#and i listened to old episodes of 5-4 the whole time

[yourworldiseternallycomplete]

i need a haircut

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 2 part 2

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

here's another Agatha reflection that I didn't notice yesterday - it's a theme, I tell you

she's essentially doing what she does at the beginning of Wandavision, although with no prep time and no magic for costume changes: a ditzy over the top wife with the made up farway husband

I'd get a couple more candles back there, Lilia. You missed a spot.

But jokes aside, you know what she's doing? She's taking the piss out of agatha. this is Lilia we're talking about, the Seer. her job is literally to See. she knew who and what Agatha was the moment she stepped in, and frankly it's insulting that Agatha would try such cheap tricks on her. this is a little "fuck you agatha" before they get down to business and lilia can tell her to fuck off too

and yes, agatha underestimates lilia from the start, which is the point of lilia's character and the lesson she has to internalize. but the thing is, lilia IS amazing, powerful and wise from the very beginning. this whole scene is Lilia being better, smarter and more powerful than Agatha, she just doesn't have the self-confidence to recognize it

(but WHY beauford?? best name she could have picked)

lilia IS in control. she sets the pace of this encounter. agatha is a step behind, which is rare for her

fuck off, look at that stupid condescending little face

YASSS read her for filth! but let's recap her exact words (so I have an excuse to listen again to Patti's exquisite delivery and voice control)

"You've been under the influence of another. Someone you hurt." Wanda. And we go back to Agatha torturing Wanda and what it's doing to her, the guilt she feels.

"They took your agency. For three years." Agency is one of the main themes of this show and something that will touch Lilia up close too.

"It's not the first time your witch kin betrayed you." Not the other way round! Yes, Agatha has betrayed, she has hurt and killed. But we need to acknowledge that she was betrayed by her kin, her coven, her community first.

"But you survive, in a way few do." Agatha is a survivor. She dragged herself out of a hellpit, and she was maimed and turned into something horrible in the process. But she fucking survived.

"In fact, that's why you're here." Lilia knows EXACTLY what Agatha is planning, she knows that she's here to kill and she knows why. She knew from the start.

agatha's face falling more and more

YES. FUCK YES. THE PERFECT DICTION TROUGH GRITTED TEETH. SHE IS NOT INTERESTED!! GIVE THIS WOMAN ALL THE MONOLOGUES BECAUSE SHE'S GONNA CRUSH THEM

I know, Billy. this is also the way I look at stage goddess patti lupone

SHE IS CRYING AGAIN! DO YOU SEE IT!!! DO YOU SEE THIS SHIT?!!?!? SHE'S CRYING AT BEING SEEN SO CLEARLY, BECAUSE SHE'S ALWAYS HIDING. AND SHE'S CRYING WITH RELIEF, TRIUMPH AND GUILT BECAUSE SHE'S FOUND THIS AMAZING EXTRAORDINARY WONDERFUL WITCH AND SHE HAS TO KILL HER SO SHE WON'T DIE HERSELF TONIGHT

DON'T TOUCH ME, I'M IN A GLASSCASE OF EMOTIONS.

that's a predator right there

nuh-uh babe, she's got your number. you are not going to win this one. (i'm drinking up all the details in her room. look at that old singer sewing machine, that's a 70s or 80s model - everything in the room is at least 40 years old. Is she making herself a quilt? is she cold at night? we know she doesn't have the money to pay her bills)

I KNOW, BILLY!!!

lol, you know when patti told joe locke something like, 'sorry you're stuck here with all these old ladies'?? and he was like, no you don't undeRSTAND

(I mean, Patti has met plenty of gay boys. she understands.)

Lilia jumps for a moment to episode 5 and hears the ghost of Agatha's mom yelling at her. (aw, her chairs are all mismatched.)

Billy is always so polite. and look at Agatha's body language, she's doing the same thing she did when torturing Wanda, kind of hugging herself. both predatory and defensive, because, once again, she is not as comfortable as she seem. she is not being sincere, she is out to manipulate lilia, and she's not happy about it

I live for lilia's rants about the commodification and gentrification of the queer witch community (look at those gorgeous italian plates!)

she actually did bite a kid once

"when I was chased out of every village I passed through for accurately predicting tragedy? NO, I do NOT. BEAT IT, harkness!" I adore her delivery. and also. ouch. ouch. my sweet lilia. so many years, so much pain

When watching this scene for the first time, you identify with Billy and just sit back and enjoy these two extraordinary witches and actresses working together. the first episodes are high on comedy but they all have a serious, upsetting undertone, and it's especially gratifying to see how both actresses work with voice, face and body language to express what they can't say explicitly. Lilia is an incredibly old, wise, experience witch, but also tired, alone, humiliated. She's been jumping through time and she's really frightened about it. And right now? She's quite literally going against the most dangerous serial killer of witches in known history. She can stand her own against Agatha and then some, but she is not confident enough to see it yet.

A question that reads ironic but is delivered without a hint of irony. Why are you dragging a child into this? You of all people. Why are you putting a literal child in danger?

an ironic answer also delivered with no irony. it's threatening, and it's also protective of Billy

agatha gambles: maybe she can get lilia mad enough later and get blasted anyway. maybe she has other means to steal (a kiss, mayhaps?) And Billy better not hear this, she's not gonna kill him or anything but, you know, keeping her options open. just in case.

lilia DOES NOT need to return to her clairvoyant glory. lilia is one of the most if not the most powerful seer. her isolation is self-imposed. agatha is completely out of her depth here.

case in point: agatha does successfully con jen and alice, but she does NOT con lilia. not even close. she had nothing. lilia was in control of the conversation the whole time, seeing through agatha the whole time, and she was always going to say no.

"Three of Pentacles." collaboration, community, singular voices waiting to harmonize. Lilia REACHES THROUGH TIME and MAKES herself join Agatha. How fucking heartwrenching is that???? Agatha never tricked Lilia into doing anything. Lilia is sitting at the tarot table in her Glinda costume, for the first time fully confident and fully aware in her power, and she just - she grabs herself in the past and says, this is your family. this is your coven. you have chosen it. go and reclaim it. that is why Lilia follows them to the Road. not because Agatha is powerful, but because Lilia is.

and present Lilia is just so scared. she knows this is going to kill her.

FUCK I love this show so much!

(and a quick shoutout to @sapphicjew, I'm loving your commentary!)

go to episode 2 part 3

[circeyoru]

Unwanted Soul _ Part 3 = Requested

[Yandere!Alastor x Owner of his Soul!Reader]

The Request

Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 2.5 (ask) — Part 3 (here) — Part 4 — Part 5

At first you allowed it because you understood Alastor was worried about you, as absurd as it was. Now it was plain annoying. Him requesting, no, that’s not the right word, forcing himself to be in the same bed as you. At first there was the excuse of you recovering and him not wanting you to roll over on you stomach to apply pressure to the wound. Then it was him not used to his new room. Now? He just flops onto the bed and hugs you no matter what you’re doing

“Do I look like a pillow to you???? Or a soft toy??????” “Darling, you are the best cloud ever.”

He doesn’t even mind you slapping the back of his head and snuggles closer to you. You gave up trying to escape his hold and continue with your reading or watching

It went as bad as to you needing a bigger bed since Alastor was always here with you. Alastor got you covered and gave you the best bed you could ever think of. You really just treated Alastor like one of your giant soft toys and slept, you’ll admit, listening to his heartbeat was more lulling than any other sounds. Your warmth and presence had the same effect to him

Oh, right. Alastor filled you in that you were in the hotel and you were occupying a room Alastor took for himself near his bedroom and radio tower. He connected your room with his, evident with the difference in style

You never seen his old room, but he did say he had half of the room as a bayou where he ate his meals. Yeah, he didn’t do that with you, never has he eaten a whole raw meat in front of you. This time though, it was just two different room styles on either way while the wall separating the two was gone. There was an extra door that replaced the window as a dimension to his feeding ground, you just never enter it

It happened out of the blue. When the room door opened and you thinking it was Alastor greeted him without looking. You noticed the lack of static or the obnoxiously loud announcement of his arrival, that’s when you looked up to see who you believe to be Husk from Alastor’s stories and reports

Before Husk knew what hit him, his neon green chains appeared and dragged him into the large room, the door closing and locking behind him. Husk landing on the ground looked up to see Alastor looming over him

You had to wack your memory to recall their relationship. Right, Husk was a former overlord of gambling and he lost his soul to Alastor in a bet to regain power. Poor choice of decision really. Why would you make deals with other Overlords that would want to knock you down? You looked away, thinking that it was none of your business how Alastor treated his souls, as long as he wasn’t like that to you

But your voice snapped Alastor out of whatever he was planning to the former Overlord, “Alastor, I’m craving some steak for tonight. Can you go to Rosie’s and get some nice ones?”

Of course Alastor knew you were giving Husk a save. Yet he can’t deny your request to have his cooking again. (you were binge eating snacks and cup noodles after your wound healed and didn’t want to eat his cooking) So he left into his shadows

Turning back to your laptop, you typed away for another new episode while Husk composed himself. You heard that sigh of relief, you knew Alastor was a cruel demon. You knew because he’d paint the streets red and black whenever sinners and demons alike would glance at you the wrong way, even worse when they said the wrong or vile things to you

“I’m curious, does anyone know I’m here?” “I know now.” “Mhm… You best leave before Alastor’s back and please don’t say anything. Else I’m positive you’d be wishing otherwise.” “Why are you here?” “I wonder too. Because of Alastor?”

You shouldn’t have phased it that way because Husk thought you were an innocent soul that Alastor took as well. That can’t be farther from the truth, but you let him believe as he please. Neither you nor Alastor wanted to disclose your hold over Alastor’s soul to anyone apart from the two of you. Perhaps you could play it like Alastor has your soul, that would make more sense. Maybe

Over dinner, you told Alastor that you’ll be making your appearance as his assistant in the hotel. That way it was reasonable to take the room next to his (that you are currently in) and you’d be always seen around Alastor (more like Alastor could always be near you). Alastor agreed without a second thought

He did added a little detail to your plan. That you two were romantically involved with each other. You shot that idea down immediately. Changing the subject, you told him how Husk thought you were the one that Alastor took the soul of. That gave him a good laugh and you a chuckle. Both of you calmed down, you with your small smirk and Alastor with his wide grin as you two met eye contact, thinking the same: That was such a ridiculous assumption

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet My Dearest Darling.” Alastor’s hand patted your shoulder “Nice to meet you all, Alastor’s told me all about you guys.” You had bowed your head a bit with a smile, appearing as humble as you could. The introductions went without hiccup, was what you would wish for “Pager! My good fellow!” Lucifer came over and wrapped you in a tight hug. “How have you been!?” You missed how Alastor was glaring daggers at Lucifer and the King of Hell was grinning like crazy. “Sire, just fine. Thank you for asking?”

Now it was everyone else’s turn to be shocked and confused. Questions came at you left and right. You didn’t even need to answer because Lucifer had told them you used to work for him. Your room would have been assigned next to Lucifer’s if not for Alastor’s intervention that you were to be ‘put to work’ under him

Well, now that there was something of an intermission for the hotel to bounce back to its former glory (if it had any), things were pretty chill around the hotel. Everyone did their things like usual. Though it was odd that things were unchanged, since you were supposed to be a new staff member. Yet they hardly saw you, nor did Alastor tell you to work on anything

All they knew was you were always in your room, doing whatever behind closed doors. Charlie and Vaggie had asked about you, from Alastor since you were barely out when they were active and the only other contact was through Alastor who was never bothered that you were slacking

Alastor reassured that you were writing scripts for his broadcast and doing your own research on something else, so you wouldn’t be leaving the room for the majority of the time

Everyone would catch Alastor using the kitchen at the oddest time of the day to cook or bake things, then bring it up to his radio tower to eat. When he was confronted on his odd mealtimes, he informs that it was yours. As for why he was the one making, he said it was because he sent you to work overtime and so he compromised

“The poor darling was feeling peckish so I, as the employer in charge, should do my duty, yes?” “Oh ho! No need to fret over my dear Pager upstairs, merely took a longer nap than usual and needed to delay dinner!” “My doe won’t be joining us for breakfast, still sleeping from all that work, you see. I’ll make some food later on.”

All lies. Each and every one of them. All this time, you were eating up on the internet provided by the hotel and doing what you do best. Laze around and chill. There was no work assigned, no script to be written, and certainly no research underway. You were doing what you would back home, now it was just a change in location. Then there’s Alastor joyfully serving you like always without change

But none was the wiser when any of them hardly knew you. Save for Lucifer. He’d pop into your room without Alastor’s notice and give you new books or comics or shows or whatever you please. All while saying they were gifts to you for all you’ve done for him. He was quickly chased out of the room when Alastor sensed another being with you

Now when it came to your break periods, your room wasn’t enough and you wandered around the hotel to stretch and give yourself a change of scenery

This was when everyone else got to talk to you and not through Alastor

Charlie got you to join in her exercises, wanting some feedback from you. You lazily joined, matching Angel’s attitude to it all. You two shared a knowing glance and smirk from time to time. Vaggie groaned and scolded Angel since he was the one that wants to be redeemed, but then turned to you to be more supportive and put heart into it since you were a staff

Alastor immediately poofed out of nowhere, hands on your shoulders while you had a bored look on your face at Vaggie. At the growing static, you sighed, “Please don’t.”

Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel raised a brow at your words. Vaggie wanting to pull you away from Alastor since from their point of view, Alastor was having a scary face again. Husk watched silently from the bar, wondering if you’d be ‘punished’ later behind closed doors for ordering the Radio Demon

But to everyone’s surprise, Alastor reverted back to normal and hummed, offering you his hand to escort you away from the group, “Shall we take a stroll outside the hotel, darling?”

That day, a whole street was painted red. You and Alastor returned late and just went to your room to rest. No one dared to question. They did wonder what would have happened if you said nothing when Alastor appeared behind you. Perhaps Vaggie was lucky she got off with a glare

You wandering the hotel became obvious to the others that you were ‘resting’ from your heavy workload given by Alastor which was rare, they noticed that there was no routine nor a fixed time you’d appear

They held off attacking Alastor about your workload since everytime they see you you weren’t complaining or drained in any way. So they continued as normal, sometimes asking Alastor if he was giving you enough breaks between work or if you were eating. Alastor kept up with appearances and assured them you were well and dandy. You had a good laugh at their concerns

Yeah, neither of you were going to correct it since there was no need

You’ll admit that Alastor was doing a good job at keeping people away from you, just as you like it. Though it could be because of his possessiveness you can tell. Still, it aligns with your wishes, so you leave it be

Once when you were on break and with Charlie and the others for a broad game day, another activity for bonding and the like. Suddenly left mid-game and went to the kitchen to cook, everyone thought Alastor was preparing for everyone’s lunch so no one questioned it. Soon enough you got up

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked, everyone turned to you “Hungry.” It was like you were on autopilot when you turned to walk into the kitchen Everyone else shared a glance, thinking it was time for food anyways. “Let’s eat.”

They weren’t prepared to see you leaning against Alastor with your arms crossed over your chest meanwhile Alastor was having no trouble plating whatever dish was cooked. Another point, you were just causally touching Alastor and he didn’t do anything! He didn’t even make a peep and let you stay there while he worked

No one could touch Alastor unless he does it first. No one touches Alastor especially when he’s in the kitchen cooking!

“Have a seat, darling, food’s ready.” Alastor cooed “Mhm~ Looks nice.” You remarked with contentment as you pushed yourself off of Alastor and sat on one of the high chairs on the island Angel noticed how only you had food and no one else, complaining, “Hey, what about us?” Alastor turned over, shamelessly commenting, “Oh, I finished using the kitchen, you can make your own food now. Sorry for taking so long.” The condescension was gone when he turned his attention back to you, “How’s the food, dear?” “Good as always.” You praised, glancing up at him to know he was overjoyed at your words even with the lack of expression. His eyes narrowing while his grin widened was the hint. “Could use some mini cupcakes when we play the board games later.” “Say no more!” Alastor snapped his fingers, making a bunch of ingredients appear. He turned to the crew, “Apologies, but I’ll be using the kitchen since you’re all merely standing at the entrance!”

Yeah. Everyone came to the conclusion that Alastor was extra weird after you came to the hotel. They’d ask Alastor about it but he would dodge the question all together or he’d just shift the attention elsewhere. They’d love to ask you, since you were somewhat more approachable? But you were just rarely around. When you are around, Alastor was not far from you

Note: Yup. Part 3. Amazing right? I blame the ask and you can thank the ask. The writing mood just hit me like a truck, so here's the result

Guys I'm very tempted to change all the stories in ask to a post format so I can keep track of them! Not sure about this yet, but if I do do it, the stories in ask will be replaced with a link instead and the stories will be readable as a post (maybe with a picture of the ask?). Do I reboot all of them or just start with the next new request?

Circe Y.

Other Works: MASTERLIST

Taglist:

@aconfusedwonderland

@crowleysthings

@donustellaron

@nevermore-ramblings

@justboredforreal

@youroneandonlysimp

[hotasfahrenheit]

my top 10 ql shows of 2024

we're a week into the new year already so i guess i should finally get this list posted ����👀👀

to make this list, i kept an ongoing note in my phone all year of all the ql shows i watched, and then i sat down a couple days ago (*cough*a week ago*cough) and rearranged them to figure out which ones were my favourites. i didn't have any kind of ranking system going through the year (besides being very sure by the beginning of february what was going to be my absolute favourite of the year- and i was right) so this was all based on the vibes i was feeling about all these shows as i made the list, thinking back on them over the year.

i had JUST finished one of these shows so that's part of why i wanted to let it sit for a few days- make sure my ranking wasn't skewed by the feeling of having finished a show then immediately making the list right after while it was fresher than anything else. a week on, i'm still solid on these. i think. i keep looking at this list and being like "wait, did i really love that show more than this other one? did i? how is that one not in the top 10? wait but the ones above it are also just so good" and if i don't just post a list then i'll never stop fidgeting with it, so here we go!

10 - 4Minutes

was 4Minutes perfect? no, but i enjoyed the twisting layers of narrative and the speculation and discussion around this show so much. there were multiple times i thought i had things about the story figured out, and i kept being close to correct, but it kept finding ways to surprise me anyway.

9 - Love Is A Poison

this show was an unexpected delight in so many ways. it was funny, it was smart, it was wild, it was bonkers, i hope they get to make more of it.

8 - Jack & Joker

the longing, the heists, the shenanigans, the friendships, the everything about this show. it got a lil shaky towards the end but on the whole it was such a fun time, and it's still so incredible and such a triumph that they even got this show made, and i love it forever.

7 - Meet You At The Blossom

ANOTHER TRIUMPH OF A SHOW. so pretty. so splendid. so many long sleeves being waved around. so much nonsense and adventure. a fantastic pairing of characters, a fun side couple, just all around perfection.

6 - Love Sea

does this show get a biased boost in the ranking because i love Fort and Peat so much and even an imperfect show with them in it was going to be something i loved? maybe. possibly. probably. Peat spent the whole time looking expensive and pretty, and Fort spent the whole time looking like he was going to devour him, and they're just so good together. sorry not sorry.

5 - 1000 Years Old

this show gets two gifs, because they're my gifs, and i loved it SO MUCH. definitely a weird little show, but it had so much heart, and the way the story built was incredible, and it was just such a warm, beautiful show about found family and embracing your weirdness and being yourself and also love. all about love. the deepest love, and patience, and being willing to try again no matter how many times it takes. also soup, and so many umbrellas.

4 - My Stand-In

(this gif is from this set i made)

this show. THIS SHOW. the acting, the story, everything about it was absolutely insane and was all-consuming especially towards the ending of it. i love stories with complex, nuanced characters, and i love actors who can make you angry with how good they are at playing terrible people. this show had me shouting in the group chat all the time and it was just such a wild ride. an EXPERIENCE from start to finish.

3 - Love In The Big City

an absolutely stunning work of art. i watched the first two episodes with @poetry-protest-pornography when it first released then we both got busy with life for a bit; i listened to the audiobook at work the last week of December and immediately slammed through the rest of the episodes compulsively. i couldn't stay away. i had to inject it into my being. i'm aware that i interacted with and experienced this story differently than a lot of people i've seen talk about it on here because it didn't resonate with me in all the exact same ways as i am a straight person, and i saw a lot of people talking about how deeply it spoke to them about the queer experience, but the themes of loss and loneliness and searching for purpose and meaning and love were universal enough that this show did a number on my heart and soul and still is echoing in me now.

2 - Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

another stunning, emotional show. this story had me in its GRIP from the first episode and has still not let me go. it was a rollercoaster and was such a deep tale about forgiveness and finding ways to just live life and how it's never too late for a new beginning. about how sometimes you can't let go of people, and you shouldn't. about being able to find and keep love and joy even through the darkest times and places.

1 - Love For Love's Sake

aslkdfjhalsfkdjhafd obviously. obviously this was my number one. an absolute powerhouse of a story about love and acceptance and being willing to not only help other people take second chances on life, but allowing yourself to as well. about being willing and open to loving and caring for others, and loving and caring for yourself. about taking control of your situation and writing your own future. about love, for love's sake.

THAT'S THE LIST.

everything here is obviously my opinion, if there's a show you're curious about that you loved that you don't see here, comment and i'll tell you where it ended up in my longer list (unless it's something i didn't get to this year!) and let me know how my list compares to your faves!

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

Bonus round: honorouble mention - Knock, Knock, Boys!

listen, as much as i loved all the other shows here, i considered making this a top 15 list instead of 10 because i loved this show so much and it didn't feel fair that it wasn't included. it was goofy, it was heartfelt, it was fun the whole way through and i really loved it a whole lot. 15 would have been too many tho, so this just gets an honourable mention at the end instead.

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

any gifs in this post that don't have credit under them are ones i made! i don't have the time or energy to make new gifs for every show so i just pulled from things i'd already made and had on my hard drive, or used ones made by others where needed. thanks to the other gif makers whose stuff i used!

[baneonono]

watch house for the first time with me

we’ve made it through season 2 and through the first five episodes of season 3 and there was lots to scream about. I have a sneaking suspicion that I am going to hate the whole house gets arrested plot. like I’m gonna furious typing out whole essays type mad but we’ll see.

21

GUYS I WANT HOUSE TO WEAR THE SUIT. I UNDERSTAND THAT HE DOESNT THINK IT MATTERS BUT IM LOSING MY MIND. I KNOW EVERYTHINGS GOING TO BE OKAY BUT IM STRESSED AND CAN HOUSE JUST WEAR A SUIT

Can everyone just be fixed please I don’t want to deal with this anymore

22

If that baby died, I’m crying

Are we starting Wilson Cuddy stuff because boring

Chase working at the nicu����😭😭😭

HE CHOSE NICU😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Chase working with kids😭😭😭😭😭😭

Honestly house is real for wanting foreman to fight with him. Like it’s just his way of wanting original thoughts and that is relatable

Wilson checking cuddy for cancer-

NO THE BABY DIED

Chase my baby boy I adore you it’s okay

Cuddy wanted Wilson to be the father of her child😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I’m gonna break down if we get a scene of Wilson hearing this

23

House being a piano player is actually one of my favorite things about him

Dude I trust House but like I wouldn’t trust him that much @ cuddy

IS WILSON JEALOUS THAT HOUSE HAS ANOTHER FRIEND

I would do so much for James Wilson. I don’t think yall understand. I love him dearly

The entire diagnosis department pacing is so funny

24

SOMEONE SHOT HOUSE. BABE THAT IS MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT JERK

“I wanted to see you suffer” girl he suffers every day you just had to come into the hospital and watch

“She killed herself” still not House’s fault bro

Wilson doing houses physical therapy is hilarious

I need house back 

This episode is weird

What in the world did I just watch

Season threeeeeeee

1

Okay I am so grateful we got the scene of Cuddy and Wilson trying to come up with cases to give house. Like😭😭😭😭😭 I love them

Chases haircut😭 he looks amazing

House lost his leg pain and got 10x the whimsy

“I’m not going away” please never go away Wilson 

Wilson. House was right. What do you mean you can’t tell him. 

2

Wilson maybe you should tell house that he was right. Listen to Cuddy. Wilson I adore you why are you doing this to me. 

Chase winking at the parents🥰

Whaaaattttt lying to house has consequences. Telling him that he’s bad at his job affects him. That’s so craaaazzzzy

Oh Wilson comparing house to Icarus, you’re so iconic. I love my toxic old men yaoi with Greek mythology references. That’s actually the only way I’ll tolerate it

3

Everyone is going through so many radical position shifts this episode. Guys can we have some consistency (@ cameron)

People just go running to Wilson when they want house to do something huh. 

I love when house operates on patients. Just love him entirely in his element

Awww house is proud of Cameron for killing a dude, it’s always nice to hear from our dad that he’s proud of us

4

House you do not need your carpet back. Why are you like this. Iconic but why

I need this girl to leave. House isn’t that attractive

I’m glad Cuddy is standing her ground on this one

Love how Wilson walked in on them in his office and just was like “weird typo”

Can Cameron stop psychoanalysing house 

Need this girl to stop 

Foreman you pawning that off in Wilson was not slick

HOUSE BEING GOOD WITH KIDS I LOVE TO SEE IT(also just taking drugs)

Wilson don’t let house out of your sight while he’s drugged, he’s got a girl really into him and I don’t think we should let him alone

House😭😭😭😭😭 please stop throwing away Wilson’s gifts

Cameron did not need to sit next to house

WILSON JUST WALKING OUT OF HIS OFFICE 

Thinking about the triplets going all over the hospital looking for house this episode

😭😭😭😭😭😭house got a gift😭😭😭😭😭😭oh my little neurodivergent bonding

5

This husband being so ride or die. I love to see it. Yes sir saw an opportunity to step in and took it. 

Oh she’s sick, okay well, we’ll get to see more of him?

House leaving to go break up Wilson flirting with a girl. Bro just say you’re jealous and go

THE LOOK ON CHASES FACE AT FOREMAN WHEN CAMERON SAID SHES HITTING THAT  WAS SO FUNNY. BABY BOY WHAT WAS THAT

“Great I haven’t committed a felony yet today” -Chase

Guys the pill only stops pregnancy, not STDs, maybe they wear conforms to prevent STDs

Why does Wilson just do things for house. I mean beyond being in love with him. 

I hate this apologzie to the patient thing today. I don’t care about this stupid jerk. I prefer my smart jerks

Really was not expecting an incest plot from this show but I should’ve. 

House getting arrested is insane

[zabala0z]

Welcome back to the first episode of “Listening to TMA S5, blind” I’m your beloved host and guys. Guys guys. I actually am freaking out.

MAG 161: Dwelling

I’m actually screaming. Hearing the old gang actually made me want to cry. SASHA. SASHA I MISSED YOU :(( also Elias: “I’d like to keep an eye out” you think you’re so fucking funny. I loved the very off key singing of Happy Birthday. Accurate. I wonder if Elias/Jonah sent the tapes for a reason. It’s definitely not to gloat. Is this apart of a wider web of manipulation? The Web style? Also, the fact Sasha could’ve been head archivist. Jesus

Hearing the description of the entities, that they don’t care enough to keep humanity fed and watered unnerved me a lot actually. I don’t know.

MAG 162: A Cozy Cabin

GERRY!!! Nice to hear him as a human, without all the ghost-like qualities. Although hearing Jon rewind the tape over and over and over and over again just made me feel bad.

And then Sasha and Tim.

“we had the ill-advised hookup, the awkward aftermath, and the gradually rebuilt friendship, but – that’s all season two stuff. We’ve got like five more seasons before we get the heartwarming epilogue that makes it canon.”

“No. You took it too far! I’m unforgettable!”

So what if I just ended it all?

Also Jon’s monologue. For a bit, I thought he was “knowing” one of Martins poems that he made during this since Martin was the one who did not like staying at the cabin but no, I was wrong. But time to see the outside world

MAG 163: In The Trenches

I wanna go back to the cabin.

I love TMA so much because of how the format switches up every season. Like season 1 was pretty simple enough with season 2 having Jon add in those supplementals and having a new setting (the tunnels). Season 3 cranks it up with having live statements from recurring characters, statements read by others, and dropping some lore. season 4, while similar to season 1 in terms of format, has Martin reading statements, more god damn lore and some new settings. And now season 5 has uh all this. It’s so amazing and I love it and I’m terrified.

Hearing Jon describe everything going on actuslly made me horrified. Like I got spooked out by the statements but this made me feel so much dread like I’m not even kidding. I also wanna know more about that weird ass doctor and the man with the red flower. Avatars of The Slaughter I presume.

Also that phone. ???? What???

MAG 164: The Sick Village

Gross. While the previous episode made me experience horror, this made me feel disgust. Disgust that just burrowed into my bones (get it. Cause..the episode-). I had such a deep instinct of repulsion. Like actually. I also read the triggers just cause you can never be too careful and I remember thinking, “how can xenophobia be involved with The Corruption?”…apparently xenophobia was very prevalent

Now I know where the whole “Martin’s middle name” thing comes from. I’m glad Basira is alive. And heart broken at the tragedy there is. She’s always chasing Daisy and Daisy is always chasing another thing SOMEBODY SEDATE ME

I think Georgie and Melanie are in the tunnels. It’s been established before that Elias can’t see in the tunnels which probably means Jon can’t see them. I’m glad they are safe. They need it.

Helen! Nice to see her again, I actually cackled when she said “check up on the happy couple”. Nice to see a confirmation about the relationship. This is like the worst time to be dating someone though 💀 Helen’s so happy. I’m sure she has a ton of people in her hallways. I don’t know if she’s lying about the “friend thing, but it’d be funny if she wasn’t

Okay. That’s everything. Sorry for the long wait, I had to take a break after season 4’s finale and then ANOTHER one after listening to the first 3 eps. This is like, actually heavy. Kinda draining. But god, I’m actually going insane.

I want to know how this is going to be fixed. Like. There’s gotta be some happy ending. ??? Right??? Please tell me there is one.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 5, Match 4: Korosensei vs. Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu

Submitted kids:

Korosensei: Nakamura Rio, Kimura Justice, Hara Sumire, Takebayashi Kotaro, Hayami Rinka, Chiba Ryunsuke, Ristu, Horibe Itona, Terasaka Ryoma, Hazama Kirara, Muramatsu Takuya, Yoshida Taisei, Okajima Taiga, Mimura Koki, Sugaya Sosuke, Fuwa Yuzuki, Okano Hinata, Kurahashi Hinano, Yada Toka, Kataoka Meg, Okuda Manami, Kanzaki Yukiko, Sugino Tomohito, Maehara Hiroto, Isogai Yuma, Akabane Karma, Shiota Nagisa, Kayano Kaede

Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu: Zhang Chengling, Gu Xiang, Liang Jiuxiao, arguably also Cao Weining and Gao Xiaolian

Propaganda under the cut!

Korosensei:

“the anime is about how he helps an entire class of kids who do bad in school by actually listening to them and giving them each individual attention in helping them to improve their grades. he learns about their interests to connect with them, and never looks down on them or believes them to be lesser because of their academic status.”

Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu:

1: “Wen Kexing- the man has his entire life planned around an evil revenge plot yet somehow while becoming the Ghost Valley Chief he manages to take Gu Xiang (who must of been a young girl at that point) under his wing. Sure the woman in the unfaithful manor probably helped him out with her, but still she manages to come out of the Ghost Valley probably the least messed up out of anyone. Also he goes total protective dad the second Cao Weining starts courting her, literally nitpicks everything the man does, yet in the end he gives them his support in the marriage and even holds it on his turf, opening up the Ghost Valley to normal (warrior/cultivating) people for their wedding. His positive interactions with Zhang Chengling are to a less extent, especially as the boy is so embroiled in his revenge scheme, but none the less he teaches him and treats him decently especially as the spend more time with each other.

ZZS- He gets tangled up in WKX’s whole revenge plot because he promises to protect and escort the boy, Zhang Chengling, to the safety of one of his martial uncles, and yet before we even hit the halfway point in episodes (at least I think it is) he’s taken the boy under his wing as what is essentially a disciple, even though he is the last member of his sect and was ready to let it die with him. Not to mention the fact that his whole plan was to waste away mostly unnoticed and yet he somehow gets dragged into the biggest drama of the decade and repeatedly puts himself in harms way to save the kid! And he planned on passing over the legacy of his sect to him! His relationship with Gu Xiang is less intense, but if I had to describe how they act it’s a constant back and forth, he annoys teases her and she gets all frustrated. She spends the first couple episodes literally thinking he’s a weird old man, cause their whole relationship is just like that. He’s also much more sympathetic to Cao Weining’s continuous courting struggle though that’s not to say he doesn’t pull a fast one or few on him.”

Link to the rest here!

[zeichannnnn]

After re-watching the video for the probably 20th time this week, I've made a general characterisation of everyone based on the episode. Please feel free to correct me on things if I get someone wrong or help me with adding more to a character, I am very new to them

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

The ones who knows

Rat (Doctor4t) he/him - any

Mad doctor

Holding onto sheer desperation that everything goes well. Desperately need an escape from her existentialism. She’s acting tough, but everyone knows she has some of her screws loose because of the “last people in the solar system” bit.

2. Lux (Luxintrus) she/her - they/them

Silent sufferer

Despite the pessimistic view in front of her, Lux still keeps high spirits and looks on the brighter side of things. She is definitely losing her grip, but she has a better hold of it than Rat. Mother of the group, will scold anyone that messes up but will allow a bit of chaos here and there for ✨flavour ✨

3. Eight (EightSidedSquare) he/him

Not Human

Walking encyclopaedia. Probably the last existing library of human kind’s knowledge and history. Probably programmed???? 

The epitome of “um, actually”

4. Blake (WinSweep) he/him

Wildcard

He’s not certain on where he stands with Rat’s actions and the 6 additions to the crew, but he trusts Rat fully with his life and he’ll follow anything the Doctor says within reason. Still has his sanity intact (probably) and is the second most rational of all of them (Eight is the first)

5. Silved (Silved) he/him

Non talker

Not that talkative. Relatively calm unless triggered or given reasons not to be. Very down to join in the fun when everyone is doing dangerous shenanigans.

6. Boba (BobaBearWizard) any pronoun

Your 9 to 5 worker

I haven’t caught much on her character. She just gives me office worker vibes (or in this sense a normal space crew member) Most likely a second engineer. Soft girl.

7. Ryan (RyanHCode) he/him

Physics nerd

Probably the engineer of the whole crew. Deffo is highly intrigued with what’s out there and what’s to come from their exploration. Knows a whole lot just like Rat.

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

The ones who don’t know

Fundy (Fundy) he/him

Amnesiac

Somehow it just hit him harder than others. Furry (fox-like characteristic much like how Rat is rat) Devious little trickster at heart. He’s like a 9 year-old on steroids. Everywhere he goes, be prepared. On the watchlist 24/7.

2. Kaboodle (JustKaboodle) she/her

Who am I?

Sincere and confused at her current predicament. Curious as to what her past was and what her future holds. Is currently suppressing an existential crisis on who she is and who she was and if she’s good or not. Lux’s baby girl.

3. Clown (ClownPierce) he/him

Deadpan

Analytical, tactical, and resourceful. Incredibly loyal to someone he trusts unless betrayed. Always questions his current predicaments but goes with the flow anyways unless things look dangerous or might lead to dangerous situations where he (specifically) won’t benefit anything from it.

4. Dijon (DIJ0N) he/him

Questionnaire

Always questions his current predicaments, sometimes too much. Doesn’t really trust anyone. A tad bit nihilistic. Very adventurous and loves to explore and find every hidden secret every place has.

5. Sloimay (Sloimay) he/him

Perspector

Always listens. Very much a “go with the flow” type of person. He accepts any and all situations he goes through as a “part of the ride” but will stop when things get too risky. Very situational person.

6. Garfield (Garfield) he/him

Confused?

I haven’t gotten much about his character honestly but from this video I just know that he’s currently coping with the fact that their time is numbered and it’s reaching zero fast. He’s at least a bit better and happier during the ichor mission when exploring with everyone and all.

[kalifornia1025]

The Lion’s Mane Pt. 1 (SPOILERS)

Alright, here are my notes!

1. Starting off with some beautiful angelic music, mixed with coastal ambience (be still, my Californian heart🌊)😍✨

2. Maude is a cutie!! She’s so fr for gushing about meeting the Sherlock & Co trio irl. I love her Scottish accent!

3. Speaking of Scotland, I was SO EXCITED to hear that this whole case is gonna take place in Scotland!! I just love Scotland and would love to go in the future, so any content about that I’ll take it!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

4. John: “I’ll make sure this chat is light” Sherlock: *talking to Maude* “LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR HUSBAND’S CORPSE, HOW THICK WAS THE BLOOD??” oh Sherlock😂

5. Really cool background info for Maude and the town of Fjara! It really lays out the kind of place we’ll (John, Sherlock, Mariana, and yes us listeners) be exploring.

6. John sang “Chasing Waterfalls” while brushing his teeth again. Last time he did that was in Silver Blaze Pt. 2. I didn’t think much of it before until Shoscombe Old Place Pt. 2 had Sherlock mention waterfalls and Moriarty getting a canon shoutout by John…oh God it’s so foreboding…I love it😈

7. Oh no John, why??? Why did you have to say that out loud to Sherlock and Mariana?? Now you’ll never hear the end of it from them (especially not from Mariana)!

8. Speaking of Mariana, she’s a Harry Potter nerd🦉🪄! I used to be one as well, so I loved their full argument about Quidditch with John and Sherlock saying it’s ‘rubbish’ (they’re not wrong, tho😂)

9. I just loved the small quiet scene with John talking to the microphone while everyone else was asleep. It’s so peaceful listening to his voice and even his yammering is so philosophical. It felt like a pure “stream-of-thoughts” moment that some people have had while traveling far away to someplace new (at least I have) 🌙✨

10. Mariana borrowed the mic while John was asleep!!

11. Local: “oh yeh these waters be DANGEROUS, here’s a list of all the possible dangers: razor sharp rocks, darkness, strong tides, and freezing cold”…um sir we just met, why do we need to know how dangerous the waters are?????

12. And the episode closes off with the same beautiful music from the beginning!🥰🥰

Overall:

- I’m excited for this case! I wasn’t expecting too much to happen in Pt. 1 since I knew it would be mainly a “introduce case, travel to location” kind of episode. But honestly what a strong start to it! I saw on the website for transcripts that we’re gonna be getting three parts for this case, so yeah I’ll be super excited when those come out!!

Until next week!😜

[rootspiral]

Agatha all along deep dive: episode 1 part 2

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

Okay, let's keep going through Agatha All Along epsode 1, in which detective Agnes sees Nicky's lock of hair inside her brooch and is stunned into silence for a long ten seconds

she's feeling agonizing heartbreak and cannot even tell why

you know what, she technically is home. she's in her living room as we speak. but every line has multiple readings, so go home... where? to her old self? to her witchy roots? to her coven? to Rio? to Nicky, in the afterlife?

I wonder if all the water puddles are deliberate. do they symbolize mirrors, is she gone through the looking glass? or is water = rio?

the way she has to steel herself before getting into Nicky's room

THE MOON PHASES OVER THE BED. as if she wishes there was a coven looking over him, protecting him

I saw some reactors laughing their asses off at this scene, still hung up on the parody of it all, going "did they make the rabbit into a dead kid backstory? that's HILARIOUS." Sure. So funny.

(they keep associating Nicky with rabbits tho, in the previous scene with Rio there's a blink-and-you-miss-it moment when a plant in the background suddenly turns into Nicky's picture. was señor scratchy named after him?)

why can't they properly light their scenes goddamnit I shouldn't have to use 6 layers to see her face

oh look it's Aubrey Plaza and pizza, two of the sexiest concepts humanity has ever come up with

first of all: open vest and white shirt? that's hot. second of all, the way she's sitting so confidently with her whole chest out, so open, taking deep breaths. she just wants to drink her all up, all of her, her beauty, her sorrow, her goofiness. she's SO damn in love.

what a goober. what a delight. plaid shirt and no makeup, drinking beer and snorting when she laughs, a bit awkward and bashful. what a stud. I would die for her. I would wife her so quickly. I'm gonna say this whit my whole chest, the more femme presenting Agatha is, the more she's wearing a shield and playing a part. this is Agatha raw and defenseless and true, and I want to protect her like she's a precious kitten. (me and Rio both, tbh)

case in point: Agatha is manspreading like some idiot lumberjack, and Rio looks like she has never seen anyone hotter

Agatha: "I have a lead in the case". Rio, with goddamn bedroom eyes: "that's not why I came over."

But then when Agatha looks overwhelmed she immediately course-corrects and encourages her to talk about the case. Love me a boundary-respecting king. Real talk, she's been respecting those boundaries for a long time. And even if she's quite angry at Agatha, she won't unleash all that on her when she's so defenseless.

She pushes a little, and the moment it's too much for Agatha she steps back and regroups. She's being SO gentle.

That's fascinating that her subconscious knows what happened to Billy. Exactly how connected are they?

Whoops, we're leaning in again.

She says yes so openly. When the real Agatha has been running away from Rio and this confrontation for centuries! The real Agatha is SCREAMING in terror, but he body won't listen because it's fallen back into that feeling of domesticity and trust. This is the same body that will always yearn to kiss Rio. The mind that categorically forbids it is shut away for the time being.

Why is Rio trying to wake Agatha up? She could let her stay like this. She could easily make Agnes O'Connor fall in love. The two main reasons why she doesn't are: because she's so fucking angry with her, and she wants them to finally have a mature conversation about Nicky and she needs Agatha to understand that she's hurting too. The second reason is - because she loves her too much. It's honestly just that. She cannot let Agatha live like this, tortured, imprisoned, without agency. She want to have a mature conversation with the real Agatha, she wants to get angry with the real Agatha, most of all she wants Agatha to be okay. Do you see the difference? She's not just in love with her, because being in love is a selfish act, but to love someone is fundamentally selfless. And she will keep loving Agatha no matter if they are together or not. She loves her enough to bend the rules of the universe for her. She just... she loves her.

and this, letting Agatha exist in this form, is a punishment too cruel for Rio to allow

The half smile, the bitterness behind it. An Agatha who doesn't hate her is just a beautiful fantasy, but Rio knows better.

it's Billy! and another mirror! yep, that's a theme.

Ha, the real Sharon was calling him a hooligan. RIP sharon, gone too soon

so intense!!?! even when she's not doing it on purpose, her characters are cheesy and cliched. and it takes a lot of talent to write a bad show too, so kudos to jac schaeffer & co

go to part 3

[maniculum]

This... scorpion, I guess... comes from MS Arundel 60, which the British Library has digitized fully (link here). It's the oldest from the original post, coming from England not long after the Norman Conquest.

This is another calendar scorpion, and it's so far off from What Is Scorpions that I went to check the other Zodiac animals to see if maybe this artist was just doing random Beaſts for all of them. But no, the rest are stylized-but-recognizable, so it's clearly just a case of not having the first clue what a "scorpion" looks like. Here's the rest of the Zodiac, by the way, because I honestly find this style very aesthetically pleasing and want to share:

[Group image ID: line-art drawings of the Zodiac signs in red ink, somewhat stylized but largely accurate.]

No, I have no idea what those things Gemini is holding are. They look like either smoking gun barrels or giant cigars, but obviously this is hundreds of years before either of those things could be found in England. (I guess they could be joints -- marijuana is an Old World plant, and people definitely smoked it at the time, but it wasn't popular in Europe. Whether that's down to culture or climate... look, I'm rambling, we did a whole episode on this a couple years ago (link here), so if you want to know, go listen.)

Anyway, this may seem like an unnecessary diversion, but checking out the rest of the Zodiac answered my most pressing question about this illustration. Namely:

Why are you shooting him? :(

My initial guess was that this was another case of Manuscript Telephone. You know, maybe one artist gave their Scorpio a long tongue or drew venom shooting out of its mouth, then someone else misinterpreted it as an arrow and drew that into their illustration, etc. However, the actual reason becomes apparent when you look at the way the pages are laid out:

Sagittarius is on the facing page. He's shooting Scorpio across the gutter of the manuscript.

Anyway, final note before I get into the points: we can see that the tail is coiled, meaning we've probably got that "knotted tail" thing from Pliny again.

Now, points:

Small Scuttling Beaſtie? ✘, he is large

Pincers? ✘

Exoskeleton or Shell? ✘

Visible Stinger? ✘

Limbs? 4 (I'm making the executive decision that wings count for non-arthropods.)

Speaking of wings, -1 for having them, sorry bud.

As for vibes, I love this guy. He has a face like a sad bulldog. I want to save him from the arrow & give him a doggie bed to curl up on. 5/5.

Total score:

4.4 / 10

Sagittarius, you should be ashamed of yourself.

[variousqueerthings]

so been thinking about how s2 often feels like a post-Victoria consequences thing

and by this i mean the way that the first few episodes still feel like Ray and Fraser to an extent gently coming together again after letting go and how that narrative feels like it reaches a mini-arc conclusion in witness when Fraser decides to stay in Chicago

and then how a great deal of the dynamics between them are based in Ray's feelings about Fraser's issues with boundaries and putting himself in dangerous situations for others and his interpersonal conflict aversion stuff and basically the big ball of "Fraser's someone who others can (and have, and do) take advantage of, let's try to make that not be a thing"

so i did a list of times i which ray tries to coach Fraser, or confronts him with these issues, or in some other way is affected by it, which i called “every time Ray tries to coach Fraser to stand up for himself/be more in touch with his emotions/stop being a martyr for two seconds” collection

- EPISODE 1: NORTH

- - - - is upset about Fraser’s insistence that they put their own welfare below “catching the bad guy” and questions/is exasperated with Fraser’s need to push on when he is blind and later can’t walk

- - - - hints that Ray is aware of how much Fraser's relationship with his father started this trajectory

- - - - also there's something about ray literally carrying him for a part of this episode. he'll cajole, he'll call out, he'll coach, but at the end of the day if Fraser needs it, he'll carry

- EPISODE 2: VAULT

- - - - Ray points out that Thatcher clearly hates Fraser and is punishing him

- - - - Ray tells Fraser not to apologise to the criminal

- - - - Ray asks Fraser why it is that he does the things he does

- - - - Ray forces Fraser to admit that he sometimes feels unappreciated and that he will stick up for himself

- - - - makes him acknowledge he’s got a liiiittle bit of petty joy in seeing the other Canadian lying unconscious on the ground

- - - - all of this of course ends in fraser daring to confront thatcher about wanting to wear his old uniform (with a lot of stuttering)

- EPISODE 3: WITNESS

- - - - as we see in a couple of episodes, it's the other way around this time, Fraser protects Ray/makes sure Ray's outsized ability to call bullshit doesn't get him further beat up and potentially killed in prison

- EPISODE 4: BIRD IN THE HAND

- - - - literally offers Fraser to help him kill Gerrard/cover up -- in the smaller text there's a lot about wanting Fraser to acknowledge how deeply affected by Gerrard's betrayal he is (which he does, but not when Ray is around)

- EPISODE 5: THE PROMISE

- - - - points out Fraser’s a bit of a sap for trying to find the good in everyone (in this case Meg)

- - - - also is pointedly quite sarcastic with Meg when she's rude to Fraser in public

- EPISODE 6: MASK

- - - - is once more very sarcastic with Meg, right after she’s rude to Fraser (who could have died from falling off a building)

- EPISODE 7: ONE GOOD MAN

- - - - goes with Fraser to complaints and coaches him in what to do (does take over when Fraser fails to actually complain and asks him to please help)

- - - - equally goes above and beyond to make sure that Fraser is first able to speak at city hall (with his mean girl antics) and then pays people a hundred dollars at a time to listen to him/help strengthen his case

- EPISODE 8: JULIET

(this is the Fraser needs to protect Ray from himself episode, which in some ways is both a testament to Fraser's ability allow conflict when it's about justice + Ray's soul, but on the flipside feels like him allowing himself to be a punching bag for the whole precinct)

- EPISODE 9: THE EDGE

- - - - do think he’s finally seeing The Thing with Meg and he doesn't bite as much in her direction/about her at Fraser

- - - - is defensive of Fraser at the FBI agents (Ray hating the FBI is one of my favourite tidbits about him)

- EPISODE 10: STARMAN

- - - - honestly, more for himself (as it should be) in an attempt to not get Fraser to trust Ian

- - - - but he still follows Fraser into the compound, so in many ways he's kind of over-indulgent of Fraser's heroic antics in this one (you really are a sap for this guy, Ray)

- EPISODE 11: EGGMEN

- - - - fun that he actually is warming to Meg very much

- - - - even though he makes statements about not being sure Fraser’s right, he very much backs Fraser’s play to dispute being at fault for the accident

- - - - is annoyed that Fraser didn’t tell him about his commendation

- EPISODE 12: SOME LIKE IT RED

- - - - I think it’s notable that he doesn’t in this one, considering how Ms Fraser is far more assertive than Mr Fraser

- - - - although he does save her from dancing with a creep

- EPISODE 13: WHITE MEN

- - - - Ray really stands with Fraser this episode, at the cost of his own career reputation -- even when he demands explanations from Fraser, that's not a dispute, it's something he knows Fraser will give him and he goes with all of Fraser's points after thinking about them

- EPISODE 14: ALL THE QUEENS HORSES

- - - - very much standing aside for Meg and Fraser in this one. It’s not coaching Fraser or anything, it’s just a bit of a conclusion to Ray’s personal little saga with Meg, considering he practically compared her to Victoria in The Promise (is it reaching, idk, it was the first thing I wondered when he said "the good in everyone"). So Fraser's bad track record with being used by women specifically (in this case) is put to an end (until, I recently found out, s3 where it rears its head again, interestingly)

- EPISODE 15: BODY LANGUAGE

- - - - forcefully: "take the compliment Benny!!"

- - - - when asked if he really believes in the strength of the case: “no but he (fraser) does and that’s all the counts”

- - - - after a discussion about how Fraser ought to have more optimism about the future (in this case the literal future being that two leads will show up) Fraser: “we’ll have four menus please.” Ray, softly: “it’s a start”

- EPISODE 16: THE DUEL

- - - - another role reversal in a sense (pairs quite nicely with Juliet, not in the sense that Ray's done anything wrong, but that Fraser is out to bat for him in a way that nobody else is)

- EPISODE 17: RED WHITE OR BLUE

- - - - their whole! THING! In this episode! Is a mix of aaaallll of Ray’s feelings coming to the fore at once, which includes some of his feelings of inadequacy, but mostly a heavyheavy dose of telling Fraser he needs to feel his feelings, including the angry and sad ones!!!!! his whole frustration comes full circle with the beginning of the season!!!!!!!!!!!

- - - - at the end of it calls him a saint and Fraser gives that right back to him and they sort it out 😭

- EPISODE 18: FLASHBAcK

- - - - AFTER ALL OF THIS Ray is desperately trying to get Fraser’s memory back, with all of his silly-boy antics (opening doors, excessive politeness, heroism). when fake!Fraser calls himself annoying, when he asks if he's "being punished" etc. Ray's whole deal is how much he wants him back. the issue has of course never been that Ray thinks Fraser is "annoying" it's that he wants him to demand the world treat him better

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

I’m now halfway through The Magnus Archives’ 1st season, so I thought it would be cool to just post my thoughts on each episode so far :). (Spoilers, I like all of them, and this podcast is going to be all I care about for a while.) Also NO SPOILERS PLEASE!!!

Link to Masterpost (contains all of these thought posts)

- Episode 1, Anglerfish 🚬

Statement of Nathan Watts, regarding an encounter on Old Fishmarket Close, Edinburgh.

Really strong start, not the scariest episode so far but definitely unnerving, and it gives a good first impression and layer of intrigue. While the story is simple in comparison to the later ones, it was still enjoyable, and I was just appreciating the atmosphere and framing device of the episode as well.

- Episode 2, Do Not Open ⚰️

Statement of Joshua Gillespie, regarding his time in the possession of an apparently empty wooden casket.

This is still one of my favorites. The whole time I was on edge, and this was the first episode that really kept me up at night. I went from wanting to know what was inside the coffin desperately, to wanting to stay away from it as much as possible. Joshua’s insuring dread and creative solution to his problems was fantastic, and it ends with some intriguing plot threads being set up.

- Episode 3, Across The Street 📓

Statement of Amy Patel, regarding the alleged disappearance of her acquaintance Graham Folger.

I think I share a common sentiment when I say that Amy stalking Graham was almost as creepy as the actual horror lmao. Overall I don’t have that much to say about this one, but it was very enjoyable, and I feel really bad for Graham in retrospect :(.

- Episode 4, Pageturner 📕

Statement of Dominic Swain, regarding a book briefly in his possession in the winter of 2012.

I…feel like I should hold off on talking about this one for now. While it was definitely well written and creepy, it just seems to be so full of setup for future plot lines that I almost don’t feel like I can form a concise opinion on it until I really get what’s going on. Honestly, my only complaint with this episode is that maybe it’s setting up TOO much in one go, but I still had a good time with it overall.

- Episode 5, Thrown Away 🗑️

Statement of Kieran Woodward, regarding items recovered from the refuse of 93 Lancaster Road, Walthamstowe.

This one actually did a pretty good job at getting me to think about waste disposal workers lmao, I never really thought about them like that before. This one was just really creepy, but also kind of fun in a weird twisted way. It did a great job keeping me on edge as well.

- Episode 6, Squirm 🪱

Statement of Timothy Hodge, regarding his sexual encounter with Harriet Lee and her subsequent death.

I am simultaneously horrified, and unfortunately aroused by what happened here.

- Episode 7, The Piper 🔫

Statement of Staff Sgt. Clarence Berry, regarding his time serving with Wilfred Owen in the Great War.

Having an episode set nearly 100 years ago is a really fun idea, and it’s executed perfectly here. It was interesting how it also featured a real person, and I liked how the paranormal activity felt more metaphorical here, it really did feel like it was showcasing the horror of war.

- Episode 8, Burned Out 🌳

Statement of Ivo Lensik, regarding his experiences during the construction of a house on Hill Top Road, Oxford.

I found this one to be very nerve-wracking, since not only was the whole scenario with the tree just, like…three creepy things happening at once, but the fact that the statement was given by someone with schizophrenia did a good job making me question it’s validity, even though I’m certain it’s true after listening to a later statement. I also hope that I get to see how the history of the house is unveiled in the future.

- Episode 9, A Father’s Love 💡

Statement of Julia Montauk, regarding the actions and motivations of her father, the serial killer Robert Montauk.

This one made me feel really sad :(. I really felt Julia’s despair in this one (Jonathan Sims does such great voice acting for every statement btw, both the character and the actual person), and I was even more saddened by the implications of why Robert did what he did. If my assumptions are correct, then…SCREW THE MOTHER! It was also the first one that got me thinking about where exactly all of the paranormal stuff comes from, and later episodes only add to my theory that it’s all due to demons/cults/higher powers.

- Episode 10, Vampire Killer 🧛🏻

Statement of Trevor Herbert, regarding his life as a self-proclaimed vampire hunter.

Much like Episode 8, this one did a really good job at making me question the validity of the statement, although I became more sure of its truth a bit earlier. I also just love how nonchalant Trevor comes off as, compared to all of the other traumatized horror victims. (Also, I’m guessing that the name Trevor and the episode title are meant to be a Castlevania reference?) While vampires aren’t the most creative thing for an episode, at least in comparison to everything else, the beast-like execution here more than made up for it in my opinion.

- Episode 11, Dreamer 💭

Statement of Antonio Blake, regarding his recent dreams about Gertrude Robinson, previous Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute.

Yeah…Gertrude Robinson did not die a normal death. My guess is that she was caught by ✨the horrors✨, but I’ll wait and see. This was another very tense episode, with the prophetic dream world being really, REALLY creepy. I do hope we get to see more of “Antonio” in the future, as I think he could be quite important. (I also hope he gets punched for DUMPING GRAHAM IN HIS TIME OF NEED-)

- Episode 12, First Aid 🏥

Statement of Lesere Saraki, regarding a recent night-shift at St. Thomas Hospital, London.

OMG GERARD KEAY HI HI HI HI HOW ARE YOU!!! Yeah I audibly gasped when he showed up again, it was such a cool moment. Anyways, hospitals already creep me the fuck out so this was pretty effective. Definitely some great setup here, and it helped to make a bit more sense of Pageturner, now that I have a better idea of what Gerard’s whole deal is. It also added some good fuel to the whole cult idea, and my god this poor nurse. Having to deal with all of this in a single night sounds like hell.

- Episode 13, Alone 🌫️

Statement of Naomi Herne, regarding the events following the funeral of her fiancé, Evan Lukas. Statement taken direct from subject.

Having a new voice in this episode was really cool, and Katie Davison did an excellent job as Naomi! It was also cool to see how Jon interacts with other people, he was…nicer than expected. This episode honestly felt like it was calling me out, as I am also someone who’s confident in my independence, but if I was in Naomi’s place I would also probably be scared shitless. I really hope she’ll get a happy ending :(. Also, The Lukas family is quite intriguing, especially since we now know they have a connection to The Institute…

- Episode 14, Piecemeal 👆

Statement of Lee Rentoul, regarding the murder of his associate Paul Noriega.

Firstly, this is probably my favorite of Jon’s vocal deliveries. His performance of Lee Rentoul just feels perfect. (Once again, this applies to both the writer and the character, I’m genuinely convinced the latter is an ex-theatre kid.) Outside of that, THIS ONE CREEPED ME OUT. The body horror was very effective, with the only thing holding it back being the fact that Lee isn’t the most likable protagonist in the podcast, but if this happened to someone else I’d be even more upset. Still though, it was a very creative concept, and the whole vibe and execution of the episode made it great.

- Episode 15, Lost Johns’ Cave 🕯️

Statement of Laura Popham, regarding her experience exploring the Three Counties System of caves with her sister Alena Sanderson.

What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fu-

- Episode 16, Arachnophobia 🕷️

Statement of Carlos Vittery, regarding his arachnophobia and its manifestations.

The way they tackled the concept in the title was really well done. Arachnophobia is seen as an irrational fear by a lot of people, so having it portrayed as an effect of childhood trauma was a good call. And as someone who is not arachnophobic, this episode got me close to feeling that way. What ever force was making Carlos relive his trauma is a sick fuck. Also the cat was a real one, glad he survived the whole situation. (Also THE WORMS, HOLY SHIT IT’S THE SEX WORMS!!!)

- Episode 17, The Boneturner’s Tale 🦴

Statement of Sebastian Adekoya, regarding a new acquisition at Chiswick Library.

This episode really compelled me to get out the rubber bands connecting images lmao. I really liked all of the connections to past statements here, like the presence of another book from the library of Jurgen Leitner, to the mention of Micheal Crew. The body horror here was once again very creepy, (outside of the flat rat, that was morbidly funny), but my favorite part of the episode was the introduction of Elias, which was a humorous, but also very intriguing scene. Also, the themes of books containing power was great as well. Great stuff all around.

- Episode 18, The Man Upstairs 🥩

Statement of Christof Rudenko, regarding his interactions with a first floor resident of Welbeck House, Wandsworth.

…ew. Ok in all seriousness, this is probably my least favorite episode so far. Still very far from bad, but after all of the extremely interesting themes and plot threads, having an episode where the idea was just “What if a guy had a house covered in meat? Wouldn’t that be fucked up?”, felt just a little bit underwhelming. Which like, the fact that my least favorite episode’s biggest problem is that I find it slightly pales in comparison to previous ones is just a testament to how much I’ve been enjoying the podcast. Still though, there were definitely a few things I really liked. The reveal of the room was creepy (especially considering the meat that seemed…alive…), and as someone who has had to deal with upstairs neighbors making noise for hours during construction, this episode definitely scared me.

- Episode 19, Confession, and Episode 20, Desecrated Host ✝️

Statement of Father Edwin Burroughs, regarding his claimed demonic possession.

This, alongside Lost Johns’ Cave, was one (or I guess, two…) of those episodes that seriously fucked me up. While I am not religious, I have always had fears of how religion can negatively affect me and the people around me, despite the good that it seems to do for so many people. So seeing Edwin be charged for every “sin” he committed by a higher power that wishes to steal its faith, and then not get judged by it, but by the people around him for his one true sin, was absolutely haunting, and I hope he turns out ok in the end. Outside of the horror, the episodes were fantastic. Listening to the events of Episode 8 from Edwin’s perspective, and seeing how Ivo’s actions saved him, was really cool, and solidifies in my mind that Ivo’s experience was real. The connections to demonic magic and Latin script thickened, and it was overall just a great mid-season finale. In conclusion, I hope that Martin feels better soon, and if he isn’t actually sick and is being plagued by ✨the horrors✨, well then I hope he survives :).

Thank you for reading my silly little thoughts if you’ve made it this far, it really means a lot to me :). I’ll probably update this every time I finish half of a season, so hopefully my thoughts on episodes 21-40 will be here in the Reblogs soon. :)

[alamwamal]

I was listening to an episode titles "40 secrets about Asharaa's Plan to liberate Syria" by Ahmad Mansour about the battle of the liberation of Syria, mostly general talk about the preparations and the first attack.

He starts to talk about Idlib as a community and as a "state" run by Asharaa. he talks about it got to this point. He mentions that while Syria has been missing from Media coverage in the last 4 years but was surprised to find that more than 20 studies were done by westerns on Idlib in these 4 years.

The battle was being prepared for for more than a year and a half. It was estimated to last between 2 to 6 months. It's a miracle and a surprise that it only lasted for 11 days.

Even Turkey had no idea that the goal was Damascus, they told Turkey that it's just a small scale defense operation, it was even called "Deterrence of Aggression", because Turkey already has a refugee crises and if this operation fails, the 4 million people in Idlib will only have Turkey to go to. Turkey would oppose the risk of a large scale operation.

It started under the guise of deterring the attacks of Assad, Iran (some say even Hezbo//llah) who are still occasionally bombing Idlib while Gaza is being bombed by Israeli occupation. (the hypocrisy of Iran and Hezbo//llah). it is said that every time Israeli bombs Iran in Syria, they avenge by bombing civilians in Idlib. I remember seeing new here and there about it, but the timeline was covered with news about Gaza which are already too much to catch up with.

He talks about a lot of things but I was surprised with things like these details because I think when Putin said that Aleppo was taken by 350 fighters and 30,000 of Assad soldiers ran away from these 350, he might not be lying or exaggerating as I first thought. he might actually be telling the truth.

They relied more on intelligence and strategy to find and attack the week points to win with minimum losses.

The beginning was a surprise attack on a check point between two mountains, using 4 fighters only! that has been prepared for over a month of dismantling around 300 landmines in a the area, they null them and return them to where they were, before directly attacking the leading headquarters, full of Iranis. After the headquarter fell the whole city of Aleppo fell in less than 48 hours, without a single civilian causality or any damage to homes.

There was also a strategic misleading, they gather soldiers in an area, but the real attack is a smaller vital one in a different area.

He also talked about how the fighting was going on 24/7, they did not let the regime forces to take any minute to think.

Another important point is to leave an escape route for Assad soldiers so they can retreat and corner them to fight for their life. I think this is a well know rule in life, but apparently it had a huge role in this battle. Assad forces did not fight to save their lives when they could simply retreat and run away. He says that for days, the street were full with Assad soldiers who abandoned the weapons and clothes and were wandering aimlessly and did not know where to go.

Even Hezbo//llah militias in Homs were allowed to run away to Lebanon from Homs after Assad soldiers left and they were left alone. because after Hama fell on 5 of Dec, Assad's army left Homs altogether and both Damascus and Homs were liberated on the 11th day, 8th of December.

[He only talks about the operation the north did, since he was there, but after the liberating of Hama the southern rebels who made truce with the regime at some point joined the battle and entered Damascus first, that's why there were some chaos in Damascus at first.]

He said that Ahmad Ashara told him about 3 things he did to send messages to Syrians :

made a sujuud in Damascus to announce that this victory form Allah swt.

He prayed in Umayyad Masjid to announce that it returns as a masjid as it has always been and not a husayniyya as Shia turned it into.

He visited his parents old house and told the people living in it to hand the house in a week, to assure to Syrian that refugees that their homes that were stolen from them will return to them after they come back to Syria.

These were the most important points -a summary of what already is a brief summary. I wrote this quickly and I hope I understood what he said -there are things I didn't comprehend, it's just one hour episode on a huge topic and I'm sure he and aljazeera will definitely cover this in more details later on.

[lifeoflunar-blog]

my scrambled thoughts on TUA szn 4

(i wrote this in august as soon as it came out and it got lost in my endless sea of drafts) (if anyone still cares about this shows ending)

Alright guys, strap in, because I have thoughts.

I can't believe that's how they decide to end the entire show, with a season that leaves more unanswered questions than answered ones. I have TOO many thoughts on the entire season, and how so much of it essentially ruined the entire show.

First off, I understand that the characters were going to be coming into this season unbalanced and lost, considering they were all without powers and trying to create lives for themselves after being forced to constantly save the world over and over again. That would cause anyone to lose their minds a little bit and act out of character/ selfishly.

But Five....oh my GOD.

Listen. I know that people put a character like Five on a pedestal and kinda immortalize him because of the type of person he is. He's labelled as a cold hearted assassin whose soft protective side comes out only when trying to save his family. I get that people label him as aro/ace (which can make sense I suppose). But here's the thing. I don't think it was gross for Five to fall in love. I believe Five is fully capable of falling in love. I DO think, however, that #1: that the way they went about it was unnecessary, and #2: there were so many other ways to expand his character and show his softer and more vulnerable side!!!

When I first watched season 4 (binged it as soon as it dropped even though i tried very hard to not ITS ONLY 6 EPISODES CMON), I didn't...hate the whole Five x Lila thing (LISTEN SPARE ME PLEASE). On paper, these two characters are very alike and it's not completely far fetched for them to pair up. They were both trained assassin's and understood each other's trauma. When they stopped hating each other, they actually confided in one another and became a great duo. Granted, the duo was very much sibling or cousin-y, but still. I feel like if Aiden was older during season 2 and 3, and if he was stuck inside an adult body instead of,,,uh,,,A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD???? it would've been in the cards for the two to eventually get together. But here's the thing, it came so out of left field. The way the dynamic was due to the actors ages and appearances in the previous seasons, it was just not even a thought that crossed anyones mind (unless ur sick in the head). It kinda ruined the prior seasons for me because now I see them interact in those and I get a gross feeling, like oh they're bickering like siblings but wait....they end up getting nasty....IDK. I get the whole enemies to lovers, but you can't establish an iconic sibling pairing and then just make them do...that.

Note to the writers, people want a slow burn. We wanna see the process, the little things that lead to a relationship between two people. Even in the first few episodes they had Five and Lila together but it didn't feel like anything romantic was happening. It was just so sudden.

Here's the thing. The only reason I liked Five and Lila together was because of how Five was during the subway era. He really did get his retirement storyline, he had someone to take care of and he got to live this soft life, even if it was incredible short lived and also only due to proximity. I only wish that if they HAD to give Five a romantic story line that it wasn't fake, that it was actual real love that could happen. Also, as soon as episode 5 happened and Five and Lila kissed, I knew that the show couldn't have ended in a way where they all survived. I knew that that was the moment the writers decide to let them all go to shit, because there was truly no coming back from that.

I just think that they relied too heavily on montages to tell the passage of time to explain their behaviour, because that's kinda the only way you can defend how the characters acted. They just tried to fit too much content into 6 little episodes and it just became confusing. Even in the first episode, I wanted to see the characters adapt to their new surroundings, not just 6 years later when the next tragic thing occurs.

A storyline I wish we got to see with Five was him having a breakdown and not being able to handle the pressure of always fixing things, and having his siblings come to support him emotionally and allow for him to open up. I really wanted Five to open up about his trauma, and that could've been a great way for him to express that softer emotional side of him.

Here's the thing. People saying that it was so far fetched for him to fall in love is something I have to disagree with. I agree that they didn't need to include it, but it wasn't something out of character for him. TBH, I know his motivation is his family, but I don't think he would've survived his original apocalypse has he not had Dolores. That guy is a romantic through and through, and 100% has the capacity to fall in love. Not even that, he definitely deserved to fall in love. I just don't know if it was with his brother's wife.

Now, going back to the putting-Five-on-a-pedesal-thing, I do believe that Five finding happiness and love with Lila in the greenhouse timeline was more or less valid. Like, the guys been through so much, I think Five finding love in an unethical way doesn't mean that he's some horrible disgusting character. I'm more focused on Five's feelings than the repercussions his actions hold, if that make's sense. Of course it's devastating to see Diego find out, but still, Five got to experience love for the first time. And man oh man is he adorable when he's in love. The way he spoke to Lila with such softness even when they were fighting, the way he took care of her, THE BRACELET :((((, and to be so honest with y'all when they went back and they were all sitting in the living room, Five looking beyond angry and jealous truly did something to me. Maybe I'm just toxic....lmao.

(also side note I wanted to mention, I feel like the whole reason Diego and Lila worked is because Diego was the level headed one in the relationship. Detective Patch and Diego didn't work because (well she died but ALSO) he was the irrational one in that pairing. Patch saw him as crazy and immature. But with Lila, Diego grew into his protective and masculine side).

Overall, I think Five was acting selfish and self serving, something we haven’t really seen from him in the past seasons. He was prioritizing himself and his “relationship” with Lila when I know for a fact he never would’ve done that before this season. It just shows that he’d given up, which makes me so sad. He didn’t care about saving the world, he didn’t even really care about his siblings in the end. It makes me upset because you can visibly see the hope leave him as soon as he sits on the sofa with everyone and sees Lila with Diego, I feel like that was really his last straw. (Hey man I get it, first loves are tricky but come ON).

As for the ending, I was left truly unsatisfied and disappointed. For a family that had gone through so much together, they really just,,,ceased to exist. It would’ve been better if they died after a satisfying season of being there for each other and supporting one another and having heart to hearts but they didn’t. They all went on separate side quests and came back to die. There were too many other options and plot holes for me to even consider this ending they gave us.

This is not to say that I think this season was a waste. I really did enjoy the first few episodes, as they progressed it just started getting more confusing and they started adding unnecessary content. I loved the road trip aspect, and I have to give kudos to Aidan Gallagher, this was HIS season. His acting was truly one of the best performances I’ve seen, especially since his character is probably the trickiest one to play. I liked that this season got to show his range as an actor, seeing him be soft and sweet was honestly a nice change from his normal sassy self.

AnyWAYS the way I'm rereading this moths later and I still feel as strongly as I did in August sitting under the covers at 2am with my laptop screen being my only source of light as my heart dropped to my ass hearing "On the 12th hour of the 8th day of August 2024, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened" and realizing the show is truly over and we'll never get more content with the siblings.

i a m f i n e : )

[chaotic-goodsir]

The Searcher in The Shadows Part 3 Spoilers

I loved this whole episode. It was full of so much lore for the Blazing World and some huge character moments for all the main four. The writing, acting and singing were all fantastic and I had so much fun listening. But also, much like the great astronomer/lovesick nerd, John Herschel:

I have questions.

Which is good, because the pulp genre is supposed to leave you excited for more of the story and this has definitely succeeded.

Some thoughts in no particular order:

1) This is probably not relevant to anything, but where did Kal get all those boats? Were they former Blazing World ships similar to the Antikythera but corrupted by the fog, or did he make bargains with human captains other than AJ to commandeer their ships? It would be very cool if he had a fleet of stolen ghost ships from all throughout time.

2) So, Margaret was 'The Great Enchantress', but what exactly does that mean? Was she evil? Did she work for her father? Who were the names she mentioned when she got back to the Nautilus? Was Itzal really pulling the strings of the whole evil fog curse thing all along, was it Kal (now we've learned a bit more, I feel like he's fitting into more of a shady advisor/vizier sort of role than just another victim of the fog...), or could it even have been Margaret weilding power over her father before she lost her powers/memories?

3) Ahem. Look. You can't put the phrase 'old friend' in a song about two people on opposing sides of a cosmic war having some kind of history and expect me to be normal about it. And don't think I missed Kal saying 'Dak' either. What went on between these two? 🤔 Much to consider.

4) (In which I finally shut up about Kal)John overcoming his fear of his father's disapproval and now Margaret standing up to Itzal, in the same episode? Ooh, the parallels. I feel like this theme is going to build up to something/relate to more lore about The Great Enchantress, although I'm not sure what exactly. I'm excited to see what John ends up doing after the dramatic character shift in 'Before the Island'.

5) Okay, the ending hurt. But this is pulp musicals, based on the genre famous for giving characters dramatic death scenes and then bringing them back. So I don't think we've seen the last of Samuel, and I don't just mean in the sense that he'll live on through the notebook. Is he dead? Sure, but is that really the end? I don't think so. ☀️ Nothing can stop the sun! ☀️ (I'm in denial...)

But on that note: Samuel's whole arc about being the one writing everything down, the eyes through which the listener sees the story? Being the character who started it all and documents it all? I had the feeling throughout this and the previous episodes that Samuel was fading into the background of the story a bit, but this ending really said 'he was never a part of the same narrative as everyone else, because he's the goddamn NARRATOR.' and then made him the one to decide the fate of all the other characters. That was amazing writing, and even if he doesn't come back at all (though I still think he might), I'll be satisfied with that ending, however sad it was.