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maxwell-grant · 5 months

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Thoughts on Lupin: Part 3

Covered my thoughts on seasons 1 and 2 already and I just finished season 3 so I'm gonna write about it here. Bottom line: HahahahaHA this show rules so much man.

Everything that was strong about the prior seasons is still there if not better, and they patched up several things I otherwise disliked about it. Also god I missed the mark big time by watching the prior seasons with the English dub for some reason, no wonder I didn't like most of the characters when they all sounded like they were sleepwalking. Just, watch with the French audio, don't be an idiot like me.

I actually like Assane's family now? Maybe that's because of the dub thing letting me see the actual performances, but there seemed to be a lot more effort this season to make us care about Claire and Raoul's own struggles and the really bad things they have to deal with because of Assane and how they deal with them. There's an extent to which these characters exist because otherwise Assane would suffer no consequences and no caveats to just doing whatever he wants, a.k.a the cool Lupin stuff we signed up for but can't be too over-indulged in, and that made them feel more like roadblocks than people, but to me this time they actually feel more like people, and people who can have their own things going on or even get involved in the good stuff without compromising their importance, and those consequences thus actually matter more.

God I can't believe how great the disguises were this season and how many there were. Again, definitely feels like they had to refine the process in the first two seasons so we can have this one with Assane actually going the nine yards with multiple overlapping fake personas and disguises per episode. Omar is masterful in all of them and the show seems so confident that it even lets Ben, Guedira and Claire dip their toes in the action a bit. I was actually really impressed by Coach Alex, even though he does look a bit uncanny and a little A.I-ish. I could still buy that as a real person.

It's doing this thing I really like that The Shadow does, where the character has a lot of different methods by which he achieves his disguises ranging from high-tech/borderline fantasy to very simple DIY tools, but the process featured is obscured enough that you can never fully tell which is being used, and so the character can have this borderline superpower still grounded enough to not look like one.

I actually didn't mind the villain this time around. There's a nice progression of putting Assane against an invisible and seemingly invincible shadowy gang forcing him to do their bidding (which lets them do the heist-of-the-week format without compromising the larger plot), that turns out to be just one horrible man from his past armed with henchmen and a grudge, which means he gets to be developed and taken out within the season without much delay and without Assane having to make stupid out-of-character blunders to let him escape to menace another day (which was a problem I had with Pelligrini). I like that Keller gets to be legitimately scary as a threat to Assane's loved ones, but is also undone by being a stupid piece of shit who only knows how to abuse and manipulate children until they all turn on him, and once he and Assane are on even ground he goes out like a chump.

Putting Pellegrini completely out of sight and saving him for the final twist where he's been pulling a Kingpin in prison with god knows what consequences even warmed me up to him as a villain, if nothing else because, okay, a Lupin worth his name needs a Cagliostro menace, and the ending twist isn't even about him so much as it's about the betrayal of someone Assane confided in.

And unfortunately that ending twist is good enough that it would be awful if any of those three turned out to be the backstabbers and there's equal arguments for being any of them (I don't think it's going to be Pellegrini's daughter precisely because she's the most predictable, I don't think they'd do the Countess of Cagliostro that 1-to-1)

(Art is from the cover of Lupin: Échec à la reine, which is a prequel novel focused on Benjamin. I don't think it's been translated to English but it got published in Brazil.)

Look, it's good drama, yes, we need stakes to keep this going, yes, but BEN NOOOOO, GODDAMNIT ASSANE

Unfortunately I can't fault Assane that much despite the fact that he barely knew his mom. There was no good option there, Ben would have fumbled it if he was even a little on the plan, and I'm not sure if he later realized why Assane did it or if he didn't realize at all, I mean the ending twist sets him up as one of the potential backstabbers and it's gonna be really fucking heartbreaking if so, but...man, I don't fault the way everyone reacted to that episode, but I can't get that mad at Assane for what he did.

The heist he did with his mom at the prime minister's mansion complete with jetski escape added another 10 years to our lifespan. Utterly delightful. I love this show so much.

I was a bit iffy on how the prior seasons approached the existence of Arsene Lupin books in-text and I'm still a little mixed on it. However, the sheer reverence and omnipresent popularity of Arsene Lupin the character actually isn't even that unrealistic to the character's real life popularity in France or elsewhere, or how much the show has done to refuel said popularity. I mean, hell, I and others got to see it firsthand Lupin being the talk of the town non-stop. It still takes me a little out of the show, but it's far from a dealbreaker.

Major major leg that this thing has above so many other contemporary reboots/adaptations is that this is FUN, Lupin in general should always get to be fun and more than a little stupid sometimes, and this gets it. This thing delights in carrying us through every step of the process by which the main character does his impressive things, laying out all the components in plain sight and putting them together and even letting you feel smart for realizing how it's coming together and still being surprised when it does.

This is the show that Sherlock wishes it was, because of course Lupin can't make a comeback without putting one over his good old rival Sholmes.

The show was always strong, I think, but every season so far's just been refining things and making all of it's strengths better. It's so so good and I hope it keeps going, this thing does crazy numbers every season, I just never see it talked about much in English circles. I'm glad it's been going strong the way it has. Assane has become one of my favorite protagonists in anything and I might even watch the show again soon.

Still unbelievably good and has only gotten better from what was already a very strong start.

#lupin #lupin netflix #assane diop #benjamin farel #lupin part 3 #arsene lupin #pulp heroes #tv shows

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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I kind of believe Ace will play at least somewhat of a role on episode 7. Maybe the fact they set him up to be Malleus’ birthday interviewer this year is an indicator of that, but I could be reaching.

Ace’s relationship with his friend group is interesting because he acts like he’s just nonchalantly there. Like “What? No, I don’t really care about those people, I’m around just because!” — but as we can see, he really does care. He cares about Deuce, MC, and Grim (I believe some of his vignettes hint to that?). He’s the only one who isn’t visibly upset (as in, not letting it show) at the prospect of MC leaving, choosing to deflect the subject when the mood is souring because of Deuce and Grim saying it’ll get lonely without MC.

Also, I think the friend group just came together beautifully and will be relevant in episode 7. Coincidentally, the friend group has 7 people: Ace, Deuce, Grim, MC, Jack, Epel, Ortho and Sebek. I say Sebek because it’s heavily hinted he’ll join the friend group(what stands out is the 1 year official art and anthology comic cover featuring everyone + Sebek even though at there wasn’t much to justify his presence there). The way Ace, Deuce, MC and Grim initially formed a quartet of people begrudgingly brought together by complete chance then developed into a group of friends is very precious to me, and I believe that’ll at least play a part in this episode, considering this is the one Sebek will (apparently) join our group. Which also makes sense for them to be able to explore Sebek as a character, since this is the Diasomnia episode.

Idk if I’m being a clown and pointing out the obvious but anyways!!! I think Ace might have his moment to shine in the next updates, depending on how the story goes. Or idk, he might be hit by the sleeping spell and stay out of the story the whole time, but since Deuce got his spotlight in Glorious Masquerade, it would be only fair.

[Referencing this post!]

I think the birthday interviewers are arbitrary to the main story 🤔 There doesn’t seem to be a clear pattern to the interviewers assigned for the Broomquet series of cards (whereas Birthday Boy and Union definitely did have their own patterns). If there's some significance to Ace interviewing Malleus, then wouldn't the logic hold that the other Broomquet interviewers also have some kind of big tie to the birthday boy...? There doesn't seem to be this importance reflected in all of them, at least as far as I can tell.

Of the main trio (Ace, Deuce, and Grim), Ace seems to be the least emotionally vulnerable. He’s not totally honest about his feelings (despite, ironically, being the one to tell others how it is without any sugarcoating) and uses jokes/humor to deflect from confrontational or difficult situations he doesn’t want to get entangled in. Ace claims to not care, but his actions tell very different stories than his words do (see: the worry he displays in episodes 4 and 6, as well as some vignettes and events). I guess this could be called “tsundere” behavior, but rather than being his entire identity, it’s only a single aspect of Ace and lends to his overall cheeky yet bright character.

Ace doesn’t want to linger on things he considers boring or sad; he lives in the moment and wants to quickly move on to the next thing that may be more fun or happy than the current moment. The same does not hold true for Deuce or Grim, and for very good but also very different reasons. Deuce fixates on his past and his failures due to wanting to reform from his delinquency, and Grim is attached to Yuu because of their close bond as partners, roommates, and master-minion. Given this, of course Deuce and Grim would feel more sad and make remarks about the things they cannot do together anymore once Yuu leaves.

I think it’s possible that Ace has multiple intentions behind not sulking with Deuce and Grim 🤔 For one, yeah, it’s not in Ace’s nature to; he’s just more cheerful than the other two—but I think this speaks to other aspects of his character. He’s the only one of the group to point out that Mickey may not actually be Yuu’s ticket home, yet everyone is treating it like it’s already the end. I wonder if this is Ace lying to himself too—making up some excuse to avoid looking at the truth, or maybe genuinely hoping he’s actually right. Alternatively, maybe Ace is saying these things because he doesn’t want to see his friends sad—or even to alleviate everyone’s pain when Yuu ultimately has to leave (in kind of a “don’t cry now, save your tears for when the time finally comes” way) 🫠

I appreciate that the first years assemble in 7, but it felt a little clunky to me since we didn’t previously see them unite or act as a big group of friends. It was usually just Adeuce + the first year for that particular episode like Epel or isolated incidents (ie checking in with Jack and Savanaclaw pre-VDC in 5). I’m still under the impression that Adeuce and Grim are the close friends of Yuu and the other first years are friends in a looser sense of the word—but narratively speaking, it makes sense to bring the group together for what is meant to be the “last chapter” of their story. It emphasizes how far everyone has come, how they’ve grown so much closer than the circumstances which initially forced them together. It feels more bittersweet seeing the friends made along the way and realizing that Yuu has to say goodbye to them all.

It’s interesting that we end up with 7 people (excluding Yuu from this count), one for each dorm (even if there is no one representing Octavinelle and Scarabia + two representing Heartslabyul). I don’t know if that means anything right now other than being a recurring number, but it would be cool if it does! The promotional materials of the game really seem to market the first years as a group of close knit friends, which is reflected in the fandom works but not super deeply in the main story 🤔 so it’d be nice to see more of the group together and such. I wonder how Sebek will be integrated with them, seeing as he’s so opposed to befriending humans and those outside of the Briar Valley. He’ll certainly complicate the group’s dynamics and add a lot of flair to episode 7!

Oh, I’m sure Ace will have his fun at his own Glorious Masquerade (the Halloween 2023 event will probably be Masquerade Part II with the other half of the NRC cast). I just hope Ace also gets to play a big role in episode 7 😌 and earns his unique magic along the way~

#twisted wonderland analysis #twst analysis #twst #twst character analysis #twisted wonderland #Ace Trappola #Deuce Spade #twisted wonderland character analysis #Epel Felmier #Grim #Yuu #Jack Howl #Sebek Zigvolt #Ortho Shroud #Mickey Mouse #Malleus Draconia #spoilers #notes from the writing raven #disney twisted wonderland

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lyinginthesnow · 1 year

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What makes me lose my mind a bit about Season 2 Kendall is that like— Logan is trying to fully break his will and control him, and Kendall is trying to break his own will in a lot of ways through guilt and self-destructive behaviours, but there’s this tiny stubborn part of him, this desire for self-preservation, that they can’t kill no matter how hard they try. There’s this little instinctual, human voice inside him saying no, I want to live, I want to fight back, I don’t want to be his puppet, I don’t want to drown. Like initially he wants to save Vaulter, and oppose Logan on buying Pierce. Each time he goes up to the roof in “Safe Room”, he comes back down. He confronts Logan when Logan’s getting too cozy with Rhea in “Return”. He seeks out some form of happiness with Naomi (obviously that is self-destructive too given that he knows her presence will enable his drug abuse, but he also does seek connection and joy out of their relationship). But every time this desire to care about himself and fight back rears its head, either he or Logan smothers it. He submits to Logan’s orders regarding Vaulter (“because my dad told me to”) and Pierce. He goes back up onto the roof multiple times. After the confrontation about Rhea, Logan takes him to the waiter’s house, reminding him of his guilt and powerlessness. Seeing that Kendall finds escape in his relationship with Naomi, Logan sends her off the yacht.

So when Logan tells Kendall he is going to be sacrificed in “This Is Not for Tears”, Kendall has reached a point where he obeys without a single protest. “I deserve it. Maybe I deserve it”. But — crucially — Logan disagrees, saying that Kendall has nothing to be guilty about regarding the waiter’s death. Logan’s lines here are really important, because (in my interpretation??) they ignite Kendall’s repressed urge to fight back that has been slowly eroded this entire season, which leads to his decision at the end of the episode. If Logan had responded “yes, you do deserve it”, then Kendall would have walked to his own destruction willingly, giving up, maybe even feeling a sense of righteousness that he was being punished. But Logan doesn’t say that. Instead, he says: “Nah, nah. Not that. NRPI. You’re the best. Don’t beat yourself up. No real person involved. You know, it’s… it’s nothing.“ It’s nothing.

I think Kendall has a realization in this moment which is very similar to the one Rhea has in “DC”, when she says to Logan, “I can’t see the bottom of the pool. I don’t know if you care about anything. And that scares me”. Kendall’s conscience has been eating him up from the inside — but Logan doesn’t have it. He just doesn’t care. The waiter’s death has been weighing on Kendall as the basis for his self-destructiveness (and submission to Logan’s control), but Logan dismisses it so flippantly, almost as if it is irrelevant, since the moral value of that event is currently not related to his own self-interest in using Kendall as a tool. Which is all this ever was. To Logan, it was never about the waiter. It was never some form of “deserved” punishment. It was always just a part of Logan’s game, convenient to him, serving his aims.

So that tiny stubborn part of Kendall comes to life a bit inside him. It says no, no I don’t want to lie down and let you do this to me. I’m not sure he listens to it right away. But it’s there, and it grows bit by bit. No I want to live, no I want to escape, no I want to fight back, no my father is a malignant presence, a bully, and a liar, and this is the day his reign ends

#and obv this is all just my personal interpretation since logan and Kendall’s decision making is soooo subjective —#what is their reasoning??#and at what point/based on what do they make those choices??#u could look at it a million ways…#stopping myself from writing ‘in my opinion’ before every sentence of this post was a harrowing experience #anyway #i am very normal about kendall roy daily affirmation #i watched 2x10 recently and. yeah ughghmm it was immensely distressing #logan roy #kendall roy #succession season 2 #succession 2x10 #succession #ruby (unfortunately) watches succession #suicidal thoughts tw #addiction tw

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talistheintrovert · 1 year

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OKAY. let's clarify some stuff for people who are confused:

the entire episode is not a dream sequence. aside from that just being lazy, it's also not what the editing is communicating. this show is very good at editing in a dreamlike, slightly disjointed way; it's part of what contributes to it feeling so intimate and personal, and nothing about that editing really changed in episode 6 except for when it got dramatic RIGHT at the end, but i'm gonna address that particular tone change under the cut for those who want spoilers

the show intercuts flashbacks throughout, even dispersing flashbacks of what appears to be the same scene (therapy) through multiple episodes, and intercutting current dialogue with flashbacks (jaewon's brother flashbacks with his father's voice). the last five minutes MIGHT be a flash forward, which means that a lot of the coupley stuff left from the trailer could be coming up in episode 7 either as a lead-up to the inevitable or afterwards in flashback form, but again, i'm leaving my personal thoughts on that for under the cut

ALSO, he definitely says "boyfriend". he says "남자 친구" which literally translates to "namja - man, chingu - friend" and used together like that is the colloquially understood term for "boyfriend" in korean; it is sometimes shorted to "남친" (namchin) but BLs haven't reached that point yet. REGARDLESS, even though that technically translates to "male friend" SO DOES FUCKING BOYFRIEND. the only other word is "애인" (aein) which you may have heard, but it's gender neutral.

the context of that interaction is important. he says friend, the attendant clearly notices the implication and says "oh a girlfriend?" and he responds with "no, a boyfriend" and then the cashier gives him romantic fireworks. it was not an accident or a mistranslation. just because jaewon is closed off and masks does not mean he's like that about everything all of the time. like he says to jihyun, its easier to talk to him because he doesn't know his baggage. and as somebody who is very similar to jaewon I find it so easy to say things to strangers that I struggle to articulate to my friends. I come out to people as soon as I meet them but coming out to my friends was hard. it just be like that sometimes.

the last thing is a spoiler of what's actually happening in that last scene in relation to the movie version of this show that came out, so if you don't want to see those, simply do not look under the cut:

jihyun is not dead, nor is he a figment of jaewon's imagination. it is not a dream sequence or a fakeout - jihyun does almost drown and it does utterly fuck jaewon up.

that is literally the only spoiler i know from the movie because i saw it by accident and then noped out of the comments section of MDL and banned myself from going in there because i hate being spoiled, but it's actively starting to worry me just how many people are convincing themselves that it's all a dream or a fakeout who are going to be really distressed next week when it turns out not to be.

i'm all for collective fandom delusion (i was in The 100 fandom for years) but this seems like the kind of thing that, as somebody who is also a mentally ill queer person who gets WAY too attached to media, could be really damaging to everybody the longer this week goes on without answers and the collective fandom delusion spirals out of control.

(and hey, maybe this spoiler is a lie, or maybe the show is being edited differently to the film, but i still think it's HIGHLY unlikely all of that was just to trick us for no reason. that doesn't really align with the story they're telling)

take a breath like jihyun can't and remember there are FOUR WHOLE EPISODES LEFT. maybe the show will end tragically or bittersweet but i don't believe they'll do that in a way that is designed to actively hurt us. this is a show made by queer people, for queer people, and they foreshadowed from the start that this was going to happen. it's not a dropped plot point or a fakeout or an accident of editing - everything is VERY intentional.

#the eighth sense #my degree is in screenwriting so i thought i'd offer some insight from somebody who has had to study these things for years #and also as somebody who just watches a frankly obscene amount of television #and has adhd pattern recognition #and is queer and obsessive #i don't want it to come across like i'm talking down to anyone though #i really do think we all just need to breathe and absorb the last five minutes of the episode #y'know?

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pigtailedgirl · 4 months

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He's got the look! Of LOVE

Seriously, re-watch is just noticing how much time Fraser spends staring uncomfortably in love, focused, at Ray, multiple editions. EXAMPLE : This is first episode right here! Fraser stare.

Or you know his doing sly smiles and reactions every five seconds too.

And I love it. Because it's hard to gif! And because it's Fraser.

He says nothing. What he doesn't say screams.

Fraser is a closed book type character. For all he shares stories with others about his values, or anecdotes or stories of his life, for all his acts and oddities, his kindness and helping, or his passive aggressive snits; he uses that and presentation and it's to put up walls to block us the audience and the other characters from seeing him fully with these things. He doesn't tell the whole truth. He manipulates so it's entirely on his terms and comfort level just what level of Fraser you get. He's scared to show people he has wants or needs or feelings for himself. Maybe I think a part of him doesn't know the how or what on those things too. When he tells others things, his personal stories, notice how often he leaves out the and this is how I felt or feel. He doesn't want that to be the focus for others. For others to see him unless he shows it.

So it's very important I think you have to look for not just what he says, but what he does and shows consistently to us or someone. And about that someone. That's the key to understanding how Fraser feels and expresses his wants.

Great thing about the show is when it understands Fraser may consciously not want to show himself but through his voyeurism and nature and we the audience, sorry Fraser you do.

Anyways...

So with Ray, he drags Ray into all kinds of things, without really honestly asking or saying the why. Because the honest answer half the time boils down to just I want you along and with and that's one you can't say without saying I want or need you. Fraser's very bad that.

They do the odd couple routine of you Canadian, me American. They, and Fraser is way more master, manipulate and operate in understanding one another is a case of really playing with or verbalizing out the differences, to get us on to continue along in sync while avoiding or letting slip well, duh, we are together because emotionally we feel easily connected, even with differences.

So Fraser shows Ray, or thinks he does best he can, by dragging and tagging along. Sticking close by choice.

He shows us the audience too.

He shows all the time by considering or studying Ray how much he's paying attention to, wanting to get to know. He shows by leaning in or reacting to, verbal or physically, or even to other's reactions of, how much Ray has an affect on him.

And to me one of the biggest ways Fraser is obvious in his feeling's with Ray, is Ray is just about the only one besides Dief and his ghost Dad, that he'll seek out or let him in enough to see him back.

Goes back to The Pilot. Of its' not like Fraser doesn't connect or have emotional scenes with others. But Ray is the one who gets the honesty back outta him. Who he can show he's emotionally down to and try an feel understood by. Like there, yeah I'm here in this diner because I'm lonely and my dads gone, this is my only way to connect or do for him now...

Fraser shows he wants Ray to see his feelings in a way he opens about the why of himself to no one else.

And it's a recurrent throughout the series, even as they have some blow-outs and screw-ups on it. He shows Ray because Fraser trusts enough to be sad around or silly, or snippy, or teasing. But also just unsure. There's a comfort level in their interactions. He wants Ray to know him as a person and relate emotionally and even when he himself struggles how to handle that within, well if Ray sees it, that's okay.

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amelikos · 1 month

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Some character notes and episode notes for HZ044, writing them down for future reference.

Friede went to check the strange tower on the isolated island, and he eventually saw Spinel and his Pokemon there. He goes back to the ship and calls for a meeting. Different from how he reacted in HZ014 when he followed Spinel's Rarecoil and fell in his trap (and didn't mention it to the crew afterwards). This time, he is sharing all the information he has instead of rushing directly into things.

Back on the ship, Friede shows the footage he got and Liko recognizes Spinel as the one who stole her pendant and mentions that Sango (she used her name) said they were going to summon Rayquaza, so Friede assumes they actually have a way to do it (maybe by using a machine or something). Dot offers to make a shutdown program that works on any machine and mentions that she cannot forgive "that guy" (referring to Spinel). Liked that they still included their kind of rivalry, given that Spinel's introduction arc overlapped with Dot coming out of her room and getting Kuwassu as a partner. Dot got tricked multiple times by Spinel, and she wants to be involved this time too, because it's personal for her.

Friede suggests using a boat to get to the island because going by ship or on Lizardon would immediately give him away. Liko and Roy want to tag along as well. Friede is about to refuse because it's dangerous but doesn't finish his sentence once he sees how determined they both look and eventually accepts. I really like that they keep emphasizing that things are dangerous, makes things feel grounded.

Liko and Roy eventually go to the island and go through a forest to get to the tower, along with Friede and Landau. There are wild Pokemon who don't seem used to humans and they try not to stand out by not making any noise. Eventually they get to the tower and Friede warns Liko and Roy to be careful. The door was open, which makes Friede suspect something is wrong but he still goes inside and ends up being locked there. Friede tells Liko and Roy that they should go ahead without him. Liko and Roy are both worried but Landau tells them to believe in Friede and continue onwards. Liko takes a deep breath to regain her composure and they all decide to look for where Rayquaza might appear. Love the small moments with Liko being worried and her just taking a moment to breathe to calm herself down, it feels real.

Spinel and Friede get to interact face to face for the first time. Friede recognized his voice and referred to him by the words he used back in HZ014, and Spinel calls him by his name and professor status. Spinel revealed that the place was built just to imprison Friede. I just like the implications that he did all of that just to trap Friede and isolate him from the others and that he was going to wait for him there, which implies that he acknowledges him as a threat and wants to delay him. Love how cunning Spinel is in general, his strategies involve some kind of deception and distraction, isolating his opponents and luring them away, which he did with both Friede and Liko in HZ014.

Somewhere else, Sango is skeptical and asks Agate if their plan will really attract Rayquaza. She also wonders where Amethio is and calls him "bocchan" (very important lore, thank you Sango for the casual reveal). Agate says that they'll execute the plan without him and that it was Spinel's idea. Sango says it's a shame he's missing out and adds that Spinel hates Amethio. Onyx tells her to stop blabbering and to get back in position, which annoys Sango but she does it anyway. Onyx shakes her head at her www He really has to put up with a lot with her (but he still cares).

As an aside, Sango's words about Spinel hating Amethio were interesting... I wonder how much of that is true. Spinel usually keeps a lot of information to himself, so the fact that his supposed dislike for Amethio was so apparent that even Sango saw it? Maybe he doesn't care about hiding it, maybe he can't hide it because Amethio irritates him that much? Maybe he feels like that because Amethio is too honest and straightforward in his approach, which is very different from how Spinel acts? I think that for someone like Spinel, being anything else than "indifferent" towards someone is a feat, so Amethio is "special" on some level... (Spinel finds very few people "fascinating" so far, we know Liko being the key to something had him intrigued, and he's also interested in Friede) He did keep up with Amethio's training and observed it back in HZ034, and last time they both interacted, Amethio did agree with Spinel in HZ027... So I wonder what's up with Spinel potentially hating Amethio, and why he may feel that way in the first place.

Back in the tower, Spinel talks about the device he made. Basically a resonance generator which recreates the energy Terapagos emits when calling to Rayquaza. Friede wonders if the Explorers can beat Rayquaza, to which Spinel says that three skilled Explorers are on the job, so they might be able to do something. Friede says that Spinel didn't strike him as the type to rely on others, but Spinel says he is just using them. Very good banter and back and forth here, I love how we get a view of how Friede considers Spinel and how methodical and calculating Spinel is too.

Friede and Spinel are about to battle, when Friede realizes he can't use Lizardon in that confined space (which is also why Spinel lured him there). He decides to send Cap to battle, and Spinel wonders if he is being underestimated (just like Amethio back in HZ002, and Friede remembered Amethio said the same thing). Blacky going full out in battle was great to see, and Spinel's battle style was interesting! Blacky knowing Reflect (a move reducing damage) says a lot about Spinel's relationship with his Pokemon too. We got a small exchange between Friede and Cap during the battle, when Cap shows him the small crack made on the and lets him know they should use this to escape.

Back to Liko and Roy, they are looking for the Explorers and Terapagos reacts to something. They can all feel Rayquaza is about to appear and it does eventually happen. (The BGM used between 12:10 and 12:20 was great and I hope it ends up in the OST if there is ever one)

Nanjamo was shown briefly livestreaming, so I wonder if she'll catch footage of Rayquaza.. Liko, Roy and Landau head to where Rayquaza is, while the Explorers start attacking him. Rayquaza was shown reacting to the sound similar to Terapagos and it felt like he stopped an attack after hearing it, I feel like this showed Rayquaza's soft side in a way? Rayquaza appeared after hearing "Terapagos" calling out to him and stopped whatever he was about to do upon hearing that sound again, so he is definitely not indifferent to Terapagos's cries.

Meanwhile, Dot announces that she finished the shutdown program but needs to get close to the device to activate it. She seems hesitant at first, and Murdock suggests doing it instead of her because he is worried about her being in danger. However, Dot says she will do it because Liko and Roy are fighting too and she is inspired to do the same to be on the same level as them. While Murdock is still worried, he is both proud and supportive of her wishes and says he'll lead her there. (Dot really grew to appreciate her friends and is pushed to act, be braver, and go out of her comfort zone thanks to them. Her development these past episodes has been great to witness.)

Back to Friede vs Spinel, they keep battling and Friede eventually manages to use Spinel's moves against him and break the wall to run away. Their VAs were really good in that scene btw (loved the way Spinel said いかさま whenever he ordered that move, and the way Friede said "sorry, I broke the place~" was a bit too much... weirdly teasy-sounding too in a way, which I loved.. Makoto Furukawa and Yashiro Taku are just great fits for their characters and their acting elevates literally any scene they are in). Either way, Friede leaves and Spinel considers him interesting now and wants to play with him some more~ So he potentially got himself a new obsession and wants to know more about Friede. I hope their dynamics will be expanded upon in the future because they are intriguing (and quite similar in some ways? Given that they both enjoy researching in some ways).

Two other things I loved was the non-conclusive aspect of the battle and Blacky's reaction. I love that HZ keeps showing non-conclusive battles because they tell a kind of story too, and that Friede doesn't finish battles if he doesn't need to. The context of each battle he takes part in is always very different (which is why it's interesting when he does engage Amethio in battle and gets into them a lot, but that's another story), and the story doesn't force battles to keep going for the sake of it. It's not cowardly to prioritize other things and HZ shows that the protag and hero side can run away. Running away or using distractions aren't only things antagonists or enemies do, and there is no moral judgement made about it, which I honestly appreciate.

Blacky's reaction was also interesting because as Friede and Cap left, I think she was growling? Which potentially shows that she may have wanted to finish the battle and knew she had the upper hand (darkness being her element too, being trapped in there was convenient) and was confident about her skills. Yet, back in HZ016, Blacky immediately wanted to back off once Oliva came out so she knew about the potential danger then. I think it shows Blacky doesn't overestimate her abilities (backing away from a confrontation that might be too dangerous, and knowing when things are in her and Spinel's favor).

Back to Rayquaza, Liko and Roy do what they can to stop the Explorers. Roy thought of using Stomping Tantrum to make Agate lose her balance (quick thinking on his part!), and called Kaiden to repel Agate's Ultra Ball. (I hope we see Kaiden more in chapter 3 because his appearance here was short and quick)

Dot eventually jumps into the scene in her Gurumin costume and manages to disable the device by connecting her Rotom Phone to it, thanks to Kuwassu and Kanuchan's help. That's the first victory Dot had against Spinel in a way, since she could interfere with his plan somehow (I do hope there is more to their rivalry in the future, still). Kanuchan eventually starts crying since the whole situation was scary for her, so Dot comforts her and calls her back to her Pokeball. Liko and Roy praise Dot for her feat, so Dot hides her face with her again before accepting their compliments. (It was cute. She clearly was happy about their words but she was still a bit embarassed.)

Eventually, Rayquaza breaks free from the ice and salt crystals. Agate starts getting visibly worried (I liked seeing another side of her since she is usually so composed and seems like the most levelheaded of the Explorers compared to the others.. she also got worried for Sango later on). Rayquaza launches Draco Meteor which hits a bunch of stuff in the area. Sango snaps and charges towards Rayquaza to use Self-Destruct (I love her battle style and how unhinged she is). The move manages to hurt Rayquaza and sends him crashing into the Brave Asagi. While Orio, Murdock, Mollie and the other Pokemon are still on the ship. Liko and the others are horrified. (Friede's expression, particularly, was good at the end.)

Anyway, great episode! I missed Kureha Matsuzawa's writing (last ep he wrote was HZ032 with Lapras joining Liko and the others, and Lucius flashback).

#hz044 #character notes #episode notes

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1stthingsfirst · 6 months

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This is the Ray side of my previous post about the portrayal of his recovery, in part prompted by @quaintrelle17's comment about Thai rehabs (Thank you! I didn't ignore you, I just took forever to respond).

Note: I use "sobriety" as shorthand. Not everyone who abuses alcohol needs to go sober. Some can drink in moderation. Some need to abstain for their whole lives.

I originally only briefly addressed Ray drinking in rehab. So, the two general ways to stop drinking/go sober are:

Cold turkey -- You go from your current alcohol intake to zero, no steps in between.

Tapering off (aka weaning off) -- You decrease your daily alcohol intake over time until you reach zero/a desired amount.

From this tweet and Jojo's comments, I believe Thai outpatient rehab programs follow a harm-reduction model using tapering and deemphasizing abstinence unless deemed necessary.

Tapering off aims to both decrease the severity of and prevent withdrawal symptoms. Chronic alcohol abuse alters your brain chemistry. Tapering off helps your brain adjust to functioning with less and less alcohol and decreases the likelihood of severe withdrawal symptoms such as seizures and delirium tremens, which can cause disability and death.

Issue #1: Lack of Clarity

Ray is a good candidate for tapering. He carries a flask to drink on the go and his hands shake when he doesn't drink, a withdrawal symptom. It makes sense for Ray to drink while he's in rehab.

However, tapering is a systematic process. You don't just slowly drink less. A professional may determine a tapering schedule specific to you, but the general recommendation is to decrease by 2 drinks per day. When tapering, you should track what drink you're on and even measure to ensure you stick to one standard drink each time.

I would not expect to see this level of detail in the show. However, as is, we see Ray enter rehab at the end of episode 10, and then in episode 11, we see no visible change in behavior. He still goes to bars and drinks beers in the bath and has whiskey in the pool in a tense almost-threesome. We're supposed to intuit that he's changing simply because he says he is.

The show could have made it clearer without dedicating much time to it. It's as simple as a lingering shot of a handout from the rehab center or Ray saying, "last drink of the day" in the tub. Responses to Only Friends have highlighted how little the general public knows about addiction. It's unreasonable to expect us to know that people may drink as part of rehab.

This is a "show, don't tell" error. We have been told that Ray is in rehab, but we have not seen behavior indicating that he's in rehab.

Issue #2: Tone and Narrative

I'd be surprised if Ray's support team encouraged him to casually drink with his partner while trying to go sober. I could be wrong; they could be fine with it. A person could maybe healthily drink a beer in the tub with their partner if it aligned with their tapering schedule, but it doesn't feel appropriate tonally or narratively.

We have seen how destructive alcohol has been in Ray's life: his mom's alcoholism ruined his childhood; he blames himself for her alcoholism-related suicide; he nearly lost all his friends and his boyfriend multiple times; he drove drunk, crashed his car, and had to be hospitalized for his injuries; he was charged with a DUI and has to complete social service (legal consequences); and so on.

Tonally, it does not make sense to show Ray drinking casually at this point. It could make sense to show him drinking, but not in the settings shown in episode 11. Drinking should be portrayed as weightier by now, if not for Ray, at least for Sand when he's with Ray (see my original post). Sand has said multiple times that he worries about Ray's drinking, so it feels odd to see them to chat in the bath over beers while Ray is in rehab. Ray may be allowed to drink then and he may be able to drink for pleasure in the future, but week one of rehab is not the time for drinking for pleasure.

Additionally, from a storytelling perspective, it doesn't make sense to include Ray accepting that he needs to go to rehab with two episodes left unless you then show him either improved or struggling. By showing Ray drinking after entering rehab, it suggests to the viewer that Ray's drinking will continue to be a major plot point.

But I don't know if it is because we have one episode left, two other couples' stories to wrap up, Ray's already in rehab, and they just introduced Boeing to Sand and Ray's dynamic. By introducing Boeing this late in the show, with this little time left, it's pretty clear Boeing is Ray and Sand's final conflict, not Ray's recovery.

I'm normally all about nuance, but filmmakers only have so many opportunities to convey information to their audience. Unless they do want to keep Ray's recovery a main conflict, it is more logical, for both tone and storytelling, to simply not show Ray drinking at this point. Is it less realistic? Yes. But is it clearer? Yes.

TL;DR

There are scientific reasons why Ray would drink during rehab; however, most people don't know that and it was never explained in the series itself, so the scenes of him drinking in ep 11 landed poorly for many viewers. This is a problem with how the show told the story of Ray's alcoholism and recovery. The show would have benefited from prioritizing clarity over realism, unless they plan to take the time to explore Ray's recovery in detail.

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notesoncrocs · 11 months

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sad sad sad post about fleabag

fleabag and the priest tell each other "i love you" at a bus stop, he vows to never see her again, says the line that kills me ("it'll pass"), leaves the bus stop, and then fleabag herself gets up and abandons the camera — abandons us — at the stop and walks away, ugly statue in hand (the act of stealing it again for the nth time a last "fuck you" to her stepmother, or a symbol of how tightly she clings on to this toxic relationship with her father and stepmother in her life because it's the only consistent one she has, or something).

"it'll pass" hurts so much and i'm trying to figure out why. back in high school my friend would say it every time after she talked about her depressive episodes, which made it seem worse in my mind. "it'll pass," spoken with such resigned certainty, implies experience, faith that this has happened a lot before and will happen again.

i don't know why, and this is really dumb, but that line also made me think of a text exchange i had with a friend that day. i was giving him shit for going to multiple joji concerts, said something like "i wanna love someone the way you love joji" and he responded "how about urself?" which killed me. LMAO. i guess these days i've been trying to figure that out too, be okay with exploring a city and being by myself and liking it. and so i was thinking about "it'll pass," and how to deal with loving someone and also yourself, and sometimes having to choose, and how that works.

"it'll pass" reminds me of the wong kar-wai film in the mood for love (花樣年華), which also made me lose my shit when i watched it. the relationship is toxic from the beginning, and eventually they separate for years and years. maybe decades. he comes back to her apartment building and asks about her, receives the answer that a woman and son are living there now, and leaves. doesn't even realize that the woman could be her after all this time. later, he goes to a temple in cambodia and whispers a secret into a hollow in the wall before plugging it with mud.

"it'll pass" is so horrible because it does pass. your past self, who no longer exists, loves someone else, who also no longer exists. it's amazing how easy it is to adapt. you wake up every day in some room for a couple weeks and it starts feeling like home. you move through life without someone and after a while it's as easy as breathing. you forget. when you miss them, you are also missing the you that actually knew them. you'll love again, and that will pass too. you experience the full breadth of time, the brutality of it.

“时间就这样过下去。” — my dad <3

#actual ihouse #i will never watch fleabag again #or in the mood for love #i'm sick!!#after this i'll post more unseriously i swear. no more of this!!

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ecargmura · 5 months

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Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective Episode 10 Review - The Poisoned Latte

It’s crazy how there’s only three more episodes left! No, don’t leave me! I need a Season 2 this instant! There are rumors of a Season 2 floating by, actually. Some fans notice that this cour is called Part 1, so there could be multiple parts in the future. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The story goes back to its one-off cases, which I don’t mind. This time, our main duo accidentally get entangled in a murder case at a cafe.

It feels as if Ron and Toto are crime magnets at this point. Everywhere they go, they get roped into solving murder cases. Heck, this episode’s case, they didn’t even plan on it happening; it just happened out of the blue. Toto was at the cafe because he was going to take a quick break with Chikori while Ron just happened to be the barista working there. Is Ron stalking Toto at this point? Something similar happened during Episode 5 where he just showed up all of a sudden with hand puppets.

As a one-off case, this one is actually pretty interesting because Ron is once again suspected for murder, so Toto has to solve the case in front of Chikori; Ron still does help around, but Toto does the usual stuff like he always does. Unlike Episode 5, Toto isn’t seen as a doofus this time around. In fact, Ron even compliments that Toto’s deductions are getting better, to which I agree! Toto is improving as a detective! Compare this case to the cases before the Observatory case and you can see a difference! Toto contributed a lot to this case, but still relied on Ron, but not as much as before. Maybe there will be a day where Toto has to solve a case all by himself?

Speaking of which, a new character shows up. Chikori Monki is a crime reporter who investigates impossible crimes and ones that are known to be hard to solve. Toto’s cases haven’t been reported to the public, yet she knows about them. Her love for detectives stem from being rescued by one when she got involved in a kidnapping case as a kid. As a character, Chicory’s cute. It’s nice to see a character who really respects and idolizes Toto for a change, even if her idea of him is actually incorrect. I did like how in the beginning, her idolizing Toto was more of a romanticization of detectives due to her past, but towards the end of the episode, she realizes that Toto is a hard working detective who is human, but her respect for him is still up there. It’s also a nice breath of fresh air to see a character who doesn’t like Ron for a change as Chikori finds Ron annoying. It’s like a total day and night difference with Amamiya who looks down on Toto but has a crush on Ron.

The three girls were a case of toxic friendship. Hayami, the culprit, killed Julie, the victim, because she hated the fact that she stole her boyfriend and that she was also jealous of her being the center of attention. Girl, if you hated her that much, maybe cut her out from your life? Did you really have to resort to murder to get back at her? The moral of this episode’s story is that the short-haired girl, Tamada, needs better friends, ones that care about each other without resorting to murder. I was so surprised when I saw the names of their voice actors in the credits. These three girls are voiced by Maaya Uchida (Julie), Yui Ishikawa (Hayami) and Sayaka Senbongi (Tamada). These three are popular voice actresses! I’m surprised that the director would cast them as minor characters here! Then again, the minor character voice casting have been crazy! I actually didn’t recognize their voices because they were using tones that were much different from their usual roles; it felt like they were using their normal voices.

I loved the comedy moments for this episode! The way Ron was all cool and suave while doing platypus latte art as Hayami mistook them for ducks was hilarious! I’ve never seen Ron that shocked. I theorize he was holding a grudge ever since, hence why he wanted Hayami to bash her head. Ron’s eccentric behavior around Chikori was hilarious too! He just wants a case, but it has been slow at the station! Ron needs money to get by, which is why he has so many jobs that could give Touya Kinomoto a run for his money. I think the beginning was also hilarious with the way the Floor of Indolence turns out to be removable and long.

Since the big observatory case has come to a close, and this case was only an episode long, what are they planning for the remaining three episodes? A three-parter to conclude this season? Three one-parters? I’m super curious. What are your thoughts on this episode?

#ron kamonohashi's forbidden deductions #ron kamonohashi deranged detective #kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri #ron kamonohashi #totomaru isshiki #chikori monki #review #anime #anime review #arum journal #ecargmura

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aziraphalesrevenge · 7 months

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End of Good Omens S2

So, I've been seeing a lot of discourse around the final 15 minutes of the last episode, and I'm formulating some thoughts. There's so much going on, but I just wanna take a minute to discuss the characters and who they are, what they're potentially feeling, etc.

Forgive me. This is gonna be a bit of a long one.

Okay, so we all know how this goes. We've seen the scene multiple times. It's been dissected so many times. What I wanna bring attention to is that yes, while their hearts are breaking, there's still so much love there.

First off, I personally believe that Aziraphale isn't being completely truthful. I don't think he's actually excited about going to Heaven nor excited about inviting Crowley to come with and be an angel again. I do think that perhaps he's thinking that it's a way to right a great wrong, and that he loves Crowley for all of who he is, but he has stuff he's gotta work through. He needs to see Heaven and Hell for the completely toxic entities that they are. There's no fixing that. I also think that he was genuine when he said "I need you!" because it's evident that he does, in fact, feel a sense of need towards Crowley's presence and proximity to him. It's the closest that he can feel safe expressing his feelings for Crowley.

Remember that they're probably being watched in this moment too. Which explains Az constantly looking out the window while they're talking, and also his extreme worry when Crowley starts to confess. Because that reads like worry to me. He's scared. He's a very smart angel, indeed. I think he knows the Metatron is manipulating him. I think he knows quite a lot more about this than we all think he does. Perhaps he even interrupted Crowley and feigned excitement on purpose to push him away.

But you can see that even through that hurt that Aziraphale is experiencing (HOLY SHIT THE EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE RIGHT BEFORE THE KISS FLOORS ME EVERY TIME) he's still, in some ways, reaching for Crowley. He knows he doesn't have much choice. Not with the Metatron ushering him to Heaven. But you can see him repeatedly looking out the window where the Bentley is parked and we know Crowley is standing. Perhaps even looking at him. Watching. Waiting. And we know that Crowley was shocked by being interrupted by Az, but he still let him talk first. We know very well where he stands on Heaven and Hell being toxic. But he dealt a fatal blow to Az by saying "no nightingales". And I think it hurt him just as much. This is just more evidence of their poor communication, because Crowley is definitely feeling like he's not good enough as he is and that Az only loves him conditionally (which isn't the case). And, using the human method of conveying his feelings, he desperately and aggressively kissed Az. This was not a loving kiss, and I really wish their first kiss could've been sweet and tender, but it wasn't.

We can see that Az wants this too. They're both taking what they can, while they can. It's clear. But it also pains them both deeply.

AND YET! The REASON I'm making this post: Crowley still waits for Az. We see many times that Crowley will walk away, but this time? This time he stayed. He waited. He watched him leave. And I think this is to communicate that he still loves him. That he misses him already. That he'll be there when he gets back. They'll both have feelings about it and shit to sort out, but, Crowley is still there. He's still waiting. He's still so irrevocably in love with Az, even though this all hurts. He's showing, without a doubt, that he chooses "us" as Az leaves for Heaven.

And the look back? Ugh. That does me in. It's such a bitter and sorrowful parting. Neither of them want this. Neither one of them wants to be separated.

Now, I have my own thoughts about other things going on. And there's always room for other things to have happened that we weren't shown. Like Crowley stopping time for them to chat. Maybe Metabitch is messing with the Book of Life and is editing events as he sees fit. Who knows? But what we do know for sure is our ineffables are irrevocably in love with each other, they're pained by their parting, and Metatron was trying very very hard to separate them.

#good omens #good omens 2 #aziracrow #ineffable spouses #aziraphale x crowley #crowley x aziraphale #the final 15 #have some word babble #this is a long post sorry

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cherrytastiq · 1 year

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LARRY 3000 GENDER ANALYSIS

I've been wanting to do this for such a long time so AHEM. Here's how the Dr. Freud episode (because of course it's that episode) may suggest Larry is Transgender™ in one way or another.

This analysis is mostly based on one aspect from The Island of Dr. Freud: Larry's dream. It appears in the beginning and comes back around to tie the plot together when he recounts his nightmare to Freud so he can start analyzing dreams like he's supposed to. I believe it's been sort of... overlooked by everyone? Or maybe I'm just insane.

As a preface, I'd like to say that this is a purely queer reading of Larry. One could argue his sense of 'otherness' comes from being a robot (something he is actually teased about in the show) but considering this is set in the future where robots are commonplace, as shown in the Recruitment Ad, I don't see it as very likely. Another non-queer interpretation is that Larry's 'otherness' comes from being too sensitive or simply feminine, which is totally valid. That being said, I think anyone who's even a little into Time Squad knows that Larry is anything but straight. But without further ado, let's' begin this analysis.

Larry's nightmare/dream goes as follows:

"I'm in this dark room, all alone…

Suddenly, I notice a table.

I move over to it and take a seat."

"In front of me is a delicious ambrosia salad.

I'm very excited about enjoying the salad…"

"However, when I reach for my fork…

...instead, in my hand, I hold…"

"A shoe.

A SHOE!

NOT A FORK, A WRETCHED SHOE!"

(WHAT DOES IT MEAN, DOCTOR?! WHAT DOES IT ALL MEEAAANNNN?!)

Now, usually, if you had a dream like this you'd think of it as something absurd and nonsensical, which is exactly what Freud thinks when Larry tells him, but it goes deeper than that. According to the start of the episode, he's had this exact dream multiple times, almost like a constant reminder. One could then argue that it's a part of his subconscious trying to tell him something. That's why I think analyzing his dream is worth it.

Back to the end of the episode, Otto takes note of Larry's despair and does a little analysis of his own, assigning things from L's dream to aspects of his life:

"The dark room clearly represents the world, and the ambrosia salad is society. And the shoe… the shoe is you! Never quite fitting in. Don't you see, Larry? You just want to be loved."

We'll get back at the parts I marked in bold later. For now, with the help of Otto, let's look back at L3K's dream with these elements in mind:

Larry finds himself in a dark world (the room), all alone. This has both a literal meaning, as Larry's first 9 years were spent in a warehouse, and a metaphorical one, where he's found himself without anyone that really understands him. Sure, he's close to certain folks like Otto, Buck or XJ5, but there's something that keeps Larry from entirely connecting with them.

He then notices a table and takes a seat. It's hard to define what exactly it could mean, and it doesn't appear to be significant to his dream's message, so I feel it's best not to try and find a meaning where there is none.

Here's where this analysis' most important element comes into play: The ambrosia salad, the one Larry is "very excited to enjoy". His wording is crucial here; he doesn't just want to 'eat' the salad, he's looking forward to savoring the experience. He has high expectations of what society will offer him and how he might be able to fit in. It's also very important to note Larry's special connection to food -there's an entire analysis dedicated to this- as he calls the salad "delicious" merely by looking at it. He finds the idea of fitting into society interesting, or at least desirable in some way.

Unfortunately, Larry is the shoe. When he reaches for himself, for an identity that allows him to enter society, he finds... that something is very, very wrong with him. He's supposed to be a fork, but he turned out to be a shoe. Something wretched, horrifying, something that directly tells Larry he could never fully integrate himself into society in any way, shape or form.

Here's where Otto's final thoughts come in: Try as he might, Larry will never be able to quite fit in. All he wants is to be loved unconditionally by those around him, without the need to put up a show of sass-lip and snootiness. But alas, until others can put aside their differences, Larry is a shoe and will continue to be a shoe.

What does all of this amount to? In simple terms, Larry's nightmare is his subconscious telling him that he is a misfit thrown into a world that doesn't think, speak or act like him. He can't relate to anyone for some reason, but what is that reason exactly?

Anyone who's questioned their gender identity knows how alienating the world can be, even before realizing they're transgender. It's the same "otherness" I talked about earlier, the knowledge that you're different from everyone else. Larry is definitely aware of this but he can't pin down why. He's scared of what the world thinks of him. After all, he's not "just a robot", he's THE Larry 3000. Can robots suffer from social dysphoria rooted in being seen as machines without feelings? I'd like to believe so, demonstrated in other shows like Jenny from MLAATR and Robot Jones from WHTRJ. Larry falls into this category too, clearly displayed in his fights with Tuddrussel:

He wants to be more than just a robot, but he doesn't realize he already is. Larry refuses to follow anyone's orders on what he should be, and instead chooses a path of his own.

In conclusion:

#time squad #larry 3000 #im soooo normal about him

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whencallstheheart · 7 months

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Brian Bird via Twitter: Just like none of our lives ever goes in a straight line... so it goes in Hope Valley. My advice to #Hearties is open your arms wide to whatever transpires. This show has always been more about the forest than the trees. It will make sense soon and I believe it will be transformational for all, as long as our hearts are open.

Oh no we’re back to Brian Bird’s insanely cryptic messages.

BB has definitely gotten Team Nathan’s hopes up before so this wouldn’t be anything new from him, but since the post he was replying to stated that Nathan and Elizabeth would never be together, “transformational” was an interesting word to use. He also asked everyone to “open your arms wide to anything that transpires”.

I suppose this post could be taken either way, maybe he’s trying to reassure Lucabeth fans that despite the weird path they’re taking this season, by the end it will all be ok?

I have never been more confused in my life, at least in season 8 there was a chance that it wouldn’t be Nathan. Whereas now it all seemed so final in season 9, so this change of tone in season 10 is so confusing.

While i’ll always be open to a flip (Nathan and Elizabeth are just incredible together!!), it would be naive of me to think it could be done in a way that would make the hardcore Lucabeth fans happy because at the end of the day, as seen with Team Nathan in season 8, their guy not getting picked even if he’s treated like absolute GARBAGE by Elizabeth is a loss. (I am aware she was grieving so I suppose you can’t really blame her? Maybe a little?)

Could be entirely a ratings thing at the end of the day, whether it was the Nathan hostage situation or the sort of reigniting of the Triangle, episode 9 did get 2 million viewers (I believe). Is that the highest this season? While I wouldn’t take total credit for Nathan bringing in the viewers, the drama of it all CERTAINLY does.

I've gone a long time not seeing a post from that man. I can't stand him. We can't really go off anything he says since it could definitely be taken multiple ways and he loves to stir the pot.

I read an article (this one) that had some snippets from an interview with one of the writers and he sort of had the same message about trusting that things are going to be okay... however they end up being.

“When we were trying to figure out what to do with Elizabeth this year… (we thought) let’s not make it such a straight line,” he said. “Let’s just explore how she gets there. There are no wrong answers. Of course, the fans will read into everything that happens with her, but … she’s an interesting character… Without giving anything away… (that’s) the journey that we’re on with her.”

“I hope it ends up in a position where everyone is supportive of Elizabeth and happy for her and excited about the future,” he said. “…And I think the resolution…is the right way, and hopefully the fans are happy too… Again, we’re mid-season, we’re trying to create questions…”

They've certainly created a lot of questions! I honestly have no idea what's going to happen. Maybe we won't know until next season. I could see them ending on some big cliffhanger where things are left undecided and that would be really frustrating. Hopefully that's not the case.

It would be a really huge deal for them to break up Lucas and Elizabeth but I feel like there's been some seeds planted this season that they might be using as a way to explain it. We see them being pulled in different directions and not always on the same page. She clearly has doubts about the wedding that seem like more than cold feet. It wouldn't be a shock for them to break up if this were the real world. She has her son to consider as well. There's also the whole issue of maybe she's in love with another man. That's a good reason to end things. Her grief could explain why she didn't pick Nathan but it could also explain why she was drawn to Lucas as the safe choice. Are we able to trust her judgement either way? Maybe she wasn't ready at the time to pick Lucas either but felt like she had to make a choice. I think it has to apply to both men in a way if they're going to throw that reasoning around.

It'll be really interesting to see how this all unfolds. Neither side is necessarily all that happy right now. Team Lucas fans are upset with how Elizabeth is acting and rightfully so. Team Nathan can't trust any of this and we always think he deserves better than what he gets.

I really don't think they did this plot for the ratings but it's giving them a little boost because of everyone freaking out, surely. Maybe they predicted fans would react this way but it's also a gamble. They might get some people to tune in again but if they get screwed over they're not coming back. I think ratings would be higher if they just let Nathan be happy and have a decent relationship. It doesn't have to be with Elizabeth but it's almost like it needs to be at this point since they won't let him be happy with anyone else when there was literally no reason why. Maybe Elizabeth is the reason.

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italianpersonwithashippersheart · 8 months

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Only Friends Ep 6 Thoughts

- Starting right away with TopMew being more close then before, howver said that they thought they would be closer now after having sex was super right. Also awww Mew has two Moms. I knew there was reason he didn't mention his Dad in episode 1.

- The thing is I do believe Top when he says he is trying to better for Mew. Unfortunatly there is still this big thing he is not saying to him. - There will be no problem..... Meanwhile Ray and Boston are barely managing not to hit each other again.

- Look at Boston he is so self satisfied. Because this is just more confermation then he was right. Bastard.

- Is that... A plotline for Cheum and April???? I hope so.

- Ok I understand this is just Friendly teasing. But it is getting a bit annoying. Stop trying to get Boston to settle down. He is 22 he is allowed to be a slut if he wants to be. Why don't you focus on how much of an asshole he seems to be and not on how much he sleeps around!!!!

- I love Nick point this out to Boston but I can't help going, oh so you know that recornding someone without their permission is evil??? Nick is my baby though, I can't stay mad at him.

- BLAME IT ON SAND'S COOKIES?????? HOW DARE YOU!!!!!! Tell him baby!!!- Unfortunatly he is probably right about Nick.

- DRAKE! We were all correct in assuming he was the guy that made the recording. And we got the confirmation that Boston only cares because his father is about to become a politician. Also that look Nick gave thinking about his own recording of Boston. I bet he wants to delete it now that everything is going well for him.

- Ok I know that the fandom likes Sand's Mom, but I am usually more harsh on fictional parents then this. And dear god. You know maybe if she acted like the adult he would not be this focus on caring for everrybody else. Also is teenage life a mistranslation, because they are in their 20s.

- More Sand/Top interactions!!! Their interaction have always the same flare, Top tries to be at least fake civil Sand is not having it. And Top immidiately turns mean. I love it.

- I love that Sand decided to screw over multiple people and tell Ray about the recornding out of spite!!! I love that boy so much.

- Sand!!!! Being sneaky!!! I love him so much!!!!!!

- Also now we know why Sand and Nick fight in the trailer and Nick looks ready to move out.

- I love this interaction between Sand and Ray. It's so different then usual. I also love that Sand let Ray understand it was Nick that did it, so that it could be seen as real, but also didn't explicitly said so.

- Sand is getting revenge in this scene and I love that for him. He waited on that information, didn't say anything, it wasn't his business. But a single interaction with Top was enough for him to say fuck that, I'm gonna ruin that boy's life and fuck the consequences. I LOVE HIM!! Especially since unlike what Boston did he is going by it by telling the truth and he is not the one that did the recording so he even as the moral high ground.

- Sand deserves to be in top spot for that character ranking. He deserves it!!!!!

- Nick is meeting Boston's dad??

- Also we have seen Boston's dad before Top's parents. Does that mean Sand secret brother is Boston? Too early to tell probably.

- Oh look at baby's face fell. Boston is going to NY after graduation no wonder he cares so little of his friends. He will never seen them again. Also I knew Boston was a divorce kid. I could just tell. Then Boston goes for the kill. Why would I want a relationship. Says the guy that just told Nick he wanted to be more steady with someone. Boston learned everything from his dad uhh.

- See this the problem. The issue is not that Boston doen't want to be serious. And it is not 100% his fault that Nick got his hopes up despite all evidence pointing to not doing that. Is that Boston knows Nick has feelings for him and he likes it. He likes the fact that Nick is in love and obsessed. He wants Nick to into him. He gets off on having that power over him. He probably will end the series going to NY.

- WOW

- I am not sure what to say. Just wow. I'm in aw on the skill on display here.

- I bet Sand was not expecting Ray to blow up quite like that when he told him. He probably should have done the easier thing and told Mew directely. Also love that Sand is following after Ray with the bike to make sure he doesn't get into an accident.

- Also I love that this is causing all the couples to fight and break up even Cheum and April. I like that they have a storyline, yes even this one. Because they will probably make up. But it would have been nice if they had more scenes in the earlier episodes. Although I understand they were tight on time so there probably was not that much narrative space left for them to have more scenes in.

- Comunication!!! And forgiveness. Love to see it. They really are the healthiest couple here.

- OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mew to the attack!!!!!!!!! Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! That preview. And that ending. Like damn.

#txt #only friends #only friends the series #ofts

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itchyeye · 1 year

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Ok I will say. Hot take here but i think JM in s5 is not MEANT to be healthy. I think that’s the whole entire point. It’s never portrayed as healthy; they spend the whole time bickering and arguing and not trusting each other and being so horrifically extremely codependent it’s pointed out BY ONE OF THE AVATARS, THE LITERAL HARVESTERS OF HORROR. I think making them dysfunctional is entirely the point. The last episodes they appear in together they’re arguing about jon becoming GOD, martin is very obviously against it, and jon simply decides he Does Not Care. And i mean, in the grand scheme of things? Jon, well, he’s correct! Doom one world and not millions of others. Martin isn’t portrayed as correct here- (in ‘checking out’, Jon says he knows martin is fine with the theoretical suffering of others, but when he actually SEES it then he’ll be horrified- same logic applies to his take on release the fears vs keep em in 199) all of them are just.. people. With opinions. Not really any of them good, or the standard, or healthy in the slightest. If you’re constantly bickering with your boyfriend about the morality of consuming other people’s terror, asking him to smite people you dislike, and practically insulting him at some points.. i don’t think that’s an intentionally healthy portrayal. Jmart is purposefully dysfunctional in canon, and I don’t think it’s bad writing because of it. And it goes both ways, too! Jon can be pretty mean to Martin throughout the pod!! He insults him behind his back to vent his frustrations about their relationship! Because, hey, loving each other isn’t enough, you’ve got to Actually Make It Work. And they can’t (won’t?) ever do the latter.

Actually, another hot take: not a single relationship exists in tma without extremely jagged or messed up edges. Even the canon ones, especially jmart. Because it’s a hORROR PODCAST.

…evil murder husbands JE, though? I get what you guys mean, tbh. That may be the exception to the above rule.

Same anon as before, i just wanted to add that none of that is from a place of frustration I just want to have a discussion about s5 jmart tbh. I feel like how unhealthy jm is isn’t spoken about in the context of ‘what if it’s intentional?’ Because a lottt of people just assume it’s bad writing when. No, no, i think jonny knows what a healthy relationship looks like, and this absolutely isn’t it (and that is pointed out in-canon)

Outside of my jmart Thoughts, I absolutely adore your writing!! How you DESCRIBE things just completely sticks me in the room in a way I don’t usually experience when reading fic. I sadly don’t really have any jonelias prompts floating around up in me noggin (for NOW), but i just wanted to say that. You’re super cool! I like seeing your stuff on my dash! Sorry i’m an anon, also; I fear people may come for me with fire and pitchforks if i were to use my main lmao. You’re really great at writing their dynamic!!

hey! thank you for sharing your thoughts. i'm not really a productive person to have this conversation with though because i haven't listened past MAG 166 (I have previously said multiple times that I never got past episode 4 of s5. turns out that's incorrect! the last episode i got to was The Worms, I misremembered it as 4 episodes because the first 2 episodes of s5 take place in Daisy's safehouse, so I was counting the number of statement episodes i listened to. they were extremely disappointing so they stuck with me. the jmart plays house episodes i just blacked out i guess as a defense mechanism.)

so, i really can't weigh in on what you've said here because i haven't experienced this season and i'm not going to. publishing both to respond and because maybe other people would like to have this conversation with you and it's clear you've put a lot of thought into this understanding of the text!

what i will say though is that i don't doubt that jonny sims knows what a healthy relationship looks like. i'm not pretending i know anything about him or his irl marriage (besides the crazy and immediate chemistry he and sasha have solely as disembodied voices) but he does write a lot of healthy relationships from his statement givers. people who love and care about each other in romantic, platonic, and familial ways that feel real and three dimensional.

but i'm actually totally uninterested in what sort of healthy relationships he can write, though. i don't seek out healthy relationships in my fiction lmao i seek out interesting ones. i don't want my blorbos to talk to one another like they're on the couch at couple's therapy.

my problem with jmart isn't that it's "unhealthy", it's that it's rewarded by the narrative. i'm supposed to believe that jon and martin randomly getting together in 158/9 is a culmination of their hard work. a reprieve from their suffering. finally, after all that horror, they can end up together. it's a reward for them! it's immediately taken away and that's supposed to be the tragedy. of having had a glimpse at happiness, or having closed your fingers around it, and then it being snatched away.

it's like, have you seen the descent (2005)? if you haven't i recommend it, it's one of my favorite movies. good buried statement. if you liked Lost Johns' Cave you'll love the descent (2005). i'm gonna spoil it for you now though, so sorry if you haven't seen it.

there's a scene near the end where our sole survivor sees daylight. she crawls for like a mile with broken limbs over sharp rocks and her hand breaches the surface. she escapes into the open air. she screams in the most primal, life affirming, animalistic way as she breaths lung full after lung full of fresh air. and then we snap back to reality and she is miles and miles beneath the earth, hallucinating her salvation.

it's really really affecting. it's such a gut punch. you think, huh, we're close to the end of our runtime, i've really come to care about this person. i'm so relieved that she's getting out. i'm experiencing her euphoria at finally escaping. and then it's all ripped away from you. it's incredible!!!

that's what 158 - 160 was supposed to be. jmart in their little scottish cabin with their little highland cows was the fresh air. except ,well, it didn't taste like fresh air to me! it felt like turning around 180* and crawling back into the dark. i think jon and martin are awful for one another but more than that: i don't believe that they find comfort in one another.

one of the chief draws of jon/elias is that elias is a reprieve for jon. he's the one person in his life who he is close to that doesn't hate him. that doesn't verbally abuse him as soon as he catches sight of him. he's also the person responsible for turning him into a monster but listen, you win some you lose some. every relationship has give and take. i: isolate you from everyone you know and drag you deeper into your paranoia. you: crawl to me for comfort only i can give you. romance!

i don't see the doomed romance that people who like jmart talk about because i don't see the two of them ever enjoying one another's company. i don't see anything that they have in common. i see them sort of hunker down as s1's sole survivors but even then, martin is pulling away from jon as hard as he can. we as the audience know this is because of peter, but basira tells jon it's because his mom died (??????) and he hates him too (?????).

so, i don't think that jmart is bad writing because it's supposed to be a great relationship and it's actually really unhealthy. i think jmart is bad writing because their plot arc hinges on me believing, despite 160 episodes giving ample evidence to the contrary, that they are in love with one another. maybe it's bad love, maybe it's a lie or an illusion or a veneer. whatever. i still need to believe (i the audience, the beholder in whose eye this is playing out) that they are in love. with one another.

and i honestly can't even picture them further than arm's length apart.

um also turning around to twirl my hair thank you SO much for your kind words about my writing D: i really appreciate that, it means a lot!!! i think it's obvious i care about this podcast a lot and i spend a lot of time thinking about it so thank you for sharing your thoughts with me and for reading my stuff. you are welcome here on or off anon, i'll also happily not publish things if you would like me not to publish them.

#[💌] asks and replies #anonymous

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kpdeek · 2 years

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EP14 Predictions (The Couples)

So when I first started watching KP, I used to make inferences about what's going to happen. Then at some point I stopped because the show took impressive twists & turns that I didn't see coming. Never once following the basic plots expected. But, with the final episode coming up, I thought, huh. This might be something fun to do for the last time.

I have a feeling this thing is going to get hella long, so I'll split it into multiple posts. This post will focus on the couples/pairings. Without further ado:

Opening of the episode:

Starts off with Korn explaining his relationship w/ Porsche's mom OR

there'll be a little time warp to scenes we didn't see in EP13 that ultimately lead us to Porsche pointing his gun at Korn. The conversation bet. Korn and Kim, for example (this convo could be shown through proper flashbacks instead, though. This show loves flashbacks).

Porsche: we see Porsche so emotional in the teaser clip (in the clip, he's also standing in the same room we left him in), so Korn is finally spilling all the beans. i have a feeling it'll be thru flashback, maybe some narration on Korn's part. I wanna say that Porsche escapes from the house and Korn just lets him go, before Kinn or other guards arrive. Where he goes, what he does, I have no idea. Now that Porsche knows whodunnit, he'll decide on one of two things: 1) should he go after Kan (who I predict is the killer), or 2) he decides to extricate himself from this mafia life; disappear with Chay without a trace even if this keeps him away from Kinn forever. But we know that he reunites w/ Kinn during the shootout, possibly for the first time, as Kinn looks fierce in that scene, so the latter decision won't last long. But I don't see him going after Kan for some reason. In the same way he let the scapegoat live, maybe he'll take Macau into consideration? After all, he is the same age as Chay.

Kinn: my biggest interest in EP14 is how Kinn will react to Porsche's deception. Are we going to see him revert back to his old ways, drink drink drink until he figures out what to do in another family meeting? or is he going to have faith in whatever Porsche has set off to do and waits to hear back from him? I'm gonna go with somewhere in the middle. He loves & trusts Porsche so much now that he won't want to doubt him, but at the same time Porsche left him in the dark, took off abruptly (with Vegas no less), and threatened Korn. Maybe we'll see Kinn completely break from his father and do something daddy doesn't want him to, but that Kinn has decisively figured is best. What that is, idk. There's a lot I can't guess with them.

Vegas: up until EP13, I thought Vegas was storming the main family house in an act of revenge because Kinn and Porsche have ruined everything for him. Of course, my mind on that has changed. I think he hears that his father is the killer, maybe from Porsche himself since he's his getaway driver, or maybe thru a hole in the wall. With the development we've seen of his character, I suspect he might gather those Guards he's closest with from his place & storm the main family house in their defense!! Not because he suddenly likes them, but he joins forces to take down his father, who he'll maybe finally blame for the way his life has gone.

OR, things can happen the opposite way; he hasn't learned from what Pete has been telling him, and he falls victim to his father's abuse once again. Papa Kan convinces him once more that it's the main family's fault for the deplorable conditions they've been in for the past month, and thus gathers Vegas to fight on his side. They storm Kinn's house as a united front. I personally don't like that second scenario, so I'm really hoping against it. But seeing as Vegas is functioning as a free agent now, so to speak, I feel like the former is more valid. But I do think Vegas will get shot. It's his turn to take a bullet, no? Besides, if the production team is playing around with a season 2 (and Pond has mentioned before that the show was intended to have more than 1 season), whether we get that season or not, Vegas getting shot sets up a good starting point for them. His phyiscal, mental, and emotional healing process, all points to kickstart his new story.

Pete: we know he's fighting on Kinn's side. I think he'll have a moment where he comes face to face with Vegas and again doesn't shoot him. But would they have a scene with KP pointing guns at each other AND VP pointing at each other? I wanna say it's possible, almost probable, because there have been so many parallels between the two pairings in more recent episodes. & if KP do the shootout tango as their way of making up, then Pete & Vegas might simply turn each other's guns away from the other and focus on what each of them are there for. No tango for them, but also no shooting each other. And if Vegas does get shot, then Pete will be the one to kill whoever shoots him.

Kim: I'm gonna give Kim the benefit of the doubt here. As much as I want to see him in the shootout, fighting side by side with Kinn (I'm crossing my fingers for a scene with them together), we know he hates anything that has to do with the mafia life. In fact, he's not informed on anything happening in their world currently. That could be what Korn sent after him for; to tell him of how things have been going so he can prepare himself for whatever he decides he wants to do. From scenes we have floating around of him in the final episode, I'm gonna say he goes looking for Chay, maybe to make sure he's safe, or take him somewhere safer. Will Chay get an apology? Will he hear Kim out? Will he go with him? But let's say Kim doesn't find Chay. Then he'll go help his family.

Chay: I have a feeling that he'll be tucked away for the entirety of the violence. He'll have been safe and sound the whole time. But I'm also gonna' guess that he wasn't w/ Yok. He was with Jom or Tem. Why? Because the mafia world knows Yok, they've frequented her bar. She's too obvious of a choice. But Jom and Tem? They'll laugh at the idea that Porsche would trust two wild guys with the protection of his brother. They won't go after them. And that's what makes them the perfect babysitters.

My next post will be on my guesses for how we get to the shootout, and Korn & Kan's place in it.

Feel free to offer your opinions on this, your own predictions, anything. I really, really wanna know where others' minds are taking them. But please remember, I have no idea what I'm talking about, and I look forward to all this being proved wrong in the finale. This is just guess work to keep the fun alive until the next EP.

#kinnporschetheseries #kinnporsche cast #kimchay #vegaspete #kinnporsche #bible wichapas #barcode tinnasit #build jakapan #mile phakphum #apo nattawin #kinnporsche ep13 #kinnporsche ep14 #this is all in good fun #please dont take it too seriously

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