#that’s the worst version of amok time

[trek-tracks]

Amok Time but the only cure for Pon Farr is a ritual game of Spin The Bottle

[sidsinning]

the movie aint better ya goofs (don't read if you don't wanna hear my slander lol,,,)

"Movie!Gabriel is better than show!Gabriel because he actually cares for his son and gets redeemed"

istg this fandom's obsession with redemption needs to END

Morally better character ≠ better writing

Can I just get a piece of media that tells kids "hey, ur abusive parent was an asshole, and even if they had humanity you do not need to reconcile and forgive them in the end" bc I feel like that's what show!Gabriel leans towards which is great

Gabriel barely talks to Adrien in the movie and suddenly when he sees him under CN's mask his entire reign of terror, his determination to see his dead wife again ends in a tearful hug lmao come on now

("but the ending where Adrien suddenly loves his dad again???"- Astruc has been pretty blunt on Twitter that this perfect society you see in S5's ending is built off of a lie, so Adrien is def not gonna just keep that view)

"Adrien actually stands up to his dad in the movie!"

Movie!Adrien is legit a normal human boy, not a sentimonster who is literally physically incapable of fighting back against whoever has his amok

He DOES fight back (even in S1 as CN!), but people like to remember the show only up to S3. Guess what, he learns to fight back and stand up for himself through his growing bonds and relationships with those around him through character development ✨✨✨

Also, he is an abused kid??? In the show?? How can you knock him down a peg for not fighting back,,, 😭 Adrien's lesson isn't that he needs to learn how to fight back, it's that Nathalie shoulda called cps sooner!!! In the movie they are much more of an estranged father-son pair than anything abusive. So obviously the back talk is much easier too. Movie!Adrien gets to go out alone and with friends unless his dad has specifically planted an enemy where he is. Show!Adrien has been beaten, mind controlled, forced to hurt Marinette, isolated and locked up, etc.- he has been TERRIFIED of his dad multiple times.

"Marinette isn't an obsessive stalker in this!"

SIGH.

Man I am so sick of this complaint- the show has never rewarded Marinette for her obsessive behavior. BC IT IS A CHARACTER FLAW. One they use for cringe comedic purposes, but a flaw nonetheless. Every time she has done anything that hurts others in pursuit of Adrien she is punished by the writers. And bc the show has an episodic monster-of-the-week format, this plot is recycled a lot (which is its own complaint). And guess what? SHE STOPS BEING OBSESSIVE. YEAH. SHE STOPS DOING THAT SHIT- so what do you want now??? She grew out of it after it costs her the miraculous so why tf are yalls still hurling this at her like its a L,,,,

This Marinette is just a watered down boring version of show!Marinette. She's just a girl who gets insecure at times but grows confident bc she's Ladybug. Ok. So is our Marinette but MORE. Our Marinette is super smart, creative, resourceful, an overthinker, extremely kind and selfless to others, gets jealous and reckless when her emotions get the better of her, etc. She is fully formed even after watching just 3 episodes of S1.

Like the fact that they didn't even bother to include the oh so important hook of the show- her lucky charm power- shows they didn't care about doing this story justice- its so transparently lazy writing 💀 (miraculous of creation where??? CN gets cataclysm for destruction but what is movie!LB bringing to the yin yang table,,,)

Legitimately all the comparisons I'm hearing from people saying the movie is better are from those who just aren't caught up with the show where Marinette is no longer toxically obsessive with Adrien, where the plot/lore is insane but 10000000x better and more creative than what the movie gave us, the love square was much better developed EVEN FROM JUST THE ORIGINS EPISODES, etc. Istg these people stopped at S3 where the show was at its worst (if I were to pinpoint it)

Everything is so watered down or changed for the worse

Adrienette bonding was 1 conversation and 2 seconds about his mom in a voiceless montage. Marinette didn't fall for him bc of his kindness after a misunderstanding, it was bc he looked handsome in the library's light lol. He called her weird and didn't think twice about putting on his earphones to listen to more alpha podcasts. You really do wonder why she likes this dude over her partner CN bc they have no connection at all.

Movie!Adrien was an asshole don't you dare do show!Adrien dirty by comparing him to this ellen degeneres alien lookin mf

When movie!Adrien is crying after Mari reveals herself as LB, unlike the show, here you're like "yeah no you only like her now bc she's LB lol"

Anyways feel free to enjoy what you enjoy but uuuuuhhhh this movie getting a 3/10 for me would not rewatch

Oh wait the good things

-Visuals

-Some Ladynoir scenes were cute, like them playfully fighting with the accidental wall pin

-I liked Ladybug moving away from CN's kiss- nice hint of angst

-Chloe's coffee stain scene

-Luka cameos were cute

songs were bad or mid

ya das it

I guess feel free to talk to me in my inbox about your own thoughts if you wish (respectfully plz)

[redwiccanrobin]

In the episode that features Monica’s funeral, Frank gives a speech. He goes up and says with as much love as he can about how Monica changed his life. How she taught him to live. It’s weirdly sweet for Frank. But the moment I wanted to talk about is that the cameras centers Ian as Frank says this.

He looks contemplative. Like there’s a vision in his mind that he can’t ignore. That vision is Mickey. There’s probably regret and guilt racking through him as well. Regret that he left that man he loves at the border. Probably wondering what would have happened if he had just gone with him. Because he wants to be with Mickey. Guilt that the man sitting next to him is nowhere near that level. Even though he wants to try with him.

Mickey caused a spark in Ian. A coursing love that consumed him even when they were at odds. He was safety and a thrill all at the same time for Ian. Ian found someone he was sexually, romantically, and platonically compatible with. Mickey held him tight when he walked him out of that jail cell. Mickey held him tight before he walked into that hospital. Mickey crawled into bed, said sorry for disappearing for a while, kissed his head. Mickey forgave him for all the things he did whilst manic. Things that hurt Mickey in ways that Ian never wanted to do. Because he understood that Ian wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

There’s a parallel between Frank/Monica and Ian/Mickey. Not because they’re similar. But because they’re opposites. Yes, Mickey taught Ian how to live. Yes, Mickey was the light that Ian needed. He was everything that Frank described Monica as for Ian. But the difference is the way Ian and Mickey take care of each other.

Frank and Monica encouraged self-destruction in each other. Frank always had this fear when Monica would be on her meds. Almost like he was afraid that if she was stable she would realize the kind of man he is and leave for good. Of course, she’s still a grown woman with agency. She was in charge of her mental health and chose not to take care of it and let it run amok. But seeing how excited Frank got when she was acting “crazy” emboldened her further to not take her meds. Monica encouraged Frank’s drinking and drug use. In that speech he gave, Frank revealed that it was Monica that introduced him to hard drugs. The rest is history. She liked him getting high or drunk as she saw it as thrilling. Like Monica, Frank is an adult who had the ability to get sober. He never took it though. A lot of that stems from the “fun” he had with Monica.

The main difference is that Mickey and Ian want to be the best versions of each other. And they encouraged the other to do the same. When Ian was diagnosed with bipolar, Mickey was the most supportive and caring of his situation. Even when they went into married life, we see subtle signs that Mickey still makes sure that Ian is taking care of himself. There’s even a deleted scene where he checks in on Ian; asking if he was okay, noting that his husband was slipping into a depressive episode, made sure he was taking his medication. Unlike Frank, Mickey isn’t afraid of Ian having a stable footing. He wants that because he doesn’t want Ian to suffer. Ian can talk Mickey down like no one else can. With both the situation with Terry and Mickey’s anxiety about moving to the West Side, Ian offered emotional support. He listened to his husband, knew all the ways to calm Mickey. He doesn’t want Mickey to spiral and to instead stay afloat. Unlike Monica, Ian doesn’t encourage the destructive side of Mickey for his own fun. He wants the happy Mickey who feels comfortable with voicing his emotions.

Mickey and Ian have their problems. Every couple does. Sometimes, they don’t handle it the right way. But, when the storm passes, they take a breath and talk to one another. Making it clear they still love each other. They accept each other at their worst. They encourage each other at their best.

[staringdownabarrel]

hey, where do I start with star trek?

It really depends on whether you want to watch all of it or if you're mostly hoping to do a bare bones viewing of the older shows before you see the shows currently in production. There's a lot of viewing guides out there if you want to do a completionist viewing, so I'm going to answer this with the assumption you want to do the latter.

Before I begin, I'm not really sure if there's such a thing as a non-contentious version of this list, so keep in mind there's going to be different people with different opinions and some are going to take some pretty big issues with this one.

The Original Series: The Cage, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Mudd's Women, Balance of Terror, Arena, The Menagerie Pts. I and II, Errand of Mercy, Amok Time, Mirror Mirror, I Mudd, The Trouble With Tribbles, Journey to Babel, The Enterprise Incident, Spock's Brain

The Animated Series: Honestly, I'm probably going to get some flack for this one, but you can safely skip it entirely

The Next Generation (the best series): Encounter At Farpoint, The Battle, Hide and Q, Datalore, Skin of Evil, Conspiracy, The Neutral Zone, Elementary Dear Data, The Measure of a Man (I have issues with this episode but it is very popular regardless), Q Who, The Emissary, Peak Performance, Who Watches the Watchers, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Offspring, Sins of the Father, Tin Man, Transfigurations, The Best of Both Worlds Pts. I and II, Family, Brothers, Reunion, The Drumhead, The Mind's Eye, Redemption Pts. I and II, Ensign Ro, Reunification Pts. I and II, I Borg, Chain of Command Pts. I and II, Tapestry, Birthright Pts. I and II, Rightful Heir, Descent Pts. I and II, The Pegasus, All Good Things

Deep Space Nine: Honestly, just watch the entire thing. A lot of the episodes, even the earlier ones, end up tying into ongoing arcs in this show. If you want just one episode to sell you on it, go see Duet or the Past Tense two parter.

Voyager: Caretaker, Jetrel, Threshold (c'mon, it's one of the holidays), Death Wish, Tuvix (notoriously one of the most contentious episodes of any Star Trek show ever made), The Q and the Grey, Worst Case Scenario, Scorpion Pts. I and II, The Gift, Year of Hell Pts I and II, Message In A Bottle, The Killing Game Pts. I and II, Living Witness, Drone, Equinox Pts. I and II, Q2, Author Author (aka what TNG's The Measure of a Man could have been like if it was good), Endgame.

Enterprise: Broken Bow, The Andorian Incident, Shadows of P'Jem, Shockwave Pts. I and II, Carbon Creek, Minefield, Cease Fire, The Expanse, all of season three because it's a season long arc and honestly one of the better seasons, Storm Front Pts. I and II, Borderland, Cold Station 12, The Augments, Babel One, United, The Aenar, Affliction, Divergence, In A Mirror Darkly Pts. I and II, Demons, Terra Prime, These Are the Voyages (also a contentious episode)

[larrikin-is-a-himbo]

Thoughts on rewatch of the Batman 2022

"Ave Maria" faintly playing in the background in the beginning. Hadn't noticed that before.

Gotta look fabulous before going to beat the life out of criminals.

This movie does a perfect job of separating Batman and Bruce Wayne. How different those two people are, despite being the same person.

Another aspect I love is that this is the very beginning stages of Batman's journey. He's not the "perfect, no mistakes, flawless detective work" Batman that most movies portray. He's learning, making mistakes, still needs to improve his skills and craft. And since it's the first years and he hasn't been established as an asset to the Gotham PD yet, the officers, rightfully so, *do not* like him which makes a lot of sense than letting him run amok. (Not that that gets any better with time but you feel the difference in how they take Batman's presence.)

"The city's eating itself. Maybe it's beyond saving. But I have to try." SEE that is how you characterise Bruce, hope and endurance in the face of despair.

The narrative parallel between the death of the mayor and his son finding the body, and young Bruce watching his parents being murdered. Oh, it's so good, I'm gonna eat my hand.

Bruce saying he doesn't care what happens to his family's business and all the work they've done, equating his worth to what he does as a vigilante just goes to show how much the trauma and mental anguish has taken over his life, and now the severe depression, suicidal tendencies, even subconsciously just looking for an excuse to not live hits too close to home.

Robert Pattinson's back 😳 (I am a whore, leave me alone)

Batman fucking up the twins will never not be funny.

You've gotta be honest, our edgelord's entrance into Penguin's lair is nothing short of iconic.

I love this version of Penguin so much, he's the right amount of menacing and goofy.

THE FIRST MEETING OF BATCAT. Love-at-first-sight if I've ever seen it.

I fucking LOVE seeing Catwoman in action.

If I don't meet my S/O with us having a 1v1 and them manhandling me, what even is the point of it all.

Selina and Bruce's socio-economic background play such a big role in their reasons and aspirations to be heroes (or vigilantes). Glad this movie doesn't gloss over that.

Batsy is such a bastard in his early days. Selina should deck him.

He has so much to learn and grow, not just as Batman, but as a person. Yes, this is about him sending Selina as a spy.

Bruce Wayne looking like he's having the worst time of his life when he's in public. I love this socially repulsive man with all my heart.

Bruce seeing his child self in the mayor's son, but now with new responsibility of solving this mystery, just wow. A lot of movies, at least the live-action ones, tend to not prioritise portraying Bruce's childhood or the trauma he experienced with the gruesome murder of his parents, because at his core that's what led him down this path, it's just as, if not more, important, to him being the saviour, the knight of Gotham.

Him getting jealous thinking that's Selina with Falcone. Somebody's in love.

Riddler and his stupid love letters. Get a life.

Batman, you idiot, why would you stand with your face right infront for the bomb.

The police station scene is so funny. Poor Jim is losing it. "Great, now I got you on assaulting an officer." "You got me on assaulting three." Bad bitch energy.

"We gotta get you out of here buddy." "🥺" Gay behaviour.

OOOOOH. THE ESCAPE SCENE. Can't wait to see Batsy hit the ground and eat shit. THERE IT IS.

The fucking chase scene. Hell yeah. Emo Batman has some of the best entrances and chases in this movie. It's actually fun to watch and isn't cringe. What a refreshing change.

"Good cop, batshit cop." Jim shoving the pictures of the mutilated face into Penguin's face. I can't breathe.

Jim and Bats interrogating Penguin. Penguin roasting the fuck out of them. "No habla espanol, fellas?" "Shut up!" FUCKING HILARIOUS. Them leaving his tied up, and him waddling while cursing. THAT'S how you do comedy without breaking the tone of the movie, especially for dark superhero movies.

I know Alfred doesn't die but godsdammit I hate seeing him hurt.

Bruce lashing out because he feels betrayed but also reeling from getting flashbacks to his father's death while seeing Alfred in that bed, my boy was in the worst emotional state. I forgive him for being a little bitch to his dad (Alfred).

The heart to heart between Bruce and Alfred is such a tender and love-full moment. I needed that :,)

Selina should have just killed Kenzie before Bats came around. I support women's rights, but more importantly I support women's right to murder.

Carmine Falcone is such a sleazebag character. He gives me the creeps.

I love Jim Gordon. No particular scene inspired that statement, I just love him.

THE SECOND BEST HALLWAY FIGHT SCENE IN THE WORLD. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I want it injected in my veins.

When Falcone is arrested and Penguin speaks against Carmine, I love that scene because it's a subtle indication to the end of the movie, where we see Penguin will now take over the criminal underworld of Gotham. The mighty Falcon has been taken down, the city is drowned. What better opportunity for a flightless bird to takeover?

Riddler with his dumb ass jokes and reddit lives. What a clown. He's dangerous but I can't take him seriously.

Batman appears and he just [starts screaming] peak teenage boy behaviour. Cringe lord. Be better.

Starting the movie with "I am darkness", contemplating if Gotham can even be saved, and ending it with Batman lighting the way, leading Gotham out of the destruction. GODS. Him coming to the realisation that Gotham, and by extension himself, need hope and change, not clinging to the past, not vengeance. That is so poetic.

In regards to BatCat, the last meeting really signifies their love story. He loves her, he truly does, and maybe in this version of the story they end up together despite all the, but Gotham will always be his priority. She wants him to live, not just exist, but live, but Bruce gave up on that idea long ago.

"The Bat and the Cat, its got a nice ring to it. [Pause] Who am I kidding? You're already spoken for." OK, Mr. Matt Reeves, why don't you just shoot me between the eyes?

[electronickingdomfox]

"Dwellers in the Crucible" review

The crucible was for me...

Novel from 1985 by Margaret Wander Bonanno. I almost skimmed this one for mere completionist sake, but can't say I enjoyed it at all. There's nothing wrong with the writing, mind you; in fact, it's probably better than the average TOS novel in that regard. But the content... It's as if the author wanted to make a "darker and edgier" version of TOS, and I don't think it worked very well. Besides, I found it very, veeeery boring.

For starters, remember all those times Kirk tried to persuade some warring planet about the benefits of peace, because humankind, despite its violent past, had finally overcome its worst instincts? Well, it was all bullshit! As it turns out in the novel, the only reason the Federation planets aren't annihilating each other, it's because of the existence of some "Warrantors of Peace". These are close relatives of Federation higher-ups, that keep implanted in their hearts the codes for ultimate weapons. So if some politician wanted the codes for final destruction, he'd have to kill first his own loved one. Peace exists, but mainly thanks to this deterrent. Sounds bleak? There's more.

The main characters are Cleante (a human girl who's the Warrantor for Earth), and T'Shael (a shy, stoic Vulcan woman and the Warrantor for her planet). Together with other representatives, they're kidnapped in a joint Romulan/Klingon plot, to force the Federation into... something (I don't really know what the hell they wanted to accomplish with this kidnapping, or what were the terms for releasing the hostages; the novel isn't clear at all). The Enterprise crew has only cameo appearances, and they just send a spy into Romulan territory to learn where they keep the hostages. Well, Saavik is there (the story is set a bit before The Wrath of Kahn), who's half-Romulan and all that, so obviously, Kirk chooses for this mission... Sulu. Anyway, the spying amounts to nothing, since they don't really solve the problem in the end. And that's about it in regards to the usual crew. They're barely there, but even in those brief appearances, they somehow manage to act out-of-character. The Romulan Commander from The Enterprise Incident (isn't there ANY other commander in their whole empire?) makes also an appearance, and has in fact a greater role in rescuing the captives.

Apart from all this, there's something that really surprises me. Either Bonanno had powerful contacts at Pocket Books, or the editors fell asleep with this one, because I don't understand how it was published at all while the previous novel ("Killing Time") had such problems with censorship. There's a prevalent focus on sex, far more explicit than any other TOS novel before (save, perhaps, some of the worst Bantam titles), and lots and lots of rape attempts or sexual abuse in some form or another, to fairly disturbing levels. Cleante is also blackmailed into a sexual relationship with one of her Klingon captors, to save T'Sharel's life. And the novel (perhaps in an attempt to make it sound less dark) tells us that Cleante is actually kind of okay with this, and ended up liking her abuser a bit... And well, sorry, that makes it sound worse. The Deltans too, are hyper-sexualized, and we're told they need to have sex and maintain physical contact almost at all times (including, apparently, the Deltan child that's kidnapped with his grown-up cousins), lest they die. Now, there was something about Deltan pheromones in TMP but... the whole point was that they just made a celibate oath upon joining Starfleet? And that was no problem at all for them?? I'll also never be a fan of this idea that both male and female Vulcans go through pon-farr (regardless of what later series have established). It runs so, so counter to what's seen in Amok Time with T'Pring...

I'm not going to dissect the plot, since there's not much in the way of events. For most of the story, we just follow the prisoners as their Klingon captors torture or perform sadistic experiments on them. In-between, there are flashback scenes that show how Cleante met T'Sharel in Vulcan, learned many things about her culture, and developed a strong friendship with her. Those parts are perhaps the best, since they develop many things about Vulcan society (while details about Romulans and Klingons, instead, are borrowed from the novels "My Enemy, My Ally" and "The Final Reflection", respectively).

To summarize, this is at times a pretty dark, depressing story, and left a bad taste in my mouth. Above all, because this is the last place I'd have expected to find such content. Granted, TOS had its own "torture episodes" (The Empath and Plato's Stepchildren) but... I don't know, this story seemed to me far worse than those episodes, which I in fact liked. It may have been because of novels like this one, that Pocket Books got all Draconian with publishing rules in the 90's: no focus on original characters in detriment of the original crew, no explicit sex, no developments about the "Vulcan Way" beyond canon, etc.

Spirk Meter: 6/10*. There's a scene where Kirk invites Spock into his cabin, right after getting out of the shower, and having barely covered with a towel, as if that was a normal thing for them. Besides, Cleante and T'Sharel, with their close relationship, mentions of t'hy'la and sacrifices for each other, are obvious placeholders for Kirk and Spock. At the end, when Kirk and Spock give them advice about how to keep a relationship between a human and a Vulcan, it really sounds like an old married couple counseling some newlyweds. Moreover, the parallelism is made explicit by the narrative. Loses points, though, because using two throwaway characters to portray Spirk instead of the originals, feels like a safe screen, and not a very ballsy move. There's also this pervading "no homo" disclaimer, for both sets of characters; either by reminding us of how much Cleante likes men, or having Kirk lusting after Cleante just after meeting her... (you know, this girl who could be his daughter, and also just came out of a lot of abuse... ugh!).

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[iobartach]

@hxllblazer asked; ❛ The people in charge of making us healthy make us sick. We cheat the dying. We fleece the poor. Promote the racist. Let the demons run amok. This world needs changing. ❜

the fall of the house of usher sentence prompts

He couldn't decide what was worse, the lingering effects of a headache that throbbed incessantly, just above his eyes, or the fact that he's heard this same spiel before. Lived it, even, in another life. Being a time traveller, as much as he would like to express that it gets better, that humanity realises its mistakes and manages to turn things around in the nick of time, Miguel can't bring himself to sell a lie, not even to a conman.

"Can't say that I disagree, except... what happens afterwards?" What shape is to be placed upon the world to come, where actions come up against ideals, the fallout of which will be felt by the generations that follow. "Because I can sit here and give you a version of a potential future, that will make the present day, with all its faults and shortcomings feel like paradise in comparison to what's to come."

A time-- an era, really-- that he should realistically make an effort to return to, soon, once he had recovered enough and his healing factor had taken care of the worst of his injuries endured in the past week. Until then, Miguel stayed out of costume, passing the time by collaborating with the blond to dig up and examine all that was wrong with the world around them.

"I think we both know there's little that either of us could do to bring about change... but we try anyway, right?"

[bowtiesnmusicals]

Here is my recap of the A Guest Star is Born (The Rhodes Not taken) episode of the podcast.

This was a really monumental episode for the cast. This was their first real big guest star.

Yes Victor Garber and Josh Groban were on but Kristin (April) was the center of the episode. Most of the cast didn't get to work with them.

This was the first time all 12 glee members perform together.

The stage was really slick when they rehearsed the dance in the cowboy boots. Everyone was sliding everywhere.

The cast spent like two weeks learning Last Name. Kristin came in and learned the dance in like 45 minutes.

Chris and Jenna were very excited about working with Kristin.

Jenna and Chris used cupcake as a code word for Kristin coming on set.

Kristin was so warm and welcoming.

Rehearsal for Last Name was a mess. They couldn't keep their lines and it looked amok.

The crew was sent out of the room and the cast rehearsed the number again which never happened because time is money.

A dancers trick to make a shoes less slippery is to use hairspray or soda to make them a bit sticky.

This is the first time the show begins with ...and that's what you missed on glee.

The episode title is a play on the Robert Frost poem The Road Not Taken.

They started to recap the episode.

Kevin is the one that can't read.

Jayma and Kevin once had a battle to figure out who was the most expensive extra out of the two of them.

Maybe This Time is the song from Glee that Kevin listens to more then any other.

It was special to watch someone do what they are good at and it's so much fun. It felt so good to watch it as an audience member.

It was the first time they used the spotlight in the choir room.

Kristin was actually singing with the recording. She wanted her lip-sync to be perfect.

Tim Davis, one of the casts vocal coaches, told them that the more you sing the more real its going to look.

The snippet of Kurt crying was Chris really crying. He wasn't acting.

They didn't see Lea's version of the song until the episode was screened for the cast.

Kevin saw Cabaret for the first time last month. The glee version of Maybe This Time is Kevin's version of the song.

Jenna and Amber had a great time filming the scene of April teaching them how to steal stuff.

More recap of the episode.

Naya has great reactions in this episode. You can tell from only a look that Santana hates Rachel.

Alone is so bad but also so good. It's Jenna's favorite song.

Everyone was losing it behind the monitors when Chris did the drunk Bambi scene with Jayma.

Kevin lost it just talking about the scene.

Every time the did a scene in the choir room they would have to do coverage for everyone and it took forever. They basically lived in the choir room.

The face Naya makes when Rachel says she will be the understudy is priceless.

Somebody to Love is special to the cast.

They would mimic Cory's opening can.

Everything Amber tried while recording this song was unreal. This was the first time Kevin got to push himself vocally.

This was a song they did a lot for live performances.

Kevin never really learned the choreography because he played guitar in the show version.

The song felt like a community experience.

Its one of Jenna's favorites.

It's a pretty solid episode. Lots of core memories for Jenna and Kevin.

Lots of firsts and figuring how they were doing it.

There is nothing better then Kristin Chenoweth.

Tartie Takes:

Cringe Moment: teaching the girls to steal meat, April being drunk

Worst Dance Move: Not everyone was good at Last Name. Kevin likes picking someone and just following them through the entire performance. Some of those things are not like the others.

Best Song: Somebody to Love

Best Line: Oh Bambi I cried so hard when those hunters shot your mommy.

Honorable mentions: Puck: I bet you thought Burt and Ernie were just roommates. Will saying we'll get you sobered up...find you some underwear. Sandy: let me tell you about my planned production of Equus.

Best Prop: April's pink wine glass

Didn't Age Well: Nothing

Did Age Well: everything holds up

Shit we found on Tiktok: There is a scene in Pitch Perfect with a wheel and one of the things on the wheel is songs that Glee ruined. There is a trend of songs that Glee did better or Pitch Perfect did better.

[disney-android-foundation]

What funny stories have you gotten about adopted droids? ( also, I love your blog, I hope your have a amazing day!)

Sky: We have a list of calls from clients that their droids were in some sort of predicament. I like to call these the oopsie daisies reports and you’ll see why.

- I believed I’ve mentioned a King Candy somehow launching himself into a TV and getting stuck, yeah this happens a lot with other droids.

- We’ve had a Syndrome get himself stuck in a wall because he wanted to show off his rocket boot skills.

-One time, someone had both an Arawn and a Horned King and the two got into an argument. Petty as Arawn is, he had picked up the Horned King and stuck his horns into the wooden ceiling and just left him there because HK couldn’t get himself free. When questioned, Arawn only said: “He needed to be in time out.”

- I swear every call about our horned droids is just them accidentally getting their horns stuck.

- A Lotso droid once got stuck in some home ventilation because he and his owner were playing hide and seek and thought it was a good idea to hide in the vents.

- A Oogie was running amok in a theme park during its Halloween event and wouldn’t stop scaring guests. Then he started teaming up with other Oogie’s because of course people bring a Halloween droid to Halloween events, so now there was a small army of Oogies within the park. And it wasn’t like their owners could call them back easily, because they literally have the same name. Which is why I highly recommend giving a droid a nickname.

- We once got a call that a Yzma was selling water to runners at a marathon, claiming that it would “enhance endurance”. It was water from a nearby river that was next to a sewage plant.

Sky: These are from what I know of, I tend to see more from the villains within my home.

- I’ve seen Zira keep Ratigan in an empty bottle with the lid secured on tight and held him hostage until I met her demands. All she wanted was to go outside. Keep in mind I decided to only have the animal versions of these villains, there’s a large enough door for them to go in and out of the house whenever they want because I almost never close it. Zira just refuses to use it.

- I can’t tell you how many times Kronk has gotten raw pancakes stuck to the ceiling. Worst of all, some are still up there because they are plastered on at this point.

- It’s become a weekly thing for Cruella and Gothel to try and drag me out to the mall so that I can get ‘better’ clothing. What’s wrong with a suit and duck slippers?

- Sykes has held multiple poker games in the billiard room. They’re usually pretty tamed, in the beginning anyway. Once people start loosing money, tables start getting flipped, windows get smashed, and people breaking into my room to get money out of me.

[mouseratz]

I Watched All Of The Original Series!

and I am going to make some lists about it! buckle in!

do you want to watch TOS but it's a sixties show and some of it is pretty rough? why don't you skip right to the good stuff?* I've made a list of the bestest ones to share with you all because I wanted one when I started but that didn't work out. Also the worstest ones.

*mileage may vary as it is based on my personal taste. also as with anything, check trigger warnings

⭐The Besties⭐

(in chronological order, NOT best to worst. ones I just really really like )

1.4 "The Naked Time"

1.5 "The Enemy Within"

1.16 "The Galileo Seven"

1.19 "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"

1.21 "Return of the Archons"

1.24 "This Side of Paradise"

1.28 "The City On The Edge of Tomorrow"

2.1 "Amok Time"

2.8 "I, Mudd"

2.10 "Journey to Babel"

2.15 "The Trouble With Tribbles"

3.2 "The Enterprise Incident"

3.10 "Plato's Stepchildren"

3.19 "Requiem for Methusela"

3.21 "The Cloud Minders"

-You Should See These Too -

(these didn't make it onto my favorites list but are still notable for series context. I may still have missed some.)

1.6 "Mudd's Women" (introduces Mudd)

1.14 "Balance of Terror" (introduces Romulans)

1.18 "Arena" (Gorn the lizard man's appearance)

1.22 "Space Seed" (Khan's origin.)

1.25 "The Devil in the Dark" (The Horta appears.)

1.26 "Errand of Mercy" (Introduces Klingons.)

2.4 "Mirror Mirror" (Introduces the mirror universe.)

3.5 "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" (introduces the Medusans)

🚫The Worsties🚫

I hated these bitches.

Pilot/1.11+1.12 "The Cage/The Menagerie"

1.27 "The Alternative Factor"

2.13 "Obsession"

2.26 "Assignment: Earth"

3.3"The Paradise Syndrome"

and that's the summary! I'll post a full, unedited version here as well

[sebastianshaw]

Gud morning, this is Munday when I post a bunch of random OOC to try to cut down on what I post the rest of the week! - My mom looks so old and ugly in pictures and like. . .she does not look like that at all in real life. And it gives me comfort because I look awful in my photos too. My pictures look NOTHING like what’s in the mirror. I know I am prettier than that. So seeing the same thing happen to someone else is validating in that ok so I’m NOT just delusionally vain, the camera indeed doesn’t like me. She says she’s never been photogenic either. We have the same coloring so I think that might be it. - I think it’s hilarious that my top three favorite books are The Last Unicorn, A Little Princess, and Jurassic Park. Like, you’ve got a very beautiful tragic ethereal fairytale, a just-after-the-Victorian-era Cinderella story about the power of imagination and about remaining graceful and kind at all times, and. . . .all-female sex-changing genetic monsters run amok killing the men who tried to control them gruesomely (no srsly everyone who dies is a man as a consequence of there being only two female characters to begin with) And like The fact all of these struck a deep chord with me since a young age says a lot about me, I think. - SPEAKING OF UNICORNS so I’ve been shopping around for supernatural RP boards to join when I have time (probably not til after this month), and I’ve narrowed it down to 2-3, but today I saw another and what really stuck out to me is that among the witches, vampires, and wereanimals was a custom playable species they called a re’em. These “re’em” are people who can  transform into a horse-like creature with one, two, or zero horns, and could choose either a warrior or healer powerset. So, basically, wereunicorns. And I just thought this was genius not simply because I love unicorns, but because. .  .ok, so you know how the King James translation (aka the worst one lol) of the Bible had unicorns in it? The word they translated as “unicorn” was “reem” or “re’em” Now, as it turns out, the word “re’em” actually most likely referred to an auroch, a massive breed of now-extinct wild cattle (of which I am also a fan) but for a long time, no one could figure out what it was. Rhinos, wild ox, white goats, and the beautiful Arabian oryx (seriously, look it up, it’s GORGEOUS) were all considered candidates for the mystery as well; some translations do use the oryx instead, though I personally prefer the auroch. . . and, I won’t lie, I really like the unicorn version best even though I know it’s only there because they just couldn’t figure out wtf this powerful horned animal could be.  But yeah so. . . having your unicorn-based shapeshifters call themselves re’em is honestly really clever (I’m guessing they decided just calling them unicorns/wereunicorns/etc sounded hokey?) I don’t think this is the board I’ll be joining but goddamn I do like that. Especially since it includes BOTH characterizations of unicorns in lore----vicious and wild vs peaceful healers. I personally like mine as gentle healer sorts but I love the research being shown here! -  I recently found out about a very obscure mythic beast from heraldry called the lampago. It's a tiger or lion with a human face. And I can see why it's so little known because. . .that's not scary? That is considerably LESS scary than a regular tiger or lion because it lacks the teeth that a predatory big cat has. I can see why the manticore took off a lot more; yes, it's a lion with the head of a man too, but ALSO the giant tail of a scorpion and three rows of large sharp teeth. That's fuckin scary. -  Fun fact: Nepotism means favoritism given to family members, such as a CEO appointing his son to a high position just because it's his kid. It comes from the Latin root "nepos" meaning nephew because many Catholic popes and bishops in the past gave preferential positions to their nephews (since, having taken vows of chastity, they didn't have sons, although it has been pointed out how some sure seemed to have a lot of "nephews" with no fathers in the picture. . . ) -  At the risk of sounding like I’m kinkshaming or harshing anyone’s preferences (I’m not, I get why people have this fantasy + why it’s appealing) whenever I see someone at a board placing a Want Ad for their character’s abusive ex/stalker/other figure who is generically evil and sexually obsessed with theirs. . .I kinda always wonder who they expect to respond? Not because it’s a “dark” character, I play plenty of villains, but because it’s a character by design meant to entirely revolve around theirs. And since it’s one-sided, with their character being the ever-pursued victim who doesn’t want this, the bad guy’s player inevitably (in my experience) is the one who has to do everything and push everything forward and all the victim’s player has to do is write woeful reactions. And the victim, of course, gets to be a fully fledged character with other stuff going on, but the intent of the villain is just to be 24/7 built around the victim. I’m sure it doesn’t ALWAYS turn out like that, just, that was my experience when I played those types of characters on occasion by the requests of my partners in the past (I don’t anymore) I wanted to make my partner happy and give them their fantasy, and they always told me how good I was at it, but I never enjoyed it. Besides finding it really squicky and uncomfortable for me, it was also so . . .unrewarding for the reasons mentioned, because I was doing all the work and my partner got all the pleasure. It just wasn’t any fun for me and felt like I was getting the short of the stick while they got off and now whenever I see people asking for this that’s all I can think of, like “I get why you want this, but who wants to be the OTHER half of it? What do YOU bring to the table for THEM?” which I think really someone should always ask in RP anyway.  -  Single ply toilet paper is for mice, not humans. It’s for nesting material. I can’t believe anyone thinks it’s for butt wiping. No way. -  Fun fact: Despite sounding like a suburban white hipster spelling of Kevin, the name “Kayvan” is in fact an unrelated Persian male name. It can be a first name, as with Kayvan Novak, or a last name as with Anthony Keyvan. - I kinda wanted to celebrate my Ukranian Slavic heritage this Halloween by dressing as a Byzantine woman or the Sultana Roxelana, but they don’t sell costumes like that and I’m too lazy to make one and like. .  .no one would get it anyway. 

[dylawa]

So @allmightluver​ made this FANTASTIC analysis into All Might’s character [Here] and how the current Manga arc (chapters ~300-305) really shows how he’s going through it, and, if you have the time to read it, I by all means am begging you to go read and reblog that post instead. But, for my own small-brained sake, I asked for their permission to create an abbreviated version of their post (which is still “long,” but it’s not a whole fanfic’s length long. It’s brilliant as it is! I am just weak).

This literally is just a rephrased edition of a much larger, more in-depth piece; it’s the equivalent of reading a book’s synopsis over the book itself, so GO. READ IT.

But, to those that are still here, this is a Thing about All Might. Again, all of this is just rephrased from @allmightluver​‘s [original post]; I kept most of the original context; maybe I’ll do a follow-up reblog with my own thoughts.

From as early as Toshinori’s childhood, to as late as his young teenage years, literally all he ever wanted was to be a hero people could see and know, “Everything is going to turn out okay, no matter how bad the situation is.” Many other heroes of the time, and even into current day BNHA, generally had other reasons for pursuing the line of work, but not him. There was no yearning for fame, lust for money, or a power trip, or anything like that. The only thing he wanted out of being a hero, was to get people to smile. To feel safe.

It’s not common for a 14 year old to come to this conclusion, so it’s pretty safe to assume Toshinori didn’t have the best childhood, whether that’s in his own personal life, or he really just had no filter between his home life, and the world of heroes and villains. Being Quirkless probably played a huge factor in all of that.

But then, what about Izuku? He was Quirkless, right? Here’s the thing: He had All Might to look up to. Toshinori? Nobody. Yes, Izuku had some of the same roadblocks, but All Might inspired him to keep going. There isn’t much to imply that Toshinori had a similar relationship to Nana when they first crossed paths, and hero culture was less of a fashion show than it is currently.

Nana was only able to mentor Toshinori for a few short years before she was brutally murdered, right in front of him, and after that, all he had was Gran Torino, who wasn’t exactly benevolent teacher material-- vicious enough that, even as an older man, Toshinori had severe reservations about speaking with him again; but back then, he was one of the only people that knew the pain he went through in losing Nana, not to mention knowledge of One for All itself. And even then, Torino instructed him to leave the country, once again leaving Toshinori all alone to figure out things for himself until he could confidently return to Japan.

And when he did come back, he had his work cut out for him; there was a lot of work to be done to get society as “surface-level gleaming” as it was under All Might’s thumb, and we see some of that in Vigilantes; staying up for days on end to save people, stop villains, and repair structural damage. He even falls asleep mid-jump at one point, because that’s all the time for rest he can squeeze in. But, by this point, the power of One For All has lead the public, and even other heroes to believe, that All Might has it under control; he doesn’t need help, or at least, nothing more than what they’re already giving. And sure, Endeavor did his part, but that was for him; he just wanted to surpass All Might, not help him.

Now, after his gruesome injury, Toshinori no longer has that ability to save people like he used to. He spent years doing nothing but serving the world, fighting an unseen force that nearly tore him in half, to the point that that evil force should have died, and, even after all of that, thinking he had won, that it was over, Nighteye still promised his untimely demise, before abandoning him for continuing to push himself as his organs threatened to fall out of his body. But, even if AFO was “gone,” there was still a whole other world of villains to deal with; the worst threat was gone, but that didn’t mean the world was safe.

And the only person who could maintain that peace, was All Might. Now, he was under pressure of a ticking clock. So, he kept going.

Which, of course, turned him into what we saw in the beginning of the manga/anime. He has a whole slew of physical issues that are only exacerbated by his lack of self care in favor of pushing himself as hard as he can to keep up his hero work, and because of that, he’s completely ruined his health outside of the All Might persona. The man is practically rotting from the inside out, and, though at first no one knows it’s All Might, people on the street look at this ghastly figure, and they know it. And he knows they know it. Could you imagine the stress he swallows down, knowing, one day, they will find out the truth?

And, let’s not forget how, once Nighteye left, Toshinori was left alone with his paperwork. Eventually, Tsukauchi took over, but that was only because Toshinori let it slip in a moment of deep stress just who he was. But, in the timespan between, it was all up to Toshinori to handle those things, on top of his hero work, and the bare-minimum of whatever he was doing to keep himself alive.

This part, I’m just quoting from @allmightluver​‘s post verbatim:

“People blame him for not preparing society for his retirement, that he failed in passing on the torch so to speak, but in reality he did everything possible to keep society from falling for 40 years, doing all within his power just to keep things afloat. He is only one person. One human being, he can’t do everything despite trying to. Society failed All Might.”

Some people in fandom say he sucks as a teacher, but first of all, do you remember who he had as a teacher? I’d say he’s leaps and bounds above Torino. Not to mention, he’s never been a teacher before, and he never planned to pass on OFA again. And just because someone’s a bad teacher (which, he could be worse), doesn’t mean they’re not smart: he’s got a 6/6 intelligence score. Which definitely doesn’t help when Izuku does something to hurt himself with his Quirk that he gave to him. He could very well think it’s his own fault.

And we haven’t even touched up on Dave yet! This man literally staged a hostage situation so he could get his hands on banned technology to try to extend All Might’s time, and hurt so many people in the process. There’s another friend gone.

And then, All For One comes back. A man Toshinori swore he killed. And then he has to fight him in front of the world, having his weakness exposed, and then being told this villain is grooming Nana’s grandson-- someone Toshinori failed to save, didn’t even know needed saving, because he didn’t know the kid existed. And he doesn’t get time to process that; he has to pretend he’s fine, even while he’s shown in this failing human form to the world, to stop AFO once more at great personal cost.

And then, OFA leaves him.

And then he has to deal the the ordeal of being human while Bakugo blames himself for it, while Nighteye dies and confesses he’s happy after all these years to see him on his last words, while watching Endeavor struggle with one Nomu on live television, while watching Bakugo almost take over the burden of carrying OFA, and, despite all of these horrible things occurring... he still confesses to his acquaintance, Aizawa, that he’s “decided to live.” Like it’s another burden to take on. How can this man not be horribly suffering deep down inside? We don’t see the extent of it, because he trained for so long to keep it buried deep down, and it’s harder as Toshinori than it was as All Might, but he’s still got severe trauma and chronic physical conditions that will last the rest of his life. And, yes, people made him promise to live, but only he “decided” he would do so.

And then, he does research into the OFA holders, and finds a gruesome secret. He could have sealed Izuku’s fate to an early grave, not just because of the nature of hero work, but because OFA users have what seems to be a natural predisposition to die early (due to those who previously had quirks being given OFA having their lifespan shortened because of it; Toshinori doesn’t know the full truth yet).

And pretty much right after he finds out that information, the world implodes on itself. Villains win a critical fight, and run amok. People are dying. Heroes are quitting. They blame him. The heroes that do remain can barely handle the load. Some even die. AFO escapes prison, Izuku is in critical condition-- everything he worked for for forty years, disintegrates overnight. Everything he did to himself in pursuit of a peaceful society meant nothing. And, he can feel his vestige within One For All, which isn’t a good sign.

Time is running out.

And he may not even die happy.

“People don’t credit All Might enough for everything he’s done. Most don’t realize the sacrifices he’s made. His character is so unbelievably profound and deep, it’s more than just the “I am here!” people focus on. He’s a deeply troubled, layered, complex character. And I can’t find fault within him.”

[ashenburst]

Posting some angst that I wrote. I'm not sure if it will end up in the final version of my book as this is a side character's POV. My best friend wants to skin me alive because of what I'm doing to my characters, ESPECIALLY Athanasius (the star of this chapter/oneshot), so, if you'd like some sort of Nietzschean, Dostoyevsky-ish sort of energy combined with a wounded man whose life has been nothing but exploitation... take this!

tw: gore, bugs being yuck, religious themes/trauma, heavy depression

word count: 1692, unedited because #yolo

Athanasius tugged at the hem of his shirt. The blood, well crusted, defied his movements. Elbowing it like mad, he barely managed to take it off and throw it by his side, where it lay together with the top of his uniform, discarded by the roots of an old oak. All of the clothes, drenched in a deep red. One swift yearning blew his mind, that of murder, of all of Agglomeration’s uniforms coated in metallic death. But no hatred, no hope could go that length. Nothing his soul could sustain. Not anymore.

Birds and waters and insects all sang, ignorant. Remaining in his stained breeches, he staggered close to the river and its white shore, agony greeting every movement. Flies tickled their way into half-open wounds, the stinging slits crossing his body. Sweat and blood curled his chest’s hairs with some black bugs dangling. So many flew around. Everyone had use of him.

He’d contemplated leaving himself in the state of bloodbath, and run for help in any community, feigning amnesia. The sheer horror of his appearance could not be trapped; whispers of it would run amok only to be seized by the worst of ears, those deaf to him.

Rocks of the riverbank wriggled beneath his boots. He dropped on his knees, pain shrieking once they dislocated. He held his head high. Cold hands contrasted on sun-heated stones. The Sun burnt through his quivering eyelids.

He could run. Would they find him? They would love to. He would kill to quench that love. He already had. Disappointed he was to see it insatiable.

But he could run. Where to? Aurun’s bank had his funds, but entering the city meant sure doom. The rest of the world was his destination. At least, parts of it without the Agglomeration.

And he could run. Scramble to some dreary town, then harbor. Stowaway his life until Onogea. He absolutely could. He had knowledge, he had strength, he had power.

His fingers dug into the rocks. The stone cracked under his weakness. One deep sigh to commemorate it all over again, and he choked on himself. He coughed up deep red mucus, spraying blood and its clots over round, white rocks. His hand rose, fingertips shaking like a naked twig on the wind. He coughed again, and blood squirted over his already dirty palm. So much filth. He’d long grown accustomed.

Then why was there hope? That inside and outside, all of that grunge could be cleansed? Because, he still had power. Despicably interwoven with all of his thoughts and feelings and so much absence of both. He had it, and he was abused for it, and he abused it. And he had it. And he pounded his fist against that aching chest, spewing darkness into broad daylight, scarring the nature with his own wounds, bleeding with the Devil’s compassion, and he had it. Even the Devil wept for him. Even the Devil pitied him. Yet he had it.

He huffed a fly outside his nostril. Something stuck at the back of his throat, clogging the air. He hawked, discharging even more bloody mucus, now onto himself. Stained saliva swayed from his lips. He brushed it away with the back of his palm. In his lap, red rolled, young blood over old. He separated his legs to have it smudge all the way to the ground. Kneecaps scorched as he scraped them over rocks. Wherever they dug, blood trailed, two crescents set in stone.

To be unclasped. To be a stain elsewhere. This world made it seem too simple, lovingly palpable. But he was not bound to it, and in navigating the philosophical, he reached the inevitable: responsibility would set him free. He held pseudohistoric texts that hollered so, and pseudohistory was of angelic origin, therefore applicable to him. He could recall the tremble in his fists while reading it, mind screaming and shattering with the consolation, “It would be over. You’ve understood. It would be over.” But it wasn’t. Same questions yielded same answers, and these were not meant for man. He had come to know Hell by fulfilling all wisdom.

If someone could question him for once!

He whimpered, back arching him down. Another surge of wet coughs.

In the corner of his foggy vision, he spotted a plant unusually brown, leaves writhed. His head rolled to his shoulder to gaze at it properly. It was easy to care for the inhuman. None of it was evil. But to understand? Invincibly difficult.

He raised his hand. It trembled so fucking much, but it did the job, reached the plant. Wisps ignited at his fingertips, shaky too as they glided towards the leaf, erasing blight from it, rendering it a green slate. He gave it one stroke. “There…” he croaked like the ravens of September, no bird to caw back. Why would anyone, indeed, ever even murmur back? To tangibly, blatantly forlorn he. If anew, perhaps he could be fine.

It was no hope, he reminded himself – he remembered how it once felt. It was yet another stumble into the unknown, an experimental circumstance, to see if he could, somehow, appease the referential frame up above and renounce it. He cursed under his breath. It was never enough, and they? They never should’ve made themselves known. Mankind did not need them. Mankind never wanted right. There was no right! He gasped at the Heavens. Why would they ever impose themselves, if there was no truth?! Never to reply!

But who was he, to have his wisdom pacified? Forever the staple of cruelty, a child. Neglected all over again.

Flies ravaged the inside of his mouth. He spat some, others he coughed away. Another, behind the gums, he had to scoop with his tongue, and only then dribble it out. Useless troubles for a meaningful man. Cosmic irony, overlapping the entirety of his life.

He dragged himself up to the coastline. By the water’s clarity, by its estimated location, he knew this was not one of Aurun’s five rivers. It could be Rulde. Downstream, it would lead him to Szenevod. It didn’t truly matter.

His palms drowned in the river’s cold. The rest of his body above it, he could listen and stare at the steams. The reflection was expected, a face mauled with emotion and encrusted with gore. He hated the truth inside it: he was the saint. He would be eternalized on murals, his mantle the sunlight, his cohort the flora, his mouth bloody obscene, but the heart, the pastors would claim, the heart pure and so profoundly tortured! And they would assure fervently: the greater the suffering, the greater the Heaven’s lodge. He wouldn’t even bother to tell them the great truth that living for the afterlife could only give Hell, and he already held it, and no Heaven was worth the misery.

He was the saint, beloved only at a distance. He would’ve kissed that saint, if only he had known how to love him. He was, after all, right beneath him, gaping back with barren ambers. He could not hope for this man. There was nobody and nothing in the eighteen years of his existence that ever nursed his soul. Why keep going, if it could only get worse? He had made one fatal mistake, only recently. He licked sweet hope only for it to burn bitter, for one could not be defined without the other. He didn’t have to know nor to realize, for it had always been an axiom surer than the Sun. Him, a fool for ignoring the one truth he found, denying the axiom it supported, and finally, aching after the plainest of swindles.

Constantin, you did not care.

He could no longer care either. But he could cry. By all means, he could. Tears were harmless. He wasn’t. He did.

What would you do if you saw me like this?

He stared at himself through dreary eyes. Tears swelled in the blood’s mud, warmth draping over his face, uncomfortably coating it, suffocating the skin. He never got the answer. It wasn’t meant for him. And he squealed all of his helplessness for the world to ignore.

He hacked between sobs, hair and insects sticking into his mouth. Droplets and patches of blood gracefully dispersed beneath him, and he kept adding onto the red, throat itching to puke every violent sob, every harsh whine. It clenched so hard, gagged him, threatened to empty the bowels. He couldn’t breathe, for he couldn’t reach for air, and so no sound escaped his wet lips parted in a mute cry. Bile dripped from it, sour to taste. It had always been ugly, to what end? There was nothing to let out. Nostrils flared, he thought he calmed, once he pieced together that thought. Yet, in the dread of peace, he found it in him to scream like mad, drool and tears carried by the river.

Why? He didn’t have to. Nobody would hear. The river flowed on, the nature lapped at his body to nourish itself with his blood, tears, and agony. The usual. There never was a divine interference but to plague, and there never was an ear that heard unless it willed to. And he was so accursedly aware of it! And he wailed despite all of it! Him, foolish him!

Have him punished, someone! Tender hooves trampling him into dust and bones. Please! The same death he could not prevent! The same moment his power abandoned him, when he needed it most, when his heart shredded and when he came back to discover – death! His lifelong accomplice! He pleaded! Flies devour all of his rot! Rocks hammer all of bones! Waters bloat every muscle! Punish him!

“Please…” he begged for the umpteenth time, the mantra of his life, the disease of his death. “I’m not…” His hand slipped, gave out, and the water slapped him.

Indifferent, he dropped into the torrents to carry him anywhere. The waters silenced everything, mercy for once. If his anguish ever held any merit, he’d waste it all on one desire: never to bless this world with another Chosen One.

[boldly-kirk]

my collection of cursed star trek merch images

presented for your entertainment and my misery, accompanied by my insightful commentary

1.) Spock Socks

the first thing i feel when i look at these socks is not confusion, no, but contempt. if i was someone wanting to purchase socks with spock on them for some reason, and i got these, when could i ever wear them? i already hear you saying “with pyjamas-“ no. i couldn’t sleep in these socks even if i wanted to, because of the weird 3D ear on the side i would get uncomfortable even IF i somehow enjoyed the aggressively masculine, square-faced doom-style version of spock’s face printed onto the front of the socks.

2.) Captain Kirk Beer Koozie

this makes me uncomfortable in ways i cannot articulate.

3.) Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head Spock & Uhura

i’m so... perplexed as to why someone would make this? and i have so many questions about the designs? why does spock look so cocky?? why are uhura’s eyelashes bright blue?? why does this exist???

4.) Star Trek Vinyl Figures

okay, so maybe these aren’t the worst offense on the list, but their bodies are so different from their heads it makes me confused and upset for the wasted potential. like those heads look good! but the bodies look like a weird mix between a lego figure and a chunky funko pop. there’s so much detail and depth into the face and i love spock’s facial expression in the amok time set, but the bodies are SO different it makes it look like someone had an action figure of spock and then accidentally ripped off the head and lost the body, so they just frankensteined it onto an ill-fitting body.

5.) Square Sulu

I honestly just think it’s funny. he just looks like he’s been compacted into one of those trash-squares from the Wall-E movie

6.) Scotty Stuffed Figure (With a Disgusted Expression)

why is he shaped like that ???? aaaaaaaaaaaaa ??? his feet are so big.

[ohgodmyeyes]

hi! I was curious as to what are both your fav and least fav versions of anakin? (like aotc, rots, old force ghost, clone wars, etc)

This is such an exciting question, but I'll try to be succinct instead of long-winded and boring. (My stories are already there for that.) Here's a quick rundown of a few different Anakins, from my most treasured to the one (and only one) I tend to side-eye: 

ROTJ Anakin / Force Ghost Anakin - I'm grouping these guys together, because I love them all for the same reason, and that reason is that they DID it. ROTJ Anakin is the Anakin who finds himself again; who takes responsibility for his family, and a huge step toward atoning for the things he's done. He spends ROTJ slowly changing; we see it in how he regards the Emperor, and the way he regards Luke. The closest thing he’s ever going to do to getting his wife back, realistically, is saving his son and finally openly defying Palpatine. It doesn’t matter that anyone else knows Vader has been rescued from himself, or that he was really a good man all along. Luke knows, and that’s enough; it’s part of why their relationship is so special to me. Luke is the only living person who says a proper goodbye to Anakin: He knew all along that it was worth it to try to know him. That’s beautiful.

His journey isn't finished at this stage, exactly, but his he's in a better place than he's ever been, and I love him for it. He's hope personified, even for the very worst of us.

As an aside— physicality isn't a barrier to any of this; I love him all busted up and dying, I love him as a fully-healed Sebastian Shaw, and as a pretty, young Hayden Christensen.

Padawan Anakin / AOTC Anakin / Jedi Quest Anakin - In second place is a much younger iteration of him— a sad, lonely kid who's easily excitable, and dangerous, somehow, without being at all frightening. He's a mixed-up kid who's had a less-than-ideal upbringing, bound to an ancient prophecy no one knows enough about. He cries out constantly to be held and loved; he's got his heart in his hand, and he's always ready to give it away to the next person who shows him kindness— or who even just needs him. 

He's still so compassionate and well-intentioned at this point in his life, even when it doesn't benefit him. He can be petty and sensitive, although anyone would be, if they had to bear the kind of weight Anakin carries on his own shoulders at that age. His emotions sometimes run amok, but his heart is still so good... and more importantly than that, he knows it. He still has hope, for himself and for others, despite the overwhelming sense of 'otherness' he tends to feel. That's what sets him apart from Vader for me, even though I think AOTC Ani resembles the ultimate, 'suited' Darth Vader a lot more than the Anakin we meet at the beginning of ROTS. 

Plus— although this is fairly irrelevant— AOTC Anakin happens to be Anakin at peak hotness. No damn wig is going to change that, nor is the sad fact of my own rapidly-advancing age. :) 

Little Kid Anakin / TPM Anakin - The sweet baby version of Anakin comes in next for me. The altruism he struggles to hang onto until he finally falls is front-and-centre at this stage. He's tough by necessity (obviously, he's a fucking slave), but he isn't jaded yet— largely owing to his mother. Even when he loses Qui-Gon and gets to the Temple and struggles to integrate, his heart just stays enormous. God knows what he's already been through, but he never stops trying, and there's nothing fake about his confidence at this stage in his life. I love that; I think we could all stand to be a bit more like nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

There's an Anakin & Reader story on ao3 by @itohan called 'Kuebiko', and it's a beautiful depiction of what it might be like to be a caregiver for a very young Anakin. It's headed for some pretty sad places, to be sure, but there's a lot of sweetness and lovely (sometimes chilling) little insights into his character that I don't otherwise get to see very often. Anyone else with a soft spot for child Ani should go and read it.

'Classic' Vader, between the end of ROTS and the end of ANH - This is an enormous chunk of time, but again, I think it's more helpful than not if I just group these iterations of him together, at least for the purpose of compiling this list. It's horrific and tragic and a devastating waste of potential, but Anakin really does spend a huge amount of time mired in a thick, dark cloud of grief and anger. He convinces himself of a lot of stupid shit during this period in his life: 'Anakin is dead, I'm fulfilling my destiny, I can get Padmé back, she'd love all this ORDER I'm bringing, blah blah blah'. Every ounce of his extraordinary control is purely surface-level; he's a raging wildfire inside for a longer period of time than I think nearly anyone else could realistically sustain (as in, Kylo Ren was always going to die at 30, and I'm surprised I didn't, too lol).

He's empowered by his shitstain of a 'Master' to hurt and kill people against everything that once made him who he was, and no one can know he suffers for it (or for the loss of his wife, or the family he wishes he could have raised with her). No one can know anything about him; he's a man playing a part who can't ever take off his costume. Everything hurts him, and the only places he can turn to for comfort are the battlefield, and the inside of his own head. He has profound disabilities of every imaginable nature, and receives no more than the most cursory physical maintenance to remedy them. He escapes into his missions, but every one of those is a slight against his own better nature. His personal pursuits don't benefit him either; for basically twenty years of his life, he's living in an emotional storm— it ebbs and flows, but it never lets up, and his entire existence is set up specifically to reward the most despicable of his behaviour.

He doesn't make very many genuine emotional breakthroughs, because he's not allowed— just tricked and lied to and manipulated and taken advantage of, even when he's the one ostensibly in 'control'. His life only starts again when Luke comes into it; again, one more reason their connection is so special to me.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend another Anakin/Reader story by a different author; it's called 'mrfiveohone' by DarthDoritos, and it's on ao3. It's a brilliant exploration of what a strange, budding relationship with a youngish Vader might look like, and just an overall beautiful portrait of escalating intimacy on top of that. Another one I would highly recommend (completion status notwithstanding) is called 'Afterimage', and it is by garnettrees, also on ao3. It's a very dark Vaderdala story that gets right inside Anakin's head in the most wonderful ways. He never stops loving Padmé, and in that, he never truly stops being who he is. 

This is the Vader I (admittedly somewhat dramatically) see the most of myself in. It puts us at-odds sometimes, but my urge to get up underneath that mask and make him feel worthy of his own name is insurmountable. I love him because if I didn't, I'd be in trouble. 

Which brings us to TCW Anakin… who is, perhaps, the only version of Anakin I can honestly say I don't care for. Which is fine, because the show itself really isn't my kind of thing. Suffice to say, that particular depiction of him departs so dramatically from any of the other ones I've known (or listed here) that I just can't get into it, no matter how hard I try. 

I'm going to end this with a shout-out to Lego Anakin! I've never seen a shitty version of Lego Anakin, whether in a cartoon or on my desk at home. :)

Thank you for asking, anon. That was fun to write out!

[aion-rsa]

The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise

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By the time my generation got to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, the episodes often were being presented in top-ten marathons. When I was ten-years-old, for the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek, I tape-recorded a marathon of ten episodes that had all been voted by fans as the best-ever installments of The Original Series. Later, I got lucky and found Trek stickers at the grocery store and was able to label my VHS tapes correctly. But do I think all the episodes that were in that marathon back in 1991 were really the best episodes of all of the classic Star Trek? The short answer: no. Although I love nearly every episode of the first 79 installments of Star Trek, I do think that certain lists have been created by what we think should be on the list rather than what episodes really best represent the classic show. 

This is a long-winded way of saying, no, I didn’t include “Amok Time” or “The Menagerie” on this list because, as great as they are, I don’t think they really represent the greatest hits of the series. Also, if you’ve never watched TOS, I think those two episodes will throw you off cause you’ll assume Spock is always losing his mind or trying to steal the ship. If you’ve never watched TOS, or you feel like rewatching it with fresh eyes, I feel pretty strong that these 10 episodes are not only wonderful, but that they best represent what the entire series is really about. Given this metric, my choice for the best episode of TOS may surprise you…

10. “The Man Trap” 

The first Star Trek ever episode aired should not be the first episode you watch. And yet, you should watch it at some point. The goofy premise concerns an alien with shaggy dog fur, suckers on its hand, and a face like a terrifying deep-sea fish. This alien is also a salt vampire that uses telepathy that effectively also makes it a shapeshifter. It’s all so specifically bonkers that trying to rip-off this trope would be nuts. Written by science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson (one half of Logan’s Run authorship) “The Man Trap” still slaps, and not because Spock (Leonard Nimoy)  tries to slap the alien. Back in the early Season 1 episodes of Star Trek, the “supporting” players like Uhura and Sulu are actually doing stuff in the episode. We all talk about Kirk crying out in pain when the M-113 creature puts those suckers on his face, but the real scene to watch is when Uhura starts speaking Swahili. The casual way Uhura and Sulu are just their lovable selves in this episode is part of why we just can’t quit the classic Star Trek to this day. Plus, the fact that the story is technically centered on Bones gives the episode some gravitas and oomph. You will believe an old country doctor thinks that salt vampire is Nancy! (Spoiler alert: It’s not Nancy.)

9. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” 

There are two episodes everyone always likes to bring up when discussing the ways in which Star Trek changed the game for the better in pop culture’s discourse on racism: “Plato’s Stepchildren” and this episode, “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield.” The former episode is famous because Kirk and Uhura kiss, which is sometimes considered the first interracial kiss on an American TV show. (British TV shows had a few of those before Star Trek, though.) But “Plato’s Stepchildren” is not a great episode, and Kirk and Uhura were also manipulated to kiss by telepaths. So, no, I’m not crazy about “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Uhura being forced to kiss a white dude isn’t great.

But “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield,” oddly holds up. Yep. This is the one about space racism where the Riddler from the ‘60s Batman (Frank Gorshin) looks like a black-and-white cookie. Is this episode cheesy? Is it hard to take most of it seriously? Is it weird that Bele (Frank Gorshin) didn’t have a spaceship because the budget was so low at that time? Yes. Is the entire episode dated, and sometimes borderline offensive even though its heart is in the right place? Yes. Does the ending of the episode still work? You bet it does. If you’re going to watch OG Star Trek and skip this episode, you’re kind of missing out on just how charmingly heavy-handed the series could get. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” is like a ‘60s after-school special about racism, but they were high while they were writing it.

8. “Arena”

You’re gonna try to list the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and not list the episode where Kirk fights a lizard wearing gold dress-tunic? The most amazing thing about “Arena” is that it’s a Season 1 episode of The Original Series and somehow everyone involved in making TOS had enough restraint not to ever try to use this Gorn costume again. They didn’t throw it away either! This famous rubber lizard was built by Wah Chang and is currently owned by none other than Ben Stiller.

So, here’s the thing about “Arena” that makes it a great episode of Star Trek, or any TV series with a lizard person. Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn even though he could have, and Star Trek refused to put a lizard costume in a bunch of episodes later, even though they totally could have. Gold stars all around.

7. “Balance of Terror”

The fact that Star Trek managed to introduce a race of aliens that looked exactly like Spock, and not confuse its viewership is amazing. On top of that, the fact that this detail isn’t exactly the entire focus of the episode is equally impressive. The notion that the Romulans look like Vulcans is a great twist in The Original Series, and decades upon decades of seeing Romulans has probably dulled the novelty ever so slightly. But, the idea that there was a brutally cold and efficient version of the Vulcans flying around in invisible ships blowing shit up is not only cool, but smart.

“Balance of Terror” made the Romulans the best villains of Star Trek because their villainy felt personal. Most Romulan stories in TNG, DS9, and Picard are pretty damn good and they all start right here.

6. “Space Seed”

Khaaaan!!!! Although The Wrath of Khan is infinitely more famous than the episode from which it came, “Space Seed” is one of the best episodes of The Original Series even if it hadn’t been the progenitor of that famous film. In this episode, the worst human villain the Enterprise can encounter doesn’t come from the present, but instead, the past. Even though “Space Seed” isn’t considered a very thoughtful episode and Khan is a straight-up gaslighter, the larger point here is that Khan’s evilness is connected to the fact that he lived on a version of Earth closer to our own.

The episode’s coda is also amazing and speaks of just how interesting Captain Kirk really is. After Khan beat the shit out of him and tried to suffocate the entire Enterprise crew, Kirk’s like “Yeah, this guy just needs a long camping trip.” 

5. “A Piece of the Action”

A few years back, Saturday Night Live did a Star Trek sketch in which it was revealed that Spock had a relative named “Spocko.” This sketch was tragically unfunny because TOS had already made the “Spocko” joke a million times better in “A Piece of the Action.” When you describe the premise of this episode to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, it sounds like you’re making it up. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are tasked with cleaning-up a planet full of old-timey mobsters who use phrases like “put the bag on you.” Not only is the episode hilarious, but it also demonstrates the range of what Star Trek can do as an emerging type of pop-art. In “A Piece of the Action,” Star Trek begins asking questions about genres that nobody ever dreamed of before. Such as, “what if we did an old-timey gangster movie, but there’s a spaceship involved?”

4. “Devil in the Dark”

When I was a kid, my sister and I called this episode, “the one with giant pizza.” Today, it’s one of those episodes of Star Trek that people tell you defines the entire franchise. They’re not wrong, particularly because we’re just talking about The Original Series. The legacy of this episode is beyond brilliant and set-up a wonderful tradition within the rest of the franchise; a monster story is almost never a monster story

The ending of this episode is so good, and Leonard Nimoy and Shatner play the final scenes so well that I’m actually not sure it’s cool to reveal what the big twist is. If you somehow don’t know, I’ll just say this. You can’t imagine Chris Pratt’s friendly Velicrapotrs, or Ripper on Discovery without the Horta getting their first.

3. “The Corbomite Maneuver” 

If there’s one episode on this list that truly represents what Star Trek is usually all about on a plot level, it’s this one. After the first two pilot episodes —“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Cage”—this was the first regular episode filmed. It’s the first episode with Uhura and, in almost every single way, a great way to actually explain who all these characters are and what the hell they’re doing. The episode begins with Spock saying something is “fascinating” and then, after the opening credits, calling Kirk, who is down in sickbay with his shirt off. Bones gives Kirk shit about not having done his physical in a while, and Kirk wanders through the halls of the episode without his shirt, just kind of holding his boots. 

That’s just the first like 5 minutes. It just gets better and better from there. Like a good bottle of tranya, this episode only improves with time. And if you think it’s cheesy and the big reveal bizarre, then I’m going to say, you’re not going to like the rest of Star Trek. 

2. “The City on the Edge of Forever”

No more blah blah blah! Sorry, wrong episode. Still, you’ve heard about “The City on the Edge of Forever.” You’ve heard it’s a great time travel episode. You’ve heard Harlan Ellison was pissed about how the script turned out. You heard that Ron Moore really wanted to bring back Edith Keeler for Star Trek Generations. (Okay, maybe you haven’t heard that, but he did.)

Everything you’ve heard about this episode is correct. There’s some stuff that will make any sensible person roll their eyes today, but the overall feeling of this episode is unparalleled. Time travel stories are always popular, but Star Trek has never really done a time travel story this good ever again. The edge of forever will always be just out of reach.

1. “A Taste of Armageddon”

Plot twist! This excellent episode of TOS almost never makes it on top ten lists. Until now! If you blink, “A Taste of Armageddon” could resemble at least a dozen other episodes of TOS. Kirk and Spock are trapped without their communicators. The crew has to overpower some guards to get to some central computer hub and blow it up. Scotty is in command with Kirk on the surface and is just kind of scowling the whole time. Kirk is giving big speeches about how humanity is great because it’s so deeply flawed.

What makes this episode fantastic is that all of these elements come together thanks to a simplistic science fiction premise: What if a society eliminated violence but retained murder? What if hatred was still encouraged, but war was automated? Star Trek’s best moments were often direct allegories about things that were actually happening, but what makes “A Taste of Armageddon” so great is that this metaphor reached for something that could happen. Kirk’s solution to this problem is a non-solution, which makes the episode even better. At its best classic Star Trek wasn’t just presenting a social problem and then telling us how to fix it. Sometimes it was saying something more interesting — what if the problem gets even harder? What do we do then? 

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The humor and bombast of “A Taste of Armageddon” is part of the answer to that unspoken question, but there’s also a clever lesson about making smaller philosophical decisions. In Star Wars, people are always trying to rid themselves of the dark side of the Force. In Star Trek, Kirk just teaches us to say, “Hey I won’t be a terrible person, today” and then just see how many days we can go in a row being like that.

What do you think are the most franchise-defining episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series? Let us know in the comments below.

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