#these setups leading to the other background episodes though

[ferusaurelius]

OMFD Ask Game #16?

Thank you for the ask! I answered 'favorite gag' elsewhere, so we'll go with ...

16. What’s your favorite joke?

Jim's diary entry in Episode 02: A Damned Man. The text was originally in English and Vico translated it themselves into Spanish! From Vico's interview with the nerdsandbeyond.com:

The only thing that I added was more Spanish, and David was like, “Love it, here for it.” A couple of the writers are Latiné, and my first language is Spanish, so I said if I ever feel angry, frustrated, scared, I want to express it in Spanish, right? Or when I’m writing the journal — originally that was in English. And I was like, “If I’m writing, I would be writing in Spanish.” So I translated the whole thing into Spanish. David was like, “Yeah, I love that. Let’s keep that going.”

They also have the classic spanish guitar theme going in the background. It's "day twenty-eight on the lam" and we get a peak into Jim's backstory and character, that the disguise has something to do with revenge, and MY FAVORITE: "sweating my proverbial balls off." Said in the most deadpan angry-frustrated voice imaginable.

The showrunners could have kept up the disguise gag a bit longer but it works SO MUCH better to have Lucius threatened with death and to complicate that character relationship early! I had a lot of fun with the whole storyline playing out so naturally and building up to other jokes. See also: Coming Nana! Coming for some cake!

JIM'S FACE.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The Many Failures of Lila's Writing

There are three main issues with Lila Rossi (or whatever her name is): she was introduced too early, she doesn't fill a unique role in the story, and her lies are too over the top for her to feel like a good villain. Let's go through that list in order because the issues build to create the show's most annoying character even though her setup could have lead to a legitimately great character who we would have all loved to hate.

Issue 1: Lila Shows Up Three Seasons Too Early

Lila is introduced in the final episode of season one and then essentially disappears from the show for a full season. The only time we see her in season two is her brief appearance in season two's finale where she takes on the role of Volpina again in order to help Gabriel fake Ladybug's death. That's also the episode where we learn that Lila has been "in Achu" for some unknown amount of time.

[image: a list of Lila's season two appearances (source)]

Season three sees Lila show up with reasonable regularity (8 episodes, none of which are two-parters) and we get a real conflict with her, truly establishing her as a villain who lies like crazy and who wants to destroy Marinette.

Then season four comes and Lila is once again forgotten about. She shows up more than she did in season two, but only as a background character and most episodes don't see her at all. She doesn't have a single line until the final three episodes of the season and her role in these episodes is exceedingly minor. She does a few petty things to remind you that she's awful, but she's not the focus of the plot. She's just there to remind you that she exists and to establish her and Chloe as coconspirators of some sort.

[image: a list of Lila's season four appearances (source)]

Then season five comes and Lila is back to being an active antagonist. She shows up in almost every episode and we even get her very lackluster defeat.

This is some of the worst pacing that I have ever seen. It's honestly impressively bad. I hope the issue speaks for itself, but in case it doesn't, you don't chop a story up like this without a good reason and, frankly, their isn't one. Lila's introduction, villain setup, and defeat should have all take place over the course of a season or two, forming a mini arc.

Just in case you don't know what that is, most stories have a main conflict that drives the whole narrative (ex: getting the butterfly miraculous back) but within that story you have lots of mini stories. Things that get resolved so that it feels like things are moving forward and so that the audience stays engaged. If you don't get any satisfying resolutions until five seasons in (or more), then the audience will start to get annoyed or just stop watching. It's also a good way to keep expectations from getting built up too high. If every season or every other season has a satisfying conclusion to some big conflict, then you don't leave everything riding on the big finale.

By chopping Lila's story up, you made the audience spend four seasons dreaming of her defeat. Expectations were sky high. She's more hated than Gabe! If she's been introduced mid season 4 and had the exact same story arc, then her lackluster take down would be a mild disappointment and not a major issue for most of the fandom.

Issue 2: Lila and Chloe Should Never have Coexisted

When it comes to story telling, characters fill roles. Ladybug is the lead. Alya is the plucky best friend. Gabriel is the big bad. Etc. Etc.

Generally speaking, you only want one character in a given role. Having two or more characters in the same role leads to character bloat where characters are fighting for screen time because they don't have a clear place in the story. This is especially true for key antagonistic roles. It's a lot easier to balance two best friends than it is to balance two big bads.

Enter Chloe and Lila.

I've mentioned before that I thought that Chloe was going to be redeemed. The reason I thought this was not because of anything to do with Chloe. It was because the show introduced Lila and, narratively speaking, Lila and Chloe are the same character. They're both petty school bullies whose main job is to cause trouble for Marinette while she's at school and to give setups for akumas.

However, in terms of perceived threat, Lila is the bigger badder Chloe. No one but Sabrina likes Chloe. Everyone but Marinette likes Lila. Chloe doesn't make plans. Lila lives to manipulate and plot. If you're going to get ride of Chloe, Lila is who you'd replace her with. That's just how this works.

One of the most well known examples of this type of setup is Zuko and Azula from Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko is the main antagonist of season one, but season two sees him step out of that role as he starts his journey of self-discovery and redemption. And who is introduced at the end of seasons one? Azula, Zuko's evil, more powerful sister. In season two, Azula fills Zuko's former role, but also makes things feel more serious because she's a bigger badder Zuko.

This brings us back to a big part of issue one. Namely, Lila's ongoing disappearing act. She only does that because of Chloe.

Chloe is a much easier villain to write. She doesn't have to hide anything. She is openly petty and evil. So if you're going to pick a character for a petty conflict, you're going to pick Chloe. The only time Lila gets pulled in is when the drama revolves around lies because Chloe is actually a strikingly honest character. She rarely lied prior to her "friendship" with Lila because, for the most part, Chloe doesn't care if everyone hates her. She only cares about the opinions of a chosen few. (Or, at least, she acts like she does.)

For Lila to work, Chloe needed to be redeemed or written off the show. The best proof of this is seasons five, where Chloe straight up becomes Lila's minion because the writers had to force that relationship if they wanted to have both characters involved in the plot. It's also why season four saw Chloe suddenly obsessed with Marinette when, prior to that, Chloe bullied everyone. The only way to team Chloe and Lila up was to give them a common goal and that didn't exist in the first three seasons.

So, building off of point one, Lila should have been introduced much later and she should have stepped into Chloe's shoes after Chloe either switched roles or completely left the show.

Issue 3: The Lies

I think that we can all agree that Lila is a terrible liar. Even a toddler could see through the BS that spews from her mouth. There are multiple satisfying Lila takedown fics that don't involve clever plots to beat her. They involve Alya or someone else doing a google search because - even with the declining quality of that tool - that's still all that it would take to prove what Lila is.

This is a really bad way to write a character who is supposed to be a master manipulator. Especially when she's going to be the next big bad. They desperately needed to tone her down.

For example, DON'T have her claim to be Ladybug's best friend. Have her claim that Ladybug saved her. That would still go up on the Ladyblog and, more importantly, it would be a lot harder to disprove. I doubt that Ladybug remembers everyone she saves so no one would fault Alya for just taking that at face-value, but Marinette could still instantly peg Lila as a liar.

Tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone's cat? How about tinnitus from being too close to the speakers at Jagged Stone's latest concert? The concert where Lila even got to meet him because she had back stage passes. Once again, hard to disprove. Jagged meets a lot of fans. I doubt he'd be able to tell you that she was lying.

And definitely don't have her openly state that she's a liar. The fact that she did that and was STILL able to manipulate the adult characters is abysmal writing. Especially because it comes right before Lila disappears for a season, giving the impression that her confession essentially defeated her, only for the show to go PSYCH! No one cares about her confession, it meant nothing for the Lila conflict.

I've had someone tell me that they think that Lila's lies were suppose to be a joke and, to be fair, that's plausible. The show relies on a lot of ridiculous humor. If Lila had shown up later, then this might have worked. But because Lila has been around for so long, we've all had time to think about her lies and build up the expectation of how they'd be handled.

I don't just mean Lila being exposed. I mean the fallout of all of her "fans" having to deal with the truth of who Lila really is, an issue that I won't go into here because this is already super long and I think that the issue of how her lies effect characters like Nino and Alya is pretty well understood.

There's also the Chloe thing. Chloe is very over the top, so replacing her with a character who is over the top in a different, more terrifying way would have made some sense. But Chloe's still here and she's more ridiculous than ever, so Lila matching that ridiculous just makes them an annoying duo that we all have to suffer through. Their team up was one of the most forced elements of seasons five. I just do not buy that Chloe would ever subject herself to being someone's minion. When it comes to that team up, the hand of the author is glaring.

Conclusion/Final Thoughts

Manipulative characters are fun. They make for fantastic villains and Lila could have been one of these fantastic villain, especially if Gabriel was played as more sympathetic. If there were lines that Gabriel wouldn't cross, then Lila getting the butterfly would be terrifying. As-is, I don't see how she's any worse than the dude who created Chat Blanc. Plus I'm not even sure why she needs the butterfly. She could already get anything she wanted with minimal effort because her lying powers are so OP. Like, why should I care about that twist? What has changed with the passing of the butterfly? The stakes have not been raised. If anything, they've been lowered.

Lila is just your generic evil villain who is evil for evil's sake. The heroes already hate her. Finding out that she's the big bad is not emotionally devastating. If anything, Marinette should be thrilled that she finally has an excuse to punch Lila.

It's possible that the writers will give Lila an interesting back story, but because she's been around for five seasons, I don't have any faith that they will. I mean, what was the point of introducing her all the way back in season one if you weren't going to use that to set her up in a satisfying way? I've seen people say to just wait and see and wait for what? They couldn't manage to pull off Gabriel's defeat or Chloe's defeat/redemption or Lila's first takedown in a way that was narratively satisfying. Why should I give them a chance to disappoint me with Lila's next take down? Three strikes and you're out!

@tallwriter as requested, there are my thoughts on Lila. As with every character in this show, I think she deserved better. She could have been great. She's one of the worst examples of squandered potential because everything about her was done wrong.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

There aren't horses in cql?? In what direction cql takes that scene?? Again why there aren't horses 😭😭. It's very cool in the novel

CQL has very few horses in general! One of the best things about Fatal Journey to me, a former Weird Horse Girl, was that the Nie soldiers ride horses. I vaguely remember Wen Chao riding a horse with Jiaojiao en route to Xuanwu Cave, and there are occasional background horses here and there, but other than that CQL has minimal horse content--presumably because horses are expensive and dangerous and if they had the budget/patience for that, they would've spent it on having more human extras so the supposedly epic battles have more than like 20 people in them.

The archery contest in the show takes place in the wake of Sunshot as a precursor to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt. The young masters who aren't sect leader all line up to try their best at archery--but then! Ominous cellos play as master of ceremonies Jin Guangyao beckons forward some guards who lead out a row of shackled Wen prisoners who are clearly civilians to stand in front of the targets as an added obstacle.

Jin Zixuan steps forward and successfully shoots a target.

WWX then blindfolds himself, shoots like 4 arrows at once, and hits bullseyes with all four of them, forcing an end to the competition because nobody could possibly beat him.

I dislike that scene for SEVERAL reasons. Firstly, it's cheesy; it's another instance of showing that WWX is soooOOOooOOOoo cool by having him demonstrate an implausible protagonist skill we will never see again. Secondly, it makes every single other character look like an asshole, but I don't think it intends to do that. Everybody present sees these terrified, malnourished prisoners led out in in chains, and some of them make vaguely perturbed faces, but nobody actually objects to it. Someone pointed out to me when I grumbled about this scene previously that WWX's trick shot is potentially an act of resistance since it frees the prisoners, and I can get behind that interpretation; however, the framing of the scene centers the Coolness Factor above all else, and there's no moment of WWX acknowledging the prisoners as people that would've been a nice setup to his actions re: the Wen remnants later (since, IIRC, he meets up with WQ later in the same episode).

More importantly, though... in the novel, from what I understand, the question being grappled with is when and whether retribution is justified. The Wen remnants are not all civilians and some of them directly profited from WRH's regime; WWX's opposition to their mistreatment (and NMJ et al's rejection of that opposition) is more complicated. In CQL, it is established VERY early that WQ and WN are from a separate branch of the Wen clan and were also oppressed by WRH, and it is this branch who comprise the majority of the people WWX rescues. We also have two instances establishing that the Jin sect is imprisoning and executing noncombatants. In the first, LXC expresses concern at Nightless City that there are non-cultivators among the prisoners, and extracts an assurance from JGS and NMJ that civilians will be imprisoned but treated kindly (after which we immediately see JGY order a mass execution on his father's orders).

In the second, WWX and LWJ personally witness Jin Zixun and his men firing arrows at a group of Wen prisoners (A-Yuan among them) and intervene.

So by the time we get to the archery competition, WWX, the Twin Jades, and NMJ have all witnessed and objected to Jin mistreatment of Wen hostages... and yet none of them has anything to say about the very public use of hostages as archery props, except for WWX and his trick shot, I guess. NMJ, known for being honorable to a fault, has nothing to say about JGS breaking his word. LXC, known for his kindness, has nothing to say about a public display of cruelty (overseen by his bf, no less!) that he himself already spoke against. LWJ, who never attended a gathering he didn't immediately exit the second he decided it wasn't the vibe, stays put, does nothing, and also apparently didn't mention Jin Zixun's target practice to anybody with decision-making powers. Later on, these three men will have very little to say when it's time for the cultivation conference to discuss WWX establishing the Burial Mounds settlement. (LWJ speaks up to defend WWX from allegations that he spoke ill of JC, LXC half-heartedly states that WQ and WN seemed nice enough when he saw them at Gusu, and NMJ is adamant that all Wens be punished as collaborators.)

Meanwhile, this all makes Jin Zixuan's lack of knowledge about JGS's atrocities as Chief Cultivator seem... pretty damning. JGS using JGY to do all his dirty work while keeping Jin Zixuan shielded from it all is a huge deal, and being transparently seen as a tool rather than a son is a core component of JGY's bitterness. In the novel, from what I understand, Zixuan really has no idea about the secret demonic cultivation research or anything. In the show, however, Zixuan is RIGHT THERE, WITNESSING THIS ARCHERY CONTEST HIS DAD IS SPONSORING. He is therefore aware that something fucked up is going on! And his response... is to participate in the contest? To shoot an arrow with no further objection or questioning, even though he's the only young lord present who doesn't have to fear retribution from JGS and doesn't have formative memories of his parents getting murdered by WRH? Okay. Cool cool. (Meanwhile, sweet little JYL claps happily when he does a good job, and claps even MORE enthusiastically when WWX does. GIRL, THERE ARE HOSTAGES.)

Honestly, the only people for whom I find this scene interesting rather than frustrating are JGY and JC. JC looks both deeply uncomfortable and DEEPLY STRESSED OUT when he sees WWX step forward; he looks so relieved when all WWX does is shoot some cool arrows, and it's a good little glimpse into the awful choices JC is soon going to have to make now that he's the political face of Yunmeng Jiang. JGY is racking up villain points here, obviously, but in a way that at least is compelling; it's politically prudent for him to go all-in on harming the Wen to prove that he has no lingering ties to his former employers. For everyone else, though, it's got ramifications and all of them are Not Great!

Granted, I don't feel as if the show wants you to think about it too hard. I think they wanted to include the archery contest since it's in the book (and contains a Wangxian flirting moment that they can get past censors), and they wanted to also establish WWX as super cool, JGS and JGY as super bad, and the Wen remnants as helpless victims. It's not that deep. Unfortunately, I am here to OVERTHINK.

[hopeymchope]

Having finally finished reading the DR Kirigiri light novels, here are my closing thoughts and questions.

(For background, I read these translations. Which - as I previously discussed in the first bullet of this post here - may have some small issues throughout.)

I've previously given y'all my report on how I felt / what I was thinking about this series just after passing the halfway point of the light novels, so now it's time for me to bring this whole thing home and offer some closing thoughts.

My first, dominating thought is that this would be so good to see adapted as an anime. I can easily imagine how many episodes it'd take to do each light novel and where you'd logically cut off the story... even more easy, though, would be a manga. It's definitely crying out for that kind of treatment.

Regardless of the (relatively minor) gripes I raise below? This is definitely a great series to read. You get a number of twisty, gripping mysteries, an easy-to-like lead duo, an imposingly powerful enemy force, new background on our favorite lavender-hued detective, and you even get some great new characters added to the mythos — what more do you want?

Okay, but now I'll get into the griping stuff :P For starters: Isn't it... kind of LAME to have Kirigiri repeatedly experience something so similar to the basic setup of DR1 (or any mainline Danganronpa game, really) on MULTIPLE OCCASIONS prior to DR1 ever happening??? But then she just never remotely reference any fo that experience? And YESs, of course I realize she never even obliquely references these events because these prequels weren't actually written by the time of DR1, nor even completed by DR3. But that's the kind of thing you typically want to avoid with prequels, right? ...... Even so, I guess this does take us farther into these stories deserving to be called "Danganronpa" than any other spinoff. And it's not hard to come up with excuses for why she never remotely hinted at these things; she's intentionally acting withdrawn and keeping info to herself throughout DR1 and DR3, after all. So it's not the WORST crime. It's just, like I said: kind of lame.

MORE SPECIFICALLY, let me clarify: Although the cases in DRK don't include a "mutual killing" element, you still get at least three cases where she's [1] trapped in a specific building alongside a group of people who include a killer/"mastermind," the cast subsequently being picked off one by one, and [2] said experiences are also broadcast to a viewing audience. In fact, you even get two cases where [3] the trapped participants are expected to take specific bedrooms to lock themselves in during the nighttime! And even [4] one case where there's a weird, automated "host character" overseeing the whole thing, which is being operated around a specific set of rules. That's a helluva thing, isn't it?

I've previously expressed GREAT TREPIDATION about one specific element of this series: I was told that supposedly, these light novels included evidence that Fuhito was manipulating Kyoko into hating her father, her dad was always a victim, and Kyoko never realized that she was basically molded from birth by someone who was manipulating her feelings and actions. It all made Kyoko considering Fuhito her "most imporant person" (per DR1 and UDG's captives) come off as this tragic tale where our supposed "master detective" never realized she's been a victim of gaslighting and manipulation for many years, which would change SO MUCH CONTEXT behind her life's work and her relationships with both Jin and Fuhito. HOWEVER, GUESS WHAT? None of that shit was even true! HUZZAH!!!! NOTHING in these light novels goes against what we already knew about Kyoko, Jin, Fuhito, or their relationship(s) with one another... though there is some minor new insight provided into a couple of details. We get a new look at how Jin actually cared about Kyoko from afar (via the "Jin Ex Machina" business I mentioned in the previous post), which is in line with the hints of his lingering love for her we tasted in both DR1 and DR3 without either exonerating him for his choices OR making him 100% correct. We repeatedly watch Kyoko questioning/doubting her grandfather's/family's longstanding "detective work must come above and before personal concerns" rules. And we also get a taste of Fuhito being protective of Kyoko when he learns of the kind of danger she's in — yet simultaneously having complete trust in her talent and ability to overcome said danger. Fuhito seems to even gently help Kyoko understand Samidare's actions near of the end of the final volume... although we only get a taste of his help via Kyoko's internal thoughts, so we don't know exactly what he said to her. TL/DR? My point is simply this: The DRK light novels keep the overall morality / goodness of Kyoko's family dynamics in the same place we already understood them from the games: Kyoko and Fuhito are very close and care about each other without being overtly emotional about it, there is a rift between Jin and the rest of his family over Fuhito priortizing case work above visiting his dying daughter on her deathbed, Jin clearly still concerns/cares that linger for his daughter, etc.

What's with so many scenes of "Black Challenges" or "Duel Noirs" having signs defaced to include the word "DESPAIR"? Is that just some extra branding for the main franchise's themes? Feels out of place.

I feel bad for all those orphans who adored this dude.

General thoughts on numerous new-to-DR characters: As I said in my last post about this series, Samidare is likeable but spends most of the series very thinly defined — plus she's pretty slow on the uptake. Thankfully, by Volume 4 she starts finally pulling her weight, and she gets some much-needed expansion of her background in Volume 7 (just in time for her to make some dumb decisions). Licorne is probably the second-most important new character, and he's an asshole. An interesting one, though! And he does some heroic things! .... even if he isn't really all that morally invested in helping people. He's a self-centered asshole for most of the series, frankly, and I don't care much whether he's around or not. Salvadore Yadorigi Fukuro is awesome; a straight-up superb character with a very "DR" kind of skill/talent. Yaki Hajiki is a character who's also hard to dislike, and I wish he got more "screen time," because he's very intriguing. Johnny Arp is a fascinating one, though he definitely shares some dickish behavior with Lico. Still, I'm always engaged when he's on the page. And... look, I'm fond of Meruko "Pumpkinhead" Mifune. She's fun, sure, but I also see real potential for depth that isn't explored herin.

My remaining observations/thoughts contain some spoilers for the Danganronpa Kirigiri series, so I'm putting the rest UNDER THE BELOW CUT... although I still avoid mentioning the identities of any culprits or masterminds so as to keep the primary case mysteries intact.

Yadorigi = Intelligent, quiet dude in sunglasses who looks like the answer to "What if Munakata found his chill?"

What, exactly, is the state of Yadorigi's eyesight by the end of the series? Initially, we learn that his unique eyesight is very important to his work in uncovering fraud. Later, after a blow to the head, we're told that his eyesight will never be the same as it previously was. In the final volume, he visits Kyoko while wielding a white cane. So uh... does that cane imply that SYF is now blind or very close to it? Or am I reading too much into a walking stick here?

Nothing infuriates me quite as much as when major problems in a story could be easily resolved via basic fucking communication, and a failure to communicate on a base level is absolutely CORE to why things go south in the seventh and final volume. By the time Kyoko and Yui are heading out to the case, the situation is this: Without Kyoko's knowledge, our redacted overarching mastermind (henceforth referred to as "ROM") tried to get Samidare to agree to be the culprit in this final Black Challenge. She refused. ROM then said their organization (the Crime Victim's Relief Committee) will eliminate Kyoko if Samidare doesn't play along. And then, right after saying this? ROM pretty clearly DIED right in front of Samidare, before she can ever express any intention of changing her mind or not. She is then confronted by the enigmatic Tokichiro Endo, who is basically the go-between for culprits and the organization, who demands her final answer. Based on what happens in the case immediately after this, it appears that this conversation somehow ended with Samidare refusing to be the true culprit in this case but ALSO accepting that she would be framed for the murders and take the fall. So now Samidare has a choice to make: Does she (A) trust the Crime Victims' Relief Committee to keep their promise and leave Kyoko alone so long as she keeps her mouth shut...... even though Samidare refused to meet their demands and become the case's culprit? OOOORRR does Yui (B) realize that the Committee has already broken their supposed "rules" by forcibly coercing her into being the culpri — not to mention the fact that they're routinely aiding and abetting murders — which adds up to mean that she can't trust their word and must warn Kyoko of the danger she's in now that the committee has threatened her life directly? Any thinking person should choose (B), but Samidare of course chooses (A) so the plot will happen. *FACEPALM*

The worst part of this is that EVEN when our two heroines have just barely escaped from a burning building and fled out into freezing conditions, leaving them on the razor's edge between two possible methods of death with everyone else from the case seemingly already being dead? Samidare STILL won't outright deny being the case's culprit when accused. With literally NO REASON LEFT not to come clean, she never says jack shit. And then she dies!

During the denouement, the conclusion Kyoko reaches after leaving the hospital and revisiting the scene is... murky, and I think this might be something caused by the translation methods used. It currently reads as though Kyoko reaches the correct conclusion about the case, accurately determining Samidare's innocent AND identifying the true culprit(s). However... she doesn't seem to be 100% confident in her decision? It sounds like Kiri still harbors some lingering doubts about Samidare possibly being guilty?..... Even though she sounds really confident in her (correct) conclusions immediately before that. So it's left ambiguous. Which, I suppose, is one way to maintain Kiri being the Best Detective while simultaneously leaving room for her line in DR1 about how her burns happened because she "trusted the wrong person." She almost entirely knows that she didn't actually trust the wrong person, but they have to leave some doubt so that line can exist? ...... IF this translation is even accurate on this part.

Say... why did Samidare believe she'd die on this mission? It wasn't actually any more inherently dangerous than any other mission her and Kyoko had gone on... LESS dangerous than some, I'd argue! But she prepares this whole letter for her eventual death, so she clearly thought it was a strong possibility. My only guess is that she believed Kyoko was going to be targeted for death, and she planned to fulfill her oft-promised role as Kyoko's human shield. But if that was REALLY something Samidare thought was going to happen, then she had NO REASON to not tell Kyoko the truth about everything. If they're already out to kill Kiri, then OF COURSE it's smartest to warn her about it! So: Why the "last letter"? What made you think you were fucked, Yui?

In the end, ROM's overarching mission is both a success and a failure. Do they take away Kyoko's main emotional attachment, making her withdraw even further into pure logic so she'll avoid getting hurt? Yes. Do they make her deny the value of such attachments in the first place, resulting in her staying isolated forever after? No. She 95% knows she's right about Samidare's innocence in spite of ROM's attempts to frame her; it's just the pain of the loss that makes Kyoko withdraw, not some grander conclusion about distrusting everyone. In fact? I'd argue that Kyoko's speech in DR1's Chapter 4 about accounting for emotions is a strong rebuke of ROM's entire view of the world.

....by the way, does ROM have their own copy of Junko's talent??! It sure seems like they're another "Ultimate Analyst," essentially; able to see patterns of behavior so clearly that they can essentially predict most future events.

[amethystina]

Dear Amethystina,

How could you do this to me????? I think I'm going to perish. PERISH. You posted about Mad Dog and twinky Woo Do Hwan and??? How could I not watch it???? And now I've just finished episode 12.

And let me tell you. I have suffered. The PAIN of watching Jang Ha Ri (who I really want to like, mind you) and Kim Min Joon doing their stupid flirty thing. Maybe it's because I haven't finished the drama, but I feel like Ha Ri is being done dirty. And without even mentioning the surprisingly homoerotic bromance of said Kim Min Joon and Choi Kang Woo.

Since you are the reason I started watching Mad Dog in the 1st place (curse my similar taste), I'm ranting to you. I know you have no particular obligation to reply. :) But these are my thoughts, and I must tell them to someone because I don't know anyone else who watches this drama, and the tumblr tag for it is a vacuum. Let the rant commence.

How could the writers do this to Jang Ha Ri's character?? Maybe it's just bc I haven't gotten to that part yet, but she barely got any backstory, and I'm 3/4 of the way through this drama. Just a couple lines abt her father being saved by Kang Woo. And that's it. That's it! Even Cheetah got a friggin flashback. Even though he's a less significant character. (Pardon me, Cheetah, but it's true.) Since she has no backstory, her character feels rather ungrounded. We, the audience, don't really know who she is w/o the two main leads. With every other character, we know who they are on their own, because they got a rather thorough backstory.

But Jang Ha Ri has barely any, which I think is strange, since she's pretty important. Therefore, whenever I see her on screen, I just can't connect with her. In the beginning of the drama, I was like "wow, this is such a good setup for her character! i can't wait to see what the writers do with her". But now I'm 3/4 of the way through this drama, and she's got almost nothing. That causes me to feel like she's been shortchanged, and that her relationship with the other characters (especially Min Joon) is built on a foundation of sand. They told us abt her background, but they didn't show it, which kinda invalidates her relationships w/ other characters, because she's barely a character by herself. That's not to say that she doesn't have personality, but we don't understand her on her own, we can only access her thoughts when she's with the two male leads, or doing smth for them, etc.

She can't have a romantic relationship with someone else if the audience doesn't know who she is on her own. (Kinda like how, in real life, you have to know who you are and love yourself before you can love someone else.) That's why her and Min Joon's relationship feels so insincere, because in it she's basically just Min Joon's love interest. As you can tell, I'm a lil salty.

And on top of all that, Min Joon and Kang Woo have such promise as a couple!!!!! Kang Woo choked Min Joon up against a wall. (parallels to the Devil Judge) They were living together. For God's sake, Min Joon cooked Kang Woo a thank-you meal for caring enough about him to check on him when he was in trouble, for saving his life. How Min Joon looked so crushed when Kang Woo told him they weren't living together! And I can't even read any fanfics about it, since there's literally only 3 fanfics for their pairing on ao3! And none of them are written the way I think the characters should be written. So I may have to write a fanfic for them myself, since I need them to kiss.

For my ask, I request a few words of comfort involving Min Joon and Kang Woo. I would ask for a short lil drabble where they're happy together, but if that isn't smth you want to do, just pretend I never asked. Just say "They kissed and lived happily ever after. The end." Those words from you would bring me great happiness in my time of sorrow.

Ever your faithful reader,

Sofapup

(P.S. And btw 39 of WHTD was heartwrenching and I loved it sm and I cried why do you do this to me)

I'm sorry this took a little longer to answer than usual but when I got this ask, you were actually ahead of me in the drama since I've been putting it off for so long x'D So I had to wait until I had also finished episode 12, just in case there was some important information there that might influence my reply.

Also, I want to point out that I never actually told anyone to watch Mad Dog since I still haven't finished it myself. So you only have yourself to blame, my friend ;)

ANYHOW. Your feelings about Ha Ri mirror my own. She is done SO dirty. I was SO EXCITED when she first showed up because it seemed like she was going to be a really interesting character, but, pretty soon, I realised how wrong I was. I agree that they've given her almost no backstory whatsoever and so nothing she says or does feels truly anchored in anything. And she fluctuates wildly between confident badass and flustered damsel in distress in a way that's genuinely baffling to me.

Like, in episode 12 when she got chased into a dead-end by the baddie and everyone was freaking out — including her. But, like, my dudes. Did you all forget how she literally parkoured her way down a three-story building in episode 1? Her ability to climb and acrobat her way out of trouble has been firmly established. But now she can't even climb the pile of rubble in front of the one-story house she's caught next to? What the actual fuck is going on?

I am FURIOUS on her behalf.

And that is actually one of the reasons why I'm having trouble getting through this drama. That and the general inconsistent characterisation (not just Ha Ri), plus the shoehorned flirting. The general plot and setup of the drama are fine and I like quite a lot the characters and their relationships, but it's also forcing a lot of confusing and contradicting information in my face in a way that instantly makes my hackles rise. It feels almost clumsily unprofessional?

Like, don't get me wrong — I'm still enjoying most of this drama and I'm pretty sure I'll finish it — but dear LORD is the characterisation bad in some cases. At this point, I think I can say I'm pretty good at characters without that being taken as bragging, yeah? I have a pretty easy time pinning down their personalities, behaviour etc. etc. And when I can't it's usually a bad sign because, nine times out of ten, that means your characters are inconsistent. Either because the writer doesn't have a clear picture of who they are, or because they keep making the characters do things they usually wouldn't because they want to advance the plot (poor Ha Ri suffers from both, I'm afraid to say).

That's not to say that a character has to be predictable. Kang Yo Han is a good example of a character who was unpredictable enough that I couldn't say for sure I understood him until I had watched the whole thing. I needed all the information before I could form a clear picture. But, even then, he was consistent in his characterisation throughout the entire drama. To be honest, he's one of the most consistent characters I've ever seen, especially since, even on a rewatch, his actions don't change. You understand his motivations better, sure, but his actions are exactly the same and that, right there, is something I am in awe of. Even the impulsivity, recklessness, viciousness, sudden swings in direction — all of it was consistent in the end because his core personality and values were. Kang Yo Han is a marvellous character from a craft perspective.

But in Mad Dog? Shit's all over the place for the majority of the characters. The most solid ones are the bad guys since their core personality trait is "hilariously evil." Which might not be a very nuanced personality, but at least it's consistent. Almost everyone else has been forced to be out of character for convenient plot purposes at some point.

And the worst crimes by far are committed against Ha Ri and Min Joon in order to force their romance. Now, don't get me wrong — I LOVE romance and the actors have some pretty nice chemistry — but none of it really fits. Not with the rest of the story, the pacing of the rest of the story, the (small amount of) backstory we get for the two of them, the tone of the rest of the story, or the initial characterisation we were given. It feels like a literal case of "here is a male and a female of roughly the same age and now we need to make them kiss because heteronormativity" with no thought to how to actually make it believable. So they cram in cutesy and supposedly romantic scenes (often with Min Joon feeling a really confusing need to protect Ha Ri? Even if she could literally kick his ass? But because she's a woman he has to I guess?) that either happen out of the blue or just way too early in their relationship for it to be believable and it just annoys me so much.

I swear, after the car explosion thing in... can't remember the episode. But Kang Woo drags Min Joon out of the burning car, yeah? And Ha Ri shows up and FOR SOME GODDAMN REASON pulls the unconscious and clearly injured Min Joon into her arms? Ma'am. Girlfriend. Bestie. He's got a bleeding head injury — possibly also a neck injury. Maybe don't move him more than necessary? Also, isn't he a conman? As in, the type of person you claim to hate most because of your tragic past? Why are you suddenly pulling him into your arms like he's your injured boyfriend? He was fine just lying on the ground, I promise. This really isn't necessary.

And THEN you find out it's because she needed to get blood on her jacket so that Min Joon could get worried and ask her about it when he was at the hospital later and she could tell him she was fine because it was all his but ooooh loooook, he caaaares about her! Isn't that cuuuuuute?

Someone please put me out of my misery.

I legit had to pause the episode and just stare out into space for a couple of seconds when that happened because that's just SUCH TERRIBLE WRITING. I can do better than that and writing isn't even my job! It made NO sense for her to act the way she did and it honestly just made her look stupid. All for a clumsy attempt at furthering her romance with Min Joon? I am FUMING.

(Is the script forcing you to be stupid, Ha Ri? Blink twice if you need me to come save you)

And the forced romance between Ha Ri and Min Joon is only made more hilarious by how effortless his connection is with Kang Woo. It's more consistent with their characters, consistent with the overall pacing, and genuinely more interesting. And it just baffles me how completely off the mark the writer was since Kang Woo is getting all the important emotional scenes with Min Joon, not Ha Ri.

Like, the scenes where Min Joon is vulnerable and talking about his childhood and dead brother? Which would be great in order to build trust between him and Ha Ri? He's having all of those scenes with Kang Woo. Which I don't mind, of course (it's HILARIOUSLY gay) but that just proves that the romance between Min Joon and Ha Ri was an afterthought and the build-up of it was just slapped on without much thought to the characters. It's romance for the romance's sake. Because the actual building of a relationship, sharing of emotions, of grief and painful memories? Min Joon doesn't do that nearly enough with Ha Ri to make the romance stick, especially due to the aforementioned problem with her having too little backstory and firm ground to stand on. He honestly has more connection, more in common, AND more chemistry with Kang Woo.

So, long story short, I feel your pain. Ha Ri is being treated so, so unfairly and it makes me so angry. But, on the other hand, I find the gay romance brewing between Kang Woo and Min Joon absolutely amazing. And, to my surprise, I might just have to retract my earlier statement about the writer not having any idea about how gay this is. Because I actually went to check who the screenwriter was and turns out it's the same woman who worked on Beyond Evil. Which I have not seen but reports tell me it's hella gay. So, tbh, the gay might not be as unintentional as I first thought?

Like, I obviously don't know this woman but it would be HILARIOUS if she's just sneaking gay shit into her shows and subtly sabotaging the straight romances by making them this shitty. I know we're reaching conspiracy theory levels here but I would definitely do that if I were her.

Thank you for your service, ma'am.

(Too bad you write such shitty female characters, at least in this drama)

Anyway. I'm genuinely confused by the tone of Mad Dog because they play it very straight (pun intended). I mean, looking at The Devil Judge I think it's pretty clear that there's a cheeky little undertone of "we know what we're doing but we're not going to say outright what it is — if you know, you know ;)" But in Mad Dog? They don't even really address the fact that Kang Woo and Min Joon have all the deep, emotional scenes while Min Joon and Ha Ri only get cringey and clumsy "romantic" scenes. But Min Joon and Ha Ri is the endgame?

While Kang Woo is probably meant to become a substitute older brother to Min Joon or something? But I really question why they had that whole "whoops, Min Joon accidentally impersonated Kang Woo's wife there for a second" plotline in that case. Man, I was laughing so hard x'D Like, Kang Woo outright says that Min Joon is the first person to cook for him and share a meal with him in that apartment since his wife died.

Sir. I... don't think you realise how unintentionally gay that sounds.

(But maybe your writer does. I'm keeping my eyes on you, ma'am)

Because if Min Joon had been a woman? That admission would have been taken as a hint of something romantic possibly brewing between them. Not necessarily that Min Joon was taking Kang Woo's wife's place, but stepping up as the next candidate, at the very least. And I find that absolutely HILARIOUS.

Okay, this is getting really, really long. As you can see, I also have A LOT of thoughts on Mad Dog x'D But also, as mentioned, I haven't finished it yet and if I ever were to write anything (which I honestly can't promise since it depends on how the drama ends and what my (already packed) schedule looks like) it wouldn't be able to until I have. But trust me when I say that I am quite intrigued to see where this goes — even if it means I have to suffer through the shoehorned flirting between Min Joon and Ha Ri.

(For the record, I am ANNOYED by how much I dislike those scenes. I WANT to like their romance! But it just feels so, so incredibly clumsy and forced and I, unfortunately, have standards. So it's a no from me so far)

Also, fun fact: I started Mad Dog as a palette cleanser after a lot of gay romance dramas, wanting something different. And, I mean, a story about life insurance fraud can't be gay, can it? So I went in with the best and purest intentions.

But then I started watching and somewhere around the point where Kang Woo slams Min Joon up against a wall for the first time I just put my head in my hands. Because I could see where this was going.

And then I made the mistake of looking up the poster for the drama and, I swear, I was beginning to have war flashbacks.

That's not gay at all.

And this isn't even the first time this has happened to me

Or even the second, third, fourth, or fifth. I think I'm up to seven or something? At this point, there's a joke amongst my friends that I have a gaydar meant specifically to locate gay dramas that aren't actually gay dramas — especially when I'm not actually looking for them.

It's a weird superpower to have, but there you go.

ANYHOW. Yes. Good luck with finishing this drama, I guess? I'll try to do the same but, considering my current pace, I can't say when I will. It's a bit of a drag sometimes, not going to lie. But I do like the plot and characters enough to want to see through to the end.

Also, I'm so glad you liked chapter 39 of Who Holds the Devil! Thank you! Now take care, darling 💜

[itsdappleagain]

It's time for the end of season 2- The Deep Dive Caper!

What an absolutely showstopping finale!! I'm so thrilled to liveblog it. This episode gets serious like no other episode really does before or since. Lets get started!

Late, as usual. Buy a lottery ticket the day I do one of these on time. Notes under the cut as always!

right off the bat this episode is pretty much unlike any other. they try to have a caper setup- the vile drive- but it's not long before we realize that EVERYTHING is gone. even in the last finale the sort of "caper" of the episode was rescuing devineaux. this episode is all about answers.

"all on my own. the only sure way i know." hrnnrgh carmen

their boat is being so nice and stationary in the middle of a raging storm and waves taller than they are

"MY FIST IS GOING TO MAKE YOUR GUTS EXPLODE" ivy never change

its ALLL GONE

rip vile island we hardly knew ye

the cs team is just showing off their background artists 😌

ah would you like some mashed shadowsan with your steak

maelstrom your plan sucked babygirl sorry. should have sic'd brunt on her on the train like a rottweiler

interesting plan though. if shadowsan really had killed dexter, what would carmen have done? beat him up? sent him to acme? just thrown him out? she promises to hunt him down if he runs but like what were you going to do after that? murder for a murder?

malestrom: maybe she'll show up in botswana ✨ carmen who's been out for the count for half a year and has no reason to have even shown up in botswana as early as she did:

the teddy bear <3

in love with cleo's boob straps. that safety harness does not even clip in the front its like if a backpack was securing you to a car

that explosion animation is so good though its so impactful

its a damn good thing devineaux showed up when he did he could have been blown to the gates of hell in one second flat and no one would have been any the wiser

chase drinks so much disrespect women juice the first two seasons that he blames julia for an impression of her that his own mind dreamed up i love him for that

angry carmen is so babygirl to me. go bestie show emotion. get so mad about that shit

mmm and theres the shot i used for our title card! and what a fantastic one it is. shadowsan's motif playing in the background as carmen pauses at the oni, but the show itself telling us that he is still on her side with that gigantic, massive symbol of him framing carmen in a circle of red. if you pay attention and learn the colors the team likes, you don't even have to worry about this ep its all cool

you know what the dominant color in this entire scene of carmen trying to find out the truth is, though? blue. even when she's in the server room or staring at shadowsan's oni, the water isnt tinted green like they easily could have made it. its. all. blue.

obsessed with how zack wakes up he's being exorcised and the demon was the peppers and onions

agree it would have been hilarious if devineaux finally gets rescued and it turns out to be a really, really pissed off carmen sandiego

roundabout has the air of a theater kid who always got the leads but had to act surprised about it

evil ihop

i love how confused roundy looks its so funny

devineaux stabbing himself and the scream makes me cry laughing every single time

devineaux really goes ↘️↗️↘️↘️↘️↘️↘️↘️↘️

i would watch a series about devineaux being left to fend for himself on the island and slowly losing his mind

his supervisor was so excited about firing him

okay here we go it all gets real now

carmens realization going from my dad was a cop -> my dad was literally the exact opposite of a cop and neither of those things being things she is happy about

i love the realization hitting her face (even if it was animated. a touch blandly)

shadowsan's face s just animated fantastically here. his eyebrows are up- he realizes carmen is there, maybe confused about why she isnt saying anything. then his eyebrows drop, his face falls ever so slightly. he knows the jig is up

also. yes. "your silence is like thunder" is just. ough its such a good line

he isn't even surprised by the question he knew it was coming eventually

"if you run, I will find you." its not a threat its a damn promise. for older viewers its easy to draw the connection between the famous i will find you and i will kill you. it doesnt have to be said.

mm and carmen rejecting the offer to sit and be comfortable around him. she just can't

even in the flashbacks your can see so much of carmen in him its so great. its dishonorable, and everything carmen stands against, but she is undeniably her father's daughter

the plot for this flashback is so sophisticated its so so good. they treat the audience really well about it

also young faculty designs <3

the red on the inside of dexter's jacket to symbolize his secret with carmen im sobbing

also the decision to make carmen have his eyes is. hrngh.

already been pointed out but the way the music softens when shadowsan says "you" HURTS

THAT BABY IS A SNITCH. carmen. snitchdiego

the heartbreak when present carmen speaks again gfgrgh

i like the new mask he hangs behind him before carmen confronts him, by the way. its green and white- the shadow of vile and his past looming over his shoulder, maybe- but also the mask of vile he had to put on to lie about what really happened to wolfe

BABY CARMEN CRYING AS DEXTER TRIES TO HIDE HER :(((

the dolls rdhg im not crying you are

anyone have any thoughts on a dexter voice claim btw?

also also i sprang this on rueitae already but "dexter" while referring to dexterity and his skill as a thief can also mean "the one who dyes" which. jesus. it refers to dying cloth but the double meaning is ouchie

he locks her in gay baby jail!!!

i gotta stop making jokes about the most serious part of the entire series sorry

there's a little bit of a pink panther hint to his theme as he sneaks out the window which is interesting

rue's also already covered it but what WAS this man's plan for just leaving baby carm in there. like shadowsan says desperation i guess

god young chief shooting and killing an unarmed dexter wolfe and presumably orphaning her is the twist. of a fucking lifetime

the despair in the music cue when it reveals it was only his car keys

the matryoshka dolls getting burned in that fire ahrhgfrdshgsghds

love that shadowsan not only sets the house on fire while he and a baby are still in it but gives said baby an object that just got set on fire

also vile protocol dictating that he should have just burned a baby alive?? what the fuck!

bellum's apathy, mael's mild interest/concern, and cleo's disgust towards baby carm shdfjads

little tiny baby carmen shunting her butt at cleo is hilarious

faculty: omg she's a real natural thief she stole that thing without anyone noticing baby carmen in broad daylight five seconds earlier:

btw bb carm is so cute she's so round

carmen finally just sliding to the floor under the weight of all of that information. now that she has at least the idea that shadowsan was not the one who murdered her father, even if she still needs proof

"why would you make me find out on my own?" is one of the most heartbreaking lines in here. she had to go through this realization almost completely alone. her trust in the man she was coming to see as a father was shattered and he could have just told her. he could have just told her

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shadowsan crying theyre so family

you can just hear the regret and fear and sadness in his voice paul nakauchi is literally so good

REAL CHIEF!

COMMANDER!!!! oh shittt i missed the one and only canon commander caturday rip...

ivy violently hitting the cash register is a mood

the little reveal even in the music as it pans to ivy in the starbucks uniform

chief nailed the good natured but a little exasperated "hmm" when dealing with people who have no idea what they are doing

ivys little look as she sees carmen walk in. the smile drop off her face as she walks away

carmen's theme ahrugdhjdsg the music in this show is so good

what is her hand doing

oh chief no honey

the deadpan "i wouldnt drink it"

i love the little nod/head bow thing of acknowledgement of carmen's efforts

the sinister music as carmen ever so casually pulls off her little trick is GREAT

i didnt know chief could open doors 🤨

congrats on being gay agent argent you did it again

player hack chief so bad the logo goes off of the screen

"somethings wrong" yeah no shit julia

chiefs oh shit face is so funny shes like aohhhhhhhhhhhh noooooooooooooooooo

little guy

im so mature

we love digging up graves

that dawning apprehension on carm's face as she realizes there's a chance she might be about to see the decayed corpse of her twenty-years-dead mom in there

carlotta being modelled after old carmen was a cool choice. lots of fan theories about old carm being her mom this day 🫡

"are you with me?" "to the end of the line." grgfhgjhsdhjsgds im shaking them violently in my teeth if i ever got a cs quote tattoo or something it would probably be that line

the only thing i dislike about this cliffhanger is that in s3 they kind of try to deliver on this big wide promise that this finale gave us and then give up until the last episode of the entire series. like. isk. i feel like they should have either gone harder on the carlotta mystery or left it alone although they did leave me the opportunity to write a 66 thousand word fic series on the concept so i guess i cant complain

half clean shaven half very unshaved chase is so funny its cursed. he shouldnt have no hair but he shouldnt have that much worst of both worlds

devineaux's theme mixing in with that iconic action/danger soundtrack as he grins devilishly is just fantastic shit

chief waiting for a response as chase just silently smirks into the mirror

anyway GOODNESS GRACIOUS i cannot believe we're already through season 2????? what???? tis the end of my favorite season :( but s3/4 are nothing to sneeze at, either!! im super excited to get into more. (plus tsonts? are we doing that?)

[variousqueerthings]

This is what happens when you travel alone for too long

It's A Town Called Mercy, also known as "the one people say is super duper good in season 7" or "oh it's V for Vendetta but a Western"

and... yeah it's pretty good. I feel like it's one I cannot help comparing to other stories like it, and I'm not sure if it manages as much as they do, but I'm going to sit with it for a bit, and in the meantime! Ranking!

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored): 3/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 4/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 5/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 4/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 3/10

FULL RATING: 59/100 (if I can count….)

it's the politics that got this one. that and... the Ponds are still just kinda there this season. and other stuff. ah well, it's not terrible, on the whole

OBJECTIFICATION: Listen, there is none. not an off-colour joke, not an ogle, not a strange costume choice

there's not a lot of women in this story generally, Amy is kind of the only one who matters, and this one little girl who's in two scenes and doesn't have any lines, but I think that's something we'll get to later on when discussing this

PLOT-POINT: Eh, Amy doesn't really matter so much in this, apart from the scenes where she calls out the Doctor, which isn't really her, so much as him. it's not even a complaint as such, but I do still wonder... if this is a sign that maybe her story should have ended in The God Complex, since we're three episodes into s7 and she's not got much to do for her own story

COMPLEXITY: it's a good setup, town in the Wild West, beset by a gunslinger from space, because they're harbouring an alien war criminal who has since been repenting by healing their sick and bettering their lives generally

it's there to open the doors to discussions on morality

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: ah soooo, there's stuff here about the Doctor, subtextually, and I appreciate that it didn't do what God Complex did and spell it out so much (even though God Complex is still The episode of all time for this era)

the alien the Doctor has to choose to protect or throw to the gunslinger killed a lot of people in order to stop a war -- okay wait, before I go more into that as "see, like the Doctor," I have a question. has the show added the lore that it's the Doctor that killed the Timelords yet? because I don't think that comes up until later

we have last of the Timelords, we have the stuff at End Of Time where he sends Rassilon/Gallifrey back, but I think... that the Doctor pressed a big button and they all died is the 50th anniversary, no?

point being, one can begin to have a little wonder if this works for oneself or not, in terms of lore. 2005 nu!who established all the Timelords are dead, so far so good, End Of Time the Doctor sends the Timelords back to die, because allowing the Time War out would kill everyone, okay, the Doctor killed everyone... is an interesting thing I haven't thought much about until this moment. and then later on ofc (Chibnall era) we're getting the Doctor is in fact the most special Time Lord, the OG who through experiments gave the others time travel and was then force regenerated and had their memory wiped

it's an interesting thing, all this lore... it adds a lot of baggage to a story about a loser alien who's just out to experience the Universe (and who in the nu!who era is a war survivor with PTSD). in the classic!who series the Doctor is already an outsider, because the other Timelords think they're a fucking weirdo (simplification), and while I think -- biased because my era -- that nu!who made a good choice to have the Time War, so that it could strip away some lore and gradually re-introduce it to a new audience, perhaps we're getting... a teensy bit unwieldy here, in terms of who the Doctor is

that is more of a question to myself than an assertion. in any case, in this episode, war criminal, doing penance, nothing is too heavy-handed in playing into the Doctor that one cannot take it as one wants to, arguably the more obvious thing is the Doctor saying "today I honour the victims first, his, the Master's, the Daleks," which is fun, considering the last time we met the Master, the Doctor was desperately trying to get him to stay, because well... last of their species + the Master and the Doctor are Some Kinda Way about each other, so it's considering the fact that when the Doctor tries to hold an "everyone's lives have equal importance" morality constantly, this has had adverse effects on... victims of violence (especially with regards to the Master), and being the judge on this is no good, but also who is the Doctor to judge who deserves to die, etc.

there's also a question about the Doctor travelling alone (Amy says this) becoming more ruthless in exacting things like punishment

COMPANIONS MATTER: well sort oooof, Amy is mostly there to give another point of view to the Doctor's, especially with relation to "can i say that some people need to die," but I'm not convinced that couldn't have been done with someone else in the story, perhaps by refocusing the importance of the child, since there's that whole VO that's talking about her great-grandmother who was there... idk, they're not... really doing much in the story beyond that, especially Rory (who seems kind of fine with them sending this guy out for execution, and that is never explored)

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: nah, I think this episode did relatively well on having this be quite a Doctor-focused episode, without making the Doctor solve everything (or indeed... anything)

there's this bit that Jex the war criminal say: Looking at you Doctor is like looking into a mirror. There’s rage there like me, guilt like me, solitude, everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done. Thank the gods my people weren’t relying on you to save them

and I can see that's meant to be a bit of an Anti-Doctor moment -- the Doctor is not the great saviour that so many previous episodes have set them up to be in this era, the Doctor is a hypocrite, a coward, etcetc.

IIIII am not sure if.... oof, this is subjective. the idea of this as a continuity of exploring the Doctor's inability to save everyone, and need to be in control of situations, and "honouring the victims" there's just something about this episode that doesn't quite emotionally land for me, and I will continue to try and figure out what. the point being, it's meant to be a strong character piece, but I'm not sure it manages it

I'm also highly dubious in an episode that's exploring the Doctor's morality and what he's all about, about why the Doctor never asks the victim's name or background or... just anything really. but we'll get to that in politics

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: here's some of the "crux" of why I'm not sure it manages it, and it's more to do with "previous Doctor Who episodes of this era," than classic!who

in the sense of continuity of emotional journey. I think it's that seasons 1-specials had one long clear arc, one can pinpoint on the whole why the Doctor goes from s1ep1 to The End Of Time. and I'm not convinced that this episode works in this era, because I don't see that same arc in this era

maybe Twelve's era, from what I've heard of it, which deals with a lot of repercussions of having gone too far with things and not knowing if they're actually doing good on the whole, etc.

the main "big" arcs of this era have been 1. the relationship between the Doctor and Amy, a woman whose life he changed forever due to meeting her as a child and breaking a promise to her, which affected her entire upbringing and bent her towards the Doctor in an unhealthy way 2. the relationship between the Doctor and River Song, who is Amy's child and was kidnapped after being born and "brainwashed" into wanting to kill him, only to fall in love, but also if one takes this idea to its actual natural conclusion in conjunction with point the first, the Doctor's continued influence on Amy Pond continuing to be disruptive to the point that her child's entire life is even more (in fact solely one might say) in orbit around the Doctor, and never has the chance to break free from that destructive influence 3. some shit about a prophecy and a question and blabla, that has about zero emotional weight

there haven't really been stories about the Doctor's morality, so much as the Doctor's far more personal relationships, again The God Complex did this soooo well by introducing Rita as a possible companion and her rejecting the Doctor's whole schtick

so while technically this episode is fine as concept, I don't think it's grounded in an emotional continuity, which is a shame. give it to Twelve! watch Capaldi have these emotions!

“SEXINESS”: can you believe, a whole episode without a single sexy joke? wow, a rarity.

INTERNAL WORLD: so it's a Western town, it doesn't neeeed to be that fleshed out I guess, but I do feel like I wish the townsfolk were a bit more than just quaint set-dressing

we hear about Jex the war criminal's influence on this town, but we don't really see it

the Doctor even says to the gunslinger "this is their home, not the backdrop for your revenge," but it doesn't feel like anything but a stereotypical Western township, which is a shame

POLITICS: HA okay the other point where I am not 100% sure about this episode. it has good intentions, is my first point, it's not like it sets out to make conservative points or needlessly sexually harass Queen Nefertiti (sighs at prev episode)

buuuuuuut I just rewatched V for Vendetta a couple of weeks ago, as is the ritual on Guy Fawkes Night, and it's a very similar story, although ofc in V for Vendetta they're experimented on for far more nefarious purposes than "winning a war"... or are they. because that is my point, and maybe it's a pedantic one that a single 45min episode couldn't possibly have the time for, which is that a society/government that allows this sort of violence is "ends justify the means" and these types of governments are always at war in their heads

the idea of a neat divide between peace-time politics which are free to be nice, and war-time politics which necessitate the hard choices is simply not reality, and so the conceit that there was simply nothing else he could do but experiment on people and turn them into killing machines, it's... on shaky grounds

and it's kind of dependent on those grounds to work, because not only is this guy now repenting by doing good, the ends justified the means. they ended the war! millions were saved! (now where have I heard that before about an atom bomb?)

on top of that, the gunslinger isn't really as well-developed. who was he before he was experimented on? what did being forced to kill do to him? did he have friends on the experimenting tables die in front of him? who is he?

it's all well and good to say "but we don't do this Doctor, every life matters, including the war criminals" but why is the war criminal so well-developed, and the gunslinger -- the victim -- not at all?

those grounds are getting shakier by the Minute

why is this story not about the victim? why does the Doctor not go to hear the victim, not in terms of figuring out whether he should give over the war criminal, but just to be kind?

there is one scene in it where the gunslinger enters a church, sees a child and leaves again, because there's a neat thing in this that the gunslinger Will Not Kill Civilians, but that's such an interesting thing that's under-explored too. what if the gunslinger had to change his programming, because the original maybe didn't make a distinction between "enemy" and "civilian" (after all in these kinds of "wars" every person is an enemy, including the children)

what if the programming fights back when he's really upset and Jex the war criminal realises that this is his fault? what if a child died in this episode... that's getting a bit messed up, but let's entertain it for a second? or a parent died protecting their child and the gunslinger has to run from the town to stop the programming -- the programming that's been forced on him through mutilation and experimentation and that violence can never be undone? what if this story was about the victim, and not about a repenting war criminal?

gunslinger, after Jex self-destructs: "He behaved with honour at the end. Maybe more than me"

DID HE???? He just felt bad really, you're the most trauma-inflicted character we've had on this show in some fucking time

so yeah, it's grounds are. shaaaaky. shaky shaky shaky the more you think about it

another minor thing is that none of the main driving characters had to be men, but there's five extra characters in this episode with lines and big-to-small arcs (marshall, jex, gunslinger, young boy, mayor-type) and everyone else is backdrop, which is just kind of... in your cool scifi Western all the women were silent? why did the little girl not get to speak?

FULL RATING: 59/100 (if I can count….)

It's a good concept, executed at the wrong time in the story, and executed very clumsily

the good parts relate to the concept itself, and not spending valuable time being massively sexist

the problem is that it's just not smart enough to explore what it's trying to explore, and it's such a heavy topic, it better know what it's doing or it'll fall flat on its face. I wish it had come at another time with better writing, because I really wish it was better

I also wish that people were more adventurous about writing women. two historical Moments this season and neither have been kind to women for different reasons

is it time for the Ponds to leave? we'll find out next episode (I say, like I don't know their arcs)

[skybristle]

I'm really interested to hear about your episode 11/12 CRK rewrite, do you mind explaining the plot? If it's too long to explain or smth, can you at least give some basic plot points/major changes?

[pls rb] It's a bit messy tbh since i never got into the nitty-gritty of the exact play by play events, but i had a lot of thoughts on how i would like to have restructured it / rewritten certain parts. its always bugged me how tonally distant the hb kingdom is from,,,, everything else in the main storyline, especially compared to pv and cacao's plotlines. one of the key things is that i took the mention pitaya burned down the kingdom at one point WAY more seriously than the plot does - as well as them 'taking over' the kingdom. i should note that they aren't nessacarily malicious, moreso trying to bait hollyberry out of hiding to fight them and going about it in the worst way possible. The timeline of cr is so messy and conflicting [esp now with the implication roguefort was very young when their family died in the ob christmas event and they died in my fanon BECAUSE of the pitaya attack but i had other stuff before that that said it was only like 6-7 years ago but. AUGH. WHATEVER]. TLDR the hollyberry kingdom has rebuilt but they're still kinda a mess and slowly losing faith in the royal family and turning to the great houses - leading to a setup similar to the princess contest [i think the 'princess contest' is stupid as hell, like, especially when princess herself shows up for it but it 'must go on'].

TO SUMMARIZE SOME THINGS. For my fanon in general i've kicked gingerbrave and co out of the main plotline - nothing against them, but persoanlly them being shoved into every plotline makes their narratives suffer drastically [at least in my fanon] . i've weighed the thought of either rasp or princess being the main protagonist but like . princess probably makes more sense im just HEAVILY biased towards rasp. Background stuff thats important to the characters -rasp has been staying in the cookie kingdom for a while and becoming dissalussioned with her house and hollyberry kingdom as she spends time away from the suffocating enviorment and begins falling in love with parfait - but cant commit because she can't be in love with a commoner under her house's watch. puts off going home until a carriage shows up asking her to come back to the kigndom for the contest. Is not havign a good time and only gets more and more upset as the plot goes on - batflower [oc of mine] was a heiress, but lost her manor in the pitaya attack. she's a power-obsessed asshole who does Not value people unless they contribute to her amusement or game. Is a literal fucking serial killer! - uhhhh i wanted to do more with tiger lily but the brainrot was never there. i think it would be sillly if part of the reason she went missing was related to hollyberry's dissapearance - i also kicked out the cookies of darkness not because they're irrelevant or completely gone i just liked using batflower and pitaya as the villians wayy more. they might be around but probably serving a more minor role - like how affogato is the main antagonist in chp 13/14 but theyre still around OKAY SO. It runs mostly the same but the one to poison their drinks is - suprise suprise - batflower ! nyx holds a lot of envy towards the remaining heiresses [especially rasp who is trying to walk away from the privlidge she'd been given that batflower so desprately wants back] and she spikes the heiresses' drinks with something similar as to what wizard/strawberry get in the original. And raspberry's already having her emotions run high and is pretty pissy and her and princess do Not Get Along so they start fighting before dueling [11-27 boss fight] - though it gets interupted by batflower showing herself, unfurling her wings and mocking them for falling right into her play. Yadda yadda drama stuff yadda yadda rasp falling even deeper into her want to leave her role because she sees the reflection of what it can do to people in batflower but also. THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING [batflower replaces the 11-30 boss - it fits nyx well since its in a garden and nyx has plant magic it uses to make its poisons]. Once batflower is beat she retreats. Probably shows up later at minimum as an observer but i havent figured that out. Rest proceeds mostly as normal, with hollyberry showing up having realized how badly she failed her kingdom and what pitaya has done to it as 'ruler', and promptly beats their ass into next week and probably makes them do community service /LH. i wanted to do more to hb's characer arc and i DID mostly but im trying not to get too deep into the psychology of the events [as i often tend to do] and just tell it as it is. i think it would be cute if wildberry was with her [since she took him in while she was in hiding] and when its revealed shes the queen he gets promoted to her personal bodyguard. just thought that though idk a lot of this is loose Rasp at this point is done, goes home, gets in a fight with mousse and leaves the kingdom for good - though that probably wouldnt be featured in the plot. what WOULD be featured is a tiger lily reuinion with her family - i havent thought abt it much but it annoys me to NO FUCKING END that she is completely written off despite being LITERALLY *the missing princess*. And they do nothing with her besides jungleberry offhandedly remarking "oh that might be her,,," like GIRL YOURE NOT GONNA ?? INVESTIGATE ??? i think thats it . i might be forgetting something but whatever.

[walkwithheroes84]

The Boys Season Three Spoilers

Listened to the Double Toasted season three (non spoiler) review today. I’ve listed out the main points. While there are no spoilers, it does discuss where characters and plot are going. 

Season Three Overall:

They do go hard on political aspects. Leaning into the issues in the country today.

The violence isn't’ really shocking anymore, but the show still tries to lean into it via gore. The violence is becoming cruel and mean, even when it doesn’t have to be. Lots of causal murder this season, but no one seems upset by it anymore.

The show as a whole is moving into the comic storylines. 

Things keep getting worse for the characters. 

Every episode does end in some kind of cliffhanger. 

Lot of nudity and sex. 

The writing is great, even though things aren’t always well done.

Lots of things felt like a season four setup. 

Season four should probably be the last, as everything has piled up so much, that it can’t go much farther.

Characters:

Soldier Boy:

He hates women. 

Lots toxic masculinity. 

He’s racist. 

He’ll leave you alone, though. If you don’t bother him, he’ll probably leave you alone. 

Described as a ‘frat boy’ who will insult you/be horrible to you - but doesn’t understand why you’re so mad about it.

You’ll probably not like him.

Homelander: 

Now realizes that he is the most powerful person on the planet. 

Becoming more unsure of himself and that has led him to become scarier than he’s ever been. 

He’s unhinged and doesn’t care if he hurts people. 

Slowly gaining power, because people are underestimating him. Everytime someone thinks they have him under control or have him where they want him - he surprises them.

A-Train:

Could do the right thing, but he’s still selfish. 

He’s fame hungry. 

He does come around for his community, but he messes it up.

Annie:

She’s leading this season. 

Maeve:

She’s lonely and full of trauma. 

She’s a wreck and does something this season that is surprising. 

Butcher is a bad influence, which is worse. 

Butcher knows she has issues, but he hurts and uses her.

The Deep:

Goes back to being a horrible character. 

Just a pervert in regard to sea creatures. 

Kissing Homelander’s ass the whole season.

Black Noir: 

More background and story. It’s harsh. 

He has more to do this season. 

You might feel a bit for him. But he’s still a murder. 

He’s one of the scariest characters on the show, but also the saddest.

Butcher:

He’s becoming more unlikeable and cruel. 

He’s starting to bring people (who shouldn’t be involved) become involved. 

He really wishes to kill Supes, and now is in the mind that all Supes should be killed. 

The V he takes is basically a drug that may be hurting his judgment. 

He’s a bad influence on everyone. And they should run.

Hughie:

Is slowly becoming like Butcher. 

He treats Annie badly a lot of the time. 

MM:

He has a great story arc this season and his tramua. 

His wife’s new husband (Todd) is taking the daughter to Homelander rallies. That causes an issue, because Toddis taking the daughter to things he shouldn’t; MM is being painted as an absent dad by others. 

Todd one inch ofrom being a white surprimist.

Frenchie and Kimiko:

They have a story, but the dangerous part isn’t totally needed. 

They are the heart of the season. 

We get peeks at Frenchie’s backstory, but it really isn’t a lot. We don’t know him any better at the end of the season.

It’s a lose subplot, but it really isn’t needed in the season. It does lead to something that deals with the major plot, but not enough to be needed.

It seemed like the writers have the two characters in a holding pattern for something down the road,

[blazingcobaltx]

Short Book 3 thoughts bc I'm gonna review it with Book 4 later:

There's a clear change in animation quality since Book 1 (I skipped 2 because eugh). For instance, the harsh lightning that was on top of everything in Book 1 is no more, which helps with animation clarity. At the same time, the foreground characters and backgrounds are more divorced from one another, which - in comparison to before - makes the characters blend less into their own world. I only notice this now that I've seen the two books back to back like this. Personally I feel the Book 1 animation was much better, but I understand that that must've been expensive to do for the rest of the show.

The story moves rather quick at the beginning, which consequently leads to less time to let certain moments sink in. At the same time, a lot of filler is spent on Bolin and his gags. If they had removed those moments (and woven in the humour more naturally instead) they would have had time to give some moments more weight. Or to just slow the pace so the audience could catch up with everything that happened. I felt myself pausing more often just so my thoughts could catch up with what was happening. Case in point: The Jinora/Kai and Bolin/Opal were both developed within 2 episodes ar most.

Watching this now as an adult with stronger thoughts about governments, it is interesting that the initial thesis of the Red Lotus isnt exactly disagreeable. It is less juvenile than Amon's and less fantastical than Unalaq's. It would have been more interesting to see Korra herself seriously consider the thesis of the Red Lotus, though I can imagine them not wanting to do that too much.

In terms of Korrasami, you can see that the show did its best to have both of them in frames next to each other as much as possible. Some of the most significant moments this season had Korra and Asami by each other's side, and that is probably where the initial feelings developed. In the vein of censorship, you can tell that the show tried its hardest to make people read into the subtextual clues they were leaving behind.

Ending the season with Korra's tear hits really, really hard.

IMO, the season's obvious major strength is the menacing nature of Zaheer and his squad, who are taking down everyone left and right. The major stake isn't even what their plan is but how you can even begin to take down seemingly invincible people. The setup and execution of that - the simultaneous return of airbending and the power-up of the worst possible person - are well-done. Still, I feel like something was missing in terms of impact, perhaps because of the sometimes mismanaged tempo. That's probably just me though, since Book 3 is a favourite of most.

[maximuswolf]

HELP!!! ANTS IN MY NEW ESPRESSO MACHINE (Breville Barista Express)

HELP!!! ANTS IN MY NEW ESPRESSO MACHINE (Breville Barista Express) Exactly what the post says..... ANTS IN MY BRAND NEW ESPRESSO MACHINE (Breville Barista Express). To give a little background I live in a high rise apartment building and have been here for almost three years with no pest problems! Speaking with my landlord it sounds as though there are colonies throughout the building though they have never entered my apartment specifically until now. I recently upgraded my basic Keurig coffee machine to a nice and shiny espresso machine, thoroughly enjoying it this past month!Back Story:Last week I discovered tiny little odorous/sugar ants crawling on the machine, to later find out they had completely infiltrated the inside of the machine! From reading up on this issue I discovered they were most likely attracted to the moisture/water and the warmth from the machine! I freaked out and spent the following five days killing them one by one as they would venture out of the seams. Luckily I did a full top to bottom strip and clean of the rest of my kitchen and did not find any other ants.... nor could identify a trail leading to the machine... Its has thought this espresso machine had drawn a whole squadron of ants who seem to have made my espresso machine their new home and had settled in quite comfortably! I ended up cleaning my kitchen from top to bottom, baiting for ants and using other pest control measures in the event that they had found their way elsewhere even though I did not find them anywhere else....Fast forward to today, I was luckily able to return my ant infested machine though wanted to purchase a new one as I really do love the machine! The new one arrived today though I am SOOO SCARED to actually use it as I fear waking up tomorrow morning to find the ants back and making this second machine their new home again! I have not seen any ants since my major spraying and cleaning episode and none have come out to try both protein and sugar baits laid out by my landlord.... I know for sure they are within the walls of the apartment and am not looking to exterminate what probably is a building wide infestation... BUT I DO NOT WANT THEM TO COME BACK INTO MY APARTMENT! I've lived here for three years and have never seen any insects until now and would like to keep it that way....HELP: How do you keep ants out/away from your setup? What can I do to prevent them from finding and using my new machine as their home again? How to I deter them from entering my apartment.... I know I wont get rid of the building wide ant issue though what can I do to prevent them from coming into my specific apartment as clearly they love my espresso machine enough to venture in.... Any help or suggestions to prevent this from happening again would be so helpful!!!**Live in ON Canada so access to good pesticides is VERY LIMITED…. Legit debating taking a drive across the border at this point. Submitted February 24, 2023 at 04:09PM by Adorable_Ad3990 https://ift.tt/FtyN9Or via /r/Coffee

[beneaththetangles]

First Impression: Lycoris Recoil

Upbeat poppy music tinkles in the background as a cheery teenaged girl goes about her morning ritual, brewing coffee and narrating about what a delightful world we live in, with such kind Japanese people. Perfect setup for a heartwarming slice-of-life about working at a traditional café, right? Well, maybe…if it weren’t for the troubling images of the aftermath of terrorism flashing on the television, and even more dissonant, the scenes of daily life in the city that reveal that the only thing keeping life happy and Japanese citizens kind is a roving contingent of trenchcoat-clad teenaged girl assassins who execute, erase, annihilate and otherwise wipe all evildoers off the face of the earth, seemingly without anyone noticing them. One of these assassins, or Lycoris as they are known, is our ebullient barista, Chisato. Another is the monosyllabic super machine gun-wielding Takina, who has only two modes: deadpan and executioner. After Takina jumps the gun and mows down a den of enemies against orders, putting a teammate at risk (or maybe saving her? Depends on how well you think of her aim), she’s downgraded from HQ and farmed out to café LycoReco with the bouncy Chisato. Who, it turns out, is the top Lycoris in the nation, having single-handedly foiled a really significant terrorist attack and gone down in the history books all before the age of 17. As one does. (At least in anime.) Though nowadays she seems far more interested in delivering fresh-ground beans to coffee snob yakuza, helping the local language school find a substitute teacher, and being a nee-san to kindergarteners, refusing even to assassinate bad guys (her gun shoots zip ties and magician smoke instead). Why has Chisato lost her killer edge? And will the overzealous assassin Takina be able to learn from her, as she’s been assigned to do?

Takina does not get what the big deal is. Of course she would avoid her teammate with her hail of machinegun fire!

This was an interesting first episode. I’m not quite sure what to think, apart from wanting to check out another episode before I decide whether this mash-up of genres and alternate-Japan world-building is genius or just trying too hard to be fresh. There’s quite a lot of dialogue and so many different dynamics, tropes, and dropping of hints as to conspiracies, deceptions, and things not being what they appear, that I found this premiere a bit of a challenge to keep up with, to the point where I almost felt breathless by the time the slice-of-life style ED began to roll (quite abruptly too). But that said, there’s plenty here to grab your attention: the animation is slick, the character design familiar but cleanly done, and there’s a surfeit of intrigue oozing from every scene, if you can be bothered to care. The two leads play off each other well enough like a classic straight man/funny man double act, and when Chisato flips into serious-mode, it makes me think that this could turn into something epic in the style of PsychoPass. But maybe I’m setting the bar too high here, and Takt.op Destiny (with whom Lycoris Recoil shares a seiyuu in Shion Wakayama, who’s solid here as Takina) will prove the better parallel, as a series that opened with a wild splash of creativity and strong artistry, but very quickly disappeared into oblivion.

I can say the same, Chisato, about your first episode!

=====

Lycoris Recoil can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

[specialagentartemis]

You Can Grow: Doug Eiffel and Embracing Aromantic Desires as Character Growth

Or, an aromantic reading of Doug Eiffel.

---

I wrote this and called it my Aromantic Eiffel Manifesto for Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week last year, but never posted it to tumblr. You can find it on AO3 here!  Meta belongs on AO3 just as much as fanfiction does :)

---

Wolf 359 is a sci-fi space opera and my favorite piece of media at the moment.  One of the reasons I love it so much, why it was so easy to get so deeply invested in and feel comfortable in, is that there are no romance plotlines.  There's an even balance of male and female characters, they have strong, well-developed, unique relationships, and there's not a single romantic one in the mix.

This makes it really easy to read some characters as aromantic, and the protagonist, Doug Eiffel, stands out as a character whose emotional and narrative arc takes on really powerful resonances when read in an aromantic light.  Wolf 359’s themes consistently emphasize that your choices make you who you are, that everyone can choose to be better, and that growth and personal fulfillment have to be a conscious choice; and a reading of Eiffel as aromantic suggests an arc wherein choosing to embrace his desires and values as an aromantic person and live his life according to those are part of what led him to be a happier, better, more fulfilled person.

First, Some Background

From the beginnng, the characters in Wolf 359 are set up such that romantic interpretations aren’t obvious or well-supported.  The characters develop closer relationships over the course of the show, but there are no romantic arcs between anyone throughout the entire series.  Gabriel Urbina, the creator and showrunner, has made it clear on several occasions that he didn’t want to write romantic arcs, and the entire cast and crew has consistently shied away from romantic-tinged questions during Q & As.  Possibly this is because the creators are all a group of friends from college and didn’t want to act kissy-noises at each other because that would feel weird (though that’s just speculation).

Specifically, though, because questions about romantic Eiffel/Hera get asked a lot, it stands out to me that Zach Valenti (the voice actor for Eiffel) and Michaela Swee (the voice actor for Hera) have been friends since grade school, and Zach Valenti has made it a point in his Q & A and livestream appearances to steer questions away from the topic of romance between Eiffel and Hera.

This is just some behind-the-scenes setting to suggest that the writing, acting, and direction lead to non-romantic interactions between the characters.  Of course authorial intent isn’t everything, but the relationships it does emphasize, and the themes it builds around them, lead to a reading of Eiffel as not only not interested in a romantic relationship with anyone in the cast, but not interested in romantic relationships at all, ever. And that slides really elegantly into the themes in the show.

Eiffel's History

A lot of this reading draws from the few paragraphs that Eiffel gives us about his past in episode 40, “Limbo,” which, upon looking back, clicks so much if you take an aromantic reading to it.

Crucially, this is the episode where we learn about Eiffel’s ex-girlfriend and daughter.

EIFFEL

One day, while Doug's out playing with his radio, he meets this real special girl. Jury's still out on whether she was his dream girl or his nightmare demon monster from the Black Lagoon, but they start going out because... well, he's had worse ideas.

Here, we have a setup/contrast we’ll see recurring: the juxtaposition between something Eiffel wants and likes (playing with his radio; it’s something he’s shown to have both an aptitude for and a genuine interest in), and something he seems ambivalent-to-apathetic about and gives no real justification for doing (going out with Kate Garcia).

“They start going out because… well, he’s had worse ideas.”  Doesn’t sound like someone who actively wants a romantic relationship to me.

And the relationship doesn’t go well.

EIFFEL

So, for a while things are all happy ever after. Then, for a while, things get real Sid and Nancy.

Sure, plenty of alloromantics have relationships that get toxic and terrible, but this seems like one that Eiffel didn’t particularly want in the first place except as an abstract concept (“jury’s still out on whether she was his dream girl or his nightmare monster from the Black Lagoon”).  No wonder he was unhappy in it, if a romantic relationship is the way he felt he had to relate to her and then felt unhappy and resentful when actually in it.

EIFFEL

But just when the tower of Babel's about to come crashing down, along comes a magical, bouncing, baby girl. […]

For a while, it was okay. Doug was seeing little baby Anne pretty much every other day, talking to her every day, teaching her to play the Jaws theme on her little dinky kid xylophone, all the good stuff. Hilariously... our man's pretty great at it.

MINKOWSKI

At being a dad?

EIFFEL

Oh yeah. Until he slips up. See, fun fact about Officer Eiffel: Dougie Boy doesn't like to have a drink. Dougie Boy doesn't like to have two drinks, or four drinks, or six drinks. Doug likes to have twelve drinks. Fifteen drinks. But when Doug has a kid, he thinks it's time to go the full Robert Downey Jr. He goes to meetings, gets cleaned up. And then one day - one bad day - he has one drink. One. Then it's showtime folks! The Doug Eiffel Limbo: How Low Will He Go? […]

Kate, our story's angel-slash-demon-slash-ex-girlfriend, freaks out, because... well, because she has a brain. Custody was never gonna go Doug's way because duh. And after that... well, Dougie-Doug goes to a bad place. He turns into a bit of a... a good old fashioned monster. And one night, about two months later, he pulls up to Kate's house, jimmys open the back door, gets his daughter in the car, and rides off into the sunset. Happy ever after, right?

And then we get to hear everything else: the drunk driving, the crash, the arrest, the lowest moment in Doug Eiffel’s life.

It’s not a lot of airtime, but it does have a lot of implications.

From this, it’s possible to construct a distinctly aromantic narrative.   Doug Eiffel is rootless and unfulfilled and doesn’t have a lot going for him, at this point in his life.  He joined the military young, which lasted “until [his] disciplinary record caught up with [him]” (mini-episode 12, “Pagliacci”).  He worked private security for a while, and then pizza delivery.  This is not the picture of a man who knows what he wants, or how to achieve it even if he did.  Some of his choices actively seem to go against his obvious desires—how could someone like him, with his well-established dislike for orders and defiant opposition to authority think that the military would work out for him?   (It didn’t.)  But as someone kind of rootless, without the ability to articulate what he wants, and with a strong streak of what could be laziness but also reads a lot like ADHD… I can imagine the military would be one of the few places that might accept him, that could offer him certain things (a goal, a chance to work with technical equipment) that he wanted, and be the kind of respectable establishment that would show that he was growing up, being something respectable and productive now.  It’s not that it was a life he wanted; but it’s a life that’s normal, respectable, and available to him.  And it absolutely did not work out, because Eiffel by his nature is not cut out for military and life and is demonstrably unhappy and resentful in even the slightest facsimile of one.

I see him doing something really similar regarding romantic relationships, and dating Kate Garcia in particular: it’s something close enough to what he wants (he does like her) and so entering a romantic relationship is a respectable, responsible, grown-up thing to do, and he doesn’t even know how to articulate what he does and doesn’t want out of the relationship—until he gets it.

Eiffel is unhappy being a boyfriend, but genuinely loves being a father—again, the juxtaposition between what he wants (his parental relationship with his daughter Anne) and what he doesn’t (his partnered relationship with Kate).  “Doug was seeing little baby Anne pretty much every other day, talking to her every day” suggests that he was happiest when he had already separated from Kate but was still in regular contact with Anne.  He expresses, throughout, no regret for the loss of the romantic relationship, and was in fact happier when he wasn’t in it; it was the formal loss of custody and being cut off from his daughter that led him to spiral and hit bottom.

It’s also important that throughout he doesn’t really blame Kate for this at all; he doesn’t express particular anger at her, and he respects her, even if resentfully.  He acknowledges that her reactions to his alcoholism were justified.  (He really, really hates himself for this; the whole story puts the blame squarely on Eiffel for the alcohol-fueled destructive decisions he makes.)

So: even when trying to make a romantic relationship work out, it didn’t, and it made him miserable; it was after separating, and after discovering what he actually wanted (to be a parent, to have this relationship with his daughter) that he became happier and more fulfilled and wanting to do better; and it was after losing custody of his daughter that he really began to get both abjectly miserable and selfishly vindictive.

Overall, this presents a picture of a man who is drifting, trying to fit into "respectable" life trajectories and never fitting or making them work, and then ending up crashing and burning from being such a poor fit in something he never really wanted anyway (military, romantic relationship).  And, while very dramatized, this resonates strongly as a “before you knew you were aromantic” feeling, the pressure to try to fit into expectations because, well, that’s what people do, right?  That’s how you prove you’re a real and responsible adult, right?  Why is trying to do so making me so unhappy, then?

This is all the “before,” the backstory Eiffel tells Minkowski as he anxiously waits to hear if another four-year-old girl with a traumatic brain injury imparted by her parent will be okay.   The part that makes his arc feel like growth and fulfillment into an aromantic life is Eiffel’s arc as we see it progress through the “present” of the show.

Eiffel's Arc

Doug Eiffel’s character development throughout the show is some really impressive character writing, taking him from a snarky rude jerk who is very performative about how much he doesn’t care and isn’t trying, to one of the most emotionally perceptive, morally centered, and empathetic characters on the show.  It’s an arc, and a broader theme throughout the podcast, about how our choices make us who we are—and it’s a theme and an arc that takes on an additional resonance when reading Eiffel through an aromantic lens.

We meet Eiffel as a selfish, emotional, irritable slacker.  He doesn't care about the people around him, because he's jaded—this is his punishment for his rock-bottom worst decision of his life, a reflection of his failure at being a human being (no stable job, failed relationship—but, again, most prominently, his failure as a father and the harm he caused to his daughter).  His tension with the rest of the crew is exacerbated by the way Minkowski is constantly frustrated with his lack of work ethic or any enthusiasm to be here—which, at that point, neither she nor we the viewers realize is a deliberate punishment, is a literal prison.  Eiffel has proven to himself that he's a failure, and has given up on himself and is embracing not caring.  His whole bit in “Am I Alone Now?” and “Are the Spacesuits Itchy?” plays up that flippantness and callousness.  (This is something I actually see as very much rooted in an ADHD reading, too—and ADHD and aromanticism both have a very strong penchant for producing feelings of “why is something that seems so effortless for everyone else so impossible for me?”)

But the same traits that made him the butt of the narrative early in season develop into the things that make him the heart and moral center of the show later on.   Eiffel begins to grow as a person and become a better person when he starts caring about the people around him—Hera, then Minkowski, even Hilbert.  His impulsive emotional responses—even his cowardice and selfishness—end up making him cautious, perceptive, empathetic, and adamantly pacifistic, trying to solve problems peacefully by making friends and convincing people to get along (ex. “The Sound and the Fury,” “Fire and Brimstone.")  He’s the first to try to make friends with Lovelace, and comes close to actually succeeding.  He keeps reaching out to Hilbert, trying to get Hilbert to come to the “light side” and choose to be a better person.  Eiffel recognizes how his choices hurt the person he loved most (Anne), and begins making conscious choices to care so as to not hurt anyone else.

Over the course of the show, Eiffel not only becomes a better, self-fulfilled, healed person, but a happier person, deeply devoted to the people around him.  He becomes his best and happiest self in this space station removed from the social pressures on Earth, embedded in a network of deep and important platonic relationships.  These different relationships are in fact the structure through which Eiffel becomes a better person.

Of course, all the relationships depicted on the show are very strong and non-romantic, but other characters do express their romantic interests in other ways—Minkowski has a husband back on Earth who she loves and wants to see again, Fisher has a boyfriend back on Earth he talks about glowingly, and even Jacobi talks regretfully about a separation from Klein that seems probable to read as a breakup.  Unlike these, and unlike his wish to see his daughter again, Eiffel never expresses interest in trying to rekindle a romantic relationship with Kate, or to seek a new one.  Removed from amatonormative pressures, he found the life he wants and the people important to him, and they’re these people, these non-romantic relationships, right here.

You Can Grow

Personal growth through your choices, and specifically your choices about who you want to be and what you need to do to make becoming that person happen, are a recurring theme throughout the show.  In space, all of the characters are physically separated from their pasts and the things that made them—and now they get to decide who they want to be.

This is exemplified directly in the conclusion of the special episode “Change of Mind.”  “You're not just what you were made,” Lovelace says.  “You can grow.”

In this instance, what you were made doesn’t refer to any innate qualities.  This quote grew out of a conversation between Lovelace and the AI Eris, and were made refers specifically to the idea that they were both literally created by another entity with their own goals—Eris by Goddard Futuristics, Lovelace as an alien duplicate by the Dear Listeners.  This kicks off a season-long arc about Lovelace trying to decide who she is going forward, whether she’s still the same Isabel Lovelace.  It’s important that it also comes directly after a look into Lovelace’s past—or, as noted, how Lovelace remembers her past.  Lovelace is haunted by her mission and what happened to her, and it has turned her into a different person than she was back then.  So, social pressures, social forces, and personal history are also all set up as the things that make you, in Wolf 359—and all things that don’t have to define you, if you don’t let them.  And, again, space is an excellent place to escape those social forces and explore becoming something new.

This is a fundamental part of both Minkowski’s and Eiffel’s arcs.  Both of them have pressures, both socially- and personally-applied, that they’re chafing under and making them unhappy.  Minkowski felt an alienation that came from being an immigrant as a child and striving to be a perfect, precise, assimilated American and officer.  In her backstory episode (“Once in a Lifetime”), that gets used against her to manipulate her into taking this job.  Her self-consciousness about this comes out in her extreme strictness about following the rules because she wants to run a successful mission and prove it was all worth it.  By the end of the show, a lot of this by-the-book strictness has fallen away, and Minkowski embraces both more chaotic and lateral-thinking problem-solving, and loyalty to the people around her rather than to the abstract idea of rules and hierarchy—and in the process, finally comes into her own as a leader.  She acknowledges the idea of choices directly in “Dirty Work”—there may not be any “correct” or even good answers; what matters is that you made the choices.

If space allowed Minkowski the, well, space to not be what she was made, and to grow, the same is true of Eiffel.  He’s not defined solely by his past; he’s not defined solely by his failures.  They’re part of him, but he doesn’t have to just be what his past made him.  He can choose to grow.  And he does.

In this sense, we come back to the thematic thread.  If Eiffel is aromantic, a significant part of his past was being torn between what he actually wanted, and what seemed like the available option that made sense just because it was there.  In space, removed from that, he was no longer in a place where amatonormativity had any hold to present an obvious available option.  So he was able to actually look at what he wanted, what mattered, and make those choices… and grow.

On Earth, Doug Eiffel, aromantic, was trying to force himself to fit into expected social structures—a respectable job, and a respectable relationship.  He was bad at both, and both were making him miserable, but he had no image of how it could be different, or what he wanted, or what would make him happy.  So he kept trying at what he felt he was supposed to do and bitterly embraced his perception of himself as a stupid failure of a person.

But, in space, freed from Earth expectations, he was able to find not only what he was good at doing (radio mediation between humans and aliens, moral mediation between high-strung humans and other humans) but also the types of relationships he wanted (not only a chance to try again as a parent with Hera, but his friendships with Minkowski, Hera, and Lovelace, and even his attempts to reach out to Hilbert).  He found a non-traditional job and family structure that work well for him and give him what he wants, discovering a social setup that makes him feel worthwhile, important, and loved.

This reads really strongly to me as an aro narrative: leaving Earth to escape amatonormativity and discovering your preferred found family of strong, diverse platonic relationships (in SPACE).   You're not just what you were made (shaped by amatonormativity, miserable).  You can grow.  You can choose what it means to be you.

A Brief Conclusion

Also, Doug Eiffel is living my personal aro dream of living in a big house with all of his best friends.  (He in fact one-ups that because the house is his best friend.)

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Wizard City’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 4)

Airdate: September 2, 2021

Story by: Adam Muto, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, & Charley Feldman

Storyboarded by: Maya Petersen, Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, & Aleks Sennwald, & Haewon Lee

Directed by: Miki Brewster & Jeff Liu (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

An episode focusing on Peppermint Butler’s dark side is something that the fandom has craved ever since the little guy demanded Finn and Jake’s flesh in season two’s “Death in Bloom.” While installments like season five’s “The Suitor” and season six’s “Nemesis” did much to scratch that itch, the story of the Dark One remained mostly unknown…

And after “Wizard City,” it still remains largely unknown. But that’s OK, because instead of focusing on the character’s history, this special focuses on Peps’ quest to relearn magic at a magic school. Put most simply, this special is largely a fun excuse for the show to riff on Harry Potter and The Owl House-style “magic school hijinks,” and it mostly all works.

The special follows Peps quest to go to WizArts (a definite play on CalArts, the school that Pen Ward and Adam Muto, among many others, went to) so that he can relearn magic and once again become one of the greatest dark wizards of his time. Initially, Peps tries to make friends with cool kid Spader and his posse, but once they learn that Peps is not as talented at magic as they had initially thought, they kick him to the curb. It is at this point that Cadebra, Abracadaniel’s adorkable niece who is fascinated with stage magic, enters the picture. Cadebra tries everything in her power to befriend Peps, but Peps pushes back, since she’s not “cool.” It does not matter, though, because both Peps and Cadebra are sorted into the same “house”—the “Skink House—and are forced to work together.

While Peps and his cohort begin learning more and more complex magic, a secret cult of school professors, led by the otherwise caring Dr. Caledonius, are scheming to resurrect Coconteppi, a powerful dark wizard whose putrid heart has been discovered underneath the school excreting a very powerful ichor. The school cult kidnaps Spader and gives him some of the ichor to drink; they hope that because of his talent, he will be able to house the spirit of Coconteppi. This does not go as planned, and Spader is graphically killed (albeit off screen). (In a more humorous moment, Bufo, the scam wizard from season one’s “Wizard,” also ingests some of the ichor, believing himself powerful enough to handle it, but it kills him.)

Eventually Peps and Cadebra learn what is going on. Dr. Caledonius welcomes Peps, believing that he is strong enough to handle the ichor. When Cadebra’s life is put in danger, Peps reluctantly gives the putrid fluid a swig, which infuses him with the power of Coconteppi. Coconteppi-Peps then kills all the cult members before Cadebra manages to remove the ichor from Peps body. For uncovering a heinous plot, Peps is promoted to the highest house, “Salamander,” but he decides to remain a Skink and learn magic “the hard way” with Cadebra as his friend.

As I mentioned near the start of this review, “Wizard City” spends most of its time riffing on the “magic boarding school” trope, with much of the episode feeling like a light-hearted parody of Harry Potter: The characters, after all, are “sorted” into “houses,” they learn various types of magic from skilled “professors,” and they bunk in different parts of a large castle-like campus. Of course, Harry Potter didn’t invent the idea of a boarding school, but when setting your story in a school for magic, it is very hard not to lean at least somewhat into the Hogwarts relation. And this really is a double-edged sword, for while Harry Potter references can be fun here and there, they can also make the overall story feel like a fanfic parody. This special does a good job focusing more so on the characters rather than the setting, but I won’t lie, at times it did feel as if they show was really trying to make you realize it was making a Harry Potter joke.

Of all the characters introduced in the special, the breakout star is easily Cadebra, voiced by Chloe Coleman. Radiating a sort of Mabel Pines energy, Cadebra is the beam of optimism who shines brightly in an otherwise macabre special. There is something about her plucky personality and sense of wacky individualism that charms the viewer. I appreciate how the show compared and contrasted her with her uncle, the one and only Abracadaniel: like her uncle, Cadebra is a good person who wants to help others, but unlike Abracadaniel, she has a sense of courage and fortitude that results in her taking on a Coconteppi-possessed Peps at the episode’s climax. (Say what you will, Abracadaniel stans, but our favorite custodian would never have done that!) Thanks to her bravery and dedication to Peps, Cadebra is easily the heart of the special.

The episode throws an interesting little curveball into the mix by having the ‘ghost’ of Past Peppermint Butler constantly haunt Peps in the here-and-now. Past Peppermint, it seems, was so determined to become a great wizard, he cursed himself, so that if anything were to go awry, his Past self could materialize and set him straight. It’s confusing, but I do think that mixing the “overbearing parent” trope with a curse is a clever idea; it gives the whole special some dramatic heft. The whole setup is made even funnier by the special’s conclusion: After Future Peppermint Butler is ‘defeated’ and the day is saved, Peps reveals to Cadebra that he still wants to be a great and powerful dark wizard… but he wants to earn that power through hard work and determination. (Peppermint Butler might commune with demons, but he would never sell his soul to one for power; Glob helps those who help themselves, ya know?)

One of the special’s strongest points is its background art. Adventure Time always had some beautiful set pieces, and this special goes above and beyond to give WizArts an ancient sense of grandeur and mystery. Ghostshrimp, a freelance artist who was the show’s lead background designer during seasons 1-4, return for this special as a “visual developer”—basically, he mocked up a bunch of rough designs for the locales, and then the episode’s background artists worked up the final pieces in his style. On his podcast, Ghostshrimp mentioned how hectic he found Adventure Time to be, because he was used to taking his time on pieces. As such, the decision to bring him on for just development was smart, as it allowed him to still come up with iconic background designs while also playing fast and loose with everything. Hopefully the show will continue this approach with the Fionna and Cake miniseries that is coming up. After all, Ghosthsrimp’s style is the look of Adventure Time.

Another strong point for the episode is its voice acting. For one thing, you have your regulars like Tom Kenny and Dana Snyder, and Duncan Trussell, who all give a solid performance. But to voice many of the special’s new characters, the show brought on a bevy of fun actors: Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader, for instance, is now voicing Bufo, and he does a solid job hamming up his role as the old fogey. And then there’s Toks Olagundoye, whose British accent gives Dr. Caledonius a sense of knowledge and expertise. To my delight and surprise, SungWon Cho, an internet personality and voice actor perhaps better known as ProZD, was tapped to voice Brain Wizard, and he does an excellent job. And finally, Anthony Stewart Head, a very talented actor who I know best as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, voices Con Wizard, and is even given a fun little ditty to sing. I can safely say that the voice acting in this special is likely the best of the bunch, and it’s obvious that the actors were all having a great time playing their parts.

What drags the whole thing down, in my opinion is the excessive murder. (I joked on Twitter that during the climax of “Wizard City,” it felt like I was watching an Adventure Time-ified version of Invincible!) Infused with the power of Coconteppi, Peps goes on a brutal killing spree, boiling Potable Wizard into steam, zapping Dimension Wizard into another plane of existence, smashing Berdzerd, and—perhaps most graphically—excerebrates (had to look that word up!) Brain Wiz. On Twitter, @sometipsygnostalgic​ argued that while, yes, the scene is startling, it does wonders to transmute “a poor Summer Camp Island knockoff [into] Adventure Time chaos.” The more I think about it, the more I think that’s a fair point; after all, this is hardly the first dark thing that has happened in Adventure Time. But the part that I cannot really stomach is the fact that Spader was murdered for no real reason, and the special ends without anyone really expressing their horror at the situation. Sure, Spader was a schoolyard bully, but he was also a child. And killing a child—either for the drama or the lulz—feels decidedly out of place in an Adventure Time episode. It’s hard to express, but it just felt unnecessarily nihilistic and mean-spirited.

All things considered, I think this was a fun episode, but it was somewhat underwhelming for a ‘finale.’ Much of this is because it had to air after the perfection that was the back-to-back “Obsidian”/”Together Again” wombo combo. But I can’t help but feel like this special just felt a little... off. A little too meanspirited, and it leaned a bit too much on standard tropes. Still, it was a fun spin, and I know that I’ll rewatch it.

Mushroom War Evidence: As Peps rides the bus to school, he passes a bunch of abandoned houses, some of which are buried in the ground. There is an unexploded bomb above the fossilized elephant in the school. Cadebra has a dream that takes place in the ruins of a city.

Final Grade: B+

[lilhawkeye3]

God-Given Solace

Penelope Garcia x Derek Morgan

Criminal Minds |||| Season 4 Episode 1: Mayhem

AO3 Link

Penelope Garcia thinks she's just heard Derek Morgan explode in a New York City ambulance. Luckily, she's got a clever best friend who isn't about to die that easily.

“Garcia, you’re my God-given solace.”

Penelope nearly passed out in relief when his exhausted voice came into her earpiece. “Derek Morgan, you’re a pain in my ass.”

“At least it’s a cute ass.”

She couldn’t stop the tears that were now freely trailing down her cheeks. She could still hear the crackling sound of flames in the background of the call and desperately hoped Derek wasn’t anywhere near them. He was safe. Her team—her family—was safe.

“You better get your ass back here so I can kill you myself for scaring me like that!” She chastised, shaking her finger at her screen despite him being unable to see it.

“Anything for you, mamacita.”

She would’ve given anything to jump up from her temporary desk and rush to his GPS location, but as always, she was the one holding down home base. She had to stay and wade through the chaos, organize it into something manageable. She hated it. She really did. But she did it anyways. She didn’t stray from her screen because she knew she’d break down the moment she’s wasn’t fully distracted and—

And a hand landed on her shoulder. She tore her eyes away from her setup as if in slow motion and span around in her chair, tilting her chin up. Derek Morgan stood above her, cradling his shoulder. His mouth curved into a grin, teeth flashing white against his soot-covered skin.

“Hey there, baby girl. Miss me?”

“Derek Morgan, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Penelope gasped, chest heaving as if she could finally breath air after minutes underwater. A cry fell from her lips as she surged out of her chair and pulled him into her arms. Her fingers dug into his singed shirt, her face buried against his neck as he swept her off her feet and spun her around.

“You scared me,” she murmured, hoping her words would be lost in the rapid beat of their hearts.

“I’m sorry, Penelope,” he whispered into her hair, pressing his lips against the crown of her head.

“Agent Morgan?” A timid voice spoke up from behind them. “Paramedics want to clear you before they head out.”

Penelope let out a huff and pushed against his chest to back away from him. “Derek!”

“What?” He laughed. “I had to see you first.”

“Go- and- get- checked- for- injuries!” She scolded, emphasizing each word with a slap against his arm.

“Alright, woman, alright! I’m going,” he chuckled as he headed out of the room.

Penelope sighed wistfully and in frustration. She turned around to see her tech partner of the last few days smirking up at her.

“So… I suppose this means he’s taken?” She joked.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about,” Penelope replied, crossing her arms and going back to her seat.

(She did have a faint idea. It just wasn’t the same that everyone else seemed to have.)

🌸🌸🌸🌸

Penelope had been sharing a room with JJ, but Will and her had splurged on a separate room now that they were staying an extra day. Now alone, she couldn't help staring at the door that led to Derek. The hotel rooms had connecting doors to the ones on either side, something that on lighter case aftermaths would lead to some rowdy drinking games between the team.

Tonight though… she’d tossed and turned, the scar on her chest twinging – or at least that’s what she said, and ignored that it was her heart. She tossed and turned for hours, the light bulb burning at the bedside table.

Only when she heard footsteps on the other side of the wall did she finally get out of bed, pull the top blanket around herself, and get up and knock the door separating her and Derek.

He opened the door with a perfectly raised brow—really, straight out of a Disney movie—and stepped slightly to the side to let her in. She didn’t do that though. Instead, she stepped forward into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and molding into him. He curled around her in turn.

“You alright?” His voice was soft as velvet.

“When you didn’t answer right after the explosion,” she started, “I thought… I was so worried…”

“Shh, it’s alright, we’re all fine,” he hummed, stroking her hair. “Reid’s gonna be out of the bathroom any minute. Can I come in?”

“Yeah… yeah, JJ left.” Penelope stumbled back like she was in a dream, but Derek’s arm around her shoulders anchored her. She let him guide her to the bed which dipped when they sat side by side on it.

“When’s the last time you slept, Pen?” He asked as she tipped her head against his arm. “You got dark circles under your eyes.”

“Complete Casanova you are,” she snorted. “There were only two of us able to man the surveillance system, and she was still new to it all. I wasn’t about to let you all go in blind.”

“Honey…”

“But it’s alright!” She sniffled but still did her best to sound upbeat. “Like you said, we’re all fine.”

“Mhmm, but now you gotta sleep, Pen.” He lifted her and pulled her backwards towards the pillows, and she went willingly. “We’re leaving in the morning.”

“Can you stay till then?” She mumbled, finally giving in to the way her eyes droop. Her fingers curled up where they rested against his chest.

“Of course. Anything for you, Pen.”

🌸🌸🌸🌸

When Spencer Reid pokes his head through the still-open door at the break of dawn, he can’t help but smile at the sight of his two friends asleep together in the cream-colored hotel bed.

He also can’t help but take pictures of them together as well. One never knew when blackmail material would be needed.

🌸🌸🌸🌸

“So…” Hotchner broke the silence once Derek directed the black SUV onto 95 South. “You and Penelope last night?

It took all of Derek’s training not to react and accidentally swerve and hit one of the Jersey barriers. “Excuse me?”

He could see Hotch’s smirk out of the corner of his eye. “Profiler.”

“Fuck off, Hotch.” Derek’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.

“I’m not criticizing you, Derek.” He swore he could hear a laugh in the bastard’s tone. “In fact, I think you two would be good together.”

“Is that what you think?” He said it more as a statement than question.

“She’s the heart of this team—"

“Yeah,” Derek agreed. “Yeah she is.”

“—so if you hurt her, they won’t ever be able to find your body.” A pause. “You know how often they dredge the Potomac?”

Derek finally laughed. “Not very often, I’d imagine.” Another pause, this time hesitant. “Thanks for looking out for her, Hotch.”

“I look out for my family,” Hotch agreed firmly.

They continued to the state line in silence before Hotch once again broke the silence.

“Reid said he saw you two asleep together in the same bed—"

“I’m gonna strangle that green bean when I get my hands on him,” Derek growled and pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal.

Hotch chuckled.

[ladyc0312]

A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 112-121

Yes, I'm still doing these! It's just happening more slowly than I'd like because writing for work + writing fic + trying to go to bed before midnight + so much amazing content being released that clearly must be poured over and dissected = less time to make guides. For anyone still with me, he's the next section!

Ep 112 “Dalbang School Part 1” (Ep: 5 / KM: 4)

The ones with BTS in a classroom driving Teacher Jin insane

5:58 - JM declares that he and Taehyung will pair up (by being the first to hug each other in a game), but then when Hobi blows the whistle at 6:38, JK runs over to hug JM before Tae can get to him.

6:58 - Jin asks why JM said he wanted Tae and then hugged JK. JM explains that he didn't hug him, he just found himself in JK's hug as JK cackles in the background.

7:24 - When Jin blows his whistle at the class, JK and JM mirror each other in putting a finger in one of their ears.

7:35 - Teammates JK and JM are immediately on the same page about wanting their team name to be Kim Seokjin. When they have to change it, JM quickly picks up JK's suggestion that they call their team Bang Sihyuk. These don't sound like particularly unique moments, but when you watch it, it just really strikes you how in sync the two of them are in terms of physicality, ideas, and sense of humor.

9:52 - After Jin comments that he heard JM did very well in school, JK adds that JM was the top student. When someone else asks if JM was the best or second-best, JK forcefully reiterates that he was the best student.

12:45 - When they get a question right, JK and JM clasp hands and bump their shoulders together.

13:10 - JM and JK both goof around, speaking in satoori and challenging JHope to a fight of sorts.

13:27 - When Jin repeats that they got the question right, JK and JM do exactly the same as 12:45, but seated this time.

14:22, 14:36, 15:13 - In all three of these moments, JM nearly falls over laughing at something JK did that no one else found anywhere near as funny.

23:36 - When JK says he's good at this game, JM laughs and pokes JK in the chest with a marker.

BEHIND 2:30 - JM takes a selfie of him and JK with his personal phone while they're supposed to be paying attention to Jin.

6:35 - JK cheers on JM and calls him Jimin-ssi when JM announces he's doing well on this spot-the-difference round. When Jimin modifies the brag to say he only found four, JK says "that's still quite impressive."

Ep 113 “Dalbang School Part 2” (Ep: 5 / KM: 4)

4:50 - We all know how JK is when he gets into his "focus" zone, especially in a competitive environment. But here, when JM rather rudely interrupts JK's melodica practice, JK just starts playing around with him and giggles.

7:41 - As RM & JH take their turn, jikook are whispering to each other in the back row.

11:42 - After quickly agreeing on a lunch option, jikook do a high five / handshake thing and then JM says "we think alike" and "we get along pretty well." JK responds "that's exactly it" and the on-screen captions tells us they are a "good match."

22:20 - This is where JK and JM start switching back and forth carrying each other on their backs to get under a limbo stick.

They go again at 23:35, 26:11, and 28:13.

And again at 30:22 and 32:16 and 34:30 because, even though they lost, they want to try to do it again to show that they can as a "matter of pride."

25:00 - JK points something out to JM and then pats his butt.

33:33 - JM announces they lost, and then jikook do another handshake / high five thing.

34:33 - JM does an... interesting pose for the camera where he puts his hand on a bent-over JK's back and smirks.

34:56 - Yet another handshake and JM pats JK on the back when they finally pass the limbo challenge.

BEHIND 5:55 - While examining the limbo setup, JM comments that JK is good at this. JK comes over to give a demonstration and JM watches him be silly with it and says "he's a strange kid" fondly.

6:21 - Another jikook limbo attempt - this one was cut because they did it too easily.

Ep 114 “League of Number One Part 1” (Ep: 3 / KM: 1)

The ones where BTS play games with League of Legends world champions

3:55 - After Jimin protests that he shouldn't be out, JK tells his hyung to turn around and face the back.

14:40 - JK fake-boxes JM after losing the hammer game.

18:18 - JK mimics Jimin's BWL intro.

Ep 115 “League of Number One Part 2” (Ep: 2 / KM: .5)

BEHIND

7:05 - JK comes over to check on Jimin's phone to make sure he's actually visible in the selfie the teams take.

Ep 116 “Team-Building Special Part 1” (Ep: 4 / KM: 1)

The ones with random games in that rec room-looking place that are a lot more fun than they sound

22:14 - JM and JK play around with the jump rope during breaktime.

22:26 - JM and JK play around like they're boxing with each other.

BEHIND 5:15 - JK appears to take an interest in watching JM's... back as he moves around acting out potential poses.

Ep 117 “Team-Building Special Part 1” (Ep: 4 / KM: 2)

5:30 - Despite showing pretty much everyone else touching everyone else in the pose guessing game, we don't get a single shot here or in the behind of JK feeling up Jimin. The above photo proves that it happened, though, so definitely side-eyeing the editors, here.

BEHIND 5:35 - JK keeps throwing water bottles when they're supposed to be taking a group photo. Jimin pulls him back next to him and puts an arm around his neck. JK puts an arm around Jimin's shoulders in return.

7:51 - After it's explained that JK is staying late to watch Jin do his penalty, a packed-up Jimin comes over and stands next to JK, waiting until they're done to leave.

Ep 118 “Photo Story Part 1” (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

The ones where BTS play a Samsung-sponsored game involving getting specific pictures while a spy tries to ruin the fun

4:22 - JM appears to direct JK to go punish Tae and pats JK's back when he starts to obey. Something happens that we don't see when the angle changes - next thing we see, JM seems to be pushing JK? JM then giggles at JK pretending to beat up Tae. (After this, JK spins around like a ballerina. Not jikook-related, just adorable.)

29:51 - JK calls Jimin twice without adding "hyung."

32:28 - JM pulls JK along by the wrist. Meanwhile, J-Hope once again mixes up their names.

32:44 - Though there is now a group walking slowly together and he doesn't need to pull him along anymore, Jimin takes JK's hand again.

37:02 - There are a bunch of seats open in the room, but Jimin walks over to sit right next to JK.

BEHIND 5:40 - When JM tries to steal a post-it from JK, JK scolds him in satoori banmal. JM calls him out for not calling him with hyung and JK quickly apologizes (in a way some k-army jikookers have said is like how a married person would respond to their nagging spouse!).

6:09 - JK and JM meet up and JK tells JM he's exhausted. There's a kind of weird moment that I fully admit I may be reading too much into where JK seems to be walking right towards JM, then abruptly stops and turns, looking at the camera, before walking with Jimin in a different direction than he had been heading. Then, JM says he thinks their matching shirts are hilarious and that it's funny they're wearing them for the show.

Ep 119 “Photo Story Part 2” (Ep: 4 / KM: 3)

8:21 - "You are me, I am you" moment: Jimin does a ballet spin the same way JK did in part one.

11:18 - JK is the only one to vote for JM to be able to keep a picture in other than Jin (who has nefarious reasons for doing so).

29:40 - JM goes over to help JK see how many of his photos the spy ruined and almost falls over laughing when it becomes clear it's nearly all of them.

34:21 - JM puts his hand on JK's shaking leg to help calm him (see above photo), but JK is so irritated that it doesn't work like it usually does. Poor bunny!

35:17 - JM pulls at JK's shirt and hand, then folds over his back while trying to get him to confess that he actually lost.

38:24 - JM has a comforting hand on JK's neck when he's acting upset about losing.

38:32 - When it seems like JK is struggling to come up with an ending statement, JM helps prompt him.

BEHIND

0:55 - JK talks about how amazing it is that Jimin found so many cards.

3:51 - When JK is playing with the sequin art on the front of his shirt, JM leans over and starts rubbing on them, too.

5:11 - Jimin tells JK that, if he wins, he's going to make the loser hike Mt. Achasan. JK asks why he's looking at him when he says that and they both laugh. Jimin pats JK's chest and they laugh even harder. Jin and Tae both have "omg, these two" looks on their faces.

Ep 120 “Reply BTS Village Part 1” (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

The ones with a real-life Mafia game inexplicably set in a 1970s village. It's... fairly difficult to follow, but the guys are into it and the outfits are great!

24:40 - Jimin breaks character and laughs when asking JK if he's the culprit.

29:40 - Caption: "The air is undeniably tense between Gamer Jeon and Chief Park." Not explicitly jikook, I just find it funny that the writers seem to be playing with some real life relationships, making sope best friends and jikook have tension that leads to banter...

BEHIND

5:34 - When Jimin is playing with the yo-yo, JK expresses concern that he's going to hurt his fingers (caption: Kook is just worrying for his hyung). Then, JK asks poutily and in banmal if he can play with the yo-yo multiple times and Jimins says no. Like, JK straight-up gives his hyung a command ("let me try that") using informal speech and no one bats an eye!

5:58 - Jimin starts singing a song about an ants. JK watches him. JK initially says to Hobi "look, he's a fool/dummy!" (in banmal again), then starts singing along. He jokes that JM doesn't know all the lyrics and Jimin says back "quiet, you."

Ep 121 “Reply BTS Village Part 2” (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

38:48 - After having asked for it a bunch in the Behind of the previous episode, JK now has Jimin's yoyo.

non-jikook note: At the end of this one, they "time travel" to solve a mystery in Joseon-era Korea and I can't express how badly I want to see that. Please come back to that, Run!

BEHIND 0:58 - Jimin and JK play around accusing each other with exaggerated accents and formality. Jimin comes up behind JK and reaches out to touch his shoulder, but stops when Tae joins them and accuses them of plotting together.

9:05 - When JK says everyone else is so good at acting, Jimin compliments him that he was very funny towards the end.