#if you watch episode 6 and only pay attention to their interactions

[lunelicmoone]

ctntduo

"Ugh, just let me lose this thing in style, okay?"

"Quackity, that's bullshit! Stop acting cool and just do a real throw!"

[dodgebolts]

I had a draft of about 5 of these results ready to go pre-face reveal but then everything went to shit so just for some closure here are the results (FROM SEPTEMBER!) ^_^

This chart shows the percentage of total respondents who indicated that they mained the people above. This isn't a comprehensive list, with other streamers like SBI, Benchtrio, or other DSMP-adjacent streamers rounding the answers out!

of the 598 people who filled out the survey, 98.5% main one of the people in the above chart, and 92.8% main one or more of the Dream Team.

From this question, it seems like DSMP creators are the main pipeline into dtblr—but a good 40% of us didn't start on the Dream Team side!

We have a good amount of people who came from the Corpse/OTV side of Twitch, and a decent amount of you who have been here a while, since SMPLive :]

A lot of us have been here a long time—66% of us were here before 2021. The vast majority have been here since 2021, a good 93% of us!

I thought it'd be super interesting to see how watching the Dream Team may have changed how we interact with their primary game, and it looks like a majority of us were crafters before and still are! They managed to get nearly a fifth of his audience here into playing as well!

A toast to the loss of most of dtblr's favorite MCC player to watch, something that we definitely mourned when we heard the news. But if you're looking for a new POV to watch, survey respondents put down a wide range of players—just outside these top 8 were Ranboo, Tubbo, Grian, Illumina, Purpled, and Hannah!

Another loss for 6% of dtblr with how this question aged, RIP Trust Issues :( But for the remaining 94% of us, our favorite Drusic is still on streaming platforms. Change my Clothes is only...500k listens away from 67 million listens on Spotify so 👀

Wow ok as this goes on I realize just how many chapters have ended over the last few months but a salute to the 26% of loreheads on dtblr! On to the next chapter :]

Now to a touchy subject...who's in the dteam privs? According to the survey responses, 39% of dtblr is in all three! Interestingly, there are more people who follow Dream's alt than his main. Fair enough, there are enough piss tweets on there to warrant unfollowing it!

Word of mouth and the YouTube algorithm seems to have been the best way for the dteam to get to us—interestingly enough, a good amount of people found out through either Heat Waves the song or through the fanfiction, ranging from it crashing ao3 to commentary YouTubers talking about it on their channels!

Now for some psychic damage, I'm seeing a lot more of RTAH posting on my dash nowadays but here's some solidarity for everyone who may have come from similar backgrounds ^_^

Now for some more history—a vast majority of us came from gaming content backgrounds, and nearly 17% of us were primarily mcyt enjoyers. Personal shoutout to Team Crafted viewers we're holding hands <3

Nearly half of dtblr doesn't consume much Minecraft content outside of the stuff our boys are in, though there's still a pretty large amount of people who watch other SMP's and keep up with the speedrunning scene!

This one is an ode to the lurkers who keep the economy strong—even now you guys are an essential part of dtblr! Same to the 30-40% of people who post the stuff for lurkers and other dtblr members to see. Everyone is important to keeping our little island afloat <3

Now onto Banter, most of dtblr doesn't make time for Banter Wednesdays, but if there's an interesting episode, it seems like the trio will capture our attention :]

Adding some literal variety to our results, I thought it'd be interesting to see what common variety games are our favorites! 95% of us would be tapped in wholeheartedly for Geoguessr or Jackbox streams. On the other hand, Fall Guys and Fortnite are in the middle of the pack, whereas it seems like FPS games are our mortal enemies—62% of us would tap out during Valorant while 46% wouldn't be paying attention to CS:GO.

Onto the topic of shipping, DNF steamrolled every other ship listed to have nearly 86% of responders saying they ship it. That lines up with the follow-up question, where nearly 90% of respondents either have experience with shipping RPF in the past, or have been caught up with DNFer supreme Dream's antics. Otherwise, there was a good distribution of love for most popular ships within DTQK+, with Karlnap, DNN, and Karlnapity leading the pack at around 25% each!

Ever wonder how dtblr is spread out across the globe because of the dash being dead at different times? Well, the vast majority of us are in North America and Europe, with 86% of us being between GMT +4 and GMT -4. Much like our streamers, though, a lot of us have fucked up sleep schedules so time zones aren't as much of an issue LMAO

Next up is a fairly simple one, I had another question that asked for gender but there was, as expected, a lot of variance and nuance that I couldn't fit into a neat graphic. But this one is a fairly simple one to graph so Well here's the 24/7 pride parade Dream mentioned coming in hot, with about 95% of us identifying as LGBT+ or questioning!

I wanted to test out my theory that GNF mains are also biased towards CS/Engineering fields, so I asked what people were studying! There's a pretty big bias towards the arts and humanities around here, but we also have just as many STEM people around, good on dtblr for academic diversity! As for my hypothesis, 22% of people who indicated they were George mains studied some form of CS/Engineering. George mains also made up 70% of all people who studied CS/Engineering. So cheers to my stem kid gnfers o/

Finally, I don't really know the best way to make a graphic for the favorite colors question, but just know that 50% of us chose either green or blue, and it was a near-even 25%-25% split. Great job dnfers, Dream would be proud <3

Thanks for reading! I hope that this was fun to look through, and I'll be posting an identical one for new dtblr soon! Super excited to see how things have changed since Well. anyways. Also wanted to say thank you to everyone who filled it out, reading all your answers was a ton of fun and I got a ton of laughs out of some of y'alls bonus section content and the few joke answers I got throughout <333

[espighty]

I am far more forgiving about 2012 Donnie's more obsessive moments simply because he respects April's physical boundaries. As someone who has watched the first 3 seasons about 6 separate times, I've had plenty of time to pay attention to Donnie and April's interactions. And you know, outside of life-or-death situations where he has to pull her away from attacks, he generally just... lets her be the one to initiate contact.

I'm sure there are a few times where it's the opposite that I just can't remember too well, but overall he's actually respectful. The only real exception I can think of is the entirety of Chinatown Ghost Story, but that episode is regarded as super shitty anyway. God knows I've already made a post about how much I hate it. I looked up the writer for that episode, Randolph Heard, and it was the first episode he had ever written. So obviously he didn't have much grasp on the characters.

Ah anyway the point of this post is that I love Donatello. I love that he lets April be the one to initiate physical contact. It's not only a good writing decision, but it's a good character decision too! I don't know how to explain it well but like. It shows off his insecurity, his lack of confidence, but it also shows that he's like... he's nice, yknow? He tries his very best to Not make April uncomfortable. He cares about her and he likes having her around and UGH

[sweetlittlepotato19]

Ok, this idea popped into my brain a long time ago while i'm watching episode 6 of "House of the Dragon" when we were shown the interactions of children. it's been in the draft for a long time because i thought i'd write something about this idea, but i didn't do anything, so let it just be here. But just imagine if Aemma died giving birth to twins - a boy (canonical Baelon) and a girl. But only the girl survived, who was named Visenya or Rhaella (As we remember, Rhaenyra wanted to name her sister Visenya, but Viserys was not entirely positive about this name, so the second version of Rhaella, so her sister and her names begin with Rhae). Perhaps Rhaenyra would have despised her sister (but this is more of a dark version of this story, because in another version I was inclined to believe that Rhaenyra would treasure her sister as part of her mother), blaming her for the death of her brother, and the father did not pay attention to the second daughter, because his long-awaited heir died. Thus, this girl is not much older than Aegon, who grows up in an atmosphere of total dislike. Although the heroine loved her sister and father and desired their approval. But she was friends with her siblings and especially with Aemond (and because of this he falls in love with her), because they are somewhat similar and they did not have dragons for some time. Before puberty, Visenya/Rhaella grew up as a quiet and modest girl. And then BOOM! She got a dragon (an old dragon like Cannibal or Vermithor). And she grows into a serious, stern and passionate woman with a murderous look and a deadly blade. And here you can already draw parallels between the three horsemen of the apocalypse (Daemon, Aemond and Visenya): they are all second children, with cruel dragons, cool weapon skills, sarcasm and danger. And Visenya and Aemond want to marry each other, but Alicent is against (((

[steeklover]

So, Carteek shipper, did you enjoy the new special?

As a Carteek shipper, I LOVED the new special. It’s my favorite one so far (even though I never finished watching streaming wars). I actually meant to make a post sharing my thoughts about the special but let me just say that Cartman, Tweek, Butters and Clyde being in a friend group together was not something I knew I needed. Like Matt and Trey defiently did not need to go and put 4/5 of my top 5 characters (the extra one being Stan of course) in a friend group together but they did and I loved every single second of it. 

I know we didn’t get much of Cartman and Tweek really interacting together but it’s always nice to see Cartman actually being kind and having other relationships outside of the main 4/5. I’ve also always loved the friendship between Cartman and Clyde so really this was just a win for people that like Cartman friendships. But really, I loved the Tweek and Cartman interactions in the special along with the Clyde and Cartman ones and the interactions between Tweek, Butters and Clyde.

And don’t even get me started on Tweek getting screen time. And it had nothing to do with Craig/Creek. I was actually afraid that they were never going to give him anything ever again besides Creek and I got a whole hour of solely Tweek content. I had been waiting for so long. I would say I hope he gets more screen time in the new season but I feel like that’s pushing it a bit.

I also liked the side plot of Clyde having a new motherly figure in his life. I never would have expected for that to be addressed after the episode where his mom died but I’m glad it was. Of course what ended up happening wasn’t what I had expecting to happen when they first introduced Roger’s girlfriend (I forgot her name) but then again, what could I really expect from South Park. I thought the ending was funny though.

I kind of strayed away from Carteek but yeah, I will be thinking of a fic where that friend group is the main focus because it was more than I could have ever asked for. I would give this special a 8/10 because I did like the focus on the kids but Randy’s only fans side plot was really weird. Not in the sense that is was unexpected or even uncomfortable because I did find it hilarious that his junk was hanging out the entire time but in the sense that I’m just not a Randy fan. I also watched the special in front of my mom which made it even funnier. I did like seeing Sharon in a Chanel coat though, she slayed.

But yeah an 8/10 for this, panderverwe gets an 8/10 too, from what I saw of the streaming wars specials it gets a 6/10 because I liked the Stolkien and the kids being kids but it was too much Randy and was kind of forgettable for me. Post Covid gets a 7/10, it was the first South Park thing I had really ever watched from start to finish while paying attention and I thought it was funny but I don’t remember much of it because I watched it once two/three years ago.

Anyway yeah, there’s my take on the special. Thanks for asking, I had meant to make a post sharing my thoughts after I had  watched it but I forgot. I didn’t even know a special was coming out until I saw people posting about it on here like the day after it came out. Maybe it’s because I’ve been busy lately but I saw no advertisement for it until it had already been released. Anyway, it slayed and it’s my new favorite thing. Have a happy holiday my friend! ❤️

[stinkgh]

Okay 2 things from your local child abuse survivor (scout guest spoilers):

1) the way so many people have noticed Jason flinching while Craig & Bernard argue is seriously making me cry. I had a good friend that I used to work with for 3 years & one day at work she reached past me to grab something & my reflexes kicked in & I flinched. She asked me about it & I said 'i thought you were going to hit me." When I look back at how long it took me to tell her I was abused & the fact that she didn't believe me, this interaction always floods my mind. People don't just flinch/visibly defend themselves unless they truly believe they are in danger. One of the cruelest memories of that friendship I have is how little she paid attention to me & to see so many people recognize that while discussing a character that has been neglected honestly makes me cry.

2) I'll admit I hate the way Craig treats Jason throughout the episode. There are plenty of posts that explain why Craig acts this way & I know it makes sense, but it still angers me (not mad at the writing decision though). I just want to say that in my 30 years of C-PTSD life I have been met with more blame & misunderstanding by the people in my life, than I have had support. I've lived with my aunt & uncle for 10 years & when I finally told them I had been abused they decided to harass & bully me through an online game we all played together bc I was unable to work & contribute to paying for food/rent for 6 years & they cared more about that then the fact that I needed medication & therapy (and found out I qualified for disability proving the fact that I physically & emotionally cannot work). Sometimes people just... don't care. I've had complete strangers tell me I shouldn't be complaining about my abusive mother, just because she is my mother. I've had people comment on my TikTok videos where I explain how my mother controlled my finances even after I went to college, telling me I was to blame bc I "allowed" her to act that way. & Sometimes people just don't notice. Like I said I spent 6 years locked in my room not talking to anyone unless I was spoken to first. my dad says he knew something was wrong but didn't know how to ask. My aunt & uncle never noticed. My cousin called me "weird" behind my back. people have all sorts of different reactions, even if they know something is wrong sometimes it gets ignored or made fun of. So I gotta be honest, watching Craig act that way is super triggering. However, I am overall pleased with this episode. Someone mentioned this will help kids recognize when their friends are being abused & neglected, and I say not only kids but adults as well. There is such a HUGE disconnect between survivors & people who have never endured a toxic relationship. PTSD is REAL. I'm glad to see so many people talking about it.

[iuuua]

oooh i forgot to talk about hazbin hotel after i finished it.

loved it. satisfied the musical deep inside of me. the characters are so charming and its a really fun show expressing incredibly horrible stuff. if u think abt it even just a little past face value its really deep and sends u down into a rabbithole about what the characters are, what it really means to be a sinner, and how loopable the songs are.

my only complaint is that its so short. its 9 episodes including the pilot where every key moment is perfectly encapsulated in those episodes yes, but because they chose to develop the characters per episode (which was absolutely the right choice btw) the whole "friendship" theme suffered. let me explain; the characters are well developed enough and interact enough for you to get what their overall dynamic is, but theres no episode that really focuses on them getting closer with each other. the show was so busy, im not sure where they could have put it; basically im saying the show wouls have fared well with a little filler. in 8 episodes they breezed by 6 months... those interactions would have made the finale soo much better. i was not *convinced* of the found family trope thing (bc thats what it is you cant tell me otherwise), but its a good idea to let the audience fill those gaps themselves.

i have mixed feelings whether to support vivzie because i heard her treatment of animators was horrible-- thats the worst part about this whole series honestly. idk if vivzie is a good person or not... but hazbin hotel is definitely amazing.

EDIT HERE: i watched a video saying the accusations against vivzie are false so, thats out of the way, i guess. dont worry too much about it, im not gonna do more research but if any of you do pls lmk!

my favorite song is poison, apart from the fact that its the closest to my usual genre, i love the mv. the choreography is so fluid and unsettling. the little details, you can tell angel is putting on a mask and the voice acting? chefs kiss. love it. the mv is so r18 but i cant help rewatching it its just so good the choerography videography the subtle meanings RAH. i also love the instrument solos in hells greatest dad, it really surprised me when lucifer pulled a violin out of nowhere lmao but god do i hate that minty girl, ruined such a good song. stayed gone is also so strong and its funny to see vox put in his place lmao. im addicted to alastors radio filter, such character. i reluctantly love adam and lute's song parts because their voices are so good and i love rock music but fuck i hate the characters.

charlie is just so lovable and would be generic in literally any other setting but because of the nature of the show she sticks out and that forces readers to pay attention to her and if you didnt already love her you WILL.

not sure what else to say but if ur 18+ GO FOR IT!! lots of tw since its hell, off the top of my head sex, abuse, cursing, cannibalism, assault, violence. there must be more but itd be better to look that up instead. have fun watching!

[lulendrea]

ok, first of all I retract that last statement, I might watch the 1987 show one day, but not for now because that's a lot of episodes to go through. anyway, here's my thoughts on tmnt 2003 (most of them at least) (disclaimer: a lot of them are negative because those are the ones I remember the best and that stick out more in my mind. also, it’s a long post)

it was kind of boring. it was hard to binge-watch, I was never really looking forward to watch another episode, like with other shows where you can hardly stop yourself from saying "just one more episode".

I didn't dislike it. If you were to ask me I would say I liked it, but I didn't find it very engaging.

I don't know the exact reason why I find it boring, but I think the biggest issue is that it's slow, mainly, the pacing and the dialogue/voice acting, which I'm pretty sure was very typical for shows of that era. For the high majority of episodes I would reach a point where I would pause the video and look at how much was left and every single time it happened was at the 12th or 13th minute mark, so halfway through the episode.

the characters just speak soooo slooow. And they speak even slower if they're a wise character, an old character or an important villain (Splinter, Shredder, Karai, Bishop, the Ancient One, etc. basically the majority of people the turtles interact with).

I think it's also why I didn't find the humor in the show very funny, usually it doesn't take me much to laugh at something, but I think the characters just took too much time to finish saying the jokes. 

also, maybe I disliked the sound effects? maybe they were bothering me without me realizing it? but it's not something I actually paid attention to or noticed until season 7, so I can't say for sure. 

the intro song in season 1-3 and the one in season 7 were really good. I enjoyed them a lot, so I never skipped them and I liked the visuals accompanying them. The modified intro that shows up in season 4 was not very good though, it felt very disjointed, both the actual song and the visuals. And the season 6 song is just okay: not absolutely terrible, but mostly very meh. (also I looked up the Italian intro to see if it sparked any memories of having ever seen it, but nope. It’s not terrible, but not very great either, the chorus is definitely catchy, though very generic for an Italian intro. And the season 6 one is... meh.)

I liked the music in the show. I saw the first episode and i was like "damn, the music is good", but it's something I only really noticed in season 1, so I don't know if it got "worse" or if I just simply stopped paying attention to it. 

I liked how tiny the turtles were compared to everyone else. And kinda chonky. And I liked seeing them without their masks. In Rise I always found them weird-looking without their masks, but here they were nice.

at first it was really hard to distinguish Raph and Mikey when they weren't standing in the same shot, since Mikey's mask is a very reddish orange. I got used to it eventually, but then season 6 decided to have the opposite problem and have Raph's mask look very orange! I got used to it faster but it was still a struggle at first.

I liked the turtles and Splinter as characters and I liked the relationships they had with each other and April. While I didn't particularly like Casey on his own, I did like his friendship with Raph and, to the extent shown, his relationship with the other turtles. 

it took me a long while to get used to the fact that superheroes existed in this universe. I kept forgetting about them. 

the villains were meh.

most of the time, they started out as interesting, and then they stopped being interesting the longer they showed up and since I had watched 2012 before this, I was already familiar with some plotlines, so I wasn't really excited to see them again.

By season 3 I was so done with Shredder. I was tired of seeing him, hearing his voice, hearing his theme, hearing the same motivations over and over again.

Stockman goes through the same thing over and over again, and he makes the same mistakes over and over again. Maybe that's the point of his character, but when every villain doesn't change how they react to things, it gets very tiring real fast.

Hun is boring, except for when he gets competent in season 4. The Triceratons are boring, the Federation is boring. The villains in season 6 are nothing special. Every villain kind of blends together in my head.

Bishop was interesting in that his motivations were not always perfectly opposed to the turtles. I enjoy when villains get in each other's way and so I enjoyed when he was an active obstacle to the Shredder's plans. But overall Bishop slowly loses his cool factor and stops being that interesting.

Karai's descent into villainy was kind of insulting, really. The motivation for it was awkwardly implemented. The voice acting was really bad, she sounded more threatening as a reluctant antagonist to the turtles than she did as a villain. And Leo defeated her in two seconds….wow, fun. Maybe it was to show the growth of Leo’s character and to show how his view of her had changed and how he would no longer hold back against her, but it certainly made Karai feel weak and incompetent. And when the only important female villain (I’m not counting the virus lady from season 6, because she’s not good either) is treated by the narrative like a petty girl playing dress-up, then I think you’re doing something wrong. It’s okay if Karai is pushing herself into a role she does not fit, that she’s continuing a vendetta because that’s the only way she feels she can honor her father and deal with her grief at losing him because of the turtles, but this isn’t what the show tells us. It tells us she genuinely wants this, she genuinely hates the turtles, she genuinely wants to kill them, and she genuinely wants to continue her father’s legacy by being the next Shredder. But the show makes her look laughable when doing any of this. It’s disappointing.

the only "villains" I liked were the wooden creatures in season 5 and they weren't even villains! They looked cool, acted cool, I didn't have to hear them talk, and they didn't overstay their welcome.

To be fair, it's not like I usually watch a show for the villains, so it's not that big of a deal, but it did add to the sense of boredom throughout and it did make me go "ughhhh, shut up, get on with it and go away" every time Shredder showed up after the second season. 

I think some fight scenes were really good? I remember having that thought a few times, but I didn’t really put a pin on it in my mind, so I have no idea which fight scenes they were. I think one was the first against Bishop

now let’s talk about each season in more detail (which isn’t a lot because I have a horrible memory).

I don't have much to say about season 1 and 2, I don't remember much about them since I watched them back in September. 

if I remember right I think season 1 was done pretty well, plot-wise. It introduced the characters and kept the stakes personal to the turtles and Splinter.

oh wait, I remember one thing. what is up with Shredder's building?? I remember not paying that much attention during that episode, but then the turtles were in that room with the elemental guardians and I was like, where the hell are we?? what is happening? is this still even a building? 

anyway. For season 2, I'm pretty sure I liked the first few episodes, but aside from that I don't really remember anything of note beyond that, so I can't really say anything else about it. 

season 3. I started really liking the animation here and in season 4. I first noticed it in Worlds Collide. I don't know exactly what changed, maybe the timing? (I'm not good at identifying different characteristics of animation, so it might've been something else). I just felt like every time I liked it, it had the same type of speed (??).

I remember really liking Worlds Collide Part 2. I never paused it, I was engrossed throughout the whole thing. I just really enjoyed it. 

season 4 was the second easiest season to get through, it was pretty easy to binge-watch.

Hun felt more competent, Karai felt more incompetent (that's a negative, not a positive), Bishop was meh.

I liked Leonardo's anger (but the forced angry voice was awkward to listen to and made me not take him seriously sometimes.), though it was weird how the others mostly never confronted him about it or had much reaction to it or opinions about it.

I felt like it was such a missed opportunity to not have Raph and Leo relate with each other on that aspect, either before Leo got over it (as a way for Raph to try and help him through it. He didn't even have to succeed, it could have backfired spectacularly and I would have been okay with that. People do have different ways to cope with anger after all, and being confronted about one's anger doesn't usually go well the first time around) or after it (with Leo relating to Raph in some way. I mean, Leo and Raph did have very different reasons for being angry, but they acted out their anger in very similar ways.)

Raph even tried to confront Leo at one point, but Splinter interrupted him, which I was so pissed about. I wanted to know what he was going to say to him!

I did like that they tried to get Usagi to help, since he was someone outside the family who Leo was friends with and who Leo might've been more comfortable sharing his troubles with.

(But again, I did find weird how Leo's brothers barely interacted with him regarding his anger. I would've been more okay with it if it was made obvious that they actually had no idea how to approach him about it and so they mostly ignored the problem hoping it'd go away on its own or something.) 

season 5 sucked. like, I was 4 episodes in and I was dreading the fact I had two more seasons to go after this one, if this is how they would all go.

I was intrigued by the story at the beginning but the pacing was horrible, and the things that happened were baffling. 8 characters "died" in a single episode and I was supposed to take that seriously? Then Chaplin and Karai "died" in the most hilarious way possible and I don't think I've laughed that hard during the entire 7 seasons. And going by the tone of the show, I was not supposed to laugh.

the interactions between the characters got weirder and weirder especially when the previous seasons' antagonists got thrown in the picture.

Then the turtles kept saying the names of their weapons out loud every time they did an attack and for this show that's just off and awkward and Raph kept saying "let's kick some shell!" like it was a catchphrase. (it was probably just two times or something, but it was two times too many for me.)

The dragons' designs were very stiff and I kept thinking they looked like Yu-gi-oh designs? (although that might not be a very accurate statement and I’m not trying to dunk on Yu-gi-oh). They just looked weird for the show.

I did like the design for Chikara (and the fact she wasn’t the one with the fan weapon, small mercies!) and I liked Hisomi.

and I did like that the turtles each had their own relationship with the other 4 candidates, though the show didn’t really go into much depth with it.

and again, I liked the wooden enemies the Ninja Tribunal made. honestly that first fight scene with them is probably my favorite scene of this season. 

season 6. I thought the turtles looked precious without their masks and I was kind of hoping they would never wear them again even though I knew that was never going to happen.

why is Raph so tall?? who thought that Raph seemed like a tall person?? he radiates small energy!! it took me the whole season to get used to.

I didn't mind this season, but wow, Raph really got the preferential treatment this time. He's my favorite and I did feel like in the previous seasons, Raph didn't get to do as much as his brothers (mainly Donnie and Leo), but it was still pretty balanced. This season however, apart from like, the last 4 episodes, Leo didn't do much of anything. I'm pretty sure he barely even said anything. Donnie did more, but he was also pretty much on the sidelines. Mikey is the only one who comes somewhat close to Raph, but this is also the season that started turning his character into a more childish and immature one.

this season had some sweet moments between the brothers, I liked the graduation day episode with Mikey's brothers wanting him to graduate with them and helping convincing Splinter to give him another chance.

and I liked the episode with Leo's clone where Leo finally got to do a thing! 

season 7 returned to a more balanced cast. It was a bit divided relationship-wise, with Donnie separated from the other three, but he had his own role in the plot and it was nice seeing Raph, Leo and Mikey hanging out and spending time with each other and they had some cute interactions.

and Mikey got to defeat Shredder (not really, but kind of) which was cool.

also, it was nice seeing Raph help out Casey with the engagement and the wedding.

(also I can see where the 2012 April-gets-corrupted-by-an-evil-artefact plot comes from).

this season made some minor character decisions that were confusing in light of previous seasons, for example with Stockman who seemed okay interacting with the turtles even though he's not supposed to become a better person until much later, if we go by season 6's canon.

season 7 is the least visually appealing season. The turtles having eyes with the masks on looks weird, though I'm sure it was done to make them more expressive.

and the redesign choices for some characters made it really hard to recognize them. I did not recognize Karai at all, I was confused when I saw Chaplin at the wedding but she wasn't there, even though I had seen her invitation, but no, she was there, I had just overlooked her because I thought she was a random person.

(I don't even know why they decided to redesign them? it's not like they're better designs.)

I disliked Donnie in the first few episodes. A lot. I saw him and I was like "wow, I can see where 2012 Donatello got his personality from". I was afraid he was gonna be like that for the whole season, but thankfully he wasn't.

season 7 is the season I enjoyed the most. Somehow. I don't know why, it wasn't necessarily better than the other seasons (except 5), and in some respects it was definitely worse, but I was never bored with it. Maybe it's because the intro song always got me very hype, who knows. Regardless, it was a breeze to get through and it left me on a positive note. 

which was ruined by Turtles Forever. apart from the meeting with the Prime Turtles and maybe a few more moments (?? I don't actually remember any of these other moments, so maybe not.) it was all very boring for me and that's all I have to say about it. 

oh i almost forgot. 

gnc Mikey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



by the way, I promise I don't dislike this show. I like the turtles and I think that's the most important thing that matters.

I love how Michelangelo is silly and loves fun and distractions, but he seems to be the most level-headed when it comes to strong emotions. How he's sometimes fearful and seeks glory, but he's genuinely always ready to throw that aside to help people.

I love how Raphael is the most emotional and so family-oriented, but his emotions still put him at odds with his family sometimes. How his impulsiveness and need for retaliation gets him into trouble, but also how often that trouble leads him to build connections with people who need help but won't ask for it.

I love how Leonardo's passion and his quest for growth as a person and as a ninja leads him to question the role of his father's teachings in the situations he encounters and the people he interacts with, and to question his own role within his own family, juggling his responsibility towards them as their leader (and the weight that comes with it) and his own sense of justice. How, no matter the struggles he faces, he'll always find his way back to his family's side.

I love how Donatello's tech is always geared towards his family's comfort and safety and how it sometimes plays into his family's interests. How excited he gets at discovering new things and like-minded people. How calm and patient he is, both in combat and with his own family, but also how he doesn't hesitate to tease his brothers. How often he seeks to understand the people he meets, how easily he connects with them emotionally and how he strongly feels for them and their plights.

I love how Splinter is always there with his sons. How he doesn't want to drag them into his own issues and battles, but if it happens he's always there to protect them, to fight alongside them and to guide them when they're willing to listen. How he always tries to treat them fairly and with patience. How he might get exasperated by them but it's always with a layer of fondness.

And if there’s one thing this show’s done right, it’s that I can tell that the turtles, Splinter, April and Casey all really care for each other. 

[aphel1on]

tag someone you want to get to know better

tagged by @woobifiedvillain a few days ago and finally remembered to do it!!

Favorite color: Yellow, but not an overwhelming yellow, like that soft warm yellow? I love it. People tend to not expect this answer, I think I give off more of a blue or grey vibe. Honestly a pretty grey/silver is probably my second favorite color, but a buttery yellow is just so good for the soul.

Last song: You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi. Danced to it in the kitchen, got consumed by the guitar riffs, nearly knocked a chair over. Before this morning it would've been the Genshin OST... I've been listening to it a lot while I write or do chores recently.

Last movie: An exceedingly mediocre romcom on Netflix that I watched with my sick mom to be nice. Genuinely couldn't tell you the title or more than like, two or three plot points. Last movie that I watched bc I wanted to was the Barbie movie, which was genuinely better than I expected. Enjoyable but would still give it, like, a mixed review. I'm not getting into two months' ago Barbie Movie Discourse on this post

Currently watching: I'M STILL TRYING TO FINISH THE UNTAMED!!!! woobifiedvillain i'm speaking directly to you and quoting you: i too am "chronically incapable of paying attention to visual media, even the good shit" and when i try to explain this to people irl they act like i am insane!!! I haven't watched Good Omens season 2 yet even tho I am reblogging posts about it rn. I think it's mostly adhd, or really just a part of the larger Neurodivergence Soup (tm) that makes it nearly impossible for me to learn something from a YouTube video. I mean, sometimes for a hands-on task a video is essential, but can't there be a written list of instructions to go with it too, bc that sticks in my mind way better sobs... ANYWAY i'm currently on episode 43 of The Untamed, so I should be able to finish it by, like. The end of the year at least lol?

Currently reading: I started reading SVSSS recently because, like. The mxtx mania is in full throttle. I just got here a little later than most people lmao. I'm also currently "reading" like seven different books that I bought or pirated this year and have on hold. One of my Unfortunate Skills is bingereading like 200 pages of something in 1-2 days and then not finishing the rest of it for 8 months.

Currently working on: Keep My Shadow Alive, my big xue yang-centric fix it fic!!! Well, more like a fix it, and then break it more, and then eventually actually fix it fic. Starting from the canon divergence of "Add Pre-Teen Xue Yang to the Burial Mounds Fam" and going from there. I read every fic like that that's on ao3 and was still being eaten alive by the brainworms so I started writing my own take on it and ~6 months later it's the longest fic I've ever written and only 25% of the way through its outline???? So. Who knows if it will get finished (my track record is admittedly not great)- but I've had such a blast writing it so far. Xue Yang is just SO fun to write. Yes it has a plot and character arcs and I could even go full English Major* and start telling you about its Themes, but also it's just an excuse to write Xue Yang interacting with every member of the MDZS cast. Going to STOP talking now bc I fully am the type of writer who will get carried away talking about their wips.

*i am not an english major, but spiritually i am an english major.

Current obsession: Yeah uh, MDZS. My friend convinced me to finally read it in January of this year, and the hyperfixation train has simply not stopped since then. Genshin Impact also dragged me back in with the Fontaine update and I've been having a lot of fun playing it. But MDZS is still mostly the thing that's eating up my RAM. Particularly the Yi City crew, but 3zun is rotating in there too. Sometimes even The Man WWX Himself, i talk about him less but i do love him a lot also lol

Tagging: I'm honestly too shy to do this!!! But thank you for tagging me anyway<3

[notalkingbusiness]

Confession time – I never really paid that much attention to individual showrunners before Season 11 because I watched the show in my own little bubble.  I knew that Darabont was screwed over by AMC but that was about it. I just knew what I liked to watch, and which seasons were weakest.  But given TWDU’s bewildering direction of travel, I’ve found it helpful to look back at each showrunner’s era more closely.  

It will come as no surprise that my biggest gripes with the show fall under Gimple’s tenure as showrunner because . . . that’s the general consensus.  Viewership tanked under the Gimple years (nosediving in Seasons 7-8) and the viewing figures only started to recover under Kang’s premiership.

We lost Darabont and Mazzara years ago.  We’ll lose Kang after TWD finale as she’s moving on to bigger and better things.  As Chief Content Officer, Gimple’s the last man standing.  And I’m wary of what’s to come given Gimple’s record as showrunner.

A few problems immediately spring to mind . . .

1. Gimple’s pacing leaves much to be desired.  Even the stronger seasons (4 &5) felt very meandering to me.  I rationalized the poor pacing in Season 4/start of Season 5 as the characters were scattered and homeless, but it started to wear extremely thin by the time they got to Alexandria.  When Season 6 rolled around, I remember thinking, “What even is this show?  Why are we randomly in black and white?  Should I stop watching here?”

I very nearly gave up on TWD in Season 6.  There’s no way I would have carried on watching if the whole series hadn’t been available to watch on streaming services.  I think that the Darabont, Mazzara, and Kang eras are all much more tightly written, and I’ve never been tempted to abandon ship during their respective tenures as showrunner.

2. Unfortunately, I get the sense that Gimple is easily bored and/or distracted as a showrunner because threads are dropped all the time.  He’s more interested in showing things go BOOM rather than emotionally driven storytelling. To give credit where it’s due, I liked all the visual clues in Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5 that Terminus was not what it seemed.  The Holocaust imagery was effective.  I particularly liked the prominent sunflowers in the Terminus yard - sunflowers = false riches in the language of flowers. But Terminus was the start and end of Gimple’s consistent thematic motifs/parallels – I’ve never been able to see anything beyond the surface level with his other villains.  This couldn’t be more different to Kang’s intricate work with the Whisperer conflict = post-apocalyptic cold war.

3. A tale of two CDC references.  

No one likes Dr Jenner as much as Gimple lol.  I’ve already covered this in a previous post, so I won’t labor the point.  But why on Earth would you use Dr Jenner as the key to TWDU?  Why would you pour the last 11 seasons down the drain?

Compare Gimple’s approach to the CDC episodes to Kang’s.  Having Daryl remember that Carol was claustrophobic in Season 10 after she mentioned it in the CDC bunker in Season 1?  That’s gold, pure gold.  It proves that Daryl was paying attention from the very beginning.  It’s a character driven callback, not a gimmick.

4. Sexual assaults – there are multiple references to rape/coerced consent in each of Gimple’s seasons.  In fairness, Mazzara also included rape/sexual assault in Seasons 2-3 and so did Darabont in Season 1 – I didn’t like it when they did it either.  It’s worth remembering that Kang hasn’t used rape or sexual assault once during her time as showrunner.  Writing is all about choices and Gimple is choosing to subject his characters to the threat of sexual violence again and again and again.  And every single incident misses the mark because it feels like they’re thrown in with very little thought.  None of the assaults were handled with the sensitivity that they deserved.

5. Everything about the Anderson storyline was off.  I won’t get into everything here, but something that always sticks out to me is the lack of interaction between Jessie and Carol. You’d think that it would be worth exploring the dynamic between characters with similar histories.  Like how Kang set up the bond between Daryl and Lydia (two victims of child abuse with complicated families).  I’d take a Carol conversation with Jessie over a confrontation with Pete any day of the week.  But I guess we’re just left with what happens when you prioritize your male characters above all else.

6. Gimple prefers shock over substance.  To me, it feels more like “Bet you didn’t see that coming!” rather than going with what would be best for the story.  Take Denise.  She got Abraham’s comic death and Abraham was killed in Negan’s lineup instead.  So, Denise’s death was a shock, Abraham was spared for a while, and we were supposed to be shocked again when Abraham got his brains bashed in.  Thing is though, when people talk about Negan’s line up, they only tend to talk about Glenn. Abraham tends to be added as an afterthought.  Killing Glenn was shocking enough, Abraham shouldn’t have died in the lineup – he should have had his comic death.  That way, the impact of Abraham’s death could have been felt fully and (more importantly) Denise would still be alive – the bury your gays trope could have been avoided.

Obviously, the biggest shock over substance moment was Carl’s death (another Gimple style deviation from the comics).  This was a huge mistake because hope, legacy, and inter-generational transfer are key elements of post-apocalyptic convention.  Carl was still a child when the world turned upside down and becomes a man in the new world – he straddles these two worlds more than any other character. Let’s just say that those “look how far we’ve come” monologues in Season 11 would make a heck of a lot more sense coming from Carl (born and raised in the old world for the first decade of his life) than Judith (born and raised in the apocalypse).  And that’s before we even get into the ethics of Chandler Riggs being written out before his 18th birthday.  Big yikes.

I’m not saying you can never deviate from the comics, far from it.  Sometimes deviating from the source material results in a better story.  Take the pikes in Season 9.  In the comics, Ezekiel’s head is in on the pike.  In the show, we get Henry’s head on the pike. Kang made the right call.  Kang avoided killing off yet another black male character in a brutal fashion.  After Henry’s death, Carol has the power to choose her own future and she decides to leave her marriage.  Carol would not have this agency if she’d been made a widow by the whisperers – she wouldn’t have been able to choose Daryl over Ezekiel.    

7. For me, Gimple’s era is characterized by missed opportunities and wasted potential.  I kept waiting for all of these important conversations to happen and . . . they never did.  Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got some great Caryl moments in Season 5, but I basically spent my first viewing chanting, “Please, please, for the love of God, just talk to each other!” the entire time.  I finished Season 5 and I thought, “It’s okay, I’m sure they’ll talk about Lizzie and have a meaningful heart to heart in Season 6”. And then Season 6 came and went. And then Season 7.  And then Season 8.

So, when we were blessed with so much Caryl content and Lizzie references in Seasons 9 and 10, I thought, “Finally!  We’re getting somewhere!  We’re going to have all those conversations that we should have had years ago!”. Seasons 9 & 10 were consistently good quality and Caryl centric.  In another timeline, we’ve got a Season 11 that’s in line with S9/S10 quality and the Caryl spinoff – oh, to live in that world!

Anyway, thus concludes my thoughts on Gimple (for now). There are some great episodes in Seasons 4-8 but overall, the bad outweighs the good tenfold.  It remains to be seen if Gimple’s grand plans for TWDU help or hinder AMC’s streaming ambitions.  Personally, I wouldn’t bet on Gimple.

[inkedmyths]

S2: E3 "Bloodlust"

Brought to you by I PROMISED Kayla yesterday I would watch more when I finished my essay so here I am

This episode featuring: Yet another member of the hunting community, veganism in a fashion, deep discussion on Dean and cowboys, and great fuckin music

Oh whats this song I think I know it

Is that Journey

Is that. Wheel in the Sky?

IT IS FUCK YEAAAA

Jammin I fuckin love this song. Great start

Oh look a scared woman in the woods. Seems standard

Is that the Benadryl Hat Man

Crepe: The What Kayla: probably

Why are you moving around the tree like that

OFF WITH HER HEAD!

OHHHH YEAH FUCK YEAH I LOVE THE SOUNDTRACK ON THIS EP! BACK IN BLACK AC/DC!!

[ Kayla reiterates that the SPN soundtrack is good. I like 70's ans 80's rock so I agree so far. ]

Dean: Woo car! Decapitated heads! Helllll yea!

Kayla: man's two true loves

Lmaoooo

I love them being terrible fake journalists

The cop: SATANISTS? LMAOOOO

Crepe: Everyone loves a Satanist Kayla: title of a black sabbath song Crepe: Really? Kayla: no just a joke Crepe: Oh

Wooo funky impersonations we're goin fast this episode

"Open it" "You open it" Lmaoooo

EWWW TOOTH? FANG???

VAMPIRE??

Whats goin on heeeere are the cowboy vampires back

[ Crepe replies saying it's worse, but at least has the kindness to spoiler hide the rest of the message. It just hid the word Vegan though. ]

[ Then Melon pops in, stating the time in his zone and expressing a worry for my sleep schedule. I told her it's fine, and that I actually am the furthest behind in terms of timezones amongst the group, as it was only a quarter til 9 pm at the time of that message. Not that xey shouldn't worry about my sleep schedule, because it is horrendous, but that's besides the point. ]

"So we're lookin for some people" "Sure it's hard to be lonely"

Ok so that guys gone. Watching them for sure

Yep

They're waiting for him?

Whshshs ok ok whats he want anyways

[ It is about this point where Melon, Crepe, and Kayla digress into some conversation regarding cowboys, vampires, and the resulting combination being a dilemma for Dean and his sexuality. Fascinating stuff, but I wasn't really paying attention as I was engrossed in whatever the Winchesters were doing onscreen. I will, however, transcribe it as well, because I think it's funnier that way. ]

Melon: Do you think cowboy vampires act as a paradox for deans concept of reality. One is something he desperately craves to be, and the other he hates some of the time. It’s like, the taping a piece of toast with jam to a shoe and throwing it. Which overrides the other? Crepe: That would be a very interesting take to explore Kayla: one of them is a kink and the other is vampiress

OHHH yeah hes a hunter?

Ok. Ok he's a little. Seems neat but. Idk. Brushes them off pretty fast. Hm.

Sure of himself? Or something else?

Ok garage guy. You gonna get murked orrrr

Crepe: Why is Dean into cowboys tho? Kayla: have you seen him interact with one heterosexually ever

What are you even looking for

Oh its a bird

Melon: But if faced with something you’re technically supposed to kill but is literally every kink you could ever want besides that one thing, what would dean do Kayla: fuck and kill probably. thats how they seem to usually operate Melon: Ok yeah you’re right Crepe: Monsterfucker and Monsterhunter

OOHHG FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Why is a vampire working a garage

[ Kayla says its a capitalist hellscape, even vampires need the money. Which. Fair. Gotta pay for those replacement clothes when you get blood on them I guess. ]

AAAAAAAA

Oh hey theres the Winchesters

Ewwwww chainsaw blood spatter. Kinda a look for Dean tho

[ Kayla and Melon both agree with this statement. ]

Sam whats up with that look. Problem that your brother chainsawed a vampire's head off

Melon: Dean at peak is covered in blood, holding a shotgun chainsaw, and in full cowboy outfit Kayla: sharknado 6 Melon: I mean we were all thinking it Crepe: I wasn't

Cmon Sam. Its about the murder and blood spatters. Get down with it

Kayla: sharknado but everything is the same except dean is fin Melon: That really changes nothing besides that the wife would be a dude instead Kayla: cas Melon: That’s what I said

[ They then discuss something about Cas that I apparently won't understand for like 8 and a half more seasons. C'mon guys, I haven't even met the guy yet. ]

What is going on over drinks here

Oh. So a vampire killed this guy's sister. :(

Right makes sense as hunter backstory

Dean finally admitting somethin abt how he feels abt their dad passing. And its to some guy they JUST MET INSTEAD OF HIS BROTHER

[ Melon says it's because it's easier to admit to a stranger than someone you know. Kayla adds that he has to be strong for Sam. Ah, yes, the constipated older brother syndrome. I get it. ]

I don't think this hunter guy is handling his emotions well gonna say

Gordon Walker? That's his name? K

Oh ok so this guy's just fuckin nuts. Got it.

[ They now discuss telling strangers about trauma with no warning. They come to the conclusion that this is just Tumblr. ]

"Yknow what I love about this life? It's all black and white." Hmmmmmmmm

Yeah this guy's more than a bit off his rocker and you both should leave!

Uh oh Sammy

Why does Sam keep getting stalked and/or jumped by shit huh

Don't breathe a sufg of relief you idiot

[ I meant to type "sigh", not whatever happened there. Add that to the list of Ink typos. ]

Oh look! Vampire! Of course

??

VEGAN VAMPIRES?

[ Crepe goes on a tangent about said Vegan Vampires, of which I follow maybe half of. ]

Ohhhh cattle blood. Funky

Vegan Vampires just living their lives I guess. Good for them! Unfortunately Sam and Gordon won't listen to him probably

Dean is too murder happy and Sam is not quite murder happy enough and they yell at each other about it

[ Apparently, they say, this is the plot of season 10. What the hell does that mean. ]

HE STOLE THE CAR!! THEY HAVE TO HOTWIRE THEIR OWN CAR!!!

*keys not the car

Somethin about this chick's delivery. Weird. Not like in a suspicious way just in a What is this Acting way

Sam and his sad, sad eyebrow scrunch

Eww stabby

Gordon u got issues homie

Weird fuckin guy. Weeeird fuckin guy.

Shes trying her best leave her alone

Hunter fight! Hunter fight! Get his ass Dean!

WHSHSHSH screaming. Dean telling Sam to punch him. Bc he was a dick.

[ Kayla and Crepe both say they're going to bed, not even waiting 3 minutes for me to finish the episode. Rude. ]

DEAN ADMITTED THEIR DAD WASN'T PERFECT!!! HOLY SHIT!!!

Man now they have to deal with more Moral Quandries. Have fun with that boys!

And away they go. Into the sunrise.

---

I cannot emphasize enough how much I was not paying attention to whatever the hell my friends were talking about in the moment. Absolutely wild to go back and read all that. What the fuck are they on about

Anyways. Vegan Vampires I guess! That's a thing! Wild.

[cassberry]

i just got into mc let’s plays of any kind a month or so ago, and into hermitcraft around the same time via gem, but i am,,, lost. i’ve only really watched gem and pearl, and impulse’s streams will autoplay while i’m not paying attention. if i want to really jump into this hyperfixation, where do i start? how much content am i getting into? should i watch everyone’s videos or can i mostly pick and choose? what about double life?

i’m glad i can hop in while it’s current, but i have NO idea where to go/how to catch up/how much real lore there is, and i’ve seen so much fan content that i do not understand lmao

thank you!!

Welcome to MCYT! I'm so happy others are still getting into it! You are joining at a fantastic time honestly, the content is top-notch and the fandom is thriving.

Now the one thing I say to people getting into anything mcyt related is, please do not try to watch everyone's content, whether it be videos or streams. That is the fastest way to burn out and there are about a billion content creators, so it will eventually start to feel like a chore to try and keep up with everything.

I currently watch an absurd amount of mcyt content and even then there are only about 5-6 people that I watch everything they produce consistently. The best thing you can do is have a few people you main and just pop into other videos occasionally to see what they are doing.

Thankfully there is very little that you need to know to get into hermitcraft, even on an episode to episode basis. Lore tends to be really, really informal on the server, with the exception of season 8. I want to say lore is generally more of a plot device to encourage hermit interactions, rather than a strict story with characters and plot lines.

I saw you've seen my post on getting into hermitcraft and how you should start with season 9 - I still recommend that. Season 9 is currently hitting mid-season which is when hermits start focusing on their mega bases and mega projects. It's not too far into the season so you should be able to catch up quickly if you find a few hermits that you like. But I know it can be daunting to hop into a season that's 20-30 episodes in, so honestly, I would just watch the latest episode from a hermit you want to watch and see if you like the vibes. You can always re-watch the backlog later. 

To start finding a hermit to like I suggest either watching one and branching out from there (or the “Grian Effect(TM)” as Redwinterroses calls it lmao) or another great way to see which hermits you could vibe with is to watch the hermitcraft recap. They summarise the best things that happened that week on the server and give a great run down of the different hermits. Check out the hermitcraft site for a full list of members and latest videos.

Some personal suggestions though if you like Gem and Pearl is GoodTimesWithScar, VintageBeef, Cubfan, False and Impulse. Also I'm being incredibly biased when I say this because he is my favourite, but Etho has just started his season so if you want to watch along with everyone else you should check out his videos!

What kind of things do you like watching or what things are you looking for? I can give some better recs if needed :)

If you are looking for something a little more story heavy and with a touch more lore, Empires season 2 has just started and its also looking incredibly promising. It's not affiliated with hermitcraft, but there is a little crossover with the members so the vibes are good over there as well. I think the full member list is on the Empires Wiki.

Now Double Life is part of a series separate to hermitcraft run by Grian that just happens to have a lot of hermits in it lol You don't have to watch double life to watch hermitcraft, it's more of a short-form, death games series that's very personality-driven. It's a great way to see a bunch of different creators hanging with people they normally wouldn't.

You've got 3rd Life (season 1), Last Life (s2) and Double Life (s3) and thankfully you don't have to watch the previous seasons to appreciate any of the others. Bit of self promo here lol but I actually have viewing guides for which POV's to watch for both 3rd Life and Last Life if you want to check it out.

But yeah, some fan content can be a little obscure lol You're welcome at anytime to come ask me questions for things that just seem to come out of no where. Like how Rendog is now king of the server, which is definitely a throw back to how he became the Red King on 3rd Life but he only became king there because he was wearing a skin with a crown on it from winning MCC (blue bats 9 my beloved). It's all messy and super intertwined, and sometimes it doesn’t make sense at all but most people in hermitblr are super happy to answer any questions and love to ramble as much as me lol

I agree that it can be super confusing about knowing where to start so I hope this helped. Thankfully I'm more familar with the hermitcraft/empires/life series side of mcyt but I did do a little bit of time in dsmp so if you have any questions for there, just let me know :)

[deepspacedukat]

I’m getting very ahead of myself at the moment but I have had another idea. Unfortunately even though I have the brain worm I’ve only seen 2 more episodes so it’s going to have to wait until I see more of the Damar storyline. I think I’m going to call it Do You Feel Lucky, Punk? I haven’t actually decided anything yet for what to do with it, except that she’s not going to be on the station anymore. This happens after you Earth is attacked and Kira, Garak, and Odo go to help Damar. And yes, I did attempt a Weyoun conversation. I suspect the one with Sisko will be harder and simultaneously easier to respond to. After this weekend I think I’ll be writing the Weyoun 6 episode Redux then the fic this will be from. Unless I change the dialogue. Writing is so hard when you don’t have the requisite info to help the brain worm (and also no foundation to build it on).

“You can’t go. They- We need you here.”

“When I came to this station, my goal was to work hard enough, to do enough, to be enough that I would finally get recognized, and maybe, just maybe, I could have the job I’ve always wanted. That I dreamed of having since I was a child. I was foolish. The truth is I came here to get away from Earth and try to prove that I wasn’t just what I was born as. That I was worthy of being called Doctor. I earned my degree and everything I’ve ever gotten with my own blood, sweat, and tears- what has it gotten me? People still look at me with contempt for not being like them. For having the family I do. And now, here, on this station, I can do nothing but sit and do all the work while my superior officer fools around trying to find a cure for a disease humans created! My people need me. My family needs me. I am going back to Herford to serve my people. Perhaps I have learned a lesson in humility. I want to make sure it sticks.”

-Horta-in-Charge

Oh, that title is a good one!! And I know exactly what you mean. I didn't exactly pay a ton of attention to Weyoun and the Founders my first time watching through DS9, so subsequently, my memory is a little garbage when it comes to storyline stuff. I'm having to go back and watch all the episodes from the last few seasons that involve him so I can get a better idea of where my own story is going lol. Brainworm need info!! *caveman-like grunting*

Ooooh, I love the vibe that interaction gives off. I'm so excited to read more, friend!

[legacyofacat]

So, not sure how many of you know this, but the Arpeggio characters got character songs! This isn't new information to me, but since I recently started cross-posting my fanfiction Arpeggio of Hurt Steel I remembered one of my headcanons/theoriese I view as confirmed and wanted to tell you guys about it! Spoilers from here on, in case you haven't finished the anime!

As we all know, Maya was a surveillance unit reporting to I-400 and I-402 (why they decided to monitor Kongou is something we can explore in a different post) and only a "Mental Model without emotion emulator". However, I always thought that was strange. Now, I don't mean this in the "bad writing" way, I think that 400 and 402 genuinely were of that opinion and thus stated it, BUT it just didn't seem right, so I started thinking. I was pretty sure that, "hey, maybe Maya actually did know what was going on, but just couldn't do anything against it and had to watch shit go down".

My reasons for that thought are as follows:

Strange dialogue

400 and 402 stated that Maya runs on a very simple logic routine that responds in accordance with whatever you throw at her (so essentially like a chatbot), but when Iona sank Haruna and Kirishima, Maya, of her own will and without good reason, came to her in the Concept Communication System and asked "Hey, what happened to you?"

Iona answer this and the resulting reply of Maya is "Because she was able to save her friend, right?"

Maya's second sentence is one of the things she says when the subs shut her down, so I think that that is the point where the Chatbot takes over again - however, said Chatbot doesn't have a good reason for initiating the contact.

"But what if someone ordered her to ask that?"

Illogical, in my opinion:

Kongou wouldn't have since she feared interacting directly would damage their Cores and took precautions for her and Maya when they went to meet.

Iona's sisters only developed a will & curiosity about 4-6 episodes later and had therefore no reason to ask something like that.

And the theoretical factor of Musashi? Not either. She doesn't care about the "doll" Iona, only about the real Yamato, and that "awakening" is something Musashi only begins triggering in Vladivostok.

At some point, Kongou asks Maya "And what about you?" in reference to whose order she follows and wether she considers deserting. Maya replies the following:

Why mention Kongou extra? "I just obey the Admiralty Code" would have been more than enough since that includes obeing her flagship and that very flagship is Kongou.

My theory is that the "and Kongou" was sneaked in by the actual Maya.

Furthermore, there are various moments where Maya's speaking just seems... stranger than usual. Especially in situations where she assures Kongou that following the Admiralty Code is the right thing. Her words are delievered in a way that makes them unnatural - almost as if the Chatbot had been content with letting Maya babble away and then jumped into action when Kongou started potentially doubting their cause.

It's not a big shift, so one has to actually pay attention to it to notice and it is sadly near impossible to take a series of screenshots that captures the shift.

Shutting down the system & Mental Models

I'm not sure wether 400 & 402's statement of having "shut down the program" refers to the Mental Model itself or just the Chatbot, but in any case, this is absolutely a butchered shutdown. The system you just tried to quit via Task Manager resulted in audio distortion and repeats of past executions? That doesn't seem like something that should happen.

I-400 and I-402 should not have such problems shutting down "a simple program", especially not as highly developed AI and the very people who most likely implemented that program to begin with.

Yet, what happened there should not have happened under the conditions of a normal shutdown. If you stop a program, it just stops running, it doesn't start glitching around unless something is wrong.

The manga has shown us that even ships without Mental Model can communicate and have a certain range of emotions (see: Vampire). Of course, anime and manga are completely different universes, but they share many things - as such, I see things that aren't outright stated as impossible in the anime as possible to existing there as well.

Conclusion: it is very much possible that the "something" that went wrong is the actual Maya fighting the shutdown.

"Why didn't I-400 and I-402 do anything about that, then?"

I can only speculate. This happens after Iona resurfaces, so they could have had different priorities and decided that an surveillance program with an undangerous glitch was just not important at the moment.

Character Songs - Tremolo

So, why did I mention the character songs at the beginning?

gombi grace over on YouTube actually sat down, transcribed & translated Maya's character song, Tremolo, into English.

There are a handful of lines that are just Maya typical hyper cheery nonsense, but if you cross them out, you gain the following text:

"The sound continues The speed that reaches your heart Hello, heading towards the world's best today Making the town sloppy to clean it, it's ok My favourite music is flowing Look at me, move with the music, it's ok Somehow i feel that I had stopped Finishing off those meaningless words Voices replace them like magic The sound continues The speed that reaches your end Hello, heading towards the cowardly tomorrow I could not see the good in it, As it is held back Oh, the things that I want to tell you It is ok to tell it when we walk I wonder if my pitch is slightly off Who had decided it The breath resounds in my body The sound continues The speed greater and stronger than anything One sad sound one gentle sound I connect and stretch them Again, I could not hear them It is like the flower that sways in the wind It is like the blue waves The sound continues the speed that reaches your end it continues"

This is what confirmed my theory for me. Let's interpret the snippets a bit:

"The sound continues The speed that reaches your heart"

The sound could be many things; a voice, a message, feelings. Mayhaps things Maya whishes to actually communicate.

The "You" in not just this case but every other point in this song could be Kongou.

"Hello, heading towards the world's best today Making the town sloppy to clean it, it's ok My favourite music is flowing Look at me, move with the music, it's ok"

The second line could be interpreted as "if you break something to make it (the situation?) good, then that is alright" and could potentially refer to Kongou's dependency on the Admiralty Code. "Move with the music" essentially means to move with the flow - whatever happens, happens - and is something I could absolutely see Maya wanting to tell Kongou.

The "it's ok"s are the only instance of these words following each other so closely and the two of three times they appear at all. Could be intended as extra reassurance.

"Somehow i feel that I had stopped Finishing off those meaningless words Voices replace them like magic"

The first two lines could refer to Maya's own words. They are not meaningless, but it sounds like a small moment of self-deprecation.

The last line most likely refers to I-400 and I-402 taking over with their program and surpressing whatever Maya meant to say.

"The sound continues The speed that reaches your end"

Could be interpreted as Maya noticing that Kongou is Not Doing Well™, that the current scheme is not really helping and maybe even having a premonition about how this will end.

"Hello, heading towards the cowardly tomorrow I could not see the good in it, As it is held back Oh, the things that I want to tell you It is ok to tell it when we walk"

The "cowardly tomorrow" being "held back" might be a future where both Maya and Kongou can speak freely and do whatever they wish.

"Oh, the things that I want to tell you" is obviously Maya not having the ability to speak her true feelings

"I wonder if my pitch is slightly off Who had decided it The breath resounds in my body"

Her pitch was, in fact, off when the program shut down and the one who decided such were essentially I-400 and I-402.

"Who had decided it" could also be a hint towards Maya not being fully aware of who is responsible or not knowing fully what is happening, but instead that she has a general gist of the situation.

"The sound continues The speed greater and stronger than anything"

In this case, I would interprete the "sound" as the approaching end, but also carrying the double meaning of the aforementioned feelings coming to powerfully descend upon someone (Kongou? Maya herself?)

"One sad sound one gentle sound I connect and stretch them Again, I could not hear them"

I interpret the sounds to be words Maya connects into a sentence, wishes to utter but cannot speak in the end due to the program - thus, again, she herself can't hear them.

"It is like the flower that sways in the wind It is like the blue waves The sound continues the speed that reaches your end it continues"

The situation is continuing, it cannot be stopped and the violent end is still approaching.

And that is why I believe that the character of Maya is actually very tragic, that Maya actually did know what was going on, but just couldn't do anything against it and had to watch everything from a prison that was her very own body and mind.

[spontaneous-human-combustion]

Young at Heart

11.29.2023

merits:

writing:

The premise here is interesting until the government gets involved. The research into slowed/reverse aging...That could have been really fascinating, but it kinda lost me when they tied it all back to "Them." It was less about Barnett or the actions of the individual doctor in the end. However, I was super engaged in Mulder's character arc and the "science" around reverse aging. It's a theme the show revisits fairly frequently -- people/beings who seek or effectually achieve immortality through various means. 5.

characterization/development:

We glimpse Mulder's first case, when he was only 28 (younger than me!) He wants to do right and save people, as he always has, but it backfires. Another layer of survivors guilt to what he already carries around from Samantha. Great to see these poignant insights into his past. Also, nice to see Mulder interact with other people: Reggie, the handwriting expert, etc.

Scully takes a bit of a backseat, but we learn she has a friend named Kathy who plays cello at the recital. Interesting how we get hints of her social life early on, only to have them fade away as her investment in the X-files progresses. And, of course, love when Scully orders people around. 7.

emotion:

As mentioned, I enjoy this peek into Mulder's psyche, observing some of the formative events of his career. We know he has kind of an innate skill that allows him to succeed in his field, and perhaps early on working in the VCU, he was more motivated by success. Following procedure. However, when that ends up getting two innocent people killed, he bears tons of guilt and a generous helping of distrust for authority/rules. It's quite touching to see how close this case is to him. Also, great moment when Mulder is faced with the same dilemma from his first case with Barnett, only this time he doesn't hesitate to save Scully, even if it breaks protocol. 7.

antagonist/monster:

Barnett reminds me of Tooms. He's definitely a human man, but with that added supernormal ability and streak of evil. Unfortunately, he's not as memorable as Tooms, or Mulder's later nemesis Modell. Any depth to him kind of gets washed out by the procedural aspects and conspiracy elements of the case. 6.

on set:

Some excellent wardrobe pieces for Scully: her blue suit, little barrettes, the wet hair & robe combo...

Great effect with the clouded irises.

Quite enjoyed the editing of Mulder superimposed over Barnett dying, and the lovely closeup of Mulder's eyes. However, the best scene was of Scully coming to on the floor after being shot. 7.

music:

Plodding piano, droning synth. Slow menacing music. A resonant gong, pulsing ominous choir music. Tone-setting music definitely. I do quite like when the gong comes into play. 7.

demerits:

boringness: Sadly, a 4. Hard to pay attention to this one.

ccwfl (chris carter wankfest level): I'm debating giving this points for CC bullshit, what with the ~government conspiracy~ ...but I guess I'll be generous this time and let it go.

bonus points:

Point for Scully voiceover on her desktop.

Another point for that little wink to Scully while she's being bait. They're so silly.

totals:

merits total: 39

demerits total: 4

bonus points: 2

episode total: 37/60

favorites:

"What does this have to do with us? "Robbing a jewelry store is a federal crime." "Thank you."

Mulder watches the dead agent's son play football :(

"You should die like an animal, you son of a bitch"

"I didn't know you believed in ghosts Scully."

Scully grabs her gun, slides her glasses off.

"What you did wasn't by the book." "Tells you a lot about the book, doesn't it?"

[tachosnachos]

This is just for fun probably not gonna do this again. I’ve been watching a lot of kdrama series lately so I thought I’d rate them.

note: My ratings are mostly based on my attention span. If it’s a good show with good characters, I usually look past acting and stick to it. Also, I always finish a series I started because I’m just built that way.

above 5 means it’s watchable, less than 5 means it’s trash and I’m dying.

Some are on going, some finished, some I’m still finishing

1. Destined With You 7/10 (Finished)

Rowoon’s acting man, he keeps it nice and fresh. His chemistry with Jo Boah…chef’s kiss 🤌🏼 So cute. The story isn’t interesting enough for me to pay attention to tho, in fact it makes things confusing. Like do they like each other because they like each other, or because of their past lives, or because of the love spell. Up until the end, the book of spells things had no relevance to the story whatsoever.

2. Strong Girl Nam Soon 7/10 (finishing)

It’s hard not to compare it to strong do bong soon, which is like one of the staples of kdrama. Started out way too fast paced, it was giving me a whiplash and then it dragged in the middle. Namsoon and ML has barely any chemistry. It was like they just like each other, like it was already decided they were going to be together from the start. RYU FUCKING SHIO. Carried the fucking show. His little interactions with Namsoon, his back story, him blushing at her. Everything. 2 points just for him. They did him dirty. Why do writers keep doing this? Make us think he has a chance and kill him off at the end? like wtf

3. A Good Day to be A Dog 8/10

Airing once a week makes it hard to remember the story and because of that the recaps takes time off the actual episode. I read parts of the webtoon. The show is very similar except for the part in the past life. Light and funny, but that’s it. Idk in my head i’m comparing it to business proposal (another feel good show) and it just falters in comparison. Also, idk if this is an unpopular opinion but CEW acting isn’t as good as it was in true beauty. I understand the characters are similar but him in true beauty was much better or am i biased? here he seems more stoic and he does this poses in some scenes that feels like he knows he’s good looking and it’s funny to watch 😂 like yes sir you are good looking we get it. Who is directing him to do this.

4. Moon in the Day 7/10

Good but exhausting. Every episode there’s a new plot, new plot twist. It’s trying to be so many things at once and forcing all the pieces to fit in that the main leads are neglected. Tho there are a couple of scenes where they were so cute and adorable but not enough. Before you know it they’re professing love to each other like when did that happen? Is FL the same person she was in her past life or not? Is ML in love with her or because she looks like his wife. The curse thing is also so confusing. Over-explains itself.

5. The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract 6/10

Not enough episodes to have an opinion but with the recent ones, i just think it’s cute. It’s cute and fun. Nothing that makes me excited to watch it again. It’s always the last I watch on fridays and saturdays. I like the actors. But the ML feels like a miscast. I know he’s a good actor but he just feels way too boy next door-y. Which is so confusing because I could’ve sworn I’ve watched him in another show where he was a chaebol and he was fine. Idk if it was the director’s fault but he just doesn’t feel like a rich chaebol ceo yet. Hopefully he falls into the character more in the next episodes. FL is so freaking beautiful tho and her acting 📈

6. My Demon 9/10

Visual Couple, Funny story, amazing scene. Also props to the writers and directors like how they thought of tango/fighting scene is beyond me. It’s currently the only one i’m excited to keep watching. And the story isn’t too complicated that it’s confusing to understand and still feels logical, even though it’s fantasy. 100% recommend you jump into the bandwagon. could be 10/10 if happy ending but we’ll have to wait for that.

7. My man is cupid 8/10

Feels like my demon. I like it. I kinda like my demon more not sure why. I think my demon keeps us in out toes while this show is more of a slowburn. It just feels like any other fantasy show rn obviously it’s only been two episode but still interesting. Attractive actors. Nana is so freaking pretty. ML and SL is also good looking.

8. The Matchmakers 7/10

trying to focus while watching it. It’s very slow paced and I have the attention span of a fish. That being said there some funny scenes that made me topple over laughing but I think I’m going to wait until all episodes are out and finish it.

9. Castaway Diva 8/10 (finishing)

Just started but already the scenes are so pretty. PEB can literally make me watch anything of hers she’s such a good actress. Story is very fresh and easy to watch. Don’t know who ML is yet but I have a feeling it’s not my pick. Woo Hak just goes above and beyond for her, if he’s not Ki Ho (?) I’m going to be so angry. Does FL have to always end up with the childhood love?? To hell with star-crossed lovers.

10. Perfect Marriage Revenge 6/10

It started out good and then it was just exhausting to watch. Every problems have easy solutions that the antagonists don’t really feel like villains. Very telenovela-y. I did read the webtoon so the story wasn’t that much of a surprise. I do however have a bone to pick. I am very confident in Sung Hoon’s acting skills. I’ve watched his other series previously. So why…Why is he making his voice lower than it is 😂 It’s so obvious it’s funny. I try to ignore but in some scenes where he’s supposed to be angry, it sounds more like he’s growling. I can’t take him seriously at all.