#the parallels would've been entirely too obvious

[iridescentprose]

A Year—Laurie Laurence x fem! reader

summary; in which you return to your hometown after a year and run into Laurie at a social event; no warnings—just dramatic fluff.

The sea of flowing dresses and men in buttoned down shirts started to make you feel nauseous. But the wave of adrenaline that coursed through your veins as the music swelled was enough to keep you on the dance floor. You had missed this about your hometown—the people, the nightly dance socials, and the constant feeling of adventure. It was certainly a contrast to [your out of town place of work].

Suddenly, the flurry of people suddenly cheered as the entire dancefloor switched partners.

Your excitement rose, then fell, as you were swept into the arms of the man you had been avoiding ever since you arrived back in town. He grasped your hand gently, his arm snaking around your waist and pulling you to his chest.

You rolled your eyes.

"Well, well, well," Laurie said. "Look who's running back into my arms. I told you that I'm irresistible, didn't I?"

"Laurie—"

"You didn't tell me you were back in town."

"That was intentional," you said, glancing off to the side at your potential partner who met your gaze with a disappointed expression. Had it not been for Laurie disrupting the dance routine, you would've ended up dancing with a man who looked wise beyond his years—the local blacksmith with a nonexistent hairline.

You were relieved yet highly annoyed.

Oblivious to the passing man's deadly glare, Laurie pouted at you. "It's been a year. Are you still angry at me?"

He spun you around—a little too quickly for your liking—but the dizziness stopped abruptly when you were back in his arms. You stiffened as your fingers dug into the fabric of his shoulder.

"That's putting it lightly, but yes, I am still angry at you," You said, your foot accidentally scraping his shoe as he waltzed backwards, pulling you along with him. He pretended not to notice as you carried on with the conversation. "I could've gotten hurt!"

"But that was years ago!" A few nearby couples glanced in your direction at his sudden exclamation that rose above the music. Laurie used a finger to guide your chin back to him. "The pond was shallow—"

You swiped his hand away playfully, resisting the smile that tugged at your mouth, before resuming the dance. "My dress was in ruins. And need I remind you the tadpole that nearly swam in my ear?"

He did nothing to stifle his laughter and all you could do was stand there and bite the inside of your jaw. Suddenly, the music changed and the audience switched partners again. As someone skipped towards you to grasp your arm, Laurie spun you and you were once again stolen away from a new suitor.

"It's been a year—"

"You said that already," you pointed out, impatience lacing your tone as you tried catching up with everyone else.

"And you keep avoiding the obvious question."

You two were circling each other now, palms touching, fingers pressed together in a parallel fashion.

"It just didn't work out," You said with a shrug, before you both circled each other in the opposite direction. "I missed home too much."

Laurie beamed. "By home, you mean me?"

"I mean, everything but you, Theodore Laurence."

His footsteps stalled, temporarily putting you both off beat. It took a moment before you two got steady again, switching hands and walking forwards and backwards in time with the music.

"What are you saying?" His voice conveyed a sense of hurt that you hoped to never hear again. You almost felt bad for coming on a little too harsh with your words.

"What I'm saying is...it's a little hard to miss someone who you feel is always with you." In the pocket of your overflowing skirt, you pulled out a smooth stone.

His eyes widened. "You kept it?" He inquired, his steps slowing again. You ran your thumb over the stone that had been eroded countless times into a smooth pebble. Laurie had given it to you as an apology for pushing you into the lake. You thought the gesture was stupid—if not a desperate attempt to get you to surrender your silence.

He swore he found it by the shallow end of the lake, but you were certain he had been holding it in his pocket after he found it by the shores of the beach—your least favorite place due to all the annoyingly rough sand.

"I carried it around with me every so often," You said, before slipping it back into your pocket. It was the only physically small object you could carry in your pocket. Your parents worrisome letters weren't small enough to stash away in your pocket.

Stunned by this revelation, he smirked. His eyebrows quirked upwards in curiosity.

"So you thought of me the entire time you were in [insert out of state place of work]?"

"I didn't say that—"

"You did, actually" he said, matter-of-factly. "And to that, I say I missed you, too, [your name]."

Unwilling to let this moment pass, he took a step forward to close the gap between you two. The cheek kiss was quick, miniscule— though all you could ever dream about since you left home.

He pulled back slowly, however, his smile was slightly diminished. "That still doesn't explain why didn't you come find me the moment you got back."

You felt your cheeks grow warm, the temperature in room starting to rise. Your eyes darted around you, but there was no room for escape. The dancefloor was too crowded and Laurie's grip on your hands, though gentle, was firm and unrelenting.

You had left home to pursue your dreams of being a [insert dream job] and without so much as letter of warning to him. It was for the sake of your guilt and the fact that if you had told him person (or given him your new address) you would've been hesitant to leave.

Laurie, as of now, had no plans of letting you leave him like that again.

You swallowed any lies resting on your tongue. "Because I didn't want to come back and find out that you moved on without me."

It was a reasonable admission—a rational fear of yours since you stepped out on faith to follow your dreams outside Massachusetts. But it was no excuse. There was no way you could return home and ignore the years of friendship—and dare you say, more—with the person in front of you.

He grinned, though it was devoid of arrogance and laced with understanding. You smiled subtly, though the guilt didn't melt away until he tilted your chin towards him, leaving a quick, breathless kiss on your lips. No further words were needed as he stepped back and offered his arm. Gingerly you took it with a humble curtsy and the both of you skipped and jumped around.

The two of you danced for hours, not bothering to switch partners while doing so.

#laurie x reader #little women fanfiction #little women reader insert #laurie reader insert #theordore laurence x reader #theodore laurence x reader insert #theodore laurence fic #timotee chalamet #little women fanfic #laurie laurence #laurie laurence x reader #laurie laurence fanfic #timothee chalamet imagine

[laismoura-art]

@mikka-minns, MA GAL! I HAD IDEAS!! 💛💛

Ok, so Scorpion!Harumi has been living rent free in my mind soooooo, I made an (huge ass) AU!

This goes Spider Gwen style like we talked! So Harumi became Scorpion instead of Hanzo!

I dunno what's the process to become Scorpion, I imagine they evaluate your skills during missions, but also go through some trail by combat! And in our reality (Scorpion!Hanzo's reality) Hanzo and Harumi are toe to toe but he wins by an inch, while in this reality Harumi got the upper hand!

And this here's my take on her design as Scorpion:

Now under the cut I go more in depth with her life and stuff, I didn't make it all that different from Hanzo (as you know, parallels and canon events🎸 and stuff) but there's a twist or two!

So Harumi becomes Scorpion, and due to his performance Hanzo is one of her most trusted warriors, till they have Satoshi and Hanzo becomes more of a stay-at-home dad so Harumi can go in longer and more challenging missions.

And one day she is hired do one of the most dangerous missions yet, steal a map from a Shaolin Temple!

She meets the man, Bi-Han, the Sub-Zero himself! He is, as expected, not impressed by the warrior before him, too short, too scrawny, he expected they would send something better to face him!

But as they engage in combat, oh boy! Perhaps he did underestimate this warrior after all! She was skilled and pulled a hell of a fight! But she is only human and he one of the last Cryomancers on Earth. Our Scorpion wouldn't stand a chance.

He defeated her and as he was ready to deliver the final blow! He hears a plea. From the Scorpion, and the penny drops!

A woman.

Sub-Zero is well known to be Ruthless and merciless. But not a monster. "Never women and children." That's his rule.

He beats her to unconsciousness, as he judges his right as winner of the match, and leaves her as she is, beaten and humiliated... but alive.

No one would hear of Sub-Zero's rare display of mercy, not even Harumi herself, as she woke up as a dead woman, in hell, reborn as a wraith.

No one knows who killed Harumi Hasashi, but for her, the killer was obvious, the last person seen with her. The ruthless, the merciless. The Sub-Zero.

He had killed her! And as she later learned, he lead an attack to her home, the Fire Gardens. Her entire clan, her beloved husband, and her sweet baby boy. All taken from her so brutally.

Sub-Zero would pay for this! And the only way she found to get to him was through Quan Chi.

A fair trade, she imagined, do one job for the evil man and get her revenge! It made sense for her. "It's what Hanzo would've done. It's what Hanzo would've wanted..."

She headed to the Mortal Kombat as a wraith, driven by her own anger and sorrow (and the whispers of a mad man) she killed Sub-Zero. He was unconscious when he died, a small mercy for another.

Vengeance was found, but not freedom. Harumi stayed by Quan Chi's side, where else would she be? Where else would she go? Who else would be out there for her?

But their "Alliance" was short lived as soon came the truth.

It was Quan Chi the man who slaughtered her family and clan, it was Quan Chi who killed Harumi after Sub-Zero had defeated her. It was Quan Chi who manipulated her grief her pain, her sorrow.

But it was she, and only she who had killed Bi-Han. She had killed an innocent man and sooner or later, she would pay the price.

It did not take long for someone to come to avenge Bi-Han. Two siblings. Twins. Kuai Liang and Lisa Liang. Came to avenge their fallen older brother.

By the time they got to Harumi she already knew the truth, she'd already burned Quan Chi till he was nothing but a pile of burnt flesh.

She had avenged her loved ones and killed a monster. Now it was only fair the siblings, now the Sub-Zero Siblings, had their shot at getting rid of their monster.

It was only fair. It was what Harumi deserved for allowing herself to be so foolish. It was what she deserved.

But it would have to wait. The world was in danger, and she was the only one who could stop it.

She pleaded the siblings for help, to help her do the right thing, "kill me if you must, but promise me you will keep the Kamidogu safe!"

Kuai Liang, though hesitant, was the first to aid the Scorpion. He hated her, that was true, but it was also true that he wouldn't risk the world for his own needs and desires. He was better than that, and he knew that, and even Scorpion knew that.

Lisa Liang however, was harder to convince, she was torn by her need for vengeance and the world's need of her. She did not trust the Scorpion one bit, and she thought her brother was a fool to even consider give this woman a chance.

But Kuai Liang was firm in his decision, he would protect the world, and Lisa, would protect her remaining family.

With the threat of the Kamidogu dealt with, Kuai Liang started his mission to find his missing friends and rebuild the Lin Kuei, he did not care much for vengeance anymore, he just wanted to preserve his family's legacy.

Lisa, went with him.

"My life is yours to take." Harumi told Lisa humbly before she left. The Cryomancer pondered, but ended refusing the offer. There was something about that Scorpion, something she saw during their partnership, that made Lisa hesitate.

Harumi insisted her life would be theirs, but in another way. A Shirai Ryu way.

She became their guardian and protector, she made herself a home, hidden within the Lin Kuei, until Kuai Liang, who had already made his peace with her and the role she had in his life, decided it was past the time to offer the Scorpion forgiveness. Even if she did not judge herself deserving of it.

Kuai invited her to stay officially and for as long as she desired. She would have a room of her own and role to play.

Never had the Sub-Zero Twins argued so intensely before. But in the end, Kuai had the last word, and Harumi stayed.

Getting Lisa to like her was a hardship, but as the years passed, the Cryomancer sister started to warm up to her. Even if she would never bring herself to admit.

Years later, Harumi was already part of the Sub-Zero family, it was hard, and having Bi-Han returning from the dead did not make things any easier, but in the end her efforts payed out.

One day, an unimaginable thing happened, Lord Raiden and his champions had found another reality. In this reality, Harumi had died, she had learned it was a normal occurrence within the multiverse.

But she had also learned whenever she died. He lived. Her Hanzo.

His visit to this world was quick, but it made quite an impact on her, as she made on him. They could both tell each other the death of their loved ones was not their fault. Never their fault.

They could tell each other how much they missed one another, how much their cared, how much they loved! They could tell each other everything they wanted but never had the opportunity to...

And by the end of the evening, Hanzo had one more thing to say: "I am in love."

Harumi knew from his expression that he was uncertain of what her reaction would be. He did not want her to feel betrayed, forgotten.

She assured him he was doing no such a thing, as a matter of fact, he was making her very happy!

Because she wanted him to be happy, she wanted him to move on, and find someone who loved him as much as she did! "He is such a sweet person, he should be able to share it with someone deserving!" She thought to herself.

And when her curiosity couldn't be contained, she asked the question: "who is this person that now owns your heart?"

And the answer, somehow did not surprise her: Kuai Liang.

No matter the reality, Kuai Liang always finds his way to one's heart, how could anyone possibly not love him?

And if someone is deserving of Hanzo's love, is Kuai Liang!

Hanzo had told her a lot about his world, it was not so different, though it had some significant changes, the one that shocked Harumi the most, was that there were only two Sub-Zero siblings, not three. Lisa did not exist in his world.

It stung her heart to imagine it, a world without Lisa's fierce heart, bold attitude and a kind heart she would only trust a few.

"A world without Lisa." Haruni pondered, "What a sad world it would be. What a painful thought."

Oh, I wonder what this thought could mean?

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

Congratulations! You made it through the end! :D

Here, have a (very) rough sketch:

I used recent pics of Lisa's actress (Rachel Lee Harris) as inspo (specially for her hair) and gave her THAT SUIT™️, I also gave it thigh high boots cause @gophergal inspired me!💜

Also tagging @paradisechid800 cause your post started it all! 💛

Edit: More of this AU!

#harumi hasashi #huge post #Scorpion!Harumi AU #Harumi deserves better and if NRS won't give her better I WILL! #still mad about invasions #so I'll take this anger and turning it into something positive! #subscorp #<- both Kuai/Hanzo and Harumi/Lisa #mortal kombat #mortal kombat legends #<- huge inspo #hanzo hasashi #kuai liang #bi han #<- he also redeems himself in Harumi's reality #cause redeemed Bi-Han is MY canon event! #scorpion #sub zero #lisa liang

[kitkatopinions]

Nitpick November Day Five! Let's talk about the Happy Huntress uniforms.

So, I don't remember exactly where I heard it, but I'm pretty confident it's true; The Happy Huntresses introduced in V7 were meant to parallel but be contrasts to the Ace Ops also introduced in V7. I could make an entire post about the ways that I think that failed that are a little more important than their uniforms like Robyn being a politician and them stealing from government works projects rather than like them stealing from Jacques Schnee and how I would've done the Robin Hood allusion differently etcetera etcetera, but those aren't nitpicks.

But specifically with the uniforms, I'm gonna nitpick the hell out of that. Because one of the ways that the Happy Huntresses could've so easily been used to contrast the Ace Ops is their clothes. We as the audience are meant to see the Ace Ops as stiff, order followers who act within the confines of Atlas and Ironwood, and we're meant to view the Happy Huntresses instead as the cool, rebellious non-conforming good badge carrying law enforcement officers that only follow their own rules (which again is an entirely different problem that's much bigger than a nitpick.) But if we're going to see the Ace Ops as stiff and confined and the Happy Huntresses instead represent freedom and expression... Why are their outfits so matchy? The Happy Huntresses should dress however they want, wield cool creative weapons, express themselves through their clothes and emblems if they even have emblems! Even though the Ace Ops all keep to an Atlas color scheme, their outfits are otherwise just as personalized if not more personalized than the Happy Huntress outfits are. Apparently Ironwood is like "No, it doesn't matter if Marrow is wearing a long sleeved coat, Harriet, of course you should wear a tank-top shirt and white shorts with dark blue chaps if you want to," but the Happy Huntresses were like "If our jackets aren't almost the exact same except in different dulled down colors, we won't look like a team." I'll also point out that making the Ace Ops a group of five (something that goes against the norm of teams as we've seen in RWBY) and only making four important HH members (though there is one more member named Crimson that's offscreen according to the Wiki,) is also slightly weird to me. Like, shouldn't Robyn's team be the one not adhering to strict arbitrary unnecessary rules like how many people are usually put on a team, while the Ace Ops are the ones who are adhering to those guidelines? I read on the wiki once that the Ace Ops being comprised of five people was 'a clue' that Ironwood wasn't good because he wasn't adhering to the four-person team thing, and I'm just like...

It's a nitpick, but really, why do the Happy Huntresses have any sort of uniform? If I was trying to play the Ace Ops as stiff and controlled and the Happy Huntresses as contrasting that, I'd start by giving the Ace Ops all one unchanging across the board uniform and making the Happy Huntresses an explosion of different styles and cool color schemes with no set aesthetic or uniforms at all. It seems obvious! Why couldn't one of them be more subdued and grayscale and one of them is like colorful punk and one of them is more cutesy vintage and one of them dresses in like... Idk, seventies inspired glam, or vampire looking goth stuff, or grunge or biker or anything interesting and not conforming?

This might just be me personally too, but I have an easier time getting attached to and caring about side characters when they look like they have a lot of personality. Like don't get me wrong, May specifically has a great personality that shines through even without some kind of iconic look. But compare this

To this

There's a reason people loved Neo from her very first appearance before we even knew anything about her, and it's because we could get so much character from just this shot

Not to mention

So much character can be gleaned by style (and attitude.) I do not understand the choice to make characters that are meant to be significant and thematic like the Happy Huntresses and then putting them all in dulled down samey uniforms with all the same weapon.

#rwde #rwde nitpicks #nitpick november

[tsaritsa]

Congratulations on winning Nano!!! Any hot takes or unconventional tips on how to achieve a huuuge milestone like that in so little time?

Also, if you'd like to share, I'd love to hear more about the piece(s) you worked on during this year's event! Big yay if you want to tease us with a sneak peek as well. 🙂

Congratsss again!!!

ty!!!! i am afraid my tips might seem kind of obvious and not that much of a hot take but here's what worked for me:

writing sprints. do 10 min. do 17 min. do 30 min. whatever it is, just get words down on the page. after each sprint was finished i'd look at what i wrote, fix up the most glaring mistakes (espe if the words looked terrible. i've learned to live with a lot of spelling errors bc otherwise u waste too much time. during nano each day i'd prolly manage between 2-3 sprints -- usually enough to net me between 1000-1500 words each day. i wouldn't stop if i hit the daily total, i'd stop when i could feel the motivation waning. my lowest day was under 300 words, my biggest was just over 4000.

get a community. writing sucks alone. i feel very grateful that i've made some friends on here who were also trying to write regularly, so now there's 5 of us in a little discord i've made. we do sprints with each other and share lots of snippets, memes, pretty pictures etc. it keeps us excited about our own projects, but also allows us to cheerlead each other on.

get used to placeholders. i use TK. anytime there's a word i need but it's not on the tip of my tongue? TK my beloved. sometimes i'd write like she sighed in a TK kind of way, or like harry opens his mouth to argue about TK TK some work thing he's doing TK TK. it just keeps u in the pace of writing ur in, but allows for a few words to be spent writing down a piece that needs further expansion.

establish habits and goals. for me, it's stuff like trying to write the bulk of my writing with a nice candle lit, but also the silly stuff like putting on lippy so I feel like. Ready to do shit. have a few drinks avail. one to hydrate (ice cold) one to caffeinate (also ice cold). play music or sounds that will help u get into the zone without overly distracting. now that i've won it i'm gonna treat myself to some silly purchases as well bc i should reward myself for such hard work and dedication. i'm thinking a v comfy hoodie.

overall if i didn't have the community i had this month i think my external motivation would've been lost quickly, so find friends to yell at about ur project. watch yt videos about ppl doing writing! make posts and don't give a flying fuck about being cringe or not suiting ut 'aesthetic'. this is u. do it for U.

in terms of this project: the short version is hermione goes back to hogwarts post book 7 and has to slowly begin to recover from/learn to live with the PTSD she's gained. alas, draco is also back and she's gotta learn to make peace with the fact that he's allowed to want to change and that he's making small steps to become a better person than who he was. they're gonna kiss and be disgusting with each other. ultimately this is a story about hermione's journey, as the whole thing is written from her perspective, so although the dhr aspect is there, there are also other important relationships i want to focus on -- especially her and harry.

i'm ignoring/expanding on a lot of canon, and using some details from the movies i prefer over the books (namely her mudblood scar bc mmmmm parallels). i don't really know if anybody is in character but i don't care! this is my story and i'll do it how i see fit haha.

the following excerpt comes from late sept in the current draft. at this point dhr has been forced together a few times already. draco has surreptitiously managed to drug slughorn with a potion of his (slughorn's) own making during their potions class bc the potions professor was spending an entire lesson just showing off instead of. u know. teaching.

#ask #live by the cringe die by the cringe #i'm seriously thinking about starting a little vlog journey for this so i can just keep myself even more motivated haha #ty for the ask!!!! basically u just gotta write. doesn't matter how bad it is. it counts!

[stillness138]

for the character ask game: Vernon Roche

i gotta think about this! thank you

first impression: i actually remember this pretty well because witcher 2 was my first exposure to the franchise. i think i felt pretty much what i was supposed to feel though; "this guy imprisoned me but seems more sensible than the goons he employs". i liked his matter-of-fact but clearly proud and protective attitude towards Ves and his putting the key on the table and walking away like 'surely Geralt will manage'.

impression now: i still like him! surprisingly, cdpr writes original characters with really commendable nuance. of course, if Iorveth is to be believed word for word, Roche is responsible for carrying out hate crimes (he doesn't deny the accusations Iorveth makes, so i think that's just fact), and yet he shows time and time again that he really is more sensible than most. compare him to Rayla - also a special forces leader - and see the difference. Roche lacks the outright bloodthirst or really even the prejudice; it seems to me that he does his job and obeys Foltest without objection because he sees it as doing something worthwhile with his life, considering how he grew up. he and Iorveth contrast and parallel each other in fascinating ways.

favorite thing about him: his relationship towards Ves, because he clearly values her as an employee and as a person. his relative level-headedness. and the unpacked daddy issues that are most definitely there even if he won't talk about it. that part of him is sadly the most relatable to me. i also enjoy his humor, whether intentional or not. "emhyr var emreis, spice merchant" bursting into the elven baths while Triss is trying her hardest to seduce Geralt, fucking comedy gold.

least favorite thing about him: apart from the hate crimes? i think most of my issues that relate to him are metatextual - because the entire political landscape and plotline of witcher 3 sucks ass. maybe he could've held back the cops that beat Geralt though ngl.

favorite line/scene: "And we did. For three days. Then they smashed us into splinters." again, as much as i dislike the politics in witcher 3, this bit stands out to me. maybe also because it's punctuated by a reprise of the second game's main theme, in 3's instrumentation and a much more somber mood. good scene. that and the funny bits. "Some professional you are..."

favorite interaction he has with another character: it should be mainly credited to Letho's absolutely hilarious one-liner, but their little reunion at Kaer Morhen always gets a chuckle out of me. the entire interrogation at the beginning of witcher 2 is up there too.

a character that i wish he would interact with more: in the second game, elves in general. he mostly proves he's not completely shit-headed in context, but it would've been interesting to see him have a conversation with someone like Cedric. third game should've had Iorveth, we all know that.

another character from another fandom that reminds me of him: i know 5 things, but if i had to make a comparison... general Tullius from Skyrim? both are very capable and dedicated servants of a government despite its obvious failures and both show a noticeable sensibility or even calm you perhaps wouldn't expect. both have a badass lady as their right-hand person, too.

a headcanon about him: he hates the smell of cheap alcohol. childhood reminder. i also think he has a notable appreciation for architecture. can't remember if he actually comments on Loc Muinne in any way but somehow it feels like a thing he'd do. and i think it's pretty much canon that his hair color is towards light brown? or have i been living with fanon for far too long. either way, yeah, dirty blonde or warm light brown, super short on the sides.

a song that reminds of him: Shadowplay by Joy Division, in a way. first verse about beginning to serve Foltest, second verse about Foltest's and Temeria's fall. "but i could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left" versus "and we did, for three days, then they smashed us into splinters".

an unpopular opinion about him: i famously dislike shipping him with Iorveth and i'm actually yet to see a good Roche ship. but the real hot take is that he doesn't need one. did i just say aroace Vernon Roche? maybe.

favorite picture: i'm sorry, but it's gotta be this one. on a more serious note, i always liked this piece of fanart a lot too. he gets to be cool.

#thanks again! #ask game #shut up elis #the witcher

[mercymermaid]

so

i think it's time for my fnaf movie rant

HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE SPOILERS (obviously)

these are in no particular order and are just a conglomeration of thoughts that i wrote down immediately after watching so they don't make any sense half the time, and don't include theories i've seen recently

enjoy

- THE MATPAT CAMEO??? THE THEORY LINE???? HOLY FUCKING SHIT. THE THEATER SCREAMED.

- why did golden freddy pull a sans w the blue eye what happened to the white smh

- DUDE. I CALLED THE 'VANESSA AS AFTON'S DAUGHTER' HALFWAY THROUGH THE FUCKING MOVIE

- THE SECOND SHE EXPLAINED THAG SHE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND THAT SHE WOULDNT BE ABLE TO HELP, IT WAS OBVIOUS.

- because mike explained that their dad was gone, right? and afton clearly recognized the schmidt name. due to this, i originally thought that maybe schmidt was some code name and that only the aftons could recognize it, but now i have a theory

- the families are switched somehow. Vanessa is either a stand-in for Charlie or herself, which makes no sense story-wise

- however, Mike, Abby, and Garrett are clearly afton children. Mike is Mike (and in the games, Mike apparently uses Schmidt anyway to investigate his dad), Abby can bring lengthened to Elizabeth, and the crying child doesn't even canonically have a name 💀

- so i was thinking what if the families were eswitched? vanessa was some sort of charlie stand-in, with afton as her dad, while the schmidts were raised by Henry

- this would explain why he recognized schmidt and offered the job at Freddy's - he'd already killed Garrett, so he wanted to finish off the collection. Mayne this could be a parallel to him killing Charlie, but since there's three kids, he needs to get them all??? idfk

- ONE OF THE GUYS BREAKING IN HAD A MIDNIGHT MOTORISTS T-SJIRT (the guy who got killed by the cupcake)

- i am soglad i went with who I did because i doubt any of my other friends would understand any of it 😭

- THEY PLAYED LIVING TOMBSTONE AT THE END. YES. THANK YOU. THAT IS ALL WE EVER NEEDED IN LIFE.

- the balloon boy bit 😭 i doubt anyone not in the fandom would appreciate it as well as we did smh

- ugh i wish mark had his cameo but iron lung is important too ig

- THE WAY THE AUDIENCE SCREAMED WHEN AFTON TOOK OFF HIS MASK BRAHAHHDHCJC

- WE WERE ALL WAITIJG FOR IT

- we probably won't get to see a "WAS THAT THE BITE OF '87" moment because garrett got kidnapped instead of chomped smh

- BUT. THEY KEPT THE GUILT. IN THE GAMES, MICHAEL SHOVED CC INTO FREDBEAR'S MOUTH. IN THE MOVIE, HE WASNT PAYING ATTENTION, WHICH CAUSED HIS BROTHER TO GET KIDNAPPED. OH THE FUCKING PARALLELS DUUUUDE

- also max getting bit in half is probably all we're gonna get of The Bite

- MATTHEW LILLARD FUCKING ATE. HE KNEW THE ASSIGNMENT. BEST AFTON.

- only issue is the lack of screaming during the springlocking. only your stomach is getting stabbed, not your throat yet. Scream.

- it would've been so funny if he pulled the "MICHAELLL DONT LEAVE ME HERE MICHAEL MICHAEL" while he was being dragged away but homie was too busy dying

- HE SAID THE LINE. "I ALWAYS COME BACK." OH MY GOD.

- NOBODY EXPECTSD VANESSA TO GET STABBED. THE THEATER GASPED.

- "IT'S ME" ON THE MIRROR DBSJAJXJXJXJDJ

- stop bonnie and chica staring down the camera while they release the cupcake is so funny 😭

- MORE ON THE FAMILY SWITCH. ABBY IS ELIZABETH, OBVIOUSLY, WHICH IS ONLY MADE MORE TRUE BC CHICA TRIES TO SHOVE HER INTO THAT DOLL-LOOKING THING. YOU KNOW WHAT IT RESEMBLES? SCRAP BABY. MY FIRST THOUGHT ABOUT THAT SUIT WAS "dude is that scrap baby?"

- the lack of a mrs. afton is so real 🤩🤩

- dude the entire fort scene was actually so fucking hilario

us

- like bonnie just. falling backwards. is so him yk

- BUT GOLDEN FREDDY. THERES THE KID. WHERE'S CASSIDY? IS GARRETT ALSO POSSESSING GOLDEN FREDDY IF HE'S THE PARALLEL FOR CC? WHAT ABOUT VANESSA? 

- the issue with the family swap is that Vanessa just doesn't fit in. we can't play it off as a parallel to Charlie, because vanessa is already an established character with a connection to afton.  fuck you Scott.

- SPEAKING OF. SCOTT KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING. HE CATERED TO US LIKE A FUCKING ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT BUFFET. THE INSIDE REFERENCES AND EASTER EGGS?! THE MATPAT CAMEO??? THE LIVONG TOMBSTONE?!?!?! 

- a bit upset they didn't keep Freddy's flashing face sequence smh

- THE SPRINGLOCKING WAS SO GOOD BC THEY LEFT HIM IN THE EXACT SAME POSITION AS CANON. ALSO IT WAS GOLDEN FREDDY WHO FINALLY LEFT HIM THERE, WHICH IS A HIT AT THE WHOLE "GOLDEN FREDDY HATES AFTON THE MOST" (cough cough ultimate custom night)

- they kept in the red eyes in some parts but im very glad they weren't in the rest. they looked fucking high. what happened to the black with white?? THAT WOULDVE BEEN TEN TIMES SCARIER AND APPEALED TO CANON, WHATS THE WITH THE CHANGE MAN 😭

- bonnie never got his eyebrows

- cupcake slayed and ate (literally!!!!)

- im actually super curious why half of spring bonnie is so damaged. now, it could go with the whole "this place hasn't been touched in forever, yadda yadda, destroyed suit makes it more sensitive and easy to set off" but. it's only one half of it. there could be a perfectly plausible explanation of "Oh yeah, only half of it was exposed to bad stuff, other half was covered with a tarp" ITS FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S. ITS NEVER THAT SIMPLE. HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING? also a bit curious about whether movie afton already got springlocked once like book afton did (has game afton getting springlocked previously been confirmed? please lmk)

- i really love how they used the "the robots are just children" because they love abby and just want to play and shit and they're so sweet but they're so easily manipulatable 

like

afton probably didn't have to do much besides show the pictures and convince them he was good

and all it took for them to turn on him was abby drawing a second picture

what if she convinced them vanessa was bad or some shit? they are really fucking gullible.

- also what the fuck was that freddy head saw blade monstrosity??!! what 😭 

- like it never ends up being explained and it's not a stand-in for springlocks or being shoved into suits because those are very very much there

- literally the second i heart matpat's voice my heart went oop 

- it took a second for everyone to register it but we went WILD

- AND HE DROPPED THE "BUT THATS JUST A THEORY"

- HE'S SO SILLY

- FOOD THEORY IS SO REAL THO 😭

- no bc a markiplier cameo would be so great but imagine if they used his reaction thing

- like they got him to film "WAS THAT THE BITE OF '87" as max gets bitten, and he appears in the corner for that one line

- even better, not reaction camera style, just standing there right next to her and then never being mentioned again

- either that or him popping up on the cameras (again, either as a reaction image, or standing there menacingly)

- THEY HAD SPARKY

- also why DID vanessa keep Mike in the dark abt afton (not calling him her dad, not stooping that low) and him trying to kill Abby? fear of authorities getting involved? this is bumfuck nowhere Utah, she is the fucking authority, and considering what his aunt said, a police officer defending her dad against some random guy isn't gonna go well for him

- like sure she told him to not bring abby but she didn't tell him why of course it's not gonna go well

- about the family swap. it's so easy to tell the scmidts are supposed to be a version of the afton kids, why the fuck did they name him GARRETT?

- I love the whole references to phone guy

Would've loved to see actual phone guy (imagine if THAT was matpat's cameo)(coughs in fnaf the musical) but afton is good enough

but abby's "hello" while exploring Freddy's sounds so much lime balloon boy wtf

- abby is a monogram (or whatever it's called) for baby which might not have that much symbolism bc abby is short for Elizabeth but the more the merrier yk

- i think i answered my own question abt whether movie afton has been springlocked

considering how he fuckign SPRINTED at michael and made all these moves like kicking and shit? yeah, I'm more surprised it took him so long to get springlocked

same with game afton actually like.. hello? stop laughing at the fucking dead kids in such a damp room, it's your own fault dumbass

Basically book afton was the smartest about wearing the suit bc of experience

- THE WAY CARL LAUNCHED ITSELF AT MICHAEL WILL NEVER NOT BE FUNNY LIKE BRO FUCKING ASCENDED 😭

- my friend is complaining abt how flirty Vanessa is w Michael which is really funny for no reaskn

- MY FRIEND INSULTED FOXY'S "dum dum dum" SAYING HES NOT CUT OUT FOR MUSIC. HELLO?!?!?@?@?@?@@

- as my friend mentioned, springlock scene was kinda anticlimactic lmao like where's the screaming? the blood?

- according to the same friend mentioned three times already:

Best parts of the movie

1. Matpat saying "that's just a theory"

2. Living tombstone credits

3. Vanessa getting stabbed

- the sounds at the end spell out "come find me" so wooohooo sequel time?? :))

- the "i always come back" was NOT it 😭 at least he said it yk

- okay someone pointed out that it was his last words so they were desperate and mad and showcase his lack of confidence in if he's actually gonna come back 

which is cool

but I like the og more yk

- about abby's springlock suit: its the same doll from 1:35 am (fazbear frights 3), then there's sparky as an animatronic ans restaraunt, wppohoho

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #movie #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's movie #spoilers #fnaf movie spoilers #fnaf movie rant #mercy rambles

[byler-4-life]

What? In these last hours we have before Volume 2 comes out, you find yourself wavering, you say? Questioning yourself? Fearing the queerbait?

Well fear not. Here are my five favorite pieces of subtext to revisit to reassure myself that Byler is real, requited, and endgame. These can't be easily explained away by coincidence and happenstance. Read the below and take heart.

1 - Parallels with Jancy, the presumed endgame ship. Seriously just read this post and tell me this is ALL coincidence. (Byler is also paralleled a lot with Lumax another presumed endgame).

2 - Eye contact. There are no two characters in Stranger Things that have more deliberate, long-lasting eye contact than Mike and Will. Eye contact is a very intimate thing, and staring into someone eyes for too long gets awkward very quickly. But not with these two. They could stare into each other's eyes all day long.

3 - Lip glances. There have been several, but this is the most obvious one.

Now, let me just say this about the above scene. This is filmed as a close up, with the focus on the faces of Finn and Noah. And the eye movement down to each other's lips is very obvious and very deliberate. AND THEY BOTH DO IT. If this wasn't supposed to be part of the scene, if they weren't directed this way, it would've been easily seen and re-shot. But, it wasn't. It was intentional.

4 - Will's drawings. Now, we see in the opening of Season 4 that El has a literal Mike shrine in her room. But we see Mike's room and...there's nothing of El. No pictures, nothing. However Mike's entire house, or at least the parts of the house of which Mike is in charge of decor (his bedroom, the basement) is a shrine to Will. Will's drawings are hung up on the walls all over. Not to mention the literal binder full of drawings Mike has.

5 - The airport scene. I've talked about it a lot already in this post, so I won't rehash too much. But there's no heterosexual explanation for Mike's behavior that doesn't make him an asshole here. That's literally it. He's an asshole, or he's repressing his feelings for Will. Only two options. And I have faith that the Duffers wouldn't want one of their main characters to be an asshole.

There we have it. Let's all enjoy these last hours before Volume 2 comes out and the wild ride this month has been!

gif creds @bypowers

#byler #byler proof

[gayfring]

It's 3 AM right now and I'm thinking about the obvious parallels between the Coati story Gus tells Hector and the story of Gus and Max... don't take this too seriously though it's just my random 3 AM thoughts, so it may sound like I'm reaching...... but:

"I watered it. Tended to it. It took a long time, but the buds grew into green fruit. I was so proud."

-> Gus essentially saving Max from his life in poverty, and even paying for his education.

"I ate the whole thing, I'd never tasted something so sweet. It was like caramel."

-> Gus possibly describing Max?? Idk

"At first, we ate the fruit ourselves. And then I began taking it to the village to sell."

-> Gus and Max beginning to manufacture and sell meth and/or deciding to try and partner with the cartel to switch from cocaine to their meth to eventually earn money from it.

"One day, much of the fruit was gone from my tree. Pieces were scattered on the ground, half-eaten."

-> Possible reference to Hector taking Max, Gus's fruit, away from him.

"So I waited, for hours, into the night. When my brothers called for me, I did not answer. I didn't make a sound. I was so still. Finally, it came out. It knew I was there, but it was hungry. This time, I was ready. I caught it."

-> Gus planning his revenge on Hector. By performing CPR on Hector instead of letting him die, he "catches" him. He was ready.

"The merciful thing would've been to kill it. I kept it. It lived for quite some time."

-> As Gus told Mike when explaining to him why he stopped him from assassinating Hector: "A bullet to the head would've been far too humane". Gus is refusing to forgive Hector for what he had done to Max, and so he torments Hector by keeping him a prisoner in his own body while he forces him to watch as he slowly destroys his entire bloodline, his family, the family he was so proud of, because Gus believes Hector does not deserve to be put out of his misery right away, the "easy way out".

I hope I'm making some sense with this!

#better call saul #gus fring #gusmax #maybe this is a reach but i dont really care tbh! #max arciniega #gustavo fring #bcs #breaking bad #coati #maximino arciniega

[kiss-my-freckle]

Full Episode Commentary

1x3: Friday Night Bites

Most of what you see with Elena in 4x16 can be found in this episode. It opens up on Damon's side of the story because Stefan is keeping half their truth from Elena. He's lying to her by omission. "But then the sun came up and reality set in."

Damon and Caroline are written similar to Katherine and Stefan in their opening scene. While some fans believe he bit her, then they had sex… I believe they had sex, then he bit her. I don't know any woman that would sleep in their bra, and it would likely have blood on it after he bit her, so they put her in a nightie. Fans should expect Caroline to pass out or even fall asleep after Damon fed on her as they show with most of their biting victims. Like Vicki, who was fed on first. She slept the entire time he fed on her friends to the point of their death, then took her to his house. She's still sleeping on his couch before he heals her in 1x6. When Klaus is draining Elena in 3x21, Tyler would've had to carry her because she would've been too weak to stand. That's why I believe Caroline changed into her nightie, but Damon would've needed to help her. While the bite was clearly uncomfortable for her, she looks quite comfortable in her bed at the open. The star tattoo on her foot is adorable af. I have a tattoo of a sun on the top of my foot that my son drew when he was 5. I call it my "Walking on sunshine" tattoo because he's the reason I'm still standing.

Damon has to bury his face into Caroline's pillow to make himself vamp out. Obvious that he has more control over his bloodlust than Stefan. "You were the one who said to go for it." Bonnie's in a bit of a pickle. She was urging Elena to go for Stefan because she wanted to see her friend happy. But then she felt his death when she gave him Elena's phone number. She doesn't know what that means, but she knows something happened to him as she describes it as death. Now she's scared for her friend. She's so much as suggesting Elena play the field while Elena isn't the type. Best to keep this in mind as the writers throw in their football/game theme. Elena pushes the issue because she's desperate. That's what I consider a sad girl needing to be happy... Desperate. While she does listen to Bonnie, she doesn't take her advice. She's basically gonna force Bonnie to accept her new relationship.

Again, Stefan hates being a vampire, but has no problem using his vampirism to impress Elena. He catches the football when Tyler throws it at his head. I consider this a lie by omission.

Matt: Hey, what am I supposed to do, Ty? She made her choice. Tyler: Let her know she made the wrong one.

This bit of conversation plays well in the 4th season. Damon doesn't need to do anything to make Elena know she made the wrong choice. She already knows. You can find several "right" and "wrong" dialogues in seasons 3 and 4 because of it. Like Damon's, "It's right. Just not right now." Or Matt's, "So, you're just gonna let her call the shots? Even if they're wrong?" That's why The Right Kind of Wrong by LeAnn Rimes is a song I'd choose for Delena. Season 4 Stefan parallels season 1 Matt. And as I say this, I've already stated that lying is nothing short of compulsion because the end result is the same. Stefan is taking away Elena's fear by lying. So Damon gets the sire bond in season 4 while Stefan essentially compels his way into her heart in season 1. Damon's dialogue in season 6 supports this fact. "You've compelled enough people to know it's just a way of covering the truth. And no matter how badly you want it done, it doesn't make it any less of a lie, you know." It's up to the fans to decide which is worse, Damon compelling Caroline or Stefan gaslighting Elena. "Gloomy graveyard girl" is quite a reference, considering the very definition of gloomy. As I tell my followers, Elena was always dark. She has been since her parents died because death brings a certain darkness. If not for her parents dying, Stefan wouldn't stand a chance with her. He'd be an Augustine vampire, which I feel was the reason they introduced Damon's Augustine storyline early.

As I said before, most of Bonnie's visions are Damon-related. She had to get closer to Stefan to feel him. I believe this is due to Stefan's direct connection. He's the one that stalked Elena and forced himself into her life, so it makes sense for Bonnie to have visions of the other brother. Again, Stefan hates being a vampire, but uses it to impress Elena. He has a date war with Mr. Tanner. Note the years because Stefan was alive for all of them. Their debate over 1952 or 1953 is their first note to Damon's Augustine storyline. He was abducted in 1953. "Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a loner thing." This is another lie, and jumps off his opening journal voiceover. Like I said in my pilot post, Stefan's journal fit more to Damon than to him. That's why Elena herself refers to Damon as the lone wolf. He's the loner because he's the one truly alone. He lives as a vampire, doesn't trust anyone, and his family wants nothing to do with him.

It's insane to me how they show Stefan struggle signing up for football because he's a vampire when this is the brother they wrote living one human life after another. Who, if not for Elena, would already be signed up for football. Much like the contradiction that he can't be a doctor because he can't be around the blood, but he can somehow be a paramedic. As I said of Elena, she outwardly admits she's not the type to play the field. Combine this with Damon's comment in 1x4, then throw the football/game theme between them. "It might even the playing field. Football reference. Too soon." Matt is a football player, Elena is a cheerleader. Stefan signs up for football as Elena quits cheerleading. Damon was the one who taught Stefan how to play football to begin with. This is all shown in Katherine flashbacks, so it's doubled for Elena in current timeline.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." This comment is reversed for Elena in 4x16 and specific to this scene right here. "By all means, Care, just take him out for a spin. He could use it." The two brothers have their "mystery/mysterious" parallels. The perfect color choice for mystery is purple. It's also a good color for Bonnie because she's a witch.

Damon and Elena don't have to say anything to each other. Their body language is insane. It doesn't surprise me that fans shipped them from the very beginning. I didn't start shipping them until 1x20, and I'll note the scene when I get to it. I have no problem with Caroline asking Elena to observe because she's behind in their routines. It's their scene later in the episode that makes me dislike her. Elena shows that she has no interest in cheerleading. She'd rather watch Stefan play football. Stefan tells two lies on the field. His initial lie as he intrudes on Tyler's conversation with Matt, which is the reason he allows them to tackle him. This is done for the sake of fitting in with Elena's friends. The second being his broken pinky finger, which he fixes before they see it. "Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." Damon continues to joke about living a human life because he has yet to feel it for himself. He hasn't felt human in a very long time. You can see how his references change once he falls in love with Elena. That's when he actually refers to himself as a non-living living person, and they do this before they have Isobel out him for his feelings. "You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon." Damon is being honest in his reply to Stefan as it jumps off his comment to Caroline. "This could have gone a completely different way." Damon is choosing to use Caroline because he's in love with Katherine while Stefan still believes Katherine is dead. That's why Stefan doesn't understand it. "I saw Elena today, BTW. That means "by the way." She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Damon goats Stefan a lot. He'll do anything to piss him off or make him fear what he's gonna do next.

This scene of Elena and Bonnie is insane because I consider it a double. "Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" From Damon killing Coach Tanner to Elena falling in love with Damon. "Birthday candles." Just as Stefan does with Tyler and Matt, he uses his vampirism to fit in with Bonnie. If he weren't a vampire, he'd know nothing of witches. He speaks to her heritage without telling her how he knows. "Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." So he's basically using his vampirism to impress her and lying by omission. That's when Damon and Caroline show up. "We're just finishing up." Again, lying by omission in his desire to stop Damon from getting an invite into Elena's house. At the same time, this whole belief he has that he's better than Damon. The same belief he has in the pilot episode. It's okay for him to be back home, but not Damon. It's okay for him to get invited into Elena's house, but not Damon. He belongs, but Damon doesn't. As much as fans talk about how Stefan treats Elena like a broken toy in season 4, fans should know that Stefan has been treating Damon this way since they became vampires. In his eyes, Damon is a broken toy solider. While Damon has no problem accepting the fact that Stefan is the "good" brother, he doesn't like being treated as less than just because he's the "bad" brother. They're both vampires, and because they're both vampires, they both pose an equal threat to Elena. It is their basic nature to feed on humans. For fans choosing to ignore the truth of this matter, Cade blames Stefan because he IS the one to blame. Stefan invited Damon into Elena's life the moment he forced himself into her life. Living as a human doesn't negate his relationship with Damon. They're still brothers, so Damon would've ended up in Elena's life at some point because of Stefan. So while Damon pushed Elena to own the darkest parts of herself, Cade blames Stefan for Damon being in her life to begin with. Because they're both vampires.

More of Damon's alternate meanings. "You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." While watching Damon, even in the first season, it's important to understand that he's carrying on two separate relationships. "I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents." His relationship with Elena should be viewed separately from his relationship with Stefan. "In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." He's being honest with Elena as he apologizes for her loss. "She used to be way more fun." This is Elena's partying scene in 4x16, that's why it comes from Caroline's mouth. She's the one who references Elena having fun without Stefan. Damon knows that Elena isn't a cheerleader anymore. He knows that girl died with her parents four months ago. He can see just by the way it makes her feel. "You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." This doesn't just hit in 4x16, it hits in 3x22 when Dr. Fell heals her with Damon's blood. While Stefan helps Elena move on from the death of her parents, Damon helps Elena move on from the death of herself. That's why she drowns and becomes a vampire with Damon. "God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines. I guess we can put her in the back." This is why I dislike Caroline. It's one thing to put her in the back to have her observe, and another to treat her like she can't learn the routines. Caroline likes being the center of attention. She's treating Elena like crap, and using Elena's need to learn the routines as an excuse to treat her like crap. While Damon's relationship with Elena should be viewed separately from his relationship with Stefan, he makes comments to both when he's speaking to both. That's why he references Katherine. "The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." While Damon could've easily referenced the death of their mother, it's better that he reference Katherine. Their mother died when Stefan was still human, when he was just 10 years old. Katherine... it would be hard for Stefan to explain his girlfriend dying when he was 17 while he's stuck inside his 17 year old body lol... that's why Damon name-drops Katherine every chance he gets.

And it's not just the fact that Katherine is the vampire that turned them into vampires. It's the fact that they're literal doppelgangers. How insane it would be for Damon to simply rescue Katherine from the tomb just to spring this truth on Elena at the last second. "I find it pretty easy." Jeremy refers to Vicki as a slut. His comment coincides with Caroline's in 1x2. "Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!" He's going through the same pain as Damon in season 2, watching Vicki be happy with Tyler. This love triangle exists with Tyler and Jeremy because of Katherine. Tyler and Jeremy parallel both brothers just as Klaus and Elijah do, it's up to the fans to see their parallels. Matt's response is every bit Jeremy in 3x19 and 3x21, only it's his sister. "What are you doing, Vick?" Damon continues with his alternate meanings while being real with Elena. "I like you. You know how to laugh." He talks to her about Katherine, and at the same time, he's describing himself. "She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive." It's not until she sees the picture of Katherine in 1x10 that she understands his alternate meanings. "She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department." Elena picks up on some things, but remains blind to other things. Here, she picks up on the fact that both brothers dated Katherine, but is blind to the fact that both brothers are vampires. Damon needs to be there, not only for Elena to learn the whole truth, but for the sake of continuing to get the whole truth because Stefan doesn't stop lying to her. "Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine." This level of honesty is so damn refreshing. Damon opens up to Elena about her cheerleading. Even though he's a vampire, he's speaking to her as a human... as Oscar spoke to him when he considered deserting. "Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da." Yet another theme that continues into seasons 3 and 4 as Damon is quite literally the problem. That's why Elena dies with Damon's blood in her system. It's her way of quitting and moving on. Living true to herself is the only way to truly live. Otherwise she's just existing. Like Damon, merely existing for 145 years while waiting to rescue Katherine from the tomb, Elena is merely existing while denying she fell in love with Damon. She has to drown to solve that problem. 4x1 has their largest number of "problem" dialogues because Elena fell in love with Damon.

This is Damon's parallel to Anna in 1x14. He knows she's being honest, and he responds as he does because she's being honest. She actually cares about his feelings, his loss. This is something he's not used to. In this moment, she makes him feel human. Even though he views Elena as friendship material, he's not ready for a friendship with her. Not yet anyway. He's still busy playing with Stefan. While Damon speaks with Elena, Stefan speaks with Caroline. This is all based on how 1x2 ended. "That's a really nice scarf." Stefan knows exactly why she can't take it off, but he's acting dumb about it, so I consider this a lie by omission. I view compulsions a certain way due to wording and loopholes. Klaus' compulsion on Stefan in 3x5 is all-inclusive. No matter what Klaus tells him to do, Stefan has to do it. Katherine's compulsion on Stefan is strictly relationship-based. They're to continue as they have been, but that doesn't mean they won't break up eventually. Katherine would have to compel Stefan again to get him to feed on her for the sake of making him a vampire. It's made clear that Damon compelled Caroline to keep wearing the scarf, to not take it off. That's why she has no idea why she can't take it off. However, he needs to continue compelling her to do other things, like helping Elena in the kitchen. His compulsion isn't all-inclusive like Klaus'. If fans don't see the lie-compulsion parallel yet, I'll just make it clear right here and now. Caroline's scarf is a parallel to Stefan's vervain necklace. "I'd very much like it if you'd wear it for me, for good luck." This scene pushes into 4x16 as Elena feeds on a cheerleader just like Damon, then hands the cheerleader a scarf just like Damon. "Because that is what is normal to me." Damon speaks true to his existence. He's a vampire. He's simply acting as if his switch is off, as if he doesn't feel. It's because Stefan lives as a human that people aren't there for his amusement, but this exchange is yet another that works as a double for both brothers. Humans are there for Stefan's amusement, for him to feed on when he acts ripper... and Damon will try to stop him when he acts human.

This is the first time Damon speaks true of himself. "Come on. Your brother isn't as bad as you make him out to be..." A truth he wants her to know despite his attempt to kiss her and put himself in her bed. It's also his ability to compel a dream that he knows Elena is wearing vervain rather than consuming it. The reason they show her grabbing the empty water glass when she wakes. Elena lets go of her cheerleader uniform, but understand there's a difference in letting go of the uniform and letting go of the girl. That's why she dies in season 3. Stefan writes in his journal. "There must be a shred of humanity left inside my brother. Somewhere. I keep hoping. But how do I make him see it? And how do I protect her?" This is where Stelena fans have it wrong when it comes to the necklace. The necklace itself is for Damon, the vervain in the necklace is for Elena. Stefan is killing two birds with one stone. The "vervain necklace" is a Delena thing, period. The contents of the necklace is for Elena. "And how do I protect her?" The necklace itself is for Damon. "But how do I make him see it?" If Stefan cared about anyone other than Elena, he would've fed the vervain to Caroline and threw Damon in the cellar in this episode. The necklace itself is a long-game concept. That's why Caroline questions Elena after Stefan gives it to her. He's opting to protect one girl with the vervain, and protecting all girls with the necklace as it's meant to show Damon his humanity.

"No, it's, uh… it's an herb. It's nice, huh?" This is a lie by omission. Stefan has been living on and off as a human since he became a vampire. He's had the necklace since the 20s. "It's something that I've had forever, and uh, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now." Another lie by omission, but not the point I'm driving here. He's been on the market so to speak since 1935, that's according to his own journals. He's had every chance for relationships with other women, both human and vampire, yet this is the first time he felt the desire to be with someone and she happens to be a human Petrova doppelganger. Apparently, no other human will do for him. She has to look like Katherine. Certainly not a coincidence that Katherine was there when he found the necklace, now he's giving it to Elena while stating he's had it forever. I view this as I view the photo of Katherine in his journal.

Elena: We're a pair. I quit, you start. Stefan: Right. We're a work in progress. 

I not only take offense to this while respecting the hell out of Damon's parallel dialogue in 2x4. "I'm a work in progress." I love it at the same time. I take offense because Stelena is as much a "work in progress" as any other human life Stefan has lived. This is something he's actually quite used to because he's lived one human life after another. I love it because true to the reality of life, they make it clear that they're a work in progress, but they're on separate paths. One is quitting while the other is starting. A sure fire sign that she'll end up with Damon as he talked her into quitting. Not the only thing Stefan isn't clued in on. He still has no idea that Damon and Elena met first, nor does he know that Katherine is still alive. To be honest, I consider Stefan draping Elena's neck with vervain a way of marking his territory. He might as well be a dog marking a tree. "Is that pee that I smell?" Caroline has no idea, she's just as blind as Stefan. "And you're not in uniform because..." That's why it's Stefan and Caroline in 4x16. Why Elena tells Caroline to take Stefan for a spin. Damon sees Elena as he sees himself. She's not that girl anymore. Just as he died when he died, she died when her parents did. Again, Stefan hating his vampirism, but reaping the benefits. "We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" imo, Elena wouldn't have looked at Stefan twice if not for his vampirism because he'd have nothing to impress her with but his looks. He'd be an average high school human like Matt. I'm certain that's why Tyler is so bothered by it. "This blows. He can't start, the guy just got here." He's so bothered by it that he starts a fight with Jeremy, which in turn, reveals more of the very reason Stefan is starting. He's a vampire.

"Yeah, you smell fine." Elena with Jeremy is hilarious because she can smell booze and she can smell vervain, but she has no idea what vervain is. "Is that rose that I smell?" Another lie by omission for Stefan. "No, no, no, it's fine. He missed. It's not my blood. See? I'm fine." Again, fan's choice. Is it worse to compel someone or to make them question their own sanity? To make them not believe what they're actually seeing? Every reason why Damon closed the door behind Elena in 1x2. "The door was... open." Elena turns to Bonnie and questions her, and this scene between them is written opposite their shared scene at the open. "When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it… It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like." Elena doesn't know how to take this. Damon catches up to Elena and talks to her about Caroline. "I'm hiding from Caroline. I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen. Well, she's awfully young. I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy." I view these four comments as one because it's my opinion that he's not referring to her age, but her maturity. She acts too young for him.

"I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention." Damon is being honest, actually. It's his intention to make Stefan uncomfortable while trying to give Elena their truth. Still, I think he enjoys her intelligence as much as I do. She's not completely incapable of picking up on certain things, like his alternate meanings. I've analyzed this scene for someone before. Damon truly believes he's compelling Elena. Not only because he was able to compel her a dream the night before, but because her shock is selling it. Her shock that he's actually trying to kiss her is coming off like she's being compelled. That's the only way I can explain it. The closer his lips get to hers, the more it's gonna hurt when she slaps him. Trust me, he feels the sting lol. I know some of my followers may not know this, but I love it when Bonnie and Elena use violence to ground Damon. While "good" Stefan marks Elena like a dog pissing on a tree with his vervain, Elena smacks Damon because he's being a "bad" dog when they're supposed to be man's best friend lol. I view it the same way I view Rebekah smacking Caroline when she's cutting herself because of Silas. Damon has to be reminded that he still has his humanity even though he's a vampire. What I'd expect for the brother that's been living as a vampire for 145 years. Violence isn't good, but it works for someone like Damon, and it's not like he can't take it. I consider the sting he feels punishment enough for trying to compel her. Yet another instance where Elena doesn't tell Stefan. It's Damon who tells him. "I bet you even dreamed about me." Every bit what I meant about Damon's compulsion coming in two parts. He was using her compelled dream as a prelude to his kiss. "And I don't know what happened in the past, but let's get one thing straight... I am not Katherine." Poor girl has no idea that she very much should know what happened in the past. The point of Damon name-dropping Katherine. They became vampires.

Damon: Where'd you get it? Stefan: Does it matter?

Stefan knows damn well that it matters and why because he knows Damon is the reason vervain hasn't grown in Mystic Falls since 1864. He's simply referring to things in the opposite. Meaning, Zach is gonna pay rather than Elena because it was used to catch Katherine, not protect her. This is why I fault Stefan for Zach's death. He clearly didn't care even though he knew. "Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way." Any fan knowing the truth about vervain would know the truth Damon spits while making this comment. He doesn't need to seduce her the old- fashioned way. He could've kissed her if he wanted to simply by ripping the vervain off her neck. It only burns them when they touch it directly, and the vervain is inside the necklace. That's why Elijah rips it off her neck, tosses it on the floor, then compels her for information in season 2. Coach Tanner is what an impulsive "crime of passion" looks like because it's fueled by emotion. You can see the emotional shift in Damon as Stefan talks to him.

This is the reason Damon kills Coach Tanner. "Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do." Stefan has no idea that Damon tortures him because Katherine is still alive. If she were dead, Damon would've moved past it by now. He wouldn't still be torturing Stefan. "You're still haunting me. After 145 years." It's an eye for an eye as he believes Katherine has been desiccating in a tomb for 145 years. He can't let Stefan be happy when he's not happy, when at the same time, he blames Stefan for Katherine being caught in the first place. Stefan has no idea that he doomed Damon to more than two lifetimes of misery when he forced him to become a vampire because not only did his love for Katherine become magnified as a vampire, but he was forced to live in a world where he believed she was to desiccate in a tomb until the next comet. Just in believing that she's actually dead, Stefan should've known better than to pull her into their convo. "If that's my humanity... then what's this?" Damon's reply is intentional. It's his vampirism, and Stefan is the reason he's a vampire. "No! I want you to remember who you are!" He shifted from Stefan's vampirism in 1x2 to his own vampirism in this episode. Matt is still so blinded by Stefan that he's defending him against Tyler. "What's beating up the new guy going to prove?" It's gonna prove he's a vampire since vampires heal quickly lol. Matt then finds Coach Tanner's body. Damon left him there to be found because he's not the one pretending to be human, Stefan is. Stefan left him there to be found, and likely because he didn't wanna get caught moving his body.

"It wasn't just for the drugs." I love this scene between Jeremy and Vicki based on their love triangle parallels. I'm referring to their track, Chemical by Kerli. Damon and Elena are themed in the unbreakable. They're what "Til death do us part" truly means. That's why the necklace becomes Damon's before they prove it unbreakable. Why they have multiple tracks speaking to how they're unbreakable. Because Elena doesn't know how to take Bonnie's comment and Damon just killed Coach Tanner, she starts to combine clues while Stefan continues to lie to her.

Elena: What kind of animal could be doing all this? Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town? Stefan: I don't know. I don't know. Elena: I was so sure that you cut your hand. I saw it.

I laugh at Elena's question because I live in a town smaller than Mystic Falls, so I get it. Our wild animals don't leave the woods and head for the school lol. "I thought there was hope that somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No good. No kindness. No love. Only a monster Who must be stopped." It's because Stefan has his journal entries backwards... because he has a relationship with Damon separate from Elena's relationship with him that he makes a huge mistake by locking up Damon in an attempt to desiccate him. He has no idea that he already affected his brother.

This was the moment I saw their direction for Damon's character. He's connecting to his humanity, and Stefan has no idea. Fans must understand that this is a necklace scene for Damon, and he very well knows the purpose for the necklace. "No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon. Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her." It's about his humanity, period. That's why he's gone when Elena wakes up to turn her light off. "You found it during your darkest time." And the voice of Damon's humanity is created.

#Bite Me

[a-student-out-of-time]

I've been catching up with the another series because of this blog and i really don't understand what Linuj wanted to go for with Ayame's character

In one side we hear that she killed Kizuna so thag Akane wouldn't become the culprit, it's a sacrifice to save someone she loved. But on the other hand not only did she made the cast go through an entire class trial but she even set up a trap to make herself seem less suspicious as the culprit, that's so contradictory to her sacrifice narrative because it means she did want to escape

And I'm wondering is this intentional? Or is just another case of Linuj's unusual writing? I just don't understand how we're meant to view this character

//Yeah, Ayame's role in the story is...a little perplexing. I like do her character, but on a first watchthrough, it can be strange to see all this. Here's my understanding:

//Kizuna found out that Yuki might be the mastermind, and so she tried to recruit Akane to help kill him. She disagrees, they get into an argument because Kizuna wants to escape, and in the process of trying to kill Akane so she can have someone die as part of her murder plan, a struggle ensues and Akane accidentally stabs Kizuna and runs off.

//In the trial, Ayame admitted that her reasoning was that Kizuna was already on the verge of death, so there was no time to get her help and, if she died, Akane would've become the Blackened. She had no time to save her, even if she wanted to.

//Ayame did all this in an attempt to save Akane, and Kizuna, whatever her motivation, corrects her dying message from "The Maid" to "Not the Maid." Whether it was a change of heart or just wanting everyone to know who actually killed her so they wouldn't escape, it's hard to say.

//Of course, even Rei points out that, if all of that were true, why go through a trial at all? Why not just confess from the start?

//I think we put too much stock in the idea that people with good intentions are also just okay with dying. The survival instinct is pretty strong, so in most cases, I doubt that they would just come forward and say it was them until they have no choice. Even if they do, it's not like everyone is just going to believe them immediately.

//Even Ayame admits that she had some intention of maybe escaping, as I think everyone here does, and was maybe using Akane as the pretext. That doesn't negate that it was done to save the girl she loved from dying, just that there's nuance to it.

//Ayame setting up and deliberately set off a trap to injure herself is also something she explains. The obvious answer there is to throw suspicion off of herself, but as she says after the trial, it was essentially penance for if she did escape. She lives, but she'll never run properly again thanks to her severed tendon.

//Of course, by the time the trial's finale set in, Ayame knew the full story with Akane and thus gave up on the idea of escaping. That weird bit about her pretending to be evil at the end was probably so nobody would feel bad about watching her get

//I think that, as a character, Ayame is meant to serve as the first major influence on Akane's growth as a person. In a very harsh way, of course, because this was the first fangan and thus it parallels a lot of what happens with Taka and Mondo ^^;

//I know I complain a lot about characters getting fridged, but that's about characters who die without any major role in their story and only to advance the development of another, and usually very briefly and shallowly. That's not what happened here, it was Kizuna facing the consequences of her actions and Ayame's decision to try and save someone she cared about a lot.

//As we'll see from here on out, Akane never forgets Ayame through all of this.

#mod talks #a student out of time #ayame hatano #dra #danganronpa another

[faith-thee-slayer]

Ever think about how the entire Dark Slayer arc could have gone deeper if she had been involved in episode 18 of Season 3?

faith in 'earshot'... an interesting question, you wouldn't be the first to wonder what would've happened if she was in that one. i want to know what you mean by deeper, though. i think faith's absence in earshot is appropriate, considering how the metaphor of the episode is that we don't always know what other people are thinking, and that the people you think want to hurt others mostly want to hurt themselves. others on here have pointed out the parallels between jonathan and faith, and how he's effectively a stand-in for her. there's also the never-ending comparisons of angel and faith, and it's equally as apt that buffy can't read angel's thoughts either, even though his mind is the one she wants to read the most. i think faith's absence purposefully makes the audience connect angel and jonathan to her, because we're thinking about her even though she isn't physically there.

i did think of various different ways faith could make an appearance in earshot, and they fall along several dependencies: her length of time spent in the episode, whether or not buffy can read her thoughts, the impact her role has on the plot of the episode/season/her character arc... i think for her to be in the episode, we would have to be able to hear her thoughts, otherwise her appearance would be somewhat unnecessary*. however, i think having the audience hear any of her mayor/ascension/betraying buffy/inner turmoil-related thoughts would be too narratively obvious for the audience (this would be like giving all the puzzle pieces away too soon), and too obvious for faith's character (her complexity is enhanced specifically by how much she hides and how much she unintentionally reveals with her words and actions).

*two possible instances in which we wouldn't hear faith's thoughts: 1) the mayor is the one that inflicts buffy with telepathy, and he gives faith a safeguard to prevent buffy from reading her thoughts so that faith could attack buffy in a weak moment. maybe they have a scene that mirrors the ending of 'consequences,' where faith sees buffy struggling with hearing everyone's thoughts, but instead of taking advantage of her weakened state, she leaves her alone and disappears. 2) faith takes jonathan's place and is the one who buffy stops from killing herself (taking into account the rumored original ending for faith's character, or say if they pushed her 'five by five' motives up a season). maybe faith is the one at the school (or whatever populated location) with a gun or some other method of killing herself, and she's in a dissociative state, and buffy tries to talk her down back to the side of the scoobies. faith snaps out of her haze and puts down the weapon, but doesn't join buffy's side, she runs back to her apartment/the mayor. and then the next time faith and buffy meet, faith is a master of compartmentalization and acts like the incident never happened.

i want to know more about what you guys think. i think the rest of her arc would have to be reworked if she was in 'earshot,' and depending on her role in the episode (and there are so many possibilities for what she would do), season 3 might have to be completely rearranged for it all to make sense. i think her arc is particularly compelling and well-written as-is, but i'm always of the opinion that faith should've been in more episodes.

#not sure if this answered your question at all lol #but thanks for asking! i appreciate every ask #faith lehane #buffy summers #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #asks

[warm-like-autumn]

Paul Hanbridge: The reason Lwa is an ALMOST perfect anime

I'm a huge fan of the anime "Little witch academia" if it wasn't obvious enough, but there is this one character whom I think is a combination of shitty and wasted potential. That character is none other than Paul Hanbridge.

I remember when I first watched Lwa and he appeared, I was like "he seems familar" and then I remembered 💀. What is worse, is that resemblance made me quite excited for where his character would go.

I'm so dissapointed that they based his design off of Harry Hart from the Kingsman franchise. It could have worked as a quick cameo or a short joke. (But I can understand where they came from this this refrence, since Lwa shares a lot of similarities with Kingsman , even in Croix's villan plan)Harry Hart is such a good mentor figure in Kingsman:The Secret Service, and Paul is the exact opposite of that, he's an unsupportive father to Andrew and thinks magic is obsolete.But at least Paul isn't the only kingsman easter egg in the show.

THIS SCENE. THIS SCENE RIGHT HERE. The perfect setup for a villan. I'm forever dissapointed that they gave him a rushed development in episode 25, when he became all of a sudden supportive.And this villan setup didn't receive a satisfying payoff.Insted of developing Paul as a threat to the story, they made him a generic shitty father character.I feel like he could've been an even bigger threat than Croix, given his political power. Speaking of that, it would've been cool to dive deeper into the conflict of magic and politics and how the two affect each other.

And the fact that Andrew and Diana are cousins but Paul obviously doesn't come from a witch family, yet hates magic leaves room for exploring the reason to Paul's hatred for magic, as it feels more personal than political.

AND THE CROIX HANBRIDGE THEORY:

https://softbunny99.tumblr.com/post/659913824428752896

Here are some parallels I found to back up the theory I made a a year and a few months ago:

This is one of the reasons I think Little witch academia still has a lot of stories left to tell.

And think I wouldn't have been half as angry about Paul Hanbridge if he still kept this design:

(I have an entire theory to how this character we prototype Paul Hanbridge, but that would make this analysis/rant too long)

#little witch academia kingsman #Little witch academia #Little witch academia analysis #Paul Hanbridge #andrew hanbridge #croix meredis #diana cavendish #akko kagari #sucy manbavaran #lwa #lwa memes #lwa theory

[gnomey22]

If Only, Erose: A Failtopia Analysis

My mind often wanders to the garden scene with Erica and Bo. If you know this fandom, you know what I'm talking about. The scene where Bo, for the first time in the entire series (the only time before S2E18), lets her guard down far enough to admit her deadly secret to someone. That someone being Erica, who was attempting to form a friendship with her at Failboat's request, and succeeded to a degree no-one could've expected.

My mind also often wanders to the blatant parallels between Rose and Bo, each season's respective 'Cautious Princess who is the first member of the RotF team and is constantly nervous about hiding their deadly secret until their character development allows them to be a confident girlboss'. The trajectory of Bo's arc is exactly where Rose's arc could've headed if she had a better support system.

Most recently, vaguely prompted by minifemslashfebruary, my mind has been wandering to the combination of these two thoughts. What, exactly, is Rose's equivalent of the garden scene with Erica?

Of course, there's nothing to suggest it exists in the first place, the original garden scene was created way after everything with Rose, but the RoseBo parallels are too strong for it to not exist in some form. Almost everything about Bo's significant moments and dynamics is a different side of the same coin Rose operated on. The garden scene is the most significant moment where Bo feels comfortable enough in the party to talk openly about herself, and considering where Rose ended up, it's logical to assume she had something similar, even if it was off-screen.

Fortunately for the sake of this analysis existing, it wasn't. S1E25 makes a pretty big showing of it.

Their random argument in the Neksdor cave is one of only two scenes where Erica and Rose actually talk to each other, and the other one... we'll get to later. It takes place immediately after they form their first relationship level, making Erica the first member of the party to have a real friendship with everyone. At least, that's what Failboat claims. This is thematically similar to why the garden scene exists.

The actual content of this argument isn't clear, because it's Miitopia dialogue, they have no in-game reason to argue, and they don't even develop a quarrel because of it, they literally just get pissed at each other for no reason. What we do know about it, however, is Failboat's reasoning for why it happened. Rose developing an ego, due to her rapidly increasing Rosalina power, and taking it out on Erica.

EriBo's garden scene was where Bo decided to let her guard down. Erose's cave scene is where Rose decided to push her guard up.

From the garden scene onwards, Bo is more willing to place her trust in the team and willingly work alongside them, and this is especially obvious when she teams up with Erica for most of S2E18 and E19. From the cave scene onwards, Rose really struggles with maintaining her friendships, refusing to properly work with people, and this is especially obvious when she shows off for Erica out of pure spite.

Because of the garden scene, Bo is able to fully come out as a ghost. Because of the cave scene, Rose goes all-in on the Rosalina lie.

It's interesting to think what would've changed, had the cave scene gone more like the garden scene. Where Rose makes use of the budding friendship to admit she's not Rosalina, and Erica decides to support her. Not because there's any battle benefits to it, this isn't S2!Erica, but simply because Rose needs help, and as the resident healer, she's the one trusted to give it. Maybe we could've gotten a version of Erose that wasn't just rivals to lovers. Maybe they could've been a power couple like EriBo, helping each other heal from their respective traumas. We'll never know. Rose wasn't made for that.

#failtopia #failboat miitopia #failboat #erose #eribo #failtopia rose #failtopia erica #failtopia bo #Rose #Erica #Bo #writing an essay i will never be graded on #minifemslashfeb2024 #I had this idea and I thought I may as well do it while I can #even if I won't do much for the rest of the month #anyways I love EriBo with all my heart but Erose is cool

[moaserendipity]

Love in the Air ep8 messy review

Hello once again. SkyPrapai have finally arrived, so i am not going waste anyone time with small talk and dive right in...

Okay before I dive in, I will call Prapai, Pai because that's how he wants to be called anyway.

We start off at the street race, where we saw what happened with Rain but not with Sky, even though we knew what happened but here we have the beginning of Sky & Prapai's story, and boy that was something. The way Prapai smiles when his eyes land on Sky, like sheesh that smile is blinding but it also gets Sky's attention and it's evident that he feels uncomfortable and also a bit curious at the same time. Now of course the security spots Sky and they go after him and that's when Prapai jumps in and tells them he is with him, which is enough to make them back off. The way Prapai leans into Sky and tells him they need to talk and pulls him to a quiet spot. Sky is obviously on his guard about this as his eyes turned big. Pai tells him that because he isn't invited he can't leave so sky of course asks him what he wants. Pai does take this opportunity to let Sky make the offer but it's quite obvious what he wants. It annoys Sky instantly but it's also like he thinks "Of course, that's what he wants" as his entire body sighs and let's not forget the pain in his big eyes.

The way he gives in, you can tell he is frustrated about it but he still goes through with it. I do have to say this even though he doesn't want it, they do share the hot chemistry, and the energy in this NC scene is top-notch. Sky is definitely the aggressive lover, he knows what he wants and I love that, he just takes it and in the meantime is rocking Pai's world

I was a bit confused why we switched back to Rain and Payu's moment but I get it now. It's to show the parallels between the two couples. Like Rain is being protected by Payu but Sky is suffering because he got caught. I think it's brilliantly done, because when you see sky walk into that lobby you can tell the pain he is in, he is exhausted and his spirit is definitely beaten down, it's hard to watch.

The way he looks at the window and we switch back to the way Pai wanted more and the look of pure sadness on Sky's face before he turns around to face Pai, it's just so sad.

Right now Pai is nothing more than a handsome player who took advantage of Sky's position. He might not have any bad intentions but I get that Sky does see him like that. My heart feels heavy for Sky though because before he even entered the streetrace he had to talk encourage himself that the people weren't as bad as his ex, only for him to end up this way. Now I do think that if Sky had asked Pai to let him leave without anything in return Pai would've let him but it turned out this way.

I do love how Pai has fallen for Sky, as I said, I don't think Pai is a bad guy at all the situation was just messed up and it's not like he knows Sky's past. Pai is definitely attracted to Sky's coldness and his curiosity has been awoken by it. He loves it and the way he keeps reminiscing .

Okay I might be in love with Pai's smile. We also get to meet Pai's little brother who of course is just as a player as his big bro... Not surprising at all.We switch back to Sky, who has a mental breakdown, which is understandable. I just hope he quickly realizes he deserves the world.

I love how they take us through their daily lives to show us that Life does go on, even when something bad happens. I love Sky's friends, especially Sig, this boy is too funny and he is a troublemaker,

Now for Pai, I only want one thing, which is for him to stop whoring around. Sure it's his life but seeing as he is interested with Sky, he should just send the handsome man home and keep it in his pants for some time.

Sig really is calming down by using meditation, jeez this boy. Okay I never said this but I do not like Ple. the way her expression changed when Sky mentioned Rain, I do NOT like it at all. I will push her if she ever looks at Rain like that!!

Not Pai trying to get over Sky by racing. Not that he succeeds because all we see are flashbacks. this man is smitten with Sky. The boy has rocked your world. If only he knows that was not mutual at the moment.

I love the little snipbits of him with Saifha and the way he seems so much older than Pai or even Payu. He is not on the same level. the way he is wondering

"Has Sky watching become popular these days" I snickered about this. Poor Saifha never really gets what's going on unless its right in front of his nose.

I love sky's "Shit I f*cked up" Moment for staying up the entire night reading manga. I love his comfortable smile though while he is reading, he is a cutie. I do have to snicker about the moment he picked up the phone because didn't he point out he doesn't want to pick up if he didn't know the number. If I was Sky I would hang up seeing as Pai wasn't saying anything, like wtf?! Also Pai's voice!!! He could sell me anything but then again if he talked to me like that I probably would hang up thinking that he is some kind of pervert. I love how Sky brings up biology and uses it to turn Pai down. Pai is definitely a bit cheesy. I do think it's fair of Pai to warn Sky that he is pursuing him. He knows deep down who it is but he doesn't want to believe it and I love how he gives him the nickname asshole. I love how Pai loves this and you know what I also love Pai's workout.

We meet P' Joy for the first time and even though she is lovely she needs to stop touching Sky because he is not okay with it. We also know that she is nosy, like extremely.

Bonding night is over and done and as Sky picks up the box, he spots Pai who casually walks up to him. I love how Sky thinks hiding behind a box will help him and the way Pai smirks about this, it's too cute. I need to say this, but Pai looks extremely hot the entire time, like have some mercy!!!!!!!

Rain the cutie can not read the room at all. Also the way Pai just outed him to Sky. Rain will be in trouble for sure....

I CAN NOT GET WITH PAI'S SELF-CONFIDENCE!! dear goodness but what makes it even better is Sky's face xD Pai offers to bring Sky home, and Sky has to accept this because Rain doesn't know what has happened between them, ugh. I like how Sky does not let Pai touch him. Like dude back off. Can I say that I think Sky is a legend, the way he rejects Pai is just iconic. Pai, on the other hand, only sees this as a challenge; even when Sky insults him, he turns it around into something good for him. I mean how do you make "Cyclops" into..

"I admit I'm a giant with a huge, dark one-eyed monster"

Like WTF?! and then he continues to talk to Pai jr..... again wtf?! also calm down Mr. "Hot wind" it's not time for interviews also THAT SMILE!!!!!!. I love their dynamics a lot. Sky does not realize that Pai gets more intrigued whenever he rejects him.

Lol yeah NONG Sky, get ready to be pursued to the max. I love Sky's face again, he is like "the hell with you" my heart feels heavy when you see how tensed up he was when he closes the door behind him. you can tell how taken back he is by Pai's confession. It's sad that he can't wrap his head around it though.

The next day Rain is screwed as he sits on his knees with his hands up. Poor Rain only gave his number because of Payu, so technically, it should be Payu sitting like this. If it was me I would forgive Rain on the spot, one look at that cute face and I would already be done for. I love how Sky is not falling for the cute act and just dumps his work on him, it's too funny...

hmm, I don't like the sunflowers though (they are my favorite flowers but) in BLs I think it's best not to give sunflowers. I love how he saved Pai's number under psycho xD this made me snicker for sure. Not him asking Pai to take them back and then Pai proves he is cheesy as Fudge..

"Do you know why I gave you Sunflowers? Cause sunflowers face the sky. I can't be the sun for you but whenever you see sunflowers remember that this wind's watching over them."

Inserts a melting Sky xD Sky likes the cheesiness and even though he says he will throw them away we all know he won't do that. I love that we see this side of Pai that he is actually really interested, as he is doing things he usually wouldn't do.

I thought this episode was interesting and I have to praise Peat for his acting, because it was obvious that what happened with Sky was traumatic and even though you didn't read the novel, it's obvious what that traumatic thing was. I really can't wait to see Pai mend Sky's heart.

Till the next episode.

#love in the air #skyprapai #love in the air series #my messy review #fortpeat

[bonesandthebees]

Then we have Tommy and Wilbur. Tommy spends most of the day avoiding his brother and hanging out with Techno. This doesn’t really give Wilbur the chance to talk about Quackity. So then when Quackity shows up during dinner and Wilbur ks incredibly mostly towards him (ruining a possibly beneficial partnership), Tommy is upset. Because it feels like they are back to the “you’ve stopped talking to me”.

So went they walk in Tommy immediately confronts Wilbur, once again a direct parallel to how Wilbur used to do that to Tommy. But Wilbur has definitely reached the to tired to care about anything stage. Unless someone comes and fetches him, he stays in bed all day. And he knows what he should be doing. He knows how to change his situation and salvage his relationship with Tommy, but he doesn’t have the energy to do it. Doesn’t have the energy to care either.

Meanwhile, Tommy’s paranoia comment has been eating at him. So now Wilbur doesn’t even trust himself anymore. Because he was wrong about Ranboo too (or thinks he was based on one conversation because he wasn’t immediately terrible). So now it’s Tommy’s turn to get his own words thrown back in his face. He called Wilbur paranoid and now he won’t talk to him because he doesn’t think his paranoid thoughts are worth voicing.

There’s also the underlying insecurity of not being a good advisor. Not being succeeding in the identity he was given. So he stops giving advice. He doesn’t want to hear his own thoughts out loud he’s terrified of being told he’s being stupid or paranoid. Terrified of confirmation that his thoughts can’t be trusted. Which sucks for Tommy who puts a lot of value into Wilbur’s opinions and would probably agree with him if Wilbur would just explain.

And then there’s Tommy literally begging Wilbur to talk to him because it’s so obvious that something is wrong and his brother is different and cracking under the pressure. He’s trying so hard to help, but Wilbur already way too far into self-deprecating and self-destruction land. And that has to hurt so much because it hurts seeing someone you love in pain and not being able to help, but Tommy can help, Wilbur just won’t let him and he keeps having these little moments of hope, where he is so close to giving in, and then Wilbur shuts himself off again. Because he sees himself as a burden to heavy to carry, like the pressure stacking on his shoulders, and he is not doing that to Tommy.

But Tommy has to be getting really desperate, like if he was better at his Voice he would be nearing the point where he forces it out of Wilbur. Maybe he’ll even get desperate enough where it works. But that would do so much damage to their relationship. All trust would be gone. So he has to find another way to get it out. Though at this point I feel like a hug would be enough to break Wilbur.

-🌲

yuppp it was very unfortunate timing on quackity's part, because wilbur probably would've mentioned him to tommy if they had gotten a chance to talk before dinner.

at this point though, wilbur just doesn't have the energy anymore. he's been stressed and broken down for too long. he's been arguing with tommy anytime they talk about stuff like this, so he just doesn't want to do it again. he can't trust his own thoughts at this point. everyone is saying he's overly paranoid and none of his paranoia has explicitly been confirmed, so he's starting to believe it. not to mention, wilbur has always had problems with confidence and his own ability, so this entire situation has just exacerbated those problems to an extreme degree

tommy however really needs wilbur's opinion. even if he was pushing back, he does still value wilbur's thoughts and advice. he's just not making that clear enough to wilbur.

these boys need to communicate so badly. wilbur won't let himself talk, but tommy just wants to know what wilbur is thinking. wilbur's head is a storm, but no one can hear or see it except for him. and as patient as tommy is trying to be, it's frustrating when you can see someone you love hurting but they just keep refusing help. and that frustration is going to boil over eventually if wilbur doesn't accept the offered help.

wilbur really needs a hug :(

#ask #spruce anon #the stars and their children

[tartrazeen]

I'm obseeeeeeesseeeeed with this 😍

Just found this post about virtues and excess and deficiencies and went like "THAT'S THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS THING, THAT'S THE SHOW"

Like it went right to my head in seconds

Courage is the first thing on that list, and it immediately taps into what I was saying about Rohan being tested for courage, being the 'brave one', but uhhhh... kinda being bad at bravery...? But it makes so much more sense to see both ends of the scale this way: rashness (literally what Deirdre calls him out for) and cowardice (which is constantly getting to him even when there isn't a curse. He runs from so much - "i want to know my destiny! Nooo why am i Draganta" "i want to know my family! Nooo my mom's mean" "i want to be a knight! Nooo i'm letting everyone down, time to run awaaay"). It's like Fin Varra was testing him to see if he was even capable of threading the needle, not necessarily capable of staying at that sweet spot.

Loyalty's in the longer list I found. I love that the excess is 'conformity', because some of the few times we've seen Ivar be wrong is because he encourages everybody to respect traditions. We don't see 'disloyalty' too often from him, but that is his major character flaw: he's always picking the short-term plans to get the chalice over the slow-and-steady plans. Tbf, the one time he did break completely off to do his own thing, he got the chalice in one try. But it's not like the show let that go unpunished, so yeah, it still falls onto this spertrum of nuance. :3

Humily for Garrett is pretty obvious. The thing we don't see is the deficiency of it: he wasn't on the show long enough to have an arc about spineless and meek. I'd like to think it'd be when someone 'better' than Garrett comes along - like his dad or a sibling or something. It would've been great to see him go from bragging to instantly shutting up, and I'd especially love to see how everyone bonds around getting Garrett to believe in himself no matter what his family thinks.

The last two were harder. 🤔

Angus had 'honesty', and while I'm happy to sub in "Truthfulness," I don't entirely agree with it...? The excess of that is (according to the list) being indiscreet and imprudent. Okay, fair for imprudence - he himself calls attention to how often he blurts out the wrong thing. They've all had their turns at cutting him off. Indiscreet, though... 🤔 It's not like these all need to apply - this an entirely random, separate list - but I'm not sure I saw indiscretion being too prominent in him. If anything, he was always too discreet. And that's why I agree with the deficiency in him more: it's "deceit" and "boastfulness" (he talks a lot of shit he knows he can't back up). "False modesty," though - ehhhhh... I didn't see him doing that a lot. Technically, he tried buttering Cathbad up to help him with getting his armour, but that falls under 'flattery' more than 'humblebrag'. We'll just cross that and 'discreet' off his list. 😌

Deirdre was definitely the hardest. Her noble trait was selflessness, and the closet I could find for that was 'Generosity'. But her arcs were never about being stingy or wasteful. What seems to match her better is 'Fair'. She absolutely overdoes it and pulls rank to be all self-righteous with her royalty. And she's judgy, and she can pick fights with the others real quick. 😝 On the other side of that is just 'unfair'. She does technically struggle with having the wisdom to make the right decision as a leader, and when she was ruling for a few days, she did make a lot of unfair calls. So I think this suits her, even there's a bit of massaging being done to these terms.

😋 I just like this. It gives me an easy set of anchors for everybody, and it especially gives a fast look at some parallel flaws we know they have (like perfectionism for Deirdre, short-temperedness for Angus, naivete for Rohan, stuffiness for Ivar, and derisiveness for Garrett). Easy prompts for head canons 🥳

#mystic knights of tir na nog #my stuff #good job tartra