#but it doesn't and shouldn't be part of the show imo

[selvnite]

I actually agree with her... like this goes for any ships in the show. I think it'd take away from what's great about The Mandalorian if they focused on any sort of romance within the main cast.

[oreganocactus]

i don't participate in any sort of svsss fandom stuff so my apologies if this has been said already but a HUGE part of the humor of that book comes from how it parodies typical isekai harem tropes and not just in the way you might think. there's the typical "wow so cheaply derived porn trope" humor but part of the humor is also in that despite LBH being the original protag, the book SVSSS itself features SQQ as the protagonist.....

ppl like to joke about SQQ's "harem" but the humor of the harem isn't just in that he has one at all (when normally that would be LBH's role), it's how every "member" of that harem fulfills a typical isekai harem role in an inverted way!!!!!!

most obvious example is LBH. he's an inversion in that he's originally intended to be an all-powerful demon king who's a housewife in SVSSS, but (imo) the humor in his "role" is that he's supposed to fulfill the trope of the young abused battle-hardened "demon" girl who longs for peace and housewifery and latches onto the older man who showed him kindness -- except instead of being a moe anime girl, he's an all-powerful protagonist-style power insert hero. so, not so much an inversion of "this demon king is actually a housewife??" and moreso "this housewife is actually a male demon king" (which might not sound like much of a difference at all, but it's moreso about how the MEN fulfill harem girl tropes and not the other way around.)

another example is YGY - set up as a "big brother" figure and clearly has history with SQQ. he's meant to fulfill the trope of the clingy "older sister" childhood friend who promises marriage to the protagonist and has clear history w/him but is insecure about his role because he's not as "appealing" as the other options. his humor as a "romance option" comes from 1. him being a man (you might notice this is the case for a lot of these LOL) and 2. actually, in fact, being immensely powerful - it's another inversion of the trope of the physically weak "starter" harem girl who agonizes over being unable to do more for her beloved childhood friend in their journey.

my favorite example: LQG is the most obvious "tsundere tomboy" trope ever. physically powerful, out of touch with her emotions, gets flustered and aggressive with her crush, focuses on getting stronger above all else yet somehow extraordinarily beautiful -- all of these are extremely obvious tropes assigned to this "tsundere tomboy" trope, with the humor lying in the contrast of LQG actually being a man. the succubus extra is hilarious not just because of the awkward situation and their reactions, but because it's an EXACT setup of an extremely common scene in isekai harem novels. the cold tsundere beauty gets affected by succubi, doesn't know what to do, goes to the protagonist for help - it's the exact kind of situation that would have the protagonist pushing her down and saying lines like "you shouldn't act like this - i'm a man too, don't you know?" and making her aware that she's a woman and "in danger" around him. it's funny because LQG is very much a man, and indeed SVSSS parodies this directly by having SQQ tell LQG that he's a man too, he'll understand if he needs to jerk off! no worries!

even ZZL falls into the trope of the typical beast-kin girl who's saved by the protagonist and falls into his harem, subverted by his loyalty to someone ELSE besides SQQ and nonchalance as he does it.

it's the main draw of the humor of the novel for me and i surprisingly feel like not enough people talk about just how much SVSSS really leans into being a parody of a harem-collecting isekai....

and if you're curious about my credentials for making this post: if you name a shitty isekai novel, i've almost definitely already read it all. i read too many midsekais. it's like an addiction.

[vroom--vrooming]

Things I don't like about Bridgerton season 3

The pace and execution seems off. I can't pin point it but it's not in the same level as season 1 and season 2.

The show is showing too many angles and focusing on too many things at the same time. As a result the main two characters are not getting enough screen time as they should imo.

I wanted more build up for Polin. More scenes and moments where Colin feels the pull and attraction towards Penelope.

The Mondrich storyline seemed unnecessary to me but I love that family. It would have been a nice touch if for some reason the queen favors them...at least favors Mrs Mondrich...just a thought.

Love Francesca, but she looks older than Eloise. And that modern era heavy glam was not helping make her look younger. I am sure they could have made her look a bit younger with the right make up.

We saw very little of Francesca in the last two seasons but I feel like her personality this season doesn't match with the previous seasons. I know they changed the actor but still...

Benedict seems like he is floating around aimlessly this season.

Violet has been giving the same speech about love and friendship and marriage since season one. It's starting to get old

I was expecting a bit more protectivness from the Bridgerton brothers since Francesca seems so innocent

At this moment the Featherington family story looks more interesting than the Bridgertons

Really wanted to see Violet teaching Kate her duties and having a good bond

And lastly...they shouldn't have divided the season into two parts. It takes away half the fun and interests

[ninesolsyapper]

So... Goumang and her Apemen Boys? Her weirdass kids, pets, whatever bizzare exact relationship they've got.

I frequently see their situation being described as Goumang turning them into Jiangshi out of her own will to control them while keeping them around. This idea of her control freak tendencies showing in how twisted her affection towards her Apemen is. This seems widespread enough that both the real and the fake Nine Sols Wikis frame it as such on their Goumang pages.

Though as I see the information we're given in the game, this does not seem right to me. The story here is a bit different methinks.

Goumang did not just turn her Apemen into Jiangshi soldiers because of her control freak tendencies, she did because her Apemen Boys died. They died and Goumang used her research into Jiangshi soldiers as a try to ressurect them, or at least to maintain as much of what's left of them. What we see in the game are these reanimated corpses.

I don't think I can call this part even a theory, because IMO this is pretty much what the game tells us about the situation. It doesn't directly spell it out but it appears clear.

Case 1 - Goumang's direct response to Yi's question of "You've gone so far as to modify the Apemen?" is "What's wrong with putting everything to good use? The opportunity to serve me beyond death is a special privilege I bestow.". So already here, this response would be just straight up incoherent if "serve me beyond death" was not directly relevant to the Apemen present. Though here admittedly it could be argued she meanslt that by making them Jiangshi she made them "beyond death", as good as immortals by her side. This by itself is not ironclad case for my argument.

For that I need to reach for...

Case 2 - The Apemen Jiangshi were stored in literal coffins.

So once you get back to the spot where you first meet Team Rocke... I mean Goumang and her Apemen, the coffin on the opposite side of the hole left after the elevator has a database lore entry attached to it. It gives you some context on what Jiangshi are but the most important part is the inscription, said to be written personally by Goumang, on the coffin itself.

“A life cut short too soon. The Abused - dead at 19”

So what we know from this?

1. The Apemen were dead at 19

2. Their life was "cut short", which definitely doesn't mean they were just forced into the Jiangshi-fication tubes or whatever. This more conclusively proves for me that they died for some other reason before Goumang made them into Jiangshi.

3. The most crucial part, this is Goumang herself stating these deaths were a tragedy, that they shouldn't have died at 19. This is an orbituary, this is why I said these are literally coffins. Goumang made them into coffins herself. Her directly saying they were "too soon" seems to also dismiss the idea she was already anxious that due to going into her Dreamscape she could end up seeing them only a few times more before they die of old age.

In this context, the "This way, you'll always be by my side." in Goumang's dreamscape reads less as a simple statement of the reson for which she's doing this but as this sorrowful "this is the only way I can keep you" way. Frankly it also carries this more sorrow tone in her voice.

So the above is my go at analysing what we are shown in the game. I would like to follow up with a couple theories going off of that.

1. Her control freak "mindful method" ideology actually crystalized because of the events that killed the Apeman duo. The extent of Goumang's desire to control and manage everything appeared to me to be like an actually new development that Yi wasn't quite aware of. He has no idea what "mindful method" is and the conversation in Goumang's throne room doesn't seem to hint they had this sort of argument before.

As for Apemen themselves, they really could have only either died to an accident or by pissing off some Dusk Guardians or another Sol. In either of these cases Goumang could go onto thinking this was her fault for not controlling them well enough, either by letting them work in an unsafe area or by letting them be around dangerous people without her supervision. She of course already showed similar tendencies before but being affected by their deaths could have make her double down on the micromanaging aspect of it.

2. The two Apemen actually started a bit chipping away at Goumang's ruthless technocrat worldview, a bit like Shuanshuan did with Yi. Possibly she started questioning her actions just a little bit just as two Apemen got cut down very conveniently.

What I'm nudging at is that Eigong was the one who orchestrated their deaths because after Yi she got paranoid over her second student also potentially getting weird ideas. First "lying bad" and then "mass murder and slavery possibly maybe bad", a true slippery slope if you ask me! So she got rid of the source of these weird ideas and possibly actively pushed Goumang towards going in the opposite direction of doubling down on the desire to control.

Also possibly the Apemen themselves started questioning the morality of what was happening to the rest of their species and got themselves in trouble as a result. At that point mayhaps Eigong could have had them even openly executed to teach Goumang a lesson.

There is so so much opportunity and potential for some fucked up shit that could have happened here. I hope my drive for fic writing finally pops back in for this.

3. Goumang actually got a worrying tendency to try to keep around people and things she became attached to after death. Next to the Jiangshi she got her old transmutated scorpion research subject taxidermed and lying around somewhere.

[sailorblossoms-rankane]

there's a gag that essentially 1. shows both Ranma and Akane's flaws for laughs (but not to judge) 2. relies on assumptions and misunderstandings so it can do "raunchy" comedy without really compromising how fateful Ranma is to Akane

There's plenty of perverts in rumic world (their harassment is the setup & beating their asses the punchline) but despite his assholery, Ranma is sorta chivalrous, and he's faithful to Akane (everything else is a challenge/battle).

That's the joke: what if an innocent guy is seen as a pervert

He's often in those types of situations because of naivete and impulsivity – he doesn't think until he's already in trouble (or what he thinks is naive or dumb). It's also plot (or someone's plot). No way "gotta touch a tiddie (pressure point) to defeat her" won't look bad. Any person with a brain would realize that, but that's also the joke:

1. the situation is impossible not to misunderstand

2. Ranma genuinely doesn't realize until it's Too Late. So Ranma is dumb but always innocent, and for that, the formula is as follows:

The setup: the reader ALWAYS gets all the context BEFORE he's put in a compromising position. The other character is generally someone Ranma "shouldn't struggle to deal with." The punchline is that we know he's innocent, but he looks guilty to the character discovering him.

I can see not loving this gag as sometimes Ranma is harassed/invaded. I think the logic behind this happening to him (and not to the girls for example) is that "he's not vulnerable" "wouldn't happen if he grew a spine or used his brain" or something (also, fanservice) it is what it is. (imo some shit definitely doesn't land, but the manga has the ability to make wrong and/or extremely out-of-pocket shit funny just by the strength of its pacing, composition, and characters' expressions)

Part of the humor is also that for Ranma, it's important that Akane doesn't misunderstand (he ALWAYS wants to explain himself to her)... so of course she will lol but it's not just Akane! ANYONE who catches ranma misunderstands.

Here's the thing:

Akane is insecure (remember we learn that she felt like she needed to change herself to get love in the first volume – growing out her hair like Kasumi – experienced an unrequited crush for years, and other fiancées show up just as she's discovering her feelings for Ranma). She's quick to anger, impulsive (Ranma is too) she will hit first and listen later...

But even if Ranma is innocent, Akane's reaction still makes sense as an emotional response. She never gets the context we do before she catches him in a compromising situation, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a single motherfucker on this planet who would be chill seeing their significant other in the situations she finds him.

Akane is very jealous, but it's not like she's beating his ass because another girl breathes in his direction. The comedy always pushes both in extreme situations. Even if logically Akane knows Ranma, insecurities and emotions aren't logical.

(here's the context behind this panel btw)

Akane needs a lot of reassurance, but the comedy often pushes her BEYOND her limits, so she reacts badly. Even if there's always an explanation, finding your significant other in compromising situations regularly would piss any bitch off. At some point you just want it to stop.

Assuming the worst is a consequence of insecurity and being used to having unrequited feelings. But Ranma also does stupid shit like sneaking into a woman's apartment. Getting overwhelmed with anger and struggling to listen makes sense as an emotional response to that.

Sometimes is more about Akane not feeling like she's desirable enough for Ranma, who's surrounded by cute girls, so even if he's faithful she still believes he's interested in someone else. Sometimes she's perceptive, but still frustrated by having to find him in those situations (or stuff like... sure, she doubs Ranma is trying to actually date their teacher, but he's never ~romantically giving her his coat~ to protect her from the cold now is he).

If it keeps happening, Ranma's innocence by itself is not enough to suppress a bad gut reaction. That it is happening at all is also the problem, especially if it's happening because Ranma jumps into situations without thinking.

Something to also keep in mind is that they're both teens sharing a single braincell. Being FULLY aware of the situation doesn't suppress the emotional response. Because... emotions aren't logical!! (and that too is part of the joke)

[beelzeballing]

actually i dont think ive posted my thoughts on ofmd s2 overall here yet have i?

ok here goes: i think it had incredibly high highs, and at some parts i genuinely enjoyed it more than i did the first season, episode 6 being peak imo. however, it had equally abysmal lows with some glaring writing-, tone- and pacing issues that all came to a head in the finale.

i once read someone say that, if you ever feel like a finale ruined the whole story, maybe you should take another look at the story. there were most likely cracks and problems all along, and the finale did nothing besides dashing the hope that these would perhaps be addressed later. very rarely do genuinely well written stories go completely off the rails in the finale and ruin the whole thing.

i think this is applicable here in some ways, SPECIFICALLY in regards to edward. good god edward was a MESS this season, and it's so sad because i loved the starting point! the kraken era was absolutely terrifying and iconic as FUCK but... they shouldn't have leaned so hard into the drama and trauma of it all. don't get me wrong, i loved that it did. it's one of my favorite parts of the season and i'm so glad we got it. but if they wanted this arc to work with the overarching plot as they wrote it, they would've had to lighten up the tone here CONSIDERABLY. had they played the kraken era for comedy then sure! edward's bad youtuber apology would've been funny. his fast redemption would've been less jarring. the lack of consequences less disturbing. but as it stands in the show, this arc is too dark to function with the later episodes.

i feel like they wanted to have their cake and eat it too here. they wanted the gritty drama of ed coming off the hinges entirely but also didn't want to deal with the aftermath of such a heavy arc in their silly pirate romcom. be that due to time constraints and budget cuts or because they were simply unwilling to, doesn't really matter in the end. the result is the same either way: a very tonally messy season with some accidentally troubling implications regarding abuse.

and mentioning troubling implications regarding abuse; izzy. my poor, poor izzy... his arc was absolutely glorious. i liked izzy the second he showed up in s1 and i was absolutely EATING this season up in that regard. and i think in this case, they genuinely did fuck it all up in the finale with that one stupid choice:

choosing to kill izzy was the DUMBEST thing they couldve done here.

ive talked about this over and over and over again. ive reblogged so many meta posts. and still i am left absolutely flabbergasted by how stupid of a decision this was. the fridging, playing at the fallen woman trope, killing the beating heart of the season and the character who delivers what is essentially a thesis statement, killing off the character whose arc is about coming to terms with his disability, having him die in edward's arms, comforting him and apologizing after an entire season of finding community and love outside of edward, the absolutely godawful pacing of it all, the extremely easy and obvious solution of just having IZZY become the new captain of the revenge to mirror s1 and hammer home how much he has developed since then in one go... i could go on. and i have. it was a stupid writing decision, completely fucked the tone and pacing of the finale and took away attention and time from things that really would've deserved a better wrap up (lucius and black pete deserved better)

now. the whole prince ricky & zheng plot line... yeah that shit sucked ass, sorry. they bit off more than they could chew here. i honestly think those are the arc words of this season:

✨️ bit off more than they could chew ✨️

right off the bat: i think he was good as a concept. bringing in a foil for stede who just doesn't Get It as stede does could've made for very good comedy and drama (and to be fair there is some of that). but that shit got away from them extremely quickly. nothing about how he's implemented past his first episode works, and i think this is very specifically because he's mostly played as the comic relief in his debut episode. making this completely bumbling fool, who gets his nose hacked off on his first job, the main villain of your entire season is... definitely a choice. idk. he didn't work for me at all.

ok wow mentioning shit getting away from the writers. this definitely got away from me. this was supposed to be a short lil post. well. i guess tl;dr i loved this season but jesus christ there was a lot wrong with it. if you want to hear more thoughts. ask box is open. be my guest. i have more to say so even if you dont ask i might add more to this at some point but im tired and have work tmrw.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

Hey

Want to know your opinion, how would you improve some arcs of toh characters, like Amity, Hunter, Lilith, Willow, Gus and probably anyone whose arcs you think are bad-written?

good question! let's see,

luz: i have mostly no complaints about her character but i wish they made it clear that her running off to the boiling isles was not ideal. i don't entirely blame her because she was a child and she was looking for a way to avoid going to camp, but the show starts off implying that luz's escapism was a bad thing, but then they kinda contradict that in the end, by letting her have access to the boiling isles forever.

also her s3 arc with her palisman was just overall poorly written. it was supposed to be an emotional and wholesome moment but it didn't have that impact on me. if luz's greatest wish was to be understood, they should have built on that more. i mean, it's not like no one understood her, all of her friends and found family in the boiling isles seem to understand and empathize with her. it just felt like the writers pulled this revelation out of their asses, and the fact that stringbean was inexplicably a shapeshifter didn't help their case.

amity: i would keep some parts of her initial characterization, like her ambitious nature and her resting bitch face energy. even if the idea was to make amity grow into a more cheerful person, it doesn't make sense that it happened so quickly. imo her characterization was at its best when she was warming up to luz but not entirely nice to other people (like during the grom episode). i really liked her cold, standoffish behaviour and i think it would have been nice if she had kept some of that, while still being a better person than she was in the beginning.

also, like i said in another post, she should definitely have goals of her own. her character shouldn't have been reduced to "luz's girlfriend". i would definitely show more of her interacting with the other characters (and these interactions and conversations aren't about luz) and pursuing her own dreams. i think steven universe did this best where connie liked steven a lot and she did hang out with him, but she also had her own life and her own dreams to chase.

hunter: i wouldn't put him in a relationship with willow, or anyone, for that matter. the poor boy has a lot of trauma he needs to work through and based on the stuff that he's said, it's clear that he doesn't know how healthy human interactions work, let alone a romantic relationship.

i would make his arc about slowly healing through his trauma or at least being able to express his emotions, instead of suppressing them for willow's sake. i think it could have been done, despite the time crunch. he needed time to grieve flapjack, to grieve himself after being possessed and almost killed by his abuser, and to slowly start his healing journey.

the others would definitely support him through it, but that's what he needs at the time, not a badass girlfriend.

lilith: i think her redemption arc started off okay but then everyone forgave her too quickly. it wasn't as bad as catra's because lilith did put a little effort into trying to be better, but she still needed to do more before she could have been forgiven.

so either i would extent her redemption arc and let the other characters, especially eda, stay mad at her a little longer before she gets forgiven. or i would just keep her as an antagonist.

they didn't even explore her trauma of being in a cult and the emperor's coven never chased her down after she left. not to mention, her experience of being in the emperor's coven is never relevant to the plot. she could have given luz inside information or talked about belos' potential weaknesses, it was such a missed opportunity.

willow: her arc with amity was not terrible and i like that she was allowed to take her time to trust amity. this is more about amity than willow but i think it would have been nice if we saw amity making more efforts to gain willow's trust. her apology in understanding willow was good but they kinda glossed over the fact that amity wasn't just "letting her friends bully willow", she was also bullying willow.

i think we needed more of willow and amity trying to mend their friendship, instead of lumity being the main focus after that one episode.

and in general, willow deserved a bigger role in the series. for the longest time, she was just luz's friend and then they forced her into a relationship with hunter, which did not work at all.

if her intended arc was to work on her insecurities and get more confident over time, they should have shown more of that process. even Any Sport In A Storm was mostly about huntlow (and hunter, to some extent) then willow. and let's be honest, the whole "half a witch" thing was dragged out more than it needed to be.

gus: okay, buckle up because i think i have the most grievances with gus. i need to make this clear. GUS WAS SO UNDERUSED.

i'm sorry. this guy is a child prodigy who can create illusions and use illusion spells to look into people's minds and force them to relive their worst memories?? why was this not more relevant to the plot? gus is such an insanely skilled witch and yet he's always pushed to the back for some reason. he has the most versatile and useful skillset but he never gets to use it, it makes me so mad!

even him looking into belos' mind was only used for that brief moment where he admits that he knew hunter was a grimwalker, but didn't want to force hunter to talk about it. that's it. we get no further conversation about it, gus never addresses the other stuff he saw in belos' memories like him MURDERING his brother and creating all the grimwalkers and god knows what else??

also just the fact that he's able to psychologically torment people with illusions is such an OP move that the series just kinda glossed over. it was used in a few episodes, but it could have been used to a greater extent. i just think that gus could have been such an interesting and powerful character, if he was given enough spotlight.

he also had a good thing going with mattholomule but instead of making that canon, they went for huntlow. i'm not saying that gus has to be in a relationship (or any of them, for that matter) but why create a new rushed ship when you already have a perfectly good one to work with?

i also find it weird that gus and willow were supposedly best friends but we got very few moments between them. i would have loved to see more of their friendship, and more focus on platonic relationships in general.

so yeah, if i were to rewrite gus, i would definitely give him a lot more spotlight. heck, given his powerset, he has the potential to be the main character even!

belos: i've mentioned it a lot before but belos deserved a more climatic end to his arc. all of the implications of religious trauma and puritan culture was thrown in the trash in s3.

he was actually such a compelling villain, genuinely intimidating and with an interesting motive and backstory. what was the point of crafting such an interesting character, just to be like "lol he's evil murder his ass"?

i'm not even mad that he died, i'm just mad that THAT'S how he died. i was expecting his death to be something ironic and self-inflicted, like the people from the human realm being horrified by him and killing him. maybe even burning him to death, the same way witches were burned at the stake. buuuut no, we get king, raine and eda stomping on his corpse because haha that's funny. hunter didn't even get to be a part of all this, and he was the one who deserved closure, he was the one who deserved to see his abuser face consequences of their actions, not fucking eda and raine.

and that part where he tries to convince luz that he was just under a terrible curse was just.. so childish. and not in-character childish, but just childish writing. it was just so ooc for belos, he is a manipulator but this wasn't how he manipulated people. i guess you could argue that he was just too desperate to survive but eh. i think it could have been written better.

eda: i don't have too many complaints here, i think she was probably the most well-rounded and compelling character in this show. her arc about the owl curse was interesting and very relatable to me, as someone who is epileptic. her relationship with raine was the best in the series imo.

the only thing i would change is, as I mentioned earlier, i wouldn't make eda forgive lilith so easily. i also think that she kind of lost her "morally grey parental figure" edge by the end of the series, and i honestly liked that part of her a lot, so i would keep it. but that's just a personal preference.

raine: they were definitely a very interesting character, i just think they deserved more screentime. most of their role in the story was surrounding their relationship with eda, which was very compelling, but we could have gotten more of their character outside their relationship.

the members of the emperor's coven, as a whole, could have been used better in the series. but for a side character with medium relevance to the plot, i'd say raine was written pretty well.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buddie: Has Eddie realized the Buck and Kim parallels yet?

Buck and Kim (Shannon's doppelgänger) are MIRROR IMAGES of each other! Also, Buck's right in front of Eddie and Kim was positioned to be the mirror so he could see who he's been wanting since he moved to Los Angeles and the person he wants is Buck.

There were a lot of references to season 2 in 7x9 and I might expound on all of them at some point but this post is solely about the similarities between Buck and Kim and the familiarity Eddie sees when he looks at her since he's already found everything he wants and needs in Buck but won't allow himself to have.

Full disclosure: Before I delve into this, I must admit how much I hate this "Vertigo" BS storyline they gave Eddie and I've posted about it many times because IMO he deserves better than an emotional cheating arc. But since TM (showrunner) is hellbent on incorporating DK into these episodes, it doesn't appear there's anything that can be done except fast forward through them like I did early this morning when I finally watched the episode. One more thing, I HATED the way they let Chris see Eddie with Kim. He's traumatized enough and I don't know if it was done for shock value or WTF but that was low for 9-1-1 standards and it shouldn't have been included.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

In 7x9, the scene with Buck and Kim at the firehouse allowed Buck to come face to face with a doppelgänger version of the person (Shannon) who still haunts both Eddie's and Chris' lives. Also, she represents the person Buck believes will always stand in the way of him stepping all the way in with Eddie so he can become his husband and a second father to Chris.

Now, I'll be honest, I watched the scene with Buck and Kim three times for several reasons but mainly because I noticed the show was trying to illustrate more than just Eddie's cheating. The truth is Buck's and Kim's scene should have DEMONSTRATED TO VIEWERS how Kim is a direct reflection and a representation of everything Eddie's already found and built with Buck, i.e., future spouse, lover, coparent for Chris and the family he chose. Basically, Buck's his everything but Eddie won't allow himself to feel it (believe he can have him).

When Buck came face to face with Kim, he stopped in his tracks and his breath caught in his throat because he thought he was looking at a ghost. Kim reminds him of the woman he believes Eddie will NEVER let go of/get over so they can be together and I can prove it with the images of them facing each other.

Ever since the BTS pics were released of Kim/Shannon, I wondered why her hair was blonde instead of brown. I figured it might be related to something but at the time I didn't know what. Now, IIRC, in the early part of season 1, Buck's hair was reddish blonde but for some reason, he dyed it and it's more of a dirty blonde now. Some people debate over the color of Buck's hair; however I'm not doing that here since it's not the point of this post. Furthermore, several Buddie shippers have commented on the gray/white streak in Kim's hair and they did the research that it's a birthmark. There have been several posts on it and the authors of them have commented that it's on the wrong side for her head for it to mimic Buck but I beg to differ.

When they faced each other (reminder Buck was never shown talking to Shannon in season 2; he saw her but they never interacted in CANON) their birthmarks were aligned. His is on the left side of his head and hers is on the right side but when they're facing, they line up. Additionally, Buck's lips are pink and IIRC, Shannon never wore bright red lipstick but Kim did. Buck and Kim (Shannon) all have blue eyes and everyone who watches the show should know Eddie loves looking at Buck the same way he said he liked looking at Kim. If these aren't parallels that show Eddie has found everything he wants and needs in Buck, then the writers should be replaced because they wrote it like this.

Why are these things important?

They're important because for the entirety of season 7, the show has gone above and beyond to show viewers how Buck, Eddie and Chris are ALREADY a family. Additionally, their screentime also illustrates how Buck is already one of Chris' three parents and it began in 7x1.

The three pictures above show Buck, Eddie and Shannon sitting on the same spot of Chris' bed. Please note: this is not an illusion for Buddie Shippers, it's all right above in the photos and the show orchestrated this the same way they did Buck's and Kim's similarities.

Did the show do a good job of illustrating how Eddie wants to be with Buck instead of Kim? It's debatable especially for those who are CHOOSING not to see it but the intentions were crystal clear. Buck being face to face with Kim was INTENTIONAL and the show didn't do anything to deter the parallels and similarities between them, as a matter of fact, they highlighted them.

While Eddie and Kim were in the boat, he said, "Maybe I just like looking at you" but who has EDDIE ALWAYS GIVEN "HEART EYES" TO? BUCK!

Other than the pictures of Eddie and Shannon that Eddie keeps gazing at with longing, he rarely looked at Shannon with heart eyes.

The additional pictures below show how Buck and Kim mirror each other. When they're facing their birthmarks are on the same side. Also, Kim's even wearing a striped shirt which is reminiscent of the striped shirt Buck wore during the shooting but the differences are his stripes were vertical while hers were horizontal and her stripes are bolder/thicker. (Please note, she was wearing like three shirts/tops so it must have been intentional and her shirts were navy-blue and blue which is the same color as the Buckley-Diaz family color.)

Eddie loves everything about Buck and he loves him so much that he put him in his will and named him to be Chris' legal guardian. He gave Buck his heart years ago because he believes Buck wont break it like Shannon did. In 3x8, he told Bobby, Shannon broke Chris' heart (Eddie's heart) when she left but just like always, Eddie's choosing to see the good while ignoring all the bad stuff that was included in their relationship. She literally asked him for a divorce but after all these years, he's still searching for the perfect "woman" to fill Shannon's shoes when he already has everything he's searching for in Buck.

Some viewers think Eddie doesn't know he's in love with Buck but I beg to differ. I believe he does know but due to his religious beliefs, he won't allow himself to want him. Also, Buck believes Shannon will always be the person who blocks/prevents or stops him from being with Eddie since after all these years, Eddie hasn't moved on from her. However, Buck knows the truth about Eddie's relationship with Shannon because Eddie told him about it in 2x10 and it's evident Buck knows she abandoned them by the way he apologized to Eddie in 3x9 for abandoning him and Chris during the lawsuit.

The point of this post is to illustrate the way 9-1-1 allowed Buck to come face to face with Kim in an episode that's all about ashes. Also, the haunted look on his face (Shannon reappeared in Eddie's and Chris' lives in 2x7 Haunted) showed how Buck's not sure if he'll ever be able to be who Eddie wants since Eddie hasn't moved on from the woman he dated when he was 18 years old.

One good thing that happened in the $hitshow that's this raggedy ass storyline is, Kim/Shannon told Eddie he needs to "Let her go" and hopefully, he FINALLY WILL!

Before I end this post, I have to include my continued belief in my Buddie Crack Theory because there were even more things in 7x9 that furthered my belief in Buck still being in his coma dream. I haven't decided if I'll post the details yet because there are a lot of them and I don't want to do a long post, so I'll have to determine how I want to proceed with it.

[lucienne-thee-librarian]

Just to minimize my chances of being genuinely misunderstood OR deliberately misinterpreted, and crucified for something I don't think, How Dare You Say We Piss on the Poor website etc...I'm gonna say this right up top. I absolutely understand why people don't like Thessaly as a character, if anyone does completely unironically stan her as some kind of feminist hero who Did Nothing Wrong uwu, I personally see it as a bit of a red flag. I don't like terfs real or fictional. In a vacuum, I could even completely sympathize and agree with the people who want her cut.

HOWEVER.

It's really something to me to see people clamoring for her to be cut, because she carries and expressed an ugly indefensible prejudice (transphobia) in words towards (1) person. Meanwhile Hob fucking Gadling enacted one of the most violent forms of antiblack racism I can even think of against thousands no, millions of people, the ripple effects of which still affect billions more today. Just a little light idk, profiting off the fucking slave trade and had to be told by someone else that it was bad...and he's a fan favorite.

People are saying Thessally being Dream's love interest reflects badly on him or is somehow endorsement by the narrative (?!?!?!?!?!? Didn't she (SPOILER ALERT AS IF IT MATTERS BY NOW) help participate in his extended assisted suicide? She's not painted as a great person to me just another character what are y'all SMOKING whatever fine. It's fine this is fine.) But shipping Dream with Mr. Former Slaver is not only not verboten or frowned on widely in the fandom but its THEE most popular pairing by far. So...why the difference?

Like where are the same fans who are saying Thessaly shouldn't just be more clearly shown to be wrong, she shouldn't even be in the show at all when it comes to Hobert's crimes??? Yes, transphobia is indefensible. Isn't racism?

And I hear the cries of "it's fiction!!!" Already rallying (if anyone who needs to hear this even sees it lol) to which I say:

HORSESHIT. I KNOW you don't, deep down, really agree because if you did, why get upset about Thessaly being included??? Why does what she said to one person matter if it's Just Fiction You Guyze. Fictional characters are allowed to do bad things and fiction isn't reality sweaty....except when you only apply that standard to fictional racists you like and simp for, but fictional transphobes you don't are SO HARMFUL they shouldn't even be portrayed in fiction.

Like. Give me a big fat BREAK. This looks like bullshit, no? I'm sorry, but I'd love for someone to try and give any other explanation besides one personally offended you or hit home for you, and the other doesn't.

And if that bothers you or you feel like it says something negative about you...idk what you want me to say??? You can't control how other people perceive you and that's how people outside this majority-of-the-fandom bubble see it. You don't need to respond, I just wish and genuinely hope this gives you a moment to think about why fans who ARE bothered by both (and not just paying lip service to being bothered by the one but railing against the other) are so frustrated with people saying everyone is welcome but in practice only bending over backwards for the comfort and emotions of themselves, and people they can easily relate to.

You don't have to like Thessaly (I don't. I find her an interesting antagonist, I don't stan her. And frankly imo likability is not. the point of her character) but you'll pardon me for feeling more than a bit cynical and side eying people's motivations for what seems a...pretty obvious double standard, on what fictional crimes related to real world issues matter to y'all, and which clearly don't. Either actually bring the same energy to the table for fictional people who committed atrocities, even if against a group you're not part of and thus don't feel the need to empathize with, or just carry on, but accept that you don't have the SLIGHTEST room to talk about cutting characters who do immoral things. And you also need to accept that you look like a hypocrite when you do.

[knockknockitsnickels]

Thoughts about Prison3r bc she's making me go insane

Spoilers under the cut (also minor spoilers - chapter name & brief discussion of other routes - in the tags, so don't read those lol)

I have a feeling the Cage is going to get overshadowed by Sp3ctre & Happily Ever After, but I was really surprised by the direction they took her in, and I think she makes Pris all the more tragic as a character.

IMO, the Prisoner route kind of functions as a giant trust fall. You've established in the previous chapter that you're skeptical of this whole setup (hence voice of the skeptic, lmao) and willing to help the Princess, and this route puts that to the test. Can you focus on what's important without getting caught up in questioning irrelevant details (the empty shackle)? Can you trust the Princess enough to give her your weapon? And on the other side of that, can she trust you to understand her plan?

Part of what makes the Prisoner compelling to me is the unspoken trust she has in the player (part of why I've never understood the take that she doesn't actually care about you? Maybe we've got some Autism2Autism telepathy going on though). Her lines in the Shifting Mound fight (if you free her) talks about how "shared skepticism blossomed into trust", and the Drowned Grey further implies that she put a lot of trust and hope in the player which they ended up betraying.

I was expecting Prison3r to play with that betrayal of trust - she showed we could trust her, but her trust in us was misplaced. It doesn't really matter if you leaving the head was an honest mistake or not, we still let her down. I was expecting a scenario where we'd be stuck apologizing to a Princess who couldn't bring herself to trust us again, no matter how sincere we were being. I was expecting her to be angry. I didn't expect her to just... give up.

If the Drowned Grey is meant to represent the Prisoner (metaphorically) letting go of the tight control she has of her emotions, (literally) drowning you in her (metaphorical) grief and rage, then the Cage is the opposite, locking her emotions even deeper away. Shifty describes her as (paraphrasing here, emphasis mine) "someone who wishes she could be just a set of eyes and ears." The Cage isn't angry with you for leaving her behind. Why should she be? It was her mistake, after all. She shouldn't have been so stupid to think she could break the cycle and actually be freed.

The route also plays with the contrast between the Princess and the Player (via the voices) in fun ways. While the Cage is already resigned to repeating the cycle, skeptic (and paranoid, if you get him) are panicking for the whole route, trying desperately to find a way out of it while unintentionally forcing you to into the same patterns as before (by forcing us to take the knife. Thanks guys, very cool).

It honestly feels like the perfect response to the common fan complaint of "Why is the Prisoner mad at you for leaving her head behind? It was an accident!". Well, here you go. She's not mad at you. It would honestly feel better if she was.

[toxicroyjamie]

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this specific trend I've noticed for Jamie-centric angst fics that really rubs me the wrong way. It's the type of fic where Jamie gets triggered by Roy yelling? And usually ends with Roy having to apologize for shouting and then the story like narratively implies that it's Roy's moral imperative that he should never yell at/around Jamie ever again because of his trauma with his dad. And this headcannon just annoys me because CANONICALLY Jamie has never backed down from a fight with Roy?? Or even seemed really cowed by him?? So I just don't see how Roy yelling would be a trigger for him. Obviously, to each their own, but I think it would be more intriguing to approach this idea from a different angle, meaning after Roy learns more about Jamie's situation with his dad, he ASSUMES that his yelling would be triggering and so tries to censor himself around Jamie and this backfires since Jamie gets pissed off that he's getting the kidde glove treatment. I dunno, I just think there's a tendency to woobify Jamie in angst fic that simultaneously demonises Roy and it just gets on my nerves a bit.

Thoughts ⬇️

For me sort of depends on the specific fic and the execution of the idea (like it definitely CAN be woobifying), but I don't dislike it broadly and would even say I enjoy it most of the time, because I do think some of Roy's behavior towards Jamie is realistically inappropriate given what he knows about Jamie's background and I wish that had been a consideration onscreen even a little bit at all.

I don't think these fics come out of a desire to woobify Jamie (again that's speaking to the concept as a whole because I've definitely read individual fics like this where he IS woobified) so much as to authentically explore Jamie's C-PTSD, which was lent very little consideration or realism on the show. Realistically, I do think some of Roy's behavior would trigger a person who had been physically abused for years, and I don't think it's inherently infantilizing to explore that in a more true-to-life way.

I wouldn't say that it's inherently "demonizing" of Roy, either, because ime most of these fics are very generous and empathetic to Roy and don't portray any kind of negative intention on his part. He typically takes on the role of a very understanding and supportive partner who is willing to change his behavior, and I don't think that recognizing a *behavior* as negative is painting a *person* in a negative light.

On that note I also don't think it's an unfair or unreasonable ask that Roy stop yelling at his friend/partner with PTSD so much. Jamie wouldn't be in the wrong to expect that. Roy is an adult who should be able regulate his emotions, and there's really no need for him to lash out the way he does. Jamie had to make a lot of changes to his behavior out of consideration for other people, because part of being an adult in society is thinking about your actions and not just doing whatever you want - I don't really see why Roy shouldn't be asked to do the same and kind of wish he had been 🤷🏼‍♀️

Imo if it's out of character for Jamie to be triggered by Roy's behavior because that scenario wasn't explicitly shown onscreen, it's equally out of character for Roy to be concerned about how his aggression would affect Jamie, because he never seemed to really think about that. So personally I don't honestly see the scenario you described as any more true to canon than the other angle - I think both are equally valid explorations of something that canon neglected!

I will say that I personally think the yelling would be less of an issue than how physical Roy can be, because yelling (as you said) doesn't seem to typically bother him, but Jamie was clearly triggered by Ted yelling at him and started crying when Roy was yelling at him in Mom City, so I can see how yelling would affect him when he's already in a fragile state

TL;DR I actually am fond of the concept so I'm going to agree to disagree, but I do think your thoughts are also valid!!

[happypotato48]

Century of Love EP 9 Unhinged Tangent Thoughts

Last stretch baby, let's see how this show will end. I'm hoping for a devastating heartshattering ending cause i'm a masochist whose really like to see my blorbos in pains :3

Go cry in a river bitch!

Don't hurt my baby he's already had to deal with That fujoshi goddess nonsense, he shouldn't have to deal with soap oprera henchmen too.

What a gentleman. she suck but she definitely doesn't deserve to get moider by these generic lakorn bad guys.

You go girl! and by go i mean go as far away as you can. you came, you serverd and now it's time to take a bow off the stage hun.

Bye bitches you both were generic AF.

YOLO. dying for good dicks is somewhat a good kind of death imo.

"Phi San promise me that you'll be happy without me." This! this is what i wanted. time only move in direction and i'm glad that Wee get to be the embodiment of that. this line gonna fuck me up for a little while.

Yeah you do, doesn't mean it make this any less sad.

Horny till the end, respect bruh. i mean gramp.

*cry in gay joy jealousy* look look look, i think i'm going to be extra emotional for sometime since you know what passed with gay proposal scenes in thai media.

Yeah that's not gonna happen with how pretty and a hunk Wee is.

Girl i get it sometime sad gay shits are best for us sad queers.

They're so pretty, wahhhhhhhh!.

I loved that their parting words were lottery related cause that was like one of the most common things poor thai people love to talks to each other. speaking from my own experience.

That's my man! scold that grandpa. Wee's heart gonna break either way not letting him getting through it with you is kinda not good old man.

The ways we express our love to people we care about is in a way a long goodbye in the making. cause parting ways is inevitable.

Okie dokie there is a small chance that this show will not have a happy ending but i'm a sick fuck who love sad gay shits, so i'm praying for some heart wrenching ending tomorrow.

[blueskyscribe]

The reason the third set of Earthspark episodes were such a disappointment to me was that I expected all the plot threads from the previous two thirds of the show to interweave and instead a lot of them were just dropped.

Like why did Optimus need to keep Bumblebee's existence a secret? Why did GHOST think he was dead? And what consequences did Optimus face once GHOST found out Bee was alive? Seemingly none. Optimus showed up so little in the second batch of episodes that I kind of thought they'd retaliated against him and imprisoned or brainwashed him but nah, he's fine and it's never explained why Bumblebee had to fake his own death.

What was the Cybertronians' war initially about? It is unbelievable to me that this wasn't explored. First, it's interesting! Second, it would give us insight into the motivations of the Decepticon ensemble.

The show is a sort of a "what if" AU based on G1, and in G1 the Decepticons were warmongers who wanted to rule the galaxy and enslave everyone. However, if you've read MTMTE you might notice Megatron chiding Shockwave for dismissing the Terrans as "lower class beings" and conclude that the war was about classism. But ultimately the viewer shouldn't have to fill in the blanks from other media. Earthspark should address this within its own show, because the question "Can the Decepticons be trusted, can they be redeemed?" can't be answered without it. Like, if the Decepticons were just The Evil Bad Guys then it wouldn't matter, but if you want them to end up freely walking the Earth then it's extremely important to know if the average 'Con's motivation for joining the army was "I'm standing up for my civil rights" versus "y'know, I just love killing people." Especially since, unlike the easy-breezy G1 cartoon, in Earthspark the TF war resulted in human injuries and deaths.

Shockwave and Soundwave's complicated feelings about Megatron never get resolved or even addressed outside their solo episodes. Which is very odd in a series that put such an emphasis on working out emotional strife, what with the cyber-sleeves and all. In the finale the Decepticons team up with the Autobots and Terrans because Mandroid wants to destroy all robot life: a purely physical threat. And that was a cool fight. But it doesn't resolve any of the emotional baggage. This disappointed me because the emotional fallout of Megatron's side-switch was the most interesting part of the show imo.

Then there was the Starscream episode, which felt like the "Dear Princess Celestia" moral in the last two minutes of a MLP FIM episode without showing how the conflict played out in the previous twenty minutes.

Earthspark got renewed for a second season. (And I'm glad! It has a lot of potential, that's why I was pumped during the first two-thirds!) But they thought they might only get one season, and if that was the case they would have left us with all these dead ends.

[illubean]

hi! can you do chrollo x female reader headcanons of reader who is very outgoing, loves science and is intelligent? also can she have brown hair and is tall please?

(i hope this makes sense)

Chrollo with Tall!Outgoing!Smart!Reader

Characters: Chrollo Lucilfer Type: Fluff, Headcanons, Fem!Reader

i left out the brown hair part because I really couldn't think of a way to mention it, I hope that's ok :^)

Warnings: none

this man thinks its incredibly attractive that you're intelligent

a beautiful, educated woman? sign him tf up

he would gladly sit and listen to you talk about science and your studies all day

he likes to exchange information with you, you tell him all about science and he tells you about philosophy

he'd read a few science books just so he can understand and engage you better :DD

you being outgoing isn't something he pays too much attention to

but if you get along well with the troupe? thats a bonus

he might get a little jealous of the attention you give other people due to your nice and outgoing nature

now, Chrollo I believe is around 5'10 so you being tall could either be taller than him or still shorter (acoording to me at least; tall for a woman imo is like 5'8 and up)

you being tall just adds to your charm

if you're taller than Chrollo, he doesn't mind it all that much

he thinks its kind of endearing

you're like a wise old tree (in the best way possible)

even though he doesn't really need it, If you help him grab stuff off high shelves and pin him against the counter, bookshelf or whatever it is? he's a bit flustered

and it's NOT easy to fluster this man

when other, shorter girls try hitting on him he's like "Don't make me call my gf"

he likes to show you off, you're tall and gorgeous, why shouldn't he?

in my head Chrollo is a thigh man so you being tall and having long legs??? lordd have mercy

you can wear heels around this man, he isn't insecure in the slightest

and he thinks its hot ;)

[fettuccino-alfredi]

My thoughts on the first episode of Bit City

It pains me to say this but that first episode was just okay. I cannot believe they were 8 in that writer's room and that's the intro they came up with? I thought I missed something, they didn't present themselves or the segments of the show and that script made a Changela interaction seem forced and awkward when normally they share a brain cell. It's weird that they're the hosts but they barely did anything? I need more Changela banter between the segments to make more smooth transitions, not Angela saying "coming up next *blank*" and that's it. You watch something like the Daily Show and the host is the throughline of the episode, I would have a guest be interviewed by Angela and Chanse make sidebar jokes sprinkled throughout, play a game, have a smosh universe news segment, a monologue, etc. Everyone seemed nervous and that's fine, Tommy was physically sweating bullets during his part in the bts lol.

The rest of the bits were fine but some of them were way too long like Hot Goss shouldn't be 13 minutes imo and I don't know if doing topical humor is great when you film at least a month in advance, Jojo Siwa doesn't hit the same like last month. The reunion was good but I'm sad that Angela and Arasha didn't get to do a lot.

All of that being said I'm really excited about the new show and of course there's gonna be growing pains, compare Shayne's funeral to the Try Guy's and it's not the same thing lol. I think we will see bigger changes when episode 4/5 rolls around because they have 3 that are ready to go I think they said? One big positive is that the format is really versatile so they can edit and move things around to make it better and better.

[nohoperadio]

A small number of classics publishing thoughts

I wish it were way more common to see long books published in multiple volumes. I'm fine with long books existing but a 900 page paperback is not good to hold in your hands. It's bad to hold. It's heavy for example. I don't wanna do that. If there were two of them but smaller it would be fine.

And I get why this doesn't happen in general, if you need to buy two books that's going to be more expensive, customers en masse wouldn't like it. But I'm puzzled about classics publishing specifically, because this is where choice, in theory, abounds. If I want a copy of War and Peace, I can cheap out on a £3.99 Wordsworth edition that probably uses a public domain translation and will definitely fall apart before I finish it, I can pay £9 more for the privilege of real paper and footnotes from Penguin/Oxford/Vintage/etc, I can pay £9 more than that for a tacky Penguin Clothbound edition because a straight person on instagram told me to, and above that there's varying degrees of actually nice expensive gift editions, I mean the Folio Society has proven that there's really no upper-bound to what people will pay for a book that looks really good.

What I can't seem to do, for any amount of money, is buy a paperback that is the size of my hands. I literally can't do it. All of the above are single volume and between 1000-1500 pages. The Everyman's Library War and Peace is in three volumes but hardback, and hardback is a significant disadvantage imo but that's probably genuinely the best option still. And that's a special exception anyway, Everyman's doesn't make a habit of doing this, their edition of Middlemarch for example is one 900-page volume, same with the other longboys I checked.

Surely there is room in this variegated competitive market for one edition that prioritizes comfort, for people who want to actually read the book and have a nice time doing so. It seems like there's not. Oh well.

---

I made fun of the Penguin Clothbound series above, and listen if you think they look cool and not like something conceived by a graphic design student who's just looked up what books are as research for their assignment then more power to you, but you still shouldn't buy them because they suck, like the quality is so bad! That coloured ink rubs off so easily it's insane. Part of my job involves picking books from the shop floor for online orders, and I hate seeing orders for the those ones because it's a very frequent occurrence that we'll have like six copies of the clothbound Frankenstein or whatever in-store and I still can't fulfill the order because none of them are remotely presentable, they've all got prominent scratches or faded parts, and this is before they've ever even been owned by anyone, this is just from existing in a shop and getting occasionally manhandled! It's so so sad. And the thing is a lot of books age gracefully, they look nice and well-loved as they get battered and worn, but these ones when the ink comes off just look like cheap pieces of shit! Please stop buying them, you do not want these books on your shelves trust me!

---

tbh the normal-ass Penguin Classic black paperbacks aren't always great quality either. My copy of Wuthering Heights looks like it's been passed down through three generations but I bought it new and I've only read it 1.5 times:

And like sure I let it get jostled around in my bag a lot but I do that with all my books and they don't all look like this. Definitely part of the issue is that it crinkles white which shows up really strongly against the black, but even allowing for that it's really bad. Penguin just kind of sucks with their classics publishing in general I think. It's weird because you'd think with no living author to pay royalties to there'd be more room for investing in an actual quality product--seems not! Most of my others in this series are kinda beat up too although admittedly this is the worst example.

(I don't even like Wuthering Heights it's kinda boring! The 0.5th read was my first attempt, I fell off it and then forced myself to try again later. I probably wouldn't still own it if it weren't sadly too ugly now to give away!)

---

Classics publishing! Just some thoughts.