#anyway i love this episode in case i forgot to mention that

[itsabouttimex2]

“You need to do better.”

(This gets vitriolic, and is a full-blown criticism of Macaque’s portrayal in Season Four and Five. If criticism of a character/franchise you like upsets you, I do not recommend reading.)

Wow. I had no faith in his character writing, and I’m STILL disappointed.

And it only took one episode! How impressive!

Macaque, who has put in ZERO on-screen effort to become a better person or make amends to his victims, is criticizing Wukong for being a bad mentor! And does Wukong criticize him back? NOPE!

After getting screamed at and berated, does Wukong defend himself? NOPE!

Ooh, but there was a second long reference in a dual yelling match that mentioned that Macaque was a genuinely bad person who took glee in hurting innocent people! Oh, fucking delightful! Ooh, Wukong even points out in one episode that Macaque goes without consequences!

Pointing out a flaw in your writing does not make it less of a flaw.

Macaque will always be allowed to do whatever he wants to anyone he wants- power theft, attempted murder, insults, deceit, assault-

And the narrative and characters will never hold him accountable or force Macaque to look inwards or become a better person.

Macaque will always fall upwards into redemption without any obstacles or pushback.

There will never be a struggle to goodness with a satisfying conclusion. There will never be a moment where falters in his newfound goodness and questions going back to his old ways. There will never be explicit remorse or regret. He will never have deep introspections on his crimes and atrocities that provide a reason for him to want to change.

The sum of his “arc” will always be “you were a good guy all along”, and that lack of depth is where it will stay.

RIP Seasons 1-3 Macaque. You were fun and interesting and cool and lovable.

But the man they replaced you with was destined to be a boring and brooding “anti-hero” who has no real connection to the actions you selfishly and violently performed with your own two hands-

And you will always be a less interesting character for it.

The execution of the actual arc boils down to a single heroic (but ultimately self-serving) moment and then Macaque is immediately forgiven for all the crimes he’s committed and is a magically better person without any effort and nothing he’s done is ever brought up again.

It severely weakens any character’s arc to cut them off from their past actions. If MK forgot his traumas every season instead of carrying them forward- we’d all agree that doing so was a case of poor writing.

It was the reason that people disliked Mei’s portrayal in Season Four- she immediately moved on from the Samadhi Fire arc and “no longer wielded it” after spending a whole season gathering and learning to use it.

Why can’t we agree that it’s bad for Macaque, too?

You can’t “develop” a character by dropping an entire plotline and writing it off with one line.

You can’t “redeem” a character by pretending that they were a good person right from the start.

Sorry, bud.

I really did like you. I just wish I could like your writing.

——————

And, what is more clear to me now than ever?

People only defended Macaque’s shitty writing because they think he’s hot.

I know this now, because I’ve seen white-hot Li Jing arc hatred from fervent Macaque arc defenders.

So we all agree that an “I didn’t really mean it!” isn’t an excuse to abuse the people around you? That you don’t get to mistreat innocent people just because you’re stressed and upset?

Hmmm.

Hmmmmmmm.

I wonder why people despise Jing for his dogshit “one nice thing redeems all your bad actions” arc but love Macaque for his??

(Because they think the monkey is hot.)

The funny thing, though?

Li Jing apologizes to at least one of the victims of his actions. He expresses regret and remorse.

Macaque doesn’t even have that.

——————

Anyways here’s a line that I hate because Macaque has in no way developed enough to have the right to deliver it-

AND NO, SUDDENLY HAVING AN AFFINITY FOR PERFORMING KIND OR SACRIFICIAL ACTS IS NOT GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

HIM MAGICALLY OFFSCREEN BECOMING A GOOD PERSON WHO CARES ABOUT INNOCENT LIFE IS NOT GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

IF ALL IT TAKES TO “BE BETTER” IS ACTING LIKE A HERO, WUKONG IS LITERALLY A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER OF A PERSON THAN HE IS

THIS LINE IS DOGSHIT

“You need to do better.”

Really, Macaque? Maybe you should take your own damn advice- try apologizing to one of the people you tried to hurt and tried to murder in cold blood!

Like when you trapped MK under his staff after stealing his powers and tried to murder him when he was helpless?

Or when you kidnapped MK’s friends and tortured the kid by forcing him to fight them?

Or you led a violent assault against a palace full of innocent people?

Or violently beat his dear friends until they were screaming in pain?

Or assaulted Tang, who posed no threat to you?

Or threatened to murder an innocent girl if you didn’t get your way, then ran away (and encouraged MK to abandon her) first thing when it put her into a life-threatening meltdown of raw power?

(Isn’t it cool how NONE of these people have interesting or varied reactions to him doing this and ALL immediately are cool with him like a gelatinous hivemind.)

(Oooh ONE mildly questioning line from Pigsy but no anger over his adoptive son nearly being killed multiple times over)

(Isn’t it cool that no one has complex or interesting thoughts on this.)

(Isn’t it cool that by robbing them of unique feelings on the matter they robbed Macaque and the Monkie Kids of compelling and interesting interactions that could’ve helped flesh out their personalities and strengthen their characterization.)

(Isn’t it cool that Macaque and the Monkie Kids are actively denied intriguing character dynamics so Macaque’s shitty “redemption arc” can happen faster.)

(Isn’t that cool.)

Why don’t YOU do better, Macaque?

(In a way that is more satisfying than “one kind-hearted speech from a kid that I tried to murder changed my mind and now I am a better person but all my character development happened offscreen and without personal introspection”, at least.)

Also what the fuck do you mean by “do better”?

Be heroic and put your life in danger? He already does that! He’s done it more than you have!

Just tell MK that he’s not alone? YOU COULD DO THAT YOURSELF, MACAQUE!

Help MK with his traumas and fears? MK doesn’t tell anyone about those! He keeps them bottled up, lock and key, and actively refuses attempts to help!

Wukong TRIED to reach out to him, and MK PUSHED HIM AWAY! Was he supposed to tie the fucking kid down and torture the information out of him?

He respected MK’s boundaries by not pushing any further and letting him leave!!

WHY IS THAT A BAD THING??

What the fuck, man

[cokoweee]

Okay last one I think…lovely stuff as always, I’m just juggling another brainrot right now, but I was itching to make some remarks. First off I’m glad midwesternvibes mentioned the text thing in the most recent update, because I was tickled to see that too! Probably the first time he had color since before their “spat” in the kitchen. As much as I know it’s still a roadblock in his recovery, I’m glad to see the voices coming back for Donnie. I kinda get this feeling they are hanging out with him until they know he’s going to be “okay”. And I have this little idea to myself, that when Donnie is able to start healing and processing his trauma, he stops hiding from them and is no longer afraid to see them. Of course that would be when they would start to slip away. (And that would be so rough for Donnie) Grief is kinda like that too. Sometimes you can be okay for a long time and you’ll have bouts where you still miss that person(s) even when you know you have accepted and moved on.

So I’m curious what is the situation that Donnie is on a watch. Is it just Draxum’s concern? Is it in case Donnie gets catatonic again? Is it in case he gets violent again? Is it to save his liver (those supersoldier genes only thing keeping it from failing)?

Also Draxum fixing Donnie’s sweater like a dad (only for Donnie to have his femme fatale shoulder thing as soon as the door is closed)

I’m a little surprised that this is the first time Kendra has seen Draxum do his mystic vine magic…or… he just hasn’t had too…or…all the mystic stuff happening lately has made Kendra more aware to it…or… but whatever the reason…appropriate reaction, lol

So something I have noticed that has me enticed is Donnie has been wearing his hand prosthesis more often.

Before the trauma induced episode, the only time we ever saw Donnie wearing it was when he was out or in “mission mode”. It makes sense, he needs to be able to save his ninpo for more than just temporary fingers. So why now… I was gonna suggest he is on edge, but I also remembered, as I was writing this, that you mentioned him having a slight disconnect to his ninpo…so yeah fingies is not a luxury he can afford right now. In any case…. Hmm…Donnnie….you know…if you didn’t shut your second dad outside…he mighta told ya that Kendra went out…ya know…? Also not sure if it’s just clueing us into Kendra still being sick or that trope of “if you sneeze three times it means someone is talking behind your back.” ? (I quote this one when I sneeze a lot, I’ll go “okay who’s trash talking me?!”)

Anyway please take care! Also p.s. if you do start to play Minecraft I hope you have fun. (I tried to play it but my laptop is too old and it crashes, so I can’t give much advice on it) also p.p.s I found a WIP of a thing I started writing for this AU in July, and I kinda…forgot I had it. It’s gonna be so out of place if I ever finish it, so just heads up for whatever was the hot topic then… <_<

GAHH I ANSWERED THIS BUT THE APP CRASHED AUGHHH. Let’s see if I remember what I said

I think I showed it a few times that despite Donnie constantly wanting said voices to stop, whenever they actually do, he feels uneasy. It’s quiet and he feels alone. I don’t write every single voice he hears all the time but just ones that feel right to show. There’s a lot he hears. The good the bad and the horrible.

Dancin a bit in that prosthetic part it’s a bit of a ref to sumthin y’all like to tickle a good bit sometimes lol

DRAXUM! A man not meant to be a father but ended up being a guardian. He hasn’t used his mystics cause there’s no need! Also Draxums reasoning for putting pickle boy on watch isn’t just his!

Casey is one that enforced it so harshly. That episode at the farmhouse was technically the first time she’s EVER seen Doobie in that state. Literally witnessed him break down, almost wipe out a farm and try to tear apart his own body. Both want no risk of not being able to get to Dibble so keeping him out of the lab that he can lockdown is a must for them

OOF THIS IS LONG HOPEFULLY I MADE SENSE. Cause I forgot a bit of what I said before

[angelbarelywrites]

♡ scenarios | dating negan

♡ fandoms; The Walking Dead

♡ characters; Negan Smith

♡ reader; gender neutral

♡ cw; explicit sexual content

♡ notes; in case anyone forgot i’m technically not a dedicated slasher blog

i put this in sections so i didn’t have to make more than one post lol . also these take place while he’s still the ruler of the saviors. i’ve been obsessed since his first episode oh my god that’s eight years of hyperfixation so that’s usually where my brain goes plot- wise

i’m thinking Billy Butcher is up next? lmk who else we wanna see, Garcia Flynn from Timeless is probably too niche? but i love him so so much

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

I. Kisses/PDA

> negan is an affectionate person

> with his wives it’s just for show- they’re hot, and he wants all his followers jealous of his lifestyle

> but with you, it’s different

> his wives don’t like him, per-se. he’s convenient to be married to and easy on the eyes, but they’re cold to him

> and he knows why, he doesn’t really give a shit. especially now that he has you.

> you may not be his spouse- you’re sure as fuck not letting him call you that without a ring- but he’s even more physical with you

> standing by him? hand on your back. sitting? you’re on his lap. look cold? he gives you his jacket and keeps you tucked under his arm

> “i just like takin’ care of you darlin’”

> and he loves kissing you in front of others- from little pecks to long, lingering kisses that makes other people look away

> he seems possessive, and he doesn’t mind people pointing it out

> it’s not that he doesn’t trust you- it’s never that

> he trusts most of his men too…maybe not simon. because simon loves staring at your ass

> but he’s proud. he’s proud you’re his, and he’s yours, and that he gets to show you off

> and like hell he ever lets anyone forget it

> alone he acts like keeping his hands off you is impossible

> he smacks your ass any time you lean over, pulls you into big bear hugs from behind and randomly pick you up

> he doesn’t ever want you to doubt his feelings for you, and physically is the easiest way for him to show it

> he’s very sexual, big shocker

> but his favorite kisses are sleepy kisses

> you wait late into the night when he’s due home from terrorizing his territories

> some part of you is afraid one day he won’t come home- so you always wait

> you’ll be exhausted, rubbing your eyes and yawning and usually wrapped up in a blanket

> but no matter how long he takes directing his men and double checking inventory and dealing with the dead

> “hey there, baby doll”

> you always run straight into his arms and bury your face in his chest. he’ll laugh and pick you up, kissing you gently before he carries you to bed

> most times he falls asleep on top of the covers with you, eager for the morning when he can make it up to you for being gone so long

II. Sharing a bed

> negan isn’t used to sharing a bed anymore

> the wives have their own rooms just down the hall, and so do you

> no reason for him not to give you at least a little space

> and having a room is the height of luxury in the sanctuary anyways. it’s a perk of dating the boss

> but you don’t know how to tell him you do want to share a bed, even though you’re barely apart when you’re awake

> so you just…don’t. you assume it’s a boundary he wants to keep and don’t mention it

> until the night terrors start up again

> you’ve seen a lot of people die a lot of different ways. most of them people you cared a lot about

> the memories always seem to come back in your dreams no matter how far back you push them

> when you’re woken up by one in the middle of a harsh storm, it’s just a bit too much

> you just can’t stop crying, and it’s loud and you need held. you need him.

> you creep as quietly as you can down the hall, and you hesitate at the door until the thunder crashes again

> when you stumble in he sits up fast with a knife in his fist

> then he gives a slightly annoyed sigh in recognition, relaxing

> “the hell are you doing?”

> “i just- um-“

> you can tell he notices the wobble in your voice and opens his arms up without another smart remark

> “hey, hey, i’ve gotcha..”

> he doesn’t ask questions- you don’t cry for nothing. and he gets nightmares too

> falling asleep in his arms feels natural…so natural it becomes a habit

> and he sleeps better with you too, curled around you and holding you so tight you think he might be worried you’ll disappear

> it’s less than a week before you stop using your bed altogether

III. Let’s get kinky

> he’s happy in pretty much any dominant role, whatever you call him is good enough for him- daddy, sir, master, etc

> and he likes when you call him whatever it is in front of his men

> the only chance of getting your dick/strap in him is if he power bottoms. but 95 percent of the time? you’re receiving and it’s big

> he likes being risky. he’ll take you out to visit settlements just to have an excuse to stop and fuck you in the car

> or even in a house there, just a room over from his men and gagging you with his fingers so you don’t get caught

> not that he’ll care if they catch you anyways

> he has a nice big office- half of the reason he uses it is so he can have you on his lap as a cockwarmer while he reads or looks over inventory numbers

> the other half is so you can suck his dick under the desk while he talks to simon or dwight

> (simon is a raging pervert so he definitely knows, too)

> he loves fucking your face, watching you get all teary eyed and drooling all over yourself from taking his massive cock

> “oh look at the fuckin’ mess you’re making!”

> he’s generous though- he loves reciprocating oral

> and he loves overstimulating you too- whether that’s by edging you for hours or just making you cum again and again and again

> he loves taking you from behind, pushing your face into the mattress and gripping your hips so hard they bruise

> but he also loves when you ride him slow, gasping quietly as he watches you fall apart completely for him

[servethelight]

Shit I’ve noticed during my clone wars rewatch and my interpretation (very Obi-Wan focused because he’s my favorite character lmao):

(Includes spoilers obviously)

+ I love this show to bits, but it has horrible issues with consistency. Every other episode there is a new weapon or something introduced and we’ll never see it again. This is very prevalent in especially the first seasons.

+ Obi-Wan is such a fucking enabler. Like he tells Anakin his plans are stupid at least twice during the Malevolence episodes, but then joins him on all of those. It’s literally like: “Anakin this plan is reckless and won’t work, anyways what’s my part in your plan?”

+ Rex running into that metal pipe. I forgot about that and laughed for 20 minutes straight.

+ Anakin pulls a “Are ya winning son?” on Obi-Wan about Ahsoka.

+ I once saw a post that it isn’t confirmed that Obi-Wan and Cody are friends, but you have Obi-Wan literally marveling on how competent the commander is and Cody always going the extra mile to save his general’s ass. To me that’s pretty much a friendship.

+ The Jedi are in general very gentle, but quite touchy. They might not go for hugs, but there is always someone touching someone’s shoulder or waist. And they’re just so fucking kind. I don’t think I ever noticed that as a kid, but they’re so respectful about life and culture and always helping someone. I just love them so much.

+ And I love the understanding and kindness the clones have. They’re soldiers and programmed to kill, but they’re also good people in most cases. I just wanna hug most of them.

+ My mother told me I cried as a child during the episodes with the Zillo beast. Well, I didn’t cry again, but I’m still so fucking mad at Palpatine for putting that poor creature in that position. If he just had listened to Mace Windu (more of the characters should actually, just saying) that poor animal wouldn’t have killed people and found its end like that.

+ Mortis is quite hated by the fandom but for me it’s a defining showcase of Obi-Wan’s, Anakin’s and Ahsoka’s relationship. I’ve seen people in the fandom saying that Anakin would’ve turned out differently if Obi-Wan would’ve told him he’s proud and took care of his feelings. This episodes literally show that he does exactly that and Anakin still doesn’t give a shit.

+ Anakin tells the son in his dream, that he’ll never come to the dark side willingly. Only to walk over to the literal manifestation of the dark side like 10 minutes later to save Ashoka. I came to the conclusion that the only way to tempt him was by promising to save his loved ones. I still think it was a really awful and greedy thing to become Vader for that, but I must admit it’s a noble character trait to put others first.

+ Kit Fisto doesn’t have nipples. Therefore I’ve concluded he’s isn’t a mammal and hatched from an egg like Nemo the clownfish. (And no, that isn’t a animation thing, Rex does have nipples when his shirt is off).

+ The discussion with my gf about Kit Fisto nipples and Star Wars biology also touched the topic of “how does Maul use the bathroom”. My conclusion is: he has a stoma, because the lower abdomen, where that would be, is always covered.

+ Hardcase mentions he is hyperactive. I now see him as my favorite ADHD clone, because having ADHD myself I can fucking relate.

+ I forgot Waxer died on Umbara and bawled my eyes out. Waxer is one my favorite clones and when he cried while dying I just couldn’t take it.

+ My friend spent the entire Umbara arc just simping for the clones (mostly Jesse), while I was suffering. So maybe they look hot or something for people attracted to men in this episodes.

+ In the episode after the Umbara the duo usually consisting of Waxer and Boil is sent out, but this time it’s just Boil and I was about to bawl again.

+ For being called “the negotiator” Obi-Wan gets his ass beat quite a lot after his “negotiations” (aggressive flirting).

+ While I’ll never forgive Obi-Wan for doing that Raako Hardeen shit, I nearly pissed myself when the Ziro the Hutt’s ex gf is flirting with not one but two women there. Like I didn’t expect her to be the fucking gay rep in clone wars.

+ I’m seriously never forgiving Obi-Wan for that. I can’t get over Ahsoka’s tear filled eyes while she’s holding his corpse. Also she doesn’t seem angry like Anakin just massively sad and disappointed after it is revealed that he’s still alive. Personally I believe she’s starting to doubt the order here.

+ Point three on hating on my favorite character for that shit, I feel like Anakin becomes quieter and less playful after that disaster.

+ Maul is me. He’s obsessed with Obi-Wan and mentions that he has massive problems what is going on inside his head. As a mentally ill person, that makes me feel really seen lmao.

+ The underwater episodes and the ones with Ventress on that train were just the most beautiful worlds I’ve ever seen. Like the planets in general are so beautifully designed in clone wars, I’m so in love.

+ Motherfucking “I said fuck the council and became a child soldier for a rebellion at 13” Obi-Wan Kenobi seems very reluctant on doing it again. There are two entire arcs of him disagreeing on helping rebels. First I didn’t understand, because like dude you literally did this before, but since he talks about his worries about bringing the separatists in or worsen the situation, I think the poor man is just a little bit traumatized.

+ After the events of Onderon I’m pretty sure Ashoka is already filled with doubts about the order, the republic and the war. I also feel like she’s feeling massively led down by Obi-Wan again, which broke my heart because I love their relationship.

+ I just realized he fails Ahsoka a third time, when she is captured by Hondo and Obi-Wan is supposed to help her. Instead he gets attacked by Grievous and is forced to postpone the helping them until they help themselves. I mean it’s not his fault but in Ahsoka’s place that wouldn’t feel good to me.

+ This particular fight with Grievous ignited my love for Obi-Wan again. Before he attacks Grievous he helps an injured clone and when he goes into the fight, Grievous directly kills a clone. Instead of his usual witty remarks, he just goes: “you’re gonna regret that” and jumps Grievous. He just loves his clones as much as I do.

+ One of the most beautiful shots in the entire series for me is in the episode before the droids find Gregor. This WAC droid looks into the desert and it reflects in his eye. Because of the cracks in the desert ground it looks almost like a retina. Beautiful metaphor of combining something artificial and metallic with an organic and almost human part. This was such a fucking raw shot for me, it took my breath away.

+ Tarkin is an asshole, but he’s climbed the asshole latter so hard after he has been mean to Plo Koon.

+ Shotout to Obi-Wan for convincing the order to let Anakin go after Ahsoka. Additionally the whole time he acts in her support only to be shut down by the council. I didn’t remember him doing that so I was surprised.

+ Fives tells the plot with the inhibitor chips to a cab driver. Do you think the cap driver ever thinks back after the war and is like: “Fuuuuuuck”?

+ I kid you not, the clone bar has gender neutral bathrooms (and no, it’s not bc the clones are all male, in the bar are also women). The bathroom are just decided by humans, hutts and a third species I cannot quite recognize.

+ I forgot Teckla gets shot, NOOOOOOO

+ I always say clone wars anakin is better, but Jesus stop acting like a jealous bitch. Padmè deserves an award for putting up with his bullshit. Obi-Wan too. He even tries to give him reassurance by telling him that feelings are not forbidden and Anakin just bitches at him.

+ Obi-Wan casually passing on babysitting duty for Jar Jar fucking killed me (and yes, taking care of Jar Jar is babysitting duty).

+ Never in a million years I would have thought to see Jar Jar admitting to fucking this queen, but here we have him saying he was making love to her last night. Imma set myself on fire and I believe Windu will join me.

+ You could also call the clone wars the exposition wars. Every episode has their one minute exposition in the beginning, but I feel like a lot of the dialogue is used for exposition.

+ Obi-Wan doesn’t learn shit. That man got drugged by Hondo, but yet still accepts drinks from the Pykes. MY BROTHER IN CHRIST PLEASE DONT

+ I AN GOING TO SCREAM. You have been informed that the Clones have a behavior influencing chip in their brains and then you find out Dooku was behind the creation of the clones and no one connects the fucking dots. I love the Jedi, but goddamn are you all dense.

+ Do you think Hunter thought Rex was screwing his general? Because their conversation sounded kinda suggestive and then they trail off to do something secret.

+ Ahsoka going “my older brother thought me”after kicking a guy where it hurts most. I now imagine Anakin going to Ahsoka as soon she got to be his padawan: “Listen up Snips, if you ever facing a creepy guy, you kick them right there”

+ When the sisters make their escape I don’t get why they don’t let Ahsoka fly. She’s clearly the more capable pilot.

+ Controversial opinion: I have a strong dislike for Bo Katan. She’s a fucking terrorist who doesn’t betray the deathwatch when they murder an entire innocent village, no but when there’s Maul trying to take their authority. Says a lot about her character if you ask me.

+ I mcfucking cried when the clones painted their helmets according to Ahsoka’s face markings and my flatmates gf came in and asked me if everything’s alright. I am fucking embarrassing I have seen this scene three times already but I still bawl like a baby.

+ Also my dear Obi-Wan can you quit being an ass? A “hello Ahsoka, nice to see you” wouldn’t have killed you.

+ Through the whole show most of the characters seemed to appear increasingly tired towards the end. Especially Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, but other characters aswell. The only one who seems to stay energized is Anakin. He becomes more serious but I feel like he’s the only one at the end that is still going into battles with full energy. It almost felt like he’s especially thriving in a war scenario which is incredibly sad.

+ The beauty of that last scene with Vader is truly unparalleled. I don’t ever think a tv show can recreate that.

+ I still love this show to bits and I cried 5 times total during that rewatch, shit this was nice.

[queenlyregent]

hey tumblr dot com, I haven't been active on here in a while and I've never posted about this, but I've been writing a rhaenicent fanfic and posting it to ao3, and after months of writer's block and procrastination, I finally managed to finish it (mostly because I procrastinated doing arguably much more important writing by doing so, but hey a win is a win). just wanted to mention it because I'm actually kinda proud! it's nowhere near perfect and it's still quite underedited, but it's the first fic I ever posted online so in case you're interested, here is the link and I'd love for you to check it out <3<3<3<3

(fair warning to all my rhaenicents tho, there is some light lucemond in this and I totally get if that's not your cup of tea and you'd like to steer clear hahaha)

A Kingdom For Her Grace (73077 words) by lareinavisoma

Chapters: 12/12

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, House of the Dragon (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Alicent Hightower/Rhaenyra Targaryen, Alicent Hightower & Rhaenyra Targaryen, Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen & Lucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra), Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen/Lucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra), many platonic and familial relationships, canon romances also appear, but are not the focus - Relationship, basically the status quo of relationships by ep 7

Characters: Rhaenyra Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, Daemon Targaryen, Aemond "One-Eye" Targaryen, Lucerys Velaryon (Son of Rhaenyra), Otto Hightower, Larys Strong, Rhaena Targaryen (Daughter of Daemon), Jacaerys Velaryon, Baela Targaryen, Helaena Targaryen, basically the whole cast appears, (those still alive by episode 7 anyway), there will also be dragons!, Syrax | Rhaenyra Targaryen's Dragon, Arrax | Lucerys Velaryon's Dragon, Vhagar (ASoIaF), Viserys I Targaryen

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, gets fluffier as the story goes on, Lesbian Alicent Hightower, Bisexual Rhaenyra Targaryen, No Lesbians Die, Hurt/Comfort, generally pro black, but not anti green!, Everyone deserves better, Repressed Alicent Hightower, Making Up, Politics, Miscarriage, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, lucerys/aemond is mostly pre-slash, I tagged them to protect those who understandably do not ship them, I'm Bad At Tagging, No beta we die like Harwin Strong, Canonical Character Death, Probably ooc, they're all flawed still but more chill than in canon, Reconciliation, POV Multiple, POV Alternating, Incest, Canon Typical Incest, almost forgot to tag that one jesus what has this fandom done to me, daemon is not evil, but this is probably still not a story for daemon stans, Slow Burn

Summary:

Rhaenyra loses her daughter while still in Kingslanding to petition for her son in the Velaryon succession crisis. Exhausted, she decides to stay and care for her dying father.

Tensions run high between the different factions of the family. For the sake of their children and themselves, Rhaenyra and Alicent relearn to navigate life at court together; all the while allegiances are unclear, trust is broken and built anew.

Set during and after Episode: s01e08 The Lord of the Tides

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S02E16 - Flare of the Dog

Ah. Title puns. Okay, fine, that's decent, in my opinion anyway. What a good episode, though. I'm a fan of whump. Did I mention that?

"You know that real cops drink their coffee black". You've only had lattes all season, what the fuck???

Jesse is once again manning the office on his own. I hope they're paying him some overtime at least.

If you actually pause the screen when the arsonist is ready to throw the Molotov cocktail, then it's case closed.

RIP Charlie Hudson.

What do you mean, he got away without a scratch (and a busted ankle)? That blew up on his face! Oh, I know. Rex's tongue has healing properties.

I'll take your word for it, Joe. Since we didn't see it at all.

Dude expects to be instantly fine after that. Again, you're lucky you have your face intact.

Why no Sarah, by the way?

Um, are you serious? He just woke up.

I imagine it was the part where you told him to shake it off. Make up your mind, Donovan.

That might be the most thirsting anyone has ever done in this show.

Bud's wife is so sweet. And the scene is so sad.

That's putting it mildly, actually.

A firefighter who appears for the first time in an arson case AND flirts with Sarah? Yeah, who else could have done it? This is how I mostly find the culprit now. Through extensive experience in crime show plots.

"This is a secure area. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave". We are the police, Miss Red Herring.

We're stealing brownies now. Rex and Charlie are so bored.

Nurse: "Looks like you're diagnosed with lateral malingus". Charlie: "Malleolus". Nurse: "Yeah. Mallegolus. Magolus". I'd be feeling so safe in that hospital after this.

You wish. They're actually from the guy who tried to murder you. Charlie's disappointed "Ah" after that is closer to "ew".

Rex, my favorite judge of character. Except for that one time with Eva, although I believe they said that he was drawn to her because she was sick and he could sense it? Something like that.

Rex: What is your wannabe murderer doing in your hospital room and flirting with my wannabe mom, and also can I bite him?

Charlie: *notices the flirty vibe* I was literally gone for like half a day, what the fuck happened?

Oh I forgot that Joe's shotgun survived until S2 apparently. Might not be the same one, though.

Show, don't tell. In what way, shape, or form has that been showcased so far?

Jesse: [Charlie] would agree that this is a Bible verse. Charlie: I'm guessing it's an acronym. Oof. Tough loss.

IMHO means in my humble opinion? Not in my honest opinion?

It won't hurt you to sit your ass down for a few days. Or, well, it will, but it won't be the rest. Just the murderous psycho.

That's cute.

Good news, Jesse. You get to interview someone.

Oh, he's totally doing this on purpose.

*Charlie sees Sarah's caller ID* Charlie: Hey Sarah ☺️☺️☺️ Rex: ☺️☺️☺️ Sarah: I'm here with *longest pause ever* Asher. Charlie: 🙄🙄🙄 Rex: 😠😠😠

"Maybe the police should stick to investigating and the fire department should stick to inspections". Yeah, I bet you'd love that, Charlie. Jeez, the jealousy.

Charlie: Rex lost a partner. Rex: Don't tell my tragic backstory to him!

I think I can see the makeup cover work for John Reardon's arm tattoo.

Jesse: "This is nice. You know, you and I just figuring stuff out together. I like playing the Charlie". Sarah: "I'm the Charlie in this situation". lol. Also, what was it with that look, Jesse?

And now the mafia is involved.

"You could take Rex". Subtle way to get your partner to look out for the woman you like.

Listen, I might be making some shit up but I'm not making this up.

I'd say it actually looks pretty bad but given the very bad makeup work I've seen lately on 911 that should be better than this show, I'll just say this: Either get your actors to agree not to get tattoos in easily visible places or work the tattoo into the story, which is the normal thing to do. There's nothing in Charlie's backstory that suggests he'd never get a tattoo so I don't see what the problem was, and they eventually did it anyway.

"I'm gonna get all the head rubs I can before that guy runs away with my mom."

They took our case! Oh, well, we'll still investigate.

Drama queen Charlie Hudson, everyone.

She declared St.John's to be in a state of emergency for that? Just for that?

Okay, seriously, the "special police" sounds ridiculous. I hope that's not actually a thing, Canada.

Jesse: "And this is where I remind you that every time I go out in the field, something bad happens. I've been shot! I've been drowned!" This is actually a level of awareness that most crime show characters are incapable of displaying. Including Charlie.

"Our greatest weapon is Rex and Rex runs on snacks" lol

Jesse: Rex track! Charlie: Not now, Jesse. Rex: Rex don't track?

You know, yay for the whump and all, but I'm not a foot fetishist and we've seen Charlie's feet get too much screentime.

What's he looking at? God?

Charlie is in danger! *cut to commercial*

Jesse: I'm the Charlie. Rex: Fuck this, I'll just solve the case like I usually do anyway.

I like that in the scene where Sarah realizes Asher is the arsonist, one of our classic background tracks is playing and right on the moment she comes to the realization, it abruptly stops. It's the little things.

Oh, yeah, we're fucked.

Delicious. Finally some good fucking whump.

Asher: "Stop, Charlie. It won't do you any good". Well, he'll die for sure if he doesn't try so it won't do him any bad either.

Ouch. One with the floor.

"I'll toast at your funeral, Charlie". Motherfucker, up until that point you hadn't reached piece-of-shit levels because I've seen too many villains but after that, I wanted to watch you die.

"I'll take care of Rex for you". Like anyone would let you. I half expected him to say "and Sarah".

Sad AU where the reveal didn't happen, Charlie was killed and no one suspected Asher. Asher and Sarah started dating, Sarah adopted Rex, who of course never warmed up to Asher but he brushed it aside as, "he's just missing his partner and he thinks I'm replacing him in some way," which to Sarah doesn't even make sense, because she didn't know that Charlie liked her but Asher had realized it the minute he had stepped into that hospital room. Time goes by, and Sarah is noticing more and more things about Asher that don't add up, odd phone calls, smoke smell when he's not on duty, and such. She goes to Joe to share her suspicions and along with Jesse, they quietly reopen the investigation. The truth is, of course, shocking. That man had been to Charlie's funeral, had dated Sarah for months. There is no good ending, I mean, how could there be in this case? After arresting Asher, he tells Sarah that he's certain Charlie had a thing for her, which makes her feel even worse. Then Sarah goes to his grave with Rex and tells Charlie that they finally got his killer. But even as she tells him, she can't stop thinking of all the times that she'd gone to Charlie's grave with flowers and Asher had insisted on accompanying her and Rex, Rex's low growls and whines every time Asher went with them, and she now knew it was because Rex could tell: Asher had been practically dancing on Charlie's grave. [Sorry about that.]

Oh, I enjoyed Jesse whacking him. It wasn't much but it was something.

And closing the episode by making friends at the fire department and making Rex an honorary firefighter.

We literally never saw them again.

Aside from everything else, I also liked how the rest of the team took up roles that they don't usually do when Charlie was incapacitated. That was fun to see.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

84. The Tour of Death

MAde a post regarding book progress but literally no one saw

So uh have another episode

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico is early!

LOGICO: The only thing worse than being late is being EARLY PAIINNNNNN SMOKY: Wanna join us? We’re taking a tour of the studio! LOGICO: I GUESS… COPPER: Oh look who’s here.

With them, Lapis, and Raspberry, Logi wants to leave now. But it’s tooooo late! Wanna know what else is too late? The tour guide is dead!

LOGICO: Who could have possibly seen that coming. SMOKY: Uh-oh! Who could have done that? LOGICO: [facepalm]

Lapis looks pure evil, Copper looks… worse than usual, and Raspberry looks traumatized.

LOGICO: Are you alright? RASPBERRY: …I’MMA GO LIE DOWN… 

The tour begins, without the guide. 

LAPIS: I’ve always wanted to meet a celebrity. LOGICO: Okay, I'm not 'CELEBRITY' enough for you I guess? 

Copper wants to bite Raspberry’s throat.

RASPBERRY: PLEASE… PLEASE NO… ENOUGH… LOGICO: The fuck is wrong with you two? COPPER: WHAT YOU MEAN WHAT’S WRONG, WE HATE EACH OTHER’S GUTS YOU KNOW THAT!!!!! [heavy panting and blushing] SMOKY: Oh, wow!  LOGICO: Stop saying oh wow.

Not much is happening here, at all. It’s just a normal tour, just with no guide. Raspberry left at some point I guess, that’s pretty sus. Frankly, Lodge is bored with this tour, and this case. So he makes some fun out of it by calling Irra.

IRRATINO: Iiiiiit’s shorty! LOGICO: DO NOT IRRATINO: I’m kidding. Whazzup. LOGICO: I don’t know, what’s up with you. IRRATINO: Okay bro, you have GOT to see the freak storms that are happening right now. It’s so cold in here! LOGICO: Did you just call me ‘bro’? IRRATINO: Knew you wouldn’t like that. Whoops. Anyway, um- LOGICO: Not to mention I CAN’T see the freak storms?? IRRATINO: All right, all right! LOGICO: Oh right I forgot. I’m on a tour of the Midnight studios right now, and the tour guide is dead. 

Logico explains the weak testimonies he was given, most of which have to do with some fake award. 

IRRATINO: Well see, Lapis and Raspberry must both be telling the truth, or else Smoky is lying too. See, now you’ve got me using logic! LOGICO: I love you. IRRATINO: What?

Logico quickly hangs up. He had a feeling Raspberry wasn’t guilty. In fact… Smoky is.

SMOKY: FATHER, I TOLD YOU I COULD DO IT! HAHA! This is just like a Midnight mystery! Oh my god! Can I be in the movie?? PLEASE?? LOGICO: NO, fool! You are NOT an important character!

Logi storms off, done with all of this. UGH!! When will the movie start?…

The end!

Jumpscare

Where did evybody go

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[spicyvampire]

Do you have any favorite characters from bl series or bl dramas that you watched that came out this year? Who are your top 10 or 20 if there are any?

Hey anon, gonna admit there I blue-screened a little and forgot what shows even aired in this year other than 4M and MSI but hey that's why I have a list that I keep updated so here goes nothing

4MINUTES (2024)

I don't think that one is surprising anyone here, there just no way I'm recovering from this show anytime soon, not only because of the originality of the plot/story and the phenomenal acting but also the cinematography and the soundtrack and the production value, like this one will go down in history books for sure, I don't think I'll ever get over comparing their pre-dead scenarios to what happened in reality, this show genuinely made my heart ache, this show provoked chemical unbalance in my body I'm not even kidding, more then once I've wanted to straight throw up cuz my heart was hurting too much, just in my room gifing making cat that want to throw up noises

My Stand In (2024)

Chinese story with a Thai production is a lethal mix ngl, and the first show to teach us this was definitely MSI, not only was the story just crazy to begin with but the execution of it was also fucking bonkers, like goddamn a plot point of this was the guy sneezing during sex like what more do you want

The Sign (2023-2024)

Didn't technically start airing this year but it did finish this year so I'm counting it, this show is just way too good for it to not get a mention on every type of posts like this that I do, you got bootcamp gays, and then solving cases gay, and you got reincarnating gays with a bonus of genders (that's all I'm gonna say), and you got fucking water dragons and fire bird boy literally what more could you possibly want here, if this doesn't convince you nothing will

Unknown (2024)

Shows adaptation of Priest books have a way of fucking with you on god, this is yet again another Chinese writer but this is a Taiwanese production with Taiwanese actors, this show is just so fucking painful man, episode 5-6-7-8 could be used as torture devices, I'm not even kidding, waterboarding got NOTHING on this 4 episodes, anyways Wei Qian passenger princess <3

Meet You at the Blossom (2024)

Speaking of Chinese story with Thai production, this one is just that but with Chinese actors too and boy oh boy, every trope is in there, we got goddamn aphrodisiac sex in the first two episodes, one of the main characters is bisexual & stupid with his wife is a like war criminal wanted in every part of the country and is also like a prince? like i-??? absolutely a great watch

Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (2024)

This is still airing but it's just so good it's gotta be on the list, The batman of the Law experimenting homosexual thoughts because of his puppy-like swamp guy con man are just too good to not mention, I think this sentence just said everything I need to so I'm not gonna add anything else

Century of Love (2024)

Speaking of man experiencing gay thoughts, there is a grandpa who is not too happy about the wet dreams he is having about a man but he is gonna have to suck it up, this show has a strong lakorn (soap opera) and somewhat traditional vibes I feel, and it is extremely funny and frankly the episodes pass faster than you would think

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (2024)

One of those shows you will never really recover from, I can't even talk about it, I think Hwang Da Seul should do comedies next I do not have the time to spend 5hrs on the floor every episode please and thank you ma'am

Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart! (2024)

Literally the worst heists you've ever seen, they are just so bad at this and one of them is supposed to be a master thief!!! Feared by all!! but my god are these idiots lovable, pretty sure one of the mains proposed like twice in 3 episodes he is that whipped, also they adopted a child after sleeping together one (1) time, talk about uhaul lesbians, but seriously this show is well written enough, and get it's moral points across well most of the time, just wish they killed Arun's dad

The Time of Fever (2024)

I'm not much of a coming of age story person, but even I cannot deny how much of a masterpiece this show is, ngl it wasn't what I was expecting when I learned we were getting this side couple's prequel but hell did I enjoy every second of this, chemistry was crazy, the acting was phenomenal, the story and the cinematography, this bitch asked the other if he would still love him if he was a worm and the man said fucking yes!!! and I was hanging on every fucking word, truly one of the shows of the year

[jeminy3]

AA/Narumitsu Love Potion AU Outline

Wanted to finish this ages ago, was gonna be a fic, friendships fell apart, I forgot, no one cares anyway, yadda yadda.

AA/Narumitsu Love Potion AU Outline

Very loosely based on the movie Strange Magic

-Opens with Mia and Maya as children being told a fairy tale about Love Potions by their mother.

OR: Maya recounting this fairy tale to Phoenix sometime during AA1, either out of boredom or because of an episode of Steel Samurai she was watching that mentioned some kind of magical Love-themed item. Phoenix is strangely prickly about it, as he usually is when the subject of Love Potions is brought up. Maya thinks he’s just being a stick in the mud with no romantic imagination.

This fairy tale summarizes the events of the film Strange Magic and justifies the existence of Primrose petals in the real world, and how they can be brewed into Love Potions. They are usually found in remote, less developed areas, like the Fey village and Eagle Mountain.

+ Love Potions are semi-magical concoctions that recreate intense feelings of infatuation for hours at a time with regular dosage. There is no known cure besides waiting for the effects to wear off – or, according to Maya, “real love – if you fall in love for real, they won’t work at all.”

Legally, they are recognized as an illegal form of psychoactive, nonlethal poison. Love Potions and Primrose petals are implied to be coveted black market items.

–

- A summary of the events of AA1, introducing Phoenix, Miles, Maya, and their relationships with each other. Puts focus on the complicated relationship between Phoenix and Miles, especially during Turnabout Goodbyes and Rise from the Ashes.

- They seemed to be on the verge of reviving their childhood friendship, despite the years of separation and trauma. But by the end of these stressful cases, a rift forms between them again, leading to Miles’ sudden departure.

+ Maybe: this part features the first mention of Love Potions being used to manipulate people during Rise from the Ashes.

As Phoenix and Ema look into how and why Gant is keeping Lana under his thumb, Phoenix has a strange thought, and searches their desks for bottled fluids of some kind. He finds nothing of the sort, and he lets out a frustrated sigh. Ema asks him what he was looking for, but Phoenix blows her off, saying it was nothing. He tries to shake off the cold, sick feeling in his gut that had formed as he thought of this theory.

–

- Summary of AA2’s events, focusing on Miles’ departure and the devastating effect it had on Phoenix. Phoenix tries not to dwell on his feelings and focus on helping his clients, but it’s hard on him.

- Gumshoe and Franziska mentioning Miles are sore spots for Phoenix, but he is dodgy about it, as usual.

- Leads into Goodbye My Turnabout and the sudden return of Miles. Phoenix is justifiably angry with him, and Miles is slightly bewildered, then ashamed at this reaction. They eventually set aside their personal feelings to work on the case at hand and rescue Maya.

–

- A summary of the Engarde case so far, leading into Phoenix and Miles now investigating Adrien’s office/quarters for evidence that will help indict Engarde. Phoenix finds a cup of coffee left behind on her desk and notices something strange about it. Giving into impulse, he takes it and smells it, sensing something familiar enough to send a chill down his spine, and a sick feeling into his stomach.

He states his surprise out loud, getting Miles’ attention. When Miles asks, Phoenix says he might have a crazy theory right now. He thinks Adrien is being poisoned – specifically with Love Potion.

Miles is momentarily shocked – Phoenix explains his theory by talking about her strangely obsessive, dependent behavior about Engarde and how she defends/defended him. Engarde might be keeping her in his thrall with more than just his manipulative charms. Phoenix knows this is a wild theory, but he can’t explain how or why he knows about this right now and just asks for Miles’ trust on this. They need to hand the coffee to Gumshoe and the police for lab testing.

Miles processes this, and to Phoenix’s surprise, he not only accepts this theory, but takes the coffee for himself, stating there is no need for police involvement, Miles can test this theory here and now. Then, to Phoenix’s utter shock, he sips the coffee.

After tasting it, Miles scowls and confirms that yes, there is Love Potion in Adrien’s coffee. At Phoenix’s shocked expression, Miles tells him to relax – Miles says he is immune to Love Potions. Phoenix is only further confused by this, so Miles shakes his head and mimics what Phoenix said earlier – there’s no time to explain how or why, he only needs Phoenix to trust him right now.

Phoenix processes this, then nods and agrees. They can both talk about this later – rescuing Maya and getting Engarde in jail is the highest priority right now. They set off to take the coffee to Gumshoe.

+ Aside: as they continue this investigation, Miles feels strangely flustered and concerned around Phoenix for a while after this event, but he ignores this, blaming it on a random bout of sickness probably brought on from his immunity/aversion to Love Potion. (In reality this is an effect of the Potion he drank from the coffee, slightly amplifying his existing feelings for Phoenix).

–

- Summary of the ending of Goodbye My Turnabout, with Maya safe and reunited with Pearl, and Phoenix and Miles reconciling.

After reconciling with Franziska and seeing her off at the airport, Miles returns to Phoenix’s office, surprising him. Maya and Pearl have already retired to bed for the evening, so Phoenix meets him alone, correctly guessing that Miles is here for that “talk” they owe each other. Miles confirms this.

The two settle in and awkwardly begin talking about how and why they both know about Love Potions.

Phoenix says that unfortunately, he was a lot like Adrien, once upon a time. Which includes being poisoned with doses of Love Potion, specifically via his cold medication by his murderous college girlfriend, “Dollie”. He avoids specifics because this is a painful subject for him.

He talks in broad strokes about how “Dollie” used Love Potion to make him head over heels in love with her, manipulating him into unknowingly holding important evidence for her, then take the fall when he was framed for a murder she committed. It was only through Mia’s dogged determination to defend his innocence and uncover the truth that he was shown the extent that he had been manipulated. (He pointedly casts a sad, but proud glance at Mia’s former office around them). It’s clear it was a very difficult and traumatizing time in Phoenix’s life, and to this day there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding it.

Miles is appropriately shocked and disgusted by this, and gives his sympathies. He can’t imagine the pain Phoenix went through, though he supposed he can at least empathize with being betrayed by someone you once trusted.

Phoenix carefully guesses he is talking about Manfred von Karma. Miles nods solemnly, his brows furrowed. He speaks broadly about his time as Manfred’s ward, how much he had respected and trusted the man without realizing that most of the time, Miles was nothing more than a target of abuse and twisted revenge for Manfred.

And when Phoenix asks, yes, it seems Manfred treated his own daughter Franziska similarly poorly. Miles is visibly tense about it, after seeing the results of that pain in her crying face just earlier that day.

But, Miles continues, at least there were some times when Manfred seemed to make an effort to be a decent guardian, however feeble the efforts were. During Miles’ youth, when he was still studying to become a prosecutor, Manfred sometimes brought him to social gatherings within the world of law to encourage him to socialize with his peers – especially those of the opposite sex.

...Mostly those of the opposite sex. (Miles looks visibly uncomfortable about this, and even Phoenix cringes a little). Yes, unfortunately, Manfred and his equally-conservative colleagues attempted to set up Miles with their daughters / female wards in arranged dates, hoping they would strike up a relationship. These only resulted in forced meetings that were mostly boring, awkward and in Miles’ eyes, a complete waste of time.

But, Miles adds, looking even more uncomfortable by the second, there was more to it than that. Painfully, he recounts an evening where Manfred took him aside just before the start of one of these arranged dates and discreetly gave him a bottle filled with a strange liquid, and instructed him to add its contents to his own drinks. He claimed it would make him more… ‘agreeable’ to the lady, more comfortable.

Phoenix, after a moment, guesses if that was a Love Potion. Miles nods somberly. Manfred was apparently so ashamed of Miles’ lack of romantic interest in these young women, and so desperate to save face with his colleagues, that he had (illegally) procured a bottle of the stuff to give to Miles and instruct him to, essentially, poison himself to make him fall in love with one of these young women.

“...But you’re immune, you said,” Phoenix says, and Miles confirms with a grave nod. He painfully recounts that no matter how many times he dosed himself, or how much he poured into his drinks, he didn’t feel any kind of heightened affection or fondness for any of the women, not even enough to fake it. At most the only kind of reaction he got out of the stuff was dizziness in his head and a sick feeling in his stomach, likely side effects from the large doses.

Needless to say, even Manfred had to give up on these efforts. Eventually he quietly stopped inviting Miles to these dates, or to any social gatherings at all, instructing him to focus solely on his studies, since it seemed like the only thing he would be useful at.

When Manfred did attend gatherings after that, he only brought Franziska with him, telling Miles to watch over the manor in their absence and keep it tidy. Manfred had a maid in his employ. Miles wasn’t needed for something like that.

Miles sighs deeply as he finishes his story, and Phoenix stews over this silently, eventually extending his sympathies. Though he still finds it a bit strange that someone could just be completely immune to a Love Potion.

Miles shrugs sadly, saying that he’s figured he is simply incapable of falling in love at all. Phoenix is sad about this, but attempts to comfort Miles, saying that there’s nothing wrong or broken about him even if he can’t feel love. Aromantics exist, after all. And they have just as fulfilling relationship with friends – at least, Phoenix still considers Miles a good friend.

Miles is touched by this, that Phoenix still considers him a good friend even after the hurt he caused with his sudden sabbatical. Phoenix flusters, saying yeah, guess he just can’t stay mad at him. He still treasures their friendship, especially after all they’ve been through.

Miles is the one to start flustering now, and he coughs and pointedly changes the subject. The point is, it seems they’ve both had bad experiences with Love Potions, manipulated and heartbroken in different ways, and it’s likely that many other people have been hurt in similar ways by their existence. They’re already an illegal substance, but they should take greater pains to crack down on criminals who keep getting their hands on them.

Phoenix, eagerly following the change of subject to escape the awkwardness, agrees wholeheartedly. Love is a silly thing in general anyway, especially if it can be so easily manipulated by weird magical drugs. They mutually agree to work harder to be more wary of Love Potions and one day, stamp them out of the world altogether. Miles concurs, and they shake on it, ending the night on a good note.

- Miles decides to go back home shortly after this, but not before Phoenix awkwardly asks him if he’ll be very busy now that he’s back. He wanted to properly catch up with Miles in a more casual setting sometime. Miles awkwardly says he’s still figuring things out, and has even been considering traveling again, since he found it quite agreeable on his sabbatical and could learn a lot from international legal systems… But for now, yes, he could arrange to join Phoenix for a casual outing or two. He owes it to him, after all.

Phoenix flusters again, but is happy and grateful, and they exchange phone numbers to stay in contact. They share warm goodbyes and goodnights, and Miles steps out the door and into the night.

+ Despite all their cynicism, Phoenix and Miles, ironically, are unaware of the feelings developing between them.

–

- AA3’s events are summarized, with more focus put on the offscreen relationship between Phoenix and Miles during this time. They’ve spent several months keeping in contact through calls and text, occasionally joining each other for lunches/dinners to talk and catch up. Shortly before the start of AA3’s first case (in the present timeline), Miles left the country to study international legal systems like he hinted at before. Phoenix is okay with this and happy for Miles as he takes control of the direction of his life, and it’s implied that he’s still staying in contact with him via texting.

- Somewhere in case 3-2 or 3-3, Love Potions come up again, either used in a minor way or simply mentioned in passing. Phoenix is set on edge even more than usual, between Godot’s seemingly-baseless hatred for him and the uncomfortable themes of lovers, betrayal and poison that keep coming up in these cases. Phoenix thinks of Miles and holds fast to the promise they made about stamping out all Love Potions.

- Case 3-5 begins

- Hospital scene. Phoenix is moved by Miles visiting him so suddenly. He gives Miles his badge and has him defend Iris.

- After Phoenix recovers, they investigate together. Primroses grow on the mountain. Nick hates the sight of them and Miles does too. They wonder if love potions are being used to influence the case.

Eventually – Dahlia, via possessing Iris/Maya, reveals she has been trying to poison everyone with Love Potion, but for some reason it hasn’t had any effects on Phoenix or Miles.

+Hasn't worked on Godot either because his love, Mia, is dead and Godot is too careful about his coffee to be poisoned again.

- Dahlia is defeated, Iris is saved, and both she and Godot go to jail.

Later, they wonder about the poisonings. Maya says the only way to be immune to love potion is to fall in love for real. So Phoenix and Miles have fallen in love already with someone. But who?

They are deeply confused until they look at each other and begin to wonder. Phoenix feels absolute trust in miles, and Miles feels the same for Phoenix. They fluster and dodge the issue

- Later, before Miles goes back to Europe, he meets with Phoenix privately. Miles says he is leaving again but would not be opposed to dinner together before he goes. Phoenix agrees, it’d be nice to unwind and rekindle their childhood friendship. Internally he wonders if they’ll explore something more between them as well, after remembering the Love Potion incidents.

Both silently think that maybe love isn’t so bad after all.

END

[halfsizehellboy]

oh man okay. more thinking

hot shit do i feel enlightened bc audhd House makes so much sense to me!!! he surrounds himself with chaos and novelty and stimulation but still adheres to things that don't change-- his apartment, when he lives in it, it always set up the same way. it's mentioned he's had the same guitar for many years, as well as numerous medical texts. He uses his same red mug all the time at the hospital (he has a designated hospital mug. it lives at the hospital and he only uses it at the hospital). he is very adamant about his office space-- it only changes drastically for him in season 8. just before he leaves. he and Wilson have a fun schedule-- bowling nights, poker nights, etc-- and he does spontaneous stuff all the time, but he orchestrates it. he enacts enrichment time for his fellows and Wilson. he canonically spaces out during/stops processing conversations all the time because he's thinking. he will forget to do basic things while on cases, and there's that one episode where he stays up all night because he's cooking something. he is the king of "shit i forgot to eat. i forgot to shower and pee. i forgot--"

while im thinking of eating!! he has that bad hunger recognition. he will forgo eating for days for cases, fixations, pain levels. he usually eats off of wilson's plate anyways, and i think wilson mainly eats because he's made it part of routine, and that if he forgets to eat house definitely forgets to eat, and that usually ends badly. i dont think house has any specific avoidances but he does usually go for pizza, or anything wilson's made. he likes fries.

the adhd bit makes him more prone to addiction (it's a real thing) and he does show those behaviors (vicodin, alcohol). he has to have either the puzzles or the substances, taking him off both fucked with him a lot (mayfield and afterwards). in prison he got managed doses of vicodin, and he was getting antsy and desperate for the challenge of a good case towards the end of that arc. he all but jumps on that heat allergy guy, risking his chances of parole multiple times to try and get close. side note, did y'all see his equation scribblings on the wall by his bunk? hes so silly

ive also been thinking like. we see very large-scale self destructive behaviors from nearly everyone in the show but we don't see a lot of self-regulation outside of house's stimming so that means i get to make up my own and project onto wilson.

wilson spends a lot of time masking at work so we don't see him fully let loose and i think that he is a fan of full body movement. he's jumping up and down. he's pacing the apartment and swingin his arms. he sways and rocks in place. at the hospital and places that aren't safe he keeps the stim energy to his hands/fingers, or taps his foot/bounces his leg-- things easy enough for neurotypicals to pass off as nervous energy. he loves to click pens but he only does it when he's alone or with house because he knows that other people find it annoying (house doesn't care, he starts clicking/tapping too and it's like they're drumming together). he and house learned morse code and annoy the ducklings and cuddy with it all the time.

bad times wilson scratches a lot (this is me projecting btw). at his scalp, at his arms, anywhere he can get to; and usually he's self conscious enough to do it where he can hide it under his clothes (house is unaffected and can tell anyways)(usually because he's there trying to help wilson stop scratching)(but if he's not he can still tell and wilson doesn't wanna know how). he also presses/rubs his face a lot (in general and not just bad times wilson), and bad times wilson gets abrasions on his eyelids/cheeks from his sweatshirt when he has a meltdown. i've seen another person talk about this, but i think he absolutely tears his cuticles up. he's managed to stop biting/tearing his nails down to nothing but between vigorous scrubbing for the OR and not liking lotion (sensory bad. i need it for my arms and the backs of my hands sometimes and i always wipe it off of my palms and fingers) his hands are so dry. house makes fun of him but he does carry around a nail file because he's trying to stop picking at his fingers regularly, and limit it to a bad times emergency regulatory behavior.

house fights meltdowns to the death. he hates having them, he hates having to be vulnerable like that (and that's a canonical trauma response). he has held one off through sheer will for an entire week before wilson called out sick for him and made him take a day off. they ended up taking a long weekend to recover. on the occasion they're both melting down at the same time, it's a multiple days affair. wilson will recognize what's happening and try to make sure everything in the apartment is low effort and accessible from the floor because house's meltdowns are more often than not pain response and that means that house stays on the floor. and when wilson is melting /neg he doesn't want to leave house. on a sillier(?) note they have a tally/competition for shortest meltdown (wilson), longest meltdown (house), fastest to meltdown (house), longest amount of time spent holding off a meltdown (house), most efficient meltdown (wilson), and most meltdowns located in the hospital (wilson).

man i'm gonna have to make a fic for this, it's getting wild just on posts

[kenora-pizza]

Musical Musings - TTTE edition, Part 2

ALRIGHT!

My first musical analysis post has been getting a LOT of attention in the past few days or so. So first off, thank you for the love everyone, that was one of my favourite posts to make (besides the crackhead Gordon and Henry shitpost and my "Emily in the middle" rant). Second, since it appears that people like this sorta thing, I figured I'd share a couple more things that I've noticed, one of which I didn't put in the first post cause I figured people had already  noticed it so it didn't need to be said. But I think I'll put it in anyways, just because. So let's get into it!

In pt. 1, I talked about the fact that Henry's theme has an occurrence of "3," in that each of the 4 beats in a bar was a triplet, and how Henry is the number 3 engine. Well, I was listening to his theme again and found two more occurrences of "3" in the introductory bars of the theme. For reference, I am talking about this part:

 Each bar has the following rhythm:

Now, the first occurrence of 3 comes from the fact that the first 3 beats have the same rhythm, as shown in the above image. The second occurrence of 3 comes from the fact that the last beat of the bar is a triplet. 3 notes. Tack on the first occurrence of 3 from the first post, and you're 3 for 3 for NWR no. 3. HMMM........

2. Continuing with the subject of Henry's theme, this observation has probably already been made several times over, but I figured I'd put it in to continue the "Henry's theme" trend. If you take a listen to Henry's sad theme, you'll notice that its repeating motif is part of Henry's main theme in a different, minor, key with a different rhythm and at a slower tempo.

Take a listen.

The opening fragment of Henry's main theme:

The main motif of Henry's sad theme:

And in sheet music:

Henry's theme (Eb major):

Henry's sad theme (B minor):

The numbers indicate the note's position within its scale. As you can see, both themes share the same note pattern. To get Henry's sad theme, you'd transpose the theme down a diminished 4th (i.e, move the notes down by this interval) to B major, and then adjust the D# and G# in the resulting melody to D natural and G natural to fit within the B minor scale so that it sounds sad. Nice job, Mike & Junior, very clever.

Just in case anyone is confused, the notes for the B major & minor scales are shown below:

3. Donald and Douglas' CGI whistles are the notes of C and A respectively. These notes are related in a couple of ways. The first/lowest note on a standard 88-key piano is an A, and the last/highest note is a C. Given the twins' original BR numbers (57646 & 57647 respectively), it appears that Douglas is the younger of the two, so their whistle notes make sense in this context. Additionally, as mentioned in pt. 1, the keys of C major and A minor are related in that they share a key signature of no accidentals (ie, no sharps, flats, double sharps or double flats, yes those last two exist and they gave me hell as a kid). Thus, the whistle notes would make sense in this context.

You'll often see modulation from either C major to A minor or vice versa in classical music. Two contrasting, yet complimentary keys with their own characters and personalities which work well together. Just like Donald and Douglas.

4. I was rewatching some of the season 7 episodes which have Arthur in them. And I think I kinda forgot how fucking huge this guy is. I also noticed just how low his whistle is in comparison to the other tank engines, perhaps emphasizing his bigger size and his more serious attitude in comparison to them.

Whew, this was a long post. I hope you guys enjoy this post as much as you did the last one.

[anachronistic-falsehood]

EPISODE 21 TRIVIA:

- CROP TOP KARATE KID

- "ashe is an edgy kid thats mad at his dad, but when you tried to get him arrested i really didnt know how he would respond to that"

- "wavelength has a +10 to deception." "YEAH, AND THAT SHOULD BE A RED FLAG"

- THE CHOICE THIS EPISODE. to go with either tide or mark. it was flipped! they went with mark bc in a meta way they thought that would be the most exciting/dangerous and going with tide wouldve been the safe route. this is not the case if they wouldve gone with tide something crazy wouldve happened !!! mark was the safe option. hehe

- now theyre all disappointed they didnt go with tide:

grizzly: "what happened, charlie? you were so set on going with tide at first"

charlie: "i KNOW!! because he was THERE IN THE ROOM WITH US and hes TIDE and hes my... FOSTER DAD!"

- grizzly: dakota would always go with tide no hesitation. the only reason he didnt is because william said otherwise and he trusts william (<< im literally always so fucking crazy every time he says something ljke this)

- LOTS OF WILLIAM CRUMBS THIS EPISODE. i havent actually relistened to it yet and charlie is being really vague about what they are so i dont remember but. apparently there were a lot of little conversation moments that were dropped in here that allude to wiwi backstory

- "mark is a bitch" << theyre so fucking mean to him in the rolleds all the tjme. free my man

- "ashe is really mad at him right now but if he lost mark he wouldnt have any family left" HEY YAKKO???? hey yakko im at work rn dont do this to me .

- condi responds to this immediately with "welcome to the no family club, me and dakota are already here" guys please

- chorus of "i love tide"s . these kids have a favorite divorced father fr. sorry. no im not

- AND THUS BEGINS THE INFAMOUS LIZARD DISCUSSION. FORGOT THIS STARTED HERE. OKAY. im so mad this happens almost entirely in rolleds because most people miss it and the payoff is SO fucking funny. theyre discussing power levels. and in the m&m handbook it gives like. template enemy statblocks and some of those are animals and for whatever reason theres just a WHOLE PAGE of this that are various kinds of lizards and they all find this so funny. bc pd at this point is power level 6. the first thing listed on that page is an alligator..... which is power level 7. "we are not even strong enough to defeat an alligator at this point, we cant even go to florida safely" "dont worry tide we'll come save you from your inevitable offscreen death because we didnt come with you and instead went with asshole mark" (bizly, in tide voice:) "dont worry, just bring 4 alligators with you" THIS GOES ON. FOR A WHILE. ITS REALLT FUNNY. this continues to be a topic of conversation for ljke the next 3 rolleds so prepare for more lizard power level discussion

- they start talking about tides powers and apparently they thought he could breathe underwater and talk to fish but bizly describes him as "more like a water bender than aquaman"

- grizzly said this was lame bc he thought it was the other way around but then charlie was like "listen, we already have aquaman on just roll with it and its gillion tidestrider" this is not relevant at all but i have to include every time gillion is mentioned outside of riptide bc i hear his name and my ears perk up like a dog

- anyway. CONCLUSION to that is that tide cannot talk to fish but it is unconfirmed whether or not he can breathe underwater. which i think is neat :]

- "do you think people let le frog rob them because they feel bad for him" "do you think le frog gets hired for childrens birthday parties"

WAVELENGTH HAS A PLUS 10 TO DECEPTION. YEAH. BIT OF A RED FLAG THERE. JUST A BIT

NOOO they could have gone with tide and had exciting times but instead they had 2 babysit mark the depressed widowed dad </3 thats ok tho i love when they have to babysit this grown ass man. i love the pd + mark winters shenanigans

"ashe is really mad at him right now but if he lost mark he wouldnt have any family left" WHAT IF I EXPLODED??? RIGHT HERE AND NOW???? HELLO

the lizards..... i an beginning 2 understand why overlord's reveal was so fucking funny. it was funny without context but the context is funnier

MAC GOING CRAZY ABOUT ANY MENTION OF GILLION TIDESTRIDER (A SEA THEMED CHARACTER). FORK FOUND IN KITCHEN!!!! (<<said very affectionately)

i like 2 think le frog gets hired for birthday parties <3 i love le frog. le frog i love u. favourite pd character right here. le frog u are everything 2 me <3

[podfeels]

Podfeels Adapt8ion Notes: Episode 5

hello, dare again! just as a reminder for how these posts work, stagelights will be covering the notes as a whole, and if i ever have to pitch in it will be with purple text like this! with that said, lets get back into it!

just as a side note i love the pun in this episodes title. 10/10 no notes. yeah riley is a hero. anyway i want to say that i dont think i really appreciated this episode enough before now. but like i think it really serves as both a nice bit of respite after the intensity of the previous episode, and as sort of the calm before the storm that is next episode, which i think is desperately needed. 

these first couple of changes were made because roxy’s typos dont work as well when said out loud normally. we changed it to make her sound more like how someone would actually slur their words here. (also, not an adaptational change, but “librarby” is a fucking undertale reference, sarah you sneaky bitch)

narration cuts, and a bit where we changed it because we needed to kind of make the whole “june talks with 8’s” thing a bit more clear, because thats kind of a big deal.

more “call and not text” shit you know the drill. also june fucking said “cripe a doodle dandy” despite everything june is still a massive dork ass nerd.

narration cuts. moving along

this change is actually kind of significant i think, because this is completely new material and not just stuff changed or removed for the sake of replacing narration. junes feeling bad about herself and shit. so, i actually had us add this because i felt it was necessary to get some details of june moping and feeling lonely, yearning for that kind of t4t romance, in order to butter her up for terezi's arrival later on. however, i kind of regret these inclusions now, to an extent. they add a lot to the pacing of the episode, giving her a moment of melancholy at the fire. however! i forgot that she already had a "moping at how cute roxy and callie are" moment. after she wakes up from the trickster rampage retcon, in what will be our episode 7. so i did just decide we needed something, forgetting it would come later. lol.

some more roxy re-slurring, and also re-ordering of stuff for pacing.

elevatorstuck plays here, but otherwise this is fairly minor. disagree! we used the fact she mentions not wanting to narrate it in the original, and me not wanting to put sound to it in our adaptation, to justify turning this into a cutaway gag. elevatorstuck plays, yes, but the scene sound also fully cuts out at the same time. its an auditory version of a TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES - PLEASE WAIT sign. im proud of this segment and i will NOT allow it to be passed by as "elevatorstuck plays here"!

couple more narration cuts. and that’s it for this episode. fairly simple.

to add to this ending description a bit, i want to gush about what we did with the ending here because im damn proud of it. so, this ending here isnt just ending cuts. we moved the lollipop reveal to be the second to last line, to really get across that its kind of horrific that its here. calliope's trickster sucker is, in and of itself, the scary cliffhanger. and further to that end, whereas the original fic ends that chapter on just that line, i wanted to really hammer it home. so once calliope says that line, the scream from the start of Red Sucker blares out, which then leads into "wherever the breeze takes this", a track from the first godfeels fan album by ash taylor and dj terezi, which was written to be about the aftermath of the rampage. whereas the original text ends on the sucker as a cliffhanger but potential gag, of calliope going "now normally im not so crass but do you want some Hard Drugs?", in our case, with retrospect and a fandom-cultural awareness of what is to come, we took the opportunity to tonally acknowledge where this is actually about to head, and i think it turned out beautifully

_____

so thats it covered! thank you to stagelights for doing the breakdowns for these episodes! check back tomorrow for episode 6's breakdown!

[swallowtailed]

palisade 48! finalisade pt 3!

eclectic's scene: yall. YALL. THE GARDEN OF FIDELITY. this is exactly what i have been hoping for all season. fidelity and her garden, her locus of control, are an invasive species introduced by colonizers on the planet palisade (which is a body). introduced species can be both a symptom and a direct method of colonization. the garden of fidelity is deliberately spread, and grows opportunistically (ex. in the dark, on goop) out from colonial settlements--as much a part of the infrastructure of colonialism as city city etc. which resonates perfectly with the whole tm-era garden thing, because like... a garden is created intentionally, altering the land for a purpose. agriculture is contextual. and for it to be fidelity, one of the mirage divines, doing this!! so anyway. very excited about this addition.

uhhh what was this scene about again, aside from introduced and invasive species as a vector of colonization. oh yeah right. love that eclectic is like, i will get in touch with the actual divine i was created from and use the divinity left in me to break a prison open, and i will not acknowledge it at all. i hope he and august get to argue at some point. they're such interestingly opposed characters.

also, setting: really reminded me of the fifth season. (the bit in the geode at the end. u know.) and i gotta say, a blank corporate building sitting in a deep dark cave is actually the scariest thing they proposed

thisbe's scene: ok, doing this out of order for the plotline. very pleased that we immediately got to visit the afflicted lands. i do really love when the divine cycle is in the space of divines being literally the thing they are. which is not nearly always the case but i did feel like this scene was framed in that way. so, yknow, "what's a divine" is the eternal question, but also sometimes someone uses integrity to break the hold of guilt and opposition on leadership. as a writer with a serious interest in thematic structure i simply enjoy it. also it's paired with questlandia's emphasis on clear priorities and goals, so we have both thisbe's pragmatic approach almost independent of the divines involved and august righteousness witnessing something extremely on the nose for his current position

thisbe's relationship with cori being exhausted is so good. i mean, sad. but putting the mechanic of exhausted relationships into the blue channel's whole situation is, i think, very clarifying

the divine kingdom... miserable, obviously. very curious if that is something that's going to last into p3

clem's scene: the problem, as i see it, is that the most compelling question raised by having clem onscreen is the potential to ask, like, can mbreak finally separate themselves from the principality. and this was raised in the episode! but the problem is that they can't actually confront that, because having clem as a pc requires her to stay present and tied to the rest of the cast, and so no progress can be made because clem has to be There, Forever. which was already fully litigated in partizan! ok. i'm done.

things i enjoyed about that scene: august hating everyone in the room and also himself. jesset shooting clem in the face. (eta oh my god i forgot to mention jesset's gun hand. jesset what is going ON.) mustard red fucking Appearing.

[laithraihan]

Hey I really love your art - I wanted to ask if you use references from anywhere specific.

Also, have you considered the idea of Reigan becoming Minori's Guardian Ad Litem? I agree that Reigans not exactly the kind of person to make the most responsible father (at least where we leave him in the show) but I could totally imagine him becoming her guardian for some legal reason.

He's really the only adult she'd know to trust outside her father.

I can imagine they're put a whole court case together with Reigan as her guardian just for legal reasons and they win, and then Minori's like. "Oh shit where do I go? Guess your my guardian for real now." And Reigan is like.

What?

Thank you 🫶💜 hmm well for pose references including clothing etc I just get them from google stock images, I generally try to avoid making the pose too similar to the images I see so I sometimes draw in different angles (honestly most of the time I struggle looking up references because I cant find a picture in a specific angle I want, so I go with my intuition even if it's wrong), honestly google is probably the place I rely on the most for this. Like if I forget what a shoe looks like then I'll just google it.

If you're talking about where I got inspiration for my art style (or what I look to get ideas for my art etc) I'd say the major ones for me are ONE's sketches on twitter (especially his shaky lineart and how he draws eyes), early episodes of Detective Conan (clothing folds, color choices sometimes, body proportions like the chest being pointed etc), Revolutionary Girl Utena (also clothing and body proportions), FLCL (I have no idea what parts of it influenced my art but I feel like it's an obligation to list it here)

Uhh for the fun drawings that require more effort I'd say music is inevitably the most important part of it. 99% of the time my drawings that arent plain sketches are modeled after a specific song I listen to (primarily from ZARD but other artists too although not as often) even then I think my sketches are still influenced by ZARD somehow. Wait I completely forgot to mention I also look up images of ZARD on Pinterest for poses or just... to draw anything honestly. Theres a good number of pictures of her in various angles (I remember one of her photographers said she was very photogenic so most of her pictures are very casual as if a camera wasn't present) I think it's good to look at them if you are looking for something natural. Just looking up "Izumi Sakai" there will give you results.

For text placement/colors/vibe/whatever I like to look at old media I grew up with like MADs, shitty websites made in the 90s/2000s, old anime subtitled in Arabic (I have plenty of DVDs with anime dubbed/subbed in Arabic that I have no idea where we got them from, I assume it's all pirated. Anime openings/endings in Arabic also have very poor aesthetics when it comes to logo placement/text color/text animation/etc but that's exactly why I like them) I also have a Pinterest board with outdated ZARD edits that I look at often while drawing. For image textures or backgrounds I use this website. If I struggle with art block or don't know how to draw a specific thing I also look at everything I previously listed and reference from there. Anyways I talked a Lot but hopefully I could help with that.

As for Reigen being a guardian .... I never considered it seriously but I think he could pull it off. He'll definitely make mistakes but he could succeed if he had a daughter. I just have to kill off Minori's real dad or something and it'll work. The only problem would be that Minori has to live with the fact that her new father is broke and unable to spend thousands of dollars for her every week.

[candygalaxyyy]

It’s 4 AM for me rn, I should probably go to bed because my sleeping schedule is a mess… but I’m dead set on understanding the timeline for the eighth sense. Sorry in advance for any misinformation or plot holes :) I’ve been rewatching episode 6 since Wednesday and I’ve just finished rewatching all six episodes again, safe to say things are becoming clearer. So first of all, it’s not a dream. The whole of episode 6, the drowning scene, jae won pulling ji hyun out of the water, it’s all very real. Even though the gas station scenes felt very surreal and almost mystical, especially with the lighting, blurred polaroid effect and music, but it’s still real?! People have already mentioned that on here; about it being real, time being warped with future events and other theories. And idc if this is obvious but I need it in writing to come back to.

Here’s my understanding of the past/present/future theories. Everything in episode 6 is the present, up until the trauma kiss. After the trauma kiss scene the screen fades to black, I believe that indicates a shift in the timeline being shown (it happened before but i forgot when exactly I’ll update later after I’ve watch it again). So the eighth sense is centered around jae won’s therapy session! How do I know this? Well after the opening theme in episode 1 the first scene we see is jae won at his therapist’s, and she says ‘tell me about your worries’. And so the story begins. He mentions in either episode 4 or 5 that his current worries kicked in after leaving the military so we meet ji hyun exactly when jae won’s been discharged. We still get ji hyun’s focus sometimes because as much I feel this story is jae won centered, ji hyun’s perspective gives a full picture of their relationship (have not grasped the whole story of why yet, probably to give depth to ji hyun and his importance in this story).

Jae won’s present day therapy session only appears after certain triggers are brought up, and the most telling one is him getting wasted, and his dad smashing the camera his brother gifted him (episode 5). I think this is the trigger that causes the whole therapy session, cause he mentions him putting up a front (his fake friend taehyung talking about his family), his dad aggression (broken camera) and other things we’ve seen. Furthermore, it was the longest snippet of the session we’ve seen thus far. It’s also all one session, we know this because they’re wearing the same clothes and hair in every therapy scene. Anyways, as he lets all his worries out and she asks what makes you happy these days. He thinks of ji hyun, tells her and then she says she should further their relationship if that’s the case. So he decides to take ji hyun to the beach, following the advice of his therapist and since ji hyun told him to rely on him. (present day leading to episode 6). So now we are in episode 6, going to the beach and all that good stuff, Jae won opens up because he’s just been advised to deepen his relationship with ji hyun and he feels comfortable to do so. They surf and give each other trauma through kisses… THE SREEN FADES TO BLACK.

We’ve jumped to the future, the lighting, tones and atmosphere after the trauma kisses has totally shifted from the rest of the episode, so it’s fitting to say it’s future events. To me that hotel scene is another trip in the future because they clearly say that they are only staying for that one night on the beach, because they don’t have clothes (and after them getting close on that trip it is safe to assume they will definitely go on more boyfriend trips). One reason I think the writers might have done this is to remind us of jae won’s current relationship with well deep relationships. All of his relationships after his brother and up till ji hyun were surface level. Why? Because he lost someone who he loved so deeply in such a traumatic way, he couldn’t protect his brother, he couldn’t protect his love so he chooses to disassociate from human relationships. But he can’t do that with ji hyun, he’s on his path of loving ji hyun. HE TOLD HIM SOMETHING HE’S NEVER TOLD ANYONE EVER BEFORE, HE WANT TO BE A PHOTOGRAPHER AND ONLY HIS YOUNGER BROTHER KNEW THAT. JAE WON IS ALREADY TRUSTING AND LOVING JI HYUN ON ANOTHER LEVEL THAN ALL HIS CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS. And of course after this we cut to them getting even more intimate and in their boyfriend era in the hotel, that’s their future. The drowning scene is also their future. And how will jae won react to *potentially losing another loved one after just starting to open up again (JI HYUN WON’T DIE THOUGH). How will he handle the guilt and pain he feels when ji hyun ends up in a hospital bed because of them surfing together in deeper water when ji hyun can swim that well? How will ji hyun handle it this time around?