#this episode and next episode both just reinforce how much I don't think I can forgive her and Pote for how badly they mess up here

[curtsies-from-princess-ashlyn]

I cannot for the life of me understand why the writers are still dragging the Claire storyline out. If we, the audience, are supposed to feel as anguished as Carmy is over losing her, I think the writers really failed. I really didn't see that their connection was so deep that Carmy would be this distressed over their breakup - even if it was due to something insensitive he may have said. Having multiple characters continue to push him to rectify his relationship with Claire feels so forced, as well. If their relationship was something that I truly believed could be lasting, then I could probably connect to that emotional tension, but I had thought the entire purpose of his S2 storyline was that a step towards Claire was a step away from fulfilling his responsibilities to Sydney and their restaurant. His relationship with Claire was in direct conflict with his relationship with Syd, and he continually let her down until he finally realized he was letting himself be pulled in two different directions. His making amends with Claire should've been finished in the first few episodes - she's not a main character (she's not even a character who's developed outside of Carmy's POV), and I'm pretty sure she had more screentime than Marcus. These writers cannot write a manic pixie dream girl and expect audiences to actually believe in the strength of her relationship with the lead so much that they root for them. (I also still don't understand how Claire is supposed to have all this free time when she's a hospital resident)

If the goal was to sow this division between Sydney and Carmy, which will force them both to seriously examine their relationship next season, I get it and that can be fine. That's also sort of what happened in S2 already, but they can still further develop that idea in a meaningful way. I'm gonna be honest, I'm here for the writers to pair up Sydney and Luca for a time as a plot device ship. They have excellent chemistry, and I would love to see Sydney exploring a new relationship until Carmy figures his stuff out. It can be reinforce the strength and importance of Sydcarmy's relationship to each other.

Just to warn you all, though, Sydcarmy could either be headed the Rina route (Ricky and Gina from HSMTMTS) with a planned slowburn executed beautifully, or this could end up being a Bellarke situation (Bellamy and Clarke from The 100) where the writers have a vendetta against the romantic pairing, despite obvious romantic undertones. Whichever one happens is anyone's guess, at this point

[kerubimcrepin]

The big Kerubim analysis post.

Aka, "finishing the liveblog for Episode 46 - The Hacienda's Fever, and then going completely off the rails 2 lines deep."

It is so vindicating to finally get here, and be able to show you this line, after having spent the past 45 episodes talking about how the entire crux of Kerubim's character arc is his horrible, horrible loneliness, with only the subtext, and the comic, to back me up.

It's so... unromantic, that his entire reason for being with Lou is really mostly about loneliness, isn't it? Yet, it explains everything.

And to be fair to their relationship, this fear of loneliness is his reason for everything. The Achilles heel of his psyche, from which all problems stem.

So... I think it's the time to quickly wrap up the episode, and then analyse him, deeply.

Simone's appropriate, albeit pretty tragic, addition of "but all good come to an end", sets a perfect tone for the end of the episode, and the rest of this post.

And while it is a funny line, — because, for all his singing and dreaming, their romance has ended decades ago, — it also applies to his entire life, in a way.

Good things just don't last for Kerubim.

Kerubim and Atcham grew up in a big family, consisting of at least four other siblings and two parents, before being orphaned sometime before the age of seven, and ending up at the orphan temple.

Whether they were related to their mother, or adopted into the family, is irrelevant, — they both revere their legacy equally, despite the disdain they feel for one another.

Neither of them integrated into any friend groups in the orphanage, and ended up completely isolated, and at this time, where they should have been one another's support, their relationship fell apart.

It happened due to the mixture of Ecaflip's manipulation to further isolate Kerubim, and Atcham very likely being othered and bullied, being jealous of Kerubim's fur and protection by Ecaflip. They both abandoned one another out of jealousy and fear.

Likely, Kerubim first began to distance himself from Atcham, who began to close himself off from him, out of jealousy and anger, — which only led Kerubim to distance himself further, and develop a bond with ecaflip. A back-and-forth reaction.

The reason Kerubim spends his whole life trying to be an ideal of a hero and a man, whatever those may even be, is that he's seen first-hand that abnormality leads to rejection, which leads to loneliness.

But the next fear he has, related to loneliness, is his fear of being abandoned and disliked by his loved ones.

From his point of view, what happened with Atcham was that they were friends, and then, after their family was gone, Atcham blamed him for everything and decided to make killing him his life mission.

He can't bring himself to truly hate Atcham, because as an adult he understands how bad things were for him, — it doesn't mean that Kerubim doesn't dislike him, and have very valid reasons to do so, — but it stings. Because he doesn't dislike Atcham as much as Atcham dislikes him.

What happened between them was his first taste of rejection and abandonment, — and that memory, together with Ecaflip's slow chipping away at his self-esteem and threats, (both things — something Atcham was jealous of), becomes a killer combination.

Kerubim's first, and only, childhood friend was Bashi. They never understood one another, because neither of them is very emotionally intelligent, and their relationship fell apart. His other friends from childhood began to hate him too.

Abandoned again, — and it only reinforces this fear.

And so, his experiences lead him to take frantic actions to avoid often-imagined abandonment, and the pain it brings.

Whenever he has a conflict with someone, he flips between either hating them, and trying to hurt them before they can hurt him, — and hating himself, because if he keeps being left behind, it must mean he's not a very good person to be around, right...?

I'm doing character analysis here, but Bro.,, how did the writers give him BPD on accident.

It hurts his and Lou's relationship, his self-medication with danger and gambling also hurts their relationship. Lou's manipulation and insults also degrade their relationship. And their mutual cheating hurts it even more.

And then, abandoned again.

Despite their rivalry, he has always respected, even liked Indie, — but it hurts, because it feels like Indie almost never returned that sympathy.

And that's one more person besides Bashi and Atcham who he likes, and who doesn't like him back.

So overall, his life amounts to everyone he ever liked leaving him alone, again and again.

And the friends he still has aren't that close, — kept at a slight distance, lest they begin to hate him too. Even if he doesn't act that way, Kerubim doesn't think much of himself. His sole source of self-esteem is external validation. Mostly from Joris, by now.

Even friendly departures break him a little. Because good things just don't last, don't they?

Even Joris, — the best thing to have ever happened to him, — even the relationship he has with him, feels like it's running out of time.

It probably feels like his relationship with Joris won't last either, — he'll grow up, grow tired of him, and leave him too.

He's more than aware he hasn't been the best father he could be, and he's terrified of the moment Joris realises it, too.

Because that's the one relationship he can't bear to lose anymore.

[telomeke]

POLL TAG – FIVE FAVORITE CHARACTERS

I was tagged by @lurkingshan (at this post linked here) and @pickletrip (at this post linked here). Thanks dearies! 🥰

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Challenge: make a poll with five of your all time favorite characters, and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favorite.

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I'm sticking to BLs as well, because the field would be far too wide otherwise (can you imagine a poll with Dolly Levi, Buffy Summers, Joe Rossi from Lou Grant, Lady Deathstrike from X-Men 2, any one of the Golden Girls, Erik Killmonger from Black Panther the movie, the Beastmaster and cartoon Aladdin? 🤣).

Anyway, I don't watch all that much BL (not compared to the majority of people here on BL Tumblr, who have watchlists longer than Babe's wig when he was Wansarat in The Sign). So that narrows the field considerably for me – and my list has some likely suspects, including an unbreakable pairing, and also one highly unusual choice. But I'll explain my choices after the poll itself:

Why these characters? Here's my spiel:

PatPran (Bad Buddy)  I've combined these two as a single choice, because obviously they go together (and so well too). But really, I would have loved to have listed them separately, because I have different reasons for loving them. Pat is just an all-round good guy, hopelessly optimistic, generous and so giving; he thinks of others before himself (and if both partners in a couple do that, well, you then have a mutually-reinforcing relationship). Pran I love because I can see so much of myself in him, from his tics and foibles, his interests, to his struggles finding his courage and growing into his own identity.

Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)  In a lot of ways, what Li Ming was going through in MLC paralleled some of my own experiences when I was a teen his age. If only they'd had MLC or something similar for teenage me to have watched growing up! Li Ming was somehow able to navigate the pressures of becoming someone true to himself (something that Pran, and I too in my teens, struggled with) while dealing with real world issues at the same time (economic hardship in Li Ming's case, while in mine it was general teen angst and family stress). He didn't let life get to him, and he stayed the course, knowing his own self-worth even when others were telling him to scale back his expectations (Uncle Jim and Heart's parents). Lessons in there for all LGBTQ+ teens, and Khun Noppharnach's socially-conscious BLs should be given more credit for the positive role models they portray and how they help the younger set. Plus Fourth did an excellent job bringing Li Ming to life (thanks in part I think to Director Aof's guidance; Fourth's Atom in My Love Mix-Up Thailand is a lot less grounded and authentic, at least from what I've seen in the first couple of episodes).

Porsche (KinnPorsche)  This entry is just for fun. KinnPorsche was a wild ride, whacking us with whiplash at every turn, and Porsche was emblematic of that experience. Cool, sexy martial arts fighter in one episode, total buffoon at the mercy of sprinklers, piss-allergic carp and mermaid costumes in others. Apo gamely played along, and he can do both slick action and slapstick comedy well, so watching Porsche always brought a smile to my face. Whether it was seducing Kinn with pappy supermarket bread, or warding off ghosts with a penis amulet, you never knew what craziness was in store next with this character. Pure entertainment.

Adachi (Cherry Magic)  Adachi charmed the briefs off me the moment the lift doors went CLANG!!! on him while he was distracted with whatever it was that was speedrunning through his head again. Such a lovable doofus, always surprised by whatever situation he managed to stumble into. Eiji Akaso is really good-looking, but he didn't care about image and happily took all the pratfalls in his stride. He somehow managed to imbue Adachi's clumsy clownery with a strange sense of dignity (helped along, I suppose, by the fact that we could also hear Adachi's inner monologue, allowing us to see the innocent good-heartedness within).

Dissaya (Bad Buddy)  This is the odd one out. Pran's mom was hated by so many fans during Bad Buddy's run, who blamed her for ruining Pran's life in many ways. And it's true her own hang-ups wrought havoc on Pran's relationship with the world outside. But for someone with so few scenes, I think she's actually one of the more complex characters in Bad Buddy, with a turbulent backstory that explains how her own relationship with the world got so warped. My read is that everything she did, including sending Pran away in high school, was done out of love for her beloved only son and motivated by a desire to protect him at all costs. She was a smothering, over-protective mother to be sure, but I think the lady just didn't know any better, and the last two episodes of Bad Buddy really do invite us to rethink our earlier appraisals of her. It wasn't easy doing Dissaya's character study based on the fairly scant details we got (write-ups linked here and here), but they were enough for me to glean an understanding of who I think she is. And I think in the end she is someone worthy of respect, so I do tip my hat out of respect for her. It's also obvious Pran loves her dearly, as much as she loves him back. And I think I trust Pran's judgement of character on this one. 😍

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Onward tagging:

@neuroticbookworm, @colourme-feral, @airenyah, @wen-kexing-apologist, @solitaryandwandering

I really want to tag more, but this game limits us to five so these are just five people tagged at random. If I haven't tagged you but you'd like to play, please do so (knowing that I want to tag everyone and then some)! And please tag me if you play, so that I can read and vote on your poll too. 😍

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[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Themes in Pit Babe (or why the racing omegaverse show is deeper than you think) - Part 2

Part 1 here. Let's keep this thought train rolling.

Part 2: Self-Worth & Relationships

To start, a few notes about self-worth.

We're all deeply familiar with the common refrains around finding your own sense of self-worth without relying on others. Think of the whole RuPaul "If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?" kind of thing.

Which on the surface is a fine message, and absolutely it is a good thing to put time into self-reflection and finding value in your inherent self.

But of course this is real life, and as lovely as it would be to be able to catchphrase ourselves to that perfect place, it is much more nuanced than that.

For one, many of us who have fairly solid senses of self-worth (and I do include myself in that category) will still have days where we wake up and feel like a completely horrible unlovable mess of a person. This is called being a human. It's normal to have ebbs and flows, and peaks and valleys. We're on a journey, y'all, and when it comes to growth and self-actualization, no one makes it all the way to the end.

For two, humans are social creatures, and we cannot help but be influenced by who is around us in our lives. You can have the strongest sense of self-worth in the world, but you end up surrounded by people who treat you like shit all the time - it's gonna have an impact.

And, of course, we have to also acknowledge the impact of being part of marginalized communities, and how insecurities around worthiness can become very internalized by the constant reinforcement of bias and oppression.

All of that to say, who is in your life can be deeply important when it comes to self-worth. You shouldn't be seeking a relationship with someone just to feel like you matter, but the person/people you are around should absolutely make you feel like you do.

Ok, let's get back to Pit Babe!

Pete/Way/Kenta

Ha, no, I don't actually think we'll get a throuple here, but I do find the dynamics really interesting. Both Way & Kenta are characters I would identify as having some of the poorest self-worth in the show, to the extent that they have long been incapable of making their own decisions, and primarily follow orders from Tony.

Way seems to do it more out of despair that Tony's will cannot be defied, while Kenta is heart-breakingly still in a place of needing Tony's approval.

And then we have Pete. Who apparently has a bit of a sad pathetic man addiction. But like I said before, the key to Pete is empathy. He knows their pain.

I'm going to write more later about the critical role Pete plays in the show's theme around self-determination, but for now, I just want to point out how vital he is in showing up for both Way & Kenta, and telling them they matter, and the choices they make matter too.

They've done shitty things, and other characters are rightfully furious and distrustful of them. Pete is the one who said, "you still have value as a human being, don't let Tony define you". He knows what it's like to walk out of your abuser's house and determine a new way to find value and purpose. He's key to Way leaving his place of grief and despair and working to rebuild a path to Babe's trust again. And when Kenta gains the confidence to defy Tony next episode (it's being foreshadowed pretty hard), it'll be because of Pete as well.

Sometimes when we cannot see the value in ourselves, it can mean the world for someone to take our hand and speak it out loud for us.

Alan/Jeff

Ah, my sweet, sweet secondary couple. I love these two. Jeff may have a special ability that is considered valuable, but it's also made him feel utterly unlovable. And then he meets this man, who loves taking underdogs under his wing and giving them chances. And this man is being so kind and so sweet. And even when he learns the truth, learns that loving someone like Jeff comes with more than the usual hardship and challenges, he doesn't hesitate for a single second.

This is part of why I think the age gap works so well here, because this kind of optimism in someone younger might come across as naive. But Alan is not naive. He's experienced, and he knows that someone like Jeff is not going to cross his path ever again. He is going to love Jeff unconditionally, and we can already see the inner shine coming out for our poor vision-addled boy.

Everyone has their flaws, and dark sides. But we are still worthy of loving.

Sonic/North

You thought I wasn't going to give a section to our delightful, one-brain-celled, won't-admit-they-are-a-couple couple?

These boys may be uncomplicated, but their existence as a unit is a big part of what makes them such lovely examples of self-worth. Not all of us are lucky enough to find that person who fits with us like a puzzle piece, but these two have. They may vastly underestimate their importance to each other (see Sonic's face when North jumps in to take hits for him), but the consistency they have in their relationship, and the care they show for each other, gives them such a solid ground for being their authentic little idiot selves.

Never underestimate the value of having a person who you can be your authentic silly weird self with.

Charlie/Babe

And of course, we have the beating heart of our show. Though on the surface he comes across as too-cool-for-school, Babe so deeply needs to feel loved. He is achingly desperate for it.

It's all well and good to tell Babe that he should love himself. That he should feel fine and worthy as he is. But his external success is not enough. He needs intimacy, and trust, and someone to baby the hell out of him. To make him feel like he's worth loving.

But between his own fears, founded by his father's abandonment and his childhood in a cold and neglectful house, and Way's constant reinforcement that he couldn't trust anyone, he was trapped.

And then Charlie shows up. A man who sees no value in himself, but sees the world in Babe. Can you imagine what that experience was like for Babe? To be in a world of ice and have a being of warmth & comfort come and wrap him up in his arms?

As for Charlie, he's doesn't seem to be in a place yet where he truly understands how much he has become Babe's world. But I expect he will get there. He's tenacious and committed. He just needs to realize that others see the value in him that he sees in them.

Self-worth doesn't mean acting strong all the time. We deserve sweetness & softness and having someone we can be a scared babygirl around.

The X-Hunter Crew

Oh, no way am I just talking about romantic relationships here. I love romance, don't get me wrong, but there's plenty of folks who can live quite well and happily without romantic relationships. Romance is put on a pedestal in our society, but it really shouldn't be. Platonic relationships, on the other hand, are incredibly vital, and I wish they were given more status in our world.

And this is what makes the entire crew so important. It's not just about the individuals, or the couples - it's about all of them, as a unit. Call them a team, call them a family, whatever you like.

Because Babe may need someone like Charlie in his life, but he definitely needs the X-Hunter crew. I firmly believe the care he has been given by Alan (and even Way to an extent, when he was in supportive friend mode) is what made him even able to take those first steps with Charlie.

And the family remains critical after he thinks Charlie is dead - the care and love the team give him is vital to him being able to continue functioning. Alan, North, & Sonic give him physical touch and comfort, make sure he's eating, and literally pick him up off the floor when he can't go on.

Just like Sonic & North give each other a stable place to stand, this is what the entire X-Hunter family is able to do for each other. Despite an unfortunate tendency to miss when Jeff gets kidnapped, overall, they look out for each other. Everyone has their place, and knows they're important to the team.

Self-worth is never going to be just about the individual, or the group, but the interweaving of the two. Strong self-worth can help us feel more connected to others, but our connections to others can make us feel more worthy.

A couple of additional thoughts:

Dean let his insecurity override his sense of inherent self-worth. Alan wants to help Dean do better, to push him to grow and develop. And yes, you can debate the sense of putting Charlie into the race, Alan is definitely not perfect. But also denying someone an opportunity is not inherently bad, or a sign of lack of love or trust. Challenge is where growth happens, and people who genuinely want the best for us understand this.

Instead of turning to his family and being vulnerable about how deeply hurt he was, Dean turned away. He let his insecurity and narrow focus on self-worth through racing achievement override everything else. He didn't remotely consider what anyone else might be feeling. He didn't think about what his actions would cost the family long-term. At any point, prior to attempted murder, if he had come to Alan, there would have been compassion. But he pushed it to the point where there was no turning back.

Contrast that with Kim, who knows he has value regardless of whether he wins races, or how he gets treated by his racing crew. He has enough self-worth to not making everything in his life about himself. Which is why he was able to fit in instantly with the X-Hunter team. He's willing to come in, find his place in their little family puzzle, and commit to being there for everyone else just as much as they will be there for him (once we've all moved past their well-intentioned, but failed rescue attempt).

Relationships are essential, but can't magically fix us - we still have to put in the work.

[avaisnerdytoo]

RICK AND MORTY S7EP5: SPOILERS AHEAD

The essence of the premise of this episode almost makes me feel like it's fan service, I'd be lying if I too didn't imagine a scenario where Evil Morty and our C-137 pair teamed up.

But I really really liked how it was handled, I also feel just as hooked on the fact they didn't develop Rick Prime further as I am almost sad of not having seen more from him.

Although to be fair what is there to develop with the Rick that best fits the stereotype? He's the ultimate one dimensional pity, god wanna be asshole that the toxic fans think Rick should be haha.

Probably that's what made him so easy to defeat by Evil Morty, but I'll get there.

I think it's better they jump from Rick Prime's death to explore more of our Rick, both beating the cliche of a big bad (as the writers tend to prefer avoiding) and focusing on who matters more comparatively speaking, trauma of that kind isn't ended by simple revenge.

(Which btw was played so brutally I wasn't ready at all, also, I obviously don't care about the voice changes, but I felt the acting was phenomenal in that scene, further reinforcing how positively I feel about the changes)

Evil Morty's capabilities being so significant was also very fun to see, for me anyway. I saw a YouTube comment that someone considered him very powerful "all of the sudden", I wouldn't be surprised to see that sentiment around elsewhere, which is valid, but I think that E-M spent most of his time by now analysing how Ricks work, he understands what is necessary to survive in the wild, but his speciality remains the same, besting Rick.

Ricks think they are unpredictable and chaotic and wild, but they can clearly be boiled down to similar patterns, making them only tough to beat if you're willing to put in the work of deactivating the hundreds of traps coming your way.

Although I found it interesting he knew killing Rick Prime wouldn't satisfy Rick, I don't know if to him that's just basic logic, or if he felt some degree of the same at some point in his schemes.

The only thing I "didn't like" in the episode was how our Morty was portrayed, sorta.

I can't decide if that's because the foil that's created with Evil Morty reminds me extra to the more down to Earth reactions and feelings and thoughts our Morty is supposed to have (which is great when not overplayed obviously), or if he was written a bit too simple this time?

We know our Morty is also strong, capable of defending himself well and good adapting, but the times we've seen that have arrived only after breaking points (like the Nimbus episode, or the Purge Planet EP), so maybe he simply wasn't there yet.

But with Evil Morty being so crafty, he felt somewhat just there... Except when we picture him in regards to E-M, I feel he had a bit of fun, especially with our Morty, the main downside to Evil Morty's journey is that he became much more detached, emotionless and more like Rick paradoxically, I think hanging out with our Morty could be good for both of them.

Can't wait to see what comes next.

[caramel-catss]

big huge long rant/analysis about the hero of time and ganondorf in hero's purpose

i have a lot to say about this show so buckle up

first off, link. he's given his entire life, multiple times over, to the kingdom. and yet here he stands again. he enlists because he genuinely doesn't know what else to do with himself. he's known nothing but being the hero since he left the forest.

by continuing to fight, link reinforces demise's curse. and he doesn't. even. know it. zelda never told him. nobody ever told him. no matter what he does, link will only have to fight ganondorf again in his next life.

and he doesn't know what to think about it. when ganondorf finally tells him about the curse, he's so conflicted. being the hero ruined him. we've seen in the previous episodes his attempts to heal, to find something to give his life new meaning. but he only has found that in fighting longer. he doesn't know peace; only war. so when ganondorf tells him it's meaningless, this fight is meaningless, link doesn't know what to do. (these screenshots are from before he describes the curse but he tells link the exact details after)

he pauses each time before replying. his thoughts drift before he goes back to what he's always known, what's been told to him. he tries to come up with excuses why he should not listen to ganondorf - the people of hyrule (who don't remember him) and his father's death. zelda's lullaby plays as link and ganondorf fight. he is doing this for her. he is doing this for the kingdom. he's trying to remind himself that, because the alternative to fighting for hyrule is unthinkable.

but ganondorf is offering peace. he's offering something that to link, can only happen to other people. and his words make sense. link has been to the shadow temple, he knows hyrule's dark past. but zelda never told him about the curse. nobody ever told him that everything he's done will be meaningless in the next cycle. as ganondorf said, "meaningless courage."

this battle is not the hero of time's. it's between the chosen hero and demise. ganondorf and link are both only puppets for them, waging an eternal war they never chose to fight.

demise even takes over ganondorf's body at the end of episode five. and honestly, the same happens to link, too. zelda, skyward sword zelda, appears briefly when link's thoughts are literally changed to match his role in demise's curse. she laughs as well.

she appears again when link backs off for a second to comprehend ganondorf's words. the hero's spirit is literally not allowing him to stop fighting.

in episode six's teaser, the chosen hero appears, literally commanding link to return to him just like how demise commanded the same of ganondorf. the chosen hero raises his hand at the hero of time, and demise raises his at ganondorf.

final words about link. ganondorf's words may be a desperate attempt by him to make link give up the kokiri emerald, but he's right. all along, link has been a puppet. a puppet of the crown, a puppet of the hero's spirit, a puppet of demise's curse. fucking chills

okay next ganondorf. yeah i'm not done yet. holy shit i have so much to say about ganondorf.

ganondorf, unlike link, is aware of the cycle. "my ensuing demise has enslaved me." it is a cycle he is desperate to break. he still hates hyrule, yes, but he has put part of the blame for demise's curse on it.

he sees link as just as cursed as he is. and not "cursed and yet the hero", but "cursed to do horrible things." his view of the world is negative to all three triforce holders. he hates zelda, he hates link, and he hates himself. he wishes to break the cycle so that all three will no longer war with each other and kill the land.

his manipulation towards link is so interesting. obviously, ganondorf does not want to become buddy-buddy with link... but he tries to convince him that they should share a common goal. he knows link is traumatized. he knows link follows the kingdom's orders without question. and he uses that against him. though ganondorf might have debatedly "good" intentions, he is still using link. both zelda and ganondorf are using link.

and the scene where he realizes who link is. screenshots won't do this one justice so i'm linking (lol) a timestamp. (the video is embedding weird sorry, it's at 29:25). the music is incredible during this scene - all of the music for hero's purpose is, but i digress.

starting with the music. it's an arrangement of great fairy fountain... with final hours in the background. the greatness and holiness of link and zelda, and ganondorf's impending death. jesus christ majorlink, you've made something better than the game itself

ganondorf's first reaction to link is fear. above all, he is still terrified of the hero of time. the man who defied nayru's laws to kill him.

and look at the way link's first sight of ganondorf is versus ganondorf's first sight of link. they are both terrified of each other.

it's something to acknowledge that before ganondorf connects link to the soldier who stands before him now, he sees him as a child. when he tells link that they are similar in their uprisings and being forced into destiny, he isn't wrong. really, none of what ganondorf tells link is wrong. they are both victims in this story.

i'll likely reblog this later with more thoughts i have about them because this has been cooking in my head for about a year now. there's also great depictions of skull kid, impa, zelda, the happy mask salesman, malon, etc etc... i love this show. everyone watch it right now, even though if you read this i just spoiled episode five. and listen to the ost. and scream about the references to skyward sword and twilight princess with me.

ending this with a frame where impa cries out to the goddess and prays that the lives of hyruleians are not worthless, and then it cuts to zelda and link. and yes, link is a puppet to the crown - but impa and zelda still care about him very, very much.

[dallasurr]

i feel so hurt and upset about Simon he needed to heal too

i can't sleep at night sometimes

I know this is so random but i don't care i feel so hurt by the idea of everyone healing but him dead and bound to be forgetten. .. i want him feel good i want to get him out of there.

I've said this before but as much as I'd like to see the series to its planned end, I'm not that unhappy about not getting season 5. It would be really hard for me to see Amelia get a redemption or her exit when she went on the train as a fully mature adult in her 30s, and did wayyyy worse things than Simon did. Although she was mentally unstable at the time she got on the train, it doesn't seem like she had a history of mental illness before Alrick died.

What Simon did to Grace and Hazel was fucked up, I can wrap my head around his justification for killing Tuba and I'm not the person to debate about this bc I straight up didn't like Tuba. She went out of her way to kidnap and scare Grace and Simon, who would have probably found the exit to the car and went on their way the next day without her interference, and I'm of the opinion that she put both herself and Hazel in danger with her little prank. I know we wouldn't have a story without it, and it doesn't justify her death, but literally from their first interaction she showed Simon she can be hostile and dangerous. And while she warmed up to Grace (according to Grace lol I didn't see much friendly interaction between them at all, just Grace enjoying/admiring the way she interacted with Hazel), Simon always got attitude from her, I can't blame him for not warming up to her.

Simon might have been 18 at the time of his season but let's be honest, both he and Grace were very immature and justifiably so. They only had each other and their delusions for years and years before they became guardians themselves. The train has proven itself to be dangerous, and proved how high the stakes are when he died, but people act like he was a fucking monster for doing what he thought he needed to protect himself, grace and hazel from a perceived threat. He could have been a little more tactful with explaining what happened, or lied about it, but like tbh as a neurodivergent person myself who sees Simon as someone who is on the autism spectrum, I REALLY struggle with lying and deceiving people so I can understand why he just blurted out the truth without any thought.

I do think one of the most irredeemable things he did was dehumanize Grace and trap her in her memories, whether or not he knew it could kill her (I assume he didn't bc the Cat as usual didn't explain shit to him) the way he pushed her over and walks away makes me nauseous.

But I certainly don't think he deserved to die for that, and I think the series would have been a lot better if instead of kicking her off the train again (which at this point in the scene felt kind of slapstick i'm ngl), Simon finally broke out of his paranoid and delusional thought patterns and they were able to drag everyone back into the mall car for a heart to heart.

In my head in episodes 9 and 10 he's a lot like Catra in The Portal episodes, but instead of getting 2 more seasons after his fall from grace (lol) to recover and heal and fix his issues, he just got killed instead.

And it sucks because dude was clearly mentally ill and traumatized, and as someone who has mental illness and trauma that can make me act out sometimes too, who also struggles to read the room and understand what people want from me if they don't tell me directly, who ALSO had parents that didn't have my best interests as even a consideration to whatever they could gain from me, it kind of reinforces my anxiety which tells me that I deserve to suffer because of x y z stupid thing I did or said 5, 10, even 20 years ago.

(and before anyone says simon had all the chances to change and grow that grace did, please rewatch the season, he absolutely did not and all of the events that led to grace growing as a person happened when simon wasn't around, yes he was immature in a lot of moments but dude literally did not have a normal adolescence and to expect him to act like a fucking adult all the time after that is ridiculous)

[helsingvania]

Looks around, no one is talking about ahsoka so I think it's a relevant time to be unhinged.

I'm not mad or upset with how ahsoka turned out, I'm disappointed.

I had low expectations going into it, we all did. But the first two episodes genuinely did drew me into the storyline. I don't care about ahsoka herself but the lore expansion, seeing the spectres again, and much of the overarching mystery just drew me in. Baylan and his more reserved, logical, and lawful nature. Even though it hate it, the myths around a new galaxy and the stories told by the Jedi and how it was just merely a fairytale tantalized me.

And this is where the show went down hill for me personally. It's a very you can't have your cake and eat it too, you can't have the grounded orders are orders storyline with the new Republic and the mystical fairytale story of traveling to a lost land to recover a hero banished with his enemy.

Both of them feel disjointed to me and if I had to choose one I would go for bringing whimsy back into star wars because I LOVE that stuff. There is a world where both elements can totally work, but based on the writing of the show alone it can only be one. And even without getting into characters, the Identity of this show is so confused. It doesn't want to know what it wants to be and will change scene to scene.

Is it a voyage into the unknown? Is it a traveling loner samurai story with a society that aged passed them? Is it a critique of bureaucracy and the failure of removing fascism? It's all of them, and yet none of them because none of them build on each other or even interact with each other. It's quite literally one scene its this theme, and the next is this theme. Neither them are expanded upon or even more forwards passed the 'this is bad' stage.

Hell Anakin's episode was only good because it only expanded a bit on Anakin, his relationship with ahsoka, and gaining a new prospective. It didn't do shit as far as meaning or anything. I think it was going for a: I didn't teach you to lay down and die. Type beat but it was so convoluted and filled with remember this from the show that it missed the fact it should've had a point. Like wow thanks filoni! You gave us solid evidence that Anakin will always be Vader and Vader will always be Anakin, and that both he and ahsoka were literally kids in war and he was trying to ensure her safety and life, and now the mortis arc has come back and reared it's head again and now he's chilling in the various realms of the force.

BUT IT LITERALLY DID NOTHING TO DIRECT FORWARDS THE SHOW OUTSIDE OF AHSOKA IS NOW BACK TO BEING A LITTLE SHIT AGAIN

How would I have done it? EASY!

A melancholic tale about realizing the world around you has shifted and coming to terms with everything that has happened to you. Between learning of what Anakin has become, the events of the rebellion and the clone wars, the fall of the Jedi and everything you thought you knew. Even realizing you have been doing nothing but walking forwards until you are finally dead.

Ahsoka acting more like Anakin as a coping mechanism since she couldn't do anything to help or save him. Running hither and yonder foolhardy and recklessly hoping that finally this fight will finally kill her. But they don't so she just continues on with her idea of what her duty is and what she's fighting for. Eventually, she does die and is met with Anakin, Anakin reinforces that he's always been like this and maybe don't take after him as much. And the lessons she taught her weren't just for survival, but doing what you did believe what was right despite the outcomes. This realization breathes new life into her (literally) and comes back and understands the fight all over again. And continuing her mission.

I don't think any of the spectres need much development compared to...the literal title character. Much of what they needed occurred back in rebels, Sabine owning up to her time in mandalore and making it right, Hera's own bravery and mourning Kanan. I still love the idea that Sabine is disaster lineage just so she can wield a lightsaber, but you didn't need to make her FORCE SENSITIVE HOLY SHIT. In fact I think Sabine being the more mature on here would've worked, yeah she acts young but she puts ahsoka in her place.

Baylan and Ezra were perfect. Ezra hasn't changed and still has his charisma and cheek while baylan is a very interesting villain based upon his past and motivations. I would've loved to have thrawn a little more subtle in place of his big introduction give the normies a FUCKING REASON TO FEAR HIM.

Final thing, you guys are cowards for not referencing heir to the empire.

[jeffsinnbythesea]

A post by @queerly-autistic got me thinking (thinking, thinking and drinking) about the main symbols representing the various personas Ed adopts in seasons 1 and 2. The way Ed yo-yos back and forth between rejecting and embracing things like the eponymous black beard, the leathers, etc. tells us a lot about Ed's relationship with his own identity at a given point in time, and more broadly, how his views on what people generally can and can't do, and who they can and can't be evolves over time, in fits and starts.

We get the sense early on that Ed's worldview is that people don't change and their path in life is more or less set. His mother tells him early on, "Well, it's not up to us, is it? It's up to God. He decides who gets what. We're just not those kind of people. We never will be." He learns about the Gentleman Pirate, a total oxymoron, and he's immediately fascinated. It knocks his socks off, it shakes his worldview, in which he is Blackbeard - just look at his black beard, and his leather getup, and his gun, etc.

Ed's very first act on the Revenge is to ditch those clothes and parade around in Stede's instead. The very next episode he's wearing Stede's clothes again but now he's Jeff The Accountant. However, each and every time he does this, he gets rebuffed. By Izzy, who tells him to knock it off, get real, and then by the French, who gas him up initially only to ridicule him in the end. Each time he resets back to his Blackbeard persona, back in the leathers, even though we know explicitly that he's totally over this routine. He wants to pack it all in, retire. And it isn't just because he's bored, though that is part of it. When he chooses the scariest story he can think of, he tells the Blackbeard origin story of killing his own dad. He knows Blackbeard isn't a Good Guy. But he already adores Stede - just ask Izzy. How could Stede like him, a murderer, a Bad Guy? But Stede says, actually I quite like you as you are, and you aren't a bad person. Ed feels seen and accepted in a way he probably never has in his life, or at least since becoming Blackbeard.

Calico Jack shows up as this interloper on the Revenge and Jack and Stede's characters clash so much that Ed figures, hey, this little adventure sure has been fun, but it turns out at the end of the day: "This is who I am, Stede. Can you see me now? You were always gonna realize what I am." That whole scene with the tub, and everything since, must have been a fluke. He thought he was being seen and accepted beyond the persona - the good and the bad all at once - but evidently not.

Fast forward to the Act of Grace. Unequivocally Ed makes this sacrifice for Stede, but outwardly at least, he takes everything in stride, especially compared to Stede. I'm not sure you can say that he shaves the beard for Stede.He says, "Now, it's time to accept our fate. Besides, kind of comforting, really, once you get your mind around it." He's folding socks, he's excited about soap! I think this is a man who is deeply relieved to be "forced" into doing the thing that he actually wants to do. Jumping forward, is that not what was going on with the whole end of s2e2 suicide-by-mutiny thing? The show has been telling us all season that Ed doesn't care about Being Blackbeard, he actively wants to stop being Blackbeard, but fundamentally doesn't believe there are alternatives, a belief reinforced because both times he dropped the Blackbeard persona for something else (haha, jokingly, but were they really?), it ended poorly.

Stede hasn't picked up on this and these factors come together and create this tragic scenario where Stede is mourning the end of the beard (the extremely obvious symbol for Blackbeard) because he thinks Ed has lost something integral to who he is, that he's in fact been ruined by Stede, while Ed comes to think that Stede is mourning the end of Blackbeard the myth, the legend, the celebrity, and perhaps he never wanted Edward at all, as pointed out by @queerly-autistic. I'm reminded of the Rita Hayworth quote that gets to that same feeling Ed probably has here: "Men go to bed with Gilda but wake up with me."

Ed goes back to the Revenge alone, heart shattered, but he doesn't immediately go "Well, Blackbeard's back! Business as usual!" Like Erin says, he escapes it briefly. He's got his hair down, he's wearing the robe, he's probably getting into a skincare routine. He says, "Actually, I do want to be called Edward from now on" and "Why are we even being pirates?" The scene with Izzy confronting him in the cabin after this is supposed to be horrible and uncomfortable to watch. It is violent and cutting and things spiral from this point through the end of s2e2. Ed has tried to shed or replace the Blackbeard persona numerous times over the season and each and every time he is rebuked by Izzy and his crew, by the rich jerks, and even by Stede. This final attempt to just be Ed rather than Blackbeard even comes with a threat on his life.

Backed into a corner, still in immense emotional pain from Stede's rejection, and having his deterministic worldview confirmed again and again, is it any wonder Ed reverts to this worst iteration of Blackbeard, the Kraken? Why would he try something different when all of his experiences thus far tell him that it's futile? If Ed feels that way in his middle age, who knows how many times over the course of his life he might have tried and failed, or more likely, saw others try and fail for a different life, a better life? He tells us in both seasons that they're pirates - most of them are dead. As her post says, the Kraken armour is about survival, physically and emotionally, and it's about despair. He can try again and again to break free but it always. Comes back. To this. The only real escape is death. S1e10 is the beginning of the spiral that has a, I'm not sure goal is the right word, but all these acts of violence and destruction against himself and others are leading to his death and he knows this.

Jumping to the end of Fun and Games, Ed sums up his worldview very succinctly, in that resigned tone: "Buttons, people don't change, not into birds or otherwise."

And then Buttons changes! Dramatically! Ed changes, clothing at least. I think this was a really interesting choice by the show - to indirectly convey how the crew is feeling towards Ed by targeting the thing most symbolic of Blackbeard-turned-Kraken now that the black beard isn't really an option to take out of the picture and his face is washed clean. As for the cat bell, well we don't have time to delve into that. I can't help but observe that once again this is "forced" against his will, but is it? Ed probably certainly wouldn't choose to wear the Contrition Era sack, if nothing else it looks itchy, but I don't think he's moaning about not having the leathers.When they let him out of the sack, he puts on Buttons old clothes, not his own.

S2 is one big identity crisis for Ed. The guy essentially died. There's no going back to Blackbeard. That persona was one he was miserably tired of, but now it's well and truly poisoned by its evolution into the Kraken. Not to mention the trauma he feels from it, trauma from decades of piracy, from the violence done to him and by him. With the leathers put aside for now, other vestiges of the Kraken era are dealt with. The Guilt/Gilt Room is transformed into a celebration for the crew, a sort of apology and an opportunity to show the crew and Ed reconcile. Ned Low comes back as the final nasty nail in the coffin that he resolves to leave it all behind. The leathers are dumped overboard and Ed says good riddance to them, and good riddance to Blackbeard, and good riddance to that life. Burdened with the old trauma, and now the fresh trauma of Ed and Stede almost getting killed by this lifestyle again, Ed sticks to his guns and commits to leaving. Yes, it is impulsive and a bit cowardly, but the motivations behind it make sense. He and Stede haven't graduated to Communication University yet and are still working out the kinks there.

A lot has been said about Ed later diving in to retrieve those leathers and going on a bit of a rampage against the navy dudes. "The music, the costume, he clearly regressed back into the Kraken!" "The show is saying that being Blackbeard and piracy is the only thing he's good at!" On the surface, it might seem like yet again the universe is confirming Ed's original deterministic worldview that people don't change, that he's chained to this life. I choose to interpret this differently. For one, there is extremely little airtime given to the Ed scenes between dumping the leathers and retrieving them and I think the storytelling would have benefited from more, obvs. Bear with me on this part, but I think this is where the show says, you know what? Symbols-schmymbols. The beard, the leathers, the name, none of those things are what make Blackbeard Blackbeard, or the Kraken the Kraken. As people, we are not the clothing we wear. We are our actions. Ed can put on the leathers or the sack or a tutu for all I care but his actions are what define who he is.

"If you were ever good at anything, go and do that." Ed doesn't take this to mean go back to the worst version of yourself that you hate, it means loving and protecting Stede and the crew. Going with the moral system established in the show's universe, killing bad people might saddle you with trauma but it doesn't make you a monster, particularly when it's in service of the ones you love. Stede's parting words to him were that he's a coward. He is choosing to not be a coward. And that means not running away from Stede, or away from the British, or off to China, or from himself anymore. You can't run away from yourself. Wherever You Go, There You Are, right?

Essentially, he goes from:

I can't change. Nobody can change.

to:

Maybe I can change...but only if Blackbeard dies and all his symbols are dumped overboard. But subtract Blackbeard from Ed, and what's even left? And who would care about that guy?

to:

I am Edward and Blackbeard and the Kraken and the sum of all my past selves, and they all did good things and they all did bad things. That doesn't mean that I'm not capable of loving others or myself, or that I'm not lovable. Sometimes the things you hate about yourself can be spun into something good - poison into positivity

What you end up with is a complex and even contradictory person, but a whole person. He can reclaim his clothes, he can sport a beard, albeit much shorter and salt and pepper-y, and he can reclaim, or at least he's now free to create a sense of self, secure in the knowledge that he isn't alone. There are people waiting for him, and they're not having second thoughts.

"They love you, Ed. Just be Ed."

[respectthepetty]

The Story of Young Master & A Fool

Something about the episode starting with Nueng and Palm changing their clothes in separate areas away from each other, only to end with them easily taking of their clothes in front of each other to symbolize them laying it bare and being comfortable with each other and their true selves...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

*turns on "Heart to Break" by Kim Petras*

And when you touch me, I'm a fool This game I know I'm gonna lose

Palm comforted Nueng with touch several times throughout the episode to reinforce that he was there and not going anywhere, yet this was the one time Nueng finally gave into touching Palm!

And Palm is submerged in happiness because of it. One touch initiated by Nueng, and Palm is gone. Nueng warns Palm to not expect much from him (residual grief from his parents placing expectations on him and feeling like he is disappointing them?), but Palm tells Nueng he already sees the best in and of him, much like Nueng told Palm he wasn't afraid of him when he saw his raw reaction to Nueng getting hurt. They have seen each other at their worst and still like those parts.

Nueng, in fact, likes all of Palm's parts. He is staring at Palm, respectfully "FUCK! Seriously?! It's like you're photoshopped!"

Nueng always flips the dynamic and tries to serve his servant, but Palm gladly gives in this time because he finally has the upper hand on the beach where Nueng is constantly out of his element.

Please, baby Jesus with the historically accurate skin tone, LET THEM GET TATTOOS! Let them be basic boys and get them in Mandarin! I need more tattoos for the collection. María, if your son gives me a scene of them getting tattoos, I will make a budget instead of just telling people I'm on a budget to avoid doing stuff I don't want to do. *sign of the cross*

Cool tones vs. Warm tones. Cold stares vs. Warm stares. Hate vs. Love. But one thing remains the same - Wherever Nueng goes, Palm follows.

This is the buddy comedy I want! The way Tam was screaming for Mam to run was the best friend energy we all need in our lives. Then, Mam is such a mess, but girl, same. I'm not cooking. I'm making the rich boy work. I'm okay with you smoking pot with your boyfriend, but I draw the line at you being his bodyguard. I refuse to dislike a woman with this much audacity.

Palm reassuring Nueng that his mother is probably alive and being taken care of, while Nueng continues to question if Palm's mother can even be trusted is a stark contrast in how they care for each other. They both want to protect each other from unhappiness and pain but have very different approaches.

I hope Palm is right about Tanya because I keep thinking about this scene from the trailer and Nueng crying in the place he shares with Palm to grieve away from people.

And they took that personally

Get these tattooed on your bodies in Mandarin. DO IT!

Phum taunted them by saying they were boyfriends, and Mam also questioned it as well. Palm is surprised by the French and Chinese couple openly holding hands and stating they were boyfriends [This couple is the one getting married on the beach by Mam while Nueng plays the piano and Palm watches from the trailer], yet these two don't really know where they stand now that they no longer have to exist in a world dominated by their social standings. This is what pushes Nueng to clear up the meaning of the kiss.

The gay sheets are EVERYWHERE! 1) Thrilled that Nueng was direct and asked about the kiss; 2) Palm saying he kissed Nueng because it's his job to make Nueng happy is the same energy that Togawa was giving Nozue in Old Fashion Cupcake when he was helping his boss lighten up; 3) Palm asked Nueng what he meant by Palm having no feelings when kissing him, and if Nueng had waited a bit, Palm would have owned up to having emotion behind the kiss; 4) The last man who said a kiss is something special and meaningful had a funeral for a hedgehog then got laid on those gay sheets, so may the odds be in your favor, Nueng.

Next time, if you want to make me happy, you don't have to go that far. You can just act funny or play a joke.

He is staring at Nueng, lustfully. I don't know about y'all, but where I'm from, talking about chile (peppers) and saying things are spicy are innuendos for sex. And saying that Nueng was blushing because it was too spicy, then that his lips were swollen and burning due to the spiciness...yeah, um...

The shift these two have between the degrading and the formal, and how the insults are said with love, yet the formalities are said with sarcasm is such a special way to use language to show intent.

This is some really rich-boy energy he is throwing around, when the first episode had protest banners about taking people's land splashed right outside his gated house. He wants to make a public space his own private escape to the detriment of the locals who told him about it. However, the way the story keeps repeating the tale of the cow header and the weaver girl, I think this will be like 3 Will Be Free, where Palm returns to the beach, and Nueng goes to college abroad but visits Palm. They will be together but apart in the end and Our Skyy 2 will show Nueng visiting Palm at the beach. CAUSE THEY BOTH HAVE TO BE ALIVE when this is over!

Next week we get the rooftop scene from the trailer between Chopper and Ben, and I'm convinced that Chopper released that picture. I cannot be swayed! He is going to spend more time with Ben, and just when Ben is going to fall for him, he is going to find out that Chopper did it, and I'm going to be sipping my Lady Grey tea with glee.

I'm also even more convinced that Palm's dad is involved in the shootings and is working with the uncle. He had the escape plan all worked out for Palm, which makes sense if he was a good bodyguard and father, but he's not. I don't trust him! He called Mam and told her Palm would be living with her a while, so I don't think he planned for Nueng to live through the shooting. Even if this show ends and Chopper and Chanon are innocent, I'll take these beliefs to the grave. Namo 2.0.

[noxiatoxia]

im sure you've talked about this before, but how would you rewrite the carriage allegory

so i didn't answer this asap because 1) i think you sent it while i was in the hospital i am unsure and 2) i needed time to think on it

so firstly, obviously, the important thing is to identify WHY the carriage allegory fails in the current state it does, and what it was trying to accomplish in the first place.

This can be explained pretty simply. The carriage allegory aims to explore Kaoru's deeper fears (as lifted from the manga) while also imparting an impending sense of doom to the audience for the lead up to the finale. To this end, it achieves both these things from an outset perspective-- episode 21, despite how much psychic damage it gives me bc duhhh the carriage, is a genuinely good episode. The only real issue I have with it is the fact Kaoru's sudden character fears (specifically being wrapped up in a cinderella allegory) comes out of nowhere and feels very very abrupt, especially more so bc it seems to become a core trait of his henceforth, so the pacing is a little whack, but besides that, it is a genuinely clever episode with clever imagery and metaphors. The issues arise towards the latter half, that being the allegory isn't resolved.

I've talked about this before, but here is the reiteration: basically, the plot relevance - that being to give the audience a sense of suspense about the host club's future - is fulfilled and solved. But Kaoru's personal issues about letting go and his anxiety, THOSE are not resolved.

The reason this happens is because they attempted to take a pre-existing arc - that being Kaoru's depression from the manga, let's just call it for simplicity - and combine it with a plot device for the audience because the two easily can be intertwined. The issue with this is not inherently in the fact they did this, but in the fact that they cared only about solving the aforementioned plot device and not the character arc aspect of it, leaving that open-ended - and not in a good way.

Compare this to the arc with Kyoya's father or Tamaki's mother. These are both character-centric plot threads that are expounded upon little by little as the show goes on, and in the final 2 episodes, they are tackled head-on. NEITHER are fully "solved", but they are given a reasonable open-ended resolution. We do not know what will happen next - will Tamaki ever see his mother again? Will Kyoya truly grow to be his own person? We do not know, but we are given the answer of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Tamaki CHOSE to stay with the host club over seeing his mother again. Kyoya CHOSE to defy his father. These give HINTS to where their intentions and hearts lie, and so while the answer is up in the air, their arcs were acknowledged and reasonably addressed.

Kaoru? We don't get that. There is no scene in the anime that parallels Kaoru and Hikaru's heart-to-heart from the manga. There is subtle imagery (the carriage crashing in a pumpkin patch = the spell has worn off, but everything turns out alright in the end anyways) but this is more in reference to the PLOT-centric side of the allegory (the host club falling apart), and not Kaoru's character. Kaoru himself never gets a scene to acknowledge his issues, and I use "acknowledge" because some people are under the impression I'm mad it was never outright stated Hikaru won't leave Kaoru or smth like that. That is not the case. As said, like with Tamaki and Kyoya, i am MORE than fine with things being left up in the air for interpretation. But there is a very big difference between left up for interpretation and just neglecting to follow through on something. Kaoru's arc falls in the second category because, again, unlike Tamaki and Kyoya, it is never mentioned or acknowledged beyond a brief moment in episode 23 that only reinforces his fears and does nothing to signify any possibility for a conclusion.

How this could be fixed, in specifics, could go many ways. They could adapt the manga scene of Hikaru and Kaoru's conversation, although this imo would feel out of place in the pacing of the final few episodes, and for this to work, they would pretty much need to cut out Kasanoda from the series (which, as much as I love the guy, I think they probably should have ignored his whole character and used the 2 episodes about him to dedicate to Mori & Kaoru respectively)

So assuming we can't just get a straight up adaptation, my next best suggestion would probably be an added scene in episode 23. You could do the end of the last episode, but I feel like putting the spotlight on Kaoru at the end of the series would be awkward when clearly it should be on Haruhi/Tamaki. So episode 23 is the best choice. And it could easily work; Tamaki comes close to realizing his feelings for Haruhi in that episode, and as we know Hikaru has weird cringe misfit issues, so maybe it could cause him to have a mini bitch fit. Through some dialogue, directly or indirectly, it could be revealed Kaoru's fears of drifting apart from Hikaru. Hikaru could then reassure Kaoru that they'll always be close. Boom. Solved. You can even have Kaoru still hint at his anxiety of the host club breaking up, which would then get resolved in the final episode. That's the best way I can think, anyways.

basically all im saying is that they should hire me to go back in time and fix the ouran script.

[jamzandbamz]

G Part 1/2 (I'm basing this off of her latest vids and tweet)

I've always felt that the initial girl Jeff didn't want to follow up with is probably someone else. The timing of her V-day tweet puts things BEFORE his live. THEN he told us live he isn't interested in following up with someone. WONDER WHY /s lolol. My guess is that Jeff only selectively shared information. The way he said it was subtly cheeky. He can be secretive sometimes. Overall, I can't see him saying he doesn't care to follow up only to then reach right back out (into the past lol) to someone he doesn't want.

I think that's partly why things impulsively happened with Genelle, he changed lanes to see someone he's more into. I remember he liked her tik tok vid(s) last year and it showed up on a screen recording on a pod episode - he said something like, "that's my type," so she was absolutely on his radar for awhile (idk about her end).

I get the impression that Jeff hasn't spoken with her recently or that at the least they haven't hung out lately. When she said she spoke to her friend (in her recent vid) about how sometimes you just don't hear back from people in the dating world, it was meant to be a general comment but it did stick out. She reinforced it again at the end by lamenting that you have to just continue dating with open options until the guy wants to be exclusive. Why would she talk to a friend about this exact thing if it weren't happening? We know she is already interested in him and met with him a few times already. She hasn't mentioned anything happening since V-day week/range, so I think she is waiting on him.

Unless Jeff changed his mind about her this early, the stagnation might be bc they were both traveling one after the next, or bc Jeff had a rough week that affected him to the point where he pulled into a shell. I do think it was an extraneous thing that happened, rather than an "early days" date outcome. He seemed SO bothered by it.

Her timeline is inconsistent. She said that they met a year ago or more, and that this V-day date popped up out of the blue. Now she's said that they met "a little bit" before the V-day date, so I'm confused about why she witheld the information. It feels a little odd to me. Whatever the reason, my guess is that it may be deliberate bc it would've made much more sense to say something in a way that better explains why she's willing to skirt her dating rules.

In the end, despite how relatively nice/reasonable she seems, I think Jeff may ultimately reject her. I think they have a lot of chemistry but also will clash quite a bit. I'll put that part up later!

[jojotichakorn]

I'm very happy with today's episode, not only because I personally love the band they were covering (it started because of the teaser song from Bad Buddy) and I was avoiding listening to them because of the bad memories and now I have even better memories to associate them with!(At least for now, because I cannot reinforce how cautiously optimistic I am, focus on the word caustious)... I love how it shows feelings and how gentle it is. I love the complicated stuff as much as anyone, I truly believe we as queer people don't need to be exemplary or sanitized to deserve respect, but as someone who likes light stuff, I thrive in consuming fluffy content. And I feel msp is both fluffy and able to deal with complicated topics, in many ways it reminds me of Heartstopper,(even if I personally like this one better). Sorry for the huge text, but I have no friends who watch it(at least not yet...) and I needed to share. Hope you have a great day!

i am glad that the mental connections with that band were mended for you, dear anon. i am trying to be cautious too but i think i have a personality so passionate that it often overrides any sensible ideas i might try to force upon myself. meaning i am mostly just optimistic. hopefully, it won't disappoint kjgdkfjgkfdjgk

also, i hear your "we as queer people don't need to be exemplary or sanitized to deserve respect" and raise you the co-existing concept of "we as queer people don't need to be complex to deserve respect". listen, i love intricate and complicated things as much as the next guy, but sometimes i just want things to be simple and ok. and msp gives me that, though as you have pointed out it does manage to touch upon serious topics in the same breath, and does it amazingly.

i can see the comparison between my school president and heartstopper making sense (far more than any other comparison that has been made thus far, in fact, particularly with bb). and so far - unlike heartstopper - msp hasn't made any mistakes i could point out (though there is still time, oof).

and, just putting it out there, my extroverted yet shy self loves making new friends, as long as they make the first move 😌 have a good day!

[alicemichelle297]

"Infected" and ready to mingle - The Last of Us episode 2 recap

"Infected" opens with a fungus expert in Jakarta being called in to examine an infected human. The scene reads as a medical horror, and the doctor is just as freaked out by it as we are. I think it's good HBO keep reinforcing the semi-realistic nature of this infection, especially since fungus is such a unique take on the zombie "virus."

However, the scene ends with her medical opinion being to bomb the city, which no doctor would ever recommend. I can believe in fungus zombies for the next hour, but the single line "bomb" was too much for me.

Later on, Tess mentions that the government was trying to "slow the spread" by bombing the major cities like that's a totally normal thought to have. It also didn't seem to work very well, but that's neither here nor there.

When we left off last week, Tess and Joel had just learned that Ellie was infected by not turning. They obviously want to keep her at arms-length until they know more, but Ellie is lucky they didn't just abandon or kill her when they found out. Better safe than sorry, when it comes to zombie infections.

Bella Ramsey continues to do a great job as Ellie. Her version brings a certain tone-deafness to their whole situation whether it's goofing off at the hotel pretending to check in when there could be infected just around the corner, or making her best impression of a zombie just after Joel threatens to shoot her "if she so much as twitches."

Joel absolutely doesn't want to be involved in this, but Tess is more practical. Do the job, even if her cure is bogus. Both of them gradually start to warm to Ellie throughout the episode, whether they want to or not.

As the group moves through Boston, we obviously get the impression Tess and Joel have made this run many times before as smugglers. They have a route they prefer to take and communicate in short hand to get around. Ellie is just as lost as we are, but she follows them because she obviously has no other options right now.

As the show adds more things to the lore that weren't in the games, I've been falling more in love with it. Seeing a group of infected laying the shade and rolling over in unison as the sunlight came over them was so satisfying to watch. And learning that they're connected by strands of fungus running underground adds an element of horror to every encounter from now on: any infected could also be a tripwire connected to a larger group.

I don't remember this part of the game very well, but I get the impression we're seeing more than we did last time.

Again, going to Tess and Joel's experience, they recognize a Clicker's handiwork just from the bites it left behind on a dead man Ellie finds. Infuriatingly, the group decides to continue through a building that they have good reason to suspect has at least one Clicker in it, and they barely tell Ellie what's going on aside from "be quiet."

When the Clickers came on screen, the suspense was killing me. The whole minutes of silence in the dark culminating in a horrifyingly convincing depiction of a video game enemy I have been dreading seeing for the past 10 years. I have to wonder how much was prosthetics and how much was CGI, but either way the effect was too convincing.

At the end of the day, Tess ends up being bitten and she becomes frantic to get Ellie to the Fireflies to find the cure, even though we know she can't have more than a few hours left.

When the massive horde we saw earlier gets triggered, Tess hatches a plan to sacrifice herself by blowing up the building with some barrels of gasoline and a lighter while Joel and Ellie escape.

The low-point of this episode is definitely its ending, wherein Tess seems to struggle to use a zippo lighter and almost lets the infected get by to kill Joel and Ellie, only succeeding after one of the infected approaches her for the most disturbing French kiss I have ever seen.

I know this isn't the point, but it does not take 100 tries to flick a lighter no matter how stressed you are. Maybe if she was visibly shaking from the infection taking root it would have been more understandable. I have no idea why HBO decided to inject some sexual energy into Tess' death scene, but here we are.

[bengiyo]

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

Relieved this released on Sunday in the US, because there is just too much to watch on Monday right now.

I like the intro for this show a lot.

When In said, "Siam is my idol. He said he would looks after me. And he never once failed to do that." I just can't help but wonder if his death is somehow connected to that.

You know, I don't think we're supposed to imbibe alcohol while we're trying to heal.

Siam not enjoying alcohol, yet becoming an alcoholic, is incredibly tragic.

It sounds like In has shifted his pronoun usage in response to Wang's demand.

In is enrapturing as he describes his history with Siam. You can see how deeply he cherished Siam and the relationship they had.

Did they use Pond as a body double for Siam in these photos? I kinda like that they didn't use a different actor for young In.

Has Sasiwimol downplayed the fact that she has an adult son and is a divorcee for her entire career? I just struggle with her so much.

Wang should maybe become an investigative journalist. He's absolutely determined to extract these secrets from In.

Ah, architectural bars my beloved, you return as Wang pushes further into how Siam ended up with Sasiwimol right as the lightning and thunder picks up.

Gosh, I am in love with Pond's face in this exchange about the exact timing and motivations around the courtship between Siam and Sasiwimol. I am convinced Wang knows or suspects more than he lets on, and it's why the questions are so pointed.

I appreciate GagaOOlala, I truly do, but can we do away with the tv cutaways for commercial breaks and mini previews? I'm here! I'm committed to the episode. It always feels jarring.

What are the modesty rules in Thailand that require them to blur containers with alcohol, but don't prevent depictions of people being publicly intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness?

I feel for In so badly. He willingly chose to closet himself (and Siam by extension), but enabling Sasiwimol and forming a temporary relationship with another woman. And for all that he sacrificed, three people he cared about suffered. I can feel the immensity of the guilt he carries.

Oof, I just got tense and choked up by Wang's promise to be there for In. I could see something like hope rise in In before be quickly clamped it. That was intense.

Pond and Nike convey so much emotion with their faces. The tentativeness around inviting Wang to the bed was gripping.

I am going to lose it. The framing of Wang joining In shows Wang leaving the side of the room where the bars had visible separated him on the couch. Now he's on the other side in the bed. Absolutely incredible use a prop in this show.

I cannot overstate how much of a joy and relief it is to see a Thai production where we keep the actors in the same frame and let them both say multiple sentences without a cut.

The backing track is used so well as they try to share about how they feel about the moment. It was such an aching shot of Wang reaching out his hand as In physically restrained his own.

It is interesting to be inside of Wang's head as he discovers new feelings within himself.

This may not be BL, but we're definitely gonna squeeze in a sponge bath.

The righteous fury Wang felt for his friend as he saw him being bullied resonated. It sorta feels like Wang admitted he was also possibly queer, but I'm not sure I want to commit to a read. What is clear is that he hates bullies and their enablers.

Ah, so he is. I like the way he talked about his first experience with his friend. He held onto personal details that reinforces how potent they were. In love BL, truly, but goddamn am I leaning in with this show so attentively.

"Thank you for trusting me," is how you should generally respond to someone sharing something important with you.

We're approaching the point where we should hit a major crisis. Curious what reveals we'll unpack next week.

[hurremsultanns]

In what ways do you think Suleyman's treatment affected Hurrem? And what's your take on her overall opinion of him and her loyalty to him?

Thanks for asking! This leans heavily into a meta I've been meaning to write for a while now, so this is going to be long. I think her loyalty to him came from her love for him, what he represented to her and her survival instinct to use her loyalty to him as a shield to protect both herself and her children as best she could. And I think that his treatment of her was often abusive. She genuinely loved him. And the show makes that very clear. And her loyalty to him is one of the ways in which the show makes that clear. That said, there is a lot more to their relationship than that.

So the elephant in the room is the abuse. He mistreats her. Which is enabled by the unequal power dynamic between them (because as his eventually freed slave who was the mother of his sons whose lives were on the line, she was by necessity extremely dependent upon him). He guilt trips her, physically intimidates her, exiles her for refusing him and causes her a lot of mental distress and trauma. I want to highlight two specific scenes though in episode 58 and 72.

In episode 58, Hürrem has been accused (correctly) of poisoning Mustafa. And in response, Süleyman invites her to his chambers. He gives her a vial of liquid and tells her that it's poison and that she has to drink it for him. It doesn't actually contain poison, but she doesn't know that. The thing to note here is that it is profoundly messed up about his reaction that:

His response to hearing that his wife tried to kill his son seems to have so much to do with reinforcing her loyalty to himself and so little to do with actually trying to protect Mustafa.

His idea of an adequate punishment is little more than a traumatising mind game and not something more conventional. What he does to her is a cruel and unusual punishment, if you can even properly call it a punishment.

Meanwhile on her end, this scene parallels Leo's death at the end of season 1 ('I’m already dead'). On the one hand, this moment adds to the romanticism of her willingness to 'sacrifice herself' for him. Like Leo sacrificed himself for Hürrem. And on the other hand, it emphasises her trauma and and how much of her past life and of herself she has already had to sacrifice for him and for the system. And it's hard to tell where the idealisation of her sacrifice begins and the awareness on the writers' part of how messed up this situation is ends. Another moment that stood out to me because I felt like it summed up their dynamic from her perspective well was after she woke up and asked him to comfort her. It illustrates how he is both the source of her pain and trauma and of her comfort and happiness. So it says something very sad about her experience of their relationship.

I'm going to go into more depth about episode 72 in the next part of this analysis. And there is a lot more to say about the scene than I'm going to say here. for now what I will say is that it's noteworthy how even though the scene of her suicide attempt is a moment that delves into her trauma and and psychology, the external takeaway is so tied to her loyalty and service to Süleyman. When Afife saves her, she tells her ´Don't be so hard on yourself.' Because she can see just how much of Hürrem's self-worth is tied up in her relationship to Süleyman at this point. And given her experiences and circumstances, it's an understandable place for Hürrem to be. Which is something else that the scene and her monologue in particular emphasise. And this is also reflected in Afife's praising of her love and self-sacrificing loyalty when she recounts this incident to Firuze. This is in spite of the fact that this was a moment that changed Afife's perception of Hürrem and humanised her in her eyes. So it drives home how even in her most human and vulnerable moments, Hürrem's value is still perceived to be in her loyalty and sacrifices. She as a person is less important than this. She’s had to bury herself since day one. When she had to be entertaining and make Süleyman laugh during their first halvet. And she got her new name Hürrem as a direct result of this performance. The irony being that she has to show herself to be happy even when she’s suffering things that she can’t tell anyone else about. She’s forced by Ibrahim to be complicit in the death of Leo, who represents her former life and was someone she deeply cared about. As well as having to burn his diary in order to save herself from danger again. Both of these also essentially boil down to a show of loyalty towards Süleyman. He asks her to drink something that she is told is poison for him as a test of loyalty. Over time, she learns to bury herself and to use her loyalty as a shield to protect herself and her children through this series of (mostly) traumatic events.

Second, what he represented to her was a significant factor in how she viewed their relationship. And while it’s not hard to see throughout the show, that exact same scene in episode 72 all but makes it explicit. The fact that she sees a vision of her family at one of her loneliest points is significant. One of the reasons why she was so keen on becoming his favourite was because she wanted a family again. And as such when she is in this place, it’s natural for her to return to thinking about them. And it can also be seen in the catastrophising that leads her to this drastic decision. She says ‘after my spring, the cruel autumn won’t come’. Which I think implies that she thinks that Firuze taking Thursday night represents a complete game over for her. She sees herself on the precipice of losing her new family and she’s catastrophising and she can’t stand it. And it’s not entirely logical but based on her traumatic experiences it makes sense for her to be thinking like this. Overall it showcases how much she’s had to replace normal familial relationships with her love for Süleyman. She repeats ‘He is everything to me’ over and over again in her monologue. She hasn’t been able to rely on maternal support from the Valide, everyone from her previous life is dead and Hatice is against her. This makes Afife showing up all the more significant. Since she’s the maternal figure who Hürrem needs and has been sorely lacking since episode 1. She gives her that desperately needed comfort. It made me tear up to see her hugging her. It’s one of the most powerful moments on the show. Since it’s one of the times someone gets the closest to seeing behind her façade. And it’s one of the most compassionate interactions she’s had up until that point. It just drives home the part of Hürrem’s character that is about seeking love and affection. And the fact that she’s getting the kindness she needs from Afife and not Süleyman speaks volumes in so many ways.

So yeah. TL:DR she just needs a hug.

In terms of her loyalty to him, she used it as a shield to protect herself and her kids. Over time she used this self-sacrifice to her advantage and played up her loyalty to Süleyman. Because of her love for him and because she was the person who stood the most to lose from his death, this was a natural strategy and a very clever one. Especially since she had five children to protect. I just don’t think it’s something that she should have had to do. When Süleyman praises her loyalty to Fatma in episode 130, it’s as much a statement about both of them and their perceptions of her as it is about her. Fatma sees a manipulative villainness who has evilly used her loyalty to corrupt Süleyman and Süleyman sees someone who is imperfect but still knows her place. They have both oversimplified who Hürrem is and how she operates for the purposes of their own worldviews. Fatma casts her as the villain responsible for all of the harm  that has come to the Dynasty, and Süleyman is only concerned with what serves him.