#i need to rewatch it to get a solid opinion though

[scarlet-bee]

I don't give a shit if season 3 was "good" or not, it has Sparrow Ben so it's the best season to me <3

[sushisocks]

cmon you cant just say how queercoded sean is and then not expand on itผ(•̀_•́ผ)

/lh

My need to constantly talk about Sean MacGuire is really being indulged lately jnhbvbjnbh Thank u dear anon <3

oKAY so like, anon, I will be the FIRST to admit that me calling Sean queercoded might've been a strong choice of words all things considered (especially compared to ACTUALLY explicitly gay Bill Williamson which could go for queercoding considering it's only really explicit if you look for it or catch it). I read Sean as queer in a lot of ways, and that is probably in no small part because I'm queer myself. BUT in my defense, what am I supposed to take away from the developers cuffing Sean's jeans like that?? His queer little swagger???? The outfit with that haircut?????? That is a BISEXUAL MAN if I've ever seen one!!!

^me rn fr (always, about Sean and Lenny in particular. My gay Lenny headcanon is a lot more solid though, I'll be frank, and I'm honestly waiting to go the fuck off about it properly here some day lmao)

On a more serious note though, I definitely think Sean's admiration for Arthur can be read as a little bit of a crush in certain instances. Not that I particularly ship that pairing, but certain ways Sean responds to Arthur has always had me 🤔🤔 For example (and I'm really gonna out myself and how often i rewatch his missions here) in pouring forth oil, when Arthur gets mad forreal for a sec and threatens Sean (after Sean has a tantrum abt not being invited along which.... come on), and Sean laughs, there is DEFINITELY a crush-related way of reading that interaction & Sean's response. Not to mention the lil lookover Sean gives him I mean COME ON he's not even that subtle!

Not to speak of the fact that the first thing he does after being rescued from bounty hunters is ask Arthur for a hug - how many of yall Arthur Morgan horny ppl wouldn't die to do the same? Sean was ahead of the game. He's one of you, I swear.

I think Sean being queer makes sense with his personality too, as the sort of laid-back and easy-going one. Though I also think, given the time and the fact that I think he's bi, it's probably not smth he's ever thought very hard about? You know, heteronormativity etc etc, him and Karen having their messy thing going on etc etc, but Sean WOULD kiss a homie and not really have a problem with it. He'd just -- not think about it much harder, you know?

It's that same attitude he has, which leads me to believing if given the chance he'd be very gnc. I know I've said it before but I do headcanon that modern au Sean would def fuck around with skirts and makeup and nailpolish, and have a very loose relationship with his gender as a man at best. It makes sense to me, for someone who is both that easygoing, and has that sense of interest in societal issues, to at some point have the realization of 'oh gender roles are made up' and act accordingly, you know?

And then I'm also taken with, and sort of speaking from, this sort of perspective of the gang at large as very queer. Speaking of it in that academic way, as a sort of rejection of normative society - heteronormative society in particular - there's absolutely an inherent queerness to this entire gang of outlaws doing as they will. When being queer has always meant being ostracized from society, it is easy to read characters ostracized from society as queer; in this way, and in my opinion, the queercoding is inherent to this game, and these characters. It's there at the very foundation of their situation and way of living, and it's why I personally am never going to argue against any type of queer headcanon (and why I'm a proponent of many of them myself lol). Me seeing queerness in Sean and Lenny, is no different from me seeing it in Arthur and Charles, or Sadie and Karen, or Hosea and Dutch, or literally ANY other gangmember.

I feel like I went on a tangent here, again, as I am prone to do, BUT my main point is: Sean MacGuire is so so queer bcz I said so, and becuase why the fuck else would he be like that?

[v-taehyung-kim]

Mr. Jeon

“So, class, is that understood?”

What? What is meant to be understood? Fuck. I stared at him too long and zoned the FUCK out.

“Yes, Mr. Jeon,” said the class in unison while I just… sat there. My face gives away my confusion and well, just like every-fucking-thing else, shit is against me. For some reason my face just cannot hide my true emotions, so I’m an open book for EVERYONE to read. I can’t even lie, which is so useless in any school setting. Well this is University, but y’know , same thing.

“Miss y/l/n, kindly stay after class, I’d like to have a quick word,” Mr. Jeon says rather sternly, which is amazing it’s exactly what my soul wants to be fed with. Uh, a hot, sassy, stern and HANDSOME man? Yeah, I’ll take the whole lot, thanks. Also, it’s technically professor Jeon, but he likes to be a little more casual with us.

God Y/N can you quit rambling within your own head?

As the rest of the class heads out the lecture room, I gather my things and head up to the teacher’s desk.

“Am I in trouble?” I ask, awkwardly laughing. Does saying ha-ha literally count as laughing at all…? Fuck he’s talking-

“-and that’s not trouble as such, however, passing this class requires full attention.”

“Uh, sir, with all due respect, I’m doing fairly well in the tests recently, being a bit lost-in-the-daydream, or, I don’t know, zoning out thinking about something exciting, is, in my humble opinion, normal…yes?” I say fumbling with the corner of my skirt, which I definitely wore to get his attention. But I’m making a solid point here!

“Lost in the daydream? What are you talking about?”

“Uh. Isn’t that what you’re raising an issue with?”

“No, Miss Y/L/N but that is also proving to be a problem. Hmm. No, I was talking about not overloading your course load this semester with extra classes. Graduating early sounds great, only if you’re physically capable. I thought you were looking quite ill, for as long as you’ve been in my class. But I see now that’s just you zoning out? And every class?” He says, crossing his arms against his chest and furrowing his eyebrows. Phew that’s HOT. Okay no focus. For once, focus.

To be fair, I understand him. I zone out in all of his classes, daydreaming about him. I know I have to impress him though so I make an extra effort to rewatch his lectures and perform well in the tests. Well, that is actually tiring me out. Maybe I am sick?

Sick in loooove-

“Miss Y/L/N?”

God if I hear that from his mouth one more time-

“No, yeah, it’s a problem. I don’t know. I’m so sorry Mr. Jeon. Rest assured, I’m able to handle my schedule, at least so far I have been able to. Thank you for your concern!” I smile awkwardly, moving to the right to exit the class.

“If paying attention is hard, feel free to ask for help to repeat or explain any concept you need. I can let you know when I’m not in class, and you can visit my office.”

He said WHAT?

Uh.

Yeah, no, I’m gonna take him up on that fucking offer.

“Really? Yes, that would be very helpful. Thank you.”

“Alright. I’ll email you my schedule. Come with good questions.” He says and gets to clearing the whiteboard.

I awkwardly smile again, with my teeth forming a box, and leave.

Okay.

Time to process what happened.

Is he interested in me? No. He doesn’t give that vibe, at all. He probably thinks I’m an air head and doesn’t realise that I’ve the fattest and fastest growing crush on him, so that’s good.

He literally doesn’t care about me. That’s good. A one sided crush and I can fantasise about him all I want. Everything is better in my head anyway.

Reality is no good.

————-

It’s good that I actually have questions and this is actually a fantastic opportunity to learn better from someone that has researched this topic.

Definitely not just an amazing opportunity to potentially have his babies. Nah, a long way to go for that.

I pack up my notes and a bunch of highlighters- because I’m so shit at being organised I just keep loose highlighters, pens, you name it. At least I have some? Does the job.

“Good evening, Mr. Jeon. Thank you so much for giving me your time like this,” I said, blushing, because wow this is so… I mean… we’re alone in his office.

He chose to see me after he was done for the day but still in office to do some grading, which is good because I don’t need to feel pressured that he has another class coming up.

“Oh no worries. Anything for a bright student like yourself.”

Fuck, there I go blushing again.

“Are you feeling alright? You look like the heat really got to you today?”

Oh yeah, the heat radiating off your body- SHUT THE FUCK UP Y/N AND SAY SOMETHING!

But you just asked me to shut up?

Quit talking to yourself in your head dumbass and SAY SOMETHING-

And my face just for redder in embarrassment.

“Oh, yeah, phew, it’s HOT outside today!” I said, quite loudly, which is EXTREMELY awkward. Fantastic.

“Here, I’ll turn this aircon on for you. Don’t worry about it, get comfortable,” he says, turning the aircon on. Honestly that would be nice.

I take a seat by his desk and pull out my notes.

“So, I actually do have questions, but some might be out of curriculum. I went down a rabbit hole whilst researching the answers to my questions, and it only led to more questions.” I said, gathering myself and actually getting serious.

‘Actually getting serious’ you’re such a joke y/n-

-DON’T talk to me I’ve got shit to do!

You’re talking to yourself-

Ssh he’s talking!

“Classic sign of a good student. Your curiosity is valuable, hold onto it. Ask away, love.” He says, smiling so cutely, fuck.

‘LOVE?’

LOVE??????????????? NO NO NO I CANNOT ZONE OUT-

I clear my throat and ask my first question.

“Can you please explain the embryological development of the small and large intestines? I don’t know if it’s my lack of spatial imagination but I cannot visualise the twisting and turning, the umbilical cord and literally everything else.” The words came pouring out, and I’m thankful for that.

“Ah, of course. Let me draw it out for you, love.”

This is gonna be hell.

——

“It’s satisfying to have my questions answered, I must say. And I’m impressed you answered every single one, somehow?” I said, quite casually.

It took one session for me to actually become comfortable with him, and he’s actually more human that I expected him to be. He’s so dreamy, I didn’t think he’d be normal. And funny. And sweet. And cute. I’m in love.

“Well, I aim to please.” He said… slightly smirking and looking away.

This bitch.

Please me.

“Haha, yeah…” of course I’m fucking awkward, how else do I respond to that?

“So are you pleased?

“Uh, yeah. I did say it was satisfying.”

“Well, mission accomplished. I’d love to be of help to you, love.” He said, very casually, making it look like none of this sounds strangely sexual. Maybe it’s in my head because I’m a horndog for him, so sure.

“Oh man, I really need to head out to get some groceries before I get home. Would you like me to drop you home?” He says, packing things up along with me.

Classic. Yes take me home.

“That’s really kind of you, I’d love that. I mean not love, I just mean, it’ll be really nice, nice I guess in a way that I won’t have to take public transport at rush hour-“

“- I get it, Miss Y/L/N, I’d love to take you home.”

Oh hell no.

Not in my head.

Not in my HEAD.

But he LOOKS LIKE IT MEANS NOTHING? It doesn’t sound suggestive… I’m a fuckin’ creep.

“Haha, okay… I can come to the grocery store too. I live alone, so I need to figure this out.”

“Oh? I live alone as well, I have the same reasons.”

Come to think of it, he does look very young, and he is actually the youngest in our faculty. But being young doesn’t mean you can’t have a wife or a husband.

———

This grocery store is as dead as his feelings for me. Fun.

He’s picking out the good tomatoes from the bad, and I’m hoping he squishes my tomato-

That’s actually disgusting, y/n. Get a hold of yourself.

What do I say then? Pick my strawberry? Peel my banana? Mash my potato? Tear my clothes off like tearing layers off an onion? FUCK-

SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

“Aren’t you going to… buy something? You’re just standing there?”

He thinks I’m a fucking creep, I know it.

“Yeah, nah, just thinkin’, “ I say, extra casually, y’know, because I’m cool. Keeping it cool. Smooth. Ice. Chill. Freezin’.

Simpin’.

“Thinking about what, this time? I’d love to know what you zone out about.”

Why is so fucking hot?

“Uh, haha, not much really!”

“Not much? You Zone out every 10 minutes.” Damn he noticed, huh?

It’s true, though.

“Mr. Jeon, I’ve heard it’s rude to ask someone to tell you their deepest darkest secrets.”

Why did I say that

Why

Did I say that

“Call me Jungkook.”

…..

Take a deep breath…

I’M ABOUT TO-

-SHUT THE FUCK UP AND REPLY BEFORE HE THINKS YOU’RE INSANE!

“J-j-uh.. j-j-uhhh-jungkook?” I say awkwardly, scratching my head and squinting my eyes, breathing heavily.

“That’s right, love. Jungkook. Can I call you y/n? I mean, we’re not that far apart in age and we’re not at Uni. If you’re okay with that of course, I respect your space.” CONSENT, BABY!

I guess we aren’t that far apart in age. But it’s a bit too much for my heart and my tomato to hear my name coming from his mouth.

“Y-yeah! Psshh, duh! Of course. Yeah no that’s all good.” I say laughing a bit too loudly and grabbing onto our cart, only to fail to actually grab onto it, nearly fucking TRIPPING.

“Sorry, haha, senses not working today. Heatstroke, remember?” No, y/n, that makes no sense you never had a heatstroke and if you did, you wouldn’t be here.

“Y/n,” he says, getting serious for some reason.

“Yes?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Crap.

I sigh.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m a little ditzy, that’s all.”

“Don’t apologise. It’s adorable.” He mumbles, smiling and looking away.

Yeah you stare at those damn tomatoes after turning me into one.

I’m… adorable? My exes all called me annoying, so, yeah.

“Adorable?”

“Yeah. It’s really cute how you get awkward, and sometimes ramble and fumble, I take notice of it all.” He smirks, adorably so.

Wait, that’s so… sweet.

“Oh, haha… yeah, I’m…I do that alright…” I nervously play with my fingers, looking down.

“Come on love, let’s get you your groceries.”

He pushes me along by my shoulders, laughing.

He ended up getting all my veggies in the cart, and nearly doing all the work for me. I just said the word, and he’d put it in the cart.

I’m feeling things.

Paying for my bit and him paying for his, we get in his car.

I forgot he’s Mr. Jeon for this entire duration…

“Jungkook?” I ask, as he’s putting his seatbelt on.

“Yes, love?”

Stop sounding like my boyfriend, fuck.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to be so casual? You’re my professor?” I feel awkward even asking this question because now I’ve made things weird.

“How do you mean? We’re okay. I’m sorry, did I make you feel weird?”

No, please keep going.

“Oh no, it’s not something you did. It’s okay, haha.”

He turns to me and looks into my eyes for about 30 seconds. I’m worried about what he’s about to say.

“I think you’re really funny, y/n. And a bright student, I loved teaching you more about what we studied. It’s fun for me, as a teacher. I just think you’re interesting as a person.”

Somehow, I could tell by his face that he felt a bit conflicted but tried to make it sound okay.

“That means a lot to me, jungkook.”

———

A few weeks went by and we were getting closer at the speed of light.

I realised he’s so much more loveable and attractive than whatever his exterior shows. It started off as a crush on my hot teacher, but he’s such an amazing guy. He’s so gentle, listens so well, understands me, is so sweet and smiles so genuinely. He puts up no front, he’s so real and true to himself, his pure heart shines through. He’s generous, and actively gives back to the community. He makes the lamest jokes, and at the same time, is the smartest man in the room.

I’m fucked to say the least.

Here is walking perfection within my reach and now actually a close friend of mine, and I can’t even tell him how beautiful he is.

Weird to call him a friend, but we just connect so well.

“Jungkook, I swear, this shit has me turning my brain inside out. Draw this out too, please.” I say, sitting on his couch cross legged, staring at my notes.

“Y/N, for the last time, it doesn’t get simpler than this diagram right here. Even if I want to draw this, it’ll be the same as the diagram.” He says calmly, looking directly at me.

“Alright, fine. Can we take a break? My brain is fried, I can’t even comprehend the page number. Like, what? How did I get to page 254 when I was page 250?”

“You’re really asking me that?”

I awkwardly look towards my left and right before answering. “Uh??? Noooo? Of course not? I just, you know, yeah…”

“…yeah, okay, break time.”

I sigh in frustration as he gets up to clear the table away and put our notes aside.

I pull out my phone to scroll through Instagram to scroll till my brain is positively hollow, but then jungkook calls out my name.

“Y/N?”

“Hmm.”

“Love?”

Jesus fucking-

My head immediately snaps up and he smirks, seeing how I immediately respond to that.

He laughs a bit, and I blush knowing he’s caught me.

“Come here, love.”

Come here? Where? There?!

I get up and move towards him, and wait for him.

He pulls me into a hug and gently puts his hands in my hair, massaging my head.

“You must be tired. And this is going to sound strange but… you make me protective over you, with how adorable you can be. I’m sorry if it sounds inappropriate. I mean this with sincerity and care.” He says so softly, I’m going to yell.

Yell and screech, bitch.

“Jungkook, that’s incredibly sweet…” I breathe him in, and it ends up being audible.

He laughs at that, and hugs me tighter.

I’m in love. I don’t want more than him.

“I’m here, know that.” He says, so gently I could cry.

“And I’m here.”

We look into each others eyes and I feel all my love for him at once.

He smiles at me, putting stray bits of hair behind my ears.

His emotions seem so genuine, that he really cares for me.

“I’m here.” He says, again.

“And I’m here.”

We smile together, and I decide I want to squeeze him tight.

————-

Y’know, if I wasn’t sure before, I’m sure of it now.

I love him.

It’s true, it’s no longer a crush.

This has been a bad idea. I can’t even actually date him, so what the fuck do I do now?

I’ve been staring at him in class the entire time and I’ve completely zoned out. I know he knows it, he gave me a suspicious look. It’s fantastic, I’m exposing my own ass.

But he’s been staring at me too, every now and then. He looks my way so many times, it’s probably noticeable to others. Good thing I’m sort of hidden away.

But he probably looks at me like his younger sister, since I don’t see him making any particular moves or saying anything that’s remotely romantic.

He’s definitely not into me.

The class gets over and I head directly towards the exit because god knows, I need a break from FEELINGS.

“Miss y/l/n. Please come to my desk. Now.” Girl, I-

“Yes, sir.”

The classroom is now empty and I’m standing before him all awkward.

“Sir?” I say, looking at him, who is looking at me.

“Sir? Really?”

“What? Are you not my teacher? Professor? Sir seems like the obvious thing to call you.”

“And yet you talk to me like that? If you’re being professional, you may as well be more formal.”

“Uh, okay. Hello, sir. What is it that you wanted to speak to me about? I apologise if I caused any inconvenience.”

“As a matter of fact, you did, miss y/l/n.”

“I’m sorry, sir. What is it that I did?”

“Look, y/n. I noticed you really were not paying attention today, and you know this class is important for the upcoming test! The inconvenience is grading you badly!”

I want you.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? Come on, y/n. Your head has been in the clouds recently! You don’t ask me more questions, you’ve been doing the bare minimum!”

Can I marry you?

“No, yeah, I know.”

“I’m glad that you do but do you realise what’s at stake here? You want to graduate early, yes? Well failing a class will only delay the process! Come on…” he continues to talk, but honestly, I’m just lost in his eyes.

I like it when he yells. So passionate. His eyes are so lovely, so cute. Can I look into them forever? I’d love to marry him. Right now. Okay, tomorrow. He’s so perfect. Does he have eye dimples? Of course he does. I’ve known that from the beginning. I studied his face. Now I want to know more about him. Even more than I already do. He’s so… dreamy…

“Y/N! ARE YOU LISTENING?” He raises his voice, for the first time actually, and I jump in surprise.

“What in the world had gotten into you? Fuck. Meet me after my day ends, we need to discuss this.” He says, and leaves immediately.

Well.

Fuck.

————

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOU’VE BEEN SLACKING?”

I’m sitting on his couch, listening to him get mad at me. Shucks, I fell in love with you, sue me.

“Y/N, I understand slacking off is not a conscious choice and you’re probably dealing with something and asking you to “get your act together” is the worst form of support and dismisses the root problem. So, talk to me. Please, love. I care for you.” He says, sighing.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you. I didn’t mean to.” He apologises, looking down.

You’re so intelligent and kind to me. I love you.

I love you.

“I love you.”

I think out loud, and immediately turn pale.

“What?”

“I love your kindness!”

“You didn’t say that,”

“No, no, sorry I didn’t complete my thought haha! Okay I need to get home now, I left frozen chicken breast out to defrost and I need to cook it. I just remembered!” I say hurriedly and attempt to get up.

Pushing me back down, he sits on the couch next to me and takes my face into his hands.

It doesn’t take a second before he places his lips on mine and I think I’m about to lose my mind.

He’s so soft, so gentle, but so passionate and… I open my mouth to let him enter and I really do believe I’m going to pass out.

“Fuck, Y/N.” He groans, and it makes me groan.

He pulls away to look into my eyes.

Do I even want to know what he’s going to say next?

[frostofafeather]

thoughts about only friends

NUMBER ONE THING.

I liked it!

Honestly, looking at the entirety of the series, I think it's a solid 10/10 show and I feel very attached to the characters and their world.

The writing and the OVERALL narrative direction of this series were actually pretty satisfying to me and ultimately I enjoy it as a whole.

However, I do want to talk about the good AND bad

I felt only friends suffered in a couple different ways:

the cutting or sliming of scenes due to audience response or air time problems

bad pacing especially in later episodes

the narrative treatment of some characters (mostly boston but we'll get into that.)

Number 1: Cutting scenes

We know that several scenes were cut out, some due to audience "feedback" after a couple episodes had aired, some due to simple air time cuts.

The biggest reason I (and I think most people) have a problem with this, is that this caused some characters and events to feel like they don't have meaning or motivation. Because we as the audience don't have the full picture that the writers originally intended to give us.

Do I think that this series would have been totally "perfect" or "fixed" if this hadn't happened? No really, it's just one part of the problem.

Number 2: Bad pacing

I already talked a little about this in this post, but let me just restate some things.

I don't really agree with ALL the stuff in that post anymore however the main point still stands. This series would have benefited if the narrative events were more spread out and the characters were given more time on screen to make decisions and choices.

Controversial opinion I think, but I would have actually loved it if it was 14 episodes.

Number 3: How the narrative treats characters

Now, the thing about this. I do UNDERSTAND what the intentions for all the characters were. I see the writers's/directors's intentions and I can appreciate that.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to criticize it though.

How the narrative treated boston in particular makes me just a little pissed off and probably IS the biggest critique I have for this show. Other people have talked about this numerous times but this last episode only proves that the narrative wants boston to be unredeemable, not necessarily a "villain" but as someone who doesn't deserve or need to be given an apology even though he's been treated badly by his friends just as he treated them.

Ok, you can look at this in the meta way of "Well all these characters are supposed to be bad people and it's an example of what NOT to do" I agree with this for the most part, but with this last episode and how botson's role in the story concluded, I don't really think that was the intention.

(A quick side note, I was initially upset at how bostonnick ended but I actually think it's ultimately for the best and something the writers did right. See, I would much rather them not end up together than push the narrative of boston has to change for nick, which is what I feared would happen.)

So. All these things combined made this wonderful series not able to reach its greatest potential. And I think that's why most people are critical about it. It didn't feel like what it could have been.

This series claimed to be "different" and it would change the BL world. And, in my opinion, it did! But it feels like a letdown in a lot of ways because it still fell victim to tropes and narratives that are perpetuated in this industry while also adding in unique problems that come with creating a series of this nature.

But anyway, loved it, 100%. Would rewatch it a million times. Definitely recommend!

[keeperofthebox]

🎶😇🖕 for Cole plz :)

I have been watching Dragons Rising and I was so annoyed I had to wait so long to see Cole so thanks for giving me an opportunity to rant about him <3

🎶 Music - The movie gave him that DJ trait which was cool but I dont necessarily see Cole as the type to make music. Especially considering his relationship to the arts. I do see him as the one with the most varied and quality taste of all the ninja though. In my minds eye he has a CD wall in his room. I think he would listen to pretty much anything and genuinely enjoy himself but rock has to be his favorite. Pun lightly intended. I mean look at him that boy is made to go vibe out at a metal show.

He'd seriously like everything though. I see him liking whatever the Ninjago equivalents of ska and reggae are especially. Since music is so political - especially those two movements in particular - it's hard to say it'd be exactly the same in Ninjago world. but that type of thing would be up his alley.

I think he's the type to know a lot about music but not necessarily feel the need to mansplain it to people. With prompting though he'd say something super knowledgeable and nuanced about music production or something and whoever he's talking to would be like wtf. Where'd that come from. HAHA

😇 Religion - He's in a situation where any religious belief he would have would basically be reality. Like "yeah I believe this realm was settled for humans by a magical mixed species oni-dragon ninja from another dimension a zillion years ago and eventually he will have a successor in the form of a chosen one with the power of all 4 elements from his original dimension combined". Sounds crazy but that literally happened and he watched it happen. LMAO.

Cole is a chill type so I imagine he'd be open to others beliefs unless he felt they were immoral or unjust in some way. That's just being a hero and a ninja though. I'd have to go rewatch his reaction to finding out the Writers of Destiny are full of shit to have a more solid opinion about it.

🖕 Anger - Cole is more likely to get annoyed than angry especially after he's matured this much. He's the rock of the group so he's pretty emotionally stable. He gets irritable all the time with the others being idiots or with things not going his way but for actual deep anger I think it takes a lot for him to feel that way. It would probably be something like betrayal that would push him to that point.

If he was mad I figure he would fight his heart out about it. That's the thing with all the ninja like they're martial artist heroes so they have this shared trait of "I will fight to save others and maintain justice". For Cole especially anger is just fuel to attain that goal.

[itsana004]

Pullin’a bit of a fast one, but I was quite curious. 👀

For the character questions; Mist/no.96? 🩵

Oooooo The Fun Astral, now this is a spicy character we're talking about in zexal, and I have some thoughts on him. Although I have to admit I didn't pay enough attention to him in the past rewatches, so my memories may be a bit fuzzy about him, but I always found him to be an intriguing villain in Zexal, so here lays my truest thoughts on Dark Mist, aka Mr. No.96

•How do you feel about this character

I really liked Dark Mist as a character, he's just a living and breathing slimy liquorice who likes to wrap tentacles around Astral and is so horny for hi- I mean posses him and dreams about making out wit- I meant become independent and powerful of course (we've all been there...) BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH THIS MAN IS SO DOWN BAD FOR ASTRAL HE KEEPS MOANING HIS NAME EVERYTIME HE'S FRUITY ASF─

There is also a part of me that feels like he didn't appear often enough or there were missed opportunities to kind of hit the mark in terms of writing, but this is Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal we are talking about I didn't expect anything less about a show who keeps shoehorning protagonists and put unnecessary filler over actually interesting side characters (this is my and my opinion alone and I will stand by it).

Ideally what Dark Mist represents is an interesting concept, if Astral is the light then he's the darkness. "Where there is light, there is darkness" Dark Mist said in one episode, implying Astral needs to use the "Power of evil" aka No. 96, when necessary, or a part of Dark Mist will always be within Astral, but they don't use this concept beyond one episode, it's just cheap writing making him to appear once in a blue moon throughout the show and dip just like that.

Later we discover that he is born from a fragment of Don 1000 trapped in Astral and took the identity of a Number card, as Astral likes to randomly split into cards because Yu-Gi-Oh - but what I found very interesting is he's not either on Astral world's side, nor the Barian world, even though he was born from a fragment of the Barian God himself. He's just a free spirit who does everything for his own benefit, but in doing so he keeps getting sent to horny jail- I meant get sealed by Astral.

He is cunning enough to let himself be absorbed by Astral just so he can play him inside the Emperor's Key, which is very smart of him, but then he is trapped in a cycle of...

I feel like the writers just didn't know what to do with him at this point, he's as threatening as the Trix in Winx club (like- I can even draw parallels and similarities) and Astral keeps winning against him again and again cause 'Good triumph over evil yay', seriously I feel like he's a missed potential. Also can we talk about how many times he broke free? Like Astral, what lock are you using to seal him lmao?? (The writers doesn't even explain this btw)

Later on, No.96 just decided to trick Astral into releasing him and then for some reason decided to possess Donald Trump but good for him I guess.

ALSO

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE PURPLE LIPSTICK

LIKE OMG, I KNOW HE WAS A FRUIT BEFORE, BUT THEY TOOK IT TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

He really put some lipstick and said "I'm a god now", can't blame him (Also I have to be honest about his God complex era, HE WAS SO ANNOYING, HE PROBABLY SAID "KAMI" MORE THAN KOTORI CALLING YUMA'S NAME)

Also him treating Vector as a pet while being used and Vector just seething inside was so funny to see, it's like a complete opposite end pair compared to Yuma and Astral.

Overall he's pretty solid, I just wish the writers treated him better and made him a more complex villain (like this guy wasn't in anyone's side they could have done so much more than "he bombs all three worlds cause he can now" like c'monnn they made him flat and one dimensional in the end compared to how he used to be???).

•All the people I ship romantically with this character

I like to ship him with Astral and Vector as a joke.

•My unpopular opinion about this character

He ate with the purple lipstick c'mon now

•One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon

I think I pretty much summed it up in the first part, but anyway he's not dead and alive in Zexal III canon.

[yelena-bellova]

In honor of our boy’s birthday today—top 3 Pedro roles/characters?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE KING 👑

This should be a tough question, but I’m rock solid in my Pedro opinions haha

1: Javier Peña, still my #1. It’s an incredibly layered character and it required a lot of restraint and calculation to play him. I think the role gets reduced down to he was hot and horny but Pedro portrayed the determination and the dedication brilliantly. Any time he had tears in his eyes, it hit harder because you could really feel the desperation of the chase. I will forever be attached to Narcos and Javi 👏🏻

2: Joel Miller. I’m still digesting the show and need to do a rewatch, but I think Joel is one of the most well-rounded characters I’ve seen in any form of media. We see his gruff side and his caring side, his unhinged and his soft. By the end, you feel like you have a total understanding of who he is as a human. In my opinion, Pedro did all of it better than anyone else could have. The heartbreaking scene in 1x06 where he talks to Tommy? Easily his best scene in any of his projects. How people can say he wasn’t the right fit, I’ll never understand. I want to see nominations and wins everywhere 🙌🏻

3: Din Djarin. It takes so much talent and skill to portray emotion when you can’t show your face, and Pedro does it excellently. Again, a role I could only ever picture him playing. I really hope we get a few helmetless scenes before the end of s3 because even though he’s great under the helmet, I love the payoff of finally getting to see him act without it.

[lukereiter]

thanks for tagging me, @tenpintsof-sundrop!! <3

last song: woohoo (“what if” mix) by fleshwater because i’ve been obsessed with this track ever since i heard it on their wnhtbl trailer video! it’s just that good in my opinion. it’s very silent hill–outlast-esque in my opinion

favourite color: i honestly don’t know? my answer fluctuates a lot and i can never land on anything truly solid, but for the sake of answering, i’ll say maybe red??

currently watching: house of the dragon and the boys! not much else tbh. i’m usually a serial rewatcher otherwise

sweet, savory, or spicy: savory, although spicy is a very very close second

currently reading: oh god. i’m reading a lot right now LMFAO. those i can currently recall are brotherhood by mike chen and the revenge of the sith novelization by matthew stover!

last movie: …revenge of the sith. i rewatch the prequel trilogy an unhealthy amount i’m sure

relationship status: i’m single but i have no complaints about it, honestly. i go back and forth on if i’m actually in the right place to be in one because i have entertained the thought but i kind of just… Don’t Care atm. and i still get crushes at times but i (usually) get rather bored of them quickly. so 😭

current obsessions: anakin skywalker/darth vader and padmé amidala, both together and separately. i am never NOT thinking about them. so i wholeheartedly invite whomever to ask me/talk to me about them in my inbox or dms literally whenever. also i’m kinda obsessed with star wars in general right now if the contents of my blog wasn’t enough of a tell

the last thing you googled: “gay man lesbian marriage meme” bc i was looking for that one photo that’s like, “he’s a gay man, she’s a lesbian, and their 30 year marriage will change your perception of love” bc i needed it urgently for a reply to one of my twitter mutuals

currently working on: i’m not really officially “working on” anything as i’m tossing ideas around my head and waiting for the fic(s) to write itself (all for naught) but i do have a few anidala fics kicking around up there. will the world ever see them, and perhaps sometime soon, though? i have absolutely zero idea.

tagging: @ whoever wants to do it!

[yoshifawful64]

Ranking all the Professor Layton characters from S to F?

Yeah I think I'm confident enough in this (though I've only gone through MM, ED, and the AA crossover once each and a long time ago, so I'd need to replay/rewatch them to get a more solid opinion on some of their characters)

[ryansjane]

oohhh you're working on a p'jojo video? then this is the right time to finally ask you. What do you feel about Never Let Me Go and the fact that p’jojo was involved in this? idk how or what to ask exactly, but for me i didn't have the sense, the feel, that it was 'a p'jojo show'. I mean great scenery imagerie and sound and stuff but... it severely lacked something for me. for me it's the least best work from him. Maybe it's because he was just the director and not also a scriptwriter on the series, and maybe because it wasn't an ensemble cast, which I think is where he thrives the most. To be honest I think a lot of it comes from the "bound" (hm chemistry I think it's called?) between the 2 actors also, well 4 then, if we count the chemistry between the cousin and the friend who I think for this couple didn't have any. None of them sold me tbh. So maybe idk... I guess it's the entirety of nlmg that didn't work for me. Bc I see the picture, what's it trying to do but then again maybe I don't. Anyway sorry for the ramble and I'm patiently waiting for your input on this, as my opinion is an unpopular one i think.

okay, so first of all I need to say that I liked never let me go, though not as much as I antipicipated. I think it's a solid show even though it felt highly predictable bc of its similarities to another p'jojo show, 3 will be free. now though, I completely agree that apart from these similarities, never let me go lacks the p'jojo touch compared to his other ones, and from the beginning I've always chalked it up to him not being a writer for this show, which makes all the difference. in my opinion my issues with nlmg is not with the acting or chemistry, in fact I think they did a good job, or even the cinematography or the execution, but it's just that there's not much that stands out with this show. even though the plot sounds kinda crazy on paper, I never held my breath watching it or was shocked by the plot twists or anything. it was a nice show that I enjoyed watching, but tbh I've forgotten most of it already. even compared to the eclipse which I've given the same rating (8/10), I love the eclipse more & wanna rewatch it even though imo it's a more flawed show, whereas it's not the case for never let me go. as p'jojo's first bl show, I think it can feel a little lackluster. I hope we can get a bl show from him where he's both the screenwriter & director bc I believe it would be way more memorable!

xxx

[maxwell-grant]

If you're still doing the character opinion bingo... N'Doul, please? :D

The N'Doul fight is an all-timer in the series for sure and a pretty stark contrast with later Stand battles, where 90% of the challenge was figuring out how the Stand works so they can counter it. Geb is as simple as Stands can get, conceptually, it’s major advantage being how it benefits from the terrain and N'Doul's own cleverness. He's an excellent introduction to Egypt as the place where shit is gonna get real for the Crusaders, almost taking out the entire party and even disabling Kakyoin all the way to the finale, only beaten by the recent addition of Iggy into the mix. He's a very solid villain and an optimal choice as a entry-level showcase of "this is what a JJBA fight looks like", not surprising that this was the first fight to be adapted into animation as well. 

N'Doul and most of the other 9 Glory Gods benefit a lot from Part 3 being saturated with colorful one-note baddies for the Crusaders to routinely beat, because it does wind up making him stick out all the more with his taciturn, focused personality, perfectly befitting a fight that’s entirely based on tense silence punctuated by sudden quick viciousness. A lot of what makes N'Doul memorable is because of that contrast between him and most of the other minions of DIO personality-wise as well as visually, because he's designed to be attractive in a way comparable to Kakyoin, and that throws off your brain a little when you're used to the Crusaders dealing with terribly-dressed sneering cartoons. 

To a better extent than Hol Horse, N'Doul wouldn't look at all out of place among the Crusaders as an ally. I’d even say that, in a way, N’Doul reads to me now as a prototype for Enrico Pucci, in the sense of him being this solemn, driven young man with a tragic background driven into DIO’s arms by a need for salvation, and having a number of similarities with the heroes that only serve to punctuate the tragedy that is their suicidal allegiance to evil. I think it’s something that Araki’s been flirting with since Bruford in Part 1 and that saw it’s real potential taking form with Pucci, with N’Doul as the important middle step as someone who was driven to evil out of loneliness and lack of purpose and despair and being manipulated by someone who knew how to prey on his basic human needs. It’s with characters like N’Doul and Wammu that you see Araki first experimenting with that moral greyness he’d eventually make much more extensive use of as the series went along.

What I like most about N'Doul, though, is what he does for the narrative as an enemy for Jotaro to overcome in particular. As the Samurai to Jotaro’s Cowboy, the two get to have a wonderful showdown moment befitting that vibe, and more so than that, I think N’Doul works great as a showcase for Jotaro’s character development because he’s an enemy that Jotaro ends up getting emotionally invested in, an enemy that does go some way towards changing him. More specifically, I think of N’Doul as kind of the benchmark for Jotaro’s growth, the point that fully marks how Jotaro stopped being “just” the next JoJo and fully cemented himself as Jotaro Kujo, the iconic hero in his own right.

This probably has more to do with Araki’s changing tastes and likely not intentional but, I’ve been rewatching Part 3 recently and it just never stops feeling weird hearing Jotaro be called “JoJo” for much of the beginning. Obviously the series needs to keep the JoJo name going, and we’d sat through two other sagas starring guys everyone called JoJo, but with Jotaro, it just constantly feels discomforting, impersonal even. It’s a name that nobody actually close to him calls him, tied to a bloodline he has no connection to until that connection starts killing his mom. He gets called JoJo by his annoying classmates and his distant grandfather and the Crusaders he barely knows at first, and as the part progresses and they become closer and we spend more time with Jotaro, everyone calls him by his actual name. But at first, that name is an antiquated leftover, something that just points to Jotaro as just The Next JoJo and not his own person, a guy who’s just part of the story without belonging in it, if that makes sense.

Because Jotaro’s initially defined a lot by that distance between him and the greater history of conflict he’s getting dragged into. He didn’t grow up with Dio or stories about him, he didn’t take up martial arts to save the world, and unlike with Joseph, the vampire asshole hurting his family didn’t even have the decency to show up at his front door first before trying to kill him. He was just a high school student with an attitude problem one day, and then out of nowhere he gets “possessed” by an unfathomably dangerous thing that pushes him to lock himself up in jail for everyone else’s sake, and next thing he knows, he has to travel across the world with his grandpa and some other guys he barely knows, avoiding superpowered murderers every hour of every day with no rest, so he can go kill some evil thing he didn’t even know existed, because otherwise his mom’s gonna die. 

And it’s through the course of Part 3 that we see him grow as a person and as a fighter, grow closer to the Crusaders who all start to know him better than anyone else ever did. We see him become the guy that evildoers around the world fear, we see how he owns that legacy he has within the Joestar bloodline and the destiny that comes with it, and in the following parts Jotaro takes over Joseph’s role as the main tether to it that everyone else has, older and more responsible and carrying that weight on his shoulders (for better or worse and, by the time of Part 6, definitely for the worse).

And I think it is N’Doul who really starts this transition for him on-screen because of how he shakes things up, not merely because he’s more than just another bloodthirsty maniac among the dozens Jotaro’s beaten up over the past days, but because he’s someone so devoted to that evil thing that he kills himself in front of Jotaro. Jotaro had seen people die, he’d seen DIO’s subordinates be offed in front of him, but this is the first time he sees someone commit actual suicide in front of him over DIO, and he’s powerless to save him as he did for Kakyoin and Polnareff (while this is probably not intentional, the fact that Star Platinum exhibited enough strength to smash car-sized diamonds and punch holes straight through DIO definitely makes it seem like Jotaro was pulling his punches quite a bit over the part)

Jotaro meets N’Doul, a man with virtues and qualities that Jotaro recognizes enough to feel some kind of kinship towards him, and he has to watch that man skewer his brains out in front of him using his own Stand. We don’t really get much talkative introspection out of Jotaro in general because of the way he’s written but, prior to the N’Doul fight, the only other time we’d been allowed enough into Jotaro’s headspace was a brief moment in the Death 13 arc where Jotaro reflects that he’s 4.000 miles from home and it’s been 4 weeks and he’s getting worried they won’t make it in time. As in, his driving motivation still remains just getting to DIO in time to save his mom. Obviously not something anyone can criticize him for worrying about but,

In the aftermath of the N’Doul fight, we see Jotaro thinking about DIO specifically, really the first time we see him even address him proper after the beginning where he doesn’t even think DIO exists. DIO is weighing on his mind, he wonders what kind of man is he, the kind of power he has over people’s minds, what other horrors he’s gonna throw their way. He gets emotional yelling at a dying N’Doul and asking him to tell him why, why are you killing yourselves for that man, why is this worth dying for to you people, and N’Doul uses his dying breath to open up about his background and power, and give him the Evil Savior speech. And I think this is kind of when Jotaro finally internalizes what kind of power DIO has, something that makes him existentially monstrous and dangerous on a bigger level than just the things he’s done to his family and friends, or to countless others before and now, or that he’s causing to his mom right this second, or even that he’s done to the fanatics under his thrall he’d sent to die fighting them.

Enya was one thing, and all the Crusaders were pretty shaken about that even then, but this? That’s the kind of thing that gets Jotaro to make a grave, because there’s nothing else he could possibly do, for a guy he’d just seen rip off the faces of innocent people and blind his friend. For a guy that Jotaro didn’t want to kill, a guy who really, really didn’t have to die, a guy who could have been something else, something better, really just something at all, other than just another corpse with DIO’s name on it. 

I think of this as the moment where Jotaro truly internally grows into the hero of the story, as the only one who could stop DIO. Who came to understand DIO a little better than the others. Jotaro grows to be DIO’s nemesis not just because he’s equally powerful, or equally determined, or better at stacking up bullshit tricks to win fights, but because he refuses for even a second to entertain DIO, because he'd seen again and again the horrors DIO can wreak if he gets even an inch worth of breathing room (and it STILL doesn’t stop Jotaro from falling for DIO’s bullshit and almost dying in DIO’s World). There is no history between the two as there was with Jonathan, nothing other than savagery and hatred. DIO’s been shitting over everything and everyone for years and it just so happens that Jotaro was given a mop to clean it up. Jotaro was the enemy DIO deserved.

At no point did Jotaro get a choice in the matter, when it came to entering this journey, it was either this or sitting by watching his family die. But here, we see how personally he’ staking it to oppose DIO for reasons other than his mom’s predictament. Iit’s also important that, immediately following N’Doul’s burial and Jotaro’s thinking, we get the scene where he bonds with Iggy, saying he’s not mad for Iggy having screwed him over during the fight and that he doesn’t blame Iggy for being pissed that he got dragged away from home to fight in the desert, and extending the gum as an olive branch, a pretty far cry from what the self-proclaimed “nobody ever said Jotaro Kujo was nice" guy from early in the part would have done (also not an inaccurate way to describe what Jotaro himself went through, no wonder he’s the first to sympathize with Iggy).

Though his trials were countless, it was N’Doul that most prepared Jotaro mentally for the battle against DIO and his unending evil, not just in Cairo, but in the following decades. And I think of N’Doul’s burial as the moment that made Jotaro choose, of his own volition, to step up into his role as DIO’s Enemy, for all the good that would do him. Maybe evil needs a savior, but so do those who need to be saved from it. 

I realize I spent most of this post about N’Doul talking about Jotaro but honestly I do think of that as a mark of him being a great villain, I think he brought out something real special out of Jotaro as a character during that fight. 

[colorisbyshe]

my review of the boy and the heron: in some ways, it felt very nice that the film followed the same beats as/mirrored spirited away so heavily but in other ways, it kinda felt like... yeah, maybe you're going back to the well too many times with this. similarly, i think the time period being used to explore grief and generational trauma was very poignant but also... i'll admit, mahito's father becoming wealthy off of building fighter planes for world war ii chafed a bit (maybe that's my problem, i get this film is pointing out the pain of war but... i've written before about my opinion on war films, even war-adjacent films like this). (that said, I really need to think about the film more to really understand the war's role in the film, though I get... a decent amoutn of it, at least intellectually.)

but more to the actual point, thematically, the film was beautiful and meaningful. a lot of the imagery was beautiful and fucking visceral, although i wish it was more expressive at times (the english dub was sometimes a bit flat, a bit reading-off-a-script-y for me, and the animation sometimes felt kinda... mouth flappy?) when it came to the human characters. although i also get why characters did come off as flat, all themes considered.

with the reuse of very familiar imagery, i do think sometimes i got more caught up in thinking "oh, just like howl," "just like this other previous film" rather than enjoying it. but again, a me problem, and i think when i remember that this film was meant to be miyazaki's swan song, it makes more sense, even if it was distracting. especially when i recognize a lot of this film is meant to be about him... saying goodbye to his own career and creations.

and it never made me feel less to be distracted in that way. and this film made me feel a LOT. i felt joy, i felt nostalgic, i felt an ache that radiating from my chest into my tinger tips. for such a magical film, it's deeply human. i wish it lingered a bit more because the ending, as obvious/well-projected as it was, ended up feeling a bit too rushed and almost abrupt. i understand why it was abrupt but i kinda feel like the film was holding my hand and then sort of ripped its hand out of mine and screamed ROLL CREDITS!

i think this film is very middle of the road miyazaki for me. it does make me want to rewatch his other films (and watch films of his i have never seen before), which is both a plus and minus.

this is a solid... 3.4/5 for me? i wanted more than i got but i also felt very, very emotionally connected to film in a way i don't experience with most films and i think i have a lot to think about in the wake of watching it. so, with time, this score might rise, as i understand more of the abstract moments.

[what-gs-watching]

“I really do remember though…every second with you."

So I’m in the last week of my bootcamp and I have a couple of job interviews this week and things are going I guess BUT my brain doesn’t really care about any of that.

Because Y’ALL. I’m still 1000000% inside the first episode of the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials. I’ve been waiting for this since I saw the first trailer in like September and David Tennant has been constantly on my mind and it was just everything. All the things. 

Wherein, after the 13th doctor regenerates into THE 10TH DOCTOR’S OLD FACE, he lands in London obviously and immediately runs into none other than Donna Noble, his very best friend in the entire universe who absolutely cannot remember him because if she does, she’ll very quickly die.

They did an  intro into the episode that explained the whole backstory which was a little forced and cheesy  but I get it, not everyone is insane enough to have just rewatched all of 10’s episodes just because this was coming (though they should be). 

I’m gonna admit I had no idea what the episode was supposed to be about other than reuniting some of my two favorite characters in the whole wide world, and I’m glad I didn’t. It was definitely a traditional Doctor Who romp: aliens crash land on earth, UNIT gets involved,  one alien faction is going after another alien faction, Donna’s family ends up in the center of it, they need to figure out a way to keep London from getting destroyed.

Ya know, the usual. 

The thing I’m here for, friends, is David Tennant becoming a new version of his own doctor because that’s fascinating, while still absolutely painted into his skinny suit (which is so Crowley somehow), and catharsis. All the catharsis.

After watching his entire run again, I stand behind the opinion that Donna got the worst deal of all the companions. Rose got to keep her Doctor human clone, Martha ended up with Mickey, but Donna had literally EVERYTHING ripped from her. Can you imagine the size of the hole the Doctor would leave in your subconscious after being removed? Like, how do you manage any kind of life after that?

But she did. She’s got a husband, and a kid, and she donated almost all of her lottery winnings while dealing with what I can imagine is an overwhelming, horrible sense of loss. Humans can get used to anything. And that thought is kind of devastating.

Which means all I really wanted was to see the two of them together again, and Russell T Davies delivered the goods. 

The Doctor runs into Donna basically immediately after landing in London of course and he learns her daughter’s name is Rose and I can’t get over how many times he shouted “WOT?” in this episode, I always loved 10’s incredulous “WOT!” 

She rambles at him of course and is messing with boxes full of stuff she’s holding so she misses the spaceship very NOTICEABLY crashing to earth because that’s her thing, always missing everything. But she’s ready to go so in true Donna fashion tells him “Nice to meet you, skinny man. Oh, word of advice. You can wear a suit that tight up to the age of 35, and no further.” Baby girl is still herself, and she’s ruthless, and I love it.

 After the Doctor follows the ‘crashed’ spaceship, he runs into a scientist from UNIT who is holding herself together insanely well considering she’s stumbled upon the doctor, and he tells her that all of this is swirling around Donna of course and he says “she was my best friend in the whole wide universe. I absolutely love her” and then he’s surprised that popped out of his mouth because you know 10 was never going to admit to that so thoroughly, and these are the interactions I need in my life.

Here’s the situation gang: I absolutely love a love story. I really do. If my Good Omens fixation is anything to go by. But I also really love a good, solid, perfect friendship. Two people challenging each other and accepting each other and just being on the exact right wavelength. I’ve had some terrible friends in my life, and so beautiful positive depictions  cut right to my heart. Which means I’m really here just for the two of them being those amazing friends again.

Meanwhile, Donna’s daughter finds one of the rogue aliens, AKA The Meep, which I found to be HELLA creepy, like everyone was all ‘aw it’s cute’ but nah y’all, I knew that motherfucker wasn’t cute. But just like her mother, she wants to help and she brings The Meep into her little shed in their backyard because obviously, and it all takes a turn.

The other aliens that were apparently pursuing The Meep show up, and Donna catches wind that there’s a martian in her house (I love it, everything is always a martian, she’s my favorite) and her mother, bless her, tries hard to make Donna ignore the entire situation because she cannot remember, but it doesn’t matter, the Doctor crashes in anyway.

I also love that she was instantly annoyed with him, still calling him “skinny man”  and wondering why the hell he was following her. And he does kind of try to extricate himself from her and her family but of course it was never gonna go that way.

So the UNIT soldiers have been overtaken by some weird light they found in the spaceship and they come to the house to start attacking and the other aliens are there to also attack and the Doctor’s gotta get everyone out, of course. They do some ridiculous trek through the attics in the attached rowhouses to try to get out to the car parked nearby. Miraculous escape, always! 

Also why am I weirdly all about the Doctor driving the car? I was like ‘yes’ but maybe that’s just a residue Bentley thing, who knows. The point is, he takes them to an underground garage and the other aliens tracking The Meep show up and TWIST, we find out The Meep lied about his backstory while the Doctor wears a ridiculous barrister wig he pulled from his jacket. Turns out The Meep is absolutely crazy because the sun his planet orbited went…psychedelic? Don’t look too much at what’s going on with that whole story, it’s fine, just go with it. 

So The Meep tries to attack! And the Doctor jumps to cover Donna and the dosed up UNIT soldiers show up and everyone is taken hostage and brought back to where the spaceship is being repaired. The Meep wants to eat them, or something? Because sure. The teeth they put on that thing, woooof. I knew that asshole was trouble from the get.

Turns out The Meep plans to escape in the ship and to do so he basically has to burrow under London which will obliterate the entire city. Surprise!

Not to worry about that though, the Doctor and the UNIT scientist create a scenario wherein Donna, her husband, Rose and the grandmother can all get away and the Doctor will handle this situation on his own, thanks. But Donna’s brain kicks in, and she says she has to help him, even if she doesn’t know why. 

She follows him into the ship. And he’s like ‘nah girl you gotta get outta here’ but she’s not having that of course, because that’s her. He tried to shake her a few times the very first time they met and he never could. It’s that friendship pull.

The point is, he’s trying to disable the ship himself but there’s a lot of buttons to press and he has to do a lot of weird shit (again, don’t pay attention to the crazy dialogue of the things he’s saying he’s doing) and then a separator comes down and splits the room they’re in, the Doctor on one side and Donna on the other. And he’s still trying to protect her. He knows they could stop the ship together, but he’d need her, all of her, to do it. 

He tells her that if she helps him, she’ll die. And she just says “okay.” She says her daughter’s down there, and 9 million other people, so who cares about her? And now we’re into what I was waiting for, he’s yelling “I DO!” She says she’s just no one and he emphatically tells her she’s not, and he screams

“WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS?!”

Anyone else crying yet? No? C’mon. This is when I started crying at the trailer. It’s horribly unfair; he gave her up so she could live her life and he never wanted to involve her again, she’d helped save the fucking world already and 10 never really did get a break really, and here he is back at it as 14 and it’s still just as terrible. 

So he starts saying words. And his poor face. You can see it’s ripping him apart. “Westerly. Pelican. Dreams. Tornado. Clifftops. Andante. Grief. Fingerprint. Susurration.” And then she picks up on it, she says “Sparrow” and he says “Sparrow. Dance. Mexico.” 

And she finishes, “Binary. Binary. Binary.”

In true Donna fashion, as soon as she’s fully aware she starts freaking out at him about giving away her lottery winnings because she was trying to be like him and I love it, there’s a countdown to launch in the background and she doesn’t give a shit, it’s so the two of them but she jumps into action anyway again saying some crazy shit about what she’s doing. He tells her she has 55 seconds to live and she says “55 best seconds of my life” and she flips a bunch of switches and tada, they’ve done it.

The partition comes up in the room and The Meep storms in and Donna collapses in the Doctor’s arms. She asks him why this face had come back and she says “to say goodbye? Good fun though” and she fucking DIES. 

The way he cradles her. Jesus. It’s so tender. And the pure fucking anguish in his face. David Tennant’s face, goddamn. I can’t. 

The Meep is still trying to kill him though using UNIT soldiers and he doesn’t give a shit because he’s been basically foiled by “The DoctorDonna” but then, suddenly, the UNIT soldiers are released from their hold and Donna WAKES UP and everyone is like “WOT!”

And we see Rose, manning the controls outside the ship, brilliant as anything. I love this explanation so much: Donna’s metacrisis was too much for one person, but because she had a child, she passed it down, a “shared inheritance.” Her little shed in their backyard was an errant memory of the TARDIS, she’d been creating little stuffed animal toys of all the creatures Donna and the Doctor had met traveling, she’d chosen her new name herself,  the name of one of the Doctor’s most important companions. They realize, the two of them, Donna and the Doctor are binary, but Rose is not because 

“The Doctor is male…and female….and neither. And more.”

IT’S SO FUCKING CUTE. And perfect. And I love it. She had timelord energy strumming through her, her entire life, and it made her feel weird and different but also made her amazingly unique and wonderful. 

And then, to top it off, the Doctor tells them he still needs to heal them of the crisis because it may be slowed down, but it won’t stop. And Rose and her mother just scoff at him. They know exactly what to do. They just let it go. Because they’re incredible.

And I love all of this so far. But I cannot lie, my favorite part of the entire episode is when the Doctor convinces her to take a ride in the TARDIS so they can go visit Wilf. They go inside, and of course the TARDIS has changed again and I’m not gonna lie, it’s probably my favorite design so far. The Doctor freaks out about it, and Donna tries to be nonchalant but she finally admits “it’s GORGEOUS!” and the happy fucking look between the two of them, the Doctor is bouncing, he’s bouncy Crowley. And then he starts racing around the place, running up and down the different levels and honestly that just made me cry harder.

10 was always so sad, I always wanted that boy to be happy and maybe he was a little bit but everything was always so serious but now he’s been able to resolve probably his biggest regret and that’s such a gift. Which I think is gonna make it even harder for him to let go, a second time. I am not excited to watch him leave, again. 

The point is, after he makes her a coffee the way she likes, he says “ I really do remember, though. Every second with you. I'm so glad you're back, cos it killed me, Donna. It killed me, it killed me, it killed me.” And she deserves to hear that. It was one of the worst things he had to do. And 10 was never going to say it. I’m SO glad 14 got the chance. 

Catharsis. They needed it, I needed it. The Doctor back to a true and familiar form. It’s going to kill me to only have 3 episodes of this, but I’ll take it. As long as I get one last “allons-y!”

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 163/310

2015 Russian GP

Oh ho ho. Nico got the pole again. Interesting. The momentum is shifting a bit although Lewis still won last time. It's not just that he went off in his hot lap, Nico was ahead in all three quali sessions so it's not just due to a mistake.

Carlos Sainz crashed heavily in FP3. He hit a barrier with his front left which tore the whole wheel off so he went off and hit the tepco head first. He was taken away on a stretcher but he's okay. He's there that Sunday, up and walking and fine. He might even race. 

So here's the grid's top 10 : Nico, Lewis, Valtteri, Seb, our usual suspects. Then Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Grosjean, Verstappen, and Ricciardo. Also Nico is ahead by 0.3 which is way more than in Japan. 

On the truck, Sainz confirms he'll be racing and is feeling absolutely fine and in no pain whatsoever, although a bit stiff. He says he thinks it looked more frightening from the outside as they were waiting for news about him than from the inside. Ted says the crash was 46G which tells you how violent it was though. Remember that the sensors go off at 25G. They also say he did have to take a couple of painkillers for his neck. He did however pass the medical check.

It was again raining on Friday so they didn't get much testing done here. Also they have softer tyres than in 2014 so degradation might be more of an issue this time. 

There's talk about Renault's return to F1 and we get a Briatore interview which I'm definitely not going to listen to. Ah wait. He's talking about Lewis. The journalist says he's had the privilege of taking two of the greatest drivers to world championships : Schumacher and Alonso. Where does he place Lewis alongside them? Briatore says Lewis is very, very strong now. "Lewis, you know, was always quick driver, but a lot of mistakes," he says with his thick accent. "Now he's very solid." They're sitting in this very expensive Monaco living room with golden stuff on every shelf and a pure white couch. The journalist asks about his opinion of Lewis off-track and his lifestyle. Briatore shrugs. "He's a star, you know. We need more people like Hamilton. Michael is, was a champion. Fernando is a champion. Hamilton is a star." Surprisingly accurate take, actually.

Let's hear from Lewis. Johnny always speaks to him way too close, it's uncomfy af. He says you never expect to be second because you're always trying to be first but he's excited about the race although it might not be the most exciting race for the public but he hopes they'll put on a good show. Eeesh the video is glitching. Lewis is sitting down so Johnny is bent in two and the cameraman ends up standing back up. Lewis laughs "you have to do squats right?" I did not understand the question Johnny asked because the video was lagging badly but Lewis answers that the good thing about racing is you never know what's gonna happen. The exciting part is you don't know which line you're gonna take, you have to be spontaneous. He doesn't know how it's gonna go but he'll try to get away as clean as possible. The start is truly where you can make the big difference in this race cause it's generally a 1 or 2 stops so we'll see. Johnny says he can win this one though, can't he? Lewis says he won last year so it's not impossible but it's gonna be hard, Nico was quick. He'll give it everything he's got. 

Ahhhaaa if Mercedes scores 3 more points than Ferrari today they win the constructors' title right here and then. Important stuff. 

Because the Russian GP is cursed af we also get a Bernie interview that I'm also not listening to. I think the gist of it is that Redbull is looking for an engine supplier, and Toto flat out said no when the journalists asked if they would be it but I don't know if there was actual talks of it or not. Because I didn't listen. 

Formation lap. 

And they're racing! 

Nico gets away well and Lewis slots behind him to defend against Valtteri. OH SHIT. THERE'S A NUMBER OF CARS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT BACK THERE. The racing is still going at the front. Nico keeps the lead but Seb overtook Valtteri. The safety car is out and everybody calms down and lines up. Eesh. Yeah. There's damage there. Oh WAIT ACTUALLY WHAT?! It's not Seb ahead of Valtteri, it's RAIKKONEN?! how? When? What?!

Anyway, back to the accident. Two cars are cleanly lined one against the other, each one facing a different direction. It's Hulkenberg and Ericsson. They’re embedded together like legos. So Hulkenberg spun in the middle of the pack and Ericsson collided with his side, after Verstappen spun avoiding the same fate. He was able to go again though apparently, but he has a puncture and pits. Grosjean also pitted, getting a new nose and new tyres. It's a long stop. Probably not a strategic one. Max also gets a new front wing and he's back out. 

On the start replay we see Lewis went completely off track at some point and then possibly made contact with Nico's rear when he slowed down because the safety car went out. Not a big shunt though, just a touch. The safety car is coming in. And here they go again. 

Valtteri overtakes Raikkonen! He's back in P3. He's congratulated by his race engineer. I like when they do that it's like they're saying "good boy". I wish someone told me I did a good job regularly. Oh ho. Nico says his throttle pedal is broken. He's asking what he should do if it sticks. And Lewis overtakes him for the lead! He got a bad exit out of a corner and Lewis just swept through. And Valtteri is ahead as well! He's told he just needs to adapt to the situation and they'll tell him if they can think of anything else that could help. We might get that podium I wanted? Lewis and then Seb and Valtteri in whatever order? I would enjoy that. Just two guy hearteyeing Lewis as he lifts his trophy, please. Nico is in the pits. Yeah. He's out of the car. It's over. That pretty much settles the WDC as well. They're taking the nose of the car off trying to see if they can free the pedal. So he's not yet out of the race officially. I mean he is but he is not. They're still trying to fix the car but it's the garage and Nico has taken his helmet and gloves off and he looks distraught, understandably. Then Bono confirms to Lewis his team-mate is out. 

And it's lap 10, Lewis is only 2.2 ahead of Valtteri but he was fuel-saving. Then it's Raikkonen ahead of Seb, Perez on P5 followed by the RedBull of Kvyat and Daniel, then we have Nasr and Massa, and finally Maldonado in P10. OH FUCK. THERE'S A BIG CRASH AGAIN, it's Grosjean. I hope it's not as bad as it looks right now but it seems like a wreck. There's debris everywhere and a tyre rolling around… Oh my god, no, it is bad. Really. Fuck. He's not getting out of the car...

He's moving...

The safety car is obviously back out. Marshals run out to him, he's still not out. Oh here we go. He's hoisting himself out. Perez and Ricciardo pit. Bono warns Lewis of the debris. A lot of other people pit. Here's the replay of the crash now. Oof. He lost the rear and smashed into the barriers. No way to catch that or slow the car down. It was a lateral hit. Actually the car seems to have slowed down when going off track but then it hit the barriers with the rear side which swung it around, I mean you can see a lot of kinetic energy going into that. Must be painful on the neck. Maldonado is told Grosjean is absolutely fine. 

On the transcript I read they asked him if he was okay and we didn't hear an answer but maybe they did get one. Seb also asked if he was okay and was told he was out of the car. 

Lmao the guys are fixing the tepco barrier with tape. Clown sport. 

Lewis complains that the safety car is going too slow and he can't keep the tyre temperatures up. Nobody at the front pitted. Valtteri is told Lewis is complaining and so he might struggle at the restart. The safety car is coming in. Oof Valtteri almost ran into him. And here they go again, again. Seb attacks Raikkonen come on give me that podium baby! OOOH IT'S CLOSE I'M GRITTING MY TEETH Seb pushes Raikkonen wide and he rejoins a bit ahead. Now Seb is under pressure from Kvyat! HE ATTACKS RAIKKONEN AGAIN YESSS let's go HE'S AHEAD! Phew. Good racing. Lewis set the fastest lap. Daniel overtakes Sainz for P10 but Sainz gets back ahead they're wheel to wheel and Daniel is ahead again! Ahhh that's nice. Some actual overtakes. Lewis sets another fastest lap. 

It's lap 20. Lewis is 3.4 ahead of Valtteri already. Then Seb, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Nasr, Massa, Perez, Maldonado, and Ricciardo, then. A few laps later Seb is quickly closing on Valtteri… Sainz is under investigation for crossing the line at pit entry. Verstappen pits. He's been struggling. Sainz gets a 5 seconds penalty. Valtteri complains of his tyres, he pits. Brundle thinks it might be too late. He's out in P11. Come on, I want my podium. Seb is told to push. There's movement in the Ferrari garage. Raikkonen is told to push as well. 

And that's lap 30. Lewis is 15 seconds ahead now. Then we have both Ferraris, Kvyat, Nasr, Massa, Perez, Maldonado, Ricciardo and Sainz. Valtteri is closing on him though. Come on boy. He overtakes him for P10. Seb pits. Let's see… he's ahead of Valtteri. Bono : "So Vettel in the pits now. We expect another two laps, let us know you're happy to do that." Lewis : "OK." Bono : "Good man." Not "good, (comma) man", right? "Good man." Raikkonen pits. He's behind Valtteri but he attacks. Stay back, I want my podium. Lewis is in. 3.1. Their pit stops aren't quick enough still. Seb overtakes Perez for P4. So Lewis is still in the lead, Kvyat who's currently P2 is called in, then we have Nasr and then Seb. After Kvyat's pitstops, Perez is P4, Ricciardo P5, Valtteri P6, Raikkonen P7, Sainz P8, Kvyat is out in P9 and Jenson is P10. Nasr pits and is out of the top 10. Valtteri and Raikkonen are racing for P5. The finn stays ahead (Yeah.) (That’s literally the stupidest thing I've ever written in these reviews lmao.) (I'm drafting them now, re-reading myself, correcting typos, thought of just deleting it but you know what here ya go. It’s funny.) (So : Valtteri stays ahead. Obviously.) They're hitting traffic. Lewis sets another fastest lap ahead. And another one. 

On lap 40, he's 12.5 seconds in the lead. The current order is Seb, Perez, Daniel, Valtteri, Raikkonen, Sainz, Kvyat, Massa and Nasr. Ricciardo has just been told they don't think he'll need to stop again. The battle for P4 is brewing. Perez is struggling in P3 as well. I might still get my podium. Seb sets the fastest lap this time. 

10 laps to go. Valtteri is told Perez has started to struggle. Come on. He overtakes Daniel for P4. Raikkonen overtakes Daniel for P5, but he goes wide and Daniel is back ahead. Ohhh but Sainz spun! He's resting against the barriers but is able to get away again. As he does so he loses a piece of his rear wing on the track. He stops again, in another run off area, near a crane. He's out of the race. Meanwhile Raikkonen is going for Ricciardo again. And he's ahead. Valtteri is also less than a second behind Perez now. Oh my god. Terrifying. A marshal ran out on the track to retrieve the piece of rear wing and a car was right there. It's Seb : "Now it's clear but we've got a very brave Russian running across the track." Oh and Ricciardo has stopped as well! Damn that's a lot of retirements in this race isn't it? It might be a broken suspension in his case.

3 laps to go. Valtteri, come on, please, my favorite funny guy. Give me that podium. It'd cheer me up. Bono tells Lewis there's 3 laps remaining and they still see something suspect performance-wise from the rear wing? Lewis says he can feel it. They suggest he does not use DRS if he gets it. Eesh. Seb is less than 10 seconds away now and he just set the fastest lap. Surely the rear wing issue isn't bad enough that it would cost Lewis the win by itself but he can't afford mistakes. It's the last lap. Come on Valtteri. OH SHIT RAIKKONEN CAUGHT UP TO HIM AS WELL AAAAAAH I don't care about Perez on the podium please give me a good one YESSS HERE WE GO BABY they're both ahead actually! Woooohooo! Just one more lap now 

NO OMG NO! Oh the cry I let out IRL I can't believe this shit. 

Raikkonen took him out. Fucking hell. Valtteri is out in the barriers and Raikkonen is limping with damage. Perez is back in P3. I'm so disappointed. 

It's the end of the race.

Lewis wins ahead of Seb! 

Massa finishes ahead of Raikkonen. Mercedes hasn't won the WCC yet. "What the fuck did he do?" was Valtteri's reaction to the collision. Calm and collected as he usually is. 

Also : 6 retirements. 

Lewis crouches down beside the car and pats it.

Let's hear what Niki has to say. He says the issue with Nico's throttle was bad, for the constructor championship and for Nico especially. Ted says if Raikkonen gets a penalty they might still win the WCC. Niki bobs his head from side to side. He doesn't want to win it like this, he says. Ted says of course Nico had an issue but Lewis did everything right today. Niki says he drove as he always does : perfect race from beginning to the end, nothing wrong. He shrugs. He's so unimpressed lmao. "No worry, so really fantastic." 

Aw fuck. Bernie and Putin are there again. Lewis goes to shake his hand. Doesn't make him wait this time. (Remember 2014?) He also shakes the woman's hand, I think she's the interpreter. "Good to see you," he says to Putin, which is so weird. "Good day." I think Putin says "for you!" and he hugs him. All the cells in my body are screaming out of discomfort. Lewis walks past him to get to the table. 

Perez just shakes his hand and joins Lewis. He taps his back. "Hey man!" Lewis exclaims, and they shake hands and hug briefly. Seb shakes Putin's hand as well. Putin congratulates him as he did the others and Seb says "thanks for a great event" before he shakes the rest of the party's hands as well. They're standing between him and the others. You can barely ask Putin to scoot aside to let you pass... Perez and Lewis are talking but we can't hear them well enough for the same reason. Just get these people out of here. The cameraman actually doesn't care and pushes his way through to them, thankfully.

Oh fuck no. The caps have been replaced by fur beanies? (I felt this was an inappropriate way to call them so I looked it up and fyi they’re called ushankas) Seb finally makes his way to them. "Heeeey!" he salutes Perez. They hug. Lewis is asking for Putin's opinion on how the ushanka fits him. Lewis please stop. "I'm wearing it right?" he asks the woman.

Seb turns his head and smiles, Lewis chuckles. Someone is telling Putin's group they're gonna go and take position. "Hey you're getting quick during the race uh?" Lewis tells Seb while pulling his race suit back on.

Seb put his hand on his shoulder, squeezes it. "Who's the quickest lap?" he says with a smile in his voice. "Who's the quickest lap?" and he

Jesus christ

He does the gayest thing I've seen them do so far to the point I had to take a few seconds. 

They turn to the screens and he's holding him by the shoulders from behind.

I mean. It seems like nothing but the way they can't keep from touching each other and the gesture is so. Domestic. Fuck. It's like they forgot there were people in the room, istg. They touch each other with such ease, so naturally. They're looking at the times, Seb turns to Lewis with a big stupid grin. "What was your quickest lap?" he says, his hand resting delicately on his Lewis' shoulder blade.

"I don't know!" Lewis says. Seb says he did forty something. "Did YOU do forty[something]?" he asks playfully. "I don't know," Lewis repeats. "I don't think I did a forty[something]," he shakes his head. Seb puts his closed fist against his cheek.

As Lewis turns to him with a smile, he pretends to punch him. "I don't think I did!" Lewis exclaims. 

It's unfortunately time for the podium. I was enjoying this interaction, obviously. (And yes, it earned its own post, don’t worry, I’ll post it later)

Ew. Perez just hugged Putin. Lewis shows off his hat, touches both drivers who touch him back and here we go for the anthems.

Putin kisses Lewis on both cheeks as he gives him the trophy. Lewis seems kinda uncomfortable. He throws the trophy up in the air again, twice.

They all get kisses on the cheeks with their trophies but it's weirder when it's Putin obvi.

Ah Perez' dad is there and very happy of course. 

Oh god it's Eddie Jordan doing the interviews. Lewis says a few words in Russian and it's nice but also I always find it a bit cringe when he does it for some reason. (Not just in Russian, right, just, generally.) It's Lewis' 42nd win. He equaled Seb! Jordan says they wanted to see a fight between him and Nico. He says him too. Jordan suggests he surely missed him there as well because they were starved of an exciting race at the front. Lewis nods all the while. Lewis agrees and he says he was excited because they were close at the beginning and it's a shame for the team to have lost one of the cars. Once he knew Seb was behind him he wished for him to be able to race him. But he doesn't take what they have for granted and the team has done an amazing job. Proud and happy to be there. 

Seb says he hoped at some point there was a slight chance to catch Lewis but he had too much pace and he wasn't really pushing at the end. 

Oh the broadcast went black. We didn't hear the end of Seb's interview. Lewis and he are chatting during Perez' interview of course.

Back to Lewis. Jordan asks about his tyre problems. He says there wasn't much of an issue. Jordan says we could hear him complain. He says the safety car was a little bit too slow but it was okay. He thanks everybody again. 

Alright then let's wait and see if Mercedes gets the title, I guess. Raikkonen thinks it was a racing incident, of course Valtteri doesn't. The whole broadcast agrees Raikkonen is completely at fault. Valtteri is so disappointed his eyes look wet in his interview. Poor boy. 

Toto calls it an "optimistic manœuvre" but doesn't want to comment further because it's not one of his cars. He says it's a shame for Valtteri because he would have been on the podium. He says about Nico's problem that the sport is cruel sometimes. He had a brilliant weekend. He also agrees the Ferraris are becoming really strong. He points out they had an issue on Lewis' car though with a rear wing instability. He says they expected Ferrari to be very strong in the next year but they've proven themselves strong earlier than anticipated. (He's towering over Simon, Johnny and Hill and it's actually such a funny image these three men – and Simon and Hill aren't small – on one side of my screen looking up at him on the other side of it. Such presence.) Simon asks if he talked to Nico. Toto says he's obviously gutted with the situation, and it doesn't make much sense to try and go calm him down right now. He needs to come back, he's a strong fighter, he'll be with them next year trying again. He also says as for the WDC, Lewis needs to finish 11 points ahead of Seb to win it in Austin so… And he makes the universal sign for 'calm down' with his hand. Simon asks how he keeps everybody's emotions in check now, with the titles so close. He says you have to keep control of your emotions and your feet on the ground because it's not over until it's over. "Let's wait until mathematically it's not possible anymore to lose it." 

Here's Lewis. He's all smiles.

He says the rear wing issue was a bit of a concern at the end, so he took it easy. Even though you're in front it's still a hard race and there's a lot of opportunities to make mistakes. You have to stay in the zone.

He knew they were one-stopping so if you damage the tyres, you have to stop again. He had to make a lot of changes along the way and everytime Sebastian picks up the pace you have to answer. He felt like it was a massive challenge for a race even though he was in the lead. It's a shame he didn't get to race with Nico, he was excited about it. She asks how close he got to him in the first lap (remember? I said he surely made contact with his rear). His eyes widen. "Yeah! Well… I mean, what happens is when the VSC comes out you've gotta stomp on the breaks," he says.

Then he says the real safety car came out so he actually didn't have to do that, and they "were on it" and Nico braked.

So they nearly took each other out, but fortunately Kimi didn't hit him, although he nearly lost it and spun (he did have to take evasive action).

She explains what the situation is with the WDC and asks how it would be to win in Austin, which he loves so much. He doesn't understand. "Win the race?" he asks, confused.

She explains again. If he wins 2 points ahead of Nico and 11 ahead of Seb in the next race he could get his third title in Texas. "Wow… I didn't even… I didn't even know that, so…" She hints at him, not quite in the mic but we hear anyway, that the place is pretty special to him. He looks aside as he thinks. "I don't know really what to say!" he cracks a big smile.

"I just gotta take a step back and enjoy what is going on now." And push as hard as he can in the next races, there's still loads of points available.

But it's the best position he's ever been in in his career "I don't really know what to say about it," just that they've been fortunate on his side of the garage with the reliability and he hopes that as a team they'll be able to rectify the issues they did have "and uh…" he smiles, "yeah."

He says it might not have been the most exciting day for the viewers today (it was far from the most bored I've been this season though) but you have to take it when you have it. 

It's funny how he reacted. You know he must have been thinking about the title, even though he might say he didn't, you know, his usual spiel of one race at a time. Like I'm not saying he calculates the points and all, I don't think he does, but he must have known he was in a very, very good position for the title. Still, when she brings it up, it's like it finally dawns on him. Like he had this notion that, sure, he was leading the WDC standings for ages if not from the start of the season, actually, but he only right there and then actually understood that he might, that he would, surely, get it. He has a different smile then, a different look in his eye, a less controlled emotional expression. You can tell it truly drives him, truly excites him. 

For some reason we later get a second interview with Lewis. Not complaining. He's with Hill. He says he's getting close but not letting himself get ahead of himself and asks what he does now when he goes home, "count the days to Texas or what ?" He answers of course definitely not, he enjoys every day, he tries to make sure he lives life to the max. He says he's learning a lot in his spare time. He says they're going to the factory the next day and he wants to make sure he's always improving when he's in the car. (Did I not answer an ask once saying his best or most important quality was his willingness to learn?) (Yes I did.) He says there's still room to improve this car, for example quali wasn't perfect this time, and that's his goal. Hill brings up the rear wing issue and says there's always nervous moments. Lewis says yes, towards the end, he felt weird things at the rear, it felt like it was getting a bit loose. He repeats again he was excited to race with Nico, as he thinks many people were, but maybe in the future (be careful what you wish for...). Hill asks if he was to win the title in America, would it be special for him at all? He sighs heavily. "To be honest… I mean…" and then says he won't let himself think about it. There's still 100 points available, "is that right?" Hill counts : "there's still five– four races left, yeah." So he's gonna focus on doing the job, he can never ever get ahead of himself. He's gonna enjoy the moment. He says "you've been there before, you know what it's like!" And Hill goes : "I– Lewis, I have ONE world championship so…"

Lewis shies away with a smile. Hill points out he's close to being the best British driver, and so they're all holding their breath and it's good to see and, and, and. Lewis thanks him. He says he's proud to wave the flag, to stand on the podium beneath it, he's proud when he hears the national anthem, he hopes he's representing all the Brits the best way he can. Hill says he definitely is and congratulates him for the win. 

Uh… He's walking away like he shat himself. Mmh. Let's move on.

They're now waiting in front of race control for the final word on Raikkonen's investigation. 

They're still waiting after Ted's notebook. Here we go… Raikkonen gets a 30-second penalty : MERCEDES WINS THE WCC! Too bad it's happening that way though, I would have liked to see them celebrate properly. Alonso also got a 5-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. In the next GP post race interviews, Raikkonen said he would still do the same thing, though. 

Oh. I also read Seb criticised Lewis for going too slow at the restart after the safety car and that Grosjean said his seat broke upon impact in his accident. 

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Yu-Gi-Oh? I was... maybe 7 when I watched it (though I watched far more of the sequel, Yu-Gi-Oh GX)

Ill do both!

We’re you tortured as a child? | That was Dog s*** | Yea… no, just no | It doesn’t hold up | Never saw it, can’t judge it | It’s watchable | Overrated but not hated | Underrated and needs more love | Solid wave of nostalgia | It still lives up to the hype. | Master piece | This changed my life

For those that have watched this, this show was a hot mess. The game's rules were CONSTANTLY BROKEN, the season 4 plots onwards were a jumble mess. But damn it if it wasnt hype as hell. The dub was something. Shadow realm became a thing because of the dubs (it use to just be hell)

ITS TIME TO D-D-D-D-D-DUEL!

Plus the duel of Yugi vs Atem is the Peak.

Next GX

We’re you tortured as a child? | That was Dog s*** | Yea… no, just no | It doesn’t hold up | Never saw it, can’t judge it | It’s watchable | Overrated but not hated | Underrated and needs more love | Solid wave of nostalgia| It still lives up to the hype. | Master piece | This changed my life

Controversial opinion, I love GX over The original.

I actually rewatched the series recently and the DUB is HILARIOUS.

Chazz steals the show. While he isnt Kaiba, he is hilarious.

Plus something about going to a school to learn how to duel is funny,

One of the plots has Kaiba sending duel monsters to space to challenge aliens to duel (thats an actual plot point)

Sadly I think season 4 was never dubbed and while it has some cool duels it really suffers without the english dub

Though Jaden/Judai is a hilarious protagonist who I think gets more flack than he deserves. (at least he isnt Yuma)

GAME ON GET YOUR GAME ON!

[saint-bestial]

Astral, Ryoga, Mizael for the ask game!

oooh three guys let's see. my zexal rewatch was a while ago so i might be fuzzy on some things. ty for the ask i'm gonna answer as best i can for everyone Sorry if i forget anything!!

Astral!

General opinion: I like him! probably one of my A tier zexal characters. solid character but did not give me a disease. Ship I like: ok so this is probably really off the wall but two of my mutuals wrote this fic with kaito/astral and got me way more invested in that pairing. if there's a ship name for them i forget </3 Non-romantic pairing: i love a good non-romantic reading of astral and yuma. i'm pretty neutral on romantic keyship (like i am with most pairings tbh). NOTP: i don't really have one for him! Headcanon: i'm drawing a blank here :( Fanfic: yeah i need to think about this hm. sorry Something that makes me think of them: kitty. that one scene where his eyes get all big? i think because he tasted food for the first time. yeah that's so kitty to me Ryoga!

General opinion: dude wouldn't it be fucked up if we put a dead guy's soul in a dead kid's body and then had him live a relatively normal life only for him to realize that he was not in fact a middle schooler but actually an alien demon thus destroying his previous personality. wait you Did That? Ship I like: like i've said shipping is not really my main Thing but sharkbait is fine. though there's other yuma ships i like more. Non-romantic pairing: his beef with vector. it's just fun your honor NOTP: hellshark/disqualify. sorry. i'm one of the few IV stans who doesn't like it. it's one of the tiny number of ship tags i actually have blacklisted. this was mostly for self shipping reasons but also i just don't like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Headcanon: i think he can be going to the aquarium Fanfic: can we talk about how weird it would be for him to return to school and shit after the end of zexal like that's clearly a different guy. his middleschoolersona is dead. people would pick up on that no??? i think it has potential. i love you zexal the existential horror card game anime. Something that makes me think of them: sharks, fish, the horrors. you know. typical ryoga stuff. also the c32 card i must've opened dozens of abyss rising blisters to get when i was a kid. Mizael!

General opinion: anon. i've been rubbing my hands together since i saw that you included him. ah. this blond bitch. you know, i was into ygo when zexal was airing. and my little 10-11 year old dragon obsessed brain saw mizael and imprinted on him immediately. oh and you can bet i was sending asks to those character ask blogs to know his opinion on only the most important affairs. and you can definitely bet your ass that i watched the moon duel and cried as soon as the subs came out. takes me back to a simpler time. upon rewatch i did not latch onto him as i had previously. but he still holds a degree of importance to me because of the history. Ship I like: this is another situation where i don't really have one but a lot of galaxymaster art is cute and also involves dragons so. that's cool Non-romantic pairing: him and jinlon. i love human and dragon partnerships what can i say NOTP: don't have one! Headcanon: i think he is a dragonfucker your honor Fanfic: See Above. Something that makes me think of them: my ultimate rare tachyon dragon card from the set it came out in i got as a gift one year and thought i lost but found buried in my dresser still completely intact. it sits safely in the first page of my card binder now with all my other favorites.