#hes kidnapped in this episode btw lol

[thisusedtobeafanpage]

currently watching s12 e1 of spn and oh my god

Sam in this episode...I'm losing my mind I'm head over heels for him

[fadelbison]

Of Boats and Drama; The Turning Tides on Kant and Bison's Compatibility

obsessed with how when its during their make believe phase, when fadel says "I think I love you" to Style, Style doesn't say it back and instead just kisses him at the end of ep. 6 and during the kantbison parallel at the start of ep7 when Bison says "I love you" to Kant, Kant says "I love you" back but clearly there's baggage even if he's not lying outright.

But after the brothers kidnap their respective lovers its Style that fronts with the I love you that perplexes Fadel

and its bison that wants to hear it

but Kant jumps into the ocean instead (like you can see the beach front okay Bison is clearly devoid of killing intent here) instead of lying to him or say the same things he's been saying to dupe him.

I really think this is where the Kant and Bison compatibility is finally starting to show. Bison clearly loves his little fantasies and make belief of romance (just like style dear fucking god). I've joked before about how bison has given to his brother the lover he had envisioned for himself - the one who will plead his love, cajole and give in.

But that guy is wrong for him.

We've seen that slightly off dynamic between Kant and Bison for 6 whole episodes. And it's killed me that people kept trying to interpret them with the same rose tinted glasses that we do for Fadel and Style. Because the FadelStyle and KantBison relationship parallels aren't meant to highlight the similarities between the couples but rather the differences, that's where the information about these characters come from.

The audience knows something that Kant doesn't in the boat scene; which is that he has this in the bag already. I think this is the infamous island Bison inherited from his dad and he's brought him here to literally just talk. I know I mentioned this already but bison literally looks like he just untied the boat from shore and let it drift on its own while waiting for Kant to wake up.

Like that has got to be the minimum legal distance that a boat needs to be from shore to be considered unmoored lol. This is 'I am using your vulnerabilities against you because love is pain' shore distance not 'dead body dumping' shore distance. The body will wash up on shore before the boat even makes it back.

But for Bison, Fadel's reasonable precautions while we talk approach was not enough. He needed the ropes, the guns, the added ocean trauma because the guns didn't feel enough to instill fear, the pretty necklace he put on just so he could rip it off his throat, everything is already high drama high fantasy for him. Bison set the stage for desperate begging and tearful confessions, things he already got at the hospital btw but that wasn't enough either.

Because.

Bison doesn't need to be sold on fantasies. He had that and it sucked for everyone involved, what he needs when he's totally out of control like this is this guy:

[screenshots of Kant telling bison he wants to talk on land and he's scared of the ocean]

For six whole episodes I saw Kant be wrong for Bison and not be able to pinpoint exactly why people cawing over how cute KantBison are bothered me so much. Until, of course, Kant finally does something right and all of a sudden it just all clicks together. Bison is boisterous, headstrong and because of his unique skillset also irresponsibly dangerous. The BDSM scene also shows that despite his best intentions, Bison can and will abuse power if given to him irresponsibly.

He doesn't need the Kant that plays along with everything he does. He needs the Kant that Kant is to everyone but him. The person that Kant is when they're together is barely even Kant. He needs the calm, level headed but fiercely devoted older brother, he needs the guy that helps a hookup out because that's his duty as a human being, he needs the guy that stole cars to keep his family fed. And I'll be really honest, that's the guy that Bison loves anyway, the one he hears about from Babe and Style and James.

What Bison needs is the quiet devotion of Kant choosing his own personal hell over playing this game and furthering any deception between them even though technically it wouldn't even be a lie (Bison is literally poised to believe him); the dogged resolve that once he's decided to do this on his own terms, it happens on his own terms.

[peachyfnaf]

Hello chatters. currently 8:30 in the morning, and I've been seeing a lot of Sun love going around (based btw) which reminded me that even though I don't yap about him nearly as much as I do Nexus, Sun was also given such a short end of the stick when it came to this arc.

I don't care for Monty, but I do love Puppet, but the way they both pressured Sun into choosing what to do with Nexus (New Moon at the time)??? that shit is so fucked. and yeah, because I am who I am (a Nexus apologist lol), I was mad and hurt when Sun was unable to tell them to not kill him. but unfortunately that tracks for him.

Sun's trauma response is, most of the time, to freeze. he's done it before when confronted by past Eclipse's, Bloodmoon's- if you're willing to use other dimensions as examples, Servant Sun quite literally froze and surrendered with his hands in the air out of fear when Old Moon first met him.

So, he did it again. he was put in a terrifying situation, and he froze. which led to Nexus freezing in space too amiright ahahahahhhhh

So, shit was already fucked for him at this point. because not only did he lose a close family friend (Solar), tried to help the other 3 through their grief and prioritizing their feelings over his own because he was- objectively- the least close with Solar, lose his brother to madness (which we now know there was like 10x more to that then just 'grief' makin' him act as he did. y'know. glares at Dark Sun and NSP), could basically do NOTHING as Earth was kidnapped by Ruin/Bloodmoon, and Nexus was blasted into space by Puppet.

And even though that was the end of that main arc, dude CONTINUED TO BE HANDED L'S AFTERWARDS. Old Moon being brought back by Monty (Monty.. >:[) without Sun even being asked about it first, Sun not being given the chance to properly heal from/mourn Nexus because O.M was now there, he filled his role, and O.M does not like Nexus. (chatters, I'm gonna warn you, ever since he came back, I've been an Old Moon hater. do not like that guy.) anD THEN EVERYTHING WITH DAZZLE/EVELYN??? july 16th of this year was like a very high peak in what's, to me, a very low-on-the-chart arc, but THAT DOESN'T MEAN SUN WAS OKAY DURING IT JFCCC. the TRAUMA he was reliving during that time HURTED

And even where he is now- he got his magic back, yuippee yayyy!!!

Because of it it seems like he's now intrinsically intertwined with NSP, and multiple people want to use him as a goddamn radar to find Wither Shards now. one of those people literally being The Creator, yaknow, like the stories Biggest Bad???

And another, "oooh, yaknow, that happeneddd, ahahahahhh.." was The Creator psychologically torturing him in one of the darkest SAMS eps' to date because of it.

AND. And, finally, the most recent episode that was Yapped to me about that well. 1, just made me hate O.M more, and 2, made me want to just wrap Sun in a blanket in front of a fireplace. The "Invaded By CRINGY FNAF in Vrchat" one. the way O.M spoke to Sun in that ep, the use of the gravely K.C voice that O.M only uses when making threats, I- I'll fuckin-

LEAVE THAT LITTLE GUY ALONE. I HOPE WHEN YOU AND NEXUS INEVITABLY FIGHT YOU GET CLOCKED IN THE JAW FOR THAT ONE. GOOD LORD.

...I've been typing this for like 50 minutes, apparently I had a lot more to say when it came to Sun than I first thought DGAIEPHDWGWLAH

Canon. canon, please, let Sun do something. let him be the one to free Nexus from NSP corruption, because of how much he's been shown to be resilient to it. let Sun be the one to stop The Creator's next big scheme instead of Moon. let him do things as important as all the others instead of just cleaning. the pieces for him to do so are right there. now put them in place.

[romanceddawn]

i talk about yandere seto sometimes but in season 0 it is pretty much canon, like he is actively stalking yugi throughout the show and i think its really funny so heres a bunch of evidence of that:

the first time we see it is when he sends that first game master out, he's not only hiding to listen to the duel in the nurses office but its heavily implied that he's been stalking yugi for a little bit before that too

like at the end of the day anzu tells yugi not to go to the arcade and yugi kind of rushes off despite knowing he doesnt have the money, meaning this is a frequent thing he does, but whats more is that he's going specifically that day because someones told him theres a new game being unveiled. when he gets there he cant find it and has to ask about it, which is when we see a disguised kaiba lead him to the back alley to kidnap him (this killed me to watch btw, yugi has no self preservation, but it was cute that kaiba seemed to stutter when talking to him)

but this all means that he was watching yugi long enough to know he always goes to the arcade after school and that yugi wouldnt be able to resist coming, even if he didnt have the money, as long as there was something new to play. it also means he had someone plant the information that thered be a new game OR that kaiba just disguised himself and told yugi this which is what im choosing to believe

of course, then we get to see him actually stalking him in the triplets episode, literally driving by and watching him (which is so funny to think about cuz his driver must be so tired of him lol)

at first i honestly thought he was stalking the triplets but at the end of the episode there is no reveal that he wanted them out of the dueling scene or that he was even worried about them getting the card they wanted at all, he beat them extremely easily. his only reason for doing the duel is because he couldnt stand the thought of someone (that he hadnt sent himself) beating yugi before he could, so i think he was watching yugi, recognized the triplet, and got bothered by them trying to encroach in on his rival

he also apparently records yugi? this recording is just the first game master playing him that he shows to aileen, but who knows how many other times he's recorded him just in case he 'needed' the footage

this moment of him lamenting about being connected by fate is ooc for him and not really stalking but it is very yandere of him so im throwing it in here anyways

and of course i have to add the death t invitation because you know he was watching yugi and his friends that whole day just waiting for the perfect moment to hack into something and invite him as dramatically as possible (however i wont add any of the death t stuff cuz like. we know what happens and how obsessive he is there)

since having this in my drafts, the season 0 movie has been restored and posted to youtube and in it kaiba is technically looking out for rare cards but even then he's managing to get in some time to stalk yugi (also the way his employee says "i know sir" i just know they're so tired of his obsessive ass)

TDLR: yandere seto is canon thank you for your time

[becauseimanicequeen]

WHAT I’M CURRENTLY WATCHING

It's been a while since I made one of these lists. But here I am with a new one, including the queer shows I'm currently watching. (As always, they're in alphabetical order, because that's just how I am, lol).

4 Minutes (Thailand):

This show is my current obsession. Period. The content on my blog being 99.999999999% about 4 Minutes right now says it all.

Addicted Heroin (2024) (Thailand):

I've seen both the original as well as Stay With Me, which were both fine. I was curious enough to see what Thailand would do with it, which is why I'm watching. And I'm loving it, so far.

I like Hero, even though he's an idiot. And I like the supporting pair. Hero's dad, though... No.

Battle of the Writers (Thailand):

I still have no idea what this show is about except for a couple of writers, two of which have a history together. But, I got to see three of my Playboy babes, so that's a win for me.

First Note of Love (Taiwan):

I'm spoiled with my beloved Taiwanese QLs right now. I'm even more spoiled that I have yet another very rare show where I can actually listen to the music played and sung without muting the damn thing. And I'm spoiled fucking rotten because I've got Charles Tu on my screen again.

I love everything about this show 5 episodes in, and it makes my Mondays a lot brighter (and my Mondays were fine before this, btw).

Happy of the End (Japan):

I like my Japanese shows dark and complicated. So, I'm obviously loving this.

Hidden Moon (Thailand):

I'm only one episode into this one so I don't really have much to say other than that I like the vibe and that it's visually stunning so far (always a plus for me).

I Hear the Sunspots (Japan):

I'm a bit torn with this one. But I love the representation of the deaf community because my great-grandfather was deaf.

(Kind of unrelated, but kind of not: My great-grandfather didn't know sign language, he just read lips. And he was always most comfortable around people who treated him like just anyone else.)

I Saw You In My Dream (Thailand):

Considering I only started watching this because I saw a gif of Ai wearing a Dream Theater shirt (which was my dad's favorite band before he passed away), I wasn't expecting much. But it's surprisingly enjoyable.

The only critique I have is that they ended this week's episode right in the middle of Ai and Yu kissing. Not that I think they'll go all the way in that particular scene. One of them will probably stop. But cutting the scene there... That's just rude. (I'm joking... But kind of not.)

Kidnap (Thailand):

I'm just one episode in so I don't have much to say other than that I love that Papang is in it. I always need more of him on my screen.

Live in Love (Thailand):

This is another one I'm only one episode into (the second one comes out today), so I don't have much to say other than that I really like the vibe so far.

Monster Next Door (Thailand):

I'm a simple girl. I would watch Big in anything as long as he's kissing boys, because this boy knows how to kiss boys.

The On1y One (Taiwan):

Again, I'm spoiled with my beloved Taiwanese QLs right now. And this one is everything to me.

I knew it would be amazing (it's from the same director who made Your Name Engraved Herein) so, no surprise there. And if I wasn't so busy screaming about 4 Minutes during the little spare time I have now that I'm in the middle of a big art project, I would be screaming about this show.

I only needed 10 seconds of the first episode to be hooked (them looking at each other was all I needed to be sold). 6 episodes in, and I'm in heaven.

Seoul Blues (Korea):

This is from the same creators of Blue Boys and Bad Guy and I'm watching it solely for the chemistry and the... how should I describe it? Mellow vibe?

The Trainee (Thailand):

I had a hard time getting into this one. Mainly because I can't relate to the whole office environment thing (I've always worked for myself). But somewhere around the end of the second episode or the beginning of the third, I was sold. Mostly due to the dynamics between the characters and that everyone is unique and flawed in their own way. Plus, the colors are amazing.

It's been a while since I had at least one new episode to watch every day (I think it was sometime before the summer), so I'm starting to get back to normal again. And I love it here.

[echowithpain]

Oh shit the episode rating-

Uhh... 7/10(?)

I obviously don't like Marisol but she was barely in it cause another woman reminds Eddie of Shannon (lol get fucked). I'm all for Eddie dumping Marisol but I don't know if I like the fact that it's because someone reminds him of Shannon. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be fucking hilarious that she finds out and that's how we get rid of her, but I don't necessarily like what that means for Eddie and what his subconscious is like

My guy, please get some more therapy 😭 It helped with your panic attacks and it can help with this, I promise

I guess I'm especially worried because the episode sorta focused on the dude who kidnapped the woman and her baby and how he went to a park "trying to recreate the moment" and there was clearly something wrong with him, and now here's Eddie going on a date with a woman who reminds him of Shannon so he's gonna try to "recreate" how things were with Shannon with this new woman. Btw that storyline was... A bit difficult to follow along with? First he's the woman's husband then he's a possible boyfriend then he's a stalker but still with her??? And then he's kidnapping a child that may or may not be his and also kidnapping a mother to replace the one that's in the hospital... I'm gonna have to rewatch this episode.

Also, I didn't get to process this with the new episode trailer throwing me so off guard, but the whole thing with Eddie trying things out with the woman who reminds him of Shannon is... Really sad.

Dude, again, P L E A S E get some therapy!!!! Talk to Bobby- well not Bobby, he's gonna be busy next episode lol. Talk to Athena- no she's also gonna be busy... Talk to Buck or Hen about this so they can point you in Frank's direction and you two can sit down and he can help you process all that Shannon trauma and Catholic guilt and help you see you're in a glass closet.

Plus, I know we were all talking about a Buck breakdown this season before it started, but now I'm actually concerned about the possibility of another Eddie breakdown? I mean the pieces are all there!

...I'm worried 🙃

See y'all next week ✌️

[thetorturedlovergirl]

Watched The Cave Of Skulls for the first time !!

some opinions:

why the caveman kinda… hot.

I mean, I couldn't see shit, but when they put just his face on the screen it was like... yeah, I'd vote for him.

BTW! I don't know why people don't like cavemen politics so much (I read a lot of people complaining about it), because I thought it was entertaining to watch and I got interested in who would win. Yes, it took up a lot of the episode but I really liked how they argued over who should be the leader. It wasn't as dull as I thought it was going to be.

The Doctor acting like he's super smart and above all, just to embarrass Ian only to have himself kidnapped two seconds later pls I love him.

AND OH MY GOD, THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE TARDIS BECAME A BRITISH CITIZEN !! THE FIRST TIME IT WAS STUCK LIKE A POLICE BOX TO NEVER CHANGE!!

The music when the caveman kidnaps The Doctor is kinda like something that would appear in Scooby-Doo and I’m all for it

I also love when strange sounds appear but bc it’s black and white I can’t see shit so idk what that sound is or where it comes from but I like it.

I LOVE SUSAN STOP STOP THE WAY SHE ATTACKS THE CAVEMAN WITH A FULL FERAL SCREAM AND THROWING HER FULL BODY AT HIM OH MY GOD SHES MY ROLE MODEL

yes feral 15 year old looking alien I want to be like you

Ohhh The Doctor cares about Ian and Barbara! I loved the ending because even if he tries to show that he doesn't care, he really didn't want any of this to happen and wants everyone to be okay. The old man has a heart!

It’s very late now and I need to study for tomorrow lol so tomorrow I’ll try to watch The Forest of Fear and The Firemaker so as to have the weekend free to watch the Daleks first appearance in Doctor Who !!

[woodsfae]

B5 s04e02 Whatever Happened To Mr Garibaldi?  previous episode - table of contents

Hm, I don't remember Dr Franklin getting a voiceover episode before. He sounds so detatched. Nine days since Sheridan was presumed dead and Garibaldi disappeared, and the League has dissolved as everyone split back to their homeworlds. 

Lennier being a real g, coming to get help for Delenn. She isn't handling Sheridan's presumed death well, I imagine.

Sheridan is also not handling his presumed death well. Trapped in a tunnel with a member of a mystery species who constantly discourages one from escaping would be a major downer. 

"If I tell you my name is Lorien...." says the person who also projects on Sheridan that he's upset the alien (Lorien?) won't tell Sheridan his name. 

He will tell Sheridan that Sheridan's dead, though. And he doesn't have a pulse, so Lorien must be correct about that. It would be very irritating to be dead, feel alive, and then also be trapped in some kind of purgatory with Lorien. Tells you what you think, what you question, refuses to answer those questions, makes some more annoying statements. 

Lorien seems like...some sort of entity that lives in/is Z'Ha'Dum? But doesn't really seem to be a Shadow or aligned with them. Definitely not a plot point I saw coming.  

G'Kar is seeking some information from a salvage reseller on Garibaldi. The reseller found his Starfury, but all G'Kar got out of him before the ruckus was that he got a tip. 

So Garibaldi doesn't have a mode of transportation, wherever he is being held. 

Delenn thinks it's her fault that Sheridan died and the alliance fell apart. She's really beating herself up for never mentioning to Sheridan that theoretically, his wife could be alive. But really, he was told. He knew that no one would survive unless they turned to the Shadows, and that Anna would never help destroy the galaxy. Ergo, Anna's dead. 

"I should have loved him less and trusted him more," sadder words never spoke. 

Marcus and G'Kar seem to be somewhere else than B5. I did wonder if G'Kar was actually leaving on his search. I thought Franklin was leaving on his walk but he was just doing laps on the space station. 

G'Kar and Marcus have a sad little heart-to-heart while they're hiding out from the officials.

G'Kar: I came because Garibaldi is the only friend I've got who isn't Narnuan. Marcus: Ouch, well, I came because you're my only Narnuan friend and btw most of my friends are dead. 

The bartender's only question when informed that G'Kar has a bounty for alive or dead is to ask which one is higher. But before he can do anything about it, Marcus has kidnapped him for an interrogation! da da dum. 

Dr Franklin is much better at being reassuring when he isn't hitting on his patient. Unfortunate that was a plotline for him more than once, lol. 

Awww. Delenn gets a moment of happiness, watching one of Sheridan's personal logs where he talks about how much he loves her. 

G'Kar sent Marcus away to find out who Montagne is - the information he learned from the bartender - and immediately gets shot and captured by the officials...wherever G'Kar is. 

Delenn has been reinvigorated and is planning a new initiative with some hardy volunteers who aren't put-off by her extremely suicidal plan to attack Z'Ha'Dum. 

"As a dear friend said to me: "If you're falling off a mountain, you might as well try to fly...""

Ma'am you got that from Sheridan's diary personal log.

Londo is an excellent suck-up. 

ahaha, that's such a tiny bell th Emperor keeps around. 

G'Kar has been delivered to the Emperor, who is gifting him (gag) to Londo. 

Huh. G'Kar is dedicated to his task of find Garibaldi...he asks the Emperor if he knows where Garibaldi is! 

Flash to Garibaldi - imprisoned and being interrogated. What happened after he was removed From Babylon 5? He refuses to answer and also wrecks his cell before being gassed out. That tracks for him. 

Londo, somewhat compassionately, lays out the situation for G'Kar. He says he would have killed G'Kar with dignity if he was tired of living, but since he left B5, made himself vulnerable, and was captured, he'll be tortured for days or months, then surgically disassembled while being kept alive and conscious as long as possible. 

And then he says that G'Kar may be the means he has been waiting for to remove the Emperor. But G'Kar will certainly suffer greatly before it can be manuevered. That's not much comfort thanks, Londo. 

Does G'Kar get to go down in history as the Narn who killed two consecutive Centauri Emperors?! That's badass if so, unfortunate about the past and upcoming torture. 

G'Kar says he'll do it if Londo makes the Centauri withdraw from Narn afterwards. And Londo gives his word. 

Something tells me the Shadows are going to possess him and not let him do it? 

Back to Sheridan - back to where he started by his fire in the cave where he woke up. Lorien tells him to give up, but Sheridan' won't give up. Lorien, who claims to be not one of the first ones, but the first one of the elder beings that disappeared. He says he's been waiting for someone to talk to but that Sheridan is the first one to make it that far. 

He also says the Shadows come to Z'Ha'Dum because of him, and they think they're paying respect. That's so funny, tho. 

Lore drop from Lorien continues. Vorlons can break off pieces of their consciousnesses and attach them to other beings and thereby travel in multiple places throughout the galaxy. Lorien says he and Kosh both need to give up and die. 

Sheridan says he won't, because people depend on him. Lorien insists that he isn't pursuing life, he's fleeing death, so he has to give up and accept death so he can live. 

It's. Alright as a plotline I guess. But the paradoxical life/death thing is mostly just funny. He's reassuring Sheridan into accepting death by promising he'll try to keep Sheridan alive. Which...seems to contradict the requirement that he accept death. How can he give in, if he's clinging to hope? 

Eh, I guess I'll find out.

the legend continues...

[azure-firecracker]

Hello! For your TXF ask game (great idea btw!), please may I ask the following:

N - Now you’ve been given a pen and a chance to write your own episode. Describe it!

I - If you could change one thing about the show, what would it be? Why would you change it, how would you make it better?

Thank you :)

Ooh two fun ones! Thank you! It got long so I put my answers under the cut lol.

The ask game is here.

N: Because I am never done fixing the Season 2 kidnapping ratio.

This episode takes place sometime between One Breath and Irresistible. Throughout the episode, the viewers can see Mulder’s apparent fear for Scully whenever danger arises, and he throws himself in front of her to the point of recklessness whenever danger appears. The terror that her abduction has left in him is very raw. Scully, in this episode, is more reserved (à la beginning of Irresistible).

A cult is targeting victims who believe they’ve been abducted by aliens. They’re found alive - for all intents and purposes - but they’ve simply ceased to function. Scully determines some fancy medical condition as the cause of death, but Mulder is convinced that it’s abduction-related. The more the investigation goes on, the more he becomes convinced that Scully is the next target.

At one point, they follow some trail of evidence and they find one of the cult members who begins doing some sort of magic ritual. Mulder panics and tries to get Scully out of there, but he ends up getting her hurt (nothing major) and the cult member escapes. Scully and Mulder fight about her needing protection or not and Mulder’s paranoia - stuff they never talked about but should have.

Scully, at this point, discovers that one of the victims was actually delusional and had never been abducted at all. She begins reviewing some medical files again and notices that parts of the prefrontal cortex of every victim has been damaged (magically but damaged). She puts it together and realizes that the common thread between the victims isn’t the abduction but their belief. She rushes off to find Mulder - but he’s gone! Because he ditched her and went off to find the cult by himself! Without realizing he was a target!

Anyway Mulder is doing a voiceover as he drives off to the middle of nowhere to find the cult and it’s all about how sorry he is for everything and how he doesn’t want to leave Scully but he can’t lose her again (think End Game email coded). BUT the cult does this spell thing to make his car drive off the bridge and they drag him (unconscious) out of the river.

(Did we really think I was writing this without a damsel in distress Mulder moment?)

Anyway Scully puts together the cult’s location somehow and goes after him. She gets to do a high-stakes negotiation with the cult leader when Mulder is literally about to be ritual sacrificed and they’re going to drain his life force out of him (scary!). By the way he’s conscious but very out of it. She convinces the cult leader to let him go but the rest of the cult goes bananas and she has to fight them. Slay.

Anyway she wins and then she kneels down, face full of worry, as he opens his eyes, and they don’t say anything but they do hug.

We get a post-climax resolution to their fight where Scully is playing doctor and they’re talking about protection again and Mulder says he never thought she couldn’t handle herself but he was scared of losing her again, and Scully says don’t you think I feel that way too when you do stupid stuff like this? Anyway it’s not completely resolved but it’s a heart to heart. There’s probably a forehead kiss in here too.

But the last shot of the episode is Mulder leaving the office and Scully, who has been very calm and collected, if defensive, this whole episode, starts shaking and sinks to the floor as one single tear slides down her face.

Fade to black.

Would you watch this episode? Let me know in the comments!

I: TBH the Season 2 kidnapping ratio is my answer for this but I’ll talk about something else.

Disclaimer: I talk about racism and cultural insensitivity in this section. I am white, half Jewish, American, and I know a little bit about folk music. Please listen to fans of color on this subject when they speak on it, with more weight and attention than you give me.

The cultural episodes. The episodes that center a non-white or “other” culture in some way, and are usually done with good intent but poorly executed. First of all, get some goddamn writers of color in the room. And second of all, don’t bite off more than you can chew. These are nuanced issues, yes, but you have 45 minutes. Pick an argument and stick to it.

Kaddish was the only episode that did this well in my opinion. The episode had very strong themes of antisemitism, and its message on antisemitism was clear - it’s bad. Plus, the score actually used accurate Yiddish music instead of that goddamn flute.

Burn the flute.

Episodes like Teliko, Hell Money, and El Mundo Gira all tried to make similar points about marginalized groups, but the execution fell short because the marginalized groups in question were both villains and victims. There’s nothing wrong with having that nuance, but 45 minutes of a tv show that’s mostly about campy sci fi adventures is not the place for it. The result of this dilemma is that it’s unclear whether these episodes are trying to make a political point or if they’re just being lowkey racist.

So. If you MUST do these “cultural episodes.”

Pick a simple message and stick to it. Immigrants are being abused and it’s bad. Racism is bad. Antisemitism is bad. Etc. Etc. Your writers room has shown that you do not have the capacity for anything more complex.

Do not make up folktales for the purposes of your story. Use real ones or have the villain be something else.

If you’re going to have characters speak in a non-English language, cast actors who are fluent in that language (looking at you El Mundo Gira).

And for fuck’s sake, actually research the traditional music of the cultures you’re talking about and get rid of that fucking flute.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[kajaono]

How to present Dimitri on screen vs how not to

Vampire Academy meta

One thing the Vampire Academy show heavily struggles from is how it presents Dimitri. In the movie Dimitri is respected, he THE Dhampir Guardian. Everyone knows him, most people are scared of him and the last thing people want is meeting him an dark ally.

And the movie makes sure to remind us of that fact, really often:

And again:

And again:

Because the audience is dumb and obvisouly not paying attention lol... no the repetition is actually important to show that it isn’t just a throw away line from a teenie but a common agreement in the Vampire world. And to make sure we do not forget about that.

In contrast to that the show only mentions once that Dimitri is special - in the very first episode - and from there on treats Dimitri like he is just a random dude.

This is best shown in how the movie places Dimitri on screen VS how the show places Dimitri on screen... which is an ENORMOUS contrast! And already gives away what the show gets wrong about Dimitris character. let me show you:

1. Dimitri always sticks out.

Look at this scene. He is super tiny in the background, right? But he sticks out. Why? Because not only is he the only Dhampir we see from the front, we are also able to directly spot him because, in contrast to the other Guardians, he wears his dumb dumb leather coat. Which makes it easy to spot him, even in a mass scene:

Again super tiny but you are immeditaly able to spot him. Also how he moves and stands, his whole posture, its different to the other guardians. Now let us look at the show: Sorry Itunes doesn’t let me take screenshots

*cries a tiny bit* Dimitri just looks like everyone else. He gets completly lost in the mass, because he dresses like everyone else. Yes, he is maybe an inche closer to the camera then the rest of the guardians but honestly... you miss him easily. And that shouldn’t happen.

Dimitris dumb dumb leather coat is also a really clever practical effect. Because it is so long and red/brown, like this the viewer is always able to easily spot him. But treating show Dimitris coat like an achievement the audience has to unlock (like the show does), it makes it hard to spot him and so, you miss him most of the time

2. Dimitri is important and people listen to him

In the movie Dimitris doesn’t has a boss, because he IS the boss. He is the leader of the Dhampirs. He always has the highground. Literally.

And people listen to him and care about his judgement:

In the show we get cursed shots like THIS!

Dimitri doesn’t stick out (as he should), he doesn’t has the high ground and he is also not leading the team. Looking at this shoot alone! Now you hopefully understand why I say that the show treats him like a random Dude. He looks like everyone else, he has a boss and- whats the worst - he is hardly taller then his boss. And has less muscles then Michael. There is nothing in this shot that makes him special.

3. Dimitri makes his own decisions.

When finding out that Lissa is kidnapped he jumps right into action instead of asking an authority figure for permission:

In contrast to that show Dimitri is most of the time not allowed to make his own decisions, he has to follow the will of his boss. He does what he is told to do, no matter what. He is not even allowed to run behind a traumatized girl who just had to kill her best friend:

In the movie, the person who is standing in Dimitris way and stopping him from doing what he wants to do, is himself. In the show it is his boss and the system, Because in the show he might be one of the best guardians but at the end of the day, he is just a dude. ... How can you get a character so wrong? Not his behaviour btw, but the position he is in.

TL.DR: The show takes a character who is supposed to be THE BEST and SUPER SPECIAL and makes him into a guardian who is like everyone else because the show doesn’t has a single clue how to use costumes for clever storytelling and how to let a special character appear special. No offence to Kieron but from his bodytype he was the wrong casting. How to fix that? make him stick out. But the show never did that. hence: Just a dude. And Dimitri isn’t “Just a dude”

[braveandsnipe]

gavv thoughts up to ep. 4

i know gavv’s whole motif is snacks, but what if i want a fried chicken gochizo? lol

i really hope we get to see what this stomach family dad look(ed) like. i’m curious about how he and shoma’s mother met/came into contact with each other. i get the vibes she was kidnapped. and given her and shoma’s living conditions, she was on some level of prisoner (there against her will). but that still doesn’t answer the means by which shoma was born.

i love how shoma is following in eiji’s footsteps by being homelesss, yet having a different outfit 3/4 episodes.

i like hanto more than i was expecting to going it. he’s surprisingly silly/expressive. kind of thought he was going to be more cool like ishiro. i like the parallels between him and shoma and their dead mothers. i wonder what happened to his father 🤔

i really hope they don’t do a villain redemption this season. at the very least for the other siblings. speaking of, i feel like the twins will be first to go.

i haven’t been keeping up with toy leaks/rumors, so i really don’t know what their plan for a tertiary is (in motif or how it’ll come to be). i would hope it’s sachika because she’s “billed” as a main character, and the intro paints the three as a unit. i hope we get to know her a bit more before she does though. btw, sachika is a lesbian idc lol.

i’m really curious if shouma looking like the older couple’s child is just a one episode thing or foreshadowing. like i don’t think it could be foreshadowing seeing as we know who shoma’s parents are. but that kind of an odd/interesting detail.

i’m curious about how gavv will get his upgrade forms. like will he just eat so many gummies the gochizo’s will merge into one super gochizo haha.

anyways, the gochizo’s are just little babies and they’re so freaking cute ahh. definitely going to be buying some ☺️

and i love shoma as the protagonist. he’s such a little guy. i like the alien discovers the little things of human life… troupe? lol is that a thing

oh and one final thing, what is the significance of all the doors in the granuite world? it’s giving monsters inc lol

[night-faye]

Every once in awhile, I'll remember something I forgot. Not sure if you caught this because it was awhile ago, but in S1 ep 9 when Wukong says "it's time to give back what you stole." Macky's eye twitches. in JTTW, the 6EM stole supplies and created copies of the companions (using monkeys disguised from FFM) and one of them was killed by Sha Wujing so Macky cooked and ate him :D so did some of the other monkeys I think. Anyways, could be a reference of Macky stealing things this time around too. I associate hot pink/purple/magenta colors with him so whenever I see a purple circle with an x over I'm like...hm (like this episode with Pigsy holding that bowl of noodles) at 7:49 it might just be the art style but after S5 I'm SO suspicious, I'll let you know when you finish S5 you'll be kicking down the doors and shaking down that monkey with a Mac-query for him. We really can't solve one thing before he dumps another mystery on us. His powers are just soooo curious y'know, remember the TV in the kidnapping van? How the lights flickers, and you could see horror movie glitch pictures on the screen? Lol, he walked out of the spooky genre and I need more of it. When you wade into the fic pond (I have my links ready) you'll find a HC about Princess Iron Fan and Macky being sworn siblings, a heads up in case you end up like me and utterly confused where in the show that was mentioned. You will also find the illusions widely referred to as "Glamour." Red Son's name is also hóng hái ér which YES should remind you of our dear liu'er mihou because I found out the "er" ending to the names is the pinyin for "child" (probably not in Macky's name depending on how it's written but I dunno) regardless, it's referred to as the english equivalent of calling someone named Rose = Rosie. So in my heart, Macky has a really cute name <3 realistically, it literally just means macaque monkey = mihou. Now WUKONG. He's had a couple names, most commonly Shihou = stone monkey, and Sun Wukong = monkey awakened to emptiness. "Sun" = grandson, and all the little monkeys on FFM are called "little suns" and Wukong calls himself the grandfather of monkeys in JTTW :D

"You're characteristically quiet, Macaque." Ah yes, quiet. A monkey who has NEVER seen a theatre a day in his life. And would never cackle evilly or raise his voice ever. At what point does a monkey become ship of theseus-ed and come back wrong 🤔 Y'know, iirc Peng's voice actor suggested they might have a hate-crush on Macky-boi here which is HYSTERICAL. Imagine Wukong's face to learning that. And you calling Ao Lie that is 😭 he's too dorky to be giant f-you dragon senior XD like you're NOT WRONG. but its super funny. Oh, btw :D So MK and Mei are hero/warrior coded ;D Mei was all "if you're not giving everything you have to protect the people you care about - you are nothing." the hero and the warrior- were like...the sea and sky...? Mei's "ugh this guy" facepalm is also very Macky of her <- he does that later this season, but MK shares deeeeeep connections to the warrior, sometimes we think he might even lose an eye ;) Also in JTTW, Wukong sinks like a rock bc he's a stone monkey, and show!Macky is all chill in the water. Wukong is all things solid or harsh, earth and fire and lightning (iirc it follows and crashes with him in one of the episodes. Fluffy would LOVE that for her Thunder Bringer AU) and Macky is all wind and shadow and water, all things fluid. S1 ep 9 = "Are you ever going to get tired of living in my shadow?" <--- insane line with Shadow Play context of "The Warrior was cast in that shadow." it implies Wukong DOESNT want him living in his shadow but also take the funny Fluffy and I discussed: Macky had SUCH bad brainrot over this line he incorporated it into his play. "I hate you but ugh, you're onto something." type of deal. his little poetic angst heart was soaring. Iirc also, S4 is one of those openings where it ends up changing by the episode ;) they like being sneaky with it.

Every once in awhile, I'll remember something I forgot. Not sure if you caught this because it was awhile ago, but in S1 ep 9 when Wukong says "it's time to give back what you stole." Macky's eye twitches. in JTTW, the 6EM stole supplies and created copies of the companions (using monkeys disguised from FFM) and one of them was killed by Sha Wujing so Macky cooked and ate him :D so did some of the other monkeys I think. Anyways, could be a reference of Macky stealing things this time around too.

👀👀👀

I associate hot pink/purple/magenta colors with him so whenever I see a purple circle with an x over I'm like...hm (like this episode with Pigsy holding that bowl of noodles) at 7:49 it might just be the art style but after S5 I'm SO suspicious, I'll let you know when you finish S5 you'll be kicking down the doors and shaking down that monkey with a Mac-query for him. We really can't solve one thing before he dumps another mystery on us. His powers are just soooo curious y'know, remember the TV in the kidnapping van? How the lights flickers, and you could see horror movie glitch pictures on the screen? Lol, he walked out of the spooky genre and I need more of it.

I sure do love it when characters have a set block of aesthetics/colors associated with them!! so fun!!!

When you wade into the fic pond (I have my links ready) you'll find a HC about Princess Iron Fan and Macky being sworn siblings, a heads up in case you end up like me and utterly confused where in the show that was mentioned

That actually makes me so happy and fits so perfectly into a fic I'm planning out (if you uhhh...wanna see the bullet points hit me up?)

You will also find the illusions widely referred to as "Glamour.

Wonderful >*taps my fingers together as I giggle*<

Red Son's name is also hóng hái ér which YES should remind you of our dear liu'er mihou because I found out the "er" ending to the names is the pinyin for "child" (probably not in Macky's name depending on how it's written but I dunno) regardless, it's referred to as the english equivalent of calling someone named Rose = Rosie. So in my heart, Macky has a really cute name <3 realistically, it literally just means macaque monkey = mihou. Now WUKONG. He's had a couple names, most commonly Shihou = stone monkey, and Sun Wukong = monkey awakened to emptiness. "Sun" = grandson, and all the little monkeys on FFM are called "little suns" and Wukong calls himself the grandfather of monkeys in JTTW :D

Amazing incredible showstopping

"You're characteristically quiet, Macaque." Ah yes, quiet. A monkey who has NEVER seen a theatre a day in his life. And would never cackle evilly or raise his voice ever. At what point does a monkey become ship of theseus-ed and come back wrong 🤔 Y'know, iirc Peng's voice actor suggested they might have a hate-crush on Macky-boi here which is HYSTERICAL. Imagine Wukong's face to learning that.

oh my gooodddddddddd khfgbdhsfbdsbhwd. It really is like that phenomona where the shy quiet kid discovers theatre and just. poof. that's gone. this is their new whole personality

And you calling Ao Lie that is 😭 he's too dorky to be giant f-you dragon senior XD like you're NOT WRONG. but its super funny.

His personality may be that of an overripe honeydew melon(affectionate) (very watered down but still sweet) but he is, physically when he transforms, a giant fuck you dragon. and he is. indeeed. Mei's senior

Oh, btw :D So MK and Mei are hero/warrior coded ;D Mei was all "if you're not giving everything you have to protect the people you care about - you are nothing." thehero and the warrior- were like...the sea and sky...? Mei's "ugh this guy" facepalm is also very Macky of her <- he does that later this season,

>*points frantically at me noting the parralels between Mei and Macky and Mei&MK and Macky&Wukong!!!!<*

but MK shares deeeeeep connections to the warrior, sometimes we think he might even lose an eye ;)

>*bonks you with a paper towel tube*< You stop that!! (don't actually stop)

Also in JTTW, Wukong sinks like a rock bc he's a stone monkey, and show!Macky is all chill in the water. Wukong is all things solid or harsh, earth and fire and lightning (iirc it follows and crashes with him in one of the episodes. Fluffy would LOVE that for her Thunder Bringer AU) and Macky is all wind and shadow and water, all things fluid. S1 ep 9 =

👀👀👀👀

"Are you ever going to get tired of living in my shadow?" <--- insane line with Shadow Play context of "The Warrior was cast in that shadow." it implies Wukong DOESNT want him living in his shadow but also take the funny Fluffy and I discussed: Macky had SUCH bad brainrot over this line he incorporated it into his play. "I hate you but ugh, you're onto something." type of deal. his little poetic angst heart was soaring.

INSANE INSANE INSANE INSANE

Iirc also, S4 is one of those openings where it ends up changing by the episode ;) they like being sneaky with it.

Ooooh!!! Okay! That's probably something I'll look at closely on the second go around!

[quietwingsinthesky]

Friend, could you explain to me the newest adventure time stuff? Like the simon/ice king thing, what's the plot/backstory that got revealed? At first I assumed these designs I kept seeing were new characters but then I started seeing art of the simon guy turning into the ice king. It's not a big deal but I'm curious what the context is

Sure! So the Simon thing is actually a plot point from the original show! If you’re like me and your adventure time knowledge was mainly the bumpers on Cartoon Network and covers of Marceline songs, then obviously, that’s not something you’d know because it absolutely hit me out of left field. And uh, goes without saying this whole thing is a massive spoiler for the original show. I’ve tried to keep any Fionna & Cake spoilers out, in case you want to watch that. (You should. You should also watch the original. And the Distant Lands shorts. Join us. You won’t regret it. Just maybe pace yourself and don’t watch it all in four nights like I did lol)

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, it goes like this! Ice King was once a man named Simon Petrikov. When the world ended because of necromancy atomic bombs (btw the world ended), he survived because he discovered a magical crown. It continues to be the source of his ice magic in the main show, but at the time, when he was still Simon, he tried to keep himself from using it as each time he did, he lost a little more of himself. It’s so fucking tragic and way too goddamn relatable for me and my memory issues to see this man struggling to hold onto what makes him him, to the names of the people he loved or to what happened to them. Ice King in the main show has lost all of that. He doesn’t even know he was Simon. He doesn’t recognize Marceline, the girl he raised in the post-apocalypse and who he wore the crown to protect countless times.

It turns out a big theme of Adventure Time is destroying yourself to save the people you love. Who knew. But you watch the show and it just. keeps. happening. And you’re screaming at the characters to stop, to not make this sacrifice, that it isn’t worth it, that there is some other way. But of course, they do it anyway. Simon becomes the Ice King to protect Marceline, and in the end, loses everything that he was.

AND NOW FOR LORE. For you see, the crown does this for a reason! It is cursed! Throughout the show, Ice King calls his penguin companion and sometimes other characters “Gunther”, which seems like a funny gag for the first few seasons, and then! It turns out that Gunther was the name of the apprentice of the Ice Elemental (Original Ice King) who created the crown in the first place to stop a comet from destroying the Earth. When he couldn’t wear the crown himself, he told his apprentice, who he had consistently belittled and kept in the dark about most magic, to do it instead and make a wish to send the comet away.

Gunther wishes to become the Ice King instead. And now, anyone, including a Finn the Human of an alternate timeline where he got the crown, will be corrupted into Gunther’s idea of the Ice King, with a little of the original person’s identity left to shape the new person they become with the crown. (Also interesting and probably just a shortcut for time in the episode, is that alternate Finn corrupts very quickly whereas Simon fights the crown for years. I just think it’s fascinating that Simon could do that! He’s just some guy!!! But he resisted turning into the Ice King for so long!!! He faltered eventually, sure, but it’s still impressive!!!)

So, main show, we’ve got the Ice King, once Simon Petrikov, and he runs around kidnapping princess and making a nuisance of himself (until the rest of the cast befriends him once they learn about what happened to him. There’s a moment in the Elementals series of the original show where Finn calls the Ice King “Simon” for i think the first time? And the Ice King doesn’t know who that is, but Finn still calls him by his real name, something s1 Finn would never have done even if he knew it, and it’s!!! that scene makes my heart melt, it’s so small but it’s!!! yes! character growth for my boy and recognition of his tragedy for my old man!!!)

But why does he kidnap princesses? Where did this fixation come from? Well, when he first found the crown, he was dating a woman named Betty. His princess. Fionna & Cake goes deeper into their relationship, so I won’t spoil beyond where the original show goes. When he puts the crown on for the first time, he loses it, scaring her away when the crown takes over his mind and he shoots ice everywhere. Far in the future, a currently depowered Simon creates a time portal in order to just apologize to her, because he never saw her again after this incident. And why didn’t he see her again? Because, crazy insane fantastic woman that she is, she jumps THROUGH HIS TIME PORTAL. Betty then joins the main show’s timeline, spending the rest of the series trying to find a cure for the crown’s curse.

And. I reiterate, spoilers now for the AT finale, which is. so good. god i cried multiple times during it. that may have been the sleep deprivation though.

Betty’s last hope to save Simon is an ancient god of chaos they used to study together called GOLB. At this point, magic has begun to corrupt her too, due to shenanigans with the Magic man turned Normal man from Mars. (it’s a whole thing) and she’s desperate! In the victory of the Candy Kingdom over Bubblegum’s evil uncle (unrelated to the Ice King plotline, don’t worry about it, Bubblegum did some war crimes) Betty summons GOLB. It’s going to destroy the whole world. Eventually, it ends up eating Betty, the Ice King, and Finn. In the process of “digesting” them, it reverts them back to who they were before the magic got to them. Betty becomes normal Betty, Simon becomes Simon, Finn is perfect so he’s fine. The crown also reverts back to it’s precursed state, able to be used for wishing again. Through the power of love and song, Jake the Dog and all their friends create a passage out of GOLB for them to escape through.

Betty stays behind. Because this show is about destroying yourself if it means saving the people you love. And as the walls close in, she wishes for a way to save Simon. She becomes GOLB. GOLBetty. Simon doesn’t turn back into the Ice King. But she can never be changed back. She leaves, and Simon loses her again. But he’s free. After a thousand years, he’s himself.

(The crown is then put on by Gunther the Penguin, who turns into the Ice Thing. Another version of the Ice King, who the gang are still friends with but who the framing device of two friends far in the future learning about the tale of the Candy Kingdom’s war informs us that his happiness couldn’t last forever. Eventually, all the characters die or part ways with him, and the Ice Thing goes back to being a wizard in the mountains causing problems, without even a piece of Simon buried deep within him to help. Because, you know, Adventure Time needs to break your heart even about this little penguin dude.)

[ice-sculptures]

I had a dream last night that I was a Buckley sibling that was kidnapped from the hospital shortly after I was born. I was about 2 years older than Buck. I have no idea how I found them, but Maddie was there to confirm that there WAS another sibling that no one talked about. I don't think there was any blood test to make sure I wasn't lying-they basically accepted me on the spot. Buck was of course upset that no one told him about me even though they'd talked about Daniel. Apparently they all just... forgot about me after Buck was born. Like when they brought me up to their parents, they straight up couldn't remember me at first. I wish the dream was longer, but sadly I woke up. :( But yes! However briefly, I was a Buckley!

-TWS Anon

omg i want to let u know that spencer @antibyler and i had a whole discussion on the logistics of being a buckley sibling older than buck and younger than maddie after you sent this ask and we concluded that growing up in that house after daniel’s death as a child old enough to remember him but too young to understand the concept of death would be heartbreaking 😭 like imagine having a blurry memory of a big brother that slowly fades to nothingness one day. and then you ask your mother where daniel went and she bursts into tears and you ask your dad what happened to him and why your mommy is crying and he storms out of the house, slamming the door and there’s a baby wailing in the next room and your big sister rushes to take care of him, leaving you in the hallway, so confused and so alone 😭😭

and then we realized that your ask says ms. tws anon buckley did not grow up with the rest of her siblings and that opened up so many more questions. who kidnapped tws anon buckley??? why did they steal her from the hospital — was it because some desperate couple wanted a baby? was it because she had a rare blood type that could be used to experiment in a lab?? and then my train of thought stopped there because it was veering into horror movie territory. btw. but then there were more questions. how did she escape from her abductors and reunite with buck and maddie?? did she live a luxurious life with some rich couple and find buck and maddie as a well-adjusted adult or did she have to readjust to society after a life of being kidnapped?? so many questions, so little time.

but i would definitely watch an episode of 911 based on a child being kidnapped from a hospital lol that sounds appropriately insane and i think 911 could use a good kidnapping story tbh

[disniq]

Season 1, episode 3, "Origins"

Prepare to get flashbacked, folks.

So, previously; Dawn was thrown off a roof, Rachel was kidnapped by The Family. And now, conveniently, Kori is parked below just the building right in time to see Rachel bundled into a sensible family car.

We get an entirely unnecessary flashback of Kori finding a photo in Rachel's house and killing a cop, which does nothing to show how she got from there to here but just go with it.

She follows The Family, who are on route to their boss. They stop at a gas station, and Kori takes the opportunity to burn Dad alive. (She also blows up the bathroom Rachel is in, but it’s fine, shh, “I think you’re safer with me.”)

This is what every family trips feels like when you're a queer neurodivergent

Dawn is in a medical coma at the hospital, and this somehow leads into another flashback of a young Dick with his social worker.

Bruce Wayne wants to foster him! Isn’t that great news, sure that won’t end badly for anyone.

Young Dick is taken to the huge castle-esque manor (which i love, btw) and shown to a bedroom so bougie it has it’s own chandelier and a walk-in closet already filled with teenage-boy sized clothes.

Bruce, dude. You’re coming on a little strong here.

Alfred is the only one a little dubious about this development;

(This is why the killed Alf off-screen.)

Unsurprisingly, Dick takes this as his cue to run away.

Back in the present, Dick gets a lead from a police colleague despite the fact that he just walked out a week ago and never went back to work lol. She helpfully tells him Rachel has been spotted on cameras with a a six foot black woman with magenta hair, who leaves charred bodies in her wake.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Kori head to the place in the photo, Saint Paul’s convent and bond over having uncontrollable powers and a total lack of understanding about themselves!

They stop at a diner, and Kori fucks some guys up for harassing the waitress to a disco soundtrack which is, undeniably, pretty dang cool.

More flashbacks - I’m so sorry, the pacing of this episode is a mess - and Dick social worker is very insistent that Dick give Bruce another chance. If only you knew, lady.

I do like the stylistic choices here, though. Having Bruce being almost entirely absent from these scenes makes his presence feel like the looming, intimidating thing it probably was, especially in the shots of the big, broody, empty Manor that young Dick is left to wander alone.

During one of those wanderings, he finds the garage full of classic cars and, rapscallion that he is, takes one for a joyride.

Remember when you antagonised the police, Dickie. Fun times.

Kori and Rachel reach the convent, which it turns out they have both been to before. Rachel was sheltered here as an infant with her fake mom, and Kori came by a year ago in her search for Rachel. It’s all very Nuns of the Chattering Order, and yes that does make Rachel the lost antichrist.

There’s an arcade down the street that Kori has a mysterious locker key for, so she takes Rachel there and exchanges the key for… a second key!

Rachel gets to eat, play some pinball, and meet a fellow protagonist!

Dick - who used his super secret Bat-tech to track Kori’s numberplate - also turns up at the arcade. For plot convenience, he gives Kori the benefit of the doubt despite her record thus far and both of these untra-violent people actually talk out a problem from once! Yay!

You, ah. You forgot the *checks notes* six counts of murder so far.

Turns out the cops think Rachel killed her fake-mom, so Dick, who a day ago was looking to wash his hands of this kid, suddenly feels responsible for her. Kori, who gently kidnapped Rachel for entirely self-serving purposes, has also apparently decided over the course of the last half an hour that she too can't let Rachel out of her sight, so they all go back to the convent together.

This is, unfortunately, what counts as relationship development in this show.

We get one final Baby Dick flashback, wherein Dick admits to his social worker that he’s not running away and stealing cars for fun, he’s running away and stealing cars so he can hunt down his parents’ murderer and kill them.

Bruce overhears this conversation, and leaves Dick a letter offering him a job better way.

Elsewhere, The Family (minus Dad) report to Dr Adamson, a creepy guy with an egg fetish who really wants Rachel to open the door. He magnanimously decides to give them one more shot.

Bet you thought I was kidding about the evils of heteronormativity, huh

ANYWAY, back to the convent and the A plot!

We get this conversation between Dick and Rachel, which I think informs a lot about Dick’s relationship with Bruce, and also his attitude towards Jason later.

Dick: Listen I need you to-- Rachel: What?! Trust you? “Other people can help”, is that it? No they can’t. They’ll just make promises, but in the end they’ll fail. They’ll all leave, just like you. Dick: Yeah, you’re right. Rachel: What? Dick: You’re on your own. No one can help you, not really. I was just like you once. Thought if I leaned on someone, if I trusted them, all the pain would go away. I was wrong. Anybody that tells you any differently is lying. The loss is here for good now, there is no getting over it. But you can control it, you can channel it. No one else can do that for you. Just you.

Kori takes the opportunity to steal Dick’s car, to head to the storage locker her second key opens, and Dick chases after her. Depite both of their promises not to abandon Rachel again, there they both go!

And, surprise surprise, the nuns immediatly drug the kid!

Turns out, the nuns want to lock Rachel in the basement to keep her away from her father and prevent her from being used to unleash evil upon the earth.

It… doesn’t go well for them.

Kori finds her Connecting the Dots meme storage locker, full of alien writing and pictures of Ravens. Dick shows up, and together they piece together enough of the murderboard evidence to decide Rachel is the Devourer of Worlds, part of a prophecy. WooOOoooOOOo *spooky hands*

They’re interrupted by a sudden earth-shaking explosion, because guess what?

Rachel BLEW UP THE FUCKING CONVENT

[Titans Rewatch]

[becauseimanicequeen]

(I'm writing this after painting for 10 hours straight, so I hope it makes some sense, lol.)

I've been thinking a lot about My Stand-In while painting today, and how I have different expectations of this story than some comments I've seen here and some reactions I've watched on YouTube (I've learned my lesson to avoid MDL like the plague, so I, fortunately, have no idea what's going on there). But I especially thought about why I don't particularly mind some of the things that have happened or haven't been addressed in the series so far. And I realized it's just a part of who I am and what I'm used to.

As someone who was raised on Days of Our Lives (which is weird because I'm not American), I don't mind things like the kidnapping or the transmigration in My Stand-In (and that the transmigration might never be addressed or explained).

I mean, I'm used to kidnappings, people being possessed, and long, lost, dead people coming back to life. That's just a normal Tuesday.

I don't need a revenge plot to be satisfied with the series. I don't even want a revenge plot (it would be very out of character for Joe). Fortunately, I'm pretty sure this isn't the story they want to tell.

Furthermore, in my opinion (colored by being raised in the delulu land of DOOL), I don't even need the transmigration to be addressed or explained for me to enjoy the series. I don't need Joe's feelings about what it's like for his soul to live in a new body. I don't need him to deal with the repercussions of being in a new body (that might not even be the story they want to tell). I don't need any of that because I'm used to ludicrous shit (especially the fun ludicrous shit). And I'm used to ludicrous shit that doesn't always get addressed or explained.

(I get that not everyone was raised on DOOL, and good for you if you weren't. So if you need to have the transmigration addressed, that's great. Be disappointed if it isn't. You have every right to be. Don't mind me and my ridiculous soap opera preferences.)

That's not to say that My Stand-In is ludicrous, because it isn't. It's a pretty normal story for someone like me who was raised on soap operas (and whose tolerance for ludicrous stuff is pretty high).

I mean, even if Joe is kidnapped for the umpteenth time and kept in a golden cage (yes, Stefano and Marlena, I'm looking at you), I'll have a blast with it. But I'm pretty sure this will never happen in My Stand-In.

Even if May has drugged Tong to get herself pregnant with his child (and that being the reason they get married) only to find out years later that it's actually his brother's child (btw, does Tong even have a brother?) (Yes, Sami, Austin, and Lucas, I'm looking at you.), I'll have a blast with it. But I'm pretty sure this will never happen either.

And even if Ming's dad turns out to be a Stefano DiMera-esque character and Sol turns out to be Joe's half-brother (because shit like that is normal in delulu Salem), I'll have a blast with it. But, again, I'm pretty sure this will never happen.

My Stand-In is no soap opera (unfortunately). But I enjoy the heck out of it as it is right now anyway. And I would enjoy the heck out of it even if it became completely ludicrous.

The only thing that disappoints me at this point is that Joe 2.0 doesn't even have white eyes even though he's possessed by another person's soul... (Yes, Marlena, I'm looking at you again.)

On a more serious note, though (let's see if I can pull this off, lol).

Based on what I've seen so far (and since I'm only on chapter 41 in the novel, which is around the end of the 4th episode, I don't know much else about the source material), I feel like the story they want to tell us is more about Joe's role as a stand-in in all the different parts of his life, about how unfair life can be, about grief, second chances, and an obstinate refusal to giving up.

I still don't think they will give us a revenge plot. I feel like the farthest they will go is for Joe to resist Ming and make him grovel for as long as possible (as he should!). They might address parts of the transmigration later. But, again, that's not really important to me.

I'm more interested in Joe mourning his old body/life rather than figuring out how his new body works. But that's just me.

I'm more interested in Ming losing his shit in his grief, repeating old patterns, and (hopefully) breaking those patterns when he gets his shit together. But that's just me.

I'm more interested in the chaos (more catfighting between Ming and Sol, please). But that's just me.

Hell, give me more of the blind shaman, who evidently sees clearer than Ming does (why did that idiot take off the glasses he wore before he left the country?! He clearly needs them...). He is more interesting to me than whatever Joe might be feeling being in a new body. Please, oh wise man, tell me more about what you see! And speak in riddles because I love a good old mindfuck. But, again, that's just me.

If a golden cage shows up or Joe 2.0's eyes start to change color or children show up claiming random people as their parents, I will probably start talking about how ludicrous this series is (but I'll still have such a fucking blast with it). This will never happen, though, because My Stand-In isn't a soap opera.

Do I need My Stand-In to be more unhinged to enjoy it? No, because I already enjoy it as it is. Do I mind if it gets into ludicrous territory? Absolutely not. I'm raised on that shit.

My Stand-In can practically throw whatever it wants at me (or not) and I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride. Because I already do.

(Btw, I Googled the cage in DOOL and I can't believe I remember that it was golden! That storyline was from 1996?! I was around 10 years old when I watched that shit (since my country was 3-4 years behind in the release of the episodes). It must've made a real impact on me, lmfao! Also, I love that when Supernatural fans raved about Jensen Ackles, I just knew him as Eric Brady, lol!)