#I haven’t seen the first ep yet but I’m excited

[worgengel]

happy dunmeshi day

[dayas]

Swarm is INSANE

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

Ok thoughts 👏thoughts👏Everyone gather around I have thoughts about this!

Episode 2 was clearly the Pomni episode. We got to see her character get a little more fleshed out and we also got a glimpse of what motivates her which is great.

With this tweet we have solid confirmation on who the upcoming episodes will center on (thanks for not making us guess, Goose) and this lineup is really interesting.

First fascinating thing is that Kinger and Zooble share a spotlight in ep 3. Why is that? Everyone else gets their own dedicated episodes so why are they unique in that regard? What connects them?

Well, I have one idea!

So we know since the pilot that Kinger has been the one to have lived in the Circus the longest out of all of them. We’re still not sure if he was in fact the 1st human to be trapped (maybe we’ll find out in the next episode) but he definitely has the most seniority, both in age and in length of entrapment.

We also know that Zooble was the most recent character to get stuck before Pomni (and considering their attitude, it may have even been quite a while beforehand) AND is the youngest character next to Jax (they even share the same age, which could be a coincidence but it feels too deliberate of a choice).

Which means ep 2 will simultaneously focus on the oldest and the youngest of the characters.

I’m actually curious as to what their dynamic will be because they haven’t really interacted much in the pilot (and like not at all in episode 2), if they end up interacting in ep 3 at all. But mostly I’m excited to see them more fleshed out with hopefully Pomni getting the chance to bond with them (either together or separately).

My guess is that the purpose for them to share focus on an episode is to get perspective from someone who’s been there the longest and has seen more people come and go than anyone else vs. someone who was just recently in Pomni’s shoes and had probably a much different first day experience (we know Zooble cared enough about Kaufmo to personally organize his funeral so they may have some…feelings about who’s essentially his replacement).

Ep3 is also supposedly Gooseworx’s most anticipated episode so I’m extra excited.

Next we have Gangle for episode 4. I honestly don’t have a lot to say about her or the significance in her episode placement outside of her being the closest in age to Pomni (being only a year older). The only hint we get about what her episode will possibly consist of will be on how reliant she is on her ComedyMask to feel happy, which will be very interesting and we might even get some confirmation on whether her avatar was programmed with that feature upon entering the Circus or if it was an add on of sorts by Caine to help keep her sane. A pretty shitty feature if it can’t last for very long but it does make for a nice metaphor about how fragile her facade is (girl is literally masking).

Actually I don’t think her and Pomni have actually exchanged words yet in the show. Wouldn’t it be funny if they don’t up until her episode. Like Pomni is so caught up in between whatever mess episode 3 has in store for Kinger and Zooble that the two of them never actually talk and it just keeps getting more awkward. Gangle wants to talk to her but is so self-conscious about her Tragedy self that she’ll only feel safe to have a conversation if she has her mask, but it just keeps breaking before she even gets the chance.

Again this is all just speculation, if they actually end up talking in episode 3 I’ll…make ship art of them.

Yeah

Anyway, episode 5. The one I’m personally waiting for because y’all should know what I’m about by now.

*Warning: Unhinged, borderline psychotic tangent incoming*

I swear to god if Pomni and Ragatha don’t have a fucking conversation before ep 5 I will launch myself into the sun. I’ll take anything, I just need them to get real for a second. I NEED to know the extent of this woman’s damage. It has to be explored, analyzed, and dissected and I will do so with gusto when the day comes. None of these characters will be safe from my scrutiny, but Ragatha oh ho ho, you have been living rent free in my head for too long, madame. You WILL pay your dues and I intend to collect in every episode until there is not corner of your unsound mind that I have not examined in great detail!

Ahem *Straightens tie* Ok back to business

So yeah, Ragatha.

It may be because we’ve only had 2 episodes but I can’t help but feel like we’re supposed to see Ragatha as a sort of deuteragonist since out of all of the supporting characters she’s so far been getting the most focus aside from Jax, and we’ll get to him in a minute (I promise that’s not just me being biased, or maybe it is, I don’t know, you tell me).

In just two episodes we’ve seen more of what makes her tick compared to anyone else. And of the main cast she’s been the ONLY one to make any kind of connection to the main character and have enough of a meaningful interaction with her to leave an impression.

But this is what really clinched her role as a deuteragonist for me, she’s so far been one of the few to have the narrative briefly shift to her perspective to give us significant character moments like these:

The show REALLY wants us to see just how NOT ok she is.

If she’s meant to be the heart of the group, her heart already can’t take much more damage. Her friendship (if you can call it that, it’s so painfully one sided right now) with Pomni clearly means a lot to her, so much so that her entire sense of self worth seems to be tied to it (and if you’ve been paying attention, she doesn’t have a lot of that as it is). It would be nice to see their connection gradually grow before her designated episode, where she might experience actual growth for herself.

And if episode 2 is any indication of how this show preserves friendships well…

Yeah, I don’t think she’s gonna make it.

In fact, I’m willing to bet actual money that she’s either gonna abstract in episode 5 or episode 6.

Which brings us to Jax’s episode! The other deuteragonist…tritagonist? He definitely shares some degree of significant narrative focus along with Pomni and Ragatha. He’s both an active antagonist force and one of the only characters to drive the plot forward every time he’s on screen (then there’s that weird thing where he keeps breaking the fourth wall).

He has so much significance in the story that Gooseworx gave him his own bullet point in her list of content warnings (this could also be a joke, but I mean it would be funny to see just how despicable they can make this character).

Gooseworx also described Jax and Pomni’s relationship in the show as “messy”. After episode 2, I don’t think she considers him as a candidate for any kind friendship like she did for the others, and who could blame her? In just two days the guy abandoned her to deal with an abstraction and chucked her out of a truck. He’s no one’s favorite person, and he relishes that. Bunnyboy definitely has some issues that Pomni would pick up on the more she’s forced to spend time with him. To the point where I can see her trying to eventually form some kind of bridge because, as her previously established character motivation implies, she’s not the kind of person to intentionally leave anyone high and dry. But unlike the rest of the crew, I don’t think Jax would be inclined to change for the better just because someone took pity on him. He seems like the kinda guy to dig his heels in and commit to his bad behavior out of spite.

And for his episode to come after Ragatha’s, why do I get the feeling the reason Gooseworx went so far as to preemptively apologize to bunnydoll shippers specifically is because he’s gonna cause something really really bad to happen to her (could be abstraction, could even be something much worse) that he would come to sorely regret.

And oh boy would that evoke some feelings in everyone!

I feel like if that is indeed the direction this show is going, the rest of the episodes will really be something.

I’m also certain Caine will get his own episode but right now he is very much an antagonist to these characters. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a villain, but he’s certainly not someone Pomni is keen on sympathizing with, at least not currently.

Thanks again @lilyclawthorne for helpfully providing me with the tweet so I can give some context for my ramblings of the week!

[nessatwene-art]

TPP: EP 1

It’s the first day of school at Central High and the first day of third year for Lucas, already over it before he could amble into the building. It’s just another school year. Robyn stepped out of a car, waving her mom goodbye. She let out a soft sigh, gazing up at the high school. She just wanted to get through her first day at her new school without any trouble. 

The student body crammed their way into the gymnasium. Red, white and black confetti were scattered everywhere, and balloons arched a speaking podium in the middle of the gym. A huge red banner hung across the wall saying “Welcome Cardinals!” in big white letters. 

The pep rally was always the most annoying part of the first day, Lucas thought, sitting next to his friends on the crowded, rowdy bleachers. The marching band music, the obnoxious cheerleaders, too much pomp and circumstance. He plugged his ear buds, attempting to drown out the noise.

“Omg hi!! Hey!! How’s it going!” Clarissa waved at everyone she missed this past summer. 

Mark scrolled through his phone, passing post after post about different monster appearances around Union. Regular Monday news.

“Hi,” Robyn pointed at the open space next to Clarissa, “Is this seat taken?”

“No, go ahead!” Clarissa scooted over, “I’ve never seen you here before.”

“I’m new here.”

Clarissa gasped, starry eyed, “That’s so exciting!” Clarissa poked at Mark and Lucas, “Guys! A new student!”

Robyn gave them a nervous smile, they awkwardly waved back.

“I’m Clarissa by the way.” Clarissa held out her hand.

“Robyn, I’m a junior,” She happily shook it. How friendly, She thought.

“The one with the glasses is Mark, and the brooding one is Lucas. They’re like my best buds.” Clarissa introduced the others. “Also juniors.”

“Clar, I’m not brooding,” Lucas yawned, “Just tired.”

“It's 7:45, dude, wake up,” Mark shoved Lucas’s shoulder. 

Mic feedback rippled through the gym and all chatter and music shushed. The principal stood against the podium, welcoming the students into a new school year with obvious cringe and outdated slang here and there. 

“Hey,” Clarissa whispered to Robyn, “If you want, we can give you a tour around campus during lunch.”

Robyn agreed, it beats feeling lost for a week. Plus she liked Clarissa’s hospitality.

Students fizzled out of the gym, cramming through the hallway. 

Clarissa offered to help Robyn locate her locker as they strolled along in front of the other two. It was sort of a special skill of Clarissa to seem like close friends to someone she met fifteen minutes ago.

Mark nudged Lucas, “Doing anything this year?”

“I don’t know…” Lucas scratched his head.

“Baseball?”

“Our team sucked last year.”

“Well you could always—”

“I’m not joining robotics, Mark,” Lucas rolled his eyes, stopping in front of his locker.

“Whoa!” Clarissa hollered just a couple lockers down, “You guys are neighbors!” She pointed at Robyn opening hers at the lower level. Robyn gave yet another awkward smile.

“What about competition? You haven’t done those in a while,” Mark leaned against the wall.

“My dad’s been on my case about fighting,” Lucas threw random supplies from his backpack into his locker, “Saying I should ‘focus on school extracurriculars and whatever,'” Lucas gave his best dad impression. “I don’t know what the issue is.”

A Skateboarder swept through the hallway, “Whoops!” swiping Lucas backpack right out of his hands, scattering books and papers across the floor.

“What the hell!” Lucas, annoyed, bent over to pick his stuff up.

“Oh gosh,” Robyn helped gather up the remaining.

The skateboarder slowly scooted back, eyeing Robyn.

“Never seen you before,” He smirked

“Piss off, Blake,” Lucas spat.

“Take it easy,” Blake relaxed his hands in his jean pockets, “I’m just trying our new friend.”

“Well, I’m Robyn,” For better or for worse, she introduced herself one more time, “I’m new…you get the picture.”

“Right, right, and I guess you already made friends with Mucas, Crony, and braceface.”

“Hey!” Clarissa objected.

“Rude…” Mark added.

Lucas kicked Blake’s board, rolling it down the hallway.

“The hell?! That was a new board!”

“Then don’t knock over my stuff!” Lucas said, tightening his fist at Blake.

Not a second too soon the principal stood over the two with a skateboard around his arm, “Break it up!” He looked unpleasant. “If you lay a finger on each other it'll be straight to detention!”

“Sorry, Principal Finke,” Lucas and Blake said in unison as if they rehearsed it thousands of times.

“And there’s no skateboarding in the building! I’ll be confiscating this till further notice.”

“Aw come on!” Blake protested.

BRING!! The first bell rang. 

“Hurry off to homeroom, all of you. Luckily It’s meatball sub Monday so I’m in a good mood,” The principal walked off.

“Tch dork ass,” Blake insulted the principal. He turned back to Robyn, smirked and shrugged. “It was nice to meet you, Robbie,” then he sauntered away.

“Geeeezz,” Clarissa groaned.

“Yeah…uh sorry about that,” Lucas apologized. “He’s…”

“An asshole?” Robyn finished.

“Yup.”

BRING!!  the bell rang again.

“Do you mind helping me find my homeroom, Clarissa?” Robyn asked.

“Sure!” They began walking together. “Robyn tour during lunch! Don’t forget!” Clarissa called out to the boys heading their separate ways.

“307…307…” Robyn mumbled, looking for her last class before lunch. 

She walked into a science classroom, already filled with other students, Blake among them, hanging out before the bell rings. She noticed Lucas sitting at a desk in the last row, head perched on his hand, buds in his ear, and gazing out the window. Robyn took the empty desk right in front of him, they may not be close but at least he’s a familiar face.

“Um Luke, right?”

“Close,” He took his earbuds out, “Lucas.”

“Oh right, right,” She playfully knocked her forehead. 

Robyn wondered what to talk about, Lucas seemed much more reserved than his enthusiastic friend, Clarissa. “Are you into chemistry?” This is a chemistry class…

“Eh,” Lucas shrugged, “It's fine I guess.”

“Ah.” 

Lucas folded his arms and leaned back against his chair, “Picked up a thing or two from my dad. He really wanted me to take it though. it’s like his thing.”

“Uh huh,” Robyn nodded.

“So where’re you from?”

“I’m from Union, I've been in Central for most of my life.”

“Then where'd you go? Eastman? Rolling Green? Kilbourne?

The question stung her a bit. After all she wanted to leave that behind but she knew it was inevitable.

“Um…Ravenwood…”

“Ravenwood?” Lucas leaned forward.

Robyn could feel the slight twinge of embarrassment. “Y-yeah.”

“Huh,” Lucas lingered for a second, “I could see it.”

The bell finally rang and students took their seats as their teacher rushed in through the door.

“Good morning everyone,” The teacher began scribbling her name on the whiteboard in front of the class. “I’m Elizabeth Vader, but you can call me Ms. Ellie,” She said in a bright smile. “Welcome to AP Chem!”

Ms. Ellie passed out syllabuses then pulled out a bowl filled with small pieces of paper. “Please pick one piece of paper,” She explained while walking down the rows, “And whoever gets the same number as you is your lab partner for the semester.”

A few students groaned.

Ms. Ellie made it to the last row, Robyn and Lucas drew a lot.

“7,” Robyn’s paper read.

Lucas tapped her shoulder, holding out his paper, “7.”

“Guess we’re lab partners,” Lucas said.

“Lab partners and locker neighbors. What are the chances?” Robyn laughed.

Students talked amongst themselves for a bit, as Ms. Ellie prepared material at her front desk. Robyn overheard a couple of peers talking about the recent news, unnaturals, mysterious monsters that have appeared in Union for some time. One mentioned how he thought one of the unnaturals looked kind of cool, describing it the best he could. bright yellow eyes, huge talons, and two pairs of wings that allowed it to soar like a jet. 

“That sounds like a yellow core ave unnatural!” Robyn butted in, “not crazy rare or anything, but some aves can fly over 300 miles per hour, which is faster than the fastest bird on earth, and—” Robyn trailed off, “oh sorry…” She adjusted her glasses.

“No, no, it’s cool,” The student reassured her.

“Pffft ha!” Lucas cracked up, “Now I definitely see it.”

The bell rang and students filed out of the room heading towards the cafeteria. Robyn sat at her desk packing up while Lucas sat on the desktop texting Clarissa their ETA. 

“Oh Robyn!” Ms. Ellie walked up towards her, “Sorry for being a little nosy, but I overheard your little convo and saw you have credit from a summer program at the Union Institute.”

“Mm hm.”

“I think it’s very impressive! I don’t meet too many students who are very passionate about studying unnaturals.”

“Thanks Ms. Ellie,” Robyn blushed.

“Would you be interested in seeing the science department’s core collection?”

Robyn gasped, “I would love to!”

She followed Ms. Ellie to the department's storage room at the back of the class. Lucas jumped from the desktop, tailing behind them.

Ms. Ellie turned on the lights and opened a large cabinet next to a shelf of extra beakers and graduated cylinders. Inside were seven half gallon sized glass tubes with a metal base and a top locked with a hatch. Each held a colorful crystal orb. Half shined brilliantly while the others were dim. They all had labels taped around the thick glass with their designated nomenclature; Red cored beast, yellow cored aquatic, yellow cored flora, and so on.

“I’m sure it’s not as impressive as the Union Institute,” Ms. Ellie took one out, passing it to Robyn.

“There’s so much variety! Plus these stasis chambers look brand new!” Robyn gleefully examined. 

Ms. Ellie noticed Lucas leaning against the door frame. “Would you like to see?” She handed him an unnatural stasis chamber before he could utter a word.

“How was the program, Robyn?” She asked.

“It was great!” Robyn hopped in excitement, “I learned so much. The labs were so cool and modern! Plus the food was pretty darn good.”

“How lovely!”

“Even better, I got to meet the lab’s director and he offered me an after school internship!”

“That’s wonderful, Robyn!”

“Wait, for real?” Lucas added, juggling the glowing red core given by Ms. Ellie with his bare hands. 

“Yeah! But…” Robyn’s excitement grew quiet. “I don’t know if my project idea will be approved if—”

“Lucas! My goodness!” Ms. Ellie interrupted.

“...What?” Lucas said, startled.

“Don’t take active cores out of their stasis chambers!” She scolded him. “If it’s left out too long its form could regenerate!”

“It’s not like it’s gonna reform in a second,” he threw the core up, catching it like a ball.

Ms. Ellie winced. “Lucas, put it back please,” She threw her hands on her hips with a stern frown.

He groaned, putting the core back in its chamber and locking its hatch. He placed the chamber on the closest shelf stocked with extra chem equipment.

Ms. Ellie exhaled in relief. “Well,” she cleared her throat, “You two don't want to miss lunch right?” 

“Oh right, my tour!” Robyn remembered.

Ms. Ellie escorted them out of the classroom, shutting the door behind her.

The door creaked back open. A figure tiptoed through the classroom to the storage room, easily breaking in. They took the chamber sitting on the shelf placed by Lucas, unlocked  its hatch, and set the shining red core on the tiled floor. It began to simmer. The figure hurried out the room, leaving the door cracked open.

“There you guys are!” Clarissa stood outside the bustling cafeteria.  

“We had class on the third floor,” Lucas replied, walking beside Robyn, “Plus the new girl’s a teacher’s pet.”

“Hey,” Robyn objected, “For your information we were having a great conversation till he decided to mess with an unnatural core.”

“It wasn't that big of a deal,” Lucas brushed it off.

“Um? You weren’t handling it properly and—”

“Hey guys!” Mark jogged in out of breath. 

“And where were you?” Clarissa asked.

“Gym class.” 

“Well since we’re all here…Tour!” Clarissa led the way down the hallway. 

The three guided Robyn through Central High, filling her in on anecdotes and embarrassing gossip; like last year's nearly disastrous production of Singing in the Rain, the pranks pulled by the varsity football team on student council, and the time when a rival school kidnapped their mascot, Cornelius the Cardinal, and held him for “ransom”. 

“That’s where we have anime club!” Clarissa pointed at a classroom, “you can join if you want!”

“Or Robotics. Thursdays and Fridays starting next week.” Mark added.

“Thanks, I’ll consider,” Robyn smiled, not wanting to turn them down yet.

“Did you do any clubs at your old school?” Mark asked.

“Academic olympiad and archery.” She pretended to draw and shoot a bow.

Mark, Clarissa, and Lucas awed.

“Of course your old school had an archery team,” Lucas remarked.

“Wait, where are you from anyway?” Mark raised another question as they headed up to the third floor.

Robyn hesitated at the top of the stairs. “Just another school in Union—”

“She went to Ravenwood,” Lucas killed the suspense.

Mark and Clarissa gasped.

Ravenwood Academy isn’t that different from Central High, right? The thought ran through her head. Her eyes pierced at Lucas when he passed her up the steps. He glanced back, shrugging a shoulder.

“Wait, I totally see it…” Clarissa wagged her finger when she connected the dots.

“Told ya, teacher’s pet—OW!” Clarissa nudged Lucas in his side.

“I mean, that’s a really good school,” Mark wondered, “Don’t mean to pry but how come you left?”

“Ah well.” 

The three raised their brows, eager for Robyn’s answer.

“I guess it just wasn’t for me. I mean, who wants to go to a school with a bunch of know-it-alls anyway,” Robyn laughed, “Plus I don’t have to wear a uniform anymore.”

The others giggled at her punches at Ravenwood.

“Then I’m glad I got to meet you, Robyn,” Clarissa said as they continued their tour down a third floor hallway. “I moved to Central when I was ten, so I understand what going to a new school is like.”

Robyn gave a sweet smile.

Lucas threw his gaze elsewhere—not sure what it was in him but he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Though he’s only known Robyn for what? Four-ish hours? 

She didn’t feel ready to tell the truth yet. It weighed heavy on her heart but this is what she wanted.

They finally reach the science wing. Clarissa stepped in front of the rest, ready to end the tour. 

“And that’s our school!” She raised her arms in the air, “any questions?”

“Hmm…” Robyn pondered.

“Can we get some food, Clar? I’m staarrrvving,” Lucas’s stomach grumbled.

“Do we still have enough time for lunch?” Robyn asked.

“We can grab lunch during study hall, teachers don’t really take attendance for upperclassmen then,” Mark explained.

“First day usual?” Lucas posed.

“I’m up for it,” Mark agreed.

“What’s the first day usual?”

“Since middle school, we would go to Pelino’s Pizza and Deli after school and get a large box of the ultimate four cheeses with the works. Then go to the corner store on the same street and load up on a ton of snacks and drinks!” Clarissa eye’s eyes lit up talking about it.

“Not the fanciest, but it hits every time,” Lucas grinned.

His grin was whipped away as a shadow grew tall behind Clarissa. The others stood stunned by Its abrupt appearance, staring into its fiery red eyes as it slowly drew out its thick claws.

“And since we’re upperclassmen now, we can leave campus whe—”

“CLARISSA!” Robyn gasped, jumping to grab her out of the way. They slide across the hallway, bumping into a wall of lockers.

SWOOSH! Its claws striked the ground.

“Holy crap!” Clarissa yelled while pinned to the floor. “What was that?”

The Unnatural stood up on its hind legs, its body was as thick as a black bear, and its fur was colored like cinnabar jasper. Two large fangs raised out from its bottom jaw and claws were as long as a sloth’s. Robyn felt a beat of sweat drip from her face. This encounter felt all too familiar but this time she knew what to do. Robyn rose on to one knee, her hands began to spark, materializing a glowing purple bow.

“Whoa,” Clarissa was awestruck. 

She drew the string, conjuring an arrow just as brilliant as the bow. WOOSH! Robyn shot. It flew down the hallway towards the unnatural, hitting the wall just beside it.

“Gah?! I missed?!” Robyn cried.

However, she didn’t fail to get it’s attention. The unnatural turned towards the girls, stomping and lifting its claws. There was nowhere to run in time, they braced for impact. 

WAM! An azure beam shot the unnatural to the ground. 

The girls hurried up from the floor and Robyn looked around for where the shot came from. Lucas held a finger gun and blue steam wisped from the end of his index finger.

“Oh my god!” Mark said, hiding behind Lucas, “Are you guys okay?”

Before they could answer, the unnatural stood up, escaping on all fours down the hallway.

“Damn it!” Lucas raced after it, “Mark, watch over them!” He yelled.

“Lucas, wait!” Robyn chased after them before Mark could stop her.

Robyn followed Lucas, staring carefully at the unnatural they’re pursuing. Then it clicked.

“Lucas!” Robyn caught up with him.

“Hey!” He was shocked to see her, “I thought you were staying back?”

“Lucas, look!” She pointed at the unnatural, “That’s what happens when you mess with a core!” She scolded him.

“....What?!!” 

The stopped at the top of a stairway as the unnatural stood its ground at the bottom.

“That’s a red core unnatural! That’s the one you took out of its stasis chamber!”

“What the hell are you talking about?! You saw me put it back!”

“Maybe you didn’t put it back right. I told you it’s dangerous!” Robyn argued. She drew her bow again, shooting and missing again. “Come on!” She yelled in frustration.

Lucas ran down the steps, this time hitting the unnatural with an energy fist. They locked in combat as the commotion began to draw a crowd. Robyn followed down to the second floor and watched as Lucas effortlessly fought against the unnatural. Even when he was hit he could brush it off. A punch, a kick, a shot—his grin was wide and eyes focused, like he was having a blast. As for Robyn, she could barely hit it with her arrows.

“Excuse me! Sorry!” She ran through the crowd of students, drawing her bow one more time. It hit! “Yes!” Robyn cheered.

The unnatural takes its attention from Lucas to Robyn.

“Oh no!”

It chased after her. 

She ran into a deadend and the unnatural continued to charge after her.

Perfect, Lucas thought.

“Robyn!” Lucas sprint behind the unnatural, “When I say ‘now’ shoot an arrow at its chest!”

Robyn gulped and drew her bow, closing one eye to aim. Lucas formed a finger gun and the index started to glow.

The unnatural rushed closer and closer and closer, then jumped into the air.

“Now!”

Robyn shot her arrow and Lucas shot a beam, both striking the unnatural right in the middle. It fell to the ground and its form dissipated into a thick red smoke, leaving nothing but a glowing red core on the ground.

Robyn slid against the wall, dropping to in relief. Lucas walked over and helped her up. She brushed the dust out of her skirt as more people stepped into the hallway. Chatter among them grew louder and some even cheered.

“Nice,” Lucas smiled.

She smiled back.

Clarissa and Mark ran down the stairs, embracing both. 

“Holy cow!” Clarissa exclaimed, “are you guys okay?”

“Yeah,” despite nearly being attacked and missing almost all her shots, Robyn beamed. “We’re great!”

The principal came rushing down the hallway, hands over his head utterly flabbergasted. “WHAT IN GOD’S NAME?!”

Garbage, books, and papers were thrown everywhere, a broken fountain spat out water, and some lockers were dented and covered in claw marks. 

“Oops,” Lucas mumbled.

The hallway was a mess!

“Who is responsible for this!!??” The Principal's face was hot red.

A few in the crowd point at the culprits.

Lucas’s jaw dropped “ARE YA’LL SERIOUS??!”

The final bell rang, Lucas and Robyn sat in an empty classroom. Robyn’s face was planted on the desk while Lucas sat with his head perched on his shoulder bored.

“First time in detention?” Lucas asked.

“Noo,” Robyn sulked, lifting her head, “But it's my first time having two entire weeks of detention!” She planted her face back on the desk. “Thanks for asking.”

“Finke has a stick up his geriatric ass. He’s always looking for someone to punish,” Lucas tried to reassure her. 

She didn’t respond.

“Um, sorry about that”

“About what?”

“The unnatural…but I swore I put the core back.”

“It’s fine,” Robyn lifted her head back up, “I wonder how it could’ve gotten out…” She took a small journal from her backpack, scribbling thoughts onto a page.

“Hell of a first day, huh?” he sat back, resting the back of his head against his hands.

“Gee, you telling me,” she agreed, “I thought getting through my first day was going to be easy but now I’m sitting in after school detention with nine more waiting for me because an unnatural somehow attacked the school! Now I’m gonna be late to my internship which I don't even know is gonna happen because I haven’t gotten my project approved because nobody wants to join!” She vented out her frustrations.

“What's the project,” Lucas asked.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not going to get approved anyway.”

“Lemme hear it.”

Robyn sighed, “I wanted to do case studies of unnaturals living and appearing around Central on a personal level—and help out if they're causing trouble, sorta like today. If you think you put it back then how did it appear in the school? Was it from a fracture?” She came to a sad pause. “I’m the only high schooler and none of the other interns wanted to join. Plus I can barely use my powers well. How am I going to help anyone, let alone myself?” Robyn sunk in her desk.

“Could I join?”

“Wait…what?” Robyn perked up.

“You have a cool power. Your bow.” Lucas complimented. “Didn’t expect you to be a poten.”

“I didn’t expect you either—”

“But,” Lucas continued, “Monsters aren’t sitting targets. Your technique is too hesitant, that’s why you missed so much.”

“Oh! Uhhhh.”

“And if you’re standing there to load up your shots, you’re easy prey.”

 “Hm…” Robyn thinks for a moment, wondering how much he was paying at attention to her during the fight. He seemed too focused; like he was in his own world.

“So I figured, your project is gonna be like this, you’re gonna need someone who knows their way around a fight.” Lucas shrugged, “Maybe help you to learn your abilities.” He tried to come off as nonchalant, but his interest was genuine.

Robyn wondered, “I don’t know if the director would allow it since you're not an intern and all.”

“C’mon,” Lucas insisted, “If I teach you, you teach me. I think we can work something out.”

Robyn beamed, remembering how his face looked when he was fighting the unnatural. That was his element.

“Okay,” She agreed, “Then let's go after school tomorrow! I can’t wait for you to see the lab and meet the director! It’s going to be so cool!”

They chatted through the rest of detention. One person was one step closer. Despite all that happened today, more was awaiting them.

Ms. Ellie opened the door to the science department storage. Holding the core in her hand, she placed the core back in its chamber, locking it tightly. 

“Gosh, how troublesome.” She placed the chamber back in the cabinet with the others. “I’m just glad that nobody was hurt,” She sighed in relief. She closed the cabinet, locking it securely with a padlock. Ms. Ellie walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Unknown to her, another stasis chamber sat hidden behind the shelf of extra books and equipment, unlocked and empty.

[avelera]

I admittedly haven’t seen much OFMD S2 criticism but I did masochistically go looking to see what the major complaints were.

I’m not all that interested in addressing individual critiques. Some of them made sense to me. Some of them were a bit silly. Some were clearly based on the show not being the fanfic people had written in their heads after they watched S1. Some were mad for the inevitable shipping reasons.

But what I think is the most important thing for OFMD fans and fans of any ongoing story to remember is this:

The sequel will never be able to match the fact you watched the first part without preconceived expectations.

No second season of OFMD could ever match the fact that no one was expecting Season 1. They weren’t expecting the kiss. They can’t recapture the uncertainty and euphoria of that relationship becoming canon. They can’t recreate the audience discovering its unique mix of Muppet humor and heartfelt drama with glancing moments of historical accuracy, all awash in stageplay level special effects as a love letter to old-school pirate plays and musicals. You can’t ever experience that again for the first time.

If these two seasons had aired back to back, far from seeing a decrease in quality or change in tone, I think you’d find they match one another very closely and seamlessly throughout. It was only the long break that allowed people to imagine certain story beats or characterizations or threads like historical accuracy as being more important than they were.

If Season 1 had ended, say, with the, “Never left.” beat while “The Chain” played as the last thing we saw before the credits rolled and the wait for S2 began, the fandom landscape and expectations would have been wildly different. But then, every OFMD episode adds wildly new elements, they’re all very different from each other, and anyone who thought any one those elements would be the new constant tone of the show going forward would be wrong. And yet, that’s what happened inevitably after the last episode of S1.

Honestly, I thought it was a bit of a shame, from a fanfic writer perspective only, that S1 ended on such a dark note because it was so out of keeping with 90% of the rest of the show but inevitably, I knew the fandom and fan writers would latch onto that dark thread in an effort to continue the story, since it’s where S1 left off. But OFMD was always going to resolve that separation quickly then return to humor and hijinks (albeit with notes of drama and more serious emotions, as it always has) , it’s right there in the romcom plot structure, a structure which owes much more to OFMD’s DNA than any historical pirate drama.

*Sigh* Anyway, I’m excited for the season finale. And truly I haven’t seen much criticism, but I’ve been chewing on these thoughts since I woke up to critiques of ep 6-7 last week and was then baffled by it once I saw the episodes myself. So there it is.

[loveblkwmn]

S U P A C E L L

everybody should watch netflix’s new show Supacell it was very good! honestly i was skeptical at first cause i don’t watch sci-fi movies fr so i really only pressed play because i saw an all black cast and some black romance and we don’t have nearly enough of that so i wanted to try to support and i don’t regret pressing play at all. i binged the 6 eps in one sitting lol it’s very good i love all the characters and am intrigued by them so i’m really excited to see more in next season. it starts a lil slow but as soon as it picks up it’s really good and you just can’t stop watching cause you’re just so into it lol. also i’m canadian so it was interesting to see the black south london culture and like lifestyle in this, and from what i’ve seen on social media it was done pretty well so i really enjoyed that aspect of the show as well. another great aspect is the fact that it brings awareness to sickle cell which mainly affects us. the way it’s incorporated in the show is very unique and another cool touch.

this first season felt so short that as soon as i finished it i ran to youtube to binge all their interviews and i fell in love w the cast lol they seem like a lovely group and their chemistry translated well into their acting (more specifically tosin and ade who play michael and dionne). they’re literally all so beautiful too like omggg it’s crazy. but it seems like they haven’t been renewed for a second season yet so i neeeed everybody to support the show by liking it on netflix and just showing love on every platform just to let them know we want more lol. like a bunch of the actors said, a show like this could really help open doors for black people in the film industry, it can help show that black people can tell multiple stories and can star in different genres so please, show it some love, let’s tell the film industry that we want more black casts in romcoms, sci-fi, horror and just any genre!

i would talk more about like my favorite scenes and everything but i don’t want to spoil anyone who hasn’t seen it yet lol but i will quickly say that my fav character is def sabrina like she’s beautiful, caring and protective of those she loves. i’m a big sister like her so i think that also played a part lol but i feel like there’s still so much they can do with her character like honestly we don’t know much about her so i hope we can learn more in the next season.

again, if you haven’t watch it yet, you need to! (you’re missing out on great tiktoks abt it too)

*if ur a writer pleaaaase watch and write use some good fictions i’m starving out here

[agirlandherquill]

Written In Smoke - The Inceptive Letter

Now, for the first post of this series I thought I’d begin with something simple, explaining the name - Written, because of course I’m a writer and I adore the clickety-clack of keys (and writing with a fountain pen in a notebook when I’m outlining plot, which is a new little venture I’ve begun doing) and Smoke, because it’s a weekly account of events, nothing is going to be completely solid, and my memory will have gaps even if I attempt to note things down, and also because much like the flow of ink upon paper, life is similarly fluid too, in my mind at least, it’s very much like smoke - full of substance, beautiful, chaotic, and full of little moments (which I completely adore) and thus the use of smoke, because little moments disappear so quickly but the remnants remain with you forevermore, and that’s as much of an explanation as my mind can conjure, which for me at the very least, composes the introduction to this series!

And now to move on to the main substance of this post - much like the ingredients of a perfect dish, the parts are still a work in progress, so bear with me whilst I work out which to include and how to structure it

 (And come up with working titles for each section, which is part of the fun!)

A Glimpse Through Time - little bits about me and what I’ve been up to this week

This week marked the end of a chapter, a very important one, because I completed (some may say survived, barely) my final three papers and today was my final day of academic normalcy - everything from here-on-out is completely and utterly unknown - no more Lit, Bio, and Chem to worry about for the summer at least, which is very, very daunting but I did it, I made it through and hopefully my work paid off - we shall see in a few months time, but i’m not ready to think about that yet - Having to say goodbye to the people who have taught me for the past few years was difficult but I made it through with no tears, a few hugs and cards written, which was lovely, truly, and I’m grateful for every minute of it.

Other than completing the final obstacle toward the free-fall that Is adulthood (I say that as though the feat isn’t impressive, because it sure would be to me two years ago), only a few things have happened this week:

(I’m making this a list because who doesn’t adore lists? Perhaps only me, but that’s more than okay)

Stuff Your Kindle Day was yesterday, and my poor, poor kindle has to suffer with the acquisition of 50-odd books (I haven’t dared to count past that, and it was my first actual SYK day despite owning a kindle for 9 years), and I have no idea if it has the storage for it, so that’ll be fun to work through

I made a bet to watch star-wars, now of course i’ve seen most of it (movie-wise, definitely, and 3/4 of mandalorian minus s3 because let’s face it, I’m as behind on that as I am with Witcher, which is soon to be rectified but anyway redirecting back to Star Wars) but very little of the shows and it’s been so long I hardly remember the plots and such, which I’m very much looking forward to re-experiencing for the first “proper-ish” time - so I’m starting with Solo, then steadily working my way through ANH, ESB, ROTJ, Mando S1, Mando S2, Boba Fett, Mando S3, TFA, TLJ, TROS, TPM, AOTC, Clone wars (movie and plot-vital eps, I was given a list), ROTS, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka - all of this in exchange for my friend to watch The Boys (I’m going to rewatch it all, then finally see Gen V, hopefully in time before S4 ends and I can watch the last few eps as they come out, like I did with S3)

I decided I want to go on a trip over summer, just me, which is frankly terrifying but I’m really excited - I’m thinking of Bath, possibly, because the Jane Austen Museum is there (Persuasion is the love of my life and i’ve only read it twice, I also need to read more than simply that and Pride and Prejudice) and a few doors down is Mary Shelley’s Museum too! It’s a trip that’s doable in a day, by train, which is pretty perfect for my first solo excursion - so bear with me since that’s in the works

To end this list I’m slipping in a note about a brief-exchange that my delusional mind brands rom-com noteworthy (only it’s not, unless it maybe is? i’ll leave that to the reader to decide), I gifted my chemistry lab-partner a chocolate bar and a note of gratitude because it’s down to him that I survived the practicals (only kidding, I’m not THAT dangerous, but we were the most successful pair in the class which was pretty awesome), and enjoyed the chem course even more than I thought I would - and on the final day (today, insert anxious and clueless screaming because it feels far, far too soon for everything to be over) on the way out, he gifted me something in return - I never thought a chocolate bar would make me want to cry and giggle at the same time, but there you go (part of me prays he will not notice the existence of my Tumblr, but it’s possible, and if he ever reads this - I am so, so, sorry, but either way my appreciation is known, and that’s good enough for me, and he’s very, very sweet)

Now, what else is there to include in this section? Oh, I know! The nightmare that is the vast variety of things that entertain me - cough, slightly melodramatic of me, but you’ll see what I mean momentarily,

Books - I’m roughly 120 pages into the Wheel of Time, which I already know will become my LOTR (assuming that is an actual phrase and not something my brain has made up, which is highly likely regardless - it’s also a slight reference to Ready Player One, since Kira reread LOTR every single year), because who doesn’t love danger, fantasy, and a delicious almost undecipherable prophecy? If I don’t re-read this book every year I will be incredibly, incredibly surprised. Fighting sleep one night this week I sought out my kindle, which had been sorely unused these last couple years, and I started to read Interview With The Vampire, and I’ve spent a couple hours reading it today, I’m about 25% in according to Kindle stats, so I’ll see how it goes. Surprisingly though, I stumbled across Perks of Being A Wallflower on Kindle Unlimited today - and 5 hours later, with a couple of breaks scattered between, I finished it, about twenty minutes before writing this section - and let me tell you, that book was a LOT, but a good lot? i suppose? And I’m glad I finally got around to reading it - It’s also given me the urge to reread All The Bright Places which I read for the first time last summer, and it’s beautiful, and so, so good,

Shows - Seeing as it’s the weekend I’m making my way through Dexter, I’m currently 3/4 through S4 and loving it, it’s INSANE, I’m also watching Shameless US, I’m on S6 and it’s actually baffling me how much I’m enjoying it (Lip is my favourite character, and this season HURTS me with how much it hurts him, mild spoiler possibly? apologies if so), I’m also going to start rewatching the Boys as aforementioned, seeing the dark side of superheroes is so incredibly genius, if not disturbing, and there’s plenty of that in the show to look forward to experiencing again, so wish me luck dear reader,

Music - I listen to a LOT. That’s the honest truth. Lots of genres, lots of people, but I’ll try and pick out some of the things I’ve been listening to this week: Outlander S1&2 Soundtrack (I’ve only seen up to s2, and after reading the first book last month it was perfect timing for exam season), Like That by Bea Miller (I rediscovered this recently and it fits so well with the characters in my head, and even though I haven’t been writing lately, believe me, I’ve been plotting), Trouble by Camylio (it reminds me of the main characters in my currently not fully-written book, as in the work I need to complete/redraft after I finish Ruin’s Reprisal), Ludens by Bring Me The Horizon (does this song really need an explanation? It’s just that good) and finally, to finish off this little list of things that I’ve hearing a lot this week, The Other Side by Stephen Sanchez, which is so so good

Spills From The Ink-Pot - writing, writing, and more writing

Seeing as it’s Friday, and today is the start of my lengthy, well-needed summer, there’s not an awful lot I can tell you all for writing progress, but so far this weekend I did manage to re-read the chapter I’m editing and the progress I’ve made in it so far, which was super helpful, and by the end of this weekend hopefully I’ll have that chapter all finished, and then afterwards have a lot more to share with you all next week!

But to make up for my absence from writeblr and being unable to post anything these last few weeks, I’ll add this in:

Just a little glimpse into my workspace/theme/whatever you wish to call it on Scrivener - that's right, I'm a Scrivener girlie, and I'm so glad I invested in it last May (take part in NaNoWriMo camps folks, you get 50% off, which is what I did, aka £25 for permanent use as opposed to £50, which is still really good compared to Word etc, in my opinion) - and a sneak peek at some of my Chapter Titles, which I really do love coming up with,

(if it's blurry I do apologise, but you get the gist, hopefully)

Incase it’s not obvious, this account was written in parts, over the course of Friday and Saturday (11pm today, roughly), since I lost the battle against exhaustion and fell asleep before I could finish compiling this lengthy post (that’s not a complaint, i’m really enjoying writing this) so I’m finishing this very first post a tad later than initially planned, but these things happen, and that’s all right - you’ll also notice my battle with autocorrect and its capitalisation, sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but I’d rather not go back and correct things this late at night, so apologies for that slight blunder but I promise the next post will be all properly formatted with headers and capitals (as soon as I figure out how to include headers, and make them, hopefully trusty procreate comes in handy, but we shall see)

So that’s it! The very first Written In Smoke is completed, compiled and heading your way - I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it, this is unknown territory for me and it feels as though I’m baring another piece of myself to the world, but it’s worth it, I knew it when this began, and I know it now as I write these last few lines, so if you’ve read this far - thank you, and I’ll see you all next week for the next entry in this series!

~ A Girl and Her Quill

p.s. if there’s anything else you’d like to know about, let me know! suggestions are greatly appreciated (cough, somewhat desperately needed because I have no idea what I’m doing)

p. p. s. being the utter genius I am, I pressed save as draft rather than post, so this is coming out even later than originally planned - whoops!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tag List! (if you want to be notified when a WIS post comes out, interact with this post :) )

@lead-to-code @catwingsathena @nothoughtsjustmhaandotherthings @thestorywitch @lunaeuphternal

@theaistired @frostedlemonwriter

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - 2023 Begins!

Jan 20232 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) 4 of 12 - I keep saying this, but I can’t get over how delighted I am to have Perth back on my screen, and under the GMMTV umbrella. He is a stellar actor. I like that the first kiss of this show wasn’t btw the leads. Felt more realistic to high school. Big drama next week!

My School President (Fri YT) 5 of 10 - I missed these two so much last week. But also there was A MUSICAL INCIDENT and it caused a bit of a rant from yours truly. 

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 9 of 12 - no ep this week, resumes tomorrow WATCH ALONG HERE.

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 7 of 11 - Game remains my spirit animal (pushy fucker), and the plot of the main couple is interesting even if I don’t like the cheating component. 

Cutie Pie 2 You (special) 1 of 4 - Oh it’s a full on special. Very very pretty and, is possible, more sappy and full of manufactured angst. Nuea protecting Hia’s interests was sweet. Lots of making out. So... more of the same, basically. What year are we in now, anyway?

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 8 of 12 - (note from my Thai language spy rgr ep 5: the writing on the stone tablets was their names + 2 family members) And now we are suddenly firmly in BL territory and baby Dom is just a baby Seme. No bisexual identity crisis needed... just diving into cheese fest. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 13 of 14 - I would have kept JaFirst apart for longer, quite frankly. I mean otherwise why bother split them up in the first place? Please just end this show already. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The New Employee (Korea Weds Viki) 3 of 8 - I love them so much, and they are so cute, and this is not open to discussion. Viva la age gap! 

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (Korea Weds iQIYI) 7-8 of 10 - There is a lot implied about the leads history together, but it was still nice to get backstory plus GAT KISSES. I love it when they flip the dynamic and give the uke agency. I’m really enjoying this show now, I’m even invested in the love triangle.

HIStory 5: Love in the Future (Taiwan Weds Viki) 2 of 10 - Side couple ascension: Daddy Long Legs trope, it’s been a while since I have seen this in ANY romance drama. I’m not really into the main couple, at least not yet (and I totally missed that they hadn’t met each other in person yet), but I really love the side dishes. It’s like H4 all over again only with less dub con.

Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox (Japan Fri Gaga) 4 of 8 - nothing this week. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

Love Bill (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on with them. I can wait.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid)

Moonlight Chicken GMMTV’s Midnight series (Weds YT) 1 of 8 eventually - first segment has begun bit it’s not the EarthMix messy gays. Sorry all, I’m so not interested in messy hets, so I’m waiting until they grace my screen.

Questions!!! 

Should I watch The Warp Effect? Tublr seems excited about it and BL bits look good? Will they end happy? Thoughts anyone? 

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) finished at 10 eps, the heat looked good but I don’t know about the ending with that kind of title, so did anyone risk it and want to tell me what they thought? I haven’t seen much chatter on my feed so I am not optimistic. 

In Case You Missed It

2022′s The Usual Night (Twitter account) from Japan is a 10-ep fake documentary series starring the members of Jpop group the Fantastics. It flew under everyone’s radars but apparently has a BL subplot featuring Yagi Yusei (My Beautiful Man) and Seguchi Leiya. This officially means they beat OnlyOneOf to the punch as the first inter-group BL pairing. Keito Kimura (Onoe from Candy Color Paradox) is also a member of Fantastics and in the show. Source reddit. No word on official international release. Japan is like that. 

OnlyOneOf’s Nine dropped the last (?) in their BL Kpop series, 'beyOnd' (be #6) 

I posted all my 2022 wraps, top picks, industry stats, etc.. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Jan 19: Individual Circumstances 8 eps - A reunion romance between a movie director who was once promising and a writer who disappeared due to past wounds. Stars JunQ (main rapper of 2nd gen group MYNAME) and Han Jung Wan (Mr International Korea winner).

2023 forthcoming BL master post is in the works... wait for it... I had to finish all the 2022 wrap ups first. Also waiting for the last of the studio announcements.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Never Let Me Go

Ah the love triangle. 

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner caught himself a live one. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? You gotta check out VIXX (sub unit) new single. Gonna Be Alright = 2 BL stars in one croon. (Hyuk Color Rush 2 & Leo Happy ending Romance). *props chin on hand and bats eyes winsomely at Ken* So?

[vvitchering]

I said I wasn’t going to be publicly salty again but I need a min

What the fuck even was that episode

Did we really get 40 mins of pointlessly detailed development for for “”former”” imperialists while our main characters got sidelined AGAIN? I was almost to the end of the episode frantically checking the time because I forgot I was watching The Mandalorian.

Pacing is still abysmal like what the hell happened??? The first two seasons of the show had zero flops, every single ep was amazing and well crafted, and now we get the third absolute stinker in a season with only three episodes so far. That’s hilariously bad. I’d laugh if I wasn’t so upset. I miss The Mandalorian, I was excited to get to see it again, and this is what they’re serving up??????

I’ve been feeling this way since the first episode of this season and I’ve tried to keep telling myself “okay, I guess not every episode can be good, let’s wait til next week and maybe they’ll figure it out”. I hate that I’m saying that every single week. It’s almost half over and it’s done Nothing to further Din or Grogu’s development. They feel like afterthoughts in their own show.

I’ve seen people comparing this to the early tbobf episodes and I have to agree. But I’d even go as far as to say tbobf was better than this, at least Boba was on screen for most of it… But the feeling that these aren’t true The Mandalorian episodes, that they’ve pushed our main characters and their development aside in favor of something else, that feels familiar. And it sucks. And I’m sad.

Am I going to keep watching and hoping it gets better, yeah. Am I scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of actually believing it’s going to get better, also yeah. I’m just. I really hate to see something I love get treated like this. I cannot describe my disappointment when I realized the first longer episode was completely wasted on the fucking space fascists.

I miss when this was a quest of the week show that also focused on Din as a person. Now it feels like they’re rushing past him to set something else up in the grander scheme and I just don’t want to watch that. I didn’t sign up for that. I didn’t watch Andor because I don’t fucking CARE about that stuff.

I’m sorry I had to make another cry baby rant post about yet another episode. I’m so disheartened. My friends haven’t watched the episode yet so I don’t have another outlet to vent about this right now and I really needed it out of my head. I kinda got told I was overreacting with my negative opinion of the first two episodes but I feel vindicated af now lmao

Anyway Mando s3 support group when? 😭

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 7: The Expanse 1x04

Why would you introduce my beautiful wife Captain Yao just to kill her one episode later??? I will riot in the streets.

Seriously, I really was like immediately attached to her, in a way I haven’t been to any other character in this show yet, and I was all ready for her to be a fave and now she’s gone. Truly a disappointment. Also it makes me kind of annoyed that Cop 2 is still alive because while I had no particular issues with him, having him be surprise alive in the same ep as another, worse, more definitive death… so sad for me specifically.

Second thought: my favorite parts of this show are the world building sections and my least favorite are the action sequences. All the tense life-or-death-situation scenes are really boring to me still. I mean admittedly action is not my genre in general but something about the action scenes in this show just seem particularly… flat, for some reason? I just feel no intensity and no urgency about them at all and I honestly kind of zoned out through them. In this ep, I’m talking specifically about the crew stopping up the wholes in the prison cell, and the run to the escape ship during gunfire.

But the world building is exquisite. I’m really into all the information we’re getting on Mars and how they see Earth—and themselves. Every new bit of information is simultaneously exciting and surprising and unpredictable, and also fits in perfectly with all of the other information, providing an overall picture of the society that feels coherent and real. And this even though we’ve seen very few Martian characters and not yet seen their home world at all.

I was also really excited about all the tech in the dead guy that the detectives were examining (as a side note, probably shouldn’t get attached to her, and I still don’t entirely get what she does, but Octavia is growing on me a lot). It sort of reminded me of Dollhouse in its future episodes except the tech was spread throughout the body instead of being mind-focused. Like, body mods, even data storage as part of the body mods, isn’t a NEW idea but it’s an idea I LIKE and I appreciated how they were developing it here. Also the term ‘gear head.’

I did not really get what was happening with the shootout in the corridor of the Donninger, which ended with that guy getting his arm blown off and then it just healed itself. Part of this is that as soon as the shoot out started I zoned out entirely because as I said, I just cannot care. So I probably missed important information. I think…he was one of the people who boarded the ship? One of the mystery antagonists? His space suit was different than the red-faced Martian ones. But they also called him a mole? Maybe? And something about a weapon that wouldn’t be able to fire. I probably should have rewatched the scene but I wanted to keep going. I also don’t know what it meant that his arm healed itself right away but based on the expression on Holden’s face, I think that’s supposed to be a mystery.

As far as I can tell, the mystery antagonists are OPA-aligned (based on the scene where the guy kicked all the Mormons off the ship he was building, and also the stuff with the guy being tortured in the first couple episodes) but there’s something Extra about them. The arm-healing thing, for one. Maybe it’s Mormon tech? LMAO.

Oh, just remembered. Another thing I like about the world building on this show is how normal Earth looks. Like clearly this is far in the future and there’s a lot of new tech and so on and so forth, and Earth from a distance looks quite different as well, with the degree to which it’s been built up at least in major cities—but it’s not all sleek futuristic houses or minimalism or just sweeping amounts of shiny new advanced entertainment etc. The houses are just houses, the clothes are just clothes, the people still read books and talk about dinosaurs. It makes everything feel more real and believable, and sort of helps ground the (sometimes very far out) worlds of this possible future with the actual world.

I was surprised by the insta-jump to found family among Holden and the crew. His insistence he needed to get back to ‘his people’ was a little meh for me, which I KNOW is completely unfair. The show has objectively earned the right to have him be protective of them, after their recent adventures and given that they’re the last survivors of their ship. But most of what we’ve seen from them has just been infighting… it’s hard for me to feel yet like they actually like each other and would be so deeply loyal. Meh. I don’t know. At least the most annoying of them has bitten the dust. I am not sad about it.

Also WHY are there so many Mormons? Are they like really important or is this just an extensive riff off a sort of joke (even in the future and even in space, white men in suits will try to evangelize you)?

[underthebrightmooninterests]

Tale Of The Nine Tailed Season 2 Is Out and I’m Already Obsessed

Your favourite gumiho is back and better than ever in the first episode of Tale Of the Nine Tailed 1938. I loved the first season and was both excited and nervous for the second season. I didn’t quite know how to feel about the time travel thing but honeslty, anything that’ll bring Lee Rang back is a positive in my book lol. I just finished watching the first episode that came out yesterday and all I can say is...

So far so good!

( Ep 1 SPOILERS )

From the very beginning I think they do a good job at bringing back the same sense of humour while also establishing the new aesthetic for this season.

the moment the introductions were given I knew this was gonna be A RIDE.

Lee Yeon: 

Loves: Ji-ah & mint-chocolate 

hates: dentists (lol)

-------

As happy and emotional I was about seeing Lee Rang again, his introduction made me cackle lol.

Lee Rang:

loves: his brother

hates: his brother

I mean, they’re not lying lmao.

Of course Lee Yeon’s trustworthy right hand Shin Joo also got his own introduction card. 

special ability: able to speak with animals

All of that being said, I love Yeon and Rang’s relationship so much and one of my fears for this season was that after all the progress that was made in their brotherhood in the first season, we were going to have to spend another 10 episodes of them ‘hating’ each other. So I was really happy that Lee Yeon apologised immediately and although Lee Rang’s initial reaction wasn’t great, I’m happy we get to see more of their adorable relationship. They truly deserved more time together so I’m happy this season is giving it to them. And so far, I’m loving how they’re treating their relationship.

Of course, there were some flaws. Just like in the first season some of the dialogue is a little on the nose and they squeezed A LOT into this one episode. But I loved the fight scenes and seeing all the characters together again.

If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure to watch the first episode. If I’m not mistaken it’s on Bilibili for those who can’t access the official.

[booasaur]

Spoilers for ep 3&4 of Harlem if you haven’t seen it yet

I was upset at first about Isabella and Quinn breaking up but now after the last episode I can see how it plays into her overall storyline this season which seems to be an arc about Quinn’s mental health and her self worth. The Vogue interview where Quinn can’t name things she’s happy about seems to be the rock that broke the camels back so to speak. Maybe she and Isabella will have another change after Quinn works on her self worth and all that. Also I’m glad that Quinn is still talking about her sexuality often and they’re not just dropping it. That I’m glad about. Also I liked the scene where she comes out to her Mom in ep 3

Same anon, I think?:

Harlem spoilers for eps 3&4

Thinking of Quinn’s breakup with Isabella in ep 2 makes more sense looking at the other eps that have aired now that we know more of Quinn’s storyline for the season seeming to be about her self worth issues and self esteem issues. I think the reason why the breakup was clearly neither of their faults (Isabella wanted casual Quinn didn’t) was to play into Quinn’s self worth. Like all Isabella said was that she wanted a casual relationship and she wanted a night off and Quinn spun it in her head that Isabella was mad at her and didn’t want her at all and Quinn was too much for her cause she didn’t wanna be with her for one night. Cause Quinn has such low self worth that if someone doesn’t wanna be with her all the time forever she spins it in her head cause of how her mother is so easy to point out her flaws. (I like that she called her Mom out for that) either way though I’m glad that they’re forgetting that Quinn is queer and she’s getting to be her very excited queer self. I also like how she told her Mom that she doesn’t know how she identifies yet. Makes sense she is really new to queerness

Again, thank you for the ample spoiler warnings at the top! This week I ended up sort of spoiling myself, since I had a work thing Thursday night and skimmed through the Quinn parts on mute and since ep 4 ended with her crying in a tub, I wasn't in a rush to watch. But I didn't know the details so I'm glad I was able to safely put off your message till I'd finally finished.

No, yeah, from the interviews and trailer, I expected Quinn wouldn't forget about this part of her, tbh, I figured she'd throw herself so completely wholeheartedly into it that we'd get something like this, just later, at ep 7 or 8 Isabela would be like, this is too much too fast or whatever.

I am a bit puzzled at how it keeps on being framed as Isabela being this bad guy who broke Quinn's heart or indeed that it was Quinn's clinginess or being too much that caused the breakup but hopefully you're right, that it's Quinn's own self-esteem issues that projected that hard and it'll be addressed.

And yes, I like that she told her dad (and lol, Rick Fox is just always showing up in these shows!) and her mom and yep, it's expected that she's still figuring things out. I'm also glad she said bi/pan most likely, since people kept on throwing around lesbian and gay, which, colloquially is fine, but I'm sure there were viewers who took it more literally and were like, oh, she's gay now, it's only women ahead and well, that didn't seem to track with her history. At least she was able to clarify for herself.

[soul-likeasecretinyourthroat]

Aaaaaaa ok so it’s 12:06am on Decembee 24th our 4 month aniversary since he asked me out officially!!!!!!!

Anyway, I asked him out to go to the breakfast place we went to when he first asked me out 4 months ago, I’m a sucker for those gluten free waffles w strawberries. He just got a new haircut (I haven’t seen it yet but I bet he’s still drop-dead gorgeous!) and now I can barely sleep bc I’m too excited to see him and like augh I can’t believe it’s been 4 fucking months!!!!!!!

I last hung out with him on Saturday the 20th and we watched half of the Harry Potter movies, the last ep of s1 of DanDaDan (next season comes out summer 2025 😭) and he Made me choose what to watch and after a lot of play fighting I decided to indoctrinate him with the 2004 mcr life on the murder scene documentary :3 about an hour thru I accidentally fell asleep and he didn’t notice til like a half hour later when I was awoken to his laughing and his phone camera taking a .5 video and photos of me with his giggling in the background. He then said “yeah let’s get you home, dear.” And so he drove me home :3

Anyway, I forgot to update for November but since this is practically just for me to remember, just go look back at ur camera roll for the details 👍

Ok now it’s 12:13 so imma get to bed so that I can look and feel my best for breakfast date in the morning!!!!!!!

Guys I’ve won. It’s official.

WE ARE DATINGGGGG AAAAAAA

As of yesterday, September 24 th 2024, we have been together for 1 WHOLE MONTH

I still can’t believe he’s mine and I’m his 🤭 just the other day I met one of his new college friends and he introduced me to them as his girlfriend 😭🎀 literally MARRY ME ALREADYYYYY PLEASE!!!!!

My great wingman Morgan (gotta give credit where credit is due) put pressure on my bf to like make a move and ask me out because he was “tired of hearing me talking about him 24:7 and wondering when he will ask me out” 🤭

He asked me out 3am on the 24th of August, after we had hung out all evening after the football game / marching band gig 🤭

I was at his house til like 1:30am watching mob psycho 100 and Ouran High School Host Club, and then he dropped me off at my place. When he got home he asked me over text if I was free the following morning. I said yes (even though I wasn’t sure if I actually was bc I couldn’t ask my mom who was asleep lolll, I would make time) and then he asked after that “Date?”

That singular word filled me up with so much joy and happiness that I actually went outside and ran around the block barefoot in my pajamas because I was tweaking so harddddd

Our first date was breakfast, we had French toast w strawberries and maple syrup. We went thrifting and he tried on these waist size 52 jeans and he could put both his legs into one side of them 😂

Anyway, it has been a WHOLE FUCKING MONTH SINCE HE ASKED ME TO BE OFFICIAL AAAAAAAUGH IM LITERALLY CRYING I CANT BELIEVE I CAN FINALLY CALL HIM MY BOYFRIENDDDEDDD EEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I feel like a Victorian era man seeing a woman’s ankles and perhaps knees for the first time and dying from the beauty.

Even though he is living like 45 mins away I still see him on the weekends, and that’s why we have phones to call on and text and send funny photos

This past weekend, on both Friday and Saturday nights, we hung out together from like 7pm til 1:30am and on Saturday like 4:30pm - 2:00am watching Ouran High School Host Club, cuddled so close to each other that my sweatshirt I wore smells like him and now it’s my favorite one to ever have 🤭

On Friday night after marching band / football and after culvers, we go back to his place. We were both chilly, and as we leave to go into his house I grab my sweatshirt from the trunk of my car and he asked “what r u grabbing?” And I said “sweatshirt, I’m a bit chilly :)”

And then once we get settled in the basement, he literally says “one sec lemme go grab something” and he grabs His own blanket From His Bed and puts it in the dryer to warm it up, Waits a couple minutes, and then comes over by me on the couch and covers us both with it and snuggles up close on my right side so that my whole right and his whole left side were touching and aughhhhhh I’m in love.

Like that was so sweet right there.

I miss my wife, but soon this Sunday, I want to bring him up north to meet my bestie Bella, and to go swimming in my favorite lake with me surrounded by my favorite and familiar places and faces 🤭

I just thought I should update the blr because like you guys have at least seen my blog mention this mans and my woes, least I could do is feed you some scraps 🤭

[trek-tracks]

Heyy. I took a long vacation from Tumblr. But...

Have you watched Strange New Worlds? What do you think of it?

👀👀

Okay, this is going to be a bit of a long one, and there will be spoilers, so anyone who hasn’t watched SNW should probably scroll by.

Overall, I feel quite positively toward SNW. I think the characters are compelling. I’ve always wanted to know more about characters like Uhura and M’Benga, and I love that they are getting a chance to shine; I enjoyed the “fairy tale” episode. I think the cast is lovely. I love the found family aspect, and I’m really enjoying Pike as a character. (One day, I’m still hoping to meet Anson Mount because we graduated from the same tiny grad school department…maybe it’ll happen.) I hope we get more from Ortegas next season (I am, uh…very bi for her, and unexpectedly being in the same room with Melissa Navia two weeks ago was a lot). I enjoy the episodic format with some overarching ideas. I love it when I recognize the Toronto locations masquerading as alien planets.

That being said, for a show called Strange NEW Worlds, I wish it would be more adventurous, relying primarily on exploration and ideas we haven’t seen yet, rather than rehashing things that were supposed to be brand new in TOS, and in doing that making the TOS characters look naive and foolish. Discovery (another show I feel generally positive about) does that, too. Instead of the Mirror Universe being new, everyone’s been there. Instead of tribbles being unstudied, they’ve already been engineered by a Federation scientist. 

Basically, my own private joke now is that TOS Kirk just thinks he's the first Federation person to encounter these things, but really it's Starfleet or his crew planting species and phenomena in the universe's version of a sandbox, like you'd bury "treasure" for a child to find, because Kirk just gets so goshdarn cute and excited when he thinks he's made first contact.

Kirk, to Starfleet: Didja see?? I found a species called the GORN! They're new! 

Starfleet, sitting down to talks with the Gorn ambassador who's been a Federation envoy for five years: That's great, honey. Put your drawing on the fridge.

Don’t get me wrong — I love fan service, and am as susceptible to it as anyone else. In my mind, though, there’s a way to go about it. Writers of any prequel need to be careful about having the benefit of hindsight and pretending it's foresight. For example, I was initially skeptical of Spock’s arc, thinking that it would leave him far more emotionally developed and different than he was in TOS, and potentially negating his later character arc as something he had already experienced, and in more depth.

However, at the moment I’m trying to trust the writers, because I can see how Spock’s trajectory could easily lead toward him opening up, getting burned (metaphorically, not like in ep. 10), and retreating into a more Vulcan-like aspect for his next ship, having to learn to open himself up again.

I do think that they are focusing too much on Spock right now. I love Spock. I love him a lot. But I want other characters to have more of an existence outside of his periphery. I don’t want to get burnt out on Spock being the focal point of the entire universe. (Luckily, a lot of things Spock seems not to know about in TOS that he finds out about in SNW can be explained by the fact that Spock loves to obfuscate and lie.)

I am, on the other hand, genuinely uncomfortable about what the series has done with the Gorn, not because I’m a TOS purist who wants to have the aesthetic stay exactly the same — I don’t need to see a lizard in a leotard — but because, to me, making the Gorn irredeemably monstrous negates some really important messaging in Arena; maybe the Federation judged too hastily, because we knew nothing about the Gorn. Maybe relentless colonization is an issue, and seeking revenge will just beget a never-ending cycle of revenge. Maybe we should decide to make peace.

Yes, the Gorn in Arena seemed disproportionally cruel and violent, and perhaps they were. However, the point of the episode was that humans have that same capacity in them, as well, and we need to actively choose against violence.

Currently, making the Gorn a previously-known species that is essentially a mindlessly violent Alien chest-burster just doesn’t sit well with me. (Also, with all that, total missed opportunity for Sam Kirk to say something like “At least I didn’t get killed by those parasites” dun dun dun). Maybe the writers think they’re making Kirk’s choice in Arena even more powerful by making the Gorn more alien, but it’s not working for me at the moment.

I was also a little weirded out to see one of the episodes take so liberally from LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” without clear credit or even a nod. In one of the subsequent episodes, La’an tries to get out of eating one of Pike’s egg-based breakfasts; I so badly wanted him to say “Come on, don’t be the one who walks away from omelets.” (Yes, that would have been very silly. But it was right there. Well, maybe next season there will be time for Sam to get scared by a…flying pancake, dun dun dun…)

My main philosophy is this: fine to ditch the aesthetics, just keep the progressive ethics. Perfectly happy to see 60’s sexism, for example, get the boot; I just worry when other messages seem regressive. But maybe there is a long game here! 

There’s so much out there to explore, and I hope the show can trust that we’re willing to go to those completely new places.

[surrealsunday]

Jamie! What are your thoughts on KimChay? I have to say that I was completely ambivalent about KimChay until this last episode. During this whole show so far my brain has only attached to KP while the side couples, as hard as I tried to like them, just didn’t spark much of anything and that has nothing to do with the actors or character or the storyline itself, it’s just how my brain works unfortunately. After the bar fight with Kim and Chay I’m kind of intrigued by their dynamic now. It’s not as fluffy and innocent like it was before. They’re almost like KP in reverse. With Kinn and Porsche it started as enemies of a sort. They were at odds with each other and then slowly they got to know each other, they let their walls down and it added much needed sweetness and tenderness to their relationship. Kinn was mesmerized by Porsches resilience and then completely disarmed by his genuine charm and kindness. He was screwed before he even knew it.

I see the opposite direction with KimChay and now my brain finds it somewhat interesting. Which I, myself, find interesting.

Kim seemed charmed and somewhat fascinated by Chay when he first met him and as he got to know him, you could see an affectionate bond happening. Obviously Chay is young and translated his intense feelings as love - even though I don’t think Chay is prepared for what really loving Kim will feel like once it happens - but because of his deception from the start, I don’t think Kim allowed himself to really acknowledge how deep his own feelings for Chay were. Normally I watch their scenes once and then ff through when I do a rewatch but I found myself rewatching that bar scene a few times. Like finally some meat! Gimme more!

It was hella interesting to see him so emotive in that scene. For once he didn’t have a handle on his emotions and we’ve up until now only really seen a very quiet and controlled Kim - aside from when he stormed the warehouse, of course. This is the first time in their interactions that I saw some real passion between them. I also think, just like KP, Kim will be even more drawn to Chay once he starts standing up for himself and being a little more stubborn like his brother. Obviously Theerapanyakul brothers can’t resist the sweet yet bratty contradictions of the kittisawasd bros.

I’m still very much on the fence about VP for my own specific reasons but, I’m kind of excited to see where KimChay lead and I’m super happy that I’m now looking forward to more scenes between them.

- Crazy Theory Anon 👋🏻

Sometimes I read your messages and wonder if we're the same person 🤨😂. It's like you pluck thoughts out of my head. But yes!!! Let’s discuss these two because we really haven’t yet.

I felt the exact same towards Kimchay. I found Chay absolutely precious in their scenes (and sometimes so cringe I had to watch through my fingers 😂) so in that way those scenes were always charming to me, but the dynamic was so entirely a kid with a celebrity crush it just didn't compute in my brain as a romance tbh. That's why I mentioned needing angst to 'age up' Chay in my eyes - not literally of course, but in a way that would allow him to exist on a more level playing field with Kim.

Talking about them like KP in reverse is fascinating to me and I didn't think about it that way. "Normally I watch their scenes once and then ff through when I do a rewatch but I found myself rewatching that bar scene a few times. Like finally some meat! Gimme more!" Literally we are the same person lmao. This is exactly me as well. I don't tend to watch their scenes more than once but I've watched this bar scene a few times now. And I watched the 'Kim being a badass motherfucker' scenes from ep 10 - but those weren't particularly Kimchay scenes.

You are right in that Kim is normally sooooo controlled. Tbh he's probably the most stone-faced/ controlled out of all the characters normally. Like he's better at that than Kinn! So when the switch flips and he shows those emotions? Sweet jesus. He can actually be genuinely scary (and I approve 😌). And I like the idea that characters like Kinn and Kim have it pretty together until faced with that one character they are just weak for no matter what - like they are utterly undone in the face of the Kittisawasd brothers. That is a trope I can get behind.

I agree that Kim is going to be more drawn to Chay this way - and not because Chay is becoming a different person or anything, but Chay telling Kim off and standing up for himself does put them on more equal footing. It was very necessary. Imo, it will allow Kim to see Chay more as an equal than a love-struck boy with a crush (something Kim enjoyed of course but I'm sure something he saw a bit cynically).

"Obviously Theerapanyakul brothers can’t resist the sweet yet bratty contradictions of the kittisawasd bros." RIP Kinn and Kim truly 😂. This is a very accurate statement. Both Chay and Porsche are so incredibly sweet and loving. They love with everything they are - body and soul. But they are also sassy little fuckers and capable of giving as much as they're getting. We've seen a lot of that in Porsche and only a little in Chay - but I seriously can't wait to see more 😌. Best of luck to you, Kim 💀😂.

[kharjo-san]

My Top ONLY MURDERS Theories

(Only Murders In the Building, last ep seen is S2 E07 flipping the pieces)

So I haven’t watched S2 E08 yet, because I’ve been working all day. BUT. I’m gonna post my biggest thoughts before I go in.

1. Leonora Folger IS Rose Cooper

This would make sense because Leonora stated that a woman has to ‘disappear’ for her work to become valuable. She also said that both she and Rose had an affair with Charles’ dad. She kept referring to the painting as “my painting!”. As she left, Charles had an uneasy feeling that she knew more than him. 

2. More than one person is involved in the murder

The motives in this case seem scattered and hard to understand, so it could be that one person (Person A) ordered the killing, a second person (Person B) did the killing, and a third person (C; not allied with the first two) is getting involved in an attempt to change the outcome of things. 

Suspects for Person A (the Instigator): Cinda Canning, Alice, Nina Lin’s unnamed partner

Suspects for Person B (glitter guy!): Charles’ Father (my #1 suspect overall), Alice, Detective Kreps, Marv the superfan, and Sazz Patacki

Suspect for Person C (leaving notes, rearranging evidence): Lucy (because of the matching T’s in Bunny’s and Charles’ cards)

3. The Watch Is Important

It’s keeps bugging me that I didn’t quite understand what Leonora meant when she repeated “I don’t do well at this hour!”

Was that hour… an hour that Charles’ dad was in Rose Cooper’s apartment, right before his arrest?And, wouldn’t that time be displayed on his watch in the painting?

Unfortunately, the watch’s hands are kinda impossible to make out. BUT! I soon realized that there is a clear shot (only for a split second!) of Charles’ dad checking his watch shortly before he goes up to the apartment.

It appears to read approximately “6:45 pm”. I converted 7 pm to military time, but that’s 19:00. (I was hoping it would be 14:00.) I still get the feeling, though, that the watch and/or the time are somehow significant.

This is nowhere near all my notes and thoughts — in fact I have 6 more posts in my drafts, and pages of research in my spiral notebook and phone… plus, I haven’t fully re-watched episode 7 yet. BUT!!! I just wanted to put these thoughts out there before I watch the newest episode. GOD I am excited