#lol this rewatch is just proving to me that they are the plot

[vidavalor]

hi again! rewatched the 1st season now. so first off thanks again for the excuse i appreciate it lol. but secondly hoping you wouldn't mind explaining the satan's obssession with crowley thing? cos he's obvs creepy as all hell pun not intended in the 11 years ago scene but i haven't found the bit that confirms it's a fixation on crowley and not just satan being satan. tysm!

Hi! Thanks for the ask. I can try and we can see what you think after, yeah? :) Christmas cookie? *passes plate and pours some tea*

TWs: discussion of PTSD, sexual assault, including rape, intimate partner abuse, anxiety, depression. We're looking at Crowley as an assault survivor here so it's a bit dark. Lindsay's abuse of Nina is also mentioned here. This will wind up having a companion meta at some point soon as I was also asked in comments on another post to talk about Crowley and intimacy issues which is then really also talking about Aziraphale as a trauma-informed partner so a less intense Part 2 at some point soon...

If you're the anon who asked me this (or anybody else) and you can't read something with these warnings but you'd like to see what I'm saying, PM me or throw something in my Asks and I'll see if I can do a version of this that gets the points across while omitting the darker aspects.

Meta on Lucifer and Crowley under the cut.

The Ask here was about why I see Lucifer as fixating on Crowley, in particular, and not just being generally evil as, ya know, he's Satan. It's a fair question since Satan's evil isn't exactly something that anyone would consider restrained as he's the devil. Some of this is inference here when it comes to Lucifer, since the show intentionally holds the character back a bit... but I also think that holding Lucifer back is by design to help illustrate some things that we'll look at here.

The first clue to me that Lucifer has a bit of a fixation on Crowley comes from Crowley's gigs in Hell. Before the end of S1, Crowley was high-ranked in Hell. He seems to go by quite a few names in his demonic world. By making himself Nanny Astoreth when he's looking after Warlock, it alludes the idea that Crowley is also the demon of that name, who is considered part of the "evil trinity" of Hell, along with Lucifer and Beezlebub, with whom Crowley used to spend time with pre-Fall and with whom he has history.

Astoreth is a genderbent serpent goddess in lore with an abundance of other Crowley traits so safe to say that Crowley is meant to be Astoreth as well. Aziraphale proposed in 33 AD that Crowley is also Mephistopheles and Asmodeus, which Crowley didn't exactly deny. Mephistopheles is one of the most famous demons to ever exist-- he of the Faustian bargain-- and Asmodeus is the demonic prince of lust. Crowley's already been shown to be a Bible figure in disguise-- Bildad the Shuite being a Biblical character-- so the idea that we are at the 2/3rds mark of the show and we've met all the high-ranking demons in Hell but several famous ones appear to not exist in Good Omens, despite more minor ones (Shax, Furfur) making appearances, implies that we probably actually have met demons like Mephistopheles and Asmodeus because they're all really Crowley.

Crowley retained power in Hell because it allows him what little freedom he can have in damnation. It means he likely won't be removed from Earth if he proves he's "good" at being a demon and that means he won't get stuffed in some cluttered, dark, cubicle in Hell for millennia. (Or destroyed.) More importantly, it means he'll be able to be on Earth with Aziraphale. That's easily worth taking credit for a bunch of human wars to fool Hell into thinking he's evil.

While we see that Crowley, when forced to come up with a demonic plot of his own, picks more annoying things than evil things and sells them as evil-- the M-25 design, taking down mobile phone networks, he's sometimes forced into doing things he doesn't want to do in order to not be outed as a demon who isn't super jazzed about being a demon and is really, secretly, a free-flying crow. He doesn't live to serve their Master Satan like some of the other demons do. He's going along with Hell as best he can and sometimes, he finds himself in a situation where he has to get creative because he's been tasked with something he disagrees with-- like we saw in the Job minisode. Other times, he might be forced into something he can't find a way out of, which is implied a little to be at the root of his terrible mood when he and Aziraphale meet up in Ancient Rome. He's wearing military garb that implies the temptations he's saying he's in Rome to accomplish are tied to Caligula, who wasn't exactly a swell guy.

What's interesting, though, is that Crowley is in this position of power in the first place. Other demons are shown in both seasons so far to be jealous of Crowley. He gets all the good gigs. Satan makes a bet with God that has both Upstairs and Downstairs in a tizzy for weeks and who is sent to whack the kids? Crowley. Who was sent on the first ever really Earth mission-- to get up into the Garden of Eden and "make some trouble"? Crowley, long before he'd cemented his big reputation. Who gets to deliver the antichrist baby and so kick off Armageddon, the thing that angels and demons basically "live" for? Crowley...

Across both seasons so far, Hastur, Ligur and Furfur are all given scenes of showing that they're jealous of Crowley being a favorite of Satan's and given the best assignments while they slum it in middle-management at best. What Crowley never says or admits to with other demons is that they actually don't want to be the favorite of Lucifer over here because he's the actual fucking devil and it's an absolute horror show. Crowley isn't about to admit that to them because he's supposed to want nothing more than to be Satan's slave and to express anything else is not demonic.

The other demons who are antagonistic towards Crowley are invasive and creepy but they stop short long before what we've seen Lucifer do. Hastur and Ligur pop up unannounced in Crowley's electronics-- the tv in his flat, on the screen at the movies-- and that's already disturbing. Imagine having your evil coworkers able to interrupt your r&r tv time in your own apartment... let alone the fact that Shax and even Beezlebub both pop up into The Bentley unannounced in S2. There's no evidence so far that Satan is out here "delivering instructions" like this to others in Hell the way he does to Crowley in 1.01 (and there's actually a scene in S2 that we'll talk about that suggests that he's not or, at least, that it's uncommon, which we'll get to in a second.)

He might well be but when you combine assaulting Crowley with giving him all the prime gigs in Hell and the other demons' jealousy of their Master's attention towards Crowley, you wind up with the impression that Satan is a bit fixated on Crowley.

The Bentley scene with Lucifer in 1.01 is analogous to rape. Crowley's sense of personal autonomy is violated. He doesn't consent to Lucifer forcibly entering his body. Lucifer does so by first penetrating through Crowley's two foremost metaphorical defenses-- The Bentley (enters through the radio and uses it to invade Crowley) and his sunglasses, which cannot shield his eyes/himself from Lucifer. Crowley already has these signature defenses mechanisms on in the attack scene and the horror in the scene is actually watching neither of them protect him. The scene is so early in the show that it's only the second scene we've ever seen Crowley wearing his glasses (and it's pitch black dark out, to add to it) so the glasses are basically introduced to us by showing us a situation that motivates Crowley's desire to hide his eyes from people he doesn't trust, even if they aren't human and know what his eyes look like. This is Crowley's third scene in the series itself and it's really arguably the second half of his second scene (the Hastur & Ligur in the graveyard one.) It's part of our introduction to Crowley in the modern era, with only Eden preceding it. Armageddon is new but the rest of this hell-- faking being evil, suffering violating attacks-- is thousands of years old for him at this point.

Crowley is driving when this happens.

Driving is the ultimate symbol of self-control because you're literally behind the wheel, navigating yourself through the world, in control of where you are going and the decisions you need to make to get you there, trusting yourself to make decisions that protect others on the road around you. Lucifer rips that from him by rendering him unable to drive while "delivering instructions" to his mind. Crowley-- a very powerful, magical being-- is unable to fight him off. When Lucifer leaves his body, Crowley had to grab the wheel and steer The Bentley away from hitting an oncoming truck with about three seconds to spare from a head-on collision. Crowley, The Bentley and the antichrist baby all would have likely survived that crash without issue because of their magic-- but the human driving the truck likely would not have. Obviously, Crowley would prefer not to kill anybody but Satan nearly made him against his will and rendered him unable to fight him, the powerlessness of which is then interesting when tied into things like Crowley essentially drugging himself to save Elspeth, trusting the present Aziraphale to help protect him while he did, etc..

As the attack happens, parts of "Bohemian Rhapsody" are underscoring it, picking up on a musical cue from when Crowley rolled up in The Bentley to see Hastur and Ligur in the graveyard. The graveyard scene sees Crowley arrive at the big crescendo of the song and what is it but the lyrics Beezlebub, has the devil put aside for me? and, prior to that, the eerie lyrics, especially on rewatch when you know what happens as a result of this scene: we will not let you go (let him go) x a million, not to mention the no no no no no no... bit.

By the time we're back in The Bentley and Lucifer has shown up, parts of the song play through it. I see a little silhouetto of a man plays as Crowley is literally seeing the driver of the oncoming truck in front of him, just as he loses the ability to control The Bentley. When Lucifer leaves him and Crowley grabs the wheel, we hear thunderbolts and lightning/very, very frightening/me and the Galileo segment of the song. Thunderbolts and lightning is interesting since God makes it a point to point out that this night is not dark and stormy but then that type of weather is what Crowley does in S2 that causes the power to go out and his parallel, Nina, to be trapped. It's also what demons in general can do so you could say sending a storm-- like in the Job minisode-- to be demonic and of Satan. (If it's not Crowley doing it to play Cupid, anyway.) The thunderbolts and lightning of Satan/Hell is very, very frightening to Crowley...

...Me/Galileo/Galileo/Galileo/Figaro... Galileo is arguably the most famous astronomer to ever live. He was a polymath, really, like Crowley was. Crowley, as an angel, made the stars and invented gravity. The scene with Hastur and Ligur that precedes this and ties into it has Hastur mistranslate the Italian Crowley spoke during it. Crowley said "ciao", meaning "goodbye", which Hastur correctly said was Italian but he claimed it meant "food" (mistaking it for "chow" because he's an idiot.) So a scene that ends with Crowley speaking Italian then connects directly into the scene of this attack, where Italian is spoken in the song scoring it, as Galileo was Italian and figaro in Italian is "fig tree".

While Eve does eat an apple in Good Omens, the Biblical 'fruits of knowledge' that tie to the Serpent tempting Eve in Eden are interpreted in different ways throughout different religions and at different periods in history. In Good Omens, Crowley got Eve to eat an apple and the pleasure of food opened a door to sexual pleasure. Eve shared the apple with Adam and they were *Aziraphale's hilariously judgemental voice* "expecting already" with Eve about 8 months pregnant later a day later because Eve's biology is atypical of other humans and all that. It's debated as an apple, with other different fruits and sometimes even wheat mentioned as possible things Eve ate-- if she ate food at all, as some people take the entire thing as a sexual metaphor. Figs are one fruit that some people believe it was instead of an apple, so this is a reference to Crowley as the Serpent of Eden.

Me/Galileo/Galileo/Galileo/Figaro... Crowley holding onto himself while under attack and just after it, which speaks to activation of a plan, which speaks to this not being the first time he's endured something like this. Galileo and Figaro = The Starmaker and the Serpent of Eden. The things he's done that he is proud of, that make him not evil, in his mind, and not deserving of this. Things he likes about himself. Things Aziraphale loves about him.

The song is narrating for us Crowley through the attack as he's basically frozen there enduring it, seeing the driver of the truck coming at him and Scaramouche/Scaramouche/Will you do The Fandango?

A scaramouche is a kind of mischievous scamp-- so, Crowley; The Fandango is a Spanish couple dance. Historically, one version of it is done between a pair of men who try to outdo one another with skill, in a kind of homoerotic competition. It's also slang for fucking during a concert and I have the feeling that Crowley would probably enjoying doing that Fandango a lot more as that would be consenting with a partner of his choice at a live concert rather than being mind-raped to Queen by the devil in his car. Regardless, it's another allusion to sex in the scene, adding to the rape overtones.

There's also something that is pretty horrifying about the fact that these scenes of Crowley and Aziraphale being separately reintroduced to us in 2008 after we first met them both together in Eden are intercut so that Lucifer's attack on Crowley scored by "Bohemian Rhapsody" ends with the Italian sung and cuts directly into Aziraphale speaking Japanese to the chef at the sushi restaurant.

He'll try to explain to Gabriel that eating sushi is "what humans do", which is the same phrase he'll use to try to explain to Michael and Uriel in S2 what falling in love is. During the bookshop attack, Shax will bully Aziraphale about his humanity-- about the same two things (food and love) in the two previous, connected scenes. (Gabriel, initially the one repulsed by tea in 1.01, leaves the scene after Aziraphale tells him to hide by asking if anyone wants a hot chocolate, in a pretty hilarious turnabout.) Shax calls back to the food-related and the love-related "it's what humans do" moments for Aziraphale by asking if she should "send up the sushi" and by mocking his relationship with Crowley ("What are you? Crowley's emotional support angel?"). Crowley and Aziraphale are the ones in love and it's tied together throughout multiple scenes in both seasons to sushi, in reference to the night Armageddon began in 2008.

The point then is that, making this all even worse, Crowley is actually supposed to be at a back corner table in a dark sushi restaurant sneaking a date with Aziraphale when he's attacked by Lucifer in The Bentley-- and then forced into helping start Armageddon, which could bring about the end of his and Aziraphale's relationship... and that's our grim introduction to his world in the modern part of the story.

As we go learn what Aziraphale is like in the modern era and contrast him with his head office's mentality via Gabriel's arrival, we also are given clues in the scene that suggest that Aziraphale was actually expecting Crowley, as he looks to the side Crowley comes up on when he hears the miracle sound that actually signals Gabriel's arrival instead. Aziraphale will then explain that he's there, doing "what humans do" and enjoying it, to Gabriel, and it will be only eating sushi in this moment, just as Crowley will not be present when Aziraphale explains that falling in love is "what humans do" while objectively talking about Maggie & Nina but, ultimately, talking about himself and Crowley beneath it-- his real motivation for keeping Heaven off their backs is Crowley. The writers then have Shax combine the two "it's what humans do" scenes around love and sushi and throw them back at Aziraphale while Crowley is once again not with him because of Heaven/Hell but is present in his absence in the moment.

All of this happens in the first scenes of Crowley in the modern era, all the way back in the first episode, and it's done to give us an understanding that he is a survivor of attacks like this and how that impacts his behavior, his choices, his relationship with Aziraphale. It's to give us a finer appreciation for his strength and his humor and his capacity to love in the face of it. It's to show that while some of the demons are just kind of amusing idiots, if dangerous, and that there's a lot of humor to mine there, some aspects of being a demon are not at all amusing. Crowley is really just doing the best he can to survive the absolute horror show that is an eternity of damnation as Satan's favorite over here because there are very dark, very violent aspects of it that he cannot permanently avoid.

While the attack we are shown is a mercifully short, if horrifying, scene, the implications of it are even worse. The assault we are shown had a plot purpose in that moment-- Satan giving instructions on delivering the antichrist baby to the satanic nunnery-- and since everything was in motion, that was the extent of it. Armageddon took precedence. What we are left with, though, is the impression that this type of demonic assault with its massive rape overtones is something that Crowley's experienced before and that the implication is that Lucifer attacking him is not always just to deliver a message related to an assignment but to deliver one of forcible control over him and that this is something that Crowley has been dealing with periodically for the 6,000 years he's been on Earth. It's akin to a kind of rape in 1.01 and that is already way more than enough to see how that would affect Crowley in the story... but then S2 takes this scene and both alludes to it in a key moment and gives it a whole paralleling subplot, highlighting its importance and continuing to expand upon the meaning of it. Both things together then suggest that while we saw a rape-coded assault in 1.01, the feeling that the scene was alluding to other instances where it was rape itself was definitely the implication of it.

In S2, in the group scene at the end, Crowley is out of the bookshop taking Maggie and Nina away from the angels for their safety when the subject of Satan comes up for the only direct time that season. Shax demands that Gabriel and Beezlebub be taken to Hell to be given "as gifts for Satan, our Master" and Head of the Dark Council Dagon replies that "he wouldn't want them-- maybe as hors d'ouerves." On the show obsessed with food symbolism and that codes different types of food with relation to sex-- in particular, because of Serpent of Eden Crowley-- and with the brothel owner named "Mrs. Sandwich", to say someone would want a being as a "hors d'ouerves" implies sex and if we're talking about Lucifer, then we've already established that consent isn't exactly a priority. Rape isn't about sex-- it's about power-- but the show is coding Lucifer's behavior in line with its coding of sex to highlight that his violation of Crowley isn't just of the heavily rape-coded variety that we saw in 1.01 but has actually, at other times, been rape.

Dagon's most significant line in S2 is essentially to point out that Satan's a rapist-- but it's also to point out that not everyone in Hell has been through that horror. Satan's choosy. Satan's a bit fixated. Dagon's comment is actually surprising. Your first thought when Shax suggests giving Gabriel and Beez to Lucifer is that he's the devil so they'd be in danger and what you've seen of what he's done to Crowley was skin-crawling and you don't want that to happen to Gabriel and Beezlebub. You assume that it might because we're talking about Satan but then Dagon puts a check on that and says-- to not a single bit of even implied disagreement in the room-- that Satan wouldn't really care that much about getting Gabriel and Beez.

Think about how truly kind of crazy that is.

Satan would not be that interested in being handed over his old friend and the Grand Duke of Hell who betrayed him and the Supreme Archangel of Heaven? He'd maybe rape 'em, sure, possibly, casually posits Dagon, but they aren't what he's really after. They'd just be hors d'ouerves.

Not a single being in the room even so much as signals disagreement with that assessment that the not terribly subtle Dagon chose to voice aloud, which means they all agree with her. They all know who Lucifer's fixated on.

*Gabriel* and *Beezlebub* would only be fucking *appetizers* to Satan.

That implies the existence of *a main course*, does it not?

Who else but Crowley (and Aziraphale) could be on that menu? No one.

We also have that Crowley is conveniently out of the bookshop for the moment that Shax and Dagon have this exchange about Lucifer. He comes back in on Dagon saying "hors d'ouerves" but was outside when Shax was referencing Satan so he didn't hear any of it. This seems very deliberate on the part of the writers, as if Crowley had been in the room, it would have prompted some kind of response and changed what happened in the scene afterwards. Instead, the only reference to Lucifer is specifically when Crowley isn't in the room, probably because this conflict is on-going and going to continue into S3.

Prior to Dagon's line, the show also paralleled Lucifer assaulting Crowley in The Bentley in 1.01 with Lindsay abusing Nina, which adds another layer into this. You could even make an argument that one of the reasons why we never see Lindsay and we just see their abuse of Nina via the text messages they send Nina is to draw an intentional parallel to how little we've seen to date of Lucifer/Satan in the series.

It directly ties to the 1.01 scene in The Bentley because, prior to Lucifer coming through the radio and assaulting Crowley, Crowley was trying to call Aziraphale (the Maggie to his Nina in this parallel, though obviously much further along in that relationship) to tell him about Armageddon but he'd taken out the mobile phone networks earlier in the night to have something demonic to share with Hastur and Ligur. This parallels Crowley knocking out the power in S2 accidentally and Nina getting locked in the coffee shop with Maggie. Lucifer and Lindsay both attack through electronic communication devices-- The Bentley's radio and Nina's phone-- and unleash a torrent of abuse. The difference is that Nina might be more easily able to escape Lindsay and live a more peaceful life after S2 while Crowley has yet to be truly able to evade Lucifer.

While Lindsay's abuse of Nina is at least psychological and emotional in what we are shown and Lucifer's abuse of Crowley is that with physical and sexual aspects that may or may not be present in Nina's relationship with Lindsay, the type of abuse doesn't matter to the parallel as it's all terrible and that's the point. Lucifer's abuse of Crowley is paralleled with the intimate partner abuse Nina is suffering in her relationship. This is objectively pretty interesting since it sort of suggests that Lucifer is Crowley's Lindsay, in the sense that they might have once been involved pre-Fall, which might add another element to why Lucifer is fixated on Crowley.

So, while Crowley can encourage his parallel Nina all he wants to take a risk and trust more and to trust him when he promises that it will be worth it, Crowley himself can't really extract himself from his own Lindsay-ish situation yet. He does know how to survive it, though, and it's not all about the defenses he and Nina put up-- it's about learning to shed some of those defenses enough to have a sense of intimacy with a kind person you can trust to love you and help you feel safe.

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens 2 #good omens meta #aziracrow

[leonpob]

Top 10 Bls for 2023

So I feel like this is going to be such a long post. First of all I struggled so much choosing what was going to make the top 10 and why. I feel like my opinions are a little different from the majority. For example, I did not incude Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Our Sky 2 or Our Dating Sim. It was interesting how my top 5 was easy and after that I was like ahhh what do I do?! So here is what occurred. Thank you bestie @gunsatthaphan as always for making the gifs. They are GORGEOUS and add so much to my words. Without further ado,

I have been anticipating this show since it was first announced in 2022. Let me just say, I LOVE JimmySea. I love their acting and chemistry. I also love these characters Day and Mohk. Jimmy and Sea are both doing a fantastic job at portraying them. This might be my favorite show of all time and I don't know how that is, but after each episode I just love it more and more. P'Aof always does such a good job directing each scene. I love his vision especially in this series. If you know me at all you know A Tale of A Thousand Stars has been my absolute favorite show for years now. Nothing has surpassed it. I think Last Twilight might do that. I had to give it to the top for these reasons alone. It's kind of funny that JimmySea are the top spot 2 years in a row. They just do something for me.

My precious little Korean BL. I was obsessed with this show. I think I watched it 3 times. This one just proves I prefer story over nc lol. This show had so much story which I enjoyed and the mains were so cute as Ji Won Young slowly found himself falling for Yoon Tae Joon. The second couple were also pretty fun and added to the show. This is why it is number 2. Go watch it if you enjoy story with a happy ending. I could probably watch this one 5 more times. The way it was acted was also fun it really kept me invested. So much character development. Okay I will stop now.

Did we think this would be this high on the list? I don't know. What I do know is watching this week to week was so fun and I still listen to a majority of the songs on spotify. This was high school, but also was so fun. Tinn was such a simp for Gun. FourthGemini did very well. As we can tell by the gif I ended up loving WinnySatang as SoundWin in this. They were just adorable! The umbrella scene, the singing scene, the scooter scene. They had so many. Also the fact this show did a music video for one of my favorite Thai songs was just...gah! I need to rewatch this one soon. I miss it.

Ah! my precious show that I waited forever and a decade to air. When the first trailer came out I was like YES. I am one of the few that have no qualms with Krist and then when it switched from Mike to Gawin I was like HUH?! It ended up working somehow. GawinKrist did very well and had pretty damn good chemistry. This story was so fun. The time traveling and the different stories. I loved watching Kawi become himself. Piasang never waivered and that was adorable. Aye as Pear was also so nice to see. All of the characters in this show were done so well. It had to get the number 4 spot. Unable was one of my most played song this fall most likely lol I love Gawin's voice.

I was surprised by how much I loved this show. It was so cute and done so well. It was one of the best surprises of the summer. There was so much story and characterization. It had such a good plot. I just loved them the whole way through. I don't usually like friends to lovers it depends how it is done and this was done perfectly. Love my little Bo Ram and Han Tae. Go watch this if you haven't. Cuties being cute.

ForceBook always take me over. I don't know why, but I just love them. GunCher were so cute and adorable and healthy. I throroughly enjoyed this show. They had to be in my top 10. Also we can't forget how adorable and sweet the second couple were. Koala hugs for the win okay?

PondPhuwin as Palm and Nungdiao. What a great show. I loved every second of this. All of the drama and excitement. All of the references to the Chinese story. I just really liked this one and I love PondPhuwin. Also the little snippet we got of PerthChimon. This was a good show. I don't care what the majority of you say. The ending scene with needing a charger is the cutest thing ever.

I don't know what it is about this show. I don't know why I love HiraKiyoyi so much. They are so strange and yet these two actors just captivate the characters and I can't stop watching. This scene is so funny because we have never seen Kiyoyi really get jealous of Hira. That is why my dumbass couple who can't communicate if their lives depended on it are in the number 8 spot.

I honestly have no idea if anyone else enjoyed this one as much as I did, but I really loved them. They were so cute. I am a sucker for we met before and cuteness. Lee Jun and Ha Ram were just cute. Ha Ram softened Lee Jun from his previous relationship. Also their chemistry was pretty dang good.

I really struggled in placing this in my top 10 for a multitude of reasons. The main one being the second couple took over the show and we got a rushed ending for the mains. That kind of irked me a lot. I just had to include it though because of one man BAI ZONG YI. He was the CUTEST character to ever exist. He never ever waivered. Him and Piaseng should compare notes LOL Anyway my babies are rounding out the tenth spot. I didn't dislike Ai Di and Chen Yi, but I was upset by how they took over. Both couples had chemistry chemistrying 🧪 which was nice.

So with this list I had to exclude a lot of shows that I did enjoy. I am going to list them here.

It pained me not to include Our Skyy 2 because I loved all of the couples but some of the episodes were just so cringe lol or bad. My precious PhuphaTian getting their happy ending was probably one of the best things though. That scene still brings me to 😭 . The episodes of Our Skyy 2 that were good were Never Let Me Go, A Boss and a Babe, 1000 Stars and it pains me to say this, but the Bad Buddy one was not that bad because it included 1000 Stars. Also Vice Versa's was weird, but it was enjoyable.

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry 2 didn't make the cut and that hurt so much because I think Minato and Shin are a comfort couple for me and they were adorable this season. It was just the plot. I don't want to spoil this if you haven't seen it, but yeah. I still love them though so they are getting mentioned.😍

Love Tractor was such a cute show and the character of Ye Chan was just so puppy coded and adorable. 🐶

Moonlight Chicken was a show I was so difficult about. I don't know why, but I did not enjoy it as much as I wanted to so it was not included. EarthMix still have my heart 🧡 and FourthGemini stole the show.

Only Friends was a show that everyone was waiting all year for. I think they did a very good job, It was entertaining and Mew is probably my favorite character of the year aside from Mohk of course lol I just couldn't include it in my top. I'm sorry :(

I am actually surprised that there were so many Korean shows on the list this year. They really showed up. If you read the whole thing. Thank you. This took me hours to think about and put together.

#2023 top 10 #top 10 bls #last twilight the series #unintentional love story #my school president #be my favorite #sing my crush #a boss and a babe #never let me go #my beautiful man 2 #love mate #kiseki: dear to me #this took forever #it was fun #I had to exclude a lot though

[wyllathepeach]

Ok, so my anxiety really did not allow me to get this out earlier lol. Anyway:

TS songs as Ducktales Characters, part III: Webby Vanderquack

(I would like to apologize beforehand for the poor redaction you're about to read, neither google translation nor my brain was having it)

If I had to explain Webby's character, I would sum it up with the concept of belonging. Having grown up isolated from the world, only with her granny, Webby needs connection with someone. She needs to belong or connect so much that she becomes obsessed with every detail of the life of the only person she knows, Uncle Scrooge, in the hopes she finds her place in the McDuck family. But, even when she starts to become family, she envies the triplets' relationship for she cannot be part of such intimate bond. She then clings to Lena, the only relationship she formed on her own.

Webby also gives the impression that her desire for an intimate relationship is the reason she supports Dewey despite not agreeing with keeping the investigation about Della hidden: it is something that unites them both in an exclusive way. It would also help her even more to be part of the family: if she gets to be just like Scrooge, then she MUST belong to his family. All for at the end being cruelly reminded that she'll never be family by blood, and, even if she was, family relationships are not unbreakable (speaking exclusively from her point of view at the end of Last Crash). This is why she needs to bring the family together at the end of season 1: she has done so much to form a relationship with the family, but if the family isn't together then she doesn't belong anywhere.

On a separate point, it is this sense of belonging that she has with the family that leads her to give so much importance to her friends and gives them her complete trust. It is friendship that allows her to have a family and therefore makes no difference between family ties and friendships. Hence her blind attachment to Lena.

Season 2, although Webby doesn't have an active role, is consistent with the former idea in Golden Armory: again she needs to prove herself as an equal to the new family member to feel validated. However, after Last Crash she is never again pushed away or questioned as family and her belonging is reinforced again and again, as seen in Found Lamp, where Uncle Scrooge trusts her with an essential part of the adventure, the same goes for Rumble for Ragnarok.

I don't remember much (and I don't have anywhere to rewatch the series at the moment) about her role in season 3 outside the plot twist that I so dislike (and that in my opinion ruins the message of found family and makes her entire development seem pointless), but I do remember that her fear of abandonment is consistent for Fight for Castle McDuck.

Anyway, all this to say that the Taylor Swift song that would be Webby's anthem, in my opinion, would be The Outside.

I've seen other people relate her to Seven or You're on your own, Kid, and although Seven agrees with the idea of longing childhood innocence once it's lost by the maturity that comes with experience (as seen in Harp of Mervana), the lyrics of The Outside expand the idea of loneliness and feeling like you don't belong anywhere, as well as learning to observe people to look for ways to connect. The song was written about going to school and meeting all these new people and realizing that you won't connect with them and will end up isolated, no matter how much you can offer to a friendship. Just as Webby would never be blood related to the Duck/McDuck family, even though she began to relate to them at the same time they reconnected and her fear of the family pushing her aside eventually.

"The Outside"

So how can I ever try to be better? Nobody ever lets me in. And I can still see you, this ain't the best view: on the outside, lookin' in. I've been a lot of lonely places; I've never been on the outside.

Thank you for reading. Next one should be Huey, but who knows what will come out of that (ゝω・)ﾉ

#ducktales #dt17 #webby vanderquack #taylor swift #character analysis #Youtube

[fueledpurelybyspite]

Is...Wensday just a twilight fanfic on steroids?

Okay, i know this sounds super weird, but i've recently rewatched the first twilight movie and it's just straight up the plot of Wednesday???

Hear me out: sixteen year old weird and kinda antisocial girl moves to a new town where strange murders are happening and the police thinks a bear/wild animal is behind them even know they're actally caused by a supernatural creature.

They even find out THE SAME WAY, in both movies its a foot print that proves that the creature cannot be an animal

She is immediately approached by a student that is essentially the eyes and ears of the school, Enid with the gossip blog and the boy in twilight (sorry I don't remember his name lol) who works on the school paper

Soon she has a werewolf bestie with amazing hair??? Hello???? Ringing any bells yet?

Equally weird brooding boy who's considered the school hearthrob falls for her for no apparent reason

She's bitter over being left behind by her mother, who she has a very strange and kinda cold relationship with even tho she genuenly wants the best for her

I'm sorry, am I reading too much into this? I'm sure there are other similarities that i've noticed that i just cant remember now, but i just cant stomach seeing twilight again

#wednesday #wednesday 2022 #wednesday x xavier #xavier thorpe #addams family #ajax petropolus #enid sinclair #wavier #wenthorpe #wenvier #twilight #twilight fanfiction #conspriacy theories #bella swan #edward cullen

[headfullofpresley]

𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 | 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

Warnings: joe being joe, some inaccurate plot/details of the movie, made some things up myself bc this movie is horrible lol, tiny mention of animal slaughtering, rodeo rider!elvis, lil bit of smut; public sex, mention of pregnancy. the ending is meh but had to end it bc i could go on about this man for hours. ☻

A/N: stay away joe is one of my least fave movies, but i have a weird relationship with it - hate it, but will never stop rewatching bc GOOD GOD, joe lightcloud is a stunner.

masterlist

You work as a bartender at the local bar that is owned by Glenda Callahan.

Because Mamie was obsessed with Joe, she sent the girl off to the big city to live with an aunt.

You and Glenda got along well, so when she offered you to move into her daughter's room, you accepted.

The job was dull, only serving coffee and breakfast to locals that were on their way to the city or dinner to strangers that were passing through.

Glenda wasn't surprised when Joe wandered in the bar and had his sights set on you like you were a juicy piece of meat sizzling on the BBQ.

You weren't her daughter, so she couldn't say anything, but she did warn you about the cowboy casanova.

“Don’t worry, Miss Glenda. He’s gonna have to work for it,”

You weren't as desperate as Mamie, but you could understand why the younger girl had been.

With his tanned skin and cowboy hat resting atop of his head, he was just breathtaking.

But you had heard the stories about Joe Lightcloud and even though you were already planning on having a piece of him, you weren't going to throw yourself at him like all the other girls did.

“Didn’t know they sold shorts as tiny as those,” he'd grin smugly, shamelessly leaning over the bar to take a peek at your exposed legs due to the denim shorts you were wearing.

Arizona was hot, nobody wore jeans unless they'd be breaking bones at the rodeo.

Acting like you weren't phased by his actions or his words, you put a drink in front of him and leaned your hands on the bar with a grin lingering on your face.

“They exiled me outta the city for ‘em,”

You weren't even from the city, but he didn't know that. He moved back onto his family's reservation recently and had never seen you around before despite you growing up in the area.

“Uptight, those city folk,” he’d tease back, that grin never faltering. “How ‘bout you, honey? Are you uptight?”

Giving him an innocent shrug and a little smile, you kept your lips sealed and continued cleaning the bar, letting him use the phone which was the reason why he came in here in the first place.

He could easily use the phone in other places, but he came to the bar pretty much every day after meeting you.

He'd tell you it was because the bar was closer than the stores in town and while you knew that was true, you also knew you were the reason for him coming to your work place.

You didn't mind at all. You were bored out of your mind half the day, so you started looking forward to seeing him and talking to him.

He'd try to win you over, pulling out his best pick up lines and putting on his best smiles.

They made your knees buckle behind the bar every time, but this was a man that had girls falling for him in the matter of seconds and you wanted to see if he was willing to put in an actual effort.

He never met anyone like you and even though he never had to work for a girl's attention, he was determined to win you over.

When his family was granted twenty heifers and a bull to prove that they could raise cattle, he invited you to the party he was throwing at the reservation.

Being the only employee at the bar, you didn't know if Glenda would allow you time off but she fell for your puppy eyes and sweet smile and gave you two days off.

You should've known this wouldn't be a normal party.

It lasted throughout the entire weekend, with people sleeping under the blazing sun during the day and drinking and dancing all night.

All Joe's friends and family demanded his attention but he always found his way back to you, providing you with drinks and introducing you to people.

He'd shamelessly introduce you as ‘his girl’ to everyone and they all believed it.

All your chances of becoming friends with the girls who were there flew right out of the window, because they'd give you dirty looks every time you'd smile at them.

“I ain’t your girl, Joe,” you'd remind him but all he did was laugh and wrap his arm around your waist, giving you that cocky grin.

“Give it time, honey. Give it time,”

You'd roll your eyes but on the inside, you were screaming like a little girl because you knew he was dead serious.

Disaster struck when Bronco, one of Joe's friends, accidentally slaughtered and barbecued the only bull in the herd instead of one of the heifers.

The bull that was supposed to help the Lightcloud's provide for themselves with the cattle they could sell.

Not long after the party, Glenda fired you because you start neglecting the bar to spend more time with Joe.

He borrowed a bull from a friend that's supposed to do the job, but the poor thing would sleep all day and not move a muscle.

Slowly but surely, you moved onto the reservation. His family liked you and at least now Joe didn't have to face the lazy bull on his own.

“C’mon, boy, get your fat ass up,”

He'd tug on the bull's head, trying to lift it from the ground and to get him to stand up or at least move, but nothing was working.

“Joe! Be nice to him, he has feelings, you know?” you'd yell at him as you sat on top of the fence, swinging your legs back and forth while watching him struggle.

“Yeah only not the right feelings,” though the words came out as a mumble, you still heard them and he'd send you a sneaky wink.

“Look here, Dominick! You little fucker,” walking over to one of the heifers, he lands a slap on the rear of it. “All these lovely ladies are willin’,”

Scrunching your nose, you shook your head. “You’re horrible at this,”

Standing up straight with an amused scoff, he'd nod his head and walk over to you.

“Alright, little miss boots. Let’s see you try then,” giving you a squeeze in the cowboy boots you were wearing, he'd grin teasingly at you and lean against the fence.

You jumped off the fence and stole his hat, putting it on top of your head as you told him to watch and learn, approaching the bull.

You weren't specialized in cows or whatsoever, but you grew up around horses. You were confident enough to make this work and you wanted to see Joe's face if you managed to succeed.

Dominick was lazier than you expected but you ignored Joe's laughs and mumbled ‘told you so’s’.

You weren't giving up though and after forty minutes, the bull finally decided to get up to his feet.

“Yes, Dominick, good boy! Come here, you sweet thing!” urging the bull excitedly and sweetly, you stepped closer to the heifers.

Joe couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the bull follow you and paying attention, finally doing what he was here for.

You supressed a small squeal, clearing your throat as you walked over to Joe. Giving him a small curtsy as you dipped his hat, you'd give him your biggest and most cocky smile.

“Voila!”

“I don’t speak Italian,”

“Oh, Joe,” laughing as you took a step closer to him, you'd swing your arms around his neck and kiss him.

He would not hesitate or whatsoever at all to kiss you back, lifting you up from the ground and placing you on the fence.

It wasn't until you'd pull back from the kiss that you saw Dominick succesfully doing his job and you and Joe cheered him on the entire time.

Even though Dominick did what he needed to do that one day, the bull went right back to snoring up a storm most of the time.

Joe found out from the friend he borrowed the bull from that it was actually a rodeo prizewinning bull, so to provide for the family, he started doing rodeo shows.

Okay, he smacked the information out of his friend, but you didn't need to know that. Apparently it was enough for the dude to let Joe keep the bull, so you weren't complaining.

Whenever you weren't watching him at the rodeo, you'd be on the reservation with his family.

Now, his family was crazy but you liked them.

Grandpa Lightcloud was a grumpy old man that you didn't understand half of the time, but he liked having you around because you helped around on the property and didn't try to keep Joe away from his family.

The man would teach you how to do a rain dance and you'd show it to Joe any chance you got, making him roll over in giggles because you'd mess up some of the moves.

Teaching you properly and doing it with you in the middle of the night. You forced him to do it with you every day because Sedona, Arizona desperately needed some rain.

And when the rain came, you'd dance around in it. Usually with very little clothing on, unless the rest of the family was there.

When you did accompany him to rodeo shows, everyone knew who you belonged to because you'd be shouting the loudest to cheer him on and cussing out whoever talked shit about your man.

Sedona was a small and boring town with very little to do. While you and Joe would have dinner at one of the few restaurants now and then, the both of you preferred to go on dates that would take place outside.

Horseback riding was one of the things you'd pretty much do every day.

You'd always accept whenever he challenged you to a race, even though you knew you were bound to lose.

Sometimes he'd rub the victory in your face and sometimes he'd let you win on purpose, because he liked seeing that smug grin on your face.

“Can’t win ‘em all, Joey baby. Better luck next time,”

He absolutely hated the pet name. Would give you a glare, but truth was.. he'd let you get away with any name you'd throw at his head.

“You’re the best, princess. Now come get your prize,”

Your prize was always a kiss. Lots of them.

Picnic dates. 🥺

Which would start off all innocent with you two chatting while eating and cuddling on the blanket while sunbathing, but always ended in you riding him.

His favorite was when you'd be moaning above him, wearing his cowboy hat, sun slowly disappearing behind the mountains.

Since the climate was so damn hot, you were always wearing tanktops and very rarely a bra which he took advantage of by nearly tearing the thin fabric to pieces because he liked seeing your breasts bounce to the rhythm of your thrusts.

Insisted you kept the boots on, because he thought it was one of the hottest things he had ever seen.

Every time the two of you were intimate, it was usually somewhere outside or in his car.

Your horses have seen some shit. Thank God they couldn't talk.

Joe never officially asked you to be his girlfriend, but after the first time you kissed, you gave yourself that title whether he liked it or not.

He liked it. He liked it a lot.

Meant he didn't need to prepare a whole ass awkward speech about wanting you as his girl.

You were both jealous and didn't like when the other would get a little too much attention.

He'd knock anyone out who would make you feel uncomfortable, touched you inappropiately or looked your way a little too long for his liking.

You weren't any better, having fought enough girls that tried to sneak their way into Joe's arms.

He usually didn't care about two-timing girls, but he actually loved you and he knew you'd tear his head off if he ever cheated.

“Now I don’t mind the attention, ladies, but I got a girl. She might be small, but she’s wilder than an angry bull, ya know?”

Even though he'd always break up the fights between you and other girls, peeling your (freakishly strong) hands out of their hair, he secretly liked seeing you so jealous.

You two didn't tell each other you loved each other a lot, but it were moments like these that he knew.

He'd take both his family and you by surprise when proposing to you after only four months of dating.

You didn't even hesitate to say yes.

You never cared much for weddings and marriage, but you knew that this was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

Plus, you loved how your name sounded with his last name.

Joe eventually made enough money to buy Glenda's bar, who took the money and got the hell outta dodge.

He gifted the bar to you as a wedding gift and the two of you moved in at the house that was adjoined to it.

Still, he made sure to provide for his family too and the both of you went over there as much as you could, helping them with the renovation of the house, etc.

Didn't take you long to fall pregnant, giving birth to a healthy son, who Joe was more than excited to have follow in his footsteps to become a succesful bull rider.

#elvis x reader #elvis presley x reader #elvis x you #elvis presley x you #elvis x y/n #elvis presley x y/n #elvis imagine #elvis presley imagine #elvis movies #elvis presley movies #elvis history #elvis presley history #elvis presley smut #elvis smut #elvis headcanons #elvis presley headcanons #elvis fans #elvis presley fans #elvis presley fandom #stay away joe #joe lightcloud #austin!elvis #austin!elvis smut #austin!elvis headcanons #elvisaaronpresley #tamwrites

[hotasfahrenheit]

i had a thought while i was watching the ending of the Last Twilight finale and i think part of what threw me so much about the ending of this series is that it felt a lot like what happened that i hated about the finale and ending of How I Met Your Mother.

what???? no really hang on i know that sounds like a wild comparison but it makes sense hear me out.

looking back on HIMYM there's plenty of problematic shit with that show in general, but when it was airing it was HUGE with one of my friend groups in particular and we were all crazy about it. constantly quoting it, watching and rewatching it together, one time some of us watched the whole first season in one night and stayed up to get through it all. and the show grew and changed over the years and so did we, i moved away, but the show still was a nice connection point. and then the finale happened.

they took the original idea for the ending that they had when the show started and when they probably figured they'd get 2 or 3 seasons out of it instead of 9- that Ted and Robin would end up together- and ignored all of the years of character growth and plot development that had happened, including Ted literally processing his feelings finally and really letting go of Robin and falling in love with someone else, and Robin and Barney growing into their relationship and figuring out how to be healthy and good partners for each other- and just threw it all away and RAMMED the ending cap of Ted and Robin onto the last episode and were like "lol cool we finally did it" and just.... that was that. and it made me never want to watch the show again.

Last Twilight is giving me the exact same feelings in a much shorter time span.

it felt like someone had the idea that Day should get his sight back at the end when they first started writing this show, and then even tho they wrote a beautiful narrative of accepting your disabilities and learning how to live life happily no matter what and how anyone can find love etc etc etc they really liked the idea that Day would get his sight back after all and just rammed it onto the end of the series. it didn't fit the story anymore with how the characters were developing or the direction the story was taking, but that mattered less than hitting this plot point so everything just went out the window for it to happen.

it's true that in real life, sometimes people are only disabled temporarily even if they accept the fact that they their disability may be permanent. it's true that in real life, people can get cornea transplants and have their vision restored. but in a story that presented itself for roughly 10 episodes as being about the fact that you can learn to live with a sudden, unexpected disability and that life can still be full of joy and love even when it changes, having a magical disability fix at the last minute just feels like a betrayal of that message, the entire plot, the character growth, all of it. the idea of the cornea transplant was presented early on, yes, and mentioned a few times throughout, but the way it was dangled in when Day had hit some kind of level of meaningful acceptance then yanked away, then popped up right at the very end once more when he had again made meaningful progress in his life, made it feel like a disservice to the narrative/message instead of meant as something to give anyone dealing with a temporary disability hope or a meaningful story that is about the potentiality of overcoming a disability.

like one of the only narrative reasons i can maybe see behind it is if you really lean into Day having any lingering doubts about Mhok being with him because of pitying his blindness, having his vision restored and Mhok still being there removes any reason for pity so his love must be real? but forcing them to break up then get back together and have Day get the surgery and Mhok stick around to prove Mhok really genuinely loves him feels like a wild stretch and needlessly cruel to Mhok (which i have a lot of feelings about anyway with the whole lack of allowing Mhok a single ounce of grace or time to process his grief but-) but at this point who even knows.

i never thought i'd be relating a Thai BL series to HIMYM but they really made me feel that way and here we are, frustrated and disappointed all over again.

at least Night and Phorjai got the happy ending they deserved and this story only took a few months instead of literal years of my life to get through.

#night x phorjai 4eva #jimmy and sea deserved better #and so did all of us #last twilight #last twilight the series #last twilight bl #last twilight finale #ltts #last twilight meta

[twig-tea]

My Ride Re-Watch Self-Reflection

This is going to be self-indulgent and long, apologies in advance!

Something you need to know about how I watch shows: I care the most about character arc. I prioritize character arc over plot holes, pacing, and possibly even politics. This is not an endorsement for watching shows this way AT ALL and it certainly isn't a moral judgment on any viewers that do or don't do this, it's just how my brain is wired (and it's not an objective judgment on shows, either! Not every character actually needs to grow--even though typing that out is giving me hives lolol). So when a character does something that I think is either out of character or unearned by the narrative, I get annoyed; if they don't change or they keep making the same mistakes I lose interest; and if a character arc is awesome, I forgive a lot of things that can make shows unwatchable to other people.

I watched My Ride as it aired in 2022 and I was so in love with that series, it was poised to become a favourite. I was so burnt out on series that had a misunderstanding leads to breakup in the second-last ep, and this show has sidestepped that with the conversation about Khai by having Mork insist on talking right away! Plus Tawan, through the entire fiasco with Por, was always direct, he didn't run from Por and he didn't ignore his own suspicions or jump to conclusions, he sought Por out to ask directly: "Are you mad at me?" "Did I do something wrong?" "Are you seeing someone else?" I loved both Tawan and Mork so much, they clearly deserved one another and deserved happiness.

And then at the end of ep 9/start of ep10, Tawan sees Mork hug Fern and runs away, quits his job before he finishes his certification and internship?! And Mork is the one who the narrative seems to think has to prove his commitment to their not-yet-a-relationship when he's been the one committed this whole time? I had 2gether flashbacks and I did not like it. I didn't like either side couple's resolution, I didn't like that Tawan had regressed in a way that didn't feel (to me, at the time) earned, and I didn't like that Mork didn't have any (again, to me at the time) character growth.

So I never rewatched it. I remembered the first 9 eps fondly, loved so much of what the show had in it, especially Cheep and Dej and the characters of Mork and Tawan, and recommended it when it came up, but always hesitated to put it on a favourites list, and I struggled with the ending and how I felt about it--at least partially because I suspected it was a me thing rather than a show thing. And then, after La Pluie, I realized this screenwriter was good and trusts their audience and I should give it another chance and maybe pay more attention. Plus the re-airing was perfectly timed to start. So I've been (mostly) quietly watching again, and whew I'm so glad I did.

I still don't love the side couples, lets get that out of the way lol [if you don't want to think about these storylines, skip this and the following paragraph]. I think Boss is neurodivergent-coded and you don't get "over" neurodivergence through force of will (at least, not without burnout). Thinking about this couple through the lens of Semantic Error, which you could argue is very similar on paper, Toy tries to pull Boss out of his carefully constructed world, while Jaeyoung tries to make space for himself in Sangwoo's world while doing his best to follow Sangwoo's rules (though he definitely pushes--but contrast Jaeyong moving a single pen to Toy throwing whole shelves of books to the ground). If My Ride had shown that Toy didn't need Boss to completely change, and had them find a way of working through Boss' and Toy's needs to find a new normal together, I would have been much more comfortable with this story. On rewatch, I will say that Toy's initial bribery attempt was not as bad as I remembered, but that man needs to keep his hands off those bookshelves, and the show needs to stop scaring Boss in order to give Toy one redeeming thing to do, as @callipigio said that was not cute.

As for the hets, the only thing I picked up on rewatch that I didn't appreciate the first time was that despite her confidence, Nadia was also not used to being chosen by the men in her life, and so when she saw Mayom had options after coming back from Japan, she assumed he would choose anyone else and that's why she was so upset. And so, the reveal that he got this attention because he was trying to meet her expectations, and that he was thinking of her in Japan and bought her a souvenir, showed he did put her first and did choose her. I just wish Nadia had suffered longer by seeing Mayom being appreciated for the hot, talented, and kind man he is, and had visibly learned something or changed in any way because of it. I don't think she has a satisfying character arc and so I didn't like this story. [again: this is just my taste! Not every story needs to contain personal growth! I am not advocating for this to be seen as a moral judgment! It just means this story was not satisfying for my brain because of it.]

Ok, Mork and Tawan time. This time, on rewatch, I picked up on hints they dropped earlier; that Mork struggled more than I noticed the first time with his bisexual awakening; that Mork didn't like how he hadn't gone to college or university, but he had been willing to make that sacrifice for Fern. How Tawan really missed his family and wanted to eventually practice medicine in Chiang Mai. How Tawan only ran from Mork and Fern after Mork described their relationship as work buddies [he not only calls them friends, he backtracks and says "not even really a friend, I know him from work"! And as @sparklyeyedhimbo pointed out in their rewatch, Mork had literally asked Tawan to co-parent just the day before, so the messages were extremely mixed]. All of this feeds into what happens in eps 9-10.

[Mork you were like this even when you were just "workplace associates", stop this foolishness]

Firstly, the timeline of ep 9-10 struck me on this rewatch in a way it didn't when watching the first time. If I'm not wrong, Tawan was already mostly burned out; his heartache led him to use up his accumulated vacation to go home to Chiang Mai, but then came back after just a few days because Mork missed him; then went to see Mork while he was still on vacation, got shocked by the existence of Mork's kid, spent a day or couple of days with them, then made study materials for Mork and Khai (likely because he knew he wouldn't have much time in the future) and then got surprised again by seeing Fern--this would I think still be during the week of his vacation? At that point, he just wanted to go back home to once again lick his wounds but his vacation was over and he had none left (he told us he used it all when talking to his parents at dinner). So in that context, actually, quitting as an instinct makes a bit more sense--I've actually been there, at one point I was going to burn out and put in my notice, and my boss stepped in and told me to take leave instead. I'm really glad his advisor was able to do the same thing my boss did for me, and talk him out of quitting but encouraging him to take leave instead so that he could go home without messing up his future.

And in paying better attention, I realized this time around that for Tawan, going back home rather than confonting Mork both made sense and was good for his character arc. Before this, he'd clearly not been visiting home at least partly because he kept taking shifts for friends, and partly to make time for Por; so after giving up some of his time in Chiang Mai to be with Mork, it makes sense he'd want to be there when he thought he might have read Mork wrong after all. And Tawan pushing and pushing Por to get answers blew up so badly in his face last time, that retreating rather than confronting Mork actually does make sense in context. Also, like Tawan said to Nadia, he was tired of not being put first, and when Mork didn't go after him outside the garage after Fern called him back, Mork had put Fern first in that moment. And up until then the only confessions Tawan (and the audience) has gotten from Mork were in Mork's imagination; he'd flirted but not actually said anything concrete aloud. So Tawan needing something more from Mork to prove that Mork actually does feel the way he's been implying, and he would put Tawan first, is fair and fits what took place in the show, actually--my past self was I think applying an unfair lens on this as a point of convenient dramatic tension. Finally, I realized on this rewatch that Tawan leaving without saying anything, after he knew Mork panicked last time and specifically told him not to do that, could be read as Tawan being a little bit selfish, actually, (which as @bengiyo said these two characters could use more of), and leaving to be chased after could be seen as Tawan (at least subconsciously) indulging a self-indulgent impulse. Having thought that through I now appreciate it as an action of his character arc rather than resenting it.

And now we get to Mork's character arc. Because Mork is already the best boy, so what could his character possibly stand to learn?

This was my thinking on first watch, but on rewatch I think he demonstrates that he grew in a few ways. First, he goes through the self-realization and acceptance of loving another man. I didn't give that journey enough credit the first time around.

Secondly, he re-orients himself after a breakup from a relationship that spanned multiple years. I know a lot of people saw the petrol/gas analog by Dej as learning to love men instead of women, but I saw it as learning to love Tawan rather than Fern--because they are two different people, and they have different things they need from you, and he has all of these learned patterns from his relationship with Fern that he has to unlearn, including putting her feelings first. Going back to the moment when Mork doesn't go after Tawan, if you accept my reading of Uncle Dej's advice, Mork's choice not to go after Tawan but instead to stay with Fern is contextualized through this conversation as Mork falling into old habits and putting Fern's wants and needs over all others including his own. He then corrects this by not agreeing to get back together with her, but not until promising to always be her smile--in other words, he's still struggling with reorienting himself in terms of who Mork is in relation to Fern when not her boyfriend. [This also makes Dej's pointed comment about gas being cheaper than petrol a pointed jab at Fern and her demands of Mork's money specifically, which the petty part of me enjoys.]

Mork also faced his fear of heights for Tawan, though he did that before he even acknowledged he had feelings, so I'm not sure I'm counting that as anything other than Mork continuing to be the best. But when, on the mountain, Mork finally says aloud the thing he's been daydreaming about for at this point months, this is definitely character growth and feeds into my first part about Mork struggling with his feelings for a man. I realized on this rewatch that Mork always talks about his feelings for Tawan as a hypothetical or a question--"Do I like him?" "Could we be together?" "If I do like him, what should I do?" He doesn't state his feelings as a statement except in his imagination (I think--may need to rewatch again to confirm), until the confession on the mountain. So, as @lurkingshan pointed out in her post, My Ride also makes the same point as La Pluie that clear, verbal communication is key to a relationship.

Mork also gets to be a teensy bit more selfish near the end, which I didn't really clock the first watch-through. When Tawan explains why he thought about quitting and how he wanted to relocate to Chiang Mai so that he could help take care of his mother, Mork's wheels started turning and he began planning for their future together up North--again this is not new, Mork planned his future with Fern and her goals in mind so it makes sense he'd be planning his future with Tawan in the same way. Because Mork is best. But! This time he includes in his future plans his goal to get a degree and open a garage of his own. I love this, it's such a small victory but I think it's important for his character that the thing he's seemingly regretted most about his choices (giving up on his own chance to go to school) and that he did for someone he loved (putting them through school) is now something he's doing for himself (as well as for his shared future with his partner). And this also reflects Mork internalizing Dej's point about how he's got to recalibrate--because what Tawan needs from Mork is not the same thing as what Fern needed from him, and these different circumstances allow him to adjust his future plans and fit in his own dreams. Love that for him.

I love that we get the timeskip to see a glimpse into their future, beyond it just being so sweet, it allows us to see the ways in which they've fit together, and how their relationship is not perfect--Tawan forgets their anniversary, Mork is trying to establish himself in a small community that probably does not open easily to outsiders--but it's balanced in that they support each other to make up for one another's weaknesses (Mork doesn't actually care and is happy to be the one who remembers these things; Tawan is happy to pay for the restaurant).

I didn't say anything about the Tawan/Por relationship above because I didn't really catch anything new on rewatch, from the get-go I thought it was so well done. Por is believably self-absorbed and Tawan really does such a good job of trying to do everything right. He talks to him directly and listen to his own instincts, but is surrounded by people (Por, Nadia, Mork) who tell him to let it go and ignore the signs. I continue to love to hate Por. This thread is a little unresolved because Por comes sniffing back around Tawan's ward, but we didn't really need to see Tawan reject Por, which I appreciated as the show writing him off as not a threat. I did pick up more on the glimpses of the kindness that La Pluie shows its female characters in how Fern is treated; Fern is shown to be selfish and materialistic, but also legitimately struggling with their life as-is, and by showing her trying to get Mork back, at least it gives her the credit of letting her realize what she was missing when it was gone. I'm glad La Pluie went further with keeping Nara complex and human.

Finally, I have to shout out how much love this show has for queer community and found family. Cheep and Dej give Mork and Tawan and even Fueang a safe haven to come to when they're hurt and confused, and they give so much advice. Everyone else has said it (I know @chickenstrangers mentions how special it is in their rewatch but I'm sure others have too) but it's worth repeating how much of a difference this makes for these characters.

Fueang and Mork also give one another advice and support, and I think it works well in the show that actually both Fueang and Mork can mostly just give support and some generic advice, but they can't speak from experience the way Cheep and Dej can. Still, the motorcycle gang support Fueang, and then Mork, in getting their respective partners. Tawan's sister knows exactly what is going on and gives Mork a challenge to make sure he's good enough for her brother. Fueang and the gang also show up in Chiang Mai because they're so sure their bro is going to mess up his confession, and then they cheer on the kiss when it does go well.

Mork taking on Khai as his own child when his brother failed to step up is also a beautiful reflection of the love and care his uncles gave to him and modeled for him; he clearly sees them as parental figures and was able to imagine himself as a parent to Khai because of it--and he never questions whether his getting together with a man would have a bad influence on his nephew/adopted son, the way we see Jim struggle with this in Moonlight Chicken, for example. More queer elders in stories please and thank you!

I feel so much less conflicted about this show now that I've gone through this exercise. Feel free to tell me if you think I got too far in my head and overanalyzed lol I'm always open to being told I'm now adding things that aren't there. I just really needed to deconstruct why I had issues last time and what changed for me when I paid more attention. Also, this experience makes me want to binge Step by Step to see if it makes a difference in how I feel about the ending to that show...but I don't think I'm ready for that yet.

And if you read all that, you're awesome.

#my ride the series #my ride rewatch 2023 #typed so i can stop thinking it

[sophiasmommy23-blog]

How I fell in love

with The Walking Dead, Bethyl and Team Delusional. No one asked. Lol but I wanted to share! Back in 2014 I had heard of TWD but had never seen an episode, had no idea of the plot or who the characters were, all I assumed that it was a "scary" TV show and that was it. So in July I was flipping through the channels and ran across the dead, white and blue marathon. I was working but yea I could do my job and watch TV with no interruptions from my then 1 yo. The very first episode I laid my eyes on was Still. Can you believe that? The first random episode I found was my now favorite Still!! I had no idea of any background stories, I didn't even know their names at the time. All I seen was 2 young people running around an apocalypse with zombies who had major chemistry. It felt like a normal date night in the country. Finding an old abandoned house in the woods, drinking moonshine, someone getting too drunk and wanting to fight or argue, sitting on the porch and the crickets in the back ground. Sounds like a normal night in the south especially for a young couple. Hell, the first time my husband told me he loved me was when he was drunk on homemade moonshine and I live in NC but that's a different story. I kept watching these two characters and thinking they are going to at least make out! Really thinking they were going to go back into that cabin and (insert smut) however we all know they didn't. They did burn it down which again is a typical thing to do in the south burn something or have a big bon fire. I never once felt that there was some crazy age difference. I had no idea of their ages. After watching that episode I watched the next few and quickly realized that TWD was not all about scary zombies. I was in love and obsessed. I went and bought every season which was 4 at the time. By October I was completely caught up and so excited to find out what happened to beth and wanted the Bethyl reunion! I had not shipped a tv couple so hard since Spike and Buffy in high school!! Then Coda happened and I was so effected. I felt like I was actually mouring someone real not just a fictional character on a TV show. I cried myself to sleep. Now mind you at the time I was a 20 something year old women with a family and for days I was actually overcome with grief! Then it hit me. The whole thing did not feel right. The way she was shot and the angle of the gun. The way the music played at the end. I began to search on the internet because in my mind I really thought this has to be a fake out death and maybe someone else thought so or there was a spoiler of some sort to prove she was alive. That's when I found tumblr. I didn't know what that was before either. I found team delusional. Some of the people I followed are gone now but what everyone was saying and fact there were missing scenes that they filmed all made sense to me. I continued to watch the TWD until around season 7 or 8 then I lost interest. I never stopped following TD to see what they had to say, hoping eventually TWD would bring beth back. I never stopped reading all the bethyl ff. I did start back the main show to finish the last 2 seasons. Then of course the DD spin off. I notice the parallels on the DD show because the earlier seasons are my favorite and I have rewatched so many times. The parallels i see are of the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5. All of the big beth episodes. I do believe that we are closer now than we have been to seeing her again! I think currently the writers want the GA to believe that Daryls happy ending will be with either Isabelle or Carol, however I think they are writing the story to seem like that, so it will be an even bigger surprise when Beth returns. ❤️

#beth greene #team delusional #team defiance #beth is alive #beth greene lives #beth is coming #td theories

[piracytheorist]

Ranking SxF season 2 episodes!

So, some time ago I made a ranking of the season 1 episodes of Spy x Family, from my least favourite to my top favourite. I felt inspired a couple days ago and I thought I'd make a similar ranking of the season 2 episodes.

Mentioning again that: This is all my personal judgment heavily based on stuff I liked. You most certainly will disagree with me and that’s fine! Just don’t argue with me because that’s just personal opinions, I’m not trying to change anyone’s minds or prove anything!

And also: I chose to rank each episode by five criteria, the things I love the most about the show: 1) Humor (intentional or not), 2) Character (defining or cool moments and such) 3) Cute 4) Plot (how much development there is and how well the action is delivered) 5) Feels (of any kind).

#12, Least favourite of the season: 29. The Pastry of Knowledge/ The Informant's Great Romance Plan II

Humor: 6/10 Character: 6/10 Cute: 7/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 5/10

I think this is the only episode that got points removed for something I didn't like. I made some very passionate posts about it when it first aired, particularly due to how after watching it I realized I'd been treated very unfairly by some fellow fans, and thus I'm almost incapable of rewatching the first half. Yes this is about Damian bullying Anya, no I won't shut up about it.

Anyway. This is still quite a high ranking (it's higher than the three lowest from my s1 ranking), cause the humor and the cats of the second part were quite entertaining on their own. It got a few points for plot because it introduced the stakes of Anya getting low grades, and also because of the discussion between Franky and Twilight about Garden.

#11: 36. Berlint in Love / Nightfall's Daily Life

Humor: 9/10 Character: 6/10 Cute: 6/10 Plot: 5/10 Feels: 7/10

A very high humor score because I honestly doubt a single minute passed without me laughing my ass off in this one. It was so ridiculous and they loved making it so. Though having two wholly different parts, they were both fun in how they were around two characters blinded by their affection for Loid to the point they have no idea how hopeless their goals are. I just love how exaggerated it all is.

Some feels points were added for Yor talking about remembering what Loid had told her during the bench scene, and also because we get Loid being a stupid simp for his strong wife.

#10: 31. The Fearsome Luxury Cruise Ship

Humor: 7/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 6/10 Plot: 8/10 Feels: 6/10

Reminder that this is still a high ranking. I'm just being strict in the ratings because the entire season is so good, the bar is really high!

Anyway, though I like this episode, it feels more like a passing point from the previous one to the next, compared to those specific episodes, so that's probably why it's this low. I love how the assassins plot is kicked off and we get to see some action, and character points were added for McMahon's ruthless killing of the stalker assassin.

#9: 28. Mission and Family / The Elegant Bondman / Extras

Humor: 6,5/10 Character: 9/10 Cute: 6/10 Plot: 9/10 Feels: 7/10

This is the first time I felt the need to use decimals, lol. I just feel that this episode is one of the darkest and most serious of the season, but also... Bondman's part was ridiculous (affectionate) and the omakes were great by themselves, so I felt that a mere six wouldn't do.

I'm honestly entranced by the first part. The plot and exploration of Yuri's and Perkin's characters were near damn perfect, I only wish there was a bit more beyond that episode, haha. I understand the focus needed to be in the Cruise Arc, so I feel a nine will do for this one. The feels were honestly added because I was a bit touched by Perkin's motives, and how those touched Yuri too.

#8: 30. Plan to Cross the Border

Humor: 8/10 Character: 9/10 Cute: 7/10 Plot: 7/10 Feels: 7/10

The Shopkeeper's introduction was amazing, albeit terrifying. Olka's was a little more subdued, but it was more touching. I felt both also reflected on something about Yor, so it was overall very satisfying. Due to so many introductions, plot was light (not that I minded), but Anya's scheming put up points in humor and cute. Feels points were added for Olka wanting to escape the crime underworld, and how that affected Yor.

#7: 32. Who Is This Mission For?

Humor: 8/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 8/10

I'd spent the entire week before this episode aired wondering how Yor would manage fighting Barnaby, and even though I should be used to the story's wackiness by now, it still managed to surprise me and make me laugh. Also Loid will never outlive his ridiculous tourist getup. Anya was an adorable little gremlin who couldn't stop having fun, so cute points went up, and Loid managed to spend one (1) episode without going "For the mission!" once, so character and feels points went up as well.

#6: 26. Follow Papa and Mama

Humor: 9/10 Character: 7/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 8/10

To be honest, I think I'm a bit strict with this one. I don't know how this story manages to make miscommunication so funny for me, but it was legitimately hilarious. The thing is, this was the only episode of the season whose manga chapter I'd already read, long ago too, and maybe my expectations for its adaptation were unrealistically high - probably also due to it being the season premiere and I'd spent ten months without my show, so I'm probably biased. Mind you, I still loved it, but this further cements my will to stay anime only.

Anyway! Character points went a bit down because I didn't feel we saw anything new, but the cute and feels persisted because of Anya's machinations and because of Yor admitting how good she felt with Loid dedicating time for her that day.

#5: 34. The Hand That Connects to the Future

Humor: 8/10 Character: 7/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 8/10 Feels: 8/10

A lovely, hopeful closure for Olka and the rest, Yor getting the acknowledgement she deserves, a spectacular ending of the assassins fight, high stakes with the bomb threats, and an emotional ending scene with Twilight carrying Anya to bed and then the family getting ready to meet in the resort island. Not much else to be said <3

#4: 35. Enjoy the Resort to the Fullest / Bragging About Vacation

Humor: 9/10 Character: 7/10 Cute: 9/10 Plot: 6/10 Feels: 9/10

No, I'm definitely not biased because this episode shows us the first glimpse of Twilight yearning for Yor what are you talking about.

Who am I kidding, I definitely added feels points just for that look he gave her while she watched Anya play with the sheep. The whole episode felt so relaxing and fulfilling after the intense assassins plot, especially the scene of the Forgers having tea upon returning home, that I don't mind that the second part at school feels a little exaggerated. The ending scene with Anya being surrounded by liars though is top notch.

#3: 27. Bond's Strategy to Stay Alive / Damian's Field Research Trip

Humor: 9/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 8/10 Plot: 7/10 Feels: 9/10

Endo used Dog Cuteness! It's super effective!

Yeah, the whole adventure and the way it was presented were appropriately hilarious and we saw some more of the dynamics between Bond and the rest and I really liked that. Plot wasn't heavy but I was all wide eyes at the introduction of a truth serum, and at the second part when Mr. Green talked about people defecting to the West. Feels went up thanks to, among others, Twilight thinking he was helping Bond get his "revenge". Also, though the second part didn't do much for me, it actually felt nice to see Damian laugh innocently like the kid he really is.

#2: 37. Part of the Family

Humor: 8/10 Character: 8/10 Cute: 9/10 Plot: 8/10 Feels: 9/10

Despite the mopping wet of a dog we got here, I kinda felt this was less... humorous, or at least not focusing so much on the humor aspect. I felt it was more cute and emotional that Bond was just trying to help left and right but was only misunderstood by Twilight. The action takes the place of a plot here, and I loved it all. Some development too through Twilight realizing he can relax a bit with Bond, even though he's still in denialTM about how much he appreciates his company.

#1: 33. The Symphony Upon the Ship / Sis's Herb Tea

Humor: 8/10 Character: 10/10 Cute: 7/10 Plot: 9/10 Feels: 10/10

Yeah OH MY GOD are we surprised. Top tier shit. Excellent balance of pretty much everything in this one. The humor even in the way Yor took out some of the assassins. Her flashbacks with Yuri. The ACTION and the ANIMATION of it all. HER REALIZATION AND DETERMINATION POWERING HER THROUGH. HER LOVE FOR HER FAMILY.

Yeah wow it's really so good any eloquence evades me. Perfect. Mwah. Thank you Endo-sensei.

~

And here is the overall ranking of the episodes, from both seasons, based on the ratings I gave:

1. Operation Strix

    2. Secure A Wife

    33. The Symphony Upon The Ship / Sis's Herb Tea

    24. The Role Of A Mother And Wife / Shopping With Friends

    38. Part Of The Family

    16. Yor's Kitchen / The Informant's Great Romance Plan

    27. Bond's Strategy To Stay Alive / Damian's Field Research Trip

    14. Disarm The Time Bomb

    12. Penguin Park

   11. Stella

   21. Nightfall / First Fit Of Jealousy

   35. Enjoy The Resort To The Fullest / Bragging About Vacation

   15. A New Family Member

   9. Show Off How In Love You Are

   5. Will They Pass Or Fail?

   34. The Hand That Connects To The Future

   3. Prepare For The Interview

   26. Follow Papa And Mama

   32. Who Is This Mission For?

   13. Project Apple

   4. The Prestigious School's Interview

  30. Plan To Cross The Border

   28. Mission And Family / The Elegant Bondman / Extras

   8. The Counter-Secret Police Cover Operation

   6. The Friendship Scheme

   31. The Fearsome Luxury Cruise Ship

   25. First Contact

  23. The Unwavering Path

   18. Uncle The Private Tutor / Daybreak

   6. The Target's Second Son

   36. Berlint In Love / Nightfall's Daily Life

   20. Investigate The General Hospital / Decipher The Perplexing Code

   19. A Revenge Plot Against Desmond / Mama Becomes The Wind

  29. The Pastry Of Knowledge / The Informant's Great Romance Plan Ii

  17. Carry Out The Griffin Plan / Fullmetal Lady / Omelet Rice ♡

  22. The Underground Tennis Tournament: The Campbelldon

  10. The Great Dodgeball Plan

#sxf

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Wynkahthu Job"

The space = ocean metaphor really getting stretched here.

Hoo boy, here we go.

Hondo's converted the Imperial shuttle he stole into his new pirate ship. Mostly by way of strapping cargo crates to the top like it's a minivan lol.

Love how literally no one but Ezra is happy to see Hondo.

"But it all worked out in the end right?" It in fact did not work out in the end my love, you lost the Phantom and nearly fell to your death in a gas cloud.

Azmorigan wiping his earwax off onto the door panel, gross.

Yeah no I'm with Hera on this one I wouldn't want to work with him either.

I SHOULDN'T LAUGH BUT HONDO'S BLIND JOKES ARE ACTUALLY KIND OF HILARIOUS.

Right so, Rebels kind of leans into this whole aesthetic of depicting space with ocean and seafaring metaphors, which I guess ties back into the whole idea that Star Wars is Space Fantasy, not science-fiction, imbued with the romanticism and swashbuckling adventure of weekly serials. We have knights and princesses and pirates, the most iconic weapon is a sword (Ezra's first lightsaber in particular is kind of akin to a rapier, and his fighting style evokes fencing), we have ancient wayfinders (bo-rifles and Lasat culture) and migrating pods of whales. And now we have a shipwreck being slowly drawn in by a whirlpool.

It's a pretty cool reoccurring element.

Ezra still looks a bit uncomfortable with Hondo's affectionate shoulder wraps.

I love that they brought AP for this mission, he's always hilarious.

Oh good we're at scene the first of my least favorite part of this episode, Ezra randomly being an ass for no real reason. It's especially jarring and grating after the maturity he showed last episode so frankly I'm just kind of going to wander away from that plot thread and ignore it whenever it happens, it's dumb and I refuse to entertain it.

There isn't even any real lesson learned??? Ezra never apologizes for being a shit and Hondo proves he is actually a good and loyal friend by coming back for the finale so what was even the point of this contrived piece of conflict? Nglh.

"This is your plan!" "I have factored that in. Without me your chances would be almost zero." <33333 I love him.

Hondo and Azmorigan play off each other hilariously.

Keen-eyed can spot Melch running around the corridors in the background.

I'm remembering why I tend not to like stories centered around or heavily featuring Chaotic Neutral characters, all the times Hondo's double-crossed someone gets very tiring and hard to keep up with.

"You attacked an Imperial ship." "We do it all the time." "Exac--Really?" I DIED. I LOL-ED AND I DIED.

That sighing eyeroll from Ezra in the background there ha ha.

I really am going to have to refrain from quoting Hondo every single time he makes me laugh, but this line about how they used to get none of the truth is hitting me right in the funnybone.

The gag with the door is great too.

Oh! The whole nautical swashbuckling adventure vibe I mentioned? Yeah, now they're gonna fight enchanted skeletons. In the form of the sentry droids.

The cable ziplines make this feel a little like a heist movie.

Ignoring this whole exchange...

Oohhh they are taller than Zeb, that's scary.

AP-5 FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE SENTRY DROIDS IN HIS SCENARIO CALCULATING LOL.

Hello Darktrooper precursor.

AP-5's sullen disappointment when Ezra tells them the first sentry droid got blasted lolol. AP you could have saved everyone a LOT of headache by just forewarning them about the droids.

This whole exchange. <333

Ezra that "I'll catch up." was dangerously close to "I'm right behind you." and also the last time you used that phrase you found Maul lurking in a pit. Do not tempt karma like that.

The sentry droids show a remarkable amount of strategic intelligence shooting the cable out rather than continuing to fire at Zeb and Ezra.

Worried Sabine be worried. :)

"It's okay! Zeb's got him! [Ezra]"

*raises eyebrow*

Interesting specification, Sabine.

This bit is pretty awesome.

And wow that was a quick climax.

Eyyyyy Melch is fine! And taught Hondo a lesson hopefully, lol.

This episode frustrates me because on the one hand it is HILARIOUS and I love the spacemariner and swashbuckling aesthetics of it but on the other hand *gestures to all of that*. With some tweaking this could have been the funniest episode of the series but as it is it just winds up landing as a mixed bag.

We're back to form next time, though, and we really don't stumble again for a good long streak. We're also going to start running into more and more episodes I've already liveblogged through. As I said previously those recaps will likely be shorter, unless I find something I really want to ramble about.

#star wars #star wars rebels #rebels rewatch #liveblog #ezra bridger

[n0ncooll2]

let’s talk about fat camp

so in fat camp the plot is cartman gets sent to fat camp and sends a kid to make everyone think he’s back but he’s just eating candy at fat camp but after I rewatched it now since I’m a HUGE @wendytestabrat fan Ik she Probaly already did a rant on this but besides that Kyle’s ego is massive and he likes it that way and loves people to think he’s amazing now ofc we could talk about how Kyle is literally betting Kenny to do disgusting stuff that could kill him and you could say everyone is doing it or something but there are times where Kyle literally starts the bet and the scene where we see “cartman” when he lost weight ofc Kyle can’t help himself and says wHaT dID thEY dO wITh alL tHe fAt tHeRe mUSt haVe bEeN enOught tO lasT aN eSKimO FamILY MoNTHS and then when “cartman” doesn’t instigate Kyle is literally sad which proves that Kyle loves arguing with cartman and at the end of the episode when “cartman” learned something Kyle is so mad he says alright this has been bothering the hell out of me LOl he just said that he was bothered by cartman being good because now who can he use to convince everyone that he’s amazing

#south park #kyman #sp #south park kyman #south park kyle #south park cartman #sp kyle #sp cartman #sp eric cartman #south park eric cartman

[showtoonzfan]

Rewatching Episode 7 of Helluva Boss and it has SO many issues and plot holes that bother me so I’m just going to list them all here from beginning to end. Let me know if I missed any. (Kinda long post so be warned lol)

- There’s a sign that says Imp city is located in the second circle, implying that Viv’s version of hell has seven Rings AND nine circles???

- Loona couldn’t see the words in the spell book to open the portal in episode 6, yet here a bottle simply rolling across a page was enough to open it.

- The IMP gang go back to the human world without a care even though they recently got found out and busted by humans in the recent episode.

- If Moxxie and Millie are such a lovey dovey couple, why did Moxxie decide to take his wife to a restaurant centered around lust?

- If Moxxie knew what restaurant they were going to, why did he plan to sing a romantic love song?

- Blitz gets disgusted by Moxxie and Millie’s make out session, even though he literally watches them have sex.

- Blitz calls Moxxie and Millie’s planned date boring, tries to shove himself into their plans despite Moxxie clearly telling him not to, and goes out to spy on them anyway, despite the previous episode showcasing the two having an emotional epiphany, with Blitz promising he’d be better. He does not, and goes back to being a creepy stalking rude asshole.

- Stolas is alone at his house and they later establish that Stella is living somewhere else since it is stated that Octavia spends certain weekends with her mother, indicating (at the time) that the two divorced or are separated, yet in season 2, Stella is still at the house with the two not divorced yet, with Stella only moving out an episode later.

- Blitz shows discomfort inviting along Stolas just so he can get in the club, further proving how the kiss at the end of episode 6 was only lust, and that Blitz in reality still wants nothing to do with Stolas. This isn’t a plot hole, but it needs to be said since the fans have their heads up their asses.

- Stolas suddenly acts like a nervous giddy schoolgirl in love in this episode once Blitz calls him, and we see him actually trying to get to know Blitz and treat him like an actual human being, despite Stolas previously only treating Blitz like a sex toy. The episode also makes a joke about how Stolas wants Blitz to love him in regards to the novella he was watching, even though the show never indicated that Stolas wanted more than what he and Blitz had, nor ever indicated that he had genuine romantic feelings for Blitz.

- Stolas acts surprised when he walks in the club as if he’s never been here or isn’t familiar, then gets surprised when he hears the word “Asmodeous”, yet the episode not only later reveals that they know eachother since Ozzie recognized him and he himself is also a member of the Ars Goetia, but Stolas is apparently a fucking idiot since we clearly see that there was a giant sign in flashing lights reading “ASMODEOUS” outside at the top of the restaurant. This was one of my biggest issues because way to make the characters idiots for the sake of the plot. Again.

- I’ll say it again, what was the point of introducing Robotic Fizzarolli as an antagonist towards Blitz and set up a history with him, only to introduce the REAL Fizzarolli a few episodes later who ALSO has a history with Blitz yet is the more important one???

- I don’t understand why Viv wanted to introduce the idea of Fizz having robotic counterparts if he himself was going to be a cyborg anyway. I remember getting so confused when I watched the episode for the first time, because I obliviously saw the tail, yet with all the talk of a robotic version of this character, it wasn’t really made clear, but maybe that’s just me. Honestly I feel like the whole robotic Fizz stuff was only in this show so Viv can pull more sex jokes, because at this point the Robot version was a waste of time and a useless character.

- Might as well say that I’m still confused on why Blitz at this point still hadn’t let Stolas know that there’s a demon with an Angelic weapon out there somewhere on the hunt for him. Like I get Stolas can fend for himself as we’ve seen, but since the show made Striker such a big deal, why haven’t the characters told him anything yet?

- This isn’t a big deal but, if Loo Loo Land is technically illegal and Fizzarolli has shown disgust for it, then why is Robo Fizz at Loo Loo Land promoted in the poster he shows off? Also if Ozzie himself designed the robotic toys to be shipped across the rings of hell, then….why exactly are they complaining about the theme park? I get it’s ripping off Lucifer’s Lu Lu World, but wouldn’t Lucifer himself be upset at that and not Fizz? If anything Fizz is just making money like he said, so I don’t see why he cares.

- Fizz mentions that Robo fizz made more money entertaining kids than the robots that are served to please others, (indicating that they’re two different kinds of robots) yet the Robo Fizz we saw was also clearly a sex bot judging by the posters in the background of episode 2.

- I find it funny that Viv says that some rings are more strict with Hell’s laws than others, and yet we’ve seen 4 so far that seem to not have an issue with anything. I bring this up because I still find it off that Moxxie, (an imp) is allowed to go on stage and sing a song, though I guess the Lust ring doesn’t care about class, so long as you’re sexually hardcore. This wouldn’t be a problem if the other rings didn’t seem to give a shit either.

- Mille does nothing throughout the entire Ozzie song, she just stands there and looked surprised and only interjects when they finish, she doesn’t even speak up when they refer to her as an “unsatisfied bride”- unlike Blitz, who’s dumbass spoke up and publicly outed himself despite trying to hide earlier. Again, the characters being dumb for the sake of the plot.

- Blitz shows more hatred towards Verosika despite the previous episode showcasing he felt bad. And no viv, a single second of animation of Blitz frowning near the end of her verse doesn’t do anything.

- Wally is surprised knowing that Stolas is sleeping with an Imp, even though he was there during episode 5 where Stolas was outright flirting with him. Also Wally, you’re an imp as well.

- Stolas hides his face in the menu when he is called out during the song, and hides his face again when he’s walking out of the restaurant. This clearly tells us that despite how Stolas has acted towards Blitz, he’s still a prejudice person of power, and is embarrassed to be seen with Blitz. So Helluva Boss episode 7, if Stolas is embarrassed to be seen with Blitz, then why the fuck did he decide to go to a PUBLIC COUPLE’S RESTAURANT RULED BY ONE OF THE SEVEN SINS FOR EVERYONE TO SEE? The imp at the front clearly knew who Stolas was, so Stolas already outed himself by simply going to a restaurant with an imp. Oh wait, Stolas has been flirting with Blitz in public throughout the ENTIRE SHOW, SO IF HE’S EMBARRASSED TO BE SEEN WITH BLITZ THEN WHY—-??? I can’t with this show’s writing, it’s like no one shares a brain cell when scripting these.

- The crowd claps after Moxxie’s song, even though they all hated it because it wasn’t lusty in the first place. Would have been more cute if everyone was booing but Moxxie and Millie just kept kissing cause they don’t care.

- Despite Blitz having a right to put his foot down towards Stolas, him being genuinely hurt by Stolas hiding in his menu also makes no sense. Don’t get me wrong, Blitz is still the victim in the two’s relationship, but once again, the show never indicated that Blitz ever liked Stolas beforehand. All Blitz did was act annoyed and show us that he doesn’t really give a shit about Stolas and wants nothing to do with him, and yet he gets genuinely hurt by the other, as if he was in love only found out Stolas is embarrassed by him. There’s no buildup or explanation, but that’s the entire ship in a nutshell.

- Stolas had the nerve to go “Thank you for taking me out I had a good time”- even though he hid himself and was embarrassed to be seen with Blitz moments earlier. I still can’t get over how after this episode released, the fandom sided with freaking Stolas and blamed Blitz for apparently RIGHTFULLY calling him out on his bullshit.

- Showcasing that Blitz has a bunch of photos in his room yet always crosses himself out doesn’t do anything Viv. At the end of the day, Blitz is still an asshole and a horrible person, wether he’s insecure or thinks he’s undeserving of love or whatever sappy bullshit you want to add to him. If he truly had some kind of hatred towards himself and really felt bad for how he treats people, have him actually try to be fucking better instead of cuing the constant pity party, only to go back to him being a dick.

- Blitz has photos of Verosika and Fizz on his phone, despite clearly despising them. You could argue that he secretly misses them, but we all know Blitz is a petty bitch, he would have just deleted them. Plus, I think this was the writers lazy way of showcasing more background stuff, or stuff we already knew. Also was he the one who took that photo of him and Stolas in bed? He looks miserable, I doubt he would do that, feels like it was there just for fan service.

- And FINALLY, I find it funny that the fandom always says that blitz cries in the end because of what he said to Stolas, when we clearly see that he was crying because of a photo of his mother. Not a plot hole but again, something to mention.

And that my friends is why Episode 7 sucks. This episode’s scenario is the same as Hazbin’s, it LOOKS good, but on a writing standpoint it’s flawed. The legit only positive things I have to say about this episode are the colors and backgrounds. Seriously, it’s REALLY nice to look at, even if the animation can get very busy during Ozzie’s song. The blues, the purples, the greens, even some of the orange lighting was all beautiful to look at, wish Viv would use more colors like this and not fucking red all the time. That and the “Can I get you two off- I mean, start you two off with some drinks”- joke actually made me laugh. I know, probably not a joke you’d expect me to like but….I dunno it’s certainly more funny than all of the other jokes this show serves us. With that, thank y’all for reading, most of these were small nitpicks but others were very big in my opinion, I know it was long, so thank you for reading if you did! Maybe I’ll list more inconsistencies with the other episodes if y’all would like more.

#vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #helluva boss critical #anti vivziepop #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #helluva boss episode 7 #helluva boss ozzie #helluva boss #hazbin hotel critical #anti stolas #anti Stolitz #vivziepop criticism #VIVZIEPOP rant #helluva critical

[judasisgayriot]

hello again! you once again prove yourself as the queen of heroes ramblings. you responded with so much detail so quickly! loveeee it :)

i wanna ask you more, i like getting your mini ted talks. what are your thoughts on sylar/peter as a ship? i personally don’t really see it in the show, but i’ve read some real good fics with them.

Hahaha omg I love you anon I’m glad someone enjoys hearing my unhinged rants about this show…

Soooo. Maybe the girlies will hate me for this one lol. Thing is, I can see how sylar/peter would lend itself to having some good fics written about it. Like, the concept is there, it has potential. The foundations for a good hero/villain ship are there, they are definitely set up as foils and parallels to each other, they have the whole ‘two sides of a coin’ thing going on. But like you, I don’t really see it in the show at all. It’s like they had the potential but didn’t actually execute it/make me give a fuck about it/make me remotely want to ship it, lol.

It is/was a popular ship in heroes fandom (lol heroes fandom in 2024 is like 12 people but hey) and I do see why for the above reasons. I actually think the episode ‘the wall’ is a great concept but again, they don’t sell me on it/execute it well/actually follow through on making me remotely believe they’d become friends by the end. Right before they break out, having spent what was apparently like 10 years of mind-time together in there or whatever, Peter still hates his guts and wants to smash his head in with a sledgehammer lmao?? (I mean girl same. The whole ‘peter has to forgive sylar, narratively and kind of literally, if he wants to escape the mind prison’ plot point grinds my gears. I think he should get to never forgive him ever for killing Nathan if he doesn’t want to lmao. Shout out to that one fan panel with Milo where he’s like ‘peter would never forgive him he would eviscerate him’ king you are speaking my fucking language lol. I digress.) like afterwards I can buy that sylar has latched onto Peter and wants to be his friend/wants Peter to like, model being a good person for him, but not that Peter actually gives a shit in return or wants anything to do with him lol

(Sidenote, that in itself is a rly interesting concept, and me and @buildarocketboys developed a fic idea about peter agreeing to like, ‘mentor’ sylar and hang out with him but if and only if he kept shapeshifting back into Nathan for him. Now THAT is fucked up and deranged and the good stuff and actually makes me, avowed sylar disliker, feel kinda sorry for the guy lol. Yessss let me marinate in the badwrongness of all of that and how Peter is the one acting fully insane. Anyway. I digress once more.)

Anyway I’m clearly also biased bc I used to like sylar as a character back in the day but sometime over my like 4 rewatches over the last few years he really started pissing me off lol. Now it’s not like I’m being an anti about him being an evil villain or anything, I love a problematic king and I’m a Nathan stan lmao. In fact I only really enjoy sylar when he is getting to be a proper fun cackling all-out villain, he’s actually enjoyable and funny in that mode. It’s the like 9 flip-flopped badly written redemption arcs they keep trying to give him like they’re trying to make me feel sorry for him bc his dad sold him to one direction or whatever, but sorry!! I feel nothing! He’s a whiny bitch and they should have just let him be killed off one of the first 900 times it nearly happened! I don’t have any sympathy and he’s completely lost me lol. So yeah. That does make me biased plus being a Petrellicest girlie and a Nathan stan and an Elle stan sorry I selfishly won’t forgive him for killing them 😔 poor baby serial killer I’m being such a mean hater. Stan my absolutely fucking awful morally confused self hating politician guy instead loooool

Well. All that to say that I see why people ship it, it has interesting foundations that could have led to something good but IMO it just didn’t, I can definitely imagine it has some good fic out there that can sell you on it, but I just don’t see their great poetic love or whatever. It’s soooo ‘baby’ ‘fellow associate’ core by the end lmao. And it actively annoys me. But I am just being a hater I know. Sorry to the cool petlars out there it’s all hashtag my opinion

#asks #anon #heroes ramblings #hooo boy you got me monologuing again!!!! #anyway stan petrellice.st and their red string of fate fucked up ness xxxx

[miracleandplagueau]

About the show, what are your opinions on Argos', both character and design?

I haven't watched the season 5 in full just yet so bear with me If I make some stupid assumptions in the post lmao

I fucking love Argos' visual design, especially in those screenshots with bloody moon. There's just something about it that flows so nicely: the hood with feather-like decorations, the vivid pink eyes with dark scleras and the capette especially. It's just soo charming to be honest.

As for the character.. I honestly didn't enjoy Felix as much as I wish I did at first. To me, he felt like a copy of Adrien, but egdy and cunning and something they pushed into the plot to make use of the emo chat noir from the amv because he was cool. I guess over time I did kind of warm up to him, mostly after he outsmarted Ladybug, but I didn't have many thoughts on him. I was kind of like dead center neutral.

However, I am kinda digging the Emotion. It wrote him as a very enjoyable anti-hero and proved that a 14 year old is twice, thrice as efficent in using the peacock miraculous than grown ass adults which by the logic of the writers shouldn't be an achievement to be honest. If Felix was the one that made Gabriel's plans, he would've had the miraculouses in his debut season

His character now feels more chaotic to me (positively), twisting the usual formula of the episode and just giving us some of that suspension - what will happen now? What will he do? Etc etc I'm surprised I like him so much upon rewatch lol

A funky little dramatic guy though I have to admit I'm a bit confused on the most recent leaks about him...? Hmmm

#miraculous lb #miraculous ladybug #answered #miraculous season 5 #miraculous season five #ml season 5 #ml season five #argos #miraculous argos #miraculous felix

[tabithatwo]

I’m gonna have more thoughts on this when I rewatch and it isn’t late at night but I’m really like wow that episode was NOT IT for me and that’s the first time I’ve felt like that about Yellowjackets and it’s a scary feeling!!

like why have we established shauna as being so possessive over Jackie for 11 episodes just for her to cave immediately, why was the MAKEUP of all things the trigger like I know Tai wanted to be done with the Jackie Barbie and she was stressed by her own sleepwalking so she lashed out but the dramatic point and yell and SHAME her and everyone panics about makeup??? MAKEUP?? She’s been out there all day and half the night for months, did we think she was sitting quietly in a corner?? The line about “for the baby” fucking bizarre to me??

the focus on the MEN suddenly like so man heavy!! The long fucking spirit threesome I need to rewatch but like idk idk.

The 96 and 21 plot lines felt super disjointed to me especially for shauna. I’ve just never ended an episode and felt like…what the fuck was that.

The reverting to “you did it to BE me” I can’t even get started on, literally THE line I was dreading happening the most, the gay they planted so heavily being YANKED back, after promos and scenes in 201 very intentionally setting up a moment of either solidification or at least postponement. Like truly that line is what I feared the most but hopefully the show proves me wrong and doesn’t do this shit indefinitely.

I did love adult lottie like that’s my comedic relief amazing ass rich bitch I love her crazy, snarky ass. And I thought Ben was gonna shoot himself at the end there fr fr lol like the kids are NOT alright. Also, 2 month old corpse?? Like I see rabies girl coming soon bc that cannot be good.

I’m hoping and PRAYING I rewatch tomorrow and have a new take and see the light but I was distracted from even really grieving Jackie which I assumed I’d be doing a LOT of by just a sense of…what the fuck is going on here.

Maybe no one needs my long winded decompression BUT *I* needed it and if you’re also feeling a sense of wtf you’re not alone lmao and if you loved it I am so happy for you I’m not coming for you enjoyment of it I’m just…processing a meh feeling about a show that has never made me feel meh before!

#yellowjackets #edible complex

[momoemarias]

So I rewatched one of my fave cartoons ever recently

eene is so far in the rearview mirror for me now that I forget a lot of what it was initially like when the show was airing on tv. Like I couldn’t remember why some people thought s4 was a step down from s3 (even though I agree s3 is my fave). But I read someone’s review of a twist of ed that jogged my memory. Basically the reviewer was disappointed that they missed the opportunity to change the status quo at the end. And it hit me that there are s4 eps that are waaay more enjoyable knowing that we get s5 and the movie later. They aren’t BAD they’d just be kind of a bummer if s4 really was the end. I really disliked take this ed and shove it because it felt like such a grim note to end on. So while I do like s4 this realization made me remember why it left some people sour. That being said I wish s4 got way more credit for its silly goofy eps! It definitely wasn’t all bitter.

-

Here’s a possibly hot take: if anything s5 PROVES their friendship is still strong. Like Edd has every reason to be busy with school things and still chooses to be attached to the hip with slackers like Ed and Eddy? It feels unfair to me that this season gets blamed for being this dysfunctional era of the show. There are iffy moments here and there sure, but there are way more positives imo. I’m a s5 defender. It does commit a few crimes (a couple eps feel boring and they do more gross jokes?) but it’s pretty great. My least fave season is s1 (it’s just a little undercooked sorry).

-

I kind of wish the line in Edd’s character bible re: always being ready for action was more popular with fans. He’s a stick in the mud in a funny way not in a stops the plot in its tracks way! He’s open to silly stuff even in the later seasons! He just has to complain and be annoying (affectionate) first. I remember some of those more hypocritical writing moments confusing me as a kid (like do you want to be here?? lol) but in hindsight it just doesn’t feel that serious anymore. Edd is there because those are his friends, he likes doing the scams, there’s no ‘guilty by association’ and he wouldn’t be better off with the other kids since people love to forget he’s an outcast too.

I wish I could remember more of what it was like pre-movie. It’s so easy to handwave away some interpretations now that there’s a legit conclusion.

-

It feels like the abusive households theory is more prevalent than the (lame tbh) purgatory theory these days. The only thing I disagree with is that I don’t think any of the Eds’ parents are like. hellspawn or anything. I think there is neglect in both Ed and Edd’s households but they don’t hate their kids they’re just imperfect. Less malicious intent and more… they could do a lot better lol. I think Eddy’s parents are pretty good (comparatively?).

Admittedly though Ed’s home life is super hard to pin down bc the iconic WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STAIRS moment is taken so seriously. But Kevin’s parents put chains around the tv and cookie jar when he gets grounded so like!! what is real and what is cartoony exaggeration in this universe!!

On that note I actually think Ed’s bedroom being in the basement is… really cool? It would be concerning if there’s a lot of mold down there, but I always thought a teen (pre-teen in this case) boy would love having a cool spacious lair for a bedroom. He has his own tv even! I’m willing to bet the boys spend the most time in Ed’s bedroom than anyone else’s (which is so weird considering Eddy’s is on ground level AND has its own door. like hello that should be the hangout spot).

I could talk more but this has been in my drafts long enough. Sometimes a 20yo Canadian cartoon can be so personal.

#eene #ed edd n eddy #basically a thought dump lol