#been plenty of other times I've been with somebody having an episode and it's been chill as hell.

[thedreadvampy]

sometimes I forget that my experience has been. um. not 'your experiences are not universal' vibes but more like 'your experiences are EXTREMELY atypical'

[gen4grl]

Wheeze, here we are at long last before I have to go into College/Life lockdown again. You won't believe how much can happen in a month and the huge projects that lie ahead, but anyways! - It's cool how you have a PHD in Silver Handling. The closest acronym I could get for that was calling it a Psy.D (precarious Silver yeeting doctorate LOL) anyways you're so right, good analytic potential AND its interesting that it's him being Giovanni's son that you point out. I like that bit too, and I'd love to hear what about it makes it so dope to you :D - Twitter is the trenches </3 glad you like it here more :3 tumblr is THE place for neurodivergent folks like us and HARD AGREE on reading game dialogue. its my favorite lore hunting technique. I cannot fight Gyms until every inch of that city has been explored. - Literally bouncing up at down at the mental imagery of Leaf sitting at a blocky computer with Bill. I can just vaguellyyyy reach out to that era through memory, of idk, images, did I ever see them in person? in dreams? all I know is that even in the early 20s the age of dial-up phones wasn't instantly forgotten. maybe at someone's house. but there is SO much 90s to project there and it can be so enjoyable. nostalgia + growing up + that one era that is more romanticized in retro aesthetic and the social culture bc that's how the neighbors eldest daughters grew up and how do we, in modern times, achieve that? - if it's controversial, nobody's yapping about it when it comes to other characters lol. Leaf is pretty consistent if you keep an open mind so taking from other media 100% makes sense. I do it too :P oooh Silver and Leaf meeting on 5 island I love that!! aw man, with the Rocket base and that Scientist I'm just full of giggling here. Pff, Archer is going to get his butt kicked by the boss's son's friend HA tfw the same kids you see running around take down TR - oh I like how you bring the environment and economy into it, solid reasoning for moving + Pallet connects to the ocean that leads to Cinnabar, no? but yeah :D great customer base, little homey place but close to Viridian and the Indigo Plateau as well, plenty of people stopping by! omg Leaf coming from the hair sprouts 😭 oh that's clever I like it! - really enamored with the Bill + Leaf aspects of your story, it's just really speaking to some deep corner of my soul's memory. im so stoked somebody else likes this haha my Leaf is a bit more politically motivated (at least in one universe lol, bc it's the anime which is an utter disaster and she wants to be Champion to clean house and heal the economy) but also someone oughta do something bc Lance is working like 5 different jobs 😭 also, I can imagine with most of your HCs centered around character relationships they might feel like a hard sell compared to cold facts and I 100% feel you. so much of my fic is just character dynamics nobody else would get it LOL. but I'm honored you have so much you'd want to yap about it. fully encourage and love yapisodes - I looked at your Silver post and you said it's only if you're playing as Red but good news, Scientist Gideon STILL asks that if you play as Leaf. He says "Giovanni's kid" not his son :D - at the time you asked that, I was writing 6.1k of a chapter for another fandom, but lately I've had Leaf on the brain again and rlly want to get a solid outline for that series going. <-- the kind of yapping better suited for DMs lol. yess, love seeing how the Pokemon world is connected in media. utterly obsessed with Gen/Evo Specials, you can imagine the cheering when Silver's episode dropped 7 years ago he's so <3 <3 <3 if you like Silver + Leaf sibs then you feel like someone I can smuggle into Dad Lance city that doesn't leave her out, but hey. oldest daughter problems maybe if we incorporate the tendency to focus on Kris/Lyra/Ethan and thanks to Masters, LILLIE?!?!? <-- understand Johto kids but LILLIE???? and every time I see Lance with Red/Blue I'm like "aight, so I gotta fill this vacancy myself"

helllloooo first of all i want to say sorry for taking so long to get to this😭 my last couple months have been a mess and i’ve been dealing with annoying health issues (in every way). i apologise if this reply isn’t as long or thorough as usual🤧

i think what i like about the silver giovanni connection so much is how well it connects johto + kanto story wise. johto to me is still a very undeveloped and lowkey forgotten region unfortunately but silvers character is easily the shining part of the region. i also think it’s cool how he’s also connected to red (or leaf) due to the whole reason giovanni abandoning him being because of red/leaf’s defeat of team rocket, ultimately crushing his ego lol - just one big butterfly effect that i thoroughly enjoy :p and as stated in my post, i like despite how hard he tried not to be, silver was quite similar to his dad until the events of the the johto story. seeing his growth makes me so happy 🤧🤧🤧✨

lmao talking of reading game dialogue … the offical pokemon twitter account made this post for fathers day (i think…? my fathers day isn’t till september 🤷🏻‍♀️)

and the amount of people in the comments literally suprised gave me a stroke like??? lacey being clays daughter is explicitly stated LOL pokemon fans never cease to amaze me 😭😭😭

you’ve really got me thinking about kantrio in the 90s now LOL. i can see them all tryna message eachother on some aol type site and someone’s dial up cutting totally ruining their convos - most likely blue cause daisy wants to talk on the phone to bill or something … hmmm… ideas are brewing!!!! actually to sound old my family had dial up till 2009… insane😭😭 i used to get so mad at my mumma using the phone cause i just wanted to play club penguin LOL - oh and thx u for the compliment on the leaf + bill dynamic <3 bill is one of those random ass side characters that still is so iconic … i have so many hc’s for him too LOL no character can escape my headcanons

oh and i am the minister at the dad lance church!!! i’ve always seen him as not just a mentor to silver but the other johto kids and definitely the kanto trio before they grew up - that saying i still think as adults they turn to him alot since … half of them don’t have dads (both in canon and my hc LOL). i think as adults, the kantrio definitely have a more friend based relationship with him but as kids he definitely helped them through the spotlight that was put on them at such a young age.

ehghhh i very much apologise for this reply, my brain feels very disconnected from my body today and i feel like this hot mess of a reply shows LOL. again, i really apologise for the late reply. i wish you the best of luck with ur studies and writing ✨✨✨🩷🩷🩷

[pagerunner-j]

Generally speaking, for my last however many years watching CR, I've felt like I was watching for all but one person at the table, because inevitably I won't be vibing with somebody. That somebody has changed over time. Some folks have held the spot longer than others. Some have tossed it back and forth like a hot potato. But no matter who's got possession at any given moment, usually it's not a deal breaker. There's plenty of entertainment to be had from the rest of the table.

Let me tell you, though: it is really hard to watch this show when the person who's setting you off is Matt.

And he's been setting me off for A LONG WHILE now.

In closely related news, I played through a whole lotta Dreamlight Valley while the episode was running, which was more relaxing. I'm amused to report -- especially while speaking of potatoes -- that there is now a conclusion to the secret potato quests, and they result in being able to obtain a light-up, strobing, rainbow-colored fox that looks like a one-canid pride parade. I wish there was a way to explain that sentence in any way that made sense. Probably it's best just to run with it.

[reachexceedinggrasp]

No sorry, I mean the show is making 'the' humanlike Ghoul significant when it is slightly less so in the later games. In the very first game it is significant, the surviving ghouls in particular have become somewhat removed from human culture (like Set) - this is an issue with the later games where things which are very significant end up being downplayed (super mutants, ghouls, Deathclaws) - but I was trying to say that the show gives it more metaphorical Beastlike meaning than just video game monsterliness.

You're right, there are still plenty of bad endings possible, but I'm surprised at how much positive foreshadowing there is for his character. But there was a lot of that for Kylo Ren in TFA.

I'm also a bit baffled with the Fallout show (and Hot D), both recent major productions, because some of the editing and the pacing is just baffling. There are some real plot contrivances that just feel ultimately verryyyyy silly, and I'm not somebody who ever complains about that!!! So my concern now is less whether they stick the landing and more worrying about the current state of editing and whether anybody's getting paid enough

Anyway, sorry to bother you with this topic again, but thank you for entertaining my nonsense

Could you tell me why you think so? I don't know if I'm getting that vibe. They do definitely suggest he's rare in being in nearly perfect shape when he's so old, but it's focussed on his ability to survive such a dangerous and miserable life rather than just the fact of persisting as a ghoul. Older smoothskins aren't in great shape, either. It seems more about his skill and tenacity than an innate quality he has. Characters seem to be mostly questioning his will to go on rather than the how. I don't know that I think he's more human than other ghouls we see. The pale guy Lucy rescued seems very normal and his look is pretty similar.

Totally. Honestly, my only real concern is that he'll die. Either tragically or 'bittersweetly'. I don't think there's a chance worth worrying about of his character arc going in a negative direction in any other way than death being the ending. Either bc they think of him as 'already dead' or bc peaceful death is the happiest they'll allow him to be. I fear both those possibilities. I don't fear for his soul, if you will. He's not going to become a villain.

The pacing did strike me as very strange. I didn't know if I was just grumpy because I've not been feeling well or if it's because it often dips into a horror movie style that maybe I just don't like? but yeah. Because there's the opening prologue scene, which is an absolute fucking 10/10 cinematic masterclass, note perfect in every way, and then the rest of the episode after that felt weird/incredibly slow. I think the structural edit is fine, but something about the shot to shot editing is off. The timing is awkward, particularly when there isn't dialogue. I've felt that way about pretty much all the streaming original movies I've seen to varying degrees, so it's definitely a production process problem.

[captainsparklefingers]

I hate that past fandom drama and fear of future fandom drama/the same drama but again with different people, combined with a good helping of shipping war crap and character woobification and weird ooc interpretations, taints stuff that I should by all accounts be excited for (and am on some level, it's just outweighed by the other stuff).

Is it me? Am I the problem? Is getting older making it harder to engage with stuff because I'm seeing things from different sides now? Not too long ago I probably would have been one of the people with really ooc character interpretations, and I probably would have toes in the shipping stuff too. Now, the idea of dealing with that makes me feel really not great.

Maybe it's the social media stuff. Seeing it all the time from all sides, like you can't get five minutes of peace without somebody blowing up about something. But like...I like Tumblr. I like looking at things here, I've got friends here. There's plenty to do to curate online experiences but in some places it feels really difficult.

I don't know. I miss just being genuinely excited by announcements and reveals and new episodes or seasons or things like that, instead of having this weird semi reserved response. Maybe I'm just tired physically and mentally from other stuff and that's the issue, instead. I don't know. I could certainly use a nap.

[thebreakfastgenie]

I think it’s something about the way he delivers the line, like the concern. It’s a delivery that says they he wasn’t just doing something superficially naughty like breaking an arbitrary rule, but something he’s real worried about other people finding out about that he thinks is Wrong. That’s why I think it’s very easy to interpret as referencing gay exploration but it could still easily be about any number of things and possibly was — but knowing there were other times rhe authors thought about going there, it could have been deliberate.

Anon, my buddy, my pal, my friend, you provided me with no context whatsoever. I think you're talking about Frank saying "Fred, do you think the principal saw us?" while on painkillers?

I mostly agree with your conclusion, but not your route of getting there. Breaking an "arbitrary" rule is something Frank thinks is wrong. Frank is characterized again and again as a snitch. He even says he once didn't snitch on his best friend for smoking and then later snitched on himself for not snitching. (This is, by the way, tied to his abusive childhood; "I think that's why I became a snitch. So I could talk to somebody," is one of the saddest lines I've ever heard and it makes me mad because it's so brilliant.) So average teenage naughtiness, like smoking or graffiti or just cutting class, is basically a mortal sin in Frank's mind. It's a pretty major part of his character that he takes rules very seriously and finds even playful naughtiness outrageous. In fact, I think that could be part of the joke. Frank also isn’t afraid of people finding out, he’s afraid of an authority figure (the principal) finding out. He’s loopy and regressing to being a kid who’s afraid of being caught and getting in trouble and of people seeing him get in trouble. Which also fits with his obsession with having an image as a perfect rule-following citizen coming from a strict, abusive father. He might just be terrified because if the principal catches him breaking a rule—even an arbitrary one—he’ll tell his father and Frank will get beaten.

I don’t think that scene plays as Frank accidentally alluding to some deep secret. He doesn’t seem terrified so much as childlike and a little pathetic. I think the main joke is just that Frank said something nonsensical and mildly embarrassing while out of sorts. There are a lot of jokes like that, both in MASH and elsewhere. It’s also worth noting this isn’t the only time we see a character age regress on the show; Hawkeye does it in Hawk’s Nightmare and I think the affect is similar. However, I do think there may be some deliberate ambiguity.

In The Chosen People, we get a scene that belongs in the one-sided phone call hall of fame, when Frank is talking to someone from civilian affairs. Frank then says something that could be interpreted as signaling that he’s interested in this man. Larry Linville does a great job of delivering it innocently, so if Frank is trying to imply anything he’s doing it subconsciously. But the other man is evidently interested and Frank is horrified. So there is one ambiguously gay Frank joke, and the original ending for George would have revealed Frank had once been attracted to another man. So it wouldn’t be unprecedented for the writers to deliberately make you wonder just what Frank and Fred were getting up to. There are plenty of alternatives that are equally plausible, but that’s one of them.

I will add that when I first watched that episode, my initial reaction was that it was gay, though that was immediately followed by doubting that was what they meant and wondering if it was a case of something that just appears that way with a modern perspective (several seasons later I thought the Swede storyline was going in a gay direction even though it wasn’t). This doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but my gaydar has a higher specificity than most of fandom and things don’t usually ping it, so I thought it was worth noting.

So to recap, I agree with you that it’s very easy to interpret that way and that was possibly intentional, but disagree with the rationale that Frank wouldn’t react the same way to something minor.

[no-mr-powers]

WandaVision spoilers to follow (kinda):

So, as I've just watched Episode 6 of WandaVision, and thinking back on what we've seen thus far... look, I'm sure that it will turn out that what's-his-face S.W.O.R.D. boss will turn out to have some nefarious hidden agenda that's led him to keep the situation in Westview under wraps, and that's why nobody has called ANY of the remaining Avengers in on this I guess(?), but in all seriousness... how has nobody thought to call in Clint Barton to try and help talk Wanda down? Real-world logistics aside, narratively it makes the most sense. As soon as they confirmed that Wanda had some measure of control over what was happening, SOMEONE from the Avengers should've been the first call, and then that first called should've sent them straight to Clint. Seriously.

In Age of Ultron, he talked Wanda into aiding the Avengers when she had initially been hellbent on the death of Tony Stark and all he stood for:

In Civil War, he helped sway Wanda over to Cap's side when she had initially been paralyzed by fear and indecision over her previous actions abroad, even winning her over as opposed to Vision:

In Endgame, they consoled each other in their grief over the loved ones that they lost due to Thanos, them two being the ONLY ones who permanently lost somebody as a result of the actions that they had to take to stop Thanos:

I mean... c'mon! If there's one person primed for looking out for Wanda's best interests, it's Clint Barton.

You could even play with Clint possibly having residual survivor's guilt over Pietro's death, especially if he got pulled into Westview and was confronted by faux-Pietro:

Like I said at the top, I'm sure that there is plenty of cause to NOT go this route, but seriously... Clint should've been first on speed dial to help try and bring Wanda out of whatever trouble it is that she's found herself in. Now, I'm curious if the incident in Westview would chronologically take place at the same time as Clint's shenanigans with Kate Bishop over in Hawkeye...

[doped-on-galaxies]

So I decided to make my last post a little more clear

We're going to put the shippings more in depth.

First off, keepsakes

I dont take the keepsakes very seriously due to the fact that's all they are. They were gifted. Nothing fancy just things that are carried along throughout the series. Though Misty's keepsakes were carried throughout plenty more seasons than Ash and May's ribbon. The ribbon was nothing more than a good luck charm to remind May of how much she learned, same as Ash's lure from Misty was a good luck charm for him 🤭

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Whether these were hints towards shippings or not, these were the only personal ones that had Ash and a female companion alone. Though this can be argued I do personally feel as if Pokeshipping and Amourshipping were hinted in these. Nonetheless May and Iris did not get a cameo poster with Ash alone.

Being saved

If you're going to consider one as a hint, then consider all of these as hints. These characters were simply being saved, and each of the falling scenes have a close up of grabbing each others hands. Let it be noted though, that Misty saving Ash, Serena saving Ash, and May saving Drew were the ONLY times the females saved their *crushes* every other time it's just Ash saving and girl. Yes a few of the girls liked Ash but that carries us into our next topic.

Blushing

Somebody said that "blushing doesn't always mean romance" of course. I get that, but not in these scenarios. Each person blushed due to to a romantic gesture. Whether it's embarrassing someone about possible love letters, accusing one of having feelings, accepting feelings, or simply a romantic moment. They say "Oh well Pokemon can't be romantic due to age" yet last time I checked, there is blushing, rose giving, slow dancing, kissing, and people asking if x has a crush on y. Can they go too far? No, but did they give us an idea on who liked who??? Definitely. As shown even Ash blushed, he just didn't blush very often, but them few counted. I understand that Goh blushes at Ash too though but last time I checked we aren't talking about characters being embarrassed, but I do believe if there is a possibility for there to be a LGBTQ relationship with Ash- Gary and Goh are definitely good representations.

Oh, and yes I am aware Ash was sick in the scene with him and Serena, but Pokemon did a pretty *obvious* job of making it a romantic scene regardless. They didn't have to do all that, but they did. "Some" people seem to forget that there's more to a Pokemon shipping than having to fish out romance out of non-romantic scenes due to their ship just being a healthy friendship at best, but if you're here for the obvious, you can easily tell Pokemon did their best to portray some kind of romance in these scenes. The proof was in the blushing. If you don't feel for someone you don't blush. You argue it out or deny it. We have all been in a scenario as kids and young teens where someone asks if you have feelings for someone, and you brush it off or argue about it because it's simply not true. I promise you my face only got red when I actually had feelings for someone. It's natural instinct, Pokemon knows that too. Take some notes from the Pokemon creators because they knew what they were drawing and what was going to be said in these scenes. Also take a look at the few shippings that had no blushing whatsoever. It's a sign, not an argument.

"Look at how they look at each other"

You know, you're only partially right. Look at how Ash looks at EVERY GIRL. Ooooh wow same expression. Pretty last resort thing to fall back on. Which is why there are other hints that help to make SOME of those expressions actually worth digging in to.

Let's face it, when it comes to ships like Contestshipping and Penguinshipping- there's very few episodes that Drew and Kenny are in, so every second counts. Plus the episodes with Angie, Anabel, and Lucy (towards Brock) they made it very clear within the very few episodes that those girls had feelings. Though I do believe Pearlshipping was partially one sided (I do feel like Dawn liked Ash to an extent only with the way she left Kenny to travel with Ash despite his offer) there was 100% proof Kenny DID have feelings for Dawn and it was easily initiated in the actions he made. Contestshipping was not one sided though. I've learned in my 23 years of watching Pokemon if they don't blush, it's not anything to worry about. Luckily May blushed nearly everytime, and Drew did blush but he didn't always need to. After all he was slinging red roses left and right, and if they were for Beautifly- the last one she received would've never been given to her since Beautifly wasn't even in Battle Frontier at all.

Though I am a Pokeshipper, Amourshipper, and half ass Pearlshipper- I stand as an ally when I say that if you're looking for romantic signs in a shipping you're going to have to find it in the Poke'girls actions. Ash doesn't *look* at one girl specifically different than the other. He literally just looks at them. Though the only person he ever blushed with was for Misty, but that doesn't mean the 2,000,000 hints Serena had are dismissed. After all, like I said before, if Pokemon wanted to create hints, they would, and they did. Those hints were soooo out there, that saying "oh look how Ash looks at her" is gonna leave us asking "who?" Because let's face it he looks at all of them pretty normal. That being said there are still hints Ash had. Being jealous of Misty's potential crushes, showing he was attracted to other women, running up to Serena when he was sick and falling into her arms, and looking at Serena when she kissed him and doing nothing but smile, when normally Ash would probably freak the fuck out.

That being said I hope I made myself clear on how to spot a close-to-canon shipping. It's okay to ship people who have litte to no proof of real romance, but don't say a ship with real proof has none. That is where you are wrong.

[maryellencarter]

so apparently having a new lupin thing i am distinctly enjoying (lupin zero) is what it took to get me around to watching the lupin thing i had not seen yet that i really hadn't heard anything positive about (part 6, not counting "the times" which i have already seen and loved the hell out of, but have not managed to watch since july because... you know)

thoughts so far, as of finishing episode 7 (i'm watching the subs then the dub for each episode, which helps me follow details better but definitely takes longer):

* wow. so you know how i like to say about part 5 that, love it or hate it, that is a piece of media that knew exactly what it wanted to do and went for it? this is the opposite. the only episode so far that seemed to have an actual goal in mind is the one where the goal was "i am going to retell an ernest hemingway story, and also insert into the dialogue the titles of every other hemingway story in the same collection", which sure did do what it set out to do, but was it a thing worth setting out to do?

...well, given that i am told the guest writers for each non-main-plot episode in the first half were all instructed "you must base your episode on a specific piece of crime fiction", i have to admit that playing the world's most pretentious version of the game where you try to write a paragraph without any E's in it was... probably the most Mamoru Oshii possible way of complying with a stupid requirement, and definitely hewed closer to the spirit of the rule than the one where NPCs with names relevant to Ellery Queen did fuck-all of importance.

episode by episode:

* "enter sherlock holmes". in which sherlock holmes looks a great deal like somebody tried to make a 2D version of first!jigen and failed to grasp why first!jigen is sexy. also in the english version all the brits are dubbed by american-sounding americans, which is the most auditorily disorienting version of sherlock holmes i have heard (although i must admit i never did get around to watching the veggietales version, but if there's one thing the veggietales guys have demonstrated their commitment to doing from day one, it's accents... and now I'm humming "oh no, what we gonna do")

where the fuck was i? right. so albert gets worfed to demonstrate that holmes is a badass. why on earth albert would be doing spy work personally in a country where he *doesn't* have millions i've strings to pull, i have no fucking idea. also him going straight to "shoot myself in the head with my last bullet" as an exit strategy compares really badly to the bit in part 5 which... either it was supposed to mirror this, or somebody just failed to do their research, but that moment near the end of part 5 where jigen's on the run alone, down to his last bullet, there are multiple guys about to come around the corner and capture or kill him, and then albert rescues him.

and yeah, that's a moment where you have to wonder if it crossed jigen's mind to use his last bullet for himself instead of going down fighting a hopeless fight, but jigen has never been someone who -- i can't recall a single moment in 53 years that we've seen him actively ready to die. he does plenty of self-destructive shit, but even when a fight can't logically be won, he keeps fighting, even if all he can do is run his mouth. having albert jump straight to suicide in a scene that *has* to be a callback... it doesn't feel right thematically and it doesn't speak to a great understanding of albert as a character (such as he's been so far).

oh yeah, also there was the intial setup for the antagonist secret society "the raven", whose mysterious hooded executioner blew up a guy in protective custody in scotland yard. they weren't terribly impressive. even though i haven't actually seen twcfm, only read spoilers, i feel like a creepy bird-themed secret society is maybe something you're not gonna beat that show on using well?

* "detective and crook". in which jigen and goemon also get worfed to further prove that holmes is a badass. jeez, guys, just give him purple eyes and lavender hair already, huh? lupin also continues his mary-poppins-esque habit of never explaining anything. we do get jigen riding on the back of fujiko's motorcycle, which is a rarity (and keeping his hands where they belong, as opposed to Lupin). fujiko sticks a scroll of paper down her cleavage a la first contact, so that the camera can zoom in on it for maximum jiggle physics opportunity. and lupin blows up a whole-ass demolition site full of cops including zenigata and yata -- none of whom get hurt, but *wow*, that's a life choice.

* "adventure along the (replica) transcontinental railroad". in which lupin wears the biggest turban you ever saw, npcs with ellery queen names do nothing much, fujiko gets whole-ass tied to railroad tracks dudley do-right style and nearly beheaded, jigen and goemon ride a bicycle built for two and also pretend to be cosplaying as themselves in order to throw zenigata off the scent (in the dub, goemon suggests that zenigata page lupin to the front desk like a lost child, which is delightfully goemon), and jigen gets to do some fancy trick shooting that i still don't understand after seeing it twice in order to flip a railway switch and send the runaway train onto a siding. he shot a streetlight and something flew out and somehow that made the switch do the thing?

* "the killers in the diner". in which mamoru oshii plays silly buggers with hemingway titles, lupin and jigen in disguise are voiced by other actors until they're revealed (which has barely ever happened... in the english dub at least, i can think of *one* time a disguised lupin was voiced by lex lang for a scene, that's it), fujiko appears to be disguised as an extremely depressed pippi longstocking for reasons that are never explained, and a bunch of japanese people get to take a fairly reasonable stab at pronouncing "dulles". also it's established that fujiko is bad at cooking, which i think might have been fanon previously but i can't think of anywhere else it was actually established.

* "the imperial city dreams of thieves". a two-parter in which lupin gets dropped into a world based on the works of japanese mystery author edogawa ranpo (this was a pen name based on the name "edgar allan poe"). it's pretty solidly paced for the most part, which is not something you can really count on part 6 for so far, but it's also... well.

so. it's a story set in the late 1920s, about a giant mysterious golden clock/orrery from mongolia, guarded by the heirs of genghis khan, one of whom decides that entrusting it to a young female japanese "explorer" (visually coded very much like the white egyptologists of the era, similarly dedicated to bringing back other cultures' precious artifacts for display, and treated as an unquestionably virtuous character) is obviously the wise and correct choice to keep it out of harm's way -- the youthful guardian of the device accompanying the explorer back to japan as a bodyguard and servant, as well as continuing to guard the clock.

the japanese imperial army, who (the episode does not explain) are most of the reason there's all this war and unrest on the mainland that make the clock's guardian decide it's better off in civilized japan (okay the episode *all but* says the civilized part out loud)... where was i? right. the japanese imperial army, who are busy conquering mainland countries in the whole pan-asian empire thing they did in the run-up to world war ii (christ, it's been forever since i studied that part of history... if i recall, their selling point was "asia for the asiatics", as in they wanted white people out, but in practice they wanted to rule all of asia themselves, so it was more like "asia for the japanese empire") -- the japanese imperial army want the clock in order to give it to a puppet dictator they'll install in mongolia. our young explorer, who is the daughter of a powerful... department store conglomerate?... look, i'm sure it packs some kind of an emotional punch in japanese, but now i'm just cracking myself up imagining the heiress of like woolworth's or sears roebuck facing off against the fbi.

anyway. as i was saying. our young heroine declines to give away the clock, as having it on display at her family's department store is clearly the best place for the cultural artifact that determines rulership of mongolia. (i'm being sarcastic. the episode isn't.) kidnapping and shenanigans ensue.

also, as you would expect from an alternate universe story, there are characters who look exactly like the lupin crew. lupin is put into the role of "golden mask", a phantom thief edogawa ranpo created based on that most popular of phantom thieves, arsène lupin (the first). fujiko becomes "black lizard", a femme fatale originally working with the villain and face of the japanese army -- i think the villain's name is daidouji, but i think leia also picked that out for one of jigen's aliases in one of our stories, so either she has something she could explain to me or that's a very confusing coincidence.

goemon, it will turn out, is also his real-world self along with lupin -- i'll get there in a minute. zenigata is a fictional (secondary-fictional) police inspector with a slightly different name and an almost identical hat. and jigen... jigen is one of the factors that make this episode what you might call, on the internet, Problematic.

so. the villain is a very large japanese army guy named colonel daidouji. his ever-present shadow and sidekick is a very, very familiar-looking major whose name is not initially given, and who very nearly manages to put a bullet in lupin on first meeting him.

now, jigen's au version being evil, y'know, it's a hard sell, it's not impossible that i'd buy it if it was done right, but the thing is that you never have to buy it. tv shows have this need to make au versions of the heroes always still have some kind of heroic core. the really steep issue comes with what kind of a hero he turns out to be.

the character who looks like jigen is eventually revealed to be a character named major yoshiaki hongo from the works of a writer named minetaro yamanaka (whose first google result for me is, uh, the wikipedia article on antisemitism in japan, that's... probably not irrelevant to my point here?). major hongo, at least as described in the episode, is a badass soldier who goes undercover to root out corruption, which is all very well and good... except for the part where his little speech about who he is and what he's doing here, in both languages, leads with "fighting for the liberation of asia". aka, as we discussed, conquering it for the japanese empire.

which, together with the whole misappropriating cultural treasures with the enthusiastic cooperation and servitude of their native owners arc... really, really makes one wonder about many choices that were made.

(oh yeah, it turns out the whole thing is a virtual reality mindfuck, major hongo's badassful hero reveal moment is basically the last thing that happens before everybody explodes into pixels except lupin and goemon, it turns out somebody was trying to get a passcode to lupin's hideout, which they failed at because he was just that smart, but also a couple of shots at the end of the episode imply that everything did actually happen for real somehow. that part is confusing and rushed. the loving morals about cultural artifacts and the liberation of asia from non-japanese rule take precedence.)

(okay, major hongo had a faceoff with goemon who cut a notch in his cap brim so you could see one of his eyes, that was a *very* cool bit of visual design that you could never do with proper jigen because he would murder you for slicing his hat. and then goemon toppled dramatically off a bridge because he is the biggest drama queen in the entire cast and we're talking *including lupin iii*.)

like. i grew up on (western) fiction from this era and earlier. the part where i notice or mind the imperialism is aftermarket. i can, if i try, shut it off and enjoy the show. but, like writing an episode composed largely of ernest hemingway references... is that a goal worth having? especially in a worldwide political climate like this where it's very beneficial to notice the overton window shifting before it slams shut on your damn fingers.

* "an untold tale". in which zenigata is summarily slandered by both lupin and the writers. lupin deduces that the zenigata he's working with is actually sherlock holmes in disguise based on the premise that zenigata is not someone who does things like... run headlong into danger? selflessly protect innocent bystanders? kick ass? stick to a trail?... and is instead someone who, while having a solid idea of lupin's next destination, goes and gets blackout drunk and passes out in a bar instead of staking it out or at least yelling "LUPIN" a lot in the general vicinity.

i guess there's also plot, supposedly. this consists of lupin explaining his movements at a certain time, clearly and in order, over a flashback that agrees with his description. No unreliable narrator in sight. No evading every question like it's "give Jigen rubber bullets and practice dodging" day at the hideout. Just reading pages of boring exposition while being ineffectually shot at by a Colonel Sebastian Moran wielding one of the clunkiest air-guns I've ever seen the man burdened with.

(I haven't gotten around to watching the dub of this last-named episode yet, but I hear that somebody majorly failed at googling, overcommitted to "all R's in the Japanese must become L's in English", and created the character of Colonel Sebastian *Molan*. I'm not sure I'm gonna have spoons for that one for a bit.)

[tsuki-sennin]

Ok, there's a winter storm happening in my area, so I'm not exactly enthusiastic for the ice side of this deal, but fuck it, It's Revice so I'm hyped anyway!

Spoilers, I guess...

-WHAT OLTECA CAN JUST DO THAT

-GODDAMN

-Somebody get this man to a hospital!

-Nooooo, Viiiiiice!

-Yeah, you feel real bad, don'tcha Julio? ...ah, no, I'm calling you Tamaki Go-san now.

-No intro, ok.

-Good morning, Ikki! We got fucked last week, so...

-I can't imagine what it'd be like to just... be so close to saving somebody's life and failing to rescue them.

-Ohhhhhh, fuck, Tamaki's here!

-Ohhh, nooooo, don't die yet man! You were one of my favorites!

-Yep, we definitely meetin' Yosuke.

-Holy shit, George... feeling responsible and apologizing? He's truly the autistic icon we all deserve. ...as someone on the spectrum myself, this is some tasty representation.

-Y'know, when Rider's got some evil bastards, they really go all in.

-Even if George thinks separation is a pointless endeavor, Ikki's reckless behavior ultimately convinced him that it's worth at least trying to fine tune his strategy. That's some good character moment right there.

-Ah, there he is. Poor bastard.

-Noooo, Tamaki, take the card!

-YOUUU MOTHERFUCKER-

-Hayata Seki, good job man, really, but... Oooooogh, you bastard!

-BRUH

-Ok, I need to calm down for a second. I actually have a thought I've about Olteca that isn't "Ohhhhh, that bad man, kick his ass Ikki-nii!". Considering just how unwaveringly invested he is in Gifu's resurrection compared to every other named Giftex we've seen so far, I think that he might actually be Gifu somehow. Like a vessel or an avatar. This is just speculation, but Toei's done this before with characters like the Overlord of Darkness or Arch Orphenoch or the Joker Undead. and it'd explain why he'd be powerful enough to set Ikki on fire without even touching him in his human form.

-Kick his ass Tamaki!

-Oh fuuuuuuuck, that's not good!

-Oh c'mon Ikki, Vice is you. If he was mad at you for doing what you wanted to do after all you've been through, I think he'd have plenty of opportunity to call you out.

-Oh wow, they... actually said that.

-I am thou, thou art I and all that funny Persona acid jazz fusion rock.

-In case you're wondering, I headcanon Ikki's Arcana as being the Chariot. Sakura's the Priestess and Daiji's the Moon. Idk what Hiromi would be, but he gives off big Hanged Man energy.

-Yeahhhh boiiiiii, let's go! It's demon time!

-Let's fucking do it.

-I'm not gonna tell you to chill, but like... that's the girl who tried to help you fix your friendship with your friend and her brother you're beating the snot out of.

-See, that's it! It's Olteca you're after!

-It's buddy combi time~!

-Aibou~! They said it!

-Mmmmm, this is the real debut!

-OUGH TASTY FIRE EFFECTS

-I love it.

-TOGETHER!

-NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW!

-Ohhhhh, those crackles!

-GOOOOOO

-OHhhhhhhhh, that's the GOOD SHIT RIGHT THERE

-Sweet serotonin.

-DOUBLE SLASH

-THAT'S IT BABY HIT 'EM WITH A RIDER DOUBLE KICK!

-BUST THAT SHIT

-WE GOT THIS!

-SMILE!

-3! 2! 1!

-MAAAAARVELOUS!

-Oh yeah, Ikki was kinda injured there.

-Yeah, you got a lot to think about man.

-NONONO GODDAMMIT

-OHHHHHH IT'S HER

-THE GIRLBOSS

-Oh c'mon, don't do that.

-Tamaki-san... :(

-Yeah, let him go. He's having a very bad day.

-Oh, Director Man. He's evil as fuck.

-80???? What the hell, Hiromi? Did you individually cut out each organ and put them in a dehydrator?

-You did kinda carry this episode Vice, but goddamn, you don't gotta symbolically represent that by literally carrying Ikki.

-Ohhhhh, boy! Looks like evil Fenix is confirmed next episode!

-God, I'm gonna miss Hiromi when his death flags inevitably lead him to the big spider web in the sky. ...somebody get me some copium, stat.

[mantra4ia]

Debris: speculation and what we know so far about...

Bryan

The character is from Texas, has no siblings, and his parents are both alive.

He served in MARSOC (Marine Special Forces) in Afghanistan, where he was in a military prison in some capacity (officer or detainee unclear, but an alternate reality he's called a war criminal, so he's likely detained).

FWIW, I'm a little surprised that in an alternative reality Bryan wasn't a part of Influx. He shares a similar kind of backstory with Anson Ash.

He carries a baseball on the plane like a momento stress ball (1x03).

He eats...a lot, literally thinks with his stomach, seemingly indiscriminately (#you could just pull up a chair to the buffet). Stale Peeps, weeks old sandwiches, rewarmed burritos, anything from the minibar, etc. Maybe he was a smoker in the time before and it killed his sense of taste. Or he just has an iron stomach from his time on active duty. In any case, food seems to be his unconditional OTP. I request a GIF supercut.

He seems to know a bunch of field operatives (Lester, Sharon, John the ME, Muntz, Beck from containment) from various Orbital teams, perhaps even worked cases with a few, along with everyone in Maddox's office. He's very cordial so presumably he likes them, but in stark contrast at least half seem to decidedly dislike him with baiting antagonism, some openly hostile. Sharon: "why are you smirking at me Bryan?" Muntz, the Laghari lab tech: "I've come across plenty like you...men who play by their own rules." Beck: "They only send in the A-team when they want the agents to survive...easy for you to say, I'm the one who had to tell his wife". No wonder he feels a bit ostracized. Perhaps his reputation (impulsive?) proceeds him or perhaps he's been labeled an "unlucky" partner that misfortune follows so he gets kept at a distance?

The exception to the above seems to be Gary Garcia, the former scientist that helps hide George. May be former partners if the audio during credit rolls is any indication, and knows about Bryan's health / injections. They appear close. Perhaps because they share a mentality: both presumably injured in their line of work at Orbital, and they know what it means to have to rely on yourself.

When we meet Finola and Bryan, it seems like they've been working together for a few weeks, stateside at least (Finola's quote 1x02: Been here 3 weeks, feels like 3 years) and that he's had at least two Orbital partners prior, one (Julian / Jules) that died on duty, and the other creepy Dutch guy still living, Niels. How many more partners has he been through? Is it protocol that they get reassigned/shuffled so often to follow the debris, or so as not to form attachments "This job is about being alone, it's supposed to be...we're a blip in other people's lives", or does his personality not play well with others, like from the pilot when he tells Finola "it's been a long time since I've worked with somebody who's looked at me like another human being."

Also in 1x01 when Bryan says, "So are we now saying the debris pulled [Kieran] from the ground and added meat to his bones" and Finola says no, he was cremated, Bryan looks almost disappointed like he was momentarily more hopeful than pragmatic. At first I thought this was just a lead up to introducing the fact that George Jones was alive, but maybe another plot point is that Bryan has lost someone in duty he wants back.

He carries a picture in his front pocket of a woman with some Persian/ Farsi(?) or Urdu(?) written on the back. It's hard to tell by the script, it could be neither. When confronted by that, his clone says "I can't let it go." Old flame that was lost? Or a partner of a fallen service member killed in action —I've lost brothers— that he couldn't save (is that part of Bryan's dark guilt / grief)? Civilian casualty of a Marine mission? In the pilot when he tells Isla "you have to tell her how much you need her, I know from experience...You will not be able to forgive yourself if you don't" is Bryan thinking of this woman?

EDIT: considering the next episode is called "Asalah," which could be a woman's name, maybe that's part of the text on the back of the photo. Pure speculation.

He counts on himself to be level and composed when it comes to his emotions and apologizes when he isn't. He loses that composure in the pilot when Isla talks about family therapy and fighting with her mother after Kieran's death: "I knew someone like her once." Was Bryan referring to himself, has he been through post-service therapy? Perhaps he developed a rift with his family or left home at an early age like she did?

Bryan would be great at pub trivia night. He always seems to have an odd fact ready about NASA tech, native legends, an article about a historical building that he read, Fleetwood PA, etc. He doesn't seem the type to keep facts on standby to impress, so perhaps he's a secret bibliophile even though Finola hassles him for not reading case files.

"Fin: Maybe we should run some more tests before we continue/ Bryan: I will cut bait if you want to / Fin; let's just look out for each other" 1x02 Bryan seems more cautious than impulsive, he does a good job of listening to Finola's concerns. Is that from experience? Did he get overconfident, mishandle debris, and get permanently injured, hence the frequent blood work and injections?

"This man saved my life." Why does Bryan trust Maddox implicitly? And when Maddox says in 1x07 "Investigate quietly. I want to keep the lights off. I don't want to lose anymore lives, Bryan, okay?" is that a word of warning specially for him? Does he have a body count? (see afforementioned question of frequent work partners turnover and having an unlucky reputation)

Bryan in protective of Finola when the CIA taps her apartment. It's the straw that turns his allegiance from his agency to his partner.

I still can't place why Bryan carries a baseball — it seems like it could be a red herring, but I can't get over the visual of Maddox playing catch with Dario and reading into it as some sort of surrogate bond — or why he has a chain around his neck (1x05). It's not service tags and probably not a ring, it's some kind of pendant: a large loop encircling a dull, perhaps tarnished, gray metallic disc. A patron saint? A piece of shrapnel? A piece of debris? Unclear, but it definitely has texture or an etching.

Top Bryan Quotes

"That's the job. Impossible." 1x01 Pilot

"We are supposed to be blips in these people's lives, not memories." 1x04 In Universe

"It's been a long time since I've worked with somebody who's looked at me like another human being." 1x01

"Zippo lighters, Pyrex glassware, Crayola crayons, and of course Peeps. Insane for peeps, cracklike...we owe the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a great deal of gratitude and I am not afraid to say it." 1x02 You Are Not Alone

"I've been thinking, [about] Finola.. if MI6 knew her father was still alive they would take her out of here. We need to get home before this becomes an issue...this is going to affect her." 1x03 Solar Winds, when he's not sure how her father will affect her empathetic-based decision-making

Craig: "You hated the creepy Dutch guy." / Bryan: "He was adorable."

"Well, one of my tips for survival, Muntz, is always let the other guy touch the debris first." 1x03 So is that what happened to Garcia?

To Finola "I realize I tend to forget that there's still magic to discover in the world. But not you." 1x03

"There are things that you understand about life that I don't, and I respect that. But there are things that I know that you will not find very palatable...I am going to focus on the people that we're saving and not the ones that we can't." 1x04

"If we don't act, we might not be able to stop the terraforming. There's no way we're going to be able to win all these, and I know that every cell in your body right now is screaming for you to do what you think is right. I need you to go against that. I need you to trust me." 1x04

"Finola's capable. I trust her instincts." 1x08 Spaceman

"I'm running on sugar and coffee for the rest of the day" 1x07 You Can Call Her Caroline, but really isn't that Bryan everyday?

"When I tell you that I understand, it's not empty...I lost brothers. It destroys families. There are people who can help you with what you're going through right now...There is a way to get back from this pain. I was where you were, and the darkness almost ended me. And somebody put out his hand... I want to be there for you." 1x07

"I'm trying to get back to someone. It's very important to me." 1x09 Do You Know Icarus?

[gaycey-sketchit]

(Gary anon) Yup, there's a glitch where can duplicate items. Rare candies was a popular one; cause let's face it, though the roster is waaay smaller, leveling up to 100 was a chore. The one with Mew was fun too, blew my mind back then. (Hopefully the egg-lings will have good homes) Reminds when he fell down to his knees in Indigo when he lost; while it would have helped to see the battle, it was at least understandable. Since it also woke Ash up and both changes perspectives as a result.

(Part 2) Here with DP, he felt like fodder that didn't add or subtract anything to the arc. Not even after that scene. (I think they just needed someone to witness what happened to Hunter J, but Galactic was right there) I'm still wondering where Blastoise was, it was there in the Shieldon episode. (Project Mew, so far, feels like there will be more legendary encounters. Barring Mew, if he's in one again, I want to see something top Moltres'. Maybe give Goh another lesson)

Missingno, right? Some years ago I got really fascinated by all the weird glitches that have been in Pokemon games over the years and read like, every Bulbapedia article about them. The Mew glitch is a wild one too, it sounds like one of those schoolyard rumors but it's real.

Hopefully! I bred them from my Magmortar who's a very solid team member of mine now, so they'd probably make good team members too--or at least help somebody with the Pokedex.

Yeah, that one hurt too--I think it's something I've rambled about before, how his loss at the Indigo Plateau resembles his battle at the Viridian gym (with his Nidoking against a Golem) and how maybe he's not just taking a loss hard but being reminded of an incident that's implied to be traumatic, and it's salt in a wound that's barely had time to begin to heal.

I think the main reason the writers put Gary there was because of how the lake guardians' capture plays out in the games, with the player, Barry, and Professor Rowan's young assistant all being sent to different lakes to try and protect the lake guardians from Team Galactic, only to fail anyway because of arriving too late or being defeated. I'd say the anime just had all the lake guardians in that one spot to simplify things/save time (since that's a time consuming bit of the games), and just put Gary in the thick of it because in the animeverse he's Professor Rowan's young assistant and a more significant character than Barry (and since they'd already gotten to establish he'd be heading there at the end of Gliscor's evolution episode).

Yeah, why he didn't have Blastoise with him--and seemingly just had Umbreon and Electivire as his sole line of defense--is a mystery. He maybe wasn't really expecting that whole situation (IIRC he was just going to Lake Valor for normal researcher stuff), they just managed to get the jump on him and took advantage of that. Surprising they didn't fight any dirtier than that, considering we've seen plenty of villains in Pokemon who were willing to go way further for less (heck, Giovanni was implied to have inflicted psychic damage from friggin' Mewtwo on the kid, and that was just disproportionate retribution for insulting him).

But anyway! Yeah, it definitely feels like there will be more legendaries making appearances. And I'll be thrilled whenever we get more of Gary interacting with Ash and Goh, their interactions were so good in his return episode. I'll never recover from Ash casually resting his hand on Gary's shoulder, it's such a small thing that shows without a word how close and comfortable they are with each other.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium - January 26, 1979

(x)

Before the concert, the promo video for their new single Don't Stop Me Now (directed by Jorgan Kliebenst) is filmed.

Freddie, after the first song: "Hello Brussels! We meet again! It's really nice to be back. You wanna rock? You wanna roll? Okay, let's dooooooo it!"

Brian: "Thank you, good evening people of Brussels. It's great to see you again. An old song for you now. This is a song from a couple years ago. This is something called Somebody To Love."

Freddie, after a standing ovation following You're My Best Friend: "Merci beaucoup! You lovely people. Okay, on with the show. Do you people remember a group called Mott The Hoople? I'm sure some of you do. A long, long time back when we first started out, we did a tour with those guys - the only support tour of our lives. And Brian wrote a song in dedication. This is from an album called Sheer Heart Attack."

Freddie, while listening to the audience sing a football chant after Now I'm Here, says: "Let me hear you, c'mon! Thank you, you're a beautiful audience."

Brian, after Spread Your Wings: "Somehow you make a good noise here, people. You're great. I think I should tell you an interesting fact. We're thinking of making a live album, and this is the first night we've ever recorded for a live album, so I hope you make a nice little noise, as you are." After Roger lets out a gigantic scream, Freddie says, "You bitch!" This is a beautiful version of Dreamers Ball, sung very passionately by Freddie.

Freddie, speaking to masses of cheers: "The last time we did this song when we were here, you were the best choir in the world. We'd like a repeat performance. This next number is called Love Of My Life." After the song, Brian says, "You're the best. The best. Unbelieveable. I don't think we need a singer." Someone in the audience keeps shouting for I'm In Love With My Car, even though Queen have already played the song. Brian continues, "Right, we'd like you to sing some more if you'd like. This is called '39."

Indeed, this was the first show to be properly recorded by the band with the intention of making a live album. The next twenty shows were recorded, but for quality reasons many of the shows couldn't be used. Live Killers would be released in June.

Plenty of footage from this tour was filmed to be shown on TV, as it was likely intended to be used as promos for the upcoming live album. But much of the footage isn't great quality, as the cameras weren't able to handle the amount of brightness coming from Queen's lighting rig. The only truly great quality footage is from Munich and Paris.

Footage of this show in Brussels was used in a TV special called "Follies" that initially aired in 1979, and most of it was rebroadcast as part of a Japanese documentary called "The Jewels" in 2004. There is about 15 minutes of concert footage, including clips of Now I'm Here, We Will Rock You (fast), Fat Bottomed Girls, Brighton Rock, Tie Your Mother Down, Bohemian Rhapsody, Dreamers Ball, Spread Your Wings, and We Are The Champions (the rebroadcast didn't include the Now I'm Here and Dreamers Ball segments). The original broadcast also included footage from earlier in the day, including the construction of the stage, the band members arriving at the venue, and an interview with tour manager Gerry Stickells.

The Belgian public broadcaster posted the entire 32 minute episode on their website in 2018. Unlike the original broadcast, the credits are not superimposed on the last 30 seconds of footage.

Fan Stories

“I saw Queen in Brussels on Friday 26th January 1979. I wasn't even 13 years old yet and this was the very first concert I ever went to. Needless to say I was very excited being a huge Queen fan. I wasn't allowed to go by myself so my older sister and brother (non-Queen fans) had to accompany me. We had to go by public transport (tram) which took us about an hour to reach the concert hall. It was impressive to enter the concert hall and see the crowd, stage, speakers etc. for someone like me who had never been to a gig before. I still remember I got the chills when the lights went out and the band opened with "We Will Rock You (fast)". They immediately rocked my socks off and the loud (yeah well I thought it was loud back then :-) sound blew me away. Some other memories: - Me being a bit disappointed because they didn't play a full version of "Death On Two Legs" as it was part of a medley. - Me being completely impressed by "Now I'm Here", not only because it really rocked of course but also because Freddie made the crowd sing along. - Two smaller but higher stages at both sides of the main stage on which Brian and Freddie were standing every now and then. I thought that was very cool and I could imagine how great it must have been to them to stand there and rock the crowd. - Leaving at the beginning of "God Save The Queen" because we had to hurry to catch the last tram home in time :-). I had the time of my life that evening (to put it lightly). I think that every Queen fan can perfectly imagine how fantastic it must have been to see Queen as the first band ever to see live. I'm 40 now and I've seen so many other amazing bands since but this concert is definitely the one I cherish most. And sometimes when I go to a gig in the same concert hall I imagine myself standing there as a kid to see Freddie, Brian, John and Roger but the feeling I had that evening in '79 never really came back...” - Erik C.

[houseplant-central]

Yuri Katsuki does a better, more nuanced job of the "clumsy girl" trope than any female character I've ever seen

I will start this off by saying that I DO NOT think the 2016 anime about figure skating "Yuri!!! On Ice" is in any way "good cinema". It's 90% fanservice, fetishization of mlm relationships, and one 16 year old antagonist/ comic relief character being way over-sexualized (Plisetsky, where are your parents?)*.

It has some problems to say the least and I'm certainly not here to hype it up as an example of good writing or an example of good representation.

HOWEVER, Yuri Katsuki's character (the main character of the show) does an interesting thing by very closely conforming to what I would describe as the stereotype of the "clumsy girl".

My childhood and teen years were FULL of "makeover stories". Of narratives in which a nerdy, clumsy, bookish girl gets a makeover by the popular kids, gets contacts instead of glasses, and suddenly becomes a member of this societal elite, escaping former bullying. From the music video for "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry, to (the classic) Mean Girls, to the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, to the Heather's Musical (although Heather's pokes a bit of fun at this trope and how popularity might not work out for you), narratives about a dorky girl who suddenly gets swept up by somebody popular and "taught" how to "be" popular permeated my youth.

Besides just giving my entire generation the incorrect impression that glasses had to be taken off in order of the makeover to be complete, these stories had the strange reverse effect of appealing to girls who felt like they were the "before" of the makeover. If Bella Swan, self described as "too clumsy to play badminton without sustaining an injury" and "too awkward to have friends" could be swept off her feet by the hottest vampire in town because he saw something in her, then there was hope for the rest of us. This sort of idea of "potential" untapped permeates the genre, because the clumsy girl was always pretty, she just needed to take off her glasses, put on some makeup, and gain some self-confidence.

The concept of "untapped potential" is also quite prevalent in the world of sports anime. Again, this makes sense, since a story about a winning athlete just continuing to win would be boring, so naturally works within this genre often start with the athlete at their lowest, and then follow them on their journey to a comeback or newfound fame. The mentor character who gives the athlete life-changing advice is also a staple, and it's easy to see how that mentor character might be similar to Regina George holding the makeup brush in "Mean Girls".

However, the creators of "Yuri on Ice" seemed to want their (questionably fetishizing) romance to over conform to the genre standards so they drop-kicked the mentor character archetype out the window and had Yuri's dreamy coach do much more makeover-ing than athlete-training. Some of this rests at the intersection of the fact that the sport of choice in the series is figure-skating, where your image matters quite a lot, and Viktor being implied to be in love with our fair protagonist Yuri**, but neither of these aspects fully explain how well the writers made this sports anime series fit into the "makeover" genre instead of the "sports anime" genre.

But back to Yuri Katsuki himself. In the first episode, we see him crying in a bathroom. We learn that he has serious issues with self-confidence in his sport and his personal life, and that this materializes in insecurity about his weight. Episode one Yuri fits nearly every aspect of the "clumsy girl" trope: he's socially awkward, quiet, and... well, clumsy. He narrates a lot of the first episode with his own voice, saying he's "a dime a dozen skater" and "totally awkward", a kind of self-narration reminiscent of Bella Swan. While the other characters are dressed in modern clothes, Yuri's in an oversized, comfortable sweater, and has a generally very outdated wardrobe. He doesn't seem to care about how the world perceives him, (or more likely won't make an effort because he's afraid of rejection). Were he a female character, this is what I would call the "not like other girls" trope. We immediately elevate him to a pedestal as the viewers because he's relatable, and in comparison, the other characters seem to be trying too hard. While this is not as prevalent in male characters from the time (because the other male characters surrounding them are rarely well dressed except for maybe one jock the viewers are supposed to hate), it's hard to find a piece of media between 2014 and 2016 with a female lead without this opposition of "main character can't dress but all other female characters are well dressed, clearly they're try-hards." (Ironic, because that main character is about to be well dressed after their makeover, but I digress).

(Yes, this is an issue that's been in media for a long time and will be for a long time still, and yes there are plenty of good examples of stories where the male main character is just "not like other boys" and has to compete in a world where the other boys are all well dressed, but cases of writers doing this to their female characters SKYROCKETED in the few years while I was a younger teen and it was slightly ridiculous).

Anyways, Yuri is insecure and undressed. But he has a heart of gold! Who can help?

Enter mentor character Viktor (who is.... very naked for some reason. Mitsurou Kubo, was that really necessary to subject my eyeballs to?). Viktor is the epitome of high class. He's good-looking, rich, and successful at his sport, and we're told that Yuri has personally idolized him for a long time. While not exactly a Regina George, he does present his offer to help Yuri in a way that implies that Yuri would be a fool not to accept his help; he's the best of the best and he knows it, he's used to hearing it.

Over the next few episodes Yuri is basically forced into a position acting outside his comfort zone preforming a figure skating routine called "Eros". There's a weird but somewhat comedic moment where a frazzled Yuri, hard-pressed to explain what the concept of eros means to him, says that eros means his favourite food, pork katsudon. While comedic, it is to me the very epitome of "clumsy girl": while other female characters might be alluring in their experience, the clumsy girl is appealing to the love interest and appealing to the male gaze because she doesn't "get it", she's not tangled up in the politics of sex like many female characters are written to be, she's different. (I could talk for hours about how problematic this aspect of the "clumsy girl" trope is, the implication that childishness/ lack of experience is attractive is so gross, but I will spare you).

As a whole, this fanservicy nonsense is fairly par for the course, but it's two aspects of the journey to completing the "Eros" program that interests me. We see him eventually go to his friend, who is a dance teacher, and ask her for help on how to move more femininely. This in part is a nod towards his future realization of his sexuality (or not, depending on whether you watched it before or after they retconed his and Viktor's relationship). But as his dance teacher friend shows him how to move with confidence, he fulfills one of the first steps of getting the clumsy girl makeover: somebody shows him how to move in a "sexy" way, and he is miraculously no longer clumsy. The other thing about this figure skating program is his literal makeover: as Regina George had given to Katy before them, Viktor gives Yuri one of his old outfits, which symbolizes the high-class and success that he's supposedly preparing Yuri for. Yuri switches his glasses for contacts (an iconic aspect of the trope), slicks back his hair, and is suddenly more confident.  

As the show progresses Yuri gains more confidence, symbolized not just by his body language but also by his clothing and presentation. He meets a fan of his and has a character changing moment when he realizes that he has a fan who idolizes him like he once idolized Viktor. This realization of new societal power is often a turning point for the clumsy girl finally feeling like she has self-worth, and indeed, Yuri immediately ties a new sense of self-worth to the knowledge that he has fans.

After quite a lot of figure skating animation, fanservice, and a weird subplot about a poodle, Yuri finds a sense of self-worth in the life he's building for himself as a member of "high society" and leader in his sport, no longer relying on outside validation. This, I think is the part that differs from other clumsy girl stories.

Why is this interesting? I think because I'm so very used to seeing female characters get shallow character development in the form of taking their glasses off, letting their hair down, and suddenly being hot, and male characters getting character development in the form of working out in a montage to the eye of the tiger and then getting hot. Despite Yuri basically only doing what female characters often do to become "popular" and no longer nerdy, his character development feels genuine, fuller, and less shallow. For him, his new look genuinely ties to internal character development, whereas in media with women it's usually all about the looks, and the assumption that a changed style must equal a changed character.

Bella Swan from Twilight, Katy from Mean Girls, and Veronica from Heathers all experienced a makeover and new look and implied character development because of a rise in social status (whether they asked for it or not), but ultimately all of them realized the popularity was not what was important to them and they went back to how they "looked" before to symbolize their identity and values shifting back to what they were at the beginning. Yuri ends the series in the fanciest suit we've seen him in yet, dancing with Viktor and excited about the prospects his new high-society life will present him with. His transformation into being self-confident is genuine, and his changing appearance was just a reflection of that internal transformation. Ultimately, I think this plotline is what the original genre of "clumsy girl gets makeover was aiming for", because it is what's most appealing to the viewer: genuine growth and happiness. But all the female "clumsy girl" stories I've seen fell flat of that in one way or another, leading me to very much dislike the trope until "Yuri on Ice" quite accidentally did a good job of it.

* to anyone who's seen this show: yes, I do know what is implied to have happened to Yurio's parents. I'm just a) quoting that vine where the kid goes "wouldn't you like to know, weatherboy" and the reporter goes "where are your parents?" and b) I'm mad that this over-sexualization of Yurio (even within the plot of the series) is something that happens relentlessly to young female characters who've "carved out a place for themselves in an adult world" and also apparently happens to effeminate (implied to be queer) male characters who have done the same thing, and that's not cool either.

**For the sake of my sanity I'll say implied, because though they kiss onscreen, there is apparently much room for debate. The original Japanese cut had them exchange engagement rings near the end of the series, but then both the Japnese version and the English dubbed version ended up having them show off their rings and say "look at our friendship rings". (Ah yes, because I love wearing a matching gold band on my left ring finger with my buddy to show the world what good homies we are (/sarcasm.))

As an interesting aside, in an Uno reverse card moment, the "clumsy girl" trope was made for the male gaze (proof: any trope that talks that much about women putting on less clothing and suddenly becoming hot is 1000% for the male gaze), and was accidentally latched onto by teenage girls. Yuri on Ice was made for the teenage girl gaze (proof: the fetishization of queer men, the pre-existing "boy love" genre that's so popular it has a name), and accidentally fell into the trope of the "clumsy girl".

[valleyboypta]

I've just been catching up with Joaquin's previous films, it's an impressive career. I've watched The Master three times and still couldn't figure out what it's about. I know you love the film, can you talk a little bit what the film is about? I love your blog, you're one of the best blogs about Joaquin.

Thank you! And yes, The Master ask! My favorite kind of ask! 

The Master is about war and a kind of romance, or a romantic idea. 

First off, it’s quite easy to know that it’s a film about the terrible and ugly post-war crisis because plenty of screen time is about war veterans, Joaquin’s character Freddie is a war veteran himself undergoing terrible physical and mental episodes of PTSD. There’s flashback scenes of Freddie on the sea, in army uniform and in the war. And there’s scenes where The Master carried out the sessions with Freddie, in which there’s a lot of dialogues from Freddie talking about what he experienced in the war(e.g. Freddie talking about killing Japs in the war, mumbling barbed wire/open field/storm in the touching-wooden-wall-and-glass application, and talking about war-winning battleship in the not-blinking application). In the film, you can see how broken Freddie is, and know it’s this war that had snatched him away from the proper path, worn him and people like him out, torn them down and broken them apart. Also about The Master, you can read about the man who started Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, on whom The Master is based, he’s been in U.S. Navy during WWII and published the book that really made him “success” post-war. There’s a link between him and WWII as well.

About romance, director Paul Thomas Anderson has explained in an interview(the same interview where the interviewer told Paul “it’d be a better movie if Freddie and The Master just fucked” lol) that The Master is “about romance, but it’s a romance that can’t work…Just looking in somebody’s eyes and thinking, ‘I know we’re meant to be but we can’t be.‘”(have made a photoset about that) From the first time they met, there’s a kind of weirdly romantic tone about their relationship: It’s love at the first sight, like they’ve already known each other for ages, and they wanted to save and be saved by each other. They’re being extremely protective of each other, and they unreservedly gave the best they’ve got to each other(Freddie gave The Master his loyalty and the poison, The Master gave Freddie the proper treatment which would help him back on the right path), and the last scene of The Master singing a farewell ballad to Freddie and them crying to that? Phew, so fucking romantic. Even the religion, the Cause way in the film has a romanticism way about it: Curing incurable diseases by going back beyond and correcting the past mistakes and errors is a very romantic thing. What is undeniable is that Paul made their relationship romantic on purpose for a reason, because he thinks it’s romantic, the idea of curing PTSD and the damage the war etched in people by a religion, by yoga practice, by diet, by anything like that which claims itself a cure for the horror and scars in people left by war, but he also knows that it can’t work. People cling to these romantic, sometimes over-romantic ideas of curing what war has left, but it just can’t, like two lovers looking each other in the eye whispering “I want you and I know we could save each other”, but that’s just daydreaming. The world is like Freddie, fucked up by that nasty and destructive war, no Masters could save him.

Hmm anyways, there’s endless stuff we can talk about when it comes to The Master, these two are the cornerstone. Mainly, this film is about the damage the war did, and the idealistic romance of curing this PTSD of society with all kinds of quixotic methods.

[scifinal]

DW s12e10: It's Quite Unfortunate That This Child Keeps On Regenerating

It's only fitting that the first post on a blog called "SciFinal" should be about a season finale.

Not that fitting is the fact that in said post I'm going to begin where it all started for me.

Part One: How I Even Got into This Mess of a Show in the First Place

While I call myself a huge Doctor Who fan, even a – *gasp* – Whovian, I must admit I am not as familiar with the franchise as I would like to be; I've seen the new show, I've seen Torchwood (though, admittedly, I had to force myself to finish the fourth season – but that's a story for another day), I've listened to a handful of audio dramas (including Kaldor City, which I consider to be canon for both DW and Blake's 7) – mostly Torchwood audio dramas, but who cares, – I've read a couple of comics, I've got a novel or two somewhere on my bookshelf, I've seen the first couple of seasons of the classic show, but that's about it. I can't say I grew up with it – it wasn't on TV when I was a kid, there isn't an official Ukrainian dub, et cetera, et cetera. I first heard about it when I was about thirteen, when my classmate did a project about something they liked – and was pretty dismissive of my peers' hobbies at the time, believing myself to be somewhat above them, so I didn't pay much attention.

Then somebody finally pressured me into watching it (I believe I was fifteen or something back then) and I loved it. The first two episodes of the first season, I mean. I watched those, texted my friend something like "consider me a Whovian now!" and abandoned the show completely only to return to it maybe several years later.

I loved it. This time, for real.

Doctor Who has been with me ever since that time, it has a big soft spot reserved for each and every Doctor ever in my heart, and for each and every companion. I know full well it's cheesy, and it's stupid, and it's technobabble-y, and it's glorious in all of its cheesy technobabble-y stupidity.

And I hate this finale.

Part Two: Doctor, Why

I hate this finale – because I hate Chris Chibnall. Mind you, not the gentleman himself (I don't even know what he looks like, and I can't be bothered to Google), I hate what he did to Doctor Who.

Now, when it was revealed that the would replace Steven Moffat I felt... nothing. What did you expect? I had no idea who the man was. I know now he's made Broadchurch, and I know he wrote a bunch of stuff for Torchwood back in the day, including Cyberwoman. I had to drop Broadchurch because of how well-handled the depressing atmosphere was, and I love the flawed, dumb, sexy-cyber-bikinied, almost-fifteen-minutes-of-Ianto's-whining-including (I know because some time ago I literally cut almost every single moment of Gareth David-Lloyd whimpering, moaning, groaning, screaming, and mugging at the camera out of the episode and made those bits and pieces into a beautiful clip show called "I HATE THIS" to explain exactly why his face was and still is so punchable) mindless fun that is Cyberwoman (this is also one of the two episodes in which they actually do something fun with the pterodactyl living inside Torchwood's underground base). The latter also led to the creation of one amazing in how it develops Ianto's character audio drama entitled "Broken". I love Broken. I am now forcing you to look at its cover because of how much I love it.

Here we go. Now, back to the point of me rambling pointlessly

In his video "Sherlock Is Garbage, and Here's Why", a well-known YouTuber hbomberguy pointed out how Steven Moffat's problem is that he is more than capable of writing a good one-off episodes, but ultimately fails at managing multiple complex, overarching stories, as visible when you look at the difference between Moffat's individual episodes and his run on the show.

Now, I believe that Chris Chibnall suffers from the same affliction: he's a good screenwriter but a terrible, terrible showrunner. Sure, he's made Broadchurch, but Broadchurch, in its essence, was a complete singular story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. There were no bigger, incomplete arcs expanding at the expense of other episodes, and the show did exactly what it was originally designed to do: it told an uninterrupted story.

Here comes Chris Chibnall's run on Doctor Who.

Now, while Steven Moffat was ultimately not very good at managing overarching stories, he tried to do so nonetheless, and the fans seemed to like his attempts. And while I can't be sure as to whether it was Chris' original vision for the show or he and his co-writers were merely trying to emulate Moffat, he attempted the same. A friend of mine has even pointed out how, to her, it was painfully obvious how the writers of the finale were desperately trying to copy Moffat's style (to give you some context, she grasped it from a 30-second clip of the CyberMasters' reveal, and that clip basically consisted of me filming my laptop's screen and laughing at their design, making the video wobbly and the audio distorted). At the time of writing this post this friend hasn't seen a single episode of Chibnall's era and, as far as I know, has no wish to do so – mainly because of two reasons that both have something to do with the finale:

Somebody's already spoiled it for her, so who cares;

I ranted to her about how shit this finale is and now she hates everything about Chibnall era.

I am very sorry for the latter, since I genuinely believe there are some nice episodes in these seasons, and I especially like the "historical" ones, they really are quite a lot of fun, I like Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison fighting badly CG-ed alien scorpions, I love Lord Byron and Mary Shelley running around a haunted house trying to escape from a Cyberman (even though it's all too similar to the Agatha Christie episode from Russel T Davies' run), I adore that episode about Rosa P–– oh, wait, no, that one was crap and ripped off Blake's 7... Anyway, I love Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, I am a big fan of Graham, I like Ryan just fine, and I can put up with Yaz, even though it's been two seasons and I've still got no idea what's her personality supposed to be, and I absolutely love the new Master (he reminds me of a cute little pug with a big Tommy gun). There is plenty of good stuff in these two seasons, they are lots of fun to watch, but this finale... Oh god, this finale.

Part Three: We Had All of Time and Space at Our Fingertips and We Ended Up with This

We are getting to the point of this whole thing. I would love to begin with the obvious, the twist, but there's so much wrong with this who-cares-how-many-parter than this one big thing.

It is inept. It is impotent. It is incompetent. It is bad at almost everything except its okay camera work, somewhat good (for a British TV show, I mean) effects, and its really solid performances.

Its editing is tone-deaf to the extreme. There is a moment in the final episode where Ko Sharmas asks who will be the first to cross the Boundary and step into the unknown, and immediately it cuts to Yaz walking towards it, all fast and silent. I would love to show you a clip of it, but I don't have one and I can't force myself to download the episode and sit through this shitshow again just to present you with a ten-second clip. Nonetheless, that part is not edited like a dramatic moment. You edit comedies this way. Bad comedies. Bad editors edit bad comedies this way.

Its plot is incoherent. There are several plot threads in this finale, and they're managed in a way that doesn't make the viewer care about all of them at the same time, rather the viewer goes "oh, I've completely forgotten this was happening" and then, before they can even begin to care, the show cuts to something else. It's all over the place and oh so annoying.

The plot armour is painfully obvious despite every attempt to disguise it. There wasn't a single, solitary second when I believed the Doctor was really going to sacrifice herself and, lo and behold, here comes the old guy ex machina to do it for her. The only questions I was asking at that moment were "How are the writers going to prevent the Doctor's death now that they've seemingly created themselves a way to go on forever?" and "How can Whittaker care so much about her performance in this scene she's literally almost crying?". I wholeheartedly related to the Master asking "So why are we still here?" and shout–– hiss–– mumbl–– whatever-ing "Come on, come on, come on!" – at that point I've suffered through at least forty-five minutes of utter nonsense, people going preachy, religious Cybermen with Dalek motivations, that absolutely ludicrous scene in the previous episode when the show was trying its worst to make me perceive autonomous flying Cyber-heads with laser eyes as a serious threat, a shit twist and... Oh.

I've got to finally touch on the shit twist, haven't I?

It doesn't make sense. No, I mean it. I guess it makes sense from the show's writers' standpoint to retcon everything in a way that would allow them to go on forever without having to come up with a way to circumvent limited regenerations, yes. And I won't be touching upon all the lore people say this twist has ruined. No. It doesn't make sense as it is.

The twist is revealed to us by a madman that claims to have hacked into a database, claims to possess control over the Doctor's mind, and gives the Doctor and the audience no actual solid proof that the Timeless Child is, indeed, the Doctor. We have Ruth, sure, and she's nice enough (damn, I want that vest), and she's a Timelord that happens to own a TARDIS that looks like a blue police telephone box, and she calls herself the Doctor. Here's Ruth:

I really like Ruth. She also makes no sense from the show's timeline standpoint, since the Doctor's Type 40 TARDIS only got stuck looking like a police box in 1963, so there's no reason for the Doctor to not remember being her.

We also know that the Judoon have identified Ruth as "the Fugitive"... except in one of their previous appearances in the show they weren't able to identify their targets exactly and thus were seeking out non-humans. There is a possibility that they were only looking for a Time Lord on Earth.

You know what? It's possible that Ruth is actually the Master messing with the Doctor. I have just as much proof of this as I have of the fact that the Doctor is some kind of an endlessly regenerating superbeing.

But this is not the most maddening thing here. I loathe it, but I don't loathe the twist itself: I loathe its lifelessness, I loathe how empty, how unemotional, almost robotic it feels. When somebody'd spoiled the finale for me, I got angry, and I started asking questions, and when later I saw the actual thing...

This gif. I can't even explain how accurate it is. I stood there, in the middle of my kitchen, episode paused, holding a cup of cold tea and desperately looking around as if in my surroundings I could somehow find that emotional reaction that this show failed to evoke. I was ready to burst into tears of how empty it felt, and how empty I felt, and how the same show that has Christopher Eccleston go from literally foaming at the mouth with pure hatred to shocked silence in a matter of second because of one sentence that you, a viewer, can't help but be astonished by failed to make me feel the tiniest speck of literally any emotion. And slowly, I felt that vast void in my chest fill with sheer, pure, flaming hatred for the person who made me feel nothing, for the story that left me not bored – but empty.

And the next moment, in its own unique way of being absolutely tone-deaf, the show introduces the CyberMasters, looking ridiculous, being asinine in concept, making me burst into laughter with their dumb design. Wow.

So.

Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who is no longer a show. Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who isn't even, as somebody on Stardust said, a fan fiction. It's a rollercoaster. A lackluster rollercoaster that lifts you from the vast caverns of frozen hell, devoid of any life whatsoever, soulless and abandoned, to the heavenly torture of being so bad, so utterly awful and ridiculous, that you can't help but laugh as you watch something you used to love be distorted and deformed to the point where you can't recognise it anymore nor really care. This is what Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who has become. And I'm going to continue my ride on that grotesque rollercoaster. I'm going to pirate that ride and get on it again. Because I'm a masochist. Because I want to feel something, even if it's hatred towards those that make me feel nothing.

Because some time ago my fifteen-year-old self watched the first season and learned a lesson that I hold dear after all these years – that I can't abandon hope, and that someday, somehow, things are going to get better. That the future is being written right now. That the future can change.