#please send salt i do not want to waste time rewatching it

[constantvariations]

There was this series I read when I was a kid called Unwind where parents could sign their kids up to be harvested for organs and limbs to use as transplants. I don't remember a whole lot of the story but the bit that stuck with me the most was the ending:

The main character lost his arm and, while he was unconscious, was given an arm from an Unwound, who happened to be a personal antagonist with a shark tattoo. His girlfriend was paralyzed by the same incident (an explosion, I think) was conscious when rescued, and declined to have any transplants because it would mean benefiting from the very system that they'd been trying to destroy

Penny being made human reminds me of this. She wasn't capable of giving input to having her entire body irreversibly modified, nor did anyone even bother to ask if this is what she would've wanted. They went with what they thought was best for her without really thinking of her

[fencesandfrogs]

hi my name is matthew and i have some thoughts about haes

okay disclaimers: i’m a little jumpy around the subject so while i don’t feel i’m being unnecessarily harsh/unfair, if ur firm on haes w no yielding, and you don’t want to argue about it? either skip this or don’t respond. i don’t really care. but i’m putting the body under a read more.

[3k words, 10 minute read. sections headers, some text italicized for emphasis/some readibility. no images/videos, a few links.]

second disclaimer: i’m not planning on going heavy on sources. i will happily provide sources to people who want them, and i haven’t written the actual post yet but it’s unlike me not to cite anything, but doing an in depth well researched and sourced post on this type of subject is not something i’m up for right now.

like i said, i’m jumpy around this subject. and on the off chance someone decides this post is Bad and i must be banished to the Bad Blogs Bin, i’d rather not put a lot of work into it.

third disclaimer: i’m not particularly interested in reading X study that says actually no people who way 700 pounds are healthy and people who weigh less than 200 are going to die early deaths. i know that’s a straw man i needed to a) get it out of the way now and b) i just am tired all the time and don’t have a ton of itme for it. that said, if you do send one to me, i will probably read it at some point, and i may or may not provide my thoughts.

right then. moving on.

with no more waffling, my thesis is as follows: weight stigma is bad, however obesity is killing people and i really would like people to stop pretending it doesn’t.

i. really hate that that’s a controversial opinion. i mean i hold a decent number of somewhat controversial opinions, most of which i keep to myself because i’m a firm believer that what i think about something should not interfere with how other people live their lives. as a noncontroversial example, i think mormons are in a cult. children, being minors, being indoctrinated is a problem, one i myself am not dedicated to solving because i have other issues but as far as adults involved, that’s their business.

(*please note that i’m not expanding on my thoughts because this post is about haes but i do have a more complicated opinion i’m just trying to demonstrate something please don’t at me about cults i know that they’re bad and adults in them also need help getting out that’s not the point of this post & i’m anxious enough so like, please.)

anyway so. obesity. is bad. it is bad for your health. if you are obese, you are not healthy. that said, i am not going to tell you to lose weight. no one should tell you to lose weight except for your doctor and maybe your immediate family, and that should be from a place of “you are not living your best life and i care about you.” i, an internet stranger, along with pretty much everyone you know, does not get to tell you about how terrible your life is and what a horrible person you are for existing, because you are not a bad person for being overweight. you do not deserve discrimination or mistreatment. even if you’re not actively trying to lose weight. it doesn’t matter. you are a human being like any other and i will fight like hell for you.

i’m not planning on going heavy into eating disorders because a) that’s a triggering topic for me and b) it’s going to muddle the point i’m getting, but since it is a large part of the arguments re. haes, it’s certainly going to come up, so i’d like to list the officially recognized eating disorders.

Anorexia Nervosa (AN)

Bulimia Nervosa (BN)

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder (OSFED)

Pica

Rumination Disorder

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder (UFED)

Other (aka “we are considering making this its own category but for matthew’s purposes it fits into AFRID or UFED well enough because the details aren’t important”)

so yeah. we’ll circle back to this.

section one: haes

haes initially stood for heatlh at every size. that doesn’t really matter anymore because people say healthy at every size now, however, the distinction is important. because.

okay. when i say being obese makes you inherently unhealthy, i am not saying you are having health problems for being overweight. i am saying you have a chronic illness. i have asthma. that makes me inherently unhealthy. i don’t necessarily have an health problems because i am asthmatic, but i have a chronic illness and it certainly would, say, make me more likely to die from covid. that is a fact. saying healthy at every lung functionality would not change that.

but you know, i can still be active and like smell plants and interact in the world like anyone else. i just try to keep my inhaler near by.

so similarly, if you are overweight/obese (i’ve been saying only obese because its less letters so i’m sticking with that), you can, like, live ur best life and take care of your health. you can feel good about your body and eat good food and move and again, i really don’t want anyone reading this to feel that i think everyone who’s obese needs to lose that weight because adults can do whatever they want.

what i’m angry about is that a good thing (encouraging people to make good choices no matter what so they can feel good in their bodies) got turned into a bad thing (telling people they don’t need to change what they’re doing because they’re perfectly healthy).

section two: but what about...?

see my third disclaimer. but as a fast rundown of things i probably won’t talk about in detail later:

the obesity paradox is a specific thing about a specific type of illness in the elderly. it’s also not about obesity, it’s about being slightly overweight. it’s a complicated thing, but it’s not true most of the time

sumo wrestlers have major health problems as soon as they stop exercising like crazy.

did you know there are countries where girls are force fed to become overweight? diet culture goes both ways

if you want to say healthy at every size, you have to mean that every. that means you are not allowed to say shit about underweight people. i’m sorry, is someone you care about wasting away? are they 5′10 and weigh  90 pounds and their hair is falling out because they aren’t eating? i’m sorry, you said people are healthy at every size. you can’t make fun of skinny people. you have to suck it up because you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

section three: self care

a hypothetical that is blindingly obvious to where i’m going: if a small child wants to play with a knife, are you caring for them by giving into it? what if they want to drink some vodka? what if they want to run away from home to live with a stranger in a white van?

i really really hope all those answers are “no, you’re neglecting that child, and also possibly actively harming it.”

so my point is pretty obvious: giving yourself something because you want it does not mean you are caring for yourself.

you know what i want  to do all the time? sleep and rewatch twilight every day. but that makes me feel worse. so even though it’s terrible and i hate it, i have to take care of myself (because there is only one of me that i ever get) and go outside and talk to people and eat something that isn’t popcorn because you need protein to live.

(sorry i tried to keep nutrition out of that but i have to actively seek out sufficient salt and protein due to my campus doing a lot of low sodium food, which is bad when u actually need to eat a good amount of salt to keep ur body working, and also i’m vegetarian. so i’m constantly making myself seek it out.)

that doesn’t mean self care is always supposed to be work, but i mean. i’ve always not really gotten into it. i think because i’m hella depressed and i’ve been depressed long enough i can recognize it as this separate entity when it comes to a lot of the mental stuff. like, why do i feel like everything is meaningless? that’s just the depression.

but i digress, this isn’t about me. [proceeds to talk about me again]

one phrase i like a lot for myself is “bad food makes me feel bad.” now, i’m not a fan of putting moral judgements to food. but this works for me, personally. sure, eating a bunch of ice cream right now is good, but it’s going to suck when my stomach flips the fuck out because of all the sugar. and so it seems quite obvious to me that eating that ice cream is not, in fact, caring for my body.

and i think we’d collectively be a bit better served if we could learn to distinguish between self-care and self-kindness. ask anyone who does caregiving (childcare, nurses, etc): it is hard, often thankless (at least for children they’re devils who don’t realize that their toys will get wrecked if they don’t pick them up) work. you care for them not by doing what they want, but what is best for them.

section four: diet culture

as i’ve already played my hand up above with underweight vs haes, i think it’s kind of obvious that i have strong feelings about underweight not being healthy also. so i just want to take stock of what is and isn’t diet culture, and what i think about it. this is probably the most subjective part of this essay.

things i think are diet culture

people trying ridiculous diets. obviously diet culture in the purest sense. it’s real dumb. you need all the food groups to live. sometimes it’s okay, like cutting out sugar, but i’d say its a net negative

not trying to do lifestyle changes. that’s the sustainable way to lose weight. so. yeah.

weight cycling. actually still up for debate if this is bad. this paper says no, along with a lot of others, but i’m not sitting down and reading through all of them, and all of the ones that say its bad, to offer my opinion. i’m leaning towards “it’s better than nothing,” but we’ll see

a lot of other stuff i’m doing this off the top of my head and trying to avoid issues w eating disorders so.

things i think aren’t diet culture

women being pressured to look a certain way. that’s been going on for a long time. being skinny used to be bad. it’s a fact of the patriarchy.

most things? idk i have this impression that like, anyone exercising or eating healthy is a part of diet culture, when in reality, people just have different lifestyles. (also, again, if you’re going with haes, as in HealthyAES (hyaes?) you can’t call it unhealthy or you’re not respecting that damn E)

in conclusion: diet culture has issues, but the correct response to them is not “fuck you, i’m eating fourteen pounds of sugar.” eat fourteen pounds of sugar because you want to. (also it should be fat because if you really want to stick it to the man you should be eating fat, big sugar is responsible for a huge amount of todays dietary problems, both on the under/overweight side)

section five: discrimination

yeah no fuck people who discriminate about fat people. that’s all i’m just moving along to a transition since i was drifting away from my point about health.

section six: weight stigma

...is not responsible for your health issues. being obese is. accept the consequences of your lifestyle.

well. okay. that’s a little unfair. accept the consequences of not treating your chronic illness. and i feel i’ve probably lost people for calling obesity an illness but that’s the whole point of my post.

just like carrying externally heavy objects hurts your joints, so does carrying a lot of weight inside. fat does not cushion your organs, it kills them. getting rid of weight stigma will not make these issues go away.

the treatment for obesity is eating the number of calories you need to sustain a healthy weight at your current exercise levels. (*please consult with your doctor this is more complicated when you have to lose a lot of weight.)

section seven: cico. or, why your metabolism is fine

your body does not break the laws of thermodynamics. it cannot magically create more energy out of a given amount of calories.

there are issues with calorie counting, yes. i think it’s usually done in an unsustainable way that isn’t teaching people to make decisions, just to do math. it can be hard to get an accurate count.

but you are not a miracle of science. you have not discovered how to create and destroy energy. i’m sorry to be the one to break if to you.

if you don’t believe me, if you’re really sure your metabolism is different, go on and get it tested. tell your doctors. because it’s a major problem if it’s not working right.

similarly, i’m sorry, but if someone is the same height as you and a (very, like, +- 50 pounds) different weight, and neither of you have exisitng health conditions, you are not eating the same things/doing the same exercise. you have not broken the laws of physics.

possibly, one of you have untreated celiacs or something of the ilk meaning your body is actually malfunctioning. but if that’s true, i excluded you already, so shoo. get out of here and play in the sun with the other kids.

if you don’t believe this, there’s not much i can do to convince you. but i encourage you to count your calories for a month. find some tdee calculators. weigh yourself. make sure you count everything, it all goes down. check the math. (you can do any amount of time but a month is what you need for weight to be meaningful imo otherwise you’re just proving weight fluctuates a lot).

section eight: cico. or, why counting calories is not disordered eating

it can sure be a symptom of disordered eating, and it can certainly make disordered eating worse, but it isn’t an eating disorder.

also, assuming you’re not trying to verify the laws of thermodynamics, i don’t think counting every calorie is necessary. i have approximate values (500/meal, and around 300 in snacks), which i try not to go over or under.

yeah. i actually use calorie counting to make sure i’m eating enough in one sitting. some of my medication screws with my apetite and then i only eat like 300 calories and suddenly its like 11 and i need to go to bed but i’m hungry but eating before bed makes me feel terrible and it sucks.

but hey, according to some people, avoiding that is unhealthy.

okay i’m moving on before i get salty because the next section is touchy

section nine: eating disorders.

the three main eating disorders are listed way up there. they’re the first three. AN, BN, BED.

oh, yeah, binge eating? that’s actually disordered eating too. it’s not normal.

i’m not going to elaborate on the point because i absolutely know i can’t do it without getting really fucking angry that people call calorie counting disordered eating, like i haven’t watched a fifth grader eat one meal a day because she’s scared she’s overweight. like i haven’t watched a sixth grader cram food into his mouth until he’s sick because he’s worried he’s not bulky enough for sports. like i haven’t watched an eleventh grader tell me he hasn’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday, but it’s fine, he doesn’t want his mac and cheese anyway, since he needs to lose weight.

you think someone keeping track of some numbers is an eating disorder? then either you’re lucky enough to never have to deal with eating disorders on a personal level, and i’m very happy for you, or you have, and you should maybe reevaluate that.

alright i’m cutting myself off now whoop.

section ten: intuitive eating

you know, much like haes, i want to like this. it fits in with my bad-food-makes-me-feel-bad mentality. i’m angry and tired and hungry because i ate like, a late breakfast/early lunch and now i need to eat again because if i don’t eat every six to eight hours i have a medical condition that makes me feel like shit (an aside: unless you’ve been told by a doctor, you don’t need to eat every 2-3 hours. unless you’re a child or have an applicable medical condition, you can probably eat one meal a day and be firne.)

but much like haes, it now has a meaning i can’t in good consience endorse. i can’t stand for a movement that tells people who acknowledge weight makes their joints hurt that they just need to keep eating until they feel better.

section eleven: conclusion

i have a lot more thoughts but again i’m hungry. i meant to talk more about IE and my problems with it but maybe that will be its own post.

i won’t say i’m happy to talk about this because i can’t promise i am (see: eating disorder issues.), but i will most likely respond to constructive discussion if someone sees this and wants to. i can also provide sources. i hate going, “sources available on request” but i tried to provide some stuff for some of the heavily disputed/i already had a source for it and didn’t have to dig through google scholar to find information that’s been peer reviewed.

and i do sincerely wish everyone, at any size, that they fracture the disconnect between them and their bodies (oop didn’t talk about that either another time then) & that they find peace with who they are, and that they get to live happy & fulfilling lives.

[gotmilk5101520]

Miraculous Ladybug Rewatch Episode 75 Felix

What’s up with the rings?

What’s up with the rings?

Look at this boy.

“It's been one year”

“The longer you keep him in the dark about what you're doing, the harder it'll be on him when he finds out”

“Little kitty on a roof”

“all alone without his lady”

“There is something important I have to talk to you about” “What that you’re Hawkmoth? Just kidding“ “If I'm Hawkmoth, then you’re Chat Noir”

“I think about telling you every day, but I don't know how to find the right words”

“I think I already know, father”

“But, how?”

“I've noticed how close you and Nathalie have become”

“So can Nathalie be my new mom?“

“How could you possibly think such a thing?!”

“Get your mind out of your dumb ships that will never happen!“

Look at him.

“It's been a year today since Mom... went away forever” *Cries in French*

“Hey can i” “No Kagami, you can’t kill Chloe or Lila”

“Mom...?” *Cries in French again*

“Here i stand! In the light of day!” “Don’t sing a Frozen song we’ll get sued!”

And then, this asshole shows up.

“Oh! How sweet! You're still wearing your wedding band!”

“You must have Emilie's too, I imagine? You never replied to my message about that. I'd still like to get the rings back, you know”

“These rings are obviously very special to me”

“And they're very dear to me too, Gabriel. Those jewels have always been in the Graham de Vanily family, not the Agreste's”

What’s up with the rings?

“Adrien... I love you. I'll always be there if you need me” *Cries in Adrienette*

Mood.

“I'm really sorry I didn't come to your dad's funeral“

“My father thought it would be too hard on me, considering... everything that's happened this year. You've every right to be mad at me”

You always do everything your father tells you to do?

“You still keep doing what other people want you to do”

Fucking asshole.

“Listen, Plagg. Felix lost his dad not so long ago, he's probably not himself”

“I'm sorry, but there's just no excuse! You never touch my cheese, and yet, you just lost your mother not so long ago, right?”

“Please forgive me, Adrien, I didn't mean to” *More Cries in French*

“Hey, my dude! I'm not quite sure what to tell you, except that, you're my man, dude! And bros are always there for their guys!”

“Bros are always there- blah, blah, blah! Moron”

“Unicorns have a saying: even when there's nothing but gray skies and rain, all it takes is one little sunbeam for a rainbow to appear!”

“Loser”

“It's one hundred percent proven, you should feel fifty-two percent happier with a healthy dose of laughter. So Markov has uploaded a few jokes for you! Starting with-”

“Freak”

“When my mother left for New York, I felt so sad. It felt like she was...”

“She came back, and I know how lucky I am. So, you can count on me, my Adrikins”

“Chloe. Just as annoying as usual”

“Adrien... I love you. I'll always be there if you need me”

“Pathetic”

Here he is the biggest douche of the universe. In all the galaxies there’s no bigger douche than you. You’ve reached the top the pinnacles of douchedom. Good going douche, your dreams have come true.

“Oh no! I don't wanna know!”

“Yes, I do wanna know!”

“No, I don't!” Mood.

“What if he tells me that he loves me?”

“Or that he doesn't love me?”

“Or that he likes me, but not in that way -”

“Ah!”

“Luka? When did you get here?” “I was here the entire time” “Shit”

“You know, I'll be really happy for you and Adrien if it works out”

“And if it doesn't...”

“I'll be here for you”

“Thanks, Luka” *Screams in Lukanette*

“First of all, thanks so much for all your messages, guys, really“

“Sending me messages on today of all days to remind me how sad I'm supposed to be feeling? Why, that's great! Really! Thanks a lot”

“There's something wrong“

“My father was right. What could I possibly get of going to school? Hanging out with you people is a total waste of time!”

“And Chloe, you're still the same spoiled brat you ever were, you know that?”

“That's not him. Impossible! There's no way that's Adrien!” “What makes you think that?“ “The real Adrien never calls Chloe a bitch! Everyone calls her that, even you, except Adrien!”

“She does have a point”

“Sorry, sir. Lila Rossi just sent this to us. It's a message from Adrien's phone” “Wait a minute. Who gave her our numbers?“

“...to remind me how sad I'm supposed to be feeling? Why, that's great! Really! Thanks a lot!” “I don’t get it. What’s the problem?“ “Sir, isn’t Adrien’s behavior a little strange?“ “What are you talking about Nathalie? He seems perfectly normal!” “Need i remind you of Felix?” “What does Felix have to-”

“I won't be fooled a second time” “3 2 1″ “Felix!”

“Hey guys, i agree with Marinette. I don’t think that’s Adrie- I’ll go back to my room and play the guitar”

Some-

BODY ONCE TOLD ME!

“Dear god did i just walked in on The Parent Trap remake?”

“It's time for your punishment, you naughty - Oh!”

“Boys?” “Adrien has a twin brother?“ “Did we just walked in on The Parent Trap remake?” “I was wondering the same thing“

“One of you two guys tried to make Adrien look like a monster” Sounds like they found Adrien Salt.

“It was him! He's Felix! My cousin!”

“The real Adrien never passes an opportunity to die!” “You girls know me so well”

“What do you think?”

“I do not laugh like that”

Being Mayura really pays off.

“Adrien?”

“But...” They're so confused, but you can see a slight regret in their eyes.

“It's time for punishment, naughty boy”

“Be careful what you wish for, naughty girls” We are watching a kids show, right?

Noodle boy.

“You'll be safe here”

“Ladybug! Wait”

“I... I've always been in love with you, you know”

“Huh? I... Really?”

“If only you would... let me”

“Give you some courage before you go”

“Uh, wait, what?”

“No!’

“Okay, which part of the word no, did you not understand?!?“

No means no. Always remember.

“Gross! You're not Adrien, he would never be so pushy. Not even Chat Noir is like that”

“Felix, smash it in half, and this nightmare will be over!”

“What makes you think I want it to be over?”

“Hawkmoth! Can you hear me, Hawkmoth? You want Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous, don't you?”

“And what do you want?”

“I'm after a piece of jewelry, too. How about we make a little exchange?”

“Get hold of the Miraculous first”

“We'll discuss the rest later”

“You've got yourself a deal. Now I think it's high time Ladybug and Chat Noir were punished” What?! What the fuck?!

“What the hell Alya?!” “What Rose?” “I’m suppose to be on Juleka’s lap! Much better”

“Hey guys”

“I never got your messages”

“but I'm really touched”

“just knowing you were thinking of me today”

“You're the best friends anyone could ever dream of”

“I love you, all of you”

“Keep it. It's yours now”

“But... you wanted it so much”

“Only to give it to you. You've always been so fascinated by them. How many times have you asked me to tell you the story of the Graham de Vanily twin rings, huh?”

“I'm glad it's back in the family where it truly belongs”

What’s up with the rings?

What’s up with the rings?

Who framed me?

[anarcoqueer1994]

Request: TJ and Cyrus find out bench swings exist

So this was a cute idea. I am so sorry ahead of time for grammar mistakes bc me and sleep aren't on the same page.

One Year Together

TJ paced his room anxiously, while Marty and Jonah sat on his bed, listening to the taller boy ramble. "It has to be perfect, you know? Like this is a big deal. As of this Saturday…"

Marty cuts him off "As of this Saturday, you and Cyrus have been together for a whole year. Dude, we know. You have told us at least 100 times. Plus you forget, Buffy and I share the same anniversary so I definitely know how important Saturday is."

"Sorry, I know I keep talking about it, I just want him to have the best time."

"Teej" Jonah speaks up, "Literally Cyrus loves everything you do. I don't think you should worry so much about it."

"Easier said than done. What if my plan doesn't work out? I want it to be sickeningly sweet and romantic." TJ flops down on the chair near his bed. He gets this day-dreamy look on his face. "Can you imagine? We grab lunch at The Spoon, and then I surprise him with tickets to that traveling dinosaur exhibit that is coming this weekend. It's going to have these lifelike models of dinosaur robots who's heads move and stuff placed around the entire thing.We would walk around it together and I would listen to him talk about each one in such detail. God he is so smart." TJ gushes before continuing on. "After a while I would pull out a homemade chocolate chocolate chip muffin and give it to him. Then when we leave, I would take him to the park and we could swing together. And then just as the sun starts to set, I would say it. I will tell Cyrus I love him."

By this point, both of his friends are giving TJ weird looks. Jonah subconsciously rolls his eyes. He still doesn't get the point of all this romance stuff. 

Marty asks "Since when is TJ Kippen  a planner? Aren't you more of a wing it and see what happens kind of guy?" 

"I mean usually but I don't know, man. I just want to do this right for Cyrus."

"Just relax okay? Whatever is meant to happen will happen. "

"Is that right?" TJ asks sarcastically "So are you telling  me you have nothing special planned for Saturday with Buffy?"

"I didn't say that. We are actually going to rewatch White Fang and order take out. So yeah, I have plans but I am not stressed about them. I know Buffy likes me or we wouldn't still be together. Just like you should know that Cyrus likes you and he will probably love whatever you do."

TJ knows objectively that Marty is right. Cyrus cares about him. He shows him that everyday in the little things he does. Cyrus, since he has met him, has always been on his side. He has been the one to believe in him even when he hasn't believed in himself. But that is the exact reason this Saturday has to go right. Cyrus deserves it. Plus, he has never said I love you to him before but he does love him and he wants Cyrus to know.

So despite his friends' advice he keeps worrying. In fact he spends everyday until his anniversary worrying  and working out everything that could go wrong.

The night before the big day, TJ hardly sleeps. He is too excited? or maybe nervous? Maybe both. Anyhow he gets up really early. A little later  Amber finds him in front of his bedroom mirror trying to style his hair just right.

"You know he likes your hair better when you don't put all that gel in." Amber replies from the doorway.

"How do you know? He has never said that to me." TJ says defensively.

"No but Andi told me that he literally spent 20 minutes raving about "how cute your hair was when it was super fluffy" in their group chat. "

"Crap. Really?" TJ says panicking.

"Yea but don't worry. I'll help you out."

Twenty minutes later they have the extra gel rinsed out of his hair and Amber is helping him pick out the perfect outfit. They go with a teal shirt and a nice pair of jeans. Not too dressy, but he still looked nice. When they are finally satisfied by how he looks, Amber gives him a big hug.

"What was that for?" He asks when she pulls away.

"I just want you to know it is going to be okay. " She smiles at her little brother. "Cyrus is going to like whatever you do."

"Everyone keeps saying that but what if he doesn't. What if because of some horrible twist of fate, tonight he realizes that I am not good enough for him?"

"That is not going to happen. Now, go. You told Cyrus you would he at his house 5 minutes ago."  

TJ glances at the time on his phone. "Shoot!" he practically runs out the door while sending Cyrus a text.

-Be right there, I'm so sorry.-

Not too long after, he arrives at Cyrus' front door. He nervously knocks on the door. He tries to remind himself to breathe but somehow even after a year of dating, Cyrus had this effect on him. He blushes at the thought. 

When Cyrus answers the door, he gives TJ one of the biggest smiles he has ever seen. Cyrus steps out onto the porch. "Hey Cy," he chokes out. "Happy Anniversary." He steps closer to the other boy, resting his arms on his waist, while Cyrus responded by placing his arms over either one of TJ's shoulders.

In a soft voice the brunette responds "Happy Anniversary...Thelonious."

TJ throws his head back in feigned annoyance. "Oh way to kill the mood."

Cyrus pouts playfully. "I guess we'll just have to call this whole date off."

"I mean I am already here, we might as well still go, but only because I don't want to waste these tickets." He takes one of his hands and digs through his pocket before pulling out tickets to the dinosaur exhibit. 

When he sees Cyrus' eyes light up, he can't  help but smile at him like a dope. God he was whipped.

"Really TJ?! We are going? I thought tickets sold out months ago!"

"They did but I was one of the first people to order. I've been planning this for a while."

"You are so sweet…oh that reminds me." He pulls free from TJ and runs back into the house. He returns moments later with a small box wrapped in shiny blue paper. "For you."

TJ takes the box and delicately unwraps it. Cyrus obviously put a lot of time into wrapping it. He pulls off the lid to find a small note that says "Thank you for being the "somer" to my "sault." Around the words are little doodles of a smiling sun and a salt shaker. Under the note it a bracelet that looks handmade. It is simple, it just uses the little plastic beads. Some are white with letters on it. They spell out "Not so scary basketball guy." Surrounding the letter beads are other beads in a simple rainbow pattern. 

Cyrus shifts awkwardly watches TJ opening the gift. "You don't have to wear it. I know it is kind of lame."

"Are you kidding me? This is a great bracelet. I love this bracelet." TJ says truthfully before sliding it on. 

"Really?" Cyrus says nervously. 

"Really." TJ affirms before pulling Cyrus in for a hug. "I really love y...the bracelet."

Thankfully Cyrus doesn't seem to have noticed his almost slip up.

************

Before long, the two boys are off, making their way to the diner before heading to see the dinosaurs. The boys go in and sit in a little booth in the corner. The waitress comes and to take their order. Knowing what his boyfriend wants, TJ orders.

"Two orders of babytaters and a strawberry milkshake with a strawberry milkshake with two straws please."

The waitress smiles "Sorry hun deep  our fryers down for cleaning, and milkshake maker isn't working. We are having a guy look at it this afternoon. Can I get you guys something else?"

TJ looks at Cyrus. Cyrus says "Just a coke and a piece of pie then."

"I'll take the same." TJ is a little annoyed as the waitress walks off. He wanted this to go perfect and that included getting Cyrus' favorite meal. Cyrus sees the look on TJ's face.

"Is everything okay, Teej?" 

"Yea, I just feel bad that you couldn't get the food you wanted."

"Eh so what? I'm still on a date with the cutest guy in town."

TJ blushes "Thanks, Underdog." What he doesn't say out loud is that he could say the same thing.

After they eat their food, they make their way to the dinosaur exhibit. As they walk up to the building, they see a lot of people leaving. There are a couple fire trucks outside. TJ looks around confused. He stops a woman heading to her car. "Hey can you tell me what's going on?"

"One of the dinosaurs short circuited and caught fire. It set off the sprinklers, which damaged some more of the exhibit. They are evacuating everyone."

TJ's face drops. He thanks the woman for her help and turns to Cyrus. "I am so sorry about the exhibit."

"It is okay! You couldn't have possibly known this word happen." TJ still look sa so sad so Cyrus tries to give him his brightest smile. "TJ, I promise it is okay!"

TJ gives a small smile in return. "I guess we can still go to the park."

"Yeah, the park sounds great." 

So they walk hand in hand over to the park. As they walk though, something hits TJ. Right now would be the time to give Cyrus the homemade chocolate chocolate chip muffin he worked so hard on yesterday. Except in his rush to leave early, he forgot it on the kitchen counter. He tries to hide more disappointment from his face.

What happens next though, causes him to snap. When they walk up to the park, the entrance is closed. The ground around it looks flooded and there are some workers trying to figure some stuff out. You see, it had been a weird winter. The temperatures kept changing between freezing and just slightly chilli all season. That meant that the water kept rapidly freezing and melting again, leading to a water pipe bursting. The foreman says in passing "Sorry kids, the park is closed until we can get this cleaned up."

With that, TJ threw his hands into the air and turned and walked away. Cyrus went after him.

"TJ wait, don't go!" He calls out

Of course TJ couldn't just ignore him so he freezes in his spot. Cyrus walks up around him only to see frustrated tears forming in the jocks eyes.

He puts his hand on TJ's shoulder. "Teej is this over the park? I don't care if we can't swing, I just want to be with you."

"You keep saying that but this date was a disaster! I had it all planned out! But first I was late picking you up. Then the Spoon didn't have babytaters. And the dinosaur exhibit literally went up in flames. I forgot the stupid muffin at home, and finally we get to the park, the last sliver of hope for this date and we can't even go in. There isn't even a bench nearby for us to sit at.

Cyrus wraps his arm around TJ. TJ continues into Cyrus' shoulder. "I wanted it to be perfect for you. I wanted to do all the things that are our things. The swings, muffins, the Spoon together, maybe a bench. I just wanted us to be able to do that together."

Cyrus pulls back so he can look TJ in the face. "TJ I love all those things but they don't define us. I love them because they remind me of you. We give them meaning but not vice-versa. We would still be TJ and Cyrus without them. We make other things our things. Anything we want."

TJ doesn't  know how Cyrus does it but somehow he manages to make all the things that were bothering him melt away.

TJ smiles at shorter boy and says "I have an idea." Without another word, he pulls the other boy down the street, with Cyrus happily letting it happen. They stop in front of a house a few streets over.

Cyrus scrunches his eyebrows together. "Is this Marty's house?" All the lights are off.

"Yea but don't worry. His parents are out of town this weekend and he is at Buffy's."

"TJ we are not breaking in there, are we?"

"No." TJ laughs. Of course not. We are just going on the porch."

"Why? What for?" Cyrus asks defensively.

"You'll see, just trust me." TJ smiles.

Cyrus, for his part, let's TJ lead him again, though this time a little more reluctantly.

When they climb the stairs and head to the corner of the long porch, TJ's eyes light up. Cyrus loves the way his green eyes sparkle when he is happy. Except he doesn't know why the boy is so happy, because TJ is just looking at a porch swing.

As if answering the unspoken question,  TJ says "Don't you get it? It is a swing, like the swings we say at the first time we ever talked. But It is also a bench, like the one from Andi's party. The party that happened a year ago today. It is like two of our things wrapped into one."

Cyrus can't help but gleam back at TJ. It always amazes him how clever his boyfriend could be. "We should sit." Is all he can manage to get out.

TJ sits down with the shorter boy following suit, resting his head on TJ's shoulder as the latter wraps his arm around Cyrus. From where they are sitting, they can see the sun starting to set. TJ thinks the better view though was looking down at his boyfriend. He will never understand why he got so lucky, but he did. Cyrus meant everything to him. TJ places a little kiss on the top of Cyrus' head.

 Then without thinking he says "I love you..

" It is almost too quiet to hear. TJ's breathe catches in his throat when he realizes what he said. 

The next few seconds pass excruciatingly slowly before Cyrus say "I love you too, Teej." 

(Also Idk may fuck around and do a Muffy one for the same period of time)

@abg-blah @luzawithoutu @thebisexualweirdo @suzzysangster @galaxy-flowergirl @iloveboyz27

[ducktracy]

134. shanghaied shipmates (1936)

release date: june 20th, 1936

series: looney tunes

director: jack king

starring: joe dougherty (porky), billy bletcher (captain, hippo)

perhaps inspired by MGM’s mutiny on the bounty in 1935, as well as coupled with jack king’s love of adventure cartoons, shanghaied shipmates (as the title suggests) details the harsh conditions porky and his shipmates endure thanks to a dictatorial captain.

on occasion, i’ve likened jack king to frank tashlin—both directors with a keen eye for cinematography. while tashlin is inarguably the better director, more confident and ambitious than king, king certainly thought in cinematographic terms, as the opening scene suggests. a mist overlay shrouds a seaside town as we hone in on a bar. our favorite pig is doing a dance front and center while a gang of rowdy drunkards cheer him on. a hippo plays tickles the ivory on dueling pianos, and a goat tugs ferociously on a rope connected to some heavy object offscreen—a giant mug of beer. all is well.

inside the bar, that is. the mist overlay compliments the foreboding atmosphere as we get a shot of a docked ship and a lone captain pacing around on deck. suddenly, a tiny little bespectacled dog (one of the supporting members of the i haven’t got a hat gang) hilariously ambles on deck, even climbing over the captain and hopping back down onto the floor, declaring “the crew’s deserted the blinkin’ ship!” the captain is far from pleased, snarling in his assistant’s (christened mr. stew) the only suitable comeback would be to shanghai the crew.

the two pace through the streets of town and break into the bar. there’s a rather tashlin-esque camera angle as the captain analyzes one cowardly drunk in particular. it comes off as random and slightly misplaced, but certainly an interesting angle that’s worthy of a kudos for experimentation. king experimented with his cinematography, but not much else. with a steely glare, the captain pummels his victim and sends him whirling back onto the ship. the process continues, and one by one victims whirl back into their place, the bar growing emptier by the second.

finally, all of the shipmates are back on deck... except one. porky attempts to hide, diving into the inside of a piano, but his tail sticking out of the doors tells on himself immediately. the captain drags him out, grinning condescendingly as porky insists “you can’t do this to me!” of course he can! the captain, relatively unbothered, shoos porky along, giving a bellowing laugh and smacking porky in the butt to get him to go.

highly amusing setup as porky now scrubs the deck of the ship with the most contemptuous expression, glaring absolute daggers at the captain who surveys his every movement. porky’s disdain gets to him, and in an act of rebellion he slips the soap from his grip and slides it all the way to where the captain is marching. and, of course, the captain slips, none too pleased. porky acknowledges what he’s done, naive mischief now replaced with visible anxiety as he braces for punishment. said punishment: a bar of soap shoved down his piggy gullet. once more, porky insists “you can’t do this to me!”, but a hiccup spawning a multitude of bubbles destroys any sort of authority or credibility.

porky goes back to scrubbing when one of his shipmates checks to see what all the fuss is about. a hiccup later and porky attempts to explain himself, hindered by not only a stutter but an entire bar of soap lodged in his throat, eventually gagging “agh-agh-aghh, soap!” thankfully, his buddy is a good sport. the shipmate pulls porky’s tail and slingshots it back, propelling the soap out of his mouth and back onto the deck... where it ends up perfectly in position in front of the lumbering captain, who falls victim to the bar of soap once more. a hippo sticks his head out from inside the ship just to guffaw at the captain—he gets his as the captain placed him in stocks, forcing a cat to lick his feet while the captain bellows in laughter.

after some more mismanagement of the shipmates, we now go to lunch as a dog blares the lunch fanfare through a tuba. a stampede of starving shipmates trample him in seconds, the dog weakly blaring out a few more notes after the fact. a gag very similar in nature to boom boom, another king entry.

certainly nothing can go wrong at lunch, right? an expectant porky observes as the captain stalls with his heaping bowl of fried chicken. porky is so deprived of food that he can hardly contain his unadulterated glee, slapping his face and bouncing up and down and running his hands together. at first i found the scene to be much more disconcerting than anything, but now that i rewatch it, it’s pretty funny in a very unconventional and off-putting manner. funnier than what was intended to be.

paul smith animates the shipmates receiving their hearty meals: nothing but a plain old bone, the captain stripping every single piece of chicken of its contents. the shipmates are not at all happy. a hippo folds his arms in rebellion, a dog resorts to scarfing down his own hat as a means of sustenance, another chopping his bone to pieces and rolling his eyes all around, and even porky tearfully pouring salt on his bone and pitifully licking it off. the scene is unfortunately hindered by the restrained simplicity of smith’s animation, and thusly doesn’t reach its potential in terms of humor. once more, wannabe rebel porky reaches out for a fully packed chicken leg, receiving a slap of the wrist and a bone down the throat in shock instead.

a week crawls on, and the shipmates are more stir crazy than ever. they bang their mugs against the dining hall table, all chanting “we want food! we want food!” in unison. finally fed up, porky crawls onto the table and signals for the rest of the gang to huddle in as he whispers a plan. just then, mr. smee mr. stew pokes his head into the dining hall and is surprisingly smart enough to put two and two together. the animation of him going to alert the captain, scrambling all around the deck and twirling around a pole, is very amusing and funny. “mutiny, captain! mutiny!”

the rowdy shipmates continue to demand for their food as the captain barges into the dining hall, armed with duel pistols. a ballsy porky marches up to the captain and asserts “we demand food!” but, of course, his diminutive size is nothing for the giant captain, who merely blows him over and pins him against the wall with a deep breath. with that, porky orders “c’mon, men! get ‘im!” and thus sparks mutiny on the bounty as all of the men tackle the captain, gunshots firing in defense.

porky himself sets his sights on mr. stew. certainly one of the funniest moments in a king cartoon as porky pins mr. stew down, mr. stew holding up a hand to pause for a second. he signals to his glasses, lifting them up as if to say “would you hit a guy with glasses?” even better, mild-mannered porky gingerly places them aside, and then wastes no time as he decks mr. stew in the face repeatedly. great timing and great unspoken dialogue.

now the fight rages on on the deck of the ship, some shipmates even flying overboard and jumping ship. porky leads his crusade to victory as they all charge towards the captain. in retaliation, the captain whips a menacing cannon right in front of them, threatening to knock them all over like vengeful bowling pins.

however, his plan backfires (no pun intended): he shoots, and the force of the shot is so tremendous that the captain is scooped onto the cannon as it rolls backwards and propels itself into the air. he lands in the comfort of a bunch of crates. crates labeled as explosives. one explosion later, and the shipmates are singing merrily, lazily drifting across the ocean current on a raft, porky in the lead and armed with a whip. pan over to the captain pulling the entire caravan of crusaders, receiving a few hearty whips from porky as we iris out.

i didn’t think much of this cartoon when i first saw it, but i certainly appreciate it more now. not phenomenal by any means, and still hides in the shadow of tex and friz. the gags don’t always hit, some scenes suffering from a lack of confidence and conviction. however, with that said, this was an ambitious cartoon and certainly adventurous. though it didn’t always work out in his favor, king worked ambitiously and experimented with camera angles and surreal ideas, but his execution was where his cartoons were bogged down. good ideas that struggled to be realized. i give him credit for attempting experimenting so much! i’ve certainly gained respect for him (though his cartoons unfortunately don’t really rival the others during this time period.) this was a high energy cartoon that had its moments, such as mr. stew’s run cycles, porky contemptuously scrubbing the ship deck, and the fight scene between porky and mr. stew. i think this is one of king’s more interesting cartoons and would fare well as a single watch, but that’s probably about it.

link!

[shirtlesssammy]

1x22: Devil’s Trap

The Road So Far:

Sam and Dean Winchester are hot on the trail of the thing that killed their mom. She’s dead though, and never coming back. 

Now:

John Winchester is kidnapped by Meg and her fellow demons. They know where the brothers are and they know they have the Colt. Dean decides it’s in their best interest to get the hell out of Dodge Salvation. Sam wants to keep going, fighting for their dad. Dean needs a plan and everything else stops until they get their dad back. And WOW, like to this day Sam loves powering through the tough times and Dean’s emotions mess with how he thinks at times. Resigned to Dean’s plan, Sam asks how they’re going to find their dad. They need help.

*BOBBY ALERT*

The boys head to Bobby Singer’s Salvage Yard. 

He’s an old friend of John’s (and a surrogate father to Sam and Dean, even if they don’t know it yet) and an expert in supernatural lore. He tells the brothers about how demon possessions are on the rise --and whatever storm that’s coming, Sam and Dean are right in the middle of it. HMMM. Chuck’s writer’s block just cleared it seems. 

Meg shows up. She wants the Colt. Sam and Bobby start to slowly back away from her, further into Bobby’s house. Meg keeps talking and walking, until she ends up under a demon trap. 

They tie her up during the commercial break. Dean asks where John is. Meg sasses back so Dean calls her a bitch and I continue to recoil at early seasons’ misogyny. Meg tells Dean that she killed John. Dean can’t process that potential reality so he punches her. Bobby points out that Meg is a demon possessing “a girl”, and I continue to recoil at the word “girl” when she’s clearly over the age of 12. 

They decide to exorcise the demon from the woman. Sam starts reciting the exorcism (and he has to read them, sweet bby). 

Dean continues to interrogate Meg about where John is. She tells him of the gruesome way she killed him. Meg eventually gives up the location of where they’re holding John, but doesn’t know anything about the Yellow Eyed Demon. 

Dean tells Sam to finish the exorcism. Sam wants to keep using Meg for their plan. Bobby says they’ll kill the girl inside her if they do it. (And I’m like, uh Bobby, you really think letting Meg possess her is better than death??) Dean wins and Sam finishes the exorcism. 

Meg, the woman, is still alive. Dean instructs Bobby to call 911 (WHAT?). She’s broken and dying. Before she dies, she tells the brothers where to find John. 

Bobby sends the boys on their way in search of John. 

On the road, Sam, so into his research and not having a decent tablet to work on, starts defacing Dean’s car. He’s drawing a couple devil’s traps to keep the Colt safe in the trunk. 

Dean wants to bring the gun to help with springing John from the demons. Sam argues that John would be pissed that they used the Colt to find him. Sam wins and they leave the Colt behind. 

They find the place where the demons are holding John and realize that demons could be possessing any of the humans around. They can’t kill the humans AND the demons know what Sam and Dean look like. “This sucks out loud.” Dean suggests they pull the fire alarm to remove all the civilians. They’ll have seven minutes before the police respond. 

Sam does his best to skulk suspiciously into the building.

As soon as the coast is clear, he pulls the fire alarm in the lobby. Inside an apartment, a creepy couple look around intently then head into the bedroom where they’ve strapped John Winchester spread-eagle-style. Kinky? ((Grimacing face))

Outside, Dean does his best to distract firefighters from Skulking Sam, who’s pulling yet another wacky prank. “I’ve got a yorkie upstairs and he pees when he’s nervous!” Dean whines. Dean, I am LIVING. Sam picks the lock on the firetruck and steals two fire-proof suits and full face masks. As they walk through the building, Dean reveals that he always wanted to be a fireman and, to be perfectly honest, I now die a little inside. My soul is a weeping storm cloud! (Send me all your firefighter Dean/Cas AUs. I’ll wait!)

They track the demons via EMF and get the creepy couple to open the door. It’s fighting time! Our guys use their water tanks and fists to handily trap the satanic suburbanites behind a door. A little salt circle and they’ve got ‘em trapped. They find John, who’s unconscious on the bed. Sam stops Dean from untying him right away. Thoroughly his father’s son, Sam does the holy water test on John before freeing him. He’s clean!

Outside, an onlooker is suddenly possessed by a demon and rapidly after that, one of the firefighters. Yeah. It’s season one. We’re just learning about demons so there’s no flashy flashy smoky smoky. It’s just a gentle stroke and….POSSESSED. 

The demons head inside. Time for fight number two!

Not if the Winchesters can help it, though. They leave via the fire escape and make it down to the sidewalk. Another demon heads in for the assault, beating the crap out of poor Sammy’s concussion-prone head. Dean shoots the demon, whose head sparks… The demon dies. After all, a shot from the Colt is fatal. The camera takes a moment to really mourn the human who has just died (which is honestly something I miss before we went all stabby stabby knifey knifey). 

Somehow, they all manage to drag themselves to the Impala and out to a safe house. Salt is poured. Probably some alcohol too, let’s be honest. 

Sam admits that Dean saved him, and Dean snarkily comments on how it’s a good thing he brought the Colt after all. (Hey guys, remember that time when Dean brought the First Blade on a job without Sam’s knowledge? I love patterns.) 

Dean’s somber. He’s still thinking about the demon he shot - the man he shot. He tells Sam that he’s not bothered by killing the otherwise innocent demon-possessed man. Rather, it’s helped him to realize, “For you or dad - the things that I’m willing to do. Kill. It scares me sometimes.” 

John appears and praises Dean, telling him that he made the right call. “You’re not mad? I used a bullet,” Dean points out, looking thoroughly unsettled.

“I’m proud of you,” John says. Dean quietly - oh so quietly - thanks him. Suddenly the lights flicker. John rushes to the window and announces that the demon has arrived. He sends Sam to recheck salt lines and demands the Colt from Dean. 

Dean looks at the gun and resolve settles on his face. Slowly, he backs away. “He’d be furious,” Dean says, “that I wasted a bullet.” He points the gun at John. “You’re not my dad.”

Dean tells John (Demon John) that he knows his dad well. And validation isn’t part of the package. When Sam bursts in, Dean tries to explain that John’s “different” now. Please, join Boris and I in this quilt huddle so we can gnash our teeth and think about Dean’s low self image and cracked father-son relationship which helped him realize almost immediately that it wasn’t his father giving him compliments. Let us collect our tears in tiny, artisanal bowls together, then dry that saltwater and sweep up the salt to make Moste Potente Demon Trappes™. 

Sam looks between John and Dean and when pressed, chooses Dean’s side. John tells them to shoot him and it is VERY EMOTIONAL UP IN DEAN’S FACE.

And I’m fine with it. Completely fine. No emotions up in here.

John turns on a dime, descending into mockery before he demon-hurls them across the room. 

The gun falls to the ground and Demon John picks it up. His eyes glow YELLOW. Sam wonders why holy water didn’t tip them off but Yellow Eyes says it has no effect on him. (But come on, it doesn’t even...tickle?) Yellow Eyes tells Sam that he should use his psychic powers to float the gun to himself. (SOLID plan!) Sam does not float any guns. 

Yellow Eyes strolls up to Dean. He tells him that Dean killed his children via exorcism and bullet. (I have to remind myself that Dean and Sam know jack shit about demons at this point, and they don’t know that Meg swirled down to Hell for an iced coffee before heading back topside.) Yellow Eyes then shifts to Sam, taunting him about the death of their mom and Jess. “They were in the way” of his glorious plans for poor Sam. 

Dean snarks and Yellow Eyes shifts his attention once again. “You fight and fight for this family but the truth is they don’t need you. Not like you need them.” DEAN BEAN don’t listen to him! 

Dean taunts Yellow Eyes about his fallen children. As a reward, Yellow Eyes mind-slices into Dean. Blood pours from Dean in rivulets and he begs, “Dad, don’t you let him kill me.” 

I AM EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS! (I used to rewatch this episode way more than was likely healthy.)

Dean starts to slump over, losing consciousness, when John takes control momentarily. It’s enough to stop the bloody torture, and gives Sam the split second he needs to lunge for the Colt. He grabs it and shoots John in the leg. 

John wakes up. He’s unseated Yellow Eyes for the moment, and begs Sam to kill him. Sam lifts the gun. John begs for an end to the demon, consequences be damned. Dean begs Sam to spare John. Sam, torn between them again, makes a choice. He drops the gun.

Yellow Eyes smokes out of John and sinks into the floorboards, leaving John free and clear. And steaming mad. 

They’ve managed to haul themselves into the Impala. Sam’s driving. Dean’s in the backseat, barely conscious. John berates Sam for sparing his life, but Sam’s hopeful. They’ve got the Colt. They’ve got one bullet. They tracked down Yellow Eyes once and gosh darn it, they can do it again!

Then…

THEN

WHAM! Out of nowhere, a semi truck crashes into the side of the Impala. In the light of the headlights, we see all three Winchesters unconscious and bloody. 

And then fade to black. See ya next season.

______________________________

The Mystical Quotes Gun Solves Everything:

“Last time we saw you, you did threaten to blast him through with buckshot. You cocked the shotgun and everything.” “Yeah, well, what can I say? John just has that effect on people.”

You get a demon in - they’re trapped. Powerless. It’s like a Satanic roach motel.

You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask.

______________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[akiyama-san]

I've noticed your comments about Love Live Sunshine and don't get me wrong, we all have our own opinions and I'm not telling you stop posting your negative thoughts about it, but why do you hate Love Live Sunshine so much? And if you hate it that much, why are you even watching it?

I suppose it comes off as hate doesn’t it? Well despite how it appears, it’s not entirely hate, it’s mostly disappointment, and while that might not sound much better i’ll try to explain what I mean, hopefully to a degree that it can be understood. 

Spose I should start at the top shouldn’t I? 

I think it goes without saying that this point that I didn’t like the original show at all, it had its moments, and 2 or 3 good characters, which isn’t saying much I realize but these casts are fucking bloated of course only a handful will be likeable. The concept seemed really fucking stupid from the outset, and it is, but I’ve seen worst, and as a first attempt by SunRise for an Idol show, to my knowledge, the idea to give it an actual plot to follow was in theory a noble one. It failed completely, but the thought was there. More to the point, almost everyone was completely flat, incredibly stupid, and beyond insufferable. 

I’ll be honest, I can put up with a lot, and if I had chosen to watch it of my own volition I’d probably have been more forgiving of the writers dancing on active fault lines, but at the time some years back, I had several people breathing down my neck to watch the fucking show so I went in pissed off. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t change the fact that these characters say and do things that would make me want to hurt a small child, but I would still have been more kind to it in the long run. 

Then the movie happened, and well.... Lets just say the series needed the fucking soft reboot that was Sunshine after that abysmal travesty of a movie that completely deficated on a third of the casts character development. I’m still trying to work out the quantum fucking mechanics of how Honoka could receive her microphone from her future fucking self BTW. 

I openly admitted this at the time, and this is important because this is often overlooked by the crowd. I said that after the failure of the movie, and knowing that a new series was coming, if SunRise could learn from their mistakes, then I would gladly and open-mindedly go into Sunshine with a positive attitude and be kinder to it if the series was able to escape its charred charcoal burned roots. 

Needless to say I was absolutely blown away by how incredibly Sunshine could be at times, and how baffling disgusting and incompetent it could be as well. I stress that Sunshine is wholly the better property I was able to enjoy more than whole episodes and character arcs completely this time around, as opposed to the original where I enjoyed maybe 10 minutes of its total 700 minute run from episode 1 to movie credits. 

The series had incredible characters to start, those already good characters ACTUALLY GREW INTO EVEN BETTER CHARACTERS, THESE CHARACTERS ACTUALLY GROW AND MATURE AND THAT’S INCREDIBLE. I’ll say openly that the second years are some of the best characters I’ve seen in any anime in the past several years, and I would never hope to take away from that. Better was that we actually had rivals that we could see and understand, that weren’t placed on a pedestal for no discernable reason, one that stood on relatively even ground that could be combatted in real time, force growth and change upon both groups. 

At the same time, while the series had heights and feats that rivaled Everest, it also had lows that would put the Mariana Trench to shame. No, I don’t care what anyone says, I will never get over all the bullshit that happened between Mari and Kanan, and how absolutely disgusting Kanan is, even now, refusing to grow up or stop being a cunt or do anything of value to the group you so claim to love. I’ll be generous and say I was fucking disgusted by SunRise repeating what happened with Honoka and Kotori in the first season here with Mari and Kanan, almost beat for beat. It was terrible the first time, and suicidally bad the second time. 

To regain the focus, by then end of it while my opinions were of the mixed nuts variety with plenty of roasted salt, I still gave it a hearty recommendation because I thought it was genuinely pretty good, blue cuntveats notwithstanding. 

NOW

Where my problem overall with Season 2 lies. If it disappointment and wasted potential were a physical force this series could level mountains. 

From the beginning we’re told that we’re on an incredibly strict time crunch and that we need to focus all our efforts hardcore in the second round. 

Only for almost literally all of the first 6 or 7 episodes to be nothing but filler and padding to waste time, where no growth or progression of any kind took place at all, and such wonderful gems as 

Dia: Please call me Dia-Chan.

Chka: No!

and the omnipresent 

Chika: Teach how to do a backflip

Kanan: Not on your fucking life!

Kanan: Oh shit she learned how to do the backflip... 

Where it all came to a head however was with the reveal of just how many students the school actually had, because that was something that was never brought up. The total number of students is 68 when all are accounted for. And the is beyond miserable. 100 fucking students isn’t enough, to maintain the school you need at least 200, but closer to 300. With 68 students the school should’ve closed fucking years ago. The revelation of that number killed the entire fucking show, it made moot the efforts and development of every single fucking character, because no matter what, even if they had gotten 100 students, this same predicament would still inevitably rear its head once again next year or the year fuckin after. 

I want to make clear, more than anyone else on this site, I have authority to speak on this matter, and no one can refute this, hell I’d barely even listen to them if they did because I severely fucking doubt they ever dealt with this sort of thing, if they did they would totally agree with me.

I have come face to face with a school closure myself. 15 years ago the district announced that my Elementary school would be closing, this school with 700 students that churned out some of the best results in the city might I add. It was a hard and long fought battle, it lasted 3 years, but eventually the parents won that war, and it’s still open now. How did they do that? By actually getting involved, going to meetings, talking directly to superintendents and comptrollers, explaining things like how some of them go to work really early or work late, they can’t send their kids anywhere else because they’d never be able to make it to other schools in the morning on time or pick up on time because of how far away they are, how different schools offer different programs, and not all schools offer the same accommodations for special needs children as this one did, ETC. The point is, the parents got active in the fight, the people that might have been able to affect the outcome did, and while it was no easy task, they did it, they actually fucking one that battle. 

I don’t expect even a fraction of that to occur, but to at the same time tell me that the parents don’t know or care at all, much less any of the other fucking 59 students are powerless to help in any meaningful capacity is an absolute load of horse shit. 

Where it started to bring my blood to a boil, nay to a bursting point, was what happened in the last to episodes with Saint Snow. The best song the franchise ever gave us was Self Control, followed by Shocking Party. This is a fact. From a single interaction some of the most intriguing and likeable characters we got were also Saint Snow. For them to be all but ignored in season 2 until 8 fucking episodes in is ludicrous, but for their first appearance in over 10 episodes to be them failing a concert and us not even getting to hear any of the fucking song, is insulting, it’s infuriating, it’s domestic abuse. This isn’t a slap in the face, this is Studio SunRise forcefully shoving their cock in your mouth against your will and punching you in the eyes with brass knuckles for crying about the cock in your mouth. 

Honest to God, if I wasn’t committed to seeing this through, these last two episodes would be my first set my merchandise on fire moment, and that is saying a lot. It might sound like i’m being overdramatic, but honestly there are a lot of people that agree with me on this matter. 

I did a lot of thinking in writing this post and it took me the better part of an hour to write it. I still hold fast on my thoughts about the original, 2/10 garbage. 

I still hold to my opinions of season 1 Sunshine, 7/10 very good. 

But this season? Well let me put it this way, I score every episode and tally the scores at the end, if season one got a 70 percent

Season 2 probably wouldn’t even reach a combined 20/130 

I will still recommend newcomers to Sunshine season 1 absolutely, but I will also absolutely tell them to pretend season 2 never happened, do not watch it because it will make you commit homicide in the aftermath. 

Why do I hate Sunshine Season 2? 

Because SunRise finds new and exciting ways to fail at absolutely everything on every single level every week. I infamously gave the movie a 1/10, in the long run, I think I would sooner rewatch that movie on loop than ever rewatch this season of Sunshine ever again.