#and it would've made a difference imo

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

Weisshaupt mission definitively proving that da is at its sexiest when it's wardens and yet here I am feeling an unbearable amount of salt because we walk through a FUCKING WARDEN LIBRARY and they could've put in a fucking NOTE about the HERO OF FUCKING FERELDEN IN THERE. SO GLAD THE FUCKING JOINING CHALICE WAS RECOVERED FROM FUCKING OSTAGAR THOUGH.

[psychopomp-namine]

.

[canary-song]

and you see the love was there. that was the point. it's not that the love couldn't save them, it's that the love was what put him in a place to lose them in the first place. if he didn't love quite so much he would've never been there to see them go

[madsway]

now that i've taken in the entire show and am about to rewatch simply because i can............... i'm so pissed that dave erickson got fired because damn........

[fideidefenswhore]

"The end of Anne Boleyn marks the more sinister transformation in Henry's kingship which underlay his solemn protestations of spiritual headship and godly reform. Nobody could now call him to account in the sacred or secular realm, and although it goes too far to say that his will was law, since some respect was still due to the judicial process, the legal travesty of Anne's trial and execution shows what his unchecked authority could achieve. It also illustrated the forces which Henry had unleashed by breaking with Rome. From this point onwards, political division would be matched by a level of ideological division previously unknown. Anne had been backed by those who supported religious reform and sneered at papal pretension; her fall was hastened by the efforts of those whose loyalties lay with Princess Mary and the Catholic past. Cromwell had slipped adeptly (and temporarily) from the former group to the latter, and such political reinventions were to remain common, but many continued to be fired by strong religious convictions, allowing religious division to exacerbate political tensions to a dangerous extent." (Henry VIII, Lucy Wooding)

+

"For all Henry's protestations of the contrary, the atmosphere at his court in his final years was almost as unsettled and claustrophobic as during the Wars of the Roses. John Husee answered the charge that he no longer sent reports of state affairs to the Lisles by explaining, 'I thereby might put myself in danger of my life...for there is divers here that hath been punished for reading and copying with publishing abroad of news; yea, some of them are at this hour in the Tower.' Civil order was maintained, but only because Henry sold the bulk of the confiscated monastic lands at rock-bottom prices to willing purchasers to create a whole new class of property-owners with a vested interest in the status quo. Spies and informers stalked the country, safe-conducts were needed to travel abroad and the posts were intercepted-- no one felt completely safe." (Hunting the Falcon, Fox&Guy).

[love-has-a-way-ofgrowingbackward]

anyone else thinks that ttpd songs sound the same? like theres no huge difference or particular individuality to songs (except the thumping with florence). midnights had a range of sounds. evermore and folklore were similar sounding but every song was unique and beautiful melody wise. this all sounds like one huge talk with a bassline divided in 3min intervals

[youngpettyqueen]

finished chapter 3 of the fic and

christ alive.

[burningcheese-merchant]

I think more ppl need to see this

Yeah for real lol. That's exactly what it is with him. Not to toot my own horn too much but I believe this post I made ages ago hits the nail on the head haha

"I'm bored" is... technically true. In a sense. Personally, I think it's a very simple and vague allusion to the real problem. That thin sheet of snow coating a massive, freezing cold iceberg. Just barely obscuring it from proper view.

imo it's been a bit disappointing seeing people take to extremes with Burning Spice's character. I've seen people either woobify him, downplay or excuse his actions by saying "he's not evil! He's hurting! He's depressed! He doesn't hate people, he's lashing out because he can't internalize his pain anymore!", or just demand he be put to death immediately on sight without trial. You can like a morally repulsive character and sympathize with their issues while also acknowledging that they're repulsive and need to face justice for their crimes. Burning Spice is one of my favorite characters, I love everything about him, he's sexy as fuck, I understand why he's the way he is, I'm still happy to see his ass beat because he's a piece of shit and he deserves it lol.

Not to throw shade at "simpler" villains ofc. I love me some assholes that are assholes just because they can be. Like Jack Horner in Puss in Boots 2. But Burning Spice isn't Jack Horner and he honestly shouldn't be. The deeper, sadder, more complex reasons governing his actions suit him better than just "I'm bored fuck this shit" and nothing else ykwim

and of course, he's still wrong. Burning Spice's view of the world is wrong. Does a book begin just to end? Does a song play just to finish in a few minutes' time? No. They begin so that we may read, listen, and enjoy. So that they may make us laugh, or have us shake our heads in disappointment, or tell us some hidden truth. Make our days and lives a little more interesting than they were before. Life is beautiful BECAUSE it is fleeting. Born, grow, wither, born, grow, wither. Yes, that's how it goes. But there's so much more to those things than just what we can gather from those three words. Every day is different. Though the sun rises every morning without fail, it's never quite the same color, is it? Always a bit of a different shade of yellow, orange, red, bleeding into the sky a little differently each time. There are so many things to see and do, games to play, people to meet and love and cherish. Maybe some of those things and those people won't be here someday but that doesn't mean their existence never meant anything. We are not born to die, we are born to live. We must die for those who are to live, and live for those who have died. Regardless, we must never lose sight of the intrinsic value of all that surrounds us. Burning Spice very much did. Underneath his bitterness and anger and (not unfounded, to be fair) lamentation for the unstoppable cycle of life and death is a deep-rooted selfishness and fundamental lack of understanding and appreciation for life and other people. In the face of despair, he gave in and chose evil. He was and is wrong for doing so, regardless of why he did it. He could've stepped down. He could've just admitted he didn't have what it took to be the Herald of Change. Hell, if he really hates being alive so much, he would've committed suicide a LONG time ago. But he never did any of that; instead he chose to inflict an equal or greater suffering on everything and everyone else, even the undeserving. And for that he MUST pay. And Golden Cheese, with her personality and her experiences and the wisdom she came to attain when faced with the exact same despair as Burning Spice, is exactly the right person to make him do that

[koipepo]

In your opinion do you see Remmick as racist? Because it seems to be a hot debate right now!

I feel like we already had this discussion last month? 😭 but i don't think he's racist as much as he is more of incredibly ignorant of how racial segregation works in america. doesnt help that hes been not-human for a long time, came from old Ireland that experienced different type of oppression, and you know. Being a vampire that eats people for survival.

There are readings of his actions that could be read as metaphor of racism but i think it's more of white liberalism (lemme into your space and access to your culture, and while i do genuinely sympathize with your struggle i'll still use them ultimately for MYSELF) but not outright racism.

Ryan Coogler himself said that Remmick is not racist in an interview (i dont remember the clip but i'll link it if i found it) and even wanted him to be relatable. If he wanted to make him racist, he would've made him outright racist like he did with the klan guys imo

[xielexalt]

phaidei & renheng parallels (as of 3.1) (spoilers & theories ahead!!)

thinking about phainon/mydei + blade/dan heng (incl. yingxing/dan feng) parallels, here's some scattered observations & parallels i made

- the closeness phainon & mydei have is very reminiscent of yingxing & dan feng. like i get this feeling that this is what it would've been like to witness yingxing and dan feng together on-screen

- both blade & mydei Can Not Die

- both phainon & dan heng are associated with the path of trailblaze (one way or another)

- dan heng directly relates to mydei's conflict of letting go of the past to go towards the future

- cloud piercer being broken On Amphoreus Specifically by Phainon Specifically and having him allude to blade -- definitely says something.

also, TB's memory of dan heng & blade being brought up in amphoreus for some reason (of course it's moreso astral express vs stellaron hunters, but renheng are inherently tied to that dichotomy anyways)

more in-depth spoilers ahead

- blade got corrupted by the abundance motherfuckers. i have a very strong suspicion that mydei might become corrupted by the black tide, and then i think phainon is going to kill mydei. #tragicyaoi

either way, no matter what happens here, something bad is going to happen to them

- with the reaver being commonly theorized to be another phainon from the future or another timeline, we have the dual persona with reaver - phainon and dan heng - dan feng. both the flame reaver and dan heng walk a different path than their other self. (i think this even adds more meaning to dan heng's heavily involved presence on amphoreus at the moment)

- if blade & mydei cannot die, it might be the case that only dan heng & phainon (reaver) are capable of killing them. or rather, it's only dh/phainon that blade/mydei wants, to be the one to kill them.

- they are part of a group of worshipped heroes, but that group will meet a tragic end? chrysos heirs and high cloud quintet. largely at the hands of phainon (flame reaver) : dan feng. i think something will happen to phainon that will make him parallel dan feng even more

- the chrysos heirs, after they die, will probably be reborn somehow in the "new world/genesis" they're working towards. part of the prophecy is that all but one person will die(?) before the coming of the new world, and that one person will open the path to the new world. which imo reflects how all of the high cloud quintet got reborn/corrupted except for jing yuan

what this means for both pairings & the story?

honestly, i do enjoy how hsr has parallels all over the place, and it might be a testament to how well these two dynamics work, that phaidei & renheng might be the most popular hsr m/m pairings. (side note, for some reason i'm more partial to myphai 🤔 but that's irrelevant)

on top of that, by drawing these parallels, we can further understand just How Doomed phainon & mydei are (as are the rest of the chrysos heirs), and how closely intertwined dan feng & yingxing might have been in the past -- to the point their conflict and feelings are still relevant in the current day as dan heng and blade. even if they're at conflict with each other, there is still such a deep connection that shapes them so profoundly, it cannot be overlooked..

(everything after this is incoherent yapping that i'm not entirely sure about myself but it's what's on my mind)

i do think this also further amplifies the trailblaze vs finality dichotomy, if finality is to be the 3rd path of amphoreus, and if finality is to be associated with the 3 titans of calamity (which mydei = strife is associated with one of those.)

the main thing that marks a significant change in both of these dynamics is the influence of trailblaze. we already know with dan heng joining the path of trailblaze, he wants to come to terms w/ his past in his own way and seek a new future for himself. he's making a meaningful change in his own life. (i do believe he's only getting started in this, the conflict he has with blade, the relationship between astral express & stellaron hunters -- not to mention future involvement w/ xianzhou politics -- will definitely span over the long, long run of HSR as a whole). we don't know if or how dh & blade would ever reconcile, but the paths they now walk on this grand script of "honkai star rail" might lead to an answer later down the road...

in the case of amphoreus, going off the theory they're in a time loop and the flame reaver is a key part of that time loop -- if in previous loops mydei would die or become corrupted at the hands of phainon/reaver, that is "finality" at work -- the endless endings. "trailblaze" is the element that interrupts that, and is what phainon is meant to wield. the trailblazers' appearance in the story would be what diverges the loop and helps phainon become the "nameless hero/king" he is destined to become ...

the really spicy, awesome thing about both these pairings is just how strongly intertwined they are with the overarching plot of their respective stories, and the themes so strongly present in duality and opposition, it's just so good to dig into 😭🙏 and just how much they parallel EACH OTHER too and how important dan heng himself even is to amphoreus too, it's like. god. in analyzing the things that affect their relationship, you're not only analyzing just that, but also the larger story in general and. aouujgjgkhghhh it's so good, it's so good. let them cook we love yaoi star rail

[writingwithciara]

For The Cameras ~Matt Sturniolo~

summary: a kiss cam produces unexpected results

word count: 1.9k (not as long as normal but a decent length imo)

pairing: matt sturniolo x reader

note: got a sweet message from @lolasturniolo and i loved the prompt. hope you don’t mind that i made it a sorta friends-to-lovers fic 😊

masterlist

“so who are we taking to the game tonight? we have 1 extra ticket and 3 options.” nick looked at his brothers.

"i vote to bring justin." matt said without looking up from his phone.

"really? i say nate." chris looked around the room.

"so you guys bring me back to boston and i'm not even an option for you?" y/n threw her hands up and shook her head.

"if it helps, i was going to pick you." nick smiled.

"if we each choose a different person, we're just right back where we started." matt set his phone down.

"we could always put their names in a hat and pick randomly." chris suggested.

"or, we think about this. both justin and nate have been to a hockey game and y/n has never been to one. plus, we did drag her all the way here. do we really want to be leaving her alone?"

"well, as good of a point as it is, i'm keeping my vote for justin. we don't spend a lot of time with him and i think it'd be nice to bring him to a game while we're here." matt smiled.

"i'm changing my vote to y/n. she deserves to have some fun on this trip." chris looked at his friend and smiled.

"that's two-to-one." nick looked at matt. "so you're overruled no matter what."

"okay fine. but justin gets to go with us to the next one." matt stood up and went to his room to get ready. chris did the same, leaving nick and y/n in nick's room.

"nick, i don't have anything to wear to represent the team."

"don't worry about it. we can buy you something when we get there. don't forget to dress warm. i'll wait for you to get changed then we can go."

"yes sir." y/n began to dig through her bag for something to wear. she pulled out her favorite ransom shirt and a hoodie she borrowed from chris nearly 3 years ago. after she changed into her favorite pair of jeans, nick came back into the room to change.

once everyone was changed, they met out at the car.

the drive to the arena was short and the car was filled with nothing but silence.

when they arrived, nick went to take y/n to get something to represent the team but matt pulled a boston jersey from the car and handed it to her.

"figured you wouldn't have anything to show your pride in the team so i grabbed an extra jersey."

"wow. you're so thoughtful for someone who didn't even want me to come to the game with you guys."

"i never said i didn't want you to come. i just said we barely spend time with justin and he would've loved it."

"i'm messing with you matt. i don't care that you didn't want me to be here."

"i didn't....whatever." matt walked away with nick. y/n pulled the jersey over her head and looked at chris.

"how do i look?"

"you look..really good." chris smiled and the two of them jogged to catch up to matt and nick.

the group looked at their tickets and went to their seats. matt was between y/n and nick, while chris was on the other side of y/n. he made eye contact with y/n as they sat down and he rolled his eyes.

he didn't hate her, nor did he dislike having her around. in fact, he loved having her around all the time.

to him, she was perfect. and his brothers knew it. they were always trying to push them together but y/n would never show interest in him & had only referred to him as a friend. and so born was his hatred towards her.

as the game went on, y/n cheered at the right moments and matt couldn't help but admire her every feature, hoping he wouldn't get caught.

unfortunately for him, chris and nick were in the bathroom when the kiss cam came around. he was still admiring y/n when the camera pointed at them. she noticed the stupid grin on his face and looked over at him.

"i think you should look at the screen, matt."

"huh?" he snapped out of his daze to glance at the screen. the large words KISS CAM flashed in red and his cheeks darkened. he knew he had been caught. he looked at the camera and shooed them away.

y/n stared at him with both shock and awe on her face. part of her wanted to kiss him but the other part of her didn't want to make him uncomfortable. so she just went back to watching the players skate around.

a few minutes later, the kiss cam returned to them and once again, matt declined. this time though, the fans around them booed. it nearly embarrassed matt but as he looked down at his feet, y/n grabbed his hand, almost immediately calming him down.

"thanks." he leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

"not a problem." she smiled sweetly at him and returned her attention back to the players. her hand didn't move from matt's grip but neither of them seemed to mind.

at the end of the 2nd period, the kiss cam returned. no matter how many times matt asked them to leave, they kept coming back. y/n felt matt's grip tighten on her hand so she placed a gentle kiss to his cheek, hoping it would satisfy everyone.

it did not.

the camera continued to point at the duo and all eyes, even the players, were on them.

"i'm sorry about this." y/n whispered to matt before turning his head and kissing him. the crowd finally cheered and the camera crew went away.

but y/n and matt were too wrapped up in each other to notice.

his hand detached from hers and he placed them on her cheeks. y/n smiled into the kiss.

when they both finally stopped kissing each other, the smile on their faces was permanent.

"i hope that wasn't too embarrassing or awkward for you." y/n smiled and went back o squeezing his hand. matt didn't say anything. his earlier focus on the game was long gone and replaced with y/n.

when the game was finally over, y/n stood up and stretched.

"oh my goodness. that was amazing."

"yeah it really was." nick smiled and began heading out.

"it was good but i think matt really enjoyed it." chris smirked, earning a punch to both of his arms by his brothers and best friend. "ouch."

"anyone have to use the bathroom before we head out?" nick stopped outside the bathroom and looked at everyone.

"yeah. i promise i'll be quick." y/n walked into the bathroom and matt felt his brothers staring at him.

"what?"

"so, that kiss was certainly something, huh?"

"it didn't mean anything. it was just to get the kiss cam people off our backs."

"i don't think that was the only reason you guys kissed." chris raised an eyebrow.

"yeah. it looked pretty intense from an outside point of view."

"what do you mean?"

"you guys kissed for like 10 seconds after the camera crew left. you can't tell me that your feelings for her aren't returned."

"please can we change the topic?"

"what are you dorks talking about now?" y/n asked as she walked out of the bathroom.

"the hockey game." matt quickly covered up before the awkward tension got too high.

"it was so good. and oh my god. jeremy swayman is so hot. wow." y/n swooned and began to walk ahead of the boys.

when they got to the car, chris got in the back, allowing y/n to sit up front with matt. the drive home wasn't as quiet as the first drive but the air felt different. like there was something that needed to be said but nobody wanted to say it.

matt put the car in park and everyone got back.

"well, i'm beat. think im gonna go to bed. good night." chris yawned and headed up to his room. y/n followed nick to his room and flopped down on the bed.

"hey, do you have feelings for matt?"

"why do you ask?"

"that kiss tonight seemed very electric. the chemistry between you two was already really intense and if you don't have feelings for him, you need to let him know. because he's been crushing on you for years and the way you kissed him looked like you might have the same feelings."

"god, nick. of course i like matt. what's not to like? he's incredibly thoughtful and he's so cute. he doesn't judge me for my taste." she shot her best friend a look. "he's just perfect in every aspect of the word and...." she paused and sat up. 'are you sure he likes me?"

"when have i ever lied to you, sweetheart?"

"every day since you learned to talk."

"only when it saved your ass." he looked at her as she walked to the door. "but i promise you that i am not lying about this. matt really does have feelings for you."

"okay. if this is some sort of cruel joke, i will never speak to you again."

"and why would i risk that?"

"good point. wish me luck then." y/n took a deep breath and opened the door.

matt was leaning against the counter and when he heard the bedroom door close, he looked up.

"hey."

"hi." y/n stood awkwardly just outside the bedroom. matt put his phone in his pocket and crossed his arms.

"can i ask you something?"

"of course, matt." y/n's composure returned to normal when she heard the worriedness lining matt's voice.

"why does this have to be weird between us?"

"what do you mean?"

"we kissed and now, the air around us has changed drastically. did you....did you not like it or something?"

"of course i liked it, matt. but it's not how i pictured our first kiss happening."

"really?" he finally looked at her face. "h-how did you picture it happening?"

"this is going to sound really cheesy and cliche. are you sure you want to hear it?"

"oh, absolutely." his interested piqued and he found himself moving closer.

"well, when i pictured kissing you for the first time, i always used to think it would happen after you stood up for me somehow. like a knight in shining armor. and then i would run up to you and kiss you. you would be shocked at first but you would kiss back and you would put so much emotions into it."

"how did the kiss cam kiss measure up to what you pictured?"

"it was incredible, sure. but it didn't meet my expectations." y/n smirked. matt took an extra second to understand what she was hinting at but when he got it, he returned the smirk.

"didn't meet your expectations, huh?" he inched closer. "maybe i should change that. i-if you want me to."

"just kiss me, please."

matt wasted no time at all. he quickly grabbed her face and kissed her. all the feelings they had both been building up for years was being poured out into the kiss.

matt pulled her closer and made sure she felt what he was feeling. and when they pulled away, they both couldn't stop smiling.

"how was that?"

"better than expected, for sure. and something i think i want to keep doing."

"i can totally deal with that." matt smiled before pulling her back in for another kiss.

taglist: @worldlxvlys @lolasturniolo @carolinalikesthings @ciarasturn1 @fearfam69691

[project-sekai-facts]

in regards to the discussion about writing quality: it feels like they planned out the stories for some units WAY more than others. niigo and mmj are both very consistently well written, l/n was stalling for a bit but seems to be getting back on track, meanwhile it feels like they haven't had any idea what to do with vbs and wxs since 3rd anniv.

I think vbs fell off after rad weekend. Like. I dunno their second arc was rushed and then third arc was really short probably because they didn't want to stall on RW any longer (with the downside of Arata's character arc happening entirely offscreen). After that it's been.... consistently mid. WxS is also a mess because of that training arc. I get the point of it but they've barely interacted with each other for over a year now can we please just stop this. Not to mention next arc is probably just gonna be arc 2 in a slightly different flavour.

With vbs I get the feeling that ending they wrote was ORS. Like that felt VERY conclusive and imo would've made a lot more sense as the story ending before the next age up. WxS feels more like we're padding for time so they can get to the bit they already planned out.

[factcheckingmclennon]

harry nilsson quotes double feature: fact or fiction?

"Someone told me a few minutes ago they saw John walking on the street [once] wearing a sign saying – a button, rather, saying 'I Love Paul'. And this girl who told me that said she asked him, 'Why are you wearing the button that says ‘I Love Paul’?' He said, 'Because I love Paul.'" -Harry Nilsson

"I'm just like everybody else, Harry, I fell for Paul's looks." Harry Nilsson (on John)

these quotes get passed around unsourced, or wrongly sourced, constantly. so...

are these harry nilsson quotes about john lennon real?

shockingly, after getting an anon correction on the first one and then discovering myself on the second one through the world's most random search engine imaginable bc SOMETHING felt unfinished...... the final verdict for both?

...ish? the second one is sort of neutral bc it's taken a bit out of context but i'll get to that

let's get into it, because this one took me on a journey!

(and btw the sources on these were SUCH a pain in the ass to find due to lack of sourcing & wrong sourcing so i am on my hands and knees for these to get passed around w the proper sources now that they're in one place bc they're so good)

first of all, these quotes keep getting mixed up and messed around with different wording. which was my first road block on finding a proper source. second of all, they have been wrongly attributed to a) one single interview together and/or b) a rolling stone interview with nilsson. this made things aggravating. but in the end, an anon sent me the audio for the first quote and for the second one i FINALLY found someone a looong while back actually naming the book it's in & successfully found it!

made a post earlier concluding both were fake, but we just had to go a little deeper folks.

anyway, onto the good shit

who was harry nilsson? he was a friend of john's, specifically during his 1974 lost weekend era. they lived together for a while (along with others, including ringo!) and were pretty close.

"because i love paul"

this one gets misquoted the Most honestly like you'll find a bunch of different variations of it, but you can find it in a 1984 interview with geoffrey giuliano as such:

GIULIANO: Did he miss the Beatles? Was he mournful about what happened, over the, you know—? HARRY: Someone told me a few minutes ago they saw John walking on the street [once] wearing a sign saying – a button, rather, saying ‘I Love Paul’. And this girl who told me that said she asked him, “Why are you wearing the button that says ‘I Love Paul’?” He said, “Because I love Paul.” [laughs]  

(source) (and again, it's a tumblr blog, but given that it's audio, i'm marking it trustworthy. i just uploaded it to archive.org in case it ever gets deleted)

"i fell for paul's looks"

this one. this one was a goddamn journey and a half. this sent me on several rabbit holes and dead ends. the author of the last source said "nope it's definitely not from the tapes i found this audio from or i would've posted it too" and couldn't find the source either. no one had a source. until finally i found someone on a forum saying it was in the ballad of john and yoko published by rolling stone in 1984, in an essay titled "harry remembers" and thank christ it was on archive.org

so here's the full quote, found on page 236

"He spoke the way James Joyce wrote. And to me he was the Beatles. He was always the spark. In a late wee-hours-of-the-morning talk, he once told me: 'I'm just like everybody else, Harry. I fell for Paul's looks. George knew more chords, so he was in. And Ringo, he's just Ringo.'"

(source)

so this one gets a... true/neutral rating from me. why neutral? well, the "i fell for paul's looks" part is certainly there. but in the full context, he's talking about why he wanted each member in the beatles. basically, paul was the pretty face. however, he did say that verbatim and it is incredibly fucking gay imo. like specifically the "i fell for" wording is craaaaazy to me. but i do think the full context should be included if we're talking about it, as well as the actual source.

so no, they were not indeed both from the same interview. one isn't even FROM an interview. but they are both true! which is great bc i love both of these quotes and truly thought they were fake! pleasantly surprised on this one

now, take these with a grain of salt. the first quote is a third-hand source. it's nilsson recounting what some random fan told him john had done YEARS prior. the second one is a second-hand source and nilsson and john were like pretty infamous for getting drunk/high together. but the quotes themselves? certainly exist from harry nilsson, and that's the question. believe them if you want to, or leave them! i'm certainly taking them lmao

[haedalkoo]

Hey, how have you been? I wanted to ask you something if it’s not too much trouble.

I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to rewatch Hobi’s birthday Wlive with the official Weverse subtitles, but I have a question.

I know that pronouns in Korean can be a bit tricky, and because of that, Weverse/Hybe often translates things in a way that makes sense in another language, even if it’s not a word-for-word translation. But when Jimin, Jungkook, and Hobi were talking, Jimin said—according to Weverse subtitles—that since he doesn’t know how much he can/should share with us, he’s been staying away from ARMY on purpose.

My question is, was he talking about just himself or about him and Jungkook? Because I saw several translations on Twitter saying that Jimin actually said that since he and Jungkook don’t know how much they can share, they’ve been keeping their distance from the fandom. If it’s not too much trouble, could you explain the difference or share your opinion on it? Thanks in advance!

Hey!! This is a good question, and honestly a hard one to answer because it could be either way. Nothing in Jimin's speech indicates he's talking exclusively about himself, but he's not including the both of them explicitly in the sentence either. It's up to the listener to assume.

In my opinion, however, I think he may mean both of them. A couple of sentences before, he clearly says "there are seriously a lot of stories/anecdotes the two of us made" and the both of them go on to say they don't know how much they can share, and if they do, army may run away. I think what Jimin says about keeping their distance is a sentiment both of them share (my translation of what he says would be 'even though we're being careful and not seeking out armys so much, we really, really miss you.' It's a bit less harsh than 'keeping distant' imo).

Either way, one of the loveliest parts about Korean is that there's not a clear-cut distinction between the individual and the collective. What I feel, my brothers and sisters also feel. I could go into boring details about linguistics and the way languages shape society, but there's a reason why the use of 'we' and 'us' are so broadly and ambiguously used in korean, or why friends are referred by the same word as you'd refer to your actual brother or sister (I mean words like hyung, noona, etc.) This is surface level, or perhaps simply more obvious, but this sense of collectivism (what's yours is mine, what mine is yours) sneaks into every aspect of the way koreans speak.

That is to say, the line between 'me' and 'we' is far more blurred than it'd be in a language like English or Spanish. In Spanish you may ommit a pronoun, but the verb form gives all the information away ("estoy": 1st person, singular; "estamos": 1st person, plural). More so, I personally feel like Jimin would've specified in some way that he meant he's the one pulling away, instead of speaking for the two of them, if JK hadn't agreed with the decision. That, or JK would've bickered with him, scolding him for not greeting armys so often (tell me you can't picture this exact conversation!)

So it doesn't really matter that Jimin meant himself or the two of them, because honestly, can you really separate the two of them? The same people that give up on eating carbs if the other is on a diet even when they're on vacation, the same people that share an infinite number of inside jokes only the two of them understand, the same people that willingly enlisted together... everything about Kookmin, from their actions to their language choices, tell me that they exist in a tandem. 'You are me, I am you.'

[vesna-v-irkutske]

im not talking about the murders or who's really at fault, just about how it looked for artyom and the court overall. like, you're trying to be more careful, don't appear on cam, it's not your cam, only for it all to be ignored cause one-year age gap. and now you're rotting forever, while nikita would've been free after like 20 fucking years. its so dumb. he got a fucking life sentence only cause made mistake of befriending one braincell who just left the most significant evidence and fucking forgot about it. idk how much wind you need in your brain to do this. i wouldn't have done the same as artyom, but like fucking even more, why should it suddenly matter. i bet artyom felt sad about his death only cause wasn’t the one who did it. an even retarded thing is nikita's attempt to give himself a life sentence. like, what the fuck, if you're so lucky in life, just calm the fuck down and forget about artyom. moralfaggotrie is last thing you need in prison imo.

I completely understand what you're trying to say. But I think sometimes we get too carried away with our "sympathy for the devil" and forget that real people have been harmed. Yes, they got caught because of a small thing. But maybe it was a good thing. That the woman on the video was their last victim. Because they weren't gonna stop. They were looking for another one the same evening they were caught. × Nikita didn't hide the evidence because he knew his mom wouldn't check. It took 2 more people (his grandmother and uncle) to make something happen. They would have been caught sooner or later anyway, because they weren't careful. × Artyom even sent the video to his online friend, and he distributed it. They talked to the victims. Participated in their own search parties (200 ICQ). Artyom trolled these people. He even clarified under one of the posts that nuh-huh, the man killed near his house wasn't old, he was middle-aged. And Artyom suggested his buddies to try to kill someone for "training". Someone on the internet made a map of attacks, and Nikita copied it. He also made a list of victims. Yeah, the sneakiest people on Earth. Artyom would have received a life sentence anyway. We can talk all we want about how strange it is that a small age gap could make such a BIG difference, but that's the law, it has to draw the line somewhere. And a couple of victims asked for a more severe punishment for Nikita, but nothing happened. Ultimately, none of this matters anymore.

× P. S. As for what Nikita did (his attack on another prisoner and "suicide"), I think it's much more complicated. In my opinion, it was a desperate attempt to be ANYWHERE but where he was, because he was having an EXTREMELY hard time. And maybe a couple of other factors. This is all alleged, of course, we don't know the truth and never will. I just think that what REALLY happened does NOT fully match what they want us to believe, something's being kept from us.

[bakasara]

I have so many gripes with this two-parter, lol. For those who were in the spn trenches-- I'm having bucklemming flashbacks: everything is a one-liner and nothing makes sense from a structure or writing viewpoint.

Let's break it down into the 3 main problems that imo take this Big Event from an amazing, high-stakes premise to a lackluster ass execution. (And yes, for Eddie go to point 3.)

1. Suspension of disbelief is a bell curve, ok?

If you are obsessively concerned with realism, your story is going to miss out on a lot of emotional moments that just cannot be crammed into a 40 minute episode format otherwise. The reverse is also true, though. If you handwave every single realistic thing because you deem it an obstacle to an emotional story, it's going to be harder and harder for people to stay immersed.

The whole team was made to spend two episode acting like they straight up don't care and/or don't understand the level of threat they're dealing with just so that the plot could happen, which is absurd and out of character, for one.

... And it's also counterproductive.

The OoC issue could've easily been solved by shifting the "Rescue the team (118 argument) VS Not rescue the team (government argument)" to "Keep looking for solutions beyond what seems possible (118 argument) VS Be conveniently quick to give up (government argument)".

It's a minor tweak that would show up mostly through changes to the characterization of the military and FBI guy to make them more square and unfeeling, clearly having lost focus of the human aspect and become too quick to pull the trigger. It's one of the more ubiquitous underdog tropes: there is still an element of the 118 playing it less safe, because the red tape is supposedly there for a reason, but what may seem as morally dark grey on the surface because of the risk posed by an outbreak is recontextualized by the fact that there is a bigger and worse guy on the other side – the suits – who's lost track of what he's really supposed to be working at. The actions of the 118 now make sense for the situation and the 118 remain the good/better guys.

TL;DR: We didn't need the 118 consistently acting like they don't understand the severity of a deadly supervirus getting out of containment with no cure. Framing them more starkly as the underdog in the situation and having them go against big government players who've lost sight of their mission to help people is infinitely more compelling, and would have reinforced the real emotional pull to the episode: y'know that quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"? They are all mildly insane when it comes to each other, and will look for solutions to the very end even when from the outside it looks like they're going against impossible odds – just continuing to tape and plug up little holes everywhere to keep each other alive, if you will, even where most people may argue the sane thing is to accept defeat.

2. Not trusting your audience to have basic reading abilities never pays back.

Buck being used as an audience proxy to explain to us that Athena wants to go behind the suits' backs? And what an SD card is? FUCKING REALLY?

This may sound like it's just about Buck – which, hey, that would be fair – but it's not. Take the tsunami arc. A major aspect that made it compelling was the way it showed how the lives of complete strangers, who would've never touched otherwise, came to intertwine because of this tragedy that swept over the city. The premise to Sick Day/Lab Rats is kind of the reverse: it's ALL about our team of main characters, most of whom are locked away in a bunker. The episode hinges entirely on the strength of their bonds with each other against the outer world, which outside the lab is embodied by the government and inside the lab is embodied by this larger-than-life virus that completely overpowers them in theory. From a writing standpoint, it's all about how cleverly their affective dynamics with each other are used to stir emotional reactions in the viewer.

Fanfiction writers wrote the playbook on this; when I think of original fiction mastering this I think of something like Bioware for videogames. Troperrific is the name of the game.

So if you pair up Athena and Buck... you'd better fucking show me a fucking action couple. The have their team-slash-family in danger, and none more than them understand what it means to have Bobby trapped inside as a wife and a honorary son. The intention for this to be the force behind their team-up was clearly there. And having Buck be that dumb was the perfect way to ruin it.

I can see a remake of that scene perfectly: Buck panicking initially when he hears Bobby say him and Athena should leave the rest of the 118 to die, because he's Buck and of course he would panic. Bobby switching to talking only to Athena same way he did in the actual scene; Buck catching up now that he's had the time to focus and ultimately agreeing to leave it to the army and the FBI to handle. Cut to Buck and Athena powerwalking outside, side-bumping fists now that they're out of sight and getting each in their own seat of the car without the need to say a single word.

And maybe don't have Buck ask what an SD card is. It's fucking fine. COME ON. Show, don't tell, and all that. Athena Sneakily Grabbed A Plot-Relevant Thingy from a crime scene and Showed It Triumphantly To The Camera, and in two minutes we're going to plug it into Karen's computer and we can mention it's pictures from the crime scene just for extra clarity. I think the viewers may just be able to follow along.

TL;DR: Sorry, I just don't believe Buck is that dumb, he's not. Having Athena explain the plot to Buck like we're all two year olds is insufferable, and more importantly it's taking away from what really matters: if you make your whole two-parter hinge on team dynamics and then pair up Buck and Athena, I had better see the two baddest bitches to ever walk the earth in fucking synced action. They HAVE to be Understanding Each Other Implicitly because the real treasure was their shared love of Bobby all along.

3. Ok. Three three three. You CANNOT. You simply CANNOT. You fool. Leave a main character COMPLETELY FUCKING OUT of a Big Event two-parter that's all about the fucking CORE TEAM GOING TO SUPERMAX FOR EACH OTHER.

Come the fuck on.

Listen, assuming the best faith I can: this could be a case of Real Life having happened. Say, scheduling conflict. It literally doesn't matter. If one of your mains can't be there, you still find a way to mention the character in-story and you bring him into the story like that. I'll do you one better: a really simple way to do it wrote itself within the second ep. When Hen gives Ravi her pep talk about calling your loved ones, that was the planting of an idea into the viewer's mind. There really is no one-size-fits-all answer to that dilemma, which speaks to the emotional complexity of these tragedies.

You then have Chim deciding to talk to Maddie, because this may really be their last chance. (In the good version of this two-parter everyone's phone calls are come-and-go/keep breaking up, btw. Because they're sealed in a secure lab underground and it raises the stakes to have them struggle to communicate with each other. Obviously. Fucking hell). But you have Buck, safe on the outside, wanting to call Eddie and then deciding not to, because he realizes it's more for himself than anything and it's just making Eddie agonize over it 12 hours away where he can't do anything. It's as simple as showing Buck's finger hovering over Eddie's contact on his phone at a moment of distress, then opting not to call. But with different characters deciding to act in different ways based on their circumstances, you're now Exploring A Theme and it's a coherent way to include the character with no better options.

however you do it, it'll never be ideal to have a main missing from these kinds of pivotal episodes, but you HAVE to find a way to tie them into the story in some meaningful way.

That said, if Ryan/Eddie could've been there, and the writing simply didn't include him, then it's SO SO much fucking worse lmaoooo.

First off, it was really important that Eddie be shown to come back to LA because that's where the people who matter to him are, not because of Bobby's fucking funeral. As he (re)learns to choose joy for himself and to stand up to his parents/regrow his confidence in his own parenting instincts, it's crucial that he recognizes LA is where he wants to be because that's where Eddie's family and Chris's life are. The motivation to go back should be internal and advance his emotional arc.

Personally, I have ideas for how I would've tied him in for the most meaningful impact in the least time (considering the constraints of these kinds of episodes!) And these ideas definitely involve a big entrance making up for an early absence. Any team member who happened to be missing could get that same big entrance treatment, just tweaked to fit the character – we're fundamentally talking about the 118 being a family, where the team isn't complete without everyone in it playing their unique role, and the missing piece of the puzzle arriving at a moment of despair will always have you feel like you were just given another fighting chance.

Personally, I'd have had it revealed in 8x15 that when Chris and Eddie left, they actually left for LA, both too eager to go back home and with Eddie willing to make a second trip later to take care of the loose ends (job, house, etc.) in El Paso. They mean to surprise Buck + the team so they let them believe they're still in Texas. Chris finds out about the lab incident through his phone on the way, leaving Eddie conveniently only a short time away from LA and only missing for the initial part of the emergency. When Buck doesn't pick up his phone (via literally ANY excuse for why he'd miss the call), and no-one form the team does either (bad signal, which again should've been a thing), it now makes the most sense that Eddie would call Athena and it's HER who introduces her guy on the inside (or I guess, technically, on the outside) whom the suits don't have on their radar. He pulls up not in a helicopter but, necessarily, in the most unassuming car ever, making it not about showy stunt money but about the idea that Eddie's worth is about who he is (as in how he behaves, tying into his emotional arc) + what counts is showing up and everyone's contributions count (tying into the two-parter themes).

Also great 'cause Buck can be relieved af to finally have His Guy there for support, but there's no time for hugs. Oops! Just casually slipped in some friendly (🤔) yearning while Impeding Outside Events are unfolding! No! Don't use your precious screen time so well!

Anyway, Buck and Eddie are then either NOT paired up (the ideal version imo, we keep this about Buck and Athena as we're centering their connection to Bobby) or they ARE paired up (if you absolutely need to take advantage of the wider themes of the episode to advance any kind of dialogue between them and can't do it next episode). And the rest is pretty much Eddie occupying his rightful place in the episode instead of Tommy. Because. Lol. Lmao even. (I totally think we can still use Tommy, btw! to make Eddie mega jelly. if u even care :) And not during the supervirus whatever whatever where he's the epitome of thematically out of place. But I digress.)

And OF COURSE when everybody is getting their camera shot breaking down over Bobby's death it's. EDDIE. On the outside. Having his quiet breakdown along with the rest of the. Y'know. THE REST OF HIS TEAM. Because he actually knows who Bobby is and cares about him and yeah ok literally what was the point of fucking Tim Tam looking like the 🙁 emoji on my fucking screen while everyone was bawling. I. ... WHAT.

Either way. The point is. They really left Eddie out of the two-parter without mentioning him once say fucking SIKE.

TL;DR: Leaving a main character out of a two-parter Big Event centered around the familial bonds between your main cast is a capital sin punishable by death. There is no version of reality where it's acceptable. If Eddie/Ryan simply could not be there for real life reasons it was imperative to find an emotionally and thematically significant way to mention the character. If Eddie/Ryan could be there, it was imperative he BE there in a meaningful and unique way that contributed to saving the team, much like the other mains all were. There is NO EXCUSE.

There, I said my piece. I hate when I can see how little it would take to fix a poorly executed narrative.

P.S.: I have a personal love of Hozier/Work Song and I think it fit perfectly with Bobby's death but. HOLY SHIT. Do not break the momentum by having a character Make An Observation AFTER you showed Bobby dying ("dying". whatever). Chim can have his survivor complex next episode. OH MY GOD. They had already showed the body bag so we knew he was supposed to be dead-dead. They had that AMAZING shot of Bobby's cap to cut to and then cut to black on the last clap. NO DIALOGUE EXPLAINING HOW CHIM FEELS. PLEASE. THE MOMENTUM. COME ON. SHOT OF THE CAP THEN CUT TO BLACK. TO THE BEAT OF THE SONG. COME ON. HOW DO YOU FUCK UP THE EDITING/WRITING THAT BADLY.