinking and talking and in the end, he didn’t have the courage to just leave when he saw the girlfriend and how Milan was with her, and so he stayed just to hurt himself even more.

Milan and his girl - Lucas is almost sure her name is Zoe - work well together and they seem to have some intimacy, she walks around his place like she’s been there a whole lot of times, they just match, she has spare keys to his apartment! He didn’t ask because he didn’t want to know, but they seem to be together for a long time, it’s not just a hook up that’s lasting.

“The party on Friday was so fucking good.” Lucas blinks, looking around to try and catch up with the conversation.

“Yes! Your friend…” Jayden bumps his shoulder against Kes’ and he just laughs, looking down like he’s embarrassed (and not cocky) and the girl is laughing too, talking to Jayden about whatever girl that was with Kes on Friday.

“I thought you and Isa were trying to fix things…” Lucas whispers to Kes and he just raises his eyebrows a little, looking at Lucas from the corner of his eyes.

“We are.”

“So you weren’t hooking up on Friday?” Kes straightens his body, putting one arm around Lucas’ shoulders.

“Maybe if you didn’t dump us I wouldn’t have. I needed someone to tell me this on Friday night, not now.” Lucas rolls his eyes and just listen to the conversation, he can’t think of an excuse right now for going missing until Saturday morning. And he’s not Kes’ babysitter.

-

Lucas hates everyone second of this. Whoever he hooked up before Emma, the boys didn’t care that much, they were happy and proud, but they would never hang out with whoever the girl was. And now it feels like Emma and her friends are part of his group too. They’re constantly around and Lucas is constantly feeling out of place. They all hanged out all night long on Friday and Lucas doesn’t get the inside jokes or what they’re talking about.

For the first time in the week, he sees Engel, walking by them and it feels like she’s an angel, sent to save his life.

“Engel!” He moves away from Kes and stops in front of the blonde girl. She steps back and raises her eyebrows, smiling when she looks at him.

“Lucas!”

“Hm, do you have any other party planned for this weekend?” Engel looks around him, at Kes and Jayden and the young girls that they’re always with now. She’s not happy about it, at all, and it’s clear as the day by the way that she looks at the girls.

“I-I don’t know yet, I’m planning one, but we don’t have a place yet, so I don’t know.” Kes comes to his side, wrapping one arm around his neck.

“Bro, we have plans for this weekend…” He tries not to sound rude by picking other things to do other than Engel’s party, but she heard his intent.

“You have plans, I don’t, you can come to Engel’s.” That seems to make Engel happy and it’s all that matters, Lucas wants to win some point with her. “I’m sure Ralph and Esra won’t mind you hosting at our place.” He says to her and Engel’s face lights up in excitement.

“Really? That would be perfect! I’m gonna talk to the girls and see if it’s ok.” She hugs him like that’s one thing they normally do and ignores Kes by his side. Lucas shouldn’t be excited for another party that Milan will most likely be in, but at the same time, he wants to show him that two can play the “kissing a girl in front of you” game.

Kes is looking at him in disbelief when Engel walks away.

“What the fuck, Luc? Your girl is inviting us to go out again, man.”

“She’s not my girl, Kes and she can come too, I’m gonna invite them, don’t worry. It’ll be fun to see you, Isa and Emma’s friend interacting.”

Kes opens his arms and Lucas smiles at him, turning back to the others that are still where they left them.

-

Lucas hasn’t seen Engel to talk to her about the party, but she, somehow - probably Isa -, got his number and texted him to check if he had talked to Ralph and Esra about hosting the party. He hadn’t, but he says he did, Lucas is sure they won’t mind and so Engel said the girls were ok with it too.

“I guess it’s easier, I’m gonna be right next to my bedroom if I need a bed.” Jayden wiggles his eyebrows, doing a little shoulder dance. “Luc seems to be running away from his opportunities, so if he needs a bed he’ll have to find another room to do it.”

“I’m sure she would be happy to hear you calling her an opportunity,” Lucas says even if he doesn’t really care himself, scrolling through Instagram. Milan accepted his request and now they follow each other, but Milan still hasn’t posted.

“Bro, she’ll be happy to go down on you, I’m sure she won’t mind what I have to say about it.” Lucas takes a deep breath, putting his phone inside his pocket. The last thing he wants is Emma even trying to go down on him.

“Jay is right. Emma is not the type that’s shy about what she wants.” Jayden nods his head in agreement with Kes, but Lucas doesn’t have the time to argue with them. Milan stops right in the small space that’s left in their circle.

“Hey!” He looks guilty.

Good.

“Hi...?” Lucas tries to act cool, but he recognizes his jacket in Milan’s hand, the one that he was using when he was at Milan’s place, lying to his friends that he would go to the party later.

“You forgot this on Friday-” Milan offers the jacket and Lucas grabs it, looking at the other two. Jayden doesn’t seem too bothered, but Kes is catching up on something.

“Thanks, I forgot at the bus station.” He doesn’t let Milan finish or he could tell the others that Lucas was actually out, enjoying himself without them.

“Hm, yeah, I tried to call you, but the bus was already moving so…I didn’t feel like running after you.” Milan raises his eyebrows and smiles. Lucas doesn’t understand how he can always be in such a good mood. He was supposed to be feeling ashamed and he sort of is, Lucas can tell by the way that he looks at Lucas, but he plays cool.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. See you around.” He says as he shakes hands with the others and leaves.

-

All he could think about was Milan. If he was coming to this party or not and if he would have the balls to bring his girlfriend to Lucas’ place.

Kes was paying extra attention to him ever since that encounter with Milan, but Lucas is almost sure he doesn’t have many clues yet. And tonight he was busy trying to manage Isa and his new girl at the same party and Lucas was with Emma. So in Kes and Jayden’s eyes, everything was normal again.

Lucas is really trying to feel something for the girl, but it’s hard when with every person that comes inside his house, he looks at the door, hoping to see Milan. It’s not him yet. Emma is talking about her taste in music and what kind of drinks she likes and Lucas is trying to engage.

He doesn’t like fancy drinks, mainly beer or whatever can get him drunk the fastest if he needs to. She laughs and quietly sits closer, putting her hand in his shoulder, continuing to talk about herself.

The loud music shaking the walls around him doesn’t stop Lucas from hearing when Milan enters the room. He’s the new guy that everyone is always excited to see, screaming his name and soon as he walks in. Engel hugs him tightly for a second and Lucas can see him scanning the room, only stopping when their eyes finally meet.

His beautiful girlfriend is right behind him, introducing herself and Milan is still looking at Lucas. He’s happy to see him, but definitely not drunk enough to watch them together again so he chugs his beers and leaves the empty can on the side table right next to the couch. Emma is still talking and he’s still looking at Milan, only breaking their stare contest to pull the girl closer and kiss her like he’s enjoying it.

As he’s kissing her, he can’t stop thinking about what Milan is thinking. He wants to go to him and ask how it feels, what he’s feeling inside his heart. To his surprise, he doesn’t really have to. Suddenly the room around them gets smaller and darker and he stops kissing the girl only to meet Milan standing right in front of the couch. He’s smiling, but there’s a small crease in his forehead and his eyes are a little too serious, but it seems to go unnoticed by Emma.

“Milan!” She almost screams, way too excited and he bends down, touching their knees with his hands as he pushes them away from each other, sitting right in the middle. The couch is way too small for the three of them, so both Lucas and Emma have to turn their bodies a little against the arms of the couch to let Milan sit with them.

It should go unnoticed, but Milan quietly keeps one hand on Lucas’ knees as the three of them start a conversation.

“You two were getting way too intimate for a public party! How are you?” He asks Emma and she smiles at Lucas with the first comment, hinting not so subtly that they didn’t go somewhere more private because Lucas didn’t want to.

All the cans on the side table are empty, Lucas checks every single one in hopes to find something to drink. It’s too much having Milan right there, purposely stopping him from kissing a girl. He doesn’t care to pay attention to their conversation, looking around. Kes is with his new hook up, but they’re just talking, Jayden is nowhere to be found.

Milan presses his fingers a little tighter around Lucas’ thigh and he looks at them again and the mood of the conversation changed drastically, but Lucas doesn’t care to ask what happened, Emma is already getting up, dragging him to go dance with her, leaving Milan behind, sitting alone on the couch.

-

She’s not really a problem. The girl knows how to kiss and Lucas has done this enough times where he kinds of knows the right ways too. She puts her hand in the back of his neck and presses her fingertips, holding his hair a little and again, she’s a good kisser. The problem is that she is a she. And most of all, she’s not him. Her hands are too small, she’s generally too small and he has to help her stay on her tiptoes while they kiss. Milan is taller than him and has the nicest hands. It’s not like Lucas actually ever touched him like that, but he thinks about it too much.

He opens his eyes or he’ll get too lost thinking about the boy, but it doesn’t help. Milan is right in front of him, there’s only another couple in between Lucas and Milan and he’s kissing his girlfriend. The boy doesn’t seem to have one single flaw. He holds his girlfriend close to him and they keep slow dancing while kissing. Lucas shouldn’t be looking, it feels very intimate and more like a make-out session than just a kiss, but when he’s trying to focus on the girl in his arms again, Milan opens his eyes and Lucas is caught again.

More than ever, he should close his eyes and pretend like nothing happened, but he can’t. They’re staring at each other while kissing girls that they’re not interested in. Milan has some skills because he continues to kiss his girlfriend eagerly, but Lucas thinks he’s the one in Milan’s mind. And he can’t keep kissing Emma. He stopped at some point already because she moved on to quietly kiss his jaw and cheek. Emma holds his hair just a little tighter and Lucas closes his eyes, thinking that Milan could hold him like that and it would feel perfect.

-

Lucas is still dizzy from the loud music in the dark, too many drinks and Milan’s gaze on him. He can’t go out so he offers to clean the flat for a little. He doesn’t say he won’t go to the party or Kes will offer to stay and help him, but Lucas needs to be alone, to breath some cold air and get back to his senses.

Milan has a girlfriend. They kissed right in front of you, he introduced her to you as a girlfriend and he came with her tonight.

He drops the bag filled with empty cans on the floor when he’s finally alone, looking around. There are so many cans left and he regrets offering to clean, but this is better than getting on a cab to the next place with Milan and Emma.

It feels like it’s easier to just leave the bag there and collect the cans. He pats his jeans in search for something to relax himself, but his pockets are empty. Just perfect. He must have given his joint to Kes earlier.

A bunch of cans are still half full so Lucas grabs as many as he can and drops it inside the kitchen sink, turning them upside down one by one while he collects more around the kitchen area.

“Hey…” Lucas turns way too quickly on his feet only to find Milan at the kitchen door, dragging the trash bag with one hand, smiling.

“Hi...what are you doing here?” It’s late and he saw Milan staring at him before leaving the flat, holding hands with his girl.

“You seemed upset and I didn’t want to go anyway, so...I said I was going to stay and help you clean.” Milan starts collecting more empty cans as well, but he’s still looking at Lucas.

“I’m just tired. And you don’t have to stay.”

“But I want to. Everyone already left so I guess you’re stuck with me.”

It’s not that Lucas doesn’t want him there. To be alone with Milan is one of the things he wants the most these days, but not like this. When there’s this weird thing going on between them. And Lucas is not the greatest person, sure, but he’s not trying to break yet another couple, he learned his lesson with Kes and Isa.

“We’ve been together for a very long time now…” Milan starts explaining himself, finally close to Lucas, leaning against the sink, only two or three steps away from Lucas. He really doesn’t want to be hearing about Milan’s girlfriend though, so he just shakes his head. “But I would say we’re more like siblings now.”

Lucas tries not to laugh, but a smile ends up slipping into his lips and Milan laughs, nodding his head too.

“Why are you telling me this?” Lucas takes a step back, leaning on the counter, looking at Milan.

“Don’t know, I just wanted to tell you. Maybe someday in the past, we worked, but now it’s just...like we’re waiting for someone to grow the balls to break up with the other one.”

Lucas knows why he’s saying that he’s not dumb, but half-words or half gestures don’t work for him anymore. He bought that bullshit before and it made him do some fucked up things.

“That’s fucked up tho…” Milan takes a deep breath and nods his head.

“But if I do it, she might go crazy and blame me for bringing her here, leaving her family behind, and then she’ll burn out my house and cut my balls off.” Lucas doesn’t find it that funny, but he laughs anyway because it’s Milan and he says in such a cute way…

“I doubt it. Don’t say shit like that about your girlfriend. She’s nice…” Lucas tries to go back to a few hours ago, when she introduced herself again to him, he’s still not sure about her name. Lucas looks down, his drunk mind can’t stand another second staring at Milan and his eyes filled with some crazy ideas. “What’s her name again?”

When he looks up, Milan is only two steps away and he moves slightly closer slowly.

“Does it really matter?” Lucas gives him an annoyed sigh as a response, looking down again.

Yes, it fucking matters, Milan. Jesus Christ. Tell me the name of your girlfriend so I can remember why this can’t happen right now.

There are a bunch of stains on the floor, Lucas hopes it’s dry beer or any other drink that will come off easily. The flat is still complete silence and it makes Lucas’ ears ring loud, but it doesn’t really matter.

He can see Milan’s shadow moving closer, getting bigger as he gets closer, Milan moves his weight to the front of his feet to come closer. If Lucas looks up or just straight he’s sure they’ll be way too close to be accidental. It’s hard to think of the consequences of his actions or other people suffering when everything he wants is right in front of him, just waiting for Lucas to come closer and take it.

He moves his head slowly, looking up and Milan is right there, looking at him with a lot of certainty in his eyes, giving Lucas some kind of reassurance. Lucas moves his weight a little too to get higher and Milan turns his head a little. They’re both holding their breaths, Lucas wants to reach and touch him and know what it feels like to kiss someone you really want-

“Lucas?” They jolt back at the same time, taking a small step back and starting to breathe again and Esra appears at the kitchen door, looking from Milan to Lucas a few times, but she doesn’t seem to notice what was happening.

“Hi!” She always sounds so excited about everything, like Milan, Esra seems to always be in a good mood. “ I decided to stay and help.”

[ayankun]

AoS S2 Rewatch Briefest of Thoughts

Maybe watching a thing five times is too many times lololol

First I have to admit, I found myself spacing out through a lot of this season.  I mean, my annual rewatches are typically always in the background of other activities, but this time through I definitely just didn’t pay attention to a lot of it.

Even so, here is a list of Things I Noticed This Time:

Not sure if watching S1 directly before this really made a difference or not, but this time I have a much clearer understanding of “S2″ and “S3.”  When I first started watching this show, I shotgunned 2 and 3 back to back, and have done that once a year since, causing the two seasons to feel like one mega-season in my mind.  Not this time!

A lot of the stuff I consider to be “the show” is introduced in S2, sure, but isn’t developed until S3.

Daisy Johnson

Terrigenesis & the Kree (wow my new band name)

Mack and Daisy brotp

FitzSimmons as an actual item

Collecting/protecting Inhumans

Talbot and Creel

The Monolith

Lincoln (gross)

And a lot of the stuff in S2 doesn’t even make it into S3!

Cal :<

Raina :<<<

Afterlife and all those poor fools who just wanted to grow up and get wings or whatever

Edward James Olmos

Agent 33 lol GOOD

Fitz’s brain injury

And of course there’s also big S3 specific stuff that hits you right away in the season opener, like Rosalind and Maveth.

I feel like ultimately I’ll have to say from now on that S3 is my favorite season.  More on this as it develops -- only just started ep 2 today.

A note about Lincoln.  Since actually he’s going to be way more important in S3 than he was in S2, let’s talk about his introduction.  So far, there’s really nothing about the character that warrants my knee-jerk dislike.  The character is supposed to be good for Daisy!  He’s soft and patient and sort of cool and is one of the first people she’s met who is honestly supportive of her new situation, a situation that he understands from experience. 

I guess maybe I don’t like the trope of pairing people up with their primary physician?  There’s a conflict of interest there, I think.

Also that dude’s performance rubs me the wrong way (and I only found out like 35 minutes ago that he’s Australian so I’m going to blame it on the fake American accent?).

There’s no narrative symmetry in the structure of S2.  I got really excited at first because there’s a ship in ep 3 and I know that the season ends on Edward James Olmos’ ship, but that was about it.

However, they did purposefully split it down the middle, 10 eps and a break for Agent Carter, and then the last 12 eps.

The story of part 1 takes us to Daisy and Raina’s Terrigenesis, and part 2 is about A) Daisy has superpowers now whoops and B) Edward James Olmos is in charge whoops and these two storylines smash together at the end.

But the story of the whole season is trust.  Not an exploration of the concept, not “what does it mean to trust” or “how is trust earned” but a literal “man nobody trusts nobody and it’s probably for the best.”

Heck the season straight up tells us we shouldn’t trust anything by opening with with Team Coulson monitoring a black market deal between an ex-SHIELD agent and some mercs -- the mercs are also SHIELD agents and it’s a sting -- the sting team doesn’t know Team Coulson was sent as backup etc etc

Ward swears never to lie to Daisy ever again

Fitz can’t trust his own physical self

Nobody can trust Simmons because she’s undercover at Hydra

Nobody can trust Coulson because he’s whacka-doodle (see what I did there) cray cray

Hunter whining about his she-devil ex-wife, but she’s delightful and perfect

Hunter’s ongoing and ACTUALLY QUITE VALID protestations that he can’t trust Bobbi when it comes to her angle on their relationship

Brainwashing is a thing now

Hydra’s still doing Hydra things and blaming them on SHIELD

Man, anything either of the Ward brothers say at any moment is to be distrusted as a Rule

The heads of Hydra can’t trust each other

Daisy gets powers and she and Fitz decide they can’t trust anybody else with this information because errybody acken’ cray cray

Simmons is SO MAD that Fitz didn’t trust her with this information

Daisy is never quite sure if she can trust her dad (because he cray for sure)

You can’t trust May because half the time she’s Agent 33

You can’t trust Bobbi and Mack because they’re working for Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos doesn’t trust Coulson AND doesn’t trust that Fury left SHIELD to Coulson and also I guess just doesn’t trust Fury

Turns out Coulson was doing some secret stuff, too, so better not trust him even if he’s not crazy anymore

Nobody can ever trust Ward, no matter which side you’re on, even if he’s actively helping you at the moment

You can’t trust Raina’s vision until you can

You can’t trust Jiaying after all!!  Edward James Olmos wasn’t going to be the bad guy!!!

I think a lot about how this show has such active characters.  Like, there aren’t just plots for plots sake or characters for characters sake*, events happen to shape character motivations, and then character motivations go on to shape events.  I’m thinking about how Fitz’s condition in the first half is almost complete plot-less -- he’s just a character living through some stuff, and it effects ... his interactions with other characters, mostly.  There’s no narrative “point” or payoff to it (other than to remind that Ward Is Bad), until -- until Daisy comes through the mist and

12 episodes of frustrated aphasia, feeling like he’s letting the team down and they’re letting him down, of struggling to cope with Simmons’ abandoning him and then struggling even more with her return ... until ep 12, the only real, uh, utility Fitz’s condition brings to the story is as a means to introduce Mack as 100% Best Guy. 

And then ep 12, getting to see these two beloved OG characters have this moment that only the two of them can have

.... as far as moments go, second best only to the Skimmons quake/hug in 4x15.  My ship sails, my dudes.

I got way off track here, sorry

Anyway my point is sometimes, in other shows, giving a lead character a brain injury is probably a Major Plot Point that is Meant To Be Resolved (and within 40 minutes if at all possible), but on our perfect show, characters are allowed to Just Be -- and the things that they Are will always manifest in narratively satisfying turns of events.

I’m trying to think of any of my “this time I noticed” items and

Not to be all down on 2/3 of my OT3, but especially after watching their siblings dynamic in S1, and seeing just how painfully awkward their relationship is throughout S2, the Simmons-has-feelings-for-Fitz moment REALLY came out of left field.

S1 gave you the Exact Moment that Fitz realized that his crush was on Simmons instead of Skye, and you saw him live with that information for like 16 episodes.

Knowing that they end up together AND always starting my series rewatch with S2 makes her coming to him at the end not just reasonable but inevitable.

But lol no?  They literally never talk about it for the duration of the season?  Fitz talks to Mack and Simmons talks to Bobbi, but they never talk to each other.  Her change of heart is strictly subtext.  Which isn’t the worst, but given their literal text is either antagonistic (see: his reaction to her abandoning him; her reaction to his hiding the truth about Skye) or just ... their regular schtick. 

They’re antagonistic until Edward James Olmos comes on the scene, at which point they bond enough to play the I’m-on-to-your-plan doublespeak shenanigan, and the sandwich moment is arguably the best thing to happen to this ship up until that point BUT she made him away mission sandwiches when he was just her friend too so!!!

Ok when they see each other next there is a specific moment mentioning The Sandwich in the context of love that makes sense (unlike whatever it is that Agent 33 and Ward have) -- but it’s very subtle and the scene is really just a set up to Simmons’ plan to splinter-bomb the hell out of Ward as revenge.

Their next scene together is bonafide FitzSkimmons OT3 grilling Sky about her time at Afterlife which, again is vanilla S1 schtick, and it’s immediately hijacked by Ward and Mission Talk anyway.

It goes straight into the mission where their only interaction is Fitz telling Jemma to be careful but not in a way where she can hear.

Next they debrief Mike Peterson after rescuing him, which is just an excuse to see Simmons not own up to her killing Bakshi on accident.

New episode, now they’re just stalking Skye and (rightfully) giving her new boyfriend the stink eye, then they talk to Agent 33 about her brainwashing -- just a moment for Simmons to feel guilty about never admitting to killing Bakshi/setting up the fact that Bobbi saved Simmons and not Agent 33 so that Agent 33 has a revenge plot for the remaining 2.5 episodes of the season

THEIR NEXT SCENE TOGETHER IS ANOTHER OT3 MOMENT WHERE SIMMONS PRESENTS SKYE WITH THE HULA GIRL ORNAMENT FROM SKYE’S VAN AND FITZ RIBS SKYE ABOUT HAVE EARTHQUAKE POWERS -- FITZSIMMONS DON’T EVEN DIRECTLY ADDRESS ONE ANOTHER.

Ok and then Fitz makes up a reason to go talk to Simmons, and opens up to her about how he’d have tried to kill Ward if he’d been a lesser man, only to find out that Simmons DID try to kill Ward and is actively upset that she failed, so they’re still at odds, philosophically at least, at this point.

Then they split up again and aren’t on the same continent until a third of the way into the next episode, where they’re STILL talking about Agent 33.

The only other thing they do on screen together in this episode is to fight Skye’s dad like they’re on Scooby Doo running away from a guy in a monster mask

Season finale, they have two scenes working with Coulson on mission stuff in which they don’t speak directly to one another, and then

As Fitz is gearing up for his mission, Simmons pops up out of nowhere and drops her bombshell on him

ok, no lie, as I started compiling this and getting closer and closer to the end, I figured it out:

everyone was so collectively heartbroken at the prospect of Bobbi not making it that they all had to go talk to their loved ones before it’s too late.  May does it, too, and it’s framed with Hunter standing over Bobbi’s hospital bed in the background, and Simmons goes directly from Bobbi’s bedside to Fitz to say “because I just saw Hunter with Bobbi, and it made me realize” --

ok, my bad.  I did state up front that I wasn’t always paying attention, okay?!

I take everything back.  We do see the moment Simmons realizes she has feelings for Fitz.  It just comes at the tail end of a string of episodes  where they barely interact, is all.

Man, I gotta pay better attention next time.

Anyway this is not as brief as I thought it would be, nor have I covered all the thoughts I had.  Real quick, though:

Agent 33 is the worst.  I’m not sure what else they would have given Ward to do (gross double entendre intentional :< )  this season, though.  But did it have to be this?  Did you notice that when she picked faces, it was either May or Daisy?  And then used them on Ward, someone who sexually and/or emotionally manipulated both these women in the previous season?  Gross gross gross.  And obviously the grossness of this pairing is literally called out by several in-world observers, but, still.  I’m not sure that they actually wanted me to believe that there was still some humanity in Ward, that there was still a person who could settle down and buy succulents to put on windowsills in houses he shared domestically with another human being, but mostly I’m wondering why they thought they wanted to want me to believe that.

*as stated previously, one of the weaker parts of S2, that I still find weak having rewatched S2, is the use of the character of Trip.  POOR GUY.  Watching S1 first doesn’t do him any favors, either.  At least when you forget exactly the contents of S1, his being in S2 just feels like “guess this is how things always were, oh wait, sucks he's dead now.”  BUT NO things were NEVER like this.  We don’t know who this guy is at all!! 

His purpose in S1 is to be Not!Ward,

and his utility is to have some sort of internal logic to the team getting their hands on the low-tech WWII spy gadgets.

and he’s a very slight catalyst to Fitz’s needing to get his act together and get Simmons off the market before it’s too late (which is a couple of different yikes in my book, as far as "here’s what this character’s here for”)

So I kept my eye on him in S2 and the results were not good.  I think the only time he had lines was to ask questions to allow another character to respond with exposition, or to make jokes that any character could have been on screen to make. 

I want to say he was a side character dressed as a lead character, but HELL he shared scenes with a Koenig and those fools got WAY more character building/backstory/motivation over the course of the series than what Trip got.

Dearest Trip, our very own Red Shirt.  Rest In Pieces

[chocolatequeennk]

Shadow of the Wolf 1/?

The Doctor knew Rose was coming back, but he didn't expect to find her here. When Rose reaches the Shadow Proclamation before the Doctor and Donna, it sets in motion a new chain of events that leads to a different ending for all involved.

Ten x Rose, tagging @doctorroseprompts

This is part of my series To Lead Herself Home, where I write a Doomsday reunion for every S3 and S4 ep. 

Now, you might be thinking, “Nancy, you’ve done two Stolen Earth fixits already.” And you are right. But this story starts at a different moment and is going to keep going into Journey’s End, actually showing how the Daleks will be destroyed without the metacrisis.

AO3 | FF.NET

The TARDIS shuddered through the turbulent time streams as they flew to the Shadow Proclamation, but under the grinding sound of her straining engines, the Doctor heard a note of excitement.

Rose was coming back.

The Earth had been stolen, taken without a trace. According to Donna, there were stars going out and darkness was coming.

But Rose was coming back. No matter what else was happening, that was definitely good.  

“So go on then, what is the Shadow Proclamation anyway?”

Donna’s question pulled the Doctor out of his reverie. “Posh name for police,” he explained. “Outer space police.”

He felt the TARDIS hit the shield barrier protecting the complex, and he shoved another lever into place. With the key code activated, the ship passed through without further difficulty and landed in the main conference room. Not the traditional landing area, but they didn’t have time for proper protocol.

The monitor flicked on, and the Doctor glanced at it while he put his coat on. “Judoon.” He grimaced—the rhino-faced aliens always sucked the fun out of everything. “Don’t try to talk to them,” he warned Donna as they walked down the ramp. “You won’t be able to understand them anyway—the TARDIS won’t translate their language.”

She nodded, and he pushed the door open. “Slowly,” he whispered. Then he stepped outside, his hands held slightly in front of himself to show he was unarmed.

The Judoon were unimpressed. Five masked soldiers dropped into battle positions with their guns at the ready, and the sixth barked out a demand. “Sco bo tro no flo jo ko fo to to.” What is the nature of your visit?

“No bo ho sho ko ro to so.” I need to speak to the Shadow Architect about a threat to the universe. He paused for effect, then rattled off the code word confirming his identity. “Bokodozogobofopojo.”

The masked Judoon relaxed and holstered their weapons. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and looked at their captain.

“Moho.” Now.

The captain held up his fist, and his team spun and returned to their posts around the room. Then he turned and addressed a woman the Doctor and Donna hadn’t been able to see before.

“The Time Lord is here to see you, Shadow Architect.”

The Shadow Architect was at the far end of the room, and she paced down one side of the conference table while the Doctor and Donna moved around to the other side. A tall, albino woman, she was dressed completely in black—even her white hair was contained in a black snood. Her black dress fluttered behind her as she walked. The effect was rather Snape-like, and when she spoke, the arrogance in her voice completed the resemblance.

Her lips curled over her teeth and she shook her head. “Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species,” she declared as she slowly paced the room. “You cannot possibly exist.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. Obviously, he did exist, and this was a waste of time. “Yeah.” He rocked back on his heels. “More to the point, I’ve got a missing planet.”

She pursed her lips and her nostrils thinned. “Yes, Time Lord. We are already aware of the missing planets. The stars are going out. If you do not have anything new to add to the conversation…”

The Doctor blinked. “What do you mean, the stars are going out?” How does everyone know about that  but me?

Her eyebrows lifted and she smiled slightly, sneering annoyance becoming sneering amusement. “It seems you are not as informed as you believed. Another visitor reached us today, walking through worlds to warn us of the coming darkness.”

Walking through worlds.

Time tightened around the Doctor, spinning new timelines as it moved. He swallowed. “Who was she? What did she look like?”

The smirk deepened. “Her legend has penetrated even the highest levels of the Shadow Proclamation. Her words are written in our Holy Texts. How could we not listen when she brought us a warning?”

The Doctor ground his teeth together and asked one more time. “What was her name?”

He heard the soft snick of a door opening and closing, and he followed the Shadow Architect’s gaze to the woman standing behind the staircase. “I never told them my name, only my title,” she said as she stepped out of the shadows. “I am the Bad Wolf.”

The Doctor stared at Rose, at the confident tilt of her chin and the glint of gold in his eyes. Rose is here! His brain screamed at his body to run to her, but his body was frozen in place.

Rose kept walking until she was only a foot away from him. “Hello,” she said, her voice soft and tender.

The Doctor reached out to touch her, noticing somewhat distantly that his hand was shaking. And when he touched her, she didn’t disappear like she had so many times in his dreams.

He took a deep breath and swayed slightly, then opened his arms to her. Rose laughed and leapt into his embrace, and he held her tight and swung her around.

Finally, he set her back down and rested his hands on her waist. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to speak, but his throat was too tight.

Rose reached up and traced her finger over his left eyebrow, then rested her hand against his cheek. He sighed and pressed a kiss to her palm, smiling when he felt her breath hitch.

“You came back,” he whispered. Stating the obvious, yes, but it was still hard to believe.

She raised her eyebrow. “I told you, didn’t I? I’m never gonna leave you.”

The declaration made the Doctor weak in his knees, just like it had the first time. Three words trembled on the edge of his lips, but before he could say them, an irritated voice interrupted them.

“Excuse me.”

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at the Shadow Architect. Her red eyes burned with aggravation.

“If you could be persuaded to postpone your reunion to a more appropriate time and place, we have a situation at hand.”

“Oi!” Donna leaned over the table and glared at her. “They haven’t seen each other in years. Maybe try giving them a few minutes?”

The Doctor agreed wholeheartedly, but to his chagrin, Rose pulled out of his embrace and took his hand instead. “It’s all right, Donna,” she said. “She has a point.”

The Shadow Architect nodded curtly. “Thank you. Do remember, twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky.”

The Doctor frowned. “Twenty-four?” He remembered, belatedly, that the Architect had said missing planets before.

She raised her eyebrows and gestured at the monitor on the table. “The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor.”

“Which ones? Show me.”

Donna smiled as she watched the Doctor and Rose jog around the table to join the bossy Shadow Architect. The Doctor dropped Rose’s hand just long enough to put his glasses on, then he reached for her again. After years apart, Donna didn’t blame him if he was afraid Rose would disappear.

The woman tapped a control, and the Doctor and Rose leaned forward to watch the monitor. “Locations range far and wide, but all disappeared at the exact same moment, leaving no trace.”

The Doctor squinted at the monitor. “Callufrax Minor. Jahoo. Shallacatop. Woman Wept. Clom.” The Doctor paused in his recitation of planet names. “Clom’s gone?”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Who’d want Clom?”

The Doctor looked up at Rose with a giddy smile on his face that didn’t fit the serious conversation. “Exactly what I was going to ask.”

Oh, God, there’s two of them, Donna realised.

The woman cleared her throat, and they both looked back at her. “They are all different sizes,” she continued. “Some populated, some not. But all unconnected.”

“Not exactly unconnected,” Rose countered. “They did all go missing at the same time.”

Donna started to laugh at that comment, but something about the phrasing triggered a memory. Missing… “What about Pyrovillia?”

The Shadow Architect lifted her head slowly and glared at her. “Who is the female?” she asked, tight lines around her mouth.

Donna tossed her hair back over her shoulder. This was too familiar, too much like her mum. “Donna. I’m a human being,” she spat out. The Shadow Architect drew back slightly, but Donna kept going. “Maybe not the stuff of legend or out of your Holy Texts, but every bit as important as these two, thank you.”

Rose cheered silently as the Shadow Architect blinked several times. The haughty woman had been getting increasingly on her nerves since she’d arrived, and it was good to see her taken down a few pegs.

“What’s Pyrovillia?” she asked, wanting to support Donna.

Donna glared at the Shadow Architect for a moment longer before looking at Rose. “We went to Pompeii, the Doctor and me. And the man, this… fortune teller, he said the planet Pyrovillia had gone missing.”

“Pyrovillia is cold case,” the Judoon captain grunted before anyone could comment. “Not relevant.”

Donna turned to look at him. “How do you mean, cold case?”

The Shadow Architect shook her head and looked away from Donna. “The planet Pyrovillia cannot be part of this. It disappeared over two thousand years ago.”

Rose frowned; something about that didn’t seem right, but she couldn’t put her finger on the problem.

“Yes, yes, hang on,” Donna said, not as easily dismissed as the Shadow Architect had hoped. “But there’s the Adipose breeding planet, too. Miss Foster said that was lost, but that must’ve been a long time ago.”

The Doctor jumped, and Rose had to take half a step back so he didn’t hit her in the face when he threw up his arm in exultation.

“That’s it! Donna, brilliant.” He spun on his heel and addressed the Shadow Architect. “Planets are being taken out of time as well as space,” he explained as he leaned over the computer terminal. “Let’s put this into 3-D.”

He turned a knob, and Rose blinked when the first hologram popped up. One by one the other planets joined it.

“Now, if we add Pyrovillia and Adipose Three.” Two more planets appeared, and the Doctor shook his head. “Something missing,” he mumbled. “Where else, where else, where else? Where else lost, lost, lost, lost. Oh!” He bounced on his toes. “The Lost Moon of Poosh.”

He pressed one final button, then walked to the centre of the room, his eyes on the display all the while. Rose held her breath; the Doctor was clearly expecting something…

Her mouth fell open when the planets that had been scattered haphazardly over the table shifted into a balanced arrangement.

“What did you do?” the Shadow Architect demanded.

“He didn’t do anything,” Rose replied. “This is why these planets were taken—because they fit together, like cogs in a machine.”

The Doctor beamed at her. “Exactly. The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern.” He looked back at the display, shaking his head in admiration. “Oh, that is gorgeous.”

“Hang on,” Donna interrupted. “You said the planets are parts of a machine, Rose. But what’s the machine for?”

The Doctor rubbed his chin. “That is the question,” he admitted.

The Shadow Architect shook her head quickly, her arrogant confidence finally faltering. “Who could design such a thing?”

“Someone tried to move the Earth once before,” he murmured. “Long time ago.” He narrowed his eyes. “Can’t be.”

Rose shivered, despite her leather jacket. She rubbed her hands briskly over her arms, trying to ward off the feeling.

“Rose?”

She blinked and looked up at the Doctor. “I’m fine.” He squinted at her, and she smiled back. “Really, Doctor. Look, you see if you can figure out what’s going on. I’m gonna talk to Donna for a bit.”

Rose sat down on the steps beside Donna, trying to forget the sudden chill she’d felt a moment ago. Like someone walking over my grave.

“Do you think anyone on Earth is still alive?” Donna asked, breaking into Rose’s thoughts.

Rose took in the worry lines around Donna’s eyes and mouth. “Yeah, they’re all right.”

Donna shook her head. “But how can they be?” she argued. “The sun is gone. The atmosphere…”

Rose felt her forehead wrinkle as she considered the question. “I don’t know how,” she admitted. “But I landed on Earth first, before I came here. It must have been right after the Earth moved. I swear, Donna, everyone is fine.”

Donna stared hard at her, then her shoulders relaxed and she let out a long, slow breath. “Thanks.”

A servant appeared with a tray, interrupting Rose’s reply. “You need sustenance,” she said, nodding at the bowls on her tray. “Take the water; it purifies.”

“Thank you,” Rose and Donna replied quietly. They each took a bowl, and the servant bowed, then backed away.

“So, how’d you manage to come back?” Donna asked. “The Doctor said it was impossible.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he likes using that word. I do not think it means what he thinks it means.”

Donna laughed out loud at the quote. “I’ve noticed that. But come on, trapped in a parallel universe seems pretty final.”

Rose set her bowl down and leaned forward. “I will always come back to him,” she said, letting the defiance and determination that had gotten her through the last three years seep into her voice. “It doesn’t matter if he sends me back to Earth or if I’m in a parallel universe. I will always come back.”

The TARDIS sang, and when Rose turned towards her, she thought she saw golden light glowing through the windows. “I am the Bad Wolf,” she murmured.

She shook her head when she heard plimsolls slapping against the floor and smiled at the Doctor as he joined them.

The Doctor smiled back, his train of thought momentarily derailed by the sight of her. Rose was here!

But then he remembered she’d only managed to come back because the stars were going out, which had something to do with the planets being stolen. And he needed to figure out why they’d been stolen so he could bring them back. Then he could have a proper reunion with Rose.

With that stern reminder, he looked at Donna. “Donna, come on, think. Earth. There must’ve been some sort of warning,” he said. “Was anything happening back in your day, like electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?”

She blinked. “Er, no. I don’t think so, no.”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “Are you sure?” he pressed. Donna was the only one of them who had spent a long period of time on Earth shortly before things started to go wrong.

“No, there’s nothing.”

He pressed his lips together and turned to walk back to the computer terminal. There had to be something…

“Although, there were the bees disappearing,” Donna added, before he’d taken a step.

“The bees disappearing,” he echoed, without turning around. She’d mentioned the bees more than once, but colony collapse couldn’t have anything to do with this.

Hang on, what if those weren’t bees? He turned around, meeting Rose’s hopeful gaze. “The bees disappearing,” he repeated, letting the words sink in. And then he had it. “The bees disappearing!”

He bent over the terminal and started typing frantically. Please don’t let the trail be cold.

“How is that significant?” the Shadow Architect asked.

Donna and Rose were both peering over his shoulder in seconds. “On Earth we had these insects,” Donna explained breathlessly. “Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals.”

“Or, they were going back home.” The Doctor typed the last character of the command, then waited impatiently for the computer to turn up some trace of the bees, and hopefully the missing planets.

“What do you mean, back home?” Rose asked.

He didn’t look away from the terminal. “Planet Melissa Majoria.”

“Are you saying bees are aliens?” Donna asked.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so daft. Not all of them. But if the migrant bees felt something coming, some sort of danger, and escaped?” He pointed at the Shadow Architect. “Tandocca,” he pronounced triumphantly.

“The Tandocca Scale,” she breathed.

Before Donna and Rose could ask what they were talking about, he launched into an explanation, speaking so fast the words practically tripped over each other. “Tandocca Scale is the series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small. No wonder we didn’t see it. It’s like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara.”

The terminal beeped, “But look! There it is.” He pointed at the trail of tiny dots moving across the monitor. “The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved the planets was using the same wavelength. We can follow the path.”

“Well, come on then,” Rose called out. The Doctor spun around and grinned when he saw her standing by the TARDIS, holding the door ajar.

Donna and Rose were already inside when he reached the door. “We’re a bit late,” he cautioned as he ran up the ramp.

He leapt in front of the monitor and turned a dial on the console, holding his breath. A moment later, they heard a fuzzy ping as the TARDIS found the trail. “The signal’s scattered, but it’s a start.”

He raced back down the ramp to update the Shadow Architect. Behind him, he could hear Rose setting the coordinates so they could leave immediately.

“I’ve got a blip,” he said. “It’s just a blip, but it’s definitely a blip.”

The Shadow Architect drew herself up. “Then according to the Strictures of the Shadow Proclamation,” she said, her words vibrating with tense energy, “I will have to seize your transport and your technology.”

The Doctor blinked and rocked back on his heels. “Oh, really? What for?”

Her eyes burned with vengeance. “The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor, right across the universe, and you will lead us into battle.”

“Right.” The Doctor swallowed back his anger. “Yes. Course I will.” He gestured over his shoulder as he stepped backwards. “I’ll just go and get you the key.”

Rose threw the dematerialisation lever as soon as the door shut. “I’m not sorry to be leaving them behind.” She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at the Doctor. “As if we’d hand our TARDIS over to that lot!”

The Doctor laughed exuberantly. “Rose Tyler.”

She unbent, just a little. “Yes, Doctor?”

Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor noticed Donna leave the room. He made a mental note to thank her later, then focused his attention on the woman standing in front of him.

“You came back,” he told her as he crossed the remaining feet between them.

Her tongue peeked out between her teeth. “You said that already,” she pointed out.

“I think it’s noteworthy enough to be mentioned twice,” he said drily. “But… on the subject of things I haven’t said before…”

Rose’s eyes widened and he saw the breath hitch in her chest. He smiled and brushed his knuckles over her cheek as he leaned down.

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.

[mentalcurls]

I was thinking back to the kosegruppa/radio party in ep.3 of both Skam S3 and Skam Italia S2, in particular the “Call your girlfriend”/”Self control” scenes, and  I kept going back to how different they feel. The change in the vibe reflects perfectly the characters in the two series, it’s one of those scenes that I think highlights how different a story Martino and Niccolò’s is from Isak and Even’s.

It’s pretty obvious what makes the feel of the two scenes, aka:

the light (blue on Skam; the mother****ing red light LudoBesse loves so much in Skam Italia) 

the songs.

“Call your girlfriend” feels more pointed, Isak is watching Even and Sonja make out and the lyrics sound like a request/suggestion Isak would want to make of Even if/when they got together. But Isak’s actually watching Emma at first, during the part that says “Call your girlfriend / It's time you had the talk / Give your reasons / Say it's not her fault”, so that it seems he’s more focused on himself in that moment, and the song applies to his situation with her pretty well: it’s not her fault he’s not into her and not even pretending to be, the same way he had with past girlfriends, the way he would maybe have pretended to be had he not met Even, and he should tell her. Then the song says “But you just met somebody new” and it that specific second Isak focuses on Even and starts watching him, stealing glances in his direction. And then Robyn sings “And now it's gonna be me and you” and Even looks at Isak and the eyefuck happens and for a sec they’re the only two people in the room in Isak’s perception, to the point his mouth goes slack despite Emma still trying to kiss him. And like, this is a fun, boppy song and it is wildly different from what is going on with Isak and Even right then. The singer/protagonist of the song is happy and confident in her relationship with her partner and she asks them to break up with their girlfriend (and how beautifully gender neutral is this song? It’s only ever “you���, “we” and “somebody new”) to be with her for good; the singer isn’t malicious, she doesn’t want to purposefully hurt the girlfriend, which fits perfectly with Isak’s reaction to Even telling him he told Sonja about them, but that’s a couple of weeks in the future compared to the party. At the party Isak still hasn’t fully accepted his feelings towards Evene and he’s not even sure Even is into him - it’s possibly that very eyefuck that convinces him, paired with the conversation and near kiss in the kitchen later. So it’s an aspirational song, it’s kind of a daydream of Isak’s about the gorgeous boy who’s turning his heart upside down. And after Isak and Even lock eyes, the music builds and builds and we watch Isak, who can barely blink, can’t think, can’t keep track of Emma until he closes his eyes and tears himself forcibly form that interaction. And the crescendo matches Isak’s heartbeat, cause he’s getting hit all at once by the reality that yes, this guy that makes his knees go weak is really looking at him like he wants to eat him alive, despite the girls between them. It’s confirmation.

On the other hand, we have Marti and Nico and “Self control”. The red light would turn anything sexy on it’s own, but this is also clearly a sexy song since it is about losing control with someone, because of someone (oh, those lovely thinly veiled 80’s metaphors). Like Isak, Marti at first is looking at Emma, then turns to Niccolò, except that he’s looking at Emma for a much shorter time than Isak was looking at his Emma (Marti 8 seconds, Isak 18 seconds); as for the lyrics, they’re in first person so they should reflect Marti’s thoughts, so that means he considers “the night” his “world” and that he thinks “in the day nothing matters”; at the words “it's the nighttime that flatters” Marti turns to look at Niccolò, though I don’t think they really mean anything in in relation to their situation, it’s just a general positive sentiment towards the night, because it’s a metaphor! The night might be a reference to the “dark” of the secrets Marti keeps, first and foremost his sexuality because he’s in the closet, and more in general his true feelings (i.e. his feelings towards his parents, his guilt for breaking Gio and Eva up) and the things that, in his mind, reveal who he truly is (very self deprecating perception at this point in his story); on the other hand, the “daytime” is the time when he has to keep his mask of apathy-sadness-lying-hiding on, except it is, in fact, a mask, so it doesn’t matter, he is a “creature of the night” and his true thoughts and desires (including his attraction to Niccolò) are a thing of the night. And they’re uncontrolled (“in the night no control”) and they’re threatening to burst into his day-life too (“Through the wall something breakin'”) because of Niccolò, who has been instrumental in the slow-building earthquake that is gonna make his castle of lies crumble (3.4 Argentina, Nico says Marti left the earplugs on the bus while Marti had told his friends he’d been with his mom) and who is wearing a white t-shirt just as the song says “wearin' white as you're walkin' / down the streets of my soul”. Then it goes on “you take my self, you take my self control” and Emma tugs Marti down to kiss her, “you got me livin' only for the night” and Marti looks at Nico again, “before the morning comes the story's told” and Niccolò looks at Marti himself “you take my self, you take my self control.” BAM! The most important words of the song! And exactly the thing that’s happening to both of them: Marti and Nico are both keeping their distance from one another, Marti cause he’s hurt by Nico going hot’n’cold on him, Nico cause he likes him but Maddalena and, most of all, but BPD, but they are irresistibly drawn to one another, so they have no self control. The song continues while they’re staring at each other (“another night another day goes by / I never stop myself to wonder why”) but the lyrics don’t seem significant to me; the thing that strikes me dead like lighting bolt every time is Niccolò angling himself and Maddalena so he can look at Marti more easily and better. Like, whoah. Also, the camera goes back and forth between Marti and Nico, while in the Skam og scene it was on Isak for most of the time during the eyefuck. And this time, it’s not only Marti that loses his focus on kissing Emma, but Niccolò too can’t keep up with his and Maddalena’s kiss. This speaks volumes. They’re exactly in the same boat, this is not a blatant declaration of interest just from Niccolò that hits Marti like a train, this is mutual and they’re both equally affected, this is a challenge. And the song is not aspirational in the way “Call your girlfriend” was, like a daydream about prince charming sweeping Marti off his feet the way it was for Isak, this is aspirational as in “put your money where you mouth is” or more precisely “come put your mouth where you’re eyes are”, they’re recognizing one another as kindred “creatures of the night” that are fatally drawn to one another. Then Niccolò looks away cause Maddalena break the kiss off, possibly because he wasn’t responding anymore, and Marti keeps watching him a bit longer while the singer sings “You're makin' me forget to play my role / you take my self, you take my self control” and that’s so important! That lyric about Niccolò making him forget to play his role, it’s one more reference to the way having Nico in his life makes it impossible for Marti to keep his mask (the mask he’ll throw away a week later in front of St. Peter’s) firmly on. There’s something else: “Self control” has two versions that were both released in 1984, the one we hear in the episode by Raf (who wrote it in the first place) and one by Laura Branigan. It might just have been easier to get the authorization for the Raf version because he’s Italian, but it’s the one that in my opinion works better to describe his situation: in fact, the songs are nearly identical, except for the lyric “You're makin' me forget to play my role” (Raf) that becomes “You help me to forget to play my role” in the Branigan version. And like. No. Nico is an explosive thing in Marti’s life, their mutual attraction forces Martino to take a long hard look at his life and make some decisions, so the more forceful verb “make” here works much better than the softer “help” that could have worked if, for example, it’d been Gio.

[gurguliare]

i haven’t done an ep reaction post in a while so here goes, s3 episode 10, “fire and blood,” i can’t even make fun of the title because i don’t really care and i loved it

actually to briefly touch on things from the last few forest party eps that i liked: ‘two hands’---god that was pretty cheesy and yet i am forever thankful that these things happen to hella varal. i love it. “there’s no outside.” hella’s going to carve her own horrendous outside at the cost of thousands of lives, screw you.

when the sword turns into a window!! bye!

“it’s like violins laughing.” also “the volumetric sound fades out until it’s coming from a single point in space, from her” i HATE austin WALKer

adaire/hella is killing me. “you talk too much to TOO MANY people.” adaire pretending to help move crates because mirrored body language makes friends trust you! right? right??

i don’t know why but it’s really cute how they all like, sleep on cots (??) in the middle of a field (???) with their armor apparently not on them but perhaps heaped in a pile also in the field (?????)

do you ever think about how hadrian and hella each separately go to sleep every night and dream about a god they want to bang giving them the silent treatment. or like, maybe hella and adelaide have fulfilling hate sex and hadrian and samot play scrabble, i don’t know

ok ok so fire and blood. i can’t believe i have to refer to my fav ep of the season so far as “fire and blood.” First off: ... this art reminded me that i... idk i keep frustratedly trying to reconcile the “paladin are former people turned into mindless automata by hem hem devotion” thing from s1 with “paladin are constructed robots” from marielda onwards, i guess, and i also keep going back and forth on how i feel about the ordennan suit-of-armor-full-of-machinery paladin, or w/e, vs the living statue stuff from before... um, so i was thinking, what if what ordenna found in nacre was like... not just ‘plans,’ but---okay so i’m building up to a terracotta soldiers joke. that’s it that’s my idea. what if they found this hollow clay army in tristero’s grave

this obviously apropos of austin talking about the different anchor models and the ones with weirdly individual features... i love the terracotta soldiers so much. anyway i also think this would be fun because: ordennans interpreting the nacre paladin as grave goods when actually they just stopped working after tristero died? lol? ordennans like, ‘oh huh, ceramic images in place of actual human sacrifice’ HA HA HA DO I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU

moving on. of course the ordennan word for “rank” is “sacrifice,” i’m not really coming around on Fantasy Totalitarianism Island but i appreciate every gesture towards just. making it weird. making it a little gross.

hadrian and the anchor in the woods were cute

a moment of connection? or it took one look at hadrian and decided to play dumb?

king squirrel got a touch redwall for me but on the other hand “i’m not a person” is a pretty hot pitch, thorondir

i was going to make a joke about wishing austin had let hella betray the fuckin weaver king to the ordennans but now i can’t make the joke because i’m so happy with hella’s arc in this!! just! “won’t help, won’t help, will pettily stab one of my fucking allies under the guise of ‘helping’ because i don’t want to be here, won’t help, ugh, god, what’s the least helpful help-like action i could take here, i’ll dump the bodies---” and then like. doctor general finds her! and she’s still on her knees thinking tactically, maybe she can lead him off, and thinking that she opens her mouth and WHAT FUCKING COMES OUT

“you know exactly who I am”

Why is she like this. why. just that split second pivot, i love her. and like, moonlit smoky clearing! she stabs his prone body in the head and has to step on his chest to wrench her sword out! thorondir fucking up with his plate, she just picks hers up and reads it---

also the director’s commentary about the destruction here vs the destruction of nacre lmao. l m a o. hella just like, sitting through it, thinking about how she was so happy last time, and this is unpleasant. what conclusions can be drawn? NONE TBH SHE ONLY ACTS IN CASE HER COWORKERS DIE

i think their reasoning behind her rolling a fucking 1 for damage when she’s at the head of the anchor makes sense, blood loss and all that, but i also like to imagine that having instantly identified that she’s won the battle for everyone she just. like. strolls through it. swings her sword lazily + one-handed screw YOU moth QUEEN

of course hadrian is unreservedly proud of hella for saving the day with an army of robots, powered by blood magic

“only one person has to say yes, and they’ll die.” “yes!”

the calhoun callback. this sucks.