#and i’ve rewatched the onboard

[l8tof1]

all of lewis’ track limit violations were in the first 15mins of the race. 😫 which means he stopped as soon as bono alerted him to it for the first time around the 15min mark but in reality he had already collected all 6 violations by then??

it makes so much more sense now why he would’ve been frustrated! he had already corrected his driving but bono continues to tell him about track limits as they came through delayed from the stewards. bono only tells him about the 2nd violation well after the 15min mark when according to the FIA document he already had 6.

[to-eat-laugh-love-in-peace]

So I’ve seen people point out how the tips of the sandsteamer’s Plant’s hands darkened after her and Vash worked together to slow the Sandsteamer down before it could crash onto Hopeland before but I haven’t seen anyone so far point it out in relation to Legato and Zazie’s short convo in the truck in a previous scene where Zazie reminds him that they still need to bring the Plant back to July when Legato telekinetically takes the Sandsteamer off its course to head to Hopeland instead of July, to which Legato responds that there’s no need to worry, they’ll bring it back without a scratch. If that doesn't sound like famous last words uttered moments before disaster then I don’t know what does.

Now I’ve theorized in a previous post here that when Legato meets Vash after the two-year timeskip, he’s going to be in that ridiculous casket/full-body cast looking contraption. And I gave a couple of reasons for how that could be the case such as Legato probably only being sent to intercept the Sandsteamer just to retrieve its Plant to bring back to July, to Knives, and to possibly tire Vash out a bit so he'd be in a lot more vulnerable state when he finally confronted Knives, but then it ended up with him risking Wolfwood’s contract to be made null in the even that he actually succeeded in getting him to kill Livio and destroying Hopeland using the Sandsteamer or getting him to destroy the Sandsteamer and kill everyone onboard to save Hopeland and Vash’s scheduled arrival in July being delayed by like half a day because he ended up passing out at the end of the episode.

But after doing another rewatch I realized that the Plant having burned themselves out a bit to help Vash slow the Sandsteamer down to the point their fingertips darkened already made for a pretty good reason alone for my theory that Legato was bodily torn apart by Knives after he returned to July off-screen which would lead him to be put in a ridiculous casket/full-body cast looking contraption. Because like, no wonder Knives views or treats his own subordinates, his own worshippers, just like he would any human if someone like Legato who’s been shown to be so devoted to him pulls shit like this that leads to one of his sisters burning themselves out to put a stop to it.

Anyways hope this theory comes true one way or another and he shows up in S2 in that ridiculous casket/full-body cast looking contraption if only for the absolutely hilarious picture it would make. Like it’s one thing for Legato to use his powers to conceal his normal looking self while he talks to Vash in the middle of a very crowded plaza but it’s another thing for Legato to conceal himself using his power while he’s wearing any variation of that thing he dons for a good portion of Trimax, each iteration being more ridiculous that the last, while he talks to Vash in the middle of a very crowded plaza like. Just IMAGINE. @tristampparty

[isagrimorie]

I love this scene from Deep Space Nine on ‘From the Uniform’. Inspired from ‘Run Silent Run Deep’, I love how the crew had to manually operate the Defiant to leave DS9. (Although, every time I see Kira and Sisko onboard the Defiant I always go— but who is commanding DS9 without both the CO and second in command??? There’s a reason why Ivanova stays behind while Sheridan goes around gallivanting in his Ranger ship! Who is in command when both commanding officers are gone??).

Since rewatching this moment I’ve always thought we should have seen Janeway and the Voyager crew do the same thing — maybe during Year of Hell when all their systems were shot. I love the way they kind of talk over each other a little bit and verbally convey and call out each order. And then switching between Bridge and a battered Engine room with B’Elanna conducting the chaos like she was born to it, in tandem with Janeway issuing out orders.

But I don’t think Janeway would be able to stay still at that moment, especially if it was during Year of Hell, I image she’d be like in ‘Dragon’s Teeth’ where she goes around the Bridge issuing orders as they’re attacked by the Vaadwaur and their fighters ships? Jets? Anyway, the Dragon’s Teeth ship fight once again shows how quick she is on her feet, tactically.

Janeway does her best work when she’s out manned and out gunned.

[disappearinginq]

I’ve been rewatching Stark Trek: The Original Show and Strange New Worlds, and every time I see Kirk, I am reminded of my encounter with the both of them. 

Little known fact - there is a real life Captain James Kirk in the USN, and he and I don’t get along. 

Well...that’s not fair. 

I like him. He does not like me. 

I got to explain this to several people at Willaim Shatner’s tour of the real USN ship Enterprise when it was being decommed because I needed him to sign a very specific phrase on a picture of Captain James T. Kirk. 

My ship was parked right next to the Enterprise, and I was standing officers’ security watch, which meant I got to stand and check the ID’s for everyone E-7 and above when they came onboard the boat. Security would regularly run drills and give people at the pier fake ID’s to see if they could trip us up for not paying attention to the ID’s we were checking, and this poor fuck had the unfortunate luck of running into me with the actual, real life name of Captain James Kirk. Captains on a whole are pretentious dicks, I was not the greatest at being enlisted, and it was 5AM on a Saturday and I was already cranky. The conversation went something along the lines of: 

“Captain Kirk? James Kirk? Yeah, you’re on the wrong boat. Enterprise is next door.”

::long suffering sigh:: “It’s my real name, shipmate [derogatory].”

“Sure. And I’m an actual [insert religious figure that shares my last name]. Nice try.”

“It’s my real name, and I outrank you!”

“I buy that you outrank me sir, but I’m not standing an extra watch because you spun some good bullshit and got me to let you on with a fake ID.”

“IT’S A REAL ID!”

“They actually went the whole nine yards and made a real fake ID for you? That’s impressive.”

I detained that man for so long our actual captain had to come down and vouch for him, and I made him sign the log himself to prove that he’d vouched for Fake Captain Kirk. 

Several weeks later, Shatner came to town for the decommissioning ceremony for the Enterprise and they got several of us from security to stand as guards during the ceremony, which I volunteered for with an enthusiasm that concerned my watch commander, but she decided to see how it panned out and let me. After the Fancy Stuff was over, Shatner and a couple of the other Actual Navy people were milling around, I asked Shatner if he’d be willing to sign a picture for me. 

At first, he wasn’t thrilled, and started to decline, but I suggested he take a look at the picture I wanted him to sign before he said no. 

I handed him the photo and told him the story of the Actual Captain Kirk that I’d been a dick to earlier, and the message I wanted him to write. 

I thought Shatner was going to die laughing, and he immediately signed it, exactly as I asked and told me to have a good day. 

The next time Captain James Kirk showed up on my boat, I handed him the picture, and said it was an apology gift. Rightfully suspicious, he unfolded the picture, looked at it, and cursed me to the depths as he gave me a one finger salute and let himself on the boat. 

The picture? 

A badly photoshopped picture of CVN 65 USS Enterprise with William Shatner in his Star Trek days signed by the man himself: “To Captain Kirk from the Real Captain Kirk”. 

I am a comedic genius, and it should be known. 

[willjones7087]

Been a while since I spoke on it, but I've been rewatching MacGyver 2016 a hell of a lot more than is really healthy, and I have to say that my mind's changed on a couple of things.

1.) Pretty sure Jack's my favorite character now, and a lot of it has to do with how much the show Flanderized the character, but besides Riley, he seemed like the most well-rounded characters. 

2.) A while back on Twitter, there was a poll about the most popular characters on the show, and if I remember correctly, Mac came in third behind Jack and Riley. I fought it at the time, but after enough rewatches, I get it now, because Jack and Riley seem to be the most balanced and human characters, even with their skills. 

Bozer gets an honorable mention, too.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but there are moments when Mac just comes off as really condescending, especially to Jack. I don't know if it's the writing or Till's delivery, but the more I watched it, the less I liked Mac.

That said, he still didn't deserve to be as emasculated as he was in his relationship, such as it was, with Desi in the last season.

Which brings me to the things that I HAVEN'T changed my mind on...

1.) Billy Colton's character derailment. Never gonna sit well with me, and honestly, despite the chemistry between Till and Mays, I could never get completely onboard with MacRiley, though it's still a thousand times better than MacDesi.

2.) Desi Nguyen remains one of the most unlikeable characters I've ever seen. Simple as that. 

[fitpacs]

Yesss this is an awesome event :D I'm bouncing around streams and got fit reactions to his face being art, bagi roleplaying with em, bbh drawing etoiles, intense antoine lore, luzu ripping my heart out, and quackity making me laugh my head off all in the span of like half an hour

It's sooo entertaining to watch literally everyone's perspectives they're all making this event work for them in different ways regarding lore/rp/oorp and having a blast! Can't wait to vodwatch later too :')

i’m honestly loving this event, i’ve rewatched so many vods to get loads of peoples povs - the team did amazing on this one, they really took feedback onboard from purgatory, so respect to them for that!

[chooseyouovereveryone]

Choosing Valentines Day to announce that (in another universe where my babies Brittana aren’t endgame) I’m onboard with shipping Pezberry. There’s something so compelling about them together that in my 13 years of watching Glee I’ve never seen but now I’ve seen it I can’t look back. Don’t ask how I’ve gotten here because I don’t know either, but now I just know I need to do a rewatch through a Pezberry lens.

Notes:

1. By no circumstances do I ship them OVER Brittana. Brittana will always be my OTP, endgame etc etc and that’s set in stone but I’m saying in an AU where they don’t end up together, I can SEE it now.

2. This is a bigger twist than the day I realised I’m a lesbian, several boyfriends later.

Anyway, happy Valentine’s Day all 🥲

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 156/310

2015 Austrian GP

Alright. I only have the race once again. Nope. Pre-race content! Let's go!

I read that in FP1, Nico was faster than Lewis. Of the others, only Raikkonen was able to come less than a second behind them. Seb was dead last with a gearbox problem, running only 4 laps. He was the fastest in FP2, though. Nico was second but did not set any timed laps in the last 20 minutes because his car was leaking oil. Lewis struggled on the supersofts and he was only 5th. Then Seb was again the fastest in FP3, just ahead of Lewis. Alonso red flagged the session by stopping on the track. When it resumed it had started raining so the times weren't improved. 

Raikkonen was out in Q1 because of a miscommunication leading to him not having enough time to set a second hot lap. The track was drying so the times constantly improved. Jenson was also out in Q1, and he apparently had a 25-place grid penalty?! So yeah that turned into time penalties for the race… 

In Q2 the Mercs were the fastest with Rosberg ahead of Lewis. Alonso didn't make it to Q3. Ricciardo ended 14th and had a 10 place grid penalty so he also got a time penalty for the race, I guess. 

In Q3 Grosjean's brake by wire system failed and he couldn't set a time. Nico was ahead of Lewis after the first hot laps but Lewis improved by 2 tenths in the second round. They then went out for a third hot lap and both spun on different parts on the track. And that's how Lewis got his 45th pole, level with Seb who ended 3rd on the grid. Massa is 4th, Hulkenberg 5th, Valtteri 6th, Verstappen 7th, Kvyat 8th, Nasr 9th and, as we said, Grosjean 10th.

I've found the post quali press conference. It wasn't interesting apart from the way Lewis looked at Seb while he was talking so enjoy these awfully pixelated gifs.

In the end, Daniel had a 5 sec stop and go penalty, Alonso a drive through and Jenson a 10 sec stop and go penalty.

For some reason the drivers’ truck is this tiny little thing they're sitting on basically hip to hip. I can't see Lewis rn but I bet he's hating every second of it. They're also all freezing their asses off. 

About his 45th pole he says he's grateful to the team who's given him the car that made it possible for him to do so. He's excited for the race, he says it's cool and he doesn't know if it's gonna rain. He's also happy about the turnout. He says the Ferraris seem to have good race pace and he thinks it's gonna be pretty close. The interview is cut short because they need to get on the truck. I'm kinda sad she didn't interview him on it because I would have liked to see who he was sitting very intimately close to lol. 

That's not a very interesting prerace broadcast. There's a Hulkenberg interview and a Valtteri interview and a segment about what it's like being a TP, during which Lewis says he personally thinks a TP should be a leader and keep everyone calm and cool. They need to be easily approachable by everyone, because people need to be able to go to them to talk about issues they have. 

Formation lap. 

They're racing!

Oh fuck Nico gets a good start, Lewis tries to cover him but he's ahead into turn 1. Lewis comes back at him shortly after but he's on the outside. He attacks again but Nico still keeps him on the outside. Yellow flags are waved somewhere. OH NO WTF! They cut straight to an onboard and it's a Marussia I believe, under another car, is it a McLaren? No wait, I got it wrong! It's indeed a McLaren, Alonso's, and he's on top not of a Marussia but Raikkonen's Ferrari! Oh Jesus, that's a scary view. The cars are literally on top of each other. Safety car. Alonso is helped out of the upper car by the marshals. Raikkonen stands up on his own. Alonso jumps to the ground and turns around to check on him immediately. He's trying to get his steering wheel back on and as he steps out of the cockpit Alonso seems to make a gesture kind of like he's trying to grab his hand, it's kinda cute. They walk away together and look back over their shoulders. Surely they haven't seen such a view before themselves. 

Meanwhile Kvyat is in the pits getting his nose changed? Jenson asks if everyone is okay and he's told yes. Let's see the replay. From Raikkonen's onboard it's difficult to understand what happened. He lost control of the car and then crashes laterally into the barriers, it just happens that Alonso's car is in-between him and the barriers. I guess Alonso might have triggered the loss of control? Wow, it's freaky. Once Alonso's car is propped on Raikkonen's and they're against the barrier they still slid on what I'd estimate to be a good 20 metres, probably? Yeah we get an aerial view and that could have been way worse. Alonso got sandwiched right at a place where the barrier is at sort of an angle to allow for passage. Had that angle been sharper it would have been catastrophic. We're still unsure what happened though… Oh and NOW that's a Marussia stopping. That's 3 DNFs on lap 2.

Bono tells Lewis to be careful on the restart as the pressures are low and it would really hurt their race if he locked up. Shortly after, the Safety Car is announced in this lap… Nico slows down slightly while Lewis swerves behind him to warm up his tyres… The tension is high… Here we go… He gets some distance between them down the main straight. Sainz and Grosjean got into some slight contact at the back. Nico sets the fastest lap. He's out of DRS range for Lewis now. And that's a slow second McLaren… Yep, that's a double retirement for McLaren. 

Lap 10. Nico sets another fastest lap, he's 2 seconds ahead of Lewis already. Seb has fallen behind as well. Then it's Massa, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Valtteri, Nasr, Sainz, and Perez. Ericsson gets a drive through for a jump start. Nico sets fastest lap after fastest lap. And finally, Lewis starts gaining time rather than losing time over him. Valtteri overtakes Verstappen for P6. Bono : "Good job there Lewis, closing the gap nice and steady." 

Lap 20. Nico is still 2 seconds ahead, Seb has dropped back further. Apart from Valtteri's earlier overtake, the order hasn't changed in the top 10. Ericsson's engine stopped then went again. As we're shown graining on Rosberg's tyres, the pit stops start. Hulkenberg comes in from P7 after Grosjean, Sainz is also in. Valtteri pits and Ted says there was a close call between him and Verstappen. 

On lap 30 Sainz gets a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane and Verstappen overtakes Kvyat for P10. Nico is 3.2 seconds ahead of Lewis. It's still Seb behind them then Massa, Perez, Maldonado, Hulkenberg, Valtteri, Daniel and as we just established, Max is P10. Lewis is working on closing that gap again, 2.7. Sainz has no power. 2.2. Nico is told one lap. Lewis is told to pick up the pace. Nico locks up. He comes in. It's a 2.7 stop, 21.7 total in the pitlane. Massa pits, but Lewis didn't actually come in and now Nico is setting the fastest last sector in his outlap. They need to bring him in, staying out won't do him good. He pits. Ah fuck it's 3.1. Nico is well ahead and sets the fastest lap. Grosjean has a problem with his gearbox, he’s cutting some grass. The gap between Nico and Lewis has indeed increased with the stops. It seems to be about 4 seconds now. Seb comes in, putting Nico back in the lead, and it's a catastrophic stop for him, oh no! They can't bolt the right rear in! 13 seconds!!! AND LEWIS IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR CROSSING THE PIT EXIT LINE argh! Grosjean retires. Lewis did cross the line. And that's a 5 second time penalty for him. Fuck, that's a stupid mistake, that. 

Lap 40. The gap to Nico is 5.6, without the time penalty. Then we have Massa, Seb, Valtteri, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Maldonado and–

Bono tells Lewis about the penalty. "It's just a 5-second penalty, this will be added to our race time. So that means we need to be 5 seconds ahead of the car behind to maintain our position." Lewis sounds surprised. "Which one did I touch?" he asks. Bono explains it was pit exit and they are reviewing it. Well we saw the replay and it's undeniable. 

Raikkonen says he's fine and he's not sure what happened but thinks he lost the rear of the car. No mention of Alonso in his interview. 

On lap 50 Lewis is making no progress, he gave up on that win. The gap is 6.8. Massa is still 3rd but Seb is closing on him. 

I'm now officially bored and not paying much attention. 

On lap 60, the gap is 6.2. Daniel overtook Nasr for P10. 

10 laps to go. Oh, the gap is closing fast now, 5.5. 4.9. Massa is a healthy distance behind them so there's no worry about Lewis keeping P2 and Seb is now only 1 second behind Massa. Cue the fight. Perez complains of very bad vibrations. The gap at the front stabilised. Seb is closing on Massa. Nico is complaining of vibration. 

5 laps to go. Lewis is 4.8 behind him and Seb is still stuck behind the Williams. They're passing a backmarker and that was a close call but the fight is still on. Nico's engineer gets back to him to ask if the vibration is all the time or on the brakes. Nico is a bit frantic : "all the time, all the time!" He asks if he's sure there's no reliability concern over the tyre and he's told not at the time. The engineer starts to explain but Nico cuts him off : "All eyes on that, okay?" he says. "All eyes on that." The engineer says "absolutely, absolutely, but no concerns at the moment." Seb attacks Massa but he can't make it. The gap to Nico is 4.5. It won't change anything, there's not enough time to make it, 2 laps to go. Maldonado and Verstappen are fighting and they both almost crashed several times now. Verstappen says his tyres are completely gone. Final lap. This fight is tighter between Nico and Lewis, with the gap down to 2.2 seconds. 

It's the end of the race. 

Nico wins ahead of Lewis and Massa. 

Niki says Nico did a perfect race from beginning to end. Ted says Lewis also made an "uncharacteristic mistake". Niki says it happens, they shouldn't and he'll for sure be upset but he thinks Nico would have won regardless. 

Lewis hugs Nico but he hasn't taken his helmet off.

Nico climbs the barrier and sets himself upon his mechanics to be carried which is a weird thing to do lol.

As Nico arrives in the cool down room for some reason it's Herbie Blash carrying his helmet for him. He immediately engages Massa in Italian rather than English. It seems less innocuous than when he speaks German with Seb, you have to say. Massa moves to look at the times on the screen. Lewis and Nico don't talk. 

Lewis does smile on the podium, he's not beaming of course but he doesn't seem too pissed.

Oh here's the Mercedes moustache mechanic again!

Gerhard Berger leads the interviews. 

Berger tells Lewis he's one of the quickest drivers he's ever seen. Lewis smiles. Berger says he also has a quick car but a headache in the team, as every time he thinks he's going away winning the championship Nico comes back and keeps him honest. (It's interesting how in 2014 he was the underdog as he chased Nico for most of the season and this time it's the other way around). Berger says it's great to watch them both. Lewis says it's great to see his enthusiasm. There was no question there. They touch each other and it's a bit awkward, Lewis laughs.

Lewis says Nico did a fantastic job and he was quicker during the race. He says he had a bad start which lost him ground and then he pushed as hard as he could. Berger says they both put quali laps every lap and he thinks it's great to see them fighting since karting time. Lewis says it's been a long time. 

When asked in postrace interviews, Rosberg and Massa said that there should be safety improvements made in the area of closed cockpits after Alonso and Raikkonen's crash. Lewis said he had no opinion on the matter. Alonso said he was scared by the incident and relieved that Raikkonen was fine. There was no penalty. 

Maldonado accused Max of not respecting the rules in their fight for P7 although he said he enjoyed being allowed to race to the limits by the stewards. Max said he found it "quite funny" that Maldonado said that and refused to elaborate. (Honestly he's so funny for that.) 

Lewis is off to see the fans again. Meanwhile Paddy is interviewed and it's not very interesting but about the next race being the British GP he says : "to be honest one of the greatest moments I ever get in formula 1 is when you hear the home crowd at Silverstone cheer for Lewis, I've heard that in a number of occasions and it's really quite emotional."

Ohhh Massa's son is hanging around with him while he does media duty. I see him in the background of Lewis' interview. It's so cute. Anyway Lewis says it was a good, decent day in the office.

Natalie asks why he couldn't find an answer to Nico's pace, though. He's not really in the mood I can tell, he's evasive. Not 1-word-answers bad but not really owning up to it either. He says he doesn't know, he says Nico was quicker "just in the second stint", in the first stint he was close. He did a great job and "of course" Lewis lost out at the start. She asks why. He says he let the clutch out and it underperformed or something like that idk if it makes sense. He coughs. He says it's an issue he's been having since Barcelona, and that before that he had really good starts. She says he seems pretty calm about it all. He smiles.

She asks about Silverstone. He says he's looking forward to seeing "lots and lots of Brits" and to drive the circuit because it's a great track. He says Nico got to win his home GP, so he'll be out to fight for this one.

Hah! They decided to interview Felipe Senior and Junior. Jr said Sr would finish third and indeed he did. The microphone is the size of his face lol. Little guy. He's just playing with it during his dad's interview. Cute cute cute. At the end, Simon says he keeps seeing Jr practising his football skills in the paddock. He asks him if he wanna be "a racing driver or a famous Brazilian footballer". "I wanna be a racing driver," he says quietly. Everybody awws. Massa makes the international money gesture in the background. "You need to find sponsors uh?" he says as he taps him on the shoulder. "Good sponsors." Hill points at Sr : "Here he is, here's the sponsor!" They laugh.

Brundle congratulates Nico on his 11th win and says apart from the quali lap he had the weekend covered. Nico isn't convinced. "I had Sunday covered," he corrects him. "Saturday not really." He says the start was very important and he nailed it. He credits his engineer for his clutch settings. He says like he's said several times before that after the start it's difficult to come back because they have the same car, so unless the one in front makes a mistake you can't really overtake. 

[kalena-henden]

Kdramas continue to rule my world as I have completed my 40th kdrama. Though I did make time for a few other shows. This is a wrap up of what I’ve been watching since September.

finished or caught up with: 

Navillera - An elderly man decides to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a ballet dancer with the help a young troubled ballerino. I laughed through the first half and cried through the second half. Beautifully moving story. As former (amateur) ballet dancer, I completely understand the peace and joy that ballet can bring. There have been no other forms of dance or exercise that have fully captured what it gave me. Loved this!

Reply 1997 - My least favorite kdrama so far. I watched this solely for Seo In Guk. He’s actually great in this. I was just not crazy about the story. Everyone was kinda awful. The parts about fangirling and fanfic writing were so accurate though. lol 

Goblin - I am fully onboard the Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook train now. Their bromance on the show and in real life is everything. So many great laugh out loud, fish out of water moments but also some powerful reveals that made me sob. I eventually warmed up to the romances in the second half. It’s a really well crafted story. I already rewatched it.

Coffee Prince - Yes, I needed more Gong Yoo. hehe I was shocked how many shirtless/wet shirt moments there were for the coffee shop boys in the first half. This show is a little edgier than some of the more recent kdramas I’ve seen. I was here for the friends to lovers romance. There were some things I wasn’t crazy about (like how she kept her secret for too long) but I loved the coffee shop team vibes. They were so supportive of each other. 

The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim - This short webseries starring Kim Sae Ron and Nam Da Reum about high schoolers who fight an evil spirit that kills struggling students was so cute. It lagged a bit towards the climax but I still had a fun time. Also, the chill OST ‘Run to You’ by Kwon Jin Ah became one of my most listened to songs of the year.

Start-Up - This is a modern day Cyrano story set in the fast paced tech start-up world. It’s interesting to see the string of puppeteering that characters are caught in. Han Jipyeong (our Cyrano) is made a puppet by Dalmi’s grandmother, who in turn makes Nam Dosan into his puppet to then become the puppeteer of Seo Dalmi. Nam Dosan is also a puppet of his parents. With this long string of deception, Dalmi and Dosan struggle to find their agency in the first half because many of their actions are being covertly manipulated by what others want from them while trying to overcome their childhood trauma. Too often this made their personalities seem paper thin. While Han Jipyeong fails to realize his true desire for a family until it’s too late due to his insecurities and self-reliance born out of his own childhood trauma. The final episodes cut the strings; untethering the characters to pursue their dreams in relationships and business. **SPOILERS** It was clear to me, though apparently not to others, that while Han Jipyeong doesn’t get the girl, he does become part of the family which is what he truly wanted. Though it would have been nice if he had been paired up with the SFL whom he seemed more suited. And a surprisingly happy ending since Cyrano stories are typically tragedies.  Overall, I enjoyed this story.

Squid Game - Visually stunning and well acted. The tension of the games was fantastic but the story often lost its way when they were between them. I liked it but didn’t love it. 

Hometown Cha Cha Cha - Now my 2nd favorite kdrama of all time! A sleepy seaside village explores everyday traumas and how to work through them with humor and heart. So many great characters (especially female ones) but Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho's fantastic performances standout as our lead romance between two broken people trying to find healing. Blown away by their acting. I felt it all. 

Tale of the Nine-Tailed - Lee Dong Wook and his charisma carried this show. While I liked the characters, they mostly fell flat due to the story. The best part was the relationship between the brothers. 

Touch Your Heart - Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na reunite in this adorably cheeky romcom. Sometimes the other characters slow things down, but the main couple are so darn cute. A fun watch.

The Great British Bake-Off - This show brings me so much peace and joy. Happy to see my faves Crystelle and Chigs shine. 

Suspicious Partner - A law student is falsely accused of killing her ex-boyfriend and is defended by her former prosecutor boss leading to much comedy and romance as they work together to search for the real killer. The first half is strong with the fun, romance, and mystery but gets bogged down in the second half with too much will-they-or-won’t-they nonsense and stretching out answers to the murders for too long. I still liked it.

Strong Woman Bong Do Soon - Park Hyung Shik is so darn perfect as his rich chaebol character absolutely adores our leading lady though he tries to act cool about it and constantly fails. Park Bo Young is good as our strong woman but is too often bogged down by not being able to get over her first crush and fear of using her powers. The humor wasn’t quite up my alley. I don’t find meanness funny. If it wasn’t for Park Hyung Shik, I probably would have dropped it.

Happiness - Han Hyo Joo and Park Hyung Shik are the slow burn, mutual pining, marriage of convenience, battle couple of my dreams. I love them! They lead a fantastic ensemble cast that makes you feel everything in this crazy virus quarantine. It’s easy to dwell on all the horrible things shown that people do in trying times but in equal (and quieter) ways you also see all the wonderful things people do to help and care for each other. It’s the beautiful dichotomy of this morality tale.

Secret Royal Inspector Joy - Of course, I needed more Ok Taecyeon in my life. The humor was hit-or-miss for me but the sincerity of the characters and the dramatic arc had me hooked. Excellent squad goals and Lee Joon Hyuk as the Crown Prince had me wishing he was not just a guest star.

Crash Landing on You - Sorry, y’all, but this was a bumpy ride for me. I put it off because I knew how beloved it was. I started it this summer and it was okay. Captain Ri was an immediate fave but it took a very long time to warm up to everyone else. It was really slow and I got bored alot even during parts I liked. And I kept getting spoiled on social media right before the next interesting part. Honestly, the epilogues were some of the best I’ve ever seen and would favorably change my entire perspective on an episode. I dropped it around episode 12 but was determined to finish it before the end of the year which I did after Christmas. It was still slow but I enjoyed it more. And the last 2 episodes were great. I don’t think this will ever be a fave but I understand why it is other peoples. My big takeaway is don’t watch things until you’re ready and if possible watch it with someone who already loves it. Those two things I think would have helped improve my experience.

The Red Sleeve - Lee Junho and Lee Se Young were fantastic in this saeguk! I was on the edge of my seat with all the mystery, court intrigue, slow burn romance, and action. I was a little mad at Deokim withholding showing her love after they got together but otherwise it was a great story.

Just Between Lovers (Rain or Shine) - More Lee Junho! *grin* Also, happy to get more Won Jin Ah, whom I enjoyed in Life. They were perfect as a pair of victims who were rescued from a shopping mall collapse ten years earlier and are still dealing with the fallout in their lives. A sweet and sad healing romance. 

Shopping King Louie - Faves Seo In Guk and Nam Ji Hyun star as a clueless chaebol and a clueless country hick respectively in this fish out of water, blind leading the blind, over the top comedic adventure to learn how to live life and fall in love. This was so crazy and there were some characters who irritated me. But I really liked the character development for everyone and it became a big found family by the end. Cute romance too.

The Expanse - An excellent final season. The right amount of nostalgia, politics, character growth, tense action, and humor.

Hot Stove League - This sports drama kept me on the edge of my seat as the new general manager who has never worked in baseball tries to rebuild a failing franchise into a championship team. A great ensemble piece. Namkoong Min and Park Eun Bin lead this motley crew as they slowly win over everyone to their winning strategy. So many great mini-story arcs within the larger story. Everyone gets time to shine.

Let Me Be Your Knight - Another idol drama starring Lee Junyoung, whom I also liked in the idol drama, Imitation. Due to financial issues, a long lost twin impersonates her sister to become an in-house doctor to a kpop star dealing with sleepwalking. It has enemies-to-lovers, contract co-habitation, mistaken identity, over-the-top humor, past traumas to overcome, secret dating, squad goals, etc. The first couple episodes set-up a pretty wild premise to get to the co-habitation but then the story has a good development arc. I really love the relationships between the band members and with the FL. Also, every bandmate gets their own motivation/storyline and the music is good. I've had the song "Beautiful Breakup" on repeat for a month.

Our Beloved Summer - I really enjoyed this second chance romance which is not usually my cup of tea. It was well done and I loved the characters. One thing that bothered me though is how all of the secondary characters had little to no character development or agency outside of how they related to the main couple. Everything was in service of the main couple’s relationship. This is not necessarily bad, it was just a story choice. For me, I would have liked the side characters to have their own true development arcs too. The OSTs are excellent on this as well. V’s Christmas Tree is definitely on my playlist.

currently watching:

Outer Banks - One episodes left!

Nadiya’s Time to Eat - Happy to see the Bake Off winner again and learning a few food tricks and tips.

Abyss - After two episodes, I put it on hold. I do plan to finish it but I have discovered I’m generally not keen on Park Bo Young’s stuff prior to DAYS. 

Young Lady and Gentleman - My first 52 episode family kdrama (aka primetime soap). The cuteness and romantic tropes have me hooked but the drama drama drama of certain characters does grate on me. I’ve even used the 10 second skip button repeatedly through certain scenes and not missed anything truly relevant. But I’m going to see this romance to the end.

The Silent Sea - Gong Yoo and Bae Doona lead this sleepy space adventure. I have 3 episodes left but if it wasn’t for the leads I probably would have dropped it.

Ted Lasso - Last weekend, I watched the entire first season in one sitting while I smiled and laughed the whole time. Such a fantastic show. Can’t wait to watch S2!

[oddthesungod]

Oh my… currently watching The Final Frontier (first time!)…. I’ve always liked your Sybones art. I kinda got the ship…. But now… I get it. I totally get it. I was onboard, now I’m more onboard-ier! Bones is sooo intrigued 🤔

(As am I…. Scones is still my main, but hmm 🤔)

RIGHT??????

Man I gotta rewatch that movie, its so special to me ahshs

[zuko-always-lies]

I’ve been (very slowly) rewatching the Legend of Korra. One of the things which struck me is that Amon was able to build up a massive, fully mechanized army, complete with airships, mecha-tanks, airplanes, and mines, and launch a very large scale carefully coordinated assault without ANYONE informing the authorities. It really implies that Republic City’s government had zero legitimacy whatsoever in the eyes of the population, that the vast majority of the people in the city were fully onboard with Amon’s plan.  Republic City’s government seems to have had even less legitimacy and popular support than the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan had(the regime the Taliban destroyed), and the latter government featured a complete failure to provide basic services, absolutely massive corruption, rampant power abuses by government-supported warlords and by government officials, and widespread rape and sexual slavery (of children) being practiced by those very same warlords and government officials (yes, there’s a reason that the regime fell so quickly the moment American support was withdrawn).

Seriously, it seems like the Republic City government must have been screwing up badly for decades and must have alienated nearly all non-benders to get to the point where a no one reported on a massively obvious conspiracy to destroy it.

[theodorebasmanov]

I’ve rewatched “The Defector” (Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 3, episode 10) and it’s another pretty interesting episode about Romulans. (Spoilers!) Enterprise takes onboard a Romulan who claims to be a clerk but know some important information about the upcoming war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Well, after interrogation and a heartwarming conversation with Data (who took the Romulan to the holodeck) the defector confesses that he’s an admiral and that he wanted to stop the war for his children. Well, after Enterprise comes to the neutral zone, where, by the words of the admiral, should have been a base and finds nothing, they realize that the traitor was fed with misinformation. Then a Romulan ship appears and only because of Klingon support and after some mutual threats no battle happens. The situation between the Federation and the Romulan Empire becomes tenser and tenser. P.S. Captain Picard thinks that the best way to understand humans is to play Shakespeare.

[dragonnan]

This is your notification that I’ll be discussing Lucifer season 6 and the finale in particular so if you haven’t watched it yet you’ve been warned.

Sooo.... I’m just gonna say straight off the bat that while, in part, there were elements I liked they simply don’t overcome the mind-numbing grief that I feel more than anything else.

Literally it was the fucking Supernatural finale all fucking over again - just without the bad Sam wig.

I’m having a hard time being objective about this one given I just finished watching it. But add to that I am fucking TIRED as shit of shows that pull this destruction of everything that made their show great.

Was it emotional and moving?  Yes.  I fucking sobbed.  But was it something that left me with good feelings and appreciation?  Not even a little.

The Rory element.  What EVEN was the fuck with that?  And I mean seriously?  She played the same role as Morgan Stark from Endgame - basically a plot device to force the characters to make personally costly decisions.  Plus I’m not a fan of them borrowing the worst plot device from The Flash either.  It utterly robbed us of the pregnancy reveal - something I’d have given my left arm to see play out without the adult daughter spoiler nonsense. (also..... HOW though?? Cause that was another one they didn’t bother to explain which, you know, you’d have thought they would given HOW OFTEN they reiterated that angels can’t reproduce...)

Did I love seeing daddy Lucifer?  Yes, absolutely.  But the cost of all the fallout from it was not worth it.

I fucking just remembered the fucking cartoon.  Good God...  >.<

And this isn’t simply me “complaining” for the way they chose to end things.  It was the sudden character reversals and refusing to explain “WHY” certain things had to play out when we know damn well from previous events that no - they DON’T have to play out that way (WHY can’t Lucifer come back?  *vague shrug* “uuuuuh BECAUSE why” gee okay...).   Maze was 100% onboard with ruling Hell and while I appreciate her choice to stay on Earth there was no explanation WHY she suddenly chose not to go back. It was a portion of her character growth that wasn’t earned because we never saw her vacillate on that decision.  She simply went from Hell yes to Hell no in one breath.

In some ways it felt that way with Amenadiel choosing suddenly to be God.  Apparently all it took was one conversation? 

(also apparently all it takes to discover celestials is drinking heavily - who knew)

Also I may as well say that if you’re looking for any positivity I’m in short supply right now because frankly I’m feeling massively disappointed and let down.  And I feel like I should have known better after so MANY horrible series enders from Supernatural to Endgame (no I’ll never forgive or forget that one).  I somehow thought Lucifer would do better.  The last two seasons were freaking AMAZING and I was just so convinced they were going to slam a home run.  And I’ve no doubt there will be an incredibly vocal part of the fandom that will think the finale was perfect.  I mean I’m happy for you if you can feel great after this.

I feel hollowed out.

I feel disappointment that is fucking PROFOUND.

I hate bringing up personal stuff but the thing is my dad died late last year and this finale demolished me.  It HURTS.  And I am still not over what happened to Dan.

I really don’t have anything more to say currently and I have a terrible headache after being so upset so I need to walk away from thinking about it for a while.

I don’t plan to rewatch this season.

Sorry.

[shreddedleopard]

10 Reasons it would make narrative sense for Levi and Historia’s character arcs to conclude together.

I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, but I’ve been nervous of the backlash. Feels like it’s now or never though, and theorising for/analysing stories is one of my favourite things to do - I’m clearly missing those literary analysis essays from university days. So please excuse me if you think I’m deluded - I probably am - but the analyst in me won’t let me be until I’ve got this all out of my system.

Beware, it’s a long one. There's some thoughts on chapter 130 nearest the bottom!

1. Childhood Parallels - The Abandoned Children

Levi and Historia’s childhoods mirror one another - there are striking similarities, but then also sections that fit together to complete each other, as though they are matching jigsaw pieces. The characters start out in worlds that are opposite - Historia has the comforts of a safe home, food on the table, and fresh air and sunshine. She has all the physical nourishment she needs, but she does not have her mother’s love. On the contrary, his mother’s love is the one thing Levi does have, otherwise living in poverty underground. Both their mothers, however, appear to be using sex and the idea of love as a means to survive or way to try and improve their circumstances, and it is out of this necessity that both end up being born.

Levi is clearly affected when he first hears Historia’s tale of her childhood - Isayama shows this through the fact that Levi’s plate is the only one left untouched at the end of her story. He has been so sucked in by what she’s relayed, and probably saddened, that he hasn’t been able to bring himself to eat as the others have. Historia’s story rings true with some of his own experiences, but also highlights the world he may have found himself in without his mother’s love.

Remember, Isayama consciously thinks about each panel he’s drawing - he wouldn’t include a small detail like that without reason. We see more of these instances of small but significant stylistic choices and minor details as we progress. Isayama stated in an interview that he wants to give fans an ending that fans would never guess, but that when they look back, the clues were there all along.

Continuing on with the theme of their childhoods and Isayama’s stylistic choices, let’s take a look at two significant moments:

Both characters, although experiencing different forms of deprivation initially (Physical vs. Emotional Nourishment) were abandoned at crucial moments in their lives - when they were looking for validation from their primary caregivers and the people who should have been responsible for demonstrating affection. Historia was abandoned when, after reading and taking onboard information she read in books just like her mother, she reached out to hug her, and Levi was abandoned at the moment he demonstrated that he’d absorbed everything Kenny had taught him. The parallel between these images is very powerful.

Kenny is a character that highlights more parallels between Historia and Levi.

Kenny’s words highlight the literal lack of growth in height for both Historia and Levi - both are particularly short, and also look youthful - but we can also take the words to suggest that the characters are still very much defined by what happened to them in their pasts, and have yet to step away from their demons and achieve closure on what has happened to them as children.

At this point, we can definitely say that Isayama has chosen to tie both Historia and Levi’s stories together through their childhoods - their backstories are revealed alongside each other, in the same arc of our story, and in terms of experiences, they are both identical and mirror opposite at different points.

2. Shared Values

Despite being deprived of affection for large portions of their childhoods, both Levi and Historia appear to have experienced glimmers of kindness in their darkness as well, and this has shaped some of their values and behaviours.

Levi experienced his mother's love for a short while until he lost her - we know how deeply she cared for him from her refusal to give him up despite Kenny’s advice to her when she fell pregnant. Historia had Frieda’s kindness instilled in her, even though she's not able to consciously remember her actions until later. 

Both display an affinity for animals, with several manga and even anime-only scenes where we see them being affectionate and kind to their horses. We don’t see this as prominently with any other characters.

But one of the biggest shared values is their desire to protect children. I've posted on this before, but here are a few examples of Levi being driven by this value:

It’s clear Levi has a soft spot for children. And Historia? We know her feelings on children from her first action as Queen - realised with the support of Levi.

3. Kenny’s failure … Levi’s success?

These next scenes we’ll focus on represent the moment that Levi and Historia are set up to undergo that ��growth’ Kenny was referring to earlier in the uprising arc. Note Isayama’s choice of words here, and the symbolism of the whole scene. Kenny doesn’t tell Levi, ‘I couldn’t be someone you looked up to,’ or ‘I wasn’t fit to act as your father figure,’ he literally says ‘I can’t be some kid’s dad.” What does he do then? He shoves the titan serum at Levi.

Isayama pays great attention to this - dedicating several panels to the weighty moment, and Levi’s expression. It’s very dramatic. Notice how the word ‘Dad’ even has it’s own speech bubble. It’s almost as though Kenny is passing the mantle on to Levi - passing that responsibility on to him. It feels as though the passing of the serum replaces the missing words, ‘but you can.’ Isayama didn’t have to have Levi ask that question in the moment before Kenny passed the serum on to him. He could have positioned it so that the discussion about dreams was the precursor to the serum being passed over - which in my head, for the context of the scene, would make more sense. But he didn’t; he chose to have Kenny say that exact line to Levi - to admit his inadequacy as a father figure, with that focus on the word dad - and then hand the item over to Levi.

By itself, the scene could be seen as highlighting the ways that Levi is already a better father figure than Kenny. He has been somewhat paternal in his role as a Captain. But it’s the very next scene that brings Historia immediately into focus.

Historia looks suddenly so much maturer here, and the way the scenes sit immediately after one another feels too much like foreshadowing.

If you want the full effect of what I mean here, just rewatch this section of the anime!

We are presented with parallels between them once again. The focus of the crown and power of the monarchy being bestowed on Historia parallels the gift of the serum from Kenny to Levi - drawing on the ‘titan science’ element of the Ackerman heritage, perhaps?

Let me take a moment here, while we have these two visual representations of the Ackerman and Royal bloodlines side by side so perfectly, to point out that Isayama chose to answer a question in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine regarding the nature of a child born of both these bloodlines in 2018:

Q: If a child were to be born between two people from the royal family and the Ackerman family, which blood would take precedence? 

A: I think that both [of their bloodlines] would be reflected.

4. Blood Lines, Identity and Destinies - the Acker/Royal connection

We are still missing some information about the Ackermans, and Mikasa’s own Ackerman powers and behaviours have been a focus in recent chapters, prompting more questions. This suggests that the role of the Ackermans will be important in the story’s finale. With that said, lets have a look at what information we have about them so far in relation to the Royal Family:

- They worked closely with the Royal Family at one time, even being described as their sword and shield until they fell out of favour.

- They cannot be controlled by the king’s vow or have their memories tampered with. For this reason, they became enemies of the crown and the two bloodlines became at odds with one another.

Do either of these scenarios sound familiar in a romantic setting? The knight and princess trope has been hugely popular in fiction for as long as stories have been told - Lancelot and Guinevere is a well known classic. And two feuding families finally brought back together through love by the younger generation? Romeo and Juliet, anyone?

Okay, so maybe I’m reaching here. But Isayama has opened the discourse around this connection between the two bloodlines without concluding it, so I am certain it will have a part to play in upcoming chapters. Why create two characters from said bloodlines with such satisfyingly parallel but awful childhoods, if not to use them in some way to conclude this part of the narrative in the future?

5. The Beast Titan.

Another common plot point that Levi and Historia have is Zeke. The Beast Titan is a defining element in both their arcs. Levi is driven forward by his vow to kill Zeke, and this is repeated to the point where we expect this to be realised, or at least to see some satisfying resolution between the two. Historia’s situation is defined by her vulnerability to being turned into a Titan in order to consume Zeke. This threat to Historia’s life as a normal girl is also repeated across the later story arcs, just as Levi’s vow and apparent destiny to face off again with the Beast Titan is. If we link back to the knight princess trope, we could suggest that Historia is the metaphorical princess, Levi is the metaphorical knight, and The Beast Titan is the metaphorical dragon. The dragon must be slain in order to protect the princess, and the one to do this is always the gallant knight, or the hero. We know that Levi has been labelled Humanity’s Strongest, and even a hero, before.

It has been Levi’s destiny from the start. What's more, what is the crux of Zeke’s plan for Eldians? 

Euthanasia by preventing reproduction. Zeke’s ideology basically directly opposes the values of Levi and Historia - who wish to save as many children as possible.

6. The Smile

If there is one scene Levi fans lost their heads over, it’s this one. The Smile. Who was responsible for getting the sullen Captain to smile? None other than Queen Historia. The one time we get to see a genuine smile from him, in all 131 chapters of SNK, is when Historia playfully punches his arm. I think by this point, it is absolutely fair to say that Levi has a soft spot for her, although I’m not suggesting this is anything romantic at this stage due to her still being a child. What else is interesting about this scene? Let’s look at it from Historia’s point of view. She’s still a 15 year old girl. I’m hardly suggesting she’s got deep, meaningful feelings for a Captain so many years her senior. What I am suggesting, is that clearly there is the beginnings of her seeing him in a different light, and feeling some sort of fondness towards him too. This is also the stereotype of innocent, youthful infatuation - how many times have we seen teenagers play-fighting or bantering with the object of their affections? Something might just be stirring in Historia towards the Captain as she begins her transition into adulthood.

7. THAT (deleted) Scene

Okay, so we can’t very well talk about the smile in the context of this topic without addressing this scene:

There were a few scenes cut to make the uprising arc in the anime more streamlined. This is one of them, and again, has been one of the most talked about. People either love or hate this scene. In the manga, it absolutely sets up some major character growth for Historia, when she goes from being scared and allowing Levi to threaten her into taking an action, to standing up to him atop the wall at Orvud district, throwing his own words back at him. In contrast to Historia’s willingness, Levi becomes more receptive to her perspective and backs down, which also shows his growth. (More on that shortly!)

So, if it adds to the narrative around Levi and Historia, and is a key part of their development as characters, why did Isayama let the studio remove it? It must be because their influence on one another’s growth is no longer important to the story, correct?

If you ask me, that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Isayama has stated there were some elements of Uprising that he was unhappy with. Just, for a moment, think how this scene would fit into the bigger picture of a relationship (whether that be deeply platonic or even romantic) between Historia and Levi. Could people get behind that knowing that once, he handled her so roughly? Does keeping this scene as canon for the anime open a can of worms in terms of what is and isn’t acceptable (even more so than the age gap already does) when it comes to a relationship? Could Isayama be seen as glorifying abuse and suggesting that female characters are likely to develop feelings for men who have treated them so poorly in the past? I completely understand Levi’s reasoning for acting this way in this scene, and I loved the set up and pay off later in the arc. However, I do believe that animating this, and then having them become much closer later in the story, could make a backlash likely.

My conclusion to this particular section is - if their influence on one another as characters was unimportant, and the payoff of them reaching a stage where they bring out the best in one another wasn’t relevant to the rest of the story, then The Smile shouldn’t have made it in, right? So much of the set up was removed that it would have been far easier to scrap the scene than to try and figure out another reason for Historia to punch Levi, and make him smile.

That punch was important. It remains for a reason.

8. Levi’s Echo

So, since we discussed the impact of Levi’s words on Historia in the previous point, and how Isayama uses them to illustrate her character growth, let’s jump ahead all the way to chapter 130. We’re now post time skip, where Historia is nineteen. She’s matured now into a young woman - a woman old enough to acceptably conceive a child. This is the chapter which caught everyone’s attention due to Historia’s words to Eren regarding the idea of said child. But first of all, I want to focus on a scene which appears a couple of panels before her question:

‘It’s not as if I’ve just been tending to cattle all this time.’

What does this line mean? The only thing we know in terms of what Historia has been doing in the time skip is that she set up an Orphanage that Levi was also very much invested in and supported her with. So she’s not only been tending to cattle, but ... tending to orphans? With the Captain’s help?

Remember how we said that Isayama doesn’t include subtle details unless there’s a reason. Having Levi support her with the orphanage as a way to show how much he cares about the poorer children wasn’t needed - we already know from several instances discussed earlier that he cares about that topic deeply. So surely this must have been a small detail to set up for a later reveal?

This line alone is interesting, but not necessarily enough to suggest a big influence from Levi. But it’s the next line that grabs attention:

‘There’s no need to fight or run.’

What does this echo?

In my mind, the reason served by this dialogue in 130 is twofold. It works with both the literal events of the deleted scene, and also with the reader’s knowledge that the scene was disregarded later:

1. There is no reason to run or to fight, because Levi is on her side now. When he originally spoke those words to her - run from me or fight me - they were used in reference to what he and the corps were going to make her do - ie, become Queen. Now, they are not forcing her to do anything - they aren’t making her comply with the 50 year plan of producing as many royal children as possible and turning herself into a titan. Instead, she’s empowered by them, and very importantly, him, to make her own decisions while they try to figure out an alternative. (Why do I say him? I’ll cover this in the next point). And yet ... she still chooses to bear a child. A child born of love, not necessity. This is the difference between the birth of her child, and her own birth. And funnily enough, Levi’s birth, too. 

The cycle of history is being broken.

2. Her words serve as a reminder that in the revised version of events, Levi never even forced that choice upon her in the first place. He’s always been her ally and treated her with care and respect. Even more reason for her to value and care for him in return. There really is no need to run or fight - from the military police, because she will bear a child, stopping them from turning her - or from Levi, either. 

9. The Hooded Figure

As promised, let me explain why I say that Levi empowers Historia (yet again) to make her own decisions. My good friend Key made a wonderful discovery regarding the hooded figure panel, and honestly, based on the evidence I’ve seen, I’d be prepared to bet a whole lot on this next claim:

Levi is the hooded figure who warned Historia of the plan to turn her.

I’ve shared Key’s original post previously, but here’s the gist, with some added observations.

Levi from the hallway; Levi from that iconic scene, fits the dimensions of the hooded figure perfectly, without having to adjust the panel sizes. 

The jacket worn is lighter in colour than Eren’s standard black one, but is reminiscent of the jackets worn by the Levi Squad in the uprising arc. The only other clue we’re given to work from is that the figure has their hands in their pockets.

Hmm ... you know who else has a habit of stuffing his hands in his pockets?

So if Levi is the one who warned Historia, is that why she subtly uses his words when talking to Eren?

Let me return to chapter 130 once more, and just invite you to read the following panels from a different angle.

10. Mikasa-Eren/Levi-Historia Parallels

Alright, so this is a bit of a head-mash, but just consider what I’m about to say. In our panels with the Historia-Eren-Zeke conversation, Mikasa is never mentioned by name once. Zeke mentions ‘this Ackerman girl,’ however there is no confirmation that Eren was in fact talking about Mikasa when he asked Zeke about the Ackerman traits ...

Isayama only shows us the conversation with Zeke after Eren has just spoken to Historia about her fate and what the Paradis government want her to do in terms of bearing children. If these are just all memory fragments of Eren’s, why would discussing this with Historia suddenly make Eren think of a conversation about Ackerman traits with Zeke?

In this conversation, Zeke puts two and two together and gathers that Eren is asking these questions because of Mikasa. He then tells him how much Mikasa obviously cares about Eren, regardless of any ‘ingrained behaviour.’ What does Eren then link this with?

The conversation where Historia asks him what he’d think if she was to bear a child. What does ingrained Ackerman behaviour and Mikasa’s true feelings have to do with Historia’s child?

I want to suggest this possibility: this conversation has nothing to do with Mikasa’s feelings for Eren, and everything to do with Levi’s feelings for Historia.

Eren even confirms that Zeke has the wrong end of the stick with asking him how he will respond to Mikasa’s feelings.

What are you even talking about?

Here, he is not considering how he will respond to Mikasa, because he can’t even contemplate that with what he is about to do, and how long he has left to live (although this may have then prompted his later conversation with Mikasa after the market - where he sees Levi save the boy that he will later kill - do you see how this is all linking together?)

Here he means the lives of Historia, her child, and potentially even Levi, as well of course as Armin, Mikasa and the rest of his friends. Want to know why I think that? Isayama hinted it. Again.

We have the image of Historia, suggesting the idea of bearing a child, followed by the image of the child Levi saved, followed by the image of Levi himself.

Isayama draws every detail in every panel for a reason. If part of his conclusion to this manga involves Levi and Historia intertwined and the birth of an Ackerman-Royal child, it won’t be a massively random idea.

It will contribute to an ending where the clues were there all along, but we never really considered them.

(There’s more, so much more, but I have to stop somewhere or I won’t leave my computer. If anyone wants a part two because you’re thirsty for more of this crap, drop me a comment!)

[scaryorganmusic]

sorry this is really petty but like. this drama is so funny bc ultimately ppl are being accused of liking w*ncest just for like. being mildly dean critical. babes you know you can just block people for disagreeing with you. it doesn’t have to be that deep. in fact it’s literally the only way to survive fandom with more than a quarter of your brain cells left. anyway I’m a dean stan bc I imprinted on him as a child but when I see posts about how he sucks I either agree, disagree and ignore it (and sometimes just unfollow bc I’m curating the most fun online experience for myself as I should), or just say “that makes a lot of sense but it makes me sad so I’m just writing it out of my personal secret good spn”. It’s not that hard.

also like. fellas is not wanting to talk about incest on the blog you run for fun the same as supporting incest /s

also also. the cycle of destiel shippers being annoying and condescending to non destiel shippers -> non destiel shippers understandably deciding they dislike destiel shippers -> destiel shippers being offended for being called annoying is SO funny. tony you CHOSE to do that- like I ship destiel and even I think you’re annoying lmao

Okay I don't plan on talking about this too much anymore but I'll take this as an opportunity to address some things

It is wild how lightly people are treating very awful accusations here. I understand being suspiscious before following someone, because I have accidentally followed people who put that content on my dash (untagged too! because i do have it blacklisted) and it felt so gross. But people are just taking anything they don't like as "sus behavior"

Here are things I've seen people honestly mention that makes you suspicious: obviously being mainly a Sam blog, being "dean critical", being too intense about liking seasons 1-3, shipping sastiel (????), posting mainly about the brothers and not about Cas, criticizing an actor, being reblogged by one of them (even though we also hate when that happens! but it's not something we can control because i don't know every single one of them in order to block) and of course being associated with someone else that's sus.

And here's where I completely agree with what you said: people could just block others for all those things without throwing accusations around! You can just say "most of Sam blogs, or all Sam blogs who don't post destiel, are annoying as hell and i'll block them all" and that's fine! Or, better yet, don't say anything, you don't need to publically announce when you block someone.

Also yeah, a lot of people don't add banners on every post or post nonstop about how gross the wincest shit is because we prefer to avoid it and not be constantly thinking about it. I have the tag blacklisted but I don't do a deep investigation of OP of every post that makes into my dash, and that's kind of a wild expectation.

Quick note on the "dean critical" thing, I've never seen a fandom so weird about people critizing a character. The whole reason people started using the tag was exactly so we could still hang out with people like you, who love him and maybe don't wish to see negative analysis on him, so you could have a tag to blacklist instead of unfollowing! And although it's the bare minimum, I respect the honest attitude of "I know this happened in the show, but personally it's not an aspect I want to read/write meta about" instead of straight up denying stuff.

It is a wild cycle, with so many people (including myself) rejoining the fandom recently it's like you could see us going from "this is fun! i'm gonna follow a bunch of spn blogs" to "this is mildly annoying" to "i hate all of you, blocking spree". Not to be a hypocrite, I was onboard with destiel for most of my time in the fandom, I think I fell out of love with the ship partially because of my rewatch (and it shouldn't be that weird that rewatching something as an adult your perception on it changes!) and partially because of the fandom being so very Like That about it. And the whole fandom experience once you leave that ship is just very different. The bitterfication of the sam girl or whatever.

I do still have destiel mutuals who I appreciate very much, I don't even blacklist the tag because y'all have some amazing artists and I'm always up for fanart, even of things I don't ship (of course with the exception of gross ships).

Anyways yeah it is so infortunate that all of this happened but we move on, idk if anyone took the time to read all of this because it turned more into me venting than anything else but I also appreciate the support i’ve been getting from some of y’all

[flatspot]

right, here we go, lads. '08 season rewatch, inspired by k doing '10.

have seen none of these races since watching them live so i've got really no idea what i'm in for.

australia (this took me 13 days to start and a further 7 hours to watch)

yellow helmet my beloved i miss you

wondering why lewis's car number was 22 and then remembering mclaren got dsq from 2007 oop

these front wings are something else

i simply have no memory of force india existing back in 2008 this bodes well for the rest of the season

"massa is going to be the danger man here today" - he's p17 at the end of the first lap after dropping the car and driving into the wall so. we'll come back to this

i see the home gp curse has hit webber, we've lost 5 drivers and it's been 2 laps

complaining about not being able to follow cars..........lads i've got some bad news for you

i miss the sound of these engines. i remember no details about the races but i remember the noise and the names being shouted over the comms

me sitting here like lewis has an 8.5 second lead but i can't say anything good about it because i might jinx the result. you know. of the race that happened 13 years ago (i should have looked up the podium before i came into this but why not stress myself out over a grand prix that already happened in a year i know he won the title)

they keep saying how they're pleasantly surprised by the earth honda after what it was like at testing and i'm just like. maybe wait a few races before you say that

things i'm glad we don't have anymore: refueling pitstops

seb sounds so very german

i don't like rosberg as it is but if i have to listen to an entire season of martin pronouncing his name as nick-o i might lose it

raikkonen on old tyres vs. kovalainen on full fuel - fight

interesting, i did not know some of the teams opted out of broadcasting radio messages back then

"i expect felipe to take full responsibility for this, and if he doesn't, i'm gonna kick three colours of shit out of the little bastard" don't hold back coulthard tell us how you really feel

dskjds raikkonen just. forgetting you actually still have to brake for the corner, even when overtaking. oh and now massa's retiring for no apparent reason. what a shit show ferrari are having

we're not even halfway through this race and we're down at 12 runners. i don't even know what's happened to half of them

oh and we've just lost another one, right out of the pits

"it's certainly spectacular to watch" admittedly there has been a lot going on tonight that has been distracting me but. i'm not sure i'd describe this race quite like that

the 'onboard' graphic is better than the one they introduced in 2009. that's all i got for you atm

raikkonen goes off the road himself followed immediately by glock launching into the air and doing pirouettes down the straight???

barichello driving off with the fuel rig still attached while the pit lane is actually closed for refueling?! it's all kicking off with 13 laps to go

lewis was very lucky pitting right before this final safety car, they've really lost out with everybody bunching up before they opened the pitlane

the safety car has literally just come in and we've somehow lost another car, i genuinely cannot even tell you how

"you've got to have a substantial problem in order to retire the car, i suppose you could just stick it in the wall" this is the pinnacle of motorsports apparently

aaaand ferrari has finally lost their second car from the race with 4 laps left, can't say this hasn't been coming

dskjdfs and now barrichello is going to be disqualified you cannot make this shit up

ANOTHER CAR IS GONE WHAT ON EARTH WE ONLY HAVE THREE LAPS LEFT

after all of this, am i really going to have to watch a rosberg podium, for the love of god

"faultless" it really was from lewis, oh my GOD he's so british on the radio

6 drivers finished out of 22, that is. well it was a slow burner, but what an opening race

well my original closing statement i wrote with 15 laps to go was going to be 'only 11 drivers finished, there were 3 safety cars, and yet i could not tell you anything of significance that happened by the end of the race so. snoozefest might be unfair but certainly not a classic'

in hindsight, turn this on around lap 40, and you'll be sweet. finished with a bang.