#epsiode 3 A Place of Knowing

[sleepyslepe]

I AM SORRY!!?!??! K!!!!! EVEN KELMP! WHAT!?!??! HUH!!!!??!?!! EXCUSE ME??????

[warsamongthestars]

Okay, now its not just my grievances, but legit "what the fuck are you on about" and "What the fuck are you doing" with the TBB Writing.

( Sadly, I was Xpecting something like this. )

S3 - Howzer said something about Crosshair killing some of his squad. On screen, we all saw the episode, they were arrested. We saw no execution. I'll get to why this is an issue.

S3 - Where the fuck did you get AZI again? Did you kill Cid off screen? Wouldn't that call for a, umn, Fucking episode?

S3 - Crosshair is told of Tech's death... Off Screen. Y'know, the death of your batchmate, the closest you have to Brother-Squadmate-Best Friend Foreveries, is kinda of a big fucking deal. y'know? Big enough that, by showing the death of that Squadmate, you generally want to show the IMPACT of an IMPORTANT CHARACTER'S DEATH to the AUDIENCE. But no. There really wasn't, was there. Maybe a line here or two, but is that the kind of impact you want to the important character? 2 Lines?

Don't get me started on the "Blame the VIctim' shit. I'll get there.

S2 - Echo randomly Leaves... and then Randomly appears. So, an Important Character Leaves... Out of the blue. Y'know, if your important main character is going elsewhere, you generally want Set Up. If I can point out how Butterfree from the Old Pokemon Anime, had the saddest Epsiodes in existence--simply because he Left. But then I see Echo's and I'm going "Where the fuck did this come from", there's a Problem. And then he randomly appears again like... Why did you even leave if you were going to Come Back. Where the fuck are the conversations here, that actually walk the audience through the Character's thought processes?

S2 - Crosshair was apparently on the Platform or a Month. ... HOW? Seriously, How, that thing would sink without a ship, we saw it rise up for a ship. Kamino is infamously, in lore, for 2 decades now, Stormy as Shit. And who picked him up. Did he fucking teleport back to the Empire? Wouldn't that call for an Episode so that we can see what the fuck is going on?

S1 - Crosshair's Chip So a Tweet from Xitter, is apparently more important than placing what you want in your fucking story. And more, You show that this Chip was Enhanced, repeatedly, it GREW IN HIS BRAIN THIS WAS ON EPISODE 1, and suddenly, NOPE not there not effects no idea what you're talking about. THAT CHIP IS A BRAIN TUMOR, FOOL. So instead all those evil actions, caused yb the chip that was GROWN IN HIS BRAIN BY AT LEAST 3 SIZES, apparently were just CROSSHAIR ALL ALONG--WHAT BRAIN TUMOR. Do you see where I'm calling Victim Blaming.

S1 - Omega is Older! Cool. Where is this going to be relevant. why would we need to know? Its been over a season now, why is this fucking important. She met Emerie in late S2! Emerie is a clone now, how come she didn't know about that. Clearly this wasn't fucking important.

S1 - At no point did they talk about their missing batchmate. SO YOU'RE JUST SILENT ABOUT YOUR BATCHMATE, YOUR SUPER IMPORTANT CHARACTER YOU LITERALLY GREW UP WITH, WHO HAD YEARS WITH YOU, AND YOU'RE JUST NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT. If its not on Screen in front of the Audience, it Didn't Fucking Happen.

S1 - Episode 1 Now for the Meat. The start of all this shit. Overwhelming amount of "Guest star" characters, Guest start being "any other famous Star Wars character that isn't the Main Characters". An introduction to a kid character, one that is a Super Duper early 2000s Fanfic.net Totally Original Character Donut Steel. Who's... there to take importance away from the other characters. Repeatedly teasing the Chip, but no confrontation of Crosshair. Repeated shooting at Children, and no confrontation of Crosshair--arguably more important th an the above. That is definitely a What the Fuck Man, and it happened din the first Five minutes and nobody did jack shit. No trust or conversations between characters who are "Batch-mates"--implied in Star Wars to be the closest thing to family, and given the battlefield nature, would have to communicate behind closed doors or they might Die on Mission... No Communication has been had in 3 fucking years--expect to make Hunter or Omega right in every situation. A lot of talking, not a lot of doing or showing.

This episode only works, if you are not here for the Bad Batch. Because the writers have not done anything to the Bad Batch but cause problems that weren't needed, solutions that don't matter, because the problems are unneeded. They do not allow the BBs to Talk To Each Other (If its not on screen where the audience can see it, it didn't happen). Clear character derailment for a Fanfic.Net OC. And S3 shows evidence of AI writing. Conversations without context, shallow (if not insulting) character development in the face of Very Important Topics (Such as Family Member Death and Tumors / Drugging / Cult Manipulation), events that don't make sense in the telling.

( They have the animation budget to show things, and then they don't. They have the money to craft this, and they're not. )

S2 showed the same issue.

Unfortunately, we did see this coming since the Writing Strikes.

( Addendum, post-posting edit--sorry, I had to take these steps just in case, cos rage blinds me. )

So now, Clarification without all the swearing and general fan-rage.

They would see the victim blame himself and be blamed by the story, than take the steps to examine the problem They Clearly Showed, and instead decided to ignore the problem that Caused all this... And it is Victim blaming, because other characters have experienced the same problem, but are totally forgiven because its "not their fault".

THey would rather have characters walk in and out at random, diminishing if not removing the impact those characters have. Nothing Echo does now is of importance because they're barely showing it, and not dedicating time to Echo to build either his new posiion or his leaving--and they barely dedicated character time to Echo, by leaving him as the "bitch side character". The same goes with Tech, Tech's death has no impact anymore because they are ignoring it, maybe dedicating 1 or 2 lines and maybe a small moment of drama, but ultimately the impact is gone because they are not dedicating any real focus to it.

They would rather tell you what "actually happened"... when on review, what they just said didn't happen at all. If you do not show the audience what is in your story, then your story is literally hearsay. And in this day of AI writing, this context defiance has to be caught.

There are writing problems here that wouldn't have happened with a dedicating writing team. And there are more dedicated writers in the fandom, than there is in the Multbillion Dollar Publishing Corporation...

... and that is a Problem, because if you're being paid to do this and have a team, shouldn't this be seamless?

[vikenticomeshome]

The Cyberchase Homepage Through the Years: part 2 (January 6, 2005 through February 10, 2007)

I decided to pick up where I left off on my earlier post documenting the Cyberchase homepage over the years. Here is a capture from January 6th, 2005. The page is now back to normal after Starlight Night 2004. We now have an advertisement for "Cyberchase: The Quest".

On January 30th, 2005, we got the Valentines Day design again. Cyberchase had wrapped Season 3 in December of 2004, and they wouldn't start airing Season 4 until April, so I suppose they didn't have anything new to promote just yet. I only just noticed that Matt is holding a flower as part of this artwork. I'm a bit surprised that neither of the girls are holding anything.

They went back to advertising Cyberchase: The Quest by February 20, 2005.

On April 6th, 2005, Digit started advertising "Know Your Dough", which was all about teaching children about money management.

This capture from June 28th, 2005 shows an advertisement for "Quest 2: Race for Radopolis".

On July 21, 2005, we got this promotion for Hacker's secret.

This was referring to the main part of the "Transformatron Story Arc", as it discussed the four episodes where The Hacker was assembling the Transformatron. This was also where Slider was reunited with his dad.

Season 4 Episode 2: "The Icky Factor"

Season 4 Episode 3: "Penguin Tears"

Season 4 Episode 4: "Past Perfect Prediction"

Season 4 Epsiode 5: "Measure for Measure"

I may do a separate post talking about the promotional content, as it is no longer on the PBS Kids website, but I have recovered most of it for the FlashPoint Archive Project. Unfortunately, that video preview was in RealPlayer, and those files are lost now. But, the rest of it is now preserved.

By August 7th, 2005, the "Hacker's Secret" promotion was gone. At that point they didn't have any advertisement in the bottom right corner. Fun fact, the file names refer to this bottom-right-corner advertisement as a "bug", regardless of what was being advertised. This would have been in reference to bottom-right-corner station IDs that you would see on television channels.

I found a capture from September 30th, 2005 where they re-worked the page. The background is the same, but they've added new screens, kicked out Buzz and Delete, and now we get a count-down for new episodes, which are given a more prominent place. There is also a mention of a contest for 2005. It looks like another Intel partnership where winners would get laptop computers, similar to the 2004 contest. I need to dig around and see what can be retrieved from that and make a separate post.

It's October 13th, 2005, and we get a Halloween version of the site. It looks like they just recycled it from last year. It is a bit of a shame, as I liked the new screen arrangement.

And then, when November 2nd, 2005 rolled around, we are back to the advertisement for Cyberchase: The Quest.

Here we see a capture from December 5th, 2005, and its a little bit confusing. The kids are all dressed up in their winter wear, and we have Cybersite Penguia as our backdrop. It looks nice until you start thinking about it.

At first, I thought the kids had lugged the terminals and computer screens out there for this winter photoshoot. But then I saw the whole-ass balcony was also out there. How would they get that all that way to Penguia? Portal? Why would Motherboard agree to that? Was she in a particularly silly mood? And why were Buzz and Delete invited to this photoshoot? I think this is a Star Trek Holodeck type of situation where they haven't left the original room, and they are just simulating Penguia.

And now, we have this capture from December 10th, 2005, where Bianca makes a cameo to announce the winners of the 2005 contest. I don't think the kids have noticed her yet. Otherwise, they would be very surprised.

And now, it is January 18th, 2006, and we get a promotion for Cyberchase Super Science coming in 12 days. I don't remember what this was off the top of my head.

It is now February 2nd, 2006. The winter theme is gone, and the screens have been shifted around again to advertise "Cyberchase: The Quest 3" (the top left Cyber-beast), and "Cyberchase Super Science".

This was an initiative that focused on kids designing, creating, and customizing things. This is something else that I need to make a separate post on at some point, depending on what I am able to recover. I can see that we have a link to "Cyberspace News Issue #3", which is a little confusing. The "Hacker's Secret" promotion gave us an un-numbered issue of "Cyberspace News", which I assume was Issue #1. I don't remember seeing an issue #2 anywhere. I need to look into that.

This capture from April 10th, 2006, shows the "Know Your Dough" advertisement has returned. Maybe the kids spent too much money on the screens and needed a refresher.

An June 15th, 2006, we get a promotion for "My Cyberchase Summer", pushing aside the Cyberchase Super Science promotion. This new promotion does feature The Hacker, and he would do something like that. This section had a list of the different episodes that were going to air during the summer of 2006, and they included activities to go along with them. Maybe I'll make a separate post all about this section later.

It is now September 25, 2006. They finally kicked The Hacker off the screen and replaced him with a promotion for "My Big Idea".

This was an initiative where parents could submit videos of their children working on inventions. This page talks about the invention videos being put up on the website and potentially aired on TV. The TV airing would have been part of "Cyberchase: My Big Idea", which was a two-hour special hosted by Harry and Bianca. The special used four episodes aired in a row, and Harry and Bianca would show up in-between them to talk about inventions and show the clips of the kids. I need to see if this is still around somewhere.

Here we go. It is October 23rd, 2006, and the site has had a major redesign. They had been serving Flash games for years now, but now the homepage interface is all Flash. Additionally, the kids get idle animations. I can post a still image, but that can only show so much when the whole point is that the site is full of animations now. This particular page is advertising the new episodes coming in February, the character gallery where they put artwork submitted by viewers, a Starlight Night theme, and an advertisement for "Cyberchase: The Quest.

Delete shows up if you click on this door.

Uh oh! Buzz and The Hacker have gotten into wherever this place is. If we don't count The Hacker appearing on a screen or advertising bug, I think this is the first time The Hacker has shown up "for real" on the homepage. Maybe the Cybersquad should do something about that.

Hey, I just wanted to point out that it is February 2nd, 2007, and the kids haven't taken down their Starlight decorations yet. https://web.archive.org/web/20070202023432/http://pbskids.org:80/cyberchase/index.html

They did them down sometime between February 2nd and February 8th.

I think this is a fair place to stop for right now, before I hit the image or character limit.

[cosmicsponge2004]

Short DP Continutity Lesson (theory but it fits perfectly with AGIT)

SEASONS 1 & 2 - Danny is 14

S1 Ep13 is Fright Night. An episode taking place on Halloween night

S2 Ep10 is a Christmas Episode. Taking place from Christmas eve to Christmas day

So, S1Ep14 up until S2 Ep09 take place between November 1st and December 23rd (though likely like Dec15 or something because Christmas capitalism starts early and Danny gets pissed)

S2 Ep20 is the first day of summer break. Assuming their break starts in May like me and most people I know that would place S2eps11-18 (20 & 19 are the same episode) between January and April

S3Ep01 - Eye for an Eye shows them at school again. So that means...

SEASON 3 - Sophmore Year, Danny is 15

As for that epsiode with summer camp (claw of the wild)... I don't think that is summer. I feel like that was a mandated school trip. Idk man, seems right to me.

But let's say it's summer..... I GUESS Danny could be 16 or close to turning 16 in Phantom Planet??? Idk

Maybe he can turn 16 in the novel, I'm bitter about this shit

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - August

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 31.08.2023

Here you can find my weekly roundup that goes into a bit more detail about each episode.

And a little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙

I am always happy about gif-requests. If you want a special scene, just let me know.

Here you can find all of my gifs.

And if you want to show me something you think I might like, just let me know with #josistag

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in August with MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. Dangerous Romance (Ep 2/12 on Youtube)

I really liked the first episode. Well, I hated most of the parts, because of the whole bullying, but it feels like a really good enemies to lovers story and I am weak for this shit. There is way more bullying than I thought would be and it is really hard to watch at some points, but I love Sailom! He is such a clever badass!

2. Hidden Agenda (8/12 on Youtube)

Okay, I can smile a little bit watching this. Both of them have a hidden agenda and I kind of like Joke and his attempts to make Zo fall for him. And I like that we already know that Joke likes Zo. That makes everything...I don't know...a little bit cuter. And after the third episode I was finally all catched up and I am invested now! I like this show!

3. I feel you linger in the air (2/12 on Gaga)

Okay, I wanted to wait to binge watch, but I couldn't resist to sneak into the first episode and now I am obsessed! This time travel drama looks just so good and I love all the interactions between Jom and Yai! I am here for the fluff, but I guess I stay for the angst...

4. Jun & Jun (7/8 on Viki)

An office drama about Lee Jun and Choi Jun, who were childhood friends and who meet again after being seperated for years. The one an intern and the other one the director. I like those combinations, so I am looking forward to it. And the flirting is strong in this one! Just learned that it is rated PG 16...that explains a lot!

5. King the Land (10/16 on Netflix, no bl)

You know the feeling, you wake up in the morning and you're craving some good korean romance drama? That happend to me one day and so I just thought to give this a shot and it is good. Cheon Sa Rang works as a concierge at the King Of The Land Hotel and there she always has to wear a smile, fake or real doesn't matter. She meets the new boss in town Gu Won, who just can't stand fake smiles, but I guess her beautiful and real smile will make him fall head over heals.

6. Kiseki: Dear to me (3/13 on Viki)

The start is quite promising. I am looking forward to see more of the second couple. But for now I am pretty satisfied with this series, the plot and the characters.

7. Love Class Season 2 (6/10 on Viki)

I just wanted to watch one episode and see if I like it and now I am invested! This looks as this could be a really interesting story. I like the acting and the dialogues. I am curious how every story will progress. And yes, the epsiodes are way too short!

8. Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (9/12 on Gaga)

Minato and Shin are dating for three month now and it feels like we are back at the beginning of the first season. Minato is always surprised when Shin wants to exchange some affection or when he just wants to know if Minato likes him. And to be honest, if I was in his place, I would ask too, because right now it doesn't feel like Minato likes Shin. But with the second episode we finally get some of Minato's thoughts and it is cute and sad at the same time. The second episode totally got me and I am excited what there is to come!

9. Only Friends (3/10 on Youtube)

I have the deep urge to call it Only Fans... Can't see the difference. It is cringy... and funny... and yes, very hot. It was a wild start that just promise a wild ride! The most surprising thing for me: the plot wasn't that bad.

10. Stay Still (1/5 on Youtube)

Well this first episode was a little bit confusing. It felt like you've been thrown into the middle of the story. Perhaps I should watch episode 0, but why not make it the first episode? So Damien and Hayden start a new, complicated relationship and Archie and Kelvin restart their high school love. I like the flashbacks. Archie and Kelvin were cute together.

11. Taikan Yoho / My Personal Weatherman (2/8 on Viki and Gaga)

This has a very interesting vibe. Yoh is a manga-artist. Because his work is not that popular, he accepted a deal by his senior in college, now a well known weatherman. Yoh accepted to be Mizuki's slave. He does everything at home and obeys to the weatherman's wishes. And everytime there is a sunny forecast, they sleep together.

12. Wedding Plan (7/8 on iQiyi)

I knew I am going to have a problem as soon as I finished the trailer. And here I am...totally obsessed with this show! And we are on episode 1! Well, what happens when the Wedding Planner and the groom fall for each other? I don't know either, but I can't wait to find out!

13. Why R U (4/8 on Viki)

The korean version of the thai series Why R U that is so different than the original one. And I really like it! The characters are fun, the story is, well, not that special, but I like it, and over all I like the vibe of this one.

Finished in August

Series

1. Sing My Crush (8/8 on iQiyi)

Han Baram wants to quit making music after confessing to his first love and he got rejected. But he meets Im Hantae, who manage to befriend him and push him back on his way. The story skips a few years and lfe becomes complicated with plagiarism and a second wind. Such a beautiful story! I loved every minute of it! I love stories about arts like books, writing, dancing and of course music! And this is really good! A wholesome 10 out of 10 for me!

2. His Man Season 2 (14/14 on Gaga)

The korean dating show for gay people! I loved the first season and the second was so much better. There was so much drama, but also so many wholesome moments and discussions. And yes, I was and am a fan of the roommates! I loved how their relationship developed and the fact that those two are still dating is just 🥰 And thank you @leonpob for our weekly discussions about the show! I am looking forward to the third season 🥰 This is a 10 out of 10 for me.

3. Shigatsu no Tokyo wa... (8/8 on Gaga or Viki)

Kazuma and Ren were close friends during middle school and now meet again years later after their ways parted. This was a turbulent ride for us, but it was so good. I like the darker tones this bl had and how close it was to the original webtoon. This bl made me sad and happy and the ending was just so wholesome. It deals with some difficult topics, so watch with caution. But for me this is a 10 out of 10.

4. Be My Favorite (11/12 on Youtube)

When Kawi tries to travel back in time to change his life, it doesn't necessarily go in the direction he had in mind. But this series is so much more than just a time travel story. Kawi is like our inner voice of insecurities and inadequacies. And it is like healing a little bit watching him gaining a little bit more self confidence and self love. And the same goes for Pisaeng. His journey in self-acceptence and starting to live the life he wants and deserves is just so beautiful. This series just screams in your face to live the life you truly want like you would never want to travel back in time and change a decision. And that is such a strong message! And I love all the characters and their decisions and the growth all of them were going through. And I love that it is shown that we can't help everyone, because some things can't be changed. But we can try to be the best support, the best friend, the best child and also the best parent we can be. For me one of the easiest 10 out of 10!

5. Stay with me (22/24 on Gaga)

Okay, I was sceptical at first. This new adaptation of Addicted came out of nowhere for me. I really like the original adaptation, despite its flaws and toxic traits. But Stay With Me managed to be such a great show! I am lost for words at this point! The characters are all so well written, the story is so good and the actors really remind me of stubborn highschool students which is quite nice. The chemistry is off the roofs! It has an open ending, but more because the second season is confirmed and I can't wait! The dance the show had with the chinese censorship was beautiful! This is really not a bromance, it is a bl and I love it so much! One of the best watches this year! Yeah, this is a total 10 out of 10 for me.

Movie

1. Red, White and Royal Blue (on Prime)

I haven't read the book, yet. It sits on my Pile of Shame and wants to be read someday. The movie was... wobbly and rushed. Alex and Henry were cute together, later in the movie. In the beginning of their relationship, they were most of the times horny. But I liked them together. And at the same time it felt a little bit bland. I don't know how to express it... the chemistry lacked of emotional connection for me. There was not really character in the characters. They felt a little empty. So I will read the book soon, to get the emotional impact of everything going on. Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie. I had fun and was well entertained and the love story was cute. A 7,5 out of 10 for me.

Short Film

Rewatched in August

Dropped/On-Hold in August

1. See you in my 19th life (7/12 on Netflix, no bl)

It was so good when I started it, but I couldn't keep up with it and so I lost interest over time. I guess it would be different if I binge watched it. I know I won't come back here soon, so I just dropp it for now.

2. Low Frequency (3/8 on iQiyi)

Well, I really don't have the urge to watch this anymore. Perhaps I will come back to it, when it is finished airing, but right now...no thanks. The story is interesting, but I think it is a little bit to exhausting for me right now.

3. Dinosaur Love (8/10 on iQiyi)

Well this was a dumpster fire. It was fun to watch in the beginning, but after a few episodes it wasn't funny anymore. It was exhausting and nothing I was looking for in my weekly schedule. So, the conclusion was I dropp it. And I am fine with not knowing how it ended...

Looking forward to in August

Stay Still - Trailer (August 1st on Youtube)

Sing My Crush - Trailer (August 2nd on iQiyi)

Heartstopper Season 2 - Trailer (August 3rd on Netflix)

Taikan Yoho (My Personal Weatherman) - Trailer (August 11th on Gaga)

Love Class Season 2 - Trailer (August 11th on Viki)

Red, White & Royal Blue - Trailer (August 11th on Prime Video)

Only Friends - Trailer (August 12th on Youtube)

Dangerous Romance - Trailer (August 18th)

Love in Translation - Teaser (August 19th)

My Universe - Trailer (August 20th on iQiyi)

Kiseki: Dear to Me - Trailer (August 22nd on iQiyi and Viki)

Why R U? Korean Remake - Trailer (August 24th on iQiyi)

Man Suang - Trailer (August 24th in Thai Cinemas)

I Feel You Linger In The Air - Treaser - Pilot - Trailer (August 19th on Gaga)

Crazy Handsome Rich - Trailer (August 28th on Gaga)

[deanstudies101]

S5 reading of the titles

Episode 1, Sympathy for the Devil: [we did right before watching. It was like. There’s sympathy for the devil. Lucifer is actually nice/good. Might get Lucifer’s backstory/a villain monologue]

Episode 2, Good God, Y'all!: Iga, something to do with God, and Cas, Cas has a conversation with Sam and Dean. Kai, more God lore. Like, the angels didn’t do this, who did this? Iga, God lore, God involvement, God’s around—maybe! Maybe God’s around.

Episode 3, Free To Be You and Me: Kai, Lucifer trying to convince people over to his side. Iga, but what does that mean though? Lucifer wants to punish God, the angels want to stop Lucifer… and then what? The demons want to live on earth and be free, which is reasonable, but what about the angels? Are they bored? [I’m not responding to this.]

Episode 4, The End: Iga, you giggle about this one. You’re excited about this one. [Haha, yeah. I think what I actually said is this one is going to destroy you, Iga, personally. But not in the way you think.] Does Cas… orgasm? Does Cas have sex? [(I am laughing uncontrollably.) Can we stop talking about this.] Kai, Chuck finishes the book.

Episode 5, Fallen Idols: Iga, fallen angels is a thing, so maybe it’s about more of those? Kai, people are fighting to be the next God. Iga, I don’t know why Kardashians come to mind, they’re not going to be there. Kai, but isn’t Paris Hilton in Supernatural at some point?

Epside 6, I Believe the Children Are Our Future: Pass

Episode 7, The Curious Case of Dean Winchester: Iga, he’s curious. Kai, he gets diagnosed with autism. Iga, it’s a Dean episode. It’s centred around Dean. Kai, and his autism. Iga, maybe it’s a goofy Dean lore episode, where they like study Dean.

Episode 8, Changing Channels: Kai, isn’t there something about being attuned to the angel channels? Iga, Anna was, but she was an angel. Kai, I think it’s going to be something to do with that. Iga, or about switching sides. [(they said I was smiling.) This episode holds a special place in my heart. I like it. I think it’s good. I think you’ll enjoy it.]

Episode 9, The Real Ghostbusters: Kai, the Ghostfacers come back. Iga, I would like that. It could also be MotW, classic ghost hunting thing. Or maybe they literally meet the real ghostbusters.

Epsiode 10, Abandon All Hope...: Kai, I think things might be looking a bit bleak. Iga, yeah… what number is this? [Episode 10. It’s the midseason finale.] I sussed that out somehow. It’ll tell us how the finale will go. They abandon hope. Maybe they meet God and he’s useless.

Episode 11, Sam, Interrupted: Kai, psych ward episode. Iga, yeah I guess. Kai, I think there’s a very specific famous gif in this one.

Episode 12, Swap Meat: Iga, the first thing I thought was Freaky Friday. The word meat throws me off, it’s very fleshy. Kai, yeah. Maybe motw. Iga, maybe it’s a shapeshifter. They like bringing those back. But Freaky Friday might be fun.

Episode 13, The Song Remains the Same: Kai, I think they might be fighting against fate again. Iga, I think that’s a good guess. Inevitability, destiny, all that.

Episode 14, My Bloody Valentine: 0 ideas. Iga, maybe it’s valentines day. Or someone dies. Kai, one of the brothers fucks. We get a sex scene. Hopefully Dean.

Episode 15, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid: 0 ideas. Iga, why can’t they wear plaid? I don’t understand. Maybe it’s about a ghost lumberjack who wants to wear plaid. Kai, but Dean wears a lot of plaid. Iga, maybe Dean is naked. Kai, maybe Dean dies.

Episode 16, Dark Side of the Moon: Pass

Episode 17, 99 Problems: Iga, but a bitch ain’t one. [(they laughed) No, correct. That’s the reference. You don’t know what that means, but you’re right.] Kai, do they kill Meg?

Episode 18, Point of No Return: Pass

Episode 19, Hammer of the Gods: Kai, I think Dean might get possessed by Michael. Iga, but Dean is the sword, maybe there’s another vessel who’s a hammer. No, it’s about Dean. He’s the tool.

Episode 20, The Devil You Know: Iga, Lucifer, Lucifer lore? Kai, maybe there’s a bigger bad than Lucifer? Iga, maybe they meet Lucifer and are like, maybe he has a pint, but Dean is like no, the devil is bad, and they get their ass kicked.

Epsiode 21, Minutes to Midnight: Iga, well that’s. That’s the one where the worlds ending. So that. The world is ending. It’s also the penultimate episode.

Episode 22, Swan Song: Iga, I know swan song means something, but I can’t remember what. Kai, isn’t it your last song before you die? [It is a phrase, I believe it’s a misconception, but the idea that swans only sing when they’re about to die.] Iga, killing Lucifer? So we’re killing Lucifer? Kai, or God. Iga, it’s not God. Someone important like Cas is going to sacrifice themselves for the killing of Lucifer, and Dean is going so say wahhh bring them back please, and then they come back at some point. Kai, maybe it’s Sam who sacrifices himself to kill Lucifer, because it’s kind of his fault and he feels bad. Iga, I mean, Dean also did cause it as well. Kai, yeah, they all kinda did, but Sam did the last bit and actually rose Lucifer. [I missed something here but] Iga, someone is crying about someone bringing someone back. Kai, but we do know that Dean has a moment that Dean has a moment when Dean says wahhh bring Cas back. [lol, one?] Iga, I just feel like every season finale has someone sacrificing themselves for something. So someone that we don’t want to die is going to die, and then get brought back.

[alfredstvthoughts]

Public Eye - Nobody Kills Santa Claus (Season 1 Episode 2; 30 January 1965)

Public Eye, one of my all-time favorite live action TV series about the investigations undertaken by private detective Frank Marker (Alfred Burke) has turned 60 years old today. To celebrate, I will be reviewing every one of the show's 51 surviving episodes (out of 87 total) this year, with a new episode review every week.

Unlike the more glamorous American private detective films or series, Frank Marker frequently took on ordinary cases often involving troubled marriages, blackmail or missing persons and was constantly struggling to find enough work to keep the lights on. The appeal of the show lay in this depiction of the less glamorous side of private detective work along with the interesting characterisation of Marker, thanks in large part due to Alfred Burke's excellent performance as well as the provincial flavor lent by it's diverse settings in places like Birmingham, Brighton and Windsor, complete with much location filming.

The first broadcast episode of Public Eye, All for a Couple of Ponies is missing, so Nobody Kills Santa Claus, the second episode broadcast is the earliest surviving epsiode. Sadly, the majority of episodes from the first 3 seasons produced by ABC Television are now missing, with only 5 out of 41 surviving, it will be not be long before we arrive at the 4th season which marked the beginning of Thames Television's involvement with the show and where all episodes from then on thankfully survive.

Despite being the second episode to be broadcast however, this does serve as a first in that this was the first ever episode of the show to be produced barring an unbroadcast pilot episode.

Onto the episode itself now, written by co-creator Roger Marshall which sees whizkid young businessman Paul Garston (Keith Baxter) receiving mysterious blackmail threats over the telephone. Wishing to avoid bad publicity by involving the police, particularly as a vital loan his business needs is in the balance, Garston gets his managing director, Eric Hart (Peter Barkworth) to hire Marker, with the plan being that Marker effectively serves as Garston's bodyguard, posing as his chauffeur.

Garston is also having an affair with Anne Johnson (June Barry), the wife of draughtsman Ray (Robert Tunstall) who also happens to work for Garston. Ray is suspicious of his wife's frequent trips away, but how much does he know about the affair and is he the blackmailer?

Remember when I mentioned above that some of the key aspects of Public Eye was Alfred Burke's characterisation of Marker and the location filming in the provinces? Watching this and fellow Season 1 surviving episode The Morning Wasn't So Hot, you will soon find that neither aspect is particularly developed here. Unlike the others, the first season had a fairly stock London setting but was pretty much entirely studio-bound anyway with location filming not being introduced until the second season.

Also Marker's character actually has a much more minor role than expected here and doesn't appear at all for the first 11 minutes. Even after his introduction, he only really serves to help the plot forward to find out who the blackmailer is. For a viewer more used to the surviving Thames episodes which would often focus on Marker's character, this can come as a shock that is difficult to get used to.

Nevertheless, the potential of the show is in evidence even at this early stage thanks to it's engaging plotline, well-drawn characters and the intrigue regarding the somewhat shady practices of Garston's business (though the ostensible victim, Garston is no saint) and the attempts to find who the blackmailer is keeps things very interesting.

There are a few minor flaws such as the sometimes amateurish acting (particularly Peter Barkworth who on a few occasions is clearly stumbling over his lines) which can distract from otherwise solid performances and the ending is not entirely clear with regards to just what Hart's role was in the blackmail scheme and how Marker uncovered it. Overall, though I would not recommend Nobody Kills Santa Claus for a Public Eye newcomer due to it being fairly unrepresentative of what the show would later become, it is an undeniably solid episode that was an early example of just how much potential the show had.

[warsamongthestars]

I agree and I also disagree.

Do not give Bad Writing like That excuses. Disney a company that has been dedicated to film and shows since the 60s, and Star wars since the 80s; they know how its done and they're being Shit At It.

( Probably because of the Writer's strike, but in fairness, they were making pissing bad choices from the beginning )

Removing Tech and Echo just ensured that the best bits of the BBs as characters, was Permanently removed. They did the same thing to Crosshair in S1.

Character Dynamics can be both the greatest strength of the story and the character, as well as the great challenge. The problems we had were, in fact:

Omega had blood that was never addressed. Therefore Tech's appearance wouldn't meant shit--like all the other times he was around, being intelligent and it didn't go anywhere. They had 2 Seasons and they fucked around, Season 3 wouldn't meant anything by this point.

What do they mean "Echo would've made it too easy", they didn't Do Anything with Echo. They spent 2 seasons sidelining him so bad, he Left.

The problem here was the clumsiness with the characters. This wasn't just bad story writing, it was bad world building and bad decision making. This was a Mess in a Cinderella Dress. They chucked platinum in their search for gold.

They made the "missing" character too competent in their absence, and gave a pissy excuse for it.

Why is that bad?

Because when you have an entire team whose entire purpose is to face challenges, and those challenges go south anyway, that's exactly what you do. Star Character meant to Solve CHallenge, does Solve Challenge, but it turns out, there are More Challenges and they go above his head.

Or you place the Star Character where his skillset cannot be the only thing that gets him out of Situations. For one thing, getting hammered by a box and ending up with a cracked bone, is a very good way to take someone out of the next fight.

But they didn't do that, they weren't going to do that, they have ignored nearly every single possible and EASY (KEYWORD) way to take a character out of a fight. Make Tech sick, have Echo run into a virus--or better yet, how bout a partially BRAIN CHIP, reduced the compenentcy of all the characters, because they're struggling with the fact that, even though the chip didn't work, it is still negatively affecting a very sensitive organ.

The truth is, the TBB Writing and Directing Team can not solve how Tetris works. That it turns out, solving one line of the blocks, does not in fact win the game. Having a character be capable of solving One or a Few Things, does not infact, solve the Epsiode or even the arc, unless its entirely about their skill set.

You know how short Their Version of TBB would've been, if they went with the logical, character-driven, rational choice?

One page, probably laminated, but not enough for a cover.

Why?

Because the moment Crosshair had starting firing on kids, would've been the moment Hunter would've dragged him aside, and kicked his ass for it. And then they would've found out that Crosshair is not in his right mind, because we're in a galaxy where the Geonosis Brain worms were a thing--and mindcontrol is very much a danger.

And because of that, they would've never returned to Kamino, as "all the Regs are acting the same way, and we don't want to go back to the Heart of the Reg Kingdom".

This entire show has been a drag for stupid choices, stupid decisions, and frankly, stupidifying the characters, to drag something that was, ultimately, did nothing but show off incompetence and how they want to cover their ass for the choices they Planned To Make.

If whoever wrote this show, had just stuck to posting it on AO3, it wouldn't have ever been a Problem.

I can't find the original image to reboot and credit, but here you go.

TECH: When I analyzed Omega's DNA, I noticed an anomaly in her blood. Upon further research, she has a high volume of midichlorians."

WRECKER: What does that mean?

TECH: There was a correlation between a "high M-Count" and a Jedi's abilities using the Force.

OMEGA: Does this mean I'm a Jedi?!

TECH: Possibly. You would need extra training by a Jedi to use those skills.

ECHO: I've never noticed she has Force skills.

TECH: I thought her ability to connect with animals was an obvious manifestation of such abilities.

HUNTER: I am sensitive to vibrations. Do I have the Force?

TECH: It seems of the Kaminoans' experimental Clones, only Omega was specifically given a high M-count, which probably explains why she is so valuable to Nala Se and the Empire.

ECHO: Now we know what we're up against. Thankfully, we don't need to collaborate with any suspicious women to get this information. We must find a more secure location to hide. I will contact Rex immediately.

[8verity8]

****WARNING SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10!!!****

So... everyone be hating on Kinn for "forgetting" Pete but I'm wondering if this is just another thing the show is going to switch up from the book and that comment Kinn made about, "feeling like he's forgetting something" was a nod to the books/a false lead switcheroo moment that they will clear up next epsiode. (Kind of like they did LAST week with that, "I don't trust anyone" comment)

Mainly, because from Kinn's point of view we get 1. Pete successfully completing his mission and sending Kinn proof of Vegas and Tawan working together. 2. Then almost immediately after his brother Kim calling him to tell him Chay has been kidnapped... 3. They have the Tawan showdown...where Big is killed protecting the love of his life that he realizes he ALSO needs to rescue and they both almost die in the process 4. the meeting with Khun that reveals that Ken was the traitor all along... all in what, the span of 24 hours?

I think at this point Kinn is understandably overwhelemd and doesn't have any reason to believe that Pete didn't successfully make it out/back from his mission. A lot has happened and is still happening...

I think they are going to realize Pete is missing in the next episode, the problem isn't going to be forgetting about Pete, its going to be more, "Is Pete still alive?" If he is, how do we even get him back?" Kinn isn't exactly in the position to be mounting a rescue mission for a bodyguard even if he had all the facts to do so in the first place.

Plus, people seem to be forgetting that Pete and Kinn talked about this BEFORE Pete went in. That's why Kinn straight up said, "You want me to send you in to die..."

Pete isn't waiting for rescue because we have established in this version of the Kinnporsche universe that Kinn CAN'T go in guns blazing to rescue Pete.

Pete knows exactly what he got himself into... and Kinn has no reason (yet) to believe that Pete was caught/didn't make it back from his mission safely.

Just saying...

[leafatlaw]

   I know everyone likes to clown on season 4 (oh it’s the gas leak year, oh everyone acts out of character) but honestly it feels like one of the seasons that really had some of the most interesting ideas and character moments. Like the plot line (an episodes long plotline! In a sitcom!) of Jeff’s recognition with his dad. Some thing that had previously only been joked about previous seasons we now got a conclusion. And it was satisfying ! ( the familial relations episode is one of my favorite holiday episodes ) for me it was one of the best looks into Jeff’s past up to that point and probably even after. I know the Conventions of space and time episode is controversial (I also hate the jeffannie parts) but it has one of the cutest throned moments in the entire series, and really highlights their beautiful relationships( for once in my life I knew someone would come to help me). And debatably one of the best episodes in the entire show the body swap episode, funny, unique, and sweet all in one.    As for the other episodes I don’t really think they’re worse than some of the other seasons worst epsiods, but that might just be my horrible taste in community episodes.(other faves are intro to knots and the German invasion episode) but yeah I’ll be the first to say some of the episodes sux. Hersay of dance, the marine biology one, and Heroic origins are at the very bottom of my personal community tier list. The Kevin thing was also weird and I feel like it didn’t end as well as it could have. but look in my opinion season 4 was in a weird place. Season 3 ended on this super high fantasy crazy note that make it very hard to follow both performance wise and story wise. With that in mind be kind to season 4 if only for my sake.

[paperstorm]

Ok we must talk about this because I haven't seen anyone else point it out. The way, first, you had Carlos asking TK to dance in the final episode in your season one series, as a bookend for that being how they met in the first place? BRILLIANCE.

And also the difference between this, in your tag for episode one:

"Alex probably never loved him at all. TK asked him to move in, months ago, and Alex had winced and shifted awkwardly in his chair and mumbled some excuse about liking to have his own space – an excuse TK had lapped up like a hungry cat and absorbed and accepted as a perfectly valid reason. Had not taken as a glaring neon sign that Alex didn’t really love him back, like he very obviously should have.  So, so desperate just to be loved. By anyone, just for the sake of having it. Of being able to wear that like a badge; to tell people who looked down their noses at him that someone loves me, so therefore he must be worth something."

Vs this, from the tag for epsiode ten:

"TK knows he used the idea of being loved as a tactical vest, thinking it would make him bulletproof. He knows it wasn’t fair, to put that on Alex, who never asked for TK’s problems or his insecurities and who TK imprinted on because he was nice, and TK wasn’t used to the people who wanted to fuck him also being nice to him. He knows it wasn’t a crime, that Alex didn’t love him back in the same way. He was allowed to love somebody else. He was allowed to be taken aback, when TK had tried to encase them in glass to preserve the feeling of somebody caring about him, without ever wondering whether they were right for each other."

GROWTH???? SUCH INCREDIBLE CHARACTER WORK?!!?!?! The way your first and last tag are such mirror images of each other. I am in awe of you I really am

I am giggling and twirling my metaphorical pigtail hehe. This was very much intentional and I'm so tickled you noticed and enjoyed it <3

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE FOUR || CURSE WOMB MUST DIE

↳ featuring : itadori yuji + fushiguro megumi + kugisaki nobara + ryomen sukuna + ijichi kiyotaka from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : swearing + violence + mention of blood + mention of poison + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 23 february

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 6.1k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : girl of steel

↳ next episode : curse womb must die II

↳ barista’s notes : i am back again with another episode of jujutsu kaisen everyone ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆ i hope you guys haven’t gotten bored with this whole series, to be honest i forgot how long they take to write since it is a whole epsiode i am trying to retell with a new character in ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ ALSO i have created a masterlist for it as well as future stories i might write in the future! are you excited?  ʕ￫ᴥ￩　ʔ

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter

2.5 for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique

Destructive Curse Spell number one: Sho : 3:26-3:34

Binding Curse Spell number eighty-one: Danku : 3:03-3:07

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing

Shutting your dorm room door closed, you carefully wrapped yourself in the thin white cardigan you had brought out with you before quietly making your way outside the Jujutsu Tech dormitory wanting some form of fresh air due to your incapability to sleep for the time being.

As you began to walk around aimlessly, you quickly looked down upon your phone - nearly blinded by the brightness of the screen -  to find out that it was exactly 2 am making you come to the conclusion that everyone was probably asleep and that no one would find you out for the time being. 

To be honest, it wasn’t a surprise that you couldn’t sleep, it wasn’t like you never had these types of nights before. Although, they were becoming a bit more common than what you would have liked during your lifetime, especially at the age you were now where sleep was essential.

Finally making it to the track field (where you were supposed to be in the next few hours for training), you slowly crouched down to take a seat on the stone steps that lead to the tracks itself before cuddling into the warm cardigan since the light winds were slightly colder than what you have imagined.

‘It’s such a drag knowing that I have to be here, later on, to train with the second-years,’ you thought to yourself for a second before letting out a sigh of frustration, while running your hand through your hair as if it was some coping mechanism for the pending stress that was about to explode anytime soon.

“How long has it been?” you quietly uttered to yourself before looking onto the field as if there was something interesting insights or someone was going to answer your rhetorical question.

“A week? Two?” you continuously questioned yourself, before gently placing your hand on your upper arm as if you still felt the linger cursed technique you had used during the battle you had with him.

‘You possess such intellect, such skill, such power and such talent and yet you refuse to go against me with your full potential, are you mocking me?’

“Maybe,” you whispered your answer, before going back to the electronic device you had in your hand to open Spotify as you decided you needed something to fill up the silence with hint sounds of the wind, grasshoppers and passing cars that were surrounding you. 

However, before you could press play on the chosen song you deemed was quiet enough to play out loud, there was a sudden presence your felt from behind causing you to raise your index finger to hit them with some sort of curse spell to warn them only for a familiar voice to call out.

“It’s just me”

Turning your body around, you found a tall male with erratic hair standing behind you with a non-expressive face before looking down at the dog that was right beside him with what some people say a happy grin on its face. 

Turning back around, you shut your phone off before placing it in the pocket of your black joggers that you wore to bed, allowing the shikigami sorcerer to sit beside you with a gap while his divine dog took the opportunity to sit between the two bodies as it processed to rest it’s head on your shoulder, which you allowed since it was adorable not to deny.

“Can’t sleep?” you asked Fushiguro, as you processed to look onto the field while raising your hand to pet the dog’s head causing it to let out a happy sound before further resting itself upon your shoulder.

“Yeah..same for you?” Fushiguro then questioned, leading you to let out a hum in agreement to tell him you were in the same situation before silence took over between both you and him once again.

To be honest, the silence between you both wasn’t awkward at all, it surprisingly felt natural. Although, even if it was comfortable between you and Fushiguro, you both still have questions for each other, well rather Fushiguro had more questions for you than you had for him. 

He just didn’t know where to start.

“L/N?” Fushiguro called out quietly (so quiet that some people might not be able to hear), leading you to turn your head towards his direction while his divine dog’s head covered your vision slightly. “How strong are you?” he then asked, causing you to express a confused look before turning back to the track field in front of you as if you were trying to find the right response to answer his question as if it wasn’t an easy one to reply to.

“Not that strong,” you replied in a nonchalant tone, leading Fushiguro to look at you with widened eyes as your returned response didn’t make any sense to him. 

It really didn’t at all.

However, he didn’t have the strength to question your answer.

If he had listened to you back then, would your other classmate be alive with you all right now?

“Fushiguro?” you now called out causing the sorcerer to give you a hum informing you that he was listening in to what you had to ask or say. 

“How long has it been since that day?”

                                              ꕥ

The rain was currently pouring. However, it wasn’t too heavy nor was it too light but it was enough to make the mission that you, Itadori, Fushiguro and Kugisaki were assigned to be eerier than it considered to be.

“Our window verified the curse womb three hours ago,” a man, who you recalled was named Ijichi Kiyotaka, mentioned before continued with, “once ninety per cent were successfully evacuated, they made the call to seal off the centre, citizens within a 500-metre radius has been evacuated, as well”.

‘Only ninety per cent? That means either the other ten are missing in there…..or dead’

“Ijichi-san, question,” Itadori stated before raising his hand as if he was in a classroom asking a teacher a question, “what’s a ‘window’ here?”

“A window is a member of Jujutsu Tech who can see curses, they aren’t sorcerers, though,” Ijichi explained as his arms were behind his back in a professional manner.

“Oh, okay,” Itadori muttered, as he understood the explanation that was given to him.

“Let’s continue,” Ijichi quickly stated as it seemed he had more information to be given to all four of you. 

“Detainee Block 2, at present, five detainees remain there with the curse womb, if this curse womb is the type that metamorphoses, we predict it will become a special-grade cursed spirit,” Ijichi announced in a serious tone causing you, Fushiguro and Kugisaki to express a stern look upon your faces.

‘Special-grade? Wouldn’t they make a special-grade sorcerer take the job instead of us? Unless….’

“Hey, so...I still don’t really understand what ‘special grade’ means,” Itadori expressed with an innocent face as he looked at the three of you leading Fushiguro and Kugisaki to give him the fed-up look, while you just shifted your eyesight at your classmate since you understood why he didn’t understand any of the terminologies that were thrown at him, your adoptive father wasn’t the best teacher when it came to non-practical work after all.

“Then allow me to explain it so even idiots can understand,” Ijichi stated as if he was calling Itadori an ‘idiot’ causing you to zone out of the quick lesson to look at the detention centre that was in front of everyone right now. From what you could sense, there was an overwhelming presence beginning to loom over from the building that the other sorcerers didn’t seem to feel causing you to look at Itadori will a worried expression since you knew he didn’t have control of the newfound cursed energy he had gained from eating Sukuna’s finger.

Looking around to make sure no one noticed you, you quietly went up to Itadori from behind before hovering your hand over the back of his neck before using your cursed energy for the spell you were trying to prepare for him in advance.

‘This should protect him for one hit if we come into a surprise attack, but there is nothing else I can do without the other’s noticing’ you thought in a frustrated mindset before silently taking a step back to where you were previous to make sure no one noticed that you had planted a protective spell on your classmate.

“That’s real bad!” Itadori shouted, causing you to zone back into the conversation that was in the process.

“Normally a jujutsu sorcerer on par with the cursed spirit would take on the mission. On a day like today, that would be Gojo-sensei,” Fushiguro explained into further detail, while Kugisaki seemed to now paint a worried expression on her face.

“I-I see,” Itadori stuttered as he looked at the erratic-haired sorcerer before looking around as he then asked, “so where is Gojo-sensei?” which made sense since none of the sorcerers in front of you had ever fought with a special-grade from what you could sense.

“Away on business,” Fushiguro answered in a serious tone, which caused Itadori to give him a confused look as he then stated, “he’s not someone who should be loafing around that school in the first place,”.

‘But that doesn’t explain why four first-years have been sent to deal with this situation...”

“Unfortunately, we’re constantly short-handed in this business, you’ll often have to undertake missions beyond your power,” Ijichi expressed as he pushed up his glasses. “The current case, however, is an abnormal one, and most urgent. Do not fight under any circumstances, if you encounter a special-grade, your options are to either run or die,” Ijichi then stated with a serious tone leading you to internally scoff at the warning he gave.

‘That’s easier said than done’

Even though you knew he cared about the safety of everyone that was preparing to go in, it was ridiculous to say to any sorcerer not to fight since once you knew once you encountered a curse, there was no way of getting out of the fight at all, you knew that from experience.

“Please just listen to your fears, do not forget that your mission here is strictly the verification and rescue of survivors,” Ijichi repeated.

“Sorry, but as we are talking those ‘survivors’ in there are most likely dead, there is only a one to five per cent chance that there are any survivors,” you commented with a straight face causing all three of your classmates to look at you with a surprised expression on what you just said, but before anyone could deny your statement.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, where’s Tadashi?!” a worried voice cried, causing everyone to look, only to find a woman waving her hand while guards tried to push her back, preventing her to come any closer to all of you.

“Is Tadashi...Is my son Tadashi all right?!” the woman asked in a panic, leading you to give her a sympathetic look before you slowly walked up to her with a calm expression on your face. 

‘If someone asks if someone is okay at the beginning of the mission, take it like a way a doctor calms down a patient or how a police officer informs the public about a case, dear. Imagine it from your perspective, you would want to know if I was okay, wouldn’t you?’

‘Yeah, I would mother’

“Ma’am, we are going inside to see if there is anyone else in the building, if we find your son, we will inform you as quickly as we can, is that okay with you?” you gently asked the worried mother since you needed to calm her down in the worst-case scenario that you, your classmates and she had to prepare for. 

Looking at you straight in the eye, she timidly nodded at you causing you to present her with a small smile to help calm her down further. “Please, I need you to step away for the time being since there is a possibility that someone has spread a poisonous gas throughout the centre, but I can not give you any more detail than I can offer,” you explained to her causing the mother’s expression to turned into a shocked one before dropping onto her knees as she grew numb.

“Please find my son,” she begged quietly as tears flowed down her face.

“We’ll try our best ma’am,” you answered her before turning back to your classmates as they looked at you with amazed faces since it seemed like you had done this a million times before - like a profession.

‘Let’s hope that one to five per cent change is in your favour’

“Fushiguro, Kugisaki, Gojo, we’re gonna save them!” Itadori announced in a determined tone causing everyone to turn to him with a determined expression on their faces.

“Of course we are,” Kugisaki answered.

                                          ꕥ

All four of you were now walking towards the entrance of Eushi Detention Centre’s Detainee Block 2 after you have given your black cloth bag that was holding your katana for Ijichi to hold since there was no need to hide the weapon anymore.

“Be careful,” Ijichi said, before raising his fingers to prepare the sleeve that was needed to consume the detention centre, so the outside world didn’t see what was going on inside.

Suddenly, a dark blue aura was cast onto the middle of the sky before slowly descending on all sides like a dome covering a plate of food causing the sky to darken to Itadori’s surprise.

“It’s becoming night!” Itadori shouted as he took a full preview of what was going on, leading Fushiguro to take a glance behind him to inform his obvious classmate that it was the veil Ijichi was placing.

“There’s a residential area nearby, so the barrier conceals us from the outside world,” Fushiguro explained, leading Itadori to express his amazement while Kugisaki gave him the irritated look as well comment since it was basic sorcerer knowledge to know what a veil was.

Suddenly, you heard a loud clap that echoed around the area causing you to look in the direction on where you heard it, only to see Fushiguro’s hands be in a position that was familiar to you.

“Demon Dog!” Fushiguro said before a shower suddenly took form from his to summon the white divine dog that you knew so well from the first time you met him to appear as it howled in response. “He’ll let us know if the curse gets close,” Fushiugro informed you all as the dog looked in his master’s direction.

“Oh, I see!” Itadori said in a light tone before he made his way towards the shikigami to pet it’s snow-white while chanting ‘good boy’ to it as he then expressed his gratitude for its support. However, it seemed like the dog was interested in something else as it stood up on its back legs to make its way towards you before whining as if it wanted something from you.

Looking down at the dog that was now staring at you with its yellow eyes, you couldn’t help but rub its head leading it to relish your affection that you were giving it as it moved it’s head further into your palm as if it can get more out of you.

“I think it’s time to go to Fushiguro don’t you think?” you asked the dog in a light tone, causing it to whine for a moment before going back to its master so it was prepared for the mission that it was about to undertake.

Pushing the door open, Fushiguro and Itadori were in front while Kugisaki and you were behind as everyone prepared themselves for what they were about to go into. “Let’s go,” Fushiguro stated before taking the first step leading the dog to follow in next as well for the rest of you.

However, before you took one step closer into the building you realised something was not what it seemed. From what you can recall, according to Ichiji, the building was said to be a two-story dorm and not the one, you were standing in front of right now, there was no possible way, it was too high up.

‘It’s not a maisonette, it’s too advanced for that,’ you thought as you continued to analyse the surroundings before concluding what you had dreaded, ‘it’s an incomplete Innate Domain, meaning the curse has already fully developed!”

“Hold up!” you shouted at the three sorcerers behind you causing them to pause before turning to look at you, only to find you staring up which led them to do the same leading them to realise why you had halted their movements in the first place.

“Right now, we’re in the middle of the development of an Innate Domain! Is there a door behind me?” you asked in a panic, causing everyone to look at you, only to discover the door had disappeared.

“Th-The door’s gone!” Itadori mentioned in a surprised tone causing you to look at him with widened eyes before turning around to only discover he wasn’t lying to you at all.

‘Shit! How the hell am I going to get everyone back safely? They don’t know how to deal with a special grade from what I can tell, let alone an incomplete Innate Domain’

“How?! We just came in through here, didn’t we?!” Kugisaki mentioned in a stutter as she pointed at the direction where the door should have been while Itadori nodded at her with a few cold sweats dripping down his face.

“What do we do? Ah, what do we do about this?” Itadori and Kugisaki sang as they danced in circles, in a way trying to ease their stress and the tension that came along with the whole situation nearly causing you to giggle at the sight.

“It’ll be fine, the dog remembers the scent of the entrance,” Fushiguro interrupted as he looked annoyed at the two dancers, while the mentioned dog looked back to check on everyone.

“Oh, my~” Itadori and Kugisaki warmheartedly expressed before they started to pet the dog once their mood was lifted with them shouted how they were going to give him jerky later and how much of a ‘good boy’ it was, letting the dog once again relish in the attention that it was being present with.

“You are way too calm!” Fushiguro angrily expressed at two since the mood didn’t match the setting they were in at all.

“You really are dependable, Fushiguro!” Itadori expressed with a grin causing Fushiguro to snap out of his anger. “Thanks to you, we’ll be able to recuse people and save ourselves, too!” Itadori then commented, leading Fushiguro to look at the ground before you suddenly decided to take the first step of carrying on since you were being cautious with the three other sorcerers with you.

‘How long has it been since I faced a special-grade in a fight?’

“Let’s keep moving,” the shikigami user commanded in a stern voice since he saw you making the first way through, letting the other two know that they needed to start moving as well.

While walking, there were the eerie echoes of your footstep causing you to wonder where the actual curse was before entering what seemed to be the centre of the domain. However, you suddenly paused leading the other three to wonder why you came to a halt before looking at the sight that you were looking in the direction of.

Being the first one to react, Itadori rushed to what seemed to be someone’s body - well half of it - and maybe as the second victim since there was a full skeleton that was seemed to be curled up in an excruciating way next to the main body causing you to give your condolences to whoever the person was before observing the area around you to make sure the mention special-grade curse wasn’t near at all.

“Atrocious,” Kugisaki commented in disgust as she stared at the corpses insight.

“That’s...three people, right?” Fushiguro questioned as he quickly took note of how many more victims or survivors there could be - if there were any at this point.

Crouching down, Itadori didn’t answer his classmate’s question, as he then tugged on the detention centre’s dark blue uniform to check the person’s identification, only to realise something that he didn’t want to happen.

“Let’s take this body back,” Itadori suddenly stated, causing confusion to rise within the group since they didn’t know what caused the salmon-haired boy to comment something like that.

“Huh?” Kugissaki asked in confusion.

“It’s that woman’s son,” Itadori regretfully stated, causing you to close your eyes before letting out an internal sign of disappointment before coming to the realisation that you weren’t really surprised at the outcome.

‘Sorry, Ma’am, it seemed the one to five chance wasn’t with you for today’

“But…” Kugisaki slowly stuttered out before being interrupted by Itadori as he then explained that the victim’s face wasn’t mangled and that they still had to give the body back to the mother since it wouldn’t be hard to accept that fact without the body, yet before he could carry on with the plan he was unexpectantly coming up with, he felt someone pull him back by the hood causing him to be surprised at the sudden movement.

“We have to find and verify two more, leave that body behind,” Fushiguro once again commanded, which caused Itadori to shout at him back as he didn’t understand why the body should be left behind.

“Quit joking around! We turned around, and the way we got in here was gone! We won’t be able to come back for it later!” Itadori stated.

“I didn’t say come back for it! I said to leave it behind!” Fushiguro argued back in the same volume of tone, trying to make Itadori understand the situation that they were in and it was not possible to bring the body back at all - there was no point to him. “I have no intention of risking my own life to save someone I had no intention of saving in the first place!” Fushiguro frustratingly stated, only leading Itadori to grab his collar in return as a way to rebuke.

“No intention of saving him? What do you mean?!” Itadori asked in a perplexed tone, confused on what Fushiguro meant when it was their mission to save the remaining survivors that might be in the centre right now.

“This is a juvenile detention centre, Jujutsu sorcerers are granted access to all information about the scene beforehand,” Fushiguro declared before continuing his explanation by stating, “this Okazaki Tadashi hit a little girl on her way home from school while driving without a license, it was his second offence of driving without a license,” leading Itadori to look at his friend in vexation and surprise at the news he was receiving about the man he was going to ‘save’.

“I know you’re stuck on saving lots of people and guiding them to proper deaths, but what are you going to do when someone you saved kills someone else in the future?” Fushiguro asked with a stern tone trying to make his point of view understandable to the boy in front of him.

“Then why did you bother saving me?!” Itadori cried out, as a way to rebuke his statement due to the situation of him being the vessel of Ryomen Sukuna, only to gain nothing but silence from the shikigami user in front of him as he tightened the grip on the collar he was grabbing.

“Oi stop being such drags, I didn’t come to Jujutsu Tech to hear your reasons for being a jujutsu sorcerer, get moving!” you demanded in a menacing tone before unhooking your katana that was secured on your lower back horizontally, preparing to use the weapon to separate them.

“Cut it out! Christ, what are you two doing?! You’re both idiots” Kugisaki shouted in equal frustration with you, as she made her way towards the two boys with her fists in the air.

“Think about the time and place if you-”

However, before she could continue the angry rant, she was suddenly sucked into the floor causing you to quickly react by trying to grab her hand, only to be too late when she was fully consumed into the hole that was created.

“Kugisaki?” Itadori called out in confused, only for Fushiguro to become shocked at the new situation that had occurred before turning forwards to see the sudden and dreadful outcome of his divine dog that was supposed to detect if any curses were near leading you to look at the same direction before suddenly feeling a presence of what you should have felt earlier.

‘If those two drags didn’t distract me with their argument, we shouldn’t have to worry about our wellbeing right now!’

“Itadori! L/N! We’re running, we’ll search for Kugisaki la-” Fushiguro panic before you suddenly screamed at both of them.

“DON’T MOVE!” you screamed, once you suddenly made eye contact on the curse that was standing right in near them, causing you to grip on your katana tighter as all three of you stayed completely still while you were coming up with a plan to see if you could put a distance between the curses and your classmate.

Suddenly, you saw Itadori’s shaky hand reach over to his weapon as he unleashed it from the leather casing before violently swinging it to cut the curse in some way, only for the sudden decapitation of his hand to be the result of his attempt causing massive amounts of blood to spill like a fountain.

“Itadori?” Fushiguro's voice shook while you were in the opposite of that mood right now.

Swiftly, you slide your feet around, landing between the boys before raising your katana making sure the tip on the black wooden casing was pointing at the special-grade curse’s face. 

“Destructive Curse Spell number one: Sho,” you chanted, causing your curse energy to travel from your arms to the length of your sword before a small shot of cursed energy to thrust its force against the curse’s face leading it to be violently pushed back against the concrete wall before turning towards Itadori with an angered expression, “I told you not to move and you decide to go against me!” you screamed in frustration before quickly turning back to look at the direction on where the special grade was flung in a confused but equally concentrated manner.

‘That curse spell isn’t even that strong, it’s my weakest, yet it managed to make it fly across the room, is it really a special grade by nature…..or did it eat something?’

“I can’t escape after it’s gotten this close! Hey, Sukuna! If I die, you die too, right?” Itadori determinedly asked, causing you to look at him with a startled expression.

‘Does this guy have a death warrant? Are you even listening to me?!’

“If you don’t want that, then help me out!” Itadori commanded leading you to further look at him like he was the craziest person in the world right now.

“Are you stupid?!” you screamed, only for Itadori to ignore you as Sukuna’s eye and mouth appeared on his cheek.

“Nope! Even if the parts of me inside you die, there are eighteen other fragments of my soul. Still, irritatingly enough, I don’t have control of this body, if you want to switch, go ahead and switch,” Sukuna taunted as he continued with his threats, “but once you do, I’ll kill that brat before the cursed spirit can, then I’ll go for that woman, she’s a lively one, I’ll have fun with her then I’ll go to her right there, she seemed like someone that knows how to fight,” leading you to place your weapon inches away from his eye.

“Stop talking, you’re making me lose concentration Sukuna,” you stated in a nonchalant tone before going back to find an explanation on why your cursed technique managed to give so much force to the special grade that was now starting to stand back up on its feet.

“I’m not going to let you do that!” Itadori declared in an inflamed tone, only for the King of Curses to taunt back without any hesitation.

“I bet! But if you’re too focused on me, your friends are gonna die,” Sukuna teased, causing you to look at the small eye and mouth with an annoyed look on your face.

“I said stop talking, you’re making me lose concentration,” you threateningly stated, only to suddenly realise that the special-grade was about to attack once again, leading to your cursed energy to flow from the palm of your hands to the tip of your fingers as your placed you left hand up like you were stopping someone.

“Binding Curse Spell number eighty-one: Danku!” you chanted, leading to the familiar large rectangular defensive wall to form in front of you, Itadori and Fushiguro, protecting you from cursed energy that the special-grade it was about to attack you with, but the concrete that wasn’t behind the wall didn’t seem to survive since the concrete turned into debris leaving evidence of its strength for you and Fushiguro to observe.

‘Pure cursed energy? So it doesn’t have any cursed techniques….ah what a drag…’ you concluded before turning to Fushiguro only to see him with widened eyes to that attack causing you to predict that he also thought the same thing as you.

“Fushiguro! Fushiguro! Fushiguro!” Itadori yelled out, trying to get the skikigami user’s attention before his third call caught his awareness as he turned to look at the screaming boy. “Take L/N and Kugisaki and get out of here!” Itadori demanded, causing you to look at him once again with an astonished look on your face, yet before you could grab his red collar in a way to argue his point, Itadori continued with, “I’ll keep this one bust until you three are out, as soon as you’re out, give me some kind of signal and once you do...I’ll switch with Sukuna,” to which Fushiguro screamed at his reckless plan. However, you were too focused on the curse in front of you, wondering why it was considered a special-grade then it took some sort of damage from a weak technique of yours.

As of right now, the curse seemed to be enjoying itself even when you managed to damage it and deflect its attack with two simple cursed spells. There was no point in letting your katana out of its wooden casing, it wouldn't be able to take the damage but there was the situation with Kugisaki being somewhere in the building as well, so there was a risk of taking your weapon out.

‘It’s definitely ate something, but what? There is a chance that it is Sukuna’s finger but that’s rare, besides it seemed like the fool hasn’t sensed anything from it to be his finger’

However, before you could even prepare your next attack to exorcise the curse to end the life and death situation Itadori and Fushiguro were in, you surprisingly felt someone grab your wrist before pulling you away from the battle that you had started leading you to look at the culprit to find out it was Fushiguro, who was dragging you away from the situation.

“What are you doing?!” you shouted before trying to pry your hand away from his grasp, only for him to tighten his hold in a way to not let you escape.

“We’re running, we need to find Kugisaki before giving Itadori the signal to get out of there,” Fushiguro explained in a stressed manner leading you to scream back at him on the thoughtless decision that had been made without your input.

“Are you crazy? You need to take back Itadori and let me fight that curse Fushiguro, he won’t be able to survive at all!” you yelled out in anger.

“Are you the crazy one? We don’t know what grade sorcerer you are and you want to exorcise that thing?!” Fushiguro argued back.

“So what makes Itadori capable? He doesn’t know how to control cursed energy or any techniques, TAKE ME BACK!” you panicked, only for his grip to tighten more at your comment of going back.

No one words were exchanged.

                                            ꕥ

Within a flash, you and Fushiguro managed to grab Kugisaki before she was devoured by the curse she was fighting against while both of you were trying to find her.

At this current moment in time, you were outside the exit with Kugisaki in Ijichi’s arm, Fushiguro on the floor tired from running while you were standing behind the other divine dog that was giving Itadori the signal. However, even though you knew the signal was for Itadori to switch with Sukuna, you were conflicted on the idea leading your body to move forward towards the entrance to enter again. 

However, you were stopped by the black dog using its body to push you back, once it was done with the signal it was giving to Itadori.

“Stop it!” Fushiguro stated as he stood up to put his arm in front of you to prevent you from moving forward. However, you were angry, pissed off and frustrated at this point.

“You should have listened to me, you drag!” you screamed at him before gripping the arm that was blocking your path. However, while you were looking at the erratic-haired sorcerer with pure rage in your eyes, Fushiguro was startled about the immense amount of cursed energy that was surrounding you as he was shocked that he didn’t notice it earlier when he had met you, it was alarming and intimidating to him as he didn’t even stand a chance to dominant his over you, it extended in power and strength than he had ever thought it would have.

How did you hide it so well?

                                             ꕥ

Currently, you were at the gated entrance to the Eushi Detention Centre, where you had laid Kugisaki down at the back seats of the car before closing the door to stand in the rain with Fushiguro - much to your annoyance.

“Please explain the evacuation area to ten kilometres,” Fushiguro stated in a serious tone since he didn't know what could happen next since Itadori was still inside the building. Expanding the evacuation area was the best thing to do right now.

“What about you and Gojo?” Ijichi asked in a worried tone as he turned to look at you both through the gap on the window of his car.

“We’ll wait here for Itadori to return,” you stated in a serious tone to which Ichiji understood since you were so adamant to enter back to the building despite the many attempts Fushiguro tried to stop you.

“After I take Kugisaki-san to the hospital, I’ll return as quickly as possible,” Ijichi declared, only for Fushiguro to give a discouraged look to him before stating, “no, there wouldn’t be much point in you-”

“I need you to come back but I want you to stay at least one kilometre away from the evacuation area, at this rate if Itadori has switched, I want you to be as safe as possible but in the end, if you don’t hear from us at least an hour when you come back, go back to Jujutsu Tech immediately,” you interrupted Fushiguro by pushing your body in front of him while giving Ijichi the instructions you needed him to hear since you didn’t know the possible outcome that this was going to go to. 

“If you can, please send a grade one sorcerer or higher but that won’t be necessary if I don't die,” you sternly commented, leading both Fushiguro and Ijichi to shiver at the statement you just announced.

Still shaken at what you had just said, Ijichi sent himself off before closing the window to prevent any cold raindrops from coming at him as he drove away from the area you and Fushiguro were standing in right now.

“If you don’t want to listen to me, I ain’t going to listen to you at all then Fushiguro,” you stated with a frown painted on your face before looking back at the building behind his body.

Taking your katana, you looked at the bottom of the handle to find a metal loop at the bottom with a red charm tied before it was simply slowly unwinded by you as you prepared for the worst that was about to come.

“What are you doing L/N?” Fushiguro asked in a worried tone, causing you to turn to look at him with a deadpan expression.

“Just preparing for the worst Fushiguro”

 © violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[eldragon-x-moved]

If you want, can you explain your most liked and/or most disliked episode, but to someone who haven't watched the show?

Anon I just rewatched one of my least favourite episodes in the show for you because honest to God on my last rewatch this was the one episode where I let it play while doing something else and paying zero attention.

Anyway, Roadside Attraction is a mess.

Honestly the episode itself would be fine as a Season 1 or maybe even early Season 2 episode (which seems to be the intended placement) but it's just a whatever episode that ended up having very unfortunate placement being the fifth-to-last episode in the series and between two much more plot-relevant and compelling episodes.

So the plot is basically that Stan goes on a roadtrip with the twins + Soos + Mabel's besties because he wants to ruin the tourist traps of his rivals but that's just the backdrop.

The actual conflict comes with Dipper still not being over his crush on Wendy which was a conflict that was resolved in God damn season two epsiode two in an episode that was actually Fun and Interesting and Utilized Wendy as a character.

Anyway in RA Stan is like oh how about you talk to some girls during the trip so you can get over wendy. also you have to be a jerk and feign confidence to impress them. and then one of mabels besties gets a crush on dipper and it all falls apart because they spend time together but then the other girls he met on the trip also show up yadda yadda the lesson for both stan and dipper is to not be jerks but also that dipper should try to be more confident and use that for good which is never brought up again. it's just not compelling enough to justify being at this point in the show, its obvious that it just got placed there because it needed to, and the only supernatural or mystery element in this episode is a creepy spider lady which is cool Ig but eh.

And now Get This: There's Journal 3, which provides a ton of extra-canonical material by filling out blanks, adding context, ect and it's great, it's really good, I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the show, I'll link you a transcript right here if you can't/don't care to buy the physical book.

That being said, J3 is willing to contradict show canon which is fine, I can live with it, but APPARENTLY Roadside Attaction absolutely has to be chronologically correct because in the previous episode the Pines family set up a barrier around the Mystery Shack that would protect the building from the influence of Bill. Y'know, the evil space demon that Ford especially is wary of because he literally manipulated him and betrayed his trust to get him to build a world ending machine.

So yeah, J3 then goes on to canonize that Ford was like "Hey Stan now that we made sure the Shack's save from the Evil Space Demon why don't you and the kids take a trip to get As Far Away From The Shack As Possible." HUH??????

literally half of this post is about that little tiny bit in j3 now but whatever it's so so stupid. why did we need to acknowledge and canonize that roadside attraction takes place at this point in the show and that Stanford "Bill cannot be trusted and would trick and possess anyone to get what he wants and I know this from personal first-hand experience" Pines suggested the road trip

[taki118]

Go Watch the Venture Brothers

So just heard the complete and utter Bullshit news that Adult Swim has cancelled one of (if not the best shows) they have the Venture Bros. This series is one of those shows that for WHATEVER reason never got to the level of fandom Rick and Morty has even though they’ve been at the genre parody game longer and in my opinion better. 

The series is about Rusty Venture former boy adventurer and failing super scientist who in an attempt to keep his head above water in debt goes around with his two boys Hank and Dean, and bodyguard Brock on misadventues while various legal archnemisis go after him, such as the Monarch. 

So if you never watched or never heard of this 7 season series let me give you a break down on why you should, 

1) Art Style & Animation

Venture bros is one of those rare Adult aimed animated series that that really truly tries to utilize their medium to the best of their abilities. Season 1 had like such a small budget and corners had to be cut so it can be a little hard to watch at times. 

But with each passing season they get a little better, a little more fluid, go just a little harder and it truly feels rewarding to watch. Like seeing an artist you follow online improve over the years. Like they COULD have stayed with the choppy and stiff animation from season 1 it fit right in with its fellow adult animated shows but it didn’t. They strove for quality to have something that matched the story they were telling.

2) The Writing 

Venture Bros has some of the tightest and consistently great writing of ANY serialized show I’ve seen, adult, animated or other wise. Wanna know why? Cause it’s all done by TWO people (save for like one ep each season where one other person is allowed to touch their baby). Yeah TWO people and they work their asses off every season to interject, humor, refrences, parody, plot and character development in equal measure. 

3) Character Development

Um yes in case you were wondering that’s right an adult animated show has CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  that holds as the series goes on. Not to give spoilers but characters will go through changes in alignment, relationships will develop and change, some characters will go through negative arcs where they are straight up unbareable for a season before coming out the other side even better than they were before. There is no end of epsiode or even end of season reset. Characters, settings, and dynamics all change over the course of the show and it feels just so god damn good.

4) Story Development 

Just like the characters the story of the Venture Bros grows and changes each season. Things that are set up even as early as season one are paid off as the series goes on. Like not to be that bitch but you know how RIck and Morty teases an overarching plot ALL THE TIME but like will often just spit in the face of fans hoping for more than like one episode a season addressing it? Yeahhhhhhh that doesnt happen here, fans are consistently rewarded for putting the time in to rewatch and really think about what happened in the series. Characters that are seen in the background or are just referenced by other characters will be brought in to be recurring characters, things that start off as a small detail or gag will be given larger relevance and each time they do this you get that “OH I remember that from last season! So thats what it was!” The writers WANT you to rewatch, they WANT you to analyze and they WANT you to theorize, and they give you a show that gives back the time you put in.

5) Parody & Reference 

This series does a great thing with parody. They make real characters  who are just as enjoyable as the characters they parody, they make story lines that both poke fun at the absurdity of the media but shows the writers love for it. So often parody and references are just used to mock the thing but with Venture Bros you feel the love and care so when you know the thing being parodied you can laugh but feel good about laughing cause they are never laughing at a thing maybe you cared for in your youth but rather laughing with it.

And it’s never just one thing. When they parody a thing its often layered with other things to make it even more unique. Scooby-Doo is overlayed with famous criminals, Laura Croft is mixed Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, GI Joe is given the look of the Village People and so on. They never go for the easy joke or reference. Hell theres an episode that starts with them reciting the lyrics to David Bowies Space Oddity for really no reason other than they could. They weave these things in naturally with their setting and characters so nothing feels out of place. Like if you dont catch a reference or parody you dont feel like “I think this isa reference to something?” like a LOT of things do not just adult animated shows. You arent taken out of the moment cause it all feels so natural. 

6) The Characters 

God damn these characters, I could go on for hours about these characters. From main to one off these are some of the most likeable characters you can find. I mean it when I say I can’t think of a single character I wish they had cut cause they are all so well created. Even the ones I hate i have fun hating cause they were made to be that way. I’ll be good though I’ll only talk about my absolute top faves.

- The Monarchs

You ever sit and wish villain couples could have functional  healthy relationships? Well look no further than Malcom Fitzcarraldo aka The Monarch and Dr. Shelia Girlfriend (yes that is her last name). The Monarch is a high strung impulsive saturday morning cartoon villain whos tendency to over react is only matched by his unspecified hatred of Dr. Venture. And Dr. G is his nonsense partner in crime who will cut a bitch if they don’t play by their admittedly weird rules. Both characters are great on their own but are better together. Though that doesnt mean they always get along. Like a real couple they have their ups and downs they fight, break up, make-up and grow stronger in their relationship with each season. 

- Shore Leave

Ok ok so I want you to imagine James Bond, mixed with GI Joe simmering in a cocktail of the most flamboyant gay men you have ever seen and you have one of my favorite gay characters/characters in general. Shore Leave is a member of OSI (the shows SHEILD/GI Joe parody organization) he’s loud, brash, flippant, sassy and highly competent at his job loving every second of getting to beat bad guys down within an inch of their life. I love seeing him play off the stoic Brock and the two have this great brotherly dynamic that’s never called into question. He also gets to have a very cute romance with Al the Alchemist (who is also great). I could talk about this man all day.

- Dr. Rusty Venture

They did such a good job with this man. He’s a self serving, sexist, perverted, whinny, self important asshole and yet you feel pity and genuine sympathy for him and want him to succeed. You can see how Dr. V was given a raw deal by his father who seemed to care more about his adventures than his sons well being and how this molded him into the bitter man he is today, but on the flip side you can see where he chose to use that as a crutch for his worst behaviors and impulses. Seeing him slowly grow and change and be an actual good father to his boys while all the while still be a giant dick is actually really great. 

- Dr. Byron Orpheus 

Ahhhhh Dr. Orpheus part Dr. Strange Parody part busybody stay at home dad, he’s just such a delight. Dr. Orpheus is a divorcee, with an unfulfilling job of maintaining order to the cosmos (which isnt as hard as one might think), and uses his magical ablities in ways most of us would (ie menial tasks and home chores). Overly dramatic and affectionate Dr. O is a delight whenever he appears, but he’s at his best around his daughter and old friends The Order of the Triad. 

Again I can go on but all these characters ranging from main to recurring are crafted with the utmost care for you to want to see them succeed or fail, to see them again even if you know it’ll never happen, and want them to cross paths with other characters. 

The Venture Bros is one of those series that I will ALWAYS recommend even to the pickiest of humor tastes. But if you don’t believe its as good as I said or don’t think the concept is to your tastes I’ll recommend a few eps that I think best show off the base idea of the series without giving much away. In terms of plot and spoilers, though somethings wont make a lot of sense. 

- S1 ep10 "Tag Sale – You're It!" - Dr. V is having a yard sale so of course all manner of costumed weirdos show up.  - S2 ep5 "Twenty Years to Midnight" - basically a fetch quest around the world to save the planet with daddy issues - S3 ep2 "The Doctor Is Sin" - Again daddy issues but with one of the best recurring characters and a great showcase of the series deeper emotional plots - S4 ep6 "Self-Medication" - Really embraces the parody as Rusty goes to a former boy adventurer support group.  Anyway the show is 7 seasons with 80 episodes, please go watch it. I will never forgive @adultswim​ for cancelling what was to be their final season. And in closing GO TEAM VENTURE!

[eijie-cavies]

Wen Kexing and the great divide.

So as we all know Episode 32 and 33 has left us with a plethora of questions and the fans are divided in terms of their view on Wen Kexing's plan. Tbh that is to be expected if you look at it. It was an asshole move to hide everything from A-Xu and leave him to find his soulmate's dead body only to find holy shit this motherfucker is alive still what the hell. And so a lot of the fans sided with the argument that Wen Kexing never learned and was acting like a selfish lone wolf. But today i am here to try to analyze the plan between Scorpion king, Wen Kexing and Ye bai Ye.

Please keep in mind i haven't watched the entirety of the show yet and so some theories here might not fit in with the rest of Kexing's explanation for the next episode.

Also thid will contain spoilers so please be warned.

Alright let's start. I will be dividing this analysis into parts. 1st part is the show's script and budgeting and why they chose the route that the went with.

2nd part is my theories on the heroes conference and why it was rushed as well as the timeline.

And lastly Wen Kexing's POV and the analysis for his plan and why he did what he did keeping A-Xu in mind as well.

A few extra bonuses is the romeo and juliet plot and why i think it had to be in the plot somehow.

So lets start, sit down and grab a drink for this you will need it.

1st part.

Scriptwriting and budgeting.

This show was supposed to have 45 episode and so the plot would have had more time to marinate and kick in if it weren't for the shortening of the epsiode.

With this in mind the scriptwriter had originally planned for this 45 episode and sadly we won't probably know what was supposed to happen if it weren't cut to 36 episode. But we do have Wolong nuts to thank for giving the drama sponsorship and making the drama into 36 rather than 32. If we had only 32 episodes in this drama everything would have felt too rushed and fast paced. And so to have to cut 9 episodes worth of plot the screewriter was put in a tight spot on how to cram three different events. Namely the kidnapping, the exposing of Zhao Jing and of course the wedding plot as well.

Thus the Romeo and Juliet plot was born. We will be discussing this plot in depth later on in the analysis. Nonetheless if they have had all the freedom and budget it would have been nice to see a plot of Zhou Zishu, Wen Kexing and The Scorpion King all work together to bring Zhao Jing down. For now let us work on the plot given to us.

2.) Timeline.

The heroes conference is a huge deal, this is where EVERYONE of big sects and names gather in the martial arts world, its the equivalent of the whole world witnessing everything. This event is a big part of the plan that the three accomplices had, if they didn't act right away Wen Kexing and Xie'er (Scorpion King) wouldn't have had the chance to expose Zhao Jing in the future, because like what the beauty ghost relayed, once the heroes conference is over Zhao Jing planned on killing Xie'er and eradicating the ghost valley. There would have been no other time to take him down, no time to wait for another heroes conference as Zhao Jing would have risen in power already, they would have been too powerful to stop and the merits he would have gained by then would be multiplies, the people wouldnt see him as evil anymore. Therefore it was crucial to strike at the time where they are most vulnerable and the seed of doubt was still fresh, if they had waited, everyone would have disregarded Wen Kexing as a mad man and praised Zhao Jing for saving them from the purges of the ghost valley.

And scorpion king? Who would believe him if he was the only one to take a stand? His Godfather no doubt would have acted as if he didnt know what Scorpion was saying and act innocent. Even if he was spared Scorpion had no allies other than Wen Kexing who's allies was also born out of the same hatred they had for Zhao Jing. Everyone was forced to act swiftly, it was an all or none kind of situation. Now if we backtrack to the previous episodes, not two episode ago Zhou Zishu was heavily injured because of the kidnapping and was given no time to properly heal before everything needed to be set. As you can see in episode 31 Wen Kexing was in a hurry to meet Xie'er, don't you think it was iffy that he would leave A-Xu like that if he was still injured? The Wen Kexing that we all know would not have moved a single inch from Zhou Zishu's side if he were injured. And this is because of a lot of things which we will be getting to in the third part of the analysis.

Now on the subject of the plan and how Chengling had somehow gotten a hold of it. Simple, Ye bai Yi. He is free to roam around, sending messages and talking to people behind the scenes, we never really knew what he did after he left Wen kexing at four seasons manor and the reason why he had agreed on the rushed reopening of the heroes conference. but if you think about it it fits with the timeline. Zhao Jing wanted to reopen the heroes conference and Ye Bai Yi was sure that they were out to hunt down the chief of the ghost valley. If you remember the letter in episode 27 you will understand.

Why did they get that letter in the first place when the four seasons manor wasnt even fully restored yet? The martial arts world didnt even know that Zishu was on the road to reopening it and yet he got an invitation. This is Ye Bai Yi's first clue and a nudge for Wen Kexing to take action. This leads us to part 3. Wen Kexing's plan.

3. Wen Kexing's plan.

Now the question is why didn't Wen Kexing think to tell Zhou Zishu his plan? Simple. He is heavily injured. Now i was stuck here as well because i would have thought, why couldnt he just trust Zishu of his plan? BUT you all have forgotten this.

Wen Kexing has asked this two times, he wanted tell Chengling already so the kid could process it before he could stage his plan and possibly even tell Zhou Zishu on how he can use the heroes conference as an event where he can expose Zhao Jing. But Zhou Zishu was kidnapped, tortured and injured. There was no time to tell him of the plan without him having to stop Wen Kexing from doing it. At first i thought this didnt make sense, Wen should have trusted Zishu enough to carry on without distrubance right? Well a very nice person in Youtube provided some very interesting and eye opening points for me.

And they are right, if i were Wen kexing i wouldn't want to burden Zishu of having to wait around thinking where i went off to, why do you think he told A-Xiang to take care of Zishu and promised to go back in one piece?

A-Xiang was also kept in the dark of the plan, the only plan she knew was that Wen Kexing is planning to have an alliance with the scorpion king and thats it. He didnt fully disclose everything either.

Wen Kexing's plan was simple, after he was regarded as "Dead" he probably would have went home to tell Zhou Zishu he was completely fine and it was all a ruse to trap Zhao Jing. BUT the problem was that Zishu set out to find him, Bei Yuan and Da Wu couldn't stop him either as they had no time to explain everything without Zishu panicking. Like i said this was all too rushed of a plan for Zishu to comprehend specially when he needed to heal as fast as possible.

What they could only do is give Zishu a medicine to ensure that if he ever did take out the nails he would still be okay. And that was the downfall of Kexing's plan. He didnt expect Zishu to have escaped his friends watchful eyes and go to the siege, ever wonder why Kexing said this when Zishu arrived?

He was trying to convince Zishu to leave, make him believe that Wen Kexing is out for blood. But Zishu didn't fall for it, instead he stayed which was NOT a part of the plan at all. There was nothing Kexing could have done now, the siege was happening and he could only play along and move forward. And if you look closely again just as they were about to attack Kexing, Ye Ba Yi came to fight Kexing at the VERY right time, and who fought Zhou Zishu?

The three ghosts WuChang, his subordinate and Happy ghost. Why didn't anyone else go for Zishu? They could have had the scorpions attack him but they chose the Ghosts who are a part of Wen Kexing's valley, mind you these three ghosts were there when they rescued Zishu wouldn't it just sound stupid if they were fighting Zishu to kill him? No. What they tried to do is separate Zishu from Wen Kexing. Ye Bai ye could have eliminated Wen in 10 moves, he said this himself. But they had this complicated dance that somehow landed Wen Kexing at the edge of the cliff and left Chengling to do the rest.

And so he fell and Zishu followed. If you look closely even Ye Bai Yi was surprised that Zhishu jumped. NONE of it was part of the plan. From the moment Zishu entered to the moment he jumped no one planned for it.

And if you are upset of Zishu having to see Kexing's dead body and breaking his heart, this again was NOT A part of the plan. Beauty ghost was there to protect the corpse, if the corpse had not been burned it would have been presented to the martial art world and Kexing would come back as a different person and telling them "They got it wrong. That corpse is the chief of the ghost valley, i am Wen Kexing the disciple of four seasons manor" and it would have been more belieavable. But plans went south, Zishu found the corpse further solidfying that Kexing (in his mind) is dead and so he took out the nails. Ke xing couldn't show himself to stop Zishu either, there was so little time and he couldn't risk himself be seen.

Some others had been in the dark of the plan as well, not just Zishu, and the reason Wen Kexing didn't dare tell him was not because he didn't trust Zishu to stay away and let the plan carry out, instead he know EXACTLY what this will do to Zishu. Wen Kexing's plan was to HIDE Zishu away until the conference ended. Because with Da Wu and Bei Yuan, there would have been no news about Ke Xing dying that would have reached their place and Zishu would have had all the time to recover as Ke Xing took revenge and finally come back home as a new person.

He NEEDED Zishu to stay away from the fight to help himself heal just enough to get the nails out.

His revenge done and his new goal to be with Zishu for the rest of their lives. But unfortunate events happened, Zishu found out and there was other way to go but forward.

Ever wonder why Kexing had this look on his face on episode 33?

He wanted so bad to explain everything but the spotlight was on him and this was the only time he will be given the chance to take a stand. This is now between him and the Zhao Jing. Like everything there was nothing to do but move forward.

Now for bonus part.

Romeo and Juliet plot.

Romeo and Juliet plot is basically person A percieved as "Dead" and person B endagering their life to the brink of death only to find person A was alive and well but Person B is for real dying.

Now tbh i wasn't a big fan of the Romeo and Juliet plot, this was the reason why fans became so divided and saying Kexing didn't learn his lesson therefore lossing their faith in Kexing and Zishu's relationship. He was pervieved as childish and selfish, And tbh they would have had so many plot devices that they can use to maximize full on plotting and bringing down Zhao Jing. But going back to my first point of the budgeting im guessing the scriptwriter had struggled to cram it all in. It was already episode 33 and they still had two more plots to cram in (the wedding and curing Zishu) so im not as upset as much. In the end the whole staff gave their best and poured their heart and soul into the drama. On an ending note i'll just let this nice person do the talking for me

Thank you for reading! If you guys have your own theories feel free to discuss or voice them out.

[knightofmordred]

let's talk about gwen's trauma in bbc merlin

tw // trauma, grief, torture, death, potential racism.

im not sure what else to tw but my post will surround conversations such as these so if you are reading this and may be triggered please either stop or read with care <3

forgive me for any mistakes i will mainly be talking from memory and ofc if i say anything wrong please lmk !!

generally to start off, all of the main four characters went through trauma however you were always able to see their reaction/result of their trauma e.g morgana turning evil, arthur being self-conscious and doubtful of himself and merlin putting up a barrier in S5, but with gwen there was never anything like that which happened.

gwen went through so much throughout the entire show and yet nothing was ever handled or addressed within the show.

SEASON ONE

from the beginning it was indicated that gwen's mother passed away before the time frame shown in camelot and of course that was later confirmed. the only mention about her mother, that i can remember, is when gwen briefly spoke about how her mother was a maid in sir leon's household. we also know that elyan left camelot shortly after their mother passed away, clearly the reasoning was from grief and hurt. we didn't get to see gwen deal with the loss of not only her mum but also her brother, yes he was still alive however he left without a word, gwen and her father were left alone trying to survive.

(also elyan's trauma is also something important to be raised and spoken about)

during this time gwen and her father were still able to make a life in camelot, thomas being a blacksmith and gwen getting a job as morgana's maid. of course events unfolded and gwen was accused of witchcraft. she was thrown in prison and set to be executed. as we know this isnt the first time this will happen. we obviously saw gwen distraught and inconsolable trying to deal with her sentence however this epsiode revolved a lot around morgana and merlin more than it did gwen. e.g. them trying to release gwen etc

a few episodes later thomas is the one imprisoned and eventually was killed due to his attempted escape. again this epsiode focused more on morgana and merlin. the small clips we saw of gwen crying over her father whilst he was imprisoned and then again when she was mourning her father were little to nothing, and the only other scenes surrounding gwen were shown as her being "strong and getting her life back together". following on to merlin asking gwen if she would wish uther dead and she said no, if he died she would feel nothing but wouldn't wish him dead.

now why does gwen have to be this strong and kind hearted woman especially in this epsiode. she lost her father, practically her last and only family member left as elyan was awol and yet she was portrayed this way. she would have been allowed to be angry and upset over everything that happened.

there was a scene where gwen was crying with morgana and spoke about how she cannot go home but it wasn't about her father. it was about tauren - the man who hired thomas for whatever he was making,he came and threatened gwen.

SEASON THREE

a season later gwen and arthur are romantically involved and caught by uther and morgana during a date. uther banished gwen and was later accused of magic (again) and set to be executed (again). this episode focused more on gwen than the last ones i spoke about but again morgana and merlin's side plots were heavily involved.

after each event has taken place in these episodes, it's almost as if gwen's trauma and what she went through were put aside or forgotten about. twice she was nearly killed and once she lost her father.

later, gwen was kidnapped by cenred and morgause and threatened to bring arthur in exchange for elyan's life.

noticing a theme so far? gwen's trauma seems to be revolved around the white characters surrounding her, whether it is entwined with another character's plot or focuses on them.

SEASON FOUR

i don't remember the epsiode but i believe it was the dochard episode. gwen was attacked by morgana in an attempt to kill her.

during this time too she was also looking after and caring for uther. we know she wasn't doing it for uther but for arthur and her love for him and so he wouldn't have to worry and can focus on his duties but....she was still looking after the man who killed her father, nearly killed her a couple of times and overall ruined her life too.

now we get into gwen and lancelot. of course we all know lance was a shade and gwen was enchanted. the way this epsiode was and how they decided to portray gwen and lance for me was ://

again gwen was thrown in jail. the bracelet was never found and nothing ever came to light that she was enchanted.

so...gwen had to live with all of that regret, guilt and feelings of not understanding or knowing why she kissed lancelot for the rest of her life.

she was banished and threatened with death if she ever returned (again).

shortly later in S4 EP11, she was kidnapped (again) whilst living in ealdor. she was able to escape but then turned into a deer by morgana??? then accidentally hunted by arthur and mithian leaving her injured and hurt. which is so unnecessary because why tf turn her into an animal ???

she was nearly killed again.

and again nothing was ever addressed or spoken about in terms of what gwen went through.

SEASON FIVE

S5, uther came back as a ghost, he threatened and attacked gwen to the point she nearly died had she not been found by merlin.

in the middle of the season, gwen was kidnapped and tortured which eventually led to her being enchanted and under morgana's control in the Dark Tower.

again, gwen's trauma is tied to a white character (as in plot and needs etc).

during her enchantment gwen did a few things:

poisoned arthur and nearly killed him

killed tyr

imprisoned merlin and blamed him

conspires with an enemy and tried to kill arthur again

her enchantment was thankfully lifted but once again it just seemed like it was ignored once it was over but also i know S5 was rushed in itself anyway.

tbh you could say gwen knew nothing and couldn't remember what happened whilst she was enchanted but in With All My Heart there seemed to be some awareness from gwen about her enchantment. and also ofc people would say she couldn't remember in order to avoid the conversation around her trauma.

in the finale we see gwen in the battle helping the wounded and when the battle is won we see her having to cope with the fact they couldn't find arthur.

by this time we know where arthur is and it cuts to a scene of leon telling gwen arthur has still not been found and of course gwen is visibly upset.

when gauis comes back and gwen is informed of arthur's condition of course she believes he will get better but then she would have had to battle with the thoughts he wouldn't.

i really wish there had been a scene after this where gwen just talks to someone about what exactly she is feeling but instead it cut to the plot about eira.

the ending was kind of the same for everyone, no one got to mourn apart from merlin.

overall it just makes me so sad that gwen went through all of this and it was ignored or pushed aside because she is a "kind, strong and honest woman". she went straight back to work when her father died because it was "better than sitting in an empty house waiting for my father to return" no gwen!! you can do that if you need to!! you are allowed to be sad and hurt!!

i genuinely do think it is racist writing as black women especially are portrayed as "strong women who get on with things" when actually they've gone through a load of traumatic events and as any else are should be angry and upset and should be allowed to be portrayed that way too.

it also angers me that majority of these events which took place and gwen's experiences/trauma were almost always tied to a white character and aiding their development/storyline/plot. just why