#and this is my personal highlight of ep3

[kurothoughts]

Ciel to Maurice: We went to the trash to look for evidence! We glued together the pieces!

[later that night] Sebastian, pushing down his glasses: Pardon, young brat master but... we who?

Ciel: Yes,

[13leaguestories]

Superstition Rewrite Peeks (Ep2 Pt2)

And the last of the sneak peeks for episode two. This one is an entirely new scene and at least does a decent job of showing the "damn Tee, did you really not add this originally?" I'm telling you, sometimes you go back and be like "wow, what were you thinking."

Piece of advice more so for IF writers. Finish your story, give it some time after moving on and recovering your energy and excitement, return and then add all the flashy bits. I'm telling you so many ideas and realizations come to you lol.

Anyway, the scene below is exclusive for if your uncle is dead and Chris is still with you. Chris proposes that the two of you have a funeral. Rereading, it became extremely odd that Chris, THE CHRIS, Mr. I Am Literally Your Connection to the Human Side of All This And Has Been Your Best Friend For At Least Three Years And Even Knew The Man, did not say anything much about your uncle's death in the original. Like, not even talking about how much I didn't really highlight that your uncle died, Chris I think says sorry for your loss and then that's it. This is a big deal!

And for those who still want something like this but have no intention of bringing Chris or ended up offin' him, your time will come in Ep3.

With a sigh, I place my phone back into my pocket after glancing at my diminishing bank account for what will probably be the last time. That's not exactly true; I still have enough money for a few more store visits and gas station runs, but I also need more personal items. Not everything will be met if I keep on this way. But I don't have a solution.

Rubbing my brow, I glance towards an approaching Chris.

"Chris?" I ask, looking from him to the small bundle of sticks."I didn't know what else to do," he admits, passing a twenty-dollar bill over to me. He defaced most of it as best as he could, and the name Matheus Roe stares back at me. I glance back up at him, and he chuckles awkwardly. "I felt like I needed to use something of value. Not to say he doesn't deserve a hundred-dollar bill, but I don't exactly carry that around. I just thought that maybe we could bury it or burn it. Whichever makes you feel better." He gulps before I can answer. "Wait. I don't mean it like those two options will make this all better. It's all really shitty. Not to mention that it'd be done on the edge of this parking lot." "Chris." He immediately shuts his mouth.

[[Burn the dollar.]]

[[Bury it.]]

[[“Thank you, but no.”]]

[[“Don't bring up my uncle again.”]]

[thatgirl4815]

Intimacy (Ep3)

Ok, continuing this series again in Ep3 because I think it’s interesting to look at how sex is wielded in each episode both as a weapon and as a way of bringing the couples closer. Starting off…

RaySand

I must say, Ray and Sand do a remarkable job of discussing the boundaries of their relationship, even if they do not entirely hold to them. The scene in the kitchen highlights their shared views on separating love and lust, even whilst acknowledging the very thin line between them. This episode proves that, to put it plainly, RaySand’s one-night stand has posed a massive threat to their “only friends” agenda.

For Ray, it couldn’t be more obvious, though he doesn’t seem to realize how deeply it’s affecting him (or if he does realize it, he’s elected to ignore it). We see him calling their night together “priceless,” inviting Sand to perform at the pool party, openly flirting, gazing lustfully during the entirety of said pool party, and—my personal favorite—the puppy dog eyes.

Sand’s dilemma is especially compelling, because we see him in the early combat stages with this delicate love-v-lust divide. He brushes the sex aside like it’s nothing, though we can infer from the scene in the car that he cherished their hookup just as much as Ray did…if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be so willing to break his own rule not to have sex with his friends more than once. Sand seems okay with pushing the boundaries of a FWB relationship so long as they have openly communicated those boundaries (i.e., “Even if we sleep together again, it still means nothing.”). Ray is more than willing to accept whatever Sand’s explanations are with seemingly little regard for the consequences.

What we see just before Sand leaves is a moment of clarity; I think he recognizes his own disappointment, and that scares him a little…why should he be feeling sad about Ray leaving him? Like he says, Ray owes him nothing. Hell, if Ray hadn’t pushed, they likely wouldn’t have ventured to have sex again (though I suppose that’s debatable). In a way, I imagine Sand is glad he hasn’t had a chance to dig himself further into this emotional hole.

Similar to BostonNick, the line between love and lust is treated very differently between these two characters—it’s the difference between the purely physical and emotional aspects of sex.

BostonNick

Nick is fighting his own battle with Boston that is communicated largely through facial expression alone. It reminds me of what First once said about Sand’s character having to deal with his own emotions by himself—we see that here as Nick is constantly left to question what Boston thinks of him.

What strikes me here is Boston telling Nick that he can define their relationship however he wants; it suggests a certain smugness and dismissiveness. Compared to RaySand, who label their relationship together, BostonNick is extremely one-sided.

Boston manages to give Nick JUST enough to convince him that there’s something between them. Boston seems to care about Nick’s own pleasure during sex to a certain extent, not just his own, but how much of that is what Nick wants to believe?

For Boston, Nick is like a plaything. Vaguely interesting to talk to, helpful, and entertaining. A distraction from Top, yes, but more that, he’s validation for Boston. Boston clearly takes a lot of pride from his sex life, and though no one knows about it, I believe he gets personal satisfaction at the thought of having Nick wrapped around his finger.

For Nick, sex with Boston is directly intertwined with his feelings, because that’s just who Nick is. His ego isn’t involved in his sex life the same way Boston’s is. His emotions are genuine, and it’s unfortunate that they have to be tethered to Boston because of the small amount of hope Boston has given him.

TopMew

TopMew’s relationship with intimacy this episode has everything to do with Boston. Boston let’s his ego drive him. Sex with Top has interesting implications for both of them.

For Boston, it is an ego boost, proof that he can nail down whoever he wants—even someone as “top tier” as Top.

For Top, I suspect it is a blend of a few things. 1) Hurt over Mew’s supposed betrayal (which he really should be questioning more, but whatever) and 2) payback for that “betrayal” using the one thing Mew has been holding against him this whole time: sex. Boston even encourages it to suit Top’s own personal interests—in this case, revenge. Sex is a weapon for Top, or so Boston wants him to think, and his and Boston’s motives for it are wildly different. If only Top could see that he’s being manipulated into sex, giving Boston all the power. (I don’t think it’s any coincidence that we see Boston taking full control during this sex scene.)

~ X ~

Looking forward to seeing how the intimacy dynamics change in the next ep, especially with what we’ll learn about Ray and Mew’s relationship. I expect the lines will become much more blurry for RaySand, and Sand will fall off the cliff he’s been clinging onto since their hookup. Nick will probably spiral and look for ways to use Boston’s recording against him, and Top will take out his anger over Mew on Ray and, by extension, Sand? We’ll see.

[softerhaze]

(i know you almost never publish asks but i will still await the essay and your response for my eyes only if you do answer)

it’s that time of year again… 🎄🎅🎉🎊 no. the highlights of your 2023 media consumption of course! just like last year, i want to know your top 5 films, books, tv shows, songs/albums, pop culture moments if that’s your thing, and as a bonus: any favourite personal moment/achievement in the last year? new to you, new in release, either works! can’t wait to see your response and wishing you a happy new year! 😁🩷

MO!!! hello, ilu 😍💌 thank you for sending me this!! i actually am gonna publish it though omg because consuming media is like. 99.99999% of my entire personality 😀

top 5 shows

The Bear S2 (S2, ep4....you will always be famous 2 me)

Succession S4 (i literally think about ep3 like....weekly)

Normal People (made me abnormal and sad for weeks after)

Severance (a rewatch because it's just SO good)

The Last of Us S1 (such a cool collective experience to watch it as it aired, i have 0 interest in S2 at this point though)

top 5 movies

Saltburn (despicable, freaky women won w/ this one, sorry)

Past Lives (me when love and loss are sometimes the same thing: 😀)

Priscilla (beautiful...made me want to commit crimes)

Fargo (can't believe i hadn't watched this before...it was fun!)

Bottoms (will almost certainly end up as a campy gay cult classic, it's ridiculous)

top 5 albums

Boygenius - The Record + The Rest

Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We

Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Haley Blais - Wisecrack

The Japanese House - In the End It Always Does

I also read like 21 books this year?? I don't think I have 5 faves, but Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer was my #1, hands down. In this house we love stories about love and grief disguised as cosmic horror 💌 I'm actually reading the final book in the trilogy right now!

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Can't send asks from my sideblog, but this is @chewing-the-drywall

I feel like much of s2 fell into Frenchie's "we put it in the box and then lock it and don't open it again" in the sense that it set up A LOT that I was intrigued about how they would address it, but it either never was mentioned again or was handled poorly.

Examples range from light, like how I wish we saw more of the crew interacting with each other in ways that built on their characters from S1, where in S2 they didn't feel any more developed, or even regressed. (Example, Fang used the word Fingies 2-3 times through S2, and it felt like they were using it almost as a shorthand for his character, rather than making him feel more real and multidimensional as a character.)

100% @chewing-the-drywall. When I first heard that line I had I was so excited for the story to prove Frenchie wrong. Or show how important it can be to put aside problems to stay alive in the moment. But in the end, this one line summarized how the season handled everyone, besides Stede and Ed. Below, is an in depth discussion on where this season decided to spend it's limited amount of time. Instead of focusing on the characters and plotlines they'd already established.

This season had so MANY ideas it wanted to touch on.

Izzy trying to deal with his unrequited love and opening up to a new way of living. The traumatized 'Revenge' crew trying to adapt to a softer way of life again. The abandoned crew learning how to help their traumatized friends. Introducing new characters like Zheng, Auntie, and Archie into our main group. Setting up a conflict to resolve in season three. Along the way, referencing Pirates of history like Ned Low, Mary Reed, and Anne Bonny.

Notice, I've said all this and we're not even at our romantic leads.

Which is fine. Stories are fluid things. As long as the story knows how to flow from our leads to our side characters. Which leads us to how I feel this show took a lot of time away from establishing our central crew-

[Warning- this will be a controversial opinion- I want to know what y'all think about this] Zheng/Oluwande. This seasons habit of retreading old plotlines and referencing scenes from S1.

What S1 did so well was paralleling the side stories with what was going on with Ed/Stede. Usually, highlighting how well Stede/Ed worked by showing how much Ed/Izzy DIDN'T work. Or general hijinks that tied into the plot (Oluwande and Frenchie on the French ship).

Season 2 chose to parallel our main story with what was going on between Zheng/Oluwande as a budding romance and Izzy's slow recovery. The reason Zheng/Oluwande scenes felt like a waste for me in that the story was JUST a retelling the story we watched from S1.

A frustrated first mate(Auntie), and a legendary captain(Zheng) fighting over the captain falling in love with an idiot(Olu). In season 2, much like every callback for me, it felt like it slowed down the plot by pulling us out of the story. Like...yeah, you did the thing again, do you want me to applaud you for it?

I LIKE Zheng and Oluwande as a couple! I like that Oluwande was debating leaving Stede and taking Jim and Archie with him. But at the same time, I didn't care about Zheng until episode 7 when she beat up Stede, showing that yes. She's not just some all powerful woman taken down by a mix of love(the crew in ep3) and thinking that she was above it all (ep 7). She's fast on her feet, smart, and willing to stab someone who gets in her way. She's her own person. But.

Every other scene that established her was about her romance, felt like we could have put Rhys and Taika in there. It didn't feel...unique. It's as if the show only knows 1 way to write a romance between a badass and a bumbling idiot. Again. Oluwande in season 1 wasn't dumb in the same way everyone else was. He was protective of Jim, a bit nervous overall, but he was the person the crew chose to lead them. The season just dumbed everyone down a bit and called it a day.

This comes to the larger issue. When we only have eight episodes I don't want to rewatch the exact same plot beats with different characters. Time spent here ends up taking away from other stories we could have told about trauma and growing as a family and other forms of growing as a family. We didn't need another romance plot line. Imagine taking this time instead to show Lucius reaching out to Pete AND the crew for help. Or Frenchie finally feeling safe enough to play his lute. Or Roach helping Fang get over his thing with cakes-you get my point.

The fact we took all the found family stuff from season one, and pushed it onto only Izzy in S2 means when he dies, all the found family shit falls away. His death makes us realize we've been ignoring the central family we were supposed to care about. Because in so many words, their trauma was ignored.

[I even theorize if Izzy was alive and sailed away with them. Showing how he was taken in and loved by his crew, the ending wouldn't feel so hollow. This crew doesn't feel like a caring family. The person who protected them for months died, wasn't mourned, and then they threw a wedding the same day. Not even a full day to mourn. The 'New Revenge' feels like a heartless crew of characters we barely recognize because they aren't a family like they were at the end of S1. More like coworkers who sometimes fall in love with eachother.]

Trauma, Timelines, and Tonal issues when jumping from Episodes 1-3 to Episodes 4-5.

When the crews meet up, the story chooses to focus on the fun plot. Ed and Stede recovering their relationship, only dipping back into that serious tone when Izzy or Lucius come on screen to 'make things sad' again. I don't think the transition from 'serious' to 'comedy' was handled well.

I don't have an official timeline of the events of season two. But from what I remember, everything happens within 2 weeks.

In episode 4, Stede ignored the vote of his crew- to let the man who was torturing half his 'FAMILY' for at least 80 days- back aboard. This rubbed me the wrong way, as it showed Stede being a selfish prick in a way that could seriously harm his crew. That's when I started to see how not adding a *single* time-skip mid-season would hurt S2.

Imagine if we had a one-week off-screen time skip between episodes 4 and 5.

Maybe it's implied that they stay in that town for a bit. Izzy would a bit more time to learn to move on his new leg and start to open up to those he already trusts. Include a scene of Izzy WITH the crew, maybe laughing about something with the old traumatized crew, even if it's just a 30-second opener. Imply that the traumatized crew would have more time to settle in with the family they miss. Show that yeah, the traumatized crew needs more time to heal. Imply at the start of the 'Ed apology' that Ed and Stede have had more time to talk their issues out.

THEN have Ed apologize. You can even keep the bullshit corporate to show that Ed still has to work for this.

Healing takes time. Setting a series over the span of two weeks after half your cast was tortured by your lead love interest? After five of your main crew thought they would sail off into a storm and die after months of stress and life threatening battles? Why did that shit get shoved to the side so quickly?

Framing episode 5 as the START of Ed making amends with the crew, only to drop the plot by episode 7? Not a smart move. Because let's be honest, 'poison into positivity' in episode 6, referring to the fact that they sold all of Ed's loot to pay for the party, ignores the sacrifices the crew made to live that long. (The death of Ivan, and intense trauma they all need to work through). In a way, Ed throwing this party was him asking the crew to start putting everything away in that imaginary box.

It's Ed retroactively letting himself say 'hey, that time I spent torturing my captives was worth it because we got something good out of it' while still ignoring his own guilt. Ed needed to take accountability for his actions. No more 'I took 'a' mans leg' bullshit. The reason his arc feels so unsatisfying is that the plot easily forgives him. Fuck. I hate what they did for Ed's arc, but that's not the point.

Overall.

My issue with this season is not that it chose to do these topics, it's that it didn't think about the implications of what they were bringing up. It didn't dare to think 'maybe it's fucked if we quickly brush off a trauma like this'. Again. I know we have to blame MAX for cutting off two episodes. But I don't think 2 additional episodes would fix a tone problem seen going from episodes 3-4.

Fucking hell. Each member of the revenge had the potential for their own arc, so it's baffling to see them all reduced to 'well meaning idiot' when they all felt so fleshed out in S1.

When izzy gives his speech about belonging, there's a reason the only image in the show of the crew all together was from S1.

At the end of the day, Season 2 didn't let our surviving side characters grow. This is a mean spirited bit on how I feel the writers see the their own characters.

Stede and Ed are our leads. They won't die, not in this genera. Their shitty actions will be forgiven because it's a comedy, and as long as it's joked about, it holds no weight. They won't die. They won't get fatally hurt. Their trauma will be taken seriously, but it's a 50/50 on if they'll talk about it before breaking up again. They will eventually get a happy ending, their trauma looked at head on, because duh.

Jim, Olu, Lucius, Pete? Characters who used to have defined personalities in S1, but haven't been defined much beyond their relationships with their partners? Whose trauma might be mentioned, but will quickly be 'resolved' in one scene? Shame. Seems like they're only useful as set dressing, But we might make you useful as interchangeable side characters to riff against. Oh, and you're in love! Isn't that cool!

Izzy? I'll just quote Jenkins here. "To have him become a father figure to Blackbeard, and on some level to the rest of the crew, and to see him become the heart of why we’re giving pirates the chance to stand for being able to live how you choose. In reality, they’re thieves and criminals, but what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy." So...Is Izzy a pirate and accepted into the Revenge family? Or is he still an outsider? Jenkins gave us a romcom but still defines Izzy's character as that of one stuck in a drama/tragedy. Point and laugh, because tonally these two things clash HARD and will make an audience lose trust in it's writers unless well established. Leading us to the entire issue we've pointed out of not letting your characters actions hold in dramatic weight in your story.

Frenchie, Wee John, Roach, and Fang- Ah. No love interests again...shit. Well. Background actors it is... for now. We'll see. But we need 2 more scenes of the couple breaking up, so MAYBE you'll get some backstory hinted at in dialogue. You all have 1 thing your good at, so that's easy enough to put you where you belong.

Buttons and Swede? Well. They're still alive!! Don't be sad, fans :) The actors just couldn't show up anymore. We don't want our silly happy queer pirate rom com to not end on a happy ending! (Closes the lid of the trash can where they're keep Con O'Neill a bit tighter, thanking God Con was silenced by a strike this entire season from social media)

Do you agree, or disagree? Leave any lingering thoughts down below!

I'd love to chat down below.

[tonydaddingham]

On the topic of dark grey Crowley though, I agree, and I think actually being seen as some sort of gallant hero type who makes mistakes but ultimately is good is the sort of reading of his character that would frustrate him. Crowley genuinely likes to fuck with people sometimes. When Muriel shows up Crowley can barely resist having a little fun at Muriel's expense and mocking them for being naive, and he's so excited to do it. Like I think that is the happiest we see Crowley all season. He does the paint-gun trick just for fun and can barely contain his laughter when Aziraphale freaks out, and bragging to Hell about his evil deeds constantly is a facet of his personality and something Aziraphale even scolds him for. That isn't all just for show, Crowley has a conscience, but he can still be a stinker. That said, in the same way Aziraphale has a hard time going a week without doing a good deed, you can tell Post-Retirement Crowley is also trying to refrain from some of his meaner habits in S2 with his "count to ten" stuff, and especially in his interactions with Jim. Like he's working on being better, but having a hard time not letting his temper get the best of him, or not being a little bit evil sometimes. That's how I read that quick look in the Bentley after his fight with Aziraphale when he takes off his glasses and looks exhausted. It to me reads a bit like; "I didn't handle that well." You can also see his growth at the end of the season. Like he actually listens to Nina and Maggie and takes them seriously when they tell him he needs to be more communicative, and he makes an effort to follow their advice. S1 Crowley would not have done that.

hi @oatmealaddiction, sorry for taking so long to reply to you!!!✨

this is... brilliant - you're absolutely right and i completely agree with you; he definitely seems to try getting a handle of himself in s2. there's a lot that he does in 2023 that shows that he's trying to be more gentle, conscious of his words/behaviour, and all-round a softer person. you've highlighted "count to ten" (and i'll add his immediate recognition of 'my bad' when he restores power to the coffeeshop), and how he interacts with jim, but also the way that he gently questions aziraphale about his 'naked man friend', how he interacts with muriel in the backroom and in heaven, and putting the shop back together before aziraphale comes back (firmly believe that this is the stress-cleaning as alluded to in the book, but it's still a measure of kindness and respect to aziraphale and the shop).

he still occasionally falters in all this though, which is a nice touch to show that it's all a work-in-progress (he still mocks muriel slightly in ep3 as you say, still violently loses his temper, still shown to treat aziraphale's things with a degree of disrespect, and still handles aziraphale quite abruptly on occasion), but the common denominator throughout all of that, relapsing so to speak, is him being under a good measure of stress and threat - so once again, completely understandable that he does so!!! i also like your remark on the conversation with maggie and nina; even if he doesn't necessarily listen to/act on the key points of that conversation that he possibly ought to have done, the fact that he does at all - even considers what they have to say as being worthy of his attention, as wise and insightful - is another mark of how he begins to evolve in s2, compared to s1 where he seems to be stuck in a state of inertia. crowley seems to spend a good deal of s2 anchorless (and not just in the literal 'hes living out in his car' way), and therefore seems to be grasping for routine, purpose, and/or connection wherever he can find it...?

i do wonder if its wholly to do with being out from under hell's thumb, though. as you say, and ive suggested in previous asks, crowley does seem to get some joy out of being a demon and doing demonic things, and acts in those instances with - as it seems to me, anyway - very little conscience... but these all largely occur before he breaks away from hell, even if some bad habits (?) remain in s2. im also of the (i think) widely-shared belief that crowley begins to fear hell from 1827 onward, and that his disappearance for however-long-a-time/his obvious fear and paranoia in 1862 is directly linked to how he reacts to aziraphale calling him nice/good/thanking him.

so with that in mind, his emerging willingness, as it seems in s2, to be 'nicer' and 'gentler' correlates directly to the threat of hell being removed; that would be a fairly logical conclusion. but we know that he's not out from under hell's thumb... i would like to think that crowley isn't naive enough to believe that shax is simply a harmless, innocuous protégée... but if we consider how he seems to underestimate other fellow demons in the show, it's entirely possible.

but then again, the time that beelzebub drags him from the bentley does seem to be the first time they've interacted since armageddon... so did crowley truly think that he was safe from hell? that they wouldn't dare to fuck with him again, after the bathtub ruse? did he see it as freedom to start being nicer, without fear of repercussions that - we can assume - he suffered beforehand? is he doing it for himself, because he wants to be nicer, or is he doing it to build further on the 'us' he and aziraphale were tentatively creating in the four years we didn't see?

sorry that the above is a ramble - this is basically a transcript of my brain talking itself in circles, but i think it's nonetheless interesting to think about; how much of crowley developing into this character, that seems to purposefully try being a kinder/nicer/more patient and conscientious person, is because he personally wants to, had wanted to all along, and is now free to do so, and how much is it because he thinks it's a compromise on meeting aziraphale's assessment of being 'at heart, just a little bit, a good person', so that he's more... idk, likeable - agreeable? - to aziraphale directly? wants to live up to what aziraphale thinks of him? how much of this is all the same thing?✨

[theaviskullguy]

OKAY OKAY GENLOSS THEORY

SO GENERATION LOSS IS THE DEGRADING OF QUALITY IN THINGS OVER TIME THROUGH COPIES YEAH

WELL

The teaser for Genloss has Ranboo (or someone he's just va-ing) explaining they've found some weird tapes

At the end of ep3, we saw a hand pulling a tape out of a player.

My personal theory is that Showfall media will keep bringing back Ranboo. With memories deteriorating over time and changing until he's no longer the Ranboo we see in TSE

And somehow this leads to the Ranboo who found the tapes in the first place.

They go from this scared hero, to just... some guy. Slowly, but surely.

I also wanna highlight some more of the Christianity symbolism in that last scene of ep3. Not only was he in the pose (arms outstretched to his sides), but scientifically, crucifixion kills by essentially suffocating the victim due to a mix of a lot of things. Ranboo died by a head-crushing, but close enough.

Crucifixion is also a torturous process- the time spent where we got to vote if Ranboo lived or died (and people voted to kill or spare Jesus) was his torture, before his ultimate demise.

ALSO!!! Many people portray Jesus or other holy figures with a light around their head. And while I don't think this is totally intentional...

Why would that be needed? cause like, the rest of their body is illuminated, why is the specific light around the head needed?

(sidenote- as a theater tech kid, I badly want to know how they did this. Foam spikes? Fake blood packets in the things? RANBOO TELL ME YOUR SET SECRETS-)

Also I fully admit that i am Grasping For Straws here but like... the box encompasses their head. It has spikes, almost like thorns. Jesus wore a crown of thorns during his death.... hrm...

Also also I know that the general theory is Ranboo begging for their death is Showfall pulling the strings once more for dramatics but... I don't think so. Why would Showfall throw away their most interesting puppet? These guys are a media conglomerate. If you wanna go this route, none of us heard anything about them until Genloss.

so Why would they kill the person responsible for their rise to fame? You don't think that they would keep them alive?

I feel like Ranboo is genuinely begging for their death, and when it's granted... It's just an illusion.

He's revived, ready for another generation.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Today’s replies! We’re covering a lot of topics today: some are related to our posts from this week so far, then there is one about Scott Pilgrim Takes off, and one about the Shingeki no Kyojin fanart. Let’s start with the latter one.

amydesailes asked:

Hi!

I remember a few years ago you were drawing a lot of snk related stuff. Do you think that you are making a comeback sometime? I feel like the fandom is much more calmer now.

Ohh that was such a long time ago and it was such fun time… well, a lot of it was stressful as hell because of the fandom and the shipwars and the non-shipping crowd who are quick to shit on artists who draw niche things; but to be honest, this isn’t the only reason why we stopped posting snk fanart. The main reason was that we were getting burnt out and wanted to consume some new media, and it’s nothing unusual or bad: it happens all the time. We dive deep into the title, have a lot of ideas, create AUs, draw and post stuff, and then after some time we move on. There are some titles that we revisit every other year or so, without diving too deep into them, and sometimes we just randomly remember about the characters and get the urge to draw something with them (we’ve done a couple of Zevi sketches even after technically stopping posting snk, as you might’ve seen).

With SnK, even though it’s been quite a few years already, I think it’s still kind of fresh in our minds, so we don’t have anything new to say with our posts or my art…yet. So I can’t really predict when we’ll come back, but you know what they say; a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime lol We love Shingeki very much, so even if it takes a long time, it’s inevitable.

Also, we are very grateful to have people who remember our stuff from back then and even wait for us, I am honestly surprised by it... So thank you so much for asking <3

Anonymous asked:

Which one of the Scott Pilgrim girls do you like? And other than Todd and Wallace, which other male character do you like?

My absolute favourite is probably Julie, and it’s partially because I have the Aubrey Plaza Bias, but I also really liked what they did with her character in the anime. She has the best faces, she’s so animated and so evil. I would love the second season (that we won’t get) simply to look at her more lol

I am also super weak for Kim, she and Julie both are my “best girls”. Kim’s personality just perfectly fits the type of character that I usually like, and I really like the bitter-sweetness that comes with it.

Speaking of the anime specifically, I also really like what they did with Ramona and Roxie. Their relationship didn’t get much depth in the movie (for obvious reasons, they didn’t have time to dive deeply into any relationship), and it was very delightful to see them work through what happened between them… in a way, I guess. Plus, Roxie is an idiot and that’s awesome lol

Ep3 was too much for me in general, all the girls’ interactions were very good + oh my god Hollie’s hot.

Now for the guys… Oh, Gideon, absolutely, he is great. He is such a highlight of the movie, we adore him a lot. So it was interesting to see his trajectory in the anime, and I am very happy that he is just… naturally evil and controlling fuck lol

Matthew was very enjoyable in the anime and I’m glad he got more attention, Lucas was animated very nicely and had a couple of very funny lines. I also think I developed a soft spot for Stephen at some point lol

hipsterteller asked:

I saw Vil and Neige they look so cute together…

characharing asked:

neige and vil look so smallll it's cute!

Thank you so much!! <3 I’m happy you like them hehe.

Anonymous asked:

Aw...that's cute. What life be like if those two were friends or more?

Rook wants a picture of Neige and Vil as kids

Vil would have a much calmer life, that’s for sure… I honestly can’t think of any downside of that scenario, other than it would’ve robbed us of Vil’s meltdowns over Mira’s search results lol

Oh Rook will get that picture; I am 100% that he would somehow manage to get it. This is his treasure, his most important possession; he’ll be buried with that photo…

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

AWWWWWEEEE BABY VIL AND BABY NEIGH!!!!

I for sure feel like it should be canon that Neige fell for Vil around a certain part of their youths, like maybe it was for a show scene and Neige sees Vil by a tree for the scene and BOOM! CUPID STRUCK OUR BOY HARD

HEHEHE IT’S THEMMM!!!!

Yeah I’m 100% sure that Neige fell for Vil back then. Not only Vil was so cool and professional and mature, but he was also so so so pretty. Even if their characters weren’t supposed to fall in love and Neige’s character was supposed to be bullied by Vil’s character, Neige just couldn’t stop thinking about how pretty Vil is. And not a single person noticed… That’s why he’s a great actor lol

Anonymous asked:

Honestly who in the cast do you think could actually settle down with one another in some type of lasting relationship? I think Trey/Riddle for example or Azul/Idia (I feel like they count because even it is business, it's a binding thing yk)

~ 🐩 anon 

Oh good question! Other than Trey/Riddle and Azul/Idia, the first couple that comes to mind is Rook/Vil, who pretty much already feel like a couple that’s been together for quite some time. Their household situation would probably be complicated, but in general they’re each other’s partners for life I think.

I would also say ADeuce but they’re the type of couple who is always together but just can’t settle down because of some stupid reasons. Jack might steal Deuce from Ace and settle down with him lol Who else… Kalim and Jamil are stuck together, they don’t count lol

Anonymous asked:

Imagine Jamil spending eternity being in Azul's captivity.

(this is related to our latest AzuJami art… I think)

Not only this sounds hot, this sounds like Azul’s absolute dream… And he sees that dream every night, and this is why he sleeps with a smile on his face, that creep.

Anonymous asked:

Even if you don't see him as a top

Vil would be amazing at aftercare and you know it!

(this one is related to our aftercare hc post)

I agree, Anon! I actually wanted to mention him in the post because of that. He knows everything there is to know about aftercare and which products work the best. He is so well-prepared for that it’s almost ridiculous.

Jamil is also good at it, but he basically had no choice but to get good lol

[stitching-in-time]

Voyager rewatch s5 ep3: Extreme Risk

I guess it's time to feel personally attacked by relatable content! I didn't like this one as a kid, but as an adult, my opinion has flipped, because boy does it hit close to home. (Content warning, just in case anyone hasn't seen this one- this ep is about depression and self harm.)

I appreciate them actually following through on something traumatic happening in a previous episode- finding out all your friends died and the cause you were fighting for is lost is a pretty big deal, and B'Elanna was obviously very upset by it, as anyone would be. Having it be something that set her off down a depressive spiral that she kept from everyone else for months is unfortunately all too real.

When I was a kid, I hadn't processed my trauma enough to understand this one yet, but watching it the whole way through as an adult, it's just a lot of uncomfortable recognition of things that I've experienced myself. Obviously not doing extreme sports or fighting Cardassians on a holodeck, but just letting yourself spiral into a dark place where you do self destructive things because it's a pain you can control, until you can't, because it becomes it's own kind of addiction. Everything B'Elanna says here is just... yeah. The not being able to trust that anyone or anything good will stay, that every time you start to feel safe, something bad happens so you withdraw from people even more, keeping it all to yourself because you're sure no one else will understand or care- it's the whole 'I had a traumatic childhood' package. But the lesson she learns here is the hardest one to admit to for anyone in that situation-that you have to talk to people about it.

I've felt like Chakotay and B'Elanna's friendship got lost a bit last season, but they did a great job highlighting it here. Chakotay's compassionate listening and reassurance without judgement was A+ good friend stuff. Tough love that's still kind is a line that's hard to walk in real life, and goodness knows Voyager's writers have screwed it up a lot, but they did good here. I've criticized the meanness of the crew's interactions a lot lately, but everyone did what they were supposed to do here. They all did their best to be reach out to her and be sensitive to her, and while she still wasn't ready to talk about it without it being dragged out of her, just being open to listening provides a framework that makes it easier for people who are reluctant to reach out to do it in the future, before things get so bad. That's what builds the trust they need to feel safe, and I'm honestly grateful that they remembered that these characters actually all love each other a lot, and showed them acting like it. Considering some of the garbage we've waded through recently, I'm surprised that they pulled this one off with such sensitivity and insight. Especially back in the 90s, when talking about mental health wasn't anywhere near as mainstream as it is now, this was pretty ahead of it's time. Showing that even someone who's highly intelligent and capable and seems to have it all can still experience depression and engage in self harm is still pretty progressive actually. I appreciated that they didn't just neatly say she's magically better at the end either, but acknowledged that talking to people about it, and forcing yourself to go back to where you're needed and valued, and reengaing with what you do best, with support from the people around you, is the first step in the process.

I can't even do a proper plot analysis because I'm kind of up in my feels over this one. It was notable for being the first appearance of the Delta Flyer, which was first suggested in the previous episode, but mostly, this one just hits all the bullseyes for depressed bitches who need to let themselves reach out to people and trust them and accept love from them.

Tl;dr: A surprisingly realistic look at depression and self harm, and how connecting with people who care about you and talking about it paves a way through it. An important episode that's relatable for a lot of people, and gives an uncomfortable subject the weight and respect it deserves.

[wondrousmay]

I’ll be honest: when BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! was announced, I was skeptical. I wondered what story they could tell with MyGO that they haven’t done with the other 7 bands. I had low expectations with the story and the characters. I’m glad to be proven wrong.

It’s MyGO!!!!! surpassed my expectations with its storytelling. The story itself is grounded and well-paced but the highlight for me is the character-writing. It is not afraid to show the messiness of people’s emotions and how breakups of friendships/bands don’t resolve easily. There’s always someone hurting and someone moving on. The characters of MyGO all have flaws and personal issues. This is not new to Bandori but I really liked how the anime took its time to show how these characters are lost and struggling to deal with their emotions.

Tomori is my favourite character. I was drawn to her from the beginning and I love her even more as the story progresses. Her struggles with expressing her feelings are relatable. Seeing her move forward despite everything is really admirable.

The episodes that are focused on Tomori are my favorites. Ep3 and ep10 are contenders for the best eps of the year. Seeing the world through Tomori’s eyes and how her lyrics/song managed to pull everyone together again was really emotional.

Anon unintentionally being involved with ex-CRYCHiC drama is kinda funny in hindsight. She just wanted to start a band to be popular but somehow got involved in a messy situation lol. I like her relationship with Tomori and how they both helped each other.

Soyo is the character that surprised me the most. I didn’t know what to think of her prim and proper attitude and how she always seems to be the peacemaker. It wasn’t until MyGO’s performance of Haruhikage that Soyo’s real feelings were revealed.

I applaud the writers for taking this path with Soyo. She’s such a fascinating character bc of her flaws and how she clings to the memories of CRYCHiC to the point of hurting other people. That’s why her relationship with Anon intrigues me so much. They both have facades that they put on when interacting with other people. However, with MyGO, their masks are off and they’re slowly accepting themselves. It’s such an interesting dynamic and I’d love to see how it’ll develop!

Taki is also a wonderful character. Her attachment to Tomori fascinates me. The story hasn’t delved into Taki’s backstory yet so I’m curious to know why Tomori is special to her. Taki isn’t given enough credit for being the composer for the band. She deserves all the love!

Raana gets the least character focus out of all the MyGO members but that’s okay. It’s nice to have someone without much baggage to balance things out in the band lol. I love her cat-like behavior and her love of matcha though!

I could honestly go on and on about the different relationship dynamics in MyGO: Anon/Taki, Soyo/Tomori, Soyo/Taki, etc. They’re all so interesting and well-written! And I haven’t even gotten to Ave Mujica yet! I think that’ll be another post haha.

Anyway, I loved the cameos and references with other Bandori characters/events. It’s done in a subtle way that doesn’t take away attention from MyGO and they’re a nice treat for older fans. New fans can definitely enjoy the story to the fullest!

While tone of the story is darker than the previous Bandori anime, it doesn’t mean that things are doom and gloom. The story really emphasizes the complexity of being human.

I’ll end the post here for now. MyGO is off to a great start!

9/10

[rokkenjimaisland]

been talking abt it with a friend today so i'm curious how people interpret the metaverse and also the forgeries from a more mystery/real world angle etc. long (oops) so i'm cutting it

for example: i don't think the metaverse debates (i.e. parlor scenes) feature in the forgeries, by which i mean forgery = the in-universe stories sayo and tohya write. i also don't think ange features much in the forgeries either, tohya writing ange dying the gruesome death that she does in ep4 doesn't really make sense to me. nor does tohya having ange feature in ep7 the way that she does make sense to me either. also he obviously couldn't interpret anything from maria's diary so that means all of the maria sections in ep4 have to be explained through ange.

my friend n i were discussing it and sort of agreed that ep3 is like where ange starts to insert herself into the stories. girl is HIGHLIGHTING and UNDERLINING and writing "STUPID ONII-CHAN" in her printed copy of ep3 and that's how she features in the meta elements. and as she begins to sort of explode and unravel the truth she continues to slip and insert herself into the stories that ikuko and tohya publish. i know i just said she was highlighting and stuff but this doesn't necessarily have to be via annotating but rather mentally. i just think it is funny to imagine her going ham with a highlighter like "HE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT!!!!"

ep7 could easily just be a secret copy that ikuko gives ange without tohya's permission because i don't think he would ever publish something like that; this could also be why featherine features so strongly as an antagonist in ep7 for both BATTLER and ange, because maybe ikuko went behind tohya's back and gave the book that he intended to be a pure dream for the dead sayo to ange so she could learn the truth about what happened, and of course ange would instinctively hate the person who tells her that her parents killed everyone. and i don't really think that tohya would write the woman who took him in/his roommate as like an evil witch who is on purpose getting in the way of ange finding happiness. (parallels of ikuko to beato's role in ep8 go here?)

finally, i don't think of ep8 as an in-universe story at all, except maybe perhaps it could be a story ange writes for herself in her journal that then leads to her realizing how much she loves writing and wishing to share her heart with people as a children's book author. i guess this could also explain why the gameboard in this one features a child ange and why this translates to her wanting to write books for children. TT_TT

i'm beginning to ramble but tl;dr i think anything metaverse could maybe be explained by someone "alive" injecting themselves into the stories already written. this could be tohya reading ep1 and ep2 for the first time and struggling with the thoughts of battler resurfacing. i think the only episode that is actually a perfect 1 to 1 of a forgery is ep1. other than that, the forgeries and the episodes are not the same.

curious to see what other people think ^^ if i've made a post like this before mb i just feel like my interpretation is always shifting with this stuff so it's fun to hear what other people have to say about it too.

i also keep seeing people making comments about how they're mad that all the episodes are just in-universe stories and so i thought to myself "do these people really think that everything in the episodes was 100% written down on paper as a story?" because i don't think that at all

ik i said this at the beginning of the post but bear in mind also this is me asking from a real world pov/mystery pov not a fantasy one.

[silentsockfeet]

tlou hbo s1 ep3 thoughts (spoilers)

honestly i don’t have much, this episode changed so much from the game that i don’t really have any thoughts to share in terms of their relation

don’t attack me for this but a small part of me is a little disappointed by how much this ep deviated from the game. there were so many iconic moments from bill’s town (the snare trap scene, bill and ellie’s banter, the bloater) that i would’ve loved to see translated to the screen, so a part of me is sad to have missed out on it

that being said, this episode really was beautiful. i’m so glad that of all the couples they could’ve shown, they chose a gay couple to get to grow old and live a life together as happily and peacefully as they could’ve. i knew going in that they were going to expand more on bill and frank’s relationship so my main worry was that they would still have frank turn on bill in some way, so i’m glad that’s not the route they went with. we very rarely get to see older gays in media, and in general practically never get to see them be happy in love, and growing older with each other, so it was beautiful to finally get that sort of story, especially in a show that’s otherwise so dark and grim.

in a weird way, i’m also glad they specifically chose to have bill and frank choose to end their lives rather than have one of them die violently or something. tlou (both the game and the show) doesn’t shy away from the more ugly or taboo parts of humanity so it’s cool to get to explore this kind of decision and why some people might come to it.

it reminds me of the scene in the game where joel and ellie find a dead body in a bathtub with someone clearly having killed themself, and ellie asked why some people would do that, and joel responded “for some people it wasn’t a choice.” in the same sort of sense, there wasn’t really much of a choice for bill and frank either. it was either watch someone you’ve grown old with choose to die (and also be the one to have to kill them, in a way) or choose to go with them and embrace death together. all in all a really beautiful way to bring up that kind of dark and difficult conversation

the strawberry scene is what really got me, what always drew me to tlou was its ability to show the beauty of the simple moments in life, ones that we often overlook. i can’t imagine how emotional i would be getting to taste strawberries again after living ten years in an apocalypse, and bill getting to share that moment with frank was so goddamn sweet

playing vanishing grace during the dinner scene 😭😭 like i said, i think the best moments in tlou are the ones that show how beautiful life can be when we stop and let ourselves experience the smaller, simpler moments, and imo vanishing grace has always been the motif for that. it plays in the giraffe scene in the game, so to play it during the dinner scene was heart wrenching. it really hammered home the point of appreciating the time we get with the world and our loved ones, and also starts setting up the running motif of ‘you keep finding something to fight for’

which brings me to bill’s note, i love that bill wrote it to joel specifically and not tess, they were the two that understood each other the most because they were of similar mindsets. i also liked how much it really highlights the fact that joel did love tess back but just in his own way, and bill knew that more than anyone else could’ve

i’m so excited by the way the note is setting up the relationship between joel and ellie too. right now joel is still on this mission because it’s what tess would’ve wanted but it’s fun to know that bill’s words in the note are going to shift into ellie being the person that joel seeks to protect. i also sort of love the juxtaposition of bill using the verb “protect your loved ones” versus joel saying “fight for your loved ones” by the end of the game, it’s the same concept with different connotations. i like the idea that bill starts off as a fight person but by the end becomes a protect person, and joel is now on roughly the same kind of journey.

one thing i kind of wish we’d seen is a scene were we explicitly see ellie realize the kind of relationship bill and frank had. it would have been nice to see her have that sort of Gay Recognition moment in them, the realization that there were people like her in this world. i think it also would’ve been helpful to set up the themes for pt2 down the line, ellie could have this sort of life to look up to where her and dina could grow old and live a life together.

i also find it really intriguing the subtle changes they’re making to ellie’s character. both the game and tv versions have their moments of innocence but i feel like in the game ellie’s moments centered around her naivety about the world, the fact that she hasn’t really been exposed to certain levels of violence before. meanwhile i feel like in the show her moments are more about not understanding how the world used to be, and she’s much more accepting of violence because that’s what the world she lives in now is founded on. she’s so much more comfortable and even open and intrigued by it now, as shown by that scene with the infected and with how keen she is to get a gun. i still feel like it’s in a bit of an aggrandizing way, like she wants to be the sort of gunfire cowboy type character, and that once the proper reality of violence hits her she’ll reach a sort of breaking point. but it also really helping fill in the gaps of how she becomes who she is in the second game, so i’m glad we’re seeing these moments.

also like. is it just me or are the parallels between bill/frank and ellie/dina kind of strong here? there’s the garden, the little homestead all on their own land, the fact that frank takes up painting, the serenading your lover scene,, it feels so stark to me. and ellie has always had slight parallels to bill (and by extension joel), she has the same sort of mindset of “i’d rather isolate than have to face losing the people i love” and dina has the more brighter outlook of life that frank has, the idea that by surrounding ourselves with people we love we become our best, strongest self. and don’t even get me started on the final shot with the window,, looking at joel and ellie leaving through the window was so reminiscent of the final shot in pt2 i can’t even put into words what exactly it means to me

in summary: sad to be missing some scenes from the game but the changes they made are so beautiful i really can’t be mad. glad we got to see a happy ending for bill and frank and i’m excited for all the ways they’re setting up the next steps

[despairing-disaster]

5, 16, 18, 22, 23, and 25 for Arei Nageishi?

5. My favorite ship of them

This one's kind of a tough one because I don't really know how I'd classify my "favorite" ship with her. I know Arei x J is quite popular but I'm somewhat ambivalent on it even if I tend to lean towards liking it. And I like Arei x Whit as well, but I don't feel that strongly about it (plus there's only like, 1 person making content for that ship). It'd probably have to be between those two though.

16. A childhood headcanon

I feel like before she got into high school, she wasn't all that popular. Maybe she hadn't refined her... methods for talking to people yet or maybe she just got somewhat overlooked. Honestly, I kind of imagine middle school Arei as being someone who is just kind of pitiable.

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

I honestly think she wasn’t too dissimilar to how she is now. Maybe a bit less gaslight-y and just kind of a pushy, obnoxious extrovert type. Like the kind of kid who would continue to pester someone for an extended period of time even if they clearly didn’t have much of an interest in her. She acts spoiled now, but after her FTE with J, a part of me has to wonder if she was just constantly pushed to the side when she was younger and that’s she tries so hard to wrap people around her finger and keep them there.

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

Emotionally? Right after the trial. I think that might have been the one time she actually seemed legit shaken up. She honestly didn’t even look that phased after the first murder. In terms of behavior? When she was confronting the kitchen group in ch1 ep3. I think that did a really good job at highlighting her relentlessness.

23. Future headcanon

Honestly, I think a chapter 4 death would be interesting for her. I think with the hidden quotes, a part of me is holding out to see if she ends up doing something selfless or sacrificial and stereotypically, chapter 4 is the chapter in which people tend to do that. Otherwise, I could actually see her surviving to the end and probably growing a lot as a character. Ik I’ve been pretty harsh on her thus far (and I probably will continue to be) but I think she has a lot of potential in terms of learning to understand the give-and-take aspect of relationships. 

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

God, this is such a curveball question for her specifically. Because I feel like a massive part of her character is being inauthentic. I even think her ruse of shitting on people is just that: a ruse. To me, she just does it because she genuinely sees basic social interaction as a hierarchy and she just can’t stand to not be at the top. I think the times she’s the most out of character are, ironically, the times when she’s being the most authentic and vulnerable. Particularly, after Min’s execution when she’s showing genuine fear. Still, I’d barely call that ooc so much as I’d call it and appropriate response from a character who beforehand had been entirely comprised of anything but. 

[llycaons]

Ep3: man but jzx is such a dick

you know I love a good jc character study and I know there's a lot of complicated stuff going on there but in ep2 it's so just relentlessly cut and dry that lwj is nice and jc is mean. and it's never more straightforward than in that episode. just wanted to get that out of the way

SUIBIAN!!! HELLO BEAUTIFUL!!!

wwx hardly ever uses metal hairpieces oohh

subtitles are very wordy and go quick. I'm used to watching movies and shows with subs, but I'm having trouble adjusting to this and I have to rewind a bunch so I don't miss performances and action

wwx antagonizing jzx is so funny 'lan clan is really simple, do you think you'll survive up there? you're so used to be fucking gaudy and pretentious about everything'

here's my boy with his stupid fucking hairstyle and his asshole tendencies. 15 yr old lwj was such a pedantic downer

aww

SO interesting that jc says this despite it being demonstrably untrue. people give him shit for everything under the sun, including for things that jc does too but doesn't get in trouble for, because of his unstable role in the family and his parentage. hell, jc should know that wwx gets shit just for existing because myu is always on his case, but I think he truly believes this on some level. wwx does tend to start shit, but other people are just as ready to start shit as him and he's always willing to act for the sake of the jiangs or to stand up for others

ICONIC LINE. line that made me go 'oohh he's bisexual! and his family is cool with it!

SO true you legend. you king. you visionary. you cultural sensation. think about his impact

fucking love this face. one of his best faces in all of canon

it's subtle, but knowing how much lwj has changed makes it easier to notice stuff like this. lwj postres clearly did not give one iota of a shit about what jc was saying to him. but this lwj is quicker to respond, more defensive, more sensitive. he cares more about what ppl say

LAN QIREN!!!!! also lzx, who embodies the word 'gracious' better than any fictional character I've ever seen

wwx was treated so unfairly throughout this but he is literally just lying now

I really loved this part 😊 wwx recognizing a compassionate side of lwj even as lwj tries to keep it hidden, and responding eagerly to it

fuck I love the nightless city set. it's so much

yoooo wen qing!! very neat to see that wrh IS the cc now. I forgot this scene and was under the impression that it was a role created post-ss by and for jgs

he is so fucking dramatic standing in his one shaft of sunlight

the untamed: jumps through verbal hoops to keep from saying dead people ever come back to life

mdzs: these are three-day old corpses and wwx just woke them up to do some manual labor for him 👍

joking aside, I truly loved novel wwx's relationship with the dead. they were like his buddies. he kissed a corpse's hand once before they went back to rest. in the show there's a lot more fluff around it

things my mother also said about me.

it is so kind of lxc to imply he has any friends at all

reason no.2 wwx and lwj are soulmates: they're instantly and mutually attracted to each other by sole virtue of meeting their martial match. for lwj it's so significant that his brother immediately caught on and he felt he had to leave the conversation immediately

oh what a fucking liar all you want to do is party

okay I understand why he has secret info on the yin iron (descendent of the other xue guy) but why does he need permission to kill the changs? maybe wrh doesn't want to make a scene

personal highlights: ep3

'a mianmian or a yuandao' line

'barriers are made to be broken'

the adorable and mischievous smile of wwx's

lwj just fucking leaving the middle of a convo with his brother (first of many <3)

[greensparty]

2022: The Year in Green’s Party

This has been another great year on this blog of me sharing a thought or two about pop culture! This was a year I needed pop culture, entertainment and escapism more than ever. I got to do so many awesome things and I can’t believe that in early 2023 this blog turns 10! Here are some of the highlights of 2022:

Retweets and Social Media: There were numerous retweets and shares of my posts this year on social media including 2022 Collectibles Extravaganza sharing my coverage, Dana Carvey liked my tweet about Wayne’s World at Nice a Fest, David Spade liked my tweet about my interview with Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Sean Baker liked my tweet about Red Rocket being my Best 2021 Movie I Saw in 2022.

Interviews: I got to interview numerous people including Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz of Weird Al Yankovic’s band (plus a bonus portion of the interview), Nice a Fest founder Alex Pickert, musician Colleen Green, actor / director James Morosini, director Marq Evans, director April Wright, director Ryan White, musician Kay Hanley, and actors Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson.

Movie Reviews: I got to review A Hero, Sundown, I Want You Back, Studio 666, Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, Jurassic World Dominion,  The Beatles and India, George Michael Freedom Uncut, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, Thor: Love and Thunder, Clerks III, Sidney, Nothing Compares, Halloween Ends, Let There Be Drums!, Rebel Dread, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, A Christmas Story Christmas, She Said, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Bablyon.

Album Reviews: I got to review Eddie Vedder’s Earthling and the vinyl reissue of Ukelele Songs, John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies’ Firestarter soundtrack and Halloween Ends soundtrack, Florence + The Machine’s Dance Fever, The Rolling Stones’ Live at El Mocambo, The Clash’s Combat Rock / The People’s Hall special edition, Wilco’s Cruel Country, Beabadoobee’s Beatopia, Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Toast, Neil Young and Promise of the Real’s Noise & Flowers, R.E.M.’s Chronic Town 40th anniversary EP, Oasis’s Be Here Now 25th anniversary edition, Ringo Starr’s EP3, Djo’s Decide, Billy Idol’s The Cage, The Smithereens’ The Lost Album, The Pixies’ Doggerel, L7′s Bricks Are Heavy 30th anniversary reissue, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Cool It Down, Alvvays’ Blue Rev, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros’ Joe Strummer 002: The Mescalero Years box set, The Beatles’ Revolver Special Super Deluxe Edition, Foo Fighters’ The Essential Foo Fighters, the compilation album ‘Life Moves Pretty Fast’ The John Hughes Mixtapes, Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I and II box set, Bruce Springsteen’s Only the Strong Survive, Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Live at the Fillmore, 1997.

Concert Reviews: The year began with a livestream concert review of Mike Garson’s A Bowie Celebration. In person concert reviews came back with reviews of Sheer Mag, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, Paul McCartney, Death Cab for Cutie, Alvvays, and not an official review but I did a semi-review of Cheap Trick at Boston Calling.

DVD and Blu-ray Reviews: I got to review some DVD and blu-rays including The Beatles: Get Back, Neil Young and Promise of the Real: Noise & Flowers, and You Can’t Do That on Film.

Book Reviews: I got to cover numerous books released in 2022 including Olivia Harrison’s Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George, Pattie Boyd’s My Life in Pictures, and Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee Book.

Theater Reviews: This year I got to do my first official theater review, for On Beckett.

Music Festivals: I got to cover the 2022 Nice, a Fest festival.

Film Festivals and Film Events: I got to review a virtual film at Sundance Film Festival, my annual guide to the 2022 Oscar Nominated Short Films, my coverage of the 2022 Independent Film Festival Boston, covered the 2022 Collectibles Extravaganza, and the 2022 IFFBoston Fall Focus.

...And the biggest postings and news of the year:

- 1/2/2022: Green’s Party turned 9!

- 1/28/2022: I wrote my tribute to Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who I have been lucky enough to cover since 2017.

- March 2022: I took a breather from the blog for a few weeks due to a death in the family. 

- 3/26/22: I posted my remembrance of Taylor Hawkins. 32 notes, my biggest post of 2022!

- 3/29/22: I posted my This Month In History column for March. 19 notes.

- 4/14/22: I wrote about returning to my first live concert in over 2 years to see LCD Soundsystem.

- 5/26/22: I posted my remembrance of Ray Liotta. 11 notes.

- 6/19/22: I re-shared my 2021 post about Sesame Street’s Juneteenth Song. 28 notes.

- 7/31/22: I posted my remembrance of Bill Russell and Nichelle Nichols. 18 notes.

- 8/7/22: I shared my return to Kim’s Video at NYC’s Alamo Drafthouse. 

- 9/21/22: I shared the big news that my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66 has been added to the Permanent Collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

- 10/12/22: I re-shared my 2018 post about This Day in 2018. 15 notes.

- 12/8/22: Tumblr provided their data of Green’s Party Year in Review up until December 8.

- 12/17/22: I re-shared my 2020 Top 5 Seinfeld Episodes During the Holiday Season list. 11 notes.

[jojotichakorn]

Hey🌸

I just wanted to say that I love your analysis and your understanding of Pat’s character.

I know Pran went through a lot this last episode, and it broke my heart.

But I’d like to take a moment to discuss Pat in this episode. I mean you can see the hurt in his eyes whenever he’s rejected by Pran, especially in the restaurant scene when he pulled the chair next to him for Pran, only for the later to put his bag on it. Not to mention all the scenes on the pitch when tried to show concern for Pran’s injuries.

I feel that p’aof has been building up to that since episode one, but it started showing more clearly during ep3 when Pran was rude to him at the beginning of the bus stop role play scene

hello!! 🌼

i'm really glad i'm being recognized as a pat-expert, because that is in fact who i strive to be in life.

i think because we get so much of pran's perspective and are yet to get pat's pov, we feel a lot of things from pran's side, but pat remains a mystery to a lot of people. but if we actually look at the situation that pat found himself in, i think it's entirely fair to say that he'd have to pick up on the tiniest of clues and jump to the biggest of conclusions in order to realize that pran is in love with him.

it's genuinely frustrating (though also ultimately understandable) to see how blind pat is to his own feelings, but i think it's very clear why he is blind to pran's. they aren't exactly out in the open. the way pran is acting right now seems like he is - at best - reluctant to be friends with him and - at worst - barely tolerates him. and again, this is not to push the blame on pran, because the reason why he is acting that way is entirely understandable, but i don't think we can particularly blame pat for this specific thing either.

pat is hurting too, and deep down he is hurting in a way that is very similar to pran (though, if he'd just pause and think what he really feels for a moment, things would get much easier for them both). but i want to highlight this scene from the teaser:

to pran, this question is heartbreaking, because he thinks "just friends?", but to pat, it's heartbreaking, because he thinks "please, can we finally be friends?" (and when he will realize that he is in love with him, it still won't be "just friends?" - it will be "at least friends?"). because they are at different wavelengths at the moment. pran doesn't have to worry if pat wants to be friends with him - pat makes it clear as day that he does, and at the same time pran has been aware that he is in love with him for so long that of course he yearns to be with him in a way that is entirely separate from friendship. pat, though, is still hoping that they can be friends at the moment because he doesn't realize that they are already friends, and it is in fact caused by pran's current behavior. pat isn't even sure if pran likes him as a person, which the sleepover scene demonstrated particularly well. and that breaks pat's heart.

so they are both hurting, and honestly, neither of them is really to blame.