#uh gotta love it when the parallels be parallelling

[bird-inacage]

Only Friends: How Mew criticises Ray VS How Sand criticises Ray

Something I've really noticed since Episode 4 is the increasing distinction between how Mew and Sand school Ray. The scenes in Episode 6 and Episode 7 provide a perfect point of comparison. Both Mew and Sand use the phrase 'love yourself' towards Ray but the tone and delivery is completely different.

Unsurprisingly, what Ray desperately needs in his life is a mother figure. Someone who can be firm and stern when necessary but still caring at the same time. Sand's approach feels better suited to Ray in this respect.

Sand starts by acknowledging that Ray's hurting but it doesn't excuse his behaviour and it isn't going to stop Sand from calling it out. He makes sure to explain why it's problematic, why it's hurtful, why it's dangerous. Sand's words are driven by concern. He's even worried about the guilt Ray would have to shoulder if he did hurt anyone else.

Whereas in the scene with Mew, he makes immediate assumptions (I still maintain that Ray was not high here, he looked pretty darn sober throughout the bathroom scene to me), but that's where Mew's mind goes. His question "why don't you love yourself at all?" implies that Ray doesn't have any self-respect to take care of himself, and so what he's saying sounds driven by disappointment. Mew's tone also carries an air of exasperation, 'I've told you again and again'. @thatgirl4815 does a great job of commenting on Mew's attitude towards Ray in Episode 6 (here).

After Sand has said what he needs to say, he still doesn't want Ray to feel too bad. Sand's little pat on Ray's knee is an attempt to soften the blow, paired with a slightly helpless feeling of, 'I just want what's best for you'.

Now let's observe how Ray reacts when schooled.

Ray may not always implement the stern talking to he's getting, but you can tell that when with Sand, Ray is listening. He doesn't try to deflect, retort or dodge. He usually looks guilty. Guilt suggests remorse. Which means you realise what you've done is wrong. Whereas Ray's initial reaction to Mew is slight shock. This is the biggest indication to me that Ray wasn't getting high here. When he finally responds to Mew, it's brushed off with a laugh - 'yeah, yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing, no matter' - it doesn't seem like any of what Mew's said has really sunk in, just that Ray doesn't want him to dwell on this point any further.

How Mew delivers his pep talk feels authoritative, 'I told you to quit using drugs' (and you didn't listen). Your mistake is not taking my advice. On the other hand, Sand never once says anything along the lines of, 'I told you so, I warned you, I tried to stop you'. It's not about Ray following his orders, it's Sand providing Ray with the context to hopefully avoid making reckless decisions for himself in future.

Mew seems to have accepted Ray's inability to change, and his criticisms are merely a matter of routine at this point. Whereas Sand seems genuinely driven to encourage Ray to do better for both the sake of himself and others around him.

[annievrse]

nightmare

toji x reader—ᡣ𐭩 blurb summary: calling toji when you can't sleep bc the trees look like monsters

mysterious shadows danced across the off-white wall that faced the bed. it intrigued you how harmless things could turn sinister in a matter of hours. the trees swayed like monsters outside, and the wind howled like hungry, blood-thirsty wolves through the windows. you sunk deeper into your duvet, your body growing hot with anxiety and fear. it was dumb, the paranormal series you watched before bed. 

it was all in your head. 

the usual creak of the hardwood floors made your skin crawl. your eyes were darting in every direction as you formulated an escape plan. your chest was tight, and your breathing was quiet but quick, like a duck swimming. you couldn’t bring yourself to turn onto your left side, your eyes glued to the wall parallel to you. 

you were officially frozen with fear. the fear of nothing and everything. your phone lay on the bedside table on the left side of the bed, toji’s usual side, although without him here, you were terrified. with a surge of courage, you quickly turned over, facing the empty side of the bed. you shuffled quietly and reached your arm out to grasp your phone. as soon as it was in your grip, you turned the flashlight on. the room looked exactly the same as you had left it before you went to bed 3 hours ago, but it felt different. most likely from the made-up scenario you composed in your mind.

you checked your messages to see if toji had texted, and to your discomfort, he hadn’t. so in classic fashion, you called him and put it on speaker. 

“hey doll, what’s up?” his voice was gruff, but it warmed your skin. 

“just wanted to check up, see how you’re doing...” your voice was shaky, and you cursed yourself for it. 

“isn’t it 3am in tokyo?” he didn’t sound worried, and he had every right to—toji knew nothing was inherently wrong. but you needed comfort. 

“uh, yeah, i just needed to hear your voice.” 

he sighed, and you could practically hear him run a hand through his hair. “i know it’s hard, but i’ll be home in 2 days.” 

toji then scoffed, and you could hear him rolling his eyes. “did you watch one of those stupid, scary shows again?”

you groaned, knowing he made fun of how scared you got. his laughter only heightened, and you covered your eyes with your hand, giggling.

“yes, and stop laughing at me. i’m terrified!” you confessed, your heart practically beating out of your chest as you eyed the bedroom door. “i wish you were here with me, toj.”

“2 days, and i’ll be back in your arms, saving you from the big, scary monsters that live in our apartment,” toji announced, his voice softer than when he first answered. you sighed, hoping the phone call would never end.

“listen, doll, i gotta go, okay? but 2 days.”

you smiled softly at his words.

“okay, i love you,” you mumbled, feeling safer and more content; the picture frames on the chest of drawers on the opposite wall stopped their random movements, and the shadows across the room stilled. 

“love you too, and don’t forget to check under the bed,” his hysterical laughter was the last thing you heard before he hung up. 

fucking fushiguro. 

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Tronco

Chapter Thirty Two

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Both bands, staff, and Gibson

Word Count: ~2475

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, still unbeta'd, rockstars, Emma is a Red Herring don't worry there, uncle-ness and a big decision

Series Masterlist

“SAN DIEGO! You’ve been amazing!” Dean professed into the mic, breathing heavily and sweating from effort. “We’re gonna do a couple more for y’all tonight— since you’ve gone and made us feel so welcome. We gotta show that love right back to ya--- Sound good?”

The crowd erupted.

Dean grinned. God, it was so easy up there, so freeing. He looked around to see the pride and amusement shining back at him in his team’s eyes. His family. His band. 

Sam smirked and rode a note down his A string. 

“Sammy’s ready!” Dean teased, playing to the crowd. “Kev-o?!”

Kevin started on the high notes, tinkling them like fairy bells then crashed down into the basement, thundering into a paralleling rattle. 

“Oh, I’d say he’s ready. PAMMY! Let’s hear it, girl!” Dean bellowed, barely remembering to use the mic.

She kicked the bass drum, setting the beat, pulsing as she pushed it faster, the heartbeat of the night. 

Lee answered with a wail.

Dean wagged a finger at him comically and gestured back to the kit, as if to say ‘it’s the lady’s turn.’

Lee shrugged and held up his hands.

The crowd ate it all up.

Then the cymbals crashed and Pam arrived, bass still pumping in everyone’s ears, high hat and snare collided and her sticks ricocheted across the set like an avalanche. It was times like this that Dean could have sworn she had more than two arms. Her instincts always bordered on precognition, but when she was left to her own devices, she soared.

“PAMELA! FUCKING! BARNES!” Dean bellowed.

And the audience lost whatever ounce of voice they had left. It was sheer pandemonium.

Dean couldn’t help but laugh, the amount of joyous energy had to go somewhere. She just kept going. “GOD, WOMAN, OKAY! We hear YOU!” 

Lee cackled and shook his head at Dean, it was his funeral.

It didn’t matter, up there, they were all invincible.

“Well, I guess she’s ready, Lee? Buddy? Should we join her?”

Lee didn’t say a word, instead he tied a fresh bandana around his head and waited for Dean to start the opening riff for ‘The Sword’ from their second album, then flew above him on an ominous chord.

Pamela dropped the beat, silence rang out for a single moment. On cue they all jumped in place and crashed back into the fan favorite song. 

The crowd sang along and Dean couldn’t hear himself a single bit, but he also couldn’t care less. This was it. 

This was rock’n’roll.

And he was a fucking star.

They all were.

The hotel in San Diego was fantastic, but staying in one place for too long was dangerous. Fans started clocking them and it wasn’t too far of a drive for Paps to be on the prowl. They kept the tour buses at the venue and got cars back to the hotel after the trip down, it just wasn’t practical to drive around town in those gas guzzlers.

But they had a full week to kill before they were due to take on Vegas.

So they improvised. Sam called ahead and rented a restaurant on the older edge of town, somewhere that wouldn’t draw attention. Someplace normal people went on payday or special occasions, not a random Thursday in March.

Their hostess guided them to a small banquet room with its own private bar, clearly confused on who they were and why they were suddenly closed for a private party. The staff hadn’t gotten much warning, but Dean knew Sam made sure everyone scheduled would be making more in tips than they had averaged since probably the holidays. 

That’s the way they did things, they took care of the people who took care of them.

“Thanks, sweetheart. Uh, we’ve still got a dozen or so more people showing up and we’ll need one kids’ menu if you’d be so kind,” Dean explained as he took in the room and the simple layout of round tables of eight.

“Of course, anything else you need right now?” She seemed like a good kid, probably a college student, with bright eyes and long, light brown hair.

“Not at the moment, but I’ll let you know—?”

“Emma.” She smiled, moved the extra menus she was holding, and held out her hand for him to shake.

“Emma, of course. Thanks. I’m Dean. I’m the brother of the idiot paying for this whole thing.”

“Well, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back when the others arrive.”

Dean grinned and turned back to the first carful of folks, which had also held Sam, Donna, Nancy, Bobby and Annie. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, everybody trickled in. Dean tried not to flinch when Victor and you came in together, but Jody and Kevin were so tight on your heels that Dean could tell you were all in a shared conversation. You hadn’t been alone with him on purpose, probably.

Gibson rushed in, hair slicked back and new bracelets from the merch stand proudly thrust out for Dean to comment on.

“Alright buddy! Bad ass! Here, you’re next to me for dinner.”

Dean fist bumped him and pulled out his chair, where the four-pack of crayons and outlined placemat-style menu waited.

“You get any sleep last night?” Dean asked after seeing Pamela drop like a brick into the seat on the other side of Gibson.

“A little,” Gibson said offhandedly as he ripped into his art supplies.

Pamela shook her head. “He had to tell me all about the show— in detail— the entire ride back to the hotel. Then he was hungry.”

“Well, you’ll sleep in tomorrow. Me too, if I’m lucky. Then again I’ve got nothing planned until we head out for Vegas. You guys?”

“Probably get to an aquarium at some point, if nothing else catches his eye,” Pamela said. “No solid plans, except I’m taking a day for myself tomorrow. So if you want to hang with your awesome nephew, call Lee.”

Dean chuckled and went to ruffle Gibson’s hair, but caught himself once he remembered all the product and care put into the ‘do. “I can do that.”

Everyone slowly got situated, taking up three of the tables closest to the bar. Each table had two servers at their disposal, adding to the seamlessness of the process. The food was amazing, Dean couldn’t remember when he last had a steak so well cooked outside of Bobby’s backyard.

Gibson picked at his food, carefully wiping off his hands between each bite so as not to sully his masterpiece.

Dean’s family talked around them, Donna and Benny seemed to be hitting it off across the table, discussing their favorite places to visit in New Orleans. Benny promised to show her where to get the real gumbo and she made him pinky promise not to forget. Bobby, Cesar and Kevin were laughing at the table on Dean’s right, while Annie and Trouble were sneaking pictures of the trio. Probably for blackmail later, Bobby did look a little tipsy after all.

Patience stood behind Lee massaging his scalp, it was unclear if this was a relaxation technique, a haircare discussion, or a potential mindmeld. With the two of them, nothing would surprise Dean anymore. The servers were bringing out a dessert cart and Dean leaned down to whisper to Gibson that he better finish his broccoli pronto.

Which the kid actually did without complaint, though sugar was always a good motivator.

The group grew more casual, standing and playing musical chairs when someone got up to grab drinks, or find the restroom. It was an easy night out with just the bands and their support staff, nights like that would grow further apart the longer the tour went on. After living in each other’s pockets for the next few months, they’d get sick of everyone else’s faces soon enough. But it was still early days and they were all still getting to know one another. 

Nancy plopped down on the seat Pamela had vacated without so much as introducing herself to Gibson.

“Hey! Can I color too?”

Gibson didn’t even look up, he only nodded and said, “you gotta find your own paper, though.”

Dean smirked. “Trouble’s probably got a legal pad or something, if you want. Or I’m sure the hostess could grab you a menu too.”

He liked Nancy, there was something innocent about her that made him instantly equal parts protective and endeared. Kinda like when he first met Charlie, though he learned quickly that the redhead was far from innocent, just earnestly nerdy. Speaking of Charlie, Dean quickly glanced around the room, he hadn’t clocked where she was during dinner, he was too involved with his plate.

Nancy didn’t get up, she just pulled a little notepad out of her bag and commandeered the blue crayon that Gibson had set down.

Dean leaned back and continued to take in the room and all the good energy while he looked for his best friend to harass. Eventually he spotted her, chatting up the bartender and decided he was too comfortable to go and mess with her just yet. A swaying blob in the corner caught his eye, and all too late Dean realized the instrumental music playing in the background. It was Pam and Lee getting cozy in their own little world, their song playing over all the comfortable chaos.

Something inside Dean ached.

He didn’t want to come off judgemental, both Lee and Pamela had gotten their share of rants about their relationship from Dean over the years. But he also couldn’t look away. Here were two people so in love, that they found their way back together time and time again. He swallowed when he realized he was tearing up and cleared his throat.

“I’m gonna get some air,” Dean muttered as he left Gibson with Nancy and beelined to the restaurant proper, empty as it was.

He rubbed his face and tried to clear his thoughts. Something had been building inside of him this past week, and even though you still hadn’t given him a finish line, a reasonable hurdle to clear before calling this thing with Bela off, Dean knew he had to end it. It wasn’t helping anymore, in fact, it only seemed to stack more worry onto his plate.

Besides, at the end of the day, he didn’t want to be posting selfies with all the right hashtags with her. He wanted to be having a drink and a laugh with you, or doing literally anything else with you.

He pulled out his phone and dialed before he could guilt himself out of it.

She answered on the third ring.

“Dean, hi! Let me guess, she told you to tell me to shove it?” Bela said breezily.

Confused by the greeting, Dean fumbled. “Uh— no? I’m calling for me.”

“Are you now? And Y/N didn’t tell you I’ve been a bitch and that you shouldn’t play with me anymore.”

“No. But, actually, that is kind of why I’m calling. How do you feel about having an amicable break up?”

Bela hummed. “Are you sure you aren’t just trying to get her out of taking my calls?”

“What?! No. Look, you guys can work out your own shit. I have no idea why she’s ignoring you or if you were actually being a bitch or anything. I just need out. For me.”

There was a menacing patch of silence. “I see.”

“Oh don’t be like that, we’ve had a good run. You’ve even gotten more flashy names on the guest lists for any foreseeable fundraiser between all the suits you charmed and their significant others.”

“That is a good point. But, Dean, this was all about your image. What happens to that if you break my heart?”

“You’ll survive.”

Bela laughed. “Thrive, you mean. I know. But what is worth all the runaround this is gonna cause? Especially while on tour?”

Dean hadn’t thought she’d need a reason. They weren’t invested in one another emotionally. His brain spun its tires trying to come up with something other than the truth.

“Is there somebody else?”

Dean huffed. “Technically, you’d be the somebody else.”

Bela decided it was best to start toying with him. “Now I know it can’t be the drummer and the redhead’s like a sister to you— so that means—”

Dean groaned. “Shut up, like you didn’t already have some sort of idea.”

“Oh, no, Dean, you wear your heart on your sleeve quite nicely. But Y/N on the other hand is much harder to read.”

Dean felt his steak threaten to make a comeback. 

“She hasn’t said anything about me?”

“Oh, she’s said plenty. But nothing that tells me anything you want to hear at the moment.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re certainly welcome. See the truth comes out eventually and I think this little nugget of information could settle whatever it is that has Y/N firmly in the avoidance zone.”

Dean felt the icy chill of panic drag down his back. “You can’t tell her— I should be the one— I need to see her face when she hears it— from me.”

Bela tisked. “Dean, I’m not gonna ruin the surprise. I mean the break up. I want to tell her. Hell, I’ll even take the blame if you’d like. But all the sentiments and grand gestures are in your hands. I promise.”

Dean exhaled. “That sounds fair. What am I missing here? Why does this feel too easy?”

Bela hummed with mirth. “Because what we’re doing is easy. But in practice—”

“We’re just giving Trouble more work to do! FUCK!” Dean kicked himself for the late realization. “You sure you’re good to pile this on her, too? Especially while she’s all catty with you?”

“Dean— we’ve been friends since college. We lived together for like two and a half years. Y/N and I have come back from far worse than me calling you a manchild who used her as an errand girl.”

“Ouch!”

“There was the time she ruined my Louboutins on spring break.”

“Not exactly the same thing here.”

“Probably not, but still, we’ll be okay. Just gotta let each other breathe a bit. Plus, we are missing like twenty brunches while you whisk her away all summer.”

“I’m not doing shit— it’s the job.”

“Well, maybe, you should think about the whisking and the wooing, then?”

Dean sighed and turned back toward the banquet hall. “Yeah, maybe. We’ll see if this puts me in the doghouse first.”

“I’ll save you some room on the rug if it comes to that.”

“Thanks, Bela. For everything.”

“You too, Dean. Never contact me again.”

Dean laughed at that. “Deal. Be good.”

He could still hear the smirk in her voice. “Ta-ta!”

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

@brightlilith

@coldhearted93

@djs8891

@beautiful-places-blog

@n-o-p-e-never

@spxideyver

Chapter 33: Stronello

[blue-grama]

The Sign finale probably should have disappointed me, but... didn't?

It's been a heck of a run lately with Thai BLs that haven't quite stuck the landing, and it's got me pondering why The Sign worked for me despite sometimes feeling like a storyboard for a longer, better show.

I don't think they pulled off the emotional payoff they needed, despite that last reunion scene being so pretty and well-acted, simply because too much happened offscreen, from Khem's recovery from a gunshot wound to the entire multlifetime Tharn/Chalothon dynamic getting resolved without us seeing any of it. But somehow I wasn't that mad about it? And ultimately I think it's because this show did so many things well and so many things I'd love to see more of that I'm just like, yep, I enjoyed that ride sirs, please show me something this gorgeous again. In that sense it's joining something like Manner of Death or Kinnporsche where it's like, plot holes? Yes. Bizarre tonal shifts? Absolutely. Occasionally insane writing choices? Uh-huh. Love it anyway? You betcha. So here's what really, really worked for me:

Premise

I am always going to be onboard with QL that isn't solely coming-of-age or coming out. I'm not against those stories, of course, but give me gay romance with adult characters who know themselves and are doing adult things. I'm also a partisan for romances with high external stakes, so the mixture of crime and reincarnation was catnip to me.

Do I care that none of this training makes any sense? No.

2. Setting

Listen. Is The Sign the reason I have a document on my laptop titled "Imaginary trip to Thailand without ever seeing a beach?" Not exactly. But it's also not not the reason.

I am being willingly manipulated by the Thai Tourism Authority.

Kidding, kidding, but I do love when my Thai shows feel Thai or my Korean shows feel Korean, etc etc. I want to be driven to Wikipedia to learn more! Half the fun of watching stuff from not your own country.

3. Chemistry

I think @biochemjess covered what was underwritten about the romance in The Sign. Billy and Babe carried it on their backs and it was hard to dislike their romance, even when the series skipped over key beats.

Any time the pink lighting came out, you were gonna be in for a good time.

4. The camerawork

I don't know enough about film to speak intelligently about this, but the camerawork and aesthetics of this show were just so lovely to watch. It was really doing a lot. @chaos0pikachu wrote about it better than I ever could.

LOVED THIS. LOVED IT. So good.

We had some really lovely storytelling and visual parallels, too, like the first episode and finale both having a big action warehouse scene, or the multiple times that Phaya and Tharn ended up overlooking the Mekong river.

5. It was always kinda off the rails

I know some people felt this show started out with a strong premise and didn't live up to it, but I gotta say, I didn't have that experience. It was always kinda a bonkers watch for me. There were long training montages, random bodies in the shallows, missing genitals, extended performance art, that comedy flashback to Khem and Thongthai's college years... I never knew what I was going to get each Saturday. And I kind of loved that? I'm into unhinged. I was comparing this in my head to Last Twilight, which did disappoint me in the end, and I think it's because Last Twilight was NOT always bonkers and DID set itself up to tell a straighforward story, then dropped the ideas it had been juggling in the last episode. The Sign always felt chaotic to me, so a chaotic ending was par for the course. This is where I'd compare it to KinnPorsche, which had the weirdest fucking ending, but like, okay??? Why not!

End result? I see the flaws, but I'm giving this show tender forehead kisses anyway. Here's hoping for more like it.

[stone-stars]

Transcript:

Murph: Uh-- (reading) “All that's left is some crusts and a pile of anchovies that the princess picked off her slices.” Caldwell: Eee-Yuck! Emily: Can I bring up something random? [Everyone laughs] Caldwell: Please do! Please! Murph, laughing: We're on page FIVE. What do you want, Emily?? Emily, laughing: I wanna bring up something-- (trails off into laughter) Caldwell: Let's make this a two-parter boys! Emily, laughing: What if-- Okay, now I'm just laughing cause you're mad. Caldwell: Emily's had half a gluten free beer. Murph, exasperated: What do you want? Emily: What if there-- like, imagine a (laughs) parallel universe where Mario and Luigi are obsessed with bagels, not pizza. Does that exist-- Caldwell: They're not obsessed with pizza at all???? Murph: They're not obsessed with pizza??? Caldwell: That's the ninja turtles! Murph, laughing: That's the-- they just ate pizza in this one instance! Emily: No no no, but they've eaten pizza-- Murph: No, they haven't! When did they eat-- Caldwell: Like twice! Emily: Like in the movies they eat pizza. 'Cause they're from Brooklyn! Murph: There's one movie! Caldwell: What movies?? Murph: I don't remember it! Do you remember it? Caldwell: Are you sure-- You're thinking of-- Murph: Do they eat pizza in it??? Caldwell, urgently: Do you think-- Are you thinking of the ninja turtles?? Emily, laughing: I might be! Caldwell: It's like, pretty-- [Emily and Murph are dying laughing] Emily, through laughter: Okay, another-- another-- Murph, laughing: Emily. Caldwell: Let-- usually I want to go with you, but. Murph, a word at a time through laughter: Emily. Interrupted the book. To. Make. A-- Caldwell: A-a baseless claim! Murph, still laughing: Yeah! [Emily laughs] Murph: To talk about a false premise! Of the Mario brothers loving pizza. Emily: Okay, wait! Murph: And what if they loved bagels instead? Who-- Who cares? Caldwell: Well that's why at the beginning of Mario 64-- [They start talking over each other.] Emily: Another random thought! Murph: Alright everybody, shut up! Caldwell: You gotta talk quieter. [Murph cackles] Emily: What if the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were obsessed with bagels? Murph: Oh, boy, this is off the rails already.

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 20 - Under the Covers

Summary: Eddie enlists the guys for help to surprise you and quickly learns that there might be something a little more sinister in all of their pasts.

Word Count: 937

Pairing: Eddie Munson x OC (The Knight from As Above, So Below, written in 2nd person POV you/your for immersion) You do not need to read AASB to read this but if you're interested in more of Eddie's fluffy adventures into the world of monsters and cryptids, Heaven and the Hymns of Heaven miniseries are for you.

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Unofficial official Hymn of Heaven, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Eddie is simping hard, Fluff, allusion to monsters and nightmares, DnD references

Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here! Even if you didn’t start on Day 1, you can still join!

Tagging: @the-unforgivenn at her request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

October 1984

You had a great relationship with Eddie's friends.

Enough that sometimes Eddie questioned whether they preferred your company over his. You brought them snacks, showed Gareth how to parallel park, and even helped Dave with his research paper for English. He couldn't fault them. Despite your flaws, you were pretty much the gold standard of Dungeon Master's Girlfriend if there ever was one.

What was it they said? When god made you they broke the mold?

So when he went to his friends to ask for their help to surprise you, he was confident that they would say yes.

And they did.

You'd been busy picking up shift after shift at Bradleys. Almost too busy for dates and outings, but you always carved out free time for Eddie and the guys.

But you deserved the world, so Eddie had a plan.

He, of course, had a key to your little apartment, and decided to smuggle the guys over one afternoon to set up a night in for the two of you. Snacks and subs from the deli and the most epic blanket fort anyone had ever seen. He'd pretty much brought every single sheet, blanket, pillow, and couch cushion from the trailer over to your place and asked the guys to do the same.

"Star Wars bedsheets Gare?" he scoffed when the younger boy revealed his contribution.

"You're one to talk, what the hell is this? Butterflies?" Gareth slapped Eddie's otherwise-neat pile, sending everything tumbling to the ground.

"Alright! Focus!" Jeff intervened before the fight would inevitably break out. "What time is her shift over? We've gotta work fast."

Soon enough there were load-bearing pillow columns and vaulted ceilings made of a set of old starry bedsheets from someone’s childhood bedroom. The coffee table was shoved to the side and was stocked with all the food the two of you could ever want for your date, and in its place in the middle of the floor was a soft little nest of cushions and blankets. It was situated in front of your shitty, secondhand television set so you and Eddie could watch reruns of Love Boat together.

Of course the boys all had to make smoochie noises to mock their fearless leader.

At some point, while Eddie was inspecting everyone's handiwork to make sure it was perfect, the guys got restless, so they started to snoop.

"Hey what's this?"

Eddie looked up from his scrutinizing to find all three of them huddled together, flipping through the copy of A Modern Bestiary for the 20th Century.

"Put that down, it's nothing!”

"Uh," Jeff snorted. "It only looks like the coolest book ever. Look at this...harpies and selkies and...what is this? Anatomical nervous system of a dryad? Where did she get a book like this?"

Eddie quickly crossed the distance and snatched the prized tome out of Jeff's hands.

"Technically it's my book," he explained dismissively. "And it's not for adventuring parties. Only Dungeon Masters. Which, if I wasn’t mistaken, only includes me. Now help me fix this one blanket, you guys almost ruined this whole thing."

As they made their way back to fix the fort, Eddie dropped the book onto the cushy blanket nest and it fell open to a random page. A page featuring a creature that looked very similar to a fitted sheet, with claws at the elastic corners, and a face made up of the creases in the fabric.

Dave was the one to take note of it, rather nervously in fact.

"Hey, uh, I don't know about you guys," he tried to laugh it off. "But I think I've heard about something like that before. When I was a kid."

"Oh yeah?" Eddie hummed in disinterest.

"When I was younger my mom always told me not to sleep with the sheets over my head. Said they would suffocate me. Or the bed might swallow me whole."

"Funny," Gareth snorted. "I used to hide under the covers after bedtime and read comics with a flashlight. My mom said a creature would come and steal me away if I did that...that it would be drawn in by the light."

Then it was a domino effect. Jeff jumped in with his own story, and finally Eddie, who suddenly took the situation a little more seriously as he realized they all had warnings about a monster that lived at the foot of the bed.

They tip-toed closer to the book and cautiously read about the creature; it had some latin name they couldn't pronounce, but the pages about it were laden with warnings of portals and mimicry and devourer of sleeping people, and then they realized...that they might very well be surrounded by the creatures right now.

They suddenly closed ranks, huddled together, back to back, and stared at the fort they created in fear.

"What if the whole thing collapses and eats us?" Jeff asked.

"It can't eat all of us Jeff," Eddie scoffed. "We're gonna have to choose who to sacrifice so that the rest of us can make it."

The four of them glanced at each other, and then their hands jumped to their faces to stick a finger on their nose. Dave was the unfortunate loser of the Nose Goes.

"God damn it, why me?" he shouted, and then they all started to bicker.

Before long, pillows were wielded against one another and it was a flurry of arms and limbs and feathers and fluff. A pillow fight of epic proportions that practically destroyed the fort that they had just put together.

That was how you found them when you got home, wrestling under a pile of blankets from the collapsed pillow fort.

The movement stopped as you slammed the door shut, and Eddie's head popped out from some opening in the pile

"Hey sweetheart," he smiled sheepishly. "Uh...surprise!"

[catboybiologist]

I'll probably add some of this in my next journal, but there's a few things that might be minor HRT effects that I'm only starting to notice now.

One is that I'm pretty sure the "contrast" of my skin color is a lot more. I'm very pale, but tan easily, and have a lot of light freckles, various moles I've had for life, and also an accumulated set of scars, bruises, scrapes, a farmer's tan, and more. All of them seem like they're getting more prominent, even though my overall skin darkness/lightness hasn't changed at all. It could be something subtle with pigmentation that's hard to put my finger on, or more likely, it could be that a thinning of my body hair has made other dark spots stand out.

Overall, I'm loving it. Moles and freckles are something I find very attractive, so seeing the dusting of freckles on my cheeks actually start to become visible has been really nice. It doesn't show in any pictures, but I'll try to fix that.

CW for the rest of this.

It does have the interesting effect of making my decade-old self harm scars, which I thought were close to fading entirely, come back more visibly. Doesn't bother me that much, but it means I gotta dodge uncomfortable questions occasionally. Nothing I'm not used to.

Although I will say, one benefit of leading an active lifestyle is that I have so many scars and bruises for legitimate reasons that they overshadow the self harm ones. I find it hilarious that I have so many scars that I actually got from things I used to use as excuses. I actually have scratches from cats, blackberry bushes, knife slips when opening large boxes, trips and falls, nails, and uh, nsfw reasons now, and they're all jumbled and intermixed with the old self harm scars. The only way to distinguish them is that the self harm scars form the classic "barcode" pattern of perfectly parallel lines, whereas other scars are more random.

Again, doesn't bother me too much, but it is interesting to note.

[glasswingowl]

ep 7 spoilers under the cut

oooo snazzy new intro! love it

the fucking for rent banner lmao

OH

NORI MOMENT INCOMING

THE FUCKING SHADOW CLAWS SICK AS HELL

"get 048" awww friends :3

THEY KEEP THEM IN LOCKERS??

uh where did the sentinels go

oh you are so dead dude

OH THIS IS SO COOL

potential nori moment??? that's gotta be nori right??

hehehe crab

n instantly trying to go back for v ;-;

uzi ;-;

"robots like boxes, right?" tessa. bro. not cool.

oh SHIT

bonk

THAD AND LIZZY THAD AND LIZZY THAD AND LIZZY BELIEVERS WIN

v????

"i deserve this" n sweetie no!!!

oh not this again

AAAA-

THE FUCKING POSTERS-

????

OH. IT WAS THEM. THEY DESTROYED EARTH.

wait why didn't tessa mention this earlier? seems kind of important, no?

homegirls been taking flying lessons! good for her!

FUCKING NIGHTCORE????

oh here it comes. time to meet mama, uzi

:O

"you look familiar" uhhh. that's not a good thing

"I'm looking for a hunk named Khan" CONFIRMED NORI EVERYONE STAY CALM

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY DAUGHTER" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

oh it's just j. disappointing.

forgot how much i loved lizzy

Khan??

"MY WIFE"

"having interests beyond cannibalism and NIGHTCORE-"

i take back everything bad i ever said about khan he is the best

oh hey tessa's alive- what the fuck is she doing

SPEAKING OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE

wait wdym you don't know??

"not sure it needs you, buddy" what the fuck is that supposed to mean?

FNAF JUMPSCARE

YEVAAAAAAA

i'm choosing to believe that yeva is mute until proven otherwise

hand cutting again!! (is that meant to be a parallel to n and uzi? because if so...)

aww- o shit. well that explains that

I love nori. so much

poor doll.

y'know when everyone was coming up with predictions for nori's personality, i don't think anyone really guessed "AN EXACT COPY OF HER DAUGHTER" she even tells people to bite her!

i'm too lazy to copy the get a job stay away from her image just pretend it's here again

OH. OH HE JUST FKICING. well that's one way of picking a side

;-;- oh this is the hand scene wait no

SHIT

"your backups will forgive me" oh so he's just a plaything to her just like he was to tessa. man he just CANNOT catch a break can he

NORIIIIIII!

"you're frickin grounded" nori ma'am i love you

oh this is SICK AS HELL

slap

I HAVE TOO MANY THINGS TO DAY ABOUT THIS FIGHT SO IM JUST GONNA SCREAM AAAAAAA

THE CAMERA CIRCLING AROUND A CHARACTER DEFENDING THEMSELVES FROM PROJECTILES/ENEMIES IS ALWAYS COOL I DON'T CARE HOW MANY TIME I SEE IT

N-

N YOU FUCKIN DUMBASS

solvers hate her! free you daughter from possession by forcing her to confront her relationship with her sort-of boyfriend!

THE FUCKING DELIVERY ON THIS SCENE IM DYING

oh ;-;

wait. WAIT WHAT

OH GOD OH FUCK. YOU GUYS WERE RIGHT.

Y'ALL AREN'T ALLOWED TO LAUGH AT ME FOR MIXING UP TESSA AND CYN THAT ONE TIME ANYMORE.

i can't tell if this is an effective compromise for the whole "wanting to see what tessa looks like vs no visible human characters" debate

still, sick as hell, and very on brand for liam vickers.

OH SHIT-

LMAOOOO-

WHAT THIS? BY GOD, IT'S KHAN, LIZZY AND THAD WITH THE STEEL CHAIRS!

"prior hazard" yeah you'd know wouldn't you

MYSTERY FLESH PIT

OH THIS. THIS FUCKING SCENE

uh.

OH. OH. THIS IS A HALLUCINATION RIGHT-

AND IT ENDS THERE????

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 169

I swear I gotta put up a reminder or smth man I can't keep posting these posts just 2 hours before the new damn episode

(I must admit, making a review for this episode is kinda difficult)

ISOLDE TO THE RESCUE!! Also I just remember that Maria is still afraid (?) Of Isolde lmao XD

I was wondering where the old guard went :') the fact that he fell asleep during a WAR is honestly impressive though.

WAIT WAIT WAIT NO I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT LELAND BUT BLAINE???? BLAINE FELL??? But before I go to that I must say that plant holding Leland's leg is strong AF. What kinda root does it have...

The parallel of Frederick ripping his sleeves to cover Gwen's wound and then Gwen ripping Maria's blanket to save Leland.

WH. OHHHHHH. OH DAMN OH MAN. YOOOOOOOO. I DID NOT EXPECT THAT. Wait so I'm guessing here that Isolde forged Leland's signature? But when did she send that letter? Was it sent during the war? If yes then the process is really quick! It's just one day.

Honestly I'm so glad Isolde wrote that she's going to take the throne until her sons are ready because they CANNOT rule the whole damn kingdom right now with that mental state. And I honestly love the idea of all of them ruling the kingdom instead of just one of them.

WAIT WAIT WAIT This is what I'm getting but correct me if I'm wrong. I'm guessing Leland signed on the pastry catalogue and gave it back to isolde and that's how Isolde can forge his signature? That's actually really smart.

And she kinda bribed (more like raising their salary, really) the Parliament so they'd accept it right away!! Also by giving them more power! HAH And there's more power for Lavern lmaooo

Aaaannndddd the omniscient clam comment is literally just digging his own grave xd

HECK YEAH JERRY TO THE RESCUE!! FINALLY NAME REVEAL!!! Tho ngl I really thought the lemoncillo was for a molotov cocktail or smth XD

Syrah.............

WAIT DAMN ISOLDE HAS POWER OVER JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER???? She really thought it through.

Damn...spoken like a true queen (and she IS a queen!). You go Isolde!!

Ooooh that sentence "what more did you want?".... Leland fr needed to hear that. I mean okay man I get it, your bestfriend said he doesn't need you behind your back and that hurts. Words can hurt like shit, I get it. But that does NOT mean you can just, declare a whole damn war. You can always, y'know, continue to live your life knowing there are people you SHOULD love and people who loves you. Also I gotta add that Jack was probably stressing the fuck out in that moment. His wife is literally dying, dude. There's a chance that he might say things that don't seem right because of impulsiveness. And y'know what if it really bothers you that much, COMMUNICATE. DAMNIT.

Did I say all of those right? I hope I did.

I gotta say I love Isolde even more now. That "off with his head" caught me off guard like I know sometimes we joke about that but I didn't actually think that would happen. Cpc is always about redemption and stuff after all. But now I'm genuinely wondering if Leland should actually be executioned. War, abuse, torture, those should get life sentence right?

So I'm guessing he's going to prison then? Fancy words sometimes gets me mixed up.

OH!! IT GLOWS BECAUSE OF HER KINDNESS, I'M ASSUMING? THAT'S AMAZING. Also the fact that she offered to help the man who just tried to kidnap her...We don't deserve Gwen fr.

So, uh...Blaine? Yeah where is he? I'm theorizing that the tent Nell moved will save him but he should still have some injuries. And the chances are he will break at least one bone. I don't think tents are that soft. But I'm willing to hope that he will be perfectly fine....physically.

Well that's all for now!

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

[bromcommie]

🤡 ✅ for the writer asks!

Hi hii, thanks for the ask! :) ✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

Hm. I feel like I haven't posted enough writing for this to be nearly as relevant as it should lol, but: dream sequences, for sure. Humor, sometimes, even if I’m writing something heavy. And I feel like I tend to come back to mythology a lot. Or maybe not mythology specifically so much as storytelling done within the confines of the story in general? Like as thinly veiled parallels for the characters and what they're going through, sure, but also maybe even more so I find interesting just how different characters might tell, or interpret, different stories. Or what the stories they choose to tell or pay attention to are and why - about their own life or those that stick with them. The stories they tell themselves vs. others. It's also kind of an exposition crutch sometimes, so I've been trying to tone it down or reshape it in certain instances, but yeah.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

This is an unfinished scene that really doesn’t contain any kind of serious characterization nor historical accuracy. But consider: it's funny to me personally. So who cares. Absolute crack below the cut if you’re interested:

“I am going,” Barnes is hollering from somewhere when Gabe jolts back into consciousness with his face a mere foot from the crackling fire, sweaty and confused, “to kick the shit out of you, Rogers! I’m gonna—“ the rest of the threat gets abruptly cut off when he hits the ground with a heavy thud, all the air knocked out of him. Gabe blinks.

There's gotta be a nicer word for the way Rogers grins with his knees locked around Barnes’ torso, he thinks, other than feral.

“Yeah? Lemme see you follow it through, motherfucker. Lemme see you try.”

Gabe scans their little circle: all of them still battered or bored or battling a variety of illness, and all of them distinctly disinterested in the chaos happening not fifteen feet away.

Whatever the ruckus is, an emergency it ain’t. He stretches with a soul-deep yawn, cocking his head in the direction of the noise. “What’s all that for?”

“Maman et papa se disputent,” Dernier points out flatly from his place across from him, frowning down at the stack of cards precariously towering by Morita’s knee. With a flick of a wrist he throws a card out from his noticeably smaller deck and tuts when Morita immediately trumps it and swipes both cards off the damp log-turned-table. “Ah, putain.”

“Yeah no shit, I can see that. What about?”

Dernier shrugs. “Who se fuck knows. Se mistress?”

Morita lets out an undignified giggle. Gabe squints at the sweaty back of his neck, then down at the conspicuously unlabeled, conspicuously empty bottle by his feet.

“Are y’all drunk?” He glances at the blurry mess of limbs tumbling in the dark. “Are they drunk?”

“Who can tell at this point.”

Gabe watches the two indiscernible shapes in the flickering light that reaches further into the grassy field. There also has to be a better phrase for the mud-covered state they’re both in other than pigs in a pen, but it’s escaping him at the moment.

“What happened to them?”

“Sarge went out to check that house we saw on the way and get firewood. Steve went after him,” Dugan elaborates with a resigned expression, his words running together a little. “Came back looking like two prissy cats the flood just spat out. Something about a mudslide and whose fault it was.” He reaches behind him to pull out a miraculously still only half-empty bottle and tip it his way. “Rogers found us some French brandy, though. It’s shit, of course, but that was awfully nice of him.”

Gabe sits up to accept the bottle, plucking a stray twig out of his hair with a grimace along the way. “Where’d he get that?”

Dugan shrugs. “From a Frenchman, I imagine.”

“All very lovely, except then I believe there was a, uh—” Falsworth jumps in from where he’s propped up on what's left of a nearby fence, nursing his half-empty pipe and an even emptier expression. “Disagreement, if you will, over—“

“Gorizia," Dugan and Morita chorus in unison. Dugan trails off into a mumbled sing-song that Gabe’s pretty sure doesn’t contain any actual words, nor much mention of Gorizia itself.

"Gorizia, yes, and the bullshit with the—“

Gabe groans. "The goddamn barn? Still?"

"Yep. Cap's not letting that one go anytime soon.”

“Oh, and Rogers being a wiseass to Philips when he wanted to bench him last week, don’t forget that," Morita croaks, voice rusted over with the cold but otherwise relaxed. Dernier curses under his breath when his last card lands and digs into his pocket with an expression of a man at his utmost limit. "Or getting his fool ass shot in the first place. One of those."

“—Rogers’ fool arse, yes yes, that too,” Falsworth continues, “which, as you can imagine, didn’t take too kindly to the, uh, constructive criticism. Then Barnes called him an unreasonable fuck so he,” he points with the pipe at where Rogers has Barnes in a headlock, “naturally, brought up something from oh, ten years ago? Ten years ago. That’s about when Barnes tried to tackle him, by the way. And then they started shouting about someone called John — Jimmy—“ He turns to Morita with a series of sluggish finger snaps.

"Jackie Van Wijk," Morita provides helpfully, plucking the stubby cigarette out of Dernier's grudging hand with little sympathy and sticking it behind his ear. "How are you so bad at this? You ran a gambling hall."

"Yes, for poker." Dernier downs the bottom of his cup and grimaces with distaste. "Chemin de fer. Not — children games."

"Jackie Van Wijk, that's right," Falsworth finishes. "And somebody else’s sister who might or might not have been a prostitute, that part’s unclear. I think that about brings us up to now.”

"Are you—" Gabe tries, and fails. "I can't tell if you're fucking with me. How long was I asleep?"

“Oh, about 45 minutes. And you forgot the thing with the coppers,” Dugan mutters over his cup, checking his watch like he's bored out of his skull and has somewhere, anywhere else to be. “And the three dollars.”

“Ah, yes. Sarge owes Rogers three dollars.” Falsworth observes them quizzically for a moment, chewing on the pipe. “Or the other way around, I can’t be too sure.”

“She was a hooker, idiot!” Bucky’s voice carries over again as he uselessly tries to pry Rogers’ hand away from where it’s digging into the side of his face. Gabe can’t tell if he’s laughing or if he’s choked on enough mud by now that it’s permanently affected his speech. “What were you gonna —“

“So what, huh? It was Sands Street, so fucking what, everyone’s a hooker on Sands — I had two more drinks, I coulda been a hooker myself —“

“Are you hearing yourself? Do you ever — stay still, you fuckin’ — do you ever hear the words that come out of your mouth?”

"Y'know," Dugan muses, "if I'd wanted to hear alley cats going at each other all hours of the night, I woulda just stayed in Boston."

"Shut the fuck up, like we don't all know you got the draft."

“Gossip," Dugan protests. “Downright slander.” He whacks Morita's shoulder with probably more force than is strictly necessary. "Hey. Gimme a puff."

"Blow me, Aloysius." It comes out in four parts, vowels dragged out kicking and screaming: Ay-low-see-yus.

Absently, Gabe wonders how much of it is the actual brandy and how much might be a concussion from this morning.

"Sure I will, if you gimme a puff."

Somewhere in the distance, Rogers swears loudly. Barnes cackles.

Gabe stares at them. It really is like being back home, in a way: two of his younger brothers making an awful ruckus first thing in the morning and waking the whole house up over the grand total of jack shit, seemingly hellbent on inflicting as much damage to each other and the surrounding landscape without anyone actually ending up in the hospital. Usually, Gabe’d be the designated first responder in breaking it up, more often than not because he was the only one actually willing to risk getting between them physically. It’d earned him a bump on the head and the grousing nickname “St. Gabriel” more than once.

Jesus, he’s homesick.

He looks back to Falsworth. “So, what, it got so bad they fighting over a girl now?”

“No,” Morita sighs with all the gravity of the long-suffering, voice raising in volume and cracking a little as he turns to look at them over his shoulder. “They’re fighting because they’re two five-year-old fucking morons who are gonna land us in so much shit we’ll be wishing for goddamn latrine duty. Hey,” he shouts over the noise when they both completely ignore him, “Hey! Abbott and Costello — with all due respect, sirs, shut the fuck up.”

“Should we…do something?”

“Hey, you hear that? War’s over! We all take turns pissing on Hitler’s ball-less corpse and then they ship us back!” It falls on deaf ears. Morita throws his hands up. “See? Be my fucking guest.”

“How long before they tire themselves out, d’you think?” Falsworth muses.

“I dunno,” Dugan says with resignation. “Cap is still pretty keyed up from today and I think Barnes runs on pure spite alone at this point, so. An hour? Two?”

They watch the graceless grappling slow for a hopeful moment before Rogers mutters something unflattering about Barnes’ mother and Barnes snorts like an enraged bull, throwing him off.

Morita laughs, the sound quickly derailing into a rattling cough. “That man got a congressional medal last month. Stroke of tactical genius, they said.”

“Yes well apparently out of the two of them, Barnes used to be the voice of reason. See how much that tells you,” Falsworth comments. Dugan’s eyes bug a little.

“Reasonable? Barnes? Sergeant I’m gonna mouth off to the guy with the big stick until he decides to crack a rib or two Barnes? That one?”

“I never said it was a good assessment,” Falsworth replies sedately as the man in question finally gets the upper hand and sends Rogers toppling headfirst into the muck. “It is quite possible, of course, that they have both just lost their damn minds.”

A sage nod ripples through the rest of them. In all honesty, it has been that kind of week. Gabe would be buzzing hard himself if he weren’t so goddamn tired he could feel every single one of his bones rattling around in his body like dice in a tin cup.

“That’s great,” Morita drawls around his smoke. “That’s just dandy. I die dropping into Holland next week, I want my affairs dealt with well, you hear me? I want my tombstone to read: I died for my fellow man, and because my fellow man and CO lost their — Dugan, I swear to Christ, you try to take it one more time I’m putting it out in your ear — lost their marbles at the worst possible time. Over Jackie Van fucking Whoever, no less.” He nods grimly at the clearing. “And then I want those two assholes to pay for the arrangements.”

“We will do our best, mon ami,” Dernier says, passing him the reshuffled deck with a sympathetic hand like an olive branch. “But we will probably also be dead.”

[taylortruther]

Saw the I can do it with a broken heart anon and uh here's my two cents for The Bolter and the dual symbolism of 'bolting' (essentially, fleeing) in Taylor's music.

Anyways, The Bolter gives me Now I'm running down the hallway and you know what they all say. When you're young, you run, but you come back to what you need. Maybe you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down, maybe I've stormed out of every single room in this town and Before you even knew I was gone. That was the last time you ever saw me OH AND The bravest thing I ever did was run...Remember how you watched me leave? What would you do if I break free and leave us in ruins? Dear Reader, get out your map, pick somewhere and JUST. RUN. You gotta leave before you get left. Stealing hearts and running off and never saying sorry. When I left I wanted you to chase after me.

Just. Running in Taylor's music. How it's both the most romantic and heart wrenching thing depending on the context. Just the overwhelming urge to let go and be free, for the worse or for better.

Like we have the quintessential romantic "run away WITH me" lyrics.

Like I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run and I would've read your love letters every single night and run away and left it all behind. Don't say yes, run away now...and You don't need to save me, but would you run away with me? We were always skipping town. They are the hunters we are the foxes and we RUN! Then Voted most likely to run away with you. SO TELL ME TO RUN or dare to sit and watch what will become.

Just running away as a form of dreamy escapism, to spend all your time with the one you love, away from the world. AND THEN. Running away from THEM when things go south. Ahh the parallels. Who could ever leave me darling, but who could stay?

these are good thoughts bestie but candidly a big part of me thinks the bolter could be more about... someone else running from problems while she stayed 🙃

[wanderingwomanwondering]

I had 911 playing in the background while I was working on some stuff and realized that the 6b buddie is full of callbacks/parallels to 509 past is prologue, especially some of the toni and clive narrative beats.

Clive is shocked by his car and bumps his head. He has a sort of 611 “in another life” moment when he mistakes hen for toni and then tells the story of how he used to know her

Clive referenced toni’s “armor” and her fear of letting romance into her life because she’s “taken a lot of shrapnel”. Sounds like eddie to me.

During the 509 casino robbery talk, toni explicitly said “a fool and his money are soon parted” (loosely) linking buddie via buck’s math superpowers and the poker date in 613 to toni and clive’s love story. Remember toni fell in love with clive but chose hen and her first husband. This feels connected to eddie in 615 focusing on his past with shannon via chris instead of choosing his future with buck and chris. I know he has good reasons for being stuck in this mode but still an interesting connection to the toni/clive story.

We got our intro to eddie chris and telenovelas in 509 when eddie compares the drama of toni and clives multidecade saga to a telenovela. He showed great interest in learning the story, giving ideas for how to help clive and toni rekindle their romance, and hoping for a happy ending. We see eddie and chris actually watching one in 615, the very ep where eddie was thinking about the past with shannon (along with chris) and having an emotional reaction to buck feeling seen by natalia and also trying to date her.

There was also the whole 509 hen and toni conversation about glimpsing a better future but being afraid to step into it because of family duty and feelings of guilt/shame. Hen said toni was sad and felt alone in her marriage and that clive was her second chance at a happier future. This basic sentiment feels directly tied to eddie now in s6. We could argue that eddie felt alone and isolated plus the guilt/shame of choosing fear over parenthood/partnership back when he was with shannon. Now that he’s on the precipice of something romantic with buck circa 615 cemetery scene, he’s probably feeling alone and guilty again because he hasn’t expressed his feelings (which his healing arc kinda requires) and is in a holding pattern just waiting for something.

Hen told her mom in 509 to seek happiness now, despite the mistakes of the past. Tia Pepa basically did the same thing in 614 with eddie.

509 is also where we got the chloe and gabi emergency call. It was all about gabi running from/not really facing her problems. But also about finally not running/leaving when things got tough with the pen thru chloe’s chest. Sound familiar?

Then there was the whole gem during that chloe and gabi rescue about needing to save one of them before being able to save the other. Plus oil (something rich and precious) trying to get out but being contained by the weight of the people holding it in. *screaming in 615* I could say more about the symbolism of all that in the context of s6 buddie but I gotta sleep eventually lol

Then in the 509 closing scenes:

Toni: Hi! Sorry I’m late.

Clive: But you’re worth the wait.

If this isn’t buck and eddie i don’t know what is. The 615 cemetery scene felt like eddie loudly waiting on buck to see him and understand his feelings. But nope. Buck’s not there yet and eddie needs to speak/express.

Uh, Yeah. So in summary 509 was doing a lot of work to set up key themes and issues in 6b. I’m here for it 🤡🤡🤡

[thornswoggled]

you're one of the few people i know of who posts all about TAMB, and posts kickass art and theories about it too!! i love it!! as someone who struggles to pick up on symbolism and connect links/parallels in stories, my eyes have been opened to a lot and i'm able to appreciate TAMB even more deeply than i already did thanks to you :'3 it's so awesome to have you in this fandom!!

WAAHH that is so kind thank you....... i definitely feel like my brain has shrunk in the time since ive been out of college and i have trouble coming up with smart-sounding things to say, let alone articulating them, so tamb gives me something to chew on. im like a bored tiger at the zoo and tamb is the ball of hay my keeper put in my enclosure so i could push it around for enrichment. and you get to watch from the other side of the glass. pick something up from the gift shop when you leave... where was i going with this....

im definitely only this talkative because the tamb fandom on tumblr is so small. if this was like, a dunmeshi blog or something, id just be reblogging other peoples thoughts and nodding and saying "uh huh uh huh uh huh" like a simpleton. you gotta work for your meals round these parts pardner

[shallowseeker]

The sound designers in Mint Condition are playing around when DIRK starts talking to DEAN about being there when his BEST FRIEND wakes up.

DEAN: Hey.

DIRK: Hey, what are you doing here?

TV VOICE #2: Why are you worried about the police...killer! DEAN: Just keeping an eye on Stuart.

DIRK: He must have awesome insurance.

DEAN: Super awesome. Trick or treat? TV #1 VOICE: I'M SCARED!

[DEAN gives DIRK a candy bar.] TV #2 VOICE: One step at a time.

DEAN: He’s still out.

DIRK: Yeah the nurse told me. Babs went out for a quick bite. Figured I'd I stick around. I want to be here when he wakes up. TV #1 VOICE: WHERE? DIRK: He’s kind of my best friend.

DEAN: Is that right?

TV #1 VOICE: <NAME>, COME ON!

DIRK: Look I, I know Stuart has his stuff but we all do.

TV #1 VOICE:(whispered) I love you, too.

DIRK: And me and my dad don’t get along so great and when we really have it out, Stuart lets me crash at his place, no questions asked.

TV #2 VOICE: Shut the gate!

DIRK: We just eat pizza and watch movies. <dog growling>

DIRK: It’s zen.

TV #2 VOICE: Where are you going?

DEAN:Sounds like a good friend.

DIRK: Yeah but now? When his mom called, said someone had attacked him with a chainsaw?

TV #2 VOICE: You go that way.. Leave me, go —AGH--AGHHH! <man dies>

TV #1 VOICE: <SCREAMING>

DEAN: Looks like, but happy Halloween, huh?

[There is a scream on the TV, ALL SAINTS DAY is playing. DEAN and DIRK watch. On the TV a woman enters a morgue with bodies covered by bloody sheets. She looks scared.]

TV #1 VOICE: Oh... I gotta get outta here.

Uh-huh.

RUNNING

I mean, all these run parallels aside.

I SEE YOU AUDIO MIXERS

I HEARD THE VOLUME GO UP ON THE I LOVE YOU TOO VOICE THAT YOU'RE PARALLELING DIRK AND DEAN TO—

[baronessblixen]

Frasier episode roundup! :DDD

Mel's a reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal stinker, huh. Niles picks all the bad ones, and Frasier picks (and leaps from) all the good ones.

LOVE Ferguson; and will always love Ferguson. One of my favorite S8 episodes.

Donny got engaged and married? So soon...? Uh oh. This smells like a rebound.

Roz and Frasier and Roz's ex Luke... within two seconds I wanted to get away from that dude; but I guess flattery will always catch (in this case desperate) people.

Mary's back! Sometimes I do and don't like her... but this episode was a x2 speed type of watch. (Just saw Stephen King as a call-in? Huh.)

I love Frasier's Harvard mentor. Love him, love him, love him. He needs to be in many more episodes. Wearing Roz's robe? The actor killed those scenes.

Frederick turning into a gamer shouldn't be as surprising as it was. I wonder if maybe Marty's genes skipped a generation. >:D

x2 speed on the car and Dalmatian episode; but it wasn't all that bad. (There really isn't an all-bad Frasier episode, though.)

The chaos trying to prevent the Shakespearean scifi actor from getting onstage was quite amusing. In similar scenarios, I'm usually annoyed or frustrated that things won't work out; but him quite literally crawling to the chair won me over.

The two parallel universes episode was intriguing-- two people meant to be, getting together regardless, awww-- and Bernadette Peters was a guest caller???? I gotta rewatch her segment.

Kenny! I liked him... then he got a wandering eye; and now I don't respect him. His wife was really nice, though. Liked her a whole lot.

Niles wins the basketball competition only to join Frasier in making a fool of himself. C'est la vie.

John Glenn going off on an alien rant while Roz and Frasier are bickering is just... so good.

x2 speed for the rich widow. I expected better of you, Martin. You should have known two women in the dark always ends in disaster, especially when Frasier flubbed it so badly last(?) season.

Martin shaming his sons in front of their wine club. I'm not sorry for them. >:)))

Daphne's back! And what a touching look into her and Niles's psyche. Him blurting out his problems with her, her taking it wrong, then both "having at" each other was freeing even for me.

Also, whichever episode had Niles struggling with Daphne's sleeping habits was gold.

Niles deciding to let Daphne keep her psychic opinion of herself was also sweet, awwwww.

FRASIER, WHY'D YA RUIN A GOOD THING WITH CLAIRE. (Also... she can do better. Also: it didn't seem like you two really meshed.) FRASIER, WHY ARE YOU SABOTAGING YOURSELF WITH LANA.

Lana's son was a fun character, though.

The finale was x2; but the rest of the arc was juicy, SO I finished it. XDD Fascinating little dig into Frasier's psychology. Intrigued to see what he does-- more likely doesn't-- with these revelations.

Overall: leagues better than the season where everyone at the station lost their jobs; but not the besssssst, either.

I had a good time, regardless. :DDDD

Glad you had a good time! This really shows me that I don't watch season 8 often cause most of these didn't even ring a bell 😂 it's definitely not my favorite season.

How do you watch an episode on double speed? I'm not sure I could follow the episode 😂

In my opinion, season 9 has better episodes.

[bengallemon]

1, 3, and 9 for the isat ask game! :D

hgggfff hold on gotta read okie

1 - favourite character:

siffrin. finally a protagonist with shit memory just like me. between the multiple pronouns and fun design i just love them so much jggfffrrrrrrrr. i could go on 10 years with various animal noises about he.

3 - favourite soundtrack:

so I don't actually know any of the names for the ost so uh. anyway. the music playing for the act 5 king fight. i love how it feels. how slow and personal the king fights become to siffrin with how they parallel each other beautifully

9 - theories or unanswered questions:

OH OH OH BOY. i want to know so much about the Northern - Wish Craft - Time Craft connection. obviously wish craft is a northern thing, it's the centrepoint of their culture (aside from the universe.) and 3 of the Wishes we saw throughout the game were related to time craft! the king got the ability to freeze time, siffrin and loop both got the ability to loop backwards in time, and loop's other wish trapped them in a different timeline. therefore, time craft may also be a northern thing in some way.

bonus theory: building on the original islander euphrasie theory, I think mira's immunity to being frozen in time, and ability to restore the flow of time to other people (provided shes fast enough), and overall ability to sense the flow of time around her (she mentions sensing that time has been restored when you beat the king in a loop) are a form of time craft she was given via euphrasie performing wish craft! she knows about wishes in canon and people thought mira was literally blessed by the change god even though it was euphie's blessing.

thank you for viewing tonight's northern insanity :3c