#Back to the episode: once again it really shows they were running out of budget with this season���‚‚ the animation looks very suffered

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[oodlyenough]

i'm gonna wait until the whole season is out to watch but i just wanted to ask how you feel about the new dw season so far? i remember reading your reviews and commentaries back in the day so i'm happy to see you're back to talking about dw again <3

Hmmm, to be honest, so far: quite liking it, not loving it.

I am having a lot of fun watching every episode; I think Fifteen and Ruby have great friendly chemistry, they really feel like besties, and both Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson are very talented. It's, um, been a while for me since I felt like the team TARDIS were actually... friends... so this in itself is a huge improvement. It looks very sleek and glossy lol you can see where the budget is going. I've liked all three eps so far (four, if you count Christmas) to varying degrees, but not LOVED any of them. (I'm hopeful for this week's though it sounds right up my alley lol.)

I think there are some parts where you can see the downsides of modern tv though. They only have 8 episodes, which means there's much, much less of the get-to-know-you phase you used to get in the olden days of 13-ep runs. Realities of production mean you just can't do 13 hour-long sfx-heavy seasons annually anymore. As a result Fifteen and Ruby are very charming, but neither feels particularly developed yet, imo, because in a 13-ep run, after three eps you're still in early days, but in an 8-ep run, you're almost at the halfway point. They are also leaning hard into the series arc mystery stuff, which RTD always did to some extent, but with a reduced ep count we're hitting it hard every episode, rather than occasionally letting it simmer in the background. Also, I guess the transmission time got messed up -- it was supposed to start after Christmas, but got delayed til spring -- and so the "opener" is imo quite a weak episode that works as an episode 2 but is a strange choice for series premiere. I wonder how many hypothetical new fans will feel put off by it.

It's still the most fun I've had with the show in quite a long time. Once the series is over it'll be easier to say where it stands compared to the rest. Also, I really like Ncuti Gatwa, he's sooo good.

[denimbex1986]

'If last week was frantic, fast, and offering a wide open welcome mat to Doctor Who fans new and old, Wild Blue Yonder felt like a demonstration of what the show can do and has done. First half hour? Good. Second half hour? Great.

We left the Doctor and Donna – David Tennant and Catherine Tate – in a TARDIS out of control at the end of last week’s The Star Beast. Wild Blue Yonder, the middle part of the 60th anniversary trilogy of Doctor Who, initially took things from there just via, er, 1666. Bonus points if you were instantly trying to work out if we were in the territory of the bubonic plague or the Great Fire Of London when that date popped up on screen.

Turns out, neither. In a tip of the hat to how much more money the show has its disposal, it was all a set up for a gag about gravity. Respect. Russell T Davies has just told the year’s most expensive dad joke.

But, post credits, this was at its best top tier Russell T Davies Doctor Who.

It was bold early.

Wild Blue Yonder robbed the Doctor very early in the story of two of his most potent pieces of equipment: his trusty sonic screwdriver, and his TARDIS. Both gone, minutes after the majestic blue box had been belching out massive flames. I was expecting, at that stage, more fast and furious stuff. Turns out I got quite the opposite.

he first effect of taking the TARDIS away was to give some time to settle and actually spend some time with the Doctor and Donna. The pair were running around so much in the fast-paced The Star Beast last week, that stopping for a proper chat was out of the question.

Here, that was happily remedied.

In fact, the episode itself was slower, calmer and really crept up the longer it went. Like a slow moving robot going along a corridor. Doctor Who the show may have new clothes and new resources, but I like Davies established that for all that, it’s still a show where the brakes matter. When you go slower, the impact can double.

The basics: we got an apparently abandoned spaceship that itself presents mysteries, and a posh remote camera to help explore it. But for the Doctor, something unfamiliar: a lack of stars, the edge of creation, a hundred trlllion years from Earth. Where even the Time Lord hadn’t been before, and seemingly didn’t know what to expect.

A bit of licking (yep) and joshing later, and out came a dash of Everything Everywhere All At Once. Extended arms that I thought were going to be played for comedy (and there were chuckles in the episode). But Davies wrongfooted me again, continually shifting the foundations of tone: turns out that if you’re looking to come up with a really creepy foe for David Tennant to face off against, you can do a lot worse than recruit David Tennant and Catherine Tate. It took a while, but I started to get Midnight vibes from it all, and that’s a very high Who bar.

It did take me a little time to settle though, and I’m about to pen a couple of churlish paragraphs for which the internet should hate me. Deep breath, here goes.

It does seem odd to note some of the effects work on Doctor Who, given what many of us grew up with. But the future craft on which the Doctor and Donna landed looked like it was made with a computer, and it didn’t look like they were there. It’s an odd side effect of the budget of the show, and being able to consistently afford nice things: the nice things are in turn held to a higher standard.

I feel weird typing that paragraph about Doctor Who. But for a moment, and this doesn’t usually happen, it took me out of things. I was back in for the most bizarre chase sequence I’ve seen all year, mind. And I happily watched the show without murmur of complaint throughout the 1980s. I’m clearly a spoilt whingebag.

Nice tip of the hat to Thunderbirds at one point. Let me get out of this hole by recognising that.

I bring all that up because in the first half of Wild Blue Yonder I was noticing stuff like that. In the second, I was absolutely gripped. When the Doctor and Donna properly went head-to-head with the Doctor and Donna? Well, with huge applause to the two actors at the heart of it, I became more and more unnerved. In a good way.

It’s like the shoot-out in something like the classic movie For A Few Dollars More, with two people working the other out, taking turns to take shots. Metaphorical ones here, as each explains whether the other was real or not.

Loved that.

As the episode went on, just where the floor of reality sat became less and less clear. Related: the more ambiguous Wild Blue Yonder became, it all became richer. Even when David Tennant’s head basically poked out of his own arse (it didn’t, but it looked like that), I was engrossed by what was going on..

Coming up with a Doctor Who monster to really get under our skin is a challenge in itself, especially now. Having Tennant and Tate just staring, with a half grin? Well, they’ve outgunned The Meep to my eyes.

Let’s take a moment too to consider the whole Gallifrey got “complicated” aside.

It’s a brief line from the Doctor that he utters, and he ain’t bloody kidding. Like it or not, the Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who made a lot of Gallifrey (far more than Davies was ever inclined to do in his first run at Who), and anyone picking up those threads was always going to facing, well, let’s go with ‘a challenge’.

However, thrown into the mix here – although whether to believe it is a question in itself – is that the Doctor perhaps isn’t as sure of his roots as we’ve been led to believe. Might he not be from Gallifrey? Is it really possible that Davies has found something else in the character’s origin, six decades on? This is also picking up the mantle of The Timeless Child, introduced during the 13th Doctor’s era.

Will Davies choose to run with it? As the Time Lord himself once said, “time will tell. It always does”.

As much as Russell T Davies is a whizz at delivering a one-hour blockbuster episode of the show, he’s also proven he’s capable of offbeat, weird and unpredictable stories. I’m going to namecheck Midnight again, because – unexpectedly – it feels to me like an ideal companion piece for Wild Blue Yonder. Midnight-ish, on a bigger canvas, with the slowest ticking bomb Who has probably ever seen.

I thought it was terrific.

Credit too to director Tom Kingsley, and enormous applause for just how strong the work of Catherine Tate and David Tennant was here.

But the final word goes to one man: Bernard Cribbins. The last scenes that he shot for Doctor Who, just before we lost him in 2022, ended the episode. I thought that was a lovely, lovely touch. Sure, there was a massive plane above his head, but the ultimate focus was, rightly, on a much-missed actor. How fitting that the episode was dedicated to him. I can’t have been the only one with dust in my eye.

Next week, this trio of specials comes to an end with The Giggle. The trailer promises much. I’d suggest Wild Blue Yonder has set an early high bar for this latest era of Doctor Who.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to watch it again. And to tip my hat to Bernard one more time…'

[chamomeowletea]

Hi! Trigun anon here, I wanted to explain my reasoning. The first 10 to 13 or so episodes of the original anime are very very fun and follow the first two volumes of Trigun's manga pretty closely plot wise (though half of those episodes are actually just for the anime, they're fun and get you attached to the characters) after that there's a divide from both it adapting an unfinished manga and the rating shift Trigun's manga went through, so the latter half, whilst good on it's own is not the best. I recommended those episodes before Stampede though because Stampede has a lot of pacing issues in my opinion, not letting you breathe or really get attached to the characters if you're a new fan. Going back to finish the 98 anime is a fun time but not required to me, especially if you read the manga - because that latter half is once again built off the back of an unfinished story and doesn't do the story a lot of justice in my opinion (especially in regards to character choices and just the fact that they were running out of animation budget. Literally like 10 minutes of episode 21 is still frames.)

I do hope you enjoy though, and I'm glad you love Milly and Vash so far!!

i'm really enjoying it! i love the storytelling and the very 90s anime way that the show is, too. i am,,, maybe a little in love with the characters. my favorite thing so far is vash's ridiculousness vs meryl's done-with-your-shit-ness. i really appreciate everyone's guidance on this!!

[coolmaycroft]

I remeber back in the cable era I used to think getting less episodes for better production quality and tighter stories was how a better model of television should be: no lost time in meaningless episodes, no need to sit through commercials, and stories with the charcaters being more releatble, more complex, and possibilites that we wouldn't get past the censorres.

The first years of netflix it did seem like that was what would become the new model. Sure Stranger things Season 1 was only 8 episodes long but over time I had the confidence more people would flock to the service and we'd get longer seasons of shows. Sure, I wasn't expecting 20-something episode seasons but I was very confident things would settle around 15-eps.

Then the streaming wars began, all the other media companies began to pull out of netflix and try and build their own plaforms on the shakey faoundations that they would come out on top only to bleed money for years on end. After the pandemic the bills caught up, and the round of firings and budget cuts began. And all throughout we mostly stayed on 12 episodes-a-season, rarely seeing a show get more than 20.

It feels like a monkey's paw:

The shows of this era do things that shows in the cable era would sweat bullets to do. Representation, dissidence, psychological violence. Really we never would've gotten to thread this ground under the cable model. Also, no longer are only the high performing formulas getting made. We get weirds stuff that wouldn't have gotten greenlit.

But A lot of cool things also got lost in the transition. Hype used to last for about 3 months as seasons stretched more. We used to get to know characters better. there were standalone episodes about their lives, their relationships, about new characters that would only be relevant a whole seasons later. And despite shows relying on commercials and merch to stay afloat, that meant a popular show HAD to have merch and the merch would come out during the running of the show. Not to mention there were sketches, or behind-the-scenes about shows between commercials.

So... yeah, once again you get what you want and captialism makes sure that you'e dissapointed with it.

Heavily mourning the lack of beach episode

[pilvimarja]

i have such a strong (and maybe unpopular?) opinion that i need to share and you were the first blog i saw! anyways, i confess to not fully enjoying daniel's character in cobra kai. personally, i feel like the writers turned him into a pretentious, elitist person all because he's rich and has nice things...don't get me wrong, seeing him develop from a low-class teenager to a hardworking adult with a successful lifestyle is great and i'm happy that he got that arc, but i feel as though he's not even a sliver of the down-to-earth, appreciative, eager person he was in the movies. it seemed like in the show, okinawa was the only place we really saw the true lovable, humble, rough-around-the-edges jersey punk that we all know and love from the films. i could be totally wrong...sorry for rambling! let me know what you think. 😅

I don't know if your opinion is that unpopular. I've seen plenty of people in and outside of the fandom criticize Daniel's writing 😅

I'm not great at character analysis, these are just my personal thoughts, but I actually like the show's (and Ralph's) portrayal of older Daniel, for the most part. I admit that I never imagined Daniel LaRusso from the movies living the life of Daniel LaRusso from Cobra Kai, but then again, I don't know how I'd picture his life going. The writers clearly wanted to "flip the script" with Johnny living the underdog life in Reseda, but I still suspect that specific parts of Daniel's early characterization were influenced by the show's sponsors. And now that they have Netflix's much bigger budget they dropped the luxury car salesman part of Daniel's character almost completely. We only got a handful of scenes at LaRusso Auto in s4 and Daniel spent most of them out of his awful suits, helping Miguel fix his mom's car.

Growing up is rarely a straightforward, pre-determined path and people change a lot on the way. We know so little about Daniel's life between TKK3 and the pilot of Cobra Kai, so it's hard to say how he got to where he is, but I suspect he hasn't been living the Encino lifestyle for more than a few years, maybe a decade? And I have a feeling that even adult Daniel doesn't always recognize himself when he looks in the mirror. I think he does pretend and play a role, to some extent. (I mean, who doesn't?) He may have the big house in the Hills and I'm sure he enjoys the success he's had, but I think Daniel himself says that he'll always be an outsider in the circles he runs in as an adult.

Cobra Kai makes a point of avoiding the black and white "good vs bad" narrative that was popular in the 80s and no one on the show is truly good or truly bad. And I think existing "in the shades of grey" is one of the show's strengths. I see Cobra Kai era Daniel as someone who's kind of lost with himself. On the surface, his life is almost picture perfect, but inside, everything is increasingly off-balance. I have a feeling that it's been getting worse ever since Mr. Miyagi's death, and the return of Cobra Kai, Kreese and especially Terry Silver have made him feel truly lost. Even his marriage with Amanda seemed super solid in the early episodes, but it didn't take a lot to make it start to unravel.

I suspect the events of the three movies had a much bigger impact on Daniel than he ever realized. He probably tried to put it all behind himself until that Cobra Kai logo above Johnny's dojo brought it all back. I don't think he's ever really dealt with the emotional trauma of the vicious bullying he suffered first from Johnny and the Cobras, then Chozen and then Mike and his gang of goons - and worst of all, two adult men who, to be honest, shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children. And now he's finally dealing with it all at once in his 50s, poorly.

So Daniel's been making bad decisions over the course of the four seasons and "acting out-of-character" as Amanda has pointed out, and what's really tragic to me is how his attempts to love and honor Mr. Miyagi's legacy have kind of held him back as a teacher and even damaged his relationship with his own daughter. In season 4, a big part of Daniel's character arc was him going from someone who just parroted Mr. Miyagi's teachings to his own students (including Johnny) exactly how he remembered Mr. Miyagi doing it, almost like Miyagi's teachings were some kind of safe space for him, to finally remembering one of Mr. Miyagi's most important lessons: you have to choose your own way. So I don't know what season 5 will bring, but I do think we'll see a Daniel who's finally found some inner balance.

Haha, sorry this got kind of long! Daniel is my favorite character, so I have a lot of feelings about him. And he can definitely be stubborn and has a tendency to suffer from serious tunnel vision, and his flaws are often more pronounced when the narrative shifts to Johnny's corner (but we also have to remember that Johnny is an unreliable narrator, at least in the early seasons), but I personally don't see it as evidence that the creators of Cobra Kai hate him. I'm guessing you disagree with me about many of the things I brought up in this post, as do some other people in the fandom, many of whom are my friends, and that's okay, as long as we all stay polite and respect each other's views 🙂

[h50europe]

Why the myth about Steve's PTSD doesn't add up and other inconsistencies

In the last few episodes of H50, PL tried to sell us a mentally broken Steve suffering from PTSD. Only the whole thing came a bit too late. The clip you see is from season 4 and ended up - no, not in the series - but somewhere on the floor of PL's editing room. And why? after Kurtzman and Orci departed, along with their writers, PL took the helm and started turning Steve into a super-soldier. He stylized him into something that wasn't meant to be. Instead of developing the characters, PL began to incorporate more and more hair-raising action sequences into the series and then let Steve fight on the front lines. There was no mention of Steve's mental state, and a lot was explained by PL with: it just happened "offscreen." Yeah, sure. PL can't create a decent character. He can only produce stereotypes and one-dimensional beings. Like Adam. What potential would that character have had had he been turned into Five-0's antagonist? But no. So his role remained diffuse and monotonous. Sometimes even tragicomical.

Back to Steve. When SEAL Team started on CBS, PL also lapsed into SEAL mania. If someone who writes fanfiction were to produce as much garbage as this man did, he would be chased away from every writers' platform in disgrace. PL's Super SEAL also had to rescue his team members from a blazing inferno. Not man by man, no, he flew a helicopter right into the danger zone and lifted a whole cabin out of the burning jungle. If lunacy had a name, it would be PL. While the action became more and more exaggerated and unrealistic, the same happened to the protagonists. After the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, PL completely lost his mind. And please, don't blame the writers for the nonsense that was thrown at you. A series stands and falls with the showrunner. He dictates what he wants and passes it on to his staff.

And so, lovable Steve became a soulless robot who only showed feelings here and there. Danny diminished more and more into a sidekick. McDanno became a ship that drifted anchorless through a stormy sea and threatened to capsize again and again. From season 8, it became a reboot of the reboot. PL tried an ensemble show and failed more than miserably. Often the actors just stood around bored. At least that was the impression. The only highlight was episode 8.10. A feast for all McDanno fans. But even here, the outcome of "who shot Danny" was more than insubstantial.

Wait, there was something about SEALs... Oh, yes. Junior appeared on the scene and became Steve's lapdog. I really wondered when there was going to be an episode where he would fetch sticks for Steve. Luckily we had Eddie for that. And because he thought he was so clever, PL invented the episode speed dating. How many subplots can you squeeze into one episode at the same time? In some episodes, you couldn't even take a look at the bag of potato chips without losing the thread.

The case of the week became the yawn of the week. There were so many loose ends that PL then came up with something called retconning. That's what you do when you're no longer satisfied with what was once established in the series years ago, or it no longer fits. But PL went one step further and did the same with the characters. The more the series was dragged out, the more the characters deteriorated and became OOC. It means, often, they were not recognizable at all. And that's where we come to Steve. Because PL, in his desperation, didn't know what else he could do to Steve, and so he killed Joe White. He did it in such a cheesy way with a fake sunset that it made you sick.

Of course, one episode later, there had to be another gig of PL's favorite Barbie. He stuck a fake beard on poor Steve/Alex, so he couldn't even hug Danny/Scott properly. The episode also raised more questions than it answered any. And Steve? He still didn't suffer from PTSD, even though he had now lost Joe White and a fellow SEAL. Everyone is dropping like flies, except for Steve, who is standing like a rock. No matter what. He doesn't need in-depth talks with Danny, nor psychological care, nor any sleeping pills. No, he's doing great. He also opens a restaurant with Danny because apparently, the carguments are already getting on PL's nerves. Unfortunately, this plot device leads into nirvana. The idea was nice, but nobody thought it through to the end. And the merry-go-round continues. Until we get to season 10, where it gets even more absurd. Now PL is almost bombarding us with McDanno episodes, or at least it should seem that way. Oh well, he's already planning for season 11, so a new character has to come on board quickly. While in the beginning, Steve's mother, Doris, dies.

Alex was allowed to take on the subject. Of course, only under the strict eyes of PL. He then nullifies Alex's idea that Steve kills his mother. Because a good soldier and Super SEAL won't do that. Little does PL know. THAT could have been the opening of a PTSD scenario for Steve. However, apart from that, this episode would have had any potential for a multi-arc. Just imagine Steve chasing his mother across multiple episodes. Again, PL stepped in and butchered Alex's episode. You can really feel sorry for the guy. PL at his best or worse? He just can't help it. And then, on the very last meters of the series, he brings someone new, who is allowed to cruise around with Steve most of the time. Because Danny was kidnapped by Wo Fat's widow, PL also invented quite late to have some villain at his disposal. This wannabe mastermind must really have been living under a rock somewhere if she wasn't even mentioned by her husband or appeared earlier.

Because towards the end, PL obviously ran out not only of steam but also of ideas, everything culminated in a wildly illogical scenario. Steve has to live through a dramatic day with Eddie, who stands as a metaphor for Steve (as I said, PTSD was never a thing for Super SEAL), Danny bangs his brains out in a ladies' room with a complete stranger, who dies shortly after that in an accident with Danny's rental car. Apparently, there was no budget to turn the Camaro into scrap metal. Danny then also goes home alone, ignoring the incoming emergency vehicles. Everything remains open at the end of the episode. While Steve expresses his gratitude to Tani and Quinn and says, he would be just as lost as poor Eddie without the dog and all of them. The strange thing is that you never notice anything until that sentence. A few forced dialogues are supposed to make the drama visible, but they all happen way too late or are so poorly written that you miss them.

PL had decided early on to make Steve a Teflon hero. That also means he didn't need to put much substance into the character. Which you can clearly see if you compare the first three seasons to the rest of the series. But towards the end, PL wanted to turn the tide and forcefully rewrote Steve's past. There is a huge difference if you compare Steve from seasons 1 to 3 with Steve from season 10. It is only a sparse remnant of what made this character so great. This change in Steve's personality also affects his relationship with Danny. The witty, affectionate banter degenerates into a snappy, humorless bitch-fest that takes all the joy out of it.

The final two episodes could have been written for any other crime show. As mentioned, we have Cole, who even gets a book'em Cole from Steve, which can only be described as out of line. And it begs the question, was that what Lenkov originally had in mind? Danny out of the show and Cole in? Was the last episode, which mainly featured McCole, something of a test run? Did all the McDanno moments happen only to tear the two apart eventually? Was the real final scene the one where Steve and Catherine take Danny's coffin back to Jersey? Was Danny not supposed to survive? Was that the real reason Steve wanted to get out of Hawaii because he wanted to pay his respects to Danny? And would he really have returned to Hawaii later? Or would he have turned his back on Hawaii? To me, this ending is more plausible than what PL served us. Then, Steve handed over his credentials to Cole instead of Danny, his second in command. Honestly, you can't make the end of a series any more sloppy and dumber than that. And I won't even lose a word about the last 1:30 minutes because I think everything has already been said.

No PL, mission absolutely not accomplished. You created Teflon-Steve. You never wanted him to show any weakness. You turned him into a superhuman who can survive anything. Only to pull the rug out from under him on the last few meters to the finish line and spit on his legacy. How can you dismantle such a great series and its characters like you did? How much do you have to hate something to do that? In the final interviews, the showrunner didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. Everyone who grew up with the series from day one knows that its end was wrong on all the possible levels and that the showrunner is solely to blame for that. It takes a fair amount of egoism and carelessness to drive 10 years at full throttle against the wall. Not many people can do that. Whether you can be proud of that, however, I doubt.

My respect if you have made it this far. Each of you gets 10 extra brownie points for it.

[takerfoxx]

The Sandman, Season 1, Episode 4, "A Hope in Hell," First Impressions!

Sometimes, you just get it right the first time.

A Hope in Hell was a major turning point in the original comic's run. Maybe not quite to the level of The Sound of Her Wings, but it still was a major leap forward in blowing the Sandman mythos wide open and showing us just how huge it really was. Previously, there had been hints to the wider world at play, but mostly we had Dream interacting with mortal or his subjects. But here, we get to see him leave both Earth and the Dreaming to interact with some truly strange and bizarre beings, some of which have gone on to become iconic characters in their own right.

So it's only fitting that this is probably the most comic-accurate episode yet, practically word-for-word in a lot of places. Good thing too, as it is just plain awesome, probably my favorite episode yet. They really blew out the budget with this one, bringing to life something that was already visually amazing and repulsive and making it come alive, from the grotesqueness of the Gates of Hell to the massiveness of Lucifer's citadel. We even got the freakin' Suicide Forest, though I understand why they didn't explicitly name it as such, given that suicide is a more touchy subject than it once was, but if you know you know.

We also get it truly get driven home just how important our protagonist is. Like, Dream is a king, and not only a king, but someone to whom even the gods mind their manners around, to whom even Lucifer himself (or themselves I guess, as we're highlighting Angels' sexlessness again) is polite and hospitable toward, even when trying to screw Dream over. Dream has existed since life began, embodying a crucial aspect of existence and taking his duties as such very seriously. As such, he expects the respect and deference due to him as one of the Endless, and will not tolerate insolence. You don't see that in a lot of protagonists, so it's refreshing.

But at the same time, we also got to meet someone who would become just as much of a comic rockstar as he is, one of the few people more powerful than Dream, and who would go on to cause him a great amount of trouble. Lucifer friggin' Morningstar.

I really like this back to basics take on Lucifer. The character has certainly seen a lot of evolution since Preludes and Nocturnes, throughout The Sandman itself to the series by Mike Carey to the tv show. I'm pretty sure it was tempting to pluck that take on Lucifer out and have him interact with Dream. Instead, they wound things back and present them as they were originally: a beautiful, androgynous being who was clearly an Angel, but with a Devil's wings, and one who just radiates menace. Lucifer towers over the already very tall Dream, and everything they do is filled with danger. Though the part of me that lives for stupid fandom drama is really hoping that we get to Season of Mists and someone who has only seen the Lucifer Tv Show gets all upset that The Sandman ripped off Lucifer by having them quit hell to run a nightclub. With Mazikeen, no less! Also, I just wanna see Gwendoline Christie in a suit playing the piano.

And speaking of keeping things comic-accurate, hello there, Nada! Gee, I wonder if she will be important later! Kudos to Ernest Kingsley Junior for nailing Dream's mannerisms as Nada's vision of Dream, further driving home how he changes depending on who is perceiving him.

Also, it drives home for everyone just how much of a petty bitch Dream can be. Like, we've seen it hints of it before, but now if you didn't already know, this guy sent a woman to Hell for ten thousand years just because she offended his pride by refusing his advances. After said advances wiped out her people. So yeah.

There were a few things changed though, such as Lucifer battling Dream instead of Choronzon, which was thematically appropriate, since Lucifer is the one making trouble for Dream later. I was half-expecting Choronzon to be cut entirely, but since he was here, I'm thinking they're saving him in case we do get Season of Mists. The battle itself absolutely kicked ass, though. Like, we got mentions of Dream feeling whatever his opponent shifted to, but actually see the wounds crop up all over him and Lucifer really drove home the stakes at play. And I did feel like Bart's class egging him on to say the line as I waited for Dream to go, "I am hope." RIP.

I do miss the swanky faux-jazz club of the original. Oh well.

Squatterbloat did get a major glow-up and upgrade, as I guess Etrigan wasn't someone they felt like fighting to secure the right to. Understandable, but it would have been really funny for newcomers to start wondering why some demon wearing a 70's superhero outfit showed up. They kept the rhyming though, so that's good.

But majorly, now we have Matthew along, which is a welcome addition, as originally I don't think he showed up until Doll's House. Here, he acts as an audience surrogate, someone for Dream to give exposition to since we no longer have narration, as well as give the appropriate reactions to all the fucked up shit happening around him, as well to just say what we're all thinking when confronted with the Nada thing. Yes, Matthew. Dream did send that woman to Hell. Because he's a petty bitch.

But perhaps the biggest change takes place not in Hell, but on Earth, with John Dee hitching a ride with Rosemary. Here, the part with her giving him a ride to the ruby and them forming something of a connection is the same, but it plays out almost opposite of how it was before. Before, he was a naked weirdo to hijacks her car at gunpoint, leading her to freak out and threaten him, but later calm down, start talking to him, until the two form a strange friendship, making his murder of her all the more shocking. Here, he's not naked (thank goodness), and she volunteers to give him a ride because he seems like some poor, harmless man in need of help, only to grow more and more concerned over the course of their conversation, realizing just how much trouble she was in, and actually try to call the police on him, leading to what happened to that poor gas station attendant. However, despite having more reason than his comic counterpart, given that she broke his cardinal rule of lying, he instead not only spares her, but gives her his amulet of protection. That was interesting, and adds a new wrinkle to an already fascinating take on the character.

Speaking of which, I am VERY much looking forward to the next episode, because if I'm not mistaken, it's time for the diner, which is one of the most viscerally horrifying parts of the whole series! And judging by the responses I've seen from people who've already seen it, that much has stayed true! Fuck me up, Daddy!

[bukojuiice]

the wedding booth  — eren jaeger

ೃ pairing: (eren jaeger x  fem! reader)

ೃ after being unwillingly dragged to plan and create a wedding booth for your first university festival, eren accompanies you to a bridal boutique. there, he contemplates about the future and all of the cheesy romantic stuff he wants to do with you.

ೃ genre and warnings: college au, lots and lots of fluff!

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My Big Fat Greek Wedding, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Wedding Planner, Wedding Crashers... hell, even Mamma Mia.

If having to be forced to watch these romantic comedies about weddings doesn't give you the sudden urge to get hitched and run away to some tropical island, then you don't know what will.

For your very first uni fair at Shigashina University, your friends had proposed a Marriage booth. To be more specific, three of your friends did. Jean, Sasha, and Connie are the masterminds behind this stupid idea and it's all because of three things:

1. Jean is pining over Mikasa so so bad. So many years have passed and yet he still hasn't found a way to confess. And so, due to his pompous ass binge-watching stupid rom-coms recently, he thinks that if "fake dating" can bring two people together, then having a fake wedding with his unrequited crush of 12 years could finally make her fall for him too. He wants the booth to be as iconic as a wedding straight out of Las Vegas. Problem is, he's never been to Las Vegas, and his terribly unrealistic basis for wanting it to be as iconic as a "Las Vegas Wedding" is that one scene from The Hangover and that episode from Friends.

He was delusional and yet, he wanted to push through with this proposal no matter what. Nothing was going to stop him... not unless it was one of the three seniors whom you would be proposing this project to in the first place.

2. Sasha's goals are much normal. A bit odd, but still normal and not as desperate as Jean's. All she wants is to get Ymir, the captain of the school's soccer team to confess to Historia, the freshman Bio-Chemistry student who works part-time as a library assistant (and whom everyone secretly fawns over for. she's just that damn cute.) However, the real reason as to why she helped [rp[pse this stupid marriage booth to get them to finally confess to each other is anyone's guess.

3. Connie thinks he's gonna get clout from this. Rise up the university hierarchy perhaps? He's treating the entire festival like it's high school all over again. He prays that the marriage booth will become the hottest thing in the festival, then he'll instantly become that cool and bad-ass freshie whom everyone wants to be friends with. Either way, if the booth is going to be a success or not, you know for a fact he's never going to be a part of the "cool kids" (good lord, can you believe people still use that term in college?) and he's gonna be stuck with you and your other friends for the rest of the years to come.

It didn't take long before they finally finished their elaborate PowerPoint Presentation (despite Connie insisting that Powerpoint is boring) that they were going to pitch to three of the principal members of the student council. Namely, Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman, and Hange Zoe.

It was gonna be an automatic no for Levi, obviously. Nothing could ever get past that man. But if they can somehow convince Erwin and most especially Hange to get on board with their stupid scheme, then the booth was good to go.

Now, here you are, in a bridal boutique. Purchasing some simple wedding dresses that will serve as your rent-a-dress service for the Marriage booth.

It wasn't originally a part of the plan. Not at all.

However, Hange would only approve of the project IF the wedding booth was going to be made into something more elaborate and memorable. They didn't want something as simple as printing out fake marriage contracts, cheap tulle fabric wedding veils, fake plastic bouquets, and wedding pictures that came out of a polaroid camera.

Oh no no no. They wanted it to be extravagant. The cream of the crop. The absolute bomb. The best booth at the festival.

Hange saw potential in the idea and with an approved budget by the student council, you could make anyone's wedding dreams come true.

 Fast forward to a week before the event, you are currently on a shopping spree with Armin, Mikasa, and your boyfriend, Eren (because Sasha insisted he had the right proportions for the rental groom outfits. She totally did not ask him to come along so that he can see you try on wedding gowns.) to buy supplies, props, decorations, and everything else needed.

"(Y/N), we'll meet you and Eren at the bridal boutique, okay?" Armin proclaims, looking at the time on his wristwatch and struggling to balance the shopping bags on his other hand.  Mikasa notices how much he's been struggling and offers to hold the bags for him.

"Sure! Don't forget about the list that Jean sent!" You shout back, turning to Eren as his fingers interlace with yours, making your merry way to the boutique whilst Armin and Mikasa go off the other direction.

"Don't get too excited." You joke, nudging Eren on the arm. "I'll just be trying on these dresses for the booth."

There's a particular glimmer in Eren's emerald eyes, chuckling at your quip. "Sheesh. Did you really have to remind me? Of course I know that. Besides, we're too young to even think about marriage right now. What's important is that I'm spending the best years of my life with you."

"Eren Grisha Jaeger, it is too damn early for you to make me a blushing pile of mess with your flirty comebacks." You deadpan, the heat rising up your cheeks as you try to hide your embarrassment from him.

The both of you laugh it off, shuffling into the store. The chiming bells of the shop door echo around the area as you look in awe at the luxurious dresses occupying every available space. The wafting smell of a vanilla pinecone scent and the soft sound of a sewing machine doing its work. There was a homey and rustic feel to this boutique that made you feel like you were sent back in time.

From great flouncy pieces adorned in layers of lace that rolled like ocean waves to more humble designs, albeit of the finest cloth.

This plethora of finery- reminds you strongly of the many genteel ladies depicted in those books and historic romances you used to read and watch. Like that of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility.

Having the opportunity to enter a boutique such as this was a dream.

"Welcome! May I help you find anything?" A seamstress appears from the register. She looks at you from head to toe, as if trying to guess your measurements.

"W-we're looking for wedding dresses. Anything within the 200 to 300 dollar range? We don't need anything extra fancy, though! We'll just be needing them-"

Her eyes shift from you to Eren like she's suddenly a love coach, sizing the two of you up. "Yes, yes, young love! How sweet!" She chirps, breathing out a dreamy sigh. "Of course! For couples on a tight budget, we have-"

"We're looking for wedding dresses that can be used as costumes! Not too short and not too long either. W-we're not getting married or anything." You dismiss the seamstress with a wave of your hand. "I'm sorry if you thought of it that way..."

Although her shoulders visibly drop, the saleswoman still manages to smile. "Oh! I would like to apologize for assuming anything too!"

"Actually, mam, we do have plans sometime in the future." Eren grins cheekily, pulling you close to him. "Not today, of course, but we'll make sure to drop by in a few years!"

The saleslady's eyes lit up at Eren's vow. "Over here are some of our best-selling pieces! Ones that will certainly attract the eye of any groom!" She beckons you over to some mannequins lined up in the middle of the store, your gaze is drawn to the myriad of dresses on display as you walk throughout the space.

You turn back to Eren, studying him closely as he walks a few paces behind you, you thoughtfully wonder if the dresses you would pick out would match his taste.

She leads you to the back of the store to show the other garments and dresses embroidered with simplicity and yet elegance. You then pick two gowns up from their respective racks, satisfied with your purchase and making a beeline to the register to pay. However, the seamstress stops you from your tracks.

"How about this one, dear?"

You turn your attention to her, doe-eyed and curious as to what she was going to show you next.

"It is indeed a wedding dress, although not what you had asked for, the handsome young man did say something about your marriage plans. Perhaps this might help you visualize it? Give you an idea for the future, hm?" She hums wistfully, drawing your attention to the mannequin she placed in front of you. "It would be a shame if you left the boutique without trying anything on."

"(Y/N)?" You hear Eren's husky voice call out for you from the front of the store, "Armin just texted me. They can't find a specific prop in the crafts store so we might have to wait a bit longer for them."

"Okay! We can spare more time in the boutique, anyways." You answer back,  before turning your attention to the seamstress once more.

"Alright. I think I'll try it on then."

"Trying it on" turned out to be more than you had imagined. You thought you could just slip inside the dress and show it off. But nope. You needed a few adjustments to dress, adornments in your hair, and had to wear a wedding veil.

It was almost as if you were actually preparing to be wed.

"Good sir, your lovely missus is ready!" Yup, even the words of the seamstress made you feel like you were living in the 17th century right now. Did she really have to use such fancy words?

"Please, watch your step." The seamstress takes your hand and leads you out of the dressing room and right towards—

Eren who had been waiting in the shop proper.

"Doesn't she look beautiful?" She giggles, glancing at Eren for a response. "Well, I'll leave the two of you here first and bring the dresses you've chosen to the cash register first." In a wink, she's gone and had disappeared into the back almost before the words left her mouth.

The unfamiliar yet elegant garb makes you feel shy and the fact that Eren was gaping at you did not help at all. He was absolutely entranced by your beauty.

You unconsciously lower your head, tucking a strand of hair beneath your ear, unable to bear the thought.

"God, you're not just beautiful. Y-you look breathtaking."

He says in a barely audible whisper, pulling you to him once more.

Placing his hands on your waist, Eren plants a soft, tender kiss on your chest, the low-cut dress affording it easily. In a heartbeat, you feel your cheeks grow hot.

"Heh. Guess I got you again." He grins wolfishly, still admiring your beauty and tracing circles on the back of your hand. "I-I don't deserve you... I really don't."

"If you didn't deserve me, would you be here right now?" You say jokingly, raising your eyebrow.

"I mean it." He buries his face on the hem of your dress, his voice is muffled and soothing. "I can't believe you chose to love me." He looks up at you, eyes practically welling up with tears. "God, I honestly can't believe I'm crying right now, but, yeah... I am. That's how much I love you and how much I want to marry you right now."

You giggle at the expression your boyfriend has shown before you, stroking his hair and burying your fingers into his long brunette locks. "I love you too. But... why so sudden? You already told the saleswoman that we'll be back in a few years. She'd be surprised to hear you change your mind so easily."

"Well, if that's the case, then I better tell Jean to have us first on the list of the wedding booth then. We worked our asses off for this, might as well be the first to be blessed with the luck of that stupid booth."

You giggle once more as he continues to hold you so close. You feel his breath and his heartbeat. Each exhale and pulse brings you to the realization that Eren is the one. The man you want to be with for the rest of your life. The man who will help you through all your faults and mistakes, your burdens and troubles, through all the ups and downs... he will be there.

Just as you will be for him.

Guess those stupid movies centered around weddings weren’t so bad after all

.taglist: @crapimahuman​

[yn-x-animeboy]

Jungkook x y/n (as a famous artist) Pt.3

sinopsis: You are a popular artist in America, pretty famous, loved and well-known by the general public (actually you were one of the top 10 artists in the world but you are pretty humble and naïve to realize your popularity), one day during one of your fan meets you talk about how much you love BTS, and not only how you wish to meet them and work with them but how Jungkook is one of your celebrity crushes. During the meet you fangirled with other ARMYs in the crowd; video clips of you fangirling and talking about BTS at your meet where posted and reposted all over social media. This obviously broke the internet because you were not only a famous singer but you also were always accepted and loved by ARMY and this made a lot of people happy. Suddenly it felt like everyone wanted you to meet the seven handsome and talented idols and collaborate, but you could only wish, you believed they didn't even know who you were...or so you thought

pairing: reader x Jungkook

genre: fluff, romance, for entertainment purposes

BTS x Fem Reader

Parts: 1 here & 2 here

---

Part: 3 - The Jimmy Fallon Show

A couple of months have passed since your fan meet episode went viral and since BTS saw the video too. A lot has happened since then tbh, you kept working hard, you just put out your 5th studio album which is doing amazing in the charts, it reached no.1 for album of the year and 3 of your songs stand in the first places amongst other artists on the top 100 songs as well. BTS have also been working on music and projects, not a lot of time for you all. 

Even though it has been a long time since your ‘fan meet’ episode was aired  the media still brings up your episode highlights where you talk about BTS, it is not another really, it doesn't seem to affect you. Neither you or BTS have openly spoken about this to the general public, to them, it seemed like a cute exchange between you and your fans where they got ‘close and personal’. The only difference now is that your fans and ARMYs now have a ship name for you and Jungkook, and they still wish their ship could sail someday….

Thanks to the success your album has had in the short time it was published, you have been invited to multiple talk-shows to promote your new music and to basically catch up with the media. As an artist the whole publicity thing is important for your team and company. Even though it can be hard to ‘do press’ as a celebrity, you enjoy it and always do your best for your supporters. Your fans and everyone who became a fan of your infamous episode would troll around twitter writing things like ‘will BTS be on this show appearing with y/n?’ ‘AYe y/n watch out, they are going to surprise you with BTS’; but you didn't really have time to see them, only your team was aware. Your days working + rehearsing + promoting don't really give you time to scoop around your social media.

Today on your schedule: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Tonight you will be performing and having an interview for the show. You love this show so much, you have been invited before,  and you really feel comfortable on set in the company of Jimmy and his team/staff, they are always super nice and welcoming. You haven’t been there for an interview in a while and you are excited. (Even though it went viral, and it was your fantasy, the whole “I WISH I COULD MEET BTS AT A TONIGHT SHOW” was not really on your mind today, probablly because of how hectic your day was. You woke up super early and took a flight on your jet to New York, then you went to rehearsal to rehearse the song you’ll be performing tonight, went to the hotel and took a shower, went to two important business meetings for your record company, barely had time to eat, then went and had hair and makeup done for an afternoon interview for a radio show and finally some rest before you went to the Jimmy Fallon studio)

The Tonight Show starts at 10:00pm but you have to get there earlier to greet Jimmy and the staff, to quickly rehearse your performance, to go over details about the show, get ready, etc. You arrive on set at around 6:00pm in sweatpants, a baggy Ariana Grande merch T-shirt, sneakers and fresh hair from your second shower today. You walk through the door next to your personal bodyguard Lee and Manager Sam, followed by your stylist Meg behind you, you look around to see if you could recognize any familiar faces, The camera crew were setting up their high budget equipment, staff members cleaning, running around and preparing for tonight's live interview. Jimmy comes out from behind a door with casual clothes and messy hair, nothing like his sleek professional look on TV. Smiling he greets you and your team; he takes a step forward and hugs you tightly “Hi y/n it’s so nice to see you, it has been a while we have missed you, ever since your interview was scheduled for this week the staff has been excited to see you again, including me, you are one of our favorite guests to have over i swear” you look at him sweetly with hands on your chest from his hind words (the reason why they loved you so much was because you were different from other celebrities on the show, you were always super polite and nice to the staff and took time out of your schedule to greet everyone and introduce yourself, even though you were one of the biggest stars in the world you humble personality attracted many). “Omg stop Jimmy you are so sweet, I love your show so much it’s always an honor, thanks again for inviting meI wanna say hi to the staff, can I?” You said; Jimmy has been like a mentor to you when it comes to interviews and press, he was one of the first people to believe in you and interview you when you debuted. “Yes of course you go ahead, I’ll talk with your manager while you do so to catch up.” (They were good friends too)

While Jimmy and Sam catch up, and your stylist and bodyguard follow an assistant to put your stuff in the dressing room; you walk around introducing yourself to the staff; you visit the camera crew, the audio booth, the lighting crew, the producers, the PD, the meeting room, even the cafeteria. This helped you also to loosen up and feel more comfortable and confident for the show. After the greeting you quickly rehearsed with your talented backup dancers for the performance to get used to the ‘stage’ and the spacing.

One of the sweet staff members you just met offered to show you to your dressing room where Lee, Sam and Meg were waiting for you. You entered the spacious dressing room and sat at a small couch next to Lee (he was your bodyguard but sometimes even acted like a father/guardian to you, you were thankful you had a close connection with your team) You treated them all, including your dancers, to a mini banquet of food from the cafeteria and chatted about nothing before you had to start getting ready. Sam started getting constant phone calls, as your manager he was constantly busy on the phone, he ignored a couple of them but the caller seemed insistant, Sam saw the caller ID and shot up and ran outside to answer. “Ey no phones on the table mister” you teased as he was halfway out the door, he flipped you off and you back at him and proceeded to finish your snack; “Who would be so insistent, the company handles the calls when Sam has something to to with y/n… this interview has been scheduled for a month now…” Meg, your stylist commented, but you just just shrugged her shoulders as you swallowed the last bite of your sandwich, not really thinking too much about it. You stood up to brush your teeth after finishing eating. (what you failed to notice was Lee making a face to Meg basically telling her to ‘shut up’.... they knew something you didn’t but you didn’t see said interaction at all)

After 20-30 mins Sam came back as if nothing happened, you were now sitting in front of the large vanity mirror and Meg staring at your hair behind you. “Is everything okay Sammy?” You asked, thinking the call could be from a family member or an emergency, judging on the time it took. “No, yes- um it was just a catch up call, apparently the company did not answer their call in my place so they called me directly ignoring the fact that I was here with you.” he spoke. “Ah yeah, well that's good, well we finished our food and cleaned up so the girls (referring to the 2 backup dancers) and I could start getting ready but I left you and Lee some cookies and coffee on the table” you said pointing to the small coffee table in front of the couch that was previously filled with food, Lee, a 6’5 tall man sitting in a tiny couch with a cookie on his right hand and coffee on his left making space for Sam to sit next to him. cute. 

You finish getting ready, hair done simple and comfortable for your interview and later performance, light natural makeup letting your natural beauty show off and fancy yet comfortable outfit that allows you to sit and dance comfortably. You felt really pretty and powerful. It was 9:30, only 30 mins before The Tonight Show started. before The live audience was allowed inside the studio you went over your dance quickly to make sure your outfit was safe to dance in, to make sure the music was the right one and to let the camera crew plan out their shots for the dance and interview segments. Once again you bought your head towards the staff and wished them good luck and a good show, you introduced yourself to the live band that accomplies Jimmy for the show as well and went backstage again for the final touch ups and waited for your turn to come out.

----

“.... and now here is your host...Jimmy Fallon'' he was introduced as the audience clapped for him and he walked across the set to his desk. “Hi, everyone, and welcome to THE TONIGHT SHOW!!!” The crowd cheered again for Jimmy. “Normally we have multiple guests on this show and from 10:00 pm to 12:00am we talk to multiple guests but today is a little different, today we have a very very special guest who will be with us. the. full. show!!!” The audience was comforted by a lot of your fans since it was announced you would be the guest tonight they prepared, and as soon as they heard this immediately stood up and cheered knowing it was you he was talking about. “She is one of my favorite artists, she is the sweetest, most talented artist today. Everyone welcome…. y/n'' The crowd went crazy as you came out from behind the curtain. Seeing everyone you bowed down to the audience and waved your hands, then you took Jimmy's hand to help you up the steps to the couch next to his talk show desk and sat down again bowing your head and mouthing ‘thank you’ to the still cheering audience.

“Wow the people love you y/n'' Jimmy said. “Hahaha no, stop, Thank you all, I love you so much I don't deserve you all.” you said blushing a little from the overwhelming support. The interview started normally, Jimmy introduced you properly to the camera and audience, you spoke about yourself and answered the general questions (‘What have you been doing these days?’ ‘Tell us about your album’.... blah blah)

After a couple of questions you did a fun activity with Jimmy where you created a funny sketch similar to the ones on SNL, you followed the lines on the promter and it came out to be a really funny and light activity to interlude the show. Then after a small break you went back to your seats and continued the Q&A.

“It's crazy, y/n’s latest album is the number one album in the country and she also holds the first, second and third spots for the billboard top 100 hits. You even broke a record for this, to being the youngest and first woman to ever achieve this.” Jimmy said as you smiled and looked at the cheering crowd. “Its crazy, I never thought one day I could even hold a place in the top 100, and now I actually hold 3 places plus another 1st place for album of the country, Thank you all so much for supporting me, this would've happened if it wasn't for all of the people who supported my music, Thank you for giving my music a chance.”

“So actually the next billboard award show is tomorrow, and y/n, we heard you are going to be performing.. is that so?” Jimmy smoothly transitioned form question to question, topic from topic. “Yeah I was blessed to not only be nominated for an award but to also be invited to perform for the ceremony, I am so excited, It is an honor, it not my first time performing at the billboard’s but I have so much fun every time, hopefully the audience will like my performance and the other guest performers of the night, I can’t wait.

“What are you performing tomorrow y/n?”, “Shhh it’s a surprise Jimmy, I can give you a little spoiler, I am performing one of my new album’s songs, it is one of my favorite songs on it” You smoothly avoided actually answering what song you would be performing tomorrow. “Mhm okay how about you tell me in secret during the commercial break I have to know…” Jimmy insisted “Sure Jimmy I’ll tell you”. “Okay so guys let's go to a short commercial break, but don’t leave cause when we are back y/n will be performing live, don't you miss it!” Jimmy said and waved with you as the producer called for the commercial break. 

After the commercial break you got to perform one of your hit songs next to your back up dancers, you let yourself go to the music and enjoyed the performance; you really got lost in the music and dancing every time you had an audience, you loved this so much. After your performance you received a standing ovation form the people present on set, Jimmy went over from his seat to you, he congratulated and complimented you. He then guided you to your seat and gave you some water; he made some ads/sponsorship bits while you grabbed some air and while Meg retouched your hair and makeup while the cameras weren’t on you.

Jimmy then came back after another small break to proceed with the interview: “So y/n I actually wanted to talk to you about something really big” you made a face at Jimmy’s word choices (you had somewhat of a dirty mind) “Hahahaha, Don't make that face y/n, it's not what you think… God.. what a dirty mind you have; I meant I wanted to talk to you about something that recently happened and I’m sure everyone wants to have an update on'' Jimmy made himself clear. “Hahahaha oh, okay sure, tell me” 

“A couple of months ago you went viral on social media after you talked about BTS on one of your episodes, and your fans and ARMYs went crazy, not gonna lie even I got excited” As soon as you heard Jimmy say “BTS'' your face dropped making the audience giggle at your reaction, you started to get anxious. “Hah-, um yeah that happened, I didn't expect for it to become such a big thing tbh Jimmy” you said.

“So in the episode you got asked by one of your fans something about how you would want to meet them or something and you mentioned how you would like to meet then on a talk show… like this one” Jimmy said with a smug expression taking over his face. You quickly spoke before he could say something else “Omg Jimmy stop, I swear if I look behind this couch and BTS is hiding behind it I will have a heart attack, please don't play with me, I’m not ready, stop that''

 The crowd and Jimmy laughed at your cute panic. “Don’t worry y/n, no, I swear they are not there” Jimmy treasured. “IDK MAN, I’m gonna look behind the couch….” you dared; “Go ahead y/n” Jimmy fired back; this made you more nervous, you made a ‘I’m tough’ face at Jimmy and moved your body sideways, “If there is someone behind here I will run Jimmy, I. WILL. RUN. I don’t know where or how far but I will run out..” Jimmy and the audience laughed again and stopped as you looked behind the couch….. and…… there behind the couch…… there was…….. nothing. You started laughing as you went back to your original sitting position, the audience looking curiously at you. “Hahahaha ahhhh there is nothing there” whipping some laughing tears off the inner corner of your eyes you looked at Jimmy who was too laughing at you. “I told you y/n! ahahahah”

Jimmy looked at the camera and directed to the audience “For the people who don’t know what we are talking about and/or haven't seen y/n’s latest episode we have some clips for you” You looked at Jimmy and at the crew wanting to refuse due to your embarrassment, you felt exposed. The video played on the screen, the screen was split so that while the episode clips showed on screen your reaction could also be seen at the same time. Only a small trailer was played, which made you confused, you thought they would play the clips where you deeply talk about BTS…

The video stopped and the audience clapped, “Well that's just a small trailer of the full episode if anyone would like to go over and watch it it was pretty fun… I really enjoy ‘y/n’s camera roll’ episodes, I highly recommend” you smiled and appreciated the free proportion but you went anxious again as Jimmy spoke, “But y/n I actually have a small surprise for you, actually BTS saw your episode and reacted to it on camera…” You went stiff…. he said what???? BTS saw your video? they learned who your where?.... wait. THEY SAW THE VIDEO????? THEY SAW YOU FANGIRLING OVER THEM AND THIRSTING OVER JK AND HERD YOUR STUPID FANTASY????

 “OMG Jimmy no…. AHHH no….” You said as realization dawned on you and you covered your face with your hands.

“oh y/n yes… and we have the video of their reaction here, for the first time ever, an exclusive for the Tonight Show…. watch the screen y/n'' The screen was again split to show your reaction + the video. You lifted your face from your hands and held on to Jimmy’s hand on the desk, bracing yourself for further embarrassment and probable rejection. The video played: 

(BTS reacting to your episode. {the bullet points are your ‘present day’ reactions to BTS reacting to you})

The video started . “Oi, it’s y/n'' Jin immediately said as soon as your face appeared on their screen, “Is this a new episode?” Jimin asked out loud, “Wait what day is it? they normally go up on Friday, did we miss it?” Taehyung spoke.

“OMG no way, they know who I am, omg I’m crying Jimmy” You actually started tearing up and Jimmy squished your hands tighter as he read the subtitles added (you understood Korean).

“Hello everyone welcome to another episode of…. f** I don't even know what we call these videos, jajajaja” “Wait what?... jajajajaja omg guys thank you, I'm so sorry, yeah you heard them, welcome back to y/n’s camera roll, I can’t believe I forgot that, anyway today’s episode is a little different……” the boys chuckle at your genuine personality “hahaha gwiyeoun” (haha cute) Suga added, J-Hope agreeing with him as he gave Suga a piece of the food he was having. Kookie was currently watching the screen not even blinking, he hadn’t taken a bite out of his noodles or a sip out of his banana milk, Jimin noticed and pointed at him looking back at the guys with a silent laugh.

You kept crying and making faces reacting to them every time they spoke

“Hi, y/n, can I ask you another question?” “I saw that you liked an instagram post about BTS a while back uploaded by a fan account and I also saw that you actually follow their personal twitter account. ALSO in your behind the scenes video for your music video shoot you can be seen in the background dancing the Boy with luv choreo. So I wanted to ask if you were an ARMY and if you know them personally? and like should we be expecting a collaboration soon?”

“No way….Omg what she says she hates us” Jimin said. “Imagine if she said she hates us, is this why you guys are making us watch this?” Suga looked  at the staff.

“OMG I could never, NO omg how could I hate them” you commented wiping away your tears and back to squeezing Jimmy’s stretched hand on the desk

 “Can we keep watching hyungs…” Jungkook said looking around at the others, a bit desperate to find out what you said next. “Oi, wouldn't you want to know guki…” Jin teased him, wiggling his eyebrows and slapping the back of his head playfully. Before Jungkook could fight back RM reached over them and pressed play, preventing a ‘playful’ fight between the youngest and oldest member to take place.

You froze at the interaction between Jungkook and Jin… but kept watching not wanting to overthink it.

“OMG hahaha I love you so much, what an amazing question, Okay so first off no I don’t know them personally and sadly no plans of collaboration are on sight. Oh wow I have never been asked if I liked BTS before, I’m excited hahaha. Yeah I am an ARMY, I love them so much I am one of their biggest fans, and they are also one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to work ethic and professionalism, listening to them or watching them gives me motivation to keep doing what I love, which is this. anyway I am rambling I should stop; you guys can say y/n stop whenever I start rambling okay? hahaha''

RM stood up with hands on his head; Jin and J-Hope held on to each other with their mouths wide open looking at the screen; V was still sitting in the same spot, frozen, as if he was paused in time along with the now paused screen; Suga stood up with his hands on his mouth bouncing his knees lightly; Jimin reached to RM behind him and stretched his arms out with a ‘Did you hear that?’ expression; Jungkook leaned over the table and pulled the screen closer, he was smiling from ear to ear letting out a small “wow” under his breath, then he replayed your answer to listen to it one more time, rereading the subtitles under the video making sure he did not miss any words.

You chuckled at their individual reactions and resumed your crying at their reactions because you couldn’t believe they knew you and could be so cute towards a video of you

 “y/n Okay so, who is your favorite member?” “Well first off, I don't have a favorite member. I really mean it when I say this. I love them all equally and I love them all as a group. I don’t prefer one over the other or like one better.  I really do support them equally. I mean there is nothing wrong with having a bias, as long as you also respect the other members, hope that all made sense lol” Everyone seemed moved by your support towards them and nodded.

Again the boys reacted, they were so surprised they paused again and walked back and forth making sounds of excitement

Jimmy smiled proudly at you and helped you wipe a tear with a tissue 

“Y/n so you don’t have a favorite, but do you have a crush on any of them?, like if you could date one of them right now, which one do you pick?” A fan asked. “okay...well...Like I said just to be clear I don't have favorites amongst the group members, but I do have a type…. I consider one of them to be my celebrity crush”......“So in that case, if I had to pick someone that I would date in real life...i would say…. Jungkook” 

You put your forehead on Jimmy’s desk, you felt embarrassed, you knew what was coming, the audience was also reacting along and they got super excited at this part. You were scared over what BTS would think/say about this.

The. Guys. Went. Nuts. Jungkook immediately stood up and lifted his hands up in the air as if he had won an award, he paused the video and started smiling like crazy; 

A staff member spoke to Jungkook on the video : “How do you feel Jungkook?” He lifted his face from his hands and ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes were glossy and his smile wide. “I-I don't know what to say, I can’t believe it,” he said as he sat down looking  at the pause screen, looking at your still image. His hyungs patted him on the back; Jimin turned his head to the staff as he was rubbing JK’s back with one hand, “You know Jungook has had the biggest crush on y/n for so long now” Jimin told the staff. 

you completely froze, you started shaking, Jimmy was looking at you happily, the audience was going crazy, even the crew was invested in the k-drama worthy content. You went numb, you kept looking at the screen frozen.

Jungkook looked up and spoke to the staff: “Yeah I remember listening to her debut song for the longest time without really thinking about who the artist was. When her first studio album broke records I decided to look her up, I watched a video of her talking about the album and her experience as a new artist and I think ever since then I have had a crush on her; she is my ideal type”

Everyone was going crazy in the Tonight Show studio. EVEN Jimmy let go of you and stood up pacing around his desk, no one was expecting this. You came out of your trance as Jimmy shook you and you wiped more tears clouding your vision.

“Why is she your ideal type?” a staff member in the back asked JK. “Ha. um. well  I think my ideal type of girl is someone who is funny and has a bright and cool personality; someone who as soon as they step into a room they immediately light it up; someone who is goofy and isn't afraid to become a joke or mess up; A confident person; someone who isn't too girly or too boyish; someone who likes to learn new  things and from who I can learn new things too; someone who is younger than me; Someone who loves dancing and singing a lot, etc. And y/n is kinda all that and more tbh; 

You felt like you were dreaming… Totally forgetting you were on live television. The butterflies in your stomach felt more like birds. your heart pounding out of your chest and body glued to your seat.

The video of you time skipped again to the ‘fantasy’ answer’: “Okay so, my literal fantasy is to one day meet them at a talk show, you know how hosts like to surprise their guests with something/someone they like?, I believe Ellen has done it multiple times where she surprised a guest with their idol or celebrity crush, you know?” The group nodded, invested in your fake scenario “Well i would be invited to like the Jimmy Fallon Show, where he would just randomly surprise me with BTS. Then I would be given the opportunity to introduce myself and tell them how much I love and support them. I would also be able to show them my korean speaking skills, I learned Korean and Spanish back in school and I have never been able to actually use either them, lol, anyway...well after that we would all become really good friends, and we would collaborate and put out one or multiple songs for you guys. I mean that's basically it, I wish I could meet them, and become their friend and write songs with them, even produce songs with Suga or RM if I could'' 

you cringed at the sound of your voice, you were so embarrassed. The audience, crew and Jimmy found this and your reaction to be so adorable.

“What???? does she speak korean?” / “OMG Jungkook is she speaks korean marry her” / “OMG I wanna meet her now”  / “That's so cute” / “She is so cool” 

oMg, even after the video stopped you kept crying and sobbing, it almost felt like you had made it in life, you curled into a ball, you didn't care if you were live or not.

(end of video, camera was back to you and Jimmy only)

“y/n this is amazing, this was my first time watching the video too, how do you feel, hahahaha stop crying this is good y/n” He rubbed your hand and passed you a new tissue from his desk. You cleaned yourself up and accepted a new water bottle from a crew assistant.

“I- I’m at a loss for words Jimmy, I cannot even process it; I love them so much hahaha” You sniffed and looked at Jimmy innocently. “By the way I am so sorry for crying like this, ew I’m a mess right now, I so sorry for anyone watching” 

“No no, you are good, your fans love you and love to see the real you; right guys?” Jimmy said looking at the crowd and once again they all cheered for you, this made you happy and you smiled again. “Thank You all so much, thank you to anyone involved in the making of this reaction video and this segment of the show AND FOR WHOEVER ADDED THE SUBTITLES FOR THE STUDIO hahaha, I am so happy, I want to keep crying but I will compose myself for now and once I go home cry some more hahaha” 

“Y/N so obviously you are an ARMY, would you mind playing a small game with me?...” You nodded at Jimmy. “Okay so after the break we will be back  with y/n, and she will prove how big of an ARMY she actually is…”

Another commercial break was called, Meg again came over and cleaned you up, she fixed your hair and makeup and then made you change into some sneakers (you performed in heels), fresh sweatpants and a shirt that compliment your figure. Your manager told you that for the next segment you needed comfy clothes. You had so much in your mind right now you didn’t even question it.

“Okayyy and we are back everybody, so right now as you can see y/n has changed into a more sporty outfit, right y/n?” you looked at him and at the camera and answered back. “Yeah, i’m in my natural form now” you said as you modeled your comfy wear

“So today I will put your BTS knowledge to the test, I will play a snippet of a BTS song, to your right you have two buttons ‘dance button’ or ‘sing’ button; you can either dance to the part being played when you hit the dance button or keep singing the song if your hit the ‘sing’ button.” Jimmy challenged you as he explained the next activity, to the left of you a small table with both buttons and a mic was set up, you accepted and started the challenge; the game went like this; Dynamite, dance; Mic Drop, dance; No more dream, dance; Daechwita, sing/rap; the crowd was super hyped and Jimmy was loving your energy and the way you executed the songs perfectly, suddenly you recognized Euphoria being played, you clicked the sing button and you started to complete the lyrics as the music was switched to ‘karaoke mode’… you started to sing and suddenly you heard a voice behind you singing with you, and you couldn’t even turn around to prove yourself you were not mistaken, you knew that voice too well, the live audience was losing it, the crew looked excited, you went numb, you looked back and it seemed like a joke, a complete dream…..

The seven guys were coming out from behind the curtain, being led by Jungkook, he was singing the bridge of the song, mic in hand and just looking at you. Your knees gave out and you curled on your knees as you cried on your knees, ‘there is no way’, you could even begin to process what was going on, The boys were a little shy and stayed behind you as Jimmy lifted you from the floor and made you look at them.....

----

PART 4 > HERE

AHhhh I love this part hahahhaha

Hope you liked it. PArt 4 is up; please give me a lil <3 if you liked this. :) Xx

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 07 part one

(Masterpost)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Clan Sanren

Lanny Granny gets a second wind and continues her Yin Iron Webinar.

Wei Wuxian explains that although he was adopted by the Jiang Clan, Baoshan Sanren is his grandmaster, via his mom. Lan Yi claims to think that this is pretty great.

Lan Yi: Wow, amazing, my ex girlfriend who I dumped has settled down and started her own family Clan now, that’s so great. I’m so happy for her. So happy. So great. I mean, when I left I didn’t really picture her finding happiness first, you know? I kind of expected to have settled down myself by now but it’s hard to date when you’re trapped in an ice cave putting headbands on rabbits for 100 years. But it’s fine! I love my life and I’m sure eventually I’ll find that special rabbit person.  Anyway I’m just...SUPER happy for Baoshan. Really. Really happy. For Baoshan. 

Lan Wangji also appears to have thoughts about it, because he reacts pretty intently.

 Lan+Sanren 4EvR. 

Wang Yibo is looking extra fine in this cave sequence, with no headband to distract from his fierce eyebrows.  

Lan Wangji asks Lan Yi if she’s the one who pulled them into the cave, and she says nope, and then nobody ever explains how they ended up in the cave. “Perhaps it’s destiny” does not count as an explanation. 

Lan Gran explains that her battery is running down. The Lan bunnies are not energizer bunnies, apparently. She also tells them that it’s impossible to destroy the Yin Iron and that the only solution is to put it back in the cave and try to suppress it again. 

(more after the cut)

However by Episode 23 it inexplicably becomes super easy to destroy the Yin Iron...

...meaning Lan Yi spent 100 years in a cave for nothing, other than writing the Definitive Guide to Rabbit Headbands. 

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get back into Hardy Boys cultivator mode, but this time with an extremely long held gaze, which I think is their first time doing this.

I mean...even if these boys are 100% neurotypical (and hello, they are not), this is a LOT of eye contact. I can't gaze that long at anything except my phone screen. 

We Will Achieve The Thing Together

Narrator: they will not achieve the thing

The reason I got into c-drama in the first place is, after decades of western storytelling tropes, it’s so refreshing to watch a story and have literally no idea what’s going to happen. Even when the story sets things up to happen a certain way according to my learned experience of stories, it just doesn’t play out that way. For example, if you’re watching The Lost Tomb Reboot and you expected the jade-mining sequence to end with a slave uprising, you were as surprised as I was. 

Here Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian promise to do their best to find and suppress the Yin iron. Lan Wangji is going to fail at this, allowing this here piece to fall into the hands of the Wens, because unlike his uncle he's not willing to let his clan die to protect it.  

Wei Wuxian is going to take his not-doing-the-thing several steps further, finding and refining his very own piece of extra-badass Yin iron. Yes, he has reasons for this and a lot of stuff happens along the way, but in terms of your typical quest storyline, it would be as if Frodo figured out how to use the one ring to kick Sauron’s ass, rather than (with help) destroying it. Again: this is why I LIKE c-drama. 

Lan Wangji tries to shut Wei Wuxian out of his quest and Wei Wuxian makes a short but utterly character-defining speech. 

You can’t stop me

I know what’s right. 

And then he says that his Grandmaster Baoshan Sanren was isolated because of the Yin Iron, and he has a responsibility to her. Lan Yi agrees. So...he just kinda quit the Jiang Clan right there, didn’t he? In favor of eventually becoming a wandering cultivator like his Grandmaster and clan uncle (Xiao Xichen), and like his mother. 

He is also going to follow in his father’s footsteps by upsetting his Clan Leader when he falls in love. Gosh, he also, like his parents, will die and leave an orphan to fend for himself. So -- the apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess.

He doesn't realize the pickle he’s getting himself into, of course. Being Wei Wuxian, he thinks he can balance all of his increasing obligations, but being human, he won’t be able to. 

Pardon Our Entwinement

Lan Yi leaves to catch the spiritual plane, the Yin iron drops, the ward breaks, and Wen Ning appears to download a new software update. The kind that breaks your video driver and photoshops your eyeballs.  

Wen Qing comes nosing around the cave wall, and Jiang Cheng stops by to ask what she’s up to. 

He hopes she’s trying to find his brother, just like he will fail to do for her & her brother one day.  

The boys fall out of the wall together, in a nice example of the “oops I’m accidentally humping you” c-drama romance trope. To keep it censor-friendly, Wei Wuxian is actually on the ground next to Lan Wangji’s right knee but the shot is framed so that at a glance he appears to be in a much cozier position. 

Lan Wangji goes on an expression journey don’t say facial through several “oh shit we’re caught” faces, while Wei Wuxian shows Lan Wangji a few iterations of his oh-face. 

Jiang Cheng wants to know what the fuck they have been getting up to for a day and a night. 

The movie wasn't so hot, it didn't have much of a plot, we fell asleep our goose is cooked our reputation is shot

Wen Qing detects that they were somewhere cold and decides it’s her turn to ask nosy questions. Lan Wangji does the guilty startle thing. 

Fortunately Wei Wuxian doesn’t have that problem.

He turns his answer into a prolonged whine about how cold it was, how lost they were, etc. This annoys Jiang Cheng into dropping it and saying they should head back. 

I’m awesome right? so awesome right?

Wei Wuxian gives Lan Wangji a significant look to show that he’s deploying a rhetorical strategy on purpose to distract his questioner. Lan Wangji super does not know how to do that. 

Flute + Yin Iron = Profit

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get to watch as Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen tame the hunk of iron and stick it in the bag of holding. Wei Wuxian pays verrrryyy careful attention to this whole “use a flute to control the Yin iron” lesson. 

Lan Xichen really should reconsider his music-lessons side hustle. Arguably this one doesn’t turn out as badly for him personally as teaching guqin to Jin Guangyao does, but it doesn’t turn out great, either. 

知己啊  - zhi-ji-ah

This mostly-tedious Yin Iron conversation with the elders includes a super-important WangXian moment.

Wei Wuxian calls Lan Wangji his zhiji. This is the same word he will use later in the “what am I to you?” conversation during the Jin night hunt, and the word Lan Xichen will use when saying why Lan Wangji wouldn’t repudiate him during his forced isolation. As always, for the full meaning of this word, @hunxi-guilai​ is brills.

A Wen spy bird shows up, and Lan Wangji really wants to chase it, but Lan Xichen says no. 

This happens a lot, actually. Lan Wangji is not a cool-headed person, despite appearances.  Likewise the boys want to go searching for the Yin Iron and the adults want them to slow their roll. 

Being a teenager is frustrating, particularly with a classic “I didn’t actually listen to you before making a decision” adult like Lan Qiren in charge. 

Lying is my First Class Spiritual Tool

Nie Huasang shows up and has his usual hilariously varied reaction to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji - an enthusiastic “Wei-Xiong!” followed by a nervous & meek “Lan Er Gongzi” and a bow to Lan Wangji.  

He wants to know what happened and Wei Wuxian once again shows his powers of rhetoric. 

I like to call it my “devil snake.” 

He puts off all of Nie Huaisang’s potential questions by really knowing his questioner well and completely distracting him.  

This time Lan Wangji seems impressed. 

Jelly Jiang Cheng

Young Master Cockblock shows up and lets loose with a display of total naked jealousy. That carving on Wei Wuxian’s bed back in Lotus Pier...is that him and Jiang Cheng? Because damn, this boi is jealous. 

...and so is Lan Wangji, apparently, or at least he’s disappointed to have Wei Wuxian taken away from him like that.  

Yearn Mode Enabled

Club Ruohan’s Foyer

Wen Chao and Xue Yang stand awkwardly in Wen Ruohan’s vestibule talking to the boss through a giant door, because sure, why not. 

This doesn’t bother Xue Yang, who as usual has no fucks to give. Except that today, Wen Ruohan tells him that the budget for his project finally got approved, which lifts his spirits quite a bit. 

His project to single-handedly slaughter an entire clan, and he is super excited about the kickoff meeting. 

Wen Chao is mopey because his brother gets all the good murder assignments and his dad doesn’t appreciate him. Boo fucking hoo. 

Periodic reminder that He Peng looks like this when he’s not playing Wen Chao.

Part 2 coming soon!

Soundtrack: Wake Up, Little Susie by the Everly Brothers

Bonus

[razberryyum]

Scumbag System (SVSSS donghua) Episode 10 Thoughts (spoilers)

(covers SVSSS chaps 24 - 26, BC Novels Translations)

And thus the first season of the SVSSS donghua comes to an end...rather weirdly abruptly to be honest, but more on that later. Obviously I love the donghua. It was not perfect, but it still exceeded my expectations. I truly appreciate what they were able to do within their budget constraints and I think they captured the spirit of the source material perfectly, which is really all I hope for when it comes to adaptations.  The writing was strong, the humor hit the spot always (for example, when poor Shizun got motion sickness from sword riding, I guffawed), and they also gave us some of the most beautiful characters I’ve ever seen on screen, especially with Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe and Liu Qingge. I really, really hope they release official figurines for them. I’m going to start saving my money now just for that possibility.

Even though their time together in this episode was short, the BingQiu love was definitely strong. They gave them a combo move that was not in the source material: for someone like me who grew up watching Cantonese dramas, two characters who have a combo sword move (”雙劍合璧”!) are usually a couple so I was especially tickled by this addition. I am always thankful to the donghua team for the little Easter Eggs they give us for BingQiu, like the way Binghe's eyes lit up when he sees SQQ... 

or when SQQ touches him...

Once again, for those not in the know, it can easily be interpreted as a disciple just being devoted and filial to his Shizun. But for those of us who have read the novel, of course we know it’s indication of Bingmei falling in love with SQQ. I love how subtle yet significant these little expressions of Binghe’s are, and I hope they continue on with these little touches even in the next season. 

Of course then there are the more obvious gestures, like that HUG:

It lasted for a good 15 seconds and oh my God look at the Binghe’s hand placement!  There was totally nipple groppage happening there! This wasn’t in the book by the way...SQQ didn’t get woozy and Binghe most definitely didn’t have to catch him like some fainting damsel, so we have the donghua team to thank for this wonderful moment of (sexy) physical contact between the two of them. 

The donghua team was also especially generous in this episode since not only did we get some BingQiu love, but we got a pinch of LiuShen and QiJiu love too.

LQG’s eyes were on SQQ the entire time! And then Yue Qingyuan as usual took any opportunity he got to touch his Qingqiu.  So all shippers were fed. Hell, they even threw in some more straight-baiting again so peeps who are watching the show for the “straight” romance between Luo Binghe and his never-to-be-future-wife Qin Wanyue were fed too since the scene where Binghe gives her the handkerchief to wipe away her tears were not in the chapters of the book for this episode, and racking my brain I don’t even think it was in the book, period. I’m trying to remember if that handkerchief even holds any significance but even if it does, it’s all for naught since we know Qin Wanyue is at most just a minor side character. She does pop up again later on but then is mostly forgotten, so...not quite sure what that moment was all about other than to, I don’t know, throw off the censors?

I’m also not sure why we spent so much time with Liu Mingyan and Gongyi Xiao in this episode. Nothing against them personally, I like both characters very much (despite my previous complaints about GYX’s character design), and it’s not that they don’t deserve more screen time, but this was the season finale! Even though the next season has been announced, God knows when we’ll see it next year and how many episodes it would be, so every minute of screen time matters! That’s why I was a bit puzzled that they used up half of the episode showing LMY basically facing the same perils with her group of fellow disciples as before and GYX just running from that huge serpent. Even if that thing DOES turn out to be Zhuzhi-lang, it was still a bit much. They weren’t exactly character building scenes either so...why? Budget reasons? Didn’t have enough money to pay SQQ’s voice actor (Wu Lei-laoshi) so they had to stick in miscellaneous scenes to lessen his screen time? 

I’m kidding of course. God I hope that wasn’t the reason because that would just be sad.

Speaking of miscellaneous scenes though, what was going on with these two dudes?

I gotta admit, I’m a bit salty that these two mob characters got to do what our main couple can’t. What’s their story? Why do they get special privileges? Damn these nobodies. XD

All kidding aside, I have to say, of all the episodes this season, this might be the weakest one, not only because of the “filler” scenes, but also, the way the episode ended was so odd, especially for a season finale. The season basically ended on a scene transition. Not a cliffhanger, just a scene transition, and then cut to credits. What?? Why??? It’s almost as if they just ran out of time so had to stop the show all of a sudden. And then as if to make up for it, they added post-credit scenes which, honestly blew me away because it was so unexpected. It was indeed almost enough to make me completely forgive the weakness of the episode as a whole and that weird-ass ending.

I teared up!  The scene was kind of chopped up, didn’t even flow that smoothly, but I still got emotional! I’m sure when I see this scene in its entirety next season I am just going to be destroyed. I think they made it even more gut-wrenching than it was in the novel. Looks like the donghua team really aren’t gonna hold back when it comes to delivering the BingQiu knives. 

We also got to see Mobei-jun appear in the post-credits scene; I guess they had to stick him in there since he was featured in the poster for this season, so it would have been weird if he didn’t at least make an appearance.

I immediately thought of him as Sephiroth’s younger cousin when I first saw him on the poster and I still feel that way. Anyone related to Sephiroth, I will approve and instantly have affection for. For the MoShang shippers’ sake, I hope the Shang Qinghua they create for him will be just as pretty. I think I can now safely discard my guess from last time and also that moon-faced bearded ojisan others have guessed. We actually got a glimpse of the real deal in this sequence:

They strategically made him blurry so you can’t really make out his features, but what we still can tell from there is that he does not have facial hair (hence, he cannot be the ojisan) and the hair crown he’s wearing is silver and different from the twinky sect leader. So I guess we’ll be getting a fresh out of the microwave Airplane Bro instead of any of the no-name potential cannon fodder we’ve already seen. 

We’ll probably get the abyss opening up in maybe even the first episode of next season but that’ll still leave a lot of ground to be covered in just 10 episodes (rumored). There haven’t been any talk about a third season, but I really hope it’ll happen, even though it might take them a while to make it. I know it’s premature to even think of a third season when we haven’t even gotten an actual release date for the second, but I’m greedy because I already miss the donghua. This season was over so quickly, I’m already mourning the lack of new episodes. I hope we get the second season in the first quarter of next year and then by some miracle, a third or even fourth to properly finish out the story. I know we will never get the FULL story, but as long as they keep the spirit of BingQiu’s love and continue to hint at it like they’ve been doing this season, I will be more than satisfied. 

And while I’m wishful thinking for new seasons, I hope we also get a BingQiu duet and character songs. I love the opening and ending theme this season, if they want to save money I totally don’t mind if they just use the same OP/ED themes in the next season as well, but I hope they throw in a good BingQiu insert song and then release some individual character songs as well. I’m still not a fan of Binghe’s voice, but maybe they can have someone else do his vocals for the songs. SVSSS is the older son of MXTX’s works, I feel like it already got short-shrifted in terms of adaptation since it got the lesser budget compared to MDZS and TGCF. Hopefully with how popular the donghua is this season, it will be given a bigger budget next season so they can bring to life all the subsequent proceedings from the book properly. And whatever they’re paying Wu Lei-laoshi, SQQ’s voice actor, they should double it because that man is just amazing. I worship his voice and performance. I wish he would read the audiobook version of the the novel. I would listen to the hell out of that.  I have always loved SQQ, but if I’m going to be honest, I came into the show just a little more excited about seeing Bingge being brought to life. I still love Binghe of course, in all his phases, however, now,  because of Wu Lei-laoshi’s stellar voice performance (and of course SQQ’s beautiful looks), I’m leaving this season absolutely head over heels about SQQ/Shen Yuan. Also thanks to the show, I’m completely obsessed with Liu Qingge as well.  So for those two reasons, I will eternally be grateful to the donghua team.  

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Had a very slow day at work yesterday, so naturally I watched every episode in season 1 of Taskmaster NZ in one day. I very much liked it. I enjoyed how it felt a little like the early seasons of UK Taskmaster, in that it was lower budget and everyone involved wasn’t quite sure what was going on yet.

It did remind me strongly of that time a few years ago when I attended a friend’s wedding in New Zealand. We spent four nights at the Scout camp where the wedding took place, and then a week and a half travelling around the South Island in an 11-seater van with ten people. It was an incredible experience in a stunningly gorgeous country that I’m glad I did once and I’m also glad is over and I never want to fucking do again. I am not mentally made for spending two weeks with no privacy and no downtime and no escape from one group of people. Also, the wedding was at a Scout camp because the people getting married, and most of the guests, were Scouting people. I am just not a Scouting person. I did Girl Guides for years as a kid and experienced the worst bullying of my life there. I like camping, but mainly because it’s nice to get away from people with only one or a few close friends.

I’m not such a fan of camping with a large group of people in which we have to follow everything everyone else is doing at all times and have mandated positivity and know how to do things and just... I had difficulty spending five days at a cabin in rural New Zealand surrounded by sheep (holy hell, I thought the thing about NZ being absolutely covered in sheep was a joke/exaggeration until I actually went there) and Scouting people who were all being very positive about all the tasks we were going to do in preparation for a wedding. All that to say, Brynley running around that house in her Scouting uniform being enthusiastic was sometimes a bit stressful for me to watch, through no fault whatsoever of Brynley Stent or anyone else involved in that show. It is not Brynley’s fault that I happen to have a very specific reaction to Kiwis at a Scout camp. However, I think this is why she was my least favourite contestant. I didn’t dislike her, she had some very good moments. I just liked the other four better, probably because watching them do tasks did not immediately give me flashbacks to the nights I spent sleeping in the van instead of in the shared Scouting cabin/hostel room (four nights in the Scouting cabin, ten nights in hostels all over the South Island, it was beautiful and amazing and I get anxious just thinking about it) just to get a scrap of privacy before having to be back to the chaos the next day.

Anyway. I think Madeleine Sami was my favourite, with Angella Dravid and Guy Williams close behind. I liked having the Taskmaster’s assistant’s brother on there. That also gave it a bit of the feel of early UK Taskmaster seasons, like Alex bringing Tim Key in on season 1 because he was starting a new show and didn’t know if it would work and wanted his friend there to help it along. Having the host’s brother on there, like having his close friends on there, created a general sense that they’d just cobbled together anyone they could find who was willing to do this weird show, and I enjoyed that.

I don’t quite know what I expected out of Taskmaster NZ season 1, but I think it exceeded expectations. Mostly because I started watching it due to having read that season 2 was very good, so I sort of expected season 1 to be a lackluster thing that I’d watch just to get to season 2. But I really enjoyed season 1. Madeleine Sami is up there with my favourite Taskmaster contestants ever. I loved Angella Dravid just taking all my favourite Harriet Kemsely-type weirdness and turning it up to 11. I loved Leigh Hart’s combination of creativity when he had an idea with not giving a fuck with he didn’t. I loved the contrast of the camaraderie and positivity in the three-person team with the palpable and painful lack of chemistry in the two-person team. I loved Guy Williams combining Tim Key’s “I am close enough personally with the Taskmaster’s assistant to really fuck with him in every task”, with a sort of Nick Helm-like comedy style of pretending everything he does is incredibly exciting. I did enjoy Brynley Stent, really, when I managed to not think about Girl Guides while watching her. And seriously, Madeleine Sami was fucking awesome. The unbuttoned sexualized jokiness of Sally Phillips, the pragmatic competence of Kerry Godliman, and her own queer spin added to all of it.

Paul Williams was great. Jeremy Wells was... honestly the weak link of the show. I looked him up and he doesn't seem to be a comedian, so I'm not sure why he's there. But while he doesn't add much to the show, I don't think he takes away from it either. And he had a few good moments.

I’m now going to start season 2, of course. I’m looking forward to it. I’m glad I started watching this. New Zealand is an incredibly beautiful country full of lovely people and it is not Brynley Stent’s fault that I happen to have a quite specific aversion to Kiwis who do Scouting.

[lucidpantone]

If you were grading the original seasons of the remakes what would they be? Ill go first! Skam fr: S5 = D, S6 = C , S7 = D, S8 = F; Druck: S5 = A & S6 = C predicted grade for S7 = B/C ; Skam Italia: predicted grade for S5 = B/C finally, Wtfock S4 = U

Oh this is easy for me.

Skam fr:

S5 = C

I actually think if they cut the cheating plot out this season would rate higher and if david kept to decision to let Arthur decide that the best decision was to chose himself instead of one the girls it would have been way more profound. Because i think very little SKAMs depict the importance of sometimes being alone. Also Robin my GOD can that boy act.

S6 = C-/maybe a D in some episodes

Once again what doesn't make this scoring worse is the acting. The acting is always very good with the skam france cast but lola’s season was such a cold soup. I like the idea drug use in teens. Topic was good and the idea of broken families but it was just soooo aggressive. Hence why i said s5 could be better if we didn't get so hammy with it. David always does that he has a half decent idea but he throws everything and the kitchen sink and its very hard to digest. Also ovi Eliott was sorta of shoe horned into this season even tho i can't be mad because we got to see him get excited over a bunny which is still one of my fav moments and Basil grandad admitting sometimes guys experiment with each other. hahahahahaha. Also Maya is such a beautiful soul.

S7 = C

Ughhh the bully season.... it was fine. The actress was amazing(when aren't the france mains not amazing tho). But i didn't get certain decisions concerning baby daddy and girlfriend and why did basil come back?!?!? IDK what saved this season was the camera work, acting and and directing decisions. S8 = C+

So here is the issue with Bilal's season. If you just focus on his first 5 episodes before JO its actually very good. We didn't need Jo i get the network asked for it but bilal was super interesting on his own and Khalid was a fucking beast. Fantastic actor!! Poverty, prejudice, financial literacy, lost of business during covid. So many topics here and when they talk about them they were good. We didn't need Jo. Sexually transmitted diseases do need to be depicted but IDK i just felt like the jo storyline felt so forced.

Druck:

S5 = A

Its the best original season and on par with s3. It was just fantastic. The last scene where Nora feels again and she starts running to josh like when the Isak runs to their Evans but now it was in the reverse it was beautiful. Also all the context within the Machwitz family was so good. Dealing with parents who are addicts and how destructive that can all be. I will always love this season.

S6 = C

So much potential but we kinda of went no where. I like Kieu My and Fatou but they aren't enough story for me. We had so many moments like being displaced as a kid of immigrants i wanted to know more. The learning difficulties also i wanted more. Prejudice and confronting white privilege but Fatou was never the center of the story and I just wanted more of everything.

Wtfock

S4 = Burn that shit and just let me keep the clips of Moyo dancing and cut cactus out.

Predicted Grades:

Italia probably gonna be a B but they have such a huge budget.

Druck s7 probably if they read our issues with s6 it will be a solid b. I love exploring the dynamics of male friendships. We see it in Italia and SKam fr but we never really see what happens when the friendship is just plain toxic but both friends really love one another. Like Robbe was treated like shit by his friends but I don't think Robbe had the kind of love Ismail and Constantine have for one another. Its clear they ride and die for one another and I just think the whole thing will collapse. Like I said before I feel like Druck s7 is basically gonna be the prequel storyline to all the Eva seasons like we see Eva after the collapse Ismail's season will show us how a friendship completely goes nuclear.

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 161: 5x19, 6x18, 9x19, 10x19

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

April 22, 2022

5x19: Hammer of the Gods

Written by: Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin

Directed by: Rick Bota

Original air date: April 22, 2010

Plot Synopsis:

The Winchesters are abducted by a group of renegade gods who want to use them as a bargaining tool to stop the apocalypse.

Features:

The Elysian Fields Hotel, an ominous concierge, the elephant in the room, a conference of Gods, Gabriel and Kali’s steamy past, Gabriel’s secret identity is revealed to a bunch of Gods, Gabriel is “killed” (for the second time, if I’m counting correctly), Gabriel is miraculously revived, Lucifer kills Ganesh & co, Gabriel is "killed” again and shows up in porn, the rings of the horsemen as keys, pestilence arriving. 

My Thoughts:

We’re gonna make the blurbs short today because I have 4 episodes to get through. 

I like this episode mainly for the last few scenes of it. Despite myself, and despite how much I hate Pellegrino in the late seasons, I think Lucifer is an extremely cool villain in season 5. There’s none of the unnecessary snark that Buckleming love to write in, just dispassionate cold fury. Super metal the way he put his hand through Baldur’s entire body. The scene between him and Gabriel is very strong writing, I love seeing the emotional stakes and it’s rare that we get that in a scene that doesn’t feature either brother. 

I don’t love Dean calling a room full of people of colour animals, that sucks to watch, and it’s a bummer that the gods of other cultures are so much weaker than Lucifer. I wish there was a canon explanation for that, even if it was an American Gods style thing where they’re weaker in American because there isn’t as much active worship for them there. 

Also, the pestilence scene is so gross I actually gagged. Bad to watch. 

Notable Lines:

“I'll cut off your hands.” “Well then, people are gonna be asking, ‘Why are you guys running around with no hands?’"

“I see right through you, you know that? The smart-ass shell, the whole “I could give a crap” thing? Believe me, it takes one to know one.”

“Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on earth? You pillage and you butcher in your God's name.”

“Lucifer, you're my brother. And I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks.”

“Damn right they're flawed. But a lot of them try. To do better, to forgive.”

“You learned all your tricks from me, little brother.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.4

IMdB Rating: 9.1

6x18: Frontierland

Written by: Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin

Directed by: Guy Bee

Original air date: April 22, 2011

Plot Synopsis:

Castiel sends Sam and Dean back in time to 1861 to collect the ashes of a phoenix.

Features:

A classic cowboy showdown, Dean’s cowboy fetish, Cas’ dirty little secret, time travel shenanigans, Dean becoming Sheriff, Samuel Colt, Cas fisting Bobby’s soul, a package from the past.

My Thoughts:

SO much of this episode made me say “babygirl” out loud. I love Dean having so much fun getting to live his special interest. He spends the entire episode getting negged and it fully works, he throws his sarape away and buys a new coat and hat. The setting is well designed and I love the shift in the colour palette. 

I really liked the exchange between the brothers when Dean found Colt’s journal, it’s nice to see them both being nerds about the same thing for once.

I was watching this with my brother-in-law and we were talking about how irrelevant the Eve plotline ends up being - in my head it’s to give the brothers something to do while Cas fights his war in Heaven, but Cas’ war in Heaven gets so little screentime in comparison. It’s definitely the thing I’m more excited about watching, although I do think if it had had more time dedicated to it than The Man Who Would Be King wouldn’t have hit as hard. They used to really make the angel deaths dramatic, and I appreciated that about this episode. 

Here’s a Lyall (brother-in-law) quote: “It’s great for their budget, but you know, it would be nice if everything interesting wasn’t just a guy.” 

Also, Andrew Dabb had a premonition of Jared Padalecki and Walker. Yikes.

Notable Lines:

“We'll ‘Star Trek IV’ this bitch.”

“Well, the answer to your question can best be expressed as a series of partial differential equations.”

“This here is, uh, Walker. He's a Texas Ranger.”

“I'll stay here, hook up with the posse. 'Cause you know me -- I'm a posse magnet. I mean, I love posse. Make that into a t-shirt.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.9

IMdB Rating: 9.0

9x19: Alex Annie Alexis Ann

Written by: Robert Berens

Directed by: Stefan Pleszczynski

Original air date: April 22, 2014

Plot Synopsis:

Sheriff Mills calls Sam and Dean for help when she finds a young girl running from a vampire pack.

Features:

The Alex intro, Vampiric Stockholm Syndrome, Jody my beloved, woodchippering of bodies, honey trapping barflies for vampires, conceptions of motherhood, 

My Thoughts:

I think I might have never seen this episode before? Which doesn’t make sense because I was watching religiously at this point in the series and I KNOW I saw the next episode in season 9 because it’s Bloodlines and I hated it. But I didn’t remember a single thing that was going to happen, and I was RIVETED. 

I think every emotional beat between Jody and Alex hits really hard. I believe Alex’s whole arc, and I think Berens really has a nuanced understanding of her as a child of abuse. I love that Jody’s ability to connect with Alex on an emotional level, and to trust that she was worth saving, is what saved her life. 

It’s a great contrast with Dean just brutally killing the vampire upstairs, showing how the Mark is controlling his ability to connect with his emotions. 

I loved the directing too, especially how the shot of her bringing food to her brothers is mirrored by the shot of Jody killing her “mother”. 

Notable Lines:

“Like she's somehow above it, like she's better than us 'cause she don't feed on people.” “She is better than you, dumbass.”

“What you've been through the last 48 alone, losing your entire family, everything you've ever known or loved – no one can understand that.” “You can.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.9

IMdB Rating: 7.7

10x19: The Werther Project

Written by: Robert Berens

Directed by: Stefan Pleszczynski

Original air date: April 22, 2015

Plot Synopsis:

Sam looks for a magical box built by former Men of Letters, Magnus, hoping it will cure Dean, but is surprised by a deadly alarm system.

Features:

A house full of suicides, Sam and Rowena bargaining, Dean clearing a nest alone, a codex for the Book of the Damned, imaginary Benny, Men of Letters hubris, what happens in Purgatory stays in Purgatory.

My Thoughts:

Holy shit? I was expecting this to not be great because season 10 is a weaker season but. Whoa. Robert Berens/Stefan Pleszczynski dream team. Both this and the season 9 episode today were by them and they were both GREAT for me. 

Often in this show the directing being decent means that I don’t notice it for better or for worse (and there are a lot of episodes that I notice it for worse - looking at you, Singer). This episode had some really really cool scenes, and awesome transitions that I just don’t expect from an episode of Supernatural that isn’t a season premiere or finale. A really subtle example is the scene when Dean appears in the car after Sam has just failed to get into the house. The framing of each shot paired with Sam’s reactions makes Dean look really intimidating and ominous, but once Sam establishes that Dean doesn’t know why he’s really here and his cover hasn’t been blown, it reverts to a neutral shot. The transitions back and forth between Dean in Purgatory and Dean in the house are so smooth I almost want to watch it again right now. And not to mention that when Dean appears in the basement to stop Sam dying, Rowena is only visible in the shots over Sam’s shoulder and not in the shots from Dean’s point of view. Delicious. 

In terms of the writing, God. Berens might be my favourite writer right now. There’s none of this “A Plot and B Plot are so disconnected that they might as well be from different episodes” nonsense that happens a lot in the series. He does a beautiful job of setting up Witch Sam - it’s just a shame that the rest of the writers dropped the ball so hard in the rest of the late seasons. I’m obsessed with Dean hallucinating Benny while Sam hallucinates Rowena. Great for Deanbenny truthers and Samwena truthers. 

The twist with Rowena being a hallucination is so well done, I truly didn’t realize it until she disappeared. I even wrote that she was a freak in this episode and didn’t question it. 

Notable Lines:

“What's another human life to you? Anything’s worth it, as long as you two make it out alive.”

“This place you don’t have to go looking for a fight. All you have to do is be still for one moment, and that fight will come to you. That’s why you’re here, Dean. That’s the purity you crave – killing with no consequence.”

“You gonna get Sam and Cas to put you down? You really think that they’re gonna keep that agreement? Come on. Dean, let’s say they do. Do you think they will ever recover from that? It will ruin them.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.9

IMdB Rating: 8.6

In Conclusion: Fun Stack that we had two Dabb/Loflin episodes and then two Berens/Pleszczynski episodes today - and they started decent and got better and better, imo.

<< Previous Day  |  Next Day >>

[benjiwyatt]

do you have any ben/leslie headcanons! i love your posts abt them so much it's great to see someone get as emotional abt them as i am asjdkajhjd

i got this message and i was like "god, i dont really know if i have any headcanons" and then i opened my notes app and started typing and didn't stop for over an hour

i'm literally putting this under a break and organizing it into categories bc it's absurdly long

here it is

A COLLECTION OF BEN AND LESLIE HEADCANONS

PRE-RELATIONSHIP/S3

basically canon but leslie definitely had a crush on a young benji wyatt and followed the story religiously for the first couple months before she started college

ben is only slightly jealous leslie had ann go out with chris to try and get more money for the parks budget rather than leslie asking him out with the same goal. he knows it’s insane, unethical, and illogical but he’s still excited that he gets to spend the night with her on a date plus two other people even if it is to accuse her of bribery.

ann realizes early on that leslie was attracted to ben and teases her mercilessly about it. she thinks it’s absolutely hilarious that leslie wants to make out with "mean ben.” after april and andy’s wedding, she realizes it's more than just attraction and she lays off.

before ben can even think rationally about what he’s doing, he’s in line at bed, bath, and beyond with a crock pot in his arms, calling stephanie to ask her to send him their family’s chicken soup recipe

ann knew ben liked her from the beginning and was totally positive when she ran into him in the hospital asking for leslie’s room number while holding jj’s waffles and a tub of homemade soup.

ben realizes he’s falling in love with leslie when he is at city hall with her until 3am one night trying to budget for the amount of cotton candy machines she wants for the harvest festival. in his exhaustion, he naively believes her when she tells him she’ll go home in a bit so he leaves. he never gets a text from saying she made it home so he stops at jj’s the next morning and brings a takeout container of waffles and a coffee complete with an outlandish amount of whipped cream and sugar to the parks department. he finds her asleep in the conference room. he starts trying to convince sweetums to donate more cotton candy machines that afternoon.

chris had to have known ben liked leslie. he’s not an idiot. in the deleted scene from their wedding, they read out emails from their “tumultuous first week in pawnee” and chris writes to ben saying, “why are you so focused on leslie knope?” ben replies saying, “i’m not. whatever. shut up.” there’s no way chris is this oblivious. ben takes her out for a beer. ben pays out of pocket for a children’s performer to help her out. ben shows up on chris and ann’s date just because he thinks leslie might be there. chris can’t be this dumb. but when they take the city manager jobs in pawnee, he knows it can’t happen so he cuts ben off when he starts to ask about dating someone in city hall. he cracks down on the rule in front of leslie after the tom incident to hammer it in. he starts setting ben up on a bunch of dates to try and head it off. he sends them to indianapolis for the little league pitch because, realistically, he knows they’re the best bet for success but makes sure to interrupt their dinner and invites them to his apartment to continue to run interference the rest of the night. after their fights in 4.06-4.08, he hopes he won’t have to worry anymore. the next work day, they come into his office looking nervous and happy and he knows he’s about to lose the partner and best friend that’s been by his side for the past decade.

april and andy knew they were secretly dating. it went unspoken aside from a few implicit teasing remarks from april and a few suggestive attempted high fives from andy but leslie assured ben they wouldn’t tell anyone despite their ostensible behavior.

BREAK UP

ben had commissioned the li’l sebastian plush for leslie after he had died but the toy shop didn’t finish it until after they broke up. he felt bad not going to pick it up so he did despite not being able to give it to her. he kept it for all those months and sometimes thought about getting rid of it but could never bring himself to do it.

when leslie made personalized copies her books for her friends with individualized annotations and notes in the bylines, she had two copies for ben. there was one that she gave him during their breakup that was very simplified and watered down where the note basically just said “i’m really glad you decided to stay in pawnee.” then there was a second copy that she kept while they were split up that was totally covered in notes and random thoughts she couldn’t say during their time apart. she gives him that copy when they get back together and it may or may not be the best gift he’s ever received.

april was much less abrasive with them during the break up because she’s a sweetheart and wants her friends to be happy.

the first time leslie admitted she was in love with him was during a long night of drinking and crying at ann’s house

ben craved the taste of sugar during their breakup because he got used to tasting the sweetness when he kissed her

ben found himself unable to sleep at night without the sound of leslie talking in her sleep to comfort him

april texted leslie the night of the halloween party to let her know that ben and andy were at the hospital after a fight and everything was fine and she didn’t need to worry. leslie was mad at andy for a few days after and he couldn’t figure out why.

the only photo in ben’s bedroom was of himself, leslie, and li’l sebastian at the harvest festival. if he got caught staring at it and crying, he would just say he missed li’l sebastian so much.

april and andy started having star wars and star trek movie nights to try and cheer ben up

DOMESTIC

ben and leslie got in the habit of having weekly game nights with april and andy during the campaign since they were all basically living together. it became a tradition that kept going as often as they could make it happen, even after the kids were born. they try to have game night at least once a month. april pretends to hate it.

one of my absolute favorite ideas about them is that she sleeps much better when he’s around to keep her grounded. after they get together for good, she starts getting closer to 5 hours of sleep a night.

another favorite involving leslie’s sleeping: ben is typically accustomed to tuning out incoherent nonsense that she babbles in her sleep but she also has some of her best ideas when she’s not busy trying to focus on a million different things. when he hears her coming up with legitimately good ideas or making speeches or having solid debate arguments, he takes out the notebook he keeps in his nightstand to record her thoughts and quotes. he revisits and revises the notes to strengthen her statements and make them more professional and less rambling but makes sure to keep her distinct voice apparent in them.

ben prefers pancakes to waffles but he will go to the grave with that secret

this isn’t a headcanon because nbc posted it but one of ben’s holidays on leslie’s calendar is watch synchronization day which is the day they celebrate syncing their watches to, as leslie puts it, “always be in harmony, like our hearts” which is just one of the sweetest fucking things in the world

leslie makes ben read and watch all the harry potters because he didn’t get into them when he first tried. ben is much more of a success than ann. she buys him a ravenclaw scarf for christmas.

their first fight as a couple was a historical debate gone awry

since ben clearly has some affinity for custom stuffed animals, he has some made for the triplets.

they’re both dog people but they adopt a cat because sonia and stephen beg for one and it does fit their busy lifestyle much better. they love the cat. they get a dog when the kids are older and life is slightly less hectic.

they both love striped shirts and sweaters so much that they have to make a conscious effort to avoid wearing them on the same day and matching

leslie makes sweets and bakes desserts while ben typically handles cooking the actual meals

BASED ON EPISODES, QUOTES, AND THROWAWAY LINES

i always loved the ann/ben dynamic in bus tour because there’s been such an obvious shift in ann’s attitude towards him in this episode. maybe it’s because she and tom just broke up and she just turned chris down again and she’s frustrated with relationships but i think it’s her realizing ben isn’t going anywhere. since the campaign is winding down, she realizes that things aren’t gonna go back to the way they were because ben is now part of this and he’s clearly in it for the long haul. ann’s definitely jealous that ben is just as important to leslie as she is and she now knows she’s never gonna get that full attention back. ann sits ben down to have a real “don’t you dare hurt her” speech after this ep and before win, lose, or draw. this is when he tells ann he wants to marry her.

they discover they both adore the princess bride after ben says “as you wish” to her one night and after that it becomes their movie.

the wildflower mural becomes a thing between them when ben says he considered that to be their first date, prompting leslie to tell him what the mural means to her.

ben puts banjo boogie bonanza on one of the mix cds he gives leslie at the beginning of their relationship

harrison ford movie nights start after they both reveal they had a crush on him as a kid. ben was obsessed with han solo and leslie was into indiana jones’ whole history teacher vibe.

they basically hate each other’s taste in music and stop exchanging mix cds once that becomes apparent that they aren’t gonna find much common ground. they both love tom petty, al green, and etta james and music in that vein though.

ben makes leslie watch game of thrones just to try to explain why he’s called her khaleesi. she gets into it, not so much because of the show itself, but because of how passionate her boyfriend is about it.

they start learning basic french during the s4 campaign because they think it will be useful to have a basic multilingual vocabulary for their political careers and because leslie confesses she has always dreamed of seeing paris. they study spanish next.

ben makes leslie watch the star wars prequels just so he can complain to her during them. he doesn’t think she’s paying attention and then he reads about midichlorians in the paper.

ann is also in on ben’s plan to sneak vegetables into leslie’s waffles.

they will sometimes jokingly refer to themselves as the “dream team” or “dynamic duo” because, despite chris’s absurdity, it’s true

i’m open to literally any origin of this because no matter what it’s perfect but i like to think that “i love you and i like you” started at some point in season 4 when, at some point, leslie went “i like you” and ben replied “you like me?” “mhm” “hm just like me?” “yes i like you. i love you and i like you. both.” “mmm i love you and i like you too”

i barely even register some of these things as headcanons since they just live so solidly in my brain

this might be my favorite ask ever thank you for loving benslie enough to ask me this and be genuinely interested

if anyone read all of this, i love you