#episodic whiplash my beloved

[idkaguyorsomething]

episode one: we rescued the space babies and the bogeyman, yay!

episode two: we went back in time to meet thr beatles and saved music!

episode three: doctor who steps on a fucking land mine.

[theluckiestlb]

as a self-identified adrienette girlie....kinda miss them, ngl.

[moonlightperseus]

okay like i want to preface that i do not have anything against the storylines that they are doing, i’m straight vibing with this season, having fun. i just want to say it’s a little frustrating to me that 911 keeps tacking on these buck and/or eddie centric “surprise” scenes at the end of an episode because then it becomes the big talking point of the episode after the fact and a lot of the other stuff that happened in it falls away to the sides a bit

[bagheerita]

I remembered "Water" as being the boring episode where the character I don't care about almost dies in some ice (as opposed to SG1's "Solitudes" where the characters I do care about almost die in some ice), but there are some really fantastic Greer moments in here. He has a beautiful, understated exchange with Chloe (which Franklin interrupts to prove why I don't miss him), and then invents a flamethrower. ❤

[adnirod]

Book 2 for 2025 book bingo! For the "Published Before 1950" square (so many options! I love to read older books!) I selected the original "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (1883), translated by Carol Della Chiesa in 1926.

All I knew about this book was that it was different from the Disney movie, and that instead of the wise and friendly Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio's conscience, there's a talking cricket that tries to advise Pinocchio until Pinocchio smashes him to death with a hammer. (I think Stephen King mentioned this in something of his--maybe "Danse Macabre"?). So I wasn't really at risk of tonal whiplash.

As promised, this is a pretty dark story--Pinocchio is mostly a pure chaos agent, kind of like Curious George except with violence and death, plus always someone looking to trick/prey on/take advantage of you. The narrator delivers morals, but for most of the book they come across (to me, at least, in translation and from my different historical context) as brightly tongue-in-cheek, since once a moral gets set out, Pinocchio generally smashes right through it. He's not malicious per se, but he is entirely impulsive and only does what he wants to do, and then cries about it afterward in self-pity once he has Fucked Around And Found Out. Then he gets rescued somehow, and heads back into the FAFO cycle.

I enjoyed the Fox-and-Cat sections, because of the difference between what Pinocchio knows, how the narrator describes things, and what we as readers (if we can get the hang of unreliable narration) know. They're con artists, they have unacknowledged cover stories and nefarious plans, while Pinocchio (and the narrative) is taking them entirely at their word. I can't remember when I first learned to navigate narrative unreliability in my own childhood reading, but I definitely came to love that feeling.

The last section of the book feels different--the stated morals start feeling more serious, and Pinocchio starts doing kind and positive things without being forced to. That means the sense of humor changes too--it kind of filters away, as does the sharp irony and the layers of unreliability. And a few earlier events get softened--like, the Talking Cricket reappears toward the end of the book without any explanation, scolds Pinocchio for the hammer thing, delivers a sententious moral, and Pinocchio apologizes and agrees with him. Definitely different than the Pinocchio of the earlier sections. (Although interestingly, Pinocchio may have Plot Armor, but even once the book has gentled a bit, other characters still die--like, Lamp-Wick, someone who convinced Pinocchio to misbehave, doesn't get rescued from being turned into a donkey the way Pinocchio was rescued. He's bought and then worked to death, and dies in a sad on-page scene.)

I read more about the book afterward and found out it was originally a magazine serial, so it all makes perfect sense, the episodic nature and the tone change and whatnot. Wikipedia also said that the serial originally ended fairly early on, when Pinocchio is punished by being hanged by the neck from a tree and dies (whereas in the book he's hanged and almost dies but is rescued). (Man, my childhood books were never like this.)

It really benefited Collodi to start up again with a fixit, given how popular the happy-ending book version became all over the world. It's hard to imagine a dead-at-the-end version becoming as beloved in places like the U.S.--at least in my sense of children's literature at that time, it wouldn't have much room for such a pitch-black tone.

@batmanisagatewaydrug

[pendragonsclotpole]

I need to preface this post with the fact that I’ve been aware of Supernatural for as long as I’ve known what the terms fanfiction and fandom mean. It’s one of those pop culture moments that’s existed on the periphery of my mind as something really beloved and bemoaned about by people on the internet, but it’s never been something I really cared about outside of some iconic memes.

For the past four days, I’ve been watching Supernatural non-stop in my free time. I think I sat through eight episodes straight on one of those days, and I just have to say, the show is phenomenal.

I don’t know where to start, I could make a dozen of these posts about various points throughout the first two seasons and it still wouldn’t be enough. I’ve now taken a break at episode one of season three, because now that it’s a weekday I have work and can’t dedicate the time I could on the weekend.

First, Jared Padalecki’s acting is so beautiful and poignant and emotional. He really makes Sam Winchester into the bleeding heart of the whole show, and the entire time he’s on screen I worry about Sam. His portrayal of Sam’s heartbreak and desperation at Dean’s impending death after the car crash, as well as Sam’s horror at the reveal of what John told Dean before dying held a tragic desperation and denial that really embodied what the character represented in the first two seasons. Even as a hunter and with his special abilities, Sam felt like a quasi self-insert for the audience. I don’t mean that in a bad or overly tropey way, but in the way that he felt robbed of a proper childhood in favor of his father’s crusade. Sam is the angry, indignant younger sibling who never bore the brunt of responsibility like the older sibling did and it shows. In some ways, it makes him more entitled—I don’t mean that Sam does not have the right to be angry with John Winchester. He does. Fuck John Winchester. I mean entitled in the unintentional, coincidental way that your little brother or sister always demands the things you never had or rebels against the authority of the parent without ever dealing with the consequences you did as the older sibling. It reveals the veneer of freedom he had and the protection he received by virtue of his place in the Winchester Family. For me, it made him unbearably real, and this feeling of realness was made worse by the genuine naivety and innocence he keeps even as he continually gets screwed over by the demons. There’s a steadfast belief in the goodness of others within Sam that often conflicts with the sense of goodness he believes he lacks.

Sam trusts so easily, but he understands people in ways that should be antithetical to his upbringing. It took me forever to reconcile why he seemed so familiar, until I realized that Sam Winchester, for all that he was one of John Winchester’s son, had received the unconditional love of an older sibling for his entire childhood.

I don’t mean the perfect, kind, healthy love that often exists between fictional siblings. Too often I’ve watched media that makes me wonder how siblings like that even exist, or conversely, made me glad my siblings weren’t so fucked up.

I mean the kind of platonic love that exists between siblings living in the liminal space of love and hate thanks to the single fucked up connection that draws them back together continuously out of some sense of duty or commiseration or the need to be understood.

I mean the kind of love between siblings that would wither away when in a perfect world that does not stake their survival on their codependence of each other, but that in an imperfect and real world is equated to familiarity. Sam and Dean against the world—against John Winchester.

Out of all of the episodes I’ve watched in the last day and a half, perhaps the one that struck me most was episode 20, Season 2. What is and What Should Never Be. Not only was the title a bit of emotional whiplash—the juxtaposition of Should and Never lending a finality or a sense of wrongness that can’t be replicated by the words “Could Never—but we see Dean and Sam in a world where their one connection, hunting, has completely vanished and at a high cost to all the people they’ve saved, but mostly to Sam and Dean themselves. They’re connection as ride or die brothers is gone, replaced by an ostensibly better, healthier, more normal future liberated from the expectations of the rest of the world.

Without the death of Mary Winchester, Dean and Sam are no longer Dean and Sam. They’re just two people, connected by the two people that raised them, and likely to drift apart after that connection dies—frayed ends of a tapestry pulling apart and unraveling. Dean gains a mom and a normal life, but metaphorically loses a brother and a sense of purpose. Who is Dean Winchester if he’s not a hunter and Sam’s brother? And the sad thing is, neither of these are traits Dean ever chose. They are conditions foisted upon him, perhaps not intentionally, such as in the case of Sam, but ultimately placed on his soul until they tethered themselves to the very core of what being Dean Winchester is supposed to mean. The end of the episode, and Dean’s choice to return to the real world, regardless of Sam waking him up, is Dean fully giving up his dream in order to save Sam and be a hunter. The fallacy of the episode is in the choice Dean makes, which the more I think about it, feels less like a choice and more of an inevitability but one compounded by Dean’s readiness and willingness to go with it.

This is where I get to the crux of my surprise with these first early seasons of Supernatural: Dean Motherfucking Winchester.

I don’t know what I was expecting from early seasons of Supernatural, especially with the context of the later seasons. Maybe an overly cheesy, early 2000s ode to roadtrip Americana with a self-reverential take on the classic gun slinging frontiersman of the Wild West and bad supernatural CGI. Not to say it isn’t that (shout out to Sam’s comment on Dean’s particular brand of butch), but what surprised me was how real the connection between the characters was manifested on screen and how much good will the show built up in the audience. There came a point where I sided with Dean so much in the events of the show that I felt like I was riding shotgun in the impala. I saw it with every compliant “yes, sir” he gave to John, with every teasing comment he threw at Sam, and with every act of selflessness he exhibited by protecting other people. This isn’t to say that Dean is perfect. Sometimes he doesn’t take things seriously enough, or he’s willing to sacrifice people for some misguided greater good, or he’s obsessed with saving Sam even when he wouldn’t be if it were anyone else, but Dean has a conviction so many people lack. He has the capacity to love at a great cost to himself, either because he believes himself unworthy of being loved or because he’s not used to anything else.

Jensen Ackles does such a good job at this portrayal and with such a different technique than Jared Padalecki. Ackles embodies the desperate need for self-assuredness that Dean breathes, as well as the genuine fear he has of being seen. I love laughing with Dean as much as I love screaming at him for how stupid he’s being. If Sam is the self-insert, then Dean is the tragic hero, although that comparison feels like a poor facsimile for what Dean Winchester truly is because I don’t particularly feel an overwhelming sense of pity at his state or at his hinted downfall with that demon deal. If anything, I feel a sense of indignation mixed with understanding and frustration that Dean can’t catch a break but at the end of it all, is just how he prefers it.

It shouldn’t be a shock to admit that even without knowing what happens from seasons 3 to 15, I know how Supernatural ends. Just thinking about the ending makes me wonder if I should even continue it past season 5, but that’s a decision for another time.

For now, there’s something unbearably tragic in seeing Dean Winchester so close to a chance of a normal life and apple pie happiness (something he really seems to desire no matter how much he denies it) and then having to give it up, not just because it’s not real, but because he believes it should never be real.

Dean Winchester deserves better.

[quiltcas]

November 5th Supernatural Marathon

Hello! First off, a massive thank you to everyone who gave me recommendations! I haven't watched anything yet but I feel like I've learned a lot about this community & destiel as a whole. For example, I completely forgot about 5x03! #Tragic. Anywho, due to unfortunate time constraints I've had to narrow the list down so if you don't see an episode you recc'ed me, please don't be mad. With that said, here's the list if any of y'all would like to join in or take inspiration:

4x01 (in what world does a casgirl (gn) not hit the ground running with this absolute banger)

4x20

5x03

5x14 (bedlund the man that you are)

6x03 (a personal favorite of mine tbh)

6x19

6x20

7x01 (hey if you gotta ignore the election, might as well do it to the episode in which cas kills a whole bunch of republicans lmao)

8x10

8x17 (screaming crying throwing up)

(skipping season 9 because of the Dean Transgressions)

10x22 (haven't seen this one since I watched all of spn so I'm looking forward to it :))

12x10

12x12

13x06

14x14

(15x06 my beloved, if I have time)

15x15 (he rediscovered his faith!!! he rediscovered who he is!!!)

15x18 (lmao the whiplash is going to kill me)

Alrighty-o, I think that's it. Thank y'all so much for all the recommendations. Speaking of which, what're y'all's favorite fix-its? I'm going to need to read a couple when all is said and done lol.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, November 28

BUFFY: (Getting up abruptly holding the bowl.) This is no good! It needs more condensed milk. (She flees into the kitchen.) GILES: Buffy, Xander's in real danger. Are you sure the solution is pie? BUFFY: (Adding more condensed milk.) Over bickering and confusion, I'll take pie. We will find a solution. And we will have a nice dinner, ok? Both. End of story. I'm having thanksgiving, and it'll be perfect.

~~Pangs~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Easy by Anonymous (Buffy/Spike, E)

Not A Virgin Sacrifice by Ellen_Brand (Buffy/Jason Todd, Batman xover, G)

Do Si Dos and Aliemande Left by a2zmom (Buffy/Angel, Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara, M)

Not a Virgin Sacrifice by EllenBrand (Buffy/Jason Todd, Batman xover, FR13)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Soul Mate Magic - Chapter Nineteen by emma-m-black (Giles/OC, Mature 18+)

Masquerade - ch. 5 by Holly (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Waiting for You - ch. 28 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Keep You Ghosted - ch. 13 by hydranjenna (Buffy/Spike, R)

Whiplash - ch. 13 by Ninereeds (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Veni, vidi, vici - ch. 5 by Taskmaster (Angel ensemble, HP xover, FR18)

Breaking the Code - ch. 8 by Buffyworldbuilder (Xander, Buffy, Star Wars xover, FR7)

Cross Purposes 4 - ch. 145 by DianeCastle (Willow, Xander, multi-xover, FR13)

Accidental Dark Lords and Ladies of Sunnydale - ch. 9 by AnimeRonin (Willow, Xander, Jesse, multi-xover, FR21) COMPLETE!

In Hell as it is in Heaven - ch. 12 by kedrann (Buffy, Dawn, Anime xover, FR18)

Waiting for You - ch. 28 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Meme: [Thanksgiving] by postapocalypticjugband (Spike, ensemble, worksafe)

Gifset: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997-2003) “Pangs” by charmedslayer (Buffy, Riley, Spike, Harmony, worksafe)

Gifset: Harmony Kendall + Outfits by clarkgriffon (Harmony, worksafe)

Gifset: S01:E09 - The Puppet Show (Part 11) by thecrazyknight (Giles, worksafe)

Gifset: Every Tara look: S5E09 Listening to Fear by lovebvffys (Tara, worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 2.03: School Hard | 2.22: Becoming Part 2 by sophsun1 (Spike, Joyce, worksafe)

Gifset: #me too bestie by sophsun1 (Spike, Willow, Angel, worksafe)

Playlist: My Buffy inspired playlist by Littledittydee

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike - Tough On Myself By Princess King by Nakia Littlejohn

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike - Don’t Blame Me By Taylor Swift by Nakia Littlejohn

Video: Editing a random scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! | Part 3 by Tara's_Willowverse

[Reviews & Recaps]

Season 2 Episode 19 I Only Have Eyes For You *FIRST TIME WATCHER* by Colombian_Vice

Does anyone here *not* love Conversations With Dead People? by debujandobirds

Once more with feeling by moses616

Video: Reflecting on: Once more with feeling, pt1 ROGUE REACTS by Planet Marbasia

Podcast: Buffy-less: S1 Er [Teacher's Pet] by Vampires and Mermaids

Podcast: Episode 133 - Showtime by Boys Watching Buffy [podcasters also uploaded multiple other episodes]

Podcast: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 3 Episode 9 - The Wish - Audio-only by Sh*t 90s Shows Taught Me

[Community Announcements]

Thursday Prompts: Dialogue only by comment_fic

[Fandom Discussions]

So, everything I know about Buffy the Vampire Slayer I learned on tumblr.... [new watcher] by houseofglass

rewatching Buffy and I never paid attention to how Oz goes from... by theboondocksisters

also where’s that post that’s like buffy [the show] is simultaneously... by afterthefeast

This scene from “The Yoko Factor” is so funny to me. [Spike and Tillow] by maybebitterxox

also where's that post... is it really making a unique and layered... by moistvonlipwig

our beloved killers faith and spike hiding a dead body... by kpchrs

we never talk about the fact that Willow just straight up told Tara... by defectivegembrain

The impact of loss and trauma on Angel's outlook continued by PuckRobin

[No Spoilers] btVS s2 first watch [announcement] by Vampiricspikes

Season 6 Ranking! This was by far the most gut wrenching and most emotional [ranking] by Fuzzy-Reference1061

Why are vampires "special"? by sadhungryandvirgin

"Unpopular" opinions? And have opinions shifted in "popularity?" by Usernamelesses

Tara MaClay Once Rudely Said by Past-Throat-6788

Why does everyone calls Angelus "Angel", on Season 2? by Marlezz

Who’s side are you on in the Thanksgiving debate? [peas but also bigger topics] by shadow_spinner0

IS Drusilla the most tragic character in Buffyverse? by FoxIndependent4310

A killer Buffy reference I have not seen mentioned in any "I Saw the TV Glow" threads... by lambofgun

Was Giles holding back? by Tsole96

“The body” helped me come to terms with loss by davighi

Can I Just Say.. [ATS finale] by In_Thought_

POLL: Which comedic episode do you prefer? by jdpm1991

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Spike Plot Hole Was "Fixed" In Angel's Spinoff, But The Explanation Was F by Firenze

Thankful For The Fight. “The opportunity to fight for a better… | by Square & Compass Promotions

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[esorxy]

word of honor ep31 is something else entirely

they get intercepted on their rescue mission and just as the assassin people were about to rush forward and start stabbing, guess who appears spinning out of nowhere to save his beloved one true soulmate its wkx wearing hot red robes with sexy red eyeshadow, who boomerangs his little paper fan and slices their throats all in one go, does another little spin for dramatic flavour and slowly flutters down like an autumn leaf in the wind, successfully making the most replayed segment of the episode 🍃

and then everything he says from this moment on is like "fuck you, im better than you, eat shit" and DPJ is like "yeah ur cool and all but you're only one person" as if he didnt just kill half your men in one swipe while flying. anyway then zzs is like "who said hes alone" and steps out of his little carriage looking like hes about to die. like bro!! you cant even stand chill tf out. wkx comes over and holds his boyfriend and gets full on whiplash from switching too fast between (1) gazing lovingly at zzs and (2) murderous stares assassin gvng.

then like 3000 ghosts come out from the forest looking for a nice fight with 20 men, half of whom are dead, and the rest of them just dip like nope not today

they all kneel for our favourite gays and then wkx kneels as well and zzs, who still looks like hes abt to collapse and die, is like "fuck yeah im still influential" and awkwardly pats wkx's head like hes some overgrown puppy, which is not entirely inaccurate ykwim

so our power couple gets like 20 more kids for the price of none, and head back to god knows where to meet 😱 some more gays😱 one of them is a healer and the other looks like asian robert sean leonard so... whats new 😮‍💨

wkx finds some time to wipe off his eyeshadow and everyone is ready to die for zzs suddenly, and wkx goes from 🥺 "a-xu is gonna live??" to walking back into ghost valley in the blink of an eye without even changing clothes. scorpion king is also there 😱😱 i didnt even know they were working together cos i skipped all of the boring old people scenes. the twinks face off in some intense power play conversation where everyone wants to top, wkx has a mid life crisis in his pajamas featuring genocide and suicide but then hes like but SOMEONE taught me to live love laugh aka im in love, finishing off a killer episode that fully lives up to the drama part of chinese drama. my man needs to be locked up. in a mental hospital.

bonus: zzs in ep32, freshly injured from having metal hooks stabbed through his shoulders, is like "noooo little girl don't you know i need alcohol to live???" huge announcement everyone youve dedicated your lives to following an alcoholic 🤦

twink healer is like "bro u cant even taste shit" and james wilson is like "remember when u wanted me to find u a cute gf... but turns out... (ur gay)"

omg i wanted to stop, but like the dramatic clown ass scenes just keep coming what can a girl do 🤷

so zzs goes back to serving face (not that he ever really stopped) and he overhears that wkx is about to be forced off a cliff 😱. so flutters into this 50v1 fight with about 2% of the dramatic flair that wkx has, steps up to kiss him except they cant cos censorship, and is like "me n u against the world babe." 🤦

yby comes too cos this drama is tiresome and neverending, and wkx is like "im tired, kill me 🫠", which is so relatable, but then he puts up a damn good fight before falling off the cliff from one tiny needle through the heart. zzs also jumps after him and everyone is like 😱 even though they can literally fly.

but hes dead (not rly) so zzs burns his corpse by kicking a lamp at it and sits at the cliff to reminisce the good old times when he was a hobo and wkx followed him around like a clingy wife. he relapses into alcoholism and pulls all his nails out aaaand this is just romeo and juliet with gay and dramatic flair 😮‍💨

when do they stop serving face honestly like im fed up 🤦

[helloenee]

Finally started watching The Secret of Us. Got through the first two episodes and quite enjoyed it.

Ep 1

Cute and fluffy first episode. (At least, until the end.)

Earn is so bold. She reminds me of Ayaka. Go get your gal, gal.

Lol @ the snowing scenes. The lighting does not work at all, but ok~ I still don't know the exact setting of their college years. Somewhere in England?

Racist guy at the cafe. Booooo. Gross.

Whooooo was stalking Lada in England and sending pics to her mom???

*ponders how long Earn and Lada dated in college*

Earn eating a banoffee cake even though she was allergic... Earn... just say that you are allergic. Omfg....

Yes Earn is terrible at communication. Very very terrible. Why would Earn not talk to Lada about all the things that Lada's mom told her? Instead she just shuts down and says absolute lies and other hurtful things to dump Lada. She could have at least accused Lada of cheating or being dishonest but no? Earn, you are such an ass here.

Poor Lada. :(

Ep 2

Earn... Earn, why do you not like to communicate. You discovered that you messed up and now you want Lada again. Alright. But... at least give an apology and clarify wtf happened before trying your shenanigans to get Lada back?

Lada must have such whiplash. This girl hates me and now she wants me. Wtf is going on.

Still, it is fun to see the shenanigans. (But I'm just saying, Earn, you could earn yourself a lot of points by saying sorry first.)

Lada knowing that Earn would hit her head on the table and putting her hand there to protect her is so cute.

Exes-to-lovers trope my beloved. The yearning and familiarity and intimacy that occasionally bridges the distance. Yet the bitterness that prevents one from getting too close. Nice.

Everyone is a lesbian here. Nice.

Everyone is SO FORWARD with their intentions. Nice.

Wisanu has such nice hair. I've honestly long given up trying to style my hair nicely. But I'm always on the lookout for how people do it. :observe

Hospital gossip scenes are fun. I love the side characters.

Earn needs to realize how deeply Lada is hurt and actually try to address it instead of papering over it with grand gestures to be together again.

But... she is so persistent. It is cute.

[andorerso]

i was wondering if you could talk a little bit about why you don’t like marva? (loved the new chapter of don’t say you love me)

Hoo boy, where do I begin? Put under a read more for spoilers, and for the anti-Maarva rant incoming.

First and probably biggest reason is the kidnapping. Drugging and taking a child from his community and his only remaining family, a child who's terrified, who's clearly never seen technology like theirs before, who doesn't even speak their language... She's quite literally the textbook example of the white savior trope, and most baffling of all, this is portrayed as a mostly positive thing. (Well, not even mostly. Other than Cassian still looking for his sister and their relationship being strained, I struggle to see where the show called out Maarva for her actions because well. It didn't.)

Then there's the way she treats Cassian after that. She's belittling, dismissive, borderline emotionally abusive, constantly puts him down and talks down on him, always criticizes him... She treats Bee kinda shitty too, mind you (for example snapping at him to shut up rather cruelly if you ask me.) Then she abandons Cassian when he needs her the most because now she suddenly cares about fighting the empire? And once again, it's portrayed as this selfless heroic act because I guess fighting the Empire is more important than anything. Fine, if that's what you wanna go for. Except that she doesn't fight them. She doesn't do anything, and this "noble" act of sacrifice is completely meaningless. It does nothing else but hurt Cassian. She took this child from his home, never took accountability for it, never treated him right as a mother, and now when he has no one else left and he's just begging her to go with him because despite everything, he does love her and he doesn't want to be alone and he doesn't want her to be in danger... she turns him away? And for what? So she can stay on Ferrix, sick and stubborn and refusing to take her medication and just being a nuisance to everyone? So she can die alone a month later without having any closure with her son? Okay. Makes sense. Oh wait, I forgot. She makes a speech. Groundbreaking.

What's especially annoying to me is that the narrative fully takes her side and never bothers to call her out on any of this. Yes, some people just don't have good mothers, and that'd be fine as a story, even though I'd still dislike her, but what makes me hate her even more is that the story doesn't seem to consider her a bad mother. The story wants me to like her. We're told she's a beloved part of the community, that she's a selfless mother, that she's an inspiring leader. Except that's not what they show us. Fiona Shaw herself talks about what a selfless hero she is for quote-on-quote rescuing Cassian, and it feels like I'm getting whiplash because did we watch the same show? Rescuing Cassian is not how I'd put it. She full on drugged and kidnapped a child, that's not a noble or heroic act of self-sacrifice.

Maarva never shows any warmth towards Cassian. Even in episode 7 when he goes back to her and episode 11 when he tries to call her, it feels like a boy desperately trying to please and live up to his mother's standards because she never made him feel like he was good enough. And that really is just the last straw. I wouldn't forgive her for kidnapping him, but I had hoped, initially, that there'd be consequences to this, that she'd show remorse at least. But I don't think Maarva ever really thought she did anything wrong because the story doesn't think she did anything wrong. And instead of trying to make it up to him like Clem seemed to have tried, she just gives him even more emotional damage.

I just can't tolerate her. Even her love for Cassian seems selfish at best, so there's nothing redeemable about her in my eyes.

[typingtess]

 NCIS: Los Angeles Season 14 Rewatch:    NCIS episode:  “Too Many Cooks”

The basics:  The teams from Washington, Los Angeles and Hawai’i investigate the death of a respected and beloved FLETC instructor.

Written by:   Christopher J. Waild, who wrote over 50-episodes of NCIS.

Directed by:  Michael Zinberg, who directed 20+ episodes on NCIS, 13-episodes of NCIS: New Orleans.

Guest stars of note:  Some of the Hawai’i (Jane Tennant and Jesse Boone) and Los Angeles (G. Callen and Sam Hanna) stopped by. 

Our heroes:   Finally get to be part of a big crossover!

What important things did we learn about: Callen:  First at the crime scene. Sam:   Grateful McGee escorted him to interrogation. Kensi:  In Los Angeles. Deeks:  In Los Angeles. Fatima:  In Los Angeles. Rountree:  In Los Angeles. Kilbride:  In Los Angeles.

What not so important things did we learn about: Callen:  Knew Gibbs from way back and knows the rules. Sam:    “300-pounds of muscle” according to Parker. Kensi:  In Los Angeles. Deeks:  In Los Angeles. Fatima:  In Los Angeles. Rountree:  In Los Angeles. Kilbride:  In Los Angeles.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange?  I’m guessing she knew Dale Harding/The Professor/The Cockroach and his secrets.

Who's down with OTP:  Jess and Jimmy seem to be doing well and encouraging and Jane-Nick love connection.

Who's down with BrOTP:  Thought the Nick and Parker scene near the end of the episode was interesting.  Don’t see Nick as much of a big sharer of his feelings and Parker being the guy he shares with to be honest.

Fashion review:   Callen wore blue, Sam wore black.  Everyone else was better dressed, maybe except Jesse Boone.

Music:  Barry Manilow got a mention.

Any notable cut scene:  Nope, unless it is on the NCIS DVD (which I don’t have).

Quote:  McGee:  “I can't believe this. You guys are accusing me of treason?  In my own house?” Callen:  “It is nothing personal.” McGee:  “Really? Then why aren't we doing this in the conference room?” Sam:  “We didn't know where that was.” McGee:  “You didn't know where this room was.  I had to show you.” Sam:  “And we appreciate your cooperation.”

Anything else:  In Washington DC, an older gentleman, Mr. Harding, is explaining his houseplants to his young house-sitter Libby.  Libby is working cheap monetarily but is also going to pick ten albums from his record collection.  Harding wants to preserve the Barry Manilow albums.  Libby notices a Hawaiian shirt and some other warm weather gear.  She now wants 12-albums as part of an envy tax.

Harding’s phone rings so Libby departs.  The person on the phone is a surprise to Harding who is unhappy the caller has his number.  He doesn’t want this person calling again.  As he is trying to wrap up the call, there is a hard knock on the door.  He asks if it is Libby at the door but two very hard knocks change that thought.

Harding runs to his computer and types something on his keyboard.  The person at the door is picking the lock.  Before the person at the door can enter, Harding takes a gun out of his desk drawer and kills himself.

In the NCIS elevator, Nick and Jessica picked up some party essentials – cups, streamers, champagne – for Kasie.  Kasie runs a very tight ship when throwing a party.  This party is for “The Professor”, a legendary instructor at FLETC, who is retiring.  Nick doesn’t like The Professor, Jessica loves him.  She see him as a mix between Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society” and the Professor on Gilligan’s Island.  Nick is thinking more of the instructor in “Whiplash”. 

Walking into the bullpen, Nick and Jessica see people lurking about at their desks.  It is Jane Tennant and Jesse Boone from the Hawai’i office.  Everyone is happy to see everyone else.  Hugs are shared.  Both are in a day early because they didn’t want to miss the party.  Jane talks about how much she learned from The Professor about threat assessments, Jesse was a D.C. Metro Police Officer who was recruited by The Professor.  Parker and McGee arrive with stats of all the feds The Professor trained – both are big fans.  Parker was a fan from the FBI where The Professor was known as The Cockroach. 

McGee says he had lunch with The Professor a few days earlier.  The Professor was looking forward retirement.  With the mention of retirement, Gibbs’s name comes up.  Would he show up for the big party?  McGee doesn’t think Gibbs is coming though Gibbs and The Professor went fishing a few times.  There is a “so you say there is a chance” joke but an arriving Leon Vance ends all the joking.  Professor Dale Harding was found dead in his apartment that morning.  The teams are shocked.  When Vance says it is likely a suicide, Parker and the DC team start to work.  As they leave, Jane and Jesse join them.

There is some ‘who is in charge’ scuffling between the DC and Hawai’i teams arrive at Harding’s apartment when Jimmy rolls Harding’s body out on a gurney.  Both teams want to know who cleared Jimmy to take the body from the crime scene.  Callen and Sam did.  Jane recognizes “Agents Callen and Hanna”.  McGee gets a shout out from Callen – how it has been a long time - but wants to know what they are doing there.  Sam realizes maybe it hasn’t been a long enough time.

McGee is taking photos at the crime scene.  Callen comments on using an old fashion DSLR.  McGee comments on the type of gloves Callen is using – black gloves where the dye could contaminate the evidence.  Callen says he and Sam were in DC for Harding’s retirement party.  They heard about his death getting of the plane and went straight to the crime scene.  Nick implies that it may not be Harding but Sam assures him it was and things were “not pretty”.  Single gunshot under the chin, gunshot residue – it was a suicide.

McGee brings up the lunch with Harding again, how he had big retirement plans.  Jessica finds a plane ticket to Cabo.  Sam comments about Harding, calling him The Cockroach as well, but offering it as a sign of respect.  Jessica thinks Parker and Sam have too much respect for “primitive insects”.  Parker disagrees – cockroaches are survivors.  Dale Harding was a survivor – he taught all his students to adapt and survive.  Nick disagrees but Callen and the rest of the teams think they are missing something.  Harding may have committed suicide but he had to be pushed. 

Jane and Jesse join the others in living room.  She jokes about the most number of senior NCIS agents in a single place but has more serious news.  Harding’s cellphone is missing.  She also spoke with Libby, who heard the gunshot at 7:40AM and had the building manager open the door at 7:50AM.  Libby told Jane and Jesse that she was with The Professor when he got a call on his cell – the now missing cell.  McGee does McGee things on Harding’s computer.  It was last accessed at 7:45AM, after the gunshot and before the body was found.  Someone was in the apartment.

As Nick and Callen break down the party room, Nick brings up Rule Number Three – always double check.  Callen knows what Rule Number Three is.  He and Gibbs “go way back.”  Nick isn’t sure it is a suicide, Callen is.  There is talk of a friendly wager over the difference since “there are no rules against that” according to Nick.  Jane arrives explaining that there are actually rules against it.  “Number 15.”  Nick is sure that he and Callen aren’t dating but Callen says Rule Number 15 is about lawyers.  Jane isn’t going to run through the rules but if Harding killed himself, maybe he was coerced. 

An arriving Jessica has news of a blocked call at 7:38AM.  The call went through all sorts of VPNs and without Harding’s cellphone, no back-trace.  They are going to adapt and solve the case for The Professor.  Well, most of them are – Nick brings up that The Professor tried to have him thrown out of FLETC but he deserves justice.

In Autopsy, Jimmy is a bit sad that McGee dropped by.  He’s happy to see McGee but was hoping one of the visiting NCIS agents would drop by.  Jimmy wouldn’t mind an invitation to the Los Angeles or Hawai’i offices.  McGee hasn’t been to the Hawai’i office and hasn’t seen the Los Angeles office since “OSP moved into that Mexican restaurant.”  Jimmy thought it was a Spanish Mission. 

Back to The Professor, Jimmy has a towel over the dead man’s face.  The way he shot himself, the bullet bounced around Harding’s head, shattering bones in his face.  “It’s not a good look.”  Jimmy has question about Harding’s body.  There are signs of bullet wounds, burns, deep scars from cuts.  With the tissue buildup, some of the scars are decades old.   McGee brings up Harding’s time with the Marines as a gunnery sergeant.  Maybe he was wounded in battle.  Jimmy thought of that but Harding was never wounded in action.  Whatever happened to him was kept a secret.

Kasie is working in her lab, debating with Jessica about eating the cupcakes ordered for the party.  They all have a little topper with a smiling photo of The Professor.  Jessica could eat them without the topper – makes it less creepy.  Kasie thinks eating it without the topper is creepy.  Kasie believes that The Professor was a noble man who was forced to do what he did.  She also says whoever worked on Harding’s computer knew how to cover their tracks.  Going through some of the data, Kasie sees that the computer was used less than a minute before Harding ended his life.  He typed “extra homework” into a text program. 

Digging a little deeper, Kasie finds some old DOD files – TSSCI – Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information.  That is not something a civilian employee would have either on his computer or really at all.  Harding deleted the files.  Not the actions of a noble man according to Jessica.

Vance is on the phone with the head of cybersecurity of DOD.  Harding did not have clearance to have the TSSCI files on his computer.  In fact, the DOD didn’t even know the files were missing until NCIS contacted them.  Parker asks what was in the files.  The DOD calls it need to know and Parker says he needs to know.  DOD needs to know how a FLETC instructor got the files.  Vance thinks Harding knew he was caught and killed himself.  Parker thinks there is more and Leon agrees – more resources on this case than any other NCIS is investigating.  Parker has all the different teams are looking into Harding’s life.  Maybe he was going to sell what was on the computer files.  The investigation is starting at FLETC’s Maryland campus.

On a crowded subway car, toxic gas has been released.  The passengers are trying to get out.  There is a loud bell and an instructor pops up.  He asks a group of probationary officers/agents how would they stop public panic like what is happening on the train.  “You can’t,” Nick says as he walks into the class with Callen and Sam.  The instructor tells Nick he’s right before asking the class what is the next course of action.  Callen says to identify the threat and Sam adds to neutralize the threat.  Again, the instructor agrees.  Sam dismisses class, which is news to the instructor.  Badges are flashed and class is dismissed.

As Nick, Callen and Sam look through Harding’s office, the instructor and his class are learning how to search an office through the office’s window.  Nick, Callen and Sam are doing an excellent job with resource management and evidence preservation.  Callen and Sam shut the blinds to the office, ending the lesson.

Nick finds a scrapbook of former students – promotions, commendations, etc.  Callen asks if he is in the book – he’s not.  Nick is, however.  And Nick is surprised since Harding hated him, calling saying Nick had a “lone wolf mentality and not a team player.”  Sam disagrees – Harding never hated any of his students.  Nick says just before he was going to graduate from FLETC, Harding asked him to quit.  Sam says his father always told him if the coach is yelling, it’s a good thing.  It means he cares.  If the coach isn’t “riding” you, then you have a problem.

Sam finds a case of old floppy discs – how could a man still using floppy discs hack the Pentagon?  Callen has a more disturbing discovery.  Harding never missed a class but he had a substitute teacher planned for his final class. 

The final class was a driving class, watching a controlled car chase.  Jessica was chasing Jane.  Jane was complimented on her evasive driving, Jessica complete a perfect pit move.  Instructor Greta Ford was impressed.  Jessica and Jane were favorites of Ford.  Ford was surprised when Harding asked her to fill in for his last class.  Ford almost said no – their teaching styles couldn’t be more different – but Harding said he was moving up his retirement a few days.  He couldn’t wait to go on vacation.  Cabo is mentioned but Ford says Harding was going to Hawai’i.  That caught Jane’s attention.  Harding was going to meet an old friend.

Sam arrives in Kasie’s lab with everything from Harding’s office.  She is on the phone but once off, she wants to know “who are you?”  Sam introduces himself, “Sam Hanna.  Los Angeles.  OSP.”  Kasie is not happy – Los Angeles didn’t RSVP – but gets back into the case.  She was on the phone with the airline.  Harding have a ticket to Cabo but changed it to Hawai’i a few days ago.  The ticket to Hawai’i was for early that day.  He would have missed his retirement party.

Kasie is confused.  There is nothing from Harding’s apartment that would indicate a friend or family member in Hawai’i.  Sam thinks it was an excuse to skip town with the stolen files, sell them and pad his retirement account.  Kasie tells him they don’t have proof Harding stole the files.  Sam admires Kasie is a positive thinker.  Kasie’s computer beeps – there is a security alert from DOD.  Harding wasn’t the hacker.  They have a new suspect, however. 

McGee can’t get into a locked MTAC.  Callen and Sam approach him – he’s under arrest for treason.

A very unhappy McGee is on the wrong side of the interrogation table “in my own house.”  He’d rather the questioning go on in a conference room.  Sam says they didn’t know where the conference was.  McGee says they didn’t know where interrogation was either – he had to show Callen and Sam the location.  Sam is grateful for McGee’s cooperation.  Callen wants some answers and hands a file to McGee.

Vance is in the interrogation observation room when Parker walks in.  Parker isn’t pleased that an outside team is interrogating McGee.  Leon tells Parker it was either an outside team interrogating McGee or it is DOD interrogating McGee.  The server hack at the DOD goes back to McGee’s credentials.  So Leon was given a choice of turning McGee over to the DOD or having an outside, neutral party talk to him. 

McGee is able to figure out what happened – his credentials were used to create a backdoor into the DOD server.  That would be the way he’d break in.  Callen thinks maybe McGee did break in.  McGee asks if Callen and Sam really think he broke into the DOD server.  Sam doesn’t, neither does Callen but DOD does.   McGee thinks someone took his credentials and did this.  Sam can’t believe that “the computer guy” lost his password.  McGee brings up that Sam, a car guy, lost Charlene once.  And Callen had his identity stolen.  So let’s not get “judgey” about someone taking McGee’s log-in info. 

Going through how someone would get his log-in info, McGee uses two-factor security for his laptop and a six-digit alpha-numeric code on his phone.  McGee stops for a second.  For the third time, McGee brings up the lunch with Harding.  He unlocked his phone when Harding asked about McGee’s kids – wanted to see photos.  McGee used the restroom shortly after that and Harding likely accessed McGee’s phone.

Kasie is on her iPad with Jesse.  She cannot believe that Harding not only broke into the DOD’s server but that he used a former student’s credentials to get in.  Jesse has more bad news and to Kasie’s great relief, it is not that Harding was a Cylon the whole time.  He can’t find the cellphone and he’s been all over Harding’s apartment.  The two share their love of Battlestar Galactica when Kasie complains about Sam arresting McGee.  Sam is barred from Kasie’s lab, which is going to be a problem since Sam just walked in.

Kasie wants an apology for arresting McGee.  Sam isn’t apologizing and he didn’t arrest McGee.  He never believed that McGee was a criminal.  Kasie is in a better place.  She has some news.  After going through all the old floppy discs – and the files on them were decades old – she did find one file created last week.  It also said “extra homework” just like the file on his home computer.  That means the disc is important, except there is nothing else on the disc. 

Sam thinks there was something in the disc.  A girl named Heather Richardson use to send Sam notes inside floppy discs.  Kasie takes apart the disc and finds a note that reads “The answer is in the files.”  Kasie is disappointed – Harding deleted the files.  But there is a photo with the note of the fireplace in Gibbs’s old cabin.  It looks familiar to Kasie.  Sam, not so much.

Nick and Jessica arrive at Gibbs’s cabin.  Nobody has been around for a while and almost nobody knows about the place.  Someone knows about it, however, when they open fire on Nick and Jessica.  She wonders if it is Gibbs shooting at them but Nick tells her if Gibbs was shooting, they’d both be dead.  Nick and Jessica return fire.  The find a grey jacket near the cabin covered in blood.  Inside the jacket is a cellphone that took a bullet for the shooter.  They hear a motorcycle take off.  He may be wounded but the shooter is in the wind.

McGee is getting roadblocks set up all over near the cabin.  Jane is running the search, Jesse is working with the county police.  The mystery shooter found the files.  Callen is on his way back to Los Angeles.  Kasie found wire transfers coming from Malibu to Harding.  He and Sam are going to check things out.  Callen and McGee exchange a manly handshake as Callen exits.

Kasie runs into the bullpen.  The phone the shooter had wasn’t a personal phone, it was Harding’s.  The mystery shooter was the person at Harding’s apartment.  Going through the phone, Kasie found a program that recorded all of Harding’s calls.  The damage to the phone, however, left the audio file a mess.  The caller says he’s “Simon Williams”.  Kasie hasn’t run the name yet but she doesn’t have to, McGee points to Williams on the NCIS Ten-Most Wanted wall.

In Vance’s office, Vance, Parker and Nick listen to the whole call.  Harding stole the files from the DOD because he knew Williams was trying to get them.  Parker again asks what was on the files and again, the DOD won’t share.  Harding’s plan failed since Williams now has the files.  Parker brings up that Simon Williams is a Ten-Most Wanted suspect on most law enforcement walls.  A rogue operative who has committed about every crime in about ever country over the last 30-years.  No law enforcement agency has come close to catching Williams.  Nick and Jessica wounding Williams is the closest anyone has come to catching him.

Vance wants to know how Harding got involved in this in the first place.  Why would a wanted career criminal be involved with a FLETC instructor and vice versa?  Parker found out the two men knew each other.  Williams was a FLETC trainee who Harding failed for a “lone wolf mentality and not a team player” – the same thing he said about Nick.  Nick looks stricken but wants to look through some files.

Jessica is negotiating with some local county police when McGee calls.  The locals do things a certain way and that includes not help Jessica.  Kasie is monitoring the local officers radios – just chatter.  Kasie hears one squad car is missing – 117.  Kasie is tracking the GPS for the squad car.  It is nearly 40-miles away near a farm.

McGee, Nick and Parker move in on a barn on the farm.  They find blood in the car and blood all over a first aid kit in the car’s trunk.  In the barn, Simon Williams is burning all his ID’s.  The man is much younger than the photo of Simon Williams on the NCIS Most Wanted wall.  He claims “we’re all Simon Williams” before he passes away.

In autopsy, Jimmy tells Jessica and Jane that their Simon Williams is 30-years younger than the Simon Williams on the wall.  Jane thinks “We’re all Simon Williams” is a bad omen.  As Jessica and Jane are about to leave, Jimmy wonders if they all shouldn’t get something to eat.  It has been a long day.  Jane wouldn’t mind some blueberry pancakes.   Jimmy is going to text Torres to join them, make it a double date.  Jane shoots Jimmy a look, Jessica gives him the cut sign and it becomes a share professional meal among colleagues. 

In his nice home, Parker wants some info from his friends at the FBI, all the files they have on Simon Williams.  Nick is at his front door.  Parker lets him in as Nick hears from Jimmy – dinner at 10PM.  When Parker ends his call, Nick updates Parker on the files.  They were in the things Simon Williams burned in the barn.  Parker doesn’t think this is the only reason Nick is by. Nick brings up the “lone wolf mentality and not a team player” comparison with Simon Williams.  Parker offers a good pep talk – he’s nothing like Williams.  When his phone chimes, Parker has the Williams FBI file.  An associate of Williams was going to meet with Harding in Hawai’i. 

Nick shows up at the diner (Gibbs’s diner maybe) where Jimmy and Jane aren’t there.  They left together before Jessica left the NCIS office.  Nick sees Jimmy’s “Dadmoblie” parked near the diner.  When Jessica calls Jimmy, his phone rings in a nearby trash pail.  She tries calling Jane.  Jane's phone is in a dumpster.  Jimmy and Jane are tied up in a van with a gunman watching  over them.

What head canon can be formed from here:  I have a lot of thoughts about this three-show crossover but I’ll save them for the problematic episodes.  This was a good set-up episode with one huge flaw.  “The Professor” was such an important part of the NCIS world (and FBI for Parker) that Jane and Jesse flew 5,000 miles, Callen and Sam flew 3,000 miles for this huge retirement party and 20-seasons in NCIS, 14-seasons into NCIS: Los Angeles and two seasons into NCIS: Hawai’i, this dude was never mentioned once.  NCIS foreshadowed Gibbs’s family tragedy for three seasons, the first half of season three of NCIS: Los Angeles was setting up Sam’s trips to Africa and Kensi’s investigation into her father’s death.  These programs have done that work in the past.  Didn’t do any of it here. 

Also, Robert Picardo is a big TV character actor.  He worked on two television series on ABC at the same time (The Wonder Years and China Beach).  He didn’t make it past the teaser.  What a waste.  There was also Stephanie Hodge as FLETC Instructor Greta Ford who had a delightful season one NCIS appearance as Sheriff Dupray and was Tangerine in “The Sounds of Silence” season 10 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.  Another quality character performer woefully underused.

Episode number:   This is episode 10 of season 20 of NCIS, the series 445th episode (wow!).  This is the first part of a three-series, three-episode NCISverse crossover.

[no-where-new-hero]

Wrap up thoughts on Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 even though I'm fairly sure none of my followers will have a clue what I'm talking about:

The writing was better than in Season 1. Aside from the huge continuity plothole (what happens in the past bloody well should affect the future, otherwise what's the point), the depth of characters, individual lines, mixture of humor and tragedy, and juggling of many parts came off with more dexterity than I'd have thought. The characters have even more reality because of it and drive the plot onward.

Hongjoo and Mooyeong were amazing new characters and really helped to push through the theme of the season, which was that the way you care about other people is what makes you do the things you do, whether for good or bad. You lie because you want to protect the other person, you leave because you think that'll save them, you decide to perform sketchy magics because that might be enough to stitch back together the family you lost.

Rang. O Rang, my beloved. Kim Beom went for the throat in every scene with his haunted eyes and whispered lines. S1!Rang and S2!Rang felt like different characters somehow, or that they grew from different places. In S1, he was more complicated: more morally grey, more inwardly tortured, more selfish and shallow yet therefore more surprising when kind. He seemed to have more actual power, but less inner strength. In S2, he had a nobility that worked considering he no longer had to be the villain, but that also caught him in plot trappings of heroism: externally tormented, driven to protect and support others, less self-absorbed, less magical in order to seem less dangerous. It still felt consistent and a necessary shift to keep from being repetitive, but its a puzzle, considering that time travel continuity problem.

The folklore! The approach to the elemental magics felt much stronger and more authentic than in S1, where the big bad was a little too big and a little too bad to the point where his choices for villainy seemed meaningless. Here, each magical antagonist came with a different set of limits and strengths, which diversified the fight scenes and fleshed out the world.

Politics! We love a historical drama that actually uses the circumstances of history to animate the plot (looking at you again, The Edge of Love).

The cinematography and direction of the last few episodes blew me away. It was great throughout, but the director was just serving through that finale.

The pacing was excellent, despite the...whimsical decision for some cuts between scenes. Like there was some heavy emotional whiplash.

Makeup and wardrobe must have had the USA's military budget. The costumes and looks overall deserve their own tribute post.

Yeon is literally invincible in this season which therefore makes him the least interesting (hero problems again) BUT Lee Dongwook has a knack for comedic delivery, which really shone here in his quieter scenes.

Kim Yongji played a COMPLETELY different type of role yet pulled it off beautifully with her trademark presence.

I'm so hoping that the obviously dangling plot thread left means the writers are planning a third season.

If we don't get a third season, can Hwanghee, Yongji, and Beom just have their own show? Not even playing their characters from this; I'd be fine with any genre or format (slice of life as artsy 20-somethings would be perfect), but they're all just so good together, the chemistry is off the charts.

[mikuni14]

The Sign - Ep 3

So much happened in this episode! (Although I might have missed something because half of the ep I was suffering from a serious case of second-hand embarrassment, because they were filming the series among ordinary people in tourist places and these people were staring and I was dying of embarrassment 💀).

I have to admit, jealous, stressed Phaya was great. I like a good portrayal of possessiveness and Phaya is good at it because he's not violent in his jealousy, just more worried ✨

It was good to see Phaya in a different environment, it turns out he lives in a palace and is an artist, like a prince. So this making out in red paint in a studio scene, it still COULD be Phaya/Tharn 👀

I really liked the fact that the series didn't drag on any threads. Ooooh mysterious amulet? Abbot: this amulet was given to you by Tharn 😀 end of story. Already in this episode there are glimpses of their previous lives, they are already returning to their team, good pacing, stuff is being talked about, explained, discussed. Other series - please take notes!

My beloved Tharn, pretending not to want to be with Phaya, at the same time perfectly attuned to his mood and behavior. Always thinking about him and worrying about him 🥺 Tharn is visibly stressed, he wants to give in to Phaya, everyone around him is encouraging him to do so, but he is so afraid. I really liked their sparring scene: Tharn - stressed, tense, lashing out. Nervous and then sexual tension in this scene, Phaya relaxed when he finally sees Tharn and that he is fine, he doesn't push because he notices that Tharn is not himself, that he reacts differently. Phaya allows him to take it out on himself, also he knows that this is the best way to convince Tharn - by giving him a choice, an opportunity to fight, not making arguments and forcing him. Phaya won, he gained, not forced contact with Tharn. And it works, because Tharn is distracted from his worries, and he turns from a stressed little cat, into a predatory cat on the hunt (you can literally see the moment of his transformation and when the stress comes off him, replaced by something else 🔥). I love Phaya in this scene, how he controls himself and the situation. He could have led it in any direction, but he stopped because he had achieved his goal. Phaya is so cool, I love how pushy he is at the right moments and how he withdraws at others.

I liked showing their relationships with family and friends, I loved Tharn and Sand. "Aways finding excuses when I ask you about girls" omg girl lol. It's also cool that Tharn and Phaya are so cute together, but it gets me every time when they are like two bro dudes together lmao this is such a whiplash 😂

Team leader, please lead me 😍 Happy to see his pretty face, he's so strict and professional. I would love to see him in a relationship with someone.

Tharn…gosh, but he's SO BEAUTIFUL. I can't stop looking at him. This episode especially spoiled me, so many scenes, so many versions of Tharn, each more beautiful than the previous one, at the pool (I appreciate that he didn't have long shorts and that his speedos were red), with a wig, even slightly unkempt with his hair not perfectly done in the temple scenes, Tharn always looks like a million dollars ✨ (but I have to ask, isn't Babe standing on a box, or at least on his tiptoes, in some scenes? because that's so cute)

The Kiss - how is it, that it wasn't a full make-out session, but it was still one of the sweetest, most natural kisses I've ever seen? 💖 The chemistry between Billy and Babe and the fact that they clearly have no problems with physical closeness and intimacy, hm?

I like that Wansarat is shown as male, at least that's how I understood it. Wild theory time! Wansarat secretly met with Sakuna, even though he shouldn't (these are hostile deities?), Sakuna was punished, he could have died and Wansarat saved him by doing something wrong, maybe killing someone, for which he pays in subsequent incarnations. Wansarat may also have been promised to another serpent deity (Chalothon) who truly loved/wanted him and now this deity wants Wansarat back in the form of Tharn. End of wild theory time.

Phaya has completely abandoned all pretenses and openly says that he likes Tharn and kisses him in his own house. He's such a freak, I love him 😍

[sparrow-the-tired-lesbian]

My thoughts on episode 4

Yay recap

IS OB GONNA BE A MAJOR PLAYER THIS EPISODE?!

Uh oh

WHAT DO YOU KNOW MINUTES

shorter intro today- OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK

are we seeing raw time?

Minutes you’d better shut the fuck up

Oh dear

Time for WHAT

OH NO

OH MY GOD RAVONNA IS A FUCKING GODDESS I AM SO GONE

minutes is out of her head okay 

*shovels candy into my mouth because period*

Hi Victor :)

IS VICTOR GONNA HAVE A MEETING WITH OB I WILL SOB

B15 MY WIFE

Aww Mobius you’re so cute

Haha Loki is so funny 

I’m gonna start saying la di da

B15 makes me so weak lemme just perish

No forgiving and forgetting. We resent and remember.

Chocolate. Soup.

Victor is so relatable

CASEY AND OB ARE SO CLOSE RIGHT NOW JUST KISS BOTH OF YOU

HE KNOWS HIM

THEY KNOW EACH OTHER

OB IS LOSING HIS SHIT

A SNAKE EATING ITS OWN TAIL HE FUCKING SAID IT

I am crying

BROMANCE

OB IS ME

I AM OB

oh this is the scene from the credits

Sylvie my wife

SOMEONE

HER LITTLE SMILE

“And ruined my life” get her son

Loki has to do it

HA HE STRAIGHT UP VOLUNTEERED HIS HUSBAND DIDNT HE

ITS GORGEOUS 

“It’s wearing a helmet it doesn’t look like anyone!”

MY SONS ARE BONDING

PIE WHILE WE WAIT

Sylvie just calm down

Sylvie please leave your brother in law alone

SYLVIE STOP

LOKI WHY ARE YOU LEAVING TOO

Brad stfu. Stop it.

BEA’S HERE 

I’m calling her Bea now. It’s easier and more humanizing than a number.

Bea don’t trust them.

PIE LAND IM DECEASED

“About Mobius” YEAH? YOUR HUSBAND?

Just so we’re clear, we need to get you a therapist, babygirl.

What are the hets on? I see no chemistry between Loki and Sylvie

Oh Loki spitting facts

Hope is hard. Damn that breaks me.

We are gods

Why are you getting closer

LOKI STEP THE FUCK BACk

Oh he’s walking away there we go

Thank god I was about to have a cardiac arrest 

“I know, I have been working on myself” minutes I will sob what are you up to now

MINUTES DONT 

OH MY GOD STOP ALL OF THIS I AM SCARED 

MINUTES’ UNHINGED GRIN WHAT IS GOING ON

BRAD HELP THEM

oh my god

Oh my god I heard that

Oh my god they’re all dead

Oh my god

Oh my god (x99)

Oh no

OB is so cute I’m keeping him in my pocket

Nothing is connecting

Bea look away please 

Oh no no no

Blub blub blub goes the cocoa machine :D

He’s so kind to Dee Dee 

I’m just gonna start naming all of them.

OH NO NO NO

BRAD WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT

I JUST NAMED HIM I WAS ATTATCHED

Ouroboros what do you mean again did Mobius download Tetris once

This is all horrible

Smart Sylvie 

Oh Loki is about to fuckin lose it

You’re going to put him in the room with Minutes?!

OH RAVONNA

“You’re gonna talk when I say you can, and only then” oh my word…*fanning myself with my hands*

RAVONNA I-

MOMMY- SORRY

oh no this is the scene from episode one

LOKI FROM EPISODE ONE

LOKI IS GONNA PRUNE LOKI 

smart Sylvie :)

Oh my god it’s exactly the scene from episode one

Sylvie is so pretty I’m gonna cry

OH THAT WAS A NOISE

LOKI PRUNED LOKI!

THIS IS A TWIST!!!

OH THAT LOOK-

THAT HAS TO BE SO CONFUSING FOR SYLVIE NGL

that little flinch help me

“Huh?”

Pick up the damn phone 

OB!

reboot the system please

Oh Casey don’t do that

TURN IT OFF

hehe minutes is fucking lost

well that was ominous

Get fucked Brad

Oh I know Loki’s gonna have the fangirls raving 

NO RAVONNA!!!!

RAVONNA COME BACK MY BELOVED

Ob thank god you’re back I am suffering some emotional whiplash

Loki is gonna have to go out there…

No no we need more Lokius hurt comfort Victor step the fuck down

Oh come ON

WHY IS OB SO TINY HE COULD FIT RIGHT IN MY POCKET

I just realized that- OH MY GOD TIMELY

WHY IS EVERYTHING EXPLODING

LOKI GET MOBIUS TO SAFETY

if this is the end of the episode-

OH MY FUCKING GOD

[slowlyfoggydestiny]

Just watched the episode it was so good! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time Bobby nash the man you are Athena grant nash the woman you are bathena the couple you are !!!! Jem is the most beloved im so satisfied with this Athena arc and the whole disaster was so so good and in true 911 fashion they gave us the emotional whiplash at the end lmao so excited for the rest of the season