#s1 and s4 superiority

[luthordamnvers]

Hey 👋

Favourite supergirl episodes from any season??

Hey! I haven't done a proper rewatch in years, so these are the "good" episodes from the show.

S1 - Pilot, livewire, red faced (if only for the rage scream scene), human for a day, the girl who has everything, fallout, World finest (still the best supergirl/flash crossover) better angels.

S2 - the adventures of supergirl, the last children of krypton, crossfire, medusa, luthors, exodus, ace reporter, alex, nevertheless she persisted.

S3- Girl of Steel, triggers, damage, midvale(!!!), crisis on earth x(the best all shows crossover imo), reign, fort rozz, for good, of two minds, trinity, (from here on they all kinda blur together tbh)

S4 - American Alien (Nia Nal, my beloved), fallout, (I didn't really need this episode, but it was still a good episode) Man of steel, rather the fallen angel, bunker hill, suspicious minds, blood memory, o brother where art thou?(kelly olsen my beloved), House of L(!!), all about eve, american dreamer, will the real miss tessmacher please stand up?, red dawn, the quest for peace.

S5 - (sigh), event horizon, blurred lines, confidence women, tremors, the wrath of rama khan (if only for fortress scene), the bottle episode(fooled once again), it's a super life (!!!), reality bytes, alex in wonderland, deux lex machina, immortal kombat.

S6 - (sigh) rebirth, prom night, prom again, welcome back Kara, blind spots (i will not accept slander about this episode), the gauntlet, magical thinking, i believe in a thing called love, all the domestic supercorp scenes s6b gave me, and the dansen wedding, and that moment in certain funeral when certain ship was burried 6 feet down... and that's about s6.

If I had to select from those, from the top of my head as favorites: the girl who has everything, fallout, the adventures of supergirl, medusa, luthors, damage, midvale, house of L, it's a super life, immortal kombat, rebirth, welcome back kara, blind spots, the gauntlet, i believe in a thing called love.

[rainparadefromhell]

revisiting s3 and realizing how much i actually disliked the season, new characters and the pace apart from ben and devi's development.

[hazardsoflove]

i love kennedy so much i’m so mad cwnd ruined everything for me :(

[the-other-art-blog]

Violet to Colin: "You're one of my most sensitive children."

The fandom: "How can she say that! Anthony, Benedict bla, bla bla..."

Colin is ONE of her most sensitive children. ONE, just ONE of them. And she's right.

ONE OF HER MOST SENSITIVE CHILDREN

He was the only one who indulged Violet and let her introduce him to debutantes in s1, while Anthony fucked his mistress and Ben went to orgies.

He was a complete gentleman with Marina. AND defended her when Anthony implied something about her.

And when he learned the truth, he confessed that he would have married her if she had told him the truth. 🥹

He danced with Pen after Cressida bullied her.

He wrote dozens of letters that his family of 8 could not care to respond to often. There are 8 of them!

He worried about Ben in s2 and supported him on his application to the Academy.

He learned the truth of Jack Featherington and instead of simply leaving, he did something about it. Not only did he help the Featherington family, but he saved other lords from being scammed.

He apologized to Will, explained why he acted rudely AND made amends to repair the damage by bringing men to Will's club.

He returned with gifts for everyone, but he seemed particularly thoughtful to his sisters and mother. A perfume for Hyacinth, music for Francesca, and a book for Eloise 🥹. Violet was so moved by his gift and here we have a lovely headcanon on the watch:

Then with Pen...

He runs after Pen, despite other men wanting to know about his adventures.

He acknowledges his mistake and immediately tries to apologize to Pen in the Four Seasons Ball.

The next day, he comes back with a heartfelt apology.

Then, he offers her help, despite the risk of scandal and embarrassment for him. He knows Pen has no one else.

He goes to see Pen at night to make sure she's ok. And when she asks him for a kiss, he does it so sweetly.

He is brave enough to leave the men who just want to know about his sexual life.

HE WAS BRAVE ENOUGH TO ASK, as soon as he put himself together and understood his feelings. He didn't play jealousy games like others, he went and put his heart on the table. He didn't even know about Pen's feelings and he risked it!

Some extracts from Colin's journals show that his family is always in his thoughts.

You can see why Violet, as the good mother that she is, can tell how sensitive he is.

Colin travels during the summer and comes back during the season to be with his family. It angers me that people think he's selfish for this when Benedict also abandons the family to fuck.

And yet, both Colin and Ben are sensitive. BOTH OF THEM, Francesca too. I wouldn't call Hyacinth or Gregory sensitive right now, and before s3, I wouldn't include Eloise either.

Anyway, I needed to get this out because I am so fucking tired of Kanthonies and Benophies making tantrums about this line.

I'm sure when s4 comes, we are going to see a moment between Violet and Ben where she acknowledges how amazing he is and everything he has done for the family. But not now, because this is COLIN'S SEASON.

(NOTE: If you are thinking of reblogging this post with the tag #Colin is the most sensitive, kindly fuck off. I made this post to fight the Kanthonies and Benophie that are attacking Colin, not to validate your own need to make Colin superior to other characters. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST SENSITIVE CHILDREN, ONE)

[moonspirit]

"Armin's love came out of nowhere" T-T. It's an statement I am seeing a lot lately. And even I am starting to falter. Sorry, I am weak, master. :(

Faltering anon, fear no more, I'm here!

Firstly, I have to say: I don't want to sound rude or bash people's opinions, but... *Sigh* I see this take a lot, honestly, and I often wonder if it would be doing the rounds so much if people didn't so gullibly buy into Eren's lies about Armin "inheriting" his feelings for Annie (for the millionth time, you do not inherit feelings, you inherit memories.)

Secondly, the Aruani ship is based on subtlety, nuance, body language and the art of inferring from a manga panel more than what is just "said" - which is, you know, how you read manga.

I'm going to assume you have no doubts that Annie always had a soft spot for Armin, more so than for anybody else in the 104th. The way we understand that she has this soft spot is first and foremost, by reading into her body language, her facial expressions, the underlying meaning of what is said, the context of what is said, the reactions before, after, during, and so on. For someone like Annie to spare Armin's life on multiple occasions, hesitating in front of him several times, taking to serious heart his words and what he thinks about her - literally all of this is inferred by analysis and deconstruction of more than just what's written as text.

The eaxct same logic applies in reverse. Cadet Armin, who we see interacting with multiple people including other girls like Sasha and Historia, gives special attention to Annie, the one girl who's infamously aloof and cold. He isn't scared of her, he approaches her kindly, he looks beneath the surface and finds someone who cares, and he tells her as much. Sure, Armin is nice to everyone but he's no social butterfly; for him to be given noteworthy time and space with Annie of all people, resulting in interactions that have a direct impact on everything that happens subsequently (Stohess, S2, S3, S4), is not something to be ignored.

We don't get to see much of Aruani in their cadet years to be honest. The "what happened before" is a mystery, but considering Annie's tendency to avoid people and social interaction in general (something that is very clearly alluded to in S1), we see her on multiple occasions standing very close to Armin in the background, in both anime and manga. This is the art of showing - what do we understand from this? That Armin and Annie were good friends as trainees, that it is likely that they spent time together if Annie's proximity to him is anything to go by, that it is more than likely that they grew close quite naturally, that it is extremely likely that this is when Annie began to develop feelings for Armin and also when he started to see through her icy exterior and found a nice, caring girl underneath.

This is WHY Armin is able to call Annie "nice" and "good" in the first place, and WHY they affect her so much, including all of her future actions. He didn't make this observation overnight, anon. It took three years of time spent together.

For Armin, the first clue we get about his feelings is when we come to know that he waited a whole month to reveal his suspicions of Annie. A month is a long time when your friends and superiors have died at the hands of the FT, and those alive continue to be at risk every minute. A month is a very, very long time to hesitate and keep your mouth shut when the FT has tried to kidnap your best friend and only Humanity's strongest was able to prevent it. A month is a dangerously long time. Why a month? Why a month for Armin, who, without a doubt understood the moment he saw the FT on the fields that it was an enemy?

Because he knew it was Annie, and because he liked Annie.

I don't think his feelings at this time could be described as love, but they definitely ran deep and close to his heart. Enough to consider the implications of never seeing Annie again and what it meant to know that she was, in fact, an enemy with dangerous and unknown motives and not someone he could stand on the same side with. That is the reason he kept his mouth shut for so long. These are inferences the fandom gets from looking at the picture from above, with the context, the past, the present and the possible future laid side by side.

Everything that happens next in the story of Attack on Titan is, to a large part, a direct consequence of Annie sparing his life, and him trapping her as a result, setting the ball rolling for S2, S3 and S4. The interactions between Aruani have monumental implications in scale even if they take up only a few pages in the manga.

S4 Armin then, visiting Annie's crystal, is someone in love. Bertholdt's memories only give him a better understanding of the person Annie is and the circumstances she grew up in, the life of a warrior, the existences they are forced to suffer - Bertholdt's memories do not make Armin fall in love with her, they make Armin understand why Annie is the person she is. He falls in love with Annie because he already liked her to start with, and now he understands her. At this point, Eren's lies confused a lot of people into thinking Armin visited Annie's crystal only because of Bertholdt's feelings, but two things to keep in mind here:

Armin is a highly emotionally intelligent person, capable of differentiating his feelings and emotions from his actions. The person who caught onto Eren's bullshit the fastest in that room was Armin - you couldn't have gaslighted him into believing this nonsense under any situation. His shock came not from buying into Eren's lies, but from the fact that his best friend is a stranger, saying such things to his face, of all people.

Armin did not spend four years and infinite hours in front of Annie's crystal speaking to someone who, for all he knew, could've been in a total coma, not because he was pushed to do so by someone else's feelings, but because he wanted to. Being with her comforted him. He's already been with her, in the years before they graduated. Annie is a friend, more than a friend, and this emotionally intelligent boy capable of distinguishing between his own desires and the non-existent possibility of someone mind-puppeteering his actions, visited Annie because he missed her. And that's that.

This is already very long, but uhm, well, I hope you have found solid ground to see that Armin didn't just fall in love with Annie overnight or because of anybody else's feelings (again, a LIE, a MYTH) - he liked her, he always liked her, and finally he fell in love.

It's important to give importance to what is hidden between the text. Even what we don't see matters when it is an important factor in understanding someone's actions and emotions.

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch 2x04: Crackers Don’t Matter

One of my favorite eps and the most quoted one in the Mousie household.

You know what I am struck by, this time? How crazily Farscape works. I am faced with the next to last scenes of this ep: John with green face-make-up, shiny cover, attacking a bug-looking alien with a sword as it gibbers, screaming 'humans are superior' and marvelling at the fact that somehow, it all works. How crazy is it? It works, works brilliantly. Farscape took some odd risks, some strange choices, but IMO, they almost always worked out.

 And the way the humor (and this episode is bona fide hilarious) can coexist with cruelty and darkness because the ways the Moyans turn on each other is just vicious and what makes it horrible is that it’s their darkest ids, worst selves exposed - so it is them, even if the worst version of them.

And they have to live with it, with all the stuff they said and did, no easy solutions...

This is long and cap-heavy so behind read more...

I am also struck by how tight the writing is. It's obviously an organic show: it didn't have every plot detail worked out years in advance. But when things come up, they get so incorporated for later, they get brought up again, it all just fits. Just think of the little throw-away comment by Maldis in S1 that John lost his virginity to Karen Shaw, and how it comes to play in Kansas in S4. Why am I thinking of this for this ep? It's the fact that here is Harvey (his very first appearance), telling John that revenge is a dish best served cold, his whole attitude, his whole statement is so in line with the whole late S3 ep 'Revenging Angel' which echoes it so well. In RA Harvey fails to understand what makes John tick, what makes him stay alive: he is limited by his creator Scorpius. He fails to realize that what keeps John alive is hope and that for John, Aeryn is hope. (That is why chip!John in Scorpy's head in Incubator is so intractable, so final: he is post-loss-of-Aeryn, he really has nothing). What Scorpy fails in (and by extension Harvey) is to understand John on a very basic level: they don't really fit, like two odd pieces of a puzzle. Grayza of course makes the same mistake on Arnessk. It's going to sound corny, but Scorpy fails to understand goodness (not surprising considering his upbringing) while John has one-up on his opponent because he understands evil, because his face has been rubbed into it until it's raw.

I kept thinking, why is John the least affected by Traltixx in this ep? I am sure the eyesight has something to do with it (I love how Farscape turns on its head the old trope of humans being saviors because they are better. Crichton is 'better' because he is handicapped, because he doesn't see so well). But I think there are other issues here: for one thing, Crichton is a researcher, someone who must be analytical by nature. More importantly, he is attuned to oddness not just because of his post-Scorpy paranoia but because he is a stranger in a strange land, sensitized. And the thing is, just as with the chip later - knowing something is off is different from being able to put breaks on it. He periodically, alone among the rest of them, realizes something is wrong with his behavior but he is unable to truly stop it - the ugliness and the violence just come pouring out; the only concession to control is that he doesn’t kill anyone. The crew is horrifically ugly to each other in this one, but the ep is also mind-blowingly hilarious. Not like Out of their Minds, which is just plain funny. This one is funny with a hell of a sting. Some pretty bad things are said. I am struck not even as much by the Aeryn-John showdown (they know each other the best, so they really know where to hurt. Though I am still wondering how you can be both frigid and a skank :)) but I think it's because Aeryn and John cause each other such universes of pain, exactly when they are not trying to, but only trying to protect themselves or even do what is best for the other, that this is small fry. What is a little exchange of gunfire and a hit at Aeryn's being a traitor or John not measuring up to his father in comparison with Die Me Dichotomy or the coin toss or so much of late S3 or S4? Still, ouch ouch ouch.

What I am really struck by are other interactions: D'Argo with Rygel, flopping the little guy around like...well, a puppet, force-feeding him crackers. It's ugly. We haven't seen D'Argo attack a helpless being since DNA Mad Scientist, and we've forgotten, and it hurts. Though it does show a difference: here it's Traltixx doing an equivalent of drugging him. The inner savage is much further from the surface. The crew from early S1 would have succumbed to Traltixx in ten minutes flat.

 And keeping with the fact that actions always have consequences, there is no magic forgiveness at the end (though also like Farscape, there is hope of one later.)

And Crichton with Chiana. It's an unnerving scene, horrible to watch, precisely because normally John is so protective of her, because for Chiana, John is in many ways her safe harbor, her surrogate big brother, someone who she would always feel safe in the area of sex with (i.e. he won't, with her). But he turns that protection on its head, something ugly (though luckily, a bunch of the horrible stuff comes from Harvey, not John, so she doesn't hear it). 

 Yikes.

Pretty telling tho that even messed with by Traltixx, any sexual threat is not from John but is suggestion of the chip, which is doing whatever to get Crichton to kill his shipmates so he’d be easier to capture. John himself is horrifyingly cruel but does not see Chiana this way at all.

The idea he ends up liking is tying her up next to the rest of them so he could try to talk without everyone shooting each other, not anything else and thank GOD.

This is such a reversal of his attitude in Taking the Stone so I think it's interesting that the attitudes in here and TtS are juxtaposed (in TtS Crichton is losing it a bit, slowly, but it makes him more protective, not less. That is the natural 'insane' Crichton, not the one where someone took over and brought out the darkest id; when he is himself, however utterly mad and irrational, he is never wantonly cruel to his loved ones.) And then of course, later, when he is back to sanity and tries to apologize, she blows it off, acts impressed. Chiana is queen of repression in some ways, however open she is in others.

 You know, there is another reason why Crichton was the one to pull it together. (And no, I am not just referring to stubborness). He already has that edge of insanity to him and it's growing slowly larger. So has he figured out how to cope under weirdness while maintaining some control? He's had to persevere through some horrid stuff and had his head messed up with, so he can temporarily put aside distractions. But the thing is - this is only the start of Scorpius messing with his head. He can fight it on the margins for now (Harvey the Chip clearly wants him to kill everyone so he can be captured easier) but he can fight it even under the stress but we all know how it ends...

Oh yes!

He tries to tell Aeryn about seeing Scorpius but she’s also affected by the light and pays no attention and even John himself assumes it was some of the stuff Traltixx did (and I believe when they first had Scorpy show it was supposed to be a one off, not a chip) and oh boy, the misery that is going to eventually follow.

(the little correction she makes, heeeee...)

Oh boy, and eventually he will make you do that and this will be one of the worst moments of your life.

The thing is - having your mind hijacked is horrible but long before that happens to any significant degree, the layers of horror of it all are there because it’s not just John thinking he’s losing his mind and having his mind sorted through and controlled; it’s the fact that he now lives with the constant presence of his chief torturer in his head - it’s a somewhat literal metaphor for aftereffects of torture yes but also there is the sheer body horror of it which is incredible.

Yikes...

Side note - the ugliness with John and D’Argo bothers me least because they are evenly matched but also it’s pure physical violence, no emotional cruelty involved. 

Also, cool bit of foreshadowing, Chiana aligning with D'Argo here but also, the way Aeryn and John still want to jump each other in this little scene tho they were shooting at each other and have not too much rationality. Heh.

God, those two must have some truly spectacular sex once they finally get to it.

Oh, and the sheer unhinged anything goes vibe of this is so perfect. I don’t know how they manage.

And of course Zhaan just spending the whole episode orgasming and show making no bones about it - I love how just genuinely out there the show was.

Just wild...

Crichton barreling through insanity to save the day but everyone emerging a little or a lot worse for wear is a lot of the modus operandi of this show and this episode really distills it down so concisely in the most gloriously insane way.

[extraordinarilyextreme]

on yeqing, opposites and equals.

contains yrzx manhua/donghua spoilers!!!

in an interview, Mi Er said the following:

虽然看上去两个人很迥异，但是会投脾气。

Although these two seem wholly different at first glance, their temperaments are compatible.

and that's something i really like about this ship, which is how complementary they are.

ZGQ explicitly spells out their differences in manhua ch. 228 (donghua s4, ep. 5):

and a wikia page further expands on this idea:

诸葛青不同于王也的“先天下之忧而忧”，他是一个凡事会先从自己和家族的角度出发，做事会以此为优先的人，但也有正常的道德底线，是一个很现实的角色。

Zhuge Qing is unlike Wang Ye, who "is concerned for everyone beneath the heavens before they themselves are worried¹." He is someone whose starting point [of consideration] regarding all things will be from the perspective of himself and his family clan, and he will prioritize this when taking action. But [he] also possesses a normal moral bottom line. [As such, he] is a very realistic character.

half of a famous line from 《岳阳楼记》 Memorial to Yueyang Tower by Song dynasty politician and poet 范仲淹 Fan Zhongyan. the second part goes “后天下之乐而乐” / to be happy only after everyone beneath the heavens is happy.

furthermore, at the end of Biyou Village arc (donghua s5, ep. 12; manhua chs. 307-311), we learn that, since young, ZGQ has been expected to revitalize his family clan and sect.

(yes, Zhuge Bai reveals in manhua ch. 249 that...)

so, with that kind of pressure, is it any wonder that ZGQ would develop a 心魔 / inner demon? ZGQ is just like any other "ordinary" person with desires; it's just that his desire became an all-consuming obsession.

on the other hand, WY is "extra-ordinary." WY considers things like money and wealth or fame and profit as external; even the allure of Feng-hou Qimen, one of the legendary Eight Supremes, can't tempt him—and that's why only he can be its master.

in fact, when WY returns to Wudang, we learn that he's seemingly always had this "other-worldly" personality (manhua chs. 405-410). unlike his same-age peers, he's always concerned himself with things "beyond" the ordinary (or, secular).

(manhua ch. 407)

so it's with these two completely differing mindsets that the two then clash upon Longhu-shan.

the initial contrast between them is especially stark. we have WY who is attending for some greater, world-altering reason that is nearly impossible to fathom in full. and then we have ZGQ who is willing to throw away his life in pursuit of something "material" (the truth of Feng-hou Qimen). and when one considers how WY tries to dissuade ZCL from pursuing the truth in the next match-up, ZGQ's desire seems even more "vulgar."

(LA s1, ep. 14; see also manhua ch. 120)

indeed, upon first glance, the distance between WY and ZGQ seems insurmountable. the peerless little Daoist, who selflessly relinquished his own chance at enlightenment to throw himself headfirst into the chaos of the mortals... and the genius sorcerer, whose pride turned him into nothing more than a foolish frog at the bottom of a well.

(LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 110)

of course, we'll soon see that they actually are not so different after all. but the problem lies in the fact that the two of them—for a not insignificant duration—both also believe the distance between them to be real. or, in other words, they fall prey to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

it's not that WY has ever looked down on ZGQ; rather, because he's had such "smooth" life experiences (compared to BaoLan, for example), he admits he wrongly developed a sense of superiority.

(donghua s3, ep. 7; see also manhua ch. 196, LA s1, ep. 23)

and that's why "Beijing arc" is so important. the official title of that storyline is 入世篇 / Entering the [Secular] World arc. it's where WY discovers, for the first time, that he may have been overestimating his abilities. he's not "beyond" the secular or "extra-ordinary" at all. he's not "above" anyone, he's just been privileged and fortunate to have been able to lead such an "easy" life so far—where every aspect of his life has felt as simple and routine as clearing enemies in a dungeon crawl game. that's why he ultimately decides to become a 行者 / traveler and “看看自己到底几斤几两” / "see just what exactly I'm capable of."

HOWEVER. aware WY may be of his limits, the combination of his sense of responsibility, 怜悯之心 / heart of compassion, and fundamental goodness trumps that humility.

as 清虚舟湫 on lofter put it:

老王他……太好了。我现实里其实可能不太愿意和这类人相处，没别的，就是太好了。站在这种人身边你会自愧不如，这人实在太好了；你想劝他别搅和这些事呢，他嘴上好好好然后一如既往的去做；你想帮他呢，他就拒绝，根本不给你能帮他的机会。王也骨子里就是会把自己放在上位，认为自己有能力去改变一些东西，是哪怕会牺牲自我，也要渡众生的好神仙。

lao-Wang, he... is too good. I actually might not be very willing to interact with this kind of person in real-life; nothing personal, [he's] just too good. Standing beside this type of person, you will feel ashamed and inadequate, [because] this person is simply far too good. You may want to advise him to not get mixed up in these matters, but he'll say "OK, OK, OK" and then still [get involved] just as before. You may want to help him, but he'll just reject [you] and not leave any chance at all for you to help him. In Wang Ye's bones is [the instinct] to [naturally] elevate himself, to believe that he has the ability to change some things. Even if he [ends up] sacrificing himself, he will still redeem every living being—this is the "good deity" that he is.

plus, one of the core principles of the 全真 Quanzhen denomination of Daoism is 清修自苦 / cultivating with purity and seeking out hardship. this means WY is meant to live a troubled and bitter life. it's his duty to intervene.

as for ZGQ: like most others, he also puts WY upon a pedestal—but unlike most others, it's not for WY's abilities. it's for WY's character.

when ZGQ spills his heart to Fu Rong in manhua chs. 308-309, we learn that the source of his angst is not just the fact he was unable to master the Zhuge family's True Fire of Samadhi, or that WY possesses a skill more powerful.

(manhua ch. 308)

it's because, for just an instant, ZGQ harbored the venomous thought: if only WY did not exist.

(manhua ch. 309)

that ZGQ feels so tortured actually demonstrates how his character and temperament matches WY's so well. ZGQ claims to be someone completely opposite WY—someone who, for himself, will do anything—but their bottom lines are the same. their 道 / life paths are the same. and not only the same, but equal.

WY began to recognize that as early as their first meeting. the idea of 逆大势而行 / behaving in a manner that opposes the momentum of the times applies not only to their predecessor Zhuge Liang, but to both WY and ZGQ. neither sorcerer made the choice most "beneficial" to them: WY gave up his sole chance at peace to try and stop ZCL (to no avail), and ZGQ was willing to risk his life to understand WY's secrets.

WY understood that they shared this trait, which is why ZGQ's parting promise outside Longhu-shan was even more special.

“我这人不爱被卷进麻烦, 但你有麻烦的话我管。”

"The person that I am doesn't like to be involved in trouble, but if it's you who has troubles - I'll take care of them."

(manhua ch. 131)

despite WY's annoyed reaction, he was secretly very touched by those words. even if ZGQ's true goal was the Feng-hou Qimen, no one had ever offered such a thing to someone like WY before; it's likely, even, that WY had never considered such a thing possible prior to this moment.

ZGQ's sincerity, coupled with WY's own guilt over changing ZGQ's fate without permission (see manhua ch. 222), led WY to open his heart up to this friendship in earnest.

in summary, as a bilibili bullet comment put it: 两个人都问心有愧 / the two of them both have a guilty conscience. in spite of that, they are both putting in the effort to be true friends.

when WY realizes ZGQ might be in danger at Biyou Village, he chases him there without hesitation (manhua ch. 222). because ZGQ wants to “用对等的身姿和他站在一起” / "stand together with [WY] in equal bearing" (manhua ch. 309), he faces his own fears and conquers his obsession (manhua chs. 310-311). worried about how the company is using ZGQ to lure out Ma Xianhong, WY goes so far as to divine the answer (manhua ch. 373). and when the company targets WY, ZGQ tries to lie and downplay their relationship to protect him (manhua ch. 630).

this, then, brings us to the most recent chapters (manhua chs. 675-676).

WY—who can't be contacted by anyone, and has shaken off every person sent to tail him—agrees to meet in-person with ZGQ with just one phone call.

as 昂 on lofter suggested:

大家应该包括张楚岚也联系不上他，有点猜想是王也还没想好怎么处理，不确定张楚岚的态度才不联系，他想找个人商量一下，张楚岚为了自己的目的不一定会给出什么答案，不一定能站在王也的角度，张楚岚这个时候公司那边的，狗头.jpg 我滴天，所以王也一直在等诸葛青联系他吗？

"Everyone" should also include Zhang Chulan who can't contact him. Somewhat guessing that it's Wang Ye who hasn't figured out yet how to deal with [Chen Jinkui's matter]; he's unsure of Zhang Chulan's attitude [on the matter], so that's why he hasn't contacted [him]. He wants to find someone to discuss it over with. For his own purposes, Zhang Chulan may not be [willing] to come up with any solutions; [he] may not be able to [consider] from Wang Ye's perspective. At this time, Zhang Chulan is on the company's side. [doge.jpg] Oh My God, so has Wang Ye been waiting for Zhuge Qing to contact him all along?

shipping aside, i think this is a very reasonable conjecture. 薏仁椰青很美味的！on lofter lays it out very nicely:

梦回北京篇一些月下谈心啊…… “道长你赢得了一个 可以倾心相交的好友” 七年了身边能够倾诉的 还是他

Dreaming back to some of Beijing arc's heart-to-hearts beneath the moon... "Daozhang, what you've won is a good friend that you can exchange hearts with completely." (Ma Xianhong's words from manhua ch. 228) Seven years have passed, the only one beside him he can pour his heart out to—is still him.

in spite of the "distance" between them, the only one who fully understands them—and, in turn, the only one they wholly trust—is each other.

i really like this analysis by sisal on lofter:

怎么说呢，不能只说是爱情，我更喜欢说是宿命。 这张图其实把他们俩想要的都表达了。一个是像内寻“我到底是谁”，而另一个背负着振兴诸葛家的使命。但从现在看，他们都南辕北辙。一个，最寻清净的，折了清净；另一个，心魔缠了许久。他们欣赏对方，理解对方。他们都是极好的人，所以他们的宿命纠缠，反复缠绕，但不会因为利益成为宿敌，而是战友，知己，灵魂伴侣。 而里面的一个石子，穿越了时���，将两个人物命运纽带联系。

How should I put it? You can't only say it's love, I prefer to say it's 'fate.' This image actually has portrayed what both of want. One wants to figure out "who exactly am I" from within himself, while the other shoulders the duty of revitalizing the Zhuge family. But as things are, they've both acted in ways that have thwarted their intentions. One of them seeks peace the most, yet broke [his] peace; the other was haunted by his inner demon for a long time. They admire each other, understand each other. They are both extremely good people, which is why their fates are entangled, and continue to intertwine, yet they won't become mortal enemies for the sake of their interests, but rather brothers-in-arms, zhiji, and soulmates. As for the little stone within [this chapter], it traveled across space and time to connect and link together the fates of these two characters.

the little stone being, of course, not unlike the one WY used during their match to demonstrate Feng-hou Qimen.

(LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 110)

but whereas that first stone clearly demonstrated the difference between them, WY uses this one to bridge their disparity.

(manhua ch. 110 / ch. 675)

ZGQ doesn't disappoint either. many readers (including me) were worried about ZGQ's reaction following the ending of manhua ch. 675; seeing WY's Feng-hou Qimen reach new heights, would ZGQ be shocked? envious? unreconciled?

NO! the answer is revealed in the next chapter, as ZGQ delivers a mighty slap across WY's face.

(manhua ch. 676)

who gives a damn about whatever Supreme! what ZGQ cares about is getting revenge for 王也踏青图.jpg (ch. 269) and whether WY is here in-person!

ZGQ has set down his obsession for good, and now he really can stand (sit) shoulder-to-shoulder beside WY—and make good on his promise.

(manhua ch. 181 / ch. 186 / ch. 222 / ch. 676)

if WY is in trouble, ZGQ will face it together beside him.

i've unfortunately lost track of the OP on lofter, but someone also pointed out the significance of YeQing's positions in the little pavilion:

ZGQ faces "life," whereas WY sits behind him at "death." i don't think this is only about WY's failing health, but rather another demonstration of their dynamic.

time and time again, ZGQ turns to face WY head-on—WY who has 出世 / gone beyond and left the secular world, WY who is the enlightened Daoist up on a lofty perch, WY who is untouchable—and grounds him in the land of the living.

"you don't have to be alone," ZGQ is saying. "you aren't alone." at Longhu-shan, in Beijing, at Biyou Village, and now here in this little pavilion.

"you are human," ZGQ is saying. "you are fallible." and, most importantly, "you are still alive." he says this, then sits down at "death" beside WY.

"so," ZGQ is saying, "live with me."

清虚舟湫 on lofter concludes:

所以这更显得老青的重要性了。咱们这位小神仙可主动求救了。

As such, this even more so demonstrates lao-Qing's importance. This little deity of ours is taking the initiative to ask to be saved.

to turn a god into a man: 明知不可为而为 / to do something knowing full well of its impossible nature.

this is the practice WY reveres and admires most.

on the topic of "death" and "life," i also want to highlight the similarity in YeQing's responses to being defeated (by a fellow sorcerer, no less):

(manhua ch. 109 / ch. 377)

see? ZGQ's desire-turned-obsession was never so "vulgar" as it first appeared. it's "secular," it's "ordinary." WY himself—despite his attempts to dissuade ZGQ, BaoLan, and Ma Xianhong—desires his own form of "truth."

(manhua ch. 410)

as expected of a sorcerer (see manhua ch. 108; LA s1, ep. 13).

as expected of a cultivator (see manhua ch. 196; LA s1, ep. 23).

as expected of a human. to want to lead a life with meaning; to want to understand one's true self.

and this is where it gets interesting, right? because at Biyou Village, Ma Xianhong says this (manhua ch. 229):

and what were each of YeQing's decisions?

WY, who prioritizes the world, chose ZGQ.

ZGQ, who prioritizes himself, chose WY.

yet again, neither sorcerer made the "best" choice. but the choice they did make—fully cemented the place the other holds in their heart.

indeed, 飞蛾扑火 / moth to a flame, fatal and fated. each other's moth, each other's flame.

indeed, 冤家 / foes, and also destined lovers.

indeed, returning to the fundamental principle of Daoism: 阴阳和合 / the harmony between Yin and Yang. two beings that appear antithetical and distinct, but truthfully are complementary, interconnected, and transform the other. a false dichotomy; instead, parts of a unified whole.

opposites and equals: one cannot exist without the other.

Moth to a flame, forever altered by the other, buffeted by the winds – such is the share of fated affinity that belongs only to them. (from 水中月，镜中花 | moon in the water, blossoms in the mirror)

[anxresi]

Chloe Bourgeois.

Imagine spending five years of your life investing in a character.

Imagine watching S1, noticing the subtle signs of a redemption arc slotting into place, and being totally on board.

Imagine seeing S2 and loving her realistic development, the superhero she becomes and the positive changes that carry onto her civilian life. (Apart from one scene of Marinette ‘encouraging’ her to bond with her mother by being as nasty as possible... yeah).

Imagine watching S3 and being disappointed that, for the most part, things seems to have come to a grinding halt with her storyline as the show obsesses with a stupid romance that goes nowhere. “Well at least the finale can’t make things... oh.”

Imagine in S4 not only pretending 3 seasons of promising development never happened, but stripping her of all humanity to turn her into a psychopathic sociopath so eevviill she makes Lila look like a girl scout by comparison.

Imagine this radical character sabotaging done with no build-up or foreshadow whatsoever, because apparently people decide to become nihilistic maniacs overnight. As you do.

Imagine introducing the most bland, flavourless, boring, pointless, arbitrary, unnecessary, nothing character EVER. (Thank you online thesaurus)

Imagine expecting her to replace Chloe in our hearts and minds, one of the emotionally rich and complex individuals at one point in time... (Until Thomas Astruc got his way)

Imagine, to add insult to injury, her name rhymes with Chloe’s, they have VERY similar color schemes, they’re sisters AND this new nobody steals her position as QB a mere two episodes later. Thomas rubbing it in? NEVER!!

Imagine destroying in short order what few relationships Chloe has left, including the precious bond she shared with her father and childhood best friend, so you can paint her as EVIL ALL ALONG.

Imagine quitting the show at this point, for your mental health’s sake and the fact the writing is objectively THE WORST, only to be bombarded with more canonical bullshit when you log onto tumblr to look at (again, objectively) the far superior fandom works.

Imagine reading what happens to Chloe during S5 thanks to Zag’s airtight security methods, and no longer being upset because now the whole sorry farce borders on bad parody. When I approach it in that frame of mind, it doesn’t bother me half as much. Hello coping mechanism!!

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

This post was inspired by something I read online about Chloe’s eventual fate compared to Gabriel’s, and the contrast between the ignominious end of a troubled teenage girl and the tears shed for a ruthless terrorist who tried to murder THOUSANDS of people was... definitely something.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So, I’ll just try this:

[thealogie]

What’s your full verdict after the sherlock rewatch in terms of its quality?

The cinematography, acting and directing is just so superior to what’s being done on tv now (with notable exceptions like the terrible directing/visuals in the empty hearse). I truly believe stuff made in the peak golden age of tv years (like 2009-2014) was just playing on a different level in terms of technical quality and sherlock really was at the top of that game. The story/emotional side of it also really still hits for s1-2 and is as bad (meaning more painful) as I remembered. Season 3 slayed at the time because I thought it would be explained/enhanced by s4 but since s4 was a letdown s3 is just barely redeemed by the strength of Sherlock’s love for John. S4…well there’s no point saying anything negative about it, it’s all been said already

[stanlunter]

hi i'm the anon who asked you a couple things the other day (you may be able to figure out who i am after reading and that's okay). i guess i just didn't see the posts you were referring to in both cases despite spending a while scrolling through your blog and just reading.

for some clarification about the wlw question, i didn't care about canon or fanon, i was just curious about how your opinions work since i personally do like many of the ships you don't, as well as some we mutually share, and i'm the type of person who wants to learn about differing viewpoints to understand them better despite that.

i'm also wondering how you like scorptra if you're a catradora anti since catra has been verbally abusive to scorpia at the very least, though i'm aware that's arguably better than her treatment of adora but still not healthy until the very end of the last episode.

i hope it's understood that my intention was not to challenge you as a gotcha but simply just to know you a bit better. i may have stopped feeling comfortable being mutuals with you (or just following? i don't remember tbh) for various reasons related to fandom but i still respect you as a person and your opinions so sometimes i come back.

also big W on harlivy and korrasami btw, i love our bi4bi queens

lastly i agree with you 100% on the lunter tiktok video, i love voidpitws' edits very much so i still follow on instagram but i don't support the superiority complex all the canon sibling truthers have when they're wrong 🤷

Hi!

Yeah, that's fine, I understand that a lot of people can have different opinions with me, since a lot of mine are controversional, even if you agree with some

I would love to answer your question about Scorptra and Catradora tho

First of all, catradora being abusive isn't even the only reason why I hate this ship. I talked about it before so I don't wanna fully describe everything again, I will just call them: it ruined s5 and both of Adora and Catra's arcs and that's basically a canon incest, since they werent even just portrayed as adoptive sisters, but even the whole crew, including Nate, have admitted it multipe times. You can try to find some posts about it in anti tags, there is actually a lot of information, if you're actually interested

Now, about abusiveness and Scorptra. Tbh, I really don't understand how can people even compare these two, when these ships are so different, but anyways. I will talk about Scorptra s1-3 and s4 separately, since the whole portal arc has changed so many things

Let's see. Why I consider Catradora as an extremely abusive relationship?

Let's compare Catradora to s1-3 Scorptra

Catra hates Adora and tried to make her suffer as much as possible. Every time she saw Adora, she did everything to hurt her either physically, or mentally, by making her self-hatred stronger than it ever was and used every opportunity to do this. And no, It never was "bc they were at the war". Catra did it bc she just personally hated Adora and wanted to make her feel pain, no one made Catra do this, it was always her personal desire. And even when they were kids, she was the same. And the reason why It's rather "abuser x victim", than "enemies" is bc Adora never treated Catra the same. If in case with Glimmer, It's at least mutual, than with Adora it never was. Catra was always the one who tried to find a fight with Adora. Adora never tried to hurt Catra and never tried to offend her. All she was doing was self-defense. And claiming self-defense as smth even near to abuse, is just horribly and a victim-blaming. Also you can see, every time Adora "hurt" Catra (even tho it was never Adora's fault and was always on Catra's victim complex) she immidiatly tried to apologize and to fix it, just bc she cared about Catra's feelings, even tho it was never her fault and responsibility

What about Scorptra? Well, Catra just never tried to make Scorpia hate herself and feel awful and didn't tried to physically hurt her. We can say Catra did say smth offensive to Scorpia, but it was never bc she wanted to hurt her, but rather bc Catra didn't care about Scorpia yet and Scorpia's love to Catra was confusing to Catra, she didn't even understand that Scorpia loves her, for her Scorpia was just weird and kinda annoying, especially bc for Catra It had to take a lot of time to love someone, so after s2 (White out episode) when she realized that Scorpia actually cares about her and isn't just being annoying, she accepts Scorpia and starts caring about her back. And after that episode she stops thinking about Scorpia as about just someone weird and starts thinking about her as a friend who cares about her like Adora did once

So, after that Catra starts developing her trust and careness to Scorpia. She desides to be honest with Scorpia and lets her in, by letting Scorpia help her. And then, when she realized that Scorpia isn't even "just" care about her, but also is ready to sacrafice everything she had to save Catra, Catra does the same to Scorpia and puts Scorpia's life before her own. And that's her most selfless action, which, Imo is much more selfless than Catra ever was in s1 or s5 with Adora. Bc, if Catra never thought Adora actually cares about her and thought Adora cares about SW and her role much more, with Scorpia it was the first time she saw someone who cares about her more, than about anything else. And when she realizes it, she desides to do the same for Scorpia, bc she values it so much.

And then they spend the happiest day in their life in a Crimson waste, being mutually respectful to each other and mutually loving being around each other

So I genuinely don't understand how can people say Scorpia was abusive there just bc it was a slow-burn for Catra, bc she has the clearest attachment-issues and couldn't believe someone can actually love her due to her life experience. But I think that's what makes their relationship with Scorpia only more important, bc Scorpia managed to "deserve" Catra's trust, love, respect and careness, even tho Catra was actually such a selfish person who is afraid of being used and left and didn't believe anyone can actually care about her. Scorpia was the first person who has shown Catra that she doesn't have to deserve love to be loved (like it was with SW) . And that she's not alone and that there are people who care about her and are not gonna leave her. For who Catra isn't just an "another friend" to use and leave, who doesn't worth staying for (like from her perspective she was for Adora. Which, again, I obviously don't blame Adora for, she didn't have to care only about Catra, It's just what Catra thought about Adora). Even if we compare Adora and Scorpia's leaving:

Adora left the Horde despite Catra, Scorpia left the Horde because of Catra

Adora showed Catra that she doesn't worth staying in the Horde. And Scorpia showed Catra that the only thing that could make her leave the Horde is Catra

Also, every time Adora tried to help Catra or just did something well, Catra was jealous and envy, bc she saw Adora as a competitor, which isn't healthy, especially considering the fact that Adora never saw Catra the same way. And when Scorpia helps Catra and does her job well, Catra sees, respects and thanks her. That's why her in s4 saying Scorpia she's useless was a straight up lie

Here we go to another thing: Catra always saw Adora as her enemy or a rival, not just as a friend. Which created a super unhealthy dynamic between them. Catra was always the envy friend to Adora, who can't be happy for her and always finds a way do downplay her achievements like we've seen in ep1. Catra was not only envy of Adora's achievements and respect, but also of Shadow Weaver's love. Which was a sibling jealous of a mother or a mother figure, their whole "Golden child" and "Scapegoat child" dynamic with an abusive mother figure

And so Catra's envyness lead to hateness and the hateness lead to unhealthy obsessesion Catra had

She made her whole life and whole goal to make Adora "lose", bc she couldn't handle Adora winning her. She was ready to destroy the whole world just bc of it which isn't healthy in any way. And if you're gonna call Scorpia "obsessed" with Catra, remember that Scorpia was the one who was against activating the portal bc of the risks and tried to make Catra change her mind even despite loving her, while Catra still did it bc of her obsessesion with Adora. Catra was litterally addicted and I do not think giving an addict their addition in the end as a praise is healthy. Catra should have been learnt to let her obsessesion go, to get a life, to find other reasons and goals to live, besides hunting Adora. It could be anything. But giving her just what she was so obsessed with is the worst idea Nate could possible choose

And what about Adora?

Even tho Catra was her best friend, Adora never cared about her as much in the first place. Basically, unlike Catra, Adora always had her own life that wasn't only about her love interest. If the only thing Catra had in the Horde was Adora, Adora did have a lot of things besides Catra: she had Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio, she had SW's admiration, she had the Horde's respect and she had her own goals. Catra was in her life too, but she was never the first for Adora. Which is absolutely okay. What is not okay is Catra's life, since she decided to dadicate it to Adora and when Adora left, she became lonely. I can't blame her for that, but Catra's life is Catra's responsility and making it only about one person is just stupid and never ends well. So, that's true that Adora never wanted Catra as much as Catra wanted her. Tbh, Adora never even recalled Catra in a good way after s1, so, as someone who was never a catradora shipper, before s5 I had no idea and no thoughts that Adora actually cares about Catra, not even to mention that she "loves" her and this ship never made sense to me bc it. It was always so one-sided. And the way Catradora shippers are trying to call Scorptra one-sided, makes me think they just skipped the whole s3.

So , for Adora Catra was always just an ex friend who for some reason (since Adora didn't understand it) decided to hate and fight her, just bc for some reason she didn't want to go with her. Catra's behavior never made sense to Adora and that's also strange to me that they didn't want to mention it in s5.

And the worst thing is not even that for Adora Catra was always just an "ex friend", but that she also was a cruel enemy, who made Adora go throught so much trauma, made her hate herself and think that she should die and that her life has no worth, that she only makes things worse and doesn't deserve anything good, while in reality Adora is the most selfless and kind person out of the whole show. Catra tortured Adora, killed a mother of her best friend, terrorized the planed and took away homes and lives of so many innocent people. Adora didn't just despise Catra, but she hated her for everything she has done and s5 has completely erased that fact. And it wasn't the "love-hate" type of hate, It's a hateness people have to terrorists, murderouses and war criminals that take away people's lives and make the life horrible. And that's ridicilous how so many fans really think that's just bc it wasn't directly shown in a kid show means It's not true, while It's very much is and was so heavily implied. Like they think a "war" is when two lesbians are arguing, not when people are losing their homes and families and die. And Adora, as someone who can't stand cruelty and injustice, has litterally left the Horde to protect those people. Making Adora suddenly "love" someone who has done all these things makes no sense and was so stupid and horrible.

Especially considering the fact that her whole arc in s3 was about learning that she's not responsible for Catra's actions, that Catra decided to live like this herself and that Adora doesn't have to baby sit Catra and what SW did to Catra wasn't on Adora either and that she didn't have to be responsible for it. Adora did a right chose to leave an abusive environment and she actually did ask Catra to go with her many times. Yet what do we see in s5? Catra is a victim of everyone. Catra opening the portal and abusing every is now SW's responsibility and not Catra's one, Adora is also blamed for leaving Catra and not for chosing to love some days with Catra over saving the whole world and Adora has to baby sit Catra every fucking minute

It has completely destroyed everything that had been building for 4 seasons and that's terrible not only just for Adora, or even Catra, but for the whole ending and finale season.

So now about Scorptra in s4

While I do agree that their relationship obviously wasn't healthy there and Catra treated Scorpia and everyone around really bad, I don't think their relationship can be called abusive bc of that like catradora during their whole relationship.

First of all, when we talk about characters relationship, we should consider all of their relationship during the whole show in general, not just take out of the context one arc and run with it. If catradora was toxic and abusive on every single stage (when they were kids in the Horde, when they were enemies and when they became friends - couple), Scorptra, like I've already described it, wasn't. They mutually cared about each other and Catra didn't treat Scorpia horribly. S1-s3 was the default of their relationship and s4 wasn't what Scorpia and Catra's relationship is normally, it was what they turned into due to the stress and the whole shit that has happened in the finale of s3. Which doesn't justify Catra ofc, but it does show that Catra actually cares about Scorpia and what was in s4 was rather an exception, than what their relationship actually is. During it, Catra hated herself for what she did, she became like a "full" villain, she was angry on herself and on everyone else and focused on her goal to destroy the rebelion and started ignoring everything else that was and still is important to her, like Scorpia. So, after such a huge action, that has changed the war so much, that Catra had more things to care about than ever. What Im saying is that Catra's anger in s4 wasn't aimed at Scorpia. Scorpia just happened to be a scapegoat of Catra's stress and guilt. While with Adora, Catra did aim her anger exactly at her. And in this case the whole "they were at war" excuse fits much better, since Catra's anger at Scorpia was caused by the stress at the war and the portal, while dor Adora it was just a pure haterd. So, does it make it okay? Absolutely not, it still was unhealthy. But does it change everything and make Catra's relationship with Scorpia and Adora incomparable? Absolutely yes.

And what confirmes this fact is Catra's reaction there:

First of all, Catra didn't realize how much her words hurt Scorpia. Like I said before, Catra didn't mean to hurt her in the first place, she just wanted to be left alone and to put her anger on someone. And when Scorpia says Catra is a bad friend, she immidiatly realizes it and feels bad about hurting Scorpia, feels guilt. Something she never felt while hurting Adora. When she was hurting Adora, she was enjoying it and didn't think there was her fault, she put it on Adora. However with Scorpia, just when Catra realizes she hurt Scorpia, she immidiatly gets that It was her fault and that Scorpia didn't deserve it. And as we see later, Catra immidiatly stopped acting like this towards Scorpia and started treating her better (for example, sharing her thoughts and feelings with her, as a friend), the only problem is that it was too late.

When Hordak asked Catra where was Entrapta's recording, Catra lied to him, saying she didn't find it, bc she knew if Hordak found out Scorpia has damaged it, she would get in troubles.

So she takes Hordak's aggression on herself, instead of letting him hurt Scorpia. Just like she did in the prison scene, when she didn't let Scorpia help her get out bc Scorpia would have troubles bc of that. This shows us how much Catra actually cares about Scorpia, even when she is in the wrong and acts toxic.

And the saddest thing is that they actually could be together, happy and in healthy relationship, if only the creators decided to let Catra let go her obsessesion with Adora, for example, in the Crimson waste. I really love the idea of them staying there in s3, instead of returning to the Horde. It seems like it would be much better for everyone. Or at least, if s5 was written better and Catra actually had at least some screen time with Scorpia, they also could leave others and return to the Crimson waste as they wanted to.

So, It's not like I look at Catra yelling at Scorpia in s4 and think "ohh, that's so cute, they should kiss now", It's that their whole relationship was beautiful, complex and dramatic. Bc Catra could be happy with Scorpia, but her obsessesion was stronger and it ruined everything. I'll dare to call it "doomed yuri", bc of how tragic Catra's issues made it

Well, I think that's all, hope I did answer your questions

[blue-ravens]

everytime the "should you start "mash" at the beginning or at s4" wank rolls around there always follows the weirdly moral justifications for each choice and, dear reader, I'm so over it. and it's always s4, as if somehow a great magical switch is flipped and it's suddenly a completely different show, when, if you think about it for more than two seconds, is argument that holds very little water. Justifying a preference by claiming its far more morally pure and far less "problematic" (when can we retire that word) has become so disingenuous and frustrating. And, to be blunt, we all know WHY a lot of y'all are so emotionally invested in episodes after 4.01, but you can't seem to just.... say that? Instead its hidden behind cutesy faux progressive moral justifications? Nothing past s4 is any significantly different than s1-3 except for a new character or two. Sure it becomes tonally different and there are some interesting creative directions it heads off into but come onnnnnn. Own it! If you just want to watch this show purely to project onto your favourite blorbo and that's all, yay! Go team you! Just maybe stop acting like there's a superior moral imperative behind it all, because there just isn't.

[nikkiruncks]

can I just start with how funny it is that blaine's personality changed from well blaine to darren? Like at first he's this smooth talker suave handsome guy and then he's just... a dude? I know it's talked about a lot but it is just THAT funny.

Rewatching season 5 rn and honest to god I didn't remember a single plot point from this season. And rightly so it's so chaotic (as is most glee) I know they stopped caring at this point lmao. Like what's up with artie doing 3 girls at once?? And blaine's jealous of kurt cause he's getting muscular?? And RACHEL LEAVES FUNNY GIRL??? Like what is even happening.

Also remembering things i forgot on my rewatch: the twerking episode has a plot. I totally forgot that I always thought of it as just the twerking epsiode and while i was watching it I was like "oh it actually has kinda good plot"

This is all I can remember rn, my memory's kinda bad. Would love to hear your stuff. Especially why you ship Quartie, i never even thought of it lol

Very true! Especially compared s2!blaine to s4!blaine, it’s like a whole ‘nother level. Even before in s2, there were hints there with his romantic gesture to the gap guy, but later on, he started to get less “classy” to say the least haha.

Season 5 is actually where I stopped. Exactly at the 20th ep. It’s very weird. And the stuff with Blaine, I feel like seeing Kurt in his footing made him insecure (not that he wasn’t already but you get it). While I don’t like how he handled it and the way he acted, I can relate to feeling insecure and being a little jealous of even the closest people around me.

And the Artie plot was so funny to watch. I did really like him with Kitty tho so rip to them.

Rachel leaving Funny Girl especially is ridiculous. Her whole arc was getting into Broadway and being a star. And then fast forward to season 6 and apparently she left for a goddamn tv show and is stuck in Lima like wtf. Anyways, S1 & S4 Rachel was superior all I’ve gotta say.

The twerking one was also so icky. Like no teacher in real life would be condoning this. Not to mention, last I checked, didn’t Schue twerk on those minors??? I can’t believe I’m actually siding with Sue here but…

As for why I ship Quartie, I actually didn’t ship them when I first watched but I loved their dynamic. Seeing @thomas-the-goat-of-satan and other tumblr users talking about them made me love Quartie more.

I just love how happy Quinn was around Artie. Probably the happiest she ever was around a man lmao. And I love how they both bond when Quinn was paralyzed and the way Artie seemed to challenge her.

Also I’m Still Standing totally fucks.

[rinaisloved]

Can I just say that when Rini happened in s1 and Portwell happened in s2 I just moved on and went on with my life. Yet all I see are people so upset about Rina they just can’t seem to let go. I mean I could have also complained about the writing of the show considering Rini getting together destroyed any individual character development they had in season 1 and EJ randomly liking Gina halfway through the season made no sense with no lead up. Yet I decided to wait out and see how the ships progressed.

I don’t understand the constant need for people to try to discuss why Rina wasn’t supposed to happen, it only happened because Olivia left, etc… Like I’m sorry to say but does it really matter at the end of the day? You can voice your opinion to make yourself feel better all you want but it isn’t going to change the fact that Rina did happen. In the end it’ll just remain an opinion, not some concrete fact only you’ve discovered. I’m sorry that your ship was collateral damage in the process but I’ve also suffered through Gina moving away for Rini to get together and Rina not interacting at all in 2b for Portwell to get a chance. Not to mention 3 seasons of forced chemistry between Rini and Portwell with unsubstantial forgetful scenes.

Real fan service would’ve been giving Rini a long distance relationship so we’d have to see the whole change story once again with another potential breakup. Or keeping PW together in s4 just for us to go through the same themes of not being on the same page as a high school graduate versus junior. Because let’s be honest that’s the most obvious trope for teen shows it was basically inevitable for those two. Only difference is it would have been more than 2 weeks.

Rinas were called delusional all along and honestly some other shippers were pretty smug/rude about their ships becoming canon and Rina not. People would say we’re reaching but at the end we clearly saw the lead up so we’re not surprised Rina happened.

TLDR: It’s time for Rina to get their chance. If you think your ship is superior just trust it’ll prove itself. Thats really all you can do. That’s what I did.

[burnwithtears]

i've been seeing a never-ending discourse about how rina's position in s4 will be like portwell's, with ricky graduating and gina still a junior and let me break it to you: it's not the same. and i don't mean the age gap.

ej and gina started their relationship at the very end of the school year, which means ej already has one foot outside school, while gina still has two years ahead of her. the beginning of s3 makes it clear their relationship is very new (emphasis on "first boyfriend", "summer of firsts"). so basically, they're getting together while ej is already entering a new stage in his life, so there is nothing solid about their relationship to hold on to, because this is the beginning of it. if they had gotten together at the start of s2, things would be different, because they'd have a whole semester to build their connection. and don't say they've been friends since s1 and that's enough, because a platonic relationship is very different from a romantic one. gina expects different things from it.

now, ricky and gina are being honest about their feelings before ricky's final year starts. they'll have a whole year to figure out how they work romantically, and they will build a solid base, and later figure out how to keep making things work even after ricky leaves school. and yeah, the stress and fame could break them apart, but it'd be nothing similar to portwell's downfall. ricky is still a senior, he's not on the verge of graduating. he will still see her every day, they will be joining the school play together.

and while we're at it, i'd like to address some very rude comments about gina (and the other kids) being "unfair" to ej during s3. as someone who absolutely loved ej's arc in s3, because he finally got one rsrs, it's absurd to me how people fail to see that his friends did try to support him in their own way. 

there are two very different visions about ej this season: how the adults see him, and how the teens see him. throughout the whole season, he's standing in the middle of it, not knowing what to do, but, at the end, he falls to the adult side, because that's his development.

when ej comes to the camp this last time, he's a mentor. val, channing, dewey and miss jenn interact with him and give him responsibilities he didn't ask for because they see him as a young adult, not one of the kids in the camp. do you see val participating in the games? no, she's not part of any team in color wars, she's not part of the play. the thing is, ej came to camp thinking he would just have fun, but being a “senior” in camp as well comes with these responsibilities he wasn't ready for, and the adults are the ones helping him navigate through it because that's their role. he goes to val for advice with his dad; he goes to miss jenn for advice with the play; he directly deals with channing and corbin when they're trying to call off the documentary. the fact that val is the one who comforts him in the end of the season shows he made through it. it was a transition.

the east high crew, at first, sees him as one of them; they try to include him in all of the camp activities, and that's their way of showing they care for him – they want him around, want him to be part of the group. and it takes them a while to understand he won't be able to, and that it's not his fault, but neither is theirs. ricky's jab "are you sure?" to ej on the last episode is more of a "you've been pushing us way too hard for a while now", because that's exactly what ej was doing, like he was already their teacher or something. when ej says they're theater kids and will do things their way, that's him making amends. when ej says to ricky during the premiere "i could fake slap you, but you're my brother", that's him showing once again that he has grown up and will not carry high school grudges with him. it doesn't mean he's a "superior person"; only that all of their previous animosity is behind him.

gina tries to be understanding when he promises things and don't show up. she tries again, and again, to save what they have, but how can you save something you don't even fully know because it's still so new? you can say "ej is doing all this so he can stay with her", but no one believes that – not even ej himself. he's doing this to prove to his father he can make his own choices and be successful in them. he's trying to show his father he's not a kid anymore, to be ordered around. that’s his arc during season 3.

you could also say "yeah, but even if they're in different stages, the east high crew are still his friends and they still should comfort him" and yeah, sure. but this is a 8-episode teen comedy show, and the narrative tries, and suceeds, to tell the audience that ej has grown up and is moving on. just like they told the audience that nini is not coming back. ej probably will come back, but no longer as one of the kids; therefore, his relationship with them has to change.

[fluffypotatey]

You know what I wish we'd seen?

More positive actively involved magic users.

Like, we know the Druids support Emrys, though they seem more like a pacifist, non-combatant party (aside from some outliers like Kara, Mordred, Alvarr), and other magic users/beings like Anhora, Grettir, Mab, they all seem to be neutral. They acknowledge Emrys as a superior power, but they don't seem to actively participate for better or worse. And all other sorcerers are usually antagonistic. But why can't we have the other side? I'm sure there has to be some who decide to take Merlin's side. Maybe they don't entirely trust Arthur, maybe they aren't too certain of a Pendragon, but dude, it's fucking Emrys. If Emrys is supporting him, there's gotta be something to him, right?

Let Merlin have people helping him, other sorcerers who slip him spells that are too powerful for them, maybe he can do something with it, passing him information about plots they've heard through the sorcerers' grapevine, even helping him thwart some of the ambushes and traps. Maybe they aren't brave enough to live in Camelot 24/7 like Merlin, but they take turns bringing him messages and supplies, and to get their "marching orders," such as they are.

Also, imagine the look on Arthur's face when he finds out he has a magic Praetorian Guard that answers to his manservant.

yeah see, that's one of the big issues that's always bothered me. like we (the audience) are told that magic is not evil but rather is something as integral as nature. but more often than not, a lot of the antagonist we meet are magic users and most of the time they are power hungry people. i mean, i totally understand the sorcerers who seek out revenge for Uther and by proxy Camelot, but we only either get these types of sorcerers or the sorcerers whom the show portrays as only evil.

it is, frankly, impossible for the magic community to be full of only evil and vengeful sorcerers. there's got to be more diversity than that, bbc 🙄 you're telling me that there are no somewhat powerful magic users living in Albion helping others anyway they can and don't seek to help aid Merlin in anyway. and i mean aid him since s1. by s5 it looked like he was actually getting some help, but they were still sorcerers who fell a little bit in the gray area or just never interacted with anyone other than Merlin.

maybe have Lancelot befriend another sorcerer while he was away from Camelot and sort of sneak him in to help save the kingdom from Morgana and Morgause in s3. maybe Elyan, who had left Camelot pre-s1, have some magic friends that we meet in s4.

tbh, my big issue is that with how much the show tells us, the audience, that magic does have positive impacts and isn't evil, none of the characters besides Gaius, Merlin, and Lancelot actually know that (as far as i'm aware). literally any time Arthur considers that maybe magic isn't what his father claimed it to be, he ends up going back to those prejudices and ideas Uther propagated because "magic killed my father," "magic killed my mother" (still super salty), "magic corrupted morgana," "magic wants me dead." when in reality, that's far from the truth, and Merlin then has to continue to hide a part of himself from people he cares for and loves dearly because all they've ever known and seen is "evil magic people."

just....bbc, explain to me how Arthur was supposed to bring the so-called "Golden Age" to Albion where there's peace between magic users and non-magic users alike if he, himself, believed magic was inherently evil???? how is Arthur the Once and Future King if he never repealed the ban on magic or began working with sorcerers? and i'm saying this as someone who loves the character, but why did we, the audience, not get a chance to really see Arthur break away from his father's prejudices on magic until the series finale?

it just bugs me. there are so many moments where it looks like maybe Merlin has an ally that's pro-magic and pro-unity and wants to help fulfill the prophecy, but then they either become one-time side characters or fucking die. never seen or heard from again. maybe i just want a character or two to stick and maybe give Merlin the support group he needs?

por favor, bbc

[philosopherking1887]

I initially put the following in a reblog comment on this post by @arabriddler, but I'm putting it in its own post because I wanted to add something but don't want to keep derailing that post, which was making a different point. Here's what that post said:

The way Ed’s sin is Pride and Oswald’s sin is gluttony, and the way Gluttony will always feed on The Other and Pride will always starve The Other, and for them to exist in the same space they have to feed and starve each other at the same time.

(This idea is discussed in their fic Philophobia, which I have been enjoying greatly.)

And then here's my comment:

I'm not sure whether Ed's sin (or vice, in less religious language) is Pride or Vanity -- a difference I think we don't recognize enough these days. The difference is in whether your feeling of self-worth depends heavily on being recognized and praised by others (Vanity) or not that much (Pride). Both Ed and Oswald believe in their own greatness, at least to some extent, even when it isn't recognized by others, and both are bothered by the lack of recognition. But I think Ed is a better candidate for Vanity and Oswald for Pride (in addition to Gluttony -- for money, power, and material luxuries) because Ed seems to crave attention for its own sake, while Oswald only wants certain kinds of attention, from specific people, and/or for specific purposes.

1. Oswald is showy when he needs to be, to demonstrate that he's someone to be reckoned with, but is also happy to operate covertly when that better suits his purpose. For Ed, the show IS the point, and he'll sometimes endanger or undermine his other goals for the sake of making a particular kind of show. Oswald, of course, also sometimes undermines his own long-term goals, but usually to satisfy a momentary emotional impulse.

2. Ed enjoys receiving praise from people in a position of authority, even if he considers himself superior to them (at least in intellect). He doesn't mind being in a subordinate position, serving someone else's aims, as long as he receives regular recognition and praise for his skill and usefulness (from Essen or Gordon in s1-2, Strange in late s2, Oswald in s2 and early s3, Lee in s4, or Lucius in s5). Oswald, by contrast, resents being treated as subordinate in any way, including being praised for his usefulness by Fish, Maroni, or Falcone in s1. Not all recognition is good, as far as he's concerned; he mostly wants recognition, in the form of respect or fear, as a sign of or a means to power. He also wants love from certain people; in s1 he does seem to want the kind of praise for usefulness that might reflect a subordinate position from Gordon specifically, which suggests that he regards that relationship as more than just a means to his own advantage.

What I wanted to add, because thinking about Oswald as Pride and Ed as Vanity really reminded me of it, was a link to this fic:

Here's an excerpt that sums up the basic thesis of the fic:

Ed wears layers, sure, but beneath them, he’s less of a person and more like a living reflection. Terrified of his own inconsistency. Fluid, yet in danger of shattering. And hellbent on glinting back at whatever faces him.  Over and over, Oswald finds pieces of this shimmer in Ed, and is more captivated by it as time goes by. Attracted to it, almost, in a delicately odd way. How Ed slithers out of the world’s grasp, even seems to slither out of his own grasp as he pours himself into the mould of the day, reluctant to stay in one shape for too long, too uncertain of his own identity to construct a permanent home and yet beautifully talented at building temporary shelters out of what he aspires to be at any given time. It’s a struggle Oswald has never experienced (–Oswald struggles more with the opposite, already knowing precisely who he is and where his beastly heart lies, being despised for it, and turning that shame inwards on himself–), so it’s a bit of a sad privilege to see Ed twist into so many forms, stolen and borrowed and handmade, just hoping to represent something worthy. Hoping to cast it out into the world and make it true, convincing everyone else of what he is as a detour to finally convincing himself.

The rest of the fic is just as gorgeous and insightful (and so is the rest of the author's work; all Gotham Riddlebird shippers should read all of it). It so beautifully captures the difference between Oswald's "vicious self-sufficiency" and Ed's existential need for an image to project and an audience to project it to -- made most starkly apparent in the fact that his Riddler aspect at first only appears as a reflection in mirrors. Ed is someone who exists only in being perceived, a reflection who desperately wants to be a real boy, while Oswald has more reality, more being, than he knows what to do with. That can be a beneficial symbiotic relationship if Oswald gives Ed enough attention, praise, and opportunities to shine, but it can also become a problem if Ed feels like he's hidden in Oswald's shadow... or if one of them is taking advantage of the other to get what he needs without giving enough in return.

There's another fic by that same author that illustrates a point similar to @arabriddler's about Vanity and Gluttony with heartbreaking incisiveness:

Summary: Ed craves the feeling of being needed, of being valued, more than anything. Only Oswald can give that to him.

And here's an excerpt:

He’s stuck on the way Oswald’s love feels: overwhelming, suffocating, and somehow complete despite all its missing parts. Their arrangement feels less like sex and more like holding each other underwater, spurring each other on because it’s the only way to feel what they want to feel. Ed is not quite ashamed of all this, but he’s not proud either. His idealised self wouldn’t be reaching for Oswald over and over just to feel whole, to add more fuel to his obsessive fantasies because he can’t even touch himself anymore without a fresh imprint of Oswald in his mind. He can’t feel good unless he feels wanted, and no one in the world pines for him like Oswald. No one ever could.  When it comes to their relationship, Oswald’s motivations are reassuringly transparent. He cares for Ed to the point of pain. He’s in love. Ed is unconcerned with love. All he really wants is to feel... The heat of Oswald’s gaze and the spark in his eyes that means he sees Ed, really sees him down to his core; the soft-hard press of his body against Ed’s own when Ed seeks him out and pleads to be held; the scratch of Oswald’s fingernails clasping like he’s clinging onto treasure.

Oswald's love seeks to devour Ed, but Ed feeds on the hunger itself and can't provide anything to satisfy it. It's not only that no one wants or needs Ed the way Oswald does; Oswald himself is a being made of want and need -- no one can want or need anything with as much heat and intensity as he does, so being wanted and needed by someone like that is irresistible to someone like Ed. Oswald is like a massive star with a gravity well that draws in everything around it, and Ed is a shiny planet that orbits to reflect its light but won't let itself be drawn in and absorbed.