#and after i've had time to process this ep. god damn.

[flying-fangirls]

ahaha. haHA. HA. .

anyways Part 52 listening thoughts

there is no way that's Antoine right?

yeah no. Heyyy Lillith <3

girl the table? The maggot rerun?? Poor John...

woah Osc-

NOEL. NOEL NOEL NEOL

GUG PIT????

Antoine you dumbass boy

oh shoot wait I'm sorry for disrespecting you buddy. I meant: Jarthur you dumbass boys

Lillith honey please be okay please don't die :(

Ok wait but like. What the heck was that fragment that she dropped? Was it like, a Forgotten One? Is that why Arthur was able to straight up absorb it? (please I'm being delusional, this is how we get a Lillith return trust me)

"That may have been a bad idea" YA THINK??? Castle Kerringford Crew y'all need a hug STAT-

ANTOINE OUGH. That whole speech as he was dying, saying that cult Antoine was good and the happy version of our Antoine-- that was fucked up /pos

Oh John no that's not... I fear the baby's sense of mortality might've gotten a little fucked up somewhere along the way

DON'T SAY IT OH MY GOD BOYS-

it's a daddy-daughter showdown! :D

mmmyeah that makes sense for Yorick

*gasp* Kayne misogynist real??

Local fanfic writer who's been calling John "sunshine" for months gets to hear him canonically called "sunshine," but at what cost...

ANTOINEEEEEEEE

oh the Faroe card is CHEAP (but also very effective)

is John about to get Faust flashbacks....

Actually on that, I need someone to write a fic that's this entire episode but from John's perspective because my boy was going THROUGH it this entire time

"I never should've opened that book." ARTHUR.

NOEL

"Threshold"? What?? What???

alright actually on this: Kayne said Noel was "close to home", which could mean Arkham, Arthur's previous home. OR, it could mean the Dark World and John's "home" of his kingdom (not that I want our poor boy to have been running through the Dark World this whole time, buuuut at the same time that would theoretically let us see him sooner...)

whoagh wait Lester parents as cultists is canon, oh I love that tehe :)

"How many sad poems did you have to write to know why they did it?" UNCALLED FOR

"I'm going to kill him" HUH.

"That's the wager." HUH.

LILLITH NOOOOOOO

OHH KAYNE WHEN I GET YOU-

"Your Day of Wrath" oh.

so like. That was said at John. Yes sure kinda also at Arthur, but mostly at John. Like this implication that John brought about the inevitable reckoning of Arthur's death. Like this implication that John is in fact the horseman and herald of Death. And like the implication that he's simultaneously the all-powerful God himself during the Day of Wrath, the powerful being incapable of stopping himself from reigning destruction upon "evil".

Oh hey and also, while we're unpacking terminology: Da Capo. The fact that Da Capo means the return to the Dark World, the very beginning of John's story. The fact that Da Capo also means Kayne's plan to restart the world, to "take it from the top" so to speak. Yeah...

Ok maybe I'll get some more coherent thoughts or analysis up soon, but for tonight all I've got is rambling screams inside my head. This was... GOSH, it was a good episode. This is not only my favorite episode of this season, but easily about to shoot up into my top 5 episodes of the entire show so far. Not a second went by that didn't drive forward the emotion, plot, or momentum in a compelling way. The music, voiceacting, sound design, horror, ALL of it was phenomenal. This episode is such a perfect example of how amazing this show can truly be <3

[zhuoyichenpretty]

Eps 34-35

Not many photos here because anything I screenshot in these eps would literally just give me psychic damage at this point (-:

Spoilers under the cut!

Ep 34:

I'm being so brave watching this fucking opening scene again.

No actually though I've watched it several times by now and it just keeps getting worse. What can one even say about all this? Ow??? Fuck???

Probably the most gruesome onscreen death of a child character in cdrama that I've seen like I didn't know they could even go there like that. I guess maybe because it's not gory or specifically violent? Idk the rules but man. His expression.

The way they play TJR singing their song and then switch to LZY's version. Maximum pain thank you guys.

ZYC's "I'm sorry" is so damn loaded. For not being there, for failing to protect him, but also for being the reason Bai Jiu made this decision. For giving Bai Jiu someone to love and protect and die for. For unknowingly and inadvertently causing this just by loving him and being loved by him. ZYC's remorse and regret as he makes the connections and pieces together Bai Jiu's thought process is so fucking haunting. Just the most awful way for his own words of comfort to come back. And like I'd commented previously—the way love begets grief.

I'm going to kms I knew when they put yet another cloak on ZYC that he'd be giving it to someone else but NO!!! Not like this oh my god

"哥帶你回家" (Ge will take you home) I don't even have the words for how painful this is. Is this the first time ZYC refers to himself as ge? Not just acknowledging that Bai Jiu's made an older brother of him? If not, it's certainly the most salient.

Both actors' skills can hardly be questioned atp (like, that's a damn difficult expression to die with), but I just have to marvel at the way TJR's acting (his micro-expressions!!!) is at once subtle and incredibly clear. That ZYC's every emotion is clearly telegraphed—his shock, his horror, his anguish, his regret, his desperation, his exhaustion—but so naturally done.

ZYC struggling with the weight of Bai Jiu's body and dropping it, on top of paralleling the flashback, is just so terrible in its reality. ZYC must already be so incredibly drained after that final battle. To have gone through such an unspeakable loss, to carry it on his back and find himself unable to even properly do that, to protect what's left of Bai Jiu from the mundanity of physical damage.

WX's dad nooooo you're leaving her to ZYZ but ZYZ's not planning on staying either nooooo

Are we sure the magic rain couldn't have saved WX's dad tho ):

WX don't tell ZYZ your self-sacrificial plan there's no way he'd let you go through with it girl!!! You gotta pull a ZYC and be vague as fuck and make sure everyone's feet are frozen to the ground so they can't stop you

ZYZ backing away after using the spell on WX, slapping himself when he nearly can't get himself to go through with dying. Good shit. But also my god I'm so sorry WX what a fucking traumatic ten minutes will anyone give her a fucking break? Living at any cost, at the cost of her beloved dying several feet away from her, yet another manifestation of her trauma with Zhao Wan'er, and knowing it's about to happen, begging to be given a say—cruel. PSJ has been offscreen for forever just because plot convenience (which, in itself, already sucks) but if she were here she would kill ZYZ herself for putting WX through this and the rain would just be a bonus.

The Cloud Light Sword stained with blood to the point it looks unfamiliar—good shit.

ZYC's fucking voice when he asks if there's any other choice. Art, I tell you.

Fucking hell. The twist on their fate being ZYC choosing it rather than being forced into it, to absolve ZYZ of the cruelty he's had to bear responsibility for in doing this to his loved ones. Zhiji was not misapplied in this damn story—ZYC understands and he understands over and over because who else could do this for ZYZ? To find one last way to lighten his burden in such a conflicting and complicated and impossible situation. To know exactly what must be hurting ZYZ and to bear the weight instead and to make sure he knows full well that's what's happening. For ZYC to take that hurt upon himself, entirely upon himself. The way that ZYC dealing the killing blow is actually the furthest thing from a moment of hardening his own heart, that it's in fact the height of his soft-heartedness. And how much that must hurt. Pain.

Also, imo ZYC making it purely his choice at the last moment is so clearly and specifically for ZYZ. Not for anyone else's sake, and precisely against his own and WX's wishes. Upon knowing ZYZ's commitment to death in this moment, whatever else happening has been made secondary. He is giving ZYZ all that he has left to give—fulfilling ZYZ's sacrificial determination, carrying out ZYZ's will to save the people, absolving ZYZ's guilt at what it's taken to get here.

(Totally tangential but I referenced AOT in my last post so I figured I'd make further reference: if anyone's familiar with Eruri—I'm somewhat reminded of Levi's choice. Being the only one with the power to save or let their loved one die. Choosing death for them, on their behalf, perhaps a decision opaque and counterintuitive to the rest of the world but completely and utterly made out of love and an inimitable understanding of the man they love. The most painfully and unimaginably selfless act, to give them peace at the cost of their own suffering.)

"小卓，你還是這麼..." (Xiao Zhuo, you're still so...) Oh this line kills me (ha). I love that it's unfinished. That it encapsulates ZYZ's surprise, his understanding and gratitude, and ultimately this sense of marveling at the man in front of him and what he's given ZYZ even now, at the very end. It tells me ZYZ recognizes ZYC's choice for what it is: the utmost act of a soft-hearted and boundless love that sees through him completely. Zhiji indeed.

The way ZYZ has unfulfilled promises with both WX and ZYC, the way they both call him a liar—good shit.

When I didn't know there was an episode 35 (or special episode I guess) I was boutta throw hands like what do you MEAN that's it??

Ep 35:

I do love a good hair-turning-white-from-grief trope (': But man, white hair like that at 24/25........Also though PSJ and WX finally have more noticeably different styling/silhouettes yayy they look gorgeous

God, but I can't bear looking at how small their group is now.

Searching all the mountains and seas, all 28 mountains in the Wilderness. ZYC, that kind of devotion...I really feel the need to echo ZYZ here, you're really so...

ZYC looking like ZYZ from behind because of his hair......ZYC's hand shaking holding Bai Jiu's bell............................

Also I'm really glad (I say this through tears) because I saw Bai Jiu didn't have his bell in ep 33/34 and I was like ??

Ah, are you kidding me I thought the pain was more or less over what do you mean Bai Jiu wants ZYC to 勿想勿念 [wù xiǎng wù niàn] (don't think of, don't miss)?? The way 不念不响 [bù niàn bù xiǎng] is literally the title of ZYC's character song, which then plays in the bg ('''':

(I can't really tell how well the subs explain it or how it comes across in translation so apologies if this context isn't necessary but the characters in the song title say "don't read, don't ring," but the character for "ring" is a homophone for "think of" and the character for "read" can also mean "miss." Missing someone/something is "想念" [xiǎng niàn]. Bai Jiu tells ZYC not to miss him through homophonous terms—a book he can't read, a bell that can't ring—and the song title is directly referencing that.) What an elaborate way to hurt me.

Bai Jiu really pulled a ZYC though with a box full of hurt/comfort just like ZYC had left WX

Ohhh the way WX's narration turns into ZYC's?? Honestly this drama's commitment to canonizing ZYC's love for ZYZ to the same level as WX's is really gratifying. And ZYC talking about a bone-deep sadness after ZYZ died. The parallel of baby!ZYC in front of the pond. I especially love the mention of ZYZ's age in comparison to ZYC's, these glimpses of the perspective ZYC has gained with hindsight. The distance of time and reflection and yet the unmistakable fondness and love. It is in part healing to hear.

Also imo ZYC if the scene chosen for ZYZ's POV of you is accurate I'd wager he saw you not as some angry child but as the pinnacle of humanity's beautiful bleeding heart.

ZYZ said it before right? That every human emotion is important? Well ZYC really has been constantly feeling the entire range of human emotion this whole drama lmao

Why yes I do think I need a heartwrenching MV-style montage of all the tragedies of this story that ultimately offers bittersweet catharsis and closure as the OST narrates about searching for someone and finding them in the end. Just what the doctor prescribed tyvm

WX saying ZYZ's final wish was to 落葉歸根 (translated as returning home, literally translates to "fallen leaves return to their root," implies returning home after a long time) the way humans do and ZYZ's soul literally being on a leaf of paper (which kinda sorta works in CN as well since "leaf" and "page" are homophonous) that, carried by the wind, returns to ZYC?? Home??? Are you joking bc I'm sobbing.

Gonna have to use this photo again bc literally how else do I describe how I'm feeling rn?

And that's a fucking wrap. I'm so. I don't even. Wow. Maybe in another couple of business days I'll throw together a brief review of the show as a whole, but right now I'm gonna drown myself in other people's metas and gifs and fics as god intended. Thank you as always for spending the time on my silly ramblings and I hope you enjoyed the ride!

[alarmsofmyheart]

Alright let's start.

Jack and Joker U Steal My Heart

Ep 5

Hoi cares more than anyone.

GODFUCK! I had to pause. I've never seen an actual wine bottle be broken on anyone's head. The closest I saw that was in Doona and he used helmet. But damn. Joker sure loves Jack alot.

I'm stupid what did I expect when Joke returns the ring.. I just didn't think, if I saw it week after week, I might have thought so but yeah..

Sweet he bought medicine.

Ajajshssh Aran becomes the bait now.

Wound cleaning!!!

Mark looks so royal and pretty!!!

God Yin the acting🤣 Jack was so over the top!

Omg are the wearing the same outfits

What is this cat fight 🤣🤣🤣

Jack, your eyes, can't be hidden by that scarf mask. I'm reminded of that one episode in word of honor where they used a barely hiding scarf as mask, but this is atleast black in color.

Are they idiots or what?? Oh they just hate each other.

Hope knows what he likes - Save, beating up people, graphic designing.

Well Joke didn't have a nice dad or brother to learn driving from. And yeah he was in jail too.

Not them using a BMW to learn to drive😭😭😭

Nice sneaking way of listening.

Stop smiling Jack. He stopped.

New disguise 🥸🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It's nice to see him act different roles in same show.

Aran roaming around with three buttons of that jacket is cute.

Did Aran just smile at Tatoo?

The number of times Joker got choked, if I drank each time in today's binge watch, I would have been drunk by now.

Did Jack just take over the call from Tatoo.. aw..

War's wig is bouncing with every step haha

Why is that place empty?

Awww Jack showed up! Oh it's the same bar!

Same, if everytime Joker got kicked in stomach and I drank, I would have developed acute liver failure by now.

Not Aran getting slapped twice. Boi you should not be fighting. That's why you have bodyguards😭

Did he just throw Aran on top off Tattoo and walk away🤣😭

Tooth and Tongue by P'Bird 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Did he stab Jack???

Double kick was so well shot. In sync. Dk how many takes it took, but it was good.

Jack, Joke and Ama sound the same because they both love you, you idiot.

Did Tatoo steal it again? What's wrong now??

Awww povidone in :) shape

More Wound Caring 🩷

War's eyes. Crazy mad Joker.

Joke forgave. ???!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terrace! Is it terrace or parking area!! Or both.. this is reminding me of Vee Mark terrace scene. Yin War - They have both grown up a little.

OHmy Jack forgave!

Does that mean more than what he means?

Oh damn my tablet died.

Not the 'theres a lot to eat, do you want to come over' cliche cutest thing

Awwwww Kicking my feet in the air, they are restarting. Gosh those few minutes was so good SO GOOD. I could write about it more and more but the rest of plot also takes up space. I will probably write about in rewatch sessions.

(Now I regret not watching the show since it was airing, this would have felt so much better if I had been watching and waiting for a month.)

The issue with not registering the marriage sure shows up in hundred different ways in the next generation's life. It's sad.

It's sad to see Rosé walk all over Aran, because yes, she has more money and legitimacy. Fuck all these hierarchies.

Aran being a decent boss' son by covering up this and that and everything was actually very angel baby of him.

Not Jack getting caught out of all those people. But it's for plot purposes. Let's wait.

So the preview shows Jack introducing Joke to his home tuition kids and then sleeping together. I'll pretend that information is not yet processed and I shall wait peacefully for the next episode.

[girlbossblackbeard]

s2 brain thoughts: the squeakuel (ep 2)

as a reminder, if u see me posting any of these points as their own posts mind ur business:

-i'm sending my hospital bills to david jenkins for weaponizing thef cuking "you wear fine things well" scene WITHOUT ANY KIND OF WARNING i literally almost choked to death from shock

-hey so what the whole actual fuck is up with transitioning directly from the very painful "you wear fine things well" scene which, as we've already established, has REAL HUMAN CASUALTIES DUE TO THIS USE-CASE, into the "run from me darling" lyric overlayed on top of the god damn shot of ed pAINTING THE BRIDE CAKE TOPPER TO LOOK LIKE HIM AND BASICALLY PLAYING OUT HIS FANTASY OF MARRYING STEDE. david jenkins you have committed crimes

-also!!!!!!!!!! that cake topper has kohl smudged all over it so you KNOW our boy ed has been caressing it against his cheek and sighing longingly

-i know we've all talked about how insane the "ed plays with the wedding cake toppers pretending they're him and stede" scene is but i don't think we've really comprehended how GENUINELY INSANE it is like??? edward teach, blackbeard, the kraken, the scourge of the seven seas, the most fearsome pirate the caribbean has ever known that has recently been on a non-stop slaughtering spree, painted a bride wedding cake topper to look like himself which he then scoots next to a wedding cake topper that looks like stede so he can imagine that he's marrying him. this man carefully rubbed kohl on a cake topper to give it darker skin and darker hair and a BEARD. to make it look more like himself. so he could then. put it next to a cake topper that looked like stede. and pretend. they were getting married. i've written that 3 times now and my brain STILL refuses to fully process those sentences.

-i said it in my first brain thoughts post for ep 1 and i'll say it again: every time im reminded that ed has been crying NON-STOP. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. for MONTHS. over stede. my wall gains another hole

-the way ed is so delirious in his sadness as he pushes the cake toppers out the window. i don't even have any thoughts on that i feel like all i can do is just note it and let y'all deal with the rest

>>actually I lied, he literally watches them sink into the sea after he pushes them out the window that's so fucked up whomever made that decision to make him do that is so fucked up

-"the sea is restorative isn't it" "YYYYEEESSS QUEEN!!!!!!!!!! I'VE ALWAYS SAID SO!!!!!!!!!!!!" "ohh that guy knows" IS THE MOST UNDERRATED EXCHANGE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES IT LITERALLY HAD ME SHAKING WITH LAUGHTER

-would looooooooooooooove to know what went through stede's head as soon as roach mentioned "some place called China??" like did he immediately think of the kiss or getting sent to the naval academy or the kiss or ed's excitement at the prospect of running away together or the kiss or getting kidnapped by chauncey or the kiss or watching chauncey shoot himself in the dome or the kiss or his flop behavior of running back to his family that doesn't even want him or the kiss or

-the crew of the red flag being so immediately kind and welcoming to stede and his crew <3

-i genuinely cannot wait to watch buttons fully immerse himself in the red flag traditions like he was made to be on that crew

-"how should I put this, your energy is..." can't believe they got hatecrimed like that

-RAT BOY

-HE'S HERE

-OUR BOY IS HERE

-fun fact: i recorded my live reaction to episodes 1 - 3 and posted the clip of my friends and i reacting to lucius coming back because we were quite literally jumping for joy and crying over the reunion and THE illustrious Nathan Foad himself told me it was literally the cutest thing he's ever seen (his words, not mine!!) so we're basically best friends forever now and the rest of my life will be spent chasing the high of the happiness i felt during that interaction

-i am also crying once again over his reappearance and i think that's just gonna happen every time i watch this scene :')

-roach's shocked face when lucius appears is something that can actually be so personal

-the way they all dogpile on top of him because they're so happy to see him bitch what the FCUK

-also stede's STUPID LITTLE "huh!" LIKE??????????? THAT WAS YOUR SCRIBE AND RELATIONSHIP GURU YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER WHERE IS THE ENERGY AND EXCITEMENT AT KNOWING HE ISN'T FUCKING DEAD??????????????

-"i love it" *BIG SMOOCH* "i love all of it" *BIGGER SMOOCH* oh so they're trying to kill me by smothering me in the syrupy sweetness of their love. okay

-okay sorry but lucius's absolutely microscopic furrowing of his brow right before black pete kisses him again. for a split second he had a slight look of sadness which lines up with the very real trauma he's endured and how even in extremely happy moments they can be tinged with sadness - maybe a sadness for the past and the way things could've been if he hadn't been pushed off the boat - and all i can say is nathan foad. ur big powerful acting mind

-we gotta talk about lucius choosing not to reveal that ed had pushed him off the ship in front of the whole crew. i'm still trying to figure out if that was him trying to spare stede's feelings (unlikely considering he lets it all out later), spare black pete's feelings (possible, since he knows black pete idolizes blackbeard), prevent himself from having to relive that trauma in front of his friends when he's not prepared to confront those memories, or a combination of all of the above

-"i fell. off the ship." "that doesn't sound like you. you have impeccable balance, babe" i literally love black pete so much i may legally have to change my name to lucius spriggs

-"toouwelss? what is this? are these jobs?" stede i love you so very much to the moon and back but for the love of god you gotta shut it my guy

-I AM LITERALLY SO EXCITED FOR THE BUTTONS SEA WITCH STORY ARC LIKE IT MAY ACTUALLY BE ON PAR WITH MY EXCITEMENT TO SEE ED AND STEDE PROPERLY REUNITE AND OPENLY LOVE EACH OTHER AGAIN

-ed just. washing the door handle. i dont have any other thoughts

-GODDDDDDD HE'S SERVING SOOOOOO MUCH GENDER WITH HIS LIL HAIR BUN AND MOSTLY CLEANED UP WAR PAINT AND DANGLY EARRINGS AKEFJAPWHFA OPERGJAER

-the way frenchie looks genuinely happy for ed when he says he thinks he got all the poison out of his system and it's a new day :((

-idk much about piracy but i really don't think there's a rule about the new first mate traditionally having to kill the old first mate, i think ed just made that up so someone else would have to kill izzy instead of him. despite everything, despite how low he's sunken into the very dark parts of his mind due to the heartbreak, ed still can't bring himself to deal the killing blow

-"i expect great things from you" might be one of the more chilling lines in that interaction because for THE blackbeard to have not just any expectations from you, but GREAT expectations? that's not a compliment, that's a threat. measure up to what blackbeard thinks you should be or else

-can't comment on the amputation scene too yucky sorry

-stede trying to triangulate ed's coordinates based off of his string of crimes on a map HE drew is me trying to triangulate where tf this season is going based off of buckwild theories i've made up and used as the foundation for even more buckwild theories

-yeah idk what the mushy ass lyrics stede wrote on that map mean but i know they're frighteningly homosexual

-"FUCK YOU. that's how i am" I am SO glad lucius gets to be openly bitchy towards stede it feels like a cathartic release for me personally

-ed's fuckin "heyyyy" to frenchie in the kitchen is both hilarious and unbelievably unsettling

-absolutely obsessed with the writers for once again showing just how scarily observant and intelligent ed is when he calls frenchie out for using his right hand to mime killing izzy even though he's actually left handed

-i really admire how david chose to use a low camera angle that looks up at ed as he reveals to frenchie that he's well aware he hasn't killed izzy yet because taika's performance was already unsettling enough but that specific angle adds so much to his overall menacing presence in that scene

-joel fry's performance in the kitchen scene with ed literally makes me want to bite something he's so good at acting quietly terrified

-this is almost certainly an unpopular opinion but i really would've loved to see more buildup to jim and archie kissing. i just feel like we know NOTHING about her let alone her relationship with jim prior to the two days we've seen them interacting and i feel like that kiss would've felt like a much more satisfying payoff if we had seen more interactions between them before they got to that point. i would've taken delaying that kiss by a few episodes if it meant feeling fully invested in it once it did happen, but i also know the show already has so much material to get through (which is why we should've gotten 10 eps but i digress)

-"hey no one told me this room existed" is giving "i didn't even realize there was piracy happening"

-"take the fuckin leg" is such a perfect line delivery

-love the foreshadowing of olu explaining how the little ships on the war table were all over the place and "some of them were over land"

-roach waxing poetic about the noodles is so relatable

-"jesus christ stede keep your pants on" hands down one of the funniest fucking lucius moments of all time

-sorry but we gotta give a shout out to lucius modifying the chinese fleet uniform so it's sleeveless. the edges are cleanly done so either he was put on tailoring duty at some point and picked it up there or someone on the ship wanted to enable the slayage

-there's something to be said about the fact that the only other man who has lasted being on board the red flag ship is another member of the revenge who was picked up and welcomed into the fold well before stede and the rest of the crew wound up there. something about how stede attracts and retains other people who he can tell are gentle at heart, even if they're putting up a tough front. something about how lucius had bounced from ship to ship until he finally wound up on Zheng Yi Sao's ship where he was allowed to be himself

-"ya don't know............if ya picked up....smokin....." nathaniel buttons my beloved

-OOOOF stede's guilty face after lucius talks about how he must've picked up smoking somewhere. after the crushing guilt he already feels about the ed situation this definitely would've weighed extremely heavy on him

-MY SPICY LIL RAT BOY IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME

-"what the hell is going on in towels" wee john my beloved

-look i know izzy is on the brink of death but he genuinely looks kinda beautiful before ed wakes him up from his shock induced coma and i won't apologize for that

-"my leg" izzy is so fred rechid coded

-"it's up in leg heaven now" i need to know if ed said that as a way of metaphorically digging the knife into izzy and getting back at him for trying to force ed to send stede to doggy heaven in season 1

-i dont have the emotional capacity to dive into the ed and izzy shooting scene rn but just know it destroyed me on a metaphysical level

-"too scared to do it yourself" no because unfortunately now im thinking about ed thinking through taking his own life but coming to the realization that he can't do it. whether it's because of childhood christianity trauma and thinking he'll be sent to hell for doing so or because he knows he can't follow through with it himself if there's still a tiny shred of hope that he'll reunite with stede and everything will be okay again, he always has to outsource the big job

-also, very interesting choice to have almost jovial classical music playing in the background of the ed/izzy scene. it definitely undercut a lot of the tension compared to how supremely uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing the scene would've been if it were dead silent behind the dialogue

-"i loved you...best i could"

-"i've got an ex-wife, two messed up kids probably" LMAO stede acknowledging he would have no way of knowing how fucked up his kids are because of him

-"sounds like you're quite the fuck-up pal" "yeah, i am! and im alone! talk to pete. don't be like me" ohhhhh my god stede is in just as much agony as ed is over this breakup he's just been using his polite society social skills of saving face and never showing how truly devastated you are to others to cover up how supremely messed up he is over all of it. he is BEGGING lucius to talk to pete and NOT make the same mistakes he did because maybe if he can prevent lucius from bottling it up and actually deal with this in a healthy way he can make up for a fraction of all the hurt he's caused not only ed but lucius as well. maybe if he can get lucius to talk to pete he can absolve himself of some of the soul-crushing guilt he feels over how his actions have irreparably damaged the people he cares about the most. maybe if lucius and pete are able to work through this trauma and still come out the other side loving each other just as much or even more than they did before, he can believe that there's still hope for him and ed.

-ed choosing to put on the cravat for what he believes is going to be his last action on earth before dying because he's resigned himself to his fate but is still scared shitless by it and wants that modicum of comfort that stede will always be able to provide him no matter how badly he hurt ed is giving me the urge to find the nearest cast iron skillet and loony toons my skull

-"some people are just broken no matter what you do" noooo why do i feel like lucius was talking about himself when he said that to stede about ed ://

-oof i know they were an unnamed character but fang tried to save someone who went overboard during the storm and wasn't able to :(

-GGGOOOODDDDDDD izzy looks so fucking hot and badass all soaking wet and leaning up against the rigging after shooting ed jesus christ

-"finally" ed was so relieved to have his pain finally end. even after his journey of self discovery in the next episode im really curious how he's going to deal with having to confront the pain he thought he escaped in addition to the pain he inflicted on others while failing to cope with that pain and stopping at nothing, including nearly killing the rest of the crew, to end it

[madraleen]

The Promised Neverland - Season 2 The “...Why Though?” commentary of a manga reader (*manga spoilers)

tldr: me, starting s2: this isn't as bad as i've heard! me, finishing s2: *screams in rage* *kicks a wall* *wails in the darkness*

-i know s2 has a really bad rep, so i'm here to be amused, not angry. we'll see how that goes

-mujika <3 sonju <3

-i hope that third empty spot with emma and ray in the op gets filled with norman when we find out he's alive

-i'm on ep two. it feels like we're on a speedrun, but nothing ~bad so far

-why are the cookies moldy...? did they leave out yugo...? i don't like that. i don't like that at all. yugo raised them and they raised him for so long. 

-my god this place feels so empty without yugo. but for an anime-only, i guess it's fine

-excuse me, what about the seven walls? :)

-why did you not let them have the shelter's clothes...? what about their individuality?

-i'm sorry, you had time for an entire new sequence of slimees, but not other important things...?

-excuse me, why are we not going to goldy pond? :)

-wow, the raid holds so little weight, both struggle-wise and emotionally

-THIS RAID DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! they found this place but didn't scout it?! they didn't know about the extra exit?! KIDS BEAT THEM WITH A MUG AND A PUSH?!

-excuse me why is this demon promising isabella freedom, where is peter ratri? :)

-the goldy pond people disrespect

-i'm on ep 5 and so far i don't think the anime is bad anime-wise. rushed yes, not looking at things too closely yes, but bad? no. adaptation-wise it's terrible, but if you haven't read the manga, will you think "wtf?" i don't think so. it's just that anime-onlys are truly, truly missing out

-a demon went near them in the temple and they didn't flee? AND THEY DIDN'T FLEE?! on what, good faith?!

-all of the children being near/in demon town is fundamentally the opposite of the manga logic

-lol the exposition via prayer. okay.

-NORMAN'S PLACE IN THE OP, I CALLED IT!

-the emma-norman-ray reunion doesn't pack the punch that it does in the manga. emma and ray and us haven't gone through all of those things that led them to norman, that made you feel the time passing and the struggle and norman's absence.

-it's an understated reunion isn't it

-i see the lambda group escaped the erasure rampage

-i never thought i'd say this, but damn i miss minerva!norman. the sus. the uncertainty. the coldness. the facade. the "what now." the vibe that made him distinctly separate from ray and emma.

-low-key hate the "now that norman is here, we can move forward again" vibe. norman made the escape plan; then things moved to a standstill; now he's back and things can happen again. as though the others are just going through the motions.

-there's no emotional weight, they just say their lines and we move on, no time to breathe, no nothing

-here's the thing. having placed the kids in this situation, you're truly honestly saying that THE FOUR OLDEST KIDS are gonna just leave their young siblings alone near demon town to look for mujika? seriously? are you sure

-there's no pacing, and because there's no pacing there's no personalities, everyone just says what they have to say, one thing after the other, and there's no time for them to transition smoothly from one emotion to another

-at least they kept the essence of norman's arc...? but the norman-less arcs weren't fillers, they had a point!

-i am so sad, the lambda facility part is so good, why did they mess up so much with the rest

-far be it from me to comment on the VAs, buuut... norman's VA kinda stands out, ngl. she shines, even in this awkwardly paced dialogue

-HOLD YOUR HORSES, NORMAN'S VA IS FISCHL'S VA?!?! HOW?!?! H O W?!?!

-norman's "i'll gladly become a god or a devil" IS SO BRUSHED OFF, oh my god, this should be A Moment!

-the wild demon looks bad, but who cares

-JESUS, THERE'S NO TIME GIVEN TO THE CHARACTERS TO PROCESS INFORMATION AND EMOTIONS! THE SPEED WITH WHICH EMMA GOES FROM NEUTRAL TO WEEPY TO HAPPY WHEN SHE SEES MUJIKA, ARGH!

-emma coming in with the telepathy, immediately knowing that the sound is the bang of norman's lies...

-THESE ARE THE GRACE FIELD KIDS, OF COURSE THE THOUGHT OF NORMAN HAVING LIED WOULD HAVE CROSSED THEIR MINDS! IT’S NORMAN! THERE'S PRECEDENT!

-but norman's plan and character in the manga had SO MUCH MORE DEPTH OH MY GOD! HE HAD HUMAN BLOOD ON HIS HANDS! HIS PLAN WAS MORE REFINED! and yes, i know "farms were attacked" here too, but the fact that norman actually had to make the choice to let humans die is not addressed or even hinted at

-there's really no time to breathe. one minute norman declares annihilation, and the next he's like, "no never mind :'(". the VA is the only anchor keeping him grounded

-these are the enhanced lambda group... which doesn't matter because they don't actually do much...

-the op song is nice tho

-OH SHUT UP NORMAN CAN'T AIM

-no, vincent, the real peter ratri wouldn't have believed you so blindly, but. we make do what we can here in anime land

-it's a shame that peter hasn't really had a Presence as the Enemy

-but why do all the kids who know nothing randomly agree to play tag on shipment day?

-so uh. why is sonju fighting with the kids on the farm in this scenario? bc last time he said he wanted to eat humans... and now he's here...? because we're... friends? that's it?

-lmao the queen and the nobles make an appearance in the last ep. sure okay

-ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME YOU'RE GONNA SUM UP THE EXISTENCE OF *** AND THE PROMISE WITH EMMA WITH A STILL?!?!?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE IT OUT ALTOGETHER?! FFS!!!

-YEAH AND MUJIKA IS CROWNED QUEEN IN A STILL, WHO THE FUCK KNOWS WHY OR HOW!

-lmfao, most underwhelming return ever??? of emma and co in the human world???

-goldy pond and norman’s kids gave up their existence so that emma could keep her memories, isabella could keep her life and cislo could keep his leg. sacrifices were made. i'm not mad, why would you even-

-okay okay okay. as an adaptation, it sucks. had i not read the manga, would i still consider it a bad season 2? well... i would consider it a downgrade. i wouldn't sweat the basic premise, but the execution would probably disappoint me. the dialogue is perfunctory. they say their bit, change emotions and thoughts in an instant, there's no weight, depth or consideration. things get resolved almost as soon as they're touched upon. i would have no idea who most of the new characters were as people, and i would have learned very little about the ones we already knew. everything is incredibly rushed, and whereas s1 was full of tension and obstacles, s2 was handing the kids everything on a platter, including hot air balloons, mujika randomly spotting emma's necklace, the old demon randomly having that one part of the pen etc (i usually don't mind random coincidences for the sake of storytelling, but this a "compilation of too many issues" situation). the powerpoint presentation in the end would have left me confused and underwhelmed, and the emma-tachi return is incredibly lackluster for a closing scene. i don't think i'd consider it a disaster, but definitely disappointing.

but it is an adaptation and i have read the manga and it's all very sadge.