#unless they fuck in the next 3 eps

[captain-flint]

I'm here now. I'm here, Ed!

[avelera]

Man, I just put back on OFMD 1.05 (the fancy party episode), and I think one really worthwhile itemization of Stede and Ed interactions would be around how many times Stede appears horrified by Ed's actions, but actually, he might really be horrified for Ed.

And I only bring this up because one common, I think, misinterpretation of Stede was that he's horrified or put off by violence. Understandable, given the face he pulls when, for example, Ed tells Fang to skin the French captain with a snail fork.

But now that we've Season 2, albeit eps. 1-3, including that gorgeous moment where Stede immediately clocked that Ed's trying to burn down the world or die trying, thus signaling that he knows Ed better than anyone, especially Izzy, ever expected... I think we can firmly put the, "Stede doesn't really get Ed," interpretation firmly to rest. It's totally fair that it existed! His facial expressions of horror were often ambiguous and could be read either way.

But I think we can very firmly say: All those times Stede seems horrified at Ed? He's horrified for Ed.

Even in the moment where he sort of gulps when Ed wants the French captain skinned was sort of re-written in my mind as I watched it, in light of Stede getting Ed so well in S2. Suddenly it's not Stede taken aback by extreme violence, no.

Stede is realizing just how deeply hurtful the French captain's words were to Ed. He's not taken aback by the violence of Ed's orders, he's horrified to realize that the French captain's words hurt Ed so badly that this is a proportional response.

Stede doesn't give a fuck about the French captain, by the way. He doesn't lift a finger to prevent it, not because he's afraid, I'd argue, but because he legitimately does not care. The dude is more than a little bit of a sociopath himself, alright, he's adjusting to pirate life but he has also fully embraced pirate life.

And by the way, you don't have to take my word for it that Stede's reaction of horror is for Ed not at Ed, y'know why?

'Cuz of what Stede says in the very next scene, "Edward, are you alright? I could tell that captain got a bit under your skin."

(Haha, get it? Because you skinned that man alive. But I digress.)

No but seriously, Stede does not care about skinning that man alive, whether or not we believe Fang really did it. His priority #1 here, as it will be in Season 2, writ large, is to first make sure Ed is ok and then to help arm him against pain like that in the future.

And all I'm saying is, I bet if we went through each and every other instance of Stede "reacting badly" to Ed's "violence" in light of S2 and Stede getting Ed and only really caring about Ed unless reminded to do otherwise, that all of those reactions are actually Stede reacting with horror to learning what kind of pain Ed has been laboring under, or what kind of pain he's in that he would react with violence to verbal attacks like that.

Because that is something Stede can understand very well.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Thailand surprised me

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

May 2024 Wk 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 eps - I love love love Sol! Pink-haired baby idol blast from the past nursing a crush = absolute catnip for me. This is def my favorite Thai BL currently airing. And it’s probably because it has a sort of odd queer authenticity to both its gayness and its rep of the film industry. I mean, of course it’s sanitized into BL fantasy-landia, but there’s an underpinning of something real, for lack of a better word. Normally I prefer the fantasy of my dumb BL worldview, but in this one I’m kind of liking a little chew and grit.

All of which is to say: this is very fucked up messy gay, which normally I’m not wild about, but for some reason I’m really enjoying this version.

On the other side of the BL coin we have:

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 1 of 12 - And I like it a lot. It’s fun and I’m enjoying it (possibly more than it deserves). I like how it’s a little absurdist. I like that it starts with a one night stand. I like all of the side characters. I love the asexual representation. Bonus LUBE! It’s a fun show. More FUN that GMMTV usually goes for.  

Two Worlds (Thurs iQIYI) ep 8 of 10 - The sketching in the cave scene was v sexy. And I’m enjoying this BL, but not for any other reason than MaxNat being MaxNatty all over my screen. 

1000 Years Old (Thurs iQIYI) ep 12fin - I don’t know what I feel about this one. Mostly just indifferent. It was meant to be the paranormal Thai BL pulp about vampires that we were all waiting for, and it ended up just being boring. Frankly, I'd rather be pissed off than bored. 6/10

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 4 of 12 - I truly love the naked lust on our side couple's pining friend's face. Usually only Japan get this thirsty.

Book is perfectly cast as Moo's older bro. They even look a bit alike but it might have been a mistake, because he’s so damn charismatic. Stole all the breath from the show for a bit. 

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 5 of 16 - No report until next week. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues YouTube & Viki) ep 11 of 12 - What a fantastic ep. This show really is killing it. I’m so happy with Taiwan right now. 

Carry on.

Blue Boys (Korea YouTube) 3 of ? - It remains lovely and I remain enjoying it immensely. It’s very Strongberry feeling. That's always a welcome sensation.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - They are so cute and pretty much just boyfriends already regardless of what they each think. I'm scared that next week is the final episode, it doesn’t feel like it’s gone very far.

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - I liked it a little better this week. I guess I’m warming up to this one?

Boys Be Brave AKA Roommates (Korea Thurs Viki) ep 3-4 of 8 - Ah poor lonely neglected child. They are all such weirdos. I don’t understand any of these characters or their motivations except they are strange kind of cartoons of... something.

Love is like a Cat (Korea Mon Viki) eps 9-10 of 12 - The guy who plays the vet should be playing a vampire. That's it. That's all I have to say. 

It's airing but...

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

Memory in the Letter (Thai WeTV) - 6 eps, when it's done, tell me if I should bother?

You Made My Day (Thai YT) ep 1 of 5 - supposed to have started on Friday but I couldn't find it, I also didn't try very hard.

In case you missed it

GMMTV announced the second half of their 2024 line up. I got excited and picked my favorites, details + trailers here.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

May Releases

5/10 A Balloon's Landing (Taiwan movie) trailer - A frustrated Hong Kong writer, Tian Yu, meets a Taipei street gangster, Xiang (Fandy Fan from HIStory2: Crossing the Line), and the two of them embark on a journey to find the Bay of Vanishing Whales. Along the way, they discover unexpected twists and turns and close bonds, which brings out the message that "there is always someone like you in this world who is waiting for you.

5/16 Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 1 of 6 - Strongberry doing classic BL! Weeee!

5/19 OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ????) ep 1 of 10 - LeeFrank are back - not unlike the undead (as it were). But how do we feel about it? Unsure given their track record.

5/25 The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer - HoTae & DongHee are back but unfortunately not in a cinema near me. Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS.

5/28 My Biker 2 (Thai movie YT?) - trailer

5/31 The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) - May not be BL

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love a shrimp peeling moment in my Thai BL. (Only Boo)

Unquestionably the best moment in BL this year. FIGHT ME. (Unknown)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 12: Initial Thoughts

Hello everyone! I thought it'd be fun to do a post going over some of my first thoughts from the episode after each release. "Initial" is a bit of a stretch, considering I did watch it a second time while making this post, but it's more "initial" in the context of being before the next episode drops. It's sort of like my "initial thoughts" of the Milgram MVs, which are actually the result of, like, 3 hours of obsessing and research, lol.

(By the way, @accirax and I watched the episode together, so apologies if her initial thoughts end up being, like, the same as mine.)

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 EP 12!

T/W: Body image issues/body dysmorphia, murder, suicide

The Reactions

Confirmation of what I think most of us already suspected! I do think it's a little weird that Nico didn't bring up their testimony about all of the fish being there at the last time they fed the fish. That probably means it's being saved for later in the Trial, I guess?

It's okay Teruko, I saw literally no one in the entire fanbase figure this one out either!

Why is everyone so mean to her though. Everyone here has been an idiot in the Trials at LEAST once

God I missed David

This was so funny. Get his ass.

(In all seriousness, though, I do wonder if we're going to come back to what J said. I don't currently (?) think Arei was drenched, unless the real purpose of the water WAS just to confuse the time of death, so if the water didn't connect with her enough to cool her down, it might be weird that the body isn't warm after all.)

This took me out. Who let you say that. What.

Okay, but Ace, outside of a killing game... why. Like, literally why would a plastic surgeon need to know how to do an autopsy. King.

Like Felicity...? /hj

All in all, though, this was a really interesting character moment for Arturo! And god, the fact that he started learning medical knowledge and spedrun plastic surgery specifically since age 12 HAS to mean something. My vague theories of Felicity having struggles with body image/dysmorphia (Arturo's section of this post) are... maybe real???

Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if Arturo is going to go farther in this game. I don't expect him to survive or anything, but I could see it taking him a surprisingly long time to die. He feels like he's got too much lore to unpack to die, like, next chapter. Unless he gets HELLA focused next chapter, which is definitely possible.

This is so silly. I love them.

(Note: I'm not a Whit mastermind truther, but if I were, I would point out that MonoTV sort of covering up a rules violation for Whit could be relevant. I'm not a Whit mastermind truther though, so I think this is just a very silly joke a la "no wifi! why live :(" )

Well you see Eden, the killer would have actually had all night to prepare. If, say, they mentioned that they could dial in and focus on their work for like 14 hours straight, they could have gotten a lot done before 7:30 AM!

I'll talk about this more later, but the fact that J, David, Veronika, Hu and Nico seemingly have alibis that actually matter is so iconic. I can't believe that many theories died that quick. I'll talk about that more in my theories section, though!

It's been said before, but. Funniest fucking reaction to being declared innocent of murder.

"David still has a family history of depression even if that isn't his secret" nation where you at?

This one made me laugh out loud. Who does it like him

How truthful do we think David is in this next section? I refuse to believe it's 100% a lie, just because he's cooking SO hard on SOMETHING, but I could also believe David thinks he's lying to an extent. I could definitely see a "the best lies are based on the truth" kind of thing?

Also, damn. Xanvid really is real. LGI got me to believe it but WOW David's just being gay on main now

This was a really good, succinct way to have Teruko show her opposition to David's ideas. Even if it is to end the killing game or do something "good' or whatever, Teruko is still hurt and betrayed by what Xander did. Xander tried to kill her, and presumably would have tried to kill everyone else. David is now doing the same thing.

It's going to be really interesting if, whether genuine or not, David is kinda taking on Xander's position. That's going to give Teruko a reason to (outwardly) hate him even more. I'm really looking forward to learning more about how both Teruko and David view Xander.

Also, it's so fucking funny that Teruko and David are literally fighting over Xander. Like, valid, but. Guys.

(Also, David soooo knows Teruko's secret is the killing game is all your fault. Idk if he specifically knows that Xander's plan was to kill Teruko no matter what, but he's definitely caught on to some extent.)

This was crazy. Is Xander famous? Why would everyone recognize him? Like, did David just take particular notice of Xander because he's a simp, or is there something else going on?

Notably, it's also extremely interesting that David says "Even if you all lost a year of memories for this killing game." It almost implies that David didn't? What do you know???

Also, if David DOES have weird memories about this that no one else does, it's a really interesting comparison to Teruko remembering the existence of a killing game in the area investigation when she was talking to Veronika. Are these two getting special memory privileges because they're important? Or does everyone have some kind of memory that they all should have, but only one person knows each thing?

At first I was confused when David said this, because I really don't know how dear anyone in DRDT's life to him was other than Xander. But then I realized, if David is talking about killing 15 others and yourself, he's definitely still talking about Xander's mindset. Xander had something worth the lives of 16 people that he was trying to do.

I don't know how much David cares about ending the killing game. I wonder if "belief in Xander" is the thing he's willing to kill 13 people plus himself for?

I'm starting to get REALLY curious what J's deal is. Between this and her voiced line earlier in the trial saying something along the lines of "it's like you all still haven't grasped just how serious murder is," she definitely seems to have strong opinions on specifically the morality of killing other people. WHY is she being singled out with these beliefs, what does it say about her, and where is her character headed?

(If she is the mastermind, does this couple with the "all murderers must be held accountable" rule?)

"Any answer" is so funny. I think she's looking for the truthful answer, David. This is why no one believes you when you say anything ever /aff

Notably, this is VERY similar to the plan Eden came up with that Veronika described: using the fact that TV shows need entertainment to continue to end the killing game. It's the same thing, but with a much more depressed "everyone should just give up" kind of flavor.

The level of similarity does make me think David is probably not being 100% truthful, and that he just repurposed Eden's escape plan to be something sort of similar to what he was going for.

I do think that he WAS trying to defeat the killing game by killing people through the class trial. I just think that, between Xander's actions and the motive secret he received, he was trying to kill Teruko specifically. Yet another way that David's unhinged behavior ties into the Chapter 2 secrets.

*Hu hopeless child looms in the distance*

I'm so glad that Hu gets to pop off though. She really hasn't gotten, like, any content in the series so far. Here's hoping this is kicking off her getting a bunch of time to shine!

Interesting that they had both Ace and Hu cut Nico off in this interaction. The staging definitely implies that they're trying to show that while Ace is wrong for talking over Nico and not letting them say anything, Hu is also wrong to an extent for not letting Nico defend themself and running to their rescue all the time.

I am begging you. Please discuss the murder method. I didn't realize until my rewatch of the trial that they have actually literally not talked about the murder method at ALL except for telling David that he doesn't know shit about it.

HUH?????????????

Theory Update/Analysis

Well, I'm gonna start this off by saying that I'm still pretty locked into Eden being the killer. We still need to address the tape, and I personally still found her to be decently shifty now behavior wise (she seemed nervous when we turned back to solving the trial, and she says something about "it's too hard to narrow down the killer :/" when people were talking about morning alibis). I just think it makes the most sense.

While obviously my logic for why Levi would be the accomplice has to be at least somewhat flawed, given Levi's surprise confession (!!!), I still think it's possible that Levi is the accomplice here. He could be doing this to further confuse/complicate the state of things (hence why he calls it leading people astray), and it's possible he's not being 100% honest here.

Something that Levi could be doing here is taking control of the situation and spinning the truth in his favor. Hu mentioned earlier (e11, I think?) that the secrets are phrased dramatically. Similarly, Levi may be trying to offer an explanation for his secret that might be more tame, but still believable.

For example, if Levi says that he killed one of his parents because of the circumstances he grew up in, but it turned out that his parents were extremely abusive to him in some way (cough cough Amane Momose), wouldn't people be more willing to forgive the fact that he's a "murderer"? There are different levels to the culpability of murders.

So, it's definitely possible this is still an attempt by Levi to conceal the truth of his secret. It's true that, right now, no one's really trying to match all of the remaining secrets up with the remaining secret holders in-universe, but the entire fanbase pretty much slam dunked this one. Once the content of the secrets was revealed, it wasn't too difficult to track the origin of this secret to Levi. Levi might know that, and might be trying to spin it in a positive way while he can get everyone's attention and tell everyone the same narrative here in the class trial.

I don't think any Levi accomplice or killer truthers have to fully give up on the idea, or at least not until we see what Levi actually says after this. It's a WILD topic to reveal we're going to talk about, but we haven't actually talked about it yet. If we were told "we get David's motivations for trying to throw the trial," I doubt literally any of us would have locked in the prediction of "David is trying to follow in Xander's footsteps by killing everyone via the trial because he kind of remembers Xander." So, until next week, I'm keeping an open mind!

This was insane. I can't believe we actually got a new episode, and that we're gonna KEEP getting new episodes until the chapter finishes. What the fuck!!!

[kunimix]

—NEON GUTS

S 2 Ep. 1; FALSE NEWS </3 Pt.2

prev ep | masterlist | next ep

CW; Written chapter, timestamps don’t matter unless said otherwise, Arguing, Angsty(?)

Today was the day you had to meet up with Scaramouche. He called you an hour before you guys met up to make sure you wanted to still.

You left your house to go meet Scaramouche at the park. Once you got there he was there sitting on the couch waiting for you. He seemed kind of cold.

“Hi” You said sitting down next to him

“Hey” He turned his head to look at you

“I think you know what I wanna talk about”

“Listen just ignore what I said if you don’t wanna talk to me anymore then that’s fine” You placed your hands on both of your thighs.

“I wanted to tell you that-”

“I told you to forget about it please” You looked at him

“That isn’t how I wanted it to go. Shit I didn’t even want to tell you in the first place!”

He didn’t say anything he just sat there.

“You’re just my tutor I know. I’ll get over it so can you please let it go?”

He let your words sink in. You’re just my tutor those words kept ringing in his head.

“Okay well I guess I should go now” He started to get up and walk away. He sounded very upset like he was going to cry..?

You had gotten back home you were laying in your bed regretting what you said you didn’t even let him speak. You laid there feeling yourself start to cry. Fuck don’t cry. You decided instead of just laying there in your own regret to get up and go get a snack or drink from the kitchen.

You got down there and your mom was sitting on the couch watching some documentaries.

“You okay sweetheart?” She asked you because you were just standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at her

“Oh! Yeah I’m okay just thinking..” You were kind of startled when she spoke up.

You walked into the kitchen to grab some [snack of choice]. Maybe if I let him speak I would feel like this

Let him speak…

Let him speak…

Let him speak..!

Let him speak!

prev ep I masterlist I next ep

Summary; Scaramouche is "forced" to tutor you the "dumbass" of the class

A/n; ANGST YIPPIE

Taglist; @featuredtofu @chemiru @veekoko @kamiboo @mercy-not-merci @sl-vega @shutingstar

[quietblueriver]

Helloooo! Erm, couldn’t choose between magical or blood for your prompts so just… Imodna, transfusion! (Love your writing btw.)

Thank you so, so much! So kind. <3 <3

Started the below thinking about transfusion of warmth (inspired by the last ep) as a start and then whatever this is happened. Kind of angsty but also absolutely full of them loving each other deeply, as they do.

Thank you again for being so kind and for the fun prompt!

PS-Usual heads up that this was typed in a flurry so pls forgive any errors.

-

Imogen’s filthy by the time she makes it back to their little cabin, calling out to Laudna without much thought as she begins to prestidigitate. 

Made it back from the barn. Think I’m gonna head to the market real quick though, unless you need me. Saw some raspberries and thought they might be nice for if you wanted to try makin’ that cake again. Ms. Sawyer says her daughter has a trick to keep the berries from sinkin’, somethin’ to do with…

She’s so distracted by a loose button on her shirt that it takes her a moment to realize something is wrong. Only a moment, though, and then she’s shoving through the front door, boots still muddy and hands lightning hot, scars beginning to glow. 

“Laudna?”

There’s no music. There are no words. There’s only static, a harsh, painful, pained sound making its way to Imogen and reverberating in her mind. 

“Laudna?”

A grasping black handprint curls over the back of one of the two wooden chairs at their tiny, rehabilitated table, another drips from the wall by the window, and Imogen is sprinting the short distance to their bedroom by the time she sees the third, thick ichor caught on the empty door frame. 

Laudna’s frail body stretches across their bed, legs still over the side, one black leather boot half-off. Her skin is leaking ichor furiously, the red and blue quilt on their bed now covered in rivulets of black. 

“Shit, shit, shit. Laudna? Laudna?”

There’s no answer, but her eyelids flutter and the static continues, loud and angry, and Imogen’s never been happier to feel the dull pulse of an oncoming headache. 

She runs her hands up Laudna’s body, looking for any injury. It’s not until she reaches under her that she feels it, a spot just below her left shoulder blade where the fabric is torn. Taking the scissors from Laudna’s belt, she turns Laudna onto her side as gently as she can to get a better look, cutting away damp maroon material. 

A hiss of sympathy escapes between closed teeth when she sees the gash, open and weeping and clearly magical, eating at Laudna’s flesh. 

“Fuck. Fuck.”

Her hands are shaking, so she takes a minute to breathe deep, calm down as much as she can. Setting their house on fire with anxious lightning isn’t going to help anything. 

It’s not like this is the first time this has happened, but it’s the first time it’s ever been like this, Laudna unconscious and Imogen alone and unsure what has hurt her. She thinks of what Laudna has taught her and what she knows, what she has—hot water, a clean cloth, the box of herbs and healing poultice Laudna keeps tucked into her pack. She can do this. 

But first.

She kneels and finishes taking off Laudna’s boots and then situates a pillow at the head of the bed. With a careful eye to her wound, she takes Laudna’s feather-light body in her arms and turns her, places her on her stomach at an angle so that her wound is exposed to the air. 

“Sorrysorrysorry,” she whispers as she tries her hardest to find a position that looks natural, like it might not be terribly uncomfortable for Laudna to wake up in. 

When she’s as satisfied as she can be, she heats some water, gathers the cloth and the poultice. After she scrubs her hands thoroughly, a concession to the irrational need to feel the aching heat and see the soap even after she has magicked them clean, she folds herself down next to Laudna to get to work, focusing on the task in front of her and, now that the static has quieted, occasionally checking the incredibly slow but still mercifully present pulse at Laudna’s wrist. 

The wound cleaned, Imogen takes another warm cloth to Laudna’s skin, slowly wiping away smears of black. The ichor has slowed enough that it’s not an entirely futile task, although she imagines she’ll need to repeat the process at least once more. The loss of fluids leaves Laudna one step closer to translucent. 

There’s nothing to do then but wait, and she hates it. Hates feeling helpless and impotent and ignorant. She would do anything to be able to help, but she has done all she knows how to do, all she can do until tomorrow, when she might be able to wrangle some useful information from Meena, another woman at the farm where Imogen’s been working as a seasonal hand whose wife is a healer. 

Even then, though, she doesn’t know what to ask, what to say about Laudna’s body or blood or muscle or ichor or the spell itself. She knows nothing, has nothing more to give, and her chest is tight with the reality of her ineptitude.  

Because she can’t be helpful, she keeps her hands and mind busy with nonsense: tidies up her supplies, prestidigitates their quilt, changes and finishes cleaning her own clothes. She cleans Laudna again, clears the handprints she left on her way to the bed without letting herself think at all about why they’re there, picks up and puts down the book Laudna has been reading about 15 times, managing a few paragraphs or pages aloud at a time before she’s too restless to continue. Their boots are polished, their clothes are carefully and unnecessarily re-folded, and Imogen’s nails are bitten to the quick. 

It’s well into the night by the time Laudna stirs, a soft, wounded sound and matched thoughts of confusion and pain announcing her return to consciousness. Imogen’s head snaps up at the noise, and she rises immediately from the chair where she’s been worrying, hovers at the edge of the bed and brings her fingers to tuck some of Laudna’s hair behind her ear. Her thumb, a little bloody at the nail, rubs at the soft skin of her temple. 

“Laudna.” 

Wide eyes blink open, unfocused. 

“Imogen?” 

Her voice is strained, and Imogen reaches for the glass of water she’s had waiting on the bedside table, brings it to her lips with a little lacquered wooden straw Laudna had found a few months back. 

“Hey. Yeah. It’s me. Drink this, okay?” 

She does without protest, and the exhausted smile she gives Imogen when she’s finished almost drives her to tears. She clears her throat and turns away to put the glass back down, takes a second to get herself together. 

She settles more fully on the bed beside Laudna when she feels less like she might start sobbing, rests a hand over one of Laudna’s near her pillow. 

“How’re you feelin’?” 

They don’t lie to each other, but Imogen hears the brief internal debate over exactly how honest to be, knows from Laudna’s somewhat sheepish look that she knows Imogen is aware of what she’s thinking. 

Just don’t want to worry you, dear. 

“You’re worth worryin’ over.” 

Too tired to fight, even though Imogen can tell that she wants to, Laudna concedes the point and answers the question instead.  

“I feel quite terrible.” 

“That makes sense. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but that gash you’ve got back there is real nasty.” 

Laudna sighs and closes her eyes for a moment before blinking them back open, more alert this time around. 

“A cleric surprised me by the stream. He threw the spell before I could react, and it felt like something tangible hit me along with the magic, although I couldn’t see what. A vial of poison, maybe? Or shards of something? Quite creative really. Did an astounding amount of damage on contact.” Imogen bites her tongue as Laudna continues. “In any case, he hit me, and I knew immediately that I was fucked, but I was able to send him running with a quick illusion and managed to make it back here before, well…” She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, shaking her head as she looks down at the quilt. “I’m sorry to worry you. And to make you take care of me. I know you had…” 

“Laudna.” 

At Imogen’s tone, she stops, raising her head to meet Imogen’s eyes again. 

“You have nothin’ to apologize for. I’m sorry some ignorant fuck ruined your afternoon and…and…” That I wasn’t there to protect you, she bites back, knowing Laudna will only take it as a chance to turn the focus away from herself. She fists the hand not on Laudna’s, resigns herself to the tear that falls. “I’m so sorry you got hurt, honey.” 

“I’ll be alright,” she says with a smile, smaller than usual but still real. Her eyes hold Imogen’s as she adds, “Thank you for taking care of me.” 

“Always,” Imogen says without thought, means absolutely. She breaks eye contact, afraid that she’s going to cry more, and clears her throat again. “You lost a lotta blood, Laud. I wasn’t…I didn’t know what to do about it. I thought there must be some magic but I…” She shrugs helplessly.  

Laudna hums. “I’ll be restored with some good sleep. I can show you some more tricks with the herbs later. Healing magic isn’t in my repertoire and never will be, I’m afraid, so we’ll have to make do.” 

A few days later, Laudna is back to her normal self and working on something or other with bones on the kitchen table. Imogen has been attempting to read the same paragraph of her book for the last several minutes and finally gives up, letting it falls shut where it rests against her legs on the bed. 

“Hey, Laud.” 

“Hmm?” 

“Is there really no way I can learn healing magic?” 

Laudna looks up from her project then, head tilting curiously. 

“I can’t say I’m an expert, dearest. My own experience with clerics has largely been, well…” She waves a hand in the air. “But it’s not just clerics who can heal, of course, and I’m certain we can find someone to talk to you about it, if you’re interested. The conservatory will undoubtedly have people who know much more than I do.” She pushes up from the table and comes to settle next to Imogen on the bed, pressing their shoulders together. “Interested in pursuing something new?” 

She takes a beat, tilts her head to rest on Laudna’s shoulder. I’m interested in savin’ you from pain. In never havin’ to see you like that again. In givin’ those fuckers a little of their own medicine. It’s kind of hypocritical to maintain her own hierarchy of honesty when Laudna so freely offers herself and her truth to Imogen, but she’s not a perfect person, never has been. 

So she tells one part of the truth, promises herself and Laudna she’ll learn to be better, do better, know more. 

“Just curious.” 

-

Is she your favorite? 

Imogen watches as Laudna comes down on Otohan’s blade, her body broken and limp as Otohan smiles wickedly, proudly. She’s smug. She’s smug as she holds Laudna in the air, and Imogen wants to destroy her, wants to obliterate her, but more than that, more than anything, she wants Laudna, wants... 

There is one thing she has to offer, one thing that might be able to fix this, so she gives it, takes down the walls, stops trying to bury the churning power in her stomach and her chest, stops fighting for herself. She makes peace, dirty but rooted in love, with the fact that she might never come back from this. 

And then she lets go. 

Imogen’s mind explodes, white hot fury and pain enveloping her and demolishing everything around her. She’s gone. She’s nothing in that moment, nothing but a vehicle for someone else’s, something else’s, power. It’s what she has, and it’s what she’ll give, even if it means the end of her, to fix this. 

And still, when she wakes up, Laudna is gone. 

She’s done nothing to save her, in the end. Nothing to help. 

All that power, all that fire, and she’s left with Laudna’s head in her lap, Laudna’s body in her arms, homes and friends demolished. Wreckage of her own making. 

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. 

She’ll bring her back. If Laudna wants to come back, Imogen will find a way for her. There isn’t another option. 

But holding Laudna’s body tight to her, Orym’s calls for help and the panicked thoughts of her friends battering at her mind, she has never felt more powerless. She has never felt so deeply that she has nothing useful to offer. 

-

It was a mistake, letting her go on her own. It was such a stupid thing to do, such a selfish thing to do, but Laudna had seemed to know what she needed and Imogen had been so angry at Ashton and everyone had been so checked out, and she’d decided she should stay, decided she could be useful if she stayed. 

Laudna paid for it. 

Laudna was always paying for other people’s mistakes. For Imogen’s mistakes. 

She waits alone in the basement, furious that she doesn’t have a way to find her, that her sending won’t work, that there’s no spell she can try. 

She debates, several times, flying out over the grounds and the forest, but she knows their history, knows the likelihood that she’ll just get herself lost and end up fucking things up worse, missing Laudna or forcing the Hells to split their time and energy trying to find the both of them. 

Familiar feelings of shame and powerlessness make a home in her hands, her chest, behind her eyelids. She should’ve gone with her. She should’ve gone with her. 

She watched Delilah make her influence over Laudna apparent, listened to her preach in that torture chamber, saw what it did to Laudna, what being here did to Laudna. 

It’s not that she believes that Delilah will win. She knows Laudna can fight her, even if Laudna doesn’t know it herself. 

I haven’t been able to fight her for 30-odd years. 

She’d said it like it was some unassailable truth, but Imogen knew better. Knows better. She’s heard everything inside of her, and more than anyone Imogen has ever met, Laudna is full of kindness. Of steadfast love. Of the kind of humor sharp and strong enough to result Pate, who must be a special form of torture for Delilah. Of an optimism so deep that it let her keep going town after town after town and lets her keep trying to play fun-scary games with children in taverns and on the road. In Whitestone, even. 

For thirty years, she’s had that bitch inside of her, and she’s still Laudna, the best person Imogen has ever met. 

So Imogen knows she can fight. 

But fuck, she doesn’t want her to have to. And she never wants her to have to fight alone. Not again. Never again. 

That’s what she’s doing now, though. 

Imogen had let Laudna go. She had let her go by herself, broken from a betrayal she didn’t have the emotional space to process into this place that tortured her, killed her, and then brought her back gasping and cold and alone. 

This didn’t have to happen, and now that it has, Imogen has no way to stop it. Energy hums beneath her skin with nowhere to go, her scars illuminating the graveyard Delilah left here. 

Hours pass and nothing changes. 

Eventually, she wanders up and tries to navigate the absolute shitshow of the post-shard Hells. Chet’s mostly naked doing…something? Some kind of dance, drinking loudly, because of course he is, and she’s frankly grateful for the consistency, but she understands when Allura pulls her aside to ask if Imogen thinks they’re ready for what’s coming. 

Imogen was worried about them before today. Of course she was, because she’s not stupid, and they’ve seen too many battles to be cocky. She’s been in Whitestone before, recalls vividly what can happen when they’re unprepared. So she was worried about them, but now, it’s more than just caution. It’s real, deep concern. 

They’re broken, individually and as a group, and she doesn’t know how to fix it. She doesn’t know what to do with the mess of them in the kitchen, and she doesn’t know what to do with the fact that they’re…

“Does anybody know where Fearne and Laudna are?” 

There’s confirmation, at least, that Fearne is alright, and that Laudna is safe for the moment, but gods, how many ghosts are in this town, in those woods? 

Fuck. 

She can’t blame Chet for telling Ashton to leave, doesn’t have the inclination or the energy to defend them right now, and maybe tomorrow morning if they don’t come down she’ll regret it, but it’s nice, for a minute, to shift a little of the shame and blame to someone else. Ashton and their power grab and their idiocy, their unintentional but undeniable cruelty to Fearne, their betrayal and its rippling effects. 

God, they’re all so fucked up. 

She spends most of the night staring at the ceiling, her mind running the same circles over and over again until the sun is up high enough that she can justify beating down FCG’s door. 

She drags them through the castle and outside and then when they find her, Laudna runs. She looks at Imogen and she runs and Imogen doesn’t want to scare her but this isn’t gonna fucking work, so she’s pressing forward as fast as she can, breathing hard and body tired from some of the shittiest sleep of her life. 

And it’s not good, none of it is good, but at least they’re together. They’re together, and Laudna is okay, and it’s her, and then she’s giving Ashton a doll and Ashton is crying, Imogen is crying, they’re all crying over this tiny model of Ashton, with its chipmunk head and quartz and profanity and Ashton is apologizing, really apologizing, and only Laudna could do this, only Laudna could make them all…

“Love is pain.” Every muscle in Imogen’s body tenses. “But it’s also warmth.” Laudna meets her eyes for a moment and then looks at the floor, back to Ashton. “It was so cold last night.” 

Imogen pulls Laudna into her, releases some of the tension in her body when cold arms wrap around her waist. It’s easy, such an easy thing, to pull Fearne in to join them. 

Imogen can’t banish Delilah, can’t heal Ashton, can’t fix herself or any of the Hells. She can’t change what she did and didn’t do last night. There’s still a chasm of fear in her when she considers her own magic and power in relation to Otohan, to Ludinus, to Delilah. 

But she has this. She can give this. 

Love is warmth, and Imogen is full of fire. 

[squeezysreservoirofcookies]

random athf hcs

i know characters dying but reviving next ep/no continuity is the norm, but when it comes to steve, it would not surprise me if dr. weird had a large collection of steve clones that he just goes through for the lulz. he never has to hire new peeps so it's just convientient

plutonians purr like cats do and for the same reasons, but the purr sounds like a combo of a cat, a dove's coo, and a gutteral rattle

Carl: 6', Frylock: 5'3", Shake: From bottom to cup lid 5' but to the bend of the straw it's 6', Meatwad: 2', Oglethorpe: 5'9", Emory: 7', Ignigknot: 3', Err: 1', MC Peepants (Big Spider Mode): 8', Dr. Weird: 6'6", Steve: 5'9" for some heights

shake's pistachio milkshake power works like snake venom in that he can only shoot out a certain amount of it until he empties out, and that it takes a lot of energy/nutrients to regenerate it. not that it changes anything bc he'd still be a depraved omnivore of a sentient milkshake w/o the setback but uh. OH yea and it is edible, enough to fill a route 44 from sonic to the top, but you'd have to ask REAL nice or be hyper sweet to him if you wanna get it but no guarantee. plus hed prolly spit in it or immediately toss it to the ground

frylock's fries are also edible but it genuinely hurts him if you eat it bc while it is sorta like his hair, some also have bones in them and are basically like our hands/arms. maybe if he shoots his fries at you like in the movie it would be ok, but you'd get hurt af and it's the same w shake in that he cant use it too much bc it takes a lot of biological resources & energy to regenerate. if he wants to cut his hair he can take certain pain mediation for it.

DO NOT EAT MEATWAD. 1.) if u do ur a monster but 2.) it may be ground meat but it's got garbage, sand, broken down bits of food, dirt, poop?, pee, parasites, the whole 9 yards so unless ur a animal or if you want to shit ur organs and skeleton out bc ur that desperately hungry then go ahead ig

meatwad works through slime logic in that he can't actually die unless hes been atomized/obliterated completely/eaten whole then yea hes dead. he just needed some time to recuperate dw abt it. not to mention he can also eat just abt anything in any amt. also he knows every aspect of the skibidi toilet lore, but only some major details on the fnaf lore but do NOT ask him abt reminant and fazgoo cuz he'll just stare at you blankly

the mooninites used neil armstrong's footprints on the moon as their restroom

carl doesn't know what an anime is but if he did knew what it was he would absolutely be a fan of it (even if he'd hide it in shame). you dont wanna know what else.

shake sucks at sports in general and anything that requires physical activity, he prefers to watch it on his seat instead. he is physically strong when he's prepared to fight, but if you catch him by surprise he's a complete bitch. actually hes a complete wuss in general when it comes to trying to fight anyone bigger/aggressive than himself. if him and his girl get mugged while walking in the middle of the night he's tossing her at the robber and running (jumping) away. but anyone weaker/smaller/meeker is fair game bc ofc

frylock has misophonia (hates the sound of people chewing). anytime he tries to explain it, shake makes a mesothelioma joke. but also it's so intense he will straight up blast you if you dont listen to him, shake had to learn that the hard way

mooninites can only comprehend music in 8 bit/midi. like ignignokt can listen to regular classic rock and be like "fuck yea bro" but through his ears(? head??) it sounds like an 8 bit/midi rendition of it. idk if this is making any sense but the closest i can come up w is that its more like a translation thing

plutonians do poop/excrete?? waste that does act like all purpose cleaner from earth but it smells highkey like rotting eggs and aged cheese, maybe even worse depending on what they've ate

[starseneyes]

Chenford - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 5 - Ep 21

"Going Under" AKA "Going Down in the Laundry Room"

We made it home just in time for the episode, but I was too worn from the events of the day to finish last night. So, here it is, your Meta.

SPOILER ALERT: Look, I don't spoil those who want to remain unspoiled, which is why there's a cute "Read More" button. But as soon as you click that, you're on your own. You will be spoiled. Sorry, not sorry.

All squared away? It's time to dive in!

Lucy and Tim Brief the Team

There's something very powerful about seeing Lucy and Tim standing up there to tell everyone about the Op.

It throws me back to Lucy's first Under Cover assignment when an angry Tim perched outside the door, arms crossed, while Lucy sat as a member of the briefing.

Now, Sergeant Second Class Bradford and... what the hell!?

Where's Lucy's promotion, dagnabbit?!

Look, I'm really not trying to complain after the feast we got in this episode. But, it really does strike hard when you're thinking about earlier seasons and how far Tim has come professionally.

I really hope the "Lucy wants to make Detective" story line continues this season or beginning of next.

"Which is where Officer Chen comes in. She'll be going undercover..."

It's good that Tim's the one who's introducing this, and we're continuing our thread of, "Tim is trying to be okay with this."

Also, again, a long way from Tim being pissed about Lucy going UC. The growth has been massive. I think it's important to acknowledge that even as we spend this episode highlighting how much further these two have to go.

The need for continued growth does not cancel out the growth already achieved. Work is work, and when you put it in, it matters.

"Until further notice, if you see Officer Chen out in the world, don't acknowledge her."

And, I'm thrown back to Lucy's Op at the end of Season 3, when Tim and Jackson came across her with the traffic stop. I remember Jackson asking Tim how to play it, and Tim coaching him through.

"I called Hard Luck." "Really? He's such an unreliable CI."

Gosh, I love how these two talk to one another. Again, we've come so fucking far.

And I know I'm waxing nostalgic, a bit, but I think that's natural for an episode of this magnitude. Lucy hasn't done more than a short stint undercover op in many seasons.

And this is the first time we get to see these two handle it as a couple.

Every other time they've done this, Tim was a TO or a coworker. Now, he's Lucy's Shower Sex Sweetie and Quality Quickie with a dash of Down-And-Dirty-All-Night-Long-Hottie.

It's bound to change the dynamic. But one thing that I love about this scene is how equal they are.

Sure, Lucy doesn't have the rank, but she's no longer "sir"ing Tim (unless he asks for it in the bedroom... or shower... or wherever role playing activities might transpire).

"He knows it's important to me." "Aw... undercover love." *giggle*

Y'all, I'm giddy. Like, legit was grinning like a fool. And after the day I've had, that's no small miracle.

Also, it feels like Eric Winter almost broke, and like Melissa O'Neil did. I have no intel on this, and I might be completely off-base, but there was something about his little quirk of the lip and double-take that would definitely have set me off if I was working opposite him in that scene.

"Jamie Hall." "You all set up Jamie?" "Yeah, all good."

So. Fucking. Cute.

I just love that Tim's the one outside keeping an eye on her (even if my subconscious is trying to connect the dots between IA paperwork, possible liabilities of Tim overreacting or losing his cool, and what happens if he uses the wrong name by accident, etc).

He is the protector. And being involved in the Op is easier for him to handle than not being involved.

Think about it... we know that Isabel would go away for months at a time and Tim felt like he couldn't breathe the whole time. He didn't know about the people she met. He didn't know anything.

He told Isabel that Lucy was different, and I think we all can see that Chenford can be different. But without communication, they're doomed.

Golly, that sounds dramatic. Like that old shipping commercial where everyone is doomed. Yeah, like twelve of you reading understand that reference, and I'm leaving it anyway.

But, I truly believe communication is the foundation to a strong relationship. And I'm not just saying that because I happen to hold two degrees in communications.

Tim and Lucy have the benefit of an established relationship based on trust and respect. But learning to effectively communicate your needs, wants, fears, aversions, and desires as a couple is completely different.

"Are you good? .... "Are you good?" "Do you mean do I miss you already? Nah, I'm fine." "You are such a jerk."

This is so me and Matt coded. And, yes, I'm Lucy in this scenario. Can't tell you how many times I've affectionately called Matthew a jerk and he's shared that same satisfactory smirk on Tim's face afterwards.

"Hey, will you keep an eye on Tamara for me? You know, just check in on her every once in a while." "Of course. Yeah, don't worry about her. I'll keep an eye on her. You just focus on the job."

Tim is really trying to be amazingly supportive for her. And I love this little reminder that Tim does have his own place.

Yes, for production purposes we're spending a lot of time at Lucy's (that I head-canon is because she lives closer to the station).

Also, Tim doesn't hesitate to watch out for Tamara. There was a time he only referred to Tamara as "Lucy's Puppy", but now they're family.

"How long do you think this will take?"

Excuse me, we're getting a montage!?! Like, a montage with voice over provided by our intrepid duo? Be still my beating heart!

Y'all don't understand. I was a Voice Over artist for two decades. So, when I see actors who can also do voice over well, I get super hyped.

Melissa O'Neil and Eric Winter decided to make me gawk at their talent even more tonight. Gee wiz! Like, it's possible they recorded their audio together, but more likely they were each in comfy clothes in the booth solo on completely different days.

And the chemistry. still. freakin. works. That's talent, my friends.

Look, some people crush VO and some people don't. Just watch (or don't watch... maybe with shrooms nearby) the Star Wars Holiday Special animated section to see what I mean.

I'm not gonna name names, but it was really easy to call which Star Wars actor was going to go into voice work later and which one really shouldn't have been asked to do that long VO for Blade Runner.

"Oh, do not finish this season of Top Chef without me." "I can't make any promises."

Y'all, this is so me and Matt coded! Now, Top Chef is my show and not Matthew's. I even keep it on in the background when I'm working or writing a screenplay.

Yes, I know most people don't work that way. I'm weird. I've come to terms with it, and I like me—weird and all.

But we totally have our shows where we say, "You better not watch this without me!" And, usually, I'm the one to screw it up. Mostly by accident!

Matthew always reminds me of Mean Girls. He wanted to see it in theaters. I said to hold off. Then we were in the video store (yes, we're old) and he offered to rent it, but I said to hold off. The third time was a year later when he remembered we hadn't seen it.

Except I accidentally caught it on TV totally forgetting we said we'd watch it together. Eep!

Also, after Lucy complaining about her ex watching too many cooking shows after his wrists were slit, I find it interesting she actively watched them with Tim.

Just goes to show cooking shows were never the problem. *cough* dead weight puffed chicken *cough*

"You ever wish you has a normal job?" "One where people don't shoot at you? Not once." "Yeah, me, either."

I love how easy their conversation is. These are the little things that add up to big things when you're building a relationship. And some mastermind in the Writer's Room thought, "What if we advance their relationship while advancing the episode's story via VO?"

As much flack as VO sometimes takes (and I'm actually a VO fan), I adore this choice.

We don't need to meet all the people in the office and establish relationships with them. It doesn't service the story or our core characters. So, we're letting Tim and Lucy—two characters we adore—carry us through via the VO. It's bloody beautiful.

Also, I love the pacing of this episode. Love it. There's an effortlessness to the timing of the edits and the passage of time via wardrobe change is so beautifully done.

I know we have the Super giving us time stamps via dates, but those are almost superfluous because we can visualize the journey via other cues. It's stuff like this that makes me bloody giddy.

"Making any friends?"

This. Is. So. Cute. Tim is actually keeping Lucy sane, here, I'm convinced! Remember her last UC assignment where she had to check in via phone? She was bored out of her mind.

"Is the monotony getting to you?" "I don't mind it... I just don't want it to all be for nothing."

This is so interesting to me. The word choice, I mean. This is how I felt about the infertility drugs... it couldn't all be for nothing.

I'm not going to get into the whole thing, here. But, I dealt with multiple years of infertility for my kids. For a while, I had to be on this medication—letrazole. Most people have minor reactions on it. I had almost all the weird/severe reactions.

But it got my follicles to optimum size for ovulation. It wasn't all for nothing.

There are things we put ourselves through willingly, sometimes, that to an outsider might seem strange. But we have a reason for what we're doing—and a hope that it's the right thing to do.

"Why don't we go for a walk?"

It's not Chenford, but I gotta call out my on-screen bestie for using her brains on this one to prevent Frank from taking her to a second location. Well done.

Tim Pretending to Be On the Phone

Fierce protector is there. Now, I'm turning off my subconscious brain on this one, and I'll explain why at the end. But, I did think it was a nice touch to have Tim on the phone, here.

There's something about this episode that felt like a dash of Alias was sprinkled onto the souffle. It's already an abundant hour that could feel bloated, but instead is rich and decadent. But that added spice is palpable in the shooting and editing, especially.

That over-the-shoulder shot of the landscape when Tim's watching them feels hand-held, giving us that sense of something being off-kilter and unstable.

When Tim hangs up, it's a shot of his torso, out-of-focus, with the real action behind him. There are layers to how this is shot, and it's so reminiscent of a spy movie in the best ways.

The whole episode is already elevated by Michael Rooker. But the script and pacing and directing and editing all feel like they've risen to the occasion, too.

"I was bored to early onset rigor mortis."

But this is a part of UC life. It's the "hurry up and wait" that is strangely a huge part of life in the film/television industry, as well. Like, a huge part.

It could be waiting for the sun to set so you have the perfect lighting, waiting for an actor on set, waiting for notes, or even a Writer's Strike if it comes to that.

UC often means embedding for months at a time before getting what you're going after. It's something for which Tim and Lucy must prepare. And I feel like this episode is the perfect vehicle to get us there.

"Like a date?" ... "odds are he's hoping for a little something-something."

Tim is having a hard time, and Grey knows it. I love how he casts a glance Tim's way on this line, sensing his unease.

Let's be real—Grey saw Chenford coming before they did. And he's the one really tuned into Tim, here.

Tim can't help walking her to the door, holding it open for her, even if he knows he can't touch her. He's concerned.

"You okay?" "Five by five." "You gotta treat this like any other op and treat Lucy like any other UC." "I know."

I'll be honest, when I first watched this scene, this is what I wrote: UGH. I don't like what's being set up. Please don't let Tim fuck this up. Please don't let Tim fuck this up.

I have never been so happy to be wrong about my read on a scene. I seriously worried we were setting it up for Tim to be the liability in all this, and I'm grateful that's not the direction it went.

This show has a history of showing couples working through bad times, tough situations, close calls. The core couples suffer as much as any Austen heroine—and they come out alright in the end. I'm grateful to see that tradition continue with Chenford.

"Okay."

First off, I have to admit that I giggled when Lucy's head popped up. I know it's a completely inappropriate response, but all I could picture was one of those Whack-A-Mole's at the Chuck-E-Cheese growing up. She was like a little prairie dog, and I haven't been able to watch the scene since.

Anyway, back to what I wrote when this first aired: Tim sees Lucy and he can breathe, again. She knew. She knew he'd be looking for her.

And Tim knew he couldn't breach. If he went in, that'd give away everything, and someone needed to go after that car.

He's doing everything right. But it hurts like hell.

"Gun was empty. I got lucky. Otherwise..."

And you can see it hurts. Look, Tim has faced a lot worse in his time in the military and working Patrol. But everything is raw right now.

The woman he loves it in danger. She was nearly killed by that same weapon. Both of them had close calls with the same gun and lived to tell the tale.

"Hey, you okay?" "Yeah. I am now.... meet me at the laundry room in your building." "Yes. See you in 30."

I love the touch that Lucy's hand is on the phone before Frank even pulls away. She needs to touch base with Tim. She needs to hear his voice.

And I love the emphasis Melissa O'Neil places on "Yes". It's a heart cry for its soulmate. There is no question that they need to see one another.

Tim has always had this need to protect Lucy, even before romance was on the table. And Lucy has always had a need to protect Tim, too, in her own way.

Lucy watching out for Tim with Isabel. Tim doing whatever it took to save Lucy from a serial killer. Over and over, these two have a need to know the other is okay.

I remember not so long ago Tim was asking Nolan, Nyla, Angela... asking if Lucy was okay. He needed to know. Then, he finally had the direct line as a friend. He could text her to get the details.

Now, they need to see each other. It's that same need, but it's grown along with their relationship.

*hug* "That was really scary." "Yeah, I almost had a heart attack."

Lucy launches herself up into his arms and he nestles into her shoulder. Tim's right hand is splayed across her back, as though he wants to hold as much of her at one time as he can.

It's another one of those "Eric Winter act all the way through his fingers" moments. Tim's whole body is reacting to holding her, safe in his arms, down to those fingertips.

These poor babies. This is the first time they've had to do this deep since Lucy's S3 arc. And they've never done it in love, before. Not with each other.

Tim knows what he lost with Isabel. But this love is different, deeper, developed from the gradual building of trust. Layers upon layers of caring. Lucy is the love of his life—and he's run raw from witnessing the shootout, and skirting death moments apart.

"If you need to tap out-" "No."

Tim is trying to give her an out, and there's a mix here of professional and personal. She's shaken. So is he. But this is the job.

And he knows that. He does. But we've already established he can't be objective where she is concerned.

"Has he tried anything?"

This is a scenario that's run through my mind a million times—what would Tim do if someone violated Lucy... and what would he do to that person?

The way Eric Winter plays this moment is so heartbreaking, too. There's a vulnerability in Tim's eyes that is completely personal, void of professional. He's a man worried about the love of his life.

He knows she can handle herself. It's not a cognitive issue. It's that part of him that cries out Fierce Protector whenever she is in danger.

Lucy gets that, and she grabs onto his jacket with one hand, almost pulling him closer to her.

"Alright, now is not the time to talk about this-"

It's easier for him to change the subject on her than to acknowledge how much they both need to have this conversation at some point. They've been talking around it and avoiding it.

It has to be addressed at some point. There is no way forward without it.

"If you're good, I'm good." "I'm good." "Good."

I'm having a bit of a Court Jester moment, here, and it's cracking me up. "Get it?" "Got it." "Good."

But also, "Good" is kind of their word. Tim used it post-DOD with her in the workout room, and again when he was happy she didn't change her mind about dating him.

I don't know who made the choice—whether it was a writing thing, first, or an actor choice in the moment, but it somehow makes it more personal and lived-in. And I love that.

"Lock the door first."

Did they just.... have sex in there? Oh my GOSH they pulled a Java!

But what I really love about this is how it feels like a callback to 5x01 and the airplane bathroom. Not only is it a small space where they are covertly meeting to discuss the mission, but it's also a parallel to Lucy needing grounding and Tim being the one to do it.

In 5x01, Lucy was shaken by the Rosalind news. She made an excuse to kiss Tim, to wrap herself in a moment that was a release. Remember Isabel talking about how great it was to unwind in that hotel room and not be on guard for a bit?

Lucy needs this. She needs to be with Tim and wrap herself in the life they are building. Even if it's only a little while, it's going to sustain her while she's pretending while thinking on three levels to not get killed.

He grounds her when she's flailing. And she envelopes him when he's crumbling. Tim and Lucy have built a relationship of mutual respect, love, and protection. And, damn, is it great to get to see it on-screen.

"Miss you." "Getting coffee. 1 Minute." "911."

Shit. Of course this is the one moment when something goes down.

But I love the fact that Lucy was having Laundry Room Sex less than 12 hours earlier and she's already texting her boyfriend because she misses him. No wonder he practically lives at her place, already.

Also, now we know she finally has him listed as "Tim" in her phone. Now, he was "Tim" at the end of S4E1, but I think that was an oversight. So, officially we've graduated to first names.

"Hey. Why are you here?"

Oh, GPS tracking, how I hate thee in real life and love thee on TV.

"You got ten seconds to convince me you're not a cop."

Annnnd, there it is. This guy's not a moron. This isn't his first rodeo. And now he has a gun trained on our girl.

"I'm not a cop I... " "Then how the hell did you know they were coming." "A police scanner app. I can show you."

Well. Done. There are folks in my area who have scanner apps and are constantly posting things online.

I sometimes forget about it because when I worked in a newsroom, we had a guy whose whole job was to listen to the scanner. Still boggles my mind anyone can do it these days!

And Lucy. Gets. Him. Monologuing. And it's beautiful. Lessor actors would have bungled it, but Michael Rooker is a bloody master of the craft, and Melissa O'Neil holds her own opposite him, which adds such richness.

Before we move on, I have to pause and just fawn over Michael Rooker a bit. He's just such a gem of an actor, and that whole interaction there between Lucy and Frank is elevated by his presence.

He pours so much life into a character we've barely known five minutes.

I met him once upon a time. My mother was the Key Makeup Artist on a movie called Deceiver. While I was visiting Mom on-set, I had the opportunity to run lines with him.

He treated me like a working actor, which was crazy to a kid like me.

I remember him running me through this one line over and over. It was a three-word line (which of course I can't remember), but he was trying to teach me how inflection and intention can completely change the meaning of a line.

I carried that with me, and applied it to my acting, writing, and VO work the rest of my life.

My mom said he told her that I acted like a pro. And that's just so bloody special to me. I never had the body or the face for the big time, ya know? But, an actor I admire thought I had the chops. And that's super cool.

"Where are you?" "I'm outside the cover apartment. Frank just dropped me off."

One thing that is a minor thing, but really cracks me up about their dialogue is when they see each other in person, there's almost always a "hey" breathed under their breathe. On the phone, they just get to the point. It's so minor, but it makes me smile.

"I think this op is done." "You sure? " "Yeah. I mean, he's got no crew, no product. It's over." "That's too bad." "Why?" "I was looking forward to another laundry room hookup."

You. Idiots. And I say that with all love! It's so nice to see these two really enjoying their relationship, dagnabbit.

"I need a big meal, a hot bath, and some quality sexy time and then I'm gonna sleep for 24 hours."

Lucy runs her hands down his stomach, but Tim's quick to grab her hands. He rubs her arm, as though reminding himself that she's real.

"What what is that? What? " I just... Isabel used to always crash after a long term assignment. It took her months to come back to life."

I have three children. The first two are twins. And they were born just a few months after my best friend had her first. Her second child was born about six months before my third child.

Yes, I have a point. Gimme a second.

I have dealt with two very different children from day one. I don't know what it is to be the mother of a single child. That was never my reality.

But my bestie was shocked by how different her second child was compared to her first. She'd only known one thing for three years, so she assumed that's how all babies would be.

It was simply lack of experience that led her to lean into her previous understanding thinking it was all she needed. That's Tim, here.

He knows that Lucy is different... but they've never done this before. He's never been the one she came home to after a UC assignment.

He's not equating everything to Isabel because he thinks Lucy is Isabel, but because he has no comparisons. Tim and Lucy are going to build that together, yes, but he honestly doesn't know how to do that.

We know that Isabel shut him out. Tim is terrified Lucy will do the same, even though he hasn't verbalized it... yet.

"You know what, I do have to come clean about something, though. I know I made you a promise to not watch Top Chef without me but I couldn't wait. I'm sorry." "Bad girlfriend." "No! No. I'm sorry." "Horrible!"

I'm sheepishly hiding my face because I'm so Lucy in this moment. My on-screen bestie and I have way too much in common.

Also, we needed that bit of levity to break up the scene. Because it's about to get heavy.

"So... Why didn't you tell me you almost died chasing down the shooter at the restaurant?" "Because I didn't. Who told you?"

It's shocking Lucy thought she would ever be able to keep the Five Player Trade quiet considering how quickly gossip moves through that station. Gee wiz!

"The gun was empty, right? So this is much ado about nothing."

A Shakespeare reference? Now I know our girl's been rubbing off on her man.

"Besides I know for a fact you don't tell me everything that happens when you're undercover." "No. you know for a fact that Isabel didn't. If this is gonna between us I need to know you can see the difference."

Here we go. They are finally having the conversation they need to have. Tim told Isabel that Lucy was different. We know he knows it. But he has to believe it, too.

"... listen, I need you to take it seriously if I ever sound the alarm about something. Otherwise the pain of what I went through would have been for nothing. And I can't lose you the way I lost her.

That "for nothing" is coming back around. It can't be for nothing.

And he can't lose her. He survived losing Isabel. Yes, it broke him. It broke him for a long time. But I don't know if he'd ever recover from losing Lucy. True love can have that effect.

"You won't. I'll walk away before it gets close to anything like that. Okay? I promise."

There we go. This was the piece Lucy was missing last week when she tried to broach the subject. She approached it as though it was something he needed to deal with. But relationships only work when we get through together.

This conversation doesn't make everything all better. They are still going to face obstacles and issues. But they are finally being open and honest in both directions about Lucy doing UC.

Tim and Lucy embrace, but this is different than any of their other hugs, and I wonder if it's intentional. Tim has always nestled into her right shoulder. Lucy usually has one arm up and one down.

This time, she almost scoops in underneath as he wraps both arms around her. She's nestled in his wings as he's held up by her strength.

"We can build a house away from here," the song says. And they could. They could both walk away. But we've established that this is the life they love, dangerous as it is.

And the more they fall in love, the more they both have something worst living for. And that's terrifying.

Have you ever been in love? The kind of love that reciprocates and grows? It's amazing. I've only experienced it once, with the love of my life. It's difficult, at times, but it's also rewarding.

And it amplifies the big stuff. Because you're now a part of something so much bigger than the individual. And for Tim and Lucy, putting their lives on the line means there's someone who will be destroyed if they die.

There's all the more reason to live, but that can't get into the decision-making process in the moment. "You have to keep your head in the game," Tim has said often.

Love conquers all, right? Sometimes, it merely complicates.

I'm grateful for this episode. The pacing and directing were so on-point all around, and I felt like all the on-screen characters had moments to shine without it feeling over-bloated. Just beautifully done all-around.

Thank you for reading, loves. This week has been a hard one in my life as I drove back to Wilmington to say what may be my last goodbyes to one of my best friends who I've known since we were 11. Cancer is the B-word.

Cherish the ones you love. Tell them often that you care. Make memories. Build dreams. Chase hope. Live this life, dagnabbit. I believe in you.

[broodingheroine]

tmagp 9 thoughts

rolling with it........ idk transportation? hair rollers? I'm bad at guessing

pen scribbles :3

ONBOARDING PAPERWORK....... SAM STOP FILLING IT OUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING

refuse to give "it" the satisfaction of giving up. sam don't give it sentience.

IF ITS DELIBERATELY WEIRD DONT FILL IT OUT

negative emotions. no stop.

why zero to seven.

JUST WHY????

okay they're flirting now. not in front of my salad.

sam humming to himself lol

CHESTER

MAGNUS WHAT??????????????? STOP

"STATEMENT" FUCK OFFFFFF

artifact storage moment

haunted game sounds interesting though.

oooooo wait the dice are haunted........

it's giving the card game with death episode of tma

divination dice 👀

SCARS?

turning gambling into a horror story is so creative though.

nah I'd probably roll the dice to be honest with you

oh this dude was on the way to Becoming huh

oh this is definitely like the Death episode of tma

oh fuck not the snake eyes

lol end of that one final destination movie

INTERRUPTION?

DECLARED DEAD??????

first assignment

"I don't watch television" lena ur so hot

hm tv ppl.

TEDDY!!!

back in the crypt lmao

alice jealous moment???

teddy u sneak I love u

alice the lady doth protest too much

BIG FOOTS A GOOD LAY HAHAHAHA

NO. NO DO NOT GO. DO. NOT. GO.

SAM. SAMMMM NOOOOOO.

YOU HEARD A CASE FILE ABT A GUY GETTING HIS EYES PRESUMABLY RIPPED OUT AT THIS PLACE AND I DECIDE YEAHHHHH LETS FUCKING GOO[?????

alice. alice uve been adamantly against any kind of investigation this whole time and now ur just like. sure whatever??

I'm so stressed right now.

I have a bad feeling about allll of this.

so the mention of some big name TV guy is very reminiscent of web statements so I'm a little wary of that

I'm assuming that lena is blackmailing ppl? can't really think of a reason why some tv guy would actually be involved with anything Horrors related considering he'd be in the public eye pretty frequently.

unless he is and it's the guy who burned the hilltop charity shop down and the envelope is another job? but I doubt that

presumably lena is the one handing out "hits" now vs being handed them. maybe "killing" klaus is what got her the position?

I'm lowkey nervous abt teddy reappearing? what if it's true that you can quit but you always get drawn back? teddy is seemingly the only ex employee anyone has any contact with soooo

I LOVED the case file today. dice are cool as shit. wish I could remember the episode title of the tma ep with the card game to become death but alas.

also hey! even more evidence that fr3-d1 is listening instead of just recording. computer has sentience let's gooooo.

I don't want sam to go to the institute but also I really hope next ep we get to see the institute.

sam filling out the paperwork presumably for no reason 🤨 he's being compelled 🤨

overall I'm STRESSED right now

how are we doing folks

[reachartwork]

devlog #8 let's talk about potions and systems

there's been a lot of good brainstorming being done in the brainstorming discord (anyone is free to join, you'll get credit in the final game and i might buy you a pizza every now and then assuming i have the money for it). so let me go over some of the systems in GO INTO THE FUCKING DUNGEON that i feel confident talking about because i know i will implement them, in one way or the other.

1) exhaustion & camping

GITFD is a game about resource management - as i have phrased it, it's an "immersive sim survival game with light jrpg elements" (it is a first person dungeon crawler jrpg). you will likely not be able to survive the game using only basic attacks, and there are many meters that can be attacked - not just your HP, but your lamplight, your hunger, and your EP (Exhaustion Points). Spells are cast from a static EP meter that does not go up in most cases - everyone starts the game and ends the game with 5 EP. anything beyond basic attacks, throwing stuff, and talking uses up some EP. if you reach 0 EP, you gain a level of exhaustion and your EP re-fills. exhaustion lowers your stats and makes you get hungrier faster. if you run out of hunger meter you starve to death. so don't do that.

if you get enough exhaustion that it would drop your max HP to 0, you just die and can't be resurrected. so managing that is important.

anyway, there are *very* limited ways to restore EP and remove exhaustion. the primary way is via camping. it's sort of like darkest dungeon and sort of like D&D. each character gets two timeslots to do stuff. you can rest (each resting period removes xyz amount of exhaustion stacks). you can craft items. you can cook and eat meals. you can keep watch (and someone better or you'll get ambushed lol).

this is not the kind of rpg that lets you just make a bunch of bread rolls standing around in a hallway and then eat them all in one turn. that stuff takes time and a fire and tools. you can't just do that.

2) corpses

enemies do not drop pre-butchered chunks of meat for you. in fact they don't drop anything unless it would make sense for them to do so. what they do drop is corpses. and if you do not loot the corpses and take them back to camp, the corpses will attract other monsters (mostly scavengers). you can also drop corpses to do that on purpose, or throw corpses at things for shenanigans.

but anyway, yeah, corpses weigh a ton usually and you need to bring them with you to camp to butcher them to actually get meat, hide, animal parts, etc. if your inventory is too heavy then you don't get *visually* slowed down (which is a miserable experience), but instead you take fewer steps to count as an encounter tick, which means your lamplight and hunger decrease faster, because you're traveling slower.

3) potions & alchemy

in the game's alchemy system, players can create potions by combining two monster parts that share a matching effect and one chemical which you mine from the walls, find in chests, etc.. the monster parts are obtained from defeating creatures throughout the game and each part is associated with a specific effect, such as invisibility, healing, or strength enhancement. The chemicals, which are based on the non-courtly minor arcana (Ace through Ten), modify the potion's effect in various ways. for example, the Ace chemical always produces the basic "potion of xyz" effect, while other chemicals can split the effect, make it a group potion, increase its duration, turn it into a poison, and so on.

so, for example;

ace + invisibility = potion of invisibility (which also makes you take a penalty to hitting because you can no longer see yourself or aim)

two + invisibility = potion of half invisibility (makes you translucent)

three + invisibility = potion of group invisibility

four + invisibility = potion of long invisibility (lasts until you next make camp)

five + invisibility = poison of invisibility (apply to weapon, apply weapon to enemy, enemy becomes invisible)

six + invisibility = potion of duo invisibility (invisibility for you and the target)

seven + invisibility = potion of visibility (makes you or something you throw it at extremely visible)

eight + invisibility = potion of total invisibility (works on truesight!)

nine + invisibility = potion of permanent invisibility (permanently makes you invisible)

ten + invisibility = potion of perfect invisibility (gives you invisibility but without any of the downsides)

because i'm an asshole and i hate people having fun, potions are not given a name until the first time you experience their effects, only described as, for example, "green fizzy potion", and the colors and adjectives are randomized every run. so. you can and probably will quaff a Potion of Permanent Petrification or a Potion of Permanent Burning at least once, and it'll be really funny.

[thefringespod]

Happy #AudioDramaSunday wanderers! Starting off with @doyoucopypod which. Hey @delaylays? Delaney?? I just wanna talk-

I saw what was coming from a mile away and I still was shocked and cried from it. Shout out to Ted Heavner for his great work I'm gonna send him a box of bees

Up next we have @woebegonepod which. I didn't expect to get so attached to MDawg when he was introduced but now we're 169 episodes in and I'm very attached to MDawg dylan please stop making me sad about MDawg please

@ethicstownpod did things that I'm still gnawing on I'm. CL Hendry is a masterful writer and Eli Labat Angstadt did such a good job with the episode I'm gonna be rotating it in my mind forever and ever and ever. Like a time loop.

Only got through an additional 2 eps of @thecellarletters this week but I plan to do more listening tonight because season 3 starts off with a bang and I need to find out what the fuck is going on. Also the @grottopod did a Cellar Letters feed drop so yes I *did* listen again

In personal news: I'm now a part of the Escape Artist Podcasts narrator roster! You can check out the first piece I narrated over on Cast Of Wonders! Double Yellow Lines by JM Bueno was such a gorgeous story and getting to narrate it was an absolute honor

Here on the Fringes I'm vibrating with excitement about showing yall the new episodes! We're inching closer to September which means we're inching closer to season 3

And over on @forgedbondspod it's postcard week! I'm going to be writing those on my day off unless things go wrong

That's all for this week! Not audiodrama news BUT the Fringes very own @taytayheyhey is doing a subathon for his birthday this upcoming Saturday (August 31)!! Come hang out and enjoy the chaos it's gonna be a great time! That'll be at twitch.tv/taytayheyheyva

[greetings-humans]

Hi! I saw your Suo martial art anaylisis and it is such an interesting analysis!!

I know Nothing™ about martial arts, so bear with me for a moment if I make any stupid questions 🥲 but I'm truly curious!!

Would it do any difference whether the arm or the elbow was grabbed (and/or stopped(?)) before one another 🤔? Ex.: the first manga panel, we see how Suo takes hold of Kanuma's elbow (?), would it be enough strength (withou fucking up your joints aksbakd) to swiftly divert the punch?

If it would, I wonder if the animation was trying to convey the movement more slowly and ended up chunky, but honestly, because the fist is the first thing in the manga panel, we can safely assume that was what happened first (in which case, rip joints).

Uhm, minimal spoilers (I am at 88 rn) it seems like Satoru Nii is learning about what not to do™ in martial arts because I don't think Suo has tried to pull that out since so... Maybe Satoru Nii didn't know or learned about it later and it was too late to change previous chapters (we creators have a vice with cool poses without thinking about realism aksbkadb) but implemented the changes later.

Anyways sorry for the ramble!!! Thank you for the analysis, it was very cool 🥰

omg hiii! i hope this hasn't been sitting in my asks for too long. now let's get started!

first of all, curiosity is like the best thing ever. it's wonderful, it's awesome, and im happy to help so don't worry about stupid questions!

"Would it do any difference whether the arm or the elbow was grabbed (and/or stopped(?)) before one another 🤔?"

well, what you grab first is usually what's closest, so not really? if you're doing it properly then it's fine. you don't really want to hold on to your opponent, tbh, unless you're a lot stronger and you know they can't break the hold, so you can/want to prove a point.

usually, the tactic is

1) deflect incoming hit by grabbing (the grabbing isn't mandatory, tho, you can simply deflect. ppl tend to grab when they want to stay close, usually to attack back, so keep that in mind)

2) hit as much as you're planning on

3) let go & depending on the context, run or wait for the opponent's next move. in a mock fight in a dojo, you don't really want to run for the hills, lmao, but in a street fight, i don't see why you shouldn't run like a bat out of hell.

(for reference, after this point there are minor plot spoilers for up until ep 4/ch 8 and spoilers suo's fighting style which you first see at ep 5/ch11-12)

"Ex.: the first manga panel, we see how Suo takes hold of Kanuma's elbow (?), would it be enough strength (withou fucking up your joints aksbakd) to swiftly divert the punch?"

i'm not really sure what panel you're talking about, cause suo largely deals with wrists and punches, not elbows/elbowing, especially in his fight with kanuma. but assuming suo at some point in his fight with kanuma grabbed kanuma's elbow here's my commentary.

scenario 1: kanuma starts with a punch, suo tries to get his elbow.

first of all, boooo!!! if someone is about to punch you, suo, darling, then how did you end up not deflecting the punch and going for the elbow? 0/10. if you have an incoming punch, your first thought is to deal with the incoming punch. don't make it hard on yourself. just slide to the side and knock away the punch with your forearm or your open palm. This doesn't really require any crazy amount of strength. Of course, the more built you are the easier it is, and if you have any issues with your muscles or nerves, it'll hurt more, but that's the basic disclaimer always (or at least, near-always) there in martial arts.

scenario 2: kanuma attempts to elbow suo, who goes for said elbow

okay, look, grabbing the point/tip of the elbow with his hand would hurt more than doing what I recommend and it's just so unnecessary. so assuming, that kanuma tried to punch suo and suo like deflected/ducked/moved away/wtv. and then kanuma used the punching arm that's extended to elbow suo. here's what suo should be doing right about then. he should be putting his hand(s) up to stop the elbow. his forearm(s) (blocking with forearms is super recommended, it's the greatest!) should end up on kanuma's bicep. and then suo should just side-step in a deflection (suo likes them, and so do I) and then keep the fight going (or alternatively, he could sucker punch kanuma in the face cause they would be very close in the sequence I'm describing!).**

"If it would, I wonder if the animation was trying to convey the movement more slowly and ended up chunky, but honestly, because the fist is the first thing in the manga panel, we can safely assume that was what happened first (in which case, rip joints)."

Now, since i'm not really sure what scene you're talking about i can't comment much here. What I can tell you is that, I agree in general. The animators are trying to make it look smooth, cool, and impressive in slow-mo, but without some research, they obviously ended up making a bunch of mistakes. The technique is easily seen in slow-mo, but they don't know the proper technique(s) so yeah, ofc it had me ranting lol.

"Uhm, minimal spoilers (I am at 88 rn) it seems like Satoru Nii is learning about what not to do™ in martial arts because I don't think Suo has tried to pull that out since so... Maybe Satoru Nii didn't know or learned about it later and it was too late to change previous chapters (we creators have a vice with cool poses without thinking about realism aksbkadb) but implemented the changes later."

Don't worry about spoilers, I'm at chapter 144, lol. So I can safely tell you that he doesn't get that much better, unfortunately😭😭😭

He avoids some super blatant mistakes like the palm thing with suo, from what I remember, but he's drawn other iffy moves. And like, it's not his fault that he doesn't know! I'd just appreciate it if he looked into martial arts a bit before making a whole-ass manga about it, from where I'm standing😭

I do love it that they look cool generally, like I'm a writer so I also write unrealistic stuff for the coolness factor. this just doesn't look cool to me when they're doing the weirdest stuff ever when fighting--

anyways,,,, sorry i ranted back at you!! i just wanted to address everything! hope this answers your questions!!

and hey hmu in the asks with thoughts on the manga, if you want! i'd love to talk about it with more people<33 (no pressure tho!!) [this stands for anyone rll lol]

**honorable mention to my bsf @fifteenth-entity who had to get up and help me choreograph a fake fight sequence to figure out the details of kanuma & suo's moves (noel: i have excellent elbows) (dee: he really does, super pointy, glad they weren't actually hitting me)

[branzinos]

What’s your opinion on the new episodes?

rusty, but that was by their own admission in the entertainment round table. the pacing felt weird and charas felt oc because they were trying to set up a bunch of stuff at the expense of real character moments. Abbott has had a bit of a pacing problem since S2 - see how the legendary school stuff felt like it was leading to something big, and then was resolved in a single episode that wasn't even the finale - and already struggles with giving the full ensemble something to do - Barb and Jacob in particular felt really overlooked this ep - so I'm not sure why they needed to add THREE new recurrings unless its to fill out scenes that are Janine away from Abbott later in the season, because already two of those new charas feel superfluous. they were just standing there echoing lol. I also feel like they were so busy setting up bowling pins that there weren't a lot of jokes which also made it feel more sluggish than normal, but I'm hopeful that returning back to 22min will mean the next episodes are sharper. at the roundtable the cast unanimosuly said the library episode in the middle of the season was one their favourite to film so that bodes well.

the Ava side plot would have been fine as a one episode gag but in this two parter felt like a bit of a waste of time because it disappeared halfway through - though the dancing was funny. not sure how much I like the dismissal of her getting back into education though, it cheapens the growth the had in the previous season.

like everyone else I'm extremely relieved they broke up Melissa and Gary because they simply never set that up for us to have any positive connection with him, half the mentions of him off screen were about him being dismissive of Melissa, so I'm glad they let her set a boundary and keep it, it was a nice tie in to her relationship with Joe and gave her a bit more depth. like I don't care if they pair her up with someone, I'm not one of those people who is anti her dating a guy over a woman, but it at least needs to be someone in her own fucking league and that the story actually makes us hear about what a good partner they are (or a shit partner as long as the plot ESTABLISHES they are shit instead of trying to make us like someone who has given us no reason to). even if it's just off screen mentions like Gerald with Barbara - give us a reason to be invested in the relationship if you're gonna attempt an engagement scene, guys.

the way they're handling Janine and Gregory still seems right, it's season 3 of a planned 7 season show and it would be way too early to establish them as a steady couple, thematically that's the payoff near the end of the series like every other sitcom. it made sense that they're still approaching each other like nervous deer after the way Franklin Institute went, they're both still tender about it because it's still unresolved and they were both very vulnerable. they're still figuring things out and like Sheryl repeatedly says, they both need some therapy lol. they're very clearly endgame but it still needs more time and work for the payoff to feel earned and the show isn't at that point in the story yet.

anyway that new guy is Hans Frozen from Shein

[moss-cf]

do u have any music recs similar to Sleeping Lessons by The Shins?

Boy do I. I was raised on and absolutely love the shins and would describe that era of indie as one of my all time favorite genres. Sleeping lessons is a very special song to me. And I literally can't listen to it all the way through without getting goosebumps. The buildup to the payoff is such a perfect introduction to the album.

So without further Ado,

The mid-2000s indie adjacent shins based recommendation list (yay!)

1. The other shins albums

Duh. Except for heartworms. Idk about that one

Included under this umbrella are the three albums by broken bells, also made by the guy from the shins. I don't know if itll exactly match what youre looking for but if you like wincing the night away you'll probably like the rest of these.

2. No light in heaven by strange Ranger

This album came out in 2022 and is absolutely incredible. I'd consider it one of my top 10 of all time. It's a different sound, but definitely similar enough that you'll enjoy it. The entire album acts as a buildup to the payoff track Demolished (which actually got a remix by frost children. Remember them from my hyperpop post?) it blends ambient music, sampling, trance pop, and a saxophone to create a near-perfect album that I would definitely recommend listening to while stoned. Listen to this album sequentially rather than as individual tracks.

3. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips

When I was a young child, I couldn't fall asleep unless this this album was playing. Nowadays, I think child me was on to something. This album rules. I don't really know if it goes with this flow but I associate it with this era of music so I'm adding it in anyway fuck you

4. City vs Country EP by Mobius Band

I don't know how I know about this EP, but somehow I do. It's got shins adjacent vocals, and great use of synthesizers. I don't really know what to say about it. I don't have a funny anecdote it's just a decent EP that I enjoy listening to. The title track City versus country is definitely the highlight and Id describe it as moderately dancable.

5.

I don't have a fifth one. maybe I'll add one. probably something by the postal service or some shit IDK

Individual Songs That'll Scratch the Specific Itch You're Looking for

1. Mary (Alternate) by yellow ostrich

2. Wildflower (Polygon Cover ver) by Dynastic

3. Nicotine & Gravy by Beck

4. Your ex Lover Is Dead by Stars

5.

That's all for now! I'll update this list if I can think of anything. I'm sure there's a lot I'm forgetting. Hope you enjoy! Maybe someone will ask me about emo or something next.

[doodlenovaa]

MKAY

I GOTTA RANT ABT SMTH THAT HAPPENED AT SCHOOL WITHIN THE LAST 2-ISH HOURS

Story under the cut:

BIT OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION BEFORE WE START

So, This is my biology teacher, We’re gonna just call her Mrs. Bio

Well, last week I came to school, Monday, Mrs. Bio wasn’t there, my friend Eevee (she loves Pokémon) had told me and my friends in the gc we had, we were thrilled because the thing about her is that,

That’s not a joke either! She will get upset if we get out of our seats 5 seconds before the bell rings, not exaggerating. And our teacher assistant, she’s chill, for the most part,

But, last week on Monday, when she wasn’t there, we were given a 2-paged packet, no biggie I get it done before class ends, I turn it in,

The very next day when I get in there and Mrs. Bio handed packets back, she didn’t give me mine back, I wasn’t that bothered about it because oh I already did the assignment

BUT NO

She gave me a new one when she seen me drawing and listening to music, because she asked me why I wasn’t ’doing my work’

It was already done

I did it the day before

Now, I didn’t re-do it- nuh uh I refused to

Same thing with the next because we spent three days on it, (we have a few days per assignment unless it’s like,, a YouTube video we need to watch, then it’s due at the end of class)

So, yesterday we were given study guides (our assignments we did all stapled together) and that one 2-Paged assignment? Wasn’t there, so I finished an assignment that’s due tomorrow, then I watched YouTube

Now, note, Eevee wasn’t here today because they had Girl Scout stuff to do, but when the Mrs. Bio said we can go to the lounge if we had all our work done, she told me I couldn’t go

It was the fucking packet

I argued that I had it done, and she refused to believe me, like she didn’t even look through the papers on her desk, she said I didn’t do it and tried to make me do it again. I once more refused and I verbally said I’m not going to do it,

Oh- and she then proceeded to say, that for the 3-day length that this assignment was given she watched me mess around and draw

All three days

.

SHE WAS ONLY THERE FOR TWO DAYS.

Best part about this? I have 4 people as witnesses for all of this, 3 watched me get my work done, Eevee, my friend (fuck it we call him robo) Robo, and my friend (his initials (middle and first)) EP,

The fourth person was in front of me, and my friend Robo was nearby, when she said this wonderful line

‘I will videotape you doing nothing the next time this happens’

For those of you unaware, without mine or my parents/guardians consent? That was illegal.

So, me and Robo then reported this to an admin that we ran into the hall,

This all happened in roughly 20 minutes. And this isn’t the first time Mrs. Bio was reported, this is the second time from my class specially that she’s been reported,

—

thank you for reading this,

I SWEAR ILL UPDATE YALL ON WHAT HAPPENS

[storiesofsvu]

Can you tell me about Elizabeth's role in homeland and house of cards?

okay, there are two slightly yet also VERY different answers to your question lol.

First: the short, sweet, imdb/wikipedia/netflix summary answer for you.

Homeland: Elizabeth Keane; -We meet Keane in season 6 as the President Elect of the United States (aka, this is the time between her winning the election her inauguration) and follow her journey to becoming the president at the end of the season and her slight downfall the next. We see her connecting (and making enemies) with the people on her team as she tries to navigate presidency. Personal facts we know: she's divorced, and we learn that her son was killed in combat in the middle east. -Homeland as a show itself: political drama, a LOT of political talk, the pacing is a bit slower and I have only watched the episodes Beth is in and even some of those I skimmed through lol. it's just not for me and some days i do find it boring.

House of Cards: Heather Dunbar: -Dunbar starts out as the solicitor general for government. She's previously taken the last president to trial and got him impeached because of it (im paraphrasing, don't come for me if that detail is wrong). President knows shes powerful and wants to get her on the supreme justice bench so she's not a threat in the upcoming election. She plays the reverse uno card and ends up running for president. Her eps/scenes are more scattered throughout 2-3(?) seasons and we eventually do see her downfall as the president fucks her over. Personal canon facts: she's married, has 2 kids, has been working the legal and political field for years, super experienced, also rich AF. -House of cards as a show: political *thriller*, I MUCH prefer it, the pacing is higher, there's a lot of darkness, double crossing, scandal, murder, sex and everything else going on. I think i've watched s2 to the series finale. It's also just an INCREDIBLE show from an analyzing perspective, costuming, hair and make up, cinematography, direction, acting, writing, ugh. it's so good.

the rest is going under a cut so this isn't five pages long. But here come the headcanons, the fanon lore and how myself and besties have perceived these characters/how we write them

Keane: -is a bad ass, has worked in the political field for years, she opposes the war (esp now that she's lost her son to it). We like to think that the divorce was brought on by their son's death, especially since she was not on speaking terms with him when it happened. -In DESPERATE need of therapy -After saying that, can go one of two ways; no therapy, we're gonna see the total isolation and internal turmoil and mental breakdown that lead to her nearly losing the presidency and thus stepping down. Our girl goes through a LOT of trauma in canon and it's never dealt with, she loses the one person on her staff who she truly trusted and is left surrounded by a team of people who are constantly stabbing knives in each others backs and she unfortunately chose to trust some of the wrong ones, resulting in even more isolation and downward spiral -With therapy, she'd be a little better at being able to read this kinda stuff and go about things in a better way -She can be super cold, standoffish, when things are professional, they are professional and there is a *strict* and very hard line between professional and personal relationships. She doesn't care how harsh or cruel something sounds in the oval, it needs to be said. if she's got to make it up/make it make sense to you when you're home, so be it. -Is low on patience, doesn't have time for bullshit -that being said, she can also be the absolute softest little beth-bear once she's in a diff environment and secure with your relationship -More masculine presenting -Also she is daddy -Can get kinky in the bedroom, but it is not always going to be kinky -Is *very* much about control unless she's absolutely 200% comfortable with you and is willing to be vulnerable -If she's had a bad day, she will absolutely be coming home to absolutely destroy you Heather: -Absolute bad ass bitch who is not afraid of going after what she wants, nearly to the point of not caring what takes to get it. (but normally does have her morals and ethics take over and she realizes that's not right). -Can get very power hungry and when she gets it, it's very easy for it to sneak under her skin and she starts to abuse it, that, linked with how much money she has, can lead to some bad decisions. -Lbr, she's kept grounded by her husband in like, all of these situations. -Grew up super rich, old money, family money, not snooty about it, but is also in the "it's one banana, how much could it cost?" circle. She invests, she knows how to be financially conscious so that that wealth doesn't deplete -Was on the fence about kids/a family, but did it because that was "what was right"/expected/knew that having a family behind her was the right image that she wanted to project when she got where she wanted politically/career wise. Thus, lots of house staff, kids had nannies and were sent to boarding school. She did not bond with them very well, esp at the school age and likely feels like she doesn't really know them until they're adults -Can be cruel and vindictive and toxic, all depends on like, literally one singular life choice that she made. (See, the power hungry up above). once she loses herself to that, there's no going back -Is Mommy. -Is also the kinkiest, dirtiest, hardcore bitch that we know -Enjoys a large variety of kinks, but is *always* the dom, sometimes not even letting her partners touch her. She uses the mommy title and expects it to be used back, if it's in private, she expects it outside of the bedroom too -Loves mess, loves teasing, resident brat tamer, her punishments are always extreme and sometimes can last days if not weeks or longer -Don't fuck with her -Obviously, sex is *always* kinky with her, there are no plain vanilla nights

Okay, so i don't really know what direction you were wanting me to go with that, but that's what you got LOL. feel free to check out either of their masterlists or hit up the inbox for more thoughts! <3