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geegers22 · 3 months

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I’ve seen lots of conversation on here about Zutara shippers opinions on aang and mai and i thought I’d give my point of view.

I want to start by saying that I think there should be more of a distinction between disliking a character because they are a bad person and disliking a character because they are written badly. With that being said, I can confidently say that, with the material of the main ATLA show, I dislike Aang and Mai because they are badly written characters. Meaning, if their arcs were properly finished, I would have no problems with them. This brings me to another topic of how I don’t really ‘hate’ characters who are bad people if they’re well written but that’s a conversation for another post.

I need to point out that I didn’t start disliking Aang and Mai until they had their arcs undermined when Kataang and Maiko became canon. With the arcs they were going on, they had so much potential to be really interesting and I enjoyed their personalities.

When it comes to Aang, I had no problem with him as a character until season 3 part 2 when I started to realize that his world view (which is flawed based solely on the fact that he is young and there is no way he’s going to have a nuanced pov) was not going to be challenged. Aang should have had to give up katara. Aang should not have just had everything handed to him with the lion turtle and the pointy rock.

Then there’s the southern raiders which I would argue, if Aang’s arc had been completed, would not illicit as many conversations and arguments about it as it currently has. Because his actions in that episode make sense (Sokkas don’t really but again-that’s another story) because he’s a kid. This episode should have been a big decider of his change in worldview. The problem is that the creators decided his flaws didn’t exist and that he was perfect. (At 12 years old?!?!?)

Then there’s Mai. She’s a much smaller character but that doesn’t mean she deserves less of an arc. Mai is a character whose personality I love! (I’m all for gloomy depressed women!) There’s two ways Mai’s character could have developed, and I think both options are great, the problem is that Bryke decided to go in neither direction.

On the one hand, Mai could have been a representation of unlearning the propaganda she was taught in the fire nation throughout her whole life. I think this direction would make Maiko more believable, although I still don’t think they are a good couple because their personalities create a toxic dynamic and Mai’s story with Zuko is meant to represent that toxicity.

The second option would be to have her views not change, like we see in the show, and have her not get back together with Zuko. This is the more interesting path in my opinion because it’s more realistic. I don’t think the problem with Mai’s arc lies with her personal views of the fire nation, more so with her relationship with Zuko. As we have it in the show, Mai’s views don’t change. Therefor, it doesn’t make sense for her character or for Zuko’s for them to get back together like nothing ever happened.

When it comes down to it. Both Aang and Mai had their arcs sabotaged because the creators rejected Zutara. Even without Zuko and Katara getting together these were the wrong decisions. Both characters had potential to be well written, but in the end, the creators chose the path didn’t allow that to happen because they just couldn’t kill their darling. (Kataang)

Sorry for rambling, this is kind of just my take on the whole “Zutara shippers hate Aang and Mai” take.

#is this a meta?#atla #avatar the last airbender #anti aang #anti Mai #anti kataang #anti maiko #anti bryke #zutara #ayo fuck bryke all my homies hate bryke #atla critical #aang critical #Mai critical

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waywardwendy · 5 months

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Go For a Picnic. Dine at the Ritz...

Okay, I've got an absolutely miserable take on the 1967 scene in the Bentley, after Aziraphale gives Crowley the tartan thermos of holy water.

‼️TRIGGER WARNING‼️, this is going to get a little dark with Aziraphale's assumptions about Crowley's suicidal ideations. Be careful, please.

We all know Crowley has been pining after holy water. (In my dismal opinion, whatever was done to him after he saved Elspeth's soul from damnation in 1827 must have been horrendous, and that's where this request came from.) He asked for it in 1862 when he met with Aziraphale in St. James Park, and was turned down.

And we all already know exactly what Aziraphale thought he wanted it for.

We also know he discovered in 1941 that it was available in churches. No guards surrounding it, and that anyone could just go in and take it.

"Look at that! A whole fontful of holy water. It doesn't even have guards." (His genuine surprise that it's just THERE for the taking.)

Anyway that's not what this is about - this is about Aziraphale's response in 1967.

Obviously, we're all hooked on:

Because, ouch these poor babies really know how to ruin our lives.

So many meanings here. The obvious - you drive like an absolute mad lad and I don't want to be discorporated in a car accident (good lord, the paperwork). The less obvious but definitely there - you jump into things so quickly, I can't keep up.

BUT I'm stuck on this bit:

In my first watch through, I didn't think much of it. "Don't look so disappointed." We can hang out later. I just don't want to drive with you when it's not necessary because you're absolutely terrifying behind the wheel. I'm not telling you to fuck off, call me for dinner some time.

BUT NOW, on my... 5th? 6th? I'm losing track (and my mind) watch, I see it as... begging? As Aziraphale not knowing how to articulate what he's feeling, but desperately trying to communicate it to Crowley anyway.

Because he still thinks Crowley wants the holy water as a way to destroy himself.

I see it as something along the lines of this miserable list;

Please don’t kill yourself.

I need you to not go through with this.

I don’t want to withhold my companionship from you, but I need you to look forward to our time together later so you don't do this now.

I’m not going to spend time with you now, I can’t let you use it as some final goodbye in your mind.

We can go for a picnic, please stay alive long enough for us to do that.

We can dine at the Ritz, please stay alive long enough for us to go there.

And, to be honest, watching it through again with this lens, I wonder if Aziraphale is more grateful for Crowley's company every time they see each other because he didn't go through with it.

I wish I could find a better way to articulate this, and the way it wrings out my heart like a wet rag, but here we are.

Enjoy my misery with me.

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daeva-agas · 8 months

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Casually lurking in Sailor Moon fandom and when I see posts mentioning the Shitennou's knightly titles, I think the translation are off. I don't know if those are just fansubs being wonky, or if even the official ones are not entirely correct...

I've also seen some posts say that "I don't understand what these means". The knightly titles are based on the image and properties associated with each gemstone in Japanese (so, if it has different meanings internationally, it's quite beside the point).

Jadeite: Knight of Resilience 忍耐 and Harmony 調和

忍耐 is often translated as "Patience" in fanworks. 忍耐 is better translated as "resilience", "perseverance", or "endurance". Even when colloquially used to say "be patient", the connotation of it is more along the lines of "endure this". The Harmony one is correct.

"Resilience" is because jadeite jade is the harder jade. "Harmony" because of its traditional usage in spiritual matters, so jade in general has the image of "peacefulness".

Nephrite: Knight of Wisdom 知恵 and Peace 安らぎ

This one makes me kind of laugh because of what Nephrite is like as a character/person. I almost always see 知恵 translated as "Intelligence". It's not wrong per se, but this term here refers to something deeper than just brain smarts, thus "wisdom". Things like wisdom that come from age, or innate perceptiveness, and so on.

安らぎ is peace, as in "inner peace". Basically, "serenity", though it's probably not a good idea to use this word in Sailor Moon for obvious reasons.

Nephrite being the native jade of China, it has been given very sagely meaning to it that persist even in Japanese symbolism. That's why it's like this, for somewhat similar reasons to jadeite's "harmony".

Kunzite: Knight of Virtue 純潔 and Benevolence 慈愛

純潔 can also mean Purity or Chastity. 慈愛 is sometimes translated as Affection, which is also not entirely wrong. It's just that the standard meaning is benevolence or mercy. "Affection" tends to be used in the context of parents and children. In this context probably not the best meaning to use.

This gemstone is associated with the Holy Mother Mary, of all things, that's why it's got very saintly imagery associated with it.

Zoisite: Knight of Purification 浄化 and Healing 癒し

The most straightforward one so I've never seen any wonky translation with this one. Those who are into healing crystals might already know this, but this title is based on the healing and purification qualities that a blue zoisite/tanzanite supposedly have.

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bestiesincrime · 2 years

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rip to vegas, he tried so hard and still never got to be The gay cousin bc everyone else already was. he went for leather jacket cousin, anger issues cousin, family disappointment and that one relative who only shows up at family gatherings to set things on fire, but kim already had all those boxes checked and trademarked. truly there was no winning for him

#vegas theerapanyakul #kim theerapanyakul #kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #kimhan theerapanyakul #kimchay #vegaspete #text post #my post #is this a meta?#i don't think so #kinn theerapanyakul #tankhun theerapanyakul #thai drama #thai series #keeping up with the theerapanyakuls

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problemswithbooks · 7 months

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So, watched live action One Piece and now I'm watching/reading the OG stuff. No where close to done but my brain decided to fixate on Arlong so I can't help but talk about him a bit.

Something that I find kind of interesting about Arlong is that if you read his backstory then go back to the main Arc he was in you actually realize he's way more mellow then he was in the past. Now, he's still awful but given what we're shown of him in Jinbe's flashbacks I think it kind of shows that he did, in a weird way (and not in the way Fisher Tiger would have wanted) changed due to Fisher Tiger's words on not killing humans.

In the past Arlong was constantly advocating for killing humans and terrorizing them so they'd learn their place. He never warms up to Koala despite the rest of the crew--including his own friends coming to like her. Everyone is sad to see her go even Kurobi who is later one of the worst in Arlong's crew.

After Fisher Tiger's Death it's clear Arlong was going to kill everyone in Koala's village (and no doubt would have killed Koala). He was stopped and put in Impel Down--a notoriously hellish prison (run by humans). It's not clear how long he was there, but probably at least a few months, which is a long time in a place like that.

After his pardon he leaves Jinbe and the Grand Line. Presumably he started taking over villages pretty soon after.

Now, what I find interesting is that this is by far the most justified Arlong is in his hate of humans, yet it's also the nicest we ever see him being to them. Before Fisher Tiger's death and reveal of being a slave, or his time in Impel Down Arlong hated humans because of things that although affected him were not things he himself suffered.

Arlong was never a slave, and at least Hachi, Chew and Kurobi were also never slaves. They were all orphans and this might have been the fault of human pirates who attacked Fish-Men Island, but we don't know that for sure, and it's never brought up as a grievance of theirs. They know Fish-men and mermaids are taken as slaves and they surely get racist treatment from the visiting humans, but they don't have first hand experience with human cruelty--like slavery or murder.

Not until Fisher Tiger is killed for helping a human girl go home after being a slave do they experience real loss due to humans. From there, Arlong is captured and imprisoned in Impel Down where he was surely treated terrible by humans during his time there (given they treat everyone bad there). Yet, despite saying he's the anger of the fish-men he does not actually kill nearly as many humans as you'd think, given how he acts in the past.

In fact in a lot of ways he seems to try not to kill humans if he can get away with other methods of control instead.

This is when he takes over Nami's village. This is not long after Fisher Tiger's death which Arlong wanted to kill an entire village for. Yet, now, despite a huge uprising happening, with nearly the entire village of humans trying to attack them, he's not going for the kill.

This is him probably less then a year before the panel above. He's furious and saying he embodies the rage of all Fish-Men. Yet he arrives to the village and tells his crew not to kill anyone despite their open hostility.

Yes, he wants money because he (supposedly) wants to take over the East Blue(world?) but he's already got his money and killing a few villagers should be no big deal--he plans on taking over more anyway.

In the end though, he does only kill Bell-mere due to her lack of money. She makes a good example, of course, but he was more then willing to let her live, despite her shoving a gun in his mouth before she used the money for Nami and her sister.

This is a huge change in a short amount of time.

This is another time he and his crew don't kill for zero reason. They have been attacked all day by members of Luffy's crew. Zoro absolutely beat the shit out of his guys earlier that day. He was furious when Usopp dared to fire on him (to the point of flipping a damn house) but now they just leave two strangers (so not cash cows) alive? Usopp--was worth Arlong's anger, but suddenly two other random humans doing the same thing aren't worth killing?

This is how he responds to Zoro being what I would assume is racist given what Arlong says. He does not know who this guy is--Zoro was found tied to a boat and just brought to him and his first words are racist. Yet, Arlong lets it 'slide once'. Again this is the guy who hit a child for no reason except she was human way before he lost Fisher Tiger or went to the human torture prison. Yet now he's putting up with a stranger calling him racist names?

Going back to Usopp, this is how furious Arlong was when he was attacked:

He's so furious that for a moment he's willing to destroy one of his money making villages, right after losing one not to long ago, just to kill one human guy who didn't actually hurt him, nor are they a rebelling villager.

Yet this is how he acts once Usopp gets caught.

This is after he comes back to Arlong Park to find most of his crew beaten to a pulp by Zoro. He flipped a house he was so pissed off at Usopp, ready to destroy an entire village that he gets good money from (and which he needs to keep Nami around) but suddenly after his crew is hurt he's not in the mood for killing Usopp ASAP?!

Also, he was only in Nami's village because he saw Genzo had a weapon. He thought the village was going to rebel like the last one and he wanted to nip it in the bud and kill Genzo before it got to far. That was the only reason he was there and yet, after Usopp makes him absolutely furious he and Kurobi leave Genzo alive.

Flashback Arlong, who was barely held back by Fisher Tiger would never have left any of these humans alive. They were in his eyes disrespectful, not fearing him like he wants, and most did not give him money--the only benefit he sees to keeping humans around. Yet, he lets all of them live--maybe he has plans to kill them later, but again, past Arlong would kill them ASAP.

I know that the most likely reason for this is because Oda didn't have everything with Arlong and Jinbe's past in his brain at this point (there's ten years or more between these parts in the story). Not only that he can't have important people like Usopp and Zoro being killed off. He also seemed less willing to kill characters off in the start of the manga, which is why Genzo and Zoro's friends lived (killing Genzo would also have been way to mean to Nami).

But from an in character perspective you could see this as Arlong being affected by Fisher Tiger's words of not killing humans. No, he can't fully follow that rule, let alone Fisher Tiger's orders to not treat humans badly. Arlong has hated humans for far to long, and he was barely managing to restrain himself for Fisher Tiger despite respecting/caring for the man with his whole heart.

He can't not kill humans or treat them like crap--but he can come up with excuses that limit how many he kills. A 'well, if they pay me, they can live', or a 'they're to weak to kill so I won't', or 'I'll give this guy a warning for insulting me before I kill him'.

He lets his crew drag him away from Nami's village because he doesn't really want to destroy it (for monetary gain not kindness obviously). Kurobi doesn't kill Genzo because he wasn't told to so he lets him off, despite that being the only reason they came in the first place (despite defiantly knowing killing him wouldn't get him in trouble and is Arlong's intention). That gives Arlong time to calm down and by the time Usopp is caught he's more willing to take the time to ask him what he's doing there and then let Nami deal with him.

Part of it might also be Arlong knowing Jinbe will come kick his ass as soon as he finds out he's been killing/terrifying humans. He can bribe the Marines, but only to a point. If he was slaughtering every human that looked at him wrong or said something racist he'd be to much of a threat for higher-up the Marines to ignore. Eventually they'd tell Jinbe to deal with him and Jinbe would. Arlong would know that and given he was beaten easily by Jinbe he also knows he'd lose immediately (and either be killed or sent back to Impel Down).

Either way, he's showing some restraint even though he doesn't have someone like Fisher Tiger, or Jinbe directly telling him to. For whatever reason Arlong is way more willing to keep humans alive if he can come up with an excuse for it. Which I find kind of fascinating and adds some depth to his character that I don't think was necessarily intentional, but is the strength of the writing that Oda was able to add something years down the line that somehow didn't conflict with what's already established.

#one peice #arlong #Jinbe #i just find him neat #is this a meta?#i might also give my thoughts about why he liked Nami so much #yes he treats her like crap and he (supposedly) needs her maps #but he would not be seen with Koala at all #he is not in any of the panels of her bonding with the crew even in the background #yet he throws parties when Nami comes back?#after he outright says she's tried to off him multiple times #he even defends her loyalty to the crew--SHE TIRED TO KILL YOU MULTIPLE TIMES!#but he fucking trusts her?!#are you kidding me!#also he hates Koala pre-Tiger's death but accepts Nami and fights tooth and nail to keep her around #again maps are important but really? he can't find anyone else to make maps? can't have someone on the crew learn how to make maps?#also he has a shit ton--must have all of East Blue Mapped #which is kind of why I say he supposedly wanted to conquer East Blue (the world)#it's been 8 years and he only has 20 villages #sorry but dude isn't trying at all #plus he knows he can't beat Jinbe or the Grand Line Marines #so i think he's just saying shit to feel better #probably would have sit on his ass in Arlong Park until he died of old age #Ends up being a slightly more evil Walt Disney with his knock off amusement park for his 30+ year-old fish-men friends #fucking love this dude; he's pathetic

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lover-of-mine · 7 months

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Since we're thinking tsunami and Buck and Chris and parenthood (I saw literally one post about it that put my mind in overdrive) I kinda wanna talk about it, because it's a very obvious thing that they are making Buck a father right then and there. I think it's pretty on the nose with the blunt cut from Maddie and Chim discussing kids and talking about how Buck is the only person they know who doesn't have one besides them to Eddie dropping Chris off and it was made extremely obvious with the coma dream and Buck remembering the tsunami after the "my kids" conversation with his parents. But there's a very clear shift on the way Buck treats Chris before the tsunami in comparison to after, because in the party at bathenas house Chris is giving him a card and Buck clearly has a lot of affection towards him, but you have Eddie hovering behind them and Buck is still very much "this is my friend's kid" with the way he treats Chris and that's exaggerated by the way he's surprised by the fact that Eddie brought Chris to the loft and he is visibly awkward about how to handle Chris being there, the way he's moving, the way he's looking at Eddie, the trying to pass the "babysitting" over to Carla, "what do you like to do for fun". Obviously, there's the level that comes with the way Buck is in a bad mental state but Buck doesn't truly get why Eddie would just hand him Chris and go to work.

When they're at the park, shit is less awkward because Buck's not only benefiting from Chris but from getting out of the house even if he does ends up getting all deep with Chris because he's still very upset. But after the wave hits, it flips a switch. Again, there are a lot of layers there, for starters Chris is a child who cannot survive that situation alone, Buck is a person who cares more about other people than himself, he is responsible for Chris at that moment even if he didn't feels anything particularly fatherly towards him, but the time it takes for Buck to find Chris shifts Buck's world and that's very obvious. Buck has always been awed by Chris but sitting in there truck Buck goes from dad's friend to father and it's obvious on the way he's handling the situation. Keeping Chris distracted, saying they're a good team by saving all the people, the games to keep Chris from seeing the worst of it, Buck's instincts surrounding Chris changed and a parallel that happens in the episode that I think it's a very deep proof of that is the way that Buck gets distracted on the park and doesn't hear Chris calling his name multiple times because he's busy mopping over the rescue that's happening, but when he's helping other people and Chris falls in the water, he reacts instantly to Chris' voice and doesn't hesitate to jump into the water to go after him even though that's the most dangerous thing he could do in that situation because he needs to get to his kid.

They are again very obvious on the way he spends the entirety of the next episode looking for him even though he's in no shape to actually stay on his feet. Something that always breaks me is the way he talks to the lady with the lists and braces himself to look in the morgue so that he knows for sure if Chris isn't there because the way he hesitates to walk over kills me along with the way he calls Maddie because he's not getting help for himself until he knows for sure what happened. Then obviously, there's the way he's shaking head to toe while trying to talk to Eddie but can't say the words out loud and how he's ready to cry even though he kept it together so far because saying it out loud makes it real and he can't handle that. And the way he just drops the second he realizes Chris is safe on Eddie's arms. And there's the way that a major thing about being a parent is the instinct to protect and Buck is sitting in loft looking all sorts of devastated because he thinks he failed to protect Chris and he tries to stop Eddie from leaving Chris with him again because he truly believes Chris needs protection from him so it doesn't matter how much the situation is hurting him, since he believes Chris is better off away from him, he just accepts that he has to live with it. But since Eddie says he trusts Buck with Chris and Chris looks happy to be there with him, he just gives into the way he needs Chris around at that moment.

And it's kind crazy when you add the relationship between Buck and Chris outside of Eddie after that, because, yeah, Eddie relies on Buck for help with Chris, but Chris himself relies on Buck. There's some crazy stuff like the way Chris runs away to Buck because he's mad at Eddie or the way Buck's whole body relax when he sees Chris after the shooting or the way that Chris, a kid who's surrounded by first responders, called Buck not 911 during Eddie's breakdown. Or maybe the way the show cuts from Hen and Karen telling Denny's biological father that "our son our rules" to Buck and Chris chilling in the loft baking cookies for Chris to take to his school while Chris tries to get Buck to let him have cookies as dinner and Buck just makes the decisions himself. Is it a simple decision about what Chris is having for dinner? Yes. But that makes it so much bigger for me because it's just expected that Buck doesn't have to check every little detail regarding Chris with Eddie before doing something. Chris is Buck's too and the show very much pushes that idea and it all started in the tsunami.

#this is shorter than i expected not gonna lie #buck is Chris' other dad and i want a verbal confirmation #come on 911 just give it to me already #911 #thoughts thoughts thoughts #is this a meta?#kspskapakapakpa #i don't know #911 meta #for searching purposes #im just feeling feelings

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mitarashiko · 9 months

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"What's the point of it all? Heaven. Hell. Demons. Angels."

This phrase of Crowley stuck with me because it's so true in some kind of way. The Hell and Heaven have this kind of role of moral regulator of humanity, in addition to being the places where the souls will be taken at the end of life, but in fact their intervention is completely dispensable as stated by Shax in the same conversation. The humanity is capable to do good and bad so much better than angels and demons are even able to think about.

While the angels and demons not only do not understand humanity, they both see humans as inferior and ephemeral. They all know the humans will end at the Armageddon, so why care about them? The core issue is the war between Heaven and Hell and decide the winner once for all.

The irony of it all is, the Earth and humans actually don't need the Heaven and Hell, they are the ones who need the Earth and Humans.

Without the humans, they lose their purpose and everything they spent their existence fighting for. I wonder if maybe that is the Ineffable Plan.

#good omens #im not talking about crowley and aziraphale specifically because they love humanity #good omens meta #is this a meta?#i dont know #good omens theory #good omens 2

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bikelock28 · 1 year

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i'd like to hear your additional wolfstar thoughts, and thoughts on the queerness of sirius and remus

Thank you for this Ask! I got a bit carried away with this answer so it's very rambly long and detailed.

General disclaimers :

Content Warnings: Homophobia, teenage sex, brief mentions of sexual assault.

This is a LGBTQ+friendly blog which supports all queer identities :)

I'm going to refer to Sirius and Lupin as MLMs. "Queer" is too general given I believe both are cis, and MLM encompasses gay/bi/pan/ etc.

I'm a cishet girl woman so none of what I'm saying is from my own personal experience

More specific disclaimers:

While all sexualities have always existed, the language for them hasn't. We're dealing with 2 dudes in the 90s, who were born in the 60s, so they'd be unlikely to refer to or even understand their sexuality in the way we do now.

Actual Canon: what happens on the page in the book. Facts.

Possible Interpretations: self-explanatory. There will be multiple of these and they will be contradictory!

Bikelock's Interpretation: Which of the Possible Interpretations I believe.

These days it's tempting to read queerphobia into all of JKR's writing. Personally I disagree with this because mars critical analysis, and because it's a sweeping generalisation based on her recent transphobic tweets and comments, not her writing of fictional MLMs 15+ years ago.

Some of the evidence is from when Sirius and Lupin were teenagers. Therefore it's easy to say "well they hadn't figured their sexuality out yet". This is true, but also that's the evidence we have to work with, so we have to go with it.

Is Sirius Black An MLM?

Here I will look at Sirius in isolation (without Lupin I mean, not like when he was in Azakaban).

Actual canon: "Several posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls" on his bedroom walls. Harry notes that he "had to admire Sirius' nerve". Possible Interpretations: 1. He isn't really into girls in bikinis as the main point is to piss of his parents, not to lust over. 2. He is into girls in bikinis and can lust over them while pissing off his parents. Win-win.

Actual canon: "The girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though we didn't seem to have noticed". I love this! Possible Interpretations: 1. Sirius has so many girls after him that he doesn't notice. He's got that cocky, "Oh hey? Didn't see ya there" swagger (this is more commonly known as Being A Prick). 2. This moment is a representation of Sirius not being into girls in general.

Bikelock's Interpretation: I reckon both interpretations for both the above are very plausible. I do think JKR intended Sirius to be straight, but I believe and enjoy the MLM readings of them.

Actual canon: "He was very goodlooking" "Still-handsome face", "Looking haughty and bored, but very handsomely so" etc etc etc. Honestly, the narrator is always banging on about how goodlooking Sirius was/is (JKR, stop crushing on a teenage boy BORN FROM YOUR OWN MIND, you absolute weirdo). But we never hear about a girlfriend? That's a bit odd. Possible Interpretations: 1. The constant spelling out of how sexy Sirius is is the narrator implying his womanizing, 2. It's a deliberate omission of romantic interest because he's gay, 3. While we see a lot of photos etc, we only see pre-Azkaban Sirius do stuff in Snape's Worst Memory, and Sirius' love life was not relevant in that scene, 4. Sirius' handsomeness isn't anything to do with who he's going out with, it's more about his arrogance- being goodlooking can be about YOU, not your relationship with others! Bikelock's Interpretation: I think JK intended 3 and 4, but as a Basic Straight Girl I'm a sucker for fictional and irl too bad boys, so I also think 1.

Is Remus Lupin an MLM?

Here I will look at Lupin in isolation.

Actual canon: Carries a Big Secret which will affect his job and his security if anybody finds out. In general is a private person who lives with shame. Possible Interpretations: 1. How very sad that this secrecy and shame can be interpreted as a signifier for queerness :( 2. It is more about infection, illness/disability, Snape being a dick, the structure of leading up to the PoA finale, than an metaphor for queerness. Bikelock's Interpretation: 1.

Actual canon: Big Secret publicly revealed by Snape in an act of revenge. Possible Interpretations: Snape outs Lupin. 1. Metaphor of outing of queerness. 2. This is, like, a thing that generally happens in dramatic fiction, and not necessarily queer coding. Bikelock's Interpretation: Err, both.

Actual canon: Married a woman and had sex with her at least once. Possible Interpretations: 1. Lupin is sexually/romantically attracted to women, meaning he: 1A. Is straight, 1B. Is MLM who is bi/pan etc. 2. HOWEVER:

Actual canon: Lupin is literally never seen happily interacting with his wife on-page after their wedding. Yep, that's right. Go back and check if you don't believe me. Possible Interpretations: 1. Lupin doesn't really want to marry Tonks (1. 1...but he was pressured into it by Tonks, Molly, and like, all the others (evidence for all this being in the hospital wing in HBP), 1.2. And/or because it was a crazy time, he was grieving for Dumbledore, he was scared, he was doing mad shit). So yeah, it's possible to argue that even though Lupin marries a woman, he could still be gay. In fact, I actually think this kind of makes sense with everything else we know about Lupin's self-hatred, shame, commitment-phobia r.e Tonks, and general appalling decision-making. Bikelock's Interpretation: Despite everything I just said, when it comes down to I believe that Remus is in love with Tonks and did want to actually marry her.

Actual canon: Lupin ditches Tonks twice, including when she's pregnant. He "made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks, and have regretted it very much ever since". Oof, not a good moment this. Possible Interpretations: 1. Remus Lupin is a character who has experienced trauma, the effects of which makes him a dreadful boyfriend/husband to Tonks, especially when he is terrified he has subjected her and their child to lycanthropy. This man is a walking disaster, and I don't mean that in a cute "this smol lil catastrophe bean" way. His bewilderment, self-loathing, shame, fear and experiences of abandonment and grief, are the reason he is so changeable regarding Tonks. 2. See above bullet-point: he never wanted to marry her. Bikelock's Interpretation: First one. Lupin is an awful husband for reasons explained by his Actual Canon lycanthropy, not reading into it that he didn't want to be with her in the first place.

Actual canon: After 4 books of the narrator banging on about how old, grey and ill Lupin looks, when Teddy is born he "looked younger than Harry had ever seen him" and "seemed dazed by his own happiness". Omg i'm dying reading this bit, it's so lovely. Possible Interpretations: 1. Heterosexual marriage and parenthood appear to have metaphorically cured Lupin of his infirmity and misery. Does this heteronormativity stretch into homophobia? 2. This joy is everything this beautiful man deserved. Of course he would be happy after the birth of his child! A key HP theme is parents and children and the love between them- here's JK demonstrating it. This is especially important given A. Harry being orphaned as a baby, B. Lupin (and Tonks) being killed off, leaving Teddy an orphan. It is key that Harry witnesses this love from a new parent about his child, both as part of A. Harry's own understanding of himself as an orphan and his relationship with his parents, B. The father-figure role he will play in Teddy's life.

Wait, What About ALL Of OotP?

I'm putting this separately because a lot of Wolfstar's situation in OotP applies to them both:

Actual canon: Secretly living together and despite being outcasts, Sirius and Lupin are father figures to Harry together. They even get him a joint Christmas present! Possible Interpretations: 1. ...gay subtext af. 2. Harry has many father figures, there are plenty of people are barging in and out of 12GP not just Lupin, Sirius is stuck inside and Lupin is skint so in terms of practicality they had to share the present, and it's just part of adventure stories that characters have to hide in secret. Stop reading so much into this! Bikelock's Interpration: No2.

Actual canon: The 40-Line Stare. A classic of Wolfstar shipping. Possible Interpretations: 1. Staring at someone is not a signifier of romantic attraction. 2. Staring at someone is totally a signifier of romantic attraction. Bikelock's Interpretation: First one.

Actual canon: Sirius and Lupin's interactions in Snape's Worst Memory are negligible. Possible Interpretations: 1. They weren't together at this point but would be later. 2. They were together at this point but it was a secret. 3. They weren't together at this point and never would be.

Other Stuff

Actual Canon: "Lupin walked to Black's side, seized his hand, and pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced Black like a brother". Another Wolfstar classic. Possible Interpretations: 1. He embraced Black like a brother. 2. This is from 13-yr-old Harry's understanding, and they actually may have embraced more like lovers. Bikelock's Interpretation: No1. "Brother" is what it says on the page. I think to cast the “misinterpreted a lover’s embrace” aspersion on Harry's viewpoint is grasping at straws. Think about irl the last time you hugged a sibling, friend or romantic partner...would a a bystander know the difference?

In fact, that whole scene in the Shrieking Shack arguably has lots of Wolfstar Hints dropped. But think about what's going on in that moment. It's batshit crazy! It's the dramatic climax of the book so the characters are all heightened. I just don't think any of the alleged Wolfstar Hints can be counted as legit given the circumstances.

The two characters are very close friends. Staring, hugging, caring for each other, avenging a friend's death, nagging each other, going to places together staying inside together, being distraught when the other one dies- these are all ordinary/understandable things for old, close friends to do. Personally I am irked by the idea that these actions can only be explained if the two characters are romantically involved. I think that's a disservice to Sirius and Lupin's friendship. It also demonstrates a pretty negative view of male friendship in general. Male friendship isn't just "wheeyyy football Quidditch booze bantz bantz". It can be caring and meaningful, like Lupin and Sirius'. Moreover, in general imo platonic relationships are just as important as friendships. Sirius and Lupin don't need to be romantic lovers for their love to be valuable.

Sources:

https://web.archive.org/web/20050305162545/http:/www.livejournal.com/users/elwing_alcyone/11152.html

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/12/10/harry-potter-and-the-secret-gay-love-story/

https://soundcloud.com/quibblerpodcast/ep-95-gender-revelio

OK You've Rambled On Long Enough, What Do You Actually Think?

Bikelock's Interpretation- Lupin: Easy for me. I interpret him as bi. The Big Secret and outing in PoA is a clincher. I don't think it was intentional by JKR but in my view it has a clear MLM reading (poor Lupin, the main signifier of his queerness is something upsetting, shameful and vengeful). I also like the idea of him as bi because he is so far from the Chaotic Sex-Mad Bisexual stereotype.

Bikelock's Headcanon- Lupin: (this is stuff I've made up myself with less/no canon evidence): Lupin is bisexual het-romantic (though, he wouldn't refer to or consider himself this way). I don't like the idea that he has had zero romantic/sexual relationships by the time Tonks turns up. It just...it's a bit cliché, a bit easy? (also a pain from a Remadora fanfic-writing perspective).

If you've read Pluto you'll know I write Lupin as having a poor relationship with sex. Although actually, I reckon it's mostly a poor relationship with heterosexual sex. See more in this post. The gist is, Lupin he believes he is a potential sexual predator because he is a werewolf. He would therefore feel more safe from himself when having sex with another man, because blokes are generally bigger and stronger and would have a better chance of fighting him off if he were to lose control. (It therefore a was a real twist of the knife to have JKR pair him off with a girl a lot younger than him). So, I think for the 12 years between the Potter Deaths and PoA, he was occasionally jacking off/blowjobs with random blokes met in pubs. Not to stereotype here, but that casual sex is a bit more common amongst MLMs than The Straights. Also I like the idea that our quite sweet, mild Prof Lupin has sucked off some dude behind a wheelie-bin. I think this would probs be Muggles because A. Lupin presumably spent a lot of time in the Muggle world, B. More anonymity.

Any girls ever? I think so. As I said, I don't want Tonks to be the first woman Remus ever slept with. I think his mates may have parlayed him into some action at school, and maybe after. Of course he would be very anxious about if/how/when to tell them he's a werewolf, and very guilty if/when he didn't tell them. This pre-Potter Death version of Lupin was a bit cheerier and less ashamed than the version we meet in canon, so his view of het sex wouldn't have deteriorated to the point I explained in the above para- that would happen after the Potter Deaths. In the 12 years after that, I reckon there probably was a girl or two, but ngl I struggle to come up with scenarios. She'd almost certainly be Muggle.

I dislike the fact that this headcanon of mine carries with it the homophobic implication of "had sordid and unfulfilling gay sexual encounters until monogamous het marriage and fatherhood made him truly happy". But, err, I guess that's how it is and idk what to do about it.

Bikelock's Interpretation- Sirius: I have less to say about Sirius. I fancy him see him as a very annoying, cocky, arrogant, womanising straight fuckboi. But I also think the MLM interpretations are plausible and fun.

Bikelock's Headcanon- Sirius: When I wrote Sparkling I wrote him as both interpretations. Defo having my cake and eating it BUT I plausible imo, and Sirius would have his cake and eat it too, wouldn't he?! I see teenage Sirius as a speedball of "wanna do it all, say it all, fight it all" so it's not a huge jump to "fuck it all", especially if he's getting lots of offers from girls. Plus, power is a big thing for Sirius and I think he'd enjoy the power element of sex, especially ditching girls once he's done with them. I think the MLM side of things would be more disconcerting for him, as it would for any boy in the 1970s.

Wasn't This Meant To Be a Post About Wolfstar?

Oh right yeah, sorry.

Bikelock's Headcanon: I think at Hogwarts Wolfstar could have happened. Generally such relationships between boys are A Thing at boarding school (although maybe less so at a mixed-gender boarding school) and I find that interesting and...kind of cool?

Pre-Potter Death Lupin is more fun and light, and boy is he happy to be cajoled into naughty fun with his friends. So I can see him copping off with Sirius, even if it was just as experimentation/boredom/horniness (remember, they are teenage boys!). Surely he'd actually feel better experimenting with a close friend? As for Sirius, I think if he sensed Lupin was MLM he would use that to his advantage. Not in a predatory way, he'd just...yeah, also participate. Likewise, if he's getting all this attention from girls but suspects he's MLM, he might feel better exploring that with a friend, who he knows won't be (too) weird about it or out him.

I don't know why I don't see them as legit "in love". Maybe because most 17-year-olds aren't?! It's something I find frustrating about Harry's gen. And you don't need to be in love with the person you're getting off with at school!

Lupin’s situation means immediately post-Hogwarts he HAS to crack on and start making money to clutch at whatever stability he can find. Sirius' upbringing was materially stable and financially privileged, but emotionally shit, so I bet he wants/needs the opposite to Lupin: to get out there, see the world, have adventures. Lupin has to be more pragmatic than to want those things. A long-term romantic relationship would therefore not work. Being in the Order would change things too.

I also like the idea that James is always Sirius' BFF. His romantic relationship with Lupin was separate, perhaps less close- see my above point about the value of platonic friendship.

Wolfstar could not possibly be A Thing by the time the Potters went into hiding ABSOLUTE LATEST. Sirius suspects Lupin of betraying the Potters to Voldemort! Lupin wasn't told about the change in Secret-Keeper. Obviously that's Best Practise Secret-Keeping, but think about how many huge secrets the Marauders kept at school: werewolf, map, Aminagi, Snape incident. Lupin not being informed of the switch is therefore a big deal demonstrating major distrust.

Fats-forward to OotP. Imo it's too much time past, they're too different, they weren't even together particularly romantically or for very long as teenagers, and even that was now a lifetime ago. Therefore it doesn't make sense for Wolfstar to be together in OotP. Also, it doesn't fit timeline-wise with Lupin/Tonks (who are Actual Canon!).

However, I do like to imagine touch-starved Sirius being, like, weirdly physical with Lupin, like putting his head on his shoulder a lot, maybe he kisses him goodnight sometimes. But, more in a strange, sad, lonely way, than a romantic way.

The End. Phew, that was a long post! Thanks for reading- even if you just skipped to the bottom. In case you possibly need more of my rambles, here's a plug for some of my Wolfstar fanfic, or at least fanfic involving the characters:

#hp #my rambles #wolfstar #sirius black #remus lupin #questions or something #meta #is this a meta?#fanfic #my fanfic #hp analysis #Remadora #wolfstar Meta #Harry Potter #Harry Potter meta #Hp meta

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cringefaildiaz · 1 year

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I have a strong feeling that the Carla/Eddie/Chris first dance plotline in the next episode is going to be a catalyst for Eddie saying he wants someone.

The whole beach conversation revolves around Felisa embracing Alexis despite all her faults because she's been there through all of Felisa's. Seeing past the fact that she's deemed herself "cursed" and appreciating what she has rather than only focusing on the bad things that have happened to and around her.

Eddie walks her through that second part, talking about losing Shannon and working through the tsunami trauma with Chris. But who's been with him for all of that?

And the tsunami trauma has been resolved, but has Shannon? Is he ready to face that ocean? She's been mentioned twice this season by name, I don't think that's going no where.

I think with Eddie's storyline in 6x08 being focused around a big first for Chris, and Carla being the one by his side (the one who pushes him in his romantic life), I just think it'd be neat if they have a conversation where he says "I want someone to share this with." Metaphorically going back to the beach.

And obviously, the choice is Buck. The person who's been by his side through his own curse, the one who breaks down the door when Eddie's behind it. But when you run Eddie's arc this season parallel to Buck's—the desperate grasping for family that's enough for him, the horrible choices he's making to abate his own needs, and the fact that he's going to be babysitting his niece in 6x08—I just don't see any way Buck's storyline next episode could be anything other than him realizing he needs his own family to be satisfied. That he almost has one, but he's not enough for them either. Just the guardian.

Guardian in two senses—that he's literally in Eddie's will with that title, but also that he has a personal responsibility to watch out for Chris. He kept him safe in the tsunami, he'll keep him safe if Eddie dies. And with that ominous last shot of Chris, I wonder if the midseason finale will be him in danger, and Buck trying to sacrifice himself so Chris and Eddie can make it home together, and Eddie having to say "he doesn't need one of us, he needs both of us." They are a family, and Buck isn't expendable. Not because he needs to keep Chris safe, but because he needs to be there. More than a donor, more than a guardian.

It just all leads to the same place imo. And that's realizing that they can have everything they want in the family they've already built together.

#buddie #buddie meta #is this a meta?#911 spec #evan buckley #eddie diaz #911 fox #domestic buddie mutual pining 6a #thats my dream

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lookotherway · 2 years

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I think it would be better if someone in the family couldn’t forgive touya after everything he did. There should be mixed feelings and variety of reactions that endeavor + family gave us. It feels very cheap if everybody becomes forgiving of murder, terrorism, kidnapping, etc. So what if the family member is sorry and won’t do it again? Personally, I’m empathetic to the suffering of others. So it would matter to me if the victims were strangers; I would never be able to get them and their families away from my mind. Am I really to believe that there’s nobody like that in the todoroki family? My vote is either fuyumi or natsuo.

i too want to see more about the other todorokis' viewpoints about dabi-touya.

we've got their opinions, that scene in the hospital, but that was them reflecting themselves on the topic "who drove touya to this point" and it's never truly the viewpoints about the current lunatic, criminal touya but more about themselves and their guilt dragging from the past.

shouto's judgment, bravo for his strong sense of wrongness and rightness, however couldn't stand for the entire family. shouto and endeavor are heroes, their thoughts progress in another way, and even that shouto's and endeavor's feelings weren't the same either. it wasn't showed clearly but endeavor bore far more complicated feelings about dabi than shouto. i would like to see that kind of complication, even if just a small panel, in the other todorokis as well. touya’s death had terribly impacted on the family, so in what logic would touya’s horrifying resurgence not bring upon any emotional conflicts to rei, fuyumi, natsuo. especially natsuo! in that undesired position i want to hear natsuo’s thought the most!

i honestly would like shouto to sit down and talk to his mother and siblings about dabi-touya during around the concentration zone and traitor arc, yeah? what a pity that the manga is rushing to its end and we didn’t have that screen, nor we know if it happened.

if there’s anyone who wouldn’t forgive touya easily, like how natsuo was standing strongly against endeavor’s change of heart, i do think it would be fuyumi. maybe both fuyumi and natsuo, maybe even rei.

rei, well, i must say she’s still a mother. and before a mother she’s a gentle heart. given her recent character development, maybe rei would reprimand touya a little, but she did seem like the kind of parent who would let her child off with a few words. in addition if there’s anyone who will forgive dabi at speed it definitely will be endeavor i swear.

natsuo seemed to be an emotional character. he didn’t give in to endeavor’s heart changing because of the ideal, the negative feelings he had been harboring toward his father. not that it’s critical, but i kind of think that natsuo would be furious at both touya and endeavor, but then would incline more to criticize his father and forgive touya. just for a small chance, maybe, since natsuo, in fact, had yet to show that he would forgive endeavor soon.

fuyumi was clumsy, maybe ‘clumsy’ isn’t the right word, i would say she’s a bit hasty when it comes to her family. fuyumi admited it, she grew up avoiding the fights and crackes under her rooftop, out of fear. which is why when she saw the hope came off directly from the source of all misery (her asshole father, endeavor), she actively supported it, she subconsciously thought that she had to make up for the actions she had not taken. she hastily pushed over any opportunity crossed her eyes. she considered natsuo’s feelings and rei’s condition, and she also thought her family should understand each other more, and she feared that if she couldn’t grab on this opportunity it might vanish. fuyumi also could perceive the genuineness level in endeavor (despite she herself knowing-saying that her father is worst at giving up), so she probably could sense any dishonesty when she finally has chance to talk to touya. i can imagine a person like fuyumi got angry after hearing dabi’s reason, because she understood the agony of a broken family, because she cherished the notion of family, because she had lived through the pain of losing a family member,

both fuyumi and natsuo would be, they had valid reasons to.

that to say, the todorokis family’s current situation with dabi-touya was heavily driven by guilt. it makes readers feel like they will quietly let touya off with his crimes, and maybe that will happen if Horikoshi rushes too fast to keep up some basic logic. but since the author has handled the todorokis plot... quite ok regarding emotion aspect, i have hope that at the end of this manga he wouldn’t forget the rest of the family a.k.a rei, fuyumi and natsuo.

#ask #bnha #dabi #endeavor #natsuo todoroki #fuyumi todoroki #rei todoroki #is this a meta?#no it shouldn't be #well this post only valid in case touya doesn't die at the end

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ladyshinga · 5 months

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#i can post it here if i get meta about it first

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probablybadrpgideas · 1 month

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The Monster Manual but it's blatantly written by the monsters

#rpg #roleplaying game #D&D #fantasy #meta

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dyscomancer · 5 months

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#from the desk #tumblr #tumblr ads #tumblr meta #hellsite #meme #what's your opinion on #as far as i'm concerned

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mycroftrh · 12 days

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Far worse, in my opinion, than the famous “he wouldn’t fucking say that” is “he WOULD fucking say that, as part of his facade, but you seem to think he would mean it genuinely”

#not tagging fandoms for safety #fic meta #misc #mine

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lover-of-mine · 20 days

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Where would be the best place for buddie to go canon?

Okay, I have conflicting feelings about this, because nothing about buddie goes smoothly, they literally start because of a bomb, so I kinda think that they should keep the trend and make it happen somewhere unrelated? I know most people want it to happen in a kitchen, and I agree to a degree, but because the kitchens are sacred and I want that to be broken (I don't really think it's gonna happen, but I kinda wanted to see them fight in one of the kitchens because that would cut so much deeper than them fighting in unrelated locations), I also kinda think it shouldn't be in a kitchen. That being said, from existing locations, the ideal spot is Eddie's kitchen, but mostly because Eddie's kitchen has this energy of comfort and honesty, and if we keep the trend of important things happening to them in a kitchen, like Buck introducing Eddie to Carla, the post-tsunami conversation, them clearing the air after the lawsuit, the couch talk, them talking about the shooting, possibly Buck coming out, we could go there, but the thing is, it mostly happens at the loft tho, Eddie's kitchen doesn't really have romantic connotations the same way the loft has, and it is a place of vulnerability for Eddie, it's where we see him talk to Carla about Chris being scared of the job, it's where we see him talking to Chris during his breakdown arc, even the breakup with Ana is more about him being honest, and the 6x12 scene that has a lot of that with the way he's talking about being shot, and you have things that are exacerbated like when Buck is trying to talk to him in 5x11 and he doesn't really go into the kitchen, because Eddie is not letting him, and all of that is not true for Buck's kitchen, because loft in and on itself is a place of doomed relationships, with him getting it with Ali just for them to break up right after, everything about Taylor, Natalia running from it, so like, Buck doesn't really have a successufull relationship that's attached to his loft, so if we are talking about maximum intimacy in a sense, especially since I'm a firm believer Buck needs to make a move, so letting Buck in like that in the kitchen would really really drive that point home, to have Buck say "I love you, I want you, I want this" and having Eddie reciprocate there would be very intense. Even more if you consider the breakup with Ana "it's your mess now" and the whole thing with Abby and "stepping in with them" you could have a pretty epic scene happen in there. And when you consider how kitchens are an intimate place in 911 as a whole, and it might be just me and the way my therapist keeps telling me that regards relationships "if your life is a house, it's fine to keep people in the porch, but it's not everyone you can invite into the kitchen" and the way the show has made a point of Eddie being extremely careful about who we see in his house, and how the show loves to use locations in characters in a meta level, I don't think you can get more, I don't know, intimate, than Eddie's kitchen,

BUT the thing is, a lot of buddie is contained to the house. To the point that it is weird that they only had one scene in there in s6, so there's a chance that getting together there would confine them into the house in a sense, even more with the way things keep happening outside the house lately, to make it happen in a completely new location would be interesting, depending on how they play it. Because they had very intense scenes that happened outside the safety bubble one of the kitchens provides like the will reveal, them making up after the lawsuit at the station, the cemetery, even the grocery store of it all, the panic attacks convo, stuff like that, and that could be nice to watch.

There's a chance that the way they have been fumbling in their relationship since the last time we saw Buck with Eddie in the house is to make a point of how the house is their spot and the getting together would be to solidify that, and maybe we won't see Buck in the house if it's not about Chris until then, but I also think a lot of the message season 6 gave with not letting them in the house all that much is that buddie is more about the people and less about the space, but considering they haven't been alone outside of a call or at the station since the cemetery, a scene that feels like a breakup, them getting together at the house could give this sense of they finally got it right, with the way the house feels like home for the audience when it comes to them and Eddie is very careful about who he lets in it, so it could give this idea that they are finally home, so, like, if we are staying contained to known locations, Eddie's kitchen for sure, but that's because that would be the best place for an ideal getting together, but when have things been ideal for them? So I think a random location would be fun if they play the scene right. Especially because if they are moving in the direction I think they are going, where there will be no previously established pining, they're not gonna make it as if any of them have been secretly aware that they're in love with the other, you can have them kiss in a random location, and you make a kitchen scene the first time they say I love you, so you keep the milestone in the kitchen, but you don't make them get together in the kitchen, so you don't trap them in the house. You can even make the get together something heat of the moment outside the safety bubble, that they can't talk about in the moment it happens, and then have them talk about what it all means for them in the kitchen, so you maintain the kitchen of it all as they define the relationship, but not the actual getting together.

TLDR: random location for a kiss, talk about it in Eddie's kitchen is my ideal scenario right now.

#i have no idea if this makes sense tbh lasoaksokaskaskasa #911 #911 spoilers #is this a meta?#911 meta #eeeh #buddie thoughts #i really need a tag for asks #anon 😌

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