#god this has the same vibes of that post that's like 'when will ted himself finally show up to the talk'

[mitchipedia]

My favorite TV shows of the year

(Fourth try at posting this — first three tries, the paragraph breaks were stripped out. Oy.)

Man on the Inside. Ted Danson plays a retired and widowed engineering professor who answers an ad from a private detective to go undercover in a fancy San Francisco retirement home to find out who stole a resident's valuable ruby necklace. Danson's character approaches the job with verve and gusto. He falls in love with the community. He's never in any physical danger (it's not that kind of mystery).

The show is funny, entertaining and also philosophical and wise about aging, which I've been thinking a lot about lately because it is something I'm doing and plan to continue.

Sally Struthers stands out among many good performances, a reminder that she is a fine actor. Her career and reputation got done dirty after "All in the Family." Yeah, she got fat. So what?

Ted Danson's character lives in a beautiful house, immaculately kept. Every day, he puts on nice pants, a nice shirt, and often a neatly pressed sports jacket and tie with matching pocket square. This has inspired me to start dressing better every day — no, I'm not going as far as Ted Danson's character, but lately I've been putting on a shirt with a collar rather than a T-shirt, and I'm easing out the sweatshirts in favor of sweaters and a flannel shirt. Hey, it's a start.

Evil. A Black priest, Muslim-American atheist science wiz and lapsed Catholic woman psychologist investigate a Satanic cult in New York, on behalf of the Catholic Church. Scary, dramatic and funny. Watching it, I was many times reminded of an interview by actress Dee Wallace Stone, in which she said she loved doing horror because of the range it gave her as an actor: You got to do all the emotions portrayed in comedy and drama, plus terror (obviously) and murderous rage.

Katja Herbers plays the psychologist Kristen Bouchard, and she goes from wholesome Mom to professional psychologist, cool-headed demon hunter and occasional sex vixen when the role demands it. She's a Dutch actor, but she believably plays an educated native New Yorker. Mike Colter ("The Good Wife," "Luke Cage") plays David Acosta, who is at first studying to become a priest and then becomes one. He's a big, handsome fellow, and of course there is much sexual tension between him and Dr. Bouchard. Aasif Mandvi, formerly a correspondent on The Daily Show, plays Ben Shakir, the Muslim-American atheist and science wiz. Also watch for the four Bouchard prepubescent daughters who are almost always together and talk at the same time; Christine Lahti as Dr. Bouchard's hot Mom; Michael Emerson, known to me from "Lost," playing a smarmy villain in that actor's excellent, smarmy style; Andrea Martin, known to me from SCTV and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," as a tough nun; and Wallace Shawn as a priest.

The show is surprisingly smart on the conflict between faith and science, and on portraying the Church as a corruptible human institution and also a vessel of God. As I become more spiritual, one of the characters' throwaway lines about religion and science has become a touchstone for me — that God exists and loves us, but reveals Himself entirely through the workings of the universe.

The Lincoln Lawyer. Mickey Haller, a high-priced Los Angeles lawyer, defends murder suspects who happen to be innocent and also happen to have scads of money to keep him in fancy suits and Lincoln cars. Becki Newton steals the show as Lorna Crane, Haller's ex-wife, friend and office manager, who looks, dresses and talks like a Real Housewife but is smart and ruthless in defense of the innocent. It's a lighthearted, unchallenging show.

The Diplomat. Keri Russell, ex of "The Americans" and "Felicity," plays a U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, and Rufus Sewell plays her husband, a former diplomat who can't stop meddling in state affairs. Light, complexly plotted and fun, with a "West Wing" vibe.

High Potential. A quirky former cleaning lady for the LAPD turns out to be a genius and helps them solve crimes.

Slow Horses. I loved the first season, but Julie hated it, so I'll either find time to watch it on my own or forget about it. I've got two ten-hour flights in February and March, and I've already got about 73 hours of TV lined up for them.

Bad Monkey. Based on a Carl Hiaasen novel, and the only thing I've ever seen onscreen that captures Hiaasen's dark humor — one gag in the show involves a severed arm — his big heart, quirky characters and keen sense of Florida locations. The show stars Vince Vaughn. Gen X irony seems to be the extent of his acting range, but he's great at that, so he's cast pretty well here.

Doctor Who.

Fallout. A gross-out post-nuclear apocalyptic science fiction comedy-drama. Walton Goggins has a dual role, in flashbacks as a handsome, wholesome cowboy actor of the late 1950s and early 1960s, who becomes a murderous mutated ghoul with a missing nose. Goggins is such a great actor he doesn't need a nose.

Shogun.

Manhunt. A 19th Century procedural about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the days following Lincoln's assassination. Oligarchs take advantage of the power vacuum following Lincoln's assassination to ensure they get their payday and that American Blacks get Jim Crow instead of true emancipation.

Resident Alien. Comedy science fiction starting Alan Tudyk as an alien trying to blend in in a present-day American small town and slowly falling in love with the community. It's "Northern Exposure," but it's an alien in Colorado instead of a New York Jew in Alaska. Hey, both main characters are doctors.

All Creatures Great and Small. Life in a country veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire, England in the 1930s. Peak comfort TV. Lots of people wearing sweaters.

Funny Woman. Based on a Nick Hornby novel and set in the 1960s, a beauty contest winner from England's Blackpool comes to London dreaming of becoming a comedy star like her idol, Lucille Ball. After some struggling actress travails, she stars in a hit sitcom of the era and rubs shoulders with the beautiful people on Carnaby Street. Season Two is currently airing in the UK, but I've seen no indication of its coming to the US. However, I'm in no rush; much as I loved the show and novel it was based on, the story seemed complete in one season.

Julia. A historical drama about Julia Child's cooking show launch in the early 1960s and her rise as a celebrity chef. Disappointingly canceled after two seasons.

1923. Angst and gunplay in 1923 Montana, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, and created by Taylor Sheridan. A prequel series to "Yellowstone." The characters are miserable and violent all the time, and any joy they feel is fleeting and merely a setup for more misery and violence. So we loved it.

For All Mankind

Currently watching

The Rockford Files. The 1970s TV series is finally streaming without commercials, on Amazon Prime. It still holds up. The dialogue is fast and witty, the plots are complex and twisty, James Garner as Rockford is as dry and cool as a good martini. Yeah, the clothes are goofy but the cars are cool.

"Columbo" is on Amazon Prime too, also presumably without commercials. I'm looking forward to watching that.

Shetland. Season nine of the murder mystery set in the remote, desolate and beautiful Shetland Islands in northern Great Britain. If you didn't get enough people wearing sweaters in "All Creatures Great and Small," you'll get even more here. So much wool it makes me scratchy to watch.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Pew pew pew.

[kirinda-ondo]

This is a ramble that has been long, long overdue. It's actually the first TED talk I ever wrote, but I have been sitting on it for years because I always kept feeling like I had more to say. But at last, I’m finally updating and consolidating it into a post more worthy of my current standards and unleashing it upon you all.

And so we're finally gonna talk about Kirinda, the namesake of the character song that is the namesake of my blog.

But first, we actually need to talk about the show that he comes from, because it's kind of obscure and y’all deserve to know what the hell I’m talking about (unless you've been following my antics long enough to remember me screaming about it into the void on my old blog, which then you all deserve a senior discount and also I love you).

Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger (12 Warriors Explosive Eto Rangers, or just Eto Ranger for short), is an anime set on the peaceful island country of Mugen (no relation to the fighting game), home to many animal spirits, as well as Princess Aura, the one humanoid goddess who governs it. It is also home to the Novel Pole, a long pole in the center of the island that stretches endlessly into the heavens and keeps the island hanging above the ocean below. The Novel Pole is called such because it contains every story, myth, or legend ever created by humankind, each in their own living dimensions called Novel Worlds.

However, under the direction of a vengeful cat spirit known as Jyarei King Nyanma, the Novel Worlds are frequently under attack by creatures known as Jyarei Monsters, who infiltrate the Novel Worlds, often disguised as a random character in the story, and change it beyond recognition with the goal of destroying the Novel World. If a Novel World is successfully destroyed, then the Novel Pole will break, inevitably sending Mugen and its inhabitants sinking into the sea.

This is where the Eto Rangers come in. They are a group of 12 warriors, each coincidentally matching an animal in the Chinese Zodiac. The team consists of Bakumaru the mouse, Hols the bull, Gaou the tiger, Cream the rabbit (no relation), Drago the dragon, Nyorori the snake, Pakaracchi the horse, Souffle the sheep, Monk the monkey, Tart the chicken, Pochiro the dog, and Urii the boar. Together, they ride in the Space-Time Transmitting Machine, Kirinda, a giant robot unicorn, to different Novel Worlds in order to solve the mystery of the Jyarei Monster, defeat them, and save the day.

At least, that's how it starts. Things get a lot, and I mean a LOT more intense further down the line, and the subject of today's ramble is in fact the center of a lot of major spoilers. If this seems like a show you're interested in checking out first, all 39 episodes are on youtube (albeit with uh, questionable fansubs). Otherwise, this sentence is your last warning as we are going directly to Spoiler Town from here on out.

As has become tradition with nearly all my rambles, I'd like to talk briefly about how we got here. Back when I was a wee little cringeboy in middle school, I randomly decided to look up Cream the Rabbit (the Sonic one). To this day I have no idea why, as she's not even a character I like all that much. Anyway, in my search I found a decently popular picture of a different Cream the Rabbit. I was like "who the heck is this?" and when I clicked on the image, the description explained things, but more importantly, linked to a channel with subtitled episodes. I was hooked immediately, but unfortunately the subs stopped at episode 15. I waited, and waited, but more never came. Eventually I forgot about it until 2014, my senior year of high school, when the urge to search for it again randomly hit me. I didn't find more English subbed episodes, but I did find the rest of the episodes subbed in Chinese (which I happened to be studying at the time). And so, I reacquainted myself with the series.

When I first started watching it again, I didn't really pay Kirinda much mind. He was a fun character, sure, and I enjoyed his presence, but I sort of took him for granted, as Hols was shaping up to be my favorite character at the time. He'd be there in the beginning of episodes to tell the Rangers what sort of Novel World they'd be going to, and then again at the end when it was time to purify the Jyarei Monster, with some bad puns and other shenanigans in between (all in the most hokey, outdated Kansai dialect imaginable, even for 1995.) He was a series constant and a key part of the show's episodic format, but beyond that, he was pretty low on my radar. That is, until something happened.

At the end of episode 20, instead of dealing with the average Jyarei Monster attack, Nyanma sends two of her strongest generals at once. They are brought down to the light form that allows them to be purified by Kirinda, but unlike literally every other Jyarei Monster, they dodge the purification beam. This never happens. And then again, unlike other Jyarei Monsters, while in their light forms, they are able to shoot Kirinda out of the sky. He and the rest of the Rangers are saved at the last minute through a combination of taking manual control of Kirinda, and Princess Aura's intervention, but he's down for the count and it's a race against time to find an artifact to save him before he's turned to stone and dies.

When I first saw this, I was absolutely thrown for a loop, not just from the initial shock, but also due to the fact that I had gotten some spoilers for the end of the series regarding the fates of 75% of the main cast. I knew this was a show that would not hesitate to kill off its characters (even if they do get better in the end), so needless to say I was a little concerned. You know that saying, "you don't know what you have until it's gone?" This was a prime example. I may have been kind of indifferent to him, but I sure as hell didn't want him gone. I was wracking my brain wondering how the hell they were going to fix this in time, or how the show would possibly function without him if they couldn't. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry, as after a very stressful 1 2/3 episodes later (again, these were posted in 3 part segments because Old Anime), Kirinda was back and better than ever. He even had a really pretty new power up that he used from that point onward. With the arc wrapped up and things returning to a slightly more normal pace again, I was able to go back to enjoying his presence, albeit with a much greater appreciation. At least, until things drastically changed again.

At episode 33 of 39, I was starting to get anxious. Things were getting intense and I knew the major character deaths were coming any time now, but the spoilers I saw never stated when. These spoilers also never mentioned something else, something very important: the kirin spirit, Lydia. This much smaller, organic unicorn was introduced with no warning and no name, but the minute I heard his voice and saw that the camera he carried was the same as the eyeball apparatus Kirinda used to communicate with the Rangers inside the ship, I knew something horrible was coming. However, I wouldn't realize the extent of this until episode 34.

As it turns out, Kirinda was once an ordinary newspaper reporter named Lydia, who was so passionate about his job that he completely passed on the opportunity to participate in the race to become an Eto Ranger, believing that he wasn't suited for it, even though he could have allegedly won the whole thing due to his speed and been a good member due to his strong sense of justice. Though he didn't participate, he was there waiting by the finish line to get coverage of the winners, and that was when he saw that the young cat spirit, Chocolat, who had seemingly arrived to the finish line first, had been blatantly disqualified. The next day, he spoke with Princess Aura about the matter. Chocolat had been disqualified for starting the race five minutes early, though she claimed to have received a vision directly from Princess Aura telling her to do so. However, the princess claimed to have done no such thing. With both of them agreeing that something seemed wrong, Aura used her spiritual powers to look for Chocolat, but soon found Chocolat was being approached by an incredibly dark and dangerous force.

As Aura was unable to leave the palace without losing her powers, Lydia opted to find Chocolat himself. He was able to catch up to her, but before he could get her attention, she was approached by the Jyarei God Bagi. He watched in horror as Bagi fed into Chocolat's anger towards Princess Aura and convinced her to accept a deal that would give her the power to destroy Aura and all of Mugen itself. And so, Chocolat was painfully transformed into the Jyarei King Nyanma. As Bagi properly introduced herself, Lydia accidentally blew his cover in shock, and though he tried to salvage the situation by attempting to make casual conversation, Nyanma simply saw fit to test her new powers on him. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to escape being shot in the back and was left for dead. Except, he wasn't dead. Not yet.

He dragged his wounded body literally halfway across Mugen from the forest to Aura Castle in order to warn her of what had just happened. While Princess Aura tried in vain to save his life, Lydia lamented his lack of participation in the race, feeling like he would have been able to do something more if he had. And so, his final request was to have his soul used to help the Eto Rangers save Mugen before he finally died. After Aura spoke to her superior, the Great God Goal, Lydia's body was sent to the base of the Novel Pole where he was resurrected as Kirinda.

This backstory, having been completely unprepared for it, utterly wrecked me emotionally. There was a whole other dimension to this character that wasn't even hinted at beforehand (and some of that I will gladly concede as bad writing on their part but shh I'll get to that later) and it honestly made me appreciate him more and cemented him as my favorite character in the series and one of my favorite characters of all time. And now that you know the what and the how, it's time to elaborate on the why, because there's a lot more to like than just his backstory.

As an aside, from here on, I will be referring to him interchangeably as Lydia or Kirinda based on the form he happened to be in during whatever scene I'm discussing.

First of all, this guy is just really fun to watch. Though it's his job as Kirinda to help take care of the Rangers while traveling, he tends to be really careless and irresponsible about it, subjecting them to whatever whims that happen to cross his mind. At best, this tends to manifest in the form of incredibly corny jokes and puns, or falsely blowing things out of proportion and then having to take back what he said later. At worst, he'll screw with the roulette system used to select which Rangers will be sent out, drop them off somewhere really precarious, or simply send them off too soon before someone can finish saying something important.

The most egregious example of many of these is the episode where he sent all twelve Rangers out at once into the world of Mercury and the Woodsman (the one with the golden, silver, and steel axes) and dropping them off into a lake where all but Bakumaru and Nyorori are turned into wood statues, having to be wheeled around in a wheelbarrow the entire time (and later saved from being used as giant bowling pins). In the end, sending the entire team wasn’t a decision made because of some great threat as the Rangers had been led to believe, it was just because Kirinda wanted to try it once and see what would happen.

His shenanigans continue even after the evil is defeated and he's been restored to his original body, as he wastes no time dedicating a whole front page article to his own resurrection while all the hell the Rangers just went through to defeat Bagi and save Mugen from collapsing merely gets a tiny mention. And worse yet, his response to any complaints he gets about any of it is to either ignore the complainer entirely, or fumble a bit for an excuse before giving up and hiding or running away. Getting him to actually own up to his nonsense is quite frankly next to impossible.

However, that's not the only side to him. Though he's not always the most reliable, he is very passionate about whatever he does. In the past, he passed up the highly regarded position of being an Eto Ranger because he much preferred reporting the news (and goes right back to it with all the same passion he had before once he's no longer Kirinda). However, when being confronted with his own backstory by Gaou, he admits that all things considered, he's actually quite happy to become Kirinda and fight alongside them as the thirteenth Ranger. Even on a meta level, he loves what he does, as in one episode, he straight up cries over the prospect of having less screentime on the show because other people keep telling the Novel World's story for him. And to say nothing of his incredibly stupid, but catchy character song where he spends the whole time rambling about how cool and important he is. He may be irresponsible, and despite whatever he may say about not being suited for it, you can't say that he doesn't love his job(s).

Despite all the grandiose and irresponsible nonsense he gets up to, he's got a wiser, kinder side to him as well. As much as he likes to screw with them, he genuinely does care about the Rangers. While he tends to show this by trying to lighten the mood when things look grim, he will occasionally take the time to be more serious and offer some sage advice to someone who needs it. He also apparently has a tendency to bring people out of their shells, as he's revealed to have been particularly close with both Drago and Princess Aura, who are two of the most quiet, distant characters in the whole series.

However, his kindness towards others doesn't stop at his friends, and it's here we start to see that Aura's comments about him having a strong sense of justice are in fact more than just her blatant favoritism. There's the matter of Chocolat, who he clearly doesn't know personally, but goes above and beyond for, not only cheering her on in the race (unaware she'd disqualified herself), but also trying to uncover the truth of how and why it happened and running to try and save her when he learned she was in danger. You can't help but wonder what could have been had a hurt, rejected Chocolat known someone was out there trying so hard to go to bat for her.

Unfortunately, a lot of things about him wind up being put into a much more depressing light when you consider a very crucial element of his backstory: the fact that when he died and became Kirinda, it was a whole six years before the show's main plot began. When he was transformed, it was in a cave at the base of the Novel Pole that would wind up being closed off until the Eto Rangers could activate the doors to open it. Even throughout the series proper, that cave was where he stayed unless there was trouble in a Novel World somewhere (or one particular instance where he's taking the Rangers on a joy ride over Mugen).

Keep in mind, this man was a newspaper reporter, someone with his finger on the pulse of Mugen to the point that he had the scoop on the love lives of literally everyone in Aura City, even if he didn't publish any of it. I highly doubt someone this social would enjoy being so utterly cut off from the world for so long, with his friends and family having no idea where he was. He's able to receive contact from Aura Castle, but Princess Aura would have likely still been spending much of that time grieving the loss and blaming herself for everything as she bore the weight of keeping his whereabouts secret, which would probably be pretty rough to watch. He personally doesn't make a big deal out of it and seems to have a surprising amount of healthy insight regarding the issue when talking to Gaou, but I can't imagine that had to be the most psychologically fun experience to go through, especially early on.

That said, even if he's gotten the insight to not hold anything that happened to him against anyone, it's clearly left him a much more anxious person than what we see in flashbacks. He can be pretty jumpy in the present and he does not handle confrontation well at all, even in less serious situations, which generally leads him to just hit the bricks and bail when faced with the consequences of his own actions. While this tends to be played for laughs, he also tends to still be prone to a "deer in headlights" kind of reaction in more serious situations the minute things start to go off the usual script.

In the episode where he's shot down, after failing to purify Nyanma's two generals, he literally just kind of floats there awkwardly until Urii, the show's resident crybaby of all people, has to tell him to try again, to which he nervously agrees. A similar thing happens later on in his second run-in with Nyanma's (non-sentient) equivalent giant robot unicorn, Black Kirinda. After taking a bit of a beating, he panics about not being fast enough to dodge, so Bakumaru and the others take over the controls, which only freaks him out more and he just straight up screams, but they do a much better job of handling the situation. He's hardly a coward, given the things he's willingly volunteered to do across this series but he definitely has some flavor of anxiety and I will die on his hill.

And then, to make things worse, unlike Chocolat's disappearance, Lydia's isn't even remotely foreshadowed until episode 33. It isn't until the beginning of episode 34 that anyone even mentions him by name, specifically Drago. Now, on a meta level, this reeks of bad writing. However, on an in-universe level, you could argue that Drago is simply such a generally quiet, closed off character that he wouldn't bring up Lydia's disappearance out of the blue, let alone awkwardly tag along with "yeah, and Lydia too," every time Gaou or someone else wondered about Chocolat's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, it's the reactions of everyone else that really add insult to injury. Urii has no idea who he is, which is understandable given that he's a bit too young to give much of a shit about reading the paper, but everyone else simply sort of just chimes in with "Oh yeah, that kirin guy with the newspaper." They then mention with utmost casualness that he'd planned to do an article about the winners of the race (and then a whole serial about each member!) but then the newspaper suspended publication, leaving them believing that he'd just "left to collect materials" and presumably just... never came back? Nobody aside from Drago apparently even remotely questioned it for six whole years. Lydia died and gave himself up for these people and it's implied almost none of them remembered him or cared that he was gone. I highly doubt the writers intended to leave these gut-punchingly sad implications, but boy howdy they sure left them there.

Lydia, Kirinda, whatever you want to call him, is yet another fun, interesting character that got the short end of the stick from writers and is thus left with horrifying implications about their life as a result if you think about it for more than 5 seconds. Y'all writers need to stop doing this so I can appreciate characters in peace.

I could ramble infinitely more about this fucker, from his thought processes, to his relationships (unpacking whatever the hell he had going on with Princess Aura could easily constitute its own TED talk), or even his stupid fucking design, but I shall spare you lest I end up with the same problem I had with my original draft of this where I just felt like I kept finding more things to say lmao.

...You know what actually? We’re are gonna look at his stupid fucking design. That is how we’re wrapping this up. I cannot in good faith talk about this fucking idiot and not roast his design, I’ve been doing it for years and I refuse to stop now.

Look at this goofy motherfucker. Fuckin ill-fitting pastel ass business suit. Every time they draw him it fits badly in a different way. And his tiny ass eyes. It’s not even a stylized Character With Glasses thing, they're just Like That and it's super fucking weird actually. He looks like he’s never had a thought in his entire life. I had no idea what species this man even was supposed to be (he is erroneously translated as a giraffe despite being very decidedly not a giraffe) and now I know more kirin/qilin facts than you could ever even dream of. I hate this man. I love this man. He ruined my life. I want to roll up one of his newspapers and smack him in the head with it. (affectionate) (derogatory)

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[allgather]

ships bias for iruka !

also from @writelives thank you besties <3

i believe iruka deserves to be so fucking in love that it astounds even himself. i want him to learn that he has an ever larger capacity for love than he ever thought ( and he already knew he could love a lot ) , to surprise himself with how elated he can be in love. so i have a lot on here because he deserves it <3 also i write him as gay, so that is reflected in these ships!

iruka & kakashi

its about accidentally colliding over your shared care for a kid who desperately needs an adult in his life and both trying to be that person. its about butting heads, misunderstanding each other and the vastly different circumstances you come from, and working through that as you see you're both just trying to hold it together, to care for the kids around you and keep yourselves afloat, in this miserable, fucked up world. it's about finding solace in another person that you'd never expect to have anything in common with, but with time it turns natural and loving and safe. its about healing each other's wounds and working to heal your own in quiet, understanding company.

iruka & obito

this is a sleeper fave of mine. it can have a bunch of flavors. a post-canon "healing alongside someone who is patient and kind and warm" vibes. a missing-nin au where its a "the state hurts children and i will no longer be part of the cycle of violence, so lets stop this together" vibe. an au where obito raises naruto and it has a "falling for my son's kindergarten teacher because his smile is beautiful when he looks at me" vibe. i see two people who are determined to make a change, who see the world for how it harms the vulnerable and the young, and who finally see someone who understands that, who is committed to that change, in each other. also something something an uchiha & a senju kissing is very good to me ( i hc iruka is a descendant of hashirama )

iruka & gai

another secret menu ship. they are both such kind and openly emotional, loving people. iruka is a little more grounded, a little quieter than gai in how he shows affection, but i think gai's loudness, his unabashedness pulls iruka out of his shell. there is so much laughter and fondness between them, so much open affection it makes iruka want to cry with pure joy. gai is someone who's heart matches iruka's own; filled to the brim, overflowing. gai also cares so deeply for his students, and lets that love and care drive him, and iruka respects that so immensely. iruka trusts his team is in good hands from day one and respects gai as a teacher and a leader.

iruka & yamato/tenzo

i like this one because i feel like iruka is a little exasperated with the switch in squad leaders, because, god, he's only just decided kakashi can handle not getting naruto killed and now he has to adjust to this new person who is apparently his own age and he has never met before? and its sorta a "iruka hovers relentlessly during naruto's training because he's a little suspicious of yamato and they form an uneasy acquaintanceship" to finding they like each other's company, quite a bit. they're both a little softer, and i like ships where iruka, so full to the brim with emotion, helps bring that emotion out in his partner as well, which i think fits them well.

iruka & shisui

i have no supporting evidence for this. i just think they're neat and i hc them to be the same age so 👀 also my uchiha & senju kissing agenda once again.

bonus:

iruka & anyone who loves him and is gentle with his heart. it is so big yet so fragile just love him and hold him tenderly, please. i adore cross-over ships. i adore oc and canon ships. he is my most beloved and he deserves to be loved so much. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[wizisbored]

right im rearranging the sk ghosts au again because series 3 happened and i have more thoughts

just kinda matched up the characters in terms of Vibes

mike and alison - paul and emma

pretty much same setup as mike and alison except that emma has far less patience for the ghosts bullshit. many a time paul has walked into her just absolutely losing her shit at a completely empty room.

aaand ill be sticking the rest under a cut because Long

lady button - linda monroe

a high class lady like fanny but also some kinda priestess? still a prophet? idk im still figuring it out but wiggly was still very much a Thing in her life and as well as telling emma that a LADY does not use such language she is also trying to introduce her to her Exciting New Religion.

captain - mcnamara

quite similar to the captain but less repressed. constantly wanting to give yet another talk on the fundamental truths of love and the human heart. also badgers both paul and emma to wear watches despite the fact that only one can hear him.

robin - zazzalil

robins a smart guy under all the funney caveman jokes, and so is zaz. she keeps coming up with inventions that already exist and trying to convince emma that stone-age technology is the best solution to whatever problems shes having. peoples reactions to this tend to range from finding it funny to being annoyed by her. deep down shes just desperately trying to prove shes not obsolete as a prehistoric inventor.

kitty - keeri

just wants someone to hang out with / blindly follow. hangs out with emma because shes a new friend who hasnt gotten tired of being followed yet. also pals with zazzalil because a lot of the time she doesnt think to point out that her new ideas have already been done.

mary - charlotte

mary but with more Sadness. some tension between her and zaz because yknow. Fire. somehow managed to sneak a waterskin of alcohol to her own execution. its a long-standing debate between the ghosts as to whether the alcohol a) is actually able to affect her, and b) even stays in her stomach long enough to have any effect before getting teleported back to the skin like thomas’ letter.

pat - jemilla

was running a wilderness survival / bushcraft camp on the grounds when there was a yet-undecided-upon Accident. was initially interested in zaz because of the whole wilderness thing, but jemilla pointing out the recklessness in her stories often led to squabbling so their relationship is now a little tense for now :)

thomas - hidgens

doesnt have the romantic ambitions of thomas (partly because hes like twice emmas age and partially because im just not a fan of that trope), but is instead convinced that emma is in fact very interested in his musical persuits and wants to hear about them. she does not.

julian - ted

maybe not an mp, but thinks himself just as important. all the female ghosts apart from charlotte strongly dislike him but he hasnt noticed. have you seen that post saying alison should start just walking through julian whenever hes being shitty? yeah that. if he gets to far into emmas personal space she will wave her hand through his face.

humphrey - bill

just a Nice Dude who happens to be in two pieces. when emma tells paul about him hes constantly worried hes going to step on (in?) bill’s head and hurt him, and encourages her to get a ghost to put it back on. bill appreciates the concern despite the fact that paul would have no clue if he had trod on him.

plague pit ghosts - tto family

died of dysentary. just kinda vibing in the basement. also, sww insisted on adopting hannah at some point so shes there too.

jemima - hannah

sings what if tomorrow comes instead of ring around the roses. as mentioned, lives in the basement with the dickrats. mostly stays down there to avoid linda - she hates the woman for reasons she cant quite get into words, as well as the wiggly doll.

dante - a wiggly doll

kinda terrifying. hes a little bigger than an official wiggly doll, with glass eyes, and looking disturbingly like taxidermy despite not being a real animal. emma is the only living person who actually knows what the hell this weird old cuthulu-looking stuffed thing in the house is, since linda has lectured her about him multiple times. shes told paul as well but he is very confused about it. thing is, practically everyone who visits the house has their own theory about what the fuck that nightmare doll is, and emma has to nod and 'yeah maybe' along while linda rants in her ear about her dark god.

pidgeon - the duck

pretty much the same as the pidgeon except for the fact that zazzalil keeps going back and forth on wether it should be considered sacred (a few thousand years and all this ghost stuff has got her kinda confused about her spirituality/relegion)

[wisteriasposts]

Tsukasa’s death theory time

... hey, how y'all doing?...

i don't how to start posts, but here I go: I have a theory on what happened/lead hanako to kill tsukasa.

(disclaimer: I'm not very good on explaining theories because at some point I get everything tangled, so if this happens here, I am very sorry, and it does contain spoiler, so be aware 🥺)

so, the thing is, I've read this one theory about the relationship between the twins and something came to my mind, because what it said really makes sense to me so hear me out:

hmm... to summarize, the theory brought to me that tsukasa was never violent to hanako (directly, because I do believe that the things that he did caused an affect in hanako, and psychological violence it is violence, isn't it?), and he is a little less feral with nene (even tho he says it was because she is a girl, something makes me believe that he is thinking in hanako too), but the point is: what if the relationship between him and hanako was not that akdhjajdjs (i don't have a better way to put it) before his death?

I mean, I don't think that Tsukasa was a little angel that only loved his big brother to death, I still believe he is the personification of that meme 'I lost my bitch ass dog', annoying as possible, really push over, curious little bitch (mom i love him, can I keep him?), but he was Amane's little brother, so they loved each other with all that, you know? bros being bros.

but let me point out things that came to my attention:

y'all remember that one promise that Amane did when he was alive, right? When he said 'you know what? I am not gonna leave' while sitting under the pale moonlight and all that? And if I'm not wrong that scene is the same one that brought to us the fact the he was being bullied/abused.

so we all thought at some point that it was Tsukasa's doing (because yeah), and maybe it was idk, but how come Tsukasa be violent before but not after death? I know that sounds really shallow, but I don't believe that death, with all the rage that he have, was the one to change this trait. If Tsukasa did something to Amane, I am starting to believe it was more psychological than physical (he pass me that vibe, very manipulative, not harmless, but I don't think he would get physical with Amane, it was pointed out several times that Hanako is somewhat of athletic, he was even interested in P.E.¹ when he was alive, and even if he does not fight back Tsukasa, he would get in a defense position, you know what I mean?)

I did not find the part where Amane said he has interest in P.E., but I do know it exists (right?), I think it was one of the memories of Spider-sensei, if I'm not wrong.

next, once we got know that nene's fate is death, we also get to see how Hanako tends to be desperate when his plans doesn't go the way he expects to, he goes way beyond everything just to make things work, he prioritize the thing he wants to do/get, if he can do it in a good way he'll do, otherwise he'll do it in the same way, even if upsets someone, it's something like the greater good, I think.

I don't know if he was like that when he was alive or if is what he said about God forgiving him¹, but the thing is: he does what he needs to get to his objective, he is very obstinate by all means, like if the price is sacrifice himself and someone else to keep nene safe he'll do kind of situation, it comes with the atone of his sins.

by this point, it was showed two times that something like that was said, but with two different tones, the first one when he was fighting with kou in the begging and the second one when he was in the meeting with other supernaturals.

and in the second you get something like a demanding vibe, like 'the god has to forgive me', at least that's what I thought reading that, but occurred to me 'who is this god?', and with this, I think you remember this scene:

and here is what I thought: even if we don't know who this god is, i don't believe that it is tsukasa, but I do believe it is the same who bullied/abused him whoever it is this person, so sounds like they are exchanging forgivings, something in the line of 'I forgave all you did to me, so now, pay it back, or consequences'.

OK! NOW LET'S GATHER ALL TOGETHER ❤

Moving to Tsukasa's death:

starting with the promise Amane did, I do think it was because of Tsukasa and the 'god', he wouldn't leave his brother neither the person who did those things to him whatever the reason is, but the point is what if Amane was between these two figures, his younger brother who was very clinging but was all he got as family and love and the person who bullied him, here we got two types of manipulations, from his brother and from that other person.

(I know this is starting to sound crazy, I know)

talking about the relationship with Tsukasa, I do think his manipulations were the family type, like "i am your only brother, so won't you let me do [the thing he wants to do]?", bringing up the soft spot kind of thing, even if it was a bad thing.

the 'god' I don't have much to say about the relationship, because, you know, so far the god was only talked-about in these panels I brought up, this god could be literally nothing at all, but if it is I think their manipulation were both psychological and physical to the point to get into Amane’s mind.

by saying all this, what if the abuse by both sides was too much to Amane? I mean I don't know with the god was a living person by the time Amane was alive as well, but considering it wasn't let's forget about it now and focus on Tsukasa; I'm not going to put a context because I don't have enough to elaborate one (lol), but supposing that there was a fight/misunderstanding between the twins and Tsukasa pushed really hard on Amane, making him believe that the only way out was killing Tsukasa¹, I don't know, maybe he told Amane that everything was going back to normal if that happened, or maybe that something was going to happen if didn't do it, I really don't know, but the I really to point out is that I think Amane killed Tsukasa out of desperation, nor rage or something like that, I don't know why he would be desperate, but I do believe that that's what he was feeling at the time, I mean...

this is not an angry expression, it's pain, remorse, desperation, sadness. I don't know what Tsukasa did or said to Amane, but that didn't stopped Hanako from hating what he have done, but (maybe) he believes that what he did was what he needed to, maybe to keep his promise or i don't know, and in the end the guilty was so much that he ended up ending his own life (in which I think that the god influenced by saying he would forgive hanako from his wrong doings if turned into the seven wonders and solved problems no matter the price, this would be hanako mask, but that's something for later on).

so this is it everybody, thanks for coming to my ted talk.

if there is any misspell I'm sorry, english is not my first language, I do use it here to help me improve in this matter. if anybody has anything too add up or could share so it can reach to more people, please do, I love hearing about theories

[lordeasriel]

just pointing out some of my thoughts, i don’t want to spam too much. like, the trailer was really satisfying, and now that i can think clearly, i thought why not? the only adaptation that ever disappointed me was the radio drama, so i’m not that hard to please lol 

so, here’s some highlights of my own:

we're all astonished with the dæmons CGI, and righteously, but honestly, was there ever any doubt? because as they said themselves, the dæmons are what make the series so great, without them the show (and the books) would be roughly very bland. i'm so glad they could achieve the right settings for the dæmons though, making them lifelike but not overly realistic.

fashion in this world is basically why @parslow and I exist, so we’ve been chatting for a while, especially about marisa, and we realised there’s a lot of thought and meaning behind every single piece of costume in the show. marisa and lyra match a lot, in colours, sometimes they even wear the same outfit with different tweaks in between them. i’ve been praising the costumes since day one, i still am, and even asriel’s lack of variety has a lot of meaning behind it, after all, this is a man who’s rolling in the snow, hence his reason to use the same sweater in all of his scenes.

i love the colours, in general, it reminds me of gotham, contrasted, real, solid, but not as whimsical (when you think that gotham tried to bring the comic style and make it realistic, if that makes any sense to you). it feels like real life, and i like the cloudy mood that lingers in the show. there is no sunlight, except in that zepelin scene, which i’m confident is asriel’s arrival. anything after that is grey and cloudy, including the scene where he is leaving. it probably encapsules the mood of the journey after asriel’s grand plan begins and lyra’s journey as well. i can’t wait to see the episode to see if i’m right about it, probably not lol

the first thing i noticed (also because it was the first scene in the trailer lol) is that asriel is already speaking of war. like, he is already talking about the war, he is already asking for support and for people to pick their sides. that doesn’t bother me, i just think it’s a bit strange in a sense that this is a great way to mischaracterise him, making him too righteous. he does have very good reasons to do what he does, but he also does it because he is a proud man, whose ego has been deeply wounded. hell, if he could have used himself as the energy source, he would have, trust me. so i hope they get him right, it matters to me lmao i’m happy with what i’ve seen so far though, james makes him harsh, yet still human. he’s also a daddy lol

i said it before, i’m saying it again: ruth wilson has the uncanny vibe of a new god and she brings it to marisa shamelessly. she sounds sweet yet still sour, this is an amoral woman, bound by nothing except her own gains and ruth captures every single tone of marisa’s rich personality. listening to her speak is utterly macabre, every time. her daemon only adds to her unsettling behaviour. that eerie smile was horrible, i could barely gif it, i can’t stand it. she is making me fear marisa for the first time, and i love it. (reading the books as an adult, I never feared her, I was just wary of her apathy and amorality, and I found her horribly relatable in many ways, but now there is actual fear in me and I’m living for it)

dafne’s lyra is everything i’ve ever wanted. strong-willed, spiteful, impetuous and fiery, she measures no words, not even to asriel, whom she fears in the books and only barks at him by the end, when she is tired and he is being ungrateful. i love her resemblance to ruth, how she fits nicely in the ambient and how she never stands out, like, “this is a normal brat from oxford. she is anything but special. her whole life is a casuality of bad luck, fate and consequences of other people’s indiscretion. now you love her because she is the best.” yet you still notice her, because dafne makes lyra have a great presence, inherited from her proudful dad uncle. (and her mom, but we don’t talk about that lol)

i’ve seen people talking about lee’s accent, but i don’t know the difference between accents (except for british and american, and i can recognise some scot accent, sometimes irish, but overall i just cant tell), so it doesn’t matter to me all that much. he sounds american, so i can live with it. i like lin in-character though, this is a younger lee scoresby, so it makes more sense to me that he is more proactive when it comes to fighting. (is the duet real? i hope not)

as of iorek’s, i have 3 things in mind: 1) he is not very famous and/or probably scandinavian, so telling us who he is, especially if he didn’t do english voice overs or voice acting at all, wouldn’t make much of a difference (in their mind, i wouldn’t mind getting familiar with a less famous actor) 2) the actor is very known, and/or scandinavian lol, and they want it to be a surprise because his voice is very remarkable and/or he is unrecognisable as iorek, so they want us to be shocked about it. 3) they haven’t finished voicing him yet and/or they just don’t want to tell us whom he is without a final product. i’m not familiar with post-production on this level, so these are wild guesses of mine, my bet is on number 3 tho.

lastly, iorek himself: i like the armor, it’s fitting, rough, simple: it looks like it’s part of him, which is kinda the point. he looks a bit uncanny on the screenshot, not so much while moving. this is good cgi, he looks real, yet this isn’t a polar bear, this is a pansebjorne, they have a civilization, they think, they speak, their soul is their armour. they have a culture of their own, so it makes sense he still resembles a person, because in essence, he is. (if a person is someone with a soul, a culture, and a mind of their own, however different).

stelmaria: “it’s time” asriel: “i know” well, well, my soul was OBLITERATED.

thanks for coming to my TED talk, sorry for the spam

[sleepymarmot]

COUNTER/Weight liveblog, part 2

Episodes 23-40

Keith hasn't listened to the previous episode and Austin & Ali are cackling like “You got a big storm coming” lmao

…Look I understand the idea of making Tea an ally after the players and audience got to know her in the Kingdom game but the excuse is really thin

“A gift for his little brother” You guys are really bad at this gender neutrality thing huh

AuDy talking to Orth makes my head spin a bit now

Oh so Addax is the leader of the Angels? The person who has been watching the Chime from the shadows = the group that has been spying on them? Okay, I now feel dumb for not putting this together myself.

Wait I lost track again. Who were Jacq & Jill working for initially that gave them access to those immortality tanks? Iirc it was Odamas who had that technology and then gave Horizon access to it while imposing strict rules on them during the merge? So why does Jacqui get less fun assignments now if she was a part of the winning faction, not the losing one?

Oh cool, so Jamil wanted to hand over the virus to the Angels because they're both just from the Rapid Evening?

“A bard notices their enemy's heart isn't in the fight, so they stop fighting, fall in love” is such a specific thing. How the hell did it happen twice on the same show. Is this the new big gay trope now

Heeeey could you stop punching me in the stomach with intros

So, Jacqui was working for Horizon, which in turn was given this job by Petrichor? Still doesn't answer my question…

Do I have to mentally rewrite the entire holiday special so that in every scene on the Kingdom Come everyone is floating in zero gravity all the time?! I'm sorry but this makes no fucking sense!

The doppelganger thing started really creepy but now it just makes my head spin! Please stop it with the names, I'm too easily confused, especially with a show that has a record of passing characters back and forth between the GM and the players!

Re: that whole thing: aaaaAAAAA???

I don't understand what Austin and Jack are doing but it's pretty magical

God, the Aria/Jacqui scene is so… tender? Idk. Austin's gentle “PC's love interest” voice has murdered me again. I'm not sold on Jacqui by herself as a character but on the feelings between the two? Definitely. (Though I still wonder about Aria’s heroism vs Jacqui’s disregard for life. That’s a biiig value clash)

Okay, this was all very unsettling and I still understand so little

I really love that Sokrates' refusal to make that one nameless person take the fall, which seemed (at least to me) kinda stubborn and shortsighted, turned into a key moment, both because it demonstrates integrity, and now because that person becomes an actual NPC as an important asset in their faction

I love how the idea of moving Rigour to September comes up and everyone starts screaming and I do too! They sure love leaving horrifying surprises for the ground team to stumble upon lol

Is it too callous and unwise of me to react to Ibex overthrowing the Hands of Grace as “good riddance”?

Maryland's letter has strong Alyosha/Arrell vibes

I love the “reluctant alliance with an antagonist” trope and was hoping it'd happen with Ibex so I'm happy! Also in one of the early episodes Austin mentioned the Anders-Justice storyline and I'm glad to hear him finally deliver. (There was stuff about the pilot/Candidate->Divine influence with Order, but not about the other way around or fusion, like with Vengeance)

Okay thankfully things are clearer now (I'm reeeally glad I wasn't spoiled on this) but I still have so many questions. How were LD made in the first place? Why and how did they hide in/turn themselves into a simple robot? What are they – just software, like Righteousness, or is there some Divine hardware core inside the normal Automated Dynamics unit that nobody has noticed somehow, or is the hardware in a remote location they access through the mesh? Did Ibex know AuDy was LD the whole time – he didn't act very surprised? Why didn't Ibex rescue his brother, did he die really quickly? How will Mako be able to fog without Righteousness? Shouldn't AuDy be gamebreakingly powerful now? How and why do LD count as two Divines but have a single consciousness, are they like Garnet?

Lazer Ted feels like a fucking TAZ character lmao

The comic relief was welcome but at the same time I'm continuously like “What is AuDy thinking and feeling. Why are they acting like nothing happened. Where's the existential crisis. How do you realize you're a pair of ancient gods and just proceed with your life? Are they so impenetrable on purpose because they're a robot”. Like, it was chilling when they were suddenly chatting with Ibex like old friends, and now it's chilling that they're acting just in the early episodes.

I'm glad the robot incident made everyone realize it might be unwise to put the two charming extraverts in the same half of the party lol

Looks like they decided to permanently switch back to ��he” for Cass… Probably for the best.

Jack keeps excitedly jumping at every opportunity for creepiness™. God, AuDy makes so much more sense as his character now after the Reveal

Is September just fucking Solaris now?

I think this is the first time I'm not excited to hear a faction game episode because I really didn't expect it at this point in the story. My reaction was “Wait what? Are you telling me everyone gets stuck on September waiting out that storm for a whole month?! I wanted to hear what that cliffhanger led to!” Idk, the September arc was generally kind of a let down after the intensity of the episodes leading up to it, and this further deflates the tension.

Speaking of tension and letdowns, I just have to complain… It's really disappointing when the show sets up really big dramatic hooks and then does practically nothing with them! I complained about Addax and Cass in the previous post and that point still stands. Case two: Mako and Righteousness/Voice. It's set up in a faction episode, and in the immediately following arc Mako indeed is in danger from something inside his own head, but it's a completely unrelated thing! At the end of the arc he finally finds out, but the threat immediately gets nullified with no consequences – no self-doubt or identity crisis, no diminished abilities in terms of game mechanics. Case three: Ibex himself. Out of the reasons the Kingdom game is what it is, the excuse for it happening in-universe was to give more details on Ibex, and at least half of it featured a collective effort to make him as central to the story and as threatening as possible. But as soon as that flashback ends, so, counterintuitively, does the role of Ibex as an active antagonist to the Chime -- the role which was literally just supposed to begin in earnest. So by this point I can barely recall why we were all so intimidated by this guy in the first place. I'm more like “This is a useful ally to have”. This is what I don't like about the world-ending threats like Rigor: all other interesting conflicts fade in their face.

Dang, I thought Isurus was a cooler name than Enhydra!

Sokrates, forced to shake Ibex's hand: *clenched fist meme*

Wait, I missed something, why is Rigor deep underground and has to dig itself out?

Okay, after the lore episode I'm also confused how Rigor ended up underground on Ionias after it was blown up 20000 years ago in a completely different place

I'm very distressed by the idea of Hieron as a future popular franchise!! No, it's supposed to be real when these people are talking about it!! Oh wait a fucking second, does this mean Jace's Panther was a deliberate reference in-universe?? Like you're fighting in a real serious terrible war and you model a giant war machine after, like, a thestral from the fucking Harry Potter and just call it “Thestral”??!

No, no, wait, do tell me who Cass and AuDy would cosplay!

Oh no, Rigour wants to talk to Voice(?), great

Hey Cass, your Hadrian is showing??

Speaking of Hadrian, I was caught off guard by description of Tower as a ��hot young Hadrian”, for some reason Hadrian never struck me as a character who's supposed to be exceptionally attractive. But then again, I imagined him as very young until that letter to Hella, and then I imagined Cass as a young adult until I did the math, so I might just be bad at visualising Art's characters lol.

Austin is so generous and unsubtle about throwing hot gay NPCs right at the players. Too bad Mako doesn't sound as interested as Aria did.

I expected they'd find a room with one copy of everyone plugged into the mesh, that'd be even creepier. What's with the false memories though? This doesn't explain them.

So, how does this whole clone system work? How does time work? Why don't the real students like Tower or Maxine notice that there's a new guy who looks just like their friend, but doesn't know them – or, for that matter, why don't the other clones notice? Oh, maybe that's the purpose of the fake memory aura? So that Maritime-4 could continue right from where Maritime-3 left off?

When Cass saw Apokine's face I thought it meant that the humans had genetically engineered the Apostolosians and that's what “we made them look like us” meant, which would be two of my long-standing questions answering each other. And then it was just another giant mech.. :/

Wait, does Orth calling Cass “Apokine” mean that he pilots the mech now or that Sokrates died and Cass inherited his position?! I'm worried now…

I'm even more worried about Mako, because at first I of course reacted to the question about being in two places at once as “hah, Larry”, but it's probably the other thing, and on one hand that must mean that the rescue of clones was successful, but also that means that our Mako might be dead and the one in the intro is one of the clones… Considering that in the Winter post-mortem I caught Keith saying how emotional the C/w finale was for him before I started fast-forwarding in fear of spoilers, do I need to start mentally preparing to bury Mako already or what?

Speaking of spoilers… The farther I go, the less I understand the advice to skip Autumn. I thought that at least for C/w it wouldn't matter, given it's a whole different universe, but they keep referencing it, and then casually dropping major spoilers, and then referencing it again in a story-relevant way. (The Ordennan ships arrive on the screen as Rigor does, and the next episode is named “The Storm over September” and quotes Lem's poem in the description. That's really cool but I somehow feel vaguely irritated on behalf of my potential alternate self who skipped season 1.) I really hope they've grown more careful about this by now, because I'll probably not even begin Twilight Mirage by the time the next season starts, and I would really like to stay in the dark about the intense events they're all vague-tweeting about at the moment!

Why was AuDy alarmed by Voice's presence as “a” Divine accompanying Maxine? Shouldn't they be familiar with it already because of Mako? (And I don't want to even ask about the ontological difference/border between Righteousness and Voice. I'm tired and feel like a nitpicker. But just for the record, this still isn't clear.)

Well that's a sadder family reunion than I hoped for!

So AuDy does have a split personality to some degree?

Oh well. AuDy's got a fate worse than death: Liberty and Discovery, imprisoned indefinitely. Or devoured I guess, I didn't really get it. Great. Thanks. Fucking RIP I guess. Out of all ways I expected them to go, this wasn't one.

(By the way I still don't understand how the portal works. Where is this portal to? Why can't L&D fly out and take the slow way home, and why can't Rigor?)

There's still about ten minutes left in the episode and I don't understand how it isn't the finale. What's there to do for three more episodes now.

“With Rigor defeated so easily, so permanently, she thought” *Rigor screech*

Yeah, fuck Grace btw

Sounds like cultivating saplings is not a priority anymore for a certain someone… (Wait, btw, what happened to that patch/seed they left? Will it ever come back into play?)

“...Why they would put themselves into a body like yours? And I think, maybe, it's that they were curious about what it would be like for four years to feel like a long time” AAAAAA

Okay, things are better on September than it sounded initially, but still… Wtf's going to happen? Rigor repairs itself, takes over the survivors, takes off again? But what's the timeline on that? I genuinely have no idea wtf the finale is going to be about after this.

Oh, what happened to the clones btw? Did Larry manage to get them off the planet in time, despite the Minerva ships in orbit and, more importantly, Rigor? Or are they stuck on September, unable to continue reenacting the plot of Orphan Black?

From how it's been described in this episode, feels as if Liberty and Discovery are a candidate of AuDy… They didn't want a candidate but were curious to learn how it feels for the other side?

Paisley's dead-eyed, Tower's gone, and even Ibex, who is barely holding on himself, loses his ex… Everyone's love life takes a nosedive: the episode. At least Jacqui's okay… (And because of Jacqui, it was doubly sad and surprising to hear Aria still has feelings for Paisley…)

[marigoldbaker]

i’m thinking about my ideal slow burn giles/jenny again so here have my various headcanons re: how that’d play out through s2.

this got. incredibly long. so i’m putting it under a cut

ok. right after i robot, which is the puppet show, which is probably my favorite episode of btvs ever for reasons i still cannot figure out, there’s like....one scene at the end where jenny’s in the audience next to giles during the horrible monologues. this serves both to 1) remind us of jenny’s existence and 2) imply that giles may or may not have made a friend on staff, which is pretty cool.

canon s1 stays about the same after that, but s2 doesn’t start with moony eyes and jenny wearing soft pastels!! instead of snyder showing up to make a cameo that heightens the twosome-of-cuteness vibe, we literally just see giles and jenny walking up the steps to school together while jenny complains about having to come back (”i nearly got eaten before senior prom...god, i hate that i can say that sentence”) and giles asks, “then why did you come back?” there’s sort of a weird, tense beat where jenny looks genuinely uncomfortable (foreshadowing angelus WAY earlier in the season, bc jenny’s involvement is very clearly something that the writers came up with as some weird contrived Extra Thing so let’s make it less of a plot device) and then she comes up with some really awful excuse that leaves giles a little puzzled n frustrated.

jenny and giles go to the football game together as investigative buddies, making her a legit scooby based on merit instead of the fact that she’s dating giles, and they argue through most of the game about whether or not going to the game was even necessary in the first place. xander and willow show up and immediately start teasing them about being on a date. jenny laughs it off but giles looks MORTIFIED

they keep. on. arguing. literally every episode there’s a jenny/giles argument about something inane and stupid, even if it lasts for only a few seconds before one of the scoobies tells them to Please Stop. but the thing is, these arguments aren’t actually aggressive & passionately angry like in s1? it’s more annoyed than anything, and slowly the arguments start transitioning into actual logical discussions

sjlksdljk this in itself is transitioning into an imagine-if-canon-had-treated-jenny-like-her-own-character post but jenny’s scenes aren’t restricted to scenes with giles. she shows up in her own scenes too, and as time goes on, those scenes get significantly more foreboding bc the angelus arc is coming up

in the dark age, things mostly go the same. except jenny and giles aren’t dating, so the dazed hug is a little weird, and jenny coming on to giles is something that’s immediately met with suspicion & then Full-Out Panic. of course jenny’s fine, but she’s incredibly distant around giles; even though she doesn’t leave the scoobies, things are tense n weird between them (heightened by the fact that giles has suddenly realized that he may have slightly romantic feelings for jenny, and. that’s worthy of some more panic actually)

jenny gets a scene after the dark age where she thanks angel for saving her life. it’s very awkward and stilted and she doesn’t really look at him when she says it, and at the end of that episode, you overhear a phone conversation between her and her uncle re: angel being redeemable (more foreshadowing!!! more narrative coherency!!!!)

meanwhile giles is fucking hopeless. he’s not asking jenny out bc he wants to give her as much space as possible and he also is starting to really value their friendship (which has by this point become something that is surprisingly sweet & supportive) but he keeps on getting all blushy and shy whenever she compliments him. jenny hasn’t noticed this at all bc in this canon, her priorities aren’t just him, they’re him and willow and buffy and sometimes xander and yeah, even angel, which is freaking her out way too much for her to notice that her best friend is into her

oh yeah. giles and jenny are best friends. that happened at some point and there’s definitely a staff meeting (probably during ted, which also goes differently!! because that episode is a horror show!!) where they’ve sort of teamed up to argue with everyone else instead of each other.

and then all the stuff goes down with angelus.

it’s not actually a surprise this time around though? because there’s been a lot of hinting and a lot of ominousness surrounding jenny’s character, so instead of it being this Big Dramatic Reveal that jenny was Evil All Along, the episode actually has a subplot that focuses on her stress and her newfound worry and compassion for angel and the Big Dramatic Reveal is actually that jenny was Good All Along.

the “betrayal” arc goes...relatively the same at first, but then shifts a little? i’m very firmly of the mind that jenny, incredibly emotionally guarded, still would decide that she could Handle Things On Her Own and keep her motives secret, but when she finds out that angel could lose his soul, she kinda panics and throws herself into research re: how to actually stop that from happening. and that’s where buffy finds her, and they have a initially angry confrontation that kinda ends when buffy realizes that jenny was trying to figure out a way to somehow help and only recently found out about the happiness clause. so.

here’s a twist: everyone’s able to forgive jenny but giles. buffy is still sad and hurt and furious, but she and jenny actually become weirdly closer bc jenny’s always incredibly reassuring and tells her lots of stories about all her awful old boyfriends (+ a few of her girlfriends), and this kinda hurts giles, because he wants to be there for buffy too! and anyway jenny lied to all of them, so why should buffy care so much about what jenny has to say? most of it all really stems from the fact, though, that this was the first time in a very long time that he Trusted Someone and then it turned out that she was keeping secrets and he is just really, really hurt by that. so their relationship turns contentious and strained again and it’s kind of awful and sad.

but then comes passion. jenny’s been staying late at the library working on researching possibly ways to re-soul angel, albeit much more above board and non-secretive than in canon, and this time around giles is the one who gets a talking-to from buffy, only what she wants him to know is that she misses him being there for her and she wishes he wasn’t always arguing with ms. calendar because she kinda needs her watcher right now. and that’s kinda a wake-up call for giles--that jenny’s been doing the job of a watcher while he’s been sulking--so he heads back to school to apologize,

and nearly collides with a terrified jenny, right before he sees angelus close behind. giles grabs jenny’s hand and they run to his car, taking off at a probably-illegal speed. he ends up staying at jenny’s apartment that night; his house isn’t safe. there’s a very quiet, very sweet scene between them where they finally make up, followed by a hug that comes dangerously close to becoming a kiss. kind of a landmark moment for both of them; jenny realizes that she might be into giles, giles realizes that he’s in love with jenny. basically jenny’s really behind the curve

the resouling ritual happens the next episode!! it’s sort of a subplot going on (complete with lots of awkward shy mutual pining between giles & jenny), and at the end of the episode, it’s revealed that angel has gotten his soul back. which is a good thing, but also kinda bad, because he has to legitimately address a lot of the stuff that he’s done & attempted to brush under the rug

angel and jenny have another conversation during the episode after that, which is probably a two-part season finale. this one’s more about responsibility & sacrifice & what you owe to the people you hurt, and they both kinda get something from it. angel tells buffy that he loves her, but that he needs to actually figure himself out and start making amends to the people he hurt in whatever ways he can, and buffy’s devastated by this but she does eventually understand. he decides to leave sunnydale, but it’s left very open-ended; he might come back again someday (and probably does, but that’s another story)

meanwhile, jenny’s been ordered to follow angel out of sunnydale, and spends the last episode of s2 giving the concept some serious thought while angel prepares to leave. she knows that it’s her familial responsibility to do so, and she knows she could do a lot of good helping angel fight evil, but she also really hates the thought of leaving sunnydale.

of course, she brings the concept up to giles, who Definitely Does Not Want Jenny To Leave, but also doesn’t want to come off as clingy. he stumbles through a weird, stammery version of a pros and cons list and inadvertently admits that she’s incredibly important to him, which is. a lot for jenny to take in. she decides to talk to buffy, who’s kinda projecting a little, and who is Very Adamant about jenny being needed in sunnydale (it’s v clearly implied that buffy is feeling frightened & abandoned & wants someone to stay) particularly for giles’s sake.

jenny kinda takes this in and decides to stay. this is all a subplot to the buffy/angel goodbye and how buffy’s handling angel’s leaving so it’s a small decision, but still a noticeable one. the end scene is in the library again with all the scoobies gathered around the table, and if you look very closely, you’ll notice jenny reach out and take giles’s hand.

[punkpal]

5, 12, 23?

5. Share a little known fact about a band/ artist you love? Frank (Iero) gives the best hugs and smells like warmth (not that that is a smell, but if you have met that fool you’ll know what i mean) as well as stale alcohol and dorky dad vibes (which again isn’t a smell, but in this case it is) and every time i have had the blessing of meeting him i have experienced this smell that in simpler terms can be summed up as smelling like home. Basically what i am saying is that i love that rat boi and i can’t properly put into words what meeting him is like (for those who haven’t yet had that privilege) but thats the best way i can verbally express him and his friendly dumb face and equally friendly and dumb personality that i love and adore.

12. What was the first artist you remember being pretentious about? Probably Austin Carlile who i still love as a vocalist and its just a pity he quit making music. Glad his happy and living his best life but yeah i miss getting music from him, he has a hell of a voice and is a incredible lyricist.

23. What artist can you absolutely not stand? Ronnie Radke, make way for a quick rant shitting on him :) On top of being a piece of shit person (surely i don’t need to explain why i think that, wife beating and murder is a pretty globally disliked quality to have) but i also just hate his vocals and whilst i am at it i’ll happily state he can’t write a song to save himself. Also every straight white girl i know in the alternative music scene thinks he is the hottest thing they have ever laid eyes on. And while admittedly i may be a little bias as i swing mostly towards women i still just can’t wrap my head around the fact anyone thinks he is hot. Also he has no respect for his fanbase which in my opinion he should be lucky as fuck to have. Falling In Reverse played at a festival i went to last year and i didn’t choose to see there set (because i’d rather shoot myself in the foot) but all my mates that like his music were utterly disappointed by the set which was cut short because he threw a tantrum like a god damn toddle. And on top of that just being unprofessional its rude as fuck to the hundreds of people who came just to see you play. But yeah mostly i just think he sucks as a person and his music sucks too and honestly i am just so confused as to how he is still adored by so many people. I feel like he is the Chris Brown of the alternative music scene in that he still has a load of people that stick up for him and his clearly bad actions despite those same people shutting other people and bands down as a response for a member committing a crime and or doing something morally wrong (which i am not saying is not right or warranted, i am just saying i don’t know why the fuck people make an exception when it comes to him.) Also yeah his voice in annoying and whiny and his lyrics are the equivalent to any lonely white boy with a soundcloud account posting 4th grade level sentences he has convinced people are even worthy of the title and descripting term ‘lyrics’ all based on boring, overused themes (sex, drugs, and more sex). If he is your favourite vocalist i truly am sorry you have no sense or ability to identify talent nor know what an attractive man actually looks like. Thanks for coming to my ted talk :))

Please send me more guys! Obviously i love music so please give me an excuse to talk about it!

[truesportsfan]

Chris Jericho’s beautiful view atop the wrestling world

Being the top guy has a specific meaning to Chris Jericho.

The pro wrestling legend is back at the summit of the business at age 49 as the first and only world champion in All Elite Wrestling history. Being the headliner and face of a major company for a significant period of time is a role Jericho has rarely had in his three-decade career. He never won the world title in WCW and only had a combined five WWE or World Heavyweight championship reigns in his nearly 20 years with Vince McMahon’s company.

Being a promotion’s standard-bearer, who carries the weight of helping it and the talent around him succeed, is a job he’s never been more ready for.

“Could I have done more in WCW in a headlining position? Would I have been good? I don’t know. In my mind I’d be great,” Jericho told The Post. “The first time I was put in a headlining position in WWF, I wasn’t ready, and in WCW, it was a couple years earlier. So maybe I wasn’t ready.

“And as the career goes forward, I can tell you the exact moment when I knew I had become a legit, headlining, main-event guy and the exact moment where I became the top guy, which was in New Japan Jan. 4, 2018 [versus Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom], which led to [me] being the top guy here in AEW.”

Now that he’s been “given the baton,” Jericho’s goal is to help elevate others in the company to legitimate main event players, giving them their piece of the spotlight.

In the more than 13 months since AEW launched, Jericho has had singles matches with Scorpio Sky, Jungle Boy, “Hangman” Adam Page, Darby Allin, Cody Rhodes and others. He cut a memorable promo with Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), and has surrounded himself with Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara and Santana and Ortiz in his Inner Circle faction. He has been a big backstage supporter of Allin. Jericho described giving the hot upstarts the chance to beat the grizzled veteran heel as the “magic” that wrestling is about.

“We had a match a couple weeks ago where Isiah [Kassidy] from Private Party had such a great false finish, people thought Isiah was going to beat the champ,” said Jericho, the son of former New York Rangers winger Ted Irvine.

Most of the company’s younger talent had very little, if any, cable-TV time before appearing on “AEW Dynamite.” Now they get to share the ring live on TNT or on pay-per-view with one of wrestling’s most recognizable faces. Jericho said he wants to have a match with Orange Cassidy, a slow-moving comedy wrestler with a cult following, at some point, too.

“When you’re the top guy, you don’t hide and stop others from getting in there because then it just becomes stale and it dies,” said Jericho, who was at the New York Toy Fair, where AEW showed off its new action figures and ring sets from Wicked Cool Toys and Jazwares. The first series will be available this August.

“Your job as the top guy is to help everyone else up on top of the mountain so that there are 15 top guys and everybody is making money and everyone’s having a great time, people are enjoying the show and the product.”

AEW’s first series of action figuresAll Elite Wrestling

Wrestling legends are among those taking notice.

“Hulk Hogan called me a few months ago and said, ‘What you guys are doing is putting guys no one had ever heard of in a main-event spot and having them believe that they can beat you,’” Jericho recounted.

Jericho’s current rival is Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE. The two have a match for Jericho’s title set for AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view on Saturday. Jericho recruited Moxley to AEW knowing his talent level and understanding he was unhappy as he was transitioned into a comedy character in WWE. What Jericho didn’t expect was exactly what person and character would emerge in AEW. When Moxley debuted and attacked him and Omega at the “Double or Nothing” pay-per-view last May, Jericho saw someone who had “completely” changed.

“This is not the guy formally known as Dean Ambrose, this is a completely different person, a new character, performer,” Jericho said. “He’s totally different, not even the same guy. And that to me is another feather in our cap because it shows the creative freedom that you have in AEW that allows you to live and breathe and be what you know you can be.”

Moxley, also the name he used prior to joining WWE, is a violent, unpredictable badass babyface whose tendencies AEW announcer Jim Ross has compared to Stone Cold Steve Austin’s.

“I knew he’d be good,” Jericho said. “I didn’t expect him to just become this amazing. I say that with the utmost of respect. I don’t think anybody, including Mox, would have been able to predict that.”

Both Jericho and Moxley also recently wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where Moxley is the promotion’s United States champion. When Jericho was in Japan for Wrestle Kingdom in January, he beat legendary wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi in a match that would have given his opponent an AEW title shot with a win.

It led to Jericho being outspoken about wanting the two companies to work together in the future given the financial opportunities that would come, especially given the history he, Rhodes, Omega, The Young Bucks and other AEW talent have with New Japan.

He is willing to help make that happen, but Jericho noted that “in other people’s opinion, we shouldn’t” work together before floating the idea of an AEW/New Japan invasion a year down the line.

“I think it would be beneficial relationship,” Jericho said. “Do I think we need New Japan? No. Do they need us? Well, if they want to work in the States, they may want to think about it.”

During that appearance in Japan for Wrestle Kingdom, the hashtag #fatjericho made its way onto social media along with pictures from the match that showed a heavier version of the Canadian star.

Jericho said the added weight was by design. He wanted to look more like the character portrayed by legendary wrestler Bruiser Brody, a pain-causing killer whom everyone feared. In Jericho’s experience, bigger-looking wrestlers are more respected in Japan. He likened it to Robert De Niro gaining weight to play the role of Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull.” He has dropped some of that weight since coming back to AEW, posting workout videos to social media.

“When you see the online criticism, I love the idea of the fat Jericho because I can take my shirt off right now and I’ve got six f–king abs,” he said.

It’s all part of Jericho’s constant attempts to reinvent himself, creating new wrestling moments and catchphrases. Recently, the crowd at the episode of “Dynamite” taped aboard Jericho’s rock and wrestling cruise loudly serenaded him with his entrance song “Judas” by his band Fozzy — continuing to belt it out long after he first appeared. It’s continued at each show since.

“The next week, I went to the producer of the show, Keith Mitchell, and said, ‘Let’s pull the music down a little earlier,’ and I went to the announcers, Jim Ross, and said, ‘Don’t say anything,’” Jericho said. “When the music stops, let’s see what happens and let’s see if they continue to sing. We made it a thing.”

When it does, Jericho lets it happen, saying even as a heel, trying to tell the audience to shut up and don’t sing would spoil the vibe and organic nature of the moment.

“If they want to sing the lyrics to ‘Judas’ for an extra 30 seconds, that’s something that everyone’s talking about,” Jericho said. “People are going to go, ‘Wow, are you seeing this?’ It transcends good guy, bad guy. That [leads to] iconic moments in wrestling, which is what we strive for so much and when it happens organically, that’s a gift from the wrestling gods, so don’t mess with it.”

Chris JerichoAll Elite Wrestling

Jericho said the AEW talent is having fun backstage as well. In his opinion, there is no “snaky-snaky bulls–t” going on. The company continues to grow. “Dynamite” was renewed on TNT for three more years. A separate hour-long TV show is in the works, and AEW will run its first “Dynamite” in the Tri-State area on March 25 at Prudential Center in Newark.

“Dynamite” has consistently beaten WWE’s NXT show in the ratings each Wednesday and has had a headlock on the 18-49 demo. While not specifically correlating it with ratings, Jericho believes that AEW highlighting young stars such as MJF, Guevara, Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt is helping to attract a younger audience because “we don’t send them to the developmental league or whatever for five years.”

It’s helping the company expand into action figures and potentially video games down the road. Jericho said he has had around 200 different action figures over his career. The AEW line, which will debut with Jericho, Cody, Brandi Rhodes, Omega and The Young Bucks, stands out to him not only because of the figures’ detailed looks, but the story around them. As the company’s top guy, he’s been one of the biggest driving forces behind all of it.

“We’ve only been on TV since October and these will be coming out in August, so it’s a quick turnaround and the reason why the turnaround is so quick is because the product is hot,” Jericho said. “That’s of great pride to me because obviously when I came to AEW, there was a lot riding on my shoulders to make sure it was a success.”

He’s never been more ready to ensure it.

source https://truesportsfan.com/sport-today/chris-jerichos-beautiful-view-atop-the-wrestling-world/