#(and why the burger scene was so important for his character)

[phantomrose96]

Hi just wanted to let you know I’ve been absolute obsessed with ABoT the last couple weeks. I could go on and on about it, but I just quickly wanted to say thank you and also I love how each main character has like a death motif related to them.

Like for Reigen it’s knives/stabbing. He constantly gets in knife fights. His hand was shredded like by “razor blades.” He helps Mob cut food with the intent to teach him it is how you use a tool that matters. He tries killing himself and Mogami with the knife.

For Ritsu, it’s obviously drowning. He has dreams of drowning, he is drowning in a whole lot of emotional stuff, he tried to drown Reigen. And the fountain is very important to him.

Teru I feel would be hanging, for the obvious stuff like being choked with his tie and trying to choke ritsu (which that chapter broke me btw read it like eight times)

Mob I am about unsure, but I feel like fire would be his symbol. The Mogami household where all his suffering stemmed from ‘burned down’ (twice). I can’t remember what chapter, but after he was being scolded by Mogami about saving Teru, there was a line like ‘a flame of hope burned in him.”

Anyway I just love literary analysis and symbolism. and I cannot tell you how much I love your fanfic. Keep up the great work! Thanks for writing!

(ABoT)

yessssssssssssssss the motifs. It just feels so right to attach a Thing to a Character which communicates something deeply thematic and personal about them.

Reigen and knives!!! Of course it has its roots in canon, with his key speech to Mob about how psychic powers are like knives, and they're not to be pointed at people. It felt only right to extrapolate that in ABoT. His career-ending encounter, at the very start which made him quit Spirits and Such, was a possessed man with a knife who assaulted Reigen and sliced his cheek (leaving a scar which is something of a key identifier of ABoT!Reigen).

The knife comes into play again during the Tetsugami encounter, when Mogami uses a knife to threaten to kill Tetsuo, and ends up slicing Reigen's hand with it. (And that hand-slice, of course, was foreshadowing for the hand-shredding in Reigen's future). And the second time Mogami possesses Tetsuo and comes for Reigen, the knife weapon returns with him.

And then... his big moment in ch45. The knife he brought along to kill himself (and Mogami possessing him). In a grandiose "we both go out on my terms" manner. During earlier mental planning of that moment, I'd toyed with the idea that Reigen came to the Mogami house with Tetsuo's (well, Haruki's) gun. It would be a more effective weapon to try to kill both himself and Mogami with. But thematically, it didn't resonate with me. It had to be the knife. It always had to be the knife.

(And it absolutely had to be the knife because, even more importantly, Reigen's attempt at self-sacrifice was not the solution. Thematically, it never could be. After all the thematic talk about how self-sacrifice hurts the people you leave behind, and you can't simply make yourself not matter to them--Reigen killing himself with the knife to stop Mogami could never work. Do not point your knives at people. Do not use knives to hurt people. Do not use knives to hurt yourself.)

Ritsu and drowning. This ties in deeply with the emotional toll he suffers as the surviving child--he feels smothered, he feels suffocated, he feels pressure from all sides to behave exactly as everyone needs him to behave...and he feels like he's drowning, and cannot speak up, and cannot breathe.

And his relationship with water manifests from this. "The water trick" being the thing he internalized from his brother, and manifests when his powers awaken. The way he uses cold water in chapter 7 to soothe and numb himself from his parents' rejection. The control of water being about all he has to use against Teru in chapter 15. The use of water to drown Reigen during their fight. The drowning in the storm that happens in ch41. The fountain, and the way he throws off Mob's water cover when Mob was trying to shield Ritsu from the barrier.

Teru's symbolism is a bit varied! He gets to be the first to play out the "tie as a noose" symbolism, which comes in strong later for Reigen (the evolution of Reigen's tie color symbolizing his emotional journey -- blue when he was alone, switched for white when he first has Mob, switched for pink as that emotional attachment grows, switched for blood-covered stand-in of a noose when Mogami takes his body... Reigen's tie evolving into Mogami's noose was a piece of symbolism I was eager to get to). But back on Teru--Ritsu strangling him with his tie was an inversion of Teru's canon role of strangling Mob... ...and then, of course, in chapter 33 where Teru gets to play this straight against Ritsu ("I think maybe you forgot, Kageyama, that you don’t need powers to do terrible things.") and he strangles Ritsu with his bare hands.

Burning, I'd say, is Mogami's domain. First with the illusion of the house burning down, and now with Reigen having actually set the corpse on fire. That thing of such coldness (as Mob emphasizes how much Reigen, and Reigen's place, are warm) being culled by Reigen setting it alight and making it burn to the ground. The kinds of cruel life in Mogami's house are the sort which need to be killed with fire. And see the importance for Mob here is how fire is a good thing in him. "Flame" is hope, and energy, and passion in his which four years trapped in the Mogami basement had robbed from him, and now Mob is finding again. Finding that warmth and that flame is an important aspect to taking down Mogami, to being part of what makes Mogami, and the house, burn down once and for all.

dkjdbfbjdf thank you for indulging me on this!!! the symbolism in ABoT is so very important to me I love when people pick up on it!!!

[jayflrt]

𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐒 28. 12th date’s the charm

YOU COULDN’T STAY CALM.

You were waiting for Saw X’s stupid post-credit scene to wrap up while your foot was tapping against the carpet floor anxiously. After you slipped up in the group chat, calling Heeseung your boyfriend, you could only wait and face the consequences after the movie. It was clear it was weighing on the others’ minds; you could see the corner of Sunoo’s mouth fighting to stay down, and although Sunghoon and Jungwon were high, you noticed them stealing a glance and playfully nudging each other.

But it was Heeseung you were the most concerned about.

His reaction was the most important one to you and, as if the world hated you, his reaction was the only one you couldn’t read. He sat completely still, staring ahead at the theater screen with his lips pressed together. 

The screen went dark and the end-credits started rolling. Now, you had to deal with the aftermath of your text. It was one thing to let the word out loud, but over text? If you were able to unsend that message without anyone reading it before it went through, you would’ve. 

Then, a horrifying realization struck you. 

After you and Heeseung parted ways with Sunghoon, Jungwon, and Sunoo, you two would have to sit in a car together. Alone. 

You felt your heart drop to your stomach. 

It was clear that Heeseung had feelings for you. He was the one pining after you from the beginning, after all—having the entire workplace be aware of his (initially delusional) crush on you. 

For some reason, though, you were still restless. 

“I think I would just let my life end if John Kramer put me in one of those traps,” Sunoo blurted out as soon as your group exited the theater. You and Heeseung were finishing the last of your popcorn behind him.

“I’d survive it,” Sunghoon said. “I’m built different.”

Heeseung nudged you with his elbow, taking you by surprise. “Did you like the movie?”

You scrunched up your nose. “I don’t usually like gore, but I liked the story before they all started dying.”

Everyone turned their attention to Jungwon, who was strangely quiet. The guy was fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater, eyes cast down to the floor. 

Sunoo asked, “You good?”

“He’s gonna get me,” Jungwon mumbled. 

“Oh my god.” Sunghoon groaned. “For the last time, Jungwon, John Kramer’s a fictional character.” 

“He’s real in my head.”

Heeseung let out a snicker. For every single date following your first failed one, Heeseung swore to stay completely sober so that his high wouldn’t interfere with your dates. You thought it was cute that he committed to it for you, but part of you also wanted to take care of him for once. 

“Yeah, get this guy home. He’s gone,” Heeseung said, patting Jungwon’s back firmly. “Hoon, you’ve gotta stop spiking him.”

Sunghoon frowned. “Why do you think I spiked him?”

“Motherfucker,” Jungwon spoke up, raising his head with a sudden fire in his eyes, “I wouldn’t be this high right now if you didn’t leave your stupid cannabis-infused pretzels out on your table.”

“You also wouldn’t be this high if you didn’t steal my pretzels, so I don’t get why you’re complaining.”

“Didn’t he also accidentally drink your cannabis-infused coffee the other week?” Sunoo recalled, grimacing as he remembered Jungwon walking into Starbucks and attempting to order a cheese burger.

“Before that was the cannabis-infused Rice Krispy,” Heeseung mentioned. 

“You’ve seriously gotta stop trusting whatever’s in Hoon’s fridge,” you told him, “or just anything that’s remotely edible around him.”

After some more commentary on the movie was shared, Heeseung made up some excuse about needing to get you home before it got too dark. The two of you had gone on dates that lasted well into the night, so your heart fluttered pathetically at the thought of him wanting to be alone with you. 

You said your goodbyes to the three boys, reminding them to get home safe, and you and Heeseung parted ways with the group. It was cool outside, but you felt like your entire body was hot and buzzing as you remembered that being alone with Heeseung meant that he could potentially interrogate you about your accidental ‘boyfriend’ text. 

He did nothing of the sort on the walk to his car. You and him cracked jokes about John Kramer all the way to the parking garage, and you started to feel the tightness in your chest unravel slowly. 

That was, until you reached Heeseung’s car. 

Instead of unlocking the doors, Heeseung’s hands slid into the pockets of his gray sweatpants as he leaned against the exterior of the car—right in front of the passenger door. You blinked at him, wondering if he was going to move, but he just held direct eye contact with you as the corner of his lip curled in amusement. 

He cut straight to the point, saying, “So, your text…” 

“My typo,” you corrected with an awkward grin. 

He hummed. “No, you clearly typed ‘my boyfriend’ in the group chat.” 

Your heart was racing. You could feel your pulse in your neck, your arms—every body part that was buzzing uncontrollably. This wasn’t how you wanted to confess to him. Not in a damn group chat, at least. 

“Well, you’re not my boyfriend yet. You’re gonna be my passenger princess if you don’t hurry up and get in the car,” you started rambling faster than you could think, words spilling out before you were even able to properly filter your thoughts. “I’m gonna drive us home, then.”

As soon as you turned to walk around to the other side of his car, Heeseung reached forward to grab your wrist. With a firm tug, he had you stumbling right into his chest. 

And, oh, you never realized just how big he was. 

“H-hey,” you stuttered out, looking up to catch the smirk playing on his lips. “You’re not playing fair.”

“We never decided on any rules.”

Then, your back was pressed against the frame of the car, the cool metal chilling your flushed skin. You swallowed hard as Heeseung towered over you, his hands gripping your waist to hold you in place. Your heart was beating erratically at this point, but you didn’t want to budge and let him win just yet. 

Heeseung dropped his head so that his lips were by your ear. You swore he could pick up on the way your breathing hitched because of his low chuckle. 

“Come on.” His voice was silky and velvet as he murmured against the shell of your ear. “Just let me ask you out already.” 

Although his words were irresistibly tempting, you were firm when you said, “No. I need to be the one to ask you out, and I didn’t wanna do it like this.” Your hand moved up to play with the loose strands of his hair at his neck. “Just wait a tiny bit longer for me. Please?” 

Heeseung sighed, but you could hear the smile in his voice. “Well, I couldn’t ever say no to you, anyway.” 

He pulled back to look down at you, still keeping his hands firm on your waist. 

You held up your hand, making a pinching gesture with your pointer and thumb finger. “Just a little longer.”

“Mmhm,” he agreed. “Can I kiss you, though?”

Your face burned with the heat of a thousand suns. “K-kiss?” 

“Like”—he poked your cheek—“right here.”

“Oh.” Still blushing furiously, you beamed and turned your cheek for him. “Go ahead, sir.”

With a soft giggle bubbling from his lips, Heeseung cupped your jaw gently so that he could press a chaste kiss to your cheek. He was dangerously close to your lips, and you knew that he intended on teasing you as much as possible.

Afterward, he pulled away and fished his keys out of his pockets. “I plan on kissing you for real once we’re dating, though.”

With that, he unlocked the car for you and walked over to the driver’s side. You had to catch your breath to regain your composure before you were able to get into the passenger’s seat. 

On the way home, all you could think about were how pretty the stars were and how much prettier Heeseung was. 

And, man, you really, really liked him.

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SUMMARY ▸ in which you work at the starbucks where heeseung is a regular at (and considered a public enemy). also he only goes when he’s stoned off his ass.

[imlostinmy20s]

Just little details I found while playing Kaveh's hangout event.

And just my thought about these two after Cyno's second story quest. Cuz I'm in awe and I can't stay silent.

Anyway, soooo

In Kaveh's hangout event, you have an opportunity to walk around Alhaithams home (which Kaveh also call home?? but i might be delulu).

There is a main entrance, which leads to a living room. Here, you can see a table, sofas (? not sure if it's the right word.), bookshelfs. But when I first played the main storyline, I missed some details in Alhaitham's house - back then, I didn't give it much thought. Well, there are a lot of books, books are everywhere, and... decorations? vases? Ok, whatever. Suddenly - a pair of musical instruments?

Oh, wait, the table? There are two pairs of cups (for coffee?) and wine glasses. And.. A lot of fruits. Maybe I'm delulu, but, in Kaveh's voice-over (in "favourite food", to be specific) was stated:

"Oh, I'll never say no to fresh fruit". Just like in a scene from Cyno's second story quest:

- "Can you see if the cookies are still on the table?" - "The are. And so are the fruits"

After that Kaveh appeared on a screen from the right side of the house, where Alhaitham's.. Office? Study room is located? Whatever. I'm sayng, besides that office, there is no other room in the right side of the house.

And, well, there isn't much about that office. It's.. Lots of books, a table, which also contains books both from outside and inside. Pretty much in Alhaitham's style.

But I wonder what's this thing on the left of Alhaitham's table? Kinda looks more like an architect's tool. Maybe it's not, but there is just another thing in this room that makes me think that way:

A smaller table with two seats🤨 , that has a coffee cup and a coffee maker and..of course, fruits. Wait a minute. A camera? It's... kinda out of place, isn't?

Why a camera tho? May I assume that this is Kaveh's camera, which he uses to take.. idk... references for his projects? Or, maybe, which he uses to get better undrstanding of enviroment for his projects?

Idk. But if Kaveh has his own room, why his (possible! maybe they are not) belongings (and fruits!!!) are located in Alhaitham's study room?

In Cyno's SQ 2 we had a scene with Kaveh and Alhaitham having a casual conversation (gossip flavored one 🤭🤭🤭). A the start of it, we have Kaveh looking for wine glasses, which he washed. So, there has to be a kitchen, right? Anyways

In the left side of Alhaitham's house we have two more doors. One with yet ANOTHER bookshelf and second, with a painting on a nearby wall. Let me assume that books are leading to Alhaitham's bedroom, and the painting is leading to.. Kaveh's room? (cuz in "A parade of providence" Kaveh stated, that he does have his own room) But that raises a very important question. where the HELL is the kitchen and bathroom? 🤨🤨🤨

ANYWAYS. It's just nice to see these two blended in eachother's life, since their first interaction in main story quest was.. erm... kinda uncomfortable to watch. But I should note that in the beginning, we didn't know much about both Kaveh and Alhaitham, and so we had zero clue on why they were acting like this.

Later we got Kaveh in the game and his voicelines, "A parade of Providence" event, and, oh my god, Cyno's 2nd story quest. It was my last straw, because now I want to make a comic about kavetham\haikaveh, but I still have to learn a lot about these two. Especially Kaveh. Cuz if I'm being honest, CURRENTLY I relate more to Alhaitham and the way his brain works. My past self, tho, would relate more to Kaveh and his feeling of guilt, struggles as an artistic and idealistic person, but those are quite dark times in my life, even my memory is kind of blurry\toned sown 💀💀💀 So it will take time to explore Kaveh's character.

In the end, thank you for coming to my YAPtalk and reading my "nothing burger" of a post. See you in my next drawing!

[a-girl-in-neverland]

Hii TSH fandom

I just finished the book (literally an hour ago) and i have many feelings and questions and a insatiable need to ramble, so buckle up if you want to

Maybe upon reading this post, you might think that some things are a bit dumb or that i could have worked out on my own. So let ME be the first to admit, that i AM a bit slow and that sometimes i become so invested in a story/book that i do not take a step back and analyse the characters, symbols, metaphors, reading in between the lines etc.

So without further ado:

Warning for The Secret History SPOILERS!!!!!

• Somewhere in the first half, its mentioned that Bunny takes medicine for asthma and that could be the reason for him putting in weight and being irritable, but Richard says that he later found that was for another reason. What was it? By the time this is mentioned i dont know if the farmer has already been killed or not

• What happened between Francis and Bunny? I read a theory that Francis may have tried something but i dont think that Bunny would still want to be friends after

• Why did Francis, Henry, Charles and Camilla put up with Bunny? He doesn't seem like a good friend, uses them for their money, doesn't seem interested that much in greek or classics (actually i got the feeling only henry and richard were more interested)

• In the beggining, Richard sees Henry and Julian talking. And Henry kisses him. And the stuff they were talking. What was that about? Was Henry just Julian's favorite or was something else there?

• In the second half, it has this whole drama and tension between Charles and Henry. I get why Charles is pissed. I don't get why Henry is tho. That scene which Camilla tells about this meeting with a lawyer, Henry is furious with Charles but I dont get his reasons. Was it just because Charles wasn't accepting his manipulation anymore?

• Kinda off topic but has anyone suggested Luther Ford as a fancast for Francis? He's the only one i could picture in my head

Kinda off topic part 2, i read the book in brazilian portuguese and the translation was... well, it could be better. Has anyone else thought so too?

Also, this is the second Donna Tartt book ive read (first was the goldfinch) and i still cant put into words how these books made me feel. The characters are insane but so compelling. The book is lengthy but every single part is important. I cant just say it was a good book, it doesn't feel right or does justice to how i felt

Anyway, if anyone has made it this far, thanks for the patience and for letting me ramble. Hope you have a great week and dont do cocaine in the burger king parking lot <3

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Hey I read your Becky/Ambriel foc recently and was wondering how you go about writing the voices of characters who aren't in shows a lot. I feel Becky does have a distinct voice (which you nailed) but for Ambriel (and other characters you have written) did you just watch over her scenes or do you just go for it?

Like there's fandoms I've been in for 2 years and I wouldn't feel able to wrote the main characters' voices right.

Like ultimately when it comes to femslash (and all fic but especially femslash) it's better to write it bad than not at all but I would still appreciate knowing how you go about if that's okay to ask

I love talking about the writing process!! This got long and it's a big scattered mess of thoughts <3 it's hard to pin down a process because all of these thoughts and the actual writing of the piece happen concurrently so, chicken, egg, you know.

First of all, worrying about voice should really be an editing job, not a "writing the first draft" concern, in my opinion. Dean can sound like "good lord, why, is that my old chum Castiel? I do believe it is! Come, come, old chap, let us break burgers together and I shall tell thee of my frankly untenable week" and Cas can reply "bet" and you can put in square brackets [FIX THIS] and keep on trucking. I know this is hard to do. I too will pause on tricky sentences. Square brackets are my best friend. [Add Dean-ism] [insert joke] [reference that means "uh oh!]. But! To actually answer!

A particular character's voice is (unforch) something you can only fully develop through writing more of them and figuring out who they are to you. I used to be very stilted trying to figure out Cas’s voice, and then I wrote a lot of him and read a lot of other people's thoughts about him and thought about his actions in canon and now he's the easiest person for me to write!

What's more important than the surface level character-isms, is that they have depth and are consistent. Does the content of what they're saying make sense with the life they've led. Like, I don't think that my take on Meg really sounds all that much like canon Meg for example. But she is consistent within the fics I put her in, and shares enough snark with canon Meg that it works, AND she has motivations, reactions and ideas that are different to the other characters in the fic. It's like a cheat code, if two characters have different reactions to one event, that makes it come off like they have different voices.

Some other cheat codes: have one of them make a ton of references, and the other speak plainly (dean and sam core! but you can do that for most duos); have them make references to different things (tv vs classic literature, sci-fi vs fantasy); have one of them tell sillyjokes and the other tell dry jokes (destiel core...). Contrasts makes characters seem more separate.

For voice, I'll only rewatch if I don't remember how they said anything at all or if I remember they had a particularly distinctive way of speaking. If I needed to put Gabriel in a scene, I'd probably watch his episodes again. I've found if I do watch an episode to remind myself it can psyche me out of actually writing anything for them—Ava for example, I'm intimidating myself out of writing her at the moment lol.

For establishing a (deeper) character, you first need the basics:

Ambriel, helpfully, fits some basic tropes. Office worker. Apathetic. Angel in the vein of Castiel, Hannah and Anna (which is to say, autistic). I have a LOT of practice writing Castiel, and Ambriel is like Castiel didn't have his drive to help people or love of humanity. She is therefore: straightforward (angel), mildly bored (office worker) and her biggest want is for nothing to change for her (apathetic).

It's then how you build on the collection of tropes that makes them a Character. You figure out how to explain some of the above traits/situations they're in. What is her history? (She went to earth and didn't like it) Who is around her? (Kaisiel, whom she resists making a real connection with due to her apathy) Why is she apathetic? (It's repressed fear of punishment).

Something that really, really helps with unique characterisation for me is a little silly. Give them a niche interest. Something not mentioned in the source material at all, or is only briefly mentioned. Castiel is into the same sitcoms as me (and taxidermy). Ambriel is into data storage. Ava is into collecting small furniture.

And then go, why are they into this?

Castiel bc he loves to experience hunanity at a safe distance (and he likes to rummage).

Ambriel because it's within the scope of her job so is 'safe', which she takes pride in (and which I advanced from "pushing a button" because I thought that was stupid and bad world building 💙).

Ava wants to feel a sense of control in a world that is very much out of her control.

This not only gives you better insight into them as a character, it also makes them YOURS. that's not the cw's Ambriel, that's mine, she's into data storage, so it doesn't matter if she's off-model because no one will know, because she's mine.

As with Castiel's love of tv, you can also do this with canon interests, just hone in on specifically what it is and specifically why they like it. Dean doesn't like "music" he likes rock because it makes him feel powerful and affirms his masculinity and has a connection to his family being together. Charlie doesn't like "fantasy" she likes Lord Of The Rings and The Wizard of Oz because she values escapism and rooting for the little guy (these are also interests of Sam's!).

Plus - making it more niche and specific makes it SEEM like they have this rich inner life and history even if you don't bother to figure out why.

1) "Geraldine sighed and took the dog for a walk" vs

2) "Geraldine sighed, saved her game and took the dog for a walk" vs

3) "Geraldine sighed, saved her game of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon X, and took the dog for a walk."

Now!! Actually! 2 and 3 are where "voice" can come in. Is the POV character someone who doesn't care or know much about video games? Then 2 is the one for them. Does the POV character care a lot about being accurate, know Geraldine well enough to know what she's playing, and/or are knowledgeable about video games? Option 3! Or, bonus option 4, perhaps they're disdainful of video games/annoyed with Geraldine: "Geraldine sighed, saved her little game with the pretend animals, and finally took our very real and very whiny dog for a walk".

So!! We have a character. How do we make her distinct from the other characters in the fic? Build them concurrently!

Ambriel is apathetic about community THEREFORE Becky is desperate for it (and can't hold onto it). Becky is over-verbose, so Ambriel keeps it short (and is misunderstood as a result). Ambriel believes deep down that she doesn't matter, so Becky deep down believes that she (both herself and Ambriel) is special and important and deserves worship.

So. I think you were expecting this but. think about their motivations and then just start writing them and it'll work out.

okay I gotta go make dinner. does this help???? MWAH

[saturnaftertaste]

Now that jughead took the characters to the bunker to watch themselves I'm thinking about your post again about how the bunker is the only place that exists outside of the story

I JUST WATCHED THE NEW EPISODE. and like first i have to say i am aware the pre-mourning a silly little tv show on the cw about a red headed boy and his quirky friends sounds insane but that is what i was doing for the most part. so when the bunker scenes started happening i almost didn’t register it so caught up was i in the sadness of it all…

that being said…the meta-bunker allegations live on! something else that struck in between making that post and watching this episode is also how there’s an episode named “as above, so below” and that pop’s in riverdale exists as a safe haven (blocked the ghost train, survived the fog, jughead STARTED writing the story of riverdale there?) AND there’s a “great pop’s chocklit shoppe in the sky” i.e heaven for riverdale characters where jughead goes OUT of the story, again? why is it that whenever someone hides out in the bunker it’s always pop’s takeout that they’re surviving off of?

as above, so below, right? no other place in riverdale stays this consistent. archie’s house gets blown up, jughead is homeless, betty’s room changes configurations (and even structure) between s6 and s7, the babylonium goes from a large-scale casino to a small-ish movie theatre. hell, thornhill was burnt down in the first season and cheryl spent all of s5 keeping it in a state of flux. but the bunker and pop’s survive every season and every time skip, and they seem to serve their original purpose every time.

the bunker and pop’s are thematic opposites; the bunker is where people (and other things) go to die -> jughead “died” there, archie was hidden away to recover there, and the lives of everyone in riverdale “died” with the truth there. like it’s a living coffin it just keeps eating and paradox jughead is in there, outside the story, writing as fast as he can. pop’s, on the other hand, is where things survive -> like i said, tabitha seeing the diner be the only thing that survives the apocalypse, archie celebrating coming “back to life” after being on the run in s3 (root beer float!) the core four promising to meet at pop’s every year (trying make their friendship survive!) AND the gang beating percival there! even with everything bad that happens there - that time fred got shot, or kevin had the Divorce Dinner with his parents - people endure at pop’s. the comic books being sold out of there, the speakeasy being run under it, the white wyrm moving there after hiram’s takeover in s5.

that archie (and then the others) was in the bunker with pop’s burgers to watch his entire life flash before his eyes means something and i don’t know what exactly but it does. perhaps it is that now, like jughead, all of them became aware the narrative they were living - by being outside of the story, and by being aware of the story, they had a chance to be narrators too - they could choose to remember everything and change their lives forever, or they could choose to forget. i think it’s also important that the supercut by tabitha was viewed in the babylonium and not the bunker, because it means that them finding out about their greatest hits is part of the story, instead of a choice they had to make. maybe paradox jughead took mercy on the fictional versions of his friends and gave them the easy way out. the real truth of it lies in the bunker, but it’s now “buried” like jughead was/is/always will be.

[andyouweremine]

I am very slowly making my way through a rewatch of Season 1 of Arrow and listen, nothing gives pure Olicity like this season. I don't care if they kiss or hug in other seasons, nothing is as pure or as close to the actual dynamic of their relationship that I wanted to see as Season One and there are some good reasons for this:

(1) Writers are still like 99% sure that they are going to stick with the spin cycle Laurel/Oliver relationship through the end of the series. Felicity as a character is Not A Thing. She's there to help facilitate plot points and make the audience laugh.

(This is not a slight on Felicity; she is not a real person--she's a character and the fact that thanks to EBR she's actually doing more than the writers need her to do is incredible. More so the fact that she does in-fact upstage the Official Comic Book Love Interest who is just not vibe-ing with the lead in the way they need to but I DIGRESS. Her function in the narrative is to provide tech help to move the story-of-the-week along, and do some heftier plot work with helping Walter and later giving Oliver his Mom's Copy Of The List (TM). Characters are allowed to be narrative tools. That's literally how story-crafting works, and I personally think it's something beautiful when a character who initially exists to do some narrative lifting ends up being incredibly beloved by fans and writers and therefore promoted and fleshed out beyond their initial conception. EBR and Stephen and some very cute episode 3 writing made Felicity. I DIGRESS AGAIN.)

(2) Felicity connects with the audience because she makes us smile the same way she makes Oliver smile, which is almost against our better judgement and kind of by accident. We like her because she's insanely likeable, and Oliver likes her for the same reasons. Enough to keep going back to her when I'm sure that Queen Consolidated has more than a one-woman IT department, and he could probably have reduced suspicion by going to someone else another week rather than literally give Felicity all the clues to figure out his identity. But he goes back to her again and again because he's in this perpetual darkness post-island and she's a literal ray of color and light. I will also say that costuming and hair and make-up for Felicity is absolutely top-tier this season, it never gets better than this. She's professional and colorful and I love the bright lipstick and ponytail of curls. I don't completely have an explanation for why her style alters so dramatically post season 1 other than Whoops She's A Female Lead Now and we Are The CW so she needs to be wearing Fashion and not Panda Bear shoes.

(3) She's not supposed to be a love interest, literally not the point of her character at all. So when the writers actually start deviating from The Plan and pulling her more and more into the story, her relationship with Oliver is portrayed as this genuine burgeoning friendship as they learn to trust and rely on each other. Honestly my favorite Oliver/Felicity scene of ALL TIME is still in Big Belly Burger when she brings him Walter's copy of the notebook. "I'm not an idiot; you've dropped some pretty big lies on me, and yet I still feel like I can trust you." idk, I love it. You can pry it out of my cold dead hands. THIS is the best moment of this ship hands down and again I will die on this hill.

(4) There's such a stark difference in how Felicity and Oliver have important conversations after season one. Season two is okay, but by the time we hit Season three the big differences are starting to show. Compare, simple things like "I still feel like I can trust you" or "If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving" to the dramatic "I don't want to be a woman you love" or "Then say never. Stop dangling maybes." or literally my least favorite line in all of television "You opened up my heart in a way I didn't even know was possible."

(I SWEAR TO GOD, "I don't want to be a woman you love" was initially written for Laurel to say. I have no proof of this, but once you think about it it's such a Laurel/Oliver line. I would bet money it was sitting on a whiteboard for three seasons and the writers just couldn't get over how much they liked it so they had Felicity say it.)

(5) Oliver and Felicity's relationship is actually healthier in season one? I don't care that he's lying to her about the laptop or the syringe of vertigo or the arrow or the flash drive, she knows and she's choosing to press him carefully on all of those things without pushing too hard. (This is important because Moira and Tommy and Laurel and Thea and even Diggle are pressing Oliver super hard to open up in literally every other scene, but he's just not responding to them. Felicity lets it go. These look like bullet holes? Opens the laptop anyway. Flash drive has insanely high encryption for a scavenger hunt? Okay, she'll give the info anyway. They become friends-- to the point where a shot and bleeding Oliver goes to Felicity because he does actually trust her.)

Season One Olicity was the Best Olicity don't come at me.

[runninguplenorahills]

We all know that the cinematography during Mike’s monologue really took away from its intimacy, especially because the camera also focuses on other characters besides Mike and El and that more than once. This is deliberately done to make the monologue feel even more off-putting because it’s supposed to be about Mike and El but we as an audience can’t focus on them since the inclusion of more characters naturally makes our focus waver.

And here’s one thing I haven’t seen anyone talk about yet:

Not only does the cinematography include other characters but Mike also literally includes other people in his monologue! It’s very subtle but effective nonetheless:

“You were wearing a yellow Benny’s burgers shirt and it was so big it almost swallowed you whole.”

Mike includes Benny by describing what El had worn when they first met. I know this seems very insignificant at first because he only briefly mentions him but it is significant nonetheless because the mention of Benny takes us back to his scenes with El instead of Mike’s scenes with El! We’re supposed to focus on Mike and El here but our mind subconsciously wanders to Benny and El instead which totally crashes the intimacy of the monologue.

“I feel like my life started the day we found you in the woods!”

This one is honestly so crazy to me! Mike includes Dustin and Lucas in his monologue and while he doesn’t mention their names directly, we as an audience of course know that they were there! And you know why this is so significant? It reminds the audience that this scene wasn’t about Mike and El!! More people were present because this scene was about finding Will! They stumbled across El in the woods while on the search for their best friend! This was never an important meeting between Mike and El and it reminds us that the memory Mike recalls actually holds no importance or value whatsoever for his relationship with El! Meeting El in the woods is not significant to their bond! Because the scene in which they met El in the woods was about someone else! And that makes the monologue feel even more off and weird and not intimate at all because Mike is talking about emotions that clearly didn’t exist during said memory. The memory he recalls doesn’t fit! And we as an audience, even if only subconsciously, picked up on that!

And that’s why even parts of the GA noticed that the monologue is weird even if they didn’t pay attention to cinematography or think that it doesn’t matter. Because what is said in the monologue takes away from the intimacy just as much.

[avasghost]

foreign birds: update #2

wake up new foreign birds update just dropped

so yeah. 13k in and nothing has gone extremely wrong yet which is good! it's all going pretty good. so here's excerpts for chapter 7-10.

if you missed it, you can find the wip intro here and the first update here. and also the playlist here because i have good music taste.

so ! the story is progressing nicely and the four timelines are working out really well. i finally introduced gabriel (in the college timeline) and he's becoming one of my favourite characters ever (based on the 1 singular scene with him i've written so far, in a chapter i'm going to include in the next update bc i don't want this update to be that long). this book is probably going to be relatively short with the projected word count being 50-60k words, so at this rate i might finish it for camp in april next year? but idk. i'll probably be sad if i finish this book any time soon so i won't be rushing it.

excerpts & taglist below the cut!

CHAPTER 7

in chapter 7, we jump back to the third timeline, which follows martin going to college and the development of his relationship with gabriel, who's already dead in the fictive present.

in this chapter martin leaves his hometown finally and drives for a while and then has dinner in a little diner where he aspires to not be like the people in his hometown.

When I left my hometown for college, I didn’t check its fleeting image in the rear-view, didn’t even feel it slink away around me and disappear into fields and hills. All I felt was the relief of separation, the green unfurling like a new country.

and here's the end of the chapter:

I ate the burger and paid and left. The sky had deepened, and the stars glittered in small clusters above my head. It didn’t feel too different from back home, where Jasmine and I would lie on our trampoline and count them, scanning the sky carefully for all the tiny lights. I kept driving. The roads grew smoother and buildings grew taller and more industrial. Cars crawled like ants, headlights a searing yellow. The traffic lights tossed green and red beams across the highway. The stars disappeared.

CHAPTER 8

in the main timeline (martin back in his hometown after death of gabriel) martin goes to a laundromat and meets rainey for the first time in three years! oh the tension

here he is the night before being sad bc thats just what he does:

I spent two nights in the motel room alone. The telephone on the wall didn’t ring and no ones’ knuckles thrummed on the door. If they did, I probably wouldn’t have answered anyway,sprawled on the paisley duvet cover in a silvery sheen of smoke. I kept my pack of cigarettes under the edge of my pillow, and smoked into the empty hours of the night as the silence outside the window festered and the room grew shadows and slowly faded from sight. I kept the side-lamp on, and sometimes I leaned into the rind of yellow light that ringed the bedside table. As smoke flumed between my teeth I’d shut my eyes and it would become a halo, the circle of light, the only thing that made me visible.

martin sees rainey in the laundromat after not seeing her for like three years, and she leaves and he follows her outside. they talk awkwardly and then rainey asks why he came back. he avoids the question. (she's the "you" pov)

“So are you back for good?” I approached slowly, then leaned against the wall a few feet from you, warmed by the sun baking on the stucco. “Doubt it. I always hated this place.” “Same.” A cloud of smoke. A cough. “This town is a shithole. I never left, though. Got a pretty good gig writing magazine columns. Pretty decent pay. What were you majoring in again?” I didn’t mention her thieving, decided it wasn’t important. “Photography. Not much of a career to come out of that, though.” “Did you drop out?” “It’s complicated.” Gabriel’s face, swimming. Gabriel’s body crumpled on the ground, blocked out. I blocked it out. “Why did you come back here, then?” “That’s also complicated.” “There’s really nothing left here. Most people our age moved away ages ago and now the only people left are people like Greta and a few little kids.”

later, martin is sitting in his motel room watching the news and gabriel shows up as a missing person.

I sat in my motel room that evening and waiting for the News to clip through the frenzy of static that rang in the back of my head even after the static stopped and a woman with a pearl necklace and too-white teeth began speaking, her voice hollowed by the grain of the audio recording. I pressed the back of my head against the wooden headboard and tugged at the button on the sleeve of my shirt. Her words slipped together, words about the forecast, how it was supposed to be partly sunny tomorrow and rain all night. But then, my stomach dropped. Gabriel’s face flashed on screen, Gabriel with his curly black hair and amber skin, Gabriel with his dimples and subtle smile, Gabriel with his gold earring and colourful silk shirt, mostly unbuttoned so you could see his crystal necklace crooked to his chest. I sleeved a grease of sweat from my forehead as the news reporter’s voice rang in my ears, words still hazy but some sticking out like the sting of metal—student's body found off campus, likely an accident, still searching for answers, will be missed, prayers for his family, so sorry for their loss. And then his face was gone. As suddenly as it had appeared, I could no longer picture his features in my head. He was so close and yet already so far gone.

CHAPTER 9

i skipped this chapter for now but it's in the childhood timeline. moving on.

CHAPTER 10

martin goes to the only nightclub nearby where he doesn't expect to recognize anyone.

i wrote basically this entire chapter in my math class in a notebook which is cool. it's been kind of the best time to get writing done lately (but don't worry its only when i'm done my work i'm not failing i swear)

he's a little disorientated because last time he went to a nightclub it was with gabriel. then he sees someone in the crowd, who he recognizes as rita, a girl he went to school with. i've seriously got to stop describing halos all the time but i can't

The woman, Rita Ellis, was a year younger than I was but graduated a year before me. Skittish and friendly, she’d usually nooked herself behind the pages of the mass-market fantasy novels they sold in grocery store lineups and only spoke when spoken to. Tartan skirts and hair in two braids, she usually sat with her parents in front of my family in mass and I used to watch the light scintillating through the stained-glass windows amber through her hair, give her a soft halo that turned her blond head bright yellow. Today she was haloed by the red and blue lights that scattered above her head, and her hair ran long and wavy across her shoulders.

and then, shortly after

Her voice rang above the noise and I stared at the space behind her ear, where a man with black curls and a gold earring laughed at some unheard joke. Gabriel’s face almost replaced his as he turned towards me, then vanished into bright fractures again.

she asks the usual questions about why he's back and he says he missed it. she says she stayed because her mom had cancer and is still here because of her dad.

then she asks him to dance, and they talk for a while and she tells him she missed him a lot. she asks him to come over to her place but he doesn't bc he wishes he was here with gabriel instead but he's dead so. making due ig. then he gets sad about gabriel not being there and leaves suddenly.

“Sorry. I have to go.” “Her smile slunk back into itself and she slid her hands down my arms before pulling them away. “Of course. It was nice seeing you again, Martin.” “And you. I’ll see you around.” I lost sight of her in the crowd as I made my way toward the exit, with its neon sign stamping red letters in my eyes, a lure. Bodies shuffled against me and sour breath ghosted my face and sweat braised my forehead when finally I shouldered open the door and stepped into the husky chill of night.

soon after

Images swirled in my head, images and faces blending together—Rita’s breath, Gabriel’s eyes, your red hair. The lights and the colours that continued to splotch inside my eyelids and quiver across the pavement in front of me, the yellow moon, all the dark-windowed houses and dead shop signs.

he gets back to his motel and decides to look through a stack of photos he has in his suitcase that he took, most of which are of gabriel.

the end:

I shuffled through the deck of polaroids until the clock above the bed read 2:44 and the stack began to repeat itself, Gabriel Gabriel Gabriel, his face reappearing so many times throughout the stack that it began etching itself in my head again, the familiar curls, his bright eyes, his floral scent and long fingers. The lump pitted in my throat began to grow and I decided not to turn on the news, not to scour every headline for his face, like I so wanted to. It wouldn’t do me any good. It wouldn’t bring him back. I shoved the polaroids into the drawer of the side-table next to the Gideon bible with shiny golden letters, and shut the drawer.

and those are all the excerpts i have today! until the next update,

-- ava

taglist (i just have one for everything, ask to be added/removed): @flip-phones @chewingthescenery @ghostsofmemories @dallonwrites @wildswrites @annlillyjose @letsgetsquiggly @strangerays @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @teaandtypewriters @kahaaniyaa @coffeeandcalligraphy @47crayons @writing-is-a-martial-art @pepperdee @oceancold @unorganisedbookshelf @musingsbycaitlin @sunstone-iolite @femmeniism @raywritesstories @rodentwrites @cheerfulmelancholies @these-starrynights

[lou-iz-stat]

We are now 6 weeks away from the iwtv s2 premiere! And I am back for a rewatch of episode 2 of s1 in preparation for s2. I’m not going to lie this is probably my least favorite episode of s1 but that still doesn’t mean I don’t like this episode. It’s still an important episode for the greater story, it just doesn’t quite excite me as much as the rest of the episodes. And I’ll mention again that this post will have spoilers for the rest of season 1 as well as the books.

Anyways let’s watch it again!

IWTV S1 E2: After the Phantoms of Your Former Self

We start this episode with Daniel looking at the painting that Marius painted! Woah first Marius mention. This should have been obvious to us that Rashid was actually Armand when he started talking about the painting. But I guess hindsight is 20 20. Also when he talks about ‘serving a god’ I still have no idea what he means here. I mean it’s supposed to imply that he is talking about Louis but now that we know he’s Armand he must be talking about something else so hopefully we’ll find out what he meant next season. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but when Daniel is about to sit down for dinner, in the background there seem to be lots of scratches on the wall in the very back of the room. So weird…

Ok so when Louis finally enters the room he apologizes for his outburst from before and I actually have a whole other post about why I think that's interesting so check it out here

Also first ‘Memory is a monster’ mention in this episode!

‘The Farm’? As in Blackwood Farm?

Now we are back in flashback territory and we get our first rule about not drinking ‘dead blood’ which actually doesn’t kill vamps in the books it’s just uncomfortable to do so.

And in Louis turning Lestat comments ‘there’s the spark’ which to my knowledge is when someone is turned depending on how bright their spark is, is how compatible the person is with vampirism. I could be wrong but I think that’s the reason Nicki went mad was because his spark was pretty dull so he wasn’t very compatible with vampirism.

I have to say after being exposed to the vampire chronicles vampire lore all other vampire lore is just not it for me. I am currently watching these guys react to the first season of the vampire diaries on YouTube right now and that vampire lore is nowhere near giving as much as Anne Rice vampires are. All other vamps are officially nothing burgers as of now. I can’t stand any of them to be honest. Even the look of the vampires in this show is just so much better than any other vampire ever.

When they go to Mama Du Lac’s house for that party, Jacob looks so good in those sun glasses. 😍

I really love how in his vampirism Louis now has the power to take out these racist men like the lawyer. When he was human he just had to take all of these aggressions towards him but now with this power he doesn’t necessarily have to take the racism all of the time. But as we find out later his race can still hold him back even with this vampiric power he has. The writers are really able to weave in Louis’s race so seamlessly into his character and story.

For the record I still do not think Louis ate his nephew.

‘The great convergence’ plot line is something that I do not know if I like yet. I guess we’ll see.

Say what you want about Louis and Lestat’s relationship but in the beginning, for the most part, they were really sweet together. 😭

And in the scene where they go to opera it makes me free such complex emotions. I feel for Louis because he still has to deal with being black in America. And when they are in their box and Lestat looks over at Louis and can tell he is upset, his eyes just soften because he feels bad. It’s just too much! I know Louis sees this as an opportunity to manipulate him more but I really feel that Lestat really just genuinely wants him to feel better. And the way Louis looks at Lestat when he’s excited about the opera is just so cute. And then the tenor had to go and ruin all of that. *sigh*

Finally we get to Daniel talking about his first wife Alice. Louis makes a comment that he is familiar with the place that Daniel proposed to her in Paris. Could this mean something? I originally believed the Alice is Armand theory but now I don’t. I do think Alice was a real person but Daniel and Armand were probably seeing each other at the same time he was seeing Alice. I’m so excited to see s2 so we can hopefully get the truth of Daniel’s past that he is unable to remember it at the moment.

If you are still reading this thank you for sticking with me. And hopefully you will see me next week as I rewatch s1 e3.

6 MORE WEEKS Plus a new trailer on 03/31/24

[ltwharfy]

"Bob's Burgers" Season 5 Episode Ranking Rewatch (Long Post)

So, I've been rewatching "Bob's Burgers" from the beginning and ranking the episodes using the spreadsheet that @babsvibes created! If you want to know why I'm doing this or how I view the 1-5 rating scale, you can check out my Season 1 post! If you want to check out any of the other seasons, I've been using the "bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch" tag for all of them.

Now, on to Season 5:

Average (Mean) Score: 4.57

Mode (\Most Common) Ranking: 5

Ranking Breakdown: 13 5s 7 4s 1 3

Season as a whole thoughts:

I'm so amused by how similar this season's average score was to Season 4- it's only .02 less than Season 4 (the current leader)! This certainly goes along with one of my main thoughts about "Bob's Burgers", and one the things that lead to me doing this rewatch: that it has been a really consistently good show. This was just another consistently funny season.

In the first couple of seasons, I mentioned my memories of watching the show as it was new and my growth as a fan. Here's my fandom memory tied to Season 5. This was during the time that Loren Bouchard and the case were going around doing Bob's Burgers Live" performances in theaters across the country- and I was lucky enough to see them at the Chicago Theatre on March 20, 2015 (I found an email about it. I don't have the date memorized!) And that might play into the rankings for two episodes in this season and one next season. At that event, they showed a completed clip of the then-unaired "Eat, Spray, Linda", an early animatic clip of "The Hauntening", and did a partial table-read of "Housetrap". So, those three episodes would probably always be 5s in my book just for that special memory. (Although, I also think they are really great episodes!)

Some thoughts on specific episodes (and feel free to ask if you want my thoughts on an episode I didn't comment on):

"Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl": Such a fun episode! So many great songs! But what it really made me appreciate this time was Courtney's character, and the development of her relationship with Gene. It would've been so easy for them to have just made her a one-shot character, or to have kept her as being his annoying ex, like she was in the first half of this story, but the end of this episode really marks the beginning of them being friends- and I like that they went in that direction! I think Gene kind of gets the short end of the stick when it comes to friendship- we rarely see him just hanging out with his friends like Tina and her group or Louise with Rudy and the Pesto Twins. But I think his relationship with Courtney is a sweet one that I have been underrating.

"Tina and the Real Ghost": One of my favorite Halloween episodes- I love that it's so offbeat for a Halloween episode. It's not about costumes or trick or treating or frights-yeah, it's a ghost story but the ghost is a pretty obvious joke and (as Tina points out at the end) it's really a way to tell us about the characters and their wants/needs. The scene in the butterfly garden will always crack me up. And I have a cousin named Jeff, so I love Louise saying it was the dumbest name she could think of for a ghost.

"Friends With Burger-fits": If you ask me what the most important episode for Rudy's character development is, my answer wouldn't be "Carpe Museum" or "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" or "The Amazing Rudy"- it would be this episode, where we learn that he wants to be the bad boy of public radio like Elvis Mitchell. (I don't know if I am joking or not at this point.)

"Dawn of the Peck": Barely edges out "Turkey in a Can" as my favorite T-Day episode because I love Rudy and Mickey and I love the idea of them having T-Day dinner with the Belchers at the end.

"Midday Run": One of the sleeper hits of this season- I always forget how fun this one is! Just a great, fun school storyline! We learn more about Zeke and get the first reference to his crush on Tina. Rudy plays an interesting role in this episode as Tina's sidekick (and I think it's interesting that in "Fingers-loose", the next episode to focus on Tina as a hall monitor, Rudy doesn't appear to be one any more). Also, how come the fact the Bob's seen Edith naked doesn't come up more often? It just seems like it should.

"Speakeasy Rider": Another sleeper hit! I basically forgot about the existence of this episode, but it is fantastic! A great Tina and Louise in conflict plot! The introduction of Sasha! The One Eyed Snakes are back! Gus has a big role (how frickin' great is Gus?!?! I love him!) So much good stuff!

"Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise": This is a mixed review 3. There are some things I really love in this episode. "Happy Place, Crappy Place" is a banger. Bob is so cute in his English lady garden hat, talking to his plants. And the scene where Bob and Louise make up is a classic. But I'm not a huge fan of the standard Logan and Louise dynamic of trading insults and antagonizing each other- and this episode has a LOT of that. So, this episode isn't really my jam. (But I know that a lot of other people love that dynamic and love this episode, and that's awesome! As the spreadsheet says, these are just my Personal Rankings, I don't claim to be putting out objective universal truths here.)

"Can't Buy Me Math": I love the way both storylines end in this one! The bowling alley scene is hilarious, and I love Bob stripping for Linda. One of my favorite aspects of Bob and Linda's relationship is that they are both pretty average looking people (I definitely have a Bob Belcher-esque body myself) but they clearly find each other hot as fuck, and the striptease scene really epitomizes that. One of the best Boblin moments!

"Adventures in Chinchilla-sitting": A great "the kids and their friends have an adventure!" episode, and a I love those. A particular highlight of this one: Gene's jokes at Tammy's expense. "We get it, you have email!" and "You're in 8th grade? I thought you were someone's mom!" I love how all the Belcher kids zing Tammy in their own, unique style. Also, "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII wish my radio worked!"

"Housetrap": One joke I really remember cracking me up when seeing the tableread at "Bob's Burgers Live" was Linda's line about the clocks: "Spooky. They all stopped at 3:13. Oh, wait, they all moved." Not sure why that amuses me so much, but it does!

"Hawk & Chick": I actually posted when I was rewatching this one, but man, this is a fantastic episode! I honestly think it might be a top 10 or 15 episode for me. I knew it was a good, emotional Louise and Bob episode but I forgot how funny it was- Gene in particular has some good lines throughout! And I love Koji! There is just something really sweet and joyful about him; I hope they come up with a reason to bring him back for a third time!

Random Thoughts (stuff that doesn't affect the ratings):

If I thought of any random thoughts while rewatching this season, I don't remember them! So here are some memories of seeing "Bob's Burgers Live" at the Chicago Theatre:

Each of the cast members did a little standup set. I can remember a little bit from all of them except Eugene Mirman, although I do remember that he did some of the same bits from the Netflix special he had at the time ("Vegan on his Way to the Complain Store").

A Dan Mintz joke: "When I was a kid, I would always ask my parents 'who's your favorite kid?' And they would tell me 'we don't have a favorite kid' And that hurt my feelings because I was an only child."

John Roberts sang a song about how people like Linda more than him.

H. Jon Benjamin did a seemingly improvised bit holding a Walgreens bag containing a home drug test for cocaine that you can buy there.

Kristen Schaal did a bit that was, in part, a one woman show about Emily Dickinson. She also joked about attending Northwestern University in Chicago (along the lines of "So if you saw a weird girl mumbling to herself on the L back in 1998, that was me! You missed out on all this!")

There was an audience question part at the end and someone asked the cast if they would help him propose to his girlfriend. Which they not only did, but improvised a little skit about! I cannot remember the whole premise of it, but I do remember a bit where Eugene and Kristen were playing friends of the guy and girl respectively and were making fake small talk with them. Eugene to the guy: "Soooo....sports?" Kristen to the girl: "Soooo...bras?"

Well, thank you for travelling back in time to March 2015 with me! Who knows what I'll talk about in my Season 6 post! (Probably Season 6 of "Bob's Burgers"...)

[socialcarcrash]

Why do you like Hodgins so much? (I like him as well) Also, do you have any Hodgins headcanons?

Right this is gonna be so long so hang on tight:

First to preface, I strongly headcanon hodgins as trans ftm and audhd which definately influences my love for him.

To begin, when I was younger (6+) i began to watch bones and I saw myself, an undiagnosed audhd person, in hodgins so much- and not only was i full ass in love with him. I also felt understood and seen, for the first time i saw a realistic character that I could relate to in so many ways. Also he was one of my first gender envies for real!!!

Hodgins fully encompasses the autistic rage that I for sure experience and I think thats so real of him. The therapy scene between him and sweets changed everything for me, and i stopped feeling guilty for feeling so sad and angry all the time and I started to view my anger differently and instead of surpressing it i found healthier coping mechanisms.

On the subject of Hodgins so totally being autistic, I just fully think that he expresses so many of the traits I do. Most of these traits are from headcanons ive seen but then i see them again expressed in the show and it makes me happier than anyone could ever imagine. He so clearly has special interests of conspiracies and of course his entomology/botany and I also have super strong special interests that I am known for a lot! I think when you see a character on screen for the first time that you dont feel like you change anything about yourself to be more like them, and you are just them it is special! So many times have I hyperfixated on a character and changed my whole personality to be like them, but he is actually just like me!

He encourages me to try and be comfortable in myself and to openly talk about my special interests because they are part of me so I should be able to express myself! This lesson is helping me heal and become so much happier, but also helps me feel comfortable with not being okay sometimes- which is even more important.

-i think hes pretty.

STUPID HEADCANONS!!!

- his first hyperfixation was dinosaurs (me fr) and he collected the mini plastic figurines.

-huge fidgeter and never stops stimming, he legit is never is still: its seen in canon lots! (that one episode where he does push ups when he is stressed for example). He gets that whole body thing where hes gotta move!!!

-hates oliver and pickles (angela loves them both and eats his from his burgers)

-folkpunk enjoyer as a teenager, his style would have been the coolest as a way of rebelling against his parents.

- the big light is the devil. his house has lots of lamps and small lights to avoid using the big light.

-during school/uni he carried around a sketchbook that he sketched bugs in during class when he got bored, he never skipped any years or anything as he performed only just above averagely. This was because he never got the support he needed during school so he wasnt able to meet his full potential until he found his passion for entomology. This frustrated teachers so he didnt always have the best relationship with them, but he had a few that he wasnt close with, but he found comfort and support in them as he struggled through his teenage years.

INFODUMPING WOOOOOO

this is basically entirely projection but i love him.

[super-unpredictable98]

Inspired by @bisexualnathanyoung and @merrilark I'm here to give my opinions (that nobody asked for) about every single thing Rob has been in.

The Umbrella Academy: really good adaptation, Klaus is a work of art. I wish there were a billion seasons

The Last Bus: I mean... way too little Rob in it, but it was fun

Angel Dust: nice voice, bruh

Robot Chicken: nice voice, bruh. But also kinda gross

Trailer Park Boys: anyone please hook me up, I wanna watch the whole thing. I've only seen clips, love his observations about Canadian pizza

Young Offenders: love how he pulled this off even when he was sick. I live for the part about being gay and the protest scene is perfect

Mortal Engines: I like the movie even though it was way longer than it needed to be, but what the hell was that hair? Where does it say Tom needs to have 2005 pop punk hair?

Genius Picasso: Amazing, heartbreaking. Really shows the importance of oral sex. Also, please never paint a beard on Rob ever again, that was weird af

Bad Samaritan: PERFECT MOVIE, I have nothing bad to say about it

Mute: needed more Luba. This movie made me hate Paul Rudd lol we need to know what happened to Luba!!!

Song of Sway Lake: Ye old granny fucker! Love this movie, although it's a bit pretentious (sorry, Ari Gold! I love you, but you know you make things too poetic sometimes and that can rub me the wrong way)

Dicky: that was weird... that was a bit odd... love it

Geostorm: the three minutes Rob is in are masterful (I don't care what anyone says, the accent was good), the rest of it is pure shit

Three Summers: LOVE IT, but what an annoying protagonist. I'm talking about Keevy. Roland is awesome and deserves the world. Also, it did sound like Smells Like Teen Spirit!

Fortitude: what the fuck was that? This show sucks balls, why is Dennis Quaid involved in this? Vladek is hot though and I'm grateful for the full frontal nudity. Lots of people seem very disturbed by the scene, but I like it

Banshee Betty: represents very well the moment Rob was living love wise lol

Jet Trash: ugggggggggggh Lee is sexy, everyone else in this movie is fucking horrible. I hate every single character, especially Vix. Girl, get a personality. And someone please give Rob a burger, he's so thin

The Bigger Picture: it was good, nothing too special, but nice

Rideshare: CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE, does anyone know where I can find it?

The Messenger: Literally traumatized

Moonwalkers: really good, extremely funny. Love the cast, love the story, love the fake moon landing scene, love the tiger pigs

The Exchange: That was kinda cute, not gonna lie

The Road Within: PERFECT, as a person with mental health issues, I cry every single time I watch it. Fuck you, Marie, you're manipulative af. Rob did such a good and respectful job, I love it

Randumb - The Adventures of an Irish Guy in LA: omfg that was disturbing, but represents LA quite well

Anita B: love it, my Jewish heart swells with joy, especially during the Purim scene. Rob speaking Yiddish? UGH, SO HOT! He should've gotten the role of Max for The Book Thief

Love/Hate: overrated

Mortal Instruments: the only thing wrong with this movie is that there is no second one. I wanna see Simon as a vampire so bad! Iconic lines such as "I don't remember anything she'd want me to forget"

Push It: um... interesting. Lots of visuals and stuff.

Rituals: hippie fantasy and I'm living for it

In Love With...: it was cool, don't get exactly what the hell that was, but I was vibing

Immaturity For Charity: HILARIOUS! Very few times I laughed this hard

Me and Mrs. Jones: I don't care what anyone says, I love this show. Criminal what Rob did to his hair after the pilot, and Gemma is way too stupid to be a functional human, but Inca is our queen. Billy is way too charming and I can't cope

Accused: well, that was sad

The Borrowers: this movie has no business being that sexy. The scene with the motorbike? The scene with the bed? The scene in the plane? Spiller could get it and he's only five inches tall

Demons Never Die: very bad horror movie with a very bad name, but Rob was good in it

Misfits: PERFECTION! Nathan Young is the king of my heart. He can do anything to me, I wouldn't stop loving him even after he trippled himself.

Killing Bono: love the movie, love the cast, the soundtrack is immaculate (SPOTIFY, GET THE FUCKING SONGS IN THERE!), way funnier than I expected. Who tf gave Rob such a low harmony? His voice nearly disappeared.

Season of the Witch: average Nicolas Cage movie lol Kay is nice, love to see him on a horse. The ending was fucking wild. I wonder who we have to exorcise to end COVID

Coming Up - Dip: that was really good! The social commentary was actually kinda deep and relevant. I like the ending

A Turtle's Tale: Who the hell looked at Rob and thought he was the right fit for this role? I like it, but it was weird.

Red Riding Trilogy: HEARTBREAKING, I wanna give BJ a hug

Cherrybomb: love it, love the accents, very much early 2000s vibe and it makes me feel things. Luke's dad deserved better. Love the way Rob says the word tape in this

Ghostwood: um, what? Pop off I guess, baby Rob. Cool accent. Tim is how I imagine Nathan in the high school arc @seanfalco

Lowland Fell: what the hell did I just watch? What was the meaning of all that? Not a single person I know has a reasonable explanation for anything that happens in this

Rock Rivals: Guilty pleasure. Addison deserved better, they did him so wrong! I wish I could see Rob singing in this, but the boyband dances and outfits were really good

BitterSweet: needed more Rob. The neck kisses are just *chef's kiss*. Liam is such a good guy

The Summer of the Flying Saucer: I will do anything to watch this movie. I will suck any cock, fuck any ass, lick any pair of balls! PLEASE SOMEONE GET ME A COPY OF THIS MOVIE

An Créatúr: Bruh... what the fuck? Good job acting in another language and seeing Rob act as a little kid was so sweet. The big baby scene was at the same time terrifying and strangely alluring, don't know what that says about me. For legal reasons I'm not gonna comment on the scene where he's fed cake

Bel's Boys: pretty funny, love the clothes Max wears lol evil genius got defeated

The Clinic: Robbie, baby, why did you do this to your hair? At first, this looked like the beginning of a porno. Love the vulnerability of Shane and that tummy close-up was gold. They really violated his mouth there

Young Blades: King Louie is so underrated! I love him. Every scene with him is just gold. We really needed a spin-off about him finding a wife and all. Wish there was a ballet scene.

Foreign Exchange: Really good! First thing I ever saw Rob in when I was 9. You can blame this show for everything. So many good memories, it makes me feel hugged.

An Cuainín: does this short film actually exist? I never found any evidence of it lol if anyone has it, send it my way

A Dublin Story: wow, just wow. The subjects this short film touches on and the way it handles them are amazing, Rob was so young and his acting was already so powerful. He also managed to make Clocker very funny, I like it a lot.

Song For a Raggy Boy: what a pile of bricks, this movie is very very hard to watch. But it's a fun game of Spot the Rob. Lefties rise up!

The Tudors: I know his bit was cut, but boy did I spend hours watching over and over to see if I could spot him.

[valkblue]

1: among the two actual trilogies that have been made, of course.

4: Yes, you can name mandalorians. 😔

6: Marbled or not, it’s open bar today.

7: Mandalorians are not a race, it’s a creed. 😑

9: Go ahead, nerd on.

12: All Media Included.

15: ALL MEDIA INCLUDED.

Hehehehe... 🙃👍

1. movie

Of course. My fave, I'd say, it would be a tie (lol) between The Phantom Menace and The Empire Strikes Back. The first is because it holds a very special place in my heart because of how I saw it the first time (and the 345663213 times after), how my friends and I, we rushed out of school at lunch each saturday of every weeks to grab a burger and a ticket, and sit in the theatre, and then…

We knew the film by heart at some point! But it was the whole point, actually. It was magical for us…✨

As for The Empire Strikes Back, it taught me an important storytelling lesson as a child: that your heroes don't always have the upper hand, sometimes the bad guys are on top of things and put up a real challenge to the main characters, even if they still win at the end of the story.

My least fave though would sadly be Attack of the Clones… while there are some of my favourite characters and moments in it. 🤔

4. character

I better be allowed to name Mandos! Because, obviously, my fave character is Canderous. But I also like Din very much.

Which character is my least fave is a little less easy, though… I could say Jar-Jar, but I don't hate him all that much. He's just an annoying character to me. Characters I don't like usually are from media I don't like and steer clear from, so… I couldn't really say. But from those I like or even love?! Now, I have food for thoughts.

6. planet

Fave planet would be Dantooine and Naboo. I kinda like Corellia (don't say that to Ela) and Onderon (from KotOR, please…) too.

And least fave planet… Hoth. I love the cold and snowy landscapes and all but, it looks like too much there! I like the taun taun, though… I could add Telos post bombing too.

7. species

But Canderous said they were a breed appart!!!! 😲 So, clones then? 🤡… Ok, ok! I can't choose just one fave, anyway. I love Mon Calamari and Nautolan. Even Quarrens! And Bothans. And I know Kal and my babies the clones would hate me for it but… Kaminoans! 😅

Least fave, I'm sorry but Aqualish and Bith are making my skin crawl. They always did! I never watched the cantina scene as a child. Jabba is just disgusting (as a person, lol) but the Bith…?! I'm sorry, I can't. (Same goes with the Ood in Doctor Who, btw.)

9. ship

Fave ships!!! I love the LAAT/i the larty the GAR/clones gunships! 😭 And the Razor Crest definitely grew on me after a while and a few snickers. I have a few classes of freighters I like too. Like a certain Lantilian short hauler. And I know someone who's very proud of his newly acquired Gozanti… and I can understand why.

Least fave ships… Honestly, it may surprise you because how much I speak about them in Lost and Found, but I never liked the TIE fighters all that much.

But my real two least faves are the weird Jedi starship Obi-Wan is piloting in AotC, because of that dubious hyperdrive ring and how claustrophobic it looks, even compared to TIEs ans X-wings. And — unpopular opinion — Jango's Slave I. The way that thing takes off and fly like it's standing up… It hurts something in a corner of my mind, I can't explain! 🤣

12. moment/scene

Fave moment, more like moments, I'd say. Mando checking the Crest's vicinity on Arvala (the use of silences and calm ambient in this season!!!!!! 😭💖✨) Mando against the mudhorn (and almost all of episode 2, actually), Mando rampaging the safehouse to snatch the kid back + the whole scene with Pershing of course, Cara yelling 'Weapons ready!' in episode 4, Peli caring for the child and shoving Mando aside after he shot Toro, Din fist fighting Gideon's TIE… 🤣 Ok, sorry, I also like a lot of scenes in other medias of course! Shmi and Anakin saying goodbye brings tears to my eyes, when Leia hears Luke throught the Force the first time, Luke coming to 'negotiate' to Jabba's palace and when Vader yeets Palps down the shaft… Vader asking Luke to take his mask off too, and the pyre scene while everybody is celebrating. 😭💔

Also, in OG Clone Wars, Fordo and his brothers wrecking Sep forces on Muunilinst in apparent silence like the badasses they are!!! And don't get me started on Republic Commando.

Least fave moment would be in Revenge of the Sith, the whole Mustafar light saber fights between Anakin and Obi-Wan. I always found it awkward and dragging… 😫 Yes, much more than the Utapau chase.

15. line of dialogue

I'm going to stick to the media I like, because if I didn't it would be too easy to quote this and that… 🙄 So, fave line is from A New Hope, when Owen and Luke are fighting over him leaving Tatooine at the beginning.

Aunt Beru: Where are you going?!

Luke: Looks like I'm going nowhere.

This quote gets me everytime. 😔👍

Least fave, I had to think a little longer about it. There are a lot of things the Jedi say that rubs me the wrong way, and the turbo-cringe way Anakin is flirting with Padmé… But I think it would be 'Unlimited Powaaaaah'!!! 🤣 Because it kills the gravitas for me and makes me burst into laughter!!

> Ask me my fave and least fave!

[be-side-my-self]

First watch of Season 4 of Only Murders In The Building

Rewatch of ONLY Murders In The Building to prepare for season 4:

<Part I> // <Part II> // <Part III> // <Part IIII> // <Part V> // <Part VI> // <Part VII> // <Part VIII>

This is no rewatch but my new posts can also easily be blocked because I'll continue to use #OMITBRewatch as a tag. I'll also tag #OMITBS4. While quoting, I use M, O, C for the main characters.

S4 E1

I'm excited... who killed Sazz?

Those old home movies are adorable. And it shows again, how people are still recognizable even decades later.

... how sad that they didn't even go looking for Sazz?

In the intro... Howard is walking a dog? Not his cat?

What the fuck?! They did not find Sazz... :(

Again, What the fuck??

At least Charles is worried...

Funny that Mabel is now crashing at Olivers place when he crashed at her place before.

O: "Donna and Cliff have pulled their financing! For 'bail' and 'defense attorneys', some stupid shit like that!!"

Not stupid to them!

Oliver is so dramatic.

C: "Hey, I'm sorry about all this but it could be worse. All morning, I have been hearing this whistling sound. I might have a brain tumor" O: "Look, don't try to cheer me up."

Howard got a puppy! Why did he come to Charles apartment?

Awww Gravy is cute. A goldie!

Okay... did Gravy used to work as a cadaver dog?

Lmao...

Oh my god! The corpse is not there anymore but Gravy did smell the blood Mabel smelled.

That really is a bit of a bizarre scene of New York... and if it is a Godzilla movie why is it important that the one grandpa needs help with his microwave? ... is it a parody movie?

Bev Melon...

Bev is a freak.

The Brothers... yeah I can see how that is confusing.

Trina and Tawny Brothers

They don't look Identical. And... they are kind of weird.

Bev: "Oliver who we want to strangle and cuddle at the same time. And Charles, everyone's un-fun uncle with his grouchy, little turtle face. And Mabel, with your traumatized, homeless, jobless, mumbling millennial charm stuck between these two old dudes."

I think that would be the point when I jam on the breaks. Jeebus fuck, Bev.

Bev: "Oh, we don't need to do numbers. You can just have your lawyers call business affairs."

Fucking hell, Bev.

... they don't have lawyers... I assume. Mabel certainly has none.

What the fuck?

"Howdy!"

Sidney...

C: "Well, let's get into this gas guzzler"

When they are in the limo and stand up, I can't help but remember the Bob's Burgers episode in which they are told they can't do it because so many people lost their heads because of the movie "Big" with "Thomas Hanks". Nat (the limo driver) is great.

OH! Okay... the stop Oliver wanted to do was to get burgers. Of course he needs food.

What is up with all those Western motifs? What is up with that?

C: "I'm Eugene Levy?" M: "I'm Eva Longoria." Eva: "Yeah." O: "I'm... I wanna say Tim." "I am Jack Black." (???????????) O: "Ah, that's it. Yeah." "I'm not Jack Black." Bev: "Oliver, that is Zach Galifi--" O: "Oh, yes! Zach Galifragilistic, of course." Zach: "Ha! I see what you're doing. People do this. You're trying to 'Beween two Ferns' me."

... Oliver really does not know him... well neither do I... who is this? I think I've seen him before but uhm... also let me check something.

"Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an American talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis which features celebrity guests." ... I have never heard of this. Okay, I checked and I might recognize his voice as Felix Fishoeder from Bob's Burgers. And... that is probably it. I haven't even watched the Hangover movies and without the beard I did not recognize him at all.

... the age gap was creepy? Really?

The people who thought it's creepy need to check their reality.

Holy shit. Zach and Oliver do not get along. Like Zach is burning Oliver... holy shit.

Also it's amazing that Eugene is a fan of Charles. That is a fun twist.

They are equally awkward too.

Loretta!

That is actually a good advice, Eva.

Cowboys and whistling wind are motifs in this episode... maybe the season.

... omg Loretta and Oliver are so cute... and it looked like he almost asked her to marry him or something? Awww...

SCOTT BAKULA!

Okay, now I see why Sazz was also doing stunts for him. I always remember him younger.

They are breaking in.

Sirens blaring in LA is not worrysome at all.

Lester is great...

Howard: "No, it's Grave-y. Shewas a CADAVER DOG!" Called it!

And everything comes together.

So, where is the body?

The trash chute... of course.

Right in the incinerator...

Oh Sazz :(

... so how did they get on the other building to shoot Sazz and then got into the Arconia to get rid of the body?

[alkahero72]

My Honest Thoughts on AHS Asylum

It's shit, the whole thing is shit. First of all, too many subplots. way too many, the nazi, Kit and his girls, the aliens, Bloodyface, Judy, etc there's just so much and to be honest it gets really convoluted and jumbles up, Kit having 2 wives felt really pointless because what we were shown of his character up until that point he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to just bang another chick after his wife got sent to the fucking shadow realm. I also don't like Grace very much. I think she should have died when she was shown and shouldn't have randomly come back, i also have no fucking clue how she came back that string of scenes was sooo confusing i had no clue what was happening. When Kit came home to Alma he should have broken up with Grace, because why wouldn't he? Yeah i understand him letting her stay there as a friend but as a family with 3 parents? Nuh uh just feels pointless to me, in my honest opinion Grace didn't really need to be a character at all. Nazi guy, now i forgot his name cuz he's annoying as fuck but nothing came out of him being a nazi. It really didn't do anything to the plot??? It just confirmed that he was indeed the big bad when we kinda knew that already... Ok, Judy, I actually think this storyline is perfectly okay and it ties well with the main storyline of the story which is Lana and bloodyface so there isn't really anything to say about this one. No hate to Jessica Lange, she's a fantastic actor and this isn't necessarily in her control, but i feel that all her AHS character's, are the same character, they all sort of behave and act the same, excluding Constance. For one, they're all alcoholics/ used to be (Judy) and they all act extremely troubled, an old blonde woman with a dark and tragic past, this is most commonly reflected through Fiona. Now, the alien plot, again, it didn't turn into anything, there was no explanation of the events and it led to a dead end, i don't think aliens and an asylum were a good mix, because they never built upon it, it was shown as such an important plot at the beginning but then faded, and after everyone escaped Briarcliff it wasn't really brought up anymore. Onto bloodyface and Lana, while this is the main storyline there are many flaws. Lana having bloodyface's child was completely pointless, i think it was just an excuse to add more plot to the last few episodes, plus the SA scene of BF and Lana felt completely unwarranted, which ties into my next point, Shock Value. This season is just horror porn, it tries to show a lot of heavy topics such as the nazi's and the medical abuse of homosexuals. But it doesn't really do them well, the nazi subplot served no purpose and was just a huge nothing burger, along with the weird Anne Frank thing, all it did was reinforce doctor dude as a bad character, which we already knew. They are trying to shock the audience like "hey look at us our show is so dark and spooky and horror" when its just sensitive topics jumbled into one convoluted string of meaningless storylines. On a lighter note, i really enjoyed the Sister Mary Eunice plot, it tied in well with the Lana main plot with the further corruption of Briarcliff and i really think those two plots were the backbone of this season and worked well together. This brings me to my last point, the earlier seasons suffer from being too long. way. too. long. In Murder House, i just didn't know when it was gonna end, there were multiple scenes near the end of the season that i felt could have wrapped up into a nice conclusion, but it just kept going. The number and duration of episodes of season 1,2 and 4 are way longer than they needed to be. However Coven works perfectly well. I feel that Coven was an extreme improvement and i feel that the writers may have noticed the many flaws that came out of 1 and 2, but most prominently 2. Freak show is still kind of a dip down though, but it still is a vast improvement from 1 and 2. There is also just one last issue that i have to talk about, Lana. Her sudden switch-up at the end of the season really didn't make any sense to me.