#being flagship is hard okay

[acescorazon]

I LOVE YOUR FIC CHANGES!!!!! I HOPE YOU UPDATE SOON!!!!!

THANK U BBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. ILY MUAH. I was updating like every day but then i got my period... i mean i fell into a pit of darkness and didn't have the energy to climb out. How bizarre. ANYWAYS, HERE'S YOUR FOOD.

Title: Changes Ch: 5/?

Rating: M (I'm just putting that as the rating in general for every ch lol)

Word count:2291

Warnings: Depressed clown :(

Chapter excerpt:

"Mihawk keeps asking about you," Mohji announces all of a sudden, "He keeps asking if you're okay and if your illness is something serious." Hawkeye keeps asking about him… Why? To know if he's died yet? What a joke! That man doesn't care about Buggy, why is he even wasting his breath asking about him? "I just keep telling him that you have the flu, and he's always like, 'Ah…is that so? Tell him I hope he feels better.' Isn't that…ridiculous?!" Yeah, that is rather ridiculous.  Buggy has a hard time believing that Mihawk is genuinely concerned about him, but at the same time, he can't imagine why he'd just pretend to care either. It's weird.

|Ch1|Ch2|Ch3|Ch4|

The next several days are on an endless loop for Buggy. He stays in bed all day, unwilling to come face to face with Mihawk after his little drunken rant from days prior, afraid of what Mihawk will say to him now that he's completely sober. So, he stays in bed, either sleeping or lost in thought. He should be preparing men, supplies, and their new flagship for departure, but he can't bring himself to do it. At the very least he should be making sure everything on Emptee Bluffs Island is going smoothly, and yet… he doesn't care about that either. 

Being in Cross Guild is so…exhausting.

Crocodile has called for meetings every single day, and every day, Buggy has one of his men lie and say he's sick. He's missed about 10 meetings now, he thinks. He can't remember, everything is starting to blend in together. All he knows is that sooner or later Crocodile is going to get pissed and come looking for him, and then what? Beat him up? Threaten him? Actually, kill him this time? 

Man, who cares?

Cabaji, Mohji, and Richie, often come by and sit with him, usually overly worried about Buggy's well-being and not believing him when he says he's just sick or tired, but of course, Buggy always tells them that he's fine. 

Today, they're with him again, sitting by his bed and trying to get him to eat some of the sea king the other members of the crew somehow caught and killed today. "Captain…" Mohji sighs, "Come on, at least take a couple of bites." He asks, but he sounds more like he's begging than asking. "You've hardly eaten anything these last few days." While that is very true, it's because Buggy doesn't have much of an appetite these days, nothing tastes right or really interests him, and god knows he doesn't have the energy to make his own food…just… he just wants to sleep.

Buggy sits in his bed, slightly peeved that Cabaji and Mohji insist he sit up in general, and looks down at the sea king on his plate. He's not normally a picky eater, you can't be picky when you've spent most of your life at sea, but… this thing reminds him eerily of a poison dart frog with its vibrant color and spots, yet at the same time, it's got fins and a body like a snake... He doubts his men would actually cook up something poisonous, they aren't that naive…but still, Buggy has no interest in this fish..frog…snake thing. 

But if he did die from ingesting it…that'd just be his luck, wouldn't it? Death seems… inescapable at this point, and he often wonders just what or who will end up taking his life first. "I'm not hungry," Buggy repeats, but Mohji and Cabaji seem determined today.

 

"Just take a couple of bites, please, Captain?" Mohji practically begs, "Just a couple, it's actually really good!" Doubt it, Buggy thinks. 

Cabaji follows suit, "Yeah, just take a couple of bites and if you don't like it, you don't have to eat the whole thing! We'll just feed the rest to Richie, right, Mohji?" 

"Right!" 

Buggy really doesn't want to eat anything, but he hates to make the other two worry, so he ends up taking a couple of bites of his lunch, and yeah, it isn't bad…it's one of the better-tasting sea kings that he's had, this one actually tastes like chicken despite its weird appearance, but Buggy still only eats a couple of bites, just enough to get the other two off his back and then hands Mohji his plate to give to Richie. 

He wants to lie back down, but the others won't let him. "Um, Captain?" Cabaji calls out, seemingly a little nervous, "Uh, how about I run you a warm bath and…uh, How about I help you wash and brush your hair today?" Cabaji suggests with a small grin. Oh, yeah, basic needs are a thing. Man, Buggy really doesn't care about any of that stuff anymore, he's going to die anyways, so what's the point? He'll just ask one of his men to make him look nice for his funeral. 

"Okay?" Cabaji asks, still smiling.

Buggy understands what this really is about. This is a very polite and roundabout way of telling him he needs to bathe, but none of his men would ever outright tell him he stinks so they have to use words like, 'Oh, how about I run you a bath and help you wash your hair today?' Or, 'Wow, you look like you need to relax…how about a nice bath?' 

Whatever. 

Buggy lets Cabaji run him a bath, and he sits and waits in bed while he prepares everything for him. He watches Richie eat his leftover sea king, and can't help but think how nice it'd be to be a lion, well, actually a cat. If reincarnation exists, he thinks he'd like to live a carefree life as a cat, a spoiled one too. Being a pirate isn't something he thinks he'd want to do again unless he could live a life with his old crew again, this time a happy one that isn't cut short, maybe then he'd be a pirate again... Or he could be a star in the sky, that'd be nice. 

"Mihawk keeps asking about you," Mohji announces all of a sudden, "He keeps asking if you're okay and if your illness is something serious." Hawkeye keeps asking about him… Why? To know if he's died yet? What a joke! That man doesn't care about Buggy, why is he even wasting his breath asking about him? "I just keep telling him that you have the flu, and he's always like, 'Ah…is that so? Tell him I hope he feels better.' Isn't that…ridiculous?!" Yeah, that is rather ridiculous.  Buggy has a hard time believing that Mihawk is genuinely concerned about him, but at the same time, he can't imagine why he'd just pretend to care either. It's weird.

"Crocodile has asked about you too, but only once, and when I told him you had the flu, he rolled his eyes at me and went: 'Of course that dumb clown is sick.' And then walked away! I tell ya, I don't know what the others see in those two!" Mohji frowns, "They're so mean to you! I… I think if we all banned together then we could…you know…." He whispers the next part of his sentence, "Show them who's boss."

Honestly if Buggy thought he and or his crew had a chance against Mihawk and Crocodile, then he would have had both of them taken out a long time ago, but he knows even with an army of men, he couldn't take out one of his business partners, let alone both. It's a fun thought though, "Let's not waste our time," Buggy replies, exhaling a long, shaky sigh, "Besides, it's like I told you before, I can handle those two! Do you really think I'd let them beat and bully me?!" 

Mohji just stares at him from his seat, obviously not convinced but he doesn't push the subject any further, and thank God for that.

Cabaji reappears a few moments after that, telling Buggy his bathwater is ready, and in all honesty, Buggy rather not do this, but he doesn't feel like hearing the other two complain either. He follows Cabaji into the bathroom and tells him he can at least bathe himself, and somewhere at the back of Buggy's mind he feels like he should feel more ashamed by the situation, but he doesn't. His former captain always told him that good friends don't judge you when you're at your lowest times and that they instead help you when no one else will, and so maybe that's why he has no guilt about letting Cabaji wash his hair. He'd do the same for him and then some. He and Mohji are more than just subordinates, they're friends, no, they're family, and honestly Buggy doesn't deserve either one of them. 

As he washes Buggy's hair, Cabaji also tells Buggy that Mihawk keeps asking about him. Again, Buggy finds the idea of Mihawk asking all of Buggy’s crew about his well-being almost comical. Did the world’s strongest swordsman grow a heart? Ha, as if. Or maybe Buggy’s earlier suspicions are correct, maybe Mihawk’s waiting, hoping that Buggy’s ‘flu’ will take him out and that he won’t have to deal with him anymore, which honestly seems like a more realistic explanation for everything. 

A hot bath and a nice relaxing hair wash later, and Buggy’s sitting on the small couch in his room, getting his hair brushed by Cabaji as he listens to both Mohji and Cabaji ramble on about this and that, and occasionally bicker over trivial things. It feels like his men are the only consistency in his life, but he wonders if there will be a day when even that changes. Maybe he’ll end up with so many men that their crew will seem more like an army than a family, then again maybe he won’t live to see the day when that’s actually a problem. And if that doesn’t happen, then maybe Mihawk will eventually end up replacing Buggy’s crew with a new, more efficient one that he hardly knows let alone can consider his family…who knows?

Now, as stated before, Buggy’s usual visitors consist of Mohji, Cabaji and Richie, but today Buggy finds himself getting an additional guest in his room. Sometime around late afternoon Alvida joins Buggy’s already boisterous company, and as soon as she realizes Buggy’s perfectly fine, she sighs at him,”I knew you weren’t sick.” she mutters as she has a seat on the couch next to him after Cabaji and Mohji fight over who’s spot she can take, “But oh well, you won’t believe what I just saw.” She says, grinning. 

Hopefully, she saw Crocodile and Mihawk board a ship and sail as far away from the island as possible, never to return again, but that’s just not realistic, is it? “What did you see?” Buggy asks though he’s not particularly curious about her gossip today.

“Mihawk and Crocodile were fighting.”

“Crocodile and Mihawk bicker every once in a while, so what?” 

“No, they were actually physically fighting earlier.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know but they were both heated,” Alvida claims, “I think they reached a draw, but they were fighting for a long time, half the island saw it.”

Despite claiming that he doesn’t care about either of the two, Buggy’s slightly curious about Mihawk and Crocodile’s altercation. Sure they’ve butt heads a couple of times in the past because Crocodile is so damn overbearing and of course, Mihawk doesn’t take being bossed around lightly, but they never get physical with things, it’s usually just threats of possible fights that don’t go anywhere. Maybe that was it, maybe Crocodile just got too controlling again, and Mihawk got tired of it. He did say he was tired of Crocodile’s shit the other day… Yeah, that’s got to be it…Because what else could it be???

…

A couple of more days go by after that, and Buggy’s still stuck in that same loop: Sleep. Overthink. Sleep. Overthink. Sleep. Overthink. Of course, there are brief things that break the cycle like Mohji and Cabaji checking on him and feeding him and making sure he’s being taken care of, but other than that, it’s just sleep, overthink, repeat. He just doesn’t see the point in getting out of bed every day when Mihawk and Crocodile are just going to make his life a living hell, or worse, end his miserable existence. 

Despite all his stress though, there are times when his bedroom is rather comforting, he knows that it offers him no real protection from the outside world, but in his room he feels safe and like he’s miles away from all his problems even though they’re literally just right outside. He thinks he’s missed, hm…12 meetings now, maybe 13 …14? Who knows, he’s surprised that Crocodile is even still calling for them, or that he hasn’t come barging into his room to yank him out of his bed and beat him to death for ruining his perfect schedule.

Buggy doesn’t care about Cross Guild though (or for much of anything right now) he never has and he doubts he ever will. He’s perfectly fine just keeping himself locked away in his bedroom for as long as possible. Mohji will take care of the others and if he doesn’t, then Alvida will, and if she doesn’t, then Buggy’s sure that Crocodile and Mihawk will boss his men around, but they’re strong, spirited, and oblivious, they can handle anything. 

Something breaks his seemingly endless depressive cycle by the time he’s missed 18 meetings…or was it 19?

One of his men comes into his room around midmorning, like always, and tells him that a meeting has been called… But today, Mihawk’s the one who’s called for the meeting apparently, and Buggy instantly tells his subordinate to tell Mihawk that he’s still under the weather and can’t go to the meeting, to which his subordinate replies, “He says it’s urgent, Chairman Buggy, and that if you can’t go to the meeting room, that he’ll bring the meeting here instead.”

That’s got to be the worst, no, actually, the second worst thing he’s been told in his entire life. Why? Why now? Why can’t Mihawk and Crocodile just hold their dumb meetings by themselves? It’s not like Buggy gets to make any decisions or his input matters, why does he have to leave his safe space and go see them?

((A/n: Hate how they didn't add ChouChou to the live-action or Richie. The idea that some of you might not know that Richie is a lion and you might think he's just some guy is funny though lol.))

#one piece #cross guild #my writing #wondering if should post two updates today or save it for tomorrow lol #Look though the girls (gender neutral) are fighting!! #THINGS ARE SLOWLY STARTING TO CHANGE HMMMM #but first *singsongs* DRAMAAAA~ #was gonna wait til the weekend to start posting all this bs but then i got the ask soooooooooo lol #ask #i be out here updating on random ass weekdays at random ass times when i know that the chances these will be seen are better during #the weekend #And yet...i say...fuck it...we ball...

[my-mt-heart]

I obviously haven’t been very stoked about a lot of choices this first season—the opposite if I’m being honest—but when I first listened to the radio scene, it felt like a reprieve from those feelings. Norman’s performance is perfect. I could sense his urgency to get a hold of Carol, and of course once he does, his tone melts into something much softer, something we know he reserves only for her. I appreciate the long pauses he takes to study her voice. He hears something in her words that we don’t (🤨). He worries that maybe she’s not really okay.

Carol’s line “you never need to worry about me, Daryl” makes me think back to her “I love you too” in the series finale, or more specifically the weightlessness of it. Melissa said it was Carol’s way of taking care of Daryl. She wanted to make it easier for him to leave, and at first, I wondered if this time was supposed to represent more of the same. We understand why Daryl sounds excited because we have the privilege of reading his body language. Maybe when Carol hears it, she thinks he’s enjoying himself out there. Maybe she's reluctant to admit how much she misses him because she doesn't want to take him away from where he really belongs.

Here’s where I’m struggling though. Theoretically, Melissa would’ve had Norman’s footage to play off of while she recorded her side of the conversation. That's how it's typically done. We know both of them always play off each other brilliantly. We’ve seen it countless times. It’s why their chemistry works. It’s why we ship them. But in this scene, I'm not getting any of that. There’s no emotion behind the words, none of Melissa's nuances, and the more I listen to it, the more I realize it isn’t Melissa’s voice at all. It really pains me to say it, but it sounds like AI.

If that’s true, then you'll have to be patient with me while I take the time to fully process my feelings about it. After everything—booting Melissa from the show in the first place and then gaslighting her fans about it—AMC wants to use a copout loophole in Melissa's contract (what many actors have had in their contracts hence the need for a strike) to jeopardize Melissa's integrity, deny everybody what they've had to wait a long time for, Melissa, and cheapen what could've been the most impactful scene of the season? Are you fucking kidding me? That’s just lazy, manipulative, disrespectful, and infuriating.

I was really excited to analyze a new Caryl scene today. Believe it or not, I don't want to keep hating on the show. I want to enjoy my two favorite characters, but as others have said, I’m tired of bending over backwards to arrive at some—any—hopeful conclusion about Caryl’s future. It’s hard enough when the writing is as inconsistent as it has been, but now AI is involved? No one should have to exert energy on analyzing a performance that doesn't exist. It's a poor reflection of Melissa's talent and a huge disservice to Caryl's story. I'm heartbroken.

Good to see her trending though. She deserves all the love she's getting today.

On another note, because I don't want to make a separate post about it, I also watched the scene where Daryl gets mad at Laurent. **TRIGGER WARNING*** As someone who grew up in a very "loud" household and experienced PTSD from it, I wasn't put off by the anger. I understand Daryl wants to go home, and the kid ruined what seemed like his only chance. It's the name-calling and Daryl putting his hands on Laurent that specifically crossed the line for me. The show is clearly trying to force Daryl to draw comparisons between him and his dad, but this feels like something Daryl has already worked through on the flagship show. The moment he saw Carol flinch on the farm, he knew he wanted to be different. Carol and TF helped him be different. He is different. He doesn't need to prove that to himself or anyone else anymore. Enough of the character regressions.

#caryl #caryl spinoff #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #darylneedscarol #twd spoilers

[bradenthompson]

The Starfield Experience: Crimson Fleet

Never before have I been so mixed on a video game. And that's really something, bc I'm a little shit who isn't happy with anything.

I thought, rather than attempt to "review" Starfield, I'm just gonna catalogue my journey through the respective faction questlines, culminating in actually doing the main story. To star: Space Pirates. Yo ho hohohohohohohohohohhoohoohohohohooohoohhohohhhohohhhhh

Of course it's a pirates life

so two things motivated me going evil mode: for one thing, I like pirates already. Second thing is feeling out the game's morality system. Are we getting Skyrim-style slaps on the wrist or can I be, if you will, the king of the pirates? I had been talking in some Discord, doesn't matter which one, about morality choices in video games, and decided, since I was agnostic to Starfield, I would stress test the system by being the worst guy possible. And the Crimson Fleet, the game's premiere bandit faction, promised to get me there.

The way you initiate this quest is kind of funny and also immediately disappointing. I can accept having to join up in some way other than asking the first pirate who doesn't immediately open fire, but... okay so like--

The first time I was arrested in Starfield (it can be for literally anything) instead of being taken to jail I was instead taken to the UC Vigilance, a giant space cop flagship, and interred under Commander Ikande. He made me a deal: rather than serve my sentence, I can instead become a dirty filthy stinky RAT. He wanted me to join up with the Crimson Fleet and find out whatever they're up to because they were apparently real excited about something. You can refuse him, and I guess proceed to jail, but I wanted to be a pirate anyway and accepted, planning on cutting Ikande off the moment I could***************

What sort of crime did I pull? Failed a pickpocket check. Intentionally. Because by then I had already killed like three people unnoticed, one of which out in broad daylight trying to get caught but New Atlantis clearly doesn't do "see something say something." By then I just wanted to see what jail looks like, man. Now I did pick the "Gangster" trait at the character creation, a background picked up by Ikande in dialogue. So that was cool. Idk what he brings up for players who didn't pick that. "Based on your failed attempt to steal a lollipop, I think you're just who we need to infiltrate the Turbo Murder Gang."

Turbo Murder Gang

The Crimson Fleet initiation was deceptively simple. I first meet up with first mate Naeva Mora. She sends me off to kill a Crimson Fleet deserter named Austin Rake. Zooming off to his location, I discover Rake had shacked up with a civilian ship. Boarding, I ask for Rake, they say they don't have him, I say I'm going to shoot everybody (evil character), they say "oh nevermind he's right here," he shoots everyone, and then I shoot him. Yo ho.

After that, Naeva decided I was one cold sonofabitch and invited me to The Key, Crimson's Fleet main hideout. Here I met their leader, Delgado, and realized terribly quickly that things were gonna be a lot less violent than I was anticipating.

Before setting you loose, and constantly as you report back to his bitch ass, Ikande urged me to avoid killing anyone. Seeing as he was a space cop, I ignored this. I'm about to join a gang of space pirates whose canned NPC text is twenty four variations of "hmm I think I'll have murder for dinner." Odds are slim we avoid violence.

Delgado's grand plan is finding the Space One Piece. Legend has it an old banking ship crashed out in wildspace some years ago, and the credits (bc we're in space) inside would set us up for life. It's very pirate-y to be hunting for treasure, okay, I get it. But space pirates? We'd be robbing a bank with extra steps. We're really building to a bunch of credits? This is not a game where money is hard to come by; half the NPCs are walking about with 1000 bucks minimum, and baby I'm running a pickpocket build.

ugh, fine, okay, treasure hunt. But I better get to plunder a few ships along the way.

Ice Planet with a bunch of bug enemies

(I didn't take any screenshots and couldn't find any online, so here's a picture of Greenland)

Our first mission was to go to the ice planet The Key orbits in order to find some leads on the ultimate treasure. This ice planet prison does lead to some lore on the Fleet, but man I was pitching a fit the whole time. I wanna plunderrrrrrrrrruh. Suffice to say my first impression of space pirate questing was not too exciting. All the enemies here are native bugs you gotta aim at the floor to shoot. Felt very wimpy, even when the big one showed up for a boss fight later.

But that's ignoring this quest's diamond in the rough, a man named Mathis:

He's also a Crimson Fleet initiate, just like me. When we landed on ice planet the game started feeding me all these dialogue options to antagonize Mathis. Unprompted, mind you. It's always trying to underhand me some bad guy options, and this time they were all "fuck Mathis" flavored. I thought it was funny, so I picked them every time. This got Mathis quite heated with me, and to put the candle on this filler episode birthday cake, Mathis and I found ourselves on the other side of a cave in, separated from the rest of the pirates. Here's when he dropped all the antagonism and immediately dealt me into his plan: kill Delgado. Why he wanted to do this, I still don't know. Why he would invite me in on the plan, even though we hate each other, I wish I knew. But I wasn't exactly loyal to Delgado, by any means. That, and when Mathis brought this up I started to turn around on the guy. Thought "wow, Mathis doesn't fuck around. Maybe he's alright."

From then on, Mathis and I were pals. We killed bugs, found sick gamer loot, and he was over the moon when I told (lied to) Delgado he was one hell of a pirate. Not that killing bugs in a space prison would prove this, anyway. But Delgado was happy with our work, and from then on we were Crimson Fleet bona fides (the way I'm pronouncing that is a secret, oohohohohoho). Soon after this, Mathis pulled me aside and suggested we drop that "killing Delgado" business. It was never brought up again. Still dunno if I would've gone through with it or not. Probably would've.

Siren of the Snores

(not my screenshot)

I haven't been super clear on what this ultimate treasure is, and I have to be now for any part of this next mission to make sense.

Kryx' Legacy is the name. All I knew at the start was it's a bunch of credits. Come to find out, Kryx is the founder of the Crimson Fleet and Legacy is the name of a GalBank ship lost in an unknown nebula. I said this earlier but I wanna be super clear right now. A high ranking GalBank executive, with the credentials needed to get inside the bank's archives (housing the final known location of the Legacy) is currently lounging on a big space yacht. This is the Siren of the Stars and my goodness is it a snoozer of a quest. And it shouldn't be! It's perfectly in line with my character build! Even so! Even sooo!!!

It's a whole process just getting to this executive guy. Gotta talk to all the patrons until one of them decides to tell you something useful. Then you talk to his mistress, then you talk to some third guy, then you talk to... whatever his name was. It's talking in circles with one--maybe two--persuasion checks. On one save, I went postal. Killed everyone on the stupid ship and got the info I needed. Only to discover my Crimson Fleet contact inside the ship, guy by the name of Rokov, got scared(?) and locked himself inside a room I couldn't open??? Sorry, Rokov the space pirate, is this not your speed?

Ugh. Loaded a save and did the quest orthodox. After one lap of this damn boat I was sick to death of it. Seven laps later I was thinking of quitting the Fleet. They talk a big game. You're in for life or you're dead, sucker. Or else what, Naeva? You're gonna send three ships at a time every six hours? Execute this (picture me flippin her the bird. Hell yea).

Quick thing about Naeva Mora: she gave me an optional goal in this quest. Steal an expensive award set with precious space diamonds. Only one woman on board had access to the award. But I, the silver tongued devil of the stars, was able to persuade her into giving me the key to the vault. You ask, how. How did you, a space pirate dressed in rags, convince a stuffy lady on an expensive pleasure cruise to just give me her multimillion dollar trinket? I don't know. This is the most absurd persuasion check in the game, so far.

From there I jetted over to New Atlantis and snuck my way inside the GalBank archives. There was less money to steal than you would think but I suppose this isn't the vault. Killed some mercs, got the location.

How are we doing on heist missions over here?

So we've got the location of the Legacy, but no way to get close. See, it's in a hazardous nebula that'd fry any normal ship that dares approach. The cynical man would assume the game's solution was some novelty ship part that protects from the nebula and has zero function outside of this questline. And sometimes cynics are correct.

We need the ComSpike, dammit! What's a ComSpike? I forget. Protects ships from bad nebula juju. I'm not knocking the story for details that I forget, to be clear. Nor was I happy that the pirates were sending me off on another secret heist. In fairness, I didn't have to do these missions the way the game suggested. I could go postal on every facility I'm told to infiltrate (more on that later). But because I was so oddly punished for doing so on the last quest, that led me to assume some approaches were preordained. The Crimson Fleet has connections to uphold (WHY).

Whatever. I go to New Atlantis and talk to Huan Daiyu, pictured above. She's a smuggler, owns a pretty cool ship called the Jade Swan (am I a bad person for predicting her ship would be called the Jade Something?). I'm gonna bum a ride to her next dropoff, dropping off myself and sneaking aboard a research station that just so happens to be working on that ComSpike technology. In the opening steps of this quest, I encountered the first real Bethesda Moment of this game.

Picture this: I'm on the intercom with Huan. She tells me I need to find a keycard to get to the next level of this station. In her dialogue, explicitly, she suggests picking someone's pocket. Well, you read my mind, Huan. Just so happens I've been dumping skill points into pickpocketing...

Imagine my deflation when I had checked every pocket in that damn storage room, only to find the keycard was on a table and only accessible by talking to multiple guards in a specific sequence. Let's be really nice and say not all of Huan's suggestions are going to work. Dynamic world, indeed! I'm gonna throw myself out the airlock!

Throughout the infiltration I was only answering Huan's calls to be nice. Couldn't trust one bit of advice from her after that. She's not a reliable source. So I throw on a security uniform, talk my way into the engineering bay, find the ship fitted with the ComSpike, and perform a high-precision shipjacking outta there. Not an ounce of booty plundered, not a doubloon to be seen. What a life, the pirate's life.

We have Night City at home

It only occurred to me in this mission. Something that should've occurred to me about three heist missions ago.

The NPCs in this game are so fucking mean, all the time.

It's not even prompted. Mathis, I get. I was busting his chops something fierce. But everyone else is just off rip "wassup dickshit, I'm Suzy Cosmonaut, and you're dirt on my boot. Hows about you go find a USB stick but hey don't forget to kiss my ass on your way out."

What am I supposed to do? I say something rude back. What, I'm supposed to take that? My dream was to fill my ship with my best buddies in the galaxy but I think I mostly hate all of these people.

Ugh. I fly off to Neon. Great city name, guys. This must be the criminal underbelly. Where do you think they shack up? The part of Neon literally called the Underbelly? And what do you suppose this crime syndicate is called?

Neon is a city built out of placeholder names. Indistinguishable from any cyberpunk town in all of fiction. Uninspiring place. One of my character traits is being from here, which is more embarrassing than the city I'm actually from irl. But fuck it, whatever, let's ride.

Estelle Vincent is my contact in Neon. She knows where I can find the schematics for the conduction grid the Fleet will need to access nebula space. But she won't give that info for free! Nothing comes cheap in Neon, baby!

I was in full Fuck It mode by this point of the questline. My promise for this quest was to kill everybody I could get away with killing (more, on, that, later). So when Estelle wants me to go talk to Generdyne executive Ayumi Komiko about gaining access to their computers, well... sorry Ayumi. Victim of circumstance.

After Ayumi was super dead, I stomped over to Generdyne with her access card and opened fire. Terrible scene, no survivors, yo-ho-ing all the way. One must imagine justice served somewhere in this--no doubt cancelled out by the rest of the carnage. But whatever. This is the piratiest I've felt so far. I shoot my way to the top floor, where the brother of the CEO just gives up the computer. Turns out he hates his stupid CEO brother and I should probably kill him too. Noted.

When I go to meet back with Estelle, that Generdyne CEO is sitting in her place. He offers me a deal to sell out Estelle, which I refuse. Estelle was my test subject, to see if I could make someone less mean to me by sticking my neck out. I lied and said it was all me, he didn't believe me, I put a shotgun to his temple and realized he's an essential NPC and cannot be killed. Party's over.

After this, would you believe it, Estelle did like me! I only had to sell myself out in her place and pay her like 9000 credits for like no reason. But I turned someone around. Now it was time to finally get me treasure.

The One Piece Is Real

I'm gonna bring this up now before I forget. Periodically, after every heist or so, I was instructed (by the quest markers, not anyone else) to report back to the UC Vigilance and Commander Ikande. Because this is also Point Break and I'm technically a government agent. Despite me showing no loyalty, lying to his face every chance I had, insulting him and his crew, and straight up shooting his flagship twice, I was Ikande's spy on the inside and expected to give report. The whole questline I was looking for outs. Some reason to cut these dorks off and go full pirate. To my knowledge, there's scarce ways of doing this. Won't say there isn't one, just nothing immediately obvious.

Until now.

I'm called to the bridge and Ikande's super pissed about my Neon killing spree. Just steaming mad. So mad he's ready to terminate this deal and send me to jail. I give his crew the rope-a-dope and run back to my ship, just barely shootin out of there. Exciting! Felt appropriately climax-ey, and it's genuinely cool that was a moment I could orchestrate with my own choices.

No time to lose. I'm off to Kryx' Legacy while the rest of the Fleet at the Key gets ready for the UC Vigilance to come knocking. Should've guessed I'd also be getting the ultimate treasure alone. This was so far the most impressive setpiece of the game. The thundering of the space lightning outside while I navigated the dead stranded spaceship was sufficiently immersive. I was immersed, for the first time in this game, and I was savoring this moment. The flashlight was on, people.

It's sci fi, so all this treasure is loaded onto an external hard drive. Look, I didn't need a big wooden chest with gold doubloons spilling out but I shouldn't be able to fit a bajillion dollars in my backpack. As soon as I have the treasure, the ship is critically damaged and I gotta skedaddle. I'm always down for a "flee the facility" type mission and this one delivers. Hop back in my ship, make just enough distance to avoid the magnificent explosion of the Legacy, and now all that's left is to get the gold home. Easily the best quest in the Crimson Fleet, no contest.

And now, the worst quest in the Crimson Fleet

angry emoji angry emoji devil horn emoji angry emoji

Right when I get back to the Key, Delgado tells me the UC Vigilance is knocking at out doors. It's now or never, them or us. Turns out, had I not burned that bridge earlier, I would've had the choice of fighting for either the space pirates or the space cops. My decision had been made hours ago, and that aforementioned bridge was aforementionably burnt. We're fighting for the pirates, gah dammit.

Oh my god

Who playtested this. Still riding in the starter ship, I was now tasked with fighting off like a half dozen ships double my level and working off WWII flying ace AI. I died, and I counted, nine times. Half of which in the first two minutes. oooooh, gamer rage. By attempt ten, and sorry for breaking my own immersion, by I jumped outta that part of space, over to a shipwright, and got my weapons upgraded along with a new shield. I could barely squeeze out a win with this boost. No I did not lower the difficulty because I shouldn't have to, dammit, and yes this put and impenetrable stank on the final leg of this questline.

One silver lining to all this: I'm a reincorporation loving person, and was delighted to see all those pirates I had worked with across the questline suddenly swooping in for the final stand. Cinematic stuff, I loved it. Mathis was there, Rokov was there (who?), Huan was there, Estelle was there. Even Adler Kemp was there. I didn't even mention him, he seemed so inconsequential. But he showed up! Love that sort of thing.

We in tandem blow away the auxiliary space cops (not for lack of gamer rage) and board the Vigilance to kill Ikande. High energy firefight, this. I'm constantly impressed by the number of players in any one fight, in this game. Back in the Skyrim xbox 360 days, I remember doing the civil war questline and going "wow, there's like twenty NPCs in this thing." In Starfield, that number's the standard. Truly next gen, amiright guys.

Me and my friends blow our way through the Vigilance, I spend like ten minutes looking for a healing item of some sort, free some prisoners, and eventually we're at the bridge. The game even leaves in some briefs moments where I can chat with all the friends[citation needed] I made along the way. Me and Huan high five. There wasn't an animation for this or anything, but I imagine we did a jumping high five. Excuse me for roleplaying. Me and Mathis bump hips.

At the bridge, and really I should've seen this coming, there's a dialogue with Commander Ikande. The honorable man he is, Ikande calls for his crew to abandon ship and plans to self-destruct the Vigilance with all of us on it. There's precious little time to talk him out of this, and scarce options for doing so. But I'm a gangster, and have exclusive ganger dialogue options. So I have the option of telling Ikande "hey, cancel the self destruct or we're gonna torture your crew," thinking this would open up more dialogue.

But he chickens out right here. Goes "okay, fine, I'll cancel it just don't hurt my crew." And like, dude. We've been hurting your crew. They're all dead, actually. This is the most empty threat possible in this situation and this disciplined space cop chief buckles at my first threat. What a guy. We take him prisoner and the Vigilance is ours. Supreme Victory.

I deeeeed it

Here comes my favorite part of any Bethesda questline epilogue. When all the celebration dialogue is exhausted and all the NPCs just start to aimlessly wander away, throwing out a few more canned "wahoo we did it" lines. It's a joy, I'm so glad Starfield still does this.

Delgado gets me my cut of the Legacy: 200k credits. This feels like a lot of money for this point in the game. I have seen ships that cost twice this, but it's a decent reward all the same. That, and I had picked up plenty of paychecks along the way, so my ultimate takeaway is bigger.

Best of all, Naeva doesn't think I'm lower than dirt anymore. She gives me a cool Crimson Fleet jacket and a room on the Key. I promptly placed one chair down in the dead center of the room. Home. Naeva's a classic NPC who talks a herculean game and does jack shit the whole questline. I warmed up to her.

With my new credits, I bought a Crimson Fleet Phantom ship, and hired my first crew member. Finding him piss drunk in the Key's bar, I threw my arm around the shoulder of good ol' Mathis and offered him a place on my ship. He agreed, now my best buddy and no longer wishing to kill Delgado. I also tried to get Huan on my crew, but I guess she's got her own thing going on. I wished her well, Mathis and I cleared out bounties, and we took off for our next adventure.

Crimson Fleet: In Conclusion

Pretty mixed on this. While there's a pretty strong ending despite the awful awful HORRIBLE ship battle, everything leading up to this felt distinctly un-pirate. As if the game wasn't comfortable with me going morally undercarriage. Odd stance to take, with the space pirate questline, but this is the studio that watered down the Dark Brotherhood (I said it). While the gameplay loop is showing me some promise, I was always feeling like I had to fight the game to play it my way. Maybe I take this as a lesson: I gotta commit to the type of character I wanna be. The game will attempt to lure me away, but I gots to be evil.

My next questline is the Freestar Rangers, and only because that's the first major one I was introduced to apart from the main quest. See ya there, I say shooting away in my new spaceship which you're gonna have to imagine.

#starfield #sorry for the bad grammar #im drinking cognac like water #crimson fleet

[sluggydrabbles]

FLUFFBRUARY 10 - SELF CARE TOGETHER

“So I just put the wet sheet on my face?” The dead girl who was sometimes called Gideon and sometimes called Kiriona was skeptical.

“Yes, it's not that hard.” Ianthe sounded only slightly exasperated. She demonstrated, holding the sheet over her face. The eye and mouth holes looked disconcerting, like Ianthe had flayed the face off of a person made of cloth. Knowing her, that was part of the appeal.

They were in Ianthe’s bedroom on the Cohort flagship, having a ‘slumber party’, as Ianthe called it. So far it had involved Ianthe demanding a truly obscene number of pillows be brought to the room and creating a comfortable nest on the large bed. Gideon’s—Kiriona’s hair was pushed out of her face by a soft headband and Ianthe declared it was time to finally address her ‘moisturization problem’.

Kiriona had always thought that her face was too oily, but when she said that, Ianthe had given her a look that made her feel like an idiot, so she stopped protesting.

“Just lay it on and smooth it over your face like this.” Ianthe said, oddly eager. She was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about this whole thing.

Gid—Kiriona couldn’t help but laugh at Ianthe’s mask-covered face. “You look ridiculous.”

To her surprise, Ianthe smiled. “You’re so stupid.” For once there was no bite in the words, only a wistful sort of affection. Kiriona’s heart felt warm. She could get used to nice Ianthe.

She put the cold, slimy cloth against her face. It smelled floral, which made the whole experience more pleasant.

“No, no.” Ianthe said, grabbing her wrist as she tried to smooth out the mask. “Like this.” Ianthe’s cold finger—a flesh one—ran along Kiriona's jaw and under her eyes, smoothing the cloth. It felt nice to be touched like this, even if it was Ianthe. Her dead skin wasn’t as sensitive as it should be, but it still felt good.

“Thanks.” She mumbled as Ianthe took her hands away.

“Corona always wanted me to put the mask on her.” Ianthe said by way of explanation.

Oh. It should have been obvious. That was why Ianthe seemed different. She was a replacement for her precious sister.

Her conflicted emotions churned in her stomach. She didn’t like Ianthe but she had been happy that Ianthe had wanted to spend time with her. Knowing she was just a replacement should have made her feel worse, but the idea that Ianthe had considered her to be a good enough candidate to replace her sister was gratifying. Even if Ianthe didn’t want her around for herself, she still wanted her around in some capacity.

“Why did you two even need to do this?” She asked as Ianthe laid against the mass of pillows, her eyes closed.

“Hmm?” She asked, not opening her eyes.

“Couldn’t you just…” She waved a hand. “Flesh it up to make your skin softer?”

Ianthe’s eyes opened. “‘Flesh it up’?”

If Kiriona could, she would blush. “Yeah. Why use the masks? Unless there’s necromancy in them.” Maybe they were made of flayed skin.

Ianthe rolled her eyes. “Your simple mind astounds me.” Once again, the words were said more gently than their contents would imply. “It’s not about the skin, not really. Well, in the case of you, you need all the help you can get. I don’t think necromancy alone could solve your break outs.”

Kiriona frowned, but Ianthe continued before she could protest the likely accurate statement.

“It’s about the relaxation. You put the mask on, close your eyes, and relax.” She demonstrated by laying back down on the pillows. “So fucking relax, okay?”

Kiriona felt silly as she lay back down. She had the strangest feeling like she wasn’t doing it right. “Like this?”

“Do you really need my help to figure out how to lay down and close your eyes? Is that what you’re asking me right now?” Her eyebrow raised and moved the top of the eyeholes of the mask up, making the expression look more exaggerated.

Maybe not being able to blush was a good thing. She closed her eyes and breathed in.

This was kind of nice. The mask smelled good, and it had stopped feeling so slimy and cold. It felt wet, but pleasantly so. It felt indulgent. She was starting to see the point.

She wondered if she would like it. She could use some relaxation after all. Maybe Kiriona could—

She shook her head. Nope, not thinking about that.

“This was a good idea,” she said, to distract herself from her thoughts. She was laying in a comfortable bed with a girl—because despite her flaws, Ianthe was a girl and Kiriona did like that about her—experiencing luxury for the first time in her life. She should focus on that.

“Of course it is. All my ideas are good.” Ianthe said smugly, reaching for Kiriona’s hand and intertwining their fingers—dead flesh against gilded bone.

#my writing #the locked tomb #fluffbruary 2024 #gideon nav #kiriona gaia #cw ianthe tridentarius #kirianthe #This is my first time writing ianthe #I challenged myself to write fluff with her #it’s mostly fluff I think

[bnbc]

Alrighty. 4,5 and 11 for the RT lore ;)

WOOOOOO thank you so much for the ask LET'S GO

4. How did your RT feel about Theodora? How did they feel when she died?

Oh, boiiiii! Theodora's ghost haunted the von Valancius' flagship for months, and Idira had nothing to do with it.

Isabella didn't have time to develop any feelings for Aunty Theo when she was still alive but after her death? She became sort of obsessed with her predecessor, tried to know as much as possible about her… and used it to look more like her.

No, Iza didn't model herself and her decision after Theodora, but she worked hard on keeping a certain resemblance between the two of them for people to have less doubts that Isabella has rights to her high position.

Even the signature Isabella's feature, her wig collection, is coming from this place: she wanted to resemble Theodora even visually, so ✨ big hair ✨, high boots, dress jackets and some of Aunty's mannerisms were with Isabella for a long time before the 3rd chapter finally happened.

But this all Theodora lore hunting made Isabella deeply respect her predecessor and regret she didn't have more time with the aunty, even tho Iza suspected that Theodora would find her too soft xD

5. What was their relationship with Edelthrad? Would your RT have been happy with an advisory role, or had they always wanted something more?

Look, I replayed the prologue about 10 times recently and Edel was nothing but a piece of shit to my girlie, who did nothing wrong (yet).

In the beginning, she would be drawn to Edel because he, like her, is a psyker, and as close as Isabella's previous crew became to her, there was always one thing standing between them: they were not psykers. They were her people, but they didn't truly understand if you know what I mean.

And she longed so much for the company of other psykers! After all, she grew up surrounded by psykers and AAT people, so she was even excited to finally have one close, again. But Edel was straight-up hostile towards her.

I think she would be deeply unhappy as one of his advisors, and would long for her old crew she could not come back to. Eventually, Edel would try to get rid of her, and rather sooner than later. I'm not sure she would win this stand.

11. Any non-companion NPC's that your RT has an interesting dynamic with?

Let me indulge myself and tell you how much Isabella von Valancius values her High Factotum. I say 'indulge' because question stands for interesting dynamic but these two are just work besties, nothing truly special — BUT THEY ARE SPECIAL TO ME

So, Isabella spent the last decade serving in the supplies division (I still don't know how you name this service correctly), so when she got to her shiny new position she took it with the motto FUCK IT WE TRADE LOGISTIC MATTER.

First, she gave Janris Danrok the hell, personally diving into details of ship logistics and trade contracts, but she found his work more than satisfying and he found his new Lord Captain understanding the trade and supplies. And they just 👀🤝👀

But okay, to add some spice. I believe I mentioned that at some point Isabella sent Jae from her ship to work from some other spot, saying she's got enough of her lies but still wanted to use her connection and talents. The final straw that bought Jae a one-way ticket from vv flagship was an absolutely minor innocent lie, not worth any drama.

The truth is, Isabella got pissed off because of Jae harassing Danrok, calling her High Factotum all sorts of derogatory quartermaster-connected names, and ON THIS SHIP WE DO NOT TOLERATE HARRASING OUR LOGISTIC TEAM OKAY also Jae never became a friend close enough to find out Isabella served in logistics too, otherwise she would watch her words and wouldn't fuck up so much.

Anyway yes Lord Captain was being fucking petty but who could stop her

TYSM FOR ASKING AGAIN

#Rogue Trader #oc: Isabella von Valancius #ask game #tysm for the ask

[prongsmydeer]

Ayesha Liveblogs She-Ra S5 

“You’re not She-ra anymore, remember?” Unlike Bow, Adora is not adjusted to fighting without her powers LOL

You know, it didn’t really occur to me to question it until now but why do only five of the princesses have runestones? Spinerella and Netossa are princesses but they don’t get to be part of the balance of planet LOL

Scorpia, Entrapta and Micah in the intro ahhhhhh! I love this for all of them

“What is this?” Akorradora trying to access the Avatar state again:

Shockingly tactful for Entrapta to suggest they’ll figure out where Glimmer is soon. You know what that is!! Growth!!!

“You saved me, and you’re gonna save my little girl.” Micah said: Have you heard of father figures. I am available

Ffhkjhg @ Adora defiantly charging every enemy she sees, magicless

“It seems [Hordak] had very little love towards you at the end.” Hordak said: I looked into my brother’s memories just so I could figure out how to hurt your feelings, Catra 

How nice of Horde Clone #1 to warn Team ScorDorBow that their camp was being attacked LOL if Micah hadn’t sent a signal they still could’ve gone back

[Shadow Weaver saves Micah from a bot] [Micah grunts, perhaps in both thanks and resentment] “You’re welcome.” The funky little aunty trauma emerging from Micah and Shadow Weaver. Call me compelled

Horde Prime offering his flagship speciality, Genoc!de Jello: 

How does Glimmer get this whole view of the camp being attacked but somehow DOESN’T see Micah. Feels intentional 

“Ah, here she is, your beacon of hope. Adora.” Horde Prime is smarter than I gave him credit for in identifying Adora as the leader

Though, he saw all of Hordak’s memories. So. Eh on credit

“These princesses are so predictable with their feelings.” “As were you. Elevated heart rate, dilated pupils. Adora means something to you.” I was half-kidding about Horde Prime trying to figure out how to hurt Catra’s feelings but it was true

“Cast aside this false hero and deliver her to me.” Okay Lorde Hordemort

I know I’m like. Technically Millennial/Gen Z cusp. But as a self-identifying Millennial, the way this show was DEEPLY written by a Millennial. The media influences are clear 

I googled it and he was born in ‘91. HA

LMAO @ BOW TOSSING EVERYONE OUT OF ADORA’S TENT INCLUDING THE KING. PRIME MEDICAL ADVOCATE:

I think Frosta should get to punch Horde Prime, as a treat

UNBELIEVABLE THAT ENTRAPTA STILL CARES MORE ABOUT TECH THAN FINDING GLIMMER HAHAHA. DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY LIKE TWO EPS AGO YOUR MAIN COMPLAINT WAS BEING ABANDONED. ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK LMAO

Whatever, much like Mermista, I’ll take it if she’s not pro-Horde

Also: Djjfkjfkhfkj funny that Scorpia is now the mediator

Also also: Scorpia’s really good at impressions! 

“Little sister, why do you rebel against my commands?” Horde Prime calling Catra his little sister gives me the heebie jeebies. You are nothing like Daddy Hordak!!!! Not that Hordak was a good guy, but like. Hey. He had something to offer as a family dynamic

Ohhhhhhhhh poor Glimmer: 

HAHA @ PERFUMA PUTTING ENTRAPTA ON A CHILD LEASH

“You don’t care about Glimmer or any of us. You only care about tech.” Are we FINALLY going to have Entrapta show some remorse. I hope so. AGAIN. I get that she’s probably representing a specific like. Cognitive situation. But NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE CAN CARE ABOUT THEIR FRIENDS!!!!!

“I thought maybe, if I could use tech to help you, you’d like me.” This line is a hard sell. Why then, do they have to talk Entrapta into doing anything for/with her friends by offering tech? Literally done so in this same episode? Just lean into the fact that she didn’t realize how much she’d hurt them rather than rejecting responsibility and suddenly deploying a tragic underlying motivation! 

I do genuinely like Entrapta!!! She is endearing in her way. I just think that they make her so neutral towards most people (save for Hordak, with whom she shares both technology and a seemingly familial-esque bond), and then inconsistently suggest she is people-motivated. Be accountable to your actions, babygirl!

“Glimmer needs us.” FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY

“Focus, Entrapta! Glimmer needs you,” said Entrapta, to herself. Loving Entrapta’s Empathy Era. Good for her!!

Ahhhhh Adora needing to let go of She-Ra to move on. <3333

“Yeah, it turns out I’m an awesome leader, so we’re gonna be fine.” Also loving Mermista’s Rebellion General Era!!!!!!!

“You want She-Ra? Come and get her!” MICAH, KING OF COSPLAY

“See you soon, babygirl.” I SWEAR IF I DO NOT GET A MICAH, GLIMMER AND ANGELLA REUNION, I WILL BE SO SAD

“You remember me, don’t you? Here’s a clue. You don’t like me. Hordak.” RETURN OF DADDY HORDAK AND THE FUCKED-UP FAMILY REUNION:

Bow’s mediation skills and level-headedness are unmatched. If Adora is the Heart of the Rebellion, then Bow is the Head

The powerful healing energy of teenage girls sitting on the floor:

“Your Adora causes you nothing but suffering.” Actually, I think Catra causes most of her own suffering, Horde Prime. This is just the manifestation of her Repressed Furry Space Lesbian Feelings

Platinum Hordak has such sad little eyes as he goes to the memory bath

Poor Bow is clinging onto his hinges for dear life trapped on a ship with the two princesses with the worst impulse control (aside from Bestie Glimmer LOL) kjhgkjhgjh

“You will be exalted, raised up above the other creatures of your wretched home world.” Is this Horde Prime’s way of saying Catra’s gonna be in his museum of war horrors

“I’ll never say sorry to anybody, ever,” said Catra, at age 7, and then she stuck to it for the next ten years of her life

“I want to do that one good thing in my life. Like you said.” YEAHHHHH CATRA AND GLIMMER

(Cannot help but feel this will immediately bite Catra in the ass though)

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CATRA SAVING GLIMMER (AND INDIRECTLY, ADORA) AT THE COST OF HER OWN SAFETY. I LOVE U CATGIRL

“There’s no one left in the entire universe who cares about me.” [Immediate cut to Adora] WRONG

“Adora, I’m sorry, for everything.” I FORGIVE YOU IMMEDIATELY CATRA, THAT WAS ALL I NEEDED TO HEAR

Me last season: Catra/Adora is gonna be hard sell given how hurtful Catra has been for every single episode of this show

Me this season, after seeing Catra be nice twice: IT’S FINE

I keep thinking how unrealistic it seems that no one is being killed but at least with Catra it makes sense that Horde Prime would keep her, as she is the Adora Bait 

Adora is taking being used as a weapon WAY better than I expected jkghkjghg. I mean good for you but you’re allowed to be a little mad at Glimmer! 

“Like, one time, Kyle told me he had a crush on Rogel—” the Lizard Boy who speaks no words??? Kyle please. Also Kyle/Rogelio forever ❤️

“This is all my fault. Horde Prime only found us because—” “Because YOU activated the Heart of Etheria.” Bow is mad enough for the both of them, actually:

”That was forever ago. A lot’s changed since then.” Bow said: Now I have broader shoulders, you have a different hair, and you’re a war criminal, Glimmer. Times have changed

I looked it up on the UN website to see which War Crimes Glimmer has committed, and I count at least two:

“Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.” (Using the Heart of Etheria)

“Subjecting persons who are in the power of another party to the conflict to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind [...] and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons.” (Turning the princesses into the weapon)

Starla with her boomerangs and magic owl and immediate sharing has already won me over

Do the robot arms imply that Tallstar is a double or quadruple amputee? Wild as hell

“I’m not leaving anyone behind!” YEAHHHH ADORAAAAAAAAA

“Ready to do something that probably won’t work?” “Always.” Oh, how I’ve missed the Best Friend Squad

“We’re going to fight Prime, and take back our home.” Love this for the Star Siblings as well ❤️

“You get to be mad, for as long as you need to be. But I’m not going anywhere.” Glimmer is speaking MY love language

Swift Wind making magic radio calls to Adora every night is v sweet

How have none of the Horde clones alerted Horde Prime about the intruders in their server room lmao

Are we sure this isn’t Hordak? The crying seems kind of on-brand:

Hahahaha, Wrong Hordak is a delight. The implication that all of the Horde clones are incredibly emotionally vulnerable sad boys if left to their own devices kjhgjhgkjgh. Hordak never stood a chance of being well-adjusted lmao

“I brought her to the light. Isn’t that right, little sister?” Hate every part of this for Catra. However. This animation fucking rules:

“But you have already hurt me. Prime has set me free of that pain.” Quit blaming Adora for your repressed gay middle school crush, Catra. If it were about abandonment issues, please see the past five seasons when Adora has repeatedly extended her hand to you

I also like Catra’s new haircut. The hair changes in this show are good

“We both know I don’t matter.” “You matter to me!” 💞

BABYGIRL BACK IN ACTION. NOW I BELIEVE SHE’S 8 FEET TALL:

I really hope the Helpful Hordak that they brought with them IS actual Hordak. I want to see him and Entrapta reunited

Update from thirty seconds later: It was not him, but he knows she is looking for him. Daddy Hordak will get his favourite daughter reunion soon enough

Helpful Himbo Hordak is my new favourite character. If anything happens to him I will [redact] everyone on this ship and then myself:

IGFHKJFHKFJH SCREAM THEY ADDED HELPFUL HORDAK TO THE INTRO. I’M LOSING IT HIM HOLDING THE WRENCH AND SMILING 

“What do you care? I know you all hate me.” “I never hated you!” I am glad Catra is literally the first ex-Horde soldier to actually be dealing with some lingering guilt and complex dynamics emerging of her actions

Also. also. For the final time. Someone desperately needs to fix the captions of this show and stop dropping important words. The captions here drop the words ‘I know,’ which are important, because it signifies 1) Catra’s pre-empted conclusion (i.e. I don’t need to talk to anyone, I know how they feel about me) and 2) That this feeling of being hated is entirely rooted in herself (I feel that I am hated). I get that it probably has been outsourced and done as quickly as possible. But it is deeply inaccessible to people who rely on captions to understand what’s being said 

All of this caption mess is really a piss-poor-how-dare-you-say-we-piss-on-the-poor moment

Also. Kind of unrelated but something I’ve been thinking about since I looked up the Millennial who wrote this show. Why do the credits use a name he doesn’t go by anymore? The show is recent enough to reasonably be updating it. Like Umbrella Academy also had someone involved in the change their name, and they changed the credits on every prior episode to say Elliot. Did the creator for She-Ra choose to leave it? On Wikipedia it describes his production credits for this show as ‘credited by deadname’ which like, to me, suggests it’s not something he actively chose. For a show which tries to weave representation and inclusion into its fabric, its Netflix presentation is bizarrely thoughtless when it comes to real people!

We interrupt all the meta concerns to say: Hee hee, leetle kees on the volleyball court

“Did you think she was going to just instantly become a different person?” LMAO @ ‘a different person’ being Glimmer and Adora’s code for ‘Catra trying not to be mean for more than 30 seconds at time’

There’s something very poetic and funny about Micah desperately wanting Frosta to accept him as a friend, like Frosta wanted from Glimmer

[Ominously] “Why don’t you stay for supper?” I KNEW something would wrong with Elberon ever since the Flutterina thing. Something has been brewing in the water here

“Horde ships coming right for us,” from Entrapta also sounds kind of like, “hardships coming right for us,” which is also true

I really feel like Adora should’ve yanked the chip out of Catra when she was still in She-Ra mode. Is it like. Connected to her brain stem?

[Groaning] “My daughter’s gonna hate me.” Micah is the love of my life

“It’s like they’ve been replaced by totally different people.” Hmmmmm

Elberon has gone full Spooky Mode. I love the constant Haunting Lighting:

Entrapta clearly remembers every time she’s been wronged (being left in the Fright Zone, Catra taking her work and sending her to Beast Island). But somehow NEVER retains anything she’s done to wrong others (hacking the Black Garnet, creating the portal which took Glimmer’s mother). What kinda selective memory jkghkjghgjh. [Entrapta as Aslan meme voice] I forgor 

Wow. Catra admitting she wants Adora to stay is a real breakthrough!

“Just stay with me while I do it okay.” It’s a day of breakthroughs for Catra. I’m very proud of her!

You know. Aside from Adora being a literal alien. They’ve already established that she’s impervious to the cold, so why not, to her free-floating in space? 

Bold of her to jump out without checking though!

“Chip appears to be fused with the subject’s nervous system [...]” I guess Horde Prime did put it in her brain stem!

Catra said: I do apologies AND thank-yous now. I’m a new catwoman!

Glimmer and Bow immediately moving aside so Catra can sit between them. I love the Best Friend Squad!

Not Spinerella being chipped!!!! Don’t harm our happy background emotional support couple

“Onward to a secret underwater party adventure.” Screaming over the fact that Scorpia, Perfuma, Mermista and Sea Hawk have decided the way they’re going to deal with the citizens of Etheria being turned into robot spies is by having a fancy dress party:

I love that Perfuma is an excellent actress, good for her

LMAO @ MERMISTA AND SEA HAWK HAVING TO BEAT UP HALF OF THE PEOPLE THEY SEE. Feels like perhaps the easiest version of this plan would be leaving Sea Hawk at home 

“I just wanted to know what [setting someone’s boat on fire] felt like.” [Gasps] “You are everything I’ve ever wanted.” Mermista x Sea Hawk 5ever

The ratio of musical numbers really does increase as the shows goes on. Also losing it at Scorpia literally singing her deception to a room full of people: 

“Strangest thing but I think we’ve met before.” DHJKDHDJHD has Prince Peekablue been replaced by Double Trouble

Update from 30 seconds later: Yes

Good for Netossa for noticing right away but for someone who has full access to his victims’ brains Horde Prime is sure not good at acting in-character for them. He should take a lesson from Double Trouble 

I should’ve figured that Mermista would be the one to get chipped at the incredibly convenient and inconvenient location of underwater but NOOOOOOOOOOO MERMISTA

They are messing with ALL of the emotional support background couples this ep

This party is not really going well for Team Princess at all: 

THEY GOT PAPA GLIMMER TOO??? OH MICAH 😭😭😭

“That’s your cue, Hot Stuff. Let’s go.” Hahahah is Double Trouble calling Sea Hawk Hot Stuff because he likes to set boats on fire or just because they think he’s cute kjghkjghgkjhg

Kind of bizarre that Scorpia, despite being under water, has seen no impact of water conducting an electrical current. SHOULDN’T THAT BE A MAJOR ADVTANGE? 

SCORPIAAAAA. I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A NICE LITTLE REPRIEVE NOT HALF OF THEIR FRIENDS BEING LOST TO THE HORDE. THE FANCY DRESS OUTFITS BETRAYED ME:

Very haunting when they end episodes with just silence ahhhhhhh

Ohhhhh the chipped friends going into the antagonist slot in the intro 😧

“Your plan is to ram through an armada of ships?” “No... Maybe!” Rare voice of reason moment for Catra LOL

Dhdkjhdjjdh Helpful Hordak immediately spilling Horde Prime’s vulnerabilities at the slightest prompting. Me oversharing about my health problems when people ask how I am 

Someone please clarify how they had a spacesuit with cat ear slots so readily available to them in the middle of hiding from a nearly omnipresent enemy. Was Adora just keeping this on board always in the hopes Catra would get her act together hahahaha: 

LHFKJHFJHFKJH Bow and Glimmer looking between Adora and Catra perplexed whenever they make Lesbian Eye Contact 

Lesbian Eye Contact Count 1: Adora giggling at Catra as she tries to take off her unexplained custom-made helmet 

“So, wait. The plan is to barge ahead into the structurally unsound building to find some mystery person that we know nothing about, in the hopes that they somehow know how to defeat Horde Prime?” Catra is experiencing culture shock from the Rebellion planning strategies

It really takes Shadow Weaver like seconds to figure out how to get under everyone’s skin: 

You know, surely there’s some kind of risk in plugging Helpful Hordak into this new building. You don’t really know what his reset button is

Lesbian Eye Contact Count 2: Adora staring as Catra makes a new door in their mysterious abandoned building:

“Seems Wrong Hordak has begun to question the meaning of life. [Sobbing] “Who am I if not an exaulted brother of Horde prime?” Helpful Hordak bursting into tears the moment he has to deal with anything that he’s not used to. Relatable content

Catra was right to hesitate to take her helmet off, I think. Just because they can breathe doesn’t mean those glowing spores are safe

“I think the feeling I had about this place is a bad feeling,” said Glimmer, as they were chased out of a hallway by numerous spikes trying to impale them 

[Deadpanned and emotionless] “Go through the door on your left.” That Entrapta message doesn’t at ALL sound suspicious

Update from 1 minute later: It was not Entrapta speaking 

“I thought it was bad but it’s not. It’s magic.” Ohhhhhhhh love that Glimmer’s understanding of magic has grown with time!!! Her being the first to understand the illusions they’re seeing: 

Is the illusion creature a cat or did it just choose to be a cat for Catra?

“I’m sorry I got angry. It’s something I’m working on.” [Endeared] “Oooh. You are?” Me and Adora being impressed and endeared whenever Catra shows the bare minimum of growth hahahaha

I can’t believe the payoff for Catra’s five season fursona is that she can speak alien cat hahahaha

“They dug into the ground. Built machines.” “The First Ones. That’s what they were doing. They were mining this planet’s magic, just like on Etheria.” Everything eventually circles back to space colonization

God I love the addition of Melog, Space Cat to Team Princess

“Brothers, Horde Prime lied to us. He is a false ruler. We must rise up against him and free the universe from his unjust reign.” We love the self-radicalization of Helpful Hordak. He said we will seize the means of production and overthrow the bourgeoisie (his rude brother)

“Etheria isn’t a weapon. It’s a living creature.” Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Shadow Weaver said I see your Space Cat Friend and Raise You Planet Friend

“We can destroy the restraints the First Ones built, set the magic of Etheria free and use it against him.” Didn’t work too well when you tried that on Daddy Hordak, did it, Shadow Weaver? Shadow Weaver said: Never forgive, always forget

“What is this tingling sensation?” “That’s warmth, buddy.” That’s Rough Buddy vs. That’s Warmth Buddy stand-off in the streets

I was wondering if Melog was going to be added to the intro in this ep and while Melog wasn’t, I did notice how the Catra and Adora fight has changed to more of a friendly and playful ahhhh I love when intros match the emotional stories of the protagonists

What good is the Hive Mind if it can’t see She-ra right in front of them LMAO

“Oh... expressing facial emotion is a privilege reserved only for Prime,” said Helpful Hordak, like doesn’t burst into tears every time he’s stressed

Obsessed with Helpful Hordak mimicking any expression he sees ❤️: 

[Horrified gasp] “Princesses? Where?” [slams door] wild that the princess propaganda that Catra and Adora were raised on as Horde children has eventually circled back to being true 

Hahahahah Glimmer and Bow are incapable of not trying to recruit people to the Rebellion for even 30 seconds in a shop

I like that Melog is now Catra’s means of using magic. If you're not born into royalty, adopt a giant cat with whom you develop a symbiotic magic relationship and it’s basically the same

“My fight is over. Lord Prime has given me peace.” [popular Netflix show voice] There’s no war in the City of Light

HAHAHAHAHA @ CATRA BEING OFFENDED AT ADORA HESITATING TO FIGHT HER CHIPPED HOMIES, WHICH IS NOT AT ALL THE SAME AS FIGHTING A FRENEMY WHO WAS A BELIGERENT BELIEVER IN TYRANNY UNTIL 4 EPISODES AGO

Adora: How are we supposed to fight our own friends?

Catra, scoffing, like she didn’t instigate 98% of their fights: It never stopped you before

I think Spinerella’s use of the word beloved (a term Netossa has said they don’t use) is Horde Prime being purposely cruel ☹️

“I must access the memories stored in this version.” Can’t believe we’ve graduated from Daddy Hordak to Grandpa Hordak 

Speaking of Daddy Hordak, I have been waiting all season for him to find Entrapta and join the Rebellion. It feels like a matter of time 

Side note though: I do think he will sacrifice himself for the Rebellion and Entrapta. He’s done a lot of damage so I can only imagine that’s how his story will end with four-and-a-half episodes remaining

“So the only person I’m fighting here is... my own wife?” WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HER WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

“We were gone. We weren’t here to help our friends.” Bow you literally were helping your friends!! You can’t be every at once, sweet boy

“We won’t abandon Erelandia,” said Glimmer, before teleporting away

Perfuming crying because she hates managing people. Same girl:

“But can we circle back to your not-at-all-weird-and-very-detailed theories on our weaknesses?” Netossa said: I have a had a lot of time and trauma while you were gone

“Glimmer: Crippling self-doubt mixed with overwhelming hubris.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, that’s like, really personal compared to fire.”

1) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

2) True

3) Same

“Your negative vibes aren’t appreciated here, Catra.” Perfuma directly calling Catra out for being a vibe killer

“They can’t defend themselves. They’re dads.” This is such a wonderful line, I feel like they just breeze past it jkdhkdjhdj

“’What did the First Ones say when they burned dinner? It was ruined.’” Bow’s parents leaving him a note about their secret hiding place with a doodle of themselves, drawn hearts and a joke inside is peak parenting. Lance and George deserve an award for this kind of communication:

“This one’s mine.” Perfuma wants to stay above fighting her friends but Netossa truly has no such qualms about fighting her wife. She said: Are you kidding me, my wife will kill us, we gotta kick her ass

“Mara wasn’t alone. She was working with a group of rebels going against their First One’s leaders.” OOHHHHHH ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO RESOLVE MARA’S PLOTLINE? I LOVE

My money is on Arxia being the Fright Zone or Bright Moon

“Friendship isn’t a weakness. It’s my greatest strength. And Scorpia’s too.” Is this cliché? Yes. Do I adore Perfuma being too nice to hurt her friends anyway? Also yes!!!

“Because Spinny, you’re my weakness.” AHHHHHHHHH NETOSSA:

Perfuma reassuring Catra that it’s okay to keep your heart open is why I think she should date everyone she interacts with. She just has the vibe of everyone she knows living in her heart

Well, colour me incorrect! Arxia is on Mystacor, I kinda forgot about Castaspella and Shadow Weaver LOL

Netossa and Spinerella being reunited in the intro with a kiss 🥺💘 I’m love them

“Would a ‘please’ kill you?” Fjlfjfjhfjkh that ‘a’ really sounded like an ‘I’ and was really thinking Castaspella was escalating hahahah

“Micah was an exceptional sorcerer even then. It’s a shame it didn’t run in the family.” Shadow Weaver is determined to antagonize everyone who has joined her on the Arxia Rebellion Field Trip

“This isn’t about tech. It’s about our chipped friends. If I can get this to work, I can save them.” THAT’S RIGHT BABYGIRL, ENTRAPTA’S EMPATHY ERA HERE TO STAY

Lesbian Eye Contact 3: Adora loving that Catra is trying to rescue her and Catra being embarrassed about it

RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR TERRIBLE FOSTER MOM LMAO

“I see you and Catra are close again. Do you really think that’s wise?” Yaddah Yaddah Generational Trauma: Emotional Distance Edition 

Also this is horseshit, every time Adora has transformed this season has been in the interest of protecting a loved one

Speaking of generational trauma, DADDY HORDAK IS BACK BAYBEE:

This is certainly a rough way for Glimmer to reunite with her father 

“Adora, it doesn’t always have to be you!” Ohhhhhhh Catra

Vhjkvhjvhkjvh I know it’s like. To prevent them from wreaking magical havoc. But wild for Adora cave-in Micah and two other sorcerers in a hidden magical prison without food or water 

“[Sacrificing yourself for Etheria] is what you’ll always choose. I don’t have to stay and watch it happen.” Someone was listening to Shadow Weaver’s emotional distance lecture a little too hard

“Adora doesn’t want me! Not like I want her.” It took her 51 episodes but Catra is finally admitting that her feelings for Adora are not entirely platonic LOL

Having non-verbal communication and comfort from an animal friend was really an element we’ve been missing until Melog. A talking horse just doesn’t hit the same feelings: 

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GO REBELLION:

We are back to the realm of the Romantically-Charged Friendship Simulation. I wonder what Bow and Glimmer will see in here, if anything

You’re telling me instead of needing a bunch of princesses, all Horde Prime needs to do to activate the Heart of the Etheria is to invest in an auger drill? LMAO

"I never could’ve done any of this without you. Thank you for being the best friends anyone could ask for.” ADORAAAAAA ☹️☹️

Catra going back to warn Adora only to stumble on to Shadow Weaver getting drunk in the middle of a war while Adora takes all the world’s burdens. Incredible. Truly representing the average parenting energy of this show

FINALLY they’re acknowledging that water conducts electricity. Just as the planet is about to explode

I can only imagine Entrapta being captured will trigger Daddy Hordak to turn. [Rafiki voice] IT IS TIME

“Take care of her, Horde Scum.” “That’s the plan, Sparkles.” I LOVE CATRA BEING IN THE BEST FRIEND SQUAD 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️

“Bow. I love you. I love you. I love you.” “I love you too.” Kind of figured Bow and Glimmer were headed in that direction. Every single friendship in this show is romantically charged hahahaha

More like the Best-Friends-To-Lovers Squad, am I right? 

“You’re worth more than what you can give to other people.” MARA 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“Doesn’t it remind you of the first time we met? You also tried to kill me then. 😌❤️” Sea Hawk for Most Boyfriend in the History of Etheria

Everyone’s suddenly being really forthright about their romantic feelings. That’s TWO I love you exchanges from the Team Princess and self-admission from Catra. They said if we’re gonna die we might as well speak our feelings

“Hello Babygirl.” Micah for Most Haunting Use of Babygirl Award:

“How strange. I must have fought her. I must’ve known her face. But I have no memory of it.” Last minute theory of Light Hope/Mara/Horde Prime love triangle. I don’t really think it’d happen, but it would HILARIOUS to me if it were true 

CATRAAAAAAAAAAAA (also Shadow Weaver). Ex-Horde reunion LOL

“My mother raised me to be brave. My friends taught me to be kind. And I’m stubborn. I get that from you. I will never stop fighting. And I won’t lose another parent.” GLIMMER 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Side note: Until this point I have kind of been assuming Angella would be freed from her dimensional trap during the finale, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen 

I love that Bow and Entrapta’s knowledge together is what takes down the chips!!!! TECH BOY AND TECH GAL FORCES UNITE

“It’s time to take back our world. It’s time to fight.” BABY BOY BOW INSPIRING ALL OF ETHERIA TO FIGHT BACK

WHAT DO YOU KNOW, IT SEEMS SHADOW WEAVER CAN LEARN SOMETHING:

“It’s too late for me. But you, this is only the beginning for you. I am so proud of you, Catra.” Shadow Weaver said: The cycle ends with me, actually

“Whatever happens, I am staying with you.” Catra said: ‘Til death do us part, Adora

“I made a life of my own. I made... a friend. I am Hordak, and I defy your will.” I knew Daddy Hordak was incapable of killing his favourite child: 

Hordak didn’t really think through the whole Hive Mind thing when he threw his brother/parental figure/supreme overlord into a bottomless pit

Adora’s dreams for the future are so sweet ahhhhhhhhhhhhh:

(On a less serious note: What wild hair choices for everyone LMAO)

“Don’t you get it? I love you. I always have. So please, just this once, stay.” They got there eventually! GOOD FOR THEM 

Not to be dramatic but lesbian love is literally going to save the whole universe. I repeat: GOOD FOR THEM ❤️❤️❤️

I’m not sure if I fully understand why the hell the First Ones did all of this planet weaponization if all it took to defeat Horde Prime was She-Ra finding a lover she could find strength in. They really took the path of Most Resistance 

“I remember you.” I cannot believe that She-Ra just exorcised the Horde Prime out of Hordak as if he were a particularly vindictive ghost and not his clone brother/paternal figure/supreme overlord controlling via Hive Mind:

“Hordak! I’m so glad you’re back.” AWWW ENTRAPTA AND DADDY HORDAK REUNION 

(Does no one care that Hordak has been terrorizing society for over a decade prior to this, and is probably responsible for killing a bunch of their parents? No? I really thought he was going to die, LMAO)

Edit after posting: Befuddled by what the creator had to say about this relationship, DO BETTER AT DEPICTING AGE AND DYNAMIC LMAO 

“Hello! I’m your dad.” GLIMMER AND PAPA MICAH REUNION 😭❤️

Scorpia said, to Catra: My kekkei genkai is forgiveness

“So are we all just like, okay with this?” asked Mermista, glancing at Hordak suspciously, verbalizing what I believe they should all be thinking jgjhkgh

The Fall of Salineas could not be THAT long ago omg 

“Look at us. From capturing you to us now being buddies. This is so dope.” Hahahaa, the off-screen dialogue in this scene is def improv

“What a sweet and optimistic ending of everyone having a peaceful friendship, familial and romantic reunions and the protagonists deciding to plan a fun little road trip to bring magic back to the universe, which could not possibly backfire on them given the amount of space colonization that has happened in order to harness magic as a weapon thus far. As with Hordak, we will pretend we do not see it 😌❤️:

#ayesha liveblogs she-ra #ayesha says things #liveblogging #she-ra #long post #television #spoilers for all of she-ra s5 obvs #also i will not lie to you the end of this liveblog refused to save so i had to retype the last eight minutes THREE TIMES #which really represents how much energy i had to put into completing this show in general LOL #like the characters: i got there eventually #also by coincidence i finished this on the three year anniversary of its ending

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Okay so I REALLY loved this first DD episode!! Now more than ever I am feeling hopeful for Beth's return. I mean, I've been here since day 1 (8yrs or something like that) but after all the times we thought she'd appear, this feels the most legit. It all comes down to what Judith said at the end of the flagship, "You deserve a happy ending, too." Like what else would a happy ending look like for D@ryl other than reuniting with Beth? I look at it this way, they had this line repeated, not once, not twice, but 3 times in the episode, and once directly to D@ryls face by Laurent. He even asks D, "Do you have kids, a wife, etc?" The look on his face says it all...this has been a major theme for D. R!ck mentions looking for a house together with Lori, trying to relate to him and his grief over losing his SO. Even Abraham asked him, "You ever think about it? Settling down?" Whether D wants to admit it or not, a wife, kids, a home, these are what he truly wants. Yes he loves TF and protecting them and all that, but what he truly wants is that romantic partner which we ALL know is beth. The only ppl who deny it are, well you know 🙄 This emphasis on his "happy ending" is making me so excited. Writers wouldn't start the ENTIRE show off on something like that without the payoff. Even if all we get is confirmation of her being alive, it's happening. It has to. D@ryl is finally getting his happy ending to his "damn romance novel" and his new found faith is instrumental in that!! Ahh, so excited! Thanks for all your hard work for TD! We love youuuu!!!!! 💚💚💚💚💚

Aww thanks so much. I love you all too!

And I completely agree with everything you said. You laid it out perfectly. I didn't mention the whole "do you have a wife" question because my mind was so much on other things, but it's super significant that they asked this in the first episode of the series. Just as, like you said, it's super significant that they start out with Judith talking about his happy ending. That's literally the thesis statement for the entire spinoff series. So yes, he's getting his happy ending one way or another in this spinoff, and I'll echo you in saying, we all know who that will be with.

I'm getting a lot of Asks where people are saying that, because the reviewers haven't said anything about Beth, she must not be coming.

That MIGHT be true for S1, though I would remind everyone that they were sworn to secrecy about the final two episodes. As in, if she shows up, they truly can't tell us. And if it's her name Daryl almost drops, they can't mention that. They would be all kinds of fired and sued.

But even if she doesn't actually show up the first season, I still think we'll get some clues about her. And, in the end, this show is about him finding his happy ending. So, it's gonna happen one way or the other.

My fellow theorists have also been looking into some of the weirdness of the filming in the Louvre. I have lots of things to post for you guys. It's just been a busy week and I haven't gotten around to much of it, but I'll try to get more of it out this week.

Anyway, love everything you said. Totally agree. Right there with ya! Xoxo! 🍁🍂😍

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theories #team defiance #team delusional #td theory #beth is almost here #bethyl #daryl dixon spinoff #dd spinoff

[thephantomcasebook]

Alicent being a boy mom ...

And a little extra Helaemond if you got it.

Hmm ...

I've never actually written Helamond before ...

Well, all the girlies will either like it or they'll let me know otherwise.

(Note: The Characterization of Daeron is from another post I did where someone asked me to introduce the character my own way in the show)

Well, live or die, here's my Helamond shot.

He could still see her falling.

He wanted to twist her beautiful curling locks in his hand, yank her head back, and demand to know why she was stupid?! She could’ve gotten killed! But instead, she is pressed hard against his chest – not being able to tell where she started, and he began. They were latched tight to his saddle, her arms about his neck. Her hot breath was in his ear, repeating nonsense over and over again – “A sapphire lost in the God’s Eye!” He felt her clutching him hard, nuzzling his neck, tears streaming down her milky cheeks. “A sapphire lost in the God’s Eye!” She was afraid, petrified.

Queen Helaena Targaryen was not made nor meant for a battlefield, to be in the air filled with cries of flame and roars of hate.  Below them, fireballs of pitch and ruins of stone arced up at them from the catapults of the Velaryon blockade. The gleam of red, orange, and blue flames from burning ships reflected in the gentle tears of the young queen of the Seven Kingdoms as she sat astride Vhagar in reverse. Aemond’s left hand was clutching the handle of his saddle, the right firmly grasping Helaena’s leather clad arse to force her against him as they maneuvered above.

A fury, unbridled and murderous, came over him when the flaming arrows and exploding pitch halted. When he leaned over to glance down, his single eye bulged in rage. Fore there he was, landed on the damaged and half enflamed Velaryon flagship. The sleek and graceful creature of cerulean scale, a beast of royalty, sat poised for even the slightest flinch on the deck of the ship. A figure in golden dragon wing helm with masked eye guard and green streamers to represent the flame of Old Town at war, sat astride his majestic beast. All around him, the ashen and seared sailors of the beaten flagship gathered behind Corlys Velaryon who stood stalwart with his Valyrian Steel axe in hand, his white whiskers scorched.

Yet, he lowered his weapon.

Fore laying in the young dragon knight’s arms was a silver haired young woman in tight leather and stricken crimson scale armor. Baela Targaryen was staring at the figure who held her gently in wonder and amazement. For a moment she couldn’t understand it, couldn’t believe it.

 He … he saved her life?

She had been felled by Vhagar as she rushed to save her grandmother whose dragon, Meleys, was held by a monstrous foot in vise by her pink rigged neck. But when she dove at her late mother’s dragon, the old bitch craned her head, her maw closing about Moondancer’s wing, ripping most of it off. Baela’s scream was shrill and lost in the wind as she fell to the earth, the sea rushing toward her like a green tinted wall. Her grandmother could do nothing but watch. In that last moment, the young beauty thought of her mother, her smile, her kisses, the warmth of her body as she read to her girls. Then, like a blue comet, a figure came diving in a flash, buzzing Vhagar, Meleys, Prince Aemond, Queen Helaena, and the helpless Princess Rhaenys line a typhoon wind. It gave chase to the falling girl like a bolt of lightning. An arm wrapped Baela’s waist and pulled her to a stricken and repaired breast plate with the worn engraving of the High Tower upon it. Suddenly, with a dip in her taut belly, they leveled out just a foot or so from the surface of the sea. It was then that she found herself in unfamiliar arms that held her tenderly … perfectly.

They had never met, but she knew of him, heard stories around the Painted Table. Jace spoke very highly of him, Luke admired him, Father hated him, and Rhaenyra did not wish to discuss him one way or the other. For Baela, she had no opinion of her cousin till the last fifteen minutes when Moondancer couldn’t keep up, Meyleys took his chained Morningstar whip in the head twice, And Grandmother’s nose broke against the sole of his boot when he unlatched himself from the saddle and came flying downward as she angled to burn Aemond and … Queen Helena.  Baela thought she hated him, feared him, was frustrated that he and his blue queen were untouchable. But now she felt only shock … only …

What she had hoped Jace and she would find in time.

A bare ebony hand touched the silken green scarf of Queen Alicent’s favor that was wrapped about the mouth and nose of the helmeted dragon knight. She smelt the pleasing scent of her aunt as she leaned in and gave a peck to where she thought her cousin’s lips might be. Then, she cautiously slipped from his self-crafted and battle worn saddle, flush at his almost intimate touch helping her down. But whatever soft and looming emotions that fluttered in her heart soon retreated when the cerulean dragon craned her head back and gave a cry of threat at the girl’s lingering.

Quickly, Baela stumbled back to the open arms of her grandfather. For a time, Lord Corlys Velaryon and the Dragon Knight matched glares. It was an offering, the paying of a debt – for the life of one Driftmark heir had the other’s life been spared. And needing not to be told the context or meaning of the gallant gesture, Lord Velaryon took his axe in hand and placed it to his chest and bowed his head in gratitude. In response, the young knight simply gave his former captain and comrade in arms a familiar two finger salute before he urged his mount to take off in Valyrian. With a roar, the she-dragon lifted off into the air, flying low, back to Kings landing. And for a time, among the horror and terror of the “Dance of Dragons” there was glimpse of honor and mutual respect between Green and Black on that afternoon.

The battle was over.

But not at the Dragon Pit.

With an order in Valyrian, Tessarion clawed low into the dark. She could smell, hear, the snorting shuffle of livestock - victory morsels. However – and luckily – before Daeron Targaryen could remove his nicked and battle scared helmet, something hard and powerful contacted it. The blow rattled his brain like coppers in a jar. The young knight immediately found himself on the ground, a voice in sinister Valyrian shouting at him. Meanwhile, what sounded like his sister was protesting. Then, a hand grasped his battered breastplate and yanked him into a siting potion. There, in a murderous rage, was his brother Aemond, his single eyes nearly black in the darkness of the Dragon Pit.

“<Blood Traitor!>” He snarled at him in Valyrian. “<You spared our sisters would be killer! Craven pup!>” He punched Daeron again, making the winged dragon helm sing from the strike.

But this time the coppers didn’t rattle – only the cage of the dragon in his blood. In anger and madness  boiling from the fight still coursing within, Daeron went right back into battle instinct learned from years of fighting on the Stepstones. He immediately swept a foot and heel kicked Aemond across the back of the knee. Then, when knelt, Daeron launched headfirst with his helmet, smashing its armored brow against Aemond forehead - drawing blood. With clenched teeth of rage, the younger brother tackled the older into the dust of the Dragon Pit.

Soon, they began rolling and punching, cries and snarls of curses in Common Tongue and Valyrian echoed into the vast arena. Around them the Dragon Keepers watched on neutrally with their tall staffs and scorched crimson and cream robes. Meanwhile, Queen Helaena paced anxiously as she covered her ears to drown out the violence and the stream of angry emotion from the men she loved that came on like waves of a typhoon that violated her sweet and gentle nature.

Immediately, astride two white stallions, followed by a mounted guard of men in Hightower armor, the visage of the Dowager Queen Alicent and her Lord Commander Ser Criston Cole appeared with a clatter of hooves in the vast open space. The queen’s luxurious copper locks flowed like a banner as she raced into the Dragon Pit, afear of what losses she would face from the mission this afternoon. But instead she pulled back on the reigns of Ser Criston’s name day gift to her.

“Hey!” She called loudly in alarm.

In front of her was a tall figure in highly crafted black sable armor and a younger silhouette in stricken and cobbled pieces of battle-damaged Hightower armor and a weathered and patched cloak, rolling about. They looked like hounds in a kennel fighting over a bone or an errant challenge in the hall. They gripped and punched, Aemond pulling on the green streamers atop Daeron’s golden dragon helm, while Daeron was shoving Aemond’s face into the dust, metal squealing and rattling as they continuously rolled, trying to get and deny leverage to one another. All the while Helaena, in tight black leather trousers and matching scaled doublet of Dragon riding gear, paced around them, ears covered, and choking on the rapid words and phrases she said aloud to comfort herself.

“Aemond! Stardust!” She called out to them. “Enough!” Alicent leapt from the back of her horse, Criston grasping the bridle.

“Prince Aemond! Daeron!” Criston shouted as he dismounted, waiting for one of the queen’s guard to take their matching stallions’ reins.

Helaena marched away from her mother’s bracing grip as she watched her boys rolling around, shouting words she understood – even the foreign ones – and would never allow them to utter in her home, much less in public. With gritted teeth of determination, Alicent flung herself into the fray. She got hold of the back of the golden helmeted youth that wore the green embroidered scarf of her silken favor about his mouth and nose under his eye guard. With all her strength she put her youngest child in a choke hold and pulled with her slender legs and creamy hamstrings.

“Stardust … stop it!” She growled into Daeron’s ear as she got him upon his knees, prying him off Aemond. Then, with a startled gasp - not wearing shoes that carried the cobbled traction needed for such strenuous physical activities as pulling apart your two scrapping youngest children – Alicent fell backward, taking Daeron with her. She landed on her bottom; her arms wrapped like a vise about her youngest’s chest. There she held him as he squirmed against her.

“Oh, no you don’t!” She gritted crushing the back of his helmeted head into the crook of her neck, covering his eyes so he couldn’t escape.

It would’ve left him vulnerable for Aemond when he recovered, if the anger and bloodlust of the battle was not shocked out of the tall lean young man by a blast of cold. As he turned over onto his stomach to push himself back onto his feet to pursue his traitorous sibling, he let out a cry of shock and confusion when something wet and frigid thunder down upon him. With wide eye, Aemond glanced around - now soaking wet – to find Lord Commander Cole with an overturned bucket from the fire safety trough.

With a shiver and chatter, the outraged prince struggled to get to his feet – incensed at needing Ser Criston’s help. He pushed the man away, who only smirked in that annoying, know-it-all, way that his teacher and mentor always had since he could remember. With a wet rattle, Aemond ripped off his black helm with green plume and threw it down, his long silvery hair soaked and dripping. But when he saw Daeron still on the ground he made to approach.

“Don’t you dare!” Alicent’s voice was like a whip that cracked, keeping the lion at bay.

Ser Criston already firmly placed his grip on the young warrior prince’s breast plate in restraint. And each time that Aemond swatted his hand away, the Lord Commander’s other replaced it, retaliating by shoving him back further and further with his palms. Meanwhile, Alicent had gotten to her feet and was pulling Daeron’s arm till he found his own. The youth’s light armor – stricken breast plate, a shoulder plate on his sword arm, vambraces, and all covered by a tattered cloak she wove him long ago – made it easier for him to stand.

Yet, the moment he did, Alicent grasped her son by the golden winged dragon helm and slipped it from his head.  Immediately a mane of her own waving copper curls in a half hazard messy ponytail slipped free. With his mouth and nose covered by her green favor, Daeron’s brow line and eyes were of such a striking match to her own face that she might have been looking into a gender bent mirror. Throwing his helmet away, Alicent reached up and pulled down the silken scarf to see the sculpted boyish stubble of copper hair on his chin.

‘Enough!” She snapped in his face, grasping Gwayne’s former breast plate and pulling it down so that Daeron was looking right into their matching eyes. No sooner had she done this, when she strode over and grasped Aemond by his prominent chin and pulled him down to make eye contact.

“Do-you-hear-me?!” She annunciated every syllable, nodding her son’s head with her cadence. Then, when she heard the petulant answer of the classic Aemond Targaryen non-answer of “Mmhn”, she tossed his head back. But she didn’t stop there.

“You!” She strode over to Helaena who turned away from her. But that wasn’t gonna fly today. She grabbed Helaena back by the arm and twisted her to face her. “What were you thinking?!” She yelled at her daughter. “You are the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms!” She shook the girl. “You cannot go flying into the middle of a battle or a dragon duel!” She shook her. “Why?!” She demanded of her daughter.

“A sapphire lost in the God’s Eye!” She snapped angrily at her mother. “Lost forever, never to be found!” Her voice cracked in devastation and fear.

 A look of heartbroken and helpless confusion fell over Alicent’s countenance as she searched Helaena’s distressed face but found no recognition, no understanding. Teary eyes of falling anger glassed over as her hand reached out to pet her silvery blonde hair. But the girl turned away and paced over to stand by Aemond, covering her ears as she laid her head against his shoulder. The dowager queen took a shaky breath to collect herself before she walked the short distance between her two sons.

“What is going on?!”

“Baela dove on Dreamfyre while Stardust was playing with Princess Rhaenys! She could’ve killed Helaena if it wasn’t for Vhagar!” Aemond was incensed. The use of Alicent’s pet name for her youngest babe stung and seared Daeron when used against him in mockery.

“How was I supposed know that Helaena and Dreamfyre was going to go wandering into the middle of the battle?!” Daeron replied hotly. “I was supposed to be keeping the old hag and Moondancer busy while you opened a lane for the Blockade Runner!” He announced.

“Baela tried to kill our sister, your queen! And you decided to save her life! <You spared, boy>!” Aemond finished in Valyrian.

“I did what I thought was right!” Daeron countered forthright and chest forward. “There’s an honor in the way we fight!” He said stalwartly. “It’s what separates and distinguishes us from Daemon and his thugs!” He scorned in lecture.  

“This is war!” Aemond cried angrily.

“Don’t!”

There was a dangerous snarl that was so heavy that it came out in a whisper from the young knight’s mouth. Alicent turned at the noise, the deep traumatic stress that set her motherly instinct aflame.

“Don’t you talk at me, Aemond, about war!” Daeron gritted his teeth, his eyes suddenly alight with memories or horrors undreamed upon the small rocky chain of islands that could not be unseen. “I know more about it then you ever will!” the young knight’s eyes grew haunted and his voice distant.

Alicent found herself at the youth’s side, her hand slipping into his, her eyes sorrowed.

“You read too many story books, brother!” Aemond grew fierce then, Helaena’s breath on his ear like the fanning air to the flames in his blood. He could still see her falling from Dreamfyre’s saddle when Moondancer slashed across her belly - Vhagar too big, too bulky, almost losing Helaena on the horizon as she fell. It was only by an instinct he couldn’t quantify, that he could … sense where she was. Reach out and take her hand when he couldn’t see her. The fear, the helplessness of almost losing her …

It made him fiercer than his dragon.

“There’s no room for heroes here, brother!” He stepped away, in front of their sister, as if to protect her from this valiant and noble fool with their mother’s face. “The guilt for whatever sins you weep about into our mother’s breasts in the night have no place in my army!” He said rancorously. “I hear Daeron “The Daring” was a champion, hero of the Stepstones – that he and his dragon Tessarion sank the largest war galley in the world at the Battle of Tara-Haj.” He scoffed as if it were some tall tale told in a tavern. “But I only see a mewling and wailing tourney knight! Mother’s arse a pillow while hiding behind her silk skirts and more worried about his own honor than protecting his sister, his queen!” He snarled, pointing the finger of prosecution at the handsome young knight.  

 “Careful, Brother …” Daeron fixed the tall man with dark look. “ <Don’t mistake murdering a boy and his hatchling for being a warrior.>” The youth replied with a deep distain in cutting High Valyrian.

“Hey-Hey-Hey!”

They drove so hard at one another that the only obstacle to their rematch was the crushing together of Alicent and Criston – back to back – as both young men were barely restrained by their mother and their mentor. Alicent squinted, gritting her teeth as she pushed back against her youngest, her arms wrapped around his torso, her cheek against his scorched and scared breastplate. Meanwhile, Criston’s lips were pressed in strain at he had Aemond under the arms trying to walk the slender spear of a man backward. Both the queen and her protector’s heads and hair were battered by flailing arms and hands striking at the other. Eventually, with a twist, Criston got Aemond off his feet, tossing him upon the ground. With a clank and sliding of metal, he dragged the violent young man by the back of his chest piece toward Helaena as he kicked and struggled.

“Stay down!” Criston snapped shoving the young prince back onto the floor when he tried to get back up.

Then, suddenly there was another splash of water that was thrown into Aemond’s face. With a spit and a snarl, murder was in his single eye as he turned to see which dead man it was. But instead, his fire was quenched in shock and confusion when he looked up to see that it had been Helaena with the bucket in hand. Her eyes were stern, her face cold – the same expression she gave Aegon. That single look of disappointment and displeasure alone stopped everything within Aemond in its tracks. He gave a pride saving grunt and “Mmnhm” as he turned his steely eye forward past Criston – pacified by his queen’s want.

“Enough! Stardust, look at me!” Alicent struggled with her little boy. “It’s me! Stardust, it’s me!” She said forcefully till he stopped wrestling with her. “It’s done. It’s time to stop!” She gave him a sobering shake, knowing of the madness, the manias, and flashbacks to war and violence that lived within him – how he suffered in their thralldom. It was only then, lost in her eyes, the soft melodic velvet of her familiar voice, that a sobriety took over him. Alicent grabbed Daeron by his ears and forced his head down. When their eyes matched, a fierce and stern look was wrapped in a loving sympathy.

“Okay?” She said softly.

“Yeah …” He replied emotionally.

“Yeah?”

“It’s fine …” He nodded, his eyes losing their sharpness.

“Go outside and wait for me and Ser Criston.” She ordered handing him his distinct dragon winged helm.

There was a half nod in his reluctance as there remained a fiery glare at Aemond - who was now laying down in the muddy spot, hands behind his head – waiting for his scolding as one does for the sunset in a flowery field. Meanwhile, Helaena looked at her little brother with a soft wilting smirk of love – assurance that she did not agree with their brother. But before he had left Alicent’s shadow, the queen grasped his arm and pulled him back to her. She cupped his cheeks and pulled his head down low to her.   

 “Reluctance to murder is not a weakness …!” Alicent whispered to Daeron, touching her forehead to his. The youth did not say anything, he simply nodded, letting her nuzzle and nip his nose in maternal affection and pride of his conduct that day on the field of battle. Then, she gave him a soft shove of parental steel, sending him on his way.

“Get up, Aemond!”

“…”

“Get up!”

With a noise of bemusement, the youth found his feet in a timelier manner than anyone was expecting. But his jaw grew tight when slender pale hands grasped his breast plate and pulled him close. Her hand gripped his chin once more and used it like a hinge as she turned his head left to right, checking the cut on his forehead and gashed cheek where Princess Rhaenys had caught him with her whip. Satisfied that nothing was serious, she let go. He did not respond when she gave a pensive shake of his chest in her hard grip.

“Thank you …” She sighed. “For saving Helaena, for looking after her.” She nodded.

“You don’t have to thank me, Mother.” He stood impeccably upright, immaculately postured. “I wouldn’t let any harm to come to her.” Aemond was more sincere than she ever thought possible. “You know that.” He nodded.

“Yes …” She replied. “And we’ve won a victory today. Our envoys have gotten past the blockade and are on their way to negotiate with The Triarchy. You and your brother have destroyed over a dozen Velaryon ships, and you’ve permanently maimed one Rhaenyra’s dragons.” Alicent praised.

“A day to be celebrated.” Aemond gave a nod.

“A day not to be squandered.” She corrected. “With baseless accusations and slander!” She suddenly snapped.

“He spared Baela –“ He began.

“And he saved your life and Helaena’s too when Rhaenys had you two right where she wanted! I watched from the Tower of the Hand from the Grand Maester’s telescope! Or do you deny it?!” Her eyes fixed on the stalwart and carful warrior prince.

“I do not.” He looked away.

Alicent turned Aemond’s head gently to face her. “We cannot fight a war against Rhaenyra and ourselves.” She said softly. “Perhaps, mistakes were made. Foolish things done!” Helaena had the decency to look chastised when Alicent’s gaze fell upon her in accusation. “But you cannot win this war on your own Aemond.” Her eyes glistened. “You and Daeron are the sole compliment of our dragon riders. When you’re out there, you need each other.” She placed her hand on the Targaryen insignia on his black breastplate. “Don’t bring the war home with you.” She stroked his chest.

She smirked softly when Aemond grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“Of course, Mother.” He said dutifully. “I’m sorry if I …” He cleared his throat.

“It happens to all of us, my dearest boy.” She nodded. “Now get Helaena home … we’ll meet you there.” Alicent replied, needing only a glance to convey her plans to Ser Criston – a shorthand of sixteen years of devotion to one another. As they left, Criston clasped Aemond’s shoulder in comradery, the two sharing a nod of affectionate endearment as the Dowager Queen and the Lord Commander paced outside. 

When they were gone, Aemond turned to find Helaena standing near him. Something different, relaxed, relieved, was in her countenance as they stood alone together in the vast hall of the Dragon Pit. A soft smile touched her face as she paced closer to him.

“It …” She shook her head cautiously. “It wasn’t today.” She said, his eyes fluttering shut at the soft and smooth warmth of the sun in her heavenly palms that stroked his cheek in reverence.

“What wasn’t?” He asked.

“I saw a sapphire lost forever in the God’s Eye …” She replied, a single tear falling down her cheek. “And I thought it was today.” She nodded. “I thought it was today.” She repeated in a strangled whisper of dueling relief of the hour and fear for the unknown of many tomorrows.

Then, to assuage her, Aemond removed his eyepatch to reveal the sapphire that she had once given him, breaking it free from her favorite necklace as compensation – replacing something she loved with something else just as precious.

“Not today.” He said confidently.

He did not flinch nor blink when her finger reached out and touched the sapphire, his hand grasping her own, leading her digit across the smooth surface of the jewel.

“Not today …” She whispered again, a sobbed little chuckle.

Then, he took her in his arms as she clung to him, crying happy tears as his strong jaw nuzzled the silky locks of her silvery blonde hair.

Perhaps one day a sapphire will be lost forever to the God’s Eye …

But it wasn’t today.           

#House of the Dragon #Alicent Hightower #Aemond Targaryen #Helaena Targaryen #Daeron Targaryen #Criston Cole #Helaemond #aemond x helaena #alicole

[nebulouscoffee]

Sending the rare pair I rotate when I wanna think about Mess: Keiko/Garak

LOL okay, this one is complicated- I both ship it, and don't ship it? So what I shall do is answer all six questions😂

What made you ship it?

Let's be honest. Keiko gets a really bad deal on DS9. Like, she was THE senior civilian botanist on the flagship of the Federation and now she's stuck in the middle of nowhere, separated from all her old friends and colleagues- and growing a few plants. Not to mention, experiencing weekly traumas via proximity to the unluckiest man in the quadrant (aka, her husband). I think it's pretty explicit in canon that Keiko never wanted to move to DS9 in the first place, so in a sense- it's almost like she's... in exile. (wink, wink.)

Now, with all the complaining Garak does about his professional fall from grace, his once-respected skillset being wasted on menial, mundane work- "I used to be at the top of my field, now look at me, I'm sewing dresses!"- it's not hard to imagine him seeing a kindred spirit in Keiko. He's a very good tailor. She's a very good teacher. So good, it makes them both want to barf... or, meet up for dinner once a week in the arboretum to commiserate (and maybe have some shameful yet unexpectedly satisfying sex about it lol)

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Like you said, the Mess! It's a lot of fun to think about- I don't necessarily want it to happen, but if it did happen it would be fascinating and kind of funny, you know? It's interesting from a character study perspective- you get to explore some of the uglier sides (especially if you're gonna think about this happening in the context of getting back at Miles, maybe even Julian).

[Gonna preface this next section with the disclaimer that I adore Keiko, Miles and Garak, and none of this is character hate!!!]

So, here's the thing- I struggle to see Keiko going for Garak unless there's some element of petty revenge involved. Maybe it's the early seasons, and she's pissed off at Miles for bringing her here, pissed off at the station's Bajoran population for siding against her when Winn bombed the school, just generally feeling very frustrated and undervalued and unwanted and invisible, and it's like- yeah, what if I just stopped being the Wholesome Starfleet Wife for a second, you know? What if I went and slept with the Cardassian spy?? (Even if you want to interpret the O'Briens as having an open marriage and this not counting as cheating, Garak is still certainly... A Choice lol). Or, maybe it's the later seasons, and now it's more- what, Miles can keep putting his Starfleet career ahead of the family, risking his life, and I can't even go to the Cliffs of Undalar for work? And he's just gonna spend all his free time in the holosuites with Julian and leave me with the kids 26/7? (Whether or not Garak/Bashir are together here is flexible, though it's funny to imagine a Garak who has now decided to hold back so as to not risk their too-important friendship, and he's sooo irritated with himself for having A Sentiment and also insanely jealous of how much time Miles gets with Julian). For maximum toxic fun you can imagine Miles & Julian accidentally get drunk and hook up (and it IS cheating) so now Keiko gets with Garak as revenge!

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Hmm... I guess, any Garak/woman ship would inherently be an unpopular opinion to those who view him as exclusively into men? But imo even if we are reading him as such (and that's definitely a valid read haha), there's still the fact that he would absolutely date a woman just to be petty. Like, let's not forget the one and only time he ever looked at Ziyal with anything resembling romantic interest was when they linked hands in front of Dukat- his whole vibe changed there, like he really did that just to piss Dukat off! Garak is all about theatre and unpredictability and poking people just to get reactions out of them lol, I can definitely see him pulling out all the stops to make himself and Keiko the most fabulous femme 4 femme couple on the station. Like not only would he date her, he would date her very publicly- he would aggressively channel ALL that courtly old-fashioned charm and lay it on really thick. He would offer her his handkerchief. He would pull out her chair. He would make her the most gorgeous dresses. He would treat her to fancy dinners on all the promenade restaurants and grow her extremely rare flowers in the arboretum. He would learn her preferences in bed. He would literally go out of his way to make Miles O'Brien look So Bad😂😂

Why don't you ship it?

Honestly, the problem is just me- I am but a soft-hearted loser who just wants for Keiko O'Brien to be happy lmaooo

Like obviously I do enjoy reading/writing stories where my blorbos are awful, but fundamentally I love seeing them healing and growing and making each other better, sadly. And while Garak is inarguably changed for the better after getting exiled to DS9, Keiko is unfortunately someone I can see becoming worse as a result of the show's events- and I just don't like thinking about it becauseee ahhh it makes me saddddd!!!

What would have made you like it?

Tough to answer since I do like it- thankfully it's not canon, so I can just have fun thinking about the toxic mess of it all without having to write it or keep guiltily glancing at poor lil Molly O'Brien like "baby girl I am so sorry I did this to your parents' marriage😭😭"

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

It's intriguing, it's fun, it centres Keiko in a way that the show (and indeed fan content) rarely ever does- and I guess it doesn't have to be ALL dark! Like I can imagine it originally starting that way, with Garak and Keiko treating each other so well just to spite Miles/Julian- but then it unexpectedly turns into a genuine friendship where they prioritise each other in ways they've never been prioritised (or allowed themselves to be prioritised) before, and they actually end up making more sense of their own desires as a result? There's that one episode where Keiko goes to the trouble of making zabu stew for Rugal... I can just imagine her making some Cardassian food or the other for Garak and him being kinda 🥺 about it. Who knows, maybe they'll all have a laugh about this around the O'Briens' (or the Garak/Bashir) dinner table someday! God I'm boring

#thanks for this one lmaooo it was a lot of fun #ask game

[mathlann]

Definitely got way more good endings than I thought I'd get on Cas' run but I do think it's funny the little clashes between "Iconoclast" ending slides and the "you definitely made every criminal and anti-Imperium choice possible" ending slides. As it stands,

The Expanse has been cut off by Horrifying Star God-Child who thinks she's it's mom (it's okay she told NOMOS to be nice)

All non-Werserian nobility have either lost prestige, ripped themselves apart, or been executed, with predictable destabilization following for the first few generations after

Footfall has massive outbreaks of violence now that all this "charity" and "not being mean to poor people" is happening which upsets the control of the crime lords running the place

Vhaebos VI has become the new political head of the Protectorate with a class of deeply unscrupulous power players at the head

Piracy is in a Golden Age and the Fellowship of the Void have eclipsed the Kasballica (hard to smuggle when xenotech isnt very illegal anymore)

Pasqal's breakaway Explorator crew have become vile Hereteks after he cast off Abel (and allegedly killed Yrliet)

Drukhari raids still prosper (conveniently never attacking Von Valancius Ships)

And you do not want to be anywhere near the Lord-Captain's flagship when her boyfriend is in town

But, all that aside, still a fantastic place to live, couldn't ask for better!

#rogue trader #casimira von Valancius #rogue trader spoilers

[zarvasace]

Okay so just in case you were worried, no, I did not forget to upload a chapter today, I was just busy, playing the world's coolest game, Twilight Imperium! (PAX MAGNIFICA BELLUM GLORIOSUM) Got up at 8 AM this morning, got to my friend's house at 9:20, set everything up, started at 11. Lunch break 1:30-2:30 PM. We finally finished at 11:30 PM. It is now 1:11 AM and I am going to bed rather than writing . That game took us 12.5 hours, and they were all perfectly glorious hours. (Gets a little grueling at the end, we didn't hurry the game on very well, but still glorious.)

Here's how the board ended up! Isn't it lovely. My pieces were the pink ones, they matched the color scheme of the Titans.

Twilight Imperium is... How do you describe it? It's a strategy game, a diplomacy game, a game that looks like it's about the awesome pieces but it's about the alliances and hostilities between factions, real and imagined. It's a full sci-fi movie, complete with heroes and epic space battles and epic negotiations in the council. The lore is extensive and the mechanics are fine-tuned. (It's the fourth edition of the game, after all.)

This was our group's first playthrough with the expansion Prophecy of Kings, so we had new factions and mechs and relics to work through. We've played maybe four times before, with slightly varying groups of people but always our core four. I was the only one who'd played the expansion, with a different group entirely.

I played the faction The Titans of Ul, giant sentient robot people who love nature and have gardens. I was pink. Purple player was the Brotherhood of Yin (all clones but some are diseased and some aren't), blue was the Ghosts of Creuss (freaky gaseous teleporting people), black was the whatever Gene Sorcerers (dunno what was going on with them except for being freaky), and the red was Nekro Virus (the Borg). I felt a little bad because the Virus kid got the short end of the stick, but he did choose the Virus, and they're just naturally aggressive, sooooo

Our game was really space cannon-heavy, you could hardly move anywhere in the galaxy without someone trying to snipe you through a wormhole or something stupid like that. Three out of five of us had War Suns (Death Stars but without the copyright infringement) at the end, two of them had two War Suns. The Ghosts got hit hard at the beginning and had an awful time trying to catch up.

One of my favorite moments was the Virus getting very fed up with the Ghosts sitting on a few objective-necessary locations. The Virus took in his War Sun, flagship, and a ton of small guys to beat on one of the Ghosts' stronghold systems. The Virus took over the system (the Ghosts kept some presence on the planets), but not without some damage to himself. Then the Brotherhood sent in his lone flagship... which was subsequently destroyed by the Ghosts' upgraded space cannons sitting next to that system. Destroying the Brotherhood's flagship causes it to blow up, entirely decimating what was left of the Virus's army. And then the Ghosts came back into the empty system and took it over again. The Virus was not very happy.

11/10, would play again. I really gotta go to bed now!!

#still not loz.... #but tangentially related #because of writing #hcopa #kinda #ti4 #what if i took inspiration from the world of this game #made a scifi LU AU #that would be awesome #dunno if or how id pull it off #but id be so so down to read that #XD

[bee-quake]

Trouble in Paradise?!

@itsthefandommash and I were having a conversation and she came up with this idea. XD And I found it so funny I couldn't NOT write a quick story for it.

Whitebeard x F!S/I / SFW  / 1.7k

Summary: Being the newbie on a crew means that you often get the short end of the stick in terms of tasks no one else wants to do. Lucas has learned that being messager bird between Bee and Pops is one of those. Warnings: Implied sex at the end, but not described. POV in random OC.

At first, Lucas didn’t notice anything wrong. He was just going about his day on the Moby Dick , swabbing the deck. Okay, maybe not the most glamorous of jobs, sure but he was grateful to be on one of the most powerful pirate crews. He was a newly accepted son, a fresh face, and on the flagship no less. He was trying to make a good impression.

Still, as he swabbed near the nurse’s station, dipping his head in a nod and hearing them giggle, he didn’t think this particular job was that bad. Glancing up at Pops to make sure the older man hadn’t noticed, Lucas was relieved to see that he hadn’t. The old man got testy when men flirted with his daughters. Bee said it was cause he was jealous, Pops said it was because he didn't want his sons to disrespect them. 

The relief was short-lived as he took in the pinched expression on Pops’ face, frowning and looking broodily into the distance. His lap was suspiciously empty. Quickly, Lucas tried to think when the last time he saw Bee. Feeling his heart start to pound with trepidation he tried to hurry his swipes across the wood, hoping to get away from Pops before the man noticed him.

“Ah, Lucas,” Pops’ voice boomed and he froze, eyes glued to the deck. Damn. No such luck. “You mind doing me a favor, son?”

“W-well, I’m kind of in the middle of doing something, Pops—”

“Someone else can do that for you,” Pops dismissed immediately, and Lucas sighed recognizing that he wouldn’t get out of this, and threw the mop into the bucket before looking up into the older man’s lined face. “Go find Bee, would you? See what she’s doing, it’s been ages.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that it was hot and Bee was most likely attempting to escape the heat when a yell echoed across the deck. “That’s right newbie! Go find Bee!” There was a round of laughter from the shipmates scattered about and Lucas sighed, knowing when he’d been beaten.

“Alright Pops, I’ll do that,” he said dully.

“Good, thank you son.” Pops settled back into his chair with a smile, looking much more at ease and Lucas sighed as he walked away, dreading what was to come.

It wasn’t hard to find Bee, the woman was in the captain’s quarters, the room she shared with Pops. After he knocked and came in, the room was dark, the curtains drawn and a fan set up on the massive bed, blowing directly at Bee who sat against the headboard with a book in her lap. A den den mushi was playing music softly on the headboard and when dark brown eyes regarded him, Lucas tried to smile.

He didn’t think he was quite successful.

“Hey Bee, Pops wants to know what you’ve been up to.” Bee’s expression shifted to a are you an idiot which Lucas didn’t feel like he quite deserved.

“Reading,” she said slowly.  

Biting his lip, he shifted. Technically that was the end of what Pops had wanted but hoping to spare himself another trip, he went on, “Pops was wonderin’ if you were going to come out onto the deck anytime soon.”

She scoffed. “Uh, and bake under the sun? No thanks.”

Lucas tapped his foot a little before he asked, a little timidly. “Is there anything else you’d want me to tell Pops or…?”

“Just tell him I’m reading and I don’t want to be on deck right now.” He nodded back before turning to the door feeling dejected.

Trudging back to Pops, Lucas relayed Bee’s message. From the corner of his eye, he could see shipmates gathering closer and closer to watch the show. Sweat started to bead on his neck and he hoped that maybe that would be the end of it. Maybe he’d escape this time.

As Pops’ face twisted into a scowl Lucas didn’t think his chances were very high.

“Tell Bee that I’d just love for her to come on out now. It’s barely that hot.”

“Well,” Lucas began, “it is pretty hot Pops…” The glare he got in return had him clicking his mouth shut and as he turned to walk away, snickers could be heard following him.

Bee didn’t look all that surprised to see him again, as she put a finger between the pages. “What does he want?” she asked flatly.

“That he’d love for you to come up. He misses you.” Lucas hoped the comment would melt her just a little. He didn’t add the ‘that hot’ comment, he’d heard enough of Bee’s whining about the subject over the last few days of the oppressive heat they’ve had that he didn’t think she’d appreciate it overly much.

“That’s nice,” Bee said dismissively opening up her book. “Tell him I’m good, he can go a few hours without my company.”

The remark didn’t go over so well with Pops, who glowered down at Lucas as if he were to blame. He didn’t cower though, just accepted a sort of quiet defeat.

“That little—” The rest of the sentence was lost under Pops’ angry muttering before he spoke louder. “Say Thatch will make one of those fancy drinks she likes so much if she’ll come out.”

“Hey!” Thatch’s voice rose with complaint. “I didn’t say that!”

Pops waved a nonchalant hand in Thatch’s direction. “Oh please, if she asked you, you’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Before Thatch could argue, Lucas broke in. “Anything else?” he asked, a little desperately. He didn’t want to do a whole trip there and back for such a little thing. Pops rumbled a chuckle.

“Tell her captain’s orders.”  

“Nah. Not really worth it,” Bee said without looking up from her book. “Also ‘captain’s orders’? Fucking bullshit, thought we were equals. He’s lucky I’m too hot to complain about that, or else I’d march up there to give him a piece of my mind.” She was snarling down at her book when she looked up at Lucas. “Don’t tell Edward that part. Just the first thing.”

Lucas fought to keep his expression blank and not to break down in tears. Sweat was pouring down his back at this point, and he was panting heavily. He had to go down several flights of stairs there and back every time they did this.

It was a rite of passage he had been told. Whenever Pops and Bee wanted to pass messages back and forth, a newbie was always chosen to be a messenger bird. They used to do it on the den den mushi, faster for all involved but then an article had been released.

‘Trouble in Paradise?’ The headline had shouted, with a detailed discussion of their conversation. Bee had had a fit apparently. So now shipmates did it instead.

And now it was Lucas’s turn.

“Would you like me to tell him anything else?” Lucas needled and Bee hummed before looking up at the ceiling.

“Actually yeah,” she said brightly and his heart lifted with hope. “Tell him if he’s so bored he can flirt with the nurses since I’m not there to bitch at him for it. And tell him to stop bothering me.”

Closing the door behind himself, Lucas wondered if it was manly to cry now or after Pops reacted to that.

When Lucas dutifully repeated the message, the answering flare of haki almost knocked him out. He heard several thumps behind him as bodies hit the deck.

“That goddamn woman,” Pops said angrily as he stood, nurses ducking for cover and trying unsuccessfully to stop him as he started pulling out lines. “Fucking pain in my ass, come on Lucas,” he commanded as he grabbed up his naginata and started to storm away.

Dreading where this was going, Lucas jogged to keep up. When they reached the door, he tried one last ditch effort. “Pops, could I maybe go back to my duties now?”

“No,” Pops said immediately, dashing what little hope remained. “You stand there while I deal with this. Go get Marco if the screaming gets too bad.”

Lucas almost wanted to quip ‘what kind of screaming?’ just to be contrary but Pops spoke before he could. “If you’re not out here when I come out, you’re off the ship.”

“What! Pops, no don’t, I—”

“That’s an order son,” Pops’ voice was deadly serious. “You stand here and guard this door.”

Lucas sighed as Pops went in and immediately two voices became raised. Idly he wondered if he could tear off pieces of his shirt and use it as earplugs as he heard the boxsprings squeal and Bee’s scream of rage.

More muffled yelling that slowly became more and more muted before they stopped entirely. Lucas leaned against the far wall and followed the line of the wood down until he came to his butt and he sat moodily,.

It was strangely quiet, now that their fight had suddenly ended. A loud moan abruptly leaked from behind the door. Lucas stared grumpily at the door as the minutes ticked by and he could hear the mattress squeak here and there, along with several giggles from Bee.

They always did this, or at least, when it got this heated anyways. Lucas had been informed that many times Bee would simply break and go out on deck after enough messages. Unfortunately for Lucas, the last two times he’d been forced to do this, this had been the outcome. Pops became enraged and sought out Bee himself with Lucas in toll. The first time, he’d told Lucas to wait around for a scream.

He’d heard one and ran to get Marco. The commander had simply looked at him like he was crazy before he explained dully ‘when a man and woman loved each other very much…’ Lucas wasn’t sure the blush left his face for several days after.

The second, he’d simply skedaddled after he heard the first moan.

Another loud gasp before Pops’ familiar chuckle rang through and Lucas debated if he really wanted this that badly.

“Eddie,” Bee’s voice cried out before ending with a drawn-out groan and he stood abruptly, realizing that no, it really wasn’t. Hopefully, Pops would forget about him by the time they were done ahem, ‘fighting’. Lucas beat a hasty retreat down the hall as Pops let out a loud burst of laughter, love and happiness more than evident in the tone. 

#beequake #beequake fic #edward newgate #whitebeard #one piece #edward newgate x s/i #whitebeard x s/i #op whitebeard #whitebeard one piece

[thundertide]

7, 8, and 15 for the canon meme, though you can 15 just general ships too if you wanna <33

Canon Questionaire! Ft. muses I still need about for aside from Lumi-

7. What’s the best thing about the canon you are writing?

How incredibly open and free it is, and how much lore there is everywhere you look! I've built up a lot through worldbuilding on my own (and with our group), but at the same time... There's so much to Teyvat, it's hard to find it all on your own. Every time you open a book in the game, look at a paper, do a quest - Even just doing an event, flagship or not, brings with it a TON of new lore you wouldn't think would come out of something like, for example, playing with cats, of all things! Teyvat and Genshin as a whole is bursting at the seems with lore, and a lot of it is left so open to explore and some to interpretation in full, and coming out of fandoms for series where you had one straight line for canon/lore with nowhere to deviate from without fixating on the main character/main character's group, Genshin has been a blessing with everything it gives!

I'll also say it's how often canon updates, too. This six week schedule is also super nice, and it shows things are happening with the characters both with and without the traveler/your involvement, which is also super nice? Not everything happens because of the traveler; the story is clearly about Lumine and Aether and their journey(s), but the world continues to move and we continue to hear about it outside of that journey, too. I.e. We had a heavy hand in what happened in Sumeru, but it was also nice to see how other Sumerans lived, their views on things... Things like Kaveh's dealing with the truth of his father wasn't sparked by us, we just helped him deal with it while we were doing something else - He would've gotten the information anyway. Faruzan's return from stasis, the prophecy in Fontaine, etc. - It's nice to me to see a world that goes on on its own both with and without our input, and a canon that recognizes 'hey, there's more than just YOU and YOUR STORY here'. I've seen far too many series that forgets the rest of the world exists and solely focuses on your protag's story, and Genshin constantly manages to make its lore and the world feel new and fresh and expanded, and it's one major thing I will never not love about it. <3

8. What’s the worst thing about the canon you are writing?

As much as I adore the lore, I do dislike how sometimes it's so stretched out you're waiting for a year plus to learn anything - Or how easy it can be to overlook something if you're not careful. For me, this is such a small thing that it's not ever going to keep be from ultimately loving everything about it in the end, but it's also annoying sometimes to get the start of something, but then be left with a ton of questions afterwards until the next lore drop regarding it.

There's also a lot of terms to remember? Every region calls things something different and if you don't have the wiki up or you're not being careful in reading, it's super easy to forget things or get them mixed up, unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the amazing depth of the lore and the cultures of all the regions and everything about them, but for me personally? It gets hard to remember everything, especially when it's a common thing, but named 4 or 5 different terms - Similar to how two characters can have basically the same skill, but they name the effects two different things despite being pretty much the same?? Effect??? It's a lot to keep up with and I'm gonna start keeping a notebook of notes at this rate-

15. What are your thoughts on the canon ships for the character, if any?

OKAY SO WITH PERMISSION TO GENERALIZE THIS XD I'll be honest, I'm not SUPER fond of a lot of ships thrown out there? That's not to say I'm against them - I have a very small handful I don't like hearing about in a 'please don't bring this up around me' way - but I largely don't care what other people ship, and tend to distance myself from a lot of ships because I tend to like... Not focus on romance a lot? I have the handfuls I like and that's enough for me, but to be honest, I don't understand some ships and that's okay. If I'm not into them I don't have to - Other people enjoy them and that's great! <3

For the canons I have, though, I have a small handful of ships I adore, and those are usually the ships I have here as my single ships for them. Ayaka and Aether I adore, I love Lumine and Kazuha... I could get behind Chilumi, and actually lowkey ship it, but it's not an active ship around here - More of a 'they used to date' for a couple of verses? I could see Ayaka and Kazuha if they had more time together, maybe, and if not for the fact Ayaka explicitly and flat out considers Thoma to be like another brother to her, I could've gotten behind that - Though I do vastly prefer them as a family, I have to admit. And Heizou and Kuki - Though admittedly, I'm also picky af for ships I ship myself, too. XD I can see friendships and famlial bonds a lot easier than I can see romances, which is why the ships I have on my blogs are usually the point I stop - I don't have much outside of what's listed on blog I really like as a romantic ship.

I also don't think everything needs to be a ship, either? A character can be single, there's nothing wrong with it?? I used to be one of those RP'ers a loooooong time ago where every character must have a date! and like... It got exhausting, VERY quickly, and to a point where I couldn't keep track of things - Romance took over, whether or not the characters/muses were suited for each other, and I ended up in a place where I was 'shipping' things that made me personally uncomfortable just to make that happen. Nope. Not happening anymore - What's here has been built up, and I'm gonna keep it that way. XD

#You’ve Got Mail [Asks] #Yoroiis #YOU ENABLED ME SO HARD TO BABBLE XD #AND BABBLE I DID whoops XD #But you know how much I LOVE GI overall too and how open and FREE it is because we talk about it all the time? #So this was so much fun thank yoooou <3333

[lostloveletters]

Hi Battie! Fellow Godfather fan here, I absolutely love all your content, especially your fics. Thank you for this blog! I just saw in your Masterlist that you're going to write a Sonny x OC series soon, and I'm so excited because Sonny is my favorite character in both the movies and the book. Could you tell us a little bit about You Want It, You Take It, You Pay the Price? Lots of love xxx

Thank you so much! You’re incredibly kind, and I really appreciate it!!

Sonny’s my favorite too🖤 Hard to believe considering I went full steam ahead into a longfic for Michael, but I wasn't exactly planning that lol.

Unlike Bruised Fruit, I’m going to finish You Want It, You Take It, You Pay The Price before posting (it's just a 5 chapter fic, but I want to write accompanying one-shots too!) That way I can post chapters more consistently, and not be thrown off by real life stuff!

Okay, I hope the premise of the fic makes sense as I try to summarize my outline for it😅

Delaney’s the daughter of a tailor who owes a substantial gambling debt to the Corleones. She’s known pretty much her entire life that her father’s had a gambling problem, but she doesn’t realize the extent of how bad the situation got again until she eavesdrops on Sonny confronting her father about it one night. She stops Sonny outside the shop before he leaves and they talk, not really expecting to see each other again, until a month or so later when she’s moved out of her family’s place and working at the Lord & Taylor flagship store. They end up getting drinks together, and Sonny admits he's kind of surprised she doesn't hate him, but it becomes clear her resentment's toward her father and how his actions have effected her and her sisters. At one point she tells Sonny about his being the one to come around and collect on her father's debt, “If it weren’t you, it’d be someone else, and I like you." Sonny ends up way more entangled in Delaney's life than either of them ever expected, especially as Delaney trusts him more and reveals darker family secrets and Sonny takes it upon himself to right those wrongs for her, however violently he has to.

It takes place late November 1935 to March 1936, so Sonny’s single and they move incredibly quick in their relationship hehe🤭

I'm hoping to have it finished by the summer! So late May/early June?

I hope any of that made sense! I know I got to rambling a bit🫠

Thank you so much again🖤

🦇 Battie

#ask tag #insp: you pay the price

[absolutebl]

Top 10 Best BLs on YouTube

These BLs are gonna be easiest to get hold of, but also dominated by Thailand.

Until We Meet Again

Thai 2019

UWMA is, without question, a work of narrative genius with a powerful and cohesive romantic backbone and stellar performances. It is (to date) the only Thai BL (of c.300 watched) that I’ve rated 10/10 predominantly on the basis of its story structure. That said it is also very well cast (and it’s a BIG cast), with solid production values, beautiful food, powerful themes, and enduring pair branding.

He's Coming to Me

Thai 2019

Boy and ghost boy fall in love, must solve ghost’s murder. Peak pining but also pretty tame, features my favorite sweet but important coming out sequence.

A Tale of Thousand Stars

Thai 2021

With great casting and cinematography this drama nods at BL tropes but manages to elevate them (and itself) with a strong mature story concept about a spoiled rich kid who gets a heart transplant and becomes a teacher it order to pay out survivor’s guilt. On the way he falls in love with a local park ranger and contends with his own classism and escapist tendencies. Everyone seemed to perfectly suit their roles and GMMTV made the most out of its stable. Combined with excellent production (and post production) values, 1000 Stars is without question GMMTV’s most mature, charming, and smart BL series. I think it should go down as one of the top BLs of all time. I feel safe recommending this one to friends and non BL watchers.

My School President

Thai 2023

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORED this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being re-executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? This show was fantastic, it’s only flaw was the singing (and that’s my baggage). My favourite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL.

The Sign

Thai 2024

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it. Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was. Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not. Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing. I think this show is basically my KinnPorsche, and frankly I’ve been chasing that dragon naga since KP aired. Is it perfect? No. But it is balls to the wall FUN.

Emphasis on balls.

Bad Buddy

Thai 2022

This was GMMTV’s flagship BL and it started 2022 on a BANG (okay no actual banging but you know what I mean), starring heavy hitters Ohm & Nanon in a pitch perfect university Romeo & Romeo masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Some of the friendship and family dynamics are overworked, but it has great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes. I did a watch along for this one.

Oxygen

Thai 2020

Softest seme in the universe sings his affection to the older boy at the cafe. Let the slow burn courting commence. Oxygen uses every BL trope in the playbook for one of the gentlest lowest angst BLs ever made. It’s a hyung romance (younger boy courts older boy) but very very earnest about it. Am I biased? Sure. This is probably one of my biggest comfort watches.

Lovely Writer

Thai 2021

Thailand criticizes itself and the BL industry while simultaneously giving us classic seme/uke with great chemistry in a one-two punch of “we love it, but are we supposed to? and must we think this hard, yet enjoy it SO MUCH?” This show won’t appeal or make sense to those who don’t already have at least some Thai BL watching experience. What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is reexamine Thai BL has done to queerness, but in a very gentle way that has more to do with Thai BL growing up than any actual queer authenticity. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is self reflective and trying to correct for some chronic mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to all the characters.

Not Me

Thai 2022

How do you say antidisestablishmentarianism in Thai? + hot boys kissing who probably shouldn't be and convoluted soap opera identical twins plot... someone at GMMTV thought it made sense, we just here for the tattoos and the the Pride scene.

Okay so, GMMTV gave us a dark disestablishment narrative (in a time of civil unrest) with established queer award-winning director Anucha and starring the biggest guns of BL, OffGun and THIS WAS AN AMAZING THING to get to experience at the time - nerve racking but remarkable. But was it ACTUALLY BL? It certainly has a lot of BL elements, but in the end romance was not what this show was about, or even what it was genuinely trying to be as a performance piece. Still a remarkable moment in Thai cinema, certainly worth your time. Don’t worry, it all ends happily.

My Day

Pinoy 2020

The set up on this one is enemies (also boss/employee) and they don’t like each other to start. But that gets resolved pretty quickly. And then they are some of the cutest, hottest, and best boyfriends ever. This is an under-appreciated BL, IMHO.

Honorable Mention

A First Love Story

Korea 2021

Strongberry are true masters of their craft and yet A First Love Story is still one of the best things they have ever produced. It’s the only microfilm every to make one of my year end top ten list. It’s two episodes of about 8 minutes each that manage to perfectly portray the sweetest friends-to-lovers confession ever. It’s joyful, and gentle with its characters, and a little hot. How on earth do they manage to leave us yearning for more yet completely satisfied at the same time? It’s like the perfect amuse-bouche, that one finger food at that one cocktail party that you will never forget. You are a ridiculous human if you haven’t spent 16 minutes with these two boys. Go watch it now. Or go watch it again. It’s time VERY well spent.

(source)

This list updated Spring 2024, not responsible for cool stuff that aired on YouTube (or was taken off the platform) after that date.

Others in this series:

GMMTV seems to have cut a deal to move some of there prestige content from YT to Viki, and launch some on iQIYI. I respect this choice from a profit margin perspective. But the show can be suddenly available nowhere for several months as a result. FYI

#best bls on youtube #bl recomendation list #best bls #easily to find bl #thai bl #pinoy bl #Until We Meet Again #UWMA #He's Coming to Me #A Tale of Thousand Stars #OhmFluke #EarthMix #My School President #geminifourth #The Sign #billybabe #Bad Buddy #Oxygen the series #Lovely Writer #Not Me #My Day #My Day the series\ #A First Love Story #strongberry #gmmtv

[addierose444]

Visiting Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Bellevue Square

On Saturday I planned a lunch trip to the Bellevue Square location of Beecher's Handmade Cheese for their famous mac and cheese. The other primary trip objective was to find rain pants and check out waterproof shoes as bike commuting in the rain hasn’t been the most fun. While I did find (and purchase) a really nice pair of rain pants, the high cost was a bit of a shock to the system. I’d done some initial browsing on REI’s website, but in-person I discovered that the more affordable options were slightly too long and more importantly too loose to safely bike in. While I was able to cover the purchase with coupons, member dividends, and gift cards it was really hard to be buying a pair of pants that cost more than my other non-rent expenses combined. As for shoes, the non-hiking waterproof options were very limited. I did however try on a pair of regular trail running shoes that come in a waterproof version just to get a sense of the fit and feel. I found the shoes to be quite comfortable, so I will definitely keep them in mind if/when I determine that I actually need waterproof shoes. 

Back to Beecher’s and their “World’s Best” Mac and Cheese. While I don’t love it when companies name products like this, I’ll give Beecher’s a pass because they genuinely make incredible mac and cheese. I first tried it last summer during my first week in Seattle when some fellow interns and I visited Pike Place Market. Given how much I enjoyed the mac and cheese, I’m somewhat surprised that I only went that one time. To be fair, I was a bit overwhelmed by the rest of Pike Place, thought it would be better to try different places, and that summer is when I learned first hand (through both observation and calculation) the price differential between home cooked meals and restaurants. Last summer is also when I discovered and fell in love with meal planning. I’m hoping to write a bit more about meal planning in the future, but if you’re interested you can check out the post I wrote last summer on why I meal plan. 

Back to mac and cheese, it’s been one of my favorite foods for as long as I can remember. I mean I literally mentioned it in my very first blog post. (I did however call in macaroni and cheese in that post which is totally not how I refer to it in real life). Really though what’s not to love, it’s pasta coated in a creamy cheese sauce! The only gripe I have with mac and cheese is that it needs to be eaten right away and relatively quickly or else the texture suffers greatly. Furthermore, it doesn’t make for good leftovers as it’s difficult to reheat well. This is okay though because as delicious as mac and cheese is it’s not really something you should eat multiple meals in a row. Furthermore, a basic stovetop mac is actually quite quick and easy to prepare. 

As for the Beecher’s mac and cheese, it really is amazing and seriously one of the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. The sauce is made with a blend of their Flagship and Just Jack cheeses and perfectly blankets each and every noodle (they use penne). In addition to being absolutely delicious, the sauce is so luxurious and creamy. It’s hard to explain, but while the sauce is rich and has body, there’s a surprising lightness to it. In other words, it’s not very thick and even after eating a pound of it, I felt like I could easily eat more without feeling ill. There’s a very slight kick to the mac, but as someone who hates spicy food and has an embarrassing low spice tolerance believe me when I say it really just adds flavor. If you do like spicy food, you could consider ordering their Mariachi mac. Beecher’s also sells a frozen mac and cheese that, at least around here, is available in a number of the regular grocery stores. It's nearly inevitable that I'll be trying it at some point, but I’ll note that it is quite pricey for a frozen meal. (Slightly more expensive than going to the cafe, but you do get four more ounces so per ounce it’s a little bit cheaper). Finally, they’ve published the recipe on their website, so maybe I’ll give it a try sometime. Realistically though I’ll just stick with my easy stovetop mac and the occasional trip to the cafe.  

The one odd thing about Beecher’s is their locations. For instance, the Bellevue Square location that I visited is literally inside a mall. In addition to the Pike Place location, there’s a medical center location, and multiple airport locations. In other words, not exactly the best ambiance for a nice meal as there’s also no dedicated seating and the serving vessel is just a disposable paper to go container. The one nice thing about the container is that the narrow opening helps to keep the mac nice and warm which as I mentioned earlier is very important for maintaining the texture. 

I will also note that the Bellevue mall, The Bellevue Collection, is definitely more of an upscale mall as it has stores like the Apple Store and William Sonoma. And while mall food doesn’t initially sound that appetizing, this mall really does have some good options including nice ramen and pho places. The ramen place (Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya) had an insanely long line, but at least from my experience with the Redmond location that I visited with my mom the food is quite good. (You can check out a photo of the ramen in my post about moving across the country). As for the pho, it’s a regional chain called What The Pho! that I definitely want to try at some point. There’s also a Ben & Jerry’s which I’ll absolutely need to visit at some point. Not getting a cone after my mac and cheese was a bit difficult to resist as the waffle cones smelled so good and I love and miss Ben & Jerrys. However, I’d literally gotten ice cream at Cold Stone the day before with my coworkers and I’d just warmed up with my mac. 

#seattle #bellevue #beecher's handmade cheese #mac and cheese #REI #Bellevue Collection