#war of faith episode 9

[accio-victuuri]

if that really happened, i hope you can give me compensation and mail it to my father. my life is not worth much anyway. i’ll give it all to you. { war of faith episode 9 }

[fallcolorspringrapid]

hi. if you like weirdly intense mentor-protégé relationships, War of Faith (追风者) might be for you.

the protégé: Wei Ruolai, a little potato, a poor, brilliant, idealistic boy whose n:o 1 ambition in life is to... work for advisor Shen Tunan of Central Bank. apparently. as his personal assistant.

"My life is not worth much anyway," Wei Ruolai says,

wow. ok.

and this is Shen Tunan, Wei Ruolai's boss and mentor. here he's looking at Wei Ruolai who has just said something very smart.

i'm going to eat that little potato for breakfast —Shen Tunan, probably.

people. these two have Chemistry. Shen Tunan keeps looking at Wei Ruolai like he can't quite believe his luck at having found such a sweet potato and can't make up his mind about which part to bite into first. and Wei Ruolai is just *incoherent noises* he's just so earnest. he's quiet and smart (and also very stupid) and tenacious and a tiny bit of a brat, and he lights up under Shen Tunan's attention.

Shen Tunan: "You spoke well earlier."

Wei Ruolai, having looked bashfully away:

ahem.

praise kink, anyone?

[wander-wren]

sometimes i wonder about what fandom is going to look like in 5 or 10 years. i think we might have already started to see a shift.

because, look, most of the oldest, biggest fandoms are from tv shows and movies, in particular ones that go on for years and scores of episodes. star trek, star wars, stargate (is everything star?), doctor who, supernatural…even sherlock really got its biggest popularity boosts in the modern day from tv adaptations. marvel and dc were comics first, too, but movies made them more accessible; their “cinematic universe” tags are the biggest on ao3 by far.

but what tv shows are we getting now? short, 8-episode things that get canceled two or three seasons in, that are usually less-than-faithful adaptations of other media anyway.

what movies are we getting? well, marvel turns more to slop every day, and everything else is remakes and sequels no one asked for. the general populace will still go see them and find some good movies that they like, but there’s not much really for fandom to grasp onto.

the best shows for fandom that we’ve had recently, that i can think of, are stranger things, game of thrones, and maybe our flag means death. stranger things is dying off, especially since they’re looking at a 3-4 YEAR gap between s4 and s5. game of thrones’s popularity plummeted after its final season, we all know that. our flag means death is still chugging fairly okay, but after that second season a lot of the fandom dropped it, and with it now being cancelled, i don’t see it sticking around.

yes, we can chalk part of this up to a new generation to of fans having this growing idea that fandom is super temporary, to be abandoned as soon as its not on trend. but media used to be on trend for a whole lot longer than it is now. seasons were longer, we had filler episodes, things were lower quality sometimes but at least they came out on a consistent schedule. i don’t mind if supernatural isn’t an artistic masterpiece, but if i was a stranger things fan waiting until 2026 for the final season, i would be annoyed if it wasn’t damn near perfect. that’s assuming i watched it at all—we’re all so used to not getting endings and moving on, so why would i bother?

i think there are two types of shows doing sort of okay about this. one is procedurals—9-1-1 is a popular one i’ve run into, and it started in 2018, around the beginning of the decline, but it’s managed 7 seasons in those six years, most of them with 18 episodes. the other is, honestly, anime—though we can and SHOULD talk about the terrible working conditions that make the fast turnarounds there possible. look at how big some anime fandoms are.

judging by the relative fandom popularity of other procedural dramas (grey’s anatomy, law & order, criminal minds), i think that’s going to remain sort of niche. fandom likes fantasy and scifi best, and they just don’t tend to have as strong of an overarching arc to dig into. at least, that’s why i wouldn’t watch them. i think there’s also a good chance these will start to die out in the coming years as well.

anime could also die out a little bit. better working conditions would necessitate less/slower content, and it’s true that most of the popular anime fandoms have been around for years, even decades.

so, what, no new, lasting tv show or movie fandoms anymore?

what will the biggest fandoms be in 5-10 years?

podcast fandoms have a shot. the magnus archives is still going strong, and i’ve been seeing a lot about dungeons and daddies. i think we’re kind of almost past the golden age for podcasts, but i am an outsider, so maybe that will change.

book fandoms seem like a kind of obvious choice, but they just don’t get as big without, you guessed it, a movie or show adaptation. and the downsizing has hit them, too—can you think of anything from the last 5 or 10 years that rivals harry potter, percy jackson, warriors, lord of the rings, hunger games, acotar…even game of thrones (asoiaf) again? i can’t. the collapse of the publishing industry is another post entirely.

2020 is really what cemented these changes, though they were starting in the late 2010s, at least. with actual industries shutting down, there was room for indie creators making things alone in their houses to pop up, and people had more time on their hands to try new things out and get into them.

the two things that have really been on the rise since 2020 is rpf and video game fic—often both combined. we’ve got genshin impact, call of duty, minecraft of course being huge, rpf of various youtubers, and k-pop rpf. now, i think rpf is contentious enough that it won’t really become the main fandom, but video game fic…might be it.

even video blogging rpf can often be a blurred enough line that people are more comfortable with it. and the thing is…youtube creators are actually more reliable than mainstream television these days. they need to be, to maintain their platforms. they need to not cancel series and to live up to their own hype as best they can and to not abandon the channel for 3 or 4 years at a time. and again, you can talk about burnout and unrealistic expectations and all of those things, but it’s still true.

maybe i’m completely wrong. maybe in 10 years the film and publishing industries will all sort themselves out and we’ll go back to the status quo. but i think this position fandom is finding itself in is interesting, and i wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if what’s most popular (both in the specific source material sense and the medium/genre sense) is different some time down the road.

[the-reader-in-the-rye]

TOWL analysis so far (spoilers):

Knowing the TWDU and how it loves it's "come full circle" style of writing, I've noticed something intriguing.

Okafor wanted to reshape the CRM, after his death, his legacy is left in Thorne and Rick's hands (let's portray Thorne as the left hand and Rick as the right--for thematic nuance).

Okafor's first lesson with Rick and Thorne is about "the cold war"--a disagreement on who has right to power under which form of civil governance--essentially Okafor vs CRM / CRM vs survivors.

It's now known that all top brass will be in the outpost that Rick and Thorne were overseeing.

In episode one, Okafor tells Rick to "swear on the sword", and how he'll "know the time".

Nat tells Michonne "you can believe a little longer and still know when to leave".

Both Rick and Michonne are iconically stripped of their character strengths through props: sword and boots.

[edited] "the only way you get away is if someone is here, making sure."

Now TWD is known for their transparent foreshadowing--and sometimes they try to force inorganic storylines to come full circle (season 8 with the "my mercy prevails over my wrath" and season 9 with the "forced friction between the coalition essentially closing with the signing of the charter".) However I give Danai, Andy and Gimple props because they understand these characters and their motivations, and are artistically behind the helm.

So this got me thinking:

In episode three, Beale makes this speech about Okafor:

"Okafor had a wife and he could have seen her again had he stayed on mission... He dropped the bombs and ended everything he was, everything he had [camera pans to Rick]. He showed us that our enemies can be our salvation [camera pans to Anne/Jadis] if we look at them differently [camera pans to Thorne].

[Beale unsheathes 'revolutionary war general' Hugh Mercer's sword--a man who fought on 'both' sides, was closely linked to George Washington, and died fighting on the 'right' side according to American history.]"

Onto narrative parallels:

Rick, at this stage, is post burning away the letters and phones, "ending everything he was".

Anne and Thorne are played as two sides of a coin; one could die on the wrong side and the other could back the right side. Possibly, both could work together, since they're both ambitious and self preservation comes naturally to them, and end up being the key to Rick and Michonne's escape.

The fate of Okafor's legacy has to fall to one of his chosen 'hands': either Rick or Thorne. For Rick, it's dismantling the CRM to get free (potentially targeting the top brass in one fell swoop) for Thorne it's committing to a mission (except she no longer believes in Okafor's mission completely because of the Echelon briefing, she's losing grip on where she stands, and she's depicted as someone who stubbornly knows where they stand--trying to kill Okafor, stubbornly forcing Rick to return because she knew the CRM would go after his family, etc).

'Swearing on the sword' could mean appointing someone to power using a symbol of revolution, it can also mean swearing yourself to loyalty--so Rick might have to swear allegiance to Beale or the CRM (maybe in front of Michonne).

Michonne may need to turn her back on Rick at some point "know when to leave" and yet do so knowing "she needs to believe in them a little longer". So Michonne will likely have to make a leap of faith -- maybe jumping out of the helicopter counts? More likely this will come into play during the 'swear on the sword' scene.

Rick will only be fully Rick when he puts his iconic boots back on. Michonne will only fully be Michonne when she has her sword. Rick and Michonne can then proceed to "do anything together" when their characters have been restored through their ownership of iconic props again.

Thorne is most likely the someone "there to make sure Rick and Michonne can stay safe and gone". I don't think she's written in any romantic/spurned/rejected capacity, she's more like a kindred spirit, but one who believes in the CRM mission because she can't go back home. Most likely, her character is written to be a house of cards--either she topples or she stays strong and protects her 'family' while staying on Okafor's mission.

Of course there is a worse, more on the nose reading of the camera panning to Rick when Beale said: "Okafor sacrificed his wife for the greater good" and I am not playing that game!

[dragonworshippersblog]

Otto: if rhaenyra succeeds viserys, she will put your [alicent’s] children to the sword

The only person in the show who want to kill innocent children was otto himself “it is unsavory, yes but a sacrifice we must make to secure aegon's ascension […] lord commander Westerling, take your knights to dragonstone, be quick and be clean”. Otto wanted to make a massacre of a whole family, and the council agreed with him; on the other hand rhaenyra, nor in the book or in the show, never wanted or proposed the death of her half brothers and half sister.

Alicent: The prince Lucerys brought a blade to the ambush, he meant to kill my son

Meanwhile aemond picked up a rock and hit jace on the head, when he was on the ground bleeding he said “you will die screaming just as your father did, bastards”.

(disclaimer: I am not saying aemond deserves to lose his eye or that he really wants to kill jace, just that alicent’s accusation is nonsense since luke pulled out the knife only after aemond threatened he and his brother with death. Surely aemond didn't mean it but luke was sure,and it is understandable since he is the younger among those present, so acted accordingly by defending his brother, before this he never took the knife)

Alicent: the emblems of the seven serve only to guide us on an uncertain path to remind us of a higher authority.

The faith of the seven consider incest as a monstruos and vile sin, so it condemns incestuous marriages calling them an abomination. Yet alicent betrothal aegon and haelena because it was convenient to her; since she is so religious, with her actions she would condemn her children to damnation, but she doesn't seem to care much about that

Alicent: At the green council she said “Am I to understand that members of the small council have been secretly planning to install my son without me?” pretending to be completely uninvolved, but here is an evolution of older alicent from ep 6 to 8 (not including ep 9 because it show the green council and ep 10 because it is all based on rhaenyra and the black)

ep 6: she said to aegon “you are the king’s firstborn son. And what they know, what everyone in the realm knows in their blood and in their bones is that one day, you will be our king”. She also speak with viserys about rhaenyra’s children in the hope for him to change his mind, and in the council she alway discredit rhaenyra’s position

ep 7: it is the episode when aemond lost his eye otto said to her that she had the determination to win the game and now vaghar was at their side, then he conclude by saying that they will prevail

ep 8: she agreed to give driftmark to vaemond before the petition start, because it was safe “in the case of a war” have a more experienced men at the head of velaryon’s fleet.

If you still believe that she was not aware, or at least not expect that the council was scheming, then you are totally delusional (it's worth mentioning that rhaenyra had told alicent that the council was plotting to replace her and this was even before aegon was born, and that alicent admitted to otto that he was implacable in the idea of having aegon on the throne; so it was unthinkable to assume that he wasn't plotting especially at a time like this where viserys was ill and he had all the power. If you continue to assert that Alicent was in the dark, then you are consequently asserting that she is stupid)

Alicent: "We [woman] do not rule, but we may guide the men that do. Gently, away from violence"

Friendly reminder that aegon, alicent's son, rape the maids in the red keep. I find this this behaviour very far from being kind and being against violence; and if alicent is not capable of controlling her son as a prince, imagine once she has placed a crown on his head (in fact in fire and blood otto and alicent were convinced that once aegon was crowned king they would be the true rulers, and this is revealed to be false since he relieved otto of his position and act, most of the time, without listen to alicent)

Otto: “Queen Alicent has not forgotten the love you once have for each other”

Alicent did not forget the love she and rhaenyra shared when the latter might make decisions that harm her children, because when alicent abused rhaenyra then that love for her had never existed

Context: Alicent demanded that the baby rhaenyra had just given birth to be brought to her, not even having the decency to leave them alone for a few minutes after rhaenyra's painful delivery to bring the child into the world. In the second picture alicent and otto agreed to grant vaemond a petition for the wooden throne despite the fact that the succession had already been decided by corlys himself subjecting rhaenyra to great stress while she was pregnant. In the third rhaenyra had an abortion because her body could not cope with the pain after her father had died and his death was hidden from her, and consequently she could not say goodbye to him and take the ring he was wearing (a ring that belonged to aemma, the mother rhaenyra lost at a young age, photo 4), to this pain was also added the fact that her throne had been usurped by her childhood friend who a few days earlier had praised how good a queen rhaenyra would be. Of course, I have not included all the times where Alicent discredited rhaenyra and her opinions, and spread gossip about her children, calling them 'threats' and 'savages'. If this is love I can't think what would have happened if there was antipathy between the two.

[redpool]

Because we are moving, I've been rewatching Supernatural while packing and I've decided i want to make a list of the episodes that i actually like (meaning that I actually like what I'm watching).

Season 1:

Episode 1 'Pilot' - Minus the intro, i usually skip that

Episode 2 'Wendigo' - That last bit, where Dean has the bandage on his throat... *insert debby ryan meme here*

Episode 3 'Dead in the Water' - Enough said, i mean come on..

Episode 5 'Bloody Mary' - I used to be terrified of this ep. But the way the boys are so soft and comforting towards the girls. (and Mary is pretty)

Episode 7 'Hook Man' - Love me some hook man. and the black shirt and brown jacket combo on Dean *chefs kiss*

Episode 12 'Faith' - Dean is just really attractive to me i this ep, he's so sick and pathetic looking and i love it... THE HOODIE

Episode 17 'Hell House' - AHDHGDGDHGDHBGDGDCVGDCB PRANK WARS!!!!!!

Episode 19 'Provenance' - Idk why "HOLY, BLONDE, CHEERLEADER, BATMAN" < I quote that so so much

Season 2:

Episode 2 'Everybody Loves A Clown' -

I want to say Bloodlust because of Benny but I hate that other shitbird

Episode 4 'Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things' - Its just a fun ep

Episode 5 'Simon Said' - ASH MY LOVE!!!!!

Episode 6 'No Exit' - America's first known serial killer

Episode 11 'Playthings' - "Of course, the most troubling question is: Why do these people assume we're gay?" "Well, you are kinda butch, but I just think you're overcompensating."

Episode 15 'Tall Tales' - GABE MY LOVE!!!!!!

Episode 17 'Heart' - uhhh werewolves, need I say more?

Episode 18 'Hollywood Babylon' - another idk why

Episode 19 'Folsom Prison Blues' - two words, Blue. Steel.

Season 3:

Episode 3 'Bad Day At Black Rock' - Bela *Insert debby ryan meme*

Episode 5 'Bedtime Stories' - another fun one

Episode 6 'Red Sky at Morning' - Bela, my love!'

Episode 8 'A Very Supernatural Christmas' - Protective Dean, "You fudging touch me again, I'll fudging kill ya!"

Episode 11 'Mystery Spot' - GABE MY LOVE!!!!!!

Episode 13 'Ghostfacers' - GHOST- GHOSTFACERS, I also love that we see a whole different version of the Winchesters. (sweary)

Season 4:

Episode 1 'Lazarus Rising' - The beginning of the longest queerbaiting relationship ever

Episode 4 'Monster Movie' - do I really need to explain?

Episode 6 'Yellow Fever' - "I'll man the flashlight!"

Episode 7 ' It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester' - ngl the title makes no sense, and there is a reason, i just can't think of it.

Episode 8 'Wishful Thinking' - another fun episode, this is the episode that, that kid that killed his mum and set out to take the Canadian prime minster out is in.

Episode 12 'Criss Angel Is a Douche Bag' - *shrugs*

Episode 13 'After School Special' - BABY SAM, younger Dean 😏

Episode 14 'Sex and Violence' - BI DEAD BI DEAN BI DEAN BI DEAN

Episode 18 'The Monster at the End of This Book' - also *shrug*

Episode 19 'Jump the Shark' - ADAM!!!! Adam ☹️😢

Season 5:

Episode 5 'Fallen Idols' - another fun episode

Episode 6 'I Believe the Children Are Out Future' - JESSE!!!!! There was so much potential in this kid, we could have the greatest duo with Jesse and Jack.

Episode 7 'The Curious Case of Dean Winchester' - BI DEAD BI DEAN BI DEAN BI DEAN

Episode 8 'Changing Channels' - GABE MY LOVE!!!!!!!!

Episode 9 'The Real Ghostbusters' - fair enough

Episode 11 'Sam, Interrupted' - ✨therapy✨

Episode 12 'Swap Meat' - fun episode

Episode 14 'My Bloody Valentine' - "I don't like it!" "No one likes it."

Episode 17 '99 Problems' - "Not you. Or me. Sam of course is an abomination. We'll have to find someone else." & "Well, what is she, exactly?" "The whore." "Wow, Cas, tell us what you really think."

Episode 18 'Point of No Return' - ADAM!!!! Adam... ☹️😢

Episode 19 'Hammer of the Gods' - GABE!!!!! Gabe.... ☹️😢

Episode 21 'Two Minutes to Midnight' - OH, DEATH, OH, DEATH, OH, DEATH,

Episode 22 'Swan Song' - THE BEGINNIG OF MIADAM!!!! funny story, when i had an iPhone i had "Hey, Assbutt" as my text tone and it was almost as scary as when I had Obi-Wan's "Hello there"

Season 6:

Episode 3 'The Third Man' - BALTHAZAR MY LOVE!!!!!!!!

Episode 9 'Clap Your Hands If You Believe' - Souless!Sam is a dick but I kinda love him.

Episode 17 'My Heart Will Go On' - BALTHAZAR!!!!!!!! "Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who's in love with you."

Episode 18 'Frontierland' - Why is Elias kinda hot...?

Episode 19 'Mommy Dearest' - I just like the bar scene

Season 7:

Episode 1 'Meet the New Boss' - "And who says you speak for God? You're wrong. I am utterly indifferent to sexual orientation. On the other hand, I cannot abide hypocrites like you, Reverend." "Okay, fun's over, friend" "Tell your flock where your genitals have been before you speak for Me." "And who the heck are you?" "I'm God.", basically the whole church scene

Episode 5 'Shut Up, Dr. Phil' - It's just a funny episode

Episode 9 'How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters' - "I think you pissed off my sandwich."

Episode 14 'Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie' - "Ha! I'm sorry, you look like you got attacked by some PCP-crazed strippers."

Episode 20 'The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo' -CHARLIE BABY!!!!!!

Episode 21 'Reading is Fundamental' - KEVIN MY LOVE!!!!!!

Season 8:

Episode 1 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' - That whole first scene, BENNY MY LOVE!!!!!!

Episode 2 'What's Up, Tiger Mommy?' - ALFIE!!!!!!!!! BENNY!!!!!!!

Episode 4 'Bitten' - outside perspectives are always funny

Episode 5 'Blood Brother' - BENNNY!!!! Vampirates.

Episode 6 'Southern Comfort' - GARTH!!!!!

Episode 7 'A Little Slice of Kevin' - KEVIN!!!! Dean isn't even trying to hide his gay.

Episode 8 'Hunteri Heroici' - I'll introgate the cat."

Episode 9 'Citizen Fang' - I hate this episode but yeah

Episode 11 'LARP and the Real Girl' - CHARLIE, MY LOVE!!!!!!

Episode 12 'As Time Goes By' - HENRY, MY LOVE!!!!!!

Episode 13 'Everybody Hates Hitler' - Adam Rose is in it, do i need to continue?

Episode 15 'Man's Best Friend with Benefits' - I hate witches but this ep is good.

Episode 20 'Pac-Man Fever' -

Episode 23 'Sacrifice' - The last scene and speech that Dean says to Sam.

Season 9:

Episode 1 'I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here' - GADDY!!!!!! MY BABY!!!!!!

Episode 4 'Slumber Party' - CHARLIE!!!!! TIIO!!!!!!

Episode 5 'Dog Dean Afternoon' - just a fun one, the pigeon is the best character in this episode.

Episode 7 'Bad Boys' - BABY DEAN BABY DEAN BABY DEAN

Episode 8 'Rock and a Hard Place' - "But when you get down to it, what's the big deal? Sure, there's the touching and the feeling all of each other, my hands everywhere, tracing every inch of her body. The two of us moving together, pressing, pulling, grinding, and then you hit that sweet spot and everything just builds, builds and builds until it all just... [Makes explosion noise] ...But the whole thing was just a little too sticky."

Episode 13 'The Purge' - Out of all of the creatures in this show the Pishtacos are my favourite.

Episode 15 '#thinman' - the return of the Ghostfacers, they're so gay for eachother.

Episode 16 'Blade Runners' - sexy

Episode 19 'Alex Annie Alexis Ann' - ALEX!!!!!!!

Season 10:

Episode 1 'Black' - DEMON!DEAN FOR THE WIN!!!!

Episode 2 'Reichenbach' - Demon Dean...

Episode 3 'Soul Survivor' - Demon Dean.

Episode 4 'Paper Moon' - KATE!!!!

Episode 5 'Fan Fiction' - Do I really need to explain why I like this one? 🎶"JOHN AND MARY, HUSBAND AND WIFE, BRINGING HOME A BRAND NEW LIFE, HIS NAME IS SAMMY, I'M BIG BROTHER DEAN"🎶

Episode 6 'Ask Jeeves' - the interactions are just really funny.

Episode 7 'Girls, Girls, Girls' - ROWENA!!!!!! the only witch I can stand.

Episode 8 'Hibbing 911' - JODIY AND DONNA SUPREMACY!!!!

Episode 12 'About a Boy' - Just a fun episode

Episode 13 'Halt & Catch Fire' - ghosts are always fun episodes

Episode 14 'The Executioner's Song' - the end of Cain

Episode 15 'The Things They Carried' - probably my favourite Cole episode.

Episode 16 'Paint It Black' - I just like this ep

Episode 19 'The Werther Project' - BENNY!!!!!!

Season 11:

Episode 4 'Baby' - self explained, i'd say.

Episode 5 'Thin Lizzie' - idk why

Episode 7 'Plush' - its just funny

Episode 8 'Just My Imagination' - 'She's got sparkle on her face!'

Episode 11 'Into the Mystic' -

Episode 12 'Don't You Forget About Me' - DAD DEAN DAD DEAN DAD DEAN DAD DEAN

Season 12:

Episode 6 'Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox' - It's just funny watching people react the way they do towards the boys.

Episode 8 'LOTUS' - ARTHUR!!!!!!

Episode 11 'Regarding Dean' - Considering that he was going to die this and the Zanna episode are my all time favourites.

Season 13:

Episode 1 'Lost and Found' - JACK!!!!!!! MY BABY!!!!!!!

Episode 2 'The Rising Son' - Jack means a lot to me.

Episode 4 'The Big Empty' - ✨therapy✨

Episode 6 'Tombstone' - GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY

Episode 10 'Wayward Sisters' - GIRLFRIENDS GIRLFRIENDS GIRLFRIENDS GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY

Episode 16 'Scoobynatural' - I like it when they give us a break from the on-going trauma filled story lines.

Season 14:

Episode 4 'Mint Condition' - fun episode

Episode 6 'Optimism' - fun episode

have you guys seen this yet? this is such a cool picture.

Season 15:

Episode 1 'Back and to the Future' - BELPHEGOR!!!!! (i only like Alex's version)

Episode 2 'Raising Hell' - a trip down memory lane

Episode 3 'The Rapture' - *shrugs*

Episode 7 'Last Call' - I just think its funny how Dean faked being able to sing for all those years, I assume to make Sam laugh.

Episode 8 'Our Father, Who Aren't In Heaven' - ADAM!!!!!!! MIDAM!!!!!!! THATS A RELATIONSHIP I WANNA JOIN!!! Oh and its a win for Destial too i guess.

Episode 15 'Gimme Shelter' - Jack & Dean bonding experience.

[magnoliapromenadegalleria]

Theories & Thoughts (Thories)

Wherever Sand and Ray are in episode 9 has something to do with Ray's community service.

Sand and Ray's huge fallout will happen in episode 10. It's gonna have something to do with whatever conversation Sand had with Ray's dad.

If there were to be any episode where Sand sleeps with someone else and it isn't a flashback, it's going to be episode 10. Which honestly, good for him.

Ray is going to do something incredibly reckless and be court ordered to go to rehab (please) at the end of episode 10 or at some point in episode 11. I'd be very surprised if he went on his own. He'll deal with detoxing and withdrawal, and it will be hard to watch. He'll be forced to actually face his pain, feelings, and drunken/drugged actions sober, and start coming to terms with his mothers death/perceived dislike of him.

Mew and Top will be on the road to reconciliation by episode 10, but that's when Sand and Top's mutual ex enters the picture again and things regress on that front. They'll be back together by episode 12.

Yo and Plug are going to work things out. We don't see them much, but they'll work it out in the background, and Yo will take that leap of faith and Plug (better) will be worthy. Ain't nothin' like a little set-back before the comeback, they'll be alright.

Boston is going to restrain himself with Atom...maybe. Hopefully. I'd hate to see Atom be an innocent casualty in this silent war Boston is having with his associates.

Daddy Dan is going to be the same Daddy that is in Boston's phone. Boston is going to be the absolute worst about it.

Boston's dad finds out about him. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

Daniel is going to put Nicholas in an uncomfortable position, possibly threaten to end Nick's career before it begins if he isn't fully on board with a more intimate relationship. Massachusetts is gonna get pissed off by that (no one can mess with Nick but him) and the Spykid's are going team up to blackmail Father Daniel. They situation will force Boston to examine his feelings for Nick.

We're going to get a bigger time jump than we've been getting. Instead of one or two months, maybe we see where everyone is six months to a year later.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - PAIN, all the pain you could want

except this is me, I don’t want it... whimper 

Dec 2022 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

My School President (Fri YT) 2 of 10 - this show is gloriously ridiculous and charming and exactly my preferred kind of BL. Tinn has NO GAME, but man do I love a whipped boy. Anything that harkens this hard to Love Sick gets my vote. 

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 3 of 11 - It is nice to see Ohm play a character with more animated facial expressions. I’m liking this show a great deal, but I am really not wild about time loops. Crazy to see Stud & Sam on screen together again. Holy Friend Zone flashbacks batman. 

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 5 of 12 - it continues to be great, I continue to worry about the fact that apparently only Taiwanese BL considers therapy a viable option for boys who actually, ya know, NEED it. WATCH ALONG HERE.

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) 11 of 12 - More nothing is happening, but the nothing is shirtless again, so I’m good. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 9 of 12 - Well, the sweet little BL with Gun & Golf is great. Bummer they only take up 20% of screen time. Golf’s parents are the best. That’s all I got. 

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 4 of 12 - it’s boring, what can I say? 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai 

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 10 of 12 - everything about this show is so stinking cute, even the crumbs are adorbs. So many smiley kisses! (my 2nd fav kiss, the 1st one being a crying kisses, I’m warped). Speaking of, is it just me or is the actor playing Alex 1000% hotter when he smiles? Please no Doom next week, Taiwan? Pretty please? 

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Thurs Viki) 3-4 of 8 - Amusingly, I’m referring to it as OhMyAss in my notes. I do love this one, it has such a Japanese feel to it. The episode titles alone are hilarious. Plus, kisses already? Korea? What’s going on? Meanwhile, this is my favorite bisexual awakening in cinematic history. It made me incandescently happy. 

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) 5-6 of 8 - Look, I can watch Leo be pensive & moody until the cows come home (and have in half of Vixx’s MVs*) but it is getting a little tiresome here. PLUS: this is a KBL they don’t have a lot of time to waste even on his level of evil beauty. I think this would have worked better as a romance if the Writer had known the Editor in (at least) a friendly way in the past/at school as well - so there was more established dynamic to their instant affection and shacking up. Apart from my qualms around the romance thread, the plot is actually pretty good. It’s very angsty and tense for something so simple, which suits this length of show. *I guess what I am saying is if Korea ever did a remake of KinnPorsche, Leo MUST play Vegas.

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 10 of 11 - Pain. Argh. It was cruel to send them back, to all of us. Is there an ep 11, or is that a BTS and this was the end? In which case... in Strongberry I no longer trust. I guess we find out next week how shaken my faith is. 

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Thurs Gaga & Viki) 8fin -Fortunately I have no faith at all in Japan, I expect pain from them. So here’s your final review of this one: 

Smart boy in love with zombie incubus, keeps him alive with sex. Japan, king of thirst, gives us both that and PAIN: these 2 are drowning in yearning and loss. Careful with this one - you break it, you bought it, and it'll break you... wide open just to see what color your guts are. After watching, you too might be walking around alone, forgotten, and wondering why no one understands your loss. Not only does it not end happily, it ends hopelessly. That’s an automatic 2/10 from me. No exceptions and NOT RECOMMENDED.

Sure, it may actually be brilliant, but it hurt me and I’m mad about it. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

2 Moons 3 (Thai Mon ??) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

Love Bill  (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid)

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) 10 eps - ?

Why You... Y Me? (Thai Weds YT) 10 eps - It's not primarily a BL, but another meta show about BL shipping, with side BLs. @heretherebedork is watching it, ask them about it.

Gossip

Here’s that rumor, by the way. 

I refuse to believe it. GMMTV is simply forbidden to do pain, it’s not their brand and I’ll be very mad if they do. 

In Case You Missed It

Semantic Error movie (Viki) the repackage did have some nice added footage but I wasn’t wild about some of the new scene cut choices. Still, not substantial enough changes for me to deeply lean one way or the other. I prefer the original but that might just be because that’s how I consumed it first. *shrug* 

GAP the series (Sat YT) is a classic office set romance. WATCH IT! It’s GL and this studio needs our support! I’m enjoying it but not chronicling my journey. (Also, the stairs are back.)

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting December 2022: 

Dec 13 - Never Let Me Go from Thailand, GMMTV’s YT, 10 eps -  GMMTV’s answer to KinnPorsche this is a mafia, attack dog (whipping boy + bodyguard) suspense BL. I’m delighted to see Pond Phuwin get a crack at something that’s not FUTS. Jojo (3 Will Be Free) is directing, so we know the action parts should be decent.

Dec 15 - The Director Who Buys Me Dinner from Korea, iQIYI - A new production house employee whose director (absolutely perfect in every way except that he seems to have lost his mind) claims to have lived 3 lives and insists that they have to date if they don't want to die.

Dec 16 - Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox from Japan, Gaga, 8 eps - A stakeout throws Onoe, a reporter, together with photographer Kaburagi. Kaburagi's haphazard work style goes against Onoe's ethics. Yet, in joint pursuit of a scandal, the two move from enemies to lovers. Adapted from manga Ameiro Paradox by Natsume Isaku.

Dec 21 - The New Employee AKA The New Recruit AKA Shinib Sawo from Korea, (prob Gaga or Viki) - From WATCHA (Semantic Error) virginal Seung Hyun scores the office internship of his dreams but on his first day at work he gets into it with his cool reserved boss. As you do. Stars Moon Ji Yong (Once Again). Based on Moscareto's web novel of the same name, directed by openly gay & queer activist Kim Jho Gwang Soo (Just Friends?). 

Dec 28 - H5: Love in the Future from Taiwan (prob Gaga or Viki) - A cheerful and energetic student from 2000 travels to the future (2022), works as a deliveryman, and meets his first customer, an heir with a domineering personality. Directed by Nancy Chen (HIStory 4, Papa & Daddy).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Between Us

I love him, your honor. (Ai Long Nhai) 

I catching another bad case of side dish addiction syndrome (GameVee in 609 Bedtime Story) 

We stan a dorky wingman with an imaginary umbrella trope. (My School Pres) 

(last week) 

[brasiliangp]

'drive to survive' season 6: a cheat sheet for people like me, who only care about like 3 ppl of the grid <3

Episode 1: Money Talks

Team: Aston Martin

0 - 2:00; shows some of the drivers (Lando, Lance, George, Max, Alex, Esteban) and Gunther on their winter breaks

2:41; Lawrence going all 007 villain mood

6:30; Aston Martin car launch

10:32; Lance gets injured

12:30 - 19:30; drivers in Bahrain (photoshoot, talk about Mercedes and Ferrari)

20:15; Lance is back

23: 20 - race (Bahrain GP) (does focus on Mercedes/Lewis/Toto a bit)

30:20 - Fred and Ferrari

33 - onwards; Aston Martin's podium, reactions from Mercedes and Ferrari, moments between Lawrence and Lance

Episode 2: Fall from Grace

Team: Alpha Tauri / Red Bull

Christian Horner TW throughout!!!!!

1:40 - start talking about Daniel

4: 35 - Red Bull car launch

also Daniel shows up for the first time

6:37 - Nyck is introduced

8:05 - some Red Bull tory nonsense with a charity shooting thing

10:33 - Jeddah

12:49 - introduction to the change in leadership at AT

14:34 - 17:51; race footage

18 - Nyck showing his Monaco apartment

backstory into Nyck and him chatting with a friend till 20:20

22:10 - Monaco GP

23:50 - they bring out the traumatized by rbr support group (Gasly and Albon) to talk about Nyck

25:00 - Daniel and Horner discuss plans for the future

27:30 - 32:30; race footage

32:55 - Horner calls Daniel

33 - Silverstone test

38:40 - Daniel back in F1

39:30 - Back to Nyck

Episode 3: Under Pressure

Team: McLaren

2:18 - McLaren car launch

4:24 - Oscar introduction

7:30 - 9:17; race footage (Bahrain)

11:40 - talks about Lando possibly switching teams (lasts literally the whole episode)

11:56 - 12:27; Horner TW

12:30 - Miami GP

16:49 - 19:16; Zac and Lando go golfing

20:40 - 23:58; race footage (Miami)

25:00 - 26:25; Lando and George flying together

26:25 - 27:30; Lando's life story

35:20 - Silverstone footage

Episode 4: The Last Chapter

Teams: Haas / Williams

0 - 4:00; Gunther

4:00 - Introduction to Nico/Kevin

5:13 - addressing the drama between then

7:08 - Williams

7:33 - James introduction

13:26 - 16:30; race footage (Jeddah)

17:57 - 19:50; Gunther

19:50 - 20:30; James

20:30 - 21:20; Alex working out

21:30 - Alex and James talking

24:30 - 29:50; race footage (Montreal)

29:57 - Lily!

39:40 - 41; race footage (Mexico)

43:10 - 45; Mattia Binotto TW

Episode 5: Civil War

Team: Alpine

2:10 - 5:40; Pierre in Cannes

8:20; Pierre and Esteban at the Alpine HQ

11:50 - 14:10; Pierre and Esteban story (where the drama started)

14:20 - 15:40; Pierre and Esteban go karting

17:30 - 23; race footage (Australia)

25:05 - 26:20; Esteban family house/working out

27: TP drama

28:30 - 37; Monaco GP

Episode 6: Lead of Faith

Team: Mercedes

0:15 - 3:40; George and Lewis shooting the road test video

8:25 - 9:05; Lewis talks about issues with the car

9:20 - 14:30; very sweet moment with the Wolffs where Jack goes karting

17 - 19; Lewis contract talks

19:00 - 19:12; "Lewis and I agreed to be open and honest with each other" Toto

19:25 - 19:35; "if Lewis were to leave it would almost look like he lost faith in the team" George

20:45 - 25; race footage (Barcelona)

26:30 - 27; Barcelona podium

28:30 - 30; Toto and Lewis talk

31:40 - Lewis' extension with Mercedes is announced

32:10 - "There just never feels like a time where I won't be a Mercedes driver" Lewis

Episode 7: C'est La Vie

Team: Alpine

0:30 - 0:40; Ocon and Ryan Reynolds

3:15 - 5; Pierre at a basketball game

5 - 6; Ocon in St. Tropez

7:50 - Horner TW but this one was funny lmfao

8:10 - 13:10; race footage (Silverstone)

15:40 - 17:00; race footage (Hungary)

20:40 - Omar is fired

22:56 - 23; Horner TW

26: Bruno sits Pierre and Esteban down for a chat

29:35 - 34:37; race footage (Zandvoort)

34:40 - 35:50; Pierre's podium

Episode 8: Forza Ferrari

Team: guess?

0 - 5:00; introduction to Fred and Ferrari

10:10 - 10:50; Carlos and his mom

15:40 - 22:30; race footage (Monza)

23:59 - 25:33; Fred, Carlos and Charles having lunch at Maranello

31:30 - 40; race footage (Singapore)

Episode 9: Three's a Crowd

Team: Alpha Tauri

0 - 2:40; Daniel

2:49 - 3:26; Alex and Logan talk about Daniel coming back

8:10 - 10:10 - Zandvoort (Daniel crashes)

12 - 14:25; Liam is introduced

17:45 - 20:40; quali in Singapore

25:33 - 30; race footage (Singapore)

31:50 - 32:56; Daniel working out

34:20 - 37; race footage (Suzuka)

37:50 - 38; Horner tells Liam Yuki and Daniel will be driving for AT next season

42:35 - 45:30; race footage (Mexico)

Episode 10: Red or Black

Teams: Mercedes x Ferrari; Aston Martin x McLaren

0 - 1:10; Charles in the Alps

1:10 - 1:30; Carlos working out

2:24 - 2:57; Red Bull and AT playing in the desert

4:40 - 5; Horner TW

5:30 - 7:30; Vegas opening ceremony

8 - 28 (pretty much); Vegas footage

29:05 - 29:33; Lando and Oscar

32 - 33; McLaren x Aston Martin

36:45 - 41:40; race footage (Abu Dhabi)4

44:32 - 44:34; Fred!

46:29 - 47:29; Red Bull and Horner TW

[fauxkaren]

Goodbye Earth - 9/10

This show was NOT what I expected. The basic premise is that in 200 days from the start of the drama, an asteroid (similar in size to the one that killed that dinosaurs) is going to hit Earth, and the Korean peninsula is one of the areas that will be completely obliterated. So I thought this was going to be a show about survival and maybe like about the triumph of human ingenuity. And well, it's not that. lmao. But it was VERY good. I think this one is going to sit with me for a while. At its core, the show is about human nature, relationships, and community. It brings up questions about inequality, morality and religion. There are definitely some moments of action, but overall the show feels more contemplative and shines in the quieter moments.

The central figure of the show is Se-kyung, a woman who was a homeroom teacher at a middle school. In the days following the asteroid announcement, riots and civil war broke out. In that chaos, criminals abducted kids with the intent to traffic them, many of them dying in the shipping containers they were put in. Out of her homeroom class, only 3 of her students survived the chaos and as a result, Se-kyung becomes fully devoted to protecting her remaining students and ensuring they can live out whatever time they have left in safety. So there is definitely this revenge overtone, but also like, the idea of self-sacrifice. Sang-eun, Se-kyung's fiancé, was in the US (a safe zone) when the asteroid's collision was announced. He's a scientist with knowledge and skills that are desirable so he is basically given a pass to live. He wants to save Se-keyung too so he returns to Korea to bring her back with him. Remaining behind means certain death, but could they live with themselves if they abandon those who need them? Is the purpose of humanity just to survive or is there some other greater purpose?

The Catholic church is a central figure in this drama in a REALLY fascinating way. It's not an unequivocal good because we do see corruption in the institution and also how religiously motivated homophobia can damage people. BUT the local church also functions as a pillar of support for the neighborhood. Not just in practical ways like feeding people but also in the community and human relationships the church provides. Traditional religion and cults are both part of how different groups process being faced with inevitable destruction. Is faith increased? Decreased? Is the real faith the belief we have in the strength of our communities and human relationships? IDK. It's something the show encourages you to think about.

I would say that the one quibble I have is that I think the final episode could have been maybe 10 minutes longer? Idk. I get why they chose to end the show how they did. I also think that the decision to start the show kinda 'in media res' was questionable. It took a while for me to fully understand who all the characters were and how things had gotten to the current state so I think exposition could have been done better.

[accio-victuuri]

wei ruolai preparing his gun 💀💀💀

[alicent-vi-britannia]

This Code Geass dialogue is underrated

Suzaku and Kallen's dialogue at the campfire is what makes episode 19 great, for me. This is Code Geass. Both Kallen and Suzaku aspire to the same goal: to see Japan free, but they both have opposing belief systems that will lead them to confront each other on the battlefield.

Kallen: Something that almost no one takes into account is that Kallen's goals, unlike other characters, constantly change throughout the series and the reason is very simple: Kallen had no idea what she wants to do with her life. Hence she is, in a way, finding herself, since Kallen's plot line in the first season consists of finding her motivation and defining her objective. Kallen manages to set her goal once she has her motivation. What is that objective? I would say it is liberating Japan, although here she talks about "change the world." But when did she first talk about "wanting to change the world"? Exactly, when she made a promise to her mother while she was recovering from the side effects of refrain. Finding out the truth about her mother and everything that happened in episode 9 gave Kallen a reason to want the world to change. How will she do it? Following the path that Zero has taught him: "the path of blood."

For Kallen, there is no other path to freedom than fighting and she is willing to use any method (meaning taking as many lives as necessary) to achieve her goal, even if she dies in the process, she will have the satisfaction that she did what she believed was right and that marks her first difference with Suzaku, who prefers to live and suffer. Kallen would rather die than suffer. In fact, there is an echo of the conversation she had with Zero in episode 13 when she states that if she doesn't try to change the world her brother's death will have been in vain. This shouldn't surprise us since Kallen then asked Zero: "Is what we're all doing here really going to change the world for the better?" In other words, "is all this worth it in the end?", to which Lelouch replies yes. It has to. Something important appears here that marks another difference between her and Suzaku. Zero's rebellion is based on the premise that he will win. We count on that since Lelouch is the protagonist of his own series and we are the viewers. People in the Code Geass universe don't know this. But Kallen, the Black Knights, and the Pro-Rebellion Japanese choose to believe so.

Suzaku, on the other hand, has no faith. He doesn't believe that Japan can defeat Britannia because it will always be surpassed militarily and technologically. In Suzaku's view, resisting will increase Britannia's oppression against Japan, making living conditions difficult for his people and bringing more death and misery on both sides. However, worst of all is that Zero shows no concern for the lives lost because he is focused on winning his war to prove that he was right. In short, it would be a question of stupid ego. Something that Suzaku already experienced first-hand with his father during the invasion (remember that Genbu was stubborn in continuing with a lost war) and the battle of Narita proved Suzaku right in that sense, since Lelouch didn't think about the people that could hurt. This draws a difference between Zero and Suzaku: meanwhile Lelouch is focused on building the future and obtaining results; Suzaku strives to improve the present and is very concerned about the means. Lelouch believes that the result will atone for his means and the ends will justify it and Suzaku believes that the means will condemn the end and the result will be "a dark regret and a deep emptiness of having nowhere to go", which turned out to be true. These words constituted a self-fulfilling prophecy for Lelouch who, in the end, will be consumed by remorse.

Let's say, then, that Kallen is betting his life on something uncertain. He is taking a great risk that Suzaku doesn't dare. Ultimately, the debate remains inconclusive because there is no mortally correct choice, so to speak. Neither Suzaku can answer Kallen nor can she answer him.

Anyway, this is some of the best dialogue in the series and it needs more love and attention.

PS: I'll have a post up soon showing how Suzaku was very validated at the end of the first season.

[zweizimtsterne]

tagged by @abba-enthusiast to share my ten favourite albums ty <3 only really turned into an album listener last year but i'm glad i finally am it's such a fun way to experience music!! in alphabetical order:

1. Wanda – Amore

2. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

3. Louis Tomlinson – Faith in the Future

4. Harry Styles – Harry Styles

5. Faber – I Fucking Love My Life

6. Måneskin – Il Ballo della Vita

7. Betterov – Olympia

8. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour

9. John Williams & London Symphony Orchestra – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (OST)

10. The Lightning Thief (OST)

shhhh yes the last two count >:) tagging @orthodoxxing @coelura and anyone else who wants to do this!!

[cantsayidont]

As much as I still enjoy the older comics and books, my feelings about modern STAR WARS media are at best mixed. Many of the recent streaming shows (with the notable exception of ANDOR) have been especially dire, but to my mind, the rot set in long before that.

There have been a lot of terrible SW tie-ins over the years (the old Bantam novels were so bad that after a while I stopped even bothering to get them from the library), but I'm particularly antipathetic to THE CLONE WARS, which is now emerging as the core text of the new SW universe. (I refer here to the 2008 animated series, not the earlier Genndy Tartakovsky shorts, which I hated and found pointless, but were at least easy to ignore.)

One of the riskiest and most potentially troublesome things a spinoff or tie-in project can do is to go to war with its own source material. This is something that even STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE ended up struggling with, despite that show's strengths; the writers couldn't hide their annoyance with some of the basic premises of the TNG-era future (like the Federation's abandonment of money), which at times became not so much a critique as an expression of writing staff frustration with dramatic rules they didn't make but weren't empowered to change.

That tension is also at the core of THE CLONE WARS, which is driven by an ill-disguised disdain for the SW prequel films the cartoon is ostensibly supposed to bridge. TCW, particularly in the early seasons where Lucas was still directly involved, takes exaggerated care to remain faithful to the details of the prequel storyline (for instance, the assertion in REVENGE OF THE SITH that Obi-Wan Kenobi has never previously met General Grievous face-to-face). However, it also plainly wants to redo the prequels, making their story and characters into something more like what the show's creators would've preferred to see in the first place. (Some of that revisionism may have come from Lucas himself, but it's continued in substantially similar ways since Lucasfilm was swallowed by the Mouse.) It's not hard to see where the creators of TCW are coming from, because the prequels were distinctly disappointing in many respects, from their appalling racism and antisemitic caricatures to their hilariously clunky dialogue to the inept handling of the Anakin-Padme romance. However, in the show's zeal to fix what it sees as the films' flaws, THE CLONE WARS also seeks to dismantle their thematic integrity.

Where Lucas might have taken the SW prequel trilogy if 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq hadn't occurred is anyone's guess, but ATTACK OF THE CLONES and REVENGE OF THE SITH are plainly constructed as a surprisingly angry critique of the politics of the Wubbya era and the invasion of Iraq: The Jedi and the Republic are tricked into going to war on false pretenses, engaging in a conflict whose real purpose is to undermine the foundations of republican government and bring about the rise of a fascist dictatorship. By the end of ATTACK OF THE CLONES, where the war begins, the heroes have already lost: The military they're building is unmistakably an early iteration of the Imperial war machine seen in the original films, and the clone troopers are or will shortly become stormtroopers. Aside from being doomed by the narrative, Anakin Skywalker in Episodes 2 and 3 is a moral and emotional wreck: an immature, unstable young soldier — trained (and used) by an institution with no regard for his well-being that repeatedly urges him to reject normal human connections in favor of acetic martial purity — whose volatility and hazy grasp of right and wrong make him a dangerous, genocidal monster with no compunctions about murdering children in his paranoia and rage. None of the other prequel characters is remotely sympathetic: Obi-Wan Kenobi is a contemptible fool whose stubborn incuriousness (even when Dooku tells him quite directly what's really going on) and blind faith in the institutions he serves contribute materially to both the moral collapse of his apprentice and the ultimate triumph of interstellar fascism. Yoda is by the rules of our world a war criminal, whose eventual response to his failure to defeat Palpatine in single combat is to run away and make the brutal rise of the Empire everybody else's problem. Padme, meanwhile, is Anakin's enabler and apologist (she's an accessory after the fact to an explicit act of genocide, and she marries him anyway!) before becoming another of his victims. That's harrowing stuff, for all its clumsiness of execution, and, Lucas being Lucas, it's not at all subtle.

The central project of THE CLONE WARS is a cowardly obfuscation of the admittedly extreme grimness of the prequel films. It makes Anakin stable and competent, a capable if somewhat reckless leader who's a far cry from his deranged, tantrum-throwing live-action counterpart, a compassionate mentor with his own adorable teenage apprentice rather than a child-murdering fascist lunatic. The show also works overtime to rehabilitate Obi-Wan, Padme, and Yoda (who really doesn't deserve it). More alarmingly than that, TCW seeks to legitimize what the live-action films present as an unequivocally phony war, and blunt the edges of the prequels' original critique. In the films, the clones embody a military-industrial complex that's fundamentally inimical to the survival of justice or democracy — manufactured soldiers (and, pointedly, men of color) who are considered disposable war materiel even by the Jedi, and who are conditioned to follow any order delivered in a reasonably authoritative tone of voice. THE CLONE WARS wants desperately to reassure you that the clones are actually good guys (which it seeks to accomplish in part by making them white), noble and heroic true friends of our Jedi heroes who would obey them even if they didn't have to, and whose eventual heel turn has to be mechanically coerced. Moreover, TCW and its repulsive spinoff, THE BAD BATCH, take pains to distance the clones from the stormtroopers of the original films, qualitatively, morally, and ethically. Of course they're not stormtroopers who carry out massacres without question (even though we see them do just that in REVENGE OF THE SITH and in flashbacks to that period), they're Good Soldiers and heroes! They're victims of the evil space-wizard, just like the Jedi children and innocent people we watched them slaughter, and most of them feel terrible about it! The clones can't be bad guys, because then people wouldn't want to buy their toys. It's as disingenuous and cynical as the live-action films were dark, and it's completely nonsensical within the narrative bounds Lucas originally set out.

I'm not very fond of the prequels, which were not what I would have expected or wanted to see, and I can't blame Lucasfilm people for feeling similarly. However, I think that some creative levers really only go one way: You can take something simplistic and make it complex, or take something that's pretty black and white and introduce many shades of gray, but going the other way rarely works, and often feels insulting to boot. I did see the prequels, even though I didn't enjoy them very much, and while I don't begrudge anyone for wanting something lighter and less doomstruck, trying to tell me those movies were about something different than they obviously were has an "Ignore your lying eyes" vibe that I'm always going to find suspect.

[aq2003]

sw visions s2 review! i overall enjoyed this season more than the first, the variety in animation mediums was amazing and a lot of these were just fucking stunning to look at. thoughts and ranking under the cut:

9. sith

i have beef with this one. i think this by default takes the spot as my overall least favorite star wars visions episode across both seasons just because of how it does the dumb "you can use both the light side AND the dark side :) dont worry about it" trope. the animation is cool in some places but (likely due to disney+ deep frying the video quality?) it felt weirdly hard to look at in others. i do love the painting aesthetic but it feels the least true to the star wars spirit. i think the duel from season 1 executed the "darksider vs former sith" idea much better

8. i am your mother

this one being so low on the ranking is just a testament to how much i enjoyed all of the other episodes. i think this short succeeded fully with what it set out to do, it's just a fun story about a mother-daughter pilot duo which is great! simple and enjoyable.

7. aau's song

this one was just really adorable. i loved the aesthetic and the animation, the characters felt so.. fuzzy. huggable. really nice breather to end off a volume of really good stories. loved the visuals for the crystals and the character design for the jedi in this episode especially

6. the pit

bruh i was so fucking sad when THAT happened . i get why they did it but it felt so unfairrrrr aaaaaaaaaaaaaa. i liked the animation and character designs and this one also has some really creative visuals for the settings. but i thought the resolution to the conflict felt a little too .. easy isnt the right word for it. but i think some of the writing falls a little short in an otherwise really good story.

5. the bandits of golak

and i KNOW the people that made this were fans of tcw/rebels. (was that sabine's phoenix symbol i saw on the side of the train????). loved the dynamic between charuk and rani, i get why they had to part ways but i got sad when they did nevertheless. the texturing on the models feels very reminiscent of tcw's style and it tickled my brain <3 except i think the character designs blow tcw out of the water <333

4. journey to the dark head

FUCKING SUE ME. i loved this one. studio mir put everything and i mean EVERYTHING into the animation on this one. toul and ara are great characters and i love how they played off of each other. bichan's character design went HARD AS HELL i literally don't care if some of the story didn't make sense to me because ouhghhhhh this was just a whole MEAL for my eyes . if that makes sense. studio mir i love you

3. 2. the spy dancer

i CANNOT in good faith put this at any spot below a 2 so i guess we'll have a tie here. the animation was absolutely fucking STUNNING and the fight scenes were also, like journey into the dark head, complete and utter bangers. loi'e is probably my favorite protagonist out of all the episodes this season, just the concept for her being a performer and also a spy for the rebels is [chefs kiss]. i also do love a good ironic twist and this one Has it <3

2. screecher's reach

perhaps this one is ranked so high because it was placed right after my disappointment from episode 1 and perhaps it's because it struck such a chord within me that i truly cannot explain. daal and her friends were so cute and the colors and backgrounds were truly beautiful to look at and god. the story on this one. fully fucked me up. crazy how a story this dark and upsetting made me feel better than episode 1 but it gave me Such a level of tragic catharsis. (is that the right word for it? it's unsatisfying but on purpose and i love it) this one probably isn't going to be as high on other people's rankings but i don't care. i love it. it's dear to me.

in the stars

this one just straight up made me cry. i don't why it hit me that hard but it definitely has to count for something. this one is also really fucking beautiful to look at like the rest of my top 4 but this one has an aesthetic that lends itself really really well to the storytelling. the scene of the painting telling their mother's backstory is just.. ugh my heart. i love koten and tichina so much it's unreal. the final scene where they stared down the walker mirroring the painting made me fucking lose my mind. perhaps i was not feeling very hopeful for their fates after what happened in episode 2 but i was so happy when it did end on a happy note. also them finally seeing their mom's star in the sky.. i just.. ugh. lay me into the ground!!!!!

[doodles-psg-imagines]

Can i request for you to do a stocking x hot headed military tsundere reader scenario where the reader's personality is just similar to bakugos if that's ok to you?

I will say right now that I don't know much about military dynamics, and all I really have to go on are stories I've heard over the grape vine and my friend's cousin who is currently stationed in Germany. If anyone sees any discrepancies, let me know! Also, for personal reasons, I think that Bakugo is a garbage human. ANYWAY-

Stocking with a hotheaded military s/o

The two of you met while you were stationed in Daten City during a rotation. Stocking and her sister had finished dispatching the ghost of a colonel who had died during an unmentioned war, and she was trying to find some kind of sugary snacks on the base while she waited for Panty to finish picking up whatever military men she could find. The two of you struck up a conversation when she asked for directions, and when you snapped at her for not knowing where to go, she was honestly kind of incensed. Honestly, it was more of a duel of sass than a real conversation. Eventually you decided to show her to a bakery so she'd stop asking you questions and somehow you two ended up with each other's numbers. It was...odd to witness.

Then it turned into a game of chicken to see which one of you would text first. It was really fucking annoying for the both of you, but neither wanted to be the one to break. However, luck smiled on you two weirdos, because you happened to run into each other in town! Then you got into a not-really-an-argument about why it was taking so long for the other to text, and in the end it boiled down to, "Well, if you're not gonna text me, then let's just go on a date right now! That'll show ya!" (Cue the military wife jokes from Panty.)

Seeing how Stocking went about her relationship with Patrick Fagry in Episode 17 (technically, Episode 9, I guess), who was a whole bunch of slimy stereotypes rolled into one Ghost, dating a hothead wouldn't always mean Stocking is a hothead back. She was head-over-heels for the guy and was sweet to him regardless of how he treated her. So despite being relatively tsundere herself, Stocking would probably be super nice to you once your relationship took off, regardless of how much of a tsudnere you were back to her.

Just remember, though -- Stocking might not care how you treat her, but Panty certainly does. Beneath the self-centered whore is a violently-protective big sister, and if it looks like you might be a shit person even for a second, Panty will go on the offensive. So for the sake of your parts, just try and be nice.

I can see Stocking coming to visit you on the base when she's able to make time. Granted, she does technically go to school in-between Ghost hunting, but she doesn't seem to actually be getting any homework (or even attend the school beyond what suits the episode). While Stocking may be a handful on her own, she's got a decent head on her shoulders. Meaning she's smart enough to know that just because the two of you are faithful doesn't mean the other base residents are. She’s ready to bail you out if someone won’t take a hint and will shut down any and all attempts to pick her up. Stripes can’t hurt humans, but they don’t know that.