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sy5starplaty · 1 year

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My 3.07 “Strings That Bind Us” liveblog...

Cranberries’ "Dreams” to start us off? Okay.

Why does Jamie pulling Roy's bike along (in a pink sweatshirt & shorts no less) feel like the most obvious next step in their dynamic after "Sunflowers"?

More Jade-Nate stuff...

And Jack is totally being Keeley's "sugar daddy"... so it won't last.

I love Chef Simi. Still can't tell if this is a shipping situation or not... but obviously not siblings.

Barbecue sauce induced hallucination... okay. I'll accept that.

ASH! I always forget his name. I shall now refer to him as Cool Hat Guy.

They're still calling him Van Damme?

Nate got Siri to call him Wunderkind? lol

EVERYONE CONNECTED TO EPSTEIN? GET AWAY FROM HER NOW KEELEY! NOW!

Okay... needed a warning for that puke-a-thon.

They are NOT going to last. Those are NOT green flags, Keeley.

Rebecca talking about Rupert lovebombing her with a CAR... exact thing he did with Nate.

Beard Kitman is... actually kinda accurate. And Coach Will Beard is FANTASTIC.

"This is yummy. What is this?" "Water."

lol... I'm gonna need a spinoff with Will Beard.

Oh, K/J are so over.

OF COURSE IT'S ROY'S IDEA. Boy needs some joy in his life right now. I gotta say... We need this technique in ALL FOOTBALL CODES.

Hm... Not sure if that'll work Nate. But it's the thought that counts.

J: "It better be amazing!" (what you do for me, compared to all the lavishness I've bestowed upon you... and if it sucks... well, you know who has all the POWER in this relationship don't you?) RED FLAG RED FLAG

And... okay, yeah. Thoughts count. Words do too.

Yikes. Sorry Sam. I mean, you were right to call him a bigot, but that was playing with fire. Let's just be thankful it wasn't a fire, yeah? :|

Oh, that working/marching song thing... I know it, but I can't remember where it's from.

Sam rightfully swearing! And then crying in his HUGE daddy's arms.

"Big whoop"? Sam's dad is Ted! And they get on very well... brilliant.

But they were all coordinated and stuff in the locker room!

Heh... love that the 3 pub guys are so so calm about the team’s performance.

Poor Roy... making puns while Ted talks.

ASS-SQUATCH "Make it stop" ... No, it's awesome.

Lol... pre-emptive bird flips.

JAMIE! YOU'RE BECOMING THE BEST YOU CAN BE! YOU'RE BETTER THAN ZAVA, BOY. Damn, I can't believe I'm proud of him (again - I was proud of him in 2.03 but that wasn't as a footballer).

Arlo: "That was bloody gorgeous!" Yes, it was.

Yeah, knew they wouldn't win. But they didn't let Arsenal get anymore goals, so there's that.

And... TRENT! He's excited about football again! Well, about The Lasso Way.

"Yeah, but he's our dork." :D

Aw, they're not over yet? Damn. But it still feels likely. If she doesn't have Epstein connections, SHE JOKED ABOUT HAVING EPSTEIN CONNECTIONS. That's not a good thing! Unless her Epstein is not that Epstein... in which case, who's the other famous Epstein?

THE TEAM CAME TOGETHER TO HELP OUT SAM & HIS RESTAURANT.

Keep the mirrors as they are? I get the idea, Sam, but you gotta at least cover those shards with something. IT'S A SAFETY HAZARD.

And since... Ted & Rebecca did not share a scene AT ALL... I guess I'm just shipping Sam with Simi?

Yeah, not looking positive re: tedbecca here, so I’ll wait till 3.08 to either resurrect my shipper-self or bury it. This episode was more about the team - with added Nate & Keeley’s storylines - so I get there wasn’t really any room for tedbecca stuff. They didn’t even focus that much on Ted. But now the team is kinda working like a well-oiled machine again... I think they’ll be able to return to the main ships & their individual journeys to find their way [back] to each other.

Hopefully.

#Ted Lasso spoilers #Ted Lasso 3.07 #Ted Lasso #nothing interesting... except maybe my thoughts at the end.#tedbecca #Just for the end thoughts - I want to believe

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hidingoutbackstage · 10 months

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Death Island liveblog thoughts all in one post

Oh the villain is former Umbrella. Great

Okay we’re spending way too much time filling in Dylan’s backstory. We get it.

Oh the openings credits are LAZY that’s just footage from the other movies/games/shows

Wow this voice acting isn’t great (this will persist throughout the rest of the film)

Ah, never change, Leon. Opening fire in an area where you could easily misfire and hit civilians

Yeah no you’re not surviving that motorcycle crash that easily

Also way to get around the problem people had with Vendetta by making the villain the one causing the traffic problems

Wow so many new models made for random side characters but they couldn’t make a new Jill? Cring

Gotta have a slow mo shot in all of these movies I guess

“Hi Rebecca.” “Hey Chris.” Good, unnaturally establish their names like they didn’t do that in the opening credits

Jill and Chris talking about Wesker like it’s the first time they’ve talked about it since 2009? It’s been 6 years???

Oh they mention Piers that’s fun totally not wondering how I can use this for yhsb

Lol Maria’s model being the exact same. Queen has one (1) outfit

Wow disabled villain. How original

Why are you hiding his face we know it’s Dylan

Oh so they made two models for Dylan, young and old, but they couldn’t make a new Jill model. Got it

Claire and Jill interaction FINALLY

Wow good job Death Island you bass the Bechdel test

Claire called in Jill and Chris meaning she came to Becky with the info first okay girl I see you (🏳️‍🌈)

Hehehe. Zombie sharks zombie sharks zombie sharks zombie sharks

Okay obvious Jill PTSD that’s cool

Floors just randomly collapsing. Yeah sure they do that

LMFAO THE ZOMBIE RIPPING OFF CHRIS’ STUPID TOURIST SHIRT that is unintentionally fucking hilarious

Jesus christ Dylan is an insufferable villain

He’s just Glenn Arias again but more insufferable

Leon stop quipping for fucking once. Jill and Leon are a fun pair though

Okay the aquatic lickers are fucking coooooool

Yes please have a lingering shot on Jill’s legs with her breasts in the shot too as a tongue tries to grab her. Very normal thing to do

That’s right Chris keep the women in your life who get understandably upset in check

Wasn’t Harvardville 10 years ago? Why wouldn’t people know TerraSave was framed?

“We’d help you even if you were the bad guys” followed by a Definitely The Bad Guy shot

Oh boy Jill and Leon made it to the Big Action Set Piece in all the trailers

“Leon Chris Jill and Claire” fuck you Rebecca you’re not important enough to steal data on. Even though like. Didn’t the opening credits imply Rebecca’s info was taken too? Whatever

“Let’s burn it all” is this not incriminating evidence?

AHDHDJSHDBSJ DYLAN BLAKE??? THAT’S A RANDOMLY GENERATED WHITE MAN NAME

Okay I gotta admit mosquitos is a clever way to infect people

“Arias and I did a lot of business together so you could say we were sort of close” yeah dude you’re a Carbon Copy of that man

Ohhhh my g-d Dylan is annoyinggggg

Oh noooooo Dylan is doing the villain thing where his principle makes sense but he uses terrorism to do it. “Fuck the world for being run by big corporations and evil government who don’t give a damn about the innocent. So I’m going to turn the world into zombies” fuck youuuuu writersssss

It’s LITERALLY ECOFASCISM LMFAO this sucks

You know they could actually have paralleled Jill’s and Dylan’s trauma in an interesting way. But then they didn’t

They explored Dylan’s trauma more than Jill’s. Jill’s got one conversation. One.

This tension is so fucking nothing lmao we KNOW they’re not gonna kill the MAIN FOUR PROTAGONISTS this is all just padding

“None of you know what it’s like to be forced to kill your best friend” yes they do she’s pointing a gun at you asshole

Dylan as a villain suuuuuucks I can’t emphasize this enough

Rebecca’s main character status means she doesn’t need any real protective gear

See these government agents are the good guys I swear because they say they wanna help people

Claire is honestly the only person of this group who’s a “good” person cuz she works for an NGO while the rest are government agents. Lol

“We’ve got Jill” yeah Jill was definitely the moral center of this group that was totally established

Rebecca and Jill, Bechdel test…2!

Does Maria ever. Like. Talk?

So Chris how’s it feel to finally get infected like literally everyone else in your line of work that you’re friends with? Now you can join the club. They have buttons

“Thanks Rebecca” kiss her then <3

Oh good Maria does talk

Wow Leon, calling a woman a bitch? Rude

I hope she does kill him just so I don’t have to hear Matt Mercer’s voice for the rest of the movie

Okay so the mosquitos infect humans. Why the sharks? Why the aquatic lickers?

Okay now I get the shark but again. The lickers? Aquatic? Why?

“I’ll finally atone for murdering my friend so that I could survive” or you could have just killed yourself all those years ago. Could’ve saved a lottttt of trouble if you’d just killed yourself

This Leon/Maria fight scene has way too many sound effects (we get it she’s in leather it doesn’t make THAT much noise) but also I am 100% rooting for Maria here. Matt is annoying and she’s literally just out for revenge for her father

Noooo not her titties

What a fucking unceremonious way for Maria to go out jesus christ

Dylan-shark is just HAOS…2!

“Take Rebecca and stop those drones” Leon playing matchmaker good for him

This action music is so over the top lmao

Claire and Becky you’re soooo smart you two should kiss abt it

HELL YES JILL WITH A GIANT GUN GIVE IT TO MEEEE

I’m having so much fun I almost forgot I was pissed that Jill didn’t age

“We control the drones now so why don’t we use them” um. Becky. I know you weren’t there to hear the whole ecofascism spiel but. Maybe don’t. Do that.

See Jill’s quips are good. Leon’s quips are too many in rapid succession

Oh she was using the drones to over-infect Dylan (saying this she casually threw aside a large rock)

Someone is going to say Leon and Chris assembling and using that weapon was actually intentional imagery for gay sex I just know it

That high five between Claire and Becky means everything to meeee (they should’ve kissed after though)

It is cool that all five were in a movie, no complaints there

#sid rants #resident evil death island

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whitleyschn33 · 1 year

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RWBY V9, Episode 1: Liveblog Thoughts

This is the curse of long hiatuses, isn’t it? Back at the end of V8, I was like “I’m done. I hated the ending, the entire volume felt poorly done and uncomfortable, most of the characters I still care about are either dead or side characters, there’s no reason for me to watch V9, especially if we don’t see Vacuo.” But here I am, dragged back in by the separation of two years. The salt in the wound has stopped stinging quite so bad, and morbid curiosity has taken hold.

Against my own better judgement - pulls out the pirate hat - let’s take a look.

-Opening the volume with the narration from the teaser trailer, a voice we don’t know, is a choice.

-Close up of Blake does absolutely no favors to the models, I’m sorry

- Little would be a lot cuter if they couldn’t talk, but that would be inconvenient

-I know people have mentioned this before about the rain starting exactly when Ruby starts to cry, but it also stops when she stops crying, which is more evidence in the direction of Ruby effecting the weather. I am starting to hedge towards the island being connected to Ruby’s emotional state myself, but that would only be satisfying if the island is of Ruby’s own creation in her head, a delusion she’s made while falling to mentally process the fall. Otherwise, why would this other dimension island be connected to Ruby of all people?

-Blake and Weiss! Acknowledging the weirdness of them finding each doesn’t make the weridness go away, but since it’s whacko world where the laws of space don’t seem to work, I’ll allow it.

-And, uh, the vine scene is utterly pathetic. I get they’re exhausted, they can’t just burn the place down, but seriously? Weiss can create platforms, there’s no need for this reach down from the tree gag, Weiss is not the cheerleader type so that’s just jarring as hell, Weiss can also summon her knight to cut the vines for her or a flying Grimm to get them overhead - there’s a lot of smarter ways to go about this that doesn’t make our heroes look weak. Now, maybe they’re out of Aura still and exhausted from the fall. Okay, that makes sense - but it would also make sense for them to rest and regain their Aura and Semblances before attempting to retrieve Gambel Shroud and find the others.

-Laying on the “what is your purpose” theming very heavy

- “I don’t know if anyone else fell” I mean, a bunch of civilians got knocked in by Cinder, but I suppose they could be dead.

-Should have paid more attention in that hand-to-hand arc, Ruby. This creature though actually looks really cool, I do like its design and the twitching effect. Kind of a Grimm, but not. But... it wasn’t doing anything to them. Why immediately attack?

-And Yang’s here! That was fast. And apparently she fought the thing off and then decided to track it down to finish the fight? Okay... seems like a waste of energy if it had already left, but whatever. In character enough.

-”Damn it. You weren’t supposed to be here.” Okay, that’s a good line. I really like that and the delivery.

-”if you didn’t think we’d come after you” - you didn’t. You got thrown in, Ruby.

-”What is that?” The skull beast thing was already talking, Yang, why does this surprise you?

-Cat pounce. Thought they’d go for a kiss, but that probably wouldn’t jive right with the pacing of the episode. We should get a kiss this volume, but I can see them waiting for either a moment when the two are alone, or a moment where they can build it up without immediately cutting to exposition.

-Ruby black out. I’m surprised her eyes didn’t activate, an instinctual lashing out like they did with Pyrrha. Ah well.

- Y: ”How are you feeling” R: Dodge roll!

- “Maybe we’re dead... I thought I was.” I mean, that would be more interesting, fighting their way outta hell, but unlikely.

- “I think we’re in a fairy tale” Not mutually exclusive, but okay. I’m going to assume that all these realms (that are so neatly sectioned off) are going to be Remnant fairy tale settings that Blake’s read over the years, which would indicate there is a way out.

-OP - chaotic, doing the progression of character thing V7 did and really hammering in the “Ruby’s really not feeling it”. Jaune is in the OP, but I believe only two or three times, and never with t!RWBY, which could either be a good or bad sign. None of the girls saw him fall, either, so they’re not expecting to look for him. Also, no hint of Vacuo anywhere in the OP, so odds are we’re staying here for the entire volume, or at least until the last episode where we’ll probably get a stinger for V10.

-New girl - Alice? I’m not sure why they bothered to hide her features for so long only to reveal them at the end. There’s also a shadow of a boy with glasses behind her in her portrait, so either another faller or maybe a denizen?

-Credits - “Jabberwalker” NOOOOOOOO, my snake dragon monstrosity jabberwocky T-T But if that poem’s on the table, I expect we may see some juju birds and bandersnatches (assuming that we haven’t already with the spoonbill and the thing that took Yang’s arm)

Overall? Not the worst episode of RWBY, but it just felt very... unpolished. The background animations have gotten a bit better, less unfinished (though still jarring in their vibrancy though at least that’s on purpose), but some of the dialogue and pacing feels like it was a first draft that never got refined. Like “Weiss and Blake find Gambel Shroud in vines that trap them as they try to get it out” was written, but wasn’t expanded upon in the individual actions, so you get some gestures at getting it out without any smarter actions that require effort in thought, and some of the emotional shifts felt jarring. For example, like the script said “Turn to Weiss, Weiss is crying”, and in the actual episode they click the emotion into place instead of giving Weiss a few moments to express that slip into despair. Just a few extra moments of Weiss’s face crumbling, her voice cracking, would have sold the emotion more, and there’s a couple moments like this, particularly when they go for humor. Speaking of, the comedy attempts were also not appreciated. Levity isn’t really something the show needs at this moment, and none of the jokes land. I don’t find Ruby screaming at a mouse or mice reacting in terror to Blake to be funny, and I can see the “Oh my God, this is so weird and strange” reactions getting old if it carries on for too long. I haven’t found RWBY funny for a few years now, though, so it’s not really surprising.

Score that’s mostly arbitrary and will probably forget to keep doing: 5.5/10. Perfectly functional, not a pain to watch or boring, but lacking anything that really makes me enjoy it enough to rewatch or recommend. 0.5 points for Yang’s “You weren’t supposed to be here” line alone.

#rwby #rwde #for safety's sake #rwby9 #rwbyv9 #rwby volume 9 #rwby volume 9 spoilers #spoilers

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thewertsearch · 2 years

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Asks Compilation 30/05

And they really do. It’s kind of a crime that they never grew up together, because that would have been the funniest shit ever.

I’ll give them a look soon then! I’m planning on doing a few in-between things like that after the conclusion of Act 4.

That’s four accidental references. I guess when your comic is already so reference-heavy, this becomes kind of a statistical inevitability.

I really gotta check out this game.

That’s hilarious, but also - people do live reads on Twitch? That’s so fun! It wouldn’t be for me, but I’d love to watch some of those, once I’ve finished the comic. It’s such a novel way to do something like this.

The Midnight Crew are duplicated across sessions, and I think it’s pretty likely that the same goes for all unique Carapaicians. I’m fairly confident that WV, PM and AR all exist in the troll session.

If he’s always predisposed to rebel, then he’s just another card Sburb can play. It’s like anon said - if the Reckoning is coming on a little too early, he attacks the Black King to delay it, so Players can get there on time.

But he can’t ever win, because the game decrees that Prospit can’t be spared. This is why I hope he isn’t scripted, because if he is, this whole thing gets really tragic really fast.

Hah, I noticed after I posted it, but I didn’t bother to change it. It really captured the energy of those last few panels.

Hell yeah! 😍 It’ll be cool to see how the design evolves as I learn what each of the trolls’ features actually mean and signify.

They’re honestly a ton of fun to make. I haven’t done any sprite work in a long time, and it’s been really fun to get back into it!

Damn it, this is what happens when you type your FAQ at 2am...

Theory: The Guardians weren’t cloned from themselves. They were created from mutant TBH DNA, and the Striders are the least mutated of all.

As a former security analyst, I am honor-bound to practice good infosec and not share my birthday online. But yeah, we’re in my season!

I never liked having a summer birthday - I much prefer winter weather, since I’m kinda photosensitive. I’m also the only one in my family with a summer birthday. In defiance to Gemini symbolism, I stand alone. >:)

Oh, yeah, I can for sure believe that people would still ship these kids post-Veil - lest we forget the perfect storm of discourse that was early Supernatural.

It’s probably a good thing that these kids were thirteen-year-old online friends, and not eighteen-year-old college roommates. That could have got really awkward, and I imagine (read: hope) that Sburb intercedes to make sure such situations don’t arise.

Again: My heartfelt thanks to all readers for not asking me about shipping pre-Veil. I don’t think I would have shipped RoseDave or JohnJade, but if I’d actually had reason to think about it at the time, you never know...

Like, I know this stuff is probably just being alchemized, but I can’t get over the possibility that Players have ‘iconic accessories’ built into their DNA.

Except the Striders. They just get big ol’ eyes.

Love the idea that Battlefield Carapacians have their own distinct culture. Living in an eternal war zone would change you, no matter how deeply ingrained your Sburb programming was.

I like to think that when WV rose up, it was the war-weary Battlefield Carapacians who were the first to stand beside him

[ Rex Duodecim is really good but it spoils some stuff later on. you should watch it after Act 5 fully ends... maybe even liveblog it? - Cat ]

Thanks a bunch, and get well soon! I’m glad that the liveblog is helping you through it!

So it’s a fanmade video that was confirmed as canon later on? Or is it more that the author likes it so much that they consider it canon? Either way, I’ll check it out when I can be sure it won’t spoil me on anything!

Thank you! You can thank @beneath-these-bones for the initial design. It’s a fantastic base, and I plan to update it when I get round to drawing some alchemy gear.

It works either way! Despite the fact that I never get assigned the Space Aspect, I still love all things astronomical.

Yeah, I’m inclined to agree. I love the star’s dopey face, but the planet does look a lot better. Initially I made the planet’s ring fully horizontal, but this is definitely an improvement.

Chillingly plausible. Now that we know Rose’s Grimoire is the real deal, who knows what effect that thing was having on her, over the years? Plus, she’s been dreaming on Derse her whole life...

#asks #full liveblog #act 4 #classpect

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missfinefeather · 11 months

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Usually I don’t start a liveblog with a stealth post session but I feel like starting it tonight. (Stealth post sessions are where I liveblog late at night or early in morning and schedule them to post tomorrow.) Present me has dog watch so don’t be shocked if she doesn’t get to the liveblog in the same day this is posting.

This is past me here, and I’m beginning the Mario movie! I’ve heard good things, so I’m looking forward to this!

What do I know about the Mario movie?

1. There is a song called “Peaches” sung by Bowser playing a grand piano. I haven’t heard it yet, but I’ve heard people talking about it quite a bit. (I dunno if that means this is a musical or if they just wanted to utilize their Jack Black to his fullest potential.)

2. I’ve seen the first two trailers before I stopped watching them. That includes Bowser messing up the ice kingdom, Mario’s arrival, Mario Karting, Peach being a badass, platforming training, a bunch of other things I’m blanking on.

3. “Hahahahaha now you die!”

4. “But what if she says no?” *Gets burninated*

5. I’m also aware of the controversy behind the Christ Pratt casting during the build up to the movie’s release. Considering I haven’t heard anyone complaining since the movie came out, I’m guessing he did alright enough. I personally didn’t like the voice in the first trailer, but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve actually watched through the damn thing.

And that’s it! Let’s dive right in!

#Stealth Post #mario1 #mariomovieliveblog #MissFinfeather watches Mario Movie #Missfinefeather Liveblogs #Peach <3 Daisy #movie liveblog #blacklist MissFinefeather

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wantonlywindswept · 1 year

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mando 3.8 liveblog (at least it’s finally over)

alright here we go

hey what happened to not being able to use comms

i will consider it justice if axe dies too

ahh feckin imps with beskar

did they? drug him??? hit him?? HE WAS WALKING FINE BEFOR---nevermind

ewwww they even have flamethrowers???? fuckin mando wannabes

also lol really only 2 of them for din??

baby~!!

no torture for din :(

btw BO YOU LET THE INFANT WANDER OFF ON HIS OWN??

tracking?? WHY IS HE RED AND GROGU A GREEN DOT oh cos droid mb? that would make sense. fucking hilarious if they were color-coordinated by gideon tho lmao

scomp. what. what is that word

frankly surprised R5 wasn’t scrapped tbh, he DID deserve it

guys you. you cannot make another R2. i do not have emotional investment in a droid that betrayed the covert

din why ask questions when you can’t understand him

yes! yes if axe dies on the cruiser as his epic death scene i will allow it for paz

fuckin love mandalorians just. flinging themselves out into space. love them.

ah yes the stupid vader shields

IS THIS GONNA BE ANOTHER DUEL OF THE FATES bc it can’t, that shit was too cool to be remade

mmmmm knives

PARRY THIS BLADE BETWEEN THE ARMOR YOU FILTHY CASUALS

i am loving all of his kicky moves

tube people!

are these the mandalorian jedi i wanted--oh my god the bitch cloned himself THE NARCISSIM. i mean im not surprised but

damn that life beneath the surface though, so green

oh boo that means the armorer isn’t the spy doesn’t it

is it just gonna be ‘facist chick and gideon were the spies for the evil facism council’?? so boring.

oh my god that flying saber pose pls

lol u bitches wanna try to take on mandos mid-air? you’re not THAT good of copies

I WAS RIGHT I WAS RIGHT HE WANTED TO PUT THE FORCE INTO CLONES/MANDALORIANS I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT DEMAGOLKA 2.0

technically he exploded them before they could draw their first breath

guys beskar v beskar hand to hand is. silly.

ohh worm? mando vs shithead fake siths?

baby jedi vs sith??

oh god that heartbroken little ‘no’ din yelled

guys you’re being beaten by a giggling infant

oh gideon totes put an exoskeleton in his suit didn’t he, loser

no. no. no. really? really bo vs gideon? my fucking god it hate it.

we were shown how gideon vs mando was important, their fight vs each other during the seasons, and the fight gets passed over to bo. like yeah i get din saving his kid more important but i just. the lack of payout.

woves you’re still alive?

OH?? OHHHHHHHHH UIT BROKE? IT BROKE IT BROKE IT BROKE FUCK YEAH FUCK YEAH

seriously the classist bitch gets to live but paz doesn’t??? lame. uber lame. go down with your fucking ship woves

so slippy slidey

okay if gideo died in that fire they abso---NEVERMIND BABY FOR THE WIN

damn love that precedent being taken advantage of. would love if more things were too

rip the great forge

oh??? mythosaur??????? please??????

oh no ragnar

why you gotta be like this

oh i guess they didn’t count his as complete

FUICKING. BAPTISM??

oh we gonna baptize grogu now too?

OH? OH I WAS FUCKING RIGHT YOU DIDNT CONSIDER YOURSELF A DAD YET YOU MOTHERFUCKING GO ON, SAY THE FGUCKING WORDS FUCKING DO IT

MYHSAUR NOW?? FOR MANDO JEDI???

DIN GROGU HELL YEAH. also does that mean the naming styles are eastern asian style? IS DIN ACTUALLY HIS LAST NAME. WOT. is ‘din’ some form of appellation? WHAT IS GOING ON

oh my god are y0ou fuckign srs he has to leave mandalore already what is this SHIT

MTYHOSAUR??? BABY SEE MYTHOSAUR????

oh worm visiting the pubs? yay more carson!!

oh my god are we ACTUALLY bringing back the droid

lawls vacation cabin, glad to see the secondary ‘obtain a house’ quest was fulfilled

oh god we brought the droid back as the marshall

din get a landscaper in there

congratulations din djarin on successfully becoming the npc side character he always wanted to be

#mandalorian season 3 #the mandalorian #me @ the writers be like #this storyline is a lame hill to die on #but at least you're dead #ANYWAY paz just didn't show up bc he was in the infirmary #i make the rules now

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thewhitefluffyhat · 2 years

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Concluding Thoughts

Nona the Ninth liveblog complete! …Which also means I can’t put off writing my usual review-like thoughts post any longer.

And so: in the end, what did I think of this book?

Well. I’d say my personal ranking of the series goes something like HtN > GtN > NtN. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Nona!

Things I Liked

-Once again, Muir’s unique writing style is a highlight in and of itself - a wonderful blend of humor and horror that enhances both modes. As evident in the liveblog, I found this book just as much an engaging page-turner as the previous two. I was able to put it down, but only just barely, and only because I didn’t want the quality of my notes to suffer toward the end!

-While in hindsight I’d argue GtN’s strength was in its tighter plot and HtN’s in its ambitious structural experiments, NtN’s strength was in its worldbuilding. I’m hardly the first to make this observation, but the combination of Nona’s shameless love of life as a narrator as well as the more reality-adjacent setting of a non-Empire planet led to a book that feels tonally very different from the previous entries. In a series about death, Nona is a fascinating burst of life between the cracks. It’s jarring in many ways, but not wholly unwelcome.

-My favorite new addition to the cast was probably Hot Sauce. I was impressed with how well the narrative built her up as a figure to be respected (even in spite of her name)! And in the end, she really seems deserving of that respect. Kid’s barely hit double digits and she had the guts to try to attack the most powerful zombie in the universe! And even more importantly, the maturity to accept Nona anyway despite her suffering at the hands of the Nine Houses. I’m not sure I’d want Hot Sauce to make any future appearances (her plot ended on a nicely conclusive note), but I suspect her actions will have echoes even if she isn’t physically present to shape events.

-I’ll also call out the writing of the child characters in general. They reminded me - in a very good way - of how children are portrayed in the Discworld series. They felt realistic rather than pwecious, simpler in their concerns but not in a way that implied they’re stupid. And they managed to actually hold my attention, which is no mean feat given that I am very much not a kids person.

-My favorite of the returning cast was… ooh, this is a toughie. Pal and Cam were great as always, as were Gideon and Harrow in their brief appearances. However, in terms of the character I most enjoyed here, I think I have to give the crown to Ianthe! Really, she’s been on a roll ever since that ridiculous villain speech she gave near the end of GtN. I fully expected her to keep getting worse, and I was not disappointed. Her genre-savviness continues to be a delight, and the reveal that she’d somehow managed to become BFFs with Gideon might be my favorite moment in the book! Friendship bracelets and secret handshakes. My god.

-Speaking of God, and the subject of characters being entertainingly terrible: I thought the John backstory came together surprisingly well! An extended flashback to the modern world (or as close as this series will get to it) narrated in a rambling, self-justifying monologue doesn’t seem like it should work, but here it does. Despite the initial premise being absolutely stock - the environmental catastrophe, the uber-wealthy choosing to damn humanity so they could save their own skins, the looming threat of thermonuclear war - the addition of John’s burgeoning necromancy and the morbid hilarity of him acting like he just ~accidentally~ fell into founding a cult, you know, as you do - kept events fresh and interesting enough that I was never bored and never quite sure where this bizarre story was ultimately going until it ended.

And what an end! John Gaius is as awful as he is eerily believable.

Mixed Feelings

I feel really bad saying this, but I thought Nona as a character was… fine. Just fine. Despite the hype (or perhaps because of too much hype?), I didn’t especially love her. (I’m sorry!)

I guess I felt the same about her as I did with Isaac and Jeannemary. She’s a sweet kid who 100% deserved better. And I wasn’t particularly annoyed by the blindfold of naivete she placed over the story. Indeed, I thought her sincerity, confidence, and amusing quirks made her a very endearing narrator to read. And I thought the story-wide challenge of picking out the places where Alecto shone through her, or where I had to rely on my past knowledge of the series to understand what was going on made the book more fun and immersive rather than less.

But at the end of the day, Nona was blatantly around just to die tragically, and… I just didn’t really get attached. I wasn’t even especially sad when she died, the moment got kind of lost amid all the other zillion important things happening around her. And as much as I enjoyed the active analysis required to parse Nona’s narration, I suspect it may have had a subtle effect that made me engage with Nona as less of a person and more of a puzzle to dissect and solve.

(Would I have been more sympathetic to Nona if I’d been seeing her from an outside perspective? I can wonder, but I’ll never know.)

Also, I can guess at why Nona exists from a thematic/structural perspective - to endear the reader to Alecto while having Alecto experience love/forgiveness/death which will almost certainly be relevant later. But in-universe, the mechanics of Nona’s existence are utterly opaque, which doesn’t do her any favors in the emotional impact department. How and why did Alecto lose her memories in becoming Nona? Why does Alecto lack Nona’s memories and experiences when returning to being Alecto? These are the driving reasons behind Nona’s tragedy being a tragedy, and yet, even after finishing the book, I didn’t understand them. And it’s difficult to be affected by a tragedy that can’t even be clearly explained.

Like Nona, I also didn’t have any strong feelings either way about Paul. (I mean, aside from being thrilled to have more nonbinary representation in TLT, from that angle they’re awesome!) They seem cool and very competent. They’re a touching end to Cam and Pal’s characters. But they barely had any time to show off what makes their personality unique because the second they arrive, the plot kicks into high gear. I suspect Paul will probably grow on me once we see more of them in Alecto, but for now, I don’t really know what to make of them, if that makes sense?

I’ll be curious to see how they get used in fanfics. And that actually goes for Nona too! The circumstances that allow both characters to exist seem like they’d be hard to plug into the Modern/College AUs that are extremely popular in this fandom. They also don’t have one obvious pairing that springs to mind - you could argue for a lot of different ships, especially for Nona. As a result, I can’t see either of them making much of a dent compared to the oodles of Gideon and Harrow fics, but who knows?

Things I Didn’t Like

I’m almost tempted to leave this review wholly positive, just lop off this section and leave the top two. But that feels dishonest. The truth is that while I greatly enjoyed NtN in the moment-to-moment of my read, the more I think about it afterwards, the more I find aspects that give me pause.

-I mentioned in my Day Four comments that NtN feels in many ways like a retread of HtN’s structure. Except in NtN, the extra voice in Nona’s head is just another part of her, and the dream sections really do take place nonlinearly with no(?) relation to Nona’s unconsciousness. “What if the previous novel, but the twists are red herrings that go nowhere?” seems like an idea that probably looked great on paper, but it didn’t make for very compelling reveals in practice. It just invited comparisons to some of HtN’s standout moments, which can sometimes work, but here it only made me remember that I liked HtN more.

-GtN and HtN are very intimate stories of Gideon and Harrow’s relationship with a space war going on in the background. Nona is a story about a space war, with Gideon and Harrow’s relationship and even character development pushed to the background. This was something I fully expected, but in execution it was more disappointing than I had braced myself for nonetheless.

In particular, the tease in the Epilogue - Gideon and Harrow are both in the same room and then Harrow gets teleported out before they can even acknowledge each others’ presence - is edging right up against the specter of tedium. I’m used to initially convoluted narratives and slow burns that eventually do pay off in the long run. But for those already frustrated by the leads’ total separation in HtN, having to wade through another 500 pages of essentially the same thing only to end on another “better luck next time! ;P” …probably wasn’t very funny. It makes the series overall just a smidgeon more difficult to recommend without caveats.

-Compounding with the above “this was certainly A Choice, but I’m not convinced it was a good one,” NtN’s ending was… not an ending. There’s cliffhangers, and then there’s a lack of closure for basically anything or anyone. We don’t even get the ramifications of Nona being Alecto! Or Nona fully understanding what is happening to her! It felt like the book just abruptly stopped when the narrative finally felt like it was progressing after so long in stasis.

Obviously, a large reason for that can be chalked up to NtN’s origins as the first act of Alecto the Ninth, but it’s not a very encouraging pattern. In hindsight, I’d really only consider GtN to have a satisfying ending, one that genuinely feels like the conclusion of a character and plot arc (even if it is a wholly tragic conclusion). After that, I was willing to take HtN’s ambiguous, symbolism-overdosed ending on faith. But NtN repeating the same issue? That makes me just a little bit worried.

-Much like some of the other series I discussed on this blog, TLT demands more trust than usual from the reader given the loaded tropes and grueling events it plays with. And when that trust is deserved and the themes and the plot and the character arcs all tie themselves off with a bow, the result can be incredible. But sometimes that trust isn’t deserved. Sometimes the author just keeps writing emotional and narrative checks that their conclusion can’t cash. And as fans, we will follow them right up to the brink… only to realize too late that the story has fallen apart, and that the catharsis or satisfaction or even resolution that we all craved is nowhere to be found.

Whether the Locked Tomb series can end on a strong note was always going to make or break it, but after Nona, the series looks to be resting on Alecto (the Ninth)’s shoulders more than ever before.

Conclusion²

TL;DR: Nona the Ninth is a very good book, and one I’m very glad to have read. It has some delightful moments from both new and old characters alike. However, in my opinion, it doesn’t come together quite as neatly or pack quite the same emotional punch as the previous books in the series.

GtN left me intrigued. HtN left me inspired. NtN leaves me… indecisive. Do I trust this author and this series, or do I not?

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth #ntn spoilers #tlt analysis #my ramblings #my tlt stuff #read more #thoughts on ntn #anyway now to catch up on two weeks' worth of fandom analysis!#or just go read a bunch of fanfics #where everyone is alive and not suffering #...okay yeah after nona I think I'm in the mood for the latter first

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escriveine · 2 years

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Panic Attacks, in 3 Acts (Act III)

Content Warning: explicit discussion of panic attacks and related anxiety disorder NB: There will be 3 acts because that’s the number of different kinds of panic attacks I’ve personally experienced. A panic attack is, at its most fundamental, a story. And what that story is — or may mean — depends almost entirely on your point of view.

Act III: Pentimento

Well, now, here i̶t̵ ̵c̷o̶m̴e̵s̵. The third act, the third kind of panic attack, the kind that I hate (and let’s be honest, fear) the most. The physically-induced kind that waits, coiled and impatient, right b̷e̸h̵i̸n̸d̶ ̵t̷h̴e̵ ̴w̸a̵l̵l̵ of my sternum to expand and overwhelm me nearly every day for the past few months. And when it does, it’s never a surprise, but it’s always a shock. I’ve actually tried to quasi-liveblog one of these events at least ̶̼̆s̶̟͊e̴͎̾ṿ̴̉è̵͇ṉ̴͊?̴̩̉ times since they started in February, but something always happened either while I was typing or before I could actually save the text. One time there was a power outage that trashed the post I was composing. Another time I fell asleep over the keyboard and by the time I woke up my laptop had run out of power, wiping out that iteration of the post, too. After that, I worked more carefully, editing a local file, though I could only manage the odd dribs and drabs of text. Then one night, after my laptop decided to update and reboot itself without so much as a by-your-leave, the file was gone. A simple series of technical glitches that sound more significant than they probably are because they’re listed all together. Nothing insurmountable, but it felt like a cycle as inescapable as the panic attacks themselves. Fact as strange as fiction, I suppose. But I’m writing around the matter; historiography instead of history. Probably because I feel it creeping up on me right now, and I want to deny its progress, the way a child covers her eyes to make the ̷m̵o̷n̸s̸t̸e̷r̵s stay away. It starts as a feeling that something is...off. Something barely at the threshold of perception, trivially dismissed like a stray thought. Or reflux, because that’s something that happens more often than I’d like, but is infintely preferable to what my subconscious is unwilling to admit is coming. And though denial and rationalization may be the normal, even reflexive human response to this kind of aberration, they’re worse than unhelpful now. I need to notice, or more precisely, to realize I’m noticing these portents, these telltales before I can do something more to halt their progress. (I’ve consulted multiple specialists, and take high doses of multiple medicines to keep these things at bay, and yet. And yet. And yet I thought the ravages of the near-constant migraines and the progress in managing other persistent conditions meant I should once again try the 3-month-duration injections that we’d put on indefinite hiatus because of their increasingly wretched side effects. And the February injection worked: the migraines receded. But the floodgates to these ̷o̶t̶h̵e̷r̵ effects didn’t just open, they damn well shattered. I knew it was a possibility, I even knew the mechanism: paradoxical spasms in my esophagus or coronary micro-vessels, or both. Acute anxiety can accompany either condition because spasms near or on the heart and trachea can interfere with breathing and bloodflow — two things sure to make the body, the brain decide death is fast approaching. Even when the trouble is almost certainly non-lethal and transitory, if not exactly quick. But just like a well-devised optical illusion, simply understanding what you’re experiencing doesn’t let you control or overcome it.) Shallowing breaths become fast enough to drag my attention back into my body. This isn’t asthma, I wish it was asthma, but it’s easy to take a deep breath, let it out again. And yet there’s a tightness in my chest, beneath flesh and bone and sinew. Breath after breath cannot ease it, cannot quell the rising ̴̧̲͐f̶̙̀͜e̸̫͋̀ả̴͚̤r̸̛̜͙ that perhaps this time is different, perhaps this is the time when it’s not a passing spasm, but the time I—no, no! I know what this is, I recognize it, as hazy as the memory seems, as elusive as the thought — the very capacity for thought —feels in this moment. I’ve practiced this, practiced for this, over and over, day after day, conditioning myself to a particular action after a specific trigger. The whole world is contracting around me, awareness spiralling to a singular awareness of terrifying mortality, sensations distilling into a singular awareness that ̸͙̮͓̹̯̗̮̙̜̼̲̅̇ḿ̵̡̖̘͚̇̿͒͂̆̂͒͂͑́͋͘͠ȳ̷̜̩̯̠̞̼̼̆͗̈̔͑̆̋̇͘̚̕͝ ̶̧̧̛̪͈͔̹̞͚̥̰͔̣́͆̆͋̋̍̑̐͑͛̎̍̾̀̇͘ͅH̴̪͍̖̭̎̇̉̃̀͛̌̊́̋Ḛ̸̪̦̥͕̪̆͊̍Ă̷̳̪͙̟̓͌͛͊͗̐̊̂̍̀͊̀̄̈͝Ŗ̵̢̧͎̗̜̰͖̞͇̬̰̬͍̼̤̜̾͑͘͜Ţ̵̨̢̗̝̟̻͎̫̳̫͈̻̩̙̬̳͖̋̿̋́̂ ̵̛̘̠̫͖͕͔̥̩̗̳̩͚̣͈͚̘̈́̇̍̐́̀̋̏̀͛̕͜͜h̸͔̥̗̜̺̼͑̏͋̐̐̌͆́̂̿̿̿̑͑̓̆͝ǘ̶͈͍̉̽͛̓̉̇̉̕̚͝ŕ̴̯͔̞̖͚̖̙̺̦̪̹̘̲͖́͑͛̃̐̅͂̎̾̀̕͜͝t̶̢̝͍̫͔̥͔̲̗͔̀̂͐͑̂̐̌͑̄̒š̵̗̲̱͑̎͐̐̓̈́́̈́̂̏̃͗͛̕̕͝͝... I reach for the medication that I have near me at all times and manage seemingly by muscle memory alone to take one pill. I drink down as much water as I can, clinging to the sweet coolness as it travels through my tortured chest, trying to focus on how pleasant the water is and not on the insinuation from nowhere by my own brain that it might be the last drink I ever get to take. I call the thought a lie, tell my brain it’s not in mortal peril, to stand down, to stop warning me about something I’m already fully, painfully aware of. But no matter what I try to focus on, distract myself with, I’m overwhelmed, overcome, fucking overwritten with the utterly pervasive and sure knowledge that my death is as imminent as it is immanent. All I can think of, no matter how I try, are my all-too-numerous unfinished stories, the dozens of other projects underway yet incomplete, the garden poised between blooming and unrealized fruition, the lost opportunities of roads untravelled and soon unreachable. Words spoken freely, but perhaps not intently or often enough; time irretrievably lost to vagaries of chronic, disabling illnesses. Above all else, the outright theft of years in the company of my kith and kin, of my beloved, my darling, light and lodestone of my soul. I know with a certainty you could crack rocks on that he knows I love him with every fiber of my being, every shred of my spirit and even my sanity. Yet as the waiting stretches out and out and out — I would say interminably, but no, it still all feels horribly, inescapably terminal — I keep wondering if that was enough. If I was enough. I desperately want to do more, be more, but it feels like there’s no time, even as the seconds sweep relentlessly past. My thoughts are an absolute frenzy of the need to do something, especially in what feel like the last moments I’ll have to do anything, but it’s like I’m being suspended in amber, a mere fleck caught in a preserved instant that already had its time and only continues to exist by chance and the tender mercies of those who carried on. I take a long breath, and another, then a third. The medicine will work soon, I recall dimly, so dimly, reaching for that merest glede of memory and hope in the lowering dark of my thoughts. My pulse will stop hammering out memento mori, memento mori, memento mori... And if it does not, if my vision darkens further, if my fingers turn blue, or my lips go numb, there is another medicine I also keep near me at all times. But the moment for that is not yet here, and allowing the ̵̢̨̺̭̇̌͌̈́̆̐̕f̸͉̲͚̥̞̎̔́̽e̸͍̦̯̻͓̩̼̦̩̋͋̎̌͊̐ȁ̶̫̭̯͈̗̰͍̙͊̍̑̒̃̉͊ͅŕ̶͕̻͈̗̓̈̾̿̈́̕̕ to fully overwrite my volition will only hasten either my need or my ̶͇̃d̸͉̗͖͝o̸̱͛ͅo̸͎̞̪͊̅̒m̶̝̝̔̆. Scant minutes have passed by my watch’s telling, once I remember how to look, yet I need to collect tens of them and s̸͇͕̫̋̈́̂̿͐t̵͉͎̯̳̼̆̽̇i̵̗̦̼̮̕ḷ̷͇̎̅̽̆͗l̸̞̖͉͎̃ ̵̳̤́̏m̷͔̝̃̉̈̈̕ͅỵ̴͉͍̣͂̔̎̌̐ ̸̠̋̆̕h̴͔̹͋e̴̫͆́ā̶̻̱͒̂r̸̜͚̤̃̔̈́ẗ̷͉́͌̎̀͒ ̴̫̭͙̫̕ḩ̵͖͂̍̈̏ụ̸̪̬̤̥̒̂͝r̷̳̰͙͎̈́͂̀͠t̷̨̖̋ŝ̶̯̜̯̬.̶̘̄̓́͛̕ I scrabble for more distractions, ways to not think about my breathing or the dolorous thudding in my chest or death, death, ḓ̶̗̯͐̇̓͝ͅe̶͚͑ͅa̴̬̤͍͌́̈̾t̷̬̞̏̚h̷̝̬͍̏̀̀͝.̵̡͓̩͖̓͌̕͝.̴̧̼͍̿͗͝.̴͓̐ But there are only so many times you can kiss your cats and and whisper goodbye just in case, or tell your beloved that you’re scared of something so repetitive it’s become routine, even expected. It’s not that he wouldn’t care, or wouldn’t offer comfort; it’s that... it’s that... I want to keep this... contagion away from him. Panic is, after all, contagious, and even if he were here right now, even if I were about to die, here in the home we made together for so long, why would I want his final memories of my life to be my gasping, weeping terror? But I’m not going to die, the panic is a malicious tale told by a liar, and I know the more I focus on it, the more reality it gains. I reach for something to make, to finish, one more (one last, whispers the liar) act of creation, to empty myself into and leave behind (a legacy, sneers the liar, such a thin thread to your memory can’t endure). I open one of my WIPs, holding back the tears of urgency to finish just one more thing. And the thing I want to eke out just a little more of, even if I can’t finish, is McShep fanfic (ridiculous, mocks the liar). Because, as I’ve told my two dearest people, those stories are all written for her, and are, in their emotional core, about my beloved. I stare at the screen, but the words have no meaning, and I can’t connect to the words I want to write. I love you, I love you, I think to them, willing the feeling into the words already there, since I can’t add more. (NB: Put it this way: remember the scariest moment of your entire life. Maybe it was the split-second before a car wreck, or the edge of hysteria when your secret phobia was triggered, or the time you couldn’t keep your head above water in the deep end of the pool. Take that moment, stretch it out so that it persists without diminishing, and THEN try to do something creative. Draw a portrait, paint a landscape, compose a poem, write a story. I can tell you now that the adrenaline of fight, flight, or freeze doesn’t lend itself well to any of that.) Eventually, with the same near-imperceptibility as the initial build-up, the panic drains away. At some point, I’ll have stopped involuntarily touching my sternum, and my body will register fatigue and hunger. I’ll make a note of how many pills, and what kind, I needed to get through the episode. Not that it matters, but it’s a small act of normalcy in the aftermath of terror. I say aftermath, but it’s not really over — the sense of immediate doom may have faded, but the keen awareness of just how tenuous my continued existence really is remains vivid. Humans aren’t meant to be so constantly aware of death, even if it really on the n̴͚̍e̵͓͝ȃ̸̻r̵͔͒ ̵͖̓h̶̫̏ȏ̵̰r̸̙͆i̴͓̅z̵̰͘o̵͕͗n̷̳̽. So this Act doesn’t really have an ending, in part because there is no need to say goodbye, and in part because I know that all too soon the next beginning ̸̫̐c̴̜̈́ǒ̴͚m̵̺͑e̶͕͑s̵͍͘.̴̙̕

Read Act I: The Invisible Woman and Act II: The Lasso Way

#cw: panic attack #anxiety #panic attacks #Act III: Pentimento #escriveine writes

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sleepymarmot · 10 months

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Phantom Thread (2017)

[Finally forcing myself to post the reviews of films I watched earlier this year. Saw this one on January 29th — almost exactly seven months ago! As usual, I also post the notes I took while watching, so scroll down a bit if you only want the review.]

Liveblog

The dress is pretty but it doesn’t sit well on her at all.

Damn that was quite a rude way to hit on a perfect stranger

Girl has no sense of self-preservation! What do you mean you get into the car of a customer you talked to for two minutes, after dark?!

Wow he put his fingers in the sauce, is that normal for rich British men or is that another creepy flirting method? That’s unhygienic, please use your own food for innuendo

Oh my god Cyril is immediately acting creepy also

“My job to give you some. (beat) If I choose to.” Dude lmao…

“You have the ideal shape. He likes a little belly.” Ok first of all, insane thing to say once again. Secondly, w h e r e

I like this dress even less. Weird skirt, looks uncomfortable.

Why did he bring his sister to their date

“How early?” “I’ll wake you.” …

The fabric conversation… Is this negging again or is he for real

I really thought Cyril would say “Maybe you’re being too fussy.” I guess Alma has not yet leveled up enough to get quoted verbatim

“But, please, don’t let her sit around waiting for you.” Ha, now Cyril is repeating Alma’s words without even knowing Does Cyril not drink from the kettle? That was kind of risky…

The wedding dress is ugly Oh, he said it himself, okay

Damn, all of these women have to work overtime because of this couple’s power plays

He went from “I want a divorce” to “We’re doing food poisoning based BDSM” awfully quickly

Wait where’s that text post about being poisoned by your wife... Was it inspired by this movie lol

Ok so we all agree Reynolds is autistic, with his routines and picky eating and misophonia

---

Review

How come Tumblr has never mentioned this one to me? Feels silly to say “where have you all been hiding this” about a Best Picture nominee from five years ago, but still. This is literally a romance between “ok first of all i didnt "miss" the red flags i looked them and thought yeah thats sexy” and “love my terrible wife […] when we eat dinner ill smile and say “poison again ?” and she will shrug mischievously but we both know it is very much poison”!

General notes

Set design, cinematography and lighting were beautiful. In our age of murky shots, it’s remarkable to see a film that’s never underlit — sometimes even the opposite. Wasn’t a fan of the grain, though; the flickering is hard on the eyes, and in the copy I watched it looked like a low quality rip instead of a warm nostalgic analogue look that I assume was intended. The sound side was as good as the visuals: this might be the first time I actually noticed the sound design, and the score was nothing less than what I expected of Jonny Greenwood.

I have mixed feelings about the costuming. Some of the dresses are beautiful… but the two most important ones, the very first dress we see and the very first dress made for Alma, didn’t fit the wearers’ silhouettes, and looked stiff and uncomfortable.

Some of the dialogue, mostly at the beginning, felt unnatural; not sure if that’s just me not being a native speaker, since nobody else had the same complaint.

I didn’t get “never cursed”. Was that a statement Reynolds secretly made about himself, or a lucky charm referring to the princess’ marriage? Why did Alma rip the label out? Why did she join the seamstresses in the first place — did she feel guilty that they got caught in the crossfire and had to work overtime because of her, or did she just want to inspect the dress? I also don’t understand why people seem to adore the New Year’s Eve scene.

Do you think Alma told the doctor the whole story, or just talked about their relationship but left out the poisonings? I think it would be unwise to tell that to anyone lest they call the police…

In the sections below, I am going to talk negatively about Reynolds a lot. So I want to clarify first: I do sympathize with Reynolds in many ways; I wouldn’t want a new person to get in the way of my habits, and I would be unhappy with the surprise dinner too. And that’s also exactly why I don’t invite strangers to live with me and interrupt my routines then get mad at them for that, you know…

Filing this one as “Movies I wouldn’t want to watch or discuss with my mother even though there’s zero sex and nudity on screen”. I don’t know which part would be more awkward, the Freudian subtext or everything else…

The omelette

I’ve recently acquired a bad habit of reading too much about movies before watching. In this case it was probably a good thing, though: without the spoilers, I doubt I would have seen this any time soon, or managed to sit through the first hour. Luckily, I didn’t know the key element of the omelette scene, and still managed to have a proper first time viewing experience as it slowly dawned on me that Reynolds was aware of everything and the poisoning was going to be consensual this time.

That scene, and the follow-up interactions between Alma and Reynolds in the cottage (excluding the daydreaming flash-forwards, which I have mixed feelings about), were, unsurprisingly, my favorite part of the film. Many reviews quote Alma’s monologue (which, as I realize now, I might have originally encountered in a joke screenshot with zero context) or the line Reynolds says in response, so I’ll highlight some other things. The contrast between how simple and ordinary their actions are on the surface (cooking, serving food, eating, talking at the table) and how wild the meaning of these actions is; the mix between a duel, a dance and a negotiation that mostly consists of extremely mundane movements. The intense eye contact, the “I know that you know that I know”. How Alma put too much butter in his food and poured water too loudly for too long, and he accepted it without complaint but with the same calm and clarity as the poison. How they look genuinely happy, in love, and on the same page for the first time in the entire film. How easily he says “I love you”.

The omelette discourse

…And now that I’ve documented my immediate positive emotional response, it’s time for some overthinking and complaining. Perhaps everything I say below can be dismissed by saying “they’re both awful and deserve each other, that’s the point haha”, but that’s not a mode my brain can stay in for long. So please bear with me, or just skip this section.

Because no matter how exciting and cathartic that ending is, I can’t help but ask: what next? Is this experience going to let Reynolds finally grow out of his cycle of childlike helplessness and patriarchal despotism, instead of solidifying it? What are we supposed to infer — that the poisonings are going to be a regular occurrence from now on, or that they will become unneeded as Reynolds gradually mellows out? (The former would, realistically, have diminishing returns and practical complications like “people are going to start asking questions”, and the latter kind of goes against the celebratory kink-positive tone of the film’s grand finale.) Are we to believe that Alma’s poison is an antidote to Reynolds’s toxic masculinity, and that the more he submits to Alma the more he can tolerate her when things go back to normal, until the two of them grow to exist harmoniously?

I guess there is some evidence of that process already beginning. When Reynolds bounces back after the first poisoning, he’s slightly less mean to Alma than before the marriage. Alma’s poisoning is also less destructive the second time: consent, no collateral damage, not on the eve of an important deadline, she agrees to call the doctor.

I think the film wants the viewer to think that by the end, Reynolds and Alma’s mutual toxicity cancels itself out, and they manage to reach a harmonious equilibrium. That might be true of the first poisoning, where Alma retaliates against Reynolds’s abuse with some of her own. At the mid-point of the film, their vileness is pretty evenly matched. After that first poisoning, there’s a brief honeymoon period. Then Reynolds goes back to berating Alma, disregarding her feelings, and being dissatisfied with her presence in his life… And in response to Reynolds making her feel unloved, Alma does something that makes Reynolds feel loved. In the end, the score is still in Reynolds’s favor instead of being even. Even in Alma’s daydreams of their happily ever after, the closing monologue of the film, there is no mention of Reynolds changing to accommodate her, only of Alma changing to accommodate him: “I am older and I see things differently, and I finally understand you.”

Perhaps here the story structure and the balance of power between the characters are in conflict; it makes sense to end the film on the strong scene that changes the relationship in a major way — but that means the viewer doesn’t get to know if that change leads to improvement. We never learn if Reynolds eventually becomes a better partner; we only know that Alma is committed to him either way.

No matter how satisfying the couple’s new arrangement is to watch, I don’t see how it would help with the actual problems in their relationship. They are at different stages of life, and that exacerbates the natural differences between their temperaments. Reynolds doesn’t respect Alma as an equal; he insults her and allows others to insult her to his face. He has immense power and privilege over her socially and materially. He has a career that he loves and a devoted sister, but she has no life outside of him — no friends, family, interests, hobbies, income, etc. — and it’s hard to tell if it’s sexist writing, intended characterization, or both.

How is any of that going to be helped by them growing closer emotionally? You two found a love language you have in common and unlocked a new level of intimacy and mutual understanding, congratulations! Is it going to broaden Alma’s horizons and opportunities? Is it going to give Reynolds more progressive views and social awareness, enough to at least defend the honor of his lower class wife? Is he going to stop being emotionally abusive because he is emotionally fulfilled?

This would imply that Reynolds behaves the way he does simply because he is too high-strung and he just needs to take a chill pill. That the problems in their relationship can be reduced to him being a control freak, and once he gets accustomed to giving up control and learns to enjoy it, and then he’ll be a good partner. Sorry, but it’s hard for me to believe that one can tame, let alone fix someone by domming them.

The film seems to attempt a subversion of the patriarchal, hierarchical “artist/muse” “upper class/working class” “man/woman” power dynamics. But the characters do not dismantle that existing power imbalance: instead, they build something new and mutually satisfying on top of it. The film intentionally avoids the feminist wish fulfillment route: Alma doesn’t liberate herself, and she doesn’t even want to. It’s a fairy tale where the Beast doesn’t really become a better person, so the Beauty becomes a worse one to “match” him… but she’s still locked inside his castle. Alma doesn’t abandon the role of a muse, only adds another traditionally feminine role to it: mother. As Feminist Frequency’s review puts it, “Traditional, restrictive gender roles are not escaped; one set is just briefly swapped out for another.” Related: it might be just a consequence of Reynolds’s chosen trade, but the people Alma walks over in her bids for his attention are always women (Barbara Rose, the seamstresses).

Speaking of motherhood… What happens when the woman who likes to treat her husband like a baby gets a real baby? How does she split her time between them? Does she end up neglecting one of them, does that make Reynolds jealous or more abusive? Or will he by that time have gone through enough personal growth to be actually fit for fatherhood? An interview with an expert on Alma’s specific brand of abuse asks an even more worrying question: “I also wondered about the baby at the end, because those who engage in the behavior are likely to do it [again] when similar situations arise. So as the baby gains skills of emancipation, would Alma be equally threatened by that? I saw the baby and thought: Oh no, it may be at risk.”

Perhaps I am being overly cynical and uncharitable here because of who made the film. When an artist with a history of being cruel to his girlfriend writes a story about an artist being cruel to his girlfriend, and makes the fictional girlfriend abusive too, how can I not question it? This film was already very awkward to approach and enjoy as a fan of Fiona Apple, even regardless of its content.

The relationship development

Another thing that didn’t work very well for me in the final sequence is something that also applies to the other parts of the film: the internal logic of the couple’s relationship development. Reynolds goes from “This was a mistake, I can’t live like this, I want a divorce” to “Intoxicate me now 😏 With your lovin’ now 😍 I think I’m ready now 😳” in the space of one cut. These scenes are directly adjacent with no development between them. It makes sense from Alma’s perspective (“what an asshole he’s being, he needs to be poisoned ASAP”), but not from Reynolds’s.

On Alma’s side, though, there’s also a bit of weirdness: Alma to Reynolds: Don’t worry babe you’re not gonna die, I’ll take care of you <3 Alma to the doctor: If he died that’d be fine by me, we’d just meet in the afterlife ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I really can’t tell how I am supposed to take this, and which of the men she was lying to!

But let’s go back to the beginning of the film. Throughout the initial phase of the relationship, I was sure that Reynolds chose playful bullying as his flirting tactic consciously, but later in the film he showed so little self-awareness that I started to suspect he thought that was a normal way to show interest in a girl you just met. Either way, I was surprised that the way he condescended to her changed considerably when the seduction was over, though in retrospect it makes sense. On Alma’s side, there was a similar shift: she was far more welcoming of his insulting methods of flirting than I would expect from a self-respecting adult with a strong personality, and started rebelling when they settled into domesticity. Perhaps the domineering attitude of a handsome stranger showering her with attention was exciting at first, but when their relationship became routine, she quickly grew sick of being treated like a second class citizen in what has become her own home. (I wasn’t joking with the quote at the top of the review: it was my genuine and immediate impression that Alma goes along with the 342561 red flags exhibited during the very first day not because she’s a doormat but because she’s a freak.)

The love at first sight didn’t work for me, as well as the couple’s determination to stay together despite their incompatibility. I’m just not convinced that they actually love each other as entire human beings. They do love certain sides of each other. Reynolds loves the muse with the perfect measurements; the assistant totally devoted to him; the new woman (future) finally displacing his older sister (present) and mother (past) while, unlike them, also being his sexual partner. Alma loves the genius who makes her feel beautiful and important. They both love the persona the other assumes in a caretaking scenario. But is there a deeper connection? Do they actually love each other unconditionally, not just the aspects of each other that fulfill their needs? I’ve seen quotes in confirmation of that from PTA and Vicky Krieps — but the text itself provides no satisfactory evidence of that.

Obligatory comparisons with other films

I like to chain movies together because of themes or character dynamics they share. A couple of reviews for Crimes of the Future mentioned this film, and I decided to watch it next assuming that the similarities start and end with the relationship between an aging artist and a strong-willed younger woman. Turns out, these two films also make an interesting double feature because in some ways they’re an inverse of each other. Crimes of the Future and its main couple wear abnormality on their sleeve, but the central relationship is healthy and stable; Phantom Tread appears classy and family-friendly, hiding the more shocking aspects of the relationship beneath the luxurious surface. Both films are very sensual without the conventional sex scenes, but the approach is diametrically opposite: Crimes of the Future circumvents the content rating system, managing to put explicit scenes on screen just because they don’t contain specific banned body parts; Phantom Thread purposefully and conspicuously avoids showing any sex or nudity to preserve the aesthetic and make other scenes feel more charged. The protagonist’s old age is important in both: for Saul, it’s deteriorating health and conservatism towards newer ideologies and ways of interacting with and modifying one’s body; for Reynolds, it is the decades of habit and privilege making him internalize the belief that his own authority, taste, routines are something absolute and unquestionable.

A bigger surprise was the two films also shared the theme of food and eating. Crimes of the Future: eating as a fundamental bodily function, food as means of sustenance, and the politics of food; Phantom Thread: eating as pleasure, food as means of human connection, and the power dynamics of feeding and being fed. Both films go deeper than the surface: food is not just something that is served and tasted, but chewed, swallowed, and digested, which is not necessarily a smooth and uncomplicated process. Phantom Thread’s exploration of the food theme is probably the best one I’ve seen so far not just in film but in any media, and the only one I can think of where “food as love and sex” made sense for me.

Choosing The Favourite as the next film to watch after this one was a good choice too: they also had some things in common. There’s a young woman winning an older and more powerful person’s affection by taking care of them while they’re sick, there are toxic relationship, there’s even literal poison... The older parties are similarly spoiled and eccentric but very different in certain important ways, and the protagonists are even more alike.

People have mentioned this film’s similarities to Rebecca, which I haven’t read or watched; my own first thought was about Misery, which I also haven’t read or watched. Out of the films I’ve seen before, there’s Crimson Peak — someone made an entire Venn diagram for their similarities. I’ve also seen comparisons with a number of other films, mostly ones I haven’t seen. Is Phantom Thread more intertextual than the usual or is that just me?

#phantom thread #liveblogs and reviews #blah blah blah #maybe i should stop trying to write coherent reviews...#i wrote most of this right away but the task of making it readable has been weighing me down for months and drained so much energy from me

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lediz-watches · 1 year

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Reflections

So it turns out John's anger issues and his father are less justifiably connected than expected, and I am basically about ready to give up on you, boy.

I’m liveblogging The Winchesters as a Supernatural!virgin. Please keep my lack of knowledge in mind if you continue...

Ooh. Opening with Dean today. No monster of the week today, I’m guessing?

You know, something I appreciate but which isn’t done often is daylight horror. This doesn’t feel like a horror yet, but I just felt it was worth mentioning.

I thought Ada was working on the box? Why – oh, she’s back. Having had an adventure with Tony that might have been very interesting. Or very nerdy. One of the two.

…I like this demon more than I’m probably supposed to.

Roxy is less interesting, despite her incredible hair.

Ah, yes, Millie returns! I like Millie, she’s sensible.

‘Trying to save mankind’ is not an explanation, John boy. She wants a bit more context, please. She’s obviously gonna take it, but yeah. More context would be preferred.

Okay, Roxy with her minions wasn’t that interesting, but I like Roxy with her enemies. I like the arrogant respect.

Yessss Millie and Ada chatting. This is the fanfic I wanted!

I have to say, Ada doesn’t feel dodgy this episode. I wonder if that was a choice or just a coincidence.

Oh yay. More daddy issues from John. I knew it was coming but like… dude, I’m sorry, I just don’t care about it. You. It. I don’t know yet.

Hahahaha the spell being proven ineffective by wind! Ahahaha that makes me so happy! I mean, sure, the spell didn’t work because of John’s anger issues, but still. ‘it’s just a draft’ hahahaha

Oh. The spell wasn’t thwarted? How’d… I mean, that was dramatic and all, but uh… what? Explain the magic here please?

Oh, thank you Mary. Honesty! A man being honest with his feelings has caused success. A surprisingly healthy message from this character. I am impressed.

Also… Henry seems… not a jerk? Probably just a guy raised in the 50s with an all-consuming job. Which makes John’s anger… even more of a choice than Lata’s pacificism. An interesting artistic choice.

Heeeey Mary being an awesome pragmatic monster hunter! I missed that! Always happy to see her being good at her job, even if she hates it.

…Have I mentioned I like Millie?

…Okay, John and Mary’s almost kiss wasn’t a horrible scene, but it felt… oddly out of place, I gotta say. Like… timing, Mary? Really, you’re letting him do that now?

Also, not gonna lie, I legit thought that was Dean pulling a Big Damn Time Travelling Hero for a second. I know he’s gonna show up eventually, so, you know… figured.

But oh. So Roxy wasn’t an important character, it was just weird framing back in the day. What an odd artistic choice. And it also reframes many things that I think are playing to an audience that isn’t me and are instead maybe just more odd artistic choices.

Being a very plot-heavy episode, I wasn’t as invested. I think I’ve made it clear that I’m in this for the character pieces and the monsters of the week, but the overarching akrida plot hasn’t actually impressed me overmuch. So, you know, it was just… an episode. It was fine, but I was distracted because when I’m not invested in the character pieces, I start looking at the construction, and the Discourse, and John and his anger issues, which are not because of anything but a distant-but-caring father figure, are such… odd choices in this found family of people who are all defining themselves by the choices they make. It’s almost enough that there’s got to be some… there has to be a Reason for John’s behaviour. I just – I don’t see it yet, and it’s so frustrating.

This show frustrates me and yet I want to keep watching…! ARGH. Next chapter, then. (or back to chapter one if you care.)

#the winchesters #John has issues (TM)#I should be more invested in this akrida plotline #`but honestly I didn't have a lot to say on this one #it was just...#an episode occurred #shrugs all around

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vespertin-y · 1 year

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SORRY I DIDN’T LIVEBLOG FOR MULTIPLE WEEKS DO YOU STILL THINK I’M HOT. i was dreading ch3 okay...here’s the first part of the investigation!

-the first appearance of maki’s nickname! forever mad about the translation of harumaki to maki-roll. maki *already* means roll!! you can’t just call her roll-roll!!!! NISA PLEASE

-”oh? well if it isn’t kaito. are you feeling better already?” “y-yeah, somehow...sorry though, we don’t have much time to talk right now.” “well, don’t push yourself. things feel amiss without your boisterous voice.” “yeah, sure. my bad for making you worry, kiyo.” THAT’S WEIRDLY CUTE WHAT

-the tonal whiplash between shuichi flipping the fuck out when himiko says angie won’t answer the door and shouting at kokichi to pick the lock as fast as he can, and the player pausing to talk to everyone before opening it 😭 i suppose it doesn’t matter because she’s already dead, but still.....

-”ahh! she puked again! and it’s green this time! monophanie’s green puke is said to be an omen of bad luck and disaster! what on earth is about to happen!?” the worst trial in the game, that’s what 😔 i just gotta push through to ch4,,,just five more hours,,,,,

-”DON’T-WORRY...OVERCOMING-THIS-WILL-BRING-EVERYONE-CLOSER-TOGETHER. THAT-HAS-BEEN-THE-CASE-SO-FAR, YES? THEIR-BOND-GETS-STRONGER-WITH-EACH-CLASS-TRIAL, DOES-IT-NOT? MURDERS-ARE-NECESSARY-TO-BRING-EVERYONE-CLOSER-TOGETHER.” what kind of komaeda-ass bullshit-

-starting to actually fucking hate Spirit, Praise, and Beauty. v3′s soundtrack is usually banger but i never liked this one and they play it. so. fucking. often. in this chapter.

-maki says kokichi is the only one who could’ve opened the door from the outside, but shouldn’t lockpicking be a skill an assassin has...? a magician too, now that i think of it. they don’t even ask if anyone else can lockpick.

-”a murder at nighttime...is strange. [im]possible, even.” “why do you think that?” “cuz student council made rule that we no can be outside during nighttime. everyone shoulda been asleep. no way murder coulda happened at nighttime.” “do you really think everyone would go along with that rule?” “but it [kami-sama]’s rule. angie say he punish us if we not follow his rules...” “but the student council wasn’t included in that, correct? they could do what they wanted. angie was also working here at night.” “huh!? she was!? n-no way. student council would never break own rules! they shoulda been asleep in own rooms! to set good example to others!” angie *openly* says only the student council is allowed outside at night, because they don’t have to worry about them wanting to escape - how long has she been stringing him along like this, and did the other members just go along with it!?

-shuichi’s inner monologue can get so bland during investigation and trial - they want the player to solve things on their own, but shuichi is working much faster than us, so he ends up just thinking “ah, i see....i understand.....just as i suspected........” constantly. i won’t complain too much though, since this is pretty much unavoidable with detective main characters lol.

-damn, shuichi shouts at miu this time instead of just glaring at her. i mean, i can’t say i *wouldn’t* snap if someone i already didn’t like tried to check if a wax doll of my dead gf had panties.....

-maki telling shuichi to turn away when she stabs the kaede effigy is actually quite sweet. i like her clumsy attempts at protecting people from the kind of life she’s lived.

-”i’m surprised you spotted this, maki. it was hidden under her body...” “...it was partially visible. as a detective, you should have noticed it before i did.” “ah, well, that’s true...” “well, even so...i guess you’re still getting used to being around dead bodies...so don’t beat yourself up over it.” “...well then, it’s a good thing you’re used to corpses, maki.” “...huh? do you want to die?” “s-sorry, joking. i couldn’t resist.” “...you don’t need to apologize. i was joking, too.” this is nice and all but godDAMN do neither of you know how to tell jokes. pls stop forever.

-part 2 will be posted in a minute!

#dr #mem liveblogs

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bunnygirlheart · 2 years

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chrono trigger ...liveblog? i guess kinda? it was when i was doin the first part in alice’s message box at least cx

Major spoilers under here, play the game before you read this (and . please Do play it if you can, this game is great i do recommend it)

So I just kicked dalton’s ass, and he ran away, and then i saved at the thingy and it says ‘lavos beckons’ and i am Concerned.

ah, hm. mm. queenie’s makin a mistake, methinks.

This place is weird. Neat statues though?

Also Ayla can just pick dudes up and chuck em into the air to deal massive damage when they land?? hot girl shit

hm. this looks fine. nothing going wrong here folks

lmao the scouters keep trying to make my team sleep and it keeps missing but finally they targeted robo and somehow it worked. sleeby robot

dalton stop being extra and just look me in the face when you talk to me pls,, Ah. Well, you did turn around at least, but only to be More dramatic. Also, hiding behind your toys, cmon man,

lmao cheese strats. I equipped the mail and vest for lightning and im only using lightning moves. Copycat is very exploitable,, Poor frog though, got toasted :((

...well. Hello to you too, Lavos. And guest. Ah, magus, of course of course.

oh nooo it didnt work :((

h. holy shit. Crono just got dusted. alright.

oh man, the whole place is falling outta the sky..

...I gotta load a save so I can see everyone’s response to all this. Especially Lucca,, Holy wow.

ah,,

‘’please don’t hate mother, or our kingdom’‘ wow big ask much? Mm.. I can excuse invoking calamity but I draw the line at mistreating your children

oh ouch. luccaaaaa 💔

what an ass haha. oh hell yes lucca just deflected his fireball that was sick!!! ... ah. well it was still sick.

Ooh~ the blackbird. Fools didn’t secure the vents hehehe

This was a neat area. Uh. Golem Boss was kinda sad. Poor dude couldnt even focus up here on the wing. I sorta feel bad

Hm,, Aero-dalton.. this guy is Terrible at naming things huh?

Oh damn they literally just jumped onto. alright. cool cool cool. no fear of heights in this party. Welp, Dalton was once again not a challenge. Rip birdie lmao good job everyone, nice buttons

oh!! this is the . heck nah i wont fight you lets goooo

oh i like that its frog that gets to make this call though lucca was at the front of my party but it put him in front for this scene, ‘cause he has personal reasons to fight magus?

aaaa precious, reunited,,

...

yknow, this thing looming over everything in every time period is mighty unsettling

lmao i see i see thats why this part’s called The Time Egg. time egg time egg time egg

oooh death peak!! was wondering when that would come up again. Makes sense it’d be now,,,,

heck. Magus wrecks everything huh? I mean, appropriate. The dude certainly kicked My ass back when I fought him haha

... gdi. robo got confused or w/e and attacked the wrong thing randomly, which triggered lavos spawn needle and wiped everyone out. thats kinda unfair. Ah well. A minor setback I guess.

egg time

okay that was a sick rescue actually. cant believe that creepy clone doll from the fair actually came in handy lmao

this is a nice shot ^

...sorry im just laughing at magus standing there all awkwardly at this heartwarming reunion

Anywayyyy now that that’s done I went to check out the . desert cave?? and wow is it irritating. Not that the enemies are that tough -- magus’ ice destroys em well enough, but uh. the ground, really hate that.

Took a few tries ouch, but I managed to down retinite. Cool boss. first couple attempts i didnt realize taking out the core first was a Mistake oopsie

yessss robo tending to the forest!! thats so sweet. This is great!

lovely celebratory camp. Cozy. fascinating discussion. ah, hm. a time lucca would go back to, huh? ...

wow she changed huh? ... what’s with the sound effects,, loud gate.

holy Shit that was stressful i totally didnt reload a few times to manage it

worth the trouble 💜 good job lucca youre amazing! aww robo’s gift for her, that’s so sweet as well

im ... almost done i think?? like, isnt this just a ‘‘wrap up sidequests prepare and go fight the big bad’‘ moment? Seems like. guess i know what im doin tomorrow. referring back to that list of sidequests time grandpa gave me and then ... big fire. I really should get some rest now, though. So the rest of that will wait.

#bee plays chrono trigger #only gonna be one or two more posts but i wanna be able to find these maybe #wowie i really did stay up too late #whoops >.< oh well i was having fun

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sparring-spirals · 2 years

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its an unreasonable hour in the morning and im full of adrenaline TLOVM s1 ep 12 liveblog LEGGO

(this got really long but im tired so im not editing it sorry)

This is all very Tense and Bad but Percy going “keyleth is GONE” and vex/vax going “??? SHES STILL BREATHING” is very “sometimes i can still hear his voice” “QUIT TELLING PEOPLE IM DEAD” vibes.

Grog... grog maybe don’t- oh well.

Ah- no quips between Vax and Grog about strength, not when it counts.

I know she lives, but can’t imagine all the first time viewers being like “damn you all really are gonna try to kill off your disney princess??”

Vax’s lil “Cmon work... work...” paralleling Keyleths... :)

Man, revenge speeches really tip from “cinematic” to “moderately unhinged” once someone else is listening huh.

I really like that the moment Percy actually hurt one of them, EVERYONE immediately went “what the hell”

Keyleth is at 1 hit point groggy as hell and still doing the sleuthing. Heavy duty work there, lass. Take a break.

“Vex’ahlia, what are you doing??” well, obviously, Vax, she saw Keyleth step in front of danger to keep someone else safe and was like “yeah, this seems fun and good.”

that was a joke but goddam, Vex has really been thru it today huh.

Ah. “Take off the mask”, but literally and metaphorically, wonderfully delivered, cinematic, beautiful, etc.

fuck, percy :(

OH- the little detail when he points the gun under his own chin- maybe you think that Orthax asks him to do it, but then he says, desperately, i don’t know what else to do”, and you see the smoke tendril fight NOT to do it, and the realization sinks in properly... shit.

“FUCK that, he’s got Vex!” ah. <3

Unironically, mindscape battles rad. Very anime, too. You can do it Percy! you can!

“He has to reload eventually... right?” fucking fighters and their multi-attacks, amirite.

Joking aside, this entire sequence is beautifully done- shifting from one reality to the next, little ambience changes, dizzying perspectives. woww.

The Orthax design is lovely, but I recently started Death’s Door, which means I look at a vague crow shape and go “friend?”. This is not friend.

(Vex’s voice breaking through... <3)

I’m gonna have a lot of fun reading metas about Percy and the narrative of vengeance and revenge and the inherent destruction and cyclic nature etc etc etc :D

Also- Vex demanding Cass “do SOMETHING, you’re his sister”, is good, but also funny bc like. Do Vex and Vax KNOW that not every sibling relationship is quite as er... codependent. All consuming. As theirs. Like are they... aware.

oh ow, good thing its your nondominant hand percy

wait did that. did that kill orthax? did that fix the posession? that seems... hmm. well. okay i suppose. i think orthax is still in the gun but huh that really yeeted it out of percy didn’t it.

Percy I’m glad you’re not consumed by your revenge quest but also i do think we should kill Delilah. just a little bit. :)

oh. okay yeah. “I’m glad you forgave her brother. But I could not.” yeah you know what fair.

oh thank GOD scanlan chucked it into acid- OH YEP there’s the demon, goodie.

Keyleth looking to Vex for pointers, and Vex pulling on her best “Oh darling, it was nothing ;)” as a lesson to Keyleth... :D

Ssjdkfhlakjd Vax dragging away Scanlan. listen they’re both right. they did just survive an apocalypse, but like.. HEY if they want to fuck scanlan.... hell yeah. (Love how that one rebel was nodding politely to Scanlan’s flirting).

“We live as long as Whitestone lives. Help me ensure it lives forever.” Nice sentiment but also Percy did we not just deal with two people Doing Shit to try to ensure eternal life. Is that a good way to phrase it. Percy.

Hmm. I really, really like that Keyleth got the chance to say “no, not right now”. And that Vax was- while not happy, not indignant or anything. It’s a really nice change of pace from most shows, even knowing how it was gonna go beforehand.

vex u creep (Affectionate)

*man gets spaghettied* “hopefully its not dangerous :)”

“We could just...” “Run? “need to get punched in the face sometimes to know you’re alive” *cries over twins*

akjsdfhlajsdhfjasfhlajsfhlasjdfhlasdjlfhasd okay listen i’d already seen clips and gifs of this scene but this “Keyleth blushing over Vex putting a hand on her shoulder and declaring faith in her” is really the gayest shit I’ve seen this month and like GOOD FOR HER, also big mood

the slow orchestral theme..... symbolism of the buds sprouting on the tree.... percy’s little smile... <3

AW Vex punched Percy before running into the tree. That means she likes u, Percy. No, not in the bullshit “boys pull pigtails of girls they like” way, in a “Vex is chronically terrible at expressing emotions properly and much like how she expresses closeness to Vax through needling and prodding, this is how she shows trust” way.

bro did you stick residuum INTO THE HOLE IN YOUR HAND, THAT CANNOT BE HEALTHY. DID NO ONE HEAL IT BEFORE YOU MANAGE TO GET AND CLEAN A CHUNK OF RESIDUUM, DID YOU RE-OPEN THE HOLE, PERCY WHAT THE FUCK, there are THINGS in your hand to make it WORK, you cant just JAM SHIT INTO THERE-

adjkfalsjfh dual twins taking care of trinket <3 as deserved

i love lil domestic downtime scenes :D they’re my favorite kind of shit, just details and chill vibes abound.

Vex “what, now” and “oh shit that’s tonight?” really doesn’t like being summoned or required to attend things, does she

HELLO GILMORE. <3 u big ole flirt u. also appreciate vex’s mild side eye as she watches them flirt.

Uriel you can’t phrase your sentences like that, VM are still VERY used to being run out of towns.

WOOP, VEX’S DRAGON ALLERGY IS GOING OFF

AND YEAH, THERE DEFINITELY ARE A LOT OF DRAGONS. MORE THAN 0, THAT’S FOR SURE.

aw man, see, its never good when too many civilians are in one place

overall:

its late so im saving Proper Thoughts about the entire season for a different time, but: i think this was good :) not perfect, but good. nice.

a solid wrap up episode, honestly. didn’t feel too weirdly paced, although the actual defeat of orthax felt a tiny bit anticlimatic but- i think that’s the point? the bigger battle was mental, but the actual defeat- easy, almost.

I like Vex and Percy, I like Vax and Keyleth, but my GOD the Vex and Keyleth moments were off the charts the last few episodes, I’m reeling. anyway keyleth has a crush on both twins (although she still might be processing the one for Vax) and she’s so valid for it.

Listen Cass is BABY are we SURE it was okay to leave her alone to rule Whitestone? Not even in a “don’t trust her” way just like. She’s young. Is she Ok. Can we get her some therapy and a support group first.

These last three episodes were solid. I really enjoyed them. animation and music and etc teams all deserve accolades (for this but also for the season). I guess the voice actors too. :)

Man, Critical Role characters are a lot of fun.

#critical role #tlovm #tlovm spoilers #cr spoilers #the legend of vox machina #tlovm s1e12 #lvm spoilers #full episode liveblog #spar speaks #no more quips im out #but that was very very very fun #proper analysis to come later maybe #cr liveblogging

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red-archivist · 3 years

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Not quite part of the liveblog but, lil post-092 hc fic :3

As he leaves Elias’ office, Jon’s feet automatically take him down the stairs leading to the archives.

It is a habit that his long absence hasn’t managed to break but he stops himself from walking straight into his own office.

To do so, he would have to pass the open space where the assistants work, and call him a coward but he just isn’t quite ready to see the state that Elias’ little reveal has left the others in.

He retreats to the breakroom instead, keeping the lights off and taking a moment to take a few steadying breaths in the cool darkness.

As soon as he stops moving, the injuries he has been ignoring loudly make themselves known.

The constant ache of his burned hand provides a low steady hum of contrast to the staccato pulse of his throbbing throat.

He needs to clean them both up in order to avoid infection, and if he doesn’t want some concerned passer-by to call an ambulance on him when he leaves, he will have to bandage his neck as well.

He walks to the nearest press and begins rooting around for the first aid kit. It doesn’t seem to be where he last saw it months ago and a stumbling search in the dim light reveals nothing to him.

Jon is about to give up and just try to give himself a bit of a rinse in the sink when suddenly the door creaks open, and the lights click on behind him.

He whirls around with his heart in his bloody throat expecting something to pounce on him. Perhaps it is Tim come to take his weary anger out on him? Or Daisy aiming to finish what she started? Or maybe Elias with some other unsolvable puzzle to dump into his lap?

The fright only lasts an instant however, when he sees who is standing in the doorway looking even more surprised to see him.

“Martin,” He sighs with relief.

Martin’s mouth opens and closes a few times before he manages to find his voice.

“Uh, h-hi?”

“…Hi. Did you- Ah. W-Was the first aid kit moved?” Jon points to the mess he has made of the open presses.

Martin jumps in place before rushing forward.

“Oh! Uh, y-yeah, sorry!”

He crouches down to pull the kit out from under the sink and when Jon raises a questioning eyebrow, he shrugs meekly.

“Melanie moved it,” He says, “She said we all had to be able to reach it in an emergency.”

“Right.”

He takes the box from Martin with just one hand, keeping the bandaged one away from his body at an angle so it won’t bump into anything.

It’s a heavy, clunky thing and hoisting it onto the counter makes his joints sting. Ignoring the pain, he flips the latch and starts rummaging through it. A thin roll of bandages, antiseptic cream, gauze and dressing are placed in a pile on the counter as he mentally goes through the half-remembered steps of cleaning an open wound.

Just as Jon starts to unravel the hand bandage, the side of his face burns with awareness. He looks over to find Martin staring at him.

His gaze lingers on his hand, taking in the old bandages and his cracked nails, both still caked in grave dirt. Jon does his best not to squirm under the scrutiny.

When Martin’s eyes dart to the mound of medical supplies Jon is compiling, he also realises he is taking up most of the counter space.

“Am I… in your way?” He asks, about to sweep it all to the side.

Martin starts, as if he just remembered where he was and stammers as he turns away from him

“N-No! Sorry, sorry!”

He fusses with the kettle, taking out mugs as it boils, and does not face Jon again.

Jon is glad for the privacy. He doesn’t want to look at his own hand any longer than he has to, no-one else needs to see it.

As he peels the rest of the dirty wrappings off, they catch on his ruined skin and he can’t quite hold back a pained hiss. The burn is still dreadful to see, blistered like bubbling wax and so red it’s almost black. It weeps a clear discharge, making the whole thing reek a fluid, animal smell.

He rinses it off in the sink, pats it awkwardly dry, smears the whole thing in antiseptic cream and clumsily wraps it up again. It’s a messy, slow process and he barely remembers to clean his other hand as well.

Martin stays stock still as he works, standing guard over two brewing mugs and, as he glances at him, Jon can practically see the questions he wants to ask in the stiff line of his shoulders.

Jon feels both grateful and guilty that Martin holds his tongue. He owes him answers but his mouth is so tired of talking.

Tentatively, he starts prodding at the cut on his neck. It is long but shallow, already clotting. He can feel the skin around it is tender with a blossoming bruise. Daisy wanted it to hurt.

Jon pries his mind away from that thought. If he thinks about how close he came to dying today, he won’t be able to keep himself standing, nevermind clean up.

He just needs to get through the next few steps, and then he can go back to Georgie’s, lay down somewhere quiet and try not to have a complete breakdown. Laying out gauze and dressing, he wets a clean tea towel. He is halfway to raising it to his neck before he realises his mistake.

“Damn.”

“…Jon?”

Martin is peering over his shoulder at him, concern drawn in deep lines around his face.

Jon blinks back at him. He had almost forgotten he was there.

“I… uh,” He waves the tea towel, “I need two hands, should have done this first.”

He is going to ruin the clean wrappings on his hand. He will either have to do them again or wait to get back to the house and hope Georgie won’t be too pissed off to help him. Clucking his tongue, he weighs up his options.

“Um… Do you…” Martin’s soft voice cuts across his thoughts, “I mean, I can… i-if you want?”

“What?” Jon turns and sees him holding out a hand for the tea towel, “Oh.”

“O-O-Only if you, y’know, you’re comfortable with…”

Jon stares at him for a moment and regrets flickers across Martin’s face. He starts to draw his hand back.

“Uh, yes, no, I mean, I-I appreciate…” Jon stammers, “You don’t have to. I-I don’t want to interrupt… what you’re doing…”

The sheepishness fades from Martin as he chuckles slightly.

“I just came in to get a bit of a break from everyone else, really,” He immediately winces, “God, that sounded bad, didn’t it?”

“No… no, I understand.”

Martin smiles slightly and Jon’s feels his lips twitch upward in response.

“So, uh,” Martin holds his hand out again and Jon passes him the towel, “Might be easier to sit.”

“Right.”

Jon brings the gauze and dressing to the rickety coffee table while Martin wrings out the towel in the sink. They sit facing each other, and Martin scoots close enough that their knees brush.

“Can you lift your chin?” He asks, “And please tell me if I hurt you?”

Jon raises his head and stares into the yellowing florescent light embedded in the ceiling as Martin starts delicately dabbing at the cut.

It stings, of course. He can feel the edges of the wound prickle with pain as the meagre scabbing that covered them is wiped away. He hopes he isn’t letting it show on his face.

It is a little uncomfortable, letting someone else touch his neck. Especially someone he hasn’t seen for over two months. He peers at Martin out of the corner of his eye.

He looks exhausted. There are heavy bags under his eyes and the light from above washes him out terribly, making him seem even paler than usual. His hair has grown a bit, more from neglect than choice. His fringe droops over the frame of his glasses.

Guilt bites at the back of Jon’s mind. Without him here, he is almost certain Martin has been doing the lion’s share of the work in the archives. Melanie is only new to the position and Tim… Jon is doubtful Tim has been working at all.

Martin mumbles a pre-emptive apology as he moves the towel slowly over the cut. His touch is soft but steady, gentle in a way that is completely alien to Jon.

Martin’s gaze is focused on Jon’s neck, intent on washing away every speck of pain scrawled onto it. Instead of the sting of the wound, Jon feels something in his chest ache.

He can’t remember the last time anyone was this careful with him. That thought, more than the pinch of physical pain, makes his eyes water.

He blinks rapidly and rattles his brain for anything that will keep his mind off of how tender Martin’s touch is.

His mouth runs ahead of his head and he tries not to swallow too hard as he speaks.

“Martin… ah…”

“Sorry, am I pressing too hard?” The pressure on his throat eases slightly and Jon wills himself not to chase after it.

“No, no, I just, ah, I wanted to-” Jon bites his tongue in his haste to speak, “H-H-Have you been getting on alright?”

The pressure disappears entirely as Martin reels back to gawk at him, his mouth hanging open in shock. Jon might be offended at his surprise if he wasn’t too busy kicking himself.

He keeps babbling before Martin even has a chance to respond.

“God, that’s stupid- stupid question, of course you’re not-!” He sighs, “Just- Ignore me. Apologies.”

He looks back up to the breakroom lights, his face burning hot.

Martin chuckles.

Jon dares to glance at him.

The surprise has faded into something softer, a not-quite-there smile lingering on his lips.

“Yeah…” He agrees quietly, “That… is pretty stupid.”

“Well-! Pardon me for asking,” Jon snaps.

Martin’s smile grows.

“I’ve… I’ve got a pretty stupid answer for it though?”

“Uh,” Jon leans forward in his seat, “Yes?”

“Despite um, well, all of it…” Martin swings a hand around the room, “It’s… It’s really good to see you, Jon.”

He stares.

It’s Martin’s turn to try and hide from the scrutiny. Jon watches with fascination as he starts to turn a blotchy red.

He doesn’t understand. The last time they spoke, Jon gave him nothing but a weak apology after suspecting him of murder and invading his privacy for months. Martin should be angry at him, or maybe even afraid. Jon doesn’t want him to be, but he would understand if he were.

Instead, Martin sits in front of him with a shy smile and soft hands, helping him, missing him. Jon can’t possibly understand that.

He opens his mouth without any clue as to what to say.

“That… doesn’t actually answer my question?” He says weakly.

Martin laughs. Not a chuckle or a giggle but a full-throated belly laugh. It is a sound Jon has never heard from him before. His face feels even warmer.

As soon as he calms down, Martin shakes his head before delicately placing his fingertips on Jon’s chin and tilting his head upward.

“I guess not.”

He finishes cleaning and dressing the wound in silence. When he presses the dressing against the cut to make sure its smooth, Jon can’t help but shudder.

A frown crosses Martin’s brow.

“Don’t suppose I can convince you to see a doctor about this?”

“You suppose correct,” Jon sighs.

Martin clucks his tongue but doesn’t push him any further.

Jon is overcome with the sudden desire to sit in this chair for the remainder of the afternoon, resting in Martin’s half-joking disapproval with their kneecaps just about touching.

He is also keenly aware that that desire isn’t something he can afford to indulge in.

With a weary groan, he hauls himself upright.

“I… appreciate the help.”

Grabbing the now-stained tea towel, he turns away to toss it in the sink.

“O-Oh, uh, sure, anytime,” Martin says automatically, “Well, n-no, not anytime- I didn’t mean- I don’t want you to get hurt again or a-anything!”

“It’s fine, Martin, I know what you meant.”

He puts the first aid kit back under the sink and pats his pockets to make sure he has all the things he came in with. It’s not much.

“Right, I won’t be back today, but I’ll be in the office tomorrow.”

“You’d better not be!” Martin exclaims, suddenly loud.

Jon blinks at him.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re hurt! You need rest!” Martin squeaks indignantly, “Proper rest, Jon not just a half-day off!”

“I- Wh- You can’t stop me coming to work!”

“I bloody well can!”

Jon boggles as a memory suddenly strikes him full-force. He had tried coming back to the archives early after Prentiss’ attack as well, hadn’t he? Martin had practically carried out of the building. At the time, it was just another reason for Jon to be suspicious of him. Now, he can see it for what it was.

Martin cared.

He still cares, whether that care takes the form of washing his wounds or scolding him for his poor work-life balance. It’s not a feeling Jon is familiar with.

Martin still sits at the coffee table, arms crossed over his chest, colour high in his cheeks. With a wistful smile, Jon decides to let him have his way. It’s paltry thanks for his ministrations, but it is all Jon has.

“Alright.”

Martin’s glare vanishes under his shock.

“Alright?”

Jon nods.

“Alright. I’ll rest.”

“Oh! Oh. …Good!”

“It’s what, Friday now?” Jon says, “Maybe I’ll even take the weekend off.”

“Wow, let’s not go overboard,” Martin grumbles.

Jon snorts, hiding his laughter behind his bandaged hand. Martin smiles brightly and somehow, gets even redder.

“I’ll see you Monday.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Jon heads for the door. His feet are like lead weights and he already knows he is going to have to stop himself from napping on the tube. He can sleep properly once he is back at Georgie’s. It might even be nice to rest, for once.

He pauses in the doorway, glancing back.

Martin has stood up, his arms still crossed even as he flicks a hand up.

“See you.”

As he stares at him, Jon’s chest aches again. He is overcome with the urge to speak, as if that will ease it.

“For what it is worth… It is really good to see you too.”

Martin’s face goes slack with a look as soft and tender as his hand was on Jon’s throat. It makes the ache worse.

Jon turns away without another word, knocks once on the doorframe and walks away.

As he heads for the stairs, his hand still throbs, and his neck still stings but it is the hurt in his heart that distracts him. The sound of Martin’s laughter echoes in his head and Jon thinks that this particular pain is one he doesn’t mind keeping.

#the magnus archives #tma #jonmartin #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #tma 092 #tma fic #the great tma relisten #listen. has this scenario been written about more than once? yes. do i care? no.#you will get my interpretation and you will like it #the boys are PIIINNNNIIINGGGGG

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pdaliceliveblogs · 2 years

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Guesses for S2B

(Disclaimer: I’m a liveblog, and I’m actively avoiding the summaries for upcoming episodes which I have been warned are floating around, so please don’t mention them to me even if anything I say here is in conflict with them!)

Stuff from my bingo sheet, extended

Raine’s cocoon damage— I’ve drawn them with branching lightning-style scars before, and mentioned it in a fic too, but I’d also really be interested to see them somehow disabled by it? In my fic they were in the cocoon for months and had some atrophy, they could also have more mental/PTSD type stuff… I just really want to see more disabled characters tbh.

Rascal’s name not being Rascal seems kind of like a given, I guess, because we don’t have any actual reason to think it would be— it’s just the common fandom name for him bc Luz called him “lil’ rascal” one time— but I really want to know what his name actually is….

1600s witch being the Collector— the funky moon cloak person from the Owlbeast’s flashback being called “The Collector” in the credits makes me wonder if their purpose is cataloguing various types of creatures, like a rogue version of the Demon Hunters from HMH? Which makes me wonder if they wanted to add some humans to their collection, and brought the Wittebane brothers across for that reason.

I admit I want Harpy Lilith mostly because I love Lilith as a character a lot and think harpy mode is delightful, but also I think the logistics of the curse being shared are real weird now that we know the Owlbeast was originally a separate creature. Does Lilith have a splinter of that being in her? If so, is that splinter more like a mirror of the original creature, or a daughter of the original creature? Eda had to sort through the trauma of her youth with the curse in order to come head-to-head with the Owlbeast and hash out a truce, but Lilith has the benefit of having only been cursed a little while… which might make it easier (once Eda tells her about it)… or much harder without a hand-hold like Eda’s.

King not being technically a demon comes almost exclusively from one line in KKKOHD, when Hooty says that demons “arose from the muck of a decomposing Titan”. Given that there was a mural in King’s tower (which, notably, is on a weird other island, not part of the Boiling Isles made out of the Titan) of what looks like King’s father or other ancestor fighting the Titan. That means his species was around concurrently with the Titan(s?), and so didn’t arise from their muck. I think King isn’t a demon.

Belos going after the Bat Queen is something I think I’ve mentioned before, but like… she’s a Palisman so big he could take a damn bath in her head goop. Once he knows she exists, he’s definitely gonna be all over that.

Hunter being meant as a sacrifice… isn’t super specific, I know, but like. The way Belos talks about him… I dunno if it’s going to be for some Day of Unity ritual or as a new body for Belos or what but there’s nothing good in store for that boy.

I don’t have any actual reason to believe Philip’s brother is alive, it just seems like the kind of thing Stories like to pull.

Things I didn’t mention there:

I really want Lilith’s palisman to wake up at some point. Let! Me! Meet! Branwen!

Thing that’s more like fanfic than a prediction but I just think it would be super badass #1: Amity uses her Abomination powers to disable Darius like she disabled the Abomaton going after Luz back in s2e2. Bonus points for “Abomination, kneel.”

Thing that’s more like fanfic than a prediction but I just think it would be super badass #2: during a rescue/escape for Raine, they’re cornered and someone (maybe Belos maybe Darius?) is mocking them over their violin being broken, little songbird without an instrument, what are you going to do now? And they just open up their throat and sing. And kick ass.

Having Vee on the other side of the portal will be crucial at some point, maybe when trying to avert Belos’s Day of Unity bullshit. Some kind of “pull at it from both sides” thing.

I really want Raine to pull the accordion off Eda’s wall and learn to play it. I know it’s not gonna happen, but I want it to.

If Belos finds out about Luz’s promise somehow, he can use it to try and corrupt her into working with him on the Day of Unity— “this way, you can be here and there together, you don’t have to leave anyone behind”. I don’t think she’ll fall for it, at least not for more than about 2/3 of an episode, but it’s an intriguing opening.

Kikimora is still getting increasingly paranoid and I feel like we’ve got to be going somewhere with that. Maybe she’ll make a more direct murder attempt on Hunter and one of the protagonist squad will save his life?

Either that, discovering he’s a clone/Grimwalker/thingie, or Belos chomping Cardinalisman is probably going to give him the final push to come over to the good guys’ side.

“Bone of ORTET” presumably means ‘part of the original body” given what ortet means in botany, but acquiring stonesleeper lungs will probably be relevant soon seeing as that’s the only other Grimwalker ingredient left.

The fact that Amity’s parents work directly for the Emperor now will probably come up— since she’s with Luz and is comfortably hanging out with wild witches, her teenage rebellion is probably overlapping with her political rebellion.

There are probably more things that I have forgotten to put here but this is already quite long.

#owl house #the owl house #owl house liveblog #owlblog #toh 210 #talk #pdaliceblogs

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