#and they incidentally didn't play any others so it's their only impression of the series

[onebizarrekai]

okay yes technically the 'no' answer on the poll has the most votes, but if you add up all the options as intended, the zelda fans are winning by 72.5% (so far)

honestly I am THRILLED that this zelda fans have popped up already, even if they've only played some of the games. you guys know where it's at

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 7: Gdansk

GDAAAAAANSK!

Obviously I love Gdansk- who doesn't? It's basically perfect. While I encourage new listeners who are listening cold to start with Douz, if they need one episode to tempt them in, I always have them try Gdansk. Works every time.

I kind of had to turn my brain off before listening to this one, because I've heard it so many times that it doesn't really register in my head anymore as a thing in and of itself as opposed to "funny thing that I like and listen to when I need a non-pharmaceutical antidepressant." And it is really, really good at that. Passenger Derby is basically my favorite thing on the show from a pure comedy perspective, and the whole thing is just hilarious.

But the episode is also able to seamlessly integrate the humor and the human relationships together, and that's something where I think S2 is a clear improvement on S1. Some of it is clearly a purposeful shift as the characters get to know each other better, but I also think that JF just got better at writing it- which makes a lot of sense. Regardless, it just works beautifully, in part because it narrows in on one highly specific relationship that's about to get permanently deepened- Douglas and Martin. (Incidentally, Roger Allam is always great but I do want to call out Benedict Cumberbatch's performance in this episode as being absolutely stellar, and it should be played for all of the "he only knows how to play one character and it hasn't been cool since 2015" people out there to prove them wrong. He's SO FUNNY while also making you feel bad for him AND kinda annoyed with him for being such an idiot. Kudos.)

In certain ways, Gdansk is more like Limerick than it is, say, Ipswich. In Ipswich, sure, there's the question of who's the alpha dog, but fundamentally the episode centers around the situation of needing to renew their certifications and how they deal with that, and it's through that medium that the question of who the alpha dog is (not that we had any doubt) is resolved. Here, there isn't really a plot, just a bunch of linked scenes on the same flight with an A plot and a B plot that end up coinciding through the Disney character game and the strudel/cheesecake bet- which make it clear that the A plot is the Martin-Douglas relationship plot because it's their actions in the flight deck that impact the B plot of Madame S-B and her unreasonable and paranoid demands. And it's super, super impressive that JF was able to do such a great job of putting all the moving pieces together, even more smoothly than his previous not-really-a-plot episode, Fitton.

But anyway, back to Martin and Douglas. It's done so well, because even though the broadcast order was switched so that Helsinki was in between, the ending of Fitton HAD to be addressed. And I love how it gives all the betting, and Douglas messing with Martin, stakes- unlike in S1 when Douglas did it just to fuck with him and show him who's really boss, here it's because Douglas is genuinely hurting and angry about something that Martin finds funny even though to him, it's painful. Douglas needs to get some of his own back- and to get that joke of Martin's back- which leads to a continually escalating series of bets. Martin, in turn, is cherishing the one thing that gives him something over Douglas- which he really needs, given how demoralizing it is to be in a position that he knows he didn't truly earn and that he's not a paid pilot. In the end, Martin doesn't give up the story, but he gives up an even bigger piece of leverage- and that puts Douglas far enough on top that he feels able to be magnanimous again in helping Martin out with the game so he can beat Carolyn. He's not at a point where he'll do it for nothing, but in exchange for that bit of pride that Martin's embarrassing admission gives him back, he will.

(It's also worth noting that Douglas is actively in divorce proceedings at this point, which Martin doesn't know and Douglas chooses not to share- perhaps to keep that one bit of pride, that Martin doesn't know that the wife Douglas bought brown sauce for was having an affair the whole time. When Douglas does share that in Limerick, it's in exchange for a different piece of vulnerability from Martin.)

Ughhhhh, emotional stakes and character work, so GOOD!

Just a top tier episode. Could literally listen to it at any time and in any place.

[whetstonefires]

okay during the karakura attack, after aizen finally makes it to Real Karakura

[which had incidentally been swapped into another dimension for security reasons during the one single actual battle of what they called The Winter War because said battle happened in November(?????), i have no idea what if anything it would do to the YuGiOh powers to be in the dead people dimension. it's an important plot point that Karakura is much denser in spirit energy than the rest of the living world, be very funny if this impacted how Duel Monsters work. are Kaiba's holograms inexplicably more lifelike in the Karakura-fused version of Domino City than anywhere else in the world? do atem and bakura get powerups, or are they immune to ambient power flow.]

there's a whole bit where the only people who aren't unconscious are the ones with high spirit power, which mostly means ichigo's friends because he uh. spiritually mutated them via proximity. it's a good thing he didn't live in an apartment complex, geez.

so it seems likely some of the yugioh cast would be up and about also! and having encounters in this kidnapped sleeping city.

anyway brief plot digression where Atem challenges Tube Sock Version Aizen to a shadow game, and the operational parameters of this dead-people magic system are different enough that he can't just expode the Game from the inside with his ridiculous shounen powerup. and if he breaks the rules he gets a Penalty Game.

this would actually be really interesting because technically aizen is...good at pretending to play by the rules? but i'm not sure he's capable of actually following them. but if motivated he could be really good at doing the thing where he obeys the letter but not the spirit. which is what early-manga Other Yuugi specializes in when up against bad people, so they could have an over-the-top sneaky rules-lawyer-off over some weird made-up game that Atem made up on the spot; to be true to the spirit of both series it would have to involve a sword somehow.

BUT this is at a point in Aizen's character arc where he is on the brink of completing the apotheosis he pursued specifically for the sake of never having to acknowledge any rules or limitations ever again forever, and he is 1) really enjoying it and 2) in the process of losing his mind entirely

the collision of this with a Shadow Game would be thematically impressive but also tend to explode unpredictably in all directions.

....also Aizen's project here is to sacrifice living human souls to make a MacGuffin for royalty reasons so Bakura deserves a chance to go apeshit on him, although there's no way i can see him being more than a delaying action

give me yugioh and bleach please

Okay. I want. I want Ichigo and Yuugi going to the same school. I want them in the same class. I want both manga happening in the same universe, concurrently. This thought is so crack-tastic I keep pausing to giggle maniacally, and I don’t think I can come even close to bringing it to justice, but here are some thoughts:

Ichigo can see Atem haunting the puzzle ofc, but Atem isn’t like.... hurting one? I mean. Some people got set on fire, but those people sucked. Yuugi’s weird ghost goes firmly into the “not touching that” category. (He can also see Bakura when Ryou shows up, but Bakura doesn’t do anything when Ichigo is around, so Ichigo brushes it off as the same sort of deal.)

Rukia is definitely bothered and confronts Atem-Yuugi, so now Yuugi is aware Ichigo is some sort of... grim reaper? Like the card? Sure, whatever. Yuugi has other problems. The first season of YGO and the first season of Bleach both happen with them largely ignoring each other...... except Ishida definitely tries to fight Kaiba over his hideous trench coat. 

Orihime plays duel monsters. She’s not very good at it, but Yuugi humors her and encourages her to play with their friend group between classes. Even when he gets crowned the King of Games. Maybe even especially after he becomes King of Games!

And then I want Aizen’s attack on Karakura Town (which now takes place is Karakura) to happen at the same time. I didn’t watch that arc in Bleach so I don’t know how it would work, but I want arrancar and shinigami getting confused and entering weird shadow games. I want Jounouchi and Honda going FUCK IT and fist fighting someone. I want to know if Malik can mind-control a ghost. I want Ishizu looking Aizen in the eyes and predicting his downfall. 

And then I want Yuugi and Ichigo bumping into each other while they’re in the middle of running off to whatever new crisis and being like: UUUUUUH good luck?