#I actually kind of forgot what happened in the earlier episodes?

[pidges-lost-robot]

My favourite Klance trope in the world is never leaned into enough which is the whole keith not realising Lance and "Taylor" (tbh I'm not big on the Taylor specific part tbh I like the thing of Lance being called Leandro but choosing to go by Lance cause 1. He's trying to do what he thinks will have him fit in and 2. Hates when people try to pronounce it super weird but whatever shush its not the point) are the same person and I love it cause like firstly it implies on some level that Keith has already met Lance/is vaguely aware of his existence but just as Leandro but secondly that gives the initial rivalry to awkward friends to dating the potential for depth and also funny shenanigans.

Like fucking Lance thinking cause met years earlier and got along fine then that he and Keith are kinda friends and then Keith "pretends not to know who he is" (a.k.a Lance forgot when he met Keith he was still going by Leandro and Keith is just actually kinda faceblind and has a hard time recognising people, especially if its been a couple years) and so the rivalry begins cause what an asshole, and then they meet Shiro and once again Keith is speaking to him like they've never met before (a.k.a before Lance.says who he is again, as far as Keith knew, this was the first time they were meeting each other) that's genuinely kind of funny

But also depth cause this isn't just Lance making up a rivalry with a person, this is a person Lance thought for a second was his friend who seemingly twice now has forgotten him and that he spent nearly a year constantly being compared to/picked on about (look ik in canon its one comment but as a person who's primary bullies were teachers, this is my projecting onto Lance era I'm sorry ik it's angst but shut up) and it zones right in at the bullseye of Lance's major insecurities that he's not interesting, worthwhile or worth the time.

Meanwhile for Keith, he didn't really acknowledge being faceblind since being with the team, so for him, twice now some asshole has just had a problem with him for no reason which just hits dead centre of his insecurities, that no matter what he does he'll be hated for things that he can't control and once again people will decide who he is before they even know him.

See, I got a balance for funny and sadness

Also it'd just be really funny to me if the games how episode happened earlier and Keith's round was he had to draw people from memory by name for the team to guess and the whole team bar Lance having hope for a brief second before he reminds everyone that Keith is faceblind he has no idea from faces what people look like. Though it ends up working out well cause Keith tries to use context clues for the name and doesn't draw the people, but objects and scenery relayed to them or memories of things they did

#voltron #vld #klance #lance #keith #keith kogane #lance mcclain #lance vld #vld lance #keith vld #vld keith #lance voltron #keith voltron

[jacks347]

Thanks to the brilliant GB here on Tumblr I was reminded of the dreamscape episode of Bastard Warrior with that whole debacle and you know I wouldn't be here if I didn't have an opinion.

Let's talk about how Albus’s perfect world didn't have Faith in it until she put herself into it.

I've brought up this point singularly in the Discord before but this is my Tumblr where I'm making it a habit of going way too into detail about shit so here we go again.

My singular point was "Even in a world of his own design, Albus refuses to make a world where Faith loves him because he doesn't feel he deserves her."

Which is...arguably correct for the time it was proposed but far too surface level for my liking.

Because even if that is the case, why would she be completely excluded? It's not exactly like Albus is known for having a lot of friends so why would he completely cut out one of the only people that has ever treated him with genuine kindness in his life? Why not add her as just a friendly face like Devlin? He made his brother a bartender so that he's never away from him but couldn't even make Faith a passing merchant?

And then I remembered something literally as I was typing this. Yes, the world is based off of Albus’s desires and what he believes his perfect world would be but he didn't actually make it. Kravitas did.

Y'know, the demon that Faith kicked in the dick literally two episodes earlier? The one that already didn't like her and now likes her even less? The one who knows she's one of Albus’s weaknesses because he cares about her whether he likes it or not? That Kravitas?

Yeah you can see where I'm going with this, can't you?

What if Kravitas purposefully cut her out so she couldn't have an effect on Albus? Completely blocked her from his memory and made a world where she didn't exist so that Albus’s love for her didn't break the illusion and snap him out of the dream.

Am I using my own lore point of "love transcends all" to justify this? A little bit, yes. But I fully believe that if Kravitas had given Albus that storybook ending where he gets the girl and has the white picket fence life, he would eventually realize something wasn't right. He would eventually realize that this wasn't Faith, that something was missing. There's something inherently real about being in love with someone that you can't just replicate, especially with someone in Albus’s situation. And in a world with untraumatized Albus, there would be something crucial missing from his relationship with Faith that Kravitas would have no way to replace.

So what do you do with something you can't fix that will eventually break down your entire operation?

You get rid of it.

So in order to preserve Albus’s dreamscape for as long as possible, Kravitas got rid of Faith. Let Albus have his name, his brother, his career as a paladin, and never tell him that his heart is far beyond the clouds with a woman he forgot exists.

Obviously it didn't work cause Faith is so headstrong she could crack diamonds and wasn't gonna let some silly thing like a dimensional barrier keep her out but an attempt was made and I respect it.

Do I also believe Kravitas could've gone the complete other end of the spectrum and given Albus a harem so he wouldn't need Faith? Yes. Do I think it would've worked any better? Maybe. Possibly. Though I think Albus’s need to attach his self-worth to his sex drive comes from that trauma I mentioned earlier so in a world where that doesn't happen, maybe not. Who knows. I never claimed to be good at this.

Also can we talk about Faith entering that dream world? Just dropped out of the sky and faceplanted into the dirt, I'm shocked she didn't break anything. Albus finds some random lady face down in the grass probably looking like she was contemplating every decision she's ever made in her life and was just like "?? You good?"

100/10, no notes, absolutely flawless.

#asmr roleplay #good boy audios #gba bastard warrior #bastard warrior #gba faithful #gba albus #gba devlin #i think too much #many thoughts head full #i told you i was finally giving Redacted a break

[violivs]

NMTDaily: And So It Begins

- Beatrice’s first vlog! What an opening line, I love it lol. I remembered the hand wave on “hello, people of the Internet” having a wider arc across the screen than it actually does, funny enough! Glad I didn’t specify the wide wave when I referenced this line in MARRIED, the fic I posted on the 25th.

- “I’m not too old for Halloween”, girl after my own heart!

- Always thought it was interesting that Bea’s mother is American. I wonder how/why they decided that. It’s the kind of super specific detail that makes Bea feel so real, because who would make that up? It’s also interesting that it means Bea and Ben’s families are both somewhat international. Another parallel for them, another thing they have in common.

- I bet the Aunties’ wedding was the cutest thing ever, imagine Hero and Leo standing up with them! That’s probably the last time all of the Dukes were together before the story starts.

- I’m surprised Bea’s parents moved because her dad got a promotion. I would have assumed her mom did, because we get the impression of her as the high-powered businesswoman. But good for Bea’s dad. Is it canon that he’s a university professor? (Promotion = tenure?) Or did I make that up for fanfic and/or confuse him with Ben’s parents being professors in canon? Listening for that. Maybe Bea’s dad was actually also a business person all along and that’s how her parents met. Who knows.

- Bea says Australia like I say Indiana, lol (no hate to anyone from Indiana though! Just another of those inborn rivalries with the neighbor, like the Oz/NZ one.)

- “A great science program” I forgot Bea was a science person!

- I always loved the set decoration in this room, I remember it’s Hero’s room, and it’s so artsy and cozy and pretty. Love the wall art.

- “Leo and I are in charge of the house for the next six months” Excuse me, does this series really only take place over six months? Well, it ends in the first week of November, so that’s seven full months. I think it felt like it lasted a whole year when it was airing though. Time slowed down during a certain arc for sure.

- “in-joke with myself!” Classic. I kind of love that the text on screen saying “good one Beatrice” is Bea talking to herself again in-world, but out-of-world it’s kind of the Candle Wasters talking, interacting both with their own main character and with the audience. Meta.

- “Sorry my life is so boring” are like, THE famous last words for an LIW protagonist. Honey, you got a big storm coming!

- I was always so incredibly impressed with Beatrice’s independence, her comfort with leaving her parents and essentially being on her own before she even finished high school. I was alone in a college dorm hours away from home when I first watched this, second semester of freshman year if I’m not mistaken, and I could barely believe I’d managed it. I couldn’t imagine doing that any earlier than I had. I thought she was so brave and cool. I think Bea actually shows more hesitation and nervousness than I realized she did in this episode, both because she’s not used to vlogging yet and because being in a new place is nerve-wracking, but I still think she’s so brave.

- It’s so interesting that in a reversal of the play, it’s our Beatrice who comes from away to Messina to start the story, instead of Benedick and the other men returning from war. Of course, we’ll see how the boys’ arrival on the scene is modernized soon enough!

- Harriett does such a great job making you care about Bea and like her right from the start. You just want to keep listening to her talk. I can’t wait to do just that over the next seven months.

- The Benedict Cumberbatch crush is a stroke of genius, but what are the odds that there happens to be a super famous guy named Benedict that you can reference who is at peak relevance in the exact year your MAAN modernization premieres? Truly, this series as it exists could only have happened in 2014. It was the perfect time and the perfect people. What luck.

- Oh, this is the wider arc hand wave I was remembering! It’s just at the end of the video and not the beginning. Funny!

- Covering the camera with her hand and ducking out of frame at the end of her first video is a direct parallel to what Bea and Hero do in their final NMTD video, sliding out of frame and all. Love that.

- I can’t believe how much there is to talk about even with these early episodes. These posts are gonna get so long they’ll have to go under a cut for the later episodes!

💖🦩🥭

#nmtd #nothing much to do #nmtdaily #violivs nmtdaily liveblog #nmtd spoilers #maybe? just in case

[andromedism]

can you say more about dennis’ double life? assuming you watched that live, too, what was that like? i think i would have probably lost my mind.

We don’t talk about her (Dennis’ Double Life).

So I recall less about this, but here’s what is left in my brain about it:

If I remember correctly, Sunnyblr was kind of shook by this one because they fed us with the fake dating bits, but other things didn’t really feel like they fit? I think, for a lot of people, it was like they were trying to do too much in one episode so the pacing was off. And after TGTB, and everything being up in the air about Glenn leaving, people were hoping for something more conclusive between Mac and Dennis, which I think is valid. No one really knew what was going to happen.

Every time I hear Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club now, I get a little pang of sadness in my stomach because of the way it’s used in this episode. I actually forgot it plays in DDL, so when I rewatched the entire series last month and it would play in earlier episodes, I’d be like, “This is a bop, why do I feel gut-wrenching despair?”

When the gang is dancing and the camera pans over to Dennis’ face (see below, ouch I’ve been shot), my stomach always drops because in The Gang Tends Bar and DDL, Dennis has such intense emotional reactions to the prospect of vulnerability—of letting his mask slip. So when he leaves, it feels just as much about him escaping those feelings as it does about him wanting to be a better father than Frank. It read that way in 2017, and it reads that way even more, now.

Again, every time I see this screencap I want to bury myself in the soil and grow roots. I have a hard time talking about this episode because it’s so sad to me.

One thing I will say is I do wish they had tied things up better in S13. We kind of have no choice but to speculate about all of the build up in DDL, so when you take a step back and look at that era of Sunny as a whole, it feels a little, I don’t know, incomplete. I mean, Dennis literally has a son. Do you forget that all of the time? Yeah, me too.

This post is so depressing, lol, but HEY! Remember how they SHARED A BED this season? Nothing matters.

#asks #iasip #dennis’ double life #macdennis #it’s always sunny in philadelphia #dennis reynolds #i would be curious to hear what newer fans think of this episode #bc it genuinely devastated a lot of us when it aired

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 158 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: baking something in the kitchen, most likely with apples...

This is one of my favorite episodes ever! There is just so much going on and every single bit is so exciting, it has me sitting at the edge of my seat. Plus big reveals of course. The panopticon, Elias etc. (And a bit of comedy.) Generally, I think the S4 finale, so MAG 158 to 160, might be the best fiction experience I've ever encountered.

MARTIN: "It’s fine. Don’t particularly like it down here." I mean, not to say that Jon wouldn't have every right to feel uncomfortable in the tunnels as well (e.g. his experiences in them in S2), but Martin also didn't have a good time down here. Wandering for hours and finding Gertrude's body + guilt of having left Jon and Tim behind, accidentally entering the Distortion's corridors only to be spat out in the Archives again (after spending 100 times more hours in there as in their real world) to the bloody mashed potato that is Leitner's head and on top of it we know that Martin is claustrophobic.

Peter just blatantly making uncomfortable small talk. Martin is already on his way to the panopticon with you, why torture him even more??

MARTIN: "Are you sure about that map? I’m pretty certain the tunnels change." PETER: "Oh, don’t worry about that. Ink’s practically still wet. Not to mention, if they do change, well… I happen to have something that will change them back." Hmmm, do the tunnel really change on their own? There is some kind of weirdness to them because of which you usually can't find the panopticon. But otherwise I thought this was just Leitner moving them around... also maps are a funny thing in TMA. There also was the map for Sannikov Land. We never learn where they're from and who made them. Would Elias really have drawn the map for Peter? If yes, he must have been pretty sure that he can prevent Martin from killing his body.

MARTIN: "That’s a Leitner." PETER: "It is!" MARTIN: "And the, um… the blood on it?" PETER: (cheerfully) "That’s Leitner too!" MARTIN: (apprehensively) "…Riiight." Peak comedy!

MARTIN: (wryly sarcastic) "Very impressive." PETER: "I’m reading. Shush." Jon was also like "I didn't hear you reading!" in MAG 80. All of the Archive crew are so used to read something out loud, they don't think it’s even possible to read quietly XD

NOT-SASHA: "So you finally decided to let me out, Jon? (calling) Jooooon?" Not gonna lie, I totally forgot about Not!Sasha on my first listen. So this did actually shock me.

BASIRA: "A couple of guards on duty vanished too." JON: (agitated) "Vanished. How?!" BASIRA: "Just left. Best we can tell, he had some dirt on them." Hmmm, if it wasn't for the "just left" and Peter later being a bit taken aback of Elias being also at the panopticon, the wording "vanish" does remind me an awful lot about Peter! And Peter just got a map to the panopticon... So did Peter get the map from Elias? His astonishment does contradict this... But also I guess Peter could have easily sneaked into prison (like, he can turn invisible, duh) and got that map from Elias! According to Jon, Basira and Daisy earlier it does seem like Elias got out because of his little deal.

Also, last episode Daisy and Basira weren't in the Institute. Maybe they were already out because that old friend from the prison called them. This could have given Elias time to get to the Institute and leave Dekkar's statement for Jon. I totally hadn't considered, that it could have been him as well, not just Annabelle.

MARTIN: "So that’s it. Both Lonely and Watching." PETER: "You must admit you’re the perfect candidate." And the panopticon is actually the perfect location for this.

MARTIN: (shaky breath) "Where are his eyes?" ELIAS: "Exactly where they’ve always been, Martin. Watching over my Institute." OMG, I was soooo blown away! This sentence of course made it very clear, what was going on. Buuuut we get a more direct reveal on that in just a minute, just for anyone still doubting this.

BASIRA: "It’s just that there’s a lot of tapes around." JON: "And I don’t keep any of them with the key to the tunnels. It’s been left for me." DAISY: "And it says ‘play me’. Kind of suspicious." This definitely was Elias.

GERTRUDE: "I’d rather hoped you’d still be hampered with all the Dark’s business. It’s their ‘Grand Eclipse’ at the moment, isn’t it?" So this means it's March!!!

GERTRUDE: "I’m not really in the mood for nostalgia, Elias. You might have noticed I’m rather busy so either shoot me or –" [A GUNSHOT RINGS OUT. GERTRUDE GASPS AND COLLAPSES.] GERTRUDE: (gasping) "Well… there it is. Thought it would hurt more." ELIAS: (sighs) "Pity." 1.) Elias never lets people finish their sentence when killing them. So rude... 2.) MAG 52 - Jon: "I know the secret to her death is on one of them. It must be. I just… I hope I don’t have to hear it firsthand." :/ 3.) I immediately noticed that this was only ONE gunshot, when Martin had explicitly stated that there were (as far as he could tell) THREE gunshots to the chest!!!

This tape was so cool!

JON: "Yes. And I’d wager that Elias’ body –" BASIRA: "Gotta be Jonah Magnus, right?" I mean... who else would it be, but at no point whatsoever does that name come up in the tape. We as audience know it's Jonah's body because we just heard Peter say it.

Ah man, these gunshots and screams are really unsettling...

MARTIN: "If I do kill you, will the others survive?" PETER: "Elias?" ELIAS (JONAH): "Come now, Peter, it’s a valid question. And you should have addressed it yourself, really. The short answer is, I don’t know, Martin. I guarantee it won’t be pleasant for them, but I honestly don’t know if their ties to the Institute are quite as strong as I may have implied. " So he did bluff!!! He genuinely didn't know (because no one knows how the Fears actually work...). If the Archivist dies, the others go free. Maybe it would have worked just like that with Jonah? Who knows!

ELIAS (JONAH): " Melanie’s well out of it, so that just leaves Basira and Daisy. And the rest of the Institute, of course, and you can’t tell me you care about them." But... but... the others can quit? This seems like they are not affected by these "ties" at all. Buuut, this is Elias saying it and he loves to manipulate...

Seriously, Ben's voice acting is phenomenal... He is so smug!

PETER: "Then do it. Kill him and help me save the world." If Martin still wasn't sure until now, this did the trick. Peter acting like Martin's the hero. Martin never believed that and this just was the final straw, if he hasn't made his choice already.

I said in MAG 154 that I think there are two points in the story of TMA, when a time travel fix-it reaaaally could work. This is the second one. I think killing Jonah could have pushed back a possible Fearpocalype for a looooooooong time. I don't know if Peter knows about Elias plan, like in detail (he knows, the wager was to get Jon marked by the Lonely and that he is relevant for the ritual), but perhaps he doesn't know the last step, how to... open the door^^ 

JON: "Do I, uh… do I get a gun?" BASIRA: "You’ve fired one?" JON: (indignant) "You never taught me!" Love comedy like this!

BASIRA: "You never asked. Besides, we’ve got problems enough without –" [A LOUD CRASH.] NOT-SASHA: "Hello, Jon." BASIRA: "Oh, shit." JON: "You’ve got to be fucking kidding –" Even more comedy!!!

DAISY: "Basira, promise me something." BASIRA: "What – no. Daisy, no." DAISY: "Basira, when this is over, you need to find me. And kill me. Promise me." BASIRA: "No. No, Daisy, we’ll figure something out." DAISY: "These last few months… it was always borrowed time, wasn’t it? Can’t outrun it forever." BASIRA: (desperately) "Daisy…" DAISY: "Promise me." BASIRA: "I promise." DAISY: "Thanks. Now run." BASIRA: "Daisy –" DAISY: (voice growling, distorted by the Hunt) "Run…" I FUCKING love Daisy! I love Fay's voice and zir accent! Also Daisy's character, like she won't submit to the Hunt until Basira promises her! T_T Also Monster Hunt Daisy is really cool!

ELIAS (JONAH): "It won’t be that bad, Peter. You’ll see. Now, he’ll be here soon, so you can leave or –" PETER: "Oh, no. No. I’m not gonna make it easy on him. You haven’t won yet." ELIAS (JONAH): "Your choice. Just make sure to leave the door open." This is so not good... (Also door motif!)

ELIAS (JONAH): "Ah, Jon. I was almost worried. You found your way all right?" JON: (out of breath) "Yes. Yes, I did. …how?" ELIAS (JONAH): "Suffice it to say I called you." I FUCKING hate Elias! (I mean, I love him as a character xD) But this grooming of Jon, argh!!

ELIAS (JONAH): "Not anymore. But not really," Aaaaahh, the "but" costs me an entry for the not really-counter!

JON: "You want me to follow him?" ELIAS (JONAH): "No, Jon. You want you to follow him." He's actually right this time...

ELIAS (JONAH): "Are you scared, Jon?" JON: (quietly) "Yes." ELIAS (JONAH): "Perfect." God, this is again such a good prelude to the next episode in the Lonely!!!

@a-mag-a-day

#a-mag-a-day #mag 158 #tma #tma spoilers

[alloveydovey]

Blah blah, dramas of this month. This is the ACTUAL month of rewatch lol.

It’s Okay, That’s Love, 2014 (kdrama) 8.5

A psychiatrist who has issues getting intimate in her relationships meets a flirty famous author who might have a lot more issues than he lets on.

Okay, so, mixed feelings. It's very different from what I've seen before, so that's a good thing. It took me a while to get into it because I didn't like the secondary characters that much. One of them is 28 and is after a high schooler, and the other one has a whole family somewhere but lives with FL, ML, and the dude in love with the teenager-- and like? He's also in a weird relationship with his ex-wife. Maybe I can't take complex characters cause what is this man doing with his life? Or maybe that's part of the theme of this drama. What are we all doing? lmao, anyway. It's more adultish, and it deals with mental health. Zo In Sung and Gong Hyo Jin are great, their acting very natural, and their chemistry is fire. It did take me a while to end it, sooo... I don't know. I'm still not sure how to rate it. Overall good, though.

One Spring Night, 2019 (kdrama) (rewatch!) 9.5 ⭐

A librarian meets a pharmacist. She’s already in a relationship, and he has a kid outside of wedlock.

I guess this is where cultural differences collide. This drama would make absolutely no sense where I'm from. ML is a father whose girlfriend runaway after having the child... ok? Single parents (even young ones) are a common thing where I'm from. FL breaks up with her boyfriend, but he, her father, and his ex's father as well don't seem to get the memo and insist on a wedding... absolutely insane. I do get it, though. I get that in their culture, such things (maybe a little hyperbolic) happen, so I forego the cultural contrast and absolutely adore this drama. It's one of my favorites. And not just because of Jung Hae In (although, yeah, he was the reason I watched it the first time lol). The whole cast is amazing, you hate almost every man in it, but the women... the women are so worth it. Hae Ji Min is such an amazing and realistic FL. And the comfort... It's one of those cozy dramas perfect for watching every once in a while. Even the repetitive songs hit differently.

Because This is My First Life (kdrama) (rewatch!) 9

FL loses her job and on top of that doesn’t have where to live. ML wants monthly rent to keep up with his mortgage. A wedding contract ensues.

This is probably my favorite marriage contract/fake relationship drama. Also, the softest FL and ML ever. Even with their awkwardness, Jung So Min (I loooooove her) and Lee Min Ki manage to grasp you. My only two cons are the ending and one of the secondary couples. The unnecessary, always present separation between FL and ML. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. I feel like it might have made sense here, but at the same time it was one of the separations I hated most. Happy ending, though, so yay. I loved the girl with the bra problem and the sentimental boss, they were badass. But yeah, I hated the other secondary couple that broke up and made up over and over again. Extra notes: It was the first drama I saved music from lol.

Boys Over Flowers, 2009 (kdrama) (rewatch!) 7.5

Jan Di gets a scholarship at a rich kids' school and stands up to the F4, a group of popular guys who love to bully the shit out of everyone who they dim as bothersome.

I watched BoF when I was fourteen, and to be honest, I didn't remember much other than the fact that it wouldn't be one of those dramas I'd rewatch again. Well, let's ignore the fact that I'm here watching it again lol. I’m into 00s dramas lately, they’re kind of addictive so I had to re-check this one.

I didn’t remember Joon Pyo being so soft. I mean, still a menace to society, yes, but I think my mind got stuck with the first episodes and I low-key forgot that he actually falls for Jan Di way earlier in the drama and that he's just a caricaturized dumbass. And as for our FL, she could be a pain in the ass, but Jan Di could also be pretty fucking badass. Obviously the drama is way outdated, an adaptation from an even more outdated manga, and has a million red flags. Outside of that, I didn't think I'd be able to rewatch it. It gets extremely annoying at one point, but maybe the nostalgia won me over, and I low-key mostly enjoyed this. Extra notes: One of my favorite secondary couples/ Fuck Ji Hoo I never liked him lol.

Love in Contract, 2022 (kdrama) 8

FL works as a wife for hire. In between various clients, she’s had a consistent one for the past 5 years, a quiet and awkward man who she doesn’t know much about. Now, when she decides to retire, she has doubts about how to approach the end of their business relationship (fake marriage) with her longest and favorite husband/client.

I should stop reading drama reviews before watching them cause, unlike everyone else apparently, I enjoyed this drama a lot. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s far from being bad. The chemistry between Park Min Young and Go Kyung Pyo is everything. It also has an openly gay character who is possibly my new favorite character ever. It does drag at the end, but I don't think it diminishes the rating of the drama.

A Piece of Your Mind, 2020 (kdrama) 8.5

ML is trying to capture the personality of the woman he loves (but hasn’t seen in years) inside a device he invented. A classical music recording engineer ends up connecting with that same woman, and they both meet in— spoiler.

I admit I still haven’t finished this one but I’m really into it. Great story, great visuals, great OST. It’s a slow drama, but I feel like it’s meant to immerse you in its little melodrama world. It's both heartbreaking and comforting at the same time. Apparently, it has a low rating, and I can understand why it might be that way because it's a soft drama, but I absolutely adore it. Jung Hae In never disappoints. Also, Chae Soo Bin might be becoming one of my favorite Korean actresses.

Rich Man, Poor Woman, 2012 (jdrama) 8

Poor Woman is restlessly looking for a job and ends up working for the project of Rich Man’s company. Poor woman likes Rich Man. Rich Man is bratty and in serious need of social skills. However, fire chemistry ensues.

This drama was a surprise, for sure. The chemistry between the leads is amazing (old rom-com style), and the storyline itself, though sometimes focusing a little too much on the company and the partners-turned-rivals, is quite capturing. I did wish that it could concentrate a little more on the two leads and their romance since they were great together. I usually hate when dramas have their leads get together in the last episode (jdramas do this so much man) but here... well, I hated it, but it's okay cause they were cute af. (Also there’s a follow up movie apparently).

Haven't finished yet and don't know if I will ⬇️

Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, 2024 (cdrama) 8

ML falls in love at first sight with a girl in Finland. She plays billiard which is coincidentally the sport he gave up.

I have a lot of mixed feelings here because, yes, this is extremely romantic, which is what I always look for. The chemistry absolutely takes the cake, and the actors deal with it incredibly well. But... For me, love at first sight lacks substance. I rarely like it, and here, it felt like she liked him because he was good-looking and attentive (sometimes a bit too much... like back off, she's not a kid), and he liked her because... he just did. She obviously had great qualities but, yeah, I don’t know. I need a little friction to enjoy a good romantic drama. Also, it's not important, but I don't like billiards, so a lot of this was a bit boring for me. The writing felt also a bit off.

I might finish it because the characters and setting are interesting enough. Romance is cute and seems promising as well.

My Boss, 2024 (cdrama) 7

An inexperienced lawyer ends up sharing a flat with her boss after they accidentally rent the same place. Both are complete opposites.

This is actually from January, but I tried seeing if I'd be able to finish it now and still no. Back then I was looking forward to this one cause it seemed like a cute silly rom-com, but it might have been a little bit too much on the silly. The actors are okay, their chemistry is fine. I guess what really made me drop it was the writing. Which was not good... at all.

#it's okay that's love #one spring night #because this is my first life #boys over flowers #love in contract #a piece of your mind #rich man poor woman #kdrama #jdrama #dovey watches #amidst a snowstorm of love #my boss

[system-of-a-feather]

Recovery and Forgiveness

A bit of a positive healing related and focused ramble cause the newest Ted Lasso episode had me thinking about things (watch it, its got REALLY good mental health depiction) but I feel something - particularly in earlier stages of healing - that I could never really understand and that no one really ever explained in a way that didn't sound like therapist regurgitation at best and often really stupid toxic positivity was how the idea of "forgiveness" goes into healing.

I used to hate when people said "one of the best things you can do for yourself is to forgive" and what not cause it was something I grew up with that caused me immense harm and also was often said as if "forgiving" someone is something you can actually choose to do. You can't "forgive" someone out of just sheer will or logic or thinking. The action of "forgiving" is less an action and more a mental state, relative to an emotion.

I was watching that episode and it kind of made me pause and realize.... since when did we start forgiving so many people and when did we genuinely forgive most (not all, some are factually unredeemable and / or do not deserve it because they are still the way they were in the past) but at this point we can genuinely say we've basically entirely forgiven our mom, our overtly abusive middle sister, our fiance, our best friend, and even our dad for the most part - all of which honestly had done us a lot of severe harm in their own ways. Honestly, the only main abusers we "havent forgiven" is our primary CSA perpetrator and our oldest sister who has made no efforts to do better, reflect on her actions, improve herself, or even remotely take responsibility for her actions. And just thinking about that gave me some whiplash, because we used to be very vengeful - very grudge holding - very unforgiving.

And I'm still kind of piecing together how we even got here and when, but a thing I do know and I think is important to put out there for my younger self(ves) is

You can't make yourself forgive anything or anyone. As a result, you only do you not have to forgive anyone but you really can't even make yourself forgive someone if it isn't natural.

Forgiveness is not about saying "its okay" or that the hurt was gone. Some emotionally abusive people may have established through guilt trips that if you forgive someone, that you are supposed to never mention the harm they caused. That isn't forgiveness - that is repression.

Forgiveness is more about saying "what happened was in the past and it fucking hurt, but today is today and what is in the past is over and I am willing to let that past go"

Forgiveness doesn't require any action to go with it. You can keep that person your forgiven out of your life. You can welcome that person back in. You can return to something similar to what it was before the event. You can embrace that things are inherently different.

Forgiveness isn't absolute or a contract. You can forgive someone, but if they betray that and still continue to act the way they used to, you can take it back.

And even more so, forgiveness doesn't erase the hurt that you been through or the hurt that they have done. Forgiveness stems from an understanding of the pain that had been done, and (usually) a mutual understanding of the situation, how it happened, why it happened, and that it wasn't okay but that was the past and holding onto that keeps the future from building something anew - perhaps even far better than what was there before.

My middle sister spent our entire childhood directly abusing and terrorizing us. She physically hurt us, emotionally hurt us, isolated us and got our parents to regularly neglect us. She was horrible. She directly admitted and told us that she hated us from the moment we were able to speak and no longer a cute baby-a-live doll. We had cut her off for a good couple years, zero contact, zero acknowledgement, straight up rejected out of our life.

I forgot honestly exactly when or why we decided to break that - but I think it was following us repairing things with our mom a good bit and that then her word and unique circumstances combined with a random day when someone (probably Lucille) suggested we message her about real talk - perhaps it was about how shit Amy was and dumping tea or something with gender - but we ended up talking to her again

After a while, we both went through the wringer and we both came out the other end. We've dealt with our crap and honestly came to a mutual understanding even necessarily about the shit that we went through, but that we lived and were living through hell. We both went through so much and we both - at the point of talking - were just honestly tired of going back to that place. We were both too old, had too much in life, and too much we liked and loved and wanted to do than bring that hurt from the past constantly forward. We took ownership of our respective roles and honestly quickly built a really great new foundation that never had a chance to even exist around mutual radical leftistness and being the local queers.

She's honestly become one of my best allies and honestly, we get along really well. These days, I'm EXCITED for when she is in town. I want to do things with her. I call her from time to time to bitch about things, spill tea, and just chat. I appreciate her company and honestly, I love her as my sister. She is my sister, she is my family.

It was a similar situation with my mom, where Lucille dragged us against everyone else in the system being over it, to make us give her one chance ultimatum of "go to therapy with us or loose us for good" and it was fucking horrible first few months - but with the help of a therapist, we got to air out all the fucking hurt and pain that we had - we talked about the circumstance and learned to understand how we felt and how everything came to lead to the behaviors that brought pain and hurt.

We learned to understand and communicate with one another better. We learned how the past affected us and irreversibly changed us, and that while the hurt was not okay, that the irreversibly changed versions of us can still live and make something great in the present with what we have.

And these days? I actually go home to my mom sometimes to vent about stressful things and spill tea. We play board games occasionally. We are on great terms and while I still struggle with the concept and understanding of it, but I think she might be something of what a "mother" might be like. She's still probably more of a friend than a "mom" which was part of her issue raising us, but in the present moment, I'd take that over what was in the past especially since now - I'm an adult and I don't really need a mom so much as I need a friend.

I could honestly go with a lot of these and break them down cause there have been a lot and some of - if not all - of my most valuable relationships I have now I think stemmed from really shit places at a point and time and managed to both heal and bring a sense of forgiveness into the relationship.

Also hilariously, AT LEAST 85% of those relationships getting better like that were solely because of Lucille dragging our system since the rest of us are bad at it.

I dunno how to wrap this up so Ill just end it, but for some context to this post, I have a rule of thumb of healing and recovery, is that if I find myself reflecting upon and thinking on something positive and healing about our trauma and past, I gotta let it stew and flow until it ends and I should write it down just to make sure the moment is registered well.

#alter: riku #positive #healing #recovery #riku rambles #ptsd #c-ptsd #actuallydid #dissociative identity disorder

[berrymascarpone]

Oh, I forgot to add my last batch of TYBW notes here, and it’s almost time for the next episode! Anyways, here are my thoughts about episode 17:

1. Hinamori princess carry!! I kind of wanted to see how Tobiume's fireballs would work against Bambietta's technique, since fire doesn't really have a physical body, so how would you inject reiatsu into a chemical reaction, but also idk if the physics really works here anyways.

2. Komamura's clan introducing yet another aspect of worldbuilding that is neither explained nor further explored. It has something to do with the six paths of reincarnation in Buddhism, specifically the path of beasts, and grandpa Komamura mentions that it's to do with their sins somehow, but doesn't Hell already exist for sinners? Maybe some kind of state for people who have not sinned enough to go to hell, or the punishment for a particular kind of sin? I think grandpa doggy mentions revenge later on, so perhaps it's what happens to people who died seeking revenge? But why just revenge, or are there also other states of being for other kinds of sins from life?

3. Callback to Tosen, but I'm not sure exactly how it relates? The moral problem with Tosen's revenge was that he pursued it at the cost of others, but Komamura's revenge attempt came mostly at the cost of his own life, and in fact he helps others in the process. So I don't really see them as equivalent. If the theme is that revenge in general is bad, which I guess I can see as a Buddhist ideal, in the sense that Buddhist philosophy teaches to distance oneself from worldly emotions like revenge because it perpetuates suffering, but I'm not convinced Tosen was all that into Buddhist philosophy, because his main thing was justice, and tearing down the unjust society that was Seireitei.

4. Iba isn't really going to take doggy-Komamura to the palace to fight Yhwach, is he? I mean, obviously he doesn't because I don't recall them appearing again in the manga, and at least Iba is still alive later on, but also I am imagining for the rest of the battle you occasionally see Iba with a giant dog on his back in the background slowly making their way towards the castle.

5. Ah Kensei and Rose! I hope they will actually show some of the fight this time!! Though their appearance is reminding me that Shinji's bankai, and his whole fight didn't really involve any of his Hollow elements, which is kind of disappointing.

6. The descending lights! Rukia, Renji and Byakuya, arriving to save the day, fashionably late as always (and not because they had to stop by Senjumaru's place to get new clothes, nope)

7. I actually really like the additional parts of Ichigo's training, not only because it's more of our best boy Ichigo, but also because it really sets up the eventual revelation of the Soul King and Ichigo's role as potential backup better (instead of having it come a bit out of nowhere like in the manga). Also, I remember in the manga Ichibei was talking as if the Soul King had some kind of will of its own, and is this potentially a manifestation of that? The Soul King testing Ichigo somehow? Or is it Ichibei's scheme all along to test Ichigo?

8. So Senjumaru was on the other side of the torii gate? Judging by the descending lights earlier this episode, Renji, Rukia, and Byakuya have already come and gone? I'm assuming that they didn't also have to go through the soul king memory trial thing, so is there just another door to Senjumaru's place, or is it more space-time shenanigans? Did Ichigo's training take that long? Did he ever meet back up with Rukia in the Soul King's realm? The timeline is as confusing me again.

#TYBW thoughts #bleach #rambling #tybw spoilers #wow this was a long one #loved the sajin vs bambi fight but so many questions about the human transformation thingy #adding more fuel to my mental pile labeled ‘everything in soul society is just metaphorical’

[x0401x]

I think I've said this before, but I always reply to asks. No matter how long it takes. In this case, it took me a year. I can barely believe it. The way that grad school and living in Tokyo completely sucked away my free time is surreal. To be honest, I was expecting this, but I was hoping I'd be able to get back on track sooner. Words can't possibly express how sorry I am for the truly ridiculous delay.

Okay, now without further ado...

So, episode 11. By this point, it’s clear that the anime is trying to convince us that Eisuke is single-handedly guiding Tsujimine to the top. This unintentionally disregards the other members of the team and relegates them as nothing more than his less important supporters. That’s the same kind of narrative suicide that season 1 committed, except with Seiya instead. In S1, Seiya is the only character with a personality, basically because his canon personality is butchered and he’s turned into an amalgamation of other characters’ good traits, plus some weird yandere shit that the screenplay pushed onto him. The narrative makes him a participant of just about everything that happens, while dimming down everyone else, even the very protagonist of the story. It’s clear that KyoAni (read that as director Yamamura) couldn’t handle giving the spotlight to one character at a time and making them as rich and colorful as the original work, so they decided to invest all of the good stuff into just one character and make the fandom obsess with him. Which failed miserably, but we all already know how that went.

In the case of S2, this pattern is a little worse, even. The other boys of Tsujimine are barely there, and whenever they’re there, it’s to make Eisuke’s character shine through, never their own. And when it comes to team performance, almost like the team consists of just Eisuke, as if they’re part of the team only because there aren’t five of him. He’s basically a genius who does everything - he’s an individual archer, a team competitor, the team leader, the club counselor in place of their teacher who knows fuck-all about kyudo, and a coach, since their team has none. And he excels at all of that, which is not only unrealistic but also contradictory. It’s unrealistic because, like all Zen types of martial arts, kyudo takes experience and experience inevitably requires time. There’s no way a high school kid would be on the same level of knowledge and skill as certified practitioners and be able to look after four people while simultaneously doing his own practice. This is literally unheard of in the history of kyudo. And it’s contradictory because it was established in earlier episodes that Eisuke was taking advice from his uncle for coaching Tsujimine, so how come the story just forgot about this and started branding Eisuke as the one and only patron saint of his team?

In the book, Eisuke manages the team coaching by filming practice, showing it to Shigeru and getting precise advice every day, which he follows by heart. The team coach is actually Shigeru, not him. He’s also not the team counselor, and although he’s the most proactive member, the thing about Tsujimine is that they’re not a conventional team. All the boys have very outstanding personalities - one could even call them self-centered -, to an extent where it doesn’t seem like there’s an actual leader in the team. Everyone is just doing their business and none of them are particularly close to each other, but when it comes to kyudo, they all trust one another and nobody tries to meddle with each other’s way of doing things. Against what appearances might suggest, harmony comes naturally to them. This is something very unique of Tsujimine and it’s sad to see this dynamics ruined.

Other than that, this is one more example of the anime treating kyudo like a sport. Everyone keeps fawning over Eisuke, even people from other teams, and telling him that he should be proud of himself for his achievements. I could argue about how unnatural it feels to see teenagers behaving like that all the fucking time, but I don’t think I have to. And it’s all the more ridiculous when it comes to anything Zen-related. Being proud isn’t the point. Achievements aren’t the point. There’s no point but enlightenment. KyoAni seemed to be making an extra effort to show respect towards kyudo this time around in the first episodes, so I really wish they could’ve nailed this, but it’s hard to take the story seriously when it fails to understand the most basic thing about its core theme. So many things in this anime are such a blatant “don’t worry about it” that I have lost count, especially about the fundamental elements of kyudo.

Most important, though, is that this “Eisuke is God” thing is a disservice to Minato as a character. And I’m not even talking about the fact that Eisuke, the character who was supposed to be the “bad guy” of this arc, is getting more background story and emotional investment from the narrative than the protagonist himself. I mean the fact that he’s being given a role that was supposed to belong to Minato in the near future. Yes, I’m talking about his career plan to become a Shinto priest and a kyudo coach. It was set up from the very beginning in the novel. Throughout the whole story, we get glimpses of him already being on the path for that by being the kind of person who inspires others to shine their own colors. He gives prep talks to Ryouhei and Kaito, acknowledges Nanao’s efforts and lets Seiya indulge in his patience and forgiveness. He also gives people advice, like with Manji when he was about to get target panic. A lot of people seemed to interpret this as Minato being savage, but it was a candid warning. In volume 3, though, we get to see Minato actually do something very close to coaching. The way he encourages Hikaru in the most non-obvious, roundabout and abstract manner possible is exactly how kyudo coaching should be. He never tells Hikaru to do anything, just says things that might sound vague, but actually mean to stir Hikaru’s spirit. The pacing of this scene is kind of a mess and its contents might be confusing for some (as Zen always is, to be fair), but what Minato does in it is honestly beautiful. He doesn’t even seem to realize what he’s doing; he just does it (very Zen of him, as usual) and it hits home. It’s a glaring sign from the author that he’s a natural at this (again, can’t get more Zen than that).

All of this careful build-up is wasted in the anime, given that Minato’s “natural talent for realizing people’s needs and spilling pearls of wisdom onto them” is now Eisuke’s in the show. I might sound harsh here but I gotta spill the beans on this particular load of bullshit: the anime lowkey hates its own protagonist. The one thing I thought KyoAni could’ve learned from last time was to stop giving other characters’ roles and personalities to whoever the director decided to pick as fandom darling for the season, but I guess this was too much to ask once again. Still, as you guys know, my motto for S2 is “disappointed but not surprised”. I do realize everything that’s wrong with it and don’t like it, yet I maintain what I’ve been saying since the beginning: I’m taking what I can get. It’s a miracle that a sequel even exists, anyway.

More bullshit ensues as Eisuke is confronted by Seiya by the toilet. It’s kind of amusing to see the anime finally try to portray Seiya as his own person in this season, only to do a full backtrack and put him again in the one-dimensional condition of “caring about nothing but Minato”. It’s also kind of weird to see Eisuke going through the trouble of attempting to pick a fight, especially when it concerns Seiya, whom he has no reason to hold contempt for. He resents Minato and Shuu because Saionji took them in as disciples when he (she, in the anime’s case) wouldn’t take him. What’s his reason to be a prick to Seiya, even when unprompted? It’s never explained or implied. The scene itself apparently has no reason to be there other than to imply that Eisuke attacks people because he’s putting up a front, as shown from the toilet mirrors and the composition of the shots. In putting up a front, he’s keeping himself from moving forward, which thankfully aligns with canon.

Then the dialogue shoots itself on the foot by suggesting that Seiya is moving forward because he sticks to his weird obsession with being Minato’s guardian.

I could talk about how obsession is a negative point for anyone who practices any Zen martial art and that the anime is once again treating kyudo like a sport here, but I’d just be repeating myself. What annoys me here is that the show continues to miss the point about Seiya. Sure, he’s a caretaker by nature and he worries about Minato more than anyone else, not just because Minato is his best friend, but also because Minato is a dumbass and a catastrophe magnet. But from the moment he and Minato have The Talk in volume 1, his attitude changes drastically. He’s a mother-hen but he’s got a life outside of Minato. He’s his own person with his own problems, like a normal person would be. By turning Seiya into a Minato-hen, the anime makes him feel unnatural and forced. Even Ichikawa Aoi’s line delivery is stiff as hell here. It sounds like fiction, and it’s not supposed to. This is a slice-of-life.

And so, after wasting half an episode with this boring repetition of information that goes absolutely nowhere, we finally move on to what matters. Or what should matter: the goddamn tournament.

It’s not a ganglion but a broken nail in the anime. The brief moment of Minato assuring that everything is fine and the one where he helps everyone regain their composure are the closest things that the anime gets to portraying him faithfully. Minato isn’t the glue that keeps everyone together because there’s no such thing in any of the teams in Tsurune, but he is very much a force of nature in it. He stirs things up and makes shit happen. I dare say he’s as much of a source of inspiration for the club as Masaki is. But it lasts for only a few minutes before Yamamura’s bias steals the spotlight again. It’s amazing how everything is about Seiya even when it’s supposed to be about the whole team. And by “amazing” I mean it makes me want to rip my hair off. In order to keep my sanity from flying off the nest, I tried to distract myself by keeping count of how many times Eisuke has said or thought the phrase “Tsujimine will win as Tsujimine”. It’s been three or four times, just in this episode.

Speaking of Tsujimine, I’m losing my mind at how the way it’s depicted far surpasses the way Kazemai is, from an artistic standpoint. The way the flashbacks are perfectly timed, the watercolor explosion, the fact that Shigeru is watching it from the hospital in real time… it’s such a stark contrast to the bad water CGI from the Kazemai side. Everything connects just perfectly. The show wants you to cheer for them and not Kazemai. I maintain my point from waaay back ago, but KyoAni (again, read that as director Yamamura) has next to no interest in Minato. It doesn’t dive into him, doesn’t explore him beyond surface level and is not invested in making him captivate the viewers. By extension, the same happens with Kazemai. The creators clearly find it to be a boring club, completely blind to the fact that they’re the ones that made it boring.

Anyway, this is my take on episode 11. Now here’s a bonus: a review of the movie.

Being back home for the summer means I finally, at long freaking last, got to watch “Hajimari no Issha”, since it was not on Netflix or Chrunchyroll. I wrote down my thoughts about it as soon as I watched it, which was about half a year ago. If this isn’t a testament to how little free time I’ve had for the past year, I don’t know what would be, lol. It’s surreal how long this has been sitting untouched in my iPad notes. As compensation and apology for taking so goddamn long to post the remainder of my reviews on S2, I’m leaving this here.

First of all, I’m happy that the glow-up in the art style actually began with this movie and not really in S2. The extra scenes are clearly animated better than the recap ones. The contrast is ridiculous. It honestly had me torn between “wow, thanks for the consideration” and “so you really could’ve done better from the beginning and decided not to, huh”.

I’m also happy that it humbly offers bits of information and character development that we’d been given in the novel up to that point but were left out of S1 (well, at least the part of it that doesn’t contradict the anime, which is a lot). Minato’s mother, the time when he and Seiya were going to the same grade school as Ryouhei, young Masaki and his grandfather, etc. Many things we were supposed to have had in S1 are here.

The first parts go back and forth in time, but the initial content is new. New scenes, new dialogue, but still with a certain degree of deviance from the source material. The funny thing (it really ain’t funny at all) is that the deviations mostly don’t have a reason to be there. Hardly any of them have anything to do with the alterations made in S1. Thankfully, they’re small and not very significant, just minor bothers.

But if they’re so unimportant, then why do they bother, y’all may ask. Well… because they’re constant reminders of how much KyoAni doesn’t get this story. Or its characters. Or (yeah, it’s getting old, I know) Zen.

First one was the way Minato got into archery. So I guess anybody who read the novel has been able to tell, but the characters kind of stand on a ladder when it comes to how enlightened they are. Masaki is at the very top, of course, and right bellow him are Minato and Shuu. As the author’s bias - I mean, the one who’s closest to the Zen-Buddhist ideal of enlightenment, Masaki found his way to archery without any reason. He had contact with it even before he became aware of his surroundings; it happened naturally, as if that was just the obvious way to go about life for him (and it was, in a sense).

As the not-so-close second, Minato got into archery in the same way as Masaki: by sheer coincidence (just happened to be present at a kyudo ceremony) and influenced by a loved one (his mother). They also were inspired by the same person (Akihiro) and fell in love with archery at the very same place (Yata Shrine). The difference is that Minato decided to pursue archery consciously, unlike Masaki, who was just doing it before he even realized it, as though he’d been born already with a bow and arrow in hands. And that was that. It’s simplistic and pure and the peak of innocence. It also defines the whole story because this shared beginning, translated in the form of Akihiro’s tsurune, is basically what ignites Minato’s whole world and connects him to everything and everyone he loves. And then comes his mother and her past doing kyudo, which adds fuel to the fire but it’s not really what kindles it. Because then that’d be just ordinary and not as Zen as what the author was going for.

Second alteration that I noticed was the rubber mountain rat that Masaki gave Minato, which in the anime is a rubber ball with a mountain rat mascot printed onto it. As I’ve mentioned a thousand times before, saying that S1 was lackluster and wasteful in terms of Masaki’s teachings and his relationship with Minato is a gross understatement. I’m glad KyoAni tried to make up for that here by giving him a little more spotlight being an actual coach, not just teaching the bare minimum and fucking up. The mountain rat is given quite a bit of importance in volumes 1 and 3, as well as everything else that Minato receives from Masaki, so I guess KyoAni can no longer pretend that these things don’t matter. Except the timing wasn’t the best. In the novel, Masaki gave the mountain rat to Minato when Minato hadn’t yet joined the club, and there’s the whole subplot about Minato being haunted by the things Masaki gives him and does for him, because he’s afraid he’ll lose Masaki at some point. But the opportunity to explore it has long been missed.

Something else that is very different from the original is the way that Seiya is being portrayed as similar to Masaki. This is also a thing in the drama CDs and promotional audios for S2, for some reason. Yet in S2 this is thrown out the window and Masaki is portrayed as similar to Shigeru instead. KyoAni tries so hard not to make the right comparison it’s hysterical.

Speaking of Masaki as a character, it’s always amusing to see the many ways that KyoAni misses the mark about him every single time. It’s literally impossible to understand what they’re trying to do with him. One example of the many incoherences in their depictions of him (aside from trying to brand him as similar to two characters who are completely different from each other, with neither of them being the characters that he’s actually similar to in canon), is the scene where Ren calls him a narcissist. ‘Cause that’s totally the number one quality of a priest. I lost my mind at this one. Where do they pull this shit from? When did Masaki ever act that way, even in the anime itself? Are they just throwing words around? Make it make sense.

There’s one fleeting moment where Masaki is compared to Minato in this scene. Except it’s not because of their personalities or form, but because of the target panic. And Masaki doesn’t really appreciate that. Yeah, that’s definitely the same Masaki who decided to take on teaching because he saw himself in Minato, especially due to the target panic. Who knew exactly what to do and how to help him because of his previous experience. Who puts prayers into everything he does for Minato so that Minato will overcome it as soon as possible. That Masaki.

“Don’t know her,” says the show.

Most frustrating of all is that this happens because Ren says kyudo is overly complicated for something that’s “all about hitting or missing” and Masaki retorts with, “Yeah, but that’s what makes it interesting”, which prompts Ren to joke, “Said like a true narcissist” before Masaki elbows him. This is a nod to volume 1’s “The way of the bow is steep, but that’s what makes it interesting”, but by God, does it backfire in the worst possible way. He could’ve just said that kyudo isn’t about hitting or missing. Actually, the last thing kyudo would be about is hitting or missing. Hitting and missing don’t fucking matter. Masaki is the last character who should be saying this, considering that he’s not only the best archer of the club but also that the literal reason why he and his grandfather started fighting was that Akihiro accused him of only caring about hitting the target. This isn’t western archery. Get your own culture right, I’m begging you.

Breathe in, breathe out. I’m fine. We’re fine. This movie… isn’t fine, but S1 was by far the worst offender. Second place is S2. And none of these three are in the same ballpark. This wasn’t exactly good but it also wasn’t bad.

On the positive side, I like the care and detail that was put into this production as much as I like the care and detail put into in S2. Despite everything I just said, KyoAni is definitely paying a lot more attention and respect to the original from this movie onwards. Is it enough? Absolutely not. But it’s something.

Like the first shot of S2, for example, which is a throwback to the scene of Akihiro adjusting himself into his draw. The camera angles are identical. This is a very nice and well-thought detail not just for the sake of parallels, but because of something Tomio says in volume 3: that an archers’ form tends to resemble the one of their teacher. He comments that everyone from the team resembles Masaki a lot when they shoot, which indirectly means that they resemble Akihiro too.

I also really like that they gave Minato’s mom a little more screen time and lines. I’d almost forgotten that she was voiced by Matsutani Kaya ‘cause she barely ever talks in the other two titles. But it would’ve been for naught if she hadn’t been put in her rightful place as a big influence in Minato’s life. Especially the bicycle scene. It’s kinda obvious that this one was both a metaphor for kyudo and for life.

That’s about it. There wasn’t much going on in this one. It feels like bait to rile up the fans for S2, because it was, to be very honest.

#tsurune #kyoani #kyoto animation #tsurune tsunagari no issha #tsurune hajimari no issha #narumiya minato #takigawa masaki #takehaya seiya #fujiwara shuu #nikaidou eisuke #onogi kaito #yamanouchi ryouhei #kisaragi nanao #fuwa koushirou #fujiwara sae

[aprillikesthings]

I lead part of EfM thing today (see earlier posts) and it went well ahhhhh thank God

and I've made my lunches for the next week!

and I'm munching on a salad

and all day I was looking forward to this, the moment I can (re)watch MORE SHE-RA

I've barely worked on my longer fic this weekend (other than copy/pasting a bunch of things Nate said after the show ended into the notes section of the doc) and tbh rewatching the ACTUAL SHOW is hella distracting bc with twenty eps left we're going to start getting into more of the really high-stakes stuff

Also, true story: I originally watched, like, the second half of season 4 and all of season 5 in two days of marathoning with Daci. So quite frankly? The last, like, third of the show is just kind of a blur to me now.

SO LET'S GO

s4 ep7 Mer-Mysteries

A mission in Dryl went badly, they've figured out someone's telling the Horde what they're doing, they're not tracking Adora because she wasn't even there--

YES

plz enjoy Sea Hawk's faces

Bow's sudden nervousness reminds me of when I was in line at the TSA in Dulles airport and was weirdly nervous. I had no reason to be nervous. AND YET. I'm usually totally fine at TSA? But the people at Dulles were scary!!!

(I was way less nervous coming back from Iceland, despite knowing I had Kinder Surprise Eggs in my suitcase. Which are actually illegal to bring into the USA. You can buy "Kinder Joy Eggs" in the USA, which do not have the toy, but the ones with the toys are against the law! Anyway I bought them for Daci. I was only nervous for a split second at customs in the USA bc they asked me what I'd brought home from Iceland and I was like...wool yarn. books. sweets (I'd also bought licorice and chocolate). But he just waved me through. WHEW.)

she's still big mad about this lolol

BUT she's right a spy IS the only thing that makes sense (but also the audience knows shit they don't)

Pearl?? A Pearl who knows too much?????

c'mon I had to

lolol they lampshaded the way lightning keeps striking when Mermista says something

to be fair she IS the most recent addition and the one they know the least

oh hey I also write everything in purple (or lavender) ink

lol

oh, shut up

well not this episode, specifically

LOLLLLL

honestly this is a lot like the DnD episode

so on the one hand, I know Flutterina is doing this to make them fight, but on the other hand Glimmer is right; on the other OTHER hand, I also would prefer a warning before being forced to see my abusive parent having free range of the castle I live in

BAHAHAHA I read Nate saying these two were interrupted on a date night, but also plz notice the colors of the flowers, it's literally most of the lesbian pride flag, they were SO unsubtle

The Ken from Plumeria is talking to the pastry chef from Dryl with the super cute outfit, and she looks bashful for a second after this screenshot; I am now shipping this and no one can stop me

speaking of ships (yes I know this isn't meant to be shippy lol)

a youtube video titled "it's raining on your window and you live in Bright Moon Castle ASMR for sleep 4 hours"

(....I'd listen to that)

(On a related note, mynoise dot net has a bunch of rain sounds on the website, and it also has an app--it's seriously the BEST website/app for ambient sounds because they're so adjustable and never repeat, and I just want everyone to know about them. The rain and ocean sounds are great on earbuds to cover up snoring so you can sleep!!! Worked better than my fancy earplugs while I was on the Camino and sleeping in all those hostels)

And back to the cartoon, where there's obviously suspicious shit happening because people seem to be in two places at once and their communications thing got shattered

oh so her name IS just The General

Flutterina (aka Double Trouble) has got to be like "oh my god wtf is up with this dude I cannot handle this bullshit"

Once again Glimmer proves that her and Catra are actually very, very alike

BUSTED

OOHHHHH they set up a trap I forgot, this is amazing

Adora: "we created a diversion :)" Glimmer: "You were a really good actress. For once."

pfft

Anyway Double Trouble is confessing the whole plan

:(

poor Mermista :(

there's a creepy-ass moment of seeing part of Horde Prime's face as he smiles, roll credits

#april rewatches spop #mer-mysteries

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Abbott Elementary Episode 4: Smoking!! I lowkey forgot Abbott aired last night till I saw a clip of it on YouTube earlier, I believe lol. I watched it earlier today and did not liveblog it, but I'm here to talk about it a bit now!

Not much though, because it's late and I had a show tonight, and more tomorrow and Saturday lol.

The fact that they were discouraging substances while all actively using substances is hilarious xDDD It's not where I was expecting that to go lol! Idk what I was expecting, but not that xD

I'm glad it really talked about how broken the system is. I hope that kid doesn't get suspended <3.

Also the jokes the kids made about their vices were wild 💀. That dust bowl was out of control XDD Iconic all around though lol

I'm glad Jacob decided to give up vaping lol, good for him :') <3. Out of all of them his was honestly the most actually harmful lol.

Even though I don't love the detail that he vapes (mostly because you'd think being against it would be one of his many liberal policies lol), I really love that it brought back that smoking comment from the pilot!! Also I can totally spin this into a vices from deep anxiety thing which is lovely lol. Also the air bit was hilarious xD

Anyway they're all idiots but I do love them all lol <33

Also Janine was wild with that teacher lol 💀. I do think there were some things she was right about (like. the literal education parts lol) but dang girl xD love that the sub did not care at all lol

Unrelated but I love Jacob immediately blaming Morton for the smoking lol xD

Anyway seeing them all being chill at the end was great xD. Like Barbara trying the oil, Jacob quitting, etc lol. Good for them :).

This episode caught me off guard a bit, especially since I don't use substances, but I kinda like that, once again! This season is really throwing me off my game in the best way possible - we all need to be made uncomfortable sometimes to learn stuff :). This episode it wasn't too much, because I don't disrespect anyone who uses drugs (of the safe kind), but since I don't it's still a view into the other side.

Also Gregory's was so him xD. Honestly all of them lol - Janine's makes so much sense in hindsight (also Gregory's comment to her about like "Did you smoke last night" 💀 XDD iconic lol), Melissa's (and her smoking background - which by the way, the comments about that were funny too lol) made sense, Barbara's was- yeah xD, her lol, we basically already knew about Ava xD. And of course Jacob's is a callback lol! And it does kinda make sense for him, even if I thought he would know. I mean hey, we do things we know are bad all the time lol, and nobody can resist everything. Also I think I'm in partial denial because I don't want him to have gone through what it puts you through lol xD. Anyway, they were all super accurate :D.

I loved this episode!! I thought it was really great and I'm so excited for the next one :D. I am also utterly terrified :). Help me please :'). The title and description are scaring me and I swear to goodness they better be a mislead. I think they probably are but still xD.

Don't break them up please I need them lol

Also I'll just pretend it never happened anyway xD

Oh dang I probably won't be able to see that episode live either- eh we'll deal with that later.

So yeah! I loved the episode :D. I thought it was really great and super interesting :). I'm excited for the next one!

This has been my review for. . .

Abbott Elementary, Season 3, Episode 4: Smoking

It was really good :)). I'm really excited to see the next one but y'all I am so scared lol.

I'll be back next week for my review of. . .

Abbott Elementary, Season 3, Episode 5: Breakup

See you guys then!!!

#abbott elementary #ae #oasis's ae chatter #abbott elementary 3x04 #it's gonna be the choir it's gonna be the choir it's gonna be the choir it's gon- #xD #anyway!! #as I said I just did a show (like two hours ago lol) and I have two more ahead soon so I'm gonna head out xD #gonna eat and then go to bed lol #get some rest y'all :)) #I love you all :DD ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!! #byeeee :))) 🥰🥰🥰🥰 <33!!!!

[landofzero-archive]

Nagisa Ran - If There is a Connection

Event: Kiseki ★ Blitzkrieg Autumn Live

Episode 1:

(Location: Shuuetsu Hallway)

Nagisa: …… Um, Anzu-san?

…… Ah, that’s good. I wasn’t mistaken about your name.

…… To meet you in a place like this– what are you doing here alone?

Option 1: Actually, I got lost……

(Response A)

Nagisa: …… Is that so? Then we’re in this predicament together.

…… Yes, I’m lost as well.

…… It shouldn’t be so vast. It’s far too easy to get lost in this school.

(Response B)

Nagisa: …… Where do you need to go? Hopefully it’s somewhere I can navigate to.

…… Yes, I’ll show you the way. When I visited Yumenosaki Academy, I remember you helped guide me to the student council room.

…… It’s a good thing to help and be kind to each other.

Option 2: I came to watch the lesson 

(Response A)

Nagisa: …… Lesson? Whose lesson?

…… Ah, I see. Those children from Yumenosaki are here, right?

…… Sorry, I couldn’t remember it properly. I need to refresh my memory with the materials Ibara prepared for me.

(Response B)

Nagisa: …… I see. To meet you again like this, it must be fate.

…… I was a little surprised, I only recall there being those children from Trickstar being here yesterday. 

…… Ah, thank you very much. I apologize for greeting you so late, it’s nice to meet you here.

Episode 2:

(Location: Shuuetsu Academy front gates)

Nagisa: …… Ah, we meet again.

…… Just now, who was I talking to? I'm not quite sure who that was.

…… I see… Someone you don’t know. I was approached there and asked to answer a questionnaire.

Option 1: So what happened?

(Response A)

Nagisa: …… I tried to answer it, but since I couldn’t understand what it was asking I could hardly come up with answers.

…… What is the meaning behind the questions? What is the significance of soliciting the survey in the first place? Then I asked him about what his purpose in life was…

…… For some reason, he suddenly remembered he had something to do and left.

(Response B)

Nagisa: “Fuhahahaha! What a stupid question! Bow your head and apologize!”

…… I forgot to act in character again. I forgot about it earlier, too.

…… I remembered and tried to say the same line as I just said, but it seemed to surprise him and he ran away.

Option 2: Was it a catch sale?

(Response A)

Nagisa: …… I suppose so. The purpose of what I was being asked earlier must have been to get me to buy something expensive.

…… It’s fine, though. I almost finished the questionnaire but I never signed it. 

…… Ibara told me it’d be best if I didn’t sign anything unless it was for work.

(Response B)

Nagisa: …… What is a catch?

…… Huh? Did I say something funny?

…… Sorry. Without Ibara, it’s difficult to express myself properly.

Episode 3:

(Location: Shuuetsu hallway at night)

Nagisa: …… Ah– Anzu-san. Have you seen Tsumugi around here?

…… We were together not long ago but before I knew it we were separated.

…… I shouldn’t have gazed out that window.

Option 1: Should I contact him?

(Response A)

Nagisa: …… Ah, I see… I could have contacted him with a smartphone.

…… I find it troublesome to operate so I often forget it exists.

…… I have one but I’m hopeless at using it. Sorry, could you contact him for me?

(Response B)

Nagisa: …… Yes, it’d be helpful if you could do that.

…… I’m not in trouble, but it’s likely Tsumugi-kun is.

…… I hope he wasn’t left behind in the bathroom or something like that.

Option 2: What was outside the window?

(Response A)

Nagisa: …… The stars were shining beautifully tonight.

…… A romanticist? I don’t understand what makes you see me that way but when compared to Ibara I suppose you have a point.

…… It seems that we all have different values.

(Response B)

Nagisa: …… Nothing. I was just wondering if it was already nighttime.

…… Were you working so hard on your lesson that you lost track of time?

…… No, I had almost entirely free time today. Rather than losing track of time through lessons, I got lost in my excavation work.

#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #nagisa ran #era: ! #type: mini-talk

[riddlerosehearts]

...okay tbh. i wish asami's whole thing with her deciding she wants to try to forgive her father was prompted by more than a singular five second scene of her watching some random father and daughter playing together. it's been so long since i watched this show that i forgot that that was literally all there was between that scene and the earlier scene in the same episode where she tells him to never contact her again. i know there's still gonna be a bit more to the conflict, like that scene where korra and asami fight over whether or not he can be trusted, but why does asami not get more than 5 seconds of inner conflict and introspection on the matter? why does she not talk to her friends about what her relationship with her father was like, about how hard it's been having to suddenly inherit his company and run it all on her own, and how she's actually kind of missed him and wished he was there to help because in spite of what happened between them, he's the only family she has left and she loves him? why don't we see any flashbacks of them together, maybe from both before and after her mother was killed, to show how they truly loved each other and were always there for each other as a family even during hard times? and how she feels that even though he did horrible things, she can understand why he did them and believes it's not too late for him to atone? where is the depth that this story deserves?

#listen i'm sorry for making so many posts like this lately i just #grrrr. this show never wants to develop its characters and when it does want to it does the absolute bare minimum #idk if i'm ever gonna rewatch it again after this current rewatch is done #definitely gonna need to find some good fanfics though so if anyone has recs please let me know #lok critical

[boom-fanfic-a-latta]

Ok so I was like thinking about the whole Lila Redemption Arc thing we talked about for PoD post-Princess Justice (and with the lack of a Chloe-and-Lila-teamup and the fact of people knowing she's a liar now make it so that she's gonna have a very very different thing going on here than she does in the show... and also probably change a ton of events and akumas given how stuff like Kagami's akumatizations in this season were because of her-) and the whole thing with the Lion Miraculous and Kirby legitimately trusting that she can get better enough that he willingly gives it to her as encouragement for her to improve and stuff. And like this led to me thinking:

So of course given the changed situation, Lila wouldn't become Hoaxer. But imagine if instead she like. 

So she's been allying with Monarch and stuff (idk if you'd keep her knowing that Gabriel Agreste is him or not [I forgot if she ever like talked to him about it or not, just that she like out two and two together and came to that conclusion. I forgot did she ever get concrete evidence?-], maybe not considering how she could just out him the moment she goes good... though in a twist of irony imagine her saying this and no one believing her now XD) but. Imagine if throughout all of that she still has yet to tell him about the Lion. Like she's been keeping it with her this whole time and just hasn't done anything with it. Hasn't even been able to bring herself to put it on and use it.

Idk what would happen like along the way leading up to this and what the inciting incident would be but like. Imagine something leads her to getting akumatized (possibly related to feeling irredeemable or something? Probably still directs those feelings out at others at least partially), and the akuma lands on the Lion Miraculous. Either she becomes some kind of corrupted version of what her hero form would be or, if she doesn't put it on, she becomes some kind of Lion-esque creature or monster. 

But like. Ok whatever her powers are idk yet (need help brainstorming that XD), but imagine like. Instead of pretending that Marinette successfully talked her down... imagine if like Kirby or maybe one of the redeemed villains from the Kirby series (maybe Magolor or something if they've met by now. Imagine if they had an "episode" meeting prior to this sksnsmmsms-) actually LEGITIMATELY talks her down. 

(...I'll admit I wrote this last night and just. Stored it in my notes app 'cus I had already been sending asks and wanted to give you like time to answer them but then I forgot to send this earlier today so- uh-)

.

#princess of dreamland au

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

hello! goodmorning/afternoon!

may i request something with spencer finding out his has half-sister during episode memoriam, and him, rossi, and derek go to her house. she doesn’t really care or like spencer due to the much her father bragged about him. she’s an medical doctor? sister!reader, she/her

Of course! And sorry this has taken me yonks to get to but I hope you like it!

Growing up, all you heard was 'Spencer this' and 'Spencer that' so much so that you had grown up despising him. It wasn't your dad's fault... Actually, no it kind of was. You had been born a boy, so growing up your dad would always comment 'you look so much like Spencer. I'm sure you're going to be just like Spencer' but when you got your report card or went to parent teacher conferences and they said you were very bright for your age, nearly top of the class, your heart had broke. Nearly the top of the class. Nearly as good as Spencer. Nearly enough to make your father proud. Nearly enough. But not quite. Nearly.

You kept your feelings to yourself, finding it easier to bottle them up then let yourself get involved in confrontation. And you started to realise you were okay with not being Spencer. You were okay with being second best. Because you were you. You were thirteen when you realised you were a girl. You had tried telling your parents but they shrugged it off and told you to stop watching 'girly TV', you huffed and rolled your eyes. They forgot about it eventually, and you didn't bring it up again.

Eventually you were off to college and then med school. Not like your father cared, Spencer had gotten three PhDs by your age and a job in the FBI. Oh well. You left at eighteen and never turned back, you changed your name, grew out your hair, wore the clothes you wanted to wear. And so, your parents stopped telling you when family gatherings were happening, stopped giving you cards and gifts during birthdays and holidays. Soon enough, your family consisted of just you.  

It was an average Friday, you were on your way back to your apartment after a 24 hour shift in the Emergency Room. You were exhausted, one only give so many stitches, take so many scans, and drink so much coffee before they debate quitting their dream. But nevertheless, despite the blood, gore, yelling patients, shitty wage, and vomit, you loved your job. You were feeling a little short tempered this particular day, so you couldn't help but feel a little bit of dread as you pulled into your parking spot - you didn't want to end up arguing with your boyfriend, Nathan, over something silly.

You took the elevator, which had been fixed earlier that week. You unlocked the door, taking your shoes off and slinging your bag to the ground. You shut the door before putting the keys on the small stand by the door. "Babe?" You called out, "I'm home,"

"Er, honey, we have guests," You furrowed your eyebrows, following Nathan into the living room, where three men sat. "They're FBI,"

"Who's dead?" You saw Nathan roll his eyes beside you. "Don't give me that, FBI are involved in deaths, aren't they?"

"No one's dead..." You saw the older agent struggle how to address you.

“We’re here to talk about your father,” Another spoke up, “I’m Derek, this is Rossi and Spencer,”

“Is he dead?”

“No,”

“Did he kill someone?”

Nathan gave a big sigh, “(Y/N)...” 

“He’s a suspect,” The other agent said, “We believe he might be involved in a cold case,"

"How cold is the case?" You asked, "Like what year?"

"1984,"

"You'd be better off speaking to my half brother, Spencer. He's in the FBI, I don't know much about him but I'm sure it's on record-"

"I can't remember anything, which is one of the reasons why we're here," You turn to the agent that spoke. He's tall, taller than Nathan, and thin, his hair is long.

"You've changed from photos," You said.

"Dad said that I had a b-" Spencer paused, realising that your boyfriend might not know.

"Brother?" When Spencer nodded, you continued, "That would be because he's a dick. And I guess you did, for a little while.”

“What are your pronouns?” Spencer didn’t hesitate to ask, you beamed at him.

“She, her,” You answered.

Spencer nodded, “Cool, I always wanted a sister,” 

You grinned, not knowing what else to say, you changed the topic. However, it was obvious to the three profilers that you were over the moon with his answer.

“So you think he killed someone then?"

"Maybe," Spencer said.

You huffed a laugh, "Makes sense," You joked. You sat down, Nathan following your actions, gently taking your hand in his. "I don't know much about him. Just his address, but I'm assuming you already knew that. The only thing he would talk about is you, he’s really proud of you,”

“When was the last time you saw him?” 

You turned to Nathan, thinking for a moment, “It must have been that time you met him back in college,” You said before turning back to the agents, “It was around Christmas, I came out to them then,”

“How did that go?” Spencer asked cautiously.

“Like I said, our dad’s a dick,” You shrugged, Spencer nodded. “I think Nathan nearly punched him though,”

“Babe,” Nathan whispered, “You can’t tell the FBI that,”

“It’s fine, my brother works for the FBI, he’ll bail you out,”

“I can’t actually do that-”

#criminal minds #derek morgan #spencer reid #david rossi #spencer has a sister #sister reader #trans sister reader #trans woman reader #i need to do more trans woman reader fics

[sayakxmi]

[Magi reread; special edition] Episode 1: Aladdin and Alibaba [Part 2]

Anime!Alibaba is so violent for no reason.

"Throwing me out like that is so cruel!" Bro, you broke into his house.

"Stop following me." Bro, you allowed him to stay inside.

Again, Aladdin's more interested in the dungeons. Also, we don't get that hilarious scene where it turns out the dungeon is that close, which is a shame.

Anime!Alibaba: I'm going to clear Amon and all the other dungeons in the world faster than anybody else!

Bro, you're late, like, 14 years.

Anime!Alibaba: I don't have the time to waste it on you. <- you say that, but you don't really act like you mean it, lmao.

Like, sorry I'm not adding more screenshots, but they were kinda just walking around, so.

Also, Aladdin asked Alibaba if he likes money (boy, does he), and Alibaba actually said sth like "you need a lot of it to change a country" and, like, true, but, bro, you don't even want to change a country. You just want a normal life, but the normal life doesn't want you.

Also, Aladdin is far more excited about the money-monologue, lmao.

WHAT ARE THESE EXPRESSIONS

In the manga, Aladdin bumps into Morgiana cuz he was playing with that weird trident, here he does it, because he was too busy thinking about boobs to notice her.

Also, Morgiana's anime hair always bugged me so much. The manga keeps describing it as fiery red, but hers are basically pink. That's kind of annoying, and makes her and Kougyoku look a bit too similar.

-pouts-

Also, dunno, it's interesting. I didn't comment on it when I was talking about the manga I think, but in that moment especially Morgiana is depicted being ashamed about being a slave. Which is understandable. But I just forgot to comment it earlier, so I'm doing it now.

Anime!Alibaba really was like, leave me the fuck alone, but here is is, acting like they're in it together. Lmao.

Well, the good thing is, we don't get Budel molesting Morgiana (he beats her up instead). The bad thing is, we get whatever the fuck is this scene with a close up in a moment.

Besides the Sacred Palace scenes, this is Ugo's very first appearance.

He looks kinda neat here.

Aww.

Live Morgiana reaction.

Live Alibaba reaction.

Now I kind of need like 6 other characters to have this scene, for the whole gang to have live reactions.

More Alibaba and his goddamn tunnels.

"This is my friend, Ugo-kun! Everybody calls him a djiin or something..." Who tf is "everybody", you've only ever spoken to three people - Alibaba, Budel and Morgiana.

Also, now I remember that Aladdin actually did introduce himself. Sorry, I overfocused on his display of thievery.

Her!!!!

Also, kind of interesing. In the manga and in the anime two opposite things happen - in the manga Aladdin and Alibaba call each other friends, and it's an entire moment about it, whereas here Alibaba says that he promised himself he won't try to befriend anybody.

Lol.

Also, now that I think about it, the whole scene with Alibaba calling Aladdin his servant/slave isn't here at all, so I think it wasn't the anime, but some other translation instead, that I ended up confusing with the anime.

Aladdin is not amused by Alibaba's ass-kissing.

I get that the ppl who worked on the anime were trying to kinda include everybody from the trio in one episode, and kinda tried to mix these first chapters, but that's still stupid as shit. Like, this genuinely makes no sense. I know that Jamil's an idiot, but not that much of an idiot.

Apparenly they're sent to some mine that we know nothing about, except then they end up not there, anyway. Ok.

Can't wait for you to punch Budel in the face.

Pretty. But also it's the momentTM where Aladdin tells him that if he keeps lying, he won't be able to trust anybody, even himself. Like, bro, bold of you to assume Alibaba has enough confidence to trust himself with anything.

Nearing the photo limit, so have this scene for the last one here. I do like these scenes in Magi, they look... magical (ba dum tss).

#saya's magi reread #saya's magi rewatch #alibaba saluja #magi #aladdin #morgiana