#good episode i hate themes and motifs

[cream-and-tea]

Chapter 14: And In Ruined Flesh Ascend/ Chapter 30: Something Dreadful Shall arise

um.

[sundrop-writes]

From Your Lips

Jennifer Jareau x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary:

After JJ is attacked by dogs on the Hankle farm, everyone else is busy worrying about Reid’s missing status, but you take the time to check on JJ and try your best to calm her flustered mind.

Jennifer Jareau x Gender Neutral Reader. Established Relationship. Smut, Hurt and Comfort. Set during Season 2, Episode 15.

Word Count: 3,000

Criminal Minds Masterlist | AO3 Link

THIS IS A RE-POST. This is a fic from my old blog (a blog that was shadowbanned, forcing me to move). This fic is not stolen, it is completely mine, and I am just re-posting it to help people find my new blog, and to make my masterlist complete when I post new fics for this fandom.

Detailed warnings and author’s notes below the cut.

Warnings: this is set during Season 2, Episode 15 (“Revelations”); warnings for themes/plot points from the canon episode - rabid dogs, mentions of JJ being attacked by dogs, mentions of dogs eating/killing a woman (a random woman who is not named here), animal death - mentions of JJ having to shoot the dogs (killing them) in self defence, gun violence, mentions of Reid being kidnapped (no details of that are discussed in this fic), religious themes (in this fic, religious motifs are used to encourage sexual behaviour - spoken about as though God made us to have sex with each other, not to discourage it as the Christian religion does); symptoms of shock/PTSD - JJ waves a gun in the reader’s face because she’s scared; general emotional angst, mentions of JJ blaming herself for Reid being kidnapped; mentions of blood (from JJ’s injuries); the reader is completely gender neutral - there are no identifying pronouns used for the reader (other than the ‘you’ I generally use for fics) and the reader’s genitals are not described in any specific way; use of Y/N, mentions of a pre-established sexual relationship between JJ and the reader - it could be a friends with benefits situation, it could be secret lovers, it’s never quite specified; JJ is more submissive and the reader is more dominant, but there is no outright dom/sub relationship; the reader calls JJ 'Jay’, 'sweet girl’, 'sweets’, and 'good girl’; using sex to distract from one’s emotional problems; (technically) semi-public sex because they’re in the bathroom where anyone could walk in on them (but they’re not caught by anyone); kissing/heated making-out; the reader fingers JJ; neck biting/marking (JJ receiving); hair-pulling(JJ receiving); praise kink; clothed/mostly clothed sex; I believe that’s everything.

A/N: This was primarily inspired by the picture of JJ on the right. I saw it and I was like 'damn she fine’ but I knew it was from Revelations so I was like 'damn she fine but I know she’s havin a real bad time rn’ - so I did the thing I do best: smut based off emotional trauma. This is basically the scene where Emily comes to talk to her in the bathroom, but replacing Emily with a reader character and then they fuck. Also the title comes from the phrase 'from your lips to God’s ears’ because religious imagery. I had so much fun with this lmao. I hope you enjoy it!

...

You couldn’t help but to feel bad for JJ. 

You knew that everyone was concerned about Reid - rightfully so. Worried about where he was, if he was alive or not. But you were the type of person who preferred to focus on the things you could control - the things right in front of you. JJ was someone you had known for long enough that you knew how to comfort her, and you pushed the ‘what-ifs’ about Reid to the back of your mind in favor of focusing on her. 

You knew that she was intensely shaken up by the entire situation. Not only the fact that she had been nearly mauled by a couple of dogs, pieces of her skin torn up and marred. But it was the fact that the team knew for certain that those same dogs had ripped a woman apart only a few days ago. You knew that JJ hated being forced to shoot those dogs. She was someone with a tender heart. You knew that all of this was affecting her. 

On top of all that, she was likely blaming herself for Reid being put in danger, even though there was nothing she could have done to save him. 

While everyone was gathered in the main room, looking through Hankle’s things for any hint as to where he had taken Reid, you moved toward the back of the house, knowing that JJ had gone to the bathroom to ‘freshen up’. You knew her well enough to easily pick up that it was code for her needing a moment to escape from everyone else in some attempt to calm down. 

The door to the bathroom was open just a crack, so you took a peek, not wanting to startle her by knocking. 

You could see her hunched over the sink, stress knit through her muscles as she gripped the sides of the porcelain. You felt a twinge of guilt flow through you as the thought occurred to you - even in such a state of duress, she was so beautiful. Painted in agony or pleasure, she was gorgeous.

She looked almost angelic like this, and you hated to believe that torture looked good on someone like her. (Perhaps it was the fact that you had seen her ‘tortured’ before - sweaty and begging, half on the brink of madness as she pleaded to get your tongue between her thighs once again.) 

You found your eyes admiring the sliver of skin that peeked out between her white button up and the low waist of her simple black dress pants. You found yourself wanting to actually smack yourself as a form of scolding when you couldn’t help but to admire the gentle dip of her waist and the curve of her ass. 

You felt sinful for thinking such carnal thoughts, even when she was so wrought with stress, clearly so wrecked from the night’s events. 

Perhaps it was the fact that you had come so close to losing her, and now that urge to possess her bubbled closer to the surface than ever. But you pushed it down as you gently nudged open the bathroom door. 

When the creak of the hinges echoed through the room, you certainly did not expect to be greeted with a gun in your face. 

JJ had whipped around much faster than you expected, and pointed her Bureau issued glock right at you. Clearly, she expected you to be a threat. The look in her eyes was positively wild - like a frightened animal being cornered by a fierce predator. Which of course, was something that had happened to her only a few hours before. 

“JJ.” You called out her name, keeping your voice firm, trying to ground her in this reality. 

Her eyes continued darting around, glancing into the hallway behind you as though she was expecting another rabid dog to suddenly appear there. 

“JJ, it’s just me.” You told her, reaching up and gently easing the gun down. 

She was still incredibly tense, so you reached up with your other hand and massaged along the inner part of her wrist with two fingers, getting her muscles to relax enough that she let go of the gun, dropping it into your hand. You made sure the safety was turned on before you placed the gun on the closed toilet lid. Then you turned and closed the bathroom door behind you, sealing the two of you into a quiet bubble to hopefully give her time to calm down. 

JJ let out a harsh breath - a sound that was mostly a sob strangled inside of her chest. She ran her hands through her already wild hair, tears gathering in her eyes once again. She turned to face the wall and you instinctively reached out, running your hands gently across her shoulders. 

One of your hands stayed as a comforting grip on her upper arm and the other rubbed an open palm up and down her back. You hoped you could soothe her in some way. You truly hated how she quivered under your touch, how you could feel those sobs trapped inside of her lungs; the echoes of cries she refused to release because she felt that she needed to put up a strong front. 

“It’s so stupid.” JJ complained. 

Her voice was wet with the unreleased tears as she held her head in her hands, still facing away from you. Her long blonde hair easily created a curtain around her face so that couldn’t properly see her. 

“I grew up with dogs! I had dogs! I love dogs, I would never-” 

“It’s not your fault, Jay.” You pressed, using your affectionate nickname for her. “When people train animals to attack like that, there’s nothing you can do.” You leaned in, gently resting your cheek on her shoulder, assuring her that you were there before you whispered the next words. “You had to shoot them.” 

JJ let out a harsh whimper, clearly struggling even more now with holding back her sobs. You wanted to tell her that it would be okay to cry, but you knew that it would be useless. She was raised as the strong brick wall of a daughter in her family, and she was not used to showing weakness - especially not used to crying. 

“I should have stayed with Spencer.” She announced quietly. “I shouldn’t have let him go off without backup. I should have-” 

“Jay, that’s not your fault either.” You told her firmly, cutting off whatever self blaming rant she was about to go on. 

She muddled in a bitter silence, her arms shaking lightly as she rocked her head back and forth - shaking her head in the negative in response to what you had said. 

She had to believe it was her fault. If Spencer didn’t come back from this, her self blame would only be worse. 

“JJ, look at me.” You demanded gently. She didn’t move, and you reached over and put a hand on her wrist, attempting to pull her hands away from her face. “JJ, please look at me.” 

When your voice warbled out the plea, she finally wavered to your touch, and let you turn her around to face you. You caught a glimpse of the bright red stains soaked into the sleeve of her shirt, splattered up across her front, and you tried to ignore the sickly curl in your gut because of it. 

You had the urge to lift her bandaged forearm up and lay a few kisses on it, like you would have kissed a child’s scraped knee - more so for the emotional comfort than any possible health benefits. But you knew that would have been more for you than for her. 

So instead, you reached out, brushing past that tangled curtain of blonde to gently cup her face with both your hands. You handled her with an intensely delicate touch as you tilted her gaze up from the ground. 

A few tears had managed to escape, and you brushed them away with your thumbs. JJ sniffled quietly, sounding quite small and defeated as she did so. For the first time that night, she felt a slight calm wash over her as the comfort of your presence truly settled in. 

She was eternally grateful to have you there with her. She reached up and gripped onto your wrists, keeping you anchored there. She skimmed her thumbs along the top of your hands, enjoying the smooth feeling of your skin as you stared at her broken face - a tearful angel that made your heart ache for her. 

You were called by the higher purpose to worship that angel - to turn her pain into pleasure.

Before you could stop yourself, you found yourself drifting toward her, leaning in and planting your lips on hers. It certainly wasn’t the first time you had kissed JJ, but it most definitely wasn’t the most opportune. 

She easily returned the kiss, pressing her mouth into yours with a soft neediness. It was when she let out a small moan, the sound vibrating against your lips that you felt that sting of guilty panging at you once again. The fact that lustful heat and your grief for her were colliding so heavily inside of you made you feel like just as much of a monster as the man who had taken Reid and sicked dogs on her. 

You pulled away from the kiss sharply, putting only an inch of distance between the two of you, not letting go of her cheeks. She didn’t let go of the hold she had on your wrists either - you wanted to keep her assured of your presence because she did need the comfort during this hard time. 

“I’m sorry-” You gasped out an apology for kissing her so inappropriately, but JJ, ever the woman to know exactly what she wanted, didn’t let you finish. 

“Don’t apologize.” She ordered sharply. “I need you.” 

She kept her eyes closed, her brows tight with anguish as you gently laid your forehead against hers. 

You couldn’t help but to question it. 

“Now, Jay?” You asked quietly. “Right now?” 

“I need to forget.” She whispered, her words so timid that her breath barely ghosted your lips, even with you so close to her. 

Your heart ached at her tone, and when you didn’t reply or didn’t move to kiss her again, she continued. 

“Every time I close my eyes, I just see… I just see those eyes glowing in the dark. I just hear growling.” She admitted, a few more tears escaping that you rushed to thumb away. “I need to forget it. Please, help me forget.” 

“Anything for you, sweets.” You whispered, using another affectionate nickname for her. 

You leaned in for another kiss, firmer this time. 

You let your instincts take over then - all the lust you had been pushing down rushing to the surface and servicing you well. If she needed to forget, then you would certainly make her. You would make her feel so good that all she would be able to focus on would be the hot blood thrumming through her ears. The medicine that God intended. 

You pushed her up against the edge of the sink, keeping one hand on the side of her face and moving the other to her hip. You skimmed your fingers along that tempting strip of skin right above the waistband of her low-rise pants, causing her to shiver at the teasing touch touch. 

In a moment, your forceful dominance, the way you handled her easily had her moaning into your mouth again, much louder this time. You moved the hand on her cheek around to comb your fingers through her hair. You dug your knuckles in, setting a powerful grip at the base of her skull that held her exactly where you wanted her. It was a tender pain that had her gasping for you as you shoved your tongue past her lips, now on a very determined mission to fuck every last dreadful thought out of her head. 

Your fingertips continued to dance along the waistband of her pants, gently teasing her skin in a great contrast to the forceful movement of your lips. Every single movement was cleverly calculated to make her mind numb. Right down to the way you tugged at her hair and yanked on her bottom lip with your teeth as you pulled away from the kiss, leaving her panting wildly. 

Her eyes were closed much more gently this time, her eyelids fluttering lightly, and you hoped that you had already reduced those nightmarish visions to dust as she relaxed into your touch, buttery under your fingers as always. 

“Thank you,” JJ breathed out, her voice sweet as ever as you bit a path down her neck. You wanted to leave noticeable marks that would stand out among the scratches and bumps she had acquired that night. 

You truly didn’t care if anyone else on the team spotted one of those marks and knew what it was. You were paying tribute to her, leaving your own kind of thank you on her neck as you sucked the soft skin between your teeth. Your fingers finally found the button of her pants and easily popped it open blind, pulling the zipper down in a moment. Without a second of hesitation, you shoved your fingers past the barrier of her simple cotton underwear. 

With one last sharp bite, you moved your head back up from the crevice of her neck then, pressing your forehead against hers once again. You kept that tight grip on the back of her hair, a small hinge of pain that grounded her, that assured her you were there. 

Your fingers easily found her clit, and you made the bold choice to begin rubbing her without wetting your fingers first. You knew that it would be a pleasurable sting that would certainly push any other thoughts from her mind. 

“Oh, fuck, Y/N-” 

JJ gasped, arching her hips away from the edge of the sink to meet your touch, her lips falling open beautifully and her eyes still so gently fallen shut. She looked so fucking angelic like this. 

More tears kissed her lashes as you pressed harder on her clit, moving your fingers in hard, slow circles. You could assure yourself that these were tears from pleasure, not from anguish or pain. You had rewritten the stony hurt inside her muscles, rethreading the cords tight with the need for an orgasm where they were previously pulled tight with stress. 

“Please!” She begged so beautifully when she wanted to. 

It felt like its own unique reward to know that you were one of the only people that all powerful Jennifer Jareau ever begged to. 

You felt her becoming wetter around your fingers, flooding her underwear in response to your simple touches, and there was only one thing you wanted before you would make her cum. 

“Look at me.” You told her, the words quiet on your lips but so utterly full of confident power. 

JJ whimpered in response, not yet opening her eyes, and you stopped the movement of your hand altogether. She let out a very displeased sound and you began slowly pulling back, threatening to leave her hanging (which was a very empty threat in this context - not that she had to know that). It was something that immediately caused her eyes to shoot open as she reached out and grabbed your wrist, holding you in place. She canted her hips up, desperately trying to get your touch back where she needed you most. 

“Please,” She pleaded again, all hot breath and desperation - all for you. 

Staring into those blue eyes, lit with a desperate blaze of lust as she panted out humid breaths across your chin, you were only reminded of the fact that everything you did was for her. Everything in your life was a worship in her name, no act too small to dedicate to such a perfect Goddess. 

“Good girl.” 

You praised her, knowing it was exactly what she needed as you angled your fingers back between her wet folds. You gathered up that wetness, slicking up your fingers before you placed your determined touch right on her throbbing clit. This time, rather than being slow and calculated, you were quick and determined. You made speedy movements that you knew would draw her to the quick finish that would perfectly empty her mind. 

“Always so good for me, Jay.” 

“Thank you, oh! Oh, fuck!” 

She started singing your praises in her own way as your touches sped up, the sound of her wetness just barely muffled by the fabric of her pants and underwear, becoming delightfully sloppy under your fingers. With the way she was unconsciously canting her hips toward you, humping against your hand, you knew she was so close. 

You leaned in, and while looking her in the eyes the whole time, you bit down on her bottom lip and roughly pulled it out, letting the skin snap back in a rough possession of her as she panted and moaned the whole time. 

“Cum for me.” You demanded in a rough growl, finding yourself comparable to one of those rabid dogs. Though you were consuming her in a way that renewed her life, rather than trying to end it. “Cum for me, sweet girl.” 

“Fuck!” JJ cried out, an epic prayer as she spiraled into the all consuming pleasure of her orgasm. 

Though you wanted nothing more than to listen to those beautiful sounds, you had to silence her most pitiful orgasmic cries by clasping your lips over hers. You didn’t want the others hearing - you wanted to keep those sounds all to yourself. You muffled her noises with a tight suction of your mouth as you continued to work her right through the orgasm, keeping a tight grip on her hair the whole time to show her exactly who she belonged to. 

With the crucifix mounted on the bathroom wall, the knowledge of Hankle’s God staring right at you as you did all this - you couldn’t find an ounce of shame inside you. Not now. You could find no better way to honor God than to lovingly dedicate your life to the embodiment of his best work.

...

A/N: Please keep in mind - this is a oneshot, so there will not be a continuation of it or a sequel to it. If you are going to comment, please comment about the body of work that has been written. I have not written any other fics about JJ at the time of this being posted, but if you like my writing style, definitely feel free to check out my Criminal Minds Masterlist or my other Masterlists.

[maybeasunflower]

Star Trek theme tunes: worst to best

Star Trek’s many TV series each have an opening sequence that attempts to set up the viewer for the show ahead. A good theme tune delivers a high-quality piece of music that encapsulates the show’s essence — and it is on this basis that I’ve ranked the themes. What isn’t included in my ranking is anything about the graphics that accompany the music, nor the show itself. Naturally, these are all purely my personal opinions, so there can be no argument.

Let’s get started!

11: Enterprise

“It’s been a long road…” are five words that launched a lot of strong feelings — and rightly so. The jarring mismatch between everything about this song and everything Enterprise was about relegates this theme to the bottom of the heap. The opening graphics are spot-on for the show’s premise — but I never got to watch them because I needed to skip the music, and that makes me madder.

If you want to know what could have been, search YouTube for “Star Trek: Enterprise Opening Credits with Archer’s Theme”. That music is perfect for the show: slow, dramatic, building up for the big reveal. Then finish weeping / gnashing your teeth and come back here.

This theme also meant that we can never have a Star Trek theme with words again, ever, because we have been all primed to hate such things because of Enterprise — and that’s sad.

Imagine if we’d had a good theme with words that we could all sing at appropriate and inappropriate occasions.

10: The Animated Series

You’d forgotten about this series, hadn’t you? I will confess I haven’t watched any episodes (unlike the other ST series), but that doesn’t me having an opinion about the theme music. The jaunty theme music. The theme music that speaks of hijinks and hilarious consequences. The theme with super precise drumming — the perfect accompaniment as we join our hero sipping a cocktail in his usual bar by the beach.

Wait, this show is about space exploration?

9: Discovery

Open with Those Four Notes (good), wistful hunting call horns (good), build up to a climax (good), and then… umm…

What follows musically reminds me of Fringe (a great show that also involved Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci as creators). Fringe was a show about the discovery of new scientific things (and the consequences thereof)— but Discovery is not. The stories of Discovery revolve around battling against various things. The main theme (minimalist repeated eighth note patterns with a slow-moving melody) simply doesn’t speak to premise of the show. It ends with the ascending “Star Trek motif”, but it just feels like something bolted on to end things.

This is a theme based on the title, not on the events in the show.

8: The Original Series

I’m going to get some flak for this, but I don’t care. Yes, The Original Series is sacred. Yes, this theme gave us Those Four Notes right at the start. Yes, it gave us the classic opening words. Yes, we must remember TV was different back then when judging TOS. But I’m ranking the music, and so that’s all that matters.

This is a show about exploring strange new worlds and going boldly. The music is not that. The music is about going somewhere on holiday in your 1960s convertible, or possibly going home from work for the weekly comedic capers. It’s not going boldly anywhere, it’s not exploring new worlds, and that’s final.

… I am going to get so much flak for this.

7: Picard

This is a theme unlike any other, but this a series unlike other, so that’s OK. The wistful main melody on solo cello works for the show and its premise. The theme then gets musically developed by other instruments in a musically satisfyingly way.

However, two-thirds (!) of the title graphics are consumed by the 137 producers, supervising producers, co-executive producers, executive producers, and producing producers — and it feels the music had to be extended by a good 30 seconds to cover them all. Like Discovery, it ends with ends with the ascending “Star Trek motif”, but it (just about) feels musically connected to what came before.

Overall, I am left with a very neutral opinion. There’s nothing that bad about this music, but nothing that makes it stand out.

It’s boringly OK.

6: Strange New Worlds

After the classic opening words, the dramatic bass line/repetitive strings/drums kick in, the music builds, everything’s set up for the main melody…. and what’s that? Well, you can’t hear that melody because the orchestration that gives it insufficient body, and the sound mix gives the accompanying dramatic bass line/repetitive strings/drums far too much prominence.

The overall structure is good — repeat the main melody with some extra oomph, transition to the B melody, build to a climax with some block chords, then bring every down nicely with the hunting horn call. It ticks all the boxes on (manuscript) paper — but the orchestration and mix just means I can’t enjoy it properly.

Give the melody some more body, turn the volume down on the rhythm section, and this theme would jump up a lot of places.

5: Deep Space 9

DS9 isn’t about going boldly anywhere, but it is still about dealing with dramatic, important things. The music has a stately beauty that reflects both those things. The opening lonely horn illustrates the emptiness of space, before being joined by more horns to build drama. Then the main melody kicks in over a minimal accompaniment, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. There’s a pedal note that sustains through most of the opening — so that when the bass finally moves, it makes for a dramatic conclusion.

Later seasons brought a new version that tried to punch up the excitement a notch by increasing the speed of the main melody and adding some more texture to the accompaniment — but at the cost of the stately beauty that is this theme’s best feature. Let’s ignore it.

The title sequence is about 30 seconds too long, which means the beauty has faded somewhat by the end. (Yes, the opening for Strange New Worlds is a similar length, but the music doesn’t kick in until after 30+ seconds).

Overall, a solid piece of music that aligns well with the show’s premise.

4: Lower Decks

Lower Decks is a show that is both 100% serious and 100% affectionate parody. It does everything any other Star Trek TV series does, while turning it up 11 in order to skewer those things. Musically, that’s a tough premise for a theme tune.

So what happens? We open with Those Four Notes, followed by hunting horn calls, then a dramatic main theme on trumpet that’s repeated on all the strings — followed by gear-changing chords into the real main theme. A theme that gets a full-bore orchestra with a melody on brass that descends like someone resigned to not doing first contact (no hopeful ascending motifs here!). Then a solid build-up brings it to a satisfying conclusion.

Like the show, this theme works both seriously and as affectionate parody.

3: Voyager

The show has a tension between “let’s get home as soon as possible” and “ooh, new alien planet to explore” — and the music reflects that.

The theme opens with muted trumpets on a lonely motif (plus timpani) at the start to bring a sense of the dramatic, but without wanting to shout too loudly about it in this unknown part of the galaxy. The main theme on the horns is repeated with added texture and followed by a B melody on strings. Both bring a sense of the long journey ahead, with an ebb and flow throughout.

A slow build-up is then followed by a gentle climb back down — then a rapid (and musically seamless) build up to an emphatic restatement of the opening motif, ringing out to remind us this isn’t just about skulking back to Earth.

Voyager may be headed for home, but it’s still boldly going new places.

2: The Next Generation

Whatever you feel about Star Trek: The Motion Picture, we can all thank it for this music. TNG opens with Those Four Notes on something ethereal, followed by the best delivery of the classic opening words (sorry Anson Mount!) with a hunting call on horns underneath—then we’re into music about exploring strange new worlds and going boldly. It’s going on an adventure — journeying to places unknown to find things unknown.

Structurally, it’s simpler than other themes: after the main melody on brass, we get the string-heavy B melody twice, then back to a shortened version of the main melody to end. However, the post-words music only takes up half the opening, and those two melodies have enough going on to sustain our interest.

You’re left excited about what’s going to happen this week— because we’re exploring, damnit.

1: Prodigy

Four chords build tension, launching into drums+ostinato that tell you right away that exciting things will be Going Down.

Dramatic trombone and bells set up a musical cadence that gets resolved into the start of the heart-stirring main melody soaring out on horns clearly over the accompaniment (take note, SNW). The main melody repeats with added trumpets, and transitions into the drum-less B melody on lush strings that tells you it’s also about the journey. Then bridge into a repeat with everything turned up a notch.

Things get a little chaotic for a moment (what else do you expect with this crew?), but it’s OK, because we’re back to those dramatic trombone and bells (plus friends) to bookend things and lead us into a final resolution… that leaves just enough going on afterwards to accompany Those Four Notes, as though that was the plan all along. Then spike the ending so there’s no doubt we’re done.

Perfect.

[tenpintsofsundrop]

From Your Lips

Jennifer Jareau x Gender Neutral Reader (Smut Blurb)

Concept: After JJ is attacked by dogs on the Hankle farm, everyone is busy worrying about Reid's missing status, but you take the time to check on JJ and try your best to calm her flustered mind.

Word Count: 3,000

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Detailed warnings and author's notes below the cut.

Warnings: this is set during Season 2, Episode 15 ("Revelations"); warnings for themes/plot points from the canon episode - rabid dogs, mentions of JJ being attacked by dogs, mentions of dogs eating/killing a woman (a random woman who is not named here), animal death - mentions of JJ having to shoot the dogs (killing them) in self defence, gun violence, mentions of Reid being kidnapped (no details of that are discussed in this fic), religious themes (in this fic, religious motifs are used to encourage sexual behaviour - spoken about as though God made us to have sex with each other, not to discourage it as the Christian religion does); symptoms of shock/PTSD - JJ waves a gun in the reader's face because she's scared; general emotional angst, mentions of JJ blaming herself for Reid being kidnapped; mentions of blood (from JJ's injuries); the reader is completely gender neutral - there are no identifying pronouns used for the reader (other than the 'you' I generally use for fics) and the reader's genitals are not described in any specific way; use of Y/N, mentions of a pre-established sexual relationship between JJ and the reader - it could be a friends with benefits situation, it could be secret lovers, it's never quite specified; JJ is more submissive and the reader is more dominant, but there is no outright dom/sub relationship; the reader calls JJ 'Jay', 'sweet girl', 'sweets', and 'good girl'; using sex to distract from one's emotional problems; (technically) semi-public sex because they're in the bathroom where anyone could walk in on them (but they're not caught by anyone); kissing/heated making-out; the reader fingers JJ; neck biting/marking (JJ receiving); hair-pulling (JJ receiving); praise kink; clothed/mostly clothed sex; I believe that's everything.

A/N: This was primarily inspired by the picture of JJ on the right. I saw it and I was like 'damn she fine' but I knew it was from Revelations so I was like 'damn she fine but I know she's havin a real bad time rn' - so I did the thing I do best: smut based off emotional trauma. This is basically the scene where Emily comes to talk to her in the bathroom, but replacing Emily with a reader character and then they fuck. Also the title comes from the phrase 'from your lips to God's ears' because religious imagery. I had so much fun with this lmao. I hope you enjoy it!

...

You couldn’t help but to feel bad for JJ. 

You knew that everyone was concerned about Reid - rightfully so. Worried about where he was, if he was alive or not. But you were the type of person who preferred to focus on the things you could control - the things right in front of you. JJ was someone you had known for long enough that you knew how to comfort her, and you pushed the ‘what-ifs’ about Reid to the back of your mind in favor of focusing on her. 

You knew that she was intensely shaken up by the entire situation. Not only the fact that she had been nearly mauled by a couple of dogs, pieces of her skin torn up and marred. But it was the fact that the team knew for certain that those same dogs had ripped a woman apart only a few days ago. You knew that JJ hated being forced to shoot those dogs. She was someone with a tender heart. You knew that all of this was affecting her. 

On top of all that, she was likely blaming herself for Reid being put in danger, even though there was nothing she could have done to save him. 

While everyone was gathered in the main room, looking through Hankle’s things for any hint as to where he had taken Reid, you moved toward the back of the house, knowing that JJ had gone to the bathroom to ‘freshen up’. You knew her well enough to easily pick up that it was code for her needing a moment to escape from everyone else in some attempt to calm down. 

The door to the bathroom was open just a crack, so you took a peek, not wanting to startle her by knocking. 

You could see her hunched over the sink, stress knit through her muscles as she gripped the sides of the porcelain. You felt a twinge of guilt flow through you as the thought occurred to you - even in such a state of duress, she was so beautiful. Painted in agony or pleasure, she was gorgeous.

She looked almost angelic like this, and you hated to believe that torture looked good on someone like her. (Perhaps it was the fact that you had seen her ‘tortured’ before - sweaty and begging, half on the brink of madness as she pleaded to get your tongue between her thighs once again.) 

You found your eyes admiring the sliver of skin that peeked out between her white button up and the low waist of her simple black dress pants. You found yourself wanting to actually smack yourself as a form of scolding when you couldn’t help but to admire the gentle dip of her waist and the curve of her ass. 

You felt sinful for thinking such carnal thoughts, even when she was so wrought with stress, clearly so wrecked from the night’s events. 

Perhaps it was the fact that you had come so close to losing her, and now that urge to possess her bubbled closer to the surface than ever. But you pushed it down as you gently nudged open the bathroom door. 

When the creak of the hinges echoed through the room, you certainly did not expect to be greeted with a gun in your face. 

JJ had whipped around much faster than you expected, and pointed her Bureau issued glock right at you. Clearly, she expected you to be a threat. The look in her eyes was positively wild - like a frightened animal being cornered by a fierce predator. Which of course, was something that had happened to her only a few hours before. 

“JJ.” You called out her name, keeping your voice firm, trying to ground her in this reality. 

Her eyes continued darting around, glancing into the hallway behind you as though she was expecting another rabid dog to suddenly appear there. 

“JJ, it’s just me.” You told her, reaching up and gently easing the gun down. 

She was still incredibly tense, so you reached up with your other hand and massaged along the inner part of her wrist with two fingers, getting her muscles to relax enough that she let go of the gun, dropping it into your hand. You made sure the safety was turned on before you placed the gun on the closed toilet lid. Then you turned and closed the bathroom door behind you, sealing the two of you into a quiet bubble to hopefully give her time to calm down. 

JJ let out a harsh breath - a sound that was mostly a sob strangled inside of her chest. She ran her hands through her already wild hair, tears gathering in her eyes once again. She turned to face the wall and you instinctively reached out, running your hands gently across her shoulders. 

One of your hands stayed as a comforting grip on her upper arm and the other rubbed an open palm up and down her back. You hoped you could soothe her in some way. You truly hated how she quivered under your touch, how you could feel those sobs trapped inside of her lungs; the echoes of cries she refused to release because she felt that she needed to put up a strong front. 

“It’s so stupid.” JJ complained. 

Her voice was wet with the unreleased tears as she held her head in her hands, still facing away from you. Her long blonde hair easily created a curtain around her face so that couldn’t properly see her. 

“I grew up with dogs! I had dogs! I love dogs, I would never-” 

“It’s not your fault, Jay.” You pressed, using your affectionate nickname for her. “When people train animals to attack like that, there’s nothing you can do.” You leaned in, gently resting your cheek on her shoulder, assuring her that you were there before you whispered the next words. “You had to shoot them.” 

JJ let out a harsh whimper, clearly struggling even more now with holding back her sobs. You wanted to tell her that it would be okay to cry, but you knew that it would be useless. She was raised as the strong brick wall of a daughter in her family, and she was not used to showing weakness - especially not used to crying. 

“I should have stayed with Spencer.” She announced quietly. “I shouldn’t have let him go off without backup. I should have-” 

“Jay, that’s not your fault either.” You told her firmly, cutting off whatever self blaming rant she was about to go on. 

She muddled in a bitter silence, her arms shaking lightly as she rocked her head back and forth - shaking her head in the negative in response to what you had said. 

She had to believe it was her fault. If Spencer didn’t come back from this, her self blame would only be worse. 

“JJ, look at me.” You demanded gently. She didn’t move, and you reached over and put a hand on her wrist, attempting to pull her hands away from her face. “JJ, please look at me.” 

When your voice warbled out the plea, she finally wavered to your touch, and let you turn her around to face you. You caught a glimpse of the bright red stains soaked into the sleeve of her shirt, splattered up across her front, and you tried to ignore the sickly curl in your gut because of it. 

You had the urge to lift her bandaged forearm up and lay a few kisses on it, like you would have kissed a child’s scraped knee - more so for the emotional comfort than any possible health benefits. But you knew that would have been more for you than for her. 

So instead, you reached out, brushing past that tangled curtain of blonde to gently cup her face with both your hands. You handled her with an intensely delicate touch as you tilted her gaze up from the ground. 

A few tears had managed to escape, and you brushed them away with your thumbs. JJ sniffled quietly, sounding quite small and defeated as she did so. For the first time that night, she felt a slight calm wash over her as the comfort of your presence truly settled in. 

She was eternally grateful to have you there with her. She reached up and gripped onto your wrists, keeping you anchored there. She skimmed her thumbs along the top of your hands, enjoying the smooth feeling of your skin as you stared at her broken face - a tearful angel that made your heart ache for her. 

You were called by the higher purpose to worship that angel - to turn her pain into pleasure.

Before you could stop yourself, you found yourself drifting toward her, leaning in and planting your lips on hers. It certainly wasn’t the first time you had kissed JJ, but it most definitely wasn’t the most opportune. 

She easily returned the kiss, pressing her mouth into yours with a soft neediness. It was when she let out a small moan, the sound vibrating against your lips that you felt that sting of guilty panging at you once again. The fact that lustful heat and your grief for her were colliding so heavily inside of you made you feel like just as much of a monster as the man who had taken Reid and sicked dogs on her. 

You pulled away from the kiss sharply, putting only an inch of distance between the two of you, not letting go of her cheeks. She didn’t let go of the hold she had on your wrists either - you wanted to keep her assured of your presence because she did need the comfort during this hard time. 

“I’m sorry-” You gasped out an apology for kissing her so inappropriately, but JJ, ever the woman to know exactly what she wanted, didn’t let you finish. 

“Don’t apologize.” She ordered sharply. “I need you.” 

She kept her eyes closed, her brows tight with anguish as you gently laid your forehead against hers. 

You couldn’t help but to question it. 

“Now, Jay?” You asked quietly. “Right now?” 

“I need to forget.” She whispered, her words so timid that her breath barely ghosted your lips, even with you so close to her. 

Your heart ached at her tone, and when you didn’t reply or didn’t move to kiss her again, she continued. 

“Every time I close my eyes, I just see… I just see those eyes glowing in the dark. I just hear growling.” She admitted, a few more tears escaping that you rushed to thumb away. “I need to forget it. Please, help me forget.” 

“Anything for you, sweets.” You whispered, using another affectionate nickname for her. 

You leaned in for another kiss, firmer this time. 

You let your instincts take over then - all the lust you had been pushing down rushing to the surface and servicing you well. If she needed to forget, then you would certainly make her. You would make her feel so good that all she would be able to focus on would be the hot blood thrumming through her ears. The medicine that God intended. 

You pushed her up against the edge of the sink, keeping one hand on the side of her face and moving the other to her hip. You skimmed your fingers along that tempting strip of skin right above the waistband of her low-rise pants, causing her to shiver at the teasing touch touch. 

In a moment, your forceful dominance, the way you handled her easily had her moaning into your mouth again, much louder this time. You moved the hand on her cheek around to comb your fingers through her hair. You dug your knuckles in, setting a powerful grip at the base of her skull that held her exactly where you wanted her. It was a tender pain that had her gasping for you as you shoved your tongue past her lips, now on a very determined mission to fuck every last dreadful thought out of her head. 

Your fingertips continued to dance along the waistband of her pants, gently teasing her skin in a great contrast to the forceful movement of your lips. Every single movement was cleverly calculated to make her mind numb. Right down to the way you tugged at her hair and yanked on her bottom lip with your teeth as you pulled away from the kiss, leaving her panting wildly. 

Her eyes were closed much more gently this time, her eyelids fluttering lightly, and you hoped that you had already reduced those nightmarish visions to dust as she relaxed into your touch, buttery under your fingers as always. 

“Thank you,” JJ breathed out, her voice sweet as ever as you bit a path down her neck. You wanted to leave noticeable marks that would stand out among the scratches and bumps she had acquired that night. 

You truly didn’t care if anyone else on the team spotted one of those marks and knew what it was. You were paying tribute to her, leaving your own kind of thank you on her neck as you sucked the soft skin between your teeth. Your fingers finally found the button of her pants and easily popped it open blind, pulling the zipper down in a moment. Without a second of hesitation, you shoved your fingers past the barrier of her simple cotton underwear. 

With one last sharp bite, you moved your head back up from the crevice of her neck then, pressing your forehead against hers once again. You kept that tight grip on the back of her hair, a small hinge of pain that grounded her, that assured her you were there. 

Your fingers easily found her clit, and you made the bold choice to begin rubbing her without wetting your fingers first. You knew that it would be a pleasurable sting that would certainly push any other thoughts from her mind. 

“Oh, fuck, Y/N-” 

JJ gasped, arching her hips away from the edge of the sink to meet your touch, her lips falling open beautifully and her eyes still so gently fallen shut. She looked so fucking angelic like this. 

More tears kissed her lashes as you pressed harder on her clit, moving your fingers in hard, slow circles. You could assure yourself that these were tears from pleasure, not from anguish or pain. You had rewritten the stony hurt inside her muscles, rethreading the cords tight with the need for an orgasm where they were previously pulled tight with stress. 

“Please!” She begged so beautifully when she wanted to. 

It felt like its own unique reward to know that you were one of the only people that all powerful Jennifer Jareau ever begged to. 

You felt her becoming wetter around your fingers, flooding her underwear in response to your simple touches, and there was only one thing you wanted before you would make her cum. 

“Look at me.” You told her, the words quiet on your lips but so utterly full of confident power. 

JJ whimpered in response, not yet opening her eyes, and you stopped the movement of your hand altogether. She let out a very displeased sound and you began slowly pulling back, threatening to leave her hanging (which was a very empty threat in this context - not that she had to know that). It was something that immediately caused her eyes to shoot open as she reached out and grabbed your wrist, holding you in place. She canted her hips up, desperately trying to get your touch back where she needed you most. 

“Please,” She pleaded again, all hot breath and desperation - all for you. 

Staring into those blue eyes, lit with a desperate blaze of lust as she panted out humid breaths across your chin, you were only reminded of the fact that everything you did was for her. Everything in your life was a worship in her name, no act too small to dedicate to such a perfect Goddess. 

“Good girl.” 

You praised her, knowing it was exactly what she needed as you angled your fingers back between her wet folds. You gathered up that wetness, slicking up your fingers before you placed your determined touch right on her throbbing clit. This time, rather than being slow and calculated, you were quick and determined. You made speedy movements that you knew would draw her to the quick finish that would perfectly empty her mind. 

“Always so good for me, Jay.” 

“Thank you, oh! Oh, fuck!” 

She started singing your praises in her own way as your touches sped up, the sound of her wetness just barely muffled by the fabric of her pants and underwear, becoming delightfully sloppy under your fingers. With the way she was unconsciously canting her hips toward you, humping against your hand, you knew she was so close. 

You leaned in, and while looking her in the eyes the whole time, you bit down on her bottom lip and roughly pulled it out, letting the skin snap back in a rough possession of her as she panted and moaned the whole time. 

“Cum for me.” You demanded in a rough growl, finding yourself comparable to one of those rabid dogs. Though you were consuming her in a way that renewed her life, rather than trying to end it. “Cum for me, sweet girl.” 

“Fuck!” JJ cried out, an epic prayer as she spiraled into the all consuming pleasure of her orgasm. 

Though you wanted nothing more than to listen to those beautiful sounds, you had to silence her most pitiful orgasmic cries by clasping your lips over hers. You didn’t want the others hearing - you wanted to keep those sounds all to yourself. You muffled her noises with a tight suction of your mouth as you continued to work her right through the orgasm, keeping a tight grip on her hair the whole time to show her exactly who she belonged to. 

With the crucifix mounted on the bathroom wall, the knowledge of Hankle’s God staring right at you as you did all this - you couldn’t find an ounce of shame inside you. Not now. You could find no better way to honor God than to lovingly dedicate your life to the embodiment of his best work.

[ultraviolet-cello]

Aw man. Today's the last day of @tristampparty and I am surprisingly sad about it. I'll be catching up the days I missed at some point, but I've chucked all that I've written, including today, into a google document and I apparently wrote 7.5k words over the course of episode 6 to today.

That's! A Lot!

I really wanna thank everyone who reblogged and gave me their additional thoughts/commentary, and special thanks to Revenantghost for organizing this whole thing! you do good work for this fandom i am giving u a gold star

With that, here we go into Episode 0 - High Noon at July. CWs for pregnancy discussion and a less detailed than last time but still present analysis of sexual assault and transphobia, marked with a [CW] Ofc, spoilers for Trimax and Tristamp

Cowboy kid Knives is something u can pry from my cold dead hands but it's also,,, I don't watch a lot of westerns, but the way Knives describes it seems like he likes the high action and justice. Which yea. yeah.

A lot of ppl interpret Vash then saying that he doesn't like that sorta stuff as him having always had pacifistic tendencies but I don't really read it that way? I just see him being rather similar to Trimax Vash - chill kid with his own interests and hobbies and Knives being the very oversensitive kid so outshines him initially.

Regardless of version of Trigun (except 98. 98 didn't know shit about knives lmao), Vash and Knives have always started off wanting to coexist and be peaceful; it's just how they reacted to it later that differs. In this case, Knives wants to stand up for his friends and make a peaceful world through that, and Vash is more passive in that he just wants to have faith in humanity.

Not to mention they are kids. Young, idealistic kids. This is pre-Tesla, they don't know the extent of how horrible the world is. The loss of innocence and subsequent breakdowns relating to The Horrors is yet to come.

[CW] Mmmmm they really don't make the pregnancy imagery subtle now do they dfgkjdfjk

I also think there's like - merit in also interpreting Knives as trans. Not Just because i think he's also very trans coded (A lot of his breakdowns and story arcs have reflections in how some trans men overcompensate masculinity in a Bad Way. That's a very small subsection of trans guys btw but I am speaking from experience. I got better tho). Anyway it makes the fact that Knives is disregarding Vash's bodily autonomy very much Worse if you take the male plants are trans analogy into it.

He's so far gone that he's willing to do to Vash what would be the worst thing to be done to him; Violating his body to rebuild and make him a perfect independent ("remind him of biological reality"), physically overpowering him ("taking the aggressor, commonly masculine role in sexual assault") to do what he wants. Disregarding the wants and needs of the Plants ("women +fem-presenting ppl that he originally set out to protect because he knew their experience and wanted to help and still has that trauma from witnessing that trauma")

Ofc that's just a reading of the scene, but I quite like it as a trans guy because that makes a really good villain with trans themes/motifs! I hate him so much (affectionate)

No, no she doesn't. Meryl is making a choice and she's gonna damn well stick to it! She's been given agency and she's gonna spend it in the most eldritch horrific scene that someone on that planet could spend it lmao. Well, no Knives takes most eldritch and horrific. Meryl's second tho

Okay this fucking scene drives me INSANE. This is a memory, clearly, but it's one that's being tampered with. Vash asks Knives if they can get along with humans, and then Knives immediately messes with the memory to make sure that he says that he'll protect Vash no matter what. But that is very clearly not what was originally said, so... What did he say? What was present day Knives so desperate to cut off?

I've talked about the narrative being biased against Knives a lot, but something I haven't talked about is that Knives kinda tries to contribute to that narrative a lot. He wants to seem like he never cared about humans, he wants to seem like he always planned this and was going for justice ever since he was a kid. He tells Vash the Tesla incident was just a small grain of sand, he uses Luida to tell everyone he wants to kill Rem, he's unbearably cruel to Vash to make his point. The only difference is that he wants to be right.

So he doesn't let us see what the kid version of him says, because that would contradict the narrative he's built for himself.

I really wanna give props to Studio Orange here for both the design and way they modelled the wing here, that's a really difficult task when the guy you're putting a wing on has a tight as hell bodysuit. But the anatomy holds up surprisingly well!

Also many people have pointed out that the plant mech looks a lot like Rem, and Knives staring into the face of a Plantish representation of his mother that is created and controlled subconsciously by his brother and saying he was rejected is. It sure is a scene!

ONCE AGAIN. INCREDIBLE EFFECTS. I also would like to once again point out the angelic motifs of Knives' design here.

Also Vash saying this is SO important because Meryl!!! is so important!!! I see a lot of people brush Meryl's space in the story off and it Enrages me because Meryl is one of the most important people to Vash. Aside from our frontline yaoi soldier Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Meryl has one of the most tangible impacts on Vash's character.

When Vash is in his breakdown in Trimax, Meryl is the one to kneel at his side and believe in him; When Vash is having his god awful horrible mindscape time in Tristamp, Meryl does the same. When Meryl is kidnapped in Trimax, Vash instantly jumps out of a window in the chance of getting her back. Vash trusted her enough to fire the ion cannon in the sand steamer episode. He immediately went to July the moment she and Roberto were kidnapped.

Meryl has so much faith in Vash and she's insane for that, but Vash recognizes her and that faith pays off in giving him the strength to carry on. He heard her voice, too :]

Also oh to be floating slowly down to the floor while you're a meter away from a cube with the power of an atom bomb while someone named Millions Knives is summoning millions of knives in front of u. Meryl has guts, man.

And now that Vash has gotten his gun back, he's back to using it as a tonfa! (check I think my analysis of episode 7 for more on that). Watching for the swing blocks, the forearm guard, and thwacking the knife tendrils out of the way

This fight scene has soooo much love and care and detail in it I love it so much actually. From seeing Vash's bullets to all the expressions and beautifully detailed firing, there's so much detail in a quick space that you really have to slow it down to see everything.

Seriously how strong is Knives to be able to have a feasible chance again Vash's prosthetic - and Vash matches him! Also the chomp

Now something that I have the shakiest of theories on is that after summoning The Cube, Vash starts moving in a far more controlled manner, he stands still when reloading, he has his movement flurries and then stands still to aim. Which uh. Studio Orange works in 3d, but those are 2d animation techniques. He's moving like 98 Vash.

There's a lot I admire about Studio Orange's use of 3d (I am a mid-tier 2d artist lmao) but I love love love that they're able to get all these really nice, creative camera shots that would be impractical in 2d (all those overhead shots, for example, have a chance of turning about bad/looking weird in 2d, and puts more strain on animators, but 3d you have the models from every angle already. 3d isn't easier by any means, but it does have its strengths)

Also. how Did Wolfwood get over here, dare I ask. mans climbed a tower in just a few minutes what is Wrong with him

Also a nice detail, Vash usually has perfect trigger discipline, but he falters here against Knives, probably because he's been already shooting, but hey, he's stressed. I'll give him a break.

I also appreciate exactly how superhuman Wolfwood is now. Tristamp Wolfwood is on a different level. Like 98 Wolfwood is just some (attractive) guy, Trimax Wolfwood has a lot of gory body horror going on and a subtle kind of endurance/strength, but Tristamp Wolfwood just jumped off a very tall building holding a grown woman and the Punisher and was fine.

Oh hey, same symbol on the tower as was on the sandsteamer and on Vash's wanted poster - symbol of July, probably

Very horribly, Knives probably did just save Vash's life here. But also the rest of July's life (though ofc he just extended the timer)....

I'm not quite sure When Vash started using plant bullets, but he's definitely using them now. Also the nails on his prosthetic are a nice touch!

THE FLYING SAUCER STRIKES AGAIN. I wonder if that's gonna be the basis of the Ark, if that's the route season 2 goes.

I also. Was that allI the Plants collected that escaped in this, or were there a bunch still running in July that get obliterated too? Did Knives inadvertently cause the death of more plants? I mean, when Knives gets revived in Trimax he definitely causes the death of at least 2 plants (there are a couple of bulbs in the background of the blast radius, plus the one that was used to revive him... she uh. Didn't look like she was doing so hot)

Vash's little speech is always so,,, intense. He has such a strong sense of character and it's admirable how well he sticks to his morals despite it all.

On a more body horror note, Knives can survive a long fucking time trying to grab The Cube. In Trimax he gets hit with the angel arm and practically disemboweled instantly, but Tristamp Knives can take over a minute of just like. being right in the direct path of fire. They're really gonna have to work to reconstruct him. Good luck, Legato!

UFO SPOTTED !!! LEAVING JULY AS IT IS DESTROYED !! NOT CLICKBAIT !!!

^ I made that long ago and needed to use it somewhere dfgkjdfg

[RAUCOUS CHEERING]

And ofc I have to bring up Eriks :] I don't actually have too much to say abt him. Studio Orange strip this man and make him bark like a dog next season or we will riot

CHRONICA MENTION!!!!! YAYYYYYY

And that's kinda. It.

Man I have had such fun over the last 12 days, I've really discovered a love for analyzing and theories and putting that out there and chatting with people about Trigun :] I should do this more often lmao but I do want to get back to drawing. I'll find a balance, then!

Thank you all for coming, and Wow if you made it this far I must be doing something right lmao.

[classicanalyzer]

Into the Breach Thoughts

The title music transitioning to Hemlock’s theme really cements the finality. Echo’s full return also cements the feeling that this is the end of the Bad Batch’s story alongside their reluctant ally Rampart.

Rampart still remains that arrogant Imperial even after being a prisoner at a labor camp and a Clone hater, “I hate clones.” And I love him suffering at the hands of the BB.

Karr is hopefully building up to helping Omega, the kids, and the Clones escape Tantiss.

I love Omega’s resourcefulness and her skills not only in this episode but this whole season. Same with the BB as their skills as Commandos shine this entire season and this episode. Wrecker knocking out the Imperial officer and “You’ve been demoted” line was pretty funny.

Omega cutting away the wall panels also remind me so much of Andor in the prison arc. When she said “our way out”, all I can think about is Kino. I cannot wait to see her give Hemlock a mental breakdown.

The sequence of Echo disabling the proximity sensors and Hunter deciding to go ahead attaching to the ship was filled with so much tension and anxiety. Hunter’s line “Negative” is so raw and embodies the BB’s trust in one another to achieve the impossible. The ending to the end credits playing the BB theme is so good.

My best guess is that Omega with the help of Karr will disable the base’s security systems and Rex’s rebels coming in to attack the base.

Either way, all roads lead to Mt. Tantiss.

Musical motifs:

Hemlock’s theme, Rampart’s theme, Karr’s(?) theme, and BB’s theme.

[hollowtones]

i can't find the vods for the rest of your endwalker playthrough (if you even did stream the rest) so i was wondering, what were your opinions on 6.0? (also what were your reactions to That urianger scene)

I think I only did like one or two streams of it. It ran kinda bad when I streamed it, people didn't want to watch it, and I wasn't getting much out of streaming it compared to just playing it on my own time. That and I think I had a really severe depressive episode at the time (for unrelated reasons).

IDK if anyone's still trying to avoid spoilers but I'll throw it under a read-more.

It's been a while since I last played so my memory's kind of spotty. I liked it, though. It felt like a satisfying conclusion to what they've been getting at since 2.0 MSQ, and a nice little dialogue on despair and exhaustion and depression and hope, and finding ways to carry on and keep living and keep loving and keep trying. I feel like that's when the game's overall writing and theming tends to be at its strongest (yes I liked the Dark Knight questlines haha).

I remember having mixed feelings about how they pulled off the Garlemald segment & the "Alphinaud and Alisaie's shit head dad" plotline but I don't remember enough of the specifics to really elaborate on that.

Alisaie has lesbian college admirers and I thought that was funny.

I came out of 5.5 MSQ expecting White Woman Jumpscare Hydaelyn to be a little trite but I ended up really liking Venat. I felt kinda whatever about Emet-Selch coming back, but I didn't hate what they did with him I guess, and his earless-Viera boy toy was fun. Fandaniel felt like The Joker but he still felt like a fine first-act villain. The way they write him (& Meteion) in the later chunk of the game felt more interesting to me, & felt like a fun play on "Shadowbringers"-era Emet-Selch's whole "AMAUROT, BABY! GREATEST CITY IN DA WORLD, BABY! SLIMES ALL OVER DA STREET, BABY!" nostalgia. It was funny when he was The Joker, though.

Final area was thematically and visually really interesting. I'm excited we got more stuff related to Omega & I'm glad we got more "btw the dragons are aliens" stuff. I've seen a lot of people forget about that, for whatever reason. That one area right by the end that was completely desolate, with no people & no indication of who lived there, was a really good setpiece. The Namazu canonically suffer in all possible dimensions and all possible worlds and you cannot help but laugh out loud.

I kind of rolled my eyes at Zenos coming back. "By the way he's a Reaper now" felt like it amounted to nothing, but admittedly I never did the Reaper questline or the post-6.0 stuff. Getting to punch him in the face at the end was fun.

Music was good, I liked the way they played with different motifs & I really like how that comes to a head in the final boss fight.

I was expecting moon rabbits to be grating and insufferable but I liked them. I fucking love that none of this planet's moons are normal. Why are they both orbital prison-ships. I love it.

Zodiark's design owned and Hydaelyn's design was okay. Very Yoshitaka Amano design, which makes sense given how he did that one boxart for "A Realm Reborn" & she looks a lot like she does there, but I kinda wish she got to look more monstrous and weird. She kept talking up becoming a monster to do what she felt was right!!! I wish that had informed her design a little more.

Hamburgers exist & I do like that the animators got to livingly render G'raha Tia going to town on one like those weird clips of anime girls where it looks like they've never eaten in their lives.

I don't remember what you mean by "the Urianger scene". LOL

You didn't ask, but the crafting/gathering questlines were a lot of fun. I feel like they (& the guildleves) added some fun extra context to everything going on while I was going through the MSQ.

I liked it overall. I don't think it's the highest point of the game's writing, but I had a good time and felt very satisfied by the time it came to a close.

[biconickyoshi]

NAtLA first impressions (eps 1 & 2)

Here are my thoughts as someone who has been a superfan of the original series since 2007 (spoiler-free first, then spoilers below)!

Honestly, I'm feeling pretty middle of the road about this adaptation so far. I like a lot of the costuming, and some of the actors are good, while others have felt a bit lackluster. There's also some characterization choices I didn't like too much for certain characters (which I will get into in the spoiler sections below). The score is definitely not as good as the original series - I don't particularly like the new elements of the score, and when themes and motifs from the original score are used, I feel like they aren't used enough. The bending, while better than the 2010 version, still feels a bit fake and clunky, as do a lot of the special effects. There's also a problem with a reliance on exposition dialogue, moreso in the first ep than the second.

Now we'll get into the spoiler section. Don't read below this if you do not wanna be spoiled.

EP 1: "Aang"

What I liked:

Getting to see a bit more of the Air Nomads (which makes the genocide feel even more devastating)

The design of the Southern Air Temple felt very warm and inviting - I liked that there were lots of trees and whatnot

The added details about the Sozin purposefully allowing news of the war to be leaked to the Earth Kingdom to throw everyone off their trail of planning to attack the Air Nomads

Making the comet a special event for the Air Nomads, which brings them all together at the Southern Air Temple for Sozin's attack to happen

I like that Wolf Cove was actually called Wolf Cove (since it's never name dropped in the actual show)

Zuko and Iroh did a good job - I think Dallas is capturing Zuko's energy pretty well, and while Paul's Iroh feels a bit different than the OG, he's still doing a good job

What I was not so keen on:

Yep... I really didn't like that Aang didn't purposefully run away, and instead went to "clear his head" after Monk Gyatso told him he was the Avatar, fully intending to return before getting caught in the storm.

They really weren't kidding about removing Sokka's sexism. Instead of Aang being released bc of Katara's anger at this, they just happen upon the iceberg, and somehow while trying to waterbend their canoe closer she waterbends the iceberg open behind her??

Exposition dump from Gran Gran... and her basically just straight up telling Aang to his face "You're the last airbender! All your people are dead! And you're probably the Avatar too!" It all felt very wooden and definitely a bad change from how Aang realizes he's in the future in the OG series.

I had high hopes for a lot of the actors, and I hate to say it (especially considering Sokka's actor is likely not even indigenous at all), but Sokka has felt like the best actor so far. His lines come across a lot more naturally than Katara's and Aang's often do. Aang is alright, and of course looks and acts the part, but the way he speaks his lines sometimes feels too quick/unnatural. Sadly, I think Katara's acting has been the worst so far - in this episode I didn't see any of the emotion in her eyes that I felt like I should've been seeing. I will say I think she got a bit better in ep 2.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka just don't feel close. They never got time to go penguin sledding, to hang out with the village kids, etc. They still feel like strangers.

Speaking of, I guess Aang went out of the Avatar State by thinking about Gyatso? Again, that distance between him and the siblings (especially Katara) is glaring. Katara in general just seems to lack the spark she has in the OG.

EP 2: "Warriors"

What I liked:

Seeing the Fire Navy port - it felt very SEA-inspired, and that street food looked delicious lol.

Kyoshi Island being run by a woman (Suki's mom). Just makes more sense to me lol.

Suki - I looooved how they portrayed her as this kind of socially awkward character who wants to talk to Sokka but doesn't know how. It makes so much sense with her being isolated her whole life. I also felt like her and Sokka had quite a bit of chemistry.

The final Kyoshi battle was pretty cool

I kinda liked Zhao and Zuko both being at Kyoshi Island

Zuko's desperation to find Aang - he really felt like a kid to me in this ep with the acting choices Dallas made.

Strangely, I don't hate them nerfing the Avatar State a bit by making it to where Aang can only enter it when he's in an Avatar shrine. I didn't even realize it at first but the reason he goes into the Avatar State in the SAT is because Gyatso's skeleton was in Yangchen's shrine. I still prefer OG series Avatar State though.

I like that Kyoshi warns Aang with the vision about the Fire Nation's attack on the Northern Water Tribe. It gives him an incentive to get there faster instead of meandering.

What I was not so keen on:

Zhao seems to be a much less arrogant character here, at least outwardly. I know he was probably a bit cartoon villain-y in the OG series, but this dude just feels like another commander. Maybe that will change as I watch more. He's definitely conniving.

The goofy ass high beam lights from the Kyoshi statue's eyes

Kyoshi's characterization... This Kyoshi feels like the caricature all the casual fans perceive her to be (i.e. violence and strength are the best way, smite my enemies type of thing). I also didn't like how she just kept berating Aang for running away (which is weird that everyone keeps accusing him of this bc this version of Aang literally didn't even run away).

Aang is very driven to master the elements and defeat the Fire Lord in this version, which isn't necessarily a bad thing... But I feel like if anything, they could have at least kept it to where he ran away the night of the genocide, even if they didn't want to show him ignoring his responsibilities to go on adventures in the bulk of the show. A major part of Aang's character arc is him learning to accept his destiny and stop running/avoiding.

Once again, no Sokka sexism arc. This ep in the OG series was very important for him, but that's nonexistent here.

Once again, Katara's acting, while better than ep 1, feels like it's lacking emotion.

Overall, it's obviously better than the 2010 movie so far, and I enjoyed the eps to a degree, but there's still a lot of things that I wasn't super fond of. The changes that they seem to have made so far aren't too extreme yet, and I'm actually looking forward to seeing how far they end up deviating from the original show.

The whole time I was watching, I just couldn't stop thinking about how much better the original show is. I just kept missing the characters I knew and loved. Also, I still firmly believe this world and story truly works best in animation.

[nemojokard-blog]

greetings everypony, it is I Nemo Jokard. I come offering my fancures for the fancuries .

Here are my main fanseries:

Nature Shift! Precure

The Four Seasonal Kingdoms of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter lived in harmony, protected by the precures. Until one of them went rogue. Regalia, the Winter precure, along with some other rogues, attacked the kingdoms with these monsters called Heartaches. The only one who can help them now is the Princess of Spring, Tupper who holds the 3 remaining seasonal keys. Can she find the new precure? (I don’t know, CAN SHE??)

Ayame Mizuki/Cure Vernal

Our resident pink cure of the team, she is spring themed. Ayame is a reserved girl who isn't great at socializing. She's a little lazy and tends to procrastinate, but she's trying to change that. She also panics on a daily basis and is in a constant state of screaming inside her head.

Kaori Natsumi/Cure Solstice

Our orange cure who is summer themed! Kaori is bright, energetic and seems to always be moving. She is kinda unreliable though and tends to forget things easily. She has a big sweet tooth and has a family sweets store called Natsumi♡Pastry. She's an optimist and can kinda annoy her teammates with her constant positive attitude. She has a bit of a competitive side.

Etsu Akino/Cure Fall (tumblr hates yellow)

Etsu is the yellow cure and mom friend. She's the one helping the other cures with their homework, scolding them, and discouraging them from doing bad things. Although she isn't without fault. She's very hardworking, which is good, but is prone to burning herself out with all nighters and club activities. She also tends to be the most passive agressive person ever. She learns to balance her life and leave time for herself.

Tulipa 'Tupper' Flora Leis Fleur Bouquet Laverne

Tupper is a meanie. She usually bosses the cures around and comes up with the strategies. She also gives the cures a lot of sass and criticizes their flaws. She obviously cares about them, she just sucks at showing it.

The fanseries themes are seasons, friendship, and change.

This was my first ever fanseries and I’ve probably done the most for this one. I’ve written ten episodes for them that you can read on Ao3 and wattpad ! (A rewrite of chapter 1 and chapter 11 are in the works !!)

Ahoy! Pirate Precure

About nine years ago, Umi Ishikawa met a mermaid! She's been obsessed with them ever since then and still carries the gift that the mermaid gave her. When her gift happens to be a treasure from the Cordelia Kingdom, she is hunted for theft. Suddenly a crab and parrot are talking and wait, is she transforming?!

Umi Ishikawa/Cure Ness

Umi is an airhead that is infatuated with mermaids. She's always wanted to live in the ocean. The mermaid obsession started probably when her parents went on a cruise and she was all alone by herself. Then suddenly she came face to face with a real mermaid. No one believes her tho. She loves swimming and wishes to live in the sea one day.

Yuzu Egawa/Cure Citrus

Yuzu is a sour girl who doesn't like much of anything. She's ready to sass anyone and everyone. Because of this she doesn't have many friends and throws herself in her studies as a result. She tends to be a know-it-all. Apparently she loves visiting the aquarium in her free time.

Nyoko Izumi/Cure Aurorus

Nyoko is a spoiled girl with a rich background. She's pretty annoying and tends to brag about her money. She's also very very competitive when it comes to swimming and often her & Umi compete. She's also a sore loser.

Shelly

The old advisor for Cordelia Kingdom. She's strict and crabby.

Parry

A parrot with powerful magic. It helps the cures in battle or sometimes it mocks them. Whatever Parry feels like doing.

The motif of this series is pirates and the main theme is treasuring life.

I don’t know when I’ll do more for this fanseries since it was originally made as a joke, but I might write it some day!

Beauty Guru Precure

The Queen of the Glamour kingdom was the Super Instant Influencer. She stood strong until the scandals attacked. She was dethroned, and in her last stitch efforts to pass on her wisdom, was to pass on her legendary Make Up Pallet to the Precure to fight the scandals. She handed it to Pinkity Drinkity her trusty snake.

Tomoko Ayano/Cure Guru

The first girl to awake as a Precure. Tomoko is an airhead with a bit of an ego. Her teammates keep her check. She isn't very smart, but tries her best! She's really into makeup and likes to experiment with different kind of looks. She transforms with the Aerie Lip gloss into Cure Guru. At first scared of Pinkity Drinkity and still kinda is. Lovingly calls the snake "Pinky."

Keiko Arai/Cure Blush

The second girl to awake as a Precure. Keiko easily embarrassed and has a short temper. She enjoys studying and has a one sided rivalry with Kagami. With the Periwinkle Compact, she transforms into Cure Blush. She loves Pinkity Drinkity to a fault. She calls her "Pink-chan."

Aimi Hitomi/Cure Shadow

The third person to awake as a Precure. She seems to keep to herself a lot and has a bad habit of bottling everything inside. Although when they are with Tomoko and Keiko, she seems to turn into a different person who can't keep their mouth shut. She transforms with the Goth Pallet into Cure Shadow. They so not lovingly refer to Pinkity Drinkity as Future Soup.

Kagami Ayano/Cure Cosmetic

Technically the actual first one to awaken. She helps the girls in a pinch, but always seems to keep her distance. She doesn't seem to want to get closer to any of the girls. An exception to this is Cure Guru, which the girls and Pinkity Drinkity find strange. (Of course this is because she’s Guru's twin sister, but shhhh, they don't know that.)

Pinkity Drinkity

The girls’ trusty snake partner in crime. She ventured out to find the legendary Precure and now that she found them, she’s a bit worried. She thinks the girls are too young to be fighting Madam Masquerade’s Scandals and fears for their safety. On the other hand though, she knows that the only thing she can really do is guide them as Precure.

Dragon Drinkity

Dragon Drinkity just screams a lot. She sometimes says wise things, but completely cracks under pressure. She was sent first to find the Precure of Lipstick and the Precure of Nail Polish.

The motifs of this series are angels and make up. The themes of this series are inner beauty and love.

This series also kind of started off as a bit of a one off thing. Might also get written someday but no promises!!!

Sew Magical

This fanseries is a crossover between lalaloopsy and precure! It admittedly no longer has a plot anymore but I did make some cute designs .

Live Laugh Love! Precure

Kasumi Ieiri is used to her simple life with her father where it's just the two of them against the world.. Well until it wasn't. Suddenly there's this whole new marriage and there's three random kids living with them! Tsumugi, one of the kids, is the same age as her, but that's where the similarities end. Tsumugi is quiet and you can never really tell what she's thinking. Kasumi is anything but quiet and is easily read.

However these two supposed sisters are now forced to work together when a monster comes marching at their front door and is terrorizing a poor helpless mascot who drops two items that resemble mood rings. The mood rings then fly onto Kasumi and Tsumugi, recognizing them as Precure! Kasumi transforms into Cure Haven and Tsugumi into Cure Comedy. They manage to defeat the monster and rescue the mascot! Who seems a little mortified about this whole development..

Omg new Nemo fanseries !? Admittedly this is kind of the first time im mentioning them and I haven’t thought abt them for a hot minute 👁️👄👁️💧 But perhaps I will work on them some day! Might even get around to drawing them. I really like duo seasons.

(the order is Kasumi, tsumugi, cure haven, and cure comedy)

Their only theme is Live, Laugh, Love.

And that’s all, folks!

I recycled a whole lot of it from last time but I hope you at least consider nominating me :]

[sanaserena]

As promised, more screenshots! This time from Episode 3. Of all episodes, this was one of the slowest for me, but not by much!! There are so many things to like about this episode (but comparatively, Episode was more exciting). This episode marks the beginning of Usopp's recruitment to the Strawhats. So, good things I liked from this episode (a complete series overview review later, including some hiccups I didn't love, but wasn't a dealbreaker for me):

Not just for this episode, but I loved the music. As someone who has always been primarily manga over anime, I really enjoyed the take on the music for this entire series! It's literally been stuck in my head all week... Even more, I really did enjoy the themes and motifs for each character! We even get a hint of We Are or Overtaken at crucial moments in the live action!! (One of which was the introduction to Going Merry!) It's interesting, I loved the moments when these appeared, but did not immediately catch that they were versions of the Anime OST, because evidently, I don't watch the anime as often...

Helmeppo. Have I said it yet? Even if I have, I'll say it again. Aidan Scott does such an amazing job as Helmeppo. He's a complete ass, yet he's become a likeable ass (and no!! I don't mean that literal scene from Episode 1! Some days I wonder if the choice to include was like a metaphor for his character...it probably wasn't but still!) Nonetheless, this guy has so many facial expressions and pretty damn perfect for Helmeppo. I like that we get to see more of him (and Koby and Garp) as we get to see how they grow from their roots to post-timeskip in the manga.

Nami, Zoro, Luffy. Again, Episode 3 gives us more development of their dynamic as a crew. They're still not together yet, but this is also one of the reasons I really enjoy Episodes 3 and 4. You can't have the Nami, Zoro, and Luffy of live action as they are in Episodes 7 and 8 without these two episodes. Because it's in 3 & 4 that we really get to know each one and they each get to know each other. There are so many great moments. Like when Luffy is idealistically optimistic about how to get a ship, and Nami is characteristically cynical, with Zoro totally agreeing with her. And like those two moments between the three: 1) Nami asking for Luffy and Zoro's opinion on her outfit (they just don't get it), and 2) Nami and Luffy making a bet (I love this moment because we get such a lovely conclusion of it in the next episode.)

Usopp, and almost immediately we get strong Usopp and Luffy camaraderie. Which was fantastic. You can see they're almost cut from the same cloth.

Btw, have I mentioned yet how awesome Mackenyu is at Zoro. Right from the get go, I was super happy that he was cast as Zoro (despite people's complaint that Taz's hair was too short and Mackenyu was too pretty).

Inaki is great at Luffy. His Luffy isn't exactly the same as Luffy in the manga, but we're looking at two different mediums here. In essence though, he makes a wonderful Luffy. He has all the core values of Luffy, loves and hates, and seriously, Inaki gives Luffy some really wonderful faces throughout the live action!

At first, I was a bit hmmm over Klahadore's costume. it felt a bit much. But the more I watched the actor act him out, the more I forgot about the costume and focussed on the man. And well, I can say I was fully convinced.

Kaya's mansion. I do love the idea that we see events taking place at the mansion, rather than on the hill in the manga. I mean I adore that fight in the manga too, because it has many funny moments, but the live action variation does a great job bringing a different location alive. (And I love that I now know that there's electricity in One Piece... which was a question the Production designer Richard Bridgland had asked about.) I love Kaya's wardrobe. It's insane, but so wonderful to look at. Her bedroom is adorable. Her dining room tells a story. The kitchen is definitely a kitchen. And so on.

Once again, I couldn't fit all the images in this post, so look for Part 2 here: Link

[amuseoffyre]

4, 7, and 8! ❤️

4. say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)

I love seeing some of the art from Steddyhands artists. I don't read much fic and when I do, it's primarily gentlebeard, but I do appreciate a well done art :D

7. your favorite tropes to read/write/draw

*bangs table with both fists* CLASS ISSUES CLASS ISSUES CLASS ISSUES. You know you're reading something of mine if there are class issues in there :D Not necessarily front and centre, but I love the undercurrent that it can bring to a story. OFMD gave so many layers of it and the layers in between as well, with the different strata and different kinds of working class and the intersection of race with class and the experiences reflected by said characters and how they operate differently within a world dictated by a specific upper-crust white elite.

Like Frenchie's knowledge of interacting within an upper crust environment is 100% different from Olu's, but they are both dealing with the automatic racist prejudice of their very rich and very white guests in the party ship and Frenchie knows how to use it, while Olu very quickly realises that he's gonna have fun on this ride.

Or Izzy and Stede's dynamic because Izzy is the epitome of northern English working class, all grit and tenacity, while Stede - as landed gentry, aka someone who is living off the profits of the labour of others while sitting on his arse and doing nothing - and buying his way into the rank of captain is everything Izzy hates. The gentry came from trade and made their money using people like Izzy, and he Does Not Care For It. (Izzy and Christopher Eccleston would get on like a house on fire)

There's just so much happening. Like the Badmintons - they're upper crust but they're younger sons (firstborns inherited, the spares tended to military service or the church). They get nothing for their inheritance and then there's Stede, heir to a fortune that his trader daddy made. Not even aristocracy but worth more than them. They would hate it.

So. Much. Tasty. Class. Stuff.

Also gender stuff. Om nom nom nom.

8. you hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc)

The music. Good grief the music this season has been staggeringly well used. The recurring motifs and themes, the flip of the Gnossienne to the Sad Love theme. The different songs they used in different moments. The choices of instruments on certain themes. The subtle echo of "Be a Lighthouse" in "Return to the Revenge" when the crew work together to escape. IT IS ALL AAAAAAA

[white-collar-cannibal]

!! mutuals who are insane about frank. send me ideas for this post !!

fell down a hole. and now i have thoughts about gl!frank :( yes i know. hear me out. hear me out.

CANON:

this is his file from ep 3! some of it we'll disregard cause it's just there to be funny but we can get from the reading of it on during the sneegsnag episode three reaction video/vod that he's from new york, travelled to japan, thailand and cambodia, studied at an unknown university of fine art and is a painter (and makes nail polish sculptures???), has tattoos from college and. was not chill w/ austin. ("was very suspicious of the person on the right" -> austin was on the right from him to us on the carousel)

DUBIOUSLY CANON???: listen it's genloss i'm well within my right to take the silly goofy haha joke and make it real and heartbreaking. it's what we do here. gl!frank and gl!sneeg were gay as hell before frank died. (i promise there's themes and motifs to dissect there. politics even if you think about showfall as a corporation. especially if you read it so that charlie and sneeg were taken as children and raised by showfall. consider it i beg.) gl!sneeg during tse and other shows post frank dying is under heavy amounts of showfall filter to make him believe frank's still alive and talking to him. gl!ranboo is also being filtered to see him as fully skeletonized when he's actually in an earlier (grosser) state of decay. love-hate relationship with horses because he's an artist. short king. swore like a sailor. liked to steal gl!sneeg's hat to wear.

WHAT: no canon precedent i just. there are little versions of these characters running around in my brain and i'm observing them like it's my phD thesis. gl!niki and gl!frank were very good friends because gl!niki was so fucked up by showfall she pack bonded with the first other person to go "hey showfall's fucked up? they're fucked up actually." she got big time gender envy from him. she always remembers that he's dead. he was an anarchist and was constantly dealing with leftist infighting before showfall. he is trying his best in showfall to get the cast in one unified front and failing. so bad. showfall typecast him as the "cool guy" and they made him smoke. he fucking hated it but he still smoked whenever off set since there was no point in trying to quit while at showfall cause they kept making him do it. bisexual. embroiled in so so much relationship drama pre-showfall because of his dubious taste in dates. got a jfk pulled on him when he died for the last time.

[jupiter049]

While I don't hate it I think that Sleep No More would be way better received if it didn't feel so utterly out of place in series 9.

Series 9 has a very specific but clear structure. Every story is a multi-parter, having common themes and motifs of both grief and the complexities of saving others which connects to The Doctor's relationship with Clara, building up to the three parter season finale.

The Magician's Apprentice has The Doctor dreading his own death.

The Witch's Familiar has Davros dissect The Doctor's own philosophy towards empathy.

Under The Lake/Before The Flood touches upon The Doctor's duty of care, his insane need of saving Clara and how Clara herself motivates that mentality.

The Girl Who Died puts The Doctor in a situation where maybe he has to let others die for "the greater good" + has the whole ending with Ashildr.

The Woman Who Lived is very self-explanatory with it's themes of grief and immortality and how it ties to The Doctor and Clara.

The Zygorn Invasion/Inversion has The Doctor trying to save everyone in a conflict where doing so is wishful thinking. It also has many moments tying to The Doctor's fears surrounding grief, ending with that unsettling "I'll be the judge of time" quote.

Even if you aren't directly trying to analyse the themes and characters, all of these things will probably stick on your mind. Series 9 is a lot of things but subtle isn't one of them, with so many monologues about saving others and scenes of The Doctor dreading the possibility of Clara dying, you're probably going to register this on a subconscious level at the very least.

So seeing the tension rise and rise with every episode as The Doctor's fear of losing Clara and desire on saving others grows and grows only to suddenly being hit with Sleep No More just fucks with the pacing and the build up (it doesn't ruin it or anything, but it does make it worse). Making it stick out like a sore thumb.

Sleep No More is a standalone episode, it ends in a way that it would make you think it has a second part but it just doesn't, and it ditches any recurring theme the series had to make a commentary on capitalism and work exploitation.

It feels outright disconnected from the rest of series 9, you could put this in early series 8 and outside from Capaldi's bigger hair and different fit I don't think most people will feel a difference.

While I'm very sure all the crew put a ton of work into this episode, it almost feels like they did this one out of obligation. Like they had the entire storyline planned but there was one more episode slot they needed to fill and didn't know how to.

It almost makes me wonder if maybe it's reputation would have been somewhat better if it was a story made for a different series with a lesser presence of an overarching thematic storyline. Maybe it would have worked better as a series 2, or series 11, or even an early series 5 episode.

[wetcatspellcaster]

astarion 5th because of act 2? did you not like his act 3 stuff?

(also whats the deal with spike because ive seen other people really like him)

Ahhh, no, my top 5 wasn't in a chronological order! I meant it in an affectionate, not derogatory sense - as in, Act 2 content was what made him enter the Top 5. This is probably an overshare, but tbh the way I walked into my therapist's office two days after the hug scene being like "not only is my favourite character I thought was masking confirmed To Be Masking, he's developed feelings and he's also having asexual spectrum anxiety and asked for a relationship without sex" and my therapist made a very serious face and said "written specifically for you, then?" (I know this is not the case, but it's a fun anecdote for why Act 2 Astarion was my very own brand of heroine.)

I love Astarion's Act 3 stuff as well, which you'd hope would be the case as Larian clearly put a lot of effort into it! I don't enjoy playing Act 3 bc of the overwhelm, but I thought they handled the Themes and Motifs in that personal quest very well.

Also. Dying. What's the deal with Spike? A question many people have asked, in their time.

Spike is a vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer who, through popularity with the audience/viewership, went from a Season 2 antagonist (kind of like, the nicest of three evil vampires, who ended up switching sides in the final episode for selfish reasons - he wanted his hot toxic girlfriend back) to a season regular and love interest because He Was Just That Popular. He murdered vampire slayers as a hobby, and then fell in love with a vampire slayer over the course of like 4 seasons.

As a result, he has (what I think to be) an incredibly compelling redemption arc that basically hits every possible trope imaginable: fated mortal enemies (and it's kinda hot, don't you think?), token evil teammate, uneasy ally, forced-to-be-good-but-doesn't-want-to-be, enemies-to-lovers, belligerent sexual tension, oh no I've caught feelings, "I'll do anything for you", "I want to be good for you but I don't know how", "every night I save you", "I'm the only one who understands your darkness", hate sex - like honestly, just the hottest sex of the entire show, "you can't fix me but I can make you worse", "oh no making you worse didn't work I now want to fix myself", redemption arc for real this time - all through his own agency, enemies-to-friends, friends-to-lovers, platonic bedsharing, love confession, heroic sacrifice-

(I am literally not making this up these are all hit, they even have a Sex Pollen episode only it's "we think we're married bc of a spell and so we're making out on the couch" like I feel like Spike got every single fanfiction trope under the sun)

Generally, Spike is also just a sarcastic platinum blonde haired vampire man with a British accent who gets most of the funniest lines in the show and also has a pathetic meow meow backstory underneath his bad boy exterior, so I think there's a lot of ingredients that contribute to his overall deal tbh.

[theultimatenonbinarynerd]

Doctor Who: Phobos Review

Introduction

"You're scarier than the monsters."

Phobos a Big Finish story that walked so that The Rings Of Akhaten could run. I've mentioned in other reviews that the stories show the darkside of Paul MacGanns Doctor but this story aces as it. Listening to this story without any spoilers, gave me full goosebumps as once everything comes together your left in disbelief.

This story explores fear in a really creative and complex way. Again we get a unique "monster" compared to the usual things The Doctor has to face and deal with it. Its very mythical and creepy throughout. "Phobos" is Greek for fear and we truly get to experience fear throughout the story even if it it isn't a listen. Phobos absolutely blew my mind it took so many twists and turns I didn't expect.

This is another story I definitely recommend listening to individually if your not sold on The Eighth Doctor Adventures.

What I Liked

Again there's so many things that I could praise about this story as listening to Big Finish I've been shocked at the 100% good quality every time. The cast was once again stacked and they all played their roles too absolute perfection. To cut it down though I'll only talk about a few of the things that stood out to me.

As a musician the music in this story was like that feeling when you first go to an orchestral live concert. I had literal goosebumps. Out of all of the stories I've listened to Phobos definitely had the best music. Andy Hardwick is an absolute genius, he did a great job making the music so atmospheric and mystical. The composition was awesome. Every piece of music composed perfectly matched the aesthetic of each scene. The best theme had to be the chilling motif that played anytime the mysterious Phobians were mentioned. Doctor Who is a difficult piece of work to compose due to how diverse and unique each episode is but Big Finish have handled this challenge really well and delivered. The best part of sci-fi music is when it matches the atmsophere and tensity of the scene and Phobos does that perfectly. From its chilling and thrilling moments to its lighthearted fun moments, it's all composed perfectly in the right way that brings out the right emotions. If there's anything you want to get out of the story, listen deeply and closer to the music. I really hope that once I start by big finish releases they also come with the music because the scores really do slap.

Secondly I just have to talk about the incredible twists and turns throughout. I really wish I could film me listening to Big Finish in real time as trust me when I say that my mouth was a gape when the twists came, my mouth was a gape. My mind was well and truly blown. Again it's another one of those stories where you think it's going one way but then it goes in a completely different direction. Similar to Blood Of The Daleks your stuck guessing what's truly going on. It dives into some really heavy and dark themes and becomes unpredictable every minute that passes. To me, a good story steers away from what's expected of it and builds a twisted narrative that leaves you mind blown, Phobos does just that. The twists in this really allowed for Paul MacGann to shine and show off his Doctors darker side eloquently. All of the resolution is teased throughout the story but it comes as a massive shock to the point even Lucie is now doubtful about The Doctor and his character. It creates an interesting Doctor, Companion dynamic for the rest of this series of adventures.

Finally the incredible creativity and inventiveness of the story. I hate to admit it but Phobos walked so The Rings Of Akhaten could run. A lot of people not agree with me but with the way the stories include the Doctor feeding a creature with his memories it gives me a lot of déjà vu. Phobos feels so fresh from your typical Doctor Who story you'd get and I absolutely love it for that. This story really shows how experimental Big Finish are and how willing they are to explore entirely new concepts which I think is brilliant. Immortal Beloved perfectly showed the darkside of cloning whilst Phobos shows how powerful Fear is and how it has shaped The Doctor in his long life. As a result of the monster soley being on audio we get to be disturbed by on it a more physiological level, which is definitely effect in this series. The cries of people being chased by the creature was enough alone to bring me chills. I also adore the whole concept of the setting. On the surface it seems unoriginal for Phobos to be a chilled holiday destination until you peel back the layers and discover the conflict our side characters are facing. This story really embraced the fact its an exclusively audio story and I hope other Big Finish Stories are like that too.

What I Disliked

I loved this story but I have to be honest when I say that my enjoyment was spoiled due to its pacing. I've loved listening to the 8th Doctor Adventures but I have to be honest when I say that I have struggled with the pacing of these stories and Phobos was no acception to this. Some of these stories benefit from New Who style pacing whilst others don't.

Whilst the build up had so much pay off it did drag alot. All the build up took long and it felt way too slow paced given the context and threat in the story. I was just waiting for the huge action to happen every time somebody was attacked. Apart from that though I really did enjoy this story. Love your typical Doctor Who Monsters but it's more interesting when it's something entirely new.

Conclusion

Overall another fun and interesting Big Finish story. It deviated from what would normally be expected and was really inventive. It really flipped the whole monster on the lose killing tourists story and made it crumble beneath your feet. The side characters were an absolute delight and Lucie and The Doctor both got a lot to do here too and they both shone in their own ways. Again I'd heavily recommend giving this one a listen as it's a very interesting story.

My overall rating would be:

It's a story with a lot of meat that surprisingly works well on audio considering it's action packed and twisted nature. I also really liked that so many tropes were flipped on its head. This is one of the stories that have certain that im doing right by sticking with Big Finish and delving further into their catalogue. Paul MacGann is bumping up my favourite Doctor's list because he's just so endearing and charming in the role.

I definitely plan to in the far future save up to afford some of the season 2 stories and explore more of Lucie Miller. I'm sad that they don't have the rights to Grace and Chang Lee but 8s audio companions sound awesome. I'll give my thoughts on Charlie once I've actually explored that full arc. But as a first time listener I'm really appreciating the diverse stories Big Finish are able to tell.

I'm very excited for the future.

Bonus:

Since this is my first year getting into Big Finish I decided to publish a listening challenge on The Storygraph with certain prompts to follow that I will eventually fill as the year goes on.

I'm really impressed by all of the stories and am excited to dive into the main range, a few Destiny Of The Doctor audios and some short trips. I've really excited to delve into more Doctor Who adventures beyond the TV series. The Eighth Doctor Adventures have matched and even gone beyond the quality of the show.

The Challenge Is Public And Anyone Can Join:

-Melody-

They/Them

[thissacrificeisnecxesary]

Ken’s water motif is obvious but I love the way the cruise line scandal pairs with the car on shivs wedding. Like not only does ir obey his water theme but kind of a. Fucking maybe the poison drips through like he’s engaging in the same abusive behavior he was exposed tooo raaagh his ass is not breaking the cycle. I don’t know that detail just just always been so satisfying to me and. I love. Like major deaths always occur on water isn’t that so neat! I’m gonna spoil shit oh fuck. Rown stop reading

But basically in last episode season 2 when they’re picking someone to “die” it’s also the boat episode you know? And. I mean everything aside that’s an incredible episode, everyone is in a funny hat, gratuitous Gerri feet shots, Greg toe nail stuff. But I just like. I don’t know they effectively use water to let you know that shits going down. It’s just like. They put so much work into recurring themes and motifs just to set a vibe like. Agh! Another cool thing about that episode is that Marcia’s absence is mentioned early on and kind of brushed off. But later when logan tells Kendall it’s him he mentions talking to Marcia about the Incas and they have this conversation about child sacrifice and logan kind of takes on this belief of like “it’s evil it’s brutal so so bad” and Marcia says you know “what could you kill that you loved so much it would make the sun come back” or something . And. It’s like. It kind of is very revealing for logan because he chose not to invite Marcia because he knew she would tell him it had to be one of his kids. And he doesn’t want to! And it’s interesting because you can’t really tell if he “doesn’t want to” because he loves them or if he just kind of has a general moral affiliation to the idea that it’s “savage” to throw them under the bus. And if he does love them it’s like he just doesn’t love them enough to not actually do it. Like he can love them as much as he wants but he’s still ushered them into the slaughterhouse like. Because logan is smart he knows when he can and can’t get away with doing exactly what he wants, or maybe he really does have a choice and he just doesn’t value Kendall as much as he values anyone else. Because we know at this point Kendall is pretty much useless like he’s been neutered on account of little boy murder so maybe logan just throws him off I don’t know. Nrpi 😂

More spoilers real serious ones fr stop reading

But during Connor’s wedding also on a boat is when logan dies so it’s like, I don’t know it’s just. Succesion is really really good at flagging what’s happening by using repetitive motifs and whatnot but I. Gah I hate it cause I think it’s a show you definitely have to watch twice and I feel bad cause likes asking someone to watch a. Show once is already such a. Ginormous task already that daring to tell them they’re probably not gonna get it the first time is evil. Or maybe that’s just me I dunno. I just remember being sooooooooooooo confused the first time I watched it but maybe I’m just stupid