#It took only 50 episodes for a hug

[juleswrites223]

Two of hearts

Season 1: Episode 2

Context: Fernando comes back from his daily routine of killing zombies near the safehouse and you suspect he's not saying the whole truth. You get closer to Carlos as something more then friends while poor Charles becomes a third wheel.

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F1 apocalypse masterlist

"Okay first off, shooting a handgun with precision requires three things: balance, technique, and practice." Carlos says holding a revolver in his right hand.

You are playing with Jośe, Fernando's dog, in the backyard where Carlos is teaching Charles how to shoot a gun, a handgun to be precise. Charles, eyes full of determination, listens to words spilling out of Carlos' mouth with full concentration.

Fernando has a routine. In every two days he goes out on his motorcycle, he scans the area around safehouse and kills whatever zombie is within 2 km of the safehouse. Every day, he goes up to the terrace of the house, a huge telescope is placed so Fernando can see anyone, living or dead, in the surrounding area. He is usually up there half the time, only coming down to either eat or let some steam off which means attacking the practice dummy, he says its for practice.

After a while, Fernando comes back covered in blood, this time more than usual which concerns you a lot. Charles' training session with Carlos comes to an end as Fernando approaches.

"More zombies than usual?" You ask carefully looking for any bite marks on him or any sign that a zombie got to him, but you're not that worried because you know Fernando is too much of a pro.

"Sí, parece que se están aburriendo de la ciudad. (yeah, feels like they are getting bored of the city)." Fernando grunts as he takes off his leather jacket and puts his rifle aside.

"¿Deberíamos preocuparnos? (Should we be worried?)" Carlos says as he walks closer to where you and Fernando are standing. Fernando mutters "no" and walks inside the house, on his way to shower.

Charles also comes closer where you and Carlos are standing alone, trying to discern what you both are looking at. You and Carlos are still staring at the road afar, both of you share a look that means, Fernando is not saying the full truth.

"I am gonna work on dinner now. Get inside, the sun is setting." Carlos says finally breaking the trance.

"Charles, come with me. We need to shut off all the windows and draws the curtains." You sighed as you all walked towards the house.

“So are you worried?” Charles asks you tentatively.

“A bit. I fear Fernando is not telling us the whole truth.” You reply.

As dinner time finishes with very little talk, you all head back to your assigned rooms. Night approaches rapidly and you are tossing and turning, unable to sleep. You decide to head to the living room, there is a television set there, last you checked it has a few dvds on the cabinet next to it.

As you’re watching some 50s show with the volume kept as low as possible, a hand comes to grip your shoulder.

You shriek as you turn around and notice it’s Carlos.

“God you scared me, what are you doing up?” You exhale a sigh as Carlos comes to sit beside you.

“I should be asking that to you no?” He whispers.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Ah”

As you both sit there, you turn and ask him,

“Do you ever think that you’d be better off dead?”

“Sometimes… but I realise my family may be alive so I have to keep hope and keeping living I guess.” He replies. “Plus who would keep you alive if I die huh?” He adds as he lightly bonks your head.

“Hey!” You say offendedly as he only shrugs, his lips breaking out in a soft smile.

“Sometimes, I wish I’d have killed myself ages ago, before this nightmare took place.” You say grimly. Carlos raises his eyes at your words. As long as he’s known you, you’ve always kept a positive, happy go to attitude so hearing this definitely shocks and upsets him at the same time.

“Don’t say that.” He brings you in for a hug and kisses your forehead. “I’m here, and I promise to protect you.”

The next morning came and you arose to find yourself in Carlos' arms, in his bed. As you went to get up, his arms wrapped around your waist pull you back toward his chest.

"I don't get a good morning?" Carlos whispers, his voice raspy.

"Good morning, mind telling me how I ended up in your room?" You ask sweetly.

"You fell asleep and I got you here. Simple as that." He shrugs.

You hesitate a moment before asking him a question that has been lingering in your mind since yesterday.

"Do you think Fernando is hiding something from us?" You ask as he sits up straighter and raises an eyebrow. "Ever since he came back yesterday, I feel it in my gut that he's not telling us the whole truth."

He thinks a bit, you can see the gears in his head turning then he responds, "Look, if Fernando isn't telling us something, it's either to protect us or he thinks it's not important." But his response doesn't seem convincing, not to you and it looks like he himself doesn't believe his words.

"You don't get it, I have a bad feeling about what he said. It's like he didn't exactly lie, he told the half truth which worries me." You reply.

Before Carlos can reply, the door opens followed by Charles who was focusing on the remote in his hands, "Hey do you know how to-" He looks up and sees you and Carlos in his bed, "Uh I didn't realise you both were together." Charles yelps quickly as averts his gaze from you guys.

"It's okay Charles, here I'll help you with the television." You get up yet you're looking at Carlos, your eyes say, this conversation isn't over.

As you fix the TV up for Charles, you realise you haven't see Fernando all morning, you go to check his room but you don't find him there, Hm must've gone hunting, you think to yourself. You know you need to confront him, sooner rather than later. You just hope that Fernando tells you the full truth this time.

Taglist: @thefuckwasmyname @sam-f1 @authentiqsunsets

[askwenjing]

So... how do I feel about the series finale?

Well, I have mixed feelings about it.

What I like about it:

1. Hemlock and Rampart's deaths - they deserve it.

2. Nala Se sacrifices her life to destroy the databank - it's a fitting fate for her.

3. Emerie survives and starts a new life. I thought she's going to die.

4. Echo gets to shine.

5. Omega causing chaos and leading the kids out of Tantiss.

6. Prison breakout like Narkina 5 situation

7. Omega hugs Crosshair.

8. Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Omega and Echo survive (as predicted)

9. GILF Hunter

10. The epilogue is good - bittersweet to see Omega has grown up and chose to join the Rebellion.

But I have many issues about it:

1. Tech is actually gone... I can't believe that the crew dragged us with false hope. It is so cruel. Tech deserves a good ending!

2. There is a lack of mourning and paying tribute to Tech. He's only remember for his usefulness and intelligence, not as a loving brother. This is hurtful for the ND community.

3. The whole CX-2 identity - it turns out he's a nobody... but why so much focus on him and why so many clues pointed him to Tech? I suspect that CX-2 was supposed to be Tech, but something happened behind the scenes and changed it, but they didn't change the script. It's like they want to satisfy both Tech is Alive truthers and non Tech is Alive people - and they fail both of us.

4. What is going to happen to the Force-sensitive kids? We saw Echo and Emerie brought them on a shuttle and probably went to Pantora to meet Riyo Chuchi. I think they are later sent to Naboo (where Kelleran Beq hid Grogu?)

5. Scorch's death. I was 50/50 for his death, but I really wish they could have kept him alive.

6. Crosshair's hand gets cut off. I know people say that by losing his hand, Crosshair is forced to face his trauma. His arm was trembling, without his shooting hand, and using an unfamiliar blaster. He took a deep breath and took a leap of faith, and made the shot to save Omega. Of course, the mental trauma still remains but at least he now have the space to heal on Pabu. However, they glossed over him still dealing with trauma after returning to Pabu. I don't like that.

7. The memes and "jokes" about Crosshair losing his hand, saying "now he has lost his hand, he doesn't have to deal with his hand shaking anymore!" I struggle with anxiety and depression, and my hand was shaking before and during the finale watch - the episode was anxiety driven to me. I find the scene was giving the message "if you want to solve your anxiety, then cut off your problems!" I can't cut off my problems, and that is just ignoring the problem... it's not healing... It's made worse when I found out the Kiners made a cryptic tweet about a chef chopping off a fish's head and it was referring to Crosshair losing his hand... and they thought it was funny. I lost respect on them.

8. The CX Troopers are basically Knights of Ren - they look cool but quickly disposed of. I hate that.

9. The time jump only made me wonder what was Echo's fate. Since the Clone Rebellion didn't work, I assumed the worst that Echo died for his brothers... and if that's the case, the Bad Batch never mentioned him, as if he didn't matter to them! I also assumed Emerie died as well.

10. I already knew anything about Cody and Wolffe would be left for another series.

11. I can't believe we didn't see GILF Wrecker and Crosshair. They all three should be there to bid farewell to her.

12. Batcher became Hunter's dog... she was more of Crosshair's therapy dog...

13. I hate that they didn't explain much about Project Necromancer - the casual viewers would be so confused.

14. Corbett and Rau still played around Omega's M-Count as a mystery box even in the interviews after the finale. She is NOT Force-sensitive - it's just her blood can accept Force-sensitive blood and retain its M-Count, so it's useful to create Force-sensitive clones. They play around for too long and many people are left confused why Omega never used the Force on the Zillo Beast. I want them to confirm a "no!"

15. The Zillo Beast just left... so why the Empire needed to clone a Zillo Beast?

16. Corbett and Rau said that CX-2 was a mirror of Crosshair, then why it was Hunter who killed CX-2 instead?

17. Some Wrecker girlies feel that Wrecker is treated as a tool for his strength like Tech is treated as a tool for his intelligence. Yeah, it's messed up.

18. I find it a bit sad that Hunter, Omega, Crosshair and Wrecker just choose to settle down on Pabu when the Empire is still expanding its power.

19. They should cut off Fennec and Ventress episodes - they serve nothing to the plot.

20. So many loose threads - Why the Kaminoans created female clones? Did Crosshair really remove his inhibitor chip?

21. I don't like Hunter only has tunnel vision on Omega.

22. Omega didn't even use her energy crossbow! She didn't even bring it in the epilogue! What was the point?!

23. Rex, Gregor and Howzer are not even in the finale! Well, at least Howzer lives.

24. Crosshair saying "Clone Force 99 died with Tech". It sounds like he resents Tech and his family... which is out of character.

To be honest, I was numb about the ending. Something was off, and I could feel it. The more I process it, the more dissatisfied I feel about the ending. I have broken down crying not because I didn't get what I want, but more like I felt betrayed by the writers.

To me, the Bad Batch is about celebrating inclusivity and diversity - that we can be true to ourselves. This series has given me hope for the future that we can love ourselves and others for who they are. This dream seems impossible based on my real-life experiences, but the Bad Batch keeps me safe and nurtures my dream. Seeing the fanarts, fanfictions and headcanons have given me more hope for the future despite all the obstacles ahead. That is why I write so many Bad Batch analyses because I want to share my knowledge and findings to many people, hoping that they can understand the powerful messages from these stories that may change their lives.

I appreciate each Bad Batch member, and I can see myself in them. I want my analyses to assure other people that they are loved for who they are. I even finished the Clone Wars arc analysis hours before the series finale, because I thought that the finale would have parallels with the Clone Wars episodes. After all, the title is "The Cavalry Has Arrived", which is said by Wrecker in the Clone Wars arc. Alas, I don't feel like we have gotten that...

After some discussions and analyses, I feel that season 3 has done a disservice to the Bad Batch, and Omega is the only main character who benefits all. No hate to her, but I just wish the rest of the Bad Batch are given the same respect they deserve. The Bad Batch is an idea of George Lucas that Dave Filoni later brings them to life for Clone Wars before cancellation. I feel that Disney only prioritize characters made under the Disney Star Wars banner, and that's Omega. No hate to her. The series finale feels like Disney has disrespected the last of George Lucas' works, because I couldn't comprehend what valuable life lessons from all of these.

Moreover, to see the crew dragging us with false hope, making jokes about Tech's sacrifice and that he lives, joking about Crosshair losing his hand, remembering Tech only for his usefulness and intelligence, giving Hunter tunnel vision of Omega, sidelining Wrecker and Echo, and ruining Crosshair's character arc in the last two episodes (actually I feel that except Omega, the rest of the Bad Batch suffer from character assassination)... It feels that they never cared about us. It's like my dreams and hopes for a better future where everyone can be true to themselves have been shattered… The Bad Batch is all about celebrating inclusivity, and the crew ruined it.

Besides breaking down to tears about the constant reminder that nobody cares about my anxiety attacks, the whole talk of Tech only being remembered of his usefulness and intelligence opened wounds in my heart. Growing up, my family used my excellent grades to boost their image. My father used my grades and talents to boost how he was a great father when in fact he was rarely present in my childhood. When I was around 24, I learned from my aunt that if I wasn't smart or talented, my father would never recognized me as his child. This realization shattered my worldview and that's how I ended up in a dark place. I was there for more than a year until my epiphany about the Bad Batch pulled me out there. My father did apologize for his actions and want to make amends.

Yet... I am back in the dark place once more because of season 3... and it's been a year since I am out of the dark place... it feel worse than "Plan 99" because I felt that everything I have worked on, with my tears, sleepless nights and heavy research... has come to mean nothing... my mental struggles mean nothing... and it seems life means nothing... it's only hopelessness and the cruel, harsh reality...

Star Wars is about hope. It is a modern-day myth that George Lucas uses to uplift people's spirits. But why do I feel so... numb, empty and betrayed?

I will still stay around the Bad Batch fandom, since I always enjoy the fanfictions, fanarts, fan comics and headcanons, and I prefer them over the actual series. I will eventually write my season 3 analysis, but I still have to process it. For now, at least I make the right choice for my OC to be a Jedi, so I am going to do a "fix-it canon" then.

Will I be able to leave my dark place? Someday, yes. I believe that because Tech says, "we will find a way, like we always do." Although my wounds may take a long time to heal, I will still keep fighting. I know that I must never give up hope. I must keep fighting for that dream, no matter how impossible it seems.

[littlesstorietime]

Mommy stopped over my place today for an inspection, and was not happy…. She knew I cleaned all day yesterday, and still wanted to see for herself.

Item after item, she checked to see if it was dusted, until my entire place was examined. Afterwards, she goes to her bag, and tells me to go across her lap (which is where I am in the pic(hate that my diape is wet 🥺)…. 50 seats of the hairbrush later, my bum burning a million degrees…

After my spanking, I was due for a change. Mommy led me to my room, and told me to lay on my bed.

As I do, I hear my “toy” drawer open, and I freeze.

“I said lay down sweetie.” She reaffirms what she says.

My bum hits the bed, as I look up at her. She’s standing there looking like she won something, while holding my plug….

“Mommy no….” I beg and struggle in my mittens and bound ankles.

“Oh yes sweetie.” As she climbs into bed between my legs.

Moments later, she straps my mittens to the top corner of the bed, and unstraps my ankles.

“Now let’s get you changed!” She says excitedly, I can’t say the same.

The typical change commences, old diaper down, and wiped. Typically she is quick with the rest, but that’s when I saw her “priming” the toy…

Moments later, she lifted my legs in one hand, and started rubbing my bum, slowly inserting it, making me squirm.

“Ready baby?” She asks. I nod my head “no”, but I knew what was coming next. I felt the plug press up against my bum, and it slowly went in….

Once done, she taped me in a new diape, and we went and watched Curious George, while she fed me a bottle, then rubbed my backside. After 2 episodes, we went back to the bedroom…

I was worried the plug was staying in, but she gladly removed it before she asked me to lay down. She tied me to my bed, and used a vibrator on my wet diape, only pulling it away when I was getting close….. if I wasn’t caged, I would have made cummies, but no…

We took a small nap, me still mittened. I woke up soaked and frustrated…. She changed me, took my mittens off, hugged me, and handed me MORE homework!…..

Afterwards, I put some big clothes over my little stuff, and helped her to her car. Fantastic day today, and we plan to get together this weekend 🥰.

[crispfencer]

Hello! Here's my blogpost about what it was like as an audience member on Saturday Night Takeaway!

Three tiers of audience members:

Participants

These people hang out in The Broadcaster (the pub the guy from episode one got whisked out of) and mosey on down to get entry whenever they feel like it. They also get to watch the rehearsal. I have no idea how to become a participant but I have a feeling some of it is casted?? They were a very diverse bunch, whereas only three people out of the 200 in my queue weren't white. These people get wristbands and have their photos taken for the audience cam, and get directed to the aisle seats if they're going to be chosen for something later.

Priority

These people paid for the £30 a year Audiencestore subscription, meaning they get more or less guaranteed entry. There was about 50 of them and they got whisked through security hours before us, and then just stood behind a barrier for the same amount of time as us lol

General

The trenches!! I stood in the cold for about 5 hours with no real guarantee that I'd get in. About 50 or so at the front of the queue were allowed to join priority but after that it was a waiting game. The guy who runs the queue said our role is basically to fill seats for the participants who don't turn up, and then to fill the comp seats when they don't get used (eg if busted had 20 tickets to give away to friends, family etc and only 5 turn up, General will fill the remaining 15 seats.) He said once the allocation of seats is filled by participation and priority tickets, he can get anywhere between 4 and 100 of us in. As he learnt more about which comps had been used, he slowly culled the back end of the queue. We all prayed he wouldn't get to us lol.

I got there at 14:30~ and was let into the studio at around 18:45. Some experienced queue goers had brought picnics and hot food, which I will definitely be doing next time!

The studio:

When I entered I felt like I was at Disneyland or something! The air had this magical haze about it, which I soon discovered was because they pump smoke into the room to make the lighting look nicer lol. If you're looking onto the audience from the stage, we all came in from the left, and the crew and vans and stuff all came in from the right (the staircase doors at the top are just for ant and dec to spring out of lol, they lead to a brick wall). There's an upper layer which had a few junior looking people operating some..... spots I think?

There's another blue booth on the opposite end to the star guest announcer one which I can only assume is for some tech direction stuff.

The warmup:

We were made to do all sorts of warmups like dancing, karaoke and stuff. The clip of the audience all waving used during the 'after the break' inserts was recorded here. We were also told the rules (no rude gestures if the camera goes to you, never stop smiling, laugh a lot) which are pretty similar to other shows. The unique instruction was to not 'grab or hug ant and dec' when they decend the steps, but we were allowed to high five etc. During each ad break we were also schooled on any call and response lines (ring my bell, Stephen, etc). After this he 'brought the boys out' and we all went wildcrazy, obvs. Then the main cast all took a big end of series photo together.

When dec was walking up the stairs to get into position a woman in the audience grabbed him and said something like 'I went to school with you'???? it was really fucking awkward because he sort of blanked and everyone else our column was just sort of staring. Such a weird place to accost him for a reunion, he handled it with grace but it was rude as hell imo.

The guy in charge told us to turn off our phones and not take any photos, but I set mine to silent and audio recorded the whole show lol.

I hardly noticed when we actually went live, since we were so busy doing all these other tasks it still felt like a rehearsal. Made me way less nervous than I was in the queue!

The show:

You saw this so I won't go into much! Ant and Dec were only slightly amplified to us, so we had to stop cheering to hear what they were saying. They both looked insanely beautiful. They also looked tiny.

During the happiest minute the presenters would stay for a little bit longer with the person they rewarded, to say congrats etc. I think Andi Peters and Fleur took the most time and Mulhern took the least lol.

Whenever they go to someone at home the autocue says DEC (SKYPE) which I found funny

With regards to improvising around the autocue script, Mulhern did it the most, then Andi > Dec > Ant > Fleur > Rob > Jordan. Overall Jordan looked very shy and out of his depth lol, I wanted to tell him he was doing great

Ant didn't seem to enjoy watching himself on screen at all, and would generally grimace/look away. Dec would laugh at the things he himself said LOL

During the ad breaks Ant and Dec would run off to have five minutes backstage with each other. When they didn't, they'd stand around together while talking to the director and others

At one point where we in the studio thought we weren't live, they shared a private joke and kissed each other on each cheek. I thought I'd imagined it but somehow @quicklyandrogynousfox-blog caught it!!

They seemed to stand a lot closer when off camera which made me go insane

At the end when Busted (!!!!) were setting up, Mulhern strode up to them and started chatting. Jordan kind of milled about behind him like he wanted to join in, but after a few false starts he just sort of stared at his feet 😭 ily jordan

(I didn't realise Busted were British, sorry guys)

Ant and Dec came back at the end to say that tonight was their favourite episode! Afterwards a few words were said about Paul O'Grady, because a lot of the crew had worked with him over the years and were finding the news hard.

Other bits and peices/my own diseased analysis:

Dec was very dec-like lol, when ant quickly moved into position at the top of the steps, Dec stopped to wave and shake everyone's hands like he was the queen or something. He loves giving and receiving attention lol, ant was much more reserved

Stephen's behaviour correlated with what others who've met him irl have said, in that he's basically two different people. His TV persona is very loud and comic but literally as soon as the camera is off him (like in the happiest minute) he goes super shy and looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Fleur is a laugh, I like Fleur

Rob seemed quite scared of how enthusiastic the audience were

During the undercover both ant and dec laughed whenever rylan would say something vaguely diva-ish. Ant didn't laugh as much as dec did, who really got the giggles.

I think that's it! Thanks/sorry for reading so much.

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

I’ve finally started listening to Season 2 of The Magnus Archives, so as per usual, here are my thoughts on the first 10 episodes of the season, from 41 to 50! Already this season is shaping up to be a wild ride and I’ve really enjoyed it so far. But as always, here are some things to consider if you plan to read this post.

1: This post is extremely long and in depth, the longest of these I’ve made so far in fact. Read it only in chunks or if you have enough time on your hands.

2: There’s obviously spoilers for everything in The Magnus Archives up to Episode 50, so please tread carefully if you haven’t gotten that far. Also, please do not spoil anything from future episodes for me.

3: I recommend you read my previous posts before this one, as I will be referring back to those older posts. I’ve made a link to the masterpost here for you to easily access them.

Anyways, enjoy my rambling! :)

- Episode 41, Too Deep ⬇️

Statement of Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, regarding exploration of the tunnels recently discovered below the archives. Statement taken direct from and recorded by subject.

That episode title is right, the show of going a bit too deep for my liking, I’m SCARED. You know what, I’m happy to say that Jon has blossomed into quite the relatable protagonist. He has an undying thirst for the truth, and is extremely paranoid and traumatized by the events of Season 1. He’s just like me fr! Anyways, thankfully the content of this episode was much simpler and easy to digest than I thought it would’ve been initially. It does feel like Rusty Quill wanted to ease listeners back in by giving us an episode that establishes the new status quo, but that being said, this one still gave me quite a bit to think about. Firstly, we have Jon’s mental state which is…yikes. Like, I know a month has passed an all, but I still feel like he needs a hug and a long nap. I know I joke about wanting to bash this guy’s head in like a piñata, or throw him off a skyscraper, or squeeze him like a squeaky toy…but now I’m genuinely concerned for him. Knowing how Jane scarred him physically and mentally is really upsetting, but hey! At least Martin seems to be taking good care of him, although considering what happened to him last season I still have to question if he’s ok as well, just…I want everyone to take care of themselves as well. Also, I know this sounds wrong, but I kind of hope that jar actually does have Jane’s ashes in it, because I miss her and it would be nice for her to still kind of be with us. Also I hope Tim gets back to work ok :(. Also Not!Sasha still terrifies me-OK! Back to Jon! It is really cool that the season begins with a statement directly written by the protagonist, and while I’m certainly concerned about his paranoia (which I’ll get to later), it’s nice to see him actively engaging in the mysteries and looking for answers. But with that out of the way, what about the tunnels? Well, firstly, I’m glad that this episode clarified that these tunnels are like…a new discovery? Because when Tim mentioned them in Episode 39, he spoke about them as if they were common knowledge, which was just…kind of weird to me? Now, it’s become a lot more apparent that the tunnels are quite a recent discovery, and they make for a very intriguing new mystery! I’m certain they’ll show up more throughout the season, but for now, they are just…really terrifying. Firstly, I’ll mention some of the things we discovered about them that were followed up on here, and then go on to the brand new information we got. …GOD DAMN POLICE! I WANTED TO LISTEN TO THOSE TAPES!!! Look, I get WHY they took them, it’s just…UUUGGGHH!!! Gertrude Robinson, WHAT ARE YOUR SECRETS?!! On top of that we have the matter of the weird circle of worms. I still think they were trying to open some sort of hidden passage, but the implications that…someone else was there are certainly concerning. I assume it’s whoever seems to be lurking around down here (who might also be the voice Jon heard), but…I really don’t know what to think of this. I really don’t know what to think of…ANY of this! But as for the new information provided, we obviously have the facts about Millbank Prison.

Firstly, it’s always a pleasure to see TMA incorporate obscure real-world history into its story, I just think it’s generally kind of neat whenever they do that. But outside of that, I don’t really know what to make of this information outside of a couple of things (like the institute being built on top of a prison being potential symbolism for Jon being stuck here now that he’s gotten wrapped up in the mystery). The two things that really caught my attention however, was that they make sure to bring up the panopticon format of Millbank. This kind of ties into the whole them of “being watched” that’s been coming up. Also, I guess now’s a better time than ever to mention the whole idea of Jon being watched. I honestly don’t know who or what is watching him, but my best guess is that it’s whatever is in the tunnels, or if I’m crazy, ME. (Although I’m technically listening so…idk. It still makes me feel kind of guilty though.) The other big takeaway is that Millbank, and likely the tunnels, we’re built by our beloved Robert Smirke. The tunnels already did remind me of Episode 35, so this isn’t all that surprising, but it’s nice to get further confirmation that these places are fucked up! It does make me wonder if he had a hand in building the institute itself though…hmmm… But after that lore drop, we get to the creepiest part of the episode. I’ll just say it: No, I do not know who is in the tunnels, my best guess is Gertrude’s killer but I don’t think that’s saying much. I also do not know what the wine bottle means, (although I literally just made a post about a wine bottle on a street that felt like the beginning of a TMA statement? That’s really weird?!) nor do I know who or what drew that arrow, or told Jon to leave. All I know is that, yes, this heavily reminds me of Episode 15. Like, not just this scene, but honestly the episode as a whole. This makes me think that maybe the thing in the tunnels is the same force behind Lost Johns’ Cave, and combine that with the fact I suspect said force to be the same as the darkness from Episodes 9 and 25, and that Jon’s torch apparently started to dim strangely quickly…I just feel like The People’s Church of The Divine Host might have some relevance here. Either way, this just makes me more and more concerned for the institute staff. It just goes to show that they have gone…well, too deep, and that even if he runs out of those tunnels, Jon is not truly safe from, say it with me everyone…✨the horrors✨. Oh Jane Prentiss’ Ashes, we’re really in for it now.

But of course, that’s not all, as the episode ends with a secret supplemental from Jon! …The fact that exists at all just makes me more concerned for his paranoia and mental health. So you know how I said I’d love it if Season 2 was a murder mystery? Well…be careful what you wish for I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited by the plot point but…Jon can you please just calm down you’re scaring me. It’s interesting that he too is most suspicious of Elias though. I’m still very suspicious of him as well but..I don’t know, usually when a show tries to steer you in one direction like this, it ends up going the other way, so this oddly makes me like…2% less suspicious of Elias, simply because I feel like the show’s trying to bamboozle me. As for the other potential suspects, well, Sasha would be an interesting choice given that she’s…you know…although oddly enough I doubt Not!Sasha did it, since she probably wouldn’t have been at the institute when Gertrude was murdered. So congratulations Not!Sasha, I’m not suspicious of you for once! There’s a decent enough possibility for the killer to be Tim, but I’d genuinely be STUNNED if it was Martin. Like, it could be an excellent twist if done right but WOW. That would be genuinely insane. Overall I’m still most suspicious of Elias by a wide margin, but much like Jon, I’m keeping my suspects open just in case. The last thing I have to mention here is how this supplemental made me think about how…me as the listener fits into this. In canon, I feel like I’m supposed to be either Jon’s successor, his killer, some random shmuck who just came across the tapes, and MAYBE whoever Jon feels like is watching him although that seems a bit more unlikely. Anyways, that’s a wrap on this episode! In conclusion, it was a good episode, and I’m as scared as I’ve ever been, but hey, I’m also excited to listen to the rest of the season and see where the mysteries go! (Also ALEX READING THE END BIT? HELLO?! That’s the scariest part of the episode.)

Sorry if this one was also a bit incoherent (is this like a curse with Robert Smirke statements or something), like I said, this one kind of feels like one meant to ease you back in, so I don’t have too many coherent thoughts on the reveals of the episode just…a lot of emotions. I’m sure that’ll change as the season progresses though. Although, I did have one theory brewing in my head, it doesn’t really connect to anything in this episode that I’m aware of but I just thought I’d put it here. So, I was thinking about some of the cults from Season 1, namely The People’s Church of The Divine Host and the heat-based cult. I’ve assumed that they’re completely separate, since they seem to serve separate powers, but in retrospect, they actually had some very notable things in common, outside of just…being creepy cults. Namely, they both seem to be in opposition to both Gertrude Robinson and Gerard Keay. The PCOTDH performed a ritual on the supposed date of Gertrude’s death, while the heat cult contained pictures of her in their creepy bottles. Meanwhile, Gerard straight up kills the person who seeks to be a member of the heat cult, and his symbol seems to be an eye, while The PCOTDH has a closed eye as their symbol. So either these two groups are intrinsically linked at the hip, maybe even different sects of one larger cult, or Gertrude and Gerard just both had knacks for pissing cults off. Eh, food for thought.

- Episode 42, Grifter’s Bone 🎹

Statement of Jennifer Ling, regarding a live musical performance she attended in Soho.

This is literally just Killer Track from Nightmare Time lmao. I mean not really, but like…come on, they’re about songs that kill people, and also both contain instances of songs that cannot be remembered. This episode was MADE to fuel my hyperfixations. Also, fun fact, I recall seeing a post about tma before I started listening, where it mentioned how some episodes are deep looks into trauma while others are about a song so shit that it kills people. That post was actually one of the first things that got me to consider listening, so it’s cool to have finally come across that same episode! Although granted, I don’t think that’s the most accurate description, but I’ll get to that soon. Anyways, even if I didn’t find the episode super scary until the end, I’m more than willing to excuse it simply due to how creative it is. I know I just compared it to another piece of media, but all things considered I think this is a very fun one conceptually. Music journalism of all things isn’t something you’d expect to get tackled in tma, but it surprisingly worked really well. I actually quite liked Jennifer as the protagonist here, while she’s not nearly as shaken by the events as someone like the guy from Episode 37, I still got this…uneasy feeling from Jon’s narration, like from the beginning, you could tell something bad happened without it being TOO obvious. And…learning what happened to her after she gave her statement…yeah I can see why she’d be on edge! I thought Grifter’s Bone itself was really creepy and I do hope we learn more about them going forward, like, yeah, this was just a fun, kind of creepy, and very creative episode that I had a good time with. But then the post-statement investigation is revealed and…wow. Look, I think the jokes about the music being so shitty it kills people are funny, there’s some genuine gold about that in the YouTube comments. I mean hell, it’s a joke in-universe! But, part of me thinks that’s doing a disservice to what the episode is actually about. Because by the end, we see that it’s about a song so good that it causes people to harm and/or kill each other. I think there’s a good few ways you could interpret the meaning of this, but I personally see it as a metaphor for toxic fandom behavior. Look, I’ve BEEN in music fandoms before, I can say with certainty that this works as a metaphor. But, who knows? I’d love to hear other people’s takes on this as I think it can be seen in multiple ways. On top of that, there’s a few weird things about the circumstances i which Grifter’s Bone plays. Like, when it was just Alfred playing, Lee had no memory of the concert, and also survived. But when the entire band played, Jennifer remembered the concert, even if she wasn’t in the venue, and for some reason it triggered a…gathering between ghosts that killed each other again? I don’t know, there’s just some strange things going on here, and while it’s hard to really find anything that Grifter’s Bone might connect to right now, I hope some connections and answers pop up later. (Well, in retrospect, they do actually kind of remind me of The Piper from Episode 7, since that thing also played music and drove someone to bloodlust, but granted, the themes between the two episodes seem to be pretty different so I don’t know if that actually means anything.) However, one connection I found interesting was the presence of the crystal shop, which I really can’t see being anything other than the same one Jane was working at. This, along with the description of his expression, leads me to believe that the man who tried to warn Jennifer was the “Oliver” who Jane saw. And…I will concede that this could make the theory of him being Antonio Blake more plausible. Antonio is obviously important, and assuming this guy is Oliver, then he’s important as well. Also, someone in the comments pointed out that maybe he foresaw Jennifer’s death, which…yeah, I can see that! I still think I need more time and evidence before I’m fully sold on this theory but…I won’t deny it’s plausible.

So yeah, I had a really good time with this episode! Creative concept, fun execution, it’s up there with Anatomy Class as being…as “chill” as a an episode of tma can be. I’d really like to see this develop into a larger plot, but I’m also happy with just this statement (although some answers would be nice). But obviously, there is one thing that I have failed to mention. That is of course…the legendary supplement. Oh. My. God. Martin, you poor poor soul. You know, I had some joking suspicions after listening to one of the bonus shorts with his poetry on it (which I probably should’ve waited for, but like, I needed something to calm down with after the Season 1 finale), but…I actually can’t believe it. Martin has a genuine thing for Jon. And it is adorable, sad, and absolutely hilarious. Adorable in the sense that Martin’s crush is really cute and that I think they could make for a really cute couple, sad in the fact that Jon is the most dense human being in existence and that this is a horror series, so the relationship is probably doomed by default, and hilarious in the sense that Martin is trying his best to get Jon to fall in love with him, and not only does Jon not recognize it, but. But. He- he thinks he’s trying to SABOTAGE HIM. This. THIS PARANOID LITTLE FREAK I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very concerned for him right now, but I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t the ship dynamic of the century. Damn you Rusty Quill, I can’t solve the overarching mystery now because I’ll be too busy thinking about THIS. (Also I find it both really funny and really sad that Jon’s so suspicious of Martin when Not!Sasha is. RIGHT. THERE. If there’s a single scene where he goes “Sasha is the only person here I can trust” or smth I will lose my mind.) There’s also the matter of his note which could mean…honestly anything. All it tells us is that Martin is lying about something, which could be anything from his crush on Jon to him actually being the killer (although I think the latter is unlikely since this is only the second episode of Season 2), and that his mother probably has…some sort of relevance. It could mean a lot of things but for now I’ll just put a pin in it. So yeah, really enjoyable episode with a fantastic supplemental.

Also, we have the million dollar question. What do I think Grifter’s Bone sounds like? Well, that’s easy:

- Episode 43, Section 31 🚔

Statement of Police Constable Basira Hussain, regarding her time investigating strange occurrences as part of Section 31. Statement taken direct from subject.

NOOOOOOO NOT THE COPS!!! WHO LET THEM GET INVOLVED???!!!! Nah I’m just kidding, Basira Hussain was actually pretty cool. So, this episode is quite the interesting one, as despite it technically being another statement, the way it’s structured makes it feel pretty unique. Obviously this episode has some very interesting reveals in terms of the overarching plot, but I feel like it’s purpose here was to establish the importance of the police force, namely Section 31, to the plot of Season 2. I mean, given what we learn about them here, and the fact that they’re in charge of a lot of matters related to Gertrude, I’m not surprised that they seem to be playing a decently significant role here. But uh..anyways let’s start off by talking about Basira. Yeah I like her :). She was chill, and I like how she’s very willing to help Jon out despite the fact that she probably shouldn’t. It’s a nice change of pace considering how I, and I assume many others, are used to cop characters being very stuck-up, and I think her seeming frustration with being sectioned was pretty endearing. I also kind of liked the buddy-cop dynamic she had with Jon as well, and I especially liked how this is really the first instance we have of Jon being very open to what the statement giver is saying. It really shows a lot of growth from his Season 1 denial, even if it comes at the cost of him going insane in this season. I’ll touch more on her deal with Jon at the end, but for now I’ll talk a bit about the experiences she describes. Obviously, the experience with the burning building was by far the most interesting one. I’ll start off by saying that as creepy as his death was, the sectioned officer Basira was working with has it coming. That’s what you get for being racist! Or misogynistic…Or, generally prejudice- Look. What I’m saying is that he probably deserved his fate. But who cares about that because OH MY GOD EPISODE 12. Obviously the episode has come back in multiple ways via stuff like Gerard and The Cult of Asag, but finally getting some confirmation on who the other burnt guy was is really cool! Diego Molina is quite the enigma, and the episode really got me thinking about his abilities, the book in red leather (which I struggle to see being anything other than another Leitner, although I have to question what Jon mean’s when he said he had a suspicion as to where Diego got the book. Like it was obviously in Jurgen’s library at some point but that doesn’t mean he got it directly from there. Maybe I missed something, IDK), and generally what the deal with The Cult of Asag is. Also, it seems Diego got burned and later killed by Gerard after the events of this episode, which makes me wonder about how he got burned there, since he was completely fine here. And also he has a zippo lighter, like Gerard and Jon? What does that mean? Is it the same as Gerard’s? But…his had an eye symbol, not a flame or whatever. I don’t know, I have a lot of questions regarding this guy and the cult he’s a part of. but I’ll just have to wait and see what pops up as time goes on.

Now, Basira’s second encounter with the paranormal doesn’t have as much going on, but I still find it very curious. The person she finds in the room is pretty interesting. The thing that really stuck out to me was that his house was in complete darkness. Given how this episode definitely deals with The Cult of Asag, I have to wonder if this is supposed to hint towards involvement from The People’s Church of The Divine Host. Someone in the YouTube comments also pointed out that the guy could’ve been one of the grim reaper people from Episode 29. I won’t deny the possibility, given the domino cases, attempt at suicide, and the fact that he was still alive after death, but I’ll keep other possibilities in mind as well just in case. However, something that obviously stuck out to me here was the presence of Daisy, Basira’s partner during this incident. She mentions having an encounter with vampires, and while Basira brushes it off as a joke…come on, there’s no way this doesn’t mean anything. And I actually have a small theory regarding this. You see, from Episode 36, we obviously know that Trevor Herbert, the vampire killer himself, is a relatively important character. We also know that he has a currently unnamed woman as his companion, so I’m wondering if that woman might be Daisy. This would probably mean that they departed from each other’s company at some point but…I just can’t shake the feeling that this is a possibility. The only potential hole I can see in this theory is that the woman had a scar on her eye, which seems like a pretty notable detail that would be weird for Basira to leave out, but it’s equally possible that she just didn’t find it worth mentioning. Either way, I am certainly interested by that line about vampires. One other line here that stood out to me was Basira’s mention of a spooky clown doll, which HAS to be a reference to Episode 24. We know that “weird” incidents are usually dealt with by Section 31, and that Section 31, is a rather small team, so it’s possible that Basira has been involved in police investigations of multiple statement, but I still felt it was a interesting thing to quote.

So overall, this was a pretty good episode. It’s not an all-time favorite for me if I’m being honest, but it set up some very interesting potential plot threads, I really liked Basira, and I thought it was cool to get a first look at what I assume will be a good amount of involvement from the police in the future. But of course…we have that supplemental. Oh thank fucking god we didn’t have to wait too long to get Gertrude’s tapes. Basira, you’re an absolute G, I hope to see more of these come through in the future (although I also hope she doesn’t get fired in the process lmao). I’m…probably not prepared for whatever will be on these tapes going forward but, hey! Let’s just appreciate the fact that we’re getting them at all! I…am getting more and more concerned for Jon though. Like, sweetheart, you REALLY need to lie down for a bit, I know it’s rich coming from me, but this constant search for the truth is going to bite you in the ass if you keep on going any further. You could also use some more help from Martin as well…no reason… Anyways, so far the season is going great, only three episodes in and it already feels like it’s going places. (I would like an update on Tim though, and…”Sasha”….ehhhhhh…)

Supplemental: “Martin just kissed me, I THINK THERE WAS POISON IN HIS MOUTH” - Jon, probably.

- Episode 44, Tightrope 🎪

Case 9790302. Yuri Utkin. Incident occurred in the village of Algosovo, Central Russia, November 1952.

WOOOOOOOOO GERTRUDE!!!! FINALLY we get to hear her, and while she’s still obviously shrouded in mystery, I was very satisfied with what we got of her. Firstly, I absolutely love the fact that she’s voiced by Jonny Sims’ mother, I always find it really funny whenever the roles of characters reflect the relationship between the actors, so I just though that was really cool. And she did a great job in the role, honestly I felt like I was being read a bedtime story. Specifically a fucked up German bedtime story (or I guess Russian…technically…). Honestly she’s pretty in line with how I imagined her, although I kind of thought she’d be a lot more cold when she comes off as just…pretty chill in reality, at least in comparison to Jon. And that’s probably the element of her character that interests me the most, outside of what she was doing and what really happened to her. Compared to Jon, who is frantically searching for the truth with very little answers, Gertrude seems to be much more aware of what’s really going on. She’s SO familiar with The Other Circus that she’s able to read this extremely creepy story and be like “wow this guy got lucky.” Like…WHAT HAS THIS WOMAN SEEN?! Obviously there could’ve been a period in time where she, like Jon, was in a frenzied state looking for answers, but in the context of what we’re seeing, it provides for an interesting contrast between her and Jon that I really like. But it raises SO many questions. Like, what exactly would it take for Gertrude to react extremely to a statement when she’s this unbothered by what she’s reading? How much did she know? I mean, I think it would be safe to assume she died because she knew too much, but like…how many weirdos and cults did she piss off in the process? I’m really anticipating where they might go with her in the future, as there’s a lot of interesting routes they could take. But outside of our first look at Gertrude, we obviously have the statement itself, and FUCK YEAH IT’S THE OTHER CIRCUS!!! Even though it’s only shown up in a couple of episodes prior to this one, this circus has actually been one of the most intriguing plot threads for me personally. I’m just a sucker for creepy carnivals, so finally getting an episode with a big focus on it makes me very happy. Ultimately this episode confirms my suspicions that this thing is a cult, because like…come on. There’s no way it isn’t. However, I still don’t really know what power they might serve, and the ringmaster Gregor Orsinov remains shrouded in mystery. As do…ALL of the cult leaders now that I think about it. We really only know the names of two of them, those being Gregor and Maxwell Rayner, but that’s about it. Regardless, I do feel like this episode gave a better idea of what The Other Circus wishes to accomplish, or at least what their deal is. The tiger, the freaks, the people in the audience, and…maybe the Ivan we see on the tightrope (I haven’t made my mind up on that one), are all implied to be not entirely…real, or as Yuri says, impossible. I think they’re basically artificial copies of real people and animals, but with some minor differences like glassy eyes or impossible anatomy, hence why it’s called “Another Circus”. For what purpose other than creeping people out, I have no idea, but I feel like that’s what’s going on here. As for the bag…well, I think it probably did contain Ivan but…I don’t really know what’s up with it, although it did kind of remind me of Episode 5 with the trash bags, and I think that episode connects to Episode 34, and…now that I think about it, the slightly off people and animals here are kind of like the anatomy students. Yeah I think I’m going in insane circles now! Also I guess I haven’t really talked about the story here, truth be told it’s not the most interesting element of the episode but uh…yeah I liked it as always, I feel pretty bad for Yuri and Ivan. God, imagine having severe mental trauma as the best case scenario simply because Gregor and his circus are just that dangerous, that’s messed up!

Well, outside of all of that, I obviously have some connections to discuss, so what about those? Well, obviously this one connects to Episode 24 more than any other, most notably via the calliope organ. So…yeah, I guess Nikolai Denikin wasn’t that good of a person! My initial assumption was that he caught onto whatever messed up things The Other Circus wished to achieve, and then quit and hid the calliope (…I miss Sasha) to stop them. Now that could still be the case, but this episode suggests that Nikolai was aware of The Other Circus’ horrific tendencies, and gave them a lot of power, meaning that he’s not entirely without a bad streak, and very well could’ve still been affiliated with them even after he “left” in the 1970s. Secondly, we have the clown in purple and white with polka dots which…almost perfectly matched the description of the doll from Episode 24. From that episode, it seems that doll was capable of turning other people into dolls…but does this episode signify that the clown doll was also originally a person. Maybe they sacrificed themselves in order to turn other people into dolls, or they were turned into a doll as punishment and the curse goes to other people whenever the calliope plays…I don’t know but it’s suspicious, especially since Basira Hussain seemingly mentioned the doll in the previous episode. But most interesting to me is the presence of who it seems very likely are our beloveds, Breekon and Hope. This is the first time we’ve seen them affiliated with a faction other than their own (although I do think they connect to Mikaele Salesa but that’s a different topic), which is very interesting. I already suspected they were the guys who stole the calliope in Episode 24, (looking back they were also probably the “two strong men” in the picture Jon described) and I believe that even more now. However, this episode gave me two ideas as to why they might have stolen the calliope in the first place. The first idea is dictated by the idea that Nikolai Denikin was no longer affiliated with The Other Circus. If that were the case, then I believe that Breekon and Hope are still affiliated with The Other Circus, and tried to steal the calliope back, but then it ended up in the institute’s artifact storage through unknown means. More likely though, I think that Nikolai was still affiliated with The Other Circus, and Breekon and Hope left, explaining why they are shown with their own company in modern day. As for what reasons, I don’t know, but I believe that it gave them enough motivation to steal the calliope as revenge, and then deliver it to the institute. Either way, their presence here is very interesting, and it makes me wonder if there’s any connection between The Other Circus, and all of the items that Breekon and Hope have delivered. Specifically the table because…well, it’s implied there were fake people in the audience and…you know… How many episodes do you think it’ll take for my brain to explode now?

Overall this was a VERY intriguing episode, getting a first look at Gertrude and more on what is one of the most intriguing plot points so far for me was very satisfying, and I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot more time mulling this over. As for the supplemental…well that is certainly concerning. I feel like they want me to be suspicious of Martin due to that note, and I am to an extent but…this has Not!Sasha written all over it. I mean, it’s implied she already stole a few tapes so I wouldn’t be surprised if she was snooping around. (The irony of one of the tapes she stole being Episode 24’s as well, lmao.) Well…that’s about it. All in all I’m very intrigued, I hope Jon is able to take care of his supplemental and..uh…I don’t really know how to end this part so EPISODE 45!!!!!!

- Episode 45, Blood Bag 💉

Statement of Thomas Neill, regarding his experiences working in malarial research during the spring of 2010.

EW EW EW EW ICKY BLEGH. I…do not do well with mosquitoes. Worms I can handle, like, I can relate to that, but mosquitoes? No. Devil spawn. Even worse when they spread malaria. So suffice to say, considering that this IS a horror podcast, this episode did a pretty good job! Ultimately some of the plot details here are a little bit vague, and the episode itself doesn’t have as much to unpack as some of the others so far, but I’ll discuss what I can regardless. Firstly, I do really like the general setting of this statement. I’ve always found lab accidents to be very scary if done effectively, what with how fragile and dangerous that kind of environment can be. I also thought they handled it really well with the slow build of paranormal activity, up to the…extremely gruesome ending. Like, YIKES. Honestly I feel really bad for Neil, poor guy was just being silly in the workplace and needed some cash, yet he got SO screwed over. Why am I surprised though, reality just seems like a massive bitch in tma, maybe even more so than in our timeline! But hey, at least there was another theatre kid Jon moment when Thomas was describing Neil’s death, so that’s nice! Neil’s death also did kind of remind me of just…everything Jane, what with a whole bunch of creepy crawlies enveloping him, although worms aren’t really traditional insects so I don’t know if those similarities mean anything, especially since this episode lacks the theme of toxic love that was extremely present with The Flesh Hive. (Although there was fire extinguishers involved…hm…) Speaking of that though, I want to talk a bit about the syringe. I think the implication here was that the mosquitoes wished harm on Neil due to his attempts to work against them, which is…an absolutely horrific thought. Those things are already little assholes, but the idea of them having a PERSONAL GRUDGE…oh no no no no no. Anyways, I think the syringe protected him from them, so when he lost it, they went full ham, infecting the haemoglobish with a bajillion diseases, and later killing him. (And also Thomas later on, what a bunch of assholes!) But this idea, the concept of an insect ecosystem being sentient enough to wish harm on a human out of a personal grudge…yeah it’s very adjacent to The Flesh Hive. And considering that the syringe was last seen with someone as important as Mikaele Salesa, I feel that it might be important if the institute ever has to deal with something flesh hive-adjacent once again. Oh yeah, Mikaele was here too. Kind of surprising considering it hasn’t been that long since he last showed up in a statement. Ultimately this statement didn’t really tell us that much more about him, he just continues to be a mysterious guy who’s probably bad, but maybe not as bad as some other people. And while there are rumors of his death…I highly doubt he’s really gone. Either way, I’m interested to see where they go with him in the future. (Also Jon just starting his closing thoughts with “yeah I hate mosquitoes too”…he’s real for that honestly.) Um…what else? Well, I find a few small details curious. Firstly, the rising heat in the lab is VERY reminiscent of a lot of previous statements, such as Episode 12, 37, and the Hill Top Road cases. To me it signifies some sort of connection to The Cult of Asag, although I have no idea what said connection could be. A lot of people also pointed out that the only blood type mentioned so far in the entire series is 0-, which is kind of curious, although once again, I don’t what that might mean. And finally, we have the reveal that Thomas started working at King’s College, the same place where Dr. Lionel Elliot taught in Episode 34. Overall, the connection are pretty vague here and don’t reveal all that much new, so either this episode is setting up stuff that hasn’t shown up yet, or it’s less relevant than I think. But as always, I still enjoyed it! Neil’s death will probably give me nightmares but who cares? Still a very good episode!

So…the supplemental. You know, if I worked in the archives, I would find Mikaele, get the syringe, and provided it’s not some kind of cursed talisman, I’d use it to sedate Jon because SWEETHEART YOU NEED TO LIE DOWN. On one hand, seeing Jon slowly go insane has been very entertaining, on the other hand, it makes me terrified for literally everyone. This isn’t even a visual show and yet I can still clearly see him shaking violently and eating things from off the ground. I mean, just look at him. Martin has a crush on him and yet Jon thinks he’s secretly plotting a murder. (Also what a sweetheart he is giving his boss/crush tea during his moments of insane paranoia, very glad to hear him again.) “Sasha” is, as far as I know, the most objectively suspicious person in the archives, and yet she is the only one Jon hasn’t batted an eye at yet. And Tim…Jon’s LITERALLY just stalking him?! No?! I mean, I guess I’m also a little curious as to why he’s working at the institute despite no signs of prior interest in the paranormal but like…I wouldn’t go as far as to start taking pictures of his fucking house! (Although how come Martin knows what his house looks like…hm…) Also HOW could you even think that Tim “Joe Spooky” Stoker is capable of murder?! He would never! (…please let me be right when I say that) …Look, I know I’m the one writing insane analyses of this podcast, and I’m probably a massive hypocrite saying this since I am LITERALLY setting up a cork-board in my room for connecting the dots, but that doesn’t make Jon any more sane, okay? Maybe…maybe we should both just lie down…despite the truth being just out of reach...I’ll listen to Episode 46 tomorrow…uuugghhh…

- Episode 46, Literary Heights ⛈️

Statement of Herbert Knox, regarding a repeat customer to his bookshop in Chichester.

Stupid idiot mother fucking god damn fool Jurgen Leitner is lucky that this episode was so fantastic, or else his sad frail old man twig bones would’ve simply flaked apart under my epic huge meat fist. (Look, I have to quote it SOMEWHERE ok?) Anyways, this episode was…absolutely phenomenal? Like, I’ve really been enjoying the season so far, but this episode coming out of nowhere and worming it’s way into…I don’t know, at least my top six episodes, is kind of insane. There’s obviously quite a bit to unpack here, so I guess I’ll start with just a few basic observations. Firstly, this episode opens with one of the best examples of theatre kid Jon so far. Like, the shift in his voice is absolutely hilarious. Secondly, and I feel like I need to address this, there has a been a metric fuck-tonne of Micheals in the show so far, so being able to refer to one as Mike is an absolute blessing. …I have a theory surrounding that though, but I’ll get to it in a minute. But I guess that works as a good segue into the main topic of interest here, Mike Crew. Truth be told, as good as it is, I don’t have much more to say about the episode on its own, as I think most of the intrigue comes from the implications for the overarching narrative it brings, although just to be clear, I’ll say that the episode has a fantastic story to tell on its own. Anyways, enough preamble, MIKE CREW! It’s genuinely such a treat to get a better look at just…what this guy is even like. I’ve known that he’s important for a while, but that’s only because he was mentioned in two separate statements, and I never knew WHY he was important, but this episode comes with some really interesting reveals. Firstly, I have to say that this guy is absolutely one of my favorite characters from the statements so far. His whole vibe is just so intriguing, and you get the sense that he has a better understanding of ✨the horrors✨than most other characters so far, but that he’s also terrified by what he’s witnessed. Anyways, I think the most interesting element of his character is how he’s clearly…just a very haunted man. This episode definitely suggests that him getting struck by lightning as a child was a paranormal experience that…connected him to something. I think it would be cool if we maybe got a statement from him later on that talked about that more, but for now, it’s just very interesting to see those powers over storms and electricity he seems to possess, willingly or not. It also seems like maybe he was studying Leitners and other books on demonology in order to get a grip on whatever was haunting him, with The Boneturner’s Tale obviously being one of them. Oh yeah, there was also some interesting stuff about Jurgen Leitner here. I do have to wonder if all of those strange deaths that occurred in the old book trade were caused by either him or his fucked up books, although he supposedly went into hiding in 1994 so I’m not entirely sure what that means. I’ve also started to notice how the Leitners…compel people. Like, Dominic Swain just…decided to go on a wild goose chase in order to learn more about Ex Altiora, Sebastian Adekoya was adamant on getting The Boneturner’s Tale despite knowing that it was bad news, Jared Hopworth was lured in by the same book despite clearly not being much of a reader, and now we have both Mike Crew and Herbert Knox fighting desperately for Ex Altiora. It’s…just very odd how much these books draw people in. And I think this is another good segue into talking about the glorious return of Ex Altiora.

Firstly, I nearly screamed at the name drop, like oh my god that was so exciting. Secondly, it’s really cool to finally learn what the story in the book even was. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d end up in a perilous situation if I did so, and that I don’t know Latin, I’d honestly read it, it sounds pretty cool. Either way, Mike’s possession of it is very interesting to me. Obviously it seems like it’s because of him that the Lichtenburg Figure showed up in the book, meaning that it’s unlikely that Mary Keay was trying to trigger Dominic’s childhood trauma, I guess. It’s also very curious how Mike somehow knew how to wield its power correctly from the looks of things, and I also have to wonder why it ended up in some random bookstore when it seemed to be so important to him. But I think the most interesting thing about it is how it connects to whatever was haunting Mike. Jon suggests that he was trying to use it as a ward, which I do agree with, but I wonder if it backfired in the end. Maybe Mike thought that its raw power could protect him, but in reality, the book was connected to the force pursuing him without his knowledge. I mean, Ex Altiora causes vertigo and is about a high mountaintop village being terrorized by a vast and unknowable massive monster, and Mike is connected to the sky, so I think it adds up in the end. (Also, if I didn’t already think so, I’m absolutely certain that the events of this and Episode 4 connect to the ones of Episode 21, meaning that yes, the fucking sky is an eldritch horror in this timeline, and chances are Ex Altiora and the skydiver guy are harbingers of it. What does this even mean for tma’s world structure, holy shit.) Anyways, I think this theory also works because of Mike’s fate. I mean, he says “I am yours” (which is very similar to Edwin Burroughs saying “I am not for you, I am marked btw), and then throws himself out of a window. I feel like in the end he submitted himself to the forces chasing him after Ex Altiora ironically drew him in further. Said force might also be called “Vertigo” or “The Vast” based on what he says during his chants. (Also I don’t really have any theories as to how the bell tower was opened up just so you know.) As for Mike’s fate, well…I honestly don’t really know, although I think the lack of a body and his clear significance to the plot mean that he’s not…entirely dead. Maybe the Lichtenburg Figure is supposed to suggest that he’s inside Ex Altiora? Maybe…the sky ate him? I can’t quite tell yet, but I’m sure this isn’t the last I’ll hear of him, he just seems too significant (and just…way too cool) to write off here. Although…I do have one more theory about this episode, one that I’d like to proclaim my crack theory (as if my other ones already aren’t cracked). Oh boy here we go…

So I mentioned that there’s a lot of Micheals in this show, so much so that from what little I’ve seen it’s a meme in the fandom. I mean, it makes decent sense, Micheal is an extremely common name after all…but what if this goes deeper. What if every major Micheal in this podcast actually has direct connections to each other? So far we have three Micheals that seem to hold plot relevance (please, PLEASE let it stay that way.) They are Mike Crew, obviously, Gerard’s grandfather Micheal Keay, and the mysterious “Micheal” that Sasha meant, who is presumably the person that was pursuing Ivo Lensik’s father. Keep in mind the word PURSUING. Because…you remember how bony-hand Micheal appeared all weird and distorted in the window of Sasha’s apartment building. Well, it’s probably just my imagination, but…it reminds me a hell of a lot of the thing chasing Mike. On top of that, I originally doubted that bony-hand Micheal was the same person as Mike Crew due to the lack of a Lichtenburg Figure on his body (although Mike does actually seem to be capable of hiding it based on Herbert’s description of him, but said description is notably different from that of Sasha’s Micheal anyways), but I did throw out the possibility of him actually being Micheal Keay. This could also explain why he had all of those strange attributes, as Mary Keay seemingly learned how to live beyond the grave, yet she came with a number of visual differences from when she was, like, actually alive, so maybe something similar happened to her father. (and then maybe Gerard…please…please let my favorite MCR reject guy be alive…) So, here’s the basic premise of my theory. Micheal Keay found some sort of way to live after death, becoming the strange distorted Micheal that Sasha saw. This new form of Micheal Keay would form a connection to fractals, terrorizing Ivo Lensik’s father, and also a connection to the sky/vertigo/the vast/whatever you want to call it, and then start terrorizing Mike Crew. (I mean, the fractals give off the same vibes as the Lichtenburg Figure right? RIGHT?!) And then, and I know this is a huge reach but like I said, it’s a crack theory, Mike was absorbed by the being that was pursuing him. Micheal Keay is alive, and absorbing people, one of whom just happens to have his name. If Ivo’s dad was named Micheal Lensik I might just go insane. Now, do I expect this theory to be true. Oh god no! Like I said, this is absolute crack, but I think it would be very funny if every Micheal in this podcast is actually just the same person. There’s a lot of other mysteries surrounding these guys, and I’m sure I’ll be satisfied with whatever they pull off.

So that’s Episode 46. Overall this was a phenomenal episode, it’s absolutely my favorite of Season 2 so far and at the very least one of my favorites in the entire podcast so far. It’s given me so many things to think about and I’m really excited to see where they go with the plot surrounding Mike in the future. As for the supplemental, well…you know what, Brian David Gilbert- I mean Jon (yes I finally made that connection) has every right to be concerned about this one. It is admittedly a little bit unnerving that there��s another person exploring the tunnels, my best guess is it’s Not!Sasha because…well, she’s just suspicious by nature, but it could easily be Martin, Tim, and especially Elias as well. Or worse…whatever’s down there is trying to get out. There’s also the matter of the spiders which is…very interesting. Episode 32 already separated the spiders from The Flesh Hive, but I didn’t think they would go as far as to kill the remaining worms. In fact, I suspected they were in some form of collaboration, since Jon smashing that one spider lead to the infestation of worms, and the worms were present in Episode 16. But no, they’re actively killing the worms. Maybe as like…a punishment for failure or something? I really don’t know what the deal with the spiders is, but it’s certainly interesting. Anyways, great episode, can’t wait to see what comes next.

Oh, one last thing. I have this copy of Dracula in my house, and it really reminds me of Ex Altiora. Like this is what I imagine it looking like. (Also STOKER? As in TIM STOKER? Ok I’ll stop.)

- Episode 47, The New Door 🚪

Statement of Helen Richardson, regarding a new door in the house she was selling. Statement taken direct from subject.

What what what what what what what what what what what what what in the everlasting FUCK?! I don’t…what do you MEAN? RIGHT AFTER MY FUCKING MICHEAL CRACKPOT THEORY YOU GIVE ME THIS?! I CAN’T…WHAT…THERE’S SO MUCH GOING ON I LITERALLY CANNOT HANDLE THIS UAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH. Ok…calm down calm down calm down calm down just CALM. THE FUCK. DOWN. You can do this. You are a TUMBLR. ENBY. You can coherently summarize this episode. Right? …right? Oh no….

Ok so…let’s just start from the top with the things that are easy to summarize. Firstly, this is a statement recorded live from subject, so we obviously need to talk about Helen Richardson. Oh god….what a poor soul. I REALLY feel for her, compared to every other statement giver, at least the ones who gave their statements live, she was absolutely the most distraught by her experiences. Her VA did a fantastic job portraying her fright, I liked how she was frantically drawing a map at the beginning, and overall it’s just really not hard to feel for her, especially given her…fate, but we’ll get to that later. It was also extremely gratifying to finally have an instance where Jon fully believes the person he’s talking to, he was decent with Lionel and Basira, as well as his coworkers, but after his interactions with Naomi and Melanie, seeing him fully believe Helen was honestly really nice, just shows how much he’s developed since most of Season 1…although it has come with him being extremely traumatized and erratic but hey! It’s still cool that he was genuinely trying to help Helen out, because if this was Season 1 he would have not believed her. Anyways, what about her actual statement? Well…that’s absolutely terrifying. Like, I am never going to be able to look at doors the same way ever again, am I? This is already a terrifying experience on its own, but the fact that Helen is an ESTATE AGENT of all things makes this so much worse, like you could just tell that this was her personal hell. And then we have the backrooms themselves which-yeah I’m going to call the corridors the backrooms until further notice because god damnit sometimes you just need to be annoying. Anyways, everything about that place(?) makes me uncomfortable. Firstly, the opening of the door reminded me a little bit of the coffin from Episode 2, and the corridors especially reminded me of Episode 30 with the slaughter house. But outside of those interesting yet admittedly tangential connections, there’s so many terrifying aspects of the backrooms that are just so extremely terrifying in their own right. The way the door just shows up out of nowhere and lures you in, the way Helen’s face looked like it had been crying for hours when she looked in the mirror, the repeated paintings, the temperatures that don’t make sense, Micheal just…lurking there waiting to kill her, how she ended up somewhere entirely new when she finally “escaped”, and of course, the fact that it functions like a Cthulhu city with how it just DOESN’T. MAKE. SENSE. That seems to be the main theme here, just…everything not adding up, confusing people, nearly making them go insane, that is the nature of these corridors, and Micheal himself. And you know what, I think it’s about time we talk about the end of the episode. While the statement is fantastically written and viscerally terrifying, it is overall very short, and I’d say the true meat of the episode comes from the ending. Because Oh. My. God. I have some thoughts.

I’m just going to start off by saying that the drawn-out door noises that played when Helen left initially just came as a “haha funny trauma noise” moment from Rusty Quill, and nothing more. …Oh how naive I once was. Anyways, before I talk about tall blonde and Handsome, I guess I should address the glorious(?) return of Not!Sasha! …Oh no. I don’t know if it’s more or less unnerving that she’s actually speaking like a somewhat normal person now. That…that is very very bad. But she still sounds so noticeably different from the real Sasha, so much colder…I…I really do not like her! The way that she avoids re-recording Sasha’s statement because she doesn’t remember the whole thing, and the funky audio distortion that plays in the room it’s…no! No no no no no! Well at least someone seems to know what’s really going on, and that is of course, the man who speaks in hands (woah reference), Micheal…something! Apparently there’s no such thing as a real name so I’m going to assume he just doesn’t have a last name for the time being. Anyways, ever since Episode 26, this guy…thing…door has been haunting me for ages. He’s never quite at the center of my mind, that honor goes to people like the worm wife, god damn fool book-collecting dust-eating rat old bastard shithead idiot avatar of the whore, my goth son, and Jon and Martin but only if they are holding hands. But still, the way he was so enigmatic with his motivations, where he stood morality wise, his generally creepy vibe that makes me imagine him as a guy that’s always smiling, his big-ass hands, and the sense that he was so above everything and everyone in this entire story, it always kept me terrified and intrigued. And now that we’ve finally met him…yeah, he absolutely lived up to the hype. I’m sorry Jane, but I think I’ve found a new obsession. I want this thing and his gender carnally. His VA does such a phenomenal job, like I know it’s somewhat filtered but still, the tone and especially the laugh, like HOLY SHIT that is a creepy laugh, it’s all fantastic. And I mean, yeah, it still feels like he’s so above everything else, like everything connects back to him, but also like he’s so vastly beyond everything that it doesn’t connect at all. All of his dialogue is so confusing but also interesting and…well, I guess I should discuss his dialogue, because there is actually quite a lot to unpack from a good amount of his sentences.

So, when Micheal first shows up, the strange pitch that started playing when Not!Sasha entered the room changes, suggesting that Micheal and Not!Sasha are either very different from one another, or very similar. (Also, I’m assuming that the pitch playing when Not!Sasha was around is a different one from Micheal’s, because it sounds really similar to the sound that played when Sasha came across the table in artifact storage.) Either way, his first line “Do you even know they’re lying to you” seems to confirm that Micheal knows the truth about what happened to Sasha, showing how powerful he really is. Now granted, when you consider his naturally maddening personality I doubt he’s going to reveal the truth anytime soon, but it’s worth keeping in mind. (Especially since it’s implied that Elias knows what’s going on, or at least has a hunch so….hm….) Going forward, Micheal refuses to elaborate on how he got in, like the silly king he is, and then says his name is "a real name." This is interesting, as he later contradicts this by saying there's no such thing as a real name. Obviously that last quote ties into themes of inhumanity and lack of identity that seem to follow him, but I'm just going to assume the contradictions are a result of him just, once again, not making sense. I'm sure there's a deeper meaning, I just don't quite know what said deeper meaning is yet. Also I love how when Micheal said he wasn't going to kill Jon, Jon was like "oh :/". Just like...end his suffering I guess. That seems to be another prevalent theme with Micheal. He's not exactly...good, but he's also not really a major antagonistic force...yet, at least. Regardless, it's next that we learn why he's here and...oh...oh no. That's genuinely really off-putting. So yeah, Helen got trapped in the backrooms AGAIN, right after she gave her statement. I...I don't think her chances are all that good if I'm being honest. Damn. DAMN. Also, the part where Jon realizes that the door she left from was never there...that was absolutely chilling. (Although isn't it like...a yellow door? Wouldn't Jon have noticed that? Unless the doors in the archives are already yellow?) But like, imagine if this was a common occurrence. Like, what if Jon just read, I don't know, Jason North's statement from Episode 37, and then immediately got set on fire? Because that's what this feels like. Interestingly, when Jon questions if Micheal is the owner of the backrooms, he responds with "does your hand, in any way, own your stomach?" This seems to suggest that Micheal and the backrooms are one and the same which is...not confusing and terrifying at all! I'll take a bit more about what I think Micheal even is in a second but for now just keep in mind that this information is...very concerning. Also "let her go!" followed by "no :)" was kind of funny. After all that, Micheal...stabs Jon? I mean, that's absolutely not a good thing, but it didn't seem that major or painful all things considered. I'm just going to assume he used his big-ass knife hands to stab Jon in an ultimately non-vital place, because that's what the audio seems to suggest. Now, I'll touch a bit more on Micheal's comments about his own identity in a second, but for now, the last things he says correspond with his motivations. Apparently he helped Sasha learn about The Flesh Hive because he did not want the institute to disappear too early, as it would have "unbalanced the struggle." Jon believes that this implies the existence of a war, and given how I've been speculating that all of the horrors and their servants are at each other's throats...I have to agree. It also suggests that Micheal is a lot more aware of how things are going to pan out in the future than Jon, which is...interesting. Anyways, he then mysteriously vanishes, and Jon ends the recording. It's so serious that we don't even get a supplemental. So with all of this in mind...what are my overall thoughts on Micheal?

Let's just run through everything we know. Micheal is a weird tall blonde guy who has an uncanny laugh and massive hands. He is connected to some sort of maddening pocket dimension that is accessed through a teleporting yellow door. He lured Helen Richardson into there twice, and she is still stuck there. He also probably got rid of Ms. Richardson's actual clients, and he's implied to have some sort of connection to fractals (which admittedly to line up with how maddening he is), meaning there's a good likelihood he was the being chasing down Ivo Lensik's father, and he maybe had some sort of encounter with Jane given how she also mentions fractals. He seems to be antagonistic and has bad intentions, but wants the archival team to stay alive since he views them as important, and believes the loss of the institute would "unbalance the struggle" implying the existence of a war. (my theories are being validated kind of!) Despite this he chooses to stab Jon anyways, and his whole character seems to be built around insanity, doubt of one’s own mind, and contradictions. So…who or what do I think he is? Well, I think our best hints come from the one major piece of dialogue from him I neglected to mention. That being when he calls himself a “what” instead of a “who”, saying that a “who” represents a level of identity he “can’t ever retain”, and how he isn’t used to talking about himself. This all suggests that Micheal is obviously not human, but also can’t function under the human understanding of identity. However, he also says that his identity is something he can’t “retain” rather than “obtain”. This suggests that he might have actually been something more human than what he is now in the past. And…funnily enough, this kind of lines up with the theory about Micheal Keay and Mike Crew I just made. (And, yes, hearing him in this episode immediately after writing that down was indeed very exciting.) I mean, in the slim chance that theory is correct, then..yeah, a guy who lived beyond his natural lifespan and then absorbed another guy, possibly even more people, would not really be all that human. They’d have multiple identities conflicting with each other. But granted, this theory is pretty cracked in my opinion, so maybe something more logical would be…something like the anatomy students! They also kind of had this lack of identity and weird way of speaking, so it could line up very well. Also, they contorted their bones at one point (which is admittedly more similar to The Boneturner’s Tale but still), and you know how they were all functioning under the basic bitch names of different cultures? Well…Micheal is one of the most common names in the west so, who knows? And this might connect back to Not!Sasha! After all, I’ve already made comparisons between her and the anatomy students, and Micheal is aware of her true identity, and he plays a different yet still pretty similar pitch to her when he’s in the room, and the hypnotic pattern on the table might be similar to FRACTALS? Look…I’m basically saying that Micheal is an enigma, and there are a lot of opportunities for what he could be. But what I do know…is that this thing is so far above everyone else like holy shit. He just…I don’t know what it is, I feel like he’s basically god. Everything connects back to Micheal, but it also doesn’t because he couldn’t care less about all this shit. It feels like almost everything has at the very least a small connection to him. I don’t know why I think this it’s JUST. THE. VIBE.

Wow. That was certainly quite the episode. While the statement itself was very short, and while I am confused out of my goddamned mind, this was another phenomenal episode. It should be a crime to put this right after Literary Heights, I’m just saying. It had a really well-written main character, a terrifying scenario, dozens upon dozens of implications, and…Micheal. Just Micheal. There is probably so much that I didn’t even touch on here, but that’s just because my brain is so scrambled trying to figure this all out! Which you know, given the themes of the episode, I feel like that’s by design, and I’m ok with that. I’m very excited to see…whenever and however this all pans out, but for now, I’m going to take a three day-nap. Honk shoo mimimi or whatever the kids say.

I said “Micheal” like…26 times in this section alone…Fuuuuuuuccckkk. Am I really about to ditch the worm wife for the hallway husband? (Update: No, but that’s only because I realized I have two hands.)

- Episode 48, Lost in the Crowd 🧳

Statement of Andrea Nunis, regarding a series of encounters in the streets of Genoa, Italy.

Ok, so thankfully after Micheal’s Marvelous Maze of Madness ft. Micheal, this episode was a bit of a more standard affair, and a lot easier to digest and process. That being said, this one kind of fucked me up! Generally I’m a pretty introverted person, so I’ve found it kind of interesting how the couple of statements where the idea is “character who likes being alone gets karma” are some of the scariest for me personally. Also, I will mention that while there is a common theme between this and Episode 13, I don’t necessarily think they’re connected for a couple of reasons. Firstly is the lack of any tangible signs of The Lukas Family, and secondly is the fact that Naomi’s experience manifested in the form of a wide open field with nearly nothing in it, while Andrea’s was in the form of a crushing crowd. Granted there was a gray sky in the alleyway she went into, which could connect to Naomi’s fog but…eh, I’m not too sure. I personally think the one thing that connects this statement to the rest of the series is Gerard’s presence, which I’ll get to later, but still, those similar themes of one’s own introverted tendencies being turned against them felt worth mentioning. But outside of that recurring theme calling me out a second time, there were quite a few other things that really spooked me. Ethan’s fate was genuinely pretty sad as he seemed like a nice guy, the mentions of heat popping up once again were unnerving as usual, and…the crowd itself. This…this genuinely had me curled up in a ball. I hear people say that you will inevitably find at least one tma episode that feels like it’s targeting you specifically, and while I can’t confirm if this is that episode for me, I…wouldn’t be surprised if it was by the time I’ve finished listening. I have a very bad relationship with crowds so…yeah, this one hit very close to home. The description was…so, so visceral. The blanked out faces, the garbage noise, the constant shoving…I think it put how I subconsciously view crowds into words perfectly, and…yeah, I don’t really have that much more to say about the statement other than it was sad and terrifying for me. Needless to say I don’t think I have any desire to go traveling any time soon lmao. But hey, that all just means it’s doing a damn good job as an episode of a horror podcast!

But outside of the core story, we obviously have the very intriguing return of who is presumably…MY GOTH SON HELL YEAH! GERARD KEAY NATION LET’S FUCKING GO!!! Honestly, considering that he has to live a life of fighting the horrors (and maybe…spreading them…), and also seems to have a fucked up family history, I genuinely hope that he was just on vacation here, whether he’s good or bad or morally gray, I think he deserves a break. Anyways his appearance here is certainly pretty intriguing. Not only is this the first statement he appears in that seems to be completely unrelated to any Leitners, but he also mentions that Andrea had been “marked”. Marked by…what exactly? If I had to guess, I would assume that it would be the entity possessing Hill Top Road. When it fully took over Edwin Burroughs, he said “I am marked”, and on top of that, it also has connections to heat and distorting the world around people until they snap back to reality, both of which are things that Andrea experiences. Honestly, this being seems to pop up all over the place, as it seemingly has some level of ties to The Cult of Asag and maybe even Micheal (though that’s probably just the brain rot talking), and while it definitely seems to be at its strongest on Hill Top Road, it’s implied that it possessed the girl who Edwin Burroughs attempted to perform and exorcism on, so I think it can still appear in other places. Thankfully Andrea seems to have been able to fend it off by thinking of her mother, but that just makes me more intrigued as to how Gerard knew that would help fend off some sort of eldritch heat god. On top of that, this is like…the one statement so far where he shows up and doesn’t do anything that is potentially morally questionable, outside of Pageturner in retrospect I guess, so…yeah, even though this episode was a lot more easy-going than the last one, it’s still given me a lot more to think about. Gerard’s presence and actions, whatever marked Andrea and caused all the bad stuff to happen…it is certainly all very intriguing. Overall, while this isn’t an all time favorite episode for me or anything, I still thought it was a very good one and…genuinely really unsettling for me personally. I’m glad we got to see another look at Gerard and, yeah, there’s not much more to say, just another good episode. Well…there’s not much more to say outside of the supplemental at least.

Oh god fucking damnit Jon. He has clearly not heeded my advice to lie down because what the fuuucckkk. I understand if he’s a little bit shaken after the encounter with Micheal, and obviously watching a real-estate agent basically die without you knowing would probably fuck you up but OH. GOD. Ok well, it’s at the very least a good thing that he finally realized that something’s up with “Sasha” but…did he really need the god of confusion or whatever he is to tell him that?! You are an ARCHIVIST. An ACADEMIC. YOU SHOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS!!! He’s all like “I didn’t suspect her because she’s handled the Prentiss attack better than anyone else”…AS IF THAT’S SOMEHOW NOT CONCERNING?! IF I WAS HIM, I WOULD BE EXTREMELY CREEPED OUT IF SOMONE WAS JUST…CONTINUING AS NORMAL AFTER ALL OF THAT! God, what an absolute dumbass. His density knows no bounds. I love him dearly. Still though…it’s a good thing he caught on at least. And then we have his conversation with Elias, and yeah, that doesn’t do him any favors! Don’t get me wrong, the entire scene is absolutely hilarious, I love how he questions if Dr. Elliott or Micheal were filing complaints, how he chocks up being a fucking stalker to being “worried about Tim and Martin’s mental health” (oh god Martin’s crush is going to end up being so fucked I can already tell), and I love to envision him just standing outside Tim’s house with binoculars in a very easy-to-see location. But..wow! You know, when I said it would be nice to see him grow out of being a skeptic, I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THIS! And then he finishes the supplemental by saying he’s most suspicious of Elias which like…yeah, me too, but I don’t think it’s for the same reasons! If anything, this is the least suspicious Elias has ever been, honestly hai requests of Jon seem pretty reasonable. Well…at least Jon knows who to be the most suspicious of now…I guess. Someone please just knock him out with a frying pan, he really needs it (affectionately)….

- Episode 49, The Butcher’s Window 💪

Statement of Gregory Pryor, regarding his investigations into one Hector Lorado during the summer of 2007.

I’m going to start off by saying that for some reason, on the YouTube upload, the little title card didn’t fully load for this episode. What was up with that? Is “butcher” or “window” some sort of British swear I’m unaware of? Well, regardless….EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW!!!! Yet another episode that makes me feel really uneasy like…wow! I expected some body horror or meat related stuff given the title, but…I did NOT think it was going to go like…that. But outside of my sheer terror, this was another really great episode! It was terrifying, but it also built on some things that I…honestly kind of forgot about, helped fill in some gaps, and also came with some very fun reveals at the end. (oh my god I can’t wait to talk about that) As per usual I’ll start off with just some fun and interesting things about the episode that are easy to talk about. Firstly, I actually really liked Gregory Pryor as a protagonist here. I’ve always kind of had a fondness for the statement givers that are just…honestly pretty big dicks, as I think it adds a good level of realism to the world and helps to shake things up. Honestly the whole vibe of the statement was so gloriously shitty, I just got the sense that no one involved with what happened was particularly likable. I also was a little bit curious about the presence of the Ukrainian mafia here, initially I thought the guys who were bargaining with Hector were supposed to be Breekon and Hope but I think that was just me going insane. If I had to make one minor complaint about this episode, it’s that I felt like it took a while to get into the weird horror aspects. I mean, most episodes don’t get into the real meat until later on, but they usually add intrigue with just…little oddities here and there. For example, Episode 46 doesn’t get truly freaky until later on, but the mentions of the weird smells and lightbulbs whenever Mike entered the room helped in making me feel uneasy, while this episode doesn’t really have much of that. But this is overall a very small and meaningless complaint, because when we do get into the actual horror…oh my god. I have some things to say.

So…yikes. Before we discuss the return of the big beefy bully boy, I’ll just talk a little bit about how FUCKING GRUESOME this part is. Like…I was very disturbed. Gregory hiding in the locker, Hector turning out to be alive, all of the shit that Jared did, the teeth hole underneath the floorboards, the discarded clothes and the body of the original owner that was later found, the general atmosphere of a morgue inside a butcher’s shop, the fact this went on for four fucking hours, and Gregory’s escape attempt which led to…the arm. I initially thought it got chopped off, which would have been terrible already, but then…then we learn that Jared FUCKING RIPPED THE BONE OUT THE SOCKET AND EW EW EW. All of this was tense and horrible and I absolutely loved it. Happy that Gregory got a prosthetic though, even if I just said he was kind of a dick. But anyways uh…Jared Hopworth is back! Honestly I kind of forgot about him, but it is really cool to see that he’s a more prominent recurring antagonist, given that his whereabouts were kind of a loose end at the end of Episode 17. And…I mean, I do not know how to feel about where he’s been. On one hand it’s..good for him(?) that he was able to capitalize his abilities (especially alongside the fucking mafia of all people), but on the other hand, he’s clearly a terrifying meat bone monster thing that is no longer human and is dismembering people in order to morph himself even further. So…yeah, overall I’d say his return isn’t exactly a good thing. I mean, he could change the medical world with these abilities but instead he does this. What an ass! But in all seriousness, I’m absolutely terrified of this man. Just the knowledge that this…thing is STILL out there, still turning people’s bones, is…not exactly a pleasant thought. Like, obviously this is fiction, but I LIVE in England, I still feel like Hulk: Bone Edition could come at me and that’s not a good thing. It’s also interesting that Jared is not seen using The Boneturner’s Tale to…you know, turn bones anymore. I’ve seen someone suggest that maybe he also put the book inside his body, which could definitely be the case, but Mike Crew still seemed to have some sort of connection to Ex Altiora even before he found the book so…I just get the feeling that a single encounter with a Leitner is enough to give someone some weird abilities, although it does make me question where the time might be now…yikes. (Also, if he opened the book at one point, does that mean that Mike could also turn bones? Or did the book specifically choose Jared as if it’s sentient? Honestly I’m just starting to get the vibe that this old-ass bibliophile is responsible for every little bad thing that happens in this podcast.) One other thing about Jared is that now that I think about it, his weird shape is very similar to that of the anatomy students and Micheal. There very well might be some connections there, but I’ll just have to wait and see where they might go. What’s also very curious to me is that…interesting hole that Jared started throwing the bones into. For some reason, it kind of reminded me of that part in Episode 30, where David Laylow was nearly fed to a massive meat grinder. I only say this because Jon straight up says that this statement reminds him of other meat-centric ones, such as Episode 30, but also others like Episode 18, probably. In fact, I wonder if this butcher’s shop is where Toby Carlisle from Episode 18 was getting the meat, maybe he knew Jared. Now, I can’t say how all of these episodes connect perfectly, I just know that there’s a connection. What I do find interesting however is that this episode is home to both meat and bones and…that got me thinking about a theory I had on ✨the horrors✨.

When I wrote about Episode 35, I listed out what I thought the driving forces behind all things spooky in the timeline were, and I mentioned something associated with meat, and something associated with bones as two of them. However, given what we have here, I now think that these “two” are actually the same being. Rather than one being meat and the other being bones, I think there is one singular being with command over bodies in general, and that’s what has been witnessed in every episode with either concept involved so far. This revelation doesn’t really give much, as I still don’t know…what the hell this thing even is, but it has made me want to revisit my list of ✨the horrors✨ with a new coat of paint. So, here it is: Eldritch Gods 2.0!

- The Anglerfish (1, 28)

- Vertigo/The Vast (4, 21, 46)

- The Flesh Hive (6, 22, 26, 32, 36?, 39, 40, 45?)

- The Piper (7, 42?)

- Asag (8, 12, 19, 20, 37, 43, 48?)

- Devouring Darkness (9, 15, 25, 41)

- Eyes (12, 20, 23)

- Isolation (13, 33, 48?)

- Body Horror (14, 17, 18, 30, 35, 49)

- Spiders (16, 32, 38, 48)

- Whatever The Other Circus deals with (24, 44)

- Micheal :-) (8, 26, 47)

And then like…maybe one or two more if the passages Robert Smirke designed do indeed represent ✨the horrors✨. I also guess I should mention the remark I made about these things representing different fears, since I said that one of the reasons I scrapped that theory was because “bones” were just too specific. Now granted, I am not fully reviving this theory, as just because something is scary does not mean it represents fear (even though I still think fear is a core theme of the podcast(, but I will concede it makes the theory…slightly more plausible, but I’m still kind of on the fence about it. So um…yeah! That’s about it for the content of the statement! Overall another great one, a bit of a slow start but it more than made up for it with what happened later on! But of course, I can’t neglect to mention the follow-up and the supplemental because…oh my god this is absolute gold.

“Come on down to The Magnus Institute. We have Jonathan “Ex-theatre kid turned crazed conspiracy theorist” Sims, Martin “pines after his emotionally constipated boss that either hates him or suspects him of murder and steals tape recorders to write poetry” Blackwoood, Sasha “she is totally normal” James, Tim “bisexual icon otherwise known as Joe Spooky” Stoker, and Elias “smokes weed” Bouchard! Simply sell your soul to ✨the horrors✨ of academia, and start your work now!”

So…there’s certainly some interesting things to talk about here. There’s nothing about the statement that really sticks out, or that I haven’t already mentioned, but most of the interest comes from information on the institute staff. Firstly…hell yeah Tim you fucking get it. The man comes back from a horrific worm infestation and gets back to his hobbies of being silly and seducing cops for information. What an absolute legend, I wish he ran the institute, nay, the country. Also find it interesting that Basira has “refused to compromise her position any further”. Hopefully that just means that she doesn’t want to anything outside of sneaking in Gertrude’s tapes, as it would be a shame if those stopped coming in, given how interesting the first one was. It is very funny to me however that Jon says he doesn’t want to get involved in “personal drama”….when he is literally outside Tim’s house stalking him. Never change Jon. Actually please do change. Actually I don’t know. Also we have Not!Sasha, and while I can see why some might interpret her computer troubles as relating to the ones that force Jon to record statements on tape…I personally think she’s just really fucking weird. It also made me realize that doing I.T. in a place like this must seriously suck ass. (Oh god…imagine being in H.R. though…how would you manage the worms…HOW WOULD YOU MANAGE JON OH GOD.) So (almost, looking at you Not!Sasha) all of that is fine and dandy, but things get very interesting when we start to look at Jon’s investigations into Elias. Finally some substantial lore on this guy! (Sure, Jon should probably be looking into Not!Sasha but…he’s still suspicious as well so I won’t hold this one against him, even if his reasoning for suspicion from last episode is dumb as all hell.) So, we learn here that the institute was previously ran by a man named James Wright, who ran from 1973 to 1996. Not only does this mean that Episode 44 was recorded not too long after Elias took over, but it also means that…James Wright probably ran for an unusually short amount of time. I mean, I doubt you’d start running an institute like this in old age, and while he could’ve died in an accident or due to medical complications…I can’t just shake the feeling that he was murdered, despite the lack of information on him. Like, if Elias is being set up as antagonistic, which I feel like he is, then I could see him killing James just to gain his position. But on top of that lore, we learn that Elias joined in 1991, and worked in artifact storage, becoming head of the institute unusually quickly. But more importantly…HE CANONICALLY SMOKES WEED FUCK YEAH!!!! I don’t CARE if the implication is that he doesn’t do so anymore, I will forever believe that he still does it in secret because the amount of hilarious scenarios that could come from that are too good to pass up. But…yeah, this information on his past is weird. Like, you would not expect a stoner with a lackluster university degree to become the head of an eclectic academic institution so easily, let alone to have the personality of the Elias we see here. I saw someone suggest that maybe the real Elias was taken and replaced by one of the things that took and replaced Sasha, since he worked in artifact storage. I personally think it’s unlikely, since that event only transpired due to the table, which was only delivered to the institute fairly recently, but it’s a fun theory nonetheless, and it could explain why Elias seemingly knows that Not!Sasha isn’t who she says she is…and for some reason chooses not to tell Jon and the others. And hey, the table has definitely moved around before given it’s presence in Graham’s house, and maybe Hill Top Road, so it’s technically possible that it’s been to the institute before and was just temporarily moved to victimize someone. But as cool as this idea is, I have a bit of a different theory. It’s looser, but it makes more sense in my head.

You see, I think that Elias Bouchard has done some bad things and that he isn’t entirely moral, but I don’t think he has the worst intentions at heart. Based on all of the information, and the vibes he’s giving off, I think that he has likely witnessed the horrors first hand. This would explain his possible change in demeanor, perspective and personality after joining the institute, his supposed great knowledge on the paranormal, and why he was able to recognize Not!Sasha, without him being some horrific monster. I don’t think he was impersonated, but..he could’ve definitely seen something in artifact storage, or maybe even before then, as it would explain why he started work at the institute in the first place. And…I personally think he wants to avoid ✨the horrors✨as much as possible. He’s seen them first hand, and he wishes to keep them far away. This would explain a multitude of things. It would explain why he’s quite discouraging towards Jon’s attempts at investigation, why he was willing to sacrifice Jon and Martin to deadly C02 if it meant killing Jane, why he’s so quiet about details surrounding Gertrude. And mentioning Gertrude, if we assume that Elias did indeed kill her (which I still think is the most likely course of action, even with the potential of him being a red herring) then this potential worldview of his would explain why he would’ve killed her. Gertrude clearly knew quite a lot about ✨the horrors✨, much more than Jon at least, given how she talks about The Other Circus with such familiarity. And given how it seems that at least two cults have something against her, it’s safe to assume that she made an enemy of eldritch forces. So, Elias killed her out of fear for what she could’ve caused. And that’s why he’s trying to keep Jon calm (and desperately failing, might I add), as he does not wish to kill him as well. I know all of this is a huge claim to make but honestly…I could see it working out. I feel like Elias will end up being a very morally compromised character, one that has good yet potentially misguided intentions at heart, and had to do some terrible things to keep ✨the horrors✨ at bay. …I’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.

So yeah…that’s Episode 49. Another great episode as always, it definitely went some interesting places, and I’m very intrigued by the information on both Jared and Elias. Also, I hope that Tim’s polycule ends up successful (I’m just going to go on that assumption because it’s more fun.) I…once again don’t really know how to end this so uh…here’s a wacky link I found!

http://paypal.com/IFuckingHateJurgenLeitner

- Episode 50, Foundations 🏛️

Statement of Sampson Kempthorne, regarding the workhouse architecture of George Gilbert Scott.

And here we are! I’m now 25% of the way through The Magnus Archives, woohoo! So, did this episode conclude the first quarter of the series in a satisfying way? Well…I mean I guess yeah? Overall, I think the general concept of the episode makes it more than worthy, as having another statement given directly to the guy who founded the institute here does feel very totally fitting. But…I don’t know, it isn’t exactly a favorite for me. Not due to any particular flaws, as always it’s still very enjoyable and far from bad, but I guess I just don’t have that much to say about it, especially in comparison to some of the other episodes from this first quarter of the season. Regardless, there’s still definitely quite a few things worth talking about so uh…how about I get into that?

I’ll start off by saying that this episode does immediately get points for incorporating real-world history into it, which I’ve already said is something I really like in this podcast. As it turns out, Sampson Kempthorne, George Gilbert Scott, and Henry Roberts were all real people, along with the returning Robert Smirke, so it’s cool to see them get incorporated into the plot here. Although, I did find it funny how the case number was “8141206” as that error makes it seem as if the statement was given in 1814…and all of these guys would’ve been children at that point in time. This episode also thankfully gives a bit more information on Jonah Magnus, the founder of the institute. At this point in time he would’ve actually founded the place, unlike in Episode 23, and honestly, I think he would’ve had a lot in common with Jon. I mean, both of them probably talk like the haunted protagonists of Victorian gothic horror novels, and also need some rest, I can see some similarities there. I’ll touch a bit more on Jonah later, but for now I’ll just say that…yeah, those letters are a little…not all that heterosexual sounding. I mean, most old letters between two rich guys do feel kind of fruity by modern standards but…you get what I mean right? But as for the statement, well, I’ve got to say I love how we now have multiple instances of people leaving to New Zealand for the sake of escaping ✨the horrors✨ of England. I don’t know I just think that’s kind of funny. But when we get into the paranormal stuff that happens here…well, it’s pretty vague, but I think I can make some sense of what’s happening here. Obviously the person behind all of this is “The Governor”, someone with the ability to make buildings compress and kill people. My current assumption is that this “Governor” is indeed George Gilbert Scott. Both of them are…well firstly, they’re both really weird, but there’s some other things worth noting here as well. They both have some sort of interest in compressing architecture, we’re nearby the sites of The Governor’s actions, and on top of that, George’s plans were found in Sampson’s house after it started to close in on him. If they are not the same person, then they are at the very least strongly related and working together. However, the existence of The Governor does bring up some interesting ideas. You see, I initially assumed that the darkness worshipped by The People’s Church of The Divine Host was the same thing that appeared in Episode 15 and Episode 41, having the ability to morph rooms in order to trap and kill people. Now, that darkness could’ve still been there in those episodes but…honestly, aside from Sampson’s incident taking place at night, this darkness doesn’t really seem to be present here. This actually makes me think that the darkness and the compression are the results of two different eldritch horrors, and if we go back to the theory on what I think ✨the horrors✨ are, that brings us to a total of thirteen. Now, I still think that there’s actually fourteen eldritch beings at that the death number is meant to throw me off, as the passage that led to the central room in Episode 35 also had weird properties. In fact, that specific passage might actually be meant to represent the compressing horror. So, I still think I’m missing something here if my theory is in the right place, but I feel like I might have made a step in the right direction here. So, uh… Eldritch Gods 3.0!

- The Anglerfish (1, 28)

- Vertigo / The Vast (4, 21, 46)

- The Flesh Hive (6, 22, 26, 32, 36?, 39, 40, 45?)

- The Piper (7, 42?)

- Asag (8, 12, 19, 20, 37, 43, 48?)

- Darkness (9, 15?, 25, 41?)

- Eyes (12, 20, 23)

- Isolation (13, 33)

- Body Horror (14, 17, 18, 30, 35, 49)

- Compression (15, 41, 50)

- Spiders (16, 32, 38, 48)

- Whatever The Other Circus deals with (24, 44)

- Micheal :-) (8, 26, 47)

So there you go! This is my current list until further notice! One last thing I feel is worth mentioning is that Smirke suggests that George had a “patron”, but I have to wonder what that actually means. It could definitely mean The Governor, if he’s a different person, but if George is The Governor…then you could maybe take more a D&D Warlock approach to the term “patron”. Also, I fee I should address why I view ✨the horrors✨ as “eldritch”. Simply put, some spoiler-free content on tma I saw called it eldritch horror, so I’m just going on the assumption that’s what’s being dealt here. I only say this because there is still some good evidence for all of this to be the work of demons, or something along those lines, so I wanted to explain why I have this interpretation. Anyways uh…back to the statement! So, the other main thing of intrigue that came from this episode was of course the return of Robert Smirke, which also acts as our first look at him as a character. And…he’s pretty confusing to me. You see, with the way that he talks about George’s architecture, how he bashed it and says that Sampson was lucky to not have to work with him much longer, you’d assume he stands in opposition to whatever George / The Governor is doing. But then again, HE built the passages underneath the reform club, as well as the ones beneath the institute, so he’s not entirely resolved of making creepy architecture either. Now granted, I have suggested that you can serve one horror and be against others. For example, I believe Gerard serves whatever horror connects to eyes, but that he’s against Vertigo/The Vast and Asag given his actions. The problem however is that Smirke built the tunnels which I believe reflect ✨the horrors✨, so…that would mean he doesn’t really have a side in this conflict (which I assume to be the conflict Micheal talks about). Overall Smirke’s motivations and morality are very enigmatic at the moment. But what’s even more interesting here is that based on Sampson’s words, it seems that while the institute was founded in concept by this point, the actual building might not have been, since Jonah was working at Edinburgh Townhouse. This makes it possible that Jonah built the institute over the tunnels even though he had knowledge of Smirke’s strange designs. Which like, I get it, if you have an interest in the paranormal that’s fair enough of a move to make but…it just makes me worry about the purpose of the institute a lot more, and also makes me concerned for Jonah’s fate. I feel like an overarching theme of the story is that if you dig too deep, you’ find something you wish you hadn’t found, which makes me very fearful for the history of the institute, everyone currently working there…and myself, now that I think about it. (And if the institute has a stake in the “struggle” Micheal mentions…are they aligned with the compression horror?) Overall, while this episode isn’t an all-time favorite for me, it’s given me enough to think about going forward. The history of the institute, The Governor and the…odd themes of poverty abuse that follow him now that I think about it, and Smirke’s architecture are all very interesting topics that I would love to see get expanded further. While it’s not my favorite episode, I think it certainly works as a finale to the first quarter of the podcast.

Oh yeah, the supplemental. Uh….I mean, this one is fairly brief but that’s fine because it’s funny as fuck. Oh Tim…you have no idea do you? I mean, that’s not me saying that Jon reciprocates Martin’s feelings at the moment, because have you SEEN the man? What I am saying is that…Tim really is a bestie ignoring the plot isn’t he? Like, I love him, but he has NO idea where the romantic subplot is going. But outside of that, it’s nice to know Basira is still trying to give out the tapes, and it’s also good to see that Jon is finally in…some form of therapy. Hooray for marginal improvement!

Well, that’s a wrap on the first quarter of season two, as well as the first quarter of the entire podcast! In conclusion, season two has been absolutely fantastic so far. So many great episodes like Grifter’s Bone, Tightrope, Literary Heights and The New Door have already blown me away, and it makes me even more excited to see what the rest of the season will dish out. The supplementals are a great way to advance the plot, and the directions all of the characters and storylines are taking are extremely satisfying and/or interesting. Looking back it’s…kind of insane that I’ve gotten this into the podcast. I initially started listening because I wanted to write my own horror, and thought something to have in the background for inspiration would be nice. But then I listened to the first two episodes while doing mundane busywork in a class and…it absolutely hooked me. And here I am, writing ass-long posts about them. I still intend to write my own works in the future someday, and I’m working on it as we speak, but I’ve just got to say it’s been such a delight getting deep into this, and everyone who worked on this podcast has my highest respect. And as always, thank you for reading of you’ve made it this far, I consider you an absolutely legend of perseverance if you’re able to listen to someone ramble for this long. In conclusion, Jon needs a nap, Martin needs a happy relationship, Tim needs all of the riches in the world, Not!Sasha needs to die, Elias needs to explain himself, Gertrude needs to explain herself, Basira needs to be careful, Helen needs to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE, and Micheal needs to get in my life right now. See you next time :).

[bojackhorsemanobviously]

I watched bojack in 2022 here are my thoughts on the show in honor of the s1 anniversary

BJ/Sarah lynn: Yeah i saw that coming a mile away it didnt gross me out like a lot of othersbut. it sure was weird cause every flashback he saw as what 8 years old? weird. i don't consider it nonconsenual as it felt s5 tried to imply, cause sarah lynn is a fully grown adult but man it was def weird / also through most of it bojack was a complete sucker/.. but man the woodyallenvibesbestrongheresigh

didn't like PB/Diane on rewatches how he goes about throwing a big party after knowing diane hates them when she says YES: Big Red Flag.

am i wrong for thinking that the show doesn't give enough agency to some of the women characters, cause Jessica Biel was just insane im not gonna pin it all on PB for why that relationship soured, katrina i got feel more for but ms cannibal justnahfam. and screw ana/angela too. him going to seek closure from his abuser will always be gross..

I was mad at bojack for 2 days after the penny episode. Bojack Chris hanson wants a word with you.

And yet I still want to hug him whenver I see his sad horsy face.

I didn't like the reporter stitx shrugs.. seeing bojack also get better only for it tocrash down was a bummer to watch..

its intersting how he treats his life as a sitcom tho even up till season 6 the many faces of depression/ escape to LA/ Prickly Muffin/Too much man.. boy tries so hard to life a sitcom life of course its gonna blow up in his face.

Notice how Todd however getts to mostly live a zany sitcom life?

Hank the hippo makes me eye more than just bill cobsy

sarah lynn/sobs at jenneate and all the abuse in hollywood in general glad the kids are doing sober tho.. as miley/lindsey /britney are doing well..

sharona never should have given bojack that spiked orange juice

watching bojack in his 30s/50s near angela im just, man this guy has ZERO backbone its sad

PB: gay for Bojack

Fav quotes: This penis has been inside this vagina

Everyone Deserves to be Loved

Made me cry ugly tears: Bojerb/ Bodiane

Hate: Beatrice horseman

fav: Bojack probably obvious.

fav episode: I think bojack hates the troops is pretty funny.

its cool how his flashbacks have a sitcom vibe to it.

I feel i try to border on not excusing bojack but understanding how itcan be so hard to be anything than what he became cause his parents gave zero love zero esteem and he was set up to fail at relationships. clearly he hatese himself bec too bad for him ne bascially became his parents alcholicsm, advantage of women, insulting hisson i mean friend Todd similar to how bea treated him.

I don't like the plot for sarah lynn death as i feel its take to much responbility off a adult women who had a wall full of drugs , found the heroin and took it of her own free will.. and prefer the ide of bojack being at fault for just being a enabler..

sarah lynn predicated it well that she would hang out with enablers and die young, speaking of enablers im annoyed at pc for inviting bojack to her buisness party and trying to get him back in the hollywood spotlight like why girl just why??

love todd/bojacks ending it was very sweet

i suppose thats all i have to say ... this is just a ramble of my scrambled brain thoughts of the show.. xd.

[chocolatespyro]

Me learning to not give people the benefit of the doubt when they've been given the benefit of the doubt about 50 times already

(III 15 edition. Spoilers under the cut if you still haven't seen it somehow.)

EDIT: Took out the part about them not mentioning her disability since Bot does say that they wouldn't want Cabby to forget iirc, also about them not thinking kids would understand disability since I wasn't happy with those points and I feel they were inaccurate or somewhat off-topic. That's pretty much it though.

The more I think abt it the more I can see how the Bot apology sucks lmaoooo

Dunno if this was a point made on Twitter (I've heard there's been discontent there? I dont have Twitter tho but I'd LOVE to hear more from other Cabby fans abt what's going on there. u can leave comments on this post if u want or u can just rb and do it thru tags.)

Anyways, to my main points: Bot just says they're sorry for... forcing Cabby to get permission to use her files?

What about them lying to Cabby? I don't believe they ever really apologized for that. OR TOLD HER THAT THEY LIED??

Bot also doesn't really apologize for the other main points people were upset for I think?

I don't think bot ever really takes full accountability for judging Cabby either. No one does really. Like... at least an

"I'm sorry. I really screwed up, and so did a lot of the other contestants. We were too harsh and judgmental towards you for no reason, and our insecurities shouldn't have gotten in the way of you being able to remember. This was supposed to be a fun and welcoming environment and vacation... but it became a nightmare for you instead. I know this won't make up for all the damage done, but I hope this file is useful to you."

(maybe reworded some to fit Bot's personality better, but the apology shouldn't have just been this quick one-off moment taken to the side like in canon.)

To kinda add to the above, I also think it would've been nice if Bot fully noticed and acknowledged HOW other people haven't been treating Cabby very kindly too by giving examples of where nobody stood up for her. Lifering was a great supportive person in the episode, but Bot was there for some of the shit that was pulled against Cabby, ESPECIALLY in episode 7. I so wish that that was acknowledged here. And the fact that Test Tube went directly behind Cabby's back to do that. Where does Bot think Test Tube got those files from?

There's also the fact that Test Tube never approaches to apologize for judging Cabby for no reason. Like she just stares at Cabby and Bot hugging for a few seconds after Bot apologizes that's it. And she... doesn't accuse Cabby. That's the barest fucking minimum she could've done.

Also... the "inaccurate depictions" thing wasn't even true outside of Baseball's file... and that was a bunch of contrived bs. Like Suitcase literally had this whole thing where she stood up to Nickel and I guess... Cabby glossed over that somehow??? I can't suspend my disbelief this much sorry all. Idk where the "Manipulated by Balloon" shit came from. Correct me if I'm wrong bcus I haven't seen season 2.

The only reason why it was inaccurate with Bot is because Cabby thought Bot was Bow, something Cabby IMMEDIATELY corrected herself on. Bot coulda just... reminded Cabby that it wasn't her fault because she didn't know Bot and Bow were two different objects and told Cabby to just... start a new file like others said??? So that shit didn't make sense.

The apology just... kinda feels shallow. Cabby didn't do anything wrong here. She's beaten herself up over this shit. It just hurts to watch.

Bot only really apologized for a single thing and we don't get any acknowledgement towards the lying or the mistreatment or Cabby destroying Bow's file as some sort of garbage symbolism attempt.

Bot's apology was kinda supposed to tie everything together and top everything off nicely in a better and at least slightly more satisfying way than whatever the fuck 14 did, but it just... doesn't. It barely acknowledges the issues. They don't really show how seriously they screwed up with Cabby.

I wanna believe that AE has the best intentions here, but they're on very thin ice in my eyes. If they screw up any next steps with Cabby and/or never address Cabby's issues with Test Tube ever again, I think I'm done having any kind of faith in AE. Even Cabby winning wouldn't save it.

Yeah sorry this got really depressing, this situation is just sad

[sea-of-dust]

Happy! Lucky! Smile!

Hhw relationship headcannons

Authors note: yo I had a request and I wanted to answer it but it deleted on me...then the account deactivated....BRO IF UR READING THIS IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. But hey I got it out for ya homie 💪

Kokoro

She adores you! She pinches your checks daily always going on and on about how cute your are <3.

She doesn't like being away from you not even when she has to sleep. She will give you privacy but like as soon as your in school "Y/N!!"

She's energetic normally but when she sees you the energy multiples ten fold.

She almost jumped off a class room from the window to see you.

Your dates consist of going to carnivals, those food truck stands in random alleys, and first row seats to hello happy world shows! You even get to be the witness to hhws next big project. Totally doesn't involve Kaoru going somewhere high

She doesn't tell you outright but she has the suits on you just incase

Private time with her you always end up playing a game together where you end up being super tired so you sleep over at hers, only on breaks tho that's when you two don't have school the next day then you just leave early. Doesn't stop her from sleeping over at yours tho. She packed like she's staying for weeks.

Her dream dates a date where you two hangout quite literally when tomorrow begins she's already outside banging your window "Y/N!!! Y/N LETS GO ON AN ADVENTURE~!" "Kokoro?!? It's like 11:20?!" "Come on come on let's go!!" You stood there shocked but got ready anyway by 11:50 you two were out of there "Why are we waiting outside- ily but don't tell me you woke me out for a stupid reason..." "were waiting for it to reach 12:00" "...your kidding me" she wasn't. The rest of the day consisted of hot air balloon rides, arcades, roller coasters, and ending it off with a sleepover.

She let's you see behind the scenes that the public usually doesn't

She doesn't get jealous like at all. Your with someone else for a long time doesn't mind

You made a joke using a ring pop asking to marry her you had to convince her not to go through with the wedding like she already rented out a whole city just incase.

She sometimes sneaks up to your classroom windows during her lunch break she broke into your gym class once too...

She found out you liked video games and once she totally didn't rummage through your things to find your favorite one you'd find a present by the door of the games merch, Misaki managed to stop her from setting it up

The band also finds you fun and a better event organizer than Kokoro. She may have cool ideas but sweet Jesus were they dangerous. You made sure those ideas wouldn't flop and tested them to see.

She dreamt about settling down and maybe adopting a few pets...a whole zoo

She likes resting in between your thighs. The best pillows in her opinion besides your chest. The closer she is to your face the better

She loves it when you flirt with her publicly. Like when you wink at her, blow kisses, holding her by the waist. She takes it as a sign. A sign to announce her love to you later! She knew you didn't like public displays of affection THAT much. As soon as your alone with her...."Y/N ILY SM MWUUUU" "ilyt Kokoro but your gonna ruin your makeup.."

She loves spoiling you, you have to convince her not to overspend the times you fail...its like a mr beast episode dear christ

She sends you WAYYYY TO MANY MEMES like as soon as she finds something funny she sends it to you, scrolls sends the video to you. she sends you her whole fyp 😭

Hagumi

She loves every aspect of you! Even when it's a bad day for you she still thinks your cute!

You and her started dating when she kissed you after a game during finals

She hugged you so tightly in the locker room confessing she loves you. You said you liked her back and bam

She likes hugging you from behind. A surprise attack!

Whenever your sick she sleeps next to you. On the floor. She didn't want to get sick too but she's o so clingy

She likes kissing you on the forehead, lips and checks, all the things she likes about you are on your face!

Her love language is physical touch and words of admiration. She loves every bit of physical contact you give her. Even if you touch her hair or brush your hand against her. she's more energetic and happy

She found you at a grocery store and offered to pay for it for you despite carrying her own. You told her you'll pay for it yourself, she was a little sad tho, you ended up letting her pay for snacks

She kinda expects you to lean on her more often with things. Need help with homework? I'll finish it for you! You need to cook? I'll cook a Thanksgiving dinner! She does this so much you had to basically put her on time out

She loves seeing you at her games, even if your the opposing team! In fact she makes it a challenge! If she wins she gets whatever she wants the day after the game no matter if it's a school day! You get the same

What does she usually want? A date! Maybe doing something active or if you aren't in the mood or just not active she's down to play a game or bake with you

She pretty much senses every time your gonna go shopping. She's going to join you. Not ask....join

She randomly tells you bass facts "DID YOU KNOW BASSES HAVE LESS STRINGS THAN GUTAIRS?!?" "Hagumi go to sleep..." "did you know bass strings are longer~" "Hagumi..."

Only a forehead kiss will shut her up

She has too much empathy...she falls for the homeless scams...to much you have to pull at her so she doesn't give money to em.

The band likes you. You were calm and critiqued Kokoro when needed. They even let you keep things from the show like hats or just get you your own outfit or just for a surprise something signed by your favorite celeb

Speaking of celebs you were going nuts over one at a concert. She felt jealous when you spoke about them afterward. Its not that she thought you would leave her if the celeb asked you too...but what if you did, what if you found the celeb more attractive?! WHAT IF YOU MOVE AWAY WITH THEM. You would know she was jealous if she starts pointing and tugging at your sleeve. You had to reassure her by pointing out traits her and the celeb shared.

She doesn't let you out of her sight whenever your alone with friends just because of this. When you tell her you wouldn't leave her she's like "🤨.....really?!?! 😳"

She enjoys piggy back rides after games, sleeping on your back is her favorite thing while walking home. Sure it's near impossible because you carry a bookbag and her weight and the bookbags isn't gonna be a good time. But when it does happen she enjoys it to the fullest

Plushies! She buys one for you..alot....you have a wall because of her no worries! If they ever fall you think you might drown...turns out she almost did. She knocked one off trying to reach for you. A wave of plushies almost drowned her

Kaoru

You were dragged to a school play because your sibling was in a show and she saw you in the crowd looking bored. She made it her mission to make you look in awe or at least smile! She ends up looking for you during the after show

She failed to talk to you but at least she has your name

She beings asking your sibling what you like and learned your in the same class of her and began her mission!

She began casual conversion with you and learned about your liking of Shakespeare, who she quoted from time to time. You being dropping your guard around her eventually making you laugh. Seeing this for the first time she blushed looking away and covering her face. How were you this...cute..

Ok...how she wants to marry you. She should marry you! She completed her plan to make you smile now it's time for marriage!

She began by giving you a flower after school almost ignoring her fans to see you. She also "conveniently" shows up to shops you go to. You began returning the favor by giving her candies.

She took this as a sign you liked her. Que her starting to treat you like a fan! You weren't really liking it so you spoke to her. That was one of the times you got to experience Kaoru Seta not just the girl that lives to make everyone her "kitten". Kaoru apologized and you said it's fine and then you two hung out more and more since.

She confessed to you at your place where she held a ring pop up to you "my dearest ki- friend you've bloomed in my heart like a rose showing off its petals after bathing in the sun will you be my s/o" a little corny...you said yes

Ever since you became her s/o you started getting her out of situations with fans a little more just to spend time alone or go to a shop together

Her fans started speculating you two were in a relationship, you two promised to keep it secret, you just denied saying Kaoru was only a close friend

She gets treated to miso soup on the down low. Usually when her fans aren't swarming her. Usually when she's like this there's alot of hugs and she becomes just a little more shy

You and Chisato like talking about her and usually tease her together. She always ends up hiding her face. Always something to giggle about

She likes kissing your hand when greeting you

You began to learn that Kaoru doesn't know what she's saying half the time. That's where you step on to correct her from the crowd acting along with her. Her fans tried the same only for other fans to correct them

You copied some of her gestures. She started acting with you till you kiss her hand. Her speech becomes all stuttered she almost dodged a kiss in the check-

She let you meet the band. Everyone liked you but Misaki kinda thought you were just as idiotic as the three idiots. You weren't! Thank goodness. They treat you like family after stalking you for a while making sure you were good enough for there guitarist

She begged you to join a play as a love interest. When you did she wouldn't stop hakani spamming/saying fleeting while circling you. "AH MY DEAR YOU'RE SO FLEETING~" "Kaoru what are you doing- someone help-" "Hakani~"

Speaking of fleeting you had to be held back the band from telling her what fleeting means. It just wouldn't be the same...

The band kidnapped invited you to the second Hello happy phantom thief event. You were so confused who was holding you and lifting you. You tried to escape their grasp only for them to hold you tighter. You screamed as you disappeared with the figure. It was only when you were alone with the figure you noticed their purple hair. "Kaoru?...OH YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUTTA ME-" "my performances are normally this fleeting <3"

You found out about her fear of heights when Kokoro left you two on the balloon with guards ofc. You held her hand and even asked to go with her. They only let you go before her for safety reasons. So when she did eventually sky dive afterward she flopped into your arms. "Did I fall like a swan my dear?" You sighed and giggled telling her "you fell like a brick a very teary fleeting brick"

Kanon

Ah yes her own personal navigation device

You tell her there's a turn and you turn and she turns another way. She doesn't notice you aren't by her side till she looks over and just sees you've vanished. You've walked with your arms locked since then

She likes knitting with you in fact that's how you told her you liked her. To made her a penguin...(attempted if ya don't knit) she panicked and ran out of the room. When class was dismissed she ran up to you and asked if the offer was still on the table

She get so shy at any show of affection. The only way you can show affection without her getting all shy is gifting her something without you in the same room as her

Speaking of gifts if you ever give her one expect her to try and return it. You tell her she doesn't owe you anything but she does it anyway

You like spooking her sometimes from behind. "Boo" and her hair sticks up and she turns around so slowly only to learn that it's you

Chisato met you and did a whole vibe check to see if you were good enough for Kanon. You passed...barely but your good enough for her so your ok.

She also likes watching movies and eating sweets with you. In a warm blanket too? She'll never wanna leave

You got to meet the band and watched them practice. They love you sm, even tho Kanon talks about you every chance she gets

She even day dreams about you while practicing causing some careless mistakes

Her ideal dates a picnic with all homemade food in a field filled of flowers

Your dates usually consist of Café hopping, and amusement parks in summer, you've noticed hello happy world watching you two

Please tell her you love her she's very insecure about it. She always thinks your way out of her league

You took her to an aquarium and you two would leave with her gushing about jellyfish

You like whispering things in her ear whenever your alone with her. The instant blushing is enough to make your heart melt

She likes doing things with you, especially cooking. Even if it turns out kinda...strange...it's still edible!

She knows when you try to sneak up on her for kisses. When your trying to scare her? Nah she doesn't sense you, but for affection. "Y/n what are you doing?"

The one time you did get her she was covering her face and rolling on the floor

You buying her new scrunchies for whatever event calls. It's like yk what hhws planning next. It's another phantom thief "I got one with little masks on it <3" they're about to sponsor plushies? "It has little bears <3"

You convinced her to sleep over. It's nice cuddling with her you do hear occasional fue~s tho and she shivers like alot. She's so nervous about you two being so close. So she doesn't face you for the other half of the night. When you wake up the next morning she just won't look at you for the rest of the day.

Misaki

You were her desk mate and only talked during turn and talk

You started conversation with her about a band called Hello Happy World

" the bears so cute~" "Yeah I guess"

She was feeling good so she decided to get you a ticket. "wait really? It's sweet but I already have one let's go together!" She didn't really mind going with you the problem was that she IS the bear. So she told the band about it. What did they do? Ask Chu2 to be Michelle! Chu2 exploded laughing "YOU EXPECT ME TO GET IN A BEAR COSTUME AND PERFORM NURSERY RHYMES HAHSHAAHAHAHA" turns out Chu2 had nothing planned for that day so you got to fangirl over hhw with Misaki

You two became even closer afterward and began going to each others houses to do school work. You had to leave to the bathroom and when you got back you saw a little "go out with me?" On top of your homework. You heard the door open seeing Misaki with some snacks you pretended as if you didn't notice as soon as she put them down. "Ilyt Misaki" she jumped back in surprise "I...I meant going out for a date" "your mumbling~" "ah am I?!" She looks away "this is so embarrassing..." "you like me don't you <3" "shut up" "hehe~" your relationship was kinda weird after than you weren't sure if you were dating or not until you asked her a week after. She looked away again bushing "I mean...if you want to"

And so you started dating Misaki. She set up a few rules when you started dating too

She prefers affection in private, she doesn't want people she barely knows making jokes about it.

Whenever you are alone she sometimes lays on your lap to scroll her phone. She also rants about her day and Kokoros antics

Speaking of Kokoro you found out Misaki was Michelle through her arguing that she was a bear with the others. You joked about your girlfriend was a bear.

Speaking of Michelle she managed to grab ya once. You jokingly started screaming and asking for help when someone actually appeared to see you getting aggressively hugged by a bear...that person was one of Kokoros guards who closed the door and let Kokoro know immediately

"MICHELLE I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS" she bursts in, only to see you and Michelle hugging. "Oh..." she closes the door once again

Later Kokoro asked if she can get free hugs too. You just gave her some yourself. That's how the band began treating you like an older sibling

She likes going under blankets with you. Because you either end up kissing, your sleeping on her chest or vise versa. It's warm under there too another good thing about blankets

You found out she knits and decided to learn to surprise her. You knitted her a small plushie and left it in her room. Then when she came over you saw a little plush on your bed. You giggled and asked her about it, she looked away avoiding the question

She whispers in your ear things she wants to do when others are with you. "Lets go get some snacks" "we should get going". This is usually with the other band members but sometimes they hear her and act heartbroken "YOUR REALLY GONNA LEAVE US MISAKI" Ok maybe they aren't acting.... you had to reassure them you'll be back tomorrow

On weekends you usually call her if she wants to go out the next day. Your dates are usually only things you can afford. A Café date here and there, a walk through the park is mostly what your dates are.

Your parents found out you were dating someone and celebrated. "YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!?!? HONEY" "DAD NOOO" they invited her over started an interrogation then asked her to leave. As soon as she left your parents look at you and sighed then started tearing up. "She's perfect" "there there honey *sniffle*" "you two probably gave her a heart attack for nothing" they got up opened the Door Misaki was in and welcomed her to your family.

She likes twiddling with your hair/fingers when you two are just hanging around

She almost made a Playlist of all your favorite songs and keeps it secret like you have to get REALLLLYY close to hear small bits of your favs play and that's pretty rare considering how flustered she gets when your so close

She sometimes kisses your forehead when your asleep. She likes the expression you have when asleep. If your still awake she looks away ashamed you caught her

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

➖ Mature content, 18+ ➖ check the trigger tags each time ➖      

Chapter 50 - Derailed. Episode 2.

-------Evan's point of view-------

Evan: I reached my hand down in my pocket as my phone vibrated. I had forgotten I even had it on me. One message from Lily on Facebook. 'Heads up! A has 7 new pictures of him, V and the child. Also, new picture of Marius on M's profile. He build a snowman' I frowned. About a week ago, I had asked her to keep an eye on those two profiles. I was getting tired at looking them up, but at the same time I still need to know what goes on, in order to prevent our world from coming down if Andy decides to spy on A the wrong day. Or Congo decides to pay M's a visit, for that matter. I frowned again. And then I noticed. I was jealous… of Marius! My cheeks blushed. I shook my head and quickly went to M's profile. I would deal with that one first, as it was the easiest one. Yes, a new picture of M and her husband. We have kinda similar nose. Never noticed that before? Hm? And yes… a picture of Marius, two guys, one of them obviously a vamp, based on that dead skin tone. Hm. Maybe someone A has hooked him up with? He had changed so much the past year, even his hair had gotten longer and darker. But it was without a doubt him. His soul was shining through. I sighed deep as I felt the jealousy again. I would hate for Congo to see this, and get sad. Because he still had feelings for the little one. I had come to a place in our relationship where I felt uncomfortable if he loved anyone but me… well anyone but Andy and me. And Daniel. Moving on to A's profile. First picture… A smiling at the camera? With his arms on V's shoulders. V placed a hand on top of one of A's. Yeah, Andy would not like this one. Specially since someone I can only imagine is A's ex wife, the vampire also is in the pic. Building a snowman with A's new daughter. Then one more picture with focus on the child and the woman, A and V in the back chatting. One of A hugging the child. One of V and the child playing. One of A goofing with the kid, V goofing with the woman. And lastly a romantic pic with A and V alone. That one would sting. I sighed softly and returned to Lily's message. 'Thanks for the heads up. Kinda lost my appetite. Signing off.' I sighed yet again, and slipped my phone back in my pocket.

Congo: Are you okay? he planted a tiny kiss on my cheek bone

Evan: Yeah I smiled softly I just kinda don't have an appetite.

Congo: Well, those potatoes does look a bit dry? He smiled softly How about a bit more sauce to make them glide down better? Hm? He smiled warmly and handed me the sauce with a hopeful look in his eyes

Evan: I couldn't say no. I knew how it worried him when I didn't eat. It probably reminded him of back when Andy used to skip meals and refuse to eat. So I smiled softly and took two big spoon fulls, covering my potatoes and meat It's the red wine sauce? Right? I smiled softly as I nodded at the others around the table It looks like that's the one most is having?

Congo: He nodded softly Yes… it's very delicious. Only Andy, Gaby and Akin aren't eating of it, as far as I can see. He reached it slowly towards Gaby It's really good Gaby, have you tried?

Gaby: She nodded softly Yes, I did, thank you, I made it after all she winked and chuckled softly

Congo: Akin, how about you? Would you like some?

Akin: Smiled politely No thank you, I have plenty of the other sauce. I thought it was a shame no one paid it any attention. As he said so he nodded towards Andy

Evan: Yeah, I got that little hint

Congo: Anyone else needing sauce?

Lenny: Oh yes please! He quickly grabbed the bowl and started almost pouring sauce on his plate eagerly

Evan: I chuckled softly I have never seen anyone being so enthusiastic about sauce before. Not even Daniel! So I quickly scooped a half potato up on my fork and bit it. Yes, okay, admitted. This sauce was amazing!*

-------Congo's point of view---------

Congo: I was very happy to observe Evan getting some food down. And he seemed to like it a lot. Gaby and Lenny were both amazing cooks, and it seemed like Akin knew his way around a kitchen too. So it wasn't much of a wonder the dinner was delicious Andy… that sauce has alcohol…. maybe you should eat the other one sweetheart? My voice was warm and suggesting as I noticed he had been munching the red wine sauce

Andy: So I'm not allowed to get some solid dick, and I'm not allowed to the red wine sauce either? There's not enough in here to even feel the alcohol, it's just for the taste. He sighed deep, shook his head and scooped more food up on his fork, making sure he got extra amount of sauce in the process

Congo: Andy, please.

Andy: Glared at me as he stuck the fork in his mouth Mmmmm

Gaby: Congo, it would be okay just this once.

Akin: Gaby… he hardly needs it. Quite the opposite.

Congo: I sighed as Andy took another glaring bite It's up to the doctor I guess? I looked at Akin with pleading eyes

Akin: He sighed softly and looked at Andy with firm eyes Andy, I think it's best you don't eat more.

Andy: Looked at both of us with and upset pout FINE! And there his knife and fork went crashing down on the plate, creating a lot of noise as he let go of them and left the table to go sulk on the couch

Daniel: Looked at me a bit surprised as he dried sauce stains off his cheek

Congo: I sighed softly and looked at all of them I apologize. His hormones are a little

Andy: UNFUCKED! That's what they are!!!

Congo: I smiled apologizing at everyone, and got up, quickly walking to Daniel, grabbing his chin, and leaning his head backwards a bit, so I could get to dap the rest of the sauce off with my napkin There you go. I smiled warmly at him and padded his shoulder Are you okay?

Daniel: Yeh? Why?

Congo: I don't know? It seems like you're blushing? I chuckled softly

Daniel: Uhh it's… uhh… a bit warm in here… he nodded under the table and moved a bit on his chair so I could get to see a bulge in his pants. Was he? Oh yes… he was hard.

Congo: I cleared my voice as I felt something stir in my own pants Right. I quickly made it back to my chair, sipping the wine quickly to cool down, and in the process I caught Gaby's eyes. She looked somewhat amused? About 15 minutes later we were all done eating, the table had been cleared, and Irish coffee had been put on the table, alongside beers, and other alcohols. Robert had just opened a brandy and was cheering with Lenny. They had both gained quite a color in their cheeks. Gaby had just put a record on, so the music was flowing through the living room. Akin was lighting a fire in the fire place, and Andy was still sulking on the couch, playing with his phone. Evan and Daniel was lost in a conversation about bikes, but seemed to get more and more distracted, as their eyes kept getting caught on Andy. George had just poured some Irish coffee for both of us and asked me to join him at a game of poker.

Daniel: Ey! Let's make that strip poker!

Congo: I chuckled warmly I thought you were having a conversation with Evan?

Daniel: Was, is a good word Congo he winked at me and made his way around the table

Congo: Halfway through our game of strip poker, George was 1 shirt down, and now it looked like I was one down as well, as Daniel just beat me

Daniel: BOOYA!! That was fucking hard man!

Andy: Grunted from his place in the couch Yeah, that's not the only thing fucking hard here! And I would also like to be fucked hard, if anyone should be interested!

Akin: He smiled at me softly Any takers?

Congo: I sighed softly and looked pleading at Daniel, hoping he would somehow lend a helping hand

Daniel: Don't look at me…

Akin: Guys… this pregnancy might as well end up taking full 9 months. Are you prepared to neglect him for that long?

Congo: He did have a point

[janedoecreations]

Even though Ty and Jensen are really buddy to buddy and all I hate Dean Winchester because of what he did to Benny in the end

Benny Lafitte deserved better than that man and Dean Winchester was selfish when it came to Benny and honestly I don't think I'll ever feel right about Dean Winchester after what he did to Benny Lafitte ever again the character was okay I loved Dean like just like everyone else and you can tell me it was just a scene but having to watch Benny get all excited once Dean finally contacted him I can't help but cry because of how happy Benny looked when he finally heard Dean's voice

Dean and Benny's relationship reminds me of when Dean couldn't find Castiel so he prayed to him only the person that was praying in that situation was Benny because if you really look back you can actually see the scene where Benny lost his will to avoid feeding on blood the lip biting that he did in that scene was right before Benny lost his strength because Benny was out of blood bags when he was waiting for Dean to show up but because Dean never showed up like Dean said he would well Benny lost hope

You see as Benny stood back watching Andrea die you need to really remember that this would be the second time that he watched Andrea die so that was strike one on his hope strike two is what happened to Elizabeth and strike three was when Dean bailed out on Benny and Benny honestly thought that he was completely alone he had no one left the one person that he had right by his side being his rock was gone! So naturally he didn't have a reason anymore to keep himself from feeding on human blood so in a deleted scene before Benny gets sent back to purgatory Benny actually revealed that he fed again

I honestly believe that if Dean would have showed up when he was supposed to show up that Benny would have avoided a mistake and he would have came back from purgatory with Sam because Sam was going to do the ritual to bring him back but because of that he strayed and don't tell me it's because of all those vampires showed up because literally Benny survived 50 years in purgatory he could have took those vampires down with no problem but if you pay attention Benny actually slacked when the vampires attacked him he gave up he gave up because he felt like a burden he didn't want to be a burden on Dean so if you really think hard technically when Dean and Castiel were told by that Leviathan that Benny was dead Benny was actually standing back somewhere hidden watching them because if anyone would have sensed Dean first in Purgatory it would be Benny because Benny and Dean were blood brothers he had this Leviathan send that message he just didn't know that the Leviathan would attack but he didn't try anything because even Benny knew better than anyone that Dean was a killer so naturally he knew he would never have to intervene to protect him because he knew Dean had his own back

Dean Winchester in his own way failed Benny Lafitte but the good thing about Benny is that he'll never hold that against him the moment Benny comes back the two of them will hug the fuck outta each other because that's just how much Benny loves Dean but Dean needs to be more appreciative with Benny considering that if Benny was never there in that episode Dean would have been killed by that vampire and we wouldn't have never had this many seasons of Supernatural after that episode in season eight

[bkdotblog]

"White Lies and Black Eyes," S3E12

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 3 Episode 12 Recap

My Title: "The Heather Black Eye Discussion Episode"

My rating: 4 out of 5 black eye reveals

Support for Lisa Barlow: Unassailable

<><><>

Absolutely demented start to this episode.

Remember last week, when the lead up to Heather Gay Black Eye Reveal was edited like a murder mystery? The recap of the previous 48 hours that opens Episode 12 is edited like a nightmare trauma flashback. In case you forgot about Jen Shah going ballistic at every single San Diego-based gathering, a montage with intentionally distorted audio reminds you that you never did, and you never will <3 So: Whodunnit?

Too early for a BK's take but here I am going: My hunch last week was that Jen decked Heather in the night—Deck me classy mama!—but that possibility seemed too entertaining to be true. However, the edit here heavily implies that Jen, after a long day of exhibiting several different forms of toxic social behavior, did do something to Heather that resulted in a black eye. What do U think? I am dying to talk about this—please leave a comment if you are, too!

Heather summons Jen to her room first thing in the morning. Jen, feeling at least a little silly, dons Heather's wig from last night. When the black eye is revealed, Jen seems shocked. She asks what happened, and Heather says this:

"That's why I need you to help me figure out if someone really wants to talk about what happened last night."

!!!

Because Heather doesn't "want any of the ladies to get in trouble," she needs a cover story for the eye. Watching Jen try to be funny about this is very uncomfortable. Her first suggestion is that a spider laid eggs in Heather's eyes, and her third is that Heather invited a Tinder date back to her casita who "got rough." I took this opportunity to Google whether or not Jen has been fired from the show and the jury is apparently still out. Let's trade her in for Mary Cosby!

Heather calls an adult (Meredith) who arrives wearing under-eye patches. When Heather reveals the eye, Meredith is shocked. Watching her react next to Jen is like watching Meryl Streep act against an orange wearing a wig.

"We were with you until 4 in the morning!"

Cue found footage: 4:50 AM, outside Heather's room. We only saw the doorknob turn in the preview, but now the full clip plays. The door opens. Jen saunters in. Knew it!! But wait... then Meredith walks in. And Angie K. And everybody is laughing!

Everything looks good.

And then everybody leaves! End footage.

Meredith's shock is beginning to simmer into confusion. What happened? She keeps asking. Heather says, I don't want to talk about it. Meredith is like, So you know what happened. And then Heather finally says: I don't know what happened.

San Diego: Day Three dawns. This is the worst trip I have ever been on!

Lisa stops by Whitney's room when she's getting ready. Their budding friendship continues to grow. Whitney is still cross with Heather, but she's also sowing seeds of conflict against Meredith. She basically tells Lisa: I thought you were the bitch all along, but Meredith is the real bitch, and she's trying to take you down. Which incenses Lisa and suggests a confrontation is not far off.

[BK's Take: I am still hoping for a Lisa-Meredith reconciliation this season, but this does not bode well.]

[BK's Take, fashawn: Love Whit's jammies!]

The ladies gather and go over the day's itinerary: Roller-blading, go-karts, see the San Diego sights, and SLAY all day rosé! Lisa amusedly recalls when Jen came into her room the prior night topless and gave her a midnight hug.* This prompts Whitney to ask about what went on after she went to sleep. Heather, wearing sunglasses, says things "got a little rough."

Everybody asks: What do you mean?

Heather says: I think we all know what I mean. And she reveals her black eye for the third time in one episode.

While my heart goes out to all victims of Jen Shah (both physical and fiscal!), Heather's wild oscillation on the "I don't want to talk at all about this" and "I need to do a dramatic eye reveal three times" x-axis coupled with her OTHER wild oscillations on the "I don't know what happened" and "Everybody knows all of the details about this already, so I needn't even say them" y-axis is exasperating. Almost as exasperating as that graph metaphor I just tried to pull on u... Sorry! Just trying new things!

Whitney feels nauseous. Everybody is shocked. But Heather insists that she doesn't want to "make the trip about [her] black eye." Everybody decides to drop it for now, though we need to keep a black eye on Whitney, who, you may remember, is on a hilling journey...

To the Go Kart track!

Sorry they're called "GoCars" and they're just little cars for riding around San Diego in!

Most of the pairs are talking about the eye --

-- except for Heather, who is listening to Lisa soliloquy about her closet.

That was fun! For the second activity of the day, the group splits. Meredith, Jen, Heather, and Angie go to a winery. Danna, Lisa, and Whitney go roller skate.

During both activities, conversation inexorably drifts to the Black Eye. The roller skaters discuss theories of how it could have happened over waffle cones. Whitney says: Either she did it to herself (i.e. fell) or someone did it to her (i.e. Jen punched Heather).

Meanwhile, at the winery, Meredith expresses her concerns, and makes it clear that "whatever happened" with the eye "was not ok." Just as I understand the want to not discuss it, I also see Meredith's point: Obviously, if somebody on this group trip physically harmed another person, it is kind of the group's business to know... right?

In her confessional, Heather issues a meandering and bizarre statement about how she won't say anything about the incident until someone else says something. She won't show her cards because "nobody is showing their cards", she won't "spew her theories." In other, less insane words: The next step is the puncher admitting to the punch.

Jen remains silent. The conversation moves through Heather's fractured relationship w Whitney to Whitney's friendship with Lisa to Lisa before Jen speaks up to offer some tea on an SEC filing against one of the Barlow's companies. Also, the Barlows were seen crowdfunding $25,000 for their tequila business — isn't that a little tacky, coming from "the richest bitch" of them all?

On the boardwalk, the ice cream cones have long melted when Danna serves up some complementary tea: Meredith has been talking about an SEC document and a crowdfunding thing relating to Vida Tequila? Lisa goes ballistic. In a confessional, she hypothesizes that Meredith is reacting to her (frankly iconic) "hot mic moment" from last season. It looks like their conflict is about to breach new heights!

Lisa says: "I don't pop pills, bitch. You do."**

(In the sprinter van, Meredith essentially confirms that, yes, this is because she called talked about her dumb fucking family that poses on the hot mic.)

Meredith is suggesting and Heather is dramatizing the idea that Lisa could be a broke hypocrite. Angie is uncomfortable. Jen keeps her mouth shut, wisely.

It's 9PM, and almost time for the Greek Goddess-themed dinner!

Angie goes to visit Lisa, who is not dressed according to the theme by any stretch.

Lisa is upset about Danna's revelations. Angie is like, thank goddess you brought it up because Meredith was talking shit! Set phasers to Meredith!

Unfortunately for Mare, it seems like her closest allies at the moment are Jen and Heather, making them a little bit less than a united front.

Greek Goddess Dinner outfit awards: Whitney is best greek goddess (fashion), Jen is best greek goddess (halloween costume), Heather is best greek goddess ("Ask Me About My Evil Eye!"). Lisa is in good spirits until Meredith arrives to the table—then her nerves start to fray. "Who pissed in Lisa Barlow's Diet Coke?" Heather wonders.

Angie is brought in by male escorts. A little grand, for somebody outside the main cast! But then she gives everybody a gift: An evil eye necklace. Lisa has a very canned response for her confessional: "I'm going to need this to ward off these evil bitches."

Then somebody asks how the day was, and things begin to begin. Whitney, shit-stirring for a brand new team, asks:

Nobody really speaks up, so Lisa doubles down. Meredith and Lisa get into it. Meredith is trying to downplay her part in having two on-camera conversations that put Lisa's business in a bad light, but she still feels that Lisa has done more to malign her. Lisa calls on Angie for backup.

Heather catches on that Angie and Lisa had a pre-dinner conversation, and she offers some condescending advice toward the head of the table:

"It's in poor taste to host a dinner where you stir up trouble right before it starts."

Meredith brings it back to Lisa's hot-mic rant, saying that when Lisa made comments about Mr. Meredith's business, she "endangered the livelihood of his 4,000 employees. That is reckless." This comment confused me.

[BK's Take: Meredith does not strike me as a particularly gracious person, at least to these women. I don't know what her principles are. She has a track record of assuming the absolute worst intentions of those around her and then reacting to those assumptions--see the above paragraph for a recent example. Having successful friendships does not seem as important as occupying a high ground of some sort and looking down from it. I don't love it. Would still like to see Lisa and Meredith come back together at some point, before Mare's bff Jen goes to prison and she's left with just Heather!]

At one point, when Lisa refers to her hot mic "rant", Meredith calls it a "tirade." Lisa: It was a rant! Meredith: It was a tirade. For the official record, these words are synonyms and are nearly interchangeable. I don't understand the nuance Meredith is suggesting. I think she's just a little bit dumber than she wants to appear in the moment.

Whit: "How do we move forward, knowing everybody remembers it differently, fills differently, knowing that we all love each other?"

Heather: "Maybe my eye is a metaphor for our friendships," she offers, because we don't know where it came from or how, but we roll with it, and sometimes we put a patch on it (?) and sometimes we don't. But I think these women are like Heather's black eye in other ways: You understand it's all being played up for drama, but when you look closely, you can see something wild, and violent; a retribution in waiting.

That's all! Thank you for reading. Episode 14 drops in two weeks. Until then, have a wonderful holiday, and Happy New Year. 🌌 BK

<><><>

Gay Imagery

Adding insignia to injury

<><><>

*Crystal Kung Minkoff would have filed charges!

**Cute delivery and all, but Lisa, there's nothing wrong with taking pills for our mental health. As Mother, you should know this!

[ithinkabouttzu]

hi, i was wondering if i could have a BoB ship please?

i’m a 5’7 gal with pale skin, blue/grey eyes and dark brown wavy hair just past my shoulders. got cheek dimples. i’m an only child, so comfortable being alone. i wear thick black glasses pretty much 24/7, and have a bunch of random tattoos all over my body.

i’m a very stereotypical INTP/Ravenclaw personality, and a virgo sun/cancer moon. i’m also autistic (albeit usually perceived as lower support needs) and probs undiagnosed adhd. basically i’m a sucker for learning all the time, pretty book smart, detail-oriented and analytical, crippled by anxiety, a bit of a perfectionist, very empathetic, and hypervigilant of everything around. very bad at taking criticism and can be argumentative if i disagree strongly. have lots of acquaintances but only a couple really close friends. my love language is physical touch and giving gifts.

i’ve been in the military since 2019 and i really like my job (except when i have to brief senior officers, big yikes). my hobbies include reading, writing, history, playing video games, film/TV, theatre and travelling. big fan of classic books and crime/mystery TV. if i’m not at work, i can be found hunched over my phone/a book with headphones on and 50 new, random facts to excitedly tell anyone who’ll listen!

thank you <3 hope you’re having a good week xo

Yes thank you so much for your request hon, btw INTP twins!! we’re a rare breed 🤣 💖

I ship you with…

Carwood Lipton!

Song recommendation: Falling for ya - Grace Phipps

- Okay bestie hear me out now, you guys would match up together so nicely, physically and emotionally, he would be such a good boyfriend to you in so many different ways

- and let’s face it, a ravenclaw and hufflepuff couple is what the world NEEDS right now 😫

- When he first met you, he would think you are very attractive, he would keep his emotions very lowkey though, like he tried keeping it professional as he can at first, but he’d be lying if there weren’t any moments where he was almost willing to risk it all to be with you

- He would tell you after awhile, to him it would feel wrong NOT to tell you, like to him, if someone has those strong feelings about someone, it’s better to tell them than hold it in. So that’s exactly what he did, he took you out to a calm place first, maybe a lake with a pretty view or something like that, and he told you exactly how he felt, he explained everything to you so soft and nicely

- by the end you just wrapped your arms around him and told him you felt the exact same way, the rest of the day with him was so nice, you guys just talked, about anything and everything with each other, and by the end of the night he actually asked you out on a proper date

- He thinks your eyes are SOOOO pretty, like actually, really all of you is pretty to him, but he could get lost in your eyes for hours

- OMGGG and your dimples, he thinks your dimples are so dang adorable, he will literally try and do almost anything to see you smile and bring out those dimples, plus whenever he does see them he likes to put his finger in one of the dimples and squeeze your cheek LOL (if that makes any sense

- On days when your anxiety gets bad, he is so good to you, he will be there and listen to you if you need it with lots of hugs and cuddles, he gets so focused on how to make you feel better and what he can do to eliminate what might be causing it, he honestly is such a good support system, a total sweetheart for you 100%

- When it comes to being a perfectionist, he doesn’t mind it one bit, but he also hates to see you be so hard on yourself sometimes, “you’ve done enough honey, now go rest”

- you would definitely introduce him to mystery tv 🤣 and he would end up liking it almost more than you LOL, usually on nights when you guys stay in, it’s kind of an unspoken rule that you guys watch at least one episode before watching any other movies or things like that

- UGHH also let’s talk about how he would he a TOTAL cuddle bug for you 😫 like he gets so soft, especially right when you guys are about to fall asleep, he will just wrap his arms around you and hold you so nicely, even in general, he loves hugging you and kissing you on the cheek whenever he gets the chance, he keeps it more lowkey in public (holding hands, arm around shoulder, etc.) but at home he is all yours to wrap around and cuddle 🤣

- you need someone to tell random facts to? Lip is the man for you! He would be so attentive when you tell him all of the cool things you know, he thinks your so smart and full of knowledge it’s insane, you’re like his own little text book LOL, some day when he comes home he’ll ask you, “you have any cool facts to tell me?” ugh he’s so cute

- when you give him any type of gifts his heart literally melts, he will always love what ever you get him, to him it just shows how thoughtful and caring you can be for him and just that thought alone makes him so soft, and just know when you buy him something he is going to use it to it’s full potential, like he is not going to waste it at ALL

- just imagine you guys playing video games together, it would be so cute, like he would try his hardest to beat you but you would win every time 🤣 then after he would protest that he let you win, “okay then let’s play again, serious this time” “no no we’re good, you win” BAHAHAB

- you guys are a very nice and empathetic couple overall, if someone is in need, you guys will help them, especially for close friends and family, that’s a big thing in y’all’s relationship, is that you guys care for eachother and others 100% almost to where sometimes people look forward to hanging out with you guys because y’all are so kinda and welcoming

- whenever you are reading something he will come up and ask you, “what are you reading?” and once you tell him he would be like, “oh that sounds really nice, can I read it afterwards?” It would become a habit that you guys read books and then recommend them based off which books sound the most like the other

- you guys barely argue, but when you two do, it usually is calm and you guys try to talk it out between each other, communication is always key in a relationship so both of you try to listen and understand what the other person is feeling and where they are coming from, that way fights don’t turn into a screaming match between you two

- he thinks every single one of your tattoos are so cool and unique, he’ll usually ask you about one of them from time to time and ask you why you got that one and why you got it in that spot, he thinks tattoos suit you so nicely and loves kissing each and every one of your tattoos when he gets the chance

- but overall he is the nicest and sweetest boyfriend ever, he is always down to spoil you and treat you like royalty, he loves you so much and can’t wait to spend the rest of his life with you 🥹

thank you again for your request lovely!! 💗

[onclouds999]

Yeah cause why did they have them saying I love you in episode 9 like that’s confusing it felt like all jj and kie scenes felt like they read fanfic and we’re like let’s do that which I mean fanfic is elite for this show it’s better then the actual writing Pope and Cleo were the best and I loved the group scenes those are the only parts I liked it was all over the place they need to go back to season 1 vibes also since the time jump do u think Sarah and John B are married

Yes I honestly was kinda disappointed by jiara scenes like they made them the biggest ship of the show to only half ass them to me, I liked the hug scene, the crash scene and the im still 50/50 on the kiss scene. They writers really took their time on Cleo and Pope ship like they executed them so perfectly. Season 1 was elite and 2 idk season 3 was all over the place the pogues was separated to many times for me

[kait16xo]

Dance Moms: A New Era: Thoughts (Episode 10/S1 Finale)

I FINALLY GET TO SEE THE NATIONALS GROUP AS GOD INTENDED LETS GOOOOO!!

Excitement aside, I have to issue a MASSIVE trigger warning for death (specifically drug related/fentanyl linked deaths). This is not a light episode, so watch it at your own risk. And with someone you love and trust if you feel you cannot watch this episode alone.

They also talk about Lorena Bobbitt which is gruesome but kinda discussed less somberly so take that as you will

Spoilers under the cut :) if there’s another season I’ll be recapping it for sure

* Oh shit we’re right where we left off

* “Her cousin overdosed” WHY IS ASHLAN MAKING ME SAD A MINUTE IN 😭 oh I just wanna hug my girl

* BULLSHIT PLACEMENT FOR AUDREY. BULLSHIT.

* Mina should’ve been on the top actually 🤷🏻‍♀️ no hate to Gina but didn’t she underperform according to Glo?? 🤨

* Glo has a good point but isn’t pyramid supposed to be based on the previous episode? Not the whole season??

* I’m so ready for Ashlan to show Glo tf up

* Oh interesting 🌝 Kaeli’s back

* Now I’m not the biggest empath but I don’t think Audrey’s as big of a fan of Gina 💀

* WHY WOULD THE DIRECTOR OF THE COMPETITION TEXT GLO SAYING THEY WERE CRYING AND THEN AGREE THAT THEY SHOULD BE?? Didn’t know Lifetime’s roster of child abusers worked directly for Starpower now

* Audrey throwing them under the bus mad quick 💀 not much of a team player despite comforting Gina 🤨

* I know NO ONE was expecting Ashlan to be the lead, but given she has experience with the topic she deserves that opportunity to grieve. I’m rooting for her.

* Y’all are seriously still going to grill on Ashlan for having a lead when she has an emotional connection to the story 🤨 jealousy is a disease

* Putting them in a body bag quicker based on how much they underperform feels like some morbid sacrifice lol

* Ope- there goes Bellatrix

* Roxce baby…not right now. Back it up a notch. Like, a lot of notches

* Kaeli’s just like “well shit…I missed a lot”

* “Can I go to the bathroom now?” Audrey you comedic timing diva

* It’s nice to see Glo have fun amidst a grueling nationals practice

* BELLATRIX DOING THE JOJO DANCE WAS SOMETHING I DIDN’T EXPECT BAHAHA

* Roxce gives some good pep talks

* And then there’s Min trying to get a tired Mina to do crunches

* CANDY JOY AND CANDY SWEETS GETTING THEIR OWN LOWER THIRD IS SO FUCKING FUNNY BAHAHAH

* I agree so hard with Lisa and Leslie. Audrey knows how to perform 100%

* Almost 298 is an incredible score especially for a junior solo (in reference to Ave Maria)

* Every time I hear this music (I See Red) I think of 50 shades idk why

* Min and Jing talking shit in their native tongue took me clean out

* Oh scissorhands gloves where tf have I seen these before? :/

* Bella is so pretty

* Gina’s story works well for her but I’m not feeling this solo just yet

* I feel like I’m gonna sound racist but why are the only two Asian moms so insufferably hard on their kids? Like I get you’re trying to help but can you let them do things on their own please? The other moms seem a lot more chill (and then Lisa is just…Lisa)

* “Are you perfect?” “I’m not” “Then why do you expect me to be perfect?” SPEAK ON IT GINA 🗣️

* Well, at least Jing is *attempting* to comfort Gina. Definitely awkward though LOL

* Aww Ava’s here with Jeanette :) also I love that the throwback clip didn’t have that fuckass blue filter on it

* I’m the same age now that Ava’s brother was when

* I hope the person who gave Devon the pill is in fucking prison rotting. Ava was only 18 and SHE found her brother dead. That’s fucked.

* Ashlan needs to stop making me tear up. The hug between her and Ava is such a beautiful bonding moment between girls and dancers of different generations

* Only I’d go from tearing up to giggling at Gina and Audrey being goobers

* Ashlan morning breathing on her mom LMAO

* “Audrey why do you think you’re gonna win?” “Because I’m great” oop-

* Audrey girl I wouldn’t throw stones in glass houses regarding back tucks

* Audrey’s so mature looking for her age. I never realized how tall she was either.

* Oh Audrey’s contacts are CUNTYYYYY

* It feels so weird hearing Audrey’s legal name LOL

* “That was cool as shit!” Me, like several times during Audrey’s solo

* I could never be a competition judge because all these poor kids would hear is “that was cool do it again”

* Oh Audrey’s “one girl” was def Gina cmon now

* Gina’s such a good technical dancer

* Gina did really good but she probably could’ve brought more emotion—I agree.

* They think Audrey is the clear winner but I think both were on the money

* Tammi hasn’t lost her shit this bad since like e2. Holy fuck.

* “Jing and Tammi are both dumb bitch” based as fuck Min. This scene is literally saved to my camera roll

* It’s okay maybe one day Lisa will learn there is no point talking to her child before she goes out to dance. Not today, but someday

* Having the moms write their kids names on the bags is DARK. No mother should have to even THINK about losing her child

* We sure hope these girls and moms have the best setting spray on the market 💀

* I forgot Min’s son passed. Way to make this poor woman grieve again.

* Ava’s hair is so pretty

* You could hear a pin drop in that auditorium if Ashlan’s crying was THAT loud. Absolutely impeccable performance

* Ashlan acted the fuck out of that. It would be Glo’s loss to cut her after that.

* BROTHA?? 5TH?!

* And Gina didn’t even place? Are these judges mentally present??

* Okay so the judges remembered how to do their fucking jobs for the group thank god lol

* I feel like a proud mom for Ashlan. Watching her grow as a person and a dancer and GLO FINALLY GIVING THIS KID SOME PRAISE!! This is my daughter now sorry Lisa

* “I beat Gina!” Girl u got 5th pipe down

* I’m sorry does Tammi have Audrey’s contacts in the confessional? LMAO

* “But we’re still proud of Gina bc she worked her butt off!” That’s a team player right there

* Bella and Ashlan doing their lil jumpy jump aww

* I just know Ashlan’s lil soul is BEAMINGGGG good for her

* So we don’t even get to see who come back this season?? Rude

[ear-worthy]

Season Finale of “Heavyweight” Podcast: Lifting A 500-Year-Old Curse

For seven seasons, Heavyweight podcast host Jonathan Goldstein has been helping people like you and I try to resolve a moment from their past that they wish they could change.

In each episode, host Goldstein attempts to help a guest find closure for an unresolved question in their lives.

The Atlantic described the podcast by saying, “Each episode finds the host Jonathan Goldstein moderating a fraught moment intensified by years of distance: a time when someone broke a promise, or another person’s heart. The hurt is still there — sometimes for everyone, sometimes for just one person who can’t let something go. Goldstein leads special-ops soul-searching missions, seeking common ground between the aggrieved and the blissfully ignorant.”

Season seven of Heavyweight, an IDA Documentary Awards nominated podcast from Gimlet, a Spotify Studio, concludes this week on Thursday, December 22. In season seven, host Jonathan Goldstein told intriguing, challenging and heartwarming stories, helping people dig through both difficult and fascinating moments in their pasts and resolve their unanswered questions. Through deep dive storytelling, Goldstein and the Heavyweight team introduced us to Cody, a man set out to thank his football coach for a life changing hug; Maia, a woman hoping to return the work of a famous artist she found discarded in the garbage; Dan and Nancy, a couple searching for a missing photo captured 20 years ago on their first date; Melanie, a daughter looking to make things right after destroying a prized possession of her father’s; Sara, a woman looking for a childhood best friend she doesn’t remember at all; and more.

As Heavyweight podcast host / creator and humorist Jonathan Goldstein notes, “Heavyweight” is meant to suggest the emotional burdens that we carry around, as well as “the connotation of the boxer juxtaposed with the connotation of me . . . the non-boxer.”

In this week’s season finale episode, we hear the story of an unlucky branch of the Elliott family seeking to lift a curse placed on them by the Archbishop of Glasgow in 1525. Find the riveting stories told in season seven below: ● #44 Sara ○ Description: Sara received a letter from a woman with the exact same name as her. In it, the woman claimed to be her childhood best friend. The only problem? Sara doesn’t remember this person. At all. ● #45 Sgt. John Kapphahn ○ Description: When Melanie was a kid, she recorded Billy Ray Cyrus’s 1993 TV Special over something irreplaceable: the sole copy of an interview her father did on Walter Cronkite after being injured in Vietnam. Thirty years later, she wants to make things right. ● #46 Dan ○ Description: On Dan’s first date with his wife Nancy, a stranger took their photograph. Nineteen years later, Dan wants the photo back. But to get it, he’ll have to face the last person he wants to. ● Heavyweight Short: Cody ○ Description: One day in high school, Cody received a hug that melted his heart. Sixteen years later and he still can’t stop thinking about it. ● #47 Frederick J. Brown ○ Description: Maia found a painting in the garbage and took it home. But as it turned out, it wasn’t just any painting. ● #48 Ben ○ Description: Ben was just a kid when Sihan arrived from Korea. He lived with Ben’s family for several years. And then one day, just as suddenly as he’d arrived, Sihan was gone. Ben has been trying to find him ever since. ● #49 Another Roadside Attraction ○ Description: When Stephanie was in high school, a bookstore seemingly dropped out of the sky into her small Texas town. Then, just as quickly, it was gone. ● Heavyweight Short: Jesse & Tori ○ Description: For Jesse, Tori has always been the one that got away. ● #50 Nick ○ Description: Is Nick hearing his dead brother’s voice in a song by a Grammy-nominated musician?

The Heavyweight podcast acts as a vicarious trip to our own past events, as we learn about ourselves from the experiences of others.

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI - 3.09 -  The Big Payback

They hugged.

I can now die happy.

That’s this week’s review.

Thank you!

(Just kidding, there will be a review but this episode just killed me so I’m going to have to be brought back from the dead and nursed back to health before I write it!)