#Only Boo! season one review

[afabstract]

Only Boo! Review - Newbie Keen Is Bae of Puppy-Love Series

Meen Suwijak Piyanopharoj lights up 'Only Boo!' with his vivacious performance as Moo, capturing the essence of puppy love and musical aspirations. Read our spoiler-free review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram) If your crush decides to sing you a love song over the school’s loudspeaker (or the office loudspeaker if you’re older), letting the whole world know their feelings, you’d probably be embarrassed and want to dig a hole for yourself to disappear into. However, it would also be one of the most recklessly romantic things someone has…

[adorethedistance]

The Late Late Show - Bella Ramsey x Reader (18+)

General Masterlist

Warnings: (18+ only minors DNI) afab reader, smut, swearing, teasing, lmk if there’s anything else I missed.

Words: 2697

Summary: After a promotional appearance on the Late Late show, you and Bella confess your feelings for one another; your skepticism causes them to prove just how much they like you back.

A/N: It’s almost 1 am. I don’t feel like proof reading this. I want to be done with it. SO here we are LMAO. In all seriousness I’m really stoked on this piece and I hope y’all like it. It’s been a while since I’ve written a full smut so I’m a little rusty.

Pedro, Bella, and I are on the Late Late Show to promote season 2 of The Last of Us, and Mr. James Corden had the incredible idea to make us play ‘spill your guts or fill your guts’. In rehearsal the questions were all mundane and simple to keep the surprises for the actual show. Now that the questions are real, my anxiety has skyrocketed and I anxiously await my turn. So far, Pedro has had a sip of bird saliva and Bella has confessed who their least favorite person to work with in their career was. Now it’s my turn and I’m almost too anxious to comprehend the words coming out of anyone’s mouth. Bella turns the table slowly, watching my face and gauging my reactions to each food as it goes by.

“Y/n.”

“Hm.”

“For this question, I will give you…” They pause to think for a moment, “The one thousand year old  egg.” I fight the urge to gag and Bella laughs deviously. They noticed the way I was particularly disturbed by it when we reviewed all the food options on the table for the camera. Bella laughs their adorable laugh after reading the question written on the cue card; I can’t stop the fake frown that’s appeared on my face.

“Which of mine and Pedro’s acting performances were the worst, and why?” The audience erupts into laughter, cheers, and groans as I contemplate how I can answer this question. “There is no way in hell I’m eating that.”

“Then you’ve got to answer.”

“I don’t know! I think you guys aren’t capable of bad performances.”

“Booooo.”

“Why are you booing me?!” I screech in surprise although I can’t help the smile forming on my face. Pedro jumps in,

“That’s a cop-out!”

“That is such a cop-out answer!” Bella laughs, biting their lip and resting their elbows on the table, displaying their hands that are sparsely decorated with rings.

“Why are you guys teaming up on me? This is so unfair. James, do something!”

“My hands are tied-”

“No, they are not it’s your show!”

“That one thousand year old egg isn’t getting any younger,” Bella quips, a devious smirk adorning their features. More laughter from the audience and I look back at Bella with pleading eyes. They raise their eyebrows to taunt me, clearly enjoying how I’m scrambling for answers. I bite the inside of my cheek and playfully glare. Another eyebrow quirk from Bella. On national television?

I cave, “Oh god. Okay, uh, Pedro. Maybe Mando? Since you’ve got the helmet on and we can’t really see your face emote a lot?”

“Kind of a cheat answer but I’ll leave it be,” Bella teases.

“Bella… Maybe Judy since you didn’t have too much on screen time so you weren’t given a lot to work with?” I attempt to calm my breathing as I wait for the other three to either approve or disapprove my answers. The jury is pleased with my response and I’m saved from eating the egg in front of me that is literally black and green.

We continue another rotation of questions going around the table until James takes us to commercial break. Bella, Pedro, and I stand from the table and head back to the couch for our actual interview portion of the show. It’s the last segment before we’re wrapped and I can’t wait to be finished so I can get out of this makeup and borderline black tie attire.

James gives us the standard questions that come with promoting a show and I find myself struggling to stay present. The way Bella moves their hands and the numerous rings that adorn their fingers are eternally captivating.

I want to just reach out and grab it. To hold their hand in mine and exist like that for as long as we possibly could. I want to hold them in my own and kiss them to show how much I care. I want to clench around their hands as I scream their name loud enough for anyone to hear. I want to bite down on exposed skin as they fuck me and tell me I’m their good girl. I crave Bella. I’ve always craved Bella.

“I think we’ve lost her. Y/n?” I hear James’ voice bring me back down to earth. My cheeks are a thousand degrees warmer as I realize I’ve been caught, lost in the fantasy of what it would be like to belong to Bella.

“What?” I ask when I zone back in. Everyone in the room laughs and I try to blink away my embarrassment.

“You play Dina, correct?”

“I do, yes.”

“This is a new character for this season, what can you tell us about her?”

“Yeah, so Dina is Ellie’s love interest in this part of the story,” I proceed to tell James the same basic spiel that I give every interviewer and he listens intently. He asks a few more questions about the characters and what it was like for the three of us to work closely on set. The interview goes over fun, smooth, and funny and before we knew it, the show was wrapped shortly after. Bella disappears almost immediately in search of a bathroom, leaving me with Pedro as James begins talking with one of his producers.

“Are you okay?” Pedro nudges my shoulder to get my attention. I nod rapidly which does not at all minimize his suspicion.

“Yeah, I’m totally good.”

“You were in space for the entire interview. What’s up?” He asks sincerely. Is this something I should tell him? Is this something I shouldn’t tell him? I’m at a loss for direction but Pedro’s reassuring smile reminds me that he is probably the best confidant on planet earth.

“It’s about Bella…” I start off slowly.

“Yeah, you really seem to like them.”

“SHHHH! Why would you say that so loud?!” I whisper shout which if anything draws more attention to us.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Pedro holds both hands up to try and ease my anxiety and I drop my shoulders to try and reel everything back in.

“You’re right, though. I do really like them.”

“Apparently.”

“So what do I do?”

“What do you mean?”

I scowl, “What do you mean what do I mean?”

“It’s obvious they like you as well.” I tilt my head back incredulously.

“What are you talking about?” Pedro laughs heartily before responding,

“I may not be the smartest person in the room but I’m not an idiot. I see how you look at each other. How they look at you.” My heart flutters with excitement. “It’s a huge crush if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Well, what do I do then?” I ask, and we’re back to square one. Pedro shakes his head at my obliviousness.

“You tell them you like them and then kiss!” He says as if it’s the simplest thing in the world. Ever the optimist. As I open my mouth to speak, I cut myself off to see Bella has rejoined the three of us. A quaint smile paints their face and my heart flutters again tenfold.

“What’d I miss?”

“Not much from me but Y/n has something to say.” I go wide-eyed and look at Pedro in panic. If looks could kill he would be a dead man this instant. Bella nods at me expectantly and I feel a rush of anxiety in my core. I do my best to cover up the fact that I’m taking a deep breath to soothe my nerves.

“We should go somewhere… not… here.” Bella laughs at the peculiar rhythm of my speech but agrees and follows me backstage. In the dressing room that we shared when getting ready, I flick the switch that lights up the perimeter of lightbulbs around the vanity mirror. Bella senses the tension that’s practically radiating off of me and closes the door behind us.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay I just-” I trail off in search of the right words.

“...You just what?” Bella asks, gently.

Moment of truth.

“I really like you, Bella. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I’m anxious that bombarding you with this information could scare you away, and then we wouldn’t be friends anymore because it would be too awkward. So then I’d be losing not just my best friend, but also just you as a person and I’d hate for that to happen because I like you as a person too and I-”

“I’ve been waiting for this conversation.” Bella says smugly.

“-Have been so worried about- wait what?” As my whole rambling rant lead me to look down, my head snaps back up. “You’ve been waiting for this?”

“Mhm.”

“Would you care to share with the class?” I ask, facetiously causing them to laugh at the sarcasm.

“Pedro and I actually had a bet going for how long it would take you.” I frown at their words and blink away my confusion. Bella drops the smug smile. They stare at me and I feel my face heat up being under their intense gaze.

“You… don’t like me back?” I say, my heart sinking in panic as I had just bared my soul to them.

“Of course I like you back.”

“Well, don’t say that like it was obvious!”

“I made it pretty obvious.”

“No, you didn’t!”

“We spent Valentine’s day together.”

I open my mouth to protest but close it to consider maybe it wasn’t just a ‘Galentine’s’ hang out.

“But-”

“We literally woke up spooning when we had that sleepover.” I blink. Once, twice, and then shut my eyes completely to block out the visual of Bella’s face as I come to the same conclusion.

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty outright.” They simply nod a yes and I feel the weight of the world lifted off of my shoulders at once. “So, you like me?”

“Oh my god-” Bella rolls their eyes, and swiftly comes over to grab my face in their hands and kiss me passionately. Their lips on mine are the symphony of an orchestra that I’ve long awaited. Each movement of our lips, the rhythmic richness of percussion. Their hands tracing down the silhouette of my body, the sensuality of the brass. A desire-filled rush of blood coursing through my entire body, the serenity of the woodwinds. And the intensity of our feelings for one another becoming intertwined into one energy, the complexity of the strings.

I’m fully floating on cloud nine, drifting further and further away from the Earth and into the ethereality of Bella. The kiss started passionately and quickly becomes heated as the two of us revel in our lust for one another.

Bella grips my hair in their hand at the base of my neck, tugging the handful to break the kiss and tilt my chin upwards. They take the new access to kiss and suck the skin of my neck. Grazing their teeth over my larynx, biting into the side and sucking a harsh, clean mark into the exposed flesh. I groan and the sheer eroticism and grip the vanity counter behind me.

Bella’s ringed fingers gently grasp my hips, pushing me back to lean on the counter with more of my weight. They abandon the task of marking me, grabbing the fabric of my dress, pulling it up and cradling the hem of it in their hands at my hip sockets. All the while, they had sunken down to the floor, lustful eyes watching my face as they kneel on the floor.

“Can I?” They ask and I quickly nod yes as my mouth was too dry to form a verbal response. Lifting the hem of the evening dress over their head, Bella bites another hickey into my inner thigh. I squeak at the sensation. It hurts so good.

“Shhh. You’ve gotta stay quiet.” I nod rapidly as reassurance, temporarily forgetting they can’t see my face.

“Got it, sorry.”

“It’s okay, babygirl.” Bella then hooks their fingers into the waistband of the underwear I was wearing. “This okay?”

“Yeah,” I sigh out, anticipation dripping from my voice. They drop the garment to the floor and have me step one foot out of them. My left leg stays anchored on the ground as a point of support since the counter likely wouldn’t hold my entire body weight. Bella guides my right leg up and over their shoulder before they trace their tongue over my glistening core. I whimper out a noise of relief and my head drops back, readying myself for the ride of my life.

Their tongue traces through the folds, trailing up to draw my clit in their mouth. I let out a languorous moan. In an attempt to regulate my breathing, I pull in a deep breath of bliss. Bella expertly devours me and I feel myself pulsating from arousal. Judging by the smug hum of laughter I’m guessing they could feel the movement as well.

I grab the fabric of my dress around my thighs and lift the layers to keep Bella from practically suffocating. They continue, unphased. A euphoric cry escapes my lips when Bella presses two tantalizing fingers inside of me. My hand quickly covers my mouth to try and conceal the undeniable bliss of their hand working in tandem with their mouth. Each stroke of their fingers elicits a ragged moan from my throat and I fight so hard to remain quiet. Then, Bella’s mouth pulls off of my clit with an audible smack.

“Are you gonna be a good girl and come for me?” They ask earnestly and I nod rapidly. Anything to please them. The frantic nature of my response is satisfactory enough and they resume sucking on my swollen clit. I’m almost overstimulated from the pleasure of their mouth working with the rhythmic curling of their fingers. My moans increase tempo as I continue chasing the high. Bella beatifically bobs their head, moving faster to bring me closer to the edge.

Their fingers curve so perfectly against my g-spot and I fight the need to cry out in untamable pleasure. Stimulating the spot brings me closer and closer. I hold the collected fabric of my dress skirt in my left arm, and frantically reach down with my right. Bella masterfully maintains their pace, mouth and fingers working together while their other hand reaches up to interlace their fingers with mine. The thoughtful gesture is arousing in itself and I find my orgasm come to a peak.

I reside in this high for a moment before the waves of pleasure come crashing down over me. I finish with a strangled sob of gratification. Bella’s pace slows but they continue working me through the orgasm until the feeling passes. Once my clit stops pulsating, I feel them pull their mouth off of me with a most sinful pop. They leave our hands intertwined, but take the hand that was inside of me and lift the wet fingers to their lips, sucking off my remaining juices with great pleasure. I can’t help the laugh that escapes me, partly from disbelief but mostly from the residual high. They lock eyes with me and smile innocently, as if they hadn’t just sucked the life out of me in the best way possible.

Bella then wraps both arms around me and holds my body as tightly to their own as they can without hurting me. I then realize they’re doing this because my legs are trembling and they’re allowing me to use them as support. I’m grateful for the attentiveness and melt in their arms, wrapping my own around their shoulders. They hold me like this for a few minutes, and I smile knowing they would have remained there for hours if I’d asked them to.

“You were so good for me, pretty girl.” The praise is of the utmost comfort and I tuck my face into the crook of their neck. Placing soft, practically indebted kisses on their skin serves as a ‘thank you’ since I’m still very much recovering.

“I love being the only one to make you feel this good.”

[applepie2523]

" HOTD's Issues Writing Women Part 2: The Whitewashing of Rhaenyra

**This is part 2 of my analysis on the issues with the writing of the two main female characters. If you haven’t already please read my part 1 post where I analyze Alicent’s character assassination which you can find on my profile.** I think many fans on the Blacks and Greens and in between regarding HOTD have been concerned and disappointed with the way the two main female characters: Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower have been written in HOTD seasons 1-2. This is very understandable. Female characters in general in HOTD and I think a lot of Hollywood films nowadays are not being written as well as they used to be and could be. Go on Youtube or Google and you'll find many film reviews/tv show reviews that critique the Mary Sue and Girlbossification or just poorly written in general female characters that are taking up a chunk of characters in Hollywood. Rhaenyra and Alicent to me were such great characters in F&B. They were two different kinds of medieval women in a fantasy setting. One, the medieval queen who gains power/influence through her relationship with men and advocating for her son. Two, the medieval queen who sought power in her name and defied some norms that make her compelling but also immoral in their eyes. They are two deeply flawed and complex characters fighting on opposite sides of a dynastic civil war.

This post is here to address the main issues of whitewashing when it comes to writing Rhaenyra Targaryen.

\***Some disclaimers: This is no issue with the actor themself. Emma D'Arcy while I may disagree with their opinions from time to time, they are a wonderful actor who is doing the best they can with the scripts they're given, so this is by no means a critique of them. I am going off of the show canon although the book will be mentioned.**

**So firstly... What is whitewashing?**

The modern definition of white washing is to cast in a show/movie or rewrite a character of a minority and make them white. For example, if someone decides to do a movie about Rosa Parks and they cast Emma Stone. However, white washing has another definition. It means to essentially remove or hide negative unpleasant facts or traits of a person or thing. I think Rhaenyra Targaryen suffers from this problem as many of her written negative traits or deeds so far are either not shown, projected onto another character close to her (Daemon Targaryen mostly), or severely downplayed. This results in a character that is almost too virtuous and bland for the setting she is in and a far cry from who she should be. A character whom doesn't seem to fit in the ruthless at times immoral world of Westeros. A character whom is almost a close to a Mary Sue. As I am very much on the belief that flaws versus virtues are what make a character compelling and human.

**I will say not every change made to Rhaenyra story arc and personality are necessarily all bad. Some are good ideas just poorly executed (ex - exploring more of Rhaenyra's hinted bisexuality, as there are hints in F&B that her close relationship with Laena may or may not have been more than platonic) and others are just good changes in general.**

*1. Victims vs. Villains - Biases in Writing Female Characters*

In the words of the iconic Grey's Anatomy actress Ellen Pompeo, “Women are one of two roles. You’re either the victim or the villain. But the victims are only victims because they don’t have what it takes to be the villain.” I think she states the major issue with writing female characters nowadays that HOTD has an issue with. Women must either be victims or villains. The character assassination of Alicent and white washing of Rhaenyra to me stems from this: Alicent is the villain in Rhaenyra's story to Rhaenyra's victimhood.

*2. Rhaenyra's Negative Traits: Arrogance, Hot Temper, Frivolity, and Bad Decisions to Peace-Loving and Plainness*

Rhaenyra had many great qualities in the book but it is only when coupled with major character flaws are we truly compelled. She was a loving mother, passionate, intelligent to a degree, etc. However, she was also very ambitious and power-hungry, arrogant at times, quick to anger, slow to forgive, and frivolous at times. **As a writer myself, I firmly believe that characters are truly humanized and compelling when they have major character flaws coupled with their virtues. Flaws they either have to overcome or use to their advantage. Flaws that make them who they are. Flaws create layers of complexity in a character. Or Flaws that help foster the characters downfall.**

I'm not saying the Rhaenyra in the show isn't flawed. She is! For example, I think what's great is that a flaw they gave Rhaenyra is something show Viserys also had: the ability to ignore or downplay potential conflicts or hard truths versus facing them head on. Viserys refused to see the potential conflicts in naming Rhaenyra heir or pretending her elder three children are trueborn. Rhaenyra in the show refused to listen to Jace whose concerns regarding his parentage as her successor and the dragonseeds were ignored or dismissed. The issue is thought, Rhaenyra is not given the flaws that she most certainly had, **flaws that helped lead to her downfall**. She's not flawed the way she's supposed to be.

Similar to many other Targaryens including her half-brother Aegon II, Rhaenyra was quick to anger and slow to forgive. We have some brief moments where we see Rhaenyra's temper and quick witt, but we don't see the major moments where her major character flaws are shown. Alicent provokes Rhaenyra for example in season 1, having her take Joffrey to her moments after he is born. We never see Rhaenyra provoke Alicent back. Any times where we should have seen Rhaenyra's sharp temper at the slightest of remarks are not shown.

Rhaenyra's actions herself were also very whitewashed with how they were portrayed. We either see their negative consequences downplayed, not shown, or the actions were projected onto another male character. In the books due to how similar Laenor and Rhaenyra were in looks (I mean they were both white) there was still a tad more ambiguity as to whether or not Jace, Luke, and Joffrey were bastards. Race changing the Velaryons made it even more obvious her elder three boys were bastards. I took issue with the writing of Rhaenyra's dialogue and that of the characters around her, not truly showcasing why having bastards, especially as a woman, is a truly egregious thing. The potential chaos Rhaenyra could cause was completely downplayed.

A few actions for example that were incredibly violent and evil were butchered. First example being the murder of Vaemond Velaryon. I was disappointed with this scene. Firstly, we only see Vaemond protest Luke inheriting Driftmark which sets it up as more so an ambitious second son seeking power versus a man who doesn't want his house to be run by someone not of his blood. We don't see other Velaryons protesting with him. After Vaemond made his little speech, Rhaenyra orders him dead and Daemon kills him on **her orders**. She then viciously has his corpse fed to her dragon Syrax. I think this scene was crucial as it foreshadows the danger Rhaenyra would be in the future to House Velaryon and sow more seeds of discontent that are crucial to the house's eventual turn to the Green side. Not only is Vaemond killed more viciously, Viserys orders the tongue removal of even more Velaryons who sided with Vaemond with Rhaenyra's consent! Instead, the show projects this entirely onto Daemon. Daemon goes Rogue (see what I did there) and kills Vaemond on his own accord. Rhaenyra stands there shocked and doesn't even order the body fed to her dragon. Rhaenyra is absolved from all blame to Vaemond's unjust execution without trial.

The thing about B&C is Rhaenyra was paralyzed with grief for her son, Luke. The moment her child died was the moment where her descent into madness and powerful wrath began to truly manifest and she would stop at nothing. I was very disappointed in the fact that she has one episode of grieving and then continues to be so level-headed. I couldn't feel her grief, rage, and resentment towards the Greens for her son's death that makes the war even worse. Daemon tells Rhaenyra that he would avenge her son. I loved the acting of Matt and Emma during their argument about the aftermath. However, I felt like Rhaenyra wasn't acting on character with the book. I don't think book Rhaenyra was 100% okay with a child dying as her vengeance, but I do feel with how angered and filled with grief and hatred Rhaenyra should be, Rhaenyra should be a bit more hardened. She should have not been so sorry about the child's death.

I also think that one of Rhaenyra's most controversial and evil decisions in the future are going to either not be included, blamed on someone else, or downplayed. It's very clear at the end of season 2 episode 8 that my favorite dragonseed Nettles is being cut and given to Rhaena who had her own plot and dragon hatchling. After Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer betray her, Rhaenyra's paranoia goes overload and declares that all the dragonseeds are traitors. Corlys advocates for Addam Velaryon and Nettles and Rhaenyra responds by having him arrested. He warns Addam, and is then bound, beaten, and thrown into the black cells. One of her most powerful allies is now thrown in the black cells. This causes the fleet of House Velaryon to turn against her. Later, she attempts to violate guest right, which is sacred in Westeros (which is why the Red Wedding was so horrific to Westeros even more so), by plotting to have Nettles murdered. As Nettles is being cut, I doubt they'd show this truly negative action as Rhaena can't have Nettles's complete plot. Rhaenyra's unjust arrest of Corlys and House Velaryon turning from her from what they're doing so far might just be blamed on someone else, have a different excuse that is not the one that the book gave, or not shown whatsoever.

I also think they might just be setting her up to be innocent of the torture of Tyland Lannister. After the Greens flee with most of the treasury leaving Rhaenyra in Kingslanding pretty broke, he refused to tell her where the gold was sent. Under Rhaenyra's orders he was tortured and castrated and blinded and disfigured to point of being disgusting. They might just have him be tortured by Mysaria or Daemon on their own accord without Rhaenyra's orders, leaving her innocent, or they will have him tortured by the Triarchy or something. Maybe after Mysaria and/or Daemon torture him, they'll frame it as vengeance for Jace and then Rhaenyra might let him go to appear merciful to an audience. As they cut Maelor whose murder was the breaking point that caused Helaena's suicide, we might not see how another child under the war was murdered by her faction. I worry that they won't show how how her cruelties that she did on her own accord caused her to be hated just as much if not more than her half brothers Aegon II and Aemond. They might not truly set the tone and show actions that lead to her being "Rhaenyra the Cruel" and "Maegor with Teats" they might not show the actions, or blame them on someone else or something else. They might not have her tax into oblivion the smallfolk or send her knight inquisitors to execute dozens upon dozens of supposed or proven Green traitors. I was also confused by the characterization of the smallfolk as these naive little lambs who will follow whatever. There is no famine or riot against the Greens at the point the show showed it. I was pleased with the fact that we saw the book-accurate support the smallfolk gave to Helaena after her son was murdered and how angered they were at Rhaenyra and the Blacks. However, days later they are singing her praises. It makes no sense to me that they would forget something so easily. Of course, I argue in another post on my profile why the riot and famine made no sense. So they might continue to get rid of her all of her negative actions.

**These evil actions make her even more compelling and even more realistic in a violent medieval world. It shows how both sides commit great evils as both Rhaenyra and Aegon II were not remembered fondly by their own descendants, smallfolk, and nobles alike.**

I also hate how they hardly showed just how feminine almost girly Rhaenyra was. Rhaenyra notably loved fashion and wearing beautiful intricate gowns that always showed off her beauty and figure. She dressed very richly as befitting her station, wearing gowns of purple with maroon velvet and Myrish lace. Her bodices often had pearls and diamonds. She always wore rings on her finger that she'd play with and turn when anxious. I honestly found these traits very endearing and relatable as someone who is a girly girl. Finally, a "strong female character" who is a leader who is also very feminine and girly. She doesn't need to be a tomboy and wield a sword to be a badass. But no... we don't see that. Yes the costumes Emma D'Arcy wore were nice I guess on the show but they didn't feel like something book Rhaenyra would wear. I get they had budgets but still... you couldn't have made something else? Like where is the purple and maroon? She's mostly wearing just red and black. No rings. No nothing!

*3. Unequal Screen Time and Too "Modernized": Rhaenyra is the Main Modern Girl*

I feel like HOTD has a problem with perspective. GOT had it perfectly done! The original ASOIAF were written from the perspective of multiple characters so we got a perfect ensemble cast with writing that highlighted the stories and perspectives of many different characters. Jon Snow's narrative didn't overtake Daenerys's screen time and vice versa which is just how it should be. However, I feel HOTD makes a mistake especially in season 1 with framing. Rhaenyra as the main with secondary-main perspectives of Alicent and Daemon. We get most of season 1 from Rhaenyra's perspective and to a lesser extent Daemon and Alicent when the show should have been formatted like GOT as multiple perspectives were given in F&B. We should have gotten an ensemble cast with equal development and perspective from multiple characters, especially an equal development of both Aegon II and Rhaenyra. We get both of Rhaenyra's weddings, two births, her raising her children, many scenes with her dragon, her perspective, and her interactions. Our first intro to her sets her up in a more heroic light as she's a beautiful princess riding her dragon. We don't get Aegon II's wedding or Alicent's. No birth scenes for Alicent or Helaena. We hardly get their perspectives compared to Rhaenyra. We should have seen more of Aegon II's childhood and perspective versus just him being a bully and later a rapist. While they improved perspective a bit more in season 2, it's not enough to take away from what was done in season 1. Rhaenyra is the protagonist and **THE main character versus A main character.**

What I think they should have done is showcase the real dynamic of Alicent and Rhaenyra more. They can start off with their friendship but then transition it to the dynamic that both women had at court: competition. Both women wanted to be First Lady of the Realm and first priority to King Viserys. The Queen vs the Princess and named heir.

Rhaenyra does at times come off as more modern than she should be. I think her and even her aunt Rhaenys. For example, in the book Rhaenyra is at times very homophobic by our standards to Laenor. When she discovers she's to marry Laenor Velaryon in the show, we see her initially not too excited about it, but not fully antagonistic. She in fact has a very decent and friendship like conversation where she uses the metaphor of preferring roast duck to insinuate she understands and accepts Laenor for being gay, deciding to do their duty and support one another, while pursuing their own pleasure with each other's consent with whomever that may be. They appear to be very supportive of one another times, at least on Rhaenyra's end. She compliments him deeply when he says he wishes he were different.

While I'm sure on some level Rhaenyra wishes Laenor was bisexual at the very least so they can have more than a friendship and have trueborn kids together, Rhaenyra is almost too accepting for her medieval context. In the medieval world, same sex relationships were a HUGE no-no. In fact being gay was considered a mental illness and sickness up until the 20th century! Rhaenyra appears too accepting of Laenor, appearing too modern in just how accepting she is. In reality, while I'm sure Book Rhaenyra cared for Laenor on some level and had some kind of respect for him and affection, it wasn't this deep and this accepting. Laenor did mean something to her on some level, after all he is still the man she married, and very important to her storyline---however Rhaenyra in the book as a much more medieval reaction and medieval view on his sexuality. She was notably very unhappy about her betrothal to him. It took serious threats from King Viserys to remove her from the line of succession in order to get her on board and she did so reluctantly. She notably even said that "My half brothers would be more to his taste." This is a very cutting and almost homophobic statement. I mean her half-brothers were still toddlers. However, we never get any true antagonism, frustration, or even subtle or outward homophobia on Rhaenyra's end. While this statement is mean and homophobic, that is a more medieval response. It's sad, but it's true. Rhaenyra is a medieval woman in a medieval setting. She is a product of what her society raised her to be, which is being gay isn't something one should accept.

The same issue occurs with Rhaenys having an almost too modern point of view or opinion that doesn't fit with her medieval setting. When she discovers her husband Corlys Velaryon has bastard children, Addam and Alyn of Hull, she is neither furious nor disappointed or horrified. In fact, Rhaenys advocates that they deserve to be "raised up and honored not hidden in the tides." This is an incredibly unrealistic and unfitting reaction on Rhaenys's end. In our modern day society, even, if a woman finds out her husband cheated on her and sired kids off his side chick, she'd be furious. Of course, I think a moral modern woman wouldn't take her anger out on the children, but still. Rhaenys's reaction is almost too modern and too gracious. Characters are products of their circumstances. Despite Westeros being a fantasy world, we feel how medieval the characters are through their beliefs and behaviors. Catelyn Stark or Cersei Lannister's reactions to their husband's bastards is far more realistic---specifically how Catelyn and Cersei hated what their husbands had done and felt it was an affront to them personally. Corlys in the books was terrified of Rhaenys finding out as it would dishonor him, her, and their dead children together which is why he tried to pass them off as Laenor's no matter how ridiculous is sounded. Rhaenys should have been more realistically horrified at Corlys and angry. She shouldn't be advocating for them to be anywhere near her house or imply they should have been raised amongst their own trueborn children.

I think this does two things: 1) Makes it though Rhaenys is fully on Rhaenyra's side when raising her bastard children of Harwin as if they are her trueborn grandsons and 2) Modernizes her too much. That is a main issue. The show attempts to modernize her and make her appeal to a more modern audience. However, there is a way to do that without modernizing her so much that she doesn't seem to fit with her medieval context.

was very disappointed when I heard that the directors told Olivia Cooke to portray Alicent as "woman for Trump" and Rhaenyra is this "punk-rock Hillary Clinton." Modern day politics and movements and ideologies have little to no place in the way Westeros should be written as its a **realistic medieval setting with realistic medieval characters in a fantasy world**. Rhaenyra is too modern in her interactions and beliefs that she doesn't seem to fit well in Westeros. Rhaenyra as well is also presented as this more feminist character.

*4. Two Things Can Be True At Once: Women Can Be Victims of Sexism AND Still Do Terrible Things, Be Self-Serving, and Wield Significant Amounts of Power*

**What I ultimately believe that Condal and the HOTD production seem to get wrong is that in a medieval setting like Westeros, women are ALWAYS overlooked and dismissed and cannot take so much significant power. I feel like they believe that women can't do terrible things in the patriarchal system of Westeros while being victims of sexism.**

Women in the real middle ages and Westeros in Martin's story are not feminists by our definition. At times we see women take advantage of and gain power from the sexist patriarchal society they live in. We see it with Cersei Lannister, Margaery Tyrell, Daenerys Targareyen, Catelyn Stark, Olenna Tyrell, Ellaria Sand, Lysa Arryn, Melisandre, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, every woman in the original GOT series were victims of sexism and an oppressive patriarchal system of Westeros just like real women of the Middle Ages AND YET they still were able to wield some power and do terrible or morally gray things. We can view them as victims of a horrible system but still see how they take advantage of it, gain power and agency as they have no choice to use the system versus fight it, do horrible things, but still view them as victims.

Rhaenyra is one example! I will say that this is partly more so the interpretation of the modern casual audience versus a writing issue, but it is still a writing issue that there are people who believe her to be a feminist. She's not! Of course just because she isn't one doesn't mean you can't root for her, but don't root for her if you think she's a feminist. We might never see the moments where Rhaenyra herself is denying women rights of inheritance from Lady Stokeworth to Lady Rosby. We should have been emphasized that Rhaenyra is not the closest thing to a modern day feminist. She is not advocating for women's rights or to make the world better for women, but to be an exception to the rule. Like most medieval woman in power, she takes advantage of the patriarchal system and gets power from it. Laena Velaryon is older than Laenor. She takes advantage of patriachal rulings to install her (bastard) "son of Laenor" as future Lord of Driftmark versus advocating that the eldest child, Baela Targaryen, daughter of Laena Velaryon, the elder sibling, to inherit Driftmark.

Victims can be villainous too! Soft power. Rarely in the Medieval world do we see women wield a hard power in their own name. Of course we have outliers, but in the end most medieval women wielded a soft power---gaining influence and power through manipulating their relationships with men (their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, etc.). Did real Medieval women know they were oppressed? Perhaps they did, and perhaps they accepted it. Did real Medieval women make efforts to change it? I wouldn't say so. Many women upheld the status quo of men being dominant.

For example, in keeping with British history that Martin is so inspired by, going off of blood-ties alone, Lady Margaret Beaufort had a stronger claim to the English throne via her Lancastrian blood than her own son Henry VII, and yet she advocated for her son not herself to be the next ruler of England. Queen Elizabeth Woodville had three daughters (Elizabeth, Cecily, and Mary) before she had her son Edward V. Like any medieval woman with three daughters alone there was growing pressure to secure her husband's line and her own position by producing a male heir. She never tried to name any of her elder daughters over her son once she had him nor did she ever try to advocate to her husband King Edward IV that he didn't need a male heir, he had his eldest daughter Elizabeth of York.

Rhaenyra Targaryen as well is presented almost like she's pursuing power to make Westeros better and that she has more altruistic and kind intentions behind her actions. I mean this weird "Aegon Prophecy" contributes to it. I think we should have seen a more realistic medieval and Westerosi character by having Rhaenyra, just like Alicent or Aegon II, pursue power because she can! Pursue power and queenship for the sake of having it and because she believes herself entitled to it versus these more "virtuous reasons." I mean in the book she never considered accepting the peace terms despite how generous they were because she refused to renounce her claim and back down! She wanted power because felt entitled to it and because every character in Westeros wants power to some degree. Ambition is a theme and characteristic that unites every character in Martin's world.

**My Takeaway? The Writers are Biased and Fail to Understand the Medieval Context of Westeros and Martin's Female Characters. Don't implement modern politics and biases into a medieval show**

I love that Martin tries to write his women the way he writes his men. He has explicitly stated that he writes his women the way he writes his men. He states that women are people too. They can be driven by the same things men are in Westeros and/or the real world: love, anger, hatred, a desire for power, vengeance, grief, guilt, bringing glory to their name and themselves, a desire to protect their family, etc.

Most of all: **Westeros is a realistic medieval world with realistic medieval characters in an unrealistic fantasy setting.** So you have to look at it from primarily a medieval lens in order to fully understand it and its character. While its okay to analyze using some modern concepts and lenses (ex - analyze how Daemon is a pedophile) you have to couple it with a lot of grace and understanding of their medieval context and morals that impacts the way the characters behave as we are products of our own historical context (ex - remembering that pedophilia and child grooming isn't much of a concept in the medieval world. The moment a girl has her first period, they are a consenting woman in his context).

So I find it disingenuous to write off all of Rhaenyra Targaryen's negative traits as just nothing but maester propaganda and due to sexism. I disliked how they downplayed her ambition, arrogance, rage, and cruelties to make her appear more modern and peaceful and the most virtuous character on the show. Yes, perhaps sexism could have had some tie into how Rhaenyra was viewed in Westeros. However, historians in the real world can't just dismiss reports about what a medieval woman was like simply because of the sexist world they were living in. By that standard, perhaps a woman like Queen Anne of Brittany wasn't all that bad or Margaret of Anjou. By that standard anything that was negative about the personalities of any medieval woman in power is all just rubbish and not true.

I felt we should have seen more of the kind of women that Martin writes. The kind of women that fit with his medieval-fantasy narrative that showcases how pursuing power at all costs leads to nothing but ruin. We should have seen layered women. We should have seen a more book-accurate Rhaenyra. We shouldn't have to settle for a lackluster story where Rhaenyra is nowhere close to her book counterpart.

**And most of all, the HOTD team shouldn't subtly or outwardly bash the original source material as nothing but sexist propaganda to excuse the lackluster writing of the female characters being nothing like their book counterparts or subtly or outwardly write off critics and fans like myself as toxic for pointing it out.**

**If you like this analysis, read on my profile my part 1 when I delve into the issues with HOTD’s Alicent.** "

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Wednesday my lovely readers :) Ahhh already 4 eps into this season. Almost half way there. Doesn’t take long when we only got 10. Ha Still grateful for what little we got was better than nothing tbh. Also reached the limit on my master post for links. Apparently there is a limit. Boo. Gotta add a link to a new posts in there for rest of the reviews. Was kinda shocked at the lower amount of gifs for this ones. So a lot are the made ones from me. Anyways this is really really good one. Let us begin.

6x04 Training Day

We start out with Lucy being a lying liar who lies. Not even well.... Tim not believing her even a little bit that she’s "fine." One of Lucy’s tells is her fidgeting. Whether it’s her hands, her sleeves, and the ever infamous tattoo touch she does. All indicators she is anything but fine. Tim is well versed in all of these things. Because he has the book of Lucy memorized. Her telling him it’s ’Not a big deal.’ Is a big ol red flag for him.

Tim voicing as such to her. Letting her know anytime he’s heard that from a woman in his life they were anything but that. Lucy keeps pretending she’s made peace with it. That’s she’s a professional. She will keep on keeping on. But as we know with this episode that is a load of absolute BS. It's one thing after another for her in this one only adding to very 'not fine' she is. Poor girl.

They do turn a cute corner with her asking if he wants her to be upset? Tim replying of course he doesn't. But the man is worried. Rightfully so. The smile on her face when she asks this is adorable though. They have a nice little moment of reprieve till numbskull Nolan appears. Bringing up the very thing that is eating at her. Her short ‘I’m fine.' Before taking off. Ugh. Undoing any progress Tim made. Thanks John forever the worst with that stuff. Smh. The way Tim’s eyes follow her after that. *sigh*

So begins the hell episode for Lucy. She shows up to the scene asking about their killer. Then asks Harper/Angela if they want her to start canvassing? They tell her yeah the northwest corner. Lucy making a crack no one has covered it yet because it’s by the ‘Hell dumpsters’. Their sassy looks say everything. Lucy spitting back a company line about being a patrol officer. Oh my girl. It’s hitting her so hard she’s still a patrol officer. Feeling like at this point in her career her talents are being wasted. I mean they are…That much is clear in this moment.

Her expression at the end of the scene says everything tbh. About all that frustration and feeling like a failure. This is the starting point of Lucy isolating herself. I know everyone thought she had zero support. To me and I know others said it during the season too. That she isolated herself. Because just like Tim when she is going through something she does it alone. She is internalizing EVERYTHING right now. I have been known to do this as well. The need to shutdown and do it alone. I can relate to her.

She has a solid support system but that doesn’t mean she’s taking advantage of said system. I can relate to that very well too. It took awhile but I now have a solid system. I don’t always rely on them in times of emotional distress. It’s a learned skill. One I'm still learning to use. We talk about Tim and his need for therapy. Lucy needs it too. They’re scarily alike in their unhealthy coping mechanisms. It’s frightening really. Also the song running through this is so good (Dandelion-ill peach)

This next portion is the beginning of her spiral as well. It’s wrapped inside her isolation. It’s a recipe for disaster as we see later on... The isolation continues while she is guarding the dumpsters solo. If there was ever a time Lucy didn’t need to be alone with her thoughts it would be today. She spots some puke and thinks it might be from the killer. Calls Harper and tells her as such.

Harper tells her it’s unlikely to be related but they’ll need to process it anyways. Unfortunately it is only going to extend her time in hell. Nyla telling her could take a couple hours. 4 tops…Ugh. Not exactly what her day needs. Doesn’t help Harper cuts her off on the phone before she can finish her sentence. *sigh* Now Lucy is left to sit in her thoughts and stew in her emotions. I believe this episode was setup to reflect how Lucy is feeling.

Which honestly is like shit. How she feels alone (self inflicted or not), how she’s falling behind and feelings of failure. It’s reflected in all her scenes in this one. It’s a tough one to watch for her. She’s feeling very segregated and this dumpster canvass isn’t helping. As we know our girl isn’t very good at spotting when she’s being emotionally blind to her own feelings. Nor realizing when she’s not reaching out for the help she needs. The thing about support systems is they can’t be mind readers. You gotta relay when you need that support.

Lucy watching that press conference is killing me softly. You can see so much emotion written all over her face. The jealously and the annoyance of not being the one up there. Because well she almost was. It was just dumb luck (title of Nolan’s career) that they got that call and she didn’t. Ain't nothing going our girl's way today and it shows. She is a seething cauldron of emotions that she is tamping down under the guise of being ‘fine’

I do LOVE her waiting on Tim so they can go home together. (Also the hands in his jeans, the shirt, the jacket. Mmm gimme) It’s the little married things that get me all amped up. Waiting on her man to go home. It makes me so happy and squee. She needs it more than ever too. I swear at this moment in time the only keeping her sanity intact is that man.

He reads her like a book from moment he sees her though. Knows what her sour mood is all about. That if only Primm had seen her linked to this case. Seen this press conference it would’ve proved him wrong about her. Made him regret tanking her exam. Damn he knows his girl. Because that's exactly what her face is conveying in the very beginning of this scene.

Lucy notes instead of that she was stuck in dumpster hell. Not only that but she guarded puke for 3 hours. Based on the off chance it belonged to the killer. Tim asking if it did? Hoping to God it did LOL It’s the way Melissa delivers the sick dog line that cracks me up. How she could easily lose her shit right now. Like that was the straw that broke the camel's back for her today.

Ugh I hate it so much for her. She was already all up in her thoughts and failures. Probably thinking why her? What can’t she have even the simplest win? That she’s been resigned to guarding puke and it not even being helpful. That it should be her up there not Nolan. I mean I agree it should be. This is all just percolating toward the rash decision she makes later.

So damn desperate to prove she’s worth her salt. That this is the career for her. She’s meant to do so much more than patrol, canvassing, and general grunt work. Our girl is in dire straits and Tim can see it clear as day. Which is what makes this next portion so sweet and important tbh. Also doesn’t hurt there are more married vibes attached to it.

I love the gentle advice given here from Tim. She’s had a really bad day and he’s being sensitive to it. Doling out solid guidance but being soft about it. Applying logic with empathy so she gets his point but also doesn’t get more upset. Tim can see how this rough shift has rocked her. Especially when she is already on shaky ground. This man like I’ve been saying has been 10/10 for her. Idk what she would’ve done without him eps 1-4 I really don’t.

The beauty of this scene is him empathizing and building her back her up in the process. Reassuring her in the kindest way. That yeah you had a bad day, you’ll have 'em again, but tomorrow could be a whole new ball game for her. That being on patrol is an 'anything can happen game.' Knowing she is down about patrol right now. The man knows. Then is positive about it. Saying today wasn’t her day but tomorrow could be. I love this man so very much. As does Lucy.

I just love the ‘share our day’ marriage vibes this scene holds. Tim sees she had the tougher day and is there for her. Lucy getting lighter as they continue to talk. Something Tim is very good at. The best part of this scene is he gets her to laugh.

After he’s said his piece and comforted her he takes it a step further. Makes his lady laugh and we’re all here for it. Telling her not to be so greedy LOL It’s the way Lucy is looking at him that gets me in the first one. Her Tim smile in full force. Then their precious combined smiles in the second one. God damnit they’re so cute you guys.

I’m dying. They make each other so happy I wanna cry. The lack of space and how they bump arms as they laugh. Just being in love with all to see I cannot. Lucy being grateful for this goof of a man making her smile. For relieving her even if it's just for a short while of that weight on her soul. Letting him carry it with her for a bit. *heart clutch* I love them sfm.

First off before we delve into this part, I wanna say Lucy is an absolute BAMF is in the moments leading up to Harper/Angela arriving. How calm and collected she is. Making sure to cover Bailey as she gets her downed partner. If she could see herself in this moment she wouldn’t have so many doubts. But sadly that is not how crippling self esteem/confidence issues work. I just love watching her in the field and how well she handles herself.

Second my heart was racing from moment that man is shot in the chest. The entire moment is one giant adrenaline rush. Holy hell. Lucy covers for the duo until they reach her cover. Their airship is three minutes out and Lucy doesn’t think they can afford to wait. Wants to run down the alleyway solo. Cut him off so he doesn’t get away. That desperate need to prove herself rearing it’s ugly head.

Not only that but it is running the show for her right now. Harper immediately says no. That’s it's a 40 yard run in an open field. Lucy isn’t listening to her advice though. Level headed Lucy would've heeded her warning. Once again this season she is not with us in this moment. Saying to blow his head off if he pops up. That she’ll be alright. Angela doesn’t look pleased with this idea either. I mean look at her above. Concern written all over her. Her gut feeling screaming this isn't a good idea....But Lucy is hell bent on it.

This run had me holding my friggin breath. Tim would’ve lost his damn mind had he seen this. Not only that he would’ve ripped them a new one to letting her attempt it. When she got hit first time watched it I screamed. Held my breath until she got back up. Angela and Harper’s horrified faces mirrored my own. Couldn’t breathe till she popped back up. It was the most reckless risk she could've taken.

She is very very lucky her radio took the hit. It saved her damn life after that crazy run of hers. Lucy taking Tim's suggestion of being a big hero a little too literally. Honestly would’ve loved to have seen Tim tear them up for letting her do this... Reckless doesn’t seem strong enough of a word with this action. This decision of hers is a culmination of an episode long isolation. Of letting her emotions run the show and she took a risk that could've killed her. All to proof she could do it.

She had definitely given into those voices in her head telling her she’s not enough. Telling her she needs to prove herself or no one will ever think she’s worthy of moving up. To show she doesn't belong on patrol anymore. If she had just told her support system and really Tim how she was feeling. She wouldn’t have been this damn hasty. Lucy wasn’t thinking about what would happen if her radio didn’t catch that bullet. How utterly wrecked Tim would be if she had been hurt or even worse killed.

The problem being she kept all these emotions and struggles to herself. Which clouded her judgement. Her brain wasn't thinking in this capacity. This moment showing the continued communication problems in their relationship. How her decision could've really affected Tim. She wasn't thinking that in the moment though. Their communication issues go both ways with them. When they’re feeling emotionally distraught or vulnerable they isolate and take their problem on themselves.

Which results in foolish and hasty decisions. I.e. this moment above. And in next 2 eps with Tim...Something they gotta work on either before they’re back together or in the early repairing of their relationship. We get to see her KIA radio once she is clear. It very much saved her life and is now useless to her. I do love how she communicates with them before she pursues Jeff. Harper commending her on being smart in this moment. I mean they're in it now. So every move she makes from here on out has to be smart.

Lucy catches Jeff in the alleyway just like she wanted. Unfortunately he doesn’t look like he is interested in surrendering. Melissa crushes this scene oh my lord. The shaky way her voice breaks when she tells him to stop. To put his weapon down. Trying so hard to prevent a deadly outcome. I’m getting 5x19 flashbacks for her in this moment. Lucy dealing with the same issue Tim had. A person willing to die instead of give up. Despite them wanting to concede.

Lucy is basically pleading with this man to give up. She doesn’t want to shoot him. Doesn’t want it to end this way. Lucy is an empath as we all know. So her shooting him right or not she is going to carry it on her soul regardless. It’ll be a stain on it because she would’ve done anything to avoid this.

Lucy is on the verge of tears when she calls out Code 4. That the shooter is down. Ugh my heart. Adrenaline from end to end with this moment. Having it finish with a bang made my stomach sink for her. We watch how it affected Harper in 6x01 and she’s seasoned. How it affected Tim in 5x19. It’s never anything I wanna see our characters go through. Felt like I couldn’t catch my breath even after he was done. Such a good scene though.

Then comes the best part of the episode. Tim storming in like the worried husband he is. He has her work bag and I wanna cry. He has a death grip on it as he searches for the desk. I just love that he made sure to grab her bag before rushing off to the hospital. Man is on a mission to find her. Nothing matters to him but her in this moment. It’s the way he goes to the desk and they direct him to her immediately. He thanks the nurse with his tap to the counter.

I can’t imagine how he was when he first got the news. The look of sheer worry painted across his face when he steps foot into that hospital. Worried Tim is everything and Eric conveyed so much in these first two gifs. The first one is all concern and anxiety. He can’t breathe until he has laid eyes on his girl. The second one is relief in finding her. Tim completely by passes the gaggle of people outside of her room.

Doesn’t check in with them or see what happened at the scene. All that matters to him is getting to her. It’s the way he stops before he enters in. Taking a beat for the first time since he arrived. Then steeling some resolve knowing he needs it be her rock in this moment. Once he does this he steps into her room. Checking in and asking her if she’s hurt? He’s so gentle and soft like we all expect at this point with him. Doesn't take his eyes off her for one second as he sets her bag down.

Per usual the music department be killing it out here with the song selection. The soothing guitar and the singers soft voice are the perfect backdrop to this scene. His voice is as tender and comforting as Tim's tone through out the scene. Once again Melissa and Eric are the epitome of chemistry. Their amazing acting chops shining through in this moment. Melissa got me crying and all in my feels. Once Tim knows she’s physically ok it’s time to take care of her emotionally. The hand to her hair has me reeling. The way he strokes her head it’s so intimate and gentle.

Telling her she didn’t have to take his suggestion so literally. My heart. It’s all ‘hands hands hands’ from here on out. Like I said in 6x02 their physical chemistry forever floors me. It’s also just so damn sweet. Like he has to be touching her in order to know she’s ok. To reassure himself that she’s actually sitting in front of him right now. Saw a great tag said whenever we get hands like this makes them feral. How I felt about this entire scene.

So many wonderful facets to fangirl about and be feral over tbh. The man can’t stop touching her and I’m here for it. From the moment he was allowed to he was off to the races. Makes my heart so happy. He’s so tactile with her. It makes me wanna scream into a pillow. Touch is one of his languages with her but also their love language as well. It shows constantly. Honestly getting this soft scene after that adrenaline fest was much needed. That whole shooting scene had my blood pressure up.

I’m just bawling for Lucy after this. We get to see all she's been holding in. How incredibly upset she is about this whole situation. It's here with Tim comforting her she finally lets her walls down. Because her protector is there. He is there to pick up her broken pieces and put her back together. I know that feeling. Where you've been keeping it together. Then your person comes and asks if you're ok? And you realize how much you're not and the floodgates open.

That's Lucy in this scene. With tears in her eyes she tells him she doesn’t feel like a hero. Tim’s hand hasn’t left her at all btw. They both need this touch to ground them right now. I love how he rubs his thumb up and down her shoulder. Comforting her while she tells him her worst fear. The one thing that's been weighing on her soul since she released that shot in the alley. That she killed Jeff Budney. Asking Tim what if she killed him?

Tim crushing it with the comforting and being calm in his reply. So certain that no matter the outcome it’ll be ok. Why you ask? Because they’re going to deal with it together. The ‘Then we’ll deal with it.’ is EVERYTHING she needs to hear right now. Because yeah it’s bleak right now. But Tim wants to make sure she knows she isn’t alone. That he is there and no matter if he makes it or not he’s by her side. These are the exact reassurances she needs in this moment.

Lucy’s reaction has me crying some more. It’s the stifled cry when he tells her this. The sad shake of her head. Killing me softly. She couldn’t face the possibility of Budney dying. Not until her person showed up. Her fierce protector and love of her life standing by her side. Letting her know it’s ok. Even if it’s not it will be because they’ll face it together. Gah getting emotionally writing this up. This scene was primo on so many levels. *chef kiss.*

It’s here Grey and Wes enter the room. They let our lovely couple know he made it through surgery. Thank you Lord. The relief that floods Lucy is immense. I love how she looks at Tim and shakes her head. Needing his grounding stare as she takes in this news. Making sure it's real. Wes is quite the downer when he tells her for now. That if he dies later the investigation has to resume. The look on Grey’s face like WTF man…Let her have the win.

We see protective Tim step in after this. Asking if she can do her statement tomorrow? All he wants to do at this point is get her away from this hospital. From Jeff Budney and prying eyes. Wade is super sweet and turns on his dad mode and says that’s fine. Tries to get her to look and meet his fatherly gaze. She is too out of it to notice his kind look. All the more reason Tim needs to get her the hell out of this place.

Tim breaks her out of her revere with his touch as she watches them depart. I’m squeeing at the way he squeezes her collarbone, then soothes it with his thumb, before he moves his hand to the back of her neck. All the affectionate touches and very tender comforting has me ship drunk. His hand didn’t leave her for ninety percent of this scene. *happy sigh* He’s trying so hard to keep her there with him. To let her know he’s there and hasn’t left.

It’s the soft way he tells her ‘Let’s go home.’ also has me squeeing. Her home is now his home and I’m bawling. Like I said earlier all he wants to do is take her home and continue the comfort. Knowing the last place she needs to be is here. It’s the sweet smile on his face as he beckons her off the bed. Gah what a good man. Took care of her heart and soul in this moment.

Lucy doesn’t make it far before she is collapsing into his arms. Truly letting her walls down in full. Relaxing for the first time and melting completely against him. It’s the way she folds into his arms so easily. How he has her wrapped up in them immediately. Shielding her from the rest of the hospital. From this situation. One hand in her hair cradling her gently to his chest. How he is softly cupping the back of her head. The other wrapped around her nice and tight. Cocooning her in his embrace. His eyes shutting the minute he can feel her safely in his arms.

Tim breathing for the first time since he entered this room. All the while giving her the comfort zone of being in his arms. Gah it’s the slight sway that goes along with it that has me swooning. Rocking her in his arms sweetly. Trying to give her the solace she had been craving since that alleyway. Lucy hiding her face happily in his chest as he does this. Her hand placed on his chest as well has me happily sighing. No one does hugs quite like our couple does. The emotions they evoke out of me is unreal. They are top tier goodness.

To make the hug even sweeter we get a kiss to the head. The way Lucy wraps her arms around his back fully as he does this. Grounding her further as he takes care of her. They continue their lovely swaying as Tim places his cheek on her head. Resting it there lovingly. There’s a reason I kept this hug as my banner. Not that I don’t love the elevator hug in 6x09. I love it so much and will gush when we get there. But this hug ranks up there as top ones for me. Why you ask?

This hug just exemplifies how they provide comfort for each other. How physical touch is one of their primary love languages. They are each other's sanctuary. A happy and safe place amid the darkness their job brings. Coupled with the song playing in the background, the moment becomes even more glorious. It’s a beautiful scene made even more poignant by the this loving embrace.

I'm still not over how beautiful this scene is. You can see the stress and anxiety just drain out of Lucy. From the moment she is in his arms she is at peace. The same for Tim with pulling her into his arms. They both needed this hug so much. The continuity of the head kisses I’m here for as well. Gimme that all day long. In every future hug. I remember thinking as the shot panned out what would she have done without Tim in this moment? Without his wonderfully soothing comfort? Ugh what makes the next set of episode a gut punch that I still haven’t recovered from…

Thanks as always to my amazing readers who like, comment or reblog these reviews. Means the world to me. I shall see you all in 6x05 :)

~~~

Side notes-Non Chenford

I love Aaron going out with Tim for his first day. Going over the T.RA.I.N yummy T.O Tim in a Metro outfit. I will take that at every chance I can get it. If I had only know this was my last ep with him in that outfit would've appreciated it more 😭 Also this gif was for eye candy. Nothing more nothing less. How I wish to be the chair for which he leans upon in this scene. Metro outfit, badge showing, the way he is deliciously leaning against that chair. *fans self* Doesn't hurt Aaron is hilarious in his quest to please Tim LOL

We watch Nolan continue to be a terrible T.O. He lets Celina say a huge no no over the radio smh

Something else wanted to touch on for the Lucy having no support system. What happened with Jeff Budney is the direct result of not relying on said support system. I'm not blaming her. I have been her. Just want to make that very clear. But the gaggle of people outside her room worried about her is that system. Waiting to see what happens to her etc Everyone was worried about her and for her.

Other than Tim she does have it but as we know this season is super rough on her. So that is hard to see. Especially with losing her main pillar of that system in Tim. Which causes her to retreat even farther inside, but that’s for future eps to delve into. I remember D had this great post about how Lucy has been isolating for years. We were just finally seeing the result of that. Very true.

I mean only person she's really let in other than Jackson is Tim. That's it folks. Because she too has walls. She has Tamara but it's not the same as what she has with Tim. Once again hoping s7 resolves this isolation and her career path in the process. I'll be ok with her being put through it if we can have a good conclusion to go along with it.

Lastly the song running through the final scene is ‘Let it all go’ the lighthouse and the whaler. Such a good song.

[nqueso-emergency]

Hi! I have a stupid question for you.

The BoBs are so so so so SO sure that buddie is happening, but we know they are very wrong. We also know that once the season starts, they are going to be very, very pissed and will probably go on a review bombing session everywhere online.

Now, for my stupid question. There are not as many BoBs as they like to think, but they are loud, violent, and dedicated to ruining everything they disagree with. They tried to sabotage LFJ's career, so I have no doubt that they might try to get 9-1-1 canceled once buddie is officially dead.

Is there any way that abc will get so sick of their bs that they might find it easier to just cancel the show?

I know fans can be annoying, but sending death threats and csa to cast and crew is a new breed of evil. I'm just worried that abc will just want the insanity to stop and cut their losses.

Sorry for my stupid question! 😁

There is no way a bestie boo and their cheerleader squad will get a shoe canceled... especially not the #1 show on ABC.

The only one canceling shows will be the house of mouse themselves. So, no.

[thesoftboiledegg]

"Analyze Piss" was a great episode but not what I expected, which made it hard to write a review at first. I assumed that most of the episode would take place in Dr. Wong's office with Rick hashing out some of his issues. Admittedly, I guess that's what happened in a more indirect (and more entertaining) way.

When Jerry's fight with Pissmaster went on for a good couple of minutes, I was like...are we seriously spending valuable screentime on this? But I guess we needed to see Jerry being a badass and humiliating Pissmaster to understand why the world was fawning over him.

The topic of change keeps coming up this season. People tell Rick that he won't change, and he doesn't want to, but he IS changing. Unfortunately, no one seems to notice.

He tries to tell Jerry that acting like a superhero is a bad idea. The family boos him. He tells them at the end of the episode that he knew Jerry's adventures would fall apart, and they boo him again.

Rick tells them that they're only praising him for trying to change because they want to feel superior--and maybe he's right. In their minds, THEY don't have to change anything. HE does. And it's 100% true that Rick's fucked up a lot of shit, he's been abusive, he's hurt Morty in ways that he probably can't atone for, and he needs therapy more than anybody.

But they talk about his therapy visits in a condescending way, like "Aww, that's so cute! Are you going to change for us, Rick? Are you going to be docile and passive?" They praise him when they think that Rick concocted some crazy plan to boost Jerry's ego for no reason. When they learn the truth, they turn on him again.

I won't say that he doesn't deserve it. They don't owe him anything, and they'd be well within their rights to kick him out of the house and never talk to him again. But Rick didn't create the toxic family dynamic that Beth and Jerry had been cooking up for 16 years before he showed up. I think they're telling themselves that everything that happens is his fault, and he's getting to the point where he's kind of letting them think that.

Rick smiles to himself when the Smiths leave with Jerry on his ship (although he does drink from his flask) and ignores a couple of the bad guys tailing him. When they start fighting each other and leave him alone, he thinks that he's got it all figured out.

But inevitably, he starts to fall apart. He gets drunk and hears people at the bar mocking Pissmaster. "Who could relate, being that much of a piece of shit?" Rick can. He and Pissmaster aren't that different--they provoke people, they're pieces of shit and everyone wants them to be the villain. He's going to visit Pissmaster so they can drink beer and bond over their shitty lives.

He arrives to find that Pissmaster killed himself. Through the door, Rick hears Pissmaster's daughter apologize and say that she's worried about him, she loves him and she'd blame herself if something happened to him--all things that Rick would love to hear from his own daughter, and probably never will hear. At least not in that same fretful, emotional tone.

Everything goes to shit for everyone except Pissmaster's daughter, who believes that her father died a hero. Admittedly, Rick shouldn't have told Morty about the note--it's understandable that he'd want someone to know the truth, but he can't trust a 14-year-old kid with that information, and he needs to stop seeing Morty as his peer anyway. He should've taken it to Dr. Wong.

But telling the truth just makes the Smiths turn on him again. And after all that, why should Rick change? Why be honest? Why not play the roles that they want him to play: the aggressive villain or the docile old man, or both?

Sometimes, the people around you don't want you to change even if it's for the best. I don't think the Smiths want anything to change. That would force Beth and Jerry to face their shitty marriage and the ways they abused and neglected their children, especially Morty, and that's not going to happen.

Just keep blaming everything on the drunk old man in the garage.

But Rick IS changing. In seasons 1-4, Rick would have taken the fact that they believed that he was always Pissmaster as an opportunity to gloat and manipulate everyone. Here, he just looks at them sadly. He tries to talk Jerry out of doing something that he knows will end badly. He desperately tells Morty the truth because he's sick of lying. And the entire premise of the episode is based on Rick willingly going to therapy.

Seasons five and six have countless moments that show that Rick's trying to grow up, show affection, be a father figure, admit to his fuckups and treat Morty gently. Even in season four, he was starting to cut the bullshit a little.

And it must be hard on him. Everything was easier when he was a monster. Beth loved him, Jerry was out of the way and he did whatever he wanted with no guilt, fear or regret while suppressing his trauma and shame. Wouldn't it be easier to be the heartless patriarch who can manipulate his family into doing anything? Go on adventures? Cook and clean for him? Stop talking to Jerry? Show him affection? Actually want to be around him? Make him feel human again?

There's no going back even if he tried--they know him too well now. And he shouldn't go back because he was a monster destroying his entire family. But he needs the Smiths' affection and encouragement if he's going to get anywhere because he's not going to get it from himself.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Before this week's GMMTV announcements, I thought it was a good time to review my bingo card from Part 1, and do some manifesting for what we haven't gotten yet.

What I got right on my bingo card from Part 1 (which in hindsight, I did better than I realized based on announcements):

- Enemies to lovers, Pond in a comedic role, and if you squint, sort of AouBoom as leads because it's an ensemble cast - all covered by We Are.

- BL series with new actors - a safe bet, yes, still counts, Only Boo (which is actually turning out quite cute).

- Workplace romance - The Trainee

- GemFourth in something cute & innocent - My Love Mix-Up

- Paranormal romance & Gawin in a new lead role with a new partner - My Golden Blood, now to be joined by The Vampire Project for the paranormal part

- I'm also pretty sure I picked ViewJune as a side couple before they were confirmed as one for 23.5, so I'm gonna take credit for that as well.

What seems likely in Part 2:

- Mark Pakin in a lead role. He kind of spilled the beans already, plus it would be fucking dumb to not give him a lead at this point.

- 2 GLs in 2024. Pluto takes one spot, and based on rumors of a particular author posting about the event, another seems likely. (Pluto might also technically qualify as my secret identity romance pick but it remains to be seen).

- FirstKhao romcom. We want it, they want it, it's basic math. Give it!

- Neo paired with someone new and in a non-comedic role. I haven't heard much rumorwise, but I got the impression that Mark may be partnered with someone else. Which I think is good! They worked in Only Friends, but I think it's good to have a roster of flexible BL actors. I know Neo will be in My Golden Blood, so that sorta already counts for a serious role, but I assume he'll get more as well. (Omg, what if he hooks up with Mond as villain boyfies).

Less likely but not impossible:

- Remake of a Korean series. But after mining Japan so successfully, they might want to attempt more (especially if Korea is more flexible with airing rights).

- BL series with actors over 30. Their actors and audience are all getting older, let's bring in some maturity (Yes, of course this is about Papang making out onscreen for my enjoyment, I apologize for nothing).

Not gonna happen and I will be salty about it:

- JoongDunk vampire series. The Vampire Project is right there. Joong as a serial killer is also acceptable. (But of course I will watch them in whatever they get. I would just love for them to not be in university once again.)

- Midnight Museum 2. You give me such beautiful weird chaos and a perfect BL setup for season 2. And we won't get it, because god forbid that Gun ever get to kiss a man who isn't Off. Let him make out with other people, goddammit!!

Not in my card but manifesting all the same:

- Something worthy of Perth. Look, I like Chimon. He is very talented. And I had fun with Dangerous Romance. But I can't deny there was a chemistry problem. I think they can get past it, I really do, but they need the right series, the right coaching - heck, hire Saint to come do a one-on-one class of "how to make out with Perth like you mean it".

- Keep breaking out of the predictable BL settings. They've started to, and they need to keep it up. I'd love a strong sci-fi.

- More trans characters. More gender diversity. More breaking stereotypes.

[miano-oscarwilde]

Self intro -to the mairuma fandom.

First I thought I'd make a comprehensive one but it's the fandom I'm highly active in that needs to know me well. - greetings, mairuma. Hello members old and new.

I'm Miano/Mia. My favourite colour is rainbow 🌈 (I was 17 when I made this post.)

It's nothing else, wanted to clarify what my intentions are, why I'm here and what my purpose is. I make long posts on headcanons or write my mairuma reviews. my subject of utmost admiration in the manga is as you probably know - Gaap/Garp Goemon.

I watched the first season before going into the manga. It was this particular scene that stole my heart. As Jazz puts it, his "pure eyes". From there on I started to hyper-fixate on him.

What I post about him

This is very important. Please read this before following me.

-I post my headcanons about him. I already did a lot and all of them were right. I update everything about him, Starting from the etymology of his name to each and every aspect related to him.

- I love his closest companion Agares Picero too. I post about their bond, how I love it more than any other bond I see in mairuma and so on.

- Fanart about Goemon, Picero

🌟See some of them here in the previous pinned post. Check out my handmade mairuma toys here.

- craft - includes dolls big and small, of Goemon and Picero (in general other characters too) . My main one is as everyone probably knows, this "big giant toy"

Why this big life sized toy?

ID- Gaap Goemon in his first year uniform

The reason why I made him is simple. It Is the greatest tribute that I can give to my favourite character with the type of skills I have-crafting. I love him so much, just as how Opera San is loved, Azz kun is loved etc. When I love something fictional, I re-create - with the set of skills I have.

I'm very attached to my toys (plush toys ) and this one is the most important to me and I didn't even buy much items for making him other than the fur cloth. All other items were recycled materials from my home itself.

So when I post how much I love Goemon, that's mostly about the Goemon in the manga. But I also feel extremely comforted by the Goemon beside me. I post about that too.

I post stylish photos of him in various outfits. I loved dress up games and now I just do it outside the screen on my selected dolls, I'm into fashion designing and I have made plenty of outfits for my Barbie collection.

I also made the doll because I can't draw always so it's a matter of time management as well. I could dress him up in his canon outfits, he has his sword too. I then take different photos.

I post a lot in Goemon tags, so if that's annoying to anyone, you can block me forever because as long as I'm here it's one of the main things I do. M!ik is the main fandom I'm in and Goemon is my favourite character so naturally I'll do whatever I can to express it.

So this is about me and what I post about Goemon. If you want to see the gist of my headcanons about him please refer this particular post. 🐙 (Search the key word 'prophecies' and scroll down if link doesn't work)

There's a lot more than that but I need time to find all of the posts. When you're scrolling in the tags and you see dolls and craft work. I'm the one 😬

Self reflection - I not only say "I love Goemon" all the time in my posts, I do headcanons, use my intellect to analyse his character, make fanart and other creative stuff. The soul of Goemon is contained in the manga and I made a big plush, experiment fashion on it and take care of it to show my affection and respect towards that soul.

I also learned things from him. Like - it's important to eat vegetables: from harvest festival.

The importance of a communal gathering: harvest festival.

I hated fish but I saw him having fish and I started to eat it too and my mom is thankful to him.

I nicknamed Goemon samurai Degozaru

Others : Irubaby- Iruma, Clara boo, mairuma mommy- Opera san. Shaxy- lied, aniki- Jazz, beautiful sensei - Ipos ichou, millipede sensei - Marbas March

I'm an Asian. I was born in South India. I can speak in three languages, English, my mother tongue and Hindi: the one priyanka chopra speaks. I play three instruments - trumpet, keyboard and flute. I play badminton.

I'm a Desi, where Bollywood is. I draw and dress up Goemon in Indian style too. I'm one of the very few Indian 🇮🇳 blogs that makes posts in the mairuma fandom and I know that most fans are from other countries. My posts reflect my culture, not always but sometimes everyone may not understand and they misjudge me. You can clarify any doubts with me.

That's all. If you have any questions you can ask me. Thank you 😊

[jakesuit0]

Wizard Battle Review

This one has a great setup. I love how nerdy Finn is over the wizards. It’s also cool seeing a bunch of wizards from different episodes return, it really adds to the worldbuilding of Ooo. We have Naked Wizard from “Memories of Boom Boom Mountain”, Bufo from “Wizard”, Forest Wizard from “Storytelling”, and other wizards wearing the robes from “Wizard”. There’s a bunch of new wizards that make their debut who will reappear throughout the series, most notably Laser Wizard, Abracadaniel, Flame Lord, Grand Master Wizard, and Huntress Wizard. Huntress Wizard has one of the coolest designs of any character in Adventure Time. In terms of silent background characters (for now), only Jungle Princess can compete with how sick she looks. So much so that she built up quite a reputation in the fandom long before “Flute Spell”. Doctor Princess tries to enter the competition, disguised as Science Whyzard. Totally in line with Doctor Princess’s pattern of faking her identities. She has a psychological disorder or something, I swear! Grand Master Wizard disqualifies her for using science, setting up the conflict in “Wizards Only, Fools”. Considering the prize, this could suggest her sexuality is something other than straight. HW cheers at the idea of kissing Bubblegum, which is hard proof that she’s bi. I also think it's hilarious that the audience consists of only a handful of people that are filled by the most random characters possible like LSP, who’s on her phone, and Phil (him being moved to tears by Abracadaniel’s speech later is really funny). 

Grand Master Wizard mentions eight schools of magic, which is a reference to Dungeons & Dragons. In D&D, they are abjuration, alteration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, illusion, invocation, and necromancy. Several of these are classes that Pep and Cadebra will take in “Wizard City”. The episode sets up the wizards’ strict isolation from outsiders. As Finn says, “only wizards allowed!” Ice King is a contestant. This builds on The Lich referring to him as an “ice wizard” in “Mortal Recoil”. It’s interesting which magic users can be considered a wizard in Ooo, seeing as Ice King’s magic comes from his crown. Finn and Jake are real dicks to him. Even before he says he’s going to cheat, they boo him and call him a loser. 

This brings us to….Princess Bubblegum. Her being a prize is just yuck, especially in the context of seasons two and three usually just using her character as a plot device. It’s totally out of character for her, even putting aside her hatred of wizards. Even Pendleton Ward has said he regrets putting her in this role. Jesse Moynihan and Ako Castuera, who boarded this episode, also felt weird about it. Too bad this still made it through. But yeah, this makes even less sense with her portrayal later in “Wizards Only, Fools.” Jesse Monyihan and Kent Osborne argued she’s there as a diplomat. I don’t think that’s enough to excuse her absolute disdain for magic society. Like, she doesn’t give a fuck about diplomacy with these guys in season five. Oh and I’m not even close to done complaining about PB in this one. Uhh, the straight women being mad about the prize, and Brain Wiz forfeiting because it's not an open mouth kiss was funny though.

Finn and Jake enter the battle dressed as wizards under Finn’s guise of saving PB from having to kiss Ice King. He really wants a chance at kissing Bubblegum again. He’s grown from his attitude towards smooching in “Go With Me”. Ice King testing how his breath smells by breathing on his hand is really funny. Ice King seems impressed, so maybe kissing him wouldn’t be so bad! Finn and Jake team up with Abracadaniel. He’s a really funny character, and I don’t think any of his future appearances are quite as funny. “Turn and push” is the funniest thing he ever says. Ice King battles the Flame Lord (our first “Frost & Fire”!) using nunchucks, referencing his ninja skills in “The Chamber of Frozen Blades”. I’m not sure why he doesn’t just use his ice weapons, which would be legal, but he’s crazy. 

Abracadaniel beats Ice King and Finn forfeits, presumably just to get Jake to stop teasing him about wanting to kiss PB. He can live with that, as long as nobody else kisses her. I love Abracadaniel’s excitement making him want to kiss Princess Bubblegum after all. Finn’s high pitched scream at this is also really funny. It knocks him out, making Finn the winner. Kind of messed up that he betrayed Abracadaniel! He really is the series punching bag, alongside NEPTR. Jake’s teasing of Finn continues to be funny, but it leads to a big outburst from Finn, who says he’s sick of keeping his feelings hidden. This is strange, as he was totally open about his feelings with Jake in “Too Young”. Jake continues to encourage Finn’s pursuit of Bubblegum, pushing him to go kiss an adult woman.

Finn and Jake are exposed. Princess Bubblegum thanks Finn for going through the trouble to save her from kissing Ice King. I can’t imagine PB would have actually kissed Ice King though, even with how out of character she’s written in this episode.  Anyway, she kisses Finn. Not her usual kiss on the cheek, but on the lips. This is a strong contender for my least favorite scene of the franchise. I don’t even think I need to get into the problem with an 18 year old (800+) kissing a 13 year old, but bad Adventure Time, bad! I hate that it hurts the kiss and meaning in “Too Young”. That was special and tragic partially because it was the one time Finn got to kiss her! In addition, it is completely contradictory of PB turning down Finn at the end of “Too Young”. That is supposed to be a big development for PB that will stay consistent in “Incendium”. I like that PB had a character flaw in the first two seasons with humoring Finn’s advancements, and how that eventually gets addressed in “Burning Low”. But, the development in “Too Young” was really important and I’m not sure why this one episode decided to ignore it. She slaps Finn for ruining the sanctity of wizard battle, something she shouldn’t care about respecting. She tells the wizards to get ready for next year. Despite the implication, I’m going to choose to believe she doesn’t participate in it again. The ending of Finn and Jake trying on the wizard glasses to look cool is cute and Ice King gets in a hilarious line to finish the episode on. 

This episode has a lot of good jokes, and I like parts of it. Unfortunately, Princess Bubblegum just ruins this one for me. She shouldn’t have even been in the episode. Finn and Jake joining the competition to stop Ice King from cheating is enough of a motivation. More focus on cool wizard battles and Ice King being Ice King would have made this a great episode. Instead we get easily Princess Bubblegum’s worst portrayal in the series. She is written badly on multiple levels. As a PB stan, I can’t forgive that. We’re also at the point where I want the series to move on from Finn trying to get with Bonnie. I don’t mind Finn still having feelings for her. He isn’t even over her as late as “Breezy”. But there’s no real reason to be invested in Finn’s pursuits after “Too Young”. I just want the conflict to be wrapped up so the series can move on from something that’s finally gotten tired. Luckily, we are almost there!

Grade: C-

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, Season 2, Episode 18: Back In The Saddle. Part Six

Part 1 Part 2 Part 2½ Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Really thought this was just gonna be a cute filler episode I could whack off (lol) in like 2 or 3 parts but somehow we're on part 6? My longest review EVER both in number of parts and also in words? (A Tisket A Tasket may have gone on for 10 parts had Lorelai not made me rage quit).

How the hell did we get here? Oh.

Mark my words. I will hunt you both for sport. The only saving grace here is that our favorite pornographic film, Insatiable Cougar Does Her Daughter's Boyfriend, will mercifully cum to an end in about 1 minute and the remainder of the episode will return to pointless filler once more. I just realized there is no Jess in this episode, at all. Not even a counter-wiping scene stuck on at the end. BOO. Dean is confused by this concept of giving Rory "personal space" so Lorelai, of all people, is going to try to explain it to him like he's 5. No, literally, he does not know what "Space" means. Behold!

Absolutely breathtaking. The audacity of Lorelai Gilmore to gently tell Dean that Rory needs "just a little bit of space" after his behavior in this episode that fits the legal definitions of stalking and harrasment (I looked them up, lol). Where does she find it?

Did your parents spoon feed you lead paint chips as a child? How can one person be this fucking dumb? How have your remaining brain cells not yeeted themselves out of your head already?

"I... don't understand."

Rory Gilmore, you are in grave danger. Your mother is so blinded by her DeanLust she is throwing you to the lions (again).

Never ever, Dean. She's going to give you a sloppy beej when this talk is over. L (flirtily): If I was trying to get rid of you, I'd start telling you stories about my family! Har har har! You're soooo funny, Lorelai Gilmore!

L: I'm not telling you this to try to get rid of you, but to help things between you guys. Just try it! Ms. Gilmore, please explain to the court where Rory asked for your help. Just try not be doing a scary douchecanoe for one hour, Dean. I know that seems like a Herculean task, my man. But just try it.

"Wash my car"-stick your dick in my mouth"

What sexual favor is "a soda” code for, as she's asked him twice already (he keeps sounding reluctant to accept, so I am to assume it’s some freaky thing that only comes with the experience of a much older woman, and he’s nervous about his first time).

Whew. That had to be the most overwhelming sexual tension I've had the misfortune of witnessing thus far on my Gilmore Girls hell-journey. I'm scarred. It's going to be imposible to remove from my psyche, stuck there like chewed gum, or like Jess Mariano's sidewalk drawings. And I thought nothing could ever eclipse these levels of sexual tension:

Or one of the many instances of this

No, this one beats em all by a mile. The big difference being that the other scenes make me want to throw up my hands and rejoice, while this scene made me want to throw up my intestines.

ARE YOU DONE?!

The remainder of the episode contains the conclusion of the z plot involving MIchel's mother which I've barely paid attention to.

Michel is mad at Lorelai because she overstepped her boundaries once more, so that's good. Let the hatred flow my man! I need to recruit as many soldiers as possible for my Anti Lorelai Gilmore army. Take your anger a step further and report her to the labor board in Connecticut for her undoubtedly shaky bookkeeping, close down the whole operation, send her out to the streets and Rory into a nice foster home, and you can find a nice job at a real hotel. Am I thinking too far ahead again?

"The lunchbox of the new Millenium." or the RX 2002 First Aid Kit? Which lame-o creation which would only excite the most lifeless of Teens will emerge victorious?

Now here's some sexual tension I don't mind. Thank god. I needed relief.

And another sucky competitor throws its hat in the ring!

Spoiler alert: they are not it.

The part where he finishes these sentences with "including yours" must have gotten left on the editing room floor.

Just another reminder that Madelyn over there in the background invented the smart speaker, and Rory said her smart speaker couldn't be made because no one at Chilton knew how to build a robot, but there's a sign behind her for an invention called "The robotic dissector", whatever the hell that is. They should have had those dudes on their team, because every single person on the RX 2002 development team was completely dead weight except for Paris.

I totally forgot about this other male douchecanoe. WTF is a "hose hook"? And a locker refrigerator? WHAT? I thought these were supposed to be practical inventions? Why is every invention so god damn terrible? How can Douchecanoe Charleston possibly choose a winner? I can never un-know Charleston as Doug Heffernan's dad on one of my favorite shows, King Of Queens, where he had a completely different accent and not the quasi-British thing he's got going on.

The Locker Alarm wins. Grown Adult Man Richard Gilmore take this loss of a high school invention fair, one his granddaughter contributed nothing to, quite personal. In a tired sequence of events that we have already seen unfold many times before and one which will unfold to the extreme in the next episode, something unfortunate but hardly life altering happens to Rory that she takes in total stride while the adults in her life invalidate her feelings and lose their shit on her behalf anyway. If you guessed “Richard is having a coronary over Rory's loss at a silly school business fair and Rory could not care less”, come on down and collect your prize.

R: You've all put in an extrodinary amount of time, effort, and thought into this. Rory's entire contribution to the project was "This is amazing. I want one of these." Richard is not having it and he is taking it up with DCC. I get the sense this is not actually about Rory at all and is really some kind of Old Man Vs. Old Man Personal Beef about stocks and bonds or golf or something.

In what should come as a surprise to no one, I was right about something again 😁 turns out Richard was bored with retirement or something, so his solution was to take out his frustration on Douche Canoe Charleston because he knew him from Old Man Business Land, and he was jealous DCC had a job? And he didn’t care if he humiliated Rory in the process. I have no more room for screen shots and I refuse to make this a seven parter so you're going to have to use your imagination for the last 8 minutes, kay? Rory expresses to Richard that she's okay with the loss and she does not want Richard to bring this up to the principal but he doesn't listen to her. He says she was robbed and he is not going to sit back and let it go! ARGH!! My poor girl!!! Richard complains to the Manager while Rory has to sit back and watch and while wishing Lorelai would just dump her off with some strange relative like Liz did to Jess so she didn't have to be part of this awful family. Richard to DCC: Out there in the real world, there is no way a locker alarm would be a viable business investment! It's a school that should be training children for the real world! Oh, right, a locker alarm is useless, but a lunchbox full of band aids isn't. The only ground Richard has to stand on here is that if the best minds in this expensive school can't create anything better than a "hose hook" and a "locker refrigerator" then indeed, their educators are clearly failing them. If Richard and Emily had raised Rory instead of Lorelai, you know Richard would have been picking a fight with Rory's kindergarten teacher if she came in second place in the class spelling bee. Richard: I DEMAND A RECOUNT! DCC: Richard, this is not the real world, this is just school. This is so embarrassing. Rory should go on and pull the fire alarms and evacuate the school just to put an end to this humiliation. I feel like every time I have stated "I got no problems with Richard" at the beginning of an episode I've been so, so wrong. I'll stop doing that from now on. At Friday night dinner, Richard is sulking in his room like a baby over his granddaughter's loss at a high school inventors fair, and Lorelai GIlmore, of all people, suggests to Emily he should go to therapy, because "there's nothing wrong with getting help". Does Lorelai ever listen to herself? Where does she keep finding the nerve to advise other people to do things that she refuses to do herself? Clean up your own house first, woman. Emily of course responds that therapy is only for deviants, people with multiple personalties, and disturbed people who lick parking meters and think their dogs can talk. And so another week goes by where all four Gilmores push their numerous emotional traumas deep, deep down inside once more where they can continue to bubble and fester. Things aren't looking too good for little Chaz Gilmore, Rory's son, to break the cycle. (I've decided Rory has a boy just to throw the whole darn Gilmore Woman dynamic off its axis and give things a little pizzazz). (but what would Rory name a boy? Please do not say "Jess Jr." ) After hours of sulking, Richard emerges from his room chipper as a daisy asking for dinner, confusing us all. We come to find out that due to Rory's non-contribution to the invention of a Lunchbox full of Band Aids, Richard has been inspired to come out of retirement. That makes a whole lot of sense. Rory recieves a page from Dean on the way home from FND and Lorelai is pleased as fucking fruit punch to learn that her sloppy but satisfying sexual services earlier in the kitchen were enough to convince Dean to reduce his harassment down to one page per two days. Rory states he hasn't "Called or mysteriously appeared next to me" in two days! Lorelai is pleased that he's "calming down"! The bar is so low! Rory is relieved to get some breathing room from Dean, so to celebrate, Lorelai encourages Rory to call him anyway, then when Rory says no Lorelai asks if she’s super duper sure that she doesn’t want to call Dean.

You can keep your corny little froo froo sitcoms where people learn valuable life lessons at the end of every episode. No one ever learns anything or betters themselves on Gilmore Girls and that’s the way we like it.

Lorelai arrives home, late at night, after dropping Rory off at Lane's house (weird turn of events, but OK, I'm sure this is going to be some kind of set up for Teach Me Tonight) to find Dean sitting on her porch, sulking. Despite the fact that this is the second time in one day that he has shown up at her house to wait for Rory completely unannounced, Lorelai does not find his repeat behavior the least bit concerning. Little baby is pouting and trespassing on private property because he really struggled and put his four brain cells to work to come to a conclusion: his repeated harrassment towards Rory, for some strange reason, isn't endearing her to him, so she may just prefer the company of Jess instead of a DoucheCanoe Wtihout A Paddle. Lorelai merely sticks out her lower lip, gives him some puppy dog eyes, and pities this poor dumb creature who she has an unbearable, aching sexual attraction to. Then he walks off into the night, hopefully over a steep embankment into a pit of alligators. Goodnight.

[booksellergothic]

Halloween Day 31!!!

Looks like we made it, the culmination of spooky season, the last day before we start the countdown to next spooky season

Langston Hughes was one of, it not the, leading light of the Harlem Renaissance, and not someone most people would associate with scares, haunts, and things that go bump in the night. But Hughes was fascinated by ghosts and real life ghost stories, and the metaphor of the ghost as a symbol of unfinished business with the past, and thing that every Black American had and has. In this weekly column for the Chicago Defender he wrote, requesting people to send in their ghost stories, as well as creating the persona of Old Ghost, in order to speak to the many deaths and other sufferings of the Black community.

Later he wrote the tragic and truthful Ghosts of 1619

Ghosts of all too solid flesh,

Dark ghosts come back to haunt you now,

These dark ghosts to taunt you --

Yet ghosts so solid, ghosts so real

They may not only haunt you --

But rape, rob, steal,

Sit-in, stand-in, stall-in, vote-in

(Even vote for real in Alabam')

And in voting not give a damn

For the fact that white was right

Until last night.

.

Last night?

What happened then?

Flesh-and-blood ghosts

Became flesh-and-blood men?

Got tired of asking, When?

Although minority,

Suddenly became majority

(Metaphysically speaking)

In seeking authority?

.

How can one man be ten?

Or ten be a hundred and ten?

Or a thousand and ten?

Or a million and ten

Are but a thousand and ten

Or a hundred and ten

Or ten -- or one --

Or none --

Being ghosts

Of then?

..

Thank you for everyone joining me for this most wonderful time of the year. I am hoping - against hope - to keep up with book recs and reviews even now that October is all but over. If you are interesting in being tagged please let me know.

And BOO!

@dianamolloy @piggledy-higgledy @imdeadtiredtm @joyfullymassivewhispers @caffiend-queen @dangertoozmanykids101 @toozmanykids @myoxisbroken @wrathkitty @punemy-spotted @sillybillieandricky @stupendouslovegardener @sylviefromneptune @acidcasualties

[unpopularly-opinionated]

Bungie got me all hype with the Exotic Class Items but the fact that they can only be used with Prismatic is such a buzzkill considering Hunters by far got the shortest end of the Prismatic stick. I get that it's supposedly for balance purposes or whatever, but it's still ass.

I just want to use my Assassin + Synthoceps with Lethal Current but instead I'm stuck with fucking Ascension which is total ass. Like even if I never use it, I'd sooner take Tempest Strike to Ascension, who the fuck uses Ascension.

And as an added bonus fuck you, I know it breaks precedent but I don't care, I wish Bungie would make an exception and let us equip any ornament to the Exotic Class Item because both the default and the ornament in the shop are kinda trash and it really fucks with me assembling any sense of a fashionable build.

I thought about doing a full review for the expansion but I'm not sure that I want to because I think I'll be really living up to my URL so here's the cliff notes version (spoiler alert: I clearly don't understand the meaning of the term "cliff notes"):

Gameplay-wise I thought it was pretty good. Obviously, as a Hunter main, I think Prismatic was kind of all hype with nothing to show for it, but I acknowledge that this is because I've only played Hunter. I don't think this discounts my take on it much though because it should've been good for all classes, and it just wasn't for us. Boo hoo, I guess. But the missions themselves were good. Overflows, while I'm sick of them now, I think are objectively the best "Public" Events (aside from Escalation Protocol RIP). I love the gun No Hesitation, it definitely aided in my friend and I finishing some of those later missions on Legend by being able to heal him and by extension myself.

Story-wise I thought it was very contrived and bad, aside from the ending. The Cayde stuff was pretty good, I thought, contrivance-aside. The Zavala stuff was very very bad. I had two major gripes with it, one of which I'll grant you is my own personal thing, but the big one which isn't personal is that we've literally already told this story before so why are we suddenly retreading it? Season of the Haunted already dealt with Zavala's dead family and he made his peace with it, but now all of a sudden he's not at peace with it and is tempted by the Witness to get his family back? I'm sorry but that's just contrived and boring.

My lesser, personal gripe was with Keith David voicing him... I'm sorry, but the guy only has one voice and I already associate him with the President from Rick and Morty, so the entire time I'm playing I'm not taking anything seriously because all I hear is the President. I swear, they even wrote Zavala lines that straight up sounded like shit the President in that show would say. This, compounded with the fact that they couldn't actually pull the trigger on killing Zavala off, meaning at some point Keith David's gonna have to come back to voice him, it just bothered me. I actually could've looked past his voice entirely if they killed him off because then I'd at least be able to understand that they were put in an awkward position with Lance Reddick dying.

The ending was pretty good at least. I liked the "We... I..." moment as the Witness is dying, I thought that was pretty good writing. Excision was honestly such a cool mode, I kind of wish they'd do more like that but I understand it's technically-complex.

I'm unsure of how I'd score it exactly. By far it has probably the most content since Forsaken, but arguably the third worst story (above Shadowkeep and Lightfall). I want to rate it highly because of how much fun I had the past few weeks since it came out, but I am hung up on the lackluster addition of Prismatic and the awful story.

Overall, I guess I'll call it a 7/10.

[cf56]

My thoughts on episode 8

SPOILERS for season 3, episode 8 of the Animaniacs reboot

Ah, time to watch another episode of Animaniacs, an episode I have definitely never seen before and definitely have not had an entire emotional breakdown over. The previews for this one got me hyped. I can't wait to see that 3D animation!

On a serious note, if you're a big fan of this episode, you probably shouldn't read this review. I'll try to avoid retreading ground I've already covered, and I'll try to keep my criticism reasonable and logical so hopefully everyone can at least see my side of things, even if you don't ultimately agree.

The episode starts off with the worst dialogue exchange ever written into Animaniacs.

It's just as shocking and painful to watch now as it was the first time. Wakko's expression here will haunt me and bring back bad memories for years to come.

This exchange is just such an impressively perfect storm of awfulness. If you changed any one thing about it, it wouldn't be so historically atrocious. It would still be bad, but not "makes me question my Animaniacs fandom" bad. What really sends it over the top for me is how Dot reacts to Wakko coming back and being alive. If she and Yakko simply greeted him cheerfully, it would be made super clear that it was entirely a joke and they were only messing around. I'd still hate it. I just wouldn't need to write a fic to cover it up. Instead, there's just no payoff. It's played straight until the end, when Dot is actually disappointed that her brother isn't actually dead. It's so unnecessarily overbearing. I know the entire thing is supposed to be sarcasm, but like... where's the joke? What's supposed to be funny about it? Haha, we don't value our brother and would be better off without him, but we don't actually mean it! Oh no, he's not actually dead, but I'm only being sarcastically disappointed over it. You can laugh now.

You know, I actually take it back. Dot's disappointment didn't really seem sarcastic at all. It just felt mean-spirited, straight up.

They had to realize something was wrong here. They specifically made it so Wakko didn't hear or react to what his siblings were saying. At least subconsciously, they knew that if Wakko heard it, the cruelty of the whole thing would be amplified tenfold. And it was already pretty damn amplified. Wakko not hearing it doesn't make this moment any better for the characters of Yakko and Dot.

I think these Warners are the real alien imposters, not the ones we saw in episode 6. They're implanted by aliens or the studio to make poor Wakko think he isn't loved.

It's pretty funny to hear the Warners say "Jackass Monkey" so casually.

No, Yakko, you are not technically a boomer. Baby boomers were born from 1946 to 1964. You were born in 1929, making you a member of the Silent Generation. (Ironic, isn't it?) Also, it doesn't even make a difference, since Wakko is the same age as you by that logic, and he clearly loves video games. Hey, you were the one who wanted to be technical about it.

Lore item: I believe this is our first confirmation ever that the Warners have red blood flowing through their veins, and not just ink or nothing. So, if they bled, they would canonically bleed red. Just a thought for all you angsty fan creators out there...

They also have real, organic organs and are not just inky blobs all the way through.

I thought the easter eggs were cool. Some folks probably didn't like them because they felt like teases for segments we never really got in the reboot, but I was fine with it.

Slappy still in the process of giving Chicken Boo that beating two seasons later.

I thought the 3D animation looked really nice. I was genuinely super excited to see it before the episode came out, and I hoped that the main thing I'd be doing was pausing to admire the animation. Other things overshadowed that, unfortunately.

On their own, the Wakko smells jokes would be fine. It's the kind of teasing that's in-bounds for the Warners, and this isn't the first time they've made fun of such a thing. Combined with what happened earlier, though, it just feels like the Wakko abuse keeps piling up. It feels like someone writing the episode randomly decided to choose Wakko as a target to pick on for the entire episode, and by proxy that makes it feel like Yakko and Dot randomly decided to choose Wakko as a target to pick on for the entire episode. It makes them feel like bullies. It's the total opposite of how their dynamic should be- take a few innocent jabs at your siblings, sure, but 99% of the harsh teasing should be directed outside of the group.

On a positive note, Wakko sticking his tongue out in 3D is really cute.

"Warner Brothers has STANDARDS! Well, not artistic standards, obviously."

Obviously...

Now, I said before that Yakko's apology to Wakko was a flimsy cop out, but I never went into detail on why I felt that way.

Let me be clear. If you removed the dialogue at the beginning at the episode, Yakko's apology would be a great sibling moment. I mean, reboot Yakko actually verbally expressing that he cares about Wakko? I'd be freaking out in a positive way. If it only happened after a couple jokes about Wakko's scent, it would be good.

However, taking into account everything that's happened, how Wakko has been a target to ruthlessly pick on since the instant the episode first started, the apology feels condescending and insincere to me.

If we got to the point that sweet, oblivious Wakko actually felt the need to call out his older brother, who he idolizes, over always picking on him, you know it's already pretty bad. He even points out one of the primary issues with it- Yakko is punching down when he makes fun of Wakko. Wakko is his little sibling who he's supposed to protect and support.

Yakko then responds with the same logic a schoolyard bully uses. "Come on, can't you take a joke?" The bully says, after making a target out of this one kid for the entire schoolyear. You might call it an overreaction to compare Yakko to a bully here. For one, I'm only using an example to show why this moment doesn't hit for me. Secondly, at least I had the sense to edit out the lines where I compared him to an abuser. Thirdly, I agree. It's a tragedy that I'm comparing Yakko to a bully right now. Wakko spoke up to try to defend himself against his siblings, and Yakko's response wasn't to genuinely apologize and promise to stop doing it- it was to justify his behavior and dig in deeper. Sibling teasing is sibling teasing, but if your family member who you love has to actually come up to you and tell you point blank that it's going too far, and you refuse to see the error of your ways, that's when it's really gone too far.

The last reason this is a flimsy apology- if this is how you express your love for Wakko, because picking on him is easier than saying you care, then why don't you do the same to Dot? There's still clearly favoritism being shown here towards one sibling, which is awful. Also, it's not how you show your affection. We've seen how Yakko shows affection. We've seen it explicitly, and it's nothing like this. Go watch Wakko's Wish if you don't know what I'm talking about.

I at least appreciate that they always kept the Warners as one unit and didn't ever have them fight each other.

I did find the echoed "d'ah"s to be funny, even as I was watching this the first time with my soul being ripped in two.

I didn't watch Starbox and Cindy the first time around, so as far as I'm concerned this is the entire new episode for me this time. I thought it was clever how they had a battle over lights in a child's room. I thought it was sad how Starbox has been Stockholm Syndromed into loving the self-admitted scary monster.

Through 8 episodes, there have been as many Starbox and Cindy segments as there have been Warner songs.

I feel like the Gold Warners had more potential than this. The concept of alternate copies of the Warners for the Warners to battle is interesting, but the problem is that these copies are nothing like the regular Warners. They don't talk, so you can't actually have an interesting battle of personalities that would naturally make up a Warner vs. Warner fight.

Wakko defending Dot is a GOLDEN sibling moment. But... you know what I'm about to say. I would freak out and cherish this moment forever in almost any other context. In the context it's been given, it only makes me kind of sad. Because Wakko still has a heart of gold, Wakko still stays loyal and true to his siblings, even when they have thoroughly proven they don't deserve it. And even when Wakko steps up to defend his siblings, and ends up being the one to save the day and show them how to get out of there, they don't even mention it afterwards. They don't apologize for how they treated him. They don't thank him for saving them. If there was only some kind of payoff at the very end, it would be at least a little palatable. There just isn't. Wakko is the only Warner who comes out of this episode looking like a good sibling. It just gives me the image of my mind of Yakko and Dot as bullies to their innocent brother who loves them unconditionally despite everything they've done to him, which is not even close to how the Warners should be in reality or how they're portrayed in any other episode.

Just Ralph being a better friend to Wakko than his own siblings in this episode:

I guess I should briefly talk about the video game characters in this episode.

Honestly, the best part about them was their names and character designs.

In this episode, Wakko:

-Heard his sister celebrating his death

-Still happily interacted with his sibs immediately after and got them into something that makes him happy

-Sat around and took care of the tower by himself for six months while his sibs played his favorite video game, not even playing with them or being able to talk to them at all

-After Yakko and Dot came back to consciousness, Yakko immediately physically fought with him over the privilege of being player 1

-Got a lame special move compared to his siblings

-Got his smell constantly made fun of by his own siblings

-Had to call Yakko out over it and got a paper-thin "apology" as a response

-Defends his sister, despite everything, by hurting himself. This is the second time in the episode he's gotten smashed by his own mallet.

-Fights with Ralph over the remote as soon as he gets out so he can save his siblings from the game

-Does not even get a hug or a smile from his siblings once they're out due to his heroics. At least, not one we were shown.

This episode is frustrating. There's so much good about it. The animation is so cool. There are funny jokes. There are multiple great sibling moments on a level above anything else we've explicitly seen in the reboot. If only that first minute was cut completely, I would consider this a great episode. It wasn't cut, unfortunately, and it drags everything else down with it. Doesn't it almost feel like the writers of this episode put in a bunch of wholesome sibling moments, realized they didn't want to give us that much, and decided to "balance it out" with all that awfulness? If that is the case, I hate it even more. They simply don't understand what we want from these characters. Is it fair to say an entire episode is bad because of one horrible dialogue at the very start? Honestly, I don't really care. That dialogue doesn't just drag down this episode. It drags down the season, the reboot, and my entire Animaniacs fandom. I can't help how I feel.

I don't think, even after everything I've said, that you guys understand the true depth of the effect this episode has had on me. When I was first spoiled over the infamous lines, I was at a point where I was feeling more passionate over Animaniacs and writing than I had since I first started all of this. I had just finished reading a fic, Don't You Forget About Me, that destroyed me in the good, angsty kind of way. That fic is about the Warners being magically made to forget about one another. It tore me apart to read about their relationships being destroyed so easily in the fic, to see them turned against each other. When I read that spoiler, back in early January, it was like it had all come true. What meaning does it have to read about them forgetting about each other when they apparently never had much care for each other in the first place? All the deep feelings I was feeling over that fic completely disappeared, in literally an instant. I went back to read it, and I felt nothing. (Through no fault of the fic- it's still really great.) At the time, I had an angsty one shot in the works, I was getting progress on so many fics at once. Reading that spoiler killed all that passion in an instant. Put simply, if this dialogue never existed, you would have gotten about 4-5 more fanfic releases from me over the past month than you actually got. I've barely touched any of those WIPs since.

Despite all the good, I can't ever forgive this episode for what it did to me. It has been super touching to feel all the love from the fandom after I expressed my emotions over this episode. It's nice to know we're in the same boat. Even after all of that, even with all the good in this episode, if I had the option to erase it from existence completely, to make it as if it never happened, would I do it?

Yes. In a heartbeat. I'm still not sure if my fandom will recover from what this episode did to me.

If you're a defender of that dialogue, I want you to know that I respect your opinion. I also want you to know that we're simply not on the same wavelength when it comes to how we view this show and its characters. Could those lines be classified as just harmless sibling banter? Maybe in your sibling relationship, but not in mine. It's been a little insulting to me to see the few out there who have claimed that only those without siblings would take issue over these lines. I've watched 133 episodes of Animaniacs and one movie. I've dedicated half my life to this show. I can tell you that what the Warners did here is not even close to in-character for them. To me, it truly feels like Yakko and Dot were replaced by unfeeling aliens for an episode.

Was this the least entertaining episode of Animaniacs ever? Far from it. If you showed this season to someone off the street who's never seen Animaniacs, they almost certainly wouldn't rank this episode as the worst of all of them. They'd probably rank it as one of the best. 90% of it is good, after all. 5% of it is mindblowingly bad. If someone who hasn't watched Animaniacs before saw this episode and only this episode, what impression would they get of the sibling relationship between Yakko, Wakko, and Dot? To me, they'd come off as bullies to the one true-hearted member of the group, Wakko, and that's heartbreaking to think about. So, while I gave it some thought, I can't do it. I can't rank this episode anywhere other than last. I hope to God that it stays there.

My current ranking of season 3 episodes:

Episode 6

Episode 3

Episode 7

Episode 4

Episode 2

Episode 1

Episode 5

Episode 8

Feel free to add to the never-ending discussion over this episode if you want, but don't say anything about any of the episodes that come after. They're all I have left to look forward to.

.

.

.

.

.

[clonebrainrot]

Season 1 episode 5 Rampage live reaction and review.

Omega continues to be adorable overall the episode gets an 8.2

Live reaction and thoughts below the cut

So another episode begins

Rampage

You know I didn’t realize how many of these episodes start with the Maurder in space

Boo cid mentioned!

Also what Jedi worked with Cid you think? Quinlan? My money is on Quinlan

You know I just kinda miss ord mantell

Hey it’s the two guys from the Ahsoka episodes

The bar music is great on the bad batch

Look it’s the lizard who would make a great pair of boots

Your cid. Your sharper than your comrades

Force sensitive clue number 4

Also Omega pointing at cid is so cute

You know her saying I have never had clone deserters come to me makes it seem like clone deserters aren’t the rarest thing ever. I would love to know of more than just slick and Cut Lawquane

Clearly the kid is the brains of the operation (yes she is a smarty)

Jesus Christ I hate cid. She sucks and I am not just saying because she betrays the batch she just sucks. Even this early on.

What’s a slave trader? Someone who sells people for credits. Oh like the fucking Kaminoans did to you? Why does no one but Slick ever bring this up

Lol the way Wrecker says Kuat. It just sounds so weird. Also I think this may be the one and only time we hear Kuat said on screen

The bad batch loves monsters. There are two in this episode

Ah there he is. Bib Fortuna you suck ass as well.

I love how Omega made her doll a women like her. She truly is a bad batcher

You know I really think there are ways you could do some interesting things with the Zygerrian empire. It’s too bad Star Wars hasn’t done anything with it.

I know I have said it before but Omega is just so small this season

It’s getting looser (so many dirty jokes can be made with this line)

Huh interesting wrecker says “we are the cavalry” in this episode. Must have been a common saying by him

The Zygerrians got the Russian accent, the Twi’lek’s the French, and the Neimodians that bloody horrible Japanese. Can Star Wars stop with the stereotypical accents?

Moochi!

I wasn’t sneaking I was unlocking is a great line

That’s there problem! We are getting out of here! (This line could apply to so many things)

Echo has some great lines in this episode.

This episode is the last time we ever hear Tech translate. This is the first of many lasts. I am making myself sad

A baby rancor almost does more damage than an adult one

Hunter catching the whip is just hot as hell. He’s into some BDSM stuff if that electricity doesn’t phase him

And Omega gets her bow!

Also I just realized Omega barely uses her comm outside this episode

Wrecker is a beast. He’s going toe to toe with a fucking rancor. Maybe a baby but a rancor non the less

Also despite this episode reinforcing the Zygerrians=slavers this episode does break the trend of the falleen being gangsters as the ones in this episode seem to be farmers

Also Omega riding Moochi is just to cute

And so the plot thickens

Also what does new to the scene like how new is Fennec at the point this is all happening.

lol she is literally blackmailing them from the get go. Also that ending was one of the most abrupt I have seen.

[theonethatyaks93]

Quick Animaniacs Review: Episode 84 (Original Show)

Hello Animaniacs community! To honor this amazing episode's 27th anniversary, I've decided to make a quick review showcasing my opinions on these segments from episode 84 of the OG show. I plan on doing this for more episodes in the future, so if you want to see more, let me know. Alright, let's get into the review.

What's In This Episode?: Episode 84 of Animaniacs was released on September 7th, 1996. It contained four segments featuring the Warners and Chicken Boo: "Cutie and the Beast", "Boo Happens", "Noel", and a cold ending, which is technically not a segment, but it's close enough. In my opinion, this episode is one of the last great hurrahs of this show, containing amazing animation by TMS, hilarious segments (some of the funniest in the show), and a consistent level of quality. Each segment brings something new to the table; the Warners bringing comedy, Chicken Boo offering some of his best work, the song portion being iconic, and the ending bit being laugh-out-loud funny. Overall, this is a very great episode that I'd recommend.

"Cutie and the Beast":

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Ms. Banana Folana!" This segment has some of the best moments of the season, and some of my favorite gags in the entire show. The opening bit with Dot messing up her lines is hysterical, with great voice acting. The fact that they repeat it so many times also makes it more funny. There are a ton of little jabs, innuendos, and meta jokes in these first few minutes alone. Dot swearing and it being bleeped out? Hilarious! It really just feels like the writers, animators, and voice actors were having a blast. The rest of this episode is solid as well. The fact that the beast is in fact the Tasmanian Devil makes for a great cameo from a Looney Tunes star. The jokes surrounding Taz from the Warners are funny and the songs are super catchy despite being short. The twist at the end where instead of Taz becoming a prince, he becomes a prince before Dot changes him back, is a nice subversion of the Disney story. I really enjoyed this segment, and when I first watching the opening, I laughed so hard I think my parents though something was wrong with me. Just a fantastic watch.

"Boo Happens":

I'll be honest, when I first watched the Chicken Boo segments back in 2020, they were my least favorite segments of all. I hated how repetitive they were, and I disliked the titular character especially. Now, a few years later, I don't hate these segments as much as others (i.e. Buttons and Mindy, Katie-Ka Boom, The Hip-Hippos), but they can still be bland. Luckily, this segment is one of the better Chicken Boo sketches. The setup is interesting, being a Forrest Gump parody and all, and the plot at least has a purpose. I like the narration and the allusions to the titular movie were amusing I can't praise it too much since it is a Chicken Boo segment and all, but out of the entire lot, this is one of the better segments featuring this giant chicken.

"Noel":

This is one of the musical highlights for the show in my opinion. It's an amazing piece that contains funny moments, great rhymes, and it definitely puts you in the holiday mood, though this was released many months before Christmas. The cleverness of the different rhymes and the substitutions for the word noel are so well done that it's shocking. The fact that the whole song just stems from a decent pun is frankly hilarious. I love how it's not only Yakko doing the song, as Wakko and Dot also join in. The animation is so charming and simple, but it works. It makes it feel like a Christmas song, while subverting expectations in that traditional Animaniacs way. This song definitely puts me in a good mood while also being really funny. It's not as good as songs like Yakko's World and There's Only One of You, but it stands on its own as a classic. If you want a Christmas melody from this show that will make you smile, or laugh, I recommend this 100%.

Cold Ending:

If there's a great beginning, a great ending will follow. And in terms of Animaniacs, this is by far the best ending to an episode in the franchise's history. Just an ending bit where the Warners wish us farewell, only for the cameras to keep rolling with the siblings making random remarks about different things, including the cast and crew. It seems simple, but it's so well done. This is where the voice acting and writing really stand out. I mean, you couldn't get a more perfect situation; Yakko, Wakko, and Dot picking on the crew who made the show, and even referencing their own voice actors is so hysterical, I was wheezing after first seeing this. The delivery of the lines is great, with the timing landing so well. They even still make pop culture references; can you get any better than this? It's a very meta portion of the episode, but that's the fun of it. These writers were paid to make the Warners talk about the people who worked on the show, and it, of course, went incredibly well. When the siblings finally realize the camera is still rolling and that their mics are still on, it's so humorous. This is a very tounge-and-cheek way of referencing the amazing talent behind Animaniacs and I couldn't be more happier this was how this episode and TMS's animation contributions ended. What a perfect way to wrap up one of this show's last great stands.

Conclusion:

While this episode was made in the Kids WB era of Animaniacs, it still managed to make an impact. Noel is still fondly remembered, "Cutie and the Beast" is named a highlight, and the cold ending is also acknowledged by many a fan. Though I never say Animaniacs got outright terrible, it did suffer from some failings in the writing department while other shows, mainly its spin-off series Pinky and The Brain flourished. This episode still proves that there were some decent writers working on the show, and I consider it to be one of the last outstanding things this show ever did. Not everything here is amazing, but there is enough great things here to justify my opinion on it. The team did an amazing job and the voice actors brought their a-game once again. I love this episode and I recommend it very highly. Well done Animaniacs team. Happy 27th Anniversary to these fantastic segments!

And that's it. I hope you guys enjoyed this new idea I had about reviewing Animaniacs segments. I plan on making two very big posts in the upcoming weeks, so I'm very excited about that. Stay tuned! Thank you everyone for reading and have a great day! Stay zany to the max!!!

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 24/02/2024 (Dua Lipa, Djo, Calvin Harris/Rag'n'Bone Man)

Guess we know who’s winning the Civil War - Beyoncé’s “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” usurps Vermont on the throne of the UK Singles Chart. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

It’s kind of calming to have a week where outside of some new entries, of which there are only a handful to begin with. So, as always, we start with the notable dropouts, which are songs exiting the UK Top 75 (what I cover) after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to a small selection of songs but some of which are pretty important. Sure, I guess we can say good riddance to “MY EYES” by Travis Scott (featuring uncredited vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Sampha) and “Body Moving”  by Eliza Rose and Calvin Harris without much fret, but we also see dropouts from the Barbie soundtrack with both “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa leaving, as well as Sam Fender’s “Seventeen Going Under” making yet another exit though I’m sure it’ll be back soon enough.

There isn’t much to speak of in our gains, either. The biggest story is probably our list of returns, since the new documentary, Bob Marley: One Love has people rediscovering the reggae legend’s catalogue. His greatest hits album is at #6 on the albums chart and two of his songs with the Wailers return to the top 75. Both songs peaked in 1980, with “Could You be Loved”, now at #51, peaking at #5 whilst Odyssey’s “Use it Up and Wear it Out” was #1 and “Three Little Birds”, now at #56, only peaking at #17, whilst “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police was #1. Marley would pass just one year after, of course, and it is pretty poetic to have his grandson in the top 10 right now, but just so this episode has some cool chart history trivia, how about we go through the several times these songs have charted? Different recordings of the two songs released in 1984 and 1985 peaked at #71 and #76 respectively. Joe Cocker’s cover of “Could You be Loved” peaked at #86 in 1997, and as far as I can find, no other covers of either song have charted, which kind of surprises me. After all, the latter was recently covered by Maroon 5, I figured they’d hitch a chart spot on name recognition but nope, not even a child singer Connie Talbot could do it in the talent show boom in the 2000s, so I guess Marley’s original really can’t be replaced.

As for the rest of our gains and returns, “Thank You (Not So Bad)” by way too many people who should know better is back at #73 and “Coal” by Dylan Gossett returns to #61. The gains include last week’s debuts, “Made for Me” by Muni Long and “Birds in the Sky” by NewEra at #48 and #44 respectively, “Lil Boo Thang” by the GOAT Paul Russell at #35 and, despite what the Official Charts Company would want you to believe, “Grey” by Yung Filly is at #33. There was an Aitch remix.

This week’s top 5 is actually pretty notable in terms of some shifting tides. We begin with ACR - search it up - striking Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” down to #5, and then one of a few big debuts with Dua Lipa at #4 with “Training Season”, followed by gains for some white dudes making big moves: “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #3 and “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone at #2, and finally, of course Queen Bey at the top. Now, we don’t have that wide of an array of new entries, or really, many at all, of which I’m pretty grateful for, so let’s zip through them.

New Entries

#66 - “Soaked” - Shy Smith

Produced by BeatBusta

Alright, I’ll bite… who the Hell is Shy Smith and why did they go with that… uncomfortable cover art? Well, this song is actually from 2021, and I assume through TikTok has gone viral, but this isn’t some indie artist as we typically see, this is a Canadian social media star, which makes this song seem a bit more like a joke. That’s a relief since despite being three years old, it sounds like Ciara made this in 2006 with the glassy synths, blocky Timbaland-esque production and squarrelling synth buzz, that is much more “in” now than it ever has been. Part of me understands completely therefore why this is charting now… but then another part of me doesn’t understand why this is charting at all. There’s really nothing to the stifled groove of the beat and it sounds like it actively strains Shy Smith to try having a personality. It’s so clearly going for semi-goofy seduction, but clawing actual intimacy out of this is as hard a job for me as it would have been for the vocal engineers, so I’m really not understanding this one.

#53 - “Whatever She Wants” - Bryson Tiller

Produced by TylianMTB

I always forget Bryson Tiller exists until he shows back up again, and I mean no offence by that as nothing has given me the impression that he’s not talented or a good person, but not a single song has clicked with me, despite having a lot of respect for his mostly singular lane and pioneering of the trap-soul sound. I can think of people who perhaps want to be Bryson Tiller, but I can’t figure out who Bryson Tiller wants to be other than, well, Bryson Tiller, and even if the music doesn’t resonate, I’m happy with that. Problem here is that he’s obviously trying to be Drake. He’s always been the easiest comparison to make with Tiller, but other than the more Detroit-influenced percussion, which really sounds like a typical trap rhythm with a Detroit choice of sounds more than anything, other than an elegant Orion Sum sample… this is just a Drake song. He goes for Drake flows, Drake melodies, even Drake’s uncomfortable whispery ad-libs. You could argue that the influence is mutual, but it is really difficult for me not to see a Drake fan taking the acapella, running it through a Drake voice AI and making something completely believable. Even the content is a slightly less embarrassing Drake riff, which just shows to me that he may be a unique singer, but not so much a rapper. Tylian’s beat is pretty good on this, I will admit, but I’m compelled by Mr. Tiller enough as a unique presence to care much about this. The train-like way the song keeps to an uptempo chug is actually pretty interesting though, it doesn’t feel like it ever wants to stop and take a breath, and Tiller does contribute to that, he’s not a total dud on his own song. He’s not really improving it either, though.

#19 - “Lovers in a Past Life” - Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man

Produced by Calvin Harris and watt

The petty part of me wants to say “2018 called” but this collaboration isn’t dated on arrival: Rag’n’Bone Man is another one of those artists I always forget about until they show up and I think this will just be a repeat of what I said about “Giant” all those years ago. He needs a rough layer of grit under him, not this flashy, sugary house track that he sticks out like a sore thumb over. Now it may not be dated on arrival but it is in execution: this is a tropical house song, and whilst Calvin Harris has always been good at mixing and making his stuff sound professional, this actually detracts from the character-void guitar and four-on-the-floor programming that all just feels rote. He even goes for an ATB-like guitar lick in the drop amidst the house pianos that just doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t dislike this - or at least not that much - I’m just confused by how either artist felt the need to make it, because it really does not work.

#11 - “End of Beginning” - Djo

Produced by Adam Thein and Djo

How do I even begin to pronounce that? Is he D-J-O, Duh-Joe, Joe, Sho? Oh, who am I kidding? It doesn’t matter, you know him as Joe Keery from Stranger Things. He was in a psychedelic band for a while but left and has solo work as a musician out now, with this taking from his second album and not actually released as a single, just a breakout solo hit. Is it good? Well, listen… I wish he knew he wanted Steve. The only buzz I had heard about this is that it sounded just like Mr. Lacy’s “Bad Habit” and well, I actively laughed when certain elements of the song came in because they hit nearly exactly the same way as in that song. This is most likely an influence and definitely not worth suing anyone over, but that’s primarily because neither song is any good. The lyrics are largely about his connection to his home city of Chicago as well as the acceleration of his acting career, making a point about how well, he’s still from Chicago! Whatever version you get of him, Chicago’s still in him. Yeah, it’s safe to say it doesn’t have the lyrical intricacies or at least, intriguing moments, that “Bad Habit” does, or even, and it pains me to say this, its sonic depth, so surely I should like this even less? Well, no. Djo Mama’s voice is a lot less pursuant and awkward than Steve Lacy, who also came up with some actual earworms that I respect but never want to hear again, whilst Djo here is just yapping over some synthpop. Which is fine. Have your fun. My opinion doesn’t matter at the end of the day. Just… maybe make acting a priority.

#4 - “Training Season” - Dua Lipa

Produced by Kevin Parker

I wish Dua found an interesting way to be good. This is a great, funky pop song, a worthwhile follow-up to “Houdini” with some excellent atmosphere mostly found in the dynamic mix that I’m sure Mr. Tame Impala had a lot of involvement with. It may not be a psychedelic song by nature, but there are transitory phases that absolutely show he was on the boards for. This feels like a sequel to “Houdini”, if that’s not already the intention, as Dua isn’t being the carefree love-them-and-leave-them anymore, she’s genuinely frustrated that she doesn’t have a more consistent and intimate relationship. She’s sick of being in control in these relationships - if they can be called such - and wants someone to go there, to actually mean something to her and put that effort in. Yet it doesn’t hit as much as I want it to… it may be the replacement of the rubbery bass from “Houdini” with a focus on soaring psychedelic synths and a guitar tone I’m not really big on in the chorus. Maybe it’s just that this funk-pop sound isn’t all that new and in that case, it’s impressive that Dua has made it this far without sounding boring.

Conclusion

With that said, she still obviously gets Best of the Week because good God, this was a mediocre set. Honourable and Dishonourable Mentions would be overly charitable probably, but I am going to give Bryson Tiller some benefit here, specifically because “Whatever She Wants” does have a decent instrumental, whilst Djo takes the Dishonourable Mention for “End of Beginning”, God, even the title is awkward. As for the worst, Shy Smith I think takes this handedly for “Soaked” but… will it even last a second week? I don’t know, it’s easily the least essential and least likely to last song that debuted. As for what’s on the horizon… I don’t know. Thank you for reading, rest in peace to Steve Wright and I’ll see you next week!