#AND let me say that he solved the whole problem in the episode like expected so yes that's my hokage ✨

[rokudaimeplease]

he's been through a lot

[1rubydoodles]

stanford is autistic-coded and that really affected his relationship with fiddleford (tbob spoilers)

(I want to start off saying I’m autistic and might rant about Arthur a bit here because it’s a 10+ year strong special interest and you just have to deal with it)

“another day, another failed social interaction.” (ford, the book of bill)

“when my waitress told me the apple pie was made ‘from scratch,’ I replied, ‘incredible! I must meet the chef who created the atoms!’ She made a face like she had tasted bleach and ended her shift early.”

I read this imagining ford smiling, expecting a laugh from the waitress. I know so many autistic people who make jokes like this, it really to me doesn’t seem much different from the jokes that people do like. Taking things and shifting their meaning. The children’s show Arthur put it best in the episode “When Carl Met George” (or, “Carl and the Missing Puzzle Piece”, definitely check it out, although it was made in 2010 so it uses an outdated term and has few stereotypes)

Basically in that episode, autism was described as George crash landing on an alien planet with no instructions.

here’s some of the transcript:

“(narrator): …And even though you speak the same language, you sometimes have a hard time understanding what they mean.

Francine (as alien): Good night for a banana fight, right?

George: Um, yes? No! I don't know!”

Arthur (as alien) walks up to them wearing flippers, a tutu, a huge bow tie and a hat of whipped cream with a cherry. His outfit is absolutely ridiculous.

“(narrator): and things that seem hilarious to you…

George: (laughs)

 (narrator): ...aren't funny at all to them.

Arthur (as alien): What's he laughing at? Is it my nose?

Francine (as alien): I have no idea. You're weird!

Francine and Arthur walk off.

George: But it was a joke, right? Oh.”

this basically describes the situation perfectly. on top of that, I know of autistic men that seem like they are being aggressive or sarcastic to women when they make these jokes, most likely what happened during this dining incident. (which, honestly, women go through a lot of shit with men and I don’t blame them if they assume the worst.)

But let’s go to fidds and fords relationship. (romantic or not.)

I’ve seen so many fiddlestan posts shaming ford for what are just autistic qualities to justify their ship being superior. (ex. One post said “stan recognized when fidds was distressed unlike SOME people” in a fanfic, which is both shaming ford and pretty uncanon seeming)*

I really don’t think ford realized fidds wasn’t ok until it all fell apart. he closest he goes is basically “fidds seems jittery from the whole shapeshifter thing so we can just relax and that will fix it.” I think it’s a common autistic mentality that “if this happens I can fix it with this, and that will solve the problem.”

many people on the spectrum have logical systematic thinking and a preference for clear rules with predictable outcomes.

I think that’s the closest ford ever got to thinking that something was wrong.

I think he never realized fidds was actually going insane. All he thought was that he was going to betray him because of Bill and that black ring.

“it became clear how deeply I had hurt this man I once held so dear.”(ford, journal 3)

I really think he held onto the thought that fidds betrayed him. autistic people are also a lot of times easier to manipulate due to challenges in seeing deception, probably why bill saw him as an easy target.

but of course, fidds in the end with his big heart and amazing mind forgave ford. i’m almost positive he knew ford thought different.

and probably got fiddle𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 with him later

Edit: I should mention that the whole “I’ve seen so many fiddlestan posts shaming ford for what are just autistic qualities. (ex.“stan recognized when fidds was distressed unlike SOME people”)” is just a common type of thing I see in fiddlestan posts and fanfics. I really doubt that Stan WOULD do that, but fiddlestan shippers are a whole different breed ig. Edited again for clarity on the same thing

[acertaincritic]

Episode 9 & the season overall

MEEEEEH

Do I need to say more?

Like yes, fine, overall, it's not as bad as the previous two seasons. Overall, this was the best season since season 2.

But let's be honest, it's not some high benchmark to clear.

Structurally, this episode's problem is that it's the final episode yet it has the structure of an early-in-season episode. It solves a personal issue of Rayla and it deals out Aaravos's backstory, and it even recaps early seasons! If not for Aaravos's return in the end, this could've been the first episode of the last season. It still could've been, just move his return one episode earlier and the rest could stay the same. No reason Aaravos can't explain his backstory to Claudia after she lets him out. The whole "cast spell with love" was a bullshit excuse.

But the most prevalent issue of this whole series is its refusal to put its heroes through any meaningful trials or tribulations. Any time they have any meaningful choice to make, the story ultimately makes it so they don't have to pay the cost. Some examples:

Rayla decides to lose her hand instead of killing Ezran - Zym just breaks her hand-cutting bracelet.

Callum decides to use dark magic and regrets it - he just gets primal magic he can use with clear conscience. He arguably chooses wrong and then he's still given the good magic in reward.

That also entirely nullifies his initial choice of "use dark magic or have no magic." He just gets good magic.

Claudia kills a deer to heal Soren's legs and in the end... Nothing? She gets ugly I guess? Soren is perfectly fine, it doesn't matter that such a powerful dark magic was used on him, at most it's Claudia who bears the cost, and it's not clear what "looking ugly" really does, if anything at all.

The Dragon Mom ignores her injury and pretends she's fine - when she stops being fine she just stumbles across a healer by accident.

Or just this season:

Callum gets healed from using dark magic by a ritual. They say it's dangerous but eh, it seemed pretty easy, half an episode and done, and he's fine and has his primal magic. No cost.

Rayla thinks she'll have to choose who to save, but in the end her parents are at peace and happy to go. She doesn't really have to choose, she just goes with what the other people choose.

The Sun Queen strikes out at her brother's forces and in the end nothing happens to her lol. That whole Z plot line was ultimately a nothingburger. The big sun dragon wasn't even needed to release Aaravos. You could've entirely cut it out and just have Claudia sneak into the castle to get the egg!

And so on and so on. And it's just so tiring, because we're dangled nice stuff in front of us, like a possession arc, but then nothing happens.

Claudia just lets Aaravos out like she's intended for three full seasons. It's just dull. It's boring! It's, well, it's the definition of meh.

Guys tell me, seriously, am I the weird one? Is it weird for me that I expect the heroes to have to deal with complex issues and hard choices, and not the villains? Am I asking for too much?

Because it feels like the creators had some nice epic pictures in their heads, like Katolis burning or a big battle among the Sun Elves, but they just can't or won't commit to them. They don't write a meaningful story to accompany those pictures. All the heaviness is put on the antagonists, while the heroes, if they have any issues, typically resolve them within one episode - like the Sun Queen had a one episode long "arc," but she just had to listen to a story and she's perfect and flawless again! Callum's arc of struggling with dark magic and possession is the only such one, and it still came to an anticlimactic, easy end with the cleansing ritual.

Yes, the show can still do something with it. If I had more trust in this series and its writing, I'd say that sometime in the next season, Callum is going to use dark magic to save Rayla, breaking his promise, and then she'll be unable to kill him, breaking her promise, and they'll need to put themselves back together and come back from that.

But... I don't have any trust in this series at this point. They used false advertising in the trailer! There wasn't any scene with Callum having black eyes this season, yet they even used it as a thumbnail?

So with my zero faith in the writing of TDP, I'm presuming there will come a moment when it'll look like Callum might use dark magic again, but he'll then refuse and instead of suffering any consequences, he and others will be promptly rescued by someone, like maybe the Dragon Mom coming back during the final battle or something like that.

Because the heroes just got to choose right and they'll suffer no consequences for it. I guess the moral of the story is "just be good and things will work out on their own." In other words... "trust in God/Fate."

Amazing. That's exactly the message to teach kids, instead of "sometimes doing good is hard but it's still worthwhile" or "be smart and creative and you'll find a solution" or idk a hundred other messages this show could've had.

Like seriously, the setup where humans don't have inborn magic and elves do is such an amazing one. It could've been a story about humans outsmarting elves, about figuring out other ways to use magic, about not letting their lack of power put them down.

But nooo. Instead it's a story about those born powerful being always good and beautiful, and only a couple of them are bad apples - usually because they're deceived by one particularly bad apple. And if you're born without power (privilege, khy khy) you should just accept it and you'll be rewarded by fate/those with power.

This show is progressive?

[murainhell]

Apology Tour Spoilers!

Guys… I'm going to start by saying that I really like the episode. The songs, the return of Verosika, the way we have several conversations between the two of them even though they get nowhere because they keep not listening to the other!!! The drama. Yes, give me more. I didn't expect them to fix it quickly, so this has been what I was hoping for and more.

But I'm so annoyed by all the hate I'm seeing on twitter. I mean, one of my friends doesn't like it and we've been able to have a civil conversation about our opinions, but that website… Oh, goodness.

First of all, why are so many people hating on the poor incubus guy? What is his crime? He notices a super cute owl demon at a party, technically single since he's Blitz's new ex, and asks him to dance. Makes Stolas laugh. He steals a kiss but Stolas reacts well. I'll be honest: I would kiss Stolas too in that situation lol

I mean, yeah, I would understand if people were saying that Stolas is drunk and what about consent and such, but…. Who hasn't been out at a party and made out with someone? And they're bloody demons? I mean. Seriously, the strong reaction of hatred towards him is just because he gets in the way of Stolitz? Let's be honest, did anyone really expect them to sort it out already? This communication problem between them is going to go on for a long time. They have a lot of things to heal, themselves first, and then with each other.

Martha and Mayberry being together is also a problem for some people? We're in hell, I hope they have a good time!

"What happened to the husband? Isn't he in hell?" Honey, just because he's not in the frame doesn't mean he's not, we just don't care about him lol

"This is so toxic, they're both in hell because of each other" yes, and? Dear, Martha was a murderer and ate people, she was going to end up here anyway. Possibly the other sending hitmen after her was super hot in her book, who knows! (And personally happy to have crumbs about a cannibal, as it makes me think about Rosie and her town then, it's not such a universal thing, neither how they look or living under her protection).

Verosika, beautiful, gorgeous, I am delighted to have more information about her and the reason for her anger towards Blitz. I hope this makes people hate her a little less, jeez. Blitz needed someone to speak to him straight and it is obvious that it is after their conversation that it all sinks in.

And now about our beloved stars. Again, who expected them to solve it already? It's the next day, for God's sake! And I think exactly the same as I already said, this is not a team Stolas vs. team Blitz thing, they are both right and wrong at the same time! They have not had time to reflect and think!

I've seen many opinions from people saying they now support Stolas even more and others saying that the series now hates Blitz and the narrative is against him, giving the victory to Stolas. But, uuuh, no? I mean, it's just an episode specifically about Blitz being shitty to other people, it's something we know and it's necessary for him to see his effect on others. That doesn't mean they're proving Stolas right, we'll have more episodes to explore the whole conflict.

Stolas has his moment to talk and talk about what he wants, but he still hasn't heard what Blitz wants. He clearly doesn't know either. We'll have time for that later.

But it is so sad… Blitz doesn't know what to do, but Stolas is also looking for a relationship without knowing anything about them, he has them idealized.

And sometimes I can't help but think…. Does he really love Blitz or does he just think that because he was the first being to make him feel good? Bird boy, you urgently need to have other people in your life to know if it's Blitz that important or you've just idealized him.

"I don't even know why you would want to be with me." "I want to be someone's someone. I want to feel wanted."

That's not a conversation. No one is responding to the other (but Blitz is listening. This is the second time Stolas is not actively listening to him).

"Stolas shouldn't be kissing others if he claims to love Blitz so much" oh, right, being sad and looking for what he wants so much in others after being heartbroken (or so he thinks) invalidates the other. Fuck, too bad I can't use an expression in my native language, but I guess this is the equivalent? The quickest way to get over one man is to get under another one.

I know it's frustrating when your ship doesn't sail, but isn't it exactly these moments that make being together more rewarding later on? It's not the end of the series. It's going to be four seasons as Brandom said.

I feel like we have a series with complex characters who screw up and react quite realistically and people don't know how to digest it. Over the last years the confrontations are seen as black and white, there is always someone who is right and the other is wrong… Guys, it doesn't work like that.

My theory for now is that they won't be talking to each other for the remaining of the season. The scene of Blitz protecting Stolas? The season finale, and it's going to mark the beginning of the "you do care" but without them being together yet. The beginning of what could be a friendship, you know, the foundation of a relationship. And then, hopefully, next season or the last one will bring us the resolution.

[ben-talks-art]

I like how Digital Circus seems to be Pro-kindness

Something I really liked in this episode of Digital Circus is the way the series seems to be cementing itself as a supporter of the act of being nice to others.

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, we should always try to be nice to others, but not every series is really that good at showing why.

A lot of times, "niceness" seems to be more of a tool used to hype up the main character of a story, showing them being helpful to others and solving their problems in order to send the idea of what a great person they are and how being nice to people makes you look good.

It's a way to get us to like and root for the main lead by saying straight to our face that they're a good person, and that when you're a good person, good things will come to you, as usually happens to protagonists.

The thing is... these types of stories usually happen to disguise the fact the protagonist doesn't have much personality besides "they're nice", and having the whole "be nice and good things will come your way" makes it seems like you should be a good person not because you are helping others, but because of the reward you might receive.

One of my favorite examples of a nice character is, the classic, Goku, the dude that can manage to be friends with anyone he meets, but they never make his kindness be his entire character nor do they make it be a cause for reward.

If Goku gets rewarded in Dragon Ball it's usually because he trained hard, used clever ways to solve his problems, or placed confidence in either his own skills or in the skills of his allies or friends.

The fact he's a super chill dude is just part of his appeal, not a tool to get us on his side.

Digital Circus seems to also have found a way to be pro-niceness in a non-exploitative way.

In this case, people who are kind are rewarded with Pomni's friendship. We're not using compassion to show why the main lead is so good, we're using it to show why the other characters are so good.

In the second episode, we see how she befriends that cowboy lizard candy guy, and in this one, we see her bonding with King and showing appreciation for Ragtha, and all it took was a little bit of love from all of them.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, we get Jax, the guy who shows no interest in being nice to anyone or interest in changing the way he acts.

I think this episode finally made me realize what his role is meant to be... He's Joker from "The Killing Joke."

The same way Joker in that story was trying to seek validation for being a terrible person by trying to prove anyone could end up as him if they just had one bad day, Jax seems to be on a quest to validate his jerk-ish behavior by trying to show there is no point in trying to be a good person since their situation is hopeless.

Some sort of way of absolving himself by saying "I'm not the problem! The world is the problem! The situation is the problem! Everyone else is the problem!", in an attempt to try and justify his refusal to be a nicer person.

Which is why it was so satisfying when we reached the ending and he was expecting Pomni to have become just as cynical as him, and she never did!

Something I really want to see being done with Jax is have him go through some sort of Obito moment, have him try to hold on to this comfort zone and refuse to be friends with others, refusing to be nice, refusing to allow himself to be vulnerable and let others help, and show parallels with Pomni as she gets better and better while growing closer to the others.

I want to see the series showing that even though they're all in some sort of "digital hell" (which is kinda what many people think their lives is anyway), it doesn't mean that they should give up, be it give up on others or themselves.

It would be cool if the point was to try and escape this place, but if the point is just to say "Happiness can be anywhere if you surround yourself with people who love you and if you do your best to love them", I would be okay with that too.

I'm happy that instead of using other characters to hype up Pomni, Pomni is being used to hype up other characters. The way they interact, grow, and show more about themselves to us has all been executed in very clever and very fun ways, and I can't wait for more!

I am very excited to see which direction this show chooses to go.

[ashistired37]

Yes the nap was refreshing. Let's talk about what I think is going on with Erin!

So. Spoilers for 2-2-32!

sorry most of this is based on speculation but that's the fun of this! If you disagree or think there's something I missed I will very gladly read through it! I love theories even if they aren't mine feel free to share yours <3

Okay so I literally wrote a draft of my theory the night before so I'll summarise it.

Basically I think what's going on with Erin- atleast subconsciously is tied to the backstory theory I cooked up.

I think his soul was either very prone to elemental corruption or the elements were just too much for him to control.

I think maybe using one element like we've mostly seen him do was alright but using it for too long would cause problems. So using them would usually lead to him being bedridden or sick in some way.

Because of this he probably felt powerless in a way. Sure he could use all the elements but he can't do anything meaningful with them without injuring himself (or others depending on how out of control his powers were before the magic tats/seals)

I mean obviously he felt helpless when it comes to helping Tess. He was a child what could he say to his father to get through to him? We don't know much about his parents but from what we know his father was definitely a douche. We know Erin and Tess seem to like/respect their mother and she was probably a Soul mage but that's about it

I think the line about holding him back just meant Tess would TRY to stop him from overworking himself which probably came before the seals. Maybe he kept trying to make his magic work despite knowing how much of a toll it takes or even after he got the tattoos he probably wanted to feel useful now that he could actually use his powers safely. He had to.

This is why I think he's a good person to parallel Kendal. They're both trying to justify their existence by doing.

Kendal with saving Vash.

And Erin by solving problems.

Is it fair to him to assume he can do all that? No. This whole thing really reminds me of the first episode of I think justice league?

I know it was a DC animated show- where in the first episode they assign superman to protect the whole world and when people protest saying he doesn't have enough hands for that he reassures them he will take care of it.

Erin's kinda like Superman in this case- oh wow I never thought I'd say that. But you understand why I draw the comparison. They're both insanely powerful and taking on way more than they can in these instances.

Now I know I mostly used 2-2-30 and 31 but I had to use them so we can get to the 32 stuff.

Him saying no one can help him and that it always comes back yo him to carry the weight because nobody can catch him if he falls as hubouris it sounds it's also. Really fucking sad.

I think he probably had a lot of instances where people expected him to fix things because of how much power he has (probably his father or even fellow students of The academy but that's just a guess) so he internalised it.

"But Atlas didn't you say he probably feels like this because he feels the need to justify his existence so he doesn't feel as helpless?" yes. Because I think it's both. Things mixed together to create the awful storm that is Erin mc hubris pants.

On another tragic note he's been one of the core members for so long. Since like chapter 4-5. This guy has fought with atleast Alinua and Kendal for AWHILE now. He knows they can help but the one thing they can't help him get rid of or solve?

The dragon.

He's right. He's absolutely right but that's only if you think about directly helping. By directly getting rid of it. If you think about helping him more indirectly so he can get the help he needs? They've been doing that since they met him!

Obviously he's not thinking completely rationally if he was more level headed he could probably acknowledge this but I NEEDED to mention this.

I might add to this sometime but I am exhausted I'll see you after ANOTHER nap

[dr-futbol-blog]

Duet, Pt. 13

Next, we find McKay fiddling with some crystals back at the hangar wearing a robe over his hospital gown With Cadman no longer fighting him for control, his brain seems to function well enough to have solved the problem and he insists that they execute his plan immediately, without further trials. And it's notable that he is trying to act like Sheppard here, to trust his intuition and not think too much about what he's about to do and what all could go wrong. Sometimes, you just got to take the plunge. If Sheppard has learned to slow down and think things through from McKay, McKay has seen the benefits of spontaneity from having spent time with Sheppard.

As he makes himself ready to go through with it, we get to listen in on more (semi-)private conversation between McKay and Cadman:

Cadman: Rodney. McKay: Don't try to talk me out of this, I may very well listen. Cadman: I was just gonna say thanks. McKay: Well, you're welcome. I can honestly say that the entire experience has been very... About time!

Again we're left negative space here to fill in what ever we think McKay was about to say. Very educational? Very interesting? Or, if he were honest, very distressing? Very harrowing? Very torturous? Unique? What ever it has been, he sure is glad it's about to be over.

What ever he was about to say, he is interrupted by the arrival of Beckett, Weir and Sheppard, the latter of whom walks right up into his personal space. McKay tells them "About time!" meaning that he had expected them to come and may even have requested that they come because if this is going to be his final moment, he wants the people closest to him to be there. It is also possible he had simply expected Beckett to go and find Weir and Sheppard for the occasion. Regardless, Sheppard steps forward with his hand raised and he actually puts the hand between McKay and the machine, not intending to let him do anything rash. Sheppard references the mice, Rodney, the mice--and it's likely he is not referring to the burnt mice we saw him look at on screen but to the later test conducted by Zelenka, the very latest batch of dead mice, as Sheppard has definitely been keeping tabs on what has been happening in the hangar:

Sheppard: Hold on, Rodney! I thought all the mice died? McKay: Well, what are we, mice or men? Weir: Are you sure about this? McKay: Absolutely, yes.

This is probably the most important line in the entire episode, the key to how we are meant to interpret it. Mice or men, he says, jokingly. He's referring to the lab mice, obviously, just having quipped to Zelenka that he has no time for him to round up new mice for testing, but he is also making a reference. Now, the saying of whether one is "a man or a mouse," something or nothing, is very old but it's notable that McKay uses the plural form here, men or mice. Based on his name McKay has some Gaelic or Celtic ancestry (Scottish, Irish, Welsh) and given that (very likely) his father had given him the name Meredith, which we admittedly only learn about later, he was also probably proud of his roots. Hence, McKay had likely learned the poem of the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns, To a Mouse already in his childhood. The poem is famous for the (translated) line(s), "The best-laid schemes of mice and men / go oft awry" or "The best-laid plans of mice and men / often go awry". But while he may well be familiar with the poem, as a reference it makes little sense in this particular moment since he is not expecting his schemes to go awry but is indeed wishing that this were not the case.

There are of course a whole bunch of places where McKay may have learned the phrase. In the form of of a question, "Are we mice or are we men?" it's found in a famous Dr. Seuss comic commenting on WW II and the isolationist politics of the US before entering the theatre. With regards to McKay in particular it's interesting that the phrase here pertains to courage. Mice are timid and man is courageous in the comparison. It is taking a jab at the perceived lack of courage which would work in the context but is still an unlikely point of reference for McKay.

It's also featured in the cartoon An American Tail from 1986 about a young mouse trying to find his way back to his family. While not impossible, it's an unlikely source for his reference as he would have been an odd age to be watching cartoons.

While it isn't found in the form of a question, the comparison of mice and men is most famous from the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men, which is named after the poem. The novel is about love and sacrifice and of broken dreams, and famously contains a lot of homoerotic subtext. In fact, the two main characters George and Lennie have frequently been interpreted as lovers even though it is never explicitly stated in the text given it's publication in 1937. The book is something McKay may have read in school and even if he had never read a page of it, the title is known by most North American people, it is a shared cultural reference for McKay and Sheppard. While there is symbolism in the book, the comparison of mice and men in the title is rather self-explanatory. You are either a man or you are a mouse, and it is the choices one makes that defines this. And we see McKay in particular make the choice of not to be the mouse time and time again.

But what is really interesting is that the structure of the entire episode seems to hark back to the Steinbeck novel. We find the story beats of the narrative in the episode and given that it is a "duet," we find them there twice. Now, because Lennie is famously big and strong and kind of dangerous, it's especially easy to read Ronon as some kind of narrative mirror for him, particularly as he is not a "chatty fellow," as Weir points out. We have no reason to think that Ronon is a dumb, lumbering oaf of a man but he certainly is dangerous. Now, in the novel George tells Lennie what to do and that is basically what we find Sheppard doing the entire episode. He tells Ronon what to do and Ronon does it, and he also tries to contain Ronon's violence as he takes down a woman. Many of the story beats are there and it's also easy to see Sheppard as George, smarter than he looks.

But at the same time, Cadman tells McKay what to do throughout the episode, is in control of him and attempts to educate him in the ways of the world. And although neither Ronon nor McKay kill a woman, McKay also takes a woman down by dipping her, and he personally certainly seemed to want to turn her down. McKay and Katie talk before the incident where Ronon and Teyla have a chat after their incident, as the narratives run in reverse to one another with the mid-point roughly where Sheppard and McKay have a talk in the hallway during which McKay essentially calls Sheppard a man (cool) and himself a mouse (not cool, fine). Is it a stretch to interpret McKay as Lennie? Let me point out the fact that Sheppard very much does shoot McKay in the episode.

The description of George shooting Lennie is real interesting in this regard:

And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.

Because Sheppard did very much shoot McKay at the beginning of the episode, steadying his gun and everything:

It's almost as if though they had taken that very famous description and translated it into an alien landscape with Lennie (containing McKay) as the dart. And this, along with their search parties in the forest, happens at the beginning of the episode because they are running the narrative of the book in reverse order. The book ends here where the episode begins, and this is true especially for Sheppard-George. For McKay-Lennie, the story starts with him and Cadman being driven out of town (the lab) and ends with him being shot and taken down by the wraith beam. For Sheppard-George, the story ends with Aunt Clara (Weir) making Ronon (Lennie) his responsibility. And this what makes it a duet. The same narrative, the plot of Of Mice and Men is told in the episode twice at the same time, from back to front and from front to back with (primary) George and (primary) Lennie meeting in the middle in a chiastic arrangement:

Why do it like this? There seems to be a lampshade on why to do it like this in the novel itself:

Lennie reached for a face card and studied it, then turned it upside down and studied it. "Both ends the same," he said. "George, why is it both end's the same?" "I don't know," said George. "That's jus' the way they make 'em."

Cadman is secondary George to McKay's Lennie and Ronon is secondary Lennie to Sheppard's George. McKay says "What are we, mice or men?" placing both himself and Sheppard in the context of the novel. While in the duet they have their own separate stories, it really is the same story. Sheppard is George and McKay is Lennie.

But why is this even important? As mentioned, there's a lot of subtext in the book. There's heavy subtext. Even though it is never explicitly mentioned, it is extremely easy to read George and Lennie as lovers:

George lay back on the sand and crossed his hands under his head, and Lennie imitated him, raising his head to see whether he were doing it right. "God, you’re a lot of trouble," said George. "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl." For a moment Lennie lay quiet, and then he said hopefully, "We gonna work on a ranch, George." "Awright. You got that. But we’re gonna sleep here because I got a reason."

The fact that it has subtext is however not the important part. It's the fact that the story pertains to unattainable, broken dreams and sacrifices done out of love. That is precisely where Sheppard and McKay are at this point in the narrative. We actually saw Sheppard's broken dreams in his eyes as he looked at a (possibly) newly wed couple of Weir's office earlier. We watch McKay live through his nightmare. We can tell that both men long for the other. They ache for each other.

Furthermore, the novel is about loneliness and human connection, and in this Sheppard and McKay definitely reflect the characters. They were both lonely and alone before they met each other and then suddenly, they weren't. The way George describes them in the book might just as well describe Sheppard and McKay:

George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to." Lennie was delighted. "That’s it - that’s it. Now tell how it is with us." George went on. "With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us." Lennie broke in. "But not us! An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why."

And that's why.

Now, we see Sheppard's face initially as he rushes in to remind McKay about the dead mice but after McKay says that he's going to go through with it regardless, we see close-up shots of the concerned faces of both Beckett and Weir, but once more we don't get to see Sheppard's face in this moment. And it's very noticeable that McKay himself is trying to avoid looking Sheppard in the eye the whole time that they are here.

And this is the same old story between the two of them: McKay does not want Sheppard to read the uncertainty and fear he is actually feeling in this moment right off of his face and he foolishly thinks that as long as he doesn't look at Sheppard, he won't know. But we don't get to see Sheppard's reaction because McKay is too afraid to look at Sheppard's reaction. He told Cadman not to try to talk him out of this earlier because he just might listen, and he knows that if he just saw his own fear reflected on Sheppard's face, he might not be able to go through with this. It's not that he doesn't want to look, it's that he can't.

Part of it is fear of what he might see in his eyes, or what he might not see in his eyes that he hopes would still be there. But part of it is also guilt. McKay had been hurt by Sheppard making the decision to take off to the hive alone and without him where he would have been perfectly willing to die with him. Dying with Sheppard was infinitely preferable to all the innumerable ways to die cold and alone that he foresees in his future. But now he was here, getting ready to do something potentially leading to his death where Sheppard wouldn't be able to join him. And while he was doing this partially in service of another (to save Cadman's life) he was also doing this to save his own hide, so this was not a selfless act by any means. He felt like a hypocrite, and he just wasn't ready to see that reflected in the way Sheppard would look at him. And furthermore, Cadman herself is one of the reasons we have seen McKay avoid looking directly at Sheppard during this whole ordeal. Cadman told him that she felt how nervous and anxious McKay was when he was talking with Katie Brown, and he's been trying to avoid her getting any kind of reading on him near Sheppard by simply not looking at the man at all when they are in proximity. It's really quite noticeable how much he avoids looking at Sheppard during these scenes.

But notice that here, Sheppard has placed himself between the wraith machine and McKay. He has once more put his own body between McKay and the danger. It is again, like so many times before, obscured by the camera angles, the way the shots are framed, but it's very much what is happening here, and it's probable that McKay does not even realize it's taking place. And yet Sheppard's instinct is to put himself between McKay and the barrel of a gun, in front of McKay so that he might take the bullet on his behalf. We see Sheppard do this again and again for McKay, and only for him. And it's not a conscious decision, he doesn't think when he does it. He does it because he does not know how to do otherwise. He shields McKay with his own body because he values him more than he does his own life. He protects McKay with his body because that is what love drives him to do. These men are not friends. Because despite what people seem to think, Sheppard does not have a death wish and we have also seen many times that he has not done this for his friends.

And yet, it meant a lot to McKay that he had come. Sheppard was here even though it probably wasn't easy for him. And he knew that there would be no goodbyes. There would never be goodbyes between the two of them. What ever followed the end of life, he was certain that they would catch each other on the other side. But as much as he tries to not look at Sheppard, he does have to see him however briefly. His eyes flicker to Sheppard just as he steps in front of the machine and that is all that he will allow himself. That minute moment that is gone in the blink of an eye. Sheppard, for his part, seems to have to hold himself back by his own hand gripping his hip. We have seen him hold himself back before and and it is this, holding himself back, that gives him such an odd pose. His free hand also seems to want to rise to reach out for McKay out of its own volition so he presses it against his thigh to keep it down. Because the thing is, McKay does not have to look him in the eye for him to be able to read everything off of his face. Sheppard can easily see the terror McKay is trying to keep at bay, and his instinct upon seeing this is very much to reach out to him.

Note that Sheppard's head also turns to follow McKay as he steps in front of the machine, comes to a halt and then suddenly continues on to look at Weir (again without turning his body toward her, only turning his head). The reasons for this can only be that he either felt like he couldn't or shouldn't be looking at McKay, or wanted confirmation from Weir that this was the right thing to do, that this is something they should allow McKay to do. He exchanges a glance with Weir, and let's remember that by this time Sheppard knows that Weir knows how he feels about McKay. Weir saw how devastated he was when he thought McKay had been killed. Weir had to talk him down from a metaphoric ledge then, and it is something Sheppard is ever thankful to her for. So he is looking at her for reassurance, to give him strength to be able to witness this. Standing helpless by the sideline, Sheppard is terrified and he is looking at her to keep himself grounded.

As for McKay, as freaked out as he is, he still takes the time to try to reassure Cadman, to make the experience less frightening for her. While he is often occupied by his own thoughts and is frequently tactless, McKay does care a lot about other people. He doesn't necessarily know how to express it, but he has a big heart and he tries to take care of the people in his life just like he probably had to take care of his little sister when they were children. And so, while he has no goodbyes for Cadman either, his final thoughts are not about himself and his own fear, they are in service of another:

McKay: Just ... give me a second. Well, Laura, it's been... unique. Cadman: To say the least! McKay: Good luck to us both, right?

Having no way of appreciating the depth of the sacrifice McKay is making here for her, stepping in front of the machine not knowing he will survive the experience and allowing himself to look at the man that he loves for barely the span of the flicker of an eye, Cadman decides she has something that she needs to try out before they go through with this. And man, it's a doozy.

Continued in Pt. 14

[portlandwithyou]

Fraser/Vecchio- A Personal Reflection

Now I came to Due South on the trail of the killers of my father-- wait, no, that's not quite right. Let me try again. I came to Due South on the trail of this gif set. Eaion sold me the instant I saw it. I knew I had to see these two guys who were stuck in crevasse together.

One slight problem- the gif set is from the very end of the show and I had a daunting sixty-some-odd episodes, and a whole different partner, between me and it. It's fine, I told myself; I'll check out the first guy, see if he's worth it, and if he's not, I'll move on to the main attraction.

So I started at the beginning--and that's where I fell in with the show, the characters, and a brand new ship. These are my thoughts about the Due South pilot, written out while I re-watched the pilot.

I liked Fraser instantly. It's not hard to in those first few minutes; he's a grieving son who is searching for his father. He's sweet, he's polite, he's dedicated to justice-- literally what more could you ask for?

What I didn't expect was to like this first Ray so quickly. When he strode down to Fraser doing statute duty, shirt open, chain visible, loud mouth going, I knew I was in love.

But I hadn't yet spotted the ship on the horizon. I was simply enjoying the burgeoning friendship as we met Diefenbaker and began our investigation.

I started to see the glimmer of something in the scene where Ray find Fraser reading Bob Fraser's journal in the diner. I adore that we see Ray opening up to Fraser about his no-good father, and we get that sharp contrast between the two.

But the ship finally took form during the dinner scene. I am a complete sucker for the way the Vecchios immediately take him in as one of their own. I mean, the way Ma Vecchio says she likes him because he's polite-- does that not read like something you would say if he brought a girlfriend home?? It's so natural for Fraser to be there. It's like he was always a missing piece in Ray's life.

Just, oh gosh, the way Ray so clearly trusts Fraser (he brings him into his home!) and the way they're already falling into place makes me grin like a total fool. That's literally what I'm doing as I write this!

Then, we get to see them track down a lead together. Now, this is an integral moment in a buddy cop dynamic. They have to have some chemistry as they solve cases, and by god, Due South delivers in spades when the time comes. Fraser trying his hand at one of Ray's hunches! They're already rubbing off on each other. And Ray gets a great moment of comedy as he reacts to Fraser's first licking scene.

So here's another thing that kills me-- Ray calls them friends as they walk to the Chinatown apartment! They have an immediate connection! I'm screaming! They are meant to be together!

After they establish that they're friends, we get to see some angst—beautiful, wonderful angst. Everyone is at their lowest, and circumstances are pulling Ray and Fraser apart. Tell me this isn't just the normal 2/3rds point in a romance novel where our couple is pushed apart.

But that makes their reunion so much sweeter. Ray came all the way up to bumfuck nowhere NWT after solving a case he probably wasn't even on anymore! He was that eager to come up there and tell Fraser what he'd discovered.

And then, of course, they look you right in the eye and have Fraser ask, "Can I help you out of that?" I AM SCREAMING! Literally kicking my feet up! They know what they're doing!

Next is the big fight/chase sequence where Fraser gets to drive Ray around on a dog sled which is cute and sweet.

Special mention here of Diefenbaker, as I've mostly been glossing over his cuteness. And he's a poor baby at the end.

Finally, we have the ending. Not Ray riding off into the distance together-- I'm talking about when Fraser is standing guard outside of the consulate again, and Ray is already back prattling at his new best friend. ❤️

[cattapz037]

Ok so after a long time thinking and a very long confusing conversation with my grandma (confusing for her at least because I ended up doing a whole backstory and lore explanation), I must say I’m slightly disappointed in the Netflix ATLA. Not as disappointed as I could have been but still disappointed. They took out character traits/development, added some that weren’t needed like when Iroh straight up murdered Zhao by lighting him on fire. Sokka, Katara, and Aang barely interacted with eachother it was just Sokka and Katara most of the time and how do you expect me to believe Kataang is gonna happen when the two characters barely had any interaction like Katara and Zuko had more chemistry in the scarf scene then Katara and Aang did in all 8 episodes, this version’s starting to make me root for Zutara and I’ve never been a Zutara shipper ‘til I watched this

Never once did I see Aang waterbend not once, unless I accidentally missed it. And they took out all the filler episodes that helped the characters bond and develop. 6 characters showed up in episode 3. Why did Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee show up so early they barely did anything and all Azula did was just help Zhao, what they could have done was have them appear later (like whenever they were gonna have the s2 arc) and give them more use and then reveal that Azula was the one who helped Zhao which would give Zuko some more confliction in joining Azula or helping Aang like he had in the original s2 finale

And I wasn’t a fan of how they portrayed Bumi’s challenges. In the original they were so Aang could see things in different way to solve problems but in the adaptation it was just mainly Bumi projecting his trauma on Aang in the form of “teaching him to make hard choices” which was an interesting idea I just feel it could have been portrayed differently. And this version of “The Mad King Bumi” just feels broken instead of eccentrically crazy like the original.

And Aang didn’t have much struggle like the fight with Kyoshi in episode 2 I mean yeah sure, it was Kyoshi doing it but that’s it Kyoshi fought not Aang, Aang didn’t get to fight or at least try

Also the show kinda broke the “Show don’t tell” rule. Like the filler episodes were mentioned they said it happened but didn’t show it which I could have let slide if the main characters said it but they didn’t. And with Katara’s waterbending they say she had been practicing and showed her progress but didn’t show her working her way to reach that progress like not even in a background scene

“But the effects were decent”

I feel like there is more for me to say but I’m rather tired so that’s it for now this was part of my take on the Netflix ATLA live action. I got another post like this somewhere. I’ll probably just keep watching this show just so I can see the characters in live action

[baileypie-writes]

~My Thoughts on Wonderful Precure: Episodes 26-30~

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Episode 26 - It’s Dangerously Hot!:

This episode was just more filler.

I usually don’t mind filler episodes, as long as they’re entertaining. Though, I didn’t find this one to be.

To be honest, watching everyone act miserable because of the heat made me feel miserable as well. Especially since it’s also very hot where I am. The desert scenes and the wavy “camera” shots just made me wanna start sweating haha.

There wasn’t really a point to this episode at all. I get that it’s because it’s filler, but a lot of filler episodes still have a problem to solve. For this one, it’s just hot the whole time. The only thing they did to solve the problem was Iroha and Komugi taking walks in the early morning. Even so, poor Yuki and Mayu still have to suffer!

I do have to say though, I loved the little ship moment! Satoru is just so cute! And Mayu being his and Iroha’s number 1 shipper is just hilarious.

My Rating for This Episode:

4/10 - F

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Episode 27 - We Want to Find a Tsuchinoko!:

More unentertaining filler… goodie…

Again, I don’t really mind filler, just as long as it’s fun. But I didn’t like this one. Nothing significant happened. We did learn that Yuki’s afraid of snakes, but is that really useful for the story as a whole? No.

It was really cute to see Satoru get all excited about seeing a tsuchinoko. That was definitely the most enjoyable part of this episode.

And last thing: we got a new eyecatch! And this time, it includes Yuki and Mayu! I really like it. The colors are so nice!

My Rating for This Episode:

3/10 - F

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Episode 28 - Let’s Play at the Ohkuma Farm:

Once again, this episode was just filler. But, I actually enjoyed it this time!

It was a super cute episode with lots of funny moments. I do feel bad for Mey-Mey for what he had to go through though. Poor guy.

I don’t have much else to say about it, but, I do have the preview for the next episode to talk about!

Words cannot express how excited I am! It looks like the story is finally starting to get somewhere! Not only does Niko-sama hatch, but we get actual villains! I’ve been waiting for that! I’m really curious to what they’ll be like!

I’m not as excited about Niko-sama. It looks like she might be a Fuwa clone. But she’s cute nonetheless!

My Rating for This Episode:

6/10 - D-

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Episode 29 - Nice to Meet You, Niko-sama!:

I’ve been waiting for this episode!

Niko-sama has hatched, and she’s freaking adorable! As expected, she’s a unicorn. I was hoping she’d be a completely unique creature with a unicorn horn, but oh well. I was worried that she’d just be a copy of Fuwa from Star Twinkle Precure, but from what I’ve seen, she has a well thought out personality! She’s already made me laugh many times.

We also got some actual villains! And not only that, they look so cool! They’re definitely some of my favorite villain designs ever! Their story is really cool too! Extinct animals seeking revenge on humans is something I’ve never seen before!

Zakuro and Torame’s dynamic is pretty typical. The older one and younger one not getting along is something we’ve seen a few times before in Pretty Cure. But I’m not upset about it. I’m just excited to learn more about their personalities!

Finally, it’s officially the first time the Woderful Precure have gotten their butts kicked. And it doesn’t look like Iroha’s taken it too well. But, we’re going to get a power up next episode, so they’ll be okay!

My Rating for This Episode:

10/10 - A+

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Episode 30 - A Wonderful Castle!:

This episode was great!

First off, I’m pretty sure we got teased for Niko-sama’s human form? Her shadow flashed to the shape of a human, and it’s implied that her current form isn’t her true one. I’m super curious to what it looks like!

We also got a hint to Satoru hopefully becoming a Cure! He wants to be more helpful to the others, and feels like he isn’t doing enough. So this may be a sign! Let’s keep praying!

Another thing we got is a group transformation and pose! I’m so glad it’s back!

Also, we finally got a power up! It’s so nice to see, considering we didn’t get one last season. The outfits are so pretty, they might be my new favorite power up outfits ever! After avoiding the leaks for over a week, I’m definitely not disappointed!

Lastly, I just wanna quickly mention how hilarious it was when Niko-sama casually asked Iroha’s parents if she could stay with them. Also how quickly and easily they said yes. No questions asked, they just allowed a cute unicorn to stay in their home. I love Niko-sama haha!

My rating for this episode:

10/10 - A+

~~~~

Overall Score for These Episodes:

66% - D

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~~baileypie-writes

[lonestardust]

very insightful your previous posts from last week that explained the storytelling this season because i couldn't help feeling like there was a missing piece. Which I totally understand the fact that we can't see or have everything on TV. I'm satisfied either way but somehow I just can't help feeling like we could've had something more out of episode 5.

Oh me too I'm genuinely satisfied anyway, because IT'S TARLOS!! aka the best and only love story ever!! and also simply because we have the fandom experience that truly indulges all of our thoughts and what ifs with fics and discussions and headcanons etc.

you know i was actually just thinking of how the choice of the whole therapy thing did not fully sit right with its building blocks because it relied on the time skips to tell us about the problem but over showed trying to solve it in whole 5 minutes of therapy. this didn't really land for me even though i reallyyy enjoyed watching it! like I'd rather just cancel the therapy thing altogether over getting too much of it when the showing of the build up to getting there could've been more cogent in my opinion.

that's why i reimagine how 5x05 would've been more compelling if those opening 5 mins were divided into two scenes where it really shows Carlos being truly absent and letting the case consume him completely, and TK is so supportive and trying hard not to break down under the weight of feeling abandoned.

(excuse the messy thoughts okay) a scene where :

Carlos actually skips their plans for the night altogether, and TK who made plans for them to dine out somewhere because they haven't been able to spend time together lately, brought a gift and is all ready at home texting carlos because if they're late they're gonna miss their reservation and carlos keeps saying he'll leave work soon, TK ultimately gives up, the plans are cancelled and it's not the first time. and he's just sitting there spiraling, doesn't even change his clothes, he's utterly crushed and wants to cry because he's alone and it makes him sick like a kid to be abandoned like that and have it come from carlos, the only person that would never let TK feel that way. but he puts on a brave face when carlos finally gets home, he looks really distressed it worries TK that this is not just guilt over skipping plans again, he greets TK and makes an attempt to apologise before he goes to sit on the edge of the bed, and everything just reflects in the mood of the loft where it's barely lit like usual and the only light in their bedroom is coming from outside, carlos just folds in on himself and cries.. like truly breaks down. letting everything out, all of his pent-up strain and grief and TK rushes towards him and moves into his space and sits in front of him (like their 3x08 and 4x01 parallels) and he immediately starts comforting him in that way where he whispers to carlos his familiar strings of hey, and breathe and it's okay, and carlos' voice is broken, trying to hold back the next sob and having difficult time trying to string words into a coherent sentence

"TK.. I'm stuck. everything feels like a dead end and I don't know what else to do and- I'm sorry I'm not good enough, it's my fault for dragging this for too long because I should've solved the case long time ago but I couldn't and I just don't know- I'm so sorry I-"

"hey hey hey, breathe baby" TK pulls him to his chest then cups his face between his hands, telling him that hey no you're incredible, you're resourceful and capable but it's not easy and it's not supposed to and that's not your fault-

"I'm sorry" carlos immediately cuts him off

because this TK right here, his support, his patience feels jarring because carlos fully expected to come home to TK rightfully lashing out at him for canceling on yet another thing they planed to do together, but no, he's right here holding him and reassuring all his worries and he's so so gentle it triggers all of the guilt of the unspent love and time he should've been putting into their marriage. it drags him down to sincerely apologising and it's one of those moments where he'd call him TK by his actual name because that's when he really wants TK to knowww how he really feels

"Carlos.. it's not the first time where we end up like this, you know that. you lose yourself there for too long, it's like you're letting go of everything else we have, you make me miss you like hell, and I feel like we're already starting to drift apart"

"no please don't say that, I don't want that, I'm done making you feel this way, I'm done wasting the time i get with you, i am so sorry baby I know i haven't really been a good husband-"

"you're an incredible husband okay"

"But I'm not TK, and I'm not trying to do better, and I promise you to do better".........

and carlos begins again by suggesting that TK once told him to join him in the grief counselling meetings and that he'd love to go to one now with him..

like that's the moment in the storyline where carlos makes the promise to do better and then by the end of the episode we see the resolution of it, and we get the confirmation that they went to grief counselling or couples counselling together and it happens over them having ice cream during a night walk after dining out because carlos managed to get a table at that restaurant again, TK filling him in on all the 126 drama he's been missing or something that TK took up that carlos didn't really get to hear about how it's going..

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 167

YO PROPS TO WITCH!!!

Hm, I wonder how Leelathae writes in her diary? I mean, does she write them in just dialogue, or narrative, or what? Either she is writes in dialogue, or she described the witch pretty well for Gwen to recognize who the witch is.

I mean, I didn't expect these ingredients, but sure. Does this imply there's a cemetery near The Pastel Kingdom? Cause Leelathae isn't allowed to be far from home, right? And I doubt she would ask someone to get dirt from cemetery for her...

I wonder what Leelathae plan was? Cause she didn't get the chance to execute it since her portrait was stolen by Leland. Or maybe she did execute it while in the Plaid Kingdom?

I agree with the witch so much. The painters fr did Leelathae dirty 💀

THE WITCH WASN'T LYING. SHE DOES LOOK COOL AF. LIKE. BRO?? HOW AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO FALL IN LOVE.

Huh. How does the ingredient turn into a paint-like liquid?? None of the ingredients are liquid based. Maybe the dirt?

This whole spell thing is sick man. It's so dang cool!! I wonder if anyone notices Leelathae sparkling?? I mean, one of the maids has got to notice right?

Also I've never knew there's tea inside snickerdoodles (chai is tea, right?). Well, it's not like I've ever tried snickerdoodles, but last time I read the recipe, I don't remember tea being in the recipe. But that was years ago so it might just be my memory.

Well, the mystery of the portrait is finally solved! And yet there's another mystery.. what writing did Leelathae put behind her portrait? Yes, the diary is one of them, but there are other things too. Like those brown and green papers. I'm guessing it's a message toward her kids?

Ohh, that's why!! Leelathae was glowy because of the spell!

BRUH SO WAS IT LIKE, A MISUNDERSTANDING THIS WHOLE TIME?? I did kinda predict it in my really old post, but I was joking T_T

Something's kinda bothering me about what Leelathae said in her 3rd wish. Why is she only talking about her daughters? What about Jamie? Or is there a hidden meaning that I am not getting here? If someone would enlighten me, that would be nice.

Aw. It's actually pretty sweet when you think about how they didn't even know how to speak to each other at first, but they still fell in love with each other <3

Oh. Oohhh....okay. This doesn't justify what Leland is doing right now, but it sure give a big reason for it. Yikes. Damn. That must've hurt.

Okay okay, let me just remember the past episodes to realize all the causes here.

Leland's parents died due to tragic carriage accident (didn't a carriage accident happen more than once? Tho I can't remember to who besides Leland's parents)

His best friend, Jack, didn't arrive to Leland's parents' funeral, which is the moment he needed him the most (not Jack's fault though, since he was literally stranded in an island)

Leland obviously has a little crush on Jack, which is why it hurts him when he found out Jack brought Leelathae to Pastel Kingdom (again, not Jack's fault). I think this is where he jealousy starts, the point where Leland thinks he has to be better at every love things than Jack.

He overheard Jack saying he didn't need him, which is probably the nail in the coffin for Leland. I mean that monologue Leland has? That's kinda internal mental breakdown right there. (I gotta say, this scenario is kindaaa similar to Gwen overhearing Frederick calls her ugly. I wouldn't say it's the exact same thing of course. It's just the overhearing that makes it similar)

So! Looking at these 4 reasons, it is highly likely that Leland has some problems (no shit sherlock). HEAR ME OUT. I don't know what it is yet. I was thinking of abandonment issues, but I have yet to read much about it, so i'm not sure yet.

HAH! Glad Leelathae decided to haunt his dreams tho!

OH SHIT OH SHIT. NAH LELAND NAHHHH. HE BETTER NOT. ....well at the time i'm writing this the next episode is already out so.. guess we're gonna find out...IN THE NEXT REVIEW!!

Yeah I haven't read the episode yet lol. I bet it's gonna be chaotic though.

That's it for now, until next time.

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

[coraniaid]

I really really like Doppelgangland. It is a very fun episode. I enjoyed rewatching it a lot, just as I knew I would going into it. I understand why it's some people's favorite entry of the season and why it regularly appears in top five episode lists for the show as a whole. But.

Okay, there are some world-building and plotting issues I have with it, namely:

By all the rules established in The Wish, I don't think the Wishverse should ... you know, exist. What exactly did Giles breaking Anyanka's amulet do if it still does? It didn't send Cordelia back (she was already dead), it just ... what?

The Mayor sending vampires to kill 'our' Willow is a bit too blatantly just an excuse to give vampire!Willow some disposable henchmen (why does he not ever try again?).

Willow doubling back to the library to get the tranquilizer gun last seen in Beauty and the Beasts is a nice bit of continuity (even if it took me a second to realize that that's what she was doing) but vampire!Willow having snuck out of her own hostage situation to show up and be captured is a bit harder to justify.

But -- as I've said before -- plotting and world-building aren't Buffy's strengths and I would certainly agree with the suggestion that these are all laughably minor complaints. Pedantic nit-picking of the worst sort. Who cares? (Well, me, but.)

Much more important though, is the end of the episode, and how the problem of Willow's doppelganger is resolved. That's the part that keeps this one out of my own best-of lists.

I've touched on this a bit before (when I talked about Ted earlier, for example), but during this rewatch I've often noticed that I really do not agree with the implied moral judgements that the show is making. Last week Faith killing one person by mistake was a huge deal. Okay. This week, Buffy and Willow deliberately let a known murderer and torturer free to -- as far as they can reasonably expect, and as far as they will ever know -- willfully murder and torture countless people. How is this not far, far worse than what Faith did in Bad Girls? Do the lives of people Buffy won't ever meet just matter less? Is the show claiming that death by vampire is somehow preferable to death by stake? Is giving vampire!Willow "a choice" a meaningful action when the show's lore has, to this point, been very very clear that vampires do not have a choice (not that she shows any sign of regretting her actions anyway)?

Yes, conveniently for everyone involved (except her), vampire!Willow dies within seconds of being sent back to her home dimension and doesn't get to hurt anyone, but this surely can have little bearing on the morality of the decision to let her live and send her back in the first place. What did the Scoobies expect would happen?

(And yes, Willow not being ready to kill her evil, "kind of gay" shadow self is obviously an intentional echo of Buffy having to grapple with that choice herself later this season. I get it. And yes, it would be hard to argue that the episode would be meaningfully better if Buffy had just staked vampire!Willow at the first opportunity, and that's not what I'm suggesting should have happened. But the idea that Buffy -- who was willing to send her boyfriend to hell to save the world, and willing to stake the vampire that her old crush Ford was turned into, and who told Xander and Willow that they had no option but to kill the vampire version of their friend Jesse -- would not just spare a vampire but let it go free to kill again simply because it looked like (but was not!) her friend Willow does not sit well with me at all.)

And what's especially frustrating is that the show (to say nothing of the wider fandom) doesn't seem to even realize there's any particular problem here. Vampire!Willow isn't happy where she is, so they send her somewhere they think she will be happy, problem solved. But I really think there is something wrong with this, and it's something that will (in some form or another) become increasingly worrisome as the show goes on.

(Also, the obvious elephant in the room here is that if Willow wants to spare a vampire's life but not let it hurt people -- Willow Rosenberg the witch who successfully cast a spell to give a vampire a soul last year -- it shouldn't be hard for her to figure out a way to do just that. But then, for Buffy to work at all as a premise going forward, we all have to agree to pretend that this spell just doesn't work on vampires not called Angel, I guess.)

[burnwater13]

Grogu and the Mandalorian on the bridge of the Razor Crest. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 4, Sanctuary. Calendar from DateWorks. Caption reads: Traveling with me, that's no life for a kid. Attributed to the Mandalorian.

“It’s a good thing I’m not a kid then.”

That’s what Grogu wanted to say to the Mandalorian. Instead, he pretended that he hadn’t heard the bounty hunter chatting with Cara Dune. After all, the Mandalorian thought he was a child. Someone too young to understand what was happening to him and too vulnerable to handle the problems he was faced with on his own. Grogu didn’t really want to point out that none of that was actually true. 

He had been trained by the Jedi. He could use the Force. He’d been on the run for more than twenty five years. Yes, he’d had help along the way. Yes, life had been hard. Yes, he also missed his family. Not his mom and dad. He had no idea who they were or where they were. He missed his Jedi family. The people who’d trained him, who learned with him, who be-friended him even though he was not what anyone expected. 

He understood what was bothering the Mandalorian. The bounty hunter didn’t want to get attached. He didn’t want to have a friend and helper. He didn’t want to worry about another person. He’d done those things and it hadn’t worked out perfectly. Grogu could give him a long boring lecture on what that was like. He wouldn’t. But he was capable of that.

The Jedi had this whole thing about attachment. It had everything to do with how well or poorly balanced you were in the Force. Did your decisions and actions change too much because of who you were attached to? Would you use the Force to help them avoid problems that they should have solved in some other manner? Would you jeopardize the rest of the Jedi in the known galaxy to help the one you felt that attachment to? If the answer to any of these questions were yes, then you were at high risk of falling to the ‘Darkside’. 

That was not Grogu’s problem. While he seriously doubted that he was the last Jedi or even close to it, he also didn’t think that he was about to get attached to anyone that would put the remaining Jedi at risk. Far from it. Especially not a Mandalorian.

Mandalorians were honorable people. They followed a Creed. They stuck by each other through thick and thin. They took risks for foundlings. They had also spent a great deal of their time fighting the Jedi. It had even been a joke at the Temple. ‘How can you identify a Mandalorian? They run in where Jedi wait to tread’.  Patience was not one of their virtues and Grogu had a feeling that this Mandalorian was really no different. 

That mattered because Grogu didn’t just make friends with everyone he ever met. Far from it. He was polite. He was helpful. But he wasn’t a fool. He’d seen so many people make bad choices in who their friends were. They had taken ridiculous risks and that other person just wasn’t all they were cracked up to be. 

Take Cara Dune. The Mandalorian met her by fighting her to a draw. Literally, they had drawn weapons on each other. That was no basis for a friendship. Sure they didn’t fire those weapons and they kind of developed something like respect for each other. But she had walked away from the work that the New Republic needed her to do. She didn’t want to be a peacekeeper, even though what she described wasn’t peacekeeping. She knew that and did nothing about it. She didn’t want to work for the change she knew the galaxy needed. Some friend.

Now they had just finished taking out some Klatooinian raiders in the least sensible way possible and thought that a planet that didn’t have a star port or a big population was going to be a problem… People would come hunting for Grogu there and they didn’t want to risk it. Risk what exactly? Sorgan was large and Grogu was small. He could just live somewhere on that big watery planet that would make it very hard for those few lucky hunters to find him, let alone take him in ‘cold’. 

But the Mandalorian didn’t want to risk that. He didn’t want the other people on Sorgan to be targeted. Why did they matter to him? He was a Mandalorian, right? Except it was clear to Grogu that the bounty hunter was already attached to these people. He was already worrying about them. He was already attached to Grogu. He’d gone back to the Imps and stole him back and didn’t just drop him off on Coruscant or Chandrila. He could have. Instead, he was trying to find him someplace safe to live. 

Grogu hated to tell him, but that really meant they needed to find a different galaxy to live in. Nothing was completely safe on any planet in this galaxy and that was the risk the living took. He was just lucky that he could work with the Force and put his thumb on the balance and help people when it made sense.

It had made infinite sense to help the Mandalorian and Grogu could only hope that one day Din Djarin would figure that out. You can’t run from who you are; you could only accept yourself and live in the present. Tomorrow was too far away to worry about and there was nothing you could change about yesterday. The Force knew that and if you were in balance with the Force, well you made friends with a Mandalorian because this is the Way.

The Mandalorian speaking to Cara Dune while he watches Grogu play with the children (out of scene). Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 4, Sanctuary. Caption reads: "Traveling with me, that's no life for a kid."

[ccl-c]

some things i wanted to draw a while ago but never had the time because work has been so intense. now that s2 ended this way …

long rambling below:

i had been having a very bad feeling about the “devastating loss” and fuck it really happened (it being foreshadowed from ep1 is kind of funny but fuck).

i did enjoy the episode, and if this is the end of the show i'm good with that. ep8 isn't just about izzy's death obviously, nor is the season or the show about izzy, and i know it's a bridge season where problems are not solved, but i need a way to get over this, so.

within the episode i think the death is beautiful, but within his whole arc, for me it's the timing and david's explanations that i found kind of awkward and disappointing. it might be because the budget got cut but i think also because izzy's arc was a bit too prioritised especially if david wanted to stick to the mentor-death-in-act-two trope (izzy is my favourite character but i have been feeling the unbalance since ep3).

izzy's last speech sounded almost too early for ed's arc. letting a repressed traumatised amputated (also talented and romantic and sometimes humourous) elder apologise for what he believed half of his lifetime and die voluntarily (to some extent; i think he said “i wanna go” mostly because he knew the wound was fatal, but then why must it be fatal it was on the left side?) when he was just physically and mentally getting better is tragic but it also could have been a more satisfying death. i am very biased and very bad at literature, but i think if izzy and ed got to earnestly communicate about their relationship and past issues, if ed had more interactions with the crew to (re)build the mutual love, and maybe if besides telling ed to “just be ed” izzy really got to see it (when he's not dying), his story would be more complete and he would really be leaving at his happiest.

of course death is inevitable in life and unpredictable in piracy, of course there are tropes in tv shows, and of course it's part of the journey for the audience to feel devastated. but i read multiple interviews and the central idea just seems to be “the mentor often dies in the second act” which is valid in itself, but then s2 becomes “how can we make the most out of his last moments” (after posting this i heard that “funerals strengthen families” dropped; i'm just so disappointed i don't know what to say). honestly i was confused about how david said “let's give con all the toys he could play with” (yes if i had con in my show for one last season i'd want to let him do everything possible as well and i am grateful david did, but after all con played a side character; also it's cruel to “give him everything” while hiding the ending from him until halfway through the shooting); it's supposed to be a story and not a talent show (um). if time is too short for his ideal arc then maybe he should do fewer things but each better paced, or maybe the mentor-death-in-act-two trope needed to be adjusted, or maybe it wasn't the right trope at all.

i might be dumb but i didn't see the mentor-hero relationship before stede said blackbeard said izzy made him the captain he was, and even then i honestly thought it was mostly stede talking for ed. when david put it like that i can see little traits of it in s1, but i find the jesus-judas (jcs) dynamic much more obvious. let alone the father figure thing; didn't see it at all.

there are many ways to mark an end and for a recurring character to leave (buttons turning into a seagull was beautiful; the swede temporarily leaving to become jackie's husband was also lovely; but ivan's death mentioned by fang just looked like they had to get rid of him); ultimately what frustrates me is that it's unclear what the concept of death itself brings to izzy's arc at this point. major character “deaths” in this show is often associated with change or rebirth, and i'd expect a realistic humanly death from severe wound to also open up something new in his story or in general, even if his life ends here. maybe that's for s3. but for now he died just because their power-thirsty enemy hated him and his gorgeous speech and piracy; ed did not seem to consider the crew his family, nor did the crew seem to bother. piracy did become more about belonging though but that's not his legacy.

on a side note, letting a disabled elder (who was previously seen seriously irritating ricky) escort ricky and no one noticing ricky hid a gun? izzy was playing with fire (ha) to talk to ricky like that but at least ed and zheng and jim and jackie could have been more alert. then roach was asked to look for bandages and nothing happened afterwards? that was the guy who replanted his own arm back and who was ready to chop off lucius's finger. if he just came up to izzy's side and tried to take care of him and then izzy said “no it's too late i want to go painlessly”, or if someone said “let izzy and ed have their moment”, then okay, but having roach try to save izzy with no follow up is kind of disrespectful to roach's character.

with how much david loves izzy and con there probably was a better version of this story that didn't fully make it into the show. that said, i do work in a creative industry with various constraints in many directions; it happens that creators have intentions and priorities that the audience does not understand and vice versa, it happens that budgets got cut and what you deliver is not what you would have made in better circumstances, but when a mainstream tv show got such polarised reactions about one specific part of the story, there might be a real problem and the budget or the creative direction won't be enough to justify it.

then if all this is for izzy to be brought back in s3 i'm curious to see how it will be played out. his death was shown in such an explicit way and he even got buried on land (honestly the burial was weird and a bit creepy for me but well) it doesn't seem likely he survives again; it might be fun if he reincarnates as a creature or appears in new flashbacks, or in the gravey basket.

(also, now that izzy's dead, i hope con can share his version of the backstory of izzy's ring.)

my point is, maybe, that i think izzy's arc in s2 was so saturated and glamorous and full of potential that it felt too important to end, while the main romance and the crew's arc could have used some more time to address more context or some issues underlying since s1 for example. also lots of things weren't consistent and many interesting points were never addressed again, but i hope it's left open for s3.

but it doesn't undo what has been great about this show. the death scene itself was beautiful too, and the whole cast and crew deserve an hour-long standing ovation.

i guess it's just a bit like you went on a really fun roadtrip with a beloved friend but had an unexpected misunderstanding leading to conflict with said friend at the end of the last day. eventually you probably stay friends because you always had a good time, but you will be thinking about the conflict.

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 03

You know, I hate to say it, but this show's been pretty friggin' boring so far. I mean, the animation's excellent, and the character designs are really top-notch, but there's these long stretches where nothing actually happens. The dull parts are probably intended to make the robot battles more exciting, but Shinji kind of sucks at fighting, and this whole show seems designed to make me feel guilty about his predicament, so it's hard to enjoy the action, you know?

This one opens with Shinji doing some target practice with his Eva. Ritsuko talks him through the drills, reviewing the technical details of the unit. For example, that cable coming out of its back is a power line, because their battery technology sucks in this world. If the cable gets cut, the Eva has 5 minutes of battery life before it shuts down.

Shinji just sort of exists through these drills like he's in a trance. Ritsuko observes that he seems to go through life just doing whatever he's told.

Misato got him a cell phone when he moved in with her, and she expected him to use it a lot when he started at his new school here in Tokyo-3, but she hasn't heard it ring even once, and she suspects that he has no friends.

The two women consider the Hedgehog's dilemma: the notion that hedgehogs have trouble socializing with one another, because the closer they get the more likely that they'll hurt each other with their quills. Pretty sure that's not actually how hedgehogs work, and I'm pretty sure that's not Shinji's problem.

So far, all I really know about Shinji is that he doesn't particularly like himself very much, and he's adapted to his life in such a way where he just passively accepts everything that happens to him. I'm pretty sure this has a lot to do with the way his dad just sort of glares at him instead of interacting with him like a normal human parent.

I suppose, in theory, Shinji could find some common ground with Rei Ayanami, the other Eva pilot, but he just stares at her while she stares out the window. This is what I mean when I say this show is getting boring. Everyone just sort of keeps restating the premise. The world's in danger from these Angels, the Evas are the only thing that can stop them, and Rei and Shinji are the only ones who can pilot the Evas, so they're desperately needed, but they're also completely distant and isolated from the rest of society. This seems like a really major problem that someone should try to solve, but we're on Episode 3 and everyone just keeps staring at this mess waiting for it to clean itself up.

Let's talk about Shinji's school, because apparently that's incredibly fascinating. Yes, I sure am interested in school. Just the other day I was thinking to myself that there aren't enough animes about schools. They should make... a thousand of them, all set in schools, and everyone could wear the same clothes, even the ones that take place in the future, when you'd expect them to have come up with new social customs. Argh, fuck this.

After the battle in episodes 1 and 2, a lot of people just moved out of Tokyo-3, so it looks like the classes are nearly deserted, except there's a packed house once the classes actually begin. The teacher just happens to give a lesson on the backstory of this world. In 1999 a meteor hit Antarctica, setting off disasters and climate changes that wiped out half the human population. He doesn't get into the Angels, although if I understand correctly, the last one showed up 15 years prior to the start of this show, and the second one showed up in Episode 1. So maybe there's not much to tell.

Anyway, Shinji gets a text message on his laptop asking him to respond to rumors about him being the Eva pilot who saved the city three weeks ago. He says he is the pilot, and the whole class starts asking him questions, ignoring the teacher completely. Everyone thinks Shinji is pretty cool, even though he can't actually tell them anything about his pilot work, and he just sort of murmurs all of his dialogue like a drugged kitten.

Well, one kid doesn't like Shinji, because his sister was crushed by falling debris during the attack, and she's been hospitalized ever since. He blames the Eva pilot for fighting the Angel inside the city, and now that he knows it's Shinji, he punches the shit out of him. Shinji mutters that he didn't pilot the Eva by choice, so the kid punches him again.

Then Rei stands over him like the spectre of death and informs him that they got an emergency call. She says she's going to report for duty, but this is the last time we see her this whole episode. I'm pretty sure Rei does something in this show, but I don't understand why it's taking this long to get to that.

It's another angel and... wow. This is a serious downgrade from the last one. NERV mobilizes the Eva, which seems kind of obvious since that's literally the only thing that works. Apparently this is the fourth Angel, so the third must have been the one from Episode 1 three weeks ago, and the second must have been the one they talked about from 2000.

Misato remarks that NERV's commander, Gendo Ikari, is away, but what difference does it make? All he did the last time was stare at the monitor and smirk occasionally. I think they can manage without him.

Shinji wonders why he's still doing this when his dad's not around to see it. I get that characters don't always understand their own motivations. They're not always honest with themselves, or they act impulsively, or whatever. But I feel like if you put on a leotard to sit in the cockpit of a robot about to do battle against a giant monster, you ought to have some vague idea of why you're doing it.

Anyway, Tokyo-3 goes into battle-station mode, and Shinji engages the Angel, and... immediately goes to pieces. The Angel kicks his ass and severs his power cable, so now he's only got five minutes left before the Eva shuts off completely.

Shinji continues to take a beating, and eventually falls near his two classmates, who snuck out of the bomb shelter to see the battle. The one of the left is fascinated by this Angel/NERV conflict, and the one of the right is the kid who beat Shinji up earlier. Seeing them makes Shinji freeze up, which is impressive because I thought he was already freezing up earlier in the battle. What, is he double-freezed up now? How much does this Angel suck that it still hasn't managed to kill him?

I guess he sort of pulls it together long enough to keep the monster busy while Misato orders the hatch open so the other kids can get inside the robot with him for safety. Ritsuko objects to this, but Misato seems to be in charge, so she gets her way.

Apparently just having passengers on board the Eva can screw up its delicate interaction with the pilot, so this further disrupts Shinji's ability to defend himself. I thought he was already incapacitated from his initial fear, and then again from worrying about his classmates, and now this. Next some guy is gonna show up and stab Shinji in the throat just to make this extra difficult.

But then Shinji goes berserk just like he did in Episode 2, and he manages to kill the Angel before his battery runs out of power. So it all works out.

Three days later... Rei's still staring out that window. Thanks for coming out tonight, Rei.

Shinji hasn't been back to class since the battle, and the kid who beat him up before feels bad about it, now that he understands what Shinji's job is really like. His pal gives him Shinji's phone number to call him and apologize.

And he goes to a phone, but I'm pretty sure he chickens out for some reason. Or maybe Shinji doesn't answer. Whatever.

And that's it. Wow, that sucked. Business will probably pick up later, but I hope it doesn't take too long, because this really isn't doing it for me.

Misato does the next-episode preview segments and she promises "lots of fan service" in Episode 4. Yeesh.