#and what's more i think it's just as disjointed as the actual ep

[anulithots]

NOORIE. I JUST WATCHED EP 3-5 OF LINK CLICK AND I BAWLED MY EYES OUT. I WASN'T EXPECTING THIS MUCH EMOTIONAL DAMAGE WHYYYYY

off topic but like scattered thoughts:

i don't know if you know this but what they're chanting during the game (龙阳之好 — meaning longyang's interest) is basically a phrase that refers to gay relationships. this has to be intentional. right. right. right. anyways if you'd like you can learn more about lord longyang in this brief wikipedia page

cheng xiaoshi's basketball flashback thing with lu guang is peak queer cinema. casually called him his partner and made a profound metaphor on trust on the spot. no one is doing it like him. icon

the captain's (i think his name was hong bin??) accent changes drastically when he's around his family — i don't live in china so i can't pinpoint which region it's from, but just think of it as the chinese equivalent of a country accent. skfjd just thought that was a cute detail

embarrassing but for like the tiniest moment but with the dramatic sunlight and the gentle music i fr thought that implied that hong bin was chen xiao's first love... my stupidity knows no bounds

when cheng xiaoshi is 'in the body' of another person in the past, how much of his emotions are his, and how much of them are the other person's? ...this calls for a character psychoanalysis

okay thank you for listening to my rant. sfjdskfjkfjsj going to scream into my pillow now

KDFJKLDSJF KSDJF

EPSIDOE THREEE THROUGH FIVE ARE SO EMOTIONALLY DEVESTATING, IF NTO THE MOST EMOTIONALLY DEVESTATING EPSIDOES IN ALL OF CINEMA (I'm weak for parents singing lullabies and providing comfort that ends tragically. I never stood a chance.) /pos

OKAY RESPONDING TO YOUR THOUGHTS! (sorry if this seems disjointed I'm going through an 'execuative dysfuntino floaty-float cloud rn... yes feeligns I know how to describe those.)

OHMIGOSH THE GAY CHANT. YES IT HAS TO BE INTENTIONAL. THey just get more queer the more you watch. Their shop literally has their ship name.

The manhua exists.

If this isn't the most queer platonic/gay thing I've ever seen... I don't know what is.

OOOH and I have to tag @celestialsun123 and @mylee-sketches in this just for that point GAY BASKETBALL CHANT WOWOWOO

This ep was also just like... very queer. SO queer. the most queer coded thing I've ever watched in my life (they wanted to convince us we were safe, that this would be a fun little gay time travel show.)

Holy herbs. You know what? The censorship just made them more creative and this is more queer than if it were cannon (just shiguang in general actually... it gets even better as you go on)

ANd the shorts as wellll... also Qiao Ling literally asks Lu Guang 'so what do you like about Cheng XIaoshi?' Like she's honestly the biggest shiguang shipper of us all.

The accent thing IS such a cute detail yess. The way that entire town was written with so much life and little things, each character having depth and intrigue from the get go... only for... episode five.. . and ... *ugly sobbing*

(Especially Chen Xiao's mom. I've honestly rarely seen parents written as well as they are in link click.)

PFT YES YES I ALSO THOUGHT HONG BIN AND CHENG XIAO were supposed to be queer coded in that scene. It's very vibes.

OHMIGOSH THE CHENG XIAOHSHI POSESSION THING CONSUMES SO MUCH OF MY THOUGHTS IT"S SO INTERESTING AS BOTH A NARRATIVE DEVICE AND PART OF HIS CHARACTER. I have a post here:

Theorizing on how Cheng Xiaoshi's emotions work when he's possessing people

with some theories behind it, and lots of notes and anlysis that are... in the works (I'm on my second rewatch of season one but I'm silly and keep rewatching the same scene six times before I watch the next... rinse repeat I've been rewatching for a half a month now.)

LIke the layers and layers and layers in this show are insanneeeee.

Also boba tea:

and... screenshot collection (It's so hard to screenshot shows holy herbs. I wish the manhua adapatation of the first season - where it's all the same as the show - was available online)

(not goign to include any spoilers)

....and I reached my image limit.

THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH ME ABOUT LINK CLICK AKLDFSJKLDSJFKLDSJFDKLSFJDSLKFJDS.

[doodlyreone]

Smiling Friends at Pony Town Memories ADVENCHA!!!

Part III

An experimental bit to compensate for my always delayed screenshottter phone and archiving ponytown instances to doodles. I roleplay as Charlie and these are the highlights of my interactions with a Pim kinner @mellowvisions .

Although I haven't taken drugs, I felt like I am high in these conversations, it's just one shower thought after the other. This is the last bunch for today and it feels right it ends this way.

Hours pass and it's really coming along greatly. There's this awesome dude was nearby and like wow I can't take off my eyes on him like get this – he has more beard than any Santa Claus I've encountered in any mall. Like all natural beard. He let us touch it and it feels like an ancient artifact. It looks so cool and I'm considering about growing out a beard myself.

(Charlie and Pim having beards just makes them looking more akin to their voice actors bwhahshck. I really saw bright orange shirt with blue accent and white bandana having pony and I was like "IS THAT A DRAGONBALL CHARACTER?" I-)

Turns out the guy just got released out of prison and got the prison bar glitch 50 years ago. It is rumored around here in the local area with how bad the police are in their jobs that the prison cells are so tired of being empty, it just teleports in people, regardless of they're innocent or guilty. I don't really believe it, like I just think it's the police but it might as well happen here. I hand out the Smiling Friends building address to the guy by writing on his palm. Oh, the pen was from Pim, he always had some just in case we need to write on something and that pays off.

(I just love like trying to make sense of the show and its lore. Like as a charity that wishes to help people lift spirits, I wouldn't question like the building having a facilities to cater to those who are homeless or like neglected by society – have you noticed their building is beside an asylum. I improv that theres a public showers available and I wanna imagine they hand out free food too.

Uhh also referencing what happened to the background character in the Who Violently Murdered Simon S. Salty? ep like dude just walks out the theatre and be lookin confused when he's behind prison bars the next scene release him he did nothing wrong)

It's pretty uneventful after that. Pim and I discuss what just happened.

( I really like Charlie's front face in the Charlie Pim And Bill Vs. The Alien episode it reminds me of Captain Underpants somehow oml. Also, the disjointed phrases is mostly to blame with Ponytown chat limited-words-of-pop-up-at-time but it feels right since it emulates like Charlie and Pim sometimes cutting each other off it's brilliant)

What I heard is groundbreaking, earth shattering, reality tilting notion. I genuinely thought I'm just imagining the heart swelling chime because it feels nice but- but no Pim is actually hearing it too. Had the clients heard it as well? Is there someone tailing us behind waiting to play that chime when we'vedone our job? But no that can't be right cuz there's the constant decibel and tune and like we would have notice it and like no matter where we are, it's the same thing, as if it's not in the room for it to change its aural texture but instead like- like a sound bite overlayed on top of a show. I-I think I might actually puke from this, oh my God.

(SMILING FRIENDS IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT EXISTENTIALISM BWHAHAHAHA. The genuine distress they're under after becoming too self aware oml. It translates to what if 4D dimension exists and we are just tv show for them kind of bit. Also I kept the misspellings and missing words cuz it adds character and funny - the sequel.)

UNTEXTED VERSIONS UNDER CUT:

[pharawee]

I really appreciate that the narrative in Two Worlds didn't just concentrate on Kram and Tai's love story but included action sequences, world and lore building and actual side plots - even if they weren't quite fleshed out. I loved Phupha as a flawed and ambiguous character, and I would have loved to see more of Wayu and Jao.

It seems like ultimately Two Worlds suffers from the same pacing issues as so many other Thai BLs this year, and I think it comes down to budgeting*. If they had one or two more eps to tie the plot together, the ending wouldn't have felt quite so sudden and disjointed.

As things are, Tai shows up completely out of the blue because [insert a plot point that wasn't previously part of the lore and is shown in a short flashback] and scar!Tai was randomly killed by a snake bite just as he started his road to redemption. Which is really mean. :(

Also, am I supposed to believe that Kram didn't even say goodbye to his dad? And what about the fact that he was slowly losing his mind due to the rules of dimension-hopping?

The short snippet of Wayu and Jao swapping rings felt like an afterthought, and the scene with Phupha and his family completely out of place (the kid was what? Six? What's the timeline here lmao). I can appreciate what Kongthup were going for - I just wish they would have had more time to tell their story because I actually really, really liked it.

*I feel like a lot of shows were downsized to 10 or even 8 eps this year when up until recently 12 or 16 eps used to be the norm. This in itself isn't a problem (see Memory in the Letter) but the pacing with these shows (see 1000 Years Old, For Him and even Deep Night) feels off - as if the script was written with more eps in mind and had to be re-edited later along with the number of eps.

[curio-queries]

Run BTS: 049 | Eve of Episode 50 Festival part 1

Original Air Date: 17 APR 2018 Episode Length: 23:43 Total Parts: 2 YouTube English Subtitles: Yes Title Song: Blood Sweat & Tears

Synopsis: A summary episode - reliving moments from the past 50 episodes

Production: so...it's exceedingly obvious that they intended this to only be one episode but they spilled it over into the next one. Most of the time that will work but when you're making a big deal about it being the 50th, it doesn't really work. Overall, not the worst execution of a 'clips' ep but i think we'd all agree that we'd rather have original content than watch compiled clips. if I want to watch those moments, I'll go watch the actual eps. It's not that I hate the idea of a bottle show via past content but this one just wasn't executed well. It's really nice to see the ceramics complete from a few episodes before.

Here's a weird editing note: pointing out the prod team didn't know the members were hungry and surprised they were eating. I get that sometimes the food is for show (especially on their livestreams) but why did they feel the need to state it in the subs? It just makes the guys and the prod team look ill-prepared.

Another thing, i know most probably won't notice but when they do cut to clips, it's like they've ripped them straight from the internet instead of the original files. The audio is SO disjointed. To do this properly, they should have grabbed the clips without the music and added new music in the compilation. Also the part where they watch their own clips is too long. Don't get me wrong, i actually enjoy watching BTS react to their own content but that's in the context of a reaction livestream or a Bomb, not as an episode of a variety show. A little hint of it would have been sufficient but it does nothing for the pacing of this episode. Final also, is it just me or is there something off about the translation? The quality just seems more lacking than we're used to.

Endearment: Uh, if my above notes didn't give it away, i think this episode does absolutely nothing for the guys. it's vaguely interesting to me to see what moments they remember from past episodes before the clips are played but I wouldn't call it endearing at all. They're put in this hard spot where they know that the audience is infinitely more knowledgeable about their content than they are but they still have to put on this show. oh, it was nice to hear them talk about what they'd like to do for the future, knowing which actually become episodes

Winner/Loser: none

Best Cheater: none

Member Moments:

RM: RM still remembered the names of the dogs. my heart!

JN: Jin confusing the Santa Run ep with when they filmed Bon Voyage at Santa Village.

YG: Yoongi being iconic for playing along with the question asking how Yoonji is doing now.

JH: Savage Hobi! Jimin complimenting everyone's acting and saying he should act, Hobi hits him with the 'not you'

JM: Way to go Jimin with the guessing...it's almost sus...

V: Tae's adorable squashed pottery as a callback to the squirrel garden.

JK: Im glad JK was enjoying the snacks.

Bonus Content: So much more engaging than the actual episode! absolutely worth the watch. (plus you can see Tae drink through a million straws at the same time...slight exaggeration..)

CQ Rank: 1.5

(CQ Eval Date: 05 FEB 2024)

Check out this post for my Masterlist of all episodes and descriptions of how I'm evaluating these.

Previous Episode: 048

Next Episode: 050

[overpoweredcacti]

S17 Ep5 post-watch recap

I have way too many thoughts, this is going to be long and probably disjointed.

So I feel like a lot happened, but at the same time not really? Overall though, so far I'm really here for this Gold Star mystery and the MK Ultra/behavior modification/Frankenstein's monster stuff around it, I just hope they commit to it? I know so far they've made it a point multiple times how it's a "conspiracy theory" and it's "based on a half-truth" and so on but at the same time things just don't add up? Most notably, if the government has nothing to do with this, why would they care enough to hide it? Who has enough influence to stage Emily's arrest etc?

Anyway, since this was very complex I'll try to break it down to characters.

Damien/Jade

Honestly? I'm really enjoying them so far? They have a fun dynamic?Wish I knew their actual ages, maybe it was shown and I just didn't pay attention. I think Aiden was around 26? So I'm assuming they are around the same , give or take 2-3 years. So these 2 meet up, 1 is dead ("assassinated by the FBI", which is an interesting way to phrase it. I wonder if that will come back on either Rossi or Emily. One giving the order, the other following it.) And Peter and Dana are 'missing', and we have no idea what they look like. Okay, cool.

So they are tech savy enough to operate Voit's network (wasn't that used to be a weather app lol? That whole comment on people posting their racist opinions on that neighbor app, which was featured in ep 3 too, seems like a reference that my not-american brain is not clicking with) and they can put together bombs. It was weird that nobody picked up on the fact that Jade has to be in the park to make that call? Why was everyone just standing in a circle and worrying when they could have sent people to scour the area lol All the while ignoring Voit who was at least smart enough to not run.

Voit

So Voit. This little shit. Every scene he was in I just kept repeating 'you little shit'. Very entertaining bordering on frustrating. His whole demeanor of being like a kid in candy store was funny I'll admit that. That first scene with him going "Dave Dave Dave" took me out. My dude is def dying by the end of the season tho. They can't keep him around for much longer. And I honestly can't tell if him doing morse code was meant to be noticed by the team or not. Because I'm thinking that he is in fact making up the identity of "North Star" and trying to get someone killed? Also, that reveal that he gave the identity of the strike team to Damien? Chef's kiss. He's truly Hannibal Lectering this season. Aaand he has a point with Garcia and Tyler and that whole fiasco last season. I'm glad they are bringing that up because that should have some kind of consequence. (Voit giving them a ship name tho? And talking about carbon footprints? I'm not sure I like him sounding like stan twitter. I mean it's obviously a reference for the fandom to get, but still. It's...a writing choice for sure.)

Garcia/Tyler/Luke

I'm lumping them together because the show is apparently committing to the love triangle bit. Which I'm not that big of a fan of, in general.

This might be an unpopular opinion but the more episodes we have the more I feel like the show doesn't really know what to do with Garcia this season? Like that entire exchange in her office, that ends up with them being back in the bullpen? It was...weird? So Voit smells, okay, cool, did we need to spend this much time on this? It honestly felt like a waste of time that didn't lead anywhere because we are back at the bullpen anyway? Like, narratively, what was the point here?

Luke is still not checking on JJ after throwing a bomb on her, cool lol. Love that he was the one deciphering the morse code tho, and that he dismantled the bomb. Love it when the show remembers character traits.

Tyler remains another frustrating part of this season for me? Everytime he does something where I go "hey cool, that's nice, I kinda like you" he immediately does something else where I go "okay, go fuck yourself now". Like, doing off-the-books work for Emily? Great, cool, love it. And then goes behind her back like it's nothing. So 'Teresa' might be an actual person, but the phrase could also be relevant? Maybe it's another anagram, idk. Either way he's warning someone while keeping Emily in the dark. In conclusion, I don't trust him lol.

Emily

So the framed arrest/mugshots are coming into play, that's great, I'm glad there was a point to that. (Weird choice to drop the name of an actual existing website as the leak but okay). Someone is really out to get her that is connected to this whole ordeal but there's no indication it's either Damian or Jade. Someone also convinced Brian to change face. Also, was he trying to gaslight her? Is that going to be a part of Emily's "breakdown arc" that she is questioning her own sanity? That could be interesting. Or, we are going full scifi and they made him somehow forget his previous alignments. Seems unlikely, but who knows. Anyway, she is on restricted duty and is clearly over it. Just, everything. Great scene by the end. She was going to back to her "spy roots" and moral grayness and it's slowly breaking her. Genuinely think she is one of the most complex characters of this entire show. (Shout out to her speaking Russian too. I know it's just a phrase but it's a nice callback.) Love her bond with Rossi as well. And just all her scenes, great. If there's a character I'm really happy with this season, it's Emily.

Rossi

Honestly not that much to talk about? For the audience this is not the first time he interacts with Voit, but great scenes. He is also losing it, clearly. Maybe I expected a bit more? Confusion, at least? As in, having a hard time differentiating with the real Voit and his halluciVoit?

JJ

I'm biting my fist every time JJ is on screen because I'm just so nervous how that is going to end. She is clearly not okay, everyone is dealing with something and not taking notice of her issues. Loved to see her in charge on the field. She was also the only one competent enough to finally tell someone to shoot the wheels, lmao.

Tara

Tara wasn't given a lot this episode tbh. She was aiding Luke, sure, but this may have been her least active episode. So we have the scene with Rebecca losing her shit, that she's in danger, okay. I mean, they are cute? Wish they would talk more instead, but cute scene at the end, none the less.

I have absolutely no idea where the next episode is going lol. I expected a cliffhanger, we didn't get a cliffhanger. Zero clue as to what comes next.

[mashmaiden]

Okay, so I knew we were going to have to have an episode to wrap up the Callen stuff. I think my biggest wonder/worry is now that we had this episode that was 95% Callen, does that mean the rest of the team will be more focused on in the last two episodes?

Like obviously when it was written they didn't know we were coming up on the end, but usually, the last 3-4ish eps of the season usually contain a Callen-centric ep, a Sam-centric ep, and a Kensi/Deeks/Densi-Centric episode.

Back in the early days in the 24-episode seasons, Densi got ep 21 or 22 most times (Plan B, Neighborhood Watch, Resurrection, etc), the something for Sam (Imposters, One More Chance), then Callen's big arc stuff to end the Season. Sometimes they did flip around the order though, with Sam having big season ender eps with Descent and Talion.

(I do realize the past few seasons, and this season in particular, have done more "split-focus" episodes, but this combined with the missing episodes, has just left the show feeling more uneven and disjointed than ever.)

Anyway, I digress. If this is the big Callen episode, are we still going to get nice episode moments/closure with the rest of the team in the last 2 hours? Because we know there still will be SOME extra focus on Callen given him having his wedding and all. Plus whatever ends are getting tied up re: Hetty. And we'll have to establish everyone's future going forward, so there's more time split between everyone.

Also I kind of hate that the case for this last episode is dealing with yet another outside agency and their BS. And guess what they're dealing with? ANOTHER "MISSING" person! I really hope they stick to the finale episode formula they've used the past two seasons and make the actual case like 20 minutes long, and make the other 40 minutes team stuff. Well, in this case, times by 2 eps, but anyway.

Part of me wonders if a lot of the end stuff with Pembrook was actually supposed to be delivered directly by Hetty instead of the "thru the messenger" version we got. I feel like that would have made a lot more sense. Makes sense given what has happened over the past few seasons.

I just really would like to have a finale I will enjoy as a collective whole. Not just like selective scenes here and there to rewatch.

As always, I got rambly and probably forgot half of what I was going to say. I'll add more if I think of it.

[fangirleaconmigo]

As I watched Blood Origin I took notes. They are silly and disjointed bullet points and here they are:

(My full review is HERE)

Ep One

Shit, that's intense. My bard is having a bad time.

Hi Minnie Driver!

Wait. Why would Geralt hate that? (were they saying he'd hate an elf being the first witcher? V confused. Why would he hate that?)

So Fjall was too slutty to be a bodyguard.

Glad pretty girl didn’t get punished for helping the little girl.

Hmmm the princess doesn’t want to just be a baby factory. Word. I get it.

Michelle Yeoh!!!!

Wow the princess really flat out murdered her brother.

Girl, you don’t get a nation when you kill their king it’s not that simple.

MICHELLE YEOH I hope we get to see more of that.

Ep 2

Is she talking to her hammer? I love her already.

Fjall and Éile are they tied by destiny? How?

I juuuuuuuuust realized that sellswords don’t sell swords in the literal sense. I don't know why I thought that. This is all making a lot more sense.

I like the failed romance in the beginning. Hey folks, even if you fall in love with a brother murdering evil chick, life goes on. Second chances, etc. etc.

If they kill off Scían this fast I’m gonna be annoyed

Oh Hi Avallac'h. Avallac'h is like ummmmmm I’m regretting this shit (he is just a babby)

Merwyn is determined to survive, I like that. I like that in my evil women.

Eredin has a knife to a hotties throat saying 'you fucked me'(gaygayhomosexualgay?)

Oooooohhhhh

Actual real gay

Nice

Yes. Welcome to the family Eredin.

Brother Death called Fjall Square jaw-all the flirting! (Fjall is very flirt-withable imo)

Holy fuck Éile burning folks. That's hardcore, girl. Good thing that you ran away.

Winterberry and lilac CREEPY but revenge cool. Also, LILAC AND GOOSEBERRIES

Uh oh is Balor giving her those kids. That's rude.

I assume true sacrifice comes from within means Balor has to kill someone he cares about. If I was that girl with him I'd be pretty worried right now.

Eredin done in by the most obvious “spy” who literally ran right into him. He’s dickmatized or something. Himbo?

DONT TOUCH EILE YOU FUCKERS

Ep 3

Yesss love Meldof YET AGAIN

Poison a sheep and feed it to it, yes reference to the books.

Wow, girl (Zacare I looked it up) is throwing that “not really family” in his (Syndril, I looked it up) face fast ain't she. Found family gets lost fast when shit gets real.

Solryth? Is this empress chick talking to the brother she killed??? Girl? Do you think he wants to hear from your ass??? He's in the great beyond cursing your name.

Awww Fjall being protective

Even if you fell into a bucket of tits you’d come up holding a cock (is Meldof calling him gay?)

Ooooo no secret entrance?!?! Damn you Fjall. Just full of piss and vinegar barreling forward with nothing but guts and good cleavage.

Awwwww I love that the mage sees him as he is.

Éile sings

Such pretty voice Fjall is down bad.

As he should be, as am I.

Girl, he is not gonna let you be the first witcher. Not after you sang that. Please be real.

I love an 'end of the world about to die shag and party' episode.

We gettin a witcher, folks.

Ugh I hope Scían doesn’t betray them. I think she’s just getting them a way in tho.

Empress really thinks she’s gonna hit it again with Fjall? THIS CHICK. LMAOOOO She just has no concept of her actions having consequences does she.

She looks hella cool in her fancy armor tho.

She’s actually quite good at this. Making deals. Knowing what people want and offering it to them.

Yeah he’s gonna kill Fenrik I knew that from when he killed the kids

Ep 4

Avalac'h is a sad lil loser boy pobrecito

Eredin thinks he won’t risk Fenrik? You a dummy hunny

I woulda given Avallac'h more time rather than run back to Balor. I mean he's just a babby, he's gonna be badass folks.

Oh no he's hulking out. Look out empress girl.

“You’re a monster”

UH OH BETA RUN GRL BETTA RUN he kills those things now.

Why are his eyes black? Potions make eyes black?

OH YOU DUMMIES YOU THINK SCÍAN CANT TAKE TWO OF YOU?? FOOLS

Damn, lark. Éile really broke down the difference between a feminist and a girlboss to Miss Empress then stuck her. That was a clever way around making her badass but not 100% a murderer.

Balor killed that soldier for zero reason. This is just not a good person.

WOOPS HULK BOY Sun's gettin real low.

Wow Éile is pregnant? I thought that witchers were sterile. Maybe that's a thing the mages did.

I already knew Ciri was her descendant because people on twitter were shitting their pants because the actress is Black. I mean, don't they know how genes work? You can get a blondie in that span of time? Its centuries? And her child's already gonna be half Fjall, so idk, people cannot be normal about Black women I cannot fathom it.

And there's Mr. Joey again, we always love to see him.

The end. That was fun. Might watch again.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

what's up kids it's that time again already

because I am extremely ready to be done with season 4 !!!

Gotham 4x17

something wild I've just realized is that at this point there are only 18 episodes left of the entire show, since season 5 was retooled into a half season that only got 12 eps and had to cut several ideas and characters including, among other things, the presence of Man-Bat. that's odd partly because I've spent something like nine months chipping away at Gotham at this point, and it's very strange to imagine my life now without any more Gotham to liveblog. it's also strange because this is no way feels like a story that's nearing any kind of conclusion, and I have to assume that when it inevitably comes the end will be as abrupt, brutal, and messy as every other aspect of Gotham up until that point.

anyway let's see what fresh hell is in store for us this time

god we've really abandoned all pretenses here Bruce is Batmanning on every level except for actually wearing a bat cowl

Oswald looking UNBELIEVABLY cunty atm I'm OBSESSED

bitch!!!

it would have been so cool if Bridgit had literally any kind of consistent personality or motivation but alas it is not that kind of show

a cool thing about the show never technically letting Cameron Monaghan's character be referred to as the Joker is that I don't technically have to like the Joker! and that's a huge relief because I do in fact like Jerome very much

oh my god they stumbled into an interesting Riddler moment again. this rules. like realistically this is about as good as guy whose whole gimmick is riddles could probably do for himself.

Lee got rid of her shitty bangs AND has acquired some sparkly fingerless fishnet gloves I love this for her

oh boy Jerome in a dog cage better not be a writer's poorly disguised fetish

I am once again asking what the point of making him Solomon Grundy was it lasted like ??? six episodes ??? people come back from the dead on this show all the time it didn't have to be a Thing

the thing is that if I didn't already know what the reveal is going to be (there's a second Valeska and Cameron Monaghan is going to play his own twin) I would simply have to assume they were going an incredibly bold gay Joker route and having Jerome hunt down his ex boyfriend

hey this is unhinged. like there have been a Lot of stupid storylines in this show but this genuinely so dumb and SO unnecessary

they want me to believe he stapled a live barracuda to someone's face as if the Riddler could possibly control a noble barracuda

there are just so many men in this city that Lee should be permitted to dismember with her bare hands

oooh baby Orphan Black this is not they are STRAINING to keep from having to show two Cameron Monaghan's at the same time. this is so disjointed

Hatter and Scarecrow getting sent to kill Jim and Harvey but immediately giving up because Harvey uuuuh screamed and ran right at them is ??? lmao??? you are so bad at your jobs hit him with some fear toxin or something?

also exactly no one on this show seems willing to actually run like their life is on the line which is really creating a very weird ambience. Mad Hatter and Scarecrow are doing the white person half-jog across the intersection while being chased with a gun

anyway Jerome just gave his brother a little smooch on the head but I don't think I'm insane for saying it seems like he wants to put his entire tongue in his twin's mouth. and that is hands down like the most normal thing going on in this episode.

RESPECT FOR LEE THOMPKINS: LOST !!!!!!!!!

[chaosincurate]

My Month in Music - November 2023

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee (relisten)

Slint - Spiderland

IAN SWEET - Sucker (new)

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

Spiritual Cramp - Spiritual Cramp (new)

Fugazi - 13 Songs

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

Sampha - Lahai (relisten)

Nina Simone - Pastel Blues (relisten)

Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade

Wire - Pink Flag

Hüsker Dü - Warehouse: Songs and Stories

underscores - fishmonger

Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR (relisten)

yeule - softscars (relisten)

Pulp - Different Class (relisten)

Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time (new) (relisten)

Paramore - This Is Why (relisten)

The Strokes - Room On Fire (relisten)

Fugazi - Repeater & 3 Songs

The Strokes - The New Abnormal (relisten)

Samara Joy - Linger Awhile

Shame - Food For Worms (relisten)

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Alvvays - Alvvays (relisten)

Alvvays - Antisocialites (relisten)

Alvvays - Blue Rev (relisten)

Jane Remover - Census Designated (new)

Playlist link

Write-ups below

Fugazi - 13 Songs

Fugazi is an exceptional punk band in all the ways you'd expect: power in every single instrument, simplicity that doesn't get boring, and a heavy focus on societal ills. But there's more than just that. I feel like the thing that makes them not just exceptional, but unique, is that the lyrics strike an incredible balance between an interesting level of obfuscation and that crucial bluntness that ensures that the message doesn't actually get lost.

Naturally, the fact that this is a combination of EPs and not an album all its own makes the sequencing a little awkward, but as a collection of songs, this is some of the best punk I've ever heard.

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

Oh boy am I late to this one!

I was only familiar with Killing In the Name (and only in fairly passive contexts) before listening to this album so I wasn't really sure what to expect, and whether it'd be a case of the album having one standout track and the rest just being filler. Well, Killing In the Name definitely stands out, but the rest of the album definitely isn't filler.

While I complimented Fugazi's balance of thought-provoking poetry and pure politics on 13 Songs, I have to say RATM makes pure bluntness come across too sincere to dismiss om the grounds of simplicity. Every single line is delivered with such potent anger, and it really got me whipped up in the emotion of it, at least on a second listen.

Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade

Zero expectation listens to punk-adjacent albums is a theme on this post, and a theme that Zen Arcade is contributing to. All I knew was that Hüsker Dü's reputation seemed good. My lack of expectation meant that 1. I only found out that apparently it's a story album after listening to it, and 2. I was absolutely blindsided by the album's more experimental flourishes.

One of my favourite flourishes came with Pink Turns to Blue, which takes punk and filters it through a noise-pop/shoegaze sort of sound to great effect. That is probably the most noteworthy example, but compared to some more repetitive punk albums I've heard, an album feeling so ceaselessly experimental it seemed disjointed by punk standards was honestly more to the albums benefit than it's detriment.

underscores - fishmonger

I'm very new to the hyperpop sphere, but I don't think I could ask for a better gateway to it than underscores. The blend of that indie rock sound with the eternally online stylings of hyperpop is a personal cheat code for pleasure for me, particularly on their new album Wallsocket, which you will listen to if you know what's good for you. After listening to her other projects, though, I can very happily say that they are scratching the same itch (if not quite as well).

I've written before about how the unique concepts of the tracks off the new album were a highlight, and, again, that extends to a lesser degree to her older work, which has been fantastic, and where the interesting concepts are comparatively limited, the execution makes up for it.

Given a few more releases of this sort of quality, underscores could well become one of my favourite music acts I just love this style so much.

Fugazi - Repeater & 3 Songs

Basically everything that I said about 13 Songs applies here, but there are a few differences that make this worthwhile to talk about on it's own. One of those differences is that this essentially plays like a regular album with three bonus tracks, which means that my one noted criticism of 13 Songs doesn't apply here. The other key difference that comes to mind is that it feels to me as if there is more aggression in this album. It's grittier and angrier, and while it does throw off the balance that I liked so much on the other album, I also appreciate that it makes it a unique listening experience while also not changing enough to make it clearly worse.

The Strokes - The New Abnormal

The Strokes were so back with this one. They happen to have left again shortly after, not having released anything in over three years, but they were so back for a second there.

This album brought back everything that made The Strokes great in those first few albums and occasional singles thereafter, and kept kept it all stripped back to it's bare essentials so they could really be heard. Their ability to have a musical composition in which everything (bass, guitar, drums, other guitar, synth...) both shines on it's own and comes together in this glorious tapestry is only arguably matched by Radiohead, and specifically during their In Rainbows era. And that talent is here on full force on The New Abnormal.

Also present is a tasteful experimentation with synths and electronics, which don't just justify themselves, but improve the songs they are on. They are used to great effect on At the Door, for example, where the sawed synths create a potent feeling of fear and harshness that makes it unlike any song The Strokes have ever made.

Between the outstanding mixing, versatility of sound, and the back-to-their-best Strokes songcrafting, this is the best Strokes album hands down for my money, but you guys aren't ready for that discussion yet, so I'll just leave it at "album good" until you are.

Samara Joy - Linger Awhile

I can't pretend that I actually have much to say about this, because I'm still pretty new to jazz, but Samara Joy is a very charismatic vocalist and the album is a great one for a chill vibe so I thought it deserved to be highlighted more than just putting it in the playlist. If you're looking for a modern in for jazz, I found this one very enjoyable.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

The second album of the post where I should have gotten to it way earlier. Pure dance music just never really appealed to me, nor do songs without vocals, generally, and I was under the impression that Daft Punk were entirely that. Clearly I was wrong, although I'm still unsure as to what degree.

In any case, I loved this album. Instant Crush is a massive highlight just on the basis of it's super satisfying pop sound and just-novel-enough concept. Giorgio By Moroder is also a great love letter to artistry, if a strage one to consider a highlight on account of the spoken word vocals. And of course it goes without saying that the Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams backed Lose Yourself to Dance and Get Lucky are amazing, funky, and infectious bops that keep you engaged for every second of their runtime.

It's a classic album for a reason, and I apologize to music for not listening to it earlier.

[parvuls]

ted lasso thoughts and HEAPS of spoilers

current fave eps: ep2 > ep4 > ep1 > ep3. although, honestly? not enjoying this season as much as the other two. we're DEFINITELY in the dark forest.

taking it from the top: this week we're obviously dealing with anger and when it's healthy or unhealthy to express it.

ted first. loved his obsession with sassy telling him he's a mess. I feel like everybody tried to shake ted this season, but it was the wrong approach - ted doesn't respond to being told he should be angrier, or that he has to win. it's not who he is! but ted does respond to people calling him out on not having it together, and the way that translated in this ep was great. he still hasn't cracked open the nate box, but sassy and beard did drive him to finally talk to michelle. although I would've loved him to be more angry, and actually call her out on the unethical aspect of it and how SHE SHOULD'VE TALKED TO HIM ABOUT BRINGING A PERSON INTO THEIR CHILD'S LIFE, and even hear her response - I'm happy that we got some reaction out of him at all.

next up is the team, which, honestly? my favorite part of the season so far. that scene they glare at nate in a row is FUCKING GOLD!!! and yeah, that anger made them play like shit, but I liked that honestly. I think with the whole zava thing and ted falling apart we've veered too far from The Lasso Way. playing just to win or out of hate isn't supposed to work out for you in this show, because the whole point is that being a good person reaps rewards. loved that they kind of took a hit because now we know there's definitely some well earned wins coming their way!

aaaand rebecca. certainly close on the team's heels as this season's star. her choice to express her anger to ted in HIS words (being uhhh a bit too supportive and optimistic haha) was SO good. and her choice not to go to bex to immediately hurt rupert spoke so much about her and what she's been through. her reeling her anger in to tell him to get his shit together for someone else's benefit? incredible, amazing, 10/10.

the whole keeley arcs this season are actually really disappointing me. I'm not a fan of this disjointed storytelling. first there's the roy breakup, which keeley STILL did not get the chance to grieve on screen, and then there's barbara, which seemed like it was going somewhere for a hot sec but in this episode it's like it didn't happen? and then there's shandy, which??? like, yeah, she majorly fucked up now, there were hints this was coming, but WHERE IS IT GOING, one minute she's doing well and one minute she's fucking it all up? and now jack is just another directionless character (although loved the twist of more women in charge). and keeley/jamie????

some interviews almost explicitly stated there'd be more keeley/jamie this season and that it'd become "less clear who should be with who", but, I'm sorry, I'm really let down by this writing. keeley/jamie are obviously not endgame and if somehow they are, this is HIMYM syndrome and the writers are deaf to their audience. which means jamie is just a device to further the keeleyroy drama and it's TIRING, and it's annoying, and he's been doing so well and deserves better. like yeah jamie is more accountable now? but also he and keeley are muuuuch better off as platonic, as evidenced by the growth they've had SPECIFICALLY when not fucking.

last but not least before we touch on nate - the trent slow burn with all the lingering looks on colin are a nice touch. I think the way they toned down the drama from last episode's cliffhanger really puts things into perspective, and lets the viewer observe locker room homophobia from an outsider's pov.

nate, my behated ♥️ the decision to let nate be awkward and fumbling and remorseful again was SO WELL DONE. his transition into a west ham baddie was too extreme, and I simply could not see them come back from it - so letting his soft sides show was just the right call. like, fuck if I forgive him for all his shit? man needs to get some fucking therapy and take accountability for his actions. and ted needs to get the fuck over his trauma and CALL NATE OUT. but this way, with these glimpses of the old nate showing, and his willingness to apologize so early on even before the illusion breaks, I can sort of see how a redemption arc could be possible.

[triple--a--threat]

so about voltron

idk where this post is gonna go, but i have thoughts and feelings about this show and needed to get them out. so. rambley post it is.

i dont think it's new information for anyone that voltron and its fandom suck major ass, unless you've been living under a rock, and in that case, get back under that rock sweetie. this show sucks a fuckton and this rambling will be nothing more than critique and bashing. anyways

at the end of season 2 shiro was going to die in the original "plan" as far as we know. we were gonna get a heroic sacrifice and the team would go back to its 1984 setup with allura piloting the blue lion. except of course the machinations of the universe are beyond us so shiro did not in fact. die. he was the most popular character and his merch sold the most, so he couldn't possibly die this early on. who else would've made dreamworks their pure gold bars?

so as daddy dreamworks demanded, the writers delivered and un-unalived shiro, completely disregarding their original flimsy shambling excuse of a plan in exchange for among the worst plotlines i have ever seen anywhere. possibly the worst that exist in all of television ever. we got 4 seasons (well really 2) of completely directionless, contrieved, contradictory, and mind-numbing bullshit. stuff happens because someone wanted it to. 2 eps later something very contradictory happens because someone else wanted it to. i cannot stress this enough it feels like the writters were split into factions each of whom had very different ideas about literally everything in this fucking show. some of the dialogue actually feels like someone just wrote down the arguments and fighting going down in the writer's room. shit was made up along the way as the show went on for far longer than it had the right to, and for each and every fucking plotline the writers were divided and kept on shooting themselves (and the others too don't forget) in the foot for the sliver of chance that their story will be canon. just completely backstabbing each other for the sake of it and no regard for what is actually happening. it would be hilarious if it hadn't destroyed my sanity. and for a bit of a personal opinion, a liitle ymmv, none of the writers had any good ideas actually. even ignoring the nonsense opposite fuckery happening, none of the plotlines were good lmao. please end this and me oh god.

as a result we got a completely wish-washy, flip-flopping, self-contradictory, reductive mess of a show which never had any good original ideas or story much less a fucking plot or even a plan in some direction. the writers had no goal except to get their plot on the paper disjoint from everything else with jackshit regard to the overarching storyline. well if there was anything resembling an overarching storyline in the first place.

ig i'll talking specifically about the some of the worst offenders in the "the writers never thought of anything" situation - the allura racism arc, the clone shiro arc, and fucking lotor. oh my fucking god motherfucking lotor. holy shit they fucked him up.

i dunno where to begin with the allura racism arc except for the fact that it was DUMB. completely out of the blue and so fucking forced. for a princess of a diplomatic people she sure is fuckin racist for no fucking reason. even if she doesn't trust any and all galra (ig they didn't have unity in diversity activities in altea), she has no reason to not trust keith. like. my guy what. he proved himself as a paladin of voltron and has directly and indirectly saved her ass. why is she racist oh my god. and why doesn't coran hold any animosity towards the galra? he also lost his homeworld (and alfor)? and he lived on altea for far longer? ig women are emotional or smth. man. i also liked (absolutely despised) the the fact that it kinda took a #notallgalra turn and i was jesting about it and then they actually said that in the fucking show. hey allura not all galra are bad. hey allura stop being a bitch. and then the writers forgot about it btw and made allura racist again 2 seasons later. hmm. wut. also they never checked their own internalised racism or whatever as *points to zethrid's design*. lmao. WAIT also the conflation of racism with speciesism. yknow. using anti speciesism messages as anti racism messages. classic white person living in california moment.

alright the clone shiro arc. because its the keith and shiro show and we can't loose half of our money milking cow. and we shan't make them explicitly gay. only allude to it and sprinkle in family brother stuff so nobody actually thinks they're gay. that would be blasphemous. we shall continue with our pseudo-incest for the rest of the show and give shiro a last minute husband so they don't haul our ass for gaybaiting and burying our gays because we somehow managed to do both of them. anyways where was i. oh right shiro died but they had to bring him back blah blah but they made a clone of him for? reasons? while the real shiro is in the subconscious of the black lion or smth for unexplained reasons. i have absolutely no idea why they did that. they have a carbon copy of shiro in terms of everything - personality, fighting capabilities, homoerotic scenes with keith - for jackshit reasons while they could have the actual real shiro running around but i guess not. the clone is the exact same as the real guy until he isn't. because. we need more drama in this over extended bullshit show i guess??? clearly we don't have enough stuff going on we must make it more exhausting and confusing to watch. also clone shiro is as good and noble as normal shiro until he got a headache and now he's evil at the flick of a switch and retains none of his previous personality and is therefore irredeemably evil and nothing can be done to save him. he's bad and evil and must be forgotten. they never mention him again later on except for a throwaway comment on how evil he was except he wasn't evil guys you're not gonna fool anyone. oh and btw the real shiro's soul or whatever got supplanted in the clone's body because idk man where his original body went and he retained all the memories of his clone self because isn't that convenient. fuck everything. also this arc culminates in the best episode of this show despite everything wrong with the events leading up to it and the way they handle lotor in this episode. more on him later. it's literally among my favourites now 10/10 would watch again it was so fucking good. kill me. i.

again, i don't know where to begin with lotor - such an interesting character who got the short end of the stick. the worst victim of the writers' squabbles. i genuinely liked him a lot and then. such a shame. well there are other characters- oh no. there aren't any other even remotely interesting characters. not good, no no, no one is good in this show, but just fun to watch.

he starts off as an antagonist to team voltron but he's not actually a threat. he maybe wants to use them to further his goals but really he isn't the villain per se. which sucks because there aren't any villains in the show now cause the previous main villain is out of commission for who knows how long. and then whoops lotor has to kill one of his generals and then the other generals betray him and now i guess he's with voltron now. sure why not. interesting turn of events. at least it isn't boring. i'm having fun can't you see. then he kills the previous villain (who is his father did i mention that) in episode two of season five. yes s05e02. i dont know any more than you do. and now it sucks even more cause theres literally no fucking villain rn. then he and allura start working on quintessence or whatever because she learns that he is half altean and btw do you remember she is racist. now since he is not 100% galra (bad people) but half galra half altean (good people. her people) she smooches him and stuff and. also btw all this fuckery is happening alongside the climax of clone shiro arc. yeah this show may suck. whatever evil shiro who wasnt evil is defeated and lotors really helped team voltron and the galra empire is going to stop conquering worlds and the show is going to end on a mid note. well.

EXCEPT SIKE BITCH LOTOR IS PURE CRAZY EVIL FUCK YOU FOR EVER ROOTING FOR HIM. FUCK HIS WHOLE CHARACTER BEING ALL "IM NOT MY FATHER" AND THEN AT THE END 180ING MAKING HIM JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. FUCK EVERYTHING FUCK THIS SHOW YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SOMEWHAT GOOD. WELL FUCK YOU IT AINT EVEN SOMEWHAT GOOD.

i. im just so disappointed in his character and the plot twist for the sake of twist that i cant even express how disappointed i am except for shouting through the use of all caps. one final fuck this show

[tabithatwo]

I so agree with your “meh” feeling about episode two and it’s such a relief to see someone else put exactly how I was left feeling into words! I love this show sm but that was the first episode to legitimately throw me story wise I was like huh?

they set up Shauna to be so shaken unstable and possessive like you said of Jackie’s corpse just for her to put up zero fight at the thought of cremating her body? Like sure she argued a little bit but I was expecting more passion behind it and I feel like most ppl in the fandom were considering it’s what a lot of us thought she was going to punch Lottie for. So to see her kind of just quietly accept it SO QUICKLY was jarring.

Not to mention the “goodbye scene” was SO short when u think of how important a scene like that should’ve been? We open season two w Shaunas grief for Jackie I don’t get why they didn’t dwell on that concept longer in the episode we actually see them get rid of her physical body in. Like I rlly hated how quickly Shauna heads back inside after setting the pyre on fire. And Travis shoving javis pants onto it (as much as I understand why) felt so convenient? And took even that much more away from the focus of that scene

The “for the baby” line was so oddly placed and I was so confused w the writing there too! Why was the makeup the deal breaker for them, starting the episode with them being so concerned abt that to ending it with eating her seemed rlly disconnected and silly.

i agree about the disjointed feeling w the adults in this one too, I personally hated the scene of lottie describing Travis’s death something abt the tone of it rlly bothered me it felt like it was trying to be comedic but I don’t think that was necessary there.

and as much as i understand the reasoning and genuinely love the idea of of juxtaposing the raw reality of them devouring Jackie w the Roman feast imagery I feel like some shots were held too long and it made it almost corny

It’s not enough of a meh feeling to ever stop watching and I’m not too concerned just bc I have faith that with so much happening these first few eps that only means it’s gonna get more intense and better executed when there’s less huge leaps to cover I’m sure

Any ways u don’t have to respond! At least not on this post since I made it so long I just felt like venting bc u seemed to share a lot of my exact thoughts and I haven’t rlly seen anyone in the fandom be brave enough to say this so 😭

Replying to say I see you I hear you I get you!! The pyre exit felt abrupt to me too and not in a clear “I can’t watch this” way. Idk idk idk. I agree with the Roman feast stuff too, don’t come for me internet lmao. I did love the Travis death scene PREMISE because it’s so beautifully stupid lol but I can see what you’re saying. Still need to rewatch a few times when my brain can handle that input in the next few days. Anyway, short response mostly to say YES you’re seen and heard, but also to say feel free to message me if you want to 💖💖

[pharawee]

Some disjointed thoughts on Big Dragon ep 1 because I might as well go all in and let it consume my soul. Plus, I usually use this tag to rant about things I can’t watch and that’s just wasteful.

But first things first:

Big gets third credit and I’m expecting great things from him. 🥰

Just kidding, he’ll be third-wheeling his way through this series, too, and his character will probably be at least somewhat unlikable - so about the usual, but at least I’m reasonably sure he won’t die this time.

(No, I’ll never get over this. It’s okay, I’m fine.)

And look at Jet & Jame, finally reunited. 💜

I wonder what’ll come first: a series with these two as leads or a leading role for Big where he finally gets a partner of his own. 

I’m fINE.

But anyway.

So are we supposed to assume that Yai has always had a penchant for leather toys/harnesses and bdsm? Because he sure as hell did not just buy this ensemble for a fun night in with Mangkorn (he totally could though, he’s rich).

Which, you kow, I’m on board with this, but in the novel Mangkorn is the one who likes to play rough with his partners. I get why they switched this up, though. It kind of adds depth to Yai. Also, oh, the irony.

And this. Is this part of his, uhm, repertoire? Or can rich people just order a gift basket of tranquilizers and aphrodisiacs off rich people amazon? Anyway, who even tHINKS of something like that? And what’s with the... what is that, a tranquilizer dart? A fancy pen? Help.

In the novel, Yai has his bodyguards mix both the tranquilizers and the aphrodisiacs and put them in Mangkorn’s wine, which is vile. This isn’t far behind, but at least they’re both, uh, somewhat conscious? More or less aware? I’m actually kind of glad Yai is depicted as seriously unlikable right now. That’ll give his redemption arc (which I hope is what they’re going for?) more credibility.

And then Yai wakes up like this and there’s. toys. everywhere. There were glimpses of Yai in a harness and on a leash and I’m hoping we’ll get more flashbacks in future eps because the actual sex scene felt weirdly disjointed - probably because Yai’s memory atm is so spotty?

Also, it just occurred to me that Yai probably suddenly wants to renovate this place because Mangkorn and he did it on every imaginable surface (the gall of Mangkorn to just work out a couple of hours after he helped lay destruction to a whole bar)🥴

Anyway. I’m so excited to finally see Mos and Bank in this show. I really enjoyed their travel vlog and I’ve been following ISBANKY since I heard him sing the Gen Y theme song so I’m super biased. Bank esp comes across as incredibly humble to the point of self-depreciation so I hope he’s rightfully proud of himself 🥺

[yashanydoren]

as time has gone by I’ve only felt more and more disappointed with tlou. ep 3 and 7 were really well done (3 being the standout) and the first couple of episodes were really good (some issues aside) but the rest feel like a let down. I didn’t find the QZ rebellion stuff interesting because it didn’t work hard enough to make me feel sympathy for the characters and they weren’t there for long enough anyway. the plot points begin to feel rushed and I think 9 episodes were never going to be enough to cover it in a detailed enough way that does the story justice. I think I would find it hard to attach to the characters if I hadn’t played the game because it is barely spending the time to really connect the characters or touching pivotal plot points and allowing it time to breathe (the two times where they actually allowed for this were two of the best episodes). I gave the benefit of the doubt for that but it became harder to ignore when they got to the university and were only there for two minutes before joel is injured and then they leave??? we move from one tragedy/event to the other far too quickly to really get a grasp of what is happening and take it in. sure, that happens in life but you can convey that point whilst also letting these moments hang in the air a little longer. it's the lack of detail in those moments that make it feel like it's missing something, and glazing past this stuff only ends up making the whole story feel disjointed like they are just snapshots stuck together and we end up missing all the finer details that make tlou game so powerful. I feel like they missed an opportunity to add in finding the tape recorders and reading that letter written by ish in the sewers, and I know they could have found a really powerful way to include that whilst making it make sense for the show. it is just starting to feel very lacking and I do really wonder how they can wrap this up in two more episodes in a way that is satisfying to the people that love the game and to the people that have never played it. essentially, when it gets it right, it really gets it right and that has been beautiful to watch as someone who has loved this game for a decade, but it misses the mark often and leaves me feeling kind of… apathetic?

[feuqueerfire]

The Eclipse Ep 12 Finale Live Blogging

watching it 13 hours after it premiered because of my night midterm lol so it’s really ending huh. ngl i’m not anticipating it as much as i was the middle few eps bc ep 11 part 4 is making me nervous about this last ep but whew, hope it’s a good one

Part 1

This meeting... so scary from the very first moment, I hate the thought of having to sit in front of any committee anything

dang, Akk having a breakdown in the middle of filming and the “my real life isn’t like your movie” okayy interesting

nooo aww Akk :(

girl, Chadok’s hug to the principal really took me back lmfao

Oops, got distracted last night and suddenly it was 4am so I went to sleep, so I’m watching at 1 the next day.

it’s just a bit weird to see Chadok be so different than how he was till ep 10 like obviously we’re seeing different, more true sides to him but it’s jarring and idk if the change has been done well. like we could’ve had him as a cautionary tale and seeing akk’s future in him without him suddenly being turned into such a sympathetic character. like i still don’t care about him but the show acts like i should be touched by him and like hmmm no you could’ve made him more interesting if he was still a dynamic character rather than going from kinda one-note villain to one-note sad guy. like both of these aspects of him could’ve worked together to make a more interesting character. whatever why am i writing this long ass paragraph for him

Part 2

damn, a two second apology to the Jums from both Akk and Thua? are we for real or will there be more?

and Akk calling Thua his friend like this would’ve been good if we actually saw them having more of a conversation and coming to terms with what they’ve done rather than just creating the movie and then being fine with each other again. 

The show dealt with the fallout and conversations in ep 6 so well, so it’s disappointing that it’s so weak and disjointed in these last 2 eps

Damn, Akk’s parents so kind; taking the news of the suspension with gravity but not unkindness. First did so good at being Akk for those 2 minutes though, the emotions really shone through

Watching BLs is just me sometimes being consumed by wishing my parents were like some of these parents. this damn coming out scene aghhhh T.T just like with HCTM and Be Loved In House, I’m suchhhh a sucker for the child being like </3 sorry for disappointing you and then the parent(s) saying nooo not disappointed 

ahh they’re so cute about ayan akk dating too

Part 3

face kisses are cute

oh damn hope they had fun lol

oh they’re shirtless the morning after 

lmfao “how about we do it again and see about who’s more tired >:(” akk you’re killing me

first is so pretty in this picnic scene

kanthua cute like before as if the whole ep 11 debacle didn’t happen it’s just disappointing to see the consequences and conversations not be explored

not even gonna talk about Thua talking about the importance of coming out and supportive friends an episode after outing said friends

kanthua kissing at the beach between the palm trees with the waves in the background is very pretty

Part 4

The Jums better than everybody fr bc the prefects and thua get to give one word apologies but they still welcome them back to school and into their club

oh dang i thought Mes was never gonna be brought up again, interesting seeing it mentioned that Suppalo didn't actually prepare people for the world outside of it

would Namo be a good student prefect? Would he really?

ahh the conversation in the bathroom Ayan/Akk are sooooooo cuteeeee

oh he’s spreading Dika’s ashes into the water

pinning pins like they’re exchanging wedding rings ahhhh

Aww, the little bloopers so cute

Ep 11 part 4's flaws kinda continued onto this ep, so I'm not as satisfied with the ending as I would've liked (I just think they did a really great job with character development in the middle few episodes, so it was even more disappointing to see the tonal and character issues here in the end) but in terms of Ayan/Akk relationship + Akk's parents, I liked it

I think neither Chadok nor Thua's twists worked for me because I need the characters after the twist to still reflect who they were before and during the twist. for thua we're acting as if the whole speech that showed a different side of him didn't happen. for chadok the twist turned him into a completely different person; it makes sense in a way that his relationship with dika coming out opened the floodgates and he is a changed man now but the disconnect from him in the first 10 eps is hard to reconcile with how they're positioning him in these 2 eps. i have a clear idea of how they could've make thua's arc better but i don't really know what i would've liked from chadok except i don't like that it feels like 2 distinct characters before and after the reveal

oh yeah another thing with Chadok is I guess it's good that he resigned but... is it? We see at the end at the school is progressing but he hadn't known how the school would react to it all, maybe it'd try to stand still and continue punishing the protestors. so when he finally has the courage to not blindly follow suppalo rules, he just leaves and removes himself from the equation instead of trying to improve the situation and help sani (who is a very new teacher as well) and whichever other teacher would like to him. like idk now that you've changed, try to improve the environment you've created at this school over decade. 

Maybe Chadok removing himself from the school and its rules and the principal was the best thing for him but is still not narratively satisfying to me. Definitely wouldn't be easy for Sani to make changes if the principal hired another staunch Suppalo rules supporter to replace Chadok. Could've waited a few weeks/months to see through some changes and then resigned when we saw the improvements at the end of the episode like ah, i've done my best but i must remove myself now for my well-being.

For Thua, flawed characters who make terrible decisions are good and fun and interesting characters only if their actions are dissected and we get to actually explore their actions and reasonings for more than 10 minutes before we ignore it all. i know the writers could’ve done better with thua so it’s annoying that they dropped the ball on that one. the other characters’ reactions to thua were just so empty, it was such a contrast to my own thoughts and audience reaction. wild

yknow i liked Akk’s breakdown on the roof because it’s not like self acceptance, esp if you’re in an unaccepting community and think your queerness will disappoint everyone, is an easy A to B path. some days it may be easier to accept or it may be easier to quietly have a boyfriend but not express out loud on camera that you’re gay and proud. realizing he’s playing a character who is in a better place than he is and being unable to emulate it really hit for me.  but then that upsets me more that we didn’t get to see akk and thua talk about thua outing him in front of so many people but they’re just friends in the next episode like k

Fave Scene: 

Ayan and Akk being cute in different moments like when they were arguing in part 4 about who did better on the test and the “blah blah blah” so cute

Overall

I'm thinking an 8 because I enjoyed the middle few episodes immensely, as well Ayan/Akk + the acting + how the plot and themes were handled for those episodes but the ending definitely took a hit and I wish it had tighter/cleaner writing and editing in general.

The show tackled interesting topics, including societal expectations and the status quo, fighting back, how characters we want to root for can be doing bad things and how they grow from it, mental illness, all the intersectionality of like queerness and financial situation and mental illness. It didn’t hit the mark for all of them because I think the script needed to be tightened and the editing needed to be stronger but it was well enough considering the budget + them filming and doing post-production while it was airing.

I loved Ayan/Akk soooo much, definitely one of my favourite couples of the year. I think I’m a bit burned out on them after checking in weekly for like 3 months straight but I imagine in a few weeks I’ll love them again. Think they’re one of my favourite couples of the year.

Kan/Thua were also really good, especially in ep 10; sad that the lack of communication after Thua’s stint caused me to not like them as much.

Rating: 8/10 7.5/10 7/10 [Jan 24, 2023 Update: Decreased by 0.5 stars when rerating my top BLs] [Jan 25, 2024 Update: Decreased by 0.5 stars when rerating my top shows: 7.5 -> 7]

Nov 1, 2022 views: TODO

11.5 Weeks Later

Ep 1 - 1: 2.40M (+190k) || Avg Ep 1: 1.61M (+110K)

10.5 Weeks Later

Ep 2 - 1: 1.48M (+100k) || Avg Ep 2: 1.24M (+90k)

9.5 Weeks Later

Ep 3 - 1: 1.42M (+100k) || Avg Ep 3: 1.18M (+80k)

8.5 Weeks Later

Ep 4 - 1: 1.56M (+80k) || Avg Ep 4: 1.25M (+70k)

7.5 Weeks Later

Ep 5 - 1: 1.39M (+80k) || Avg Ep 5: 1.18M (+80k)

6.5 Weeks Later

Ep 6 - 1: 1.32M (+80k) || Avg Ep 6: 1.32M (+50k)

5.5 Weeks Later

Ep 7 - 1: 1.46M (+90k) || Avg Ep 7: 1.30M (+90k)

4.5 Weeks Later

Ep 8 - 1: 1.54M (+100k) || Avg Ep 8: 1.21M (+90k)

3.5 Weeks Later

Ep 9 - 1: 1.44M (+110k) || Avg Ep 9: 1.22M (+90k)

2.5 Week Later

Ep 10 - 1: 1.25M (+120k) || Avg Ep 10: 1.27M (+130k)

1.5 Week Later

Ep 11 - 1: 1.36M || Avg Ep 11: 1.05M

2.5 Week Later

Ep 12 - 1: 1.07M || Avg Ep 12: 940k

Old Trailer: 

I’ve watched parts of this before in gifs and clips (and maybe the first minute?). It’s definitely visually darker and more moody than the actual show ended up being. It really does seem to have a fantasy, perhaps time-travelling aspect to it. It’s cool even though it’s rough looking, makes it a bit raw.

New Trailer: 

This trailer definitely focuses more on the relationship between Ayan and Akk and less on the protests and politics than the previous trailer and also some eps of the show. 

Neither trailer was super incredible the way Bad Buddy OG trailer was nor as engaging and interest-piquing as Not Me both trailers were but it’s not a bad trailer either.

Ep 0:

Very interesting that First often checks the monitor after shooting a scene, which Khaotung doesn’t do but feels encouraged to by First

Beautiful Khaotung is beautiful, I love his vibe in the video

Khao and First both mentioned receiving emotions from the other, which makes them be able to act better. Louis mentioned it about Khao too

most of these clips are from early eps so seeing the ep 12 confession scene with parents is interesting but it makes sense that that was also filmed early with the earlier hometown scenes. 

Khao and First both mentioning First holding Khao’s hand before dramatic scenes and that that helped

Louis talks very enthusiastically about everyone and everything, it’s nice to see that he seemed very excited about the project

Tiktoks and edits I’ve liked: (Last Update Nov 1, 2022)

Trailer edit (bg: rolling in the deep)

trailer kiss (bg: the only memory is us kissing in the moonlight) 

Ep 0 KhaoFirst talking about touch (bg: Friends - Chase Atlantis) 

[Fave] Ep 0 + other vids - KhaoFirst cuteness (bg: cake by the ocean) 

Khao in THCT vs The Eclipse (bg: spanish? song) 

Behind photoshoot where KhaoFirst are very close (bg: memories - Conan Gray) 

“what can a big guy like you do to me?” (bg: i’ve got you all figured out”)

Trailer: Akk taking Ayan’s headphones (bg: Hayloft)

“We’re in an all-boys school, who would I like?” This you?

Ep 2 Aye “falling in love” bg music when Akk sprinkles water on him

[Fave] Ep 3 Akk dozing off and Aye falling for him (bg: snapping one two where are you) 

Horny asf Ayan vs horny and hides it

[Fave] Ep 3 Akk-Kan-Wat’s dance party (bg Photograph by Ed Sheeran) ummm it’s insinuating a friendship breakup and I will cry. Update: no friendship breakup but tbh with the Thua stuff going on, some more conflict and resolution would’ve been good lol

Akk Ayan 99% fights vs 1% tension and cute 

Tropes in Eclipse

Ep 4 edit Ayan/Akk (bg: “we should stick together you’re my best friend”)

ayan’s got a side quest - tbh it’s the comments with all the mind ruining quotes

‘you better not bring” trend

Ep 4 benches/bleachers/stairs moment

ep 4 preview of ep 5 khao putting his hoodie on first

Ep 5 Ayan catching Akk looking at the photo (bg: Unconditionally - Katy Perry)

Ep 5 Ayan giving Akk the sweater (Bg: Heather by Conan Gray)

[Fave] Ep 5 Curse Akk reveal

Ep 5 Akk staring like he’s into the previous prefect

Up to ep 5 how akk and ayan look at each other (bg: Habits by Genevieve Stokes)  + part 2 up to ep 13 and sadder version

up to ep 5 edit of akk doing all the curse shit (bg: i fill my eyes with kerosene) 

ep 6 fans watching the kanthua hw convo scene in theater

ep 6 cool edit “join prefect club for a boy? it’ll have consequences” 

ep 6 ayan confidently getting into bed scene (this one is just bc of everybody in the comments being a khaofirst and ayan seme truther) 

ep 6 kan “worried” and thua’s smile (bg: old enough to understand)

Bound to fall in love edit # 3 I’ve seen probably

Ep 7 preview (bg:  Brooklyn Baby - Lana Del Rey) https://www.tiktok.com/@ownanon/video/7144112700174421253?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Ep 6 Akk cute to curse (bg: what hurts the most is that people can go from people you know to ppl you don’t) it’s kinda like the audience’s pov inch resting

akk -> yok (bg: unholy - sam smith)

akk secretly in love with the school “trouble maker” (bg galway girl ed sheeran)

Ep 7 Ayan Kan staircase talk

ep 7 akk ayan (bg: young and beautiful lana del ray) https://www.tiktok.com/@ownanon/video/7146597934782516485?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

eclipse aesthetic 

“are you gay?” “no” “do your momma know you gay?” “no.. yes. fCUK” 

Ep 8 Ayan finding his notebook - thua on purpose? (bg: everything goes according to plan)

Ep 8 can you leave this school? (little lion man by mumford and sons) 

ayan love languages 

Ep 8 Chadok and Akk in that dark school (bg: tag you’re it - melanie martinez)

[Fave] up to ep 8 ahhhhh compliant, malleable akk to ayan’s wishes T.T 

cult tactics in the prefect club

Ep 9 ayan/akk cute moments (bg: paper rings - taylor swift)

Ep 9 ayan/akk cute moments (bg: honeypie) 

ep 9 “you’re blind if you think thua isn’t enjoying this” - thua watching ayan have panic attack

Ep 9 ayan/akk cute moments (bg: day 1 - rv) 

Ep 9 vs Ep 2 parallel akk flicking water at ayan (bg: deja vu) 

Ep 9 ayan/akk cute moments (bg: replay - shinee) 

Ep 9 ayan/akk cute moments (bg: honeypie) 

Ep 9 ayan/akk cute moments (bg: honeypie) 

thct vs eclipse khao and neo 

views trends up to ep 9 

Ep 10 thua’s possible reasoning for being the new curse 

Ep 10 The Eclipse vs Bad Buddy rooftop crying parallel 

Ep 10 % of chance someone is the new curse 

irl first confused by people saying khaotungfirst lol 

Ep 12 parallels with earlier eps

[quillquiver]

DeanCas Coda to 15x13: Destiny’s Child

It takes a good hour to calm the kid down.

He’s snotty and hiccupping by the end of it; exhausted in the way toddlers are after a tantrum. Breathing deep with Dean’s hand on his back, he’s hunched over with his face buried in his own hands. Cas, seated precariously on the corner of the table, runs fingers through his hair while Sam slides a glass of water in front of him.

When they finally make it out of the kitchen, it’s with Jack glued to Dean’s side and his hand fisting the edge of Cas’s coat. He only lets go when he absolutely has to, though he keeps up a steady stream of apologies for everything from leaving out the milk to killing Dean’s mother.

“I know,” Dean says, mouth moving in time with the ache in his chest.

Jack shakes his head viciously. “You don’t. Dean, I’m so sorry—”

By the time Dean is back in the kitchen, he’s fucking exhausted. He’s moved on from beer and broken into the Blue Label, pouring himself a generous two fingers while Sam gives him the concerned-puppy-dog look. That’s fine. Sam didn’t have to deal with an enthusiastic clone and a broken kid today.

When Cas waltzes into the kitchen a few minutes later, Sam, with all the subtlety of a fucking freight train, clears his throat and leaves the room. It takes everything for Dean not to roll his eyes. Instead, he attempts to drown himself in his drink.

“So, are we going to talk about it?” Cas asks.

Dean sighs. “Talk about what?”

“The fact that you left me behind again, and then called me an idiot when mine was the only plan that worked.”

“You are an idiot,” Dean mumbles to his glass.

“Dean—”

“What?”

The look Cas shoots him is so full of disbelief and hurt that Dean can’t fucking look at him anymore; this is one thing he will not apologize for. If Cas, the king of self-sacrifice, wants a gold medal for almost killing himself to get a knock-off golden snitch, he can find someone else.

“I thought we were passed this—”

“You thought we were passed me being cool with you asking the kid to almost murder you when you were supposed to be holding down the fort?”

“Jack is perfectly capable—”

“I don’t give a shit if he’s the most capable person on the entire goddamn planet, Cas! What the hell were you thinking?!”

“I was thinking that I would retrieve the location of the occultum!”

“You should’ve waited—”

“Waited? When I told you to wait you didn’t listen. You never listen. You always leave me behind—”

“BECAUSE YOU DO THIS. EVERY DAMN TIME.”

Cas steps back like he’s been stung, gearing up to yell him into next week as Dean slams down his glass, gets up, and stalks into his space. “No—no, shut up for a second. You… you’re goddamn menace. Half the time I’ve known you, all you’ve done is leave: for Heaven, for a mission, for what-the-fuck-ever. You go. You die. You fucking leave me—”

“And I haven’t been left? Don’t talk as if you’re blameless in all this. You’re the most stupidly reckless, foolhardy—”

“Oh trust me, Cas, I know you think I’m the world’s biggest asshole—”

“—As if I’m useless, as if I can’t protect you—”

“And who’s gonna protect you?”

They’re nose-to-nose, now; so close, Dean can smell the ozone and fresh-rain smell off Cas’s coat. Despite being celestial, he always smells lightening and earth.

“I don’t need protection,” Cas says. “I’m an angel. I’m your guardian—”

“My guardian—”

“Yes—”

“You moron.”

Dean’s imagined how this would go a thousand times; in the early hours of the morning, during a hunt, in the middle of an argument… every time, he kisses Cas rough and claiming and they just—they just devour each other. It’s violent and hot and after they fuck like bunnies everyone lives happily ever after.

It doesn’t happen like that.

Dean kisses Cas, and Cas is soft.

Cas bends like he’s been waiting for this his entire goddamn life, his hands firm and grounding and he’s not weak, never weak, but pliable and warm and it’s so… nice. He’s so nice. He’s just. He’s.

Nice.

“You’re a moron,” Dean says as he pulls away.

Cas is somewhere between ecstatic and stunned. “Don’t call me that,” he replies faintly.

“Fine,” Dean murmurs. “You’re—awesome.”

I found it.

What?

It.

“And you’re, y’know… great.”

You’re lucky.

“You’re my friggin’ family. You.”

Living here with your family. Your brother, your son, your lover.

Dean swallows thickly. “And I—”

My dad would have disowned me.

Cas kisses him quiet. His eyes are glassy in a way Dean wasn’t expecting when he pulls away, his brow furrowed and lower lip caught between his teeth. He looks happy and haunted all at once, and this right here, this is Dean’s worst nightmare: Cas not feeling the same, Cas feeling like he has to reciprocate. When Dean swears under his breath and turns around, Cas grabs his hand and laces their fingers. “Dean, I—”

“It’s cool, I don’t wanna force you.”

“You’re not forcing me. I—”

“Look, you don’t… love me back or whatever. It’s fine. This ain’t high school, Cas, I’ll get over it.”

“I don’t want you to,” he says urgently. “I just—I have something to tell you. But you’ve made so incredibly, wildly happy, Dean, you have. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and it’s wonderful and I hate it—”

“Hate it?”

“I—”

The room suddenly feels… empty. Like all the warmth and light has been sucked from it leaving nothing at all. Dean whirls around, squeezing Cas’s hand as he steps protectively in front of him. Whatever creepy fuckface decided now was the time for a social call is gonna seriously regret it.

“Hiya, Clarence.”