#but anti special episode

[respectthepetty]

Hidden agenda is working for me. I like it better than Star and sky. I don't know if for the increased experience of its actors or a better script.

Anon, *whispers* I loved Star & Sky!

I love the constant beef between Fah and Kluen.

And that Daonuea did nothing to squash it (because I secretly think he wanted Fah to harp on Kluen about all the times he had Daonuea crying over him) while Prince was always stepping in to calm Fah down.

I love the couple's shirts and the couple's necklaces AND THE COUPLE'S VACATION, and that everyone got engaged. Oh, and I love that Fah was still being a passive-aggressive asshole towards Kluen to the very end.

So I was sad that Fah and Prince weren't back for the Our Skyy installment (which is probably because Mek is no longer with GMMTV), that Noel was missing (probably because Thor was serving in the monkhood), and that Sean x Maithee didn't set sail (since Satang x Winny and Pawin x Marc seem to be on the train to be paired together again).

I'm going to love anything Joong and Dunk are in, which is partly why I was so willing to watch The Warp Effect beyond Jojo, which I loved.

But I'm hoping that regardless of how Hidden Agenda pans out, that it won't get a special episode or be a part of Our Skyy 15 when the time comes because I need a complete story within the season.

I need Zo to be clueless that Joke likes him and be super upset when he figures out that even his friend(s) was involved in this scheme.

I need Pok and Jeng's arc to begin next week.

I need Kot to tell Pat that he is pro kissing-the-homies.

And I need to know why Wave and Trin have so much sexual tension between them yet have never been in the same room together so far.

I need everything RIGHT NOW!

But I don't need a special episode.

[bingqiv]

hundred percent believe that if moffat or chibnall had written that finale more fans would be willingly to admit that it was shit.

[seaweedstarshine]

Late to the game as I’ve kinda been kinda non-here for a minute but I scrolled through the Dot and Bubble tag, and thought I wanted to write this post into existence.

There's this part in Doctor Who Unleashed where RTD says this:

“What we can’t tell is how many people will have worked that out before the ending. Because they’ve seen white person after white person after white person, and television these days is very diverse. I wonder, will you be ten minutes into it, will you be fifteen, will you be twenty, before you start to think, everyone in this community is white. And if you don’t think that — why didn’t you? So, that’s gonna be interesting. I hope it’s one of those pieces of television you see, and always remember.”

And I'm like. Yeah. But the reason this works even as well as it does is largely thanks to the work of the previous showrunner with the previous creative team, which was notably the first era to have any writers of color (amongst other firsts in terms of inclusivity in directors, composer, actors). While Chibnall fumbled whenever he tried to write about race himself, he did have the self-awareness to have Black and South Asian writers writing the episodes where race is the focus (and a female writer for the episode where sexism is a focus; my point is, he seemed to know his shortcomings).

I wonder what the current creative team looks like? (not really, but I wasn't 100% sure for all of them)

To quote RTD:

“...before you start to think, everyone in this community is white.”

This is pretty non-self-aware, right? It's pretty “It is said, and I understand this, there was a history of racism with the original Toymaker, the Celestial Toymaker, who had ‘celestial,’ and I did not know this, but ‘celestial’ can mean of Chinese origin, but in a derogatory way,” right? (from The Giggle Unleashed) It's pretty “and I had problems with that, and a lot of us on the production team had problems with that: associating disability with evil,” right? (from Destination Skaro Unleashed)

—none of which are issues that should be overlooked, but think how much exponentially better they might’ve been addressed if he’d consulted with Chinese writers and wheelchair-using writers before going straight to giving the Toymaker weird fake accents and making Davros walk?

How many Black or non-white people do we think saw the Dot and Bubble script before it landed in Ncuti’s hands?

And this just keeps happening.

And like, from some of the shocked responses I've seen from white viewers to the ending of Dot and Bubble, maybe the episode's unsubtlety was needed? From the way RTD talks about it in Unleashed, the episode was written with a white audience in mind, Baby's First Microaggressions (where of course the microaggressions come from people who are pretty self-admittedly white supremacists). Ricky September, a more seemingly normal depiction of someone in the racist bubble of Finetime, seemed like an interesting element, up until the way he died.

The ending worked for me, because I do think the Doctor's reaction is true to how the Doctor would react. I just keep thinking of how much better the core themes could've been handled by someone with actual lived experience on the subject matter.

[bahja-blix]

FOLLOW UP UPDATE Vivziepop Swear Word Sin Counter

Following up on this Special Event I took the time to review the newest episode of Helluva Boss S2 EP 8 that dropped yesterday on a Friday around noon!

I've reviewed the episode several times yesterday only to have to finish today as I couldn't keep track of number of swearing in the show yesterday which was challenging. It wasn't long before my morning coffee enhanced my focus today and I went straight to work as I reviewed. Completing the tallies marked on a paper before clocking into work at Hellmart.

To reiterate what I'm doing, for general swears I'd put exactly "1" Sin per regular swear whereas if a character says Viv's favorite word "FUCK" the sin counter is doubled at "2". I've calculated my tallies each time a character swears individually and totalled them up

Now if my calculations are correct, in total I should have 93 sins so far for the swear count! However I will go back and review the episode again to count the number of general swears vs F-Bombs given and separate those into two categories before giving me the total exact to make sure I didn't miss anything!

If you would like to see the original post then I've provided a link below for the special event

I'll update when I'm sure of my calculations later :)

[heretherebedork]

The absolute ultimate pink and blue adorable date of all time. Just... all time. Everyone else is disqualified. No one can come close to how adorable they are.

[tippenfunkaport]

Glimbow antis are hilarious because they'll be like, "Catradora was teased from the very beginning in Princess Prom in Season One but Glimbow came out of NOWHERE! They just threw it in there allll the way at the very end with NO sign of it at all until Princess Prom in Season One."

[nyxofdemons]

four years for this show...

[notmoreflippingelves]

Hi! I just read your post about Mateo recently. If I may, can you give me any specific instances in the narrative of the show where Mateo isn’t called out as heavily as they should have? I’m just curious?

During the Shuriki returns arc in particular, Mateo makes some pretty glaring mistakes that I feel like he should've gotten much more flack for (and based on what we see elsewhere in canon, I feel pretty confident that if Gabe, Naomi, Isa, or Esteban at least --and possibly even Elena-- had made these mistakes, they wouldn't have been swept under the rug nearly as quickly as they were for Mateo).

While it's unfair to completely blame Mateo for Carla's manipulating him during the "Rita" arc, I feel like it's reasonable to hold him a *bit* accountable. He did after all blab highly confidential information (on more than one occasion) to try and impress a pretty girl with how clever and important he was. (Something tells me that if any of the others had done likewise, they would've been called out for it. But because it's "beloved" Mateo, we don't even get "wait, you told Rita how to get into your workshop? And you've known her for only a few weeks? What were you thinking, Mateo?") Moreover, he never even apologizes for this or promises to do better/be more careful with such important, sensitive information in the future.

Even more aggravating is his behavior in "The Scepter of Night." Mateo is so eager to play the hero and claim all the glory for himself that he twice (!) disobeys a direct order/abandons the plan and goes looking for the scepter piece on his own. This directly leads to Fiero and Victor finding the scepter piece and (temporarily) stealing it. And it's really only due to luck and very conveniently-timed infighting amongst Shuriki's allies that Elena and co. are able to get the scepter piece back. While Mateo does receive some (brief) criticism, it's nowhere near the level that it should be.

Also noteworthy Elena doesn't really get particularly "mad" at him (especially considering how angry we see her get at other characters even for more minor things) . She's not truly, actually angry at Mateo (and Gabe and Naomi are only a bit angrier); she's just a little frustrated and disappointed at him in the moment. And apart from a (very short) little "do better next time" speech, Mateo doesn't face any real consequences or lingering resentment unlike other characters who do.

When Isa obeys direct orders in "Sister of Invention," she has to face consequences (Elena grounding her). Similarly, Elena holds a grudge against Esteban for days (if not weeks) after he interfered with the Feast of Friendship (a much lower stakes mistake than Mateo's imo). Moreover, it's possible to interpret Esteban's staying behind in Avalor when the others go to see the Norberg Lights as a punishment (either self-inflicted or imposed by Elena) for his actions in the previous episode.

In contrast, Mateo just gets a brief "I expected better from you" speech from Elena and Gabe jokingly assigning him push-ups as punishment (which he immediately takes back when Mateo tries to do them). I'll give Mateo a little bit of credit for actually apologizing this time (which he doesn't always do). But it's still frustrating that everyone is so ready to forgive and forget Mateo's missteps immediately while this same courtesy is seldom shown to others.

I think it's worth directly comparing a few Mateo-centric episodes with a few more similar ones that focus on other characters so that we can see how there does seem to be a noted narrative bias in his favor compared to the others.

Let's start with two "feeling kind of insecure" episodes: "Spellbound" for Mateo vs. "Naomi Knows Best" for Naomi. In the former, Mateo expresses doubt that he's capable of rising to the occasion as royal wizard. No one (except Gabe and he gets over it by the end of the episode) blames him for not having reached his full level of confidence and potential right away and not being able to immediately solve the problem. And Elena in particular (and by extension the narrative) gives him so much validation and support. Whereas in "Naomi Knows Best" (and to a lesser extent "Finders Leapers" and the "Carla-as-Rita" arc as well) the narrative "punishes" Naomi for her feelings of self-doubt. We're told that *if only* Naomi had trusted her gut instincts and stood her ground right away, Elena and co would not fallen right into the trap and that Naomi needs to screw her head back on straight and embrace confidence ASAP to fix her mistake.

When Mateo feels insecure, the narrative gives him every reassurance about how capable and special he is, that he can learn at his own pace, and his insecurity isn't really such a problem after all. When Naomi feels insecure, the narrative encourages her to get over her doubts as quickly as possible because unlike with Mateo, there's "no time" for her to wallow in self-doubt and actually the fact that she even had said doubt in the first place is what "caused" the disaster.

On a slightly different note, Naomi is also called out for taking a little free, fun time for herself in "The Last Laugh" when the group needs her, and yet somehow I have a feeling that Mateo would've been allowed to take a day off if he wanted without any protest. He complains about long hours in "Movin' on Up" and Elena gives him the big royal wizard's chambers for him to relax and unwind in. Naomi asks for one (1) day off to spend with her childhood friend for her birthday , and suddenly it's big drama. (And at the time, Naomi asked for said day off, all Elena needed from her was help doing paperwork. The Team Ash stuff came up unexpectedly.)

Similarly whenever Gabe and Mateo get their little rivalry on ("Spellbound," "Party of a Lifetime," "Captain Mateo" and a few other examples) , the narrative either presents them as equally at fault or Mateo as the only one in the right.

When Gabe brings in Bronzino to train the Royal Guards in magic, it's specifically because Mateo failed to explain how and why he was training the guards in the way he was. If he'd just explained how they were going apply the seemingly basic exercise they were doing to real magic, Gabe likely would've allowed Mateo to continue the training at his own pace.

(Also like. it's super hypocritical imo for Mateo to get annoyed at Gabe feeling impatient/impulsive about their apparent-lack-of progress when Mateo himself is easily the second most impulsive character in the show after Elena.) Mateo feels entitled to keep important information to himself (or blab it to a cute girl he barely knows) even when its no one else's best interest. He's only okay with being "cautious and patient" when he specifically is the one setting the pace. And yet, Gabe is the only one who is called out for his behavior in this episode--even though he might not have acted as he did if only Mateo had trusted him and the guards with an explanation in the first place.

And then there's just a few other "dude not cool" little moments that never really get acknowledged/Mateo never apologizes for. For instance, there a two low-key terrifying Mateo moments in "Captain Mateo" that are not only not acknowledged but are also framed in context as Mateo being just "so funny and quirky". Near the end of "Should be in Charge," Mateo magically gags Gabe so he can't protest anymore about Mateo taking over as leader of the mission. And this is after having already enchanted one of the stationary suits of armor to come to life and fight Gabe. (Gabe admittedly does lightly shove Mateo out of the way during his parts of the song, but that's still a far cry from literally drawing a sword on Mateo as Mateo does via magic to Gabe.)

It's played for laughs (The Grand Council is just smiling happily in the background throughout the scene which is so yikes), so it's easy to overlook what's actually happening. Frankly, it's pretty horrifying that Mateo's natural instinct upon his experience/authority being questioned is to literally attack and then silence. (And attack and silence someone who is supposed to be one of his best friends and closest allies at that!)

Rather than the narrative acknowledging that maybe it's a bad idea to immediately grant power to someone to someone who is so retaliatory against fairly minor criticism, the Grand Council just gives Mateo exactly what he wants and doesn't even offer a "maybe next time, let's not gag or attack our friends, okay?" alongside it. I mean sure Mateo does step down as captain at the end of the episode, but it's very specifically presented as his and Gabe's voluntary choice and not an order from Elena/the Council.

[dekaydk]

Anti-Reset special episode

The writing on the series wasn't exactly stellar so I didn't have high expectations for this special episode. Not much happened though they did run into the couple from Stay By My Side (literally). Even that wasn't written very well. Everyone was behaving like kids.

The actors are still cute but that's about it. Much like the show, this episode was missable. Didn't set up anything really and there was a very minor concession to a plot, and the characters were if anything almost less interesting than in the series.

I prefer to be positive and have nice things to say, but this was just cotton candy and not very engaging. Maybe I'm just not the target audience. Sigh.

[bl-bam-beyond]

VIP ONLY (2024, TAIWAN)

Episode 11 (SPECIAL EPISODE/SPIN OFF)

GAGAOOLALA

Gu Jing (STAN HUANG) the handsome chef is basking in his relationship with Liu Li (CHEN XUAN YU) but a separation is ahead..temporarily.

Gu Jing has a 2 week business trip to Japan and Liu Li is feeling loneliness before the trip even takes place...

Bonus:

Shang Zhou (PARKER MAO) and his husband to be (although he referred to him as a wife in this) Shun Yu (HSIAO HUNG) make an appearance

VIDOL'S 2023 BL COUPLES COLLIDE...AGAIN (YOU ARE MINE AND VIP ONLY) both being carried by their significant others.

@pose4photoml

[respectthepetty]

These VBL/Vidol special episodes were silly and completely unnecessary.

I LOVED THEM!

I got color-coded boys in love.

I got the heart bokeh effect.

I got a competition with the Stay by My Side couple.

Where they all made sure to emphasize this wasn't a censored bromance.

Again.

And again.

Thanks for giving me one last fluffy outing with all my color-coded boys in love, VBL/Vidol.

Now when does my next Taiwanese BL arrive?

[cryscendo]

kurt hummel in every performance

2x09 - Special Education

Hey, Soul Sister - Blaine Anderson + Dalton Academy Warblers

“Being a Warbler is great but I don’t think they appreciate my individuality as much as you guys did. And I can’t help but think that I let you guys down.”

[enixamyram]

You know, the ending of the episode has made Amanda look even worse to me. At the start I just thought she was a judgmental bitch but now I realise she's a selfish bitch who let her personal life not just get in the way of her job - but push her to outright attacked a victim of sexual assault in the most disgusting way. Like, am I supposed to be more understanding now she admitted it's because her boyfriend was a dick that she literally threw money at a victim and claimed it was her own fault because what did she expect from that line of work???

And you know what, I really resent everyone else not putting her in her place throughout the episode. She was beyond nasty taking out her personal shit on a goddamn rape victim while everyone else just kind of sighed and looked unhappy but never actually call her out for it. It's so frustrating. I swear, earlier season Olivia would have tore Amanda apart if she saw her treating/talking to a rape victim like that.

[superbluebirdgirl]

Okay I don't wanna be a shipping drama person but I've seen some people refer to the stuff Jeff does to Abed in season 6 as "toxic yaoi" or "omg they're so chaotic uwu" and other stuff like that, and I'm sorry but that's always grossed me out given how the stuff Jeff does to Abed in that season lines up so much with abuse done to autistic people in the real world. Like I know that isn't people's intent or anything and I'm not trying to cancel anybody here, I just think it's really weird.

[indigodawns]

honestly FUCK tissaia

[mophobia]

I watched Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead last night so… y’all might be hearing from me a little if I can find some time in my busy schedule this week haha. God how can one man (I say man, I mean stupid little twat) make me so angry so easily.