people treat Jamie from yellowstone as if he wasn't Horribly neglected from birth, adopted to strangers, then emotionally manipulated, neglected, and abused some more. Shocker! The dog you raised in fear and loyalty only knows Fear and Loyalty.

in shock hearing people say that babel only takes a turn and becomes heart-wrenching at the end because that experience is so incomprehensible to my chinese diaspora ass that felt like their heart was being torn from their chest in the very first chapter likeeeee babel is underscored by such immense amounts of tragedy and loss and horror around colonialism and imperialism from the very beginning it's so crazy that white people can just read the first half of babel and not feel like every bone in their body was being dissolved in acid by the centuries of unspoken grief written in robin's experience SORRYYYYYYYY. average poc reading babel vs average white person reading babel truly LMFAOOOO

yes i'm rooting for m*leven breakup because byler is neat but mostly? i'm rooting for m*leven breakup for the sake of el and mike.

to me, their romance was always a puppy love born out of a combination of social pressures, naïve curiosity, and a lack of true understanding regarding intimacy and romantic love and what it really is. it was real in that they do truly, deeply care about each other and they are close friends, maybe even shared an attraction, but a maturing romance is so much more than that. they've grown up and out of being boyfriend/girlfriend, and that's okay! i think television/film needs to show more often that most of us don't have definite "soulmates" or first childhood loves that we spend our whole lives with. it doesn't mean these relationships meant nothing and didn't impact us, it just means they've run their course and that something else is in the cards, and this is part of life!

i've always felt el was at her best and most confident self when broken up with mike, discovering who she was and what she liked alongside another girl her age instead of just relying on mike for mentorship on how to live in the real world. she deserves more of an opportunity to find herself, her autonomy, and her independence, and to love who she is, and she's made it clear she's felt insecure in the relationship with mike because she isn't being loved and understood the way she wants, needs, and deserves from someone who is her partner.

also, it's okay if mike doesn't love her in "the way he should". he is not obligated to love her romantically and stay in a relationship with her just because she's a girl, because she "needed someone", or because he cares about her a lot. he shouldn't be pressured into a romance if it's not truly coming from his heart. he deserves freedom to find out and honour who he is, too, instead of just staying in his non-functional first relationship — one he got into as a child, essentially — and defining himself that way because it's what's expected when a boy and a girl are close. he loves her in some way, yes, but it's okay if he doesn't feel comfortable or secure being her boyfriend anymore, for whatever reason that is. he's felt insecure too, and that's valid and it matters.

they are their own people and are steadily growing and changing every day. they need time to figure out who those people are, and it's become clear (at least in my opinion) that those people aren't meant to be a couple at this stage.

they deserve freedom. they deserve to grow up and be authentic to themselves and not feel like they need to lie for the sake of a relationship. they deserve to move on from this version of their relationship that isn't making them happy and rekindle the best part of their bond: their strong, beautiful friendship. they don't have to be a couple if it doesn't make them stronger and better and happier people.

i think it would be healthy and wonderful for a show, especially one consumed frequently by young adults, to show a relationship starting, progressing, and ending on good terms in this way. sometimes things don't work out, and that is okay.

We don't talk enough about how well ALL of the Vees know and care about each other so much, like--

We first see them when Velvette is calling Vox about Val being upset in ep 2, but there's no way he would have asked for the help himself. Like he's not gonna be like "hey get Vox for me I need him" because that seems too vulnerable, BUT he was expecting Vox to come.

He literally says "Fuckin' finally!"

Which would either mean that Velvette told him Vox is on his way, OR Val knew Velvette would tell Vox to come. (It is possible he expected it because of the cameras, but Vox didn't seem to know Val was throwing a tantrum until Velvette called him, and Vox's plan for the day seemed to involve multiple meetings, so I don't think he watches the cameras often enough for that.)

Also Velvette knew how to calm Valentino down. She was busy with a fashion show and needed to focus on that, and she was mad that Val was wrecking her shit, but even after he was out of her hair and not a problem to her, she repeated to Vox that he needs to go take care of Val.

"Take care of the piss baby!"

I 100% believe she could have done it herself (she probably did partly?? considering he stopped the tantrum and was in his room before Vox got there-- unless her telling Val that Vox was on his way was what did it, but that would still be something she knew to do), but she had a show to run. Still, she wasn't going to leave Val alone to be moping around.

Also the fact Valentino seems to have some level of control over his smoke implies he wanted to be dramatic as fuck or wanted to hide himself and sat in a cloud of smoke on purpose.

Vox obviously knows how to talk Val out of shit, and canon makes it more clear that he understands Val well.

But overall there's obvious intimacy between all three of the Vees in that they care for each other and know exactly what's needed and/or what will happen in situations like that.

I'm finishing up my rewatch of season 3 of The Boys before I begin my SPN rewatch (got 2 more episodes left) and watching Jensen's performance as Soldier Boy just absolutely floors me.

It floors me because I've seen antis time and time again claim that Soldier Boy/Ben was essentially Dean in a superhero suit, that Jensen has one note acting, that he watered down the character by refusing to do scenes that made him uncomfortable (especially by one anti blog in particular who claims to be an acting expert, you know the one), and that his acting is very bland.

But in studying his performance because I'm studying the character (for writing purposes), these people couldn't be more wrong. I will admit that the only time I got a semi-Dean vibe from him was during the scene where Soldier Boy tells Butcher about his father. Which doesn't surprise me because Jensen himself said he leaned into the Dean/John dynamic for that scene.

But otherwise, I don't see anywhere where their claims hold any water. I mean, have you actually watched his scenes?

This scene is so important. Annie is getting ready to face off with this guy and even though she knows he's dangerous (after seeing he results of one of his explosions up close and personal), but she has no idea how dangerous, not really. This isn't Dean. This isn't Beau. This is the dangerous side of Solider Boy and had Hughie not intervened, there's a good possibility shit would have gone even more sideways. Especially, with Ben coming off of the confrontation with Countess, her hitting him where it hurts the most (meaning she tapped into one of his biggest insecurities. That explosion wasn't an accident (like NYC or even at Herogasm with the Twins). Ben didn't black out here. That's shown to us by there being no Russian trigger, despite him learning that Countess and his team handed him over back in 1984 and didn't even get paid for it.

I mean, look at this expression right here. His body is moving but his eyes don't. He's getting into position, ready to take out the next threat. Only when Hughie steps in and Annie's eyes dim does he step away, assessing her as not a threat. This is the weapon that is deadly enough to take on Homelander and no matter where you stand on Jensen as an actor, he pulls it off here.

The physicality he utilized in this role speaks volumes. And it's not about Soldier Boy being a Supe or being in a suit or having to look pissed off all the time (minus the few times he's amused). It has to do with how he embodies that character, carries him, and if he pulls it off. Spoiler alert: he did.

This scene exemplifies exactly what I'm talking about. I have watched it countless times and this part of it always sticks out to me every single time. Look at that expression, look at the eyes. Ben is not going all out to sell this belief let's call it to Hughie. He's giving him a look that says "this is the truth and you better believe it or else". He's not smiling for news cameras or doing propaganda or greeting fans of his movies decades prior. He's not selling the Soldier Boy is America's Greatest Hero image here. He's subtly threatening Hughie, and this is where he begins to have an issue with him. Because Ben wants to see himself as the good guy, something Kripke, Jensen, and the cast have talked about in promoting the season. In his own mind, he is the good guy; he's a legend in his own mind so to speak. He's bought the hype about himself. And anyone who doesn't see him that way is an enemy aka a threat.

It doesn't mean he doesn't know he's doing things that aren't right (as we saw in those outtakes of the 'Don't-do-drugs' commercial). He's very self-aware but he justifies it to himself because he's Soldier Boy and almost like Homelander always says, he can do what he wants. Not necessarily that he has a god-mentality that rivals Homelander's but everything is justifiable in his mind because he's a Supe, or more precisely the Supe, and he's protecting his country. And it also keeps that insecurity of being a disappointment at bay that he has from his childhood. It's all layered into his make-up so to speak. So not only is Hughie a threat (not physically obviously but to Ben's image of himself) but is also bordering dangerously close to reminding him of the very thing he hates: a mirror that reminds him that maybe his dad was right about him (not saying he was, I'm saying this is potentially what is running through his mind). So not only does it share a brilliant parallel between Hughie and Annie when it comes to Soldier Boy that eventually plays out beautifully in the Tower Scene in the finale, but it also is sewn into the issue between Hughie and Annie this season in their own relationship.

But the way Jensen plays that scene is phenomenal because if you watch it, you realize if Hughie says one wrong thing, he may be in trouble.

Which is then continued in this scene:

In this scene, Hughie is mentioning there's a lot of people inside Herogasm and here we get Ben's reaction to Hughie saying that. Then he tells Hughie as long as the people stay out of his way they should be fine. But again, watch how he says it, his expression, focus on his tone, his body movement. He clearly is not happy that Hughie says this (it literally is a continuation from the hotel room scene) and again has that subtle threat vibe, even with Butcher standing there (because let's face it, to him, even with temp V, Butcher is no threat). And of course, we all know the slap scene and the punch scene that happens later. Not only does Hughie get switched out for Ryan later on who Butcher ends up protecting from Soldier Boy, but it all plays out beautifully as all of the connections, overt and subtle, unfold throughout the season.

But back to Jensen's performance. There is so much to appreciate in how he fully embodied this character. And that's not saying it through an AA haze of "omg he's so hawt!" or "omg did you see his ass?" That's appreciating the amount of work that he put into this role when the cameras started rolling. He literally became Soldier Boy and he embodied him even outside of the suit.

As an actor, Jensen is very nuanced. He consistently adds in these little things that help make the character even more multi-dimensional than what is written on the page or what is called for int he scene and how it's blocked. This is why there is a certain small group of people on here that repeatedly talk about Jacting Joices, it's not just related to Supernatural or Destiel or Dean. It's about Jensen as an actor, as a performer, and how much he actually pours into these characters he plays. Whether it be the way he moves (or walks), or the expressions he uses, his eyes (yep, he does that too, see above), with his hands, even down to the way he delivers a line. All actors do this in their own way obviously, lean into physicality as well as their performance, but he definitely has his own unique style that I just don't see anyone else replicating. I think there's a reason so many people say no one else could have played Dean the way he could have for example. And if you watch his characters, really watch them, you'll see what he does each and every time. Even smaller characters like Jason from Smallville or Tom from My Bloody Valentine or Alec from Dark Angel. It's all right there on the screen.

So I guess my whole long point is I don't get why antis rip him apart when it comes to this role of Soldier Boy (other than being antis I guess) or say he can't act or that has no idea how to properly analyze his character because he actually did put a ton of work into this specific character (as well as all the others he's done) and you can clearly see it as you watch his scenes in the show. While I wish we could have seen Homelander and Soldier Boy go at it a bit more, and see Soldier Boy truly unleash that Alpha-ness of being the original Supe like had been talked about in promotions and interviews, it doesn't diminish that this character was fascinating and he brought it to life from the script in a way that complemented his own unique style as a performer.

tl;dr Jensen crushed Soldier Boy and Ben (yes, two different characters to embody actually) and I cannot wait to see more of him in any future Boys-related visual story telling, on the show or others.

Apparently it’s supposed to snow where I live by tonight so I took that as an excuse to draw the idiot morons being idiot morons <3

Originally image under the cut

and then they tried to gaslight us into thinking they weren't supposed to be endgame

i once had an anti tell me to stop sexualizing their trauma on a story i wrote that was a word for word retelling of my own actual trauma but with names changed and its been 2 years and i still cant stop thinking about that

Ah, yeah... Unfortunately a non-insignificant number of antishippers seem to genuinely believe they own the concept of trauma, so any story they read that they believe to be portrayed in a romanticized or sexualized light therefore must be romanticizing/sexualizing their trauma specifically.

I couldn't tell you the amount of times I've gotten the "stop sexualizing my trauma!!!!!!" or adjacent comments from antishippers that universally garner a response that basically boils down to

Like, bitch! I'm talking about my trauma! I literally did not even know you existed until you fucking commented!

*sees episode title and loses my mind*

My entire life feels like this

sorry not sorry but you are such a fucking loser if you hope the show gets canceled

for like 3 weeks i was wondering why i was sleeping so much and felt listless. and just now I managed to email 3 people and responded to a month old message in the span of an hour because I got back to TAKING MY FUCKIN MEDS..........

yk as far as responses to "i love you " go, "it'll pass" is not one i expected and definitely did not have me on the floor at 4 in the morning

Binging the sex room show while the heat wave fucks up your sleep is all fun and games until you watch the very much in love queer couple who trust each other to the ends of the earth experiment with shibari together and you get taken out at the knees by a baseball bat made of Yearning

DAMNNN, they kinda popped off on step by step! would be a fair point to make if it wasn't itself a bl show profiting off lgbtq+ relationships but oh well 🤭

PIT BABE, The hot mess.

I feel like the story was just adapted from novel on surface level and they didn't really creat much changes except giving some screentime to side characters. Way was the same friend as novel but they write flashbacks so people would feel little sympathetic about his death. But things got turned how they turned because Nut acted too fabulously out of his character. His eyes always expressed a sadness that it created a past story which wasn't written in script and made people feel for him more.

On the other hand ( don't hate me for this) ,Charlie actor didn't delivered his character on the same level. And so in the end people end up sympathizing with Way more. Like whenever Way looks at Babe, anyone can believe this man is sadly pining after his 10 year one sided love. Whenever Babe looks at Charlie, love droops from his face and it's in his sparkling eyes that says Charlie means world to him. Whereas, Charlie most of times he appears as.... yk reading the script.( swallow the bitter pill) . Even in supposedly emotionally charged scenes like in ep 7 confrontation or in ep 9 him saving Babe, his expression just doesn't appear as much compelling or convincing. At most he was just a prop while Pavel carried their whole love arc emotions. ( It might be different for novel readers as they had context but I as just series watcher felt so. Tbh, I see more chemistry in PavelPooh bts scenes or events and interviews than on screen. Their visual slays. ). That might be why I couldn't get into main cp scenes and was about to drop at ep 3, but then restaurant scene of Way and Babe in ep 4 caught my interest and the chemistry ( even as friends) was spotted there and I continued to see more of how Way character or his dynamic with Babe is gonna turn out. ( And AlanJeff happened and so saved the show for me. Sorry not sorry. )

But actors acting skills doesn't really make that much difference as most of the times script compensates for it by NOT writing any chemistrying scenes with any other character.

So, I don't understand where the directors were going with when they gave so many emotionally charged scenes to Babe and Way. These two were fabulous prettiest criers as ice on cake. And their toxic codependent homosexual friendship/relationship was very well fleshed out. Babe got a new boy, and we saw all of Way jealousy, pining, manipulation, loneliness. Babe going to him after Way is upset, their fight, his constant ' you're my best friend, I love u. ' Their slow falling apart, ugly betrayal, past betrayal relationship and apologies and end death.

Like after finale there might be something we felt we didn't got from fixed pairs , whether BabeCharlie, AlanJeff, NorthSonic. But there isn't anything that could be felt lacking from Babe Way relationship ( whatever more than friends less than lovers, toxic but wanting, torturous/ codependent / possesive friendship not friendship their relationship was ) . This relationship arc was fully delivered in all of it's gloriously doomed tragedy.

So it kinda felt like Way and Babe were main characters and their tragic story was main focus. But since tragedies doesn't attract people, they pretended Babe and his love for Charlie was main focus. ( yes, Change lied till the end).

Yeah, i also don't wanna believe this, but there wasn't any step we didn't see of their relationship. Way pinning after his friend for a decade, doing everything to separate him from other lovers but never confessing himself. Taking care of him, by his side always, waiting , snapping when finding himself at the edge and with one decision ruining everything, ignoring the love of another men, then dying saving his only love.. Like can you see MY LOVE MIGHT BE TOXIC BUT IT WAS TRUTH AND MAYBE WAS TOO MUCH FOR YOU And Babe crying, forgiving other of everything in instant, , saying I won't be angry at you anymore. Crying I love u three times at the end when Way was taking his last breadths, if that was what all Way wanted to hear Babe would say it, in desperation for other to not leave him anyhow. Even after receiving worst and most hurtful betrayal of his life, still not letting go of other. Wishing to meet in next life. Can you see this MY LOVE MAYBE WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU BUT IT WAS TOO DEEP FOR ME AND TRUE TO ITS ENDS.

Did you see it? THE CINEMA. 💀

I mean i also get that sloppy writing mess, illogical death instead of good redemption arc, undigestable instant forgiveness from Babe, pointless Pete Kenta triangle. But if we take what show delivered, that's what ( Way Babe) they served us on gold platter. We just ignoring it bcz our fave ships. Trust me I was also too immersed in pete way myself but you see when Way got shot Pete didn't come running to him and was holding Charlie while Tony delivered that monologue. Pete ( the man who is supposed to have good body balance and never missing his targets) couldn't shoot Tony and was listening the blabbering while Way was bleeding on floor. Like 🙃💀 I'm sorry, His death scene was written so bad. 😭. They all cried but no one pressed on his wounds, neither anyone called ambulance. He was alive for like ten minutes to talk to Babe. Atleast they should have given him a good death scene 😭. Way deserved that much atleast.