#When did it hit me that they were the same people?? Episode 6!

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: Eddie KNOWS Buck!

The title of episode 7x5 is "You don't know me" (it could change) and when I read it, all I could think about is something I haven't been able to forget since 6x4 aired. It was Buck’s conversation with Connor and IMO, it was weird and superficial for REASONS I might explain in a future post.

Anyway, Buck's overall arc in Season 6 was about him trying to be at ease while not making the same mistakes (which started at the end of 5x18). In 6x1, he wanted to be interim captain, then he went on to search for happiness in 6x2 followed by his decision to be Connor's sperm donor in 6x4 and that led to the comment included in the scene below, "I know those things about you". But the question is, does Connor really know Buck? 🤔

Reminder, based on the things that were shown in CANON in 4x5, Buck and Connor never really knew each other. They were acquaintances who met while they were in Peru and that was after Buck left Hershey when Maddie told him to "Go and be happy". During their conversation while Buck was bartending, Connor "suggested" Buck move to L.A. with him and the guys he knew because they were "kind of like a family". It's important to note that Connor said it after he stopped listening to Buck while he was trying to explain something to him.

Who always listens to Buck? EDDIE!

Now on to Season 7.

In the recent TCA interview, with regards to Buck’s self-discovery journey, OS commented that Buck’s sperm donation for his friends "hasn't necessarily played in any kind of conscious way so far" within the first 5 episodes (see below).

So the question is, could Buck tell Connor, "You don't know me!" in a conversation about the baby in 7x5 and it have something to do with Buck’s self-discovery journey? It's possible since as mentioned above, Connor doesn't really know Buck. Let's be real... when Connor reappeared they hadn't seen each other in three years and the attributes Connor mentioned about why he asked him to be his sperm donor instead of him going to a sperm bank aren't necessarily HEREDITARY.

Reminder, Buck likes to make things about himself and he likes to fix things. Therefore, the way things played out in 6A made it seem like he was making things about himself with the sperm donation too.

Here are a few of the comments that have been said to Buck and about him by his family.

In 3x1 and 3x2 (they replayed some of the scene from the end of 3x1 at the beginning of 3x2), Chris said, "You're going to be ok kid" after Buck told him he hopes he finds a job he likes and somethimg that makes him feel like he matters when he grows up. This happened after Buck quit the 118 but before the Tsunami.

In 3x6, Hen told Bobby, "I think Buck makes everything hard on Buck. The boy has two settings... zero and shut up before I smack you". They were discussing Bobby letting Buck work again after the lawsuit.

In 3x9, Eddie said, "So we're making this about you again?" while they were in the kitchen after Buck apologized for the second time following the lawsuit.

In 3x16 Chimney said, "So it's all about you?" when Buck was telling the team about Red.

In 3x16, Maddie said, "So you don't think this business with Red is hitting a little too close to home? A lonely hero firefighter who's pining for his lost love."

In 4x5, Athena said, "You never give up, that's what being Buck means to me" after he stayed in the warehouse fire against orders.

In 5x4, Eddie said, "You're the guy who likes to fix things" after Maddie and Chimney left.

In 6x11, dead Bobby said, "Aww kid, if what matters to you most is the way people see you... then you haven't learned a damn thing" in Buck’s coma dream.

They all know how Buck likes to make things about himself and at various points, they've said it in some form or another. Family won't hesitate to tell the people they love the truth unlike those who want to get what they can then leave like Connor did. And that's one of the reasons why I think Buck didn't talk to anyone about the sperm donation because if he had, they would have told him the truth. He did talk to Hen and even though she didn't discourage him, she did caution him about the possible ramifications of it except he was adamant about doing it and he wouldn't listen to the universe when it kept screaming at him.

Does Connor know Buck? NO!

The person who does know Buck is EDDIE!

Eddie not only knows him, HE SEES HIM! He also listens to him, he takes care of him and he's the one who's been there for him. In 6x1, he helped Buck see another side to Bobby's decision about interim captain. In 6x6, Eddie was the one who reassured him that Karen would be fine without a spleen. The list goes on and on but 9-1-1 made it a point in Season 6 to show the GA that NO ONE knows Buck like Eddie does and that continued even in 6x15 when Buck said that BS about ND seeing him.

No one believed it and it's possible Buck didn't believe it either.

The point of this post is that Buck’s breakdown may finally happen in Season 7 and it might have something to do with the sperm donation 👀.

Reminder, he didn't have one in season 6 even though he died and I think all of these things are related and could lead to it.

If Buck does have a breakdown, who's going to be by his side? EDDIE!

The same way Buck was by Eddie’s side after Eddie’s breakdown.

I said I wasn't going to speculate and I hadn't planned on it but I have so many thoughts about what could trigger Buck’s breakdown and I've been debating whether I'll post them. But I just might now that everything seems to be pointing in that direction.

Will Buck finally breakdown in season 7? Only the showrunner, writers and producers know the answer to that question.

[lucianalight]

Loki S2 Review

I rewatched S2 and I liked it even more on the second watch. I'm giving it a 6 out of 10 in average(8 for the finale). Since I didn't post a review week by week like for S1, I'm just going to talk about the main things I liked/disliked

The Improvements & Things I liked:

The pace and the narrative's tone and framing have changed. While the pace drops sometimes, these moments aren't as boring as S1. Meaning you don't want to constantly check when it's going to end(like you know, S1 and especially 1x06). The narrative is neutral and doesn't villain code Loki and hero code others. It doesn't turn Loki into a clown, a punching bag or someone who deserves humiliation(I guess they've done enough of that in S1). On the contrary the characters are shown as flawed people, with Loki being the most moral, considerate, logical and heroic amongst them.

They stated bluntly in episode 1, that what TVA used to do, were atrocities. That they were killing numerous innocent people who had a right to live their lives as they chose.

The characters were three dimensional, likable or tolerable despite their actions in S1. They showed remorse for the things they had done. Although the way the narrative chose to go about it in S1 still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It shouldn't happen to you for you to realize sth is wrong. But at least it was shown that the characters weren't slaughtering people mindlessly and some of them deep down knew it was wrong. Although the fact that they still did it, because of the "greater good", and "woe is me! It's not a comfort it's a burden" attitude about it is repulsive.

OB, Casey and Timely being funny, cute nerds and fanboys :D

Loki using amazing magical stuff and DID YOU SEE THE GREEN MAGICAL GLOW IN HIS EYES?*incoherent screaming*

No Romance. It was unnecessary and rushed in S1. This time they focused more on Loki needing friends and that was definitely a better choice imo and what they should have gone for in S1 too.

Sylvie's actions and personality framed as what they were. She wasn't put on a pedestal as this amazing different FeMaLe version of Loki. She was framed as a flawed character with wrong and right actions and beliefs.

Loki and Sylvie's talk in the pie land, about change, hope, fixing what's broken and being gods. That sigh before Loki saying "We are gods" with all the weight of the world on his shoulders. Wonderful acting.

The ending and its epic soundtrack.

Topics & Things That Could Have Been Handled Better:

The Topic of New York Invasion

"Sometimes a rage builds up and you just gotta let it out. Do you remember that time I was so angry with my father and my brother, I went down to Earth and I held the whole of New York city hostage with an alien army? Tried to use the mind stone on Tony Stark? It didn't work so I threw him off the building. It wasn't tactical. I lost it"

On the surface it looks like Loki's saying that's why he attacked New York and probably most people accept this without a second thought.

But the context of the scene matters. We see during the interrogation Mobius loses his temper. He was worried about Loki getting angry, but he was the one who loses his temper and hits Brad. Loki tries to calm him down by sympathizing with him to try and see what caused his behavior. It's the same thing he did for Thor in the first movie, before coronation and after it, while Thor was nervous and angry. What he says about New York while isn't the whole truth, it also isn't untrue. He was angry with Thor and Odin but as we know his anger and thoughts were influenced by the scepter. We also know Loki doesn't like to talk about his time with Thanos or being tortured. Instead he uses a half-truth, sth that is in character for Loki.

So the scene can be rationalized by this analysis but it's still annoying that this analysis is even needed. They should have been clear about the scepter's influence especially when mcu confirmed it.

Loki thinking about Thor's change as being a weakness. While both Thor and Loki were groomed and taught to consider being soft as a weakness, that wasn't Loki's true feelings. At least I don't think someone who prefers words and magic-that are considered a weakness in Asgard-over brawn thinks like that. His goal in the first movie was to goad Thor into fighting him. So the line should have been sth like this: "Asgard taught us being soft is a weakness, so I used that against Thor to goad him into a fight. I said he's gone soft…"

Plotholes and things that weren't explained.

Why Loki and Sylvie weren't sent to their original timelines like others? And why neither of them showed any interest in seeking their family? You're telling me Loki wants to see these people he knows for 10 seconds more than Frigga or Thor? OOC.

Sylvie's sudden mastery of magic since 1x06 isn't explained. She didn't know much, but then suddenly could do everything Loki did. I mean I can headcanon that her and Loki linking their power taught her some things but these sudden developments without any explanations are annoying.

Loki's genderfluidity. No mention of it at all. Although I believe that no representation is better than bad representation. And you should leave a topic alone if you don't understand it, otherwise you're gonna mess it up. Because bad rep can be more harmful. And so maybe it was a good thing mcu let that one go. But they could still fix it with some shapeshifiting, explaining its difference with illusions and Loki confirming that he is comfortable in her female form.

Loki's clothes. It's probably not that important in comparison with other issues but I really hate that beige suit. Why Sylvie who doesn't even want to be Loki and wasn't in Asgard since childhood changes into an Asgardian outfit for a fight and not Loki? Yeah I get it. It was because of the last reveal and transformation and finding his identity blah blah blah but at least they could have gave him his old Asgardian clothes or he could change the suit's color ugh

Criticism & Things I didn't like:

The ooc moments for Loki in some comedic scenes. Especially in episode 5. While the character has a comedic potential, it's not based on clownery or clumsiness. The best humorous moments for Loki are the ones where he outwits others, use sarcastic language or he is being outwitted despite his careful plans.

Certain emotional stakes aren't clear from the start. The audience know that saving TVA is the right thing because it protects all the freed timelines but they don't know why they should care? Or more accurately why Loki is so emotionally invested in this goal. That gets answered in episode 5 and while Loki's talk with Sylvie is a good emotional scene, the fact that it's stated so late in the story, makes the first few episodes boring when it comes to saving TVA.

The main reason the emotional stakes aren't clear(at least for me), I believe is because most of the people Loki call them his "friends",  haven't done anything to either deserve his friendship or aren't close enough to be considered a friend. Let alone someone Loki tries to move heaven and hell to be with them, instead of for example trying to find his brother and family. It is an issue which again is rooted in S1 and carried to S2. What happened in S1 wasn't therapy or a healthy friendship.

However, Loki being loyal to anyone who show him an ounce of affection or him being moral enough to try to save people are in character for him and that's sth good about it.

The torture scene.

The trick Mobius and Loki pulled was predictable as hell. I didn't even doubted Loki in TDW, let alone here. And even though I didn't believe for one second that Loki's actually going to hurt the guy, and he wasn't shown enjoying it, I still hated that he went along with the torture idea Mobius had come up with. Especially considering the fact that he was a victim of torture himself and never shown any sign in canon that he would torture someone. So yeah I hated that scene.

And why that scene was even necessary? Loki could get into X-5's mind when they weren't in TVA. We know he is capable of it. He did it both through mind stone in Avengers and in TR. how else they were going to delve into Mobius' problem though smh

But alright let's say they needed a scene like that. Still the whole Brad believing Mobius is against torture, and Loki's the one who would be in favor of it, is so fucking ridiculous. Any way you look at it, it has always been TVA and Mobius who did any torture we've seen during the two seasons. The tortures that Loki endured might I add. Even in the previous scene, it was Loki who didn't hit Brad and only tried to intimidate him non-physically by acting as a villain. It was Mobius who hit him, who was shown more affected by Brad's insults. So logically the scene they had planned to fool Brad, should have been played completely the opposite way. By having Mobius do the torture. At least it was recognized that the torture idea was from Mobius and both he and Loki gave the credits for it to Mobius.

Verity Willis. Hunter B15 unlike the Verity in comics, doesn't have a close friendship with Loki or truth detector powers. Not having a good friend like comics Verity for Loki, was such a wasted opportunity in the series.

Mobius saying to Loki "You're a man of action...". That was such a stupid, unnecessary line. As if the main difference between Loki and Thor wasn't Thor acting before thinking, and Loki thinking and planning before acting. While Loki is also a man of action, he is first and foremost a man of strategy. The only plausible explanation imo is that Mobius said it to not feel useless in comparison with Loki and his skills.

"Thor's not that tall". Yeah, no. I don't think Loki's reaction to seeing Thor and Odin's statues would be that. Knowing his brother and family were murdered by the very same people he's working with now. Remind me again why he's considering them "FrIeNdS"? Someone really needs to explain the concept of friendship to Loki. Or rather the writers of this show.

And while we are at it. Let's talk about how Loki's past and identity issues were completely swapped under the rug as if they were all magically fixed and didn't matter anymore. As if those weren't the most important part of his journey. Another issue rooted in S1.

Final Thoughts(for now :D)

Season 2 was definitely better than season 1. Not perfect, and not for those who care about OG Loki's issues. They set him on a completely different path in S1 and they messed up any chance to actually delve into his problems. So in S2 we're having a character that we're supposed to accept has moved on from certain issues, and now tries to find what he wants and where he belongs. Still, I think that they listened to the criticism for once as they tried to fix some of the problems of S1. After many years it didn't feel like that the creators hate the character, or using him as a prop, or a plot device. It was a story about Loki. A bittersweet story for the god of stories.

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 3 ("BINGBONG! MUST BE THAT WIRETAP THAT I ORDERED") EDITION

Before I get started on my episode review, I just want to gather some quick thoughts about my observations of yesterday's internet:

1) Tumblr was a lot more subdued than after the first two episodes of Only Friends. Now that I've seen episode 3, it makes a lot of sense: I've noticed that I've gotten myself prepared unconsciously before watching OF much later after everyone else through the streaming vibes on my dash. I even saw some Laws of Attraction gifs before the Only Friends gifs, ha! But there's a lot going on to dig into with OF, and it makes sense why feelings are starting to get complicated over what's happening.

2) The Ephemerality Squad ( @ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan, @slayerkitty, @twig-tea, and honorary shout-out @neuroticbookworm) hit spot-on in analysis yesterday. This was definitely another episode about the fleetingness of just about everything. Let's do this.

@ranchthoughts in their ephemerality analysis yesterday hit on the two big themes of episode 3: the continued fleeting of time, and stronger attempts of control. (@slayerkitty also nailed some excellent observations about voyeurism, which I'll hopefully have time to get into in a bit.) We were left to see how Top, Sand, and Nick, respectively, dealt with the attempts of Mew, Ray, and Boston, the three college friends, to control their environments -- and their people -- around them, all to varying degrees of.... I don't think we can say success.

I wonder if I can try to map this out, this web of attempted control. But before I do this, I want to repeat something that I jotted down in my notes as I watched the episode:

These guys are spending a disproportional amount of time -- especially Boston, Sand, and Ray -- explaining that their dalliances are only fleeting and non-committal. I noted that Sand seemed to be weakening just slightly at that during the car make-out sesh with Ray. (At the same time, I think Sand was also like, this guy's available rn? Well -- awlright, whateves, shrugs, I'm in the mood.)

But more surprisingly, WOW -- is Boston EVER BAD at setting boundaries. (Considering the discussions we on Tumblr were having about Boston's shower scene last week, that is very not surprising.)

My dude. My DUDE. "YOU CAN CALL OUR RELATIONSHIP WHATEVER YOU LIKE?" You call THAT being clear about friends with benefits? Well done, dumbass. Bro, Khai from Theory of Love is waving his damn hands in front of you, being all like, "NAAWWWW, THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO THIS, DUDE, NOOOOOOOOOO."

And THEN Nick taps the car, but hold up, let me get back to THAT in a sec.

Anyway: @ranchthoughts did an excellent control outline here, but I'm just going to do a very quick interpersonal web to demonstrate how these guys are actually failing spectacularly at keeping things together for their own selfishness sake:

Boston -->

1) is trying to manage his "relationship" with Nick, quite failingly 2) is trying to convince Top to sleep with him by planting in Top's mind doubts about Mew and Mew's alleged virginity

Mew -->

3) is... doing what, at this point? Top is calling Mew his boyfriend. Why is Mew still holding out on sex? What's the point of the game at this point?

Ray -->

4) is clearly intrigued by Sand, to the point of hanging out at the bar alone, and inviting Sand to perform at the pool party. But, Ray: 5) is still clearly drawn to Mew. Back to Mew:

Mew -->

6) is still very aware that he has a draw on Ray (cc @neuroticbookworm). As @neuroticbookworm noted to me last night: Mew didn't call Cheum or Boston when he lost his key. He called Top first -- of course, he had to, Top is his boyfriend. And THEN, he called Ray. Mew knew Ray was checking out Sand all night. Mew called Ray out on it. MEW ENCOURAGED RAY TO GO FOR IT. And yet, Mew called Ray, knowing likely that he was going to be interrupting something. And in a Pavlovian reaction (credit @neuroticbookworm), Ray stops everything with Sand in the car to run to Mew.

Top -->

7) is trying to control his urges around Boston, and fails quite spectacularly

Sand -->

8) tries to give Ray the ol' "just friends" razzle-dazzle, but listen, when the boi be cute like that and all kissy-kissy, then, Sand, I'm not holding it against you, you had every right to dive on in, my man. And finally:

Nick -->

9) Nick is outta control, ha. I see some corners of sympathy for Nick around this way and that, but a few words here on this.

Boston is a terrifically BAD communicator. I want to say that Boston has had a consistent message for Nick: there's nothing going on here. But that's not quite the case. Boston's ALLLLL over the place with the way he's talking to Nick.

I've been in situations where I desperately wanted a man that I was sleeping with to be my boyfriend. I know the ache of being held at arm's length. It's a horrible feeling to not quite know what your FWB is thinking about you at any given moment.

On the flip side -- oh, that flip side. This kind of reminds me of how I thought about Third in Theory of Love. Boston's inconsistent communication with Nick should, arguably, be a red flag for Nick. If Nick wants, say, a relationship with Boston, welp -- do you really want a relationship with a guy who's holding you at arm's length? I might argue that Boston's inconsistent communication is CLEAR communication that he's not ready for whatever Nick is wanting from him, whether it's a relationship or even an exclusive FWB arrangement.

Again, I know and remember the feeling of being held back, of being pushed away. But as I grew up throughout my 20s (A LONG TIME AGO, DAMN IT), I figured out that the way I could find happiness was by being accountable to myself and any future partner I might have. If a guy was wasting my time, then -- he was wasting my time, and there was no other story to it. I had to learn to move on to find what I really wanted and needed for the betterment of my life.

My man, Nick, on the other hand, taps Boston's car and hears and sees the bang-bang. Boston's up to no good, no doubt, he is messing with EVERYONE. But, Nick -- what do you want from this? Where do you think this is going to go? If I were you -- damn, brother, if I were YOUR MOM -- I'd be like, sashay away. But, no, you tapped his car, and we'll find out what's really going on with that, hopefully, in the next episodes.

Last little bits. Some blue-balling in this episode. Oof. Arguably, Mew's been putting the squeeze on Top over the long haul. But to see Ray do that to Sand in the car -- eeeeyikes. Sand walked away from that with clarity -- I was impressed.

I am not getting enough Jennie Panhan in this show. First off -- FIRST OFF -- she is SLAMMIN'. Did you see those biceps? And her calm demeanor as Yo. As opposed to Cheum, who knows that Ray can get whatever he needs, fiscally, from his father -- Yo encourages Ray to get off his ass and seek out answers to his questions and feelings about Sand himself. (@twig-tea attributes this to Yo knowing that one can't control everything in one's life, an analysis that I love.) Yo encourages a touch of independence from her friends. I wonder if this is a theme from her that will continue to unwind moving forward.

We finally saw Title! And I would like to see more Tee Teeradej, pretty pwease.

Finally, rolling back to @slayerkitty's thoughts on voyeurism: @slayerkitty posited that each episode had a different modality of voyeurism and passive participation in engagement with others, an analysis that I love. (I think that absolutely speaks to the sense of aloofness and disconnect that I continue to get out of Ray and Boston in particular.) @lurkingshan also noted that a lot of the flirtation and sex in the first three episodes have involved cameras, photography, audiences, and so on.

Voyeurism: you're watching something, but you're not necessarily participating IN IT. Your engagement with an event is at arm's length.

I want to think that this, in part, is a continued commentary on the shipped couples acting in this show, and how we're SEEING them continue to break down. We might see a kiss between Khaotung and Book next week. We've seen Neo and Force together now, acting out intimacy. There's something happening between the characters of Sand and Top that will have First and Force interacting. The passive act of expecting the shipped couples to continue to ship -- is that not voyeurism on demand on behalf of the fandom?

I don't want to be passive about this: I actively continue to cheer for the ships to sink. This episode was GREAT, it held a lot, it was complicated and very open-ended, and there's a lot that needs to be explained next week.

(Speaking of next week: I will likely not have OF meta, as I'll be moving. If I do have meta, it'll maybe be stream of consciousness from the depths of my disorganized despair. But I'll be back in action after America's Labor Day -- SUPPORT UNIONS!)

[yogurts-bullshit]

CW: HAZBIN HOTEL SPOILERS AHEAD

Alright so here's my take on the new Hazbin Hotel season.

Bad. ):

The only good parts were vox/alastors song and the first half of Lucifer's episode. THE WHOLE SHOW IS SO FUCKING LAZY. They stripped everything that made it good. It's not funny anymore, it seems like there was no thought put into it, the placement of the music doesn't make sense a LOT. Sometimes they throw in little throwback jokes to be like "hey remember the pilot? Remember when this show was good?"

And it's so FAST, like the whole thing with the extermination timeframe being cut in half felt like such a lazy cop out. To me in read like they don't think they are gonna get another season and so they knew they only had 6 episodes to shove in all those plot points. Or they just wanted instant gratification for everything and felt like because this show has such a big fan base already they just assumed they didn't NEED to introduce you to these characters, like you should already know they are and have a connection with them. Like Hazbin Hotel thinks because it has a popular pilot it's a legacy show like the Simpsons and doesn't need to introduce anything, you should know it all by now.

And goes by so quick but despite how much time we are supposed to see go by, these characters NEVER FUCKING GROW. They're supposed to! They have groundbreaking realizations about who they are and stuff, and then a second later they are THE SAME PERSON AS BEFORE. And then there is that whole scene in the final episode where Charlie is like "look! Angel Dust has redeemed so much!" But I really feel like he hasn't, and we haven't seen any redemption from him at all. Plus there was this whole song about the similarities between Husk and Angel (Loser, Baby), which don't get me wrong, I loved, but it just really revealed how much of fucking clones they are, which is SO FUCKING LAZY.

Plus all of the "big reveals to keep you hooked and shock you!!!" We're just things that people have theorized about for 8 fucking years since the first concept art was released. Like the whole "vaggie is an exterminator!" or "Husk was a Overlord!" The whole time I got the impression that this was supposed to be a big thing but I was just like... Yeah.... I know.

Oh and Zestiel was also dope as fuck in his 2 minutes for screen time, but I feel like I only liked him because he was acting like what Alastor was SUPPOSED to be, but they made him really nice I feel like. And I understand that Alastor is canonically supposed to be a nice, gentlemanly Mama's boy, but I feel like this show felt like since all of the leaks and lore and stuff released about these characters, it had to show that IMMEDIATELY so instead of that being a slow build up and reveal it dumped it on you instead of showing you who Alastor depicts himself as and it felt like a mockery to the depths of his character. The show didn't earn being able to show how kind Alastor is.

And I feel like that's the reason that I think the show is so lazy because, yes, it has all these big cool reveals and moments, but the show doesn't earn any of those moments. Like there are so many big reveals, like Charlie's big song about her daddy issues, that I feel like could have hit so hard! If we had mentioned her daddy issues more than 2 times beforehand. Or with the whole Carmilla (I might be spelling that wrong) thing with the angel. The angels death could have been such a big story and plot hook and even if they didn't wanna carry it into the next season, they could have made the reveal and big season finale thing. It just felt so weird that instead of it being something big, it was just this lady who we don't even really know, who walked into screen, sang about how she did it, and then we never see her again. Cause I mean like, say what you will about shows with lost of filler early on, but at least they build on everything. You get to know these characters and this setting so that when there are big reveals and songs and moments with them you really feel it. Instead in hazbin all of the moments just feel so unearned and underbaked.

Plus instead of just embracing the fact that there are new voices, they had all the new voices basically do impressions of the old voices, like Blake Roman was basically doing a poor impression of Micheal Kovach the whole time and it brought him down so much. Like, I like Blake Roman, he's a good voice actor, we didn't have to pretend he's Micheal Kovach. 

Really, honestly, I was thinking about it today, and Hazbin Hotel is a show about a bunch of dead people realizing that the heaven and hell system is messed up and trying to fix it and redeem themselves in the process. Y'know what else is a show with the same concept? THE GOOD PLACE. One of my favorite shows, very beautifully written, and every single point and moment Hazbin Hotel makes, The Good Place does 30x better.

so yeah, there's my Hazbin Hotel rant. Did not like the show, really pissed off about it, I'm gonna go rewatch the pilot, and then probably rewatch The Good Place.

[shortpplfedup]

Only Friends Character Rankings Episode 9

A contemplative episode this week, as most of the characters stop struggling and start accepting some shit. But while some people come to correct conclusions (Ray and Mew break up, but can you call it a break up if you were never actually together?), others just decide to make the same mistakes and hope for different outcomes (Sand keeps trusting Ray instead of himself; Mew decides to give Top another chance). We're moving into the last act of the story now, and it's anybody's guess where we land up when the dust settles. Last week y'all judged Ray the most audacious by a mile. Lemme put my glasses on and see who I'm feeling this week.

🔺1. Nick (6)

Team Second Option!

Nick and Sand's loser friendship and their self-awareness of same is one of the most delightful parts of a truly delightful show. I can totally believe Nick suggested them hooking up, this is EXACTLY how these things go. Them dissolving into giggles over their kiss and cuddling each other to sleep was a beautiful friendship moment. Another beautiful moment was Nick's acceptance that he really had just fucked things up with Boston (we will ignore the fact that the boy just can't HELP spying on that man having sex with other people🤣), apologising in a heartfelt way and attempting to move on. I think Nick's heart might be the only one at ease at the end of this ep, so he wins the week.

⭐2. Boeing

My room is right here as well.

IT'S MOND IT'S MOND IT'S MOND MOND IS HERE AND HE LOOKS GOOD AS FUCK! It's time to find out what the hell this is all about, but whatever it is looks kinda fucked which YES.

🔺3. Sand (11)

We are just masochists.

The loser camping trip did a lot to make me feel less irritated with Sand this week. Sand has always been incredibly self-aware about how much him having feelings for Ray is a suck move, but having him state it all so baldly and call himself a masochist this episode did move the needle for me. Architect of his own misery? Yes, but knowing he lowhighkey ENJOYS the misery makes all the difference. You know what king, you do you. Swing wildly between euphoria and despair while you're young enough to find it exciting.

🔻4. Boston (2)

Gay, straight, pan, whatever the fuck you want to be. I just opened your eyes.

Oh sis, I saw you trying there, but the lack of impulse control as always will land you in trouble. He should have sent Atom packing after that party, but sad, lonely and pissed off are a bad combo, and one thing Boston consistently does is make poor decisions when he's feeling some typa way. He clearly served up a top tier dicking though, because Atom is in LOVE. Inconvenient at best. As I keep saying though: you can't keep a bad bitch down, and Boston's one of the baddest. This too shall pass.

🔺5. Ray (12)

I am thick-skinned. I don't care.

*deep negro spiritual sigh* How DARE you bust up the loser camping trip Raymond. I'll not forgive you for that one. Ray, rejected by Mew, demands Sand's company for an ego-boosting dopamine hit (including the sex that Mew denied him, natch), continuing to treat him like a servant and a possession. But this time Sand calls him on it, and that maybe means he thinks about it a little? TBD. I do think Ray WAS actually honest this episode about his feelings (hence the rise in rank), but he was still trying to get what he wanted out of Sand. He and Mew ended their ill-advised relationship as friends though, so that's a positive. Rehab seems to be on the menu next week so anything's possible. I still think these two are terrible for each other, but they're 21, I guess it's allowed.

🔺6. Top (7)

I just want you to know that the person you think loves you the most is not that good.

Watching Top work Mew's moms over all Mew's objections was gross, and I'm fortified anew in my feeling that this dude's vibes are just OFF. Top...circling Mew like this, working Cheum, working his moms, making the move to excise Ray but not actually pulling the trigger because he knows taking the high road will appeal to Mew...look this show has 3 more eps to prove me wrong but something ain't RIGHT with this 'un. Top's money, his good looks, his sweet words, that's all it seems anybody pays attention to, but something underneath...anyway, his strategy's working, right up until the moment Mew runs into Boeing on his fucking doorstep.

🔻7. Mew (3)

I just thought if I became someone else, I'd be stronger.

Well the slut spiral was fun while it lasted, but I guess the morning after a coke bender is generally unpleasant and Mew's a paper tiger not a real G. Mew's trying to keep up the party boy persona but he's not built for this shit, his heart's not in it and Ray trying to literally get in his pants crashed him back to reality. He's totally going back to Top, Boeing or no Boeing.

⭐8. Mew's moms

I saw you on Mew's Instagram. You look better in person.

Oof. Look they're cute and they obviously love Mew, but their son is clearly uncomfortable and unhappy with Top around and they're ignoring that. They may not know what happened, but the room ain't THAT hard to read.

🔻9. Atom (1)

Did I just get nailed and bailed?

Atom tried dick exactly once and it's got him outside Boston's house in the middle of the night begging for more of the same. My bunny boiler hopes have fizzled for both Nick and Sand, maybe Atom is the one I've been waiting for.

🔹10. Yo (10)

Good can't buy love.

Mae Yo with the read this week: 'good can't buy love'. I really want Mom and Cool Stepdad back together. GO GET YOUR MAN YO!

🔻11. Daddy Dan (4)

I'm not going to be your boss tonight. Call me Daddy Dan.

The cringe is through the roof. Well he might get to sniff it but a sniff's all he's gonna get before Nick's back in Boston's bed, and that's just a matter of time at this point.

🔻12. Cheum (8)

The evil spirit left you already, huh?

Will Cheum ever learn to mind the business that pays her? Her lack of interest in her brother's clear and obvious heartbreak is contrasted unfavourably with her overinvestment and overinvolvement in the Mew/Top saga. I also somehow feel like last week's self-interested moment of solidarity with Boston won't survive contact with her brother getting exactly what he asked for and breaking his own heart with it.

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch (book spoilers edition): 2x3

And here are my additional thoughts that contain spoilers through all the teasers and the books through book 13: A Memory of Light.

I was watching show-only reviews to try to figure out if it's safe to call Ishy 'Ishamael' yet but reaction seems mixed on whether or not Moiraine's words clued people in on the situation, so I'm going to stay ambiguous about him in my book spoiler-free posts for now.

I loved the changes that the show made to all Nynaeve's tests. They all make sense in context of the show and Nynaeve's character, they all tell us something about her, and there's also some great connective threads between them. We've known for a while (or guessed) that her first test would take place when she was a kid because her mom appeared in the casting lists... quite a few months ago. Ages ago. But I definitely prefer this one to the book version. It was so heartrending and touching.

2. The crimsonthorn strand throughout the tests is very interesting to me. I talked about this in the other post, but on a more spoilerly note, I like that the show is not defaulting to "all the Wondergirls feel a draw towards Green because They Like Men" and that Nynaeve is actually getting tugged between Yellow and Red in these last two episodes, as Liandrin tries to influence her. It makes me wonder if maybe they'll have Elayne incline towards maybe Brown ("I like to tinker with things") instead of Green. Though Nynaeve did put Egwene in the Green Ajah in her personal AU (which did such a good job in only using elements that Nynaeve was aware of when she went into the arches! No Elayne in Nynaeve's AU; and no Rand because she believes him to be dead).

4. Side note: thrilled that Nynaeve does not have to be naked for the test. The amount of times that women have to strip down for rituals in the books gets pretty ridiculous (especially when men doing the same kind of ritual -- ex. going to Rhuidean -- does not require them to strip). Stripping down to her shift makes the point well enough.

5. A thought I had about the people attacking the Two Rivers -- could this have been happening during the Andoran Succession Crisis that led to Morgase being Queen? And so the Queen's Guard, instead of keeping the roads clear of bandits, were busy with the civil war among the nobility, which let bandits get even as far as the Mountains of Mist. That could actually serve as a really good reason for the Two Rivers to basically nope out of being part of Andor -- "you were so busy squabbling amongst yourself that you let bandits rove the lands and kill innocent people". I'm not certain if the timeline matches up, but I will put it out there as a theory.

6. Her second test is based on the same worries that she had in the books -- that she's abandoned the Two Rivers and she won't be there when they need her and someone who isn't a good Wisdom will have taken over for her -- but shifted the details to hit harder in the show version, and to use characters that the show viewers are already familiar with. It really worked for me. I also liked them essentially using Perrin's lies about Rand to Tam in the books for Nynaeve here instead, where it makes a lot more sense -- she doesn't want to steal the only comfort that she can give a dying man by telling him that his son is dead.

7. Liandrin genuinely got herself invested in Nynaeve! I liked seeing that. I really like that the show is giving more emotional depth to our Darkfriends. Both Sheriam and Liandrin come across as very genuinely upset that Nynaeve hasn't returned through the arches. Because they both think of themselves as the good guys! Liandrin's motives in the show seems to be along the lines of "You need to have power so that others can't have power over you" while Sheriam's in the books were about being Black Ajah essentially to get ahead in the Tower but never expecting that she would actually need to do anything TOO terribly bad in exchange. Neither of them wanted Nynaeve to die or get hurt (they were both probably hoping to turn her to the Black Ajah). It's also really funny that it's entirely possible that they do not know that the other one is also Black Ajah.

8. Theory: being able to sense latent channelers may be a Talent rather than something either everyone or no one can do. Because it's one specific damane who comes out to point out the individual women to get dragged off to be damane, rather than it being the two women who were used to attack the village.

They are hitting the dehumanization angle hard. Egwene's 'training' is going to be so hard to watch.

9. Ishamael doesn't seem like he was expecting to find Perrin here, so I don't think Ingtar has been in regular contact with him. I really do wonder where exactly the Darkfriend social happened, timeline-wise, to the rest of the season thus far.

10. Ah, goodbye, Uno. I'll miss you, but you went out like a boss. Given the changes that were made to the plot, this does make a ton of sense -- Uno is not a man who backs down easily and he's also not a plot-relevant character really... ever, at any point. He's a fun character for flavor but someone who can be sacrificed to illustrate a narrative point without needing to change any of the story in the future.

11. Changing Logain to being able to see men who can channel as opposed to ta'veren makes a lot of sense on a practical level -- Mat was sitting right next to Rand, so if he saw ta'veren, then he would have seen both of them glowing; making it about Rand being a channeling focuses Logain's attention and memory in on Rand specifically.

12. Rand being kept out of the knowledge loop here kinda cracks me up because "Rand is on an information diet" is something that kept coming up in the books and it frustrated me so much because, in the books, it was consistently a result of his allies just never being willing to tell him a fucking thing ever unless he bullied them into it or spied on them. It makes a lot more sense here that he doesn't know what's going on with anyone else's plotlines! Taking something frustrating from the books and making it make sense is a really good habit that the show has been doing.

13. Lanfear continues to be the funniest girl in the world. She is just on cloud nine so far in s2, cruising along living her best life. Also, we see that her inn cheekily has her personal symbols as their sign.

14. Given how much Rand is experiencing the class divide in Cairhien and how much he's seen the poor get mistreated and looked down on by the rich and titled, I almost wonder if he isn't going to get a bit of Mat's arc from the books when he finds out that Elayne is a noble and needs to realize that she's not like the Cairhienin nobles.

15. Mat escaping from one abusive situation only to land right into another one definitely reminds me of the Tylin->Tuon pipeline in the books, of course. The main difference being is that we're dealing with mother figures in the show and not 'romances' (please take that word with a very large grain of salt). Possibly the biggest way that they can set Mat x Tuon up for success is actually showing us her relationship with her mother and how toxic and cruel the environment that she grew up in is. I feel like not killing off the old Empress at all and instead having Tuon take over a faction of the people and split off them off from the Empire would give us a sense that she really IS Not Like The Other Seanchan, instead of just wanting people to believe Mat when he says it despite there being no evidence in Tuon's actual behavior (I'm trying to remember who originally suggested that idea, but it was a while ago, so I have forgotten; I'm sorry!).

16. Liandrin grinding in to Mat how worthless and what an awful friend he is will, presumably, be some pretty good setup for him to show himself to be both loyal and vital in the final episode, though there will probably be more pain for him in the upcoming episodes (maybe involving what happens with Min's viewing about him stabbing Rand).

17. Lanfear is buzzing on such a high of getting show off of her Personal Dragon to a fancy group of lords and ladies at the start of this party.

18. Rand's conversation with Moiraine's sister is particularly fascinating! There's a queen of Cairhien but I suspect that it's not a Damodred (maybe I'll be wrong and Anvaere is the queen! We'll see!). That Anvaere reaches out to the mysterious ~outlander lord~ and shares so much with him is very intriguing, especially if we end up seeing her again later in the season (once Moiraine arrives in Cairhien?).

18. Here is where the cracks in Lanfear's illusion of perfect happiness with her New Lews Therin are beginning to show: he's keeping secrets from her, he's doubting her, and then he just leaves her behind. She is probably getting some very unhappy flashbacks right about now.

19. I wonder if Rand's bad experience with Logain here will inform his choices in the future. In the books, there isn't really a good reason for him to give Taim free rein over the school, but if it's more of a "Taim vs Logain" situation and he already doesn't trust Logain (and Taim appears less affected by the madness), then him trusting Taim might make more sense.

20. Mat being released from a prison cell and not knowing where to go and then (temporarily in this case) returning to his prison gives me echoes of "Mat inexplicably appears by magic in Ebou fucking Dar, a place that treated him like shit for months" from A Memory of Light, lol.

21. Perrin feeling wary about getting too wolfy because of his encounter with Ishamael feels like a much better reason that we got in the books... though I wonder if we'll follow it up by having him meet... shit, the guy who lost himself to the wolf; do not remember his name. But I'm thrilled to have him hanging out with Elyas and the wolves (Hopper?) for now.

22. Liandrin calling Mat Cauthon, agent of chaos, "nothing if not predictable" feels like it needs to bite her in the ass at some point.

23. Yeah, on rewatch, the sex dream is definitely Lanfear feeling like she can finally show her possessiveness and anger in Rand's dream. She is MAD at him for keeping secrets and leaving without her, but she can't show it when he's awake because it doesn't fit her carefully crafted persona. She does NOT like her men with an air of mystery -- she wants to know every tiny thing that he's thinking and feeling. I wonder if Rand actually did light the roof on fire or if Lanfear helped it along -- she's definitely taking advantage of his vulnerability in the aftermath of the fire. "If you ever leave me like that again, I will kill you." Yeah, that's absolutely Lanfear.

And, you know, her inn burning down does mean that she doesn't have to worry about dealing with it anymore. Now that she's had a taste of Rand in fancy coats, I think she probably wants to try to figure out a way to make it happen again.

24. Nynaeve's dream does have a couple of painful easter eggs in it -- Mat gets a wound over his eye; Perrin gets killed by an axe.

Nynaeve does forcibly bring back the arches in the books too, just without so much happening in the illusionary life. But I liked this a lot because of how much it gave us from the other characters who believed that Nynaeve was dead.

25. So, my theories about what we might get in episode four. Wow.

Rand's trajectory... I don't think he's done with Logain. But I feel like ep4 is going to be a big one for him, based on the title (Daughter of the Night). Rand may find out the truth about Selene in this episode, which would be a. be a pretty big betrayal but also b. might make him realize that it's not likely that the Dark One is actually dead.

Moiraine is presumably on her way to Cairhien right now, but it doesn't seem like she thinks Rand himself is there, but more that she's investigating the poem situation, so they may run across each other by accident.

Everyone is going to get to react to Nynaeve powering her way out of the arches (like a boss). I am very curious if Lan is going to spend an episode in the Tower before going after Moiraine... but if Actual Lan goes to the Tower... hard to imagine he wouldn't tell Nynaeve, at least, that Rand is still alive. He knows how deeply Nynaeve cares about the Two Rivers kids.

Unless Liandrin tricks Nynaeve, Elayne, and Egwene into leaving the Tower before Lan arrives there?

Where are Mat and Min going! Mat can't be going after Egwene & co to save them because... nothing to save them from at the moment. Where would Liandrin want him to be led? Falme? I mean, maybe, but he can't channel, so it's not a secure prison for Mat like it would be for the girls.

Perrin's storyline is going to teach us more about the Seanchan and wolfbrothering, I imagine. Maybe some scouting. He can truthfully tell any Seanchan soldiers (if he runs across any) that he's taken the oaths.

Will we follow right on from episode 3 or is there going to be a timeskip to give the characters some time to travel to new locations?

[ranchthoughts]

moments of ephemerality/permanence/YOLO/photography/voyeurism/control/hypocrisy etc. etc. in Only Friends ep. 6

first, where we've been so far

Permanence vs. ephemerality

in romantic relationships: Mew asking Top to meet his parents at the end of the year IF they are still together, Top insisting they would be still together and multiple times over the episode talking about being with Mew for the long haul/forever

in platonic relationships: Mew telling Ray they will be friends forever, Ray confronting everyone at the bar with uncomfortable truths while telling Mew he will always support him, Sand telling Top they will never be friends vs. Top asking Sand why he can't just let bygones be bygones

And a more general comment: while there was a ton of fallout from last episode, particularly from the fight in Sand and Nick's apartment, there was also a lot of... moving past it? At least on the surface. Sand didn't contact Ray for a while but when they were back together again at the pool table Sand told Ray there was nothing to be mad about, Ray can have feelings for whoever he wants. Sand also seemed happy for Nick spending time with Boston, despite Boston breaking up their nice evening the other day. Ray and Boston are on thin ice but were still attending meetings with the professor and Mew's birthday in the same room - this did quickly go south over the course of the episode, but before that they didn't seem to have told anyone else about their blow up. Things continued to simmer and spilled over in a big way this episode, but it made me wonder, like Chueam not telling April about her short films, how often fights and betrayals have happened in the past and how often they've been pushed down and smoothed over and ignored in this friend group. @lurkingshan noted a similar thought in the comments on her post here; that we are seeing the relationships between the characters shift very quickly from episode to episode and that is another example of ephemerality.

Another big win for the ephemerality squad came through this episode: the reveal that that if Boston doesn't graduate, he will go live in New York with his mother. Boston's dad frames it as "if he doesn't graduate" but Boston talking to Nick afterwards makes it sound like a done deal - Boston doesn't plan on graduating, or if he does, he's going to New York anyways. Boston doesn't need to try, he's immune to consequences: fail school and he gets to go to New York; antagonize his friends irreparably and he will be in New York and never have to see them again. There's no need to build permanent, lasting connections with people (romantic or platonic) if he is planning on jumping ship, so no need to treat people around him with care or respect or be accountable for his actions. We've been talking about proximity based friendships lately and here's another example; to Boston, his time here, and his relationships with these people, have an expiration date. (I wonder if Mew, Ray, and Chueam know?)

Two more thoughts:

Sand's mom says he shouldn't be worrying about her but instead living his "wild teenaged life" (encouraging ephemerality, connecting ephemerality with youth), but also cautions him that one day his "we have fun sometimes" relationship with Ray might one day not be fun anymore (encouraging permanence and lasting relationships? or telling him to walk if he isn't having fun, i.e. encouraging ephemerality?).

Mew tells Ray that if he keeps this lifestyle up he will be dead before he hits 30 - the theme of death, the fleetingness of life, and consequences! This hits harder knowing what we do about Ray's past (and Ray's past with Mew), and given the jacket that Ray is wearing which reads "Is your life worth something?" on the back. This is the question Ray struggles with, and it impacts his relationships with others too (Sand desperately offering Ray love and Ray, unable to believe someone would genuinely care for him, lashing out).

Changing and not changing

Last episode there was a lot about changing: Nick going to the gym and switching up his wardrobe, Ray experiencing a day in Sand's life, Mew having sex, Top and Mew exchanging "I love you", Boston talking about settling down, Mew deciding to get Lasik. This episode, we had more changes and a lot of characters commenting on whether or not change is possible:

Mew says: change takes time and words are not enough, that it is hard to stop loving someone so easily

Top says: people can change, he has changed for Mew (giving up his playboy ways and drugs) and he can continue to change for Mew [though who knows if he has actually given up drugs, and he did sleep with Boston while Mew and him were together], but Ray can't change (he will always be in love with Mew and trying to get with him)

Sand says: some people - like Top - can't change ("once a prick, always a prick"), Nick has changed (his wardrobe and his interests, as he gets more into extreme sports)

Ray: Ray wants Mew to be happy and find someone good, even if it doesn't involve him, showing a change in his thoughts and feelings about Mew (Mew still matters a lot to him, but he's working on letting him go). People can change - though it might not be easy

Can these characters change? That remains to be seen. A lot of the changes we've seen so far have been questionable (did Top give up drugs for Mew? does Boston have any longing to settle down?) or it's still too early in the series to tell if they will stick (Nick's new wardrobe, Ray getting over Mew, etc.).

This idea of whether or not people can change relates to the theme of labels we've explored previously (1, 2). People get labeled by others and it can be very hard to shake those appellations or the expectations attached to them. We see that in this episode, like when Ray approaches Mew in the bathroom and Mew assumes he's there to get high and begins lecturing him about safety, or when the friend group is talking to their professor and Chueam says "Even Boston is helping a lot. Surprised?". These labels can limit and affect our own self-perceptions too (the best example being Ray, who has firmly internalized the idea of being a "burden").

To use an example for the types of questions I am mulling over: Is Top changing for Mew (did he actually give up drugs, etc.)? Is Top sincere about wanting to change for Mew (is he enjoying the monogamous life), is this something he is enjoying? Is it possible for Top to change sincerely in some ways ("for Mew") and not in others (e.g., how differently Top behaves with Mew vs. with Sand and others)? Is Sand right that "once a prick, always a prick"? Is Boston right that Top will always be a playboy? What does it say about Sand and Boston that they assume Top can't change; is Sand and Boston (and others) assuming Top can't change preventing him from changing (sincerely)? Has Top internalized the labels other people assign him (playboy, top-tier, prick) to the extent that he cannot be anything else, that these will always be a part of him?

@neuroticbookworm wrote here that "the self-identities of the youth is fleeting and ephemeral," and notes these characters are fighting and comparing themselves to one another without knowing who they or their friends are, and the hypocrisy and insecurity in that. A lot of the change and absence of change we see in these characters comes from a place of comparison: Nick wants to change to be more like Top (switching up his wardrobe, going to the gym, etc.), Boston refuses to change who he is because he needs to prove his way/ideology is Right and Better than Mew's (though he does express interest in settling down... after Mew and Top start getting cozy [though again, does he mean it?]), Mew has sex with Top as he fears losing him to his playboy past/other people who will have sex with him, etc.

And along with comparison, and the insecurity and hypocrisy in that, comes the idea of control: if we can control how other people are seen (through the enforcement of labels), we can control how we are seen and make ourselves look superior (setting ourselves up in opposition to the labels we give other people), and we can make sure our superiority remains unquestioned (by enforcing other people's labels so hard they can't escape, even in their own heads). Of course, control itself has been fleeting and ephemeral in this show - the characters are grasping at straws to maintain some sort of control/superiority over their friends and the situation.

Ownership

Speaking of control, I wanted to throw a couple of ideas into the ring.

At the pool party in episode 3, Top asks Mew to leave, Mew says he wants to stay and help Ray, Ray responds sharply and tells Top "He doesn't want to go. Don't make him". Top, sensitive to challenges from others (and especially from Ray), immediately ups the ante and is more snarky than he usually is in front of Mew, reminding Ray of who Mew's one and only boyfriend is, then drags Mew off.

Here, Sand is antagonizing Top and Top snaps, saying "I get anyone I want. What about you? Who do you get?"* We saw Top speaking like this at the very beginning of the series - like Boston, he takes pride he who he can "get" and keep.

*again, comparisons. And insinuating Top is better because he can get (and keep) a boyfriend, unlike Sand.

At Mew's birthday party in the bar, after Yo jokingly asked her boyfriend if she can date Mew for the day. Top plays it his response off as charming and loving protectiveness, and others agree, but interesting to consider given the types of comments Top makes (when Mew isn't around).

All the above reminds me of the multiple times this series Top has casually tried to sway Mew's opinions, specifically against Ray.

In episode 5, he insinuates that Ray doesn't work hard on this project, that Mew deserves better, that Mew should change the project to being at Top's hotel. In episode 6, Mew brings up Ray and Top says "Why are you still friends with him? He's never going to stop liking you." Top frames these as simple observations, just friendly suggestions because he cares about Mew (his smiles, his carefully casual tone, "What? *laughs* Am I wrong?", "Honestly...," "You're such a good friend and boyfriend. No one can get over you easily"), not something that Mew necessarily has to do or take to heart but Top can't help but notice... But we know Top knows Ray doesn't like him and that Ray has feelings for Mew, and given Top's expression when he found Ray at Mew's house in episode 4, when he learned Ray was Mew's first kiss, when Ray challenged him at the pool party, when Ray spoke encouragingly to Mew while lambasting everyone else at the bar... Top doesn't like Ray either. These casual, friendly observations and suggestions feel a lot more pointed. Ray is a challenge to Top, and Top wants him gone - preferably without alarming or alerting Mew to his true intentions.

A few people have noted the interesting split between Top-with-Mew and Top-with-others, how he becomes cockier, snarkier, meaner, and more possessive (see: Top with Nick, Top with Sand), and I'm looking forward to keeping my eye on it, especially now as Mew has thrown back the covers and Top is on the defensive.

If I can throw another observation into the ring... Ray speaking about Mew: "I want you to be happy. Whatever you decide to do, whoever you choose, I hope it all turns out great". I think this also speaks to Ray and his own lack of self-worth, but it's an interesting comparison to make between Top and Mew and Ray and Mew, who seem to have a closer and more genuine friendship that the others in the group (despite Mew's careless comments and lecturing about Ray's drinking and habits, and the love and expectations Ray has pinned on Mew after he saved him in the bathtub). Also! Very interesting to note given what @twig-tea points out in this post: that when Mew is sleeping Ray kisses him on the lips and Top kisses him on the forehead. I have no conclusions, only observations...

Boundaries and hypocrisy

Nick tells Gap: "Not replying means I don't want to see you. How dare you walk in and greet me," when in episode 4 we had Boston accosting Top in an elevator after the latter ignored his messages. @bengiyo pointed out another hypocritical parallel - Boston continues "I don't want to be friends with someone who sneakily recorded me"... having of course sneakily recorded his friends Ray and Mew. Again, Boston has firm boundaries about himself (don't contact me if I am ignoring your messages, don't take intimate photos of me) that he does not follow/steps past for other people (harassing Top in the elevator, taking intimate photos of Nick and Mew and Ray).

Recording and voyeurism

The one sex tape to rule them all continues to get passed around the friend group, finally reaching the subjects themselves. I expect more fallout to come (Boston's dad still has his campaign and Boston still doesn't know where the recording came from), but what we got was delicious. I wondered if the car recording would be questioned or disbelieved by anyone, given it's only audio and no visuals, but apparently everyone can recognize Boston and Top by their moans! There's something to be said about trust too, how Ray immediately trusts the recording Sand plays for him, Mew immediately trusts the recording Ray plays for him...

Top did some recording of his own, this time with a paper and pen (after seeing him take notes last episode on his and Mew's work date). He presented Mew with a collection of drawings he's done of him, capturing moments from their relationship in a permanent pen and paper form. I wonder also - with drawing, is there even more of an ability to construct the narrative... photography captures what is there, while drawing you can adjust what you'd like. This fits in the recurring theme of voyeurism too - Top drawing Mew when he's sleeping or otherwise not aware.

I remember on Tumblr ages ago someone talking about Sand and Ray and audio (records), Boston and Nick and visual (photos), and speculating that Top and Mew might have something to do with writing/drawing (I can't remember who said it, but I know @distant-screaming has been playing with this concept too). Here we go!

tagging the ephemerality squad: @chickenstrangers, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming, @lurkingshan, @neuroticbookworm, @rocketturtle4, @slayerkitty , @twig-tea , @waitmyturtles , @wen-kexing-apologist

[analoghorrorexplained]

Every single plot inconsistency and error In UrbanSPOOK in order.

This covers the first 6 episodes. Content warning for just about everything. As for why I am doing this? I hate bad writing that relies on shock value.

EDIT: apparently Urbanslug is Swedish which honestly explains the lack of understanding of American gun culture and some of the bizarre logistical details. Either way, I take back nothing. If you googled enough to describe murder in this much detail, you can google enough to understand the setting of your story.

These uploads are digitized versions of the tapes in question so we can assume they were found recently. However, the number at the end of the tapes is a 985 number which is an area code that used to be used in Lousiana for the areas outside of New Orleans. However, it was only used from 2001 till Hurricane Katrina. After the hurricane hit most numbers were switched back to a 504 area code which the 985 one was meant to replace. This means the murders had to have taken place between 2001-2008 when the code was switched back to 504. While this might not seem like a big deal since VHS was still around in the early 2000s, DVD had already outpaced VHS sales by 2001 and by 2008 VHS tapes themselves stop being produced on a wide scale. Given these taps are implied to be a method of locating victims and or the killer, it seems like a pretty bizarre way to go about doing that since the format these tapes were made in was already beginning to die when they were made. And given how the internet was becoming more popular around this time, its strange how the person making these takes did not use that format instead given it was both available and made more sense to get the word out there.

Speaking of the tapes: they are formatted in a very bizarre way. If the person making these tapes wanted to bring the killer to justice why is a majority of the focus placed on how the people in the tapes were murdered and the paintings left behind? Why would the focus not be placed on clues left behind by the killer like fingerprints, camera footage, personal effects, or anything that might point people in the direction of where the killer is? Why are there VERY FEW exact locations mentioned? Why are the details so vague? If this is meant to raise awareness or find answers why are all the details that might do that so vague? If these tapes were meant for the police like as a "this is what is going on" kind of way (like what we see in the first episodes of Mandela cataloge regarding the alternates) why does it have a contact phone number at the end? If a PI made this the same general "why would you graphically describe the murder but not include any other relevant information" issue still applies. And if this is a recording of, lets say, a true crime type show: where is the host, B-roll footage, or anything else to indicate this is a show? And if the killer made these: why add the number? I get the killer is cocky since he is leaving paintings behind: but this is a bit too much "suspend your disbelief"ey for me if we are going by the rules of normal reality, which it seems we are. These tapes seem to not have any reason for existing other to provide a backstory to the paintings. They serve no in-world purpose.

Why were the police in a random abandoned warehouse and why were all 3 paintings stashed in that 1 specific place. Was this where the killer was camping out? Where were these other 2 paintings found? Why Is the tape leaving out so much relevant detail?

While 2 of the first victims are women which implies this being sexually motivated, the last victim out of the 3 initial victims isn't. Along with this, there is no pattern between the parts taken/mutilated nor a connection between any of these people. Since we are not shown dates or locations there is no way to know how connected these victims are. Why is the killer going after these people?

If this has gone public, why is more not being done to stop the killer or at least track him down? Why are people not on higher alert? What police department is investigating this? And since "2 days ago" is mentioned in the episode: ONCE AGAIN WHAT TIME FRAME ARE WE OPERATING ON HERE?!

Why is the killer targeting cops? It makes sense from a "haha fuck you, you cant catch me" perspective but it does not make sense for the painter to target bill specifically and deviate from the "pattern" already kind of set by episode 1 unless Bill was somehow the head of the investigation, which was not ever stated.

"A few miles" is a long distance for corpses to be dragged or for people to be taken on-foot (which they presumably were). If the collins family was still alive when this happened, given Bill was a cop, why did he not fight back? And if not, how was the painter able to get them from point A to B without being caught (unless the car was ditched after)

If some of the paintings were found BEFORE the events of the lighthouse (including the ones featuring Jennifer and the bunt kid) why did the police not cross-reference the missing person's names with the names found on the paintings?

If those photos shown are supposed to be in-universe photos of the Collins family before they were murdered, they were either turned into something (other than mush) by the painter or those are not actual photos. They look too much like the paintings for me to think of them as in-universe photographs.

Why did the painter rip the twins in half and sew them back together again? While his mutilation of Cory's genitals and the stuffing of a brick down the throat of his sister (in a manner similar to a blowjob) seems consistent given the fact the painter is more or less a sex offender: the sewing people together does not. Unless you want to look at the parts which... given Cory was mutilated from the waste down and his sister's torso was sewn onto his legs... you cannot make the argument that it was for the intent of making a "futa". It is just brutality for brutality's sake.

If that cabin is implied to be the home of the painter just like the lighthouse is implied to be a body dump WHY ARE POLICE NOT LOOKING INTO IT FURTHER

How was the painter able to get into Tom's 3rd-floor apartment via the drainage pipe on the outside and manage to encase him entirely in wax? Was Tom a candle enthusiast? Did the painter have a vat of hot wax with him? How was this logistically possible in the time frame we are given. Along with this, given how Tom is neither a child nor woman (or police from what we know), why was he targeted? Further more: since wax does not always dry the fastest, especially when there is that much, how was Tom not able to free himself/why was he in an upright position? Unless Tom was drugged, even with the lack of arms he could have still moved.

Sean is a PI helping the police with a series of violent murders. He also presumably lives in Louisiana, AKA the South. This is presumably post-9/11. Why was Sean not armed and why did no neighbors come to actually help? How was the dog also not able to do anything either? If he got Sean by surprise I might be more understanding but for a PI investigating a violent serial killer in an area of the US known for its gun ownership: I feel like the fact the Painter has not been shot either by the cop, Sean, or ANY of the neighbors or victims is impressive

Assuming Sean installing a security camera was motivated by the painter, why does Sean only have 1 SINGULAR CAMERA. WHY WOULD SEAN NOT HAVE ADDITIONAL CAMERAS? And furthermore, why would nobody else have additional cameras around Sean?

This part about Tina' and the "south coast" road trip is confusing since the "South Coast" is apart of California which is on the other side of the country. If they meant "Gulf Coast" (which is where Louisiana is located the murder location would make more sense. However, due to it being named strangely, I am not sure if they meant California or Louisiana given other named locations (IE Tiger lake) is in Louisiana. Once again, I have no idea where things are happening.

If the cops found Tina so shortly after the attack, why was the painter also not found then either?

Why did the painter inject her with something? It does not seem to alter her mental state, she is still totally conscious, and I do not think the painter is using anesthetics before he amputates her ENTIRE ARM and her feet or is attempting biological warfare. What was the point of being injected in the first place?

Tumblr got mad at me so I need to break up the list.

18. Why is the painter so angry Tina lived if he really did not do anything to kill her in the first place. He might have had more planned, I am not sure, but all the painter did was inject her with something that does not seem to be important given we are never told what it is. If its medicine that is wildly out of character. And besides amputating body parts, the bodily damage done to Tina is nowhere near what has happened to other victims. The fact Tina lived is not surprising, at all. Tina would have bled out after awhile but it is not like the hammer to the face, the lighting on fire, or the stabbing in the taint.

19. The painter looks like Riff Raff from rocky horror picture show. This is not a plot hole I just thought it was funny.

20. Once again how is a retired cop who LIVES ON A FARM not armed or able to defend himself from a singular person?

21. This is never addressed but why is the horse skinned in the photo? It died by heart failure due to being pumped full of viagra. Where did its skin go? I get it is supposed to be implied that the horse SAed the wife to death, but I am wondering why the skin being gone is not being acknowledged or if its just from the fact the artist made the horse itself too red.

22. How was the killer able to live in that milk house without ANYBODY noticing.

23. So the painter now have several gimmicks. He seems to target women and children to sexually assault and then mutilate, the people living with them as collateral, and current and ex-police. The painter is also "the painter" so they paint twisted portraits of these people. BUT NOT ONLY THAT, THEY ALSO WEAR THE SKINNED FACES OF THE VICTIMS. So they are a pedo-zoophile rapist who hates cops and skins people that also paints their victims at some point before they die. This is a lot of shit going on. This is also why the victims seem to be all over the place. This serial killer targets too many groups at once.

24. So it is now implied that the painter is making the tapes which,... again, why? Why would the painter have an incentive to do that? They are already taunting the police enough.

25. This is Louisiana WHERE ARE THE SWAMPS. WHERE ARE THE GAITORS, WHY IS THE SETTING NOT USED AT ALL

So in short:

The victims in relation to each other make little sense due to how many "targeted groups" the painter is pulling from. Most serial killers have a type. The painter seems to have several.

The VHS tapes make no sense since they do not really do anything other than info-dump for the viewer of the series. They serve very little in-world purpose and we never see any other media from this universe outside of the paintings left behind or these tapes.

The details regarding location, time and character relationships are extremely vague at best and do not set up a good timeline for us to follow.

The painter being 1 person or even human is really questionable since its kind of implied there is either more than 1 person behind the painter (like a killer and the painter are separate people) or the painter is a demonic/paranormal entity.

For being such an in-universe threat the police seem to be doing fuck all (minus the one PI who is now dead) to stop anything. Its implied we found the painter's lil hideout, why is fuckall being done?

The lack of guns in post-9/11 America, specifically a post-9/11 South.

Why is nobody able to overpower or harm the painter if he is "just a guy"?

Why is there no other in-universe worldbuilding or even testimonies from still living family?

WHERE ARE WE, WHY DID I HAVE TO GOOGLE THE PHONE AREA CODE TO KNOW THAT? WHAT YEAR IS IT? WHY IS THIS EVEN IN VHS FORMAT

[ajwamiju]

Scene 7: Reviews

CW: None

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Thanks to the rehearsals you and Suna did, the rest of the filming went by smoothly with minimal fits of laughter, even for the scenes where Hiroki and Kumiko were implied to have been intimate not long before the scene is supposed to take place (You and Suna bursted into fits of laughter a grand total of 10 times! You would’ve had 50 if you weren’t comfortable with each other).

When you and Suna watched the clips you shot together of that particular scene, you were amazed by both your and Suna's abilities to look so genuinely in love with each other, lying in bed, and holding each other while you both acted out your characters having some pillow talk in a more heartwarming scene of the movie.

“To think our situation was basically the blind leading the blind.” Suna comments as the two of you sit in the bus rented by the studio to bring the crew back home to Tokyo. “The arguments Kumiko and Hiroki had were fucking intense, I think that series drained me more than my 6-year career.”

“They were.” You agree as you nod your head. “I absolutely cannot wait to get back to acting in horror movies. They're much easier than the series we did.”

Suna glances around for a bit before leaning in to whisper in your ear. “Wanna shit on the series when it finally comes out?”

“You don't even have to ask!” You laugh as you lean back into your seat. “Thinking about it, Kumiko and Hiroki were fucking toxic man, don't think they’d actually work out if they were real people.”

“That's true. But I guess they did redeem themselves at the end there when they talked everything out.” Suna shrugs. “I don’t know how our reputation will hold up after this drama comes out, though.”

“I guess we just have to take the L and move on as if we’re not the main characters of the drama.” You sigh. “Even the best actors have a stain in their career.”

The drive from your last shooting location in Kyoto back to Tokyo takes a while, but you don’t feel just how long it is. During the 6-hour drive, you mostly either slept or talked shit with Suna and your crew, gossiping about the latest scandals of celebrities or their secret activities that would get them into scandals.

You and Suna exchange addresses before you both part ways, promising each other to keep in contact and hang out as you click well with him (you also know you both have intentions to star in the same horror movies together and that’s another reason why you’re keeping contact. But that’s honestly a given).

You would contact Suna frequently and you would even meet to hang out during your cooling period before you get another job, the highlight of these hangouts is when you two got to watch the finalised version of the drama you starred in. You both cleared your schedules for the whole day and spent watching all 12 episodes in one day, shit talking and cringing at yourselves as the story unfolds into Director Kurosu’s vision.

“This is never going to get good reviews from anyone.” Suna says as he skips the end credits of episode five to go to episode six.

“Yeah, the trailer’s out and literally the whole internet is confused as fuck.” You comment as the recap for episode five starts. “The first impression from our fans doesn't look good.”

“Let’s just look for a good horror movie to star in by next month. That should steer the public’s attention away from whatever this is.”

What you and Suna didn’t expect though is that the drama you both starred in ended up as a huge hit, to the point where it’s one of the most streamed dramas on all streaming platforms. Fans of both the romance and horror genres banded together to praise the drama as well as you and Suna for your 'phenomenal acting'.

“[Surname]-san and Suna-san’s acting were so good 😭😭😭 I’ve always known they were well-known in the horror genre, but I never knew they would also be this good at doing romance dramas!” -xxTsumufan123, 5 stars

“I’ve been a big fan of Suna-san’s works and have been DYING to see him in a movie with [Surname]-san since I also love her movies. I never thought I would see my dream come true in a romance drama but I’m deffo not disappointed 💯💯💯” -User89302, 5 stars

“Kumiko and Hiroki’s characters fit [Surname]-san and Suna-san so well! The plot of the drama isn’t that light-hearted so it also makes it feel so real and not forced!!! I can’t wait to see them in future instalments, doesn’t even matter if it’s horror, romance, or even comedy!” -Sunasveinythickthighs, 5 stars

“I’m so used to seeing Suna-san and [Surname]-san dying or killing, literally covered in blood. This is a breath of fresh air.” -Yamiki8294, 4.5 stars

You and Suna agree that you’re both dying at the outcome of this drama as well as what’s to come in the near future.

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Taglist: @mirophobic @atrashsith @lilith412426 @rntrsuna @reignsaway @fallenisded @sunaemoby @buttercupp-baby @akari-fujikawa @omlxlaure @soonajeeme (Drop it here to be included in the taglist!)

[makeste]

BnHA Episode 122, a.k.a. NOBUHIKO YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN

THEY CAN'T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT!

oh my god.

so first off, let's just get the one big major criticism out of the way: this episode was definitely not up to the same high quality standards as the first third of this season. and hey, I get it! you're doing 24 episodes in all, you're on a time crunch, and you've only got so many animators to go around. and the quality of some of these earlier season 6 eps (118 and 119 especially) was seriously some of the best this series has ever had. by contrast, chapters 284 and 285, while still easily ranking among my favorite chapters of all time, definitely do not go as hard with the visuals as some of the other War arc chapters (that very last 285 page being the one standout exception).

anyway so yeah, it was still a slight disappointment, but I'm fine with it. it does mean Deku vs Kacchan 2 will still retain its crown as my all time fave, but the real meat of this episode was never going to be about the flashy visuals -- it's all about that sweet, sweet character development.

two more very minor criticisms before I get to the OMG nonstop gushing part of this post! one, they did cut out this scene from ch 282 where Tomura originally had TWO quirk-be-gone bullets in his possession and Kacchan actually destroyed the second one.

YOU THOUGHT WE WOULDN'T REMEMBER, BONES. BUT WE DID. so for everyone who is giving Kacchan his well-earned love, praise, and admiration today, don't forget to also give him props for saving Aizawa's other leg, or whichever other appendage this doubtless would have hit. my boy out here lowkey saving his sensei from being ReDestro'd.

and then one final nitpicky little quibble, which is that the anime subtitlers declined to use the "Catch-A-Kacchan" translation, despite it being the single cleverest translation of all time, and by far Caleb Cook's biggest and most important contribution to the BnHA canon. alas, twas not meant to be. BUT ANYWAY NOW ON TO THE GUSHING.

okay so first off, we all know that Aizawa is an absolute badass and the most metal motherfucker in this entire series, and that Shouto has by this point all but perfected the art of swooping in to save the day at pivotal moments, and that the U.A. kids all need ALL OF THE THERAPY GODDAMMIT, and that Deku is a COMPLETE LUNATIC who thinks that HAVING FUNCTIONAL ARMS IS OVERRATED ANYWAYS. yes and yes and yes and yes. and if you wish, you can read all about my thoughts on these things and more, here and here and here and here.

but you already know what I actually came here to talk about today.

first of all, YOU GUYS. the music. THIS FUCKING MUSIC, THOUGH. they used the exact same OST track that was used for the "why was I the one who ended All Might?" speech all the way back in DvK2. THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE "TIME FOR NOBUHIKO TO FLEX HIS VOICE ACTING CHOPS" MUSIC. A TRADITION HAS BEEN BORN.

anyway so if anyone needs me I'll just be sitting here playing this scene on repeat until the end of time. no big deal though. I can quit at any time. not like I'm obsessed with it or anything. I definitely love this scene and this character a perfectly normal amount.

All Might talking about how Katsuki understood from the get-go about how OFA was a secret that could put other people at great risk really hits hard in hindsight. especially when you realize that Katsuki really did know right from the start, and he willingly accepted that risk with no hesitation, and he absolutely did suffer consequences for it (it was his knowledge of OFA that led to him following Deku and subsequently getting involved in this battle). and I don't doubt that he has absolutely zero regrets.

okay but can we seriously just talk for a sec about the way Kacchan's anxiety is practically boiling over when he starts to ask All Might about the Fourth's cause of death?? I feel like this is one thing that kind of got overlooked at the time in the manga because we were so completely distracted by EVERY SINGLE OTHER DAMN THING IN THAT CHAPTER lol. but hearing it again here, you feel how worried he actually is about Deku, and idk why but it all of a sudden just hit me so damn hard.

"I'm worried about him. you are, too." because that truly is what this whole conversation is really about. or at least that's the driving force behind it. behind this whole episode, in fact. it's simple, when you get right down to it: Kacchan is afraid that Deku is going to die. it's literally been the biggest fear on his mind ever since Deku unlocked SIXQUIRKS. right from the start, his mind was immediately going to the worst case scenarios. he immediately deduced that OFA might have a deeper connection to AFO than any of them realized (shoutout to Kacchan for being the original "Deku is a horcrux" truther lol. ONE DAY HORIKOSHI WILL FINALLY REVEAL THE TRUTH AND PROVE US RIGHT). he instantly zeroed in on the sobering fact that all of the previous OFA users died young. and as he reveals here, he took particular notice of the fact that All Might seems to be hiding something about OFA IV's death, and he is goddamn PRESSED about it.

and I absolutely LOVE the way that Nobu voiced this part of the conversation. when he starts to question All Might, his breathing starts to pick up a little, and his voice starts to get louder, and the words start to spill out faster and faster almost like he's in a rush to get it all out, and his voice starts to crack just a little, and he goes from not looking at All Might to hesitantly, almost fearfully glancing at him from the side, and then finally turning to face him head on with his eyes all wary and his teeth gritted like he's bracing himself for the very worst (because he is).

and then he finally just asks him, "was it because you realized something?" and then he takes in this achingly hesitant little breath before finishing with, "...about One for All?" and just. the whole scene is just SO well done. like, he's seriously so fucking scared about this, though. but at the same time he just needs to know, and just. oh my god. and Nobuhiko manages to emote all of this so clearly, and that is such a difficult line to walk when you're dealing with a character like Katsuki who's always so hesitant to show his vulnerability. he has to portray these two separate layers of Bakugou at the same time -- the part of him that is trying his hardest to be nonchalant and matter-of-fact in order to hide his fears and emotions; while at the same time also portraying said emotions which are clearly seeping through anyway, regardless of his efforts.

anyway so yeah. I could talk about this for eighty years and never get sick of it honestly but let's move on.

let me tell you guys, I've been bracing myself for this scene for two full years, and it still kicked my ass. THIS SCENE HAD NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. literally RIGHT IN the feels. direct hit.

"he's always been that way." no, but guys. the regret when he says that. the way he states it with such simplicity and clarity. almost profound. this is just a truth of the world. this is just how Deku is. this is something that took him so long to understand, but now that he does, he can't fathom how he was never able to see it before. and then that ever-so-slight bitterness that creeps into his voice as he goes on to describe how he fucked it all up. ;_;

and then last but not least!!

"ijimeta." one word, in Japanese. it all comes down to that. and his voice gets so quiet. this whole last part of his speech is so quiet and so soft. but when he says this very last part, his voice wavers perfectly on that last word, and it just. sounds so resigned, somehow, but also just... almost faltering, for just a moment. you can hear the regret as clear as day, but you also hear the fear once again as he finally reveals this fact -- literally his biggest shame; the worst thing that he's ever done -- to All Might. his hero. just, damn.

anyway. so needless to say, despite my expectations being SKY HIGH, this scene absolutely met all of them and blew me away. as expected from the best fucking voice actor in Japan, according to me, a single lone person, whose subjective opinion is absolutely definitely not biased in any possible way.

back to the action! and Nobu getting to do his very best Deku impression lol.

can you believe this kid. one single nerdy analysis speech was all it took for him to start emitting such powerful Main Character Energy that even Endeavor got taken in and was just automatically following orders lol.

awesome choice of music here while Deku and Tomura continued to battle and Bakugou laid out his plan. you know it's good when they still manage to make you feel the tension even though this is basically just a generic action scene, and you additionally already know exactly what's going to happen.

I have no idea why, but that part with Deku's "Kacchan... my 'Deku' means 'you can do it!'" speech juxtaposed against the image of him going all out against Tomura with such fierce determination hit me like 100x harder than it did in the manga. I was NOT expecting that to be as powerful as it was. damn near gave me chills.

literally the only time I've ever been on board with the whole "FUCK YEAH, I'LL JUST BREAK ALL MY BONES AT YOU!!" deal lol. it literally makes no goddamn sense but this scene is just so raw.

THEN WE YEET THE ENDEAVOR!!!!

SO ON-BRAND. NO DEKU-INSPIRED PLAN IS EVER TRULY COMPLETE WITHOUT A GOOD YEETING.

and then the next few moments are some of the most legitimately unsettling of the entire series, as we have Tomura screaming at the top of his lungs while being burnt to cinders (and I mean, I love Tomura dearly, but I get it; he literally just Thanos'd tens of thousands of innocent people), followed by AFO's creepy fucking ghost hand reaching out all "LEND ME YOUR BODY~~~" which is a scene that absolutely NO ONE ASKED FOR but okay.

but then right afterwards though! when AFO finally did take over, and you hear that "TV shutting down" sound effect all of a sudden? and then the next few scenes with all the BKDK flashbacks are also weirdly TV-themed? I could not for the life of me figure this out at first, but now I'm actually thinking it could be a reference to the chapter 306 color page?

OR MAYBE NOT? I actually have no idea. anyway though it may have been random af but it worked for me, what can I say.

AND THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH AT LONG LAST.

THIS ACTUALLY IS SO PRETTY THOUGH?? LIKE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT COLOR COMBINATION AT ALL?

AND IT HAPPENS SO QUICKLY!!!!??? YOU BARELY EVEN HAVE TIME TO BLINK?!?!!

oh. my. god.

THE WAY THE MUSIC SUDDENLY GOT QUIET. THE WAY HIS NARRATING VOICE CAME ON AND, PRAISE EVERYTHING, IT REALLY WAS DEEPER. THAT REALLY WAS THE ADULT HIM. SAME AS DEKU. MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS ARE SO FUCKING MUCH RIGHT NOW.

AND THEN THE FLASHBACKS!! THE SCENES OF THEM IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!! AND GROUND ZERO!! AND THEN CUTTING TO THE TWO OF THEM AS LITTLE BABIES, AND THE TV SCREEN ALL OF A SUDDEN SWITCHING TO COLOR??? AND THE HANDS??? THE REACHING?!?!

AND THEN?!?!?!

"HEY MAKESTE, IF WE GO AHEAD AND ACTUALLY MAKE THE VOLUME 29 COVER CANON, WILL YOU FINALLY FORGIVE US FOR ALL OF THE HALF-BAKED PAINFULLY OOC FILLER EPISODES AND OVAS?" WELL, STUDIO BONES, YOU DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN, BUT HOW CAN I POSSIBLY REFUSE.

AND THEN THEY FULL ON MURDERED ME!!!!!

that's right bitches. DREAD IT. RUN FROM IT. THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARRIVES ALL THE SAME.

holy shit. and then THE END CREDITS oh my freaking heart. words can't even describe.

Studio Bones out here not resting until they've succeeded in making EVERY SINGLE PERSON feel the MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF SADNESS THAT A HUMAN BEING CAN SUSTAIN. their callousness truly knows no bounds.

anyway so there we have it! part one of the spectacular season 6 Bakugou Katsuki Redemption Saga. I laughed, I cried, I cried, I cried, I cried a little bit more, and then I cried a little bit more after that. final verdict: yeah, it was pretty good.

[willkimurashat]

Exactly 0 people asked-

Oh, never mind, Andy wants to know, so here I am yet again, rating Love Island the Game: Double Trouble this time!

Here’s the rating post I did for s5, for anyone curious:)

I just wanna preface this by saying, I love this game. I know it is greatly flawed and I get frustrated, annoyed, irritated, riled up very often, but it’s still my comfort place and I enjoy playing it so very much. I am aware that fusebox as a company has many issues and I am not thrilled that they might be using AI to write their scripts, even if it's just a speculation. I don't spend any money on the game and I play it on plane mode, so I don't get any ads. Additionally, I think it’s long established that nothing will ever repeat the success of s2, the one hit wonder I’m afraid, so I choose to not compare it to earlier seasons to not ruin my expectations. However, my one hope for s6 was for it to not be worse than s5. Did it fail my expectations? No. Did it exceed them? Also no. But it did meet them exactly where I set them, so to me, this season was generally a success. But not without its issues, of course.

Disclaimer: I tried to be as objective as I can, but at the end of the day, I’m a mere human and these are all just my humble, subjective opinions. Feel free to agree/disagree/add on/make your own:)

Also, beware of the potential spoilers ahead:)

So, without a further ado, shall we?

Character Design: 9/10

Lots of hotties this season, that is for sure. The design team (I think/hope/want to believe that a human did the art for the most part at least) worked very well this time and the art style is wonderful. I personally found myself attracted to most of the islanders - Bella, Jamal, Ozzy/Marshall, Chloe, Andy of course… Their faces look proportional, I love most of their facial expressions, the blushing faces are just so adorable (especially Andy’s, but I may be a little bit biased lol). Took the point off for some weird poses though (*ahem* Andy *ahem*), some odd expressions, Ryan’s mop of hair that just doesn’t sit right on him, and for the fact that both sets of twins have the exact same sprite - I understand that they’re identical and share the same face, but like, give them a different pose at least?

Character Personality: 6/10

This is where my main issue lies: they’ve given us so many fun characters with distinct personalities, and then they merged them into one. Why? Less work, I assume. How can a bad boy wannabe Jamal who never settles for a relationship act the exact same way as a golden retriever footballer Lewie? Conversely, how can a golden retriever Lewie become a villain in the same exact way that a suave, confident pilot Roberto became? Why do we never learn about their personalities besides the first date in the first volume and then through random sprinkling of one sentence facts about them to give a slight illusion of variety? Why are all their personalities boiled down to recollection of past events that were so surface-leveled and so superficial that even talking about them in later episodes feels like an afterthought, or, dare I say, a chore? Why do all the og’s personalities revolve around love bombing? So much potential down the drain.

Personally, my favorite islanders this season are Casa Amor people. To me it seemed that that’s where the most energy went when creating the season. Everyone in Casa was their own person with unique personalities and stayed that way for the longest time. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they all had unique dialogue and shared bits about their life, their worries and concerns about relationships and life that helped me get to know them better, understand them as people, as characters with personalities. And even after being merged post casa, though they suffered from the merging as well, Flo remained the most interesting girl and Marshall kept his snarkiness still.

Character Diversity: 5/10

This section brings me great sadness, I can't lie. Yes, this is about Grace. You've talked about it, I've talked about it - we're all in consensus that the way her character was treated is absolutely wrong. How many times can Fusebox step on the same rake to finally get it in their heads and stop villainizing women of color? It is frustrating. The treatment of Black women in the fandom is already... not great, even if the characters themselves did absolutely nothing wrong (Thabi, Genevieve). So, of course, let's perpetuate the stereotypes, let's make the one Black woman in the game possessive, territorial, immature, and the main rival to MC if you're romancing Ozzy. Why? What reason does it serve? Who hurt you, fusebox?

Let's look further. LGBTQ+ players were downright neglected this season. All three queer women in the game share the same route - it's not really a choice to keep eliminating women so that you're only stuck with one per wlw route and basically pre-pick who you like most solely based on looks. Why can't we have them all in the villa at the same time and get to actually learn who they are, then ruminate on who we like the most, and toss and turn in our sleep, and then pick amongst them? Why couldn't we couple up with Bella right away? There was literally no obstacle to do that, it's just ridiculous that we can bring her to the hideaway, but not couple up. Why can’t it be done in equal measure to, you know, picking male li’s?

Overall, I’m glad the cast is diverse, but I still wish we’d gotten a better look into everyone’s culture and identity, and I would’ve loved to see at least some nod to their cultures throughout the game.

MC Design: 9.5/10

MC is beautiful. Every single MC I’ve seen is absolutely gorgeous and none look the same. She fits in with the cast, she stands out as a true love islander, she looks fantastic in a couple with any and all LI’s. Might even say, s6 MC is the most beautiful and unique MC we’ve ever had. Half a point off for reusing s5 pose - while it didn’t bother me at all, that is a little bit of a lazy move.

MC Personality: 8/10

Well, I'm glad she has one. If I were to compare her to myself - we are completely different people, but that doesn't make her any less fun and/or entertaining to watch/play as. Let's put aside for a moment her generic comments a la "oh yeah?" or "oh really?" because she has said many a gems this season. She's not afraid of putting people in their spot, she's telling it like it is, she's an instigator, she is fun and fiery and so unashamedly herself that I strive to be more like her. Truly. You cannot tell me she doesn't cuss like a sailor and I love her for it. If I knew her irl or even if she were one of the npc's, I'd probably love to hate her because frankly, she's a bit rude, but that's what makes her loveable. Or a loveable bitch, so to speak.

MC Customization: 7.5/10

I was easily able to make my MC look like myself (more or less), but I am a white cis girl and can’t speak to experiences of bipoc players. I will be honest and say that I didn’t register the prices for any of the customization choices because my game has unlimited amount of gems, so there might have been choices for more diverse hairstyles that were gem blocked, as has definitely happened before. I thought the game had a lovely range of facial features and hairs to choose from, though I’d love to have seen more color choices for hair. The outfits were hit or miss - some I loved, others I cringed at, the shoes were outright ugly, but I’m just glad we put granny fashion to rest and no glass shard bikini was detected. I’m glad they kept the choice for a curvier or skinnier body, but I think they can definitely do a bit better, for example giving us a choice of feminine/masculine presenting figures, variety of curvy body types, allowing us to pick pronouns - here’s already typos and inconsistencies in the script, I don’t see how that could make it worse.

Challenges: 6/10

Is it bad that I can’t really remember much of them? Yeah, I’d say that’s a bad sign… The challenges were so… forgettable? And just not done correctly? Couples quiz - over too quickly and I didn’t learn anything about anyone. The doghouse whatever it was - I don’t even know the purpose of it. What were those categories in villa vs. villa? “The sportiest girl?” “The most well traveled?” Is this a joke? Why are we having a snogathon in casa amor? How is movie night not giving us the most tea and why is it not stirring any pots? How can you manage to make the baby challenge so.. boring? And just fleeting? I would say, the heart rate challenge was the most elaborate and fun, Snog, Marry, Pie was okay, but nothing to write home about, unfortunately. Fusebox, you have good ideas, but just see them through to the end next time please. Oh, and maybe watch the show for inspo? You know, as a suggestion.

Drama: 5/10

I know you don’t want to hear it, but I think fusebox definitely took our feedback regarding drama. Of course, Ivy’s pettiness and twin mix up is.. annoying to say the least, and Grozzy-MC love triangle is tiring, especially if you’re not on Ozzy’s route, but otherwise we are able to have a chill summer of love, just like you signed up for. Personally, I love drama only when it has nothing to do with me, and that’s how I felt about playing this season. If you want to be a little more involved in it - by all means, go for Ozzy and pick ruthless choices, but if you want to sit it out - sweep all the arguments under the rug, couple up with an og for a loyal route, or play around in casa amor with no repercussions and couple up with someone there to enjoy the rest of your a chill summer. The choice is yours. After the disaster of s5, this felt quite refreshing and exactly what I wanted, but I wouldn’t say the drama was so otherworldly that it kept me very invested… Therefore, I’m afraid by toning things down they ran into another problem - they made it a tad boring.

Relationships: 6.5/10

I touched upon this already, but I’ll just say this, I strongly dislike the merged routes. In my humble opinion, the og route was written for Lewie, the post-casa route was written for Andy (or I can also see Elliot sharing some dialogue with him), and the only other unique route is Ozzy. Oh, and I suppose there is a Bella/Chloe/Flo route (you see how sad this is that they don’t even feel unique enough for me to consider them as a separate route? Yeah, sad.) I personally think casa amor li’s/Elliot are the best relationships, if you’re looking for a sweet, loving route with no drama, where your li is head over heels with you in a cute kind of way, and you learn a lot about them that isn’t just rehashing past events and/or love bombing. It progresses so naturally and realistically, in my opinion. That romance just makes sense and I love it. I haven’t played other routes, of course, but from what I’ve seen, they just feel a bit lacking in something. They feel superficial, perhaps boring. I don’t think they did a good job with their attempted slow burn route with Ozzy either - all his chats became so repetitive that it didn’t interest me enough to pursue his route. That being said, I appreciate that we could have a completely loyal route this time, with no backstabbing, no persistent exes, and no drastic change of personalities.

Friendships-wise… Did we have any? I know all the girls are kind of friends and all the boys too, but I feel like after the first few volumes where I could definitely tell the islanders were all bonding and having their lil bro moments, it all kind of vanished with time. Of course, we had those moments of gossiping with the girls and the boys, but yet again, it felt a bit surface-level. It was just not enough. In addition, I would love to see relationships bud between the islanders I didn’t interact with as much. It can’t be that mc is the only one who developed feelings for one other person - what about others? Why are they just extras? Why aren’t there bromances and romances and girlmances happening among the rest? We need those background friendships and couples who are genuinely in love to make it feel more realistic and more interesting and more fulfilling.

And of course, we can’t talk about s6 and not talk about family (insert a Dom Torreto gif). Introducing a twin to our mc was a risky move, but we’ll talk about that later. I’ll just say, family relationships are complicated and nuanced and their attempt at doing that kind of failed. Amelia could’ve been our saving grace, she could’ve been our confidant, she could’ve been our best friend. Or, she could’ve been our rival, our source of unresolved family drama, or at least our shared attempt at building bridges. We, on the other hand, got none of it. The twins seem neither close nor distant - they are just paid improv actors who pretend to like each other, but just don’t share any sentimentalities. I was hoping they’d tap into why they seem so estranged, but instead they just kept on talking about Zeph, which turned out to be the most worthless and meaningless plot point ever. They could’ve just made MC’s relationship with Amelia very close and non-problematic, that’d be so easy and lovely to have an instant bestie in the villa. Or, they could’ve let us shape our relationship through the choices MC makes - become closer or more distant or remain neutral - but instead, we got a very superficial relationship yet again, where Amelia is hopelessly desperate no matter what your choices are, and MC is deeply uninterested in what she has to say.

Recouplings: 4/10

It’s funny because I don’t actually have much to say about recouplings this time. Nothing extra disastrous happened, nothing drama worthy - just rather predictable. Yes, we could pick who we wanted, more or less, but at the same time, recouplings are a great way to stir the pot and we didn’t have that. Did the boys pick at least once? I can’t remember… And the way we had recouplings so close to each other in the beginning and then they barely meant anything in the end - meh. Also, I still don’t understand why we couldn’t couple up with Bella early on - she went first that one time and could have definitely picked us, but for some reason that was too much to allow for us…

Finale: 7/10

The finale did what it set out to do and checked off all the required boxes, so technically, I have nothing to complain about. We got the final dates, the prom prep, the speeches, the winners, the love or money, a spicy scene on the swings, and even a little lighthearted pranking moment with the girls that I enjoyed. I would have actually liked to see the afterparty this time because I truly loved the characters, but I guess it’s too many personalities for fusebox to handle at once. Fine. The final date was nothing special and didn’t differ from any other dates we had, although the overall vibe of the date was quite sweet, I can’t lie. The declarations of love were cute as well, we got to make things official, although no “l-bombs” were dropped, which is a little sad, if not disappointing. Massive bonus points for bringing back Hamish as the host - he is such a perfect showman, I think that was actually a great decision! He’s hilarious and no one takes him seriously and that added a lot of charm to the final, in my opinion.

Structure: 5.5/10

The structure of this season was so odd to me, I can’t lie. It just needed more volumes and more chapters to be better paced and to really take time with the storyline and all the twists they set up, give us the character development we deserve. The beginning started so well and promising, then everything was incredibly rushed, then Casa Amor happened - the best three volumes in my humble opinion, and then the plot just dragged on to the point where I just didn’t feel excited to play the episodes. The challenges were rushed and some were nonsensical, the recouplings oddly sprinkled throughout, gossiping around the villa was just weird, when we could’ve just asked the islanders concerned straight on. Though I loved Casa Amor, it also felt weird how we could go on dates during our time there or to the hideaway, and none of the challenges were done correctly either: the raunchy races were weird, and the beer pong not substantial enough, and the snogathon doesn’t really happen in casa. The beach huts are completely abandoned at this point, which I hate because it was one of my favorite things, but at least we had the hideaway this time and the box with spicy trinkets, so I’ll give them that. The finale hit all the necessary points, so that’s good I guess. I don’t know, I just want them to draw more inspiration from the show itself, I suppose, which they are not doing as much anymore.

Storyline: 5/10

Double Trouble. Amelia. Our beloved. Or beloathed - however you choose to look at it lol. Like I mentioned previously, giving us a twin was a risky move. I’m an only child who always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling, or a twin at that, so I was madly excited about this sibling plot line. On the other hand, again, like I said, families are complex and nuanced and are not always sunshine and rainbows. Much like the ex storyline, the family one could be just as triggering. Moreover, deciding MC’s identity and background story for us, the players, is far from a good choice. Even if we pretend it was done well, which it wasn’t, not everyone wants to have a sibling steal their thunder in the game where we are the main character. Not everyone identifies as a woman, but giving us an identical twin forces us to be so. You see where I’m going? The interactive game is becoming more and more of a visual novel and we are just living in that story instead of creating our own.

Overall, the storyline of the game was just not pushed enough, not elaborated enough, not drawn out enough. Of course, they’ve beaten to death the Grozzy thing, and the sister chats, and Tobelia, but everything else… Zeph - the most anticlimactic and useless plot point. Ozzy and Marshall - so much fuss and completely unrewarding resolution. The fake dumping plot twist - wasted potential. Casa Amor - no consequences. Movie night - I ran out of synonyms for “useless” and “wasted potential.” What saddens me is that they had so many interesting ideas and just did not see them through - they gave up too quickly, untwisting the twists too easily, which made the plot, yet again, superficial and a tad boring.

Writing: 4.5/10

I know I said I don’t like comparing, but I was replaying s4 at the same time as s6, and even though back then s4 felt like a downgrade, the difference in writing is humongous. With the speculations that fusebox is using AI to write their game, I feel like I could exactly point out to where it was written by a robot and where a human hand was involved. All the superficial, going in circles, love-bombing moments (which make up about 70% of the season) were definitely the product of a computer, but I think the moments where we learn something personal about our li was written by people. The first couple of volumes were written by people, when the characters still felt unique. Casa Amor islanders were written by people, I’ll stand by that because that’s where characters had the most charm. MC’s telling off moments were written by people, I am sure. But right as we got back to love bombing and all those “hey remember when *something superficial that happened before*” and every! time! a sentence! ended! with! exclamation! points! it all went back to AI. I wouldn’t say in general the writing got worse, but it didn’t exactly get better either. No raw animalistic NSFW display of passions happened, and the spicy scenes seemed a bit better this time, but as with what seems to be my main concern with the season, it felt very superficial a lot of the times.

Replayability: 4/10

Initially, when they’ve given us the illusion of branching routes, I was very excited to go back and replay for other characters, but I have since changed my mind. I lost any interest I may have had in Ozzy’s route, and I fell out of love with Jamal, who was my og li because they made him (and other og’s) boring. Knowing Elliot shares his route with Andy turned off any temptations I had for pursuing him either, especially because I like Andy more than any other character in s6. The girls routes? *sigh* I was curious about them, but not anymore, sadly. But you know what? Despite all that and my hatred for shared routes, I can see myself replaying this season. They’ve given me Andy, who has become one of my favorite (if not the favorite) li’s of all time and I would absolutely replay the game to relive his moments again. Plus, there’s so many scenes that I genuinely found funny that I’d play again to have a little laugh for myself. I can see s6 becoming a comfort season on par with s4 for me (at least the Casa Amor bits).

Overall Score: 6.2/10

This season had a lot of pressure on its shoulders - it had to convince us that things could be better than s5. Some people loved it, others - hated it, and as for me, it was okay. They tried to do better, I could tell, and maybe they were careful not push it too far for the sake of preserving whatever the thing that fans keep coming back for, yet not without making heaps of mistakes along the way. I think that’s the main problem with s6, it had an interesting cast, a fun premise, a promising start, curious twists - everything needed to pique our interest, and then they just didn’t use any of it to its full potential. I appreciate that we could have lovely, loyal li’s, and they’ve given us the best casa cast, they’ve given me Andy lol, and I definitely had a fair share of laughs throughout the game. I think after s5, Double Trouble felt refreshing, which created the illusion that it’s better. I’m not saying it’s much worse, not at all, but it’s positively mediocre, which I would still take over s5 every time.

Thank you for reading through this sheet of text, if you did! I’ll definitely be here for s7 because I don’t have that much respect for myself lol. And I’ll still be here in between the seasons - we have the fanfics to get through, don’t we? But until then,

Stay hydrated, islanders. xoxo

[lunarspiral1127]

What If....? season 2, episode 4. Due to the holidays kicking my butt to exhaustion, this is gonna be one post. *SPOILERS*

So, Tony really did end up in Sakaar after he went through the wormhole in the Avengers movie. I'm surprised the Grandmaster became a fan of him when it's been days. I guess it's because it was one human who took down the Chitauri.

Instead of gladiator fights, it's racing. The whole race scenes were cool, and it reminded me of a mix of Speed Racer and Mad Max in space dialed up a few notches.

Was not expecting a dynamic with Tony and Korg, but it works. Plus, them teaming up with Valkyrie was cool too. Speaking of which, I'm glad she's not capturing people to give to the Grandmaster in this universe. They still have her be king of Sakaar, which I guess it makes sense cause she unintentionally melted the Grandmaster and Tony needs to get back home. These three work great as a team and I'm glad they got along in this episode.

Another thing I appreciate about this episode, is that it didn't do Tony dirty. He wasn't humiliated or disrespected, he showed what he was capable of and he was really cool. I mean a big Iron Man suit that can turn into a car and can be boosted with his arc reactor? That's pretty sick. Plus, he stands up against Gamora while convincing her to be her own person, and when he's being framed as being a bad guy, he proves it wrong to the Grandmaster and beats him. This version of Tony Stark is awesome.

And, after all that, Tony still helps Gamora take down Thanos, which I was surprised it was that easy. Just catch him off guard and hit him with the melting stick. The look on his face, though. Like he was like "seriously?" 😆

Speaking of Thanos, this guy's getting killed a lot. Twice in Endgame, killed in the Illuminati universe in Multiverse of Madness, wiped out in Strange Supreme's universe, turned into a zombie, sliced in half by Ultron-Vision, killed by Ronan offscreen, and now melting stick. This guy has now died more times than Tony (6 deaths) and Vision (5 deaths)!

However, this was supposed to show how this Gamora came to be and is the same Gamora that was chosen by Uatu to be the Guardians of the Multiverse. And, she was fine in this, I haven't seen much of why she was picked in the first place. Yeah, she killed Thanos, but Tony accomplished so much in that universe and was the one who helped her even when she was trying to kill him. He was the main character, she was a supporting character, maybe even a side supporting character. So why wasn't he picked by Uatu instead?! He would've been a great help to the team too. That's just the one thing that's been bugging me about this episode. Aside from that, it was good to me.

So, tomorrow will be the continuation of Captain Carter universe. Why? Well, season one finale left a cliffhanger ending of her and Natasha finding the Hydra Stomper which is setting up that universe's version of The Winter Soldier. So, we kinda gotta follow up on that. That and the MCU loves to show more of Captain Carter, cause I heard that she's gonna be more of a main character in this series like last time. I could be wrong though.

[motheta]

after much thought i think i give the Yu Yu Hakusho live action either a 5.5/10 or a 6/10...maybe a score higher depending on my mood.

I went into it thinking it was just going to be the spirit detective plus the Yukina rescue arc, but when I saw the trailer I noticed they were fighting Toguro so i was like...are we going straight to the dark tournament arc?

turns out that wasn't the case, and the live action adaptation was actually a mix of spirit detective, Yukina arc, AND a few important fights from dark tournament all blended together, and the producers did their own thing to tie it all in and basically made their own story with it, so basically there was added filler and many alterations. and while there WAS disappointing aspects to this (ex: what they did with genkai's character) I actually found myself quite impressed with how they pulled this off and tied everything together.

starting off with scenes I liked:

- kuwabara's introduction and his fight with yusuke. this scene was so funny and was adapted very well. the music in it was perfect and that drop kick yusuke gave him at the end made me laugh my ass off. totally how I would picture it playing out in live action

- the Smile Bomb needle drop that they threw in there coming from the truck driver's radio, loved that little easter egg

- kuwabara trying to stop yusuke from saving kurama because he doesn't want to lose yusuke again. and the exchange they had after with yusuke being like "earlier I was eating ramen, will you get another one for me?" and kuwabara laughs and says "alright fine" and runs up to him to throw his arm around him while some touching music was playing in the background, i thought that was so sweet and represented their dynamic well

- yusuke fighting the yokai in episode 2!!! some of the best fight choreography I've seen in a while. everything was incredibly dynamic and satisfying to watch. the cgi was also pretty good in this scene

- that one addition of keiko getting mad at yusuke and telling him he should go die in the scene right before he gets hit by the truck. and then her immediately feeling guilty for his death after the fact because she feels like it was her fault and those were her last words to him. I dont know why I really liked this part. it displayed a sort of survivors guilt that a lot of people feel while mourning the death of someone

- keiko in general in this adaptation was an absolute badass and I loved how they portrayed her! I would go as far as saying this adaptation of her is better than the manga and the anime...lol

- loved botan and koenma. I know a lot of people are saying they wish they kept him as a baby, which would be hilarious but how would they even go about doing that? not like they can get an infant on set to start reading lines.

now for things I didn't like...

- showing genkai's death so early on was such a mistake, I get that it was necessary for incorporating toguro vs yusuke but there was absolutely no emotional factor if she was just on for, what, 10 minutes?

- they shouldn't have tried to adapt dark tournament fights AT ALL if they were just going to put them in the same arc as the yukina rescue arc, it didn't really make sense. they basically got rid of the entire dark tournament arc as a whole

- the cgi was amazing in some scenes...and then questionable in other scenes...

- wasn't really impressed with hiei's character portrayal in this and im not sure why, the actor was great, but i didn't like his live action design and we didn't see much of his character

- no shizuru </3

- it was only 5 episodes and it could've been adapted as a movie especially if they intend on keeping it a stand alone show with one season

thats basically all of my thoughts towards it, If you're a fan of yu yu hakusho and you're hesitant to watch it, I still recommend it!! I found it to be very entertaining and I feel like it had more impressive moments over cringe/disappointing moments. Just go into it knowing its a slightly loose adaptation :)

[widowshill]

scientific ranking of all of vicki's boyfriends and girlfriends

1. roger collins canon status: 6/10 they are the moment. collinsport's own jane eyre reenactment in a 1960's feudal sardine empire, complete with lovely arsonist wife. they're soulmates. he might be her uncle (?). it's true love. it's workplace harassment. they're fated to be together. they're doomed. they're entwined but never joined. they're marrying other people. they're mimicking each other's dialogue. they went on two dates and they both sucked. she's the adoptive mother to his (?) child. he tried to fire her 2 million times. they never even kissed once. they got stuck in a cabin together in the middle of a storm. he gives her away at her wedding. he can't stand to see her married. she is one of the few people in this world that he finds worth caring about.

2. burke devlin (mitch ryan) canon status: 10/10 he's dangerous he's mysterious he's tall dark and handsome and he did not hit that guy with his car. he's an oil baron. he's an ex convict. he's a millionaire. he's roger collins' ex-boyfriend. he's going to set out to destroy everything but oh god not her he would never let anyone touch her. one of the few people who actually takes her bodily safety seriously and moves heaven and earth to rescue her (repeatedly). two poor kids from the wrong side of the tracks arrive in the same train car from new york to collinsport. one of them already knows the underside of the collins' heel and the other one is about to and he can't convince her to get out. he wants to wreck the collins name she wants it as her own but they're both too-well wrapped up in the myth to leave it.

3. carolyn stoddard canon status: 2/10 girlfriends. that's all i can say. i just think they are very much adorable and they do score points on the canon scale, remotely, for such subtle lines from Carolyn as: "Just what the doctor ordered to keep the wind from ruffling your dark and gorgeous hair," and "Here, alone with you, I can't pretend." never mind their sleepovers in vic's bed hanging out in their nightdresses. carolyn would sooner own up to having a crush on her uncle than having a crush on a woman because this is upper crust maine in the 1960's but listen ... for a character who enjoys flirting for fun but gets extremely anxious about settling down and marrying a man, who prefers the most distant, unobtainable men that she has no reasonable chance of actually ending up with (roger case in point), who gets jealous every time vicki is with someone no matter who it is ... maybe she does like men too, but let's investigate mama let's research. with the governess, preferably. (who could maybe be her half sister? see no. 1)

4. maggie evans (blonde wig) canon status: 0/10 i'll be honest with you all this one is purely vibes but the other boyfriends suck so she still gets to place ahead of them. don't tell me maggie's not looking at her in exactly the same way she looks at joe when she's eyeing him up as her next man. she got straighter when we lost the blonde wig but this entire counter scene in e1 is one long flirtation session and for however many episodes she keeps the wig i believe very strongly there's a devastatingly homoerotic female friendship developing. i'm not immune to the short hair blonde long hair brunette wlw aesthetic i'll admit. as i said vibes only but just trust me. y'all fw cartinelli? ok. well.

5. frank garner canon status: 10/10 i'm glad you were very helpful during the laura arc frank but i'll be honest you bore me to tears why are you even here. he's got the personality of wonder bread and he's in the wrong genre he should be arguing cases on bachelor father or solving hardy boys mysteries or something i truly do not know. these two together just means bouncing all our lawful good off each other and it self perpetuates into nothing interesting at all. they're not even maybe related! maybe if we continued further with the betty hanscombe story and he found some damning revelation about vicki's parentage he'd have something fun to contribute to the plot but as things stand he's just a duller ivy league version of joe and if we're gonna have an all-american boyfriend i'd rather she just date mr haskell.

6. burke devlin (anthony george) canon status: 10/10 you may think that he cannot have possibly fallen from 2nd to 6th with a recast ... surely not ... but you would be wrong. i give vic props for domesticating him but he's lost all his panache in his full-time role as romantic interest, and now he doesn't even look like handsome squidward anymore :( like frank, this version of burke is much too obviously a safe choice, where the original allure of burke is the fact that she wants him despite the enmity between him and the collins family, his destructive tendencies, his jawline ... I do give him props for going to extreme lengths to make her happy, not only in their personal relationship, but her overall circumstances, and the other things that matter to her. you're not last but i wasn't sad when the plane crashed either :/

7. barnabas collins canon status: 8.5/10 is this a real relationship ... i don't really know. i'm not sure the participants know. barnabas thinks it is and i guess they were technically engaged to be married at some point but that's only towards the goal of using her to vividly hallucinate his dead girlfriend so does that count. I will say in their favor it was extremely funny that she had to drive the getaway car for her own kidnapping/elopement/vamp enthrallment because he can't drive. honestly that was the only part of this whole situation i enjoyed. also when she married jeff and he sighed and put his head in his hands he was real for that. they're actually pretty compatible and would be amazing friends ... or like, they could host a podcast together, or something. not this.

8. jeffpeter clarkbradford canon status: 10/10 such a shitty boyfriend that roger collins opened his third eye to warn her that marrying him is the greatest mistake of her life. his only job in the entire world is to make sure that vicki does not hang for witchcraft and he fails multiple times. possibly the most annoying man on the planet. what if we gave a ken doll the personality of a republican congressional aide and he's played by an actor that is reviled by his castmates. comes to the future on the power of wanting to fuck vicki i guess and to spite me, specifically, who's very tired of seeing him, and makes her have a car accident where she could have died. kisses reincarnated french serial killers in the yard days before their big wedding. leaves her at the altar to go play in the dirt in the graveyard. later marries her in a shotgun ceremony at 3 in the morning and then vanishes back into The Past. after literally driving her to suicide, takes her to be with him in The Past where she hangs, again, and then dies off the cliff. TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO.

[casmybelovedass]

I hate how New Who's problem is fundamentally the writing, cuz then people can just decide to ignore it and blame the actors to win the best doctor war.

Chris had fantastic writing g for a test season, and he was a great Doctor. He really embodied the whimsical of it all while still showing the darkness of an ancient being who had lost it all and was ready to make it rain Hell. Unfortunately he only lasted one season for us to enjoy, but canonically he'd had a century of being himself.

He's skippable.

David had some BRILLIAN writing and some really fucking MEH writing, but he did portrait the figure of someone trying so hard to run from their past while still being haunted by it in a poisonous way. BUT he was also trying to paint this image of himself as dashing merry-go-lucky but tragic hero, which inevitably brought him to his downfall. Water of Mars, while being a kinda MEH episode, contains the most important lesson of them all for him. He is not a human, nor a God, and he was trying to be both at the same time. And he is especially tragic because in canon he only got to live about 6-7 years. Fuck.

He's a crybaby.

Matt. Was. It. He WAS whimsical itself in that "I am clearly not a human and I do not care in the slightest 😀" way. WHILE being the one to actually almost succeed in leaving everything behind. The man who forgets. Fucking beautiful. BUT fucking Moffat had to go and create all these beautiful and interesting storylines to just... kinda fuck them up. Sometimes there really is a feeling of missed closure that makes me visibly shake. Oh well. But for real, I'm a hardcore 10girl (gn) and even I say that Matt's Doctor was the PERFECT combination of friendly and scary. 11/10

He's not Tennant.

PETER. WAS. IT. I will never rest until he gets recognised as one of the fucking best doctors. He was done. SO fucking done with it all. And while 9 was anaesthetised, 10 was PTSD-ed, and 11 was TIRED™️, 12 is 💯 done. Him finally getting back to Gallifrey only to fuck off in his childhood shed as people keep trying to talk to him? His fucking look when Rassilon interrupts him from eating his soup? AND THEN STRAIGHT UP LEAVING?!?!! Iconic. He is done playing young Prince Charming. He is Done trying to be human. He is letting all his years hit him like a truck and being incredibly autistic about it. SO fucking real. BUT his writing was shit. Same thing happened with Matt, he was given shit material to work with but CONSTANTLY like I can count on almost two hands the number of episodes I for real FOR REAL enjoyed. And unfortunately most of them would be because Missy or River were there. That was a mastodontical fucking loss. Fuck.

He's old and tasteless.

And Jodie. Poor fucking Jodie. She got caught in the Chibnall hurricane and suffered massively for it. The writing? Shit. The storylines? Shit. Motives? Shit. Characterisation? Sometimes really fucking shitty. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE TIMELESS CHILD BULLSHIT my god help me lord I am going to be sick. She did an amazing job being 🦄The Doctor🧚‍♂️, BUT her writing for the Oncoming Storm was so shit she couldn't do anything with it. They made her a tasteless Tennant and then blamed her for it. They really treated her as the "Yeah you got your female Doctor now shut up" Doctor, and gave her nothing else to be remembered for, unless you count the having the most fucking absurd writing Doctor. And to make her leave after having broadcasted to the moon and back that David was reprising the role, and that a non-british actor of colour was coming next, really took her moment away. Fucking awful.

She's a woman and tasteless.

Shameful.

[kdramacrybaby]

Doctor Slump (2024)

Genre: Medical, Romance, Comedy

Synopsis: Nam Ha-neul loses her job and is diagnosed with depression. Yeo jeong-woo loses everything in a surgery gone wrong and has to leave everything he knows behind. They both hit the worst slump of their lives. And that is when they meet again. Though they did know each other in school, they were fierce rivals and never got along. Now, they are the only ones who might truly understand what the other is going through.

Episode info: 16 episodes / Runtime around 6 minutes

Lead cast: Park Shin-hye (Nam Ha-neul), Park Hyung-sik (Yeo Jeong-woo), Gong Seong-ha (Lee Hong-ran), Yoon Park (Bin Dae-yeong)

Link to watch: You can watch on Netflix or Dramacool

Drama rec masterlist | Drama rant thread (beware of spoilers)

This drama was very comforting to watch. I was going through a pretty rough patch myself, and this drama had some moments that just really hit. Though you may not be as low as they are, I still think this hits several points that young adults go through as they grow up and realize being grown up is harder than you first think. Learning to seek the small moments of happiness all around us instead of letting yourselves get consumed by the hustle of trying to survive.

We have two people who have both hit the rock bottom of their lives, and no one in their lives truly understand just what they are actually going through. And though they are not feeling the same pain, they can both empathize with each other in a way their friends and family can't.

I really love how the drama never tries to compare their problems - they never make one out to be worse than the other. They both struggle and both need help, and so they help each other. It doesn't matter who's got it "worse", they support each other the best they can.

And I love love love how openly they communicate. Very rarely do they let misunderstandings cause trouble, and even if it does happen, they clear the air almost immediately. They do everything they can to support the other, but are not afraid to hold the other accountable if they cross a line.

Also the actors they picked are actually perfect, and their chemistry is off the charts. Even for the second couple, it is a perfect match. I loved them so much!!

It's somewhat like Fight For My Way, in a sense that they have to work to overcome their hardships and find new dreams to work towards. And I think you would like this one, if you've watched Hometown Cha Cha Cha and liked that. It gives me the same vibe.

There is one thing that bothers me a little bit though -it was actually a friend of mine who first pointed it out to me, and afterwards it became so obvious. Both of these main characters are shown to go to therapy and as a result both get some medication they need to take regularly for their mental health. Yet we see them drinking in almost every single episode - a lot of the times it's not just one drink either, they drink a lot. Considering both of them are supposed to be doctors, it just feels all kinds of weird tbh. And they never do address it properly, either.

That is also why the drama hit a little bit of a lull for me around the half-way point. They just seemed to forget for a couple of episodes what the drama was supposed to be about - but they do get back on track again. It felt a little superficial. And because it is a drama, all their troubles magically go away in the end, but I guess I can't complain too much because people want their perfectly happy endings.

All in all, I really did love this drama. It came at a time when I needed it, and it gave me some comfort. It's definitely one I'll watch again someday.