#aside from sometimes going back to rewatch the first ep after the finale

[marzipanilla]

idk how into(if at all) you are to actual plays, but that comment immediately made me think 'ah yes cave water! your favorite meal' Dimension20 is a gift when I have the focus for it... (I drink a lot of water mostly lol)

Your mom was empress of a planet that went through a major disaster and the only thing you can express about her is that she loved your dad? I think your depth of understanding is horribly limited there, kid, or you were kept so insanely sheltered !! Did they just keep his ass in the palace and not let him see the world?? What if Mark tried to retroactively tell him about the destruction and he refused to believe him?? He was shown being out among the bodies when Mark got recovered !! did you think everyone was covered in paint, like seriously wtf.

I keep staring at the puddles of world building waiting for them to drop into deep wells and its just an inch of shiny oil on gravel like. You dont have to get into but you can reference stuff! Mark claimed Cecil protected him from seeing the extent of the damage, extend that!! There WAS a court case, but Cecil had it thrown out/made it so the government wouldn't press charges bc he needed Mark on his side in case his dad came back!! just !! so many solutions !! He put Damien into hell for daring to threaten to expose what Nolan had done, he can toss a fucking court case.

lol Mark just having a full jar of assorted teeth would be something. Debbie having to stop doing tooth fairy shit and come up w some reason why they wont leave him money anymore lol

A good bit of reality distortion/mind control is fabulous!! tricks to snap them out of it, emotional appeals to snap them out of it... people acting in odd ways not just bc of what they're doing but suddenly reacting to other characters than the ones everyone expected!! why are you so extra vicious to this person you didnt seem to have much interaction w... why is this other capable of calming you down but not the one you say is important to you... mff. tasty.

Yeah Nolan getting hero worshiped and turned into their ruler is brushed over way too damn quick. like sir. Not only do I think you lack any skills to lead an actual population, you agreed to that. 'it was nice to have a purpose again'. You can help them out without being their fucking boss. Just like Immortal, this bitch doesn't know how to say no. I do think he has a 'cant go back/will never see her again' thought process re: Debbie, but like... if you hadn't been taken by the viltrumites, either they never showed up or he and Mark were successful, once a little more time had passed... How long until he would have had the same I miss her thought? What was your actual relationship w Andressa like?? why did you fucking agree to it?? we get 1 kiss, 1 hug, and 1 time he says her name in an annoyed tone of voice. like sir. I definitely have a big split re: some canon deviations between comic and show for Thraxa, but the show is really just like 'incredibly depressed man fucks president of his fan club accidentally knocks her up' and its just like... how much of that relationship were you just thinking about Debbie? how fucked up is that for Andressa?? If Mark had been on Thraxa with him longer, how long would it have taken for Debbie to come up again?? What the fuck did Nolan actually say about his previous family bc quite frankly what Andressa says just raises more fucking questions.

And these people, just like on Earth, never experienced anything bad from him until the day he fucked off and wasnt seen again like. Nolan really does avoid negative fallout in social situations so hard. He is so fucked up about what happened that he wants to be ritually executed, and that is a mood- but I need to see him stuck around the actual people he directly hurt. for more than one fucking day, or like, half a day in the case of Mark on Thraxa.

Allen's first stop after busting out w Nolan is getting him a chastity belt lol 'have you ever heard of condoms??' Mark seemed pretty beat up about you having another kid and I dont want him sad next time I talk to him..

No lie I almost wrote 'Nolan depression fucks his way across the galaxy and has like, 5 kids when he runs into Debbie again' into a story before deciding I just didn't want to deal w it even tho I could see it happening lol

Yeah. I wonder how much of that divide is related to 'want to chars to have nice things' and 'want my char to suffer horribly' but whump is its own thing and precious cinnamon-roll too good for this world does get the shit beat out of them plenty too. idk, the infinite wonders and variety of life I guess.

Mark agreeing to go hang out on a beach w Debbie instead of refusing and the beach is Beach City (am now officially thinking too much about this crossover lol)

The way I got caught up on our back and forth I almost forgot this, lol! AND OH MY GOODNESS, IMAGINE? I forget exactly what which point Debbie makes the beach offer, but I’d love when exactly in SU/SUF-timeline they’d go? There’s something so fucking funny to me about them going during the SUF-timeline and always narrowly missing the strange, Steven-shaped mental breakdowns in the back. I know those don’t occur in a single day, but it’s tickling me. How could they miss anything? I don’t know I just think it’s funny.

Though, post-SUF is interesting if Gems can see the similar “world on your shoulders”, Mark has going on! Steven can shunt the narrative in the Gems’ minds, which I think is neat, if I’m not misusing the phrase since the guy’s on the road far away. Or maybe it’s just before Steven goes and they stumble into each other. I’d kinda love Pearl and Debbie interacting, honestly, if they could talk about loving someone who hurt you, hide things from you, even when you thought you knew them so deeply, and they left you to raise a child. Pearl being in a well adjusted space, and Debbie still grieving.

Honestly, the gems could help train Mark, they’re got experience and similar-ish powers in strength, sturdiness, and they can jump/run fast enough for flying to be vaguely similar enough to lecture about, I think. Or Lapis Lazulis, haha! Peridot with her trash can lid! Garnet, I’d love to see if she told Mark anything about his future in vague, well meaning advice. Or even giving relationship advice considering Amber. Or, importantly, how to convince an entire reign to end their colonizing ways, lol. Is Mark perhaps willing to start a war, take advantage of being related to any leaders, or fake his own death to varying results?

In general, there’s something so fucking funny to me about Nolan, in the sake of comparison, being Pink Diamond coded. Like OH, did an important or well respected of the colonizing empire come to earth and learn the beauty of its people and nature, including faking/lying/omitting things about his identity and background to being in, only to feel conflicted when his responsibility still remained, and he tried to free himself from them? Yikes! We’ve been through that before! Like gimme Pink Diamond and Nolan outfit swap rn. This is tickling me so much oh my goodness.

[absolutebl]

10 Best Kisses in Thai BL 

Type kissing Tharn after playing with his hair in TharnType - Type’s emotional agency and affection finally come out in this kiss from probably the kissiest couple in all BL 

Dean kissing Pharm for the first time in Until We Meet Again - it’s a goddam icon with that red thread and the way Pharm’s arms sneak around Dean’s neck 

Fighter kissing Tutor on the rooftop after the countdown in Why R U? - the symbolism of Fighter being blinded to his own sexual identity and then admitting it to Tutor outright after the kiss, gah 

King kissing Ram in a drunken rage at the end of My Engineer - flipping heck, such a good kiss, then the way Ram takes it over and turns it back on him, you know Ram is going to be an intense lover, it’s his only way of communicating 

Win & Tops kissing each other after their hug in Ingredients the series - the only mutual on this list, neither initiates, it just happens and it’s so cute + the way each character reacts is so pitch perfect 

Forth kissing Beam in the hospital bed in 2 Moons 2 - Forth’s aggression is so well done in 2m2, and it suits friends-to-lovers so much better than other romance tropes because Beam knows exactly what kind of person Forth is and this kiss is him finally accepting that  

Tul kissing Hin after 20 odd years of wanting to in Love By Chance 2 - they have so little screen time and such killer chemistry, I wonder sometimes if they were left to the wayside because TinCan comes off as utterly flat by comparison 

Mark kissing Kit’s neck after he was injured in Gen Y - I know it’s not a lip kiss but neck kisses are a personal favorite and SO RARE in BL that I’m sticking it in, I do love their aggressive kinky bitting kisses, but this is the first really tender one 

Pete grabbing and dragging Kao back to kiss in Dark Blue Kiss - my favorite thing about PeteKao is that Tay and New manage to portray a legitimate LTR and this kiss is a perfect example of that 

The final kiss between Sarawat & Tine in Still 2gether - we all waited a really really long time and it was perfectly done, also seeing Tine with sexual agency was, frankly, a relief 

For me the kiss needs to have emotion underpinning it, as well as a chemical draw, and a physical appeal. I need to sense that these two characters genuinely like each other in all three ways. 

I ran into an interesting video once about actors kissing and what makes for a good screen kiss. There’s chemistry, of course, but there is also something in the way the two have to breathe with (and kind of into) each other. Like a synchronized dance. When I harp on about actors and physicality this is part of that.

So I based my picks are based on seeing 

emotional + physical + chemical

all represented on screen together. 

As such, you will notice some vacancies.

Honorable mention to: 

Kong & Arthit’s first kiss in SOTUS for Kong’s little smile. Krist & Singto have good emotional and chemical connection but I never got any physical chemistry from them. I still love SOTUS because I just pretend they’re ace, but it does impact their kisses. 

Ae & Pete’s first kiss in the car in Love By Chance because of the raw awkwardness and the sweet conversation that surrounds it. I love these two best in all BL, but while Saint gives us all three, I rarely get physical from Perth. While this works under context of the narrative, it’s a reason none of their kisses made my top 10. 

Missing Babies

Phun & Noh in Love Sick are one of my all time favorite pairs, but aside from one off-cut kiss (when Noh grabs Phun in the hotel room) they mostly don’t and when they do it’s not good. Same with Fuse & Tea in Make it Right. I suspect this is mostly to do with the fact that the actors were minors at the time.

You all know I LOVE Oxygen, but I don’t think Slo & Gui ever gave the necessary physicality, much as I adore their emotional resonance. Similarly, while I LOVE Can kissing Tin in front of everyone on the football field, the two actors have no chemistry. Sorry, that’s just how i feel. 

It does deserve to be mentioned though, because it is the only public ownership kiss we have in BL. (It’s an EXTREMELY common trope in western het romances of course - it comes from “kiss the bride” ownership.) 

Top 3 Not Thai BL Kisses 

1. Hsia Yu Hao & Qiu Zi Xuan and their amazing net kiss in HIStory 2: Crossing the Line. Just, so stylish. I limited myself to Thai BL only, because otherwise I would have had to include this kiss and bump someone else out of top 10, and I just couldn’t stand the idea. But yeah, these two demonstrate a perfect execution of emotional + chemical + physical in short form drama, and they have to be acknowledged for that achievement. 

2. We Best Love’s Shi Yi kissing Shi De for the first time. I don’t have a good screen cap of Shu Yi’s confession kiss but it’s so good, it hits all three elements but manages to also have pining, frustration, realization, hope, fear, and competition elements. They are both crying and they lean into each other in a way that’s both gentle, loving, and desperate. 

3. The final kiss in To My Star between Seo Joon and Ji Woo is the the only Korea-made BL to make this list (no big surprises there). Korea and Japan are notorious for the “dead fish peck kiss” which is almost a “why bother at all?” situation (to be fair it’s not just BL but all romances). What TMS did was play on that expectation. It gave us several of these sad little kisses, and then twisted it so we could see that they were all the result of Ji Woo’s walls, and that after those walls crumble he is soft and sweet and all the attraction is mutual. It did that by giving us a truly beautiful last kiss that used emotional + physical + chemical combined with teasing affection (a bit like Sarawat & Tine’s final kiss in Still 2gether). TMS is one of those BLS that REALLY benefits from rewatching, and the kissing is only one aspect of that. 

Okay, that’s it. Who’d I forget? 

(I should note that H3: Trapped, Manner of Death, Long Time No See are not on the list because I don’t consider them BL.) 

New entrants: 

Second Chance kiss between Fah and Paper in ep 3 is just so full of tea angst and anxiety. It’s a pitch perfect YA style first kiss. 

Self doing a deep dive in what makes for a good kiss in BL from a watcher’s perspective. Too much details? Is there ever? 

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Slippin’ Mickeys

Only 3 stories by Slippin’ Mickeys ended up at Gossamer, but she’s written many more stories than that. She’s also one of the few authors who posted numerous stories during the show’s original run and then again in the revival years. I’ve recced some of my favorites of her stories here, including Last Chance Falls and Currahee. Big thanks to Slippin’ Mickeys for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

I would say that it does and doesn't surprise me. It surprises me that anyone would want to read something I wrote all those years ago, (only in that I was an actual teenager at the time, and had no chops at all -- I've grown a lot as a writer, and honestly have trouble reading my old stuff because I would have made much different creative decisions now). But the fanfiction that came out of the original run of the show -- from almost day one -- was so rich and varied and a lot of it so well written that I am not the least bit surprised that people want to read it today. I go back and read old favorites often, and am always thrilled to find something that's new-to-me, even if it's 27 years old.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

The first thing I think about when I think about my fandom experience are the friends I made along the way. The X-Files came up with the internet, and there was a whole new way of connecting with people that liked the things that you liked. To this day, I am good friends with many people that I met through the show back in 1997-98. When the revival came about, I dove back in, and made new, more recent friendships that are just as rich. I love the show, but I also love the people I met along the way.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I first got into the show's online community on some random message board that I think I probably found through a Yahoo search one day in a computer lab on my university's campus. I connected with one woman from Greece named Fay that day, who invited me to join a group of women that chatted about the show after it aired on Monday nights. After the first time I hooked up with them, we talked almost daily via ICQ. Later, in the early aughts, I found the forums on Mighty Big TV/Television Without Pity, where some of the most intelligent discussion was going on. The forums were heavily moderated, and so they were always on topic, and it was just a smart, funny, great place to be.

Eventually, I started working for TWoP as both a writer and moderator (surprise! A lot of people don't know this because TWoP protected the identities of their mods so well, but I was the X-Files board mod after Jessica left!). It was my first paid writing gig and opened doors for me both professionally and personally. Two TWoP recappers were in my wedding!

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Fanfiction opened my eyes to storytelling as a medium. I'd obviously gone to school and read books, but it opened my eyes to words to could do and be. It was a heady time. There were stories of every stripe. Short, long, canon-compliant, AU, experimental, you name it. We had such gifted writers, too. To this day, I'd almost rather read a piece of well written fanfic than a good book. Fanfic made me want to be a storyteller myself.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

It was the 'ship. God bless the ship. My first episode was Never Again, but I didn't watch again until I was sitting with my college roommate freshman year and she was like "sorry, but I have to watch The X-Files on Sunday nights." That first episode was Redux. The next week was Redux II, and by then it was all over for me. The lengths Mulder and Scully would go to for each other? And the relationship wasn't even sexual? Here were two people who loved each other. Really loved each other. Selflessly. I was SO IN.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

At first, I started reading it. This was back when you could only watch the show in reruns or on those VHS tapes that were sold in three packs that had two eps on each tape (I still have the trading cards that came with them), so after I burned through the VHS options (of which there were few), and set my VCR to tape the weekly reruns on FX, I needed MORE. I found fanfic. And in fanfic, Mulder and Scully actually like, kissed and maybe even had sex! I read everything I could get my hands on. Pretty soon, I wanted to write it myself.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Things are tough these days. It's a hard world to live in, and politics aside, it just feels like everything is falling apart around us. When I first found the show, my life was in a bit of upheaval and I dove into the fandom to distract myself. I'm doing the same thing these days. When the show ended, I left the fandom and lived without it for about 15 years. But when the revival came (and really only after finishing season 11 -- season 10 didn't do much for me), I dove back in. I have quite a few more responsibilities these days, but when I can't watch the news anymore, I log on to XF Twitter (I use my fandom account far more than my IRL account) or Tumblr and get lost for a while. And most nights find me reading or writing fanfic before bed. When the world gets better (I'm cautiously optimistic) and the show has been off the air for years and years, will I leave again? Maybe. But for now, it's once again my happy place.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Nothing hardcore. The X-Files is my ride or die.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I do an occasional episode or movie rewatch. Not too often, but when I'm jonesing and have 45 free minutes, I'll put one on. But I'm writing fanfic again, and I get hit with inspiration at random and odd intervals, so it's safe to say I find myself thinking about Mulder and Scully probably more than is healthy.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

All the time. The old stuff, the new stuff, the good stuff. If I have five minutes and my kid is entertaining himself? I'll happy pull out an old favorite.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I'm reluctantly abstaining from this question, as I'm still active in the fandom and I know that naming favorites will hurt some feelings.

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Of The Eight Winds is probably my favorite. I've had a lot of fun writing AU's lately. It's a nice creative outlet, taking our favorite agents and plunking them in a totally different world.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

Do I! I have a whole ass queue. It's frankly irresponsible.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I was writing professionally before I had a baby, and I took years off to be a stay at home mom. Once my kiddo was finally in school full time, I started writing again. With the pandemic, that's for the most part on hold, as I just don't have the bandwidth to dedicate to professional work. Fanfic is easier to play with when you only have five minutes here or there, and it's also great exercise when it comes to plotting and prose, so I'm  sticking with fic for now. When the kiddos are all back in school, maybe I can start getting paid again.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

I get a lot of prompts that I just adore. And honestly, a lot of times, I'll post a stupid picture or ridiculous prompt of my own on Twitter and get dared to write it. If the idea gets stuck in my craw, I generally have to exorcise the demon.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Bad Blood had just aired and I was obsessed with it. I wanted to pay homage to it, so took Mulder's "who slipped him the mickey?" quote and ran with it. Do I regret that? Sometimes.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My husband knows and is supportive. He's a working writer, so he supports my endeavors, though I know he wishes I were doing something I could monetize. But it makes me happy, and ultimately: happy wife, happy life and all that jazz.

The friends of mine that I've made through the fandom all know and are super supportive.

As for the rest, well... I have a nom de plume on purpose!

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

All my newest work is on AO3. My old stuff can be found on various archives. Like the truth... it's out there.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

I'd leave it with: we're a blessed fandom. The show we stan (even with the real stinkers, there's always something to love) keeps giving, the fellow fans are all some of the smartest, sweetest, and most dedicated people out there... we've been blessed for 25 years, and I don't see that stopping any time soon.

(Posted by Lilydale on August 11, 2020)

[floaty-pickle]

this postmortem felt so healing honestly. im gonna go back and rewatch it right fter i finish typing this up. them EXPLICITLY TELLING YALL that theyre friends (which is sorta sad that they had to do that but apparently some of you dont know how friends behave around each other, especially when theyre very comfortable with each other), shane straight up telling you hes always gonna be like ~that~ (i actually wrote a post about this and im so glaaaadddd he said it but also so maaad that people genuinely wanted him to change. ive spat truth since forever friends.), them just being really chill, teasing each other, ryans dumb reactions to the masterpiece that was this ep of the hotdaga.... i know its only been a week, but everything that has happened has made it feel like so much longer. i needed that to ground myself again. i didnt know how rattled ive been until just now, it feels like ive finally uncenched a muscle that has been tight for too long (i am fully aware of how dramatic i am rn, just fyi. i know.). 

i didnt really engage in any “fighting” or other things aside from making these few posts and after i blocked or unfollowed what feels like close to a hundred blogs (i was genuinely surprised by how many bfu blogs i was following tbh lmao) i didnt do much snooping or lurking (which im kinda proud of tbh), but i was always waiting for the next thing to drop? like, i obviously know that ive weeded out everyone im not willing to trust and only follow chill people now, but its hard to come down from that kind of nervous energy. this situation and the posts that i made have gained me a LOT of followers and attention in a very short amount of time, which is flattering dont get me wrong, always nice to see people are agreeing with you, but that was never my goal for this blog? (im probably making this sound like more than it really is, but considering i came into last week with maybe 60 followers this HAS been a very drastic increase, you should see the followers graph its absurd) i honestly just wanted this to be a blog where i compile stuff i like about bfu, where i can share some of my thoughts with other people. i dont want to be a name in a fandom (i was very involved in some other fandoms and i know that this position mostly attracts drama), i dont want to be anwhere near the centre of attention.

so that was a very very long winded way of telling you im finally gonna do that hiatus i talked about? its not gonna be a strict one, ill come back every time an ep or a postmortem  drops to look at the content you guys make, but im not gonna be on this blog every day. im not gonna be home for the next few days anyways, so now is really a good time to get some distance, remove myself from the fandom (thats a good thing to do every once in a while. reminds you that its just that. a fandom. a thing thats supposed to bring you joy, not throw you into a mini crisis because youre getting trust issues) and maybe come back when im not so tense anymore.

you can ofc still message me, i met some genuinely nice people in this fandom those last days and im happy about that, but dont expect this blog to be callout central. that was (hopefully) a one time thing that happened because i could not let something like this stand without comment. some things absolutely needed to be said and im glad i did, because so many people messaged me saying they were afraid to do the first step and were glad someone finally said something or others told me they thought they were alone in their “opinion” and I GET IT. im absolutely not judging anyone for not wanting to speak up about something like this, especially in a fandom you are much more invested in than i am. i didnt know anyone before, so there was nobody i was afraid to “piss off”. ive said it before, bfu is not my main fandom. i would be sad to leave it, but if it came to that then id be able to deal with it pretty well. drama is something i have enough of tbh, i dont have to artificially create more by starting fights with weird people for attention.

soooo... uhhh yeah.... see you soon?

(one last thought: you can always, always cut out people that make you feel unsafe or uncomfortable. tumblr sometimes makes it seem like once you follow somebody youve entered an unbreakable contract and unfollowing is a big insult. its really not. unfollow people. block people. you dont owe anyone anything. you probably wont be able to change a toxic person, their behaviour or their opinions, but you can change the way they influence you, at least here on tumblr. unfollow, block, blacklist. youll feel better.)

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Rokuhoudou 1 - 12 (REWATCH) | Fruits Basket 25 (FINAL) | Demon Slayer 25 - 26 (FINAL) | Mob Psycho 100 II OVA | Cop Craft 11 - 12 (FINAL) | Dr Stone 11 | Ahiru no Sora 1 | Shinchou Yuusha 1

New anime of the season, here we go!

Rokuhoudou 1 (REWATCH)

I’m doing a new project where I rewatch some of my favourites to test their integrity in that regard. Here’s the first show - Rokuhoudou. So what I remember about Rokuhoudou is that it’s very simple – the guys make food and help people, occasionally there’s cats – and that was enough to help me through a mental rough patch I was going through at the original time of airing.

Being sick and watching with a cinnamon roll really brings home the idea of Rokuhoudou as “comfort food for the eyes”…No, it’s not what you think. I’m eating a cinnamon roll.

I always assumed the title was translated to “Four-Coloured Daily Life at Rokuhoudou”, because that would be the best translation if the title was fully in kanji. It’s not though, so the hiragana-rendered parts could mean anything.

Rokuhoudou almost gives you this sensation of being spirited away by good food (and Good Boys).

Sui sometimes reminds me of Kunikida (BSD)…must be the glasses.

Gure’s such a tease, LOL.

Tokitaka’s so refined, yet also has the heart and patience to help old people, plant things and make pottery. I love him~!

“You don’t need to show appreciation with bodily functions!”

I only just noticed it…but Gure has a nice eye colour.

Oh…I just realised this since I now know Tokitaka grows the veg and herbs out back, but Tokitaka must’ve grown them.

Hmm…I was wondering why you’d need a spoon for chazuke, but then I realised it’s because of the soup…D’oh.

I wonder if Tokitaka also made the chopstick holders…

Update: The ikura reminds me of Hinamatsuri…

Rokuhoudou 2 (REWATCH)

(Sorry, I had a note, but I didn’t write it down fast enough so I don’t have any for this ep…)

Rokuhoudou 3 (REWATCH)

Tokitaka has a flower in his hair (during the pottery wheel scene)…cute~!

Rokuhoudou 4 (REWATCH)

“You need to chill out.” – More like “you need to calm down”, amirite??? (LOL)

Look at how badass my bois are!

Now that I’ve been seriously working on my customer service skills, I sort of get the ethic behind the Rokuhoudou workers in general.

Rokuhoudou 5 (REWATCH)

Oyaji ga Susumeru Café Iko! – “The Old Guy Recommends Cafes to Go To!”, literally speaking. However, it’s quite slang and seems to be hinting at the positive connotations of an oyaji (fondness, the sort you’d have for your dad), so I approve of the chosen translation “Daddy-o’s Café Go!”.

Oh yeah…this is the weird delusion from Isago, isn’t it? I still rmembr writing a blog post about it!

Why does Tokitaka look so evil in this one scene (where he’s helping Tsubaki), anyway?

Rokuhoudou 6 (REWATCH)

(no notes, sorry!)

Rokuhoudou 7 (REWATCH)

(no notes, sorry!)

Rokuhoudou 8 (REWATCH)

I love how Gure gets all fired up just to pedal a duck boat.

Is it just me, or does young!Gure look like he was designed by Rihito Takarai (creator of Ten Count)…?

I can’t believe this…my stomach grumbled in the middle of an espresso episode…

“Who else could it be for?” – The dog?...I’m kidding, man…don’t get so angry at me, dog lovers.

I think this might be the 2nd time I thought the kid was called “you” (2nd person pronoun), but his nam is “You” (given name).

Oh! I don’t think I noticed this special ED the first time around.

Update: Gure is a happy drunk, LOL. Also, Gure is half-Italian, with his father being Japanese. (see ep. 1 of original watch-through for corresponding notes)

Rokuhoudou 9 (REWATCH)

Is the land of love France or Italy…?

Shinchosha is real…in fact, they��re the ones who publish Rokuhoudou’s manga!

Oh, seriously, I ship it now! Isago x Hayashi, that is…and Sui x kittens.

Update: Somehow I only just ralised it…but the titular “Mont Blanc Boy” is Tsunozaki, even though technically the only boys we see in this episode are young! Kyousui and Yakyou.

Rokuhoudou 10 (REWATCH)

The Napolitan episode…this is where Astral’s post comes from.

I get the feeling this segment’s title is a shoutout to “You Don’t Know Gunma Yet”, which is in…Kurage Bunch, also by Shinchosha, if I’m remembering correctly.

Gure and Tsubaki are like children sometimes, I swear…

Kuromitsu = brown sugar. (It means “black sweetness”, literally translating and it used to confuse me so much that I want to mention it here.)

VAINO computer, eh?

Tokyo NX, LOL. (Parody of Tokyo MX, which has a lot of anime.)

Short-haired Tokitaka!

I think Koto(ko…?)’s words, in particular, were one of the best monologues in this series when it comes to relaxing by realising I wasn’t alone in my doubts of the world. “Can I make it to my dreams?” I was asking the first time I saw this and even though I haven’t achieved the dreams of past me, I just had to adjust my expectations, make some new dreams and keep on going.

Rokuhoudou 11 (REWATCH)

Good heck, Gendo-I mean, Kyousui. (re: finger tenting)

Also, there is one univeral truth about this show: don’t watch it on an empty stomach…I had to go get some food a few eps. back in this rewatch because my stomach grumbled…

When I thought of “something rich”, I thought of a pudding too. Maybe my memory is better than I thought, huh?

I thought there was something dirty on my screen…turns out it was just Gure’s beauty spot.

Rokuhoudou 12 (FINAL, REWATCH)

“I’ll wake you up, then.”

I learnt this from the manga, but Itou is the old tea vendor.

Gin-chan reminds me of the inventor Logicalist from Hina Logi.

Karamimochi. By the way, from earlier in the ep…ankoro mochi.

Neneko was meant to be into kimonos, wasn’t she…?

Nion (sic) camera, LOL.

Okay, that’s the end of my first rewatch. It’s a keeper!

Fruits Basket 25 (FINAL)

Shihan = shisho = instructor.

Notice the Jizo, protector of children.

“…didn’t have to block…”

LOL, Tohru’s shocked face going from Kyo to Yuki.

Ooh, Makoto Takei and Machi Kuragi…

Isuzu!!!

Okay, that’s the end of that. See you next time!

Demon Slayer 25

So the other butterfly mansion girls (aside from Aoi, Shinobu and Kanao) are called Naho, Kiyo and Sumi, huh?

Tanjiro is seemingly a freakin’ masochist right now to those girls…

Ooh, there’s a butterfly in a chrysalis on the title card!

It seems, based on the kanji for Tsuguko, the word literally means “inheritor”, “successor” or “one who makes [another person’s role flourish by being in it]”…Like a Legacy Character from TV Tropes. Also, “Tsuyuri” literally means “chestnut flowers fall”, if I understand the characters right.

Kanao does the Naruto run. She wants to see them aliens too!

“Putting in effort isn’t my thing.” – Now there’s a sentence after my own heart!

Why does Kanao not talk???

Kanao’s coin says “front” and “back” instad of heads and tails.

Hmm, hmm…very heterosexual reading of Kanao here. It almost makes me lose hope in the “gay Shinobu” department (not that I’m angry about that).

This guy with the hat…I swear he looks like a jellyfish…

Why do all the swordsmiths wear that mask???

There’s one thing I realised this episode…anime humour means I expect exaggerated reactions to a lot of things, such as Inosuke chipping his swords like that.

I remember being a bit annoying about the interchangeability between the translation of honoo as “fire” and “flame” when I was a Boueibu rookie...*sighs happily* good times.

Okayyyyyy…Tanjiro’s gone cuckoo…

Nezuko, Inosuke and Zenitsu, huh? There’s a combo I’ve never seen!

Mob Psycho 100 OVA

Isekai hot springs, LOL.

I think I can see Saitama’s bald head, LOL.

I think there might be CGI on this hot springs establishment…

This is Reigen, king of bulls*%$, everyone!

Nanbanzuke.

“[P]air of plumbers”, eh…?

Ooh, 8-bit graphics! Remember season 2’s early scenes? That 8-bit one was good.

Dude, Reigen…just leave the train already…then you’ll get out.

LOL, “Mobpis”...Mobpis 100, maybe?

Strangely, Teru looks vaguely hot in one frame of one scene where he has his eyes closed.

Why do I get the feeling the capybaras on TV will be relevant later…?

Now, this parallel world brings a new meaning to “Infinity Train”!

Nice callback to the opening words of s1 and 2.

…and randomly, Dimple can be seen in the red waves.

It seems Dimple likes sprouting legs these days.

Cop Craft 11

Tourte’s career…almost sounds like Trump’s…

“No one treats me like an alien.”

Don’t bring a sword to a gun fight, Tilarna…

The name “transitional crises” is perfect for this episode…geesh. Just like episode 1, there’s a cliffhanger.

Dr Stone 11

Notice the focus on E=mc2 when Senku talks about passing on knowledge.

Ahh, science…the cliché says it’s for loners, but truth be told, science works in tag teams just like anything else. (Yes, even IT, if you look at it a certain way – such as how creating your code builds upon the people who built that code and the people who made the programs you code in.

Why do all the villagers have platform shoes anyway???

Demon Slayer 26 (FINAL)

Is that woman (not the Biwa player, the other one)…Muzan?! Update: Yes.

Genya…he got so tall in 2 years(ish)…poor Tanjiro. He’s fated to kill Kibutsuji, but he’s also fated to be short.

Does every girl in this series have to fall in love with Tanjiro?!?! (or be implied to be shippable with him, even Nezuko???) I obviously don’t like that kind of direction, as you can see.

Ah, Kanao speaks…for once.

I guess Nezuko has a really loud heart voice, to contrast Kanao’s tiny heart voice, so to speak.

How does Inosuke eat anything through the boar head if he’s taking it off all the time now to do things with his mouth???

Darn that ninja Giyu, leaving as soon as he feels sentimental. (LOL)

*starts yelling at top of lungs* MU-GEN TRAIN! (roughly to the tune of TM Network’s Love Train, which I heard about a few months before this)

I just realised Tanjiro’s probably never seen a train, considering the only transport he’s ever known is maybe a carriage/cart…or maybe just his legs.

As Zenitsu’s struggling to keep up with the train, I almost expect the Harry Potter theme to play and a flying car to appear in the distance…okay, I’m kidding about the car, but I did wish for a second the Harry Potter song would play. Nur-nurr-nur-nurrrrrr-nur-nurrrrrr-nurr…(or something)

Cop Craft 12 (FINAL)

“…taking the lead in the mayoral lead.” – That sounds redundant.

Hey! It’s that one Demon Slayer joke again! (i.e. Kei used his head.)

Dead Randall: too much for TV.

I still can’t believe they properly managed to incorporate the porn case into the finale…

I watched Hellsing today and all this “Sir Matoba” this and “Sir Matoba” that made me wonder…why is Integra a “Sir” as well…?

Zelada does look like Alucard in some senses…hmm.

I think the large bruise over Kei’s eye disappeared in one of the scenes…Now it’s just under his eye.

Wait, Tilarna has a sibling??? Wuh???

I like how they transitioned into the OP, but man…talk about a fast ending. That’s a Hellsing kinda ending fo’ sure. Oh well, see you next time.

Ahiru no Sora 1

New season, new faces, new series. Let’s get into it.

Man, this sparrow freaks me out…

Lyrics from the outset. This must be something special to warrant such a thing.

I always thought Kuzuryuu (“nine-headed dragon”, literally translating) was a cool surname to have! Or just a place name, in this case.

LOL, his name is Momohara (peach field).

The arcade machine says “fist” in the back.

Uh-oh…nothing ever goes right when a boy tries peeping into the girl’s locker room…

*sigh* The male gaze…geesh.

“What are you doing?!” (Nani yatterun da?!) doesn’t translate to “This isn’t the circus!”.

Oh right…Momo = 100, chi = 1000, haru = spring, aki = autumn.

Hey, Chiaki actually got Sora’s name right for once…

Basically everything I know about basketball is from Kuroko no Basuke, so…uh…Sora’s reminding me of Kuroko right now.

Shinchou Yuusha 1

I just call this “TUEEE” instead…don’t mind me. Obviously, my target here is Ume…y’know that, right?

Most of these gods and goddesses look suckish, but I wouldn’t mind an anime about the one with the long hair and Monkey King headband.

Ristarte’s already a bundle of fun…although her leg jiggling’s a bit annoying…

(mocking) There must be a downside to this, right, Listarte…?

Can we not with boob storage??? I bet no matter how big a woman’s knockers are, you can’t store anything between ‘em in real life! (I think we’d need an anime Mythbusters for something like that…make it happen, someone!)

YesyesyesyesYES! OOH, Ristarte, you sure know how to pick ‘em! The fact he’s over 180 cm in height is…well, it’s bad for trying to kiss him, but otherwise it’s just a cherry on the cake of smokin’ HOT!

“[F]ish story”??? You mean “fishy”, right? (Oh well, seems like synonyms work too…)

I…don’t quite get this song…but I think I saw a hot guy (might’ve been a woman, but I’d like it to be a man since there are already so many women in the OP as is) about halfway through the OP. It’s a real 2 for 1 bargain here, people. Update: Argh…that’s a woman after all…

Argh! *is suddenly sabotaged by one Ariadoa* If you’ve read the Spellbook, you’ll know one of my aliases is “Aria Noyed”. It just happens to be the same as an anime and manga already, but now I have it ruining my fun here too…

LOL, did you hear that “ba-bing!” acquistion sound when Rista produced the money?

To be honest, I think regular Seiya (with the purple-highlighted armour as you see here) looks pretty hot anyway (plus Ume’s voice, which I came for), so I think I have a lock-in for the season right here.

The sakuga in this show is way too good (according to all the cubes of soil I keep seeing)!

This ED is a pretty cool bop, yo.

[callistawolf]

Season 5: the Good, the Bad, and the Meh

We made it to the end of the season!

There was a time when I wasn’t sure we would. There was a time I thought “can we just fast forward the next few months and get there already?” And crazy cliffhanger that I willfully ignored could actually happen aside, I did believe we’d end up here. Yes, even back at the start of the season. I knew we’d end with Olicity back together and Oliver fully evolved. I think that’s the most important thing. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

So I’m going to do a post on the Good, the Bad and the Meh about this last season. And since it’s my post, I have the right to post these things out of order. Let’s start with the Bad, simply because I like getting bad news out of the way first.

The Bad

Susan Williams I think we can all agree that she was the worst of this season, regardless of if you liked season 5 or not. Listen, the showrunners can say until they’re blue in the face that Susan wasn’t meant to be shady or that she was a good person but I know what I know. And Susan was shady. And she was a terrible person. And nothing I ever saw on the screen ever dissuaded me of that. She came on the screen in such a way that the audience was immediately against her. No one, save Oliver, seemed to like her. Even Lance kinda curled his lip at her mention. She was researching a story behind Oliver’s back and we never really got a good resolution for that. The actress didn’t have great chemistry with Stephen, Oliver looked like he’d rather chew his arm off than lay in bed with her in 5x12. The breakup was anti-climactic and downright cold. I just am not sure what the point of her was, outside of being a love interest for Oliver. (More about the whole love interest thing under “The Meh”)

Lack of Diggle It’s not that Dig wasn’t around this year… he was… but I didn’t feel like we got as much Diggle as we deserve. For one thing, he was in the army and/or prison for so much of the first handful of episodes. Which… no. Not a fan. And even when we got him back, he seemed to be more of a “newbie whisperer” than anything else. I guess it made the moments he stood out all the better (episode 5x18 in particular but I also have a fond spot for 5x20). We need more Diggle. 150% more.

5x13: Specter of the GunThe gun control ep. Ugh. I never thought any episode would supplant 3x13 “Canaries” in my opinion of worst Arrow episode ever but 5x13 proved me wrong. Maybe there’s a jinx on the 13th episode of the season? Cuz… I don’t think there’s been one so far that I actively LIKE. But this episode was particularly bad. It didn’t really further the season long arc or even play into the season long theme. Characters who should have spoken up were silent and the ones who did speak up said things we’d rather wish they hadn’t. Very uneven. The true nadir of season 5.

Lack of Thea I could also include “Lack of Lance” here too since they were both nearly equally sidelined but it did feel, especially towards the end, that Quentin got some meaty story to grapple with (and I did love his interaction with Rene). Thea, on the other hand, got the bum end of the stick and it was frustrating. We only got to see her suit up once, for the crossover. She was either stuck in City Hall or… mysteriously out of town. I liked her grappling with her similarities to Moira but would have liked more time spent on that. I would have appreciated more of a showdown between her and Susan. Also, let’s not fool ourselves: Thea was right about Susan. Can we get better treatment for Oliver’s sister in season 6? Please?

Felicity Smoak Say it isn’t so! I was conflicted about Felicity this year, so I’ve got her under both The Good and The Bad. So first... the bad. I do feel she was mis-used in 5a. Her Havenrock resolution had more to do with Rory than it did herself. Her relationship with Billy Malone was two dimensional and half-formed. We don’t even know how they met. Then there’s the issue of her employment. She gets money from her shares of Palmer Tech but what does she do? I have a hard time believing she would just do nothing when not Arrow-ing. I just felt those things were overlooked in favor of Oliver’s story in 5a, which while I understand, I still found frustrating

The Meh

Billy and the Love Interests Sounds like an pretty meh indie band, doesn’t it? Listen, I’m not going to defend the show for going the love interest route with Oliver and Felicity while they were broken up. I knew when season 4 ended with them still apart that it was a possibility. Not just that, but a likelihood. This is TV. Furthermore, this is the CW. And since Olicity is endgame, you gotta milk the last time they’re apart for all it’s worth, right? Plus, how better to show that these two can’t move on than show them trying to move on?

I get it. It still was lame. There were other directions they could have gone. But the fact of the matter is they didn’t. So we got Billy and Susan. I already addressed the awfulness of Susan that had (almost) little to do with her dating Oliver. Billy wasn’t Bad, he was just Meh. It was difficult to understand why Felicity would hook up with a guy like Billy Malone after she’d had Oliver, you know? Then again, maybe that was the point. She wanted someone as not like him as possible. I feel like the show pulled it’s punches with him and with Susan too, to be fair. It was a lot more traumatizing to watch Felicity’s relationship with Ray and Oliver’s with Sara, for example. But Billy was still bland. And while I’m not exactly unhappy that they didn’t try to make him (or Susan) more compelling, it didn’t exactly translate to thrills on screen.

Bratva Flashbacks It pains me to say this. I had such grand hopes for these flashbacks. But there were a couple strikes against it. Namely that the whole flashback thing was pretty played out. Viewers were pretty tired of the device by the time season 5 started. Secondly, the flashbacks sometimes drew needed focus way from what was happening in the present. That said, they were a sight better than the season 4 flashbacks and it was really awesome to see Anatoly again. The flashbacks weren’t all that bad, and it was really great to see Oliver come back full circle, become the dark man we met in the pilot. But I’m not at all sad to see these particular flashbacks come to an end.

Second Tier Villains You never want your JV squad to overshadow your Varsity team right? The problem is that for the first 15 episodes, we didn’t know the identity of our Varsity captain. The menace of Prometheus was appropriately haunting though and I don’t think we would have noticed the lack quite as much if the secondary villains had been more compelling. Tobias Church fell flat. Derek Sampson failed to thrill me (I want the original Count back, please). Even the girl gang of Cupid, China White and Lady Cop were mostly meh. I wasn’t captivated by these guys. Was anyone?

The Cliffhangers I think its time to accept that Arrow just doesn’t do cliffhangers very well. I tend to enjoy midseasons and finales that have a more emotional and resolved ending. I loved the ending of 2x23 and 3x23. I loved the ending of 2x09 too. 5x09 left off with the Laurel reveal. Which, for me, didn’t work as a cliffhanger. And this could have something to do with being in fandom and knowing too much. Because I knew Laurel wasn’t back, I expected the fakeout. So the whole thing felt manipulative in order to generate buzz which makes me cranky. Maybe if I were a more casual fan, I would have been more surprised. It’s a similar gripe that I have about 5x23. We know what cast members are returning in season 6. So the island exploding doesn’t really work as a cliffhanger. It’s emotional, sure, but I think it would have been nicer to end with Oliver leaving that island behind both past and present.  

Oliver Queen as Mayor There were moments I enjoyed but overall, the mayor storyline just fell flat for me. Could be because of Susan. Could be because of the gun control episode. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll change my mind on a rewatch, knowing how the Adrian stuff all shook out, but at the time, I just had a hard time really caring and I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt that. I hope this role is beefed up and used in an interesting way in season 6.

The Good

Stunts! Well, not just stunts but all the fight sequences. This was most apparent in the first few episodes of the season but I saw the stunts as consistent throughout the season. In years previous, it looked like capable fighters like Diggle and Oliver were being sidelined to spotlight other, less capable fighters. *Ahem* This year, save for Curtis, everyone is a capable fighter, more or less, so it makes for more engaging fighting sequences for all.

Oliver’s Growth This might be my favorite part of season 5. Which is a lucky thing because this is probably what season 5 was chiefly about. If you don’t like Oliver, don’t care about his journey, then I imagine season 5 fell flat. But I saw the resolution of a 10 year journey and watching all the pieces fall into place was immensely satisfying as a fan. And this growth was twofold. We got to see Oliver become the man we met in the pilot and we got to see Oliver leave that broken man behind too. I’m still smiling just thinking about it.

Prometheus During 5a, we weren’t entirely sure if Prometheus was going to pay off. The setup was pretty good, he was legitimately freaky and I was intrigued but I know I’m not the only one who started to feel a little concerned that the identity payoff wasn’t going to be worth it. When we learned he was Adrian Chase, that reveal felt so anti-climactic that I was definitely disappointed. But then we got to see what Prometheus was all about, and how amazingly thorough Adrian was as a villain. And I’ll be darned, the guy won me over. And then some. Hands down, my favorite Arrow villain. The word “menace” was created to describe men like him and it was a pleasure to watch.

Newbies Are you surprised to see me list this under “Good”? I know a lot of people were reluctant at the start of the season to welcome a whole new team. Admittedly, I was in favor of giving them a try. I grew to love them. Well, except for Evelyn who betrayed my babies and Curtis who just seemed to grow more and more aggravating as the season went on. But I love Rory, I grew to love Rene and Dinah was such an instant and easy fit on the squad that I couldn’t help but love her too. I love the “B Team”. There, I said it.

Felicity Smoak So I had her under “The Bad” but it wasn’t all bad for Ms. Smoak in season 5 The good news, is that Felicity in 5b got a lot better agency with the story than she got in 5a. She still didn’t have a job, but she was no longer in some sort of strange place-holder relationship. And she had issues. And she made mistakes. And she looked out for herself (and her team too, but herself first and foremost which I found so great for her overall journey). Her reactions in 5x10, leading to her toying with darkness in 5x12 and then getting in with Helix full-stop after that… Be still my heart. I loved it. It might not make up for the dropped balls for her in 5a, not entirely, but 5b definitely lessened my annoyance so I’m counting some of this as a good.

The 100th Episode I’ve made no secret that I am generally skeptical of the DCTV crossovers. Save for the first one (which I consider to be season 2, when Barry first showed up on Arrow), I think they’re mostly meh. Especially the Arrow side of the crossover. This year was different. It was Arrow’s 100th episode and while all the heroes were fighting aliens (god, I still can’t believe they did that… sodumb), the Arrow ep was an alien induced dreamworld which meant most of the episode was… different. I know a lot of people didn’t enjoy the LL/OQ of it all, but I couldn’t help but see the parallels between his relationship there with his relationship with Felicity. Plus, it was a very emotional hour for Oliver and absolutely tied in with his journey this season. Seeing his parents again, having that temptation… it meant a lot. I found it to be very meaningful and as a fan of Oliver’s growth, very satisfying.

The Pacing Arrow has always struggled with pacing. I feel like season 5 has handled it better than most previous seasons and if anything, the progression has been a little slow at times. But slow is better than fast, I feel, especially for a story arc like this. Everything felt like it happened when it was supposed to happen, which is satisfying for me, as a viewer. The last eight episodes were the best run of episodes we’ve seen since 2a, if you ask me. I did not feel as though any balls were dropped, as though anything was rushed… even Olicity is taking things “one step at a time” which if you ask me, is a great thing. I’ll talk more about that here in a minute. As for the main action of the season, the build into the finale was pitch perfect.

Olicity I know this is probably a controversial opinion but I liked everything we saw with Olicity this year. I went into season 5 knowing that my ship was broken up and would likely stay broken up for the bulk of the season. That was just facts. Since I wasn’t expecting a reunion for most of the season, I found it easier to sit back and enjoy the small moments, hints and gestures that we did get. Especially given what we learned in 5x20 about the months before s5 began, I find their interactions early in the season to be particularly poignant and bittersweet. I really liked how the show had Oliver and Felicity walk in each other’s shoes a bit. I also really appreciated that these two never lost their love for on another. They couldn’t be together, not until certain things were dealt with first, but their affection was a constant. Their foundation was rock solid and that’s how they rebuild their relationship now; on that firm and strong foundation. By the time the end of the season arrived, their reunion was a natural thing, a foregone conclusion. I loved that.

I think, all told, I really enjoyed season 5. I love it for what it is: the culmination of Oliver Queen’s 10 year journey. Felicity and his relationship with her are a fairly significant piece of that puzzle but that’s all still just a piece. Words can’t express how satisfying watching that finale were, to see Oliver coming full circle like that, to become the man he was always meant to be. Robert Queen would be so proud. And so am I.

Now… bring on season 6! I hear the theme of the season is family which makes me so happy because that’s what I was hoping for. We’ve got William, we’ve got his relationship with Felicity (can you say wedding time… for real this time??) and we’ve also got the found family he has with his team. I can’t imagine a more perfect way to move on from here than that. Can’t wait for October!

[pineforphantompain]

WCTH Season Six Rewatch thoughts

Going back to this season I really enjoyed it. Like, it’s a mediocre hallmark show, but for what it is, this season is quite good. Aside from the good Elizabeth and Lucas content of S7, I like almost everything else about S6 more. The episodes flow well together and are pretty consistent with quality. We get to see Elizabeth standing on her own as a mother, a schoolteacher, and her own woman. We also see her being supported by others in town. Without too much focus on a love interest, and then with Abigail’s departure, I really came to enjoy and appreciate Elizabeth as a character.

(This got a little longer than planned, more under the cut)

Even the storylines and relationships I don’t like as much are better here. Like I don’t love Carson and Faith together, but looking back I prefer their S6 stuff. It’s not great, but tolerable. Clara and Jesse are cute. Even though they have conflict, and Jesse can be a bit of a mess sometimes, it feels like I can believe that they love each other and could build a life together. They’re sweet and watching the lead up to engagement again was nice. I actually really liked what they did with Henry this season. There is nuance to his character, he has flaws and isn’t this perfect wholesome morally pure hallmark darling, but he’s interesting and not a bad guy; this season felt like it got it right. He wasn’t completely in the wrong, but still managed to do some things to upset people. He’s a genuinely interesting and layered character (and a snazzy dresser too), and that’s why he is my fave man of Hope Valley. Season six had genuine progress for his character and story, making the way S7 did my man dirty even more disappointing, but that’s a rant for after that rewatch. I am also a fan of the complex, but not entirely hostile dynamic he has with Bill. Speaking of Bill, I thought this was a good season for him too. He had things to do, plot lines of his own, and was fairly consistent as a character even as his role and place in the show was shifting slightly. And now the last thing I want to touch on for my thoughts on the season as a whole, is the new character introductions. Going in order: Fiona! yay 😊. No complaints, I just like her. Lucas! Love him and enjoyed the way he was brought in and started to settle in in town. When I first watched this season, it was a much simpler time, when I thought he and Elizabeth would be cute, but wasn’t yet ready to die for them. And now I dread complete heartbreak. Anyway! S6 Lucas Bouchard was fun. Nathan. (No exclamation point). I didn’t mind his introduction, and almost liked him this season, but still. He could have been an interesting character, and I like him as new town Mountie. Don’t love Allie, but I like family storylines, and there were some things I enjoyed with her introduction. I think they did a pretty decent job of naturally bringing everyone in and spaced the new character intros out well. Overall I liked the season the first time, and it was nice to revisit. Despite being the first season after losing one of the main characters, and then having to work around another main character’s sudden departure after it had been filmed and started airing, this season managed to not feel like a mess, or like it was missing something (for me, I never liked Jack so that might have something to do with it). It was a coherent, pleasant season. I love parts of S7, but 6 was so much better for me in most ways and I sincerely like it, even if I still wouldn’t go so far as to say any season of WCTH is good, this one comes close and might be my fave? Or maybe season one is, but the point is that it’s close. If I can still stomach looking at this show after Season 8, I might return for another rewatch then!

Episode breakdown

Liked, didn’t love: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7. Least Favourite (but not disliked): 5 & 8 There really aren’t any episodes this season I dislike, but I liked these a little less than the others. I’ve never been a huge fan of Allie (I liked her more s7 actually) and along with that there’s some other stuff I didn’t love in ep 5 (there is also plenty I still liked!). As for 8, this may be a strange choice, since it’s no secret I’m quite fond of Lucas Bouchard, but I just don’t care much about the whole Amos thing. There isn’t a whole lot I care about this episode actually.

Favourite episodes: 6 & 9 Ep 6 - Florence! Florence! Florence! There is a decent enough storyline focusing on the best character Florence (much better than the similar one given to poor Molly in S7), and with it the beginning of my favorite friendship on the show (Florence and Fiona). Here is also where we just sort of started with the library stuff, and what I see as the first major turning point for my ship. Also, did I mention I love Florence? A good episode. :) Ep 9 - Another good episode I really like. It’s just a lovely end to the season. There is perhaps a little too much going on, maybe they think cramming the finale with lots of things makes it more impactful idk? I can’t complain too much, though. I guess I could have done without Spencer stuff, I did skip some of those scenes, but they had to promote the spinoff I guess. We got plenty of Rosemary, which is always a treat, and I liked her with Fiona. Julie! Nice to see her. The christening stuff all felt kinda rushed, but it was nice as an important motherhood milestone. Plus I liked the assigning of godparent/guardian roles as it’s nice to Elizabeth having meaningful relationships with other characters. Ending on the dance was great 😉.