#yes the caption is an ER reference

[astraldrake]

ye will be countless born forever and ever

[accio-victuuri]

CPN Round Up : Sugar Rush 2023 Part One 🍭🍬

It’s that time of the year again where i attempt to recap all the sweetness we got from the past 6 months. I may not be able to add every single incident/speculation but i did include the ones that were most talked about, and added some cpn “archaeology” here and there too. most of the links contain multiple cpn, especially since i made a couple of mini round ups for certain time frames or events.

this is also the best time to look back on all the fun we’ve had as a fandom and how the boys give us happiness. i hope this remains the same in the next half of the year and that we continue to support them both. 🫶🏼

past sugar rush posts for reference: 2021 ( one two ) & 2022 ( one two ) ; anything before that is mostly likely archived on my masterlist.

JANUARY 2023

• XZS Vlog Number 3 clues

• NYE CPN things ✨

• Paper Planes again

• A CPN Timeline of how LTS stage was made

• KXZ’s sus greeting and rainbow light show for ZZ’s anniversary with them

• 1/5/2022 tarot card reading of XZ & WYB that made the turtles lose it

• Rainbow Thrasher shirt 🌈

• BLACK PAIRING. 🖤 and the fact that Yibo was doing the same pose as LWJ, keeping his hand behind. the actual performance of yibo also gave way to lots of fanarts of this pairing! they look so good together!

• fake bits & pieces ( additional 45 fake rumors )

• their studios posting on the same day, 1/12 and the similarity of teasing that content will be released in parts

we also see more similarities in the drawings:

The appearance of 🦴 necklace at all the studio rehearsals and even the final one makes me somft. He had to remove it for the stage cause he is meant to be bare. I don’t advertise people to treat this necklace as the indicator of their relationship, but i will be lying if i say i’m not happy seeing it. especially if it’s out there, that he can show it off and not have to hide it.

• XZ & WYB mentioned together three times in one day - 1/14/2023

• YBO’s comment on snow

• 1/17 random cpns = the same trousers again ; 330,000 tickets, bg color of studio posts and YBO’s continuing comments about the weather in the city they are in.

• Bouboo replies to a fan with “DAYTOY” on their username

• CPN @ Xiao Zhan’s lunar new year photos and douyin posts

• XZ’s lunar new year post looks like a movie ticket stub. What a coincidence cause Hidden Blade is also premiering that day ☺️ there was also a cinema that showed XZ’s GUCCI Ad before the show started. Lol. and at the Shanghai Roadshow for Hidden Blade, lots of BXG dolls on in the group photo were captured.

• Hidden Blade Guangzhou roadshow : mention kneepads and looking at dandan doll / yibo asking someone with a suo-er doll and him holding a bjd of himself.

• LRLG contribution 1/23/2023

• XZ’s colleague in ADLAD + Zack ( photographer ) talking about watching Hidden Blade

• 7th day of the Lunar New Year CPN + another xzs and ybo similarity

I don’t usually go for kadians but yibo-official using 13 = yizhan makes me ☺️ ; also the similarity in how they caption posts again. on the same day. yes it’s not an obscure thing to include on a post that is made on the 7th day of the Lunar New Year. Wishing people good luck on a new beginning and all that. but it’s the countless similarities in how their studios do things. they have the same taste? their employees are dating? who knows.

• GG at Sunshine With Me shooting, looking so much like Yibo:

FEBRUARY 2023

• Huang Ziteng posted about watching Hidden Blade and the schedule of the film is coincidentally 10:05

• Yibo shares a post about the snowboards given to him by Su Yiming + sweater paws shadow

• Top comment on Yibo’s 2/2 weibo post is a cpf and similarity with GG using a doge emoji when trying to be humble

• YBO posts about a 🍉 video being fake and it looks the same as xz clarification account. !!!!

• Fandom stories that have been on my mind recently. ( includes cpn on wyb kissing xz backstage of SDC and the 232323 kadian which is “new” for this month. ) old ones mentioned : wyb’s side accounts, a bxg story, changsha home and same day tests.

• 2/4/23 Fake Rumor House contribution

• People in the industry supporting (?) them : GQ photographer is a turtles, Yixuan replies to a fan with daytoy on their username, sungjoo using xz’s cover song as bgm for his douyin post back in 2019 + Yubin doing an unboxing of DVD and praising a spread with zz/wyb on it.

• YBO asks to show off glutinous rice balls and XZ responds ☺️

• Night Light fake rumor & same sun emoji

• Candy compilation from Sunshine By My Side filming wrap up

• Fake Story : riding a bike at night / AI art

• LOYIBOARD 🛹

• On 2/12, Yibo posted a douyin, a stock video where you can clearly see what jacket he is wearing. BXGs noticed that it said “milano” and thought it may be a clue that GG will go to Milan Fashion Week. more explanation here.

• Both boys have been quiet and not “seen” for the better part of Feb, even 2/14 was especially quiet for them online. Yibo-official did post their candid compilation of Hidden Blade behind the scenes but it’s connected to promotions and not exactly for valentines day. It’s a common CPN speculation that when they are together, they get very quiet online and no paparazzi can take their photos. tho I have to say, 2/14 is not that important to them like 520 is. and then come 2/17, it’s interesting how you get to see them. let me rephrase that, they allowed us to see them. xz going to eat a meal with his assistant and wyb filming his drama. i’ve always been a believer that somehow, they can control when people will see them in public. they can be on ninja mode when they want to, especially xz.

the next day which happens to be 2/18/23 Ai Bo Ai Zhan Day, yibo shows up @ Shanghai airport at 6:30 in the morning. knowing that he finished filming past 10:00 PM, dressed in skinny jeans and looking so stylish. which is not his usual airport fashion these days. he will be in beijing for a couple of hours ( no one really knows for what ) and returned to SH the same day @ 5PM. turtles hope they saw each other atleast. Bobo really chooses the early flight so he can be with ZZ longer. ☺️☺️☺️

• Lost General Jewelry

• Chengyi comic about ZZ cutting his hair before going off to see WYB

• Them looking so similar with these photos, GG’s is from his 2/22 Milan flight. The same hair. looking like twins. Also, one of ZZ’s photos had that BOarding design & photo. Yes I know it fits the whole theme of the pictures but still, turtles’ DNA was moved. Lol.

• Using the same security personnel @ PEK?

• ZZ was spotted buying LEGO

• The similarity in their photo composition

• ZZ created an instagram account and his username has similarities to Yibo’s. Again. Same brain cell.

• 2/24 Fashion Show appearance minor candies

• Zhan-ge saw the balloons coded with all the colors! BXGs! ❤️💛💚 @ Tod’s Milan fashion show venue entrance

• This one is hilarious, Bobi in Milan? @ Tod’s store visit 😂

• cpn on yibo-official being quiet during MFW

• a possible connection to yibo’s CCTV performance to ZZ’s suzhou embroidery gift

MARCH 2023

• GUCCI infinite possibilities meaning, ZZ’s veteran cadres style and same emoji

• XZS Chapter 5 vlog candies

• giving thoughtful gifts

• Weibo night account posts a recommendation photoset for person of the year and they put their photos right next to each other. 🤍

• we hear “ i love you” in XZS vlog chapter 5

• Bottled joy campaign/s cpn

• Web’s 3/8/23 instagram post

• A really CPN-y instagram data. HAHAHAHAHA!

• wooyoungmi brand revisited

• Liu Daichu says WYB & XZ are hard to shoot - not so much cpn cause this is really unfortunate that they have to deal with bs like this. however it goes to show how they deal with their fame is becoming more and more similar and they apply the same security for themselves.

• 3/11 zsww rumor house

• more cpn from 2017

• yibo-official related candies

• xiao zhan as a distraction

• similar looking shirt. lol. Yibo, did you borrow this from zhan ge???

• yibo knitting sort of confirmed

• gg’s infinity ring ♾️

• LRLG 3/24/2023 contribution

• Same hotel in Shanghai rumor

• the weibo night 22’ seating arrangement. so near yet so far.

• Weibo Night 22’ candy round up

• XZS posting 8 photos, XZ re posting ads at 10:18 and his missing post-show selfie

• Tencent Video weibo account unintentionally matching XZ/WYB

• Weibo night 22’ exclusive interview sweet bits 💕

• WYB looking at ZZ’s direction 👀

• New Wuji recording easter egg : play with the cat

• 3/29 XZS vlog candies

APRIL 2023

• Esquire Magazine Parallels / CPN

• A new CQL bts photo 😘😘😘

• Colosseum parallels

• Peninsula iron box BGM

• Another example of XZ missing the 10:10 posting time to give way for WYB’s repost of BTF trailer.

• THEM in white shirt and soft cardigan. I love it when they put on the same/similar style!

• not really cpn but an example of a brand using art made by a cpf

• one & only’s release is 7/28 which aligns to double airport 1.0 / bazaar shoot & yizhan ttxs episode

• same city ( shanghai ) 4/11

• red string bracelet of lei yu appears again

• “matching” post for china television arts committee

• boys in esspensive cardigans! 💕

• 2019 kangol bucket hat coincidence

• chengyi comic - kumquat lemon tea 🍋

• zenith pilot series ✈️

• yibo-ge x xiao-ge 👀

• matching shiatzy chen black and white outfit

• LRLG connection to BTF accidental rollover, Anessa livestream sweets, JD mascot heart with a mole and Fake story ( magic wand and minions )

• them going on HS together @ 4/23 & wyb shut up hs + minor candies ( esquire coincidence, #5 seat, bone necklace, kids lovin them )

• 4/25 candy post

• 4/26 yibo official post with 13 photos and heart with a (.)

• same way of tying their shoelace means they are in the same city or together

• ZZ’s GUCCI Cosmos event CPN

• Fake rumor of what happened in Shanghai when they met ( 4/26 )

• the word “wyb” heard in xzs vlog

• same ip address of shanghai even if XZ was in Xi’An. Fans are saying, WYB might have logged on using a different phone number ( GG’s account ) and that’s how it changed. Because if this was a staff, most of them are in Xi’An or in their Beijing office.

MAY 2023

• May Day Candies - ( ZZ’s off white pants, rumor 1 : learning how to cook and zz giving wyb a rabbit charm rumor 2: couple jackets, in the same magazine, heart with a mole again on ybo

• pickle side dish, bruce lee and btf people supporting adlad ♥️

• number 5 seat on zz’s post, yibo and his pots & pans + the story of plane models

• XZ cues Wei Ruolai and WYB “dreams” hoodie

• THEM LOOKING SO MUCH LIKE EACH OTHER 😂😂😂😂

• Friday clowning - ( includes : ADLAD castmate posts cpf photos, same line in GG’s note & LRLG post script, Ryukakusen & XZS/YBO same symbols )

• Sunday candies 🫶🏼 WYB’s departure to LA & Xiao Zhan’s Molsion photos + use of captions

• Clean Eyes song and XX symbol ( XZS molsion live event behind the scenes )

• Bag/Phonecase WYB bought @ LA

• Chanel Cruise CPN photo parallels

• Yibo’s instagram photo reel & story

• The CPN about matching phone case went on HS

• XZS & YBO split photo similarity 📷

• Ace Troops cake CPN, Molsion offline event launch clues & sunset

• The fact that when they started being in the same city again, Yibo couldn’t stay away from Beijing. He had work with EVISU, so he left Beijing in the evening of 5/15, went to Shenzhen / Zhuhai. Then 5/16, did his business and went back to Beijing in the evening. He really organizes his schedule so he doesn’t have to be away from BJ that much. They will be in the same city till XZ leaves for Condor Heroes workshop & Shooting in Hengdian 🥹

Also his EVISU car has 1991 on it. Yes 91 was when the brand was established but please let me clown on this. lol.

• 85 is also Z28 design

• XZS posts a photo that shows his phonecase even after the HS and then on 520, HZT, the actor who plays Lan Qiren posts a very suspicious douyin video related to it.  

• 520/521 ZSWW fake stories

• Yibo using the photo for weibo night 22-23

• The story of the 85 logo

• HUABIAO AWARDS CANDIES : their movies featured as key works in 2023 + Bunny drawing in the background ; Chanel Brooch 🎀

• WYB’s btf co star said he has a delicious beef dish that he eats and people are wondering if it’s the “sauced beef” that cpfs think is from GG’s mom.

• Same phone case timeline

• Candies from WYB’s Chunzhen event + XZ’s team denying a melon about a collab with his former co-star

• 5/28 ( A day that two topics about XZ & WYB together went on hot search ) ONE TWO

• NEW chengyi comic about accidentally listening to a horror podcast & sleeping together

• random old candies

• Cherries 🍒

• WYB’s Fly streetwear shirt going to Japan

JUNE 2023

• Maison Kitsune Couple Shirt. WYB’s is for his Chunzhen Fanmeet & GG’s is for Roborock Ad. Yeah, it’s a pretty good brand that they have both worn before but does it have to be from the same line? and look so much like each other? and for us to see it in a span of a few days on them 5/27 and 6/1? I’m sorry if we’re clowning so much here but we can’t help it.

• 6/1, their studio accounts posting so close to each other. XZS shared WDB video & YBO re posted a one and only movie promo. What a nice coincidence. This would have been something to ignore if we didn’t have so many XZS 🤝 YBO candies. Then just minutes later, YBO posts the photoshoot for WYB’s Chanel show and one of the layouts look like XZS. 😂 also using the sunglasses emoji

• WYB’s Chanel Japan show clowning + WDB drawings resembles Web

• An unusual increase of hot searches that associate XZ and WYB ✨

• Bottled Joy saga Part 3

• both of their works featured in National Cinema Movie Promotion Conference. movie stars! 🎞️

• XZ found to be wearing Uggs

• Minor candies from Douyin Movie Wonder Night

• THIS RIGHT HERE ⬇️⬇️⬇️

• WDB cast and their connection to web: one / two

• Yibo is an introvert and Chunsheng is an extrovert

• Mosquito jokes 🦟🦟🦟

• CPN WRAP UP ( includes : yuli interview clues, bottled joy using their colors for panther and guangdian drawing, numbers on evisu ad, posting almost one hour apart, cute dogs and missing lyrics )

• weekend cpn : same expression, not holding hands, shuke x beita and other sweets

• 6/20, BJYX went on hot search

• BJYX IS BE was gone in the hot search

• Moncler Event CPN

• Heurueh brand

• LRLG leaves yibo-official

• some “new” photos from SINA visit

• Infinity sign on WYB’s clothes

• “how they sleep” CPN

• there are conversations that when WYB went back to Beijing after the Moncler event, he was spending time with GG. it’s also because the shoot for Condor Heroes was delayed so they both suddenly had time to be in the same city 😊

• same-style clothes for recent released ads - NANS

• 6/26 rumors that GG/Web will be participating in the same event and their sus airpot schedules!!!!

• Yubin shares a video and we get a 1 second clip of the boys eating hotpot

• 6.29 Hongkong Event : Timeline & CPNs

That’s all for now! 

See you by the end of the year <3 

[endingboyhansel]

The Mouse Problem sketch from Monty Python, but instead of being a thinly disguised look at homosexuality, it’s not disguised at all, it’s literally just talking about homosexuality.

so I bring you… The Gay Problem, featuring gay stereotypes and period typical homophobia

(Sketch starts with a policeman leading a flamboyant man into a police station. Photo of headline: Gay Clubs On Increase. Cut to: photos of neon signs of clubs. Cut to studio: ordinary grey-suited Linkman.)

Linkman: (Michael Palin) Yes. The Gay Problem. This week 'The World Around Us' looks at the growing social phenomenon of homosexuality and men. What makes a man want to be gay?

(Interviewer, Harold Voice, sitting facing a confessor. The confessor is badly lit and is turned away from camera.)

Confessor: (John Cleese) (very slowly and painfully) Well it's not a question of wanting to be gay... it just sort of happens to you. All of a sudden you realize... that's what you want to be.

Interviewer: (Terry Jones) And when did you first notice these... shall we say... tendencies?

Confessor: Well, I was about seventeen and some mates and me went to a party, and, er... we had quite a lot to drink and then some of the fellows there... started talking... about homosexuality... and well just out of curiosity I joined in... and well that was that.

Interviewer: And what else did these fellows do?

Confessor: Well some of them started dressing up a bit fancy... and then when they'd got the suits on they started... saying darling.

Interviewer: Yes. And was that all?

Confessor: That was all.

Interviewer: And what was your reaction to this?

Confessor: Well I was shocked. But, er... gradually I came to feel that I was more at ease... with other homosexuals.

(Cut to linkman.)

Linkman: (Michael Palin) A typical case, whom we shall refer to as Mr A, although his real name is this:

Voice Over: (John Cleese)(and CAPTION) ARTHUR JACKSON 32A MILTON AVENUE, HOUNSLOW, MIDDLESEX.

Linkman: What is it that attracts someone like Mr. A to this way of life? I have with me a consultant psychiatrist. (The camera pulls back to reveal the psychiatrist who places in front og himself a notice saying 'The Amazing Kargol And Janet'.)

Kargol: Well, we've just heard a typical case history. I myself have over seven hundred similar histories, all fully documented. Would you care to choose one?

Janet (Carol), dressed in a showgirl's outfit, enters and offers linkman the case histories fanned out like cards, with one more prominent than the others; he picks it out.

Kargol: (without looking) Mr Arthur Aldridge of Leamington.

Linkman: Well, that's amazing, amazing. Thank you, Janet. (Chord. Janet postures and exits) Kargol, speaking as a psychiatrist as opposed to a conjuror...

Kargol: (disappointed) Oh...

Linkman: ...what makes certain men want to be gay?

Kargol: Well, we psychiatrists have found that over 8% of the population will always be gay, I mean, after all, there's something of that in all of us. I mean, how many of us can honestly say that at one time or another he hasn't felt sexually attracted to the same gender. (linkman looks puzzled) I know I have. I mean, most normal adolescents go through a stage two or three times a day. Most youngsters on the other hand, some youngsters are attracted to it by its very illegality. It's like murder - make a thing illegal and it acquires a mystique. (linkman looks increasingly embarrassed) Look at arson - I mean, how many of us can honestly say that at one time or another he hasn't set fire to some great public building? I know I have. (phone on desk rings; the linkman picks it up but does not answer it) The only way to bring the crime figures down is to reduce the number of offenses - get it out in the open - I know I have.

Linkman: The Amazing Kargol And Janet. What a lot of people don't realize is that a homosexual, once accepted, can fulfil a very useful role in society. Indeed there are examples throughout history of famous men now known to have been gay.

(Cut to Julius Caesar on beach. He shouts 'Veni Vidi, Vici'. Then he adds a “ooh”. Napoleon stares at another man. Cut to Linkman)

Linkman: And, of course, Hillaire Belloc. But what is the attitude...

(Cut to man in a Viking helmet.)

Viking: (Eric Idle) ...of the man in the street towards...

Linkman: ...this growing social problem?

(Vox pops films.)

Window Cleaner: (Eric Idle) Clamp down on them.

Off-screen Voice: How?

Window Cleaner: I'd strangle them.

Stockbroker: (John Cleese) Well speaking as a member of the Stock Exchange I would suck their brains out with a straw, sell the widows and orphans and go into South American Zinc.

Man: (Terry Jones) Yeh I'd, er, stuff sparrows down their throats, er, until the beaks stuck out through the stomach walls.

Accountant: (Graham Chapman) Oh well I'm a chartered accountant, and consequently too boring to be of interest.

Vicar: (John Cleese)I feel that these poor unfortunate people should be free to live the lives of their own choice.

Porter: (Terry Jones) I'd split their nostrils open with a boat hook, I think.

2nd Man: (Graham Chapman) Well I mean, they can't help it, can they? But, er, there's nothing you can do about it. So er, I'd kill 'em.

(Cut to linkman.)

Linkman: Clearly the British public's view is a hostile one.

Voice Over: (and CAPTION) 'HOSTILE'

Linkman: But perhaps this is because so little is generally known of these gay men. We have some film now taken of one of the notorious weekend parties, where these disgusting little perverts meet.

(Cut to exterior house (night). The blinds are drawn so that only shadows of men can be seen, giggling and flirting.)

Linkman's Voice: Mr A tells us what actually goes on at these parties.

(Cut to Mr A.)

Mr A: Well first of all you get shown to your own little room... then you put a suit on... then you go into the main room, and perhaps find a guy.

Linkman: The remainder of this film was taken secretly at one of these parties by a BBC cameraman posing as a bisexual man. As usual we apologize for the poor quality of the film.

(Very, poor quality film, shadowy shapes, the odd person glimpsed.)

Mr A's Voice: Well, er, then you find some guy. You might go and see one of those old films... you may have a drink, share kisses…

(Cut to a large matron)

Linkman's Voice: And what's that?

Mr A's Voice: That's a lesbian.

(Cut to the linkman at desk.)

Linkman: Perhaps we need to know more of these gay men before we can really judge them. Perhaps not. Anyway, our thirty minutes are up.

(Sound of baa-ing. The linkman looks up in air, looks startled, pulls a gun from under the desk and fires in the air. The body of a sheep falls to the floor.)

Linkman: Goodnight.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Tues 11 May ‘21

Louis saw us all coming up with wacky theories about what the BMG announcement might mean and came to tell us what’s going on… wait no he just retweeted the same article from yesterday with the partnership wording! Haha, but in seriousness while I know not everyone agrees I think it’s pretty clear at this point that BMG is his new record label. The tweet he posted was captioned with another easily misconstrued statement, THANKS FOR THAT LOUIS, but I will repeat what I said yesterday, which is that by far the likeliest explanation of his announcing to a fandom that’s rabid for label news that he’s joined a label is that- it’s his new label! And all the evidence I see supports that. The post he retweeted said (in the words of Music Week) “After five One Direction albums and one solo LP with Sony Music and Syco, now Louis Tomlinson is officially an independent artist with BMG”. Some believe this means he’s NOT signed to BMG but is putting out his own album and simply using them as a distro; I personally would say it seems pretty clear at this point that that simply refers to the fact that BMG are, as a label that isn’t one of the Big Four, considered an independent label, making Louis, as someone on their roster, an indie artist- like the tweet said. If he’d gone rogue and started his own label there would be articles everywhere about it and that article would have talked about it (instead headlines read “Louis Tomlinson Signs Record Deal With BMG”), plus we have plenty of quotes that would be frankly odd if he weren’t signed to BMG, such as the vice president of A&R at BMG UK, saying "We are delighted to welcome Louis to BMG. He is already busy working on new music, and we are excited to join him on the next phase of his extraordinary career,” a BMG sales manager saying “BMG will have the new album” and referring to the fact that they’ll do promo for it (in a DM conversation that actually appears to be real, unlike SOME going around today), and Charlie Lightening posting “Congrats @louist91 on the new deal with BMG UK excited for LT2, gonna smash it lad”.

More to the point-- why do people want so badly to think he ISN’T signed with BMG? This is GREAT NEWS!! They’re an indie (what everyone has wanted for Louis forever), and they were founded specifically to give artists more control than the majors (after splitting off from Sony; they were more or less founded as a direct push back against Sony’s business model), but they’re big enough to give him the support an artist of his size needs, which would be very hard for him to pull off running his own label-- I’d much rather see him putting his energy into writing songs, touring, making documentaries, and running his management company, rather than doing his own promo and wrangling with distro deals and shit. He should be signed to a label to do that work for him! And BMG seems like an awesome choice! But the weird ideas out there just continue right on-- not just people saying he’s not on a label, but also others, who don’t think him being on a label completely unconnected to Sony will be able to prevent Sony from dropping a piano on Louis’ head like the moustache twirling masterminds they are er sabotaging BMG somehow (the whole point of them being an indie is that this shouldn’t be an issue?), and such amazing takes as “louis has signed to a queer label” (evidence? “we just know that they are queer”; an actual dialogue from tiktok), are unlikely to be affected by any number of facts, as are the twitter folks getting excited about him ‘unfollowing’ accounts he never followed to begin with (Syco etc).

Anyway Louis, on a roll of giving us what we want today, also gave us a VIDEO with his HAT OFF! I don’t even care that it’s a silly ad (for samsung), or that he trimmed his luscious locks a little, it’s Louis! Talking and stuff!! Showing off his still wonderfully long hair all pushed up and back! Gorgeous, amazing, perfect… and yes I am ignoring the slides and socks thank you very much, though I will mention that they are literally exactly the same as Harry’s slides and socks. He also followed BMG, one of his (no doubt many) NFT trading profiles was found (@LT282828, LMAO), and new shows are being added as the tour dates finalize (though ticketmaster showing a Harry date for the same day/place as one of them was a glitch, we don’t have Harry’s updated dates yet)

And speaking of Harry! MP filming was indoors today, so Harry was only seen walking to his car, but he showed up at the Brits!!! In an amazing geometric patterned (or, uh, “macro framed sequence print” I GUESS) brown and tan suit (that clashed just HORRIFICALLY with the neon pastel Brits décor and his award, I fucking love that) and a cute lil handbag and sneakers to accept his AWARD for Best British Single!! (For Watermelon Sugar oddly, but hey a wins a win). CONGRATULATIONS baby and WOW great to see him! He popped in with pal Tomo Campbell, last seen by us when they drove to Italy together last summer. He thanked “my fans, for being so generous to me, always, and everyone in my life who has my back, thank you so much I love you.” Question, did he make the choice to swap out the pink and yellow award he was handed onstage for the blue and green version he had later? Either way, lol. Lots more people will have nice things to say about him now with this high profile win, but even before that people were gushing about him-- Joshua Bassett came out as queer by calling Harry hot (”I guess this is me coming out”), we got Billy Porter on the Brits pre show carpet saying, “I am seeing change! You know Harry Styles on the cover of Vogue Magazine that is change. You’re welcome!” and someone from his recording studio telling us he “was very nice wasn’t he, he brought doughnuts for the assistants and gave everyone a lift home. He came into reception and offered to make everybody a cup of tea,” awww Harry! Lift home from Harry, that’s my new meeting-one-of-the-boys goal.

Niall wished “everyone involved at the Brits” good luck, and Liam wished an NFT creator luck on his sale.

[neuxue]

if it's not too much trouble, would you consider translating the chinese TU memes? It seems like they're funny... but I don't know any Chinese and I tried looking them up but I still don't get it 🥺

I assume you're referring to this incredible post (and not to, like, Chinese CQL memes in general). In which case yes I can try, because it’s hilarious.

(Usual caveats: I'm not Chinese, and my Mandarin is far from fluent)

(And a request: I'm just explaining the jokes to the best of my ability - if you find them funny all the credit belongs to the OP so go like/reblog that post instead of this one!)

Okay, so all of these are basically puns/wordplay, based on various forms of swapping out a character (Hanzi) from the name of a character (fictional) for another one that sounds the same but means something different.

In order:

1. Wei Wuxian: The first image is just his name, 魏无羡, and in the second one it swaps out both characters of wuxian (无羡) to get youxian (有线). The joke is that 无 is a negation roughly meaning 'without', whereas 有 means 'to have' and therefore functions as an opposite (i.e. 无 denoting the absence of something and 有 denoting the presence), and 羡 (xian) from Wei Wuxian's name means 'envy' but sounds like 线 (xian), which means 'string' or 'thread'. So if you're reading it aloud, it sounds like 'Wei without a thread, Wei with a thread'.

2. Lan Wangji: This is playing on 'Lan Zhan' - 蓝湛, where 湛 (zhan) is pronounced the same way as 站, which means 'to stand'. So the first image is just his name, but aloud also sounds like 'Lan stands', and then the second two are 蓝坐 (lan zuo) where 坐 means 'to sit', and 蓝躺 (lan tang), where 躺 means 'to recline' or 'to be lying down'.

3. Jiang Cheng: Playing on his courtesy name, Jiang Wanyin - 江晚吟 (individual characters meaning river + evening + song). The play here is specifically on 晚, 'evening', replacing this in the first image with 早 (zao) - 'early morning', and in the second image with 午 (wu) - 'afternoon'/'midday', before finishing with his actual name where of course 晚 (wan) is 'evening'. That the images go chronologically and also frame a kind of dawn/noon/evening of his life, starting with the brightness of morning and ending with the evening of, er, mourning, is just added genius and it hurts me.

4. Lan bros: Okay so ‘vacuum cleaner’ is 吸尘机 (xichenji), where the 吸尘 (xichen, literally ‘inhale dust’) has the same pronunciation as 曦臣 (xichen) in Lan Xichen’s name. So that’s the first image. The second plays on the fact that the 机 (ji, ‘machine’/’device’) of 吸尘机 is the same ji as in Lan Wangji’s name. So the second image is just 吸尘机 and is thus playing it as Xichen (same pronunciation as Xichen but different characters) and Wangji (same 'ji' as in his name) and thus the two Lan bros.

5. Wen Qing: I love this one. I love her name. Wen Qing is 温情 (warm + ...情 has many shades of meaning depending on context and/or the word it's in, but in this context along the lines of sentiment/emotion/feeling). The wordplay is mostly off of 温, in kind of a similar form as the Jiang Cheng set - it goes from 冷 (leng - 'cold') to 温 (wen - 'warm' and also her actual surname) to 热 (re - 'hot'), with expressions to match.

6. Wen Ning: Playing on his rarely-heard courtesy name Wen Qionglin - 温琼林 (individual characters are warm + jade + forest). But 琼 (qiong - fine jade) is homophonous with 穷 (qiong), which means ‘poor’ (as in impoverished) or ‘to exhaust/use up’. The first image is captioned with his name, but the second plays on 琼 sounding like 穷 by replacing 琼 in his name with 富 (fu), which means ‘wealthy’/’abundant’/’prosperous’. Oof.

7. Jin Guangyao: Man this one works so well. Jin Guangyao is 金光瑶 (individual characters are gold + light + jade), and the play is on swapping 光 (guang), which means ‘light’, for 暗 (an), which means ‘dark’/’dim’. But also 光 has connotations of honour/glory/goodness (and is the same guang as in Hanguang-jun), and 暗 has connotations of secret/hidden/clandestine. (Also I always think of Wei Wuxian on the rooftop in ep22 describing his three months in the Burial Mounds to Lan Wangji as 暗无天日的日子 - literally something like dark, sunless days but as an idiom 暗无天日 can mean total darkness but also an absence of justice. Anyway I digress. Or do I).

8. Jiang Fengmian: His name is  江枫眠, and the character this one is playing on is 眠 (mian) which means ‘dormant’/’asleep’, which in the second image is then swapped for 醒 (xing), which means ‘to awaken’.

9. Xiao Xingchen: The first image is just his name,  晓星尘 (why is his name so pretty - individual characters are dawn + star + dust). The joke is that 晓 (xiao), which means ‘dawn’ or ‘daybreak’ sounds the same as 小 (xiao) which means ‘small’ (or ‘young’). So the picture of him is small... and then then in the second, larger image the first character of his name is swapped for 大 (da), which means ‘big’. Why is this so fucking funny.

10. Wen Ruohan: lfaksjerlskjerj okay so his name is 温若寒 (individual characters warm + like/as if + cold/winter), and the play here is on 若 (ruo - ‘like’ or ‘as if’) sounding similar to (though in this case not a perfect homophone of) 肉(rou), which means ‘meat’. So the second image is just... Wen Frozen Meat.

[hopetofantasy]

Culture, parallels & meta - S3 E1

Previous season Prologue: Vlogs (1) - Vlogs (2)

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Zaterdag 21:43

The time lapse already showing us a string of places that will be important later, like the dark alley, the Meir with Noor’s workplace, the university neighborhood, the Scheldt river where the boys hang out, ...

Perfect parallel: 

The second season starts Zoë’s POV with a (washing machine) door, whilst the third opens with a door to a party that Robbe attends.

Robbe glances back at Noor passing through the shot this episode, an action he repeats when he spots Sander in the second episode. - A very subtle hint to where his love life may lead.

The first one starts with two unknown LGBT+ girls kissing at a party, the last episode shows two known LGBT+ boys (Sobbe) kissing at their own party.

The aerial shot through the floor to introduce us to Robbe’s POV here and the aerial shot through the roof to say goodbye to him in the last episode.

Moyo saying “No one would do you” to Aaron in this episode, Aaron realizing “No one here wants to do me!” in the last.

Where’s Wally? Noor greeting Marie, accompanied by Jana and Britt. Max dancing with Keisha in the crowd.

How ‘meta’ of you: Newsflash, yes you are!

Nod to the OG: 

The deliberate messy POV: following everyone that we know already and then slowly settling on the Isak version in a tub.

Robbe saying Noor looks like ‘Natalie Portman’, which is what people said to the OG Emma when they flirted with her. Everyone, except Isak, that is.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Moyo keeps pressuring Robbe into explaining what type of girl he likes. The boys laugh it off when he answers that ‘he doesn’t have a type’.

Lost in translation: Moyo mocks Noor’s Dutch accent, making his ‘g’ and ‘st’ sound harsher, while also adding ‘hoor’ at the end - a typical word used by the Dutch to emphasize a point.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Jens is playing with the weed bag. Keisha is one of the girls that Moyo mentions as Jens’ ex-girlfriend or ex-fling. Not only did Noor nót flush the toilet, but she didn’t used any toilet paper either!

°

Zaterdag 22:44

C is for culture: 

Noor rescuing Robbe on her scooter - In Belgium, you’re allowed to drive a moped or scooter once you’ve reached the age of 16. Nothing is needed if the vehicle doesn’t go above 25 km/h. If it stays between the range of 25-45 km/h and max. 50 cc, you need to pass a theoretical exam, 4 hours of driver’s ed and a practical exam to get the license. Anything other than that, has a whole new set of restrictions, types of driver’s licenses and minimum ages.  Noor and Robbe are, however, still breaking the law. As long as you’re not 18, you’re not allowed to have an extra passenger with you. Especially if they’re not wearing a helmet. (Plus they ignored a red light. Those rebels!)

“You do know that you always have to have it with you?” - The Belgian law states that everyone above age twelve, has to get an ID to identify themselves. Some might have had a Kids-ID already - for travel purposes - but that’s not mandatory. However, once you're fifteen years old, you’re obligated to carry your ID with you at all times.

Perfect parallel:

Luca being all jealous whilst staring at Noor and Robbe making out in S3, her glaring at Maud and Robbe every chance she got in the last season.

Robbe and Noor having fun on the scooter while screaming and Robbe filming their adventure in this episode. Robbe and Sander doing a similar thing, but on their bikes in a later episode.

Wink to other remakes: Robbe sporting a brown jacket. (Eliott, anyone?)

Surprise bitch, guess who: It’s Willem Chanterie, the on-set costume designer and social media production assistant!

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Noor has a ‘Fuck Trump’ sticker on her helmet. Robbe says “Hey, it’s red” in a very clear Antwerp accent. 

°

Zaterdag 23:11

Hello from the outside: The garbage truck they sprayed, still drove around the city regularly. The art piece itself is named ‘#Genoeg mama' (= ‘#Enough mommy’). It blames the consumer society as toxic, making young people its victim.

Oopsie: Inside the graffiti den, Noor suddenly sports a tote bag with supplies, even though we never saw her wearing that in the previous shots.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Noor has black combat boots. The photographer is obviously Sander, in case you have missed that subtle clue.

°

Zondag 13:41

Lost in translation/Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: 

“Check die pekie’s”. The word ‘pekie’ is actually Amsterdam slang for ‘beautiful girl, girlfriend’. In recent years, more and more Dutch slang are making their way into the Flemish dialect, because of the Dutch rap songs gaining popularity with the youngsters.

“Vamos, flikkers”. The word ‘flikkers’ can mean ‘wussie’ as well as a derogatory term for ‘homosexual’. Again establishing the fact that the boys use a lot of homophobic or toxic words for each other.

Robbe’s clumsiness meter: +1, him tossing the bag behind Jens instead of into his hands.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: There is a football right next to the skateboards.

°

Maandag 16:04

C is for culture: “The whole art school was talking about it” - 

Secondary school is divided in four sections: general, technical, art and vocational. Which section you choose can have effect on further education. In one of these sections, you pick what you want to study from your first to last year (‘directions’). That means that you have some courses purely focused on the direction and others that are obligated for everyone, regardless.

Art high schoolers can choose to go to work or study a specialization afterwards. Their coursework isn’t solely art based, there are general required courses too. That’s why some foreigners - including the Dutch - come to Belgium, since they’ll get a more rounded and higher level of art education than in their countries. ‘de!KUNSTHUMANIORA’ is the high school in Antwerp Noor goes to and is known for having students with unique styles.

Perfect parallel: 

Noor waiting outside the school for Robbe and him reacting somewhat confused here, Sander doing the same and having an instantly happy Robbe in a later episode.

Robbe having no problem kissing a girl ‘as a straight guy’ in front of the gates in this episode and scared for what might happen if he kissed a boy ‘as a gay guy’ later on. 

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The insta caption underneath the art work says ‘An inspirational message on a Sunday! Just discovered this in Antwerp city today. Artist unknown... Can you remember when you last called on your mother?’ (That last sentence, oooofff, the symbolism!)

°

Dinsdag 14:57

C is for culture: 

“Yes, mini enterprises are so chill.” - Mini enterprises are often used as a tool for Economics in the fifth/sixth year. The goal of these is to ‘learn whilst doing it’. Like the name specifies, mini enterprises are actual miniature companies set up by a group of students. During the school year, they’ll try to work together on commercializing a product. All aspects of entrepreneurship are at play here: writing a business plan, holding meetings, doing bookkeeping, marketing the product, produce and sell it, ... If the enterprise idea is good or well executed, it might even win a national prize by the company making this education formula.

“What if he contacts child protection services” - Actually, those services doesn’t really exist in Belgium. There are, however, other youth organizations for these types of things, like JAC - Youth Advice Centre, CLB - Centre for Student Guidance and the Centre for Mental Healthcare.

Perfect parallel: The boys hyping Aaron up to walk over to Amber and talk to her - yet he fails in this episode, them doing the same and he succeeds (after some fails) in the last episode. 

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Jens saying “Damn, seems like someone is on his fucking period”, after Robbe snaps at him due to the difficult telephone call with his dad.

Lost in translation: Jens saying “Mijn kop staat er niet naar” (= “My head’s not standing there”) can actually mean different things: I’m not in the mood, it’s not the right time, I don't want to do it, my head’s all over the place, ... It depends on the context, on which interpretation would suit the situation the best. 

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The girls are all fawning all over Britt’s cellphone, so there is a good chance that they’re discussing (pictures of) her boyfriend, Sander. Also, Jana’s braces are gone! 

°

Donderdag 17:13

Perfect parallel: Robbe stating that he can’t talk to his dad or he’ll fight and Zoë getting that, as she said a similar thing to an understanding Senne about her parents in S2. 

How ‘meta’ of you: Ah, yes, fandom ship names in SKAM. We applaud!

Oopsie: If you look really hard, you see that the body type and hair of Robbe’s dad, doesn’t correspond with the version waiting at the restaurant later on.

Wink to other remakes: This shot reminding you of a certain S3 trailer?  👀

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The numerous references to Zoënne’s relationship in their room (relationship pics, Senne’s guitar). The paper Milan gifts to Robbe is the written permission by his parent to live with them, as is obligated by law.

°

Vrijdag 20:04

Perfect parallel: 

Senne pulling Zoë up after a kiss here, just like with their first kiss in S2.

Robbe pushing Milan away after thinking he wanted to kiss him at the party in S2, them hugging it out in after talking about it in S3.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Zoë and Milan making some healthy party snacks like cauliflower and cocktail sauce, cheese with tomatoes and salami squares. She pulls back the bottle of gin that Milan wants to steal. Senne also bought paprika and tortilla chips from Colruyt (a discount store).

°

Vrijdag 20:54

C is for culture: “Noor, Robbe’s girlfriend” - (Teen) dating culture is different in Belgium. Usually, if you have kissed, hung out, texted or just said/did something to show your mutual interest, you’d pretty much consider yourself in a relationship. It can go from 0 to 100 very quick. Unless there is, of course, an agreement that what you’re doing is no such thing. Also, nobody really ask you to be their gf/bf. It just implied or stated to their family or friends. 

Perfect parallel: 

A reluctant Robbe pushing himself to do stuff to Noor (playful dancing, kissing, riling her up) as far as putting his hands on her bra here. A totally different, excited Robbe not even thinking twice about doing these things to Sander, even licking his nipple during their reunion.

Noor pushing Robbe on the bed and climbing over him, whilst Robbe looks all sad in this episode. Him pushing Sander on the bed and being happy as Sander crawls over him during their reunion.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Robbe tries to convince himself into liking heterosexual sex with Noor and fake laughs with his friends about having it.

Where’s Wally? Keisha laughing with Amber and later dancing with Marie.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Jens is talking to Senne. The decorations behind Milan saying ‘Welkom Robbe’ (= ‘Welcome Robbe’). Noor has a beautiful tattoo of a pin-up girl covered with butterflies on her lower arm.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

10x21: Details

Okay, let’s talk details. And most of these will just back up what I’ve already said about these sequences being callbacks to Grady and leaving Beth behind, as well as foreshadows of finding her again.

***As always, spoilers abound below for 10x21. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

Carol and Dog:

Of course Dog goes with Carol and I noticed that when she gets back to Alexandria, she says, “let’s get you home.” So, home theme, and it’s especially potent because Dog = Beth.

She says to Dog, “For the record, I didn’t need an apology for him.” It’s the ‘for the record’ part that caught my attention, not only because Beth mentioned records at Grady, but Negan said the exact same thing to Daryl about Carol several episodes ago. “For the record, I don’t think she’s coming back.” So, it’s something of a theme.

She tells Jerry the story of the Stone Soup, which to me parallels Rick’s “Rock in the Road” story, which we’ve always thought was about Beth. (X). And I’m not sure how exactly to interpret the rock in either story, but biblically Christ = the rock. So, there’s that.

We see her fixing the solar panels as well. Because of the sunlight angle, that could represent Beth. I’m actually seeing a lot of symbolism here for both Carol fixing Beth in some way and Beth fixing Carol. So, I think this has to do with the template for the future. I think the two of them will come together again, as they did at Grady, and they’ll both be kind of a mess at that point and need to help each other through some stuff. I’ll talk about it in more detail later when I do another forecasting post.

When Dog starts chasing the rat and Carol runs to see what’s happening, he knocks over a lamp. Lamp Theory. And the cord of the lamp has been gnawed on by the rat. So can you see how all these symbols kind of interlock?

When Dog chases the rat and knocks over the pot, Carol has a serious/Sirius mention. She says, “This is serious. We need that food.”

Now, for the record, I think food shortages are going to continue to be a thing, and Beth and the CRM will be the answer to needed resources, so both sides of that sentence are important.

She makes a trap to catch the rat, which I talked about yesterday. Then she goes out looking for more ingredients for the soup. While out there, we see a dragonfly, a blue butterfly, and a spider. All three of those are important symbols. 

They all represent some form of transformation, wisdom, renewal, and fertility.

It’s probably important that Carol uses Leah’s knife to fix the solar panels. Again, just more Beth symbols on top of Beth symbols.

@frangipanilove also pointed out that it’s important that the instant she can’t see the rat anymore, the power goes out. See how that works? Rat (Beth) is unseen and suddenly no sun power.

Carol also says at this part, “there will be more sun tomorrow, right?” That’s super important. Sun = Beth. And ever since AOW, I’ve thought the “tomorrow” theme pointed to the CRM war. So again, just more evidence that this is both a callback and a foreshadow of what will happen with Beth and CRM.

As I said yesterday, Dog watching over Carol as she sleeps = Beth watching over Carol while she’s unconscious at Grady. She also says to Dog, “You miss him, don’t you?” Which is exactly what Beth asked Daryl about Merle in Still.

And then of course she destroys the wall. The next day, Jerry comes to see her, and we get lots of interesting references. There’s the poker, poker face reference. He says, “caring…yeah that’s a problem,” which we’re connecting to Beth’s famous line, “when you care about people, hurt is just part of the package.”

Jerry also says, “2+2=Eureka.” Now, Eureka is an expression which means “a cry of joy or satisfaction when one finds or discovers something.” We’re hoping the 2+2 is a reference to episode 22, and the discovery is that Beth is alive. *fingers crossed*

The song that plays, No Worries by Amateur Blond, has references to dogs in it. And it keeps saying “Oh, oh, oh.”

Of course Daryl returns, Rat gets free, and I especially love how Dog runs to Daryl. Cuz, you know, Dog = Beth. :D

One other thing @frangipanilove​ brought to my attention. The scarf Carol has in this episode can be linked to the scarf she wore in S3. They actually look very similar. Remember that at the prison, when T-Dog died and Lori gave birth to Judith, Carol was wearing a scarf over her head. Daryl found it with blood on it, which led him to assume she was dead. They even created a grave for her. But of course he found her (after finding her knife, btw) soon after and she lived.

It’s just a little too coincidental that this can be connected to a death fake out in season 3, and there’s a major knife exchange going on in the same episode. 

Daryl and Bike:

Okay, so I talked a lot about Daryl yesterday and how Bike = Beth. The part where he gets under the car is really interesting. I’m not entirely satisfied with how to interpret it yet, but I do think it represents leaving Beth behind and stuff that happened during the missing 17 days. 

You could call Daryl’s behavior here destructive. I mean, he crawled under a precariously perched car. And that could represent his depression, to the point of self-harm, after losing Beth. He does find the part he needs in the 3rd car (rule of threes). And that car was somewhat hidden at first. 

He didn’t see it until he’d already reached and checked the first two cars. So, that could represent looking for Beth’s body but there’s an unseen element he isn’t aware of at first. It also parallels the “third man” theory. (X).

When he gets back to the bike, he suddenly realizes he gave the knife to Carol and he needs it. His huge, Rambo knife is just too big to get it into the crevices of the bike to attach the new part. 

I think this is important for the future story line as well. After the spinoff starts, when he and Carol part ways, he’ll give her something and realize he needs it later on. It’s when he goes looking for this part that he’ll run into the CRM and Beth.

I also noticed kind of a cute little parallel here. When he realizes he doesn’t have the knife and he needs it, he sort of does this thing where he brushes his hair out of his face. He did a similar thing in Consumed. 

I just remember a lot of people commenting on how adorable it was. So I thought I’d point it out here as well.

So then he goes looking of Beth, er, I mean a new knife. I talked about a lot of this yesterday: the Beth walker, his limp, the dry river bed, etc. It’s important that he finds the knife with military walkers (probably the CRM). I can’t help but wonder if letting walker fall into the ravine represents him letting one of their communities get overrun with walkers or something. 

I also REALLY want to connect it to when the group did this in Them. In that scene, Rick was almost bitten. Daryl came running up at the last minute and helped him, but I think it’s significant that they were doing the exact same thing there that we see Daryl doing here. I’m thinking it represents something about maybe him finding Rick with the CRM and helping him in some way, or something. Again, just speculating about future storylines here.

But he finds the knife he needs and goes back to the bike. And two more military walkers come at him. Yes, two. You may have missed that, as I and my fellow theorists both did the first time. But one is coming at him from ahead of the bike, down the tracks. 

The other is coming at him from his right side. You can tell because he turns his head to look at it.

Couple of things here. Part of the reason it only seems like one is that they show it weird. We only see him killing the one straight ahead, not the one to the side. I’m sure there’s some symbolism in that, but I honestly have no idea what it is.

But here’s an interesting thing. He finds a second knife on that second walker. It doesn’t do a close up on the second knife, so it’s easy to miss. But there are actually 2 knives.

Not entirely sure how to interpret that, but remember that in Still, there were two knives. First, Daryl gave Beth his, but between rooms in the golf club, she found her bone-handled one that she always carried after that, and gave his back to him. So it might just represent Beth and Daryl and their 2 knives.

He also finds military rations (food) on one of them. As I said yesterday, I think TF is going to get to the point where they desperately need resources. Where food is scarce and even water becomes undrinkable. It will be part of the CRM plot. So I think him finding food on military walkers hints at that. They will need the CRM’s resources to survive.

The other thing I’m curious about is what he says. He says, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” To me, that’s a weird reaction. There are walkers all over the place in these woods. And neither of these two are a massive, immediate threat to him. So his reaction doesn’t make tons of sense. But again, I’m sure it has something to do with a future storyline that simply isn’t clear here yet. 

Also, the walker he takes the knife from is missing his leg/foot. That’s part of the missing foot/shoe symbolism, and just proves in my mind that this is symbolic of something to do with Beth. 

He then sets to fixing his bike. But it takes a while and it’s dark before he finishes. This was super cool and something I missed the first time through. While fixing it, he hears a wolf howl. And they draw attention to it by having Daryl turn his head toward it, as thought acknowledging it. 

Plus, the captions say it’s a wolf, not a dog or a coyote. So, this is wolf symbolism. And I think what they’re trying to say her is that when Daryl finds and “fixes” Beth, the wolf symbolism will be in play. I’ll talk more about what the means and how it MIGHT manifest in coming days.

Finally, he gets the bike fixed and started and heads back.

@wdway​, as usual with her eagle eyes, noticed something about this shot. In the sky above him, we see three stars. They look suspiciously like the “spoon” portion of the Little Dipper. And guys, at this distant, stars wouldn’t even register on camera, which means they were put in purposely with a computer. Daryl is riding toward the spoon/star/Sirius symbol. Just saying. 

The only other thing I noticed (other than all the stuff I talked about yesterday, anyway) is that there is some missing time here. Daryl fixes his bike at night and we see him drive off into the darkness, but by the time he gets back and talks to Carol, it’s late afternoon or early evening, and he’s talking about going to bed. I don’t know if he could have gone out far enough for it to take him that long to get back. Of course, maybe he just looked some more the next day and didn’t come back right away. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. But it’s something I noticed.

So, yeah. I think that’s all the details I have. Anyone notice anything I missed?

[goat-yells-at-everything]

Count Pugula and Countess Pugula.

Finally getting more work done for my next video. No, this isn’t in it but I just really wanted to doodle Sue (yes, also a pug) trying soooo hard not to laugh at Dank’s antics.

Now have some more Pugula doodles. I do have others but they are actually for the video which I hope to have done before Halloween. ...no promises...

[from this video]

(he often gets sponsored by Raid Shadow Legends. his love is understandable since its those sponsors that have helped him and Sue overcome fertility issues so they can have a family together.)

(the hat was gonna have a swastika on it but i was drawing these at work and that would not have been good if someone walked up and saw it... er... if you dont get the reference, Dank got arrested for making a joke about turning his girlfriend’s pug into a Nazi. No. I’m not joking.)

His tats are so god damn annoying to try to draw. SOOO MANY! D;

[from this video] This one is captioned “I’ve got pubs in my mouth”. Just... just watch the video. >>

[kiss-my-freckle]

I know I’ve posted about the Drexel painting several times before, but a recent post made me consider posting about it again. I believe the Drexel painting was Alexander Kirk’s response to Red faking Liz’s death in Arioch Cain. A painting for a photograph. I believe that’s why they listed her as “Masha Rostova” in the newspaper, but referred to her as “Elizabeth Keen” on the news. 

It started with Wendigo putting fear into Red. 

Wendigo: I’m not the only one. There are more, and they’re coming. Red: Who’s coming? Wendigo: You can’t stop them. Red: Who? Who?! 

Red was putting Liz under protection. That’s why they went to the plane hangar where they met up with Mr. Solomon. While there, Solomon gave Red the idea. 

Solomon: Every life that I take sends a message.

After Dembe came in and rescued them, Red followed through. He had no choice because they couldn’t shut down the bounty website. He was “taking” Liz’s life. 

“Every life that I take sends a message.”

The mark in a pool of blood was Red’s message. This is how Alexander Kirk could’ve seen “Masha Rostova” on the news, while everyone else in the world saw “Elizabeth Keen.” Taking note the caption on the news. “Reported dead.”

Kirk: I never thought I’d ever see you again, until there you were - in the news, you and Reddington - the most wanted fugitives in the world.

I believe the mark dentifies her as Masha just as Psalms 1:1 identifies Wendigo.

Aram: Plus a unique identifier. Wendigo’s was Psalm 1:1.

The only person who could identify Masha, is the person who knows about the mark. The woman from Paris can’t prove she’s not Katarina. I think she needs to find the mark and understand it in order to, and that’s why it’s in Liz’s vent. She hasn’t “found” Masha Rostova yet. 

Red then got a message, which I believe was in response to the news photo. I noticed Liz’s hand, the very palm someone scarred on the night of the fire. 

“All I know - or think I know - is that my father gave me this.”

This is a brand new haircut. Liz just got it done in The Vehm. The person who sent these details for the painting has seen her since she got her haircut. That’s how Solomon knew she was attacked in a grocery store parking lot when he was still in federal custody. The person who commissioned the painting gave him this intel. 

Alexander Kirk had yet to enter the U.S. The person who described her haircut for the painting would’ve been a woman. Three suspects: Scottie, Odette, or Gina. Not tied to Odette. Yet to be tied to Scottie. 

Red sent a message in Arioch Cain. 

“Every life that I take sends a message.”

Alexander Kirk sent a message in response. 

JB: That was a warning from, I believe, Alexander Kirk. ... It was a sort of a warning shot from across the bow to Reddington, saying, "I know and I'm coming." I wish there was some deeper mind-bending turn there.

"I know and I'm coming." What does Alexander Kirk know? He knows Liz is Masha Rostova. That’s why he had the painting titled Rostova.

Let’s look at Red’s conversation with Drexel. 

Red: An enemy of mine contacted you. Drexel: Okay. Hang on. Red: A work was commissioned. Drexel: That was a job. Red: I need to know how to find your benefactor - now. Drexel: I don’t know. It - it was all done anonymously. I got meticulous instructions for what to paint and where to send it. Red: An address. You can answer me, or I can turn that wall behind you into a Jackson Pollock.

“What to paint and where to send it.” They’re literally telling the audience why Red went to Paul Allond’s house. The issue isn’t the painting. The issue is a missing scene. One that shows how Red knew that an enemy of his contacted Drexel. After all, Drexel didn’t contact Red. He asked Rimona if Red knew about what he’d done. Pushing back. Lady Ambrosia was the episode prior. Red was busy trying to rescue Vasilia Patinka’s daughter. At the open of Drexel, Tom was rushed into Nik’s ER. At this point, Nik would’ve called Red. At the point in which Liz met with Red to get Drexel’s case, he would’ve already known about the diamond heist and already known about the Drexel painting. That’s why he’s giving them the case. 

I believe, somewhere in the midst of this diamond heist, Gina left evidence for Red involving Drexel and the painting. There are only two places I see this happening. Either Gina planted what she needed on Tom, and Nik relayed it to Red when he contacted him. He would’ve set Tom’s personal effects aside as they were saving his life. Or Gina planted what she needed in Klerken’s shop, and Red learned this when he went to settle Tom’s debt. Hiding the missing scene hides the person who commissioned the painting. They’re not ready to reveal that Tom used to work for Constantin Rostov. “It’s a long story.”

Cut to Red’s conversation with Paul Allond. 

“What to paint and where to send it.”

Red: Where’s Rostova?

“You’ll never find Rostova.” From Red’s, Dom’s, and even Ilya’s perspective - Katarina is dead. She’s an illusion. A figment of the collective imagination Allond: Who? I don’t know who -

Not who - what. Red is after the painting. 

Red: Nine days ago, a painting was commissioned. It was sent to this address, shipped to you - Mr. Paul Allond.

An enemy contacted Red. A painting was commissioned titled Rostova because Masha is in the painting. That’s why Red is so determined. He’s not trying to find Katarina, he’s trying to protect Liz. 

Allond: Yes. I… I’m a dealer. A private art broker. I received a call. No name was given. She said a piece had been acquired and was nearly finished. She asked that it be sent to me. Red: For pickup. Allond:  Yes. But not by her. By you. I assume you’re the one she spoke of. Reddington. She said you would come. 

Gina is a corporate terrorist, whom Red stated is the best of the bunch, and in comes Alexander Kirk... who owns NexaCo Gas. In season one, Gina was arrested whlie trying to bomb a shipping port. Liz figured out which port she was trying to bomb through the painting Red was trying to ship. Push the Drexel painting back to the painting that should be hanging in Boston in 1x6. 

Ressler: Shipping. They operate a port in New Orleans. 

Gina commissioned the painting and shipped it to Paul Allond. That’s why she tracked Tom in 3x17... for Alexander Kirk. 

Allond:  She said you would come.

Gina: He came just like you said he would.

[adhdo5]

Permissive

This took so long and is also written in past tense which I hate 

“How are you not tired? How are you not tired of this, One? I’m tired, and unlike you, I have a sleep schedule.” 

“That’s the problem.” One’s voice was somewhat tinny through Three’s phone speaker, despite the low register it occupied. Desaturated. “Give me a moment. Ten sent this to me the other day.” 

“That never prefaces anything good,” said Three, slightly exasperated. 

“It describes the situation perfectly,” countered One. On cue, Three’s text alert went off; Three, with a sense of mild dread, opened it to find the meme that One had sent him. 

It wasn’t the anomalous kind. It was the internet kind. To be exact, it was a picture of Emperor Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, captioned “when you’re so sleep-deprived you don’t even feel tired anymore.” Palpatine was screaming “Unlimited power!” 

Three sighed. 

There was silence for a bit.

“Damn it,” muttered One, apparently aside. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to those two. ‘Send him memes…’ I’ll fucking kill Four.” 

“Those two” probably referred to Ten and Four, the self-proclaimed “meme team” of O5 Command. More accurately, Four had proclaimed them the meme team; Ten wasn’t too enthusiastic about the name. Publically. In his apparent desperation to attempt to impress Three, One must have gone to them for help – and was regretting it, now. It was somewhere between endearing and pitiful, one of those places where it erred too close to endearing to brush off, and you weren’t sure what to do about it.

Three decided to go with sighing again and saying “One, you know I can hear you, right?” 

One paused, then swore in a language Three didn’t recognize. 

“One, wait–” Three cut in before One could hang up on him. Maybe that had been too hostile, and besides, if he let One bolt now, there’d be no chance of talking him down. He counted the seconds, and got up to about five before One said “yes” and Three let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. 

“One, you’re going to kill yourself one day.” 

“I haven’t done it yet.” 

“Don’t tempt fate, One.”

“I’ll kill fate myself.” 

“Your hubris is going to be your downfall.” 

“I don’t have hubris. I’m just stubborn.” 

“Do you hear yourself?” 

“I do.” He was unwavering. 

Three took in a breath, about to sigh another time, but reconsidered. He didn’t like arguing in general, even if it wasn’t with One making it pointless. “I worry, One.” 

“You shouldn’t.” What was that in his voice?

“I’m not impressed.” Three decided to stop that particular line of thought before it began. 

“Of course,” One said a bit too quickly. 

“But with your position in the Council, both officially and not, you need to take some degree of care of yourself.” 

“I have.” 

“Some degree of actually good care.” 

“I have.” 

The denial was starting to hurt. “Alright, One, but you look like you’re dying on the daily.”

That was a lie, partially. Despite the pallor to his probably-synthetic skin and the deep shadows under his eyes and the way the too-sharp edges of his skeleton showed where it wasn’t covered by his robe, he looked less like he was dying and more like he should have been dead but was refusing to be. This was probably accurate. 

“I’m not. I don’t die,” said One, confirming that. One was a man of many secrets only until you actually knew him.

“I know, One.” 

“In that case why–” 

“I don’t see why you have to put yourself through it, is why. That’s all I’m saying.” 

“Are. You implying you pity me.” 

“I’m sorry,” he sighed in a tone that said Can I help it? more than I’m sorry as he leaned back in his desk chair. “You’re pitiable.” 

There was silence from the other end of the line again. Three waited, looking up at the ceiling at the uniform glow of dimmed fluorescents, and let his mind drift. 

Of course, Founder was a formidable and powerful man. He wasn’t incapable, nor was he in need of protection; he was O5-1, the indestructible backbone of the Foundation, unbreakable and independent and 

and that was why, wasn’t it?

“I can. Handle myself,” One said, remembering to be cold halfway through. Three couldn’t help but think the speaker didn’t do his voice justice. 

“I know.” 

You never answered my question. 

“Your pity is not required.” One didn’t hang up.

Of course. The audacity to pity– the condescension in it. What was he thinking? “I’m not saying it is. I’m sorry.” 

“Neither is your apology.” 

This one was unexpected. “But I–” 

“Do not.” It was a demand. “I am fine.” 

Three didn’t say anything. 

One’s tone didn’t as much soften as it wore down some. Unbreaking. Weary. “You would do well to remember as such, Philosopher Scientist.”

Three was suddenly glad for the speaker’s poor quality, because if he’d heard One saying his full callsign like that in person, he didn’t know what he’d do. As it was he was becoming increasingly aware of the regrettably unmysterious ache somewhere in his chest. “I’ll try to. Just– One, you know you don’t have to be fine all the time, right?” 

“I do have to.” 

Three sighed again, to steady himself more than anything. “I’m not going to argue with you. Just– just please, get some rest.” Silence. “It doesn’t have to be a lot. Ten minutes. I can cover some of the more general-clearance things that come your way, if you like.” 

Three could feel One gearing up to protest, and mitigated before he could be interrupted. “I know you’ll be fine. Consider it just– just to calm me down, okay? For me. It’ll ease my mind.” 

It took a moment for One to reply, but he did before it got worrisome. “If. If that is so.” 

Three couldn’t help but smile, more in relief than anything. “Thank you.” 

It took an unreasonable amount of effort to resist the urge to add dear to the end of the phrase. 

“Of course.” A pause. “I. Apologize for the picture.”

“It’s alright.” 

“You are far too merciful.” 

The disproportionate reaction caught him off guard. “What do you mean, d– Founder? It’s just a meme. It’s alright.” 

“Not that.“ One didn’t seem to react to the near-slip. "I. Refer to all of this.”

“Oh.” The ache was getting worse; Three took it upon himself to not let it bleed into his voice. “That’s alright, too.” 

That was good. He had kept, the pain and the dear that wouldn’t stop trying to escape, out of the sentence.

The silence did get long enough to be worrisome this time. “One? Are you okay,–?” 

“I’m. Fine.” His voice was quieter than usual. 

“Oh, dear–” that one was acceptable, passable as an expression of general concern. “You don’t sound fine, are y–” 

“I am.“ He considered for a second. "I… I will be. I will rest as you asked of me.” 

Somehow the reassurance meant something, despite their previous agreement. “Oh, will you please? You’re okay if I’ll take care of some of what comes your way, right?” 

“That seems most efficient. Thank you, Philosopher Scientist.” 

The speaker did nothing to mitigate the quiet reverence the callsign was said with. It was suddenly hard to breathe. 

“It’s no problem,” Three somehow got out. 

“I am. Glad. Goodbye.” 

“Goodbye, dear.” 

A slightly choked sound came from the other end of the line. It took a second to register why. 

Three considered apologizing, or pretending he misspoke, or something, but the seconds dragged on and he missed his window.

“Th. Three–” 

“I’m going to hang up now,” Three said with characteristic unnatural calm, and did without waiting for a reply, and placed his phone facedown on his desk to bury his face in his hands. 

He supposed they had both allowed a bit more than expected there.

[preraphaelitepunk]

Fictober19 Day 12: Of Daylilies and FaceTwitting

Prompt #12: What if I don’t see it?

Fandom: Good Omens

Characters: Aziraphale, Crowley

Rating: General

Warnings: None

“Oh, this is hopeless.”

Aziraphale was trapped, green on every side. Well, perhaps trapped was too strong a word, but he certainly felt overwhelmed and irritable and the humidity was making his curls frizz and making him sticky. Sticky, Aziraphale felt strongly, was a word that should be applied to buns and rice and toffee pudding, not to one’s corporation.

Still, he couldn’t leave without fulfilling his quest. He couldn’t possibly disappoint Crowley like that.

It was supposed to be quick errand, just a stop before visiting that charming boulangerie that had opened recently, but he’d already been here twenty blasted minutes without sign of progress. Huffing in frustration, he leaned again over the table, squinting at the labels on the little plants and comparing them to the printout Crowley had given him. It showed a yellowish blossom with frilly edges, surrounded by long, flat, pointed leaves, with the caption “Hemerocallis a.s. (daylily).”

None of the plants he could see were even flowering, which was just rude of them. If he were less frustrated, Aziraphale could have coaxed blooms out of each individual plant with a loving touch to find the right one, but the heat and damp and frustration had gotten him so out of sorts that he feared he’d be more likely to accidentally smite them instead of encouraging them.

It was time to call for reinforcements.

Patting his pockets, he located the computer phone Crowley had forced on him a few weeks ago. It was far too sleek and plain, and the writing was far too small for him when he was in a snit like this, but Aziraphale grudgingly admitted it could come in handy sometimes. He found the folder titled “CALL CROWLEY” and tapped the single icon in the folder to open what he referred to as “Face Twitty” (mainly to get a rise out of Crowley; Aziraphale wasn’t entirely clueless about technology, but enjoyed pretending he was); then tapped the only name on the list that appeared.

“Hey, angel. Are you okay?” Crowley’s lovely face appeared on the screen, both soothing Aziraphale and ramping up his anxiety. It was rather humiliating to have to call for help over what should be such a simple task for his love.

Aziraphale was about to reply when he noticed Crowley’s wasn’t the only face showing on the screen. “Good lord, do I look like that? How appalling.”

“Front-facing camera was one of mine, I’m afraid. Makes everyone look like a gargoyle. Sorry.”

“You don’t.”

“I’m on the laptop. Better camera. And you look gorgeous, angel, even in gargoyle form. Never seen a hotter gargoyle, ever.” Crowley grinned, probably at the blush the angel could feel creeping up his cheeks. “I guess you’re not in serious trouble if you’re concerned about how you look?”

“I’m perfectly fine, my love. Just, er, about that plant you wanted: what if I don’t see it? I’m at the greenhouse, but none of the plants are blooming right now. Makes it very difficult to find the right one.”

“They should be holding it for you in the back. It’s reserved under my name. Wanted to make sure no one else got to it first.”

“I see. I was trying to find it myself on the floor; the staff are not being very helpful.”

“Pot and kettle, angel,” Crowley laughed.

“Yes, but I assume they actually want to sell their stock. I’ll try again. Hold on.” Aziraphale straightened his already impeccable posture and took a deep breath he didn’t strictly need before stalking over to the clerk lounging behind the counter with his own phone.

“I am here to pick up a plant for a friend. It is reserved under the name of Crowley.”

The youth stirred languidly, blinking at him. ‘Oh, sure. Let me check.” The clerk put down his phone and tapped at the computer on the counter. Humans these days always seemed to need their silly screens. “Crowley — ah, it’s the ‘Angel’s Smile’ daylily, right? Just a sec. I’ll fetch it from the back.”

Aziraphale waited until the human had left before raising his own phone again; Crowley was looking suspiciously nonchalant, face carefully blank. “Crowley, dear?”

“Yes, angel?”

“The ‘a.s.’ In the plant’s name stands for ‘Angel’s Smile’?”

“Ngk. Just a coincidence, promise. I liked the flower, and it just happened to have that name. Don’t go reading anything into it, angel.”

“Of course not.”

“I know how you get all sappy about nonsense like that.”

“And as we all know, I’m the sappy one,” Aziraphale said evenly.

“‘Course. So they’ve got it?”

“They’re bringing it out now, my dear. I’ll just wrap up my errands and see you at home.”

“Great, thanks.”

“With your Angel’s Smile.” Aziraphale’s own smile was, he knew, just a little teasing, but he admitted he was enough of a bastard to like watching his darling squirm a bit. Before Crowley could respond, he said, “See you soon. Love you,” and ended the call.

[runningwolf62]

@wardencommanderrodimiss, @pachelbelsheadcanon Oh my god I hate case fics, have the first half of Turnabout Ablaze.

-

At first, it’s a pretty simple routine. Get up. Get dressed. Walk the dog. Go back to Edgey’s apartment. Apply for jobs. Write fic. Rinse and repeat.

The chapter is less of a mess than Larry had originally thought and while his readers love it, they have questions and Larry wishes he had answers. WolfDragon offers what support he can, apparently he’s got something coming up with work, his coworker, who he compares to being “frighteningly like Viper from your fic” has something for him that’s gonna keep him busy for the foreseeable future but Larry already misses him. Like, he’s not gonna sit around waiting for him to get back, but he finds that WolfDragon’s really become part of his life and he’s gonna miss being able to chat with him quite as much.

Pess is good company though as he binges his way through Edgey’s collection of Steel Samurai, occasionally he texts him a picture of the TV with some caption as he reacts to whatever is happening in the episode. Edgeworth seems largely amused by Larry’s reactions though occasionally he asks his opinion on a plot twist or writing choice, but given his focus is on visiting his family in Germany he doesn’t have too much time to talk.

But then, a few days into Edgeworth’s vacation, something pops up on Larry’s radar. Namely because he’d been searching “Steel Samurai” in an attempt to find a reference for some art to draw Edgeworth, partially as a joke, partially as a thank you. But this is the answer to Larry’s prayers. Sort of.

The embassies are hiring, of all things, someone to perform in a stage play of Steel Samurai. Larry figures fuck it, and throws his hat in the ring. It can’t hurt to try and plus he’s still working on getting published.

Something that hurts to even think about, because he misses sitting with Elise and talking about plot ideas, just the camaraderie of having someone to sit with and work with. He misses having a mentor and it guts him still to think about writing serious work.

He knows he needs to though. He needs to strike while the iron’s hot, but he’s made a deal with himself. Find a new place, find a new job to pay the bills, and then he goes back. He’ll give himself that much time, that should be enough time to mourn.

What he doesn’t expect, is that he hears back almost immediately. Like later that day immediately.

But Larry’s not one to turn down a chance at work, however brief this will be. So, he says yes.

He waits to tell Edgeworth though because he wants to see his face.

-

Oh, he sees Edgeworth’s face alright. Larry prides himself on everything Nick taught him in college and then stuff he picked up in his time working here that he doesn’t break character when Miles Edgeworth himself asks for his autograph. He really cannot wait to see his face now. He might have to film it. He tries to wink at him as he hands over the autograph, but he doesn’t think Edgeworth sees it. He doesn’t recognize the young girl with him either, she reminds him of Maya though, something about her eyes, bright chirping voice and dark hair.

Edgy and Nick were just adopting kids all over the place huh?

He remembers what he’s here to do though. This is a big moment, a big goodwill thing, no pressure Larry. No pressure. Just shaking a guy’s hand.

Thankfully that ends without incident, Larry feels like he’s riding some kind of high. He’s not only impressed Edgeworth, admittedly not that Edgeworth knew that, but he’s done a massively impressive thing without fucking it up! Though now that it’s over, he did just kind of shake a guy’s hand. Like, yeah, the gesture was important, but it was just an everyday thing really. He tells himself that in the hopes his heart rate will go back down to normal.

Well, honestly, getting out of his costume and getting some fresh air might help. He takes a secret staircase up and out during the Jammin’ Ninja thing to go sit on the roof and take his helmet off and just cool down.

He does let out a fist pump and a cheer though. Larry Butz, Turnabout Champion in his own right after all.

He takes the time to relax, rehydrate, and admire the chimney, it’s got some interesting architecture though he’s not sure why anyone would have a fire going now. It’s LA in March it’s not that cold, it shouldn’t be smoking. He gets so lost in studying the chimney that he kind of forgets he’s supposed to head down to his room and then to the speech.

Until the police arrive, to find him still admiring architecture.

And he’s accused of murder.

Again.

Larry decides at this point the universe is against him this year.

He lets himself be dragged back downstairs, holy shit there’s an actual dead body, he feels his breath stop in his throat, memories of Elise, er, Misty, and the memory of Cindy haunting him as he stares at the body.

He steps back as this very aggressive - did he actually just snarl at him – Interpol agent steps towards him, he wants to be back on the roof, away from her, away from the body and the accusations, just long enough to clear his head and think.

He backs away and right into something solid that grunts as Larry crashes into them. The pitch suggests male. The whip that makes his head spin, literally as his mask spins around him, suggests someone else.

“What do you think you're doing to my subordinate!?” Yeah, he knows that voice and whip. He quickly pulls his helmet off so that he can see her, “uh hi aga- Edgy?”

Edgeworth’s eyes about leap out of his skull, and Von Karma spares him a glance, long enough to ask, “who is this fruitcake!?” Okay now that felt harsh.

“I am Larry of the House of Butz: Married Man of Neo Olde Tokyo, m’ ma’am!” He would not say m’lady he had not sunk that low, he had not. His head was still kind of spinning though, and given he’d smashed his name together with the Steel Samurai’s introduction he might also have some kind of heat exhaustion.

“Now I remember. This... person is one of your childhood friends, isn't he, Miles?”

Edgeworth softens slightly as he seems to take in Larry’s frantic state, “yes… he is.”

Larry laughs a bit nervously, “Hey! It’s good to see ya, I’m in a bit of a bind.” He also hadn’t realized Edgeworth was back in town, had they missed each other? He’s been walking Pess, even with his now hectic schedule, the show coming up had caused the past week to be a bit of a blur.

Edgeworth’s eyes narrow and Larry fights the urge to shift around nervously, “what sort of "bind" are we talking about here...?”

Larry glances over his shoulder at the agent behind him, who also had narrowed eyes and a cruel, sharp, sneer, “the suspect kind! I accidentally became a suspect in a murder!”

“I see. That is quite the bind.” Edgeworth sounds calm though as he took in the room so maybe things will be okay. Maybe.

Von Karma arches an eyebrow and tugs on her whip, “...Not that we're in the least bit surprised.”

Edgeworth makes a noise in his throat while Larry feels himself deflate like a balloon. Namely like the one he launched into Gourd lake. Sounds like a good idea right now. Not just ‘cause he felt like shit, but he was also sweating in the costume.

“Franziska, he has been making quite the effort to improve himself,” Edgeworth speaks quietly but firmly, “I assure you; he’s only improved.”

Larry gives him a grateful look while Franziska eyes him critically, Larry hates how he feels himself coming up short as she sizes him up. But the she nods.

“Well then, fools of a feather flock together.”

Edgeworth nods and then seems to take in Larry’s outfit, “wait!”

Larry grins at him tiredly, “surprise? I hope you liked the autograph?” he really hopes Edgeworth did, he hopes that had made him happy in some way.

Edgeworth is gawking at him again, “you were the… On stage…”

“Yeah?”

“Not to interrupt,” the voice that cuts in is one clearly delighted to interrupt and Larry about jumps out of the suit when the hand comes down on his shoulder.

Edgeworth’s eyes harden to flint as he takes in the man next to Larry. “Aha. So, this is the incident you mentioned earlier.”

The Agent grins and Larry feels like the big bad wolf is hanging off his shoulder, “Mr. Prosecutor, this man... this childhood friend of yours... is our prime suspect. Of what, you ask? Of the murder of a man who had snuck into this embassy, Mask☆DeMasque II!”

“There was a second one?” Larry looks at him in surprise, he almost feels himself throw up, he doesn’t need a reminder of that god awful week, and this time without WolfDragon and Nick to help pull him out of it, he doesn’t need to remember the break up, the fight, the foolish, stupid-

“useless looking young man”

He bites back bile and has barely zoned back in when he hears Edgeworth ask someone, a different detective? Where had he come from?

“Why exactly was that man placed under arrest, Detective?”

The detective glances at him curiously, “that... samurai?”

Edgeworth grins slightly, “he was born looking suspicious, but not for the reasons you suspect, I assure you. As you can plainly see, he is completely harmless.” Larry gives him a dirty look, now is not the time for jokes but Edgeworth doesn’t seem to mean anything by it other than light ribbing.

The detective looks at him and hesitates, “well, it was just a random guess... It's not like he's actually under arrest...”

What? Larry spins to look at the agent, who had certainly made it sound like he was being arrested before he decides that is not a man he wants to fight. Samurai sword or no.

“Tonight, here, at the Allebahstian Embassy Ambassador Alba was to give a commemorative speech. And that's when... the Yatagarasu showed. But keep in mind... the Yatagarasu isn't who I'm talking about right now.”

Larry tries to catch Edgeworth’s eyes, the whomst? But Edgeworth’s focus is on the detective as he continues.

“Those seats for the guests who had been called to sit in them were empty.””

Edgeworth glances at Larry out of the corner of his eye, “a no-show...? Who was it that failed to take their seat?”

“Me,” Larry muttered miserably, “I was up on the roof.” And had completely forgotten.

The detective, Larry leans to see the name Badd – is that a joke?!? – pinned on his shirt. “The Steel Samurai. Until the speech was to begin, each member of the entire Steel Samurai family was to wait in a separate room, However, for some weird reason that man was spotted in a different location than his assigned room at that time.”

“On the roof,” Edgeworth finishes, and glances at Larry, “and what, were you doing up there?”

Larry tugs on his collar, “After the show, I left the pushcart in the Rose Garden, and came into the embassy. Then, they took a picture of me shaking hands with the ambassador. After that, and until my next appearance, I had some free time, so I wandered around, and I was overheating so I thought I’d go outside and cool off. Celebrate a little.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. “That's when I spotted the chimney. A chimney like that is a rare thing, you know.” He bites back his excitement, “and I was busy admiring the architecture and missed my cue and that’s when they found me on the roof.”

“You were just up there cooling off?” Edgeworth repeats, as though there’s doubt. Larry shrugs his shoulders.

“Did a little people watching too and that sort of thing but mostly yeah.” He pauses, “I was also wondering why smoke was pouring out of it, given it’s March. In LA. You know, not the time to cuddle up in front of a fire.”

He folds his arms and tilts his head to think, “which is really weird ‘cause I think that’s Mindy’s room and she was taken away on a stretcher so I don’t know why she’d want to overheat.”

Edgeworth and Von Karma startle at that and he realizes he’s probably handed them some evidence they’ll need to make sense of. He gives them a chance to prowl around the room and investigate, doing his best to stay out of the way while keeping Edgeworth between him and the wolf guy. He has a very intense stare as he watches Larry from across the room, he certainly knows his aesthetic and lives up to it.

"I must again ask why we are helping this foolish fool," Von Karma asks with a glance over at Larry, who grins sheepishly.

Edgeworth glances at his sister, "that man helped me when I was at my lowest point and believed that I could return. I would like to offer Larry the same chance."

"Thanks, Edgy- wait that man? Do you mean-"

"Can someone please get the Pink Princess so we can ask her some questions?" Edgeworth smoothly steamrolls over Larry's confusion. That man really.

The wolf man huffs, eyes narrowing as he watches them, Larry feels very much like a rabbit might under the gaze of a wolf. Edgeworth’s attention turns to him now and the investigator shifts to address him.

“You did some investigating over in the Babahlese Embassy, too, right?”

Edgeworth nods once, “I did. Is there a problem?” It’s like a tennis match, though Larry thinks Edgeworth prefers when his partner on the court (hah) is Nick.

“Lang Zi says: ‘A wolf who aims to hunt for two rabbits at once...’” he rumbles, almost a warning and Larry kinda wishes he could be that intimidating.

Edgeworth keeps his cool though, and Larry is very impressed. “I believe the idiom you require is, ‘He who runs after two hares will catch neither.’”

The agent scoffs openly at that, “A real wolf can catch both.”

Edgeworth smirks just slightly and Larry knows he’s got him. “I see. So, what are you trying to say, seeing as how I am currently handling two cases?”

The agent pauses before he snorts again, “suit yourself. But don't say I didn't warn you.” Larry isn’t sure he even did that in the entire conversation but he’s having the horrifying realization of why the agent’s way of talking sounds familiar. He talks like WolfDragon. But like WolfDragon if he was a rampant asshole.

Edgeworth turns to Larry now, “I have some questions for you.”

“I’ve got some for you as well,” Larry folds his arms over his chest, the costume clanging slightly as he does, “what’s with you and that man” he rolls his eyes at the term, “and adopting kids? Like you turn your back and he’s got another one and now you’ve got one hanging off you. Where is she by the way?”

“She couldn’t get- she is not my- I am not adopting anyone,” Edgeworth flusters and the agent lifts his eyebrow.

“Maybe you two could be childhood friends.” He mused out loud, Larry gives him a dirty look before he can think better of it.

The pink princess arriving keeps Larry’s foot out of his mouth for the moment. “Hey!” He greets her cheerfully; he likes Mindy and thinks she likes him. Thinks she liked him a lot more when he mentioned off handedly that he wasn’t dating right now because he was focusing on getting himself and his life back in order. “Feeling any better?”

There’s no response and Larry finds that a bit unsettling. “Umm.”

Edgeworth and Von Karma glance at her and then begin musing over the fireplace, Larry has no idea how the fireplaces could be connected; his only experience with architecture was drawing it. He could admire it, but he didn’t know the mechanics.

But it’s important to the two of them obviously. Larry’s not sure how he feels watching them interact. It’s like they almost get along but can’t help sabotaging their own relationship.

Edgeworth turns from his sister and the fireplace to Mindy, “Ms. Pink Princess. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you.”

Once more she doesn’t answer, and Larry and Edgeworth share a concerned look. The agent shifts his weight slightly, Larry realizes in that moment if something has happened to Mindy at least he’ll be on their side in this.

Edgeworth took a step forward, calmly, “Ms. Pink Princess! If you would please answer...” as he spoke, she began to remove her helmet and Edgeworth’s voice definitely shot up an octave on “me!”

Edgeworth makes a noise like a computer finding an error and Larry was given vivid flashes of that one cursed job, his past has all come back to haunt him today hasn’t it?

“Wh-what the--!? A-Aren't you Ms. Oldbag!?” Larry stammers out, barely managing to not curse, mostly out of fear Von Karma will strike him.

Edgeworth whirls on him, “why are you so surprised!?”

Oldbag looks surprised to see him, “Ah, so you're the one they got to play the Steel Samurai. It's too bad I didn't realize that until now.”

“You are acquaintances with Larry...?” Bit stronger of a relationship than Larry would say they have but he’ll gladly let Edgeworth talk to her.

Oldbag laughs and waves her hand like she’s trying to reassure a jealous lover, “why, yes! We worked at the same company for a little while, you know. That's why it's OK, my Edgey-poo! You don't need to be jealous!”

Edgeworth makes a strangled noise and Larry does not blame him in the slightest.

Oldbag continues, “I was in the next room, you know, trying to get in some beauty sleep. But it was so noisy here that I couldn't fall asleep. So, I came over to complain! So, imagine my shock when I saw my precious Edgey-poo waiting here for me! I mean, who could've imagined that you would ever come to a show like this! I guess I've misjudged you, Edgey-poo!”

Von Karma and Larry both shift closer to Edgeworth as though he might need them for support. Von Karma pulls on her coiled whip and asked slowly, “you ‘misjudged’ him...?”

“I thought he was trying to avoid me, you know!” She laughs but Larry can see by Edgeworth’s face that was exactly what he was doing. “But it looks like the winds have shifted and he's now willing to be chased after! I'm simply overwhelmed! Don't you worry, Edgey-poo! I'd chase you for forever! To the ends of the Earth!”

Von Karma looks ready to jump in front of her brother and buy him time to run but instead says, “Isn't that just peachy?”

Oldbag explains that she used to work for the studio, and they’d called her last minute as understudy for Mindy. That certainly did explain why “Mindy” had missed so many cues and fumbled in so many places. Larry had done his best to cover for his co-star when he’d needed to. Which he’d had.

“How did you get the role,” Edgeworth asks Larry absently as they watch her hand the paper proving it to Von Karma.

“Guy they wanted for the role got a bigger acting offer. Some movie that’s gonna have John Marsh in it or something.” Edgeworth nods and Larry adds, "I also thought I was applying for the crew."

"That... does make more sense."

"Yeah, I'm good with my hands and arts and building stuff, so I figured stage and tech couldn't be that hard, helped once with one of Nick's things in college but I guess I clicked the wrong link or something 'cause I got called in for an audition."

Edgeworth’s soft laugh is fond, “that does seem your kind of luck.”

Larry grins at him and shrugs, a feeling of warmth uncurling in his chest. If he wasn’t accused of murder this would be downright heartwarming.

The sound of a dog barking makes them start, Larry turns his head, since when did police departments use Shibas?

The Agent immediately begins to praise him, Larry settles next to Edgeworth to watch the unfold. After a moment he leans over and asks, “what his name anyway? The guy who like tried to arrest me.”

“Agent Lang, he’s with Interpol.” Edgeworth replies and Larry tries to suppress a shudder at just how much trouble he’s gotten himself into.

Larry watches Edgeworth debate and reason exactly how Larry isn’t the killer and connect various pieces of evidence with a speed that Larry has to admire. “You’re a real Sherlock Holmes Edgy,” he comments with a grin as he watches Edgeworth display his wit.

Agent Lang huffs and curls his lip in a smirk and Larry’s eyes widen, was this guy an actual werewolf why were his teeth like that?!?

He jerks back as Agent Lang speaks, “well done Mr. Prosecutor.” He glances between the two of them, “although, I still find it a bit unbelievable that the two of you are friends.”

Edgeworth and Larry are silent, they’ve proved how well they know each other, if that’s not enough for him Larry doesn’t know what will be. Especially if he’s gonna be like this about it.

Lang’s eyes glint with a bit of excitement, “but the suspicion on that guy over there-” head jerk at Larry, “isn't completely resolved yet, so don't get any funny ideas about running off, OK?” This time he smirks at Larry and he steps back.

“Uh Edgy, what does Wolfman mean when he says I’m not off the hook?” He thinks Lang twitches at the Wolfman name. He knows he does, it slipped out by accident, but Agent Lang is like WolfDragon’s evil twin or something.

Edgeworth sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, “he means the murder weapon. Larry, did you forget? There are two layers of suspicion hanging over your head.”

Lang smirks like the wolf who has caught the first scent of blood, “That's exactly what I mean. We can't only rely on the words of the suspect, after all. We may have figured out where he was and what he was doing all night… but the blood-stained Samurai Sword that was left at the crime scene- As long as there is no satisfactory explanation for that then this wolf will refuse to ease up on his bite!”

Larry thinks he snapped his teeth at the end of his sentence, “Jesus, Edgy, He looks like he's seriously about to take a bite out of me!”

Edgeworth glares at Lang, “he probably will.” He draws himself up and steps up to debate, Larry’s beginning to realize that with his luck it’s a damn good thing his two childhood friends became lawyers.

He chimes in when he can, confirming that the spear and the sword are made of the same stuff and bend easily, he’s pretty sure not even Lang could kill a man with one. It would be rather like killing a man with a carboard tube.

And then Franziska and Edgeworth finally get to what has been lingering underneath the surface of their exchanges.

Her father.

Larry hates that man more than he could ever put into words. He remembers Greggory Edgeworth faintly, more a kind feeling, a warmth and an aching loss. He knows exactly what he did to Edgeworth though and for that he will never forgive him. He bites his words back though; this is between the siblings.

And you know it’s serious when your sibling calls you by your last name, “Ms. von Karma, as you know, unlike your father, I am not a genius prosecutor. Plus, I doubt his record of a 40-year win streak will ever be broken.” Edgeworth raises his head proudly, “but perhaps, it is for the best if it remains unbroken. For no one should've conceived of the notion to ‘convict all defendants’ in the first place!”

“Atta a boy Edgy,” Larry’s muttered praise fills the silence as Franziska stares at her brother. Her whip strikes over his armor and he yelps.

“What a foolishly foolish statement from a foolish fool who hates to lose!” Franziska steps towards her brother which is hardly intimidating in Larry’s opinion when Edgeworth is that much taller, “it's the job of a prosecutor to make sure that all defendants are found guilty in court. There is nothing more important in this world than a perfect victory!”

Edgeworth shakes his head sadly at her, “That may be your opinion, however, I don't believe that's all we are.”

Lang makes a startled noise, Larry smirks at him now, like he told WolfDragon, Edgy is the best of the prosecution, not for his record but for his beliefs.

“As a prosecutor, what I pursue is not the perfect victory, but the perfect truth. And if that means that the bridge, I must cross will crumble beneath my feet... ...then let it crumble as I walk on towards the truth!” Larry itches to write that down, or clap, or something. He just grins at Edgeworth with pride, and he catches a hint of gratitude from Edgeworth. Edgeworth has come a long way from his ‘Demon Prosecutor’ days and Larry’s so happy to see him get here.

Lang is quite a moment longer, perhaps aware of the moment they are sharing before he grins and cuts in, “you're good at keeping me entertained, Mr. Prosecutor!” He looks actually pleased, not the cocky arrogance Larry’s begun to associate with him, but it shifts back into the challenging smirk and he and Edgeworth start going again.

The verbal sparring is much louder when Larry is standing right next to everyone yelling “Hold it!” and “Objection!” and “Not so fast!” His head spins but Edgeworth proves that the murder weapon wasn’t even the sword. Or would’ve if they’d be allowed to examine it.

Larry feels a pang of guilt as Edgeworth agrees to take the responsibility for any repercussions from examining the statue, this is his fault. If he’d been more careful, if he’d been where he was supposed to be Edgeworth wouldn’t be risking everything for him.

Except that this evidence they find is literally game changing. He’s off the hook and everyone looks too busy to explain what is happening, so he heads off back to his room.

Once there he realizes that his ‘son’ is missing. Great. The last thing he needs is to get in trouble for having lost a prop. Nothing for it. He’ll just have to check everywhere that isn’t a crime scene. Actually, that might be a good idea. Keep him out of the way and out of trouble. But first he needs to get out of this costume before he sweats to death.

[scyllua]

As chap.204 would be more of an interlude chapter (a breather after the events of Thursday the 13th and a very intense fanart-sharing moment between amateur artists), the Japanese fandom's reaction to it hasn't been noteworthy. (Bad joke: but it's been a boost nonetheless in comparison to last week! If only because the manga was in hiatus last week and therefore, there was no chapter to speak of! I thought of mentioning this because I noticed my blog at my personal domain had many more visitors last Thursday, I'm assuming, because fans were searching online for the weekly GK chapter and most likely, wondering why they couldn't find it.)

That doesn't mean there aren't highlights in this chapter, though. I'd say chap.204 feels oddly subdued in tone and pacing -in spite of a Wild Wolverine Attack! in the latter half-, but that'd be mostly because the previous three have been rather action-packed. I wrote chap.201-203 would serve as the introduction to the arc to unfold in this volume (which would encompass chap.201-210), and while we've been given more than enough hints about what to expect in the near future (the still ongoing plot with the Partisans and the reappearance of a certain one-eyed sniper), this chapter seems to introduce more subplots while still pointing in the same direction. My usual warnings about mistakes and mistranslations applying as usual, onto CHAP.204! EMPHATICALLY APPALLING!! JUST AS SUGIMOTO AND ASIRPA SHOW US IN THE PANEL AT THE TOP OF THIS POST!!!

In short, Tsukishima gets a telegraph message from Tsurumi informing him that the business he had in Noboribetsu has been taken care of and he'll be heading to Karafuto then. As Tsurumi will rendezvous with them in Oodomari (the same port town in southern Karafuto they arrived in back in vol.14) in two weeks time, he tells the group to stay in Toyohara until then. Koito comments they're to stay in Toyohara because it's a large town with better lodgings, and since there's nothing else for them to do until then, they should just take things easy. While in the town outskirts, Cikapasi and Tanigaki meet a couple of Ainu men who question the boy about where he comes from and who that big guy standing over there is. Cikapasi explains they come from beyond the southern sea, and introduces Tanigaki as his uncle. The Matagi then comments about the extra marginally important information Cikapasi gave the Ainu men about how much endowed he is, and tells the boy how useful and supportive he's been through their journey in Karafuto. As both ponder about Inkarmat in Hokkaido, Enonoko approaches them and asks Cikapasi if he's going back already. In the nearby forest and as Asirpa and Sugimoto get ready to hunt a kuzuri (a wolverine), Tsukishima tells Vasily (who's still following them) to go back to Russia. The wolverine hunt is interrupted by a couple of photographers who seem to have an interest in Asirpa, but just in cue, the little and irascible animal attacks one of the men. After they take care of the wolverines -in a moment vaguely reminiscing of vol.7 and the adventure in the cabin in the woods, there were two of them- and Asirpa cooks them (the very reason she wanted to catch one), the photographers explain the device they're carrying is a cinematograph, and that they're interested in documenting about the Ainu culture.

The chapter's title is 残したいもの (nokoshitaimono), a term I'm having some trouble with. Since the term 残す means "to leave behind", "to save" or "to reserve", and given the group's current activities, I'm understanding the title in the sense of "things we're doing to cherish later" (it literally translates to "things I want to save/leave behind"). Remember how in manga and anime the characters will sometimes state they want to try doing things as to have good memories of them? Asirpa says so in this chapter as she spots wolverine's tracks and decides to catch one... to eat it, of course (and cherish its taste for ages to come, that's it). They're in Karafuto, so they won't be going back to Hokkaido without having a bite of everything that is to munch on in that island! Some random fan comment here: While I understand the social and cultural importance of food in Japan (similar to the culinary traditions we have in my country), I can't but frown a little at just how this girl is in her way to try every possible edible animal that pops up in the story. At the very least, I think I can feel sorry even for the little demonic wolverines they eat in this chapter.

...but starting from the beginning! Plotwise, an important highlight of this chapter would be the piece of information regarding Tsurumi; specifically, that he's making his way to rendezvous with the group in Karafuto. Since he sends word to Tsukishima that the business in Noboritsu has been taken care of, I think that'd be our confirmation that all events in the manga occur in a chronological order; that's it, in the order and within the same timeline as we're shown in the story. I'm mentioning this because I was wondering whether Kikuta's showdown with Toni Anji's group in Noboribetsu (chap.190-195, to be compiled in vol.20) was taking place at the same time as Sugimoto's entourage lost sight of their sniper in northern Karafuto: this indeed seems to be the case. Back then, I also pondered how author Noda would then "speed up" things, for the manga had taken 7 volumes to depict Sugimoto and Kiroranke's groups' journey through Karafuto: either he used an ellipsis, or fast-paced the narration as not to spend other 70 chapters to show us how they went back to Hokkaido. In my previous chapter summary entry as well, I wrote I thought the current arc could wrap up while in Karafuto before all plotlines seemed to be aligning in that direction: Sugimoto's group is still in that island, Vasily is following them (providing us with a good excuse expedited reason for Ogata to make a comeback and have another duel with the Russian sniper), Sofia is making her way back to Hokkaido (via Karafuto? We don't know yet, but that could be a possibility - and a viable reason for her to cross paths with the protagonist cast)... and now Tsurumi is traveling to the northern island as well. I must say I hadn't thought of this scenario (as I'd assumed Noda would favor Hokkaido as the setting for most if not all future and pivotal events), but it'd certainly pace up the plot forward quite considerably.

Some fan pondering here: So, what do you think Tsurumi's arrival in Karafuto will be like? Because of the way the original text is phrased and of just how Japanese grammar is, it isn't that explicitly stated that Tsurumi will be personally going to rendezvous with the group, but that can be implied from the sentence. ...Now, let us remember he hasn't made an appearance in the flesh -and outside a flashback- since chap.171 (vol.18); there's no need for him to show up in a grand and remarkable way with an equally large entourage at the time (but it's Tsurumi: one can never know for sure with this man), though I'm looking forward to seeing him flanked by some of his trusted and skilled men a the very least. Random pondering #2: Since everything turned out just well in Noboritsu -for everyone involved... save Toni Anji's group, that's it-, I'm assuming Usami didn't get that scolding in the end. Good for him. Random hopeful thought: It'd be pretty nice if we could get some more of Kikuta and Ariko then.

A small caption for the chapter reads, "it's golden time!" The term is given in English (and it's an actual expression used in education in this language), but the connotation it has in Japanese, if I'm not wrong, would refer to time spent in leisure or pleasant activities that are meant to be enjoyed and cherished: the accompanying kanji precisely read, 自由時間 (jiyuu jikan, lit. "free time"). And, of course, the term would also serve as a pun for the manga's title for including the word "golden" on it. Well, that's just what our protagonist group will do for the time being.

...starting with Tanigaki and Cikapasi, who meet a couple of Ainu men. When the men question the boy about where he comes from and who the big guy over there is (my phrasing, by the way: they simply ask about "that man"), Cikapasi tells them they come from beyond the southern sea, and refers to Tanigaki as his ojisan. Note that this term in Japanese means "uncle", but it's also a colloquial way to refer to any older man, akin to saying "an old man" or "a mister". I'm going with Cikapasi as literally introducing Tanigaki as his uncle, though, because the word he uses in Ainu is achapo: my knowledge of Ainu being so obviously zero, I do remember acha meaning "father" in this language. Hence, I think the boy is genuinely referring to Tanigaki as an uncle: probably not in the strictest sense, but as a person close to him and with a family-like tie. Explanations over, Cikapasi then adds Tanigaki has... big balls, er, yes. I'm going to take his word for that, as the only adult male character who's gotten clear and full frontal shots in this manga so far has been Shiraishi: we wouldn't know for sure about the rest. He says 金玉, a colloquial term literally translating to "golden ball" and meaning "testicles". Speaking of another Jump-serialized manga and being the irreverent author he is, Sorachi Hideaki titled his best-known story 銀魂 (Gintama, lit. "Silver Soul") as a play-on-words with precisely this term, kintama; given the franchise became so popular as to encompass the manga, several anime series, live-action movies, and a ton of merchandise that was referenced to even in the story canon, it's probable nobody will raise an eyebrow at Gintama's title now, but at the beginning of its serialization some did have a thing or two to say in Japan. Guess Sorachi got away with it in the end... and his detractors had no idea as to what the manga would give them through its publication.

Tanigaki and Cikapasi then have a moment to reflect on their journey in Karafuto. As the boy's (and our loyal Shiba dog, ie. Ryuu) presence has been both useful and supportive through their adventure, Tanigaki is glad they didn't send them back as soon as they were found out as stowaways; Cikapasi thinks back of his family in Hokkaido and in quite the high spirits, wonders about Inkarmat (or more specifically, would think of her, as he refers to Tanigaki, Inkarmat and himself as a family). In equally a good mood, Tanigaki says he's sure Inkarmat recovered and is doing well, and that they should go back to see her. However, a sad moment arises when Enonoka, upon overhearing them, asks Cikapasi if he's really going back now.

Cut to Asirpa calling out to Sugimoto to take a look at something she's just found. But fear not, it's not some more excrement (because even Sugimoto assumed so), but wolverine's tracks. Asirpa hasn't seen one yet, so she asks Sugimoto about the tracks (as he told her he'd meet one of the little diabolical things before); upon the immortal's confirmation that they belong to a wolverine and the animal is worse than a wild bear in some aspects, she decides to hunt it. Well, they're in Karafuto already, so why not catching one and eat it? Another random comment here: we Peruvians have an expression stating that "someone got all the stickers in their album" in reference to completing a trade card album, still a popular activity in our country among adults and children alike. As an expression, it broadly means that someone has done everything in a list, or have completed a collection; in a very negative example, the last person I remember using it was a journalist talking about how a government official was found to have committed a long list of crimes related to corruption. That's to say, the corrupt official had all the stickers in his album, from perjury and malpractice to bribery and running away from the country when he was issued an arrest warrant. Okay, for my Golden Kamuy example, I won't obviously talk about politics here, only how Asirpa has a figurative edible flora-and-fauna album ("Everything You Can Hunt Down Or Find... And Have A Taste Of!") she must have 3/4 full at the very least by now, counting her gourmet experiences in both Hokkaido and Karafuto.

(As it's customary and part of the narration in Golden Kamuy, there's a passage detailing Ainu traditions in this chapter, but... Sorry, I'm skipping all the cultural references as not to incur in any translation inaccuracies.) As Tsukishima is presumably scouting and watching the surroundings (and I'm going to fan-assume here Koito is off somewhere trying to find more reindeers... or any equally cute small wild animals), he finds Vasily doing, well, pretty much the same, it seems. Tsukishima curtly tells him to go back to Russia... and I'm afraid I do have several fan comments to make.

First off, let's take another look at the panel of Vasily turning to face Tsukishima. The small sign by his head (at the left side of the panel) is meant to show he's surprised or just caught on something -in this case, it'd be Tsukishima looking at him-... but taken out of context, and as RavenTears pointed out, it makes him look as though he's shining. Dazzling Russian snipers, indeed. On a personal note, Vasily looks to me as though he somehow aged 10 years or so in the interlude from the previous chapter to this, as he has a slightly more mature appearance now (but not as old-looking as he was in vol.17). Until the next chapter is out and we can hopefully get more panel shots of (and some more interaction with) him, I'm just going to fan-assume the excited moment of fanarts-sharing with Sugimoto in chap.203 had some sort of age-regression effect on both him (physically speaking) and the immortal (mentally emotionally speaking in his case, something not that surprising at all given the hard life Sugimoto has led until now).

Also... is nobody really keeping track of the Russian that's following the group? Since people in this manga have never seen too keen on holding grudges for the most part (as I could argue that Tanigaki, for example, invoked retribution against Kiroranke instead of exacting revenge), I can understand the group isn't worried about a sniper who already targeted them twice and is currently tailing them. Said sniper also merits a mention for tailing them under the same circumstances, ie. apparently not concerning himself with the possibility of a member of the group deciding to be proactive and taking him down as not to risk being targeted by the same marksman for a third time. But Tsukishima's startlement at finding Vasily by his side makes me think they might not be that watchful as one could expect or wish. That said, if a silent Russian sniper can stand by their side without being too much conspicuous or alerting them, I won't be much surprised if the group ends up being ambushed by a Japanese one-eyed sniper making a comeback in the near future. I'll be actually looking forward to it. I mean the sniper's comeback, of course; not the characters being ambushed and targeted and shot down all over again.

And lastly... Tsukishima's line written horizontally in his speech bubble instead of vertically would indicate he's speaking in Russian, which would be relevant in a metalevel (because it makes perfect sense that he's speaking in this language to Vasily). Japanese is traditionally written top-to-bottom and right-to-left, but it can also be written in a horizontal orientation and left-to-right. Until World War II, if I'm not wrong, Japanese was written horizontally for small portions of text (such as in signs or newspapers headers), but from right-to-left. One example in GK would be the Yamamoto Barbershop in the Barato arc (vol.6) which, by the way, it's based on an actual building with the same name preserved for historical reasons:

The sign reads 山本理髪店 (Yamamoto Rihatsuten), but you'll notice the kanji are oriented right-to-left instead: 店髪理本山. Nowadays, horizontally-written Japanese follows the left-to-right orientation, and it's mainly used for aesthetically or design-related reasons (such as in printed matter or ads), but also for practicality (eg. movie subtitles placed at the bottom of the screen or, as a standard, in traffic signs and similar). In manga, however, horizontally written Japanese is usually used to indicate the lines are spoken in another language, such as with Tsukishima's in the above panel. In the Golden Kamuy manga, dialog spoken in Russian is usually given a Japanese translation in the same speech bubble, but written in a horizontal orientation because of space issues. (Ainu is written using the katakana syllabary with a top-to-bottom orientation, just as in Japanese). In several instances, though, no Russian text is written, and only the Japanese "translation" is given, such as Tsukishima and Svetlana's exchange in chap.185: we know they're speaking in Russian, though, because the lines are still oriented horizontally, and that's the importance of this detail.

I can only speculate, but I'm assuming those dialogs aren't always translated into Russian probably because of problems related to time issues or the availability of the consultant/translator at the time of the publication of the chapter. In some other instances, I suppose the text is so short (...such as Tsukishima "go back to Russia" line), it's not deemed necessary to translate them for the sake of the manga's sense of realism: after all, we can watch an English-spoken movie based on feudal Japan and won't be bothered by the fact that they aren't speaking in the intended language. Also, one might argue that they could always use an automated translation for such small lines... but I personally prefer those lines to be left as is, in Japanese and using visual or narrative devices (as the orientation of the text) to indicate readers the text is meant to be in another language: details such as those don't detract from the plot or the feeling of the manga and, most importantly, they might also prevent the manga from making very glaring translation mistakes. Trust me, I've seen enough terribly rendered lines in Spanish in American comics to insist authors and editors better get an actual translator, or not dare use Google Translate at all. Speaking of comics and Russian! A comic I remember where a similar visual device was used is one of Marvel's Winter Soldier series (the original run by author Brubaker, if I remember correctly). The one difference was that many lines in this comic had an asterisk at the end which led to a footnote stating that... they were being spoken in Russian. At the opposite end of the example, I also remember a Vampirella comic that featured some lines written in such a mangled Spanish, it took a couple of rereadings (even for a native speaker such as myself) to make sense of them. And in not-so-awful but still rather bad example, there was the Witchblade comic in which I vaguely remember at least a character having a name in Japanese... written in incorrect Japanese, most likely because the author seemed to have just looked up the terms in a dictionary to put them together without checking even for grammar.

Getting back to the chapter: a couple of men make an appearance and one of them asks for Asirpa to repeat what she was doing from the beginning. Just as they identify themselves as photographers, or more specifically, cinematographers, the wolverine attacks.

Sugimoto gets it off the man it attacks, but as another wolverine appears, Asirpa takes it down with an arrow as he shoots the first one, though he doesn't instantly kill it. It's again Asirpa the one who must finish it with another of her arrows, all of this as the man carrying a curious-looking device keeps revolving a crank on it (or you'd better say, an old-fashioned device... only that in the Meiji era it wasn't old, naturally, but rather pretty innovative).

Fast-forwarding a bit, we now have the leading-and-now-reunited protagonists eating the poor devils -I mean the wolverines, of course- while asking the men about their business in the vicinity.

They explain the device they're carrying is called a cinematograph (the model would suggest it's the one created and patented by the Lumière brothers in the last decade of the 19th century, as there were other similar devices patented before theirs); after detailing how it works, they add they're interested in documenting about the Ainu culture. End of the chapter!

My first fan-comment here about this passage would have to do with my taking back some of my fan-comments here, specifically those making fun of Sugimoto's poor aiming. I was obviously exaggerating when stating he never hits anything, as we've seen how he's shot several animals when hunting through the manga, and chap.204 would be another example. Still, my comments had to do with him primarily using his rifle to strike or stab instead of actually shooting it whenever it came to attack a human target, so to speak; given he's a melee hand-to-hand fighter, this comes as no surprise (and snipers all around the globe in the Meiji era dread nightmares with the looming figure of the Immortal Slayer Of Any Unfortunately Soul That Dares Attack Him In Vain And So Obviously Fails, Otherwise He Wouldn't Be Immortal, be it on a Thursday the 13th or any other day of the year, actually). But it just turns out Sugimoto does shoot his rifle, and does accurately hits his target one summary entry after I wrote I wouldn't stop making fun of him until he managed to do so, meaning... I've been proved wrong by the immortal in quite the expedited way. ...since I still believe his aiming is awful when it comes to human targets, I'll keep making fun of him, just... not that much. As a counterargument to Sugi's aiming and intended use of his rifle in this chapter, please let us remember that, in his first encounter with Ogata, he almost indirectly kills the wildcat when knocking him unconscious after hitting him in the head with the butt of the rifle; in their latest encounter, Sugimoto almost kills him (oh, again) when he nearly hits him when trying to shoot down the horse he was riding instead. Well, yes, come to think of it, it might also be that I'm very biased against Sugimoto's use of his rifle because of the levels of violence he's shown towards a certain wildcat.

My last general fan comments about the chapter have to do with the introduction of the cinematographers. Their appearance made me think of Hijikata looking for journalists all the way back to vol.13, if I remember correctly (really, it might be time to go back and properly reread the whole manga by now), because he was looking forward to using the media for propaganda purposes in his goal of declaring a second Republic of Ezo. Well, while the cinematographers don't seem to have any propagandist intentions, their interest in filming about the Ainu culture is making me think of them as the equivalent of early National Geographic writers (the first issue of the famous magazine dates back to 1888, after all): the manga's very National Hokkaido Graphic documentary filmmakers, in any case. At this point in the plot I couldn't say for sure if they're going to have a more relevant role to play, but since they've filmed Asirpa and Sugimoto killing the wolverines already, it does seem to me they could stick with the group a little longer to register some of their activities, sort of a Golden Kamuy documentary within the Golden Kamuy manga. Such material would have cultural and historical importance in the plot since, for starters, Sugimoto's group is a good example of multiethnic cooperation and coexistence, featuring Japanese, Ainu, Hayato, Matagi and even a Russian traveling and working together at the time just fine.

...plotwise and theoretically at the very least, the cinematographers have two weeks to follow the lead of a certain Russian sniper and stick to our multiethnic and multicultural group. We know already anything and everything is bound to happen in very short periods of time in this manga (Koito's rescue mission in chap.199-200 began with horses refusing to gallop down a steep path, continue with a drift race in the streets of Hakodate, featured a couple of gentlemen losing some clothing due to an unfortunate transit accident, and included a homage to Freddy Mercury near the conclusion, if you'd remember), so I'm sort of suspecting the days until Tsurumi's intended rendezvous with the group might be... full of eventualities. From more cultural moments to possible ambushes by snipers with hidden agendas -or probably, no agendas at all- and face-offs with Partisans, I wouldn't discard even the idea of the cinematographers filming the first Meiji-era Japanese cam movie, if anything of the aforementioned actually takes place and they happen to still be around to record it.

[iknownothingihearnothing]

Game of Thrones 8.3 “Battle of Winterfell”

HOLY SHITSICKLES, YOU GUYZ!

That episode was AH-MAZING. I know it wasn’t exactly the shower of death we expected--I mean, there was TONS of death, don’t get me wrong, but our ultra-beloveds are still safe...for now--but it was still epic. Totally worth having to squint for over an hour at a laptop screen brought obscenely close to my face.

Honestly, I thought it was just me until I logged onto Twitter after the episode and everyone was like:

I also made the grievous error of signing into social media before the episode aired and I saw that “Arya” was trending. I thought that she had been killed and I was about to riot. 

My brother had actually seen the episode before me--we share an HBO Go account with my uncle because as a lifelong bachelor, he can afford all those channels we cannot--and when I turned it on the battle was at the midway point; I was spoiling myself. I texted my bro “I WILL KILL YOU” and he replied with an emoji of a house. IDK if he plans to defend himself with a house or hide in a house or drop a house on me like I’m the Wicked Witch of the East.

As the episode opens, it’s nighttime (of course it is), and Sam’s hands are shaking because it’s really fucking cold. The Winterfellians are ushering everyone who ain’t fighting into the supposedly SAFE IT’S SO SAFE YOU ALL WILL BE SO MUCH SAFER crypt and performing last minute prep. Theon and Co are wheeling BranBot to the Weirwood tree where he will be used as bait to lure out the Night King. 

Sansa and Tyrion and Co. are up on the ramparts. Sansa, naturally, does not look very excited for this party.

The actors’ also. They had to shoot 55 nights in a row.

We get our first glimpse of Drogon and Rhaegal of the episode, AKA the Good Dragons. Because we need to decipher on this show. 

Everybody’s in position. The canons are ready. The awesome catapults are ready. The Dothraki are ready. The Unsullied are ready. 

All the animals, too, are in place. Including Ghost!

Jon/Aegon approaches Dany and her dragons on a hill overlooking Winterfell so they can get a decent view of the happenings below and get better air on their dragonplanes. 

There is SO much to unpack with Jon and Daenerys. They have lots of, uh, “stuff” to deal with, like that he’s technically her nephew and she’s more concerned that he has a claim (and a bigger one) on the Iron Throne than that he’s her blood relation and they’ve had lots of sexy sex. And also that the brother she grew up hearing raped Lyanna Stark actually loved her and married her in secret, thus producing Jon. 

But, er, now is not the time and they know that so they gots to put aside their feels and kick some ice zombie butt and save humanity. I imagine this is how Sophia Bush felt when she still had to work with Chad Michael Murray on One Tree Hill knowing he cheated on her with a teenaged extra. 

Sort of. Minus the whole “we might die” part.

Melisandre rides up after being in Volantis all this time. Remember how she said she’d come back to Westeros just one more time? Well, that time is here. The Red Woman asks Jorah to tell the Dothraki to lift their swords, which he hesitantly does. Melly grasps the front dude’s Arakh, chants some freaky Lord of the Light mojo, and then all the Arakhs, one by one, become alight in flames like Beric Dondarrion’s.

Even Tormund is awed.

The Red Woman continues on, wishing “Valar morghulis” to Grey Worm, who instantly returns with “Valar dohaeris”. Davos, up in the ramparts, having been warily watching Melly, finally gives the order to open the gate. He...is not a fan of Melisandre. She may have brought back Jon from the Great Beyond but she burned Shireen alive. 

However, now is not the time for disputes among the Team Alive population. If they wanna beat Team Undead, they gotta work together. 

Davos goes to meet her and she assures him that there is no need to execute her or anything cus she’ll be dead before dawn. 

Davos:

Up on the roof, Arya catches Melly’s eye. And she don’t look like she’s throwing out the welcome banns.

Melisandre is on there because she kidnapped Gendry all those seasons ago. You know, to do that sexy, leechy blood magic on him. 

And BOOM. The first wave sets off. Mostly consisting of Dothraki on horseback, with Jorah  leading them into battle. Huge alight boulders are also placed inside catapults and set flying. Ghost is seen running beside the horses, teeth gnashing.

Srsly, they need to save that direwolf. The PTB at GoT have already killed the other wolves, with the exception of Nymeria, who has run free, and David and D.B. have confirmed that Crazy Cersei killed Ser Pounce after Tommen died. There is NOT a good track record with pets on this show. 

All the Dothraki race into the fray to meet the undead, ululating and shouting war cries in the Dothraki language. They’re proud. They’re confident. They are WARRIORS. They know what they’re doing. They’ve been raised on this shit.

And then...

That’s the ENTIRE DOTHRAKI HORDE! Just...gone in a few minutes, holy shit .Did GoT just erase the Dothraki?! Just like that, what the fuck?!

Anyone else feel indignant on behalf of the Dothraki? 

Jaime looks like he’s about to shit his Iron Pants.

The second wave all look at each other like “WE ARE SO FUCKED” until some animals and finally people--including Jorah--return to the line. Ghost better be one of them! 

Up on the hill, Dany’s in a panic because, again, the dead desecrated her entire Dothraki forces. And she is understandably devastated; they weren’t loyal to Jon, they were loyal to her. She was their Khaleesi. Their original plan was for them to remain on the hill and take flight there and wait for the dead to come to Winterfell’s gates but we all know that ain’t gonna happen. Jon, awkwardly, tries to intervene when Dany begins to leave, but Dany perseveres. The dead are already here and the Night King is a-comin’.

 On the line, everyone’s waiting with bated breath. Sam looks about ready to pass out. Tormund’s glorious red mane blows in the wind, which the captions keep telling me “whistles”, so I know it is strong. Grey Worm puts on his helmet. The Unsullied army bend and position their weapons and....

The ensuing scuffle is pretty much insanity and confusion. There are dead body parts mixed with the same people we know and love trying to fight them off and, like, totally forever kill them. Brienne shouts “STAND YOUR GROUND!!” like a badass but is immediately overwhelmed and Jaime, upon glimpsing his CO and fellow knight (and maybe something more?) going down in the mud, jumps in to help her. 

Dany and Jon ride in on the backs of Drogon and Rhaegal and it is never not awesome watching dragons spitting fire at their human overlords’ enemies.

Up on the roof of Winterfell, Arya and Sansa are flabbergasted as they watch with dismay the battle below. The blood, the fire, the (good) dragons. Finally, Arya turns to Sansa and implores her sister to get into the (VERY SAFE EVERYONE WILL BE SAFE THERE SWEARSIES) crypt.

Sansa doesn’t know how to use it, she is not trained in combat. Arya just tells her to stick the wights with the pointy end.

Good advice, Arya!

At the Weirwood tree, Theon and Co. are doing their bestest to keep the BranBot safe while he attempts to lure Ol’ Nighty out of his hidey-hole. And on the battlefield, Jorah falls off his horse decapitating ice zombies, Jaime is going through the dead like toilet paper (or whatever they used back then...what did they use?), and Sam is...well, he’s trying, poor lamb. Ultimately though, he becomes overwhelmed and Mr. Edd has to save his butt.

Sealing his fate.

Stabbed through the back of the head, that is quite dolorous. 

Sansa goes down into the crypt, where all the nearby tenants who have no fight training are gathered already. Wordlessly, a ball of nerves, she meets the eyes of Missandei and Tyrion, the latter of whom, naturally, takes a drink.

I’d drink, too, in that scenario.

In the air, Jon and Dany are on the backs of their respective dragons, which I guess is the ye olde version of aerial warfare, battling the elements as well as the gross horde down below. It’s snowing and raining and they’re stuck in a low hanging cloud or maybe some fog idk I can’t SEE.

Someone shouts to fall back and the gates to Winterfell are opened--by Lyanna Mormont’s command, that pint sized badass--and men start piling in. Grey Worm orders the Unsullied to protect the retreat as best they could and stand their ground, damnit.

Jon finally comes out of the cloud but Dany doesn’t, and he lands with a worried look on his face. More men pour in through the gates while Brienne and Jaime usher them inside. 

Arya, from the top of Winterfell, uses her archery skillz to take out the munchers creepin’ up behind Woof.

It’s a milestone every teenage girl reaches and it brings a tear to your eye, it does.

Grey Worm gives the order to fall back and light the trench and we the audience are like--

I cannot say enough how dark this episode is. I have my screen up to 100 percent brightness and I am still squinting doing this recap.

He’s really referring to Dany here, whom he’s trying to signal with torches, but she and Drogon are still stuck in that wholly inconvenient cloud/fog thing. Truly, the worst weather has converged on this one location in Westeros on the one night that they really need clear skies. All that’s missing is a hurricane. 

But Davos speaks for us all. 

So, Team Alive is all scrambling around trying to light the trenches with torches but they can’t because they’re kinda preoccupied battling the undead. That is where Melly steps in. After reciting some of that weird mojo in High Valyrian, the deep trenches throughout the Winterfell grounds become alight.

And the rest of us blink our eyes repeatedly in thanks.

The wights are separated from Winterfell behind the trenches and the Hound’s kinda freaking out because he doesn’t exactly like fire, having had his face nearly melted off by his brother, the Mountain. So he disappears. 

Down in the crypt, everyone is hearing all the crazy going on upstairs and Varys is like “At least we’re already in a crypt, eh?” and no one’s amused.

Tyrion is anxious. He wants to be doing something, damnit! Like he did at the Battle of Blackwater. Maybe seeing something that no one else has figured yet. But Sansa, Lady of Hindsight, tells him to sit his ass down. It won’t do anyone good if Tyrion joins the Army of the Dead. Tyrion makes a smartass remark about how there is no organization less suited to his abilities and Sansa, Milady Logic, is all “Witty remarks won’t help you, all we can do now is wait. That’s why we is down here, because we can’t do nothin’” and Tyrion pauses before--

Tyrion, Lord of Winterfell? A Lannister?! Why not? Weirder shit has happened on GoT. Weirder shit is happening right now.

Then, Sansa squashes that by laying this on the table: it’d never work between them because of the Dragon Queen. Their divided loyalties would come between them. But before Tyrion can reply, Missandei, who has been eavesdropping on their convo, cuts in like “Yeah, damn that Dragon Queen! Y’all wouldn’t have to worry about that crap without her because...we’d all be dead, so...”

Whatever you think of Dany, there is no way the North would live without her and her armies and dragons. They’d be overrun within minutes. 

At the Weirwood tree, Theon and Co. have formed a barrier before BranBot. Theon remarks that the trenches have been lit, then, haltingly, turns to BranBot and starts to apologize for, yanno, turning on the only family that ever loved him and claiming Winterfell for himself. 

Dime store psychics around the globe should replace their crystal balls with miniature BranBots.

Then he says he’s going to go now, just like that, and he wargs into a raven to find the Night King’s position.

Gee. Why didn’t I ever think of that to get out of conversations? 

“Hey, Bee, how’d you do on your stats exam?”

“...oh, uh, I did, er, ok. I’m gonna go now.” Wargs into chicken. 

Ah, there’s Ol’ (really Ol’, Ancient Ol’) Nighty, riding Viserion, looking all creepy and stuff.

Not quite, Nighty, not quite.

Zombies are an impatient lot. They’re hungry and dead and they’re doomed to shamble around the earth forever. So, if a few have to be sacrificed in order for the rest of Team Undead to cross the trenches, so be it. One by one, the ice zombies literally throw themselves on the line of fire, sandwiching their ewwie bodies until the rest of the horde can safely use them as a bridge to cross. An Undead Bridge, if you will. 

When Davos realizes what they are doing, the look on his face is quite classic horror movie:

You know when you’re watching a scary movie and the protagonist or whoever hears something or sees something but isn’t quite sure what it is, only knowing that it’s bad mmkay? That is that look.

Davos shouts the order to man the walls of Winterfell. Elsewhere on the battlefied, Jon is still in the same spot he landed, anxious about Dany. He glimpses a dragon emerge from the fog and, at first, he thinks it’s Daenerys but it soon becomes evident that it’s the Night King riding on Viserion.

Winterfell, meanwhile, is all cloaked in a cloud of mud and rain. The soldiers and Northerners are clambering to keep the White Walkers from penetrating the walls of the castle. 

They have to keep them from legit climbing the damn walls.

If I’m ever a zombie, I want the Night King to make me. Apparently, rigor mortis is not a thing in wights.

The wights keep climbing until some of them start to get over the wall despite Jaime, Brienne, et. al. slicing off head after head. They just keep coming. The Team Undead horde is massive.

I bet the denizens of Winterfell are wishing for a nice, stationary mall right about now.

Soldiers are going over the railings, Sam’s whimpering butt has to be saved again, and the Hound is utterly frozen. It’s all just anarchy. 

Beric and his Flaming Sword of Justice attempt to get Woofie’s attention again but to no avail. Arya’s doing her thang with her pointed staff, taking out wight after wight with Davos looking on, impressed (knight or not, you have been bested by a teenager, old man).

And then, this:

ZOMBIE GIANTS!

ZOMBIFIED MOTHAFUCKIN’ GIANTS. 

“Fee, fi, fo fum, I smell the blood of EVERYONE.”

It pushes her to the side like she’s a goddamn sack of potatoes and it’s smacking people around with its club like they’re nothing but rag dolls. Arya falls down a set of stairs as wights group in to attack her and smacks her forehead on the side of a wall. Not up to her usual Faceless Man self after that, she stumbles and nearly falls off the roof, which finally energizes the Hound to action. 

On the ground, Lyanna’s had enough of being tossed around by White Walker McGigantor. 

She screams, races toward it, it grabs her in its huge fist, and, blood pouring out of her mouth and nose and it crushes her, she STABS IT THROUGH THE FRIGGING EYEBALL.

It’s a fitting end for an awesome character. Lyanna made such an impression on everyone and her cumulative screentime was just over fifteen minutes on the show.

In the air, Jon and Dany are finally reunited again when out of nowhere sails the Night King and his trusty Undragon.

Looks like someone has been chewing too much Winterfresh!

Viserion lets loose a stream of Winterfresh friendly fire and Daenerys ducks and whimpers as her undead baby tries to kill her. When the Night King sails off, Jon and Dany look at each other before mutually agreeing in some unspoken communication to dive.

Aww, they are communicating without words already! Bestill my lowkey-shipping-for-incest heart.

In Winterfell, the White Walkers have managed to break into the halls of the castle and, in less...white climes, they look less frozen and more, well, zombie. Arya, with her trusty staff, is attempting to sneak through her ancestral home without alerting Team Undead.

Unfortunately, she stumbles into the library and, weird, there are a lot of wights in the library. I didn’t know ice zombies were such avid readers.

What? Ice zombies need wank material, too, you know.

That is, if their genitals haven’t fallen off.

Our girl is creeping through the library, dodging errant undead in her wake. Desperately, she dives under a table, but the blood from her head wound is dripping on the floor, which attracts a nearby wight.

You know, like a shark.

The wight bends down and almost catches her, giving us all a mini heart attack, but Arya is gone. Phew.

BT-dubbs, that wight is none other than Javier Botet, who has made a sort of career playing monsters, including as the Leper in 2017′s It. 

He was cast on purpose because he can contort his body in absurd ways. And I apologize for making you look at the Leper again. Yeesh. 

Grabbing a book, she sails it across the floor to distract the zombies, runs into one going around the corner who then meets the fun end of her blade, and escapes the library. 

Who knew a library could be so dangerous?

Arya escapes into a chamber and softly closes the door behind her, leaning back against it. She seems to be safe for a moment and then--

Ser Brus of House Bannyr. He’s a buddy of the Mountain.

Wights start pouring in and Arya runs. She runs, runs, runs--down through the narrow, damp, ill-lighted walls of Winterfell, bleeding from her head wound. 

Meanwhile, just below her down in the crypt--

It’s SAFE it’s so SAFE, you guys.

The denizens of the crypt wait with bated breath and gasp when two desperate soldiers ram against the crypt door, begging to be let in. Sansa looks conflicted, wanting to help the soldiers but not at the cost of any of her people. 

In the corridors, Beric Dondarrion and his Flaming Sword of Justice and the Hound are tiptoeing through Winterfell when they hear battling and growling noises (thank you, captions) and Arya falls through a doorway with wights quickly after her. The Hound picks her up and they all race down the hall, Beric throws his sword at a couple of White Walkers but they soon begin to overwhelm him. Arya gazes back at him in desperation as the Hound tries to get her away, and Beric is stabbed by one of Team Undead. He stands there, limbs akimbo face aloft as if praying to the Lord of the Light.

I love this scene. It further underscores how much Arya has come to mean to the Hound. Before, he was frozen, nothing could jolt him out of his panic but the image of Arya in peril. And he spends the rest of the episode fighting not so much for the living but for her. 

Beric manages to stumble down the hall after Arya and the Hound and they lock a door behind him. Arya sits him against a wall while the Hound barricades the door with anything nearby.

Muttering unintelligibly, the man who was resurrected six times closes his eyes forever.

 Melisandre appears behind them after Beric passes, letting them know that he served his purpose. Arya knows her; the Red Woman promised her that they’d meet again and there they are. She also promised that Arya would close many eyes in her young life, which was also right. Brown eyes. Green eyes. And blue eyes. 

The wights are growling and scratching at the door, eager to come in and kill and feast on human flesh and blood. Arya stares while Melly bends down and whispers in her ear--

At the Weirwood tree, the wights are finally a-comn’ for BranBot and Theon and his men get into position with flaming arrows (I am now really in the mood for smores). Simultaneously, Dany/Drogon, Jon/Rhaegal/ and Ol’ Nighty/Viserion are duking it out in the air above them, the archers below attempting to knock the Undragon out of the sky. 

It’s like a WWII aerial dogfight, but with dragons. So, like, a dragonfight.

Someone has entered his rebellious goth phase!

Srsly, what other show offers a mid-air dragon fight?

The dragonfight ends, somehow, only with the Night King falling off his chosen Undragon.

Rhaegal makes a shaky landing--there is plenty of turbulence in the North, after all--and Jon rolls off his favorite dragon. Dany continues the hunt for Ol’ Nighty and when she finds him, she gives the order for Drogon to do his thang.

It...doesn’t work out as hoped.

The Night King grins and throws his ice staff at Drogon, the weapon that took down Viserion. Fortunately, the ensuing hit isn’t fatal and Dany turns tail and gets out of there before it is.

Jon whips out his trusty sword and begins following the Night King. But when Ol’ Nighty realizes he’s being followed, he turns around, bestows upon Jon a “teacher catching you doing something naughty” stare, and...does his thang. 

Team Alive desecrated many of your army? Just make a new one like that. Using his dark hippity doo da, the Night King raises all the soldiers (formerly) of Team Alive who fell in battle. And there’s a fucking lot of them. Including fallen Unsullied back at Winterfell’s gates and even Lyanna Mormont. 

At the castle, Jaime and Grey Worm look on in confusion and horror.

New inductees to Team Undead swarm in on Jon as the Night King and some of his disciples make their way to Winterfell. 

In the crypt, it was only a matter of time until this happened:

Y’all need some stronger building materials. This cannot be up to code. What would the leader of the HOA say?

Everyone in the crypt scatters in panic, minus the unlucky few who become Thing Food.

At the Weirwood tree, Theon and Co. are doing their best Robin Hood while BranBot is still checked out. I guess he’s in the raven, trying to get a location on the Night King? BranBot, do us all a favor and crap on his head.

(You missed! He was totally open, Bird! Damn.)

Jon almost gets overwhelmed until Dany and Drogon come to the rescue and manage to char the ice zombies without turning the one guy who is alive into a crispie critter, too. She tells him to go, be the hero we need, and he runs off. 

However, before Drogon can fly off, he, too, is quickly overcome with wights, tearing at his wings, climbing all over his spine. He roars and twists and turns and Dany goes tumbling off.

Drogon flies away with some wights still hanging onto him, trying to get all the annoying dead OFF. They must itch like crazy. 

He leaves his mommy behind and suddenly Dany is alone in a battlefield surrounded by Team Undead. She has no weapons. Her main weapon was Drogon. He is how she defeats her enemies. What the hell is she gonna do now?

One of the wights falls off Drogon and has blue eyes only for Dany. Who is alone. Vulnerable. Fucking sitting in the dirt. 

But, what luck! Jorah of House Fryndzonne appears out of nowhere to decapitate the wight with Heartsbane and protect his Khaleesi. 

I’ve been looking for an excuse to use that. Not a big anime fan but I love Hetalia. 

Jon makes his way back to Winterfell, stickin’ and stabbin’ and gruntin’ and growlin’ and bein’ manly. He’s had it up to here with them ice zombies, you guys.

Theon and Co. are working all the harder to protect BranBot while he’s still Like A Bird. Theon’s men all go down and soon he’s left alone to defend the automaton that was once Brandon Stark.

In the crypt, Tyrion and Sansa are hiding behind a cement monument. Their wordless communication, expressed through the eyes alone, sends a chill down my spine. There is so much unsaid in that mutual gaze, and the acting here is superb. Props to Peter Dinklage and Sophie Turner. 

Sansa, shaking, whips out the dagger Arya gave her, and Tyrion kisses her hand.

If they both live through season 8, maybe those crazy kids could make it work? Tyrion would be a kick Lord of Winterfell. I can see him in a furry cape.

Elsewhere, Viserion is utterly destroying Winterfell.

Dany and Jorah are desperately stabbing at ice zombies on the battlefield. Tyrion and Sansa carefully run out from behind the monument. Jon just barely dodges a wave of blue fire as Viserion continues to destroy Winterfell. Theon is doing is damndest to shield BranBot from the White Walkers, but he’s evidently slowing down.

And then, oh crap, there he is. In slow motion, like he knows all eyes are on him.

Hey yeah yeah, they’re Calyfornya. 

Jorah is working alllllllll his muscles trying to protect his Khaleesi. Jaime and Brienne are backed up against a still standing wall of Winterfell as wights close in around them.

The Night King and his Night Kronies are coming for BranBot.

The remaining wights part for their Icicle Overlord. He stands there glowering down at Theon and BranBot. BranBot tells Theon he is a good man and thanks him and the audience is like--

I thought BranBot wasn’t programmed to say thank you. Ask Meera. 

Theon grasps his pointed staff firmly, yells, and runs toward Ol’ Nighty, who, of course, grabs it and stabs him right through the gut.

Sorry, Theon. You managed to survive Ramsey (and getting your Reek cut off) but the Night King was your undoing. You lasted most of the show, though. That’s more than can be said for most characters.

Speaking of lasting most of the show--

Beric, Theon, now Jorah. Everybody stab now!

Jon is hiding behind some debris. The Night King walks ever closer to BranBot. Jon gets up and screams at Viserion for some reason. BranBot gazes up at the Night King. The Night King begins to reach for his ice sword, and then--

Arya Stark, like the fucking avenging angel she is!

I love that she was the one to destroy the Night King. She and Lyanna Mormont were both frigging awesome this episode.

Moral: don’t mess with a girl.

Maisie Williams said in EW that when she initially read the script she was afraid people would think she didn’t deserve it or something. To that I say pish posh. “Arya” has been trending for days. 

After he explodes, all the wights begin to fall, including Viserion. Team Alive was right. Kill the Night King, his disciples are toast, too.

The crypt people come out of their hiding places and silently view the carnage. Arya looks over at BranBot and smiles a little. BranBot just sits there without offering a thank you. I guess he only malfunctioned that one time with Theon.

Unfortunately, the zombies aren’t the only ones that fall. Jorah is hurt and hurt badly. He buckles on the battlefield, surrounded by inactive wights, bleeding from seeming every orifice. Dany bends down before him, crying and holding his head.

He dies in her arms. A fitting end for Jorah of House Mormont, forever loyal to his Khaleesi.

So is Dany’s dragon.

Aww. That’s...cute. Like a dog with wings. And scales. That breathes fire.

The Hound, Melisandre, and Davos walk out of Winterfell just as dawn is breaking. The Hound and Davos stop at the door but Melisandre keeps going, looking determined. Shedding her trademark red cloak, she marches forward, ridding herself of the ruby necklace that has kept her young for centuries.

And then, growing older before their eyes, she perishes. Her mission is complete.

And that’s the end of the episode. Cue end credits.

Salt and crackers, that took FOREVER. Every free moment I had I was recappin’. But the episode was awesome and the cast says the next episode is even more awesome so I can’t wait!

Now comes the march on King’s Landing, the taking of the crown, and, hopefully, Cersei gonna die. Who’s gonna have her head? Will it be Jaime? Arya? Tyrion? My bet is Jaime.

Also, congats are in order for our Sansa Stark. Sophie Turner got married to Joe Jonas last night after the Billboard Music Awards. In Vegas with an Elvis impersonator presiding, which is fantastic. 

[markleetrashh]

Makeup Voiceover;Johnny

Request: Hiii I loved your Jaehyun voiceover scenario, can you please make one for Johnny if you haven’t already? Thanks! :) ♡

i actually love writing this series oh my

but in reality i dont know a single thing about makeup

so sorry if it gets really boring and repetitive for each member ;-;

google’s my best friend, if not i wouldn’t even know a single brand yes

okay let’s start with chicago monster let’s go

so many of your subscribers wanted him to do the makeup voiceover challenge

firstly because he has his own youtube channel too, and both of you are like the power youtube couple

and he’s always mentioning about you, so are you

but mainly because

in your vlog once you caught him on tape once using your eyeliner as a pen

“oh my god johnny what are you doing”

“i’ve never seen a pen like this before?? omg it’s so watery”

“are you serious omg HAHAHA GUYS look at my boyfriend”

“what????”

“it’s an eyeliner johnny”

“a what- OH NO WONDER HAHAHA”

“this is what i have to deal with everyday guys- a clueless giant, unlike on his channel where you all only see his cool side”

“yOU CAN’T BLAME ME BABE IT DOES LOOK LIKE A PEN??”

which is why tons of comments started to come in after that vlog

saying that it’d be hilarious to see johnny doing it

so after talking to johnny about it he agreed

because he was confident in himself

so one day you push him out of your room so you can film the video

and every 5 minutes you’d hear him screaming

“hURRY UP BABE IM EXCITED”

after 45 minutes you let him in

and he has this cheeky smile on his face

and you can tell he’s very excited

“okay start now!!”

so he plays the video and starts recording

“hello everyone, it’s johnny seo here and im finally here to do the makeup voiceover”

“apparently because you guys are excited to laugh at me over that eyeliner incident”

“-I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN TODAY”

“okay enough talking let’s start”

“just look at bare faced Y/N, so pretty”

“so first off, foundation”

“she’s using the l'oreal paris brand one”

“oh she’s taking her beauty blender- SEE GUYS I KNOW WHAT IT IS’

“yeah it’s because i told you after you endlessly referred it to an egg months ago”

“you all didn’t hear that-”

“squeeze a little out on the blender and dab it on your face”

“blend and make sure there aren’t any patches”

“i honestly dont see any difference?? but oh well you look good nonetheless”

“okay moving on”

“she’s doing her eyes”

“she always talks about this- her favourite palette, the Lorac Pro? is that the name- eyeshadow palette!!”

“today she’s using the light pink shade”

“with a little bit of nude”

“she looks like she’d winking- at me of course HAHA”

“oh she’s done!”

hears his own shout in the background of the video

“wait was that me?”

“yes it was”

“sorry guys, i was too excited”

“over with that,”

“oh it’s that pen! oh wait eyeliner-”

“why is she laughing”

“wait babe why aren’t you putting it on”

“just wanted to bring it in for some laughs, didn’t use it for this look hehe”

“justice for johnny guys, save me from this evil girlfriend”

“but damn she looks so cute laughing though”

“okay she’s cooled down- her face’s still red though aw”

pinches your cheek

“she taking out another stick”

“the uh nyc wonder stick that is”

“woah wait what it has two ends to it HOW COOL”

“baby’s using the lighter end”

“drawing lines on her upper cheek”

“oh she’s turning to the darker end”

“and drawing lines again?”

“what is this for- oh she’s blending it”

“oH i think it’s called contouring and highlighting?”

“you’re right babe”

“h a h”

“oh look her shining”

“god so gorgeous”

“my heart’s beating too quickly i can’t do this anymore do we still have a long way to go?”

“stop it omg. almost there, babe”

“why is she laughing again-”

“i think i just heard another shout from outside….”

“sorry guys”

“okay she’s done again, and applying blush right now”

“just look at her rosy cheeks!!!”

“did i mention the brand?”

“i didn’t catch it oh no i got distracted im so sorry”

“but it’s er-”

“i’ll just insert a caption don’t worry about it”

“my babe’s the best”

“oh i think this is the last one- lipstick!!!”

“look at those plump lips-”

“she’s using the Neutrogena one-”

“it looks like a crayon?? IS THIS A CRAYON?”

“wow i learn new things everyday”

“okay but just look at this cutie pouting her lips”

“and…. she’s done!!!”

“wow, im in love with a goddess”

“this is my talented girlfriend right here”

“this video ended too quickly???”

“aw anyways thank you for watching and please do continue supporting Y/N!!”

“and if you didn’t know, we come in a package so do check my channel out too- kidding”

“do subscribe, like and comment, this has been Y/N’s wonderful boyfriend, johnny!”

after he’s done he has the most satisfied smile on his face

and he attacks you with a hug for no reason

and your heart just melts because, he’s the funniest yet sweetest person ever??

“babe i think i should delete my own channel and join yours instead”

[marlaluster]

The link to the other post referred to in the Daily Mail article on Nymphy. .....

Devil Nymphy was to be pointing to a seeming dead jellfish in the other pic on the Instagram account for the figure. It was the main or first focus of the DM article. Link to jellyfish post where Devil Nymphy points to the photo-centric creature on the beach in Australia, according to the caption for the pic, saying eerily, "Another nice creature from Australia!". .... https://www.instagram.com/p/yJ07WpppbT/ Text etc from post page. ... 16,476 likes elsapatakyconfidentialAnother nice creature from Australia!/ otra de las maravillosas criaturas en Australia! #happytobehere #summer#jellyfish #beach #fun 🐚🐠👍😉 Load more comments rioc86🙀 yackirubiAustralia is so beautiful!!!! 😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤ aniimw@the.script.superheroes reminds me on your yesterday's good night story sallyhamiltonptWow soniabeniteznavarroQue es? indah.ct@nailaf_ arttax@soniabeniteznavarro una medusa geemoney77Wow samirayoumans@isaacyoumans theeehbk@_ladyhooper jellyfish! rayssa_suzuki@mbjuninho anverome@ocossio look at this jelly fish! jp_ballyThis is you in 20 years @graceyb_fit funkyrunkyy@bally_fit yes!! jp_bally@graceyb_fit seriously your twin haha rrod543@_sterz5 😮 bechkam_jr_😍😍😍😍😍 ebrahim_b7r@bin_sabt halim_abdalaIt's no name.... simrxn.x@hksidhu2000 Blue💙 kennysysavathJellyfish laurenjorgensen_I love her ❤️ finally come to terms with Chris Hemsworth being married because she's so amazing.. haha they are so cute@_beckyluu farisggIs so nice _jenrobinson_@glory313bent jelly fish! butonthursdaysMy wife is so cool @dunnk25@hmachado94 @_sweetpapidulce@sneakydonut johangogaliWe love u elena@elsapatakyconfidential _itscait_Fun! @shaddhbk theeehbkWhat kind? @_ladyhooper _itscait_No idea @shaddhbk mr.rundisney@_cali_girl530 😳👆🏽 visionsad@Hassan005 michelle_bec_Da bist du @bruno_heb logankpooterAustralia I live there love it! nynettia@rasta_man20 dont temp me with a good time holystxnce@banditgta oh hey anasrtQue es????? cristi_photonotebookPedazo medusa... carly_marz@romysteph will we see one of these? romystephYou won't see one....... You will see hundreds!!! bum bummmm bummmmmmmm@carly_marz @kristi_elmer kristihall__@romysteph @carly_marz YAY!!! 😍❤️😍😍 rabeakausarjelly fish @kiiirannnn alexmorrison1@joshosull13 ms.handsome_y@gzwizle jelly fish mr.john.1Hi elena ! akeyahsandyI find it big an cool never saw one like dis art.rangelVery good. 💫 welcome@elsapatakyconfidential hi friends suggest follow? deanalarcon@elsapatakyconfidential Really like you speak spanish or writting es casi lo mismo 😃 maplesyrupsznWow... it's huge!!! cocinaconpantiernoQué Chula!!! mu30_o_ehsanhehehe romerlpintoAgua mala autumnkittykatPut it back stupid bitch! autumnkittykat@1gypsy_soul look at this bitch abusing sea creatures. 1gypsy_soulNow she's fingering wildlife, great ..@autumnkittykat 1gypsy_soulYou're right @noscira I'm such a piece of shit..gosh, wish I was as special as elsa to be posting pics of dead things. ..o well. . also it's disrespectful not irrespectful.. but I'm sure you knew that @autumnkittykat 1gypsy_soulPues mira mira lol que te mordio?.. fíjate que si se mi español Y mi ingles... perfectamente... y me vale madre lo que pienses de mi.. tampoco soy tan poco mierda para andar..sabes que lol na.. Aquí me retiro de esta pendejada de conversación, que tengo cosas más importantes que hacer.. o! y puedo decir lo que me da la pinche gana en cualquier Galleria.. 1gypsy_soul@noscira autumnkittykat@noscira hey bud, irrespectful isn't a word in the English language. But thanks for trying I guess. It's even worst that she's all happy to take a picture with a dead animal. Crazy bitch, right @1gypsy_soul! autumnkittykat@noscira I'm a dude with a big huge cock. Is that supposed to be an insult?@1gypsy_soul read that shit lol. 1gypsy_soulLol ella conoce el español pendejo.. o pendeja.. También no puedo adivinar qué chingados eres.. mujer o hombre...basado por to foto horripilante... pero lo que si se.. es que más bien tu tienes la cabeza llena de porqueria.. un minuto defendiendo a esta fea por un comentario que a lo mejor no va a leer, metiendo el pié donde no te corresponde, y lueeego, cuando te pongo en tu pinche lugar porque crees que eres especial en saber español. .. andas actuando como un pinche animal con boca sucia. .. Por favor ya calleta, que nomas hablas pura pendejada irrelevante ..eres dos caras idiota.. 1gypsy_soul@noscira autumnkittykatDo you not have a life or something? Fuck you, fuck that cunt Elsa. I understand every word you say in Spanish but English is my language so I'll write whatever the fuck i want, however the fuck i want. And there's not shit you can say to change that so move on with your pathetic life. @noscira @1gypsy_soul 1gypsy_soulLol wow. .. @noscira..eres.de.lo.maximo. o my god. .. me das ASCO! ... me rebolviste el estomago...lol eres pero iiiiiignorante.. pero bien saturado en estupidez. . Ai no.. ya me canse con tu juegito lol thanks for entertaining. . I'm over it now. . On with my wonderful life. . Y para que sepas.. mis cosas son privadas por un a razón. . 1gypsy_soul@noscira o y si quieres responder. . Échale ganas... dale todo tu Energía . Pero ya estas hablando con la pared porque yo ya no te voy a dar la satisfacción de darte ya mi atención...ya deja de joder y ya vete a la chingada, y porfavor, ya me cansaste risdamariam@kevinsamuelmpg 🐙 risdamariam@ssm1906 🐙🐙🐙 sarahshabrinaDa itu apaan.... Eh ini istrinya Chris Hemsworth yah?? @risdamariam ggfannygg@m1stersandw1ch jajajjaja🐙 karlotaelena@patriziaperezt ondina.luneraCuando te casas con un australianooo :( @andreanicolebr _sstrahorn_@burritobriana mariesprt@lucas45770 @dhanuvann😱😱😱😱😱😱 polly22pocketShe found the Funk @mmare13 mmare13@polly22pocket Bahahaha carly_marz😱😳 @romysteph @kristi_elmer georginajbmLa criatura más hermosa de Australia la tienes tu es Chris 😍😘 ichibalmelliXuando ustedes dos se encontraron?😱😱😱😱 @maike_rieder 88.91.69@cocinaconpantiernohfhcisochwpcnskwcviapchspcjspcyckwpcycbckwncbwictsicgdtsicy5chdjrcjdj fcovp0vjchdkxgcjxp1ogdjxfslfgfictckwycochsogxxoagxyxxxxxxydud ximenaorlandoDe acuerdo con @georginajbmjajajaj y por eso la envidio! georginajbm@ximenaorlando 😊👍 leya04@evy_m lauradominguezz@iriocha_jdom_rcj@_catemmii_ alexvelazquezigl@deivcarn96 jugándose la Puta vida davdcarni@jorgeherper @pablo_matillaa@miguelampu melusas miguelampu@jorgeherper @pablo_matillaa@deivcarn96 CUIDADO QUE SON MORTALES