And now I have a chance to do that, so, yeah, I'm good. Let's go.

DEAN WINCHESTER 14x09 The Spear

I know by 4x03 they hadn’t quite figured out where the angel story/Cas’ arc was ultimately leading, but I still find the events of that episode fascinating in the context of the greater arc of s4, which, incidentally, is my favourite season

Cas didn’t know what the angels were truly up to. He was still spouting the party line which was that Dean was going to be the one to “stop it.” 

“Stop what?” Dean keeps asking. By the end of the episode it seems like Cas is talking about Sam and his powers, but that doesn’t quite track, or at least it doesn’t seem to fully explanation his motivations. 

In 4x16 we learn that Cas had known about the prophecy, that “The Righteous Man who begins will be the only one who can end it,” since before he even went to hell to save Dean. In fact he thought he was going to hell to stop Dean from breaking the first seal.  So when he’s telling Dean he needs to be the one to stop it, he means all of it: Sam, Lucifer, the Apocalypse. It’s a huge fucking burden to put on anyone’s shoulders, and it gives more weight to Cas’ fascination with Dean throughout the whole season. 

He’s this symbol, The Righteous Man, the one who will stop it all,  but the more Cas gets to know Dean, the more he sees the truth and gets caught up in all the contradictions and reality of who Dean really is. His insecurities, self-loathing, fears and yet also his determination, how he always fights for humanity, his unfailing loyalty towards his family. Dean is a complicated person, and with each interaction Cas finds himself more and more drawn to the real person, than the symbol, and the Dean Winchester he’s been told about. 

You can see it start in this episode, and again, while I think that’s more a product of Misha’s acting and him imbuing certain scenes with something deeper than anything the actual textual storytelling was doing at this point, considering his arc throughout the rest of the season, I still think it begins here. With him trying to understand Dean’s desperation to save his mother at any cost. Cas knows he won’t be able to, that “destiny can’t be changed” and “all roads lead to the same destination” but in that one moment when he’s watching Dean’s grief at having to witness Mary making the deal with the Yellow Eyed Demon, the deal that’s going to lead to so much pain and suffering for his entire family, you can definitely see Cas sympathise with Dean and struggle with what he’s going through. 

The next time we see Cas, he admits to having doubts, to wanting Dean’s faith in himself and humanity to win out over the machinations of heaven and the angels. The last time Cas interacted with Dean before this was during 4x03, and while I do think his doubts and questions are coming from his struggles with what is right and wrong, for the first time, he feels like he has someone to confide in, someone who is encouraging him in challenging his orders. He has someone to turn to with his doubts, and while I don’t think Cas is in any way considering the idea of rebelling just yet, for the first time in his existence, he had someone to turn to if he does. 

The fact that it’s Dean, and the fact he’s developed this strong of a trust and connection with him in the space of a few encounters is absolutely bonkers, and yet the way the show (and Jensen and Misha, because they are really bringing their A game to this stuff) present it, it makes complete sense and feels utterly earned. Just the quality storytelling in s4, man... I love it so much.

Brennan "you can have as many magic items as you want, its fine, guys" Lee Mulligan vs Matthew "lets have everyone come in codependant pairs that we will for sure never split up" Mercer, fight.

Today desvstvyy shared an incredible discovery with the Aikoto Server. Turns out that some of the OG/FES Aikoto moments that we thought didn't make it to P3R were actually within the game's files!

These include:

Makoto holding Aigis' hand in the Moonlight Bridge

Makoto holding Aigis after she falls unconscious in the Bridge (unifinished)

Makoto hugging Aigis during Rank 9 of her S-Link

I know I have a semi-popular post about how Gale would not have made a good teacher and that's why I'm so happy that it does happen canonically. It shows so much growth in him: not only does he learn to love himself regardless of his magic ability, that love extends to others. He can now educate students in the field of magic that has always clearly been his true favourite without being "irked by their ineptitude". He shares the art he loves and his enthusiasm, talent, and newfound patience make him a great teacher. With Tav by his side he becomes a happier, less guarded, more caring person and I can't think of anything better for him.

austin's wife and kids comment being set up as a running gag only to then get thrown back in showfalls face when he breaks away from them for a moment and immediately says "I don't have a stacy" in the most unsure, anxious voice before snapping back to a monotone reassurance "I have a stacy" is something I can be soooo normal about (lying)

I am shaking with fucking rage listening to this state of the union i think maybe two other faces have made me instantly get this angry.

I am not your "fellow American." I refuse to be American if this is what it means to be American. I am human before I am an American.

I refuse to die before I see a free Palestine. I will see a free Palestine in my lifetime. I refuse to die before I can see a free world. I will see everyone free in my lifetime because I refuse to die without seeing it. It's probably impossible but I don't care because I have to see it. I'm sick of seeing anything else.

Ever After High is even more dystopian than I thought! If the stories in the Storybook of Legends don’t even have to be true

That raises so many questions

Marcela told Margarita that Armando has an affair with a very important woman. Armando AND MARCELA are her children's

And her decides to sit down with her son and say things like "un deseo que se hace realidad. Cumplir con en anhelo póstumo de Susana e Julio Valencia... Y con tu matrimonio ratificas que estás asumiendo una vida normal, la vida de un hombre adulto, responsable que además se casa con una mujer maravillosa que te ama"

And a minute later she asks him "Dime una cosa, ¿Es que no estás segura de casarte o qué?"

YOU BITCH, you don't wanna hear the answer, the real truth, you list reasons why this wedding should happen and didn't mention the most important reason why they should be married: LOVE. A wedding is a celebration of the love of two people and it's barely mentioned.

And Armando opens a little and says that he's worried about the board meeting and other stuff. She pulls the guilt card and says "Pues ojalá estes evasivo por cosas de trabajo y no por algo más. O, mejor dicho, por alguien más"

I mean, your son's wedding is 48 hours away and he doesn't even know what clothes he's going to wear, and he and your daughter in law are clearly suffocating and distressed and you don't even know how to give a fuck advice

@yokelish reminded me and I can't stop thinking about it again

The Snow Queen's most loyal knight, a boy with a shard of troll's mirror in his eye.

Except that there's no Gerda. There never was a Gerda and there never will be a Gerda. No one will come. And also the troll's mirror might be showing the truth this time.

Or maybe all the Harbingers are like that.

"Perhaps it is fair to say that only those who possess an obsession close to or even exceeding the level of delusion might be willing to join this group."

(from the Funerary Mask description. I do think the mirror stands for something Khaenri'ahn though)

Helllooo lesbianssss

Kim meeting the skills - headcanons!

if Harry were in a situation where, somehow, he could introduce Kim to all his skills in person... he would plan a whole thing out where he introduces Volition first, then Composure or Interfacing or Logic - skills Kim would like. Putting his best foot forward. And then he’d slooowly ease into the less ~palatable~ ones

that said, Kim would probably find Volition and Composure not that terribly interesting? He already has both those things himself, a lot. There’s not much here for him that is new

Kim + Interfacing best friends tho

he avoids Rhetoric bc he doesn’t like to talk politics

Phys Inst and Endurance are... not the biggest fans of Kim and he is not theirs. Funny enough I could see Half-Light keeping them from antagonizing him (out of, like, a healthy respect for him). Half-Light and Kim look at each other and there’s a tiny spark of recognition going on

Kim has many complicated feelings about E-Chem. Probably tries to avoid it bc that’s easiest. E-Chem does not want to avoid Kim

Pragmatically, Kim can accept that Esprit de Corps is very useful. And fascinating. It’s also among Harry’s most out there skills which puts him off slightly. And deep down? He may be the slightest bit envious that he will never have this. He’s too much of an outsider to have that kind of rapport with other cops. If he ever had anything like EdC, it atrophied after Eyes died

Empathy = annoying. Stop that mortifying ordeal of being known 😤

Kim clutching Perception, Visual Calculus and Hand-Eye Coordination: “Can I... have these? Borrow them? Can they just stay with me for a bit”

he’s somewhere between exasperated and strangely charmed by Drama, Conceptualization and Encyclopedia. They’re not his Thing, but hey, he often wondered why Harry is sometimes artsy and prone to randomly dispensing trivia. Now he knows!

Kim and Authority are either kindred spirits or intense rivals. No in between

Shivers gives Kim a lengthy hug once and he emerges a fundamentally changed man. Like, he is different now