#I’m probably going to rewatch it a million times before episode 2 comes out

[galaxynajma]

Guys fun fact did you know that gojo and geto actually invented boyfriends and shoko and utahime invented girlfriends

This is true guys trust me gege told me on the phone

She is not letting her go

Boyfriends guys

Look at them

[titsgirlbuffy]

hey sorry if you've gotten a million alerts about me liking way too many of your posts!! i'm currently rewatching Buffy and Angel for the first time in over a decade (i first watched both shows between ages 10 and 13 so this has been an eye opening rewatch) and the hyperfixation has returned big time! I've been scouring the internet for meta and all of yours that i've read resonate with me a lot.

if you ever feel like writing them out (no pressure of course!) i'd love to read some more of your gay Wesley thoughts -- i've also always read him as gay, and i have such a strange time going into his tag on tumblr because soooo much of it is Wes/Lilah content. i'm particularly curious about your thoughts on how a gay reading of Wesley impacts his storylines with Lilah, Fred, and maybe Virginia. also sorry if all this is weird from a non-Buffy-blog stranger!!

Omg Thank You for sending this! It’s been sitting in my inbox for a while cause I needed to actually think about it in words rather than just. Autistic screeching. And also cause I wanted to see more of the Wesley/Lilah relationship to make sure my first thoughts weren’t totally baseless (if anything they’re being proven further). Just watched Apocalypse Now-ish so there’s probably later stuff I’d add in if I’d seen the whole show.

I’m really surprised by how many fans read him as straight (no offense but we have different eyes). Wesley’s coded as queer pretty often – part of it’s just the queer-coding of the Buffyverse supernatural in general (see This Old Gang of Mine for a questionable but really clear-cut example), but there’s also tons where it’s him specifically (in Sanctuary where the council’s kill squad call him out on his “perverted” relationship with Angel and also call him a ponce, Wesley stopping Angel in that same episode before the fight to make sure he knows he gave up a chance to go home and be accepted by his father and culture For Angel, multiple times in season one when outsiders assume he and Angel are together, that time Angel gets possessed by an old guy who assumes Wesley is his boyfriend and tries to let him down gently but freaks out when Wesley goes to touch him… etc etc etc). Plus the way he looked up to Angel in early seasons absolutely comes across as a crush, he and Gunn were So into each other but Wesley especially was repressed about it (running theme, man radiates internalised homophobia), and all his relationships with women… well, there’s Layers going on.

So his early relationship with Cordelia was the first time (if you don’t count just. Looking at him) I solidly thought Wesley must be gay, rather than any other label. To me that’s absolutely a comphet relationship on his part. The crucial parts of the Cordelia/Wesley relationship is that 1. He sees himself as “a bad, bad man” for wanting to pursue anything with Cordelia, and as such 2. She is completely unattainable, but 3. When it’s proven that she’s Not unobtainable actually, the relationship falls apart the instant they try to do anything about it. He’s attracted to Cordelia because it’s a safely straight crush where he’s not Allowed to actually follow through on anything (and panics the moment he does anyway), and to an extent because a relationship would give him a reason to stay in California.

I headcanon Wesley as actually working out that he’s gay between seasons 1 and 2 – purely because he’s the one who introduces the group to Caritas and was visiting it between seasons, which… do I need to explain why Caritas is a gay bar? Please feel to ask me to explain that if anyone doesn’t get it, but for now, trust me, as a frequenter of gay karaoke bars, Caritas is 100% a gay karaoke bar. This is also around the time he starts dressing differently, stops wearing multi-piece fully buttoned suits year round in California. He’s getting more comfortable being himself.

Which all makes his relationship with Virginia really interesting. They met when he was mimicking Angel’s Straight Man Persona (literally in the same episode where Angel was getting therapy and being told that his manly persona is an act and that it’s hurting him. Yeah), and I’m not totally sure if she was a beard or a purposefully chosen Public Relationship. She was a billionaire socialite – again, Wesley’s internalised homophobia is off the charts, and this is a relationship that got into the papers (and would definitely get back to his family, if they made any effort to look). Sidenote, I’m genuinely certain that he was just homeless until they got together. Wesley is established as Broke™, starts dating a billionaire, and suddenly has a large swank apartment? In LA? I am simply drawing connections. So yeah, while I’m undecided about how much Virginia knew this, their relationship reads as one based on public persona and just social climbing generally.

Fred’s the most complicated of his relationships with women. The rivalry with Gunn is probably a part of it, but actually I think a bigger part is Billy. As in, Billy, the guy who made any guy who touched him (or his blood, sorry Wes) become violently misogynistic. Side eyeing the writers for that one, but still, it Really fucked Wesley up. Fred was fine, she doesn’t blame him, but after the spell wore off Wesley literally hid in his room for a week then told her “I don’t know what kind of man I am anymore” then Cut His Hair Short Again. Some sort of closeness to Fred had been alluded to before this (protecting her in This Old Gang Of Mine despite her very much being able to protect herself, suddenly being given an interest in science despite being a linguist), but that was really the turning point for this being a textual Attraction. Even then, similar to the Cordelia thing, Wesley never makes a move (assuring everyone who asked that he would when he was ready. Okay), and when he talks about it, it’s an attraction to a Fred that literally doesn’t exist.

Fred doesn’t need anyone making a shovel talk on her behalf – she can and will just kill them herself (at the point I’m at, she and Gunn might break up because He killed someone when she’d wanted to do it on her own). There was a great moment when Lilah dressed up as “Fred”, complete with schoolgirl outfit and glasses, and the shot cut to Fred, hair down, glasses free, ready to hunt a ghost with Gunn. The irony is that the Fred who actually Does exist has way more in common with Wesley (it’s honestly just the gender that’s the issue here), but in a combo of self hatred and need to redeem himself post-Billy, Wesley’s created this sweet innocent young scientist who he needs to Protect™. Is that love? Well, he didn’t make a move when he thought it was.

I can see why people like his relationship with Lilah. They’re awful. Literally the first time they slept together it was because Wesley was So depressed and was hoping he wouldn’t regret it until the morning (didn’t work. Regretted it instantly). He doesn’t have a job, and Lilah’s trying to recruit him to W&H. I said, the second time we saw them on screen, that he was prostituting himself. I was joking! But uh. Canon jokes about how “giving” Lilah is. Expensive bribes (“gifts”, Lilah insists) Wesley could never afford. He makes a bet with her for ONE DOLLAR, loses, she MAKES HIM SIGN THE DOLLAR, and then LEAVES IT WITH HIM. They’re in bed for this. I just. I was joking. I wasn’t expecting an actual scene of them in bed with a dollar bill between them. What the fuck. Anyway, that aside, he really does just hate himself right now, tangibly depressed post-baby-theft, and Lilah is There. Caritas doesn’t exist any more and there’s no plausible deniability in a non-demon gay bar.

Thanks again for reading my stuff @lostupst8 <3 never apologise for spamming me, I crave attention

[jenyifer]

Crimes against Nick

I’m hopeful Boston won’t fuck up again. My ex says I just forgive Boston too easily but that’s not true.(I’ll probably do one for Nick on Boston crimes next just to spite her so haha)

So in honor of me rewatching all the BostonNick bits here are some of the worst mental damages Boston has inflicted on Nick in my opinion.

1. The worst one in my opinion is the phone isle confirmation. Name a worse love confession. Boston completely rejecting Nick awful psychic damage.

2. Controversial pick probably but next I’d put the Halloween party. Nick really thought he could talk to Boston again it’d been some time since their breakup (for convenience let’s call it that). But Boston questions why Nick would think he’d have any place in Boston’s life. Then Boston ignores him and goes off with Atom. Nick is so devastated he gives up on Boston coming back. He also seems to have lasting effects of this conversation in episode 9 10 and 11. It haunts him because Nick wonders what he could have done better Boston frames it like that and it effectively slices Nick up into a million pieces.

3. Boston sleeping with Top. Also something I often forget Nick got to hear about MewRay before this. He got the full car convo. So everything is super fucked. Yes the audio does Immense damage on Nick. BUT I don’t have it higher because Nick can still justify being with Boston. He isn’t delulu he knows their relationship wasn’t closed. It just hurts Nick he’s not the one Boston wants. Nick can’t be top. Also the depths Boston will go to get his goal.

4. Boston rejecting Nick’s comfort after Mews bday party. It’s a little thing but Nick could see his lies chasing him and Nick needed comfort as well. But he reached out to Boston and was denied. I feel like to Nick this cemented him back in a reality where he’s just a prop in Bostons life and not a person. (To be fair to Boston he didn’t mean to hurt Nick here He did want Nick at his side it was just he was so hurt upset with himself he couldn’t take nicks love and didn’t know Nick himself was tortured by the nights events)

5. Boston calling Gap disgusting for filming him. Does make Nick feel awful idk whether to put this one on or not. Because Boston does except Nick’s comfort which is good. BUT I THINK THIS SCENE HAUNTED NICK FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES SO MUCH FORESHADOWING. Might write about it might not it was ep6

Honorable mentions: Boston calling Nick his friend at Mews bday party. Nick seeing Boston and random guy at the bar when he’s on a date with Dan.

Questionable mentions: Boston denying taking a photo with nick (he did take a photo). Boston calling Nick his customer(Bostons first ever apology in the show is to Nick here). Boston not answering if Nick could have extra men too at the pool date(Boston dodged this by talking about how he kind of wants to be with just nick).

Non Boston related injuries:

1. Sand revealing the audio. If that was to rank in this list I’d put it above the actual recording of Top and Boston. Nick really loves Sand genuinely. I think this hurt him

2. Top making Nick feel less than during Nick’s stay away from Boston speech.

3. Mew saying Boston couldn’t love anyone and Nick was a victim after BosotnNick Breakup. I think the manipulation tactics would hurt Nick extra hard while he was still in the shock hurt stage of breakup. And once Nick calmed down I bet he regretted what he did.

4. Ray being a dick either time. I don’t think Nick takes what Ray says too seriously. Yes Nick knows Ray is Bostons best friend so from that POV it does hurt but Nick knows Ray was already hurt not because of Nick what Ray said may or may not be true. Nick barely knows him. I doubt either time stuck.

[mittensmorgul]

2021 in Mittens Fic

The annual summary of things I’ve written this year! I’m relieved and pleased to say that while I’ve accepted I’ll probably never hit 2015′s record word count again (sigh), at least I improved over last year’s record low. And this doesn’t even count the 54k words in my upcoming pinefest fic, since I only count posted works for this little summary. I finally feel like I’m making writing progress again! Yay!

For reference, past year end summaries can be found here:

2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | the closest thing I have to a 2015 wrap up post is the lil bit of text at the bottom of 2016′s post... even though my two most popular fics were from 2015 lololol

Starting the year off writing a finale fix-it I could live with really helped me get going this year, even if it meant this was the first year I failed to finish a pinefest fic. I did manage to finish the fic I’d started for that (in March 2020 lol) for the dcbb, which was a process that renewed my belief in my own ability to write long fic again.

I did manage to outdo my 2020 total fics posted, with six, and beat my 2020 total wordcount by more than 8k, for a total of 111,806 words! Thrilling!

(tries not to think about 2015′s 250k+ total lolol)

At some point recently, I also crossed the 2 million words total posted on AO3, but about 800k of that is the tumblr tittyban meta dump, and none of that really counts as fic. I’m leaving it all there anyway. It’s still stuff I wrote, and honestly if the meta count counted toward fic writing totals, I’d probably have a million words a year, easy. :’D

And if meta counts for anything, I started the @spngeorg​ podcast this year in an attempt to organize all my thoughts on this show. It’s just me talking through every episode of the series one week at a time, but I’ve kept up with it, which I’m super proud of myself for! Thank you to everyone who’s listened, liked, subscribed, commented, and engaged with me about it this year. Episode 39 of the podcast-- 2.17 Heart-- will drop later tonight, and if you’re interested you can start from the beginning on AnchorFM or wherever you enjoy podcasts! The fact I’ve now spent a decade with my eternal rewatch, seen the entire series at least 30 times all the way through, at least this podcast gives me a weekly reminder that I haven’t just poisoned my entire brain for nothing. :’D 

With all of that out of the way, let’s get to the fic! Presented in the order it was posted:

Revenge of the Text (25427 words, rated T): Begins right after Jack takes off after defeating Chuck in 15.19. This is my best case scenario for how the show should’ve ended, and I needed to write it so I could continue to engage with the series I love. I wrote it as if it COULD have been an episode of the show, hence the rating. Though if it WAS an episode of the show, I would’ve included a lot more of Sam and Eileen’s POV, and in an ideal covid-free world, a lot of other characters in general. This is just the beginning of what I would’ve hoped for an ending, though.

what goes around... (468 words): a “what if” alternate version of a fix it, with Dean waiting in the meadow where Cas had come back from the empty before, only something sinister is waiting there with him.

Just Another Morning (1166 words, rated T): the annual DeanCasVersary fic. Pure Fluff.

You Held It In Your Hands (73239 words, rated M): my dcbb, with amazing art by the wonderful @solstheimart​. It makes my heart so happy! AU medical residents!Dean and Cas, they’re roommates!, and the powers that be at the hospital where they’ve both found themselves seem to be doing everything imaginable to keep them apart. Fluff and feelings-- revealed through notes left for each other, music, and food-- ensue.

For The Best (4912 words, rated T): annual holiday fluff, Dean and Cas end up snowed in together in the bunker. Technically in the same ‘verse as Revenge of the Text, so everyone’s happy and nothing hurts.

Haunted Heart (5594 words, rated T): Despite having written this waaaaayyyyy back in 2019, in collaboration with ArtSynk, for the To Hell And Back Anthology, we’ve finally been cleared to post them to AO3. So just under the deadline for this annual list, I had a happy little bonus story (with gorgeous attendant art!) to add to this year’s totals. I’m so thrilled to have been included in this project, so thrilled by the fandom’s (and the actors!) reception to the book, and thrilled to be able to share even my little contribution to it with everyone else now. <3

And that’s my year in fic. I’m amused I’ve already got nearly half this total wordcount written for 2022 already, and so much more waiting to go. At this point my biggest obstacle to writing is the sheer overwhelming quantity of ideas on my To Be Written list. And yeah, I think it would be hilarious to share the stats on that doc here too. Ahh, to the good old days when this list was ten pages long... Why do we get new ideas faster than we can write the old ones? 

which, at least means I’ll be writing fic for years to come... gotta get through this list, at least! I think I’ll save that for 2022 lol!

Thanks to everyone who’s read, kudos’ed, commented, reblogged, rec’ed, and enjoyed anything I’ve written in the last year. I love you all. <3 See you in 2022!

[alittledizzy]

29 Things I Love About Dan

1. That he came out to his family via email. Aspirational.

2. Dude really, really loves his grandma.

3. That one time at a book signing when the bookstore overpromised tickets and there was a dad that was really upset because his daughter had been waiting in line so long and didn't get to meet them. The dad was just shouting at Dan and Phil and everyone else was trying to just quickly walk on but Dan stopped, turned around, and talked to the dad.

4. That he's the first person to defend someone he loves in any situation where he even perceives they're being shit upon, but in the same breath will make fun of them himself. He's the epitome of older brother attitude.

5. He spends a lot of money on clothes but then he wears what he buys every single day for a span of at least a year so he does at least get his money's worth.

6. That time on vyou when someone asked him what he looks for in a girl and his answer was the ring that fell off his hand last time that he really wants back.

7. His reaction to the Phil's wife story. I still laugh thinking about Sabrina and Lola. In the process of answering that he made a remark about how Phil leaves to go with his 'real' family and sometimes that just latches itself onto my brain. There was a similar comment during the blue/gold dress debate where Phil referenced Dan in with family and it's just... like, yeah, they're in love, they're in a relationship. But they're not just partners, they are full on out and out family to each other and that Dan found that at a time when he was so scared and felt so isolated with his own family is worth everything.

8. The depth of feeling in his voice during that one "Katie, Katie, Katie... Katie, Katie, Katie. No." liveshow answer. You know the one. He was having none of that and if Katie got verbally incinerated in the process of his answering, so be it.

9. When he'd be doing a liveshow and get on a tangent and end up talking about condiments or dips for like four minutes straight.

10. The way he never minded putting someone on blast that pissed him off but knew that it bothered Phil so he would consult with Phil first sometimes but then if the situation actually involved Phil being hurt in some way all bets were off he Was naming that trainer that made Phil puke he did not Care if Phil gave him an alias for the video Kai deserved what he got for pushing Phil too far.

11. That after a decade he still wants to impress Phil's family by doing things like cleaning before they come and making them all coffee.

12. And yet still made a cake to give to Phil in front of them that talked about wanting to see Phil's ass. The duality of man is real, indeed.

13. Nicer Internet. Young Minds. Make-a-Wish. Mermaids. He only just came into his own with being charity-minded in the last few years and I don't for a second doubt he does more privately than publicly and probably has some mental spirals about using his platform vs being accused of virtue signaling. But this is just one way I love watching him find his footing in the world as an adult with privilege.

14. He introduced an important word to my personal lexicon with Haru and I'd like the rest of the world to catch on because it's just a very specific action of lying while obviously lying and pretending you aren't lying and I love it.

15. When he was fifteen he was so in his emo kid feelings that he wanted black angel wings tattooed on his back.

16. That little tune he'd hum when he was trying to space out thoughts during liveshows.

17. That somehow he beat all the odds and is best friends with the first person he subscribed to (Bryony) and in a relationship with his teenage self's favorite youtuber (Phil, obviously). Teenage Dan had a really shit time of almost everything but in that one specific 'meet your idols' area he was truly blessed with all of the luck.

18. "All I can taste is cherry, all I can smell is cherry, all I can hear is cherry and all I can feel is cherry. Can't really see much though."

19. The fact that he owned up to previous bad takes and opinions and deleted old videos and tweets.

20. Litralee.

21. They originally wanted Phil to run the board at the radio show but he did such a bad job of it after the first episode that they gave it to Dan instead, and I think for someone with zero radio work experience or training Dan did an amazing job. He may spend a lot of time doubting himself but when a spotlight is on him he's clever and confident and adapts quickly.

22. The way when he says 'at all' he still sounds like his five year old self.

23.  That he tried to run the marathon last year, and didn't, and tried again this year. When you're someone that fears judgement for your failures and knows everything you do is scrutinized by a very large audience - not just fans but people waiting for you to fail so they can report on that, too - sharing in that way seems like it would be really hard. It was shit luck that he couldn't run it this year either but I have faith he's gonna cross that finish line because the man Dan Howell has turned into goes after what he wants and fuck what anyone else thinks or expects of him.

24. That one liveshow they did without pants. You know that was Dan's idea. Phil is a respectable young man who does not go live on the internet to thousands of people in just his underwear. But Dan? Dan would. Dan does. And Dan is a terrible blerson.

25. That in a video to ten million people he said with his whole chest that his relationship with Phil made him feel safe for the first time since he was a small child. And like, yeah, sure, I'm infatuated with their relationship so it made me happy on a personal level. But beyond that; putting words to things is clearly not easy for Dan. It took him decades to acknowledge he was gay to himself. It took decades plus a little to tell his family. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much people know things, giving it a label is fucking scary and I think his fear of labeling his relationship with Phil (to the public) felt like a different kind of exposure than just his sexuality and he still faced them both.

26. He clearly has a very complicated relationship with his parents and family in general but that one story he told about being young and on holiday to Disneyland Paris and his mum is terrified of roller coasters but went on one with him like six times because she didn't want him to be alone. I'm glad through all the badness and doubt and fear he's had at how conditional his parents' love might be, that he had those good memories as well.

27. It was Dan that coined the phrase 'post-baking universe.' He's very aware of the stages of their life and his growth and he shares that self-awareness with the viewers even if he doesn't share all the depth of reasoning behind them. (He also coined the term 'phan' but in that instance I think uhh he didn't know what he was doing so.)

28. That he's learned better coping mechanisms than lashing out online. That he's got therapy now and the option for medication when he needs it. That depression doesn't go away but he knows he has options and support now.

29. He's given us almost a decade of content to watch and rewatch and enjoy and view through the different lights of his growth and our own growth, and who knows what the future will hold.

Okay, last minute addition - we'll call it one to grow on:

30. That Starcourt selfie.

[annethepancake]

Sherlock rant

I recently rewatched BBC Sherlock for Rupert Graves, and aside from the lack of Lestrade appreciation I have a lot of problems with this series. Here are my thoughts:

1. It was all a blur

My second first impression of the show: I don't remember anything but the characters. And some characters I just blatantly forgot, like Mary. And I loved Mary on my second watch! I really forgot that at one point John actually got married and I don't even remember when I watched the show for the first time. I can still recall most of HIMYM's events and I hated that series.

2. It’s overall not a detective/crime show

Watching Sherlock for the second time, I mostly turned off my brain and just let it play in the background because (1) there's hardly anything for me to solve with the characters, most clues are taken by Sherlock off-screen anyway (especially after season 2), (2) they focus way too much on the quirks of the characters that make it almost like a sitcom that got dragged on for way too long. A crime/detective show shouldn't allow me to turn off my brain.

3. The characters just kinda fall flat

Exploring the depth of human emotions is not a bad approach to a modernized version of anything, I’m not trying to pretend I’m better than someone who gets sentimental over fictional character (if you know my blog at all, you know I am not), but at least write good characters. Sherlock is hardly a multi-faceted person; in fact, he’s kinda like the Wattpad teen fic main character sometimes. He physically fights off some terrorists with a machete to save the damsel in distress? He gets high off his tits but still got everything right all the time? John is just kinda there for most of the cases. Jim is a poorly written antagonist. Irene is a lesbian but gets the hot for our main character, surprise surprise. The only interesting characters to me are the ones who act like normal people: Molly, Greg and Mary. They are the multi-faceted characters, ones who I can actually relate to without feeling inferior to them in any way. Write characters like them, stop trying to be smart about it and stop writing Wattpad fanfictions for Sir Conan Doyle’s original works.

I get that they try to make Sherlock more like a human with emotions, making him quirky and arrogant, then make him quirky and more likable. It’s hardly a convincing character development though. He’s given over-powered deduction skills, so edgy, so high and mighty all the time. When he is finally written as vulnerable, turns out he has plans for that too. I would love to see him get it wrong once and maybe get humbled by that mistake, but getting Mary shot and killed is hardly even his fault, he is only doing his job. And killing off Mary is overall a bad idea anyway.

4. They treated the fandom like shit

I was absolutely disgusted at the start of season 3 when the showrunners just straight up shat on their fans. I wasn't there with the fandom during the wait between season 2 and 3, but I believe it was a pretty long wait (2 years, I could barely wait 2 years for my comfort series, and they have like 10 episodes per season), and they were presented with the first actual mystery of the series: How did Sherlock survive the fall? After years of waiting and having fun theorizing, they were met with a mockumentary about them, starring the most hated character of the protagonist and the fans. Those are the people who actually cared about the show for god's sake. The fact that the showrunners treated fans like crap and there's still an active fandom for the show appalled me.

Now not only The Empty Hearse bugs me, but the entire show does as well.

Allow me to digress.

Doki Doki Literature Club is a great example of audience engagement done right (Sorry for using this example I’m not actually that invested in the other franchises). After the success of the first game, the story provoked so many fans into solving the mysteries of the characters, some of them went really, really far. And that’s because of the actual mysteries that the development team took effort to plant into the plot. There is actual pay-off for painstakingly following the clues; as far as I know, only two (2!) people in the world have come close to solving the mystery of the first game (or they actually did). The game developers value their fans and their intelligence enough to have planted those clues where they did, and it’s a genuine exchange between the fans and the creators. Now even though you haven’t actually played the game, when you hear of the name and you’re only kinda familiar with gaming (like me), you’ll probably know what it is. What started as a mere open-source game by an indie developer became a sensation which left millions of fans begging for more.

Looking back at Sherlock, there are tons of logical flaws for a self-proclaimed crime series, virtually no clues for the audience to solve crimes along with their favorite detective, and when there was actually a mystery (Sherlock jumped off the building), they plainly showed him alive and well minutes later. Do we really need to see things spelled on screen to know what’s going on? Are we supposed to accept that Sherlock Holmes is an all-knowing future-predicting genius now too? Not a great sign of respecting the audience there.

So far, the only thing left that’s interesting about this series is the characters’ dynamic. Which brings me to the next criticism I have for the show.

5. The plague that infested mainstream media

Why is there still an active fandom? Queerbaiting and targeted marketing.

Community marketing is proven to be one of the best marketing methods there is, if not the best, to lengthen the lifespan of a product or service. The way they do that for shows and films and video games is usually by planting seeds of possible lores and history inside the content. Look at Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, they are franchises that ran for multiple years with a ton of history and world building that provokes fans’ imagination.

Sherlock - well, Sherlock has sexually ambiguous men.

Sherlock has a formula for success. It was an adaptation of the most iconic detective novel in the world, funded by one of the biggest TV networks in the UK and possibly the world (don’t quote me on this). Making this series means you can appeal to such a wide group of audience even before airing. Adding in the quirky smart men who live together, you’ve basically guaranteed a prime-time show with millions of loyal fans all over the world.

Fans are not stupid, and queer people don't just find queerness everywhere they go. They know a gay subtext when they see one. Sherlock came back from the literal death for John, pretty gay if you ask me.

This show is very much not just about some guys being dudes solving crimes, they have relationship that’s deeper than friendship, and definitely not platonic. They deliberately wrote a sexually ambiguous Sherlock Holmes from the get-go - literally from the very first episode, then capitalized off of the targeted demographic, never a pay-off for their anticipation. Martin Freeman said in interviews that he could recognize Sherlock fans, them being generally women from 16 - 25. No shit Sherlock, this show targets them and capitalizes off of them, being quirky and gay as hell, of course the fanbase is generally 16 - 25 and female.

Sherlock queerbaited the fandom for years for the sake of marketing and there’s never a pay-off, nor was there any recognition to the community, and to add to all that bigotry, queercoding pretty much all of the villains? Why was a show aired in the 2010′s allowed to do this? Why did Mark Gatiss, an openly gay man, a writer of the show, allow this to happen? Why are millions of fans all over the world allowing all this to go on?!

6. Conclusion

Now I haven’t read the books yet, so I’m not at all qualified to criticize the adaptation quality of the TV series; I’m just talking about the TV series on its own. Despite my criticism, I think the first two seasons did quite okay. There are quite a few nice cases there, I like The Blind Banker and The Hound of Baskerville. They did those well because the focus was on the cases themselves, and the connection between John and Sherlock was only in the background. I, like many other fans, like to figure things out on my own, to read between the lines, and to not have things spelled out for me. With the next seasons bombarded with Sherlock and John bonding it seriously felt like mere fan service for me and even though I wasn’t there when the show was on, I still felt like I was robbed and my interest in the show was abused.

Sherlock is undoubtedly super influential in pop culture even now. It has to have done something right to be in that spot (capitalizing off loyal fans?). I’m not writing this rant to change someone’s mind about the series, by all means, I’m still gonna love the hell out of Gavin Lestrade, and absolutely lose my mind over Mary Watson. So do take my words with a grain of salt, I’m just disappointed that one of the most influential shows there is is just short of my expectations.

[runfast-runfar]

The past week has had its ups and downs but hey, that’s life I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

1/20/22

✨ last week was a pretty fun week! I saw the new Spider-Man movie with a friend and then we went to see Murr from impractical jokers at a comedy club later that week too and it was honestly such needed down time tbh

✨ fast forward to this week and it’s not as happy go lucky, I’m frustrated and having so many issues with some friendships that I want to talk through but the other party doesn’t seem to want to talk through anything really and so I’m stuck in this place of no resolve. It sucks. But it honestly is a eye opener of if people want to be friends with you they’ll want to work through things too. So if it doesn’t work out that way, as sad as it will make me, it probably wasn’t a friendship that was going to last anyways. I’m so hoping it does turn around and that we work through it bc I love the friend dearly, but I’ve vocalized what I want/need and that’s all I can do you know? It is what it is at this point.

✨ but I’ve tried to distract myself and honestly it’s been working and I’ve been dealing in a much healthier way than I would have even just 2-3 months ago. So that is nice to see in myself tbh!

I’ve been reading a lot more! Im reading 2 books atm and listening to a third audiobook and I love it! Im almost done with reading A Mouthful of Air (30 pages left), I just started reading The Diary of Anne Frank (20 pages in), and then I’m listening to Veronica Mars: Million Dollar Tan Line (5.5 hours into it!) By the end of this month I’ll have finished those three books plus the two I already read putting my reading goal at 5/22 ALREADY!!! My goal was two books a month to hit that but I’m loving the time reading + listening to audiobooks on long walks! I can only do audiobooks though with very specific people reading it bc most peoples voices piss me off 😅

✨ so reading has been a nice coping skill. And then I started rewatching Veronica Mars a few days ago after listening to the audiobook and I love this show so much! I’ve seen all the episodes, the movie, the Hulu episodes of it but I hadn’t watched any of it I’m years and I genuinely forgot how much I loved this show and the characters! Veronica Mars was a show I watched when I was a teenager and really really lonely and friendless and I wanted to be like Veronica so badly, and I felt like watching the show gave me a friendship with her even though obviously it was just a show. 12/14 year old me didn’t care, a friend was a friend. So that’s been comforting to revisit in such a huge way too.

✨ anyways, I didn’t work yesterday or today, I did a few loads of laundry and watched Veronica Mars all day basically haha!

✨ I’m just really trying to soak up the last few days of winter break before my LAST SEMESTER starts ahhh!! My goal is to get all A’s to go out strong and bring my gpa back up after a baaaaad semester in the fall :/ But I can salvage it by getting all A’s which is doable! So I’m really just enjoying the last 4-5 lazy days left!

I also cut back working a lot with school since I can’t juggle full time work and school! So I’m just working my barista job on Friday and Saturdays each week and then 1 day a week at my old job on Thursdays! So that will be really nice! In all honesty I might even go down to just working two days and doing 1 and 1 at each job, but I’m going to see if I can swing that financially. We’ll see!

✨ I hope you’re all doing well! I’ll be happily over here being best friends with Veronica Mars and relishing in the nostalgia that comes with it :’)

[taekooktimeline]

1/2 I’m so glad you’re answering asks again! I really value your opinion when it comes to taekook. I’ve noticed many of the recent asks seem a little skeptical, which I don’t understand. I just keep thinking back to the 2020 Grammys. It wasn’t an accident that they wore matching outfits to such a huge event, posed as a couple on the red carpet when the other members started to move ahead, wore rings on their left hands, etc. Is it just me or was this a really big deal?

Kayla: well said anon and I totally agree 😭honestly by the end of the week after episode 6 of IST released, I was so drained and angry at how people were reacting. I don’t know why people fixated on it over all the other events leading up to that, other than I truly feel people actively seek negativity when it comes to TK. So many people, even after I break down my stance on BV4, tattoo girl and 2019 overall, still refuse to see how TK acted around all of that. I don’t mind if people disagree but how do you see all the events surrounding that month break, and clearly see no underlying tension or drama, yet find an issue? I don’t get it.

Part of me thinks there’s a few issues here, one of which is some people have short term memory in this fandom. Grammys 2020 was AMAZING and I’m with you - it was bold, loud and a statement. Jk broke the lineup to stand by Tae. They wore rings on their left ring finger while wearing similar matching outfits. They were affectionate to the point non listeners asked if they were dating. That said everything about who Tae and Jk are to each other. It was, in my mind, very intentional of them, at a very large scale, international event which they knew a lot of people would view. But that was January and IST came in Sept so people focus on that. They take it as “real time” and forget what came before. Time moves forward, but they tend to void out sweet moments for the content that is out “today”.

It also doesn’t help that this show was marketed as a relaxed vacation for BTS, a natural setting. People took this conversation at face value without factoring this is a closeted couple who were - generally but not always - restricted in official content leading up to this and the new contracts taking effect. And some didn’t bother questioning how odd it was this deep talk took place on camera, nor the fact we didn’t learn anything new. In reality, this moment was sweet. Tae was clearly nervous but excited. Jimin, their loving, best friend, played along with Tae in acting a skit to get Jk to the tent. They had a very sweet talk with Jk reminiscing about old times. Unfortunately I’ve noticed people have a tendency to focus on the bad and think it defines an entire relationship. They took the negative subtext, which Jk didn’t say, and took his comment “a SIDE” became awkward and ran with it. They didn’t use critical thinking to really consider setting - a public televised moment - or the fact this is a closeted couple, or that Tae had hard times that probably did impact his moods and how those around him reacted.

As for the “focusing on” I think this is something that is always going to be prevalent with taekook until they say something concrete because every single time Jungkook and Tae do something there are a million people standing behind them with all these excuses of “oh tae does this with everyone” “jungkook hates tae” “tae doesn’t like jungkook” “jungkook touches/stares at everyone too” “you’re making them uncomfortable” etc. I think people just want to focus on the negative because they either can’t or choose not believe at the very basic nature of this entire pairing that Tae and Jungkook are friends (for whatever reason, and I’m not talking about the people who don’t like ‘shipping’ but are fine with others doing what they want, I’m talking about those who actively attack people who are peacefully just reposting moments or enjoying themselves on a FREE platform and not spreading any actual malice). Honestly, in my opinion this is no longer even a couple thing, people can’t stand the idea of Tae and Jungkook even being friends. When that rumour came out that Tae and Jungkook went shopping, not only did someone feel the urge to create a false rumour to show how quickly ‘taekookers believe lies’ but also there were like 10001 people coming into the comments to discredit this woman... I mean for what? Are the members not allowed to go shopping with each other anymore? I fail to see the big deal with this.

At the heart of this matter is that people in this fandom are okay with all the members just being FRIENDS but not taekook. Regardless of whether they see romantic connotations in their actions, people can’t seem to even fathom the possibility that two individuals that have been in a group for 7 years, who became friends during debut and were considered the closest—would even be friends today. That’s actually what’s the saddest and most transparent issue within this fandom. Now people can say what they like but I’ve seen tons of experiments and things that have shown this issue to be fairly black and white. As for the SOOP conversation from episode 6, i think Jk made it pretty clear at the GDA 2021 what he meant—I saw that as a clear statement to how he sees Tae and what Tae means to him—I saw people who were dissecting his words and pulling up naver dictionary which is a whole other issue but the fact of the matter is they directly engaged with that episode “Taehyung hyung and I have been friends since debut, we were very close” “what are we not close anymore” *laughs* “no that’s not what i meant, since then you’ve become even more reliable and dependable, so keep working hard and stay healthy lets do something together soon with everyone when it's safer” [I can’t remember if he said everyone, e.g. 여러분 or a variation, I’d have to rewatch it]. Taehyung point blank asked him “what? are we not close anymore?” and Jk said no and reaffirmed they have always been close, despite what people tried to say after Ep 6.

I just find it interesting how everyone was so quick to take Jk for his word and tell us to “stop twisting his words” during that entire SOOP ordeal, yet when Jungkook makes a statement like this at the GDA people are so fast to start going “oh he said gentleman, that means they don’t really like each other and he’s being nice” “did he hesitate? I feel like he hesitated?” “Jungkook looks like he doesn’t want to be there” “taehyung didn’t even pay attention to his message, he asked him about his hair”.

I think that really says it all about how people treat taekook.

I also want to make a point on where some of the hate derives from. My personal opinion is that the hate or friend narrative is largely driven by Bh. They were the ones who separated them starting in 2017 , which gave fans all the freedom to fill in the blanks as to what happened. Being two of the most popular members of the biggest band in the world, this allowed fans who largely ignore ships to see them as rivals even. In official content, there was never any chance that Bh let them think differently. Don’t even get me started on BH because after episode 6 I really stepped back and evaluated how much BH supports. And I’m really confused by the company right now.

I hope I’ve answered this thoroughly and my apologies it’s so long! Ultimately I think there’s a lot of factors at play: BH separating TK in official content a lot of times in the old contract let people create stories; a lot in this fandom seems to actively look for drama or negativity with TK; people take official content as real time events; they don’t factor in IST being televised, how we didn’t learn anything substantive or new, and twisted words to suit a story; short term memory (Grammys was Jan, IST was Sept).

Finally, thanks for being patient with asks. That’s so sweet to read you’re happy I’m answering them again🥰 There's close to 110 in the inbox 😭I’m going to try my best to answer a couple a week at the least. But the inbox does get me anxious, and it can be draining with the negative asks. Between work, my personal life and the timeline itself, which take priority, I’ll do my best but I appreciate the understanding it takes time to get to questions, and it doesn’t help I’m very nervous people can misconstrue what I say, so I take a while to draft thoughts.

Sara’s General Disclaimer: I may select some asks, think about them and answer in the future through either Tumblr, Twitter or YouTube. Kayla will take over the discussion section as she enjoys active debates and will make the time for it, but I still read them all. Be nice to each other 💜 As it’s natural, I may or may not differ with Kayla’s take/ words.

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The Masked Singer Season 6 Episode 3: Time to meet Group B! (Commentary & Guesses)

Hello fellow humans! Welcome (or welcome back) to Ana’s Masked Singer recap, where I recap and talk about this show called The Masked Singer if you wanna stick around for that. So, this time around, we get to meet the other group, Group B, who we might not see again for 2 weeks, since we are going to see group A perform again this upcoming week with a new wildcard, Pepper. Anyways, let’s get started with the recap:

Group B was introduced and they consisted of Dalmatian 🐶, Queen of Hearts 🫀, Mallard 🦆, Cupcake 🧁, and Banana Split 🍌🍦. They performed, and one was eliminated unfortunately, let’s start with that…

So the contestant that was eliminated/revealed first in Group B was:

Dalmatian 🐶

Performance Commentary: ok, so I wasn’t super surprised by this elimination honestly, I expected it since he was the weakest vocally of this group. He sang Beautiful by Snoop Dogg ft Pharrell Williams and I gotta give him props for actually singing when most rappers just decide to only rap and not sing at all on this show. However, he did sound a bit like they put way too much of that auto tune stuff on his voice so it sounded like a robot him singing, which kinda made him the weakest link. However, his rapping was awesome (duh because that’s what he does professionally… and btw not spoiling who he is with that comment because when you hear the performance, you’ll know 100% it’s a rapper)

And he was revealed to be…

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Tyga

Omg I knew it!! Thank you Twitter for helping me out, y’all are the best. I thought at first it might have been Chance the Rapper but then people started saying Tyga and I was like hmmm lemme see the clues, yup makes sense, well great segue (segway) Ana because imma show you some of the clues you might have missed:

Scream Poster= he was in the Scream series

Cat Doll= play on words because his name is Tyga (like Tiger… man these producers are really into puns, it’s kinda clever tho)

Was discovered by a big player= in 2007, he started doing mixtapes and he was discovered by Travie McCoy who offered him a record deal

Now, that we have that out of the way, let’s get into our remaining contestants (big warning: this group has left me all types of confused when it comes to guesses so I apologize if my arguments aren’t perfect with some of these):

1. Cupcake 🧁

Performance: This performance is so confusing to me. Idk if this is a man or woman, sometimes I think woman with deep voice and other times I am like no that’s a man. So I don’t know about this one, it’s a very good performance of Heat Wave by Martha and the Vandellas but I need to hear more because I am confused. I am in between a specific man or a specific woman but I am not sure so unfortunately for this one I don’t have a guess

Sorry y’all no guess for this one :(… hopefully, next time they perform I will have a better idea*

*(I will say the guess I am leaning towards that a few people have said *just in case the cupcake leaves next* is Ruth Pointer from the Pointer Sisters because there were supposed to be multiple cupcakes and not just one, and in the PKG, cupcake said they were used to being in a group)

2. Banana Split 🍌🍦

Performance: They were 1000% my favorite performance of the night even though only Split/Ice Cream sang A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman. She is amazing, I absolutely love her, she has that iconic Broadway sound that I absolutely adore. Just her singing this makes me so confident on who she is omg I’m stoked!

Having said that, I am so positive, like way too certain none of y’all will convince me otherwise like Todrick level confidence they are…

Katherine McPhee and David Foster

Ok, so you guys are probably like “Ana, how can you be so sure if the damn banana didn’t even sing a note, he just played the piano?!” Well, my friends, you have a point, but I know who she is and honestly I don’t even care if I am wrong ab him (I won’t know for sure until he sings a note) but HER I am absolutely positive….and they are a married couple and the banana has heart eyes so in my head it makes sense with the clues too, but before I go to the clues, I have a funny story on how I know who Ms. Katherine McPhee is… so like I was watching this performance and was like omg her voice Sound so familiar! Where have I heard her before?! This is driving me nuts… And then I saw people on YouTube saying that it’s them and I was like wait Katherine McPhee that name sounds so familiar. Then I looked her up and I found out that I knew who she was because I randomly watched a show on Netflix called Country Comfort (which side note: LeAnn Rimes or the Sun from Season 4 guest starred on that show and LeAnn’s husband stars in it… so connection there?), which to explain the show briefly it’s literally the Nanny but with country music and in Tennessee instead of NY. Anyways, she sang a lot on that show and it clicked, I was like BINGO OMG THAT IS HER IT CANNOT BE ANYONE ELSE (similar to how I felt about Todrick being the bull when I saw that damn sneak peak performance). Anyway ya, that was unnecessarily long, now onto the clues:

She left school to move to the city= she attended Boston Conservatory for 3 semesters and left to move to LA to try out for TV pilots

Thought she got her big break, but it wasn’t it= she got an MTV soap opera plot but it never made it to air

Collaborator who sticks with me through sweet and sour= they have known each other ever since she was on the 5th season of American Idol in 2006 and their collaboration is that he is a music producer and she sings (on American Idol, he would play the piano while she sang… does this sound familiar to you guys yet? Ringing any bells? If not, rewatch the performance Banana Split did)

3. Queen of Hearts 🫀

Performance: She sang Born This Way by Lady Gaga and I already knew she was going to be good, but this was like Black Swan all over again. This beginning song wasn’t the best for her voice, but she had fun and she did the damn thing. Closest Lady Gaga singing impression I’ve seen, but I am positive it ain’t Lady Gaga. Also, she slayed that ending.

Ok, so I am not too sure about this guess but after a bit of research and voice matching, I think it might be…

Jewel (the singer, not an actual jewel)

Again I say, with a bit of research, I feel like she’s the closest guess I can give you guys especially matching the singing voices, but let’s look at the clues:

Grew up in a house that lacked warmth= she grew up in Alaska (born in Utah)

Tin man from Wizard of Oz= she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True in 1995

Hilary Swank photo= Swank has a dog named Jewel (when I read this I laughed, wow Masked Singer really?! 😂😂)

4. Mallard 🦆

Performance: This performance was not my cup of tea tbh, it was real deep country which is not my jam at all. The song title says it all: Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) by Big & Rich. Like it was great no lie, but like I just don’t really enjoy that kinda music so it wasn’t for me.

Again, this one is a shot in the dark guess but I am gonna stick with it and it is the one I am leaning towards voice wise:

Willie Robinson (yes the guy from Duck Dynasty)

Ok, so again hear me out, this might sound stupid (and half of me thinks it is) but it kinda makes sense in a strange way especially looking at the clues:

Surrounded by dollar bills= Duck Dynasty merch raised a ton of bills

Photo of Chris Pratt= they worked together and became friends filming Jurassic World in 2014

Platinum Album= Has a certified platinum album “Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas” (I can’t believe this one, I was pretty surprised)

Anyways, that’s it! I can’t wait to see Group A next week.. again yeah but with Pepper this time so woohoo another Wildcard. I just hope we can see more of Group B too because it feels like too much of Group A is being seen. Anyways, see y’all next week with the recap for tomorrow’s episode! Bye guys! Remember to do all the social media things! Like, comment, follow me for more, all of that 👋🏼

[aion-rsa]

The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise

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By the time my generation got to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, the episodes often were being presented in top-ten marathons. When I was ten-years-old, for the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek, I tape-recorded a marathon of ten episodes that had all been voted by fans as the best-ever installments of The Original Series. Later, I got lucky and found Trek stickers at the grocery store and was able to label my VHS tapes correctly. But do I think all the episodes that were in that marathon back in 1991 were really the best episodes of all of the classic Star Trek? The short answer: no. Although I love nearly every episode of the first 79 installments of Star Trek, I do think that certain lists have been created by what we think should be on the list rather than what episodes really best represent the classic show. 

This is a long-winded way of saying, no, I didn’t include “Amok Time” or “The Menagerie” on this list because, as great as they are, I don’t think they really represent the greatest hits of the series. Also, if you’ve never watched TOS, I think those two episodes will throw you off cause you’ll assume Spock is always losing his mind or trying to steal the ship. If you’ve never watched TOS, or you feel like rewatching it with fresh eyes, I feel pretty strong that these 10 episodes are not only wonderful, but that they best represent what the entire series is really about. Given this metric, my choice for the best episode of TOS may surprise you…

10. “The Man Trap” 

The first Star Trek ever episode aired should not be the first episode you watch. And yet, you should watch it at some point. The goofy premise concerns an alien with shaggy dog fur, suckers on its hand, and a face like a terrifying deep-sea fish. This alien is also a salt vampire that uses telepathy that effectively also makes it a shapeshifter. It’s all so specifically bonkers that trying to rip-off this trope would be nuts. Written by science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson (one half of Logan’s Run authorship) “The Man Trap” still slaps, and not because Spock (Leonard Nimoy)  tries to slap the alien. Back in the early Season 1 episodes of Star Trek, the “supporting” players like Uhura and Sulu are actually doing stuff in the episode. We all talk about Kirk crying out in pain when the M-113 creature puts those suckers on his face, but the real scene to watch is when Uhura starts speaking Swahili. The casual way Uhura and Sulu are just their lovable selves in this episode is part of why we just can’t quit the classic Star Trek to this day. Plus, the fact that the story is technically centered on Bones gives the episode some gravitas and oomph. You will believe an old country doctor thinks that salt vampire is Nancy! (Spoiler alert: It’s not Nancy.)

9. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” 

There are two episodes everyone always likes to bring up when discussing the ways in which Star Trek changed the game for the better in pop culture’s discourse on racism: “Plato’s Stepchildren” and this episode, “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield.” The former episode is famous because Kirk and Uhura kiss, which is sometimes considered the first interracial kiss on an American TV show. (British TV shows had a few of those before Star Trek, though.) But “Plato’s Stepchildren” is not a great episode, and Kirk and Uhura were also manipulated to kiss by telepaths. So, no, I’m not crazy about “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Uhura being forced to kiss a white dude isn’t great.

But “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield,” oddly holds up. Yep. This is the one about space racism where the Riddler from the ‘60s Batman (Frank Gorshin) looks like a black-and-white cookie. Is this episode cheesy? Is it hard to take most of it seriously? Is it weird that Bele (Frank Gorshin) didn’t have a spaceship because the budget was so low at that time? Yes. Is the entire episode dated, and sometimes borderline offensive even though its heart is in the right place? Yes. Does the ending of the episode still work? You bet it does. If you’re going to watch OG Star Trek and skip this episode, you’re kind of missing out on just how charmingly heavy-handed the series could get. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” is like a ‘60s after-school special about racism, but they were high while they were writing it.

8. “Arena”

You’re gonna try to list the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and not list the episode where Kirk fights a lizard wearing gold dress-tunic? The most amazing thing about “Arena” is that it’s a Season 1 episode of The Original Series and somehow everyone involved in making TOS had enough restraint not to ever try to use this Gorn costume again. They didn’t throw it away either! This famous rubber lizard was built by Wah Chang and is currently owned by none other than Ben Stiller.

So, here’s the thing about “Arena” that makes it a great episode of Star Trek, or any TV series with a lizard person. Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn even though he could have, and Star Trek refused to put a lizard costume in a bunch of episodes later, even though they totally could have. Gold stars all around.

7. “Balance of Terror”

The fact that Star Trek managed to introduce a race of aliens that looked exactly like Spock, and not confuse its viewership is amazing. On top of that, the fact that this detail isn’t exactly the entire focus of the episode is equally impressive. The notion that the Romulans look like Vulcans is a great twist in The Original Series, and decades upon decades of seeing Romulans has probably dulled the novelty ever so slightly. But, the idea that there was a brutally cold and efficient version of the Vulcans flying around in invisible ships blowing shit up is not only cool, but smart.

“Balance of Terror” made the Romulans the best villains of Star Trek because their villainy felt personal. Most Romulan stories in TNG, DS9, and Picard are pretty damn good and they all start right here.

6. “Space Seed”

Khaaaan!!!! Although The Wrath of Khan is infinitely more famous than the episode from which it came, “Space Seed” is one of the best episodes of The Original Series even if it hadn’t been the progenitor of that famous film. In this episode, the worst human villain the Enterprise can encounter doesn’t come from the present, but instead, the past. Even though “Space Seed” isn’t considered a very thoughtful episode and Khan is a straight-up gaslighter, the larger point here is that Khan’s evilness is connected to the fact that he lived on a version of Earth closer to our own.

The episode’s coda is also amazing and speaks of just how interesting Captain Kirk really is. After Khan beat the shit out of him and tried to suffocate the entire Enterprise crew, Kirk’s like “Yeah, this guy just needs a long camping trip.” 

5. “A Piece of the Action”

A few years back, Saturday Night Live did a Star Trek sketch in which it was revealed that Spock had a relative named “Spocko.” This sketch was tragically unfunny because TOS had already made the “Spocko” joke a million times better in “A Piece of the Action.” When you describe the premise of this episode to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, it sounds like you’re making it up. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are tasked with cleaning-up a planet full of old-timey mobsters who use phrases like “put the bag on you.” Not only is the episode hilarious, but it also demonstrates the range of what Star Trek can do as an emerging type of pop-art. In “A Piece of the Action,” Star Trek begins asking questions about genres that nobody ever dreamed of before. Such as, “what if we did an old-timey gangster movie, but there’s a spaceship involved?”

4. “Devil in the Dark”

When I was a kid, my sister and I called this episode, “the one with giant pizza.” Today, it’s one of those episodes of Star Trek that people tell you defines the entire franchise. They’re not wrong, particularly because we’re just talking about The Original Series. The legacy of this episode is beyond brilliant and set-up a wonderful tradition within the rest of the franchise; a monster story is almost never a monster story

The ending of this episode is so good, and Leonard Nimoy and Shatner play the final scenes so well that I’m actually not sure it’s cool to reveal what the big twist is. If you somehow don’t know, I’ll just say this. You can’t imagine Chris Pratt’s friendly Velicrapotrs, or Ripper on Discovery without the Horta getting their first.

3. “The Corbomite Maneuver” 

If there’s one episode on this list that truly represents what Star Trek is usually all about on a plot level, it’s this one. After the first two pilot episodes —“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Cage”—this was the first regular episode filmed. It’s the first episode with Uhura and, in almost every single way, a great way to actually explain who all these characters are and what the hell they’re doing. The episode begins with Spock saying something is “fascinating” and then, after the opening credits, calling Kirk, who is down in sickbay with his shirt off. Bones gives Kirk shit about not having done his physical in a while, and Kirk wanders through the halls of the episode without his shirt, just kind of holding his boots. 

That’s just the first like 5 minutes. It just gets better and better from there. Like a good bottle of tranya, this episode only improves with time. And if you think it’s cheesy and the big reveal bizarre, then I’m going to say, you’re not going to like the rest of Star Trek. 

2. “The City on the Edge of Forever”

No more blah blah blah! Sorry, wrong episode. Still, you’ve heard about “The City on the Edge of Forever.” You’ve heard it’s a great time travel episode. You’ve heard Harlan Ellison was pissed about how the script turned out. You heard that Ron Moore really wanted to bring back Edith Keeler for Star Trek Generations. (Okay, maybe you haven’t heard that, but he did.)

Everything you’ve heard about this episode is correct. There’s some stuff that will make any sensible person roll their eyes today, but the overall feeling of this episode is unparalleled. Time travel stories are always popular, but Star Trek has never really done a time travel story this good ever again. The edge of forever will always be just out of reach.

1. “A Taste of Armageddon”

Plot twist! This excellent episode of TOS almost never makes it on top ten lists. Until now! If you blink, “A Taste of Armageddon” could resemble at least a dozen other episodes of TOS. Kirk and Spock are trapped without their communicators. The crew has to overpower some guards to get to some central computer hub and blow it up. Scotty is in command with Kirk on the surface and is just kind of scowling the whole time. Kirk is giving big speeches about how humanity is great because it’s so deeply flawed.

What makes this episode fantastic is that all of these elements come together thanks to a simplistic science fiction premise: What if a society eliminated violence but retained murder? What if hatred was still encouraged, but war was automated? Star Trek’s best moments were often direct allegories about things that were actually happening, but what makes “A Taste of Armageddon” so great is that this metaphor reached for something that could happen. Kirk’s solution to this problem is a non-solution, which makes the episode even better. At its best classic Star Trek wasn’t just presenting a social problem and then telling us how to fix it. Sometimes it was saying something more interesting — what if the problem gets even harder? What do we do then? 

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The humor and bombast of “A Taste of Armageddon” is part of the answer to that unspoken question, but there’s also a clever lesson about making smaller philosophical decisions. In Star Wars, people are always trying to rid themselves of the dark side of the Force. In Star Trek, Kirk just teaches us to say, “Hey I won’t be a terrible person, today” and then just see how many days we can go in a row being like that.

What do you think are the most franchise-defining episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.

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I rewatched the second season of South Park and took so many notes that I had to split them into two parts. Like seriously, I took so. many. notes. And pictures this time. I started rewatching just in case I’d find some cool little facts to sprinkle into my fanfic but I went way too far and now there’s a million facts under this cut (including gay stan, a domestic violence psa, and craig fucking dying)

Stan doesn’t like hospitals, he finds them gross and he gets sick 🤮. Also the hospital in South Park is called Hell’s Pass hospital. Early seasons have the name as Hells Pass but it gets fixed later

Cartman has to sing all of Come Sailing Away by Styx if he hears a part of it. After he says this, Kyle sings the first part and Cartman has to sing the rest. Kyle does it again later, which is kinda mean

Cartman’s mom tries to abort Cartman, who is an eight-year-old child and thus cannot be legally aborted. Later, after she slept with Bill Clinton to change the law and make 40th trimester abortions legal, it turns out she meant adoption

Kenny sacrifices himself to turn on the generator to the hospital and save Dr. Mephesto’s life along with others. He says “I’ll fucking do it” then does it and dies, absolute legend

Cartman gets way too into his deputy role. He goes undercover, pretends to be a prostitute, says “Respect my authoritah!” a lot and beats people up with his police stick

Kenny’s brother first appears when Cartman responds to a call about a disturbance at Kenny’s house. Apparently there are like 10 adult family members in the house at that time. Kenny’s dad has a black eye because Kenny’s mom punched him. She says he can’t hold a job

Token sits in the classroom in season 2

Cartman starts hating hippies in this season, like a lot

Chef tells the boys that the right time to do drugs is in college

Ike’s name is Ike Moisha Broflovski and he was born in 1996, making him 2 years old in 1998 when this season aired

This is probably obvious but yeah Kyle and Ike are circumcised

Kyle says family isn’t just blood, it’s who you care about, and he says “That’s why you guys are more than just friends, you’re my family. Except for Cartman.”

Craig’s finally sitting in the classroom in S02E04

None of the boys like dodgeball

Clyde gets a dodgeball to the face and he cries :( and he’s the only one who cries by the way

Pip throws a dodgeball in Kyle’s face and breaks Kyle’s nose

When Kyle’s mom tells the boys about conjoined twin myslexia (which isn’t a real term) and says anyone might’ve absorbed their dead twin in the womb, Stan and Cartman run away screaming but Kenny and Kyle stay to listen. Kenny even leans in to look at the book “Freaks A-Z!” that Mrs. Broflovski is reading from, and when she leaves, Kyle grimaces and Kenny laughs

Stan’s mom (Sharon) calls Kyle’s mom (Sheila) when Stan is all freaked out and trying to put an icepick through his brain, and Sharon tells Sheila to get run over by a truck. Sharon is pretty mean in these early episodes

Mr. Broflovski doesn’t really listen to what Mrs. Broflovski is saying, bad husband >:(

South Park’s team is always called South Park Cows no matter the sport

The school nurse, Nurse Gollum, went to Colorado State University

I just realized Butters exists. I think he appeared before S02E05 but I didn’t notice but yeah he’s there with the dodgeball team, injured

Here’s a picture to make up for my disgusting anti-Butters bias

Kenny’s dodgeball uniform number is 69 obviously. Kyle is 7, Stan is 4, Cartman is 325

Sheila smacks Gerald in the face so hard he falls off his chair, lots of violence perpetrated by women in this show. Remember, don’t do domestic violence no matter your gender, it’s not cool

I realized after this whole Butters thing that I should’ve made more notes about Pip, so I’ll make a note about his anger issues now. When people call him French, he gets angry and throws dodgeballs at them

The boys launch a jelly roll at Ms. Crabtree and make her crash the bus. They do it just for fun

The kids somehow go to China in the school bus

Cartman references Moby Dick, but he probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about

Kevin Stoley gets named in S02E05 and has his first speaking role when he says he has Chinese parents and after Cartman hears it he immediately says something racist. smh cartman, what a problematic fave

Cartman says “I love you guys 😊” but Stan and Kyle just stare at him and he goes 😐 “Eh, screw you guys 😠”

If Jimbo and Ned really fought in Vietnam, they youngest they could’ve been in 1998 is early forties, which means in the latest seasons they would be early sixties. Btw they met in Vietman

Jesus and Pals is a recurring TV show in seasons 1 and 2. Jesus just kind of lives in South Park

I just remembered that Terrance and Phillip are really old in canon, it’s so weird, like how can South Park canon still be changing, it’s been 20 years

Also the early seasons are casually racist who knew

Kenny flashes his ass on a tape the boys send to Jimbo and Ned’s TV show, which airs and at least 12 people see Kenny’s bare naked ass

Cartman really doesn’t like hippies in these early seasons. He throws a chair at Ned and yells, “Take that, hippie!” (Ned is in a catatonic state and did nothing to provoke this)

Jimbo and Ned live together I guess. Jimbo’s gonna take Ned home and show him some hardcore porn to snap him out of his catatonic state, good husband unlike Gerald Broflovski

Saddam Hussein is in hell and has a Canadian accent and is Satan’s lover in S02E06, I guess he died in Canada in the first episode this season but I wasn’t paying much attention since that’s the Terrance and Phillip episode that pissed a bunch of people off in 1998 because the audience wanted to know who Cartman’s dad is instead. It was kind of a boring episode so I understand why everyone was pissed, but it is funny that Matt and Trey did that so I’m not mad about it

Aww look at them!!! We’ve got background Style, the vaguest inkling of Crenny, and Cartman/Cake

I’d take more screenshots but it’s a pain since I’m watching legally and stupid legal websites block screenshots so I have to find youtube videos instead ughhhh piracy is the answer kids

Apparently there’s a huge waterfall and canyon somewhere close to South Park, maybe? At least in Stan’s dream

Mary Kay Bergman was an incredible voice actor. How the hell did she voice all the moms, Wendy, Shelly, principle Victoria, the mayor, Nurse Gollum, and fucking Ms. Crabtree??? Holy shit what a queen

Kenny has some feelings about death. He reimagines the episode where death boops him to death and in his version, he beats death the fuck up, then has ice cream and is happy 😊 But again, this is in Stan’s dream

S02E07 kind of establishes that nobody remembers Kenny dying because when Cartman tells a story where Kenny dies, Kyle questions how Kenny could’ve died then when he also died just a few hours ago when a giant monster took him

rip craig, he falls out the bus and into a canyon

But it’s okay because it was all Stan’s dream so everything in the episode is questionable. Everything after this is no longer a dream

Pip’s parents are dead and he has to go to summer school while everyone else is having a nice summer break

Officer Barbrady and the mayor are having sexual relations, I’m sure this is the most interesting note I’ve made so far. Idk I’m just writing everything down, this is how I enjoy things, I have no off switch

Ew summer bus stop, cursed

Kyle casually sings little tunes every once in a while, how cute

This is pretty obvious but Kenny likes dirty jokes, he laughs when Cartman innocently says he loves Chef’s salty chocolate balls (which are chocolate candy). Nobody else laughs

Cartman says “Screw you guys, I’m going home” or variations of it a lot in this season

So Stan throws up when he likes someone, right? Well, he’s watching an indie movie about two gay cowboys who start making out and he throws up, which is either a terrible homophobic joke or confirmation that Stan’s a little gay. I know which one I prefer

Kyle says Mr. Hankey is his best friend after Stan. Like I know it’s definitely canon that Stan and Kyle are best friends but it’s still nice to see confirmation, it’s very precious. Also Kyle is best friends with literal shit, so cute 😊

Kenny deaths:

S02E02 Kenny sacrifices himself by connecting a generator wire, which electrocutes him but brings power back to a hospital

S02E03 A tree falls on Kenny and crushes him

S02E04 Kenny falls in a grave and the gravestone falls on him

S02E05 The Chinese dodgeball team throws a ball at Kenny and he gets splattered against a wall

S02E06 Two guys pull on Kenny and tear him in half, as in one has the head and one has the legs

S02E07 A big scary monster plucks Kenny out of the school bus and carries him away. Also in Cartman’s fake memory of Fonzi jumping over cars, the motorcycle hits Kenny and crushes him against a brick wall. Kenny gets smashed against walls a lot, doesn’t he?

S02E08 Flashback: Baby Kenny has a firecracker and it explodes, sprinkling little baby Kenny parts everywhere. Later in the episode, current day Kenny dies when a giant firework snake bumps him off a stage and under a fence, which then crushes him.

S02E09 Kenny is playing with a yoyo outside a movie theatre when a bunch of people come outside and trample him to death. They say “Oh my God, I found a penny!” and “You bastard!”

I’ll post part 2 of season 2 in a couple days. I’m having way more fun writing these stupid notes than I thought I would (also gnomes is coming up soon and i am fucking ready for tweek)

[dirtykpopsnaps]

Watching Dramas- Cha Eunwoo

Warnings: Slight spoilers for True Beauty

Contains: JinJin’s sister, Y/N, and why she doesn’t watch Astro’s kdramas

Requested: no

Words: 2, 055

A/N: Okay, this fic doesn’t really relate to Eunwoo much, but it also kind of does, so??🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

———————————————————————

Outside the shop window, the street is filled with people underneath umbrellas. Large drops of rain splatter the window and blur the street outside. Inside the shop, everything is nice and warm. Customers chatter happily with their friends, talking about millions of different things. “Are you serious?! You haven’t seen it? I thought everyone had at this point!” Across the table, my best friend, Hayoon, is talking animatedly. I laugh lightly, shaking my head.

“I don’t watch any of their dramas,” I tell her honestly. Immediately, Hayoon’s jaw drops open.

“None of them?! You know these people and you don’t watch their dramas?!” She asks in shock. I smile softly and laugh again.

“I see enough of them on a day-to-day basis. I don’t need to see them in my dramas, too,” I giggle.

Right now, Hayoon is talking to me about this new drama, True Beauty. She’s absolutely obsessed with it and has been following it since it aired. I listen to her talk about it, but I know that I won’t be watching it myself. Although it sounds like a nice story, the drama has one cast member that I refuse to watch...Cha Eunwoo. Also known as my brother, JinJin’s, group mate. Ever since JinJin joined Astro, I haven’t watched any of the dramas that the members star in. As you just saw, Hayoon is definitely surprised that I don’t want their dramas.

Across the table, Hayoon rolls her eyes. “Why not?,” she whines, “It’s so good!”

“I’m sure it’s a good drama, but I don’t watch them,” I say plainly, shrugging my shoulders.

“But why?! Just because you know them?” She pouts.

“Well, I kind of have a bad habit of ‘falling in love’ with characters from my dramas and stuff. I don’t wanna put myself in the situation where that character could be played by someone I know,” I shrug lightly. Hayoon sighs at me, shaking her head. “Besides, it’s weird to see them like that,”

I say, scrunching up my nose.

“But...the shows are so good!” She pouts. I nod my head lightly.

“I know they are. I just have trouble watching these guys that I know, act. I mean, I used to love watching Boys Over Flowers. It was one of my favorite dramas. I thought the little F4 were so cute. And then JinJin joined Astro, I rewatched Boys over Flowers, recognized little Moonbin and it all just went downhill from there,” I giggle. Hayoon’s jaw falls open and she stares at me.

“Do you have a crush on Moonbin?!” She asks in shock.

“Oh, God, no. I meant that all I could see was my friend as a little kid and it kinda ruined the separation between the character and actor,” I explain.

Hayoon and I talk between ourselves, picking lightly at the food we had ordered. Even as we’re finishing, Hayoon still hasn’t dropped the subject of True Beauty. “Well, I don’t care. I want you to watch it with me at the sleepover tonight,” she says.

“Hayoon, no, no. I really don’t want to,” I protest, trying to reason with her.

“No, we’re watching it. It’ll be your introduction to Eunwoo’s acting,” she smiles. I sigh defeatedly, resting my head in my hand.

“Fine, I’ll watch it. But, it’s gonna be weird,” I mumble in annoyance. Hayoon squeals loudly, doing a little dance across the table.

“You’ll love it!” She smiles, getting up and starting to throw our trash out. I help her clean up and we grab our umbrellas before leaving the shop.

Quickly, Hayoon and I make our way through the streets back to her apartment. The rain splatters loudly on our umbrellas, falling down in pools around us. By the time we get back to her apartment, my shoes are absolutely soaked. I groan in annoyance and take them off, trying to find a dry spot by the door. Hayoon opens up the door and we both head inside. For most of the night, we just goof around and talk. We watch some videos on YouTube and even some kpop game videos, like ‘Save One Drop One’ and ‘Kpop Dating Game’. It’s just a fun little sleepover.

About an hour or two before we decide to go to sleep, Hayoon shoots me a look. “Time for True Beauty,” she giggles, grabbing her laptop. Instead of watching it on TV, Hayoon decided that we should start from the first episode and watch on Viki. She opens up the site and signs in, humming happily. Once she’s on the site, she finds True Beauty very quickly and clicks on the first episode.

For the most part, the show is actually very good. It’s an interesting story and Hayoon and I keep stopping the episode to talk to one another. About halfway through the episode, Jugyeong is standing at the edge of a building. I stare at the laptop with wide eyes, not able to tear my eyes away in case I miss anything. Suddenly, someone comes onto the roof of the building and pulls her off the edge. All you can see is the outline of a guy, but I make a guess and laugh, covering my eyes. Hayoon sighs in annoyance and stops the episode. “Really, Y/N? You’re gonna miss it!” She whines.

“It’s Eunwoo! I don’t wanna watch it,” I laugh. Hayoon pulls at my hands, trying to force them away from my eyes. Finally, she just sighs and lets the episode play again. I listen instead of watching the parts with Eunwoo.

When the scene seems to have passed, I look through my fingers. “Is he gone?” I ask, watching the laptop again. Hayoon sighs, nodding her head.

“Yeah, Suho is gone,” she sighs, resting her face in her hand. I giggle at her and continue watching the show. As we watch, I realize that I like the show a lot. Just as the show is ending, I’m actually able to watch a scene with Eunwoo without feeling like cringing internally. As the credits roll, Hayoon smiles happily and pats me on the back. “See?! Eunwoo is a good actor!” She squeals. I nod my head lightly.

“That was a pretty good show. I’ll need to keep up with it,” I smile. Hayoon squeals again, throwing her first in the air.

“Yes, success!” She says.

Looking back at her laptop, Hayoon sighs. “We should go to sleep, it’s late,” she says. I yawn loudly, agreeing with her.

“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll need to go to the studio tomorrow and work,” I say, grabbing some blankets and pillows. Hayoon flashes me a throwing smile.

“The studio? As in...,” she starts. I roll my eyes at me, hitting her with the pillow.

“Yes, as in with Astro. I always sit in on their practices,” I remind her. Hayoon giggles loudly.

“Tell Eunwoo that he’s hot,” she laugh. I roll my eyes, hitting her harder with the pillow.

“Oh, shut up. I will tell him no such thing,” I groan, laying down and covering myself with the pillow. A short silence follows.

“Then...maybe tell Moonbin,” Hayoon says, bursting into a fit of giggles again. I groan, covering my ears.

“Stop talking about my brother’s group mates like that,” I whine, holding back my laughter.

—————————

In the morning, I’m woken up by a loud ringing nearby. I groan, rubbing my eyes and grope around for the source of the noise. Finally, I pick my phone off the floor and answer it without checking who it is. “Hmm?” I mumble sleepily.

“Did you just wake up, Y/N?” JinJin’s voice asks. I sigh lightly, pressing the phone closer to my ear.

“Yeah, Jin, you woke me up,” I say. He sighs at me and I hear a rustling as he adjusts the phone.

“We’ll be at the practice studio, okay?” He questions.

“Alright. I’ll get there soon,” I say. JinJin ends the call and I sigh, throwing the blankets off my body. Next to me, Hayoon rubs her eyes sleepily.

“Was that JinJin?” She asks. I nod my head lightly, grabbing the bag of clothes that I brought here before we went out to eat yesterday.

“Yeah, it was. He was just telling me that they’re heading to the studio,” I say, pulling out some random clothes and gathering them in my arms.

When I have all of my clothes, I press the bag against the wall again. I walk into the bathroom and quickly change, checking my hair in the mirror. When I come out, Hayoon is in the kitchen, looking around for some breakfast. “Do you want something before you go?” She asks, looking over her shoulder at me. I shake my head lightly.

“No. I’ll probably get food for them on the way to the studio. They almost never eat before practice,” I tell her. Hayoon smiles and pulls me into a tight hug. I hug her back and grab my bag, waving goodbye before I head out the door.

On the way to the studio, I stop by a street vendor and order some street toast. The vendor gives me a very strange look when I order 7 of the same item, but he finally just hands me the toast. I give him some money and thank him before making my way to the studio. Every once in a while, someone will stare at me as I carry all the food, but no one really talks to me. I’m able to make my way to the studio without much problem.

When I finally get to the building, I head inside and the receptionist points me to the right practice room. Everyone in the building basically knows me, so they always help me whenever I come in. I walk down the hall of practice rooms and step into the room where Astro is practicing. Thankfully, everyone is already on break, so I just walk in and set my things down. Calmly, I walk around the room and hand out the street toast. JinJin raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s this for?” He asks curiously.

“For you to eat, doofus. I figured you guys didn’t grab breakfast because you almost never do,” I sigh, rolling my eyes at him. JinJin chuckles lightly and takes the sandwich, hugging me softly.

“Thanks, Y/N, you’re the best,” he chuckles. I pull out of the hug and give the last sandwich to Eunwoo, smiling.

“And, the last sandwich is for Lee Suho,” I giggle.

At the mention of his character, Eunwoo laugh lightly. “I thought you said you don’t watch our dramas,” he asks, eyeing me and smirking. I shrug my shoulders.

“Hayoon insisted, so we watched the first episode last night,” I explain. He takes a bite out of the toast, then swallows and smiles.

“What did you think?” He says, smiling widely.

“It was...interesting. Hayoon got annoyed with me because I kept hiding my face whenever you came on. But, by the end, I was almost able to get through your scenes without cringing,” I giggle. The members all laugh loudly and Eunwoo pinches his nose, scrunching up his face.

“That’s really not comforting,” he laughs. I shoot him a bright smile.

“It was good,” I say, patting his head lightly.

Across the room, Moonbin speaks up. “So, does that mean you’ll watch some of my dramas soon?” He asks excitedly. I shoot him a skeptical look.

“We’ll have to see about that. I literally couldn’t even rewatch Boys Over Flowers because you were in it,” I remind him. Moonbin pouts, crossing his arms.

“Hey, that’s mean!” He pouts at me. I laugh loudly, walking over and pinching his cheek.

“We’ll see, Bin. Maybe we can watch together and I can hide my face in your chest whenever you’re on screen,” I laugh. He rolls his eyes, pushing out his bottom lip.

“Maybe,” he says.

Calmly, all of the members eat their street toast. After about 15 minutes, JinJin calls everyone’s attention and practice starts. I sit on the wall, watching all of them practice dance moves and singing the songs. Eh...maybe I will watch some of their dramas. ‘I’ll just have to sit down and watch with them so we can all cringe’ I think to myself. Now, *that* sounds like a plan.

[autisticburnham]

Past Tense Parts 1 & 2

Boy, rewatching this in 2020's gonna probably be a fucking trip

Trill has purple seas and Bajor has green ones???

They really named a Ferengi Belongo, huh?

Quark looks so fucking floored that Ben knows the Rules of Acquisition

Christ, forgot the cops wake Benjamin by pushing a gun into his shoulder

The dude thinks Ben and Julian are wearing matching pajamas. He thinks they're a couple

Business Man really almost walks past Jadzia

I know literally everyone who reviews this episode comments on this, but definitely not a coincidence that the men of color immediately get arrested while the white woman gets whisked away into some high class fantasy

2020 does definitely highlight how crowded and underfunded the sanctuary districts are, not to mention the fact that I seriously doubt they get any medical care, just how quickly disease could kill all these people and how little anyone would care

Business Man, you're white as fuck, you having a Maori tattoo isn't impressive, it's gross

Discount? I wish I could say government databases charging government employees for running searches and giving them ads was surprising

This guy sitting next to Ben is so sad he won't let him draw on him

Welcome to beurceacy, Julian

Christ, the cop is so condescending

Uncle, doesn't this Gabriel Bell hu-man look exactly like Captain Sisko?

Oh, Benjamin, I wish riots did start a watershed moment in history

I like to think that more than Benjamin being a history buff, Bell is one of his personal heroes

"Benjamin "power stance" Sisko triple dog darring this dmv worker to call them out for writing their birthdays 300 years in the future" @jvlianbashir 's post lives in my mind rent free

Gross that this lady is like "oh, you're not mentally ill? Well, then, I'm so sorry for not treating you like people"

"It's not that they don't give a damn, they've just given up. The social problems they face seem too enormous to deal with" that may be sharply resonant with the average person, Ben, but it's starkly clear that the people in power do genuinely not give a damn

You know what? I'm actually thrilled that disco is exploring exactly Julian's question as to whether or not humanity has really changed and how the Federation would react to a devastating crisis. Like, I know that that's ds9's whole theme as well, but it's going to be so fucking nice to have a hopeful Star Trek message about the future during this fucking year

Love Julian immediately trying to throw hands with Hat Man for beating someone up

I feel like there's a not so subtle element of racist assholery to Hat Man sarcastically asking "Oh, have we done something to offend you?" abt beating the dude up

Julian, you are too tall to sleep width wise in this alley

Controversial opinion, but Julian's homeless trash is the best outfit he wears

The sanctuary districts existing at all is disgusting, but the fact that there are babies here is horrific

Hell, yeah, dude! Class solidarity!

Christ, the hard cut from the sanctuary district to the business party isn't subtle at all

Those protests in France are undoubtedly a good thing, Business Lady

Granted, I'm white, so I could totally be out of line here, but I actually like that two of the Business People are poc, and that they're just as much privileged assholes as the rest of the Business People. I feel like despite the implications of institutionalized racism with Ben and Julian immediately being arrested, this helps subtly showcase that a very large part of the problem is capitalism bc there's not solidarity between poc if that lack of solidarity can help some of them get rich

Love Julian's tos style double fist punch

Fucking gross that they know that the government killing thousands of sanctuary city districts residents will mean absolutely nothing if the government can "justify" it with the death of like 5 government employees

I love how charmed Miles is by Nerys wanting to yell at Starfleet

"Right now, this ship is all that's left of Starfleet" the disco writers really like this episode, huh?

Class Solidarity Guy's kid just said that this whole thing started bc a guard got in a fight with a dim. Of course it's the fucking cops that escalated the situation in the first place

Of course white ass Hat Man is just trying to personally benefit himself rather than help all of the people here and also has no problem escalating the violence

I don't like Hat Man, but I do like his line "Why do they sound so surprised? You treat people like animals, you're gonna get bit!"

Of course Business Man is friends with cops

I broke my nose...

The solution isn't to get everyone jobs, it's to make it so that having a job isn't a requirement to be treated like a human being

Cop, you're a huge part of the problem for so many fucking reasons, not the least of which is your being a class traitor

"In the interest of friendship," I'll allow 10,000 people to be fed

Ds9 is largely good abt criticizing capitalism, but I do dislike the "I don't want to rely on handouts! Give me the right to work myself to death"

Listen, I know DMV Lady is trapped in the capitalist system as much as anyone else and that if she tried to help more people, she'd probably end up in a sanctuary district herself, but. Her story about helping that one lady gives me Slitheen DoctorWho "I spare one person every now and then so that I can convince myself I'm a not a monster for murdering millions" vibes

I do fucking love her "Everybody tells themself that, and nothing ever changes" in response to Julian telling her it's not her fault tho

✌🌼

Well, their dad shouldn't have been a class traitor then, Bernardo

"Change takes time" "You've run out of time" Tell her, Ben!

Jadzia Dax, coming out of her sewer to shame mankind

Gross that Hat Man is coming on to Jadzia despite how uncomfortable she obviously is and doesn't stop until he realizes she's "with" Julian

Can you imagine if Jadzia had gotten hurt here? Imagine you're a doctor getting ready for surgery and you find a giant slug in a woman

Idk why, but "Invisible" Man gives me Neelix vibes

I do like how Julian and Jadzia work with the frame he understands and just ask him to give the combadge back. "Shockingly," treating him like he's a valid person makes him agreeable

Business Man, you're rich enough that breaking the law won't even mean shit for you

Christ. "The public are starting to view them as people! We have to kill them all now before it gets any worse!"

I like the cop making fun of Julian for liking tennis

Aw, I forgot Class Solidarity Guy died

Forget matching uniforms, Benjamin's actual pajamas are gay culture

"How could they have let things get so bad" 🙃

Groundbreaking, lifechanging, whatever the rest of that Lady Gaga quote is. 100/10

[sometipsygnostalgic]

Adventure Time Reviewed - S1E20 Freak City to S1E22 Henchman

A weaker group, ending on a sweet episode with Marceline. 

Ep 20 - Freak City

These openings with Finn and Jake doing silly stuff are my life.  Finn thinking that a homeless guy will reward him for a single cube of sugar...  The bird scene with Magic Man is really funny and the darkest scene up to this point, besides maybe Finn’s near death experiences in Dungeon. Jake got traumatized!!! 

For the record, this episode is flashing and it’s not advisable to watch with epilepsy.  

In this episode, Jake refuses to help Finn get his body back, because he seems to have a foot fetish and is living vicariously through Finn. So Finn grows depressed, and then kicks Jake’s ass. 

“Im gonna go rescue all the babies in town! Only the babies.” 

Jake throws Finn into a burning city. 

JAKE HAS A CRYDAR... he can sense when Finn is going to cry... 

Jake’s nose is brown in the firelighy. I don’t like it. 

“Kim! Get under Trudy!” “No man, please, I freaking HATE Trudy.” “Kim. I will DESTROY you!!” 

“GET HIS EYES! CUT HIM IN THE EYES!”

I love how good the reverted designs for the Freaks are. Even though they just appear for a second, they’re very creative.   

Altogether an... okay episode? Certainly not one I’m going to rush back to rewatch. The next Magic Man ep in s4 is 10 times better. 

Ep 21 - Donny 

Not the highlight episode of the season. In fact, this character sucked so much that they never brought him back until the series finale. He’s seen briefly in the final montage watching Crabbit dance!

Finn and Jake start the ep on a “safety patrol”. They are never seen doing this again. I find it sweet that they’d go around making sure everyone is being safe. Maybe Finn wanted to, so Jake is playing along with him. 

Finn thinks he’s complicated... He is a young boy with feelings! He’s not an outsider. He doesn’t even necessarily feel like one. But he’s 12 so he is confused. Finn probably feels funny about being the only human too. 

I enjoy that he and Donny become friends through a wrestle that becomes Finn teaching Donny how to fight back. It reminds me of when I fought my sister when I was little. Sometimes we needed those fights. 

The Why-wolves are a nice introduction to the ecosphere and population control... I always wished these guys would come back. There’s a sidecomic to one of the AT issues where they work with Bubblegum on a project but then reveal they’re going to eat everyone, and I think she’s already planned for the possibility, so they’re easily dispatched. 

“Our population will rise exponentially until we are eaten by the cosmic owl, so is the course of nature.”  Beautiful. 

22. Henchman 

This episode was really sweet. 

I like that it establishes Marceline has a known presence in Ooo. Honestly, I’m not sure how Finn and Jake never heard of her before, but she probably doesn’t perform in the Candy Kingdom... She has an old diving buddy, and the Duke of Nuts invited her to perform. 

Upon watching, it’s easy to brush off her so called necromancy as just yelling at the skeletons to wake up. She did use the power in Diamonds and Lemons, but that episode isn’t canon. I think it would work either way, because the Vampire Coven surely had some necromancy powers between them. 

The bow tie guy had an entire family on his walls. Even though he’s a minor character they put a lot of love into showing he has a life.  In the episode Sky Witch, much later, you see Maja’s family on the walls in her house, alongside the 10 million other objects in that episode. I love it when background designers go crazy like that. 

Marceline is acting like an enormous jerk to mess with Finn. It doesn’t seem like EVERYONE thinks she’s a jerk - or if they do, then they don’t care - but she finds Finn’s childish, heroic reactions hilarious. I feel really bad for him. She’s a bully! She even hurts his arms. But her moral code is slightly wack so it’s not as if she thinks it matters as long as he comes out of it alive. She’s certainly not going to molly-coddle him!  

And when Finn figures it out, she’s very friendly.    Finn learns a lesson of not judging books by their covers, while Marceline makes a new friend. 

What’s jarring is that even though Obsidian provides better context for Marceline’s behaviour in this ep, it’s not until her NEXT appearance - It Came from the Nightosphere - that she feels like a person. She’s still stuck in the season 1 archetypical babywriting. Season 2 is much better with dialogue and characters, other than PB and Jake, who are pretty good in s1. PB doesnt get any real standout moments in season 2, which is probably why I remember fuck all from it. Jake is really funny in s2 though.  

[mortallydeliciouschaos]

Highlights of 2020

I was tagged by @maddiesup, thank you so much! I’m so glad you though of me! Quickly before it’s 00:00 where I live lol

list your top 10 shows (bl or not) you watched in 2020 (doesn’t necessarily have to be shows that came out in 2020 though!)

tag at least 10 people you appreciated this year

tag 10 more people to continue the tag

Let’s do this y’all!

Top 10 shows

1. #GayaSaPelikula (Like in the movies)

Ngl, it’s one of the best shows I’ve watched this year. The struggle of coming out and ofcourse the struggle of finding yourself was beautifully displayed. Also, Gav breaking down had me in tears, I compare to him in quite some aspects so it hit close to home. The music is amazing and I listen to the playlist almost daily. BUT THE QUOTES! The ending quotes, they are one of my favourite quotes ever.

TOP 3 QUOTES:

1. Let’s make room for those who’ve lost their sense of home.

2. You are entitled to a love that lets you dance without fear or shame.

3. You own the rights to your own truth.

I can’t wait for season two!

2. Where your eyes linger

It was the first Korean BL I watched and I’m sad that the full show was only 80 min in total! To be honest I wanted to see so much more of both of them and I’ll rewatch it so many times in 2021 too, I already know. The bestfriend but also master-servant dynamic and just all of them as a cast hold my heart. I hope to see many more good bl’s from Korea in 2021!

3. Cherry Magic

I kind of finished the year with Cherry Magic! And if that wasn’t an amazing ride! The characters, the setting the fact that it wasn’t just another teenager love story but actually a bit more mature. Also seeing ‘older’ characters still struggle with insecurities and anxiety is such a refreshing thing to view. This had made me much more excited for other Japanese BL’s that are still on my watching list! ALSO Kurosawa being a cutie and just wanting Adachi to be happy and Adachi trying to get out of his comfort zone it’s just- amazing. The show was truly magical. (I’d share my watching list but it’s 100+ shows so maybe some other time y’all)

4. TharnType: 7 years of love

I love the first season of TT a lot so I was low-key counting down the days until the second season came for all of us. (as a fan I of course do see the toxic parts but that’s also for maybe another post sometime, probably not lol) But I was excited to see how they unfold the rest of the show in 2021 and I love what we’ve had so far. I mean I do get annoyed quite a few (Fiat ngl) but the sweetness (and hotness, I mean who are we kidding) from Tharn and Type I love it a lot!! I can’t wait to rewatch it a million times when it’s finally ended. Can’t wait!

5.  My Engineer

As much as I started watching for Bohn and Duen, I stayed for Ram and King. Their dynamic is amazing and even though they’re not the main couple they have way more depth to their relationship that I had expected there to be. I truly fell in love with King as a person (got so obsessed that I bought a bag similar to his). Ram doesn’t deserve the struggles he has to go through. I can’t wait to see how all of their stories (not only RamKing’s) will unfold in the new year. I hope so see so much more of all of their faces and I’ll keep an eye out for their other projects in this upcoming year.

6.  Strong Woman Bong Soon

Not a BL but what a show, I actually started this show in 2019 once and a few minutes in I lost all attention and couldn’t find a motivation to continue watching but when I started this year the pilot had me wanting to know what would happen and I also didn’t expect to fall face first for our one and only In Kook-Doo (Ji Soo). If you haven’t watched it yet, I hope it will come on your watch list because it only took me 2 to 3 days to finish it because it’s so good. Do not start watching it if you have more important things to do (test, deadlines, etc) cuz you might not actually finish.

7. The Prince of Tennis

I watched it earlier this year and then rewatched it at the end of the year and I still loved it so much. I tend to like sport anime’s quite a bit, and this is actually a ‘live-action’ version of an anime and I fell in love with all of it. The characters, their quirks and all of their ‘powers’ and ‘moves’, I always go quicker through the show than I think and then it’s over so quickly :( Still, if you like sports anime (free, haikyuu, etc) check it out!

8. 2gether (& Still2gether)

2gether is the epitome of fluff and even though it holds a dash of angst and a lot of amazing character development. I had a smile on my face the most of the time I was watching this show. And Still2gether was one of the best surprises for me this year, extra episodes in the same year? More of my fluffly bois? My angry-I-stab-you-boi and puppy-boi facing challenges and overcoming them? The KISSES? Yes. I don’t have much to say other than, it was good and I do hope to see more of both Win and Bright, I hope as a couple in the show ngl, soon but I’ll support them either way. I wish them so much succes and love.

9. Ingredients

Ingredients was a show I saw quite a bit of on tumblr, and we all know, if your mutuals watch it, put it on you list! So it got on my list the beginning of 2020 but I actually started watching it more towards the end and I fell in love with both of the characters and all of the support characters too, I hope to see much more cuteness from both of them and I can’t wait for other episodes. Also why are the episodes only so short? I want more of my bois :D

10. I’m Tee, Me Too

Not a BL, but I love the characters and they are THE pillars of GMMTV so I had high hopes. And my hopes were met. A great show and even though the actors didn’t play the others romantic interest you could still see the amazing dynamic all of them had together. If you want to laugh (with a dash of angst for character development) then this is such a good show for you to watch!

People I appreciated this year!

so many people, I love you all so much! (sorry if I forget you :()

@the-speediest-boi @sarawatism @negrowhat @incorrect-tharntype @kindaanartblog @leeairisu @lovelysunshine96 @zaintseeme @cu-tine @mewsuppasit

Thank you guys for making this year amazing and bringing so much joy to me <3

It’s been floating around tumblr for awhile so consider yourself tagged if either I already tagged you as a person I appreciated or if you want to fill it in anyway!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope all of you stay safe and healthy this new year! Let’s all work together so we can do much more later :) I love all of you and I hope all of your loved ones also stay safe <3

[soldieronbarnes]

what are you're top 5 malec kisses?

First off, I wanna thank you for effectively derailing all my plans to work on my fics tonight - I spent like an hour contemplating this and then searching for appropriate gifs (bc I didn’t have time to make my own - I’ll cite the gifmakers below) and it was a super welcome distraction! Also, I’m going to cheat a little because #5 was a little hard to decide on, so I’ll give you three options.

 5. #it’scomplicated

(@daeneryskairipa)  My personal favourite for this place, I think, is the cheek kiss from 3x11. The casualty of it, implying they’ve done this a million times before, how attuned they are to each other, Alec’s happy smile because he managed to compliment his future husband and make him smile. It’s such a soft moment between these two and it always makes me smile.

Other strong contenders for this place were the break-up kiss from 3x18 - 

(@ahoyspn) I mean, how could it not? Magnus’ desperation, the fact that you can see that Alec so desperately wants to give in and kiss him back but can’t even bring himself to look at Magnus because he thinks he has to to this, it’s the only way to make Magnus happy in the long run….ouch - 

and the reunion kiss from 3x20 - 

(@eternalalec) just, the way Alec immediately can’t hold back when Magnus says that his father isn’t a threat anymore and he forgives him - he was trying to hold back so much before, and he literally couldn’t even wait for Magnus to finish explaining because he missed kissing his boyfriend so much, we stan.

So it’s a tie between these three.

4. The wedding kiss from 1x12

(@magnusandalexander) But Rena, you say, why is this so low on the list? Listen, it’s a fantastic kiss and an important stepping stone for their relationship (I MEAN; WHAT A FIRST KISS!!!) and it has a lot of passion, and a lot of meaning because Alec’s finally breaking free of his upringing and culture to choose Magnus and his own happiness but I think this is only the first kiss that paved the path to even greater heights (kisses)

3. The training scene kiss from 3x12

(@baneedom) This is….possibly the Malec scene I have rewatched most often because I am weak, but also because it’s not only hot but fun and flirty and PERFECTION (if you ignore that 3x11 implied that Magnus didn’t know how to fight without Magnus and then turned out to be great at it but fuck continuity, it’s worth it for this scene). 

I think part of why I love this kiss so much is because I feel like in most modern media, even though we have come a long way, gay couples are either hypersexualised or desexualised (and SHTV has been guilty of it - what was it with this phase where they were only allowed to touch shoulders during kisses???) but this scene clearly establishes that this is a couple that not only adores each other, is very in tune with each other, but is also sexually active and very familiar with each other (LMAO, you know how they get) and - yeah, you know from this scene that this is something they do regularly, without making the scene (or their relationship) all about sex. 

2. Alec choosing Magnus in 2x06

(@magnusalxander) “Better than the wedding and training scene kiss??? No way!”  I hear you scream. 

YES. Let me explain. This is the moment Alec actually, consciously, chooses Magnus. The series touches on it, and I’m glad it does: when he kissed Magnus at the wedding, it was less for Magnus than for himself, a statement that said fuck you, this is who I am, this is who I’ve always been, I will live my truth. That’s very powerful, and I love it, but this: this moment, is so much more meaningful. Because they went on their first date and discovered that, while they have several personality traits in common, there are also a lot of things that separate them aside from outside influences. 

Alec could’ve easily chosen a different path - he could’ve tried to find a gay Shadowhunter whose lifestyle and experiences were closer to his own. And just before the kiss, you could tell that Magnus wanted to call him back and try to convince him to give them another shot, but couldn’t do it, either because he couldn’t take being shot down, or because of resignation, thinking that this was actually better for both of them, that they didn’t fit. 

It would’ve been easier for them to leave it at that, to walk away at that point, but after all the times that Magnus put himself out there for Alec, Alec decides to take that leap of faith and actively choose Magnus, and it changes everything, so this is arguably THE most important scene for them in the entire series. 

1. Their first time kisses in 2x18

Am I predictable? Yes, yes, I am, and I’m not ashamed of it. I’m not even mad that I can’t even choose one particular kiss from this scene, because I honestly believe this scene is the best first time scene of any couple ever shown on television and I’m not sure anyone will ever top it.

Exaggeration? Maybe. Probably not. I mean, just look at these goofballs:

(@ahoyspn) The entire scene is made so perfect by how NOT perfect it is. They are struggling to get out of their clothes - they are not smooth. They can’t stop kissing, and they are giggling at each other because they are just so fucking happy to be with each other. Props to whoever directed/edited this episode and decided to leave the mishaps in because it makes it so much more organic and real. 

And then this

(@archieandrew) This is the one that actually killed me dead and that I could rewatch in slow motion all day, every day, for the rest of my life because ???!!jksfhsdjkfh??!! I honestly always imagined that Alec would by shy/reserved because of his lack of experience but nope, here he is, literally lifting himself off the bed and pressing into Magnus because he can’t be close enough to him and ughhh it’s just such a good scene in general. 

There’s a really good post that sums up everything I feel about their first time >here

This is way too long and rambly, and I apologise and am gonna wrap it up now…if you don’t agree you can come yell at me, but don’t expect me to change my mind.