#he's so different from s1 to 3 to 6 to 11

[zmediaoutlet]

i'm watching season 8 and i can't seem to figure out why sam wouldn't even attempt to look for dean.

would you say it's in character for sam after 8 years? trying to wrap my head around it and struggling.

hello hello anonymous friendo -- I answered a similar ask a while back (...two years ago) which I will cannibalize here.

I know the reason a lot of people want to reject it out of hand is that “Sam would have looked for Dean.” I get it; it’s tough that he didn’t. But there’s a difference between Sam should have looked and Sam necessarily must have, and the fact that he didn’t is so OOC we have to invent a full on AU for him. I mean, for one thing, the actual canon information as presented doesn’t contravene the idea that Sam did actually try but failed, and gave up* after failing. He was alone with a busted car, zero help (Bobby dead, angels not listening, demons not answering the phone, etc), and had no idea if Dean was dead or just winked from existence (because why would he assume that he went to Purgatory?). With zero leads and dead ends at every turn, it’s very easy to insert like a month of him failing and then he hits a dog – and then, because he feels intensely guilty, telling Dean that he didn’t really try, because his efforts were so paltry that he can’t even count them as trying. …but even that isn’t really that much of an argument. One thing that I find happens a lot with the Winchesters in fandom discussions, but especially with Sam, is like… not allowing them the dignity of their choices. Which – like, duh, they’re fictional characters, they’re written a certain way. But there’s a real tendency to leap to OOC claims or “the writers don’t know what they’re doing!!” whenever it’s something we wish the character wouldn’t have done because we don’t like it. But like… that’s not how characters work. Characters do shit I don’t like all the time; it doesn’t mean they didn’t do it, and that I shouldn’t try to fold even that disliked thing into my conception of who the character is. (Important caveat: there’s a great post by astolat that talks about the venn diagrams of audience belief and canonicity in texts with multiple writers that makes this more complicated. Still, I think that variability comes in small details as she mentions in that post, or indeed dumb little moments of Jensen improv in spn canon, rather than whole-ass plot arc decisions.) Sam stopped looking for/didn’t look for Dean when he disappeared. That’s interesting. Kinda sucks, and the show and Sam himself point out multiple times that it kinda sucks, but that doesn’t make it uninteresting or OOC, especially given the Sam we have who is nigh indomitable. The fact that it was his choice speaks to a Sam who’s really just… beaten down. And why wouldn’t he be? Slings and arrows from birth all the way to age 27 when he threw himself into the worse torture imaginable – then he got saved, hallegoddamnlujah, and he thought maybe he’d be there with Dean, living a life he could choose for once instead of one he’d been forced into by destiny – and then it was just another apocalypse, and enemies on all sides, and every friend and ally and hope just torn away, one by one. It’s a miracle he got to keep the car. I can see that Sam, in that last torn circumstance, just – going into hiding. He hits a dog and then inertia keeps him in one place, spinning his wheels. He meets a girl and she kinda sucks but she’s prickly and rude and not-samey enough to prod him back up into life, and at that point it’s been months and Dean’s gone and he thinks, if this is life I guess I can live it. He can’t go back to the shell of a life he loved with Dean and it’s just… too much. He’s always been very, very good at putting one foot in front of the other. (It’s why he manages to live after the finale.)

the @spn20rewatch is entering s7 today -- idk if this is a rewatch for you or a first time through, but it's worth really thinking about the circumstances of right then in canon. As fans we often cling to the part we thought was most compelling -- i.e. a Sam fan might think back to e.g. Mystery Spot or something and go, there's no WAY he wouldn't fix it and damn the consequences! -- but one of my favorite things about these guys is the ups and downs they go through, and Sam at the end of s7 is in a VERY PLUMMETING DOWNWARD spiral. At some point the people you love die. It's gonna happen. Most of us have to accept it as a matter of course; it's really interesting to me that Sam can accept it, too, even though he knows it could be otherwise.

[ikemen-trifecta]

ʸᵃʸ

edit by @mitch4tune

audio from MLP S1 E16

～Cast～ Ashleigh Ball (Rainbow Dash) - Jude Andrea Libman (Fluttershy) - Ellis

forgot about this idea 'til I saw @messy-jin's post (can't put videos in reblogs, so tagging her here)

[farasen]

DWK Iceberg

Tried to make it as full as I can, but there could be stuff that I'm missing or simply can't remember, but I hope it's good enough

I think first two layers are clear: the sky is for general information that most people expect to see when finding this media, and the top is for those who watched the series. I think I should break down some points in the rest.

Layer 3

Book version of s1. That's all it is. It has a map and character descriptions, but nothing interesting beside that.

Level 2.0 books. Haven't read them, so I can't tell what's happening there. I'm not sure if it's even based off the animated series, I think it bases on the original books, but it uses the series characters designs.

Markus' mother, Raban's aunt. In s1e5 you can see Markus' mother, Tamara. Raban's aunt is mentioned in s2e4, she lives in Höchstadt.

Surnames. Only a few characters have canon surnames in the series, the rest are taken from books and movies.

Layer 4

Map. From the book that I've mentioned in layer 3.

Beta designs. Honestly, I have no idea what that is and where it came from. I assume it's old designs, but I'm not sure.

Absence of s1e10 in Finnish dub. I heard it was banned due to depiction of cruel bullying.

Spanish Deniz. So they've changed his name to Rico Perez in eng version and now many Russians and probably English viewers who don't know about the original think he has spanish roots instead of turkish.

Layer 5

Marlon without dredlocks. There's merch where Marlon is depicted with loose hair.

Nerv and others in lvl 2 books. They're litteraly on the cover. Also would like to mention a different cover for that book that I've found.

Arabic intro. Nothing special, you just get to see this lil thing at the beginning.

April. A girl from lvl 2 books that seems to be Marlon's love interest or something???

Layer 6

Conny had alcoholism. A theory about the reason why Jojo ended up in a orphanage. It appears to be canon in the books, as far as I know.

Surnames. Natasha's surname comes from the 6th film I think, there was a niece of Mickey with that surname.

The holy apple vodka. A local meme in Russian community from, like, 2019 or 2020 I guess.

Censorship. You can see the full clip here.

Shimeji Leon. This guy.

Layer 7

Weird implications. It's just... The Mayer thing.

Franz is Jojo's dad. I mean look at them.

Refences to serial killers. In s1e10 you can see doorbells with the names of some serial killers/rapists, cult leaders and tyrants. Why would they put that in a kids show? Idk

Deleted animation meme. ''Untrust us'' meme based off Benz' dark AU and created by her as well.

Layer 8

Here assembled things I think very few people know about or seen??? Even I don't know what are some of those.

The play. No Idea what this is, but maybe a play of some kind...

DWK website. Or a game?? Idk, I just found this pic like 5 years ago or so.

Deleted tributes. Clips that I've made at the age of 11, inspired by those mlp slideshows and posted it on YouTube. You never gonna see it tho.

Mettaton Markus. Yeah, that happened.

Leon/Sailor Moon. Oh, deviantart, thank you for having people that do these edits.

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 10

Link for Seasons  1  2  3  4  5  6  7 8 9

You know the drill by now, I'll judge whether an episode has all the qualities of a canon one, or is it just shameless filler. S10E1 The Return of Chef is CANON

When it comes to separating canon material from filler, you really come to notice a lot more secondary characters die in a shorter span of time. Anyway, here's Chef's farewell in a scientology follow-up episode. S10E2 Smug Alert! is FILLER

Kyle moves. He comes back. Stan has a hit song. Never mentioned again. S10E3 & S10E4 Cartoon Wars Part I & II are LORE

I was so conflicted on this one, no consequences come from this two-parter, expect Trey and Matt's interest in the portrayal of Muhammad, and since these got banned on streaming sites, I'd encourage everyone to watch them! S10E5 A Million Little Fibers is FILLER

I'd never make anyone watch this episode. Except that one time when I did a South Park marathon with my step-father and I made him watch it. But no, even if Towelie's career would be mentioned, there's no need for this one to exist. S10E6 ManBearPig is CANON

ManBearPig IS real. Al Gore warned y'all. S10E7 Tsst is FILLER

Every now and then in these posts I feel like I have to explain myself and the fact that I'm excluding iconic episodes of South Park. However based on the feedback I received, everyone seems to get the shtick and I was too anxious, that's why I toned the introduction down. A great Eric episode that's more about telling us the possibilities this character could have, but does not actually have. S10E8 Make Love, Not Warcraft is CANON

Because Randy's role is another turning point in his mid-life crisis, Jenkins will return later and you need an episode that showcases the strength of the four boys' friendship despite all their differences, since you'll see them coming back to it every time after they start growing apart. S10E9 Mystery of the Urinal Deuce is FILLER

Kyle is getting bullied again and this time STAN is the bad guy? Interesting concept, can't say it's important. S10E10 Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy is FILLER

Kyle's brother is getting molested and this time ERIC is the hero? What's up with S10 and these bizarro concepts in its fillers? S10E11 Hell on Earth 2006 is CANON

Not THE most plot-heavy one, but Satan's character development is important to us. S10E12 & S10E13 Go God Go & Go God Go XII are LORE

You don't NEED these for context, however the Garrison arc feels more complete with it. S10E14 Stanley's Cup is FILLER

It's a divisive one for sure and I wouldn't touch it for personal reasons. The one thing you can state is that without it you'll still understand every episode going forward.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not. S10E1 The Return of Chef is CANON S10E2 Smug Alert! is FILLER S10E3 & S10E4 Cartoon Wars Part I & II are LORE* S10E5 A Million Little Fibers is FILLER S10E6 ManBearPig is CANON S10E7 Tsst is FILLER S10E8 Make Love, Not Warcraft is CANON S10E9 Mystery of the Urinal Deuce is FILLER S10E10 Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy is FILLER S10E11 Hell on Earth 2006 is CANON S10E12 & S10E13 Go God Go & Go God Go XII are LORE** S10E14 Stanley's Cup is FILLER *If you are interested in banned Muhammad content **If you are invested in Janet Garrison's love life

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13  S2: 3 out of 18  S3: 6 out of 18  S4: 10 out of 17  S5: 8 out of 14  S6: 11 out of 17 S7: 6 out of 15 S8: 4 out of 14 S9: 8 out of 14 S10: 4 out of 14

Overall: 69 out of 154

[enjoythesilentworld]

SIMON'S MONTH

(intothelight // @enjoythesilentworld)

Day 1: Pencil Case (G, 1.2k)

Maybe it’s payback for that one time, but Wille is getting tired of Simon stealing all his goddamn pencils.

Day 2: Food (T, 2.3k)

Alone in a foreign country, Simon must find a stranger to join him on the romantic couples food tour he’s accidentally booked.

Day 3: Dodgeball (T, 1.5k)

Simon is determined to win the neighborhood dodgeball game. Mostly so he can rub it in Wille’s face.

Day 4: Beach (M, 1.3k)

Simon loves the beach. And you know what the best treat is at the beach on a hot, summer day? A popsicle.

Day 5: (Beyblade) Towel (G, 900)

Oh, the places you’ll go. Or, Memories of Simon’s life through the perspective of his Beyblade towel

Day 6: Sara (T, 900)

Simon just wants to stand up for his sister. 

Day 7: Purple (Rain) (T, 1.2k)

Through the power of Prince, Simon tries to pull a prince. Well, an ex-prince. 

Day 8: Discrimination (T, 1.8k)

Simon tries to buy some flowers for a wedding. Wille still has some things to learn.

Day 9: Anime (Backpack) (G, 800)

Simon and his new backpack take on a new school. 

Day 10: Travel (M, 2.5k)

Simon and Wille take on a new city, and a new tour, and Simon neglects to read the fine print (again). Or, FoodTour!Wilmon return

Day 11: Revolution (G, 900)

The Space AU no one asked for.

Day 12: Music (Room) (T, 2.9k)

Simon ran into Ex-Crown Prince Wilhelm in a campus music room in New York City, and they have started a tentative friendship.

Day 13: Hoodie(s) (T, 800)

Simon has a different hoodie for every mood. Here are a few. 

Day 14: Senses (M, 1.8k)

Simon receives some gifts. Five gifts, to be exact.

Day 15: Secrets (T, 1.6k)

Simon is trying to figure out why Wille is acting so damn weird lately, confessing random, rather inconsequential secrets.

Day 16: Venezuela (M, 1.9k)

Simon finally gets to take Wille to Venezuela. Or, more Married!Wilmon on Caribbean Beach vacation.

Day 17: (Just if a little more than a) Friendship (T, 2.3k)

Simon is someone Wille regularly breaks rules for. (A just if for a minute flashback.)

Day 18: Pride (T, 2.3k)

Simon invites his best friend and ~ultimate ally~ Wille to join him at Pride. Or, S1 “I’m not like that” Wilhelm meets S2 petty Simon.

Day 19: (Cat)Fish (T, 500)

Simon tries to convince a man on a dating app that, yes, that is his actual face in those pictures.

Day 20: Nightmare (T, 1k)

Three nightmares. A twin bed, an empty house, a warm embrace.

Day 21: Red Light (T, 1.2k)

A tense car ride home.

Day 22: Labor Day (M, 2k)

Simon plans to take down RK Solutions from the inside. He also just so happens to be sleeping with the CEO's son.

Day 23: Parent (Pick-up) (G, 1.5k)

Wherein music teacher Simon has a crush on the hot new teacher who he only ever sees at parent pick-up.

Day 24: Winter (Fashion Week) (M, 3k)

Oscar-nominated musician and composer Simon Eriksson attends Winter Fashion Week with his new beau, Ex-Crown Prince Wilhelm of Sweden. Or, The Met Gala AU. Again.

Day 25: Soulmates (T, 600)

Simon, curled up and heartbroken in the backseat of Sara’s car, realizes some things. Or, Simon sees his and Wille’s lives laid out across the universe.

Day 26: Dancing (On The Ceiling) (T, 1.4k)

Simon managed to pull an (ex-)prince with Prince. This second performance is just for fun.

Day 27: Physical Touch (T, 2k)

“Can I touch you? Just to be sure you’re real.” or, Catfish!Wilmon return

Day 28: Birthday (Suit) (M, 2.1k)

Three times Simon sees his friend Wille naked, and the one time he actually gets to do something about it.

Day 29: (Under the) Stars (G, 600)

Simon and Wille have a chat while star-gazing.

Day 30: Home (Improvement) (T, 1.3k)

Simon owns a home renovation business with his sister. Wille has recently purchased a fixer-upper.

Day 31: Photos (G, 900)

Photographs of Simon over the years, and those by his side. 

[twig-tea]

2023 BL/GL/QL Round-Up Post

I thought for posterity I'd post a reflection on everything I watched that completed in 2023. For me, that means anything that started in 2022 but the last episode was in 2023 is on this list, but anything that will still be airing after 31 December 2023 11:59 my time (EST) is not on this list, even if the bulk of the show did air in 2023.

A few stats:

110 discrete pieces of content (series/films)

clocking in at est. 600 hours of NEW BL/GL content only

from 9 different countries (Cambodia [1], Philippines [3], Hong Kong [1], Japan [18], Korea [19], Myanmar [1], Taiwan [6], Thailand [56], Vietnam [7])

~50% of the content I watched on this list is from Thailand

~85% of my content was on YouTube [40%], GaGaOoLaLa [23%] and iQIYI [21%].

[Note that this year a lot of older GMMTV shows moved off of YouTube and onto Viki so if you're looking at these stats to decide what to pay for, this won't account for that.]

This doesn't include re-watches or catching up on old shows [e.g. I re-watched Love Sick, My Ride the Series, Semantic Error, ITSAY/IPYTM, Our Dating Sim at least 3 times lol, and anything with a s2 I re-watched s1 to prep, among others, watched Fujoshi Ukkari Gei no Kokuru (2019) for the first time] or non-QL [e.g. Heartstopper s2, Our Flag Means Death s2, Taskmaster s. 15 & 16, Uncanny Counter s2, One Piece s1, etc.] but does include films as well as shows, though I don't count special episodes separately (so Wedding Plan counts once, though I watched both the show and the special).

I hope you all appreciate that with this much content, and with my general brand of being unable to make decisions, I really struggled to narrow down a top 10 list. What follows is the best I could do lol

Top 20 Shows I'd Recommend From This Year:

Moonlight Chicken

Our Dating Sim

Bed Friend

The Eighth Sense

La Pluie

Sing My Crush

Tokyo in April Is...

Wedding Plan

Laws of Attraction

I Cannot Reach You

I Feel You Linger in the Air

What Did You Eat Yesterday S2

I Became the Lead in a BL Drama

If It's With You

Love in Translation

Our Dining Table

My Personal Weatherman

My Beautiful Man: Eternal

My School President

Be My Favorite

+10 I liked but I would only recommend with caveats:

Love Class 2

The New Employee [for the Rainbow Rice Cakes]

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru

Never Let Me Go

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Unintentional Love Story

The Day I Loved You

End of the World with You

A Breeze of Love

Jack O'Frost

Bonus: Not a BL but worth calling out:

One Room Angel

Midnight Museum

Grand Guignol

The Warp Effect

Sadly, of the GLs that aired this year, I wouldn't recommend any of them. The best one was Show Me Love, which was not actually good but had very gorgeous women and a LOT of flirting.

The other huge thing that happened this year was that I stopped lurking! Thanks specifically to @lurkingshan and @bengiyo demanding everyone start talking about La Pluie, because they got me to post my first meta post. And because I started actually talking to people, I started making actual friends, and participated in organizing things like the Be My Favorite clown checkpoint for ep 11. I also disappeared a month because of life, and am still catching up on everything I intended to write this year. But it's been really rewarding finding this corner of tumblr with likeminded people who like good shows, like to think about these shows, and who are interested in talking about them in a way that's insightful and respectful.

It's been a long time since I felt comfortable enough participating actively in a fandom, and I just want to say to everyone I've interacted with this year: Thank you!

Full list under the cut for anyone curious! [Mostly in order it aired but may be slightly off].

Love Bill

Director Who Buys Me Dinner, The

Star Always Follow You, The

Cutie Pie 2 You

Between Us the Series (Hemp Rope)

Reason Why He Fell in Love with Me Special & S2 [international release]

New Employee, The

I Will Hit You/I Will Knock You

Individual Circumstances

609 Bedtime Story

GAPYuri / GAP the series

My School President

HitBiteLove the Series

Never Let Me Go

Moonlight Chicken

History 5: Love in the Future

Oh My God (ToDo) the Series

Warp Effect, The

End of the World, With You

My Blessing the Series

Our Winter (miniseries)

All the Liquors

Once in Memory: Let Me Be Yours

Shoulder to Cry On, A

Jack O'Frost

Our Dating Sim

Midnight Museum

Me, My Husband, and My Husband's Boyfriend

My Colleague at BL Shop might be My Meant-to-Be

Unintentional Love Story

Chains of Heart

Bed Friend the series

Bad Brother the Series

Stormy Honeymoon

Eighth Sense, the

Bad Brother the Series

Future Series

Tin Tam Jai the series

Crush on You

House of Stars the Series

Happy Merry Ending

Boss and a Babe, A

Pastsenger the Series

Love Mate

Love Syndrome the Series

Promise the Series, The

Day I Loved You, The

Our Dining Table (Bokura no Shokutaku)

Our Skyy 2

My Story the Series

Starstruck

Love Tractor

Naked Dining

Luminous Solution, The

Omai Series / Is My Roommate A Foreigner

Stupid Genius

Step By Step

La Pluie the series

Tie the Not

Sing My Crush / Follow the Wind

Tokyo in April Is .../ Shigatsu no Tokyo wa

Senior Love Me?

Be My Favorite

Show Me Love

Dinosaur Love

Low Frequency

Stay Still

Stay By My Side

Jun & Jun

Wedding Plan the Series

Laws of Attraction, the

Love Class s2

Minato's Laundromat S2

Hidden Agenda

Bon Appetit

Why RU the Series [Korean adaptation]

Be Mine Superstar

Star, The Season 2

Love In Translation

My Beautiful Man: Eternal

My Personal Weatherman

Bump Up Business

Naughty Babe Series

Only Friends

Grand Guignol

Dangerous Romance

If It's With You / Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite Mite Mo

Y Journey: Stay Like a Local

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Venus in the Sky

Kiseki: Dear to Me

I Cannot Reach You

You Are Mine

Breeze of Love / Weather Forecast of Love

Mr. Cinderella 2

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru

One Room Angel

Marry My Dead Body

Lucky My Love the Series

Pure Vanilla: Recipe for Romance

Absolute Zero

Memories, The

My Dear Gangster Oppa

Shadow

What Did You Eat Yesterday? S2

Middleman Love

Beyond the Star

Bake Me Please

You and My Stars

I Became the Lead in a BL Drama

[probablynot-john]

Oki doki, after the last season of lower decks just ended, I feel like this is a good time to point out some things.

If you think that they're " just friends" still, yeah, i get it. But in case you've forgot, here is a chronological list of everything they have done for eachother:

1. Rutherford spent the entire day looking for a job in a different department, when he already loves his job more than anything, just so he could spend time with her (S1:E2).

2. Rutherford shows her Badgy to help her train for a test (the moon walking scene is so cute). And then when Badgy tries to kill them, he admits "I was just trying to impress Tendi! She's so cute!" As he tries to sacrifices himself for her (S1:E6).

3. She is devastated when he went on the packled ship to save the crew. And when he had his implant ripped out she sat next to his bed every day and read to him every day until he woke up. And then he didn't remember her, she was on the verge if tears, but instead she just says "now we can be best friends all over again!" (S1:E10).

4. When his personality shifts by slightest degree, (he suddenly likes pears) she notices and tries to help. Violently. She was scared that he would forget her again. And rather than be mad that she ruined his date and chased him through a hallway, he gives her understanding, compassion and a hug! "Also don't date Barns" (S2:E1).

5. They built the same model ship over and over again together just so they could spend time alone together. He was so upset that he was "a year behind in being your friend" and that he couldn't remember what he did last year. To make him feel better, she got them a new model they could do together (S2:E6).

6. She thought he was dead and that it was her fault for asking him to step out of his comfort zone and try engineering on a different ship. She refuses to accept that he's gone and searches the other ship for him. He's completely fine when she finds him but she's still traumatized by the end of the episode (S2:E7).

7. They incorrectly suspect that Tendi is going to be transferred off the Cerritos so they spend the day together doing everything they loved on the ship, including the jefferies tube where they watched the stellar anomaly from S1:E2. Of course, she actually gets a promotion and he gives her a hug (S2:E10).

8. When he forgot her, he started saving 3 copies of every moment that he spent with her in his memory banks so he wouldn't forget. He spent so much time with her that it filled his brain and was causing malfunctions (S2:E10).

9. When they were grounded on earth for the trial they spent the entire time sightseeing together until they had to go do plot stuff (S3:E1).

10. Ruthorford loses control of his body to an "evil" version of himself and his first thought is "I need to contact Tendi, she'll know what to do!" And then he's so scared for her when his evil self goes to find her. This episode broke me(S3:E5).

11. Tendi is frustrated dealing with another Orian in starfleet. Honestly I didn't love Ruthorford in this episode, but "it was nice to meet another Orian, but I'd rather just spend time with you!" She's worried that he'll think less of her when he finds out she was a pirate. But he tells her that it's a part of her and he already likes her for who she is, and encourages her to embrace her heritage (S3:E6)

12. She's upset when he doesn't take her roll in a holosimulation seriously. But when she explains why she's upset, she admits out loud for the first time that she wants to be a captian. And he becomes her biggest supporter (S3:E8).

13. "It's gonna be weird not sleeping 5ft away from you, not having your muttering to lull me to sleep" she encourages him to speak up for himself so he can get the recognition he deserves so he can be promoted along side her. Also he's been declining promotions all year just so he can stay the same rank as her (S4:E2).

14. I don't want to spoil the rest of season 4, but oh my gosh, Ferangi Hearth Place. Everything about this episode is amazing. They have to pretend to be a married couple to go on a vacation."Why can't a symbol of love be gorgeous green eyes?" Or "I can't wait to walk around our shared room in nothing but a pair of your boxers completely topless. " Come on! This might be my favorite episode of the series. Not even just for the ships, Self Sealing Stembolts! *Chants Rom and Leeta to the theme of Bob The Builder* (S4:E6).

15. I don't want to spoil the season final, but oh my gosh, he was devastated, and so was I! (S4:E10).

Okay, I know Star Trek has a horrible history of ships falling apart. But romantic ships and actual ships. I would have been perfectly happy with them being best friends, but after rewatching the series, I would be quite disappointed if they didn't at least kiss.

So what do you think, are they still just friends?

[ananke-xiii]

From Epic to Tragedy to ... Epic, I guess? Or why Supernatural Season 6 is the most important season of all (pt 1).

Do I have your attention? Yes, good. But just so you know it'll be long and in installments and maybe it makes sense or maybe not.

Yes, I know the title is a tiny bit incendiary but I promise I have a point to make.  

So, my idea: I posit that SPN S1-5 are inherently an epic narrative with a tragic tone while S6, in an unexpected turn of events, heavily shifts the show towards a tragic narrative with an epic tone. S6 creates a great divide within the narrative itself that the show is ultimately unable to resolve. On one hand Sam will “carry on” the epic narrative, on the other Castiel will “swan dive” to his (many) tragic endings. S8-11 arc correctly identifies Dean as the character who's able to mitigate the divide and bring the two narratives together. However, the pervy obsession Chuck has with Deanthe show simply refuses to do so, consequently S12 introduces Jack (as an absent character but we already know from S11 The Mother as an Archetype is now alive and well in the unfridged Mary so the emergence of The Son is something clear from the very ending of the previous season) as the character most likely to resolve the narrative. However, S13-15 arc fails because it wants to do too many things at the same time. The "funny" thing is that, as a result, all characters just seem to be extremely tired of The Journey, The Quest, the obstacles, they all start screaming "Catharsis!" but it's still not given to them (hello Chuck!). By the time Cas makes the deal with The Empty the audience feels the impending tragedy and it's partially given to them, although... The show doesn't mend "The Rupture" between the two narratives, Cas dies as a tragic hero, Sam as an epic hero and Dean and Jack will remain in their limbo (a limbheaven, I guess? lol) but in substantially different positions. I personally think that this is what led to the audience’s conflicted response about the finale: ultimately the scale was tipped off in favor of the tragic narrative but the audience was eventually given the epic narrative ending.  

Premise: this is my very first attempt at writing what in my mind, I hope, will turn out to be an analysis, a meta if you will, about Supernatural. I stand on the shoulders of giants and I myself am a microscopic ant but, you know, there’s room for everyone even for a little ant like me. I want to write down my thoughts and share them with strangers on the internet because 1) if I keep all my ideas trapped inside my head I’ll explode; 2) writing them down helps holding my spiraling mind down; 3) I thrive when people listen to my convoluted thoughts and share their opinions and we all have heated chats and sometimes I end up hating those people because they’re right but also I fall in love with their minds lol.  

Finally, please just remember that I’m also just a girl, sitting in front of a laptop, asking you to not come at me.

Part 1: Or where I posit that SPN s1-5 are inherently an epic narrative with a tragic tone…

Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices…

After the Pilot, the first SPN episode starts with two guys playing a videogame. One tells the other that he’s cheating; the other replies that he’s just smart. Interesting. The third guy we see (Guys! Guys! Guys!) is sending a video to his girlfriend and oh, look! He’s reading “The Hero with a Thousand Face” written by Joseph Campbell.

In less than 10 seconds the show is literally telling us everything we need to know: we’re dealing with Young Males, An Adventure, Trials, Obstacles… and with the completion of the journey (just like the videogame: overcome all your obstacle until you win). Basically, the show is an epic narrative. More specifically, it’s an epic narrative like The Odyssey. Well, actually, no. It’s more like The Telemachy. The Telemachy is the first 4 books of the Odyssey where Telemachus leaves Ithaca for the first time to look for his Absent Father. Sounds familiar? By the way, to this day I can’t help but feel deep admiration when I realize that The Odyssey is the story of The Absent Father and it starts off… precisely with his absence! Just like Supernatural, LOL.

Necessary aside: as if this was not already enough S10E5 Fan Fiction gifts us with what I find is the most brilliant meta ever metaed on SPN (and no, I’m not talking about the fan fiction part). In this episode we find out that the MOTW is… *drums roll* CALLIOPE!!! The muse who presides over EPIC POETRY! And she wants to EAT The Author (and, in hindsight the fact that the Real Author is God… I mean, possibly Calliope was THEE monster that they really shouldn’t have killed lol). As if this was not enough… Maggie hits Calliope with… The Odyssey! Robbie Thompson was VIBING when he was writing this episode, I’m telling you!

Okay so now going back to my main point. Supernatural epic has a very distinct tragic tone. The Absent Father does return like Odysseus (end of S1) but he can’t stay (beginning of S2): in order for the Adventure to continue The Father must die (unlike the Odyssey where Father and Son unite to defeat the enemy and Return to The Ordinary World Together). After all, this is not The Odyssey, it’s The Telemachy where The Hero is not The Father but The Son.

So know let’s talk about The Son. The Epic Hero in Supernatural is Sam Winchester. He’s the one marked at birth by the story, aka The Special Kid with Psychic Powers of S2. This is the second half of the “Challenges and temptations” phase of the Hero’s Journey culminating with The Revelation and the subsequent Death&Rebirth. Sam will have to go through this cycle a lot because his own role commands it. He has to face the Abyss and then come out of it otherwise the story can’t progress. Occasionally, he’ll have to step outside the Special World into the Ordinary World (The Normal Life) even though he has not completed all the stages because the story needs to reboot and if The Hero goes back to the Ordinary World having completed all the stages then the story is over. This is why after 15 (FIFTEEN!) season it might feel (or, as I should say, I feel because people here largely disagree) that Sam’s arc is.. well, not exactly something that varies over time. It’s not the character’s fault: he’s just drawn that way (because the show refused to let go of this trite and old Hero’s Journey cycle but this is a topic for another time, hello Chuck, ya basic!). So Sam, The Son. S3 Sam faces the challenges of possibly losing his brother so The Quest is trying to save Dean. Of course, this won’t happen (as previously stated, Sam needs a continuous Quest because he’s an Epic Hero) so we’re back at square one in S4-5 with the demon blood, the 66 sigils and, ultimately, Lucifer and the apocalypse.

Sam is the Epic Hero, special by birth, called back to the Adventure by his brother, quick learner, intelligent and warrior-like, overcomer of obstacles, trials and (maybe to a lesser degree lol) temptations and capable of facing the Abyss. I like the fact that he's definitely not The Perfect Hero because his many flaws make him more compelling and fascinating. Speaking of flaws, there's one thing that Sam lacks. Sure, like all characters on every TV show he has a need, a desire AND a fatal flaw. However, there is a fatal flaw and THE fatal flaw: hamartia.

Hamartia is the tragic flaw, the character's very own trait that brings about his very own downfall. How do we know that Sam lacks this very specific trait? Because he never experiences utter and total ruin brought about by his and his own only hands.

However, there is a certain character, the one and only character that dares to "make it up as [he goes]", that committs a huge mistake, and he errs not because of some events, not because of some circumstances, possibly not even because of God's will: he just makes decisions that trigger cosmic consequences...

I wonder who could it be...

[blurglesmurfklaine]

Hi hey hello Aly please can you rank the new directions according to how well they would do at preparing a holiday meal? I'm thinking like cooking a turkey or ham or something, all the different sides, dessert, etc etc.

HI BELLA MY BELOVED YES OFC I CAN DO THAT!!!! I'm only going to do like. OG New Directions, so like the mains from s1-2 lol

Coming in dead last at #13, we have: Rachel Berry! Girl can't cook. There is canonical evidence to support this from the season four thanksgiving episodes so I rest my case.

Next up, Finn Hudson at #12! Truthfully i think he would just be so overwhelmed by all of it and fall apart. I DO think he would make a FANTASTIC assistant though

Next, at #11: Mercedes Jones: I think she can probably follow a recipe better than Rachel, but she is a doordash girlie just like me fr i know this to be true in MY SOUL. Miss "What is this?" "Toilet brush." does not know how to make things from scratch but i fully support her love for tater tots <3

The #10 slot goes to Brittany S. Pierce! It's not that I think she can't cook. I think she would cook some of the most OUTRAGEOUS things really really well. I'm talking the shepherd's pie trifle thing from Friends except ON PURPOSE. The most heinous shit and she would genuinely like it but it's objectively terrible

First one to reach single digits at the #9 slot, we've got Puck. Lost a few spots bc he'd probably put weed in the desserts without telling anyone

#8 goes to Michael Chang! I just feel like he can follow instructions. Might not be perfect, but edible and not spiked with any illegal substances.

Up with the #7 spot is Artie Abrams! Being someone who is wheelchair bound, I feel like he prides himself on being self sufficient and learning basic cooking skills is something he'd take the time to learn. I don't think it would be gourmet or anything, but i do think it would give tasty comfort food

Coming in at #6 I put, and this might be controversial, Santana Lopez! Listen. One thing about mexicans is that we know how to cook. Something just happens and i truly believe it's in out genes but one day you just sort of wake up and realize that you don't burn your hand flipping tortillas on the grill, and i feel like those skills would translate really well to a christmas/thanksgiving dinner--especially all the traditional mexican holiday dishes? i think she'd secretly take a lot of comfort in making those for her found family

Breaching the top 5 at #5 is Tina Cohen-Chang! I feel like she's done it a couple of times with her own family and probably helped out in the kitchen growing up, just to be helpful. Generally, she seems pretty competent too so there's that

#4 goes to my beloved Sam Evans. My man practically had to raise his siblings, there is not a doubt in my mind that he already HAS made a whole ass holiday meal with what he could and it probably came out fucking delicious too! It Just Makes Sense!!

Alright up in the #3 slot is yet another one of my faves, the puppetmaster himself, Blaine Devon Anderson! Cooking pancakes for his fiance in the morning?? HIs love language is acts of service and you just know he'd love all the compliments and then brush them off like "Oh it really was nothing" but this man THRIIIIIIIVES on the love of his peers!!! Of course he's gonna cook for them!

Our runner up, taking her place firmly at the #2 slot is the Queen of McKinley, the one, the only Quinn Fabray! This one also Just Makes Sense. She was primed from a young age to basically be a trophy wife. Which. Hate that for her but I wouldn't doubt her mom had her prepping the sides at like, age ten. Her parents def would trot her skills out like a trick pony and show off how well she can "provide" for a future husband or some shit like that. Anyway, i like to think she uses these skills to make holiday dinners for those who don't have anywhere else to go <3

AND TAKING OUR TOP SPOT HERE IS LITERALLY THE MOST CHARACTER EVER: Kurt Hummel!!!!! This is literally canon. You can disagree with me on this, but you'd be wrong, His body is LITERALLY a rum chocolate souffle--if he doesn't warm it up, it doesn't rise. He makes tar-tar for housewarming parties for his future stepbrother. He planned a whole ass wedding. He realy can do it all I'm so obsessed with his little freak ass <333

THANKS SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS!!!! I put... way too much thought into it, but i had SUCH a blast!!! <3333

they evicted my teeth. pls send me asks while i recover <3

[luvmagician]

Ok, I'll be the one, Fubuki!!

you didnt say which number so i answered all 30 of them

1. My first impression of them

me and GX really had an enemies to lovers arc i could barely sit through the first episode after finishing DM the guitar stings were too much. i did not care much for any of the characters. it grew on me though we are besties now obvs

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

i think i realized how much i liked S1 nightshroud first bc i love campy and ostentatious femme villains and then my love spread to regular fubuki around the time i got to s4 and then he graduated to a proper Blorbo and well the rest is history…

3. A song that reminds me of them

go fish by cub (ask me no more questions / ill tell you no more lies / about my sweet little trip to the other side) also obligatory fubuki playlist link

4. How many people I ship them with

off the top of my head 4 (ryo yusuke reggie manga!jim) but my interpretations tend to stretch the definition of “ship”

5. My favorite ship of them

idols hehe ^_^ lh4wds couple (lighthouse 4 wine dark sea)

6. My least favorite ship of them

theres not any i particularly dislike to be honest. hes a charismatic guy.

7. A quote of them that you remember

WHEN STAGE LIGHT HITS YOU THAT WHICH IS BEHIND YOU IS SACRIFICED TO SHADOW ! 🌟

8. Your favorite outfit of them

first i have to come out as an turn 60 austin powers cosplay enjoyer so sue me the purple looks nice on him secondly HIS LADY OSCAR OUTFIT!!! I WISH I COULD PICK THE BRAIN OF THE ANIMATOR WHO PUT HIM IN HER OUTFIT SOOO BAD ITS EVERYTHING TO ME

9. Your least favorite outfit of them

nightshroud outift but only when its lit by cool lighting and looks gray thats when its ugly when its lit warm and looks brown its flattering!! see theres a stark difference here!!

10. Describe the character in one sentence

11. What's the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

“BUKI!!! :)” <- too happy to formulate coherent thoughts

12. Sexuality hc!

little bisexual weirdo

13. Your favorite friendship they have

manjoume and him are so sweet and funny thats his little guy. thats the chihuahua to his valley girl

14. Best storyline they had

season 4 makes me screammm its about absence as a presence its about how running from something only gives it more power over you its about confronting the horrors and chosing to live with them instead of dying to escape them…

15. Worst storyline they had

the jokes around his treatment of asuka in the show proper arent Great but i have a thick enough skin to slough through it… that being said the flanderization he endures in the spinoff games especially cross duel SUUCCKKK the “trying to marry off my bitch sister” jokes werent funny in 2004 they arent funny now STOP TRYING TO BRING THEM BACK. even more of a bummer bc i think his love for love and romance are such endearing parts of his character seeing them flattened down into bad jokes makes me -___-

16. childhood headcanon

regularly held concerts for an audience of his stufffed animals drew flyers to hand out and everything it was a whole production.

17. What do you think their first word was?

he needs attention. something attention grabbing like “HI” or “HEY!” or “ME!” something like that

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

he was just as outgoing and chipper but also.. yk he was an emotional feminine kid with long hair who didnt like conflict and kids are mean.. but i think asuka looked out for him a lot and beat up his bullies

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them

fubuki/shoji (manjoumes older brother) is so funny. i love it btw i think its such a serve and there are interesting ways you can spin it like yess fubuki chase the childhood you barely got to live by hooking up with a man who looks eerily like your highschool protege and maybe gold dig while your at it

20. A weird headcanon

i think him and asuka grew up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere (nowhere near the ocean he just picked up surfing really fast his freshman year) and them and the marufujis have a lil country mouse city mouse thing going on. and i draw him with rubber bands on his fingers to help with his memory issues :)

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

freshman year of duel academy he was on top of da world baby

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

the almost two years he spent in the nihilism nightmare depression hell dimension or the day he found out Prince died

23. Future headcanon

he does acting and entertainment dueling and shows up on variety shows and keeps teasing his album but refuses to release it until he he can get asuka to feature on a song. if he did ever release music all his music videos concepts would have a rich interlocking story ala the loonaverse

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

he dodges questions about the darkness BIG TIME and even lies about like the time he lies to judais face about how oh im fine :) the darkness isnt in me anymore :) he really doesnt want to worry people i think he goes to his grave with just how much his time there sucked and how he suffered afterward. i dont think he would ever tell ryo or asuka how bad it really was

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

this is hard hes on screen like 4 times

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

fubuki is always himself even at the absolute height of his performance and apparent detachment from reality because the act of performance is so baked into his character he would not be truly “himself” without it. he is both the mask and the wearer.

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

HE SHOULD MEET JOEYYY i think joey wheeler is his personal hero… also him and ryan akagi from infinity train book 4 could absolutely kick it. two dudes who want to become rock stars and were trapped in hell/purgatory for a while

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

the pensive ukulele strumming to punctuate his revenge monologue to kagemaru

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

I THINK HED BE A GREAT PARENT !!! a bit overbearing and doting but only bc he loves so so much.. hed be so good with young kids until they grow into teens and realize hes cringe

30. The funniest scene they had?

gotta be dropping down from the ceiling to call gay people “taboo and thrilling” and his sister homophobic

if you made it this far.. thank you for indulging my craziness 💖

[spicedrobot]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @bluedaddysgirl! Sorry this took so long. ;;

I'll tag: @withercrown @a-aristippus @lacertae-dreamscape @aevallare @loveoaths @kevystel @frogunderarock @wolveria @dreaminghour @bright-thorn @kitewithfish

And anyone else who wants an excuse to do this please tag me I'd love to read your answers!! 🥺💖💖💖

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

134.

2. What's your total A03 word count?

444,065

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I started my writing days in Overwatch and most of my fics are from that era, but most recently, I've written for Star Wars, Baldur's Gate 3 and Arcane.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

A New Era - First Jayvik fic I wrote, and somehow it's at the top of the jayvik ao3 tag by kudos even though it's mindrot I wrote between episode breaks. Sorry long form jayvik writers ;;

Lost Time - life-affirming jayvik sex after the s1 finale. I'm just now realizing that all my top kudos fics are jayvik LMAO

Opposites - jayvik fic where someone talks up Viktor at a party and Jayce gets jealous.

Arcane Ficlets - my randomly assorted Arcane stuff I wrote via tumblr asks. All jayvik too 😂

Warm Heart - Viktor has cold hands but Jayce knows just how to warm him up.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! But sometimes it takes me months to get back to people. Once the inbox number ticks up I get a little nervous ;; which only makes the problem worse!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I tend not to write anything that ends too angsty. I have one or two that have a sort of bad-end vibe. Usually I'll write an angsty ending then delete and rewrite. LOL

Maybe this silco/viktor fic: Back Down? Since Viktor knows he shouldn't be messing around with Silco but he's so drawn to him.

Runner up: one of my ramyatta fics Stargazing because it shows the difference between their past relationship and the present at the end, where they are no longer together. t _ t

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Encore, since I wrote it because Outer Wilds canon endings beat me up so badly. LOL

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Very rarely!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Almost always. Any kind, basically. LOL I love pining and unestablished relationship like crazy, and both characters just falling into sex with each other. Blow jobs, possessiveness, breeding kinks, ritualistic sex, size difference, voyeurism, smell stuff, sex pollen, outfits... a VERY wide range. 😂

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I almost never write them. I think I have written a few fics that just takes characters and puts them into another game's setting, but that's about it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Most I had one of my ramyatta fics translated into chinese. I've also had my only symbrock fic made into a podfic.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really. I've done a fic with bluedaddysgirl that was Thrawn/Cad Bane, but mostly I collaborate with artists to do illustrations of my work. I did some RPing back in the day, but none of that's going to see the light of day LOL

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Probably genyatta? But honestly, I have so so many. Obimaul also has a special place in my heart.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My last year's nanofic. It was an AU where Bo-Katan never saved Obi-Wan from Mandalore, so he remained Maul's prisoner. It was going to be a what if where Maul realizes he doesn't know what to do with Obi-Wan now that he's finally exacted his revenge, and they would slowly fall in love while doing powerplays the whole time. LOL It was a bit weird because I had to write it so fast, so a lot of the fic was just Savage and Obi-Wan interacting, so it almost made it seem as if they would be the better pairing TBH. It just needs so much reworking and IDK if I have the power. It probably just needs an entire re-write.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel I'm very good at condensing ideas into short word counts. I also think my sex scene writing, specifically my dirty talk, is pretty good! That's one of those things that I can't stand to read if it's bad in fanfic, so I try to make what they say as in character as I can. 😳

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing anything longer holy shit. I'm really terrible at it because as soon as I have to deal with pacing it's a death sentence for my motivation. 💀💀💀

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It can be done well? But only if you are a fluent speaker. I personally don't do it because I'm an idiot who only knows one language, and I don't want to mess up the mood of writing by accidentally making an embarrassing gaff in another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In my life? Probably Kingdom Hearts. On my ao3 account: Dragon Age: Inquisition.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Definitely Polite Company, my Obimaul reverse AU fic. It's the longest thing I've ever written and posted. SUCH a comfort fic to me, and it was a blast to work on. There's just something so fun about writing Jedi Maul that I still can't get over it. The ideas kept coming for that fic which almost never happens for me, and somehow it was fairly well received, which I'm just so ridiculously grateful for. I'm always surprised at how much Obimaul isn't a main pairing for Obi-Wan when they have such ridiculous chemistry. Not even 600 fics on all of ao3 for them💀💀💀 A crime!!

[sterlingarcher23]

Stranger Things and the quantum mechanics of time travel.

How El & Max travel through time.

I always pronounce the name in German that's why it didn't click. His name is Max - the Planck constant. With his work Max Planck layed the groundwork for modern day quantum physics/mechanics in science.

The Planck constant was a clue they gave us to point to quantum mechanics/physics and time travel. Quantum mechanics holds the scientific key to time travel and can even bypass the Grandfather paradox.

The one used in ST is from 2017,not the 80s which on face value looks like a mistake: 6.62607004

However if you split the number in half.

6+6+2+6 = 20

7+0+0+4 = 11

(That numbers, even dates put into an equation will turn to either 11 or 20 isn't unusual in Stranger Things: Mike tries to contact El 353 times, in the first DnD game Will needs a 13 but rolls a 7, Max's trailer number is 56 etc etc)

This split in half leads to another thought I had and others had but only in regards to Henry: that he was split. What if he wasn't the only one and there are two Elevens too, we just know them under a different name and face (I'll elaborate on that in another post)

Max was sent into another dimension & into the future.

Gates react depending on the emotions involved - fear and anger sent Henry into the Upside-down and love and compassion sent Max.. somewhere else. And it's just Max's mind. A gate was open. A mind gate. (We see the door of the Creel house is not in it's hinges when Max is there, meaning for her the door is open)

That's why they have parallels & mirrors. Literal mirrors as Max sees her counterpart, Henry, in the mirror, the left eye "blind" (there are other things they have in common like red & green clothing, a shot of Max in the gym vs Henry in the promo poster for that stage play thingy.)

We see the kaleidoscope before the teleportation - in El's "memory" before the zooming effect, the rainbow on Max's face & in the rainbow room. The most intriguing thing is that two kids use the rainbow as a bridge or road, playing with some toy cars on it.

And on the hand the colors we see from El's memory... It's a birth. Later associated with an electric shock when El is revived by Owens & Brenner.

"And there upon a rainbow is the answer to a neverending story. " - a rainbow bridge. A time vortex as it's called in Doctor Who. There also known as a Bifröst. Through a birth canal.

"Show no fear for she may fade away. In your hand the birth of a new day."

The association between this and "sent into another dimension" is obvious: El figuratively gave birth to or created something? Or at least helped. If not at least in a metaphorical way? . Most importantly Max's mind was send over this rainbow bridge (due to a fact that I noticed later/after this initial post - a zooming effect around El's head after the rainbow sequence) especially bc it appeared in the script during the revival, not before, a new dimension by teleportation of a being/mind. In connection to the electric shock/lighting bolt that can be seen in S1, framed by Blue and Yellow, and in the stained glass windows "eye" and in we have another association with the hints toward the 1.21 Gigawatts.

My Back to the future posts (a bit older and not 100% up to date & remember how BttF was literally in Season 3).

And the teleportation/transportation (as a metaphor) has been foreshadowed earlier when Max is in the hallway with the drawing of a rainbow starting with dots like it's disassembled into it's particles. (Comic book down below as an example of how you can do this in art)

According to an article (link down below) the physicist Timothy C Ralph ".... suggests using teleportation for time traveling, although in a different setting, namely, displacing the entangled resource in time." (This could be a coincidence but Tangled was pointed out as an inspo for S4. Tangled...entangled. The Creel house rose window that shows Blue and Yellow entangled. I don't know but it wouldn't surprise me if they tried to connect these things. So, this is definitely open for interpretation.)

Quantum mechanics, time travel/time displacement, wormholes (the DeLorean uses a wormhole btw and the time displacement is actually mentioned as a line).

They adapt these ideas (only on surface level), put in hints but basically, they told us what happened...it even makes it possible that Henry ended up in the past, defying the grandfather paradox.

We are talking about time travel via teleportation/transportation into another "dimension" .

Why else use these words in this manner in the script if not suggesting exactly that. (it could have been "when El remembered her birth/love of her mother yet this is not mentioned. Terry is probably just another proxy & Jane Ives just a...disguise). And mind lairs/inner worlds can be interpreted as exactly that: dimensions. I'm talking about Max's mind lair.

And then there was the hint towards "A wrinkle in time" and Mrs Whatsit. Madeleine L'Engle herself was fascinated by science like theoretical physics and like her the Duffers use these for ST.

In regards to quantum mechanics, you need to keep in mind a spin. "Deep inside all matter in the universe, electrons are buzzing around and behaving as if they are twirling around on their axes like spinning tops. These "spinning" electrons are fundamental to quantum physics and play a central role in our understanding of atoms and molecules."

ElMax itself has a visible spin. (credit to givehimthemedicine noticing this)

I give you the Flux Capacitor and it's spinning too.

Time travel however will work more like in "Days of Future Past" in which Logan's future mind was sent back in time into his younger self. Same body, different time. Like sleeping.

We saw for example quantum physics used as a means to travel through time and space in Endgame too. (I use these two examples only to showcase that others have done similar things too - it's not a direct inspo {necessarily} )

Except in Stranger Things and Max's case it's the future: an immediate time jump.

Brenner’s death shows a spin too and Henry is connected to things that spin like mills.

Why? Because that day in the lab, Henry/Edward was not only sent into another dimension but was also displaced in time. (Likely it were two Henry's from two timelines or he was split - the latter more likely. Others thought in this direction already. Same with El & Max?). Like Max was now sent into the future.

And be reunited with El during the jump:

For reference reasons.

The article by TC Ralph:

[snowaftermidnight]

WAIT NO I WAS COOKING HOLD ON

ok again. gotta double check to make sure im not missing info but i finished re-listening to the s1 commentary earlier and they CONFIRMED that the house in 11 and 14 is the same location irl as brian's house

i ended up writing out my thought process as i was figuring shit out bc this was confusing as hell but its under the cut if ur curious :p

In Season 1: 2 main locations irl (where Alex is shown)

Troy’s mom’s house (Entries 1, 6, 8, and possibly 3)

Cast townhouse rented by Brian, Troy, and Joseph (Entries 11, 14, 16-18, 20, 23)

Confirmed to be Brian’s house by Alex in entry 20; hallway matches hallway seen in 16, 18, and 23

In canon, this is not explained, either to avoid giving too much information or to obscure which houses were supposed to be the same in-universe

I cannot use the same excuse; I have to figure out my own storyline to make sense of this in the scope of the series

In other words: ALL WRITING CHOICES ARE INTENTIONAL WHEN ANALYZING A STORY, WHETHER OR NOT THE AUTHORS MEANT THEM TO BE

Possible explanations:

3 separate houses

Alex moves 5 total times over the course of mh (including later seasons)

Brians house and house in entries 11 and 14 are different buildings in-universe, despite being filmed at the same location

Order of appearance is chronological for s1

1 & 6 show the first house (???-summer 2006)

11 & 14 show second (summer 2006)

71 & 72 show third (summer 2006)

26 shows fourth, technically amy and jess’s house (2006-april 2010)

44 & 48 show fifth (april 2010-sept 2011)

After this point, Alex is on the run

Problems with theory:

House-hopping and money are part of the suspense of disbelief of mh, but it seems a bit excessive that Alex would move 3 times in just 3 months

Could show just how much the operator affected him BUT

He was a college student. The housing economy wasnt as bad in 2006 but cmon man

Splitting the locations up so much makes things super confusing

This could be used well in showing the operator’s influence

But it also means more work for me

It also also means I need to make more stuff up when mapping each location

I’d have to avoid making the same locations look too similar, which could backfire and make it more confusing for myself

2 separate houses; Brian’s house is the outlier

Alex moves 4 times total

Brians house and house in entries 11 and 14 are different buildings in-universe, despite being filmed at the same location

House in 1 & 6 and house in 11 & 14 are the same building, despite being filmed in different locations

Order of appearance is still fairly chronological

1, 6, 11, & 14 show the first house (???-summer 2006)

71 & 72 show second(summer 2006)

26 shows third, technically amy and jess’s house (2006-april 2010)

44 & 48 show fourth (april 2010-sept 2011)

After this point, alex is on the run

Problems with this theory:

Layout of Troy’s mom’s house and house shown in 11 & 14 isn’t visibly different (thanks to most of the initial entries showing it being dark)

However the townhouse is clearly much smaller and the difference in size feels jarring

It’s also much harder to figure out how to make the two houses fit together, and how to differentiate this townhouse from Brian’s house

2 separate houses: Troy’s mom’s house is the outlier

Alex moves 5 times total

Brians house and house in entries 11 and 14 are the same building in-universe, filmed at the same location

House in 1 & 6 and house in 11 & 14 are different buildings, filmed in different locations

Implies that Alex hid out in Brian’s house after sacrificing the rest

“I just woke up in this house” (entry 22)

Imo much more interesting story-wise

Order of appearance is still chronological

1, 6 show the first house (???-summer 2006)

11, 14, 16-18, 20, & 23 show second, aka brian’s house (summer of 2006)

71 & 72 show third (summer 2006)

26 shows fourth, technically amy and jess’s house (2006-april 2010)

44 & 48 show fifth (april 2010-sept 2011)

After this point, alex is on the run

Problems with this theory:

Some of the set-dressing changes, and camera angles make it hard to prove the buildings are the same BUT there’s creator confirmation (s1 commentary)

There are almost no shots of the first house (probably intentional, maybe check mh film scenes?)

They’re all the same house

No

This was the og theory

Differences between troy’s mom’s house and townhouse are too big to ignore (“disappearing” patio)

I was kinda right tho lol

NOTES:

Entry 22 (found at the red tower, not given to Jay by Alex)

We were the only 2 left

And I left him

Brian is gone

Tim, Jay, and Sarah

Everyone is gone

I just woke up in this house

With the tape

Seth’s camera is gone

All I can remember from the night is right here

All I can remember at all is on the tape now

I’m leaving this house

I thought I would be safer here

By running away

But everything’s just gotten worse

I’m going back to my home

And I’m burning these tapes

All of them

All characters were sacrificed BEFORE Alex woke up in Brian’s house

That means it went 71 -> 56 -> 54 -> 22 (Jay (and Sarah) -> Tim -> Brian -> Seth)

Tim, Brian, and Seth were all sacrificed in the same weekend, and 22 (Seth) is the last entry Alex films before attempting to burn the tapes

He had to give Jay the tapes before burning the rest, and used it as an opportunity to sacrifice him

SO the house in 71 and 72 is actually the second house

STORYLINE:

Alex begins filming MH while living at the house shown in entries 1, 3, & 6

After being harassed and stalked by the operator, he moves to the house in 71 & 72 (still during summer 2006)

At some point near the end of those 3 months, he attempts to purge the operator by sacrificing everyone

Entries 11 and 14 consist of the two nights Alex stays at Brian’s house during the weekend he brings them to the abandoned hospital

Unclear if Brian is there during the first night

At the end of entry 22, Alex goes back to his house (shown in 71 & 72) to fully move out and move in with Amy

He’s still living with Amy until he films entry 26 on April 4, 2010

again again i gotta double triple quadruple check etc but it felt rlly cool figuring this stuff out! idk what the general consensus is on locations for s1 but i think most ppl assume each house shown is a diff location so. even if i didnt help clear stuff up for u guys i hope my half-assed detective work was entertaining (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 11

Link for Seasons  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10

You know the drill by now, I’ll judge whether an episode has all the qualities of a canon one, or is it just shameless filler. S11E1 With Apologies to Jesse Jackson is LORE

N-word for white people gets banned instantly. Again, a major character in this one will return as a henchman later, but that's a minor role with one line. S11E2 Cartman Sucks is FILLER

Butters goes to camp. Eric gets himself in a tricky situation that will be forgotten by next time. S11E3 Lice Capades is FILLER

The boys have lice. Clyde's lice moves on. S11E4 The Snuke is FILLER

Bahir moves in, he moves out, a bomb doesn't even do anything in the end. S11E5 Fantastic Easter Special is CANON

Because Jesus is shown to resurrect himself time and time again, which explains his future appearances, otherwise his S6 death and later returns would be pretty much unexplained. S11E6 D-Yikes! is CANON

Janet has an interesting change when she realizes her attraction to women, a part of her character journey of self-discovery. S11E7 Night of The Living Homeless is FILLER

Eric breaks record of jumping over homeless people. While I consider this as filler content in South Park, remind me if I ever do a Happy Days filler guide to include this one as canon! S11E8 Le Petit Tourette is LORE

As with South Park is Gay from season 7, this one helps to establish Craig Tucker's interest in boys, and this one even foreshadows what's his type is like! S11E9 More Crap is CANON

In my mind, when I started writing about this season it started like: Can you imagine the world where I would say this one's canon? And then I would make a joke and advise everyone to skip it. However reading through the transcript of the banned episode 200 of Emmy Award winning series South Park just to make sure, I found Bono making a very specific reference to this one episode, unlike Sally Struthers for instance, who says very basic things about South Park that made her episode only important enough to count as LORE, as did many other celebrities. Thanks Bono, you have a new record now, interfering with my calculations and gaining the longest paragraph in my guide. S11E10 & S11E11 & S11E12 Imaginationland is FILLER

I know, I know, everyone wanted these to be canon, including myself at one point. And don't worry, my step-sister is going to beat me up over this one so it's already taken care of. My bottom line is that these episodes (also once retconned into a second movie) are somewhat a separate entity from the rest of the series, knowing the characters is needed to it, but the world-building is vastly different from the rest of the show, so this is where it ends up. Imagination is real. Filler is real too. That's the main takeaway. S11E13 Guitar Queer-O is FILLER

After what just happened I can't even take this one seriously. It's like robbing a bank and then jaywalking. S11E14 The List is CANON

Stan and Wendy make up. That's a spectacular episode anyway, but for our intents and purposes for inspecting a continuous story, unlike imagination territory, or a random terrorist attacks, relationship drama is exactly the kind of stuff that gets a pass.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not. S11E1 With Apologies to Jesse Jackson is LORE* S11E2 Cartman Sucks is FILLER S11E3 Lice Capades is FILLER S11E4 The Snuke is FILLER S11E5 Fantastic Easter Special is CANON S11E6 D-Yikes! is CANON S11E7 Night of The Living Homeless is FILLER S11E8 Le Petit Tourette is LORE** S11E9 More Crap is CANON S11E10 & S11E11 & S11E12 Imaginationland is FILLER S11E13 Guitar Queer-O is FILLER S11E14 The List is CANON *Two minor members of a later organization gain their motives here **If you want to learn about Craig's type in dating

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13  S2: 3 out of 18  S3: 6 out of 18  S4: 10 out of 17  S5: 8 out of 14  S6: 11 out of 17 S7: 6 out of 15 S8: 4 out of 14 S9: 8 out of 14 S10: 4 out of 14 S11: 4 out of 14

Overall: 73 out of 168

[blacklister214]

Shadow and Bones Season 2: What a Mess

SPOILERS

............................................................................................................................

I didn’t hate all of Shadow and Bone S2. They did some good stuff:

1) Loved Nikolai and Co.

2) Loved Wylan and Jesper

3) Loved Nina

4) Loved Genya’s and David’s romance

5) Loved Kaz and Inej

6) Loved that they kept Mal and Malina in a likable relationship, albeit the first love type where the break-up comes from a realization you want different things in life.

7) Loved that Nikolai and Mal develop a friendship, despite being on a love triangle.

8) Loved the initial Firebird explanation. Way clearer than the book.

9) Loved that they developed a work around for Mal being an amplifier.

10) Loved the parallel of the Fold being created and destroyed in grief.

11) Loved that Mal coming back to life comes from somewhere. 

12) Loved the Alina has to live with consequences of having the power she does. I’m very much looking forward to the realization that Alexzander was not actually wrong about him and the Fold not being the only problem.  

13) Loved Kaz’s facing the realization that he needs a little more purpose in his life than just profit.

Now the disaster stuff:

1) Mal wants to travel the world! Mal wants to be pirate! Yeah apparently we don’t remember that in S1 he wanted to settle on farm. Cool.

2) Nikolai hired the Crows? The Crows were hired when Alina was in Ravkan territory with the (thought to be) loyal general of the second Army who was training her to take down the Fold. Lots of risk and money for unclear reward.

3) Failure to continue the modification of Alexzander’s character. After all they did in the first season to make him sympathetic and his relationship with Alina consensual and compelling, we get “He gaslit you! He wanted you to feel guilty!” In 90% of the conversations he is the creepy, violent stalker who won’t take no for an answer. He spends almost the whole season trying to seduce her into compliance, rather than being justifiably angry with her. He don’t work at all to share history of Grisha oppression or bring up the modern day genocide. He cuts off his mother’s finger, disfigures Genya, wipes out villages and camps protecting orphanages, and preaches that grisha and non-grisha can’t live in harmony, despite there being at least one country where they do.  

4) Ivan and Fedyor are gone and no one cares. I thought Ivan, who after all was the one who took it upon himself to kill the diplomats, would be Alexzander’s bad angel this season and Fedyor the good. After all, if a mapmaker can escape through the fold alive, Ivan definitely could.

5) No consequences for Marie’s death, the fire-summoning twins death or Baghra’s attempted murder of Mal. Come ON! Darkling had the chance to throw so much Crow and Baghra related shade. Alina really deserved to be told her new BFFs are not only attempted slavers (her), but directly killed two Grisha, the first for trying to protect her, and the second who was avenging her brother, and indirectly killed her friend for the sake diversion. And yes Alina, let’s trust Baghra who tried to murder your boyfriend. 

6) No consequences for the Diplomats’ deaths or Ravka’s weakened state. So thoughtful for all of Ravka’s enemies to ignore the murder of its representatives, the decimation of Ravka’ troops, loss of Ravka’ ultimate Grisha weapons, the incompetence of Ravka’s active ruler, and not invade. With enemies like these, who needs friends, am I right?   

7) The insanity of the tether rules. Alina’s gets flying sparks, but not Alexzander. Alexander can blow out candles, but has no physical form when Alina fights him. They both must be thinking of each or...or if one person is unconscious. Grabbing an arm opens the group chat as longer as you are a blood relation.  In fact if you are blood relations, no contact with the linked pair is required.  Alexzander has never experienced this before with his mother because reasons! If your hand is cut off in the tether world, it gets cut off in the real world and Baghra knew that even though the bridge thing was a David one of a kind invention.

8) Alina doesn’t really morally or emotionally struggling until the end. She doesn’t get to see any of Kirigan’s history or the history of Grisha through his eyes so she get to keep her sense of moral absolutes. Alexzander doesn’t even remind her, when she says the Grisha persecution was his fault, that she nearly lost her head to a Druskelle two hours after learning she was one.  She barely has to deal with the bad royals before they are killed/banished. Her sacrifice wasn’t much of one, since 1) he was dying any way and 2) she immediately reversed it. 

9) Mal is court-marshaled and then escapes off screen with no story impact what-so-ever. Why include it at all?

10) The blending of the armies goes off without incident, despite the fact the first army has been bitter about the second army’s privileges for years or that the first army has been carrying out grisha genocide for a month or so.

11) Why isn’t Zoya WAY more judgmental about Mattias? It like being A Jewish member of the Resistance in WWII and your fellow rebel decides to elope with a member of the Gestapo.  

12) The insanity of amplifiers. The Stag gave power to Alina, and that is not discussed at all. The bone mounting was unnecessary apparently.

13) Where are all the healers now, and why is Genya suddenly being treated like one?    

14) The Apparat popping back up at the last minute out of nowhere

15) Inej gives the first butterfly to Tolya, not Kaz or Jesper.

16) David not getting into the elevator with Genya and using his abilities to seal and push the button from the inside. 

17) Mattias knows Nina has been to see him, and that someone has gotten him out of the fight rotation, but decides to throw in with his cellie’s murderer. Cool.

18) No apparent consequences for bringing back Mal, despite Merzost having a price.

19) Inej getting her flirt on 5 seconds after her dramatic ultimatum for Kaz.

20) Nina getting a Ravkan pardon for a Kerch prison.

21) Alina’s crazy face after using a shadow cut, when she’s shown no sign of mental imbalance before this point. 

[omniuravity]

Ranking all of the songs in Helluva Boss:

This list will not include songs in the Pilot (The Jingle and Oh Millie), minor songs (the Teacher's Song, My World Is Burning Down Around Me), or Just Look My Way (cause I haven't seen the video yet)

Here's the list! From least to most favorite.

19. Chaz Time (S2 Ep3)

It was a short song and honestly not a good song. I do like Chaz's voice though.

18. Mustang Dong (S1 Ep3)

It's a good song, but there are better songs.

17. Crashin' A Muthafuckin' Wedding (S2 Ep3)

It kind of reminds me of Before He Cheats, Church Bells, and I Don't Even Know Her Name. It's definitely a badass Millie song.

16. Til the Day We Die (S2 Ep2)

This is just a worse version of "Oh Millie". It's not bad, just not really good.

15. Striker's Song (Sweet Victory) (S1 Ep5)

This song has always just been eh to me. It's not a bad song, but I'm honestly not a fan.

14. The Ballad of Striker (S2 Ep4)

I like this a little more then Sweet Victory, but it's not really as good.

13. Stolas Sings (S2 Ep1)

This is probably the weakest song sang by Stolas. It's definitely heartbreaking, but it is not as strong as Stolas' other songs.

12. Juggling Iz Cool (S2 Ep7)

I love Tom Cardy, so this might be a little biased. However, this is a good song. I just wish it was longer.

11. Regular Joe (S2 Ep5)

I'm honestly not that big of a fan of the Millie songs, but it is pretty good. I have been waiting for Millie's character development, and this episode never really gave it to me.

10. You Got The Power (Millie's Big Show) (S2 Ep5)

This song intercut with the fight between Blitzø, Moxxie, Barbie, and the teen is really good. It is a pretty good song.

9. Crooked (S2 Ep7)

I wish this was higher cause I love Fizz and Ozzie. However, I still really like this as one of the only love songs that isn't sang by Moxxie and Millie.

8. Vacay to Bonetown (S1 Ep3)

I love this song despite it being so short, it's still a good song.

7. Moxxie's Bad Trip (S1 Ep6)

This song is thematically strong being intercut with both Moxxie and Blitzø's hallucinations. Moxxie struggles with his fear of rejection, but so does Blitzø. Moxxie's hallucination being themed after Phantom of the Opera also makes it slightly better.

6. Klown Bitch (S2 Ep7)

Episode 7 of Season 2 has some of the best songs in the entire show. I'm honestly glad this song was played in the credits cause it was so good! It kind of reminds me of KDA.

5. Cotton Candy (S1 Ep8)

I love Kesha! Also this song is a great representation of Bee as a character. I think Cotton Candy was also a great way to set the scene of Bee's party.

4. Look At This! (S2 Ep6)

Might be a little biased because I love Alex Brightman, but this is just a really good song. The ending also cracks me up every time.

3. You Will Be Okay (S1 Ep2)

This song is basically More Than Anything before More Than Anything Existed. This song is what sold me on Stolas' new voice actor. I legit cried when I first heard this song.

2. House of Asmodeus (S1 Ep7)

I love the different parts of this song. It's a good cap to the end of the season. It's one of my all time favorites.

1. 2 Minutes Notice (S2 Ep7)

I think we've all had a shitty boss we wish we could sing this song to. I listened to this song nonstop for weeks after this episode came out.