#every parallel i discover leaves me even more unwell

[sophsun1]

Interview With The Vampire – 1.01 | 2.03

[littlemisssquiggles]

Voltron Musings: The Future of Klance. An Interpretation of Future Bonding Moments I’d like see for Lance and Keith As Told By A Klance Shipper. #003

Bonding Moment #003: Planet KLANCE. It’s basically Escape From the Blue Lagoon...but with Klance!

Remember that really, really old classic movie where these two kids (cousins to be exact) got stranded on an island and had to live off the land and fend for themselves?

Picture that...but with Lance and Keith being tossed into a dire scenario where they’re basically left for dead; forced only to work together and depend on each other after their lions crash land on an uninhabited planet leaving them stranded together with limited power, food supplies and no way to get in contact with the castle or the other paladins.

 What can I say, I really enjoyed that moment in S3 where Lance and Keith were separated from the team and had to lean on each other to get out.

Can I get more of that in an entire episode dedicated just to these two bonding?

I don’t even care if it gets suggestively romantic and ship-py . ...Okay, I lie. Even I can’t say that with a straight face. I do care but that’s not the point I’m trying to make here. I just want an entire episode dedicated to these two red vs blue knuckleheads interacting and getting to know each other on a more intimate level. It’s just them alone. No other paladins.

I’ll take Keith hallucinating about Shiro before running away and getting his ass into trouble only for Lance to save him initiating bonding moment number three within that episode alone. But that’s it. I only want to see these two mostly in the episode.

The other paladins can show up in the end to save them especially if you toss in Lance and Keith being stranded together on a uninhabited planet with a Galra soldier sent to kill them.

Make it better, let Keith be injured or falls devastatingly ill after being poisoned by one of the strange floras or faunas on the island.

Throw in Keith saving Lance from being the one to be poisoned by pushing him of the way to shield him from the toxic bite/sting/spray-whatever; stir in Lance being forced to care for a very sick Keith; too sick to even walk.

Maybe a side effect of the poison is loss of mobility and sight so Lance has to carry Keith and be his eyes.

There only source of communication is a broken mini walkie-talkie type which every now and again allows Lance to communicate with the team who are looking for him. Lance also receives information from Coran on the way the planet works and he helps him to keep Keith’s symptoms at bay.

But when Keith goes critical, entering the final stage of the poison, Lance is begrudgingly forced to leave him behind secured in a cave to venture out on his own to find some kind of plant that’s the antidote to the poison. I want this to be a Klance bonding episode but it’d be cool if it’s also a Lance centered episode emphasizing on his development and resilience under pressure. Lance vs Nature: the ultimate trial of the Blue Paladin as he battles the elements to help keep his friend alive. Alright...so I realize this is less Escape from the Blue Lagoon when I originally started off but I’m digging this concept too.

Give me one Klance episode coupled with a healthy serving of Lance character development. I want it to be an episodic broth purely about survival mixed in with relatable lessons in friendship and trust. Hold the other paladins please or you can sprinkle just a little bit of them here and there for additional plot flavours however at its core I want this broth to be all about the red vs blue duo.  Add a perilous scenario where our duo are trapped together on an unknown planet, WITHOUT their lions (yeah I changed my mind, let them NOT have their lions with them as a means of increasing the chances of their survival and thus, intensifying the essence of how much Lance and Keith need to work together), completely stranded from the rest of the team with nothing but a broken short-circuiting communicator as their only source of contact with the outside. Stir in some tension between our duo caused earlier in the episode based around the topic of what would happen if Lance were in charge and Lance’s misunderstanding about him thinking that Keith doubted his ability to lead. Stir in some anger and frustration on Lance’s part about Keith not having his back or thinking he would make a good leader. Stir in the team going on a solo mission, somehow not needing their lions. Maybe they were trying to recruit some inhabitants for the battle against Zarkon who wouldn’t trust them unless the sent two of their paladins (Lance and Keith) without their lions. This however turns out to be a huge trap and we’ll have our first taste of action here. Chop some Lance trying to prove himself moments and acting reckless only to wind up being the cause of him and Keith being separated and stranded in the first place.  

Add a dash of suggestively intimate moments where Lance is forced to care for a very unwell Keith who has been left unable to care for himself after sustaining an injury or would from one of the inhabiting creatures of the planet they’re marooned on.

We can even toss in a moment where Keith, under the effects of injury starts having strong hallucinations about ‘dying’. Because of this, Keith starts giving Lance the same pep talk that Shiro gave him in S2. Y’know should anything happen to him, Keith, with Shiro still being gone (since Kuron is a clone), the team will need another new Red Paladin and Keith decides to pass the torch onto Lance.  Lance of course laughs this off as a joke but...it would be cool to see this parallel done with him.

Stir in some adventure montages where Lance learns to live off the land and utilize his surroundings in order to keep both him and Keith alive until the other paladins can track them down.

Add one last tablespoon of action where a Galra/enemy solider discovers the location of the missing blue and red Paladins of Voltron and Lance has an epic showdown with said solider as he fights to defend his friend, really highlighting how much he has improved as a fighter since season one.

Mix this all together. Allow it to simmer and here we’ll have a delicious Klance episode about survival and friendship that you can serve to Voltron plans on a Skulltrite silver platter.

I doubt we’ll get an episode like that since the relationship between Lance and Keith has progressed passed the stage where they don’t seem to pick as much fights with each another anymore. A good sign of their development but...y’know me, there is always room for more moments.

I’d still love an entire episode where it’s all about them and growing their friendship/trust in each other. Now that I think about it, we haven’t had an episode like this at all. We’ve had episodes dedicated to Lance bonding with other paladins like Pidge (S2 Episode with the Galra mall), Hunk (S2 episode with the merpeople), Shiro (S2 episode where they rescued Slav and Shiro first called Lance the team’s sharpshooter) and even Allura (S3 when they switched lions)! But none really with Keith. Some might argue that the episode form S1 with the infamous ‘We had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms’ line was a Klance centric episode. I see where you’re going for. Yes we’ve had many Klance moments but not an entire episode about them. Not really.

Where is my Klance centered bonding episode? If we can get a Klance focused episode and have it done something like this; I’d be a very happy camper. And so will many Klance shippers, would you agree?

~LittleMissSquiggles (2017)

[drink-n-watch]

Welcome back everyone to my Psycho Pass watch-a-long with Matt! I’m surprised by how few bloggers seem to be watching this series but that’s o.k. Small parties are the funnest! Also, my week has been a killer so I don’t want to go to some huge party! Next week is gruesome too but after that, it should ease up – YAY! So how has your week been Matt?

I’ve been a bit unwell but I’m sure the people who come to read this aren’t interested in the details of my health, on with the review!

I’ll be honest with you guys, I really didn’t take as many notes as I usually do so I may skip over some things but here are the things that stood out to me.

I loved that bank fraud and market manipulation in the form of a manufactured housing bubble was the initial crime. And explained in such detail as well. It was amazing! Financial crimes in Psycho Pass is something I really hope they explore more. Because people’s relationship with money, especially in a society that has no poverty, is probably quite different than their relationship with violent crimes. I wonder what it does to their hues! What did you think Matt?

It’s funny I was watching these parts thinking “man, the writer of this series must have just discovered about the 2012 financial crisis and housing collapse in the US and felt compelled to write about it… either that or they’d just watched ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and ‘The Big Short’.” Not a bad thing, of course, it was very interesting and conveyed well, just a little bit obvious. There were also mentions of election fraud and manipulations…it was a pretty topical episode.

At one point, we see Arata jumping around rooftop with a cord tied to him, as Kei is infiltrating the criminals’ stronghold. That action sequence was spellbinding. I really enjoyed it. How about you?

I loved it, simple yet immaculately choreographed and executed parkour.

So the white colour crime got wrapped up quickly but rather gruesomely and just as Kei and Arata are chasing after the main criminals, bam, familiar faces. We get a Ginoza and Kogami (reunited again!) double whammy cameo. I recognized them both instantly and my heart did that little nostalgia squeezy thing. And I do love seeing them but I’m not sure how I feel about the constant callbacks. They feel a little “fanservicy”. I think I would have been happy with a glimpse of Akane and then let this be its own story.

It’s gotta be hard for a series that’s got so many ardent fans to both please them with enough call-backs to the things they liked about the first season while simultaneously introducing the new. I’ve been fine with it up to this point, but I don’t think they need to go as hard about the call-backs going forward.

Also, I must say, there were a few moments during this sequence and the conversation with Mika afterwards where I think I really missed something because I have not seen season 2. Did you know that Nobu and Ko were working as partners again and for Foreign Affairs at that? They don’t seem to be latent criminals (or at least are not being treated as such). Have we ever seen that blonde before? They kept making cryptic references to Akane as if she was an urban legend…Cause all of this came as a confusing surprise to me.

I have an absolutely terrible memory so unfortunately you’re asking the wrong person. I barely recognized them as returning characters until the show spelled it out for me (yeah, yeah I know I’m pretty bad at this).

Having wrapped up their first case, the second half of the episode switched to a new one. Investigating a supposed suicide. The hotel staff that discovered the body as well as any witness had their Psycho Pass deteriorate and are now probably stressed out because of that and I realize that Sybil is just the ultimate victim blamer. Something bad happened to you, better not let it get you down – or else!

That’s always been my number one complaint (maybe) about the Sybil system in general, the idea that innocent bystanders can get their hue deteriorated to such an extent just by witnessing something–hardly seems fair–but I guess that’s the point this series has always been making.

I got to say, I still feel like the mind trace is a bit of a gimmick. Not necessarily a bad one and I enjoyed it in this episode a lot more than in the last, in fact, I wished it had lasted a bit longer, but nevertheless, it feels awfully convenient.

I still like it, I think it’s unfair to judge the quirks and abilities of people who see the world differently than the lay person, maybe there are people like this in our real world and we don’t hear about them because their abilities like ‘absolute empathy’ are things that aren’t measurable by modern science. I don’t find his abilities to be cheaty any more than a character who has a genius intellect, it’s just something they can do better than everyone else. 

I’d just like to say, I’m only judging it as a narrative device. As a character trait I like it. But I find that so far it does take something away from the investigation aspect as the long hard job of gathering clues and making deductions basically wrapped up in 2 minutes instead and in a way where the audience isn’t given a chance to figure out the mystery along with the character because everything is just given in direct exposition.

I mean sure I guess that’s a concern but I’ve never been one to try and be smarter than the show I’m watching. I’m just happy for it to unfold however the writer wants it to unfold, if that means me solving the crime before the characters do and feeling smug about it then so be it but if that means me being stupid too then thats okay too.

Really? Trying to figure out who the killer is has always been one of my favourite things about mysteries! I’m pretty sure authors pride themselves on leaving just enough clues for people to figure it out but presenting them in a way where we don’t think of it right away because we get wrapped up in the story! Even when I do figure it out though, I doubt it makes me smarter or even anywhere near as smart as the writer. Creating a mystery is way harder. Besides, I’m wrong most of the time but its fun trying, you know? I wouldn’t people who enjoy trying to solve puzzles are doing it to feel smug. I just think they like puzzles. Maybe I’m being naive.

Seeing the history of the idol Karina and how every step of her path was dictated by Sybil in a parallel with the Sybil approved man vs machine MMA fight that ends with shouts to the glory of the system, was a bit of a shock. I never got to see much of everyday life in the Psycho Pass universe but what I remember is fairly normal, very peaceful and full of holograms. That was the brilliance of the system. There was no need to make the population obedient either through force or propaganda because they were perfectly content. Sybil’s control was through comfort and safety.

This was a much more obvious and forceful depiction of a rather stereotypical dystopia and I think it makes the story a little weaker.

I’ve always felt the Tokyo of the ‘Psycho Pass’ series was incredibly dystopic, to me it’s a world that on the surface looks like a law-abiding peaceful place but is run by a system that’s so counter-human that everybody is living on edge–always afraid of something going wrong or seeing something horrible that might cloud their hue. The revelation of a character being almost raised by Sybil to be a perfect personality and then later become a politician seemed very in-line with what this universe has shown. Sybil works by controlling everyone, even down to what’s popular, who’s famous and who’s in power.

On the other hand, Karina seems like a wonderful potential antagonist. Honestly, I got excited but the little of the character we did get to see. I was even a bit bummed out when the episode ended. And it took me by surprise which is impressive considering these guys are double the length I’m used to.

She was great, wasn’t she? The idea that she’s almost like a Moriarty-esque equal to Arata’s Sherlock is going to be something that I really want to see a lot more of!

I know I nitpick and point out aspects I enjoy less. I did like the latter half considerably more than the first in this episode. But all in all, I am really liking the start of Psycho Pass season 3. I can’t wait till the next episode. Had it been available, I would have watched it right away. What are your thoughts so far Matt?

I agree, the second-half of the episode had a lot more going for it overall and is looking to push this show in a lot more interesting directions especially as politics are going to be involved. One thing I didn’t get to mention in last week’s review but is still exceedingly relevant here is how glad I am that these episodes are all double-length the normal anime length. The added time helps this show greatly as it allows you to fully immerse yourself in this world and allows for a lot more information to be imparted in one go. To binge watchers this’ll be hardly noteworthy but in watching week to week it helps. Overall I think I liked this episode even more than the first episode and if things continue along at this quality we could have some stiff competition to the first seasons’ crown.

Psycho Pass s3 ep2 – The Hand Off Welcome back everyone to my Psycho Pass watch-a-long with Matt! I’m surprised by how few bloggers seem to be watching this series but that’s o.k.

[brieflyrainytheorist-blog]

Brain farts....

So to turn to a cathartic exercise, I write to try and process my brain.

Let me explain myself.

My story is a long one, too long to go into detail for now but to summarise…. my life started to change from a chaotic dysfunctional everlasting death wish to something that I feared and had no experience of….functionality

Or what appeared to be functional as I observed the rest of the ‘normal’ human race in the 1st world do.

Straight out of rehab, I almost immediately jumped into a relationship… initially had no intention of it having any longevity, after all I was so damaged-who would want me or more importantly put up with me.

But he did and 16 years of the relationship lasted somehow, producing 2 beautiful children.

But it wasn't enough for me. I didn't love him. I loved who he was and I think that is different, he was my constant, he was my secure base if I'm looking from a psychological theory aspect but I didn't love him which bred contempt.

I think, or at least I'm currently experiencing, I am a sexual creature who loves the feel of another human being.

I didn't in this relationship, it was an act to just get pure primal needs met and in the 16 years we were together, I probably actually slept in the same bed for 1 1/2 years of the relationship.

He didn't do oral sex so nor did i. I’d accepted that as normal. Sex never got more exciting than missionary, don't get me wrong, there were periodic glimpses of passion but few and far between. Since leaving the relationship and having had some good sex since I'm still stunned I accepted that for such a long time.

After 5 years of the relationship, I had grown as a person, starting to discover some resemblance of self worth, not much, but it was there and I felt guilt for this relationship, knowing I was always looking elsewhere but not actually acting on it.

I attempted to end it and was greeted with a sobbing, begging person, promising to try harder and please not to leave him……Oh shit…. I was NOT expecting that. I felt so bad, I agreed to try and carry on.

I think from that moment onwards that had sealed fate for this relationship. He then was waiting for the inevitable and I was so wracked with guilt from seeing a broken man cry…. I carried on slightly resentful for another 11 years.

We both grew separately in this time in other areas of our lives and I think that was what we were good at as a couple, we encouraged each other to better ourselves, we both individually slowly nurtured a growing self worth, just not enough to be able to let go of each other. Two children knowing something wasn't right but unable to be honest about what that was.

The eventual end could have been dealt with better by myself as I chose one of his most vulnerable times of his life. 3 days after his father died.

This not only demonstrates my selfish nature but also my inability to hold onto things until I burst and have to act.

I was expecting a repeat of what had happened when I ended it before. But nothing, no resistance, no begging and no tears.

In fact the only tears were mine of guilt.

He very quickly got into another relationship and is still in it. He cannot be honest with me about how serious it is but for a rebound, it’s been at least a year and a half. 

This stings me repeatedly. He wanted to walk leaving everything, take nothing of the 16 years we had built together. I could not understand. Still struggle with that but I'm guessing it's a preservation for him.

We still communicate-ish. On a very basic level in terms of the children.

I get angry when he talks about his new relationship and he throws money at me to try and keep me ? Happy ? Quiet.

So now I'm free…. What to do with that? Actually my solid base is now gone and that scares me, I could literally do anything. Although I now know that I have the ability to be a functional human being in this world, as I have been proving this to myself over and over again, it has taken my emotions right back to that dysfunctional being who had no filters. The primal me.

So In my best decision making ability - NOT, I hit the dating sites with vengeance.

Sex is disposable, can be the most primal thing on earth and it is so good when you find someone who knows what they are doing.

Before I start, i have written exclusively about men here, but i am Bi, I just haven't entered back into that world yet. It scares me a little, i may decide that actually it’s a woman that I want need after all….However I do like cock, too much to let it go.

I like a man to take the lead but due to my dubious past, I have also had a lot of experience and am open to a lot of things to hit my pleasure zones.

The thing I struggle with is the emotions. Is it even possible to separate the natural chemicals produced by seeing the same person repeatedly?

I have tested the waters with different men and if they are good, i repeat, if they are not i don’t…

My situation so far on the ones that have left some form of impact on me

I accidentally bumped into a guy, that initially had no interest in really. Then I fucked him. Holy shit!! He hit every physical button he could.  Maybe it wasn't even that good but I have been starved of my bodily feeling that way I clung on like a limpet.

Mentally and emotionally not really there initially and if I'm honest, not really physically attracted to him other than what he did in bed.

So he has just ended this ‘thing’ we have been doing for the past month-essentially 3 weeks of fucking pretty much every other day.

He tells me he wants a relationship now and the fuck buddy thing is not for him and that our wants are different.

I don't want to jump into another relationship so soon. I want to explore this awakening of my sexuality before the menopause kicks in and I have no interest any more.

But I do want emotional human contact too that is more than a friendship level… Maybe I want my cake and eat it? I can be very selfish sometimes.

I feel hurt from this rejection and my emotional maturity isn't at the place where I can be rational about it, My head tells me that he has spotted I am fundamentally damaged and that he’s not going to go there.

Of course i have made it all about me…again selfish

I’m struggling to let go of this rejection.

He’s a sweet bloke and I actually admire that he can show that level of emotional awareness to know when to back out until he finds what he wants. I hope he does… the child in me tell me he wont find such great sex again…. But thats my bolshy streak! Its how you know to get the best out of a situation i guess……

So meanwhile in a different reality but parallel to the one I've been talking about…. I am still on the dating sites…. Yes, fuck boy is right really, I don't particularly want exclusivity unless the world collide and makes me see that this is the ‘one’ whatever fantasy realm that exists in….

I have been speaking to someone for quite a while now,  a lot longer that fuck boy has been around and I love talking to him. I call him the Brain. I haven't met him and I'm almost afraid to as I don't want to lose what we have got in his company of chat.

We speak most days, some days all day long.

He hits my emotional intelligence level, I think anyway, I can cum when just thinking about conversations we have had. Trouble is if I meet him, I'm so afraid the chemistry wont be there. This is what you don't get chatting.

There is intellectual chemistry no doubt. But it boils down to physical again.

I don’t even know what he truly looks like either. He won't show me another picture. I don't entirely trust that he is single either.

Im afraid of losing him or the persona that he has created for me.

There is another boy, and I use that word loosely due to the fact he is 29, 14 years younger than me who tells me he wants to fuck me… he’s new. I think I might try him. No long term intention….

And then there is Chris. Chris was one of the first I started with. Again I haven't met him, I was going to but he bottled it.

He’s sweet but brings out the punisher in me. I kind of like stringing him along. I’m a bitch right? I may still fuck him but I like the fact he still try to get me to meet him. I told him it was 2 strikes and then out and he bottled both times.

He has narcolepsy, the nurse in me wants to know if he will crash while I'm fucking him…. Yes, I’m a perv!!

There are others that I'm chatting to but no-one who has made any sort of impact.

What do I get from it all?

I guess there are multiple levels of stuff.

Firstly validation that I cannot obtain for myself. 

The physical aspect forfils my physical and sexual desires. Thats chemical.

There is also an element of punishment in there too. A shame shock if you like. It challenges all my catholic guilt that I seem to lug around like a sack of rubble.

If I enter something and get rejected it validates my core belief that I am mad, bad and unlovable. There is some sort of sick investment in there that keeps me mentally unwell. Maybe I like that as it defines me to myself.