#i have so many questions about the season 3 trailer but this will do

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[bizarrelittlemew]

the saddest line in the trailer

at first I was too distracted by Stede's plunging neckline and gold earring to fully realize why this kept nagging at me but:

"I've been a failure my whole life."

and the way he says it:

as a matter of fact, because he fully believes it – it's an integrated part of his self-image

to comfort someone else (presumably), meaning that even though it is sort of similar to Ed's "I'm not a good person" from s1e6, this scene doesn't seem to be about Stede getting comforted – he is just throwing that line in there

with the follow-up line of "It's not so bad once you get used to it," because he is used to being called a failure by everyone around him, even when he was a kid, so much that he doesn't question it

and yeah, Stede fucks up a lot and can be a bit air-headed/naive and overestimates his abilities (Stede's super high confidence vs. shit self-esteem is a central part of his character), often to the detriment of himself and everyone around him, but his biggest "crime" growing up was simply that he was different and didn't live up to the norms of masculinity. and this is what caused him to be made to feel like a failure by the world around him.

(putting the rest under the cut because I have a lot to say apparently lmao ⬇️)

idk it is just so sad that after everything that happened at the end of season 1, he still echoes his father's and the Badmintons' words when talking about himself (and his own "I'm not a pirate, I'm an idiot" from s1e1). he still has a lot of growth to do.

and while it's good that he embraces his own shortcomings (and I hope he stays a loser in many ways <3) and the show reinforces that you don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love/that you are worthy of love just as you are, it is just. idk SO SAD to hear him say that about himself so earnestly

but do you know who doesn't let Stede self-deprecate?

THIS GUY, FROM THEIR VERY FIRST DAY TOGETHER

from telling Stede he isn't such a terrible pirate (at least he's alive), to not letting Stede call his own ideas stupid, Ed likes Stede for who he is WHILE not letting him talk bad about himself like that.

now we can't know who Stede is talking to in the scene in the trailer, just that it is someone with long dark hair:

and it could be someone else (to me it doesn't look quite like Ed's hair, but the quality/lighting makes it difficult to tell), but if it IS Ed, it has the potential for him to (once again) go against Stede's negative self-talk 😌

I am so interested to see how this scene plays out and I REALLY hope we get a scene mirroring the bathtub scene (even if it's not this one) but with the roles switched ✌️

[justmeinadaze]

Take It Out On Me Part 6 (Steddie X Plus Size Reader)

A/N: I wrote this three days ago lol I've been so stressed and worried about things...all I want is these boys to use me and then cuddle me. <3.

My plan with this series has always been to go through the series. So with my next chapter Steve will be more Season 2 Stevie.

They do have a conversation on the phone in this chapter. Red is Eddie.

Warnings: Dom Steddie and Sub plus size reader and all that that implies (I regret nothing!) Rough smut. They sneak into her bedroom, degrading, choking, dirty talk. Possessive boys <3. Angst in the beginning and fluff at the end.

Word Count: 3916

It had been a couple of weeks since that night in Eddie’s trailer. Steve had scrubbed off the graffiti on your car before you woke up so your parents never found out what happened. 

To your surprise, Tommy and Carol left you alone but to your slight dismay they stayed away from Steve as well. Of course, you hated them and from what you learned so far Steve wasn’t like them at all but you hated that he sat at lunch alone most of time or skipped it entirely. 

You told him he was more than welcome to sit with you and Masie but all he did was smile and nod his head. 

The school year was coming to a close and you felt yourself start to panic, still unsure what your relationship with them actually was. What would the summer be like? Would they spend time with you and take you on dates? Were you even dating or did they just want to fuck you? What if they got into a relationship or you did? Would the dynamic stop? Were you even allowed to seek a relationship since you belonged to them?

You needed answers and you finally mustered up the courage during a conference call between you three. 

“Senior year, dude. I can’t fucking wait. One more year and we’re fucking free!”

“Calm down, Munson. It’s amazing they let you through.”

“First off, rude. Secondly, what were your grades again, King Steve? Oh, that’s right. About as low as mine.”

Their laughter trails off into silence. 

“Well, someone’s mighty quiet tonight. You alright, princess?”

“What are we?”

“Um, humans last time I checked. Why? Is that on the test?”

“No”, you giggle. “I mean, the three of us. What are we? Are we…in a relationship or am I just a toy for you?”

“You say that last part like you don’t enjoy being our little toy.”

“…so it is just sex?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Why won’t you answer?”

“Why do we have to put a fucking label on it? Can’t we just fucking be?”

“As much as I enjoy hearing you two go at it, I’m kind of curious myself as to why you want to know. Are you not happy with the way things are?”

“I didn’t say that. I just… how long is this going to last? What if something happens? What if one of us gets into a relationship—”

“Who are you interested in getting with?!”

“No one! I’m just asking questions.”

“Very interesting series of questions.”

“Oh, please. You both act like I have men lined up to date me when it’s way more probable that Steve the Hair Harrington and bad boy Eddie Munson have many women that want to be theirs!”, you sigh. “If that happened… if it’s just sex than it would be over…”

Their silence was deafening. A knock on your bedroom door startled you as your mom entered without waiting for an answer. 

“Y/N. Are you still on the phone? I know this is the last week of school but it’s almost eleven.”

“I know, mama. Masie and I are almost done going over our final project.”

“Hm. Ok then I won’t keep you but I wanted to talk to you about this summer. Did you still want to go spend time with your uncle?”

“Oh…I totally forgot about that.”

“You know how your father and I feel about New York but he promised me you and your cousins wouldn’t go out at night or anything.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Yeah, of course. We need to know by Sunday, okay? Now hurry up and get to bed.” She kisses your forehead before leaving your room and closing the door.

“New York, huh. Well, at least we know why she’s asking now.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Definitely want to be free of attachments in a city like that.”

“Steve…you’re putting words in my mouth. I’m allowed to ask the questions I have. It’s not my fault that you two seem to be too scared to answer them.”

“Watch your tone, little girl. For the time being, you’re still ours.”

“For the time being.”, you repeated. Tears stung in your eyes at his words; you got your answer. Why does it hurt so much? “I see. Ok, I understand.”

“Your tone makes me think that you don’t.”

“No. I do, Steve. I really do. You both really do just want to use me. I got what I asked for. I have to go now. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Don’t hang up that phone, Y/N. We are NOT done here.”

“Yes, we are.”

################

You woke up at three in the morning, tossing and turning through most of the night. Those words remained imprinted front and center in your brain. 

“For the time being…”

You left your bedroom, walking down the hall to your bathroom. The cool water felt good against your face as you stared at your reflection in the mirror. 

Why did I expect it to be any different? Yeah so they started being more friendly with me but that didn’t mean anything. They still don’t talk to me at school. We don’t even hang out besides that one time after the fight. Fuck…why does this hurt so much?

Sighing, you throw the used hand towel on the sink and head back towards your room. As soon as you close your door, a hand comes from behind you, muffling your shrieks as another arm pins you against a body.

“I said we weren’t done. You think you tell us what to do?”, Eddie growled as his angry eyes glared into your frightened ones. “No, little girl. You belong to us. We are in charge of you.”

You started speaking against Steve’s hand and he lowered it enough so you could be heard. 

“For the time being, you mean.”

The metalhead smirked before grabbing your throat, gripping it tightly between his fingers. “I’m going to go ahead and start this here by giving you an out. Say vanilla and we’ll disappear the way we came. But, princess, I’m warning you. This particular game we are about to play is going to be rough.” You quickly sucked in heavy breathes, gasping for air when he let you go. 

“I…can handle anything…you do to me.”

Eddie’s sarcastic smile grows as he steps forward till his forehead is just above your own. 

“Good because we’re going to show you what being used really feels like.”, he whispers. 

Steve covers your mouth again with his palm as Eddie reaches over to your desk and grabs the pair of scissors laying to the side. You fight against the boy’s hold as the other man cuts your sleep shirt off your body, tossing it to the floor. 

You whimper when he takes hold of your hair and forces you to your knees.

“If you need to stop, tap your hand twice.” You glared up at him with angry eyes and you grit your teeth as he pulls harder. “You keep giving me attitude and this is going to be a lot worse for you. Do you understand me? I said do you understand me?”, he snarls when you don’t reply. 

“Yes, I understand.”

Eddie maintains his hold on you as he unbuckles his belt and pants, pushing them down enough to free his cock. “Open your mouth.” He hisses when your flat tongue glides along his length. “That’s it. Open your mouth wider. Take all of me like the good little whore you are.”

His fingers never let up their grip on your head as his hips thrust into you, forcing him down your throat. You gagged as spit fell from your lips. 

“Harrington, have you felt her lips around your dick yet?”

“Naw, Eds. I don’t think so.”

The metalhead pulls himself out of your mouth and lifts you off your knees, throwing you to the bed on to your back. Steve lifts you under your arms, dragging you till your head was hanging off the bed.

His cock sprang free from his shorts and without warning shoved it between your parted lips.

“Jesus.”

“I know. She feels good, right? Not as good at this pussy but…”, Eddie chuckles as he smacks his hand down between your legs. A muffled moan vibrates from your throat when you feel his tongue slide down your stomach as his fingers glide under the waistband of your panties. 

“Now, sweetheart. You’re going to have to be really quiet so I would recommend your keep your filthy mouth on Stevie’s cock.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not letting her go anywhere.” Steve’s hand gripped the back of your head, holding you still as he pumped his hips. 

They watched with immense satisfaction as your eyes rolled back and fluttered closed as Eddie used two of his fingers to breach your entrance.

“You’re so fucking wet.”, he laughed mockingly. “Just a dirty slut, hm? Always this soaked just waiting to be fucked. It must be hard…being a slut and have no one before us fuck you the right way.”

You whimpered as he thrust his digits at a faster pace making Steve grunt above you.

Abruptly, the metalhead inserts a third finger into your dripping cunt and your back arches off the bed at the sudden intrusion as you forcefully pull your lips off of the other boy’s cock. 

“Eddie, plea—” Steve’s palm immediately covers your mouth as your own fingers reach to pull on Eddie’s jacket. 

Steve helps you pull yourself upright as your eyes meet his friends.

“One tap, yes. Two taps, no. Do you want to stop?”

You loosened your grip on him, slowly raising your palm off his shoulder.

*Tap. Tap*

“Didn’t think so. I mean look at you. Look between your legs here.” Steve grabs your hair and forces you to look down as you moan against his hold while Eddie continues taunting you. “Look how fucking dripping you are. Your pussy is just pulling me in. Now, Y/N, I want you to cum for me. I want you to cum so fucking hard that you drench these panties.”

His pace was slow but his fingers were much bigger than yours, stretching you open while hitting every sensitive spot inside you. Their eyes bore into you as you keened into Steve’s chest. 

“No. Hey, no. Keep watching him.” His lips tickled your ear as he forced your head to continue looking down. “I want this image burned into your brain that way, while your running around New York fucking any guy you can get your needy hands on…” As he spoke you started to push back against him, fighting against his strength at his words. He adjusted his body, wrapping his free arm around your chest to keep you still. “…you’ll remember that no one will ever make you feel as good as we have.”

You draped your arm over his, your hand clinging to the one over your mouth as your hips lifted off the bed and you came. 

“Atta, girl. Let go, baby.”, Eddie praised but there was still a gruffness behind it. They were nowhere near done with you. He slid your panties down your legs as Steve lowered his palm to allow you to catch breath. Your eyes follow the metalhead’s movements as he gets off your bed and removes the rest of his clothes. “You know, Y/N. I don’t know which version of you I like fucking more. The meek little girl or the fucking brat who talks back.”

“Meek little girl. To be honest though, I’ve never actually fucked the brat that fights back. She’s always opened her legs willingly for me which I always thought was amusing since she hated me for a while there.”

“You two never listen.” You punch Steve’s chest and roll away from him, placing your feet on the floor as you stand in defiance. “I’ve told you before I never hated you and you both refused to answer my questions immediately jumping to the conclusion that I’m going to run away and fuck someone else!” You pause as you try to calm down to keep from screaming at them. Your eyes meet Eddie’s annoyed ones as he stalks closer to you. “I guess we found your damage, Munson. YOU feel like no matter what people are going to leave you.”

His callused hand reaches for your throat and backs you against the wall before shoving your panties into your open mouth. 

“The only sounds I want to hear are your fucking whimpers when I make you cum again.” Eddie’s arm slips under your knee as he lifts your leg in the air and guides his cock roughly into your entrance. “Be sure not to be too loud. Wouldn’t want mommy and daddy to know their daughter is a whore. Let alone the freaks whore.”

His head fell against yours as he aggressively thrust into you. Eddie’s words hurt you, not because of what he was calling you but how he was viewing himself. You never once thought of him as a freak or the other vile names this town called him. You wanted to tell him that, reassure him but all you could do was moan behind your gag as your hands reached out to cling to his neck.

“No matter—mmm—no matter where you go or who fuck, Y/N, you’re mine. You belong to us.” Eddie’s blown out eyes find yours as he pulls your panties out of your mouth. “Say it, Y/N.”

“I-I-I don’t want to fuck anyone else. I only—fuck—want you two.”

“Now who’s not fucking listening?”

“Still you.”, you growl as you reach up to pull his hair. His cock inside of you throbs at the action and your pussy tightens around him.

“God fucking damn it.”, Eddie grunts as he shoves the panties and his hand over your mouth, pumping into you so hard that it takes every fiber of your energy not to scream and melt into the pleasure. Your body trembles as you cum and he pressed himself flat against you, rolling his hips till you feel his seed warm your insides. 

Eddie drops your leg as he pulls out, wrapping his arms around you as he holds you up. 

“No, hey, come on, sweetheart. We aren’t done yet. Stevie’s been waiting so patiently.”

The man himself appeared by your side lightly pushing his friend to the side to take his place. “Do you want me, Y/N?” He pulls the panties out of your mouth and tosses them to Eddie as you nod. “Don’t just nod you head, little girl. You fucking say it. Tell me that you want me.”

“I…I want you, Steve… Please.”

“Yeah?” His fingers roughly grip your chin, turning you to focus on him. “Show me how much you want me.” He suddenly lifts you in his arms and carries you back to your bed, positioning you on top of him. Reaching between your legs, you grab his cock and gradually lower yourself down onto him. Moaning, you lean over his chest, his fingers digging into your thighs as you bounce on his dick. 

Steve balances on his elbows and your lips find his quickly before he jerks his head away from you. 

“I said show me how…how much you…want me.”, he pants. “This is all…you got?” You reach for the back of his neck, bringing him to a sitting position, clinging to his shoulders as you grind and bounce against him as hard as you can. “Fuck, that’s it. Just like that, baby girl.”

Hearing him call you that had your pussy flutter around him and you had to bite down on his shoulder to hide your moan. 

“Oh, Harrington. I think she liked that.” Eddie crawled onto the bed beside you both as his finger gently turned your cheek. “Maybe we need titles of our own… would you like that? Have us take care of you and in return you show us the respect we deserve?”

You don’t respond, choosing to wrap your arms around Steve as he does the same, laying back against the mattress as his hips thrust up to meet yours. Shoving your face in the pillow behind him, you whimper as you cum, him following after you as he pumps his spend roughly deep into your body. 

He continues to hold you as Steve rolls you both on to your side before you feel fingers tug at your hips as Eddie turns you on to your back and delicately cleans between your legs. Your eyes scan his face as he takes care of you, tossing the towel towards your hamper. As he bends down to grab his jeans, you yank his hand hard till he tumbles on top of you. 

“Geez, woman. Be careful. I’m fragile you know.”

You grin softly as you cover his mouth with your palm. “I want that. I want you to take care of me and to belong to you. I want to give you all the respect you deserve. I just don’t think…you both would believe me every time I did.” You move your hand from his lips to his cheek as you turn to look at Steve. 

“I only want you two. I don’t want anyone else but I’m not naive to the fact that girls are attracted to you. I may be yours but not in that way. At some point… you’re going to want a relationship. Someone to give you more than just sex.”

“So we’re not even going to talk about it?”, Steve asked.

“You know those are two separate issues, right? You feeling like we don’t believe you and you feeling like we would want to be in a relationship with someone else. If we have such major trust issues than why would we get into a romantic relationship with someone?”

“See, Eddie. When you say things like that… makes me think ‘Ok, this isn’t romantic.’”

“Why does there have to be a label?”

“Because Steve, I need to know where I stand.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to know if you’re going to hurt me!” You pushed against Eddie’s chest with your hand as you sat up, tucking your knees under your chin. “I’ve been burned before. I don’t…I can’t do it again. If it’s sex, fine it’s sex. If it’s…something else…”

Arms wrap around your shoulders and you glance over to see Eddie’s lips kiss your skin. “I want to give you an answer you want to hear.”

“Be honest with me.”

“We’ve never done this before.”

That makes you genuinely laugh until you realize he’s not laughing with you. Your head whips around to find Steve who shrugs slightly as he nods his head.

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“To be fair, you’ve never done it before either.” Eddie pulls away laying back on your bed and you follow him down. “We always wanted to.”

“Have you done it separately? The...dominate thing?”

The metalhead sighs as he rubs his hand along his stomach, throwing his other arm behind his head. “Sex, yes obviously. This? Not really. I tried a few times but apparently, I’m too mean.”

“Yeah, you are.” His eyes find your soft ones as you smile.

You roll over to face Steve as you wait for his answer. “No, honey. I’ve never tried it. It’s…slipped out a few times but…yeah.”

“Like when we were in the auditorium?” His eyes scrunched in confusion. “You said you were going to spank me but that was before you two quizzed me on what I like sexually.”

Eddie’s arm wrapped around your waist as he pulled himself closer to you. “The truth is, sweetheart, we don’t know what this is either. I meant what I said when you asked why you. You’re sweet and beautiful but hot damn is there’s something fucking sexy hidden under there. All we know is—”

“You do something to us.”, Steve finishes. “We want to explore it more but we don’t want to hurt you either. Not like that.”

“So what does this mean?”

“It means…you go to New York. Have a good time and call us any chance you get.” 

Steve reaches out to caress your cheek as your eyelids start to close. “And we’ll be right here when you come home.”

#############

The sound of your alarm screaming at you that morning bores straight into your head. After slamming at it with your palm you curl back up into ball and press your face into the pillow. Your head shoots up when last nights events jog your memory. Eddie and Steve were already gone, leaving your window open for emphasis. 

You sighed as you rubbed your eyes and started getting ready to face the day. Something on the chair by your desk caught your eye and you paused when you realized it was Eddie’s leather jacket and Steve’s big green long sleeve shirt he had worn last night. Taped to the collar was a note:

“Baby, 

We thought it only fair to leave a piece of us with you since we totally stole your panties ;). 

-E.M. & S.H.

You giggled as you threw on their clothes, reveling in the smell of them before quickly throwing on a pair of jeans and running out the front door. 

When you got to school you met Maze at your locker who whined, advising you there was last day of school assembly. 

“Oh, come on. We’re almost done.”, you smiled as you grabbed her arm. 

“Whose jacket is that?”, she mused as you both headed towards the gym. 

“Mine. Why?”

“No reason. I could swear I saw Eddie Munson wearing a jacket just like that.”

You roll your eyes at your friend as your grin grows. Your friends on the basketball team wave you both over and you two hastily settle in. You scan the area wondering if they were here already. Steve saunters in right as the bell rings pausing in front of Tommy without looking at him as his former friend grins wickedly. 

Eddie slides in right as the teachers are closing the doors, his eyes catching yours and following them to Steve’s stiff frame. 

You breathe a sigh of relief as the metalhead pats his back and whispers something to him before guiding him up the risers where they sit together during the assembly. 

As soon as it ends, you bounce up towards them not caring about the people around you or if you even should. 

“Are you okay?”

Eddie nudges Steve’s shoulder. “Yeah, just Tommy and Carol being dicks. Right, Harrington?”

“Y/N, we have to get to class.” Masie comes up beside you to grab your hand. 

“Hey, Masie Collins? I’ve never actually met you. I’m—”

“Eddie Munson. Yup. I know who you are. Steve Harrington to. Now come on.” She yanks on your hand but you still hesitate, seeing that stoic expression still painted on Steve’s face. You don’t know if it’s something you should do but your brain said you had to as you threw your arms around him. His shoulders relaxed under your grip and when you released him, he gently smiled at you. 

“Thank you.”

You return his smile with one of your own as you finally turn and climb down the risers. 

“Hey Y/N! Love the jacket by the way. I have one just like it!” Eddie winks at you as you and your friend disappear.  ##############

@manda-panda-monium @sherrylyn628 @local-stoner-bitch

@katethetank @danandphilequalsmemes @luna-munson83

@sidthedollface2 @mandyjo8719 @bexreastoomuch

@chelebelletx @shayeddie @emmalee-01 @anaibis

@wroteclassicaly @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes

@siriuslysmoking

[riveracheron]

hey guys have my wild magnus protocol theory that stemmed from me just overanalyzing the little bits of content we have

i think lena is a homunculus.

(spoilers for the pilot and jonny + alex’s post pilot discussion under the cut)

basically this stems from. a lot of places w small amounts of information so some of this might be stretches. But

1. a lot of marketing around protocol mentions the theme of “what does it mean to be a person?” which. leads me to believe there’s gonna be a plot around a protag being Not Human but has the heart or whatever the fuck. standard pinnochio or wizard of oz story. sure youre not human but ur a person bc of xyz free will or whatever

2. lena’s behavior in the pilot is So odd and almost inhuman in its extremely dull corporate jargon way. she literally uses things like “you can file a complaint” or “here at the oiar we….” (advertiser shit) , in genuine conversation. she doesn’t leave the building, either and has a Generic office party.

im genuinely thinking bureaucracy and the weird eldritch stuff of the oiar is Literally all she knows, not that shes being manipulative and evil in the trailer like elias; she doesn’t or maybe cannot question the whole. asking sam about the eldritch trauma thing, something something cant understand human emotions and why that might be troubling.

also “people like chocolate cake.” that sounds weird and something someone with only base knowledge of humanity would say.

she’s described as “an odd one” by jonny and that we will “get her soon”. im under the full belief that shes the non-human character of the bunch thatll yknow. have the Real Boy plot

3. homunculus specifically comes from all the alchemy shit around protocol, and homunculi are some of the most famous alchemical creations in popular culture, and i think she’s not. an entity creation. lenas too much of an important character to just be like. tied to An Entity, as a main character extremely tied to the OIAR, that entity would have to be the basis of like the entire plot of protocol; which i doubt theyd do.

the eye is so important to archives because the themes of archives was the consequences of knowledge- the entire plot was engineered around the Eye as the Main Character Entity and the Eye was written to be that in turn, sorta similarly to how Griffindor is the Main Character House (TM) of HP with its themes of bravery. i doooont think the oiar is tied to the stranger or flesh or any other simulacrum creating entities.

all that to say i think lena is a different kind of artificial human, one that’s manmade rather than entity made yknow?

we get glances of the people above her in status, theres mentions of an ephemeral “he” in the pilot, so. heres what i think

the He in question is an alchemist whose in charge of the OIAR (and maybe other branches but lets focus w the oiar). He created Lena the homunculus to be the middle manager of the branch in his stead; “programming” her to be as dull and corporate as possible to keep the employees in line or whatever. something something shes got a plot wrestling with that and her inherent lack of persondom

EDIT: totally forgot this part

adding that the first statement’s plot was about an abomination of corpses given a humanlike shape and coming back wrong which is. exactly what frankenstein’s monster is, and frankenstein’s monster is considered a homunculus.

with the anglerfish’s importance to season 3 of archives i definitely think the Arthur monster will come up again in some form, but maybe instead of Actually being In Podcast maybe its a parallel to the main characters’ story in the same way that many s4 statements were used to give us more information on how jon is working through it all. the zombie statement when he just wakes up comes to mind especially. maybe it’s a hint and echo of what a Character in podcast (lena) is

[david-talks-sw]

I got a good feeling about "The Acolyte"

Not even kidding. Like, I've spoken before about why I'm wary of it.

George Lucas' Star Wars is something that intentionally has black and white morality, rather than shades of gray. Those movies are meant for kids and projecting a "gray" morality onto them then proclaiming it was George's vision all along is doing so in bad faith.

The narrative of the Prequels doesn't frame the Prequel Jedi in as negative a light as Leslye Headland, Dave Filoni, etc etc do.

See here for more details, but bottom line: yeah, a show that has a darksider as the underdog is bound to demonize the Jedi (who are the actual underdogs in the Prequels), and obviously that rubs me the wrong way.

BUT.

The trailer looks fucking cool. It really really does.

And more importantly? I've done some research... and Leslye Headland is ticking a lot of good boxes, in my book.

1. The Acolyte won't be a 10-hour movie.

I've criticized Disney Plus shows before, explaining that a big source for most of their issues is that these series are being structured as "long movies" rather than, y'know, actual shows.

But in this interview with Collider, Headland addresses that: it'll be a series. Not a long movie that you need to watch across four weeks.

Thank God. You have no idea how much that comforts me. Finally a showrunner who's, y'know, actually running a show.

And this goes hand in hand with what she told IGN, here, about how she's going about building suspense.

Yes! Exactly! That's how it's supposed to be!

Like, compare this to Baylan Skoll's storyline in Ahsoka.

In no possible way was that emotionally-fulfilling. For 8 episodes we had no idea what he was after, and the season ended where we still don't know. What does he want? What is he after? Your guess is as good as mine, it's something Mortis-related.

So yeah. Maybe getting the Emmy-nominated trained screenwriter on board to run this was a good idea.

2. Maybe the Jedi will not be as demonized as I originally thought.

Don't get me wrong. 80% of what she says about the Jedi makes me cringe. It's the typical fan's interpretation and y'all know I disagree with that interpretation.

It's painful to see her refer to the Jedi as an institution (not how the Prequels' narrative frames them) and to see her frame "Balance" in the "oh there's so many of them and just two Sith, that means the Force is out of balance" meaning... but at least she acknowledges the Jedi are a benevolent institution.

They're not an "elitist force hiding in their ivory tower" as others have described the Jedi.

Moreover, there'll be a variety of Jedi POVs, many personalities.

Yord Fandar, is described as a strictly by-the-book Jedi Knight and guardian from the Jedi Temple, is an overachiever and a rule follower.

The question now becomes: will the narrative frame him as "your typical Jedi" or is it just this one guy? I'm hoping it's the latter.

I also like how her reasoning goes re: Jedi drawing their lightsabers.

Which explains the hand-to-hand combat seen in the trailer.

This teenager is coming at Carrie-Ann Moss with a dagger, of course the Jedi won't draw her saber.

3. She's a fan of Star Wars... but a screenwriter first.

You can tell in the interviews she's a fan. She's using words like "BBY" and "EU" casually. In the above-linked interviews she's bringing up the Nightsisters, Timothy Zahn, The Clone Wars, she mentions she has a tattoo of Ralph McQuarrie's concept art of Leia, the High Republic books, etc.

She's done her homework. She's a fan.

But the vibe I'm getting from these interviews is that she's weaving in these various lore-elements in a more organic way, rather than in the "fan-servicey" way Dave Filoni has been doing in his shows.

The references and Easter Eggs will be there, but the narrative won't bend over itself just so you can get it. Crafting a good story comes first, and Andor is a beautiful illustration of why this is true.

Which is why I was never bothered about one of the writers never having watched Star Wars before getting the job. You need those fresh eyes when you're tackling something of this scale.

That makes sense to me. Maybe it's because of my own screenwriting experience, but yeah. That out-of-the box perspective is precious.

And like, obviously, that writer watched the films eventually, but for some reason everyone who bitched about Headland omitted that detail and opted for a more bad faith interpretation.

Hm. Wonder why.

Maybe it's the same reason that months ago this clipped audio circulated socials without context, in which she debates whether Star Wars only came from George Lucas and only Lucas is the key.

The FULL context of that interview reveals that she's actually:

debating the "autheur director" myth and positing that it was achieved by a collective of excellent filmmakers and craftspeople that George was skilled and smart enough to recruit...

the studios now think it's a simple as hiring one guy and throwing money at him, because they have no idea what the fuck they're talking about. See Napoleon (2023) for example.

Yes, she also does a jab to the Prequels, which speaks to the generation of fans she's a part of... but overall she's giving Lucas props whilst also stating an ideological difference, that's it!

George is a proponent of the "autheur" theory, Leslye isn't.

However, guess what, in like half the talks George gave post-selling Star Wars? He's giving shoutouts to everyone who helped make the first film, even remembering their names.

So I'm not even sure he'd vehemently disagree with Leslye, in fact they'd prolly have a conversation about it and immediately bitch about how stupid studio executives are :D

But that's not as incendiary, is it? Again, the more I do the research, the more it feels like the reason most of these influencers are hating on her is purely sexist.

I mean, on IGN she's even acknowledging that she does plan on taking stock of fan reactions for Season 2.

It's not a guarantee that she'll incorporate the feedback, but at least that's more consideration than, say, JJ Abrams or Rian Johnson gave the fandom.

She's even bringing the moral ambiguity that the Gray Jedi-loving edge-lords love so much.

"No, she's a woke feminist! Anything she does is evil! Eww, girls!"

🙄

Needless to say... I'm gonna give it a shot.

I think it's gonna be a good show, I think it's gonna be a solid story.

I'm crossing my fingers that they won't as biased against the Jedi as it seems they'll be. Even if they are... if it's still an enjoyable experience, I'll gloss over it.

As @gffa states in this post:

Worst case? It's not a story from George. I can dismiss it from my headcanon without a moment's hesitation :D

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

The absurdity and stupidity of all shitflix cancelations lies in one simple question: How many of those canceled shows have you actually heard of before they got canceled?

- Warrior Nun - never heard of it until the moment I started seeing its fans spamming every shitflix post. And that was its second season. It had two seasons, for fucks sake, and most of us have never heard of it. You wanna know whose fault that is? Let me give you a hint. No, it's not the viewing numbers.

- First Kill (or whatever its name is) - Never heard of it until, once again, I saw people complaining about the cancelation under shitflix posts. Once again, guess whose fault that is.

- Santa Clarita Diet - Never heard of it. Didn't even know it was canceled until it made it to the list of pissed of people counting how many of them they axed. Whose fault is that?

- Inside Job - Yeah, never heard of it until it got canceled. Also, canceled after they renewed it. Shitflix: guess we changed our minds.

- Archive 81 - Heard of it when the cancelation was announced.

- The OA - Remember just hearing about it through the fog, even though it came out years ago.

- Sense 8 - know about it only thanks to fans' videos and fanart. I don't remember shitflix ever mentioning it.

- Lockwood & Co - I know about it thanks to fans spamming posts asking for renewal news.

And the list goes on with, I assume, shows I have never heard of.

I've never seen any of these shows, but my open wound is 1899 that I believe got treated the dirtiest of them all.

I have heard of it two years before the premiere, thanks to a 50 seconds long teaser that got me patiently waiting for years because it was my cup of tea. It came from the people who proved themselves before by creating a critically acclaimed show that you can find on a top 10 list of greatest shows of all time. Those people have spent years developing a new filming technique for shitflix. What a way to say thank you.

8 out of 10 people around me have seen 1899. Those people haven't even seen GoT or LotR for fucks sake, the most famous show and movie ever, but they have seen 1899. But not because shitflix promoted it, but because people did.

There was zero promotion, zero cast interviews, zero mentions after the release. It was still watched and talked about by so many people. It has more viewing hours than their hit shows running for 3+ seasons put together. It's a show you can't just binge and forget, you have to actually turn your fucking brain on. It was released in the most busy time of the year, during the damn World Cup and winter holidays. It was still number one for weeks. It was given less than 30 days. They decided to cancel it before it even premiered. They deleted the trailer with 10+ million views from YT.

The same goes with other shows. I have seen zero cast interviews, zero promotion or mentions by their own platform and they still have loyal fan bases that didn't stop talking about them.

But then you have dogshit shows like the Night agent that is getting hyped by shtflix every single fucking day. Fake numbers, pumped up to get people to watch a generic, a hundred times seen before, piece of crap. It got more hype than fucking GoT, and yet I know zero people who have actually watched it. Yep, there is no one I know, in real life or online, that has actually watched this show. So you figure it out.

People who have watched the shows I've mentioned probably have the statistics for them, and have probably seen the viewing hours being blamed for it, which was bullshit.

The latest nail in the coffin was Lockwood & Co. They kept fans waiting for months, and then they announced the cancelation during Eurovision so that fans wouldn't be able to go viral about it because everyone talked about fucking Eurovision.

Shitflix has canceled 26 sci-fi/fantasy shows in the last 3 years. 26! Do you all remember when we couldn't even name 26 shows of all genres put together, let alone watch them?

What all these shows had in common is that they were original and more or less unique and creative, not something you can find at least 6 copies of in either streaming or network TV.

It's like they created all these shows just so they can cancel them, because they are doing their best to actually burn every trace they ever existed.

Shitflix is killing creativity in every form, but in the end, that will be their undoing.

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Monday Wonderful fandom. Are you still breathing after that little kiss teaser? Cause I was gonna pass straight out when I saw it haha We are a little over 3 weeks away from S6 premiere. Can you believe it? I need it to be Wednesday already for that trailer. Feels like we've been in this hiatus for years LOL But let's get back to the rewatch eh? Ahhhh the Valentines episode. So much goodness inside this one. From start to finish this ep is glorious. I knew from the promo alone was gonna be fantastic. The ep name is pretty apt. Off we go.

5x16 Exposure

We hit the ground running in this one. Just a glorious shot of them sleeping in Lucy’s bed. The many ways I love this. Clearly he’s living there part time at this point. Staying over more often than not. If the man has a key i’m sure he has a drawer at her place as well. No way he doesn't at this point. My guess is Kojo having lots of sleepovers at Auntie Genny's with the kids too.

I love how peaceful they look in this shot. His body pointed towards her's in slumber. His head is damn near on her pillow. So close to one another. That gravitational pull just innate. Even when Tim is sleeping he is drawn to her. Just the little things that make me squee so very much. The domesticity of this moment has me reeling. As does this entire season for them really.

Unfortunately their peaceful co-habitation is interrupted by Lucy’s phone going off. Tim groans sleepily. Asking who it is? Lucy says she doesn’t know as she goes to answer it. It sounds like a drunk dial. Lucy hops out of bed immediately. Tim reaching out to her side of the bed is so cute all sleepy. I vote for more sleepy Tim. Asking half awake if it was wrong number?

He watches Lucy moving in a panic and the sleep drops from him. Asking her what’s happening? Lucy informs him It was a distress call from a UC she trained with. We see Tim go from sleepy to fierce protector mode quickly. Hopping out of bed ready to back her play. He doesn’t even know what’s going on but he’s there for her. My damn heart. No hesitation whatsoever to back his girl up.

It’s written all over Lucy’s face how much she love this. Her appreciation and love for this man so apparent as he scrambles to join her. She didn’t ask him to and that’s what she’s loving here. He was coming whether she asked for it or not. He’ll always have her back. No matter the scenario. Also never be over the jammies and sharing a bed. I wanna squee into my pillow haha

Something about Lucy driving Tim’s truck that is doing things to me. Like another version of wearing his clothes. I love it sfm. Tim waiting in the backseat with his gun at the ready. Phew lord started off this ep strong af. Lucy jumps right into character. God she’s good at this. She gets Noah out of trouble fairly quickly cause she’s a Queen. Lucy gives Tim the all clear to get out of the truck. Noah walks up and introduces himself to Tim.

Mentioning it was impressive she got backup this fast. Lucy proudly announcing it helped he was sleeping in her bed. Heh. Yeah he was. Noah then puts it together saying he’s THAT Bradford. So many questions stem from this statement I have to say. Clearly Lucy spoke about Tim ad nauseam at UC school. Not only that but the way she spoke about Tim Noah doesn’t seem shocked they’re together now. She clearly wasn’t with Tim during UC school so this is so damn fascinating to me.

I wanna know what she told Noah LOL As does Tim. Saying he’s curious to know what that means… Getting a small taste of some jealous Tim here I don’t hate it. I adore Lucy’s full bodied ‘No!’ in reply to Tim wanting to know more. Gotta love how expressive Melissa is. From her face to her body mannerisms. Why she’s always been the perfect Lucy. Just embodying her so well. Also am I crazy to think that’s Tim’s flannel? Cause looks a little big on Lucy. A girl can dream right? It’s possible...probably isn't but I want it to be LOL

Lucy asks him what they just recused him from? He says ‘The Army of Freedom.’ It’s a militia group born in Victorville. Said his OP started about a month ago. Unfortunately hasn’t been able to breach their inner circle yet. Tim asks if he pushed little too hard tonight? Noah replies maybe…but he had to roll the dice. They’re about to move something big. He’s going to need a local assist.

Tim says he can set up at their station. We then get to see a little more jealous Tim come into play. I don’t hate it everyone. He’s also a little grumpy from the lack of sleep. Ha Not loving the 'hot pants' nickname clearly. Tim then makes the most obvious and dramatic eye roll at end. Clearly not amused by this inside joke of their’s in the least ha It’s ok love, you’re the only hot pants she wants. LOL

Jealously thy name is Tim Bradford in this scene though. He runs the gambit for emotions at the end here. He goes from confused in the cutest way about the nick name, then a little intrigued, but we end with his jealous dramatic eye roll haha I love this man so much. He is tired and over this rescue now. Goodness what a great cold open for them. Whenever we get the cold open usually gonna be a damn good ep.

I’ll never be over how excited they both get when they find each other in the station in this season. Way she speed walks up to him. It’s so cute. Lucy hears the end of Tim’s conversation. All she hears is ‘You’re kidding.’ Lucy asking kidding about what? Tim’s clipped answer throws her off for a moment. But she doesn’t let it deter her too much. Touching his arm sweetly. Saying he left so early. That she had a whole Valentine breakfast planned for them. Gah I love that so much I can’t even stand it.

Of course she did. Damnit Tim why did you leave so early? Tim telling her she was up late he wanted to let her sleep in. Which is very sweet actually. Lucy apologizes but says it was nice to catch up with Noah. Lucy asking ‘We didn’t keep you up did we?’ Tim continues his grumpy short replies. Lucy is picking up on all of your being grumpy vibes. Did you think she wasn’t going notice you beautiful fool?

Love of your damn life knows you better than you know yourself. We get a SECOND sweet arm touch. *squee* Clearly something off with him. So Lucy approaches it with another soft touch to start. Knowing it’ll get his attention. Then sweetly asks if he’s ok? He lies and says he’s fine. Her face saying it all. Knowing he’s lying to her she’s just not sure why… Believe or not this is growth for Tim. His terrible lying showing how much she’s opened him up. He was as closed off as possible when they met. Now he's out here expressing feelings even if he's trying hard not to.

Grey has Tim ride with Lucy and Noah today. Normally they’d be excited to ride together but you can feel the tension above. Mostly from Tim. He is an open book about how he feels about this today. Lucy is more concerned than she is tense in this scene. Wade wants Metro on scene ASAP for this situation. If he’s riding with Lucy and Noah that’ll happen. They’re looking for a random van that has explosive chemicals in it. It was meant for a meth lab Noah’s team took down. Now it’s floating around the city and needs to be found before it does damage.

Another great shot of their day starting in the shop. Reminding me of 5x08 opening sequence. Lucy can see Tim is acting off still. Being Lucy she can’t let that stand. Having no idea it’s her that’s put him in this foul mood. Being the sunshine human she is tries to get him to engage with some UC school stories. I LOVE her putting her hand on the back of his chair. Crossing that invisible line of theirs that existed for years in the shop.

Getting as close to him as possible without actually touching. When Lucy sees the story isn’t working she makes a joke. Then touches his shoulder. Gah it’s so cute. She wants to get him through whatever this is by just loving on him. Trying to get him to smile. Sadly Tim doesn’t respond like she wants. Thought she was going to get the normal sassy reply back from him and nada. Lucy withdraws her hand confused but determined to figure him out.

Lucy brings up Noah’s GF asking if he’s contacted her yet? He says no they broke up. Well that she broke up with him. Noah bringing up the elephant in the room that plagues them the rest of this season. Being a UC and being in a functioning relationship. I do adore Lucy being confident af in front of Noah about it. About them. Saying it depends on the couple.

Basically saying I’m sorry yours didn’t work out but mine will. She is all in and it shows in so many of her comments and decisions. I truly love it so very much. Noah makes a comment that has Tim shifting in his seat. Even turning the grumpy off for a moment. Looking over at Lucy when Noah tells her be a shame if she didn’t take the plunge.

So much being said in the looks above. The ever present issue they struggle to talk about is here. Rears its ugly head for first time since they got together. Gotta love Eric and Melissa’s chemistry especially in moments like this. Communicating so much without saying a damn word. Gah we’re lucky to have them.

This next part is glorious for so many reasons. Angela, Harper, Nolan, Celina and Aaron are all gossiping on an open channel. Tim interrupts because well it’s Tim. He’s already grumpy today so this is last thing he wants to listen to. Angela calling him out for being so damn surly. Because she wouldn’t be his best friend if she didn’t. Saying he should be basking in the glow of new love.

Look at Lucy when Angela says this. Heart eyes for days for that man sitting next to her. As transparent as glass. Celina giving into the continuous gossip asking what they’re doing tonight? I love Lucy snatching the radio out of his hand. Even mad as hell at her he allows it because it’s wifey. Nothing he wouldn’t do for that woman angry or not. Lucy projecting what Tim is thinking. Saying they’re not talking about this on an open channel.

Look at how he has rubbed off on her I love it sfm. Also something about her jumping in and defending his side. *sigh* Gah getting me all in the feels. Also look at the way Lucy is looking at him when she does chastise the group. So in love with that man. Heart eyes nation in this shop. We can also see Tim fighting a proud smile wanting to stay mad. When he’s so impressed with her for doing that. Let’s not discount Noah being chill af in the back. None of this affecting him whatsoever LMAO

Lucy can’t take it any longer and confronts Tim about it. We can see her studying his body language. Noticing how tense he is. He is broadcasting his feelings like a radio station. She knows something is amiss. Deep in her soul she knows something is off with her person. Love the way she is studying him then reaches out with a soft touch. Knowing it’ll get his attention and be an ice breaker into her asking. Her whole demeanor screaming 'Timothy my love what is going on?'

Lucy being as direct but soft as she can in her delivery. Telling him ‘Out with it.’ Tim ridiculous answer of ‘What?’ Like she hasn’t noticed him stewing all damn morning. You’re full of a lot of shit Timothy haha The disbelief on her face is so telling. Asking him what’s wrong with him today? He continues to be short with her. Lucy calling him the hell out on it. In a way only she can.

Noting he hasn’t even called her hot pants once. If Tim wasn’t being such a grumpus he would’ve been all over that. She is so right and knows him so damn well. Then she asks if it’s Noah? Is he jealous? Tim immediately saying ‘No.’ I mean it was a little last night…but it’s definitely not that now. It’s not helping but not the main problem here either.

Tim FINALLY fesses up it’s her he’s mad with. Lucy is taken back but it becomes clear when he brings up Metro. Lucy tries to deny it and Tim gives that disapproving stare he’s so good at. Lucy giving in and saying he was SO miserable riding the desk. That she had to do something for him. Tim then shoots back the optics of it aren’t great for him. Lucy shutting this down asking if it’s fragile male ego thing? I mean it is a little bit. It's not the whole reason IMO (I'll touch on that more later) but it is part of it. Tim has grown leaps and bounds. Truly he has.

But he also still has to deep stubborn steak in him. One built on pride and earning everything he’s ever gotten. This is making him question if he deserves the position he now has. Negative grooves in his brain he still defaults back to. Now I know some may have hated his reaction to this. I won’t lie it wasn’t great. His reaction reminds me of myself pre-therapy. I would shut down and be one worded. Lash out if someone tried to get me to talk. My whole body would emulate frustration and annoyance. Just like he has been. I so relate to him reacting this way.

Once again not the best but the man is still human. Tim has earned everything in his career with hard work and his strong skill set. This was a blow to his ego 100 percent. He’s not admitting to this but it was. Lucy smells BS and is letting him know as much. I love how she holds steady and strong despite his boiling anger. Even making a joke Tim is just mad she solved it better than him LOL I mean she did…Lucy saying ‘We’ just wanted to help. Tim getting more ramped up hearing this. Lucy cracks me up stumbling on her words saying we? I meant Me. Ha smooth…

This scene in his office is *chef’s kiss* I remember being excited this was their first fight as a couple. Because it’s so healthy to be fighting from time to time. Something neither of them had in their previous relationships. This was an important fight for them to have. They come out the other side of it stronger because of it. This is good angst. Productive fighting. I’ll take that any day damn if it moves them forward as a couple. This most definitely did.

Lucy comes into his office ready to confront this problem head on. Their talk in the shop leaving too much left unsaid. Lucy is a lot like me and can't let sleeping dogs lie. She has to clear the air and confront things. I do love her patting herself on the back as she launches into why she did what she did for him. I mean she did spearhead a miracle for him. She just needs him to see WHY she did it.

His anger has clouded that all day and it's part of why she is here now. Tim barely looks up from his paperwork as she starts her explanation. Still so angry about this whole thing. Lucy starts out with saying she gets why he’s angry. He looks up at her finally. Lucy going on a mini rant about why she did what she did. That she did it masterfully (I mean she most definitely did) Kudos to her amazing brain.

Lucy finishes off saying despite all that she shouldn’t have done it behind his back. Tim being a sassy sass pot asks if that was an apology? My goodness Timothy. The salty sass. You can see there is still a lot of seething going on under the surface. Lucy immediately says yes. Tim not seeming less mad just replies ‘All right.’ Her apology feeling like it's made zero difference in his anger about what's happened. Also Lucy's 'Yes' doesn't seem whole hearted either because she's holding back and decides to let it rip instead.

We see this is not sitting right with her. So she backtracks and says ‘No!’ I love her for this. Could've taken his half hearted acceptance but she didn't. Knew it didn't feel right to her. She wouldn't be Lucy if she just let that happen either. Knowing things felt unresolved still and not being able to stand that. The whole purpose of her coming to him was the clear the air. Tim looks exasperated af with her reply. That famous he can't believe she just said that look. He's about to be taken to school and probably knows it.

Lucy launching into exactly why she is sorry but not sorry. I love this fireball of a woman. (So does Tim) That he never would’ve let her work her magic if he knew. She’s not wrong… Same goes for her. If Lucy had known he was taking that desk job she wouldn’t have allowed it. What makes these two dopes so perfect for one another. That she would’ve ended up transferring just to save him from himself. Which was what they were trying to avoid in the first place.

Lucy stands her ground and lets him know this worked out SO much better. I mean it really did. That if he can’t see that she’s sorry not sorry. This is where we see Tim turn the corner. What I love the most about this part is how she stood up so confidently. Strongly stood by her decision on what she did. Her sorry not sorry is perfect. Basically saying ‘I love you, you idiot and I don’t regret doing this for you.’

It’s not the apology that soothes Tim’s anger. No it’s her conviction in why she did this for him. Seeing that fire she has and he is feeling so lucky he gets to have her in his corner. Lucy is 100 percent unapologetically herself in this moment. Her standing up to him is one of the many reasons Tim fell for her in the first place. So naturally her ‘non’ apology is what gets it done. Not her I don’t really mean this but you’re mad at me one.

He loves that woman standing in front of him so much. It shows when she’s done. It’s why he’s smiling at the end of her ‘non’ apology. She is his rock, his compass and his sunshine lighting his path when he needs it. But mostly she is a guiding force in his life. Kicking him back onto the right path whether he realizes he needs it or not. Beautiful thing is she has his back. He’s so not used to this type of love and support. It's a throw back to 2x01 in a way with his reaction to it. How visceral and angry he was then and now. Once again doesn't see her protecting him and helping him as a positive thing. And just like in 2x01 he didn’t see it this way until she stood up. Smacked some sense into him. Let him know why she'd done it.

Doing it this time around because she loves him so much. Only wants the best for him. Let's not forget this man has been put second in all of his other relationships. His needs being put on the back burner to take care of those he loves. Had to suppress his emotions for years. When you let yourself start to feel after years of not it's a tidal wave that drowns you. It's overwhelming really. Luckily Tim has Lucy to drag him to dry land. So when he's taken care of he doesn’t know how to handle it. It's not something you just get used to in an instant. Just like in the beginning with Lucy when she would push him to open up. We got surly angry Tim but he eventually came around. This is no different. He isn’t used to be put first. His gut reaction was hurt and being defensive.

Not oh Lucy did this because she loves me. Because he probably in the back of his mind still doesn't feel worthy of that love still. And although he has grown. So very much. He still isn't used to having someone fiercely love and defend him the way Lucy does. That's why this scene was so important for her to back her decision. To make him see exactly why she did this. It’s why he’s smiling at the end of it. This beautiful, driven fireball is his and she’s in his corner. What’s hitting him is that realization. She put him first and put in a massive effort to do so. Not only for him but for them as a couple. He is so very lucky to have someone as wonderfully understanding as Lucy to love him through these types of moments.

I love how once the dust is settled they just morph back into them. How it should be. Fighting is meant to be cleansing. To confront the issue and then be done with it. Confrontation gets a bad rap. It’s meant to clear the air so both parties feel better after. Her cute. ‘So are we going to dinner or what?’ Haha They already missed her breakfast. She wants to do something with her man.

Tim couldn’t be cuter saying they are. But her outfit is missing a little something. Lucy being very confused by this. Saying 'What?' Then seeing the jewelry box in his hand and melting like butter. Tim could not be cuter handing it to her. Love struck as he gives her his gift. Telling her ‘Happy Valentines Day.’ The biggest grin on his handsome face. Lucy beaming right back at him. Her eyes screaming how much she loves this man.

She is so impressed with him. So impressed she’s shocked he picked this out LOL He knows his girl. Tim is offended asking her if it’s that shocking? Lucy soothing his ego saying ‘No.’ Letting him know he clearly has good taste. I mean he does. He is in love with her after all. He really did a good job. That is the perfect Lucy necklace so he nailed it. The man has noticed a trend is what she wears. Well done Timothy. Your girl is mighty impressed with your gift giving skills. How far you've come since your days with Rachel ha

It’s so intimate and sweet the way he puts it on her. Lucy is radiating joy as he does this. The way she looks at him while he puts it on and slides his hand down to adjust it. *heart clutch* She is revved up and wants to skip dinner now. More than ready to ‘Thank’ him for her gift. I love her being the one to suggest just skipping dinner and having her way with him instead. Tim saying 'No I'm hungry.' Lucy is feeling a little rejected like ‘Oh. Ok..’

Tim doesn’t let that feeling linger for long. Touching her back intimately mentioning she’s gonna need fuel for later. OMG. He just said that and I’m reeling. I rewound it I remember being so damn giddy. Basically saying she needs fuel to keep up so he can have his way with her. Tim Bradford talking about sex in his office. Not only that but they’re gonna have so many rounds he wants her fueled up. *fans self*

Lucy’s face is everything afterwards. She is blushing but also so ready for their night together. Man has some pent up tension to burn off but needs food first LOL Lucy is very ready to go to dinner now. Especially knowing what awaits her when they’re done hehe I can only imagine how antsy she was to get back to either his or her place following that dinner. I love how the writers constantly insinuate their sex life is spicy and active af. I adore it so much. I mean did we really expect anything less? Doesn’t make me love it any less though.

Anyone else just in shock we got all these goodies still? I keep saying feels like a fever dream because it does. In the best way possible. After last episode this was start to finish incredible.

~~~~

Side notes-non Chenford

Wesley accidentally hiring a beautiful woman to guard him is hilarious. A non pregnant Angela wouldn’t be amused. A very pregnant one is ready to wring his neck.

Celina’s murder case gets brought back up. This SL is so good. It was my turning point for her as a character I needed that to care and give her more depth.

I did love how all the couples started off rocky and ended up fine by the end was growing a little from it. I do love Nyla and James so much.

Thank you forever and always to those who like, comment( love dem comments) and reblog these. S5 been so fun to analyze thank you all for still being invested in these all these months later. See you all in 5x17 :)

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 6

Post Shrimp Jump Conspiracy Board Special

Hey y’all! Welcome back to Seacaster Manor where the shrimp party is still raging and the Bad Kids are balancing being cooler than ever with some serious sleuthing. We get a lot of new information this episode so I wanted to try out a new format for this week. I often talk in a metaphorical way about putting items up on a Conspiracy Board but I want to actually try that now that we’re a little over a quarter of the way in and have multiple overarching things happening. This is going to be a lot less linear than usual but bear with me. Gotta shake things up a little so I don’t get burnt out! There’s still fourteen more episodes to go! 

The Rat Grinders

The Bad Kids’ de facto rival party got a lot of screen time in this episode, which makes sense: Adaine declared the party their nemeses over Goldenhoard or anyone else they’ve fought, which is saying a lot. Before this point, we knew the following facts about them:

1) They got their name because the only enemies they’re recorded as killing are low level ones (including rats) that they grind in the woods behind the school, showing a willingness to follow the letter but not spirit of the rules but also an impressive amount of dedication. 

2) Their leader seems to be rogue, Kipperlily Copperkettle who is type A as hell and has a LOT of free time to kill having found the rogue professor (or at least having the rogue professor find her). She’s running for class president on a platform based around “fairness” which is a theme that’s come up more than once this season. 

3) Also on the team are emo Bard Reuben (who seems to be related to the new Artificing teacher and who shares an agent with Fig) and nonplussed Barbarian Mary Ann (who is buffing herself magically somehow).

4) Kipperlily specifically asked about where Kristen was able to create a new god. Now how, where. An odd question. 

This episode, we learned a lot more, so let's throw them on the board and make some connections!

5) The Rat Grinders have a new cleric named Buddy Dawn (something Kristen’s brother mentioned two episodes ago). He’s from Highcourt and moved with his grandparents. He’s got super Mormon+Southern “Bless Your Heart” energy and Kristen doesn’t like how familiar it feels. His vibes are clocked as well meaning but kinda judgey. 

6) Buddy Dawn was *specifically requested* by the party. Of course, requesting a cleric isn’t weird–why wouldn’t you want one? And Helioism seems a pretty common religion in the region so odds are good that if you get a cleric is would be a Helioic one. But, paired with KP’s question about Kristen, it makes you wonder if the plan is to recruit a Kristen expy and try to get lightning to strike twice.  

7) At the beer pong table, we meet the RG’s archer who is an elf named Ivy Embra. She’s got some flirty, catty energy (which we see when she interacts with Fabian and Mazey respectively).

8) We also meet the party wizard, Oisin Hakinvar, who is a Conjuration specialist with a focus in summoning. He’s a blue dragonborn which means that he has a great great great (etc) blue dragon ancestor he can ping when he needs barrels of diamonds, no problem. He has so many in fact that when Adaine lies badly that she’s also swimming in diamonds, he kindly offers to let her borrow some of his “extras”. But she turns them down, calls him great, and then panics and runs away to commiserate with Fabian who is also panicking about a flirty moment with Ivy. Oisin, for his part, seems driven to distraction and can’t make a single other shot all night. Cute! But–

9) As much as I want to wholeheartedly love Oisin (and honestly do and will until I am given direct evidence to change my mind) I have to point out that KVX, known evil bank, did change its logo from red (Goldenhoard’s color) to blue (Oisin’s Ancestor’s color) and there is a shot in the trailer of the party fighting a blue dragon. Connected? Maybe.

10) From investigating some yearbooks, the party also learns that the Rat Grinders have existed since Freshman Year but, at the time, they were called the High Five Heroes. They all look a lot more smiley and a lot less intense–Rebuen’s not even emo. It was the lineup from above, minus Buddy and plus a frost Genasi cleric named Lucy Frostblade. They learn that she supposedly died in their Sophomore year but specifically during a period near the end of the year where grades are locked and it wouldn’t affect their party comp which is…convenient. 

11) Fig tries to investigate this by disguising herself as Lucy and seeing how Ivy and Oisin react. Only Ivy sees her but she doesn’t seem shocked at all to see her allegedly dead party member She just raises an eyebrow and ditches the game to talk to her. Fig bails (and rolls only a 12 to stealth away) so we don’t get any extra info but just the fact that Ivy reacted that way is pretty juicy info as is.  

12) The other Rat Grinders don’t seem to be at the party but the members are skeptical about that. On the other hand, when Ivy leaves, it’s because Oisin pulls her aside and says, “Kipperlilly’s calling”. So it’s possible there was a Team A and a Team B for whatever the Rat Grinders were doing that night?

13) And speaking of what they're doing, we do have a theory. When Fabian checks some damage in the basement where Max and some other kids were smoking "gorgenfern" he sees that something called a cloud rider engine was smashed up pretty bad and in a suspicious way–gorgenfern doesn’t make you rowdy. Fabian checks the security tapes he obviously has and sees that some ice mephits came in and riled people up to the point of crashing into the engine. Adaine conjured some earlier in the party and as far as her arcana check can tell, they’re here, but there’s suspicion that Oisin–a conjuration wizard–could have done it. It’s certainly within his skillset. A cloud rider engine allows a vehicle to fly on clouds and it’s not clear if it was simply smashed or if something was stolen from it. 

14) Max isn’t a Rat Grinder but he did ask them all if they wanted to smoke with him and Ivy offered Fabian snuff so Riz is suspicious that the RG’s are trying to get them kicked out of school for drug use now that they have a non-Aguefort principal who presumably cares about silly rules like that at the murder school. 

That’s basically what we know about the Rat Grinders! So, to sum it up, I’d say the conspiracy board bullet points are:

Supposedly dead cleric Lucy Frostblade: What actually happened to her and why isn’t Ivy surprised to see “her”?

New cleric Buddy Dawn: Why was he specifically requested? 

The High Five Heroes: What caused them to turn into the Rat Grinders? And, as they seem like they were more gung ho their first year, why did they never pivot to fighting things other than low level monsters?

Do they actually have beef with the Bad Kids specifically or are their vibes just terrible? Were they trying to sabotage them by offering drugs? Did they break the engine on purpose and, if so, why?

Oisin: Is he chill or is he working an angle? That question technically goes to Ivy as well but I’m almost certain she’s fully working an angle, lol. I’m getting straight up Aelwyn vibes from her.

Class President: What is KP’s angle re: running for class president? This seems like something she’d want to do either way with her personality but her policy of fairness dovetails too neatly with Grix’s appearance and Cassandra’s inability to say the phrase, “It’s not fair,” last episode.

How did KP find the rogue professor and is that relevant?

And finally, why did KP want to know about where Kristen created her Freshman year god? Well, that question may be partially answered in our next section. 

God Stuff

There is a lot going on this season with celestial shenanigans between Cassandra and Galicaea and even Yes! So let’s mark out what we know.

1) Cassandra was possessed by some kind of rage entity via crystal shards that were expelled from her body. Her status is kind of up in the air right now as the party was shunted away to safety by Connor Counterspell (RIP) and all Kristen has left of Cass are some glowing, purple shards. 

2) Earlier in the fight, while lucid, Cassandra said, “I thought you were dead” about some unseen entity. Later, Kristen heard from a creepy voice that said, “She is at my side once more”. It then threatened her and slid out the rotting corpse of Yes! as a sick joke. Likely that these are the same person or at least connected. 

3) Gorgug identified that the rage stars are similar to what’s going on with Ragh’s mom, Lydia so it was put on the docket to get in touch with her about that–especially because Kalina specifically told them to track down Ragh with her last lucid words. 

4) Tracker’s Galicaea rebrand is going really well. Her social media is really popping and the endless night probably didn’t hurt. 

5) Kristen on the other hand, hasn’t been doing so hot. Due to a bunch of negligence based in lack of time management and personal uncertainty, she hasn’t been evangelizing much which means only she and Craig stand between Cass and her permanent destruction. 

6) Kristen can’t contact Cass telepathically and says she can’t use her magic which is Not Great if you're as danger prone as the Bad Kids. 

Alright, that’s all the old business so let’s move to the new business. 

7) When Kristen talked to her parents, we learned that Helio doesn’t have a chosen one since she left but we learn that it’s more serious than that. Helio also can’t choose a new chosen one. He only gets one. With Kristen gone, the whole religion is without a chosen one.

8) At a certain point, Tracker finally gets a hold of Kristen and says some harsh but true things about Kristen but, more relevant to the conspiracy board, she talks about her girlfriend Nara and Adaine, as a fellow high elf, clocks her as coming from a family of moon goddess clerics in Falinel. That raises the question: is this run of the mill teenage rebellion a la the theme song, or is she some kind of plant? We’ll hopefully get some more info from Aelwyn since Adaine texted her about it.

9) The real juicy stuff happens when we talk to Ragh’s mom. The fiend in Lydia's gem is called Bakur. Her having him in there doesn't make her rage--she's raging to keep him trapped but that's it. Her personality is the same. 

10) Bakur was a pit fiend and the right hand guy of a dead god whose name we don't know (hmm, another dead and nameless god). Bakur can't even say the god's name. It's like, weird god rules and Lydia explains in a weird vague way: gods not being able to use loopholes and saying names being powerful and rules changing for non-mortals when gods die.

11) The one very concrete info we get is that a god can only come back in a place where they were born or created. The reason Bakur’s plan failed is that he tried to bring back the nameless god in the Red Waste and not where they were created. 

12) Rana (Lydia’s party cleric) is away and Cormyr (the party sorcerer) is dead but Lydia offers to put the party in touch with Rana and Cormyr’s family because they have more stuff related to this and they were the ones who knew more about this than her. 

Following? Good. So let’s distill this down to bullets again:

Holy Helio. The corn god doesn’t have a chosen one anymore because Kristen up and left. What does that mean in a concrete sense? What can a chosen one do that a normal cleric can’t? Is Helio gonna ask Kristen to do anything this season now that we know that this is a special position that only one person can fill? Is it until she dies (or at least dies for real)? Would a fanatical Helioic person try and kill Kristen to open up that slot?

KP specifically asking WHERE Cassandra was created seems clearly tied to the info Lydia gave about only being able to resurrect a god where it was created. But what does that mean exactly? Is she trying to resurrect the same god as Bakur? Did she just assume that wherever Kristen made her god is probably where most gods are made and, thus, her best bet? What’s her angle? Is this an evil plan for just a “this will get me a good grade” plan?

Where in the world is Cassandra right now? She is MIA right now which means Kristen’s powers are too. Though I wonder if she can draw on those shards to cast spells.

We obviously can’t be sure but it seems like the voice Kristen heard and the person that Cass thought was dead is likely that unnamed god. What’s his deal? I’m sure we’ll have more info for this bullet soon. 

Is Tracker’s new girlfriend Nara, much like Ecaf, a turncoat? 

With Helio, Cass, and Galicaea all being in the mix, is there any kind of family angle being played. It doesn’t come up a ton but they are very much related. 

MISC

This is a section for a few points that don’t yet fit under the main two headings of the season but still need to go up on the board. 

Why would Aguefort program a robot that acts like Grix? Is he supposed to be like or is he hacked? If he is hacked, who would be able to do that? The new artificing teacher? The old one?

We learn that Aguefort has made a lot of contradicting proclamations and all of them are canon, so you’re able to pick and choose what you want to cite (I feel like I’m in law school again). Lots of room for loopholes which could be useful later. 

Adaine, while very drunk, had an oracle vision of Kristen at a birthday party, giving a victory speech to a bunch of teens on election night as a crescent moon hangs in the sky. The Crescent moon potentially gives them a time frame if they look into it (and it specifically being mentioned makes me think of Galicaea even though not every moon thing has to be connected to her). And we know Gorgug’s birthday is near the Frosty Folk festival so maybe that’s why the hats.

Speaking of, we know there’s a connection between Riz’s mom defending someone for money crimes re: that Festival and Gorgug’s parents hosting it so that’s something to remember. 

This isn’t something for the pin board per se but this season introduces a stress token system for downtime! I’m sure I’ll talk about it more when we use it for the first time next ep but, for now, gotta say he’s really ramping up the pressure on our kids! And, to that point, let’s do a quick check in with everyone and see what they’re up against!

Character Board

Adaine

-Adaine is still facing major money troubles. After last episode, not only is her job terminated, but she actually owes 2.5 gold for her uniform. 

-It looks like she might be developing a bit of a crush on the cute dragonborn (yay) but he’s a Rat Grinder (nooooo). I will say though, cross party romance could be a lot of fun and also my favorite NPC in this show is Aelwyn whose top 2 traits are famously Criminal and Loves Adaine so I am honestly fine with this either way lol. 

-Speaking of Aelwyn, I’ll put the sister stuff together: When Adaine calls her to ask for dirt on Nara she says, “Working, will call in five.” And when Adaine questions the fact that it's 5am on a Saturday, Adaine just gets a winky face emoji back. Suspicious! 

Fabian

-Fabian has to juggle the new 150% course load (bard/fighter) as well as his new party house reputation.

-He has a lack of adult supervision which also means a lack of adult care and it seems to be affecting him more than he’s willing to let on. 

-But honestly his biggest obstacle is probably himself right now, lol. He made himself a new nemesis in Gertie Bladshield and I am not confident he can handle this honey trap mission with Ivy without the tables being turned on him. 

Riz

-Riz is also facing money troubles, but for him that’s kind of business as usual unfortunately.

-He has a TON of extracurriculars to keep track of but he so far seems to be handling it pretty well and is picking up some interesting allies (that double as votes for Kristen’s campaign–campaign manager is also an extracurricular he’s taken up): the aforementioned Gertie Bladeshield (Apiary Club), Sprak LeFevre (Aviation Club), and Molman Holden (Soil Club). Always good to have new allies and Aviation Club seems like it could be really useful later! I can see him making some luck checks to successfully say, “I know a guy” in a tight spot based on how many clubs he’s joined. 

-He also has the Reliable Talent ability now which means he’s incapable of rolling lower than a 21 on things he’s proficient in which includes Investigation. We’re about to be getting some INSANE lore dumps. 

Gorgug

-Gorgug has his insane 400% courseload happening and I didn’t notice this until it was pointed out to me but Zac actually leveled Gorgug DOWN in Barbarian to take an extra level of Artificer! That’s commitment. But I can’t imagine Porter, who already has a problem with him, is gonna like that. 

Fig

-Fig would hate it if I didn’t start this list by saying that she hella misses Ayda and that’s her biggest problem. 

-But she also has her album to worry about and we actually get the bombshell during a conversation with Mazey that she’s not even sure that she still wants to be a bard.

-On top of that, she’s taking Barb and Warlock classes along with the Bard classes she’s finally going to. 

-She has her gnarly Gilear curse happening that’s seemingly connected to whoever the boss who owns the pride armor is. 

-She has beef with Rebuen and is living her double life as Wanda Childa to try and learn whatever she can about him/the Rat Grinders. 

-Both she and Wanda are wanted by the Solace FBI.  

-On a positive note, she really endeared herself to Mazey by sweetly sticking up for her when Ivy was being catty. If Fig wasn’t so devoted to Ayda I could have read their interaction at the end of the ep as flirty. Regardless, nice moment and great ally. 

Kristen

-Welp, her god is, if not dead, MIA which is arguably the biggest deal of anything on any of these lists, especially since it’s tied to her magic AND her grade. 

-Next of course is the potato to her meat on her plate: her campaign. But that’s actually going really well, especially after this party. Her biggest issue is whether or not she can get Fetty Wap to homecoming and, lbr, in a pinch Fig can just disguise herself as him. When has that ever not worked?

-She also has this unnamed god (or whoever it is) taunting her and threatening her specifically which isn’t ideal. 

-But I honestly think she was more fucked up by the conversation which Tracker where her ex basically outlined everything she needs to get together in her life and then posted a pre-written pic with her new girlfriend. That’s gotta sting. 

And that’s it! I wanted to focus on the specific nuggets of info we got this episode and start to connect them with what we knew so far. Different format, I know, but I’m feeling experimental this season and I might switch it up a few more times as Junior Year goes on. I love covering Fantasy High but, like I said at the top, I have to keep it fresh so I don’t burn out. See you next time when Brennan makes the stress we’re all feeling an actual game mechanic! Fun!

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch (book spoilers edition): 2x2

Additional thoughts that had too many spoilers to go into my earlier post will be found here. Spoilers for all the teasers and trailers, plus through book 13: A Memory of Light.

So one of the big questions that I have is: how much is Lanfear acting with Ishamael's knowledge and how much is she going her own way? Ishamael said in the Darkfriend social scene that he is still looking for Rand. If he's being truthful there (and he's talking to his minions, so there's really no point in lying), then Lanfear has not told him that she located Lews Therin.

2. I hadn't thought about this on my first watch, but @ladyofpembroke noted that Lanfear is probably in Rand's final dream in the next episode, so it seems possible that she actually has a hand in all his dreams. Constantly reminding him that he could kill his friends if he sees them again is a good way to make him want to stay where he is (with her) and not try to reconnect with his past life. Like any effective manipulator, she's keeping him isolated from his friends and family as much as she can.

3. otoh, we know from the books that being able to locate someone's dreams doesn't mean that you know where they are in the physical world, so this might be an Ishamael-influenced dream (I note that while Rand's visions of his friends has them wearing their S1 outfits, Ishamael is wearing his s2 outfit, which Rand hasn't seen), so this might be an Ishamael-influenced dream since he figures he might as well torment Rand in the dream if he can't find him irl.

4. Given that Rand is already hearing whispers, I wonder when the show plans to re-introduce Lews Therin to us in his own form. It might even be this season, if they wanted to make sure to keep a lock on the actor (or we might get another Age of Legends cold open -- though I note that we only had one cold open in this set of three episodes, though that might be because Rafe & co were aware that they would likely all air the same night so that might have affected their choices there - I'd love an AoL cold open where we get to see Lanfear and Lews Therin together).

5. So, did Rand find his way to Cairhien first and then Lanfear set up an inn in the Foregate to entice him to her, or did she set up her inn before he arrived and she figured out a way to lure him in? Either way, she's doing a much better job than the Lanfear in the books. She's much less suspicious than "random noblewoman who managed to appear in an unpopulated parallel world so that Rand could save her" and she's more subtle too. While the cringefail Forsaken in the books can be amusing, the threat level of the villains also helps tell you how seriously to take your protagonists, so I'm glad that they beefed up her threat level by actually making her effective. Right now, Lanfear is #winning on every possible level.

6. I love Errol because he serves several story purposes -- he's reminding us that Rand looks "like an Aiel"; he's serving Hurin's purpose in the story of giving Rand someone to look after and be protective of; he's teaching Rand sword forms because he was a blademaster; and he's giving us a bit of history about "the Aiel war". And the actor is quite charming. Plus he's used to show us both Rand's compassion and his need/desire to find mentors to help teach him the skills he needs. At this point in time, Rand does believe that he's defeated the Dark One and his nightmares are just nightmares but he does still want to learn how to protect himself and how to control himself.

7. We mostly hear indistinct whispers until Rand is walking down the hallway (it's the shot from the trailer) and it resolves into "Do you hear me? You are mine, Rand al'Thor." Which is very interesting. Our first inkling of Lews Therin? If so, it shows a greater awareness of Rand as a person than LTT's voice showed in the earlier books when it appeared in his head. I've speculated that this might happen, so I wonder if we're going to get more genuine back-and-forth between Rand and LTT than we really got in the books as a way of letting us into Rand's internal narration without him needing to pour out his heart to any of the characters around him.

8. I am actually loving Perrin getting Rand's plotline here -- it's working really well for him, being used to show us how Perrin can smell what happened in places so vividly that he's re-experiencing the past. I feel like if I didn't know this was Rand's original plotline, I wouldn't have guessed. It suits how they're exploring Perrin's character so well. I do wonder... Elyas speaks of Perrin experiencing a 'vision' -- I wonder if they're going to make the mystical side of being a Wolfbrother more distinct from what Dreamers do in this show version. Because it really was kinda... weird in the books how Perrin and Egwene are doing all this training in the same dreamworld but Perrin never runs across her or any of the Aiel Dreamwalkers, even once they're spending more time in the wetlands side of things.

9. The nailed-up Fade is used in the books to mark when Fain 'takes control' of the Darkfriends & Trollocs. I wonder here if it's meant to mark the moment when the dagger owns him more strongly than the Dark One does. Because the people of Shadar Logoth were not darkfriends -- and they focused on this in s1, too, because dagger!Mat is not a fan of the Fade that he meets in the farmhouse.

10. Love foreshadowing of Errol talking about "Aielman among us and no one bats an eyelash in the entire place" -- Rand is going to be bringing a lot of Aiel to the wetlands. I bet we're going to get to see some of these sword forms in the finale!

11. Liandrin does seem like she's becoming genuinely invested in Nynaeve. I like that (almost) everyone gets their own personal Darkfriend -- Nynaeve has Liandrin, Mat also has Liandrin (she's a hard worker!), Rand has Lanfear, Perrin has (remorseful) Ingtar, Moiraine has (double agent) Verin, Lan has (repentant) Tomas, and even Egwene gets a scene with Sheriam (who will get to be Her Darkfriend Among Us later on, if we're able to follow the books that closely when we get there), though she's not really the focus of Sheriam's attention. Everyone gets a little personal attention from the Shadow!

I like that Nynaeve gets rushed forward to the test for Accepted due to Liandrin wanting to teach her so badly. It seems more realistic reasoning than we get in the books.

12. Another big lie from Liandrin here about how Mat is here because they are "only observing" that the effects of the dagger are out of his system, which Mat immediately calls bullshit on. He's locked in a cell and only Liandrin is around -- that is not an official observation by any means. That's a prison. It's been six months. So I would put Liandrin's official lie count at two. Notably, she's only lying to Mat so far, who is both kept well away from other people and also doesn't really know as much about Aes Sedai (we know from Egwene and Moiraine's conversation in the woods in s1 that the people of the Two Rivers do not have the Aes Sedai oaths memorized).

13. My dearest, my darling, my deepest love is finally here! At the end of my reread, when I was ranking my favorite characters, Elayne was my number one favorite. Ceara is doing such a good job with her and the writing is also excellent. I love how many different sides of her we get to see in just these two episodes -- sheltered noble, awkward girl who grew up with no friends, someone familiar with the Tower but not familiar being a novice in the Tower, but a tinkerer (!!! so excited that they put this in so early) at heart and incredibly loyal and compassionate. I just adored her so much in these two episodes and I am looking forward to seeing more of her. I do really hope that, in the midst of all the chaos, that the show does manage to give her something of a meet-cute with Rand, even if it's less obviously romantic than the one in the books. But I'm really looking forward to more of her interacting with Egwene and Nynaeve, and hopefully meeting Aviendha and/or Min and/or Mat in the finale or before it.

14. I have zero issue with Sheriam not being a redhead. I think it's a good idea for the show to cut down on the number of redheads, given that Jordan says it's rare but then keeps giving us random redheads. Limiting the on-screen ones to the Aiel and the royal house of Andor seems like a good idea to me.

15. So first we got Perrin's letters last episode. Now, in this episode, Elyas tells Perrin that the soldiers he's with right now "are not your pack". While he could be talking about the wolves, of course, I feel like, as a viewer, that makes me think of the EF5 and how that's who Perrin belongs with right now. Especially after Perrin's letter talking about how he feels 'exposed' without the others around. Again, it gives me the hope that we'll get more moments of reconnection between the EF5 over the course of the show.

16. This moment with Verin is such a great one to look at knowing the truth of her situation. "Even oaths have loopholes one can exploit". She's the expert at it. Oaths are a bit of a minor theme in this episode and the next -- the loopholes and also, next episode, we're introduced to the Seanchan oaths where Perrin is, I assume, going to take the very reasonable position that a forced oath is not binding (which is the same position that Mat had in Winter's Heart but inexplicably abandoned in Crossroads of Twilight when he decided his accidental wedding vows were binding).

Oh! I knew I remembered hearing the words "Toman Head" in these three episodes but hadn't remembered it was Verin mentioning it! I thought it was noted as part of the Dark Prophecies but it's mentioned here as mainline prophecy. But the name is out there now. And this conversation also confirms "sword of flame" and "battle in the sky" for the finale, most likely, and a mention of a "branded hand" which feels like it confirms the herons. I wonder if Rand is going to use the same weave on his dad's sword that we saw Verin using at the end of the last episode for Tomas's sword. This may also mean that it's using that weave that burns the herons into Rand's palms?

17. The Rand and Lanfear scenes. Wow! But, yeah, I wonder how much her non-reaction to his bloody knuckles struck show-onlys. She doesn't ask him what happened, who he beat up. She just kisses his bloody knuckles and sweet-talks him into bed.

18. So far, we've heard/seen three separate form of violent teaching in the White Tower -- the unnamed woman who beat Moiraine to make her channel (likely Elaida); Liandrin's behavior with Nynaeve; and Sheriam telling Elayne that she'll be switched. Both Liandrin and Sheriam, of course, are Black Ajah. But from Egwene's reaction here, it doesn't seem like being ordered to be switched is anything close to the common punishment that it seemed to be in the books. But we'll see!

19. It does occur to me that Gawyn (maybe Galad too) might already have been in training with the Warders even if Elayne wasn't a novice yet -- Elayne has been spending her summers in the Tower and it's entirely possible that Gawyn's training to protect her meant he was sent off early to start learning from the best. We don't get any hints in this episode or the next about her brothers, but we're pretty focused on her developing friendship with Egwene.

20. "Min is in Tar Valon" and "Min and Mat share a plotline" were my two most hoped-for options for Min's storyline for this season, so I'm happy about that. I do wish that Min had been given a chance to bond with Elayne or Egwene but, hopefully, there will be time for that later. But I really love the set-up we've been given where we are going to explore Elayne with Egwene and Nynaeve; Min being more fully-explored with Mat; and then Aviendha when she enters Perrin's storyline. All of them are getting fleshed out as individual characters before any of them get romantically involved with Rand. I am feeling pretty hopeful that we're going to get our polycule (and a genuine polycule, not a harem) in the upcoming seasons. They've been putting in a lot of "poly relationships are valid and complex" groundwork in and it looks like they are going to be making sure that all of the characters involved get to be full characters who have their own agendas and their own arcs.

Some people on reddit are still pretty disappointed that Min isn't the male-gaze fantasy that she is in the later books but I have been thrilled with the changes that the show has done so far with her. We also maybe get a hint here that Min is going to be canonically bisexual by the way she jokes about Liandrin, so I will cross my fingers on that.

20. Min's viewing! I do love that they're massively cutting down on the number of Min's viewings to focus on ones that are interesting and relevant. This one is particularly interesting because there's nothing like it in the books. Mat stabbing Rand, then cradling him as he falls.

Theory #1: this is a flicker-flicker world (maybe we only get one big one?) and it's not Our Mat stabbing Our Rand but an alternate one.

Theory #2: Rand asks Mat to fulfill his promise to keep Rand from going mad and that's why Mat stabs him.

Theory #3: Rand loses control of himself (like Lady Amalisa in 1x8) and Mat stabs him to try to get him to lose his hold on the One Power.

Theory #4: Mat gets placed under compulsion (which would be another reason for him to want protection from Aes Sedai and channeling).

Theory #5: Mat gets The Dagger again and he's the one who gives Rand the wound in his side, while under its influence.

Theory #6: It's metaphorical and Mat takes the place of Alivia and helps Rand 'die' at the end of the series (seems unlikely but I'll throw it out there).

And probably lots of other things I haven't thought of. But it definitely shakes Min to see it.

I wonder if she only agreed to help Liandrin after this moment or if she'd already agreed and this is just additional incentive. I don't think she's told Liandrin anything about Rand. She was able to keep that secret from Moiraine even under blackmail so I think she kept it from Liandrin too.

But I do love that we get a viewing that connects Mat and Rand together, even if it's through a traumatic encounter. I am a simple soul who finds messiness intriguing.

21. Lanfear! Talking about her broken heart to the man who broke it and who she is, even now, doing her best to groom back into the man that she wants. The layers in this conversation are exquisite. When she tells him that he can't hurt her, she also can say that because she has a strong grasp of what she can do with the Power while he's still stumbling in the dark. Ooof, but Rand was (unknowingly) on risky ground when he confirmed that he does sometimes think of his past when he's with her.

Also, talking about how "no one else" could ever have power over her heart now that her previous lover is gone... when she's literally talking to his reincarnation. The conversation is just so rich and so sharp and there's so much of it that is going over Rand's head because he doesn't have the necessary information to even begin to put the pieces together. "What's left to hurt if he still has my whole heart?" she says, to the guy in question. "When I'm with you, I can pretend you're him." YEAH. I BET YOU CAN.

22. So I wonder if Moiraine's threat here to Lan, that she would let Alanna take his bond if he didn't let her leave on her own, is going to be the extent of the "Myrelle" plot point that Alanna absorbs and it won't actually happen in fact. But now it's out there as an idea that Warders can be forcibly bonded so that when Alanna forcibly bonds someone else down the road, the idea isn't coming out of nowhere.

23. I was so shocked when the Seanchan attacked in episode two. I was thinking this would happen in episode five. But once I sat down and thought about it, I realizes that Perrin has already hit all the main points of the Hunt for the Horn storyline on his side of things (and even partly on what Rand would have been doing). We've found the traitor and had Ingtar reveal his sympathy towards said traitor; we've found the Fade and the moment when Fain started playing by his own rules; and we've even been exploring Perrin and his senses. This does mean that we're going to have a lot of potential time to explore the Seanchan invasion and culture.

24. I don't have any issues with Ishamael openly being Suroth's advisor vs someone covertly giving Suroth her marching orders. High Lady Suroth is a Darkfriend and always was. We're just taking it out of the shadows and showing it openly to the viewers (and Perrin).

I do wonder if Perrin specifically seeing the Shadow and the Seanchan so entwined will have an impact on his later storylines. That I wonder about. But the later books were, tbh, really weird about how low-impact the Falme encounter ended up being in the long run for pretty much everyone except Egwene. Min basically forgets she knows anything about the Seanchan even when that information could help Rand, everyone forgets about the environment of paranoia and fear that the Seanchan created in Falme, etc. There's a lot of weird forgetfulness going around, especially in CoT & KoD, when Jordan wanted to sell us on his slaver romance.

(the way that the show has been improving characters like Min and relationships like Rand/Lanfear does give me a lot of hope in how they will handle Tuon and the Mat & Tuon 'romance' and that they'll make it better than the poorly-written dumpster fire that it is in CoT & KoD)

[numptypylon]

So many questions!

1) Why is she back in Katolis?

2) Why does she have the cube? Did she bring it when she left or was she coming back to steal it?

3) What’s her Star primal animal companion all about?

4) Wtf is going on with the timeline, this looks like it’s very early in the season, like… episode 2, maybe even the same evening as his birthday? How does this tie into the scene where Callum is cradling her sword?

5) Is this real? Or is Callum being misled by Aaravos? It seems a liiiiittle too good to be true, that she just waltzes through the door, after two years of being mia and not having communicated anything to him.

I have more thoughts, SO many, so may do more posts to look at the other trailer images and/or Rayla’s new design

[worstloki]

alright lets go. opinions on the s2 trailer

the idea that Loki will 'finally get to be powerful' is how they got everyone in s1

Loki's expressions/behaviour still seem exaggerated to me

"You are a man of action, which is fine. I take a more slow, deliberate, cerebral approach." <- No Comment.

the outfits........ no

KE HUY QUAN!! HIIIIIIIIII

'time slipping' 🤝 spiderverse glitching

if Loki's little monologue in the trailer winds up in an actual scene i believe it's just going to sound cringe

something about the way the magic is animated is unsettling in a 'looks like they're underpaying people again' way

im not going to talk about the posters, im going to let you look at them yourself

why are they trying to make loki the word 'smarmy' personified

great 'reveals' in the show will be very heavy handed if the electric-baton-shocking-to-reveal-a-giant-Kang's-face is any hint. it almost reminds me of season 1, even

sylvie seems to be doing well :)

sick and tired of the MCU's quarter-baked attempts at being 'deep' without the writing to back it up. go back to the 'we're just aliens' setup because this didn't work for Ragnarok, it didn't work for Thor 4, it's not working for Loki.

sylvie and loki have to hold hands to make a cloud of green that pushes everyone back :\

THE CHOREOGRAPHY LOOKS BAD AND THEY HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWN A FIGHT SCENE FOR 3 SECONDS

every comment on the trailer could be a satire

surely media literacy rates have not dropped so low. surely society is not this desperate. surely.

new writer and director than s1 tho

the setting and Kang's vibes have me thinking of Where Mischief Lies

ooooooo Loki staring at a ye olde pockety wockety watch ooooo what mystery many question hoW wonDEr

hopefully there'll be actual time travel this season

remember when they CGI'd Sylvie out of the scenes in the s1 trailer lol

remember how in Thor 1 they CGI'd--[GUNSHOT]

[thornedarrow]

AX Bungo Stray Dogs Premiere Panel Notes

Hello~ I tried to take notes while at the panel for the premiere of BSD Season 5. I did my best to transcribe what I could of the answers but there may be mistakes so please take this info with a grain of salt.

Note: Please do not repost this anywhere especially on twitter and if you mention anything listed here elsewhere, I would appreciate a link back to this post.

The three guests for the panel were Asagiri Kafka, Studio Bones President Minami Masahiko, and Kadokawa Producer Kurokane Chiaki.

Opening Talk

Before the episode aired, the host asked what they enjoyed about LA and Asagiri mentioned the view? and how kind the fans have been. I believe Minami talked about how he was here last year? but I did not go to AX last year so I'm not 100% on that info. Kurokane mentioned how the humidity is awful in Tokyo so LA was much nicer in that regard.

I think they also answered another question but I did not write it down rip.

Also they played the S5 trailer for us and it was really fun to watch in a live audience the screams at particular parts were funny.

[EPISODE PREMIERE]

- if you’re interested in details of the actual episode feel free to ask, I am omitting any info from this post though. It was not a light novel adaptation it went straight into the main story <3

Q&A post-premiere

At some point Minami pointed to his shirt and was like is no one going to comment on how I changed my shirt? It was now a shirt of Rocket from GOTG because he heard how many people liked Poe in the episode lmao. It was very cute

What is the process of working on the Bungo Stray Dogs anime like? [i apologize my notes rly sucked for this question]

Asagiri: (He said something else I did not catch) I often think about how to make the story even more interesting and engaging. If you noticed in the episode we just watched, the ending is slightly different from the original manga, because the director had asked me to add an additional catchphrase.

Minami: BSD has a strange charisma. I remember when Kadokawa came to me with the series and I read it before sharing it with Igarashi-san and Enokido-san.

He also mentioned how usually the anime production staff works on the scripts for an anime but for BSD, Asagiri-sensei is very hands on and involved that he almost feels like a staff member of Studio Bones.

Kurakane-san mentioned the role of supporting and promoting the series but I forgot to write down the details.

This question was for Asagiri-sensei and asked about how he comes up with abilities for the different characters, I think?

Asagiri, initially: I try to focus on making them mysterious (lmao).

He also said he waits for inspiration to strike. Then he mentioned specific examples.

For Atsushi and Beast Beneath the Moonlight, the inspiration comes from the Moon over the Mountain. In the original story, the friend who has transformed into a tiger tries to save the other character from themselves. Asagiri was inspired by the relationship between the heart and the tiger in the story to come up with Atsushi's ability.

For Dazai and No Longer Human, he mentioned that the original work has a strange allure of making the reader doubt the act of living. From that, he came to think of the idea of the ability to nullify all abilities.

For Fyodor...it's a secret.

Guests' thoughts on working on season 4 and 5?

Asagiri: Being able to make it until season 3, I could sense that the passion and fire from the fans.

Minami: We wanted to deliver Bungo Stray Dogs to more people who didn't know about the series. One big change we made was to the main visuals for the new seasons. The older seasons tended to have more calm and but we chose more action-oriented visuals for season 4/5 to better capture attention.

Kurakane: We also wanted to focus on attracting the attention of a broader audience (new fans) and so for season 4, we made a 3 minute video that recaps seasons 1-3, which was received very well. Currently, we are running a campaign where we post highlight clips of all 55 current episodes. This was also targeted at fans who may have drifted away from the series, so that it would be easier for them to return to BSD.

What to look forward in season 5? (to Asagiri)

Asagiri: Everything (said in English.)

Then he went on to say I would like the viewer/fans to specifically think about the relationship? between justice and terrorism. What does justice mean? What does it mean to be the enemy? If you were justice, what would you do? If you were the enemy, what would you do?

What was your reaction to Season 4 and 5? (also to Asagiri)

Asagiri: Amazing (also said in English.)

They have made an phenomenal series. Five seasons. There are few people who can say their work has been adapted into five seasons of anime and it is all thanks to you guys (the fans) for your passion for the series.

What future projects would you like to work on together?

Asagiri: Season 6! A movie? I will continue to do my best to continue to deliver an interesting series to you.

Minami: (turned to Asagiri-sensei and said in a dramatic voice) Please let me read more material!! If you don't give me anything to adapt, I can't proceed!

Kurakane: The stage plays that have spanned six and a half years just ended last night. With that, I do feel a bit of relief on the workload. But I will continue to find new forms in which to deliver Bungo Stray Dogs series to you all.

---

Final note, all three of the guests were so enthusiastic and passionate about this series it was really lovely to see. I cannot capture the intonation of specific comments from Asagiri-sensei but he was rly funny. The episode was incredible and I genuinely am so excited for the new season! If anything sounds awkward I apologize; that’s on me and my translation skills.

[bad268]

Ik it says no specific character but I am on my knees for sebastian montoya (mans gen z personified)COuld we get a driver reader and him and the reder inviting him to go to prom maybe beause he couldnt go to his?(Ik this is oddly specify and i am sorry you dont have to tdo this )

Drive Me to Prom? (Sebastian Montoya X Driver! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/Formula 2/3

Requested: Clearly (yo so the whole specific characters thing was so people would stop requesting characters I don't write for anymore, but anything regarding f1/2/3 drivers, I will DROP EVERYTHING FOR THEM lol)

Warnings: cheezy promposal

Pronouns: First POV (I/me), but fem-ish reader (wears dress mentioned but not actually talked about)

W.C. 1605

Summary: The reader tries to surprise Sebastian with a Prompoasl, but it does not go according to plan.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Google/Multiformula)

It was something really random to find out. While Sebastian and I were filming a video for the team’s YouTube channel, one of the questions asked about extracurriculars in school. It was a harmless question, really! But somewhere, somehow, we got on the topic of school dances.

“I was able to go to homecoming this year, and I think my prom is coming up soon,” I answered enthusiastically. 

“I never actually went to my prom,” Sebastian admitted. My head shot over to him, confused. He looked even more confused at my reaction, “What?”

“Two things,” I started, “One, you wanted to go to your prom? And two, you just decided not to go?”

“I mean it’s a standard thing with high school. I would have liked to go, I guess,” he laughed in response. The disappointment in the second half of his response was easy to detect, “And two, I also had a race the week of my prom. Even if I wanted to go, I couldn’t.”

Thus, the plan began. Since I knew my prom was going to be on a week we did not have a race, and I knew I wanted to go, I was going to ask Sebastian to prom (not like I would want to go with anyone else, but y’know).

The first thing I needed to do was coordinate with his parents and friends. His parents were more than willing to help, and they even volunteered to take him suit shopping inconspicuously. I said they didn't need to because the dress I found was a dark navy blue that matched perfectly with one of the suits he already owned. Then his friends were easy to convince. They were already busy visiting family as the date fell while we were on a break, so they had no problem with not making plans with Sebastian.

Next, I had to plan with the team. There was no way I was letting them schedule us for another last-minute, meaningless meeting during prom. They were (surprisingly) okay with it, as long as we agreed to come in two days later for a promotional video and simulator work which I had no problem with. 

Finally, the last thing I needed to do was ask him. I should not have been nearly as nervous as I was, but I wanted it to be perfect. I has so many ideas for how to ask him, but I knew I wanted to be cheesy and try to connect it to racing. I ended up deciding on a sign that I would take to the next race since we had one more race weekend before prom. The sign read, “Can you drive me to prom? I don't have my license.” I also printed pictures of our cars to put on the corners. It’s in reference to the fact that Sebastian has his normal driver’s license while I only have my super license. 

The race I decided to ask him was at Imola, one of our favorite tracks. We both qualified well (him at P1, me at P3), and I won the sprint race with Sebastian in P2. It was the first 1-2 of the season! We had a break between the podium and the media panel, so we were able to head back to our team trailer after a brief photo shoot. We both split off to different sides of the trailer to take showers and change into comfortable clothes. 

Sebastian immediately laid flat on the floor once he was done, and when I came out, he pulled me to lie next to him with a laugh. A couple of the staff chuckled at our antics, but let us be. 

“That was a pretty good race,” he said quietly with a yawn, “I don’t want to do interviews.”

“It was a great race, and you don't have to, technically,” I responded just as quietly. He looked skeptical before I elaborated, “You could just pay the fine if you really don’t want to go.”

“No, I just like whining about it,” he chuckled, pulling me deeper into his side as he buried his face in my hair. “Plus, I would never turn down a panel with you by my side.”

“You mean you by my side,” I laughed pulling away to make eye contact. “Last I checked, I was the one that won the race, Mr. Montoya.”

“Ah, right,” he joked, “We should actually start heading over now. We can pick up a smoothie or something on our way over. My treat for you winning fair and square.”

“Is that supposed to be condescending?” I joked back, moving to stand up and brush off my clothes. I held out my hand to help him up, him immediately taking it and standing up but not letting go as he pulled me into his chest for a hug. “Is this your apology?”

“No, the apology is that I’ll also get you a smoothie and food,” he responded, placing a kiss on my nose. “Did you put my wallet in your backpack earlier?”

“Yeah, you asked me too,” I chuckled, pulling away slightly to kiss him for a moment before moving back to point toward my driver’s room. “I need to grab my phone if you want to grab your wallet from my bag.”

“On it,” he said as he kept my hand in his and led us to the room. We split off, him grabbing my bag from the desk and me going toward the bathroom where I had my phone charging on the counter. Before I head back out, I checked a couple of notifications until Sebastian called out to me, “Hey, Y/N, what’s this?”

I walk out and see him reading something and I instantly know what it was: the poster. I immediately reached to grab it from him, hiding it behind my back despite knowing that he’s already seen it and read it. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

“You were going to ask me to prom?” He asked in disbelief.

“I was going to do it after the race tomorrow,” I admitted, “but now it’s not a surprise.”

“Ask me now.”

“What?”

“I said,” he paused as he wrapped his arms around my waist, one arm pulling the sign out from behind my back, “Ask me now.”

“Seb, you didn’t get to go to your prom, and I have my prom next week. You have a driver’s license, and I only have my super license. Maybe you could drive me to prom?” I asked as I leaned back, still with his arms around my waist, and held the sign up. “And we can dance if you want to.”

“I could not imagine going with anyone else,” he laughed, pushing the sign down so he could kiss all over my face. We basked in the moment for a couple of minutes before hearing our managers calling our names. “I guess that’s our call, isn’t it?”

“I mean we could just not answer and sneak out the back,” I suggested, gesturing toward the door that lead to a staircase directly toward the pack of the paddock. “We could just take the fine.”

“Do you really want to pay the fine when we have no real reason to miss the interview?”

“Not really, but I am hungry, so I’m weighing my options.”

“Come on,” he chuckled as he pulled me toward the normal door, grabbing his wallet on the way and propping the sign up against the wall before walking out. When we got to the main section of the trailer, we found our managers talking on the phone. 

“Nevermind, we found them,” my manager said to the person on the call as they hung up. They both looked at us suspiciously before asking, “Do we want to know what you were doing in Y/N’s driver’s room together?”

“You say that like we did something wrong,” Sebastian pointed out. The look on our managers’ faces told us that they definitely thought we were doing something in there. “Wait, no we did not do what you think! The worse that we did was contemplate just taking the fine.”

“Okay, no,” his manager laughed, “we are not taking the fine. We were trying to find you because you need to do a post-race photoshoot and eat before the panel.”

“Oh, we already did the photo shoot,” I pointed out. “We did it before we showered and changed. Plus, we were just about to head out to get smoothies.”

“Make sure you get real food too, please? The last thing we need is one of you passing out during the interview. You’ve got 2 hours!”

“Got it,” Sebastian shouted behind him as we already started running out of the trailer toward the array of food stands. We slowed down once we reached a shaded table off to the side of one of the stands. Sebastian pulls out my chair, allowing me to sit first before pushing it in and taking the seat across from me. “Looks like we’ve got extra time to kill, so what do you want to get? My treat.”

“Is that supposed to be condescending?” I joked, leaning forward in my seat.

“Shut up or I won't buy you anything,” he pressed with an eye-roll. “Now, what do you want?”

“Well-” I started.

“No, don’t turn this on me,” he immediately interrupted, “I’m trying to congratulate you on your win.”

“And I want a smoothie, so you choose the actual food!” I retorted. “Second place is not easy either, so you choose the food.”

“You’re a menace.”

“I try.”

~~~~~

© BAD268 2023. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[sollucets]

beloveds @khaotunq, @pranink & @alexshenry tagged me to do:

every month of 2023! list your favorite/most popular gifset for each month.

i started making gifs in march this year, so january/february are off the table for this. it's funny that it hasn't even been a full year yet. it seems both somehow a lot longer and also like i remain some kind of photoshop baby at the same time. the images in this post will remain undescribed until i have some energy in my failing body, unfortunately

in any case:

march: midnight museum invades all 2 of my braincells. i download photoshop. the end is nigh

most popular: msp/eclipse pool parallel set

favorite: the bams i made for sof

(notes: it's hard to look back at these lmao. what is coloring and why don't i know her. why is everything so dark. who told me to use noise dithering and why did i ever think that was a good idea. anyway)

april: the eighth sense is airing! i meet many mutuals and friends. i figure out about the curves tool (thank god)

most popular: taehyung getting dunked on

(very deserved dunk; very bad set. the coloring of this scene was extremely questionable and i did nothing to fix it it looks so dull and gray. augh)

favorite: feet lining up / jihyun & jaewon on the beach

i really like this coloring actually. it's bright enough to actually see them, their skin doesn't look as weird, and i like the soft pink i made the beach. a win for baby photoshop user rowan

may: the purple is in full swing now

most popular: purple yok

first set to cross 1k! the purple is still very good but in hindsight there are things i now know i couldve done to help his skin. in any case. a banger. beloved

favorite: pink our skyy 2 hands set

[through tears] you're my space. also my first try at typography

june: i lose the will to gif some in the back half of this month, but i also learn to do a Lot of new things, like gradient maps & more complicated typography and transitions and such

most popular: puzzle piece hugs!

deserved! hard to gif and fun to look at

favorite: i think it might be the heartliming i made for vi now! but i still like khathadome from eden too.

july: i try giffing a few different shows. the only friends trailer comes out on the last day and i enter some kind of terrifying fugue state

most popular: sand and ray fighting / crying in the ofts trailer

do you guys remember the trailer 1080p? life was so good

favorite: nobody appreciates my ride enough

august: only friends airs, eclipse anniversary is concurrent, i lose my mind. i also learn to use the method of brightening that i still use & several other fundamental gif tricks

most popular: sandray car makeout

good for them! i start using significant grain on my ofts gifs from here on out and can never decide how i feel about that

favorite: orange/blue eclipse episode seven set

september: the madness continues

most popular: sand cooking for ray / special

ive giffed this scene three times and this is my least favorite coloring but what can you do. this is my third post to cross 1k

favorite: new rules set! i had mixed feelings when i posted it but it's really grown on me.

october: the madness is so much worse. only friends ends and i am left near-catatonic immediately, apparently. also, i learn to blend and use overlays and some other cool things. i join userdramas :'>

most popular: raysand afterglow. as it should be. cheek kissie

favorite: space girl!! show me the stars!!!

loved making this. purple and sparkly and gay. still super proud. that said other runner-up favorites in october are ray's o-face & the boyfriend shirt & akkaye's thumb thing collection

november: i am left cavernously empty after ofts ends and i fill the void with namtan

most popular: last twilight episode one porjai

she <3

favorite: gaipa userdramas set

again, i learned to use musescore for this set just so i could have those pretty notes. :')

december: i am punched in the face by seasonal depression. all is not well. i made just one gifset this month, but at least it was good? :')

and here we are today !! it was very fun to look over everything; thanks so much for playing and have a happy new year everyone

[championofravens]

It literally doesnt matter to me what purpose "Cayde" will play in The Final Shape. There is not a single part of this I can like. I will now try to cover every reason why without getting outlandishly mad. Maybe some ppl will appreciate this.

1. Firstly, from a marketing stand point. I strongly dislike and disagree that our first ever teaser for The Final Shape is entirely a Cayde tease. Not just in the trailer but in the articles Bungie themselves posted, they are clearly pushing Cayde's "return" and his original VA as a big deal. The big deal. This is supposed to be why you preorder Final Shape, why you get excited for the very last expansion to this saga that's been building up for... eight, nine years? It's for the return of the dead franchise character. I feel this is a total disgrace and a complete slap in the face to any fan who cares about anything else in Destiny 2.

2. Secondly, there is right out the gate no way for me to like Cayde's return narratively. I am already braced that this is not actually Cayde, but it doesn't matter. What is this going to do to the plot of The Final Shape? What does this say about the upcoming story's focus? Lightfall literally just bombed on arrival for not answering questions, not having narrative focus, and for introducing and answering new mysteries in record time without tackling old mysteries. It was rushed sloppy and overly focused on showcasing Strand, the big *draw* for Lightfall, a new subclass. So this? Inspires no confidence.

3. What does Cayde coming back, even briefly, do to the last 3-4 years of storytelling since Forsaken? What does that do to the franchise's commitment for spending at least a full year tackling the issues of grief, rage, revenge in direct association with Cayde's story? This isn't including the continued storyline of Crow and Holliday who have served as legacy extensions of Cayde's story ever since. What does Cayde returning bring that is so essential to undermine and uproot so many months of well laid lessons on acceptance towards what a Guardian can and can't control?

4. Remember how Amanda Holliday just died? Remember how Holliday's last season was spent with her outright refusing to truly forgive Crow because Uldren killed Cayde, turning down his feelings for her? I don't think anyone is fully accepting that Holliday's only true story purpose since Beyond Light was to wrestle with her grief about Cayde in contrast to her budding relationship with Crow. And now she's dead. And now *Cayde's back*. It's almost comically cruel. And no, I don't think any of this would be "fixed" with Holliday coming back as a Guardian.

5. Cayde dying was, for so many people, a sort of narrative "promise" being made. Destiny was a narrarive with grim consequence, heavy themes, and now dead beloveds. No character is safe- this is how strongly the Darkness can play us even through like seven proxies. Cayde dying was the heartbreaking action of forces so much bigger than us playing a game we hadn't even yet conceptulized until his death. It was a turning point. Since then, Destiny has tried to find the right balance in who lives and dies in the story and the tone it wants to give to the spare opera. In my opinion, they haven't been striking out and this trailer truly spells to me that whatever promise fans thought they had made about the gravity of this story is squandered.

[motheta]

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

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

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

starting off with scenes I liked:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

now for things I didn't like...

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

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

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

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

- no shizuru </3

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

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