#i've rewatched them so many times now for reference lol

[visiosatanae]

WIP Whenever

Thank you for including me @ramblingoak and @meowsaidmissy 💜

I sadly don't have any drawing WIPs that aren't top secret, but I am still currently working on my long fic, The Gauntlet. This chapter involves the reader going out on the town with Papa II 😏

~~~

Seeing him outside of the Ministry was like being with an entirely different person. Without the skull face paint, ornate robes, and clergical responsibilities, he seemed a lot more relaxed and laid back when previously all I knew him for were his austere sermons and harsh glares. 

We finally pulled up to an unassuming building with a line of people waiting out the door. Despite the back alley location and nondescript buildings surrounding it, there was a booming bass that could be felt beneath my feet. Ever the gentleman, Secondo helped me out of the car, my hand cradled in his gloved one. As the ghoul drove off, we headed towards the front of the line, much to the annoyance of everyone waiting. The bouncer merely nodded to us - or more accurately, to Papa - in recognition as he let us in. A small neon green sign was the only indication of the club's name - Zenith. 

The moment we stepped foot inside it felt like every single bone in my body was vibrating. The dance floor itself was on a level lower than the entrance, the mass of pulsing bodies mesmerizing. Even if this wasn't my typical idea of a night out, I couldn't help but be pulled in by the intoxicating aura of alcohol and sin mixed with the thumping bass. 

Secondo wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me in close to him, hand splayed over my hip. I thanked Satan below that the club was dark enough to hide how flushed my face was. I wasn’t sure how he was able to see so well as he was still wearing his sunglasses, but he easily led me further inside, starting us off at the bar. He must have sensed how tense I was, pulling me closer to him and ordering me a colorful cocktail. 

"For the nerves, eh?"

I took it gratefully, nearly downing half of it in one go. He chuckled, ordering himself a drink as well. Once my inhibitions were sufficiently numbed, I figured it was as good a time as any to show Papa a good time, as Chloe had advised me. I gently took his hand, the leather smooth against my fingers as I pulled him onto the dance floor, putting on my best attempt at seduction. It must have been effective because he followed my lead without hesitation, an easygoing smile gracing his lips. 

~~~

I'm not sure who all has been tagged, so I tag anyone else that has WIPs and would like to share 😊

[lowkeyrobin]

I just read your mcyts x musical theater reader and it was so sweet. I was wondering if you could do something similar but instead of the reader doing musical theater, they do movie/tv acting??? maybe with slimecicle, niki, foolish, and quackity?

I can try I can try 🙏🙏 ; I wanna formally apologize to anyone who's sent requests that I've never posted, sometimes the lack of ideas just hits me like a brick and I physically have no more ideas and can't post them lol ; also sorry if any of this is a little inaccurate, this is just what I know from bts videos and dead meat / kill counts lmao

MCYT ; actor reader

includes ; nihachu, quackity, foolish gamers & slimecicle

warnings ; language

masterlist

NIKI NIHACHU

your biggest fan fr

she binges every single movie/show you've been in just for you

then afterward her tiktok fyp is filled with edits of your characters

her pinterest is filled with pics of your characters too lmao

she's got boards for all the diff characters and aesthetics and bts pics

you send her a picture of you hung by a harness and she's like "what kind of contraption are you in and why"

probably watches the movies/shows you're in on stream for first time reactions and commentary

if you have to wear a wig for a project you'll show her like a time-lapse of how the makeup dept puts it on and she's just like "how long does that take???" "an hour" "omg"

ALEX QUACKITY

liking, reposting and commenting on any edits of you/your characters

actually so down bad /hj

yk damn well he's always asking "hey any new movies or shows ur gonna be in soon??" "not soon enough for u to watch rn lmao"

always makes jokes in reference to media you've been in

asks what other actors are like bts and if they're actually nice or if they have a JLO type ego

always wants to match Halloween costumes w your characters and their love interest/best duo type friend iykwim

hides the fact he reads fanfiction about you and your characters

FOOLISH GAMERS

owns every single piece of merchandise related to your characters

owns every piece of media you've been in on DVD, and has most of the original scores on cd/vinyl

constantly making references and jokes to movie/show deaths you've acted out / traumas your characters have endured

his tiktok fyp is FILLED with edits of you

every like three scrolls it's another edit that he likes, reposts and favorites

he rewatches edits 24/7

also dives into fandom culture a bit bc he wants to talk to people who like your career as much as he does

also the type to ask "is ___ a good person or are they secretly a bitch?" lmao

you spill all the juice

CHARLIE SLIMECICLE

has an actual checklist of which movies/shows he's watched and how many times he has

the gossip about other actors bts goes crazy

he's probably the one to show up to set the most to give you food or motivation lol

"whatre you guys doing with all the blood?" *cue him looking to giant gallons of fake blood*

"I, ___ & ___ are dying today"

"Oh, fuck, cool. can I watch?"

matching Halloween costumes with your characters 💯💯💯

he's obsessed with seeing edits of you and reposting the ones he finds on Twitter

"Holy shit you guys are insane (make more right now)

w boyfriend

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: The Bad Buddy Rewatch Edition, Part 0.5 -- The BBS Meta Series Preamble

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I'm preambling a series of posts that I'll be publishing throughout November and December about my OGMMTVC rewatch of Bad Buddy and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars.]

After nearly a month of rewatching Bad Buddy and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars -- TWICE, holy shit! -- I'm finally putting pen to paper on a four-part series of BBS meta that I've been looking forward to writing nearly all year.

Before I start the series, I'd like to offer a not-so-quick preamble of how I got here. Before the birth of this Old GMMTV Challenge project, I was flitting and floating, enjoying a dalliance with Thai BLs here and there, while still mostly watching Japanese BLs, my entrée into overall Asian BL content. I started with KinnPorsche in the late summer of 2022, picked up The Eclipse after that on the recommendation of a dear mutual (@the-nihongo-adventure, I hope you're well!), and then picked up A Tale of Thousand Stars in order to prepare for my first live GMMTV fandom experience on Tumblr in early January with Moonlight Chicken.

That was the exact order by which I came to Bad Buddy, which I watched for the first time in January and February of this year, after MLC ended. I was so blown away. I thought I was a drama girlie before Bad Buddy, but it was like Bad Buddy had made me see facets of drama-making that I had never known or appreciated before. The act structure of episode 10 alone just sat me the hell down, let alone the brilliance of the overall story arc vis à vis Pat, Pran, the themes and motifs of intergenerational trauma and filial piety that I related to, down to my bones and bloodstream, and the millions of layers on this show that we could spend a lifetime parsing.

My first piece about Bad Buddy, published in February, is the post on Tumblr that I am the most proud of writing, my first post (as a relatively new Tumblr-ite) that I took days and drafts to work on. In that post, I worked out what I saw as the major theme of intergenerational trauma dominating the story landscape of Bad Buddy, framed in what I interpreted as a reflection of David Hegel's thesis-antithesis-synthesis modality of change in philosophy and art, as most poignantly reflected in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.

In other words, y'all: I became a BBS girlie, lol.

And, partly in conversation with @miscellar, and partly by way of the just TREMENDOUS, TREMENDOUS amount of meta on Bad Buddy on Tumblr (whew, the MASTERS, @telomeke, @grapejuicegay, @dribs-and-drabbles, @airenyah, @dudeyuri, @dimplesandfierceeyes, oh my gosh, so many many more, I can't list them all!), I came to learn that Bad Buddy was a home to so many other themes, motifs, and references that honestly, my mind was blown.

For me, personally, it was ABL Sensei's original post on the newer landscape of GMMTV BLs answering to Thailand's seminal BLs, as well as @miscellar's post on BL tropes referenced and reshaped in Bad Buddy, that served as the original inspiration for the creation of the Old GMMTV Challenge project.

I needed to watch older Thai BLs to understand the landscape of how this genre was born and how it's changed and developed over time, to truly and deeply understand the impact that Bad Buddy had on me personally and artistically, and how it stands in the echelon of the Thai BL genre today, particularly by way of the influence of BBS's director, the brilliant Aof Noppharnach. I needed to know about the food that fed Bad Buddy to make Bad Buddy what it was as its own seminal drama.

So, after 32 shows and movies watched on the OGMMTVC list, I get to this moment -- my turn, my time, to pound out some BBS meta, knowing what I know now about the history of the Thai BL genre up to 2021-2022.

My four-part series of BBS meta will focus on the following:

Part 1: A look at how previous GMMTV BLs spoke to Bad Buddy in their own development, and to Bad Buddy itself. I'll take a look at the BL tropes that Bad Buddy references and reshapes. I'll touch upon Theory of Love, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Still 2gether, and many more older shows. I'll also take a look at themes in BBS that I didn't touch upon in my first BBS thesis from February 2023.

Part 2: In conjunction with my Big Meta series on themes of pain in Asian dramas, I want to take a look at the themes of pain, trust, and separation (sometimes voluntary, sometimes forced) in some Asian dramas, including Bad Buddy, Still 2gether, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Until We Meet Again, and I Promised You The Moon.

Part 3: I have had the extremely GREAT luck to engage in lengthy discussion about Bad Buddy with a number of Asian Tumblr bloggers, to discuss how we related to BBS as Asians, and what themes we could analyze from our culturally attuned and lived-in perspectives. In this meta, I'll take a look at Asian cultural touchpoints including inherited and intergenerational trauma; competition amongst one's peers; the nature of secret-keeping and what's "acceptable" to explicitly talk about in Asian family systems; and much more. (I may need to split this post into two, we'll see!)

Part 4: I'll offer some thoughts, based off of the Pain, Trust, and Separation Big Meta and the BBS Asian Cultural Touchpoints meta, on Pran leaving for Singapore, and how Thai vs. international audiences may interpret his decision to leave Thailand for two years.

I'm late to the BBS meta game, but there's no time like the present to catch the hell up. I'm happy to celebrate Bad Buddy's two-year anniversary this way, and I'm really excited that the OGMMTVC allows me to do so.

Part 1 drops later this week. Meet me at Wai's bar for a chit-chat -- and thank you for reading along!

(Tagging @dribs-and-drabbles by request! If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know! <3 )

[Here's the complete OGMMTVC watchlist as it stands today. For a more accurate look at what I've watched, please mosey over to this link!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here)

31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (watching) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch For the Sake of Re-Analyzing an Politics-Focused Show After Not Me 39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults) 43) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 44) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 45) Only Friends (2023) (tag here)]

[shallowseeker]

okay so, yesterday I found your spn meta by chance and fell in love with them 'cause more than writing they're like images, like they really depict things and I just immediately understand what you mean instantly + I started to rewatch Steve Yockey's episodes 'cause I feel like I like his writing (lots of queer! lots of rom-com references! but it's all done so intellingently, I love it!) but ALSO sometimes it doesn't translate to me + I just saw you wrote about "Optimism"= I GOTTA ASK: what's your take on "Optimism"? I don't understand what the Zombie story and the Musca one should reveal about the characters. Visually, it looks like the Musca = Charlie, so Harper and the zombie are ??? I'm mad at myself 'cause I don't seem to get what the show is telling me so I'm hoping you can share what the show tells YOU and, vicariously, I can get it as well (lol). THANK YOU!

Hi! Hello!

Oh, really? That's so cool. I still have trouble thinking of myself as a "meta writer." I don't mean to be. I just like to ramble. But cool! It's probably mostly that we think alike and are sympatico in some key ways. :-) Always fun to find kindred spirits!

///

O P T I M I S M

I have so many thoughts on Optimism. It's one of my fave episodes! I actually did a re-watch-slash-convo with some friends on Discord and just transcribed the very, very, very LOOONG bulk of it today!

I haven't written much on the Musca. After spending a lot of time of @scoobydoodean's blog, I've just about decided the Musca plot is actually a Sam's emotions-through line more than it is a true dark mirror. Even AU Charlie is cheeky about it:

AU CHARLIE (annoyed at Sam, about the Musca): Your nifty metaphor has holes.

Basically, Charlie is saying that mirrors aren't one-to-one, and that trying to force-fit them into being one-to-one can be super annoying sometimes.

//

CHARLIE - Every two hundred years there is "bad egg". When a male fails to find a mate, he abandons his community and starts using peoples bodies to "nest". Binding them together with a viscous goo. And when the goo fits...

//

The Musca/fly is at face-value:

A) A bodysnatcher plot: In that regard, it could be like all angels, demons, or anyone inhabiting a body. (Cas, Lucifer, Michael, Crowley, etc.) Ergo, it's a dark, uncharitable Cas mirror the way Dave Mathers outlaw wraith was in Tombstone. It could be saying that Cas "failed" among "his own people" and cruelly took up space in a human body. But that would be grossly oversimplifying the whole situation, saying that Cas "should have stayed with his people," which ofc doesn't work.

It, as Charlie says, "has a lot of holes." @ilarual has written a lot about the totalitarian structure of Heaven. And Sam himself wants Cas around. As far as metaphors go, it's a dud for Cas.

B) It's a failure to thrive plot: Because the Musca "failed" in The Real World with its Own People, perhaps failed to live up to The prescriptive Dream of Success (TM), now it's wreaking havoc on others.

Sam himself "failed out" of Harvard. He "choked." Kevin Train and Patience Turner are also Failed Gifted Students. Losers who didn't live up to their potential. This could even apply to Chuck, binding together his characters because he's a Loser with a capital L.

///

ANYWAY, I feel like the Music plot is a "red herring" for a few reasons.

One: The main Harper plot is about breaking narratives, about not relying so much on books. And then Charlie says this:

CHARLIE: Goo. So, yeah. I'd say this is the right place. Now, I'm just trying to figure out what we are dealing with. Thus, books.

Aside: Later Cas says sarcastically in Ouroboros that Sam and Rowena, "Have many, many books."

So, there's this niggling indictment of trying to find too much truth in books...

///

Two: Sam has a tendency to see something and, like, imprint on it. He tends to fall into "It's just like me!" instead of speaking frankly about the present situations and emotions.

*In American Nightmare, he sees Madga Peterson, an abused child* -> "She's just like me!"

*In Somewhere in Between Heaven and Hell, he sees someone lying about something completely unrelated to his current situation* ->"Omg, they're lying to them, like I'm lying to Dean! It's just like me!"

*In Lost & Found, he meets Jack Kline, who is Lucifer's son "OMG, he's just like me!" -> *spoiler alert* Jack is not in fact much like Sam at all. -> Sidenote: instead of speaking frankly about how Dean is grieving, how Lucifer killed Cas and likely killed Mary, he uses complex euphemisms with Jack, ones that actually obscure the reality of the situation! This winds up annoying Jack and making him pull away from Sam.

///

IMHO...Sam isn't...naturally all that great with emotions.

He tries really, really hard, and he loves patterns, but he's always seeming to force-fit situations and scenarios into neat little boxes so he can passively-aggressively use it to indirectly communicate something he feels about himself.

He has a very cognitive empathy style. Bless him.

///

So what's REALLY going on here?

Well. In this episode, he wants Charlie to stay. He wants Charlie to stay and fill a void the other Charlie left behind. He wants Charlie to stay really, really badly. And he beats around the bush about it.

At first, he sidesteps his own emotions by passive-aggressively implying that it's Dean that in fact needs her.

CHARLIE: He'll be fine. Your brother, I mean. He's got other friends, right? SAM: Plenty. Uhm, he used to have a pretty damn good wingman. CHARLIE: So call that guy to check on him. SAM: That guy was you. CHARLIE: No, it wasn't. SAM: Right, I, uh, sorry. I didn't mean that.

And then by trying to make the case fit her.

He's very indirect and weird about it. Because he's Sam. (It's a contrast to the effortless, awkward-but-honest communication style we see from characters like Jack and Dean in this very episode.)

SAM: Charlie, you can't just quit and go live on a mountain somewhere. People need people. CHARLIE: Why? Cause they're the luckiest people in the world? SAM: Look, come on. We just do. We're social animals. CHARLIE: Emphasis on animals. SAM: Yeah, but you're also a hunter. The things that we've seen, it's not so easy to just walk away from it all. Believe me, I've tried. Our Charlie tried. CHARLIE: Yeah, well again, she ain't me. It's my life, Sam. Not hers. And not yours.

Ah, yes. Instead of saying, “I want you here,” it’s, “people need people.”

And Hell, sometimes indirect communication works! Like how Dean and Cas use Felix the snake to indirectly communicate with Jack in Peace of Mind!

But the difference with Sam is...he's not using this indirect communication style to find out how Charlie feels (the way Dean and Cas use the snake to suss out how Jack feels).

No, he's using the whole thing to try to tell Charlie what he thinks is best for her! To tell her things, not find out things.

Eventually, he breaks and says what he actually thinks, but only after AU Charlie is starting to lose her patience with him:

SAM (faux-sadly): Got to say, I do feel kind of bad for the Musca. I mean, he could have been happy if he'd stayed with his people. Didn't have to go off on his own just because... CHARLIE (exasperated): Okay, I get it. I am just like the bug and I shouldn't go out on my own.

OMG, Sammy! It's okay if we want to hit Sam sometimes, right? I too wanted to hit him after he said this to Charlie.

CHALIE: But your nifty metaphor has holes. I wasn't looking for love. I found it and I lost it. And I didn't kill people and literally nest in their body parts so...(Scene cuts to other Musca removing the body of the dead one) SAM: Okay, yeah I know, I know, How about this? Don't leave. 

(Aside// I think this is a cheeky nod to the fact that Cas and Dean weren't looking for love either. In fact, they tried (and keep trying) really, really hard not to love each other. Their real life was faaaar more complicated than some simple "bodysnatcher plot.")

But thank God--Sam finally says outright what he needed to say to Charlie: Don't leave.

Now, it probably would've been better if he's gone a step further: "I don't want you to leave," but for Sam, this is pretty good progress.

SAM: Hear me out. Sure some people can do bad things when they're desperate or scared. But the guy we just saved, he has a wife and children. I'm not saying that all people are good people or even that most people are but if we help people then maybe they'll help people and all that. And that's worth it. Even with all the tears and death. It's worth it. CHARLIE: Just to be super clear, I am not like the fly monster. (Sam chuckles) But, I'll think about staying.

So I think OVERALL the Musca plot is really about highlighting Sam's difficult communication style, and I think it's intentionally being cheeky about it how it's using a "really "dumb metaphor" with gaping holes!

It's about how Sam tries to force-fit the case of the week into saying what he wants it to say...instead of just saying it.

///

I think Sam has a little bit of a "mental main character syndrome." He sees a scenario and moves directly into cognitive empathy, reading the situation and thinking:

How can I apply this to myself? Or make it a stand-in for either something I want to believe about myself or a stand-in for something I want to say indirectly?

Sometimes you'll see ppl insist that Sam is the "MC" because every storyline tells you "something about Sam." But I'm more in the camp that it's Sam's inherent cognitive style of empathy at work, desperately reworking anything and everything to make it apply to himself.

Whereas Cas and Dean (and Jack) have a truer emotional style of empathy, connecting with people for who they actually are, as they are.

That's not to say that both styles can't be manipulative when we want them to be. But Sam really struggles with his style in a way I feel like Dean and Cas do not. Dean and Cas perhaps don't even realize what effective communicators they actually are!

///

My other thoughts on Optimism:

[enigmaticdiary]

i am rewatching episode 1 for rewind the tape :) I've seen the pilot probably around 20 times at this point but I've only watched it by myself.... once! so for the first time since my first time watching it alone, im gonna do it again with a head full of knowledge of the iwtv book and the full season. and im turning off captions so it's less reading and more watching and close observing for me >:D

Below is a liveblog!

WARNING: I FUCKING LOVE TO TALK AND POINT OUT USELESS THINGS ON EVERY SINGLE THING I SEE. THIS POST IS GOING TO BE A MILE LONG. Also im still not great at putting my thoughts together.

hmm. I would read molloys book on kaposi sarcoma and hiv/aids. i love how well the fake book covers and this advert are put together because so many times I've been asked by friends who i showed the show to if it was an actual commercial LOL.

THE PIC ON THE BACK OF THE BOOK GOING FROM LUKE TO JUST AN ACTUAL PICTURE OF YOUNG ERIC BOGOSIAN? LMFAO. The casting is genuinely so perfect in this show. hehe i like how well the passage of time is depicted through the book covers too, not just in. the photos for daniel obviously but for the aesthetic styles of the covers. the cover they made for "the internets gavel" is sooo mid 2000s. I love the attention to detail for these things on screen for less than a second because it gives a fool like me something to look at and praise simply because the detail wasn't overlooked.

"hate and ashbury" man this is such a good title too. simply because im looking at it and sifting out details it's such a good way to get even more insight into molloy's character. while I don't need to get into a history lecture of haight-ashbury, it tells a lot because it was a historically hippie neighborhood in the 1960s and the birthplace of the counterculture movement, it says a lot for molloy especially seeing the previous three fictional books he wrote about, being hiv/aids crisis, the politics of climate change in the United states, the governments attempts at putting stricter regulation on the internet... I could get into how this connects with molloy's character more in relation to his desire for vampirism but i am barely over a minute in and I've been typing for 15 minutes now!!!

"Preparing For An Interview" NO WAY. GUYS!

No no no i will not pause every 10 seconds and try to connect the thematic dots of everything being presented to me. I need to save that for the video essay im writing!

louis' beautiful handwriting❤️

i dont know why daniels scrunched up face is so fucking funny to me.

Jesus okay watching this without captions is actually really difficult for me i see why i need them all at all times. If im not rewinding because i keep fucking pausing im rewinding because I didn't understand a fucking word i just heard. Despite seeing the episode 20 times.

Hmm.. What personally redemptive accomplishments could louis be referring to..?

UUGGGHHHHHHJJJJJJJJHHHHHHHHHHHHHFHHHH sorry Louis on screen and i started tearing up. Hello armand goodbye armand.

Yah.

Do you think louis goes on twitter sometimes.

Yah?

COVID MEDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COVID MEDIA!!!!!!!!!!!

Louis has changed... The only big change he's mentioned between Interview 1 and now that I can recall off the top of my head is that he stopped killing in 2000. I wonder why? I wonder many things

Truth and reconciliation....

Armand being concerned with daniels editor seeing/hearing what was said. I am vaguely aware of the theory that armand has possibly been up to mindfuckery with both louis and Daniel and i can only wonder if this has been mentioned to buoy that theory. To control the narrative.? Hmm... but why?

I know Daniel was annoyed by louis calling him "boy" but i think it's kind of cute. Even with nearly 50 years passing by, the old human is still young to the vampire who has lived going on twice his lifetimes. I am not 10 minutes in and I have been typing for 40 minutes!

FUUUUUUCK sorry. louis

I have no commentary on louis introducing. LESTAT. sorry, not him. On louis introducing new orleans and his the place he inhabited in it. I think its pretty self explanatory and explicit, yeah?

BRICKS❤️❤️❤️❤️

Oh my god the fucking "Oh—goddamn." upon seeing fenwicks diarrhea dick is Ao fucking funny. Louis acting like he would actually have a problem seein a dick or too. Probably would have a problem seeing fenwicks tho (unshitted on). I don't disagree there. Maybe the poop camo is for the best....

Yiu can't be saying that racist jake the dog

Id stick my finger in fenwicks wound and see how deep itd go.

Hi paul

The lord told me to cum. Sorry im 5 years old

Paul punching louis is genuinely so fucking. LESTAT AND HIS FUCKING GOOFY ASS HAT OH MY GOD!!. Sorry. Paul punching Louis was so fucking funny to me because I know that if they were not on that street and were at home or something they would be SLUGGING each other until grace has to pull them apart. Then hug it out :) Idk is this how siblings work im pretty much an only child

I keep having to google words help. HELP. NOT ME HAVING LOOKED UP "PULPIT" ALREADY AND APPARENTLY COMPLETELY FORGETTING WHAT IT MEANS.

Immediately another word I have to google. Im not gonna say I'm stupid for not knowing these words, i did not grow up with the church as closely as others...

i do think a lot about the pointe du lac household before their father died. like. A lot. Theres so much in that brief interaction mentioning him. The sugar cane, the hospital, the Diversion.

Ill never forget the first time i rewatched this ep After learning about the mayfair witches and seeing this scene and being like: GASP! OH MY GOD! ANNE RICE REFERENCE! IT'S ALL CONNECTED!

Paul is so fucking funny like the shade he's constantly throwing, please take a break LMFAO

hng. (louis)

Googling words again. Hmmm the internalized homophobia yes yes i see. Sorry need to google another fucking word. Oh. oh louis...... Ok I can see how my mom picked up on louis being gay so fast. I am a smart boy but my vocabulary is pathetically limited so "big" words going over my head made what should've been pretty obvious be absolutely indecipherable to me. Sorry for being stupid (im not)

I am 17 minutes in and I have been watching and typing for an hour!

Louis: everyone in here is white so its easy to pick out who's gonna call me a nigger to my face and whos gonna do it behind my back

Sir..... Mister....

Hes here

Microaggression 1

TWO.

THREE.

FOUR?

LESTAT CONTINUOUSLY HITTING ME OVER THE HEAD WITH BRICKS

His hair looks like shit

IM. GOING TO KILL HIM. Dont worry louis get behind me.

YOU GONNA FALL VICTIM TO THIS MAN WHOSE HAIR GOT CAUGHT UNDER THE IRON?

Oh my god Leswirl de lioncourt PLEASE PLEASE I CANT TAKE THIS. Actually started growling out loud and said "Shut rhr fuck up, oh mt God.!!!"

IVE EMPTIED A BANK VAULT SAMPLING. S. AJSHKSKSJZMSMS PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP OH MY GKD. PLEASW. ISNSSMJAKSNSMSJAJZMSUAUBZNZ

Lestat put your ears away, please.

Me, watching this for the first time at the age of 20: Is this gay...? No... it can't be. They would put gay in a show...? For real? (in denial and scared of being queerbaited despite the most explicit homosexual overtext)

MISS CARROLL THEYRE HAVING A DICK MEASURING COMPETITION.!!!!!!!

Unfortunately lestat did kind of serve there but throwing his dick down on the table embarrassing louis like that in front of miss carroll and lily was evil and racist somehow And he should be sentenced to 40 good slams in thr head with a brick

If paul didn't punch louis none of this would be happening

Lestat: God i love to troll

Who the devil you say.? Well...

Oh lord louis' face card sorry didn't mean to moan like that. I saw a maj so beautiful I threw up evrrywhere

Hmm. The racism

FUUUUUUCK LOUIS IS SO CUTE I NEED TO KILL MYSELF!

Lestat needs to put his ears AWAY he looks so bad with his hair that short.

What IS this insane time freezing trick lestat is doing? God when im actually giving myself a chance to really absorb myself in the show that scene is actually pretty fucking scary LOL

I NEED TO DIE I HATE HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE SHIOT ME IN THE FUCKING HEADA

Lord have mercy the sheer SEX in his eyes as he looks at louis' neck. I nedd to die

Paul..... I need to kill myself for emotional reasons not related to loustat

Egypt reference! Wow! Gabrielle allusion ! "The means to make my way to paris" Ok well what if i

I FEEL SO FUCKING BAD AT HOW HARD I LAUGH AT PAULS SCENES. steven norfleet does such an amazing job in this role.

SAVAGE GARDEN!!!!!!! GUYS!!!!! B

Hooray! The scene that changed me literally Forever. Whatever, man.

Ykung violinist

lily and lestat circling louis like two lions descending on a zebra.

I had a dream about this scene once. I will not br elaborating.

Dude.

GUYS. SEX IS SO FUCKING AWESOME!!!

Guys.

God thid is so fucking crazy

Unfortunately this part does make me giggle especially having to see these two men floating naked and seeing sams fat ass Im about to start crying again

I wish vampires were real

Insert joe biden yelling faggot I don't have it on hand and i don't want to pause for 20 minutes to find it

MY FAVORITE SCENE EVERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PAUL AND LOUIS TAPDSNCING SO CUTE AARRRGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!! The fact that thus scenr eas really all them, being jacob and steven, its so awesome.

WHEN THE BLACK JOY! And then thr Black suffering. Ok guys 21st time is a charm Im praying really hard I THINK I CAN STOP PAUL FROM JUMPING THIS TIME!

This is one of those scenes that really seperates black viewers from nonblack viewers because the way some of my nonblack friends have reacted to florence blaming louis has made me so insanely embarrassed.... I don't know how to explain it. But the shame from a black parent... especially the mother. I don't know. It breaks you in a different way than anything else. Theres a lot of nuance I want to say but I don't have the time or brainpower or expertise to word it properly so please just take my emotional response to this scene at face value.

sorry but lestat just openly asking during the funeral service where they got pauls coffin from is CRAZY.

Breaking finns arm was also crazy as fuck. Like would hs have done that if louis didn't get angry as fuck at him just then. Unfortunately knowing lestats character now seeing louis get mad like that probably made him hard as fuck and thr only way he can deal with it in the moment is to break that mans arm. Sorry I love how ar the beginning of this post i was like super into the nitty gritty and the details bjt then it just turned into me making fun of lestat and how hard he definitely was in like every single scene he was in

God. the pain.

Killing lily was in fact extremely racist and misogynistic of lestat. He should be stabbed many times for this

God.

Ok scene two that permanently changed me

Sorry to that poor stunt double that got knocked out then.

What rage you must feel as you choke on your sorrow. Unfortunately one of the hardest lines ever

No commentary. Hard to say things about this scene cause its just so good, man.

Oh my poor ashy grey blood deprived louis

Watching this scene with headphones on is crazy

GOD. GUYS. I LOVE SHOW. DID YOU GUYS KNOW I FUCKING LOVE SHOW???!!?? Pack it up guys This is one of the best pilots in tv history

To wrap up this post, it took me about 2 hours and 20 minutes to finish the first episode. I spent twice as long watching it BECAUSE I LOVE TO FUCKING YAP!

[canary3d-obsessed]

Your restless rewatch for the untamed is so hilarious i am binge-ing on them now lol

Seriously, how many times have you watched TU for this? The references and jokes are so on point that I am realizing a few things too! Good analysis with humor!

Looking forward to the rest!!!

Thank you!

I've watched parts of it more times than I can count, but like everyone I tend to skim over the less enjoyable bits. But! For each RR post I usually watch the episode 3 times, no skipping - once to get an idea of what I want to say, once without sound or subtitles while I'm clipping it into chunks for giffing, another time in the background/on my second monitor while I'm making my gifs. And I go back and forth to other episodes where I suspect a parallel may be happening. Naturally then I get sucked into the other episode - for Ep 39 I went back to review the Lan bros' conversation in Ep 21, and then ended up watching the whole episode.

In general, if I like a cdrama I will watch it at least twice, and if I like it a lot, I'll return to it again and again. Off the top of my head, a few others that I've watched more than twice are: Nirvana in Fire (like, WAY more than twice), The Long Ballad, Go Ahead, You Are My Glory, and The Yin Yang Master Dream of Eternity (that's a movie, not a drama, tho).

[sytheofabloodmoon]

So more 4am rambling, or like 5am now as I start typing this. Less timeline rules rambling but still timeline related thoughts. Although we know for certain after S2, that Lu Guang's gone back in time to save Cheng Xiaoshi(seemingly more than once if the 'last chance' line is anything to go by), I have to wonder if Cheng Xiaoshi has done the same for Lu Guang, even if it was only once. We haven't seen it actually happen but we've seen Cheng Xiaoshi be inclined to save him, seeming to consider it when he thought Lu Guang was dead, almost doing it to stop Lu Guang from getting onto the boat (until he literally got in his own way, lol). It doesn't feel impossible or to me. But considering his sincerity and how he wears his heart on his sleeve, would he even be able to keep it a secret? Maybe with some struggle, maybe more easily than we think. Regardless I think he'd end up telling Lu Guang eventually in this case, whether it was because he was pushed to, due to guilt for keeping a secret, if he just couldn't keep it a secret, getting tangled in his own web of lies, just before death or something else entirely. But then why does it seem like Cheng Xiaoshi doesn't know as much about their powers as Lu Guang, why does it feel like he's more in the dark about things? Maybe because in whatever timeline we're currently in/seeing, he doesn't know and is in the dark.

Hear me out for a second. So the flashback of Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's first meeting on the basketball court when Cheng Xiaoshi mentions that the ball represents his trust in Lu Guang and how nice it is to have lifelong partners. It seems a little much to say to someone you just met, or even someone you knew in passing as a classmate because you happened to recognize them. It sounds like something you'd say to someone you've known a long time. What if in that moment it was Cheng Xiaoshi diving back in time and he couldn't help himself from saying something he'd perhaps wanted to last time but never did or never got the chance to? There's also the part of the flashback where Cheng Xiaoshi simply says something along the lines of 'Hey newcomer, come play with us!' And while they definitely could be part of the same flashback (i.e. before and after the game), what if they were two different flashbacks? The actual first meeting and the altered one. Even if they are both the same flashback, it could still be altered because again the lifelong partners mention feels too familiar for a first meeting. Even then, there's the question why go so far back?

Also a particular line of Vortex I've seen mentioned in other theories 'Am I destined to fall? Like you once did for me?' I do think of this as Lu Guang's POV. The thing is I've seen people suggest it refers to when Lu Guang got stabbed by a possessed Qiao Ling and that maybe Cheng Xiaoshi was the one who got stabbed initially. Maybe it does refer to that or maybe it's only part of it and it also refers to falling through time, through near endless dives in an attempt to save the other. Until the only photo left, the 'last chance' was to go back to the beginning. Of course there's the white hair theory which probably plays apart in making it seem like Lu Guang's gone back in time many many times, but since diving into the photos is Cheng Xiaoshi's own power, his hair would stay the same colour. He's not using anyone else's power.

I've also seen people mention that the girls who started the noodle shop together (I rewatched this episode recently and still can't remember their names for the life of me), how their relationship seems to mirror Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's in some ways. The dynamic mainly, I think. But during my rewatch I noticed after the fight when the client asks her friend after the fight 'where are you going?' Her response is 'Back to the beginning. I'll reset.' And that was very interesting to me, considering season 2's last episode, the 'last chance' with Lu Guang going 'back to the beginning', essentially pressing the reset button. I don't know if anyone else noticed that, but I haven't seen it mentioned. And while it could be a reference to Lu Guang, it could also reference Cheng Xiaoshi if he's gone back in time to save Lu Guang before. He did after all, posses both of the women, the one who changed and the one who didn't. If their relationships do intentionally mirror each other, I think it's interesting what that might mean for the boys. Cheng Xiaoshi is both the same and different, possibly due to all the messing around with the timelines. Also considering the argument between the two, it could reference and argument about changing the timelines, changing death nodes, the first time when Lu Guang found out about Cheng Xiaoshi going back in time to save him (supposing it wasn't shortly before Cheng Xiaoshi died), and potentially a future argument when Cheng Xiaoshi finds out about Lu Guang changing the timelines and breaking his own rules to save him (and I do think he'll find out about it). Speaking of Lu Guang's rules, why is he so adamant about Cheng Xiaoshi not changing the past? To protect him, protect their present together, some sense of responsibility, because he knows Cheng Xiaoshi can be reckless? Probably at least a few of the above if not all. And maybe some reasons I missed. But also think about if Cheng Xiaoshi had gone back before, who knows how many times, to save Lu Guang, succeeded ultimately but then ended up dying, potentially in the act of saving Lu Guang depending on what the cause of death was (that's not an answer I have thought of for this theory rambling). Obviously Lu Guang wouldn't want him to be reckless and change things again, especially if he holds the memories of that happening. Cheng Xiaoshi at one point may have made his own death node by changing things to save someone so important to him.

Back to the point of why in the timeline we're seeing, Cheng Xiaoshi seems more clueless about their powers. I'm thinking what if whatever may have changed in this timeline, lead to whatever may have happened in the hypothetical timeline I purposed not happening, either the avoided whatever event would've caused Lu Guang's death and Cheng Xiaoshi diving back or somehow Lu Guang managed to live through it. So as of this timeline, Cheng Xiaoshi never dived back to save Lu Guang, he hasn't done all those dives and doesn't have all that experience. But Lu Guang does, he has dived back, he's manged to avoid Cheng Xiaoshi having to, maybe in part to his rules, maybe something else. But Lu Guang still has all those memories of timeline after timeline, has used those powers himself now, so this time Cheng Xiaoshi is really in the dark. Maybe it's not just Cheng Xiaoshi's optimism that contributes to Lu Guang choosing to dive back to save Cheng Xiaoshi himself, even though they supposedly can't change the path and death is an unchangeable node but the fact that Cheng Xiaoshi has done the same for Lu Guang and succeeded. Perhaps he somehow even replaced Lu Guang's death node with his own, even if he no longer knows that he did that.

I really want a happy ending to the series with our main trio all happy and alive and together, but I also don't think we'll get one. Whether my rambling theory thing is in any part true or not, I feel like the series will probably end with either one or both of the boys dying. I will cry if that happens though, that is a threat and a promise, lol.

Anyways if you're still reading thanks for putting up with the long post. Also I have no idea if this even makes any sense or not or if I can really even call this string of thoughts a proper theory. But it's food for thought and I wanted to get these thoughts down and semi-organized, so here we are

[aprillikesthings]

oh god oh god

HEY GUESS WHAT I'm down to the last two episodes of She-Ra in my rewatch

On a related note, should you desire to read them all starting from s1ep1 for some godforsaken reason, here's the link. Please be amused at my claims that I would not do this for every episode and my repeated attempts to cut back on how much I copy/paste dialogue and/or explain the entire plot instead of just making jokes and commentary

If, somehow, you are New Here, I've been rewatching all of the 2018 She-Ra, ostensibly for fic-writing reasons as I had forgotten huge quantities of the plot. I have since become deeply obsessed, as one does.

I make a lot of adult jokes, random asides, references to other things, commentary, and a lot of cursing and crying. I love Catradora and I love Catra especially and have a tendency to add a screenshot every time they so much as look at each other. It seems silly to warn for spoilers at this point, but yeah, this is a RE-watch. It's just that I forgot a lot of it because I watched it the first time as it was coming out (pun intended). The shit I did remember is so fucking random tho lol

The last time I tried to do a two-parter in one post the number of times I had to reblog it because tumblr only allows 30 images per post got real stupid, so while I do still assume I will have to reblog multiple times per episode, I'm doing each episode separately.

HERE WE GOOOOO

s5 ep12 Heart (pt 1)

jfc i'm full of adrenaline lol

Also I have a beer, it's a citrus IPA because I live in Portland and it's required by law

(not really I just genuinely like them. that and IPA's that taste like gnawing on a douglas fir. also fruit sours.)

LOL I was so anxious I looked away from this post and consumed most of my beer this is gonna be hilarious

ALSO my goal is to finish these two episodes before the Easter Vigil service tomorrow night at 8pm

Theoretically I should be able to watch two episodes of TV in a day and a half, right? AHAHA

Bow should play Wonderwall

she always looks so soft with her hair down

but also having that thing just floating in front of your chest like that has gotta feel weird

ON A RELATED NOTE I know I made the joke in the last episode about how many people have the failsafe as a tattoo but the PROBLEM is that now I literally LIVE with a tattoo artist whose work I like--I already have two tattoos they've done, here and here, and the temptation is extremely high?? but I don't have any other obvious fandom-related tattoos (unless you count the title of a Björk song) so it feels weird to start with this one???? Like I don't have any LoTR or BBC Sherlock or SU or K/DA tattoos (to list off a bunch of fandoms I was devastatingly obsessed with at the time) so getting one for THIS fandom feels kinda weird. But like, also, if I got it kinda small on one wrist it would look kinda cool and be a nice loud DID U KNOW I'M GAY kinda thing. Gyahhh.

She's struggling to do She-Ra, and I'm sitting here YELLING because IT'S BECAUSE CATRA LEFT and UGH I want to murder Shadow Weaver

(eyyyy I won't have to, ha ha oh god)

Oh she manages to transform anyway. Without making any noise or glowing lights, just pop, She-Ra

awwww but also lol

related aside but like, every culture that figured out bows and arrows invented at least one kind of string instrument. Literally archers just fidgeting with their bows and going "oh this makes a nice sound, what if I put more strings on this thing." So many different places and cultures invented things like a guitar or like a harp or like a violin. But also I want to know who the FUCK figured out the hurdy-gurdy??? oh my god I just looked up the hurdy-gurdy and I'm cracking up because one of the earliest depictions of it is from the 1100's, in the Santiago de Compostela cathedral. A place I have been. Because I did the Camino last year.

oh right plot

I would like to take a moment and be grateful for the people who put together the transcripts on the fandom wiki for saving me typing up long bits of lore-heavy dialogue

She-Ra: "Prime is getting closer every day to figuring out how to access the Heart of Etheria. If he succeeds, he can use it to destroy worlds, galaxies, maybe even the entire universe. The Failsafe is our only chance at stopping him."

"His hold over them grows stronger every day they're chipped. If we don't free them now, we might lose them forever. Prime holds every advantage in this fight. He'll be ready for us. But we have a plan. Entrapta?" Entrapta: "I finally succeeded in cracking Prime's signal pattern. If I get access to his Spire network, I can use it to broadcast a jamming frequency that will disable all of the chips on Etheria, freeing everyone at once!" She-Ra: I need you all to get Entrapta to the Spire and keep Prime's forces distracted while she jams the signal."

"We're going to make sure that Prime can never hurt anyone ever again. We're ending this today. For good."

oh lord so Shadow Weaver is still there, sulking and looking away, and she looks over at her and starts almost losing She-Ra and being Adora again

have I mentioned how much I hate Shadow Weaver >:(

Adora goes outside...and looks around. I know who she's looking for. *sobs into a pillow*

NO. she's LOOKING for her GIRLFRIEND

I made that joke and then Glimmer literally says "Any sign of Catra?" I have to remember that at this point in the story literally everyone knows how in love they both are. Except them. Of course.

Adora: "She's not coming back." ;_;

Adora: I mean you don't have to come with me this could be dangerous Bow: the fuck are you talking about of course we're going

And she turns into She-Ra again, roll intro

Okay so they go to the Crystal Castle thing where Light Hope was

it doesn't look so good

but also that's creepy

anyway they tell the hologram (not Light Hope, the other one) that they're looking for the Heart of Etheria and that they're Friends of Mara. She-Ra gets scanned and then a door opens into a passageway. Bow and Glimmer take her hands and they walk into the hall but:

she's still looking for someone

I have to deal with another episode and change of her looking for Catra ghghggh this hurts meeeee

OH SO OF COURSE they literally switch to showing us Catra

bahaha okay so she sits up and looks behind her kind of sadly, and Melog just skids to a stop so hard they throw Catra off

And Melog looks at Catra like she's fucking nuts. Catra's like, wtf is wrong with you??? and Melog looks back like BITCH WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??? Catra what did you think was going to happen when you got a therapy animal that can literally read your moods. Melog knows you're being a dumbass and has NO reason to pretend to believe your surface "I don't give a shit" act!!

Melog does airplane ears at that. And then just pounces Catra.

Time for pressure! Just like a real therapy animal. Big weighted blanket!

oh shit I forgot about this bit

Catra just immediately starts crying.

Catra: "You saw what happened! Adora chose Shadow Weaver, okay? Not me!"

*sobs into hands* you useless fucking dumbass that is your abysmally low self-esteem talking literally every living semi-sentient thing in the galaxy knows Adora's in love with you EXCEPT YOU

I can get frustrated with AU fics where these two both pull this "but what if she doesn't like me back" thing for ages while everyone around them is face-palming in frustration, but like. You have to admit. It's accurate to canon.

(It's also accurate to lesbians in general, lbh. Either fucking on the first date or doing the "but what if she's not into me" thing for months-to-years. Sometimes both, including in some of the fics I've written, heyooooo.)

Melog purrs and licks her face. A clone approaches and they both go invisible and then follow it.

MEANWHILE

the rest of the rebellion is attacking Horde Prime's ship thing

Wrong Hordak helps Entrapta get into the spire. The whole point of this fight (which I didn't bother screenshotting lol) is to give Entrapta time to disconnect everyone's chips from Horde Prime.

Lol once inside Entrapta does another one of those "holy shit this stuff looks so cool...OMG FOCUS" things

Back at the Crystal Castle Glimmers like "omg are you scared" and She-Ra says "No, I just hope this works." Liar.

Bow: "It'll be okay. And when we get back, it'll be a whole new world."

this poor girl. she's so heartbroken.

(meanwhile the plot of my fic-in-progress is literally them breaking up. (not forever.) but it's hilarious of me to get SO UPSET over this scene when I'm going to force them to repeat it. like it's a mutual decision in my fic but it doesn't make it hurt any less.)

PFFT I unpaused it, and IMMEDIATELY:

I just said OH SHIT out loud lol

oh god I saw someone talking about this in a youtube video right around when I started my rewatch

It's a hologram, she's not actually there. And Catra goes through multiple other ages, including her kid self, being chipped on Horde Prime's ship, when they were Horde cadets, etc; before going back to looking like she does now.

Adora's sharp little gasp of shock here

Adora goes to touch Catra's hand and the hologram disappears

(good lord she's beautiful here)

And I think I agree with the youtube video: Adora knew she was upset about Catra running off, but this is the moment she specifically realizes she's in love, and it breaks her heart into tiny pieces.

(Hah, I actually say a very similar thing in part of my fic that they mention in the video--that previous to this, she refused to let herself want this or even think about it. "I didn't even realize this was something I could want.")

BUT ALSO so like is this a remnant of Light Hope's programming that tortured them with childhood flashbacks in season one (in order to drive them apart) or what

LOL NO

I know I made this joke before but I'm suing Nate for emotional damages

She-Ra: "We need to be careful. It looks like this place can still project memories."

oof

A still-invisible Catra follows the clone to where Horde Prime's ship is and is visibly terrified and shaking. A clone who might be Hordak turns around with that white in his eyes that means Prime is using him to see, and Catra just tries to be quiet and not move but she's obviously triggered, and I mean that in the literal PTSD sense.

Horde Prime (via Hordak?): "My brothers. The time has come at last. No longer shall She-Ra stand in my way."

oh okay so Horde Prime's actual ship is still in space (just orbiting Etheria I assume) and the planet-side thing is him speaking through one of the clones via the hive mind.

"Begin the acquisition process!"

are they just gonna straight-up drill into it?

apparently yes

the whole area lights up with that sickening green light, including all the lines that characters kept noticing on the ground that looked like some combo of circuit boards and First Ones' writing.

meanwhile, Adora keeps slipping out of being She-Ra for split seconds and is clearly stressing The Fuck Out and possibly walking in the wrong direction in her distress, only to walk into another memory/hologram.

And I've predictably hit the image limit, but 13:30 to go which is better than last night pfft okay gonna reblog

[thestarfishghost]

800 before the end of December is looking nearly impossible smh but eyyy! 777~

NGL, I'm movie and ova grinding so hard. I usually manage to watch 100 new things a year, but this year I instead rewatched nearly 40 things. It's been a big year for nostalgia for me, but also for getting a few people into different things with me! Vampy has personally watched so much stuff with me this year? Oh my God??? It's been a blast! I have never felt more human than when Vampy and Kimchi enjoyed Dragon Maid along side me, I swear. I also got Vampy into Enstars by starting the anime together and I am delighted >:3 Made this in celebration actually >:3 @shut-in-magical-girl

That said, I have actually watched some actual shows too, such as the first season of Oreimo and the first two seasons of Kami Nomi! Those were actually really fun. The first season of Oreimo has some of the most impassioned speeches I've ever heard about the more ""controversial"" sides of anime. I did admittedly have a love-hate relationship with Kirino at first, but honestly, it was just because of the more wildly exaggerated tsundere tropes. They became easier to laugh off after awhile. I really relate to the way she loves the hobby, and I think it really helped me warm up to her more quickly. How she enjoys collecting and getting excited over it... I relate to that in those same ways lol specifically to her Meruru shrine lol (ik no one asked, but aside from Krino, my best girl is actually Saori. I look forward to seeing more of her every time an episode comes on! :3) Also, Idk why I skipped Kami Nomi for so many years, but I legit just left it on my P2W list for a decade lol. I've only had one other person ever recommend it to me as well;; and that was like 4-5 years ago now lol;; I slowed down with playing eroge and bishoujo games around,,, 2015/2016(?), but I used to play them religiously. Keima should probably not be someone I relate to... but here I am. Relating to him. While nowadays my main passion lies in the animation side of things, I still really find relatability and comfort within this specific Reference Humor genre of anime, so I've really enjoyed this series so far. I finished up Irregular Witch too :( First show from the current airing block that I've actually completed. Bittersweet, but I had fun with that one too. I'm going to especially miss seeing Phoenix every week. I find that I usually watch whatever comedies are airing when I do tune into the blocks as they air, and this one was a really nice companion piece for the heavier stuff I've been keeping up with. I watched a few other full series, but this next one is the last I'm mentioning for now. I might make more posts another time; we'll see. Two of my favorites that I got around to during my sick week are these two next mentions; first up is Wotakoi. I am devastated that there isn't more Wotakoi. Help. They covered pretty much all of the manga according to other fans, so it's unlikely more will come out of it. It always hurts a bit when something is fully finished, though. especially when I enjoyed it so much. I might read it just for the sake of wanting more of it. It was really straight forward and was honestly a breath of fresh air. There weren't any real love rivals or anything; just nerds figuring themselves out and their dynamics out. I literally just watched six weirdos make friends and fall in love with fairly no complications involved. I'm thriving. (Or maybe I'm just a lonely, nerdy adult who is tired of drama in my life. Maybe that's the only takeaway here lmao /lh) And then,,,, finally,,, Magical Witch Punie-Chan. I have... No words. It was amazing. I loved it. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. 4 episode OVA with an additional 4 episode Omake after. Wonderful if you like darker gag-humor series and want a short little trip. This one was weird but delightful, truly. P.S. I kept "Lyrical Tolkarev~ Kill Them All!~" as my discord status for like 3 days lol That theme song is going to live in my head rent free for the rest of my days. As for what I'm most excited for in 2024, there's probably, like, A LOT. But off of the top of my head, I can name the next Given project (PLEASEEEEEEEEECOMEOUTALREADYYESSSSGIVEITTOMEEEE JANUARY27THCANNOT COME FAST ENOUGHHH) and the second season of Bokuyaba (one of the only manga I have bothered with in 15 years, going to be so real right now;; I cherish this story). When these things come out, I know for a fact that my blog is going to briefly implode. Apologies about it ahead of time lol!;; I'll probably be saying more as the currently airing series all come to an end over the coming weeks. There's quite a few I don't want to end TT~TT so talking about them might be nice!

[dangerpronebuddie]

hi!! you said in tags on a recent post that they were foreshadowing something happening to eddie! could you pls tell me when you thought this, as i’m intrigued lol

Hello anon! 🥰

You're going to think I'm delulu by the end of this. If you don't already lol 😅

For starters, 9-1-1 loves playing the long game when it comes to foreshadowing. Eddie's shooting and the lead up to his breakdown started in his first episode.

I mean, we had "I've just done it while people are shooting at me is all" in 2x01 and "At least nobody's shooting at us" in the crossover. And! Eddie's insistence that the universe does not scream.

All the military related accidents and the entirety of the Shannon arc and 3x15 and... pretty much everything that happened to that poor man lead to his breakdown.

But the foreshadowing for what I thought was going to happen (which didn't 😕) started in 4x14 with none other than the legal guardian conversation.

I mentioned that I thought something was going to happen to Eddie and/or Chris. Like with the shooting, whatever that something is has been building for a few seasons.

Now, I love the legal guardian thing. There's so many layers to it, not to mention how they look at each other through the whole thing. It's a declaration of love. However! It's also a bad omen.

Eddie Diaz, Mr. Prove To Me Something Is Real And I'll Believe It, keeps jinxing himself. Even speaking the will into existence is a bad idea™. These writers don't normally bring something up and then forget about it. And I would say making your best friend the father of your child if you aren't there is a pretty big thing to just leave hanging!

Eddie didn't even plan on telling Buck about it until the shooting. He waited an entire year??? For something that important? In short, the writers included it for a purpose beyond an aborted love confession.

Anyhoo. That's sign one.

Season 5 we can put aside, because it was a whole other thing.

Season 6 was where the most foreshadowing came in. I think it all really started in 6x07. Even Eddie, by the like third(?) accident Felisha had, commented on the fact that he might be cursed. At the end of the episode, at the beach, he gets a call from Abuela. The framing of that shot (I really wish I could make gifs right now. Thankfully I found a set) shows Eddie in focus with Chris at the forefront. As Eddie asks "what does she say about my future?" in regards to Abuela's curandera, the focus shifts to Chris. To me, that meant something would happen to Eddie and have the guardian thing come up again.

Then, in 6x15, Eddie and Chris go to see Shannon (I thought that was really nice, btw, it was sweet). Then his mother is pestering him to come visit. He talks to her twice I believe (haven't rewatched that episode in a while, the cemetery scene haunts me 😅). Anyway, when he talks to her at the end of the episode, he says "we'll figure something out. Okay? We got time."

Refer to my earlier statement. Eddie keeps jinxing himself!

The entire episode, there was something ominous about it. The old lady, "we're all gonna die alone," Shannon, etc. It just felt... eerie, I suppose.

I expected the season 6 finale to satisfy the foreshadowing. I heard they rewrote the ending thanks to them not being sure if the show would be picked up by another network (THANK YOU ABC!) Anyway. Something tells me that the original plan was to severely hurt the fathers on the team. Chim, Bobby, and Eddie were all in serious danger.

The time jump at the end kinda sucked. To me, the finale felt a little... discombobulated. I think that maybe, even though 911 doesn't do this, they intended for season 6 to end on a cliffhanger. Any or all three of them could've still been in danger or clinging to life when the episode ended. It would've been more satisfying, honestly.

Anyway.

I just think they hinted a little too much at this. It could be that it just hasn't happened yet and there's still more foreshadowing to go. Maybe in season 7, Eddie could be missing and presumed dead or injured badly enough to have Buck step in for Chris (in a much more concrete parental role.)

[thelastbraincellofthehive]

Ok so... I haven't watched anything RWBY since last finale because I was fucking mourning and still kinda am... But anyways, now that Volume9 Is coming and I feel I little more calm and not wanting to kill absolutely everyone for taking my beautiful daughter AGAIN I decided to rewatch the series 'cuz nostalgia

I just finished Volume 1, here are my thoughts:

Omg the black models for the extras 😂😂😂 I fuckin'forgot about the shadow people!!! I love them!

Also I'm so very proud of how the animation has grown <3 Volume 8 animation is*chef's kiss*

Also, Miles and Kerry have grown up so much as writers!! Like, I adore the dumb jokes and references on these early volumes, but to think where the story heads after!!! OMG it's so awesome!!!

Now going for more specific stuff pardon my rambling and lack of order

Hearing Salem's voice in the intro hits so different after everything we've been through, I love it!

I'm 1000% sure that Ozpin knew from the start that Jaune was lying on his entrance papers, just like he knew who Blake was from the start.

Nora in Players and Pieces is just:

We stan Nora so hard it hurts<3 best girl.

Also that fucking nevermore fight still takes my break away after watching it more than 30 times! Not many things can say that!

Weiss grows so much across the seasons and I'm so proud of her <3 it's so amazing to see her in this volume knowing what she'll become #you'redoingamazingsweetie #that'smygirl

Blake, darling, there was absolutely no reason for you to crouch down behind Yang in Forever Fall, aside from wanting to watch her ass, your bisexuality is showing honey. #Proud

Also speaking of Yang, it's so weird to see her without her robotic arm again????? Can I just said that as much as I love every version of Yang, volume 5+ is her best version in every way

The fuckin' bunkbeds were and still are a hazard lol I love them though.

Roman, my beloved</3 I've missed you so much king, I wish you could be able to reunite with your girl. She also misses you so much.

That said, I'm sorry my boy, but I know if I had the power to bring back any character who has died in the series... It would always be Pyrrha. I understand why, but it doesn't mean she didn't deserved so much better.

Anyways back to the fun stuff (and there's a lot) Ozpin throwing kids off the cliff will never not be iconic lol.

Just like Weiss and Ruby riding the nevermore, my favorite moment of them as a pair in this season

Honestly the initiation arc is my favorite in this season Is just so awesome lol.

I don't understand how Cardin Winchester got into beacon... Like, he's not even a good fighter nor a good student... How???

I still can't believe that The FNDM latched onto Velvet so hard they gave her a full team of badasses and two spin off books. Fucking great it's what she deserves. Now make her and Coco a couple.

It's been so long since I last watched this volume that I didn't remember Penny and Sun were introduced in the same episode lol honestly Iconic. We got the DemiAce trans girl AND the raging bisexual monkey boy in less than five minutes. Trully a win for representation. We stan.

Also the whole 'penny was wearing a backpack but the animation didn't looked like it' thing it's so funny to me, because next season we 'learn' that She's a robot/android and my thoughts are always "why is it a surprise Ruby you saw her back open up and swords coming out of It?!" Lol.

Red like roses pt 2 and I may fall are still my favorite songs from this soundtrack. They're so freaking epic!!!

Speaking of songs, I can't watch the series without remembering that AU/Headcanon thing that since Casey does Weiss' singing voice all the songs can be seeing as things that Weiss wrote in-universe about her partners and yrabels lol like it's so fucking funny to thing about it that way lol. Did she saw team CFVY being badass and was like 'damn these 4 deserve a fuckin' hard rock anthem to go into battle!'? Did she saw Yang and Blake being useless at confesing their feelings and thought 'I'm gonna write them a song that's so gay they're gonna figure their shit out'? It's just so funny to me lol

Honestly, I really like Cinder as an antagonist... Like really, really like her lol I get why people is tired of her, but I enjoy her moments so much??? Cant wait for more Cinder un Vol2

Also, Ruby my girl, I'm so sorry for everything that's gonna happen </3 I wish I could protect you from the world but I also love seeing you suffer, I'm terrible

So yeah those are my thoughts, fuck how I've missed RWBY, I gotta continue my rewatch now 😋

[lindszeppelin]

Elvis and Austin!Elvis Ask game

The incredible @aconflagrationofmyown has created a list of questions regarding Elvis and Austin!Elvis. Behind the "read more" are my answers! Thank you so much for creating this <3

Here's a list of all the lovely people I wanna tag to answer this. We all probably tagged eachother but I don't wanna miss anyone lol.

-> a link to the original Qs to copy+paste [x]

@powerofelvis @ash-omalley @bisexualwvtson @succsessions @butlers-bitch @mamaspresley @himbocampus @stargiirl27 @pennyroyalcreep @loving-elvis @eliseinmemphis @deke-rivers-1957 @bcofl0ve @fantuhsise @elvisstyles @missmaywemeetagain @heartbrake-hotel @elvisabutler @asrealasadonut @sapphirescripts@carnevol @sassy-ahsoka-tano @if-i-can-dream-of-elvis @troubleinapinksuit @karamelcoveredolicity

•When and what was your first exposure to Elvis Presley? I knew about Elvis from a young age, but it was nothing too serious. Full House was my most consistent exposure because I loved that sitcom, and Jesse being obsessed with Elvis was his running gag but I correlated Elvis to John Stamos forever lol. Another jumping off point for me was in Lilo and Stitch. Devil in Disguise became one of my favorites strictly because of that film lol. And then in junior high i had a friend who's step dad was literally obsessed with Elvis. Would play his music loudly every single time i went over her house. My nana also would make reference to marrying my grandpa because he looked like Elvis. But my biggest exposure to Elvis was from the Baz film of course. So he's been around me for a long time, but I never took it too far until this film.

•And what was your first impression? I thought Elvis was nothing more than a gimmick. He's been so overly parodied in his life and in death that I grew to roll my eyes at those "uh huhhh thank ya very much lil mama" type of deals y'know. I was like ugh please...I saw him as very novelty and I never saw past those parodies.

•Lace shirts or jumpsuits? Oooh come on now!! Lace shirts are so slutty but honestly, those jumpsuits get me hot under the collar.

•You can steal one of Elvis/Austin’s outfits, what’s it going to be? Im assuming this is in the context of stealing an outfit so i can wear it. Since I can't choose just one i'll give 2, one for Elvis and one for Austin

There's something about this outfit that I know I could rock if i could alter it to my body. maybe make the trousers into hot pants lol. tie the shirt up. but yeah i love this one

and then one for austin. lace and pink with black is a killer combo

•C’mon, we know you’ve been watching/reading old interviews and random footage of the man, so what’s your favorite random Elvis quote? Lol you're so right though lol. Honestly though that man has waaaaay too many perfect quips and funny one liners. Like...i'd have to do a whole dissertation on my favorite Elvis jokes. But this one is fresh in my mind...i rewatched Aloha From Hawaii last night and when he's singing Suspicious Minds he leans down into his deep side lunge and sings "I hope this suit don't tear up baby". I fucking died

•Did you find Austin Butler’s lips distracting despite them being in a movie about the King of plush upper lips? (Be honest now) LOL. sis yes, like the man has such plump lips i just wanna kiss them. i've got big full lips too but i think his are even bigger than mine lol

•What’s an aspect of Elvis’ character you wish more people appreciated? HIS HUMOR *i scream into the void*. the man had a wicked sense of humor like...people need to see it. But also his generosity.

•You meet Col. Tom Parker for the first time, forewarned with the knowledge of what a scumbag he is, what do you do?: A. nothing, you’re a coward who doesn’t care about abused golden-hearted men B. you give the Colonel a stern telling off C. you encourage Elvis to leave him and break the contract E. you slap a legal document against that fat suit and declare “Mrs. Claus is bringing you a lawsuit” F. you waste no time with formalities, it’s a letter opener to the juggler for that piece of trash HAHAHA wow all of these are such great answers but i think the one i would genuinely pick if i had the power to go back in time and do this...would be option C. I would be like Elvis baby...the man has gots to go i beg of you. I think in my delusional mind he'd listen to me. ain't nothin gonna work if i talk to the Colonel himself except maybe if i give him a firm slap across the mouth

•What was your favorite aspect/scene from the Elvis 2022 movie? i have so many but i really love the Vegas Rehearsal scene. It's so so so good and so hot. like goddamn who told Austin he could be that hot and authoritative

•You can choose only one song or piece of media to convince someone to become an Elvis fan, what is it going to be? that's really hard because i have to think of this practically. if i show someone one of Elvis's many films, i don't think that would do the trick. it would be too cheesy for a non-fan. And then the 68 Comeback Special is a good option however with all the musical numbers in there i again don't think that would 100% win a non-fan over without context.

I would probably show them the That's The Way It Is film doc that shows funny rehearsal footage and then the live concert from 1970. It's perfect because it shows Elvis's dedication to the musical arrangements, his humor, and his talent.

•How many children would you give Elvis Presley from your own -or theoretical- womb? (listen to the beast in ya, your feminism won’t serve you here) I genuinely am terrified of the idea of pregnancy and labor because im not about pain and suffering with a changing body for 9 months. But for Elvis...damn i'd give him maybe like 2-3 kids. But this is a hard question because we know the man wasn't a fan of women who gave birth/had children soooo...if I could give him children and he'd still want to fuck me then thats a win Lol.

•Where are you hanging out with EP, his bedroom with the teddy bears, Club Handy, his private jet or Graceland? oooooh...Club Handy sounds perfect. He can let himself be as free as he wants and we can dirty dance to all the amazing music. Then we can kick it in Graceland ;)

•What is the peak Elvis era? warning, this says an awful lot about you… here I go! 68-72. he was *chefs kiss*

•How long have you been an Austin Butler fan (be honest now, God is watching) okay this is so funny to me because obviously i knew nothing about him or his existence until this film. HOWEVER...the man has been in all of my tween sitcoms. Like, i had a massive crush on him from iCarly and Zoey101. that blew my mind when i found that out.

•What kind of Elvis chick are you? -a 1950’s prospective wife material that he’s already sampled, a 1960’s filmset fling or a Vegas torrid backstage affair? oh fuck. hmmmm this is so hard. im torn between 50s prospective wife (because this was in his early days and i could get with him earlier before cilla and any Colonel dramas) and Vegas affair (it would be fucking hot and dirty and im weak thinking about it). if I choose Vegas affair i don't really want a drugged out Elvis, but thats the risk i take by being a slut for the guy. soooo...also my toxic trait tells me that i could fix him in his Vegas years LOL.

•Is Austin Butler an honorary southerner now? Answer options: A. hell no, California can keep his sweet cheeks. B. hell yes, he’s practically been possessed by the soul of the King of the South option B. my Cali man has been blessed with the southern soul

•Pick your poison in the fan-fiction realm: angst, fluff, smut, fluffy smut, angsty fluff, angsty smut?…or is reading about Elvis Presley an acknowledged health hazard? SMUT. all the way.

•Spit or swallow for this man? (And if you don’t understand this question move right along) fucking listen...swallow. i usually would be a spitter because i've had some dank guys in the past that give me the chills thinking about it, so im traumatized Lol. but for Elvis, i'd swallow.

•Would Gladys approve of you? Take your above answer into consideration I hope she would! I mean i'm a nice girl I would try to talk with her and listen to her concerns and make sure she's okay. Let her know i'd be there for her son. I think she'd like me. I ain't a hussy (in public anyway ;) )

•Which of Elvis’ cars is your favorite? pink cadillac

•What are your odds for besting this man at karate? omg he'd whoop my ass. i took karate as a kid and i only made it as far as purple belt. he could dominate me any time of day

•If you could meet Elvis and have enough composure to tell him something, what would it be? I would probably pour my heart out to him and make sure he believed that we loved him and his legacy would impact the entire world for generations to come. like, i need him to seriously understand how important he was.

•What’s a hobby or pastime of yours you wish you could share with Elvis/Austin!Elvis well I already love music and collecting vinyl, so i would have seriously loved to have talked music with Elvis. listen to some records and dance or something.

•What’s the Elvis 2022 quote you’ve been mumbling to yourself ever since you heard it? "You Blood-suckin ol' Vampire. You bleed me dry and yet you still want more?!" is so fun to say. And i also say "I've always wanted to fly".

•What are your top 3 go-to Elvis songs? my answers today are Polk Salad Annie, Heartbreak Hotel, Power of My Love

•If you could spare him one tragedy what would it be? the death of his mother. I think he would be a drastically different person, in a good way, if she wasn't dead.

•Is there a modern artist that sorta scratches for you the itch that Elvis’ absence leaves? absolutely not. Elvis is always there and no other modern or past artist could compete with what he did. ain't no way.

•How did you react at the end of the movie when In the Ghetto started to play A. I got up and fixed a snack because I have no soul, B. I left feeling alarmingly horny, C. I was impressed but didn’t realize how affected I was until days later when it was still with me D. I cried buckets they had to bring in a mop E. I may have appeared emotionless but in fact my soul was leaving my body and I don’t think it’s returned quite yet option E lol

•If you’ve got a favorite gif or photo insert it here and bless us all

this one is definitely top tier.

[shaniacsboogara]

What are some of your favorite movies and why? I'm in the mood for some ranting about cool stuff :)

OKAY ALRIGHT LET'S DO THIS (in no particular order)

JK ROWLING IS STINKY 🤬🤬🤬

But I love Remus Lupin. And I love the aesthetic of this movie. And I LOVE werewolves. Professor Lupin is one of THE BEST characters in the entire Harry Potter franchise and I just think he deserves more hype and he's really cool and idk I get nostalgic about this movie and it's definitely a comfort movie for me.

Just this entire franchise. And the Hobbit movies. My Dad has always been a BIG Tolkien fan so I was raised on LOTR and went to see the Hobbit movies in theatres when they first came out (I saw the first one 3 or 4 times, I was OBSESSED). BEFORE ANYONE COMES AT ME I'VE ALSO READ THE BOOKS I READ THEM IN GRADE 3 I KNOW THE LORE DW 🙏. I'm a sucker for fantasy (hence my current dnd obsession lol) and the world of these films is just so immersive and breathtakingly beautiful that I can't help but consider them my favourites, even if it's been years since I've watched them cohesively. ALSO THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD. I'LL LISTEN TO THE LOTR SOUNDTRACK ANY DAY.

Again. THE MUSIC.

Andrew Garfield was SO GREAT in this, and I personally connected to it a lot as a songwriter myself. That being said, this movie makes me SOB EVERY SINGLE TIME. Jonathan Larson was truly a talent and it's such a shame his life ended as early as it did. So glad he lives on through his art, and so glad that he was able to make such a huge impact on people with what he created. (Also fun fact I'm going to see Rent in a few weeks)

IT STARTED AS A BIT IT WAS A JOKE

Word of advice: if you ever think to yourself, "Hey. It'd be silly if I kept suggesting to watch that one Adam Sandler Halloween movie whenever my family asks for movie suggestions despite the fact that it isn't Halloween anymore and it's not that good of a movie- DON'T. DO IT.

Hubie Halloween is my comfort movie now. I don't rewatch movies and tv shows a lot, but I've seen this one probably 5 times in the last few months. It's just a silly little Halloween movie, but I sort of started to appreciate it more after realizing "HEY THAT GUY IN THE TIN MAN COSTUME IS WILL BYERS!!!" Although most of the media I find myself drawn to is more complex and explores the intricacies of how humanity functions, this movie somehow grew on me. My family references it constantly, and every time we play Jackbox games, half of the quiplash answers are just "Hubie". Overall I just think this movie is funny, quirky, subverts expectations in silly ways, and is a nice lighthearted watch compared to my other favourites.

My final movie on this list isn't ACTUALLY a movie but I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

MIDNIGHT MASS IS MY FAVOURITE SHOW. EVER. OF ALL TIME.

The music??? Immaculate. THE ACTING??? Immaculate. THE WRITING??? Immaculate (although there are a lot of monologues which can be a lot for some people, but as a theatre kid I REALLY appreciated them).

I've rewatched this show 2 1/2 times now and I'm just so in love with it. It's horror, but it doesn't rely on cheap jumpscares and many of the cheaper tactics some horror movies use nowadays. It's way more focused on its ensemble cast and developing good characters and storytelling. Sure, it starts off a bit slow, but the emotional payoff in the final two episodes is SO. WORTH IT.

Hamish Linklater as Father Paul is just... Awesome. RAHUL KOHLI AS HASSAN??? SO GOOD??? THIS ENTIRE CAST IS SO TALENTED and the way they play their characters is so raw and compelling and human.

Ryan Bergara was so right when he listed Father Paul as a poor little meow meow on Tumblr Top 5 HE SO IS AND I LOVE HIM FOR THAT. Anyway if you wanna see a new take on some classic horror tropes, commentary on the meaning of life and what happens after it, and some really good acting just... Please watch this. It definitely destroys your soul and makes you think but it's so good and the aesthetic is just... Mmmm.

Anyway Boog rant over, THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I LOVE RANTING SORRY THIS IS LONG!!!

[robotsandramblings]

this is a purely self-indulgent post, that i'm posting here for self reference lol :P don't mind me!

(it's continuing from a previous post where, in the tags, i was trying to figure out exactly when i got into the Star Wars tv shows specifically! -i've been a fan of the movies for literal decades, having been introduced to the original trilogy in the mid 1990s. [yes i old lmao.] -but i never watched Clone Wars or Rebels when they first aired; i've actually only been involved with the tv shows, books and comics within the last 5 years or so! -so below is my self journey to determine exactly when i started watching that stuff! it's literally just blahblahblah random irrelevant information, for my own reference)

the final answer, for those who care, lol: Spring (Apr/May) 2020! so not even 5 years really??! wow, it feels like so much longer!!!

so yes, Spring 2020 (April & moreso May) is when i really got into the TV side of things. i had plans for many years to check out Clone Wars and Rebels, and i remember hearing all the big news and hype about TCW Season 7 in 2018-2019, which made me really say "ok i need to check this out!"

but The Mandalorian was actually my first SW tv show ever! yet i don't think i watched it right away lol?? it aired Nov-Dec 2019, but i wasn't reblogging Mando content until April 2020. (checks archives: yep, still mostly into Transformers! and even a fair amount of Voltron ahahaha oh god.)

so i also didn't watch Clone Wars S7 while it aired, which i knew. ironically, i did start the series from the beginning at the same time the S7 finale aired! (i found a text post dated May 2nd 2020.) no doubt it was all the buzz about the finale that really pushed me to check out the series!!

and then i found another text post from Nov 11 2020 saying i had just finished the emotional Season 5 finale. and with Season 6 only have 13 episodes, i'm sure i finished that one soonafter...and i'm guessing i finally got to Season 7 in Nov-Dec 2020. (i keep track of everything i read in Goodreads, and it says i read Son of Dathomir mid-Nov, and then Ahsoka mid-Dec. most likely S7 was sandwiched inbetween them.)

then Jan or Feb 2021 was Rebels. (again, per my books read, i read the Kanan comics and started the Thrawn novels in February. i know by then i was following a chronological list of media, and i would have read the Thrawn books in prep for Rebels S3.)

and for whatever reason, i just wasn't reblogging TCW nor Rebels on my tumblr - not until Sept 2021. i think i was waiting to finish Bad Batch S1 in its entirety first??? (finale was mid-Aug 2021.)

a fun side story, a strong memory of mine: when The Bad Batch trailer was released in April 2021, i remember Rex had his little 1 second cameo, and the sheer excitement that i felt!!!!!, and how the whole fandom was losing our minds!!!!!!!

anyways, it's most likely i made sure to have Rebels finished by the time Bad Batch premiered on May 4th 2021.

and then i immediately was reblogging SO MUCH Bad Batch, and like i said earlier, it's when i started reblogging TCW and Rebels as well. (i never really did a proper Rebels lookthrough of the tags and such, i don't think??? i really should! with my 2nd rewatch i'm still trying to do LMAO!)

and then, in terms of books, after the Thrawn trilogy, i was really only doing the encyclopedias and art books for awhile, until summer 2021 when i did Dark Disciple, which started my official foray into the disney canon novels!

there you go Rora, now you have a reference post for every time you're like "how long have i been into TCW, Rebels, Bad Batch????" because it really does feel like forever already! <3

[rachelillustrates]

Hi I don’t entirely get how you talk to people on Tumblr but I came across your thoughts on the trilogy – – I am watching it right now lol – – I am old lol probably a lot older than the people in this fandom! For a time I was watching the movie every day and thinking, what’s up with this?? I don’t know what it is about their relationship that is so compelling. But I am spending this sunny Saturday watching an unexpected journey and tearing up over your writing about the arc of their journey and love❤️

Oh gosh!! To my knowledge this is a perfectly fine way to talk to people on here and I am also of the Old Person variety in comparison to many others (I'm about to start planning for a Hobbit party for my 40th birthday in a couple years, for reference!), so hi, and creaky-joint fistbump!

I am so glad you found my ramblings helpful!! I honestly didn't expect to fall so freaking hard and headfirst into them this year either, but I told someone I would make a point to see what I thought about how/when they fell in love when I did my next rewatch, and here we are. You're right - there is just something about them that resonates, and has kept resonating, even so many years after the movies were finished (I've been super super grateful to find the fandom still thriving!). And I really feel like a big part of it is that they hold so much promise and devotion even with their love being unfulfilled on-screen. I think, at least for me, what keeps me so engaged with them is the hope in that - they had that big, epic romance even though everything went to pot around them, even though they hurt each other in those circumstances, even though their story was told in a time and context that it couldn't be explicit (there is no freaking way that the intensity between them was meant to be platonic. I believe that at least 75% of the parties involved knew what they were doing). The love between them persisted despite ALL of that, and still persists in fandom, and that is a hugely hopeful thing. That two souls could go through so much, and still hold that much love, for each other and together.

Okay getting off my soapbox again now ahahaha. That is to say, big yes in response, and hello!! So glad to meet you, and thanks again.

[turnupswritessometimes]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

I've taken my time with this one, beause it's quite a big question, lol

I'm someone who moves on pretty quickly when it comes to interests, and nowadays I don't even watch/read stuff more than once. But here's the list (not in any specific order):

1.) Stitch from Lilo and Stitch

Lilo and Stitch was one of the first films I ever saw in cinemas as a kid, and it still makes me sob to this day. Just! Stitch! In the woods! With the Ugly Duckling book! And he repeats it and looks around because he's got no family!

There's so much love and thought put into how he moves (see gif - the head tilt - the eyes! He's baby!) that shows his thought process and emotions. His arc is complimentary to Lilo's and it's my favourite film. Plus, he's cute and fluffy!

2.) Myka Bering from Warehouse 13

This space was a toss up between Claudia and Myka from this show. As an 11-13 year old watching this show for the first time, I had the biggest crush on Claudia, but I loved Myka too. And rewatching it now, I love her more.

Warehouse 13 revolves around a bunch of agents tracking down 'artefacts': objects that usually kill people in horrific ways, but sometimes have benefits. (A great episode is Shakespeare's lost folio: touching a page with doom you to die the death of the character depicted, unless you can say that character's final lines.) Myka's come from the secret service and is the more pragmatic one compared to partner Pete's comic relief and pop culture references. (I love Pete too, though!) Myka's also a nerd! A classics nerd! (Middle name Ophelia!) She loves H.G Wells (me too!) - and H.G Wells is in this show (see gif) as a very cool woman who Myka's more than a little in love with. (Me too! Sadly it's all subtext because this shows 10 years old now.) She's capable and cool but has a softer, human side that's allowed to come to light as much as her partner's. They take turns being vulnerable with each other and it's what makes these characters feel real.

She also has the line: "some girls play with barbies, others take fencing lessons." which! come on! It's so good!

3.) Baron from The Cat Returns

He's voiced by Cary Elwes (Westley from the Princess Bride), which makes him instantly cool! And, honestly, he's basically Westley; he's suave, sneaks into places with disguises, and is a master of swordplay. (Maybe I just like characters with swords?)

The Cat Returns is my favourite Studio Ghibli movie, because it's so similar to the Nutcracker, which is a favourite of mine too. The ball scene still makes me feel like a teen with a crush; there's a romanticism to it all that comes from how suave Baron is. His minature world is charming too!

4.) Nancy Thompson from Nightmare on Elm Street

Nancy's my favourite final girl. There's a great interview were they talk about how determined she is; she will find the truth, and she won't stop hunting for it. She takes active measures to ensure she can investigate and wake up in time. I don't have many points on this one: I just think she's neat!

5.) Sora from Kingdom Hearts

Again, I'm torn between two characters from the franchise - Sora and Roxas. But I played Kingdom Hearts 2 first, and that has more of Sora!

The whole series has a lot of nostalgia for me, and Sora's the heart of that. He's the player's world into exploring all these Disney worlds. I actually love the twist that Sora's not really meant to have a keyblade at all; Riku's the one who was meant to be. It's a cool reverse chosen one. Recently, it's more interesting to see how Sora's relentless optimism is being chipped away at. He feels like a very generic protagonist who's being subverted in a very clever way.

6.) Peter Pan, in like, a vague sense

No particular version of Peter, because I'll devour any Peter Pan retelling. A straight, fun disney version is heart-warming and escapist; Syfy's Neverland was like a magical Oliver Twist, with all the emotional beats; darker ones explore the strange, darker (unintentional) subtext of the novel. (Which I do love; it's just so memorable.) All of the Peters, please!

(I vividly remember seeing a Peter Pan panto and Peter was played by a young woman and oh boy! Finding out girls can play boys was a big moment for me!)

7.) Cinderella...from Cinderella

I could easily do top 10 Disney characters, but this is the last one for this list. And again, it's more about what Cindie represents. She keeps her kindness and her empathy throughout her story; she works hard and makes sacrifices and that earns her happily ever after. I think that manta of 'Have Courage and be Kind' in the live action one is a great phrase to live by, and easily applied to real life. I've worked two jobs throughout my masters, so the idea of hard work being rewarded someday is comforting. I hope it's true, lol.

8.) Tails from Sonic

He's just real neat! A good little guy! He can fly and he's super smart! I always mained him on Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, and I've liked him since I was a kid. (I really struggled to fill this space, so runners up were Zuko, Nico Di Angelo, Vanitas and Link.)

9/10.) Ash Lynx and Eiji Okumura from Banana Fish

I can't separate the boys! They go together!

Honestly, this shouldn't be a surprise, lol. Oddly, though, it's hard to answer a question of why they're so dear to me. Ash is a very interesting character to unpack; and unpacking those darker elements of his story is? Intriguing? I think is the best word for it. That depth comes across in the manga and is probably what made it endure.

Eiji has a similar depth that I feel like gets washed away a bit, by the fandom. He's 'normal,' but he's not, really. He's exceptionally compassionate, and just as impulsive as Ash. (He is all in within meeting this boy for ten minutes.)

And it's their implied relationship in the series that is just! So! Much! The trust and care and the fact that they do act like two teenage boys messing around with each other. (Which is something I don't think either of them got to have.)

Honestly, I've been writing the both of them for so long that they do feel like a part of me, now, even though they're not my characters.

And that's ten! Thanks so so much for the ask! I love getting to waffle nonsense to a captive audience! Sorry it took so long to answer! <3 xxx