#and i can't wait to see how they parallel and make connections

[kitkatwinchester]

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE ENDING OF THAT EPISODE OMG!!

Okay first of all, you can tell I'm not Scott OR Stiles, because it took me until seeing Rhys with the burn bandages in the hospital bed to realize that RHYS was the one the Nogitsune possessed, and it took me until she said "Eichen House", plus the accompanying visual, to establish that the Eichen House is on the same plot of land as the Oak Creek Internment Camp was. XD

ANYWAYS!

That's so freaking sad, and I feel so bad for Noshiko, because in a rage over what had happened to Rhys, she invoked something even worse, and she regretted it instantly, and now there's no coming back from that. And the fact that he said "coup de foudre" right before he died I CAN'T. :( :( :(

THAT SAID!

The f*cking looks and emotions and lines in the rest of those sequences I CANNOT.

Okay since we're here, starting with Scott, Kira, Ken, and Noshiko.

The fact that Kira looks over at Scott when her mom says it can mean "love at first sight" just SENT ME omg. And then on top of that, the way they keep exchanging looks, and she keeps looking at him for comfort, and he keeps nodding and encouraging her along, and then when he looks at her in just utter awe and amazement and pride when she manages to put the sword back together (also as an aside, Kira's bad*ssery and sass with the "I just found out your 900 years old. I don't think I'll ever trust you again." we love her. <3 <3). And then, after all of that, Noshiko, having been angry at Scott's presence and bitter at the idea of wolves to begin with, ends with looking at Scott with "And maybe seek out a wolf to help you." I CANNOT! I LOVE SCIRA SO FREAKING MUCH!! WHEN DO THEY KISS?! I WANT THEM TO KISS!!

And then, in all of this, Noshiko only further confirms that, as far as she's concerned, the only way to save Stiles is to kill him, and Scott is having NONE of that, and the LINES, dude.

"Sometimes, history does repeat itself, Scott." "Only if you don't learn." "But sometimes even then, fate conspires against you."

I mean, D*MN.

That said, I am obviously with Scott in not killing Stiles, and I fully support this plan, which is why I love, with every fiber of my being, the anger and determination in his face when he says "There's a way to save him. There has to be." Because that is his BEST FRIEND, his BROTHER (Noshiko even admitted that herself), and the last thing he will do is resort to killing him. Never in a million years.

And then we have our little group of four. First of all, that transition was EPIC, going from the sword lighting up to the chess board. I was all for that, OMG.

Secondly, that whole sequence was so good. Everyone working together to figure out Void Stiles' message, but Noah being the one to ultimately break it down and acknowledge that there's more to it than meets the eye, because he's RIGHT. The Nogitsune is a trickster, not a killer, and there HAS to be more to it than just wanting to trap them and kill them.

"All we have to do is come up with a new punch line."

I FREAKING LOVE YOU NOAH!! YES!! LET'S DO THIS!!! LET'S GO TRICK THE TRICKSTER AND FIGURE THIS THING OUT AND SAVE STILES!!!

And then that ENDING. The transitions. OMG that set-up was terrifying, but so f*cking beautiful and well-done.

With Noshiko narrating as it goes through her flashback of hiding the Nogitsune in the nemeton, and then the transition to Scott, Stiles, and Allison coming out of the tubs after their sacrifice, and all the little clips of the nemeton falling apart until it eventually released the Nogitsune, all leading up to Stiles in the loft, with his dad opening the door behind him.

"They let the demon out of its cage."

And Void Stiles turns, and Dylan's got that extra little darkness in his eyes that shows he's not the Stiles we know and love, and you get...

"Hi, dad."

OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD.

And now we immediately watch the next episode because I cannot possibly leave off on that.

Let's f*cking go, because I'm ready (but also so not ready) to see how all of this goes horribly wrong, since we're still two episodes away from the finale...

ANYWAYS!

(I feel like they're gonna find a way to somehow parallel this exact scene, but then alter it somehow because Scott and Kira will NOT repeat history and kill someone they care about, and I can see the integration of that being so cool and I'm honestly so excited. <3)

[golden-redhead]

I think there's a lot of signs pointing to Jayce actually doing the right thing ...or at least the right thing based on the information available to him at the time.

We can't know for a fact just how much Viktor was changed and what his healing was doing to the people who came to him in the long run, but considering all the hints dropped by the writers, the situation is much less clear than we think. Obviously, everyone's first instinct is to condemn Jayce and his actions, especially because Viktor is one of fan favourites, but looking at the teaser for the next Act and what little we know about what happened to Jayce, I think it might have been necessary evil.

I think this scene of Viktor temporarily 'possessing' Salo in order to talk with Jayce points to just how fucked this little community that Viktor created actually is. There's a reason why everyone's getting those 'it's a freaking cult' vibes.

This scene made me more uncomfortable than anything else this season and I think it's clear that it was meant to make feel that way. There's something so uncanny about Viktor's voice coming out of Salo's mouth, especially paired with that look on his face and how Viktor seems to be able to see and experience things through him in this moment.

And then there's also the issue of all these people dying a horrible drawn-out death as soon as Viktor himself 'dies'. Yes, they came to him on their own, they asked to be healed, but did they really know what they are getting into? Did they know this is what might happen?

Some of them were already dying, true, but Viktor healed all kinds of people, some of whom most likely had their whole lives ahead of them. He, knowingly or not, inevitably sped up this process. Not all of them were consummed by Shimmer-addiction or permanently disabled like Salo.

And then there's also the fact of all of them basically abandoning their previous lives to serve Viktor and his community. Which, okay, makes sense, there's certainly a parallel with the community that Ekko created for Zaunites to keep them safe from Piltover and Silco's plans. They made an informed choice, though, and I don't think the same can be said about Viktor's cult-like commute.

They seem peaceful, yes, but also devoid of personality and entirely dedicated to Viktor and his cause. Of course, it can be explained by gratitude towards him and desire to be kept safe in a calm and peaceful environment, but it's taken to such an extreme point that it definitely crosses the line into uncanny territory in my eyes. Their hivemind behaviour is very unsettling and even though Viktor seems to frame his recent actions as some kind of greater good, I don't think it's necessarily true.

We have yet to find out what Jayce saw and who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Either way, as usual when it comes to Arcane, it seems to me that more than ever, everyone's a victim of the circumstances and tragedy spares no one.

Considering that Viktor is set up to be 'reborn', I can't help but wonder what it means for his community and if they will also be brought to life by whatever connection they have with him. It would be a fascinating choice given how Viktor's arc has always been about autonomy and making your own choices.

Arcane, it's been a pleasure having my heart torn out of my chest by you. Can't wait for the last Act.

[beifong-brainrot]

Katara and the fear of loss (aka why she waited)

I think one aspect of Katara's storyline I don't see explored nearly enough the fact that she is terrified of losing others, especially those whom she cares for. This makes sense, especially looking to her background, how the death of her mother affected her and the fact that war has been a very large part of her life since she was a small child. Not to mention, she is actively a huge part of said war, along with her brother and friends, at the tender age of 14.

Now, some of you may ask "quill what the hell does Aang have to do with Katara's mother?"

Yes, on the surface, there isn't that much connecting Katara's dead, grown ass mother to Katara's alive 12 year old goofball bf but the parallels between Kya and Aang are planted even at the beginning of the show, in the first few episodes.

When Zuko and the Fire Nation attack the Southern Watertribe, they are looking for Aang, the last airbender, not dissimilar to the Southern Raiders looking for the last Southern waterbender. Furthermore, both Kya and Aang willingly give themselves up to the Fire Nation in order to protect the village, particularly Katara.

Throughout the show, we see Katara's interest and endearment towards Aang grow, and we see them create a genuine friendship. But I'd argue that Aang being the Avatar is, to some degree, a problem to their relationship. Aang's duty as the Avatar, and the risks and decisions he is faced with due to it, often create a rift between him and Katara.

Be it due to Aang's responsibilities leading him to make decisions she doesn't agree with, like in the Avatar State, where Aang feels the pressure to force the Avatar State due to the suffering of the soldiers he feels responsible for.

Or, more poignantly, in the Awakening, where Aang is once again compared to one of the parents Katara lost due to the war, though Hakoda's 'loss' was not due to death, but a need to fight. I think this also shows how much Katara values Aang not just as the Avatar, but as a person.

Katara: Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it's all his responsibility. Hakoda : Maybe that's his way of being brave. Katara: It's not brave; it's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him, and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind? Hakoda : You're talking about me too, aren't you?

This is twice Aang has been directly paralleled to one of Katara's parents, whose repsective losses have clearly affected her greatly. This is also extremely poignant, since we've been explicitly told that Aang's love for his own lost family, the Air Nomads, was reborn into Katara. For Aang and Katara, the ways they deal with their losses influences how they pursue each other romantically.

Of course, there's also the ✨️ immediate threat of death and physical injury✨️. Aang and the rest of the Gaang, but particularly Aang is constantly being chased and tracked and endangered by the Fire Nation and he is meant to face the Firelord and defeat him. There are a lot of possibilities for something to go horrifically wrong here.

From Aang being half dead when Katara found him, then almost immediately getting kidnapped by the prince of the goddamn Fire Nation, to almost every villain of the week shenanigan, Katara already has good reason to worry for Aang.

But then the reach Ba Sing Se and things get even worse. Jet, Katara's only other canonically confirmed love interest dies, and Katara is helpless to do anything about it. This is already enough to make someone reconsider future romantic endeavours, but surely it can't get any worse, right?

Oh yeah, Aang FUCKING DIES

He gets blasted in the back with lighting, right as he enters the avatar state, right before Katara's eyes. The saviour of the world, but more importantly, her dear friend, brutally cut down before her very eyes. And Katara, a child, is the only person with even a sliver of hope of bringing him back.

So is it really any surprise that Katara, having experienced loss before multiple times over, and almosf having lost Aang himself, would be hesitant to enter a romantic relationship with someone being actively hunted by the greatest military in the world, someone obligated to take on the leader of said military?

Katara is afraid. She's afraid of opening her heart up to loving Aang and then losing him after that. This is the main reason why she hesitates in initiating her and Aang's relationship. Whenever Aang tries to brooch the subject, she brings up the war and the Firelord, but due to being a child, she struggles in communicating her exact feelings, which leaves Aang confused and of kilter. Katara often gives Aang romantic attention, and clearly feels rather possessive of him, however, she is not ready to enter a romantic relationship due to the threat of the war looming above their heads. But due to being 14, she doesn't know how to explain these feelings, which is what leads to the minor conflict between her and Aang. Because, you know, they're both children in a situation that children aren't built to deal with.

Katara : Aang, I don't know. Aang: Why don't you know? Katara : Because, we're in the middle of a war, and, we have other things to worry about. This isn't the right time.

It's important to note that Aang isn't exactly a bad person for wanting this relationship to be made tangible. He does push boundaries, and kissing Katara without her consent in the Ember Island episode is obviously a horrendous misstep (which he acknowledged), but I think you can at least understand his motives. He may soon die, after all, and he wants to love Katara and wants to express that love before he possibly loses his entire goddamn life. I think this can also be traced back to how Aang deals with the genocide of the Air Nomads and vs how Katara deals with the death of her mother.

Aang certainly blames himself for the death of the Air Nomads, although this guilt is unfounded. Perhaps part of him believes that if he'd just stayed with them, spent a little more time with Gyatso, he could've helped them. It wouldn't be a leap to imagine that Aang wanting to spend more time with those he loves, including Katara is a coping mechanism surrpunding that loss.

Now juxtapose this to Katara, who's entire encounter with Yon Rha is permeated by helplessness and fear, an 8 year old Katara being unable to do anything but run away and try to get help, sadly not in time for Kya to survive. So Katara trying to assert some control over her relationships, maintaining a certain distance to Aang while the war that robbed her of her mother is still in full swing isn't an improbable concept. She's trying to not feel that helplessness again.

(Katara probably blames herself for her mother's death too, but it has less to do with Katara's actions and more to fo with what Katara was; a waterbender, something she hasno bearing on)

This is why she initiates the kiss with Aang at the end of the show. Not because she feels the need to give in to his advances due to him being the hero of the world. Not because she's caving to his insistence or because she's pressured. But because the possibility of Aang getting fucking murked by glorified pyromancers are significantly lower than they were during the war.

This is not a 'taking one for the team bcs I feel like I have to due to Aang saving the world' type of smooch. This is a 'finally I feel safe to express my feelings' type of smooch.

To be completely honest, I don't like how Kataang was handled post day of black sun, I think it was an unnecessary addition of a redundant "will they, won't they?" aspect to the relationship. Teasing Zutara in the last few episodes was also just unnecessary, because it was obviously never a viable endgame relationship and it only served to give kid zutara shippers false hope. This is especially fucked up looking at how the same zutara fans were later mocked by the creators, which, no matter what you think if the ship, is a horrible thing to do to a bunch of teenage girls and I think has contributed to those teenage girls growing into bitter, aggressive adult zutara shippers.

But, as much as I dislike this storyline, it does make sense for Katara's character and is an interesting and touching 'silent arc' for her to have. We often see characters fall in love in the midst of a conflict, but we aren't always shown how that conflict would affect the way they look at their relationship, so I appreciate this storyline for what it was.

[bakvrue]

“Hey! Wait up!”

Bakugou looks over his shoulder and sees you waive your arm as you run out of the training building behind him.

He exhales, frosty breath making a grumpy cloud in front of him. He was the last to leave for a reason, or so he thought.

He doesn't stop walking but he slows his steps until you catch up to him. Your winter coat is haphazardly thrown on, and the laces of your boots aren't tied, rather they're tucked into your boots. Would probably be dangerous if you slipped on the ice.

“Hey, thanks for waiting.” Your breath comes out in short puffs. “I was worried about walking back in the dark alone and then I heard the locker room door close. Grabbed my stuff and ran out. I had a feeling it might have been you.”

“What were you doin’ there so late anyways? Why didn't you go back with everyone else?”

Katsuki can feel your eyes on him, almost as if you're surveying him, looking for something hidden in his features. He keeps his heart steady, praying that it's dark enough now you can't see the way his ears warm under your gaze.

You sigh, frustrated, defeated. “I haven't been able to get one of my new moves down right. What I'm trying to do is do a kick and then send the force of my quirk through my heel. But every way i try to kick either ends up with me on my ass or in a position that leaves me vulnerable right after or leaves me with my heel not in the right spot. I end up off-balance no matter what.”

You take your hat out of your bag, pull it over your eyes and let out a frustrated sound in annoyance. Almost like an angry cat.

Katsuki has watched you train, hell he's even gone up against you. He knows how strong you are. If this is something bothering you maybe it has to do with form? Or flexibility?

“Can you do a pistol squat?”

You stop walking, “A what?”

He turns and puts his bag on the sidewalk. “It's a really deep one legged squat.”

He balances on one leg, and then lowers himself slowly. His other leg extends in front of him and his body lowers so that his femur is parallel to the ground at knee length.

“Yeah I cannot do that,” you laugh. “I'm pretty sure my knees would explode.”

“Try it.”

“Do you want to see me fall in my ass? In the snow? Are you evil?”

He raises his eyebrows and you already know his response.

“Fine, let me try.” You put your bag down next to him and take a deep breath of the chilly night air.

One leg out, arms out for balance. Lower yourself, slowly, slowly… slow…

“WAA”

Your body falls backwards, your arms swinging around for anything to save you, panic setting in quickly.

Hands connect with yours just before your ass would have hit the cement.

You open your eyes, not even realizing that they squeezed shut, and you see Katsuki's hands holding yours.

Your heart thumps in your chest, your cheeks instantly hot enough to melt snow.

Katsuki's gaze follows yours, and he quickly looks away. But he doesn't let go.

“You good?” His cheeks and the tips of his ears flush.

“I— yeah, I'm good.”

He pulls you up, and both of you grab your bags.

“We should probably get back before Iida yells at us about curfew.”

“Right, let's go.”

[romchat]

The Time of Fever (Ep. 1-3) visual analysis: The Metamorphosis

Ho-tae: "I woke up to find myself transformed into a monstrous insect, lying in bed"...What is this? A story about a guy turning into a bug? Dong-hee: If I turned into a bug one day, would I still be Kim Dong-hee or just a bug?

From this piece of dialogue and the cinematography alone I know The Time of Fever is going to cause me a lot of pain. The only way to describe its style is palpable.

The moment our two main characters, Kim Dong-hee and Go Ho-tae, appear together, we can see the friction and unnamed longing between them.

Notice how often the first episode uses shots with three distinct compositional layers to provide depth and complexity to the relationships portrayed on screen:

In most of these shots, the composition places Dong-hee in the background with Ho-tae on another layer completely--they're distant and never quite aligned on what they want out of the relationship. Despite how these two characters were brought together by their mothers' friendship--I love how the second screenshot uses their bodies in the foreground to frame Dong-hee and Ho-tae--it's that very connection that also creates a wall between them. Although Ho-tae is excited about rekindling their friendship after moving away two years prior, Dong-hee doesn't want to betray his aunt's trust by admitting his romantic feelings for him.

And so he recedes into the background, alone and inscrutable.

The fact that Dong-hee also compares himself to Gregor from Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis hits like a sucker punch.

Like Gregor, Dong-hee lives a sort of transient and almost functionalist lifestyle. After being kicked out of his home by his abusive father, he focuses on his school work and trying to get by. He is isolated and his queer awakening only makes him feel more disoriented and misunderstood--he feels like Gregor in his insect form.

And yet we still see moments where he allows himself to yearn for something more and how Ho-tae begins to do the same.

(Side Note: I love love love the show's use of backlighting to highlight the lines of the actors' bodies. It's so simple but intimate and erotic as if the camera is acting like Dong-hee's artist-eye trying to memorize Ho-tae's muscular beauty.)

One of my favorite stylistic choices of The Time of Fever is how it uses close-ups to represent the characters' subjective POV and desire.

Like Dong-hee's sketches, these shots are the fragments of everyday life that are so small yet feel oh so significant while on the path towards self-discovery.

They're gloriously tactile, the shallow depth of field eliminating extraneous detail, allowing us to experience the heady excitement of accidentally grazing your crush's skin or looking into their eyes during a rainstorm.

I don't think I've seen desire that achingly displayed in a hot minute.

And so it makes sense that as Ho-tae begins to undergo his own metamorphosis and understand his own feelings, we see more and more visual parallelism in how their desire manifests.

(Side Note: The second screenshot above is such a gorgeous shot. That inky black negative space not only showcases Ho-tae's gaze at Dong-hee's lips but also his reaction to the realization that hits him. Great 2 for 1.)

I can't wait to see what visual storytelling the next three episodes bring.

[thepepsicolafams-blog]

Everyone is talking about the parallels between this new chapter of BSD (Chapter 121) and BSD Beast.

Before in the last few chapters (Chapters 115 - 120.5) were compared to the BSD Novel “STROMBRINGER”— specifically of how both Atsushi and Chuuya had lost close members that they considered friends and family to a power Ability Users that knows way more about them then they know themselves and wants them to themselves for reason yet to be known.

But now in this current chapter though, it parallels to the BEAST universe with Atsushi and fear.

Here we have “Hallucination Dazai(?)” talk to Atsushi about how he never needed to be ‘brave’ or ‘strong’ to get stuff done or fight what he fears.

The chapter talks about fight fire with fire— or in this case fear with fear as “Hallucination Dazai(?)” directs Atsushi’s attention away from how scared he is to fight Ame No Gozen to save Akutagawa because it was way he had lost a great portion of his friends/family—to the now fear losing whatever now remains of his family and friends with Lucy and Kyouka still waiting for him in the ‘Anne Room’.

This fear turns into motivation that makes him keep fighting.

Somewhat similarly, this is also seen in BSD BEAST of how BEAST!Atsushi used his fear of pain, suffering and specifically Death to become the Port Mafia’s White Reaper.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And this is just my thoughts so feel free to just skip this, but I find it interesting that this is not the first time something like this happened. Every time we saw “Hallucination Dazai” previous it said the same if not similar things to Atsushi.

I get that it's in his head, that's what a hallucination is, and he has the same thing with The Orphanage Headmaster, and I know it takes Dazai form to guild Atsushi and that’s it’s a hallucination in his mind so that it shouldn’t mean so much. But after seeing the end of this chapter I'm wondering how this will go out.

Like all I want to see now are some answers to Atsushi “Who you really are” like my guy... what do you mean!!! Is this a hallucination or something else? Is it Atsushi’s Bookmark powers telling him what to do and stuff, is it Atsushi connecting to the Book with how much it reflects to the world of BSD!Beast or is it Atsushi’s tiger powers/Byakko talking to him.

I say this because Atsushi had referred to know what this “hallucination” really is meaning that it’s not what we originally thought it was/that’s it’s not really a hallucination of Dazai but something else entirely.

Or

Is it Atsushi finally understanding what Dazai had been teaching, what he is telling him, this whole time and discoing/realizing who he really is.

Looking into himself in the picture he made of Dazai to help him keep fight to finally understand that he has a right to live, that he doesn't need to be brave to fight-- that he always been able/has been doing this and that he should stop now because some rat drew some pictures and ripped some paper.

Having that anime protagonist moments of self-discovery and finding the will to keep fighting.

Guess we just have to wait and see. Next Chapter is coming next month, and I can't wait for what happens next!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On another note, it's a very funny coincidence that when I went to the library the only BSD Novels there were that day were BSD! BEAST & BSD! STROMBRINGER-- both of which i took with me and am now reading! What a coincidence!!

[morningstarbee]

i love people talking about hannigram in the way they're the same but also opposites. Which obviously is a theme in the show but i mean like,, how they're both completely delusional and unhinged in completely different way, yet somehow exactly in the same way

Like how they're both jealous, but when Hannibal is being jealous, he hurts Will to get his attention (sending Budge after him, sending Dolarhyde after him), while when Will is being possessive of Hannibal he holds vicious grudges against the people who have the audacity to get close to what's "his" (Randall Tier, Bedelia, Dolarhyde, etc). Hannibal is jealous of Will giving other people attention, while Will is jealous of other people giving Hannibal attention.

They're both very private people who crave connection, but while Hannibal uses his charisma to surround himself with people he holds at arms length because none are worthy to come closer, Will's failure to mask his own personality drives people away from him. Hannibal charms people so well they don't even realize they know nothing about him. Will's brashness and prickly personality is used to drive people away before they get to know him and leave anyway because they don't like what they see.

They both spend nearly the entire show lying to themselves. Hannibal trying to convince himself that his own feelings for Will aren't real and/or can't affect him, while Will is struggling with accepting his own capacity and desire for violence. Or how much Hannibal could be reigned in by Will and how much freedom Will could find in Hannibal.

This is not even mentioning how Will's plan to get revenge on Hannibal in season 2 is almost a direct parallel to how Hannibal betrayed Will in season 1: the friendship as a ruse becoming genuine, entrapment/framing, faking a murder (abigail/freddie), ending with the other in jail. It's even interesting how Hannibal regrets going through with his betrayal after the fact, while Will regrets it before the plan is completed and tries to stop it.

(I also think it's interesting how Will's encephalitis made him see things that weren't there while also making subconscious connections, while Hannibal's feelings for Will in S2 made him see what he wanted to see, and even miss several red flags.)

There's also the whole hunter vs fisherman dichotomy they have between them, with Hannibal stalking and hunting his prey while Will tends to wait and let the prey come to him, luring them in with what they can't resist. Both of them require patience and the wisdom to know when to strike.

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

super indulgent genshin oc concept bc i've been thinking too much about capitano and ororon's dynamic in the story lore ramblings and ideas under the cut for anyone interested hahah;;, beware - long-ass post

(obviously spoilers ahead for the natlan AQ)

haven't picked out a name yet but we could probably scara him and call him 'vessel' or smth anyway, i was thinking too much abt how, in a way, ororon's situation sorta- idk if 'mirrors' is the word, but it has some similarities to what was ultimately going on w capitano? the difference was of course that while ororon failed to be a vessel to send lingering souls into the night kingdom, capitano didn't fail. quite famoulsy. so while that's super interesting and all, i couldn't help but think how they could've pushed that idea further? like you have to make this connection yourself. not even ororon, who spends a good chunk of the AQ thinking about what happened back then, made any remark about how similar it was to what ended up happening to capitano (that i recall?). did we ever find out if the ritual they tried w ororon had ever been performed before? i don't remember. it might've been, but it could've also been a hypothetical of sorts that they figured they could just try. anyway, regardless, i started thinking about if they HAD done it before, how interesting it would've been to actually get an account of what went down. as in- in further detail. bc then we could've possibly had a stronger/more evident connection between capitano's ordeal and ororon, and it would've been more clear what ororon sort of- dodged. if that makes any sense. like we know thanks to capitano but still, it's not the exact same scenario. so you can probably see where this is going lmao

this guy (we'll go with 'the vessel') is the result of my brainworms thinking about how it could've worked if we had one of the previous 'sacrifices' of the ritual (or maybe even the only other one) appear in the story. maybe he could've been from around the time citlali was still young (like before she realized she wasn't aging), so before she was renowned and in a position where she would've been able to easily stop the ritual. i think it would be really interesting if she could've like- still protested? y'know? but since she didn't have a high position she felt like it would've been pointless. this would make it all the more compelling the fact that she still didn't outright protest against ororon's ritual, and would've given more weight to her complicated guilt/relief over the whole ordeal. so all the way back then (like 200ish years?) they found a fella with an incomplete soul, trained him to prepare him since the situation wasn't nearly as dire n so there was time (and would make more sense if it was also the first time they were doing this), and then successfully performed the ritual. or at least as successfully as they thought, bc i think it would be all the more appaling if like- ororon's was always meant to be a capitano pre-ronova situation. he would've carried these souls w him and he would've been laid to rest but HE wouldn't have really rested, if that makes sense? not just killing him. maybe that's what it was and i just can't remember. anyway. if it was something like that, then the vessel would've been essentially put to sleep somewhere in a secret cave or whatever, acting as a sort of waiting room for the souls in him to stay w him and not roam the land until they could get into the night kingdom. but since the situation w the night kingdom was worse than anyone had expected, the souls sort of never moved on, and stayed w the vessel, dormant in that cave.

like that, ororon's ritual has failed and we have a more interesting situation going on – citlali's conflict is even more complex, the MotNW are more morally gray, ororon's 'failure' is more weighty given the vessel's ritual did seemingly help out a ton, and capitano has a more interesting parallel w the whole situation. in this scenario of course the natlan AQ has much better pacing etc. it would be more harrowing if we're allowed to stew w the souls disturbed from the night kingdom and sort of haunting the land like they were when we were helping them w citlali n xilonen, i feel like that happened too fast. if the souls were disturbed in that way, then so too would the vessel's rest be disturbed, and i think it would be hilarious if at some point in that little section we get the MotNW in a panic like 'HE IS GONE. HE IS OUT OF THE CAVE' and the traveler is like who???? it would be so funny. so the vessel essentially wakes up, accidentally escapes from his cave, n then starts wandering natlan in a daze bc he's like 200yrs in the future, he's confused, and he has a bunch of souls backseating his existence van hoenheim style. the gang could then meet him n we could have ororon have his little crisis over it n the vessel himself also have conflicting feelings over it etc capitano probably figured out/found out ororon's whole situation w the failed ritual, so when the vessel wakes up, capitano could probably show up and start sort of being oddly inclined to have chats w him. by that point in the story we wouldn't know capitano is in p much his exact same shoes, so this would be a weird sort of 'wtf is he planning' moment. the vesssel wouldn't be able to quite join in on capitano's plan, but since he was trained specifically for this whole ordeal, we could have him and capitano sort of compare notes n theorize how they could both just Fucking Rest. i think the ronova thing would play out the same (wouldn't want to take that away from capitano since that was his wholeass reason for being there), but they would've sort of off-camera (we get shown this afterwards) figured out that if capitano's plan works, then the vessel could sort of use him as a conduit to guide the souls through him and into the night kingdom. sort of like a passage that only he can access. so capitano goes and sits down, and then the vessel sort of sits down by his feet and joins him. then capitnao isn't alone and since i'm nothing if not a simp the first thing i thought when i saw him sitting there was those really heartwrenching fanarts people make of xiao kneeling by the rex lapis statue and resting his head on a thigh/knee, and i can't get the image out of my head, so. vessel -> xiao, capitano -> rex lapis statue, you get it i don't need to explain this any more LMAO i didn't even think of it as ship material (though you bet the fandom would make it so if this was canon. not that i'd protest), but more as a. sort of like- a sudden bastion of understanding and companionship at the end of the road. like yes both of them were alone but also not alone but also really really lonely for a good chunk of their long lives and even though it has now come to the end they both wanted they also managed to find a companion/comrade/someone who Gets It, even if it was just for a little while there at the end.

so yeah

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

another theme between spop and gravity falls that i want to point out is one of the characters being shelved for most of the series, and revealed to be alive towards the end. Micah and Ford.

only difference being:

1. Foreshadowing

from the first episode, we see that Stan has some sort of a secret and that he's working towards something.

and throughout the series, we get hints that indicate the existence of a twin brother, one episode even straight up SHOWS Ford (but viewers were led to believe it was Stan).

Micah, on the other hand? the only scene that could be proof of him being alive is during the fake reality in s3 finale.

Micah: Angie, Angella wait! I'm not-

people assume that Micah was trying to tell Angella that he's not dead, but we have no way of knowing for sure. it could have been anything.

so basically, there's no foreshadowing that Micah was alive and i'm pretty darn sure that the writers only wrote him in so that the viewers would forget about Catra killing Angella. Glimmer just needs one of her parents, it's not important which one.

but that's just before. what about after? do these characters have any importance after they are finally revealed to be alive?

2. Plot Relevance

even before the big reveal, Ford was a very important part of the plot. he was the mysterious author of the journals, he was the missing puzzle piece in Stan's life, his connection with Bill was clearly seen in the structure of Mystery Shack.

and after he emerges from the rift, he is even more relevant to the plot. especially because of his history with Bill and his knowledge about the supernatural. even though Stan is the one who defeats Bill in the end, it could not have been done without Ford.

not to mention, his relationship with Stan is essential to the plot. they are a direct parallel to Mabel and Dipper, and the entire series is about familial relationships.

the show just wouldn't be the same without Ford, because he was always one of the main characters, even before he was officially introduced as a character.

and how about Micah? he literally plays no role in the narrative after he is introduced.

one similarity between Ford and Micah is that they were both stranded in an unfamiliar place for years, with no connection to humanity.

but the difference is that while this is used for comedic purposes with Ford, it is also given enough emotional importance, especially when it came to his trust issues and his relationship with Stan.

whereas with Micah, it is solely used for comedic purposes and we never see how being forced to survive on a deserted deadly island has affected Micah's psyche or his relationship with people.

coming back to my point, Micah doesn't even seem all that bothered after learning that Angella is dead. he is shocked and sad for a moment, and then that is completely forgotten.

reconnecting with Glimmer? everything is settled with just one generic emotional speech and a hug.

reconnecting with his sister, Castaspella? barely touched upon.

like Ford, Micah had history with a master manipulator - Shadow Weaver. they could have expanded on this, shown us how Shadow Weaver's treatment of Micah had an impact on him.

but no, apart from him being all "you can't trust Shadow Weaver!" he provides no new insight. if anything, he just got in the way of Shadow Weaver trying to do something good for once.

other than that, he's just a silly goofy dad who wants to bond with his daughter. that's it. he has absolutely no relevance to the plot other than making a fool out of himself, and kind of forming a connection with Frosta.

we're supposed to believe that Micah was this powerful sorcerer and the king of Brightmoon, when even the writers don't give him the respect that he deserves.

newsflash: you can make a character funny and important to the plot. Ford had his fair share of comedic bits, but that didn't take away from his emotional moments and his role in the narrative.

[thefandomenchantress]

Chapter 2 Episode 15 Spoilers below!

Since Ace being the culprit has brought about so much pain to ace lovers, including me, I figured I'd make a list of all the good things that him being the culprit brings to us. Even though Ace will (probably) be executed next episode, that doesn't mean that nothing good came out of this, right?

-Ace's backstory may be revealed much sooner than expected! Before we would've had to wait for chapter 3 or chapter 4 and so on, but since Ace will be gone soon, almost everything not revealed next episode will get told to us in a bonus episode! (I think every dead person gets one of those? Idk if that's officially confirmed). I doubt Teruko's gonna find, like, Ace's diary in chapter three detailing his life story, so if we're ever getting the Taylor Lore™, it'll be in a bonus episode! Plus, a bonus episode would come out a lot faster than the whole of chapter three, so more Ace content sooner no matter what happens in it! And there's always the chance he gets picked for an FTE, since dead people are on the list of options.

-Ace canonically has neat, fancy handwriting. Begone rumors of Ace having illegible, traditionally boy-ish handwriting, he actually writes like a 19th century scholar and I find this very funny. More evidence for my 'Ace likes reading and writing and wanted to become a romance author' crack theory, since he also reenforced his particularness about vocabulary in chapter 2 part 2. (Our only remaining question: Does Ace actually have terrible spelling ('responsibel'), or did he just think Eden would?)

-Ace is very good at being sneaky and often overhears things he shouldn't. I can't wait for this to be used as a plot device in numerous fics ("XANDER YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE SHIT I JUST HEARD DAVID SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALONE").

-Ace will have to be included in the dead (formerly a) trio posts forevermore. Get ready for Xander-Min-Arei-Ace shenanigans.

-Now that the cast has been forced to acknowledge that being dumb and angry aren't Ace's only traits and that he's just as human as the rest of them, Ace is much less likely to be seen as just those two things by the average viewer. Ace's popularity, or at least the amount of dislike towards him, seems to have shifted since the last episode, and I'm happy more people are able to enjoy what his character has to offer now. He's a cool little guy. I've literally NEVER seen the Ace Markey tag this busy before.

-We got so many cool Ace CGs guys. SO MANY. Including one where he's hanging upside down on the swing set and looks weirdly cute for someone in the middle of a murder plan.

-Also new sprites! The DRDTdev gave Ace a redesign knowing full-well that it would only get a singular chapter of use, and I massively respect that. We already got some new sprites in part 2 of chapter 2 so far, and I'm guessing next episode he'll probably have at least one more breakdown sprite before he dies.

-For someone who no one in the cast liked, he's definitely going to leave an impact. He's finally made at least some of the cast realize what happens when they ignore the issues right in front of them. Ace shouts about how everyone hates him and sees him as an insufferable idiot? Eh, probably nothing, we don't have to worry about that. Sure, multiple people told him he's gonna die next in here, and he almost got murdered, but that won't amount to anything. What's he gonna do, murder someone--WAIT SHIT Ace step away from the Arei I repeat step away from the Arei-- (plus Teruko parallels). I'll probably go more in-depth about this sort of thing in a different post.

-WE NEVER GOT TO SEE WHAT'S UNDER HIS GLOVES. Kyoko and Mukuro both had hand-related secrets that connected them to the plot later on, does that mean Ace will have some sort of relevance to the mastermind or overall lore later on? Like a Mai tattoo situation? (Or maybe it's another thing that may be alluded to or discussed in the bonus episode)(Or left to interpretation but I hope not because I have so many theories).

If you have any more suggestions for other good Ace-related things the culprit reveal brought us, let me know and I can add them to the list! We need as many good things as we can think of right now...

[frostfires-blog]

Hi, Bleach fan! Just saw your IchiRuki post and I love it! You can't imagine how excited I am to found IchiRuki shipper in 2024!

So, what do you think are Ichigo and Rukia's greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? What are your favorite (canon) IchiRuki moments? What are your favorite headcanons of them?

Do you have any fav ships (from any fandom) that the dyanamic remind you of IchiRuki?

Thanks if you want to answer

Hi, sorry for the wait! I'm just as excited to see another IchiRuki shipper! I swear ever since TYBW came out, we've been heavily persecuted... So it's nice to be asked about IchiRuki in a positive context rather than a negative one. Just an obligatory disclaimer before I start: Although I have been spoilt for the series ending, I have not officially read the manga. I know that rival shippers are going to use this against me... But I needed to clarify that in case I slightly misremember something. However, I doubt I will since I won't really be speaking about anything beyond where the anime left off.

[My answers are under the cut because I rambled too much again sorry ❀]

-> Ichigo & Rukia's greatest strengths: ⦁ Their strong natural chemistry: They just have a genuine and instantaneous emotional connection that elicits a sense of familiarity and warmth. ⦁ Conversely, they fit into both the "birds of a feather" and "opposites attract" tropes. This implies that, despite their differences, they share a few commonalities—which is what accounts for their strong connection. ⦁ They have both positively impacted one another, consistently uplifting and motivating one another and bringing each other back from their lowest points. Most notably, Rukia is a source of strength, motivation, and light for Ichigo. In the same way that Ichigo is a driving force in Rukia's life, serving as a source of courage and resolve. ⦁ As a result of their similar experiences and struggles—especially with self-doubt and loss—they possess a unique understanding of one another that no one else possesses. Consequently, they are able to instinctively support one another in overcoming these challenges and progress towards bettering themselves.

-> Ichigo & Rukia's greatest weaknesses: ⦁ The significant disparity in their lives, circumstances, and careers could stand in the way of their relationship—though with some concessions, this is not immutable. ⦁ They elicit each other's stubbornness and strong willedness, which often results in bickering. While I find this endearing, I know this is a source of contention for many fans. ⦁ Towards the end of the series—in particular during the TYBW arc—they don't get as much screentime together.

-> What I love about their dynamic: ⦁ Simply speaking, they are a perfect amalgamation of my favourite tropes and symbolism. ⦁ Their perfectly counterbalanced designs and symbolism seamlessly integrate into their respective roles in the series, not only enhancing their dynamic but also conveying the notion of being fated or destined soulmates. ⦁ Their mutually important roles in the series, along with their profound trust and respect for one another, foster a sense of equality and balance seldomly seen in shounen F/M pairings. ⦁ Throughout the series, their most significant moments are consistently paralleled and inverted. This not only enables both of them to mutually support and uplift one another but also further reinforces their dynamic as a cornerstone of the series.

-> My favourite canon IchiRuki moments: There are honestly so many, as I love all of the interactions, but if I had to limit myself to a top four, then it would be as follows:

4) When Rukia transfers her powers to Ichigo for the first time (Episode 1) - This has to be one of the most iconic IchiRuki scenes considering this is the moment where it all began.

3) Ichigo saves Rukia from her execution - Another obvious choice. What makes this moment appealing to me is that Ichigo enables Rukia to finally be upfront about her feelings and reinvigorates her desire to exist. This allows this scene to transcend the typical hero saves the girl premise.

2) Rukia and Ichigo reuniting during the Fullbring arc - This scene brought me to tears with its masterful parallels of both of the previous entries on my list here by having Rukia show up to support and guide Ichigo once more. I adore the manner in which Rukia can uplift him and encourage him with only a few words and her presence.

1) Ichigo thanking and saying farewell to Rukia after losing his powers - Some might find it ironic that this scene tops my list, but my reasoning goes beyond my fondness for angst. In my opinion, this scene—as well as its aftermath—cements how deeply Ichigo and Rukia care for one another. In the anime, the compelling voice acting as well as the soft colours and fluid animation deepen my love for this scene. Conversely, the manga's fluid panelling and delicate expressions are remiscent of that in shoujo manga.

P.S. I would've highlighted some scenes from the 3rd Bleach Movie: Fade To Black—but since its still debated whether the movies are canonical, I opted not to.

-> My favourite IchiRuki headcanons:

I'm more of a trope, motif, and symbolism analysis person—so I've never really given any thought to headcanons... To be honest, I don't think I fully know what counts as a headcanon. I love seeing people use Sun×Moon, Day×Night, Ying×Yang, and Fire×Ice symbolism for IchiRuki. Also, this is much less common, but I also like seeing fan artists use Forget-Me-Not flowers for IchiRuki—that's totally their flower. I don't know if those count as headcanons...So I'd love for you guys to share your favourite headcanons in the comments...

-> Ships that remind me about IchiRuki:

To be honest, this is a tricky question to answer... Everyone is drawn to ships for different reasons... Every ship is different, and every series is different... So it goes without saying that just because you ship a pairing in one series doesn't mean you'll ship a similar ship in another show. People always get offended when someone always gets offended when comparisons are drawn between ships—especially those from different series. Having said that, I tried my best; so, please don't criticise me too harshly I'd love to hear about any other ships that remind you guys of IchiRuki since I'm sure I might have missed a couple of good options...

1) ChiKawa / Chika Kudo × Satowa Hozuki (Kono Oto Tomare!) — > Similar personalities/dynamics: ⦁ Just like Ichigo, Chika is a devoted and caring friend who can be a bit straightforward, impulsive, and short-tempered at times. ⦁ Just like Rukia, Satowa is graceful, determined, and stubborn. Satowa, like Rukia, has difficulty opening up to others and is adept at putting on a damsel in distress act to get her way in troublesome situations. ⦁ Both pairs initially get off on the wrong foot and often bicker because of their stubbornness, but ultimately come to respect, trust and care for one another. > Common tropes: ⦁ Both pairs share the "belligerent tension", "birds of a feather", "can't live with them, can't live without them", "everyone can see it", and "slow burn" tropes. > Similar backgrounds: ⦁ Before the start of the series, Chika often got into fights and had a "deliquent" image, which is somewhat reminiscent of Ichigo's backstory. ⦁ Satowa, like Rukia, is apart of a presigious family and faced immense pressure, which resulted in her becoming isolated and aloof. > Similar in appearance: ⦁ Both pairs have a guy with bright, light-coloured hair and brown eyes. Both pairs have a girl with straight, black hair with bangs.

2) Takumi Usui × Misaki Ayuzawa (Kaichou wa Maid-sama!) — > Similar personalities/dynamics: ⦁ Usui, like Ichigo, is confident, reliable, talented, and protective. ⦁ Misaki, like Rukia, is intelligent, diligent, and determined. Both characters struggle with being honest with themselves (and others) about their feelings and wants. ⦁ Usui enjoys teasing Misaki, similarly to how Rukia oftentimes teases Ichigo. ⦁ Both pairs initially get off on the wrong foot and often bicker because of their stubbornness, but ultimately come to respect, trust, and care for one another. > Similar backgrounds: ⦁ Usui, like Rukia, is partially a member of a prestigious family and is now isolated and somewhat aloof as a result of his upbringing. ⦁ Misaki, like Ichigo, cares greatly for her family and younger sibling and works hard to protect her. > Common tropes: ⦁ Both pairs share the "belligerent tension", "birds of a feather", "can't live with them, can't live without them", "declaration of protection", "everyone can see it", "like an old married couple" and "slow burn" tropes. > Similar in appearance: ⦁ Both pairs have a guy with light and bright-coloured spikey hair. Both pairs have a girl with straight, black, shoulder-length hair with bangs.

3) ItaFushi / Yuji Itadori × Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen) — > Similar personalities/dynamics: ⦁ Both pairs have matching MBTI results. With Ichigo and Yuji falling under ISFP while Rukia and Megumi fall under ISTJ. ⦁ Yuji, like Ichigo, values protecting others—especially his friends—and is equally hard-working, determined, passionate, and impulsive. ⦁ Megumi, like Rukia, is intelligent, serious, blunt, diligent, and talented. He is equally as aloof, stubborn and short-tempered. ⦁ Both pairs have complementary personalities and fight well alongside their respective partner. Both pairs are very intuitive of their partner's needs and get along well—despite occasional teasing and bickering. > Similar Backgrounds: ⦁ Like Rukia, Megumi has a complex relationship with his older, adoptive sibling. Megumi and Rukia are both apart of prestigious clans that are involved with eliminating supernatural creatures. ⦁ Like Ichigo, Yuji has a mysterious family background with some of his family members being somewhat connected to one of the series' main villians. Both characters possess latent, inherent abilities as a result of their heritage. Both characters battle with literal "inner-demons". > Similar circumstances/roles in the series: ⦁ Both pairs consist of the protagonist and deuteragonist of their respective series. ⦁ Both Ichigo and Yuji were living relatively ordinary lives until they ran into their respective deuteragonist and had to awaken supernatural abilities to save themselves and the latter from a supernatural creature. ⦁ Both Rukia and Megumi have disobeyed orders/rules in order to protect their respective protagonist. ⦁ Both Ichigo and Yuji risked being executed as a result of the powers they awakened but were saved by their respective deuteragonist. ⦁ Conversely, at different points in their respective series, both Rukia and Megumi had lost their will to live and were then saved by their respective protagonist. > Common tropes: ⦁ Both pairs share the "battle couple", "can't live with them, can't live without them", "declaration of protection", "everyone can see it", "fan-preferred couple", "friends to lovers", "I owe you my life", "rescue romance", "star-crossed lovers", "slow burn", "sun × moon" and "you are better than you think you are" tropes.

4) GinTsu / Gintoki Sakata × Tsukuyo (Gintama) — > Similar personalities/dynamics: ⦁ Gintoki, like Ichigo, is very strong-willed, stubborn, short-tempered and impulsive. Conversely, behind their cool and detached image, both characters are very charismatic, compassionate, reliable and empathetic. ⦁ In terms of MBTI results, Rukia and Tsukuyo both fall under ISTJ. Like Rukia, Tsukuyo initially believed in placing duty above her personal feelings and struggled with emotional transparency and self-worth. Both characters are very responsible, diligent, determined and blunt. ⦁ Both pairs have complementary personalities and fight well alongside their respective partner. Both pairs are very intuitive of their partner's needs and get along well. ⦁ Although both pairs often bicker and tease each other, this does not detract from their respect, trust, and care for one another. > Similar backgrounds: ⦁ Like Ichigo and Rukia, who comprehend and assist one another because of their similar past experiences, Gintoki and Tsukuyo have comparable understanding and support. This theme is further developed in Gintama's "Red Spider Arc" where Gintoki and Tsukuyo's backstories are even more explicitly contrasted. > Similar circumstances and roles in series: ⦁ Both Tsukuyo and Rukia have defied orders to protect their respective protagonist. ⦁ Both Tsukuyo and Rukia struggle with emotional transparency and self-worth. Both characters have learnt to embrace their feelings and be less constrained thanks to their respective protagonist. > Corresponding symbolism & motifs: ⦁ Both pairs have canonically been associated with celestial motifs with Rukia and Tsukuyo being associated with the moon while Ichigo and Gintoki are associated with the Sun. ⦁ Rukia and Gintoki have been respectively described as the "light" in Ichigo and Tsukuyo's lives. ⦁ Rukia has been associated with Winter and Night while Ichigo has been associated with Summer and Day. Conversely, Tsukuyo has been associated with night and autumn while Gintoki has been associated with day and spring. > Common tropes: ⦁ Both pairs share the "a shared suffering", "back-to-back badasses", "battle couple", "belligerent tension", "birds of a feather", "can't live with them, can't live without them", "declaration of protection", "everyone can see it", "flirting under fire", "friends to lovers", "I owe you my life", "mutual respect", "slow burn", "sun × moon" and "you are better than you think you are" tropes.

If you made it till the end, I'm so grateful. Thanks for reading my ramblings. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Also, remember not to spread misinformation and to respect others' right to formulate their own opinions.

[starrywangxian]

my clematis: mizisua ver vs. ivantill ver

i've noticed a lot of people comparing ivan and sua so i thought i'd take a look at the difference of their versions of my clematis to see who sings which part - over the cut!!

i also ramble about the parallels/similarities/differences between the four characters after.

(i'll be looking at the english translation because i can't speak korean T^T)

(if i get anything wrong, please let me know!!)

till / sua: oh my clematis

till / sua: hope bloomed from the abyss

ivan / mizi: oh my clematis

ivan / mizi: always be by my side

till / sua: you bloomed from

till / sua: the huge black wall

ivan / mizi: the galactic starlight

ivan / mizi: in your eyes spreads out

ivan / mizi: in the endless darkness

ivan / mizi: i find you with your scent

till / mizi: even if i sleep in infinity

till / sua: don't leave my universe

ivan & till / mizi & sua: oh my clematis

ivan & till / mizi & sua: hope bloomed from the abyss

ivan & till / mizi & sua: oh my clematis

ivan & till / mizi & sua: always be by my side

ivan / mizi: do you believe in god?

till: no! stop talking

ivan / mizi: once upon a time, mankind believed in god and had religion

till: sigh...

ivan / mizi: they believe that things that cannot be solved by human strength

ivan/ mizi: are the will of god

ivan / mizi: believed that the entire universe revolved around the earth

ivan / mizi: thought that the place that connected with the sky, which they could not dare to reach

ivan / mizi: was the place where the gods lived

till: that's just ridiculous.

ivan / mizi: from the moment humanity left the universe, we all forgot god

ivan / mizi: but if belief in god is human

ivan / mizi: if all i can do as a human is to believe

till: why are you staring at me?

ivan / mizi: my god

till: hey, hey! wait!

ivan / mizi: my universe

till: ah, go away!! ahhhhh

till / mizi: oh my clematis

till / mizi: hope withered in the abyss

ivan / mizi: oh my clematis

ivan / mizi: please stay by my side

ivan: my clematis / mizi: oh my clematis

alrightyyy so i decided to do this because i feel like it's the best way to see how mizisua and ivantill compare. these particular characters covered these songs for a reason, right?

just to mention, i find it very interesting how till thinks the speech is ridiculous. does he say that because it's ivan that's saying it? or does he genuinely think it's ridiculous. because these words were originally mizi's. would he still think it's ridiulous if mizi was the one saying them? hmmmmm

but anyways to conclude. most of mizi's lyrics are covered by ivan and most of sua's lyrics are covered by till showing that, at least for this song, mizi and ivan are more similar than sua and till are, and if you think about it, it makes sense.

mizi saw sua as her god ("my god, my universe") and i think from how ivan only allowed himself to touch or show his feelings for till when he wasn't looking/unconscious has that same feeling, that ivan saw till as a god who was unattainable, untouchable in all circumstances except for when till was unaware. much like when you pray to god, you don't necessarily get a response back, you pray and hope that god hears it.

i know that most people compare sua and ivan because they have similar appearances and they both sacrifice themselves for their loves but i don't think that's quite the case.

for one, mizi and sua sang together and mizi only won by one point. their round was on equal footing as they both sang, complying with the rules of the game. they both accepted their fates, i feel like both were prepared to die for the other but mizi was unaware that sua was planning to sacrifice herself to make sure that mizi won. whereas, ivan and till sang separately and till won by 19 points. ivan could not bare the thought of till dying and manipulated the score which till was completely unaware of, even thinking that ivan was going to kill him right until the moment where he opened his eyes (which is AHHHHH). ivan and sua are opposites here and mizi and till were both unaware what the other was planning.

and i can see why people compare mizi and till together (i mean i judt did it ksdjksjd). mizi and till both win due to the others' sacrifice but if you think about it, these songs are about being left behind, right? we haven't seen how till feels about ivan's sacrifice yet but we know that ivan feels unseen by till. like he's been left behind. and he quite literally was left behind by till when they tried to escape on that night with the meteor shower. mizi was left behind by sua because she died but ivan was left behind by till because he cared about someone else more.

and, i mean, mizi is the one who covers black sorrow, not sua. and black sorrow is a song about not being able to reach someone (ï can't reach you"), about standing next to someone who shines (ÿou who shine, i stand next to you" <- this also adds to the idea that ivan/mizi see the other as a god), about waiting for someone (ivan waiting for till to notice him and mizi waiting for sua to return to her). so are sua and ivan really that similar?

and i mean mizi dyes the ends of her hair blue, which is ivan's colour, not green (till's colour)...

anyway i'm rambling at this point but hopefully you can make sense of what i'm trying to get at lmao

(feel free to add your own thoughts!!)

[seven-snails]

i've been thinking so much about uika the last couple of days.. she's had so many scenes where she's trying to connect with sakiko and can't because sakiko is going through so much and can't let herself open up or else she'll break, and it's making me wonder if/how this is going to play into the big twist in her character that's been hinted at so much - especially considering her feelings for sakiko have such a romantic bent to them. it's interesting to me how she and mutsumi are... not parallels, exactly, but like. rhyming in their reasons for being in ave mujica. like, they're both childhood friends of sakiko who are in the band because of their feelings for her, but where mutsumi joined the band because she feels responsible for crychic breaking up and feels like she has to help sakiko hold herself together, uika is there explicitly because she wants to be with sakiko, and is pretty clearly hoping that sakiko will return this interest uika's been expressing in her. in this vein, it's also interesting to me that in mutsumi's flashback soyo and uika are deliberately mirrored; they both derive a lot of meaning from being in a band with sakiko - and from being in a band because sakiko specifically asked them - and they both end up acting as the mediators when disagreements arise, in part because they want so badly to hold onto their places here. this parallel is part of what makes me wonder if sakiko's emotional unavailability is going to lead into whatever causes uika to break or change face - soyo wanted to push anon and raana out and turn mygo back into crychic because she had connected so much of herself and so much of the meaning she found in life to being part of crychic, and so it makes me wonder if in a similar way uika is connecting her own sense of worth and meaning to sakiko, to whatever it is that she feels for sakiko, and possibly even these feelings being returned, and if sakiko (perhaps unintentionally) denying her that by being so caught up in her own struggles is going to lead uika to break down in a similar way. god im so fascinated by uika i can't wait to see where they take her

[starship-buccaneer]

Okay, this might be a stretch, but hear me out: I think all of the future episode titles for this season of 9-1-1 (that we know so far) can be linked to love songs.

"Buck, Bothered and Bewildered" is obviously a reference to Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered famously sung by Ella Fitzgerald. It's a song about being surprised by love, lamenting love but accepting it, and eventually falling out of love. All very interesting, but the obvious point is that this episode was about Buck discovering his feelings - romantic feelings - for someone he wasn't expecting (aka a man).

But I don't think it ends there.

"You Don't Know Me", the title of episode 5, is likely a reference to the alien limb situation (or whatever it's called) that the guy in the preview has going on. But it could also be a reference to the Ray Charles song "You Don't Know Me" which is a song about someone desperately pining for their friend while the friend remains oblivious (and is implied to be with someone else). Now, if I put my clown makeup on, obviously I'm seeing Buddie in neon lights. But either way, I think you can reasonably argue this episode will be focused (at least partially) on Buck's love life and very likely the intersection of Buck's budding gay romance and his friendship with Eddie (as was implied by the preview trailer). Now, whether or not this will eventually lead to Buddie (possibly in season 8) is anyone's guess, but a guy can dream right?

But wait! There's more!

According to the Wikia, "There Goes the Groom" is the title of episode 6, and here is where we really get into conspiracy theory time.

So, there's a Nancy Sinatra song called "There Goes the Bride", and it is yet another old song about someone pining for someone else who is already in a relationship.

There goes the bride

Waste away and long of love

Walking down the aisle

Where I′d like to go

Here goes the groom

Everything that I live for

I love you so

She couldn't love him more

Somehow I knew I′d lose you

And when you left, how I cried

I went away to try to forget him

That's when he met the bride

There goes my love

Only I know what it means

There goes the bride

Down with all my dreams

Somehow I knew I'd lose him

And when he left, oh, how I cried

I went away to try to forget him

That′s when he met the bride

There goes my love

Only I know what it means

There goes the bride

Down with all my dreams

It's a tragic love song, and has overt themes of matrimony. Now, I don't think Eddie is going to be getting married to Marisol anytime soon, but I do think there may be some indication that Eddie is serious about her and that could cause some interesting feelings for Buck (possibly even the beginnings of a realization or hint that Buck does not have entirely platonic feelings for Eddie). The song has this ongoing narrative about loving, losing, trying to move on, then seeing your love find someone else. Which could apply to Buck seeing Eddie with Marisol, moving on with Tommy, and realizing that he can't because he truly does love Eddie. But that's just a theory. (A gay-me theory.)

I do think it's likely that the big 911 call (case? mission? firefighter equivalent?) of the episode has something to do with a wedding/marriage, and that whatever dynamic is going on between the people involved ends up having some connection to Buck/Eddie, Buck/Tommy, and/or Eddie/Marisol's situation (the 911 writers love their thematic parallels afterall). And, with the melancholy tone of the song plus the theme of loss, it's also possible this episode involves some kind of separation, possibly a fight that causes distance between two of the characters (Buck and Eddie perhaps?), but this is all speculation.

Episode 7 is titled "Ghost of a Second Chance". Well, there are no songs titled "Ghost of a Second Chance" that I could find, but there are actually a lot of songs titled "Ghost of a Chance". "Buck, Bothered and Bewildered" proves the writers often change the names of songs a little to make the reference fit their character narrative better, so I'm not throwing my theory to the curb just yet.

At first, I thought the reference may have been to the Rush song "Ghost of a Chance" which is actually a love song. It's about two people finding each other and, despite the narrator/singer not believing in "forever or love as a mystical state", still believing their love could last.

But, in keeping with the older music theme, there's also a Frank Sinatra song called "Ghost of a Chance" or, more accurately, "(I Don't Stand) A Ghost of a Chance"

I need your love so badly I love you oh so madly But I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you I thought at last I found you But other loves surround you And I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you If you'd surrender Just for a tender Kiss or two You might discover That I'm the lover Meant for you And I'd be true

But what's the good of scheming I know I must be dreaming For I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you

What's the good of scheming I know I must be dreaming 'cause I don't stand A ghost of a chance With you

Wow! Yet another song about someone in love and pining for a person who's affections are preoccupied by someone else. How interesting.

Well, if my theory about the previous episode is correct, then it's possible that this episode is about reconciliation and pining. "Ghost of a Second Chance" implies being given the chance to try something again. And with the theme of the Frank Sintra song, pining might also be an ongoing motif. So, if the previous episode involved some type of fight and distancing between Eddie and Buck, then this episode might be about them making up despite Buck's (possible) ongoing inner turmoil (realizing he's in love with his best friend?).

I'm sure I'm practically honking my clown horn at this point, but maybe, just maybe these episode titles really are hinting at Buck's emotional state, and maybe his emotional state is occupied with unresolved feelings of jealousy and devotion directed towards his currently-not-single best friend Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz.

[spywhitney]

Why I'm Not Buying New Tickets for the Sydcarmy Train (For Now Anyway)

So yesterday I re-watched S3 (aside from EP10. I didn't feel like watching Sydney having a panic attack again) so I can write this with a fresher perspective.

For a little context, S3 dropped at 2am Thursday for where I was and I couldn't get to sleep because A) I was so excited to watch it and B) It was more hot than usual so that kept me awake so I watched it all immediately.

My main stance is not that I don't necessarily doubt sydcarmy will happen, but rather I don't like the idea of it as much as I did before S3. Now, to my points:

Season 4 May Be the Last Season I believe it will be, or if we're lucky (???), an extra season. With how the story has gone thus far, and how the actors are being catapulted into the spotlight, I doubt there will be time for a satisfying sydcarmy ending.

Carmen Is No Longer Attractive as a Male Lead

The bear is a show of flawed characters that we can all connect, sympathise and root for in one way or another.

I had a hard time finding the Carmy from the previous seasons, or enough of the good traits that made him sympathetic enough for me to overlook his unsavoury ones. The yelling, ignoring, the disrespect, the arrogance, the abandonment, the neglect (and whatever else I haven't said) directed at Sydney (and everyone else, but she gets the worst of him the most often) doesn't make me want to see them kiss.

The first word that came to mind is gross. Could you imagine if a friend explained what Sydney has went through with Carmen then revealed they're getting into a romantic relationship with him? There's a certain ick factor that can't be undone completely by longing stares, chemistry and hundreds of analysis posts for me.

If being around your "soulmate" is leading to deteriorating health, it's not worth it. Smells too much like struggle love to me, and I'm not fond of the implications of that.

Dwindling Faith in the Execution of Sydney’s Character I held an expectation that S3 will be heavily focused on Sydney, but she was side-lined once again, and not for characters or arcs that I and a lot of viewers wanted to see. (Not to mention how this season was in general).

This season was mostly rising action and conflict, and with that we've seen Sydney at her lowest and have to wait to see if she will be victorious before the end (the word victory was first said by Sydney and one other person so far in the show, so I hope that's a good sign).

I don't want to sit through watching a black woman be a workhorse/emotional support/"work wife" to a white guy, or just anyone really. There was microscopic if non-existent reciprocity or at the bare minimum acknowledgement of what Sydney has done for everyone and the restaurant (and not just from Carmen).

Carmen Has to Change More Than Sydney Does His flaws far out weigh the severity of Sydney's. With S3, him not being okay is making Sydney not be okay, this is something I was concerned about in S2 with all the parallels, while some are sweet/romantic, others like the throwing up, the ticket machine and now the panic attacks, are too largely negative to be overlooked.

Saying that Sydney is becoming Carmen is not a stance I agree with (or want to believe), but for the show so far he's been giving her more problems, more stress and not enough care, respect, love to make up for it. Sydney has a flaw of not being vulnerable and expressing herself. It affects herself and her relationships with others, but not to the point where they're worse of. Carmen's flaws are negatively affecting Sydney's health, while despite her flaws, Sydney's strengths positively affect Carmen without fail. See where the problem is? Sydney has nothing to gain (and so far, has gained nothing substantial) from being around Carmen in any capacity, while Carmen has continued to benefit from her presence.

Again, it's kind of hard to root for them when romance involves people who compliment each other, make each other better. "You make me better at this." This is certainly true for Carmen, but Sydney? I don't see how this has been illustrated, or at most to a significant extend to where the negative aspects of their dynamic are out trumped. (Sidenote: At least Claire was getting lovingly touched and getting fucked by Carmen while Sydney was building up their dream restaurant alone. That's some nasty work.)

Sydney Deserves a Changed Carmen, Not a Struggling One Or a different love interest altogether. (Luca, where are you at? My condolences to the sydmarcus crowd, they really burned your ship in S2 then let it sink in S3.)

This connects to my very first point, but I don't think there will be enough time for Carmen to improve to be the man Sydney deserves. He also has yet to suffer the consequences for how he's treating Sydney. So far he has suffered at his own mind and trauma, but that's not enough for me. He has yet to pay his dues when it comes to Sydney, so the the idea that she will stay with him and The Bear and wait around for him to be and do better when she's been doing that three seasons straight doesn't sit right with me.

Like Sydney's gone through all that she's gone through (mostly due to Carmen) only for Carmen to be what she gets at the end? Eh, no thanks. (Especially if Sydney doesn't get loved up and taken care of by someone deserving, succeed professionally and win in general.)

Subtext, Glorious Subtext Last one. Whoop whoop! Being a sydcarmy has made watching this show so much better.

However, I can't be the only one who at times is getting tired of hyperfixating on subtext only for it to amount to nothing.

But, I have a few observations myself. I don't want Sydney to stay with Carmen/at the bear, I want her to leave. I have a feeling she won't but:

-In S3 EP5, when Sydney asked Carmen if he knew if Ever was special when he was there and I think he said he didn't, but Sydney said it was good he got to experience it.

-The only noteworthy Claire scene where she talks about the girl who fell into a glass table and laughed after the surgery, and Claire said she thinks the wounds didn't hurt yet. (And the scar on Carmen's hand. Is that from the pilot S1 episode when he grabbed the pan?)

-When it's revealed Terry is closing Ever, Richie presumes the reason is because she's depressed, but it's revealed she just didn't want to do it any more.

-The ever chef told Sydney if it wasn't for Terry closing he'd probably be there forever.

With these moments I like to think Sydney's arc is learning to move on, to not make "everything the thing". Carmen is the one who needs to stay at the bear, in one place and work on becoming himself with where he's at.

I may add onto this later, if you've read this far thank you, and I hope it was interesting. Links below are my rants on S3 and sydcarmy. Pretty sure you could decode the five stages of grief in them- I'm so dramatic lol.

This This And this

[romance-club-daily]

Comments on the update (january/2025) that nobody asked for:

Remember that these are my opinions, you don't have to agree with them.

Astrea's Broken Heart:

I think in the end things finally started to engage, I was finding this second season a bit stale (?). I still don't like that ABH is from the HS universe, but I'm curious to know their connection with the book of the apocalypse, the spear and HSR. Regarding David, I'm missing the element of the 72 demons and how this would be a difficulty for the relationship between him and Audrey, the story of the separation is fine, but it lacks substance. The idea of the demons tormenting his mind and damaging their relationship seems more interesting to me. About their scene, @teatimemols I really didn't like the scene you mentioned, and the one with the cuddles too :| The first one was weird, the second one... it wasn't really cuddles... Let's see if the next one improves. Cassiel's path, impeccable! I love reading their scene together, and him saying that he finally wants to show this love for Audrey to the world 10/10. I was hoping that Mikael's brother would be someone from HSR, or even the angel Gabriel, like a twin, but… There's nothing to do about that. I have a slot for Rafael but he doesn't enchant me very much, I think it's ok. Malek, I think it was obvious that he was connected to the beast and I don't understand how the characters didn't realise this before, I mean, he knew a lot about what the Astreans were looking for and nobody got suspicious? Not even Mikael, in a more serious way? At least by the end of this update everything will be clear and the plot will progress further, I hope.

Soulless:

I hope Wincy gets better soon! Soulless is still my favourite story. I loved the scenes between Vincent and Vyxaria, one of the best routes in the story. I missed the others having romantic scenes as well (apart from Threxio/a who had a quick one). But I understand, because they couldn't fit everything into one episode. Also, the gang in a new setting? Fantasy clothes for them! I hope Threxio/a can change clothes as demons, finally. I can't wait for the next update!

Heaven's Secret Requiem:

Honestly, I'm not a W|W player, but this situation with Anna's path is horrendous. I took routes where the LI M|F is forgotten, but for these routes in particular it's even worse, because it's clear that she knows what's going on and doesn't give a damn. The same goes for Greg, who has no involvement in the plot except for his sister. ABH's Cassiel, who takes a similar route, is important to the plot and isn't just about his sister's death. The mistake lies with the author who doesn't want to develop the two characters and has clearly only put them in to fill quotas, if they were white and male I don't think this would happen, she'd quickly find something for them to do. Like with Dead Man Boris and the dead weight Yan. The plot is cool and all, but if the LI path you choose isn't treated with the slightest bit of respect/is sidelined the story loses all its fun to me.

Cain not being related to Yan and them looking alike is very strange to me, apart from the fact that they never interact. Him being the traitor doesn't surprise me either, it makes a lot of sense. Dmitry has an ok route I guess.

7 Brothers:

I'm enjoying the plot and I'm happy for James' girls I guess (I like Avery and Simon more, but that's me). Grant's route is going well, I don't think he's boring, I just think he needs to be more involved in the plot (?). Tristan's route is also going well, I think. I hope there'll be more action in the next update.

The Parallel Universes Bureau:

I really like the fairy theme and I'm really enjoying the story, the bad thing is that it will only last one season! Albert and Orion's paths are very good and reducing the number of LIs from 5/6 to 4 was an advantage for a short story. I still think should be around 15/16 episodes per season as it's an anthology, it's not too little or too much time. And I think they're already sowing the seeds for next season, the agent who calls the MC all the time to talk to her is appearing a lot in the story, I think they're hints for the next MC.

Also, it's been my comfort story since Hell and high Water ended.

W: Time Catcher:

The writing is as impeccable as ever! Shen's path *chef's kiss*, Lucien's too! And I'm tempted to open a slot for Renato! I'm just hoping for a bit more action, I guess it's just my impression, but the story is a bit stale? I don't know, showing the repercussions of the Vatican story after Praevius died, how Nova's "father" and the general are acting, something like that would be good. The detective plot is getting a bit tiring? But apart from that it's sensational!

The Thunderstorms Saga:

I'm enjoying the plot, Ganash's route is going well! The conspiracies and the king's sudden interest in Tiss is making the plot moving more, it's good. I'm just sad that although they've added other races to MC the characters, we're not going to see the same diversity in the secondary characters, just the mountain elves I guess. I think it's going to be like the other Jester stories, towards the end the plot really become engaging.

And the Haze Will Takes Us:

At first I didn't engage with the story, but these last few updates have been good! Reading how the village's paranoia is building and how their reaction to the events is going has been interesting, especially with Novak's arrival. This story is one that doesn't let you imagine what might happen next, because they might, I don't know, decide to dump Lada at the haze at any moment now, or kill someone for nothing too, or the gods appearing out of nowhere too. A wild ride, I guess (that's a compliment).

Shakespeare's Code:

I've really enjoyed the Eds! Especially Edmund! The toad is the goat! and the opportunity to be a villain is also interesting. I'm still confused by all these stats, but still trying to understand. The dialogues are too flowery for me, so sometimes it gets boring, but I think it's more of a personal problem. I think Shakespeare is M's servant too, he seems suspicious, especially with his son's illness and all.

The Missing:

A good start, I liked all the LIs and the genre of the story is one I like a lot, I hope the mystery holds us from start to finish and the author continues to do a great job. It's nice to see an MC who's competent at what she does too, without being a Mary Sue, it'll be nice to follow her. I just don't know if the story is going to be only detective and drama, because some shadows and trolls have appeared. Will there also be supernatural elements? I hope not.

Garden of Eden:

I've given up on the story, it's really not for me, I can't follow it at all, I really tried. I'm going to go diamond mining and read only the parts of Doo-yeong's scenes.

Chasing You 2:

Same as Garden of Eden, I really can't read the story anymore, Ellia barely appears and all that happens is smut with Ezra and Alexander. Only diamond mining and reading Ellia's part.

Dracula: A Love Story:

I don't know what is happening anymore, just hoping for the finale and I hope it comes soon.