#Summer binge watching

[silverdrws]

protective dark haired powerful beings

and their hot headed friend(?) who have mommy and daddy issues

[tiredandoptimistic]

Not to make a post about the parallels between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural in the year of our lord 2025, but that's exactly what I'm about to do so strap in.

The similarities between Angel and Castiel's situations are kinda impossible to miss. Besides their biggest similarity (which I'll get to in a moment), both of them are introduced to the series as mysterious and morally questionable supporting characters who pop in and out giving advice before integrating into the main story and cast due to a close relationship with the protagonist. Clearer than any of that though is their shared curse: experience a moment of true happiness, and something terrible will happen. Angel will lose his soul and Castiel will get dragged to superhell. Luckily, both of them are immortal guilt machines who excel at repression, so it takes a while for either of those curses to activate. For Angel it happens after he and Buffy have sex in season two, and I think we all know the basics of Castiel's confession to Dean in season fifteen. What I think is so interesting is that both of them have "true happiness" triggered by an expression of romantic love, but they kinda fall on such opposite ends of the spectrum that they wrap around to being the same.

For Castiel, "happiness isn't in the having, it's in just being," and literally just telling Dean that he loves him is his definition of happiness, because he's letting go of his fears and repression and simply allowing himself to feel and express his affection. Additionally, he believes that through this confession and summoning the Empty he will be saving Dean's life, so he's happy that his love can protect others. Angel on the other hand gets his moment of happiness through the most traditional example of love being fulfilled. While it's easy to joke about sex turning him evil, I'd like to point out that he doesn't lose his soul mid sex or even directly afterwards; he wakes up in the middle of the night to dramatically turn evil in the rain. It wasn't just sex, it was the intimacy of having sex with someone he loves and falling asleep next to her. Either way, we get two apparently distinct triggers: romantic words and romantic actions.

The thing that I find so fascinating about Angel's situation in particular is that he is totally able to date Buffy and say he loves her and stuff. Before he loses his soul and after he gets it back they're openly a couple and he's not even subtle about how down bad he is for her. Looping back to Castiel, it's an almost direct parallel to his idea of the difference between "having" and "being" in regards to happiness. Angel doesn't get pure happiness from having a relationship with Buffy because even when they're together he isn't really letting himself be in the moment. They make a big deal in season three about how they can't have sex because it would risk triggering Angel's curse, but I genuinely think that he'd be too afraid of losing his soul to actually experience that simple happiness with her, even if they did have sex. Like I pointed out earlier, it's about emotional intimacy more than physical intimacy, and after learning exactly how much damage he can do without his soul, Angel will not let himself be fully emotionally intimate with anyone (even if his romantic relationship with Buffy is pretty good and healthy given the circumstances).

Castiel has seemingly been aware of his romantic feelings towards Dean for a long time, but he's so focused on keeping his emotions hidden that he wouldn't let himself feel any actual joy in regards to that relationship. He was clearly happy with Dean, but his feelings were always tempered with grief until he realized that genuinely expressing himself and his love could help rather than harm. While Angel got happiness from a moment of reciprocation, Castiel didn't need to hear Dean's response because he was happy just openly admitting his feelings.

I just think it's neat how in both cases it's not having a romantic relationship with their beloved that actually causes true happiness, it's emotional honesty with themselves and the people around them. The romantic words are important for Castiel opening up about his feelings towards Dean, and the romantic actions are important for Angel accepting Buffy's feelings towards him.

[godbirdart]

today is the first day in a very very long time that i woke up on one of my scheduled days off and didn't feel the Work Panic set in and it's... very surreal. things are quiet. i feel like i could actually read the books i bought months ago or work on the personal projects that got sidelined last year.

not going to elaborate more beyond "working a bit too much overtime and now a year's gone by somehow" but wow,,, maybe i will do an activity for me today ?? the possibilities ...

[charlottedabookworm]

turns out i'm doing this i guess

pjo/epic fic snippet below the cut

"Lady of the palace, sorry to ask this, but-"

"What did you just call me?"

Percy blinks. His brow furrows. "Lady of the palace?" He asks more than says and he was- he's trying to be more polite but he doesn't know where that had come from.

This place is a spa, not a palace, so why-?

C.C. looks at him, her head tilted in a way that looks so very familiar.

(Just like everything else here. Why is everything on this quest so familiar? Why is his heart racing and his palms sweaty and-)

"Who, me?" C.C. says very slowly.

Yes, you? he wants to say.

But she continues. "All I did was reveal their true forms."

What? Percy thinks. "You turned them into pigs," Percy says, his mouth moving before he can think.

What?

He blinks.

His stomach rolls, like he's hung over an edge, ready for freefall. Like he's standing on the deck of a ship, battered by a storm that rages with a fury he's never seen before.

The world is brighter. Like he's just remembered to take off sunglasses he isn't wearing.

"Kírkē?"

The goddess stares at him, paling, and there is pity in her eyes. It should make him angry; he's always hated being pitied.

It doesn't.

"Odysseus," she whispers.

[madelyn-cline]

okay so fuck outer banks

[clowningcrows]

would it be toxic of me to admit that i found a shirt at the thrift store that's nearly identical to dexter morgan's long sleeve green one and i bought it immediately

[autistic-katara]

Edit: if u think it’ll be split/come out weekly just pick whenever u think vol 1 or the first episode will come out :3

[party-lemon]

love when fictional men are nice and happy but, more importantly, when they're sad and pathetic

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

i have been very miserable ill in bed for the last few days and i just wanted to pop on here briefly to thank the lovely, lovely humans who’ve left me such kind and wonderful comments on four walls today - i truly can’t tell you how much they’ve cheered me up 🥹🫶

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

[theyilinglaozus]

I mentioned this briefly over on MDL yesterday, but since I'm back from my theatre trip I figured I'd say a little something about the Shōgun finale here too.

I've seen quite the divide in how people felt about the ending; some hated it whilst others, myself included, loved it.

I think one of the things that some people feel disappointed by is the fact we never got to see the battle of Sekigahara that the show was building up to. Yet the truth is that Shōgun was never going to show it, because in terms of the story the viewer didn't need to see the battle to know the outcome.

The story was always about Toranaga and the journey he takes towards becoming Shōgun. He is a master strategist, and has been playing the game of war from the very start, just silently and through methods of politics rather than by the sword. He uses every person to his advantage, moving them like pieces on a board for his endgame, even those who he is closest to. Sure, there are moments he likely doesn't account for - the death of his son and the appearance of Blackthorne, for instance - but like any strategist of his level he either adapts them into his plans, or finds a way to use the moment in his advantage. That's what strategists do.

We don't need to see the battle of Sekigahara, because by the end of the show Toranaga has already won. This is what he tries to tell Yabushige before his death. Toranaga's explanation here reminds me to the moment he's talking to his son, with this quote:

'Why is it that only those who have never fought in battle are so eager to be in one?'

War is inevitable, but Toranaga is trying to minimize the number of those who have to die because of it. After all, his goal is for a peaceful era for Japan.

Mariko's death was the final act of Crimson Sky. Her death shakes the foundations enough to cause action to happen, because her death should not have been allowed to happen. Ishido knows this, which is why he sends his ronin to capture, not kill. Mariko's death, while tragic, is the final nail that sparks change. Ochiba, mourning the death of her childhood friend, decides to tell Toranaga in secret not to send the Heir's army to aid Ishido in battle, meaning that without his banner Ishido's war is no longer a lawful one.

While Mariko's death is a tragic one, it is not a meaningless one. It does not feel cheap, and the finale episode allows the viewers to mourn with those who knew and loved or respected her. I thought this was quite beautifully done, as even though she wasn't present in the episode, her spirit was still there, so she was still very much there. Some of the cinematography beautifully alluded to this, especially in moments like when Blackthorne and Fuji are sitting together in silence, yet there's one seat left -- Mariko's. Blackthorne even says then, 'no translator', because once Mariko had been a bridge of communication and understanding between them.

Another thing which I see a lot of confusion upon is Blackthrone's flash-forward scenes -- did he ever return to England? The answer, in my opinion, is told in the finale episode too. No, he didn't. Toranaga tells Yabushige that Blackthorne will never leave Japan, and in the scenes with an older Blackthorne, we see he's holding Mariko's cross. Yet he drops it into the water, showing that he lets it go. The episode title is 'a dream of a dream', and that's what Blackthorne's flash-forwards are: dreams. Another life, another path - but not this one.

The characters of Shōgun are based on real-life people in history -- it's actually really fascinating, and I've been learning more and more about their real-life counterparts whilst following this gem of a show. If you're interested in learning more, look up names like Tokugawa Ieyasu, Miura Anjin (William Adams) and Hosokawa Gracia (Akechi Tama).

All in all, Shōgun to me leaned more into the political intrique side of war, which for some people will be fascinating, and for others, not so much. But this show has so many layers and so much hidden within it, I can see it being one that's analysed for years to come.

[reallyhailey]

I should have done a peach girl theme for my blog bc it’s summer :( but now that summers almost over idk what to do.

[nnnn99999]

Since summer night is ending soon, I decided that this is the perfect time to start watching mafia the series. Because I can't not have a constant injection of jd content in my life. I mean I could totally rewatch simm or ha, but since I am almost done watching a solo Dunk show, I kinda want to watch a solo Joong show now. I decided not to binge it so that I have something to keep me busy for a while. Life is stressful and I need something good to look forward to everyday. Anyway, this show is really good. Yes, I only watched ep 1. Yes, I am very confident that the whole series is good after watching only one ep. Because my do I have THOUGHTS!!!

First of all why oh why is this series so obscure? I doubt I would have known of its existence had I not been so jd obsessed. Or is it that the style of this show does not suit everyone? I'm just confused because I think it's great.

The cast so far seems to be great. I am so intrigued by everyone and how their characters are going to play out. They are so interesting. And all of them are so different, which makes the dynamics between them so much fun to watch. Particularly, I am very interested to see how the AnnaIntenso dynamics is going to play out. I love frenemies. Also I can already tell the characters have a lot of depth to them.

I love the style of this show. It is a mafia show, but it gives me more of a western + fantasy vibes. The opening scene was a fight between two mafia gangs, but because of the music and the way it was shot and edited, it felt more like an epic fantasy war. But it also gives me anime vibes for some reason. Anyway, I am loving the overall vibes so far.

Also I have to mention the choice of weapons for the main cast. It is interesting. This mafia show is giving me a sword, daggers(I have no idea what Intenso's weapon is actually called so I'm settling for daggers even though I clearly know those are not daggers. I don't want to accidentally spoil myself by researching so yeah) and a red gun. Awesome.

Fun fact about me nobody asked for: I am a huge fan of One Piece. I have a very strong emotional attachment to it. I will not even start on how much I love it and why. My overflowing love for One Piece is relevant because one of my favorite characters is Zoro. And Sven from this show reminds me of Zoro. It's not just because Sven is a swordsman, their fighting styles are very very different after all. It's because Sven is the cold, calm, loyal, strong protector like Zoro. If Sven turns out to be an idiot too, I will probably scream and terrify anyone who is unfortunate enough to be in the same house as me.

Moving on, the story seems really interesting so far. I have literally no idea where this is going to go since I jumped into this without knowing a single thing about it, apart from the fact that Joong is in it. But I am seated and ready for whatever this show decides to give me.

This next section is going to be me gushing over Joong basically.

So obviously I knew Joong is a really good actor. But I didn't know he was this good. The highlight of this ep, and maybe even the whole series, was Beam crying after finding out about his father's death. It was not the teardrops falling silently kind of crying I have seen Joong do before. No, it was the gut wrenching screaming ugly crying to the point you start to throw up because your world has fallen apart right in front of you. It was such a good scene. I felt every bit of Beam's pain and loss. I had no idea Joong could do that. Actually the scene at his father's funeral was done so well too. Joong was crying here too, but the feeling was completely different. Also I love that when Sven came to the funeral, Nut was the one who noticed and recognized him. Beam however was so distraught that he didn't notice Sven at all. Even the part where Beam gets lost in Baifern is so good. Like you can really tell that he is completely enraptured by her. Also the part where Beam looks at Baifern before getting into his father's car in front of the pub. So so good.

To summarize, Joong is a wonderful actor and I love him. This show is great.

Thanks to @airenyah for helping me find this show because if I was not going through your tags, I probably wouldn't have found out about the existence of this show until much later.

[erodingsinner]

It's just me and the shows I binge watch to keep myself from feeling anything against the world

[quieteclipse]

suddenly missing clare siobhan's sims, specifically micah and sammy

[humbuns]

i had friends recommend me anime/manga because they thought it fit my style so if anyone has anything to suggest, pls drop it here!!