#yeah. yeah these are my thoughts post ep 12

[polarsirens]

short rest

[lightstar789]

Link clickers how are we feeling about that finale?

[ceramictooth]

i have a lot of issues with the fortune-teller, many of which are like, bigger overall issues i have with the structural setup of canon kataang? its fine i just… boy is it one of things about atla that makes me go “wow this sure is from the mid 2000s” upon rewatch. which once again i cope with by chanting its integral to the premise its a kids show it was 2005 like a mantra

but man… watching aang single-handedly stop a lava flow knowing that it will later be revealed that it was, in part, failing to single-handedly stop a lava flow that caused roku’s death…… man is that heavy

[trutrustories]

STUDY IN LOKI ROMANCE

Part 2: Breaking Brad

Since we're only a few days away from the last episode, I decided to COUNT DOWN everything we´ve got so far ( that can be interpreted very easily as romantic ) and discuss what the actual fuck is going on with second season. Because even though I shipped lokius practically from S1E2, I absolutely did NOT expect this kind of development. (Not that I´m complaining)

Warning: This is gonna be LONG post, lots of screenshots, lots of SPOILERS, lot of "oh-my-god-they-so-cute" language, and little bit of meta.

I originally thought that this post would be everything at once, but since I have just too many screenshots this time around, I´ll have to split it. so every post will be one episode. Color coding means:

IIIIIIIIII = anything, that coud potentialy be just acting choice.

IIIIIIIIII = everything else (tzn.: whatever was written, and/or carefully prepared by filmmakers. )

side note: I already wrote, about how amazing it is, that Mobius is unable to fight but fights anyway and how beautifuly, and ridiculously brave he is HERE. But this is about Loki/Mobius interactions, so I´ll try my best not to talk about THAT. (Even when I´m really happy, that s2 continues with this formula and Mobius is still his completely defenseless while aggressively brave self. I love him, btw.)

EPISODE 1 HERE

Okay, Check-list, ep 2:

11) matching suits part 1 THIS ⬇️ costume department did a great job and they look badass together also, they´re walking very close to each other.

12) Loki defending /saving Mobius from Brad (with magic!) also, Mobius, dear, (my beloved) you were really going for it! Always so ready to fight! I can´t xD

Loki "don´t u dare hurt him" Laufeyson, look at his face!

13) Mobius and Loki struggling to assemble IKEA furniture- sorry Tapmad together

14) " And he knows..." I mean yeah, sure. keep remind us, that Mobius knows everything about Loki, and saw him at his worst, so we can appreciate even more the fact, that Mobius likes him and cares for him so damn much 💚🤎

15) Loki finding Mobius´s joke amusing Mobius: cracking joke right after Loki´s threatening speech:

Loki:

16) Loki being very concerned for Mobius after his outburst, saying that It´s okay, and then suggests having pie because he knows Mobius so well and is avare of the fact, that his man is stress eater I´m gonna cry they´re too pure for MCU someone adopt them

17) Bickering like married couple (part 2) 18) The whole freaking pie scene!

Just them, sharing calm, intimate moment together

Mobius opening up to Loki, and admiting he "lost it"

Loki trying to make him feel better and absolutely KILLING IT! btw, I know, that some people think, this scene doesn´t make sense, because Loki didn´t "lost it" during avengers, but was controlled by mind stone, etc.... well I think that it actually doesn´t matter. Guess what else doesn´t make sense? For example the fact, that they already talked about Loki fighting Avengers ( during their first meeting.) Loki is aware, that Mobius saw New York invasion at least twice now, and he´s telling him anyway. I would say, that point here is Loki trying to lift Mobius´s spirit, entertain him, make him smile. Why else woud he start his monolog by "remember, when...?" And I think, that this is huge, actually: Loki, using his bad memory, defeat, his humulianting experience to make Mobius feel better. So not only, that we see, he no longer care about being rurel but we see him making lightly fun of it FOR MOBIUS´S SAKE! He has different priorities now... our immortal god is a grown man now... it´s just so fucking beautiful... 🥺

Also Mobius saying to Loki: "come on, you´re the God of Mischief" Like it´s a best thing in the world, and Loki gives him THIS LOOK! (I mean that head tilt would be considered "acting" category, but I´m already making concessions by including all these things under one number :D

19) Loki and Mobius: mischievous duo

Mobius trusts him so completly!

They both such a drama queens!

And they works so well together!

like... seriously, Brad didn´t see this coming, AT ALL! xD

also... Loki complimenting his plan?!

20) "They say opposites attract. NO." Mobius´s wishfull thinking xD (But hey, it IS true. Opposites attracts. And works greatly together. That´s the only reason, why, for example, trope like grumpy one/sunshine one is so popular!) I can´t! just look at his face 🤣 Oh honey! just calm down

He is sooooooo NOT chill here xD bless him

21) Loki, not following Sylvie, but actually staying with Mobius and comforting him. AGAIN. (which is an absolutely glaring contrast compared to episode 2 in first season!)

[urabri]

Madison Beer social media AU

A/N: this is my first post so don’t judge too hard!! I made it because there weren’t many Wlw social media au’s so here I am! Madison Beer x Singer!reader

Face claim: Gracie Abrams

yourinstagram

Thank you all so much for joining me on my first ever tour it was absolutely one of the best experience of my life Love you guys ❤️

y/nfan guys I saw her and she was great!

y/nfan4 I’ve been a fan since the Ep 💪💪

taylorswift ❤️❤️

↳ Liked by yourinstagram

conangray go bestie! ↳ Liked by yourinstagram

Y/N’sbiggestfanpage

Did you guys hear on DuexMoi that Y/N and Madison Beer are dating?? (Also her in this photo>>)

y/nfan2 not sure since DuexMoi isn’t the most trustworthy source

↳ Y/N’sbiggestfanpage that’s true

y/nlover Idk but I think they’d be cute

↳ Y/N’sbiggestfanpage Yeah same! they’re both gorgeous too

Celebritynews

Madison Beer seen leaving Y/N Y/L/N’s New York apartment after DuexMoi reported that the two have been together for around 5 months

Y/N’sbiggestfanpage OMG it’s happening!

Madisonfan2 Was I the only who thought they were joking

↳ Y/nfan3 same but I don’t hate it

Rollingstone

Y/N Y/L/N joins us to tell on Touring, Influences, Songwriting and Romance

yourinstagram thank you for having Mee❤️

↳ Rollingstone liked

Madisonfan2 did she say anything on Madison?

↳ Y/N’sbiggestfanpage Yes! I got the magazine and read the interview, She was asked on the speculation of her and Madison dating and she basically said that it’s always going to be different with a lot of people watching your relationship but it doesn’t bother her too much. Then she was asked if she’s confirming them dating and said yes they’re dating but they’ll keep it somewhat private but it won’t be a secret. She also said that after hearing Madison’s Album Life Support she DM’d her and that’s how they ended up meeting.

Celebritynews

Y/N Y/L/N and Madison spotted out getting cozy in Miami

Madisonfanpage THEY’RE SO CUTE

Y/Nfan7 wasn’t sure at first but they’re cute

yourinstagram

Photo dump

Y/Nfan1 I love how there is a random photo of Madison

oliviarodrigo 😘

Swiftie10 omg the Taylor shirt>>>

Y/Nfan3 Y/N is so prettyyy

conangray the hair in the first photo😭

↳ yourinstagram I had a wild night the day before 😭😭

yourinstagram via story

Madisonbeer

Life Lately

yourinstagram 🤫

Madisonfanpage MUSIC TOGETHER?????

Y/N’sbiggestfanpage IM DEAD

Y/Nfan5 OMG

Y/Nfan1 the world is healing

Madisonbeer

Happy Birthday to my Baby!! (She said I mustn’t post this photo but idc she looked adorable)

yourinstagram Awww thank you sm I love you 🥰 (still mad about the photo choice

Y/Nfanpage I love them sm

yourinstagram

I’m so glad to Annonce my 2nd studio album with 12 tracks “Bluemarine” Thank to all my producers, my friends Olivia and Conan, my family, to Taylor Swift for lifting me up in the being of my career, to Renee Rapp for featuring on a track and to Madison Beer for featuring on a track and the song writing help on two other songs and for being my biggest supporter through the making of this Album. Blue hearts for Bluemarine 🩵💙

conangray Bestie I swallowed a tear I didn’t except the mention 🩵💙

↳ Liked by yourinstagram

olivarodrigo OMG SO HAPPYY FOR YOUU 🩵💙

↳ Liked by yourinstagram

Taylorswift 🩵💙

↳ Liked by yourinstagram

reneerapp 🩵💙

↳ Liked by yourinstagram

Y/N’sbiggestfanpage AAAHH 😩😍😍, 🩵💙

Madisonbeer I had so much fun making those songs with you literally my favourite person 🩵💙

↳ yourinstagram I LOOVE YOUU

[shimmeringweeds]

Cheng Xiaoshi always dives blind.

He knows his instructions: deliver the message, find the secret, change nothing. He may even have a rough time frame for when the information can be found. Still, Cheng Xiaoshi never knows what's coming.

But Lu Guang knows. (Spoilers through s2 ep 9 + ep 10 preview)

EDIT: this is a slightly outdated mid S2 analysis. It’s not a terrible read but - my thoughts are always evolving with new info and greater understanding. So if you’ve finished S2, I’ve got a better take :)

Buckle up. Long post. This knowledge has pestered me for two years. Since Emma. I've found ways to chalk it up. Lu Guang just scans the photos, and doesn't see details until they happen; or Lu Guang thinks this will ensure past remains untouched; or Lu Guang is doing this to protect Cheng Xiaoshi.

I've also chalked it up, predominately, to story telling. What fun would there be if Cheng Xiaoshi knew what was going to happen? There would be no surprises! Boooooriiiiiing.

I'm not satisfied with that.

You know, each time Lu Guang withholds information, I find a way to forgive him. That is to say, I feel distrust; a need to forgive him that Cheng Xiaoshi never seems to let linger because of his unyielding faith in Lu Guang.

There are many moments where, if Lu Guang had just told Cheng Xiaoshi what was coming, he could have prevented discomfort and pain.

Exhibit A: Emma.

Instead of telling Cheng Xiaoshi that the situation is going to be okay, that nothing will happen, that her mom is going to call and interrupt. Lu Guang tells him to basically get on with it and then proceeds to lecture him in typical fashion.

"What a great personality," we think sarcastically, having known him for all of 5 minutes.

The scene is played off comically, because what else can Cheng Xiaoshi do? But he's visibly flustered on rescue, and I don't think that has to do with feeling Emma's emotions.

Okay, you say that this is how the writers are narrating the rules. Driving into our heads that the past cannot be changed. Yeah. You're right. How convenient for the writers.

That is not the only moment in this episode where Lu Guang essentially just tells Cheng Xiaoshi to be patient or ignore it instead of giving him the information he needs, but this post will be long enough. And again, we can chalk all those moments up to Lu Guang thinking he knows best (and being wrong).

Episodes 2 and 3 are tame. There are no surprises in the narrative except Cheng Xiaoshi's own mistakes, which cause Lu Guang to be sightless. Nothing to hide until episode 4.

The Earthquake:

Lu Guang makes the call to not tell Cheng Xiaoshi about the earthquake. Gods, I wouldn't either, spare him that pain. But that kindness backfires spectacularly, and the pain dealt is greater than the pain spared.

Does Lu Guang learn a lesson here? He's so careful with Xiaoshi, keeping his distance and not pushing him to do anything he doesn't want.

The next photograph is for DouDou. It's a surveillance footage and Lu Guang's knowledge is limited. Nothing can be done about the mess up. But the next dive is into Doudou. Cheng Xiaoshi smells the ball and looses consciousness. At the start of the photograph, Lu Guang says. "But the whole time, I was unable to get a good look at the human trafficker's face, as well as how she took DouDou away." He warns Cheng Xiaoshi to be careful, and when the ball rolls he declares, "It's here!" before falling silent. He doesn't warn Cheng Xiaoshi about the ball until it's already too late.

Chalk it up. After all we don't know what exactly it is Lu Guang can see in the photograph. Just that he can see 12 hours into it. Maybe he couldn't deduce sniffing the ball would lead to DouDou's abduction? That's reasonable. But how could he miss the ball entirely? Why not warn Cheng Xiaoshi in more detail? Even if Doudou needs to be taken, doesn't Lu Guang trust Cheng Xiaoshi to act? I'm left scratching my head.

For the rest of the season, the lead is predominately taken by Cheng Xiaoshi. Lu Guang is there, but he lets Cheng Xiaoshi have this. He trusts. And for the first time before diving, he warns. Before diving, he warns that Xu Shanshan may not be alive. But he doesn't know the future. And the decision to dive is Cheng Xiaoshi's to make.

Li Tianxi's photo.

Lu Guang hides the photo. He say's he can't see all the details due to his condition. I'll believe that. Flash back to Lu Guang looking at his phone, like he's trying his power on other, familiar, photographs (before deleting them, I guess, but.....didn't they already do that? Is he trying photos of the present?)

Of course he doesn't tell anyone about the photo. He wants to protect Cheng Xiaoshi. He can't see what it is they'd be diving into.

Of course this is no big deal to Cheng Xiaoshi, because Lu Guang himself has ensured that Cheng Xiaoshi will be a pro at diving blind.

Cheng Xiaoshi makes the call and, by god, if Lu Guang doesn't look exhausted when he agrees.

Lu Guang doesn't even warn him that Li Tianxi is mute. Right out of the gate. Is that really how little he could see? Okay. So we operate with the assumption that, right now, Lu Guang cannot see far in advance. Cheng Xiaoshi stresses, did he mess up? Isn't this a big deal? Lu Guang assures him that he can still see where the are going. Doesn't say where. Okay. That just means the future isn't dark. Lu Guang really can't see ahead right now. That's reasonable. And so we let the rest of the dive go... watching in horror at the events that unfold. Lu Guang apologizing to Cheng Xiaoshi in the photo. That if he could have seen, he wouldn't have let him dive.

Here's the thing. Two(?) nights prior, Lu Guang shows off a pretty bad ass skill. He sees into the security footage of the WHOLE DAMN HOSPITAL. How is that easier, soon after surgery mind you, than quickly scanning the photograph for even a hint of what might happen? (Or maybe Lu Guang can only scan the photograph once, before diving in. And he really couldn't see in that moment with a freshly opened stab wound. Apparently that's my new "chalk it up" theory, as of just now.) Remember, Cheng Xiaoshi doesn't know Lu Guang did that. He thinks Lu Guang was guiding them using live security footage, not becoming the eyes of the whole damn hospital.

When it comes to any present moment between them, Lu Guang is quick to give advice, nagging after Cheng Xiaoshi's behavior like a mother hen. But giving advice about the future? He doesn't do that. Maybe he can't do that.

Maybe no matter how badly Lu Guang wants to shout the future loud and clear, he is being prevented. Maybe it's a rule bound to his power. Maybe it's a rule bound to this "game."

Episode 10 preview. We want answers. We suspect Lu Guang has them. But guess what?

His lips are sealed. Literally.

[le-trash-prince]

Okay since it’s been a couple episodes since the last time I took a look at Jeff’s visions, I figured I’d break down the few missing pieces we have left, based on what onscreen info we already have.

Cut for speculation, not-technically spoilers but possibly spoilery

Okay first off... it's Tony stabbing/shooting time hell yeah. (I never really doubted that this was Tony but I do like to be certain)

The plaid patterning and buttons on this suit from Jeff's vision match what he wears at the end of ep 12/beginning of ep 13. With the wound hidden, we can't tell what weapon was used (forensic scientists chime in), but with all of the shooting going on in the preview, it's most likely a bullet wound. Even though in my heart I wish it were Kenta's knife, but I will bow to reason this time.

HOWEVER.

He's wearing a different suit in this part of the vision. I can't get a clear view of the fabric, but the buttons are clearly plain buttons that match the color of his vest.

So I do think that whatever wound he receives in the first part of ep 13 won't be anywhere near-fatal, since he's apparently going to recover enough to swing a fucking sword. BOO.

Possible scenarios:

he gets hit in a non-fatal area on purpose in order to frame X-Hunter in front of the media (I'm not leaning towards this one)

he's a powered Alpha/Enigma with a self-healing ability

If he's using the sword on Kenta I'm flying through my screen to end him.

Those are all my thoughts on that part.

Next up we have the mysterious cameraman, who is revealed to be one of the press at the auction. (So, not a surprise extra cast member acting as Jeff's spy, which is a possibility I threw out in my earlier post. And by Jeff's spy I mean the one he said coordinated Kim's release. WHICH REALLY ONLY LEAVES KENTA AT THIS POINT. I'm going to keep saying this until they give us that fucking flashback.)

If we're taking the onscreen visions to be literal representations of what Jeff sees, then Jeff either would not have known what this was, or done some major conjecturing. But if the visions are more a symbolic representation, then we can assume that Jeff knew he was going to have a chance to reveal Tony in front of the media, especially since he saw himself at the auction, and he's apparently got a speech prepared for this moment.

Next up is Winner... Winner stans look away it's not pretty...

:(

This one probably needs no explanation. We all know it's Kim rescuing his babies, right? Maybe he survives this.... but it looks pretty bad to me. I’m not ready for it tbh :(

The only other thing we haven’t seen yet is this microscopey looking shot. My best guess is we may get some explanation from Babe’s dad on the special powers, but I really have no idea what I’m looking at here lol.

That's all from me from this week. There's a shot of Babe and Charlie in Tony's office, but it doesn't tell us anything we don't know from the preview.

I would like to go back at some point and do comparison shots of everything Jeff saw in his visions with what actually happened.

Thoughts? Anything I missed?

[domtheforestgnome]

Some moments in season 3 of Young Royals that stand out for me ep.2

Here's link when I share moments from season 1

I have some free time now, and there is ALWAYS a good time for rewatch of Young Royals, so here we go episode 2. I'm sharing outstanding moments from season 3, that made me gasped, yelped or laughed. This show is so dear to me. Hope you'll enjoy :) Have a nice Sunday :3

The beggining!

At first I cringed a little bc I thought Wille's talking to the picture, but then we hear Simon's voice and my heart melted. Also, this whole scene made me balance on the edge of cringe bc I was with my friends while watching, but... well... Wilmon is just too lovely and soft for that, so yeah more melting body and heart from this scene.

2. I will repeat - The Music

Always the music <3 It just flushes into my soul and meander there with whole show emotion package. Ugh! I love it.

3. The casual pretty packed racism Felice is facing from the headmistress of the school...

It was the same kind of discrimination words as Kristina said to Wille in season 2 about him being the first one who decided to start unconventional relationship. It is said smooth and soft and It's even more disguising bc of that.

So I just screamed when I saw Felice's reaction. Go girl! They won't fvck with you! It was also very thoughful way of relieving the emotions by creators. I like that.

4. Them

So soft and casual <3

5. New choir member

I'm still kicking my feet while watching this.

And then...

Wille is so gone for Simon. My teeth are gonna decay because of the amount of the sugar this season. And it hits even more bc of how much they suffered in previous seasons.

6. The moment I realised

that when August and Nils were 1rst years in Hillerska, Erik was a third year student. I gasped.

7. The fight

Up until this moment the series is just walking around talking about how jokes are used as excuses of violence, yet here we go again. I burst out laughting.

And then the knowing Erik thing.

It's just so satisfying how August repeats the sentence without any shame. It felt good. In time, extremely quick answer. Ohh, I LOVE THIS SERIES.

8. Simon being done with looking after Sara

and being honest about it with his mom. I think this season Linda hears lots of uncomfortable words from Simon, but he needs to let it out and she need to hear it so it felt good also how is he saying that. We can hear how tired and pissed he is. I'm proud.

9. More speaking up about what we could witness in previous seasons

I just screamed "THANK YOU!"

10. Small moment for nonbinary people.

I felt seen. <3

I know that the show is not about that, but just this small moment of acknowledgement for us - pure bliss <3

11. Feliece the biggest support for the gays

Idk I was just happy with this, probably bc of all the stories in fanfiction hahaha. My favourite combination :3

12. And the Rosh and Ayub!

Like - them all in one place finally! My heart, the joy, I can't, I loved it.

13. And the Roshella - Noone expeted it, yet everyone needed. My computer can't handle it so no screeshot from this scene. But I love the way the showed it, the close ups, and the Fredrikas face. Chefs kiss :D

And then I was getting more and more angry. So, I'm ending this post here.

Haha, also I need to go to work, so that's it.

Take care!

[bsaka7]

tagged to post my 9 favourite album with commentary by @mathewbaldzal !!!! we r two peas in a pod i think with having a lot to say about some tunes...

in no particular order...

different class (1995) - pulp. this is not my no1 album of all time because i don't have a favorite album of all time, but this album is in part representative of "getting into music" to me. i love 90s britpop, whatever that means for a random american and this is my fav of em all (though i do actually quite rate this is hardcore in pulp's discography). "common people" is one of the songs of ALL TIME. god jarvis's little sing-song sleazyness gets me. really, really, really great classic performance of it at glasto 1995...for some reason "pencil skirt" also always really hits.

home video (2021) - lucy dacus. the newest album on this list by a long shot, but it's had songs in my top5 year end lists since it came out. i've also seen lucy live <3. this album rises above some of the others in similar company (punisher - phoebe bridgers, the boygenius ep, etc) because i never get tired of it. "first time" "hot & heavy" "brando" and "triple dog dare" are nearly always standbys in my listening history. probably gonna be an album-i-listened-to-in-college classic forever...

songs of love and hate (1971) - leonard cohen. maybe none of my favorite leonard cohen songs are on this album, but as a single work, this album stuns me. possibly the most transfixing 44:21 i've ever heard. his lyricism in particular is -- i can't even describe it. the mix with his voice, the sparseness of the instrumentation at time, the harmonies. i'm not a big stories guy but in this, yeah, the songwriting, the stories. i don't think there's another album like this one out there, really.

if you're feeling sinister (1998) - belle & sebastian. the first time i heard this album, i thought i had never heard an album so perfect. i love songs off of it but i nearly always listen to it whole. i love, love, love b&s's early sound (twee, if you will), and stuart murdoch's lyrics really, really shine. this is one of my favorite albums to listen to when i have a headache because it's lovely to just, focus on but not grating at all. i really love "judy and the dream of horses" and "get me away from here i'm dying". really, a beautiful work

rumours (1977) - fleetwood mac. i was sort of scrolling through some of my playlists trying to decide what to put on this list (it's a bit weighted towards stuff that's in rotation now) and i couldn't leave off fleetwood mac (in part to represent the huge part of my music taste that is like. classics 1965-1980). stevie nicks was one of my earlier music obsessions (the OG was the beatles). so many wonderful songs and riffs. i know this was left off the original 12-inch but "silver springs" is one of my favorite songs forever and ever and ever...

nebraska (1982) - bruce springsteen. when it comes down to it, this is my favorite springsteen album. i do think his 1975-1987 run of albums is pretty much perfect but nebraska is a masterpiece in a way that i find hard to express in words. there's a sense of sparseness and distance in this work (in part bc of how it was recorded) that i find so utterly compelling i can't even describe. "nebraska" - especially this 1984 live version - is a perfect song to me. perfect. i also like a lot of the stuff that went into inspiring this album (notably flannery o'connor) and well. where it fits into springsteen's narritivization of his own life (dude was in the dumps).

all killer, no filler (2001) - sum41. this pick is a little bit representative of the era of my life where i basically exclusively listened to pop punk but if songs of love and hate is an album that's perfectly drawn out, this is an album that's perfectly compressed. like, the title is correct. this album is fucking TIGHT. i used to listen to it at a job i hated to make the 30-min intervals go by. and it's got such classics...."fat lip"..."motivation..." of course, "in too deep." SO good.

what did you expect from the vaccines? (2011) - the vaccines. maybe this pick is a tiny bit cheesy but it is a perfect encapsulation of the era of alt rock it came from. which i love. i really like the vaccines, i think they're super fun and i did see them in concert finally and they totally lived up to that. "wetsuit" is again...one of my favorite songs of all time. "if you wanna" is a perpetual banger.

age of consent (1983) - new order. again, an album that deserves to be listened to whole, despite how good "age of consent" hits alone ever single time. sometimes i think i like another new order album more than this, but i don't. sumner's voice just out-of-tune ringing out over that sound, that new order sound, the bass, that post-punk club vibe. they're a band that don't sound like anyone else, and this is the album most indicative of that. wow, every time.

a few narrow misses

boxer (2007) - the national. i didn't get the national until one day i did. "slow show." my god. hello.

very (1993) - pet shop boys. it's too simple to say this is an album about gay love because it's so embedded in it's context but. this is an album with so much love. psb are brilliant.

the execution of all things (2002) - rilo kiley. jenny lewis CALL ME. also like. you know "a better son/daughter". there's more.

a thousand suns (2010) - linkin park. i used to listen to this at 6th grade cross-country practice. first band i ever got into on my own. idk.

this is not only my favorite albums but a pretty decent summation of the broad strokes my overall taste. thank you again for the tag!! i enjoyed doing this a lot :). idk who has done this/on what blogs so if u have PLEASEEEEE send it to me i want to see!! i tag @lfcrobbo @upthebrackets @girlfriendline @odegoob @amandaleveille @thelittlebirdthatkeptsomanywarm @kritischetheologie @bright-and-burning @a-corn-field if any of u want to but no presh!!!

[megumi-fm]

this week fortnight on megumi.fm ▸ the last leg

is that a pun referring to my aching ankle? yes. is resting at home for another week gonna ruin my mental health? yes. but am I exaggerating and throwing a tantrum for something that's probably not a big deal? also yes.

📋 Tasks

💻 Internship // progress tracker ↳ biopython model replication ✅ ↳ code for obtaining single fasta from overlapping sequences ✅ ↳ running HMMer and superfamily script✅ ↳ output analysis 🔁 ↳ literature review on transport proteins 🔁 ↳ transport protein family analysis 🔁 🎓 Uni ↳ our paper is finally out! there's a doi and everything now <3 it's not open access though :/// I might do some totally legal things to ensure more people can read it ↳ collected the hardcopy of my LOR ↳ collected my gradecard ↳ visited my advisor and updated her on stuff 🩺Radiomics Project ↳ radiomic features finalized✅ ↳ data cleanup 🔁

📅 Daily-s

🛌 consistent sleep [14/14] 💧 good water intake [14/14] 👟 exercise [/14] just basic stuff to maintain ankle mobility

Fun Stuff this week

💗i went to uni to watch one of my friends present something to the juniors! then I spent the afternoon chatting with my guide and later on went window shopping with my best friends (in retrospect i should not have done this because my ankle got infinitely worse the next day and now I'm stuck resting at home for an additional two weeks) 🎮playing undertale with @muakrrr 📺 ongoing: Marry my Husband, Cherry Magic Th, Perfect Propose, Doctor Slump, Flex X Cop 📺 binged: Blueming, Roommates of Poongduck 304 📹 Started watching Going Seventeen // so I've been listening to SVT for a while now and I did watch their Don't Lie II eps like two years ago but I never really checked anything else... however, considering that I'm stuck at home and that @zzzzzestforlife (who has impeccable taste) has mentioned it often on their posts, I decided to check out GoSe properly and. wow. I started with their mystery episodes [fav scenes under cut] and now I'm watching GoSe2020 in chronological order and !!!!!! The concepts, the storylines, the acting, the humour, the editing, even the subtitles are all so so good. I've been watching this show for two weeks now and I am now officially a cubic <3

📻 This week's soundtrack

Wk1: The Best of ATEEZ // I've been real obsessed since their 2024 world tour clips started showing up on social media; I was a casual enjoyer up to this point and then I went and checked them out and it's all so dystopian and immersive. My favourites would be Intro: Long Journey (which makes me feel like I'm in Pirates of the Caribbean), the Symphony version of Wonderland (for its musicality and Jungho hitting those notes), MATZ (that is insane in it's the visual storytelling in the MV) and Wake Up (whose performance choreo ended me) Wk2: The Best of BTS // in an attempt to revive a project I abandoned a year ago, I spent wayy too much time curating this playlist to get the most satisfying BTS transitions ever and I can confidently say that I'm nowhere close to my goal T-T but I kind of like the way it is now so I am simply going to give up

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[Feb 12 to Feb 25 ; week 7+8/52 || this was not supposed to be one post but then... idk what happened... I feel very dull lately because of my ankle and just when I thought it was getting better it's become painful again... my friends and parents keep chastising me (and fairly so) for trying to move around even before I fully heal but patience has never been my strong suit. sitting still is really the biggest punishment for a hyperactive ADHD kid like me... i'm sure plenty others have it worse but... yeah... GoSe really carrying my mental health right now ]

my fav GoSe scenes

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[jajanvm-imbi]

⚠️Long Post Alert⚠️

Alright I've seen a lot of (negative) buzz around Disney's new show "Primos" so I'm gonna put my 2 cents in

According to the Primos wiki, the show is about "Tater, an eccentric 10-year-old girl with big dreams and, unbeknownst to her, a certain “it factor” that makes her exceptional. When her 12 cousins (“primos” in Spanish) move in for the summer, they help her discover just what it is. Tater’s aspirations and larger-than-life imagination are seen via entries in her super-secret diary, which turn her deepest thoughts into grandiose animation sequences."

FIRST, it's yet ANOTHER piece of children's media about the main character + their large Latin American family.

Upon doing some research apparently this show is about the creator's personal experiences, which okay valid. But when creating media that meant to represent a community it would be better to offer a DIFFERENT perspective rather than give us the same trope that has been done to DEATH.

And I'm gonna be real with yall, I LOVE Coco and Encanto, but both movies also fall under this trope. Not all Latin American families live with their extended family, we don't need ANOTHER piece of media perpetuating the stereotype.

Also, Disney has been putting out a few shows on Disney Channel and Disney Junior that are clear knock offs of Nickelodeon shows. Some examples:

And...hm....lemme think....a kids TV show about a Mexican girl and her quirky large Mexican family getting into some Mexican™️ shenanigans...where have I seen that before...?

Oh right

Yeah the premises are slightly different, but it's essentially the same trope so already right off the bat Primos feels like a knock off version of The Casagrandes.

SECOND, there are many stereotypes already present in the series just from tbe opening theme. Many of the cousins fall into stereotypes themselves, particularly the names. Some the names of the cousins are Gordita, Big Nacho, Nachito, and Cookita. I've seen people justify the use of these names by saying many Latin Americans are given these names as nicknames, which is true. But then again, having a characters named Nacho and Gordita in a show that's supposed to be about LatAm representation is just in bad taste. It's giving "Marco Diaz from Star vs. the Forces of Evil being half Mexican and being obsessed with nachos for some reason but not representing his Latino heritage in any other way other than him wearing that Day of the Dead themed costume in The Blood Moon Ball ep." It feels lazy, and of course, stereotypical.

On TOP of this, the word "Cookita" in many LatAm countries is slang for pussy and the suffix "-ita" means small. And the character with this name is the BABY. So yeah maybe naming the B A B Y character something that to many Spanish speakers means "little pussy" in a show ABOUT Spanish speaking Latin Americans probably isn't the wisest decision.

Another detail people have been pointing out leans into negative Mexican stereotypes is the use of the "yellow filter".

Now I'm gonna be real and say I'm not 100% convinced about the yellow filter being used here. The show takes place over the summer, so the use of yellow might may be used to give the feeling of how hot it is, but I can totally see why Latin Americans would find this offensive.

Also the name "Terremoto Heights" has been heavily criticized. Terremoto means "earthquake" in Spanish and the earthquakes are common in LatAm countries. Then again, show takes place in LA, where a lot of earthquakes occur too. So Im not 100% convinced that this is flat out racist either, but it's definitely in poor taste.

THIRD, the thing that is being SLAMMED at the most, is the improper Spanish grammar and the creator's response to people pointing it out.

In the theme song, the phrase "¡Oye! Primos" is used a lot, which means "Hey cousins!" The issue with this phrase is that "Oye" means hey but in the singular tense, and "Primos" is plural. If you plug in "¡Oye! Primos" to Google translate you'll get Hey Cousins regardless, but in Spanish the phrase is not grammatically correct. In order for it to be grammatically correct the phrase would either need to be changed to "¡Oigan! Primos", "oigan" being the plural word for Hey, or "¡Oye! Primo" and make primo singular. People have been telling this to the creators of the series and well...they haven't exactly been taking it well.

Here's what the voice actress of the main character Tater, Myrna Garcia Velasco said her on social media (Instagram I think, I could be wrong) in response to the bad Spanish:

(If you can't listen to it I'll just summarize. Velasco says that Spanish is the language of the Spanish conquistadors and the only reason why Latinos are LATIN American and not indigenous is because of the Spanish, and to stay mad if you think her incorrect Spanish is an issue. She also brings up how they're "trying to make a good show" for kids who "don't have a grasp on any language" or something?? Idk that's pretty much what she's saying")

Basically this response doesn't make any fucking sense. "Spanish isn't our original language so it doesn't matter if I speak it correctly or not. I'm a NATIVE Mexican so it doesn't matter if I speak Spanish correctly or not"

???????

Girl what the fuck does this mean??? News flash, but the majority of Latin America has been speaking Spanish for CENTURIES. You go to Mexico or most other Latin American countries and you'll find them speaking SPANISH. Yes it's because of the Spanish but it's part of our culture now whether you like it or not. It's like saying "oh it doesn't matter if I speak English correctly or not cause English isn't the US' ORIGINAL language anyway" ?????

Now, the story IS about a mixed kid. Tater is half white half Mexican, so if Tater is a Latina girl who doesn't know Spanish fluently (otherwise known as a "No-Sabo" kid), then the imperfect Spanish would make sense. If the idea behind Primos is to represent the Latin American kids who don't speak Spanish, then yeah thats fine and it was a directoral choice. But judging by Velasco's response, that doesn't seem like thats the idea?? She immediately got defensive and brought up the Spanish colonizers?? Which is relevant??? HOW???

On top of that, one member of the creative team, (not 100% sure who) called someone a "Grammar N@zi" for pointing out the grammatical errors and, well...

That's def not helping their case.

How the HELL are you gonna make show about a Spanish speaking Latin American family and NOT SPEAK SPANISH PROPERLY??? How the HELL are you gonna start beef with SPANISH SPEAKERS over whether or not it's important to speak Spanish CORRECTLY when portraying SPANISH SPEAKING PEOPLE IN MEDIA??? Yes slang exists, yes different LatAm countries speak Spanish differently, but grammar still exists??

OVERALL: Do I think Primos is this horribly racist dumpster fire? No. Are there MANY choices in this show that are just in poor taste? Absolutely 100%. Are the responses from the creative team outta pocket? Yes of course.

If you ask me, I think the main reason why people are so outraged over Primos is because the stereotypes and tropes are tired and dated, and people KNOW what writers are capable of. The response of this teaser, sandwiched between The Owl House ending and the premier of Across the Spiderverse, which have STELLAR LatAm rep, is proof of that. Luz Noceda, Miles Morales and Miguel O'Hara are SHINING examples of good SPANISH SPEAKING LatAm representation in children's media. We CAN have good LatAm protagonists in mediation, we've SEEN IT. We don't need all the stereotypes and overused tropes, so it makes sense why so many LatAm people feel like Primos is offensive and a step backwards.

Disney is getting lazy, they need to get their shit together

[chalkrevelations]

So, I already compared my disappointment with Last Twilight to my disappointment with Only Friends, but until I saw someone explicitly refer to Jimmy and Sea as a branded pair somewhere in all the response to the final ep, that similarity didn't hit me. But yeah. I almost posted after Ep 11 that I would prefer Mork and Day end up apart, although I was holding on to the hope that Ep 12 would give me some reason to think that Mork shouldn't just say, "Nope. I have supported you and supported you and supported you, and the minute I needed some support, you cut my legs out from under me and left me to bleed out in your yard like garbage that needed to be collected, so I think maybe this is not the best relationship for us me to be in." Sadly, not only did this not happen, but the show turned Mork into even more of a doormat, apologizing for things he hadn't even done. Stop lying to your dead parents, Mork, you have not found someone who'll support you, unless you very literally mean financially. Love yourself more.

It took re-framing Jimmy and Sea in my head as the branded pair that they are for me to viscerally realize that ending the show with Mork and Day apart was never going to happen - no matter how much character damage, both within the narrative and metatextually, it meant doing to Mork, in particular, to keep them together. The toxic elements of the MorkDay relationship, along with Mork's trauma, had to be overlooked in a rush to jam the characters together so they could end as a HEA couple. Just like the toxicity of couples in Only Friends had to be overlooked - like a tablecloth thrown over a sink full of broken dishes - for them (and their branded-pair actors) to end up as HEA couples. (Don't get me started again how the characters for the non-branded pair had to have their characterizations warped and the relationship set on fire to catastrophize their ending because they were the only "safe" bad ending, despite damage it did to both character arcs.)

This does not make the thought of watching more bl with branded pairs very compelling. At least not from a production company that has shown itself to be so completely risk-averse in the final analysis.

I guess I've got time to get back to Kiseki: Dear To Me, now, so there's that.

[cordycepsfem]

Pageboy - Let's Do This Thing

In keeping with my brand of, well, Ellen-posting, since my name is Ellie, I thought I'd continue Ellen-posting by reading a book by someone who used to be named Ellen and doing a review of said book for radblr. I'm going to break it up into chunks so you're not faced with giant posts of me rambling or EP rambling.

I would like to say that I feel like there are very few 30-somethings who should be writing memoirs. I've had a pretty exciting thirty-ish years on the planet and I don't think I'm qualified to write a memoir - not because it wouldn't be full of interesting, beautiful, life-changing, sometimes horrible things but because I'm only thirty-ish. I prefer memoirs by people who've lived a bit longer - but again, this is only my preference. I don't read a lot of memoirs as a whole, I guess.

Anyway.

Ellie's Read and Review of Pageboy (Part One)

Author's Note

EP is "grateful and terrified" because trans people "face increasing physical violence" and "our humanity is regularly 'debated' in the media" (citations not given)

the book would not have been written without the "health care" she received, which seems weird because what she describes in the first paragraph about not being able to write seems like ADHD and instead of taking Adderall and being seen by a therapist she took testosterone and had her breasts surgically removed

quotes Leslie Feinberg who, among other things, was a very serious pronoun enthusiast (as evident by Feinberg's Wikipedia page, no I'm not being sarcastic here, just go read it and tell me I'm not wrong)

I want to be a jackass about the last paragraph of the author's note but even I don't have it in me, because it makes sense and is kind.

Chapter One

EP meets someone named Paula and falls in love with her and they do mushrooms together

She thinks about Paula on her trip through Europe

They go to a gay bar

This line hit far harder than it had any right to:

She kisses Paula and it's marvelous

Chapter Two

The Village Voice writes a shitty article about EP calling her a "dyke" after Juno comes out

which is a name she was called many times growing up in Canada

EP played soccer and once went to a tournament in a town I would visit some twenty-odd years later for very different reasons

this is important because she rooms with a girl she has a crush on

she tries to come out to this girl as bisexual

the girl says "no you're not" and then her friends make fun of EP

I learn that Tim Horton's has bagels, which confuses me but is in fact true

EP's grandmother asks her father what they're going to do if it turns out EP is gay

the lines in this chapter that punched me in the chest:

because fuck yeah I was a fucked up kid who didn't plan to live much beyond age 18, EP, I see you

fame is not what EP thought it might be; she doesn't want to wear a dress to things but somehow they tell her she has to and she isn't allowed to say no (which I get, and is not great, but eventually you need to be able to say no and do what you want)

another magazine in Canada asks if she's gay

Paula from Chapter One is seen with her and it's speculated they're in a relationship; Paula's not out to her family and so things are all very sad and EP feels like she will never be free to be who she is

At this point I am just sad. I came out later in my life (22), and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria much later (33), but at age 12 after a lifetime of wearing dresses and having my hair the way my mother wanted it, I stopped letting that happen. I started to wear what I want. I grew out my hair. I learned about makeup and shaving and for a little bit bought into it and then said "fuck no," which I continue to do to this day because it's bullshit.

Who in EP's life thought it wasn't okay for her to wear pants, and why didn't she or someone else stop them? I've obviously never been a famous actor but as an actor aren't you the person in charge of what happens to your image? Why wasn't her publicist or her agent on her side?

I had a lot of good people in my life who made me believe in a future for myself. Sometimes they had to carry me physically through what was happening to make sure I made it to that future, and I'm here today because those people didn't give up on me. Where were those people in EP's life?

There are things about the EP situation that make me bow in over my ribcage. It's just sad, and seeing paths others take that look like they make sense to everyone but which seem to say something entirely different when looked at upside down... which is a rambling way of saying that it's almost 4 am and someone should have told EP she could have been a happy lesbian who wears pants without having her breasts surgically removed and taking cross-sex hormones.

Anyway, the laundry's done, more later.

[ruanbaijie]

Thank you so much for The Spirealm post each time😍 Look forward everyday for new update hehe😁 Can I ask a few things that I don't quite get it? The drama didn't explain about the ring, kaleidoscope and there's light in you. Can you share a little bit if there's explanation about this in the book?

Already watch the last ep. The ending kind of confusing😵‍💫

hello! thank you to you too ^^ (I really am spamming the gifsets at this point, I have so many more waiting in my drafts 😅) here are my thoughts on those points!

the ring: yeah I think the drama left it open to interpretation, but in the novel rnz gives lqs a ruby earstud - I read the novel a while back, so I can't for the life of me remember if there's some practical purpose behind that earstud (e.g. whether he can feel his feelings through it) or if rnz also kept the other earstud (I might be confusing this with another danmei I love). so I think the ring in the drama might just symbolise that part in the novel

kaleidoscopes: in the drama I think they explained this in passing - gao dawei (lqs's friend who supposedly created this game) put in so many kaleidoscopes in their on purpose to "remind" lqs that this game is actually about him, since it's mentioned that lqs really loved kaleidoscopes when he was a child. I also noticed that the door area (yknow that dark blue "room" with the church-like painted glass before they enter each door) looks kinda like a kaleidoscope with the doors all facing one another (resembling the cross-section of a kaleidoscope) and the painted glass (resembling the colours of a kaleidoscope) vs. in the book, iirc it's mentioned the doors are a long corridor instead of facing one another. tbh, I think they just included all these kaleidoscopes in just as a nod to the original novel name (kaleidoscope of death)

light in you: this is an actual novel quote! in the novel there's a line that rnz says: “身上光越明亮，受到门的影响越小，你是我见过的，光最明亮的那一个，所以，你非常适合门。” ("the brighter the light on someone shines, the less affected they are by the doors. among all the people I've seen, you are the who has the brightest light. so, you are extremely suitable for the doors.") also! another quote I really love that's also from the novel is the one where rnz goes "I will protect you for a lifetime, whether it's for your lifetime, or for mine."

ending: man...... I don't even know where to begin with this. *spoiler alert for the novel ending below!* the novel ends with the revelation that rnz was the "door god" of the 12th and final door - what really happened was lqs had gone through doors 1-11 all by himself and founded and headed the obsidian group all by himself, there was no such person as rnz in real life. but in door 12, rnz the door god saw him, fell in love with him, and wanted to spend more time with lqs, so in the novel, door 12 was lqs redoing all of doors 1-11, except with rnz in the story now (i.e. the novel is entirely about door 12 pretending to be doors 1-11). the show's ending is kinda similar to that in the sense that rnz was part of the "game" (it's not a game in the novel, the "origin story" of the doors is very different) all along, but that's where the similarities end. the show kinda took that happy ending in the novel and twisted it into this bittersweet painful angsty ending where rnz is the code that "purifies" the distorted game. but the twist that I have even more trouble (i.e. pain) getting over is how it's kinda implied that the whole thing was in lqs's mind in the first place, like how when he re-emerged from that final door it turns out he's been in the same car accident from episode 1 and no one has any recollection of the game and his friend gao dawei didn't even invent the game. I say implied because it's never really specified if the games really happened or not, but I'm a pessimist (even though it is kinda strange that lqs would have managed to "dream" the personalities and appearances of so many different people he would later meet in real life after coming out from the final door). did the game really happen and everyone just conveniently forgot about everything and history somehow got rewritten after rnz purified the game? or was it all lqs dreaming it all up in his head after he got into a car accident and in the split second he almost died? they do seem to imply it's the latter, which is *painful* because it means rnz never existed in the first place, and even if they ended episode 78 with them meeting again after 50 years, that rnz wouldn't be the same rnz that lqs had supposedly dreamed up; he would just be a copy that lqs had programmed to be that way based on that one wild dream he had after an accident _(:3 」∠)_

ANYWAY angsty depressing thoughts aside, I hope this helps clear up some things about the show!

[deadlysoupy]

Hiiiii Soupster, saw the silly character thing : )

Bumblebee - 3, 12

Starscream - 2, 25

& 20 for both hehe xoxo

HIII YIPPEE THANK YOU!!!!! (double thank yous bc i get to obnoxiously destroy this post with so many words)

Bumblebee

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

oooh some people may not like this answer because yikes but i straight-up hate how muteness becomes his character trait. Prime is the most guilty of this, the Bumblebee movie takes second place. in Prime, he can still talk and most bots and even humans can understand him - so what's the point?? if you only have this as a clutch for a character and personality, then i'm sorry, but it comes off as shallow. he's supposed to look like a child soldier burdened by war, but it's not a personality: beyond that, he's sometimes a kid, sometimes arrogant, and sometimes badass. add "being mute" and "disabled", and it becomes really weird. why can't he use other methods of communicating? i don't know and it actually makes me frustrated

same thing with the Bumblebee movie. he doesn't have any personality except "cute", "childish" and "mute". it is a bit better because he expresses himself through his actions and body language rather than a language everyone knows, but at the end of the day his traits are very shallow. and i am very sad and bitter about this

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

hehe too many 🥰🥰 no not actually too many i'm rather bad at headcanons, so mostly for TFE

he's a "medic" to the Terrans, has first-aid training and helps them if they get hurt, but anything serious he's unable to treat

body dysmorphia, because look at him in ep 12 and tell me he doesn't have any opinion on JB's comment, i dare you

he wasn't sparked (forged??) during the war and he had some time to live on a normal Cybertron before it all went caput

and there aren't any particular ages in cybertronian biology to track of, so i can very hardly ever call him a child soldier, but he does fit the boxes so... shrugs (there's an overdue post from me which analyses the times he did show he was a "child" during war, but i ditched it in early stages because i would grasp at straws a lot and there isn't enough evidence. still a fun thought)

Starscream

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I LOVE THAT HE'S A SCIENTIST i can't help it. i always believe that every character has to have a hobby (i guess relatively racing counts for Bee since he does enjoy it), and in other continuities i don't see Starscream having anything to do other than to scheme and backstab, so i absolutely adore whenever in G1 (which is only two times i believe BUT STILL) he does science. it would make sense! he's smart! he has to do SOMETHING before the war starts. absolute chad

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

OH MY GOD LMAO i didn't think of him much when i first watched Animated in, like, 2022, but then, when i came back into tf-watching, after TFE i went for a hunt on other tf-related media. Starscream didn't entice my interest much except in Prime and Animated, but then, silly me, i learned of the comics, specifically RID and TAAO. there was no coming back from that one LMAO i really liked him in the comics and for a long time i had felt like it was one of the only truest characterisations of him

besides the meta stuff, i used to think he was just evil and selfish and i didn't care much for him, but i've grown since then lmao and i have an eye out for anti-heroes and villains now (i did used to think it was black and white, tf changes people istg). now he's a blorbo i constantly pick at but surprisingly have never written a centered piece yet. i should. he's fun. i think i just don't like writing characters with depression (sorry)

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I MEAN. STARBEE RIGHT. YEAH? okay. (they're two halves of the same coin and Bumblebee always tries to peel back Starscream's layers while he's afraid of letting others know the real him and in turn Starscream lets Bumblebee be angry and snarky when he wasn't allowed to in the past DO YOU UNDERSTAND-)

but also i think Bumblebee's friendship with Hot Rod/Rodimus from any universe is really nice, i feel like they have this cute bond of being young and reckless sometimes. i wish idw didn't do them so dirty with their competitiveness or whatever thing they had. they really seemed to get along in Cyberverse. ALSO of COURSE his friendship/brotherhood with Breakdown in TFE, because they're so touchy and affectionate with each other it makes me wonder a lot about their past together and what exactly tore them apart considering they were so close. ghaaa the horrors of war!!!! its the oldest trick in the book and it gets me every time

for Starscream - absolutely Skyfire/Jetfire (i like the Skyfire name more and i don't know why). G1 is so big-brained with how they treated these two. if they are a couple - i absolutely adore it and i don't usually mind when they're paired together instead of starbee, because i can see it too. they have great chemistry (lmao that's a science joke) and i'd love to see more of them in other media. just get him away from Megatron plz

[pancake-breakfast]

Trigun Book Club! Trigun Book Club! (@trigunbookclub)

Way back in the mid-2000's, a young Pancake Ray was working their first job out of college at a local Giant Chain Bookstore and discovered that no one else working the store cared if they spent their breaks sitting on the floor in front of our rather impressive two and a half bays of manga we had and just... read them right there. Much manga was read, and among the titles read were both Trigun and what was available at that time of Trigun Maximum.

I remember very little from that initial read aside from 1) confusing fight scenes, and 2) enough deviation from the anime (which I had recently watched) that I didn't really have a place for at that time. The anime had wormed itself into a very special place in my heart, so between the differences and just not being in a good place spiritually to handle some of its more religious themes, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. It probably didn't help that, back then, the manga was nowhere near finished.

I still read every volume we had, because gods, I read anything that looked even remotely interesting on the manga shelves at that time.

Now, an older and (debatably) wiser Ray is going to be reading these along with the rest of the Trigun Book Club Denizens. But first, I want to start of with a quote from the notes in The New Oxford Annotated Bible (3rd Ed.) in their prelude to I Kings, which is what I'm currently studying:

There is, on the other hand, no neat correlation between sin and judgment in Kings, largely because of the compassionate character of the Judge who accepts the repentant sinner, who does not desire final judgment to fall upon his creatures, and who is always ready to find cause why such judgment should be delayed or mitigated.

It just seemed like something to keep in mind when thinking about the character of Vash... but YMMV.

Onward!

Stream-of consciousness thoughts for Trigun Vol. 1, Chapters 1-3 below. (More detailed thoughts will be their own posts.)

Trigun Volume 1 Covers

Ok, first off... I love the alternate covers Nightow did. The stark contrast between the serious cleanliness of the covers and the crazy tongue-in-cheek alternate version really sets the tone.

LOL, "Deep Space Planet Future Gun Action!!" Yep, that's it. That's all it is.

How have I never seen Meryl as Luke Skywalker before??

Chapter 1: The $$60,000,000,000 Man

This poster says "Appearance: Unclear," but it also has a picture of him. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Vash's face is so goofy. It's like if his world isn't ACTIVELY ON FIRE, he doesn't know how to be serious. I do like the belts. When watching S1 of Stampede, I missed the belts. I hope S2 has more belts. Something something fetish gear.

I love that there's actually a tally of all this on a wall somewhere. SEVENTY FREAKING TWO MURDER CASES.

Kid: "Mom, I want a gun." Mom: "You already have a gun at home." The Gun At Home: *only shoots toy darts when you, a child no older than 8, are living in the Space Wild Wild West and think you need real bullets*

I love how quickly Vash goes from "OMG FOOD" face to SERIOUS EATING FACE.

And it's immediately followed by this CLOSE-UP ASS SHOT. WHYYYYYY???

I don't know who this cloaked guy who's cocking his shotgun by shaking it vertically is, but I love his stupid hair.

Yeah, you don't get to kill the protagonist THAT fast....

WW isn't even here yet and Nightow's already filling panels with man-tiddies...

LOL, he counted ALL the bullets in that page that was... just... it was just bullet fire. Somehow he counted them all. For every gun. And now everyone else has to leave stripped down to their boxers.

I love that someone, somewhere decided they needed to have a pinball machine all the way out here in nowheresville.

Ah there are the girls. Milly looks so worried about the catcalls, but Meryl? Meryl looks bored.

Chapter 2: Looney Tunes

Ok, first off, this chapter title just makes me think of ep 12 of Stampede when So-and-So starfishes his way out a window before floundering in the air for a second of hangtime and then falling.

Exposition! Huzzah!

Population decline slowing = humans adapting to the new environment. Resilient little buggers.... I know someone who probably HATES that statistic.

So, basically... before July, Vash was small beans. Or going by another name.

Aaaand straight into his goofy poses. This man is made of rubber, I swear.

LOL, why is he talking in French?! I guess a guy's gotta have his hobbies....

But Meryl... I'm with Milly here. Is it really that dangerous??

Ah, yes. The ol' "they'll understand me better if I just speak louder" trick. A favorite of Americans traveling in non-English-speaking countries when said American hasn't bothered to learn even the tiniest bit of the local language.

Current favorite Vash Chaos Pose:

LOL, "MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES FOR INTERRUPTING THIS CONFUSION." This feels like such a Japanese thing to say. It's like, "I know you're all engaged in frantic chaos right now, and because you're engaged in it, it must be very important to you, so I, the intruder, must offer my sincere regret for interrupting it."

I wonder how this version of Milly will merge with a Milly who was crazy enough to volunteer for the position of Meryl's partner in Stampede.

This Vash is definitely not so keen on being caught, even in the face of suffering women and children.

But here he is, protecting the very people who had guns in his face a second ago.

Chapter 3: Hard Puncher

Current favorite Vash Serious Pose:

Ok, I have thoughts here.

Sooooo many shonen speed lines....

Current favorite Vash Action Pose (That intense side eye is *chef's kiss*.)

Man, poor Gosef. But Vash standing over his prone form looks badass.

LOL, the Insurance Girls finally have everyone's attention, and.. they look like they don't want it anymore.

Hahahahaha, there goes the bounty. Can't put a bounty on a natural disaster. The federal government has officially labeled him "not human." *pats Vash*

Actually, he looks kinda happy about this. I guess not having a bounty on your head anymore might do that.

He can still have the head-pats.

The difference in his expression when greeting Meryl versus greeting Milly....

For as terrible as Mr. Nebraska himself is, I always appreciated how much he seems to genuinely care about his son in his own weird way.

Gods, I'm glad every other version got rid of his gun legs, though. That's... a Thing, and I don't like this Thing.

And just like that, Vash goes from "concerned about these girls constantly being around him" to "mildly intimidated by them." Beautiful.

(Thanks to @trigun-manga-overhaul for their translations and making this series accessible!)