#also this episode is loads more interesting than the previous one

[malepresentingleg]

there's absolutely no heterosexual explanation for this

[dododan]

Thoughts about Alastor after the episode "Hello, Rosie"

Perhaps first such a small summary for those who haven't read my previous posts about Alastor.

Alastor's deal with someone has worked out. Officially we don't know with whom, but my theory is that it is Lilith.

Alastor is obliged by the contract probably to help/protect Charlie. His intentions are not clear, and he harbours many secrets.

He is not fond of Lucifer. Theories are that he either sees him as a threat to Charlie's hotel and dreams, or he is redirecting negative emotions about his own father and how Lucifer treated Charlie onto him.

Alastor enjoys being in the company of women and probably likes/appreciates Charlie. Perhaps he sees himself as her mentor.

His help, although chaotic and initially incomprehensible seems to be having an effect and actually helping the hotel and Charlie.

Alastor has a weakness for jazz and alcohol, but we don't see him ever drinking alcohol in the series.

His enemy is Vox, but he is more annoyed by Lucifer (probably because he is stronger than him).

Alastor doesn't like to lose or be wrong.

Here you have a link to previous thoughts if you are curious.

Alastor’s true motivations? - Why is he helping Charlie?

Dad beat Dad - Alastor, what the hell are you doing?

Traditionally, there are loads of spoilers here!

From the outset, Alastor seems interested/intrigued by Charlie sitting in the room and spinning another plan. Clearly he saw an opportunity in. Charlie was alone, so he could talk to her in peace. A plan was already forming in his head.

On Instagram, one girl made a fair analysis of Alastor's facial expressions. What expression on his face signifies what emotion. Which proved to be very helpful in understanding him! Here you have ig: @/sasha_draws.bg She did a really great job! But back to Alastor.

When Alastor feels some negative emotion, lines/wrinkles appear under his eyes. Which is true when you pay attention to the previous episodes, but in this 'Hello, Rosie' it is particularly noticeable.

For most of the time in this episode, Alastor seemed concerned to me.

When Alastor was talking to Charlie I had the impression that he was provoking her. He made Charlie painfully aware of how badly her plans had failed, which seems cruel. Initially this could be understood as simply an opportunity to take advantage of Charlie and make a deal, but I think this is just an added benefit. Alastor is bound by his contract to the hotel and Charlie, so he can't leave her. But Alastor has besides made Charlie realise that she can't idly brood on the bed because she doesn't have that luxury. Her friends were waiting for a plan, they were waiting for Charlie.

Charlie gave up at that point, and Alastor made her realise that there was still a chance to make things right somehow. He exasperated her, and showed her that she couldn't give up - in a rather cruel way but still, it's not always kind words or words of support that help you up.

Sometimes the painful realisation of the truth is the best motivator to undertake change.

For a moment, Alastor seemed annoyed that Charlie thought she had him figured out because she smiles all the time. He made her realise that the opposite is true.

A smile can be a weapon on many fronts. You could say that he gave Charlie some cue about his own behaviour. His lecture about smiling shows a lot about him.

Alastor hides a lot - his emotions, motivations or goals. He revealed to Charlie that he himself puts on a mask. The smile gives Alastor a sense of control.

The question is, isn't Alastor also lying to himself in this way?

He is creating himself as a cruel overlord, a person without a conscience who inflicts suffering on others for fun. It makes me wonder if he hasn't started to believe himself in the character he wants to pretend to be?

Nevertheless, no matter how good Alastor's goals may be attributed to him, or that his actions have a good effect on the hotel and Charlie, he still made a deal with her. He was aware that Charlie would not give up her soul to him and would not do anything against herself. Their deal is that Charlie is to help him like friend to friend when he needs it without hurting anyone, and he will give her information. Quite a specific arrangement and very narrow. To me their deal is a bit of a lifeline for Alastor when he finds himself trapped by his own contract.

[As an aside, I've noticed that a lot of people think that the stitches appearing on Alastor's lips are a sign that he can't talk about his deal. I doubt this because of the design of his character. Alastor was shown at many points to be dealing with voodoo or somehow connected to it. This is indicated by the green symbols that appear when he uses his powers, and the stitching that appears on his mouth probably refers to the very design of the voodoo dolls, which also had their mouths stitched in this way. Ironically in my opinion, voodoo is generally good magic, focusing on healing or helping, which doesn't really fit Alastor. Unless one considers the distinction between white and black magic as it is known in New Orleans. But I also point out that I'm not an expert, but I'm just partly familiar with the subject of voodoo and just wanted to show a reference to Alastor's appearance here].

I think Alastor's worry or uncertainty is most evident when he leads Charlie to Rossie. You can see the look on his face and those wrinkles under his eyes. This could be interpreted as:

he's upset that the angels are about to exterminate in the hotel and the only person who can oppose it is preoccupied with his love problems rather than more important matters.

He is upset/worried that he realises he won't be able to help Charlie this time, so he leads her to the only person who is more knowledgeable about love than him: Rossie.

He is nervous because he sees that he might fail if the hotel is destroyed, and that this might somehow breach his contract.

Alastor and Rossie seem to have a very intimate relationship, which was implied in the episode " Scrambled Eggs" when they were at the Overlords meeting. Now we have confirmation that they are very close friends. Rossie can afford a lot in Alastor's company and he allows her to do so. It also seemed to me that when he met Rossie he relaxed a bit, as the wrinkles under his eyes disappeared for a few scenes.

All in all, I'm not surprised that Alastor and Rossie are friends.

Rossie is the opposite of Alastor in a way. She seems transparent in her feelings and genuinely cares about her cannibals. But she also has the strength and power to allow herself to do so. Alastor, on the other hand, plays and hides emotions all the time, and gains power through fear. Despite this, he gets along very well with Rossie, which may mean he's not quite what he makes himself out to be.

I also think that Rossie's words about it being actions that show true nature and feelings may apply to Alastor and his role in season two in the future. But we can already see this now, for example, in the fact that his duet with Lucifer, where Alastor sang that he wanted to replace Charlie's father, ultimately led to a reconciliation between daughter and father which Alastor seemed to be happy with.

We also have it made clear that Alastor is asexual.

Rossie commented that Alastor could learn manners from Charlie. It is possible that what is meant is that when someone annoys Alastor, he does not mince his words. He makes his opinion clear - Susan is a perfect example of this.

Alastor and Rossie really seem close to each other, such as when they look at each other when Charlie panics, or how they dance with each other or their negativity towards Susan. Additionally, Alastor must have had a close business relationship with Rossie since she had an assignment for him and when she said that he never let her down. I got the impression that this gave him considerable satisfaction. Plus it helped the image he wanted to create for Charlie - that he was reliable.

Alastor also seems to put his faith in Charlie after all. Rather than believing in her plan of salvation for sinners, he believes more in the girl's ability to draw crowds and motivate people to action other than through fear or deals. It is hard to say whether he admires this trait of Charlie's, but he certainly appreciates her for it.

Alastor supported Charlie during her song when she had to convince the cannibals to fight - either by giving her the microphone or showing her a thumbs up. I further related that he was slightly worried/nervous, but also pleased after seeing his actions bear fruit.

Alastor also made it clear to Rossie that he valued Charlie and expected nothing less from her than to thrill the crowds. But the important thing is that he referred to her as the Princess of Hell, not Charlie. Alastor has made it clear for the first time that he wants to fulfil Charlie's potential, this shows that despite the faith he has in her, he still only sees her as the Princess of Hell and not Charlie as someone who is more than just a princess.

A break for now, as it's quite late at my place, so expect the rest of the analysis tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the furthest.

[fairestbeard]

Did Richie jinx Sydcarmy?

(This is not an attack on Richie, just an attempt to understand his mind space regarding Sydcarmy at the time)

This scene has been playing in my mind for quite some time now and I've been wondering what part (if any) Richie played in the conflict between Carmy and Sydney. Was he just a passerby/observer in this or did he actively participate in the separation of sydcarmy?

In my last meta, I talked about how Claire's call spooked Carmy because he couldn't reconcile his intentions/desires with reality and that's why he blew off the food tour with Sydney. However, I don't think it stopped there. There's a chance that Richie may have further spooked him and contributed to breaking whatever remaining resolve Carmy may have had to still try to make things work with Syd (maybe intentionally, maybe not).

One thing we observed in season 1 is that Richie would lash out for any scrap of control when he's feeling powerless. We saw him go head to head with Syd when he felt she was influencing too much of a change in "review", leading to the ever infamous Syd/Richie fight scene.

Now we see him witness Carmy giving Syd all that controlling power in season 2 as well, even more than season 1. He's witnessed her rise to an unofficial partner of the beef, being able to raise dust when anything significant goes on without her knowledge, while he's literally unable to define his own purpose. Clocking them and making a petty signal about it as a mini lashing out is very on par for pre-transformation Richie.

One thing about The Bear is they would leave gaping plot holes, like a fill-in-the-blank-spaces kind of thing, so viewers can make up their own version of stories and interpretations. They never show what happened with Carmy running that errand for Claire but following that was Carmy being the most almost overtly romantic he had been with Syd yet, when she surprises him at The Bear later as the wall is being taken down- a scene that all fan edits never do without.

Maybe he was feeling guilty about blowing her off, but I think he was more trying to get back to the closeness they had experienced in the apartment. The way he touches her, kicks debris out of the way for her, patiently tries to understand her gripe with the recent renovations and work out their differences to a mature and logical conclusion screams "I know I veered from the path and I'm trying to get back" in the most Carmy way. But then, he completely backs off from Syd after Richie made it known he had clocked them.

Richie's main focus is the success of The he Bear. He has nowhere else to go.

Unlike the rest of them, he really has nowhere else to go. The Beef/Bear is it as at that point. Everyone else has other prospects, from Carmy even down to Neil Fak- they can pivot. He, of all people, is, in my opinion, the most desperate to have The Bear succeed and I can imagine him thinking about the possibility of a silly romance sinking or stalling its progress. He is already aware how important Syd is to that project and also how problematic Carmy is. He most probably also wanted to protect them from each other and the project from them. Even in season 1, when he was majorly wilding out, it was still in the interest of keeping The Beef afloat and running.

"It's a delicate fucking ecosystem"

I wonder if he verbally said something to Carmy after that scene. Maybe voiced his concern or gave a warning. Maybe he even just confronted Carmy about his observation in his usual jokey manner, causing Carmy to do what he does the best- "running away". Richie also clocks his next move, running to Claire and that statement Richie made to Carmy when he brings her to the restaurant is all kinds of loaded.

"Mold is the death knell"

Now, all of this things I have talked about have been more practical and doesn't equate to jinxing in the real context, so I will refer to my previous meta about the episode Pasta and the use of the magical in The Bear.

Richie is the one who ends up spoiling "the magic" in a symbolic sense when the mold (death knell) is unloaded on him, the spell master, supervisor, etc. He was the one to signify the doom to come to Sydney and Carmy's relationship. So by butting himself into their affairs in any capacity, whether with good intentions or not, maybe he put the final nail in the coffin?

All these kind of makes Carmy's unhinged outburst to Richie seem a lot less surprising (not saying that Carmy was right but that it doesn't seem as left field is you consider that Carmy partially blamed him- which Carmy is known to do, blame others). That would be why he was so triggered to unload that much unhinged vitriol at Richie, especially with Richie saying he couldn't let something good happen for once in his life.

The incredulous look Carmy gives seemed like saying no, YOU wouldn't let something good happen for once in my life, you had to ruin it like my family always does. Because even when Richie calls him Donna he was mad but didn't totally lose it until Richie made that statement. Also their conversation in season 1 about Richie only bringing bad news and Carmy afraid of good things happening seems very congruent to the leading events and to this scene.

Is Richie against sydcarmy? I would guess that with him being pleased about Carmy moving forward with Claire and with the way he was so hard on her side- encouraging Carmy to go out to her during F&F and chewing Carmy when things didn't go well- he actually was, at least initially. But I don't think it was for malicious reasons. I think he just wanted to protect The Bear and maybe Syd and Carmy from what he probably guessed would be a disaster for several reasons (one important one I'll talk about later).

So, yes, I think Richie jinxed sydcarmy.

NB: I didn't intend to post this right now but it accidentally posted, so I have to do all this rushed edit and update.

[high-qualitymoron]

Deep Space Discounts trailer breakdown? i guess?

In celebration of episode 1 releasing next week! (can you believe it guys? dsd, just a week away! /reference) it’s really just my thoughts on stuff in order it appears. but there are quite a few thoughts so Long Post Warning!!

‘congratulations!’ from previous video, 'deepblueink gets blackmailed.' idk how i didnt notice that sooner lol

I assumed deedee's head was a robot head and they're a robot, but i also noticed that it has what seems like an opening around the neck, so it might be a helmet of some sort. idk

INCARCERATION ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM in all caps, obviously significant. i also have the thought that what if this is in universe. because i think it'd be funny

the scribbly thought bubble. deepblueink moment

deedee looks at camera when thought bubble says deep space discounts. idk if that’s important or anything but i noticed it!

Deedee is so suspicious. they are most definitely evil. However. they are also wearing a uniform. different than the others but still with the glowing armband which i assume is significant. So like, maybe they just work here too and have weird vibes?

walking scene. they all have different walks which show their personalities well and. augh i love the animation dbi did so good

shoutout to gub's arms moving more smoothly/wiggly-ly (??? in a wiggling manner) instead of normally like everyone else. because slime man

multiple shots of immy being stressed and doing weird stuff. idk what to say about this

another shot of the team walking, this time dancing! again, they all do it differently, with much personality! (except immy who is just walking normally/stressed)

but also where is clayre in the dance scene. i’m worried about them. and also who is this robot guy???

shots of characters doing stuff

clayre throws some guy across the room (good for them), gub is on drugs i think??, vee gets some sort of message from deedee and is sad after, and immy looks into space

voice actor reveals! if only i knew voice actors lol. anyway im going over all of them with the note 'its interesting that this is what they those to define the character'

immy is holding some kinda critter i think? we'll see them again later. vee is also there

vee is in... bed? to me it looks like they're lying down in bed with how they grip the thing in front of them, but its probably not. idk what it is

deedee talking to camera. guy (mannequin?) in front of deedee has 'i <3 dsd' shirt on. probably something they sell?

honestly idk what kip is doing. some weird hand motion

gub looks like they're whining about being told to do something. based on surroundings probably cleaning the bathrooms?

clayre is about to throw something again i think. they like to do that it seems

i was saying that deedee has a uniform and armband so i think they're less suspicious. yknow who doesn’t have a uniform or (visible) armband? xancis. they are also no where else in the trailer, and all they do is turn towards the camera. even more obviously evil than deedee

immy holding the weird creature-thing again. it moves a bit and others in the background have reactions. clayre and vee look pretty happy, but kip and gub seem upset

another walking loop, not on screen long enough for me to tell if it's the same one, and deedee winks at the camera

the end!

thanks for reading so much, and also sorry. my phone wasn't loading anything else one day and a whole class period with nothing to do but watch this on loop may have driven me a bit insane (positive). also um does anyone know these character's pronouns. do we have that officially anywhere? because i dont want to assume

[zhuoyichenpretty]

Ep 26 Commentary

Alrightyy I've mustered up what's left of my brain for a belated ep 26 commentary post. IRL responsibilities are getting a bit away from me so I wasn't able to spend as much time on this as usual; apologies if the haste shows through! Consider this more reaction than meta.

As always, spoilers under the cut:

A carry-over comment, but I really do appreciate the Li Lun/ZYC scene in ep 25 for how it solidified ZYC's resolve and reminded him of where his heart is, what he believes in, what he chooses to defend. Such a load-bearing and pivotal conversation for both characters in opposite directions of development. It also makes ZYC's return to the Bureau triumphant in a way, despite all the preceding trauma, despair, and hopelessness. WX embraces him in relief that he's safe and in comfort for what they've all just been through, and for us, it's doubly meaningful as a sort of homecoming after a confrontation that only we have witnessed. It's also interesting, the cutaway as they hug, the things we have been made privy to and the things that are kept private from us.

Ouuughh the lines voiced over as ZYZ and ZYC meet eyes for the first time since all that transpired in Tianxiang Pavilion. It gives such a deep sense of wordless understanding and intimacy. I'm reminded of when the show did that for Ranyi and Miss Qi's final lines.

As I mentioned previously, a lot of subtext became text in this episode, which was quite exciting (and also extremely adorable the way ZYC was like "I think I've said too much" /// afterwards). I didn't expect ZYC to convey his understanding of ZYZ to him so soon, but that really goes back to something I love about ZYC: that he doesn't really waste time expressing something once he's come to an emotional conclusion. Maybe there's something to be said there about how he knows, after the loss of his family, how important it is to say the words when you have them to the people in front of you while they're still here.

If ZYC's words and his tears offered to a catatonic ZYZ in ep 23 were an expression of star-crossed and conflicted love, this parallel scene is just an utterly unrestrained confession, the stars be damned.

Also, tbh I never found ZYC's reactions to ZYZ to be unfounded or unreasonable, even when misguided in the beginning (and necessarily so, given the narrative and premise) or at times harsh (which I also found much-needed for ZYZ to hear, and delivered with obvious sympathetic anguish). He was clearly reflecting and actively revising his own preconceived notions this entire time, feeling for ZYZ the whole way through, and I do think he's demonstrated realistically and impressively the full extent of empathy perhaps as far as it can possibly stretch without personally experiencing ZYZ's life himself and while still living and feeling for his own. But to see ZYC so ready to address his previous flaws, to admit them and correct them, to go beyond them and to reach out so plainly for ZYZ in front of him now that he has that personal experience—the relationship between them has transcended the initial set-up of two opposing characters meeting in the middle. The show has gone that extra step and made their perspectives one. And given that I didn't personally find that step to be narratively necessary, so to say, (as in, even without it there's not truly a narrative obstacle because I already believed ZYC loves ZYZ despite everything and we've already seen the lengths he'll go to not to kill ZYZ), it feels like a choice in every definition of the word. Like a development motivated by love all the way down.

WX gets the least traumatic cloak-draping scenes out of the three of them, thank god.

Oh shit I forgot about fixing the Wilderness I'm so glad they didn't lmao.

Ahhh the crossroads moment at a literal (kind of) crossroads right before entering the Bingyi Clan's forbidden area. ZYC suddenly wanting to go alone or back out, stuck weighing the danger to everyone's lives, who they can and can't save depending on his choices. It makes me think of what happens when we let intense love in and it comes with intense fear, makes us freeze up. Suddenly, the stakes are in sharp relief, and the courage to move forward isn't so simple anymore.

"修好了，你也別死" ("Once it's fixed, don't die either.") Head in hands. ZYC's voice here, his expression, that desperation. Yeah I think this episode was so draining because of how all pretense is being stripped away and all that's left is ZYC's profound love for everyone, so raw and vulnerable that it hurts to watch, especially knowing he won't have it easy trying to keep everyone alive.

Kind of love how freely ZYC cries and says the vulnerable things in front of all his loved ones. Like. That's truly his family, his people, his heart.

ZYZ please. Imagine ZYC's grief without you. Please just stay.

Yay 12 seconds of angst-free bickering right before (as someone else called it) the trolley problem

Ok so, I'm not sure how common this interpretation/reading of the following scene is, but it's been rattling around in my head for a while now so I'm just gonna include it here. If y'all disagree, pls disregard! Basically, when ZYC first turned to PSJ and thanked her, I was terrified for a moment that he would ask her to stay. Because on one hand, ZYC would never, but on the other hand, imo there's a lot of (I think deliberate) ambiguity baked into the scene. In ZYC turning to PSJ right after we're told "one of your friends or all three of them," in him starting the series of goodbyes with the character he has the least onscreen development with, in the finality of what he says to her but also the lack of clarity on just who this is final for, in PSJ's expression and WX's reaction, in the dramatic turning away at the end. Like, until he turns away from her, I think there's room for interpretation on what he's decided to do, and as someone who's grown quite surprisingly invested in the ZYC-PSJ dynamic, I'm kind of morbidly interested in this reading of events.

What might be going through PSJ's head at ZYC's words, if at this moment she hasn't yet realized his self-sacrificial intent? Does she think she's going to be asked to stay? Does she assess the situation, conclude that she's the person ZYC is least close to and perhaps the one least able to contribute in whatever comes next as the only human here, and begin resigning herself to this outcome? Are the tears in her eyes the sole indication of her conflicted unwillingness to die here that makes it through because as he's talking, she's evaluated that this is the best possible scenario for them all (esp for WX) and will commit herself to his decision even if it also breaks her heart to be chosen this way?

I may be taking this and running a bit far with it, but I just think the ambiguity of this one brief moment can create such angsty implications between the lines (as if we needed more angst...) and despite their scarce onscreen interactions, I'm kind of a sucker for the "extremely noble (to the point of tragedy) knight choosing to acknowledge and follow and dedicate their silent loyalty to a leader they deeply respect" dynamic, even if it is understated with all the other relationships going on in this show. Given how reticent PSJ is, it makes a meaningful impact on me every time she displays concern for ZYC, so you know it crushed me to watch her desperately and irrationally (the most pragmatic of them all!) try to shoot at him with her arrows while knowing there's no way it'd work. The way she was the first to act, the sound of nothing but the ice and the stretch of the bowstring. I really do love their platonic bond much more than I expected to.

Oof. The freezing. I don't want to sound like a broken record but I loved TJR's acting here because I think it's so easy for this scene to look awkward as he's stuck facing forward and pretending to freeze haha. His microexpressions as he realizes ZYZ is behind him, as he tries to chase him away with his words, as he's probably burning from the inside out with all that ice. That last tear as his gaze turns hollow. A+

I also love ZYZ's lines about not believing he can't overcome ZYC's powers like yeah this is a newborn demon with no inner core and ice powers that he taught him lmao

Okay, that's a wrap for my thoughts on this ep! I was originally going to include ep 27 reactions here too, but seeing as this is getting a little long, maybe I'll roll 27 into my thoughts on ep 28? We shall see!

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 16 Thoughts: Aave Maria

This was an interesting one. I don't think I loved it but I do think there is a surprising amount to dig into. I also think this is showing more of the form of TMP. A bigger focus on a rogue's gallery and unlike TMA is more more in the thick of it to start with. We're not piecing together an unseen world, we're in the world and getting our bearings.

Spoilers for episode 16 below the cut.

It's really great to see some immediate follow up on Alice's run in with Drowning Victim. I was a little worried it'd be something she pushes down and ignores like everything else in the job. Because she didn't I think there might be a change in her perspective. Previous she's been very uninvested in the specifics of the cases and now she's basically been in one I do wonder if it'll effect her work. We definitely saw more of a reaction from her from this incident than we've ever seen before. So I'm wondering where that will lead her. I'll also be interested to see how this ties back into the Institute. The Drowning Victim is obviously connected but it makes me think Connor Dyer (found in CHBD, see master sheet below) might not be her dead name. I wasn't a fan of the idea of both main protagonists having the same backstory but the way she alluded to the death of her parents here makes me think the Institute might have had something to do with it. Not that I think she knows that but that the narrative placement of it might be laying the groundwork for that connection to be revealed.

For the incident itself I don't have a load to get into I don't think. I thought it was pretty effective in showing Madame E to be kind of a tool but then giving us more and more reason to be sympathetic towards them. Ink5oul's first voiced appearance was remarkably understated too. I was expecting them to feature more here but I think I'm glad they didn't. As I mentioned there is more of a rouge's gallery here and with a couple of really loud characters already it's quite nice to see one more understated than that. They've got a bit of an M.O. forming here too. Part ironic "punishment", part graverobbing plagiarist. DIG. Which does lead me to wonder about how they'll end up kicking the bucket. It feels like a set up waiting for a punchline. The way they give the "clients" what they're after in a twisted sense has a lot of room for interesting stories so I'm interesting to see where that goes. It's also interesting just how similar this was to Daria's incident. Very similar incidents overall but to different ends. What I think is a more interesting concept in those is how it totally differs from the tattoo that showed up in Marked. The tattoo in both of Ink5oul's works have been afflictions on the tattooed but Marked's tattoo was something that affected those that viewed it. Whether that's a consequence of they're plagiarism or a different "school" of tattoo technique remains to be seen.

Also fun fact: from.vision.ruled really is a location in Highgate Cemetery. There is a map app called what3words that is a grid of 3 metre squares over the globe and then each square gets a three word code. It's so you can give a more precise location than something like an address or broad location. So in this case you don't need to say "Meet me outside the Circle of Lebanon in Highgate East" you can say "Meet me at from.vision.ruled" and get a more accurate location. It's great if you want to meet people where there isn't much or any signage, point people towards the entrances to places when it's not obvious from a address, and stuff like that.

Post-incident was really great too. It's lovely to see Lena be so clearly angry and lose her typical collected nature. Not only because it shows she's got range but because it really hammers home just how scary a character like Lady M. is going to be. Gwen not taking her shit for it is also great. I think bringing Lady M. to the OIAR as a power play was pushing it hard but I also think Lena treats Gwen like shit and needs a lesson or two as well. This power struggle they've got going is always captivating to see and I can't wait to see more of it.

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Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet (Now with terminology/theory cheat sheet)

DPHW Theory: 1565 is about where I was expecting this would end up. 1 in Death in an episode where someone died already seems to be a sticking point for people. I personally don't understand that particular framing. Every Power in TMA had a massive body count but only one of them was the Power about death, and not all of them focused on stuff that'd outright kill you. So while a person did die this episode it's not an episode about Death as a concept/theme/subject.

CAT# Theory: CAT1 is very interesting given how the other tattoos have been placed thus far. But I'm going to leave that for the time being. I've got an essay in the works about the current more common CAT# theory. Should be out over the weekend.

R# Theory: B seems about right for this. It's weird and publicised but, ostensibly, medically explainable. So it happened and we can agree it happened but it's just an unfortunate illness in the eyes of most.

Header talk: Tattoo (Influencer) -/- Cardiac is interesting in the same way the CAT# is so I'll leave some of that for later. What I do want to talk about in that subsection. Influencer as a subsection is intriguing because it's very unlike Smirke's methodology. That was fairly rigid but Influencer in this context is such a modern term that it implies this methodology is reacting to how things change and express more rapidly, or it's not as old as I think has been implied so far.

[thecoolerliauditore]

I really liked this gimmick. Wasn't intensely intrusive like the snails wasn't boring like the tick speed. Watched Scar's ep here are my highlights:

It's funny seeing people treat a red name killing a dark green teammate to gain a life as ridiculous and unthinkable given how often Scott does it

Scarian fans we're so back

So fucking funny watching Jimmy kill and attempt to kill Joel repeatedly and yet Bamily is still going strong and their alliance has never faltered

SCAR'S FIRST TRIVIA QUESTION WAS WHO DID YOUR MAN CHEAT ON YOU WITH 😭

Jimmy's not first out again and I doubt he'll die next episode either, they've been doing good :D

He IS being a little shit to Grian. Good for him but please don't make him even more pissed than he already is 😭

SCARPEARL CRUMBS. Scar seems on good terms with Pearl, he just doesn't want her to kill his alliance. He's very friendly with everyone actually

The question "What did Scar and Pearl use to hurt their soulmates" and Scott staying silent and Scar and Pearl looking into each other's eyes.....

JIMMY WANTED TO KILL SCOTT

but he seemed like hesitant about it. in my brain because he was giving in and asking for a life maybe? While meanwhile Scar was talking his ear off about murder strategies and Jimmy was saying he didn't think Scar could help...

This whole session was a load of previous season nostalgia bait and I got baited. I love it. I love Grian telling Scar that BigB treated him right. Scarian fans it's so over we're so back it's so over we're so back

I actually really liked the time changing mechanic mainly cus I'm a gimmick hater 😔 it hit the sweet spot for me between gimmicky enough to have funny unforseen consequences (like with lava and the looney tunes lookin fight sequences) and simple enough to not feel disruptive.

I did like this gimmick tho I thought it was fun albeit a bit.. extra.? It was really fun to watch and interesting to find out what people do and don't remember -- I was really taken aback by how much Bdubs remembered, for example, or how Joel remembered a very specific line from Cleo in LL but couldn't remember Skizzs red skin in LimL.

But at other times it felt like some of the questions could've been better worded, like the zombie pool party question Scar got. And the mechanic as a whole felt more like an extra on-top of gameplay than anything that really melded into the session. But again this is all from me being a hater of gimmicks in general lol and this is absolutely one of the more mood-killer/pandering ones.

And yeah, Lizzie's refusal this episode and Ethos last episode really paint a picture of how. Unique Scott is in his insistence on his suicidal tendencies. Mind you Lizzie wasn't there for LimL where this was more expected due to the mechanic so it's probably even more unthinkable to her than the others. That combined with Scott admitting he doesn't want to die is... Sighs. My son.

sometimes I wish I had the crazy scarian phase that everyone other than me seems to have gone through because scarian is really. Really awesome and I think they deserve their hype. I would say this season emphasizes that but really every season emphasizes that.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO MAKE OF JOEL AND JIMMY MAN. Jimmy HAS become the world's worst toxic ex boyfriend to Joel and Joel just doesn't. Give a fuck? My brain is confused. I need to figure out whether this is silly or angsty or mayhaps both.

"bigb treated me right" grian should go to jail for this

jimmys the only one on red by the end of this episode which has me scared but I still believe in him.. :'D he has managed to piss. Literally everyone off though which is unfortunate.

YESSS I WASNT THE ONLY ONE WHO SAW THE SCARPEARL CRUMBS. The way they keep silently empathizing and supporting eachother and orbiting it's so good.

And YES JIMMY GO GO GO KILL 💥💥 Jimmy's desperation to kill Scott is. So telling of not only his growing resentment but also of his naivete. Accentuated especially by that last episode where everyone from Etho to Skizz pointed out that Scott wasn't an easy target for a variety of reasons.

I'm sad that he no longer really has a reason to go after him (the disappointment in his voice when he realised he turned light green lmao) but I'm proud of Jimmy I'm always proud of Jimmy. I think he could kill him I really think he could.

[feelingpure]

Fellow Travelers | The Orange Elephant in the Room

Alright, let's talk about it.

For those who've watched the available episodes of FT so far; I'm sure we've all noticed the citrus haze they all seem to be living in.

Especially if you've attempted to edit/GIF any portion of it. The struggle is real and I'm sure has inspired many colouring dilemmas.

And we're all asking "WHY?!".

Now, I'm writing this having not looked up anything about it. So I dunno if anyone responsible has made a formal confession.

One of my initial thoughts around it was; okay... so is this just a 1950s thing? But after watching (and rewatching) episode 2, I feel like it's part of the story in a different way; It's clearly a stylistic choice, yes (I should hope that doesn't just happen by accident). But it also seems to double as a narrative choice.

Putting the rest, with image examples, under a cut because it's kinda long.

Warm vs Cool

The conclusion I've come to is pretty simply, one that we've seen used across media in a lot of movies and shows. Warm tones used to colour scenes that are meant to literally be 'warm'; a loving environment or somewhere where the character(s) feel like they can be themselves. Cool tones used for scenes where it's quite the opposite; a cold hostile environment where the character(s) does not feel welcome. Gradients in between for all the neutral/'greyarea' spaces.

Consider

Cool/neutral outdoor bench scene (with park spies around):

Maybe it's an indoor/outdoor thing? No...

Indoors (even with the mandatory orange lamps nearby) they stay pretty neutral:

Night time/day time thing? No...

Night time vs day time in Tim's apartment:

Compare it to day time neutral alone Tim in the same room before. The difference is that he's with Hawk, out of sight of any would be naysayers.

So yeah, while I am mad about the colouring for giffing needs, I do think what they're doing is pretty neat, and the POC in the show look glorious in the warm tones.

The warm/cool motif is dialled up even more in episode 2, with the contrast of Mary's warm welcoming party and Hawk's cold af family gathering (even though they still have the orange lamps/sconces around, they add nothing to the warmth):

🥺 Ugh, Tim at Mary's party. Might be my favourite part of the episode, alongside the kissing n spooning. Anyway...

The transition of Mary from the same living room where she hosted that party, to the kitchen they were just questioned in:

That transition made me start paying more attention and go back to rewatch previous scenes just for colour themes.

Interestingly Hawk's apartment seems to live in this neutral/warmish space. It was more warm earlier in the episode, especially when they were in the bedroom the morning Tim left his glasses. But in general it's a lot less warm than Tim's apartment when compared; still their skin glows with a hint of tangerine:

Of course, not only the lighting/colouring but their outfit choices say a lot. Tim is usually in the warm browns with his dress, while Hawk pretty much sticks to black, white, grey (hints of a cool toned blues and reds in his ties). This coupled with the differences in their own living space probably reflects a lot about the character and how 'welcoming' they are to others. Idk... or I could just be thinking too much about it.

This is another really interesting transition in episode 2. As Hawk hangs up the phone in that cool toned side room, opens the door to the main room of a gay bar, the warm tones literally seem to absorb him in. Which makes sense, this is obviously a gay friendly place in San Francisco. He doesn't have to try to hide any part of himself, like he probably was still trying to do on that voicemail to Lucy just before.

Now, I could go through and screenshot a load more examples (some scenes with Lucy are interesting, and that lounge/club), but you probably get the gist, you see the pattern. If not before, on your next watch, you'll certainly see it.

This has got longer than intended; I'd be surprised if anyone got this far, I did NOT fully organise my thoughts before I started this, I just began rambling and I feel like it could've been more organised and laid out better. But if you have thoughts about the colouring, I'd really like to see those too. 🤗

[hypexion]

Dot and Bubble turned out to be much more than what the trailer offered, yet still I will post my list of words next to dots.

First up, in spite of it all, the episode is not escaping the "social media bad" allegations. More on that later

The core concept of the Doctor having to remotely guide someone out of a situation is excellent. Very Blink, but in real-time

The idea of being surrounded by a danger you're unaware of until someone reveals it is also pretty rad. And slightly terrifying

Like the scene where Lindy de-bubbles outside and loads of people are being eaten is messed up

Sadly I think it goes a little too far in having Lindy being unable to walk in a straight line without the bubble. I'm pretty sure that's not even how walking works

You could force the re-bubbling just by making it so she doesn't know the way out of the building. Then in the Plaza 55 scene just have her freak out and freeze because she's surrounded by scary monsters

The problem is that suddenly Lindy is capable of basic motor skills after a few minutes anyway so what was even the point

Also the Dots wanting to kill everyone felt kind of stupid to me for complex meta reasons. Social media might not have your best interests in mind, but the way it which it does so is not homicidal. It in fact needs you alive

The first big twist was pretty brutal. Surprise! The perky idiot was in fact evil!

This actually also clashes with Lindy previously being incapable of all thought since her plan requires fairly decent critical thinking skills to combine several pieces of information and to predict how revealing Ricky September's previous name might save her

This theoretically serves as the final hint of the other twist unless you already worked it out: The Finetimers are all racist. So much so that they walk off into the wilderness to die horribly

wow Ncuti Gatwa puts his all into that Doctor Speech

but there's a but

While it is good that the topic was not avoided, flattening all racist down into a vauge "wow look at those stupid racists" is not an amazing way to handle it?

There are smart bigots of all kinds and they are often the most dangerous ones

It also sort of glosses over how exactly Finetime is benefitting from whatever inequitable society they have

The audience reaction here is also not particularly inspiring here even on the things that aren't Fridge Horror

Some people are saying "woah the Finetimers didn't deserve to be saved" which is essentially not just missing the text of this episode but the entirety of Doctor Who. The Doctor's ethos is that everyone deserves to be saved. If the Daleks get mercy so does everyone else

Also what's going in this episode is genocide

And it gets worse. The episode shows us a very specific slice of the Finetimer's culture. They are directly stated to be the children of the rich upperclass.

The concept of a rich privileged elite only makes sense if the is an underclass from which the elite are distinct

Lindy is reflexively dismissive of the Doctor, and acts as if he should be obligated to help her, but she isn't surpised to see him. So whatever group Lindy thinks the Doctor is part of still existed when she moved to Finetime.

Therefore, I think it's incredibly likely that in addition to the rich racists, the Dots also murdered the entirety of Homeworld's underclass, for the "crime" of being that underclass.

So did the Dots turn against their creators for principled reasons, or did they simply absorb the values of the culture that created them, with the only difference being that they put themselves at the top of the hierarchy?

anyhow I think it would have been more messed up if Lindy realised "yeah we aren't going to make it" and abandoned the other Finetimers, while still being exactly as evil, bigoted and self-centered as she was before. Hell have her lie to the others that she's going to wait for more survivors then turn around and say "so what are we waiting for lets gooooo" in her airhead voice

[baenyth]

After too much stalling, I finally finished the other half of Miraculous Season 2. Here's my thoughts episode-by-episode:

Zombizou: The episode focused on Ms. Bustier. Honestly I get where she's coming from in that statement to Marinette. This is a world where people can become butt-ugly abominations because they felt upset, although I think Chloe still needs consequences for her actions as well as something like positive reinforcement. She had plenty consequences in season 1. Speaking of Chloe, That Asshole was wrong. There was clear intent for Chloedemption. Also could we at least have seen all that stuff Ms. Bustier does in previous episodes?

Syren: This was an episode the salters talked loads about, and honestly, I get where Adrien's coming from here. On a fundamental level the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculi aren't equals due to the Ladybug's magic reset button, but as one of the first Miraculous users, Adrien should've still been let in on the loop. Kid felt like he was useless, that Ladybug could save the day without his help. At the very least have Master Fu go one-on-one or have both kids show up while transformed or blindfolded. Also the water voices ticked me off, but that's relatively minor.

Frightningale: A fun character-of-the-week episode, especially since I'm fond of Clara Nightingale's constant rhymes and rhythm. She's dedicated to it and I love it. It's also good to see Chloe be an exceptional and talented dancer! It's good to see her having talents and interests that aren't just making people suffer!

Troublemaker: Another episode showing why I think Marinette and Adrien shouldn't date in any of their forms. I don't know enough about stalker shrines but I think Marinette's room is getting close enough to be one for Adrien. Though I'm pretty sure Adrien's seen worse or has been conditioned to not care, based on his reaction at the end. Still a shame that the local TV show had to live-film Marinette's room and beach her privacy in the local city-town of Paris while the real Paris has been converted to an amusement park for tourists. You got any other reasons why the population is so low? One more thing: I'm pretty sure the lack of ladybug-vision was more due to anxiety over losing one of her earrings and the difficulty of the villain more than anything else.

Anansi: I find the new heroes good, personally. They give more screentime to other characters. Also again with Adrien's insecurity about being useful. And I think this episode would've been over sooner if they noticed that Anansi was going to get herself akumatized over the stress and maybe just let her come or something. Or if they got Marinette to arm-wrestle her instead. Marinette has muscles, right?

Sandboy: A lore episode, mostly. The nightmares were funny for a second and I was a bit annoyed by the Akuma's voice, but that's small potatoes. I like how compared to season 1, where we would be given a bunch of development for Sandboy it's just explained to us afterwards while we instead get more time for lore.

Style Queen: Hawkmoth has a contender for the most evil character in the show. Audrey Bourgeois is the kind of person that would be made fun of in those Karen freakout videos. She cheats on her husband, neglects her daughter to the point of not remembering her name, fires people over the most minor inconveniences, and starts G-rated killing people over getting a seat in the second row. She needs to be cancelled, deplatformed, and Chloe needs a therapist and better role models. I really liked the split-second of Adrien looking shocked after Marinette told him he had the catwalk down, btw. Did he think his identity was outed there?

Queen Wasp: This is why teenagers shouldn't get superpowers. I get secondhand embarrassment watching them. Also Marinette What The Fuck why the Hell are you getting Chloe to bond with the Absolute Worst Person For Her

Maledictator: This is what happens when you make Chloe bond with a Chernobyl-level toxic influence, Marinette. In general this episode was funny, both intentionally and unintentionally. Everyone starts celebrating Chloe ditching Paris with her mother except Adrien because Chloe was her only friend even though she was a detriment to everyone else and suddenly Marinette feels bad because she worships Adrien. The first thing the villain of the week does is make Audrey stop being such a horrible person and later he made Chat Noir reach the limit of catboyness. It's like a Smiling Friends episode. Also it was cool to see Chloe's depths and self-loathing. Surely that won't be forgotten and Chloe will be given therapy so she can become a better person, right?

Reverser (Put here so it makes sense timeline-wise): It's Yaoi time. Except that Nathaniel is into Ladybug (who I assume he knows is Marinette) here and Marc is fine with that. Overall a good episode. Some nice humor, and Reverser's probably the best akuma design so far I love the paper stuff. Plus more info on the side characters and a spot of good humor, excellent!

Frozer: Ah, there's the Nathmarc. And explicit Julerose. And Marinette getting some idea that her fantasy of Adrien is unhealthy and shouldn't be followed. And Adrigami, albeit a bit one-sided. Quit pining over someone who doesn't love you and get with someone who does, kid. And a smidgeon of Marigami. And Adrien's bodyguard being his daddy in place of his father. And a pinch of me seeing what the salters were talking about with the girlsquad and them forcing Marinette and Adrien together. Or at least Alya and Mylene. I couldn't hear what Alix, Juleka, and Rose were saying, but they disagreed, right? At least one of them had to disagree, right?

Heroes' Day Two-Parter: Marinette you're being too hotheaded against Lila no you gotta be like Columbo. Also yet another Marinette Costanza moment. Otherwise not much to say here. It's the boss rush episode, it's the series finale, Alya managed to catch onto Nino being Carapace but still can't seem to connect the dots between Ladybug and Marinette, the Peacock Miraculous is introduced, and Natalie is on my suslist.

I might procrastinate again on the first half of season 3. The first episode deserves a post of it's own. It's the salt episode.

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Hive, Pt. 4

From McKay looking at the container of the enzyme and thinking about karate chops we transition to Sheppard watching Ronon throwing yet another knife he had concealed on his body into the locking mechanism of the cell. There are enough knives sticking out of the device that Sheppard seems to have completely given up even being surprised by Ronon having one more knife hidden in his hair. Sheppard seems to be standing with his arms limply at his sides, having lost that hope that this might actually work somewhere between the second knife and the fifth. Sheppard makes a quip that has absolutely no meaning to Ronon, as both Sheppard and McKay are frequently wont to do, and this too tells us that he wishes McKay was with them. McKay would get his joke.

Sheppard: You must have a hell of a time going through airports!

But against all odds, the final knife does short-circuit the locking mechanism and they are suddenly sprung loose. We get a close-up of Ford shooting up some enzyme into his arm, and here the enzyme is very clearly paralleled with Charlie Horse (intravenous derivative of Morphine that need not be spelled out here), and given that the term "Cold Turkey" that is associated especially with the abrupt cessation in the use of highly addictive opiates is used with McKay later, it is really interesting that Ford and McKay are made to mirror one another. And for McKay, while he needs to be weaned off the enzyme later, his real addiction seems to be Sheppard where the enzyme was just a highly risky means of getting to him.

Sheppard: Ford, what the hell are you doing? Ford: That's the last of it. Dex: What about the rest of us? Ford: You don't need it. Dex: You don't know that. Sheppard: We're heading to the dart bay. Stay together, and stay quiet.

Sheppard sounds personally offended as he chides Ford for shooting up where everyone can see him like this is the time (just like McKay had been offended having to watch Ford's man do it in the previous episode). While Ford is clearly addicted to the enzyme, it could be he thought that using up the last of it now that they had the means to escape might have benefited all of them, might have made him better equipped to take on what ever they had waiting for them. It does not seem like he is doing it for pleasure but out of necessity. But given that Sheppard had been stationed in Afghanistan that used to be the world's top producer of Papaver somniferum and derivatives thereof, he has probably seen more than his fair share of soldiers fall slaves to the needle. He is not Ford's father and not even his commanding officer anymore, but he still hates to see it and has to voice his disapproval. We also see how deeply addicted Ronon and Teyla are to the stuff at this point in that Ronon actually chides Ford for not sharing it with them.

Sheppard stops Ford before they leave the cell, trying to impress on him the importance of working together. He is clearly taking command of this operation, and he is doing it because he knows that he is the most experienced commander out of all of them and because Sheppard wants to get off of the hive, he needs them to succeed in the mission of getting the hell out, he is making it clear to Ford in no uncertain terms that he is done playing around. They are doing this his way. Where Sheppard seems satisfied that he has made his point, we can see the dubious look on Ford's face as he take on after him.

McKay: Lock and load!

From Sheppard disapproving of Ford's abuse of the enzyme we move back to McKay in the cave engaged in something that Sheppard would hate to see, which is McKay gambling with his own life in order to help save Sheppard. McKay is leaning on the cabinet as he shoots up a large dose of the enzyme and there is an immediate and noticeable change in him as the enzyme takes effect, apparently almost instantaneously (or, it might be that the effects are psychosomatic at first and only later it takes over his system). Regardless, the act gives McKay a boost of confidence and now that he believes he has made himself into a lethal weapon, he moves on to the next part of which plan which is to take on Ford's men.

McKay: And that's what happens when you back a brilliant scientist into a corner!

Because McKay manages to take the henchmen completely unawares, neither of them expecting that McKay would have it in him to attack them, it is difficult to say how much of this is the enzyme and how much is just McKay having a boost of confidence and adrenaline in his system. He uses a bottle to knock out one of the men and puts his hands on the other's face to blind him while kicking him in the crotch, which are the kinds of things he may well have been taught to do if and when someone had been teaching him self-defense. Especially with the latter man, who had been the one to get into his intimate space at the end of the previous episode, what McKay does is precisely the kind of thing Sheppard could have instructed McKay to do in case of emergency, and it is noticeable that these are moves that are frequently taught especially in women's self-defense classes to be used against sexual predators. What McKay shouts at them is ironic in that he is using his brawn and his physical prowess to get out of this corner, even if he is augmented by taking the enzyme and getting a confidence boost through it.

McKay: Focus... focus! Control crystals! There we go, yes!

Likely with all the adrenaline in his system, the enzyme is quickly taking more of an effect, spreading more quickly through his system. McKay is out of breath and seems to be shivering probably with the "chills and hot flashes, chills and hot flashes, again and again," only worse this time. He has enough presence of mind to go find the crystals in Ford' private quarters, and let us just appreciate the shot of his naked arm as he yanks the drawer open. We hear McKay muttering to himself as he is searching for them and he has a tendency of slurring his words severely when he is agitated, making it occasionally very difficult to make out what he is actually saying, and this will have actual influence on the reading of some scenes, most notably in The Shrine (S04E04). In this scene, the difficulty he seems to have in forming words tells us that he is running against the clock when it comes to the side-effects of the enzyme which he had described as "very real and very unpredictable" earlier. And so he grabs the crystals with the intention of getting off the planet as quickly as possible.

And just as McKay is escaping his confinement in the cave, so are the others running away from the holding cell, and we get further parallels between McKay and Ford in how Ford, with his fresh enzyme boost, rushes head first to take on the wraith guard in armed combat, not even feeling the stunner blast that hits him square in the chest.

Teyla: Wait! They are coming. Ford: I got it. Sheppard: Ford! Dex: Move!

Sheppard is displeased by Ford not following his orders. He wishes that Ford would stop to think for a moment before making rash decisions, and it is lucky that he has no idea what McKay had been doing at the same time. Ronon manages to take the guard out using its own stunner but there are more coming, and Sheppard clearly wants to avoid fighting them. His first priority is to get away from the hive. Putting a stop to the culling that the two hives are heading toward is not on the top of his agenda, if it is on it at all.

Kanayo: More coming! Sheppard: This way!

Figuring that it is better to run for it than to engage the host of wraith drones head on, Sheppard tells them all to get a move on. But note that he takes off himself first, not staying back to see that they are all coming, that they are all secure. With Ronon and Teyla, he trusts that they can both take care of themselves. Kanayo and Ford are on their own, and it is only their shared humanity as against the wraith that makes him care about them at all. There is someone that Sheppard both wants and needs to protect above all else and he is not here, and hence his first order of business is to get back to where McKay is. And in not following his orders, not taking his lead, Ford seems to be making it more difficult for him than it needs to be. Both Sheppard and McKay are trying to get back to the other.

Continued in Pt. 5

[cecekeating]

Jordayla S6 Finale Commentary pt1

Alright! 

Back with the final season 6 commentary for Jordayla. I have enjoyed writing these posts for you guys and I am so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you so much for reading and supporting me. I truly appreciate it.

So let’s get into Jordayla! I think a number of us predicted that this might be a crumbs episode for us. I was predicting that we would get at least one scene and I am glad my prediction came through! I was hoping I would get some confirmation of some of my theories from previous episodes but instead I got a way more open ended writing for Jordayla than I anticipated. 

Let’s start with the coaching job offer that we now know Jordan accepted. Remember the timing of this episode. It is literally a couple of hours apart from 614  so not a lot has been going on. Jordan has taken the job and in the process of helping Olivia pack, he finds a football playbook which he is super excited about. So one thing I can say is the passion for football is still in Jordan. He is excited to make use of the playbook on the job because right now, he doesn’t think the current QB is pulling his weight. I will say though that it was interesting that Olivia and Coop heard from Spencer about Jordan taking the job and not Jordan. I’m just saying!

I really thought about this scene a lot and the scene where Kai/Kia were on him for being distracted. Do you see how excited Jordan was studying the playbook? He was really invested and had to be told off for being distracted. This looks like a man that still has the fire for football in him. Him being a QB coach will likely make this passion more fierce as it is the position he has played all his life. 

So I am looking at this and I am seeing Jordan be very excited to coach the QB squad but as he continues to coach and study more of the playbook, the decision to pivot from the NFL dream may come back up. I would be very shocked if it didn't. So we will have Jordan who really loves his job as a coach being drawn to return back into football. 

Another angle can be he struggles to fit in on the job despite his excitement or he struggles to get through to his team which would make him realize that while he has the passion for football, his skills are better off playing football than coaching footballers. 

If this is the route NK is going, I will be seated because it is a very relatable storyline and one I know loads of audience members in their 20s and even 30s can relate to. You pick a path initially, you get there and you realize it is not what you expected or it ends up firing a dormant/abandoned dream in you. This is actually my personal journey and just like Layla’s mental health arc, I will be following Jordan’s arc closely to see what the writers come up with. 

It will make sense too if NK goes this route because the set up for Jordan will likely mirror NK’s personal journey. For those who don’t know, NK was an economist and worked in the field for a while before deciding to pursue TV/Screenwriting. She was working as an economist and writing plays for theater. Eventually, she decided to leave economics and pursue TV/Screenwriting. This actually happened when she was in her 20s. I can see NK wanting to tell that story through Jordan’s career arc -So having Jordan coach while he still desires to play pro or Jordan coaching and realizing playing pro is what he really wants. This also fits the character too as Jordan has always had issues with making firm decisions and struggles with self esteem. 

Another aspect to this arc is we don’t know his reasoning for taking the job. Because all I have said above can be a moot point depending on Jordan’s reasoning. So I expect to hear Jordan’s reasoning as to why he took the job next season. I am also thinking of Layla. I am assuming she is aware he decided to take the job and will be supportive. When the NFL comes back up, she will likely be a key person in that arc. If you recall in the last episode, she was the only person he talked about his decision to pivot from the NFL with. Like I said, she is tied to his football journey, not coaching journey so she will likely be involved more if/when Jordan decides he wants to play for the NFL. 

We also have the half older brother of Billy Baker. I have always known that the writers would bring Billy back up again. This time though, it would be related more to Jordan. Most of the memories of Billy have been via Olivia’s lens. We haven't really seen Jordan process his relationship with his father. Most times when Billy comes up in relation to Jordan, it is about Jordan trying to do things like him/please him (514) or Jordan convincing himself that he is in a much better place with losing Billy (601). Have it at the back of your mind that Jordan watched Billy die.  I don’t feel the writing has really tackled Jordan and Billy’s relationship with much depth.  I have always felt Jordan being married and possibly becoming a father would be a perfect avenue to revisit Billy. I can see Jordan become more reflective of his father’s actions now that he is a married Baker man. So this half brother can likely be a way for the audience to revisit Billy’s past. 

Now a key person with this arc will be GW.  Sidenote: I’ve also always felt GW would be central in Jordan processing his relationship with BIlly. If you notice in the wedding reception, GW was VERY upset talking about the picture. So there is something about this older brother that causes so much pain for Billy. This can be an avenue to flesh out Billy/GW and their relationship. We may understand why GW was the way he was with Billy and how it impacts Jordan, his relationship with Billy and his identity as a husband.  So this older brother arc will be a bit of GW/Jordan dynamic and possibly Jordan/new uncle dynamic. 

Sidenote: I actually had a head cannon for Layla that her long lost grandmother (Monica Keating’s mother) shows up unexpectedly in her life. I even had an outline and a draft version of a fan fiction for this - maybe this is a sign for me to dust that fanfic and complete it  for you.

With regards to the half older brother, I am not expecting the relationship to be smooth sailing. Jordan won’t be mean or rude but I can see Jordan and/or the uncle taking time to warm up to each other, seeing as the mere mention of this uncle upsets GW a lot. I can see the uncle being a reminder of Billy for Jordan especially at a time when Jordan is committed to moving on from the death of Billy. Having the uncle be someone in a sporting career would be fantastic to make the story more cohesive. 

continue in part 2

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Episode 35

This was basically part two to the last Wham episode. Crazy shit's still going down, but it had a more hopeful ending at least. The visuals were also more striking this time, so I enjoyed this one more overall.

Notes:

FUSION! I did NOT know that this season had digimon-human fusion (jogress?) Guessing this will be a Takato-Guilmon exclusive since he's the only one who's been shown to have a connection to his digimon partner so far. Kinda strange that Guilmon's official ultimate form requires this fusion?? (In future video games, will the player character fuse with him?) Interested to see where they take this.

I was surprised we didn't get a reaction to Takato's digivice shattering, but I guess they have more pertinent matters to attend to. I guess Takato doesn't need it to do tamer-y things? Maybe this just means he can't scan cards or look at digimon data

I appreciated the opening scene with Jian's mom crying about Shiuchon. Little moments like that flesh out the characters and up the stakes. I hate it when parents are just omitted from stories cuz it makes it seem like they don't give a crap about their kids. (Side note: her chunky sweater/skinny jeans combo is cute lol. Ahead of her time!)

So Megidramon's existence puts the digital world in jeopardy because he's just not supposed to exist? Was that ever a thing in the past with bad digivolutions cuz I don't think so...

Megidramon was very badass in this episode. There was a lot of detail put into him like his acidic drool that made him fun to watch. Felt very Jurassic Park on steroids. (Though looking at his snout, he's more dragon-like than dino-like).

Makuramon shows up just to be killed lol. I call BS with Beelzebumon gaining other digimon's powers after he loads them. Renamon loaded a bunch of digimon and we never saw her gain any powers from that...He even had Taomon and Rapidmon's characteristics bulging out of him which was a pretty cool effect.

Pretty fishy how in the last episode Kyubimon was exhausted and incapable of digivolution but now all the sudden she's like "JK" and digivolves without issue. I get that times are desperate, but exhaustion is exhaustion.

One thing that's super confusing to me is that...didn't we see Takato design Guilmon's previous digivolutions? Like with pencil and paper? So where the heck did Megidramon come from? Did he just picture the design in his mind? Although that doesn't seem right since he was disturbed by his appearance. I don't really get the logic here...

Beelzebumon was too screamy in this episode lol. I was like "alright already, we GET IT"

I didn't expect this anime to pull out the dramatic slow-mo. You don't see slow-mo a lot in anime, especially not slowed down voices. It's honestly been done for comedy in western animation so many times that I can't take it seriously anymore.

Ew, they did one of my least favorite anime cliches which is the fish eye lens scene. I just think it always looks really dumb.

You gotta have the naked transformation sequence. Not often we get a male one, so that's refreshing (not that I want to see Takato naked lol).

New insert song yaaaay! Dramatic moments are always made better by a good ole insert song. I like Dukemon's design a lot, even though it's a little generic. The color palette is nice and I like that he uses a lance like he's a jousting knight. The lil Guilmon hat/visor is pretty funny.

[comicweek]

As the copy at the top of the poster states Creature Commandos is the start of the “new DCU” as Warner Bros. Discover sheds the DCEU*, the set of films from Man of Steel to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and enters this new James Gunn (& Peter Safran) led era. The circumstances facing Warner Bros. Discovery in this new era, like the slight acronymic alteration indicates, are not all that different from the previous era. They are only slightly more urgent fore WBD who continues to navigate the streaming transition, try and produce a successful slate of theatrical films, among other things as it attempts to pay down loads of transactional debt that go back to the early 2010s. And so James Gunn, along with showrunner Dean Lorey (Harley Quinn 2019 - ), begin to try and save WBD from itself not by looking up in the sky for a savior (that comes next year) but down in the pulpy mud with Creature Commandos a seven episode adult animated series based on the comic of the same name that focuses on Rick Flag Sr.**

For his part Gunn in statements to the press has described Commandos as a “soft intro” into this new universe where “metahumans exist, monsters exist, magic exists and incredibly complicated political situations exist.” Commandos being the start of this era of Gods and Monsters is more a product of happenstance than careful corporate planning; Gunn was asked by Casey Bloys at Max after the success of Peacemaker in 2022 if he had another series pitch, which turned into the seven scripts for Commandos. During that period, he also agreed to become the co-head of DC Studios, along with Peter Safran. Commandos, which is effectively a continuation of his work in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, just happened to come to the finish line first. 

I lead with this meta textual state of Warner Bros. and how this monster forward show came to be in the world because this context has been inexorably tied to the online discussion, from both fandom and trades to this Gunn led effort since it was announced in 2023. It is also, perhaps, one of the more interesting angles to take with Commandos after seeing the first two episodes on Max with new episodes coming out on Thursdays for the next 5 weeks. The opening of the first episode "The Collywobbles" deftly shows us a world where the DC Universe frankly exists in all of its weird glory. The DCU with its new Superman (David Corenswet) does represent a distinct shift to a new continuity away from the DCEU … but don’t let that be a hang up for you. Commandos isn’t here to be an act of world building in and of itself, it has a story to tell and builds what it needs to. Commandos will be an interesting test case for this kind of continuity resetting by not really pointing it out, a very un-DC like move considering pointing it out means there’s an opportunity for a new Crisis, Flashpoint, or Rebirth, to be bought and sold.

Full Post HERE

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 26 Thoughts: Sam is awkward. Celia is hot.

Yet another guest writer episodes and this time it's Muna Hussen. She' co-creator and producer on The Silt Verses, and produced and acted in I Am In Eskew. The Silt Verses is a show I can wholeheartedly suggest giving a listen. It's great in just about every way a thing can be. I might leave a pitch for it as an addendum. I Am In Eskew is in the forever pile of things I may one day get to. It's a really well written episode too, I liked this one a lot. It is, unfortunately, another pretty explicit one so I don't expect to have a load to say, but that's not the same as it being bad.

Spoilers for episode 26 below the cut.

Celia and Sam's conversation doesn't have a load of note in it. Yes, they're going to meet Helen but that's for later. The important detail here is how Celia categorises her incidents. Which she does with the least effort imaginable. She's not had any misfiles yet which tells me that either those no longer happen or you just need to get it in the right Section. But more importantly than that it's also a good look at just how little she cares about the job. We've all known she's had ulterior motives from her introduction but it's nice to see ways that is reflected.

Much like the last incident there isn't too too much to rip into for what I talk about. I'm not sure the themes of this one speak to any greater connection and the characters are all new as far as I know. Which only really leaves one detail to talk about. The Archivist or, rather, *an *Archivist as that's the more interesting detail. The Archivist here didn't really do much we've not seen before. The forced running isn't to dissimilar to the forced drowning and Jarrod did seem to be mumbling in classic fashion. No statement to be heard as such but that might just be because of the framing. However, unlike previous run ins with an Archivist they're very much aware that they're not the only one. Whether this leads to something more grand or not is hard to say but it's an interesting detail.

Alice is finally up to episode 11 with the plot. More seriously it's nice to see her piecing things together now. I do wonder if that was Chester's point or not. Gwen was a little weird in this interaction IMO. Alice and Gwen shared a fairly major revelation together, that this ties into, but she seems to have distanced herself a lot from that emotionally already. Which isn't out of character but does come a little fast.

Helen is *very *Helen here. I think of all the returning characters she might have changed the least. At least from where she started. It's lovely to see her back, although I do wonder if maybe they're leaning on these characters a little too much at this stage. It's hard to know if this is one-off fanservice or the way of things going forward. I hope it's the latter because the less of the old cast we get the more of the new cast we'll see. There isn't a huge amount to say here but its good to see them getting more information about the Institute. Also, unfortunately Helen is still a tory. Categorically disproving the "these characters are now living their best life" theory. It's all still hell. I'd also include the transcripts note for the laugh but that's a TMA spoiler and probably one person hasn't seen that show. Besides if you know, you know.

Sam and Celia finally fucked. Good for them. Well, bad for them if TMA is anything to go off for couples in this setting. But, y'know.

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Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet and Terminology Sheet

DPHW Theory: 4463 is pretty normal for this, I think. No major surprises.

CAT# Theory: 1 is a 1. I'll maybe try to write an essay on this before the season ends. No prommies tho.

R# Theory: BC seems about right.

Header talk: Exhaustion (Athletic) -/- Compulsion (Tape). Also very very normal.

I guess I will write that addendum then.

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Addendum: Go listen to The Silt Verses.

It's a horror audio drama that's more or less a world where the modern religious landscape is a polytheistic one, with fabricated corporate gods putting pressure on local ones, outlawed religions, and all sorts of fun stuff. But it's a world where religions, fabricated or otherwise, are also powerful and gods do exist and perform miracles. It follows two worshippers of the Trawler Man, and outlawed god, on their pilgrimage up its great black river. As you might expect things don't go smoothly and soon enough there's a man hunt, run ins with cults stranger than theirs, and all sorts of revelations.

The world building is a real high light too. It's just the right level of "this world is horrific yet treated as mundane". It's worth listening just to see how that's all built on.

I rate it a strong prisoners-buried-alive-in-the-foundations-of-new-construction-projects-to-bless-them/10.

[usercelestial]

Buddies being upset about a relationship between one of them with another person not working out is the dumbest thing I've ever heard that'd basically be working against their own interest they both need to be single for it to happen ergo relationships involving randoms going kaplooey 💥 I don't see the fans of those relationships thinking hmm maybe MY favorite ship should break up so buddie can get together they just rub it in buddies faces that their ship is canon and get mad when people point out the writing on the wall for the relationships downfall. Honestly I have full faith they're building the storyline to buddie canon but in the event that they're not and all we get is a deep beautiful well written story of love and friendship and family thats still more than shitty relationship number whatever that the other people got. There's a reason people say misery loves company. I might not get exactly what I want but as long as no one else gets what they want either I'll live and I'll think I got the better end of the deal and that's exactly how some bucktommys feel as well because I've seen loads of them celebrating Eddie's conversation with the priest.

"i might not get exactly what i want but as long as no one else gets what they want either i'll live" you sound like a miserable cunt, do you know that?

i said that the WAY bucktommy broke up should feel disheartening if you want buddie to be endgame, not THAT they broke up, dumbass. if you want buddie to be endgame, you should want proof that the writers can write meaningful storylines about buck's relationship. the fact that they broke up out of nowhere with zero build up is the thing that you should understand is a bad sign. and to be clear, it was out of nowhere. you always wanted to relationship to end, so you were already primed for its ending. but people who were just along for the ride, people who were invested, and most importantly, general audiences do not root for the endings of relationships unless they are given a specific reason to. it was also already confirmed that episode 5 was played up to make episode 6 more heartbreaking. this was a relationship you were meant to enjoy.

back to my point, they are writing this show with no plot in mind, with no direction, and with no substance.

you should be upset that the writers have zero idea where they're going with this story and that they have no intention of finishing storylines in meaningful or satisfying ways.

as for whether or not buddie will happen. ive been wrong before but i have been saying this long before bucktommy ever graced our screens, ryan guzman does not want eddie to be gay, im sorry. the arc was shot down before and oliver and ryan have been very clear about the fact that the audience interprets things differently than they do.

i do think you should be mad that buddie has stringed you along. i was mad about it too, which is why i had so much fun with bucktommy, why i was so willing to embrace it with open arms. because as long as buck ends up with someone that MAKES SENSE, i am happy. tommy had so many things that previous love interests didn't have, he had developed that previous love interests, he had connections that previous love interests didn't have. he could have been a great Forever Love. but the writers do what they always do and abandon things half way.

buddie is constantly baited, i believe that. buddie is something that should have happened already but it didn't because no one really wanted to do it. because that's the show you're watching. a cheesy, soap opera drama that can't follow through and doesn't want to make any big swings.

if bucktommy doesn't see this through, i want buddie to happen, and if buddie doesn't happen, i truly believe this show has zero idea what they're doing.