#yes i just read that twitter thread and got emotional. and what about it

[hourcat]

piarles really just. like each other so much :(

[mickmundy]

spy headcanon thread! just some of my personal thoughts and musings about his character :-) enjoy!

starting off by saying that spy is Absolutely Everything to me.. i've put his thread off for so long because i have SO much to say and im afraid i'll leave stuff out BUT we're going to take a Stab at it (😏) and i guess i'll just add more stuff later if i need! As Usual this is just pasted from my twitter so i'm sorry for any wonky formatting issues!

the most important thing to me about spy's character is that it is Varied and can be Contradictory. i say this about all of the mercs tbh but spy is among the Most important given his role/occupation as a spy. he IS A Spy, but he's also Just Some Guy (gender neutral).

spy is a bit dry; very sarcastic, a bit stoic, but he's definitely not heartless. i think he's very "emotionally in-tune" to those around him and prides himself on being able to read a room exceptionally well!

... but just because he knows what people might be thinking doesn't mean he's going to do anything about it! he likes being in the know but seldom ever enjoys interfering; it's best if he keeps out of the fray, or so he tells himself!

that being said, i Do think spy makes exceptions to this rule (which To Me is what makes his character Interesting!).... as we see in expiration date! he spends his "last living days" helping scout become a worthy date for miss pauling!

if he sees someone Floundering or really stuck in some kind of emotional squander, he'll pass by with a hand on the shoulder and a concise, discreet, kind word of advice in their ear and move on. no need for thanks, he's just Sharing an Observation! if you try to thank him, he'll give you a coy look and be like "for what?" but he knows. he's just letting you know you don't need to thank him <3

loves breaking balls. he'll help you if you ask him, but not before he gives you a LOT of shit for it. he'll volunteer himself to help you (even if you tell him you need his Stinking Help!) and he'll roll his eyes and say "ha! you are So helpless! i know you're glad i'm here to see this through with you uUu" LOL

but he will give you genuine insight and Surprisingly Good advice. huh, you didn't know he knew you so well! despite his job as a spy, he'll tell you to be authentic and will encourage you to listen to your instincts.

is an Observer First and an Action-taker second. prioritizes being in the know and likes being in the background (despite how good he is at being in the spotlight!). always thinks before he speaks, very calculated in everything he does!

got wiser with age. when he was younger i think he was quick to save his own skin and thought only about himself. among his first "selfless" acts were running out on scout and his mom to "protect" them, but with the wisdom of hindsight, that wasn't the smartest idea!

firmly believes in the power of respect. seems to have a positive relationship with all of his teammates (yes, even sniper, engineer and pyro lol) and scout's mom, too (regardless of how u see their relationship). tells scout that he has to earn pauling's respect to be worthy of her!

won't hesitate to stick his neck out for/work with people he appreciates. in the comics, he works with (and even prioritizes the safety of) miss pauling, helps sniper, and obviously comforts scout when he's dying in the way that Scout would want to be comforted. good job pops!

which brings me to dadspy... how i love you... i could make an entire other thread about my dadspy thoughts BUT i'll keep it "brief" here. i don't think he ever "treated scout like shit" nor do i think he was abusive to scout's mom or scout. he's just the world's most mediocre absent father to me... KDSKF

i think scout's mom knew What Spy Was and knew that at some point, he'd have to leave her. i think she's a perfectly capable woman who spy is genuinely still in love with (they have an open, long-distance relationship!) and is quite the deadly catch herself! perhaps i'll make a thread on her if that's something people would want....

i don't think she resents spy for running out and i think spy has complicated feelings about running out. he's convinced himself he did it for everyone involved's safety but in hindsight he Does feel a Bit (emphasis on Bit. it's not Earth Shatteringly Dramatic, just a little demon that sneaks up on him now and then...) guilty and tries to "make up for it" by Trying to get along with scout even if it's... not easy LOL. him turning into tom jones when scout died was to comfort scout the way Scout would want, which i think says a lot about spy's character.

however, once scout finds out the truth, i think he tells spy that he shouldn't have lied to him about it ("what kind of dumbass lies to their son on his deathbed! 🧍") and spy's like "ah... i suppose that... was also a mistake." and they smirk/smile at each other.. Road To Forgiveness begins..

also i personally love the running gag that everyone knows that spy is scout's dad (except for scout), not because i think spy would tell all/even some of the mercs but because it's SO obvious that all of them are like "i mean yeah.. doy". extra points if their knowledge Also surprises spy. "WHO TOLD YOU? HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" and the mercs are like ??? "erm... we have eyes...?" LOL

DESPITE being Stoic and Unknowable and Mysterious, he is also Quite the Doofus. one of my favorite and most important thoughts on his character. i think his authentic laugh is his snort laugh and i think that's what made scout's mom fall in love with him... :') has a great sense of humor.

loves playing pranks, causing mischief and being a Smug Cunt. will hide behind his Carefully Crafted Facade, but those who really know him (heavy, scout's mom) can see right through it! teaches scout some of his "best ones" (though not before pranking HIM with them first! it's okay though. scout's a good sport and gives him props LMAO)

a short list of spy's "best ones":

cleaning a glass door REALLY well and tricking the mercs to run into it at full force

oil on the kitchen floor so that anyone who comes running in will slam into the oven that engineer Just Fixed God Dammit! and destroy it

mentos in soda

scout and spy have the "same laugh" when they REALLY start howling. snorting, wheezing.... they sound almost identical. usually if they're laughing THAT hard, the rest of the mercs are looking at them like this >__> (covered in soda, can't get up from the ground because oil, etc)

obviously enjoys literature! language is one of his favorite things, though. loves learning about different dialects, slang, accents and learning the intricacies of grammar, too! likes studying the other mercs for this reason. the base is a fun, mixed bag for him!

the best secret keeper. contrary to popular belief, spy will NOT air your business if it's Serious. he might "let it slip" to medic that sniper sleeps with a stuffed animal, but he won't let anyone know that heavy has ptsd. he likes giving people shit, but not genuinely causing harm!

ah.. breaking balls as a love language.. this is something that i think is shared between spy, scout, and scout's mom. they LOOOOVE to give you shit, but it comes from a loving place. i think a lot of scout and spy's banter in exp date is like this:

it's not actually Insulting to either of them (spy calling scout a failure, scout telling spy to go to hell, etc) and is in fact more like a thing of Endearment. if you know people like this then you know what i'm talking about. idk how else to describe it KSDFKS

he is very girlfailure that thinks he's a girlboss but is actually a girlfailure and is coming to terms with his girlfailing. as i've said, spy isn't heartless. he knows he's made mistakes and knows his job has costed him a lot and now he's trying to reconcile with it. sometimes it's funny, sometimes its angsty!

is a total foodie and has a LOT of opinions about all kinds of cuisine! loves cooking with engineer and pyro (YES i think pyro is an INCREDIBLE chef. they only burn things because it's fun/funny! for the bit. you understand), and heavy has a perfect palette (just a personal hc of mine heh) so he always gets to tag along and taste test! <3

if spy is involved with any of the other mercs, scout's mom knows about it. they're in an open relationship and spy values her just like he'd value any of the mercs in a romantic relationship. she knows all of them and they're all very polite to her (ala like they are with miss pauling), but she quickly surprises them by being snarky and playful like spy and scout! she also doesn't hesitate to begin telling the mercs the most Humiliating Dirt on spy AND scout! HEHEHE

i don't think he'd cheat on her nor do i think he'd bother cheating on any of his partners. he's very open with communication when it comes to his interpersonal relationships (this is ironic to everyone but him because his relationship with his son is currently in shambles). he's good at it when it comes to romantic relationships though!

his love languages are, well, any and all of them! he loves being in love, he's a huge romantic and is not shy about showing it. will absolutely DROWN his partner in gifts and pretty words (that he really does mean!) and so on... perhaps to the point of it being a little overwhelming! at his partner's request, he'll dial it back... but he still loves to spoil his lovers, and THAT is something he WON'T apologize for! >:)

as i touched on earlier, has a good rapport with all of the mercs and pauling. he's patient with soldier and the other mercs hear him out about the bucket list idea (and are all Quietly Amused by how scout promptly ruins that for him. team dynamic ykwim). i think he's the closest with heavy (i'm a spoovy enjoyer), engineer, pyro, and sniper (BUT in kind of a "unique" way. perhaps i'll elaborate) but he enjoys the company of all of the other mercs as well!

is Informed about engineer's, demoman's and medic's research (though not on the levels they are of course) and likes being in the know about things going on around the base. he mostly shares enemy intelligence with these three over anyone else. they talk frequently and Love to gossip (engineer SWEARS its not gossiping but demo and medic are like "no. its gossip!" SKDFKSDF)!

will absolutely always enable you to treat yourself. scout, spy, medic and demo are the KINGS of "go on!! treat yourself!! :D" no matter what it is. if spy sees you really struggling about whether to get something, he'll slip it in with his own purchases and gift it to you later. "this one is from me, so you don't need to worry about compromise. <3"

in battle, he's a bit more sadistic than his teammates; likes making people squirm and is more than capable of getting under your skin. information extraction is part of his job and he treats it as such: Part Of The Job. he doesn't get a LOT of pleasure from hurting others, but he Does enjoy starring in a good revenge tale!

no, i do NOT think the world's most absent father cares about his 30 year old son's sex life nor do i think he's even "fiercely overprotective" of scout just in general. i think he knows scout is a grown man who has to make (and account for) any failures and fumbles he makes in his life. he'll be there with a kind word (and a few snarky ones!) when shit hits the fan, but he's not running around fighting scout's battles for him. scout loves battling too much to let him anyway! LOL

he teaches him things that Spy Himself values (like respect) because he... values it and since spy IS trying to be a bit more of a Dad to scout, it's also a reflection on him (to spy. scout doesn't care or think of it that way). insists on the value of self improvement! (something he himself didn't learn until he was Much Older... but scout doesn't need to know that!)

[thebroccolination]

Is it okay if you go into greater detail about Win's personality, fears, and insecurities?

OKAY SO.

Win's my favorite character! I love him deeply! And I've been enjoying his character growth in Between Us more than anything.

The interesting thing about following him as a character is that there're different versions of him with similarities and differences: currently unfinished Hemp Rope, his brief appearances in UWMA, the specials, and now the ongoing main series (currently episode four).

His character in Hemp Rope is hard for me to get a read on because we only have unofficial translations and an incomplete story, so a lot of his motivations and emotional interiority are missing nuances.

Here, have the most beautiful image ever drawn of Win, taken from the Twitter account of the official Red Thread mangaka:

Meanwhile, UWMA is tricky as well because as Boun has said, he put a lot of his own personality into the performance because he didn't have a layered character to study. He kind of created his own version of Win out of necessity. He only had about an hour total onscreen, and apart from his stairwell scene giving Dean advice, he didn't have much of an impact on the plot, so he wasn't a central character with a lot of detail.

That said, we got some crucial moments in his scenes with Team that helped us understand what kind of person he is.

So! When I wrote WinTeam fic over the past two and a half years, I used a composite of his characters in Hemp Rope and UWMA. The flirtatious side we see in UWMA, the nurturing side we see in Hemp Rope, etc.

The specials weren't meant to be canon, and honestly someone on here recently called them unofficial workshops, which…yes?! That's a brilliant way to think of them, I think. The feedback they got on the specials (mainly that they were portraying BounPrem more than WinTeam) probably helped them focus their performances in the main series.

So now we're seeing the main series unfold, and since Win has a full development arc to go through now, it's a lot easier for me to see all of these little nuances. He's a full-fledged, multilayered character! One of the leads! YAY FOR MY SON. <3

His core fear seems to be that he's going to be alone forever, and while he seems resigned to it in episode one, he still clearly has some hope by the fact that he's grabbed onto Team with both hands. Even though he also has no idea what to do to keep him, he wants Team.

I think he also has a craving for validation. That "Team helps Win feel wanted" from the synopsis has been an ongoing chant in my head for the past two years, and it's fascinating to see it play out onscreen. I want to see his interactions with his parents before I go too deep into analyzing anything with his family, but it's pretty telling already that no one's actually sat down with View – a sixteen-year-old – and explained what's expected of him. Not until Win did.

Win's mother seems to be the one who nurtures Wan, but then you have scenes where Wan is criticizing both of their parents when he talks to Tul and Win. (Maybe because she doesn't stand up for him strongly enough to his father?) I thought it was fascinating that Wan views Win as the favorite, but he doesn't seem to hold any serious resentment toward him. My guess is it's because of this "rule" Win apparently made up: they're equals to him. Even if their parents have chosen a favorite (unconsciously or not), Win isn't using that leverage over his brothers.

He's even enforced that same equality with food. Maybe it's a conscious or unconscious response to their parents making their favoritism obvious? Or it's just something he thinks is the right thing to do in general. I'm waiting on more scenes with his family, because right now I feel like it could be a number of things.

Basically, my dear Anon, I'm in the middle of a whole new Win Phawin analysis stage. I knew my characterization of him would change with his series, and I'm delighted by what we've gotten so far. :')

I hope this was what you were hoping for!

[bambi-kinos]

excerpt from the McLennon discord server

What follows is another conversation from the McLennon server, this one spanning a few days. The conversation started as a result of a twitter thread that one of us found interesting. I don’t think it would be fair to highlight this person so I have excised any links to the Twitter OP, I don’t want to point anyone towards them and give them attention they didn’t want.

In this conversation we discussed some of the negative responses to Paul McCartney’s Here Today, namely the type that complains that he still isn’t being honest enough when he sings it (!?) -- and what, exactly, John Lennon saw in Paul McCartney.

Minimal editing was needed on this conversation so it should be easy to follow. 

mynamesbetty — 10/16/2022 Interesting Twitter thread on "Here Today" - OP is of the opinion that even though it's clearly about John (and Paul admits it) it's not as emotionally deep as other songs that are probably about John that Paul hasn't copped to.

Leggy Maddingway — 10/16/2022 it is simple and might come off as superficial but its still abt the fact that Paul wishes he had told John "i love you" to his face and of course there's plenty of baggage attached to that 💔

mynamesbetty — 10/16/2022 And his inability/failure to say it is, of course, just one facet of his relationship with John

I do agree with the songs they list in one of the replies being about John but I'm not going to say that any of them mean more than the others

Leggy Maddingway — 10/16/2022 nodnod big agree

mynamesbetty — 10/16/2022 Especially "Yvonne's the One," it should be officially released so I can cry about it whenever I open Spotify

Leggy Maddingway — 10/16/2022 ;---;

VeggieRavioli — 10/18/2022 I've come back to this thread several times over the past two days, trying to make sense of their POV, and I'm still so perplexed lol

I just can't understand why someone would believe that Here Today lacks emotional depth.

like yes, I definitely agree that it doesn't encapsulate everything about their relationship, that wouldn't be possible with 100 songs, 1000 songs even. And I agree that other songs of his do more to capture the jagged, raw edges of his grief/feelings for John

but in terms of the Here Today "not saying enough" and "not representing what John and Paul have"... well isn't that kinda the point? It's one side of a conversation that Paul never got to have, it was never meant to epitomize their entire relationship. He wrote it because he just wants to talk to him again, and laugh with him again, and tell him just how much he loves him, and go "remember that time when we?" It's a simple song because at its core, what Paul wants is very very simple - he just wants John to be there with him

And that's exactly why he returns to it again and again in concert, instead of Dear Friend or The Lovers That Never Were or any of his other John songs that really rip your heart out to hear, let alone sing - why would he waste precious stage time doing that when it could just be him and his guitar and his John?

namaste — 10/18/2022 Fully agree.

I wonder if there is not a cultural misunderstanding at play too? For someone as utterly reserved in a very English way as Paul, this is him inspecting his own heart on a busy highway with drones filming and an audience clapping. I'm amazed he's even written such a song. It only hints at the depth of what was/is going on with Paul and John.

I do think his occasionally bizarro quotes, typically to assure he is perceived a certain way, have led some commenters to think he can and would wish to expose his most private inner truths. Sex and mariage he's not scared of going TMI on ofc. Love for a fellow man, well this song is a near miracle.

It's like a John lense has been applied to read Paul's lyrics here.

Leggy Maddingway — 10/18/2022 It's someone complaining that Paul is not John, again

It always comes back to the same thing, "we want you to be John Lennon and we'll lowkey resent and insult you for it"

Paul can't be anyone but Paul and he can write songs like this but he cant write like John

Leggy Maddingway — 10/18/2022 In a lot of ways John was the one who solidified the idea that celebrities should be completely open about their lives and then use that "honesty" as a marketing tool. I'm sure other people did it before him but he standardized the idea that celebs should just puke their feelings everywhere. So people who don't, because of reserve/shyness/wanting to keep things private, get the same treatment as the quiet kid in class: "wow she's really stuck up huh."

So you get threads like this where someone who thinks they are being sympathetic to Paul will complain that one of the most honest songs Paul McCart has ever written still isn't honest enough

namaste — 10/18/2022 Right? The madness of he’s not loving John lovingly enough. It’s the best he can do and it’s him showing his heart to millions.

I’m pretty sure John, if he had been here when this song came out, would have a) stuck his head under a blanket for a minute, b) been terrified by its intensity because he would have understood it fully and there’s a lot expressed and implied that would have placed him at some sort of crossroads, and c) gone “How on earth do I deal with that?”

Leggy Maddingway — 10/18/2022 We can criticize Paul and carp about how he wasn't [X] enough but the fact is that we didn't choose Paul so our opinions mean jackshit. John however did choose Paul. And he kept choosing Paul even when he got better offers. He saw something no one else did and found it irreplaceable and probably very charming in its own specific way. (See: how John's temper makes Paul's heart go doki-doki. John is the same way about Paul's weirdness.)

John would appreciate the song quite a bit and done all these things you listed lol. The whole point of Here Today is how uncharacteristic it is of Paul. When taking it in a broader view we realize that it costs Paul immensely to be this open about anything.

It's just wearying. No one in that situation could win. You treat people politely and with respect: "omg you're so two faced!" You actively keep your temper in check and negotiate to get what you want, by getting people what they want too: "you're acting so suspiciously, we don't trust you!" You say "I give up, I don't understand people and I'm too tired to keep trying" and journalists shit their pants, track you down in the ass end of no where, and then call you defending your family and property "a tantrum." You try to keep lines of communication open with your friends who say "are you human?" in a letter that they want published in a magazine. Your ex is murdered by a failson and everyone wishes it was you. When you write a song about your feelings and you try to out words to the emotions that have been clattering your head for years, the Twitterati complain "its not honest enough."

Man, it fucking sucks.

anyway Here Today is perfect no changes

mynamesbetty — 10/18/2022 And I think part of it is the r/iamverysmart line of thought that only complicated things with a lot of moving parts are worthwhile of time and analysis, when in reality simple and direct are often more impactful

Like, Here Today doesn't have multiple layers of references to past John and Paul, a big arrangement, lyrics that need a dictionary and Wikipedia open to understand, because it doesn't need to be that

It can be Paul and his guitar talking to John, like they did for all those years

namaste — 10/18/2022 John would probably be bowled over by this song, touched, and a bit scared. Then he’d post a dig on Twitter to preserve appearances and his brand. Then he’d recuse himself and write another apologetic love song in response at a minimum.

Paul offered predictability in every facet but hid them well. John craved and needed that and everything else to anchor him. The better offer John got we know of was terrifying for it’s constant spirited renewal. It couldn’t work which is a shame. It succeeded in other ways.

I don’t even know really why Paul bothers with social media, but then here’s the thing, he needs attention in a way he can manage so understands he’ll get bs and has a billion buffers social media can augment. And he’ll never have enough of those.

Plus, I suspect there’s a very curious kinky side to his engagement in the dead of night because under the mirage and marriages, he’s the same randy bachelor of yore and he can put his f off stilettos anytime like Ringo did not so long ago.

Paul’s not home reading In Search of Lost Time, he’s in his studio being less digitally illiterate than people think.

Leggy Maddingway — 10/18/2022 please read my ao3 paul

i think Paul is deeply hidden enough that we'll never exactly know what John saw in him but the fact that Paul could tie that ineffable quality of his to stability and some pushiness, made him super attractive. That's part of what makes Here Today so devastating imo. It's not just what it represents, its the context of Paul's other behavior that makes it so impactful....

anyway Paul is actually pretty good at this music stuff who knew

Leggy Maddingway — 10/18/2022 Paul offered John quite a bit, a lot of which we'll never know, some of which we can guess at, and the rest was put on display during and after the Beatles years. IMO Paul showed John that a person could be completely unhinged (Hamburg) but not lose themselves completely -- tho I think John didn't realize how rare Paul's self control was. Finding someone that clicks with your abrasive personality, fulfills you creatively, likes all the things you like, is willing to be nudged out of his comfort zone, and doesn't lose his head when presented with grand visions of wealth and success making him a stable presence in your life is remarkable in of itself. (George and Ritch grew up in even worse poverty than Paul but they bought into what Eppy sold them, purportedly.) All of that would be enough on its own but with Paul I think there was also the intrigue of his dualistic nature and how he's completely at ease with that dualism -- maybe not with all the urges it produces but accepting that he will always be that way. (Ref: that part of The Lyrics where Paul blabs that he thinks everyone is dualistic and can't imagine being any other way therefore everyone else must be too, surely?) For John, who always second guessed himself, this quiet admission of "yes this is what I am even if I don't always like it," would be attractive. "How the hell does he do that?" Admiration and envy.

And to top it all off, Paul loves him. John's flaw was that he couldn't stop himself from testing him but Paul loved him in spite of -- or maybe because of -- that too. Even when John went out of his way to make Paul feel unwanted or unwelcome, a pattern that repeated from Gambier Terrace to  past the end of John's life. Even John's own words couldn't make Paul stop loving John.

Leggy Maddingway — 10/18/2022 The creative aspect can't be undercounted either...John was disillusioned with Yoko, she did offer him some positive stuff (encouraging him artistically, giving him enrichment that the others couldn't) but John never clicked with her the way he did with Paul which I think was the driving force behind the outburst where he yelled I WISH I WAS BACK WITH PAUL in front of many important people.

And then there's just ineffable chemistry... Whoever else John met along the way, they weren't that and he realized he couldn't keep starting over with new people. He would always be missing something which is just 💔

Like damn the more I think about it the more incredible Here Today becomes.

Finding the creative partner who also loves you selflessly and is compatible with you is a once in a lifetime thing, the universe almost never offers second chances with that. No wonder Paul is heartbroken.

namaste — 10/18/2022 Perfectly said.

Yes, there is something powerful and exceptional about Paul other than uniqueness the world perceives of him, which John only truly knew, with Mike I suspect, Linda 99.9%. Other than irreducible - even by them - chemistry they retained through thick and thin.

Obviously that core of iron Paul has, someone who could and did stand up to John as you note in your other post. Enraging and demanding of respect. John's nature was by all indications not to hang around after storms and he never really left. He acted up in part possibly in fear of losing Paul for good, hemmed and hawed, feeding through his actions a correlation whether negative or positive.

Interesting quote by Derek Taylor with additional anecdotes to that effect. 1977. I simply do not believe their last meeting was in 1976 (given there is also a credible report which I don't have handy of Paul seeing John before his Bermuda sailing trip). And Paul is very persistent. Another one of those attractive qualities. John doth protest too much as Derek Taylor indicated.

[bookshop]

ted lasso (really just way too many thoughts on season 2 of ted lasso)

me, in the middle of wrestling with yet another unwieldy twitter thread that no one will read: fuck it, what if i just made this a tumblr post? i hear tumblr is hot these days

so anyway, i am the last person in the universe to watch ted lasso.

i put off watching it for a very long time because i really hate obnoxious levels of twee in television — at least twee when it's not tempered by cynicism. this is why i barely made it through 2 minutes of OFMD, and why i really hate parks and rec and spent most of the 2010s telling anyone who would listen that it was a bad cheap white liberal political fantasy, only for everyone to eventually arrive at that conclusion themselves, much later.

the first season of ted lasso almost had me, though, because it was just cynical enough to make ted's methodical whimsy feel like a battering ram against pessimism. the whole of season one was very strongly and obviously, dare i say it, hopepunk. and that was just surprising enough to be a hook.

the second season is a lot trickier. maybe it's because i'm bingeing it, but it seems to me like everyone who argued the second season didn't have a point/central theme missed the glaringly obvious explorations of toxic masculinity in every episode. i read a lot at the time it was airing about how the show revealed itself midway through the season as being unexpectedly about depression? but even more than depression i think this season was about toxic masculinity — and especially about nate's struggle with toxic masculinity. when i went looking for reviews for season two, few of the reviews i found even mentioned nate even though it seemed abundantly clear his growing turn towards the dark side was the motivating issue of season 2 — and then, of course, it turned out to be the driving force behind the events of the season finale.

i think a lot of this was underwritten but it was always present; every episode of season two was focused on the ways the men of richmond — especially nate, who also had to deal with his imposter syndrome and everyday acts of racism, alongside his growing ambition and his justifiable sense of feeling sidelined and minimized by the white men around him — grappling with the ways they're socially allowed to express and experience their emotions.

perhaps that theme got muddled because of the show's obnoxiously twee trappings, which became so much more obnoxious this season once all of richmond adopted ted lasso's guide to whimsy (the funeral scene was the most atrocious example, as was the gratuitous way they kept shoehorning in excuses for hannah waddingham to sing, like are you kidding me? I HATED IT and hated it long before we arrived at rebecca 'my best friend's wedding'-ing her dad's eulogy, are you serious, who let this show out of the house). but it's very clear when you marathon.

(when i was discussing this with @earlgreytea68 she suggested that perhaps the show has a tone problem, and that the audience expectation built up by all this wholesome whimsey is for a doubling-down of the "ted vs the vague abstract evil nihilism of the capitalist sporting industry" of the first season. thus, viewers just aren't prepared for a show whose second season is like, "sure, exhausting amounts of wholesome fun, yes, but also in the corner is this character who finds all of this whimsy exhausting, and whose position as a marginalized brown man facing daily microaggressions makes all this performative bullshit a form of petty torture and a way of further alienating him."

I find that show absolutely fascinating, but i think EGT is right and that's maaaaybe not quite the show that season two became, because it was also sabotaging itself by idk implying that santa was real and having hannah waddingham gratuitously sing yet again, and idk that surrealist episode with beard and the pants, and having them stop to reverently touch the "believe" sign yet again. like, we get it, clear eyes, full hearts, etc, but this is not friday night lights, and the pathos that seemed built into 'ted vs the sports industrial complex' feels unearned when the show suddenly does a pivot towards plumbing the psyches of its characters while also still trying to be the king of twee tv.)

speaking of shows that were abundantly twee but never ever obnoxiously twee, i also keep thinking about how ted lasso is probably the closest cultural heir to the gilmore girls we've gotten? irresistibly charming small town meets perky chatterbox main character who distracts everyone from their insecurity with non-stop banter and pop culture references! i am not alone as it turns out because someone made a ted lasso/gilmore girls fusion. (edit: me trying to figure out how New Tumblr works: you mean i can embed this tweet but not interact with any part of it?! YOU MEAN I CAN'T DO CONTROL-K TO HYPERLINK TEXT ANYMORE?! wow wordpress, wow.)

all that said, i do think ted lasso is a show that is far more traditional than progressive. it glibly missteps too often to really age well, even aside from all the obnoxiously twee moments. like, this is a show that wants to confront toxic masculinity, but for plot points it can't think of anything better than drumming up random sexual tension between various straight characters. (and EVERYONE is straight, why is everyone so straight?) it's forced and lazy and so boring, and imo totally unrealistic. the other day i attended a lecture given by a trans woman who casually discussed living with her wife, her other wife, and their husband. these relationships exist, they are real and valid, and by now you'd think media would at least be better about being able to, idk, comprehend them instead of still being stuck decades back, tripping over concepts like cheating and divorce. honestly, catch up, just catch up to what real relationships are like in the 2020s! if murderbot can do it, so can you!

so anyway, I honestly feel really strongly that a resistance to queerness and even the idea of fluid relationships is a canary in the coal mine for forms of regressive patriarchal storytelling. if, in the modern era, a TV show or piece of media can't conceive anything beyond a 1:1 cisgender heterosexual monogamy as its outer limit for what relationships should be/are allowed to be, then i have come to see that as a bit of a red flag that this work is more than likely to be regressive rather than progressive, even if it's masking itself in idk progressive aesthetics or something.

to me, ted lasso exhibits that all over the place. there's the random forced pairings. there's its ambivalence about whether beard/jane is a toxic relationship or a quirky form of chaotic idiosyncratic good. there's the way everyone is straight because, again, really?????? two seasons into an all-male locker room and you can't find a gay character anywhere? (there have been multiple references to juno temple being flattered by the idea of lesbianism without ever actually making her ID as queer, and there was a baffling one-off joke in s1 about a character using grindr, which.... what is the punchline supposed to be???? these things are frankly pretty offensive.)

then there's the age difference combined with the power dynamic between rebecca and sam. both of these are far too great for the show to handwave so easily, let alone treat like some revelatory joyous thing for both of them, without any amount of self-reflection or serious consideration for how it might make sam vulnerable.

there's also the quite frankly absolutely unacceptable number of harry potter references in the second season of the show. we had absolute proof that JKR was an outright transphobe by June 2020, two months before the show was even renewed for a second season — so well before it was being written and produced. so what the hell were these writers thinking? seriously, what the hell?

(there's also me punching the wall over how glibly the show makes TRENT CRIMM, THE INDEPENDENT, just casually toss away his journalistic integrity by giving up the identity of an anonymous source like what the hell do writers think journalists are? a real journalist would never ever ever in a million years think of doing this, just to be clear!!!!!!! if this is meant however to shade the independent for its subpar editorial standards, well then, i have to admit they have a point, sob, but at least the fictional independent quite rightly fired the reporter who did this unethical thing, sob, trent crimm i trusted you, why did you let down the team like this)

even the stuff that does feel genuinely healthy about season two, like all of the therapy and dudes learning to be emotionally expressive often comes off as really gender essentialist. take the two conversations about "girl talk" and "guy talk" that bookend the season. ted's revelation, which he then passes on to the diamond dogs, that sometimes conversations can just be about venting (without needing to lead to an action-item list of things to change) might feel more interesting if it weren't framed as a girls/guys dichotomy. again, this feels so regressive. this show's gender stuff overall feels very idk late 90s to me. or like it exists in a universe where cultural views on relationships are primarily dictated by reality tv; such a show might feel clever and smartly forward-looking in such a universe! but not in the real world of the 2020s where your trans university lecturer casually talks about their three spouses and meanwhile you're quoting jk fucking rowling like it's 2007.

i wish i had something smarter to end this on than "so yeah that's what i think about ted lasso" and also "o hai tumblr it's been a minute"

but it's my day off so i don't have to come up with a snappy kicker. so yeah, i guess that's what i think about ted lasso! hi, tumblr! it's been a minute.

[rahleeyah]

I laughed when you said you regret reading the opinions on Twitter. I did too. I was wondering if we all watched the same show. So many people saying we got no EO. Like huh? Yes SVU was about Amanda but the EO was there.

Mirror Effect. Olivia was watching Amanda deal with PTSD. She wasn’t only seeing things from an ‘I’ve been through that too’ point of view. But she also saw how it was affecting Carisi and her kids. Amanda wasn’t taking therapy seriously and her actions was scaring the people in her life who love her. You can’t convince me that she wasn’t seeing Elliot in Amanda’s behavior.

And the being alone and learning to love yourself line that has people upset. That wasn’t just about her. That was about Elliot too. And Olivia saying that doesn’t mean the writers won’t flip things and have them move a bit faster. We just don’t know.

Then on OC. The show has often taken their titles from movies. Catch Me If You Can. A movie about a man who is always on the run. Taking on different personalities. That has been Elliot since Kathy was killed. In the bar, he saw the news story about the death of the cop with a wife and 5 kids. It hit too close to home. He looked in the mirror and finally saw Elliot Stabler. (Mirror Effect!) With so much pent up negative emotions, he did what he does when he can’t deal. He uses his fist. Hopefully this will lead to him going to therapy.

I feel like we are going to get EO but it’s not always going to be so in our face. We may get it in a more subtle ways until they can put Chris and Mariska together. This weeks episodes felt like progress to me. David is doing a great job working with the OC writers. People just need to be patient. The season just started! Lol

i've been thinking about this a lot, bc it's been three episodes, and i have seen people say they're disappointed in the lack of eo, when i've been living bc it already feels like so much more than what we were getting in the non-crossover episodes last season.

and the thing is, i wrote a post about this and then deleted it but i'm gonna say it here - it does feel like we're watching different shows, bc we are. everybody is going to bring different expectations and different backgrounds to the show, and those different perspectives will result in wildly different interpretations. a line i think is a positive for eo is seen as a negative by others; which one of us is right? ultimately, i think it doesn't matter. i don't think capital R Right is something we can be. i may disagree with people, but isn't a lot of this subjective? to paraphrase the dude, it's just, like, my opinion, man. so i do try to pull myself back. i'm don't manage it every time bc i'm not perfect but i do try to just. live and let live.

NOW that being said you raised some really interesting points about the epis i wanna talk about lmao

i find it really interesting bc i was so focused on the ways amanda's behavior reminded me of olivia - down to the scene of carisi disarming her at home just like cassidy had to do, to the point where i had to gif it - that i didn't make the connection between amanda's behavior and elliot's until you mentioned it. and what's really interesting to me about this is that both of those things are true - that you can draw a parallel between amanda and liv and amanda and elliot - and bc a=b and b=c, a also equals c. i wrote a lot right after elliot came back about the parallels between his ptsd and olivia's. and there's no way olivia hasn't noticed that connection, both to elliot and amanda. so it's a connective thread that's really fun to spin around in my head like a marble.

i wrote a post about the learning to love yourself line so i won't rehash my thoughts but - yes. exactly. AND we have no idea how fast the writers are planning to move things. we are getting episode four this week like this baby is just getting started we have such a long way to go and 2/3 of this shit isn't even filmed yet lmao

AND anon your mind!!! the mirror effect/elliot seeing his face in the mirror, what a connection! i am honeslty super excited about this season bc the shows are actually being written as if they exist in the same universe for once! the svu ME turning up on oc! nods to eo on both svu and oc! benson and stabler both getting mini mes to train! it feels so cohesive and that is so exciting to me.

i absolutely think we are getting progress. and subtle is how l&o has ALWAYS done relationships. no one knows when liv and tucker officially got together. liv fucked cassidy in the s13 finale/s14 opener and it was such a tease, we only saw her naked in a bed with two wine glasses on the table and someone in the shower, only got a little tiny nod from cassidy to reveal that something was going on. kurt moss appears out of thin air and vanishes just as quickly. a possible romantic something with bayard ellis was teased but never outright explained. this is not a show that hands us things. we have to pick apart the nuances. and the nuances say eo is full steam ahead, so i'm not mad at it.

[pandemellia]

Ugly Thoughts #4: Idiots surround themselves with other idiots🤡

So there's this artist my ex's partner is mutuals with.

I visited his Twitter page a few times. Talented artist. That's cool.

Until one day, (I think this happened around early October) I noticed my ex's partner liked a tweet he posted about getting into a new relationship.

I'm thinking like, "but didn't he drew art of his girlfriend, like a few months ago?"

Then the thread mentioned how he didn't care about how he was moving too fast, how he didn't care who it affects, yadda yadda.

I looked at the artist's ex girlfriend's Twitter for clues on when they broke up because I got a little curious. It was around late September. This guy jumped into another relationship around a week after his last one ended.

As I mentioned before, it's a huge pet peeve of mine when people rebound.

It shows how desperate they are; and let's be honest, they're only using the rebound to fill a void within them because they can't stand to be alone. This is unfair to the new partner. That being said, I don't feel sorry for the rebound partner if they know they're dating someone who just got out of a relationship. Actions have consequences. They're asking to be used. Rebounding instead of shows weakness, and that's just unattractive to me.

I hate how some people are like, "pEoPlE hEaL aT dIfFeReNt pAcEs". Shut the fuck up, you're just letting your emotions control you.

I say as I let my unhealthy attachment to my ex have me stalk his socials lol—BUT at least what I do is not at the expense of anyone else's mental health.

Rebounding also proves how little they respected their prior relationship. Did they really love them in the first place if their ex was so easy to replace? Like you already abandoned them, why you gotta rub salt in the wound by dating someone else so soon? Maybe the dumper had an ex who was a huge asshole, and did deserve being broken up with. Still, why use someone else's energy and time to fulfill your hedonistic urges? Being single for a while to heal isn't gonna kill ya. Trust me, I should know.

Moving too fast really shows some people's need for instant gratification and how quick some people are are to swap out partners like they're objects (it's already bad enough that this is easy to do with dating apps).

I don't know, something about rebounding feels so wrong. I really hate breakups and abandonment that much, I guess.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it; I judged the fuck out of this person, especially when he said, "I don't care who it affects". I don't have the slightest idea on who initiated the break up, or what happened. But that comment rubbed me the wrong way. That phrase didn't sound like a self care type of selfish, it sounded more like a malicious type of selfish.

Then they tweeted about how in love they are with this person, which is something else I hate about people that rebound.

Bitch, you are not in love with them. You're infatuated with them, or you're thinking with your privates. Yes, attraction does lead to love, but it needs to develop first. Which takes TIME.

I feel like these are the type of people that think love is a feeling, and not a choice, so that's why they dump people because they simply "lost feelings for them".

Fucking idiots. You're obviously not gonna be in love with your partner 24/7. The honeymoon phase is not gonna last forever, so stop chasing it by going from relationship to relationship as soon as the infatuation ends. Keeping the love alive is an effort both parties in the relationship will have put into long term. Love doesn't work the way it does in these fake ass romantic fairytale movies. You'd think these grown ass adults would know that by now.

The homewrecker even commented the first tweet saying that it's great they both found happiness. 🤡

This makes me seem like a bitch; but God when I read that, I wished this guy's new relationship failed. XD

I know, I'm so miserable, that I wish bad on people who have nothing to do with me lol.

But listen here, it's homewreckers and people that move on too fast that enable each other and think their selfish actions are appropriate like these assholes are doing.

It's an echo chamber.

It's idiots surrounding themselves with other idiots.

The more idiots there are with this selfish ideology, the more pain they spread and waste other people's time.

So my wishes came true. This guy and his new girlfriend broke up about a week ago.

I like how he tries to play it off saying that it wasn't gonna work anyway because she was problematic.

Which is unfortunate that people like that still exist, but this is what happens when you rush into a relationship without getting to know the other person. That's yet another problem with jumping from one relationship to another.

You had it coming.

Now if only my other wishes came true.

That's what I'd call a Christmas miracle. XD

[coldtacosaladwasntfound]

Heyyy dude (gender neutral) how are you? I love your work!! I was wondering whether you could do a fluff poly pic with dream x reader x George where the reader gets hated on and the boys are protective of them. Original, I know 🙄✋/lh drink water ❤

hello ! here you go bud :)) kinda sucks but oh well

pronouns : they / them

H A T E • dream x georgenotfound x reader fluff

Twitter. Something about the godforsaken app could put a grimace on anyone's face. Twitter stans aren't all bad, but obviously controversial comments will end up being the most interacted with content on the site, just causing more and more people to see it. Was I surprised when I realized I was under attack; specifically by accounts dedicated to my partners and their friends? Not really, but it definitely still hurt. I expected it eventually but not this soon. I had barely appeared on stream w the guys, only coming in and out of Dream's room.

I was laying on the couch in Dream's room, scrolling through the replies to a post asking people what they thought of me. Dream was unknowingly sitting at his desk, editing with his headphones on. I truly didn't think the comments would be that bad, and some of them weren't, but some were.

@/user

idek anything ab them but they give me a bad vibe fr /gen

----@/user2

---- no like actually same, like the way they talk to dream is just,,, idk how to explain it

@/user3

literally not our place to assume things ab them ???? we know NOTHING ab them

----@/user4

---- ^^^ reminder

@/user5

they interact w [creator] 🚩🚩🚩🚩

I heard Dream talk, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Yeah, they're right here. [Y/n], George wants to say 'hi'!"

"Okay." I sat up and walked over to the computer, him unplugging the headphones. "Hi, George," I said, a slightly forced grin on my face.

"Hey, how are you?" I could tell that was more of a genuinely concerned kind of 'how are you' rather than a casual one. He could tell I wasn't alright.

"Uh..." I looked at Dream, he also seemed a bit concerned. There was no use in lying to them. "I was reading through a Twitter thread that I probably should've just ignored. It brought me down a bit."

Dream hugged me from behind in his seat. "We saw it. Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked.

I nodded. "It's not quite what they said that bothers me, but the fact that they don't even know me and there's nothing I can do to change their opinion."

"Their opinion doesn't matter. Like you said, they don't know you," George said into his mic. "We know you, and we love you." Dream nodded in agreement.

"I love you guys, too."

-

I woke up the next morning, cute memories of Dream and I's cuddle session last night. I was in Dream's bed and the blonde boy himself was once again sat his desk, talking quietly on call with someone. "Your chat needs to chill," Dream muttered through a clenched jaw. I got up and walked up behind him, looking over his shoulder while I wait for him to notice me. I glance at chat, trying to find what they need to chill about.

Oh.

He jumped, scrambling to mute himself and close the Twitch tab. "Good morning, angel," He said as he looked up at me.

I didn't know what to say. Of course, even Sapnap's chat was talking about me. I just let the emotions come through, standing there and feeling the insecurity hit.

I assumed Sapnap had noticed Dream's disappearance and tried to get his attention, as I watched Dream quickly unmute and begin talking. "Hey, I'm here, sorry, my mic fucked up." His eyes went back to the stream to see the chat, the discourse still raging. "Chat, please shut up about the people I hang out with in real life." I could tell he wanted it to be as vague as possible. "They're real people and can see the things you say." He paused and looked up at me. "I'm gonna hop off now." He left the call and took off his headphones, pulling me towards him. "You're worth so much to me, I don't like when people talk about you like that."

I sat in his lap and felt my phone buzz, pulling it out of my pocket and seeing George's name on my screen for a video call. I answered it and aimed the camera at Dream and I. "Hi, George... join the cuddle sesh," I offered jokingly.

"Gladly," he chuckled, his smile stunning me. "There's nowhere I'd rather be." Dream gave me a kiss on the cheek, nodding.

I received a Twitter notification for George's account. I opened it, scanning over the text.

@/GeorgeNotFound

Stop tweeting about creators personal friends challenge 2021 99% fail

I chuckled, piquing George's curiosity. "What are you laughing at?" I went back to the video call.

"Your tweet," I replied. Dream chuckled as he looked at it himself. "Thanks, a lot."

"For what? It's our job to stick up for you, we care about you," He insisted. George hummed an 'mhm' in approval.

"Still, thanks. Also, can we watch a movie together tonight?" Dream chuckled and nodded.

"Of course, you can pick the movie," George offered, exciting me further.

"Including Disney Channel Original Movies?" I asked as Dream groaned in a mixture of disgust and annoyance at the thought of watching a Disney Channel movie.

"Yes, including them," George responded before Dream could.

I laughed as the freckled boy before me let out his complaints, "They're all so predictable, the writing's shit."

"Shut up, Dream," George interjected in defense. "It's just one movie."

After all agreeing, the three of us sat on call watching a movie of my choice.

[mklt]

Just random thoughts about mikami and light 

it’s kinda long and so messy -w-

idk how to write long post on tumblr with good layout lol i got burnout from irl problems rly bad and it's already 3.30am here ;w; 

(mostly from my random threads on twitter (hence the weird formatting) and i try to tl-ed from my main language to english (with the help of google translation lol)

These are just my imagination and maybe personal preference (?) please don’t take it personally

Thread 1: 17th march 2022

this is so random but when i re-read death note manga again i can’t get rly emotional with mikami’s backstory i wonder why? Is it because I'm so weak seeing a kid being bullied? I don’t really like looking at child being abused too haha (but i remember someone said mikami’s backstory is like redditor sobstory WWWWWWWWWW sorry 

i don't know but i'm so weak with characters who have been bullied alskdal like im sad i don't want to see a little kid being bullied :(((((((((( let's focus on him (mikami) bein a kira simp

just the idea of ​​him trying to open up with light about his mom and his sad past is a bit painful for me aksdjaskl and i don't have any idea for light’s response too.. :( maybe mikami looks indifferent when he tried to explain it surely mikami said “that's why i'm thankful there's Kira” ? (i’m not rly sure about this)

but light is like  (??? at that time, there is not kira yet) so i think it continues to be like a one-sided delusion from mikami wwwww

hmm, even if they won, I think Light will randomly get quiet when he becomes tired from work (kira work??) (daydreaming?) and then suddenly when asked why by mikami, he randomly blurts "it’s my late father’s bday today" What will you respond???????? alsdkal it seems like this could be the time where Mikami starts to talk about his mother too?

i dunno but if it's mikalight au I think Light actually wants to say he misses his father but he doesn't want to say that he misses and loves his father (so much) idk?? maybe he doesn't want to look vulnerable in front of mikami because he still has to act to be a strong role model for mikami

It's so hard for me to imagine them just blissfully being happy, i definitely remember this and the emotional baggage sucks Moreover, when people who like to write about light who still can't move on about L Gosh thinking about it is really heavy haha

i dunno but in my headcanon for my kira wins au light is reluctant to meet with sachiko/sayu because it seems like he still can't move on with soichiro’s dead (and because he doesn't have the heart to see sayu who’s still recovering from trauma) that’s why he likes to find reasons so he can't go home

i’m not trying to justify that light is a SaD boi But to me, the only redeeming quality about him is  he really loves his family so much (www luv u light So I like to imagine him hating himself because of his father’s death. But he likes to think that my father died like this because I have to sacrifice for a more peaceful world That's why when his father died, light is really conflicted

but light bein light I'm sure he'll change his mindset after that “my father is not good because he doesn't believe kira, he is a good person but he’s not on Kira's side” (which in his heart he is still very hurt thinkin about soichiro)

Thread 2 : 8th February 2022

... I'm looking for drawing ref, then reread DN again and again (yes I know— It’s kinda endearing when mikami in front of ppl he looks so cold and mean but if with God His demeanor is like that >>>>

not uwu but like its funny… he's scawy–! Suddenly he’s become kinda nervous? Less hostile?? Hm but  i also think that when he finds out Light is a False God maybe he explodes and got mad-! btoom! And i was like oh yea thats our mkm alright haha

idk maybe i'm just making an excuse but from the manga’s scenes mk/lt is like.. master/disciple but not as maniac in anime? I really like when the disciple, who's scary outside but he's obsessed with his master! Maybe he will become a softie?!! I like the silent yandere type! And i think i f they have an argument mikami won't be hysterical or something >_>

Even if they had direct contact (not by takada) Light will tell mikami (about mikami killing lazy people) "I don't like how you do things stop it." then maybe mikami looks a bit shocked and i think ofc he will say my bad- LOL but i'm also sure he's the type who asked for an explanation why because he's not that stupid ahaha im sad

Even if it's been explained, I'm sure Light will complain directly to mikami "I don't believe you can still ask me back."

Thread 3 : 9th march 2022 (AU)

If mkm and light live together, does light live in kyoto or mkm in tokyo? But when you think about canon it means they are in long distance relationship :0

Yes, but if the train is 2 hours fast, just the idea of ​​them being willing to live alone is a bit complicated??

I think if Mikami’s position is high enough-- he can go to Tokyo and pretend to visit Light at the NPA office (then when he arrived Lighto isn't there (..........)

Because lighto is busy? And because of his work is that he is more in a private room (because he is more into intelligence / hacking role etc.)

Maybe Mikami can go to Tokyo because there is a case that he should discuss with the police (¿) if the case is serious enough hooho

Maybe they will meet at the rooftop (?) Mikami eats alone ? but maybe his assistants from kyoto office tag along too) then Light just finished with the other team. But mikami can only stare at light because they don't want to be exposed if they are acquaintances (bc for identity of Kira)

Jabsjadsbsh what if someone is trying to introduce them ?? Mikami and Lighto pretending to “get to know better

when they shake hands… Mikami held Lighto's hand tighter and maybe light playing with his finger on Mikami's wrist (trying to be subtle-subtle---) "Nice to meet you– Teru-san" “Nice to meet you,”

[iamanartichoke]

I need spoilers for episodes 5 and 6. They've got to be out there. I can't take two more weeks of this.

I think what's giving me this vaguely ill feeling, right now, is the sinking realization that there was no grander plan behind Loki's getting drunk, breaking the Timepad, just general kinda incompetent behavior. There were theories and there were hints and subtext and it amounted to nothing.

Cut for spoilers/negativity, sorry.

Basically I'm getting major "that opening scene in IW was just too full of holes, the-sun-will-shine-on-us-again, one little dagger, Loki has to have something up his sleeve - oh .... no, no he's really dead, there was no greater plan" flashbacks.

It's so incredibly frustrating for Loki's narrative to come so close to something profound, again and again, only to swing and miss at the last second. The pieces are there. The threads are there. And tptb keep choosing to just ... sit on them, bc idk, it's easier for Loki's complexity to remain unexplored?

Tom says that episodes 4 and 5 are where the series takes off and I'm just like, you can't wait until the second to last episodes to have something happen! You've been dropping breadcrumbs since episode 1 - episodes 4 and 5 are where you start to sweep them up! You've only got 6 total!

Also, I was really interpreting Loki having confused friendship with romance, bc that's what makes the most sense for his character but then there was this, and the aforementioned 'oh so this really is just surface-level material and I shouldn't even waste my time examining the subtext and context clues' feeling occurs. (Note - this article isn't overly flattering to Loki, bc of course it isn't, so just be aware of that before reading.)

So, yeah, it's just - it's not exactly the content of this episode that has me so upset. I can live with bad plots and dangling threads. Lord knows I tolerate other, arguably much more terrible tv shows for the sake of the parts I like (Reign, Once Upon a Time, a few seasons of Pretty Little Liars, just to name a few).

It's not the content. It's the refusal of tptb to take Loki's character to the depths he deserves, especially since they promised us that this series would really explore his identity and his gender and all of these things that the fandom mostly has wanted. It's frustration in the overall way the surface-level plot makes Loki's characterization suffer. And it's definitely the trigger of those feelings of heartbreak and fury and denial and grief that followed IW. I practically have ptsd from that death scene.

(I realize that these are hefty words to use to describe one's reaction to fiction, especially in the sense that an emotional downward spiral is being legitimately triggered by a tv show, but - look, everyone already knew I was cringe, okay, so leave me alone with my feelings.)

I think that if the show had more episodes, there would have been hope for it? Like all the breadcrumbs that have been dropped implied lots of fascinating things to be explored, but they just didn't have room to explore them as thoroughly as they'd need to in order for all of it to have an impact. Loki/Sylvie does not feel earned. Mobius turned on the TVA super quickly (so did B-15, for that matter). Ravonna went from kinda sus to outright villain in, like, ten minutes. And Loki and Mobius's friendship didn't exactly come out of nowhere, bc it was set up as the outcome from the first episode (in my opinion) but it did happen much too quickly. It wasn't earned, either. And the reason I'm harping on this is because these are all really good character journeys that could have been done so much better - yeah, even Loki/Sylvie - if they had just paced them better, used more of their own subtext, and had a few more episodes in which to develop the characters alongside the complicated plot.

(Yeah, there may be a season 2, but I'm not here for waiting a whole nother year or so for it to be filmed, produced, and released only for it to continue to ultimately not meet my expectations.)

So, yes. I'm sorry for the negativity; I realize I went from "hey I mostly liked this! It wasn't that bad!" to "I will ragequit and kill everyone in this story and then myself" in, like, a few hours but - well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'll most likely rewatch it again tonight. I may or may not cry it out and then do my best to enjoy the remaining two episodes for what they are, not for what they could or might be. Once the rawness of all of this fades, I'll focus on the things I liked and come up with my own headcanons, I suppose. Or maybe I'll overall change my mind again. Idk. Whatever. I just need a glass of wine and a few more xanax tbh. (Great. Now fiction is going to give me a drug problem as well lmfao.)

Also - it is actualy really, really funny that, if you think about it, it turns out that a fanfic by Tom isn't actually all that good. (I'm being facetious, but the general sentiment is true.) I'm sorry, Tom. I know you're excited about this and you said this episode was your favorite, so I hope you don't see some of these reactions (either here, or on twitter, or reddit, or wherever he may end up) and feel bad about yourself/your project. I guess there's just no universal cup of tea for everybody.

[macgyvertape]

thoughts on season of splicer ending

warning: spoilers for the entire season, general discussion of leaks, and absolutely being Bungie critical. Basically trying to write this out and figure out my own thoughts in the writing

I guess my first thoughts are what everyone's talking about: Osiris.

All the wild theories about if he's been replaced, controlled, playing 5d chess, etc. tldr: leaks say that from season of the Hunt it hasn't been Osiris but Savathun. Yeah I've read people's compilations of proof until I rapidly got bored with them. I'll be bluntly honest, if Bungie is going for some sort of imposter story-line then they're doing a fucking awful job at telling it.

a) A good imposter story-line needs to establish to the audience that there is the possibility or replacement/control

b) characters in the story themselves should be aware of point A and be actively considering it in their decision making

c) if the imposter is doing something the original didn't than clearly show audience the imposter is there.

I would say Bungie didn't do any of these, no the lore page of Savathun's human disguise falling apart around her doesn't count, because Bungie has long had a problem of putting story relevant plot details in lore pages and then not referencing them ingame. Lore should accentuate story, not provide key details to the story.

If you want to see a good imposter story-line look at Forsaken, and how they worked to make it obvious to someone who didn't know who Mara Sov was that something was up.

Most of the proof people cite is either cherry picking ambiguous things Osiris has said, or pointing out inconsistencies in writing. IMO not much of the evidence holds up because multiple characters this season (Saint, Lakshmi, Mithrax) have been written inconsistently with past appearances and without nuance; because their character has to carry the plot in a certain way or there are limits on recording dialogue for override/expunge.

My point in recapping the Osiris thing, is that from a thematic view at the end of the season Osiris is Osiris and I'm judging the story from the view of the season not how will the story be in the future.

very cynical take that as much praise as Bungie wants for working to make a high profile gay relationship be shown in game after a writer confirmed it on twitter

if leaks are right: if  Osiris hasn't been Osiris for the past 3 seasons then none of the scenes with Saint are real or matter, and it invalidates all the emotional grief of Sagira being dead. It's 3 seasons of character development and effort wasted

or: they took the first chance they could to make one of them an unsympathetic villain and write him out of the story.

(yeah destiny has other queer character but how many of them are alive and matter to the story? When was the last time Ana's girlfriend was mentioned?)

The game is clear that for all the talk about "vex tech influence" Lakshmi's views and choices were her own, so the same for Osiris: he is responsible for helping Lakshmi and is responsible for all the civilian deaths, he's the 2ndary Human villain of the season.

Which brings me to my point (that I've seen others say) is that Bungie should have given a second thought to having their all of their human antagonists be PoC characters this expansion. Osiris, Lakshmi, and Saladin last season. For Lakshmi and Saladin they weren't just antagonists, they were written to be bigots for the community to dislike. Yes Destiny has a lot of PoC characters and anyone can be a villain, but IMO its a bad look from a company who talks so much about social justice. It wouldn't matter except Bungie wanted the message of the season to be anti-racism, and I'm comparing it within the context of how often minorities are the villains in games/US media. I don't think it was deliberately done, I just think it is something that like last season's issues with proving grounds and antisemitism they didn't care or bother with a sensitivity reader.

It's obvious this season they were going for a very obvious reference to Trump and modern day fears about refugees with Lakshmi, and it's a bad look that they did with a Indian female character and refugees are the enemy crab aliens. I'm also not saying that female characters can't be villains, but did the Bungie writers not think about just how nasty gamers would get in either slurs, insults, or expressing wishes for violence, and how pervasive and visible it would be?

I'm genuinely curious why the writers went for such a heavy handed analogy, and a story-line that feels like it comes from an afterschool special. The Eliksni have been enemies in atleast 4 expansions now, there could have been a more nuanced story other than "House of Light is good keep on killing all other Fallen". At the end of the season the game treated the attack on the City being Lakshmi and Osiris' fault, and all the people who don't like the Eliksni (say the people doing hate crimes in the lore) left with the factions so "problem resolved" . Lakshmi gets a simple karmatic death, in an area where multiple reddit threads express how they love tbagging the corpse. The ending cutscene didn't feel super inspiring to me it just felt unrealistic not just in real life where things aren't that simple but also within Destiny's story; the "you are my family" line felt cringe to me, probably because it felt unearned.

That's kind of the problem of the season isn't it, that the earliest planned game based decisions like having a Vex seasonal enemy and getting rid of the Factions determined the cast of characters with ties to the Vex and factions. So you just fight x many Vex bosses until you defeat Quria, then there's a break for Solstace, but on Reset-Tuesday with no warning things escalate because its epilogue time.

Sadly I forget who said that "it felt like the plot needed to hit one beat a week" meaning one issue had to get resolved enough for the community to talk about (except for when we take 3 weeks off for solstice). Each week there has to be some sort of hook to avoid the overblown "content drought". So multiple times you will have characters change their mind or their deep held beliefs after one counter argument is presented. (big example is Saint changing his mind not over the season but after one cutscene). City politics and factions don't matter aside from dialogue in a few different weeks because they'll be gone at the end of the season but in the meantime characters needed to talk about something to prompt fandom engagement. example: the fandom argues about governance of the last city for a while before the argument burn out since the relevant lore wasn't designed to hold up to close scrutiny.

just, I'm a politically active leftist in a red conservative state so maybe i just find this exhausting since I deal with similar issues irl and am more prone to thinking this season was tone deaf.

tldr: that wow this turned out really negative. Which I didn't really expect considering how much I enjoyed the first few weeks of the season. I enjoyed a lot of the gameplay this season (I really enjoy fun gambit aka Overrides and VoG). But as for replaying the story on my other characters, I don't think I'll bother.

[gracestone]

I read your take on how you would see the I love you scene between Portwell and I would like to share one idea that came into my mind and to see your opinion. I would make that scene happen in season 4 (like you suggested), make EJ be the first one to say it and express these feelings through a video with their memories together. The video he made for Carlos was a really emotional one, so I think that this way of confession goes well with his character arc and adds a deeper meaning to the scene.

I am the anon with the ILY scene. I agree with you that a grand speech isn't necessary. Your actions show how much you love someone and that it's why I think that making that video (which it's an action that takes time and effort) is a good way of confessing feelings. It could also work as a simple ILY after one of them does something for the other. And it could go like this: "Of course I did it for you, I love you!". Love is shown through actions. The actions add meaning to the words.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EMOTIONAL EJ SAYING "I LOVE YOU" TO GINA THROUGH A VIDEO HE MADE FOR HER WOULD MAKE ME, ANON! I GOT EMOTIONAL JUST READING YOUR ASK 🥺 EJ is a character that I relate to in a lot of ways, and him being into film means a lot to me. So if he uses that love for filmmaking to express his love for Gina? I'd be dying, I'd be dead, I'd be deceased 😭❤️

I 100% agree that it would fit with his character arc and would make his confession to Gina deeply personal. It's just as personal as Nini writing a song for Ricky and posting it for all the world to see, because also told us a lot about who she is and who they both are, and it linked her love for songwriting to her love for Ricky. I've actually talked to @scorpiospectrum before about how much I would love this for Portwell in the form of EJ making a video for Gina. Especially cause he discovered his love for filmmaking at the same time as he realised that he had romantic feelings for Gina 🥺❤️

You know what could also be sweet? If EJ makes that video but is still too afraid to show it, and then Gina finds it by herself. So we get both EJ saying "I love you" first AND Gina saying it first (in person). And we'd get it through action and words! Because yes, I totally agree that it's meaningful to show your love through actions, as well as through words.

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I'm obsessed with Portwell and Zekaela (a ship from the show Manifest and my OTP) parallels. I made a whole thread about it, because they're similar in very specific ways. The next part includes spoilers for Manifest, so if you're avoiding those, look away now (LOOK AWAY, TAY!!).

I think dialogue similar to Zekaela's first "I love you" could really work for Portwell. Or more importantly, how Zeke confesses his love:

"I love you. (simple statement, EJ or Gina would be putting themselves out there and getting the hard part out first, like when EJ asked her out) I'm all in. (for real this time) I don't know if you have room for me, (giving the other an out, in case they don't feel the same way, which is something Gina has a tendency to do) but I love you." (repeating how they feel because they really want the other to know)

It's simple, but it would tell us a lot about them as characters and would fit with their internal insecurities that they're still working to overcome. And of course it'd be answered with a simple but blissful "I love you too".

[theonceoverthinker]

I wish I could be happy, but I’m not

(I made a thread of this on Twitter this morning, but I’m going to elaborate on it here because as you’ll see in a different sense on this post, character limits are BS)

So I'm not gonna lie, I think the line about Clover that many in my neck of the fandom are getting excited over isn't the loving acknowledgment of how Qrow felt about Clover that many seem to think it is. 

Follow me on this one:

Is it good that Clover was finally explicitly brought up? Yes. 

Did they do it in a terrible way? YUP, and I'll explain how in just a moment. 

Am I surprised? Less than I ever wanted to be.

Actually, before I begin, because I KNOW people are gonna come after me for this post one way or another, I just want to ask those people if they think I LIKE being this negative? Do they think I LIKE being so cynical towards a show that I used to have so much fun with, a show that I was starting to trust? Don’t you think I want to be excited about Volume 8 with everyone else, and that prior to Volume 7, I wasn’t having the time of my life thinking about and enthusiastically waiting for the new episodes.

No, believe me, I’d be thrilled to enjoy this new volume with everyone else, but after the waking nightmare that was 7X12 (An episode that keeps getting worse and worse the more you look at it, as if an evil version of a Where’s Waldo artbook), CRWBY made it pretty apparent to not trust them as far as I can throw them, to guard my heart, and to temper any positive expectations I have for this show because they can and will likely let me down.

Full disclosure: I’m not watching the volume itself in the traditional sense: I’m having the context of the scenes explained to me by a wonderful friend, and seeing and reading the dialogue and facial expressions of the scenes through gifs, pictures, and the like on various Twitter and Tumblr blogs. That having been said, I take confidence that I am getting an accurate and complete understanding of the Qrow scenes.

Okay, let’s go...under the cut because this got LONG!

The line that starts with "The thing that really stings..." is the line in question, just in case there was any doubt since Qrow speaks a fair bit in this episode (Yes, I’ve read through the full line, but this post is already gonna be long enough without transcribing the whole thing, here it is if you haven’t checked it out yet). It comes up right after Qrow talks about Clover's death.

“The thing that really stings” is a crucial opening line. It implies that on a list of important matters pertaining to the given topic being touched upon, what he’s about to state is the most important of them.

And what does he go on to talk about after that opener? 

Semblances. Just semblances, or rather, just his semblance.

Qrow talks about how he was finally entertaining the notion that there was somebody he could be around without having to worry about his semblance complicating things, but that he now believes that possibility was nothing but a childish dream.

This line (which I HOPE is just accidentally clunky because I DO want the Staff Theory to be true so we can start to recover from all this BS in a way that lets me keep enjoying this series) is a lot more harmful to the Fair Game relationship than anyone in the Clover and Fair Game fandom seems to think it is. I genuinely don't want to rain on anyone's parade because I know a large part of my fandom is pretty excited about it, but I can't leave this alone. 

I'll be frank: This line implies that Clover's death on it's own (The act of the character of Clover dying, his entire being, personality and all) isn't as important to Qrow as what that death symbolizes. All it does is just talk about how Clover meant he could be around someone and not have his semblance mess things up.

It doesn't discuss the bond they formed over their time in Atlas together. It doesn't discuss how Clover was someone who was addressing his self-loathing and absence of a team or how they cared about each other. These things would imply that Clover meant something to him as a person outside of his semblance.

Now did the paragraph need to go into detail about or even discuss Clover and Qrow’s bond? Not necessarily, but with a line starting with "what really stings" that only on to talk about Clover as he relates to his semblance undercuts what made Clover's character so beloved in the first place.

Clover fans didn't fall in love with Clover because of his semblance. It was an interesting aspect of his character, sure, but it wasn’t the only one by a long shot.

We fell in love with Clover's unique personality, how he was cocky without the pompousness or bullying that tends to come with that cockiness, as well as his emotional softness and how it contrasted with our expectations at every turn, even extending to his support-suiting weapon.

We fell in love with how Clover, even dealing with people he was technically sort of opposed to like Robyn Hill, he made every effort to be diplomatic, careful towards her election, and sincere. 

We fell in love with how Clover, unlike the rest of his team, was the notable exception to the rule of the Ace Ops not being friends with their teammates.

We fell in love with the many, many interesting visual aspects of his character design, both individually as well as how closely they mirrored Qrow’s.

We fell in love with the concern he had for Qrow, someone who Qrow was finally on an equal playing field with and could grow to trust as well as willingly and happily team up with.

We fell in love with Clover’s persistence in getting close to him and having Qrow come to a place where he could acknowledge his own worth.

So understand that this line says that the thing about Clover that left the biggest impression on Qrow (And by extension in terms of the show’s meta narrative, the audience) was not that character that we cared for because of who he was, but instead that Qrow cares more about how Clover benefitted him personally on a strictly utilitarian level than the actual connection he and Clover shared as people.

That sentiment does an incredible disservice to Clover's character. Despite what those who defend 7X12 felt, Clover was a character with dimension (And by no means was an Adam, just to stop that garbage comparison in its tracks before it comes up again). What that line does is callously strips away that dimension to make Clover almost something closer to a one-note manic pixie dream boy, and only for the purposes of his semblance, at that. 

That’s not good writing, and it shouldn’t be as revered as it presently is (I know the episode’s only a few hours old at the time of writing this, but this seems to be the line’s perception by the Clover and Fair Game fandoms).

More than anything -- more than the possibility of Jailbirds becoming canon, or the lack of connecting Clover and the staff this volume -- this sentiment that Clover’s only worth came from his semblance said by Qrow himself (The character who spent a lot of time bonding with him) makes me worried about whether or not we will actually get a Clover revival. 

Again, I don't want to ruin anyone's fun (Though I know I risk it just by making this and will probably be subject to all manner of online torment as a result because that’s just the way things go around here), but I think we Clover fans need to acknowledge the dangerous wording of this line and temper our expectations accordingly.

Today's Clovember theme is 'wish.' I'm not gonna stop wishing for Clover's return. I'm not gonna stop hoping for Clover's return, either. 

However, I don't want another 7X12 to happen to myself or the various others in the fandom that I’ve grown to care about this past year again. I can’t ignore a bad sign when it’s staring me in the face, leaving such a foul taste in my mouth in the way that this is. Fair Game Buddies and Clover fans alike, please just be careful. I love you all.

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

DOTTIE’S BATFAM FIC RECS

hi!! so, no one asked for this but,,, I wanted to make one anyway! I really love the batfam a lot and I see a lot of ppl in the fandom wishing it was easier to find good fics. this is by no means all of them but they are some of my faves, generally not too fanon-y! all fics are gen/family fluff with little to no ships (which are not bat/cest). 

feel free to message/ask me about triggers if you’re unsure!! and lmk if I forgot to tag anyone ❤️

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Homecoming by Ionaperidot / @iowriteswords on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966704/chapters/24414906

Summary: “Your son’s grave. It’s been disturbed.” In which people actually notice when Jason breaks out of his grave, and Bruce finds him before Talia does.

My thoughts: Bruce’s voice in this is seriously perfect, plus Dick, Jason, and Tim are great as well!! This fic honestly helps inform me of my Tim characterization!

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The Wound Begins To Bleed by audreycritter / @audreycritter on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295661

Summary: Now that Tim’s moved back to the manor, he just wants a few afternoons a week without Damian around. Funny how getting that was the catalyst for him becoming a better big brother.

My Thoughts: it makes me emotional okay it GETS me right in my HEART!!! both Dami and Tim are so so so good I can’t rec this enough

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just hold a smile by RecklessWriter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22777705

Summary: That's the thing about smiles, Dick thinks. If you flash the right one, no one knows there's something more going on inside. Five times Dick faked a smile and one time someone saw through it.

My Thoughts: Dick & others, including Tim and Cass. Dick is really good at hiding his feelings from others, and I love how in this fic, a lot of times, he’s hiding them to “protect” whoever it is

(more under the cut!)

life, if well lived by CaptainOzone

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378512

Summary: Jason wakes up from a time-travel mishap to find Thomas and Martha Wayne hovering over him. Just another day in the life, right? ...Not quite.

My Thoughts: this one had me crying like a baby!!! the characterization is great and I love CO’s Thomas and Martha

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one shot, two shots in the night by discowing / @dykewing on tumblr, @/wlwdiscowing on twitter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18871864/chapters/44792710

Summary: The New York Times ✓ @nytimes · 4h

“A Shot in the Dark” remains on our bestseller list for the fourth week in a row! Read our review of @brucewayne’s tell-all memoir here: nyti.ms/3Fs9k2E

My Thoughts: TALK ABT MAKING ME CRY. this gets me every time, and it’s absolutely worth ALL of the rereads. such a great Bruce.

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The View From Jade by lowflyingfruit

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11329791/chapters/25359972

Summary: Being transported to the past is not the sort of thing one normally expects. But this having happened, and with no easy way back, Jason's determined to make the most of it. Though the Bat still stalks Gotham's streets, the city's crime is run by the mobs instead of the rogues. There's no Joker yet. There's no Robin. Maybe there shouldn't be.

My Thoughts: Jason & Dick, and also Bruce somewhere in there too. this is SO! GOOD! I absolutely love Jason’s voice, and Dick is so in character. plus Bruce and Alfred are awesome as well!!!

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The Birds Who Smile by Raberba girl / @raberbagirl on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972324/chapters/29656290

Summary: "Dark Nights: Metal" AU where Bruce adopts three of the Robins who once belonged to the Batman Who Laughs.

My Thoughts: I think this was the first fic that introduced me to Duke, actually! and while there are a LOT of characters involved, they’re all pretty great and realistic. they have their moments to shine and it’s,,, *chef’s kiss*

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The Thing about Apples and Trees by Cdelphiki / @cdelphiki on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22192747

Summary: When Jason agreed to let Bruce adopt him, he thought that meant Jason felt happy and safe in Bruce's home. But when Jason's nightmares only increased, and his panic attacks and meltdowns started happening more often, Bruce was at a complete loss for what to do. But then, Jason finally opened up to him, and he was able to quell some of Jason's worse fears. Perhaps a midnight chat and a few hugs wouldn't fix everything, but it was a step in the right direction.

My Thoughts: this is part of a series but might be okay to read on it’s own? tho really I suggest the entire series, it’s amazing. but this fic specifically has great kid Jason characterization (and also made me cry, I think!)

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Kitten by lurkinglurkerwholurks / @lurkinglurkerwholurks on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18194294

Summary: Bruce opened his mouth, prepared to give the unemotional, no-nonsense explanation he had cobbled together between his walk to the car and now. Instead, his mouth went dry and nothing came out.

“Bruce?”

Bruce was saved from answering by the thin cry that cut through the silence. He winced, then reached back with one hand to shush the dimpled, kicking legs.

“Bruce, tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard.”

My Thoughts: so so so cute! plus the gangs all here!!!

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Yes Ma’am by lurkinglurkerwholurks

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22004695

Summary: Jason had shuffled into the bedroom and had just finished pulling his shirt over his head when he paused, arms still trapped in the fabric. A pair of eyes glowed at him from the bed, reflecting the dim light from the hall.

My Thoughts: I also have to include this one bc it was a gift to me, and it’s so cute & angsty & just dkjsfsdjkhfksjah I love it so much

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The D-Word by AutumnHobbit / @autumnhobbit on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9597686

Summary: "See, Tim?" Jason called over his shoulder sardonically. "Dad agrees with me."

He turned back to his food for a moment before the thought suddenly occurred to him that the Cave had gone near silent. He cautiously glanced back at the others. Alfred was still working away at stitching Tim up. Tim looked a little pale and sweaty, but he was glancing over at Jason with a look that was a mixture of concern and confusion. Bruce was standing stock-still, seemingly staring off into space.

My Thoughts: I constantly reread this when I want funny and then heart breaking Jason & Bruce feels. I always know what’s coming and it STILL GETS ME

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baby wonder by drakefeathers / @drakefeathers on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887807

Summary: (baby!damian AU) Bruce dies, Dick becomes Batman. But the Damian that Talia leaves in his care isn’t a ten-year-old warrior, he’s a ten-month-old baby.

My Thoughts: oh my goddd this is so good, it hurts but it’s SO CUTE at the same time??? ugh dskjfhkjsadhf

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a hat fashioned from tin foil by discowing

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14356020

Summary: nightwang @karakurachou – 8 hours ago

jason todd is alive and faked his death so he could become robin: a conspiracy theory thread

Batfam conspiracy theories meet social media.

My Thoughts: !!!!!!! so good!!!! seriously one of the best social media fics I’ve ever read.

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Bet Your Bottom Dollar by jerseydevious / @jerseydevious on tumblr and twitter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17971160/chapters/42447017

Summary: Dick's been having kind of a hard time, recently. When it boils over, Bruce is there for him.

My Thoughts: I reread this one a LOT when I need Dick & Bruce feels

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Metanoia by AlannaOfRoses / @alannaofroses on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943249

Summary: Jason's bleeding out, Dick's overtired, and a half-serious offer turns into their new normal. Sometimes you just need somebody else around.

My Thoughts: this one was also a gift to me!! it’s got amazing brotherly bonding and it made me laugh a LOT

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a hundred miles through the desert by acrobats

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18197330/chapters/43045388

Summary: Finding himself nearly three decades into the past hadn't been part of Jason's plans for the day, but he could manage. Having no idea how he got there, no clear path home and a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne determined to drag Jason into his search for his parents' killer - that might be a little more complicated.

My Thoughts: ughhh this is such good Jason content (and such amazing Jason voice, too) I adore it

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oh, where do I begin? by LazuliQuetzal / @lazuliquetzal on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21988693

Summary: “No, no, nothing’s wrong,” Jason says. “We’re a-okay. Just peachy. Good times.”

“Oh,” Duke says, lamely, working himself out of crisis mode. There’s an awkward silence for a moment before he speaks up again. “Why did you call?”

“Right, right," Jason mumbles, which seemed a little out of character to Duke. His sort-of wayward brother was generally intimidating, even when he wasn't trying to be. "Uh, Dick said that you had a guinea pig when you were younger. How do you take care of a guinea pig?”

_____

AKA, not-exactly accidental guinea pig acquisition

My Thoughts: this was ALSO a gift to me but it’s so funny and sweet and there’s amazing Duke & Jason bonding so I absolutely must rec it

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Latchkey by goldkirk / @goldkirk on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672928/chapters/51685639

Summary: or, How Tim Drake Found A Family, Became A Photojournalist, Learned To Love Coffee, and Grew Up, not necessarily in that order.

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird nextdoor neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

My Thoughts: this is SO GOOOOD the Tim feels are amazing!!! the family interactions!!! everything! sdkjfhsjdfhksdhfajh

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Blood in the Water by MishaBerry

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12734052/chapters/29037474

Summary: We all do stupid things when we are lonely, and in faraway lands, we hardly expect the consequences to follow us. Bruce certainly never thought twice about an American woman in Jaipur after one night with her. He hardly expected to see her ever again.

The universe, on the other hand, had different ideas, and the tides of time and chance brought Tim Drake to Bruce's life over and over again.

My Thoughts: this one is more AU than a lot of the others on here but it’s a lot of fun!! it has Tim & Damian & Jason feels, plus the rest of the family on a smaller scale

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so these are just SOME, and honestly you should go and check out other works done by all of these authors!! also would like to suggest reading the fics of @renecdote , @caramelmachete , @redtruthed , @rredarrow , and @schweeeppess !!!

[rotatemp3]

hello i saw that you didnt want to discuss this subject anymore but i'd like to let you know that certain sentences that changkyun sent are VERY hard to translate given the cultural context. i'm not sure how to send links here but there's a thread on twitter on what those sentences mean. for example when he said something the thing about the spoon (i think the wrong translation everyone is seeing is "if you can lift a spoon, you can exercise"?), it's actually a saying often used to motivate koreans to do something about how they can also do the less desired tasks if they can do the easier tasks (same concept as motivational speakers/athletes telling people "if you can walk, you can run"). the other sentence where he said something about drinking water is also a korean saying used to tell people to stop procrastinating. like i know it can be taken very badly without the context and even still, it sounds odd but i just want to remind people that he said everything in another language (where he's the most comfortable), in a private chat (not even meant to be shared and where characters are limited) to people who were meant to understand what he said (koreans/people who understand the language and its nuances).

first, i want to thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. i really do appreciate it!!! second, now that it’s been a day and it’s not as fresh in my mind, i have to admit that i probably got too emotional about this and hence why i said all the things i said. reading your explanations has helped me see things in a different way. you’re right, we need to consider the cultural context. not to mention i am not korean nor do i speak korean so i rely heavily on translations to understand what’s going on. and in this instance, perhaps it was a case of mistranslation or more like something that can’t be translated without the proper cultural context like you said... and yes he said these things in a private setting with people who speak his language and not misconstrue what he was trying to say so i admit in this instance perhaps i was too emotional and let that cloud my thoughts so i apologise... i don’t know what else i can say here but thank you for explaining this to me.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

I know we shoudnt talk about other ships but for real I don’t get how people come here asking about maknae line ships when this thread exist twitter com/stussyjeon_/status/1361977220890296320?s=21 doesn’t mean anything I know but jk ships with maknae line don’t do half of these and people call them married. Lol People should look more into jk as a person and all members instead of keep feeding their projections with y or x because he has done a lot with others. It’s insulting.

I mean, we can talk about other ships as long as we see them as friendships and not romantic ones, except for vmin (and namjin). I said it before but if anyone wants to talk to me about Seokjin with Jungkook or Yoongi with Seokjin or Namjoon with Jimin in terms of their real-life amazing friendships, I’m 100% in. Especially Jungkook with Seokjin since I adore their bond and dynamic, it’s so funny and cute and has been this steady constant ever since they became trainees. Like Jungkook once said that he came to Seoul to raise Seokjin hyung.

But, going back to the actual purpose of that ask, I agree in that what many should do (yet most of the time simply do not, on purpose or accidentally) is take a step back and consider the full picture, instead of just the “zoomed in” moment that ignores all context and what’s happening around them, as well as their dynamics with the other members. This is a major thing I see happening with Jungkook ships, though surely it happens with all of them but to a lesser degree, and it really is unfair and, in a way, discredits and erases his bonds with all the other members. And okay, I get it, I tend to notice interactions between vmin or namjin more/quicker since they are my favorite pairs, or more generally interactions or things that the Kim line do since Namjoon is my bias and Seokjin and Taehyung my bias wreckers, but I’d never go as far as completely ignoring everything else around their “moments” and the context of it all. When I watch BTS content, I observe OT7 first and foremost, since I love all of them, and then next in line are details regarding my ships and biases, not the other way around.

I don’t want to come across as preachy or like I’m some end all be all judge sitting on my high horse, but one thing I do believe is super important when you’re ARMY, and also a shipper, is to prioritize OT7 while watching any piece of content over just watching said content for the sake of catching “moments” or interactions between your ship. If you focus just on the latter, you’ll miss out on a lot of amazing things, and you’ll very quickly end up on this very slippery slope that’ll lead you into toxic shipper land where OT7 stops being important and all you’ll care about is your ship (occasionally to the point of making yourself miserable when your ship doesn’t act the way you want them to or parts of your ship “act out of line”, so to speak), and that’s just not fair toward BTS, your ship, and yourself.

That linked thread, by the way, is super adorable and showcases how wonderful Jungkook’s bond is with Hobi, but also with the entirety of the hyung line since there are threads like that for him along with Yoongi, Seokjin and Namjoon as well. Think about Jungkook’s many declarations about how thankful he is for Namjoon, how he was the reason he wanted to be a BH trainee, how much he loves him—how come that doesn’t garner bigger reactions from people? Can you imagine if he’d say the exact same thing for one of the 95s? Sns servers would quite literally break under the force of emotions exploding from shippers. But since it’s Namjoon, it gets a “cute” and written off as largely uninteresting. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

Why do people not react just as fiercely about these “moments” as they do when Jungkook interacts with the 95s, you may ask. Easy, because those who have these big and loud reactions and make these declarations of xyz ML ship being real and married are people who, generally speaking, have little interest in the hyung line due to various reasons like, including but not limited to, them being too old, too mature, not cute enough, or simply not a maknae line member. I’ve noticed that in many cases if they do pay attention to the hyung line it’s only to use them as supporting roles/props, in that they use their reactions or behavior in connection to their ship as “proof” for their claims.

Hobi laughs a certain way when Jungkook interacts with Jimin? Ships is real. Seokjin smiles a certain way while Jungkook laughs at something Tae said? Ship is most definitely real. Namjoon shakes his head at whatever Jungkook just did with Jimin or Tae? Ship is literally married.

And yes, interactions between the maknaes are cute and funny and lovely, but in most cases anything Jungkook has done with Jimin and/or Tae are things he’s also done with the hyung line, and in many cases, just like you pointed out, he’s done more significant things with the hyungs than he’s done with the 95s. Though, in a way, comparing things like this feels a bit…icky to me since every bond is different and has different boundaries and “rules”, but for the sake of this post, I’ll roll with it.

Look at Jungkook’s bond with Yoongi, how we know that Yoongi had Jungkook record several guides for songs for his mixtapes and enjoys spending time at Yoongi’s studio, how both of them started to learn guitar at a similar time and I’m sure they’ve used each other as motivation and helped each other. Look at how gentle Jungkook is with Yoongi, or how instead of saying ‘I love you’ Yoongi sometimes simply touches the purple heart tattoo on Jungkook’s hand.

Or look at his bond with Seokjin, how silly and carefree they are together despite their age gap of five years which, while it may not be so important anymore now that Jungkook is 23 and Seokjin 28, but it was definitely a significant thing back when Jungkook was 15 and Seokjin 20 (though I know in Korea that age difference will always be important to a certain degree but you get my point). And yet Seokjin practically adopted Jungkook to the point where Jungkook basically said that in Seokjin he has both an older and a younger brother.

Or look at that thread full of lovely Jungkook and Hobi moments, how clearly their closeness shines through, how cute they are together and how much they care about each other. There are so many instances of them cuddling or hugging, gravitating to each other, Hobi pretend kissing Jungkook, and generally showing how comfortable they are with each other. Like in BV4 where they shared a bed in the campervan and one morning Jungkook woke up to find that Hobi went to brush his teeth or whatever without him and was a bit whiny about it. Or that clip of Hobi wrapped in a blue blanket and Jungkook hugging him while they were both asleep that’s in the FESTA 2019 Euphoria MV which is significant since it’s a clip taken by the members in their own time, meaning this is simply something Jungkook and Hobi do together. Or how much comfort Jungkook gets from sniffing Hobi, his clothes or hair, and how often we’ve seen him do that, which makes it even cuter when you consider how sensitive Jungkook is to smells in general.

Admin 2: quick addition from my side: remember ITS and that scene where JK plays Lost Stars on guitar and Hobi sits next to him? And look at him as though he just realized that he’s in love with JK with stars in his eyes and that dreamy type of expression? It’s just a look, just a small moment, and yet it makes you think.

Just like I said in my previous post all about Jungkook and how shippers have a tendency to erase/take away his autonomy, talent, and humanity, it seems some also have a tendency to erase his bonds with the hyung line and that’s simply not okay. You can ship Jungkook with whoever you want, that’s none of my business, but at least don’t ignore his bonds and friendships for the sake of your ship. You’ll lose out on a lot of cute, fun and meaningful things if you do, honestly. Also, if you pay attention to his interactions with all the members, you’ll realize that his interactions with the 95s aren’t special or more ship-worthy or better “proof”, in fact, you might come to find that there’s far more that could be seen as “ship proof” in his interactions with his hyungs. But really, the one thing that matters in all of this is that Jungkook has a beautiful bond with all the members, different ones, yet none of them are better or worse, all worthy of being cherished and highlighted just as much. Shippability and the amount of “ship” moments are just a less important extra, if even.

Also romanticdrift got the exact same ask so you can check out their response to it here (generally the post it belongs to is amazing and worth a read).