#this made Red flags my favorite episode for-fucking-ever

[lavoixhumaine]

Tim Minear, I got a fucking bone to pick with you.

How the fuck did Nick and Nora, made during the infamous Hays Code era by the way, make out more times than Bobby and Athena? Like I’m not counting (I am and it is zero) but how is that exactly possible?

The film’s characters, supposedly married, weren’t even allowed for sleep in one bed because of those ridiculous rules and yet they seemed to convey more affection and sexual tension.

Meanwhile, you have no such restrictions with these actors today. We’re not even asking them to have movie magic sex, sir. We were just hoping for some actual fun sleuthing adventures with our favorite chaotic couple.

—because that was the expectation you set when you said they were going to be like The Thin Man.

(This should have been a red flag honestly because—in my opinion—apart from “The Thrilling Adventure Hour’s Beyond Belief” with Frank and Sadie Doyle, there has never been a truly good adaptation or inspired piece of The Thin Man which actually has led me to think it’s some kind of curse on its own, like a mini-Macbeth)

How do you reference The Thin Man regarding the episode you wrote? Like sir, Nick and Nora were a rich, chaotic, drunk honeymooning, sleuthing couple with a funny little dog who just happened to solve crimes for funsies because the wise-cracking wife and her cute little nose would not let her husband stay out of trouble.

They made sleuthing look fun and marriage seem sexy which was already a revolutionary idea in the silver screens of the 1930s…like that is the complete opposite of what you wrote in “Abandon ‘Ships”, Mr. Minear. Did you even watch the movies or did someone just say, ‘hey, you know those black and white movies…?’

I don’t mind what you did in the episode. I mind that you uttered complete bullshit about it saying it’s like The Thin Man movies because, no, hell no. Not even close. I really don’t get how you pulled that comment from your ass, sir. Respectfully.

So did you lie or did you just choose to reference the film series because this is another jab at the Oscars? Because as it happens, they also presented the actress who played Nora, Myrna Loy (sidenote: everyone knew she should have won for the 1946 film “The Best Years of Our Lives”) an Honorary Oscar.

So what I’m actually saying is, you kinda suck for lying through your stupid teeth, Tim Minear. So like go kick rocks or something. And maybe don’t ever speak of The Thin Man again if you’re just gonna lie about it.

[thecleverqueer]

Random Thoughts on Star Wars Ships (Part One)

First, I’m going to focus on toxic Star Wars ships that I absolutely despise. There are three. They are all canon. Some of them are more serious than others, but all of them are incredibly pernicious and problematic. To say they’re my “least favorite” would be selling my hatred of them short, but yeah… the word “loathe” comes to mind. They are as follows:

1.) Luxsoka (aka Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri)

This is my least favorite ship of them all because watching it unfold at times was physically painful. Part of me doesn’t understand it, but the other part of me knows that it was likely just a tepid attempt by Filoni egged on by Lucas to make Ahsoka more relatable. It didn’t work.

I guess the premise didn’t start out too bad with “Heroes on Both Sides” aside from the fact that it sort of felt forced and completely unnecessary, but holy fuck did it go off the rails fast!

Lux’s behavior in “A Friend in Need” was completely unacceptable and inexcusable. I mean, less than 10 minutes into that episode, Lux is threatening to shoot Ahsoka with a deadly firearm, followed by him stunning her unconscious, stealing her ship, hiding her lightsabers from her, then meeting up with known terrorists with anti-Jedi sentiment and history of violence against Jedi. Then, there’s the unwanted kiss. He just sort of grabs her and kisses her against her will to shut her up. She tries to wiggle herself out of it, and when she finally succeeds you can tell she’s PISSED. Rightfully so. Technically, that’s sexual assault. The episode ends with Ahsoka somehow being more fond of him, I guess… I assume it’s related to trauma. I don’t know.

Anyway, the last time we see them together is in the Onderon arc, Lux has fallen for and appears to be in a romantic relationship with Steela Gerrera, and Ahsoka finds a way get over him, which, good for her. It takes two episodes (of a four episode arc) of her being completely insufferable, but she gets there. Ahsoka deserved better anyway. By the end of the arc, she sort of does this attaboy shoulder slug to Lux after Steela kisses him for luck. By that point, Ahsoka probably also found Steela to be pretty hot, and at least one of them got to kiss her. Steela should have kissed you, Ahsoka, but we can’t win them all.

Filoni basically said he was experimenting with this anyway, and I would say that this particular experiment was an abject failure. I’m just glad that it fizzed out before it ever became anything. It was trash. Utter fucking trash.

2.) Anidala (aka Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala)

This is another toxic relationship that I don’t really understand. No. I mean, I do get it. It’s a plot point that gets us to a specific place in a character’s development.

It’s unfortunate really. Padme is supposed to be this badass strong, independent woman, and yet, she blatantly ignores countless red flags during “Attack of the Clones” that should have made her turn away… Anakin being generally creepy, crossing her boundaries, frequently interrupting her, admitting to being a dictatorial fascist… I guess I could technically write all of that off because sometimes your brain short-circuits when you’re in love, and you miss red flags. But… genocide? That was a bridge too far. She should have ran. She should have reported the incident to the Jedi council, but she didn’t because she’s “in love” and actually just a prop.

Their relationship didn’t get much better during the Clone Wars. Anakin guilted her often when she chose duty over desire, something her role in the galaxy required. It was also pretty apparent that Anakin didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her based on the way he acted during the Rush Clovis arcs. There was a point where it felt like their relationship should have ended during season six. Padme needed a break, and told Anakin that she just couldn’t do it anymore after Anakin brutally beat the dog shit out of Clovis. But then, more trauma. Maybe the moral of the story is to avoid “romantic” relationships when you’re in the midst of a traumatic experience because it’s going to end badly, I don’t know.

Then he kills her in “Revenge of the Sith”. Well. He force chokes her and she dies of a broken heart… and then he proceeds to lose his shit, force crushing an entire room with overwhelming emotion (say what you will about the Jedi and their obsession with not forming attachments and overcoming feelings but… *gestures vaguely at this incident right here*).

It’s just an incredibly disastrous toxic sludge of a relationship. And, I know I was more vague about this one, but honestly, I could write a novel about it… so, I’ll spare you.

3.) Reylo (aka Rey Palpatine/Skywalker and Kylo Ren)

I hate this one too… mainly because Kylo tells Rey that she’s “nothing” except to him in “The Last Jedi” and that bothers me. This is something a narcissist might say to someone they’re abusing and gaslighting in an attempt to make them stick around, and that is just gross.

If Rey had actually been a nobody, it may have been less offensive, but she’s a fucking Palpatine. She’s not a nobody. Her grandfather (who isn’t actually her “grandfather” as her father was just a Palpatine clone, and goddamn, I’m going to need a better explanation for all of that shit because it just makes me dizzy, but I digress) was an oppressive emperor that reigned in terror for decades. She’s far from a nobody. In fact, Kylo’s grandfather (actual grandfather, not a clone) was Palpatine’s bitch. He should at least show her a little respect.

He was also generically mean to her during the entire sequel trilogy.

This one ended in death too, but at least it was Kylo’s and not Rey’s death. Again, Rey exhibited this weird mental exercise where she sees Kylo Ren and Ben Solo as two different people instead of them being one-in-the-same (much like the mental gymnastics that everyone does with Vader), so she tries to validate the whole thing. But, he’s an asshole too. She should have faced it.

[hide-in-imagination]

10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags

(Do animes count? skdjfnds) I was tagged on this like 84 years ago, I'm so sorry it took me this long sdkfjns. Thank you @annamiasworld and @countessofravenclaw ❤️

Simón Álvarez | Soy Luna

Listen, if I hadn't fallen in love with this man, I never would've finished even the first season of Soy Luna, and I never would've started writing fanfiction, so it's safe to say that he changed my life forever, okay? (And yes there's a pic of the Friendzone scene there BECAUSE IT GAVE ME 20 YEARS OF LIFE)

2. Stiles | Teen Wolf

"I'm 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bones. Sarcasm is my only defense."

He's smart, he's sarcastic, he's dorky-- He's perfect. Honestly? I don't know if my obsession with guys wearing plaid shirts came from before or if it started with this guy. That's huge.

3. Killian Jones / Captain Hook | Once Upon a Time

This man. This man. I think he made my expectations in men go so high that I'll die alone. Do not get fooled by the whole pirate thing; this guy is the sweetest, and he's not a villain; he's a hero. This show also marked a before and after in my life, so it has to be here.

4. Thiago | Casi Ángeles

This whole show was toxic as fuck due to the years it aired, but it means so much to me. My obsession with Thiago back in the days was... almost psychotic 😂ksdjfnsk. But it was very fun❤️ There are parts in this show that make me cry to this day. And the songs. The songs.

5. Daenerys Targaryen | Game of Thrones

MY QUEEN, WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU.

Listen, if you believe the shit that D&D pulled on Dany was okay, we can not be friends. In fact, this is a deal-breaker for me. If any future prospect of a boyfriend agreed with the ending of this show, I would call things off immediately because that is a red flag, my friends. A big, fat red flag.

6. Will Herondale | The Infernal Devices - Cassandra Clare

“Are you implying that shreds of my reputation remain intact?" Will demanded with mock horror. "Clearly I have been doing something wrong. Or not something wrong, as the case may be." He banged on the side of the carriage. "Thomas! We must away at once to the nearest brothel. I seek scandal and low companionship.”

My book husband. The perfect imperfect man. I could say so much but ugh, it wouldn't be enough. The sarcasm and the wit are such a minimal part of it, even if lovely. This guy is just... so strong to have survived what he survived, to have lived how he lived. So incredibly kind and selfless and... I just love him, your honor.

7. Percy Jackson | PJO & Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan

Another book love. I love these books so much. I believe these are the first books I ever fully read in English?? Because the Spanish fan translations were terrible skjfdns. So, it pushed me to make my English better, for which I'm incredibly grateful.

And look at him. He's gorgeous. And also sarcastic and dorky. Do I have a type? Yes.

8. Izuku Midoriya (Deku) | Boku No Hero

Sunshine boy that has never done anything wrong in his life. Cinnamon roll, too good of this world, too pure. Must be protected at all costs. Fuck Katsuki Bakugou.

Also, look at him, he's so hot.

(Honorable mention here of Hinata from Haikyuu because he's also sunshine boy)

9. Armin Arlet | Shingeki no Kyojin

He's SO. SMART. I LOVE that about him. And he's so brave of my fucking god. I don't trust people who don't like his character, honestly. What would Shingeki be without him? Eren and Mikasa would've been dead in episode 1. Everyone would've died like 10 times without Armin. Without Armin, they were all screwed. Armin is so damn cool and not enough people realize that. #AppreciateArminArlet2023

10. Oz | Pandora Hearts

My son. I can not close this list without mentioning him or this manga. It's such an important part of my life. It's probably my favorite manga, and do you know how huge that is when I've read over 300 mangas?

He was so cute, cool, and internally fucked up skdjnfs. A great combination. Look at him smile.

(AND THE RABBITS WERE ALWAYS FUCKING THERE, WEREN'T THEY? WE WERE SO BLIND.)

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

I could mention a hundred more manga and anime characters but I'm going to control myself. As always, I'm tagging my babes @you-are-important-nina and @theuniversezecho It should be 10 tags, but when have I ever followed that rule? 😂 Anyway, anyone else who wants to do it is free to do so! <3

[ven7s]

nah cuz i just finished weak hero class 1 and that shit was so fucking good 😭😭. so many emotions and just wow the acting was phenomenal and the way the whole series was filmed and the ost was all just so perfect and contributed sm to how the drama turned out. and even though a lot of things were lowk diff from the webtoon it still stuck with the mainplot which i thought was weird at first but after finishing it props to the director and writer bc it turned out so well. specifically bc i felt more emotionally invested in beom seok then with bryce in the webtoon (more on this l8r)

and also im p much caught up on the webtoon but this drama still had me at the edge like 😧 i knew what was going to happen but i was still nervous asf and it was so thrilling

WEAK HERO CLASS 1 SPOILERS UNDER CUT !!!!

like i knew that beom seok wld eventually betray them but i still lowk got attached bc of how it was just so nice to see them all together laughing and having fun. and i knew the slight red flags like when beom seok checked his instagram and soo hos instagram to see if he followed back but it was just so... 🙁🙁 nice to see them together it made me so happy😭

but yeah the mix of emotions i had for beom seok.. like i hate him. hes a coward and he did irredeamable things but at the same time i feel for him. no child should go thru that type of abuse and neglect from anyone. especially from people who are there to nurture and love...

i think yk that and him being bullied in his previous school contributed A LOT as to why he turned out the way he is. ofc its not an excuse, its never an excuse but i think its def an explanation.

but i really got so angry when specifically he hired the guy to beat up soo ho for the like the 3rd time and after the boxing scene when he went up and started kicking soo ho on the head and stomach repeatedly. and also when he started to cry after realizing that soo ho wasnt breathing and how he was in a coma like mfw...😭?? not to mention the way he continued to blame young yi for the friendship falling apart.. like bro...you did that to yourself ☠️

but the thing is i dont think ill ever be able to fully hate him ??? ITS SUCH A WEIRD AND COMPLEX FEELING. like i genuinely believe that if he grew up in a loving and stable home he wldve never turned out like that. he wldve been such a sweet person😭😭. and ik that not all abuse victims turn out to be terrible people like him but idk i feel like he rlly wldve been so much better if he grew up with parents who genuinely wanted him and not just as a public stunt. even if he got therapy i think he wldve improved lowk.

but like man when episode 8 started off with all of them in the classroom on cleaning duty, just laughing and being friends that fr broke me 😕 + that whole scene when si eun was gettting revenge but couldnt hit beom seok and left the classroom and when people tried to stop him he like ounched the window next to him and started screaming LIKE MANN THAT HIT SO HARD😭😭😭 cuz hes supposed to be the smart composed person but when he started yelling it just hurt so bad 🫠

and man when i saw the eunjang sign,, the way i legit screamed ☠️☠️ IM SO EXCITED 😭

ALSO,, even though i havent watched a lot of dramas this year i think this drama is definitely one of the best, at least, its my personal favorite. and i might be biased bc ive been reading weak hero since i was in middle skl and it has a special place in my heart but idc its literally so well done😭😭 anyways my god this got way too long LMFAO and to anyone whos still reading this thanks for listening to my ramble and look at these photos from the actors instagrams 😭😭

TLDR: weak hero manhwa > weak hero kdrama but the kdrama was still pretty good wish they stuck more to the og manhwa but it turned out good so im not thaaat mad about it and im actually very psyched for s2 to come out and tbh just grateful we got a kdrama😭 +++ the OST is absolutely wonderful😞

[mcpercky]

Manifest

Hello all! So this are my opinions about manifest. I just finished watching the show today (season 4 part 2) and I have some thoughts that I need to write. Mostly they are for me so I remember in the future not to watch this show again after the roller coaster of emotions that I just went through but I also hope that someone also thinks the same as me in some of the points I make. Anyway I just want to make a disclaimer to say that I know we all have different opinions and that’s okay! So here it goes guys my personal opinions about this show (good and bad). 👽

Negative points of the show for me:

- first of course Jared. He was a red flag throughout the entire show. Pissed me off every time he appeared. Always trying something with someone who didn’t wanted, always had doubts about him and had different vision of the future but he still insists in trying to be with her. (He also fucked her two best friends). (Couldn’t fuck the other bc was dead). Anyway that was all love 🙄.

- michaela really disappointed me this last season part 2 bc what the fuck was that ? That was so out of character! Last two seasons she was devoted to Zeke and then this season he was in the glow and bla bla bla and she went not even 5 mins later to be with Jared? Like what was the point of all that? It just made me hater and she was one of my favorites but like if you can talk about your dead husband with people and say he was amazing and made you be better and on the next shot you are fucking the other guy? Do not disrespect Zeke Landon like that (best character on the show)! At that point (do not even know what episode was like 5? 6? ) just be with Jared, you are both trash and deserve each other. (Attention: I love both actors! I’m happy that they are together in real life but his character was a giant red flag).

- how it ended. It was bittersweet for sure. I didn’t like it honestly. I was hoping some of them would be able to remember like Zeke and Vance and even Jared and Andrea. I was really sad about Olive and TJ but this last season they barely had scenes together! I was so confuse and sometimes they appear on the same frame but wouldn’t talk?? Like what happened? We’re the writers preparing us for the end?

- Eden. Most useless character ever. Was not needed at all. This season barely appear. Last season you could have put Angelina with other obsession and it would have been the same 🥱

- Older Cal. I really don’t have a motive to this one. I just don’t like older Cal. It was too weird to me.

- Andrea deserves better than Jared! Anyone at this point deserves better than someone as Jared. If any of you liked Jared and want a Jared please do the sacrifice then and thank you for your service! 😂

Positives:

- Zeke was an amazing character! Love him so much. His first appearance I was reluctant bc I thought he might be a bad guy but boy was I wrong. And I’m so glad I was.

- Vance. Such a bad ass character! Love him! Nothing else to say. (I was hoping he would remember at the end, was kind sad but the ending made sense).

- Olive grew so much as character after the first time she was introduced. I thought I wouldn’t like her but ended up loving her. Her story with TJ was so sweet before again the writers messed up. At this point I just think writers don’t know how to end shows bc they all end like shit.

- Troy. Second character but so good as well. I was hoping Sanvi would choose him instead of Ben bc Ben to me is weird. This guy named Troy who was introduced in the lad was always so sweet and caring. Love you Troy!

- TJ. Good character. A little erase in season 4 but I think the actor was doing other things which good for him ☺️. I like that he reunited with his mom but sad that he lost Olive. After Mick and Zeke they were my favorite couple.

- Sanvi. Crazy but I like her.

- last but not least a character that really surprised me. Andrea. She is a better person than me bc I would say fuck you Jared! She was an amazing friend to Mick even after everything. Such a bad ass as well. Love her!

The story itself was really good and I loved how everything was connected 😏 the characters love affair in this last season part 2 was so unnecessary that hurt to watch.

Angelina was such a good villain. The actress was amazing. Congrats to her did an amazing job I hope she is nominated for an award!

Eagen was always pissing me off but I like how it ended. The same with his friend. (Forgot the name)

To me the best couple is still Zekaela but for my peace of mind Mick never went after Jared after Zeke went to the final glow. It’s too out of character for me. Second fav if Olive and TJ so I will pretend they are still together.

(Note: I also don’t like Grace. 😂 I don’t know why but there’s something about her that I don’t like. Same with Ben. I can’t explain)

Anyway these are my opinions I might have forgotten some if so I will add later in a repost until then I can’t remember more.

Like I said the show is different for everyone, we all like different things and have different opinions which is great. 😌 I hope you guys liked the show, I did but after part 2 it’s definitely not a comfort show for me like I wanted and I will not watch it again 😂 but I did like the story, it was really well written that part at least. (On contrary of this text probably but it’s 4:30 AM and I had to take this off my mind, also English is not my native language so I don’t really care if there’s mistakes until the afternoon).

To all of you who were in this Manifest journey, it was a pleasure! 😙

828 ride or die ✈️

[wolfewritings]

Warning: Long and Personal

Damn, the person I dated and fell in love with doesn't exist in any meaningful capacity anymore, huh. They really are living the life they want to deserve.

I really was too good for them for how they treated and actually felt about me. The relationship was never going to get better, giving them the benefit of doubt was more than they deserved. They were always going to roll their eyes when I said I loved them, and they were never going to *say* they loved me no matter how often they texted/messaged "I love you" first. I was only as attractive/desirable as the task they needed me for. Was their own therapist telling them our relationship was not only healthy but beneficial to them the breaking point, or was it a challenge?; If it was ever really said in the first place. Did I do anything to make them change their mind about me and the relationship, or was it just no longer worth the effort to lie about why the relationship existed to begin with? They were the first (and so far only) person I felt sexually attracted to, and they still accused me of only being in a relationship with them for the sex we hadn't and would never have. Was I actually the most comforting thing/person they could think of to keep themself from dissociating? They sent me the most gut-wrenching description of their dissociative episodes and how they wanted me to help them through them in the future, but didn't want me near them. They told me exactly how they wanted to be cared for and supported in every possible mood and every flavor of shutdown or overstimulation or panic attack, only to accuse me of infantilizing them when I tried to do so. They said they wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in my arms damn-near daily, but they never wanted to be close to me.

The person I dated and fell in love with was perpetually chugging monsters and sleep deprived; we had similar/same interests and political views and also similar trauma from familial neglect and coping with depression from said trauma; they delayed going to college for photography so they could spend 6 months in South Korea; their Instagram was their portfolio and they made a travel blog to document where they went and what they did; they struggled and were overwhelmed and I wanted to do nothing more than hold them tightly and reassure them; they were happy everytime they got tattoos to better express their body; they trusted me more than anyone else; they came back briefly over Christmas and saw me at work to get away from their family for even a little bit; we made playlists for each other to listen to to feel loved by the other; they sent me a playlist they had spent over half the year working on that expressed how they viewed and felt about themself and their struggles that no one else had heard; I made a list of their preferred/favorite foods and a guide of their extended family; they painted me their favorite flower for valentines day because I couldn't think of what my favorite would be; we said "I love you" daily; we painted pots in the park that we bought at Home Depot; I woke up happy every single day and felt loved every single day; their therapist said our relationship was exactly what they needed to heal from their trauma; I helped them move in and unpack their apartment; I helped them shop for the odds and ends they needed and saw their happy stim in Home Goods; they made me blueberry-lemon bread for my birthday.

And I was ignoring red flags from before even the word "go" under the guise of "I don't know them well enough to judge them for that."

Shortly after their therapist praised our relationship, their attitude and mood took a hard turn. They instigated arguements almost once a weak that would require multiple paragraphs to try to break down and mend and reshape and redefine boundaries and protocols but things were okay between those times. Eventually, I woke up in the middle of the night to an hour-long string of texts telling me to "fuck off", "leave [them] the fuck alone", and "shut the fuck up". The last thing I had texted them was goodnight, 3 hours prior. 90% of my entire being was telling me to drop them then and there; tell them "fine" and block or ignore them if they tried to justify it. I chose to listen to the 10% that wanted to still have them in my life and get our relationship back to how things were. The explanation they gave was that the first shift at their job didn't do enough so they had to stay an extra 30 minutes late. I thought our relationship started to get better and return to normal. Then they broke up with me a month later.

The reason they gave was that they could tell I wasn't happy, but also that they had too much to do in regards to potential school and work to maintain a relationship and that they had started to struggle with feeling depressed but refused to talk to anyone about it. They still wanted to be friends, but their definition of "being friends" was just how our relationship had been but without us talking consistently, or at all unless they initiated first. They later also admitted that they had been wanting to breakup with me for about 3 months prior and every day of us having a normal relationship was them pretending to make it easier on themself.

Trying to be their definition of friends but still making sure they were okay and expressing that I stilled cared about them was difficult and broke me mentally. For the better part of a month, the vilest parts of my brain wouldn't stop mish-mashing "real" reasons they broke up with me until eventually I "ghosted" them for two weeks to see what would happen. Once I stopped ghosting them, I apologized and explained why I did so. They left me on read, with no acknowledgment of what i said or had happened; I broke a little again; they left me on read for an entire day and I broke more. I messaged them again saying I was genuine and wanted to apologize for acting the way I acted; they left me on read for another day and I broke even more; I have them more days to respond/acknowledge anything I had said. Then I wrote paragraph upon paragraph explaining in detail both how broken our "friendship" made me think and feel and the exact "real" reasons my brain had made for them breaking up with me; and that unless I got confirmation that it was all in my head and everything they said was what they meant and how they felt, I would block/delete them and go about trying to move on with my life and getting closure with the relationship in my own way and on my own, but ill give them time to talk about it all with their therapist first. They respond in a couple hours saying they'll talk to their therapist first and they'll text me after their next session.

The last thing the person I dated and fell in love with said to me was "I don't need or want you in my life, now or in the future. Do with that what you will." They were blocked and deleted from everything we were connected on within a couple minutes.

It took me 2 months, a Philosophy Tube video, and absent-mindedly reading an askreddit threat on emotional abuse/manipulation later to realize they might have been emotionally manipulating me from one of the first texts they had ever sent me. Not only behavior patterns, but exact phrases and sentiments, word for word. It took me the rest of the year to accept they were manipulative, with the possibility of them being emotionally abusive as well, and to talk to even one person about it. It took me a total of 2 years to even download a dating app to try and fully move on and sever them from my thoughts.

But that entire time, I was compelled to check their Instagram, paranoid that they were talking shit about me; that they were bragging about what had happened; checking their travel blog to see if anything had changed on it. But there was nothing except a post about them buying a car. Then their Instagram is deleted, and their travel blog's domain expires. And I feel a sense of relief, and schadenfreude. I'm relieved for a while, until the paranoia and all its attached to kicks in. So I check their tiktok. Their profile picture is still the person I dated and fell in love with. But the videos are the person that I cut out of my life, with not a shred of the personality I had believed they had. But I feel schadenfreude at how they describe their most recent relationship and how bad it ended. And I feel relieved again.

Now, I'm accepting they never felt anything about me. I meant nothing to them. I'm never going to mean anything to them. I am too good for them. They never deserved me. I've spent a year of my life, 2 years of my mental anguish, and months of nights crying myself to sleep on someone that never deserved anything from me and probably never thought twice about me.

There are better people that deserve the love I have; and the comfort and support I want to give.

I do hope their therapist is doing well and is/was properly compensated for whatever they actually talked about.

[suckitsurveys]

Do you use the Oxford Comma? I see a lot of debates on this. Who gives a fuck about the Oxford Comma? Me, I do.

Do you enjoy baking? if so, what’s the last thing you made? I do. I don’t do it often but I enjoy it when I do. I made pumpkin bread the other day. How much are gas prices in your part of the world? They’re getting better. They were over $5 a gallon recently. What are your favorite activities when the weather warms up? Going to the beach! How many objects around you are purple? A lot. Including a wall in this room.

Do you enjoy gardening? I do. Do you have any stories about bad weather you’ve experienced? Yeah, our basement flooded really bad once. Are you a playlist making type of person or do you just shuffle all of your songs? I make playlists. My “liked” songs on Spotify are ALL over the place so I don’t like to shuffle that list.

What are your favorite type of rocks? igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic? Whichever of those are shiny. Let’s say you would make great money doing so.. would you ever be a beekeeper? In a heartbeat. Do you have any concerts you’re planning on attending? I’d really like to go see Post Malone and Harry Styles, but I also don’t wanna spend the money to do so. Would reading minds really be a good super power? or just stressful? Both. March 8th is International Women’s day! Who are some inspiring women in your life? My friends. Do you think corn belongs in a stir fry or should it be left out? I don’t care. If you had to choose only 1 thing to eat for 1 month.. what would it be? Sushi. Do you enjoy amusement park rides or are you more into the food like me? I like the aesthetic the most. When was the last time you went on a nice, relaxing walk? Last week. Have you ever had to crawl through your windows because you locked yourself outside? Yes. Are you a country music fan? I like some. Do you have the cilantro ‘tastes like soap’ gene? or do you enjoy it? I love cilantro. Also, I didn’t know people couldn’t but, can you smell ants? What scent do they put off to you? I’ve never heard that before. Do you enjoy Iced coffees and lattes? What is your typical coffee order? I do. If given opportunity, would you record a song? What artist would you collab with? No, I can’t sing. Do you believe in an afterlife? Eh. Do you think there is 1 true God and the others are fake or what are your thoughts on religion altogether? There isn’t one true god.

Have you ever had any unusual pets? Would you ever want one? I haven’t How often do you consume pizza? What is your go-to pizza place and order? Not crazy often but often enough. Do you remember the feather in hair trend? Did you like that or ever partake in it? "That’s why I got all these feathers in my hair, for the Ke$ha concert...so I can’t go to jail!” Do you think Daylight Savings Time should be a thing? I don’t really care. Have you ever watched Dragon Tales? What was your most watched show as a child? I watched some episodes. I love Pokemon, Garfield, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Rocko’s Modern Life, and a buncha other cartoons as a kid. If you had to get a tattoo of lyrics or a quote, what would it be? I don’t know. For the longest time I wanted “love her but leave her wild” because I saw it on tumblr and someone said it was from To Kill A Mockingbird but it turns out it isn’t, so idk. It’s still a nice quote. Do you have any tattoos or piercings? I wish I did but, needles😬 Yes to both. If you’re interested in astrology.. what are your big 3? (sun, moon, rising) Virgo, Libra, Scorpio. It’s very virgo of me to have my big three be in sign order, lol. What do you consider to be red flags in a person? not just personality wise. think about professions, maybe what they drive.. etc.. I don’t think professions and cars can be red flags. More like, are they a gigantic asshole who yells at people for no fucking reason? Red Flag. What is a simple thing you cannot do? Like, I can’t whistle for example. I’m sure there’s a handful of things. What do you think of leaving Christmas trees up year round and decorating them for different holidays? I like that idea but I also like the idea of trees being just for Christmas. Do you like carpet or do you think it should be a thing of the past? I like carpet in bedrooms. Makes them feel cozy. Are seasonal allergies bothering you as well or are you a truly blessed human with no allergies? I have them. What is the scent of the last candle you lit? "Frozen Lake” Would you rather give up bread or cheese for the rest of your life? No thanks. Another question that got me thinking.. are there more doors or wheels in the world? I hate this shit. Are there any bands or artists you think get too much hate? Nickelback for example. I’m sure there are. Free groceries for one year or free gas for one year? Which would you choose? Groceries. What is your favorite body of water? ocean, lakes, ponds.. etc. Lakes or oceans. final question.. How are you doing? feel free to rant and let it all out. life is crazy. I’m not great mentally honestly. I have some shit weighing heavily on me.

[infested-tea]

Bakusquad LGBT Headcanons

Whoops... haven’t posted in a while... whoops.

Anyway, for this I decided some Bakusquad gay hc. And maybe some shipping lmao. Now, BakuKiri is valid but I prefer TodoBaku. But both are great. For this imma go with TodoBaku and KiriDenki because preference. Also, if anyone starts fighting about ships in comments I’m coming for you toes.

Anyway, enjoy!

Katsuki Bakugo

This boy....

Oh god this boy

Three syllables

DISASTER

Oh yeah he’s gay

Gay disaster

Very angrily a disaster

Bakugo strikes me as a tsundere. As he does for everybody

But combined with his... tendencies...

He becomes a walking balm of internalized gay anger

He fears being outed because homophobia is fun

But since all of Class 1-A knows, they just don’t say anything

Only openly out to the Bakusquad, and Todoroki

Like I said, dating Todoroki

Or Kirishima depending on how I feel

Either way, he is a clingy, angry tsundere with both

Will avidly defend his friends and himself or anyone from any kind of bigotry

Very... passionate... lgbt supporter

May or may not have cried the night he came out to the bakusquad. Both before and after. And may or may not have been happy tears.

Also the kind of person who screams at you to die while absolutely showering you in love and trying to make you feel like the most valid person ever. But does it in his usual Bakugo tsundere way.

He has hit everyone in the Bakusquad and his boyfriend with their respective flags while shouting vaguely threatening words of love and validation at them. This has happened to everyone at least once. Todoroki, Jirou, and Denki are the most common victims.

Also. Trans Bakugo deserves rights

When it comes to being trans, Bakugo has no issue with it

Neither do his parents

But like with him being a filthy gay degen- *gets exploded* OW!!

Anyway, like him with his homosmexualness, he’s scared to come out about it

Mind you, his parents are also avid supporters for the gay community

But he himself has seen and heard things and it scares him

As well as those morons in middle school who he came out too (not willingly) but teased him about it and made stupid comments, they didn’t hate him but were more so ignorant

Has experienced actual hatred before, especially middle school (maybe projected on Midoriya a little...)

But, this boy was so relieved when he came out to his friends and especially Todoroki

Maybe the human population isn’t so bad after all, huh you angry ball of rainbows and anger

Also. Ace bb

Eijirou Kirishima

The resident sunshine shark puppy

He flips between functional and disaster depending on the day

Is extremely open about him being pan, since it’s the manliest thing to do

And he is the manliest

He is also avid supporter and defender of the lgbt

Since Kirishima is the other backbone of the Bakusquad, he’s great for when ya need some comfort

This baby boi just wants to be loved and will love you back tenfold

Best hugger in class 1-a fight me

Broken gaydar

Denki Kaminari

(This was the first gif... y’all really horny huh?)

The biggest bi disaster

Also chaotic

Unintentionally chaotic

Like, he goes in with intentions of chaos, then somehow it ends up being worse then it should’ve been

Goddamnit Denki, is now Bakugo’s favorite phrase

Best gay friends with Sero and Mina

Absolutely falls hard

Sure, he’s a flirt, but that’s just Denki being Denki

He’s so much worse when he falls in love

Not a flirt. No no. Absolute blushing mess

Bf do be Kiri tho

(Why is he the person I have the most ships with like damn...)

His gaydar is absolutely fucking broken. Like my god you could be Aoyama levels of obvious and it’d go straight over his head

Gaydar is so bad he usually ends up flirting with lesbians or already taken people

He never touches a dude because he doesn’t want people thinking he’s already weirder than he is

Bad social anxiety, so he stayed quiet about being bi

Than Sero asked... he denied it

It failed

Now he’s out and semi-proud

Does have sad days where he feels anxious and albeit ashamed

But he’s with the two biggest cuddlers with Sero and Kiri so it’s fine

Or if you want to be saucy, soft boy Shinso or Ojiro

Hanta Sero

This dumbass

Non-binary (he/they) demisexual biromantic boi

Since I hc as the most observant person (emotionally anyways) his gaydar is by far the strongest

He picked up on fucking Todoroki... that man looks straighter than his dad is sucks

Also the one who picks up the crushes before the people even do

Motherfucker could tell you who’s gonna end up with who before they even realize that they like each other

*cough* Bakugo and Todoroki *cough cough*

Poly relationship with Denki and Kiri. Fight me

Mina Ashido

Best girl

Ace lesbian

Makes a great chaotic couple with Mei Hatsume

Chaotic lesbian and she knows it

She is also disaster

Bad kind of disaster

She uh... once tried to bake a pride cake for pride month and nearly burned down the entire dorm

Denki was also there... that didn’t help

Also the resident shipper of Bakusquad and Class 1-A (alongside Hagakure and Ochako)

She absolutely got 8/10 couples together in 1-A... and also 1-B

ShinoMa anyone?

Absolutely has tricked Denki multiple times to wear dresses

Doesn’t have to trick Sero, he just does it

Adores Mei and is soft about it

Kyouka Jirou

Badass bi anyone?

Bisexual disaster

But very quietly dies unlike the other three on here

She can try and smooth it over and play it off

Doesn’t work all the time

Trans female

And I love her

Gay with Yaomomo

Hangs out with Sero and Bakugo a lot as trans squad and they end up laughing at the four other dumbasses they have sadly befriended

The head of the Bakusquad, especially at pride

Absolutely fucking listens to Against Me! and Jayne County and whatever other trans musician you can think of

Absolutely vibing with Sero while listen to Girl in Red, Cavetown, or the other two

And jams with Bakugo and Denki with those as well

On bad, dysphoric days, the squad bakes all her favorite foods, grab her girlfriend, and hang out and chill

Some general pride month headcanons

Like I’ve mentioned, vibing with Cavetown and Girl in Red

Also jamming with Jayne County and Laura Jayne Grace and whomever else Jirou found that week

At pride, Kirishima is at the bbq with Tetsutetsu (they have rainbow gay meat come on!)

Bakugo is trying to stop Todoroki from wondering off and getting lost, especially at first pride parade since it was his first time and Shoto is absolute dumbass

One year while still going to UA, Shoto and Denki picked up on an anxious Momo and sad Jirou and Sero just... announced how gay they were for each other.

Later that month, the two girls got together due to a party thrown just for them put together by Sero, Shoto, Denki, and Mina

It’s a tradition to watch whatever the gayest show out at the time is and finish it before the month is over as a group

SU is Denki and Kiri’s favorite.

Bakugo hates it cuz the diamonds piss him off

Soooooo, they have to stop halfway through the gay wedding episode

Todoroki joins in on the shows because he has nothing better to do (but really it’s because he’s lonely and craves affection... bb)

Also, when Bakugo came out. Sero won a bet with Mina. Not on him not being gay. But Mina thought he was bi.

Mina was wrong

And now it’s a tradition for Sero to make bets with the other squad members on who’s what shade of gay and then win because he’s right 100% of the time (and Bakugo just started betting WITH Sero because he got tired of losing. Denki and Mina do not give up however. And Kiri switches sides a lot.)

[firelxdykatara]

not gonna lie I would love to hear more about the drama and infighting that went on in The Vampire Diaries fandom if you have the time (and also want to use that time to give your experience with the fandom, which from the snippets you've told sounds Not Fun so I get it if you don't want to lol)

oh god, there was like, SO MUCH, i just

i really feel like tvd is one of those fandoms that is so hard to describe without a lot of ‘you’d have to have been there’, but it really felt like this huge and all-consuming beast for about five years until the show finally imploded and the fandom basically turned on it en masse. (you ever see that post going around that’s like ‘if you ever want to know what true regret feels like, ask someone who once called tvd their favorite show’? still a mood, all these years later. basically the entire fandom thought the show should have just bowed out with whatever shreds of dignity it had left at the end of season 6, and became more of a hatedom than a fandom for the last two seasons. when you have an entire fandom cheering news of your show’s cancellation, i think that’s a sign you done fucked up, julie.)

first and most infamous, of course, are the ship wars. which are pretty much inevitable in any teen-centered drama, and i really think the CW fucking thrives on them, but it was particularly egregious in TVD’s case because not only was the base premise of the show a love triangle, but the two main romantic leads were brothers that the show constantly pit against one another--in pursuit of elena’s affections, but also because it kept up this insistence on the ‘good brother/bad brother’ dichotomy which stopped making sense after about season 2 (by which time we have found out that the good brother was never as good as he appeared, and the bad brother has been growing and isn’t nearly as bad as he pretends to be)--and the question of which brother ‘deserved’ elena (and no, what elena wanted very rarely factored into these discussions, especially in the team stefan camp because they turned on her when what she wanted was no longer The Good Brother, but i’ll get to that in a bit) was hotly contested.

i’m not kidding when i say the shipping wars were vicious. i started watching tvd shortly after it began to air, which was late 2009, and kept up with it fairly sporadically over the years. i didn’t come onto tumblr until 2011/2012, and by then, the fandom was already pretty much a garbagefire. there were anti ship and anti character blogs, any time something bad happened for one ship the rival ship would invade the tags to gloat about it (seasons 3 and 4 were especially rough, and i’m not gonna pretend delena fans weren’t just as bad about tag invasion and shit, but as that was my side of the road i saw a lot more of the stelena shippers being assholes, which soured my opinion on the ship a long time before i started rewatching and realized the red flags were there from the start), confessions blogs were popular also toxic as fuck (so much fighting happened in the notes of those posts, good gods), and this was right around when twitter’s popularity was on the rise and the line between Celebrity and Fan was thinning, so the fandom was absolutely atrocious to much of the tvd cast and crew.

(some of them deserved a lot of the later backlash, but in the early years a lot of it was ‘how dare you write the story in a way i dont like, you terrible fucking person’, and gods don’t get me started on the dobsley vs nian Thing)

i think what really encapsulates my feelings on the tvd fandom as a whole, though, is the way they (to this DAY) treated elena gilbert, which can be summed up in one meme that gained a lot of traction around season 3 if i remember right: that gif of pam from true blood, with the text altered to read “i’m so OVER elena and her precious doppelganger vagina!”

i swear at one time i had over half the active tvd fan accounts on tumblr blocked, because i got to a point where i would no longer tolerate elena hate, and she was (and still is, in what remains of the fandom; you’ll see a lot of ‘elena was one of the worst things about the show’ takes from ex-fans, too) one of the most widely despised characters in the entire fandom. because she -checks smudged writing on hand- was a traumatized teenage girl who -reads off a crumpled notecard- couldn’t always perfectly sort out her own feelings and -squints at the ceiling- sometimes made mistakes or bad decisions. (except a lot of the fandom also insisted that she was a mary sue who had no character traits or flaws or faults and it was like....make up your fucking minds???? is she a calculating conniving bitch whose somehow manipulating these centuries old vampires to tie them around her little finger or is she a boring flat character with no depth and no flaws??? jfc)

there was this massive double standard, too--like, stefan and damon could fuck whoever they wanted and that was fine, but elena was constantly raked over the coals for the crime of developing romantic feelings for the two men who had become constants in her life and whom she cared for deeply, and oh my GOD the slut shaming that happened when elena slept with damon was fucking wild. (and also happened in canon lmfao. like the show had one of elena’s best friends basically call her diseased on screen for falling in love with someone other than stefan. it was gross and ridiculous and the friend in question was also being a giant hypocrite at the time since she was happily flirting with someone who was directly responsible for the deaths of like four of elena’s loved ones and her own boyfriend’s mother but that’s beside the point) but like elena was called a slut and a bitch and a whore for ‘cheating’ on stefan (she hadn’t, and she had in fact broken up with him on screen the episode earlier) and ‘immediately’ jumping into bed with damon, even though none of them said fucking boo when stefan had one night stands or damon had fuckbuddies or whatever.

shit, caroline didn’t get any of this treatment when she started falling for tyler while dating matt! which isn’t to say i think she should have, just that i think it’s fucking ridiculous that elena was absolutely demonized by the fandom for daring to have feelings for two guys at once and eventually acting on them--despite the fact that the entire premise of the show was a love triangle. it’s not a love triangle if both sides don’t eventually get explored, and the crew had been pretty explicit about the fact that delena was going to happen at some point--but when it did, a huge chunk of the fandom absolutely threw a fit.

and a lot of these elena haters were alleged stelena stans, and i say alleged because they hated her so much for not wanting stefan’s dick anymore that it was clear they were really stefan stans and only wanted stelena to be endgame because they wanted stefan to ‘win’ at the end of the day, because ‘he’s the good brother’ so he deserved elena more.

it was all very gross and very misogynistic and very sex shaming (apparently delena was a ‘shallow’ and ‘superficial’ relationship because they had sex after two years of unrequited feelings slowly becoming requited and then pining for ages on both sides, and because they had a lot of on screen chemistry that the show capitalized on for years so of course they did a lot of making out and shit but it’s not like stelena didn’t have its fair share of making out and sex scenes, stefan was just too much of a coward to let elena top i’d apologize for that joke but i’m really not sorry because it’s true), and when i say it was egged on by the crew, that’s because they refused to let the love triangle die back in season 4 when it should have.

they insisted on stringing stelena fans along, dropping little bread crumbs to keep them invested, like dreams of a future where they were married and revealing that stefan was also a doppelganger and he and elena were descended from a pair of star-crossed lovers (a plot that ultimately went nowhere, to no one’s great surprise), and then fucking like. julie plec turned around and threw nina under the bus after she chose not to extend her contract and pretended that stelena might have happened again if she hadn’t left the show, which....i mean frankly i wouldn’t put it past her, but it would have been shitty writing. then again, she thought having a vampire pregnancy where a uterus was magically transplanted from a witch into a vampire that could somehow......carry the babies to term.... made sense and was a good way to accomodate candice’s RL pregnancy rather than like literally ANYTHING else, soooooo. but anyway julie saying that around like, end of s6 sparked off a new wave of nina hate and elena hate and ship wars bc they SEers took it as ‘confirmation’ that stelena was REALLY meant to be endgame and it was all just a hot fucking mess

another thing is that, while tvd was in its prime before the anti/purity culture shit started picking up any real steam, there was still this pervasive attitude throughout the fandom that if you liked Damon, you were A Bad Person. liking damon was apparently grounds for insults and harassment, and apparently he was The Worst Person on the Show even though literally nothing he does on screen is any worse than shit we know stefan has done (and frankly every other vampire too, but i mention stefan specifically because he was always held up--in the show but especially in the fandom--as the Good Brother while damon was the Bad One, and if you liked damon more then that had to mean your morals were dodgy and you clearly couldn’t appreciate what a heroic and saintly figure dear stefan was and....oops, i’m sorry, my salt keeps leaking -cough-).

meanwhile klaus quickly became a fandom darling despite not even really having much of a redemption arc (on tvd anyway, he just became more ‘affably evil’ as the show went on and more inclined to work with the main characters rather than try to kill them; i have no idea what went on over on his show, though), and like i can 100% appreciate liking villains and not caring that they do dodgy villainous shit, even just liking them bc they’re hot and wanting them to kiss a main character bc they have insanely good chemistry (yes i ship klaroline, no i won’t apologize for it, they could have been Really Great), it’s just really the double standard that gets me.

and all of this, incidentally, required ignoring some truly gross shit stefan was responsible for wrt his relationship with elena, that frankly it has always bothered me never really got addressed in the show. i get why elena herself would never be able to actually call him on it, but the fact is that he stalked her for months after he first saw her and thought she was katherine (meanwhile it only took damon .5 seconds to realize she was someone else entirely, but that’s another topic entirely), and then he deliberately inserted himself into her life because, in his words, ‘i have to know her’. he never gave a thought to how his presence in her life might affect her (or rather, he did, and tormented himself about it in his internal monologue, but never let this actually dissuade him from disrupting her life), and elena would wind up blaming herself for every tragedy that befell her friends and loved ones as a result of getting mixed up in vampire bullshit even though none of it was her fault--she literally blamed herself for existing but most of the fandom didn’t give a fuck about that lmfao--and stefan did shit like find out that she was adopted and then withhold this information from her until she got pissed about another secret he was keeping (her resemblence to katherine) and drop it on her to try and distract her from her very reasonable anger, and like... i should stop before this becomes a whole rant about how much i hate stefan fucking salvatore, but the point is, he did a lot of really sketchy shit he never answered for and elena never really took him to task for, and the fandom just kept eating up his insistence that he was the Good Brother and therefore he deserved to have elena, and if she didn’t want him anymore it was because she was a heinous bitch who didn’t deserve him.

uh.....i think i got off track there. and there’s probably a lot of shit i missed, like i think i was incandescent with rage for most of seasons 5 and 6 so i missed a lot of the interfandom shit cause i was too busy being increasingly pissed off at the show itself, but if nothing else this should give you an idea of how much of a goddamn cesspit the fandom was while the show as in its prime. there’s a reason both the show and the fandom have such a lousy reputation lmfao.

[somestansomewhere]

Debbie Gallagher: ALL Love Interests RANKED

Okay! I tried to rank all of Debs’ love interests and it was hard to do because I am not set on that ONE PERSON that I ship her with above all else, but these are my thoughts! Keep in mind that these are all MY OPINIONS and you are entitled to yours as well! Let’s talk about it! If you read all this ILY.

Here we go:

...................................

23. The Guy At The Pool (Season 5)

He thought Debs was special needs and she tried to flirt with him...

22. Kelly (Season 9-10)

I LOVE Kelly so much but she was not into Debbie! I really love her with Carl and Debbie should not have tried to interfere! I will however say that I really really REALLY enjoy their friendship and I wish that that would have continued on. They had some really good moments together.

20/21. Eugene (Season 6) & Board Game Guy (Season 7)

Alright so these two don’t technically count because Frank tried to set Debbie up with Eugene so that she’d be written into his will. And the Board Game Guy was from a deleted scene as one of Debbie’s “life partners” from that flyer she made. So enough said.

18/19. Tyler (Season 6) & Erika (Season 6)

Again, Frank attempted to set Debbie up with Tyler and while that “potential relationship” wasn’t as bad as what happened between her and Erika, I am grouping them together because Debbie wasn’t technically into either of them and it was set up to fail right from the start.

17. Larry (Season 6)

The pregnancy fetish guy! I’m not quite sure what the intentions were for this character in the long run but it was a funny joke in the episode he was in. Even in the beginning Larry gave off red flags, but Debbie was happy... until the truth was revealed. Weird.

16. Jared (Season 11)

Another irrelevant love interest: the gay guy that cheated on his husband with Debbie after giving her cocaine. Obvious issues with this encounter/plot line aside, I did feel that their interactions at the bar were flirtatious and I didn’t hate him.

15. Calista (Season 11)

ANOTHER irrelevant character that was used and never brought back!!! I didn’t totally hate her either, she was upfront about her ex-girlfriend and that whole situation. She helped Debbie and didn’t take advantage of her but the second she came on screen; I’m sorry but I did not give a fuck. Her last episode built up a potential friend/relationship opportunity for Debbie and they just did nothing with it. Idfk what else to say, not a fan but I did appreciate Calista trying to take care of Debbie when she clearly was drinking too much.

14. Sandy (Season 10-11)

Oh boy, everyone’s favorite partner of Debbie’s... Yeah, Sandy is so low on this list not necessarily because I didn’t like her for Debbie, or that I have beef with Elise (b/c I love her as an actor sm). I personally just hate the sheer fact that this character EXISTS in the first place. I never understood the hype, but I know that people only like her because she’s a Milkovich ie. related to Mickey. That’s the hard truth this fandom isn’t willing to admit. My disliking Sandy should be a post of its own but lemme get into her relationship with Debbie.

You could tell that Emma and Elise liked working together so the chemistry was sorta there (definitely not soulmate shit tho). Each time that they interacted in s10 I was over it. S11 was better in the sense that whether I would like to admit it or not, they did have some “cute moments” (mainly just Sandy calling Debbie babe/babes). The second shit hit the fan in regards to Sandy’s history, I immediately understood Debbie’s issue with her and why her character would not want to be with Sandy. But, with that being said, Debbie was also in the wrong because she made everything about herself throughout the entire course of this relationship! Sandy did call her out, ex: “who was supposed to take Franny to school?”, and things like that were nice. HOWEVER I am sorry to say, this relationship felt like a massive waste of time and it felt like they were trying to force something that shouldn’t have existed to begin with. I don’t have the patience to even analyze this anymore, but maybe down the line because clearly there is SO MUCH to delve into!

13. Alex (Season 9)

Omg I did not like this relationship/plotline at all. Alex had issues but Debbie was so inconsiderate! I never saw the appeal here! It was nice that Alex had the decency to go and help Debs with Ford after the fact. I just feel “meh” about this tho. They had moments but ultimately I personally wasn’t into it and Debbie’s random newfound self discovery of “lesbianism”.

12. Kyle (Season 3)

Emma Kenney’s first kiss! Kyle was a one episode character that did have the potential to be more than that. I didn’t hate the kid as Debbie’s love interest, but there also wasn’t anything special about him. He was just kinda there and then he left. Debbie really seemed to like him though, spelling his name in her peas, etc.. I do like that one line about cigarettes that Kyle had but again he was such a short lived character and when he turned out not to be related to Kevin it became unnecessary to keep him around... even if the episode alluded to him returning. They were sorta cute!

11. Claudia (Season 10)

So I didn’t like this relationship much either but there was a certain kind of stability in the relationship that felt organic and nice. Partly because I enjoyed watching Constance Zimmer and she made Claudia likeable. Do I ship it? No. Was it a problematic dynamic? Yes. Was it a tolerable relationship? Eh. I didn’t hate it entirely though. Debbie, being a Gallagher, eventually fucked it up. And while I did like the drama, Debbie wasn’t REALLY into Claudia as much as she may have believed she was. So, it totally felt like a one off that would end with Claudia not returning... and it was. So there was no time for an investment of any kind.

10. Hedi (Season 11)

Gosh... Debbie’s endgame(?). Hedi was introduced too late for me to care enough about her (At this point it would have made sense for Debbie to wind up with Calista because at least she was already introduced!). I don’t necessarily like Hedi as a character and quite frankly it was a “who tf does SHE think she is” kinda deal for me. At first I was interested and didn’t hate her (and I don’t), but then she “thought she was Jimmy” and I instantly got annoyed (LOL I GUESS it was a nice nod to him tho... I guess).

My (several) problems with Hedi as a character aside, there IS something about Hedi being presented as this “dangerous badass” who is (somehow) WORSE than Debbie, that worked well. I’m not a fan of the ship, but it is an interesting dynamic in the sense that Debbie could potentially be “living on the edge”. I fear for what trouble this could cause Debbie BUT it’s like Frank referenced: Monica vibes. I don’t think it’s “true love” like Debbie said to Franny. A constant storyline for Debbie has been “why can’t anyone ever love me” and so she falls in quickly. Maybe Hedi will leave her but that’s the thing, “she’s done worse” so idk, either way I don’t think it’s meant to last! But I guess I don’t mind them being together! Karma’s a bitch! Will Carl tell her what Arthur found? Would it even make a difference?

9. Julia (Season 10)

I would have actually rather preferred her with Carl too! It was never love between Debbie and Julia, but the relationship did create good conflict for my viewing pleasure. UNPOPULAR OPINION, I didn’t mind Julia as a character at all. She was fine for me. I also enjoyed how ultimately SHE was only using Debbie in the end. Julia does admit later on that she was experiencing with her sexuality so maybe she did have feelings for Debbie at one point, which I thought was interesting. Debbie got herself into this one. At least Julia was more age appropriate than Claudia... (which is ironic since Debbie got in trouble for being with Julia when the age gap is MUCH bigger between Claudia and Debbie LOL I love it)! I also found Julia annoying Debbie to be amusing, that’s not to say that I liked her a lot either cuz I don’t!

8. Matty (Season 4-5)

Man do I feel bad for Matty! Debbie raped him and it was horrible. From the get-go when Matty was introduced the relationship was hella awkward!! And not only that but Debbie was a MINOR! Matty did do the right thing and said they couldn’t be together but a part of me will always feel strange that he WAS INITIALLY attracted to Debbie before learning her age. That to me is still wildly inappropriate. He shoulda cut it off. He did try to be her friend and took her to that dance which was cute but ahhh this was just a MESS all around. Cringe. At least he didn’t take advantage.

7. Henry (Season 4)

Speaking of Matty and that dance, Henry was supposed to take her. He asked her as a joke in order for Seama to inflict revenge on Debbie. If that weren’t the case however... DAMN THEY WERE CUTE! The potential that this relationship could have had! If only it wasn’t all an act! It was a “day worth of love” and sure that’s not enough for two people to REALLY be IT, yet there was something charming about their connection that I wish was real. Or idk maybe Henry could have reconnected with her later and apologized and it could have been revealed that he did actually like her... but that wasn’t the case. Fuck him!

6. Simon (Season 1-2)

Debbie was NOT interested in Simon at all but at the time he was almost like the male version of her. Their banter back and forth was fun to watch and he probably would have treated her well. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to even see their friendship progress. Their interactions were funny and he was a good guy!

5. Batiste (Season 10)

Y’all may not understand why this guy is so high on the list but a part of me wishes this character wasn’t a one off. Batiste is the dude Debbie tried to return her “unused” shoes to. If you can recall, he wanted a blowjob to take advantage of her. While this was a dick move (and the plot went nowhere) a part of me would have liked to see more! He did have an arc where he acted like an ass and realized that it is wrong to degrade women. I just think it could have been built upon and Emma may have had chemistry with this actor. There was something here that I didn’t hate and I felt it could have been expanded upon.

4. Little Hank (Season 2-3)

Debbie’s first real crush! It was interesting to see how he didn’t like her at first and then a “friendship/relationship” slowly started to develop after he gave her flowers. IT JUST NEVER CONTINUED! Little Hank was in no way the most upstanding, but it was cool to see Carl have a friend that Debbie crushed on (when she was little she wasn’t intentionally taking something away from Carl ie. Kelly, so I support it). Their interactions were fun to watch too! The fandom definitely has a soft spot for Little Hank! And at one point everyone was rooting for them to be together. Too bad we never discovered what ended up happening to this character!

3. Neil (Season 7-8)

The bathtub scene tho! Adorable! There was a short moment within this relationship that was super cute where the two of them really did seem to care about each other and may have both been in love. It goes without saying that Debbie was only using him, but they did have SOME potential and they found a common ground where they each benefited each other’s needs. Debbie once again was TOO controlling and self absorbed to make it work, but I don’t think she was entirely happy in a relationship with him. He deserved more respect!

2. Derek (Season 5-8)

Baby Daddy! I really did enjoy them together until Debbie took advance of him and Franny came into the picture, but at the same time that’s one of the reasons that Derek, as a character, has a deeper connection to Debbie and the audience. I always enjoyed their flirting back and forth and the relationship they had (the deleted scene with the card/push up game ahh my heart)! Debbie really did mess up due to her desperation to “belong to a family”, which is another one of her consistent character traits. She just went too far and tried to trap him. Then shit got messed up between their families. Derek did eventually ask for parcial custody and did have a desire to be a part of Franny’s life. Debbie said no and that plot line died until s10. Pepa!! Ahh! RIP to Derek, it was sad to me that he died. Definitely a character and relationship that I wish was incorporated more because I truly enjoyed them together.

1. Duran (Season 8)

Besties with benefits! Stop! Nobody talks about my guy Duran! Sure they both said that this relationship was of a sexual nature and that they were just a couple of friends but damn! The chemistry and dynamic was palpable! It is truly a shame that we didn’t get to see more of this friendship! They were on common ground and really did care about each other! I don’t know why but I really just LOVED them together! Duran was also in her friend group with Farhad and that was a group that seemed to have a positive impact on Debbie as a person. S8 Debbie was cool! These two complemented each other so nicely! Duran wasn’t by any means the best influence on her because he almost lead Debbie down a “Monica path” but come on, Hedi is worse in that department. He was getting his life together like Debbie was with her profession. Just think of the hair convos Duran and Tami could have had Lol. Idk, I just like Debbie with him a lot! It was healthy to an extent and he was supportive of Debs with Franny.

[stix-n-bread]

toby

Why I like them ~

charismatic, fun and loving, super supportive to his best friends, what more can you want?? he’s also intelligent, with him knowing so much about rocks i BET he has a huge rock and mineral collection. my boy also said “ass” once

Why I don’t ~

i guess all the stereotypical fat jokes revolving around him, but that isn’t his fault as a character

Favorite episode (scene if movie) ~

i think the episode’s called ‘airheads’? y’know, the one where he felt left out and had Things against claire before they bonded and made up! i loved seeing their friendship there.

in that episode toby also got a ride on a kite that suspiciously had the same colors as the pansexual pride flag. it was a good day

Favorite season/movie ~

i guess all of 3 below!

Favorite line ~

all of his “awesomesauce!!!!” moments, also in that one episode where he’s literally a word vomit and says something like “the secret of life isssssss—“ and then we never fucking know

Favorite outfit ~

yellow hawaiian shirt button up with a red sweater vest? snazzyyy

OTP ~

of course with the main three! whether it be joby (jim/toby), warstaff (claire/toby) or jlaireby (jim/claire/toby), i love them ALL. i also adore darby (darci/toby)! there needs to be more content of them. actually, there needs to be more content of darci in general

Brotp ~

jim is is fucking BESTIE, they love each other and got each others backs, platonic or not. i’d absolutely love to see more of them in the upcoming movie, and in fan content in general (yes i c/p this from the jim one LOL)

i also love that claire and toby became bros as well. they ALSO got each others back and they love each other too. honestly they were the Dynamic Duo during jim’s time in the darklands. they missed him together

Head canon ~

he’s got thalassophobia

Unpopular opinion ~

i think he should have went with jim to new jersey, he’s known jim for far longer than claire, i think it would have made more sense? though i did like that jim had a lot of trust in him to protect arcadia in his absence

A wish ~

i wished that toby went along with douxie, claire, jim and steve at the time travel, there was barely any of him in wizards :(

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen ~

don’ttttt get forgotten in the movie!! he had criminally few scenes in wizards. like i said for the last two— DON’T DIE

5 words to best describe them ~

ride-or-die best buddy

My nickname for them

tobes, toby pie

send me a character!

[evening-starlight]

Chances {Chapter Eight}

Late night writing bender Pt2 :))

Edited in Grammarly

Stevie Does Wonders

Word Count: 1389

    Tom and I started seeing each other a lot more after that. He was the second most significant reason for getting out of bed every day - the first being recording, of course. He made me happy and excited to wake up every day because I knew I would talk to him every time. There was no mystery on which Tom I would get. It was always a caring, supportive person on the other end of our conversations.

    On nights the band and I were up late in the studio, Tom would send us treats and dinner. He took care of not only me but my family too. Heather was the first to point out how my attitude had changed.

    "You don't usually sing in your higher range," Heather points out from outside the booth, her voice coming through the headphones I wore. I shrug. "Tom's got you all girly; you're even singing like one." I flip her the bird, but really I can't help but smile. Tom really has brought out the best in me in the three months I've known him.

    I'm starting to think he's good luck. Jared has pulled back on his attempts to contact me, sending flowers just once a week now. The band and I are almost finished with our second album, including the deluxe version with four added songs. I've cleaned my apartment thoroughly since it's become a depression pit, and I feel like a brand new person as a whole. So Tom has got to be a good luck totem.

    "Hey, Stella, Stevie is here for your session," Naomi speaks. "We're going out to lunch. Do you want us to bring you anything back?"

    "Surprise me," I smile. Stevie is my therapist. I hired him during my divorce and have kept him ever since. He lets me vent before coming up with solutions and has been fantastic at helping me overcome my anxiety and depression. We hold our sessions in the studio to record them and listen back to them when I need to. Some snippets have made it onto our album as well.

    Stevie walks in as I set up the audio for two-way without him having to press any buttons. "Hey Stella, it's been a while," He greets. Stevie went on vacation to Germany over the last three months. He offered alternatives to waiting for him, and I used them when I had to, but nothing beats the real deal.

    "Hey, Steve. We're all good to start recording." He starts with his standard starting comment, 'start with a sour and find a sweet.' "Sour," I begin. "Jared continues to send gifts to my apartment. Robbie is still using my car. And I still get awful depressive episodes," Stevie nods as he writes down some notes. "Sweet," I stop, thinking over everything that's happened in the last three months. "Everything else.

    "I met a guy, and he makes me feel like I'm walking on air. He makes me feel appreciated and comfortable. He supports the band and me, sending us gifts and food when we need it. I do have my reservations about it, but we've seen each other at least once a week for the past month if not more times a week. The band and I are almost done with our album, and my apartment is finally cleaned." Stevie waits a few seconds before asking any questions.

    "It sounds like you've been having a very productive few months, Stella." I nod. "So, tell me more about his guy. Why do you have reservations about it?"

    "Well, he's just as close to perfect as one person can get. He waits for me to talk when I'm in a mood, and he started keeping my favorite snacks in his car for me. He texts me in the morning and asks me questions about my day at night," I start pacing the recording booth, caught up in my tangent about Tom. "He knows my favorite coffee order and my favorite coffee house. He asks how the guys are and what I want to do when our deal is over. He doesn't push on the Jared topic." I stop to look at Stevie. "I let it slip about being divorced on our first date."

    "Date?" Stevie asks, biting his lips to hide a smile. "So you're dating again?"

    "I wouldn't say that. Just," I pause to think. "Enjoying. I enjoy being around him. Everyone's noticed a change too. Heather was talking about it before you came in. Tom is just amazing."

    "And why are you having some reservations about it?"

    I sigh and start to pace again. The main reason is our age difference. It's almost as close as mine and Jared's gap. Sixteen years. "Well," I start. "For one, there's the age difference. It's significant. Not quite as bad and Jared's, but it's noticeable. Then there's the fact that he's way too cool for me and also the fact that maybe he's just like Jared, and this is all just to get me into the position again. I don't think I could go through that again and come out alive." I admit.

    "Alright, do you have an Expo in there?" Stevie asks. I hold up the red one we keep in the booth for notes. "I need you to make two lists. Red flags and green flags."

    Green flags: he's an amazing listener, he lets us go at my own pace, and he respects my boundaries without argument or guilt-tripping

    Red flags: age gap

    I make a third collum, yellow flags. He hasn't made a move to kiss me yet.

    "I can't read backward to tell me the lists," Stevie tasks. That is a fat lie, and we both know it; he just wants me to read out my lists. I do quickly, watching him write more notes. He takes so many notes when he's with me, I wonder if he does it to other clients. "Does it bother you that he hasn't made the first move yet?" I nod. "Why?"

    "Because I'm worried if I do, he'll think I'm too much to handle or that I'm coming off too strong. That he'll lose interest when  I'm not submissive anymore?" The last sentence comes out as a question.

    "Jared always made you feel like you needed to be submissive." Stevie states. We've been over this a thousand times. "But this guy, you mentioned his name is Tom. Tom isn't Jared, is he?" I shake my head. "So why are we treating him like Jared? We don't know if he'll end up like Jared, but that's a risk we take with every person we meet. We can't avoid it."

    "We can if we stay in our apartment our whole life," I sass. Stevie tilts his head to the side with an amused eyebrow raise. I sigh. "I know we can't judge people off of my past mistakes, but it still feels petrifying knowing he could be."

    "Has he given you any reason to believe he might be, besides the age?" I shake my head. "So why don't you explore it more? Try being more dominant in your role with him and test those waters. I'm not saying go headfirst into the deep end, be careful. But you have your support system always here for you and ready to catch you when you fall." I mutter an 'I know' and look over the lists I made again. "From my perspective, Stella, you seem to be smitten, and I don't want to see you lose something that could be good for you. We can't live life without risks." And there's a snippet for our song Risks.

    I nod again. I know everything Stevie's saying is right, but that doesn't make it less terrifying.

    This therapy session has played in my head repeatedly whenever I'm scared to try something new to this day. I even got 'We can't live without risks' tattooed on me to remind myself of that. That's Tom's second favorite tattoo of mine. He says it's because I would have never gotten it without him, which he's right. We'll talk about his first favorite in this book as well, don't worry. I know you all bought it so you can have a closer look at the god, that is Tom FUCKING Hiddleston.

@queenofallhobos

[wonderlustxennial]

Thoughts on TFATWS Season 1, Episode 3

This shit has gotten ridiculous, so I’ve decided that I’m going to start doing reaction posts, rather than posting 20 individual observations. The following was written after my second viewing.

DISCLAIMER: Some of these are my observations, but others I didn’t notice until my favorite YouTube and Tumblr analysts pointed them out. I’ll try to drop credit where it’s due.

NOTE: There’s something I wish more people were talking about, and it’s down in the Madripoor section. If I’m reading this wrong, I would appreciate getting some help in seeing it. So, if you’re game, please check it out and let me know your thoughts. (#tw:racial bias)

[spoilers below the cut]

Walker Raiding the Flag Smasher Sanctuary

Here we get a further illustration that Walker not a defender; he’s working in the interest of fascists. Also, he’s on an invisible countdown to flip his shit. ALSO-also, dude just told the GRC cops not to give anyone “a second…to breathe.” (Marvel, what are you doing? I am not accustomed to relevance from you.) Did you notice the juxtaposition of Bucky asking the cops, “Don’t you know who he is?” to get the cops to stop harassing Sam, against Walker asking, “Do you know who I am?” while roughing up a refugee for not cooperating with him? Same asshole move, very different contexts. Anytime someone thinks it’s a good idea to say, “Do you know who I/this am/is?” they’ve already lost face.

Zemo in His Cell

Clearly, I’ll have to get better about zooming in on stuff, because this is the first time I’ve seen anyone catch that the book Zemo is reading in his prison cell is about Machiavelli AND Leonardo da Vinci; specifically, about how their friendship and exchange of ideas was highly influential on the future of the world. So, does Zemo think he’s Machiavelli or da Vinci, AND who is his “silent” partner? [I didn’t notice that, until The New Rockstars pointed it out (at 04:00 https://youtu.be/xHXhbw_EGL8) annnnnndddd now I’m going to have to read that fucking book (Fortune Is a River: Leonardo da Vinci & Niccolò Machiavelli’s Magnificent Dream to Change the Course the Florentine History by Roger D. Masters, and the bump in book sales is about to have Masters owing Marvel BIG TIME).]

Zemo Is “Royalty”

And here we have my first problem with this episode. BARONS ARE NOT ROYALTY. They’re nobles—low-ranking aristocracy. But do you know what does check out? Zemo and his butler’s thinly veiled distain at entertaining the two low-born Americans.

On the Plane

Look out, y’all: Satan just took the wheel.

THE NOTEBOOK/S

If Bucky has Steve’s notebook, what happened to the one he had in Romania? In CA:CW, I was stressing throughout that WHOLE fight and chase sequence that followed Bucky running from his apartment; not for his safety, but because I hated how vulnerable it left him to have to run without his notebook. I’m not even kidding. Because Steve picked up that notebook, right? Did he think to take it with him? Surely, an embassy or intelligence service swept Bucky’s living space afterward, so who has it now? THIS is the shit I obsess over. Who has that fucking notebook? WHO??!

TROUBLEMAN

There are at least three different things at play here. First, Sam’s enthusiasm and nostalgia for this relic made me tear up a little. He was so hopeful that Bucky would share Steve’s appreciation this classic piece of socially aware art. Second, we get more evidence that Bucky might be having a harder time adjusting to life as a white man in the 21st Century than we’re led to believe Steve did. Third, we know from Zemo’s interactions with his steward just seconds before that, when he praises Troubleman, what he’s actually doing is virtual signaling to build trust with Sam and put Bucky on the back foot. Fourth, I don’t think Sam knows for sure if Zemo appreciated it as much as it says, but he intuits enough about Zemo’s character to be aggravated at the inference they might have something in common; or, that Zemo might be manipulating him to empty rapport. (RIP, Marvin Gaye. You weren’t done.)

DAS OFFENE NEIN IN DER LIEBI

The New Rockstars win again. (Seriously, I have to start paying closer attention.) A book using mythology to explain the psychology of relationships, just before Zemo namechecks Red Skull. Oh shit, y’all.

ZEMO’S PHILOSOPHY ON SYMBOLS & POWER

The slipperiest thing about Zemo is that nearly everything he says has a kernel of truth; you just have to dig out what his true intentions are. Honestly, this is what makes him…I don’t know that he’s the most dangerous villain in the MCU, but it certainly sets him apart. He’s both educated AND smart (the latter doesn’t necessarily follow the former), and he’s particularly insightful in his ruminations on power and its potential to corrupt both the people who hold it and the people who admire them. Bucky and Sam both loved Steve deeply and believed wholeheartedly in the capacity he served as a defender; however, they have a tendency to over-romanticize both. Multiply that problem by the millions who never personally knew him and, when he’s gone, you get…fake!Cap.

More Relevance from Marvel

I read that Marvel had to do reshoots because a few of the themes in this show hit a little too close to home after the pandemic hit (also because the Black Widow movie was supposed to hit first, but again…global fuckery, so they had to shuffle a few plot points.) But also, refugees? “Displacement” camps? Hoarded resources? You don’t say?

Madripoor

Or “When Murder-Sugardaddy Goes Slumming with His Awkward Sugarbabies and Heinous Fuckery Most Foul Ensues”

AT THE CLUB

THE POWER BROKER. THE POWER BROKER. THE POWER… Soooooooo. Many. Name drops. At this point, I don’t even care to speculate on the identity of the mother-fucking Power Broker. Just surprise me already.

And here’s my (potential) second problem with this episode: The Black bartender doesn’t recognize the Black man he’s presumably seen before.

A CAVEAT TO START: I bartended very briefly in one of my many former lives. I was terrible at it. But here’s what’s relevant for the moment: when you work in the service industry, you meet a lot of fucking people, and you don’t necessarily remember them all. I would work giant events where I would serve 1,000+ people in a night, and people would complain all the time that I was carding them even though I’d served them previously. (1) I live in a state where alcohol is highly controlled, and the ABC Board is zealous about doing stake-outs to catch vendors serving to minors. The ABC Board enforcers would only see me serving someone without having carded them first—not all the times I served them previously. None of these people were EVER worth going to jail for over alcohol. Get your fucking card out—EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME. (2) Dude-man-bro, I’ll have served 1,000+ people by the end of the night. Get your fucking card out, EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.

I’m not saying this bartender in a rogue nation should’ve carded all of his patrons; I’m only saying that when you work in the service industry, you can sometimes serve someone 20+ times before you finally recognize their face or learn their names, and the process can start all over again if they haven’t come in for a while.

Here’s the real issue with this scene, as I see it: In-group bias is an actual thing. There are disciplines of social psychologists and sociologists who specialize in studying it. We’re supposed to believe that the “Smiling Tiger” person Sam is posing as is well-known enough, both by reputation and in that establishment, that the bartender remembered his favorite drink but not Sam as an imposter? I can believe Selby, a Caucasian-European woman, didn’t recognize him on-sight. [Frankly, Whites can often (regrettably) get away with not making any effort to overcome cross-racial bias.] But what about this bartender not recognizing a notable local criminal’s face when they belong to the same racial group, when we’re led to believe he’s served him many times before? And how did he know Tiger-whatever’s favorite drink if the guy had never been in the club? Are we to infer this guy wasn’t high enough on the local criminal food chain to have merited an introduction to Selby?) Is this a plot hole, or am I reading too much into this? I just wonder, given how much this series has devoted to exploring racial relations.

Sam just saw Bucky the most vulnerable as I think he ever has. For the first time, very little was left to Sam’s imagination as to what it must’ve been like for Bucky and Isaiah to have been exploited. And Sam is so good, he can’t help but jeopardize the mission to check on the friend he can’t acknowledge to himself he’s found in Bucky. (He also has no guile, which is so very Steve of him! I’ve just loved Mackie’s performance this whole show.)

I don’t know what to think about how easily it came to Zemo to objectify and use Bucky, again—even if only to pretend.

Bucky is the MCU character I most identify with, but I don’t care to analyze the way the bar scene made me feel. I will say this much, though: THIS is how badly Bucky wants this whole thing resolved. He subjected himself willingly to the stuff of his nightmares, even if to just to perform in the world’s most dangerous live-action role play. As many people were taking pictures in the bar, it’s pretty safe to say that this charade is going to going to have long-term consequences.

People are talking about Bucky “suddenly losing his super-speed” when they had to hoof it away from the bar like it’s a lapse in characterization, but it’s not. Bucky could’ve taken off and left both Sam and Zemo sucking dirt, but he lagged to stay with them. He didn’t ghost them.

SHARON IS A BLACK-MARKET ART DEALER

Godammit. I despise the practice of the filthy rich removing fine art and cultural artifacts from the public view so they can use them for tax breaks and currency. Way to push my buttons, Marvel! And I’m so sure the National Art Gallery of Art and all other art museums worldwide will I mean WON’T appreciate Marvel calling into question the authenticity of their collections, seeing as museum funding and attendance is already anemic thanks to the pandemic. I know it’s bad priorities on my part, but that’s temporarily preempted how much I should probably sympathize with her after her abandonment.

EDIT: The person who gave Sharon the intelligence will figure she had something to do with his demise just a few hours later. I wonder if that will help/harm her ability to do business. Also: holding the barrel of that assault rifle while it fired off rounds should’ve burned her hand horribly.

ZEMO BREAKS THE INTERNET

Did anyone else think “Sprockets!” when Zemo started dancing??!

NAGEL

This is two references to Langley in one episode. For anyone not aware (especially non-Americans), “Langley” is commonly used to reference Langley, Virginia, which is where the most prominent institution is the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) headquarters. Both Hoskins and Nagel name dropped them in the same episode. Shit.

The Sugars Roll Up to Zemo’s Latvian Bolthole

Bucky’s mission just got a helluva lot more complicated. Sam might have bought the “just going for a walk” bit, but I doubt Zemo did. Bucky owes the Wakandans, but he still needs Zemo. Oh, boy.

Wrap-Up

I’m going to keep coming back to how unexpected it’s been to me that Marvel has finally started to course correct, focusing on characterizations and bringing in themes that are relevant to current events. WandaVision’s explorations of Wanda’s mental health and Monica’s forging of her new identity and TFATWS trying to engage with the audience on topics like race, violence, exploitation, and identity is hugely compelling to me. It’s a fucking TV show, but at this point in popular cultural history, I can’t think of anyone/anything else better positioned to address all of this in an entertaining and accessible way.

[eldritchsurveys]

1135.

by ausmuh

1. What's one TV episode that makes you laugh out loud every time you watch it? >> There’s an episode of Person of Interest -- “Number Crunch”, I want to say the episode’s name is? -- where an antagonist slips MDMA into Harold Finch’s drink and then pops something explosive in the microwave and leaves him to his fate. And here’s Finch, dopey and smiling, thinking it’s popcorn in the microwave and sway-dancing happily as he waits for it to be finished (meanwhile, one of his companions has broken into the place to rescue him and is just like “are you fkn kiddin me” lmao). He’s just so adorable in his impending doom, haha. Sigh... I love that show so much.

2. Who's one person you'd like to see a biopic made about? >> I don’t care.

3. Is plot an important aspect of books and movies to you, or do you care more about things like character development, themes, etc.? >> I really can’t imagine a plot that doesn’t include extensive and intricate character development. I guess I just don’t read plot-driven books, or something? I don’t know what a “plot-driven” book is. All the stories I enjoy are character-driven and the characters drive the story along... that’s just how it works for me. I guess I’d need an example of a different kind of story to understand.

4. What song hit you so hard that you remember where you were the first time you heard it? >> Awake O Sleeper by The Brothers Bright was like that. I was living with Hallie at the time. I wish I’d awakened to the bullshit I was dealing with, lmao. Regardless, that song hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I heard it sitting on the couch in the office in that house.

5. What's your "brand" of fictional character, the type you always get attached to (ex., "perky girls with deep-seated mental health issues," "guys who you would want as an older brother," etc.)? >> A few of my brands are “grumpy old magic man”, “probably a trickster god”, and “queer-coded villain”.

6. Are there any conspiracy theories that you kind of believe in? >> Nope.

7. What's the best "fake" song (one that exists only in the world of a TV show or movie)? >> I would name Dethklok songs but those songs are pretty real, lol. They used to have concerts and everything. I can’t think of any fake songs.

8. If you use Spotify, share your 2020 Wrapped! What are your overall feelings about it? Is it what you expected? >> Here’s the playlist link. And yeah, it’s what I expected -- the car playlist skewed a lot of the results, which is why there’s far more MCR and FOB and shit on there than seems logical. But You Ain’t Coming Back by Zeal & Ardor being the number one song is absolutely on point, lmao. I put that song on repeat on several occasions, which is novel for me because I don’t usually do that.

9. What's a film you watched recently that you can't stop thinking about? >> Possessor was wild. Fuckin Cronenbergs.

10. If you’ve been in lockdown/quarantine for most of the year, describe the different “phases” of quarantine you’ve gone through (whether defining them by an obsession you had, what you were doing most at the time, how you felt, etc.) >> I didn’t really have phases. Being forced to stay inside all the time was only different from my normal life in that I couldn’t choose to do anything different, which is the main frustration -- I didn’t exactly go out a lot before, but at least I knew I could if I wanted to (and sometimes I did). But in practice my life didn’t really change all that much, so I didn’t feel as disrupted as most people did. I kept doing the same shit I’d already been doing.

11. The last TV show you watched is now getting a crossover with the last video game you played: what is the unholy abomination that has just been created? >> It’d be fairly easy to recreate Bridgerton in The Sims 4, I’d think, particularly if you have some custom content installed.

12. What's an invention you’ve spent a lot of time wondering about the creation of (ex., "how did hourglass makers decide how much sand was needed and how thin the waist had to be???")? >> I think about that kind of thing randomly, but not extensively enough to warrant notice.

13. If you’re a ~gamer~, what are your top 3 all-time favorite games? >> FFXIV, Journey, and Hades are my current faves.

14. If the pandemic had happened just a year earlier, how different would your life be? >> Well, the wedding would have been cancelled. I might not have gotten to see Phantom of the Opera. 2019 was a good year and I’m really glad it wasn’t ruined by a pandemic.

15. Post a screenshot you particularly like from your favorite film without mentioning the film’s title. >> Nah.

16. Name the movie, book, TV show, etc. that you were most out of step with this year (meaning both the reviews and overall discourse was the opposite of how you felt about it). >> Hmm... I’m not sure.

17. What’s the biggest red flag you’ve ever ignored? >> Oof, just... Hallie’s whole fucking thing, lmao. But at that point I was so used to being treated any old way without care or consideration that I guess it must have seemed more normal than abnormal. Which really sucks. Because the stuff I went through with him is definitely abnormal and when I see other people going through similar things with their partners it’s really eye-opening.

18. What are some albums that “molded your brain” during middle and/or high school? >> My Own Prison by Creed, Something Like Human by Fuel, just... mainly those two. And my various mixed CDs recorded from the radio.

19. Without saying your age, post your favorite film that was released the year you turned 18. >> Hmm... The Jacket was good... Walk the Line too.... oh, Constantine! Fuck yeah! That’s the one.

20. What’s something extremely bizarre you believed as a very young child? >> I’m not sure, but I always think of this one story that this kid tried to convince me of when I was in second grade. He was light-skinned and he said that he used to be dark like me, but he started picking at his cuticles one day and peeled a piece of skin back and it kept going until he peeled all of his skin off and his current complexion was what was underneath. Kids, man... lol

[safetypinsymphony]

“Is it a plot twist, or is it just lying?” and brief thoughts on the SPN road so far

To paraphrase an exchange from Bob's Burgers: Is it a plot twist, or is it just lying?

This seems to be an evolving theme of Supernatural's Season 15. I haven't been keeping up on my reviews here, dern it, but after some mild kerfuffles I've experienced between various fans (including myself), I'm re-inspired. Or perhaps incensed.

“Writers lie.”

When we first learned that God is a right asshole and as such, opened a rift in Hell before checking out to leave our intrepid heroes to deal with the undead invasion spilling forth—and then decided to check back in just to start fucking with the Winchesters again—I wasn't overly bothered, but nor was I particularly thrilled by the implications. I was begrudgingly interested to see what was evolving.

Well.

Kinda like watching a slo-mo train wreck, as it turns out. We're witnessing how this canon ret-conning is already starting to fray. How playing fast and loose with what the show has established as the rules of its universe is creating this “It was all just a dream” Dallas-esque meta embarrassment.

Seasons back, when the show first shattered the Fourth Wall by introducing the SPN books and conventions into its own mythos, that self-awareness was a really risky move. To this day, you either love it or hate it, but it managed to hold together because of the infrequency with which it was explored, and the skills of the writers at the time. (Even then, we got Season Seven, Time for a Wedding, arguably one of the more tasteless episodes of the whole series.)

As Dabb and company are choosing to further explore Chuck-as-God-and-puppetmaster, one of the show's important thematic cornerstones, that of the value of <i>freewill</i>, is taking a big hit. And the show knows it. They've had Dean come right out and air his disgruntlement with it several times already. So we get it, yeah, it's a thing. It's what Dabb is using to propel this last season (along with rampant fanservice and as many returning characters—dead or alive—that he can shoehorn into 43 minutes).

Now, I do loves me some fanservice on occasion, and there are certainly quite a few characters who died in rather inglorious ways and probably deserved better send-offs than they got, but I'm not sure 'hanging a flag on it' does enough to compensate for what this means in regards to the past 14 years of the show. In asserting that all of the past canon has been little more than Chuck's manipulations, it also means that the viewers' investment into the whole of the SPN universe has been hung on a lie within its own framework. “Ret-conning” doesn't even come close to describing this level of narrative dishonesty. (Wow, that sounded dramatic, but it's kind of true, you know?) By undermining the canon of the past 14 years, the current show creators have made Gamble, Carver and yes, even Kripke unwittingly complicit in this snake oil operation.

If SPN were just a movie, two hours designed from the jump to play out this way, I might think it was a little cheesy but oh well. I'm not that invested. (See 'Cabin in the Woods', which was a helluva fun neo-horror romp, in a similar vein.) But this is FOURTEEN YEARS we're talking here. That's a loooong time to be invested in a narrative, just to have the latest showrunner unseat all the canon that came before him. The only thing that matters one iota now? Season 15. It, apparently, is the only “true” canon. The only canon where “Chuck” is revealing his hand and operating with any in-world narrative legitimacy.

Thanks, I hate it.

I'm not going to pretend I like what Dabb is proposing. The segment of fandom hungry to bust Sam and Dean's so-called co-dependency is pretty stoked about it, naturally; they see classic SPN as toxic and unhealthy (and let's be real, in the way of a certain ship).

But here's the thing that gives me The Feels™, and it's not turning the Winchesters (or Cas, for that matter) into domesticated, well-adjusted Hallmark Channel leading men. (That's what, you know, The Hallmark Channel is for.) And it's sure as hell not invalidating the canon of the show I fell in love with.

It's urban legends, black humor, the endless highways and guttering neon. It's two brothers raised on the fringes of society, their unbreakable fidelity, finding comfort wherever they can since tomorrow, they may meet the business end of a rugaru. It's the colorful characters they meet along their travels. It's Led Zeppelin, greasy spoons and ancient tomes. It's faith and heart and sacrifice.

Unless Dabb dismantles these things too. At which point, a pox upon him and his house. Writers may lie, but this would be universe assassination.

●●●

Oh! I was going to mention some episodes too, lol. Here are a few quick take-aways, since I've already blabbed on enough.

Episode 3: RIP, Rowena. I looooooved the line, “But I believe in prophecy. I believe in magic.” That was SO her. Of course an ancient witch, the most powerful in the game, would live (and die) on those words. And kudos to the show for remembering it put that Sam gun on the mantel in Season 13, iirc. Pretty sure we'll see Rowena again before the grand finale, though.

Big happy for the suggestion that Sam is a witch-in-the-making. Also glad Cas finally got his brain wrapped around the fact that Dean was pissed at him but he didn't need to take it anymore. Dean has some valid reasons to need space from Cas, and it's a handy way to get Cas off doing his own thing (as Misha is not contracted for every episode).

Berens did a solid job writing this episode, but I'm glad we've wrapped the customary 3-episode season premier. I had high hopes for myriad crusty, decaying dead shambling around a grim world, but instead we got a handful of ghosts, literally running around in broad daylight. The first two episodes were … clumsy.

Episode 4: 'Atomic Monsters', was written by my favorite current SPN writer, Davy Perez, and he did not disappoint! Something about the way he writes dialogue sounds so naturalistic to me, and he manages to tap into authentic feelings in the characters without feeling rushed or contrived. I believe his stories. I never get thrown out of his episodes.

The episode was lovingly directed by Jensen Ackles. The guy flat out knows what to give us. That whole beginning red scene, with Dean and his John Wick bad-assery and then … then we get a Sam who has never eschewed his demon blood addiction. It was chilling and gorgeously actualized and I might have watched that bit more than is healthy.

And we got to revisit Becky Rosen, who is now a fangirl—like many of us—but she's grown up and assimilated fandom enjoyment into her daily life. Perez did a great job in saving Becky, as a character. She isn't the butt of anyone's joke anymore. She isn't a dangerously unbalanced fan. She's just … one of us. Thank you, sir.

Episode 5: Fun stuff in this one! Brotherly banter, Sam and Dean dressed as sort-of Fish and Game employees, a brilliant turn by actress Anna Grace Barlow reprising Lilith (no one saw this coming!), werewolf brothers as yet another example of monsters that aren't as cut-and-dried as hunters might like, and more 'visions' from Sam wherein Sam is Lucifer again, and Dean still has the Mark of Cain. YUM.

But there were also a couple some not-so-fun things. The girls glamping in the beginning was just plain silly, the fight scenes had too many jump cuts (imho), but mostly, why on earth would they leave the God gun in the glove compartment of the Impala?? I noted that back when Dean put it in there, Episode 2 I think it was, but I seriously doubt they wouldn't have locked it up safely after that. Please, foo. Don't make our characters stupid.

By episode's end, Dean is clearly frustrated and demoralized by their predicament. It's clear Sam and Dean will be taking turns buoying each other's flagging spirits this season. As co-dependent as ever. I am here for this.

●●●

This post has gone on long enough, so I think I'll hold Episode 6 ruminations for a separate entry, and maybe dish about where we think the series is heading, for a finale. Anyone reading this probably has a numb butt by now. Anywho, thanks for hanging in with me, gang! Talk at you later...

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 6x12 Doublemeat Palace

aka (too) real life horror (comedy)

Welcome to this dailyish (weekly? bi-weekly?) text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And today’s hot take is that Doublemeat Palace is actually fun? Let’s talk about it.

One of the many things that I love about Buffy, is that when you ask people to pick a favorite or least favorite of the show, whether it’s an episode, season or character, the answers you’ll get will vary a lot. Well, alright, there’s usually a general consensus, and yes, Once More, With Feeling is most people’s favorite episode; but ask someone to pick their favorite season, and their answer may surprise you.

This variety is probably most apparent when it comes to generally disliked Buffy episodes. No matter how hated it may seem, how its rating is by any metrics, there is no Buffy episode without its fans. And those can come with or without the guilty pleasure label.

I’ve already planted my flag by episodes like I Robot, You Jane and Beer Bad. I especially got a lot out of the latter, not even gonna lie. Meanwhile I was genuinely surprised to find that some people really like Go Fish, an episode that’s about at the bottom of the barrel on my own list. But isn’t that kind of fascinating? Someone looked at the same episode I did, and got something completely different out of it. And we could probably see and understand each other’s points of view on it as well if we got right down to it. What a concept.

I know, I know, art is up for interpretation, shocking revelation made by Tumblr user ettadunham, and I am so not here to get into a rant about that right now. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to fire up that discussion later on, especially as my original intention here was just to lay back and appreciate the delicious weirdness of Doublemeat Palace.

Rolling back to that earlier point, this is for a lot of people is exactly that type of bottom of the barrel episode we mentioned before. Which means that it’s already had that underdog status going for it, as I sat down for my rewatch.

Well, actually, when I sat down I didn’t really remember that I was about to watch Doublemeat Palace, because somehow I’ve yet to memorize the complete Buffy episode list. Not gonna lie, I was mostly just expecting a general downer. Something focusing on Buffy and Willow’s misery with minimal Scoobies interactions, and so I was already thinking of how to compare that with season 5… But then the episode started with a scene between Xander, Anya and Willow discussing the Trio and the capitalist values of demons vs. supervillains, and I was already delighted.

And it only gets weirder from there. Buffy’s new job at the local fast food restaurant is presented as a horror story, and sure, there is eventually murder and monsters involved, but my favorite thing about that is that most of the horror comes from the actual life scenario itself. I’ve never worked at a fast food place, but the high turnover rate, the menial job, the manager who is trying to sell you on the company lines and brainwash you to believe that you actually want to work there 5 years from now… That stuff should be familiar for anyone ever working at a low-end corporate job.

I just love how the directing heightens that effect, as the camera tilts and focuses on the machines and the repetition, and the people spacing out. It’s a bit of quasi-horror comedy that also comes from the absurdity of life itself.

Buffy’s weird co-workers for instance? They all have their own distinct characters and I actually find them completely believable. If I was the guy who worked by that grill machine, and at some point had to go to the doctor to remove the grease from my ears, I’d probably think that that was a fun work story to tell too.

Buffy having at least five theories about what’s the “secret ingredient” in the burger - one of them being cats I guess – is also just the kind of morbid humor I’d expect in a place like that.

I guess if you go into this episode for the first time, you could get lost in the red herring of it all, or just wait for the demon reveal to explain the extremely high turnover. But for me, I found that the most enjoyable experience was to focus less on the literal meaning of Spike’s “this place will kill you”, and more on just how depressing the meat grind of corporate culture can be, especially for those at the bottom of its food chain.

Haha, see what I did there. Although as we learn from the plot twist, Doublemeat Palace was actually selling Impossible Whoppers before it was cool rather than an actual meat product. The real hipster of fast food chains.

I also just want to appreciate Buffy’s Captain America-like shirt (but with a heart!!) after she’s fired, and is about to start a corporate revolt. Bless her heart.

By the end of the episode of course, Buffy gets her job back and decides to stay on. Because money. Now there’s some real horror for you.

In other news, Amy has truly established herself as Willow’s Ethan-like foil for the series. She has all the angst, the grudge and chaotic energy for it for sure. It’s honestly a bit of a bummer that she didn’t get a lot more to do on the show from this point on. (I think she’s in the comics though? Again, it’s been a long time…)

Willow’s last words to her though. “If you’re really my friend, you better stay away from me. And if you really aren’t… you better stay away from me.” The change in her tone of voice by that last part! I’m scared and this isn’t even Murder Willow. Yet.

I also feel like pointing out that the whole eyes going dark phenomenon came up before in season 5 when she went after Glory and the whole magic trip she went on in Wrecked… But also in 6x04, when she and Tara were doing a spell to help Buffy fight some interdimensional ghost demon. At some point, Willow let go of Tara’s hand, her eyes went black, and she just said “solid”.

And the spell suddenly worked.

Based on that, and also some season 7 context, the whole black eyes thing seems to indicate whenever Willow is tapping into some greater, more volatile power. Or – especially in this case, where magic was clearly transferred to her – something that is outside of herself. More on that in season 7 probably.

Meanwhile Halfrek responded to Anya’s wedding invite in an insanely memorable scene of the show, and is now that friend who’s only relationship advice is “dump him”. Not that I can blame her per se...

Xander is clearly not over his own fears, and visibly reacts when Willow makes a comment about his impending happily ever after with Anya. Halfrek passive aggressively pointing out to Anya Xander’s attitude towards her feels a bit petty, but there’s truth to that as well. Anya may be weird, but some of Xander’s comments actually question whether or not he even likes her as a person.

That being said, that isn’t always the case. Xander is extremely sweet with Anya, including all her quirks throughout most of their relationship in season 5, I think. I would need to go back to those episodes to confirm this, but my running theory is that Xander’s fears regarding their upcoming wedding might have caused him to regress a bit in that regard. And as we know, Xander being the emotional one of their group tends to fail at introspection when it comes to his feelings.

Again, I’m not quite confident in that assessment of regression, so take that with a grain of salt. I would really need to rewatch season 5 again and keep more of an eye on their relationship, so this is mostly just a hunch for now.

Somehow, in the midst of all this, Dawn ends up being my lowkey MVP for the episode. She shows a lot of understanding towards her sister, as she laments that Buffy will probably be stuck in minimal-wage jobs for most of her life, because of her Slayer and other responsibilities. Meanwhile Dawn has much more freedom to choose – and that’s largely due to Buffy’s own personal sacrifices.

I feel like this is probably also the first instance we see Dawn truly interacting with Willow post-Wrecked, and it’s her walking up to Willow, asking her if she’s okay. Dawn Summers is precious, and good, and you can’t change my mind.

Now, who’s ready to get really fucking genuinely disturbed with our next episode?