#downfalls high recap

[1onelypoet]

sweet tooth (for you) pt4 || lando norris smau

a/n: sorry this one is so short and took forever too :( i've been rlly busy with life n stuff but i have some time these following days so hopefully i'll acc make progress on pt5 😭 as always tysm for all the love ❤️

pairing: lando norris x singer! ex-leclerc! reader

fc: reneé rapp

warnings: cursing

taglist: @drunkinthemiddleoftheday, @kapsylia, @i-wish-this-was-me, @minkyungseokie, @toasttt11, @namgification, @whyraspberries, @1655clean, @d3kstar, @formulaal, @allywthsr

disclaimer: this is completely fictional. no hate meant towards anyone mentioned.

part one, part two, part three

December 23

yourusername added to their story December 23

seen by user1, landonorris, yourbff and others

landonorris added to their story December 31

seen by charles_leclerc, yourusername, mclarenauto and others

yourusername added to their story December 31

seen by landonorris, f1gossip, user2 and others

January 1

yourusername January 1

liked by yourbff, oscarpiastri, conangray and others

tagged goodmorningamerica, yourbff, yukitsunoda0511, spotify, lilymhe

yourusername 2023 recap ft a bunch of rlly cool ppl <3 manifesting good things for us all in 2024 :)

view all comments

yourbff OMG I MADE THE CUT

yourusername ofc ur my pookie after all

yukitsunoda0511 I look good in that suit

user3 YES U REALLY FUCKING DO YUKI

user4 no charles 😔

user5 lmao what were u expecting, he literally cheated on her

user6 i miss mom and dad 💔💔💔 ↳ user7 please log off!

yourbff added to their story January 5

seen by landonorris, yourusername, user8 and others

January 6

January 6

f1gossip January 8

liked by user9, therealf1gossip, user10 and others

tagged yourusername

f1gossip Y/n L/n spotted entering Lando's apartment in Monaco

view all comments

user11 um what the fuck!

user12 my exact reaction

user13 the off season will be uneventful they said, nothing will happen they said

user14 are they dating?

user15 i hope not. that would be shitty of both lando and y/n ↳ user16 also charles and lando would probs not get along anymore :(

user17 WHAT IS SHE DOING THERE??????

yourusername added to their story January 10

seen by lando.jpg, yourbff, yukitsunoda0511 and others

landonorris added to their story January 10

seen by charles_leclerc, mclaren, yourusername and others

January 10 (Lando)

therealf1gossip January 15

liked by f1gossipgirl, user18, user19 and others

therealf1gossip Tea Time:

Brace yourselves, because it seems our latest lovebirds, Charles and Manon, are caught in the whirlwind of relationship drama. Whispers in the paddock hint at Charles' reluctance to fully embrace their romance, leaving us all scratching our heads and dishing out theories (spill yours below 🔎). Could it be that the old flames of a relationship with Y/n refuse to flicker out, casting a shadow over his current flame? The plot thickens!

And just when we thought it couldn't get any juicier, winter training camp rolls around, serving as the catalyst for an explosive confrontation. Picture this: Manon, left high and dry as Charles jets off to the Dolomites for winter training. Ouch! Needless to say, feathers were ruffled, and tensions soared to unprecedented heights. Will this star-crossed duo weather the storm, or are we witnessing the beginning of the end? Stay tuned for more!

view all comments

user19 source: just trust me bro

user20 I'm not one to pray on couple's downfalls but...

user21 🛐🛐🛐

user22 admin thinks theyre gossip girl

user23 YESSS ITS SO FUCKING DRAMATIC FOR NO REASONNN

user24 please get a life that doesn't revolve around ppl u don't know

user25 lol cant wait for him to drop manon 😝

manonsworld added to their story January 16

seen by user25, user26, f1gossip and others

charles_leclerc added to their story January 16

seen by landonorris, f1gossipgirl, carlossainz55 and others

[ms-scarletwings]

Irken Zim’s 8 biggest fans

For funsies! As we are well aware, this guy has a lot of gut-haters and censurers across the galaxy. Over his long years of life, he’s gained a proud infamy from every corner of the Irken empire, all the way to the fringes beyond, and the number of critics snapping at his heels only grows with every adventure. Whole civilizations sit at their seat’s edge waiting for this invader’s downfall, but what of those who defy all odds, expectations, maybe even logic? Even devils somehow find worshippers, even criminals get fan mail, and even Invader Zim has someone rooting for him within the 4th wall. Weirdly quite a handful of them, actually, let’s recount.

8. Table Headed Service Drone Bob

It’s humorous, how odd circumstance can make for strange advocacy. The show’s universe operates on the rule of funny, and Bob just so happened to be in the right place and time to comedically become the only Irken alive with something to gain from Zim’s success, and so much to lose for his failure. The sheer unfairness of what the Tallest put him through along with Zim serving some hope for a miracle ticket out of his low standing seemed to snap something in him, even if just for an episode. It would make sense for anyone in his position to have a much more dampened love for their society and leaders, to the point where cheering on its greatest enemy would be preferable than another moment of being a doormat. An underdog rooting for an underdog, even if for purely selfish and coincidental reasons.

7. The Judgementia Control brains

Even more deliciously ironic, isn’t it- That Zim’s praise was be sung once from the very bottom rung of Irken society and then again from the highest spike? What better to follow up poor Bobby than another victim of astronomical circumstance, or rather, three victims together? The nutshell recap of “The Trial’s” plot climax spells out the tragedy of, what is basically Irk’s highest court officials, to become he first ever victims of Zim’s malignant code becoming a contagion. They’ve joined the Fanclub, even if against their will, and all the better for Zim this time to have support from such a high place, seeing that it literally saved his hide in this instance.

6. Dib Membrane

Yeah, that’s freaking right. He’s on the list. You think being a hype man and a mortal rival are mutually exclusive? You either haven’t been watching enough DBZ or you haven’t been watching enough Hellsing and should fix that. Anyway, and I’m speaking within the actual canon dynamic of these two… it is very important to Zim that Dib is perceived as a formidable opponent to bluster his own ego, and vise versa. Dib is not in any self-serving position to accept what an actual mess Zim’s operation is, even though he has more evidence of the alien’s horrible tactics, nonsense plans, failures, etc. than anyone else on the planet. Gaz can see Zim for exactly what he is and why fighting him doesn’t have to be this 24/7 urgent priority. Dib refuses to get that because stopping Zim’s pop-up schemes only keeps the score tied for them. They’ve both been at this long enough to get incredibly frustrated with the lack of progression regarding the big picture goals, taking over the world, and exposing a live alien to the world, respectively. I don’t think he has to keep describing this space goblin as some ultra-cunning master of villainy, or GIR as this nefarious minion because that’s what he actually thinks of them, but because if he admits otherwise, that’s not a great reflection of his own merit for the obvious reasons. Just the presentation of another dimension’s version of himself succeeding against Zim before him causes a spiral of self doubt, just as it can bring Zim to a minor panic watching other invaders leaving him in the dust. Dib wants this guy to be a challenge worth the victory lap when he finally gets what he’s been fighting so hard for.

When Zim is getting on some truly idiotic antics, Dib doesn’t actually revel in his disorganized stupidity, but meets it with a baffled or annoyed disappointment. Like me watching a character I thought was super badass suddenly do something that reveals them to just be utterly lame. Too often he almost comes off like he is critiquing Zim’s performance as a villain rather than,, you know, the fact that Zim is a villain in the first place. It more than once has led to accidentally giving the guy new ideas or pointers on how to do his own job better once in a while. If I were in Dib’s place I would under NO circumstances be giving Zim advice or corrections on what he’s doing “badly” when it comes to the invader thing, but, whatever makes you feel cool & smart, you little dork. There’s also the whole “Dib’s hatred for Zim belies his geeky fixation with aliens broadly” angle I’ve mentioned here or there before, and don’t mind to again. Studying/stalking Zim is only partially about defeating him. His curiosity over Irken tech, biology, etc. is still coming from a place of genuine scientific passion, as literally all of us know. And of course, on occasion the two make for unlikely allies against much bigger shared enemies.

5. Minimoose

Oh come on, how much could I even have to say about this moose-weapon? He has two fathers and is fully aware that Zim is one of them. Assuming we all here know about the cute Florpus quote; no need to recap the whole existence of the lil guy.

4. Invader Skoodge

Now this guy… this guy ain’t right. Exactly here, at this (I say with love) loser of an invader, we reach two tipping points when it comes to Zim-affinity. One, the tipping point where Zim ceases to ask for and ceases to appreciate the toadying. Two, the point where I actually kind of struggle to find any rational explanation for the toady’s behavior. Like I’ve tried and I genuinely don’t know how to put together how Skoodge keeps jumping into this position other than ‘it’s that funny’ or some weird familiarity from smeethood factor. All of the invaders know what Zim has done and what he’s capable of. He’s a consistent terrorist of his own kin and defamed as the greatest disgrace to the Empire. The two options for how to feel about Zim as any random Irken soldier are fear, and/or loathing. If Skoodge were just neutral or indifferent of Zim, that’d be pretty freaking odd. But Skoodge interacts with Zim on the level of at least a lukewarm acquaintance, readily even deferring to his command, despite the fact that he nearly dies every single time he does so. He survives miles of being chased by a monster on Hobo-13, he makes it to the finish line, and his first reaction is to let Zim know he’s made it in one piece. He decides to lay low and slack off after getting fired (into the blighted surface of Blorch) and out of the entire universe to choose from, he decides to go hole up at Zim’s place and stay conveniently out of the way for some time. Dude finally shows himself in the unfinished scripts, and it’s to motherfucking help Zim troll around with Dib. I’m up at night wondering what is going on in Skoodge’s head because he’s n o t an idiot. He’s a real invader in all other respects, just as competent and nationalistic as the rest of them. Easily suggestible, yes, but not stupid. There’s basically no way for him to be ignorant of the big lie the Tallest sold Zim, yet he chooses not to utter a peep on the matter. Pity? A bizarre sense of solidarity?? A delusional one sided friendship??? Don’t look at me like I know other than the fact that he’s on our protag’s team, in spirit. The wannabe Irwin to Zim’s Billy, essentially.

3. Keef

So yeah of all things to blow Skoodge’s unhealthy attachment clean out of the water, we stumbled into this freak of a human child. Keef is a loyal compadre to a fault. A huge, creepy fault. Kid was originally supposed to make a return as well, wherein he was no less of a stubborn stalker than already proven once. And extra points for the irrational selflessness. Even while demonstrating an understanding of what Zim did in Dark Harvest, possibly even with the memory of that whole squirrel incident, he still wishes nothing but for the ability to put a smile on his green friend’s face.

2. The Amoeboid Cult

And when none thought that the scary conviction Zim garnered on Earth could be his biggest fans, you find this little ditty in the comics, and it starts turning into an irresponsible god analogy fairly quick. The short recap is that following a crash on a strange planet, the Voot Runner starts leaking fluids that inadvertently spark abiogenesis, which results in the creation of a rapidly evolving race of blob-things. Seizing an opportunity, Zim at first demands their followership, and then shortly after gets fed up with it as he did the previous fanatic on the list. Nonetheless, the cell people continue to reproduce and age thousands of years their time in the span of a couple minutes, never losing that zeal for their unintentional creator, even going so far as to repair the cruiser despite Zim’s rejection of them. Out of what little they gathered about him during his short visit, they correctly learned he’s a destructive god who planned to abandon them as soon as he could. Their last wish as a civilization? For this god to also obliterate them, as final treat. Such was their devotion that it even left Zim himself completely baffled for a moment when its full depth was revealed.

1. GIR

You watch this show, right? Yeah? Henchman and sidekick number one? Chaotic thing this whole fandom can’t decide to perceive as an adoptive child or a talking pet? He may not be as competent in pleasing Zim’s wishes as minimoose, or as focused, but his heart and loyalty are ultimately with their intended master, unconditionally and for as long as this setting has continued.

[charliesstory]

film recap

Charlie also forms a relationship with his English teacher, Mr. Anderson, confiding in him as he explains his emotional wellbeing. Throughout the movie, Mr. Anderson will be seen giving books to Charlie, as he was the only one who appreciated him. Along with conversations where Charlie indirectly mentioned Candace’s situation. Through Mr. Anderson, the famous quote “We accept the love we think we deserve” emerges.

At the beginning of the school year, Charlie spends his days alone, reminiscing his late best friend. He battles feelings of isolation and anxiety, seeking solace in the letters he writes. After mustering up courage, Charlie attends a football game by himself, where he then approaches Patrick, a boy he recognized in his shop class. Patrick then invites Charlie to sit with him and his sister Sam. Patrick, is openly gay, lively and unapologetic, while Sam is kind and compassionate, both of which draw Charlie into their circle.

As the relationship between these three grow, Charlie begins experiencing the highs and lows of teenage life: drugs, falling in love, and facing heartbreak. He is introduced to the complexity of romantic feelings, falling for Sam, who is unaware of it and is tied to an older boyfriend. Despite his yearn for her, Charlie values this friendship, and is eventually introduced to the rest of the group: Mary Elizabeth, Bob, and Alice.

With them, Charlie attempts acid for the first time, a pivotal moment in the story. Charlie, who has been struggling with feelings of anxiety and depression, is influenced by his friends, particularly Patrick, who encourages him to try the drug as part of the carefree party experience. Initially, Charlie’s internal struggles had momentarily disappeared, however as any drug, the downfall arose quickly. As the effects of the acid begin to take hold, he becomes overwhelmed by intense feelings and hallucinations. Instead of the freeing experience he hoped for, he is thrown into a state of panic and confusion. This moment serves as a crucial turning point, revealing the fragility of his mental state and illustrating how his attempt to escape through substance use leads to a deeper confrontation with his emotional pain. After this, drugs were not a staple in Charlie’s life.

One of the film's most memorable sequences involves a spirited scene where they drive through the city, with Patrick and Sam encouraging Charlie to let go of his inhibitions. They blast music and shout out the windows, a moment that symbolizes Charlie's first taste of freedom and connection. An extremely recognizable quote from this scene is “This one moment when you know you're not a sad story. You are alive, and you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you're listening to that song and that drive with the people you love most in this world. And in this moment I swear, we are infinite”.  At this point in the movie, Charlie is at his peak, unaware of the world that will soon crash down on him.

After having been in the friend group for a while, Sam reciprocates Charlie’s feelings and begins sexual contact with him. However memories of Aunt Helen molesting him clouded his thoughts, and the act was never performed.

Not long after, Mary Elizabeth: opinionated, rebellious, and intelligent, falls for Charlie. Mary Elizabeth becomes Charlie’s first girlfriend, exploring his sexuality with her despite his deep affection for Sam. During this relationship, Charlie battles feelings of telling Mary Elizabeth his attraction runs short, or keeping the dynamic of the friendship group. This comes to a halt when, in a game of Truth or Dare, Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. After deliberation, he kisses Sam, and his stance in the friend group is threatened. This evidently led to their breakup, leaving Charlie in a field of isolation again. He grapples with guilt over hurting Mary Elizabeth, as well as confusion about his feelings for both her and Sam. The breakup exacerbates his mental health struggles, leaving him feeling more alienated from his friends.

As Charlie detaches himself from the group, his relationships withe everyone becomes strained, leaving him a slave to his own mind with no distraction from it. From this point forward, Charlie’s downfall is conveyed. His once vibrant and colorful world became a suffocating place. During this time, he begins experiencing flashbacks of what his Aunt Helen did to him. The way he imagines her car crash happening, along with the suggestive moves she would; d give him all played at the same time. In an effort to cope, Charlie attempts to write letters to his pen pal, however it proved unsuccessful in his yearn for inner peace. As his alienation grows, Patrick and Sam take note of it. In one heartbreaking scene, Sam confronts him about his behavior, urging him to open up. However, Charlie's fear of vulnerability prevents him from sharing his true feelings, leading to more misunderstandings and distance.

The film reaches a climax when after all this emotional turmoil Charlie was feeling is halted. He experiences a severe panic attack and is slammed with all his emotions at once. The tears won’t stop flowing and he cannot calm himself down. He makes a call to Candace, emphasizing that he was the cause for Aunt Helen’s death as she was on the way to get his Christmas gift. This painful realization is compounded by flashbacks of the abuse he endured at her hands, a mix of confusion and shame flooding his mind. He then hangs up the phone and Candace is seen asking her friends to call the cops to her house. Then, he makes his way downstairs to see a knife on the counter- the viewers on edge as silence fills the scene- cutting as the police kick the door open. It then transitions to Charlie at the hospital, presumably getting help.

With the support of his friends, particularly Patrick and Sam, Charlie starts to rebuild his sense of self and reconnect with those he cares about. He hangs out with the friend group again, and is there for the end of their senior year. After Sam broke up with her verbally abusive college boyfriend, her and Charlie begin seeing each other. The unrequited love was now mutual, however the status of a relationship is vaguely defined, as the end of the film shows Sam leaving for college, as Charlie is left behind.

Without a direct analysis from the reader, the complexities of this film are increasingly difficult to explain and understand. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower was a transformative coming-of-age film that conveyed the intricacies of teen life, along with the difficulty of battling with mental health.

[bulletin-attal-sejourne]

A Oui for Stephane; the Nons for Gabriel

When the executive head met the parliament head in Brussels and Paris, respectively. It's interesting how the roles of the duo have switched ever since Q3 2024.

Time: 241125 - 241127

Bonjour à tous! It's Wednesday, 27 November 2024, a big day for the Eurocrats as the MEP voted for the European Commission for a very slight margin; Meanwhile, the budgetary tightrope walk in Paris could boil down to a motion of censure thus the downfall of the government

Welcome to BAT, for the mid-week recap of manoeuvres, and challenges of the former couple at the heart of power.

STEPHANE SEJOURNE

This morning, the European Parliament has just given Ursula von der Leyen's new Commission the green light. That's...that's it. Regardless of how marginal the approval votes was, after weeks of nail-biting hearings, France's very own Stéphane Séjourné is officially part of the team.

Big shoes to fill. The real challenges begin after the appointment, as Séjourné steps into the crucial role of overseeing Europe's industrial strategy. It's a high-stakes game with Russia, China, and the US all jostling for position. Delivering on VDL's promise of a "holistic simplification" approach (with the sheer annoying amount of Euro-red-rapes we have) and making Europe a global industrial powerhouse (our version of MEGA but less toxic), will not be an easy job.

Green industry is the name of the game. Séjourné will work closely with Spain's Teresa Ribera, the new competition and green transition chief. Together, they'll need to find a way to balance economic growth with climate ambitions, all while navigating the tricky waters of EU competition policy. Expect fireworks! (And not the romantic and fun one this time.)

Speaking of (unromantic) fireworks, some MEPs weren't too thrilled with the Commission's rightward tilt. French Socialists voted against the entire college, protesting the inclusion of Italy's far-right Raffaele Fitto as one of the vice presidents. Not a good sign for the future 5 years of cooperation, really.

Again, this is just the beginning. Séjourné has a busy 100 days ahead of him. He'll need to craft a plan to boost Europe's digital startups and help the continent secure its supply of critical raw materials. Plus, there's that little thing about making sure Europe's car industry stays in Europe. He really needs to get it working, with no effort spared, as he claims so!

(I just realised these three sources are written in 3 different languages. Speaking of European diversity!)

GABRIEL ATTAL

Sainte-Catherine agricultural fair! It was Monday, November 25th. While the budget brouhaha continues to consume the Parisian political class, the former Prime Minister and current Renaissance maestro, might as well recharge himself and ventured into the heartland of France, the Orne region to be precise. Was it a desperate attempt to escape the censure storm brewing in the capital or a cunning move to woo the rural vote? Let's examine the evidence, shall we?

The Scene: Attal arrived fashionably late, a mere 45 minutes behind schedule, but hey, even in the world of cattle auctions, a bit of Parisian flair is to be expected. Upon arrival, he was greeted with the full pomp and ceremony befitting a political heavyweight: local officials beaming, senators nodding sagely, a "parade of television cameras" jostling for the best angle, and the local député, Jérôme Nury, looking particularly pleased with himself1.

The Gifts: Attal was showered with local delicacies: a charming basket of regional produce from the mayor and, the pièce de résistance, a vintage bottle of calvados from Nury, who quipped: "It's the Élysée's official supplier, you need to start getting used to it". Was Nury hinting at Attal's presidential ambitions? ●

The People's Champion: Attal worked the crowd like a seasoned politician, charming the locals with selfies and fielding questions from farmers with ease. Whispers of "You're handsome," "He's so good looking" and "He's really young" followed him as he navigated the fairgrounds. Even the normally stern-faced president of the FNSEA Normandie, Anne-Marie Denis, seemed to soften in his presence.

Master of the Moment: Attal showed a willingness to engage with the issues that matter to rural voters, discussing bovine tuberculosis, agricultural regulations, and the ever-controversial Mercosur trade deal. He even tried his hand at the traditional Sainte-Catherine game of guessing the weight of an ox, displaying a playful side that likely resonated with the fairgoers.

Verdict: The mayor of Briouze, Jacques Fortis, who had previously threatened to resign over the town's exclusion from a rural revitalisation scheme, seemed positively smitten with Attal. He declared the streets "full" for Attal's visit and described the former PM as "very friendly, very simple". High praise indeed from a mayor who, just a few months ago, was ready to walk away from it all.

So, was Attal's agricultural adventure a success? Judging by the smiles, the selfies, and the mayor's glowing review, it seems the former PM made a positive impression. Whether this translates into actual votes in future elections remains to be seen. But one thing's certain: Attal is a master of the political stage, and he knows how to play to his audience of Norman farmers.

It is however a bit more complicated when he is playing 3D chess with a broken board – battling rebels in his own camp, haggling over budget crumbs, and trying to keep a government that looks shakier than a Jenga tower in a windstorm. Former pals? They're already plotting their great escape, eyeing up alternative political real estate. Another day, another drama for our young maestro of mayhem! To let us understand the complexity we shall begin with the topic flying all over TV and newspaper headlines:

Budget Battleground

We need to save!: Prime Minister Michel Barnier, facing a record deficit and mounting debt, has proposed a budget characterized by austerity measures. These include cuts to public spending and, most controversially, a reduction in employer contribution relief.

Opposition from All Sides: The budget has been met with fierce opposition from various political factions. The left, led by the Socialist Party and La France Insoumise, condemns it as "austeritarian" and damaging to social welfare. Meanwhile, even members of Barnier's own "socle commun" coalition, particularly Gabriel Attal's EPR group, are pushing back against specific measures.

Sounds boring right?: Well, let's talk about the stakes. The budget fight goes beyond mere numbers. It represents a struggle for political power and a clash of ideologies. The outcome will have a significant impact on France's economic trajectory and the social well-being of its citizens.

The Censorship Sword

Threat of a No-Confidence Motion: The left has explicitly threatened to table a censure motion if Barnier fails to address their concerns regarding the budget. This motion, if successful, could lead to the government's collapse and potentially trigger early elections.

Marine Le Pen's Crucial Role: The outcome of the censure motion hinges on the stance of RN, which holds the largest opposition bloc in the Assembly. Le Pen has expressed strong criticism of Barnier's budget, threatening to vote against it. Her decision could make or break the government.

A High-Stakes Gamble for Everyone: The censure threat creates a complex strategic dilemma for all parties involved. For the left, it's an opportunity to topple the government and potentially gain power. For Le Pen, it's a chance to assert her influence and advance her own agenda. For Barnier, it's a battle for survival, requiring him to carefully navigate the demands of his opponents and his own allies.

Attal's Role: While Attal is primarily seeking concessions, not a government collapse, the line between the two is blurry. His aggressive stance could be interpreted as a calculated gamble: pushing Barnier to the edge to extract maximum concessions, but risking a censure motion that could empower the RN. Adding to the complexity, Attal needs to manage internal disagreements within EPR. Some members are eager for a showdown with Barnier, while others are more cautious. A misstep could alienate potential allies and weaken his leadership. The management of disagreements is particularly essential when he is facing this problem of:

The traitors

A Resignation With a Message: Martine Madelaine and Sélim Denoyelle, former leaders of the Renaissance party in Charente-Maritime, resigned, citing the movement's "rightward shift." They specifically objected to the government's policies on pensions and immigration, arguing that these measures betrayed the party's original values. This resignation highlights the growing discontent among some Macronists who feel the party has abandoned its centrist platform in favour of a more right-wing agenda.

Minister of Ocean Seeking a New Horizon: Hervé Berville, who served as Secretary of State for the Sea in both the Borne and Attal governments, is also charting a course away from the Macronist core. While he maintains loyalty to Macron, he's looking beyond the current administration, expressing a desire to return to his social-democratic roots. Berville has reportedly been in contact with former President François Hollande and former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, figures associated with the traditional left and plotting for a solid left wing presidential movement in 2027. He's openly critical of the Macronist alliance with the right, particularly on the budget, which he sees as a drift towards "an Orléanist and bourgeois right."

Your ex's bestman, The Justice Crusader: Gone were the days in the Moines Oyster yard, now Sacha Houlie, still invited Stephane Sejourne as his bestman on his own wedding, emerged as the lead dissenter of the formerly Renaissance AN group, and sat as an independent (after the failed attempt to pull more deputies from EPR) and voiced strong opposition to Gabriel Attal's proposed law on juvenile justice, calling it a "very bad text" that undermines the principles of specialized justice for minors. This time, he was successful. With EPR elected officials Stéphane Travert, Belkhir Belhaddad and Lionel Causse, he significantly amended the text in commission, aligning himself with the left and pushing for a more preventative approach, a move that dealt a major blow to Attal and the EPR group, when the person concerned, very interestingly, was not present in thorough the voting process...

Gabriel Attal would like to make this text a marker. He himself did not show up to defend it. 

And why betray? As the saying goes, "There are no permanent friends or enemies; only permanent interests." Some started with genuine convictions, believing in a transformative vision, but found themselves gradually disillusioned. Others, always pragmatic, view political parties like career elevators – when one falls, they're quick to find a more promising route.

A classic cocktail blend of opportunistic moves with genuine ideological differences. For our future RE Secretary General, the challenge is clear: craft a compelling vision that speaks to the post-Macron era. It's about creating a narrative and direction that resonates with current members and potentially attracts new supporters. The goal is to provide enough clarity, inspiration, and strategic direction to keep the party united and motivated through this transitional period...And possibly even for a new presidency.

fin.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Pokémon Reborn Screenshot Let's Play: Chapter 36

Well, here we are again everyone- welcome back! Summer may be winding down (though the high temperatures over here would tell a different story), Halloween may be just around the corner, and the one year anniversary of this whole project of mine is even closer around the corner…but we progress as usual! I get the feeling things are gonna be very different in this game going forward- or at least marginally different, I mean we are about to access a brand new part of the map after all.

But as for how we got to this point, this place where we could very easily enter a whole new region in this chapter, that’s where the recap comes in. So, to summarize the…rather eventful previous installment:

With the TMX for Strength, Xera is able to navigate the damaged Underground Railnet and gain access to the basement of the Yureyu HQ. Cain joins Xera shortly after, and together the two breach the main, abandoned building.

Inside Yureyu HQ, Xera and Cain encounter several Team Meteor members- two of which are holding Shelly hostage at knifepoint. Unable to do anything, they are forced to leave her behind for the time being and head up to the next floor.

On the next floor, Xera and Cain are shocked to find Charlotte engaging in casual conversation with two other Meteor Grunts, Simon and Tara. Though Charlotte does not consider these two true enemies, they still cannot just let her go, and thus Xera and Cain engage the two in a battle.

Simon and Tara are defeated and Charlotte is freed; at this point, the trio learns more about Team Meteor’s goals, namely to “rebuild” the world into a utopia, erasing the current world in the process and putting themselves in charge.

After learning of the situation with Shelly, Charlotte heads back downstairs with Xera and Cain in tow. When Shelly is again threatened, she feigns apathy, easily able to walk past the Grunts to unlock a gate on an upper floor…and then she’s able to grab Shelly and get her away from them, allowing Xera and Cain to defeat them in battle. 

Led again by Charlotte, the group arrives at another floor, where Noel is being kept in a prison cell; Anna and Heather are on the topmost floor. Here, one of the Meteor Knights reveals it was not earthquakes that destroyed Yureyu and its power plant, thus leading to the downfall of Reborn City- it was Team Meteor. They were prepared to do it all over again by destroying the Neo Circuit Power Plant, Julia’s Gym…until Xera and the others got in their way. 

Defeating the Knights, Charlotte and Shelly work to free Noel while Xera and Cain rush to the top floor. There, they find Dr. Connal and Heather, the latter not being hooked up to any electronics thankfully, but still silent. Connal explains he partnered with Team Meteor to retrieve the runaway children, and in exchange all he had to do was take the Ruby Ring from Heather. Connal is unamused by Xera and Cain’s fury at him, questioning if they intend to fight him no matter what. 

They choose not to fight him- after all, despite Connal’s past indiscretions, Sirius was the one behind the kidnapping plot to begin with, not to mention it appears he himself is detaining Anna. Connal agrees to let the two pass as well as allow Heather to go with them once they’re done with Sirius. He cares not for Team Meteor’s plots, and is only continuing to work with them due to curiosity he has about a certain officer whose name he’s familiar with…

In the next room, Xera and Cain find Sirius’ office, with the man himself along with Anna. Anna demands her Amethyst Pendant back, explaining it was from her and Noel’s father. To this, Sirius recognizes the resemblance he sees in Anna and realizes who their father is. Rather than answer any of Anna’s questions, Sirius mocks the “treacherous lout” of a man and refuses to give back either the Ring or the Pendant. With this, Xera and Cain both engage the Meteor Admin in a tense battle.

Together, the two triumph over Sirius- but Sirius plays his last hand by holding Anna hostage. Cain then remembers the Emerald Brooch he got on Azurine Island, which was supposed to go to Sirius. Sirius agrees to trade the Brooch for Anna’s life- and once the trade is done, the trio quickly flee at Anna’s prompting.

At first, Sirius is pleased to have three of the four key gems…until he notices something off with the “Emerald Brooch.” Examining it closer, he realizes the green brooch is not jewelry at all, but something else he recognizes: the explosive Verdignite. This realization comes too late, and the explosive goes off as Xera, Cain, and the kids make their escape.

Using a key she pickpocketed off a Grunt, Charlotte is able to unlock a door leading back to the Underground Railnet, the group still planning to go to Charlotte’s sisters in the Chrysolia Region. 

Eventually, the group comes across a large wall of rubble blocking the tracks. Shelly suggests an old train could still be in the Railnet, and they could- theoretically- use it to bust through the rubble. Charlotte is super into this plan, and the group disperses to search for such a train.

Also, here’s something I didn’t consider when I made that choice when talking to Connal, but something a.) I remembered later, and b.) I really should have remembered at that moment. When the kids were first kidnapped, Sirius led the charge, and Cain was forced to retreat because he wasn’t strong enough to deal with all those Meteors at once. So if you really think about it, him getting to battle Sirius at Yureyu HQ was kinda like his little revenge moment too! If I’d considered that, I would've felt more assured choosing not to battle Connal, even if I still don’t know if that made it the “right” choice, if either of them was “right.”

My weird memory aside- yeah! Finally saved those kids and maybe (hopefully) blew Sirius to the stratosphere, I’m so proud of these characters! Now, the action’s falling back down, and we can focus on getting to our next destination. That means properly exploring this new section of the Railnet, and probably doing stuff with those switches. Let’s get going!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Spectator: "She is being openly mocked for what is perceived to be the grift swindle of monetising and using for social advancement the supposed horrors of a life of unimaginable royal privilege." by u/Von_und_zu_

Spectator: "She is being openly mocked for what is perceived to be the grift – swindle – of monetising, and using for social advancement, the supposed horrors of a life of unimaginable royal privilege." Edit to add title of article: Is this the end of the road for Meghan?Latest from the Spectator / Damian Reilly. I think however it was written before Dior was debunked. Nonetheless, it hits some of the high points in Madame's downfall, including a lovely recap of the South Park empty vessel scene.https://archive.vn/geQAB​ post link: https://ift.tt/dxQzXHo author: Von_und_zu_ submitted: June 20, 2023 at 11:44PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[lyrasky]

【Downfalls High】マシン･ガン･ケリーの映画ネタバレ･エモい感想 ツッコミポイント(映像有り) あらすじMachine Gun Kelly's Grease

【Downfalls High】マシン･ガン･ケリーの映画ネタバレ･エモい感想ツッコミポイント(映像有り)あらすじ Machine Gun Kelly's Grease LyraのBlogへ #machinegunkelly #downfallshigh #travisbarker #ticketstomydownfall #マシンガンケリー #sydneysweeney #chasehudson #maggielindermann #blackbear #trippleredd #modsun #movie

「エモい」って言葉。やたら連発する人いるでしょ？ あれ聴いてると「俺、アッホで〜す」と言ってるみたいで、かなり残念。まあ、言葉なんて好きに喋りゃいい。あんなん気分よ…ね。 ただ、本来の意味のEmoやEmo Bandが好きで、その意味を知っている人間(Lyra) からすると、Emoが好きな皆んな (好きなBand & それを支えに生きているロック好きの人々)を思い出し、見ていて悲しいものがあるのです。 日本語に変換された時に、何かの作用で意味だけ消化されて本国に留まり、ウンコだけが日本に送られて来たの？ 今日Lyraが紹介する【Downfalls High】は、Machin Gun…

[elrondsscribe]

So, an inevitable side effect of being obsessed with RoP is that I went and did a skim of the Akallabêth, which I hadn’t read for a while.

Buckle in cuz we’re going for a RIDE.

So first off, yes, I’m aware this is Tolkien’s Atlantis. Doom and drowning were always going to be involved. But can I just say that the Downfall of Númenor makes a pretty good case for the Valar being unfit rulers? Their handling of the situation is abysmal from the word go.

They start off by giving the Edain and Elros an archipelago away from Middle-Earth. Sweet. It’s also within sailing distance of Avallónë, the edge of Aman. In theory that’s nice, cuz the Elves can come visit relatively easily, but it also means that Aman is technically visible from Númenor at all times.

Also, Elves from Avallónë visit the Númenoreans (at least initially), but the Númenoreans are banned from going to Avallónë.

So. Not only can they actually see this place they’re not allowed to go to, they also REGULARLY GET VISITORS from there? Whose bright idea was this??

The text tries to frame the Númenoreans as ungrateful, but why wouldn’t they start resenting death? Especially given their proximity to immortal people and lands.

And I’m super unimpressed with the Valar’s response, which is basically “it’s over our heads but we still rule you so you have to obey us 😠”

And the Númenorean King makes a solid point — framing death as a Gift is bullshit. Dying permanently from a world that you’re naturally inclined to love is a shit deal. It just is. And the deathless Valar are the ones who make the rules, and then get to say “well u just gotta accept it cuz we say so, obey and have Faith 😇”

And then, later on when Númenor starts dividing, the Valar-faithful faction tell the Elves what’s up, and they tell Manwë. So he gets all mad at Númenor at large for their lack of worship and just. Stops sending messengers and ships. The Elves just stop coming.

To recap. The Valar saddle the Númenoreans with a situation built to breed envy, get mad when the envy happens, and just up and abandon their Faithful right when they’re getting pinned to the fucking wall?!

Because as the generations go by, Númenor starts coming down hard on ‘the Faithful’ — the ppl who still revere the Valar and their teachings. The later Kings, and the majority of the people they rule, get increasingly Faithful-hostile. Yeah, Ar-Inziladûn/Tar-Palantir is Faithful, but Míriel gets usurped* by Pharazon, who goes right back to anti-Valar rule.

So Ar-Pharazon goes off to Middle-Earth in a colonialist kinda mood (forgot to mention that the Kings of Númenor have started doing settler colonialism in ME while they’re turning away from the Valar), and Sauron comes tripping in. Yippee, doom has arrived.

Sauron comes to Númenor ostensibly as a vassal to Ar-Pharazon, but of course he’s there to do mischief. He gets everybody high on Númenorean exceptionalism, but also tells them negative stuff about the Valar … and the text wants to make out that he’s lying, but would he have had to lie that much to get the anti-Faithful, anti-Valar sentiment going?

So they start doing human sacrifice to Melkor (their colonialism escalated to the point of ACTUAL ENSLAVEMENT!), and the Faithful start getting even more pressed. And again, no fucking help from the Valar or any of their messengers. Just radio silence from the Powers of the World while their worshippers and unwilling slaves get tossed on sacrificial altars.

And so finally, feeling the end of his lifespan coming up, Ar-Pharazon decides he maybe wants to go do some war on Valinor … and NOW the Valar wanna show up! NOW they wanna send storm birds with lightning and thunder under their wings! And to be clear, the Valar are striking first! Ar-Pharazon only sets out for Valinor in all his colonizer entitlement after the Valar show real force!

So Ar-Pharazon gets to Valinor with a host, and that’s when the Valar really start going to town. The world gets broken, the other ships get sucked into the falling sea, Ar-Pharazon and his men get trapped in the caves, and Númenor drowns (except for the Faithful remnant).

And while all this rebellion shit has been stewing, the Faithful leader Amandil has also sneakily set sail to try and see if he can get the Valar to spare at least some of the Númenoreans. And he fully expects the Valar might kill him for going to Aman!

To recap: Amandil has to sneak out of Númenor because leaving makes him a traitor, and he’s risking the Valar’s wrath because he’s breaking their ban to plead for the lives of Faithful Valar-worshippers!

Yes, the Valar end up sparing Elendil and the Faithful, but it’s the LEAST they could’ve done.

The text doesn’t even confirm if Amandil got through or not! It just says ‘no one ever saw him or his ship again.’ Usually I like mysterious fates. But the implication here is that, faced with one of their last Faithful worshippers who’s risking his life to plead for the lives of the others, they might not have punished him.

Fucking hell—

Isn’t this the kind of behavior you’d expect from gods worshipped by colonizers? Quick to punish insubordination harshly, while slow to reward (or even protect) their most faithful worshippers? How ironic, then, that Númenor does colonialism while falling away from the Valar.

Actually, that’s where I wanna end: my final disgust with the fact that the people from Middle-Earth, whom the Númenoreans enslaved and brought to across the sea by force, all got the exact same Doom as their enslavers. Ar-Pharazon’s ship was rowed by slaves who disembarked with his army at Valinor, and guess what? They got buried alive too.

… the justice of the Valar, everyone!

[thechroniclesofz]

does pat know about his feelings for pran or not?

i've been thinking about this ever since i saw @shortpplfedup talking about it and these are just my thoughts as to how i see it. i'm def team fake-out, but also am ready to feel like a clown :) it's just such a fun theory THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE-- anyway, i think whatever way it goes would work well!! i love a good "oh," moment as much as the next person (although i LOVE when the pov switches to reveal feelings as well (the text message part in light on me is a fucking masterpiece)

reasons why i think pat doesn't like ink, but already knows he likes pran

korn's "i thought you said you liked someone in architecture" i feel like the "you said" is a BIG part of this sentence because that means pat told his friends this instead of them just assuming it

when pat said "that's a relief," in ep 4 we didn't see his face!! the camera was mainly focused on pran throughout the scene, so we don't have any clues as to whether it's a relief because he likes pran or ink

pat thinks pran actually hates him, like from pat's pov it definitely reads that pran doesn't like him, but kinda tolerates him?? which would keep pat from actually going through with his flirting than the teasing he does now

pat told ink pran hurt his arm

the fact that pat seemingly didn't know ink went to his school cause if she didn't transfer from high school and pat actually liked her, wouldn't they have talked throughout the years and have remained close? wouldn’t he have like kept wearing the bracelet?

PAT KEPT PRAN'S GUITAR (AND IN GOOD CONDITON)

pat listing the reasons why pran should like him, not the ones as to why ink should like him

pat looking back at PRAN after ink interrupts them before the rugby match

when pran’s looking for his earphones he’s on the grass & pat bumps into him when there’s a sidewalk right next to the grass? we don’t see pat walking so what if he purposefully bumped into pran?

in soon vijarn’s ep 4 recap they mention that pat may be lying when it comes to liking ink & p’aof’s face during that part of the convo gave me sus vibes & he drank his drink (which he’s said to do when he’s nervous)

could be just a ‘boy who cried wolf’ situation, but for pat to pretend to lose his keys in order to stay at pran’s & then actually lose them is sus…

when pran asks ink if she likes pat, her first response is “me?!” like she’s surprised he would even say that. she could be saying this cause she’s gay (like pls) or cause they’re just friends OR cause she already knows that pat has feelings for pran and/or thinks pran likes pat??? idk but the “me?!” as the first reaction just seems weird to me

reasons why i may be wrong

the bracelet: why is he wearing it???

the moment at the photoshoot where ink is pushing pat's hair back and the music slows and stuff

p'aof saying that pat wasn't supposed to like pran yet with the "do you like it? the bus stop," line

pat saying he likes ink

how i can rationalize the wrong things

bracelet: maybe he's using it to make pran jealous to see if he actually has feelings for him? maybe he asked ink to make him a matching one with pran so he wore it again to show her he still likes pran? OR ink asked him to wear it for promo? there are honestly a million different ways my mind is spinning this to fit my narrative right now lol ALSO pat isn’t wearing the bracelet until pa brings his ‘contacts’ so I’m think pa actually brought the bracelet over….. INK WOULD HAVE NOTICED pat suddenly wearing the bracelet during the photo shoot right? unless it’s like ‘hidden in plain sight’ but pat’s def not wearing it for the first outfit during the photo shoot. i just want them to be wlw/mlm solidarity besties 🥺 my biggest downfall with this theory is this damn bracelet 😩

photoshoot moment: i honestly don't know. cause it's not just pat's reaction, but also the way the scene was edited and pran's not in the scene, so like this is more of an objective pov?? or it could be pat just thinking about what could have been if he was straight?

line: maybe because it's from pran's pov?? and pat is still unsure if pran even likes him as like a person??

liking ink: NOW THEN, from pat's pov it seems that pran actually dislikes him, if not hates him, so i think him saying he likes ink is because he thought pran would say he likes her as well, so pat could be in another "competition" with pran. it kinda reminds me of gao shi de from we best love, and how pat keeps doing competitions with pran in order to keep pran in his life, in order to keep pran looking at him.

[hildasantos]

about hilda!

quick facts

name: hilda santos 

age: 28 forever 

gender/sexuality: cis female / bi 

species: redcap / vampire 

territory of residence: bloodhearth 

in-depth

Hilda was born into the large Santos clan of Redcaps, known for both their fierce loyalty to family and their fierce hatred of anyone who isn’t a Redcap. But perhaps what they are best known for is the Obsidian City Circus, set up by Hilda’s great great great - well, she forgets how many greats it is to be honest - grandfather. It has grown since then, now a famed tourist attraction for residents and visitors to the island, if they dare to step into Bloodhearth. Many of them do. Not all make it out. 

Hilda was 28 and content - more than, in fact, a feat in this place - with life. She loved nothing better than performing aerial silk in the circus, something she trained all her life to master, and then, afterwards, drunk on that addictive performance high, punching someone in the face. The latter she’d needed less training for. Anger came naturally to her, as did fighting, a family heirloom passed down. Her greatest pleasure was to become her downfall. She pissed off the wrong person and was bitten. How do you go from being content to being a thing you’ve been raised all your life to hate? The transformation into a Vampire was something Hilda tried to hide, but it wasn’t long before the secret was discovered. It’s hard to keep a secret in the Santos clan, especially one with so many giveaways. The sudden inability to go outside in the day. The extra strength. The fangs. The impossible bloodlust. Hilda didn’t drain one of her own family, but someone from another Redcap family was almost as bad in the eyes of her family, who were loyal to all and any Redcaps to a fault.

Cast out in shame, hated by everyone she loved, homeless, and with no job now she was forbidden to step into the circus upon pain of death, Hilda found herself working at Sinner’s Cove. Being a prostitute had never been in her plan, but nor had sleeping under a bridge and Hilda wasn’t planning to do that for long. The brothel allowed her to save quicker than a retail job would have and after a few months she had scraped enough together to rent a cabin in Bloodhearth. It was shitty, run down and damp, but it was better than a bridge or shop doorway and it was hers. Three years after being turned, Hilda now tends bar at Fist and Furious. If any of her family come in, they pretend she doesn’t exist, opting to queue for longer than be served by her. As for Hilda? She’s too angry with them to want forgiveness or reacceptance, or so she says.

Hilda relies on ethereum to be able to go out in the day and control her thirst. Being a Vampire is so unnatural to her she cannot bear the thought of sucking on an actual person (again), opting for blood bags from the Blood Bank in St. Vlad’s. Ethereum helps her to not lose control and attack someone - at least, not in this way. She still likes a good old fashioned fight. She’s been on the stuff for almost 3 years now nonstop and is addicted. Days she can’t get her hands on it because she owes her dealer money are brutal. 

Hilda isn’t aligned with any particular faction because of the way she was cast out of her home. Previously she hated anyone automatically if they weren’t a Recap, but resentment at being banished means she hates everyone, whatever species they are. She won’t discriminate. Everyone starts off on the same footing and everyone, with effort, has a chance to move from the hate column to the tolerate one, and, in some cases, to the family one. She has to make her own now, after all. 

[ehenyeoongg]

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

Pairing: Bestffriend Hendery x reader Word count: 2.4k

“I-If you can’t accept me yet, then.. I’m willing to wait for you.”

“I can’t do it anymore, Hendery.” you were walking home with an ice cream in hand. 

“You know, you could always move into my place. it’s empty, and you’ll be away from your parents that way.”

“Can I really?” You asked, but you still refused his offer.

---

“You know when you told me I could move into your place?” you called Hendery one night. 

He hummed in response. “Is your place still vacant?” Hendery was waiting at the playground in front of your house fifteen minutes later, and helped you with your bags.

“What happened to you?” Because of the tank top you wore, he could see the blue and purple bruises that decorated your tanned skin. There was also a wound and dried blood on your forearm, and your lip was busted.

“Can we just get out of here first?” you got into the car and buckled up. He drove off and when you arrived, he helped you out of the car and placed his jacket around your bare shoulders.

---

“You know, you could report them to the police..” he brought some blankets into the living room after you finished your shower and saw you struggling to apply medicine on your arm. 

“Nah, if I report them and they end up in jail or something, I’ll have to live with my aunt and uncle, and they hate kids. Who knows what’ll happen to me if I live with them.” he took the tube of cream from your hands and sat down beside you, then helped you apply it onto the bruised spots. 

“Until when are you going to stay here then?” You looked into his eyes that were filled with concern.

“Why? Are you renting this place to someone else? If you are, then just tell me, I’ll move out immedia- ah!” you winced when he pressed on your bruised skin. 

“I meant how long are you going to stay away from them? You can’t stay here forever, someday you’ll have to go out and find a job, maybe marry some guy and have kids.” he spoke what had been on his mind for awhile.

“I could marry you and have kids with you.” you said, not turning around. 

“Not funny, Y/N. You’re 19, I might get arrested if my fans find out.”

“You’re only 21! Also, I’m turning 20 in a few hours, I’ll be an adult then. So, we’re two young adults who are single and unmarried. We’re living under the same roof, and we’ve been in a loving relationship for years!”

“You mean, you got dumped by your boyfriend a week ago while I’ve never had a girlfriend, my dorm is just next door, and we’ve been best friends since we were in elementary school.”

“Exactly, single, under one roof, and loving relationship!” he recapped the tube of cream and placed it back into the first aid box. You turned to face him. 

“Did you really never have feelings for me after all these years?” You looked into his cold, expressionless eyes. He shook his head, and moved to pick up the first aid box. You grabbed his hand, making him sit back down onto the couch. You slowly crawled closer to him, while he didn’t make any move. 

As you climbed on top of him and straddled his hips, the look in his eyes changed. No matter how good he was at acting, you always knew. Or at least you thought you knew.

“W-What are you doing?” he tried to sound as cold and emotionless as he possibly could in that situation. 

“Can’t you at least try?” You wrapped your arms around his neck and hugged him like a huge koala bear. 

“Hmm?” he hummed, sending vibrations through your chests that were in contact. 

“Be my boyfriend. For a year. If things don’t work out between us, we’ll end things.” you pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.

He was quiet for awhile. 

“I can’t. Now can you please get off me?” You can’t, or you don’t want to? You got off him and watched his back, your eyes brimming with tears. 

“What do you want to eat?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen, but you had already left. 

“Y/N?” he wanted to go after you, but after what he just said, you probably needed some time to yourself to think. Still, it was night time, should he have gone after you? Hendery sat on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. 

“She’s independent and strong. I’m sure she’ll come back safe.”

---

You met Lucas as soon as you left Hendery’s place. 

“Eo? Y/N, why are you coming out of.. Are you crying? What happened?” your tears were about to spill but you held them in and smiled. 

“I-It’s nothing,” you laughed it off, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“You’re crying..” he reached a hand out to you but you turned away, “No, I’m not..” you wiped your tears away with the sleeves of Hendery’s huge hoodie. 

“What happened? You can talk to me if you want.” Lucas followed you and sat down at the playground.

“I heard you’re an adult now. Congratulations!” he offered you the can of beer but you shook your head. 

“You sure?” he offered it again. You took the can of beer from his hand and drank it all in one go.

“H-Hey, Hendery will kill me if he finds out that you drank it all in one go. I wanted you to take a sip, not..” You reached for another can and opened it, but he pulled it out of your hand. 

“I think that’s more than enough.” you sighed and pulled a pack of cigarettes and lighter from your pocket. 

“Where did you get those from? You were underage just a few hours ago..” You took a puff, and let smoke out.

“I’ve done more than smoke, Lucas. I have a high alcohol tolerance too, so that one can of beer was nothing.” 

“Uh huh, right. I’ll ask Ten for some wine then maybe.” he left the playground and you took the chance to drink a few more cans of beer.

---

<message from LUCAS>

Hendery opened the message. A video?

“You know.. I wish I hadn’t been born as a human.” it was your voice. You were already very drunk, and Lucas took the chance to take a video of you as a prank. 

“Then what do you want to be if not a human?”

“His heart. I want to share his feelings, his happiness, his sorrow. I want to be wherever Hendery is. If he dies, I die. But if I die, I could just be replaced with a better heart.” you smiled sadly and drank more beer. 

“I’ve tried to be there for him, but it seems.. He doesn’t want me involved in his future. He’s been pushing me far away, and without realizing it.. We’ve drifted apart.” Your tears fell, and the camera was shaking too. It seems that Lucas was crying as well, and he was trying his best to hold it in. 

“HENDERY WONG! YOU JERK! SHE LOVES YOU, CAN’T YOU SEE THAT!?” A drunk Lucas shouted at the top of his lungs.

Hendery left the apartment and ran down to the playground.  

“You dummies! What are you doing here?”

“You jerk!” he narrowly dodged a crushed beer can that came flying his way. Lucas stood and staggered and swayed as he walked towards Hendery. 

“You’re drunk. I’ll get Winwin to..”

“No need. I can get back myself.” Hendery could do nothing but watch as Lucas refused to get any help from the jerk, yelling and screaming as he did so. They were lucky they lived in a loud neighborhood, so no one really cared for the tantrums of the young man.

“Y/N.” you turned away, “Y/N.” Hendery walked to the other side of the swing and knelt beside you.  He sighed and picked you up over his shoulder. 

Lucas left some trash at the playground, help me pick it up.’ he texted in the WayV group chat before leaving. 

“What do you want, Hendery!” you kept hitting his back. He opened the door to his apartment and entered, going straight to the room and throwing you on the bed. He had both your arms pinned above your head, and your legs between his. You were trapped, and in your drunk state, all you could do was squirm around. 

“Let go of me!”

“Look at me.” you refused to meet his eyes. 

“I SAID LOOK AT ME!” he raised his voice and you flinched. You were really scared now, and tears fell as you met his eyes. 

“No! No, I don’t want to..” he had never raised his voice at you before, and now that he suddenly shouted..

His lips met yours. His kisses were rough and needy, as if hungry for something. You melted into his touches as he loosened his hold around your wrists. You reached for the hem of his shirt, but he held your wrist, stopping you. 

“I can’t. You’re drunk.” he pushed himself off you, but you pulled him back.

"If you say goodbye now, it's goodbye forever." he was right on top of you, his arm supporting him. Hendery opened his mouth, but hesitated to answer. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. When you asked him to be your boyfriend, he refused, but he had a reason, and he wanted to explain, but how would he start that conversation?

You flipped him over and straddled his waist. Wait, this seems a little too familiar. Right, you just got rejected a few hours ago in this very position. You lost your will to continue as soon as you remembered that.

“Y/N, I..”

“I get it. You don’t actually love me or have feelings for me. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. I’ll move out tomorrow.” you got off him. Hendery reached out for you, but he didn’t know if that was the right thing to do. If he reached out for you, he could cause the downfall of the entire group if there are scandals. But, if he doesn’t, he’ll lose you forever. 

---

“YOU WHAT!?” Lucas slammed the door open. His hair was a mess, and although his eyes weren’t fully open, he was awake enough to punch Hendery’s face. Of course, he didn’t punch Hendery because he knew there was no use.

“SHE’S YOUR FIRST LOVE.” Yangyang followed closely behind him. 

“But you guys are my family.” he looked up at them. It was clear that he hadn’t gotten any sleep the last night. He had heard you get up to pack and leave early in the morning. You didn’t even say goodbye.

“Only in these situations you call us your family.” Kun scoffed. 

“Go talk to her, and-” Ten was cooking in the kitchen.

“It’s no use. She’s probably out of the country now. I heard her call someone.” 

“You heard her call someone yet you didn’t bother to stop her from leaving?” Lucas clenched his jaw. He had had enough of Hendery who was now staring blankly at the coffee table.

“Would you do anything to see her smile, or smirk. Maybe laugh for a split second?” Memories flashed before his eyes. The summer days and winter nights you spent together when you were younger. The way your smile was imperfect, yet made his heart skip a beat every single time. The little things such as the way you separated the onions from every dish. Every little thing, and trivial thing, it was all still fresh in his mind. But what could he do? You had already left.

“IS THAT A YES OR A NO.” Lucas was on the verge of losing his mind. Hendery was taking too long. The more time he took, the further you were getting. If he took too long, he might not be able to see you again.

“Y-Yes. I would do anything I could to see her smile, and laugh. I would even pick out the onions in every side dish for her, even if it meant I would get cramps in my hand after all that. I would..” All he could see in his mind was your smile, and your laughter filled his ears. “Fuck, I love her.” Hendery finally realized how much you meant to him. 

“Well then what are you waiting for, let’s go find her!”

---

All 7 of them and a few managers were at the airport, looking for you. 

“Excuse me, can I ask about this flight number..” 

The plane had left. You were no longer in Korea. Lucas and the boys felt dejected. He finally realized he loved you, but you weren’t there to hear his confession. 

“We have a concert in Japan tomorrow. If you leave, you won’t get back in time.” He didn’t know what to do. 

“Ah, sir?” Kun turned to the lady at the counter, “ We received information that a passenger didn’t board the plane. She missed her flight and booked the evening flight.” Right, that clumsy girl must’ve forgotten her passport. 

“Hyung, can I have your car keys?” Hendery asked the manager and drove home immediately.

“Y/N!” You were in your room,  standing in front of the bedside table, and just as he had thought, you forgot to bring your passport. You were about to pick it up when he had you in a bone-crushing hug. You could feel his rapid heart beat against your back.

“H-Hendery?” you were surprised to see that he was back so fast from his dance practice. 

“Please..” he sniffled, “Don’t leave me..” 

“It won’t work out, Hendery. You’re an idol, and I’m a nobody. I’m not worth the time and-”

“No. You’re my love. You’re the only person I love in the whole wide world. You’re worth more than time and money. I’ll even quit being in the group if it means I can spend more time with you. I love you,  Y/N. And I’m sorry I took so long to realize it.” You were in shock, and couldn’t say a word.

“I-If you can’t accept me yet, then.. I’m willing to wait for you.” 

“What are you even saying?” you noticed the tears in his eyes.

“I love you , Hendery.”

[sueboohscorner]

#Bull - Season 5 - Full Season Review and Breakdown

Bull - Season 5 - Review/Recap and Breakdown.

*********** Spoilers Ahead, Read This Review At Your Risk ***********

Hello and Welcome Back Bull Fans and Long-time readers of my content. I hope you are safe and well wherever you are in the world. I am so sorry again for being absent for most of The Bull coverage for 2021. that I suffer from serious mental health issues that i have only have started seeking help for again. Also i had a lack of motivation towards Bull. . Because I felt I was not connecting to the material that the show was producing. so i stopped watching it all together. Nevertheless, I re- watched the whole season of Bull recently and I thought that I would give my recent thoughts and opinions on the show and I will be ready for what i believe to be the last season of the show. Season 6, when that comes back in 47 days time. . And I have come back better and hopefully stronger than ever. When I last posted to this website and social media, it gave me some critical feedback about my work. In every review I post to my website or on this platform. I make note to my viewers of my content that it’s okay to give constructive feedback. Because I enjoy getting that type of feedback. Because it gives me the opportunity to improve and explore my mistakes that I have made.

If you want to let me know it is not to a standard or have made a mistake, let me know in the comment section below. As constructive feedback, no negative comments. Thank you to the people who are supportive of my work. As I continue to improve my writing & editing skills.

Please be consider it before you post that negative comments about it. Create Constructive Feedback Not Negative Nonsense that can create a dumpster fire. 

Now before i move on to the regularly scheduled program of My Season 5 Review of Bull. I have attached a button were you can click to see my statement of honesty of where i dive further about the situation of my work and my lack of Bull coverage on this website. If you are interested to find out more click that button below.

The Character Development of Season 5 for Bull

Dr. Jason Bull (Bull)

During Season 5 of the show, we get to see more of the softer side of Bull and what he would do for his clients and his family. Which, over I think, was great to see MW play aside to the role that we have seen since his last days on NCIS. Which allowed for the moments that are small but remembered for the character. At the moment, I am currently satisfied with how Bull is developing, but I feel like there is something missing at the moment. I don’t know. Let me know what you think. 

Benny 

S5 of the show was the Best for Freddy. As it gave Benny more overall development. But it was a bitter note, as FR is leaving the show for good. As I could see more of this character in the terms of the personal and professional relationships and the overall development of Benny, breaking away from TAC and creating his own identity. I also kind of had this notion that FR was leaving the show or fashion. Because of how the character was being written and also some media interviews that some of the cast members did in preview for S5 of the show. I just hope that the Bull writer’s room give Benny a storyline that would suit the character from leaving the show. And I wish FR all my best for what to his next projects are going to be in the future. 

Isabella (Izzy) Colon (Bull). 

Issy has been a breath of fresh air in the show for S5 because it gave Bull and the TAC team more of a family-style feeling of what the actors and the writers are trying to create on-screen. This Season to me feels like a re-introduction of Issy, as we have seen this character, as a high-powered businesswoman to a mother and a partner to Bull. So I hope that in season 6, we get to see more of the softer side of her and get to see more of her as a new woman to work with or exploring a new aspect of her character. 

Chunk 

S5 for Chunk was to establish the character more in the show's canon, As FR is leaving the show, I believe that the writers of the show we’re working towards making Chunk the principal attorney at TAC or creating aversion that could step into that role overall. But from what the writers are creating, I believe we may see a new character come into the Business. I just hope that we get to see more of Chuck in the courtroom with Bull as a lawyer. 

Marissa 

S5 for Marissa, to me, was a mixed bag for me, as we got to see some closure on her former marriage and what other problems that are she faced in terms of her personal life. But in her professional life that we can see that is she on the top of her game. I just hope that we get to see more of Marissa and her high-school crush on a coffee date. Because I think they would be the second-best couple on the show, after Bull and Issy.   

Taylor 

Taylor’s Season 5 for Me was lukewarm in terms of character development because we only see glimpses of her personal life and but there was not much else that I would consider being developed. It is sad to they underrated this character in terms of character development. I feel like she has become the Chuck of earlier seasons of the show.

Danny 

S5 for Danny, we finally got to see more of her in action in the professional work at TAC and in her personal life as we got to see more of her background come to life in the storyline about her dad. But I think I need to see more in terms of the background of this character because I believe she is one of the most even I would go as far as to say that is she is one of the most under-used characters on the show. I just hope that S6 gives her the best send-off or storylines for her actor. 

As we move through the character development of this show’s 5th season, the audience gets to see where the characters that we have fallen for in terms of the relationships that they have or the people that play those characters. I just hope all the behind-the-scenes drama and in media can handle it in a way that still creates the show that we know and has loved since 2016. So with that, let’s move on to my next major section of this review, it’s that romance and relationship side to the show that the audience tunes in for.

The Relationship Development of Season 5 of Bull

Through the show’s run over the last 5 to 6 years, we have seen some great and solid relationships and we have seen some of not the best and in this section we are going to be having a look at those relationships in more detail and what I would like to see happen in the future season that is coming for this cast of relationships 

Dr. Jason Bull and Isabella Colon (Bull). 

Well, well, here we are again with my favorite couple again on this show. During S5 of the show, we got to see more personal side to this relationship that we have not seen in the past, as they got and were divorced. But we get to see a proposal and a wedding during the show’s 5th season. So I hope we get to see more of these moments of the couple and the little family moments. Because they have become the heart of the show, that MW was promoting in a TV insider interview for the preview of S5 of the show. 

Bull and Benny, 

Throughout Season 5 of the show, we get to see more of Benny breaking out from Bull’s Shadow and creating a new identity and name for himself by running for a job that he has been wanting to do for several years and their personal relationship has plated out with the crappy season 4 and Baby Bull. Now Bull is focusing more on the family side of his life. As much as I have been a fan of this friendship on - screen, I think there was more to be explored of how the two met and what lead to the downfall of the relationship.

As FR is leaving the show, we will not see more of that great friendship that they had, because of how the writers of the show, creating more of a separation between the two. But overall I have enjoyed this relationship and I look forward to seeing what they can do in S6 with the actor ultimately leaving the show. 

Bull and Chunk 

As word has gotten the news about FR’s departure from the show early this month. So the development of this relationship has been critical role in the relationship side to the TAC team to be handled in a good way for the show. Now this friendship/mentorship develops further into Season 6 of the show. 

Bull and the TAC Team 

Throughout the 5th season of the show, I believe that there was a change in the dynamics of the team. This leads to I believe the most significant development of some characters since season 3. with the likes of Taylor and Danny. I hope in S6 of the show that they continue these dynamics and create more relationships within. Because I think we can bring a new character into the fold of the show. Which would allow for a new way of thinking on the show’s principles cast, maybe. 

Overall, the relationship development of Season 5 has been significant from the heart of the show, Bull and Isabella, and the relationship bombshells for Benny and Bull. Plus, the closure of some relationships that we have seen in the past comes to an untimely end. But I think that the Bull’s writers’ room of the show, continues to develop these relationships on the show.

I believe we are going to see more of a different type of show that we have not seen in a long time; I believe. On to the next and final section of this review. It is my overall thoughts on the season and what were my best, worst, and most cringe moments of the show. 

My Final Thoughts and Opinions of Season 5 of Bull.

Season 5 of Bull, in my humble opinion, is one of the better seasons of the show in terms of relationship and character development. As well as the brief moments of drama and emotions that were thrown in there for a delightful mixture. But I think there was something missing from the show. Maybe it’s the chemistry of some actors or it was the external factors of the show that created a greater impact than needed. But

I also believe that we got to see one of the most internally developed seasons over the years, which I think that the show needed to bring back more of those small and little minor details. Overall was a very good solid addition to the canon of the overall story. And with that, I would like to talk about my moments of best and worst and mostly the very cringe parts of the show’s 5th season. 

Best Moments of Bull Season 5

The little family moments that Bull and Issy have throughout the show’s 5th season. 

Some performances that were developed and created by FR on the show were the best that we have seen in a long time from him. I just wish that we could have seen more of those in the future season to come 

The relationship development was a critical aspect of the survival of the show for me. As help to see more of a change in the show's dynamics and created more of a universe in the cast of characters on the show. 

I want to see more of Marisa’s high school crush and her relationship with Dave. Because I think it would well suit them for the show overall dynamics of the relationships that the writers are creating 

The performances of the Show’s minor characters I have enjoyed this season are the following 

Marisa in Season 5 Episode 4, going through her divorce episode and how that played out for her

Chunk in the courtroom in most of the episodes were some of the better performances that the actor have given over the years 

Danny’s storyline of the death of her dad and how that ties into her overall character development going forward. 

The Worst Moments for Me in the 5th Season of Bull 

The moments of Bull S5 were the worst on the show. That some episodes had a case - base written into the storyline. It doesn’t match the overall story of the show. As I feel like they could have been written differently. Plus, the jump cuts are back and give me flashbacks to when I was watching Law and Order SVU over the past couple of months. I think that sometimes in a context that they can be well written but sometimes they can be off-putting. 

The cringe moments of S5 

These moments for me were the whole of episode 1. I don’t know why it is a cringe moment for me. I know some of my readers will disagree with me and say it is one of the better episodes of the show. Overall, there have been better premiere episodes of the show. I think this episode gave the audience of the show a sign of what the characters and the relationships were going to think and what the writers want to achieve overall in the show. if I ever go back and watch S5 again from the start, that is one episode I will not miss in seeing. 

Overall, The 5th Season of Bull was critical and successfully added to the canon in the overall story of the show. There were some moments that were the best and some should have stayed in the writers’ room. I hope we continue to see this trend going forward in S6 and beyond. If the show has any more stories to tell. 

This end of my overall review of Season 5 of Bull, Let me know in the comments section below or on social media. Of what you would like to see the coming seasons of the show. And what were the moments of the show that stood out to you as bad or very good?

Overall Rating for Season 5 of Bull is 7/10

Until Next Time I Will See You Later The Woman Who Writes. 

[365days365movies]

January 30, 2021: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

So, now that I’ve gotten through the first of these movies, it’s probably time to talk about the director of all four films, George Miller.

Miller’s an Australian director and medical doctor. Yeah, dude went to medical school, and in his last year there, started getting into filmmaking! Nice. He immediately came off as a budding director, and made his official directorial debut with his first film...Mad Max. Yeah. Very interesting guy. Today’s entry is his second film, and he’s since made films including Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Witches of Eastwick, Lorenzo’s Oil, Babe (yes, the pig one), Babe: Pig in the City (yes, the OTHER pig one), Happy Feet (not the pig one) and its sequel, Happy Feet Two. So, a pretty good filmography!

But throughout it all, Miller’s flagship passion was the Mad Max franchise, continuing with this movie, and eventually ending with Fury Road. And from what I’ve heard about these remaining two films, I’m in for a ride. Pun half-heartedly intended. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

An elderly narrator brings us in, telling the tale of the Road Warrior, Mad Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson). He speaks of the downfall of modern society, punctuated by increased savagery, and the takeover of gangs on the world’s highways. People are ruined and forgotten, and they lose themselves. And these people include Max, who’s wandered out into the wilderness since losing his family. Yeah, Jess from the last movie? Dead. Guess she wasn’t doing so great after all.

Max and his dog are on the roads of Australia, where things have definitely changed. Ho longer around any vestige of civilization, the Road Warrior’s driving the Interceptor, being chased by punks on motorcycles, led by Wez (Vernon Wells), a cray, screaming dude with a bike and a mohawk..

After the chase, Max happens upon a recently-wrecked truck leaking gasoline, a much treasured resource in this post-apocalyptic landscape. Wez leaves, having been defeated, and Max gathers the fuel and goes his way. He drives through the desert until finding a mini-helicopter (a gyrocopter, it’s called), abandoned on the ground. 

After taking care of a carpet python (Morelia spilota; don’t know the subspecies), he finds himself ambushed by the Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who holds him up for his fuel. However, using his dog, Max gets the upper hand. Frightened, Gyro tells him of a huge supply of fuel somewhere in the desert. He agrees to show him in exchange for his life. Max agrees, and does this.

Yeah, he tied a string to the trigger of a gun, and tied the other end to Dog’s bone. Fuck yes.

Gyro’s true to his word, and he takes him to an oil refinery in the middle of the desert. It’s being used and guarded by a gang of some kind. Max sets up camp, tying Gyro to a dead tree and spying on the gang. That night, many gang members leave the refinery, and return the next day. I should mention, at this point, that we start to see some of the crazy vehicles I love so much in Fury Road. Which, yeah, HERE for that!

Anyway, the bikers, including good old Wez, go after a guy in a tricked-out buggy, incapacitating him and...taking...his wife. Yeah, these movies are really leaning on that to vilify their bad guys, huh? First it was Toecutter’s gang and the young couple, and now it’s these random people. Not the best gimmick in the world, but...OK?

Well, Max goes down to take their gasoline, and finds that the man has lived. Max brings him back to a small settlement, where they take him in. Meanwhile, a child with a boomerang, called Feral Kid (Emil Minty), watches. Cool.

Max is taken into the settlement, where oil is being refined as well. The settlers definitely don’t accept Max, and are ready to take his car and oust him into the wilderness without fuel. And then, the bikers return. And there are a LOT of them.

These are the Marauders, and they’ve taken some of the settlers captive. They’d gone out, only to be taken captive by Wez and the others. But Wez isn’t their leader. No...no, that would be the Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of rock-and-roll-ah! THIS...is Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson)!

...Am I in love with this movie? Holy shit, I might be I mean, LOOK at that dude! With his voice and his scraggly-ass hair and Jason mask, he notes that the settlers sent out sentries to find a truck, with which to carry their gasoline and take it out of the desert. And as this is taking place, Feral Kid pops up, throws his steel boomerang, and kills Wez’ right hand man. WHAT

YES. MORE PLEASE. Feral Kid’s boomerang is thrown at him, misses, comes back and severs the fingers of the hand of Humungus’ mouth of Sauron dude, Toadie (Max Phipps). Humungus tries to calm the throngs, Wez included, and ends up putting Wez in a Sleeper. He tells the settlers to “just walk away, and [he] will spare [their] lives. Just walk away.”

...Yeah, I love Humungus. And his inevitable death saddens me more than I can properly say. Anyway, the settlers start debating whether or not they should walk away, and Max uses a little music-maker that he found to befriend the Feral Kid. The leader of the settlers, Pappagallo (Mike Preston) tries to convince them to flee with their fuel to a safe place. They continue to argue, until Max interjects with an offer.

Max can get them the vehicle to carry the tanker of gas that they have, but demands as much gas as he can carry, and the return of his vehicle. They agree to his terms, and Max heads off into the night to get the truck from earlier, with gas canisters and Dog in tow. With a little help from Feral Kid, he escapes the notice of the Marauders waiting nearby.

He catches up to Gyro, who’s managed to break free of the tree (well, mostly), and is quickly caught by Max in order to carry the gas canisters for the truck. They get back to Gyro’s gyro, where someone has died after being bitten by his...nonvenomous snake. Yeah, these films haven’t shown very high knowledge of zoology, huh?

They take to the air in the gyrocopter, and easily fly to the truck from the beginning of the film. They get it started, and Max leaves Gyro behind, although he protests to this, and follows behind in the copter. And then.he drives past Wez, who’s still enraged after losing his partner to boomerang hit.

By the way, I didn’t mention this about the gang, but they’re literally all wearing what looks to me like leather bondage gear? Like...I’m pretty certain that’s exactly what that is; it’s pretty obvious. ESPECIALLY Humungus and Wez’s partner, lemme tell you. Just a note, as this change in visual tone and style is going to carry throughout the rest of the series.

The Marauders run Max down, and Gyro saves the day with his snake, throwing it at one of the cars chasing him. Max JUST makes it into the Settlement, but a couple of the Marauders make it in as well, Wez amongst them. He kills a Settler using his favorite weapon, HIS OWN HEAD (fuck, this movie rules), and makes his was through the compound.

Max climbs the top of the wall, and uses a flamethrower on some of the men. Feral Kid throws a boomerang at Wez, who runs off with the rest of the Marauders. Gyro also arrives, landing in the settlement. Pappagallo, in the process, is shot in the leg with an arrow. Unfortunately, the damage sustained to the truck will take 12 hours to fix.

The Settlers thank Max for his help, but that doesn’t mean he’s staying there. That night, however, Humungus retaliates, and strings up their captured settlers for all to see, torturing them throughout the night. Nobody will make it out alive, by his promise. 

For the time being, Max and Gyro are still in the settlement, waiting for their chance to leave. Gyro tries to sneak away with a young woman, but she opts to stay out of loyalty to the Settlers. Also, her hair looks like a Who from Whoville. It had to be said...it had to be said. Pappagallo berated Max for just leaving, rather than helping the rest of them and driving the tanker. Max shoves aside Feral Kid, and he takes off.

However, this is NOT the best move on Max’s part, as he drives RIGHT THROUGH the Marauder camp, and Wez isn’t far behind him. Using a NOS system (EAT IT FAST AND FURIOUS FRANCHISE), they easily overtake Max and run him off the road, DESTROYING the V-8 Pursuit Special, and injuring Max something fierce. Somehow, though, he manages to escape. But one of them KILLS DOG WHAT THE FUCK MAN

Max crawls away and escapes, but is found by...Gyro! Gyro picks him up with the copter, and takes him back to the settlement. He wakes up in a medical tent, still quite hurt. Pappagallo details the plan: use the tanker as a distraction to allow the others to escape. Max, although still injured, volunteers to drive the tanker after all. He doesn’t say exactly why, but he is now stuck there without a method of egress, and he’s the best chance they have. I’m going to choose to believe that he does it for Dog. JOHN WICK STYLE BABY

The time has come. On both sides, they head for conflict. Gyro’s air support, dropping bombs on them. But he’s quickly shot down. Meanwhile, the settlers get out in vehicles of their own, taking advantage of the distraction of the tanker. And once they’re all out…

Now, all eyes are on Max and the Marauders! With the assistance of Warrior Woman (Virginia Hey), Feral Kid, and a few more settlers, Max tries to outdrive Wez and his group. And a LOT of shit happens here, so do yourself a favor and watch this video!

Rebecca and the other two settlers die, leaving only Max and Feral Kid behind. A LOT of Marauders die in the process, and then Lord Humungus catches up. As they shoot out the tires, Gyro (still flyin’, baby!) and some of the Settlers show up as backup. And...yup, another video. Yes, really.

After ALL OF THAT, Humungus ONCE AGAIN goes the way of Toecutter, and is killed by a head-on collision with a truck. Said truck careens off the road, and Mac and Feral Kid get out. It’s then that we see that the truck NEVER had fuel in it! No, instead it was a decoy! It allowed the vehicles, which actually contained the fuel, to escape to the safe North, away from the gangs.

The Narrator comes back, revealing that he’s the Feral Kid, and that their new leader was Gyro! And the Road Warrior. That was the last they ever saw of him. He lives now...only in his memories.

And THAT...was The Road Warrior, AKA Mad Max 2. WHOOOOOOOO!!! Second verse, same as the first; epilogue at the end of the weekend! LET’S GO PART 3

January 31, 2021: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

[thetragedyofprinceben]

reylo in TROS: a long meta

SPOILERS AHEAD

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH REY AND BEN (1st/2nd acts)

We start the movie with a very different Kylo we left in The Last Jedi. Mostly because we see a lot of Vader in him. His relationship towards Rey is possessive and intense. He WANTS Rey whether she wants it or not. His whole persona reminded me of anakin in ROTS. (“the jedi turned against me, DON’T YOU TURN AGAINST ME). He’s demanding to high hell. This change is because:

1. Ben felt betrayed obviously after tlj, especially because HE KNOWS she wanted to join him.

2. Ben doubling down on the dark side because of this betrayal- if soft boi Kylo didn’t work, then the only option is demanding aggressive Kylo.

3. Such intense negative feelings from tlj are what drive people deeper in the dark side so seeing more Vader then Ben is expected.

Kylo is pissed and hurting. but he’s deep in love. You think he only wanted to grab that necklace? He’s angry but subconsciously is like ‘damn i really wish i could pull this girl into my arms and kiss her’ but he can’t- so he grabs her necklace instead. A move that is both childish, but sexually charged. Think the phantom ripping off Christine’s necklace in POTO. Kylo is peak phantom in these moments. He feels very much in control of his sexuality, compared to TFA when he was drooling on Rey and in TLJ when he was ‘accidentally’ shirtless.

Where’s Rey at? Rey is very clearly running away from her desires. She’s heartbroken that she couldn’t run off with her soulmate, but we see she’s upset that he regressed (‘serving a new master’). So our heroine is heartbroken, disappointed, but still loves her dark prince. Her anger at all of her conflict (not to mention the palpatine hoopla she has to deal with) comes out the most in her fights between ren. Remember, fights between Rey and Kylo are basically fights between themselves because of the soul stuff (I’ll get to that later). And Rey also attacks Kylo first. She’s defending herself against her own desires. it’s only when Rey heals kylo, she truly confronts that side to her- her desire to want to be with Kylo. Then she runs off because she’s scared to that staying with Kylo might cause the dark union she saw in her vision.

Both of them are obviously hurting so much, they trade hurtful blows to each other in the forcebond scene like to exes after a break up.

That’s roughly where our two stupid lovers are at in TROS. The real turning point of the way they view each other is the Death Star fight. As i said, Rey confronts her desire while healing kylo. The start of the healing that will take place throughout the course of the film between them. Rey is almost apologising to Kylo for obviously hurting him by denying her feelings but reasserts that Kylo is not worthy of her love. Ben is.

And Kylo is shocked. This is pretty funny to be honest. Ben Solo, a person he has called weak, has hidden away, thought he had killed, was the one Rey wanted? He’s still intensely in love with her, but we see the aggression and possession slip away completely- he lets her run off with his ship! He knows she has feelings for him. but Kylo can’t resurrect ben solo alone. Fittingly his parents help him out in one of the most beautiful scenes of the saga.

BEFORE I GET TO THE THIRD ACT WE NEED TO TALK SYMBOLISM, SOULS AND DYADS. STAY WITH ME

It is revealed that Rey and Ben are dyads in the force. one soul in two bodies. they are the other halves to each other. on an instinctual and spiritual basis, they WANT to come together, to join and be whole. but also, they ARE each other. That’s why they know each other before TFA, they recognise their soul in the other. And just meeting each other and being in each other’s minds ‘awakens’ this bond explicitly. Now that souls have met, they aren’t going to go to far away. Cue force Skype.

Personally, I believe the force created this dyad to make sure that there is balance. The dyad is made once Rey is born and by this time Ben has probably been groomed by palp for a while. the force recognises this and splits the soul of ben and placing it in someone so firmly placed in the light, tethering him to the light. but also Rey has a tether to the dark. B A L A N C E. Even though palp corrupted ben, it was only ever one half, the promise and potential of ben to come back to the light was forever there once Rey was born.

But also on another level, the force is finally bringing balance between the Jedi and the Sith. It wasn’t a fluke that the descendent of the most powerful Sith Lord was linked to a Skywalker (a family emblematic of the Jedi). The bond also ensures that healing can finally take place between these two factions as these two souls will need to inevitably join at one point.

So to recap, for my sanity, Rey and Ben share the same soul, spiritually they are the same person. The dyad represents balance by placing on half of the soul on the dark side, one of the light. one with the descendent of most powerful jedi, one with the descendent of the most powerful Sith. The two halves will forever be seeking union, meaning these two halves will also be seeking balance- most importantly- IN THE LIGHT.

Balance isn’t grey jedi. Balance is balance on the light side- ALWAYS. Which is why it’s when Ben Solo has been groomed by the dark side, the dyad connection, tethers him to the LIGHT. Rey’s own tether to the dark through Ben so more of an acknowledgement that powerful light means powerful darkness. Darkness will always be there, and it’s important not to lose track of it. But this tether is primarily there to maintain balance and save Ben from the dark- a clear path to the light.

AND WE SEE THIS STRAIGHT IN TFA. As soon as Kylo meets the other half of his soul he doesn’t want to part with it. There’s also a romantic bond, one of the most powerful bonds in the universe as seen throughout the saga. She’s compassionate, a selfless, powerful, not to mention beautiful. But outside of looks, Rey is an attractive person to Ben trait wise. But what underpins this, is her light which she is positively brimming with. I mean...her names REY. Ben is attracted to that light and all the traits that go along with being so firm in the light. I believe whole heartedly that even if the dyad connection didn’t exist, Ben wouldn’t be able to resist himself when it comes to rey.

And this is what explains the delayed reciprocation of feelings between Rey and Ben. Ben is infatuated with the light in rey almost immediately. Add the dyad connection and BOOM. Rey, also has this similar attraction to the light outside the dyad. As soon as she she’s a sliver of ben solo in the hut scene (Ben Solo who is a literal angel on the light side) she falls in love with him. Remember the light is compassion, warmth, life, selflessness. Imagine feeling a surge of all of these things by just glimpsing at a person’s future? But THIS IS ONLY WITH BEN. And of course ben is always inside Kylo so all that intense eye f*cking? I believe Ben is literally getting lost in her light, while Rey is literally searching for the Ben Solo within Kylo and trying to grab on to him, she can sense him in there. Important to note that as soon as she sees Ben in the hut, she wants to touch his face, hair, (cough lips cough).

LASTLY. The poetry of the last Skywalker and the last Palpatine falling in love and being bonded can not be ignored. There is intense trauma between these two bloodlines and between these two bloodlines AND THE ENTIRE GALAXY. Ben and Rey are healing that trauma with love, not hate, in turn healing the galaxy (until another nuisance appears of course).

BACK TO TROS.

So angel Ben Solo is the literal embodiment of light in this final act. He is motivated by love ONLY. THAT SCREAMS SKYWALKER. Is there any wonder why rey fell in love with him after catching a glimpse in TLJ? Most beautifully, he saves his love from falling to the dark. once Ben Solo is reborn, both souls are in the light, now they just need to joined.

Rey seeing her soulmate as the angel of the light she always saw glimpses of...CHEFS KISS. she’s completely in love and he’s there to save her,,,just ugh that scene is so beautiful and the emotions and expressions speak for themselves to be honest. Never more strongly have they wanted to be joined (soul wise and physically) since the throne room scene.

Before ben gets thrown into the pit *sign* Palp tells us, that the connection is LIFE ITSELF. so when I say the balance, the connection is healing, this is what I mean. Them coming together literally means bringing new life into the galaxy, healing old wounds.

So anyway Ben gets thrown in the pit.

This pissed off people (including myself) because GOSH DARN IT I WANT TO SEE AN EPIC PALP V REY AND BEN FIGHT. but I’m forcing myself to look at this scene symbolically. the masculine and the feminine is united within rey (something Palpatine has never faced), the masculine being half of Ben’s soul and the feminine being herself. Not to mention how Rey is coded as padme so much. It’s like Padme is getting the killing blow towards a man she that broke her whole family. I like this culminating in rey declaring herself as a Jedi finally. she wanted to know her place in ‘all of this’ and she is literally standing in the place of thousands of generation of jedi. Pretty awesome.

Ben being there would have been preferable for a multitude of reasons, but there’s a lot of meta you can grab onto to enjoy this scene. a particularly like the masculine/fem joined in defeating palp.

I also love that it’s a Palpatine that destroys a palpatine. He was so sure of his power and of himself as this grand Sith Lord, and it’s his own power, through his granddaughter, united with generations of JEDI that causes his downfall.

Rey is defeating her own toxic dark almost, just like Ben Solo killing Kylo. TO CLARIFY, not the DARK SIDE. the dark side is needed for balance, but the unnatural and destructive dark that Palp created through manipulating the force which would have long lasting consequences if not dealt with.

(FINAL STRETCH. IS ANYONE STILL HERE?)

SO REY DIES.

Expected. you know why? BALANCE. the sith and the jedi both die. the joint trauma between the sith and jedi is destroyed.

So what’s happening with the dyad connection now she’s dead? There’s many theories and explanations. Personally I believe the connection caused an open  wound. Ben Solo felt this. This wound is what makes the other half of a dyad die if one of the soulmates die. They literally lose the will to live because half of their soul is dead. Ben solo would rather die that live on without Rey.

So he feels the gaping wound and decides he needs to sacrifice himself to save rey. He transfers his life to Rey. NOW it’s debatable whether or not his soul also gets transferred.

I’m not quite certain. If he gives his soul, then the balance IS Rey in the end and Ben is one with the force. Cosmic force to be specific. Whether he can come back from the cosmic force because Rey literally carries his soul within her- she can drag him back maybe. If his soul isn’t transferred, it just means that the balance ISN’T rey alone, but when Ben passes to the cosmic force the connection they share is still alive, Rey in the living force and Ben in the cosmic force. Balance. And the connection means that Rey can possibly drag Ben back into the world of the living.

Both two scenarios exist if you believe Ben went to the word between worlds instead (with the help of leia) which is why he isn’t a force ghost.

BUT ANYWHO.

Ben using pure, unbound love revives Rey. He finishes what his grandfather couldn’t and what the jedi wouldn’t allow. His life force is what makes this godlike move possible, but also just the purity of intentions. so while Anakin is coded as Jesus, a literal child of the force, his intentions are wayward, not just love, but possession and power. Ben is fully ready to sacrifice his life for Rey with no strings attached. By doing this he also could be considered the chosen one as much as anakin, bringing balance to the force by making sure the union and connection of the soul continues.

Rey awakes in the arms of her angel. ben is staring at Rey as if trying to memorise all of her face before he passes. He smiles because he can’t believe what he did, and that she’s alive and that she loves him as much as he does her. And while Rey is staring at Ben in pure bliss, there’s such an openness to her expression. She doesn’t have to search for the Ben hidden in kylo’s eyes. Ben is right before her.

Rey goes in with the kiss. It’s hesitant, but ben, forever her support system, meets it with enthusiasm as if to say ‘don’t be afraid, i feel it too’. this long embrace is so beautiful, especially because it comes after the literal marriage between Rey and ben.

Rey takes ben’s hand finally. She accepts his proposal. They are touching. They kiss. Their souls are literally together and joined for the first time since the hand touch scene. And it’s beautiful.

Ben Solo’s final smile is to Rey and then he lets go completely, passing. Rey still clutching the hand he proposed to her with. She’s obviously going to be distraught and grief stricken (despite the direction and writing leaving that out). But there must be a sense of ben within her now, something she might only recognise later on when her emotions aren’t so intense.

Obviously this ending has some Romeo and Juliet connotations that im not mad about.

DID I WANT BEN SOLO TO LIVE PHYSICALLY WITH REY AT THE END OF THIS MOVIE? yes HELL YES. And it’s a absolute tragedy that both are separate, without the companionship and family they both craved for throughout the whole trilogy.

...but jj didn’t tell that story. so let’s look at the one he did tell.

I believe that if Ben didn’t sacrifice himself, the cycle of darkness and trauma would have continued because he wouldn’t have fulfilled anakin’s last wish. he had to save Rey, the feminine which had been killed ever since Shmi. In the end both the masculine and feminine survive through Rey or through the dyad connection between the living and cosmic force.

Was ben’s fate sealed after he committed patricide? from a meta perspective? Possibly. The writers don’t know how to write redeemed characters having HEAs. BUT within the actual story? NOPE.

Ben was redeemed as soon as he killed Kylo. his sacrifice had nothing to do with redemption. it was just a pure love sacrifice.

Anyway the death of Ben Solo while tragic, means that all of the Skywalkers seem to be united in the cosmic force. All of them together finally. And in peace.

AGAIN, yes Ben Solo should have survived and had twins with Rey on Naboo, but this is what JJ decided to do instead.

Rey being a Skywalker...Hmmmm hated it at first. ABSOLUTELY HATED IT. But looking back at reylo in TROS and them basically being married at the end, means

Rey is a Skywalker. It’s nice that she’s honouring everything skywalkers stood for as well by taking the name- love. Also Palp was probably spinning in his grave that his only descendent is now a Skywalker lol.

Would Rey Solo be better? It would have been less cringe for sure and more fitting as it was the Solos Rey had her connections with, not really the Skywalkers. But Ben did end up accepting his light side skywalker background so... I personally would have preferred Rey Solo but i can just about live with Rey Skywalker if it’s through the marriage of Ben.

No one can convince me that the final shot of Rey standing alone on tatooine is satisfying. Maybe from a fan service angle, but for rey’s personal journey? HELL NO. But it is what it is. At least she still has that connection with Ben. Ben not being a force ghost at the end is a hopeful for reylos, including myself, he want him to come back physically so that Rey can have her HEA. Even if it’s off screen.

THANKS FOR READING IF YOUR STILL HERE. and if all this meta didn’t satisfy you, remember there’s always fanfiction x

[adollarformythoughts-joemama]

Welcome to the N.H.K.

                    exclusively anime review and strictly just my opinion

*clears throat*

       I’m someone who’s never taken much of a liking towards ‘slice-of-life’ animes. I’ve intentionally overlooked them along with their, in my opinion, equally drab counterparts such as ‘coming-of-age’, romance and marvel films. Regardless, the genres do surprise me as well as most with the occasional spurts of good films/ animes/ series. Welcome to the N.H.K, I can gladly admit, is one of them.

*DISCLAIMER: CONTAINS SPOILERS. THOU HAST BEEN WARNED*

 To recapitulate: Tatsuhiro Satou is a 22-year-old ‘hikikomori’ who has reclused himself from the outside world for nearly 4 years and who’s primary means of living is entirely satisfied by his parents. He meets Misaki Nakahara, who takes him up on a weird project to heal him of his condition. During the course of the story, he weaves himself into developing games with his neighbor and high-school junior, Kaoru Yamazaki, an actual suicide pact/ expedition with high-school senior, Hitomi Kashiwa, and a freaking pyramid-scheme aided by his high-school class leader, Megumi Kobayashi, along with other oddities. All the while, he blames his downfalls on a conspiracy, the idea of which was seeded into his head by Hitomi, the N.H.K.

And if I were to recap just the ‘essence’ of the long winding plot points of the anime, I would say “it is the most slice-of-life anime that has ever slice-of-life -ed.”

Welcome to the N.H.K is a depressing story of someone who has removed himself from the outside world and who struggles on a day-to-day basis to do anything at all other than being holed up and waste away. And this is exactly what the writing of his character portrays. With his nervous breakdowns in public, his blabbering when he does come in contact with someone else, his incessant lying to escape tedious situations, him alluding his shortcomings to the works of the N.H.K, everything depicts spot-on how a person like him would be in real-life. In fact, every character in this anime have been written with a level of accuracy and relevance to real-life individuals and not as exaggerated and unrealistic depictions. One of the scenes that I found impressive, in this regard, was when Satou pushes himself to find a job and repeats his introduction to himself countless times as he walks up to the job-offer. As someone who’s been an introvert most of my life, I can confirm that this ,in fact, couldn’t be more accurate to character. All this takes on an eerie note when you get to know that the author himself is a hikikomori.

Satou frequently recalls his high-school literature club where the only other member was Hitomi. From his flashbacks we understand that Satou was never as worse as he is now but has to some extent always been detached from the rest of his colleagues. Therefore, it isn’t too far-fetched as to how he ended up in this precarious situation, nor is it difficult to know why he alludes his misfortunes to the conspiracy of the N.H.K. He even occasionally regrets not taking things further with his senpai, Hitomi, thinking he wouldn’t have been stuck in this position if he did. Then comes along, Misaki Nakahara.

Misaki Nakahara, as we learn later on, is even more so dark than Satou is. At first, she comes off like a means of hope and redemption. This image of hers is strengthened as Satou, much like everyone else who watches this anime, relates her to an angel. An angel sent from God to rescue him from his affliction. A guardian angel, if you will. Her inconspicuous and shrouded ways of finding out and knowing everything about Satou justifies our stance. Even her character art comes off as this innocent, delicate, loving and kindred soul. However, this is not who Misaki is under her façade. She spies on Satou through the direct view from her own room and gathers his information from the landlord of his building who happens to be her uncle. All this she does just to convince herself that she’s not as helpless as she seems and that there is someone who is more worthless than she is. Her character is twisted in all sorts of ways. She blames herself for all the misfortunes she has imagined to have inflicted on those around her. She has no drive and no purpose. She’s just as Satou is- wasting away but in a rather move concealed and outwardly pleasant way. Her rather pointless counselling sessions for Satou sometimes reveals her own gnarled ideologies: being confident by believing that the other person is worse or in a lower position compared to you. Her relationship with the cat is yet another example of her ideologies: “As long as I give him what he wants, I’m sure he’ll remember me.”

The suicide pact scene. I bring this up to discuss the characteristics of the above mentioned two. While it was a truly interesting sequence with some dark humor behind it, it also made it clear how far gone both Satou and Misaki were. Satou throughout the anime, fights a dynamic where he’s comfortable and almost okay at some points, with his horrible condition, but also desperate at others to get out of it (which I can again attest to and say it’s quite accurate to when someone is in similar conditions IRL). His desperateness pushes him to be selfish at times, one of it being his ‘trip’ with Hitomi. In his head, Hitomi seeks solace in him and is on the verge of falling off the map (no pun intended) for a few days as is the norm. He takes the opportunity to accompany her on a trip which would eventually relieve him of his hikikomori condition. Whether or not his feelings for her are significant or true enough doesn’t seem to be his concern while choosing her as his ticket out. Cut to the scene where they stand on the cliff’s edge, ready to dive into their awaiting coffins. Satou finally understanding the awkward situation he’s in, doesn’t know how to back down. As the others, one by one, back out, realizing they would be leaving something behind, Satou realizes he has absolutely nothing to leave behind. His only ember of hope stands beside him, clutching his hand and brimming with certainty of dying. So, he would die too. But alas, my boy can’t catch a break! Hitomi’s boyfriend rides in and proposes, providing her with something (-one) she could call her own. Something that she could look forward too. Something that could brighten up her life. She decides not to jump and along with that the ember of hope to Satou is snuffed out. Now he really WANTS to jump. Here is where I turn to Misaki. Any ‘friend’ or ally in their right minds would call out the reasons as to why he shouldn’t end his life but continue to live. Now this isn’t what she does, is it readers? Ah, you’re right. The answer is no (I do apologize for having my little Dora the Explorer moment). She calls him out for what she sees him as- a worthless, up-to-no-good individual. His heart breaks even more, if it were even possible to in the first place. Here ends all the fluffy moments the two share. And that, rightfully so. Misaki doesn’t want Satou to die because she needs him in her own little selfish way, to live.

Hitomi Kashiwa, the depressed high school senior of Satou who turns to substance abuse to keep herself going. She is probably one of the best characters along with Satou and Misaki. Her conditions are not that bad compared to the latter. She seems to be doing well enough and even has a loving boyfriend. Sure, he’s often preoccupied with business matters and her own work atmosphere doesn’t seem like the best, but she is in a lot of ways more stable than the others. Nevertheless, she is probably on the best media portrayals of a depressed individual. Not just sad. Not just grieving. But in perpetual gloom. That, readers, is what depression is. Despite having a loving boyfriend, who she herself undeniably loves, she turns to Satou for a sense of comfort. An eerie, disturbing, transient and eventually unsettling comfort which would seem foreign and even stupid to someone unaccustomed to her condition. While she was never my favorite character and she isn’t really an interesting one either, she plays into the theme of the anime and is quite instrumental to it. Just like Satou’s neighbor, Kaoru Yamazaki. He provides Satou with some purpose, for a while, as well as companionship. He has his own set of battles to war in, into which I won’t go too much. Near the end of the anime, Yamazaki is forced to return home and manage the family ranch, giving up on his passion and dream of game designing as well as cutting off all connections with his love interest, who takes up a lot of his raw emotions during the course of the anime.

The final sequence is just…amazing. Everything Misaki could live for, she loses. Satou, having been cut off of all expenses, is practically forced by his primal instincts of survival, to look for a job and feed himself, much like Megumi’s brother (the gut-wrenching cry of pure pain he lets out as the gang leaves his place is similar to the cry of defeat Satou lets out on the cliff. The similarity is both sad and impressive). At this point, Misaki decides to end her life. Satou rushes to save her, owing to the love he has for her, despite the bitterness between the two. As Satou embraces the trembling Misaki, he tells her that the misfortunes she seems to be plagued with, are not her fault. She should live. She shouldn’t give up. If she must blame it on something, let her blame it on a conspiracy, the N.H.K for example. You can call it whatever you want. You can even call it God, he says. But she doesn’t need to blame herself and she doesn’t need to feel worthless. She isn’t. And here, he takes off running to the edge of the cliff, this time determined to jump. He shouts for her to live a long life, at least because of what  he’s about to do. He breaks character. He stops being selfish. He’s ready to die a dramatic death if it means she would accept it and live. Of course, in the end both leave alive but also having died and reborn. The anime ends on a rather neutral and open-ending note. Satou is still an anxious outcast but he’s in a better place. He signs a (third) contract agreeing to the terms that both him and Misaki would help each other and keep each other going. This isn’t a happy ending. This is an ‘okay’ ending and that’s what makes it amazing.

 Life is often filled with one bad experience after another. There are times we are able to pick ourselves up and keep going but there are times we fall down and seem to forget how to get back up. Most times we cruise through life having done nothing significant. Most times we feel worthless. Sometimes, we stay down and only seem to stay there. The weight of the world and the weight of the emptiness we feel, crushes us and squishes us into the recesses of the Earth. Sometimes we get tired and decide to give up. But that’s how life is. No matter how bad of a place you’re in, life has a weird way of actually getting better, a way of giving you some space to breath. No matter how bad life gets, you can always come back. You can always get a chance to smile. Satou and Misaki aren’t suddenly living in a fairy-tale, where it’s all glee and rainbows. They continue to live in their trying situations, but they aren’t as worse off. They get to live not just for the sake of living. Hitomi on the cliff earns something similar: a future that brings her happiness. Yamazaki finds the same in the ranch. He isn’t doing what he initially craved to do but he’s content and has someone equally content to share it with. His ending tells us that life has a strange sense of humor. We may never know where happiness may pop out off. Life does get better and is worth all the gold in this world and even more, to experience it.

“Welcome to the N.H.K is the most slice-of-life anime that has ever slice-of-life-ed.” You get it now? The OP is filled with abstract imagery, quite fitting to the anime itself. Satou, first painted as a normal guy, reveals a dejected, terrified person when the camera pans into his mind. Misaki, looking like an angel, reveals a sad, twisted person as the camera pans into hers. The opening song, if you notice, changes ever so slightly yet at the same time very significantly, throughout the anime. The trumpets in the first version fade away and a more opera-like music takes its place signaling to the change in tone of the story itself. Throughout the anime as well, the music is very appropriate, and the scenes are always tinged with a bit of dark humor. I wouldn’t be surprised to catch myself laughing at an otherwise pathetic scene. But that’s the anime for you. Sick but beautifully written.

Would I recommend this anime to others? I surely will. It’s beautiful, realistic and doesn’t glorify being an addict or an otaku as some other media do. Meme culture has normalized depressing tones and other media has romanticized the idea and planted misconceptions that these people would somehow, someway end up heroic. This anime testifies life for what it is.

It’s a light watch in terms of storyline but definitely an unsettling one in the one of the best and hopeful way possible.

My rating: 8/10.

Feel free to share your opinions and views down below.

[sz-amare]

8. Black Clover Disappointment

Why I Found Ep. 162 of Black Clover to be a Disappointment

(Spoiler Warning) This post contains spoilers for the latest episodes of Black Clover. Tread with caution.

I am going to say it now. I find the Spade arc to be a disappointment, or at least so far. I love Black Clover. And every arc has been getting progressively better. But to me, the Spade arc fell far from my expectations, severely disappointing me. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the development of the world after the time skip was really exciting to me, but they are the build-up to the upcoming episodes. 

Episodes 161 and 162 are the primary reasons for the downfall of my enjoyment. Funnily enough, the day before airing, I heard that Ep. 162 would be the best episode in Black Clover history. Not just from a couple of random people, but from friends, YouTubers, and social media channels. Dozens of people.

With high expectations and quaking excitement, I made myself my favorite comfort food and sat through Ep. 162. And I was not happy. However, the major disappointment I felt from watching Ep. 162 was caused by the previous episode, Ep. 161.

For a quick recap, Ep. 161 was when some Spade kingdom soldiers and one of the three dark triad members invaded the Golden Dawn headquarters and killed half the squad. Now I personally think character deaths are a great way to develop certain characters and, if done right, can hook the audience to the series. Now, after we figure half the squad was wiped out, Yuno becomes disappointed with himself and will probably strive to become stronger in the near future. So now there are many character deaths, and one of the characters wants to strive for change, so all good, right? NO! Why? Quick question: Can you name a single character that died? Do you remember any of their names? If you do, did you like that character? If you did, then you have no good taste in characters. My point is that the only characters they killed-off in the Golden Dawn are nameless, forgettable, or completely unimportant characters, for which I could care less. Not only that but the one character that should have died ended up surviving – the glasses dude with the metal magic, Klaus.

Although Klaus loses almost all of his importance in the anime as time progresses, many of us end up loving him. He also has a very close connection to both Yuno and Asta. Now imagine if he died. Although I don’t feel all that connected with Klaus, I would feel like a piece of myself has fallen off. This would allow us to relate to Yuno’s, and in this case, Asta’s rage towards their own weakness and the Spade Kingdom. Their need to change and to become stronger would be understandable. But looking at the reality of what happened, Yuno’s emotional breakdown doesn’t feel warranted. I did not feel that sadness that i should be feeling. 

But there is one more issue that killing only nameless characters has caused.

Looking at the end of the next episode, Ep. 162, Gouche is fatally wounded by the leader of the dark triad and thus sparking Asta’s rage. Because of the stunt they pulled in the previous episode, not killing any significant characters, I immediately knew that Gauche wasn’t going to die. Now, he hasn’t been healed yet, but my friend and I predicted that the feeling of uselessness that Grey was feeling would cause her to develop and heal Gauche. If the author was too afraid to kill-off characters with any slight significance, then what would make me believe that he would kill one of the main characters of the series. And even if he does end up dying, the emotional high I was supposed to feel in the moment of him being stabbed has already been ruined. So when I saw Asta become enraged and started losing himself, I saw nothing more than a generic moment I have seen many times before but with no emotional highs. One of the best moments in Black Clover was ruined because Yuki Tabata was too afraid to kill-off his good characters.

Please know, I don’t want to send hate to Tabata. I love the man. I am very grateful for the series, Black Clover, which has brought me and many others abundant joy. However, I will give criticism where criticism is due. I am mainly pointing out these flaws simply because I want others to learn from these posts of what to do and what not to do when crafting a story.

If you have any questions or you want to discuss something, feel free to ask in the “Ask Me Anything” tab on my Tumblr page.