#and it shows up in episode 1 like six times in key moments

[chouhatsumimi]

Notable translations from the Jigokuraku (Hell's Paradise) subtitles [Crunchyroll]

Episode 1

1:26 生に執着などないさ [sei ni shuuchaku nado nai sa] I have no attachment to life

8:51 余計な世話かもしれないが [yokei na sewa kamoshirenai ga] Perhaps I should mind my own business

Episode 2

8:53 いい加減にしろ Enough!

9:22 俺はごめんだ I'll pass.

~12:00 いやいやいや Oh, c'mon.

~12:30 いやいや No, wait.

Episode 3 (didn't take note of any)

Episode 4

0:47 あっぱれ Splendid.

2:52 一理[ある?] [ichiri] It makes sense

Episode 5 (didn't take note of any)

Episode 6

4:49 行ってらっし���い [itterasshai] Get out there!

6:10 啖呵を切る [tanka o kiru] new word to me [I didn't note the translation, but it means 'to speak sharply, e.g. during a heated discussion or argument']

8:04 〜の剣 [~ no ken] style (of swordsmanship)

Episode 7

1:03 まぐわう [maguwau] new word to me 'to have sexual intercourse', noted not for the translation but because this word is new to me and the characters reacted saying "don't be gross" (about using that word for it)

Edit: the manga translation went with "lie with us" (and I trust this translator as well)

Episode 8

10:24 一端 [ippashi] new word to me [means 'fully fledged, proper, competent, qualified, full-grown]

18:34 脇 [waki] flank

Episode 9

~9:00 例の〜 [rei no ~] One of the ~

~14:00 うるさい [urusai] Silence.

Episode 10

15:19 天然 [tennen] Idiot

Episode 11

10:44 いや、つい [iya, tsui] Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

[?:??] 例の〜 [rei no ~] those ~

12:21 突っ込む [tsukkomu] charge in

Episode 12

5:22 ぼーっと [bo-tto] Out of it

7:24 ほっとけ [hottoke] Forget about her

11:38 気配 [kehai] aura

19:07 自由も眩しくて [...jiyuu mo mabushikute] She seems so amazingly free.

19:15 朝右衛門(?)失格 [Asaemon shikkaku] I can hardly call myself an Asaemon.

Episode 13

14:59 状況整理 [joukyou seiri] take stock of things

20:16 ボロが出る [boro ga deru] if they figure me out

[kimberleyjean]

Good Omens S1 Parallels - 1/?

Saturday Morning Funtime is a particularly interesting episode for me, because it suggests something about the structure of parallels Season One. Also, it's easier to start with a single episode than trying to cover the whole show at once. I'm going to show you six different scenes from Saturday Morning Funtime and how they link together.

Let's start with the pun pointed out by Danny Motta in his video (link here to relevant timestamp if you haven't seen it). Danny made the link between this scene near the start of E4, where Aziraphale gets exercise:

And this scene at the end, where Aziraphale was exorcised (according to Shadwell, at least):

Cool, seems like a funny pun. But there's no way to know it was intentional right? Well, I think I can argue it was. Let's look at another scene.

We have this scene where Hastur destroys 3 Erics on the plains of Megiddo. Since each demon has a corresponding animal, I'm going to go ahead and place bets on the Eric's being rabbits, and Hastur destroys 2/3 of them.

And then later we have this scene where Hastur again destroys 2/3 rabbits, but this time they're cartoon bunnies - the first one he beheads like a costume, the second he rips out it's throat.

Ok, but again, why am I linking these two scenes? No deep character insights, or thematic elements are being displayed here... Except that's a key reason I'm pointing them out - they're seemingly pretty pointless, so why bother to make them? Well, maybe the sum is bigger than the parts. One more example and then I'll show you how this comes together.

Here's a scene which I think is pretty good foreshadowing of something that will happen later in the episode - Hastur and Ligur talking about the dripping pipes down in Hell. Hastur has a little bucket he's collecting water in, which he uses in a toast:

And later, we have this particularly gruesome scene of Ligur becoming toast at the hands of a bucket full of (holy)water:

Ok, so six scenes, three sets of parallels... now's where the magic happens... I take E4 as a whole... loop it over on itself like a piece of trick rope from Goldstein's magic shop and....

Tada! Here's the episode laid out in 2 minute increments.

Some pretty interesting places to have parallels, no? That two minute block at the start is a lead in before the opening credits, so the Exercise and Exorcism scenes are coming directly before and directly after the open and close sequence (shown above in blue).

I'd be lying if I said it didn't remind me of the overall chiastic structure that some people have worked on, such as this one by @drconstellation, just on a smaller scale.

It's also interesting to note that each of these parallel pairs relates to someone getting discorporated - Eric, Ligur and then Aziraphale.

What's the point?

So, I promised that I would share a little on why this might be important. In my opinion? It appears like there is some detailed structure to Good Omens, at least in S1.

It should also be noted that these scenes were added only for the show in order to produce this effect - Aziraphale exercising with Gabriel, Hastur and Ligur talking about the pipes, the three cartoon rabbits in the theatre - they were all newly created for the show.

Why go to the bother of creating these little parallel moments at corresponding points along a mirrored structure? Especially when these don't necessarily have ramifications for characters or plot? Is it just good story telling or is it something more? These are all questions worth asking in my opinion. I think it relates to how this show treats words and language in a very Pratchetty fashion. The whole show is a dedication to Terry, after all.

Of course, if things were so simple, I think we would have figured it all out long ago. Parallels, puns, wordplay... they're all quite slippery things. There are things I would consider to be parallels which don't line up with this same structure. For example, the scene from earlier with Gabriel and Aziraphale exercising? The "lose the gut" gut-punch foreshadows this other gut punch scene in E4 too:

Despite examples to the contrary, the presence of parallels and wordplay that do line up along a mirrored structure makes me want to explore this further. If you're also interested in this and want to collaborate, please let me know.

This will be a continuing series, as and when time allows, because parallels seem to be absolutely everywhere. Future posts will look at parallels at different levels (within scenes, across episodes, and across seasons).

Let me know if you spot any others - I'd love to hear about them. They might be hidden in the visuals, wordplay, puns and more...

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

With thanks to all the detectives for keeping me clue hunting @embracing-the-ineffable, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @noneorother, @somehow-a-human, @komorezuki, @maufungi, @lookingatacupoftea, @havemyheartaziraphale, @251-dmr, @dunkthebiscuit, and @ghstptats <3

[insanityclause]

Coming to viewers from the end of time seated upon his throne on Yggdrasil, the God of Mischief is bestowing upon his loyal subjects the most highly-anticipated release of the year: Loki Season 2 on 4K UHD. Today, Marvel Studios announced that fans of the Tom Hiddleston-led Disney+ series can expect to add the critically celebrated follow-up season to their collection on December 3, 2024. There’s plenty to be excited about here as, along with the six-episode season, buyers will also get their hands on a gorgeously crafted SteelBook with exclusive art and collector's cards nestled inside. If content is more your thing, there’s plenty to feast your eyes upon with heaps of bonus features to keep you entertained.

The first season of Loki left audiences on quite a cliffhanger, forcing us to wait more than two full years for the next lineup of episodes to drop. But, boy, were they worth the wait. Season 2 of the beloved series followed Loki and his ragtag group of outcast TVA workers as they tried to find the truth about what was happening within the organization's walls. Solidifying himself as the hero we’ve always known him as, Loki finds his glorious purpose by the time the credits roll on the heartfelt, emotional second season.

‘Loki’ Season 2’s Bonus Features

If you can’t get enough of Loki, the bonus features included in the special release will give you the extra fix you’ve been looking for as you’ll laugh, cry, and cheer right alongside the folks who brought Loki’s story to the small screen. Take a look down Hiddleston’s personal sacred timeline as the featurette, Loki Through Time, digs into the actor’s more than decade of playing the character. No special features list would be complete without a gag reel and with a cast that includes Owen Wilson, the laughs are endless.

There are also a handful of deleted scenes, featuring more of Sylvie’s (Sophia Di Martino) story as a McDonald’s employee and another that sits audiences down with Mobius (Wilson) and Loki as they enjoy a slice of key lime pie. Finally, fans can pull the curtain back on the making of the series as they step onto the set and see how the show was pulled together. Nothing like the magic of Marvel right at your fingertips! Check out the full list of bonus features below:

Loki Through Time — Travel through over a decade of Loki’s timeline with Tom Hiddleston, Kevin Feige and more as they dive deeper into the villainous yet lovable character that fans can’t get enough of in the Loki series.

Gag Reel — Take a look at some of the fun moments on set with the cast an crew of Loki Season 2.

Deleted/Extended Scenes

What Would You Like? — Distraught after the events of season 1, Sylvie leaves the Citidel at the End of Time and finds an escape in a McDonald's in 1982.

Key Lime Break — Loki and Mobius share a moment savoring a key lime pie in the TVA lunchroom.

Roll Call — Loki names off all the people who have spoken ill of him in the past, including a few recognizable names. Mobius tries to comfort him.

Assembled: The Making of Loki Season 2 — Join the cast and crew of Loki Season 2 as they pull back the curtain on Loki’s Iatest MCU adventure.

Take a look at the gorgeous SteelBook artwork above and plan to pick up a copy of Loki Season 2 4K UHD for yourself or the mischievous troublemaker in your life on December 3. Both seasons of Loki are now streaming on Disney+.

[thebiggerbear]

Six Sentence Sunday - 7/7/24 - Jon Snow x Sansa Stark

Pairing: Jon Snow x Sansa Stark

A/N: I've been working on this since...God, 2019, right after the show ended. There has been so many changes and corrections, trying to get the tone right, deciding what format to use, what length, etc. I think I finally have it nailed down and I've been slowly but surely getting back into it thanks to rewatching some key Game of Thrones scenes and now season 2 of House of the Dragon. That one scene up North in episode 1 had me longing for these two and that world so back at it I go.

This is meant to take place between season 6 and season 7 of Game of Thrones. It's a little more than six sentences.

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187; @rieleatiel

A few silent minutes have passed when his eyes find their way back to her. “Lord Baelish is becoming too familiar.”

Sansa’s lips tighten into a thin line. This again… Jon is watching her and she chooses to now sip the wine she had been reluctant to partake in, to give herself a moment to collect her thoughts. “Familiar?”

Jon’s own jaw clenches at her question. “You know of what I speak.”

She places her goblet onto the table beside her and folds her hands in her lap. “Jon, I understand your concern but we have discussed this, over and over, and at great length--”

“And yet, he is still here,” Jon bites out, leaning forward slightly in his chair. 

Sansa tenses, ready for the argument that is surely about to happen. It always does whenever the topic of her unintended mentor comes up. “Because we need him,” she speaks firmly. “He is Lord Protector of the Vale and we need the Knights of the Vale.”

Jon scoffs and puts his cup down, getting to his feet. Almost as if this is a dance they have done several times over and Jon is starting the steps, Sansa knows he will begin to pace in front of her as his ire builds before voices will rise. “Lord Royce is the commander of the Knights of the Vale. It is his presence they require, not Lord Baelish.”

“Jon--”

He whips around. “He was in the crypts again, Sansa. Near Father, and near your Lady Mother. Again.”

Sansa feels her stomach tighten at this information. Only Starks are allowed in the crypts, it is something that is widely known. Nobles may visit the long lost Starks if they wish, as long as they have a Stark escort. Unfortunately, Littlefinger was obviously taking liberties and had approached Jon down there once--now twice it sounded like. She would need to rein him in.

dividers by @firefly-graphics | banner by @cafekitsune

[where1endandyoubeg1n]

Schoolhouse Rankings: Part 1

The Bottom 15

This will be a ranking of all 53 Schoolhouse Rock! segments from 1973-2002. Climate Rock from 2009 will not be included because I don't have access to it, and it's not really considered "the same" series as the run up to 2002. We're taking this very very no foolin' seriously here despite this being a kid's show from the 70's /j. It isn't that deep, but I'll make it that deep. I'm rating based mostly on the music and lyrics themselves; this is weighted towards the sonic aspect rather than visuals. I want strong instrumentation and good vocals, and a premise that keeps me listening. Characters and their interactions/potential to be interesting are also big players, I like the more charater-driven ones. If the premise/concept for how the subject is conveyed is creative, points there too. Lesser aspects they'll be judged on include actual animation quality(This was mostly a series concieved off a shoestring budget in the 70's, so unless the short does something exceptionally good or bad, not a lot of points depend on this) and general wow factor(Doing something standout from most other episodes). I'll also include a few stats if applicable as well as some fun trivia!

Here's a key for some symbols: ⭐"big one" most popular song of the season 🟩highest ranking song of the season 🟥lowest ranking song of the season ⚡seizure warning! prevalent flashing lights 👍i have an interesting fact to share ✖multiplication rock 🇺🇲america 🖥computer💲money 🖋grammar 🧪science

In last place...

53. ✖ The Good Eleven 🟥

I don't have a ton to say on this song; I just find it boring in every way. The delivery doesn't fit Bob Dorough. He just sounds really insincerely chipper and I'm not a fan of the key the song's in. Instrumentation isn't anything to scoff at, but it's also nothing special. And the short really falls flat in its concept. Motifs of angels and general ideas of purity are shown often in the video, but nothing is ever pushed to the point where it becomes interesting. If a good short is a work of art, like a painting, this is a bunch of scattershot ideas that splatter across the wall and do nothing else. It's literally about nothing. "11 is good, multiplying it is easy" is about all there is. No substance. Which I could also say about the animation, because it's really simple and boring. You could make the excuse that this was the first reason, so it wasn't up to snuff with the rest of them, but I wouldn't agree, because the same season has some really great moments like Little Twelvetoes and I Got Six, where you get some really colorful, detailed shots. This as well as the fact that there are some even better, arguably more simplistic animations with songs like Telegraph Line and even Presidential Minute really sours this song for me. If I had to describe this song in a word: Insubstantial. -Lowest placement for Bob Dorough -Lowest placement in Multiplication Rock -Lowest placement of all episodes

52. ✖ Lucky Seven Sampson

I have even less to say on this song. It at least has a concept, following the titular anthro rabbit Lucky Seven Sampson around town, and it's played into by the animation, but it's still not a very interesting one. He sort of just strolls around causing havoc and teaching how to multiply. Something that hinders the songs in multiplication rock is how at times stiff they are lyrically, which isn't really the fault of the writers, as you obviously need to insert the times tables in there somewhere, but it's still a detractor in really barebones cases such as this song, because besides that run of times tables there's not much. I don't even like Sampson's voice or design much. Dorough is pretty pitchy on higher notes, which is unlike him. The color palette with that ugly yellow background is also not stellar. Really boring.

51. 🇺🇲 Three Ring Government 🟥👍

This short used to scare me as a kid. I think it was a mix of the key it was in(I had/have a strange aversion to a few of these songs simply because of the key) and the more exaggerated artstyle that was, at times, a little uncanny. I used to freeze up because the lions on the posters in the backgrounds would scare the shit out of me. My point is that this short did not improve much in my eyes. The artstyle is rough, and in some cases uncanny in a not very charming way. I don’t know what to say because it’s just so… bleh. Luckily I’ve padded this with an early childhood story, so yay! Nobody will ever notice how boring and unimportant this song is! We truly were not missing anything with this one being delayed.

-Fun Fact! This song was held from airing for several months due to the song's entire concept being about comparing the branches of government to a circus. For fears of getting their funding cut because of this, the episode was withheld until 1979, making it the last short to air from America Rock by a long time. -Lowest placement for Lynn Ahrens -Lowest placement in America Rock

50. 🖥 Software/Think Computer! 🟥⭐

Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips is an odd season. It’s the only season to have recurring cast members in the forms of the titular Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips, who benefit this season greatly because I love them both. That being said, this is the worst of their relatively lackluster 4-episode season. Darrel Stern is super pitchy, and Bob Kaliban’s voice has a robot filter that’s grating when he’s trying to sing. The instrumentation is pretty lackluster and it’s my least favorite subject-wise, talking about BASIC and other 80’s computer software features that are severely outdated. I’m not one to bitch about the outdated songs- I will wax poetic about how amazing Telegraph Line is- but this just offers no value to me and probably most others.

-Lowest placement for Darrel Stern and Bob Kaliban -Lowest placement in Computer Rock

49. ✖ Elementary, My Dear

Bleh. Boring. I’ve been trying to shorten my reviews so I don’t yap, because I know I tend to restate my previous opinions a lot sometimes(got this input on a music review once), and this short will be great practice. Besides the fact that the little kid Noah has is cute, it doesn’t do much interesting, and the repetitive melody gets old fast

48. 🇺🇲 Elbow Room

Aged horribly. You'd be totally flamed for making a pro-manifest destiny song today. Besides that, though, Sue Manchester has the same cadence and sound as Lynn Ahrens, one of my least favorite vocalists on the SHR team, which doesn't do her a great service. The rest of it is take-it-or-leave-it.

-Lowest placement for a non-recurring singer(Sue Manchester)

47. 💲Tyrannosaurus Debt🟥👍

The idea of the National Debt being a huge dinosaur that constantly grazes Capitol hill is a pretty fun concept! I really like the creativity there, but besides that there’s not too much to pick apart. Money Rock at times could be very experimental with the SHR artstyle, but this was one that tried emulating the old artstyle, which leaves a lot to be desired as being faithful costed money. Most set pieces and backgrounds were flat white, and the people had a bleak artstyle revisited in Presidential Minute that really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The more I think about it, the more I realize it’s just a bad version of what came before. Dorough’s delivery, though he does get a little more intense in the end, is pretty boring, and, in the same vein as Elementary My Dear, the singsong melody gets old quickly. There are a few songs that, rather than stick to a verse-chorus structure or have more fleshed out segments, just sort of go on and on, and it doesn’t interest me. Not a fan.

-Fun fact! At the end of this video, Bill from I'm Just a Bill makes a cameo! -Lowest placement in Money Rock

46. ✖ The Four-Legged Zoo

The kid's choir is actually really good in this song, and it adds some fun, airy energy to it. It sort of just lists animals and numbers, though, and the animation isn't super out there, so this short doesn't get a lot of points.

45. 💲This For That

With this one, I'll admit, the caveman guy is pretty cool. I like his design, he's a silly little dude. This is another short from Money Rock that harkens back to old SHR, and I must say, they did it far better here. I used to confuse this for one of the older ones when I was little, because I knew some of them were made later on, but I didn't know all of Money Rock was. Character designs are really good, and the steel drum is an interesting instrument a friend caught in the background and got me to pay attention to. Besides that the instrumental isn't all that special, and neither is the rest of the short. Dorough has that sort of bored, going-through-the-motions feel to his voice like he did in Tyrannosaurus Debt. The same pet peeve of a grating repeating melody is here and twice as bad. It's not really something I can describe; I just don't like it, there's nothing going on. That repetition at the "chorus" part of "Coins/barter is smarter" is also unbearable. Neither of them is truly "better" than the other, and the song seems to come to that conclusion through a confusing flip-flopping of that opinion every repetition.

44. 🇺🇲 The Preamble

Literally just the preamble to the Constitution. Like, that's it. Slightly related visuals to go with it. 'Salright.

43. 🖥 Intro 👍

This short doesn't really hold up to the excitement I had knowing it was lost media for some time. The instrumental has an aggressively 80's feel to it, which is cheesy, but in an admittedly very charming way. It's sort of an extended version of the theme song, and that’s cool. Premise is awesome, again, I love Mr. Chips, and this is essentially Scooter introducing him to us, and I love their little friendo dynamic! This just isn’t much in the lyrics or music or voice department. As stated before, the music has some fun 80’s cheese, but it gets old and ignorable quick, and is less memorable compared to later episodes like Hardware. Stern has the same loud, pitchy yell as he did in Software that gets on my nerves. I like it when he sing-talks more than when he actually sings. And the topics covered lyrically are expanded upon in the next three episodes, rendering this one a bit useless since it skims over the ideas on such a surface level. Not a bad episode, but there’s better.

-Fun fact! This song was lost for a very long time. After it's initial 80's airings, the short was lost by the network and declared lost media unil 2013, when Scooter's voice actor, Darrel Stern, uploaded the original tape online.

42. 🇺🇲 Presidential Minute👍

This is the shortest song in the whole lot, lasting, as suggested, just a minute. It’s cool, but there isn’t much to it besides that. Artstyle kinda blows as stared with Tyrannosaurus Debt, the designs and animation are very simple, but I sort of get it since the short is a just prize unlock for winning a dvd bonus game. Sheldon’s delivery isn’t outstanding, and the instrumental is standard.

-Lowest placement for Jack Sheldon -Fun fact! This episode as well as I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College are exclusive to the 30th anniversary VHS/DVD releases!

41. 🇺🇲No More Kings

Another blase Ahrens America Rock song. Most of hers are very similar here, just recaps/skimmings of historical events, and that’s understandably restrictive for story ideas. Only real standout feature is the animation, which has a nice watercolor aesthetic I’m a big fan of.

40. 🖥Number Cruncher

Poor Scooter. Bro’s bedroom is half filled with papers. Scooter is relegated to statistitian for his baseball team, which he struggles with severely until he’s offered help by Mr. Chips. A fun premise! It’s kind of just Mr. Chips yapping though, but not in a fun way like(spoiler alert!) Hardware. Kaliban isn’t much better than Stern when he has the voice filter on, so in that aspect this is only slightly boosted. Standard Computer Rock faire.

39. ✖Figure Eight

I seriously love the first minute and fifteen seconds of this song. It contains a very delicate oscilating melody that I’m a big fan of. This was Blossom Dearie’s first song with the team, and her fragile voice sounds whispery and eerie, giving the song a creepy doll tone I enjoy. The figureskating animation and concept is also very alluring to me, I really like the establishing shot of the school blanketed in snow. The animation feels very graceful, a great pairing with the vocals and premise. This all comes back to bookend the song about a minute later, but that minute in the middle is such a big pacebreaker. It “transitions”(really just plops you in the middle of a completely different song) to a far cheerier, less elegant section that Dearie’s delivery does not switch up to match. Visuals are only semi-related, either containing the figure skating theme and not the character(whom I do really like), or the character and not the figure skating theme. Kinda just whatever crap they wanted to put in the song is thrown around here, and it damages what would otherwise be a song begging to be put in the top 20.

-Lowest placement for Blossom Dearie

[bossbutch]

umineko chapter 4 (2/2)

the fantasy action sequences have gotten significantly more tolerable because they've gotten significantly funnier. also i've gotten ahead of bryn's more detailed readalong!

the scene where Krauss is fighting a goat man and virgilia is comparing their Numerical Power Levels but there's all these arbitrary multipliers ( and goat's power level goes way down when he talks about his family and being a week away from retirement etc etc) is mwah chef's kiss

the Reveal of kasumi reading the definition of uu-uu in the grimoire is my favorite moment so far. god damn. eva-beatrice being all star wars emperor "let the hate flow through you" was also pretty funny.

so battler isn't asumu's son! and he learns this through his own red truth? which i think removes "perspective" from the red truth, right? because from his point of view he's her son, just like from beato's point of view shannon is nonhuman. whether he's kyrie's kid or there's a *third* wife i'm not sure. it'd be fucked up if it's a/nother beato.

so we end with a big blue vs red sequence where battler says what he thinks has happened, which lambda says is mostly wrong but is a good "check your theories" speed bump.

game 1: • stake deaths being shot and then staked after death seems guaranteed • yeah, no magic for The First Set of Murders • Eva and hideyoshi: killed by kanon, door locked through Device X. when 'he' "discovered" the bodies he had ample time to draw the circle • kanon faked 'his' death, so beato can't say in red it was homicide. then he killed the last 3 and natsuhi. beato says "i guarantee the identity of all unidentified corpses" but if he Wasn't a corpse that wouldn't apply. game 2: • "from the time maria received the key to when rosa unsealed it the next day it passed through no one's hands" = rosa took the key before we saw her taking it? though idk if she actually Killed the first six she was definitely involved • if kanon is A Beatrice then 'him' fighting her goons over jessica can metaphorically be kanon having trouble deciding whether to kill her or not. occam's razor says if there's no body and A Violent Kanon shows up later then fake kanon was real kanon game 3: • the only mystery i think Matters is who killed nanjo. he recognized the killer and begged for his life, maybe he knew what their plan was? but i don't know who did it. beato seems to imply that the killer took the identity of a dead person (other than kinzo, kanon, jessica, battler, or eva). • i guess "how did george leave the guest house" is worth solving but i haven't thought about it much game 4: • "all those present at the family conference acknowledge the presence of kinzo" yeah it's his house. his body is there. he's still metaphorically present and genji and shannon? and associates are carrying out his wishes if shannon and kanon aren't "real humans" it provides space for two Persons X but is also means the cousins can fall in love and make and break promises to objects/ideals/whatever. battler's direct narrative describes kanon as "a slender boy" who can manipulate a wheelbarrow so if kanon isn't present as a person (and not part of an existing member of the 18 or nothing) i'm calling bullshit battler's sin that beato wants an apology for was breaking his promise to come back for shannon. is episode 2 Suit Beato derived from shannon? every beato is derived from trauma, so her breaking the mirror is a metaphor for Some Other Traumatic Event magic metaphors: "beato prime", who was captured and abused by kanon and is almost certainly dead, had a child with him, beato 2. one of the two of them imagine magic genji (ronovo), magic kumasawa (virilia if she isn't beato 1) and gaap, for the same reason maria made sakutaro, To Cope. and the seven sisters and the bunnies are personified weapons. but what are lambda and bernie representing? they might just represent their goals ("battler denies beato/ finding the emotional truth" and "battler tries but is never successful because he lacks love" ) and either way beato doesn't get closure. i think beato will "win" but her real goal is not to kill everybody and take them to heaven but rather to get some catharsis from battler for what his family has done to her/ all the beatos. alternatively the other witches exist for no reason other than adding yuri

[chorusofkhonshu]

Noone Archetype

Ok, so I was complete and utterly wrong about her being 12. Its too simple if Noone name pronunciation was meant to be like noon the time of day. That and Archetype 12 really did not match her. So i kept wondering, what made Noone's Nowhere name different from all the others so far? Its two words, two words just smashed together. For simplicity I looked up Archetype 2, which is called the Everyman. Before I go any further let me explain how I think Shadows work in LN.

So shadow is the polar opposite of you, it is everything you are not, that does not make it evil though, if you are bad, your shadow is good. If you are shy it is brave and everything else. Which is why I think kids that go thru horrible things in the real world are chosen to go to Nowhere, because although they are scared, their shadows are strong. Their shadows go to Nowhere first, like what happened with Noone. Six however is a peculiar case, kids get split in the real world and their shadows get sent to Nowhere, where they then Mutual Dream with their shadow, kind of like sharing senses with a twin almost. Six though, she got split in Nowhere by the Thin Man, its like, if you get split in the real world your Shadow gets taken out of you, but if you get split in Nowhere you get split from yourself, and the Shadow gots the keys to the body at that point. Which bring me to my next point.

The kids are Archetypes, their names associated with numbers or descriptions of other Archetypes. Did you know your shadow has a Archetype too? It explains why I am now associating Noone with Archetype 2 the Everyman. She starts as one being, split into two. Ruth and Noone, when she started dreaming she began calling herself Noone. Do you know what the Shadow Archetype to the Everyman is? No joke the shadow for this Archetype is No One. She got bullied and called this name by bullies but this is for sure another link to an Archetype.

So the moment they are split, you have Ruth the Everyman and Noone the No One, and when she fully goes over to Nowhere, which is like the shadow of all the bad things, of course they'd go by their Shadow names.

So what is the Everyman exactly? It's an ordinary person that just wants to belong, in simplest terms. Its fear is to be left out, which is what happens to Ruth a lot, which gives way to the Shadow No One, who over the course of the podcast learns that it's better to hide away. She compares herself to the Workers in the Wall in ep 1, people that she describes that no one knows exists beyond the wall. Episode 2, she describes herself as a moth that no longer wishes to go to the light, she would rather hide in the darkness. Showing her that being alone is good, its better, if she wants to go on in Nowhere. In episode 4 she is thrown a bone, meets Rusty and admits it finally feels like she is a part of something, only to have it all go so wrong.

I think the bit with the Man in the Purple Suit is meant to mirror her in a way. Both want to be noticed, in the real world Ruth had no friends, the MiPS wanted the applause that Rusty was getting. After Ruth was cured of the water sickness, she got her wish, kids being nice to her, but she knew it was fake and escalated from there to being on TV and she hates it. The Man in the Purple Suit gets his wish and all eyes are on him. Noone describes him as growing shy, both loving the praise and regretting the attention.

All of this being a lesson, so that when she is finally whole again, it becomes easier for her shadow to become the dominant one. They are still the same person once made whole again, but something is different, something you can't describe. I think the world of Nowhere wants you to give in to your shadow, for most, it is a bad idea, because it can consume you.

BUT!! Merging with your shadow can be good! It can be the best thing actually. Even split from your shadow, you still have bad qualities in you, and if your shadow is everything you are not, that means it has good qualities in it too. So if you successfully accept all that you are, come to terms with it all, becoming one and integrating your shadow can make you far far stronger then you ever were.

[larsisfrommars]

Wild Wild Reviews

The Night The Wizard Shook The Earth

Overall Score:

Story: 3.5/5

Dame: 2/5

Villain: 6/5

Gadgets: 5/5

Disguises: 1/5

Bonus Points: Gay Subtext: 3/5

The Yikes Dated Factor: 0/-5

Score: 20.5/25

Tier: A (82%)

Previous Episode Review

FULL REVIEW UNDER THE CUT

The Story

I wanted to rate the story on this episode higher, I really did but the first half is SO slow and I’m sorry but John Kneubuhl writes his female characters SO poorly that an otherwise fun and intriguing story suffers immensely for it. Which is such a shame because this is the episode where the BEST Wild Wild West villain was born! Every second Dunn/Loveless is on screen is absolutely fantastic and incredibly memorable. The doomsday device on which the episode revolves is compelling. Yet every moment where Jim interacts with Greta is an absolute slog of ham-fisted flirting and mid 20th century chauvinism. It’s like they had half a perfect episode but didn’t know what to do to fill in the rest of the story aside from the villain and the McGuffin. It also feels out of whack due to the lack of Artemus after the first 15 minutes and it’s very nearly lacking one of the delightful key features of the franchise, fun disguises. It’s absolutely better than TNOT Inferno, but I can’t honestly say it’s better than TNOT Deadly Bed, so right down the middle between them it goes.

The Dame

Our woman of the week is Leslie Parish! I know her as Carolyn from the TOS episode “Who Mourns for Adonais”.

*Sigh* Thus begins a parade of woefully underwritten female protagonists on The Wild Wild West. If I had a dollar for every time a female character on this show had potentially intriguing motivations only to be sidelined in order for Jim West to woo and fulfill the “kiss the girl” goal on each episode’s checklist I would be a rich man. She’s not getting a one but I was thinking about it. Mostly because of that TRULY weird scene where West can’t move and she’s feeding him by hand (Who let their fetish interfere with the quality of this show? Hope it doesn’t happen again! Except that it absolutely will happen… a lot). I decided against it however because she does show a modicum of agency in the first half of the story before it’s undercut by Jim playing weird mind games with her right after the odd fetish scene. I also think she gets overshadowed by Antoinette and Ms. Piecemeal, she just got lost in the shuffle. Ugh.

The Villain

Our villain of the “week” is Michael Dunn! Most iconically known for Wild Wild West but us Trekkies also know him as Alexander from the Star Trek TOS episode “Plato’s Stepchildren”. Continuing our Ancient Greece themed Star Trek cameos I suppose.

Ugh where do I even begin with Michael Dunn’s performance as Doctor Miguelito Loveless? It’s the birth of a legend, a landmark role for actors with dwarfism, an iconic antagonist for an iconic show. He’s a guaranteed smash hit every time he’s in an episode! He’s eccentric, insane, and dynamic, he’s equal parts humanitarian gentleman and genocidal maniac. His motivations toe the line of being reasonable for his background (bitter ex-aristocracy) and unhinged (what he’s willing to do to reach his goal). Heck, I know that the songs they decided to plop into his episodes almost felt like padding for time but he’s just so off-the-wall that I consider it part of Loveless’s charm. Maybe someday I’ll be able to fully articulate why this character is so beloved but that may need to be a post of it’s own (and I’m sure others have already beaten me to it). What can I say but six out of five?

The Gadgets

If I seem a bit biased about the gadgets it’s only because we haven’t gotten to any of the weirder/unlikely/unhelpful one. The carriage is so cool and it makes me absolutely insane that they never end up using a carriage with built-in defenses ever again. The only reason it wasn’t more effective is that Jim was outnumbered on enemy turf. Then of course there’s that clutch little pen that breaks him out of the cage Loveless puts Jim in.

The Disguises

The only disguise we get this week is a terrible attempt at posing as the man Jim failed to prevent being assassinated. I think you ought to leave the disguises to Artemus there Jimbo.

The Gay Subtext

(Don’t ship it? Skip it!)

Say hello to a beloved trope of this ship, and that is Artemus fretting over Jim putting himself in unnecessary danger (and occasionally vice versa)! Seconded only by Artemus complaining about rescuing him or having thought he was dead. Artemus still insists on discreetly keeping an eye on Jim after the professor gets assassinated. Not to mention the custom carriage he designed with Jim specifically in mind. Very normal of you Artemus good job my man, ilysm.

The Yikes Dated Factor

(See elaboration for 0 on this factor from previous episode)

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet Episode 3-4 Recaps: Burn It Up

Aka “They Aren’t The Ones Who Are Currently Good.”

If you’re following the MNET show Boys Planet, you probably know by now that the editors are extremely irritating. For a song “mission” like this, they show 2-3 minute montages of some of the teams practicing, then fast forward to show time passing, then make it look like the performance will start any moment, and then have a lengthy flashback before we finally get to see the performance. 

So, I made a main recap that takes you through episodes 3 and 4 in a linear way, but then when it comes to focusing on each team, I’ll put all those thoughts in a separate post so you can keep the storylines straight. This post covers the Burn It Up teams' rehearsal and performance.

The Teams

K team:

Leader: Park Min Seok

Other members: 

Choi Seung Hun, Jeon Ho Young, Jung Ho Jin, Jung Se Yun, Park Gwan Young 

Park Gwan Young is 22, auditioned with Lullaby, was ranked 61st and then 92nd, and has been 2 stars the whole time.

Jung Se Yun is 15, auditioned with Damdadi, was ranked 68th and then 85th, and has been 0 stars the whole time. 

Jung Ho Jin is 20, auditioned with Lullaby, was ranked 48th and then 68th, and has been 1 star the whole time.

Choi Seung Hun is 14, the youngest in the whole show; he auditioned with Love Scenario, was ranked 46th and then 52nd, and has fallen from 1 star to 0 stars. He’s a former child actor who has been in 30+ dramas. 

Jeon Ho Young is 18, auditioned with Love Scenario, was ranked 81st and then 80th, and has fallen from 2 stars to 1 star. He’s also an actor. 

Park Min Seok is 20, auditioned with The Real, was ranked 64th and then 84th, and has fallen from 2 stars to 1 star. He was a lead vocal in The Real and did a good job -- that whole team was good.  So it’s a bummer to see that he ended up a 1-star. 

We can also see teammate Jung Hwan Rok there -- he has three stars -- but he left the show prior to its airing. He’s a member of the nugu group “withus.” No reason was given for him leaving the show that I know of, but perhaps he was unthrilled about being on this team of leftovers. 

G team

Leader: Xuan Hao

Other members: 

Yutaka, Chen Ren Yu, Hyo, Kei, Qui Sheng Yang, Riku, Xuan Hao

Top row: Chen Ren Yu (in yellow), Riku (in green)

The four sitting in a semi-circle around white-haired leader Xuan Hao: Qui Sheng Yang, Yutaka, Hyo, Kei

Yutaka is 23, didn’t get to audition, was ranked 57th and then 54th, and has risen from 0 stars to 1 star.  We saw him in a segment on the poorly trained 0 zero stars at their vocal lesson, in episode 2 or 3, and we saw him making up his own choreo during the star level test.

Hyo is 21, didn’t get to audition, was ranked 62nd and then 9th, and has risen from 0 stars to 2 stars.  We also saw him in that 0 stars vocal lesson segment. 

Kei is 16, auditioned with Conduct Zero, was ranked 76th and then 83rd, and has been 2 stars the whole time. In my notes on his audition, I thought he overdanced a little bit, but that I thought he deserved 3 stars.

Qui Sheng Yang is 21, auditioned with Tiger Inside, was ranked 88th and then 70th, and has fallen from 2 stars to 1 star.  I thought he overdanced a bit in his audition. 

Chen Ren Yu is 19, auditioned with Tiger Inside, was ranked 59th and then 56th, and has fallen from 2 stars to 1 star.  In my write up on his audition, I said he did really well, writing, “I thought his dancing was purposeful, but sort of calm, and his singing was really good. On key, on rhythm, pleasant, all that good stuff. I’m rooting for him, and curious to see how MNET will screw him over for no real reason.”

Riku is 18, auditioned with Maniac, was ranked 93rd (last!) and then 88th, and has risen from 1 star to 2 stars.  

Xuan Hao is 27, auditioned with God’s Menu, was ranked 33rd and then 41st, and has been 1 star the whole time.  

Team Selection:

This K-team is the leftovers team. 

I am not sure when this G-group was picked or who picked it, but I think they were the sixth team picked.

Episode 3, 1:18:11

Part Selection 

G-group is getting along great. Leader Xuan Hao says, in English, “who has this?” with his hands indicating his abs. Yutaka builds up suspense, but his abs aren’t exactly prominent -- “I’ve been eating a lot of snacks,” he explains, and like, same. 

Then Chen Ren Yu shows his abs for a picosecond. 

I don’t know what my 3 or 4 readers want to see, but in case it’s that, there you go!

They seem to be getting along well -- it’s nice to see. 

Over on the K-side, it’s a bit quieter. These are the leftovers, and their spirits are a bit low. They have elected Park Min Seok leader, and when Jeon Ho Young suggests that they start with their strengths, Minseok jumps on that as a good idea. “Try to promote yourself so we can choose our parts,” Minseok says, and like, yeah, man. 💖That’s the way. 

Park Gwan Young says his voice is his strength, and the editors roll the tape. I guess he can hit high notes. Not sure he… should?... but hey, it’s a start. Jung Hwan Rok and Park Min Seok also say they’re most confident in singing. Jung Ho Jin says, “those guys lost out on these talents,” which I love. The team continues to build each other up -- “we’re the hidden talents!”-- “We’re the ones that were left behind, but we’re all good people!” -- but little Choi Seung Hun says with an embarrassed smile, “I’m not really confident about anything.” You’re an actor, child -- maybe mention that! Say, “Well, I’m a really good actor, so I think I can at least charm the audience from the stage.” Right? 

We get a flashback to an early vocal lesson, and it really seems to me that Choi Seung Hun is either tone deaf or going through the vocal change boys go through as they mature. His voice is breathy and almost tuneless, and he shows his misery clearly on his face. Oh, MNET editors, can we not focus on this? He’s a child and you shouldn’t have put him on the show. 

His teammates seem to feel a mixture of concern for and irritation about him. He’s a child, and he’s annoying, but he’s a child, so… what can you do? Yell at him? Send him to his room? It is hard all around. 

Let’s skip to Episode 4, at 5:16 in. After Minhyun does a little bit of half hearted choreo, the teams come up.

Leading us into a flashback, one of the psychopath dance teachers points out that neither team has anyone above two stars. The kindly main vocal teacher, Master Lee, says, “They aren’t the one who are currently good,” which is the kindest way to describe this battle. 

In a flashback, we see the teams beginning a dance instruction with one of the psychopath dance teachers. He points out that they have a difficult song, and no all stars or even 3 stars. We see G-team try and they are kind of a mess. I assume K team tries with the same result; we don’t see it, but we see that both teams are now in a combined dance practice. Well, that’s unorthodox…? You’re going to do a dance rehearsal and teach them how to dance? I mean, you could TRY that, instead of simply yelling at them and insulting them, but I don’t see how it’ll help. At least he’s being kind of harsh and uncompromising about it, so there’s that. 

Poor Chen Ren Yu. I theorize he doesn’t really understand Korean so well, on top of not understanding the basics of choreography. I know I thought he did ok in his audition, but in this context it’s clear that he hasn’t had any dance instruction. 

He is confusion. 

He’s supposed to bend his arms at the elbow in this sort of bird flap arm gesture, but he can’t do the motion. Master Choi is obsessed with this one move and I think it might just be too hard for Ren Yu. 

In the vocal lesson, at least we see Kei doing good rapping, but the singing is really off rhythm. Master Lee, the firm but kind male vocal instructor, doesn’t really know what to do. He compliments Kei’s excellent rapping, and then tries to get some like, melodic… singing… out of Xian Hao. His teammates sweetly encourage him. You just don’t see young men interacting like this on US television, which is why I guess this is so interesting to me. 

Hey, here’s a good idea! Xian Hao goes to visit our auburn haired center, Zhang Hao, for some help with his singing! Zhang listens to Xian kindly, then gives real instruction.

They keep practicing. Xian Hao really wants to pull off that vocal run. Chen Ren Yu seems to have a good sense of pitch and is helping as well. It’s just all very sweet. The editing continues to focus on Chen Ren Yu and that one arm move, and I honestly have a bad feeling about it… so let’s see.  

As G-team takes the stage, K-team watches. Reaction King Jung Ho Jin is a head taller than most of his teammates, so he gives the impression of a teacher talking to his students as he tells his teammates, “Watch what they do well and do that too.” Good advice…? 

The performance: 

It was actually pretty decent. The leader, Xuan Hao, had pretty good facial expressions, though maybe they were too much? Like he was being an evil Bond villain or something. He does the shirt lift with conviction, and that’s good. Do or don’t do, but don’t half-ass it. Chen Ren Yu’s singing is mostly pretty good. Kei’s rapping sounded ok to me. No one was awful, though the few notes Qui Sheng Yang (in the eyepatch) got out sounded rullll shaky. The whole thing was a bit flat, and I don’t want to watch the whole thing over and over again. To be fair, I’m not a huge fan of the song itself. Don’t get me wrong, I like Kang Daniel and the boys as much as anyone, but that song is sort of meh for me. 

In the MNET editing of the performance, they’re pretty cruel, of course. The song has barely started and the camera freezes to show Chen Ren Yu make the same mistake with the arms, but like, if they hadn’t focused on it I don’t think a soul would have noticed. I know I didn’t notice just watching it. 

The trainees' applause back stage feels slightly indulgent. Like, “look how well they did, considering,” not just “look how well they did.” They’re hoping that this team -- the 6th picked from G-group -- could beat the leftovers of the K-group. Come on, they have to be able to beat the leftovers, right???

The judges say that they did a nice job, and that’s about all they say. I think they know that most likely, none of these guys is going to survive the first elim, so why be cruel? I mean it’s never stopped the psychopath dance teachers before, but I swear a saw a glimmer of human compassion on their faces when they were dealing with this team. 

At 15:30, the K-team comes out, and everyone exclaims over how how tiny and little the two maknae -- Jung Se Yoon and Choi Seung Hoon -- are.

We go into flashback mode and see that Seung Hoon is already crying at a vocal rehearsal, and trying to dry his eyes and wipe his nose on the inside collar of his shirt, which is such a child-like thing to do.  

Vocal Master Lee asks, “Do you not feel confident?” and Seung Hoon says “with singing, dancing, rapping, and everything.” Master Lee asks, “Why do you think that?” and he says, “because it’s true,” and it’s just like. Oh, my heart. What do you say back to that? Because it IS true. Master Lee can only reply, in the gentlest of voices, “That’s a very sad thing to say.” 

And I mean, Jesus H Christ, why did his agency send this kid to this show? If they were so dead set on making their cute little actor into an idol, they should have given him two years of intensive vocal and dance lessons and sent him to the show for season 4, when he was 16. His voice seems to be in the middle of changing right now, on top of everything else. Like what the fuq? Do they not remember what happened to Lee Eugene, who was so humiliated by his experience on Produce X 101 that he changed his legal and professional name to Yoo Jinwoo and gave up the idol life altogether? 

Anyway. 

Master Lee tries to get the other maknae, little Se Yoon, to say that he’s happy, and it’s kind of a joke so Se Yoon smiles, but then says, “My confidence level dropped.” You can’t blame him -- he came to this show with one friend/teammate from his agency, but that friend had to leave the competition, and now he’s here alone, and he’s ranked 85th, and has been in 0 stars the whole time, probably being constantly berated by the psychopath dance teachers, and then no one picked him for this mission. 

Further decreasing the team’s balance is that they had one three star on their team, Jung Hwan Rok, and he was the main vocal, but “he’s been sick,” or at least that’s what they tell Master Lee. It’s totally possible that Hwan Rok got sick, but also maybe he was just sick of being on this show? Anyway, he's not here any more, and they're left trying to deal without him. 

They give the performance a try, and they don’t know the lyrics even though they’re reading them off of sheets of paper. Master Lee is actually quite gentle as he scolds them, but little Se Yoon begins crying and Leader Park Min Seok goes over to hold him as he sobs. It’s really something. 

Poor kid. 

Hey MNET? Raise the minimum age to 17, how’s that sound? It’s still too young but it’s better than THIS. 

Jung Ho Jin, who is the reaction king of this whole segment, interviews:

“They’re all crying. I’m going crazy. They cry so much. To be honest, I really want to cry too. But I thought I shouldn’t join them. If they just stare at the floor because they have no confidence, we’ll really become Team Gush Out.”

You guys, I adore Reaction King Jung Ho Jin. 

Time passes, and little Se Yoon is acting like the little kid he is, and that’s not a value judgement, just an assessment of what you clearly can see on screen. He’s claiming his ankle hurts, and is sort of scooting around on the floor on his butt like an elementary school kid. Leader Park Min Seok, wearing glasses and looking like he’s been put through the wringer, basically doesn’t know what to do. The kid won’t rehearse. They can’t lose another performer, but Se Yoon isn’t even trying. He’s just sort of bored and ignoring what everyone else is doing. 

If I were Min Seok, I would be fighting the urge to strangle him, honestly. Not advocating violence, just acknowledging that my patience has limits. Min Seok finally calls the child out on his behavior. He’s been wandering around, hiding in storage rooms, stuff like that. Min Seok scolds him, not cruelly. He just says, in essence,  “Every minute right now is precious, and the stakes are so high -- why are you wasting time?”

Min Seok auditioned with The Real, (he’s the one in the leather jacket), which means he has  been training with Kim Tae Rae, the awesome vocalist we will see in Back Door; blue haired Park Han Bin, the All Star we will see in Hot Sauce; Lee Jeong Hyeon, age 20, one of the Avengers on the Love Me Right team chosen by Hui; Mun Jung Hyun, age 17, the charming kid who messed up the vocals in Very Nice but really does have a lot of talent. That’s who Min Seok trained with, and now he has to literally babysit. I can’t blame him for losing his patience. 

He has a mini breakdown, and says, “I thought we could do it if we just shared the same goal. I thought everyone would be like that. But they must have feelings they can’t share. Same with Se Yoon, and Seung Hoon,” and here he looks at Seung Hoon. “Without fully understanding them, I think I criticized him too heavily.” Min Seok, lovey, I think you were entirely within your rights, but you are a sweet human being, and I hope your life is long, happy, and successful, whether or not you debut, ok?  

That night, he asks Se Yoon to come see him, and I mean. 

This is a kid who is CLEARLY too young to be on a show like this. He probably is going crazy just missing his mom and dad. 

Min Seok apologizes to him for being hard on him (which he really wasn't!) and tells him he’s going to help him. “I want to be someone you can rely on.” They talk for a long time, and probably go through most of that box of tissues, and Se Yoon promises to work hard, and again Min Seok gathers him in his arms. 

I mean this in the kindest way, but I really hope that Se Yoon gets eliminated in the first elimination. He needs to go home to his mother and father.

The good news is, I bet there are young women all over South Korea (and Japan, China, everywhere else…) who have just put Park Min Seok at the top of their “I want to marry this man” list. You never know for sure, but I will shocked if Min Seok doesn’t jump up quite a bit in the rankings (he’s currently at 84). I don’t think he’s doing this for views -- he probably assumes that MNET doesn’t give a shit about this team -- but this is some good TV, as exploitive and awful as it is. Like I said, you don’t usually see young men being this tender with each other on television in the US. 

They get back to practice, and Se Yoon starts really trying again. That helps Seung Hoon also. They all try their best. And now… it’s show time! Back stage, Team K watches with empathy. 

The Performance

Left to right: Choi Sunghoon, Park Min Seok, Jung Se Yun, Park Gwan Young, Jeon Ho Young

Not visible: Reaction King Jung Ho Jin but he’s the one in the blue blazer 

Overall, about the same as G-group, more or less. Park Min Seok brought the right stage presence the song needed, though his vocals were a bit weak. I think Jung Ho Jin captures attention as the center, but his personality and vibe doesn’t match the song somehow. I think he would be a better fit for Very Nice. The three rappers did a perfectly decent job as far as I could tell. The two babies didn’t look wildly out of place, and Jeon Ho Young was brave enough to lift up his shirt for a picosecond, so good for him. For me, the real surprise of the whole performance was Park Gwan Young. He can sing! And he has a really nice voice! For real! He’s ranked 92, so I don’t have much hope for him surviving, but he may eventually do just fine. 

The MNET editing is kind, and we do get some reaction shots for Park Gwan Young’s singing, so that’s good. There’s also a cute shot of Minhyun singing along to the song, as if unaware he’s doing it. But most of the post performance commentary is about the maknae. 

Results 

Oh, I hate this part.

Main Vocal: 

Park Gwan Young 142

Chen Ren You 74

Sub vocal 1:

Park Min Seok 160

Yutaka 28

Sub vocal 2:

*Jung Ho Jin* 122

Riku 6

Main Rapper

Jeon Ho Young 41

Kei 57

Sub vocal 3:

Qui Sheng Yang 0 votes, oh no! 

Sub Rapper 1

Jung Se Yoon 27

Hyo 46

Sub Rapper 2:

Choi Seung Hun 26

Xuan Hao 115 

Totals:

K team takes it, 518 to 326.

When K wins, most of them jump up, but leader Min Seok just collapses. He’d been holding it together with like, duct tape and chewing gum, emotionally, and the second he didn’t have to hold it together any more he fell apart. He might be older than his maknae but that was a LOT of pressure for one person to have on his head. Everyone tries to get him to stop crying but he kind of can’t. He interviews later on that the maknae tried so hard, and that he’s always wanted to tell them he loved them. (And girls around the world swoon.)

Meanwhile, on the G-side, of course they’re heartbroken. Poor guys. They lost to the leftovers team. They worked hard too and didn’t do a bad job. I think the worst part was Hyo’s face crumpling up into tears as he said, “I don’t want to go back.” 

This show is just a lot sometimes.

And that’s the end of the Burn It Up review.

Click here to return to the main review.

Click here to go on to the Danger review.

[pftones3482]

The issue with AYA is literally everything. I cannot stress that enough, there are VERY few parts of the episode that are salvageable. I'll list them here:

1. The Fireside Girl designs are the only good ones in the ep

2. Irving working for OWCA - he DID come into the show by spying on the main gang 😂 so it makes perfect sense

3. Candace going to school to be a lawyer is top notch, only part of that episode I consider canon

Other than that, I cannot find one redeemable quality to that episode. Here's the most glaring problems for me:

1. What the FUCK is up with the boys and their toxic masculinity? This is Buford and Baljeet, who sang a BREAKUP SONG bc they missed each other. Phineas and Ferb, who worked every day to make sure their friends and family felt happy and loved. Kids who would go to the ends of the earth for each other AND HAVE - "we are guys, we do not talk about feelings" 🤢🤢🤢🤢 fuck that shit

2. Their character designs suck I'm sorry. Almost all of them. Doofs hair was literally just colored gray, they just made Phineas taller, and they made Buford SKINNY what the HELL? The designs were bland and bad, esp when you compare them to an episode like Quantum Boogaloo where Doofs body actually changes too. Bodies SHIFT over the course of 5-8 years, esp in adolescents - their designs should have reflected that (and making Buford skinny was nauseating. He wouldn't slim up like that naturally, he'd have the build of a football player or a wrestler just based on his body shape alone.)

3. I'm not big on Phinabella but when it's done right I think it's cute. This was not done right. No communication between them, and Isabella wouldn't drop a friendship (multiple friendships!!) for an unrequited crush - that's not who she is. In many episodes prior she had moments where she had to pick between her crush on Phineas and friendship and she ALWAYS chose friendship. And Phineas just LETTING her slip away? No way, he'd figure out what the hell was wrong. This is the boy who tried to make her an entire goddamn ice cream machine when she got her tonsils out, who spiraled into a panic when he couldn't find her during a zombie invasion, he wouldn't just drop her once she stopped swinging by.

4. Balinger. What the FUCK was that shit? Gingers crush was cute in the show!! And then they made their relationship toxic as hell???? Like they straight up lie and manipulate each other, which is NEVER how that group was. The Fireside Girls were autonomously friends with Phineas and Ferb and gang, they weren't just there bc of Isabella, and they have the same morals as the main gang. The toxicity in their writing low-key just felt like misogyny and it was gross

5. Crazy enough I think the Doof plot was the best part of the ep and anyone who knows me knows that I'm indifferent to Doof most of the time, but again, what the FUCK was up with his design????? Trash. Give him fucking wrinkles you cowards

6. The ending. Phineas Flynn would not stay in the Tri-State Area for college. This kid has traveled the WORLD - he'd be going to places that challenged him, that opened his eyes to new possibilities and adventures. Hell, he'd do online school WHILE traveling the world. He loves Danville - it's his home. But Tri-State State wouldn't challenge him. And frankly it wouldn't challenge Isabella - every single one of those kids could get into Ivy League schools and you're telling me they basically chose community colleges? (Not bashing community colleges but again. They don't match with the characters we've been shown this whole time). No. It's not romantic or cute, it's poor writing in regards to the characters personalities.

6. Ferbnessa 🤢🤢🤢🤢 they have a SIX YEAR age gap - which as grown adults would be fine, whatever, if they got together after they both graduated college. But in this episode Ferb is 18 (BARELY) dating a 24 YEAR OLD. That's disgusting. Depending on when they started dating she would have been 20 dating him at 14. That's fucking nasty, IDC how you spin it. Ferb's little kid crush on her? Chill, cute. Her reciprocating it?????? Disgusting. If it was reversed and it was a 24 year old man and an 18 year old girl everyone would have been up in arms about it. It was also entirely unnecessary in the plotline, we could have had zero ferbnessa and the episode literally wouldn't have changed.

Anyway those are the most grievous errors of the episode, it can burn in the dumpster alongside the second cliptastic countdown

Thinking about act your age again, can y’all just spill to me all your thoughts on the episode or link other posts and stuff about it

[mattzerella-sticks]

I wonder if Athena finally putting to bed the case that inspired her towards a career pursuing justice will now push her onto the path for her overall endgame which, like her husband, is retirement.

Like how last season we had Bobby's second chance where he saved his daughter from the fire at the call center (putting to rest his regret at never being able to save his family from that fire back in Michigan), and now we have Athena wrapping up that last loose end that kept her in a sort of stasis, the questions they'll both be asking is: what next.

Bobby is very clearly thinking about his replacement, establishing an arc for Buck’s endgame I already laid out in an earlier post about Buck where he'll only become captain at the series finale. We keep seeing all of Bathena's special moments be put off due to tragedy and emergencies. We've also seen how the job (Athena's) has put pressure on her familial relations. I can definitely see Athena retiring at the end of this season to pursue another career that still has her pursuing justice, like maybe something in politics, maybe she goes to law school, or maybe starts a charitable organization dedicated to helping victims and families of crimes like that of Tanya (though just like at the end maybe she has to put the past behind her like Joanne is doing).

I wouldn't be against them retiring - no two people on this show deserve it more. However the show will definitely end when they do, however if they stagger it I can see it lasting for another season (Athena in six, Bobby in seven). Also, unlike all the other times it's been suggested Athena retire, the fact that it is HER decision will show this is the final conversation about it. Once Athena sets her mind to something, it gets done.

I think having a season of her then figuring out what's next for Athena will be good, although that will change the makeup of the show as we won't have a police officer character to be our police pov (not that it's necessary but those are structural parts of the show that carry into the spin-off with Carlos). 9-1-1 isn't a stranger to introducing new characters. I can see maybe Athena getting a new partner and having them bond with the 118 somehow (maybe pair them up with Lucy and Ravi).

I do think we are heading into the final arcs for all our main cast. Season 7 is when the contracts are up. Yes, this show could probably last past that but it would be a disservice to the story being told. Bathena's heading towards retirement. Hen is heading towards a doctor career. Buck and Eddie are figuring themselves out and how to be a family, which both of them have wanted (the concept of family and having people who choose them). The only people who have completed their journey, honestly, are Chim and Maddie. They're back together. Their arc ends with marriage which we are all betting happens in the s6 finale. Whatever they got planned for s7 it might be career-focused or more family-planning, or both.

Tl;dr tonight's episode not only put to rest a monstrous crime (and the execution of how the audience was told was spectacular), but also put to rest a piece of Athena that we can argue bookended a moment last season with her husband. This episode was key in helping guide Athena towards her endgame of retirement as all the major players in the show are now entering the beginnings of their final storylines as next year s7 will most likely be the last season

[lokiondisneyplus]

A pivotal moment in Loki's season 1 finale was being tweaked and rewritten up until the last minute.

In the Disney+ drama's revelatory ending, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) came to blows once again. This time around, it was because Sylvie was determined to kill He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), but Loki was desperately urging her to reconsider because doing so could cause the Sacred Timeline to branch and herald the return of the enigmatic figure's less benevolent variants ("a bazillion boogeymen") and, more importantly, wouldn't heal the pain in her heart.

"The cost of getting this wrong is too great," Loki pleaded with the enchantress. "I've been where you are. I've felt what you feel. Don't ask me how I know. All I know is I don't want to hurt you. I don't want a throne. I just want you to be okay."

According to director Kate Herron, crafting this surprisingly heartfelt speech was one of the trickiest moments to nail in the finale.

"Me, the [finale] writer Eric [Martin], Tom, and Sophia, we were working on that speech that Loki says to her right up until the day before shooting, because we just wanted to get it right," Herron told EW last Friday. "I think those words — and this came from Tom, 'I just want you to be okay' — were so key because there's pain in that, right? Because he's evolved in ways and he's moved beyond his pain and anger, and he doesn't want that for her. You don't want that for someone you care about. But, she's just not quite on that path yet and she does still have that."

Sophia Di Martino and Tom Hiddleston in 'Loki' | CREDIT: MARVEL STUDIOS

Loki's sweet declaration led to a long-awaited kiss between the two variants; however, they didn't live happily ever after because Sylvie was committed to her mission. After the kiss, Sylvie opened a time portal and pushed Loki through it so she could kill He Who Remains.

"I think for me the kiss was really beautiful because I don't think it was a deception, and I don't think it was a trick necessarily," said Herron. "I think for her, it was almost a goodbye. I think she does care about him, but it's just her feelings toward having to complete the mission overtook because she's not emotionally in the same place he was. I always think of Sylvie in this episode almost like how Loki was in Thor. She has all this anger and pain, and she isn't necessarily going to make the best decision with it."

Where do Loki and Sylvie go from here? Well, viewers will find that out whenever Loki returns for its second season — because it is the first Marvel-Disney+ series to get renewed. (WandaVision was designed as a limited series, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's future is a bit murkier since a fourth Captain America movie is in development.) According to Herron, a season 2 was always in the cards for Loki.

"When I started, we'd always thought about it as its own story, basically, that it was these six episodes," said she said. "Marvel wanted to approach it like a giant movie, so we were always thinking about it like a giant film, but obviously with the second hand of it being episodic and wanting to keep the conversation going across the six weeks. But season 2 came out as we were working on it, and it was just coming out of the fact that Marvel was very excited about the story and Loki, and we'd done a lot of groundwork here but there's always so much more road to travel with him."

Unfortunately, Herron will not be involved in the show's season 2. "I'm only on for season 1, and it's honestly just because I'm so proud of the story we told," she said. "I'd always planned just to come on for [one season], because when we started, this was what we were doing with the story and I'm so grateful to Marvel. It has changed my life and I love the character, but I definitely will be enjoying the second season as a fan, and I look forward to seeing what another director does with it."

[meanautisticenbian]

Lilith Clawthorne has Borderline Personality Disorder: an essay

Content warnings: mentions of abuse, cults, and self harm

I don't have much of an intro but I need to get some things out of the way. 

First off, this is an essay that I made mostly for fun and because I feel like more people need to hear about this. I am not excusing Lilith's actions in any way, though hopefully this may explain some of them. 

Secondly, as you might know I have BPD myself. I'm self diagnosed yes, but I still have enough symptoms. I see a lot of myself in Lilith, as well as several traits, and I hope that this essay will be informative.

With all that being said, let's get into the analysis starting with the symptoms that are only hinted at. One of the hallmarks of Borderline Personality Disorder is an intense fear of abandonment, which Lilith seems to display disgusted as her desire to cure Eda's curse. If it's not clear enough, Eda's really the only thing Lilith cares about, which makes sense since she's clearly the only thing she has. We know that she isn't super close to Amity, despite what fans want to believe, we don't know if she's formed any positive relationships with anyone in the Emperor's Coven and it would say a lot of she didn't. With all that in mind, she is clearly very close to Eda and whenever she tries to get away from her, Lilith is always either pissed off or saddened. Sure, this could just be because she wants to heal Eda's curse and is most likely being punished by Belos, and that's why this is listed as something that's hinted at. Then again, Catra from She Ra is BPD coded as well and she mostly wanted to bring Adora back to the Horde because Shadow Weaver wanted her and was an abusive piece of shit, but it was pretty obvious that she also just wanted her crush and only friend back, so I don't see how this can't be applied to Lilith as well.

Lilith seems to have a black–and–white view on the people around her and maybe even herself. Whenever Eda escapes her, she suddenly flips from being loving and caring to her and really acting like she cares about her to treating her like she just pissed on her waffles. Her way of viewing other people (mostly Eda) is another symptom of BPD, being a black–and–white view on everything and rapid changes in self image and views of everyone else. One moment she views Eda as a beautiful and loving sister, the next she's just an old woman slowing her down. One moment Belos is a trustworthy leader, next he's a monstrous tyrant. One moment Luz is an annoying child she can use as bait, next she's her only hope in saving Eda.

She seems to harbor some of these feelings to herself as well. One moment she acts like she's fully aware of the baddie she is, and next she seems to hate herself. Another valid explanation is that this could also be viewed as her hiding her insecurities since she is clearly one to hold back those emotions and she only ever seems to let Eda see this side of her (save for Luz in the season 1 finale) but this is still a common BPD trait that seems to fit her so it would make sense.

Now let's move on to the more explicit symptoms. If it's not obvious enough, Lilith has some major anger issues. She was ready to kill Eda after she did as much as annoy her in Covention and tell her how worthless her life is after she (actually Luz) escapes her in Once Upon a Swamp. It was certainly reasonable for her to be upset about Luz accidentally blowing up the side of a building, but she had a worse outburst over her sister rhyming.

Now we move on to what I think is her most obvious trait: her impulsiveness. Like I said before, Lilith tends to have sudden violent outbursts and act without thinking. It doesn't excuse anything she's done but it certainly does explain a LOT.

It could be a possible explanation for why her first instinct was to use Luz as a human shield while she was fighting Eda and threw Luz off a cliff in order to get Eda to use all her magic instead of making a new bubble for Luz or doing literally anything that WOULDN'T harm Luz. This could maybe (key word) also provide an explanation for why she cursed Eda instead of going and talking to her (assuming she didn't), but her disorder seems to stem more from trauma than it does genetics, both of which are ways BPD can manifest.

Mood swings are another symptom she definitely has, but that can easily be paired with the point about her changes in self image and how she views others, as well as the points about her anger and impulsivity, so I won't go into detail about that.

Depression, guilt, and ongoing feelings of emptiness are obvious traits that don't need much explaining.

The last major trait wanna bring up is self harm and self destructive and suicidal behavior. I couldn't really find any point in which she showed any suicidal tendencies or urges to hurt herself and it is most likely that she won't be showing those traits at any point in the future, though I do believe it is possible that the show may depict self destructive behaviors in her. Obviously, she wouldn't be shown cutting or burning herself, but maybe it could be displayed in a more PG fashion such as her not taking proper care of herself or having risky behaviors.

There are nine main traits of BPD and one needs to have at least five of them to get a diagnosis. Lilith seems to exhibit six and possibly seven of these traits. I could end it here by saying that Lilith definitely has BPD and needs a hug, but we're not done yet.

Despite what most people might say about borderline people and how we're depicted, we're more likely to be victims of abuse than we are abusers. Most of the time the trauma from the abuse is the cause of the disorder, for those who don't inherit it. Many people with the disorder have claimed to have been physically, sexually, psychologically or emotionally abused or neglected during their lifetime. We don't know the exact details of Lilith's time in the coven or what it was like for her, all we know is that it was basically a cult and she definitely experienced some form of abuse. We know that emotional and psychological abuse were definitely present in her and Belos's relationship, and there is definitely a possibility that there was some physical abuse as well. As for neglect, there isn't really anything that can support the claim even if it seems plausible, and logically speaking, she most likely wasn't sexually abused simply just because this is a family show, so unless Disney is ok with Dana going THERE, that one's a little too far out of the realm of possibility.

So, where does that leave us? Well if I'm being honest, she definitely seems to have a case of untreated and probably undiagnosed BPD caused by a series of traumatic events. And the thing is, she's only in 6/19 episodes in the series so far, and we've probably only really seen the tip of the iceberg. She could have a lot more going on with her that we will definitely see in season 2, I highly doubt she won't.

Lilith is definitely BPD coded, and whether the rep is intentional or not, it's still something I can consider good rep. It's super rare that you find borderline characters in the media that are not abusers, manipulators, or terrible, irredeemable people in general. Lilith is not a bad person whatsoever, and even if she's not much of a good person either, she's not irredeemable. She certainly has a long way to go, but with proper guidance and psychological help, she will get there eventually.

I would like to finish this off by saying I'm not trying to excuse or condone her actions, I am simply addressing how it's possible for her to be borderline, based on what screen time she has and my own experiences. I just want to express my appreciation for what rep we have, as well as analyzing her character a bit.

Thank you all for reading

- Sunny

[captainsspnanon]

C2E40 - Dubious Pursuits - rewatch

IT’S A HALLOWEEN EPISODE I FORGOT IT’S A HALLOWEEN EPISODE

for a split second I was trying to remember if we got the happy fun ball early, but no, that’s going to be probably the NEXT Halloween episode (“Jester! Put it down!  NOW!” is burned into my head.  I can’t tell if it’s Caleb or Liam but *fans self*)

Aw, no Laura this episode.  And I love that Travis’s costume is a hat and M&M gloves.  How is Sam’s ketchup costume more put together??? XD

Oh!  Liam’s back to the dark mug!  (and Travis’s gloves have come off INSTANTLY)

I love Liam doing the ‘Kylo Ren’ voice because I don’t watch Star Wars (I’m not a big action movie person, star trek tv shows tend to be more my jam. Hence why I’m also not big on the new star trek movies that were just action movies), so I have no clue if it’s accurate or not.

THEY BROKE MATT!!!! It’s so so rare now that they get him with a shout out, I love when it happens!  Travis did it this time ‘round.

...Caleb asking how many eyes he has right now hits WAY different XDDD

What the fuck is that flask Sam omg

Ah, the three murals with the three eyes in each, a deliberate red herring from Matt.  It was fun hearing him talk about this and what plot threads could have come from this during the wrap up.

I like that the Uk’otoa mural has amber eyes all along the body, and I’m just here thinking that Caleb should pry some out so he won’t need to buy any for his eventual Vault. XD

Hmmm.  After last Talks Machina where Liam said that Caleb would try to stop Fjord from raising Uk’otoa, I wonder if Caleb grabbing Fjord to talk before he could follow Avantika into the well was planned deliberately.  It ends up not making much of a difference, because Fjord does still get there first and just fails to figure out how to place the eye, but still.

HOURGLASS!!!  We never got many of these.  Have they ever actually run out the time on camera?

Enlarging Caduceus! Very smart move!!  (also I totally think Matt wiffed the roll for Yasha, and that’s why he gave Beau advantage instead.  He’s a very generous DM)

LOL as I bring it up, the sand runs out.  Penalty is only that the water fully fills the chamber, which is not too bad.

I like how after this, they I think always have someone with the spell water breathing.  Burn me once!

Faaaaaack another combat.

Ah, the Kiss of Life.  This is one of those moments that so small, but it’s so hard to imagine the campaign if it didn’t happen.  Though a part of me does wonder how the scene would have played out if 1) Caduceus was the one with the key, or 2) if Laura was actually there.  I feel like at least part of Fjord’s decision came from Travis not wanting his wife’s PC to die while she wasn’t there, and I do wonder if he would have gone for a kiss had Cad been the one instead, or if he would have done a more physical attempt of taking the key and dragging Cad along or something like that.

I like when Matt starts the chase skill challenge he straight up says that they have six rounds of it.  It gives them an idea of what to expect, because six is a LOT when you don’t know how much you have to do, and I can see them keep asking after three if they hadn’t made it yet.  So saying six ahead of time means that they’re aware of exactly how long this can take.

They don’t roll damage for the fluffernutter, so I don’t think we actually find out how much damage it can do!  Sad times.

Nott drawing the attention of the lizard-folk hits a LOT harder in hindsight knowing about her sacrificing herself to save Yeza and Luc.  This is, apparently, a trademark tactic of hers, despite her as Nott seemingly being very ‘selfish’ (except not really).  It also adds to both Veth and Nott’s stories.  It’s not her first choice to be self-sacrificing.  It’s not her second choice either.  But when the chips are down, it’s the risk that she will take herself rather than risking those she cares about.

Even though it was Taliesin’s idea, I like that it’s Yasha who is picking up and carrying Caleb when he hits two points of exhaustion.  I JUST WANT MORE YASHA CALEB INTERACTION.  These little guilt ridden introverts didn’t get enough time together. :(

Oh wow, after break almost EVERYONE is mostly out of costume except for Matt!!  (I suppose Sam is too, but he’s wearing a fricken ketchup costume, it’s hard to count it.  I suppose props for still wearing the hat, as that’s got to be uncomfortable)

I find it very very funny that the Squalleater name just sounds super wrong.  It’s the Ball Eater, Matt, get it right! XD

LOL after calling them out, Sam takes off his costume too.  PROPS WITHDRAWN.  ONLY MATT WINS.

It’s very interesting hearing Fjord pretty vehemently reject the possibility of releasing Uk’otoa at this time.  When they are in Xhorhas and his powers are taken away, Travis confirmed (I think in the wrap up, but maybe in a Talks) that he was 100% ready to go and release Uk’otoa just to get his powers back.  Knowing that, and seeing how against it Fjord is here is a fascinating play of how one can feel in control when one has what they want.  Fjord very much wants to continue to get more power, perhaps not the power that he would get from a full release, but the Control Water – he is very disappointed that he didn’t get it and is very driven to get it.  With his powers lost entirely, he seriously considers a prospect that he had rejected out of hand.   ...I have thoughts about this tying into his decision to serve the Wildmother, and Travis’s decision to multiclass, but I don’t have the energy to put it into words, so just assume that I said something very thought provoking and well worded.  (so not like my usual write ups XD)

Fuuuuuuck, Caleb’s face when he tells Fjord “you do what you have to” in regards to Avantika and the glass of wine.  I would not have been so aware of it had someone else not done a fantastic write up of how Caleb was taught to use his sexuality and how that colors his views of how the Avantika/Fjord interactions should go.  I can’t remember the post or who wrote it, but I did reblog it when I saw it ages ago.

AWWWW, Nott giving Fjord the vial of acid and the genuineness of the interaction.  Team Green, I believe is the name, SUCH a good combo of sass and feels.

I very much appreciate the fact that Matt is clearly giving Travis the opportunity to have these RP sessions with Avantika without having to have it go into overt sexuality, something that he knows Travis is uncomfortable with.  Matt gives little winks and nods, allowing the opening if Travis wanted to take action, but in no way makes it a ‘must do this to proceed’ sort of thing.  It makes Travis being willing to take that step fully his own decision without feeling pressured.

I like how “Seamen, seamen everwhere” “and not a drop to drink” ended up being the thing that broke Matt.

@suicidallyreckless

[twh-news]

'Loki' Full Season 1 Review: The Most Frustrating Thing Is How Incomplete the Story Feels

Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 1 finale of Loki, "For All Time. Always."

[TWH-NEWS note: Tom is NOT confirmed to be on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even though the article so claims. Marvel hasn't confirmed it.]

The Loki season finale is perhaps one of the most vexing episodes of television I have seen in quite some time. The Disney+ sci-fi drama, tracking the events following Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) escape from the pre-established timeline, was never confirmed to be an ongoing show versus a limited series, with rumors of a second season on the horizon from the beginning, so the biggest twist delivered by "For All Time. Always." ended up being confirmation of a Season 2 with a post-credits title card.

However, while there were other key reveals made during the episode, those reveals left behind plenty of story to explore in future seasons. Too much story. There's a difference between a few dangling plot threads and a mess of string, and the staggering number of questions left unresolved by "For All Time. Always." crosses a line when it comes to completion — especially given the fact that there's no clear sense of when the show might return, and the real story being told is much bigger than the fate of one mischievous scamp.

In general, every episode of this show was beautifully made, with immense credit going to director Kate Herron, head writer Michael Waldron, and the creative team. The cast of known all-stars like Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, blended with new all-stars like Sophia Di Martino and Wunmi Mosaku, did a remarkable job of grounding even the most fantastical moments in raw humanity, and the writing popped with verve and wit. Also, Loki does come full circle on what was its original raison d'etre — the redemption of a character who literally was plucked out of the timeline at his worst, having attacked Manhattan with an alien force so destructive that the Earth needed a whole damn team of superheroes to stop him. On this score, the show was wildly successful, breaking down Loki's sense of grandeur and purpose in the first episode and then slowly but surely rebuilding him into a man capable of evolving beyond his past. Loki did more to examine a single character's psychology and motivations than we've ever seen in the context of the MCU, and all of the progress and growth made by the character, as a result, feels truly earned.

However, if Loki's redemption was the only thing this show had been about, it would have been a very boring show, and Loki was far from boring. The official theme of the series was "What makes a Loki a Loki?" but the real issues being raised were far more existential; in so many ways, this was a show about faith and free will, an undercurrent that deserves more exploration and frankly appreciation, especially after the questions and themes left dangling by the last episode.

This element proved to be key to so much of the show's construction, especially when it comes to the TVA, which basically functions as a religious order — its devotees slavishly sacrificing their lives to the cause of protecting the Sacred Timeline. It's not subtle, especially when the dark side of it is revealed, those devotees learning that their service happened against their will. "We can't take away people's free will, can't you see that?" Mobius pleads with Ravonna in their final scene together, before she walks away in something resembling agreement with him, telling him that she's going in search of free will herself.

Loki Season 1, by the end, becomes a show not just about a crisis of faith, but about an apocalypse. Every time a story about apocalypses comes up, I find it impossible to forget that the Greek word from which the term originates actually means "revelation." That's why the part of the Bible about the world ending is called the Book of Revelations, but beyond that, the definition serves as a reminder of why endings can matter. Endings are beginnings, in some ways. A painful breakup reveals the flaws in what might have seemed like a loving relationship. Extreme climate change is a revelation regarding humanity's callous attitude towards its impact on the environment. For the characters of Loki — perhaps the entire MCU — the apocalypse they're facing following the destruction of the Sacred Timeline also means the revelation of what lives they left behind.

Certainly there's a ton of room for speculation as to what lies ahead for these characters, but the fact is that the next chapter of Loki's journey won't even be told on Disney+, as Hiddleston is reportedly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and there's no telling when we might return to resolve the events of the Season 1 finale. Cliffhangers are one thing; anyone who grew up watching '90s TV learned the hard way how to handle the dramatic season endings of The X-Files or Star Trek: The Next Generation. But Loki didn't dangle its characters off a cliff — it pushed them off the edge, leaving them suspended in mid-air for who knows how long.

Back in the days of The X-Files you at least knew that whatever jaw-dropping cliffhanger the season finale had just delivered would be addressed by the season premiere in just a few months. (Maybe as many as six months, depending on the baseball season.) That's a sense of certainty that Loki fans do not have the luxury of enjoying; based on where the conversations around a second season currently stand, it could be a while before the contracts are even signed. Conservatively, at this point, it feels unlikely that we'll get a second season of Loki until near the end of 2022, and given that the first season took over two years from its announcement to now to actually debut, 2023 doesn't feel like too much of a stretch. Maybe Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw get to make cameos in Doctor Strange 2 as well? Nothing is possible and everything is possible. We just have to wait for the answer, and in the meantime stew in dissatisfaction.

"Only one person gets free will. The one in charge," Ravonna tells Mobius — implicitly referring to He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). Who, speaking of, is now dead, Sylvie having completed her one primary quest to revenge herself upon the ones who took her life away. That, combined with the Wizard of Oz parallels, makes this a show that's fascinating to parse (Sylvie literally killed God!), but frustratingly incomplete in its themes. Literally as the episode officially ended on the visage of Kang enshrined as the ruler of the TVA, I said out loud "Well, there's going to be a Season 2," and I suppose that thanks are owed to Marvel and Disney+ for not leaving that element in suspence for more than two minutes and two seconds.

But if I have a religion, it's my belief in the power of storytelling, how the myths we create for ourselves and others can shape lives and hopefully make them better. One tenet of that is the idea that great stories deserve some sense of completion. So, the first season of Loki committed a pretty grievous sin.

[mattsboldyy]

memories - auston matthews

Summary- Y/N and Auston’s 2 year anniversary is coming up, you found yourself rethinking all of the happy, sad, funny, frustrating, and fun moments you and Auston had between the almost 2 years you’ve been together. 

Words- 2K

Requested- No

Warnings- covid, fluff

Requests- Open

Author’s Note - The first part takes place in a covid free world. It’ll let you know when the whole covid thing starts in the fic. Enjoy!

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3 MONTHS INTO DATING AUSTON - JANUARY 2019

“Oh, look there’s Mitch and Auston!” Steph, Mitch Marner’s girlfriend said while pointing down to the ice where the Maple Leafs were warming up to face off against the Colorado Avalanche in the Scotiabank Area. You waved to Auston, with him giving you a little wave back. “You two are literally the cutest.” Steph said, sitting down in her seat next to your and the other WAGs. “Not as cute as you and Mitch.” You giggled, sitting down next to Steph. “He adores you, Y/N/N!” Steph said, showing you a picture of Auston looking at you with the cutest look on his face while standing on the beach from last month. You smile. 

Some time later, the game was about to start. You were nervous because Colorado was a good team that season, but you reminded yourself that the Maple Leafs were having a wonderful season too so you tried not to worry. 

About six minutes into the game, Mitch stole the puck and headed down the ice for a breakaway, Auston not to far behind him. 

“Marner passes the puck to Matthews, back to Marner, and back to Matthews. Matthews shoots... AND SCORES!” the sports announcer said.

You and Steph both jumped to your feet, cheering, then giving each other and the rest of the WAGs high fives.

The rest of the game was somewhat of a mess. But the maple leafs ended winning 5-3! You and Steph was at the dressing room hallway when two very strong arms wrapped around you. You turned around and to your relief, there was Auston.

“Hey baby!” You said, giving him a kiss on the lips.

“Hi gorgeous.” Auston said. 

“You played great tonight.”

“Thank you.” Auston said, smiling down at you with his hands still wrapped around your waist.

Soon after saying goodbye to Steph, which is also  your best friend, and the other WAGs, you and Auston headed back to his apartment . 

-------

You walked into the apartment right behind Auston and then shutting the door behind you.

You and Auston sat on the couch and watched ‘Love Island’  and cuddled. 

After one episode, you looked over at Auston and smiled. 

“Hey Aus?” You asked, still looking over at him. 

“Yeah?” He said quietly with his eyes still closed.

“I love you.” You said.

Auston’s eyes flew open. “You what?”

“I love you!” You said.

“I love you too.” Auston said, getting of off the couch and walking over to you.

You giggled as he kissed you passionately. 

-

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9 MONTHS INTO DATING AUSTON - JUNE 2019

“This food is good.” You said to Auston while looking at him across the restaurant table.

“Mhm.” Auston said, with his mouth full which made you laugh.

A few minutes later, Auston spoke up. “I have a question to ask you, and it’s okay if you say no because I understand.”

“Okay..” You said, with a confused look.

Auston then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key and slid it across the table.

“I want you to have this.” Auston said, looking at you.

“Your spare apartment key? You want me to move in with you?” you asked excitedly.

Auston nodded and grabbed one of your hands from across the table.

“I think I’m really in love with you Y/N and I really want you to move in with me.” Auston said, smiling slightly.

“Awh. I will move in with you Aus.” You said giving him a sweet smile.

-

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11 MONTHS INTO DATING AUSTON -  AUGUST 2019

You shifted around in the bed your throat being a little sore so you opened your eyes to see that it was 6:00 am and Auston had practice at 7:00 am. You got out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find Auston eating breakfast. You went to say good morning but nothing came out. You had lost your voice and your throat had gotten a lot more sore when you tried to talk. Auston looked at you with worried eyes. He got up and walked towards you, guiding you back to bed.

“Stay right here, love.” Auston said leaving the bedroom.

Some time later, he came back with some soup, medicine, and tea.

“Thank you babe.” You said, very faintly.

You expected Auston to be leaving soon since he had practice but instead he grabbed the remote to the bedroom TV and went to get in his side of the bed.

“Don’t you have practice?” You said quietly

“Yeah.. but you’re sick and I don’t want you to be alone.” Auston said, scrolling through netflix, trying to find a show to watch.

You looked at Auston. How did you get so lucky? Auston also thought that same thought all the time. How did he get so lucky? 

“I love you Aus.” You said while laying down on his chest.

“Love you too, Y/N/N.” Auston said, smiling down at you.

-

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1 YEAR, 4 MONTHS INTO DATING AUSTON - JANUARY 2020

You heard your phone ringing and saw your boyfriend’s picture pop up on your screen, so you answered the phone. 

“Hello?” you asked.

“Hey babe.” He said, 

You could tell something was wrong though... just by his tone.

“How’s practice?” You asked.

“Good.. but have you heard of this Covid-19?” Auston asked.

“Yeah.. I saw it on the news here and there.. hopefully it doesn’t get horrible.” You say, piecing the pieces together that Covid-19 was what he was worried about.

There was a short silence when you decided to speak up again.

“I’m sure everything's gonna be fine.” You re-assure Auston.

“Hopefully..” You hear Auston say. 

“Well anyway, practice is about to start. I love you baby.” Auston said.

“Love you too Aus.” You say, while hanging up the phone.

-

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1 YEAR, 6 MONTHS INTO DATING AUSTON - MARCH 2020

Auston was at practice when your heart dropped when you saw a notification saying that the NHL season was canceled due to covid. You sat in disbelieve. You couldn’t imagine how sad and upset Auston was going to be when he got home. The whole city of Toronto was shutting down.

Not long after the news that the season was over, you heard the apartment door open.

“They cancelled it..” Auston said, walking into the apartment, and dropping his hockey bag.

“I heard..” You say, walking over to him to give him a hug. “I’m so sorry baby.” You say as you rub up and down his back.

“It’s not your fault.” Auston mumbles as he walked over to the couch, picking up the remote and turning on ‘Love Island’.

“Love Island, eh?” You ask, standing behind the couch with you arms crossed, laughing as Auston laughed with you.

“It’s my therapy.” Auston said, turning around and slightly smiling up at you.

“I bet it is Aus, I bet it is.” You said, turning around and walking into the kitchen.

-

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1 YEAR, 10 MONTHS INTO DATING AUSTON - JULY 2020

“You ready?” Auston asked, opening the apartment complex’s main door with Felix’s leach in hand. 

“Mhm!!” You say, starting to walk down the sidewalk in the city of Toronto,

A few minutes later, it turned into a race between you and Auston to get back to the apartment complex first. You were already out of breath but if Auston won, he’d tease you about losing. You kept running, trying not to think about Auston, and try and focus on your breathing. 

About 20 minutes later, you had made it back to the apartment complex but with no sign of Auston or Auston’s dog, Felix. You waited for 5 more minutes with still no sign of Auston.

You started to get worried because he’s a professional athlete and you didn’t think it took them this long.

You tried calling Auston... 4 times.

You sat down on the bench outside the apartment complex and called Mitch, asking if he had heard from Auston. He of course, didn’t so then you just sat on the park bench, trying not to worry.

Soon, you saw Auston come into view, with Auston, his clothes, and Felix covered in mud. 

Your jaw dropped.

When Auston and Felix finally reached you, you were still in disbelieve, wondering what happened to cause this mess. 

“What happ-” You were asking when Auston cut you off.

“Felix saw a squirrel. His leach got out of my hand and he chased it. I lost my phone too..” Auston said.

You sat there for a minute before you started laughing so hard.

“I know. It’s so funny.” Auston said sarcastically, looking at you.

“Glad you have a sense of humor, Aus.” You said, getting up from the bench and patting Auston on the back and going back up to the apartment.

-

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2 YEARS INTO DATING AUSTON - SEPTEMBER 2020

It was you and Auston’s 2 year anniversary. It was almost nine o’clock so the sun was down and it was dark outside. You had just gotten back from shopping and going to dinner with Steph, Mitch’s girlfriend. When you opened the apartment door, the whole living room and kitchen was decorated so beautifully. There was fairy lights wrapped around the room and candles lit on the kitchen island and dining table. Your jaw dropped in awe.

“Auston?” You called from the front door of the apartment, dropping your shopping bags.

“In here babe!” Auston called from the bedroom. 

You opened the door and saw rose petals on the bed with a tiny box wrapped in white rapping paper and a gold bow. There was candles all over the room too. You gave Auston a sweet look before going over to Auston and rapping him in a huge hug and kissing him.

“Open it!” Auston said, gesturing over to the present laying on the bed. 

You walked over to the bed an picked up the present, sitting down on the bed where the present used to be. You opened the present and there was a ring. 

‘It’s a promise ring.” Auston said, sitting down beside you and putting his hand on your thigh. 

“Auston! It’s gorgeous!” You said, looking at him.

The ring looked like this. 

“I’m glad you like it.” Auston said, kissing your head and smiling down at the ring. 

Auston then got up and reached for your hand, leading you to the kitchen and living room, where the candles and fairy lights were. Slow music started dancing and Auston put his hands around your waist, and you put your hands around his neck. Auston started slow dancing around the room with you.

“Auston.. this is so sweet of you.. but it feels like I’m at my high school prom again.” You giggled with Auston laughing with you.

“I love you Y/N/N.” Auston said, looking down at you.

“I love you to Auston, I will forever.” You said smiling up at him.