#i'm watching s1 e3

[thoughtfulfangirling]

@taraljc and @lynati

Word of God can be so fun for fandom! But I am absolutely of the mind that we get to wholeheartedly disregard it! I subscribe to this very much.

I will probably wait to intentionally expose myself to Word of God stuff until I'm done because I actually don't know much and want to re-experience the story with just the story in mind exactly for the reason of allowing myself to come to my own conclusions. I am very prone to being influenced by peripheral information and reading that into things in ways I won't realize I'm doing it.

This isn't to say I'm not open to hearing some of it. I'd already gotten to start making my own thoughts on Owen's actions in that scene, so it's not As Much an influence to hear about it.

But this is to say I will be waiting on seeking out any sort of Ask Greg type things until I'm done.

It's why it's important enough for me to put in my liveblog announcements that it has to be OK for me to be wrong about things and misremember. And oh I'm sure it'll happen! Haha

But I have been very much enjoying these additions! And if you ever add stuff and get no response from me, it may just be that I decided not to learn more so as not to be influenced by too much outside information.

[sandinthepipes]

Nono, I get it now, I get why everybody was talking about bridgerton since day one

[docholligay]

“We are what we pretend to be. So we must be careful what we pretend to be”

Hello! This is about up to Episode 3 of Yellowjackets, and ONLY episode 3 of Yellowjackets. I have not seen beyond the third episode, at all, and know NOTHING about this show. Please do not spoil it for me.  Things that are spoilery in nature, for me, include: saying things like  “Just wait!!” confirming or denying anything I put forward, outside information about the cast interviews or creator statements, leading questions like “Do you think “blank moment” means anything?” etc. Remember  that Y’ALL HAVE SEEN THE SHOW AND I HAVE NOT. This informs the way you  talk about things relating to the show. Just be really careful is all  I’m asking. Also: If there is LITERALLY any stance I  could take on this show or character that would make you upset, please  just fucking block the tag

If you WOULD like to discuss the show and my takes on it, the Discord is right here! I don’t go there, so it’s a great place to get every emotion out.

Please thank @sailorsunspot and @moonlight-frittata for backing this odd way of doing a liveblog, and remember my tip jar is always open

I have never read the Vonnegut novel that quote above is from. I confess to keeping a bit of distance from Vonnegut through absolutely no fault of his own, but because his fans tend to be incredibly insufferable and some of his lines make great tattoos and insta posts for people who read one book a year. If that sounds judgmental, congratulations, you’ve passed the tone portion of the reading comprehension test.

Anyway, I don’t think you need to know the context for the first quote, because on the one hand, it’s what we would call in the literary world: foreshadowing. My immediate reaction was “Oh, he’s the sort of dude who wants you to know he reads Vonnegut” although in full fairness most of those dudes immediately after say, ‘that’s Kurt Vonnegut” so I might be unfair there. But he fits a lot of the profile: he’s young, he considers himself charming, he’s outre and considers himself an individual, all that. And that’s not wrong, maybe. This scene is doing a lot of things at once, it can definitely juggle that.

BUT.

What this is, is the show:

A) Putting a red flag in front of Adam. I have thought Adam was a liar and maybe doing the same shit as the reporter for awhile now, but this confirms it. he’s pretending. This whole thing with Shauna is manufactured and is abotu something that has nothing to do with Shauna, and how the fuck is Shauna going to react when she realizes that this person she’s throwing herself at to make herself feel alive again, this person she’s throwing herself at because she’s tired of fucking the corpse of her love and hatred for her best friend through her husband, who, if he isn’t Jeff the old boyfriend I will eat my fucking hat, this person she feels SOME KINSHIP with, is playing her.

This whole episode is about playing, I think that’s why it’s called The Dollhouse. Playing at adulthood, playing at love, playing at marriage, and also, Adam is playing at seduction.

B) Offering up a thesis statement for the show. All of these girls are actively hiding and pretending to be the thing they are (except, actually, Misty, who has no gift for such things. More on her in her own post, the little scamp. I hate her so much and she’s the greatest character of all time).

Shauna is playacting at being a stay at home mom because she thinks that’s safe, but she’s someone who fucking ate a girl and also participated in the murder of at least one. She is, to go back to an earlier post, a wolf full on masquerading as a RABBIT, because she’s living jackie’s life as a source of atonement.

Taissa is a good upright clean liberal with a nice family, on paper. She’s pretending to be that, and not the cunning and dangerous wolf she is with a child who is either literally or figuratively haunted by the specter of Tai’s grandmother, which I think might be some kind of statement about tai’s interaction with mortality and knowing, but I want to see more show before I come down anywhere on that. Anyhow.

Nat is pretending to be clean when even at her fucking best she was just a dry drunk. “I’m not high, if it matters.” But you’re still arrested. She’s pretending to be a tough girl, when she’s the girl to whom I would most easily affix “pathetic and wet” She’s a fucking sandcastle of a human being, and I actually do not think adult Nat will survive the show though i don’t know the means by which i think that’ll happen the call could easily come from inside the house but I don’t know the narrative place being set well enough to know if that’ll serve it.

ANYHOW. In pretending to be these things, do they risk becoming them? Or is the risk in that, at a very formative time in their lives, they pretended to be a pack of wolves? And so they became it. It seems as if it cannot be unmade.

And Shauna replies with another Vonnegut quote, from a novel i HAVE read: “And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.”

So Slaughterhouse-Five is about war, and trauma, and particularly the effects of war and trauma on children. I’m really really collapsing the book in on itself, which is a good book, a great book, even if it is one of those books someone reads when they’re fucking seventeen and thinks that’s pretty much it--HOLD ON YES THAT IS THE POINT TOO.

Shauna is smart, but is she just, seventeen smart? Is this response just another of the ways in which Shauna is trapped in the moment of the crash? In the aftermath? Amazing.

Anyway, that quote is early on in the book and for me, though, I last read it probably a decade ago, comes to tie together the notion of time, and how time is like standing in a field of wildflowers, and you could never gather them all, and if you did, it would never be like seeing that field, and that is part of the beauty of human existence, is we can only keep so much of each moment. The present is all around us, and beyond us, and so little of it can stay.

Now, I don’t know if the writers/shauna are seeing it the same way, but her response is doing two things: On a chracter level it’s establishing relationship between her and Adam. She feels CLOSENESS with him, being so equally affected by the same author to offer up a quote in reply. Two, it does, in some way, reply to his quote. If I were going to smack at that pitch, I would say it’s saying, “Don’t pretend to be fine with things, or you’ll become fine with them.” “My present is a fucking marianas trench of complication and even I am not sure what is me anymore.”

And then Adam asks a question I fucking LOVE about confirming a suspicion: “And once you do, will it make you happier?” I think about this a lot. DO people want the truth? I don’t think they do this has not been my observation of human nature. That’s not even a criticism, I don’t even always want the truth, sometimes I would prefer a half-truth or concealment or even a full on lie. I am a very big fan of being honest with ourselves, of being candid. Don’t seek answers you don’t want.

And she says no. And he says ‘You’re beautiful when you’re honest”

And I’m trapped between thinking that Shauna is never honest, not even now, and thinking that Shauna doesn’t even know what it means to be honest, because she is still emotionally processing something that happened to her so long ago that it’s a memory suitable for commemorative coins. Both come to the same end, but they FEEL different to me.

[windybreeze12]

DBD Quotes that are my Roman Empire (and my reactions to them)

No version of this where I don't come get you - Charles S1 E7 (SIR???? IM SORRY??? If someone said that to me, i'd faint. Edwin is a strong one) .

Do you think it must be torture? Being the way we are? - Simon S1 E7 (I swear you could audibly hear my heart break when he said that) .

Teethface, what the fuck? - Esther S1 E6 (I love her. She's an awful person and is literally irredeemable but dammit she does her shit with style and sass and i love her) .

He did not feel the same way. But I think we are better friends because of it - Edwin S1 E8 (THEM. JUST THEM. I CANT WITH THEM.) .

You, Charles Rowland, are the best person I know - Edwin S1 E5 (It's like they want me to go throw myself off a cliff their friendship is everything to me) .

And we've got literally forever to figure out what the rest means - Charles S1 E7 (Charles is raising the bar too high i fear. the standards are through the roof) .

When you punish yourself, everywhere becomes hell - Edwin S1 E7 (*starts sobbing in the corner*) .

Imagine thinking there was only one way to do any one thing. How difficult would life be? - Kashi S1 E6 (I swear Kashi walked into this show to spit straight facts and then was never seen again. Icon.) .

We didn’t matter, he and I - Edwin S1 E1 (No because the way I swore to myself that I would protect these boys with my life the minute he said this) .

I will always hit a demon with a cricket bat for you - Charles S1 E6 (Fellas, never settle for anything less than Charles Rowland) .

I wasn't talking about you - Edwin S1 E5 (I'm not even kidding I paused the show, got up and had to take a minute because OOF Monty darling) .

As more than a friend, I’m afraid. Charles, I'm in love with you - Edwin S1 E7 (No joke this is one of the best scenes in a show I have ever watched. The acting, the dialogue, the pacing, the emotion??? UGH!!! Perfection) .

I certainly hope not, that story ends tragically - Edwin S1 E7 (There are already a million and one posts about the implications of Charles referencing Orpheus' story so go check those out but holy hell the way it made my heart twist) .

I could- we could lose Charles - Edwin S1 E3 (This was such a tiny detail but GOD I replayed it ten times before moving on) .

Honestly I just find her so charming - Edwin S1 E2 (I knew from this moment that Edwin and Niko were going to be a pair to watch. And boy was I right) .

That was my third life you bitch—i only get nine; would you fuck off - The Cat King S1 E8 (now THIS is how you creatively use a cat's nine lives in media I love it I freaking love it) .

You sacrificed me to a demon who traded me to another demon who traded me to a thing that is worse than a demon and this is your punishment! An eternity of papercuts! - Edwin S1 E7 (Honey I have an eternity of questions cause what the FUCK is this human trafficking system down in hell??? but also go off king??? 😭)

I'll update this whenever I remember anymore. Tell me more quotes in reblogs/replies i'll add them into this!

[formyloveoflove]

Characters I Would've Liked to See More than the Faks in S3

I learned too fak'ing much about that family in S3. I loved the Faks in S2. Their increased screentime felt like an over-compensation. Much of the comedy that I loved in S1 came from the staff interactions. The feeling of an ensemble was truly missed for me.

But without further ado and in no particular order-

1. Marcus

Marcus Brooks, I am so sorry that the writers didn't give your story the necessary space it truly needed. You were the only child of a single mother, and you watched her die. I wish we could've seen more of your grief. The little glimpses we saw - your eulogy speech, the way you were inspired to make a dish to honor her, and your thinking about legacy - were so beautiful, but it felt like it had no place to breathe.

The glossing over this tragic loss, the fumbling of showcasing Black Catholic influences (sidenote: did you know that Chicago is home to the biggest African American Catholic population), and the diminishing of his grief were some lows of the season. I would've loved to see more of Marcus dealing with the loss of a parent because no matter how "prepared" you are, that shit will knock you off your feet.

2. Sweeps

If we needed a break from the melancholy of the main plot, I would've loved to see Mr. Gary “Sweeps” Woods go to wine school. It could've been in clips, similar to Tina going to culinary school in S2. Some comedic slip-ups, or maybe somebody else recognized him from his baseball days, or maybe he messed around and got too drunk. Better yet: he and some fellow sommelier get drunk. We've seen this character for three seasons, and we barely see him.

I did enjoy his monologue in Legacy and thought it was very fitting.

3. Manny and Angel

I remember seeing them for a split second in the 30-minute montage S3 E3 "Doors." They are truly the unsung heroes, and it would be good to see them for some comic relief. Maybe they're pranksters? Maybe they could've been the reason the teaspoons and forks were missing. Or maybe they could've been tasked with counting how many come through.

What's their dynamic? What are their personalities? Three seasons, and they feel like cameos.

4. Thee Adamus

One of the things that I wanted from S3 was some more Sydney's mom, and while I was delighted to see she has her mom as her lock screen, I wanted more. I love Syd's dynamic with her Dad whose unyielding support can come off a little worrisome to his baby girl. But Dreamer! Daughter x Practical! Father hits close to home for me. And the Adamus have a healthier relationship with loss and grief, and I want to know more about that process.

When I say more of the Adamus, I mean I want to see why and how Sydney became Sydney. I wanted to see their family dynamics. Why does Syd like to cook? Why is Syd avoidant?

Plus, this was a season about mothers, goshdarnit. More mother content, please.

5. Ebra

Ebra is so funny to me. Like I'm begging on my knees for more Ebra content. He's so cryptic and genuine in a way that only older Black men sharing snapshots of their trauma are. In S1, he's very attentive when it comes to the younger staff members, like when he was sensitive to Marcus gaining confidence in his skills and when he read Sydney's review for the whole kitchen to see.

One of my critiques of S2 was that they just let Ebra fall by the waistside. They didn't fully commit to his journey to accepting change as an older professional. This season, we barely got him at all. I would've had him at least show up to Syd's party. Maybe even via Facetime with the camera all up his nose because he doesn't understand the mechanics just yet.

[actually-a-fish]

the best supernatural episodes

according to an autistic person with a special interest and the ability to make a list.

if youre really serious about supernatural spoilers then maybe stay away :)

None of the season one episodes made in on the list but I will give an honorable mention to S1 E2 Wendigo.

S2 E11 Playthings - A classic, creepy girls in a creepy hotel. Special call out to Sam getting SLOPPY

S2 E16 Roadkill - There's a ghost haunting the highway. the Boys help the spirit move on. This is an early example of monster empathy

S2 E18 Hollywood Babylon - Dean loves hollywood. I love dean. this episode makes me kick my feet like a little girl and i will not defend myself.

S2 EP 20 What Was Shall Never Be - all I have in my notes for this one is "Dean Djinn Dream" which was enough for me to remember the episode and get misty eyes. This is SEASON 2 my son will never know peace.

S3 E5 Bedtime Stories -I had to check the wiki on this one, I think i liked it cause it referenced classic fairytales

S3 Ep11 Mystery Spot - "HEAT OF THE MOMENT" RISE AND SHINE SAMMY!

S3 E13 Ghostfacers! - Im a Facer through and through

S3 E16 No Rest for the Wicked - S3 finale and the Boys are facing consequences! Classic Dean, Sam and Bobby episode.

S4 E1 Lazerus Rising - First Cas Episode. That handprint makes me feel things.

S4 E6 Yellow Fever - What if Dean had anxiety (The Eye of the Tiger blooper is also at the end of the episode which gives it bonus points.

S4 E17 Wishful Thinking - Make a wish? was it for your teddy bear to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder? Well thats what youre getting!

S4 E17 It's a Terrible Life - Sam ~ the sales rep. Dean ~ middle management.

S4 E18 The Monster at the End of the Book - There are books about Sam and Dean?! Written by this guy who loves self insert character? Surely the entire show isn't about to take a tone shift?

S5 E3 Free to be You and Me - Sam and Dean are fighting again, but this time Dean has a new heavenly boy toy to play with instead. (Cas has no rizz yet it's actually a little painful to watch)

S5 E5 Fallen Idol - Okay the Wax People episode is on here for one reason and one reason only. Paris Hilton.

S5 E7 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester - Old man Dean and old man Bobby. This is also the episode for HH Husk kinnies.

S5 E8 Changing Channels - Dr Sexy MD is that you?!

S5 E9 The Real Ghostbuster - *in a grizzly voice* "I'm Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam. Have you experienced anything strange?" "Dude that was so good! Now we can go solve the puzzle" "Man you're breaking the immersion!"

S5 E10 Abandon All Hope - This is here for Crowley's first appearance and not because the end will make you cry.

S5 E12 Swap Meat - "uh... its Audi Nos". Freaky Friday starring Sam Winchester! An angsty teen and April Kepner from Grey/Sloan Memorial Hospital.

S5 E16 Dark Side of the Moon - The Boys lives flash before their eyes. Dean is pissed forever about Sams.

S5 E19 Hammer of the Gods - this is for all my pagans out there!

S6 E4 A Weekend at Bobby's - What do you think this episodes about idjit.

S6 E15 The French Mistake -  “For whatever reason, our life is a TV show.” “Why?” “I don't know.” “No, seriously. Why? Why would anybody want to watch our lives?” 

S7 E4 Defending your Life - consequences? for fucking people over? how about you stand trial.

S7 E20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo - The self insert character made for us :) Luv u 4ever Charlie XD

S8 E4 Bitten - found footage will always scare. this one reminds me that this show started as a psuedo horror.

S8 E8 hunteri heroci - Cas tries his hand at being a hunter

S8 E12 As Time Goes By - FINALLY THEY ARE CARVING TRAPS INTO BULLETS

S8 E17 Goodbye Stranger - verbatim here are my notes for this episode "Cas chooses Dean, but the way he handles Meg... Fuck Naomi"

S8 E18 Clip Show - If you only want to watch just one episode of Supernatural this should be it. It's not actually a clip show, theres a broment, bonding time with favorite characters and crazy plots that only supernatural could get away with.

S9 E5 Dog Dean Afternoon - Dean is finally a dog person

S9 E11 First Born - Another bro fight leads to shipping <3 SamxCas + DeanxCrowley <3

S9 E15 #thinman - the slender episode feat. GHOSTFACERS. You come away from this episode thinking "supernatural is so fucking gay why wont the boys kiss"

S9 E21 King of the Damned - my favorite crowley era change my mind. Also the way the Boys interrogate an angel is so funny

S10 E5 Fan Fiction - I would unironically fuck w a supernatural musical and if helluva/hazbin taught me anything the rest of you would too

S10 E6 Ask Jeeves - The Clue episode. (Pay attention to the improvised weapons Dean chooses. It brings me joy)

S10 E9 The Things we Left Behind - Cas is suffering a midlife crisis and his besties are there to help him repair his relationship with his daughter. Funnily enough, Crowley is also getting some family bonding in.

Okay, I'm all caught up on my list. Should I have stayed up late transcribing this with an 8am class tommarow?

Probably not but it did bring me great joy. Tell me your favorite episode! I'll continue to add to my list as I continue my rewatch :)

[wingamy24]

Love all the stuff you’re doing for the jeffbritta girlies!!

And I know I’m asking for a lot but could you do like a little guide for their best episodes? Cuz when I sit down to watch a random episode I always forget what episodes have good moments with them that are not mixology certification lol

If this is too much to ask that’s okay💕

yesyesyesyeseyydysyeysyessegewghq

Okay, SO. This is my personal list of my go-to Jeffbritta episodes. Obviously not all of these are romantic: they're just focused on them or have funny interactions with them.

I love them and they deserve everything + endgame

Season 1

Season 1 has a BUNCH of Jeffbritta episodes, specially considering they were supposed to be the main couple of the show back then. My favorites are:

S1 E1 Pilot: Obviously.

S1 E3 Introduction To Film: Seize the day!

S1 E14 Interpretative Dance: This is the cute episode where Jeff brings flowers for Britta.

S1 E16 Communication Studies: This is the episode where Jeff gets drunk with Abed and ends up calling Britta and blablabla...

S1 E22 The Art Of Discourse: This one doesn't have any explicit Jeffbritta I think? It's just fun to see them make an evil plan to take revenge on some random highschoolers.

S1 E23 Modern Warfare: One of my (if it isn't my #1 favorite) favorite episodes of Community. The one where Jeff and Britta have sex in the study room table.

Season 2

On Season 2 we got a weirdly amount of Jeffannie episodes, but we still had our fair share of Jeffbritta episodes!

S2 E1 Anthropology 101: Not really Jeffbritta, but it's still fun watching them being gross in this episode, right?...right?

S2 E6 Epidemiology: Seeing Jeff walk around with Britta to give her drinks is funny.

S2 E10 Mixology Certification: This is an obvious one.

S2 E13 Celebrity Pharmacology: Cool cats. AKA, The Bi Panic™

S2 E16 Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking: That's Irak, stupid. WHAT DO I KNOW, I'M JEFF WINGER'S DUMB GAY DAD!

S2 E19 Critical Film Studies: This isn't really a Jeffbritta episode, but they match costumes... that's... that's enough, right

S2 21 Paradigms of Human Memory: Unrelated, but I just looked at the Wikipedia page, and it was almost entirely filmed in Universal Studios. The "popping the back of a raft makes it go faster" scene was filmed in a Jaws set! Anyway, we have the funny Jeffannie sequence, but it's a fun episode if you focus on Jeff and Britta, too.

S2 E22 Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts: Not a lot of Jeffbritta, but still, fun and cute interactions.

Season 3

S3 E6 Advanced Gay: I love this episode so much, it's so ridiculous at so many levels. Also, Britta adressing Jeff's daddy issues is always fun.

S3 E11 Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts: One of the many times Jeff and Britta almost get married.

S3 E12 Contemporary Impressionists: This is one of my favorites of all the show. It's so funny seeing Jeff be... whatever this is

S3 E21 The First Chang Dynasty: GothJeffandBrittaGothJeffandBritta

Season 4

It's amazing how many Jeffbritta moments the gas leak season gave us.

S4 E2 Paranormal Parentage: Again, Britta with Jeff's daddy issues.

S4 E5 Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations: Britta helping Jeff is heartwarming. SHE'S SO PROUD OF HIM YOU GUYS. Also, them in cars. You can never have enough Jeff and Britta in cars.

S4 E8 Herstory of Dance: This is also an episode I really like. Jeff and Britta are adorable in this one.

S4 E10 Intro to Knots: Greendale parents.

S4 E12 Heroic Origins: GUYS LOOK THEY MET EACH OTHER BEFORE

Season 5

I love the Jeffbritta episodes here, but at the same time... it's so cruel that they made all this build-up just for a Jeffannie ending. It's like they WANTED to make us suffer. Fuck you, Dan Harmon.

S5 E7 Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality: HE WANTS HER BACK

S5 E8 App Development and Condiments: mustard

S5 E12 Basic Story: I cried

S5 E13 Basic Sandwich: I also cried. RAGE TEARS

Season 6

I don't really like watching S6, buuuut I'm gonna say "S6 E6 Basic Email Security" for the short Jeffbritta banter.

...this is it. this took me two days. okay bye

[arwenadreamer]

I'm watching S1 E3 Dead Im The Water.

The boys are having a BM scene in the car. There's one moment where Sam smiles at Dean, then the camera changes and we see Dean looking at Sam.

I'm pretty sure Jared is making a kissing face to Jensen and it somehow made the final cut.

Look at this:

I'm sorry, its just a picture taken of my TV. I have no way to screenshot this moment. Maybe someone can or has a gif? It's at 22:28 minutes exactly.

For comparison, this is Jared's profile:

His lip does not stand as much forward as his nose. He has clearly pursed his lips in the episode, making a kissie face at Jensen. 😁

[llannasvsp]

Challenge me if you want to, but Lloyd's best seasons in the show are Sons of Garmadon, Hunted, and Dragons Rising. He is just written so well in those seasons and he just feels so real. What I like is the sometimes not-so-subtle examples of his trauma affecting him. For example, in Dragons Rising, there's no reason he should feel the need to be exactly like Wu when it comes to teaching, or running the monastery, but he has no confidence in himself to be able to actually do his own thing. His whole life, he's either looked up to his dad or done whatever Wu told him to do. He's never really gotten to make decisions for himself. And he's so laser focused on not messing up that he either overworks Arin and Sora (Dragons Rising; s1, e3), or neglects putting in the required attention to train Arin (Dragons Rising; s1 e11).

But then on the flipside, you can see him coaching Arin through his own trauma (Dragons Rising; s1, e20). He encourages him to use those negative feelings for good. I think I actually crumbled when watching that scene because it shows that even though Lloyd is still struggling with his trauma, he's also grown a lot. He serves to show that you don't have to be chained by your past, and that's just so beautiful to me.

I know I didn't touch on Sons of Garmadon or Hunted... like at all... but if you've watched the show as long and as avidly as I have, you'll understand the way his trauma plays into those seasons too.

Maybe this didn't make sense. I'm honestly just rambling because I have a lot of thoughts.

[busyxfangirling]

The second season is honestly becoming increasingly harder to watch because what are they trying to do?

The show is titled Loki but he feels like a side character is his own show, I know many MANY things are happening but literally Loki is not the central figure driving the story.

My expectations were low but I did not know Disney could do this much worse!!!!

What the FUCK was episode 3 with the Miss Minutes thing and weird little Ravonna/Victor attempt???

Marvel is just getting worse and worse with what they're putting out, I want the character or even narrative driven stories back where people were well fleshed out, had consistency and their actions made sense to who there were!!! This feels like just trying to sell shock value because you know you have a base of consumers who will stay to see what happens to their favourite character.

They are absolutely ignoring all the material they have available to them to work with! This Loki has only experienced things till the Avengers movie, there is so much character deep dive they could do! What is the point of giving them their own show and then not talking about them at all??

I'll come to the queer things later cause boy do I have a list for that, but first of all, Loki is not a new character in any capacity??? He has been loved and is arguably the biggest fan favourite since his introduction, the amount of theories about him and what people would like to see is very well known!! Right in front of them is his still unclear feelings in his adoption, about being a Jotun, loosing his family and the complicated relationships with them. I can see they are acknowledging his God of Mischief status a little bit but!! Trickster!! Let us see him be a wild card properly!! Not in the sense of betraying his new TVA family - that's what it is and you can fight me on that- but being chaotic!! Yes, using his magic like with Brad!! SHOW ME HE IS A GOD!!!

The worst thing is how lost everyone feels, like I'm not talking about the whole free will conundrum everyone is going through, that is spectacular! Unfortunately it is not coming across, we literally don't get to hear any of the characters talk about what they think of it. There was the key lime pie moment but no follow up to what that is for Loki? It's just one crisis after another, maybe rehash some of what has already happened, bring back the seriousness of this!! The entire multiverse is at stake but we'll make it look like whimsical wishy-washy stuff??!??!!!

Don't get me wrong, I am LOVING the time travel aspect of it, where it looks like Loki/Mobius are on cute dates. But then make it real, the fucking queerbaiting is ridiculous. The throw-away comment in season one about looking being bi was just that and nothing else. And I'm not saying this cause aww they look cute together! But also cause the development of their relationship has been as such!! They have been very dependent on each other and that's not being addressed at all.

I know there are multiple posts about a possible betrayal and my fear is that they're going to try to use that to basically change everything about the characters again, a lot of OOC based on the fact that oh yeah they're going through an existential crises so it makes sense.

Sylkie made barely any sense to me even apart from the whole selfcest issue- they just imposed a the structure of what a straight relationship should be where there was barely any chemistry. S1 E3 had them as really good chaotic siblings/twins and then adding the romantic tones to that really ruined it. Trying to bring it back, possibly, is just weird cause so far they want very different things. These people just don't align together, stop forcing them to? The fact that they refuse to even talk about that kiss shows that they are keeping it open and not just acknowledging that "hey, we don't want the same things in life and I'm happy for you, you matter a lot to me but a romantic relationship is not happening. Also cause you know, we're the same person, lol."

Sylvie as a character is also very confusing rn, there is honestly no need for her to keep coming back in this way??? I'm going to reserve further opinions because half the season is left but I dont expect anything to really get better.

[ramon-tikaram-love]

yikes, i'm beginning to run a little low on Ramon items to watch. i still have a few movies and multiple eps of 2 series and a couple tiny things.

but here are items i haven't been able to find:

Hunting of the Snark (2023) ( :(((((((((( stupid amazon prime)

Lee & Dean - s1 e3 (i've found e4 & e5 but in low-ish quality)

Doctors - s7 e29 "For the Best: Part 1", e30 "For the Best: Part 2" ; s19 e140 "Dreams Are Made On"

Casualty - s21 e25 "The Miracle on Harry's Last Shift" ; s25 e20 "Altered States"

EastEnders - all his 11 eps 2009-2012 that are prolly pointless to list, but at least i've found some excerpts

Combat Kids - s1 e1, e2, e3

Identity - s1 e4 "Reparation"

My Spy Family - s3 e11 "The Trophy Affair" (the last Vong ep)

Heroes and Villains - s1 e4 "Cortes"

Take 3 Girls (2006)

Down to Earth - s5 e9 "Tall Tales" (i've found e7 ("Say Hello, Say Goodbye") but in pretty horrid quality)

M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team - s2 e1

Holby City - s6 e21 "Honour Thy Father"

Crossroads - all his 4 eps: s1 e283, e284, e285 ; e13Aug2002

Waiting at the Royal (2000)

Code Name: Wolverine (1996) (edit: i found this! on youtube! :o it has big hardcoded subs but better than nothing!)

and all his theatre plays :s.

if anyone knows where to find any of these pleeease let me know.

i will reward you by making gifs if possible or at least screenshots.

i still also have some games and other voice-only thinggies i might experience, and then there is the soon upcoming Kaos which i'm looking forward to.

[ladybracknellssherry]

Some more Meta type thoughts/questions that are far from analyses/real theories. Still learning how to search for specifics with metas and such so I guess this is just me once again throwing out a line.

Pt I. If Gabriel wasn't present when God spoke to Job...why did God's words/voice come out of Jimbriel's mouth in his mini memory trance? Aziraphale and Crowley were right there, watching Job, but they couldn't hear what God was saying. Gabriel couldn't have seen that happening, otherwise he would have seen Aziraphale and Crowley just hanging out like two old buds watching Job and God.

This doesn't feel like a memory anymore. Not just a memory. Because this wasn't just Gabriel's voice. This was Gabriel's voice and God's voice.

And of course there is Jimbriel's second memory trance in E3 that only Crowley heard, in which there is another voice in the "memory" as well - but this does not sound like God's voice/at least not Frances McDormand. I listened to it and listened to it and if it sounds like any of the Heaven people at all, it sounds most like Muriel. But it also sounds more like an American accent. So that's a big ? from me for right now.

The Earth observation files we've seen so far are apparently just images, not audio. The only full video/audio files from Heaven seem to be just things that happened in Heaven.

Pt. II. This one is really stressing me out. We keep analyzing every aspect of time in S2 because it is so prominent and seems so weird. The very prominently displayed and loudly ticking clock in the bookshop. All of the mobile phones and watches. All of the minisode/flashbacks which themselves are divergences from a linear storytelling timeline.

Twice in S2E3 Crowley says "Too late."

So here's where I got upset. Canonically we know that Crowley's Book/S1 watch shows the time "in a capital city in Another Place, where it was always one time, and that was too late."

Now of course there is the time stop theory because of the missing minutes in the final 15. So if the clock kept ticking...then time was stopped everywhere except for the bookshop? EVERYWHERE? 🧐

Crowley's only S2 time manipulation type deal we clearly saw was in S2E3 with Mr. Dalrymple - but that wasn't a time stop so much as a Mr. Dalrymple stop.

It's probably all over the place here but I can't find it. When I went on this particular side-quest I found This post from thecatHimselfknows on reddit.

Though Crowley no longer has his watch, someone does.

And it's Shax.

sorry for the shit quality.

So I don't think at all that Crowley's watch specifically has anything to do with his time-stopping ability. I mean, maybe somehow it was imbued or miracled or something. But I don't think so.

Just as far as symbolism, it is another strange and curious GO2 time mystery.

I've also read this in fics but don't remember reading anything about it in the book and it definitely wasn't in the show. The theory is that time works differently in Heaven and Hell. Just another Q I guess I'm throwing out.

So I'm not going to suggest the possibility that in S2 there was some weird time fuckery that put them in Another Place. But the "it's always too late" watch/Another Place nod in a season full of time madness adds to the time suspiciousness for sure.

(I'm working on my tags for all of my weird Q's and random thoughts and meta type deals for my organization for myself so just...yeah)

[gay-edwardian]

My Best Attempt at Coherence Regarding Diana Taverner

First of all - I just love her hair this season. With the noticeable light streak (that both she and Tearney have in some way)? Hot. She's always so put together and elegant, I love it and I hope we one day get to see her dishevelled, because there's very little that's more attractive than someone who is very smartly-dressed and neat being completely undone and at their lowest.

She's just... such a terrible person. I love her. She's scheming and selfish and horrible and she's so witty and dry about it. She hates River and is also explicitly happy to watch Duffy and the dogs fumble around.

Before I get into the main thing that's making me want to chew drywall about her: her role in the story/series is soooooo interesting she's an antagonist but also not really because she is sort of working towards the same goal as the protagonists (she's doing the job she's doing because technically or on some level she wants to protect people), but she's also always her number one priority. She really only cares for herself and it's fabulous to watch. She's not a straight-up antagonist in any season, more of an obstacle or inconvenience, and I've only read the first book so I don't know if this next thing ever changes (don't tell me if you have read the books, I don't want to know), but she doesn't seem to be some big overarching antagonist either. Her goals cause problems but so do everyone else's, and I don't even think she thinks that what she wants is right (she's tentative allies with Peter Judd, who by her own utterance she knows is the worst), but nobody can argue that she's downright evil.

Ok but like. The dynamics between Di and literally any other character (but like. mostly Lamb and Tearney) are like... They're fabulous. With Lamb, she utterly hates him but also respects him. When he sends her information she pretends to be dismissive but also takes that information into account. She's constantly trying to get the upper hand but keeps on running into the problem that, when all's said and done, he's often better than her at these things. Sure they do different jobs, but when it comes to cleaning up her messes, he has a track record.

And I'm OBSESSED with her and Tearney (take that however you will). The mind games they're playing with each other this season! Again, I'm only three episodes in so I don't know if she's at all behind this little stunt, but if she is hoo boy she's just ruthless in the pursuit of what she wants (and it's fascinating how Diana, who is an incredibly intelligent character, is at her stupidest when she's furthering her own agenda. The s1 mess was hers, even more so in the book). And that scene between the two of them in e3?? Hello??? They're fucking. They're divorced. They want each other dead but they also want to protect each other. The delicious scene in question begins with a declaration of ultimate loyalty and sympathy from Di (with an undertone of "I want to steal your job out from under you") and it ends with "you and me" being the "collateral damage" that Ingrid wants to limit. I'm having So Many Thoughts about these two.

And also aghhhhh Kristin Scott Thomas just makes me feral

[docholligay]

I don't really have great commentary on this I just love w2atching his life go down the toilet over a murder I am 1000% convinced he didn't do.

[jtl07]

jt (finally) watches warrior nun - s1 e8 (pt 1?)

Gonna leave my criticisms out of this post (not a lot but some key ones, namely how the scenes were cut grr) but gosh, watching the scenes with Sister Melanie’s story and Beatrice’s revelation just hit different when seen in context.

There’s so much I could say about this episode and even those two scenes alone (I'm also considering a second post about touch) but the main thing I want to talk about here is Beatrice’s revelation - how that was set up and also adding a layer from an Asian perspective.

So I’ve mentioned before that I’ve seen clips of these scenes already, but again, I hadn’t seen it in context of the other episodes - or even this episode as a whole. What struck me initially was how Beatrice’s revelation is set up and how much of KTY’s physicality plays into this (Alba's as well, but I'm going to focus on Beatrice here).

When Beatrice first explains that Sister Melanie was a lesbian, not only do we get Beatrice doing this little nervous rocking and that small, tight smile, but she also angles her head away from Ava, as if not wanting Ava to see her face - and maybe even so she didn’t have to see Ava either. But that changes as the story goes on.

(first, when Beatrice starts reading, she's angled away; soon after, she's angled differently)

Yes, there’s probably camera reasons for this, and yes, it’s also because she’d turned the page, but I couldn’t help but notice that this coincides with Beatrice reading the lines “I let him see it; I wanted him to” - and what that immediately made me think was maybe, just maybe, there was a part of Bea that also wanted Ava to see: to see her.

And she gets what she - perhaps subconsciously - wants in Ava calling her out. Which is a tense but beautiful moment in itself. And I have to fall back to e3 and how the cafeteria scene and the hallway scene really built the foundation for these future interactions. The way I see it, Beatrice has only shown Ava kindness - yes, she may have been stern initially in the cafeteria but even that was framed as advice, as Beatrice helping Ava. But now all of a sudden, Beatrice has turned on her, cutting her down in a way Ava’s never experienced from her before, and Ava knows something’s wrong.

And the the thing is, calling someone out like that is an act of vulnerability too. It shows a knowing of the other person, and also a hope, a trust in the other person - “hey I’m on your side, but you’re hurting me; I want to help, but you’ve got to retract the claws.”

And gosh, the way Beatrice physically reels back, as if shocked back into her senses (again, a moment of her being blinded by her emotions, namely anger). To me, I read this as her being shocked, maybe even ashamed by the fact that she’d hurt Ava.

Because for all her skills - deadly and otherwise - Beatrice doesn’t come off as someone who wants to choose the harsh, painful way. When folks are in pain, her instinct is to soothe, comfort, reassure. She’ll choose violence if necessary, but it’s not her first choice. For Beatrice, violence was learned. Which leads me to the line that has got me in a chokehold.

Pain is what made me a sister warrior.

First, can we just take a moment to hold on Beatrice’s expression here? How haunted and hollow she feels here - again, KTY deserves all the props for this scene.

Second and mostly, look at the phrasing of this line. What you’d expect, or what we most commonly hear is this: “Pain is what made me who I am.” But note that Beatrice says instead, “sister warrior” - a role, a title, anonymous, interchangeable. There’s no acknowledgement of self here - in fact, it almost sounds like a hardening of self, a giving up of self. It’s that idea I keep going back to of Beatrice constantly devaluing herself - and we understand here that it’s because of the hate she has for herself, the hate that she learned from the pain she experienced.

The thing is, she didn’t learn this in a vacuum. As in: This was a lesson taught to her by her parents, but was also taught to her parents as well. As in: I couldn’t help but see this from an Asian perspective, how you are punished for being different for things beyond your control, and how desperately, painfully, many Asians try to be “normal.” And how that's taught to you by your parents because they were taught it themselves, either by their parents or by experience. Where the ability to - and success in being able to - conform, “fall in line” often means the difference between life and death.

Let me be clear, I’m not trying to justify Beatrice’s parents actions at all. I’m just trying to add to this the idea that there are also things even bigger than Beatrice and her parents - it’s generational trauma that is literally built into our DNA.

To me, this is why it makes sense that Beatrice goes through such a hard time in s2, grappling with her instinctive choice to save Ava instead of focusing on/keeping to the mission. She’s not only fighting what she’s learned in her lifetime: she has to fight against what has been programmed into her entire lineage. Beatrice says in e7 that she “joined the OCS to save [her] eternal soul” - for many Asians, our ancestors have been told that over and over again by the church. That the only path to rest, to salvation, to peace was sacrifice and pain. And in many cases, that’s been used to continue to manipulate us, to keep us out of places of power, to make us “fall in line” and not buck the status quo. (And note that every time Beatrice has done any of these things, she has suffered heavily for it.)

But this is also what makes Ava’s response all the more meaningful. By telling Beatrice not to hate herself, she’s helping stop and undo what is likely generations of pain - and likely for the very first time. “Don’t hate what you are,” Ava says, and I couldn’t help but also hear: “Don’t hate what brought you here.” Because yes, all of that programming is unhealthy and horrible but it also is what kept Beatrice - and the generations before her - alive. And just because she’s flipping the script doesn’t mean she’s being disloyal to what they’ve done for her. Instead, it’s a way to honor them, and to honor herself.

Perhaps also this is why Beatrice has such a proud smile at the end of the episode when Ava proclaims herself as the last warrior nun. In a way, the warrior nuns have a similar history of “generational” trauma, full of pain and unfulfilled lives. And here too, as with Beatrice, Ava refuses to let it continue for her own self. It’s both a “let it end with me” and a “let it begin with me” - let the pain, hatred, and death end with me; let the healing, love, and life begin with me.

Okay I'm going to end this here because it just gets me emotional to think about all of this - lmk if y'all have other thoughts, otherwise I'll continue pondering a part two.

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (23-29 Jun 2024)

what a fucking week, lads (gn)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 "How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" (P. Djèlí Clark) - 2024 Locus Award winning short story - 'fuck around and find out' with 19thC colonialism!

🥰 there's a trick with a knife (i'm learning to do) (mellyflori) - 65K, Kaysanova modern AU - really good enemies-to-lovers that digs in to why they clash at first and the very organic way that turns around. tbh this could easily be original fic [positive] as except for J/N it's all OCs, and J/N's characterizations are not OOC but are also perfectly standalone

🥰 Outgrow the shoes of expectations (destinationtoast) - 62K, solid canon-divergent Keeley/Roy/Jamie fic [structured more as K/R opening the relationship up to J but ends in such a way that a true polycule is not unreasonable]

💖💖 +222K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Aspirations (neapeaikea) - 9-1-1: Buck/Tommy, 11K - very cute, fun teacher AU

Three Weddings and a Funeral (materialism, sparklyslug) - Stranger Things: Steddie, 35K - 2nd entry in the lovely Let us Dwell in Fair Ithilien and There Make a Garden series - four vingettes of Steve and Eddie before and after their second chance

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Thousandaires - s1, e3

Game Changer - s4, e9-10

Make Some Noise - s3, e1

Hank Green: Pissing Out Cancer

Doctor Who - s1 (series 14), e8

D20: Never Stop Blowing Up - "Be Kind, Rewind" (s22, e1)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Yoshi Thicc" (s17, e1)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐99% Invisible - The Power Broker #06: Mike Schur

Consider This - Fifteen years after his death, Michael Jackson's legacy remains complicated

⭐ What Next: TBD - Is Your Phone Tracking Your Driving?

Re: Dracula - June 24: Dreadful Thing of Night

Re: Dracula - June 25: Dead or Asleep

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Will they or won't they? Unpacking TV's eternal question

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - In The Heart Of NYC, A Refuge For Birds

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Grizzly Adams: America’s Mythic Mountain Man

WikiHole - Girl Dinner (with Greta Titelman, Sam Taggart and Zach Noe Towers

Dinner’s on Me - Margaret Cho

99% Invisible - Backfired: The Vaping Wars

It's Been a Minute - Can't stop the (classical) music

⭐ Vibe Check - She Ain't No Diva

Dinner’s on Me - Joel Kim Booster

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Roop Kund

Ologies - Puffinology (PUFFINS) with Jill Taylor

Wild Card - Lena Waithe's religion is 'The Wizard of Oz'

Wild Card - Lena Waithe's relationship goals + Taylor Tomlinson's childhood idol (Wild Card+)

⭐ Throughline - Pop Music's First Black Stars

Short Wave - Move Over Norse Mythology, There's A New Loki In Town — A Dinosaur

It's Been a Minute - Girl, that remix, so healing; plus, gay vampires

What Next: TBD - Why Extreme Weather Keeps Surprising You

Dear Prudence - My In-Laws Disrespected My Daughter, So I Kicked Them Out. Help!

Endless Thread - This is Not a Pyramid Scheme

⭐ Strong Songs - "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen

If Books Could Kill - Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

Re: Dracula - June 29: Tonight is Mine

Hit Parade - The Bridge: Center of the “World”

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

The Beach Boys Radio • Chill

Shout-Out Party Hits

Chicago Radio • Upbeat

Charli XCX

Fleetwood Mac