#I like how I organized this one :) each question is the name of an episode and there's one per season! they're in season order too <3

[qilinkisser]

RuPaul's Drag Race Selfship Ask Game!

Drag on a Dime: What is your f/o like when they go shopping? Do they like shopping with you?

The Snatch Game: Do you think there are any celebrities your f/o would be a fan of?

Face, Face, Face of Cakes: If you were to describe your f/o with a flavor or food, what would that be?

Frenemies: Do you have any f/os that you think wouldn't get along with each other?

Scent of a Drag Queen: What does your f/o smell like? Do they wear perfume/cologne?

Scream Queens: What is your f/o scared of? Can they handle scary things, or are they easily spooked?

The DESPY Awards: If you were to give your f/o an award, what would it be for?

RuPaul Book Ball: Does your f/o like to read? What sort of books do they like?

Draggily Ever After: If you were to replace fairy tale characters with you and your f/o, what fairy tale would you be part of?

Tap That App: How tech savvy is your f/o? Which one of you is better with technology?

Whatcha Unpackin?: What is your f/os general style? How similar is their fashion sense to yours?

World's Worst: What sort of things are difficult for your f/o? Can you help them with these things?

Gettin' Lucky: What are your f/o's skills? Can you do these things too?

The Daytona Wind: What's the relationship between you and your f/o's family like?

Remember to practice reblog karma! Pro.shippers DNI <3

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Industry is Having Issues But the Spice Spicy Must Flow

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

March 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Two Worlds (Thurs IQIYI) eps 1-2 of 10 - One of those "he's dead Jim so time travel" thingames starring MaxNat. I'm over this concept but I do enjoy MaxNat. Phupha (Gun) and Khram (Nat) love each other but Phupha is murdered. Then Khram is pulled to a parallel world where, years ago, Khram and Tai (Max) were in love. However, Khram was killed by Tai’s dad. Now Tai finds alter-Khram. But then there is ALSO an alter-Phupha to deal with. (Phupha is played by Gun Thanawat who was Khom, the repressed butler bodyguard from Unforgotten Night. We like this, but we scared of the love triangle aspect.) Did that make sense? Yeah, okay, see what I mean?

Initial thoughts?

The subs are troubling but I’m enjoying this show a lot. It’s nice to see MaxNat get something meaty to sink their teeth into - that’s not just each other. Also it’s so smart of them to give us a fully fleshed out entire episode developing the alter romance rather than just a separation + death. It makes Khram’s grief and motivation that much more believable. Also it’s really nice to see Nat have good chemistry with other actors. 

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 3 of 8 (10?) - I'm still enjoying it. But Two Worlds is objectively better. So this one has lost ranking. Also, unexpectedly chili (the name of my heavy metal Thai cover band).

Lovey switchy and verse main couple too.

This is all quite pleasing.

The bit where the hosts pretend to be a BL couple actor ship was epic on so many levels.

Also unsettling.

All sex work is performative, and in a way there is something more honest about this depiction, in this setting, than what BL actors are made to do on the promo circuit. Which then begs the question, how different is BL from sex work? That's the unsettling bit, for me anyway. Not to slam on sex work AT ALL, we pro-the-true-pros on this damn blog, but actors have been shaded by association with True Professionals for a very long time and BL has already had one epic shut down in this regard. (See the PerthSaint scandal around Love By Chance, no I will not explain.) Where was I? Oh yes, so anyway, see the Gossip section for the part where they better be paid either way!

Also, since I'm a warped fucker, I found this scene funny.

And then hilarious when all of those BL tropes were just trotted out. Like a greatest hits reel.

Truly beyond meta. (How Absolute BL of them.)

Note he’s even standing in yaoi's patented "hands in pocket with the shoulders back"? 

Meanwhile, the gayest bridge in Thailand made its quarterly appearance:

And lip serviced was paid to the most touristy romantic things you can do in Bangkok.

And I mean lip service literally. 

To Be Continued (Thai C3 Thailand grey) ep 5 of 8 - I’m still enjoying it but getting more and more nervous. We getting too close to Promise territory for comfort. EXPLAIN Ji’s reticence well and do it now or risk audience mistrust. We have to be given a GOOD reason for Ji's behavior, or he'll be irredeemable.

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 8 of 12 - NO SINGING. Yes smiley kisses and good communication and a nice healthy relationship. But no singing!

1000 Years Old ep 6 of 12 - Dropping in the ranks. I’m sorry it’s just gotten boring. It has, however, inspired me to invest in my own ridiculous cream fuzzy sweater. Which I plan to wear with leather trousers and huge stumpy boots, like the Kpop queer I truly am. Or do I mean vampire? 

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 6 - Seems to be an excuse for a small posse of Thai actors to wander around Tokyo playing tourist and sing in public . Someone stop them?

“Most people think this kind of thing is bad manners .”

Anyway, it’s v boring. I’ll give it one more ep but I suspect I’ll DNF.

Close Friend Season 3: Soju Bomb! (Weds iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 6 - Meh. This is also looking suspiciously DNF-a-licious.  

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues Youku YouTube & Viki) ep 5 of 11 - It's brilliant. I love it. I'm ready to hurt. Let’s do this thing. 

Distribution note: This one has been picked up and is also airing on Viki now, so it may lose YT distribution in soem territories. I like Youku's hard subs better than Viki's subs, but that's a matter of preference not information since I don't speak Mandarin.

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - It is good. Every week I like this show a little more. I'm enjoying a reunion romance explored in Japan's quintessentially contemplative yet slightly surreal way. The juxtaposition of the tenderness of the sex scene with this Japanese brand of authenticity was oddly elegant - for lack of a better way of putting it. All in all, this is a good show. Thought provoking. Stylish.

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - It remains lovely but they sure are reusing a lot of footage. Also, this was a classic penultimate doom episode. I do wonder how they are going to resolve this show ethically.

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 8 - It is what it is, and it isn’t my style of show no matter what country of origin. Oddly that's one of the reasons I don't like it. Anyone could have made this, it's not as Japanese as I want it to be, it's just indie film club high school angst. Yawn.

I watched it, finally

The Servant and the Young Master (Vietnam YouTube) 7 eps - I dislike vertical filming, but I kind of enjoyed this show as a BL. I like class conflict romances. For me the rich kid is a bit too dictatorial (edges into bulling), but it’s kinda works. It’s sparse and underdeveloped and a bit plotless, but mildly entertaining. If you're missing Vietnamese BL you might give it a try. 6/10 

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) 8eps - A Burmese BL that I had thoughts about but actually ended up recommending. Read the saga here:

It's done, ready to binge, but I suck

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps

It's airing but...

Graduation Countdown (Taiwan YouTube) ep 1 of ? - on one hand it's micro-installment vertical, on the other it's adorable and from Taiwan. I blame @heretherebedork entirely for my conundrum. As indeed, I did for My Type back in the day. (That was Nat Chen's first BL, yes of Kiseki: Dear To Me fame.) So I think I will also simply lean on Here to let me know when it's done and binge all at once. It's just too much to ask me to keep up with 2 minute pieces, I don't have that kind of endurance training, not even for BL.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - it's finished now, I dropped it at ep 4. Should I bother?

A Secretly Love (Thai Sat WeTV grey) 10 eps - I watched the first ep but grey is too much work for this inferior of a show. I may pick up and binge if it gets distribution but for now, it gets a DNF from me. KimCop might have held this crap together but Kim without Cop? No thank you.

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing for some reason.

Man Suang that MileApo vehicle from last year is coming to Netflix in the USA. I haven't heard much about it and since the KP stans would have lost their tiny minds if it was any good at all, I'm assuming it's not good at all.

Gossip

Thai BL actor Yoon breaks with his former company and talks about some very very VERY shady goings on in the Thai BL industry. Including not being paid.

And whacha know, same thing happening in Korean BL.

Have I mentioned recently how much I hate the film industry?

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting Soon

3/31 Only Boo! (Thai GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - New main couple for GMMTV in an idol romance about a boy who dances good and a food stand vendor. Other side of the tracks grumpy/sunshine pair who fall deeply in love but, of course, baby boy idol can't date. Boyband but from GMMTV? Control your singing and I'm game.

4/1 Love is like a Cat (Korea ????) 12 eps - This completed filming Aug 2022(!) which means there have been serious problems with post-production. This is another of Silkwood's Korean+Thai colab projects. Mew Suppasit plays a rookie film star, called the Cat Prince (for his cold arrogance) who goes up against a charismatic puppyish animal daycare director (JM of JUST B). There is also a side romance (love triangle?) with a veterinarian. Geonu of JUST B is also in the cast.

I wonder if this was part of the hold up, with Geonu on Build Up right now, they might have tried to muffle this one. Or maybe it's just that bad...

4/3 We Are (Thai GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - University ensemble BL featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawinPoon - basically the good kind of messy gay friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is queer. I'm IN!

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV?) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous partner), Best and frest face, news here.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

NOTE: It looks like one of my personal favorites of last year Unintentional Love Story is getting a spin off!

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Without ghost girl.

With ghost girl.

I think she may be my favorite part of 1000 Years.

CLASSIC tsundere seme description of a sunshine uke. Like classic'est of classic. (Two Worlds)

Is there such a thing as a tired trope in a BL? Since it is a genre that is made up entirely of tropes quilted together? Your philosophical question for today brought to you by Deep Night's kabedon (Japanese trope) + punishment threat (Thai trope).

Love me a lap sit moment. (City of Stars)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are too much work.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[fountainpenguin]

Short Version: I don't even know how to begin explaining this, so take these 'fic doodles with no context.

Wish Fixers, my chronically unhelpful beloved...

Long Version (City Lights AU #ridspoilers beyond the above implication. Mentions of death and trauma; it gets pretty dark)

Nalooksthrough, I tag you below because I cited your co-dependent toxic friendship comic and said it was cool- If you don't want to click, that's all the tag was :)

So I started outlining my Dale backstory 'fic (Lemonade and Papercuts) since I am the most predictable person alive and of COURSE I can't resist 7 years of trauma and intimacy anxiety <3. But planning a 'fic like this requires many pieces and many questions.

First and most obvious- How did Vicky lure in Dale? From previous planning, I've already decided that since they're the same age (maybe one year off), they probably knew each other in school or activities.

Ex: Squirrely Scouts & Cream Puffs... Not unreasonable- Throughout the series, many kids participate and the organizations seem to have a big following in Dimmsdale. Vicky's sister Tootie is in the Cream Puffs and Vicky is seen bossing them around in the Season 0 episode "Scout's Honor" ("Oh Yeah! Cartoons"). There's a comic by the same name depicting Remy in Squirrely Scouts (after "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary" but before he gets his memories back in "Remy Rides Again" and I always thought it was cute). I mean, look at him:

Pictures courtesy of the FOP Wiki

It's not unreasonable that Dale - who's also rich - might've gotten into that (especially since Doug is big on the cowboy theming and of all the rich parents, he's probably the one most okay with his son playing in dirt). Something scout-related could be an option even if Dale and Vicky went to different schools.

A friendship that gets increasingly toxic until it spirals into full-on abuse sounds really interesting (and @nalooksthrough portrayed this idea beautifully imo in THIS comic I can't stop thinking about).

Sounds fun to write, so let's go with that. What's next?

Hey, remember when 7 years ago, I headcanon'd H.P. as Dale's godfather because of this doodle in Da Rules that specifically refers to Pixie godparents and depicts a fluffy-haired kid in a purple shirt?

I recently found out I still had Dale listed as a godchild of H.P. on his full character profile on my fanfic sideblog. I was waffling over whether to retcon that (since I hadn't yet done anything with it), but I started brainstorming whether I COULD do anything with it.

I've always written Wish Fixers in 'fic [e.g. Origin of the Pixies] as a therapy business run by H.P.'s dad (which H.P. bought off him out of spite despite not being licensed for therapy) but, like...

Does Jorgen know H.P. isn't licensed? I can't see why he would... As far as he knows, H.P. owns and runs the place- especially given my lore that Wish Fixers has been in his family for many generations. Sounds qualified to me!

In "School's Out! The Musical" (episode that Da Rules screenshot is from), we learn Pixies are at the back of the line for godparent work, even under creatures like unicorns (Hence the Musical's plot requiring them to remove magical creatures from earth before they could assign themselves to Flappy Bob).

I said in a recent liveblog post that I'd always imagined this was a punishment given to them due to H.P. absolutely failing as godfather to Dale- Thus, the origin of the doodle on the page for that rule. But... I never decided what happened.

See, Dale SEEMS like a guy who would qualify for a fairy. He was probably pretty miserable under Vicky's 7 years of torture and he's still holding onto that trauma in his adulthood.

DID he have a fairy?

I'm just saying, we know from S4's "Wish Fixers" that H.P. is legally(?) allowed to make contracts that swap a fairy godparent with a pixie one if godkids choose to sign of their own free will... Hmm... I'm connecting dots I don't think I like... (I am lying).

I mean?? Dale clearly did not get out of the pit due to magical interference. If I'm committing to the doodle being Dale and reflecting an actual godfather-godson dynamic between him and H.P., then something sure went wrong there. I can't NOT make Dale suffer...

What on earth could've made Dale sign a contract for something a fairy couldn't give him? We know from "Nectar of the Odds" canon that he wished to see his dad, and thanks to previous liveblogs, I DO already have a headcanon of Dale being extremely desperate for his dad's love... Hmm... I can work with that.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer the question of how Vicky secured lemons for 7 years for Dale (and other kids) to work with. Here are some lemon tree facts:

- Lemon trees bear fruit after only a few years - They can bear fruit multiple times a year (depending on variety) - A single lemon tree can produce 1,500 lemons in one growing season - Dimmsdale is in California - a state known for lemon orchards.

That feels likely... An orchard of even a few trees can keep you going for a while.

But lemonade doesn't sell for much compared to other things Vicky could've set a kidnapped child up to do (Ex: In "Microphony," she has kids doing a bunch of other tasks like answering phones for her babysitting service, painting houses, and washing cars).

So... WHY lemonade? What is going on that makes this the thing Vicky has Dale do for 7 years?

And who owns the orchard? I need Vicky to obtain lemons without being stopped for 7 years.

Is it a Dimmadome orchard? Maybe, but several episodes imply Vicky's not familiar with the Dimmadomes - and she probably would have turned Dale in for cash reward if given the chance - so those are two things I need to keep in mind.

Does the orchard belong to her family? That's a possibility- Vicky is shown drinking lemonade after "Nectar of the Odds." She definitely could've bought it - It can't be too expensive unless prices were jacked up after she lost her cheap labor - but it's a drink she's seen with in multiple episodes. She definitely likes it.

And we know from "Timmy's 2D House of Horror" that Vicky's parents are terrified of her. It's not likely they'd stop her from taking lemons from the family orchard.

One problem... If Dale goes missing when he's about 9 (Closer to 7 or 8 in my planned timeline), Vicky is also 9 or younger. Are her parents scared of her when she's that small and inexperienced in the ways of the world?

In "The Switch Glitch," she's 5 and seems mild and sweet until 10-year-old Timmy mistreats her- She clearly didn't have memories of Timmy, implying she totally regressed to how she acted when she really was 5. Worth pointing out she goes off the deep end and chains up Cosmo and Wanda, so... she IS mean even at age 5. But also, she's 5. She wears the same purple hair bow in "Switch Glitch" (at 5) that she does when Timmy drains the meanness out of her in "Vicky Loses Her Icky," which is interesting.

So that begs the question... Can I turn my Dale backstory 'fic into a double story of Dale abuse AND Vicky going from a pretty innocent child to Totally Messed Up? Keeping in mind that according to Vicky in A New Wish, Vicky IS the one responsible for abusing him and he "spent 7 years' worth of Saturdays in a factory underneath a lemonade stand."

If that's the way I want to play it... Something happened to send Dale and Vicky down the dual victim-and-abuser path, destinies intertwined. And for some reason, Vicky stuck with the lemonade theme.

Dale just says he spent his Saturdays "in a factory underneath a lemonade stand." It's not out of the question he and Vicky made more lemon products than just lemonade, especially given Vicky's love for money (and those 600 lbs of lemons one tree can produce in a year). We can assume they changed locations a few times or someone would've found the trapdoor on Timmy's lawn. Plus when Dale started his abuse, Vicky hadn't started babysitting Timmy, whom she only met when he was 8.

So, I've set Dale up to be lured in by Vicky because they were friends. I like the idea of things gradually getting worse as Vicky slowly morphs from a friend into a very cruel person. If Vicky was bullying him, what stopped him from just... leaving?

Vicky's transformation was probably subtle if he stayed for so long..... I also pointed out in a recent post that Doug's underground milk empire where he uses hypnotized people for labor bears a striking amount of similarities with Vicky's lemonade stand, even down to the general vibes of "trapdoor entrance" (although it's implied there's another entrance in small building).

And if we want to be technical about things... We don't know if Doug and Dale pressed charges against Vicky. She clearly continues to babysit Timmy and other kids after "Nectar of the Odds" (Season 2).

In Season 4 ("Channel Chasers"), Doug remarks that Timmy's parents should've guessed Vicky was evil because of the Chip Skylark song "Icky Vicky," but he doesn't mention Vicky kidnapping his son. That's.... sus. He even offers to buy a car from her in Season 3's "Engine Blocked" (after Dale's escape).

Why would such a powerful guy let all of that slide? Did they just not have enough proof? Did Vicky wipe the place clean? Did Dale "not want to make a big deal about it" because he was so exhausted and grateful, he just didn't want to think about it or struggle with the legal system? Was he covering for her?? Was he scared to speak up?

... Did Dale not tell his dad the whole truth about where he was?

What if Dale was - in some vague and early concept way - in on the lemonade scheme from the beginning, back when he and Vicky were friends and she wasn't so cruel? Maybe she turned on him and sentenced him to the pit before long?

Why the underground-ness of it? Why the lemonade, which probably doesn't turn much profit... as lemonade. Unless you have unrestrained access to tons of lemons that you can turn into multiple products - Dale DID call it a factory - and no one is stopping you from accessing them...

... but how do you set up a situation where kids have access to a whole lemon orchard - presumably carefully maintained - and the adults don't take it away from them (Because... surely they would've found Dale and multiple other kids if they strayed close).

And Dale didn't leave. He does in "Nectar of the Odds" - apparently of his own volition - but not before. Was he kept there mentally as well as physically?

We KNOW Vicky can't be monitoring him 24/7 because "Nectar of the Odds" is the only episode depicting her paying attention to him, while others show her doing many other things in many other places (though it's worth noting Dale says in that episode that "Vicky's kept him locked up for so long").

Did he stay so long because it was the perceived better fate up until he miraculously crossed paths with his dad (via fairy magic) and took the risk? Would he have gone back in?

Maybe it wasn't supposed to get this out of hand. Dale and Vicky were young when this started... Somewhere between 7 and 9 (given that Dale was kept there for 7 years and Vicky is 16 when he escaped and he tells 9-year-old Dev this happened when he was Dev's age).

Maybe there was an accident. Something not just Vicky, but even Dale felt the need to cover up, especially in regards to the orchard and the fact that it needs to be Vicky's consistent source of lemons (and not something she lost out on before Dale's escape... an illusion of ownership maintained. Kids can't own the orchard, but what if they fooled people into believing it wasn't owned by kids?)

Hmm... some kind of accident that got two mostly innocent kids into huge trouble, thus setting up a horribly intertwined fate where if one of these toxic co-dependent friends backs out and squeals, even the squealer might suffer worse compared to trucking along on the cruel existing path.

tl;dr - if Vicky and Dale accidentally killed the orchard owner but they were kids and terrified to tell an adult lest they go to jail for life so they hid the body in the basement (or like ?? threw it to the coyotes or hyenas that inexplicably lurk on the fringes of Dimmsdale??) and are trying desperately to wipe their hands of this by pretending the lemon orchard is still operational so no one investigates until they can figure out a plan, and then Vicky hardens herself as a trauma response and manipulates Dale into believing it was solely his fault and she'll pin him with murder charges if he gets cold feet and turns her in, and he's miserable and gets a fairy (then loses his fairy via Pixie contract through Wish Fixers, presumably in an attempt to negotiate a way to protect himself from Vicky and somehow not gaining the ire of his father) and then H.P. (lawyer and unlicensed yet de facto therapist pulled two ways) is suddenly Dale's godfather and trying to comprehend what the flip is going on between misery and manslaughter while he's also juggling Gary, Betty, and Flappy Bob at the same time in preparation for the Musical because we know he spent 37 years on that plan...

... Would that be one messed-up yet hyperspecifically canon-compliant 'fic or what?

These thoughts have been haunting me all weekend and I HAD to get my "I'm not that kind of lawyer or therapist" joke out of my system, so there's your context. #Sorry. Is this the direction the actual 'fic will go? ... It's not the direction I really had in mind, but ?? It's off the wall and therefore I must shake it in my teeth. I can't not write Dale backstory this horrific. what. hey.

[shantalangel]

Since new canon information is here, I decided to make a list of all non-human and semi-human species of creatures that are currently present in Trigun Stampede. There are surprisingly many of them here; much more than in manga! Which is very intriguing, because it will certainly create new story arcs.

1) I called it Proto-Angel for clarity; on the art it is simply named "Plant". The mummy of a certain humanoid alien, which humans found during excavations on Earth – before Gunsmoke. For a long time they could not understand who it was and whose flesh it was, then they decided to resurrect it, but succeeded only by mixing it's DNA with human DNA.

2) And thus Plants were created. One of the first experimental ones had the same type of power as Vash - the opposite of most Plants, sucking energy from the surrounding world rather than producing it, - and with its help destroyed the laboratory of the creators (maybe it was Tesla? It’s not for nothing that her and Vash’s files on the ship were in the same folder). Most Plants are clones of each other. A small percentage are born by breeding (both subtypes with each other).

For convenience or some specific purposes, two types of Plants were created:

- Dependent: female humanoids living in water or some liquid (since the concept art of Rem is shown on the same slide with them, I now wonder if it was her DNA that was used...), playing the role of a bioprinter, energy source and gravity generator, but unable to live without connections to certain equipment (as far as I remember, they need some kind of artificial regulation of the energy supply)

- Independent: ground-based and autonomous, wielding bio-weapons of enormous power (maybe everyone has them or only specific individuals. In manga, according to Nai, Tesla did not have weapon, but in both manga and anime her hand was held in a separate capsule, while Independent’ weapons are generated from the hand). And capable of merging both with Independent and Dependent; if that one being is not stronger than the other and their consciousnesses do not conflict. Both sexes; I think the Proto-Angel was asexual, and the sex of Plant is determined by female and male human genes - this would explain why in the first subtype there are only women, while in the second are both.

3) Conrad decided to create modified humans who would find it easier to survive on Gunsmoke. How exactly he wanted to do it is unclear - given that Plants may have many of their unique characteristic because their body always connected to an alternative dimension through the Gate; where is their energy source and their mind lives in the form of the Core. Conrad began to somehow crossbreed humans with Plants. So, it’s already the formula of triple hybrid: (Proto-Angel + human DNA) + human.

The result was Nicholas, Livio, Monev (Rollo), E.G. Mine (the guy in bandages from 3 episodes); other test subjects did not survive. How far this four are from humans and how closer to Plants, with what and how they were modified, is still unclear. Can they do something superhuman like Elendira in the next experiment with hybrids is also a very intriguing question. But at least the healing blue liquid has the same glow as Plants.

4) But the first experiments didn’t turn human into Independent Plant, so Conrad started others. Judging by his words from episode 10, he began to genetically modify not children, but human embryos, resulting in Elendira. In the context of this process cloning and Nai’s help are mentioned, but who is whose clone and a genetic relative is not yet clear. Based on Elendira's apparently implanted eye, maybe this time humans were transplanted with Plant's entire organ - like in the old anime Vash's arm was transplanted to Legato and from it he received all his abilities, - and such a hybrid became closer to the Independents than to humans (including bio-weapons). Or that was some kind of attempt to create a human embryo through a sisters’ “bioprinter”: that is, they seem to be human, but at the same time human genes are Plant cells converted into them.

What is the fundamental difference between such hybrids from №4 and №5, the Independents and Nai’s future biological children is not yet clear to me. Perhaps new hybrids are weaker in terms of abilities, although they also have bio-weapons (Elendira’s nails). Whether hybrids can grow together into a single being and whether they have Cores in another dimension is a very interesting question.

5) In the same room with Elendira are several capsules with other newborn cubs of indeterminate gender, similar in appearance to little sisters, but with strange fur or feathers on their arms and legs. After the art below, I had a guess that these are the pilots of Gray 9 Lives.

Gray in this anime is a giant robot the size of a mountain, inside of which are spheres with control devices and certain creatures connected to them, whom are literally built into it without the possibility of escape. On the art below, the pilots clearly resemble these babies because they have Plant's petal appendages on their heads.

And here, in the center of a small city, apparently lies the same sphere, around which people built a fence and carefully covered it with a tent. The light inside is exactly the same as Plants’ one.

In other concept art, though, the pilots look completely different and completely mysterious, because they are not even close to any of the creatures on this long list. These are not humans, and not Plants, and probably not even mutants (although in manga there were also very strange creatures - the golem servant of Legato, the original Gray and one mercenary with a face of the undead and big tusks from his chin). What is this even, who was it born from?!

6) Nai and sisters’ biological children. How they might differ from other Plants, and hybrids from №4, and why he even needed this whole “ritual”, I have no idea.

7) And, finally, Legato - he is a separate interesting person.

Manga: a completely inhuman long narrow tongue, the ability to control the flesh (but not the mind) and the processes of many living organisms at the same time (including animals and dying - cut in half Nai after July), as well as in his own body (judging by the battle with Vash in at the end of the manga, he could even heal himself, or at least improve body characteristics), and even resurrect the dead (the head of the maniac who kept him in slavery; the murdered Elendira). I very much doubt that an ordinary human would have any possibility to do this, even with some special gadget with wires. Legato's connection is essentially a weaker version of the Plants' merge. Not to mention control over Nai (in the fortress, when he was a slave - did not allow to kill himself with other people) and Vash, whom he restrained for 7 months in a row. Plus, in one art, Legato has huge black claws on his hand.

Old anime: Vash's arm was transplanted to him, and he received all his abilities from it. It’s just gorgeous when Plants just merge with humans like that, even without consequences. 

New anime: beside controlling others gained new ability - to crush giant parts of mechanisms like tin cans, on a very big distance. Also, as far as I remember, only in Stampede his hands are completely covered with gloves.

His child concept art, in addition to another version of the gadget, has some interesting device on those eye that is always covered with bangs.

Another interesting art, where he is holding some kind of complex automaton. Apparently, an analogue of those controlled by Leonoff.

[too-antigonish]

The Great S7 Rewrite

An attempt at summarizing the rocky ground on which we some of us stand following this rather epic post yesterday: Prophetic words from Morse in Oracle?

People had so many interesting things to say that I though it would be nice to keep this discussion public for now.

On the most basic level, Season 7 has two overarching storylines: 

Opera Storyline: The one with Morse, Violetta, Ludo,  and the mysterious accidental deaths

Towpath Murders: The one with Morse and Thursday fighting mainly over whether or not Carl Sturgis did it.

Then you have the episodic murders for each episode: 

Oracle: The math TV program, Dept. of Latent Potential, women’s lib conference, and  misogynist professors in Oracle

Raga: The Indian restaurant, restaurant critic, gay wrestlers, racist poker game organizing politicians in Raga

Zenana: The coming together of the opera storyline and the towpath murder storyline in Zenana.

If, theoretically, you wanted a do-over for S7, what would you need to consider? Below are some of the issues raised in discussion yesterday:

Bone of Contention #1: Opera Rules

S7 may or may not have been asking us to view its world according to “opera rules.” If it wasn’t, then the storylines were just outrageous. If it was, then they didn’t do an adequate job of either:

Signaling that we needed to see this world through that filter

Making the story robust enough that you didn’t *need* to see the opera references to “get” the storylines. (As Durian pointed out: Ride works even if you don’t realize that it’s Gatsby, but S7 doesn’t work if you don’t realize it’s opera. It doesn’t stand on its own.)

I think actual S7 tried to signal that we were in Opera World (#1) by: 

Using theatrical techniques (voiceovers, mise en scene/ tableaux, etc.) to signal that we were in opera world (i.e. heightened reality)

Using opera tropes

Using role reversal with the characters. I think that’s a big reason why the season feels so unsettling overall. Normally Morse is the one doggedly pursuing a hunch based on an obscure clue. This time it’s Thursday. Normally it is Thursday finding out that Morse didn’t check someone’s alibi. This time it’s Morse. Normally Morse and Thursday are calling the shots at the crime scene. This time DeBryn and Strange are having to put them in their place like squabbling children. Etc., etc.

Things in the show are “out of place” as well. (e.g. Thursday is at the early morning crime scene in Oracle instead of Morse. Morse is in Venice instead of Oxford.)

So the questions about Opera Rules are:

Do you keep the idea of Opera Rules for S7?

If you keep Opera Rules, how do you do a better job of signaling them?

If you keep Opera Rules, how do you make the story strong enough that people who don’t understand opera rules will know what’s happening? 

Do you just out-and-out tell people about Opera Rules?

Bone of Contention #2: Ludo and Violetta?

I have yet to hear from anyone who really likes Ludo and Violetta. If someone reading this does, I’d be fascinated to hear why. To say that I find them off-putting is being kind. Why is Morse attracted to two such unpleasant people? And not only attracted, but taken in by both of them? Normally Morse is attracted to girl-next-door types (Monica, Joan). Normally Morse has no time for snobs who name-drop and talk about themselves non-stop (Oxford Don stereotype). 

For me the disconnect lies not in the fact that he could be taken in. I think Astrid and Fanfic are very right about both Morse’s lack of wisdom when it comes to friendship and love, and well as his “secret” desire to have friends who perhaps share more of his interests. The leap I can’t make is that it would happen with these two specific people. Even taking into account that Morse is behaving “the opposite” of his usual way, I can’t see him being attracted to either of these two personalities. 

In the end, like Astrid, I like the *idea* of the Ludo and Violetta storyline but found the way it was played out too incongruous. So what to do? It seems like you can either retool Ludo and Violetta or replace them entirely. Which you choose I think depends on how you want to remake the story and how loyal you are to canon.

My first instinct is to replace them. I find both of them so repugnant, but I do find myself returning repeatedly to an idea that I had when I first watched Oracle, which was that Violetta might actually be more directly based on the Violetta from La Traviata.

She would be a woman from the “other side of the tracks” so-to-speak, but genuinely in love with Morse. You could also use Traviata’s bit where Violetta’s “betrayal” of Alfredo is actually self-sacrifice, etc. I’m not sure about Ludo, but it would definitely need to be someone that Morse would *actually* want to befriend and not someone as obvious as Ludo.

So the questions about Ludo and Violetta are:

Do you keep Ludo and Violetta?

If you keep them, how do you retool them? 

If you throw them out, what do you replace them with? 

Either way (new or retooled), how do you make Morse’s attraction to them believable?

Either way (new or retooled), do you use existing opera tropes/storylines as a basis for their story?

Bone of Contention #3: Towpath Storyline

It seems that there is pretty much universal agreement on keeping the Towpath Murders as a storyline. Also, there is pretty much unanimous approval for the idea of an earlier and more prominent role for Dorothea in the case. Durian points out that this could also have the side effect of reducing some of the tension between Morse and Thursday. 

Disagreement arises over two main elements:

Too many things going on in the storyline

How the conflict between Thursday and Morse is handled.

I’m in agreement on both of these things. In terms of the number of things going on in the storyline you have the whole is it or isn’t it a serial killer, the ESP angle, the flasher thing, the copycat killer, all of the animal imagery and later wolf imagery, the blood drinking, and much, much more. It could work if it all tied together coherently, but it doesn’t—at least for me. It feels like I can sort of see what they were going for, but that they definitely didn’t get there. There needs to be a unifying theme.

With the conflict between Thursday and Morse, my problem is not so much that they have the conflict, but that it comes seemingly out of nowhere. We jump from the reconciliation of Degüello to the petty arguments of Oracle with nothing in-between to explain the change. It’s not that I didn’t find the conflict between these two characters interesting or believable. It’s simply that there was nothing to explain it. Yes, you can say that Morse was becoming more of his own man, but that doesn’t seem adequate to me.

So the questions about the Towpath Storyline are: 

What elements would you throw out and what would you keep?

What would make a good unifying theme for the Towpath case?

What is the source of the conflict between Morse and Thursday? What sets it off?

How do we have Ms. Frazil on the case sooner rather than later?

How does Dorothea diminish tension between Thursday and Morse. 

Of the arguments between Morse and Thursday, what would you keep and what would you throw out?

Bone of Contention #3: The Episodic Storylines

I find it pretty telling that except for one brief mention, no one has strong feelings about the episodic mystery in Oracle. It definitely had less substance that the one in Raga, in part because it had to leave room for the establishment of the two big overarching stories. Personally, I found the sexism angle (the Women’s Lib Conference and Prof. Blish beating out the others for the spot on the tv show) more compelling than the ESP studies angle.

Durian mentioned that Raga, like the Towpath Murders, has way too much going on (Indian restaurant, Oberon Prince and his ex-wife, the gay wrestlers, the racist poker game, the return of the evil beautician, two stabbed teenagers, etc.) Fanfic raised the interesting idea of making the conflict in Raga more of a family conflict, using the political situation with East and West Pakistan (Bangladesh) as a focus.

So the questions about the Episodic Storylines are: 

What elements would you throw out of Oracle and what would you keep?

What elements of Oracle would you change entirely?

What elements would you throw out of Raga and what would you keep?

What elements of Raga would you change entirely? (e.g. changing to internal family conflict)

OK. I'd love to hear thoughts on all of this!

[sam-keeper]

Susan Twist: Word Lord?

Many* people** are wondering about the theory held by certain Doctor Who fans*** online that the actress Susan Twist in the new season of the long running franchise is playing what's known as a "Word Lord".

Now, granted, many more are wondering whether she might, in fact, be Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. That, my friends, is exactly the kind of question a Word Lord would want you to be asking.

Lemme break this theory down for you.

Throughout this whole new season of Doctor Who, the protagonists have been haunted by the recurrence, in different roles, of a stage and character actor who happens to have the delightful name Susan Twist. Like, not in the show, in real life. According to Russel T Davies, she was the only actor they could get due to an "actor shortage", which seems like a pretty terrible and even implausible dilemma, but luckily Davies has made lemonade out of this very real production constraint! Twist popped up in every episode this season, in some form or other. That's versatile writing! No wonder they brought Rusty back as showrunner.

But perhaps there's more to the story than just the unfortunate realities of filming in a country ruled by a failed regime...

The Doctor and his companion Ruby started noticing Twist's recurring roles over the past few episodes, though the plot of each episode intervened before they could put anything definitive together. It's one of a number of nods to the metatextual content of the show--literal winks to the audience, another character (Mrs Flood) directly addressing the viewers, a whole musical number about how there's "always a twist at the end"--that suggested maybe some authorial tomfoolery was afoot, that maybe something a little tricky or tongue in cheek was happening.

But what could the explanation be? Could Susan Twist really be playing THE Susan, a relative of the Doctor's that hasn't been seen in the franchise since the 60s? That seems a little silly, surely! Or could she be playing another character, like... the Rani? or the Monk? Both of them got namedropped alongside Susan at one point. Or maybe she's the portended head of Maestro and the Toymaker's extracosmic family. I guess there's a theory this is Sutekh, the evil alien god from Pyramids of Mars? Sure, seems fun.

But no. Fuck all that noise. I know what's really going on here and it just coincidentally involves a character that I'm feral about, and that no one else has even heard of, a guy called, somewhat fittingly, Nobody No-one.

No-one shows up in just one and a quarter stories by Steven Hall for Big Finish's series of audio dramas, first as a minor opponent (in 45) and then as a much more motivated and fearsome one (in A Death in the Family). In the latter story, he manages to--no points if you worked this out from the title--kill the Seventh Doctor. How did a character with such a low profile manage such a feat? Well, Nobody No-one has powers comparable to a Time Lord: he is a Word Lord.

Word Lords are one of the most delightfully bonkers concepts to come out of the early exciting and experimental period in Big Finish's line of audio dramas. Hailing from another universe, they're the equivalent of Time Lords for a reality where narrative rather than chronology drives all existence. It's like if the Anchoring of the Thread established not linear time but, I guess, TV Tropes instead. Nobody No-one regenerates like the Doctor, and has his own equivalent to the TARDIS: the CORDIS, or Conveyance Of Repeating Dialogue In Space-time, which is a memetic construct transporting the Word Lord through repeated phrases, jokes, coincidental number recurrences, and so on. The CORDIS is heralded by the number 45 popping up, and you'd better believe I sat up and noticed how many times that number recurred in the code pattern in Dot and Bubble! In Death in the Family there's a whole military organization the Doctor's mucking around with--No, not UNIT. No, not Torchwood. A different thing, one run by a human supremacist vampire hold on we're getting off topic--and Nobody casually reveals at one point that his CORDIS was bouncing around inside their "For King And Country" mantra for years.

Nobody No-one's real fun as a villain comes from his special Bullshit Powers. He's a Word Lord, so he's basically a memetic being, right? He IS language in some sense. Like, apparently his CORDIS crashed into the alphabet after his first encounter with the Doctor, annihilating the 27th letter of the alphabet and causing the English Great Vowel Shift. This story does a ton with the concept of "what if a guy was words".

But what makes him so dangerous is a quirk of his own identity. To grasp what a Word Lord can do, you have to think linguistically, dialogically. Imagine someone haplessly says: "but, nobody could have gotten into that locked room to kill the ambassador!" What would that allow a Word Lord to do? And imagine further:

"No-one tells the sun whether or not to shine." "Nobody could survive that!" "Nobody could just kill the Doctor!"

One slip of the tongue, that's all it takes for Nobody No-one to gleefully command godlike power.

That's Nobody, though. I don't think Susan Twist is just Nobody. I mean, No-one could seriously ask you to believe that this character who appeared in an (unfairly, given its quality) obscure audio adventure, written by an author who only ever wrote those two stories for Doctor Who, with a bunch of wild over the top and no doubt difficult to write around powers, is going to suddenly come back as a major character in the third tv revival of this 60 year old franchise. Like, Nobody would expect Davies to start referencing, I don't know, the Shalka Doctor either, surely. And I wouldn't ask you to make that kind of totally absurd leap, not even if I happened to be writing some sort of tongue in cheek article.

No, what I'm--I mean, what the fans are suggesting is that this concept of a Time Lord but for stories, who comes from a Borgesian narrative dimension, appearing in one and one quarter obscure audio dramas by an author who never wrote anything else for Doctor Who... what the theory proposes is that there's a SECOND one of those guys.

Just think about it, think about it like a Word Lord. What has the fandom asked itself about this season? Surely, one of the foremost questions is simply: what about Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter? She's been name dropped a few times, the Doctor doesn't say she's definitively dead... could there be some reveal here that Susan is alive? There's got to be, right? That's what they're leading up to!

There's just got to be a Susan Twist.

That, my friends, is exactly how she snuck into this reality.

Now, maybe the "Susan Triad" slated to appear next episode isn't this Word Lord proper but a kind of, I don't know, fictionsuit or vessel or entry point. I'm also not sure what a "Susan Twist" would even want, what the grand scheme would be. Unlike Nobody No-one, there's not a lot of word games you can play with "Susan Twist" beyond the obvious. But, maybe that's part of the point. Nobody No-one was a megalomaniac, a guy who really did just want to watch the world burn. The Doctor's companion Hex accuses him of being "proper mad", and he responds, "Mad? I'm FUUURIOUS!" followed by an explosion from the grenade he had tossed into the duck pond. Nobody is a brash, arrogant, chaotic, and... probably not that bright guy, who has the advantage of his CORDIS's many tricks and his incredibly versatile name. Perhaps this new Word Lord wants something other than chaos and destruction. Maybe she simply wants what we've already seen her achieve in the show: universal ubiquity. There's always a Twist at the end.

Actually, this would weirdly parallel another beat from Death in the Family. In order to trap Nobody, the Doctor weaponizes his own narrative against the Word Lord, tapping into the universal internet and googling himself in order to build a whole proxy universe based on his own life. From another perspective, he basically uses the entire narrative of Doctor Who--all the episodes, all the Big Finish audios, all the Doctor Who Monthly comics, all the Virgin New Adventures--as an ideatic missile. This is such a cool concept I'd feel guilty about giving it away, only it happens about a fifth of the way through Death in the Family. Seriously, this audio GOES places. Anyway, the suggestion is that the Doctor is so entangled with the history of the universe, so threaded throughout all these other narratives, that his history effectively is a world unto itself that a being of narrative like Nobody might get completely lost in.

That's a kind of narrative ubiquity if there ever was one. If I was a Word Lord I'd be sorely tempted by that. Nobody is: he appears a perverse counterpart to the Doctor (and personally I think David Tennant would do a GREAT job playing him if he ever appeared in the show). I can't help but notice, incidentally, that we just got an episode where the shapeshifting Chuldur quickly became obsessed with cosplaying as the Doctor, and Wild Blue Yonder also introduced a couple of not-things trying to copy him. Could this Word Lord be seeking to build a narrative as strong and inescapable as the Doctor's?

It would be an interesting way of incorporating some of these meta elements without slipping too far into a kind of self-referential morass. It feels like Davies has been dancing right up on that line this entire season in a way that's exhilarating, but that also has been a bit nerve wracking for me. The more metatextual storytelling has exited the realm of weird independent art and entered the mainstream, the more cloying it's started to feel. Like, when you engage the audience, entreat them directly to care about the characters or write tearful paeans to the necessity of the Hero as a Symbol, the more it can start to feel like a bit of a desperate exercise in brand management. Clap if you DO believe in fairies, and all that. Doctor Who certainly has some history of guilt here--sorry, Steven Moffat, but sometimes it does get to be a bit much. And it does risk standing the purpose of literature on its head, where ironically through characters lauding the virtues of storytelling within society, the virtue of having participated in a transaction consuming art becomes the foundation of fandom, and the actual literary content is assumed, but treated as an afterthought.

Davies has thus far instead treated the meta content in two ways: as a unique physics to be solved, and as a way of exploring a particular bit of social commentary (sometimes more than one at once). Goblins use a "language of luck" and a physics of rope and knots, the Toymaker brings the world into a State of Play, and Maestro introduces a State of Musicals. To challenge these beings, the Doctor must understand their particular ontology and exploit it. As soon as the Bogeyman in Space Babies faces real peril, all the children who were afraid of it rally to its defense, which doubles as both a commentary on the "Teatime Terror for Tots" charge thrown at children's media like Doctor Who--children LIKE scary stories and creepy, gross monsters!--and reinforces Davies's acidic anger at social and political abandonment of people who are inconvenient to the bottom line. Rogue plays gleefully with fanfiction tropes, and its positioning of the Chuldur as "cosplayers" would riiight up to the edge of being a little too navel gazing about toxic fans... if not for the fact that the Doctor and Ruby are also explicitly cosplaying as Bridgerton characters, and the episode is still giving fans exactly what they want in the form of a whirlwind gay Doctor/Rogue romance. This season is concerned with these sorts of metatextual games, without being subsumed by them and becoming entirely about self-referential brand building.

A Death in the Family is also, notably, only partly about Nobody No-one and his machinations and the counter-machinations required to stop him, set into motion by the Seventh Doctor and carried out beyond his death by companions Ace and Hex. Like I said, a lot of the seismic action of the story is over within the first 25 minutes. The Word Lord is really just used as a jumping off point to talk about a bunch of other stuff: truth, lies, choices made for ourselves or made for us by others... we see multiple information-worlds built in the story, some of them more subtle than others. At one point Ace tearfully proclaims that traveling on the TARDIS with the Doctor "is the only life I've ever wanted!" The Seventh Doctor retorts, with some audible guilt and distress, "No, it's the only life you've ever HAD!" In a very real sense, the Doctor has created the notional worlds that Ace and Hex inhabit, defining the contours of Ace's life since she was a teenager, and deliberately staying silent about Hex's traumatic family history, deciding for both of them "what's best". Nobody No-one in that sense is a pretext, in the best tradition of Doctor Who, to dig into questions about power.

The metafictional is risky, but it's a narrative tool like any other, and it fits with a long history of Doctor Who as a franchise reflecting on itself and its place in culture, with everything from the Mind Robber's suggestion that the Doctor himself might be an escapee from fiction, to Vengeance on Varos and Trial of a Time Lord's dramatization of Doctor Who's conservative culture war critics, to the Last Great Time War as metaphor for the show's cancellation. In a sense, behaving as though cosplay or fandom or whatever don't exist and couldn't possibly be the idiom through which characters--even weird alien characters--interpret their reality and act upon it might equally alienate the show from being about any wider culture beyond itself, endlessly, the same dalek and cybermen and Master stories recycling forever. My hope is just that as Davies barrels into the finale at full speed, it's this sense of a meaning for Doctor Who beyond its own lore driving him. The anger we've seen from him about social issues, the commitment to changing the show where it needs to grow, and the willingness to take big swings at continuity all give me some reason to feel confident.

Confident, of course, that he has seen the wisdom and logic of building his arc around Susan Twist being a Word Lord. What? That's what this article is about, remember? That didn't stop being a thing. Anyway, I'm excited for friday, when all of us pulling for this theory will be proven indisputably right, and you will all, in deference, subscribe to my Patreon.

* alleged ** hypothetical *** me, specifically

[allykatsart]

What if fallen Emily decided to go down the Paradise Lost route and declare war to heaven? And Vaggie and Charlie have to stop her before she does something stupid and dangerous that would doom her?

I can't say much about Emily because, while this may not be the path I go down, I also don't want to spoil anything. However, I will give my thoughts on one thing.

Hell should not want a war with Heaven

I have several reasons for this thought, not just that war is bad. Firstly, Hell's Population is lower or equal to than that of Heaven's. Heaven also has access to more resources to fight with. While the demons in hell can be cruel and powerful, there are just as powerful beings in heaven.

Even though Charlie won her battle, in a full on war between Heaven and Hell, Hell would likely lose. While I would love to see cathartic retribution, logically it just... Wouldn't work as well as one would hope. Here's why.

Population

In terms of soldier numbers, Heaven has more souls. Not to say that more souls go to Heaven than Hell, but Hell has been suffering through extermination depleting it's populous for eons. In Episode 3, we are told that 19% was a brutal percent of the population to be killed in extermination. Even if we assume that 10% is usual for the exterminations (it may be a bit low) 10% over thousands of years would reduce Hell's population significantly.

Even if we are to assume that people go to Hell more than Heaven, the souls in heaven don't die and Heaven's population is ever expanding. Plus, people in hell seem to regularly kill each other in power grabs and use angelic weapons to do so. The exterminations have already done their job in handicapping Hell's power.

Resources

"Angelic Steel isn't common."

We hear this from Camilla Carmine, the expert in angelic weapons. In Hell she is the best source of this resource, which is the only thing that can kill angels. The only source of angelic steel is uncommon in Hell and much is unknown about it.

In Heaven, however, we see every angel in the angelic army with a white, steel tipped weapon. Even the name, Angelic steel, hints that this resource originates from Heaven. Heaven has the means to arm itself, even if it doesn't teach it's fighters how to defend themselves.

Speaking of teaching, if there was a side to teach a large number of its populace how to fight, which would be better at organizing to do so? We have seen the power structure of hell and how little people care about the royalty there. The overlords own souls, but they're divided. Heaven already has a force that is organized under a single leader, Adam. United we conquer, divided we fall.

Powers

We've seen Adam and what he can do compared to a regular Angel. No one but Lucifer stood a chance against him (RIP sir snake boi). We don't know if there's more like him in heaven, but we do know there was that heavenly court, and that they seem to be at the same level or higher than Adam. While Lucifer could certainly handle them one by one, he also would have to deal with Sera, who seems to be above him or equal to his power.

Conclusion

While it was empowering that Charlie kept most of her friends alive, in a full on War between Heaven and Hell, Hell would lose. Carmilla Carmine and Zestiel were right to be cautious of jumping to war. Doing so would be short sighted and, in the end, what would the point of it be? To overtake Heaven and make it as bad as Hell? It's not a question of bravery, it's a pointless endeavor.

Charlie wasn't being naive when she tried to go the diplomatic route. She's being pragmatic. Perhaps in an overly optimistic way, but solving this with violence is not going to turn out good for anyone.

[oodearest]

3 OPLA scenes that altered my brain chemistry

It’s been a year since we got the first season of OPLA. I cast my mind back to clearing my weekend to binge the show and then having my social media feed flooded with OPLA fan edits. What a time.

In honour of the anniversary 🥳 here’s a list of scenes that stuck with me.

1. Usopp saying to Luffy, “Wait, you know my dad?”

What a dagger to the heart! The pain in his voice? The mix of awe and jealousy? Spectacular acting. It also trigged a line of thinking that made me want to write a fic about it one day. The implications of Luffy knowing Yassop better than his own son are so gut wrenching.

2. Luffy saying he knew what it was like to have someone lose a limb for him.

I’ve literally never made that connection between Sanji and Luffy before. It’s genius. Also it’s played off comedically in that scene but the potential for angst parallels is astronomical.

It floored me the first time I heard it and (shameless self plug incoming) that’s how I ended up writing this fic.

3. Zeff and Sanji doctoring Zoro together

I have always adored the level of drama and angst the Baratie arc brings to One Piece. Namely, the iconic Zoro vs Mihawk fight and his declaration to Luffy afterwards.

“Any problem with that, Pirate King?” Lives rent free in my brain.

So obviously that moment in the OPLA has big shoes to fill. I think it delivered and I absolutely adore the added scene of Zeff and Sanji co-treating Zoro. They really understood the assignment. That whole episode is so tender and adds an extra layer of bonding to the east blue gang that’s so wonderful to see adapted.

Honourable mentions

Buggy, that’s it.

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Buggy. Jeff Ward ATE that role up. Episode 2 is probably one of my favourite episodes purely for his presence. I will forever be referencing “NOSE?! NOSE?!”

Thank you Jeff Ward.

Kid Sanji saying “Oregano is for Savages!”

Kid Sanji is so UNHINGED in the flashback and I just adore that while his workplace is getting raided by pirates his first priority is to insult their seasoning choice. And of course Zeff and Sanji are forever matching each others energy. It’s hilarious that he takes offence? Like sir you have bigger questions to ask.

[straightasaaro]

how I think the red queen live action will be like

Live action book series as tv shows have been stunningly mid lately due to low budgets, bad writing and a great misunderstanding of the book’s actual themes and plot. So here is what I think the red queen adaptation will look like

Mare Barrow will have one older brother and one younger sister instead of three older brothers because who needs side characters that show how the poor having larger families means bigger financial strain and also establishes how much Mare loves her family

Her lightning will be purple but the fact that she can produce it organically will be cut

Her fake silver backstory will be cut and just show her being immediately presented as a Silver

The names and houses of Silver nobility will be cut and their powers will just be shown for viewers to figure it out themselves

The betrayal scene will be underdeveloped and mostly be off shock value

mysteries unraveled in the books like the fate of Sara skonos and what happened to cal’s mom will be revealed immediately, like as soon as the question is presented

the war against the lakelands will be surface level only and we’ll probably never even know the country that they’re fighting against name

Evangeline will be bitch only and shoe horn her way into mare’s relationship with the brothers for drama

That one time Evangeline beat mare in combat training will be cut as well

finally increased scenes of mare with the brothers for maximum fancams that will serve as free advertising because that’s what the kids like these days right? White boys fighting over a girl?

oh and six episodes, 40-50 minutes long each.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Sign is Slaying

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top. Happy new year, BLabies!

Jan 2024 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 8 of 12 - Tharn in Phaya’s too big clothing is the cutest thing in the world.

I gotta to say something about Babe's acting really quickly. I love the way he’s inhabiting the personality of his naga character with reptilian eye and body movements and (I don’t know how to put this) a certain reserved, elegant, slithering- ness. He's very good this new boy of ours. (He come from something physical like dance?)

I adored them doing the walk of shame and being teased.

ALSO I enjoyed the way they handled Tharn’s gender in the past with his costume (the pha chung hang is gender neutral but that green top is a kinda combo m+f) and pronouns et al.

Language corner:

They are using ancient pronouns. I *think* I heard: daow (3rd), khun/jao/tan (2nd), kaa (Ist) - all pronouns in use are gender neutral - to the best of my understanding.

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 10 of 12 - Ooo. Day comes out to fam. Also his maa legit took his phone away and said

“I don’t mind you being gay but you can’t date a poor.”

Still, these 2 do kind of make the best secret boyfriends ever.

Also I begin to love Night: “that’s my baby” indeed. You special ain’t ya?

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 7 of 12 -  I’m starting to find this pretty boring at this juncture. Bummer, because for a while I was enjoying it.

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 11 of 12 - The stuff with the spy on the team is super boring. I’m not wild about the side characters either. So most of this episode was a bust for me. I did like First’s ex. 

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 9 of 14 - Charlie & Babe = honeymoon phase. Jeff & Kim = forgotten. Pete & Way = riddles wrapped in alphas but actually enigmas. Everyone else = gang bang phase…. Apparently. Trash watch happening here.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 6 of 12 - Loved that this was a mutual kiss. (Also how comfortable are OffGunn kissing now? Babies!) I’ve moved from indifference to absolute loathing of the side couple tho.

Oddball LIES from the script = the gayest bridge in Bangkok isn’t lit up after 9pm.

Meanwhile, very important kicky kicky feet and Doc is a dork about flirting now that he’s all in. Looks like we get the official boyfriend ep next week.  

You and My Stars YT 2of 2(?) - Couldn’t find it. Not fussed. 

Time the series (Thai Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Okay so there’s a gang and someone named Chris is killed and his boyfriend, actor Foam, is jumped back in time to save him? NO SINGING. Between Chris’s death and that time-slip there’s some kind of accidental murder, a pink pocket watch, Chris being alive again but also a different person, and a make out scene. Are you also confused? Actually, the real question is: Do we continue watching? Remember we (the collective BLorg) do not trust MFlow. 

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) ep 21 of 24 - The acting has been pretty terrible all along with this series, but this one is the worst. I just can’t. I may tune in for the last installment but this one is a DNF for me. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - It’s utterly adorable. Very manga, but so far not grating on my nerves. They so cute! You know I adore a hyung romance. Add a v gay sauna scene and an OUT gay boy and just... YES. All the married breeder regulars being overly invested in their pretty cook’s queer drama queening, it's so good.

AND THEN a confession in the first episode? Japan sure loves to mess with the pacing of plots drops.

Also, how much do I want to eat every single piece  of food in this darn show? 

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 8 - Man I wish this were better I enjoyed this more. Sigh. I do LOVE the stepbrother sides. Of course I do. But how can this feature 2 of my favorite relationship types (age gap, stepbrothers) and not be my favorite BL airing? Japan, how do you ALWAYS do this to me? 

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - I don’t know. I just wish this were better. Also shorter.

I really miss KBL right now.

It's done I Need to Catch up

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have a spare day.

The Servant and the Young Master - from Veitnam so I assume it's on YouTube. I never even noticed. Anyone?

After Sundown - aired on Netflix Thailand. No word on inter release.

It's Airing But...

[INTERNATIONAL] Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - yeah Japan put the smack down on our boys. Sadness. You can use a VPN if you like. Read all about it here.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… probubly not. I won't be watching this. I disliked Season one and actively hated the follow ups. No thank you.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. I DNFed this at ep 5. Frankly I'm impressed with myself for getting that far.

Night Dream (Sat YT) 6 eps - It’s a pain to track down and I really didn’t like the first episode so… DNF  

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if safe.

Dead Friend Forever (Thai Sat iQIYI) - horror, meh, tell me if it's worth my time?

In Case You Missed it

All my year-end round ups:

TOP 10 BL Trends of 2023

Top 10 BL Secondary Pairs of 2023

2023 BLs Best Trope Execution Awards! TOP 10

BL 2023's Best:

Back Hugs Thailand & Elsewhere

Cute Bits of Domesticity

Boys Feeding Boys

BOOP!

Best Cuddles

Heads in Laps

Touching Head Touches

Thailand Put His Head on Your Shoulder

Put Your Head on My Shoulder (not Thailand)

BEST KISSES (not Thailand)

BEST KISSES FROM THAILAND

All the BLs Announced for 2023 that didn't happen

Next Week Looks Like This

More Coming Jan 2024

Beside You (Thai YouTube)

1/24 Love For Love's Sake (Korea Gaga)- based on the Manhwa ‘Love Supremacy Zone’ by Hwacha. A young man is dropped into a game based off a novel he loves. His mission is to make another player, YeoWoon happy. But then the game starts unfolding completely different from the novel.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Why are the oversized flappy flappy sleeves so adorable? (The Sign)

Pit Babe

Frankly 2024 is starting on a whimper... mostly from Babe.

(Last week)

[dearinglovebot]

Answer all of the ship questions for clawen pretty pleaseeeeee

you are the moot who i would save first if tumblr caught on fire one day. god bless

who hogs the duvet?

claire and she has no shame about it. she hogs blanket and mattress. he is resigned to a tiny strip of bed, cold, shivering, completely blanketless...

who texts/rings to check how their day is going?

owen because claire experiences work hyperfocus at such intensity that she will momentarily forget she has a family and someone needs to remind her to eat lunch

who's the most creative when it comes to gifts?

claire online shops on websites so niche the average human cannot comprehend them but owen is better at giving customized handcrafts. that's a man who knows how to whittle.

who gets up first in the morning?

controversially going with owen. "claire is work-brained" yes, but she's so work-brained that it keeps her up later thus requires more time sleeping in. owen has the sleep tendencies of an old lady and wakes up right at dawn.

who suggests new things in bed?

listen... all i'm saying is that when we look at canon... only one of them is implied to be into biting. if anyone is getting freaky... i think we have our answer

who cries at movies?

owen because claire insists they're "just fiction, owen" and "i'm going to cry about real things". he approaches movies as entertainment and she approaches movies like they're puzzles to solve

who gives unprompted massages?

owen. no question.

who fusses over the other when they're sick?

they're going to take care of the other if either is sick. claire fusses in an over-vigilant always keeping her eye on the person way where owen is actively asking "do you need something to eat? do you need something to drink? in another hour you'll need to take more pills". but that said, the fussing would drive claire crazier because she's going to try harder to deny that she's sick at all. no, she doesn't need cough syrup. she is perfectly healthy (said minutes before fainting).

who gets jealous the easiest?

canon makes a very strong case for it being owen. between his dialogue in fallen kingdom and the legends of isla nublar episode dedicated to him jealously seething, that man is fighting for his life.

who has the most embarrassing music taste?

in maisie's perspective, owen. he'd probably be into old country with guys singing over their guitars about beer, farming, trucks, and women. which maisie will think is very cringe because who even likes country these days. meanwhile claire is more acceptable because her taste is more inline with blues/soul and jazz.

who collects something unusual?

owen is way more likely to. claire would collect something like postage stamps or old coins that's kind of lame but pretty unnotable. owen would have go for something that's kind of funny like animal football team mascot bobbleheads for each city they go to.

who takes the longest to get ready?

claire because she considers getting ready a process to complete. owen considers getting ready "putting pants on".

who is the most tidy and organized?

claire is meticulously devoted to keeping things exactly as she wants them. owen isn't messy, but he does think a house should be lived in. claire on the other hand labels every file on her computer with relevant names and uses tags. she approaches everything in life like this. it's fun and comforting to her

who gets most excited about the holidays?

owen is the one who wants to put up decorations and make specific food. claire doesn't particularly have any strong connection to the holidays until she starts reconnecting with karen + the boys and finds her own family. she enjoys holidays because her family enjoys them. owen enjoys them because he is full of whimsy and believes in living life to the fullest

who is the big/little spoon?

controversial opinion: they do not have defined roles. sometimes there isn't a big spoon, sometimes it's owen, sometime's it's claire. owen is more likely to fall into the role because he likes knowing she's close meanwhile claire likes being held because it feels more secure (she would love weighted blankets) BUT every night they just do what feels natural for that night

who gets more competitive when playing games and/or sports?

they both terrify maisie during boardgames because they can't help getting way too competitive with each other specifically, but claire is more likely to threaten to kick him out of the house if he launches another banana peel at her in mario kart. owen is a good sport and she is... working on that.

who starts the most arguments?

one of their favorite bonding activities is bickering. claire probably has more things to nit-pick but he's playing into every argument willingly because he likes to bother her

who suggests that they buy a pet?

they already have two pet velociraptors and they are 100% owen's fault. all future pets will go this same route. claire is always going to act like she doesn't want anything to do with getting one and maisie and owen will talk her into it and she has to pretend that she doesn't also love it after a few days of meeting it

what couple traditions do they have?

board shorts, tequila, date itinerary. they can't go for a night out alone without mentioning one or more. it's always "at least you aren't wearing shorts this time" or "what time is desert on the itinerary?"

what tv shows do they watch together?

shondaland. if it was produced by shondaland, they are tuning in. gray's anatomy, bridgerton, scandal... they're seated. they're discussing it in depth after each episode too.

what other couple do they hang out with?

alan and ellie, duh. but they'd also get along with sarah and ian. they might also go out with barry and who ever he's currently dating. and claire would insist on spending time with whoever zia's seeing, too. in that case, owen is defineltly getting deemed the token straight guy who has to keep grabbing the food and drinks for them because of #feminsim.

how do they spend time together as a couple?

parallel play is how they spend a lot of the day when they're both home. he does his thing, she does hers, but always in the same room. but theres also shondaland time or maisie and owen dragging claire on outdoor adventures or talking before bed.

who made the first move?

i go back and forth on this. on the one hand, owen would have no problem asking her out immediately. on the other, claire is a girlboss who also goes after what she wants. i lean towards owen though because claire is emotionally stunted with a massive ego about any level of vulnerability

who brings flowers home?

owen. he doesn't buy them though. just plucks them and claire doesnt ask if he had to jump a fence to do it .

who is the best cook?

claire cannot cook. at all. owen is the only one in that house actually making anything. maisie learns from owen. she just watches and sits there for moral support

[defira85]

I have... thoughts about the first episode of the Veilguard podcast and I suppose one could call them critical but I'm having war flashbacks about the DA fandom in the 2010s so. This is going under a cut and I'm not going to tag it. Because I don't want to spoiler people but I also don't want to draw lots of attention

My biggest issue is that I don't necessarily feel like anyone on the writing team has specific experience with writing radio drama

Listen, writing specifically audio only narratives is a skill. It's a difficult one. It's not the same as reading an audiobook out loud, and it's not the same as listening to a recording of a live-play/improv group. It's not the same as a movie script. I've often thought that the closest comparison in terms of narrative structure and performance is live theatre, but even that has limitations to the comparisons

Exposition in radio drama is, by necessity, somewhat overstated. There's a lot of characters stating outright things that are happening, in order to convey that information to the audience, and sometimes that can come across as very... heavy handed. It's really hard to balance in a way that can seem like an organic conversation. They managed it relatively well at the start of the show when Nadia outright states that Elio has given her a ring - in a visual medium like a movie, we'd have a close up shot of the ring and maybe a close up of her shocked face, and they wouldn't need to explain it. But in the radio drama, we get the shock play out and then she confirms it's a ring thats upset her, because we as the audience need that explicit confirmation. It's the nature of the medium.

What isn't great, and this is where I think that it's obvious to me that the writers either aren't familiar with the medium or don't have a ton of experience with it, is the way that everything related to the conspiracy is laid out. Obviously, you don't want to info dump and ruin everything related to the conspiracy in the first episode, but it feels like this conversation happened at least 3 times:

"*gasp* what are you even saying?"

"... I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, you never want to talk-"

"Now isn't the time!"

"It's never the time for you!!"

What did Neve know about the raid and what did she say to convince Elio? We don't know, it's more important to have five minutes of grunting as Nadia climbs walls. Did we learn some stuff about Nadia as a character through the grunting? I mean, some of her stuff with Vik at the start, I'd say yes, but then it just went on and on. Did Elio talk to Nadia about what Neve told him on the arguably days or weeks long trek from Minrathous south to the Silent Plains? We don't know, they had to have multiple arguments like the one above. Could some of it be solved by the presence of a narrator? Arguable. How did Elio know the chant to follow along with Solas immediately?

"But Defira, they can't drop all of their exposition in the first episode, they need to build narrative tension" I'm not really talking about the story so much as I'm talking about how it's conveyed, how it's presented to us as an audience and what they're choosing to offer as the most important pieces of information and world/character building in the limited time frame. Lots of screaming each other's names dramatically sounds exciting, but it doesn't tell me anything the 15th time around. Lots of grunting as they yell and run and fight over and over again and I start to tune out

What can I tell about this first episode? That they spent a lot of money on sound design, and it sounds crowded. Narratively, I have lore questions (complaints) but that's not the point of the post.

The actors were great. The music was pretty good, but was it really worth it forking out for Hans Zimmer? The sound design was messy and cluttered.

I don't know. I'll keep listening, and maybe the writing will improve. The story concept is exciting but the execution is weak

I did laugh at Solas immediately fucking up again though

[anarchyrpbook]

FALLOUT (TV SERIES, 2024): Episode Four Feel free to edit the sentences, places, pronouns, etc, as you need. NSFW TW: Mentions of violence, death, sex trafficking, drugs, cannibalism

“[name]... my name is [name.]”

“Hey! Fancy seeing you out here.”

“You out for that bounty too, huh?”

“You know… It’s hard out here.”

“You - you don’t happen to have any vials do you?”

“I’m sorry, [name.] I’m all out.”

“You might want to clear out, before things get ugly.”

“You’ve outlasted us all.”

“Say… Do you remember how good food used to taste?”

“Sometimes, a fella's gotta eat a fella.”

“Well, there’s what people say they did, and what they really did.”

“How do you live like this? Why keep going?”

“Well, one good question deserves another, why the fuck am I doing all the work?”

“Now come on, [nickname], ass jerky don’t make itself.”

“You don’t like it when people get upset.”

“Regular boys… can get just angry and they’ll pee on the wall. When clever boys like you get angry… You’re lucky to not have seen where that can lead.”

“Just tread lightly, that’s all I ask.”

“How does that Golden Rule jibe with what’s going through your head right now?”

“What are you?”

“Oh, I’m you, sweetie. You just… give it a little time.”

“There you are, you little killer.”

“Now, that right there is the closest thing we’ve had to an honest exchange so far.”

“I just thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.”

“Not great, to be honest.”

“How are you handing the, uh, death of the father of your unborn baby?”

“Those monsters took him away from me.”

“Now, that is one wet lady.”

“You’re selling me?”

“You got problems out here, too, sweetheart. Best you try your luck behind that door.”

“What the fudge?”

“Fudge? There’s no fudge here.”

“Ah, that won’t do at all. Let’s get you taken care of.”

“He did not treat me very courteously.”

“I thought I was here to be a sex slave.”

“What? No, what a simply disgusting idea.”

“I’m simply going to harvest your organs.”

“I don’t know what the people of [location] were up to, but it was anything but innocent.”

“Feel like getting out of the house?”

“Then why did you come?”

“You don’t think it’s because you’re still in love with my sister, and being around me reminds you of her?”

“This is so wrong.”

“Whatever happened here, happened a long time ago.”

“Looks like they strangled each other, with their hands.”

“I am ever-ready to serve.”

“Come on, I know there’s someone in there, talk to me.”

“You don’t get these, you turn into one of those? That how it works?”

“I may end up looking like you, but I’ll never be like you.”

“Golden rule, motherfucker.”

“I’d love to share some of this with y’all but y’all weren’t invited to this party.”

“I hope you like the taste of lead, you [commie] son of a bitch.”

[shihalyfie]

Shihanne's 02TB FAQ

Here's a 02TB version of the Kizuna FAQ I made earlier, where I answer questions to things you may be curious about regarding the movie while trying to stay as spoiler-free as possible! This is, again, not a post made to convince anyone towards or against watching the movie, but rather just something to provide assistance for people who might be on the fence about watching the movie or want to know certain things before going in.

Like with the last post, I will be organizing this post in such a way that the story references to what happens in it will get more and more extensive as the post goes on. The more you read, the less "blind" you'll be going in, or the more there may be risk of you being able to figure out what happens in it. So if you want to stay fresh to a certain extent, you should just stick to reading the first few questions! (However, also as with before, I won't be including any major story beats in here, just generic allusions.)

What do I need to have seen beforehand in order to watch this movie? Are tri. and/or Kizuna necessary to understand it?

Perhaps surprisingly, I personally think you can still enjoy this movie even if you've never seen a Digimon thing in your life before (something I would not say about either tri. or Kizuna!). However, I do think you should at least know:

the basic concept of what a Digimon partner is

the context that the 02 group has known each other since they were in elementary school and overcome a lot of things together

the context of the proliferating Chosen Children all around the world and the epilogue it's going to be leading up to

...but other than that, you'd probably be fine even if you have no idea about anything else. Still, the movie will definitely be greatly improved if you've seen 02, because you'll have better surrounding context of what these characters are like, what they'd done together in the past, and what little things here and there are referencing.

Even then, the 02 main TV series (and possibly the second movie, Diablomon Strikes Back) is really the part that could be said to be most relevant. Adventure is largely relevant only for (very mild) context behind Takeru and Hikari's characterizations, and there are virtually no substantial references to Kizuna. tri. is actually downright contradicted by this movie's contents, to the point where the official timeline leading up to it straight-up omits it. So even if you've never seen anything past 02, you're still perfectly good to go.

(If you do see someone reporting that they referenced tri. by using the name "Homeostasis" at one point, note that the name was used in an Adventure novel from 2001; it doesn't actually originate from tri., and the way the name is used is compliant with Adventure lore.)

How 02-referential/fanservice-loaded is this movie?

Very little. Despite what the advertising might suggest, there really aren't a lot of references to things that were in the 02 TV series, other than the fact it has its characters and is obviously set in a point in timeline after it. (Of course, there's still the evolution sequences and all, but that goes without saying.) In fact, most of the "references" to 02 are vague and not explicitly stated, so it's a very "if you know, you Know" affair -- for instance, the Kaiser is not mentioned even once in the entire movie, but Ken and Wormmon's lines are very obviously written with that background in mind, and if you know what happened, their words carry much more weight.

The main character of this movie is Rui, and the story of the movie is about him (official media has been open about this), so you can think of it as a mostly original story that happens to be rather 02-flavored. Or to put it a different way, it's more like 02 episode 51 than it is a 02 tribute; it builds on 02's themes and characters, but more in terms of building on top of them rather than referencing past stuff.

How much of a role do the 02 characters play in the plot?

Since Rui is really the main character of the movie in practice, the 02 characters are "support characters", similar to the way they supported Wallace in Hurricane Touchdown. This is a good thing, and in fact most hardcore 02 fans I personally know agree that this is for the better; the 02 cast has a specialty in supporting others, and the best way to show off their character development is to show off how good they've gotten at reaching out to others like Rui.

Moreover, the movie also goes out of its way to portray the 02 group as a solid group that bounces off of each other, so it's less about each individual character getting any super-impressive moments and more about the way they interact and how deeply they know each other. The movie itself is also about relationships and connection, so it's thematically appropriate, both for the movie and for 02 itself.

Is the 02 epilogue retconned?

Hell no. The movie is very obviously building up to it (even more so than Kizuna was).

How are Takeru and Hikari portrayed in relation to the rest of the group?

They're regular members of the group, and there's no real separation between them and the rest of the group at all.

Does the movie resolve Kizuna's lingering question regarding partnership dissolution?

For better or for worse, no. It's a completely self-contained story, and its only connections to Kizuna are the fact it takes a lot of elements from the worldbuilding/setting it added. (For the record, I'm of the opinion that there's no need for anything new to answer Kizuna's question, but that's a digression.) The movie does give you more lore about Digimon partnerships that you could potentially apply to figuring out the situation in Kizuna, but it leaves the question untouched.

The movie prioritizes its own integrity as a standalone story first and foremost, so (again, for better or for worse) it doesn't have too many connections to other things.

How much of a role do the Adventure characters play in the plot?

Taichi and Koushirou have an extremely short background cameo in the beginning of the movie, and they're also briefly namedropped. There's a quick scene depicting a flashback/past representation of young Taichi and Hikari, but it has no plot relevance (the PVs were probably overselling this a bit...). Koushirou is namedropped later in the movie. Other than that, there's nothing relevant to the Adventure characters (sans Takeru and Hikari, naturally) at all.

Is there time travel in the movie?

No, or at least nothing that would be outside the range of what's effectively a vision/flashback. The PVs probably suggested that more aggressively than what had actually happened, and it seems to be a common misconception about the events of the movie, but there are more than enough context clues in the story that indicate that the "past" shown in the movie is more of a representational space than literal time travel.

Is it true that some really messed up stuff happens in this movie?

There are two major content warnings I would give the movie: one for a clear depiction of child abuse, and one for mild body horror (not super-graphically depicted, but definitely something that's very uncomfortable to think about). Neither depiction is particularly unusual for Digimon standards, and if you've played some of the video games like Cyber Sleuth or Survive, it's not even remotely near that level. (And besides, 02 itself certainly had its fair share of psychological horror, even if it was comparatively more subtle in order to accommodate for kids' show network restrictions.) Still, it may be something you want to know about before going in.

There is also a mild amount of blood in one scene, but it's not any worse than the equivalent scene in Kizuna, and in fact, the animation framing is clearly trying to prevent it from getting too graphic; the blood is mainly there in a "with that kind of injury, it'd be weird if there weren't blood" sense, so it's definitely not trying to come off as a violence fest or anything.

For all it's worth, despite the above factors, and despite the fact the middle of the movie definitely starts getting into some serious psychological horror territory, I would say that overall, this is actually a very sentimental, feel-good movie. There's nothing that feels like it's there for shock value, and in fact, there aren't even any real surprising or shocking plot twists or anything; the main core of the story is about talking about relationships and what's important for a good one, and it takes that theme and commits itself fully to it.

Why is there a new version of Target when the opening is the original version?

So, you know how Target also happened to be the evolution insert song for Imperialdramon...

How much of a lore retcon is in this movie?

There are definitely things that seem contradictory to anyone who has a passing casual knowledge of Adventure lore, but in fact, if you know it deeply, there isn't really a hard contradiction at all.

It's actually a plot point that the 02 group isn't sure what to believe is the right lore, and that they're making their best guess as they go along. The new things they learn in the movie ostensibly seem to be contrary to what they'd learned earlier about how partnerships work, but this contradiction is directly pointed out in the movie itself, and there's a very clear sense of uncertainty as to how everything works and what the true mechanics are behind everything.

For what it's worth, even in the original series, entities like Homeostasis and the Holy Beasts were not portrayed as all-powerful, and were depicted as also trying to figure out this whole thing as they went along. So while the new introductions to lore are probably outside what Kakudou would have liked (yeah, this has been getting kind of awkward...), just speaking from a detached perspective, there's nothing strictly contradictory.

On the other hand, the entire existence of Rui as the first Chosen Child from 1996 makes tri.'s plot pretty much entirely impossible, so that's probably why the aforementioned official timeline actually omitted it. That said, Wallace has a cameo, so even if the part about him meeting Chocomon and Gumimon in 1995 doesn't work anymore, he's definitely still canon. (Note that Mochizuki Meiko appeared in Kizuna, and one of the novels explicitly describes her as having met the Adventure kids in high school, so just because tri. isn't in the timeline as-is doesn't mean it's as simple as "the series isn't canon anymore".)

Are there romance depictions in the movie?

Nothing overt, but there's definitely something that's practically the absolute embodiment of "if you know, you Know."

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

okay, so, spoiler alert: I actually haven't seen the season final bc I'm canadian. in canada we get rez dogs from disney +, and for some reason, s3 came out weeks later then it did in the states. so I'm only on the episode with cheese camping with the uncles (which was a sweet episode!), but, because I can't help myself, I've been snooping in the tags anyway for ppl's reactions. and, unfortunately, I found out about jackie/bear.

honestly, I'm usually not surprised by forced m/f romances when it comes to tv/movies just bc of how often they happen. but, this to me is more crushing - because unlike all the other times, I was given a bit of hope. that's what makes this so frustrating. one, because of the dynamics with jackie/bear vs jackie/elora which I'll get into in a second, but namely - because these are good writers. that's what makes this show so special; all the relationships are well built and organic (or organtic, as big would say) and are properly developed along with the show. you can really see how the characters care and fit in with each other, bc the writers have cared about them and the dynamics. which is why jackie/bear makes no sense, as does the complete drop-off of elora and jackie's dynamic.

while I'm gaming for more queer relationships, I'm actually not against a m/f couple if they're developed well (take 'the good place', for example) and the characters genuinely care for each other. so, my question is, given all this and how well the writers have done with all the other relationships -

if jackie was inevitably going to end up with bear, why does her story start with elora?

granted, it starts with the whole rez dogs gang and bear getting beat-up, but we don't actually start to see jackie as a character until she starts interacting with elora. we have so many moments, where you can see, how jackie pays specific attention to elora. from the very moment jackie approaches her, saying she 'knows' that her friends aren't seeking escape as badly as she is and, quite literally, shoots her shot by saying that if elora changes her mind, she knows where to find her. giving elora her knife, asking about daniel, confirming with elora after getting home that they were going to try again for california together, texting her after the incident at the youth program with willie-jack to say sorry and ask 'what are you up to?', and especially that moment when she steps aside to tell elora to be safe going to cali with the rez dogs and elora assuring her they'd be back, these extra two seconds where you see a longing look.. there was such specific tiny details that would give off how much, maybe, jackie really cared about elora. perhaps now, we could just say this was all a showing of jackie being lonely and wanting friends, but if that's the case, then why not do this with bear???

that's my problem with the bear thing - there was no build up. sure, they had their moments, like the potato dance and falling asleep on each other and whatnot, but, maybe this was just me, it didn't feel especially significant? starting with the potato dance, I thought they were just building the pathway for jackie to be enveloped into the group and that this was the way to make up for jackie and those other kids hurting bear; it honestly wasn't giving me anything else. and even bear wasn't reacting any which way to jackie in the beginning, besides with animosity and maybe some nervousness. they really just didn't like each other. and even as the show went on, that didn't change much; they clearly became friendlier (ie jackie texting bear about his mom), but going into s3, we didn't get those special moments between like we did with elora.

straight up, jackie didn't pay half the attention to bear as she did elora, (besides maybe singling him out to beat him up but even that was with others). jackie singles out elora specifically, and even when they return home, continues to stay by elora and be invested in her and a possible friendship/relationship, showing it was never really about her needing elora's as a get-away ride. jackie is open and almost soft with elora; with bear she's resistant and gruff, and even when the two groups are cool with each other, they seem to just get on each other's nerves, ie the scene in 'friday.' yeah sure 'opposites attract' or whatever, but if that's what you're going to do, then there has to be some merit to it when it comes to writing a story (also, I am so sick of the 'boy and girl are constantly arguing and seem to hate each other hahaha bet they're gunna be married in ten years' trope). whichever one you ship, the big thing is that if it was going to end in romance, why was it written this way? elora/jack seemed so intentional that even I fell for it, and bear/jackie seemed hastily chopped together without any emotional weight or appeal to it - and yet it played out in the exact opposite on screen.

there's no point to this post. I'm just confused. I feel a lot of disappointment bc it's almost like these writers know better, know how to write organic relationships, and then while they appeared to be building one, suddenly threw it away for another without much structure behind it.

someone make it make sense.

edit: ppl in the notes saying there was no confirmation of jackie/bear, so just to clear this up, I'm, again, going on what I've HEARD. and what I heard, was that there's a scene where the rez dogs + jackie are saying goodbyes to the adults - at some point, bear lifts up his hair, exposing two hickies on his neck, and then - either before or after, it was unclear - when jackie is hugging rita goodbye, rita playfully whispers to her to 'go easy on his [bear's] neck' while jackie looks a bit embarrassed. once more, this is just what I've heard has happened, from multiple different posts, and frankly even if they don't announce the relationship by having them kiss or something, it's clear enough as the audience what we're suppose to pick up on.

[thatonebirdwrites]

I had multiple awful things happen all at once in the past few weeks and it trapped me in a fog. This particular chapter also took much longer to edit because it's content is a bit triggering.

Also, some thoughts on how I structured this chapter:

For Rory/Lena's parts: MID 6.0 is a 180 question assessment used for diagnosing various disassociative disorders, including DID. The following are so often reported by patients that they made their way into this assessment:

"Shrinking" or "getting smaller" or "feeling as if the world is getting larger" (child alters).

Feeling foggy, like one melts away or body parts feel as if they vanish for while.

Unable to see or hear with no known medical reason for it.

Writings, drawings, journal entries that you know you did not write/draw.

Black-outs/amnesia, difficulty remembering things, sections of life can't be remembered.

Trance-like episodes.

Losing time and/or not remembering large chunks of time or large chunks of one's childhood.

Disordered sleep or insomnia (often more drawings or writings you didn't draw will appear during this time).

Rich, creative mental spaces.

Protective alters.

And a ton of others. My therapist was kind enough to give it to me as homework to fill out myself to avoid overwhelming me. We then went over it together.

Rory's sections dig into some of the above and that rich inner world. I wanted to contrast her getting tests done with Sam's worldkiller story; I did this by weaving similar descriptions at the end and start of each of their sections. Sort of like a Ghazal, an Arabic poem, where the last word of the a couplet starts the next couplet.

EXCERPT:

If Sam estimated as to when the Reign horror starts, she’d place it the day she sits in traffic, unable to move thanks to the swarming protesters outside L-Corp. Half are protesting the rise in children sick with lead poisoning, falsely attributed to L-Corps water purification units. The others are cultists announcing the end of the world with the partnership of L-Corp and Supergirl.

She knows the lead poisoning has nothing to do with their products. Kara, herself, and Lena had gone over the units and found nothing. They’d even brought in an independent inspector, who deemed the units safe from lead.

Yet Morgan Edge pushes the narrative, and his inspectors continue to find ‘proof’ that its faulty units from L-Corp. In a few days time, Lena plans to hold a press event, and Sam dreads it. She thinks over the data she’s procured, illegally, for Kara that map the distribution of the affected. It’s not enough to prove innocence, but the map shows the impacted don’t align with the roll-out of the units.

Her phone rings. Sam glances down to see Kara’s name. She swipes it and hits speakerphone. “Sam here. What’s up?”

“So I was looking into that map you sent. There’s got to be a pattern, but it seems almost random.” 

“I know, usually when something like this happens, the affected kids are from a certain area, but those kids are from all over the city. Luke, who I saw today at Ruby’s school, lives down the street, but then there’s a few kids who live across the city and go to Bergen County Day…”

“And there’s several who live all the way in Edgemont. So does any of these addresses you found line up with any personal units you sold?”

“Nope, the roll-out happened in neighboring districts. Personal units don’t go on sale until next fiscal year. We focused on the city contract first. I can't see how our units would even leak lead to start, so I think something else connects them. It’s why I want to meet.” Sam scowls at the crowds. “But there’s a traffic jam of protesters. I can’t even get in the parking garage.”

“I want to do a few interviews of the impacted, see if they give us a clue. Something must connect them. Social media, school, bank statements…”

Oh, that gave her an idea. “Bank statements. Follow the money. That often uncovers what’s hidden.” She leans forward and glares at the traffic jam in front of her. She knows exactly what she needs to search. Tricks she learned from Jack when it came to investigating financial fraud. “But I need more time to dig that up.”

“You sure you can’t talk her out of it?” 

“Believe me, I tried. She’s been…” Sam is reluctant to admit that Lena has been rapidly cycling between at least four alters, and her mental state has disintegrated. “I’m going to have her stay at my place for the next few days. I just don’t think she should be alone right now.”

“Don’t worry. We can tag team this. I’ll see you in a bit. Oh, and there’s a parking spot next street over.” Kara hangs up before Sam can respond. 

Sure enough, when Sam turns onto the next street, she sees several open spots. Pulling into them, she parks, and hurries through the intersection. Darting through the crowds, she nears the front of the building when a cultist slams into her side. She stumbles and falls against the pavement. Pain flares up her arm near where he touched her.

“Pardon,” the man says with a smile. His grey eyes roam over Sam’s body, and she feels like she’s being dissected. Gross. His hands hide in the sleeves of his black cloak, but he extends one to offer her a pamphlet. “Ah, it is a joy to finally meet you, Samantha Arias.”

Sam stares at him. She’s never seen the man in her life. 

He holds out his hand. “I have followed your rise. You too have been touched by the stars. Just as our resident hero.” 

What the hell? She pushes to her feet and tries to push past him, but several other cultists block her way. She’s surrounded. “Please move out of the way. You have the wrong person.” 

“Do we?” The man leers closer, his blue-grey eyes focused on her face, and his smile smarmy at best. “We have long sought you. But not even Patricia Arias could hide you for long.” He holds out a pamphlet and grins. 

A chill swept down Sam’s spine. What the hell did a creepy cultist have to do with her? Maybe she should check on her mother after all. At least to make sure she has some security, because yeah, her mother may not give a shit about her, but Sam can’t do the same. 

“You have the wrong person,” she snaps through gritted teeth. That seems safest at least until she can figure out how the hell this random cultist knows who she is. She jerks away from him and pushes forward. 

Several other cultists block her path. The sweat from their thick robes emit a nasty odor Sam did not need to smell. Hint of claustrophobia starts to sizzle down her spine, and the need to get out amplifies. The shouts from the protesters, plus the soft murmurs of a chant from the cultists ripple through Sam’s ears. 

That’s when a cultist grabs her arm, and her arm burns like she’d been stabbed. Shit. She needs to get away and fast. 

“Move it!” She uses an Aikido move to break free and spin the cultist into another. Darting through the opening, she shoulder bumps a third out of her way and finally bursts free to the front of L-Corp. Security guards rush out finally and start to push the crowd back.