#I’m only on episode 74

[thatfeelinwhenyou]

KINDRED — 31

It’s your final year of highschool, and your only goal is to graduate top of your cohort, as usual. Except as student council president, your advisor can’t seem to leave you alone. What happens when you take Decelis Academy’s top student, their star athlete and put them in front of a camera?

smau + written (2.0k words)

❥･• episode 31 — the name above me

tw! y/n’s mom

The two-week break flies by rather quickly, and you find yourself back in your school uniform on a Monday morning, realising that nothing has really changed. You had already half-convinced yourself that post-midterm would be different for you, you had hoped for clarity regarding your plans after high school. Alas, uncertainty clings to you like an unwelcome companion.

Walking onto campus, you encounter a throng of students gathered in front of the ranking boards. Right, your results are released today.

Oddly, though, the weight of your grades hasn't been preoccupying your thoughts these past two weeks like it would in the past, marking the first time in your life that you haven't been consumed by overthinking your grades or endlessly reviewing test questions, as if every time you did it you didn’t get the same exact answer.

No, you actually enjoyed your break. You allowed yourself to breathe, to embrace the carefree spirit of a high school teenager.

You went café hopping with Bora and Jungwon again, only this time you ensured a mango juice mishap did not befall you. The girls, including yourself, enjoyed a truly relaxing girls' day where everyone dressed up just for the joy of it. Then there was that unforgettable excursion to the amusement park; you rode the Ferris wheel for the first time as it had been a long-standing prohibition from your mother. Though fairly insignificant, you record as it as a ‘win’ in your books.

Before you knew it, your final term at Decelis Academy had already begun. The documentary is in its concluding stages, with tasks remaining on the itinerary, including capturing your and Jungwon's reactions to your grades, the student council's senior farewell party, Jungwon's upcoming competition, and then the final confessional.

Arriving on campus, you initially worry about being way too early but lucky for you, the camera crew had arrived hours in advance and established their vantage point on the left side of the ranking boards—the higher-scoring side. Despite their meticulous preparation, you inadvertently squeeze yourself into a group of students gathered in the middle, unintentionally defying their plans for the perfect front-row view of your reaction from every angle.

Your eyes scan the list.

74 ***

75 ***

76 ***

77 Yang Jungwon

Found it.

You let your fingers glide over the paper, seeking out his Mathematics scores. 105 out of 150. Relief floods through you, a broad smile gracing your face at his passing grade. Not just barely but with a decent score, just enough to pull him up to a C, securing his spot in the competition just 15 days from now. You’re smiling so wide, the joy evident without even knowing how you did for your own papers.

And as if you were sharing the same brain cell, you find Jungwon standing at the front of the board, his expression tense as he gazes at a name at the top. Concern brushes your thoughts, but you manage to conceal it from the cameras as you cheerfully call out, "Wonnie! You passed your Math paper, you’re going to compete in the Asian Championships!"

"I-I’m so sorry, Y/N," he stammers, a heavy silence lingering between you. Reluctantly, you follow his gaze, and there it is.

1 Lee Haerin

2 Park Y/N.

Your name, usually perched at the top, now finding itself below another.

You know Lee Haerin, she’s a familiar face from the book club, and you know this having seen her in the library more times than you could count. And you were there almost every day. You also recognise her name as someone who was consistently ranking below you, but how the tables have turned.

You don’t loathe her; surely, it isn’t her fault that your English Literature scores fell short, causing you to drop in overall rankings. Besides, it's only mid-terms, and you still have your preliminary exams to pull your grades up before the CSAT… Right?

You sense someone settling down beside you on the ledge you've chosen to occupy on the roof. You had chosen to forgo lunch, knowing you can barely keep anything down your throat at the moment. Shifting your gaze from the clusters of shops just outside the school gates, where the popular takoyaki stand beckons memories of post-school visits with your friends, you turn your attention to the person you had already half-expected to be Jungwon.

“You should eat something, even if just a little.” Jungwon places a piece of custard bread, banana milk, and a packet of your favourite gummies on your lap, almost pleading with you to eat.

“You didn’t have to.”

“Not when you look like as if the world is ending tomorrow.” Jungwon jokes, only to cough awkwardly when he realises you didn’t respond to his jokes, even with an eye-roll like you usually would.

“It might as well be. I just know my mother is going to KILL me.” You make sure to emphasise the word ‘kill.’ Because you aren’t wrong; if the world isn’t going to kill you tomorrow, your birth-giver will.

Unbeknownst to you, tears well up in your eyes, threatening to spill over. Witnessing you in such a vulnerable state tugs at Jungwon's heart; the girl he likes is breaking down in front of him and he doesn’t even know what to do. As he battles his inner thoughts, contemplating the best way to console you, he senses you clutching onto the sleeves of his uniform blazer. Pouting and fighting back tears, you say, “I’m going to be okay, right?”

“Yes, crybaby, everything is going to be okay.” You feel him begin to gently stroke your hair down to your neck, rubbing circles into the back of your ears as he makes another crybaby joke in an attempt to cheer you up.

“I’m not a crybaby,” you manage to say between hiccups and sobs, prompting Jungwon to emit a small snicker. The irony strikes you—a few weeks ago, you were in Jay’s garden comforting Jungwon as he held back tears, and now he's here comforting you in your most vulnerable state. The situation doesn’t go unnoticed by Jungwon, as he also recognises the irony of it, judging by the bittersweet way he smiles.

“Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything.” Jungwon holds your cheek and tilts your head to face him, his thumbs swiping away fresh tears staining your cheeks.

“I don’t know… the one thing I’m good at, and I just flunked it-“

“Shh! Believe in yourself because if you don't, then who will? Life’s beautiful, and there's so much more to it than numbers on a piece of paper, Y/N. I hope you see that.”

In that moment, you realise you never really did look at your scores for the papers. Then you realise it wasn’t the scores that had you feeling worthless. Thinking back, you had already forgone looking at your scores a long time ago, as long as you stayed in that number one spot, as long as you didn’t disappoint your mother. You wanted to satisfy her, try to get her to praise you, but as your heartless mother has once said: “Why would I praise something that is supposed to be a given?”

You've spent your entire life routinely studying, evolving yourself into the machine your mother probably wished she had instead of a breathing human child—you.

In the echo of your academic routine, the fear of losing her approval looms larger than the tangible rankings you've held. The relentless pursuit of excellence, though driven by an inner desire for acknowledgment, is entangled in the web of your mother's expectations. So, what scares you isn’t the fact you no longer retained the number one spot; what scares you is disappointing the one person you craved validation from. What were you expecting? Because when the given is taken away from you, will she praise you then?

No. She’ll criticise you, blame your father, blame the documentary, and undoubtedly, she’ll gun after Jungwon. Because nothing is ever really her fault, and you knew sometime along the way that nothing will ever satisfy her, but you still try anyway. You try because you don’t know what else to do other than sticking to the status quo. Until, at least, the documentary featuring Jungwon happened.

What was initially supposed to be a pawn in your masterful plan to build your portfolio for University becomes the very documentary that breaks you out of your shell, as the looming prospect of your mother’s disapproval, like an oppressive cloud, pushes you to strive for success, even when you know it may never be enough for her.

“Eat.” You come back to your senses to find Jungwon has opened the packet of bread and shoved it into your mouth. He then watches you bite into it before he lets go to open the bottle of banana milk, handing them to you between bites of the bread.

Again, Jungwon with his overly friendly gestures that graze the delicate line between friends and something more than that. Jungwon, who once again, manages to empty your mind by babying you and treating you like a princess who needs rescuing.

“You’re confusing me.” The words fly out of your mouth before you even get the chance to rethink

“Doesn’t mean I’m feeding you like a baby that you are actually one.” He teases, and you watch him as he takes a sip out of the banana milk, from the same straw you used. Pushing away the thought that you’ve just indirectly kissed him, you're just glad he didn’t catch onto the intention behind your statement.

“I feel bad that you’re here comforting me, when you should be celebrating having passed a certain Math paper after all that hard work.”

“It was your hard work as much as it was mine, Y/N.” Jungwon takes his thumb, wiping at the corner of your lips where custard from the bread had oozed out and stayed. He then brings it up to his own lips, eating it off his finger. You just indirectly kissed him, again.

Your heartbeat quickens, a symphony of excitement drowning out any lingering worries about exams or your mother. Your mind is a canvas painted with thoughts of Jungwon and his unexpected gestures that got you contemplating the possibility of him being interested in you. Surely, Yang Jungwon isn’t known for being a romantic guy, but once again, you're proven wrong; he is that guy.

This certainty solidifies as he opens the packet of gummies, deliberately picking out the red-coloured ones first, knowing that you ate them in the colour of the rainbow; a subtle detail that shows he pays attention to your preferences.

At first, they were really subtle gestures that made you realise how horribly you have misjudged him. Then came the heartfelt actions, revealing a caring side that made you question if he had always been this way. The tipping point was realising these gestures were exclusively reserved for you, unveiling sides of Jungwon that remained hidden from everyone else. While others perceived him as mundane, cold, and mysterious, you alone saw a different Yang Jungwon.

And when you see the scoreboard, someone else’s name above yours for the very first time, it shocks you to the core that you, in fact, did not care. That the first thing you sought was Jungwon’s rankings on the board, eager to know if your efforts in tutoring him paid off, if he can participate in the competition that has become crucial to him and, by extension, vital to you.

For the first time, someone else's grades mattered more than your own. This epiphany stretches beyond academic priorities, signifying that Jungwon holds a place in your life beyond the confines of friendship; that he is more than just a friend that you make him out to be.

You like him, more than you let yourself on.

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♡。·˚˚· ·˚˚·。♡

authors note: i kept my promise yall 😁😁🤟 and yes yn mom needs a whole ass tw. i’d say we are a good 10 chapters away from the finale and i’m currently considering next projects but we’ll see 👀 also do expect more written chapters, i rlly tried to reduce them as much as possible but it’s so hard to write without going into detail… BUT i’ll defo make it up with super fluffy and sweet chapters 🤭

perm taglist. @hajimelvr @s00buwu @urmomssneakylink @grayscorner @bubblytaetae @mrchweeee @artstaeh @sleeping-demons @yuviqik @junsflow

taglist open! @uuzhanggggggg @jayhoonvroom @missingemobeomgyu @jiawji @ocyeanicc @s7noo @asterizee @nwjws @noascats @yunwonie @saturnmooonxx @enhaz1 @jiaant11 @clairecottenheart @i2lain @miumiuoi @zhounauts @hoey2k @neocockthotology @nanuer @yenqa @ahnneyong @chanhee-hee @yanqiiuver @yujmelon @beomsbeanie @sloobydooburmomjungwon @keiisu @jaeyunniesimp @jiamini @jihanniee @lilriswife4life

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 74 Bordering on Madness and Murder

I'm working on my group pic it's so bad

I hate hate hate when people make gross comments on my drawings that make me look like a perv i don't even wanna draw if people are like this 😭

^ My prediction of MOTLE from a while ago as opposed to what it actually is

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

President White leads Irratino to the border in the outlands, where the war resides. To signify the mood, the clouds cover up the sun and a fog lowers down. Irratino’s heart races, and menacing silhouettes linger. The sight of a human shoved head first into a cannon is… so stupid that it kind of kills the mood.

Drakonian natives Sergeant Gunmetal and Governor Lead (in the flesh!) creep forward to corner the G.O.A.T, as well as veterans Admiral Navy and General Coffee. They’ve settled down so much nowadays, it’s hard to believe they were ever in battle.

GUNMETAL: It’s time to die, isn’t it? Trespasser. IRRATINO: No… no! President White led me here… I’m here for Logico! ADMIRAL: Oh… Logico… he’s so cold and alone… COFFEE: That’s quite true, but you see there is also a bit of a problem we must deal with first.  GUNMETAL: If there’s no one to shoot, I have no reason to be here. 

He returns to his guard post. Slowly. 

Irratino approaches a giant damaged wall, used to block enemies (...obviously). 

COFFEE: I wouldn’t go near that wall if I were you! It’s extremely poorly built. It could fall on your head at any second.

Regardless, Navy is trying to jump over it (failing miserably) and smacking it with his sword.

IRRATINO: You really are an admiral? NAVY: Yes… I commanded battleships. I was the only one of my troop who survived… IRRATINO: …OH.

When Gunmetal reaches his post, he sees that he has to traverse stairs, and groans in defeat.

IRRATINO: Uh… need help?

The soldier squeaks and tries to hide behind a cup of coffee!

IRRATINO: …?? GUNMETAL: I… get any closer and I’ll shoot! [waves his arms]

Irratino is endeared by the guy, and sits down in front of him.

GUNMETAL: What do you want! What do you want! IRRATINO: There’s gotta be a way for you to get up those stairs.

He has an idea, but he has to do something dangerous. Luckily, that’s never an issue for Irratino.

So he approaches Governor Lead in his cave. The man is a HUGE bear-like beast, with beefy arms and giant claws, gnawing on bones. Is he a person, or a monster??

But seeing Irratino, he stares. 

LEAD: What… do you want. IRRATINO: I just… need your help. LEAD: I never help people. IRRATINO: …Please? LEAD: Why do you think saying ‘please’ will make me change my mind. IRRATINO: Can you help dig up a lot of dirt? LEAD: …No.

Irratino sighs. There goes that plan. It hurts him, but he has to accept that he can’t help everyone. The person he can help is Logico. He ignites 74 occult candles, filling the air with smoke and making it near-impossible to breathe. And when he slaps the ground, he concludes that the murderer was General Coffee.

COFFEE: We needed to open up a new front in the war, and this man was standing idly nearby. I did what I had to do, but, I’m not going to gloat about it. In fact, here - you can have some official documentation assuring you it was a mistake of the war! Though one, of course, I will not take any kind of responsibility for restituting. After all, you can’t undo a murder!

Irratino just remembered that Coffee was just at that conspiracy convention, and wonders why he’s here on war duty all of a sudden. Maybe it’s just a cover-up.

WHITE: IRRATINO! THIS way.

Irratino stumbles and follows again.

The end!

This episode only happened because tino went the wrong way help

slowly but surely, he is overcoming his issues with distraction and focusing on his real goal!

SEASON FINALE TOMORROW

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[im-out-of-it]

part 5 I think of season 2, episode 8 continued “love is a devil” LEAVE MAGNUS AND ALEC ALONE

66. I think I left off here. I’m pretty sure I did. but here are some of the extra stuff from that scene:

HURT ALEC? THE ONLY ONE CAUSING ALEC PAIN AND ALMOST DEATH IS YOU JACE (Magnus is so pretty here) MAGNUS IS NOT THE ONE SO WATCH THYSELF JACE

67. this was from earlier with Alec:

68. this stuff irritates me but this doesn’t:

69. THIS IS WHAT MAGNUS SHOULD HAVE SAID (not my edit obviously but this is literally how I view this whole scene)

70. HES JUST SO PRETTY

71. I can’t believe Magnus didn’t go off once but mags is too kind and we all know that

72. yes Alec is happier and it has nothing to do with you jace. you’ve never made Alec happy, only caused issues for him

73. well I guess clary and Simon are here

74. I like how Maia is almost the only person not putting up with jace’s shit

75. MAIA IS MOOD

76. I mean, he did kidnap gretel and there was never any amends for that

will start the next part shortly

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 74 Review - A Crazy Family Tree

This episode feels like a major turning point for the story now that so many things have been revealed in terms of Lucius and the Explorers. I don’t know where to start because I enjoyed everything that transpired.

Let’s start at the beginning. I’m glad that Diana has returned! She’s such a fun character, so to have her back is a real treat! I like that she has vital information about Lucius and what not, but decided to have a battle with Liko in order to give it out. I like how she’s behaving like an in-game Pokemon character. In-game NPCs always have important information but at the cost of a battle. The battle between grandmother and granddaughter was great though. Liko really showed off why the third arc was vital in her growth as she managed to defeat an opponent she lost to before. A major factor of Liko’s losses has always been due to type disadvantages. However, she finally defeated an opponent who had the type advantage to her. Though, Diana wasn’t a pushover. Her Arcanine even had Justified as its Ability, which is normally a Hidden Ability for the Growlithe line.

Now for the aftermath of the battle, Diana reveals two important things: the first being that she used to be friends with Hamber years ago and even had a picture of their younger days. They had separated a long time ago, but a year prior to the story, Hamber reached out to her in hopes of funding her adventures, but it was a ploy to get the pendant in her possession. This is when she learned that he’s a part of the Explorers. First off, I wonder how old their Pokemon are because Diana had Arcanine for a very long time as well as Hamber with his Dusknoir, who had been a Dusclops back then. Second, I do wonder about the identity of Hamber. He’s been around for a long time. I do wonder how he came across Gibeon and worked for him. Is he a relative of Amethio’s or is he Lucca’s father, given that Lucca’s hair is a darker shade of black compared to Diana?

The second most important thing revealed in this episode: Lucius was the founder of the Explorers. Back then, there were three people, Lucius, Gibeon and the elusive Rystal who was mentioned in the previous episode. Lucius is a familiar name to all of them. Rystal is a name they just heard of recently. However, Gibeon is still an unfamiliar name to them, except for Liko, who got Friede’s bad habit of not telling important information rubbed onto her. She tells them that Gibeon is Amethio’s grandfather. Diana then tells the group that Exceed has a board chair, the highest position in a company, named Gibeon. This surprises Friede because he never knew there was a board chair; he was only familiar with the director, but knew there was a higher up.

Gibeon and Amethio’s family tree is actually a topic of debate between a friend and me. The reason being that Amethio calls Gibeon ‘Grandfather’, but given how old Gibeon is, I told her that Gibeon could be a great grandfather or a great-great grandfather, but still calls him grandfather. I meant it in a way that Gibeon is still a grandfather no matter how further back in the generation he is. Meanwhile, my friend thinks that he’s just a grandfather and that he just had kids late due to his possible immortality. What do you think about this? Can a grandfather from further back in the generation still be a grandfather? Now that Gibeon’s relation to Exceed is revealed, I do wonder about Director Crave, Friede’s former boss. Is he Amethio’s father? Is he Gibeon’s son? Is he Hamber’s son? What do you think about his possible identity?

Now for Rystal, this is where the group decide to go to the Crystal Pool to try out the legend of meeting the deceased. Did you know that before Rystal’s reveal, people had assumed the woman in the fog, a scene that had been revealed during the reveal of the fourth arc a few months back, was Liko from the future? Crazy, right? I’m glad that theory has been debunked because it was ridiculous. Rystal was Lucius’s wife and Terapagos’s former Trainer; she named it Pagogo. She doesn’t reveal much about herself because she’s confused about meeting these people from the future. However, once she lets her guard down, she does reveal one more important thing: her daughter’s name is Leila, which happens to be the name of Diana’s mother. This means that Rystal is Liko’s great-great grandmother and that Lucius is Liko’s great-great grandfather, an obvious reveal.

From what I’ve seen of Rystal so far, she seems like a kind but fun person but has a bit of a temper, but is also accepting of what is going on around her. Given how she spoke about Lucius and being relieved to see his Pokemon, it’s sort of tells that Rystal had to raise Leila alone. Terapagos wasn’t with her as well. She must have been really lonely without her husband and friends, despite having a daughter. I honestly can’t wait to learn more about her next episode.

It’s pretty crazy to learn so much about Liko’s family history in one episode. I can’t wait for next week’s episode. I am really curious to see the Explorers’ story and how their outcome came to be the way it is in the present. What are your thoughts on everything that was revealed in this episode?

[alichiraku]

When did Iruka become a teacher?

I was making an Iruka timeline and realized we don’t have a clear answer, but rather multiple conflicting ones. So I tried to compile the informations somewhere! Here are some different indications as to when Iruka may have become a teacher at the Academy.

The first basic fact we have is this: Iruka would very probably not have become a teacher before he became a Chūnin, which happened when he was 16 years old (birthday May 26th).

IN THE ANIME/MOVIES :

The Childhood episodes show Iruka teaching Naruto’s generation while they are at a very young age, possibly 5 to 7 (see the “Naruto” and “Shikamaru” episodes). This would make Iruka 15 to 17.

In the movie The Last, Iruka is already a teacher in the Academy flashback. The children in this scene are all 7, making Iruka 17.

In the Rookie Instructor Iruka filler arc, a flashback shows Iruka asking to become an instructor. Kakashi is present in this scene and is already back in the field and in jōnin uniform, meaning this is after he left ANBU, which happened when he was 22-23 years old. Kakashi and Iruka have a 4 years age difference, making Iruka at least 18-19. This is already conflicting with the previous anime appearances.

IN THE MANGA :

There are even less indications in the manga than there are in the anime. At the very least, Iruka was not Sasuke’s first teacher (Sasuke entered the Academy at age 6), although nothing indicates whether he was already a teacher or not.

To me, the only reliable clue is in the flashback of Naruto and Sasuke’s fight at the Academy, supervised by Iruka (which spans over multiple chapters, beginning with Chapter 538 and ending with Chapter 697). The flashback is set post-Uchiha massacre, making the Naruto’s generation at least 7 and Iruka at least 17. I’d say that Naruto’s generation looks around 9-10? (compared to their Naruto Part I selves)

(There is also the fact that in Chapter 1, Iruka seems to have been around for Naruto’s two previous attempts at passing the Genin test, which would suggest he’s been teaching Naruto for at least 2 years. But since that’s already an entire problem in itself -Naruto would be 2 years older than his comrades, unless the exam happens multiple times a year like the Chūnin exam-, I’m not gonna use it.)

IN THE DATABOOKS :

Now okay, this is where I’m gonna sound a little crazy, but I’ve tried to calculate a likely age for Iruka to have become a teacher based on his number of Databook missions. Having become a Chūnin at 16, Iruka couldn’t have done A-rank and B-rank missions before this moment (or only on accident, I guess). Given that he doesn’t take missions during his teacher years (at least up to the Konoha Crush), Iruka’s 74 B-rank and 12 A-rank missions must have mostly been completed in the timeframe between his becoming a Chūnin and his taking up a teaching job. Shikamaru, who we see becoming a Chūnin, completes 9 B-rank and 19 A-rank missions in around 2 and a half years. If we assume A-rank missions take longer to complete (which isn’t at all a given but I’m desperate for clues), this gives Iruka around 3 to 3 and a half years to complete his own total, making him 19-20 when he becomes a teacher. 

CONCLUSIONS :

My personal preference would be for Iruka to have been 19 when he became a teacher at the Academy. The first two anime indications can be easily discarded: the Childhood episodes are simply cute filler episodes to end the anime, and the Last movie has more than one inconsistency. Iruka being 19 allows for the Rookie Instructor arc to be partly canon, as well as the manga indications: the Naruto vs Sasuke flashback would happen only 2 years or less after the Uchiha massacre, and Iruka would have been Naruto’s teacher for a total of 3/3 and half years (enough to have an initially strained relationship, then a more understanding one, and for Naruto’s memories from the Academy to be mainly associated with Iruka). This gives Iruka around 3 years on active duty as a Chūnin before retiring, and thus enough time for his ‘empathy’ for the enemy to become a worrying trend, if we take the Rookie Instructor arc as canon. 

(Also given that Naruto is 18-19 in The Last when he teaches at the Academy, this seems to be not too weird of an age for someone to start teaching.)

So there you have it! Obviously there is still some weird stuff anime-wise ; Iruka progressively becomes more of a Teacher Archetype throughout Naruto’s story, which explains why he’s often put in anime episodes despite being a literal teenager (yeah Konoha is fucked up about age anyway but even them probably don’t want a 15yo with anger issues to teach their knife-yielding middle schoolers).

[ethan-elliott]

Just seen you posted an “ask me my top five”, so I’ve got a fun tma question!:

Either

- Top five characters (main or otherwise)

- Top five statements

You don’t have to do it of course, but I thought that the last one might be a cool to have a think about! As it’s slightly different to a rating of episodes

ooh allow me to do both :DD and you’re so right statements are very different to episodes this is an interesting question!!

the easy one first - fave characters (mostly main cast because I’m very bad at remembering people):

Jon, for a multitude of reasons including the fact that on paper he is wholly under qualified for his job

Tim, mostly because he gives some of the best lines

Gerry, because (a) he canonically has badly dyed black hair and wears bright shirts and (b) he almost kills Leitner (deserved)

(Distortion) Michael, because I love his backstory and also his laugh genuinely gives me chills

Simon Fairchild, mostly because I don’t think I’ve seen much of him in-show atm but the vibes of friendly-old-grandpa-who-throws-people-into-the-sky is just everything to me

~~~

top statements:

(for context I have reached up to maybe MAG 110 and am currently on MAG 95 in my relisten so these are mostly condensed within the first two seasons)

Hive (MAG 32, Jane Prentiss) - no notes just 10/10

Upon The Stair (MAG 85, Unknown) - anything that deals with reality in this way is peak literature for me

Taken Ill (MAG 36, Nicole Baxter) - I generally love the Corruption statements anyway but “we have taken ill, we have passed away” is truly chilling and all the residents being trapped inside, just insane

Fatigue (MAG 74, Lydia Halligan) - Spiral statements come directly under Corruption statements for me being guaranteed to enjoy them and this one is so good

A Guest For Mr Spider (MAG 81, Jonathan Sims) - not only is this a great statement plot wise but also hello to things I would absolutely not want to experience ever as someone very afraid of spiders

[cutieghost-artsie]

…..what

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT EPISODE??!!!!!

DAFUQ MY GUY, MY GOOD SIR,

COUNT YOUR DAYS!!!!!

It’s midnight and I’m crying

Skibidi toilet episode 74 spoilers

This episode thrown me in for a damn loop de loop holy shit!!

The new tv character? Elite? Is really cool but kinda cold but that’s to be expected, he’s probably seen a lot and had to do a lot to be that way

Still no speakerwoman, dafuq pleasseee just a glimpse, that’s all I’m asking for

Brownie/simp is still alivveeeee ;-;

So many new charactersssss ooooo new cameraman??? : o!!!!

I love all the different colors of the speakermen, they’re all so cute!!

Awee the one who drove the toilet in the previous episode came backkk

Damn there’s still some humans but holy shit they’re infected???!!

Fnaf jumpscare sound Istfg lol

Oooo gman is up to something!!!!!???!!!

Pfftttt XD Dom reference, ur not slick lol, I see u lol

Ooooo tv base got something to hiddeeeee?????!!! : O

Dayum TTV WAS MADDDDDD

I love the moments between all of the titans in that short time frame

All of the speakermen and T-speak dancing aweeeee, what could possibly go wrongggg

HOLY SHIT THATS DIRTY A COMPLETE AMBUSH

MY BOY, T-CAM MY BOYYY, DAFUQ PLEASE I WAS JOKING WHEN I SAID HE’S MORE LIKELY TO DIE, PLEASE DONT KILL HIM OFF

T-SPEAK SCREAMING NO! AS HE REACHED OUT TO T-CAM SHATTERED MY HEART INTO A MILLION PIECESSSSS

“I CAN’T LOSE YOU BOTH” BRUHHHH THAT MADE ME CRY LIKE STRAIGHT UP WATERWORKS

I CAN IMAGINE HE’S FEELING GUILTY AND UPSET ABOUT T-CAM TOO AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Self sacrificing, heroic mfer I swear, this would most definitely be a way on how he would go out but please let t-cam still be aliveeee tho pleasseeee

I love these titans way too much!

No eep. Only cry!!!!!

[mattievictoria]

I’ve been working on improving my design skills and I am so honored to have been commissioned by Ghost Furnace Podcast to design a logo for a sticker! Thank you so much burndar for this opportunity, it was not only fun but helped me improve my design skills!

-

A little bit about Ghost Furnace and some episode recommendations: The Ghost Furnace Podcast is a paranormal podcast based in Pennsylvania (hence the Keystone in the logo! I’m a Californian who’s never been to PA, so I also learned a bit while working on this!) A few episodes that I recommend are Ep. 35 - Mile 127, Ep. 45 - The Black Cross, and Eps. 55 and 74 with PA author and folklorist Thomas White!

[blue-dream-rhapsody]

Spoilers for the end of the TYBW manga! If you’re only watching the anime, this will be in like the last two episodes of the whole show, so look away!

This is gonna sound like me being biased again (and I definitely am, don’t get me wrong) but I think I have a universally true argument here.

Renji was a weird choice to have go with Ichigo to the last clash with Yhwach.

To be clear, I’m very fond of Renji. I also think the conversation he and Ichigo have on their way there was a fantastic moment in their friendship, and want to keep it intact as much as possible. It’s just that, when I think of the magnitude of this particular moment, the literal last battle at the end of the series, it just feels odd for Renji of all his friends to have this pretty prominent spot.

Who is Ichigo teaming up with here? Aizen, the major antagonist for basically half the series. Uryu, the enemy-turned-friendly rival-turned-fake enemy-turned-genuine ally just acting as an infiltrator all along because he’s got roots in this battle. And… Renji. The Guy.

Like seriously, I’m trying to pinpoint exactly what narrative function Renji’s presence here serves, and for every one I can find, there’s just someone who does a better job? Like, okay, say he’s serving as the presence of a Soul Reaper. Except Rukia would also do that, down to the rank they have, and given her meeting Ichigo is how the series began, it would additionally be a natural bookend for her to be fighting alongside him at the end. (And obviously I am deliberately ignoring bullshit like power levels or whatever, because of the four in this alliance Ichigo’s ridealong contributes little more than a distraction while Aizen tanks the damage, Uryu fires the arrow, and Ichigo makes the cut.)

Rukia is also the member of his friend group Ichigo probably interacts with the least in this whole arc who isn’t Uryu Away For Plot Reasons Ishida (or maybe Chad, who I’ll talk about in a moment too), whereas he and Renji go through a chunk of the Royal Palace stuff together. So it seems like that final battle would be the chance to actually give her a meaningful interaction with him as, again, a mirror to the start of the series.

(Disclaimer: I don’t mean this in a shipping sense in any way, shape, or form, though you can certainly take it as you like. That’s not the only way their bond can be relevant, though. My point is simply that Rukia has more narrative importance to Bleach itself than Renji does, compared to how little time she spends interacting with the series’ protagonist in the final arc compared to him.)

So as far as all of that stuff is concerned, Rukia carries more weight, but let’s say Renji was chosen as Ichigo’s closest guy friend or something along those lines. Um. Chad??? My beloved Yasutora Sado??? Like of course Kubo seems allergic to giving Chad anything significant to do at any point past his introduction, but come on! He’s supposed to be Ichigo’s best friend! Again, I’m ignoring power levels. Maybe the combination of Aizen and Yhwach’s presence would’ve been too much for him to withstand given Fullbringer scale, but I still think he’d make more narrative sense than Renji, and that should be what matters more.

Friendly rival? Well that’s Uryu who is already there, and has a way larger stake in this than anyone in Ichigo’s friend group regardless. Less that he doesn’t meet the criteria if we can’t count Uryu, choosing Renji for this reason would just be doubling down on the same thing.

You could also argue Orihime should’ve been the one, as the one Ichigo eventually ends up with (although she at least was with him at the fight just before this, so it being someone else this time doesn’t bother me). And Renji is just, not that!

Renji goes with Ichigo because it’s in character for him, and I don’t disagree with that by any means. But this is the conclusion of the entire 74-volume narrative and I’m struggling to explain why he specifically is the one chosen by Kubo to be a part of this battle if anyone had to be at all. It’s like he went out of his way to choose the least impactful character possible to fulfill this role.

So okay, Kubo, I can play hardball. You want somebody who isn’t Rukia, Chad, or Orihime? I can do that. I’ll even give you someone who’s already right there so you don’t have to make them come running up at the last moment!

You know who should’ve gone with Ichigo to that very last confrontation? Kugo Ginjo, obviously!

Don’t leave, hold on, let me explain myself.

First is the kind of obvious thing, which is that while it was on a smaller scale than they were, Ginjo was an arc villain just as much as Aizen and Yhwach were. He’s the mastermind and the climactic battle of The Lost Agent. So wouldn’t it be fun if Ichigo had the help of the first two arc villains in defeating the third?

The quartet of Ichigo, Kugo, Aizen, and Yhwach is also interesting because they all have connections to the Reio in some form, being either candidates for the role inherently, or having attempted to become or usurp him. There’s really no one else who approaches this (barring Urahara, for the hogyoku).

But wait, you may be saying, why would Ginjo fight on the side of Shinigami if his whole thing is that he hates them? To which I say—he wouldn’t! But I think he would be willing to fight to help Ichigo. Maybe not for everything ever, but maybe for the time where if Ichigo loses, everything will very clearly fall apart, including for the people he obviously still cares about in Xcution. (Also, does he know about Soul King stuff at this point, including that the both of them are candidates to replace it? Preventing that being necessary for both their sakes might be good.)

Not to mention, this would be the first time Ichigo and Kugo can fight together consciously as Deputies. It would give us a more concrete picture of how they feel about one another now that the Lost Agent conflict is over, seeing as this gets very little resolution on either side—and give Ichigo back what it was that Kugo had almost given him during that arc, a “big brother” figure he can rely on in a desperate situation, instead of having to be that figure himself.

Plus… fixing Ichigo’s sword was really kind of just Tsukishima’s repayment, wasn’t it? Ginjo shows up and says four lines, (and probably a fifth on the way there that was “Tsukishima do the thing”) and that’s what exactly? Is that supposed to make up for the extremely personal betrayal? Is that a sufficient expression of gratitude for the respect of taking his body back from the Court Guards’ grasp? He still had to say something about paying Ichigo back because debt’s about all the obligation Tsukishima would ever respond to, but what’s his contribution other than holding that “leash”?

Also for the three of them being revealed alive like a hundred chapters ago, that sure is a whole lot of no payoff. Like for Tsukishima it’s great payoff, but for Ginjo? What was the point of the training they all did with Ganju? Was it really about Ganju getting stronger? And we never got an answer why Kukaku took them in in the first place, could that really have just been chance?

If I want to put on my conspiracy cap—I half suspect Ginjo was meant to go from the time of their reappearance, and more of his backstory was supposed to come to light/he was supposed to get some additional development. But as Kubo’s health deteriorated and he got toward the home stretch, just like it would’ve been difficult to give Rukia the proper due if she’d gone, it became too much for him to do Ginjo justice, or maybe to set up for his role in CFYOW, so he decided to not do it altogether, rather than half-ass it. (This is what I tell myself, anyway). He already has a completely justifiable reason to show up at the last minute with the need for Tsukishima’s ability. He’s been training, supposedly. He owes Ichigo something and acknowledges it. He’s thematically fitting, he’s been absent for so much time after being teased, we know he was doing something because he went looking for Ukitake, it really just makes too much sense.

I doubt Kubo is planning any out-and-out rewrites of anything significant as the anime proceeds, but if he were to tweak the ending at all, I certainly think this would be reasonable.

Anyway, we’ll see what part 2 brings. CFYOW content is getting teased for sure, so who knows what’s in store!

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

“ the amount of times 39/40 year old john spent going Im Just An Old Calm Guy Now :) Who Would Ever Want To Be Twenty Again? This Is Good :) I’m Having A Good Time” Have you not heard fake it til you make it? 🥲 On a serious note I know people usually tend to fall on extremes ends of the spectrum with John’s state of being in 1980 (not you just in general); we either hear how he was absolutely miserable or had finally come out the other side happy and hopeful. Of course people aren’t linear so obviously it was never just one thing but if anything I think John’s Bermuda trip was a very hopeful indicator that John was capable of taking the plunge and of eventually moving on to a new chapter of his life where he exercised more self agency. He was so optimistic about his 40’s that I want to believe it indeed would have gotten better. Honestly I don’t think he and Yoko would have ever gotten divorced but I think their marriage would have only continued to evolve into something quite different than what it was in the beginning. I’m thinking of those marriages that are all but ‘officially’ open where they take intermittent breaks with other partners before they come back together again and so on. It already kind of seemed they were on that road by 1980 anyway and while May Pang’s account of John being anguished that a marriage could be “incomplete” aka monogamous, that was in 74 and despite Double Fantasy pushing that image of a reconciled marriage, that’s only a work of art and real life is something else. I love rpf btw lmao so if John ‘had love in his voice when he was angry’ but is now giving his ‘window smile’ this reminds me of an emotionally checked out John kind of reminiscent of how Cynthia described John being pleasant to her face but distant near the very end, and John being kind in Get Back but vacillating between engaging and sitting back.

just to be clear, when I said John reiterating he was happy and looking forward to the future was illegal, I was not calling him out for overcompensating (which he might have been) but pointing out that the amount of tragically ironic things he said just before he was killed is a bit unbearable to me lmao.

To me, John's state by 1980 is a bit of a mystery. My feeling is similar to yours: I think he was sincerely feeling good about the future – the fact he was creating music again, being productive after years of very little output, is indicator enough for me. I particularly agree with you that the Bermuda trip specifically seems to have been a turning point or would have been :(. What's much more opaque is how exactly he was doing between '75 and summer '80. I tend to feel he was relieved to have achieved relative normality – his life was clearly still Wild™, but he emphasized that he was able to just walk around outside undisturbed, which must've been a huge weight off his shoulders – and also still struggling massively with depressive episodes and addiction. It definitely seems like Yoko took on an extremely controlling role in his life, which I don't entirely blame her for because I think John was uniquely difficult to deal with in any other way (as Cynthia's approach to him kind of shows). I don't really think JohnandYoko were a healthy couple, but I do think their decade-long proximity alone was enough to make them both incredibly fond of each other, even after their initial honeymoon phase crashed and burned. Whether they would have ended up separating or, as you suggest, become extremely "pragmatic" about the boundaries of their marriage, is hard for me to say. John and Yoko were together not much longer than John was with Cyn (and if you subtract the Lost Weekend it becomes nearly identical) so I'm not sure you could for sure say they had passed some threshold where it would be "too much effort" for them to divorce – that being said, John was definitely more likely to make brash decisions at 27 than at 40+ and there were more sunk costs involved in his relationship with Yoko that would make admitting to his marriage to her being a mistake more difficult for him. (and, I do think John would find it very difficult to separate from anyone without initially deciding that it was all bad – that seems to be how his brain worked. But perhaps he had matured past that attitude)

Double Fantasy is so odd to me – the marketing and reception of it is so incongruent with a lot of the actual content. As you say, art isn't real life, but after listening to it a few times, I find it hard not to think John and Yoko didn't at least have a close-call, where they were on the verge of divorce. Or, if they didn't, it's wild to me they placed I'm Losing You and I'm Moving On on their tracklist in that way, because that's what those two songs together sound like. (though I guess, perhaps it was actually representing the Lost Weekend to them? though I'd count that period as a close-call lol)

Either way, the main reason I'm perhaps more optimistic about John in 1980 than some is he... Just seems by then to have become pretty self-aware. He hadn't resolved his mental issues but he understood them reasonably well, could describe them. And I think a lot of his issues – mostly extreme emotions – are things that tend to naturally settle down as you reach middle age, even when you don't get help. The depression was probably still a major issue, but the fact he was keeping busy when he died is definitely a promising start for dealing with that.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, June 10

JONATHAN: (incredulous) You're checking for implants? ANDREW: (defensive) Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in "Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man" Treasury edition- JONATHAN: Okay, first of all, those were sonic disrupters. And second of all ... you are sadness personified. Waiting for Warren? Yeah, maybe he'll come bust us out of here on Santa's magic sleigh. ANDREW: (stands up angrily) I'm telling him you said that. JONATHAN: Why wait? I'll tell him right now. Jonathan grabs Andrew's elbow and holds it up to his own face. JONATHAN: Hey, Warren, do you read me, your girlfriend's pathetic, over.

~~Two to Go~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Escape From Mosaic (gen, not rated) by eevol76vamp

Girls Night Out (gen, not rated) by eevol76vamp

Lindsey's Last Song (gen, not rated) by eevol76vamp

Old Enough (Buffy/Spike, G) by sandy_s

Finding a Sense of Direction (Drusilla/Faith, not rated) by rhodrymavelyne

Night Swimming (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

[Chaptered Fiction]

Incarnate Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Sigyn

Rebehold the Stars (Love from the Other Side of the Apocalypse) Chapter 15 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Asokatanos

East of Nevada Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Blissymbolics

Morning Stretches Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by CheekyKitten

The Boyfriend Swap Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxine Eden

The Devil's Trill Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Murray

The Witch's Gift Chapter 36 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by RavenLove12

Blood and Fame Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Desicat

Bruises Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, adult only) by hulettwyo

Love Lives Here Chapter 74 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

[Images, Audio & Video]

Podcast:Pride, Prejudice and Buffy (Buffy and the Art of Story Podcast) by lisalilly

Podcast:Episode 31 - Fly Kids and Eye Stalks (Killed by Death) by thesunnydalediaries

Art:Who’s this billy idol looking loser by bugaboooooooooo

[Reviews]

war and peaches' buffyverse compendium by war and peaches

[Fandom Discussions]

Spike wasn’t a Good Vampire by virtue of just being that way by buffy-targaryen

One of the funniest jokes in the Buffy episode “Once More With Feeling” by jq37

Why Spike picked Sunnydale by nicnacsnonsense

Angel's most heroic act by The Whirlwind

Rewatch thoughts and questions continued by multiple posters

Is Riley more misogynistic than other characters? continued by multiple posters

What If: Buffy lived with Hank instead? by nightshade

Were the slayers a good idea? by TheXandyman

In what stances was a character screwed by the narrative? by brwitch

On your first time watching The Zeppo did you think they would do something with Xander and Faith? by LightBlueSky55

Thoughts on Willow's character during her recovery from abusing magics in the mid half of season six by jdpm1991

Which Scooby gang member had the best levels in "Chaos Bleeds"? by jdpm1991

Spike and Andrew were both integrated into the Scooby Gang the same way by rednax2009

the ascension by brian5mbv

Watching Angel for the first time, this scene made me shocked by brwitch

I think killing Angel influenced Buffy's decision to sacrifice herself in "The Gift" by Whedonite144

The Mayor and his bs by Pookienini

"Come in here, take everything that I have... You did it before. Did you tell them that?" by jogaforacont

Am I wrong for thinking Angel hooking up with Darla was hot in 2x15? by rites0fpassage

What are some moments that you were incredibly frustrated or disappointed with Cordelia? by PristineSituation498

Which if any characters grew on you the most when you revisited the series? by Whedonite144

What is everyone’s funniest episode? by queenrosybee

Unexplainable vibes? by mymacaronibirthmark

Although Faith was always jealous she did seem to like Buffy a lot in season 3 by IntelligentPumpkin74

Is BTVS Angel a little overhated? by debujandobirds

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[berrypass-de-murdler]

74. UFO, What'd You Know?

Mecore

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

They were FINALLY going to the ruins, but now Logico found another body that he has to take care of at the UFO place! UGH!!!

LOGICO: Go to the ruins and STAY THERE THIS TIME!!! SHADOW: All right, fine, you little boss monster.

‘Boss monster’? Anyway, Celadon, Onyx, and Seashell light the way, along with a fourth passenger.

UMBER: My name is Sociologist Umba. I am learning to read lots of books.

She’s waaaaay too precious for Logi to be scared of her anymore. Inves Time.

ONYX: I’m… part of a new cult. I’m sorry…  LOGICO: Who isn’t at this point, seriously. Oh my god Umber what are you doing. UMBER: I am learning a new thing called witchcraft! The pot looks pretty when I put gross things into it. Or when I sing a song! Zub dre wil bur god tay zee nurr- LOGICO: OKAY, okay, all right. SEASHELL: I wonder what this does? [smaccs the body with a magic wand] LOGICO: So you did it. SEASHELL: Well, my theories show that aliens can be contacted by these selenite wands, but only if the wands are properly charged. And how are they charged? By murder! Or, at least, that could be the case. Now, we wait. That’s why it’s an experiment. LOGICO: Aren’t you a dentist?

Seashell pauses, then runs into the cave. Logico glances, sees that Shadow isn’t by the ruins, and follows the dumb fish.

The end!

SORRY IT'S SO SHORT I'M IN A RUSH rip

adjnfkljasdf

ignore me 😭

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[im-out-of-it]

part 3 of season 2, episode 1 “this guilty blood” (and my forgetful ass keeps putting season one but to be fair, I did just do like a million posts about it)

71. ah Simon has a home but the wolves aren’t happy about it

72. Simon is like I can tell clary how I feel now that jace is out of the way lmao

73. aldertree: you have to go

the werewolves: you have to go like poor Simon. but he really is a terrible vampire 💀 but at least they were kind enough to find him a place though. Aldertree just kicked him out without a moments thought of it

74. Valentine: you have demon blood jace. Jace: ok I guess I do Valentine: clary is your sister jace: ok she’s my sister LIKE THIS DUDE JUST TAKES A VILLAIN AT HIS WORD. Valentine never stated which vision he was showing jace and jaces stupidity is the reason why so many downworlders died. Valentines plan but it only worked so well because jace is so gullible. even has Magnus believing it too smh

75. I think Alec and Maia are the only ones with common fucking sense

76. “no matter how good they try to be, downworlders cannot control their demonic blood forever.”-Valentine. so why are you trying to make a perfect weapon then? literally his actions don’t make any sense and he’s such a hypocrite. what does he call going after downworlders and mass murdering people?????? why is it that shadowhunters view themselves as good no matter what? just because you have angel blood, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically a good person

77. Valentine: let me tell you about my evil plan

78. and then he just burns a warlock because apparently they committed crimes against mundanes????? but what is wrong with the clave most of the time and the circle, is they don’t collect any evidence. they just convict people. hell, the clave was so ready to strip Izzy of her runes in season one because they didn’t hand over the cup so imagine what they’ll do to downworlders. and the clave does hate downworlders- they’re taught at a young age to loathe people with demon blood- and it’s very obvious how they feel about downworlders

79. Izzy: bitch I’m trying to help you

80. so maybe show Izzy some fucking gratitude and be grateful for once. I also love how Izzy’s whip turns into a snake 🐍 with someone with snake earrings and who loves what they represent, I love this ✨

81. also has clary even been training since she became a shadowhunter? I only saw Alec show her moves and Izzy but is she actually getting taught anything? because it’s unrealistic to not show her training and all of a sudden she knows what she’s doing????? and Jocelyn didn’t teach her shit obviously

82. guess it’s round 2 for Alec to tell someone off

83. Maryse may sound harsh but she’s right. Jace is toxic and if you have a cancer, you cut that out. I wish they would have Alec sit down and ask himself what jace has done for him and why he’s worth it and not say parabatai. because I don’t actually see jace do anything for Alec. and I wish they would bring up Alec’s apparent feelings for jace he had last season. because no wonder Magnus is annoyed of hearing about jace over and over again

84. Alec: im out of here fuck this shit (he’s mad as hell)

85. Alec and Magnus are both going off and telling people off this episode and I’m here for it (and just wait for the next episode)

86. Clary tries for one second to shadowhunter: omg it’s not working

87. Jocelyn: fuck ya thought! what clary needed was to be locked in a place because honestly she can’t make her own choices without being a dumbass but let’s just give this girl a rune ability where she basically has magic because that’s smart. the angels didn’t take away her power quick enough and book fans stay mad BECAUSE THAT WAS KARMA LMAO

88. well hello Magnus and welcome new cat eyes

89. Alec: holy fucking shit balls on a stick, I was so preoccupied with my crisis a few days ago that I didn’t get a chance to well, you know admire my man AND FUCK

90. and upgrade for real. like it amazes me that season one and two Magnus are the SAME PERSON because they are definitely not!!!!!!!! I’ll always have a soft spot for season one Magnus but 🔥 I just wish they would’ve added more glitter eyeshadow and changed his hair more often. it felt that they stayed with this black eyeliner and nail polish vibe when in season one, he had so many colorful outfits and SO MUCH GLITTER AND IM SUCH A GLITTER PERSON

and I also wish they would have kept Alec’s sassiness more. it’s as they wanted us to see “hey he’s mad and angsty and gay but now he has someone so he’s not those things” LET MY MAN ALEC BE SASSY AND DONE WITH IT

91. Alec: im usually not wrong but I’m sorry babe

92. mesmerized as fuck

93. and what I love about show Alec is that he takes accountability. he’s not making excuses but explaining himself. he knows what he did was wrong and now he’s showing up 👏🏼

94. Magnus is making him work for it AS IS HIS FUCKING RIGHT

95. Alec: babe can you stop because you are looking fine as hell and I can’t concentrate on my apology I worked for hours on

96. let’s be clear, alec calling off his wedding was his choice and was for him and I’m glad that Alec said that. it’s important that in this new relationship that no one is being childish, they’re taking accountability, (communicating and hearing each other out) and not storming off when they’re mad (cough cough the books) and that you’re looking at the mistake you made and apologizing but also showing change

97. Magnus: ok you’re forgiven babe

97. Magnus: I don’t typically date shadowhunters Alexander

98. I just love Alec actually thinking about how his words hurt Magnus, what Magnus said, and knowing he can’t come empty handed and ask for Magnus’s help. IMAGINE ALEC SHOWING UP WITH THAT SAME ATTITUDE.

99. he is sorry and now he is showing Magnus that he’s sorry. BOY WORKED ON THAT APOLOGY FOR HOURS. and you know he did because he left in the daytime and now it’s dark outside (I tried another gif making because I was so tired of looking for this gif SO I GUESS ITS UP TO ME)

“I didn’t mean to take it out on you” LOOK AT THAT MAN APOLOGIZING AS IF HIS LIFE DEPENDS ON IT

I’m going to stop at 100 because that should be easy to remember (you would think) but I have one more part to do for this episode 😌

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 114 (Jan. 30, 1988) - “11001001”

Written by: Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin Directed by: Paul Lynch

The Breakdown

The Enterprise is overdue for a software upgrade, and the crew need some downtime, so Picard decides to dock at station 74 and kill two birds with one stone.  While everyone preps for shore leave, Picard and Riker stay behind in case they need to assist the Bynars, who will perform the upgrade.  We Learn that the Bynar people have effectively hooked their brains up to the cloud, and as a result they think and speak in binary, and always travel/work in pairs.  They seem harmless enough, but when Picard explains they need to leave sooner than planned (due to a time sensitive mission), the Bynars starting acting REAL SUS and then bring on a second Bynar-pair to help speed things up.

Not one to be easily distracted, Riker begins to suspect that something is awry, and keeps close watch on the Bynar’s progress.  So they proceed to easily distract Riker by upgrading the holodeck so he can go play in his own little custom sandbox.  That’s right folks! we finally get a chance to see Riker’s deepest desire, which is apparently to play Jazz Trombone in a 20th century New Jersey bar for the benefit of a personalized, sentient, totally life-like, sex doll.  And let me tell you folks, she is AROUSED by Riker, because apparently the algorithm designed her to be, based on our horny first officer’s browser history.  Also, the whole situation it is NOT-AT-ALL troubling, nor should it raise any serious ethical questions.  Thankfully Picard interrupts with an impromptu visit, just as things are getting steamy, and finds himself equally intrigued by Riker’s new companion.  Minuet (her name) then regales both men over drinks, with her lifelike beauty and charm.

Meanwhile, the Bynars have been busy stealing the Enterprise.  Unable to reach Picard or Riker (due to trickery), Data orders an evacuation because of an impending antimatter breach.  The whole thing is revealed to be a ruse orchestrated by little math nerds, and simply wanted everyone off before they hightailed it back to their home planet. They also programmed Minuet to distract Riker and Picard so they wouldn’t leave the ship.  Once Picard figures out what’s going on, he and Riker jump to into action, and beam themselves onto the bridge for the fight of their lives (they even prepare to blow up the Enterprise if need be), only they discover the Bynars are all dying.

It turns out they just wanted the Enterprise to store a back-up of their iCloud account, because a solar flare was about to EMP-the-shit out of their plantary hard drive, without which the Bynar’s brains will overload and shut down.  After realizing the Bynars had always intended for him (and Riker because it’s a two person job) to  upload the Enterprise’s backup into the Bynar systems, he proceeds to do so, and the day is saved just in the nick-of-time.  So why didn’t the Bynars simply ask for help?  Because they believe in “Better to beg forgiveness, than ask permission.” Seriously that’s the reason. They afraid the Federation would say no, so they leapt straight into grand-theft-starship.

Epilogue: Riker goes back to the holodeck to be with Minuet, only to discover that the software upgrades are gone, leaving her a mindless shell of what she had been.  Riker returns to the bridge to a saddened man, and Picard is like “dude it never would have worked,” but since she meant so much to poor William I’m sure she’ll be referenced again frequently over the show’s remaining six-and-a-half seasons.

The Verdict.

This episode is very much split down the middle for me.

The main story is quite engaging, at least right up until the climax where things get silly. The crew having to make emergency command decisions, in the absence of the captain and first officer is pretty exciting.  There’s also plenty of tension built up around the fate of Picard and Riker.  The result is an episode that makes great use of it’s ensemble cast, including those with less screen time.  For starters the performances all feel more casual, and the dialogue less forced (something which I attribute largely to the actors in this instance). The ship feels like a place with real community, and each character gets to show a side of themselves and their interests beyond their professional ambitions. If the reason for the Bynar’s deception wasn’t so ridiculous, I’d be tempted to give this episode a 4 star rating.  Except…

…for the parts with Riker on the holodeck.  We spend a WHILE just watching Riker swipe left on a bunch of holo-models as, as the computer works to construct his perfect fantasy girl. Once he finally gets her (aka Minuet), he constantly pontificates at her about how real and perfect she seems, all while very obviously undressing her with his eyes. It honestly just seems a little... icky. Predatory, even. After Picard joins, the tone becomes less sexually charged, but then the two men spend their time discussing Minuet right in front of her as if she’s not there, or nothing more than an intellectual curiosity.

Perhaps I’m thinking too much about it.  Many of my favourite episodes involve and feature holodeck characters, and similar objections could (and have) been raised there too, but there’s just something about the way Riker and Picard openly objectify an intelligence that, for all they know, is both sentient, and also at their mercy.  I will concede that I don’t think that subplot was intended to come off as creepy, nor does it outright ruin the episode for me.  You win some, you lose some, and sometimes you break even. At the very least it’s mostly fun, just not beyond criticism.

2.5 Stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Picard has come a long way in these past 14 episodes. At first he always seemed kinda grumpy, but lately he’s been more relaxed.  In this episode he has nothing but praise for his entire crew, and especially Riker.  As I indicated above, their dynamic feels a lot more natural in this episode, and it’s nice to see Picard develop into a friend and mentor to Riker.

I realize the shots of station 74 are recycled from Star Trek III, but it’s a great visual, and even the Enterprise looks especially breathtaking here.  Visually a very impressive episode all around.

I find Wesley so unintentionally funny.  Riker tells him to keep an eye on the Bynars, and he takes those instructions literally.  Every time we return to the bridge to check in on Wes, he’s standing in the same spot just glaring at the Bynars suspiciously, as if he’s not being super obvious, and it just cracked me up.

Inconsistent technology: This episode makes a point of showing us that Minuet is simply an elaborate puppet without the Bynar’s upgrades. I’m not bothered by later episodes/spin-off-series depicting holograms who are undeniably sentient, as that can be explained as a natural progression of the technology. However, in “the big goodbye” Picard has a conversation with a holo character who expresses genuine concern that he and his loved ones may cease to exist when the program shuts off. All of that sounds something that's selfaware and sentient to me. So then why is Minuet so much less interactive sans-Bynars? The only way I can reconcile this is to suggest that Minuet's file got corrupted after the Bynars left, and any attempt to rewrite the program would result in a new “person”. There, did I do it? Did I save the continuity?

[scruffyplayssonic]

Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80's/90's syndicated cartoon? Episode 40: The one episode that's unique to the show's premise and characters (part 4: Spark of Life)

Welcome back to my look at the ArchieSonic comic series, and how it shared a lot of the same story tropes as a typical ‘80s or ‘90s syndicated cartoon. Today I have one last story arc I want to look at for the “episode that’s unique to the show’s premise or characters,” category. It’s the fan-favourite story arc Spark of Life, published in Sonic Universe #71 - 74!

Taking place during the Shattered World crisis adapting Sonic Unleashed post-reboot, Spark of Life saw Sally, Nicole, Tails and Big travel to Isolated Island (from Knuckles’ Chaotix) to answer a digital distress call from Nicole’s creator, Dr Ellidy. Venturing into the digital world, Nicole discovered Dr. Ellidy was being threatened by a rogue A.I. that was interfering with the reprogrammed badniks Ellidy had turned into his housekeepers, and which also tried to get its hands on Ellidy himself when he digitised himself to investigate the problem in Cyberspace. Combined with the continuing threat of the Dark Gaia monsters appearing at night and a shocking revelation about Nicole’s origins, the Freedom Fighters had a lot on their plates for this story.

Spark of Life is one of only a handful of stories written by Aleah Baker (with Aleah writing the script based on her husband Ian Flynn’s plot). Aleah regularly contributed to ArchieSonic for years by doing character designs, colouring, and working on the letter pages’ gag strip, Off Panel, as well as writing a number of stories for the post-reboot era. As well as Spark of Life, this includes the stories Light in the Dark in Sonic #260 - 262, Consequences in Sonic #263, Hidden Costs in Sonic #277 - 279, The Case of the Pirate Princess in Sonic Universe #91 - 94, and Knuckles vs. Break Man in Sonic: Worlds Unite Battles #1. Aleah has unfortunately not been able to write for IDW Sonic yet due to poor health, although last year she did colour an absolutely gorgeous cover for issue #50. I’m sure that I speak for all of us when I wish her all the best and hope that she gets better..

So what makes Spark of Life so special? Well a lot of it has to do with Nicole, and the relationships she has in this arc. By the time of this story Nicole had come a long way from the talking handheld computer she was first introduced as, developing into a real person with feelings, hopes, and dreams. Nicole and her development as a character was a large part of the Iron Dominion arc and its aftermath, but that was partially lost after the comic was rebooted and the Freedom Fighters’ backstories were all rewritten to be similar to the old canon but different enough to be distinguishable. Nicole’s awakening as a sentient being is shown as a flashback in this story, and it’s very similar to how it was pre-reboot, with Nicole creating a hard-light holographic avatar for herself and stargazing with Sally.

But how she got to that point was the big difference, as this time she didn’t have wacky body-swap shenanigans with Sally. She also wasn’t sent back in time to be Sally’s friend by a future Rotor - instead she was given to a young Sally as a present by Dr Ellidy. But it’s only during the events of this story that we find out why Dr Ellidy created Nicole in the first place.

Nicole was actually a failed attempt at creating a digital existence for his daughter Nikki, who was dying of a chronic disease. The idea was that he would be able to preserve Nikki’s mind in the digital world, but all he was able to create before Nikki passed was an A.I. that seemed emotionless and did not have any sense of identity or personality. Heartbroken, Dr. Ellidy decided to leave Mobotropolis and retire to Isolated Island, leaving the AI (now named Nicole by King Nigel) with Sally as a gift. However Dr. Ellidy was apparently more successful than he realised, as over time Nicole developed into an actual person - going from JARVIS to Vision, if you like. Dr. Ellidy lived up to the name of his new home and stayed isolated from the rest of the world for the most part, although he would occasionally make contact with the Kingdom such as when he sent Sally the ring blades that had become a part of her new design post-reboot. But Dr Ellidy wasn’t aware of how much Nicole had grown over the years and so he was naturally shocked when she came to his rescue in the digital world, and harboured some resentment towards her because she reminded him of Nikki.

The other main relationship that was focused on in this story was that of Nicole and Sally, as this issue was the first step on the road for the two of them becoming a couple. More like Spark of Romance, amirite?

…

…anyway! It was subtle and sadly not able to be followed up on before the series was cancelled, but the seeds of the romance that was supposed to come were there. With Sally, we got to see that she cared about Nicole very deeply and was very upset by how Dr Ellidy was treating her as if she were not a real person.

And for Nicole we got to see some character growth for her, as she started out chastising Sally for putting herself at risk at the beginning of the story but later realised she would do the exact same thing for her.

Nicole totally had an, “Oh… she just like me. She just like me FR!” moment there!

Aside from Nicole and how the other characters relate to her, there’s a lot of other great stuff in this story. Another one of my favourite moments from all of ArchieSonic is this incredibly wholesome talk that Sally and Big had.

In this house we stan Big the Cat. I'd go to him if I needed someone to talk about girls with too!

We also were introduced to Phage, the afore-mentioned malicious AI making everyone’s lives difficult.

Phage was a very curious AI who was fascinated by what she did not understand, and had an interesting speech pattern which indicates she may have assimilated a thesaurus at some point. We didn’t find out her whole story at this time, but we did discover that she was created by Eggman and seemed to be looking for a way to get back in his good graces. After Nicole foiled her first attempt on Dr Ellidy, Phage took Nicole hostage instead and demanded that the Freedom Fighters bring her the red star ring and the chaos emerald hidden on the island. 

Speaking of, red star rings now became a thing!

While they had technically been introduced the previous year in the Sonic Super Special Magazine, that was only in a five page story of dubious canonicity adapting the mobile game Sonic Dash, and the red star rings hadn’t been seen again since. This story served as their proper introduction, with Dr Ellidy explaining that the island’s Lake of Rings had one day created this instead of the usual standard rings and that he had been researching the increased power it generated compared to them. It was later revealed that the reason the Lake of Rings had started producing red star rings was because a chaos emerald had landed in it.

The best (and most unexpected) thing about the red star rings though is that they granted Nicole a super form!

But if SEGA asks, it’s not a super form, okay? It’s an overclocked form. Totally different. ;)

Dr Ellidy later gave both of the red star rings he’d obtained to Nicole as an olive branch, showing that he did actually want to have an ongoing friendship with her despite how the painful way she reminded him of his lost daughter. It was a nice gesture.

And the last thing I’d like to talk about in Spark of Life is the location. It was really neat to see the Knuckles’ Chaotix game get a shoutout in this way. It’s one of the classic games that is often overlooked (it doesn’t help that unlike most of the classic era games it has never been ported to modern consoles), and considering how different the modern Chaotix are to their classic counterparts, it’s hard to say whether it’s even canon any more. So for a long-time Sonic nerd like myself, it was nice to see it get this kind of representation. We get to see some of the badniks from the game and also the sling-rings, which actually make sense to be in this story.

This is in contrast to the pre-reboot adaptation of Knuckles’ Chaotix where they just came out of nowhere. Dr Ellidy was explained to be a scientist who was researching ring technology and had actually created them (presumably Knuckles and the Chaotix came across them during the events of that game and used them to get around the island). Considering the sling-rings were Chekov’s gun-ed early in the story, it felt a lot more natural for Sally and Nicole to use them against Phage than the way the Chaotix adaptation just jammed them into the story without any setup. 

So those are my four choices for most unique story arcs of ArchieSonic: Mike Gallagher’s Mecha Madness, Karl Bollers’ Return to Angel Island, Ian Flynn’s Iron Dominion, and Aleah Baker’s Spark of Life. I’d also like to shout out a couple of other Ian Flynn stories I considered for this category, but that didn’t quite make the cut:

#1: Enerjak Reborn. Ian gets his hands on Ken Penders’ echidna mythos, and like Karl Bollers before him, puts his own spin on it. Also like Karl Bollers before him, he really pisses Ken Penders off in doing so. xD

#2: The Tails Adventure. A very unexpected adaptation of the Game Gear game of the same name, introducing the Battlebird Armada! Tails takes Antoine and Bunnie to Cocoa Island for their long overdue honeymoon and hijinks ensue.

#3: Scrambled. It’s the big showdown between Snively and Eggman! With interesting cameos from the Egg Bosses and Omega, the introduction of Orbot and Cubot, and the long awaited return of the Iron Queen!

#4: Champions. A Sonic the Fighters adaptation in the middle of a Sonic Unleashed adaptation! Reintroducing a bunch of characters from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon! Only Ian Flynn would be so bold!

Well as much fun as it’s been writing for this topic, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved to be moving on to some shorter topics now. Hopefully this’ll mean there’s a shorter wait for you between posts too (but I am rather preoccupied trying to find a new home, so no promises).

Next time I’ll be looking at episode 41 of our theoretical 65 episode syndicated cartoon: “Recap the origin story in yet another clip show.” See you next time!

[daffy-the-demon-ducky]

Whoever pitched the idea to DC to have comics on WEBTOON really knew what they were doing. Not only did they make something that long time fans could enjoy with excellent storytelling and niche jokes, but also made a fun and easy way to start getting into the fandom. Thus bringing in new fans that were on the fence about DC or weren’t that interested.

Batman: Wayne family adventure, brings awesome interactions between the Batfam and some of the most fluffy relationships, while still being able to showcase the complexities of the characters and their own struggles. Think of the span of episodes 72 till 76, we have a fun little snow fight with everyone at the mansion that is pure fluff, followed by 74 which shows a cute dynamic between Dick and Damian. Then a curveball that is 75 & 76 which goes through Dukes personal struggles about feeling like he needs to prove himself worthy of being a bat, guidance from Luke and some more personal reflection Duke understands that he is worthy of being a bat with or without his powers.

The absolute emotional whiplash from just five episodes would be confusing for most, if it wasn’t as seamlessly done as what BWFA does. I was just a casual fan before it, knowing a bit about the characters here and there. Never really had gotten around to reading the comics as they are harder to come by where I’m from. Only learning about the fandom and the characters from some shows and movies, mainly the animated one like young justice and a few of the Batman centric movies. But this webcomic has made me want to learn more and more, bringing me and I’m certain others, into the fandom.