#also i do want to properly finish my rewatch so truly watching by episodes and making the picspam for it is just relaxing me a lot

[thefrogdalorian]

It's New Year's Eve and I just wanted to share some mushy thoughts about life and Mando and Din and how this year has been overall for me!!

If you don't want to read below the cut I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year!! I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever you do to celebrate. I'm currently on a trip so I may not be terribly active, but if you're struggling and the emotions of the day are a little too much, please do message me. I've been there plenty of times. You're not alone. NYE should really be about looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past, but I know how easy it is to get caught up in that depressive loop of thinking.

But if you do want to keep reading, then strap in for some Oversharing Online and gushing about how much Mando means to me:

I first started watching Mando during the pandemic in 2020, I think the first episode released like 2 days after the UK went into lockdown or something. 2020 was an awful year for me, as I'm sure it was for so many of you. A lot of things happened to me that I'm still trying to process but I hope to start therapy in the new year and go some way to addressing it.

Anyway, The Mandalorian came to me at a time I dearly needed it. It was welcome relief from The Horrors I was experiencing. I was hooked pretty much straight away, who was this mysterious man? What were his intentions? Was he good or bad? OH WOW THAT WALK. THAT VOICE!!! I loved it, but it wasn't until The Believer that everything changed for me. It went from enjoyment to full-blown obsession. I couldn't wait until Season 3 aired, and I think the expectations I had built up in my head could never have lived up to the reality of what I felt upon watching it for the first time. I was pretty disappointed most weeks, but I feel so differently now.

This year has been pretty strange for me. I had some amazing highs (like being able to go to Star Wars Celebration where I got to see so many amazing Din and Mandalorian cosplays which was an INSANE experience and I still kind of haven't properly processed yet??) and also some difficult lows.

In June I finally got my autism diagnosis, something I'd been essentially waiting for for EIGHT YEARS. It was a huge shock but also not shocking at all. As in, I knew I was autistic since being a teenager but I was absolutely not expecting to be told right there and then at my assessment. So when the psychologist looked me in the eye and told me that I was autistic it was somewhat of a gut punch. Processing it was extremely difficult but during that time I found myself drawn back to Mando and particularly to season 3. I rewatched it again and again fell in love with a season that I'd probably felt on the whole underwhelmed with at the time, until the last two episodes, which I loved instantly.

When rewatching it, I noticed things that I'd missed before, which led me to become kind of obsessed with the idea of Din and Bo together. I know not everyone enjoys that but that truly is what I love about media, that we can all watch a similar thing and interpret it differently! I don't think I'm any more correct about the way I view certain interactions than anyone else. Shipping should just be a little fun, not ruin your mental health or dictate how you treat strangers on the internet. And it especially should not lead to any real world harassment of creators and actors.

So in September an idea formed and between then and November a 182,000 word fic landed in my lap. That's the best way I can describe writing it for me, I was so fixated on finishing it and the plot just kept coming the more I wrote. It is by FAR the longest thing I've ever written and probably ever will write, but the routine of writing it and publishing it helped claw me out of a spiral I was in after my diagnosis.

And it was publishing it on AO3 that gave me the confidence to rejoin a fandom space again. It was a big step for me to put myself out there but I'm so glad that I did because that's what led me here, to discover this wonderful community who adore Din and The Mandalorian just as much as I do. I'm so happy that I finally found my way here. It was way less intimidating than I ever thought it would be!

I know that I haven't been here for the longest time, I wish I just got over my nervousness and made a tumblr earlier in the year so I could have joined in with the hype before season 3. But also considering how poorly received the season was overall, maybe it was for the best that I wasn't here.

Despite my relative newness here, I just wanted to say how welcomed I've felt and that is a truly lovely feeling. Thank you so much to everyone who has interacted with any of my posts and especially my writing in any way, big or small. It means a lot to me! I cannot wait to be around for all the buildup to Season 4, honestly. I know it seems so far but after midnight we can say it's (probably) only NEXT YEAR!

I have no idea what 2024 has in store for me. That doesn't scare me, in fact I'm quite excited about not knowing what will happen. I

Of course, I have some goals I'd like to achieve for myself but whatever happens, I know that Mando will be there to endlessly rewatch and whatever comes my way, I'll always have Din Djarin. He's the only man to ever exist! That gorgeous tin can who instantly soothes me every time I get to watch his silly little exploits with his silly little son. Where would we be without him, eh?

Anyway, whatever you're doing tonight to celebrate and even if you aren't, I wish you all the best. Stay safe, enjoy yourself and I'm sending you lots of love and light for the year. May 2024 be a healthy, happy prosperous year for you and your loved ones.

See you in 2024!

Love,

Spud 🥔🐸

#text post #a little oversharing on the internet as a treat #actually autistic #i basically just love din and all of you here THANKS for welcoming me to a space where i can just rant a lot and you all support me djdjdj #just autism things #i wrote this before i went away lol #but i still feel every word!! #almost midnight for me 🥺🥺🥺

[ciaossu-imagines]

Yeah. The moment I realised how many voice Japanese actors that I liked were in it, I just had to go for it. I’ve finished the first season now btw and will probably watch the movie later today. I’ll give you my person opinions in the DMs because imo it’s easier like that. Especially since I put some references to certain episodes in there and even use a quote at some point. And I totally understand your feelings towards Mahiru and even though I don’t have those, I do have some protective feelings towards him and some other characters. I like how it was even obvious to you and I’ll tell you that even by the end he’s still one of my faves but in a ‘wants to be there for him’ kind of way. Like I’d want to create a friend for him more above anything else. Yeah. I discovered two in different ways. Mikuni has me intrigued and I want to see more of him and he’s just so fun to watch. Then we have Hyde / Lawless who just… *holds hedgehog gently*. I was looking forward to seeing him because he’s voiced by one of my favourite Japanese voice actors (who is also in Haikyuu!! and makes his first appearance in the second season) and also because of his little dance in the end credits and he gives me so many feelings, none romantic but still all the feelings. I presume the fave that your talking about here is the character you mentioned in our DMs. I like him and understand him and hope that if he appears in the future, under better circumstances. I like how you love both. The opening song is a bit too intense for me so I always skipped it, but I would always listen to the ending song whenever I could.

Also, there’s something I want to ask. I do plan on reading the manga at some point, once I’ve done the first reread of that story I plan on posting later this year, and I was wondering how accurate of an adaptation the anime is. Like can I just start where the anime left off on or should I start earlier somewhere? Also, a few days ago you mentioned in a post that you would like to hear about our favourite friendships and I have to say that Mahiru and Sakuya are now def a favourite of mine. It’s just such a good friendship with interesting layers to it.

That’s all from me for now. Hope you have / had a wonderful day.

C

I'm just so glad you ended up going for it and Jesus, compared to me, you watch so quickly! I'll admit that I didn't watch the movie myself. In an odd turn from how I usually do things, I had watched the first couple episodes of the anime first but knew within the first three episodes that I loved it and really wanted to give the manga a shot too and while I finished the twelve episodes of the anime, I just stayed manga only after that. I might give the movie a shot when I do my reread and catch up of the manga in March and rewatch of the anime. I'll probably talk more about Servamp to you in our dm's, just because, like you said, it's probably easier that way, though as usual, I'm terrible at responding to those quickly and probably will need a couple more days before I respond, especially since (though I adore how much we talk, please don't think I don't) we talk a lot and have so much to say to each other that it normally takes me an hour or three to properly write out my messages to you.

I will say, I was surprised by Lawless so much! I had figured you'd like Mikuni…I love him, I honestly do, he's a fantastic character, especially in the later manga chapters and just I am always so curious about him and every time I think I have him figured out, I second guess myself. But Lawless surprised me. He's truly fantastic too, but I would have guessed you would have loved Licht the more out of the two of them. But that is very cool to learn about Lawless' voice actor! I know how much a good voice actor can mean to you. And see, in a surprising twist here, among my many eclectic music tastes, your girl here absolutely loves metal music or anything along those lines, so the opening really hits me right and it's actually on my hiking playlist because it makes me wanna get up and move and push hard.

As for the adaption of manga to anime, I haven't rewatched the anime fully in a bit, but I think it was a fairly decent adaption, but the ending of the anime was different from manga continuity. I think, but feel free to correct me if it turns out that I am wrong, that it was a case of the anime getting ahead of the manga? I know I personally noticed enough little differences in the manga when I started right from the beginning that I wasn't bored, even covering some of the same territory the anime did, and the art is just a joy in the manga, but I'd love to hear from other Servamp fans. What would you guys say in terms of where to start in the manga??

AND YES TO MAHIRU AND SAKUYA. I love their friendship, I love their bond and connection and how difficult it is for these friends to really have to be on opposite sides of what really is a war. Thank you so much for weighing in and all your wonderful opinions and I hope you're having an amazing day too, my lovely!

#admin chatter #servamp #any servamp fans out there wanna give an opinion on where to start in the manga? #or chime in on your favourite characters or anything

[gunsatthaphan]

My feelings on Dan is that the show was always planning on going for a redemption arc for him and a danyok happy ending but that the constraints of production just didn’t allow it to happen in a totally satisfying way. The production team has talked a lot about how limited they were with budget and time and how they needed a script doctor but couldn’t afford one and I feel like that was really evident in the latter half of the show, and specifically the last 4ish episodes. I don’t want to say the writing was bad, but I think it declined in quality a lot because the writers seemed to get in over their heads and weren’t sure how to finish out the storylines they started. Plus the limited run time meant they needed to rush through arguably some of the most important parts of the storylines after big reveals happened because there just wasn’t enough time.

As someone who has worked in criminal defense and believes pretty much anyone can be redeemed and we are not defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done, I’m happy with Dan getting a happy ending. As someone who also wants that happy ending to be earned, I’m dissatisfied with the execution by the show itself. Overall I still really enjoyed the series and thought the characters were all absolutely fantastic. I’m not sure it’ll be a show that holds up as well for me on rewatch when the writing issues are more obvious because of continuous viewing, but the experience of watching week to week has been incredible and I’m SO happy a show like this was able to be made. Hopefully it’ll lead to more shows with such important themes and messages being made (and funded and supported properly by the production companies).

hi there anon! thank you for sharing your thoughts!

It’s not a secret, nor an unpopular opinion anymore that danyok deflated a bit in the last few chapters of the show. The buildup they did with his character was immense and even though the resolvement/climax wasn’t necessarily bad or unreasonable (at least in my opinion) - it felt underwhelming. I’m not sure what this comes down to - may it be writing or budget - but what you said definitely sounds plausible. I actually think part of the main issue was his limited screen time. Considering how he was basically the 6th main character, he should’ve shown up more. I can’t count the number of situations where I felt like he needed to be present and he wasn’t. Which is not the main reason or an excuse for anything but to me it played a big role. So many people were captured by him and his backstory which I feel like the writers didn’t expect(?) Maybe they would’ve given him more depth otherwise.

Regardless, I truly believe they did the absolute most with the resources they had and overall did a very good job. I’m happy with dan’s ending; it could’ve been more fleshed out but I do forgive him for his mistakes. I also liked Yok’s reaction. I like what you said about redemption and I understand that you were dissatisfied - and maybe I’m too shallow for saying this (and probably also too tired to be upset at this point lmao) - but I liked it. It didn’t feel forced and it was a nice fadeout, without much uproar. And considering the intensity of events in the first half of the epsiode, it made sense and was nice to watch actually. Not the mention the entire scene with yok and the painting was a masterpiece. I loved it so much.

And also a big YES to everything you said about the show and its impact. It was a masterpiece for sure, despite its flaws, and I hope it will contribute to paving the way for more stuff like this. It broke out of the bl box - even more than other shows have done in the last year, which already has been amazing to witness - and I hope other productions will follow their lead ✌🏻

xxx

#not me #not me finale #danyok #opinions #final thoughts #sorry for the late reply btw #needed some time to think lol #in conclusion dan is a confused boi who was stuck in the system and yknow what thats okay #hated him for a second there but guess what ppl change #i rewatched the scene a couple of times and i like it better every time i watch it #they did good #<3 #now where is my gawinfirst series please #😩

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: episode 12

We start the episode in the Snake Tribe territory, which is supposedly still somewhere within the confines of the Dragon City. It is baffling that it took citizens of this place so long to figure out that there are mysterious beings and demi-humans living among them, it truly is.

While the scene is mostly centred around the conflict between Zhu Hong and her tribe, and the ominous warning of the war brewing, it also does a really lovely joy of showcasing, yet again, the fierce loyalty not only she, but Guo Changcheng have to the SID. This boy remains the most precious muffin of a human.

At the SID, Sang Zan is learning to write under a loving watchful eye Wang Zheng. The once fierce and ruthless warlord is now the softest archivist. On a separate note, I am not sure how good of an archivist he might be considering that he is evidently illiterate.

Anyway, it’s heart-warming to see those two happy together. I sure hope nothing terrible happens to them in the future.

Our actual power couple, on the other hand, have done a full reversal into the relationship they had in the beginning; only it’s somehow even worse now. Shen Wei, who properly messed his cover up during the last adventure, has his guard up as he is being questioned in relation to a case. Zhao Yunlan, who grew to see this man as a friend and partner, is no longer amused by secrets, nor intrigued by them. He is now furious at their existence, upset at what he must perceive as lack of trust on Shen Wei’s part.

Shen Wei serves Zhao Yunlan a cup of tea with a side order of avoidance, hoping that by ignoring the subject of himself it will go away.

When in the previous scenes together they were always across the desk from each other, or next to each other, leaning in closely, body language open, there is now a rift between them. It’s awkward; neither of the men want to be here, but their needs are the opposite to each other, and neither of them are willing to back down.

Shen Wei goes on explaining in great detail his connection to the case and to the victim, despite Zhao Yunlan’s attempt to change the subject with a very unsubtle, “your body surely recovered fast”. The latter then proceeds to stubbornly talk about Shen Wei’s archaic ways, which earns him an incredulous “Are you even listening to me?” from the professor. The incredulity is wonderfully misjudged, considering the circumstances.

“I only want to hear you tell the truth”

We rarely see Zhao Yunlan open and vulnerable. I can’t off the top of my head remember him ever being open and vulnerable with anyone who is not Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan operates on false bravado, aggressive charm, weaponised smiles. But with this man, he purposefully lowers his guard. I trust you, he seems to say, and I always have. Why can you not trust me?

Shen Wei gulps.

He then continues talking about the case, which is the last straw for Zhao Yunlan, who explodes, smacking his palm hard on the desk.

Shen Wei startles, looking hurt. I just… don’t understand what he was expecting. Once again, this is a man who, from Shen Wei’s perspective, has unmasked him on the first day they met. This is a man who has been poking and prodding him for weeks. And I get that it is hurtful when someone you care about does not respect your boundaries, I do, but truly honestly hoping that the same someone will just accept the relationship terms that have never even been discussed is a little bit unrealistic, especially when Shen Wei is not divulging anything.

Shen Wei is bad at communicating. Which is, I suppose, not news to anyone.

“It seems that Chief Zhao still hasn’t given up on suspecting me.”

“Not suspicion, but lack of understanding.”

Zhao Yunlan is trying very hard. He is trying to close the rift between them: by pulling the chair over next to Shen Wei’s and settling down on it, by reminding Shen Wei how much they have been through together, by telling the man that he is being perplexing. Shen Wei, on the other hand, has raised his barriers all the way back up, smoothly explaining that he is just a normal man who ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has got a polite smile playing on his lips, his mask fully in place.

Zhao Yunlan does not even pretend to have believed Shen Wei, he gives up on the conversation with a dejected “Fine, forget it.”

He makes his excuses and pulls his phone out to make a call to Wang Zheng to check up on the rest of the team. Just as that happens, the SID gets attacked by the magical sound waves, and Zhao Yunlan sprints into action.

Shen Wei calls after him, and then asks to come with. Considering they have just spent some very awkward time together, more or less fighting about Shen Wei lying an awful lot, Zhao Yunlan would be well within his moral rights to reject help. He doesn’t, however. Even now, the trust he has in Shen Wei  - in his good intentions, in his friendship - is unwavering.

At the SID offices, Tan Xiao is using his sound device to get past the two ghosts energy beings, and break through the safety measures protecting the Hallows. In other news, apart from being susceptible from curses or poisons slipped through the letter box, the SID HQ also does not have anything that might stop a human from breaking into it. How those people survived for this long is a mystery.

A point of complete diversion from me: I am currency watching a contemporary drama entitled To Dear Myself. It’s about young professionals in Shanghai who get their lives broken in about ten different ways; Zhu Yilong’s the leading man; there will definitely be a lengthy think-piece on it here. But the reason I’m bringing that up here is that it also has Chen Weidong, the actor who plays Tan Xiao, as a contextually neurodivergent rich boyfriend of one of the protagonists.

It’s kind of surreal seeing him here; there’s only been about two years between the filming of those two shows, but he looks so different. Oh, and, he is very  good as well.

Back in the world of Guardian, we see Sang Zan shaking off the sound attack and attempting to stop Tan Xiao. He does not succeed as such, but manages to pull a string which activates the Indiana Jones-style set-up with loaded crossbows. It’s very silly; I kind of love it.

While evading the arrows, Sang Zan flings the Awl up in the air, Zhao Yunlan catches it. How close is the University to SID? He took about five minutes to get here! The chief gets a barrage of premonitions which include Zhu Hong knocked out in the future, as well as in the present, and a little sneak-peak into the Disaster Wedding incident.

He then proceeds to pass out into Shen Wei’s slow motion embrace.

There is nothing wrong with this. This is beautiful.

Shen Wei checks on Yunlan briefly, but Tan Xiao goes on the offensive, which deserves him: a) a shot of dark energy right into his chest, which flings him across the space, b) the meanest of Hei Pao Shi’s death glares. This is the moment Tan Xiao earns an uncharacteristically rough treatment he’s going to get at the end of this episode.

She Wei carefully places unconscious Zhao Yunlan next to the wall, calling out his name. We can only presume that the lab has a second exit, as Tan Xiao manages to get away despite the two men currently being more or less in the doorway.

An indeterminate amount of time passes, and Zhao Yunlan wakes on the sofa, Da Qing in human form miaowing at him, his team and Shen Wei nearby. The team goes into a full debrief mode: Wang Zheng reports that she is generally able to repel sound waves, but was taken by surprise; Da Qing and Lin Jin speculate about the shield being affected by the waves as well, since an apparent Undergrounder managed to get through it.

Zhao Yunlan notes that the sound waves ability seems to be doubled, and used for both attack and suggestion. He notes that the powers can be numerous, while grinning conspiratorially at Shen Wei.

Shen Wei quietly despairs. He probably genuinely thought that this conversation was truly over. He takes a few seconds to come to terms with Zhao Yunlan actually teasing him about him maybe being an Undergrounder, before composing himself and stating that compound abilities don’t actually exist.

Da Qing, who doesn’t necessarily pick up what this conversation really is about, but does note that *something* is up with those two, comes to his own conclusions, asking Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan to stop flirting.

Lin Jing comes up up with this.

“Comrades!”

Thank you, Viki subbers, for notifying the audience that the word “Comrade” is also a slang for “gay”.

Lin Jing springs to his feet, saying that he needs a sample test of a human consciousness - presumably to create that clever brain chip of him which would make one immune to the wound wave powers. Zhao Yunlan very theatrically feigns a big scary headache to see whether Shen Wei would volunteer to take the test in his stead to spare him the pain. It’s an underhand move, but it works nonetheless.  

We briefly return to the Snake Tribe, or, more specifically to Zhu Hong’s Fourth Uncle asking whether she is still mad at him, while she is forcibly restrained and bound to a pillar. What is it with this show and binding people to pillars? In reality, the one bound to a pillar is actually Guo Changcheng, which the Fourth Uncle doesn’t pick up on even through Xiao Guo is not actually wearing the clothes Zhu Hong arrived in. Zhu Hong springs the trap, plies her uncle with the same wine, and then goes to regroup with the others, leaving Xiao Guo behind for the time being, because, I guess, it makes more sense for Zhu Hong to be alone when she gets hypnotised later in the episode.

Honestly, it’s easier to not think about too much about this scene, so let’s return to the main characters.

Lin Jing is just finishing the experiment on Shen Wei, who is lying on the lab bed in his undershirt, seemingly asleep. I would assume that Shen Wei has gone into some kind of a meditative trance to try and affect the way his own brain works and emulate the human activity. He does not stir when Zhao Yunlan walks over, and call him.

“Shen Wei? Professor Shen?”

Having received no response, Zhao Yunlan leans in to…

... Count this man’s eye lashes? Admire the effects of his skincare routine?

Oh, no, sorry. Here’s the excuse.

Thank you, Guardian, for this moment.

As Shen Wei wakes up and rises, he lets Zhao Yunlan know in no uncertain terms that he did see through his ruse.

“You don’t have a headache anymore?”

This snaps Yunlan out of gazing at Shen Wei with barely contained lust to pretend that his head indeed still hurts. Considering that Shen Wei does not look concerned, and knowing that Zhao Yunlan’s health and well-being is his number one priority in life, we can conclude that he did know that a headache was just an excuse to get Shen Wei out of his shirt check Shen Wei’s brain activity. Our professor collects his things and leaves with a brief goodbye.

Lin Jing is staring at the readings, checking that the computer has worked properly. Noticing that something is wrong, Zhao Yunlan asks, “Did you see live pornography in his head or something?” Not that I blame his for his mind being the gutter, but also, wow Zhao Yunlan’s mind is in the gutter.

Lin Jing dismisses the idea of mind reading as a whole, and shares his findings that Shen Wei’s consciousness was unwavering, like a dead man’s. Unfortunately for Shen Wei, whatever it was that he did to appear human has not worked well at all.

Zhao Yunlan smirks.

Outside of the SID building, Shen Wei is still frozen in place, contemplating his future actions as he is thumping the Pendant of Pining.

“Should I tell him after all?”

Yes, Shen Wei, you should.

“If I tell him, will that put him in danger?”

I am afraid the the good ship Zhao Yunlan Being In Danger sailed the day Zhao Yunlan became Lord Guardian and Chief of the SID.

(Am I again getting unreasonably frustrated with a fictional character of a show that aired several years ago? You bet I am.)

What follows in the episode is a brief interlude of Zhu Jiu being horrible to Tan Xiao, and making inappropriate comments about him and Zheng Yi. We also learn some of Tan Xiao’s backstory, which expands on his character and explains that the reasons he felt so protective of the little girl was because she reminded him of a sister he once had.

Back to SID offices.

Zhao Yunlan is doodling Shen Wei and the Envoy as he tries to reconcile the two in his mind.

It does sound like he still has doubts that the two are the same person, despite the overwhelming pile of evidence that made him draw to this conclusion in the first place. If anything, it is quite surprising that it took him this long to figure out that the enigmatic mysterious handsome professor and the enigmatic mysterious handsome Envoy are the same person. It is also curious that he seems to think the Envoy is much taller.

Da Qing watches his friend’s mental agony in absolute bewilderment.

Very shortly, they will get a ping for the sound wave energy from somewhere close to Zhu Hong’s home and rush to the scene to find that Zhu Hong has, indeed, been put under mind control, as she attacks Chu Shuzhi.

Here’s another piece of fight choreography for me to tear into.

Okay, good things first. I really like that the actors are doing their own fighting. Jiang Mingyang is generally looking good in combat, and his reactions continue to be on point. Gao Yuer is very flexible, and her kicks are great.

The fight itself however, is another example of the time/money constraints.

The opening punch is… fine. They do lock arms for a split second, which indicates that Zhu Hong properly swung that in rather than stopping the energy, but they are also out of distance, so safety-wise that’s okay-ish, and at full speed it looks alright . But the way Lao Chu is sticking his thumb out and then wraps that around Zhu Hong’s wrist just gave a full body shudder. This is how one gets they thumb dislocated (which I have never done myself, but I hear is very painful) and/or gives their partner a nasty bruise. For anyone out there who needs to hear this, if you ever perform a fight, please tuck your thumbs in line with your fingers and avoid hurting yourself and others. Doing otherwise adds nothing apart from a small but completely avoidable risk of injury.

Then there is this kick-punch-kick combination.

The three moves in isolation are good, but they don’t flow together, at all. I think, and this is pure speculation, that the sweeping punch in the middle was actually meant to follow the previous two moves, then the kick would come next, leading into Chu Shuzhi restraining Zhu Hong. That first kick (which is the same as the third kick, shot from a different angle) just does not belong there as a follow-up to the two punches. I can speculate that it was cut there because it looked cool - which it does - but it also sacrifices any hope this fight had for coherent storytelling.

Then there is a capture and a swivel, very similar to the finishing move used in Zhu Jiu/Sang Zan fight in episode 11. Zhu Hong gets pressed against the tree, and the team shows up to sedate her and bring her back to the headquarters.

Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi watch this scene unfold at a distance, as Zhao Yunlan appears behind them. The SID chief calmly lets Tan Xiao know that he’s been abandoned by Zhu Jiu, and the other man offers no resistance to being captured.

The narrative brings us to the boxing ring, introducing us to it as Zhu Jiu’s energy farm, and then briefly cuts to SID, where Chu Shuzhi realises that they have not retrieved Guo Changcheng. The puppet master springs into action, leaving Lin Jing to wonder since when his friend is so protective of the rookie. If he paid attention, he would have noticed that Chu Shuzhi was protective of the rookie since day one.  

We then move to the interrogation of Tan Xiao, which is happening in the hospital set, with Zheng Yi tucked into the hospital bed, even through it was never established that she would need medical attention, and, considering that she would have no issues walking out of the hospital very shortly, she clearly does not. Here, we see some more flashbacks, detailing Tan Xiao and the girl’s backstory, the abuse she suffered, and the bond the two forged. The young man is admitting to all the crimes he had not committed to protect her, and Zhao Yunlan is honestly moved. He sounds almost regretful when he lets Tan Xiao know that he will still be persecuted for his crimes.

Right on cue, Hei Pao Shi portals in.

Zhao Yunlan greets him with a customary “long time no see”, but the most acknowledgement he receives from Shen Wei is a side-eye which does not even focus on his face.

In fact, the Envoy is doing as much as he can to avoid even turning to Zhao Yunlan. He simply announces his purpose to the room in general and teleports Tan Xiao away. It’s easy to see what he is doing. In Shen Wei’s mind, the less communication he has with Zhao Yunlan as Hei Pao Shi, the better are his chances to separate his two personalities in the eyes of the other man. That said, showing an abrupt and uncharacteristic change of behaviour is the opposite of suspicious.

Even Da Qing notices the change Hei Pao Shi.

“Lao Zhao, what did you do to upset him? You used to do small talk, not anymore?”

Zhao Yunlan smirks, replying that he knows the reason why. He then notices the little girl crying, and goes to comfort her the only way he knows how, with a lollipop. When that does not work, he gestures for Da Qing to leave with him, and returns with a familiar black cat and an adorable “ta-dah”. It’s so sweet it makes my teeth hurt.

As this is going on, Hei Pao Shi is being his glorious over the top avenging self. For one, he is actually floating above Tan Xiao, which I don’t think he ever seen him do before. He then proceeds to throttle the young man, lifting him in the air and throwing him back on the ground.

He does so in order to shake the sound wave equipment out of him, sure, but it is easy to assume that Tan Xiao also brought the Envoy’s wrath onto himself by his misguided attempt to hurt Zhao Yunlan earlier that day. It’s deliciously petty; we know that the best way to earn Shen Wei’s ire is by threatening his companion. And, to be fair, Shen Wei had a bad day: this is as good a way as any to get some of that ancient anger out of his system.

As Hei Pao Shi realises that the man he arrested is a simple human armed with some clever technology, and the real homicidal Undergrounder is the girl he is protecting, so does Zhao Yunlan. Even miles away, even when they are having arguments, their analytical brains still work in sync. And, as plot twists go, this one is neat, albeit not entirely unpredictable.

Unfortunately, realising that the girl is dangerous, brings along a realisation that Zhao Yunlan left his friend in her care. He rushes to the hospital to check on Da Qing, finding the ward empty. If this was Zhu Jiu’s plan all along, it’s a good one: having access to a brainwashed SID member would also spell easy access to the headquarters and the Hallows - which is exactly where Zheng Yi leads Da Qing, taking the Hallows and leaving the Yashou to go into a berserk mode as he imagines or remembers Zhao Yunlan/Kunlun saying “I will abandon you”

Next up, episode 13: The Disaster Wedding.

——

Notes.

Every time Shen Wei lies my brain supplies me with Why You Always Lying song. Every. Single. Time. Which means I sing it a lot around the flat, to my partner’s great chagrin.

Whoooo boy and I thought the Episode 10 recap was the crackiest one I’ve done.

#guardian #recap #rewatch #zhao yunlan #shen wei #now with gifs #sometimes my brain is like this #I'm not sorry

[momentsofbllove]

A year of BL Love

I discovered BL for the first time this year, and boy what a year it was! I wanted to write up a quick and simple review of the shows that I watched just to finish off the year. So here goes! (Spoilers EVERYWHERE. So... be careful.)

Shows that I loved, will definitely rewatch in the future, and will skip very little of when I do:

The Untamed - beautiful story, beautiful production, all around worth every second of the 50 episodes. technically not a BL because of censorship, but still managed to portray the most beautiful love story I watched all year. Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan deserve every second of the acclaim and praise they have received for this masterpiece! 10/10

Until We Meet Again - I love every couple in this series with all my heart! a lot of people felt it was slow but I honestly just thought it was a beautiful story full of love and heartache and friendship and just... uhg, everything. I will rewatch this one again and again and again. 10/10

Like In The Movies - this one was heartbreaking and hopeful and beautiful and tragic and sweet and just altogether perfect in every way. I need the sequel right now immediately please! 10/10

He’s Coming To Me - this one was so good?!! I don’t know how a show about a love story between a ghost that was murdered 20 years ago and a university student could be so perfect, but it was? the only thing that was a little iffy was the previous relationship between Met and Thun’s mom. this one is sweet and sad (Met is dead afterall) and has love and mystery and good side characters and friendships. yeah. just altogether great. 9/10

HIStory 3: Trapped - fascinating story (I want so many more BL’s that AREN’T set in high school/university please!) and great chemistry between both couples. the acting was fantastic and the storyline was compelling. I truly love this show except for the fact that we’re not getting that sequel they were hinting at and that makes me SAD because it makes the ending hurt so much even if it was a hopeful one. 9/10

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line - cute story, amazing actors, wonderful side characters, just all around great! the only reason it’s not getting a perfect score is because I feel very OLD when watching highschool storylines. it makes the intimate scenes... awkward. even if the actors are adults. 9/10

Where Your Eyes Linger - loved the storyline, loved the chemistry and dynamics of the couple, the ending was rushed and left me wanting so much more, but since it was one of the first Korean BL’s to ever be produced it was wonderful. 8/10

Cherry Magic - I love Adachi and Kurosawa with all my heart! this show was so good. so so good! the only reason I’m not giving it a higher rating is because Tsuge and Minato’s storyline gives me so much secondhand embarrassment ALL THE TIME! but they’re still so cute despite that, so it’s not horrible. Rokkaku and Fujisaki are SO CUTE and the perfect side characters. basically this show is perfect (except for the second hand embarrassment) and the fact that we never got a proper kiss. like... I don’t need skinship in every BL show I watch, but that last second cutaway in the end was just... frustrating. 8/10

Theory of Love - OffGun have my whole heart and are 80% of the reason I love this show so much. but also I really liked the story line and the way Third and Kai’s relationship progressed throughout the show. it had a perfect resolution for all the couples (including the teacher/student ‘couple’ which I usually HATE) and was definitely a stand out from all the multitude of ‘university’ shows out there. 8/10

3 Will Be Free - this was was so interesting and lovely and tragic and I loved every single second of it... up until the last ten minutes. I almost put it lower just because of the ending. we deserved a happy, loving bisexual polyship d*mn it! but I’ll definitely rewatch it again. and stop right before the end when I do. 8/10

Because of You 2020 - ridiculous nonsense that I will gladly watch again! really there is no justifying this one being in my top list because it is NONSENSE but it makes me happy and that’s all that matters. all three couples are adorable and the last scene makes me smile so much! 8/10

Shows that I liked and will probably watch again, but will be skipping a lot of parts when I do: 

My Engineer - this show should be in my top list. but I HATE BohnDuen so much. so so much. and they are the main couple. so because of them when I rewatch this show (which I have several times now) I have to skip 60% of it because I really really hate them. so much. but the other three couples make up for it - especially RamKing who GIVE ME LIFE - so it’s at the top of my ‘not the top’ list. 7/10

Mr. Heart - this one was cute, but I felt like the couple was very... lop-sided. Sang Ha was almost obsessed with Jin Won before they ever even properly met and that gave me a weird feeling. their relationship was cute by the end, but... idk. and the whole side story with Sang Ha and the debt collectors was... odd. I felt like it was a very serious storyline that they did not take seriously at all. very off-putting. but altogether the show was cute enough, and short enough, to deserve a rewatch. 6/10

Why R U - I just... did not like SaifahZon. like... at all. Zon’s character annoyed me, their dynamic was... off, and Zon’s sister makes me so mad I can’t watch her at all. I adore FighterTutor (they are one of my favorite couples which is why this show is still getting such a high rating) and I have rewatched their part of the show 3 times now. but the rest, including the THREE other side couples (seriously? 5 couples in one show? why? it’s too f*cking much!)... no. no thank you. 6/10

Roommates The Series - it was cute, and did very well on a VERY low budget and a very limited cast because they filmed during the pandemic (or after the worst of it was over in their country at least). the side female characters were great (a rarity in BL’s for sure!) and there was a few really great scenes that I loved. altogether a bit of a lackluster show compared to others, but definitely worth at least one watch. 6/10

Tharntype - I know how problematic this show is, alright? but it’s fictional, and sometimes people like things in their fictional stories that they HATE in real life... all the very serious consent issues for one. that being said, if I had been watching the show as it aired I probably would have given up on it by, like, episode 2. as it was I knew everything that happened before I ever started watching and that gave me the freedom to appreciate the storyline for what it would become at the end. I love MewGulf and the way they portrayed Tharn and Type. I thought Tar’s storyline was interesting and heartbreaking and he is a precious bean that I want to protect with all my heart. however, a big factor in this series not making it into my top list is the handling of Lhong and the ending of his story. you want me to feel sorry for that monster? are you kidding me?!! he should have been locked up in prison for the rest of his life, not had Tharn’s brother come APOLOGIZE to him as if he was the one who was wronged. if that hadn’t happened, despite all the problematic things in this show, I would probably have put this in my top list. 6/10

Wish You - this one had SO MUCH POTENTIEL. the storyline was unique, the ‘twist’ reveal was interesting, and the main characters had a lot of chemistry. and everything was RUSHED RUSHED RUSHED! this show needed at LEAST 5-6 more episodes. there was no time to develop the relationship between In Soo and Sang Yi, and I wanted them to so badly! there was no time to deal with the ‘twist’ and the fallout that happened from it. everything just happened and then you moved on, and then more things happened and you moved on. uhg. despite all that I’m putting this one a little higher because the actors, writing, and production value were very good. but gosh do I wish there was so much more of it. the wasted potential is painful. 6/10

The Effect - wow. this one was... not what I was expecting. be cautious of watching this because it could be VERY triggering. but the acting was PHENOMENAL! I think they took a very dark and serious subject and portrayed it with a lot of care. one of the best things about it was Shin’s friends reaction to his trauma and how carefully and kindly they helped him heal. beautiful to watch! the only reason this is not getting a higher rating is because that ending was INFURIATING! absolutely unforgivable for them to leave it so ambiguous like that. Shin deserved to have a clear and obvious happy ending. not... whatever the hell that was. 6/10

Love By Chance - AePete are precious and adorable and I love them. But Ae’s possessiveness in the later episodes really bothers me, the fact that Perth was 17 when they were filming really bothers me, and once AePete get together halfway through the show it’s like they just get dropped to focus on TinCan which is a couple I can’t stand even a little. and don’t even get me STARTED on Techno and Kengkla. just... just don’t. that whole ‘relationship’ is 85% of the reason I refuse to watch the sequel. altogether, I probably WON’T watch this one again, but I probably would at least have watched the AePete and TumTar (yes, I liked them leave me alone about it) storylines if Perth wasn’t so young, so I’m still giving it a 5/10

Together With Me - MaxTul are fire both on and off screen and I love them with all my heart, but I hated, like, 95% of the show that wasn’t strictly about them. teacher/student storyline? gross. couple with a huge age-gap that ends up being super toxic and emotionally destroying a sweet and lovely character? thanks, I HATE IT. yet another BL portraying the girlfriend as a conniving b*tch so that we’re okay with one half of the main couple being a cheater while they figure out their sexuality crisis? ew ew and more ew. honestly if it wasn’t for the fact that they had two fantastic side female characters (again, such a rarity in BL’s!) and the pure intense chemistry between KornKnock this show probably would have been put even lower. 5/10

Dark Blue Kiss - I can’t stand PeteKao? like... why do so many people love them so much? Pete is SO JEALOUS ALL THE TIME! I just want to smack him! and he’s also completely not understanding of Kao’s fear of coming out. he basically spent the entire show sabotaging his own relationship and then blaming it all on Kao! uhg. no. just no. but I love SunMork with all my heart and wanted them to have so much more development and screen time. it would have made the final scene with them so much better if they had just had TIME to really show their relationship and how it grew, instead of just getting them together and deciding that was good enough. I’ll watch their part again I’m sure, but only their part. 5/10

Shows that were very subpar - I may rewatch some of these for a specific couple but only if I’m really bored and feel like skipping 80% of the show:

#MyDay - I know there’s a lot of people that really like this one. but... oof. the writing was so bad. so so bad! the pacing of the show was weird, there were some major moments that needed a LOT more attention, and some minor moments that got way more screen time than they needed. things were just... awkward all the time when they weren’t meant to be. and again, we have a character that needed to go TO PRISON but ended up being forgiven in the end. just... no. I’m honestly only putting this show as high as I am because the chemistry between Ace and Sky was fantastic. but that wasn’t enough to save this trainwreck. I might watch the sequel for them. maybe. but also maybe not. 4/10

Quaranthings - this one had so much potential but was honestly just so subpar in the end. I really just don’t even have much to say about it. it’s worth watching, I guess. but put it at the bottom of your list, after you’ve watched all the better stuff. 4/10

YYY (and the 3 special eps) - look... weird shows are just not my thing. I love Lay and his portrayal of Punn, Nott was okay as the lead character, but the side characters and storylines were... bizarre. I get that it was supposed to be a parody of other BL’s and their tropes... but honestly I like tropes. and this show was just... too bizarre. especially the three special episodes. in fact... I’m just now remembering I never watched the 3rd one. oops. 4/10

En of Love - This was such a mix and match of good and bad. I didn’t like Tossara AT ALL. Gun pressured Bar into that relationship, including flat out blackmailing him with his necklace to force him to go out with him! they may have been happy in the end, but Bar was CLEARLY uncomfortable with Gun’s advances for most of the first three episodes and it really grossed me out. I kind of liked Mark and Vee together, but the issue with Mark’s girlfriend was frustrating and their whole relationship was just a little bit toxic. and I actually liked Neua and Pra-Ram... AFTER they let us know that Pra-Ram was a legal adult. I hated their relationship up until they had the birthday party because I thought Pra was 17. I’m still a little iffy about a very experienced third year student in university dating a very inexperienced high school student. but at least it wasn’t ILLEGAL. oof. 4/10

HIStory 1: Obsessed/Stay Away from Me/My Hero - My Hero and Stay Away From Me were cute enough although I’ll probably never rewatch them, but Obsessed was toxic and horrible and gross in all senses of the word. -4 for that one which puts the whole series at a 3/10

Tien Bromance - y’all this one is... I don’t even know how to describe it. weird. bizarre. confusing. badly written. strangely acted. (the acting wasn’t bad... it was just... strange.) I watched the special episodes first and thought it was just a cute little domestic family drama with some strange moments. then I watched the rest. and the fact that the first episode started off with a ghost possessing and killing like 8 people while they were on vacation at a lake was the least weird thing that happened. 3/10

Craving You - no. the storyline makes no sense. why are a popular cake baker and an upcoming musician partnering together? why? it doesn’t make any sense! And one of the lead actors is just SO BLAND. I think he was going for ‘quiet and sad’ but just ended up with ‘emotionless and boring’. the most compelling part of the show was the side character dealing with the unexplored feelings that he had for his first love that were denied to him by a homophobic family and how those feelings are now interfering with his current relationship. the rest was pointless and bland. 3/10

My Gear and Your Gown - I liked this one SO MUCH for the first 3-4 episodes. then is went downhill and FAST. Pai and Itt had no chemistry for the last 8 episodes. they spend the whole show angry at each other and then we’re just supposed to accept them getting together in the end because Itt confessed his feelings. like... that’s not enough! the best part of the show was PureFolk. Pure finally believing in love again because he met the ray of sunshine and sweetness that is Folk? yes please! but even their storyline was not fantastic because it got rushed and pushed aside in the end to focus on Pai and Itt breaking up AGAIN and having to deal with the issue of homophobic parents for all of one episode. the last episode was so pointless! there was no reason to shoehorn in that last little bit of drama. none. 3/10

Oxygen - uhg. I do not understand why so many people liked this one so much. Solo’s feelings for Gui were UNHEALTHY. he became obsessed with him over one tiny act of kindness! that’s... that’s not love. that is a broken young boy desperately seeking out love and forcing it onto someone because he doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be like. and the side story with the fujoshi barista and her brother and the doctors was creepy and weird. the only good part of this show was PhuKao but they got about 3 minutes of screen time per episode. I would watch a sequel with them in a heart beat, but leave everyone else out of it! 2/10

Shows I’m currently watching but haven’t finished airing yet so my rating may change:

Manner of Death - this show is EVERYTHING! the murder mystery, the suspense, the suspicion, the CHEMISTRY! I have no idea what’s going on or who I trust or don’t trust (except for Dr. Bunn and Sorn, they are precious rays of sunshine!) but I love every second of it. MaxTul are FIRE and I am so so happy to get to watch them in a story like this! 10/10

Ingredients - this show is EVERYTHING! and yes, I just said that about MoD, but this one is on the complete opposite side of the ‘everything’ spectrum and I love it with all my heart. Win and Tops are SO. FREAKING. CUTE! their pining for each other for eighteen d*mn episodes was so beautiful and sweet and infuriating! their love for each other as friends above all else is precious and perfect! and now that they’re actually together my heart just bursts every time I see them. I think the series only has 1 or 2 episodes left and I am DEVESTATED because I want 20 more! 10/10

TonhonChonlatee - I watched the first two episodes then stopped. I’ve been ‘watching’ the rest via people’s reactions to new episodes online. I get that Tonhon’s homophobia and toxic masculinity is supposed to be awful and is a major plot point in the show... but I don’t want to f*cking WATCH it! I’m hoping we’re getting to a point in the show where he’s calming the f*ck down and starting to learn better and BE better. I want to watch this show. but I can’t watch THAT. 3/10

Color Rush - this one has started off fantastically! the story is interesting and the characters are compelling already. but... I can tell you right now that it’s going to go the way of all the other Korean BL’s that came out this year. it’s not going to have enough time. AT ALL. it’s going to be rushed, I just know it. I applaud Korea for getting into BL’s in the first place and for giving us such interesting storylines and characters to watch, but these 10 minute, 8 episode shows are KILLING me with want of better development! 7/10

Well dang! That was... a lot! lol! Sorry for making such a long post, but BL’s have been such a huge part of my life this year I really just wanted to get my thoughts and feelings about everything out. I was originally going to make a part of the post be about my favorite (and not favorite) couples, but I’m going to end this here and put the couples in their own post.

My ask box is always open to discuss any and all shows on this list. You agree with my faves and want someone to talk to about them, hit me up! You disagree with my not-faves and want to tell me why... let me hear your opinion. You have suggestions for shows that I definitely should have watched by now but have somehow looked over... give them to me! I’ve got a whole new year to fill with beautiful couples and interesting stories!

#bl drama #bl dramas #thai bl #korean bl #pinoy bl #taiwan bl #asianlgbtqdramas #asian dramas #long post #sorry... sort of

[missholland]

The Untamed saved me during Covid. Will it do it again?

It’s been a while since I last wrote about The Untamed. 2020 is ending and I was planning to do it anyway, but now it has even a bigger meaning given the situation I’m in.

Long story short: residents in London, UK including myself were told over the weekend that we were no longer allowed to spend Xmas with another household and the city would go into sort of another lockdown (they just didn’t call it ‘lockdown’ yet). That means not only I could not fly home to see my parents who I last saw in summer 2019 (let’s face it - 2019 was a hundred moons ago), but also I couldn’t even spend the holiday with my partner’s parents since they’re a different household. Basically, it’s just really shit.

That kinda push me to start my The Untamed rewatch sooner than plan. I thought a lot about the first full-blown lockdown we had in March, which led me into discovering the show and how it literally saved me from going insane over everything. Now that we’re entering even a darker time (particularly being in the UK), I��m just desperate for a spiritual ‘out’ from this sad reality. And what’s better than relying on a couple of friends (who are also a couple!) that got me through the first time? Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

I was determined to do this rewatch right. Sure, I’ve done it maybe 16 times since March. But given that The Untamed is now available on Amazon Prime where you can leave reviews, I gotta help the show to go places in the international market!

As soon as the intro played, my heart pounded so loudly. I was properly anxious, feeling like I was meeting a high school crush again after 10 years. Seeing the familiar faces from WangXian to Gusu Lan disciples, Jiang Cheng, Sujie, Mianmian, my man Nie Director, etc. I could not feel any happier. I had the widest smile on my face even though I was sitting alone in the room. Watching a sequence of familiar moments excited me so much I had to put a hand on my chest just to feel my heart beating. All that fuss over just an INTRO!

I might not need to pay too close attention to the story this time. But the more I (re)watched, the more I thought about why I fell in love with The Untamed in the first place and how the mystical cultivators’ world carried me through the national lockdown.

Everyone was (and still is) suffering in the real world with Covid. Many of us were required to stay in, work from home and live our social life through a computer screen. Like most people, my work and personal life became one within the 4 familiar walls of my living room. I changed from someone who thought she had the world to a person whose whole life got squeezed into a little box. Reality was just bleak. I didn’t want to live like that. I wanted to be somewhere Covid wasn’t a thing. Another world. Another universe. Anything.

The Untamed universe gave me everything and even a bit more. The show took me to a whole other world, although fictional, where I did not have to worry a thing about Covid. I was so immersed into their world, and that was possible all down to the cast and crew’s incredible effort in making it real for me. Of course, I did not think I became a cultivator. But everything felt real because I could feel so strongly in my heart the excitement when Wei Wuxian first fought Lan Wangji on the roof, the confusion in Sujie’s heart everytime she ran into Jin peacock, the sadness whenever WangXian part way, the anger of Chenqing, the pain when Sujie died, the relief when WangXian reunited, the butterflies in my stomach seeing the piggyback ride on the bridge, and the utmost happiness during the last 20 seconds of the finale. 

I can go on and on and on. But I remember so vividly during the first watch in March, I said to my friends The Untamed had been ‘the most beautiful distraction in the ugliest time’. I know the show has touched your hearts more or less the same way it did mine. Tell me - how do you feel whenever the loving melody of Wuji plays on the screen? I felt like someone was giving me the most tender back hug, or holding my hand tightly, or looking into my eyes so deeply. I genuinely felt like falling in love. It’s something that no other fictional production of any form has ever made me feel. Even though that ‘first time’ moment has passed, I could still sense the same emotion within myself whenever Wuji is played in the background of a scene. Some might say it was magical and I wouldn’t disagree. It’s hard to explain. But ‘magical’ is truly close enough to describe it.

You gotta give it to the production crew - how they manage to bring the source novel to life, not only staying faithful to the tiny details but also adding their own unique changes which, in some parts, actually did the work even better than the original. I can’t remember whether I’ve mentioned this, but The Untamed is the first Chinese series I’ve seen in 10 years - the last one being Bu Bu Jing Xin. This is for you to know that Chinese drama is not at all my jam. I have not seen any other Chinese series or fantasy/historical drama since The Untamed, and I will probably keep it this way for a long time. The Untamed has such a special place in my heart that I want to protect its legacy.

While typing this, I’m at episode 4. Still early days, the memories of the youth, the carefree adventures being the enormous storm that screw over our beloved characters. I thought maybe I’d write this after finishing the final episode. But I did not expect feeling so much emotion already from the beginning of the rewatch, partly because of the fresh frustration over what’s going on in the UK right now. I just want the show to save me again like it did during the start of the global pandemic. I don’t know how it’s going to do it, but I’m certain it will make everything a little bit easier everyday for me.

If you’ve made it this far to my super in-cohesive random writing, THANK YOU! I’ve ‘ranted’ about several Untamed-related topics during my first watch that you might find interesting:

Character Analysis: Wei Wuxian

Character Analysis: Lan Wangji

Moment Analysis: Favourite WangXian Moment

Episode Analysis: Episode 44-45

Story Analysis: Xiao Xingchen/Song Lan

Character Analysis: Jiang Cheng

The Ending Analysis

#wangxian #the untamed #chen qing ling #wei wuxian #wei ying #yiling laozu #lan wangji #lan zhan #hanguang jun #mo dao zu shi

[tammyhybrid21]

Autism & Neurodivergent Headcanons

TODAY IS A SCREAMING ABOUT AUTISM DAY!

Because apparently it's just the mood, and well, not entirely Autism, but like-- the kind of characters I enjoy. And rule number one is Neurodivergent Coded, in one form or another... Which is mostly Autism, but not always.

So, let's talk about some of the Neurodivergent ICONS I love.

So first, I'm going to go back to my OLDEST, well, okay more like second oldest fandom. With Sonic, specifically Sonic SatAM. And the character who STILL to this DAY defines my taste in characters about 75% of the time.

So, let's talk. This character, I have... no idea how many pages of a sketchbook I have just filled with him. But this is Antoine. D'Coolette in the comics, Depardieu in the cartoon. And he was my first... well, the FIRST character I ever so whole heartedly latched onto. Which is projection and the whole nine yards of that mess. Hell I have old, old OCs who I made into his family and just-- yeah--

So, Antoine, he's the coward of the show, the comic relief and the joke that's picked on. He's also ALWAYS anxious, has special focus and interests and lacks even basic social skills and has issues with vocalizing things properly. Antoine, ticks all the autism flags for me, with additional anxiety. Along with just, massive underdog sense. You need to remember, this was MY CHARACTER, as a kid.

And he still is. I could talk for ages on all the little things that he does that are Autistic or Autistic coded, but that would be a WHOLE other big giant post, and we're not really here for that, but just screaming briefly about Characters I love who're definitely ND

Meanwhile still on Sonic.

LOOK AT THIS ADHD ICON!

Like look! Look! The simple fact is, this is the first truly Nurodivergent ICON form of Sonic we have seen! And I mean that, before and always he was just-- fast. But have you watched the MOVIE?! And okay, there are jokes in the comics and even in the cartoon, but those were always really brief and not enough but Movie Sonic?! Like, this is the baby Sonic! This is definitely ADHD Sonic! This is the TRUE BLUE!

Although I will miss the old school Sonic from SatAM, I will not miss him being rather mean spirited towards my Autism Icon of a character. Which seriously, I have-- many complaints about SatAM on rewatching it as an adult, but one of the biggest is just generally how mean spirited Sonic is... as an aside though, I do still appreciate the series and wish that it got the completion it deserved, and Archie doesn't count.

ALSO BONUS.

Without further comments.

The og ADHD "Sonic". Also Sonic Underground has its charm and place FITE ME!

Soooo, we all know, ALL KNOW! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS AUTISTIC! But I would also, like to just make some comments in general about Sans. So let's lump the Skelebros together and talk about them. Papyrus is the obvious Autistic Icon! In so, so many ways, and damn it, I also have many, many comments to make on the who is older debate, but number one-- I want to talk about something in regards to Sans.

The general image we all have in the fandom is depression, but I would also like to raise Anxiety. And it's all subtle. But both the brothers are not neurotypical and people can FITE ME! I will counter with examples from the game and even some of the characterizations that you yourselves write people!

Also, on anxiety, we get a very small glimpse, but I think Papyrus has it as well, and that's just sad...

Benjamin Tennyson from his series by the same name. ADHD ICON! Also, the best kid with Aliens on his wrist, but only up to the end of Ultimate Alien and we do NOT talk about the retcons in Omniverse and beyond...

But Ben is not just ADHD, I have a missing half complete rant about Benjamin here and Autism, but I will cite Sumo Slammers as the BIG THING! Like do you know how many episodes of the Original series had him just-- deviating from the plot because THIS IS MY SPECIAL INTEREST! Like, that's big, and even grown up-- and he has routines and places that matter to the HEIGHT OF IMPORTANCE! That might be stupid to a casual observer, but for me. Yep.

Icon!

Also just like, who doesn't want to have aliens at their fingertips, tell me?!

And the whole Uchiha Clan in general. And since this is a topic I've ranted on multiple times, I don't really think I need to talk about it again, just go dig through my Naruto tag, or my Autism one... or both, I don't really care. But this whole clan is one big Autistic Family. Also obvious from this series...

And the Number 1 Knuckleheaded Ninja himself. At least pre-shippuden and early on the boy is the ADHD icon! Actually, honestly, all Uzumaki are-- Again, this isn't something I really need to talk about, but I will complain a LOT about how badly Naruto was handled, and I do have many half finished angry rants about how they lost his empathy and it became so self-centered and just--

This boy annoys me beyond belief due to how it was handled.

For some amusement, I'll be honest-- there is only one member of Mystery Incorporated who I don't think is Neurodivergent, and no-- it's not the dog.

No but seriously. I have-- many, many feelings on this show, most of them really honestly too much for me to honestly put into enough words. But on the whole, one of the big things in NOBODY HERE FEELS TYPICAL! They're all neurodivergent best friends aside one single member, and I have many emotions and feelings, and just-- they're so, so good.

Shaggy definitely has some kind of anxiety, Freddy I have a whole rant somewhere about how he's Autistic, Velma gives off some MASSIVE OCD vibes, particularly when faced with challenges to her boxed world-view and while we could debate that to Autism-- not really... Scooby like Shag, has anxious, but he's also a Great Dane--

And Daphne minds them all!

I will also fight you on Vivi! Of course everyone already knows Arthur and anxiety-- but Vivi is SO Autistic/ADHD herself! Like you don't understand!

AND I CAN AND WILL SCREAM MORE ABOUT THESE TWO AS WELL!

Like! I do not think people yet understand! I am THIS CLOSE to digging more into the movies to see if I can find points for Sara and even Tiffany for being Autistic, but these two are the CLEAR AND OBVIOUS Cases! AND I LOVE THEM! Like, Tadeo took a while to grow on me, he's actions in the sequel are... well... But I do not think I could scream more about how clear these two are as Autistic Icons.

ESPECIALLY MUMMY!

Who's not just Autistic but confirmed as Asexual and nb!

Unfortunately I have a less than happy rant about Tadeo coming up, but right now! Let's just appreciate the sheer Autism this series has on display with not one but two characters the fandom can point out the signs in!

Not Autism surprisingly, but I would like to make an aside here for Héctor! For all I relate and ADORE Héctor! It's not Autism that he flags as. Not at all. I mean we can argue about it, people can have that headcanon, but I am firmly over here like, for all those signs there are some BIG things missing for that to click into place. And I do have a piecemeal rant in the process of being made--

But for now.

Héctor Rivera is the REAL ADHD ICON!

Inattentive ADHD, And he's such a GOOD boy for it as well. Like excuse me?! EXCUSE ME! This Papá may be distracted, impulsive and not exactly good at keeping details in his mind, or responsible with property or establishing boundaries but he's really, really a GOOD icon for ADHD! Also, contrasting--

As an aside as well, Anxiety.

That is all.

Miguel and Victoria though, yeah they're Autistic for sure!

Anyway... this is enough of my screaming, so yeah... just a small glimpse of those Neurodivergent characters I love.

#THybrid Speaks #Autism #Anxiety #ADHD #Mental Health #Tadeo Jones #Ben 10 #Coco #Scooby Doo #Sonic the Hedgehog #Undertale #THybrid Mobius #THybrid Coco #THybrid Omnitrex #THybrid Undertale #THybrid Meddles #Naruto #THybrid Narutos #THybrid Jones #Mystery Skulls Animated #And this isn't even HALF of the characters I think are ND

[pluviophile-bookworm]

AWAE 2x9 rewatch: thoughts and reactions

This review is dedicated to Dalila Bela, who turns 19 today. Happy birthday!

After a long wait, there she is at last - Muriel Stacy, decorating her new home with potato stamps. What a lovely way to show she is a kindred spirit. She’s basically like an older Anne. 

Marilla and Anne utter the same words upon passing Miss Stacy, who is cycling in the opposite direction at top speed - ‘My heavens!’ - except their intonations are so different. Marilla is shocked at the sight of the unconventional-looking stranger, while Anne is in awe of her, and especially the fact that she’s wearing trousers. I don’t think the women of Avonlea, be they progressive mothers or not, won’t be so fascinated with her, though.

And again, Miss Stacy acts exactly like an older Anne, going on and on about potatoes and tardiness and motorbikes before she’s even caught a breath. I can’t wait for Anne to finally meet her. And that concludes the cold open. 

I don’t care what Prissy and Josie, or their mothers, say about Miss Stacy- I’m with Anne on this one. They shouldn’t judge their new teacher before they’ve met her up close. She’ll warm her way into their hearts, I’m sure. I actually know it for a fact.

I simply cannot believe Billy brought a gun to school and is openly proclaiming he’s about to kill an animal, a living being, with it. And it’s not just any animal - it’s the fox, Anne’s fox. What has it done to him that he’s so personally violent towards it?

Again, Gilbert alone is the voice of reason (unlike season 3 Gilbert, who is the most confused individual I’ve ever seen and has the eyebrows to prove it). ‘There’s no fox here, so how about you put the gun away?’ It’s as if he speaks for me. 

Who does Billy think he is, calling his teacher ‘little lady’? He’s lucky she’s not Phillips, otherwise he wouldn’t get away with such disrespectful behaviour. 

Once again Anne uses the exact same words as someone else, but with a different intonation. Prim and proper Tillie’s ‘Oh my goodness!’ is one of disapproval (which she’s not to blame for, that’s probably just what her parents have taught her), while Anne’s is an expression of pure admiration and fascination. [Side note: Let’s put things into perspective, though - what would you think if your new teacher showed up to school with no bra on, on her first day at that? I don’t really know what to think of corsets anymore, so I’m not sure how to take this. You tell me.]

What, now Matthew and Jerry, two of my favourite AWAE men, want to catch the fox too? I understand it’s stealing people’s chickens, but hey, a fox must eat too, and it’s not like it can get its food in another way.

What’s happening to Bash? Is farm life not his speed? I’m worried about him, I hope he’s alright. 

For this next scene, the introductions, I’ll insert a note from when I first watched this episode. I notice I’ve been doing that a lot lately, but well, it seems I’ve got quite a lot of first impression notes on this season written down, so why not make them public now, here where it’s appropriate? Here goes:

And, just as I was fascinated, things got dramatically bad. Anne wouldn’t stop saying quite private things about everyone who spoke, and Miss Stacy reprimanded her for spreading gossip, resulting in her being unable to come up with words to describe herself (the method used for introductions was everyone would use words starting with their initials to describe themselves. I really wanted to know what Anne would have said about herself, as nobody else seemed to struggle much with the exercise (although I myself always do when asked to do it).

Alright, now I’d like to add something to this. When Ruby describes herself as ‘romantic’ and looked for a G word for ‘Gillis’, I could swear she thought of a certain young man right to her left - heck, she even looked at him before quickly blurting out ‘girl’. Well, yeah, she is a girl. But she’s also defining herself through Gilbert too much. I hope she knows how much potential she has beyond him. Besides, he only has eyes for Anne. I wish we’d got another season so we could see how far Ruby and Moody go. I liked them, but we saw too little of them together. #renewannewithane

Ok, but... it was like Miss Stacy just finished Anne’s sentence. ‘Ruby has a crush on...’ ‘Gilbert Blythe?’ Well, yes, but that’s not what we’re talking about. See, I’m noticing details I did not deem significant enough to note down the first time around. This is what rewatches are for. 

Rachel Lynde needs Marilla’s help. That’s a first. Oh, well, it’s rumours, what else. She’s against Miss Stacy. I really don’t like her right now. 

No, seriously, what is happening to Bash?

Of course, what the mothers of Avonlea fail to see is that, female or not, trousers or nor, corset or not, Miss Stacy is much more capable of teaching the young minds of Avonlea school than her predecessor. Or at least she’s much more willing to educate them properly. Of course she’ll tutor Gilbert. And Anne will soon find her way into her good graces. I hope. Nay, I know it. 

‘Appalling, stupid, clueless...’ this is what I hoped wouldn’t happen, but it happened anyway. Now Anne is beating herself up for the scrape she got into by complete accident. Gosh, I hope someone can fix this.

From my old notes:  And again, Cole knows how to fix things, and he does so, brilliantly I would say. Also, with the way he goes out into the nature, raises his hands and shouts out “Come to me, Muse!”, I can totally see him being a pagan... and who’s to say he’s not? I mean, Anne has the makings of one too, remember the Beltane ritual in season 3?

Rachel’s only job seems to be to stick her nose in other people’s business. She has no right to go around asking about Muriel’s marital status and whether she wants to be an old maid. But as anyone who’s watched the full series knows, this will be carried over into season 3.

Seriously, Rachel right now reminds me of Anne earlier with all the gossip, and I see now why she (Anne) made such a bad impression on Miss Stacy. Unfortunately, she (Miss Stacy) cannot assign Rachel Lynde an essay.

Anne’s mind is all taken over by the fox... so much that she’s fallen asleep over her papers... and now, disaster after disaster lead to a small fire, which grows into a bigger fire. If Anne’s essay burns in it, I’ll literally cry. I know a thing or two about lost work. Why, half of this very post I had to write a second time after my computer decided to restart the page with the unsaved draft open. But hey, this is not about me. 

So I guess they’ve figuratively and literally forced Miss Stacy into a corset. That’s sad. But I see she’s not giving up on her unique identity.

Oh, great, now the found brothers are fighting. I guess it turns out Bash’s problem is he’s inexperienced in farming and he needs help, but Gilbert is pursuing his own future now and doesn’t seem to care all that much. I feel bad for Bash. But we know Gilbert will stay at least another year and Bash will figure farming out by the time he has to leave. 

Ah, I see Anne is feigning sickness so as not to go back to Miss Stacy after yesterday’s fiasco. Well, I’d do the same if I were her, but I’m not quite sure that’s the best solution to the problem at hand. Marilla’s suggestion seems much better to me. Going together so Anne has someone to vouch for her... reasonable and concerned like a true mother.

I see Bash is trying to figure out horse-riding on his own. It looks tough. But he can manage it. 

It’s a shame Jerry won’t help Anne with the trap... but well, he was promised good money, and his large family is so poor... the ends sort of justify the means here. Still, Matthew is not in the right to plan on skinning the fox for money. 

Gosh, things are heating up between Shirbert. Anne seems to be all the more determined to find and develop her vocation now that Gilbert is working on his. And he doesn’t seem to care much about her feelings right now, being so busy studying and all. But I wonder how this whole thing really makes him feel. 

Hey, there are the potato light bulbs! The first science lessons Miss Stacy teaches the class. And they never forget it. How inspiring!

Hey, I just realised something. In her ramble in the cold open, Miss Stacy mentioned that you can use potatoes for a lot of purposes... well, here’s the second one she demonstrates in this episode. Stamps and... lighting a bulb.

Marilla, who took up Miss Stacy’s offer to stay and observe, seems to be a new supporter of the young teacher. See? If people only gave her a chance and saw what she does and how she does it, she might soon be a hit in town. But no, some choose to condemn her instead, as if she’s ever done them wrong. Just like the fox. Except the fox stole some chickens. Miss Stacy is perfectly innocent. 

And... poor clumsy Moody had to ruin everything just as Rachel and the ProgressiveTM mothers came in. Too bad. But hey, it’s him who recalled this very first lesson later on when they were graduating, isn’t it? 

Hey, Bash has gone to see Mary. Things are getting serious. I guess.

Alas, the mothers are not too pleased with how the lesson turned out. Luckily, Marilla was there to see the whole thing from beginning to end and can support Miss Stacy in front of the rest of the women. And it seems Gilbert and Anne are ready to step in and defend her as well. On their second day with her. That speaks volumes. 

Oh, so he’s visiting Mary to talk about Gilbert. But he also talks about himself and his idea to go deep into farming. His story is truly an inspiring one. And also, he’s staying with Mary for supper. As I said, things are getting serious. 

Anne decided to show Miss Stacy the story clubhouse... nice. But she’s made another blunder in doing so. She’s forgotten Cole is hiding there from his parents. And now they’ll force him into farming again... as my younger self said when I saw this for the first time, ‘this episode is one of the most devastatingly dramatic ones of this series – ever. What a way to lead up to the season finale’. I think that says it all. 

Ah, yes, nobody told Gilbert that Bash wouldn’t be home for supper this evening. Too bad... now he’ll think Bash has run away on him. Meanwhile, Bash is having a good time with Mary. But there’s no way for Gilbert to know that. How unfortunate. 

One shot, one gunshot and... wait, it seems the fox has not been killed yet. But the poor clubhouse... Billy is the worst person in this series, hands down. I can’t even. I’m crying. Real tears. Right now.

See, Anne’s blunder was not telling Miss Stacy about Cole. After all, she swore her to secrecy. But it was a blunder nonetheless because Miss Stacy takes her duty as a teacher more seriously than her promise to Anne. If only she’d known the full story... Cole might have been saved. 

Miss Stacy riding with Harmon Andrews... I wonder what Rachel, aka the Avonlea yellow pages, will make of that. 

‘Sometimes you just have to use your imagination.’ This is powerful because it comes from Marilla. Also, perhaps this is the hidden sense of humour that L.M.Montgomery talked about in the book, which I’m currently rereading. 

I can’t, I just can’t. Now Cole feels betrayed by Anne, and Anne is devastated about the clubhouse.... and the women of Avonlea are against Miss Stacy, and Matthew disappointed Anne... can nobody be happy in this episode? It’s truly tragical and devastating. I should not have opted for rewatching it right before going to bed, on a school night at that. How will I sleep now?

Gosh, Cole really has had it now. I’m not saying Billy Andrews did not deserve it (he did and he does), but violence is never the answer. Still, I guess it’s justified now. Too bad it will probably lead to even more trouble for Cole. See, even he’s scared of what he’s done. He surely didn’t mean for it to go that far. And to the creators - this is no way to end an episode.

Let’s sum up: we meet Miss Stacy; intonation matters; the fox is in danger; Billy the bully has a weapon now - how bad can things get?; Bash struggles with farming; Anne accidentally makes a bad impression on a kindred spirit; appalling, stupid, clueless; ‘Come to me, Muse!’; Rachel Lynde sticks her nose into things that are not her business - what else is new; potato light bulbs; Bash visits Mary; the clubhouse is destroyed; Anne accidentally betrays Cole, leading to dramatic consequences; a disastrous ending to a devastating episode.

#anne with an e #awae #anne shirley cuthbert #gilbert blythe #diana barry #ruby gillis #prissy andrews #billy andrews #moody spurgeon #muriel stacy #marilla cuthbert #matthew cuthbert #rachel lynde #renewannewithane #renew anne with an e #saveannewithane #save anne with an e #jnk #jnk watches awae #awae 2x9 #queue're bigger than that

[fyeahfandomtrash]

random thoughts i had while watching tb ep 16 (the final round of clownery)

ah yes, one more round. see you on the other side.

opening credits are playing right now, but before i get any further, i just want to say that the actors have all been amazing, and i’m very much attached to their interpretations of the characters (even if the characters are questionable). okay, moving on!

okay why am i getting sad already i still got an hour and 20 minutes to go

not that this show was very logical to begin with, but i really didn’t understand suho’s actions post timeskip. like, he’s just acting so weirdly??

i love how aesthetically pleasing it is to have seojun and suho be the same height, like in the webtoon. when i say this casting has been 11/10 i really mean they got literally every single aspect of the character down

guys it’s literally been two years can we stop with this high school love triangle shit. i’m tired.

this is so fucking sad. seojun never got a chance unlike in the webtoon. i’m so sad.

oh my god is seojun gonna cry.... i can’t deal with this. NO WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS TORTURE. this is beyond cruel. i hate it here.

i absolutely hate this right now. why are suho and jugyeong so cringe...? wow i’m really on the team seojun train right now huh. i’ve completely jumped ship. okay.

i would just like to take the time to thank hwang inyeop for singlehandedly converting me to a hardcore seojunist. this man’s doing god’s work. respect.

i also would just like to point out that cha eunwoo and moon gayoung are good actors and have good chemistry. it’s just the writing that sucks. no hate to the actors, like at all. i’m going to miss them in this project :((

whyyyy is seojun so self-sacrificing??? it’s so sad. i’m so sad :((

jugyeong’s development in terms of self-love has been 11/10 for me. the way she just doesn’t accept people stepping over her after a certain point is so sexc

soojin’s character redemption was really rushed but i’m not mad about it. thank u, next

heegyeong is literally one of my favorite characters from the webtoon and i love just how whacky and quirky yet sensible and righteous and loving she is in the drama, like it’s very true to the original source material. i feel like i don’t hype up the supporting cast as much as i should so i’m gonna do that right now

let’s be real here i’m just gonna end up being like “not enough seojun in episode 16. 5/10″

cha eunwoo playing drunk suho is very cute. i will give him that.

missing you and starlight are good songs but i want how do you do to be released :(((

what THE FUCK THIS IS A FUCKING BED SCENE?!?!!?!? the fuck is this

wedding scene is gonna be the last scene huh

okay NEVERMIND it’s not the last scene. very un-tvn of them

teacher han and jugyeong’s dad are both such dramatic lil bitches

pffffttt why is this wedding so fucking chaotic. we can never have a normal moment can we

wow so seojun couldn’t even come to the wedding huh .___.

okay this wedding was cute. very different from any other wedding scene i’ve seen in a kdrama. i’ll give it that

SEOJUN DEBUT LET’S FUCKING GO

oof that eye makeup... 

no but why would you have that scene from the webtoon when the context is so freaking different -_-

seojun leader,,, imma cry

OH MY GOD THAT SHOT of hwang inyeop’s eyes... OOF. cinematographer made some points right there

wait i’m crying he’s thinking about seyeon while singing the song

HWANG INYEOP OST LET’S FUCKING GO

wait i’m gonna rewatch that whole scene brb. that shot of hwang inyeop’s eyes was too good.

the cinematographer really went all out with that scene.

welp, we’ve come full circle with the ending here. that’s a plus i guess.

my initial thoughts fresh from finishing the show: these last two episodes were so clunky in its execution. pacing was weird, y’all doing seojun so mf dirty, and that time skip was done so poorly. anyways, the actors were great, i’ll miss them a lot. looking forward to what projects they’ll be doing in the future. i really liked episodes 2-14, like truly some of the most fun i’ve had with a kdrama in a very long time. it’s actually very extraordinary you in its execution. the last two episodes of eoyou were odd and not what i wanted, but it doesn’t detract from how lovely the rest of the show was. 

it wasn’t the perfect ending i wanted, but honestly, with the way the show chose to go down this path, i don’t really think there would’ve been an ending i would have been satisfied with. i knew from the get-go that hwang inyeop was going to underutilized, and i knew that suho’s behavior wasn’t going to be properly punished

i’m just glad i found these up-and-coming actors to keep an eye on in the future. knowing how explosive in popularity extraordinary you was for the director and the actors involved, i’m sure i’m going to be seeing a lot of the TB cast in the near future with even bigger roles.

and with that, i’m signing off. thank you to true beauty for being my lil happy pill during the changing of the years, and for being around during a very stressful start of a semester. i’m going to have really fond memories of this show for a really long time.

#true beauty

[i-am-just-a-kiddo]

ten different female faves from ten different fandoms 

@isabellaofparma, thank you so much for tagging me!!  💕 i can’t keep up with your stunning gifs (of very good characters), so i am just doing a list here; however I still wanted this to be interesting so i added a song to each character that reminds me of them. this was a lot of fun! 

i am also tagging @vishcount  and @the-cloud-whisperer ,if you feel like doing it! have fun with it, either by doing a simple list of anything else that pops up in your head  💕

it goes in no specific order under the cut:

Sana Bakkoush

SKAM

SKAM is a show with many fantastic characters and it was difficult to choose only one of the girls because i absolutely adore all of them. but i must admit that sana has always owned my heart from the start - she is my queen and i was very excited for her season. i loved it in the end, though i wish they had done many things differently. i just regret that a lot of the focus was taken away from her. also i miss her

Fighting by Meryem Aboulouafa 

Toph Beifong 

Avatar: The Last Airbender

i was torn between mai and toph, but in the end toph one. i have loved her ever since i was little and she is everything i aspired to be back then. i don’t think it is necessary to list all the things that are great about her, she just owns my heart 

Stronger (feat. Loco, MINO) by Code Kunst

Consort Jing 

Nirvana in Fire 

NIF is a great show with an amazing set of female characters. i contemplated this a lot, considering mu nihuang, qin banruo and grand princess li yang, though consort jing won in the end. I love how much involvement she has in the entire show, how she has her own motives and also has such a huge loving heart. I would love to know more about herself and her past. 

Carry You by Novo Amor

Blue Sargent 

The Raven Cycle

maggie stiefvater created some of the best characters i know, and here as well i don’t feel like i have to explain why i adore blue. she feels so very real to me and accompanied me through my last year of highschool. it just hits very close to home, even when i did not have a fantastic adventure hunting a dead welsh king 

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire 

Luna Lovegood

 Harry Potter 

my lifelong fandom that will remain forever (even if jkr acts like an absolute asshole). luna has always resonated with me, i love her so much. she always gave me comfort, because i too have been a bit of an outsider and i felt comfort in knowing an amazing whimsical girl like her could be important.

Strawberry Blond by Mitski

Billie Potts 

Doctor Who 

i contemplated hard between rose tyler and billie potts, because i love them in two very different ways. rose is my heart and her era of doctor who was my favourite to be honest - the whole russel t davis era tbh. but i absolutely adore billie, because i can relate to her a lot and i was so happy about the storylines they picked for her. this way it made the last season with capaldi so enjoyable for me, after i had lost interest in the previous season. i honestly wish billie had stayed for longer, but i adore whittaker’s crew so much as well. this show is just filled to the brim with people i love and honestly, i should watch the newest season at some point

This Modern Love by Bloc Party

Luo Qingyang (MianMian) 

The Untamed 

i am absolute the untamed trash, though on the female characters front they are very weak. i love all the girls in theory, but i feel like they were never properly fleshed out and don’t feel quite real to me, only being relevant in relation to the men surrounding them (and killing them all off doesn’t really help either). but mianmian absolutely owns my heart and i guess she also forms the exception in this show. she has her own voice, she stands up for what she believes in and gains her independence in the end. also i am crushing hard on her, wish i could move with her into a small cottage and just tend to our garden while she goes night hunting 

Things Are Better by PVRIS

Farah Black 

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency 

this is another show with an amazing set of characters. i like how all the female characters are written but i have a special soft spot for farah. she is a true badass but also so sensitive and i just relate to her anxiety so much okay. she is just wonderful and suddenly i feel like i wanna rewatch the show. 

Till Death by Japanese Breakfast

Ellie Miller 

Broadchurch

i binged all three seasons of broadchurch in three days last year and let me tell you, it was truly a ride. everyone feels so real in this show, and i especially adore the relationship between ellie miller and alec hardy. i love the platonic friendship so much and appreciate it a ton. sigh i miss this show, its vibes were impeccable and it was wonderfully heartbreaking

Oceans by RY X, Olafur Arnalds

Claire Fraser 

Outlander

i have to admit i have not yet finished all seasons, i stopped after season 2 and somehow lost it from my view. it actually took some time warming up to claire in the first few episodes, but at some point i was dragged into the whole story. i feel very ambivalent about her but i think this also makes for a great character, and after two seasons, she grew on me. if i would rewatch it now, i am not sure if i would still like her, or what my opinion is, but i am definitely attached to her and this show

Landmarks by All the Luck in the World

#thank you again for tagging me! #this was a lot of fun #also maybe some of you like the random songs #personal #tag game #skam #atla #nif #raven cycle #hp #dw #the untamed #dirk gently #broadchurch #outlander

[yossariandawn]

FDTD for the fandom and Audrey/Nathan (Haven FTW) for the ship!

thanks for the ask @fortysevenswrites! I’m really glad I remembered Haven now, I just added that to the fandom list today. And this is also half of yours, @meredithharlow. 💖💖💖

FDTD Fandom:

Favorite character: TIE between Kate and Seth.

Least Favorite character: Sex Machine, no contest. I try really hard to understand even deeply unlikable characters, heck, I even actively enjoy deeply unlikable characters, BUT THIS GUY. If the show hadn’t treated him like he was some hilarious joke, while having his evil actions rooted in such a real world way, maybe I would feel differently.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): SethKate! Freddie/Margaret if they can get their shit together. Hmm after that, it’s all non-canon I guess, I do love the DRAMA of Richie/Dakota as a Dark!Ship (but probably just onesided on Richie’s end, but I could be convinced on Dakota’s end by some truly excellent writing, since we don’t know a ton about her) Scott/Kalinda sounds adorable, for two people who never even interacted. I truly believe the maid and the desk clerk at the Dew Drop Inn are the very best of crotchety old friends, so maybe that can be my fifth. You know they just sit around complaining about all the guests all day, and what more do you need out of a relationship than that 🤣

Character I find most attractive: Seth Gecko, the handsome devil.

Character I would marry: Oh my gosh lol. I’m not sure I’d want to marry anybody here, for different reasons, but I guess if I had too, I’ll go with Seth again.

Character I would be best friends with: Kate, and I would get along with Margaret and Ximena too. And Seth would be entertaining in a train wreck kind of way to have has best friend. WAIT, CAN I HANG OUT WITH UNCLE EDDIE AND DO CAPERS? Uncle Eddie it is.

a random thought: Richie didn’t get a traumatic flashback in the Labyrinth, and I’ve been thinking so much about that. I’ve basically decided it has something to do with the purity of the mind stuff that made him a good candidate for the tests, but I haven’t worked it all out in my mind yet. IT’S HIS BRAIN BARRIER, AMIRITE, @alwaysupatnight​? 😂

An unpopular opinion: Carlos seems to get a fair amount of (understandable) hate, but I really liked him as a villain! He did very villainish things, and was entertaining to watch in my opinion. And I also didn’t mind his season 3 character reboot, I enjoyed the fact that he was so changed in a mysterious way. I stll think it would be a mistake to trust him, but I liked the uneasy (and I think temporary) alliance we got at the end of the season.

my canon OTP: SethKate!

Non-canon OTP: Let’s go with Scott/Kalinda, cause I want him to get some romance at some point, and the landscape is pretty bleak for him canon wise.

most badass character: bunch of badasses in this group, so this is a tough one. I’m going to say Kate because she is the one I would least like to have to plot against. She is quite the force of nature when she needs to be.

pairing I am not a fan of: Kate/Richie, I see them as fundamentally platonic at the end of the day.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I wish we’d seen a lot more of a lot of the characters, but I’m not sure I would count that as screwing up so much as the show prioritizing some people over others. Freddie in season 3 didn’t land right for me personally? And I would have loved to see Ximena and him teamed up nonromantically and have her stay alive.

favourite friendship: There aren’t a ton of friendships in this show, mostly family and uneasy alliances, but I would have loved Scott and Richie as frenemies. I would 100% watch them have side adventures while snarking at each other.

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: I want to adopt Scott, because I worry so much damn much about that kid. I don’t know if I could help him, but I WOULD TRY MY BEST OKAY.

Audrey/Nathan behind the cut!

Audrey/Nathan Ship:

I haven’t seen the last five episodes yet, since I fell behind ages ago, and I always mean to go back and finish the series, but the mythology is SO DENSE that I also feel like I need to rewatch it from the beginning first so I can follow it properly. So while I have a general idea of what happens, I don’t know the nitty gritty of the ending.

when of if I started shipping it: I liked them from the start, but what really pushed me over into actually shipping them together was the “Nathan can feel Audrey” reveal. HIS FACE. The way it complicated their attraction and budding friendship IN THE BEST WAY.

my thoughts: I love them separately, too. And this whole thing is my thoughts, so I don’t know what else to add.

What makes me happy about them: PARTNERS. IN LOVE. WITH SO MUCH RESPECT AND UNSPOKEN UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THEM, AND THEY BOTH JUST CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO DAMN MUCH. I have a type, what can I say lol.

What makes me sad about them: THE RESETS. Oh my gosh, that made me so sad. Memory loss stuff always hits me so hard.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: I never really read enough to pick up anything that annoys me about them. I’m not an OT3er with Duke, and I know that had some popularity.

things I look for in fanfic: I read like all the fic right after the touch reveal, and I loved all the different takes on how she found out about it, and what they decided to DO about it. Other than that, just general togetherness, as long as it’s well written.

My kinks: partners solving problems together, competence, lots of touching, sharing their traumas, trusting each other, Nathan being a bit crazy when it comes to saving Audrey, Audrey doing the right thing anyway.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: If Nathan flat out died, I could be convinced of Audrey/Duke in the earlier seasons (pre Jennifer) but it would have been kind of a dark ship, and Nathan would have to be permanently off the table. But I do prefer Audrey and Duke as friends. Nathan would never love again though, let’s be real.

My happily ever after for them: Together, Audrey remembers her time with him and no more resets, and they solve crimes and keep the Troubles at bay. Also BABIES, because we know how much Nathan wants babies. He would be such a great stay at home dad while they were little, too.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: they take turns, but Nathan is such an snuggler, there’s no way there isn’t constant spooning going on.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Solving crimes after eating breakfast in bed!

#replies #asked and answered #fdtd #haven #about me #ask games

[starbuck]

Terror Notes: “Go For Broke”

well… I guess I’m really doing this! Some proper, bullet-pointed notes for each episode of The Terror, starting with ep 1: Go For Broke!

I wrote these out last night (and edited them this morning to make them readable - you’re welcome!) so I hope that y’all enjoy my thoughts and assorted nonsense! I tried to save my comments for points I actually wanted to make because I feel like they bring something to the table but I still ended up writing A Lot lol

I love that Crozier couldn’t even be bothered to be present in welcoming Sir John and Fitzjames onto Terror, making Little and Hodgson do it by themselves. One could argue that he had important captain-y things to be doing at that time or something but I’m not 100% sure that wasn’t the case. 

idk if it’s just the angle, but I paused the episode just as the shot of the officer’s mess is coming in from above and Hodgson’s hands make me so uncomfortable. They look so bone-y and weird. (Just what you came here for, I know. Hand commentary.)

Cannot tell you how uncomfortable it is, after many rewatches, to listen to Fitzjames recounting in a casual, lighthearted manner 1) shooting people 2) people catching fire (and burning to death), and 3) their burning flesh smelling “like roast duck” (so, like something edible) and it’s even more uncomfortable to have the closeup be on Hodgson’s face as he laughs at the ‘roast duck’ comparison.

On a lighter note: I love that Fitzjames felt the need to remind everyone what size cherries are by illustrating it with his fingers. In case they forgot, I guess? As someone who occasionally speaks unnecessarily with my hands, big mood tbh.

I LOVE it when Fitzjames gives Little that affirmative tap on the arm after he compares Fitzjames’s injury to Lord Nelson’s. My friend Eli and I refer to it as The Fitzjames Arm Tap. I would like a Fitzjames Arm Tap, pretty please.

God, Sir John loudly setting his hands on the table to try to dispel the tension from the ‘birdshit island’ debacle as he attempts to change the subject is so funny. I’m gonna stop just pointing out things I find funny soon, I swear, but I just cannot handle this scene.

Between Hodgson looking horrifically embarrassed by Crozier’s outburst at Fitzjames and Little looking nervous when Crozier shoots him a look as Sir John says that there’s no reason to be concerned about the ice, it really does seem that they were having to ‘manage’ him even back in ep 1 when his alcoholism wasn’t completely out of hand.

Personal sidenote about this: My Pop-pop is often rude to workers in stores and restaurants (he doesn’t drink thank goodness but he has Alzheimer’s coming on which has worsened his temper) so I very much understand the feeling of being on-edge that an outburst is going to occur and trying to deal with the fallout when it does. Just going by my own experience, I can imagine Little apologizing to Fitzjames for Crozier’s rudeness as soon as they were out of Crozier’s earshot (not that anything Little could say would heal the deep psychological wound that Crozier created but hey, it’s something).

The way that Sir John brushes aside Dr. MacDonald’s and Crozier’s concerns about moving Young when he’s in such bad shape never fails to upset me but also ~foreshadowing for hauling the ill on boats oooohhh~

I said I was done pointing out random things that amuse me but the speed and agility with which Des Voeux pops out of the hatch and onto the deck after Orren falls into the water is just so funny. I could watch that two second clip on repeat all day. Might gif it so I actually can.

Is this a good time to point out that there’s also a scene in Moby-Dick where someone falls from high up on a mast and drowns? It’s in a chapter all about bad omens experienced by the crew of the Pequod and The Terror definitely has some similar vibes going on with the sun dogs displayed in the establishing shot of Erebus in that scene and David Young, a “warning of things to come,” on his way over.

The second(?) time I watched the part where Young tells Stanley that he didn’t think anything of getting headaches since he’s always gotten them, I had this thought pass through my head that was like “oh god, I had chronic migraines for years so I’d never have known if I had lead poisoning either!” but then I realized that this probably was not a relevant concern I should have.

Not sure I have any deep commentary on this but as Gore informs Sir John and Fitzjames about the blocked propeller, he’s standing in the same spot, in the same room as Goodsir will stand next episode to tell them about his death.

Also regarding this scene, I love how Gore waits for Fitzjames to give him the go-ahead to leave before actually going. I know that Fitzjames is his superior officer too but, since Sir John already dismissed him, it seems like waiting for Fitzjames’s approval isn’t really necessary, yet a nice thing to do. Perhaps this is a legitimate formality, but something similar happens later in this episode in the command meeting when Crozier asks Gore how many sun dogs he’s seen; he looks to Fitzjames and waits for his nod before answering Crozier. He doesn’t look to Sir John, he looks to Fitzjames. I know that we know essentially nothing about Gore but like.. underrated ship???? Just saying…

Ten nights ago, I was unable to get to sleep for at least an hour because I started thinking about David Young’s saying “I want to go to my grave as I am” and, of course, that ultimately doesn’t happen for him but also, this, like all things about him, is a “warning of things to come.” I’m pretty sure that no one else was properly buried until, arguably, Fitzjames and ironically, that was explicitly not what he wanted done with his body (and, since his grave was later looted by Hickey, similar to the way that Young’s autopsy ultimately achieved nothing, it didn’t really matter anyway).

I know that this happened exactly ten days ago because I forced myself to wake up and write it down in my notes app, lest I forget, which only prolonged my sleeplessness. I suffer for my analysis. 

Ah yesssss Tozer’s lesbian haircut. We love it! Why does my hair not look like that when I take a hat off? I’d like to file a complaint.

Was just thinking the other day about how Hartnell being the one to notice that there was something up with the ice in ep 1 is followed up on with Blanky complimenting Hartnell’s ability to read the ice to Crozier in ep 7. I wonder if Blanky ever gave him like. ice-reading lessons after becoming aware of his interest and natural talent at it in ep 1? That makes me happy to think about.

The two people who we’re shown awoken by Young’s screaming are Sgt. Bryant and Morfin and like. Do I even have to explain why that’s an Oof?

The way that Goodsir hesitates before knocking on Stanley’s door and Stanley irritatedly closing his book before answering the knock in an exasperated voice would be comedic in any other context. If I’m being honest, it still makes me laugh. As does Stanley’s “As if that weren’t plain.”

I’ve pointed this out before but mmmmm... that shot of Stanley in profile with the open candle flame in the background… the foreshadowing in this ep is thicker than the smoke at… Oh alright, I’ll stop. 

God, the autopsy/dive scene…. Collins being lowered down and entering the water paralleled with Goodsir’s initial cutting into Young’s corpse, the breaking up of the ice paralleled with the cutting of the bone-saw. But most significant to me is the parallel of what is seen/not seen and the long-term effect that this has. Collins sees Orren’s corpse (and then presumably never tells anyone about it), reinforcing his guilt over Orren’s death, the beginning of his mental health decline. Goodsir doesn’t see the cause of Young’s death in his autopsy and this not knowing about the lead poisoning until it’s too late to do anything about it is the cause of many of Goodsir’s later problems as well. And, to finish it all off, both the autopsy and Collins’ dive were ultimately for nothing (considering a spinning propeller is useless when your ships are frozen in). 

Crozier and Blanky’s simultaneous face journeys as Sir John rambles on about how there’s nothing to worry about and they’ll find the passage any day now are truly legendary.

I wrote some pretty extensive tags on this already but man… Crozier’s comment about how not all of Sir John’s men returned from one of his previous arctic expeditions is just so nasty and awful. Like, yes, Sir John is wrong to undersell the danger they’re in and Crozier is advocating for the correct position here, but that was completely uncalled for and horrible to say, particularly in a command meeting, in front of so many people. And Sir John looks legitimately upset by it too. He gets over it quickly, at least on the outside, but I still feel really bad for him (and I NEVER feel bad for Sir John so this is weird for me).

“But of course we will not be abandoning Erebus, or Terror…” Let’s check back in six episodes and see how that’s going! 

Crozier slamming his fist on the table to prove he’s not being melodramatic reminds me of this one post (that I sadly can’t find rn) about Jesus Christ Superstar that’s like “‘CUT OUT THE DRAMATICS’ Judas hollered dramatically.” It’s such an Overall Mood.

I don’t have a developed commentary on this at the moment but it’s an interesting reverse-parallel that Sir John had no concern for Young’s well-being when he was alive, ignoring Crozier’s concerns about moving him from ship-to-ship when he was in such poor health, yet now that he’s dead, Sir John is the one to recommend that Young be buried which Crozier is surprised by, and seems to feel is unnecessary.

There’s been so much amazing commentary already made about Young’s burial scene so I’ll skip it except to say that Hickey’s irritated sigh when he hears footsteps coming towards the grave is SO funny. That’s exactly how I feel when I know that someone is about to tell me something that will annoy me.

Goodsir was really getting into the emotion of Sir John’s “eulogy”/motivational speech before he remembered the promise he made about Young’s ring. Also, what triggered his memory was Sir John saying “We shall earn our loved one’s cheers and embraces,” so no doubt a reminder of the traumatic “Your loved ones will be there in Heaven to welcome you! :)” “I never knew my mother or father” exchange (or maybe just a reminder of the fact that he was supposed to get Young’s ring to his sister but just let me scrape a little humor out of this. God knows I need it).

The shot of Bryant praying in his hammock the night before they get completely frozen-in is honestly deeply upsetting to me. Especially considering he’s a marine so he Did Not Ask To Be Here, yet there he’ll die.

According to Melville, ship’s compasses occasionally spun round-and-round when a ship was caught in a severe storm and this was an incredibly upsetting thing to behold because of how disorienting it was. So, considering that, Fitzjames keeps his composure pretty well but he clearly has some reservations about how things are going and Sir John has no comforting-sounding remark about ‘Magnetic North’ to offer him now.

The bit where Sir John “sees” Crozier, on Terror, turn away from him with a half-smirk on his face is interesting because there’s no way he could have possibly seen Crozier’s expression at that distance and I’m doubtful that he’d even have been able to make out the identity of anyone he might have been able to see on Terror’s deck. So really, it speaks mostly to Sir John’s mental state; his seeing their getting frozen in as a loss against Crozier and imagining that Crozier would see it as a victory for himself.

Ugh the final shot is making me think about @catilinas’s post comparing a shot of the two ships stuck in to the shot of the ink drops from ep 3 and I am LOSING IT but I was losing it anyway because it’s 2AM now and my entire body feels like gelatin. 

THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT! 

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

#the terror #i'm REALLY proud of these!! this was so fun to do! #i definitely intend to do this for each episode #no promises for the timing on that but i legitimately have nothing better to do so lol hopefully ep 2 will happen soon! #hope y'all enjoyyyyyyyy #feel free to add comments if you like or you don't have to! whatever is good - i just appreciate anybody slogging through this lol

[gleefail]

Glee Memories: 1x6 Vitamin D

A long, long time ago, as Glee was approaching graduation in Season 3, I found myself nostalgic with some rare free time on my hands. So I decided to rewatch the series from the beginning and jot down some memories, discrepancies that have arisen since, fave quotes, tally solos - all that good stuff, strictly for shits and giggles.

8 years later (eek!) and once more I find myself with an unexpected abundance of free time. With so many revisiting or being newly introduced to the show between binge watching during Quarantine and all the tragedy that has surrounded the show since it went off the air, I figured I’d finish what I started. And by finish, I mean go through the end of S3. Cause I truly cannot acknowledge what happened after that. Except for 5B.

Kicking this off by reposting the first 15 episodes I already went through. Enjoy!

1x6 Vitamin D Mr. Schue is worried cause the Glee club is being lazy and complacent. First time and still true until Sue came along to help the club.

Mmmmkay. And now Mercedes starts dressing kinda funky. Oh goody. :/

Ugh. Listen, I have adored Matthew Morrison since I saw him in Hairspray 10 years ago, but it’s still not at all appealing when he tries to lick that mustard off his own chin.

“I will hold my tongue no further.”

”You have to remember something: we’re dealing with children. They need to be terrified. It’s like mother’s milk to them. Without it, their bones won’t grow properly.”

“Ellen, that blouse is just insane.”

”I don’t understand how lightening is in competition with an above ground swimming pool”

BOYS V. GIRLS FOR THE FIRST TIME! <3

“Okay, split up: guys on the right side, girls on the left side…Kurt” *gestures for him to join the boys, not the girls* Kurt looks soooo pissed. And is such a baby-faced nugget!

A Mash-Up was just defined and used for the first time.

”We’re planning on smacking them down like the hand of God” yaaaaay, Sue’s Journal entries! I miss those. Hey, did she ever get that hovercraft she was working towards?

”Let me be frank: your husband is hiding his kielbasa in a Hickory Farms gift basket that doesn’t belong to you.”

”I’ve always thought the desire to procreate showed deep personal weakness. Me? Never wanted kids. Don’t have the time, don’t have the uterus.” #oops

“I think you should both pack up and move out of the district. Unless you wanna lose your man to a mentally ill ginger pygmy with eyes like a bush baby”

the Matthew Morrison mustard licking is even less appealing in slow motion. Ew.

Terri just wiped Emma’s mug off with her own spit. Even if you didn’t have OCD, that is not right.

“But you’re not a nurse. You don’t have any training…” “Oh please, Will – it’s a public school.”

Wait…Mr. Schue seems to be teaching music theory? WTF? Has this happened before? Since?

“She freaks me out in a Swim Fan kinda way”

“But her body’s smokin’…if you’re not into boobs” Finn re: Rachel

I don’t think I ever caught this before – Finn is rubbing BioFreeze on his legs and accidentally scratches near his eye…and you can see the effect set in and then he spazzes out. Ha! #BlessFinnsHeart

“My mom says I’m stretched too thin so I gave up homework but that didn’t help” #BlessFinnsHeart

“Puck, with respect, you’re more helpful when you don’t contribute”

“Where’s Quinn?” “Probably down at the mall looking for elastic waistbands”

“Let’s do the number and then build a house for Habitat for Humanity” oh, Finn on ‘vitamin d’. He has the mind of a child. Especially during this performance. Holy crap!

“No one at Glee is gonna judge you.” Oh, that will change Rachel.

Hahahaha, Quinn drew pornographic pictures of Rachel on the bathroom walls. I miss when Quinn hated Rachel. Just a little bit. Cause she did it so well and right now it would please my soul to see some of that.

Poor Howard Bamboo is so terrified of Terri and just pitiful. I just want to hug him and tell him to stand up to her! :(

“I see em’ together all the time – laughing, talking…all the stuff she never does with me”

Terri’s office looks like it’s the same as Emma’s…

“I am not built to work 5 days a week”

“I’ve been thinkin’ maybe that if you and I started seein’ each other on the side it might kinda cancel their thing out”

“She doesn’t like to be touched…by me.”

“Look at the two of us. You pregnant and me with psoriasus and one testicle that won’t descend.”

“Though I’ve been grouped with the boys, my allegiance still remains with you ladies. They declined my offer to do their hair in cornrows and all my artistic decisions have been derioted as ‘too costly’ because they involve several varieties of exotic bird feathers.”

Rachel’s goal is a Grammy, not a Tony. #oops

smack-talking Finn is a giant douche. Ugh.

“You being here is not good for our marriage.” “Spending time together is not good for our marriage?” She has a point…

“A lot of ants on the sidewalk today.” *long uncomfortable silence* “Pretty late in the season for that.”

oh, Ken proposing. I hated you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.

“Look, Emma, I know our relationship hasn’t been perfect. You won’t ride in my car. I can’t touch you above the wrist. Remember you cried for an hour that one time my elbow accidentally brushed by your breast? But I think about you all day long. I kiss that picture of us at the State Fair every night before I go to sleep. Emma Pillsbury, this is not an engagement ring – no, I mean it is, but it’s more than that. It’s a promise. Look, Emma, I know you have this thing about being clean. Now I can’t promise to pick up my underwear or squeegee the shower door, but I can promise to keep your life clean of sadness and loneliness and any other dark clouds that might float into it. It’s cubic zirconia. I know how effected you were by Blood Diamond.”

“Thankyousomuch,itreallyisapleasure.Whiletheboyschoseaselectionofsongsthatcastaneyeinwardontheirresponsiblelifechoicesandsexualhungeroftoday’smodernteens,wehavechosenaselectionofsongsthatspeakstothenationasawholeduringthesetroublingtimesfilledwitheconomicuncertaintyandunbridledsocialwoebecauseifthere’stwothingsAmericaneedsrightnow,thatissunshineandoptimism.” *awkward pause and Rachel finally breathes* “Also angels.” OMG. Maybe my favorite Rachel Berry moment ever.

Also, this was one of my fave musical moments (songs, singers, choreography) of all of Season One. Heather Morris is gangsta on this, dancing like she’s on crack. OMG. I love it. Every one of these girls is such a great dancer.

“Can you um…can you think of any other options I might have?” “Is that a reason to marry someone?” “That’s not what I’m asking.” See, Glee still does this – these weird conversations that are clearly about something else, but never really get finished and things are left in limbo but as if the akward moment didn’t happen, so I think I’m losing my mind when I look for the continuity….ugh. Headache. What just happened?

“You have no chance with my husband. Do I make myself clear? You might think there’s some kind of competition going on with you and I, but that’s like saying that a nail is competing with a hammer.”

“Do yourself a favor, honey. Marry Ken Tanaka. Oh sure, he’s dumb like sand, and his fondue pot of nationalities is gonna open your kids up to a host of genetic diseases…but he’s kind, and he’s generous. And he’s available.” I don’t like Terri but….truth.com right there.

“I need to talk to you, about the baby” “Is everything ok? You’re not having it right now, are you?” What?! No! Aren’t you supposed to be a nurse?”

“You want money from me?” “It’s gonna be your baby.” “Which means I’m gonna be paying the bills for 18 years – I think you can handle 9 months” Oh Terri.

Aw. My heart still breaks for Emma during this scene where she basically accepts Ken’s proposal and asks for a secret marriage. And says she doesn’t wanna spend the rest of her life alone. Gah – so sad! :(

“I don’t even remember performing.”

“I’m sorry for what I said the other day. For calling you contemptable and deplorable” “Ah, that’s ok. I didn’t even know what those words meant.” #BlessFinnsHeart

“My goals are too selfish.” Rachel. Why did you forget that lesson?

Howard Bamboo got arrested on suspicion of running a meth lab. Ha!

“You are oblivious to consequences” A running theme of this show.

oh Glee. Again with the weird situations…neither Will nor Emma even preTENded to be happy about her marrying Ken when she told him. How does neither of them address it? What just happened?

I remember the first time I saw this episode and I loved that Rachel Berry had changed to being a team player and making her goal about winning sectionals with the team. That didn’t last long. SOLOS: Finn (1), Artie (1), Rachel (1) MERCEDES TAKES THE GLORY NOTE: 2nd time

#Glee Memories #Glee #lol Glee #Glee Vitamin D

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 1

(Top 5 Dislikes)

Well, got the Dislikes out of the way. So let's move on to the Likes! While V1 is my least favorite volume, I still adore it. I mean it is the volume that got me and many others into RWBY and without we, well... we obviously wouldn’t have a show. I can forgive many of the issues that I listed, as well as things like limited animation and amateur voice acting since it was V1 when they had a smaller budget and were figuring stuff out. ANd there were still plenty of things to love, especially now.

So let take a trip down memory lane and look back at some of the best parts of the beginning of our journey with RWBY Volume 1~!

#5. The Character Trailers

Okay, this might be cheating since they’re technically not part of the volume. But they were made to lead-up to it like the later trailers were for later volumes and they have story relevance later, so I’m counting it! Plus I want to talk about them somewhere because I freakin’ love these so much~!

These trailers are what got me into RWBY. I remember looking up stuff about the show when I started getting interested in it back in late 2013, and I went to watch them when I found out about them. Making these was a very smart move. They introduce us to our characters early on, gave us a feel of each aspect of the show, and of course created hype to ensure that people tuned in when the actual show started. The Red Trailer shows off the amazing fighting animaiton, White shows off the epic soundtrack, Black introduces plot elements and shows that there will be more than just cool fighting, and Yellow brings 'em all together in one badass package. When I binged through all four of these, I became a fan very quickly. I started the show that night, finished the next afternoon as V1 had practically ended just before I started, and I haven’t looked back ever since. And when parts of them came back into the plot later like the bar that Yang trashed in V2? That made me even happier cause it made them have a point outside of just hype.

The trailers were all fantastic. RT was clearly betting a lot on this show to allow Monty to do these, and the gamble paid off. All four of them have their own unique style and aesthetic and still looks amazing even now. It’s why whenever I see anyone ask where to start with RWBY, I tell them to watch these first. They do a great job of introducing you to this world, and with us going into the seventh volume, their impact is still being felt. I couldn’t not put these on here, but since they aren’t technically part of the volume, I left it at Number 5. But still, these are great and if you skipped them, go and watch them. Now. The list will still be here when you get back.

#4. Fight Animation

...what? Are we surprised that this is on here? Monty’s fight animation is amazing. Even years later, they still hold up. Monty got his start at RTwuth his fight animaiton in RvB, which truly brought that series to the next level. Then he got his won show with even more freedom to go crazy, and boy did he deliver. Sure it didn’t always work well, like when he did it for Penny in the finale and gave away the reveal s a result. But it’ still a badass sequence. All fo the major fights are. The trailer fights, Ruby in Chapter 1, the Nevermore fight in 8, everything else in between and after, it all looked incredible. They were fast, creative, and just so much funt o watch. while I am one fo the people who strongly disagree that the fights went downhill after V3, Monty’s style cannot be duplicated. Nor should it be. We may never have Monty’s fights again, but they will forever live on. That’s honestly for the best.

#3. Weiss Development/Rewatch Value

I was a little harsh on Weiss in the Dislikes post, so let's fix that! I love Weiss. She is my second favorite character and one of the best developed. While I complained about her writing int he finale, outside that? She was good. She was snooty and bitchy, but we saw in Chapter 8 that she is aware of her flaws and did save Ruby as well as give her a pep talk... kinda. But The Badge and the Burden is where she really shines. She’s mad about being led by a childish girl who pretty much got allowed into Beacon, Port gave her a stern but encouraging talking to, and Weiss began to try and improve herself as both a teammate and as a person. It’s simple, but for Volume 1, it was nice and made her likable after how mean she was in the first half of the volume.

Then the rest of the series happened, and Weiss in V1 becomes even better.

It makes Weiss’ attitude make sense. She had to work and fight to earn her way into Beacon. Her father outright forced her to fight a Grimm Knight to earn the right to leave and almost lost an eye due to it. Then she meets this careless girl who rushes into fights, gets in her way, and as far as she knows did nothing to get into Beacon while she had to fight tooth and nail. Then the same girl got to be leader despite generally goofing off and not taking anything seriously, and it makes Weiss being angry 100% understandable. She still acted poorly, hence why Port’s talk was necessary, but it isn’t Weiss just being a stereotypical mean rich girl. She has reasons why she acts the way that she does, and she can recognize those flaws and work to fix it. Even with my complaint about her in the finale she DOES follow it up and improve her attitude towards Blake, Faunus, and her team.

Weiss is a fantastic character. V1 gives you many reasons to dislike her, but over time you grow to love her. This volume was the first step in her breaking out of the toxic and hateful environment and mindset that she was raised in, and she took that step in spades. Rewatching her in this volume makes you appreciate her character so much. Again, her development here is simple, but important and overall solid outside of a few spots. I think that Weiss’ arc has the most rewatch value in this volume, and I appreciate it so much. It is a little spotty though, so I put it at Number 3. But we have another good character arc to talk about, one that I think is underrated to be honest.

#2. Ruby Development

Ruby is my favorite character in the entire series. She was since I started the show, and she still is to this day. Many call her a flat and boring character, and it annoys me. But I do see the complaint that up until recently, she hasn't developed. That she is the exact same as when she started. Ugh... yeah, no. I know that V1 was a while ago and that a lot has happened since then, but she developed greatly in this volume and beyond.

In V1, Ruby is just a girl who dreams of being a Huntress. But it’s kinda like a childish fantasy. One that she’s genuine about, but one that she isn’t truly prepared for. She thinks that all she needs is her badass scythe, and she’ll be fine. She’s reckless, charging into battle to prove that she is capable fo being at Beacon. SHe’s awkward and doesn't want to make friends or teammates. Not because she’s anti-social, but because she’s an awkward girl who is already feeling pressure due to not wanting to be received as special when she got let into Beacon early.

This volume greatly sets Ruby on the right path. Her recklessness gets her into trouble, and she only survives because of characters like Weiss helping. She isn’t able to truly take on Grimm until she starts working as a team with the others, in which she stands up and takes the reigns. She starts channeling her recklessness into crazy plans, like the slingshot, which shows her out-of-the-box thinking that becomes a major asset to her. The Badge and the Burden shows her acting childish, goofing off in class and not paying attention. But we also see that she’s anxious in her new role as leader and if she truly belongs in Beacon or if Ozpin made a mistake in letting her in. But Oz gives her a nice pep talk and we later see that she fell asleep while studying, showing that she is trying to put effort into her studies and into her new position. Encouragement that she later gives Jaune, showing that she took ti to heart.

As with Weiss, it’s simple stuff. But it’s still major progression for Ruby. While her goal of Huntress is still somewhat of s childish fantasy, it’s genuine. She is genuine about wanting to help people and make their lives better just because she wants to. Not out fo any personal goal or thrill, just because she wants to do good. We see that she’s learning as she tarts to put her anxiety aside to work with her teammates, learn to take school seriously, learn to not be so reckless and not be so worried about proving that she can do this, and of course begin to take her first steps in becoming a leader. Steps that will lead to great things for her, especially in V6. I can’t properly gush about Ruby in this post, but I love her growth here so much, and it’s one of the best things in the volume for me.

#1. Players and Pieces

So... you’re probably wondering why this is Number One. Well... it’s because while the trailers got me to watch RWBYm this was the episode that convinced me that it was worth something. I enjoyed Chapters 1-7, but I was kinda waiting for that moment that made me see why it had gotten so popular so quickly. I didn’t watch RWBY when it started I hadn’t even heard of Rooster Teeth at that point. I just saw my friends talking about it, got curious, and started watching it. It was nice... but it didn’t really impress me or get why people were loving this so much. It just felt like a slightly above average web series.

Then I got to Players and Pieces.

This episode wowed me when I watched it. You know how I said that the trailers introduced certain aspects and yellow brought them all together? Well, this chapter did that for something within the show. Awesome fight animaiton? Check. Weiss development? Check. Ruby development? Check. It had good humor. It was paced well. It felt satisfying. And the soundtrack? Holy crap the soundtrack. Yeah, I had to force myself to not put ‘Jeff Williams Music’ on this list because it would be redundant, and putting it on every list would get old. But the moment that Red Like Roses Part II kicked in, everything ramped up. Especially when Ruby slayed the Nevermore. That scene is outright iconic.

This chapter took everything that the first seven was building up to and it delivered an amazing payoff. The characters were great. The animaiton was great. The tone was great. It was funny, heartwarming, and badass in every single way. This was when I realized just how amazing this show was going to be. This is when I decided to hop on board the hype train. This was when I became a real fan, and I am still going even six years later. It’ crazy to me that we’re going into V7, cause whenever I rewatch the moment where Ruby is launched at the nevermore and urns up that cliff, I remember when I first saw the scene. And I still feel the same awe that I felt the first time. When I need to remember why I love this show, I turn to this. It was amazing then, and it’s still amazing now and will always be something that I treasure.

And that’s a wrap! My Top 5 Things for RWBY Volume 1~ It was so much fun to go back through this volume. It’s still a fun ride from beginning to end, and will always have a special place among RWBY fans. So now it’s time to prepare the lists for Volume 2~ Thank you all for reading, and I hope you’ll check out the remaining posts for the remaining volumes~!

#rwby #rwby reviews #top likes/dislikes

[elite-guard-hardygal]

Okay so I saw that you haven't gotten any asks about this so! I am here to fix it!! 😁 For the BNHA Asks, lemme say 3, 15, 19, and 21?? Sorry if that's a lot bestie!! Love you!!

BNHA Ask Key

Hey! Thank you so much for sending this to me, even though I took a long time to answer it - I just started rambling throughout most of these questions, so it took a little longer than it should have to answer ^-^’

Hope you enjoy my long-ass, rambling answers tho :P

3. Favourite Villain - Hmmmmm, that’s a good question…! I do love myself some good villains, and My Hero Academia has no shortage of them, but oddly enough, it’s rare that I think about who my favourite villain could be. And the second I started typing out that last sentence, the answer hit me:

Tomura Shigaraki.

Ah, it figures… My favourite protagonist is the main character and my favourite antagonist is the main villain. Geez, my choices for favourites sound so typical and boring ^-^’ Seriously though, I was rewatching the entirety of My Hero Academia up to season 3 recently, and I realized just how… interesting a villain Shigaraki is.

Shigaraki starts off immature and childish, reaching for a goal even he isn’t quite sure about, blowing up at the slightest setbacks. He’s threatening, but without a clear goal, he doesn’t come off as a threat. Just a man-child with murderous tendencies, taking whatever pleases him. Then he’s humbled (thank you Stain) and forced to consider his intentions, what it is he really wants. Then he reaches an epiphany (thank you Izuku) and finally figures out what his goal is…!

From then on, Shigaraki is more mature, more focused, able to make decisions without letting his emotions get the best of him. He proves himself to be a damn good strategist and psychological manipulator. He’s actually a threat now!

People, this is character development! For a villain! We’ve seen fledgling heroes learn what it means to be proper heroes - that’s basically the arc for every protagonist in My Hero Academia - but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fledgling villain learn how to properly “villain.” It is fascinating. And that’s setting aside the fact that the guy clearly has a terribly tragic backstory! That’s setting aside the fact that he actually cares deeply for All For One, the man who is nurturing his villainous tendencies, acting as the wise sensei in Shigaraki’s “villain academia.”

That… got a little longer than I intended. TL;DR, Tomura Shigaraki is a fascinating villain and he is my favourite MHA villain.

15. Least Favourite Quirk - Oooh, that’s an interesting question. If I had been asked what my favourite quirk was, I would probably just list a bunch of quirks I personally found really cool…! Even the most underutilized quirks can become interesting if you really think about all the possible applications and techniques that can be used/must be used for it to be as ‘good’ as it is! If I really had to choose though, I might have to say Minoru Mineta’s Pop-Off.

It has nothing to do with the quirk itself really, or its utilization, cause it’s actually a very useful quirk that has been utilized well throughout the show. But, Mineta kind of annoys me, and so by association, his quirk annoys me. Makes me feel bad for the quirk, really.

19. What were your thoughts before watching the show? - I didn’t really have many thoughts before watching My Hero Academia. I guess you could say I didn’t expect much of it. The idea and premise seemed interesting, and I knew the English dub had some serious talent behind it, so its seemed worth checking out. I just didn’t have any expectations going into the first episode, and all I mentally asked was that I like the main character.

Cue the main character’s overall joy and enthusiasm, cue me actually crying not halfway through the first episode, and this show pretty much instantly stole my soul and hugged it in an inescapable grip.

21. What or who got you interested in giving it a try? - Oh this is a fun story…! Honestly, I probably would not have ever known about My Hero Academia (at least not for a good while) if I hadn’t first gotten into Danganronpa.

For a good while, Danganronpa was the only Japanese-originated series I truly loved, including the original games and the spin-off animes. After I finished the entire series though, I was kinda hungering for more content. I really liked the English voice actors in both the games and the anime, Bryce Papenbrook and Johnny Yong Bosch being my particular favourites, so I started looking for animes with dubs featuring either of them.

good lord im gonna be lambasted for saying that arent i

Alongside Bosch and Papenbrook, I also found myself extremely impressed by the work of one Justin Briner, who voiced both Ryota Mitarai and the Ultimate Imposter disguised as Ryota Mitarai in the Danganronpa 3 anime. Both characters successfully came off as their own person despite being voiced by the same guy.

also i was especially impressed with briners ability to believably have mitarai outright sobbing at the end of the series

So when I found out that Briner voiced the main character of this show called My Hero Academia, I was like, “Oh cool, I’ve heard him voice supporting characters in Danganronpa, I wonder what he would be liking voicing a main character…! The idea and premise seems interesting enough, anyway.”

And… Yeah. This show has a tight grip on my heart, and I am consistently impressed by the English voice work Briner and everyone else working on the English dub. Seriously, Briner’s Deku voice is the best and I’m certain I’ve talked about how amazed I am at Clifford Chapin’s performance as Katsuki Bakugo.

Heck, alongside becoming one of my most favourite shows ever of all time, this show revitalized my interest in voice acting! How bout that?

#ask #the lupine sojourner #hardygal rambles #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #meme #tomura shigaraki #minoru mineta #danganronpa #danganronpa 3 #ryota mitarai #ultimate imposter #justin briner #danganronpa future arc #danganronpa despair arc

[elizbethweir]

what is your favorite and least favorite season of the originals and why?

I’m terrible at making decisions so we’ll seehow this goes! I can only answer in paragraphs so I hope you were looking for along answer haha.

Least favourite season is the easy question. That wasdefinitely season 4. It was very plot-heavy, and for me, plot is onlyinteresting insofar as it is character-driven, or insofar as it services thecharacters and their relationships. That season felt like they started with theplot and just stuffed everyone inside of it. I also don’t like the Hollow, atall. I still barely even know what the Hollow is supposed to be, but my memoryof that season is also not that great. Normally I would always watch a lot of scenesover and over again after I had finished an episode. In season 4, I didn’t feelthat urge as much, so I don’t quite remember all of the details as strongly as Inormally do.

There were still some good things though – SummerFontana is an amazing Hope and I absolutely adore her. She’s really the bestthing about season 4. But before season 4 began, what got me the most excited wasthe idea of Hope just interacting with everyone…and so what we got was disappointing. We saw her with Klaus and with Hayley andthat was really nice, but I wanted her to develop interesting relationshipswith everyone. The writers simply dropped the ball on a lot of the characterstuff. I feel like they always think they need to make it exciting by introducinga “scary” plot and constantly-looming death, but I personally get the mostexcited about characters interacting, and I know I’m by far not alone in that.(And some of the character-focused things we did get still don’t really makesense to me, for example in the case of Elijah in s4.) Season 5 didn’t have a greatplot either, but it did spent more time on the relationships (with a fewnotable exceptions) and gave us some really good, emotional, gutwrenching familymoments that I basically live for. That’s really all I need. I don’t askfor much.

My favourite season is more difficult. I’m going to place it under a cut because this post is getting quite long.

I spent quitesome time going back and forth between the first three seasons. I think I have settled on season 2,because that season actually had a very character-driven plot. It was focusedon the entire family, not just Klaus/Elijah/Rebekah. We got Freya, and saw moreof Kol, Finn, Esther and Mikael. Dahlia was an amazing villain; probably theonly villain that really worked in TO. I still remember how much I freaked out whenshe and Klaus began to work together (granted, I freak out at the end of almostevery season). We even got introduced to Ansel – too briefly, but we learnt ofhis existence. The entire family was expanded on and developed. Thebodyswitching was a little annoying at the time, because it seemed like there’dcome no end to it, but the replacing actors were all actually really good, andI don’t mind it anymore. I also loved all the in-fighting and distrust in thefamily. I’m really attached to how they’ve grown into a slightly morefunctional and loving family, but I’m still fond of when the family screwedeach other over and it was all a little more volatile. I truly love all the upsand downs.

Season 1 was really nice too. I especiallyliked the politics of all the different factions and individual people runningaround town with their own agenda, making alliances and destroying them. (I wishthat had continued into the other seasons as much, because the factionssometimes just disappeared later on and then popped up again whenever it suitedthe writers.) It gave us some really interesting stuff without us having to pretendthat the Mikaelsons were in mortal danger every episode. The factions also gaveNew Orleans a really vibrant city-feel. Season 1 laid down the atmosphere ofthe place really well. It was definitely the most consistent season, I think,but it also contained less “omg”-moments. It doesn’t get me superexcited, but it also wasn’t bad. Itwas just… consistently nice. It was a really good built-up of the series, butI think I prefer season 2 because by then everyone had already gone through alittle change. I’m not sure I’m explaining myself properly but I think that’sthe best way to put it. I do need to give an honorary mention to the dynamic ofKlaus/Elijah/Rebekah, especially in 1x16, which is a pretty iconic episode. That was definitely a “omg”-moment. 

Season 3 got me excited in a lot of ways butalso disappointed me in some ways. I loved the Trinity and their whole dynamicwith the Mikaelsons, but the way they ended was really anticlimactic. Yes, Iknow it was rather silly that they weren’t just killed immediately and thelonger that would’ve gone on the sillier it would be, but I liked the Trinityand I wish we got to keep them around longer. There was still so muchunexplored in their relationships, so much potential. The Trinity really held the most excitement for me in this season and so when that wasn’t delivered on… idk, I felt robbed. I also really didn’t likeCamille’s storyline and subsequent death. It was a disservice to her character.On the other hand, the prophecy was a great way to keep viewers engaged and onthe edge of their seat with all kinds of hypotheses, and Marcel ending up as theone who fulfils it was really good. And there were more nice things, like Klaus, Hayley and Hope actually turning into an actual family. Also, one of my favourite episodes is 3x09. Istill often think about what an amazing episode that was.

I should do a rewatch and seewhat my opinions are then, because now I might just be selectively remembering. Anyway, these are my choices for now. This post has made me really nostalgic, thinking about the good ol’ days. We had some good times. 

#thank you for your question! #the originals #to thoughts #ask #anon #mine