#looking at his to-do list like: wow wow! i am going to commit evil again !!

[altairring]

Victor:

[myulalie]

spoiler alert: I won't be writing fix it fics. because I don't need to ;)

More seriously this is full of spoilers from live-reacting to the movie, beware.

That opening in Japan was so cool? Like I was into it. Loved the suspicious silver bullet too, just saying...

Animal Shelter owner Scott is confirmed AND single by thirty I wrote the movie before the movie (just kidding, the fic I'm thinking of has a different premise but I'll rec it because self-promo is hot : The Cure with Sterek endgame too!). Also Scott got a buzzcut like his buddy Stiles!

"We call him the Alpha" just no, it doesn't sound as cool as you think it does, it's so corny.

I love how they re-enacted the interactions at the clinic for Scott and Allison, it's sweet. JR Bourne my love, I could feel your distress, but I have to say the bardo concept thing sounds weird (like, phonetically).

Lydia's reintroduction scene was glorious and how beautiful can this woman be??? She ages like fine wine.

Baby Hale in da place, such a fun scene! I mean what did Derek expect, keeping the Jeep at Hale Auto... Daddy Hale is a good look on him and suggesting they call Stiles... they're married, called it.

No seriously they keep mentioning Stiles and somehow don't even show flashback of him? Would love to be the tiny mouse in the copyright talk for this movie haha.

Malia and Parrish are a thing??? Where did that come from? I like that they lean into her non-commital communication styles and I did connect with their relationship (or lack thereof) immediately, especially when it becomes awkward with Scott later on (#thecure by the way).

I did suspect Chris has something to do with the release of the Nogitsune, that was badass.

Eli is such a Stiles rip off it's almost annoying, I like his back story with Derek's beta-shift more.

Allison is hot too wow, damn ladies. Melissa ROCKS obviously and Finstock still got it.

The partial memory recovery twist for Allison to turn her evil is the oldest trick in the book but I like the way they pulled it off. She's off hunting Derek and they're hopeless, some things never change.

Jackson is a delight and he's still with Ethan 15 years later, LGBTQ+ for the win. I am here for it.

Eli and Derek parallels with Sterek again, here goes the whump for Derek...

Sheriff Stilinski has the one and only braincell in this movie.

Peter is here baby, and I loved his entrance. I say: Melissa, Peter and Chris OT3.

"Go get her" no Melissa, no. Not the right line, not the right time.

I kind of feel bad for Scott's girlfriends (Kira, Malia) who came after Allison like what about his feelings for them??? I understand Allison was his first love and holds a special place in his heart but the others feel really swept under the rug.

Alpha roar check. It felt like a to do list at first but considering Eli's back story I kind of like it as a trigger for his own beta-shift.

For a moment I wondered between Kate and Harris summoning the Nogitsune but I'm kinda glad it wasn't Kate. Idk it feels more insidious with Harris.

Also I do like how the other Kitsunes are all brand new and not rip offs, it's more interesting, and I was interested in Liam for once haha, cuties the two of them.

Derek has better things to do than saving the world, he's too busy parenting... oh well, that was wistful thinking.

Finstock is so proud to say Greenberg and honestly so am I. I wish it was only Eli on the field though, Scott playing makes no sense and doesn't serve any purpose.

Did I just see Tyler Posey's ass when he scrambles up in the Nogitsune's illusion world??? I wonder if it was on purpose... also they messed up with his shirt it went from bloody to clean just to make the next blood loss more obvious...

I did like his attemps to reason with Allison and her big ass smile when he tells her he's still in love with her, but isn't it "burning the exact/same blend of wolfsbane powder into the wound to heal it" rather than just "burning it out"???

Peter going down on the ground to sniff blood that is right in front of him... you were a better werewolf than that before Peter... but banging Allison's head on the railing then Chris switching side makes up for it.

The aesthetics for the illusion in the colored rooms was GREAT and Lydia kinda broke my heart, but I'm glad we had this scene (also Jackson. you have a tail. with venom. use it???).

I will not adress Derek's untimely demise because why would he abandon his son, like Peter could have taken his place to hold the Nogitsune down? (also that twist with the werewolf bite was nice, I liked it, it made sense). plus Allison came back from the dead so he will too. In my fics. It's not a fix it it's canon compliant ;).

Why the fuck are they kissing when Derek just disappeared into thin air seriously. Poor Eli, really get someone else to take custody of you than Scott.

I feel for the Sheriff, seeing Eli like that must remind him of Stiles when they lost Claudia...

The little nudge at the end with Eichen House and there always be new teenage werewolves was so on the nose I loved it.

conclusion: I found it extremely fun, well paced with good aesthetics.

Made me want to watch the series (which I've been pushing off for fear of being disapppointed) actually.

So yeah unpopular opinion, but I had such a great time watching Teen Wolf The Movie I wish it was in theaters because it would have been great on the big screen!

[starfire-s]

here’s a list of the best, mediocre and worst kdramas i watched in 2020

no one asked for this but it’s happening because i have thoughts (also all opinions are my own if you disagree then get well soon i guess... no i’m kidding make your own posts about it don’t hate me please) ahsjsj anyways click to read a lengthy post and if you actually read the whole thing then thank you i hope you enjoy this wild ride! 

THE BEST KDRAMAS -

mystic pop up bar - this show had everything i ask from a kdrama literally i can name it all found family (to real family), well thought out characters, a mystery plot, special effects, soft romances that were well written, a happy ending! no show in 2020 even comes close to how good this one was! the writers literally guided you throughout the whole thing so you could come up with theories and didn’t do a ‘aha! gotcha’ thing where they want to prove the audience wrong but they wanted us to be right and satisfied! the worst part about the drama is that it’s still so underrated and people just brush it off as some random fantasy show but it’s so much more than that! 1000/10

flower of evil - who doesn’t want to see lee joon gi being the son of a serial killer, living with the name of a man who is in a coma, and hiding his real identity from his wife who is a detective? this show constantly had me at the edge of my seat on a weekly basis so the emotions i went through while watching this are unparalleled! the writers also did such a good job on writing a coherent story that made sense and tied up all the plot points in the end. just a really satisfying show to watch! 10/10

where your eyes linger - i literally bought a $8 viki pass to watch this show so it should tell you everything you need to know about how i feel ahsjsj the episodes were 10 minutes long but we got a good story with well written characters who got character development in a total of 80 minutes it’s insane! honestly it’s still hard to believe this show had rookie actors because they were just so emotive that you could feel all the happiness, sadness, yearning and pining! probably one of my fave kdramas this year because of the acting that i always constantly rewatch! would recommend 10/10

crash landing on you - okay so this drama was actually released on my birthday last year and it was a time in my life when i was going through a lot so maybe it’s the comfort this show provided me through that time this is why i have such a soft spot for it? like the romance was good, it was funny, there was found family, the nk soldiers were all softies, there were strong female leads, soft male leads!!! ahh!! no other show on this list made me think about the unification of south korea and north korea irl because i wanted se ri and jeong hyeok to be together 4ever! but the only issue i had with this show was the ending they gave seung jun if they didn’t do that i’d give this show a 10/10 but just for that they get a 9/10

psycho but it’s okay - this was one of those shows where you’re literally like ‘wow everyone here needs therapy’ but this show was amazing i loved the story telling and how each episode related to children’s book/fairytales! the writers also did a good job with how carefully they talked about mental health in depth without villainising their characters but actually tried to make the audience understand why they were this way which included all the side characters too who had a well thought out story in each episode! also the dynamic between moon young, kang tae and sang tae was everything to me the actors all did an amazing job portraying their characters, it truly was a healing drama. the only thing i didn’t like about this show was the whole plastic surgery plot with the mother like that was very far fetched but it provided drama so i’ll let it slide because the rest was amazing. this show is a solid 8.5/10

18 again - another underrated gem! who would’ve thought a remake of that zac efron movie could be this good!! lee do hyun stole this show for sure the way he portrayed his character and gave heart eyes to his kids (when he’s only 25 irl was the best thing i saw this year ahsjs) i loved the family dynamics in this show, i loved how it talked about what it’s like to be young parents and how society still think it’s taboo to be divorced! it’s a show that makes you laugh and cry at the same time and that’s why everyone should watch it! however, the biggest clown thing this show did to me though was that i got sls for the first time while watching a kdrama... hwang in yeop if u’re reading this i love u and u deserved better 🤡 that aside this show was a 8/10

itaewon class - i actually didn’t watch this drama as it was airing because i thought i wouldn’t enjoy the plot but when i watched it i binged the whole thing in 2 days and my biggest regret is i didn’t watch it sooner! everyone knows i have a soft spot for park seo joon since he’s my favourite actor i’ve literally watched all his dramas like he could star in the trashiest drama out there and i’d still watch it and be like wow (looking at she was pretty 👀) this show aside from the acting had one of the best revenge plots in a kdrama! just watching a character realistically hustle his way to reach the top while fighting the corrupt man whose son killed his father was so so satisfying to watch! however, the love triangle in this show was questionable idk what they were trying to do with that but it personally annoyed me! but still i’ll give this show a 7.5/10 because i enjoyed it a lot!

do you like brahms? - kim min jae and park eun bin.. that’s all you need to know about why this is a good kdrama! i’m usually not a big fan of melodramas and everyone knows i prefer rom coms but this show was just so perfectly melo that i loved all the angst and pain we got!! also just watching two introverted people awkwardly fall in love was amazing! the characters story arcs were also handled pretty well with song ah finally learning to speak up for herself and joon young learning to express how he truly feels! but... the love square? was probably the most annoying thing the rest in my opinion was nicely done! i know people had mixed feelings about the ending but i loved that after all the pain joon young and song ah went through they got a happy ending together! 7/10

find me in your memory - okay this show started off very slow and it was confusing at the start but as it progressed everything in the plot started to fall into place! i mean this show really took opposites attract to a new level where the male lead could remember every single detail from his life but the female lead had to forget some of her traumatic memories to help her cope with her life! they were also tied together through a mutual character who was a big part of their lives in a different way! just an interesting melodrama with interesting characters i liked it! and moon ga young... i love you queen!!! 7/10

THE MEDIOCRE KDRAMAS -

more than friends - was the storytelling in this show groundbreaking? no. was the acting decent? yes. also probably the main reason i stuck with this show until the end! i think we can all agree lee soo had the best character development on this show he started off as a bad boy who wore one ear stud to actually becoming a well liked character... who else did it like him? no one. also the chemistry between the mains was 🔥 but the second male lead was so annoying is there a opposite word for second lead syndrome because i had that for sure! i think the best part about this show was the people i watched it with on here... shoutout to the five of us ahsjsj also this show introduced me to a talented actor/singer like ong seong wu (y’all know my kpop knowledge is nonexistent so no i didn’t know he was in a band called wanna one) all in all a predictable show but i had fun watching it so 6.5/10

tale of the nine tailed - i didn’t actually watch this show i watched it through gifs and instagram posts ahsjsjs so am i qualified to talk about my opinion definitely no... will I talk about it anyways yes lmao. lee rang deserved better that’s all goodbye and take care. 5.5/10

start up - probably one of the most awaited opinions. y’all thought this would be in the worst kdramas section but i decided to give this show some rights. the show started off strong, lost it’s way after episode 6 and then the last episode gave me what i wanted so i have mixed feelings. the writing was not the best i think we can all agree, love triangle as a plot device? wow so groundbreaking 🤡 the characters on the other hand... i loved every single one of them i mean ship wars? i don’t know her. the show had a lot of potential that was wasted but we also got some cute moments between the characters so there was really no winning or losing with this show? but in all honesty you can’t put a talented cast together like this and then just decide to give the audience a mediocre plot but the writers did exactly that! i think i can redirect y’all to my ‘crimes this show committed’ post for a in-depth analysis. lastly nam do san was a GOOD and REFRESHING male lead and ji pyeong was also a GOOD and FUN second male lead!!! this show gave me the ugliest ship war ever that i was transported back to my high school tvd days so thank you for that!! but the cast was loveable and all had a lot of chemistry together so here’s a 5/10 maybe that's too generous but... i think the reason why i didn't enjoy watching this show as much was definitely because of the tag on here lmao

THE WORST KDRAMAS -

the king eternal monarch - i miss clowning this show so much. the amount of braincells i lost while trying to understand this plot... i should be compensated by the writers. however, woo do hwan was a treat to look at on a weekly basis... however the writers kept decreasing his screen time even though he had a dual role... make it make sense? and i cannot comment on the plot of this show because i still don’t understand anything? also in my opinion tae eul and lee gon were the most bland couple of 2020, there was no chemistry between them and there was just a random kiss in episode 5 and they randomly said i love you... where was the development? also lee gon was soooo boring and such a one dimensional male lead! literally all the side characters were so much more interesting and the cast was good... but this plot. 2/10

do do sol sol la la sol - i wanna fight the writer who decided that the plot twist on the show would be that jun is a minor? i had no expectations from this show but it looked cute and nonsensical but that plot twist made me run the other way so fast that i never looked back! just because jun is a boy they really thought this would be excused like lmao we all have critical thinking skills???? the clown behaviour. a solid 1/10

record of youth - i hate this show so much. imagine not utilising park so dam who just starred in the biggest oscar winning movie to her full potential. imagine just making her a love interest to park bo gum’s character in the year 2020. i watched it up until episode 6 and i kept waiting for her character to get development... but it never happened so i dropped this show. also this show featured the MOST useless love triangle i have ever seen in my life like what was the point? also park bo gum’s characters family was straight up annoying (minus the grandpa) but they got so much screen time like that should’ve been given to park so dam... also villainising a gay side character for no reason at all in the year 2020? this show was a waste of my time i want the 6 hours i spent watching this back. -100/10 

backstreet rookie - i watched one episode of this and literally wanted to rip my eyeballs out of my head. idk what ji chang wook was thinking when he signed this drama i think he lost his ability to read because that's the only reasonable explanation for why he chose to star in such a dumpster fire show! this show had a racist character... had a high schooler kiss an adult... sexist jokes... just the worst things you can think of in a drama... this show had it. i still can’t believe so many people watched this show to the point where it had better ratings than pbio... really made me question everyone’s taste? but sorry can’t relate my taste is excellent so here’s the rating this show actually deserves -1000/10

if you made it this far... thank you for reading. let’s continue to love some kdramas together and get clowned by others in 2021! looking forward to it 😅

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Death Note

I’m watching this show specifically because of that text post that said, “Watch how quickly this one guy decides to be the worst person ever” and he has killed two people in the first ten minutes

Though 2 be fair he’s killing people to save people so it’s a trolley problem kind of thing for now

“In fact I’ve been waiting for you... Ryuk” ok weird flex Light but u do u

“You’re the first one to use to this extent in five days” WAIT DID HE MURDER ALL THOSE PEOPLE IN FIVE DAYS I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST LOOKING AT A LIST OH MY GOD??

“So there isn’t a price to using Death Note?” said Light, as if killing people is just a normal thing that we all do

Fhkjfhfkjb Ryuk really went ‘u used the book so we’re friends now’ 

I was wondering why the book was in English, and I guess that makes sense British and American imperialism really Did That

“I can write down the names of criminals, and slowly reduce the number of evil people” uhhhh doesn’t u being a Book Murderer also make you a criminal Light

“Human lives shouldn’t be taken so lightly” bah dum tss

Also I guess that revelation lasted about thirty seconds for you huh

Update from 15 seconds later: Even less than that

“I would create a world of earnest, kind humans” really because I don’t think places that allow the death penalty are generally nicer societies 

It’s interesting that they use English in the classes and the notebook but the conversation at Interpol takes place in Japanese (despite the implied internationality and Ryuk’s aforementioned claim about English being most common) 

Huh I won’t lie I do think it’s confusing that the main characters are L and Light, which also starts with L

“I am justice” I mean if anything this show just proves that no one should be allowed to use the death penalty on apprehended suspects in criminal justice cases ever 

OH SHIT PLOT TWIST HIS DAD’S A COP (IT WAS IN THE TEXT POST I THINK BUT I FORGOT)

Wow this show is full of mind games already I guess I can see why like, crime show fans would dig it

“But I’m going to say this as your roommate” OH MY GOD THEY WERE ROOMMATES KJHRGKJHKJHG

Interesting that someone is following Light specifically already

I mean not to poke too many holes in your plan Light but wouldn’t it clash with your plan to become God if you die at like 35 or smth 

“You’re already much more of a shinigami than they are” Ryuk said my friends are BORING I want to hang out with this MURDER TEEN

“I may not look it, but I’m pretty popular” Light is exactly the kind of guy who ends up in a true crime special where a bunch of people say he seemed like a nice, charismatic young man

Man this poor girl that Light brought on this date is going to be straight traumatized after this

I mean isn’t it MORE suspicious if someone dies around someone with direct ties to the police even if it’s not a heart attack

“You were indeed a brilliant FBI agent once, but now you’re my fiancée” kjhfkjhg WHAT FBI AGENTS CAN’T BE MARRIED 

“Once we have a family, you’ll be so busy that you’ll forget that you were an agent” I’m not a fan of Raye Penber 

What’s the point in killing Raye at all???? He told you he was part of a special investigation so clearly he’s not that suspicious of you

Light sure is bold to announce his Killing People Experiments in the middle of a busy sidewalk 

Incredible that consistently no one notices Light’s increasingly threatening declarations????

Fjkfkfhk these five cops finding out their Hail Mary is this strange little goblin man,,,, wow

This woman has really pushed Light to the brink just by giving a fake name, I admire her tenacity

Cops wearing fake IDs really did not age well oh boy

SERIOUSLY HOW DOES NO ONE EVER HEAR LIGHT SAYING SUSPICIOUS THINGS IN PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES HE LITERALLY JUST SAID “I AM KIRA” AS A DETECTIVE WALKED BY, WHILE HE WAS TALKING TO SOMEONE HE KILLED IMMEDIATELY AFTER

Wow it really took only eight episodes for L to track Light as close as one of two families

“You have a wife and daughter, right?” “I know!” I mean..... not 2 be that guy but... cops

 “To me, apples are like... Well, like cigarettes and liquor to humans” Vcvhcjhj every once in a while Ryuk says something that really tickles me

I know the word sociopath is kind of outdated but man does Light have actual interests outside of school or does he just do stuff to fill the void of his lack of interests (outside of murder)

JKHGKJHGKJHKJHG I cannot believe that this has turned into a fake classmate situation first of all 1) are you going to become friends and 2) How old are you Ryuzaki/L?

“Where is that rich kid from? And he’s even at the top of his class? What a jerk” honestly a mood

I DESPERATELY want Light’s mother or sister to overhear his evil cackling will someone finally eavesdrop on this god complex

“If I sit normally, my reasoning skills drop by 40%” weird flex but same 

Sidenote: I can’t believe how many episodes of this show I already have watched

Ngl I was VERY shook that Mr. Yagami had a heart attack. Also does Light care if his family lives or dies or is he kind of neutral on the subject? 

“If Kira is an ordinary person who gained this power, then he is a very unlucky person” Dad and L said ‘if u ARE Kira could you please stop murdering thank you <3′ 

Light really underestimated how much cops hate anyone who has killed a cop oops

OH SO IT’S NOT LIGHT I WAS WONDERING WHY HE HAD NOT MADE AN APPEARANCE THIS WHOLE EPISODE U MEAN THERE ARE TWO GUYS WITH THIS EXACT SAME IDEOLOGY AND PLAN? INCREDIBLE

Update from ten seconds later: Two people, I guess

Well this explains the girl in the short dress which serves as the Netflix thumbnail of this show I was wondering when she would show up 

Also she sounds like she’s very young? Clearly Shinigami don’t have a minimum age of informed consent when it comes to their Murder Eyes Contract 

Hahah I bet Light didn’t imagine that his petty and fucked up apple joke would bite him so quickly in the ass

Dhkjdhdkjhd Misa is so bold dropping her Death God deets in a video for anyone to see 

“The way to kill a Shinigami, is to make them fall in love with a human” does this mean that Ryuk is going to fall in love with Light or Misa? Both would make me uncomfortable

Oh wild guess Misa became a Death Note Wielder through the Power of Unreciprocated Voyeuristic Love

“Yeah, I have a girlfriend now,” said Light, after a girl contacted him through a series of anonymous video tapes implicitly vowing to be his disciple 

“No one could tell who he’s attached to if I’m with this many people” [20 seconds pass] “Found him!” HAHAHA the funniest part of this show is consistently watch Light going “got ‘em” before it immediately is revealed that he doesn’t got ‘em 

Why is Light so incredibly searchable??? I think the only way people people could find my height online is if I happened to answer it for one of those Facebook note memes in 2007 lmaoooo

“There are many places that will go and sell your personal records” ah, data breaches; a problem that has not gotten any better in the last 15 years since this anime came out

HKJHFHKJFHF Light immediately jumping into fake-dating his weird disciple in front of his mom... what is this show

“Please make me your girlfriend” OH MY GOOOOOD

This is one of the weirdest romantic dynamics I’ve seen in recent memory but you know what? Whatever, at least it’s not Anxiety and Murder

“Does that mean I’ll have to deal with her until she dies?” Light is truly exuding some Ladybird Book of Dating Energy rn: 

The fact that to kill L all Light had to do was get an obsessive girlfriend... astounding

Beautiful that it took Misa less than a week of knowing Light to ruin his whole 15 episode game plan and also life

“I think I may be Kira” Well this show keeps taking one escalation after another this is exhausting why can’t Light just be a normal person who found it, tried it out of interest in the occult, discovered he’d committed a horrible atrocity and then went to therapy for the rest of his life only to confess to Magical Murder on his deathbed while his family goes, ‘Wow, Grandpa’s crazy’

Does L not think that keeping three different people imprisoned for days on end will lead to some psychological repercussions for him

FOR WEEKS ON END????? OH MY GOD???? The fuck L, I know two of these people are murderers but there are some minimum conditions of correctional facilities and this seems a little Stanford PE

THE DRAMA OF THIS EPISODE I KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE A BLANK BUT HOW FUCKED UP TO PUT EVERYONE THROUGH THIS L I THINK YOU NEED THERAPY!!!!!!! I MEAN LIGHT AND MISA ARE MURDERERS BUT FORCING A MAN TO HOLD HIS SON AT GUNPOINT AFTER IMPRISONING THEM FOR OVER A MONTH IS REALLY A REFLECTION OF A COMPLETE LACK OF EMPATHY (especially when you think that this version of Misa and Light don’t know anything!!! Oh my god!! The fuck)

“I will make arrangements so you and I are together 24 hours a day” call me crazy but I would not want to spend 24/7 with the man who imprisoned me for over a month while playing cruel psychological games all the while

“I’m one of those people who’ll accept Kira, I’d think of ways I could help him” Misa said Bimbo Rights

“I could never toy with a woman’s emotions like that” Light’s dating life and personality has gotten a LOT funnier since he forgot he was a murderer I kind of wish THIS could be the whole show 

Also: Nice to know Light USED to have standards of how to treat women

Honestly fair play to both L and Light they both deserved to be punched and it’s funny to see eighteen episodes of mind games culminate in punching and kicking each other in the face

“Matsuda’s being an idiot again” “Well, Matsuda is a natural at that” wghkjhgkj what has Matsuda done to any of you

"He’s punishing criminals as a front, and killing people for the benefit of this company” is Light unknowingly going to solve the murder chain he himself started... inspiring

“I was testing you” this is why Light is your only friend, L, Aizawa has kids and it’s a dick move to ask him to put his convictions before them

Poor Matsuda realizing he’s got the least to offer to their team... me in high school science labs 

I understand Aizawa’s moral crisis but why do NONE of these cops care about their wives or daughters they’re just kind of like, ‘I will provide for you but I have no interest in or fulfillment from being part of your life’ (ACAB)

Matsuda is truly about to die for being dumb and eager to help 😔 Rest in Pieces

“We must not allow Yotsuba to figure out that we are investigating them,” said L, just after it cut from Matsuda being obvious about investigating them. Oh Matsuda 😔 you’re so bad at your job 😔

MATSUDAAAAAAAA oh thank goodness; Bimbo Rights save the day

“I can’t go along with your idea, it’s wrong!” said Light, despite the fact it took him 15 seconds to get over murder the first couple of times he did it 

Staaaaaaaaay Good Light, I don’t want ur Deathnotesona I want this young man with moral convictions!!

The level of hubris it takes to answer a phone call during your secret Murder Meeting while people continue to talk about their Murder Plans is just out of this world

“If I die, you could probably become the successor to the ‘L‘ name,” said L, to the person he has been trying to catch for twenty episodes 

“I won’t say anything under any kind of torture” “Yes that’s true” Which he knows because he tortured her for six weeks!! You see that that’s fucked up, L, right? RIGHT??? RIIIIIIIIGHT? (LIIIIIIIGHT???)

Seriously not to beat a dead Shinigami but Light is so much better like this. He doesn’t want to throw people’s lives away for the investigation! He wants to protect Misa! He thinks Kira is wrong! Why does he have to be a murderer!!! Why can’t this show be about a nice young man!!!!

“Hey Ryuzaki, that’s messed up!” THANK YOU LIGHT AGAIN I KNOW YOU BOTH HAVE KILLED PEOPLE BUT YOU DON’T KNOW THAT RIGHT NOW SO FOR ALL MISA KNOWS HE’S JUST A GUY WHO TORTURES HER AND TELLS HER CRUSH WILL DIE IF SHE DOESN’T HELP

Wow Rem is so ride or die for Misa protecting Misa from creepy Higuchi, giving her info and telling her to trust Light, that’s love bitch

Props to Misa for getting a confession out of Higuchi after one (1) car ride 

Why do I feel like L is going to be responsible for reawakening Bad Light is it because he psychologically tortured him for six weeks? Had his dad hold him at gunpoint? Forced Misa to investigate on his behalf? Constantly and unerringly presses him on what Kira would be thinking as he’s handcuffed to him 24 hours a day? Maybe!! This is like Build-a-Bear but he’s customizing his Teen Murder Friend 

“Only Mr. Matsuda can do [the mission to lure out Higuchi!Kira]” Death Note really said the Himbos, Herbos and Thembos shall inherit the Earth 

They keep saying they don’t know how he kills but it seems pretty obvious that he writes down their names to kill, they literally saw him do it

I really don’t want any of the investigation team to die but things are not looking hot :(

“Ryuzaki, I never knew you could fly a helicopter” “It’s just intuition” what does that MEAN

“Those aren’t allowed in Japan,” said Light, about a gun, as if he had not killed probably thousands of people without one 

In spite of this fact I really do want Good Light to stay 😔 Why! Can’t! This! Show! Be! About! A! Nice! Young! Man!

Also they really are playing into this father-and-son duo I will be very sad when the dad inevitably dies as I’m sure he will 

Family side note: I’ve been wondering this since the prison ep but where do Light’s mom and sister think he IS now that he’s dropped out of first year uni to be a teen criminal investigator handcuffed to a maladjusted homebody private eye

AIZAWAAA and also the other two guys I guess there was a plot relevant reason for him to rejoin the police huh

Well what a clean ending to this Kira arc. No one died and the killer was caught! Yikes that the next ep is called ‘Revival’ tho 😔 Rest in pieces Good Light

Also a new and very threatening intro???? What happened to the Twilight Apple Hands 

BOOOO I knew Light would get his memory back but I was hoping it would at least fuck him up for a while he sorted out his two personas but I guess all roads eventually lead to Bad Light 

Full disclosure I stopped watching for a few days just after Light got his memory back and let me tell u coming back later hasn’t made it any more tolerable I am truly not built for this EUGH

“Do you really want to halve your life a second time” “Well, that can’t be helped” REALLY???? CAN’T IT BE HELPED MISA??? WHY ARE YOU AND LIGHT SO CRAZY

Oh I guess we’re back to Light saying incredibly suspicious things right near the investigators lmao what if those cameras secretly had audio or you know, L simply knew how to read lips 

“Misa, let’s make a new world together” Remember a bunch of episodes ago when Good Light was all ‘I could never toy with a woman’s emotions’?? What was the reason!!!

“Have you ever told the truth at any point in your entire life” L cutting straight to the core lmao (also the answer is obviously ‘no’)

This show has taken a jarring tonal shift why are they having a post-rain-confrontation massage and towelling each other off this is a level of intimacy I was not prepared for I NEED PEOPLE TOOK LOOK AT THIS:

OKAY OKAY OKAY I KNOW THAT IT WAS PROBABLY NOT THEIR INTENTION BUT THE ONLY WAY I CAN READ THIS SCENE IS AS “Don’t kill me Light~ 🥰 I’ll fuck you~ 🥰” 

I guess L knew he was forcing Rem’s hand to kill him if he disproved the rules written in the book?? But to what end omg how does this help anyone 

“In April 2012, Light Yagami, age 23, joins the National Police Agency” should’ve known we’d land here eventually (ACAB)

Ah, I see another person who doesn’t know how to sit, clearly they will inherit the L title next lmao

Update from the first few mins of the next ep: “Near should succeed L” told you

“There’s no way I’m letting Sayu marry a detective” ahjfkhkjf he’s a little old for her I think but it wouldn’t be the worst thing this show has done romantically lmao; maybe Sayu would get to investigate her brother

“I might’ve considered going out with you, if you were a little younger” HA GOOD FOR HER

“[...] the Japanese police are unreliable. In order to solve this case, we want you to hand over the notebook to our country.” Of all the Japanese-speaking Americans in this show, this is the most accurate jkhfkhf the US government really is Like That 

Ah, so that’s where Mello’s gone, oh how the turn tables 

Also way to sell your subordinates out immediately, NPA Director, will you give them the Kira task force’s home addresses too

The real question is if Light actually cares about his sister enough to prioritize her over the notebook

“Call me... N” Oh my good L... M(ello)... N(ear)... Oooooooooooooooo

It’s my saving grace that I only need to get through 9 more eps but as always I must wonder where this is going will Light just die and end up in Shinigami purgatory while the people who knew him after the fact go, ‘hey, that guy was fucked up’

“If things get bad, I’ll have to kill Sayu” well I guess that answers that question, my expectations of Light are so low and yet he continues to find new ways to be awful

Good for Mr. Yagami and Sayu for getting out of that alive I guess but hoo boy I think this is going to have some psychological repercussions for both of them 

Uh oh this episode is called ‘Father’ I’ve been dreading this one bc I think that means Mr. Yagami is about to die 😭😭😭

“It was an institution for brilliant children, to raise them to become L‘s successor” okay calm down Professor Xatari that’s not what children are for lmao 

Well I guess it’s a lot easier to track down info about these two guys than it was to figure out L lmao

HAHAHA Sidoh haunting Ryuk to ask for his stuff is a fun addition to this madness  

“He’s scary for a human” jkhhfjh how unhinged does Mello have to be to threaten a literal Shinigami 

I truly don’t understand the logistics of how they revealed Ryuk to the police force isn’t the second Kira notebook supposed to belong to Actual Kira, in the police force’s eyes????? I do not understand how Light can just turn up with another notebook and everyone’s like ‘sure cool’ did I miss something 

Mr. Yagami killed for being unable to take human life ugh this is the worst 

“You’re not Kira. I’m really glad.” WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS SO SAD MR. YAGAMI NOOOOOOOOOO THAT’S WHY HE RENOUNCED OWNERSHIP OF THE NOTEBOOK 

Neither Mello nor Near seem overly concerned with the lives of people around them does being a Super Genius Investigator also mean you have to be a dick (is this Benadryl Coddleswab Sherlock syndrome)

Lmaooo genuinely love how it’s constantly apparent that Light is the least smart of all of the smart people Light spent five years working on his reputation and it took Near one (1) phone call to destroy it 

Ghjkhgkhgkgjh Light outsmarted by Near yet again never think people will prioritize principles over money

Lol yeah Aizawa needn’t have given a name after he said the “Deputy Director Yagami would kill Kira and then himself” thing, you don’t do that just for anyone who was he fooling 

How does Light keep track of all the renunciations and notebooks bc I certainly can’t 

Ffhkfjhfj Mikami truly looks like the son of L and Light it’s like Light missed him and was like, “Miss u boo :( (even tho I kinda killed u) I’ll adopt An Evil 27-year-old in ur honour :)”

Is Mikami’s story really, ‘I got bullied in high school and have mommy issues so now I think people I don’t like should die’ ok Shonen Snape 

“I just want you to meet with me and hear me out” Light really proving to Aizawa that he can lie AND manipulate people’s feelings 

“The truth is, she’s not smart enough to be my partner” first of all Light I think this show has proven you’re not that smart, and Misa’s Herbo Energy is effervescent and will outlast you, and third of all go to jail

“He’ll look suspicious if he doesn’t say something soon” “Ide, have you ever been in love” Matsuda continues to be the only good part of this show

“You’re the only man I’ve ever respected and admired in my life” GET SOME THERAPY KIYOMI

“You’re going to be the goddess of the new world” so it’s not enough for Light to be a murderer he must also be a cheater

Lmao Near’s powers of perception do seem a little B/BC S/herlock because L tried for literally months to work out the possibilities and Near is just like ‘I KNOW IT NOW’

“The only thing I can deduce from this is that Light Yagami is popular with the ladies” HEAVEN KNOWS WHY (PUN NOT INTENDED)

Every moment Aizawa gets closer to proving Light is Kira is another step closer to death 😔

“This is definitely Mikami’s handwriting” Not to be a know-it-all, Near, but handwriting analysis has been proven faulty many times in multiple courts of law

This truly is a game of Cat and Cat. All these hidden plans give me a headache fkjhkfjh call me Misa-Misa and spin me sideways I don’t have the braincells to spare

Well this is definitely some kind of s*xual assault absolutely fucking hate it wow this show truly just drains the life out of you 

“Matt, I never thought you would be killed” why wouldn’t you think that at this point anyone who comes close to this investigation eventually dies (also wjkhkjhgk why is Matt special didn’t you kill all those thugs you had before -- Mello said ‘the lives of my allies are only important if they are drawn in handsome protag style’) 

As of yet I haven’t really talked about Near’s wild toymaking but hoo boy is that L finger puppet something to observe

“Everyone who knows about the existence of the notebook will die” I’m still pulling for their survival, particularly Matsuda (himbo rights!!!)

Imagine if they just shot Light Yagami on sight how ironic would that conclusion to all these mind games be 

“I’m waiting, for the one who will solve everything, to arrive” Lmao if it turns out L is alive I’ll pee laughing this show is so fucking stupid 

Take a shot every time there is a Humpty-Dumpty-in-Puss-in-Boots style explanation about how everything actually happened

“I’ve won, Near” I bet/hope what gets Light caught is his inability to hold in his hubris for one (1) minute

Although the last episode is called New World, in which case maybe he wins in a very weird ending to a very weird show

Sjkfhkjhfkhfkjhf well I guess what gets Light caught is that the person he invited to be his murderous disciple keeps calling him God

“A second ago, you said ‘I win.’ That’s as good a confession as any” HA hubris strikes again also bold of Aizawa to clap Light on the shoulder knowing he is a mass murderer

Ohhh Matsuda he’s so nice and believed the best of Light :((((((((((((

Watching Light become increasingly desperate and crazed is very uncomfortable give it up dude u’ve been beat (though I suppose there is time for everyone here to be murdered still lmao)

LMAO LIGHT SAID “IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, CONVERT ‘EM”

Yeah I figured if one of them was gonna shoot it would be Matsuda :( :( Good for him for not killing Light tho!!

Huh I guess that’s the end of the show I thought Light would die but I did think we’d at least get to see him in Shinigami Purgatory or smth... what a wild ride. This certainly was a show.

[wonkasmissstarshine]

The Chocolatier’s Rose {Willy Wonka x OC} Ch. 10

GIFs not mine. Credit go to owners.

Summary: The remaining guests are shown the Nut Sorting Room. Veruca is revealed to be a bad nut, something that Rose has known from the start.

Tagging: @holdmeicant​ @willymywonkers​

"Without the boat, we'll have to move double time just to keep on schedule" Willy told everyone as they walked down a red and white hallway. "There's far too much to see"

"Mr Wonka?" Charlie piped up.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you decide to let people in?"

"Well, so they could see the factory of course" Willy stated. It was a simple answer, but it seemed that there was more behind it.

Charlie inquired further. "But why now? And why only five?"

Mike pushed past Charlie and asked greedily, "What's the special prize, and who gets it?"

"The best kind of prize is a sur-prize!" Willy answered Mike and then laughed.

Veruca pushed past Mike. "Will Violet always be a blueberry?" The little spoiled brat asked. She seemed all to happy about the fact that Violet became a blueberry, and now she was out of the way.

"No. Maybe. I don't know" Willy answered her. "But that's what you get from chewing gum all day. It's just disgusting"

"I agree" Rose said. She knew that Violet's gum chewing would come back to bite her in the butt.

"If you hate gum so much, why do you make it?" Mike questioned.

"Once again, you really shouldn't mumble 'cause it's really starting to bum me out" Willy retorted.

Charlie asked yet another question. "Can you remember the first candy you ever ate?"

Willy came to a stop. He mumbled out "No", before he gazed off, growing distant again. He was like that for a moment, before Rose placed a hand on his arm and snapped him out of it. "I'm sorry, I was having a flashback" He said dreamily.

"I see" Mr Salt said, eyeing Willy cautiously, pulling Veruca closer to him.

"These flashbacks happen often?" Mr Teavee asked, also eyeing Willy cautiously.

An off smile appeared on Willy's face. "Increasingly.... today" He continued walking and everyone else followed him. He brought them to a room named Nut Sorting Room.

"Ah, this is a room I know all about" Mr Salt remarked. "For you see, Mr Wonka, I myself am in the nut sorting business" Mr Salt gave Willy one of his business cards, but without sparing even a glance at it, Willy threw it over his shoulder. Rose laughed in amusement at this. "Are you using the Havermax Four Thousand to do your sorting?" Mr Salt asked, oblivious to the fact that Willy tossed away his business card.

"No" Willy said to Mr Salt. He laughed. "You're really weird" Willy opened up the room, allowing everyone inside. The room was bright white, and beyond the railing everyone was standing behind, was a white floor with blue swirls on it with a hole on the middle of it. Large glass containers containing nuts were suspended in the air. Tubes were attached to the containers which dropped the nuts into stations. But the most amusing part about the room was the fact that there were about a hundred squirrels, each sat on their own stool. It would seem that the squirrels sorted the nuts.

"Squirrels!" Veruca chirped happily and wide eyed.

"Yeah. Squirrels" Willy nodded. "These squirrels are specially trained to get the nuts out of the shells"

"What a clever idea!" Rose said, making Willy smile in her direction.

Mr Salt, however, seemed to have a different opinion on the matter. "You use squirrels? Why not use Oompa-Loompas?"

"Because, only squirrels can get the whole walnut out almost every time" Willy explained. "You see how they tap each one with their knuckles to make sure it's not bad?" One of the squirrels tapped the nut on the edge of the feeder, and held it up to its ear. "Oh, look!" Willy pointed to that squirrel. "I think that one's got a bad nut"  The squirrel threw the nut behind itself. It tumbled down the swirly floor until it disappeared into the hole.

Veruca looked up at her father. "Daddy, I want a squirrel!" She demanded. "Get me one of those squirrels. I want one"

Rose whispered in Charlie's ear. "I don't think this is going to end well" He nodded in agreement. Based on what she saw happen to Augustus and Violet, Rose just knew that Veruca's spoiled attitude was going to get her in a sticky situation today.

"Veruca, dear, you have many marvellous pets" Mr Salt definitely did not what to deal with this right now.

"All I've got at home is one pony and two dogs and four cats and six rabbits and two parakeets and three canaries and a green parrot and a turtle and a silly old hamster!" Veruca listed off. Wow, even with as many pets as she has, she's still not satisfied. Rose wondered what it took with this girl and how her parents ever put up with her. "I want a squirrel!" Veruca stomped her foot.

Rose rolled her eyes, and mocked Veruca. "I want a squirrel!" She silently mouthed with exaggerated gestures and expressions. Willy laughed at Rose's imitation, finding it rather amusing.

"All right, pet" Mr Salt gave in to his daughter's demands. "Daddy will get you a squirrel just as soon as he possibly can" Rose groaned and rolled her head back. Willy was watching the two Salts with a blank expression.

"But I don't want any old squirrel" Rose pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn't like where Veruca was going with this. "I want a trained squirrel"

Mr Salt sighed. "Very well" He looked at Willy. Willy looked back at Mr Salt, a fake smile on his face, knowing the question that was going to come out of Mr Salt's mouth. "Mr Wonka, how much do you want for one of these squirrels? Name your price" Veruca also looked up at Willy. A big smile was on her face, thinking that if she acted cute, that she'd get her way.

"Oh, they're not for sale" Willy denied them. Rose smirked, feeling slightly pleased that things weren't going the spoiled brat's way. "She can't have one"

Veruca smile dropped. She turned to her father, absolutely fuming. "Daddy!" She threatened, as if that was going to change anything.

Mr Salt just stared at his daughter, at a loss of words. "I'm sorry, darling" It wasn't Mr Salt who said it. It was Willy doing a perfect imitation of Mr Salt's voice. "Mr Wonka's being unreasonable"

Veruca glared at Willy again before she turned it to her father. "Fine. If you won't get me a squirrel, I'll get one myself!" She decided. She slipped through the gate and descended into the squirrel's work area.

"Veruca" Mr Salt warned.

"Little girl?" Willy tried to call to Veruca. She ignored both of them.

"Veruca, come back here at once!" Mr Salt called to her again, his voice a little more strict. "Veruca!"

Veruca looked around until she had her eyes set on the perfect squirrel. She started approaching it. All the squirrels stopped their work, and stared at the girl. "Little girl?" Willy tried warning her. "Don't touch that squirrel's nuts. It'll make him crazy!"

Again, Veruca ignored him. She marched up to her chosen squirrel. She and the squirrel looked each other straight in the eye. An evil grin came across Veruca's face and she reached out to the squirrel. "I'll have you!"

Before she could grab the squirrel, all the other squirrels jumped off their stools. They all ran to Veruca. Mr Salt was growing terrified. He shook the gate. "Veruca!" Willy took out his ring of many keys. "Veruca! Veruca!" Mr Salt was still calling out to her. By now, all the squirrels had jumped onto Veruca. They had knocked her down to the ground. Mr Salt desperately shaked the gate again.

Willy looked through his many keys. "Let's find the key" He tried the first one. "Not that one"

"Daddy!" Veruca called out desperately to her father.

"Veruca!" He called back.

Willy tried another key. "No!" Rose took note of the amused smile on Willy's face. It was like he was deliberately taking his time with the keys. The squirrels started pinning down Veruca. Willy tried yet another key. "There it is.... there it isn't"

"Daddy, I want them to stop!" Veruca pleaded. One of the squirrels hopped onto her stomach. Veruca raised her head to look at it. The squirrel began touching her face. It tapped on her forehead and then listened to it.

"What are they doing?" Charlie asked.

"They're testing to see if she's a bad nut" Willy answered. The squirrel squeaked. "Oh my goodness, she is a bad nut after all"

"Veruca!" Mr Salt shouted in horror when the squirrels started carrying Veruca to the hole.

"Daddy!" Veruca yelled for help.

"Where are they taking her?" Mr Salt asked, his eyes still on Veruca.

"Where all the other bad nuts go. To the garbage chute" Willy answered.

"Where does the chute go?"

"To the incinerator" Willy said it so lightly, but there was a rather dark meaning behind his words. "But don't worry, we only light it on Tuesdays!"

"Today is Tuesday" Mike pointed out.

Willy shot Mike a glance. "Well, there's always the chance they decided not to light it today!" The squirrels had accomplished their goal and threw Veruca down the chute. Rose would have felt bad for the girl, if she hadn't decided to try and commit theft when things weren't going her way. Willy turned to Mr Salt to try and explain. "Now, she may be stuck in the chute just below the top. If that's the case, all you have to do is just reach in and pull her out. Okay?"

Willy had the correct key in the lock. He turned it and then pulled the gate opened. He stepped aside so Mr Salt could get by. Mr Salt began descending the stairs, and Willy closed the gate. That's when the Oompa-Loompas came out and sang another song. Willy and Rose both nodded their heads along to the music.

Veruca Salt

The little brute

Has just gone down the garbage chute.

And she will meet as she descends

A rather different set of friends

A rather different set of friends

A rather different set of friends

A fish head for example cut

This morning from a halibut.

An oyster from an oyster stew

A steak that no one else would chew.

And lots of other things as well each

With its rather horrid smell (horrid smell)

These are Veruca's new found friends

That she will meet as she descends

These are Veruca's new found friends

Who went and spoiled her, who indeed?

Who pandered to her every need?

Who turned her into such a brat?

Who are the culprits?

Who did that?

The guilty ones

Now this is sad

Are dear old mum, and loving dad

The Oompa-Loompas had guided Mr Salt over to the chute. He peered down it, trying to see if he could find Veruca. One of the squirrels hopped off of its stool and pushed him into the chute. Willy laughed a little when Mr Salt fell in. Rose tried to hide her laughter by pressing her lips together. That didn't stop her amused grin, however.

An Oompa-Loompa tugged on Willy's coat. Willy squatted down and let the Oompa-Loompa talk in his ear. "Oh, really?" A smile appeared on Willy's face. "Oh, good!" He stood back up and informed the others. "I've just been informed that the incinerator broken. So there should be about three weeks of rotten garbage to break their fall!"

"Oh, well that's good news" Mr Teavee replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah," Willy said, his eyes trailing over to Rose. "Well, let's keep on trucking" He held out his arm to her, offering her to take it. She gladly accepted his offer and held onto his arm. And, with that, everyone left the Nut Sorting Room.

[ssa-montgomery]

Requests Are Open!

Hey everyone! Since we’re all stuck inside at the moment and I seem to have found my writing inspiration again I thought I would open up my requests again! Of course if you want to make a request you don’t have to use these so feel free to send me any requests, I just thought this might be fun! 

To make a request just send a number(s) from the list below and a ship or show! You can send me a bit of plot if you have an idea of what you would like to see but if not just send me the number! You can send me up to three prompts for one request :) You can send me the request through a message, a comment on this post or an ask.

The Fandoms I mainly write for are:

Supernatural

Once Upon a Time

Shadowhunters

Hannibal

Merlin

Lucifer

I will write character x character and character x reader as long as the ship is legal! Of course the ship doesn’t have to be a romance ship! It can be friendship/family/enemies too.

I will complete your requests as soon as I can!

1. “You scared me!” “Well, I am naturally terrifying.”

2. “I’m fine.” “You don’t look fine.” “Then stop looking.”

3. “Where is Death when you need her?”

4. “You are all remarkably well behaved tonight. What did you do?”

5. “You look…” “Beautiful, I know. Can we move on?”

6. “Ohh so you think I’m cute when I’m angry? Well, get ready because I’m about to be GORGEOUS!!!”

7. “I don’t give a damn.” “You give so many damns they’re visible from SPACE.”

8. “Tell I’m going to die, tell me the sun is going to explode, tell me the world is ending and there’s nothing I can do about it because if I hear it’s going to be okay one more time I. Will. Scream.”

9. “I hate you.” “Why? I’m lovely.”

10. “Who are you?” “Demon to some. Angel to others.”

11. “Yeah, I have a plan.” “Is it a good one?” “I have a plan.”

12. “You love her don’t you?” “Was it that obvious?”

13. “I hate the sight of blood.” “Then maybe you shouldn’t kill for a living.”

14. “Are you sober?” “I’m moderately functional.” “I’ll take that as a no.”

15.“I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you!” “And I’m trying to subtly avoid it.”

16. “On a scale from one to ten, how bad do think it would be if-” “At least a twenty.”

17. “Well, aren’t you a little ray of pitch black.”

18. “So… I just realized … that I’ve been shot.”

19. “Did you hear that scream?” “Yes, I’m the one who screamed.”

20. “Only a fool would fall in love with someone as deadly as me.”

21. “Excuse me I have to go make a scene.”

22. “I warned you not to hurt his sister.”

23. “How does it feel, my dear? Losing the best thing that has ever happened to you.”

24. “Oh darling, you are so very broken and no cares to notice.”

25. “All that blood looks good on you. It really brings out your eyes.”

26. “I have to go … iron … my cat.”

27. “If I go through with this, I die. If I don’t go through with this, we all die.”

28. “I’m trying my best to be polite, but if you move that knife a centimeter closer to me I will tear you apart.”

29. “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”

30. “I’m not completely human anymore. Remember that next time you want to punch me in the face.”

31. “I am either going out for ice cream, or to commit a crime. I’ll decide in the car.”

32. “Don’t think about it too much or your head might explode.”

33. “I’m with him. For better or for worse. It’ll probably be worse. I knew that the day I met him.”

34. “I don’t hate you. I hate them for turning you into this.”

35. “Loving any of us is a death sentence isn’t it?”

36. “All I know is, one of us is right. The other one is you.”

37. “Hold on, you died.” “Yeah, well it didn’t stick.”

38. “Why are they all afraid of you?”

39. “I can’t go back to sleep after that. I need coffee- no. I need a drink, a stiff one.”

40. “Just know that I love you. I love you with all of my fucked up piece of shit heart.”

41. “You here to finish me off, sweetheart?”

42. “Oh. Hello. Excuse all the blood.”

43. “Guess who came back?”

44. “I made it through the day without beating anyone with a chair. I’d say my people skills are improving.”

45. “You keep pointing that gun at me and blabbering on about how much you’ve been wanting to kill me. I’m beginning to doubt your commitment…”

46. “It’s only murder if they find the body. Otherwise, it’s just a missing person. Just saying.”

47. “I can’t do this anymore.”

48. “The worst feeling in the world is knowing you did the best you could and it still wasn’t good enough.”

49. “Because to you I am merely a monster. And in the end that’s all I ever was. ”

50. “And if I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take for you to name yourself?”

51. “You already know how this will end.”

52. “Don’t you understand? You were her happy ending.”

53. “Lord give me patience or an untraceable handgun.”

54. “Did you actually think you mattered to him? Silly girl.”

55. “You can’t love someone unless you love yourself first. Bullshit. I have never loved myself but you, Oh god, I loved you so much I forgot what hating myself felt like.”

56. “It’s okay. You don’t have to love me.”

57. “There’s someone in my head but it’s not me.”

58. “Foolish child. Thinking the stains of your sins can be washed away by your tears.”

59. “I wanted you to fight for me and you didn’t.”

60. “it’s scary what a smile can hide.”

61. “You had me at “we’ll make it look like an accident.”

62. “Is this one of those times when you want me to lie to protect your delicate emotions?”

63. “I’m surrounded by idiots!”

64. “You gotta stop doing that.” “What?” “Saying things that make me wanna kiss you.”

65. “If you’re going to get in trouble for hitting someone, might as well hit them hard.”

66. “I never said thank you did I?” “For what?” “For… well … everything.”

67. “I’ll find her and bring her home. I promise.”

68. “Dance with me and pretend the world doesn’t exist.”

69. “What are you afraid of?” “You.”

70. “You’re ok. Breathe. Just breathe. Open your eyes. Come back. It’s ok. It’s over now. You’re ok. Wake up. Please wake up. Don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to me. I love you so fucking much. Come back.”

71. “Can I ask you a dumb question?” “Better than anyone I know.”

72. “If we’re going to get out of here, we’re going to have to work together. After that, we can go back to killing each other.” “Oh fine.”

73. “If it is destroying you, then it’s not love my dear.”

74. “ I never stood a chance, did I?” “That’s the sad part -you did once.”

75. “Eh, screw it. Let’s just blow it up and call it a day.”

76. “Underestimate me. That’ll be fun.”

77. “The problem is, if I kissed, I don’t think I don’t think I’d be able to stop.”

78. “Lie to me again.” “I love you.”

79. “Why are you avoiding me?” “Because … because I think I’m falling in love with you, okay? That’s why I’m avoiding you.”

80. “Whos ass are we kicking today?”

81. “I could strangle you.” “You aren’t tall enough.” “You’ve sunk low enough for me to reach.”

82. “Wait, did you just flirt with me?” “Have been for the past year but thanks for noticing.”

83. “Maybe I deserve someone else, but I always wanted you.”

84. “Darkness. When everything you know and love is taken away so harshly, all you can think about is angry, hatred and even revenge. And no one can save you.”

85. “For God sake! Who have you killed now?”

86. “Please point your gun at me if it helps you relax.”

87. “Tell me not to do something and I will do it twice and take pictures.”

88. “there is not enough salt in the WORLD to protect us from the hell you’re trying to unleash.” “Oh don’t be such a worrywart. The demon and I go way back.”

89. “You wanna know who’s beautiful?” “Aww who?” “Me.”

90. “In my defense, I was left unsupervised.”

91. “Wow can we just pretend, for one second, that you’re not a complete douchbag?”

92. “Are we there yet?” “Get out.” “We’re going 85-miles an hour down the highway in the middle of nowhere.” “Did I stutter?”

93. “Oh, honey, no. I love you too much to let you humiliate yourself this way.” “Bitch please, you don’t think I can beat you at Mario-kart? ”

94. “Fix me up with six cups of coffee and we’re good to go.”

95. “When someone gives you the "don’t pull your gun out of the back of your pants” nod, don’t pull your gun out of the back of your pants!“

96. "Do you feel guilty? Like, at all?” “I don’t have time to feel guilty. and neither do you.”

97. “Hey man nice tattoo.” “I don’t have a tattoo.” “Okay, how drunk were you last night?”

98. “Are you always stupid or is today a special occasion?”

99. “Literally everything about this is illegal.”

100. “I need something that’s more than coffee but less than cocaine.”

101. “Pay me enough, and I didn’t see a thing.”

102. “Sorry I hung up on you, I didn’t mean to answer the call.”

103. “Today I’m wearing a lovely shade of I slept like crap so don’t piss me off.”

104. “Hey, I didn’t kill anyone today!” “What do you want? A gold star?”

105. “Since I met him, he carries more anger and pain than a thousand armies could ever bear. He was betrayed, deceived, hurt. Believe me when I say he had already crossed hell, and the only time I saw peace in his eyes was when he saw you. You are the only reason he’s still alive.”

106. “Touch her, and you’ll learn exactly what’s worse than death.”

107. “I don’t want to look like a princess, I want to look like a formerly evil queen who reluctantly redeemed herself for the side of good.” “You read too much.” “Damn right I do.”

108. “You’re not as evil as people think you are.” “No. I’m much worse.”

109. “No. Not you. Anyone but you.”

110. “One of the hardest things you will ever have to do, my love, is to grieve the loss of a person who is still alive.”

111. “It goes away, that ache in your chest when you hear his name.”

112 “I feel like everything in my life has led me to you. My choices, my heartbreaks, my regrets. Everything. And when we’re together, my past seems worth it, because if I had done one thing differently, I might never have met you.”

113. “Don’t go.”

114. “If he cared, he would have made an effort.”

115. “You love him, don’t you?” “He’s not mine to love.” “But you still do?” “More than she ever will.”

116. “This is what, the third time I’ve crashed my own funeral?” “Fifth.” “Really? That many?”

117. “Y’know… that’s not what an apology sounds like.” “Bite me.”

118. “Don’t try to shut me out of this. I’ve been here since day one. I’m more a part of this than you are.”

119.”…. At least the snow’s pretty.”

120. “Don’t give me attitude, darling. I have one of my own.”

121. “I want you to remember you deserve this.”

122. “I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve died in front of me.”

123. “I don’t care if I  don’t get any sleep tonight. As long as I can be there for you.”

124.  “I should have told you a long time ago.”

125. “Letting you go was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

126. “Silly girl,  can’t you see the truth right in front of you? This is his little kingdom, and you’re not the Queen anymore.

127. “If we get arrested, it’s your fault.”

128. “Wow, I can’t believe I said that out loud, please excuse me while I go die of embarrassment.”

129. “How sweet, sacrificing yourself for her, when did you get a heart?”

130.  “Let me go! I can still save them!”

131. “She’s my best friend. That hasn’t changed.” “It’s clear you feelings for her have.”

132. “You made your choice and I made mine. Just because you can’t live with yours doesn’t mean you should shame me for living with mine.”

133. “If someone gets nosy just .. you know … shoot ‘em.” “Shoot ‘em?” “Politely.”

134. “Show me your scars.” “But.. why?” “I want to see how many times you needed me and I wasn’t there.”

135. “It’s okay, it’s over now.” “No it’s not. It hasn’t even begun.”

136. “It’s like you want to ruin men/women for me.”

137. “Look. I’m glad you’ve saved everyone and all that, but it’s time someone told you to take care of you.” “I’m fine.” “No you’re not and furthermore, if you don’t take care of you think of all the people who will need you in the future who won’t have you.”

138. “I want you. Right here. Right now”

139. “Tell me what you want.”

140. “You look so fucking hot right now.”

141. “You say “I hate you.” But all I hear is “fuck me.”

142. “You think you’re the boss of me just because you’re hot?”

143. “You make me feel .. you make me feel and I don’t like it. I want it to stop. Now”

144. “You survived what you thought would kill you. Now straighten your crown and move foward like the Queen you are.”

145. “What I lack in common sense I make up for in sarcasm.”

146. “Because I am the big brother. I’m sorry I wasn’t better at it until now.”

147. “Aw look at ‘em - so young and willing to get themselves killed.”

148. “You’re kind of turning me on.”

149. “Studies show that I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

150. “You alienated everyone you loved , and now? You’re all alone.”

[yaboylevi]

What about this chapter did you not like? love your art btw ❤️

Thanks!

Sorry for the wait, I wanted to read the official chapter and wait for a bit to see if my feelings changed (spoiler: they didn't).

It would be way faster to list the few things I enjoyed but alas.

VERY negative opinions under the cut. Seriously, if you liked the chapter, don't read this, I don't want to spoil your fun or upset you. I didn't bother to write this in a respectful tone, it's not an analysis, it's just me venting. That being said, if you guys read this ignoring my warning and get upset, it'll be your fault and responsibility, yeah.

The Annie's father stuff was okay, though I hope it's gonna be explained why he was the only one in Liberio running against the flow of the screaming crowd.

Then we get Reiner being pathetic once again, I am so tired of this. What's his purpose in the story aside from killing people, being a nuisance and or dead weight to others and feeling sorry for himself? I would've appreciated if he had had some introspection on how his rushed plan was partially the cause for Porco's death and Falco's transformation (and all the other deaths bc Zeke would've never screamed in Shiganshina if Reiner hadn't pushed for another attack there). But anyway if he'd had introspection, it would've been about self-pity and NEVER growth because he seems unable to have that, so I would've disliked it anyway. 

If I wasn't already rolling my eyes this hard at Reiner, then I would've started at Gabi. She's all over the place and I guess it's understandable since she is a kid and also deeply shocked and in pain. I understand it. But I don't like how Isayama made her go from despair, to murder instinct, to calm and collected in 2 pages. It's just ???? Then we have the Eren parallel and I groaned out loud. Whatever its meaning is. It's just forced.

One of the things I hated this chapter for and that I'm becoming so annoyed at in general lately, is that EVERYTHING parallels something that has already happened, and I don't understand if Isayama thinks he's being smart or if it has some deeper meaning like "oh see, history repeats itself!! wow!! a concept that is not being repeated ad nauseam in the series, not at all!! /s". I don't need it to be shoved into my face.

Idk. Also Reiner, of course, being safe in a house amongst titan territory...of...course...

Then the 104th scene. Ugh. Jean's delusion is so annoying. One moment he's rational, the other is like "muuuuu ereh is doing this for us!!! we couldn't do anything!!!", then he's rational again. Maybe if they had paid attention to Eren, and didn't only take into consideration stupid ideas that would've never worked for 4 years, maaaybe yeah, this wouldn't be happening. Who knows. I'm just tired of the 104th whining about their situation. I understand where they're coming from, their feelings, etc, I understand it's a crazy and emotional situation and all, but we already have SO MANY CHAPTERS about it, it's time to move on at least with the plot. It's just so pathetic and annoying. It makes me angry how he's basically trying to avoid responsibility or rationalize genocide like all the Eren goat stans in the fandom. I hate this mentality so much. "if they disappear, so will all the hatred! Do we really have to stop him?" JESUS CHRIST JEAN..............yikes

And then of course they (and Isayama) had to ruin chapter 108.

Then Jean also had the guts to say they should kill a kid so they can revive a commander, just bc he's too scared to take the reins of the situation. Again, I understand the struggle, it's the same as Hange afterall, it's just very, very ugly how he didn't even waver. Connie's been acting irrational, and he's been swept up by his anger for a while now, so I understand his development. Plus I find it more relatable to wanting to make a big sacrifice for someone you love, rather than someone you (think you) need. But Jean???? wtf. He doesn't even think back on the sin he was willing to commit, he isn't ashamed.

Armin as well doesn't even care that it's a kid they're talking about, he's only strategizing. And here's another annoying point: he's able to make these calculations now but when it comes to Eren his brain freezes and he becomes a delusional kid. Where were his brains when he had to think up of ways to negotiate with the world? Anyway, I get it, it's because Eren's his childhood friend and family. I am just so tired of seeing this again and again, and again. We've been stuck on this for over a year... Nothing has changed, they're just dejectedly going back and forth on their opinions and feelings. Really goes to show that Eren was the real heart of their group...

Connie flying away from the battlefield, effectively splitting again the povs we need to follow is...big yikes.

Parallel to Trost, parallel to Serumbowl. Yeah wow so interesting.

Nile dying so quick like that was also underwhelming. And it was unnecessarily cruel, imo, that as a titan he tried to kill children when as a person he was so sweet with kids (except with Eren, of course...).

The Gabi-Sasha parallel left me a bit confused. On the one hand, I don't like the killer being paralleled to the murdered. But on the other hand, I understand why that is [/inserts meta that i don't care about writing]. The Kaya-Gabi moments were also cute + Nicolo's little speech was nice, though a bit awkward, imo. I bitterly laughed at Gabi finally admitting that she mindlessly killed people just to be praised. At least she can better herself from now on! If only her cousin could take his self-pity and do something to change himself with it, but no, he just wants to change others or run away (and this is why i don't like reiner anymore).

Shadis saving these ungrateful kids was pretty cool.

I felt bad for Yelena, I want to see more of her (and maybe Mikasa+Louise), but instead, we have Jean vs Floch angst and I'm already sleeping, because I care so little about both of them.

Isayama painting Jean as a cool leader is just embarrassing when moments before he was pathetically whining and trying to kill a child (to which there was no setup, especially comparing it to the setup for Connie's plot thread. The last we saw of Jean with a kid was him wondering if he hesitated in killing the Cart because of Falco 15 chapters ago...and that was a compelling doubt but I guess he hadn't hesitated at the time, after all lol). The pages dedicated to the killing of the titans were boring, occupying space for nothing imo. Glossing over them would've sufficed, there could've just been the Pixis stuff, and it would've been fine. Which, btw, made me laugh a little in retrospect, because Armin is once again involved in the death of a Commander. Oh well.

I also didn't like that mini-flashback with Eren&Pixis. I guess Isayama wants to ruin every single nice moment Eren had with other people, because Eren is soooo so so bad now uwu, for no good reason, and it's only his fault right? people were nice to him and look at how he repaid them uwu. Big yikes for me.

I expected more from that Louise panel because it made me go [EYES EMOJI], but I guess I'll have to wait.

It's also unbelievable that NO ONE IN THE WHOLE STORY has thought of stopping Floch, when last time they arrested him, so technically why would they even leave him running around NOW? It's beyond me. Do they have a brain?

As for the basement conversation with Gabi, I hope that "I won't give up on Falco" panel + Armin looking at Gabi thoughtfully will start a "We can't give up on Eren" mindset for the 104th, but I doubt it's gonna be handled in a non-pathetic way, considering how's been done as of late.

Gabi screaming to talk to Eren was also very embarrassing from a reader pov (well, my pov). Because she was RIGHT THERE when EMA talked last time, and she should know that would most likely not work (I guess she's talking out of desperation but still...ppl be like "yeah!! they should talk to ErEn!1 why didn't they think of it!?!?!" and I mean it's probably gonna come down to that if the final audio is of any indication...I just find the presentation of this concept awkward and forced). 

I really disliked most of Gabi's part, even though she's a character I have learned to enjoy. I guess what shined through in this chapter is exactly what I don't like about how Isayama uses Gabi's character: it seems like she's just there as a fast-paced mini representation of the story themes, so she's just an instrument to the story. Sometimes I feel like she's a real character, sometimes I feel she's just a tool for the story and the themes.

Armin's reaction to hearing about Annie is...I don't know. aruani has been one of my first ships and I used to be obsessed, but this is just awkward and forced, just like the previous aruani scene that made me angry at Armin. I don't even understand if Armin's shocked, scared or happy. All of these don't make sense to me, because I have no clue what he even expects from her.

Annie's release from the crystal happened in an unexpected way which i appreciated, though I would've liked it more if she had decided to get out on her own. But it depends on if she was stuck in there or if she was still willingly escaping from reality. If she was stuck, I will love this a lot more, because basically Eren set her free.

Also, Eren's radio podcast was longer I guess ("Eren said he would undo all the hardening"), and I wonder why we couldn't hear it all. Sigh.

In general, the "theme thread" of the chapter (adults & kids) felt really pushed in our face. I appreciate when things are a bit more subtle, this just came off as...boring, because every scene made me go "well, of fucking course this scene would end like this...". The only tense moment was the Connie part, let's be real.

And yeah, my perception may be also partially because I am so tired of no Eren pov and "eren is the evil, evil villain" rhetoric, so maybe I will appreciate this chapter more once we get his pov at the end of the story (bc i have no illusions left that this won't happen anytime before the finishing line). For now, I'm just frustrated because I didn't care about ANY of the things that went down in this chapter. Like, okay, let's move on, ffs.

Everything felt forced and contrived, like, Isayama must know that nobody cares about this stuff that much and everyone would prefer to see literally anything else amongst Eren, Historia, Levi&Hange, the Colossals. Hell, imagine if this chapter didn't have Annie at the end. That was the only thing that made this chapter barely worth the read for me. I hope the next one will at least follow Connie and Annie, if I can't get any of the other things that interest me.

[malicerewatchesdoctorwho]

The Evil of the Daleks - Episode Four (New Version)

Written by – David Whitaker     Director – Derek Martinus     Producer – Innes Lloyd

Episode Four

("How many people should die, so my daughter shall live?" - Waterfield to Maxtible, feeling guilty about the deaths that are happening around him.)

Likes

- Haha first words to appear as what is happening in the scene were Kemel pulled Jamie into a bear hug. Yes, Jamie, hug the poor man who has been abused by his handler.  Hug him back, he needs the love.

- Jamie finding a sword and immediately arming himself.  Yes, good thinking.

- Jamie, not wanting to see Kemel falling to his death from the roof, helps him back up to safety. This is a guy who two seconds ago was trying to kill him.  Jamie, you are a good one.  Never stop being you.

- Kemel saving Jamie's life in return.  And a friendship is born.

- I feel so sorry for poor Waterfield.  He's trying so hard and doesn't see any way out of his current situation, but boy will he try, preferably while holding onto his morals. 

- Waterfield ready to confess to what has happened to the police as soon as he has Victoria. Seriously, this guy is kind and has morals and they are being trampled all over by not only the Daleks, but Maxtible too, who doesn't give a shit about anything but his experiments.

- Jamie not giving a shit that Kemel can't talk, because he sees Kemel as a good man and that's all that matters.  Yes, Jamie, yes.  This is the right attitude to have. 

- Kemel proving he isn't stupid by being able to write and understand English, something that Maxtible said he was very simple in just last episode.  Funny how he doesn't have any problems understanding a damn thing Jamie says, or answering him back in non verbal ways.  Communication is a beautiful thing. 

- Waterfield understanding that he is partially to blame for the murders by keeping silent.  He's an accomplice and is obstructing justice. A crime.

- Maxtible getting beat up by a Dalek for talking back to it.  Hahaha, yes.  

Dislikes

- It took an absurdly long time for Kemel to recover from Jamie pushing him to the floor. Just...this guy is super strong and buff.  Why did it take him so long to recover?  Oh yeah, so Jamie could get to the next room without having to fight him.

- Yeah, I want Maxtible to die.  I really don't like him. 

- Can I have Maxtible as a person on here again?  No reason other than he is a despicable human being and I don't like him and that point is so important it just needed to be said twice.

- ...Umm, was it Terrall or Maxtible that started saying "You will obey!" to the other? I wasn't clear on that. 

- Wait...how do you get a huge metal ball inside a light and still have the light work? Am I misunderstanding something here?

- How did the Daleks get Victoria into that room?  Seriously, how?  As far as I see, there isn't even any stairs for her to climb up, let alone the Daleks going with her because they can't fly yet.  Just...what.

- Who dared hurt Mollie?! Was that Terrall?!  Ruth was saying about the two of them running off together, so I guess it was Terrall, who is her fiancé.

- Maxtible working with the Daleks voluntarily because they promised to give him the secrets of transmutation and turning metal into gold.  Okay, my dude.  You're insane, but okay.

Awesome

- The music. Just...it's on point in this story.

- The machines the Doctor is using for the human factor for the Daleks.  I don't know, it makes weird noises, but I just really like the look of it, when we get clear pictures of it.  Reminds me a bit of some controls in Star Trek TOS. 

- I like the balcony/landing set of where Victoria was kept, even if it makes no sense from the outside.  

Shitty

- It's missing

- Bad recons. Why? 

- It gets really confusing to understand what is happening if there are no words telling us, because this episode, outside the music is really quiet.  Seriously, except for the repeat of the last few seconds of the third episode with Jamie's "Hello, who are you" barely anything is said until well into 5 minutes in.  

In Conclusion

Apart from the rather long list of dislikes, I actually really enjoyed this episode.  I like Kemel and Jamie basically saying fuck it, let's be friends.  I like how pissed off Victoria is of doing the same thing over and over again and yelling at the Daleks for it.  I like the Doctor explaining emotions and why Jamie and Kemel act the way they do. 

I love Waterfield's morality shining through and that as soon as the mess is over he plans on turning himself in for the murders that have been committed, because he doesn't like not being held accountable since it is partially on him they are dead. And he gets that and is willing to go to jail for it. 

And yeah, if it wasn't very obvious by now, I really don't like Maxtible.  I don't remember not liking him this much the first time. Wow.  Also, I read my old version posts after posting the new and...did I seriously believe that I liked the  so called mystery of Terrall for the last episode?  Past me, you suck and have terrible taste.

Terrall and Ruth are basically there to have other characters be there.  The show could go on just as well if neither of them existed.

Looking forward to watching next episode again.

Body count - 0. Though part of the episode is all about hiding Toby's body and how characters feel about it, which I am oddly fine with. So Toby and his deadness is a big part of the plot in this episode.

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 3x08-- The One Where Kurt Saves Diane

I wrote this over the span of, like, a full year and it is not very interesting. I am posting it simply because I am committed to the idea of writing something about every episode of this series. I recommend that you go check out Evil instead of reading this.

I’m just not intrigued by the clips of news footage about some sort of “Unredacted Unspecified Report” that open this episode.

Diane doesn’t seem to be that interested either: she’s not watching and talks over it. 

More interesting (but, tbh, not actually that interesting to me either, because I’m losing interest in this season) is that Diane gets a letter of warning from a ~mysterious source~. 

Most interesting of all: Diane and Kurt have a normal morning together.

Kurt spots the letter first and opens it. STOP DIANE. THEY KNOW ABOUT THE HACK. So maybe it’s directed at Kurt. Or maybe it’s supposed to say, “Stop, Diane.”

I still haven’t warmed to Diane’s bedroom set, especially because it still feels like Diane lives in her bedroom and her home has no other rooms. 

Joy, Felix Staples has returned. All I have to say about this case is that the day this ep aired, basically what’s happening in this case happened in real life, because… Kings. 

Hello, it’s October now and I suddenly felt like returning to The Good Universe and writing. It’s been a while. 

My memory of this episode/arc is that Diane and Liz just did something uncharacteristically dumb and illegal, and this is the episode where Kurt secretly puts an end to the shenanigans without Diane even knowing. I remember this episode being satisfying, if only because it got rid of the aforementioned dumb and illegal plot. Let’s see how good my memory is. 

Wait why don’t I remember Roger Bart being on this show and why didn’t I note it earlier?! How could I let George The Killer Pharmacist go unmentioned?! 

On that note, how did I not use the opening scene of the season (Diane saying “I’m happy” as an excuse to ramble about how weird it is to experience happiness on a personal level in today’s world?) (I was just watching 3x01.)

I’m actively not watching the case scenes so they don’t kill my drive to actually write this. 

Oh God, I’m going to have to deal with Blum again at some point. I had blocked out his bloviating. I think this is the last of the Blum/Maia free eps? 

The weird Lucca/British actor plot is still happening!!!! I didn’t miss it during all those months in which I wasn’t reminded of it. 

The joke about how these TV lawyers aren’t like other TV lawyers, except they are, was funny the first time. 

Always great to see how Lucca, who is the head of a department at this point, gets called into other cases frequently. Definitely how things work. 

Is it bad that I’m more interested in making a mental list of all the times TGF/TGW have filmed in this little park than this Marissa/Alan Alda scene? 

I can see why this is the episode that made me stop writing these for a bit. So far, this ep is all case and a subplot I don’t care for.

You know what else was funny the first time and has hit a point of diminishing returns? The thing where a main character’s love interest shows up in court and then they get thrown off their game and it’s CUTE FLIRTING!!! Find a new, unique way to signal interest, writers! 

This gag now involves literal gagging. I’m overjoyed. 

Lucca’s monologuing at a toilet about her crush. This plot is cute. It isn’t bad. It is watchable. BUT! I know it’s a novelty, so I’m just not that excited by it or invested in it. It’s not really deepening my understanding of Lucca. 

Lucca picturing everyone in court in their underwear is just unnecessary and honestly not funny??? 

Kurt leaves the warning note out for Diane to see. He confronts her about it and she asks for a drink.

The credits are at 19 minutes in. I do love them. Have any of you watched Evil yet? I watched part of the first episode (I intend to go back to it, I’ve just been busy) and the credits resemble the TGF credits. (Update as of March 2020: I watched all of Evil and you should too.)

Diane tells Kurt about Book Club or #Resistance or whatever I was calling it. Even though Diane doesn’t tell him the full story (mostly for his own protection, and she makes it clear she’s omitting stuff), I do appreciate that Diane and Kurt don’t keep secrets from each other, and if/when they do, they talk about it openly and calmly. I love them. 

(I have blocked out Kurt/Holly almost entirely. I know it’s canon, but I still don’t believe it was anything other than a plot device to motivate some unnecessary drama in the TGW finale. God, that finale was bad. Ghost Will? Kurt cheating? GENEVA and Peter? GHOST WILL? Even the slap, which is one of my favorite parts, is more powerful as a symbol than as an actual plot development, since (1) Alicia betraying Diane is something Pilot!Alicia would’ve done to any friend to protect her family and (2) it stems from the nonsense about Kurt cheating and Peter tampering with evidence. What a letdown of a finale. The Kings are lucky they got to redeem themselves with TGF.)

(As anyone who’s had a one-on-one convo with me about the TGW finale at any point in the last three years will tell you, I will NEVER tire of discussing it, even if it means rehashing the same points over and over and over.)

I forgot about the thing where it wouldn’t stop storming in season 3. 

Don’t have much to say about Kurt devising a plan to help Diane get out of trouble, but I do find it very fun! 

OOOOH this is the episode about censorship that got censored!!! If you haven’t already, do read Emily Nussbaum’s piece about the behind-the-scenes drama of this episode. I thought the “this content has been censored” screen where the short would have been was a joke… but it was actually censored. That may be the most interesting thing about this episode.

I want more character-driven plots. I want more Liz and Lucca. I have nothing to say. 

Book Club still believes the con artist who brought them together is something other than a con artist. Book Club is not that smart for being a collection of very smart people. 

“So the whole group is bullshit?” Liz asks when Diane loops her in. Yes. But also, like, this is what happens when you do illegal shit with a group formed by a literal con artist. Liz may have an excuse for trusting the group (Diane brought her in), but why does DIANE trust them? 

“My life is simple, Diane. I have a son. I have a mortgage. I have my job. And I go from home to work and work to home. So this stuff is, this bullshit intrigue… I’m done. Too much drama,” Liz laments, about a week too late. Where was this last week when Liz was like YES LET’S DO CRIMES? 

One of my problems with the whole Book Club arc is that it makes very little sense that Liz would get involved in the first place. I understand why she would be sympathetic to their cause and willing to look the other way on their methods… if she were watching a news report about them on TV. She’s too practical, and has too much to lose, to get involved with a group like this. 

An NSA nerd is back!! He’s the one warning Diane! 

Okay, picking this back up in March 2020 because *gestures at the world* I have time. Like, I have so much free time I’ve finished 9 books in the last 14 days AND finally made it to the episodes of The Sopranos with JMargs. I began watching The Sopranos in 2017.

As I write this, I have no idea if TGF is coming back on April 9th as planned or not. Unless there’s something in the works for season 4 that can’t possibly be left unfinished or air today, I think they should air whatever they have now. TGF is always timely, and while scenes set in an office are suddenly feeling weird and implausible, they’ll probably play better now than in six months. And we’d all forgive the writers if they had to wrap up the arcs through an animated recap song. 

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the TGF credits so I rewound to watch the credits. I went to 2 minutes into the episode, then remembered… they’re 20 minutes in.

Y’all. They blow up a purse with hand sanitizer in it. Did they predict this?! 

I wrote that preamble and then stopped writing. But now we know that TGF is really coming back on April 9th, which means I have to stop watching The Sopranos and write these things! 

Ah, Felix Staples. I haven’t missed you! 

Case stuff happens. Really riveting episode, this one. (It is an interesting case, though.)

Kurt saving Diane is pretty fun. But I don’t have anything to say about it and to write about it would just to be to give a half-assed play by play… and why?

Oh WOW, Lucca and Downton Abbey guy is still happening?! 

Getting to see Kurt be really competent and caring is the best thing, by far, about the Book Club arc.

Wait, I take that back, Liz’s speech about voter suppression is also pretty high up there-- as long as you ignore the context. 

V excited (!!) to get back to Maia’s bullshit in the next few episodes, not because I want to watch it but because if there’s one thing I’m actually motivated to write about, it’s how the show has handled Maia Rindell. Also, they handle the next few episodes well for her. 

Oh RIGHT Liz tells ChumHum about her dad’s sexual harassment issues! And Adrian and Liz are finally going to tell the press! It may mean losing Neil Gross, though. 

Book Club is over! Wooooooooooooooooooooo! On to more interesting things!!!

Also gone? Downton Abbey guy, who gave an interview about something new and exciting in his life. Lucca thought he was talking about her, and he was talking about some...personality test that sounds like a cult from the way he describes it? AAAAAND I Googled it and yup. It is. What a goofy ending to this arc I didn’t care about. Reminds me of the way the Marilyn arc ended (with a cameo from a celebrity who she was supposedly sleeping with). Glad the actor was so game to poke fun at himself, but is this the best we can do for Lucca? 

Diane thinks she took care of the hack and made it go away. Kurt lets her take the credit. 

The end! 

[chubbyooo]

Old Wounds Part 1 - A Blurred Lines Spinoff

something a little different today we’re moving away from the main cast of Blurred Lines to tell a story about my Jedi Knight Dzûsa, if you caught it he was mentioned in a recent chapter so for those curious I’m writing a side story for him. It’s not at all necessary to read to understand the story but it’s some extra lore, the story will have two parts released between chapters in BL.

Dzûsa gets a lead and decides to get some backup in his hunt for the sith emperor 

Dzûsa’s finger rested just above his holocommuncator, calling her was kinda awkward but he had to admit if he wanted anyone’s help Lana’s would be the best for this mission. It was still so awkward after their kiss on Yavin IV, they should’ve talked since it but then he got so caught up with the search for Vitiate and had completely forgot to talk to her. The kiss still surprised him he thought he was too jedi and too old to have a chance with her, not that he looked old he kept his body tight like a temple but still being over 40 he was officially on the older end of the spectrum at least for jedi and sith. At least he was compared to all the others Theron and Lana had called in and somehow they were more capable to take down Revan than him seriously? he was mega capabale he’d killed vitiate, sort of. Dzûsa took a second to calm down he was off topic point is he definitely liked her but he may have blown it, he took a deep breath it didn’t matter this was more important than him finding love he had a possible lead on Vitiate he had to follow it up. Dzûsa was about 60% sure it was a trap but even so he’d take anything he could to find the sith emperor, Dzûsa felt anger well up inside him he couldn’t let that happen he had to do this, he took a long deep breath like Kavaraa had taught him. He thought that part of his life was over he’d finally repented for his past through Vitiates demise but he’d failed, Vitiate was still out there which meant there was still work to do.

The time for hesitating was over he pressed the call button and within a few seconds the form of Lana appeared on the holo, she seemed intrigued eyebrows raised.

“well Dzûsa what’s this about?” straight to the point no hello seemed about right for her

Dzûsa chuckled “well hello to you too Lana, I may have a lead” Lana’s eye’s widened

“on the sith emperor?” Dzûsa nodded Lana raised her eyebrow “how concrete” that was a reasonable question, all he could say really is it was more concrete than Marr going around wild space based off what he ‘sensed’.

Dzûsa rubbed his chin “not very concrete but it’s more than just I sensed him, I got an anonymous communication to meet on Sullust and that they have information on a possible location that could lead to the location of the emperor” Lana nodded seemingly unconvinced

She frowned “you’re aware of how much this sounds like a trap” she folder her arms at him

Dzûsa smiled “oh very much so it’s why I called you Blondie” Dzûsa could see Lana visibly wince at the nickname he knew she hated it most people hated the nicknames he gave them “point is I sense the part about the information isn’t a lie”

Lana sighed “so you want my help with this?” Dzûsa nodded “why not just get your crew to help” Dzûsa gritted his teeth

he chuckled “they’re not exactly what you’d call subtle Lana and uh neither am I” a smile crept onto Lana’s face 

she nodded “I suppose that’s true you’re not exactly Darth Nox” Dzûsa frowned Nox wasn’t all that he’d had to save her on Yavin IV once she’d totally been caught. 

Dzûsa grinned “yes but I know what i get when I save her” Lana glowered at him, he knew the saving Nox part had nothing to do with the kiss but it was still funny

Lana ignored the comment “right well I suggest we take a slightly more covert ship than yours” Dzûsa nodded the galactic hero look certainly wasn’t subtle not that he minded such a look

Dzûsa messed with the console “alright well meet me at these coordinates” Dzûsa turned off the holocommunicator, maybe he should’ve mentioned what the kiss meant but he could do that in person. 

Dzûsa got up he had to tell everyone he’d be away for a bit, he made his way to the cockpit where Kira was lounging “hey Carz I’m gonna be going on a mission with Lana so you’re in charge of the ship make sure they don’t burn the place down” Kira spun around with a curious look on her face

she leant forward “ooo a ‘covert mission’ how romantic Dzûsa” Dzûsa chuckled he swore Kira was more interested in him and Lana getting together than he was

Dzûsa smiled “well maybe something after the mission but it’s important so unfortunately it will have to wait” Kira frowned clearly disappointed.

Dzûsa heard a chuckle from behind him “huhuhu do my ears deceive me or has our old soldier finally found love” Doc sauntered up to the cockpit

wow all his friends cared more about his love life than Vitiate good to know “again Caterpillar this is a mission but I’m not responsible for what happens afterwards” Doc wiggled his eyebrows at Dzûsa 

Doc smiled “don’t worry we can give you plenty of alone time” Kira nodded raising her eyebrow

Dzûsa sighed “you two are insufferable, just look after the ship ok” they nodded confidently.

Later...

Dzûsa made his way into Lana’s ship it was certainly covert they may as well be in just a transport vessel, still it would do. He walked to the cockpit where he could see Lana already plotting the coordinates for Sullust “so was I the only one you could get?” Lana smiled at him

Dzûsa raised an eyebrow “well the Basen’thor was busy with some quest for knowledge as was Nox, Gacen probably wouldn’t be that helpful, Ash from my experience tries to avoid the force and Theron’s ran off somewhere again so yep I guess I had to go with you” Lana chuckled as he sat down “I’m joking of course you were first on my list” 

Lana smiled “well I’m certainly capable, give me the coordinates for this meeting spot” Dzûsa passed over the coordinates

They were silent for a few minutes while Lana put the ship into hyperspace, Dzûsa fidgeted awkwardly “so um are we gonna talk about it?” Lana turned to him and frowned

Lana folded her arms “talk about what?” was it not that big of a deal for her? it felt like a big deal to him

Dzûsa tried his best to act natural “you know the uh kiss on Yavin IV” Lana nodded not saying a word “uh did you uh well mind it?” was he making a much bigger deal out of this had sith culture changed since he’d left? is kissing just something people did?

Lana smiled “It was nice” she paused “better than I expected” well that was something he guessed

Dzûsa wasn’t sure how to go about this “well would you mind uh more than just a kiss” Lana frowned grinning at him

“if that’s your extremely weird way of asking me on a date then sure” Dzûsa let out a sigh of relief “why were you so nervous I’ve know you’ve had a crush on me since we met”

Dzûsa squirmed “well uh after I didn’t mention it for a while it just kept becoming more awkward I just got kinda caught up with the whole search for the emperor thing and I felt bad” Lana smiled at him shaking her head

“you do know that’s a good reason Red you don’t have to be at my beckon call, I actually kinda prefer it this way” Dzûsa relaxed a bit he must’ve gotten inside his own head there

Dzûsa stroked his chin “uh yeah I guess my prior romantic experience has left me a bit stunted on how to be well normal” Lana nodded, Dzûsa knew arranged marriages can often be like that

“yes your marriage didn’t seem the most normal or ya know your choice” Dzûsa was startled how did she know that he didn’t tell her or anyone

Dzûsa frowned “how did you know about her?” Lana rolled her eyes looking unsurprised

She smiled “I like to know the details of the people I’ve kissed” Dzûsa fidgeted in his seat he tried to keep his family a secret he’d moved on from it, but to be fair anyone with a brain could put it together he’d just rather move on

he wasn’t proud of what he used to be “so you know about my past? what I was?” Lana moved over to him 

she frowned “yes a guy pushed into the sith life by his family who still somehow managed to keep his humanity” Dzûsa frowned at her he didn’t remember it like that “Dzûsa I’ve studied your history in the Great Galactic war and as far as I can tell if you were never cruel you treated it like an honourable war, the only times I saw you do bad things is when you were manipulated into it” Dzûsa grimaced that didn’t absolve him he still did those things

Dzûsa sighed “Lana that doesn’t absolve what I did I scourged countless worlds we all did even if I didn’t know the details of what I was doing I should have realised I was stupid and reckless” Lana frowned folding her arms

Dzûsa hung his head “you were young and manipulated all sith go through that but you and me we’re those who rose above it” she lifted his head up “we’re the people who can break the cycle I’m a sith and I’m not evil and you renounced it all to help the galaxy family be damned that’s far more noble than most of the jedi you know” Dzûsa couldn’t agree she hadn’t seen it the things he’d done he spent his whole life repenting for the sins he committed but that didn’t mean he’d be forgiven

Dzûsa sighed “I’m not the hero people say Lana I’m just a guy trying to make up for the things he did, I’ll help as much as I can but I’m not to be forgiven” he looked at Lana for a long second before she leant in and kissed him

Dzûsa let her but broke away quickly, Lana held his head “guess what Red I forgive you, you’re far too hard on yourself and I bet everyone else does too” Dzûsa thought back to the day he left the sith, the day he met Orgus Din he’d promised to repent and Orgus had told him something similar he didn’t believe him then either. Maybe after Vitiate was gone he may be able to rest but he doubted it.

Dzûsa smiled “thanks Lana I don’t agree but thanks” Dzûsa did his best to put the thoughts to the back of his mind the past was the past he shouldn’t look back.

Lana nodded moving back to her seat “the sith are not all bad Dzûsa you and I are living proof” Dzûsa nodded he agreed with that, he left the sith because his path would leave him to evil but Lana was different he could sense it she was in it for more than just herself.

Dzûsa chuckled “I know one which could use a good beating though” Lana smiled nodding he couldn't wait to get rid of Vitiate, he knew he could do it again and maybe then he could rest.

Later...

The ship touched down outside an abandoned ship yard the lava around it slowly encroaching on the factory.

Dzûsa looked at it discouraged “well the chances of this being a trap are drastically increasing” Lana nodded agreeing almost immediately. 

Lana got up gesturing for him to follow “well let’s go spring the trap then we’re more than capable” Dzûsa followed her doing his best to be sneaky. They made their way up to the entrance of the factory with Dzûsa’s imposing form only bumping into about three things “ok seriously Red just take it slow ok” Dzûsa nodded doing his best to keep quiet, he’d been told on many occasions he was loud so thought it best to just be silent. 

They crept into the factory through corridors full of broken down droids until they reached a large assembly line room.

Dzûsa frowned “well this is where I was told to meet the contact so either they’re hiding or we’ve been duped” hopefully that would draw them out

sure enough a voice echoed from the darkness “I had to see if it was true for myself” the voice was slightly garbled but Dzûsa swore he recognised it “if the sith were working with the traitor of the Zatân family” Dzûsa’s eyes widened no no not again not here. A form dropped from the ceiling in front of them cloaked with a mask on his signature look, Lana stepped back immediately drawing her saber. 

He clicked his neck walking towards then “who are you” Lana growled at him

Dûshto chuckled removing his mask to reveal the red skinned pureblood “oh brother have you not mentioned me to your new flame” his bloodshot eyes bearing into Dzûsa’s soul

Dzûsa stayed silent in shock why couldn’t Dûshto just leave him be, Lana gasped “I thought your family were killed after your betrayal” Dzûsa assumed she’d read about that but it wasn’t well documented

Dûshto cackled “well I’m afraid my dear not all history is accurate” a long red pikesaber ignited “and my dear brother has yet to atone for his sins” with that Dûshto lunged at Dzûsa

https://open.spotify.com/track/7uU3Jb0ELZN8ilYwwMdEjd?si=-V0l9lsESUWv0yLU5zdCeA

Dzûsa quickly ignited his blue saber deflecting the lunge he jumped back as Dûshto spun around but before he could go for a second attack Lana slashed at him, he parried the attack snarling at Lana. 

Dzûsa could feel Dûshto’s potent anger as his mind raced with what to do “you stay out of this Blondie this is a family matter” with that he threw her across the room ok that’s it Dzûsa felt himself snap. He threw his saber forward as Dûshto turned to him with a smile, Dzûsa charged towards him at such speeds the saber hit Dûshto’s pike seconds before Dzûsa crashed into him with an earth shattering headbutt, Dûshto flew backwards against one for the conveyer belts slumping down against it with a scornful look, Dzûsa picked up his saber lunging forward towards him he never wanted to fight Dûshto but he blamed Dzûsa for everything hopefully he could just incapacitate him again. As he reached the conveyer belt Dûshto rolled out the way causing Dzûsa to stumble on the edge of the conveyer, Dûshto took the opportunity to slam Dzûsa’s head against the conveyer turning it on causing a searing pain to Dzûsa’s left side. This continued until he felt Dûshto‘s hand suddenly slip away he looked up to see Lana had tackled him and was now proceeding to punch him in the face while he laughed. Dûshto took the blows but then suddenly grabbed her by the neck lifting her up off the ground Lana tried to grab her saber but couldn’t reach it. Damn it Dzûsa had never been good with the force, he charged forward tackling Dûshto before he could go any futher he saw Lana tumble out of Dûshto’s hand as they flew to the floor. He paused there for a second saber held over his brother

Dûshto smiled “go ahead Dzûsa do it or are you gonna let me live you know I’ll just come back I always do” Dzûsa held his saber up as Dûshto continued to smile, then deignited the saber hitting him with the butt with a resonant crack. 

Dûshto fell unconscious while Dzûsa was breathing heavily “I’m so sorry for what happened to our family and for what it turned you into but I will never sink to your level brother” Dzûsa got up off Dûshto turning to see Lana getting up

Lana put her hands on her hips “so at what point were you going to tell me your brother was now psychotic and hell bent on your death” Dzûsa let out a half smile

“maybe on our date?” Lana chuckled walking over to him she looked down at Dûshto “so you just leave him alive every time?” Dzûsa sighed

he looked down at Dûshto “not every time the first few I tried to get through to him in prison but he’d need someone other than me to save him, he just has too much hate for me” they had never really got on but they were still brothers, Dzûsa hoped one day he’d realise that the vendetta wasn’t worth it especially now with the sith and empire working together, evidently not.

Dzûsa still sensed he had information of the sith emperor, he checked Dûshto’s pockets to find a holocommunicator he sensed it could be important. He turned to Lana as he did she answered a call it seemed to be from Darth Marr “yes sir, right away, I’ll be there” Dzûsa’s heart sank no he had a lead “I’m sorry Dzûsa I’m gonna have to take a rain check on that date Marr wants me for some mission on Ziost” Dzûsa nodded “I have to be there right away you don’t mind if you make your own way back right?”

Dzûsa smiled “oh don’t worry about me Blondie I’ll find a way of this rock easy enough get to Ziost Marr needs you” Lana nodded looking away for a second before giving him a quick peck on the cheek

Lana smiled as she walked away “don’t tell anyone alright I’ll keep your brother a secret if you don’t rave about ‘this’” Dzûsa watched her go with a smile oh well still more of a sure thing than before

Dzûsa turned to Dûshto’s communicator he turned it on to see a face he hadn’t seen in over 30 years, the face of his sister Xusae appear on the screen he hadn’t seen her since she was 5 she was all grown up now she had long black hair and wore an unassuming robe. 

Dzûsa did his best to hold himself together as she spoke “Dûshto I may have found a lead on a powerful force nexus the sith emperor had something to do with” Xusae paused looking behind her “a planet called Nathema in the outer rim please come here as soon as you can don’t use this as leverage for you know who” Dzûsa stepped back shocked Nathema he had to go right now for his sisters sake. 

In little time Dzûsa found Dûshto’s ship sitting idle outside the factory, he was sure Dûshto would still find a way off the planet but for now he was out of the picture. Dzûsa piloted the ship into space ok so Nathema would lead him to the sith emperor and maybe his sister, the raincheck for the date with Lana may be a bit longer than expected he hoped she wouldn’t mind...

[weirdlandtv]

READERS’ MAIL

I receive quite a few messages from readers every day, so occasionally I have to answer them all in one go, otherwise I’ll fall too far behind. So here goes...

Have I heard any Lana Del Rey songs? Not consciously. Maybe if one featured in a film or something. I’ve heard her name though; next time I come across her I’ll pay more attention.

@commitdefenestration Have I seen the video of Brigitte Bardot kissing a seal pup? You mean that footage of her visit to Canada in 1977? Oh yeah. She was one of the first celebrities, if not the first, who put animal rights on the map. I hope to see the day that fur gets banned. Obviously if you love animals you don’t want them to get tortured in harrowing ways.

Do I like the B-52s? I only know two songs by them, so I’m not sure.

What do I think of Jayne Mansfield? No opinion honestly. She existed and made some movies, but if she hadn’t existed or hadn’t made any movies, my life would be exactly the same.

Am I male or female? That one again, eh?

What do I think about the recent allegations against Michael Jackson? I’m committed to the belief that he’s innocent. That belief is the result of my having followed the history of the allegations against him, past and present, through the years. When I hear that some radio stations are banning his music, I shake my head. None of this all matters in the long run.

Do I have any favorite books? When I was in my 20s I tried to read every classic in existence, “Don Quixote”, “Lolita”, “Paradise Lost”, Homer’s “Odyssey”, et cetera, but these days I don’t really go there anymore. Generally I like biographies: Rasputin, Jesus, Hitler, Disney, Roald Dahl, Napoleon, Jim Henson, Steve Jobs, whoever. When I read a biography I get very immersed in it and read a lot of stuff around it, always looking up things online: photos, locations, birthplaces, faces, articles, and for a few weeks I become a specialist on the subject, the world’s leading authority, the foremost expert—then, once I’ve finished the book, I forget nearly everything except a few random facts and quotes. (However, I’m an enthusiastic re-reader.) I like books that explain the history behind a phenomenon, company, event; books on art and design, and music; and the unusual. And everything by Dutch author, Harry Mulisch (1927-2010).

What year was I born? You can guess...

And lastly...

What do you really think of the cinematic works (and especially the fantasy adventures) of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, respectively? Also, what are your favorites among all the works of Lucas and Spielberg themselves? Just asking.

When I grew up in the 1980s, Lucas and Spielberg were gods. They could light up the night skies, which suddenly were teeming with stars and spaceships and distant worlds that beckoned. It’s sometimes said that Star Wars killed cinema, but it saved a generation: because of the genre in which they operated, the works of Spielberg and Lucas beamed out hope, possibilities, exploration, adventure, magic, the power of imagination and dreams. They inspired. Kids in the 1960s had The Beatles, we had Lucas and Spielberg; and it felt like they had a hand in everything that wowed us on the screen, on TV, and in toy stores; and in a way, they did.

The best thing Lucas has ever done of course is the STAR WARS trilogy. Ever since the prequels, efforts have been made to diminish his contribution to it, but he was always the guiding force: Star Wars didn’t come from a studio, not from a group of executives in a room, but from his rogue imagination (and then it became bigger than that).

My favorite Spielberg film has to be E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. The film itself was like an alien friend to me when I was a kid, a benign presence, both loving and spellbinding. Spielberg has a reputation for producing schmaltzy endings, but when his sentimental finales are justified and not just dutifully tacked on, they make for very powerful cinema. I like the Indiana Jones trilogy (not the fourth one), and SCHINDLER’S LIST, his monochrome monument to the evil that men do. Another personal favorite is DUEL, his version of David and Goliath. Like the shark in JAWS is more than a shark, the truck in DUEL is more than a truck: it’s a force of evil, a roaming demon that attaches itself to an ordinary guy. You can view DUEL as a petty feud between two drivers, or as a clash between good and evil, or both; it’s a simple road thriller that, by the power of suggestion, invites all sorts of theories and interpretations. The tank truck has to be one of my favorite movie villains.

And that’s it for now. I might do this more often; most of the messages I receive are sent anonymously and I don’t always want to reply to all of them separately.

[tisthenightofthewitch]

We've always got stick for not being heavy enough

Tobias Forge

Tobias Forge has a short little shit list of people who aren't welcome to explore the world of Ghost. Since 2014's Grammy Award-winning ‘Meloria', the once nameless ghoul has been unmasked. Sure, it came via a lawsuit issued from people who used to play onstage with the band, rather than as part of the ever-growing tale that Ghost are writing, but really nothing much has changed.

Ghost has always been about the suspension of disbelief. It's always been about playing make-believe. It's always been about exploring these masked worlds that reflect our own. It's always been for everyone.

Their new album ‘Prequelle' takes that crack in the door and swings it wide open. Playful, pulsating and full of rainbow-bridged adventure, it's Ghost at their most welcoming.

"There's been so much happening since the last record," Tobias admits, jetlagged and nursing a neck injury. "If I think about how things were when we left off in 2014, then yes that is a big gap. But I was surprised when we started this tour how little it took before it felt like I was home and back on track."

Ghost don't enjoy looking back.

"I see the faults like, ‘Oh you thought that was good, you should have seen what the original plan was. It was so much cooler', but such is life."

Instead, they're concerned with the now. Despite the success and the scale of what his band has already achieved, Tobias still had something to prove with their fourth album.

"You always do. After the hard second record comes the hard third record. Then it's the crucial fourth record and the 'win or lose' fifth record. I don't know when you reach that plateau of untouchable. I don't think you ever do. I don't think I'd want to.”

"This band takes up so much time and is such a huge sacrifice for a lot of people, especially the ones very close to me, that sometimes you're exposed to the questions of, ‘When are you going to be done? When is this accomplished?' And I don't know. I don't think it ever will be done. You just try to do things as good as possible all the time. Sooner or later something will put a halt to it and hopefully, when it does, you've done it as well as you can."

That full-bodied commitment to doing things a certain way wails through ‘Prequelle'. The record, focused around the idea of annihilation, finds threads between The Black Death of the 1300's and today. The winking, grinning, rampage of ‘Rats' sings: "In times of turmoil, in times like these. Beliefs contagious, spreading disease," prods at today as much as it does The Middle Ages.

"I was trying to shine light onto the idea that the turmoil of the black death is not something that was isolated just to death." There's also trauma in survival. "There are numerous extreme metal records that have touched on the subject of dark and evil times, specifically the plague, so I wanted this record to be about survival rather than annihilation. I haven't heard any records that are about that. I have plenty of records about the ordeal of death but not the survival aspect. The record is about perseverance. From a personal point of view, persevering is exactly what I've been doing for the last two years."

Even on the cusp of the end of all things, which is where ‘Prequelle' finds itself teetering, there's defiance and resistance throughout.

"I'd like to see myself as a fairly humorous person," Tobias offers, and so with Ghost, "I want it to be entertaining. I like a lot of different things but what I try to achieve writing a Ghost record is way more Pink Floyd than it is AC/DC, even though I am influenced by ‘Back in Black'."

He views it as cinema.

"A good film isn't just a 90-minute car chase. If you want the film to just be a 90-minute shoot-out, you probably won't like this record. I want things to be very different; it's supposed to be a trip."

Ghost records are put together like blockbusters. The songs are connected, the scenes have to flow. It has a beginning and an end. There are trial and redemption in every turn.

"It's a lot of me throwing things back and forth for it all to fit. I knew that that the record was going to have a heavier, more close to home sort of sting, so it was also important to add a percentage of, I don't know if I dare to call it comic relief, but just moments to loosen it up a little."

It's in the wonderous, beaming instrumental ‘Miasma' that the band smile with their whole face but across ‘Prequelle', there's a grin that can't be shifted.

There's also honesty. There are lines drawn between the personal and the pretend. "It is very close to home," Tobias admits. But rather than wallow or twist his means of escape into something cynical, Ghost have once again embraced the playful spirit that makes them radical.

"In every record, I've tried to recreate or have some sort of gateway back to where ‘Opus Eponymous' [the band's debut] was made in terms of playfulness. For the fourth time in a row now, it feels surprising to me. Wow, I'm still able to access that.”

"Of course there are some rules, some things you don't do, but I'm not thinking about whether this band is heavy metal or not. We've always gotten stick for not being heavy enough," but the band have never pretended to be pure, or follow the rules.

"Even our debut was a complete mixture. From a purest point of view, it was very much on slippery ground. It was Bambi on ice." There's no fear about shining bright on ‘Prequelle'. There's no fear about pushing things forward.

"It stems from the fact that regardless of what we are or what Ghost is, it's theatrical. I grew up in a scene where there was a very strict credibility complex. Whether I like it or not, there's still going to be a group of people who are going to judge whatever I do based upon those criteria. I have chosen not to live my life based on or adjusting to those rules. Because it's something I grew up with, I guess this is my rebellion. I'm not detaching myself from the family, but I'm speaking up at the table.”

"I guess what I've learned, especially over the past year, is that my idea of what I thought this project was going to be was naively utopic. It was very much an idea of a control freak who was trying to dictate a career of a made-up band that was more interesting than he was. You'd read about all these other bands and their stories. Before, we didn't really have a story, and now there is one. It wasn't the story I wanted to have, it would have been so much cooler if I was born 30 years earlier and we started in 1972, but there you go."

Taken from the August issue of Upset, out now. Ghost's album 'Prequelle' is out now.

[ryouverua]

Finally, the alone time with Tsumugi that I’ve been desperately missing! minus the love hotel. we don’t talk about the love hotel

Excuse me, what? Another new room??? .... In Kaito’s.... lab?

is this the beginning of building a ‘what if Kaito was the mastermind’ AU because I am strangely intrigued -

Anyway more RUNNING AROUND THE SCHOOL oh dear lord I just realized we have to go all the way down to the first floor and then up again???? KAITO WHY IS YOUR LAB SO EXTRA

you know what made everything worth it though

BYE MONOKID S U C K   I T

Man that shouldn’t have been as satisfying as it was.

(also up and down 6 floors later, you know Shuichi is grateful for the training he was doing with Kaito)

U U U U U U M

We are suddenly leaning hard into those VLR vibes again??? Hello, pod room/treatment center. We aren’t going to find out thre are only 15 pods or something are we???

Looks like there are 16... wait, isn’t that strange too? Why does K1-b0 need one?

WE LITERALLY JUST GOT HERE

Oh, and interestingly enough, Tsumugi’s sprite changed to her scared/upset one. I guess Shuichi isn’t the only one so adversely affected by the flashback light after all!

STILL NOT SICK OF THE FLASHBACK ANIMATION

AAAAH NO EVERYONE IS HERE ALREADY MY HEART’S NOT READY

Wait... this is - this feels weird. Isn’t this the first time we’ve actually seen everyone together in a memory?

Ahoge-K1-b0 is back!

AAAH TENKO

oh god my heart really isn’t ready for this

Lmao my question was answered, and as usual it relates to robophobia.

RYOMA!!!! I MISSED YOU!!!

as;dfljkasdf;jl

sdfkljsdfkjl

good.... bye........... heart........ it’s literally just been a chapter but I missed that laugh so much

REMEMBER... WHEN THE CLASS WAS JUST TOGETHER.... SO CASUALLY.... LIKE THIS..............

!!!!!! KAEDE!!!!!!

LMAO “FRIENDS YOU SAY -”

pour one out for the potential that could have been a Kaede vs Kokichi rival relationship

Hell, maybe they would have a trust vs distrust along with lies vs truth -

anyway that’s what fanfics are for

FRIENDSHIP SPEECH! FRIENDSHIP SPEECH!!!

oooughgugh quiet broken sobbing

Oooh, it’s weird to see her properly poised after how things ended in Chapter 2.

WOW IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME, MR ULTIMATE SURVIVOR

IS IT BAD THAT I REALLY MISSED HER ‘NYAHAHAHA’

And eventually everyone agrees until...

I don’t know if it’s a minority opinion but I miss hat!Shuichi. He’s so cute, ffff - and he really does have a different vibe about him. Character design can be pretty powerful in that sense!

Also, it’s kind of amazing how quickly Kaede took charge the moment she stepped back in the spotlight. She’s very powerful like that, huh?

aaah yes, a little hint of that crush Kaito had on Kaede is back

...........

This back and forth along with their colour schemes matching really make me wish we got to see them together more? What’s the scoop on the fandom’s interpretation of a Rantaro / Tenko friendship, lads???

sssshshshhhhhut up K1-b0 don’t bring that ‘h’ word crap in a full class flashback

THERE IS..... SOMETHING.... IN CREDIBLY PAINFUL... ABOUT KAITO BEING THE LAST PERSON YOU SEE AT THE END OF THE MEMORY... AND HIM TELLING EVERYONE HE’LL SEE US LATER.... . GGGH

And just like that....

“GOD THESE MEMORIES ARE ALL DESIGNED TO MAKE ME MISS KAITO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE CAN YOU NOT -”

So there didn’t seem to be an instructor or anyone to help them set up - was that maybe Kaito’s role? Why he was the last one we saw, and the one that directed everyone to go to sleep? other than just hitting home those saimota feels I mean -

So do they all have identical memories? I guess it can’t be that way with the friendship ones - also, was this one specifically triggered by entering this room?

................ I have thoughts on that.

Okay, that does explain why they’ve never been together in a memory before -

but. but. They had the funeral memory together, didn’t they? They all had that same funeral memory. So haven’t they met before?

..........

THEY ARE PROJECTED THEIR IMAGES OF THEMSELVES ONTO THE ACTUAL STUDENTS’ PORTRAITS IN THAT FUNERAL MEMORY THEY ARE MISREMEMBERING SOMETHING THEY ARE NOT WHO THEY THINK THEY ARE THEY ARE NOT WHO THEY THINK THEY ARE -

Aaaaw. 8′)

..................... I feel bad saying this after you said those heartwarming things but those feelings of suspicion towards you are growing Tsumugi I’M SORRY GIRL I STILL LOVE YOU EVEN IF YOU ARE EVIL I CAN’T HATE A GIRL WHO KNOWS AND APPRECIATES THE WONDERS OF EVA FOAM -

Okay just to explain this more now because big things happen below and I don’t want to wall-of-text too much, I.... just don’t think it’s a coincidence that this room just was discovered so conveniently. I mean, yeah, it’s in Kaito’s lab, but it just. You know. Appeared right now. And Tsumugi ‘found’ it. Tsumugi found it conveniently because holes were blown into it. Here’s my question.

Why was she in the position to find this room?

No, seriously. Kaito’s lab is so far out of the way of everything. It’s in an isolated area at the top of the building with a long spiraling staircase that spans what, six floors? And the holes blown into it came from above and through the lab.... and nowhere else. It’s not connected to any part of the building - there are no convenient K1-b0-created holes connecting it to the rest of the floor it’s on. Tsumugi had to have come here, specifically to Kaito’s lab, for the sake of investigation, when there are so many other areas of the school to look and there is no reason to find anything in Kaito’s lab, or Kaito, suspicious, especially in the face of him actively going against the mastermind. Why? Why other than the stuff that’s about to come up below, and for the sake of triggering that flashback?

Because here’s the thing - the moment we stepped in this room we got the flashback! The moment we got in here! All the other flashbacks happened randomly while we were investigating things, right? There didn’t seem to be any specific trigger words or anything - but this one happened with this room. I can’t... think of that as a coincidence. I just can’t. I’ll feel bad if it turns out it was though lmao

OKAY I GOT THAT OUT OF MY SYSTEM I FEEL BETTER NOW

Uuuuh that is way more than 16 people so I’m guessing it’s not literally just a list of names??? or???

whY WERE YOU IN HERE EARLIER TSUMUGI I KNOW YOU CAN’T HEAR ME BUT ADDRESS MY QUESTIONS DAMN IT

.........................

don’t you do this DRV3

Finally! No more Mukuro erasure - I MEAN WAIT THAT’S NOT THE ISSUE -

You’re not seriously trying to tell me at this late stage of the game (figuratively and literally) about this potential 17th party with no clues or foreshadowing, right. Right?

I wonder how familiar Shuichi is with Knox’s 10 commandments... I mean, it’s literally addressed here:

10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

N-Not that anyone is obligated to stick to them, and it’s more of a guideline than a rule and good stories can break them or skirt around them (I do enjoy how Chapter 1 played with the “The detective himself must not commit the crime.” rule because while Kaede was technically acting as the reader stand-in/’detective’, we in fact had an actual detective... damn, maybe that should have been our first hint), but there’s a reason these are held in somewhat high regard. 8′D

I mean, even Shuichi is saying it - this is the first time he’s heard of Kaede having a twin. And yeah, we didn’t know about Junko and Mukuro being twins, but we did get hints of something being off (not looking like the magazines, Mukuro deflecting by saying it was just photoshopped, the 16th empty chair) early on.... and I can’t think of anything like that here. Like, at all. I’m going to continue these thoughts at the end, I think ~

“He has no understanding about structural integrity. His general interests include stand-up comedy and being a pop star, or in the care-giving field. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the slightest clue about architecture and the importance of load-bearing walls and beams.”

“.....”

“.... Look, I’ve spent a decent amount of my free time with him okay???”

oh right that too

I’M SO EXCITED WE’RE FINALLY GOING THERE!!!

“I’ve got tons of evidence to hide!”

“Wait, what was that?”

“I can’t wait to see the inside!”

because she hates herself

Again I want to reiterate how happy I am that Maki chose to be the one to look through Kokichi’s things. It’s both a sign of distrust and trust - she believes Kokichi hid a lot from everyone, and also that he may have left more clues to help them. He would be proud. 8′) It’s small, but I’d like to think of it as a way to pay penance; I’m sure she hates doing it.

DOG TAG! DOG TAG! DOG TAG! or something else maybe

WHY ARE YOU SO FAR AWAY FROM EVERYONE ELSE TSUMUGI WHY ARE YOU IN SUCH A STRANGE LOCATION WHAT THOUGHT PROCESSES BROUGHT YOU HERE

I’d be more worried about Himiko than Maki.

.... So...... I said I’d continue that thought from earlier. Here it is.

To recap what we learned:

Kaito had a hidden room in his lab that he presumably didn’t know about

Tsumugi found it by ‘accident’

Entering the room triggered the flashback light, which showed everyone met here for the first time

In the room is the participant list that says Kaede has a twin which just so happens to line up with Junko’s situation

Anyway, tl;dr: I don’t believe Kaede has a twin.

The last room we went to ended with Shuichi thinking, “what is the truth and what are lies?” so I’m building off of that and my previous theory about Tsumugi not finding this place by accident and purposefully bringing Shuichi here to trigger that flashback. I’m not 100% sure why - maybe to bring Kaede back into focus, only to gut-punch him with the ‘twin sister’ bomb? Maybe this will be the start of her creating a ‘new truth’? Possibly? It would very much match the theme of the game. But anyway, the point is I just don’t believe Tsumugi ~stumbled~ across the room and just so happened to find this participant list/profiles that immediately makes Kaede look suspicious when we hadn’t had a single hint of that the entire game.

I.... wonder. If Tsumugi... is the mastermind.... is she trying to set up Kaede as the mastermind? Or this (probably fictional) ‘twin sister’ of hers? I guess there are ways to swing that too to relate to why Kaede killed Rantaro in Chapter 1 - “she was trying to protect her twin sister, the real mastermind, so she killed Rantaro who was drawing too close to the truth” or something.

[lynfantasy]

Lotor?

(For this character ask challenge)OOF. Alright, prepare yourself for salt, because I absolutely love this character no matter what, and that is precisely why I am very mad at the official crew about him. (Though I swear this isn’t ALL salt.)

The last time I did this ask challenge, I answered these questions for Lotor here, but that was before season 5 even came out. Now…

(Putting this under a read-more because this is LONG – there’s two long playlists under the “song” section, and I added a ton of screenshots at the end.)

Favorite thing about them: I loved how complex and out-of-the-ordinary he was. He wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t a villain, and he wasn’t even a traditional antihero. He wasn’t good, but he was altruistic; he wasn’t bad, but he was willing to do things that no one else would. He was neutral, and he didn’t need to be redeemed into goodness. He certainly didn’t seem to have any reason to fall or rise – he already knew what he wanted and how he was going to get it, and both his motives and means were shockingly pure.And then…Least favorite thing about them: Season 6 just completely ruined him. That colony thing?? I’ve vented to many friends about this, and there’s a post I have half-written that I might put up sometime, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. The creators of the show said that they wanted him to be a morally gray character, but then they had had him commit a truly evil act? And he doesn’t even seem repentant for it? I just can’t forgive them for doing this to him. This wasn’t some “cool plot twist.” I’m not sitting here, thinking, “Wow, I really fell for that, didn’t I?” I don’t feel like Lotor betrayed me. I feel like the writers betrayed him and did him a disservice.Favorite line: “All I ask is that you judge me by my actions rather than your preconceptions of my race.” This line was just… wow.Also: “My father’s blood is not just in my veins. It’s also on my sword.” Damn.I also still very much love his opening speech in season 3, and a special shout-out goes to his speech in the beginning of season 6 until Sendak interrupted it.BrOTP: Mmmm, well, Team Sincline forever. In a better universe, they’re all still getting up to their own shenanigans together.I also still wish that Lotor and Keith had gotten a chance to bond. It could have been great.But let’s all take a moment to acknowledge what a great and supportive friendship Lotor and Shiro had in season 5. That was good. Good on you, (clone) Shiro.OTP: Lancelot. I can’t really explain why, but this is my favorite ship. In a close second place comes Polycline, the ship of Lotor and his generals all together in a romantic sense, which just warms my polyam-loving heart.As for what I would like to see in canon, well, I was pretty happy with Lotura, and I’m still holding out hope that they might have some dramatic redemptive reconciliation.NoTP: Eh, I don’t really do NoTPs. I can’t say I’m fond of Lotor/Throk, though.Random headcanon: I think Lotor’s ships are perfectly capable of making it through the Quantum Rift without being subjected to the time dilation effects. I also think that, on more than one occasion, Lotor has purposefully turned down the protection against time dilation because he can’t afford to take time off but he really needs a break, and what better way to accomplish that than to take a trip that will give him weeks or months to himself but will only cause him to miss about a week in regular time?Unpopular opinion:

FANWORK CONTENT CREATORS CAN STILL MAKE CONTENT WITH A SOFT CHARACTERIZATION FOR LOTOR. SHIPPERS CAN STILL SHIP LOTOR/PALADIN SHIPS. CANON SHOULD NEVER LIMIT CREATIVITY.

Song i associate with them: Hoo boy, I have not one but two playlists for him… Instead of linking a playlist, I’ll just list the songs for you all to find at your leisure, since everyone uses different music services (and honestly, I just pirate off of YouTube 99% of the time).

My “canon” playlist, in chronological order, is:

Natural by Imagine Dragons – I’m so glad this came out recently, because if there’s any singular theme song that fits Lotor in every canonical aspect, this is it.

Who We Are by Imagine Dragons – Team Sincline. Need I say more?

Best Day of My Life (minor key) by Chase Holfelder – If you only know this song in its major form, you might very well be wondering why it’s here, but Chase Holfelder’s minor key version has a very different tone to it, and I think it fits Lotor quite well for season 3.

Gold by Imagine Dragons – This works for his rise to power in season 3 and fall in season 4, as well as hinting at his eventual rise and fall again in 5 & 6 and that final snap at the end of 6. It could honestly go at the end, but I thought it fit best here, as the season 4 song.

Icarus by Bastille – I associate this song with both Keith and Lotor in seasons 3 & 4. Honestly, if you listen to the chorus, it sounds like them both at the end of season 4. Icarus (Lotor) is flying too close to the sun… Icarus (Keith) is flying towards an early grave.

Blame by Bastille – This isn’t a perfect fit, but it reminds me of Lotor’s pleading with the Paladins at the beginning of season 5 to not hand him over to Zarkon. Honestly, I sort of picture Lance as the one singing the scathing verses. There’s no room for you here.

I’m So Sorry by Imagine Dragons – This could also go anywhere, but I can picture this as a backdrop to Lotor’s final confrontation with Zarkon. It’s so scathing and sarcastic, except for the bridge. I imagine the bridge as being addressed to Lotor’s generals.

White Blank Page by Mumford and Sons – Canon Lotura. Just… just listen to it. It’s so tragic and fits them so well for season 6.

This Is Gospel -> Emperor’s New Clothes by Panic! At the Disco – Initially, I was going to put just Emperor’s New Clothes on here for Lotor’s breakdown in season 6, but I listened to these two back-to-back, and I thought that This is Gospel fits in a tragic way if you think of it as the sane part of Lotor’s mind trying to warn Allura, knowing that he cannot fight the corruption of Quintessence.

Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing by Set It Off – …I mean, in light of season 6, how could I not include this one. The bridge is basically a summary of that final confrontation.

Viva La Vida by Coldplay – Initially, I had this as a song for season 4, but I couldn’t leave this playlist on such a bitter note. I like to picture that Lotor will eventually come out of the Quintessence field and, alone and without resources, will have to hide out somewhere and rethink a lot of things, and this song is perfect for that.

I’ll Be Good by Jaymes Young – Following the thread of an eventual redemption from the previous song, I think this would suit a redeemed, post-s6 Lotor very well. It’s also simply a very bittersweet and beautiful song to end off on, and it stands in very strong contrast against Natural, the first song on the playlist.

My other playlist is for miscellaneous songs that don’t fit into the canon timeline and for ship songs. In no particular order:

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea by Fall Out Boy – This is such a Lotor song, but it technically doesn’t fit canon, since he did become emperor. However, I’ve got an AU story that this fits perfectly, and I think it suits a lot of other Lotor-centric AUs I’ve seen. Besides, thematically, it really does fit Lotor pre-s5.

Broken Crown by Mumford & Sons – The meaning of this song is ambiguous, but if you interpret the “crown” here as literal, it could suit Lotor pretty well, especially in an AU where he refuses to rule.

Therapy by All Time Low – I think this would fit a human AU best, but it could work for any version of Lotor who is introspective about his own flaws and problems.

Battlefield (Meet Me on the Battlefield) by SVRCINA – I’m a little iffy on this one, but someone else recommended it to me as a Lotor ship song, and I do think it could fit a few different Lotor ships quite nicely. The song is primarily about revolution and altruism, both of which fit Lotor, and the romantic aspects would work well for a Lotor/paladin ship.

I Walk the Line by Halsey & Walking the Wire by Imagine Dragons – These two songs work well as two sides of the same coin. I particularly imagine them for Lancelot. Lotor sings I Walk the Line, talking about the difficulty of maintaining a balance between his relationship and his loyalties in the war but declaring that he will be true to Lance above all, and Lance sings the far more optimistic Walking the Wire, saying that although this balancing act is difficult, they will come out on top, together. It could theoretically work for another Lotor ship, but Walking the Wire is such a Lance song that I really picture it for the two of them.

Hold Me Tight or Don’t by Fall Out Boy – Funny story, I pictured this as a Sheith song first, but then @noirsongbird recommended it to me as a Lancelot song, and… yeah, it fits. It also specifically fits one of her (very good!) fanfics, so that’s cool.

King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men – Technically, this could sort of work for any Lotor/paladin ship, but I think it would work better for Keitor, Shotor, or Lancelot. It was recommended to me by @noirsongbird as a Lancelot song, and I have to agree that it fits them very well.

I Don’t Know Why by Imagine Dragons – Again, this could work for multiple Lotor/paladin ships, but I picture it for Lancelot. It’s a great forbidden love song, so it would suit a secret romance across battle lines quite nicely.

So… yeah. A lot of music. Sorry? I’m sure this isn’t even everything, haha.

Favorite picture of them: Oh gosh, how could I choose…

Like… damn.

But also…

He’s so cute and pretty??

I mean, just look at him.

For favorite fanworks, I’ve got to put this one up, of course (and please follow this link to the post for it and give it a like!):

This was a gift to me for my very recent 20th birthday by my amazing friend @honestlyprettychill (thank you again babe)!!

There’s a lot of other really good Lotor fanart out there. Check out @itsnotdoneyet and @invidiaesc for some great stuff.

Annnnd that’s it! Sorry this took so long. I hope I answered the questions to everyone’s satisfaction! I have an ask for Keith that I’ll work on next, but I don’t have any after that yet, so please feel free to send in more!

[sherlolo-land]

Okay, we’d like to go over some of our favorite parts of this post. Now, we’re not here to tell you that you absolutely have to hate Mary with every fiber of your being, because that’s an opinion for each person to decide on their own. We are just here to talk about why some of the reasoning in this particular post is laughable.

1. Right off the bat, it compares Johnlockers to the obnoxious boy in the scenario raising his voice at someone who disagrees. Lmao. We know what you guys think of Johnlockers. We don’t need to waste time proving that the hate against us is both hypocritical and blown out of proportion. For more info, simply search this blog. It’s just funny how ya’ll can never make any arguments against us without resorting to ad hominem attacks at least once. Or in this case, from the very beginning.

2. Mary’s “unforgivable sins.” The examples you give of us searching for any reasons to demonize her are…. not the best. You picked examples that made it easiest for you to say “See, look how reaching your arguments are!” You basically said we think she’s evil because she playfully teases Sherlock, tries to keep her family safe, and doesn’t reveal her identity right away. I think you know that there are much better examples to argue that Mary is not a good person, but you intentionally didn’t use them. You went for the smallest points in our argument instead and presented it like it was the core of it. To me, this shows that even you see the weakness in your own argument. And regarding Mary’s abandonment, John himself thought it was incredibly selfish of her to run off instead of working things out with him. His words, originally, not ours.

3. Mary’s smile. Now its my turn to call the argument reaching. I’d say, claiming Mary was smiling just so Magnussen wouldn’t have another pressure point on her is one interpretation you could use if you were desperately trying to make her actions in these scene less detestable. If you love Mary and want to think this to make yourself feel better about her, go right ahead. Make it your fanon. But claiming that it’s a cold, hard fact? Nope, nice try. There’s nothing in that scene to suggest that that smile was only for Magnussen. That’s your personal headcanon, and there is a difference between that and canon.

4. “A large number of people claim they hated Mary before His Last Vow…However, if she was disliked before she actually deserved that, what does it say about those fans?” It’s not a crime to dislike a character. Johnlockers are held to this ridiculous standard of not being allowed to speak a single negative word about any character (esp. a woman). Why aren’t other fans held to the same standard? Why is it okay for Sherl0llians (and sometimes Adl0ckers too) to vehemently and openly hate John with everything in their soul? They are never accused of hating someone for getting in the way of their ship or being biased in their opinions. On the flip side, how come no one is making this same argument about ppl who loved Mary? There are people who loved her right from the start, and throughout everything afterwards (the assassin reveal, the shooting, the lying, the abandonment, the belittling, the selfishness…), she remained a saint in their eyes. How is this different from someone disliking Mary from the start and holding onto that opinion no matter what?

5. “Nothing an antagonist can do to be redeemed, it seems. I don’t want to say a female antagonist, but I am thinking that (Irene Adler, for instance, is still described as a villain.)” *claps for you* Omg what an original argument to make against the big, bad misogynistic Johnlockers! I’ve never ever heard that one before! … Shucks, and here I was thinking I was reading a well-written, organized post that for once didn’t resort to calling Johnlockers sexist for no reason. And about Irene, she may not have necessarily been a villain, but she was an antagonist. She was a force working against Sherlock throughout ASiB. She worked for Moriarty. She was a adversary for him. Does that make her a horrible, evil person? No. But don’t act like it’s a crime to call her what she is. An antagonist. And chances are, if someone uses the word “villain” instead of antagonist or adversary, it’s probably just a word preference. It’s not that deep fam.

6. “It’s best, I believe, to look at the facts and try to be objective.” Okay, then let’s look at all her crimes and despicable acts that you left out of your earlier arguments. Wait… but that would tear apart the point you’re trying to make.

7. Before she shot him, she clearly warned him not to come closer and expressed her remorse. Aka: It’s okay to shoot your friend (who is offering to help you) in the chest just because they bet on you having a conscience and decided to take a step closer to you. And afterwards, it’s best to express your remorse by threatening to shoot them again when you think no one is looking.

8. “Sherlock clearly forgave her and they remained friends” See here’s the thing. We were never actually shown this. We were shown Sherlock escaping dying at her hands a second time, then John making up with her with that ominous, carefully worded, possibly double-edged “The problems of your future are my privilege.” Then Sherlock shot Cam to keep John and Mary safe (yes, John too). Then we got TAB, where Sherlock solved the mystery of a bride who shot people and envisioned John’s marriage going downhill. It was sublte, but throughout all that, there was always the very plausible possibility that there was something more going on. After all, it would’ve made a much better story than Mary trying to kill her supposed friend twice and John forgiving her, despite that decision going against all his previous character development. So yeah, it’s not a surprise (nor the viewer’s fault) for scratching their head when TST aired and Sherlock and Mary were suddenly besties. Something else to understand here re: s4: The question isn’t whether or not he forgave her. They made that pretty obvious. The question we simply have is why?? It’s not a crime to wonder about this instead of just accepting whatever the writers give us, especially when it has no consistency or sense behind it.

9. “She’s been criticised for her sass in HLV, after the shooting, when she dared not to grovel at John’s feet, begging for his forgiveness.” Ask yourself, does her little quip in HLV make you see her as a funny, quirky badass? Why? Genuinely ask yourself why. Why shouldn’t she ask his forgiveness for trying to murder his best friend in cold blood, and apologize like any semi-decent human being would have done? Why is it so “uwu cute and badass” that all she had to say about the situation were some snarky sarcastic comments? See, this is an example of Mary being able to do literally anything, and still be worshipped for it. She’s a woman and can therefore literally commit murder and its uwu so cute. I don't understand how saying “omg wow she tried to kill her friend and DARED to not apologize for it, you go girl!” is helping your argument that she’s really not so bad of a person. (It does, however, help the argument that she would have made an incredible, very interesting, and entertaining villain, so thanks for that).  

10. “Regardless of Mary’s actions and her motivations, she was bound to be hated, simply because she was in a relationship with John.” *claps again* Ohmygod wow you are so smart, I have never heard anyone say that before. Jesus, can ya’ll simply make your argument for once without resorting to calling us sexist? Or insulting our intelligence by implying that we can’t tell the difference between someone getting in the way of our ship and someone being a despicable person who should not be worshipped and praised? And it’s  funny cause i double some of ya’ll would love and stan her so much if she wasn't in a relationship with John. You guys just love being able to use that excuse. You love that she blocks Johnlock and you love her for existing to do just that. If she was just a random side character who shows up in S3, makes some snarky comments, becomes friends with them, and then tries to kill Sherlock, I doubt you guys would still feel the same about her.

11. “But when people demonise her and twist her every word to make her look like the evilest woman on earth, I have to disagree.” / “Mary is not as evil as some people think.” Listen, I agree. I don’t think every single thing she does is horrible. People can often be unfair when talking about her. Both in defending everything she does, and villainizing everything she does. I get it. But hating Mary or interpreting her as a villain is not a fucking crime. There are numerous reasons to support this reading, as you said yourself. I personally don’t see any redeeming qualities in her that make her a character worth forgiving or liking. If you want to argue that she’s not so bad of a person, go right ahead. But seriously, if you’re going to try to justify your reasoning for doing so, try to come up with some better reasons, because these are weak. As I said before, I don’t think every single thing she does is horrible. But I do think that, objectively, the bad about her far outbalances the good. Just try making a simple good/bad list of her traits and actions, weigh them fairly against each other, and tell me what conclusion you come up with. It’s really not a surprising thing (nor a crime) to dislike Mary or see her as a bad character. It’s common sense. At least that’s how I see it. But I’m just a stupid Johnlocker who is only interested in seeing dicks touch. What do I know

[theajaheira]

2017 fic roundup

tagged by the incredible @catty-words!! which is a delight bc 1) cori is amazing and 2) i LOVE talking about my writing. so here goes

Total 2017 Word Count: 252,499 (.......that’s a lot wow) Total 2017 Hits: 7,515 Other 2017 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 653; Comment threads: 197; Bookmarks: 76; Subscriptions: 49.

Total 2016 Word Count: 61,766 (oh my GOD in COMPARISON i wrote. so much this year) Total 2016 Hits: 4,651 Other 2016 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 360; Comment threads: 55; Bookmarks: 38; Subscriptions: 15.

links and titles to 2017 works

i wrote. um. a lot. like a lot. didn’t realize how much until i had to compile an actual list and now it’s like....wow.

orpheus (4,721 words) that one time i wrote a giles/jenny orpheus & eurydice au. set during....s5-ish? i had fun with this

determination unmatched (1,576 words) set during school hard; ft. giles and jenny in the library and jenny panicking over her Commitment Issues.

the sunnydale high mortality rate (1,722 words) i’m PRETTY sure i wrote this in 2016 for jenny calendar day, but i posted it again as a standalone in january so. still counts sort of. jenny’s musings on life and death in sunnydale.

on gambles (5,577 words) a tara/faith au of the office; tara is a shy receptionist and faith is a flirty paper salesgirl.

bravery (50,445 words) IM GETTING NOSTALGIC because last time i did this fic roundup thing my goal for 2017 was to finish bravery??? and then i did??? and it was beautiful??? fjsfsdljk do i even need to summarize this fic; u all heard me talking about it at Some point or another....it’s a giles/jenny becoming au. i reread it recently and i feel like i’ve really improved since then, but it was a landmark fic for me and the first multi-chapter fic with a complex plot that i actually finished (and last lmao whoops). i love it still

first steps (5,740 words) the follow-up to bravery!! set during dead man’s party. kinda fluffy & pointless but it was still super fun to write

second chances (9,371 words) oh boy this fic is the only one from early 2017 that i’m still genuinely really proud of. set during s6; jenny comes back as a ghost, and only anya can see her.

impromptu vigil for the dead scooby mom (3,226 words) jenny dies in chosen instead of in passion, and giles copes.

missing (13,402 words) s3 jenny, from a world where giles died, forms an accidental supernatural connection with s3 giles.

conscious choices (6,708 words) MY CHEESY ROM-COM FIC. i love this one so much so much so much. told through emails, phone calls, and texts, giles and jenny fall in love (again, sort of) in s4 when jenny comes back into town.

mermaid magic (13,140 words) some anon sent me an ask once upon a time re: jenny as a mermaid and that ask spiraled into a lot of asks and then a tag on my blog and finally this fic. it was inevitable, really.

grand romantic gestures (10,558 words) this was without a doubt my secret masterpiece of 2017. femslash calendiles, set after passion. while attempting to cope with jenny’s death, gil stumbles across something surprising, and then things just start spiraling from there.

restraint (4,305 words) a prequel to on gambles, though they could be read in any order. faith attends the dundies and pines over tara (though she definitely doesn’t want to call it pining). also there is of course some jenny/giles content because i’m Me

forever (4,031 words) kind of still in progress?? various femslash oneshots (faith/tara, willow/buffy, and willow just being a lesbian in general)

irredeemable evil (5,919 words) jenny tries to get used to being a vampire. giles is desperately in love.

on heroes (6,054 words) look i GET that slayers have to be the one-girl-in-all-the-world thing but i hate the cpr scene with romantic undertones so like. i wrote this. with semi-gratuitous mostly-platonic jenny/giles because i’m Me.

fortune favors the bold (2,768 words) jackaby fic!!!! for my traumatized ghost girl and her mess of a paranormal detective boyfriend, who both very clearly have no idea how functioning relationships work, but they love each other so they muddle through. written before i read book 4 bc i was afraid jackaby and jenny wouldn’t get a canonical love declaration & kiss. everyone please read jackaby 4 me

loving parents (6,259 words) am i ever going to finish this? who knows? giles and jenny are expecting a baby in some alternate v happy s5. literally just scooby shenanigans and wish fulfillment.

closeness (1,532 words) my headcanon for giles and jenny’s first kiss!! soft and tentative.

friends with extras (788 words) leverage; sophie/nate and pillow talk. not my best work and i don’t think i really Got their dynamic, but i think someday i might return to write fic for them? maybe? canon gave me so much already so i don’t really feel the need. 

many kinds of magic (2,394 words) my favorite thing about this fic is the fact that i felt 0 need to explain why jenny was alive. she’s just There. willow and tara fall in love, aided gently by jenny. except not really bc lbr willow and tara need NO help to fall in love, so jenny just listens and offers advice.

imperfections (76,843 words) someday i really will come back to this. maybe. hopefully. i wrote it while i was sorting through Sad Feelings and i don’t......have.....those feelings anymore, which is Excellent for me but kinda bad for this fic. anyway. faith and jenny form a friendship in s3 (or: a braveryverse rewrite of season 3 where jenny is alive).

pint-size potential (7,212 words) the first fic in what will hopefully be a series of short fics!! giles is charged with the care of baby buffy summers, a potential who isn’t likely to become a slayer (according to the council).

adapting (3,327 words) sequel to pint-size potential! giles adjusts to his life in sunnydale; buffy throws things and gets excited about animals

inevitability (4,881 words) post-chosen faith/buffy; soft and hesitant and frightened but both of them are still determined to try.

Favorite Fic: DEFINITELY grand romantic gestures. like i love all these fics (and i feel like the calendiles day fics were some of my best. jenny as a sarcastic smitten mermaid??? giles and jenny passive-aggressively emailing?? jenny and buffy forming a tentative friendship over the fact that they both loved giles???) but grand romantic gestures was swoony and gorgeous and sapphic and incredibly romantic. i’m so so proud of it and i want it to get Lots of attention but it. does not. so like...please go read & review

Hardest Fic: definitely missing, because i was writing it under time constraints and i felt like it wasn’t good enough the whole time. but it surprised me by turning out to be really nice!! i went back and reread it and. solid work celia.

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2018? oh totally!! i don’t know if i’ll Complete them but i’m definitely down to take them.

What was the best thing about 2017? wow this is hard. this is hard and i really like that this is hard. the best thing about 2017 is 100% that i cannot decide what the best thing about 2017 is. i have a lot of options and a lot of friends and a lot of happy things that i did not have last year. i feel very good about that.

What was the worst thing about 2017? that i didn’t Actually meet robia. but there were so many good things that balanced it out!!

Any last thoughts for 2017? i’ve been saying for a while that 2017 felt like a stepping-stone year towards something better for me, but i think it was actually a damn good year as a whole. i think i need to stop thinking of things as a journey towards happiness and start just...enjoying whatever journey i’m on.

Goals for 2017

FINISH THE TOP-SECRET DETECTIVE AU and find a title and start posting it!! it’s intricate and gorgeous and i can't wait to show it to u all

write more femslash!!!!

stop telling myself i’m not writing enough. i was telling myself that all this year aND I WROTE OVER 250,000 words SO CLEARLY I AM DOING PRETTY DAMN WELL WHEN I’M NOT EVEN TRYING

tagging @regenderate and um i’m not sure if i can think of other people that cori didn’t tag?? i love my small corner of the buffy fandom but it’s. difficult 4 tagging people. so like if u see this ur tagged congrats