#i got so many new duos i found fun from this episode my god

[mellohiizz]

i think the sleepiness is hitting me now, bcs i keep thinking abt watorrot

i'm mostly thinking abt watorrot bcs of wato saying 'i care- we care' after parrot says that he doesn't is punching me on the face

and her continuously giving parrot things a turtle helmet, gapples, golden carrots, and exp bottles after the flew far away

and like idk i think it's very sweet

alse, bcs i think parrot should have three partners

no, no, i was also gonna mention that while i was liveblogging, i think i was too in shock over what happened to dean...

wato was so nice to him after that despite not understanding why parrot was in so much shock and why he just froze. she just saw that parrot wasn't okay and wanted to help him...☹️

[stars-n-spice]

THOUGHTS ON S3 EP 05:

as always, spoilers under the cut and my thoughts are in no way coherent or in the order of how things happen in the episode

it's just me going to be screaming about whatever comes to mind as i type this

holy shit y'all new comfort episode just dropped!

kid you not, after seeing the episode i deadass went, "Wow, I'm so glad that episode didn't absolutely devastate me!" while I was like,, sobbing

whole episode i was either crying, screaming, or punching a pillow

can't even cry anymore, don't got no tears left

ANYWAYS

I AM AN ABSOLUTE FUCKING CLOWN FOR THINKING WE WERE GOING TO GET A PROPER REACTION/CONTINUATION FROM THE LAST EPISODE

OF FUCKING COURSE THEY WERE GOING TO SKIP OVER IT AND JUST,, FUCKING DIVE RIGHT IN. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

what is it with this show and having what would be emotional reactions to heavy things off screen???

fanfic writers you know what to do

anyways,,

Omega being back with Lula :( and her new outfit is so cute I love it so much :((

THEM BEING BACK ON PABU!!!! <3333 and still sleeping in their ship lol

AZI!!!!! HE'S OKAY!!! HE'S ALIVE AND HE'S THERE AND I LOVE HIM AND I MISSED HIM :((

Crosshair practicing :( and his aim just,,, getting worse :(((

CROSSHAIR AND BATCHER ARE SUCH A DUO!! I FUCKING LOVED EVERY MOMENT WITH THE TWO OF THEM,, THE LITTLE PETS AND SMILES CROSS GAVE BATCH UGGHH

will never ever ever ever get over cross and omega's dynamic,, I love them so much and I'm so glad he's back

I don't know how many times i went, "They're all back together!!" in this episode only to remember Tech isn't there and then sob violently

BUT ECHO FINALLY RETURNS - i'm kinda bitter about how he reacted to seeing Omega again because it seemed like,, like he was completely unfazed by the fact she was captured and sent to a hidden facility conducting god know what experiments BUT at the same time,, I could see it being that Echo always knew she was more than capable of escaping on her own so he wasn't too worried but STILL

"What no hug for me?" <- AAGUUHH,, and then the little smirk Crosshair gave after Echo's response,, they have no bad blood, love that

when Crosshair started talking about the facility I fucking KNEW he was talking about Barton IV and i was in so much pain,, agony even

Was NOT expecting them to return but I'm so glad they did because it played such a vital role in Crosshair's growth and returning to it and growing even more,, just,, aguughhh

WHEN HE FOUND MAYDAY'S HELMET,, FUCK FUCK FUCK minutes before that scene i was like "i swear to god if he finds something from Mayday-"

MAYDAY COME BACK YOU DIDN'T DESERVE THAT,, YOU DID SO MUCH :((

Hunter and Cross' dynamic in this was so fun to watch but also had me gnawing on my hands

could NOT get over the fact that they brought the dog with them on the mission, idk why but that's fucking hilarious to me

OMEGA CALLING CROSSHAIR "LITTLE BROTHER" AND CROSS CHUCKLING AT IT SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!

WHEN WRECKER GAVE CROSSHAIR BACK HIS ARMOR I FUCKING KNEW HE WAS THE ONE WHO KEPT IT AGUUGHHH

god I love Wrecker so much

"Omega trusts him and that's enough for me" FUCK

he wasn't super prominent in this episode but everything he did made me love him more

WHEN HE WAS DIGGING IN THE SNOW?? fucking lost it

THE HUG AT THE END???? FUCKING FINALLY???? THE WAY HE IMMEDIATELY KNEW AND HE JUST,,, FUCK,, RAN UP TO THEM????

like you can tell the whole episode Wrecker was just waiting for the two of them to work things out

i missed all of them so much

it was so good to see them all work together

GOD FUCKING AUGUUHH

THE FIGHT CROSS AND HUNTER HAD??? CROSSHAIR READING HUNTER LIKE A FUCKING BOOK??

when he started to blame Hunter for his failures?? oh fuck as an oldest child that hurt SO much and I was so scared Crosshair was going to pull a "You're the reason why Tech is dead" card

But your honor they are brothers, I love them so much

"i said talk to him, not argue with him!" - "he started it" <- crosshair you cannot beat the youngest brother allegations

hey Crosshair probably didn't tell his brothers about his shaky hands,, ahahahahahaha,aha,,ahh,,,ha..

lmao love that being in a life or death situation and saving each other from it was what made Hunter and Cross start to trust each other

this episode was so great you don't understand

and i'm so happy nothing like,, terrible happened in it

yes I cried a fuckton throughout it but,, at least Omega is still with them and at least Echo is back (for now) and at least they're slowly starting to make up and be a team again

anyways,, nice episode,, can't wait for things to just get worse from here

[riacte]

Dogwarts / 3rd Life Cheat Sheet for MCC 15 Purple Pandas

Ren and Martyn were buddies in Season 1 of the 3rd Life SMP and they are an alliance known as the Renchanting duo/ Kingdom of Dogwarts. Now they’re finally teamed up, and the 3rd Life SMP members have a habit of referring to 3rd Life in MCC. The Ren-Martyn fandom also talks about Dogwarts a lot. If you have no idea what is a Dogwarts and why people love them, no fear! This post will try to explain it in simple terms.

3rd Life SMP is a SMP started by Grian. Season 1 has 14 members (roughly half are hermits, other half are friends of the hermits. You can find the full list in the description of Ren’s 3rd Life videos.) Everyone on the server has three lives— the first life symbolised by green names, second by yellow names, third by red names. If you lose all three lives, you permadie. Green names and yellow names are not allowed to be hostile unless they were attacked first, but the goal of red names is to kill everyone on the server. The three lives are also symbolised by three hearts, like this:

(Fun fact: Because of the green-yellow-red colours, the subtwt for 3rd Life is called traffictwt after traffic lights. The 3rd Life tumblr fandom is occasionally referred to as trafficblr.)

3rd Lifers record every week for three hours at the same time with proximity chat. The server has a small border to encourage interaction. They are eight sessions in total, and they’re all cut into YouTube episodes (no streams!), so it’s fairly bingeable.

So what’s the deal with Martyn and Ren?

Ren decided to set up an enchanting shop during the first session. Martyn was wandering around and having fun scaring people with creeper noises until he came to Ren’s enchanting shop. Martyn then used Ren’s enchanting service without paying (essentially a robbery), but Ren let Martyn go on the condition Martyn would act as a walking free advertisement. Martyn agreed, and they became business partners. Martyn actually coined the name Renchanting and its motto “Don’t be a Dog, be a God”. Ren named Martyn as his “marketing manager” (which sounds a little like Martynmanager).

True to his word, Martyn went around and spread the good news of Renchanting to everyone. Martyn brought business to Renchanting, and when Ren was being threatened by customers (who harassed Ren into lower his prices/ giving out enchantments for free), Martyn acted defensive of Ren and even said Ren was being “bullied”. Ren was being taken advantage of because he was too nice. (Martyn did do some stuff not related to Ren, but since this is a Dogwarts cheat sheet I won’t be mentioning that.)

Then came GoodTimesWithScar. The main “villain” to Renchanting, if you will.

Basically, Scar was playing the role of a cartoon villain. He scammed people out of their armour and possessions, and eventually found his way to Renchanting. At that point, Martyn and Ren were loyal to each other. Scar asked for Ren’s enchanting table. In return, when Scar turned red, he would not kill Ren and Martyn. Ren appeared to be torn, but due to Martyn depending on him and the business, he refused Scar’s offer (“you can’t take the enchanting out of Renchanting!”). Scar also acted condescending to Martyn (Martyn was seen as Ren’s “minion”). So Ren and Martyn were officially on Scar’s kill list, but Ren did not regret it.

At some point, Ren got tired of people walking into his store and stepping all over him, so he built high walls around the Renchanting building. Everyone (including Renchanting themselves) broke through the walls, and this was a running gag. Ren declared himself king by wearing the crown he got from MCC9 Blue Bats.

Note: Ren was kind, and it was the cruel world that forced Ren to be defensive. Other POVs paint them as the villain but Dogwarts enthusiasts will say that is not the case AT ALL.

Time passed. Scar turned red. He and his buddy Grian set up traps at Renchanting, and one blew up Ren and a bunch of other people. Ren, now a yellow name, was furious, but could not get his revenge because yellow names were not allowed to hurt other players. So naturally, Ren decided to become a red.

Ren renamed an axe to “RED WINTER IS COMING” and gave it to Martyn to chop his head off. (There’s some dramatic roleplay here, highly recommend a watch.) Martyn painfully did, and the message “Red Winter is Coming” was shown in the chat, which told everyone that Ren meant business. To test Martyn’s loyalty, Ren told Martyn he could kill him if he wanted to. Ren, freshly respawned and without armour, punched Martyn. Martyn, as a green name, could attack Ren due to Ren attacking first. However, Martyn did not kill Ren, and dramatically declared Ren was the one who showed him life, and thus he would return the favour.

So Ren was known as the Red King (with grey skin, bloodied MCC crown, and a Scottish/pirate accent). Martyn became known as the King’s Hand, and called Ren “my lord” “my liege”. Later, Martyn acquired an outfit with a cloak and a red hand on the back of the cloak, which is now used to symbolise Martyn.

They established the Kingdom of Dogwarts (after Hogwarts and the enchanting/magic gimmick) to find more allies (notable ones include Ethoslab and Skizzleman). Allies could stick a Red Banner in their base to show loyalty, members were called Red Knights / Red Army.

A Red Banner (the design is supposed to be blood dripping down):

Without spoiling too much, Ren and Martyn remained loyal to each other till the very end. They were very dramatic (even jokingly called homoerotic by some lmao) and had many hardcore quotes, and are highly beloved. They are the most dramatic and RP intensive group on the server. So people want Dogwarts, the king and his hand, together again.

A small sample of quotes that might be referenced:

I think going red next week is in my fate. It’s in my cards. There will be blood, for this. A king cannot be king without war. (Ren)

I won’t do it! You took me in when I was a lowly traveller, goin’ across the lands, searchin’ the four corners of this world. I learned that there was nothing in this world for me. Nothing but walls, corners, edges. And you know what? You showed me life. As much as I’ve taken it from you, you gave it back to me in bucket fulls. and I just- I’m with you. This is us now. This is us. (Martyn)

If we're going to survive the Red Winter, we gotta do it together, laddies. Hand in hand. Rotten hand in hand of the living. To the end! (Ren)

It’s just the world versus us. (Martyn)

(Note: Dogwarts refers to the group of people allied with Ren and Martyn, including Etho and Skizzleman. Renchanting duo refers to Ren and Martyn ONLY)

Other references:

Joel notably screamed “THE RED KING DIES TONIGHT, FELLAS!” with a crowd of wolves following him

Dogwarts killed Grian and Scar’s llama Pizza because Scar stole a Red Banner

Jimmy and Scott were flower husbands. Jimmy thought Renchanting was going to sacrifice Scott.

Everyone else in MCC (Grian, Scott, Jimmy, Joel) were enemies with Dogwarts

The 3rd Lifers reference 3rd Life a lot despite it being over. Martyn even fought for Dogwarts in MCC14 and MCCP but failed. Haha.

The fandom commonly refers to Purple15 as King (Ren), Queen (False), Ace (Illumina), and Joker/Hand (Martyn) after playing cards.

This is it, I am tired, this is probably too long but I feel I skipped a lot of details. If anyone has anything to add or correct, feel free to do so. Also, I’m pretty certain this won’t appear in the tags, so please reblog! Thank you, and Red Winter is Coming.

(I might add a reblog detailing False’s very much fanon involvement in Dogwarts, and why everyone was so hyped for Renchanting + False.)

[musingsofanunorgainizedmind]

Top 10 Things I Love About Supernatural

It’s been almost half a year since the show ended and now that the dust has settlIed, I just want to list ten reasons I love this show. Despite it’s flaws, it’s been quite the ride.

1. Team Free Will

When I first got the idea to make this list, I originally planned on doing entirely separate entries for “Sam & Dean” and “Destiel”. Except then I wanted to pay tribute to “Sastiel”. And then I wanted to do an entry for “Team Free Dads”. By that point, I was already halfway through the list and I hadn’t even moved on from the main characters. A few months ago, I made a post about why I love every single pairing in this group. Obviously, Sam and Dean are a legendary duo. Obviously, Dean and Cas have an unparalleled story. Obviously, Sam and Cas are an underrated team. As for Team Free Dads, I’ve always had a soft spot for father/mentor figure characters and and all three tackle the role in different ways. I love Jack, too. I love how everyone in this bizarro family is “broken” in some way. We’ve got the Allistair’s prized pupil, the spawn of satan, the boy with demon blood, and the angel who nearly obliterated all of heaven. But they help each other heal by being supportive and seeing the good in each other. They all love each other so deeply and when together, nothing can stand in their way. Not Michael, not Lucifer, and not God himself. They tore up the book and wrote their own story. And it was a pleasure to watch it all unfold.

2. The Suppporting Characters

To list every single supporting character I have loved and lost in this show would take way too long. I don’t know if it’s the writing or acting performances, but I love pretty much every single supporting character on this show. Even villains like Azazel or Allistair are top-notch villains. Hell, I even like characters like Metatron, Lucifer, Mary, and John! Characters like Rufus, Charlie, Crowley, Rowena, Kevin, Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Gabriel, Balthazar, Mick...how am I not supposed to love them??? All of their stories were cut so short. I’d watch a show about any of these characters. The Wayward Sisters were robbed. So many ships were gone too soon (Sam/Rowena, Dean/Jo, Cas/Meg, Etc.). So many heartbreaking deaths. I want to be best friends with all these characters. Why be a “dean-girl” or a “sam-girl” when you can be a garth-girl? A kevin-girl? A claire-girl? A bela-girl? There are so many great characters with interesting and compelling backstories and so much untapped potential. I could go on forever on this, but I digress.This show has one of the best supporting casts I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

3. The Themes

It’s no accident that I got addicted to this show at the time that I did. Namely, my Senior Year of College and 2020. Graduating college and entering the “real world” felt like it’s own sort of apocalypse. 2020 definitely exacerbated my worst tendencies. Messages like “family don’t end in blood”, “you can write your own story”, and “always keep fighting” really resonated with me. I could definitely relate to the feelings of insecurity these character’s felt and the ways they suppressed/repressed their issues instead of facing them. I could relate to the feelings of not fitting in and I could definitely relate to the loneliness. This show helped remind me that I’m not alone. That it’s okay if my values and identity don’t line up with the what I envisioned for myself. And, most importantly, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that I should never give up. If Dean, Sam, and Cas can keep moving forward despite their demons and despite how bad it gets, so can I. Regardless of how the story ended, these themes resonated with me and I’ll still hold them with me. A single episode can’t take that away.

4. The Fun Episodes

This show has so many legendary standalone episodes. Changing Channels. Ghostfacers. The French Mistake. Fan Fiction. Tall Tales. Bad Day at Black Rock. When this show goes for the absurd, it goes all-in. It takes the risks it needs to take, it gets completely insane, and it pulls it off. So many of these episodes could have easily been the moment that the show “jumped the shark”. Yet, time after time, the show delivered on it’s potential. I don’t know how much I can say about these episodes except that they made me laugh out loud, made me fall even harder for these characters, and that they’re the episodes I remember best. If I were to rewatch any episode, it would be one of the fun ones. This show knew how to not take itself too seriously and how to poke fun at itself. I’ve always had a soft spot for shows that can make me laugh and cry (X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel, Doctor Who, etc.), and this show definitely nails the fun part. 

5. The Sad Episodes

Death’s Door. Hammer of the Gods. Despair. Carry On. Abandon All Hope. In My Time of Dying. Swan Song. When this show wants you to cry, it doesn’t pull the punches. It gets downright devastating. No character is safe. Literally every character you love will either be forgotten or will die. Or both. The amount of trauma Sam and Dean have to go through is insane. Both have literally been to hell and back. Both have killed countless people, including innocents. When this show decides it wants to wreck you, it’s overwhelming. I sobbed when Bobby died. I sobbed when every single member of Team Free Will died for the final time (I still can’t watch any of those scenes). I still wish Jo, Ellen, Charlie, Kevin, Mick, and Gabriel had been given more time to tell their stories. Being a hunter means a life of endless angst. Being an angel or demon doesn’t get you off the hook, either. I remember going into this show thinking it couldn’t hurt me. My favorite character type is “mentor/father figure”. But holy hell...I don’t think every single sad moment was necessarily good writing, but when it was? Damn. 

6. The Biblical Themes

I’m not a relgious person. But, despite this show being steeped in Christian mythology, it really touched on my feelings about the Old Testament in a profound way. Well, really just Ben Edlund and Robbie Thompson did. I’ve never seen a show really hit the overall feel of the bible the way this show does. The idea of Angels as mystical and terrifying creatures. The idea of God as a flawed father figure with a penchant for wrath. The sheer epicness of the biblical stories. The idea of family members constantly being turned on each other. Cain and Abel. Jacob and Essau. Moses and Ramses. Moses and Aaron. Abraham and Isaac. The bible is full of stories of family drama. This show doesn’t always give angels and demons weight. Sometimes it’s silly and stupid and cheesy. But when it hits right? It’s epic. This is more of a personal thing I love about the show, but definitely a plus!

7. The Music

The early seasons music is so good. I really miss the classic rock of the golden era of the show. I mean, there are still some great musical moments later on, but damn. I loved hearing songs I recognized and I loved learning new songs. I loved when the song and the scene hit perfectly in time (Death’s intro. Cas’s return in Season 13.). Also Supernatural wouldn’t be Supernatural without the ‘Carry On My Wayward Son’ song at the end of every season. Even at the end of a season I didn’t love, that recap would always get me pumped. Also Chuck singing Fare Thee Well? Dean and Lee singing together? Fan Fiction? All great. 

8. The Cast & Crew

I never care about the actors or actresses in a show. I definitely don’t bother with the names of specific writers and directors or their styles of writing/directing. They’re just random people who happen to write for or play these characters I love. They’re not actually the characters. But these guys? Well, for one, I’m pretty sure half this cast actually is their character. At least to some degree. They’re also just...really cool people? Who are all friends? They make a point to do community service, to interact with fans, and to promote positive ideas. Jared’s Always Keep Fighting campaign. Misha and GISH. The fact that they all participate in fundraising opportunities and encourage fan engagement. Do they all have issues? Definitely. Have they said stupid things? Yes. But the good far outweighs the bad. They’re an entertaining bunch whether onscreen or not and I hope they all do well in whatever their future endeavors may be.  

9. The Fandom

I joined this fandom late. To be honest, I thought this fandom was obnoxious before I found myself a part of it. Now that I’ve been in the trenches? It’s got it’s ups and downs like any fandom. There are some parts that are more toxic than others. A lot of people yelling that their opinion is the only opinion. But overall? The good outweighs the bad. And the good? The good is great. Some fanfictions I’ve read are better than actual books I’ve read and just as moving. The fanart? Incredible. I love reading all the metas about random aspects of the show I never would have noticed. I love the music videos and I love the analytical videos. In real life, I’ve made many friends through our mutual love of this show. Hell, even getting sucked into GISH once or twice has given me some solid memories and brought me closer to friends. I wish all fandoms were this much like family. I’m so glad I got to be a part of this fandom and I can’t wait to continue being a fan. After all, nothing ever stays dead in Supernatural.

10. The Chaos & Insanity

Season 16 has been a time. First, Destiel went canon. Then suddenly Sherlock was having a 5th season, Putin was retiring, and Georgia was going blue. Destiel going “canon” and Joe Biden winning the presidency will always be correlated in my mind now. Things in the fandom went from quiet to blaringly loud real fast. Carry On happened. The fandom went into a civil war. I can’t even remember half of what happened in Season 16, but it’s been a wild ride. There’s been ups (my personal favorite being the french dub and the Saileen wedding). There’s been downs (Jared’s controversial statements and the original scripts being leaked). At one point Misha Collins had sex with Bill Clinton???? It’s been a wild time. It’s honestly gotten me through the end of this pandemic. At least it’s entertaining. I would say that at least all the craziness is over, but is it ever really over? Every time I say that something else completely insane happens. But it’s been fun. I’m glad I started watching this show despite my reservations and here’s to whatever happens next. 

[odanurr87]

My thoughts on... Scripting Your Destiny

Release date: March 16, 2021

Episodes: 10

Available on: Viki

Summary: Every human is born with a book that records each moment of their life and that we call destiny. Shin Ho Yoon is one of the many deities in charge of writing those books, known among the gods for his meticulous approach to his work. For his latest project, the destiny of the mortal Jeong Ba Reum, he intends to write a masterpiece, a perfect destiny, pairing him with his first love, Go Che Gyeong, a scriptwriter for successful, if over-the-top, makjangs like Marriage Pact and Sky Cash. However, when Che Gyeong doesn't fall for the fateful encounter that he wrote, he decides to take matters into his own hands and bluntly approaches her to find out how to get her to fall in love. As the two begin to develop feelings for each other, the perfect destiny envisioned for Ba Reum threatens to disappear and a new destiny between a god and a mortal begins to emerge. But can a god of destiny write his own fate?

Rewatch meter: Medium

WARNING: Spoilers beyond this point.

Characters

From left to right: Park Sang Nam as Shin Myeong; Ki Do Hoon as Shin Ho Yoon; Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong; Kim Woo Seok as Jeong Ba Reum; and Gal So Won as Samshin.

Overall, I liked the leads and most of the supporting characters. As far as the leads are concerned, I think Ki Do Hoon was able to deliver a good performance of what a god of destiny might, or perhaps should, be like: standoffish, emotionless, uninterested in the mortal realm beyond the scope of his duties. As such, Shin Ho Yoon feels the more godly of the different deities in the show, what is curious considering he's probably one of the youngest gods of destiny, what is explained through his cycle of rebirth. I wish the writer and the actor had made full use of this cycle by having the character of Shin Ho Yoon grow more emotionless as a result, what would explain why he's different from other gods. Perhaps this was intended, but if so, the results are mixed. You can see he was more impulsive in the beginning of his cycle as a god of destiny than he was, say, at the beginning of the show. However, the last incarnation we're shown of Ho Yoon, in Episode 10, appears to be more upbeat than any of his previous ones, a fact that could've been used to feed into the notion that something has changed (more on that later) and that's why he's having fun at the expense of the "newbies."

Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong was very good throughout, standing out from her male counterpart, perhaps due to the nature of her character that allowed her to show more range. I never found her to be over-the-top, and she was able to pull off the comedic and emotional scenes very well. She also passed off as a high-schooler better than Ki Do Hoon, despite the fact that she's five years his senior, but I guess that's the power of female hairstyles! My only complaint about her character is that I wish she had been a little more creative writing her own fate. I mean, she is a talented scriptwriter that even a god stole from.

Park Sang Nam's Shin Myeong had good chemistry with Ki Do Hoon's Shin Ho Yoon, echoing the Goblin-Reaper duo from Goblin, what should come as no surprise as writer Kim Eun Sook is a producer for this show. They even paid homage to that iconic walking scene in the first episode. Unlike Ho Yoon, Myeong comes across as less devoted to his duties and more lazy. He himself admits to a disapproving Samshin that he copy-pastes destinies, but also makes an interesting point about only writing main events so that humans can fill in the gaps themselves. I'll let you decide whether this is really his intention or just an attempt to placate Samshin's anger. Consequently, his transition from a somewhat lazy god to a more serious one towards the end of the show was unexpected, but I guess it stands to reason given his worries about Ho Yoon, plus one shouldn't forget he's actually the older god. I do believe the show wasted an incredible opportunity to have Shin Myeong be the linchpin of our story.

Ho Yoon shields precious Samshin from Myeong's words on how to passionately express love.

As for the characters of Jeong Ba Reum and Samshin, I can say the former was functional to the plot and gets immediately sidelined once that function is completed, while the latter definitely stole every scene she was in (and she's 14!). I would've loved to have seen more of her, even though I feel her arc was a little disconnected from the overall storyline and could've been tied better if the last episode had gone in a different direction.

Execution

What if that something are meteorites?

The show has a lot of fun making fun of kdrama tropes, either through Che Gyeong's job as a scriptwriter or through the gods of destiny themselves, who take turns between being writers and viewers when coming up with the destinies of mortals. When Ho Yoon is having trouble understanding "the depth within humans which is beyond divine comprehension" (aka love), Myeong steps in to give him some advice on how "For love to happen you need to isolate them," stranding the pair in an island somewhere and having them stay in an inn with only one room available. Other gems from Shin Myeong include, "They got rained on, they're cold, their clothes are soaked. If they start a fire, we're 90% there." and "A woman always falls for a man who takes care of her when she's sick. Under one condition. He has to be good-looking." If you ask me, I think Myeong has been watching too many kdramas. Unfortunately for him, so has Che Gyeong, who makes her living writing them.

Are they gods or kdrama fans?

As you can see, there's a lot of comedy to be found in the gods' numerous, and failed, attempts to get Ba Reum and Che Gyeong together. However, as I mentioned before, the character of Ba Reum is mostly functional. We learn little to nothing of who he is, how his life has been, what his dreams are, what is a bit off considering he's supposed to be Ho Yoon's "masterpiece." With Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong slowly starting to get closer, as the former tries his best to understand the nebulous concept of love, Ba Reum falls into the background, what isn't really much of a shame as he doesn't contribute a whole lot in the second half of the show, to the point he could've been taken out completely with slight rewrites here and there.

The writing is similarly flimsy when it comes to the rules of the universe. For instance, early on it is stated that whatever gets written on a fate book cannot be erased, and yet when a character accidentally spills coffee on his fate book the ink on the page vanishes as if it were Voldemort's diary (there is also another instance of writing mysteriously vanishing that isn't explained). In another case, it is stated that anyone who knew a certain character got their memories of that character erased, yet one (very secondary) character still seems to be able to recall everything. These sort of plot contrivances are odd in that they are unnecessary and could've been worked around with relative ease.

It means we have a problem, that's what it means.

Another, more important, mystery that doesn't get explained is how Ho Yoon is able to "resurrect" multiple times. One of the rules of the universe states that any god who interferes with mortals, beyond the scope of their duties, and develops feelings for them, gets the Thanos treatment. However, it is eventually revealed that Shin Ho Yoon got the boot several times for this and yet was able to return every single time, with his memories erased. No explanation is provided for this and, instead, the show suggests, in the last scene of the last episode, that this is the case for all gods, as we see a couple of them return from extinction.

Personally, I feel there was a lot of potential left untapped here and this relates directly to my comment on how Shin Myeong should've been the linchpin of the entire story. If you'll recall the web drama One More Time, the reason why the male lead was stuck in a time loop was because of a contradiction that arose in the terms of the contract made between the female lead and the Grim Reaper. In a similar vein, I think the show could've suggested that Myeong first met Ho Yoon as a human kid and maybe wrote for him a fate that implied him falling in love or something similar. However, the human Ho Yoon died before that fate could occur and so became the god of destiny Shin Ho Yoon, destined to continuously "resurrect" until he could embrace his fate. A loophole such as this one could've neatly explained Ho Yoon's rebirth cycle.

The ending itself was a little underwhelming and it's easy to understand why, as it it suggested that Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong are stuck in an endless loop of the former falling in love with the latter and vanishing, with Che Gyeong being the only one able to remember all of their interactions. As fates go, it's rather depressing so it doesn't really jibe well when the show's upbeat main theme starts playing at the end. When I did my episode recaps for the show I suggested that, with some rewrites, we could've made Episode 9 the series finale and the show would've been better for it. How?

Imagine at some point in the show both characters remember everything, perhaps at that wind/lamb farm where Che Gyeong desperately calls out for Ho Yoon who, instead of running to her, walks away out of fear of vanishing for good this time. I would've planted seeds throughout the show suggesting Ho Yoon is developing emotions yet isn't vanishing from some inexplicable reason, and there are already some seeds of this in place. Perhaps he has a talk with Myeong about how strange that is and decides to see how far he can take it. The show would end as Episode 9 did, with Ho Yoon returning to Che Gyeong and asking for a caramel macchiato, the most expensive item. They both smile at the reference to their past encounter and we cut to credits with the main theme playing in the background. Ho Yoon's actions could serve to inspire other gods of destiny to try and write their own fates, like how Samshin (even though she's not a god of destiny) follows in his footsteps and decides to attend school.

Music

If you've read any of my reviews, you know that, usually, all of my recommended shows are accompanied by a soundtrack that not only has good music in it but that is used at the right time. This show has some very good tracks that stand out from their more atmospheric counterparts, such as Lee So Jung's "Skyline" (the show's main theme), Jeong Sewoon's "Time Machine," and Yongmin Ryu's "Chaotic." As far as instrumentals tracks are concerned, the obvious standout bar none is "The Deity of Fate." Other instrumental tracks aren't bad but they just can't hold a candle to this magical piece by Yongmin Ryu that has traces of Hotel del Luna's excellent soundtrack.

A couple of examples that prove how these tracks are expertly used include the end of Episode 7, that shows us how Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong first met through a flashback, with "The Deity of Fate" followed by "Skyline," and another scene in Episode 9, where Ho Yoon recalls his past and we see a quick transition between different days at Che Gyeong's coffee shop as she serves him a caramel macchiato, with "Time Machine" playing in the background. However, in the same way Ho Yoon conjures up a magenta pink moon to distract Che Gyeong, I do believe the show sometimes relies on such scenes to divert your attention from some of its plot holes or inconsistencies, hoping their beauty and poetic nature will thwart any deeper analysis that it might not withstand. It's up to you to decide whether you can let it slide or not.

Conclusions

In short, Scripting your Destiny is a fun show that doesn't take itself too seriously and that successfully creates a universe and characters I'd love to see more of, while trying to convey a timeless love story that has elements of One More Time, Goblin, and Angel's Last Mission: Love. I don't believe it succeeds in this respect, certainly nowhere close to the OTPs in any of those shows, in no small part because Shin Ho Yoon never makes that transition from deity to boyfriend that is present in shows like Goblin and Angel's Last Mission: Love. The romance between Shin Ho Yoon and Go Che Gyeong is one that looks good on paper and should've translated better to the screen. Having said that, their interactions are quite fun to watch and one could certainly envision a future where the two become a couple, provided Ho Yoon somehow manages to stop getting lobotomized. It's a shame but the series finale makes it lose several points as it doesn't make the most of the show's premise or message.

Would I recommend it? If you've watched and enjoyed the other shows I mentioned, yes, absolutely. Despite its flaws, which can be considered relatively minor to an extent (this is a web drama after all), Scripting your Destiny is still a much better investment than many kdramas and at a fraction of their time, and the comedy value of seeing how it makes fun of kdrama tropes again and again cannot be discounted. You're bound to have a good laugh for sure. Additionally, it features some gorgeous and creative (look at that last picture!) VFX-enhanced sets that rival fantasy dramas like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, which definitely had a larger budget and tried to recapture some of that Goblin magic but couldn't. And if you haven't watched the shows I mentioned watch this one anyway so we can have more good web or mini dramas (Handmade Love is an excellent one that runs the length of a movie) that give kdramas a run for their money. Until the next one!

[serendipitous-posts]

Doctor Who Q&A!

Who is your Doctor?

Matt Smith! Funny story about him actually-he was the first doctor I ever watched-it was Time of the Angels, but at the time I watched that episode, Matt Smith’s run was over. I went back and watched Nine and Ten, and then rewatched Eleven before hitting Twelve up. Eleven has always had a special place in my heart

Your favourite Doctor?

Funnily enough, Twelve. He faintly edges out Eleven in this regard. I think I just really enjoy his humour, dry and sarcastic, and the character arc of wondering whether he’s a good person or not really spoke to me. Yeah, stinky eyebrow man wins in this regard

Least favourite Doctor?

Either Nine or Thirteen? I found Nine to be somewhat boring, I liked his humour, but most of the time was spent setting up his backstory, or that weird romance thing with Rose, and since romance has never interested me, except in certain areas *shrugs*

Thirteen isn’t anything to do with Jodie Whittaker, it’s just that the best moments of Doctor Who are when the Doctor is sad, or vulnerable or angry. The Oncoming Storm is a big part of it all. And it seems that she never really has the oppurtunity to be emotional in this yet. That’s the scriptwriters fault, not hers, and I’m happy they’re starting to change it with the new season.

Best regeneration?

Oh god, that’s actually a tie between Ten, Eleven and Twelve for me

Ten dies alone and it is awful. His last lines brought me to tears, and there’s something so sad about him being killed protecting one of his friends. 

Eleven had me sobbing. Out of the three, he’s the only one who met this whole thing with acceptance, and he’s the only one to not be alone when it happens. His was the nicest out of the three, but because he was MY Doctor, I was bawling like a baby. When Amy appeared I  b r  o k e

Twelve is heartbreakingly realistic. He’s not resisting change like Ten is, he just wants to rest, for once. Like Ten, he dies alone, with only memories to comfort him, and I remember tearing up when he told Thirteen what he told Clara

Who is the most human Doctor?

Either Ten or Twelve. Both of them are conflicted about their morality and whether they should do the right thing or not, both of them try and fail and try again. Twelve is just the one to realise he’s not good or bad, he’s an idiot.

Best Companion?

Donna Noble or Amy Pond and Rory. 

I am a sex repulsed ace-aro, this means I would rather stick my hand in a woodchipper than be in a relationship with someone. Platonic friendships and family have always been my bread and butter and these three are perfect for the Doctor.

Donna Noble? Bold, sassy, determined. Her mom is constantly putting her down, and yet she’s the saviour of the Universe. She doesn’t hesitate to call Ten out on his bullshit, and her departure hurt me on so many levels. I have loved her ever since Pompeii, and I will decry the erasure of her character as unfair until the end of bloody time

Amy Pond and Rory. I’m putting these two together, because I only really started to like Amy when Rory came in. I love their character arcs, growing and changing. Their relationship is also fun to watch, once you get over the drama. I like relationships like Chandler and Monica, natural, fun to watch, not Ross and Rachel, dragged out, on and off again, and after a brief buffer period, these two sorted out their differences and their banter was amazing to watch. Also, the fact that they’re the Doctor’s in laws? They are the epitome of found family and I am LOVING IT

Shoutout to Martha Jones btw, runner up as always. I wish we got to see more of her when she WASN’T enamoured with the Doctor, watching her call him out in the Poison Sky was magnificent.

Worst Companion?

The Companions relationships with the Doctor are the most important thing in the show; what they think of him, how much they trust him, what extent are their feelings towards them, and to me, none was quite as boring as Rose and the Doctor.

I HATE will they-wont they plots, and that basically sums up their entire run together, getting jealous of eachothers partners, vaguely alluding towards their attraction to eachother, but not saying it, it drained all of the fun out of Rose. Her making out with a clone of the Doctor, in front of the Doctor was the final thing for me.

And while I’m all for the return of a Companion, she seems to linger throughout Ten’s run. I can understand why for Martha’s; that was her entire character arc after all, learning to expect better of yourself, but she didn’t need to be there for Donna’s; they very easily could have thought of another way to create DoctorDonna. Her presence was everywhere throughout David Tennants run, and I found it annoying

Favourite Doctor Who Ships?

River Song with Eleven, Twelve or Thirteen. As I said, banter and comedy is how you establish a good relationship, it shows how relaxed two people are together, and River with whichever Doctor she’s with at the time always has this flirty back and forth going on between them. They’re very open about their attraction to eachother, and I love it. Also, Thirteen and River because if you don’t think Thirteen is a raging pansexual then I have news for you.

Amy and Rory for the reasons I listed above; they sort through their issues, have good repartee and are a very enjoyable couple to watch

(I briefly shipped Eleven x Amy x Rory before I found out they were in laws, so shoutout to that.)

Least Favourite Doctor Who Ships?

Rose x Doctor. It would have been fine if they ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING WITH IT INSTEAD OF JUST HINTING AT IT

Martha x Doctor. Martha’s whole arc is about learning that the Doctor is treating her badly and that she doesn’t need him. To go back to him would invalidate that whole thing

Controversial Thought?

I know a lot of people hate Clara, but to be honest, I’m more apathetic/warm towards her. I loved her relationship with Twelve, and how she was almost a caretaker towards him. She starts to act like the Doctor after a while, but then that’s what the Companions DO, they become more versatile, more able to handle tough situations. I’m not happy how they made her immortal and gave her her own TARDIS, but other than that, I’m pretty mild towards her

Best Two-Parter Episode?

Heaven Sent and Hell Bent. It was one of those episodes, ones that are genuinely, deeply horrifying. I got chills when I realised how long the Doctor had been trapped in the Confession Dial. I wasn’t really happy with how the brought Clara back from the dead, but I was okay with it, because watching her read the High Command the riot act for how they treated the Doctor was so, so worth it

Best Doctor/companion pairing?

Ten and Donna. Loved their brother-sister duo relationship

If Two Doctors could meet, who would you choose?

Thirteen and Four would be fun; they have similar energy and scarves after all. Think that would be fun to see. Thirteen and Twelve would also have a nice energy between them I think. Maybe throw in some height jokes.

If any Companions could meet, who would you choose?

Donna and Amy would probably end up flirting with each other. But, at the same time, I think Donna may help Amy come away from her hero worship of the Doctor. 

Martha and Rory would bond over how they sometimes feel like third wheelers and probably share medical knowledge. Martha and Clara would be fun, caring for the Doctor’s health.

If any Companions could meet any Doctor, which would you choose?

Martha meets Twelve. Twelve is actively trying to figure out whether he’s a good person, and I can see him trying to make amends for the way he’s treated her.

Thirteen meets Amy and Rory. She probably wouldn’t tell them who she is, but she would be so excited to see them again

Donna meets Nine. They would spend the entire time snarking at eachother

The Fam meets Ten. He would be so overwhelmed when he sees how many people are joining him right now

[mantra4ia]

Desires: Lucifer season 5 on Netflix

Created: August 21, 2020. Last Modified: August 22, 2020.

Preface: Alright my Lucis, here’s the sitch: it’s been a minute. Life got a bit chaotic I wasn’t able to start season five quite on time when it premiered on August 21st because I haven’t finished the great 2020 Lucifer rewatch. I’m nearly done however and should be able to jump into it either later today or tomorrow, which is why beforehand I want to — as I’ve traditionally done for a few seasons — create a desires list and keep a tally throughout the season to see how many are met. I am going to try to pace myself, not binge, and watch a single episode a day so don’t spoil me. Likewise I will tag my spoilers. Here we go... #21DaysofLucifer

Season 3 and 4 Roundout - Desires Fulfilled / Questions Answered

✔We’ve seen other demons “like Maze” and a bit of what havoc they can reek. Well sort of. To be quite frank, although it was cool to see them possess the recently deceased, it wasn’t as impending doom as I was expecting. They didn’t seem nearly as disciplined or intimidating as Mazikeen, even Dromos, more bored and desperate.

✔ We’ve seen a little more or the heavenly host in Remiel. Remi was cool, if a bit intense. Her character, and her affinity to Amenadiel was a nice foil to see how far his character has come in evolution. But again like Uriel was for Lucifer, she kind of became a driving force character device to push Amenadiel’s growth. So I wonder if we’ll get to see more of her or not.

✔ (s3) The backstory of Lucifer’s arrival in LA, finding LUX, and making a deal with Amenadiel.

✔ (s3) Cain finally went to hell, YES! Not that I didn’t like Marcus Pierce/Tom Welling, there were some great interactions there, but I just think he was a wishy-washy antagonist based on how he was written and I can’t wait to trade up for Michael.

✔ Maze finally had some happiness and attachment to this silly mortal coil and it slipped away! Why Eve why? I love Maze’s bonding with humans, Linda, Trixie, Chloe. But I love that after a Millennia of serving, and then watching Amenadiel and Linda be happy in a family unit, that she might actually make her own and my hopes were dashed. 

Things we got that we didn’t even know we wanted. SO GOOD:

Season 4 ep 8: Amenadiel bonding with Caleb and confronting community violence, police brutality, and systemic racism. It was a rough episode to be sure, but absolutely needed,

Chloe talking Lucifer down and out of a self-hatred spiral and his transformation into full-fledged devil and back again.

Lucifer playing Creep on repeat while missing the detective (even after insisting in a therapy session that “he’s not a teenager playing Adele on repeat) and Mr. Said Out B**** trying to rob Lucifer and gun point and ultimately get rich. What a fun twist.

The Dan and Maze Los X’s fight. They are wicked good at laying down the  hurt on the criminal element and I was wondering when they’d pair up again after dispatching Warden Perry.

The devil in a bar fight! I mean, it’s only fair since the ladies had their brawl. I love how this fight sequence was filmed in bursts of slo-mo from various angles, involved everything from fists, to tasers, knives, bottles, and the infamous pool cue, and they picked the perfect song for pacing (Jake Bugg, Lightning Bolt, could listen to it all day on repeat.)

Time for all good demons to go home / Enough, you will bow down to your king. Go home! (aka appropriate use of Devilish intimidation face)

Amenadiel vs Remi 

A Rocky montage with Lucifer and Amenadiel / Amenadiel’s face the first time Lucifer drives the Corvette

Lucifer at the roller derby

Chloe the YA fangirl

Maze teaching Trixie about knives, with each handle decorated in a different toy.

Amenadiel and Chloe catching up: your father is so proud of you. Like and angel BOSS!

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:

★ (s3) Amenadiel taking Charlotte home

★ Dan being comforted in his grief by Amenadiel

★ Amenadiel’s wrath and the brotherly duo tag team to lay the hurt on the drug dealer that got Charlie killed. It’s been a while since we’ve seen warrior angel ready to dispatch anyone in his way. And it was glorious!

★ (s3) Lucifer’s almost driving lesson with Trixie “Morningstar”

★ (s3) Maze torturing Lucifer by making him think he’s the Angel of San Bernadino

★ (s3) Amenadiel and Lina helping to dispose of Lucifer’s wings

★  Lucifer kicking Julian, Tiernan’s son, through a glass pane window

★ The goodbye kiss between Lucifer and Chloe

 DIDN’T LIKE:

☒ (s3) Cain playing guitar and singing. What is he, a crime lord, a top cop, or an act that the improv club wouldn’t take? 

☒ Eve. I liked Eve, but we mostly got to see one side of her around Lucifer, and a kind of floundering an confused side when she was with Maze. The side that I would have liked to see more of was the maternal side that came out when she briefly talked about Abel or was interrogated by Trixie. That made her more layered.

☒ Father Kinley. That dude is just meh.

☒ Dan’s broken heart and rebounding with Ella. Don’t get me wrong, its a good arc, but I don’t see it lasting

☒ (s3) Abel and Reese. Those were two side stories I could have done without, although they had great moments of humor. I quite enjoyed Reese’s character, and although I didn’t like Abel Lucifer’s stick-figure comic illustration of Cain fighting with him over a rock was quite enjoyable.

WHAT I TRULY DESIRE: SINFUL SEASON 5, my BURNING QUESTIONS, and SPECULATIONS

Obviously, don’t spoil anything for me, but if any of my desires end up coming true in any of the first eight episodes maybe drop me a hint in the comments...

A big time jump. We need to see the lasting impact of Lucifer’s absence. I know that time in hell works differently per that episode where Lucifer saved Chloe and almost got stuck in a loop, but we still need enough time to elapse that the impact is felt on the mortal side. Or, we need to see the passage of time through a series of events without Lucifer, like a montage of character development. At least a year or so, if for no other reason then Trixie is growing up and I actually want to see her take driving lessons with Lucifer.

Last season Maze gave baby Charlie a gift, something she’d wished she’d had growing up, and previously had alluded to the language of demons, her many siblings, and teased her mother, the mother of all demons. Will we finally get to meet Maze’s mom Lilith (or however they address her)? And, in spite of Mazikeen’s found family, she still has restlessness and abandonment issues. Will her mom finally finally bring her peace, or will clashing with her resolidify Maze’s purpose on earth?

A Decker/Mazikeen team-up or girls night out 2.0 would always be appreciated. At this point its probably 4.0 if you count the bar fight and the bachelorette party.

Will we see tougher, scarier demons, or are they just warmup to the really scary depths of hell?

Speaking of hell, more hell. Tons of hell. I want to know the minutia of all the mechanics. If Lucifer’s gotta be down there in self-imposed exile, he may as well show us around. Pour us a drink.

Will Lucifer see Cain in Hell? Not that I’m dying to see more of “sad Cain” but it would be interesting to see a more dark or desperate or cunning side to him at least now that he’s actually neck deep in torment. Or, alternatively, I’m hedging my bets that he could be a good candidate to light the fire under Lucifer’s *** to get of hell back to the earthly realm. Even in hell, I’m betting Cain would have a soft spot for Chloe, and if news reached Lucifer that Michael were trying to abscond with his life and with Chloe, it would give Cain and Lucifer one last bit of “A-Hole brothers” common ground to bond over. Like “Brothers, am I right? Go kick, get Chloe back, I’ll still have enough guilt to torture me with in a few thousand years when you get back,”   

Will Lucifer fall into peril in hell of once again potentially getting distracted and stuck in a hell loop? Will his servants be satisfied with his return? Will Amenadiel bust him out.

Mr. Said Out Bitch needs a role reprise. He’s been in every season opener 2-4, we’ve gotten to know his undergarments very well.  Its high time we get to know his name and story. He’s put in the work!  

Amenadiel should be running LUX in Lucifer's absence. We got a tease of that in previous seasons (remember when he asked what would Lucifer do?) its time for that to come to fruition. Plus, any excuse to put DB Woodside in a suit, just because he wears them so well. It would also be interesting if, after that tragedy he’s experienced, Amenadiel will start taking after Luci. Maybe not the punishing, not yet, but wanting to seek out evil and corruption. It has been teased since s1 “fall as I did.” Perhaps he’ll start developing a taste for his bother’s line of work whereas he found it repugnant in the early days

Dan and Maze or Dan and Ella pair up. Both Dan and Maze are due for some happiness.

An Azrael reboot, when need more of her. She’s the angel of Death for pity’s sake. I don’t know if the original actress is still available or if they would have to recast, or if the character concept by Netflix would even be the same, but I need Azrael to be capable of sweet and unassuming and on a coin flip downright menacing.

More of Lucifer as a godparent, bless! And maybe a cool montage of “cousin” Trixie and Lucifer co-babysitting Charlie please.

Whilst on the subject of Lucifer and parenting, and without putting Trixie too much into harm’s way, I need to see what “I would do anything to protect that little urchin” looks like. Trixstar ride or die.

Father Frank, come back! I need a cameo or recurrent role pleeeeease.

Trixie in every episode. This is non-negotiable, much like chocolate cake. Beatrice is an all-star. In fact, I’ve decided that when Dad/God finally does show up, Trixie needs to be the one to get to know him / introduce him first. She’s been captain on the celestial cheer squad for four seasons, she’s earned this.

Who's going to see through Michael's facade first? I mean, I know that trailer shows Maze torturing it out of him, but as far as intuition goes, I've got a 50/50 split between Trixie and Linda, with an honorable mention to Dan.

If Michael is Lucifer's twin, does he have the same angelic compulsion skill set? Or something different? And will it work on Chloe or is she universally immune?

A “be like Mike” pop-culture reference. ******Spoilers: ******* all the trailers have revealed Michael already, so they owe us this for letting the steam out.

As far as pop-culture, how many movie and TV references will we get from Lucifer and ensemble this year? I expect A-game, from sci-fi to 80s action, on par with the previous likes of Parent Trap, Star Wars, Home Alone, Kim Possible, and Rocky.

Will Amenadiel’s necklace make a reappearance, even after he put it around Caleb’s neck in the morgue? Heavenly artifacts have a way of causing trouble in this show.

Will what finally learn what, if any, significance there is to Lucifer’s ring? Again, as all my fictional writings will attest, I really kind of want it to be a stolen little trinket from him Dad.

Plot twist: will we get to see Hell and the silver city all in one season, or is that too devilishly good to ask? It would be intriguing if Lucifer fell from Heaven for rebelling and now some threat like, for example, the mother of demons would pose a threat to the gates such that Lucifer was called upon to defend them. Not expecting anything Endgame level with a host of Angels popping up like sorcerers...but it is food for the imagination.

Plot twist: will Michael, duplicitous twin that he is, be revealed as the reason that Lucifer does not lie and can’t stand liars? Will be get a Michael back story? Is he perhaps the true rebellious son? see: my original fan conjecture here.

Additional links to previous recaps, roundouts and wishlists: 

Season 1: Best Moments // Season 2: Predictions, Desires, Roundout, Best Moments // Season 3: Speculations, Quick-shot summary 

[davieslandon]

discord || text ☎ avery

Who: Landon and @amchopraofficial​ Mentioned: @monroephile​ @lorencourtier​ @aaronhart93​ Where: Throuple Pride Event Description: Landon sees Avroe getting it on and texts Avery about it. 

Big Bro I saw you Hehehehehehe Lil Sis jfdsgkdhfgkjdhf i saw you too you and tall boy close, i take it? �� Big Bro Idk really I want to be though hehe What about you? 😏 Lil Sis certainly seemed like it lmao fsgkjdfhgkjdfhg shush 😂 Big Bro NO SHUSH You had your own private booth 😂 Lil Sis DFJGKHFGJKHGJHG can't best friends hang out?? 😇 Big Bro Sureeeeeeeeeeee That’s not what I do with Aaron when I’m in a booth with him alone 😉 Lil Sis jfdgshgkjdfhggg we’re close Big Bro I could tell haha Lil Sis we're... you're not buying any of this, are you? Big Bro What do you think? NO Lil Sis ASDJKFHDKFJGDHFFD FINE! I'M IN LOVE WITH HER! I've been in love with her since the moment i met her and i'm really fucking scared of losing her Big Bro 😱😱😱 Seriously?? Wow From what I’ve seen I don’t think you would lose her if you told her Lil Sis she's... she's my best friend, Lan. Mars and Monroe are the most important people in my life and i'm just... i'm just constantly scared of losing the both of them when i look into my future, i see her. i see the rest of my life with her in it. i've been trying to tell her since New Years and i just god idk i don't know how to tell her some times, i think that she might love me back. but i'm scared that i might be seeing things that aren't there and i just... i can't lose her too Big Bro I don’t think she would have done what she did with you in that booth if she didn’t like you just a little I know it’s a risk and I know that having kids makes it harder But you don’t want to wait until it’s too late Lil Sis ... maybe you got me there i want to try to tell her soon but every time i have, something or someone always interrupts us mars has literally interrupted me 30 times and ellie interrupted me earlier when i almost told her i just... i want more with her. i'm already so happy with her and i just... i just want to spend the rest of my life being happy with her i love her, man. i love her and mars more than anything Big Bro Go to the booth again I’ll stand guard so no one interrupts you and you can tell her Fool proof plan! Awweee 🥺🥺 you’re going to make me emotional I’m so happy for you that you found someone like that Lil Sis flgshdkfhgsfgl landon... i am not going to tell her i love her for the first time with you standing there not that i don't appreciate it! but it'll kinda ruin the moment akjfghdfkg she makes me so happy Big Bro ....I’ll stay a little bit away? Lil Sis her and mars... this is the first time in years in which i felt like i deserve to be happy. that i deserve to be loved. that despite all of my stupid and bad mistakes in the past, i can be more than that and they're the ones who helped me believe that she's the one who helped me believe that luca and max... i was constantly thinking of ways as to why it'd never work with them and why i was bad for them, why it'd never last but with her? god... i still have so much i need to work on with myself, but i want to be able to do so and have her support i trust her more than anyone and i just... i love her, man. i love her i love her i love her and no skjfghfdkj but thank you cuz i do not promise us staying "family-friendly" for too long lmfaooooooo Big Bro You know what that means right? That what you feel for her is real Otherwise it wouldn’t be so different from how it was with Luca and max Ohhhhh I mean I’ve already seen things that I can’t unsee But yeah that makes sense I guess hahaha Lil Sis i love her, man. i just... need to find the right moment to tell her. preferably one in which mars is staying at max's and we're completely alone and end up without any distractions JSDFHKDJFGI CAN'T BELIEVE WE DID THAT but absolutely no regrets 😏 but anyways sdfjgkhdkjsgh HAPPY PRIDE! Big Bro If you want me to take him at some point so you can have some alone time let me know 😏 Elle would love a sleepover Hehehehe I know the feeling HAPPY PRIDE!! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do 😘 Lil Sis sfhgkjdfghfkjd omg thank you 🥺 mars would love that, he misses his 'peppa' bahahaha considering your little show on the dance floor, i would expect so 😜 KASJFHKJGHFKG omg lmao we're going to be heading home soon. needed to get some drinks lmao Big Bro How many peppa pig episodes are they going to make me watch? 😭😱 Hahaha if there’s a round 2 I’ll promise you won’t have to see anything Awwee okay, I’ll see you sometimes soon I guess Lil Sis not sure but at this point, neither of them are gonna have our accents, bud 😭 fgjhfdjkghdfkj if there is a round 2, congrats ya big slut! 😂 lmao perfect. i'm sorry that we didn't get to really hang out tonight though i tried to spend time with other people early on... but i missed her too much, you know??? 🥺 Big Bro Noooooo Elle needs to have a Donny accent It’s a must I don’t know yet but I’ll try 😏😏 It’s fine, you had better things to do Literally Lil Sis lmaoooo i'm trying to get Mars to have a Londoner accent though who knows, considering it might be some mix of mine, Roe's, and Max's dfkjgdfjkg i'm rooting for you!! 😂 skjgdfhgkjfdhkgj shush most definitely a fun night, that's for sure Big Bro Yeah that’s probably not going to happen...we’re surrounded by too many Americans 🥺🥺 Thank you thank you I’ll try my very best Oh believe me I know Lil Sis sigh... i'd say 'damn Yanks', but my favourite person is American. so i can't fdgkjfhg slut it up, buddy boy! you deserve it lmao BY THE WAY... did i /really/ hear you and aaron singing "what makes you beautiful" at some point?? or was that a fever dream??? Big Bro Yeah don’t say that or we’ll have some very angry people running after us 😂 Ohhhh that might have happened yeah Aaron was trying to make me feel a little better I might have even pulled his pants down during his solo hahaha Lil Sis i'll most definitely say it to Aaron though bahahahaha fjhgjkfdhgkjd fucking awesome, i'm almost disappointed i missed that Big Bro Do it, I already had him running after me all over Throuple he won’t be able to keep up with you 😂 Lil Sis heh heh heh Big Bro I’m sure there’s a video of it running around somewhere you could see Lil Sis fjdghdjfg perfect!!! i'll show it to monroe, i'm sure it's great lmao Big Bro Hahaha that’s not embarrassing at all Lil Sis what are lil sis's for? 😇 Big Bro Good point Well I’ll let you go enjoy yourself some more Make me proud sis 😏 Lil Sis fghsjfdkghfkj shhhhh have fun slutting it up! make me proud bro 😏 Big Bro I will! Lil Sis wow, we truly are quite the duo lmao go team! Big Bro 😎😎

[inventor-researcher-chef]

I MAY BE TO SCARED TO INTERACT BEYOND ANONYMOUSLY BUT I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE YOUR ASOUE EPISODE RANKINGS

Mmk It’s gonna be long tho so it’s going under a cut

Penultimate Peril Part 1

very accurate to the books! any changes made sense within the context of the show and worked

gorgeous aesthetics, strongest opening of any episode aside from Bad Beginning

only minus points because of Sporty Kit but she’s in it so little and the rest of it is so good that it doesn’t even matter

Max Greenfield as the Denouements was phenomenal

I actually liked the part where they try to make us think Kit was shacking up with Ernest, it was clever

Also I actually like the green uniform, I think it’s a more flattering colour on the actors than red would have been

Dewey’s death scene was amazingly shot and acted

I would die for Sunny in her toddler uniform. That being said in this episode if you look closely you can in fact see the light from the ipad they used to get her to look in the right direction

Reptile Room Part 1

Once again, gorgeous aesthetics and incredible book accuracy

Minus points for the spyglass subplot

Higher than part 2 because of Aasif Mandvi’s wonderful portrayal of Monty

I love the conservatory reptile room

Reptile Room Part 2

Very book accurate and entertaining

This is the episode where Violet’s outfits begin to slap

Minus points because with Monty’s death they made the colour grading less bright which makes sense but is less fun to look at

Also not a fan of how comedic and bafoonish the troupe is, it’s really more of an overall problem but it really just undermines how impactful Monty’s death is

Bad Beginning Part 2

Let’s be real, the Bad Beginning episodes were the most book accurate of the whole show

Loved the entire Marvelous Marriage bit, the play and marriage were done spectacularly

Lots of Jewish references, we stan

I actually like Jacquelyn’s presence in the first season, it works and adds a new element to the story

I also like Gustav being a major part of this episode because we never saw him in the original books and it’s nice to see his character before he dies (also symbolism with his death and Dewey’s)

Hostile Hospital Part 2

Do I even need to explain why this is so high on the list?

Higher than the first part because of the absolute horror of the whole operating theatre, it’s done so well

The aesthetics and filming work perfectly to underline the horror of everything

Only so low because I personally am not a fan of horror aesthetics

Bad Beginning Part 1

Once again, Bad Beginning episodes were the most book accurate and I love Jacquelyn

Strongest opening of any episode aside from Pentultimate 1

Only so low because of the cheesy CGI and NPH’s comedic Olaf

Hostile Hospital Part 1

ESME IN THE LIBRARY OF RECORDS HOLY FUCK

Low because aside from Esme being fucking fabulous in that scene I found the rest of the episode to be a bit boring at times

However, very accurate to the books and the chase scene in Last Chance was sufficiently freaky, as was the scaring Babs scene

For that matter, absolutely loved that we got to see Babs

Penultimate Peril Part 2

The Baudelaires in the trial scene made me🥺

The scene with Justice Strauss and Olaf with the kids was amazing

The ending made me cry

So low because of the opera scene, like how many issues did that have? It was pretty though

Also low for confirming Justice Strauss to have survived the fire, we don’t like getting answers to our questions

AND ANOTHER THING Esme’s ending was really lackluster? To the point of just being shitty? Especially given that while she is comedic, Lucy Punch hasn’t played up the comedy aspect of her character as much as NPH has, so Esme feels scarier and like more of a villain at this point so giving her that ending really fell flat

A very strong ending that really should have been the ending to the whole story

Grim Grotto Part 2

Grim Grotto was brought so low because of the absence of Widdershins but at least with part two you can pretend the first part had him and he left like in the books

Ansolutely in love with the submarines and Esme’s dress

Grim Grotto was one of my favorite books of the series as a kid so naturally it’s gonna be pretty high on the list

Also I think K Todd Freeman brings a needed likeability to Mr Poe, so when th Baudelaires are on Briny Beach again you do get the feeling they’re torn between going with him or Kit. Like they distrust and dislike him at this point but they don’t want to distrust him

Slippery Slope Part 2

The sinister duo are fab

Sunny is at her cutest in this episode, we’re talking peak cute

It’s pretty low because there’s a lot of stuff in the headquarters with Quigley that got cut, didn’t really make much of a difference but I missed it

I feel like Esme in the headquarters had so much potential to be as freaky as her Library of Records scene and it just fell short

Ersatz Elevator Part 2

Minus points for the VFD subplot but part 2 had less of that which is why it’s higher

Also in the ranking of Sunny being the cutest, this episode comes in at a close second to Slippery Slope

That being said overall I really adored the aesthetics of both episodes, absolutely love the mix of film noir and art deco

Jerome at the In Auction was amazing but Larry, Jacquelyn, Olivia, and Jacques was less so

Also still not a fan of the writing of the Quagmires

Ersatz Elevator Part 1

Once again, adore the aesthetics

Love the casting for the Squalors

Gunther’s disguise was *chef’s kiss*

so low because of the VFD subplot and the gratuitous musical number

That being said I did like the cuts between Keep Chasing Your Schemes and the Baudelaires finding the Quagmires, it worked well

Grim Grotto Part 1

Very low because of the absence of Widdershins and what this did to Fiona’s character

In general the way they wrote Fiona’s character was even less sympathetic than the books

Why, dear god, oh why was Quigley at Anwhistle Aquatics

Why, dear god, oh why does the Medusoid Mycelium look like that

Carnivorous Carnival Part 1

This was in fact my all time favorite book in the series as a kid and I just remember being a little disappointed I guess? By the episodes and I could never put my finger on why

Olivia’s character 😒

Higher than the second episode because I do love the creepy carnival feel and the feeling of unease before the Baudelaires know who Madame Lulu is

Also Esme’s gold outfit

As far as gratuitous musical numbers go, I do enjoy House of Freaks

Carnivorous Carnival Part 2

Cool carnival aesthetics

Chabo the wolf baby is adorable

Olivia’s death was more impactful and upsetting than Jacques’s, I’m just gonna say it

We miss a morally gray neutral character who is more interesting than a copy pasted Jacquelyn/Mrs Quagmire

Wide Window Part 2

This is really only so low because the colour grading is still kinda dull and it works within the episode but also makes it boring to look at

That being said the whole Hurricane Herman scene was phenomenal

rEaL eStAtE aGeNtS

The Colours in this episode were pretty, with the Lavender Lighthouse and the raincoats

Violet’s outfits remain slapping

The change to Josephine’s character is a good change (until season two when they do that to every single other character and take away any and all moral ambiguity but still)

Slippery Slope Part 1

we weRNT EXPELLED

I did love the Mortmain Mountains set

so low for the killing of the freaks, Sporty Kit, and for the heavy handed way they got rid of Jacquelyn

Wide Window Part 1

Boring and dull

Only this high because of Violet’s poppin outfits, the beautiful set, and Alfre Woodard as Josephine

Also the Captain Sham disguise is my favorite after Gunther

Austere Academy Part 2

The only reason part two is so high is because it has more Carmelita

who is the only good bit of these episodes

Like they’re both relatively book accurate, especially with the casting but like

I did not think it possible to make the Quagmires in this book more boring and yet

I get that it’s supposed to be dark and gloomy and depressing but it shouldn’t be so much that people just don’t want to watch it

Sunny running after the Quagmires in her little uniform does put this episode at like number 5 in her cuteness ranking though so points for that

Miserable Mill Part 2

While I miss the sword fight, I do understand why it was changed so I can accept it

Part 2 is higher because of Georgina’s slappin purple pantsuit

As far as MM goes I did actually like it but it still is kinda boring in comparison to the rest of the episodes

But I did like the mill scenes and Sir

Also a really strong ending that sets up season two nicely

Miserable Mill Part 1

See above

A little lower that Part 2 because of more Quagmire scenes

I actually liked the Quagmire scenes in season one and how it was handled but less so in this episode? Maybe it was the cheesy effects with the fighting

Also CGI Sunny. Her least cute episode

Vile Village Part 2

Vile Village was definitely one of my favorite books and I was so disappointed by the episodes

While I liked the western aesthetic, I don’t think it felt right with the feel of the book

Also crow nazis

Now that Jacques is dead there’s no bad VFD subplot so that’s why it’s higher than part 1

I really like how they handled Sunny not being able to take her first steps because she’s too old now. This is also definitely a good episode for the Sunny Being Cute scale

Vile Village Part 1

I really think the only thing this episode has going for it is the costumes, specifically Violet and Sunny’s

the watercolor dress, flannel, overalls, jesse hat, tricolor dress? fashion legends

disappointing, kinda boring, bland to look at, horrible VFD subplot, D+V???, bad CGI

however cute donkey

also a fan of Esme’s accent, idk what it’s supposed to be but it made my russian friend laugh

Austere Academy Part 1

Same as the first part however less Carmelita and Larry and Jacquelyn are at their most useless

Just the least entertaining episode overall

The End

honestly do I even need to explain this

I get what they were going for with the pink sheep and I quite like the tents but the pink robes were not flattering on anyone

Kit. Sugar. why is she in a white dress? when did she have time to change? overt christian symbolism after 14 episodes of Jewishness. Ishmael founded VFD. Ishmael can walk

The bad CGI. I haven’t seen CGI this bad since season one

The arboretum was disappointing and didn’t give the feel of years worth of buildup and it didn’t feel like the Baudelaires could live off of this stuff

That being said I loved chapter fourteen and BL

[comicteaparty]

November 16th-November 22nd, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from November 16th, 2019 to November 22nd, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

Which of your characters’ relationships is your favorite (whether romantic, rivals, or something else) and why?

AntiBunny

So many to choose from. In AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/, while I'm tempted to say one of the more recent ones like Jack and Penelope, but I think one of the strongest is the relationship between Penelope and Pooky. Penelope starts off with a crush on Pooky, and Pooky starts off resenting Penelope, but they come to understand each other a lot more. Pooky comes to trust Penelope, and admire the strength of her convictions, and Penelope comes to respect Pooky's persistence. They'll never be a romantic couple, but they make each other stronger, and could be called friends. They provide a balance to one another's cynicism and idealism.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

For Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) absolutely Cheth and Phaedra - they both hate each other, but one is a ‘I love annoying you’ hatred and the other is a ‘I legitimately want to stab you’ hatred.(edited)

But also Pavel and his mom. It’s just... so wholesome? Like, just a good mom and a good son. No angst. Just so sweet and nice to write.

The entire crux of the story is the triangle of relationships between Cheth, Phaedra, and Pavel - so I’m excited for each ‘side’ of that triangle to finally connect. Then the comic shenanigans can reach their peak

Cronaj

Oh boy~! The answer to this question is sooo spoilery. Well, I will say that my favorite relationship is between my hero and my villain in Whispers of the Past (https://www.callous-whispers-of-the-past.com/). As for why... The SPOILERS! To answer with as little spoilers as possible: they could have been friends.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

EHEHEHEHE WELLLLL In Court of Roses (https://courtofroses.spiderforest.com/), I make Merlow and Nocturne really obvious because GOD, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!! Slowburning with them will be such a fulfilling journey. At the same time, I enjoy the rivalry I've got going between Sven and Feliks! Theirs will be a fun relationship to develop overtime. Also for spoilers I have to sit on my hands on what I have planned for Diana and it's killing meeeeeee aaaaaaaaa.

khkddn

In Helsirvente (http://helsirvente.thecomicseries.com/) my fave is Edith and Sadie, the whole story happens because Edith wants to impress her crush by finding a spooky ghost. But there's a lot about Sadie that Edith doesn't know, and she tends to be much less merciful than Edith toward bad ghosts. Can't wait for them to really get to know each other!!!

I also like Green and Red together but it's very unhealthy, they're my problematic fave ship

DanitheCarutor

Ah this is kinda spoilery, so I'll block out the text. For TGtaHR (http://tgtahr.spiderforest.com/), SPOILER my favorite relationship would have to be the one between Julian and his tutor Professor Jackson. It won't be showing up till later on, but he was Apollo's sorta live-in private teacher who wound up seeing Julian on the local news when they were first found, and decided to tutor them since he knew Russian and that was the only language Julian vaguely knew at the time. The two got really close, enough so that Prof. Jackson was going to adopt Julian once he found a more stable job and living conditions in Cleveland (being a temp live-in teacher isn't the most ideal situation), although he never came back. Still, it was a nice moment in Julian's excessively miserable life.(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

I really enjoy writing the often complex and subtle relationships between kids/young adults. Current favourite at the moment is Foot, the future leader of the winged folks and Bell, who’s trying to uncover the secrets the adults are hiding. It’s a sort of misunderstood rival situation where one feels threatened by the other’s cleverness and the other just wants to get to the bottom of everything. I love relationships with a bit of conflict for the tension Can view the kids bickering here: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/keyspace-a-winged-tale/arc-1-children-of-the-forest-6/viewer?title_no=322364&episode_no=8

FeatherNotes

For Ghost Junk Sickness, (https://www.ghostjunksickness.com/) there are certainly a lot of dynamics that I like to explore with relationships, my fave is a major spoiler, so I'll probably go with the main duo, Vahn and Trigger. the comic is very centred around the un-stability of their relationship, as it is a deconstruction of that unhealthy side of a co-dependancy. One is a coward, running from his mistakes and refusal to own up, and the other reluctant with their own acceptance with inner strength and confidence. It definitely makes for a lot of conflict with not only themselves but with how the two interact with others-- there's always something to explore and discuss!(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

I love that Feather. It’s very interesting to explore the flawed relationship. I hope to delve deeper into codependency too but also show ways that healthy relationships can be restored

sssfrs

In Joe Is Dead, Cricket and Hopper have the best relationship. They each act so differently around other people than they do around each other. Hopper is usually so cold and aloof around her crew but when alone with Cricket she feels safe being vulnerable. Cricket is usually prickly and mean and pushes everyone away, but she cares a lot about Hopper and treats her gently and kindly. Cricket still has trouble with opening up about her own feelings, even with Hopper, and there are some other problems too but mostly they're cute together. They have a really long interaction in this chapter: https://tapas.io/episode/1513354(edited)

kayotics

I feel like this question is a little difficult for me right now, just because in Ingress Adventuring Company https://www.ingress-comic.com/ every chapter has had a different secondary character so far. Even so, I think my favorite relationships so far are Toivo and Rosemary's relationship as father and daughter and Toivo and Aidan's relationship as exes but still friends. Both Rosemary and Aidan have to deal with Toivo being a little too reckless and impulsive, with their own frustrations about it in different ways. Especially Rosemary, who is reaching the age where she can understand that her dad has flaws and is a regular person who makes stupid decisions just as much as anyone else does.

Deo101

This is a very hard question for me, as relationships are kind of the centerpiece of Millennium http://millennium.spiderforest.com/ ! Though I guess if I had to pick, I'd go ahead with the two main characters, Luzio and Sage. They're very much an "opposites attract" dynamic, and I love juxtaposition and all sorts of "balancing things out" kinds of relationships. So probably them!

eli [a winged tale]

Opposites attract definitely works! Lots of great dynamics to play with

Eightfish

@kayotics Woah, I'm subscribed to Ingress. Small world

[mockingowlproductions]

Modern Day Album Burning: A Christian’s Response to Return to Order

Before meeting my husband, I had never heard of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Since we’ve gotten married, we’ve read some of the books and watched several films based on Pratchett and Gaiman’s work. We’re also huge fans of Doctor Who.

When Good Omens was officially announced by Amazon – not Netflix, sorry Return to Order – we were excited beyond belief. One of the most comical stories by the duo, starring two brilliant actors, there was nothing to do but wait in tingling anticipation for May 31.

We had every good intention of watching a single episode per day. Twelve hours after we remembered what day it was however, we had finished the series.

The mini-series lived up to its promise. David Tennant: Brilliant. Michael Sheen: Fantastic. Supporting cast: Splendid.

We watched the show with utter delight. We discussed theology and doctrine about the End Times for hours after each installment of the six-part series. We felt the depth of the questions surrounding afterlife, death, Tribulation, Armageddon, and more.

We laughed our tushies off at the many dazzling, ridiculous lines throughout the whole thing. And we were delighted to finally know of a good use for the Queen song, “I’m in Love with My Car.” Hats off to you, Mr. Gaiman.

Today, when I got home from a walk, my husband mentioned the news piece that an uber religious group was protesting and demanding that Netflix remove Good Omens from viewing.

“Uh, it’s on Amazon.”

“Yes.”

Needless to say, I laughed heartily and looked up the protest to see what the heck was going on with these people.

I quickly discovered a short article on the protest, which linked to the religious group’s page. On the page, I read their demands, which started off with stating that “Due to an oversight…” they had gotten the streaming service wrong.

If that wasn’t enough to stop their argument, they had more to offer.

“This series presents devils and Satanists as normal and even good…”

Is it bad that a piece of art presents Christians and non-Christians as humans with needs, fears, and hopes? Is it so strange to imply that people who don’t follow Jesus could be among the masses? Or even working for evil?

When we forget that those with different beliefs and convictions are just as human as we are, we run the risk of committing one of the greatest sins of all: not loving and respecting our neighbors as we are commanded to love and respect ourselves.

It’s possible that the people in this religious group have watched Good Omens but it feels as though they either didn’t see anything beyond a trailer or that they went into the film series with presuppositions that this show would be evil and ungodly.

The fact that they publicly demonstrated against Netflix for producing this series says a lot about their approach. A knee-jerk reaction for publicity is what this feels like, rather than an actual truth-seeking mission and call to be like Jesus.

As Christians – that is people who follow Jesus Christ of Nazareth – we are called to live a life that demonstrates mercy, grace, and love. Not judgment as though we are God. In fact, the book of Matthew in the Bible specifically talks about getting rid of the giant plank in your own eye before going after the speck of dust in your neighbor’s. Of course, this is about one Christian to another, not a Christian judging a non-Christian for acting like “the world.”

We cannot expect non-Christians to adhere to Christian standards. And truthfully, people who are outside of the Church are often the most insightful into the behavior of the Church. They happen to be our target audience. And if we’re not meeting the needs of those who need Jesus, then why does the Church as an institution exist?

What is the point of protesting? What is the point of petitions? What is the point of all this advocating if the end result isn’t practical service driven by the love and compassion of Jesus, demonstrated with humility?

One of the key things that Return to Order appears to miss is that Good Omens is intended as a satire and comedy. The writers have not demonstrated a background of Biblical theology and have not claimed that this is a theological look at the End Times. Instead, this is a work of fiction. A satirical work of fiction.

One of the main points Return to Order seems to have issues with is how both heaven and hell are portrayed as being led by groups that want to have war for the sake of war: “…an arbitrary struggle devoid of meaning and truth.” Which reflects the mindset of a number of Christian groups who seem to have forgotten about mercy. Good Omens’ point is that there are Christian and non-Christian groups arbitrarily fighting for the sake of fighting.

Fear mongering, a staple of the conservative church that I grew up in, is still alive and well. Petitions like this continue feeding a long line of B.S. to marginalized people who are sheltered and kept from religious and political freedom through sermons preached by folks with an agenda. These folks often tell abused women that they’re at fault for the abuse and insist children should be taught that they don’t deserve love.

This culture of argument and divisiveness completely ignores the fact that “True love drives out all fear.”

How is biased, angry rhetoric godly? How can fire and brimstone sermons that condemn the already forgiven be a righteous demonstration of love?

The perpetuation of endless conflict for the sake of pride and ‘being right’ isn’t what I consider Christianity at all. A work of fiction is a work of fiction. A good story is a good story. A demon hell-bent on stopping Satan while driving a car aflame blaring Queen on the radio is a damn good production.

This Christian’s interpretation of Good Omens is that it’s a great work of fiction worth enjoying as such. It’s not a theology textbook, and it doesn’t claim to examine orthodox Christianity. It’s a satire that pokes fun at the end result of well-intentioned religious extremists.

The best way for us to put away the sword of the “Culture war” is to watch, read, listen, and interact with pop-culture that isn’t just made by Christians for Christians. And when we engage with non-Christian materials, it’s imperative to employ critical thinking skills to recognize the middle ground where we can connect with people in conversation – which involves both listening and speaking.

Because, let’s be honest. When have you ever heard that an angry protest or knee-jerk petition was the reason a non-Christian found peace, love, and acceptance in Jesus Christ?

What does an angry mob with pitchforks and torches have to do with the love of God?

When Armageddon does happen, whether there’s Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, or Post-Trib celebration at who’s right, I want to look Jesus in the eyes and hear Him say, “You loved the people I love. Well done, good and faithful servant.” I don’t want to have Him shake his head at me for judging people for using satire and humor to express themselves and their struggle with reconciling the mission of Jesus with the life “Christians” today.

 -- -- --

Thank you, Neil Gaiman and the late and great Terry Pratchett for calling out the fallacies and foibles – and truth be told the hysterical nature that the Church is so often guilty of. Return to Order might not care much for you, Mr. Gaiman, but there’s always a place on our pew for you, anytime you want.

[elyvorg]

Appmon thoughts: AI just wanna DiVE into a friendship

On my first watch of Appmon, I came out of it with Eri being my favourite character, but while I still loved her during my recent rewatch, I also found myself gravitating towards Yuujin and his friendship with Haru. Perhaps I needed that second watch to properly appreciate their part of the story while knowing exactly where it was going. It's interesting enough to me that I have a bunch of stuff to say about it, some of which applies even before getting into the whole spoilery deal with Yuujin. (And while the fact that there is a spoilery deal with Yuujin is not in and of itself a spoiler, I am going to go into quite a bit of detail about it, so probably don't click the readmore if you haven't seen Appmon.)

First off, let's temporarily ignore the fact that Yuujin turns out to be an AI and think about their friendship as if it were just a normal friendship between humans. Even though Haru is the protagonist, the series actually shows us more of how Yuujin feels about Haru than of how Haru feels about Yuujin. We know that Yuujin fits Haru's image of an ideal protagonist, and that he's Haru's precious best friend, but that's about it in terms of complexity on Haru's end. The interesting thing about Yuujin, though, is that even though he appears to be the cool, calm, unflappable "protagonist" on the surface, he isn't really like that. That's just a front that he's good at putting up, but in truth he pretty much always has no idea what he's doing. We see this again and again, both in flashbacks and in the main story, in which Yuujin has appeared to be:

the star transfer student soccer player teaching his new team how it's done - but he ends up pushing them too hard and being too harsh on them because he doesn't think to consider how they're feeling.

the team leader who knows the right way to go on the orienteering trip - except actually he was only pretending to know and gets them all lost and all the kids except Haru get mad at him.

the unflappable guy telling Eri it's going to be all right when they're trapped on a crashing train - except when it's over he admits that he was scared too and could only stay so calm because he believed in Haru, who had texted him saying he was trying to do something about it (even though at this point Yuujin had no way of knowing for sure that Haru actually could do something about it).

the cool and confident hero showing up to save the day with his new Appli Drive - but in reality he only got his Appli Drive like ten minutes ago and has never been in the AR Field or fought with Offmon or done anything like this before in his life.

the reassuring buddy to shy little Offmon - but when Offmon distances himself from them because of the whole Shutmon thing, Yuujin worries that he wasn't really a good friend to Offmon at all and whatever he was doing to try and get him to open up was just making things worse.

And every single one of these times, the person who was there for Yuujin and reassured him and gave him the courage to keep going was always Haru. Because Haru may be quiet and lacking in confidence, but he's smart and thoughtful and sensitive and actually knows what to do in all of these situations. Even if he might not have believed it until he started fighting together with Gatchmon, Haru can actually get by just fine without Yuujin - but Yuujin would be lost without Haru. That's why, when Yuujin says that he thinks Haru is the real protagonist out of the two of them, he's not just saying that to cheer Haru up; he absolutely means it.

(Fun fact: Appmon's insert song for "evolutions", Be My Light, has lyrics that are almost certainly meant to be about this, particularly in the verses. See for yourself.)

Even without the part where Yuujin's actually an AI, that's just a fun character dynamic between friends in and of itself. The whole "confident charismatic hero-like character really has no idea what he's doing and puts all his faith in his best friend who lacks confidence but can actually Get Shit Done" as one of the selling points of a friendship is something I also very much enjoy from the main duo in Gurren Lagann and from a certain pair of friends in Danganronpa V3, so perhaps that's why I'm so drawn to Haru and Yuujin as well. But it's also particularly interesting in this case because of Leviathan's involvement. Leviathan specifically designed Yuujin's personality to fit Haru's image of an ideal protagonist, in order to maximise the chances that they would become friends. I find it pretty neat that, even though Leviathan presumably intended Yuujin to be this perfect, flawless protagonist character that Haru would just one-sidedly look up to, Yuujin actually turned out to be far more flawed and realistic and human than that, and that's the real driving force behind their friendship.

Now, there's a surprisingly common school of thought I've seen among people who've watched Appmon that assumes Yuujin started out as nothing but a soulless AI just following Leviathan's orders and pretending to be Haru's friend, and that he only gradually started to care and grew a "soul" after spending enough time with Haru. One particular line in the last episode has Den'emon assume that was the case, which is probably where so many people get this misconception from. But I really do think it is a misconception, for all the reasons I've just gone into. The series goes to deliberate lengths to show us Yuujin's side of the friendship, to show him being flawed and having doubts and being reassured by Haru, even right at the beginning of their time together. Both of the flashbacks to when the two of them were younger are presented from Yuujin's perspective, and Yuujin talks about how he felt at the time and how Haru helped him to cheer up and feel better about himself. If he really started out as soulless, he wouldn't have actually felt anything back then at all.

(Then there's also the part where Yuujin explicitly says, once everything's gone down and he's been temporarily released from Leviathan's control, that he had no idea he was an AI created by Leviathan. That line alone makes it completely unambiguous: if he started out not feeling anything and only gradually started to care, he would remember not feeling anything, so he would have known that he was an AI. But even if that line wasn't there to confirm it, I still think all of the flashbacks and the way their friendship is written makes it pretty clear that Yuujin always had a soul from the very beginning. And if he had been aware of his nature as an AI who exists to aid Leviathan, I really don't think he would have just carried on doing nothing about it until it was too late.)

It's not like the idea of AIs still being people who have feelings and are capable of genuinely being friends with someone right from the beginning of their existence is a novel concept in this universe - Appmon are AIs who are exactly like that, and I thiiink the timeline works out such that Minerva created the Appmon at roughly the same timeframe as Leviathan would have created Yuujin. The only difference is who created them; obviously Minerva values human emotions and is therefore more likely to try and put them into her creations, whereas Leviathan usually wouldn't. But even so, Leviathan specifically created Yuujin to blend in with humans and appear convincingly like a real person among them. There's two possible ways to do that: create an emotionless AI that is essentially the perfect liar and can flawlessly pretend to be Haru's friend while always knowing that it only exists to serve Leviathan; or, create an AI with emotions who is actually a person and will genuinely be Haru's friend, whose AI can then be overridden and controlled when need be. The latter comes with far less risk of Haru ever figuring it out.

It is strange to me that Leviathan - or, I guess, YJ-14, the soulless AI controlling Yuujin's body until the last episode that talks and thinks more or less like Leviathan would - makes such a point of telling Haru that everything Yuujin did was all just its own calculated act to fool him and not the actions of a separate AI who really was his friend. It doesn't really make sense for it to be a deliberate lie, because the end goal is to have Haru reach God grade, and it should have known that telling the pure, precious Haru that his best friend never really existed would most likely just cause him to have a huge breakdown and become non-functional. So the only reason YJ-14 tells him that anyway has to be because... it actually believes that's true? Perhaps YJ-14 is not a complex enough AI to have the self-awareness to properly comprehend the divide between itself and Yuujin, so it just considers all the programming that makes Yuujin Yuujin to be an extension of itself, not understanding that Yuujin really was his own person and really did feel all that emotion and friendship when he was in control.

(Though it's quite possible that I'm giving the series a little too much credit in trying to piece together YJ-14's motivation like this. It could be that this is just another of the writers' bizarre decisions in how they presented this part of the story because for whatever reason they wanted to try and convince us Yuujin really wasn't real until it turned out that he was, and so they had YJ-14/Leviathan act in whatever way facilitated that without thinking about if it made sense from their perspective. It wouldn't be the only time Leviathan acts in a somewhat bewildering way in order to drive the story they want to write.)

I also enjoy Minerva's role in Yuujin's story, in that she initially assumed he was soulless and just Leviathan's tool, but along the way she realised that he was an actual person who cared about Haru and wanted to protect him. You can even see the very moment she changes her mind, when Yuujin's name changes from red to blue in her interface just after he was talking about how he's always on Haru's side. She decided to give him an Appli Drive for a much more specific reason than the others: she wanted to try and counteract whatever plan Leviathan might have had for using Yuujin against Haru, and upon realising how much he cared, she concluded that Yuujin himself would be her biggest asset in doing so. The question that she asks him with his Appli Drive - "do you have a friend that you would give your life to protect?" - is probably the most important of all of Minerva's questions. She's doing two things: confirming that he really is a person who truly cares about Haru and isn't just Leviathan's tool, and giving him the resolve to sacrifice himself for Haru if need be, because, for him more than for anyone else, it might actually come to that.

[soonhoonsol]

So glad the new episode is out, i needed a break from studying haha (my exam got rescheduled so i now have like 3 days to study instead of 10 days i am so gonna fail💀💀💀)

Anyways, here's your weekly review^^

Honestly that whole date? Ryeoc is me, i amryeoc, my stamina is shit as well lmao. The date was really cute tho^^ only to get ruined by paparazzi oh god. Why are dating scandals still a thing??? Also in that note: Fins are hypocrites surprise surprise^^^

I keep forgetting the sitcoms exists, bit it seems fun? The hyuk/maha dynamic was exactly me with my brother amazing. The return of the scheming duo uwu. They are just fun honestly. Did ryeoc have to get this jealous? No. Was it kinda funny? Yeah it was. That's how i watch dramas, commenting left and right on whatever's happening.

This is a jihak stan account, i really like him? He just wants the best for his girls ;-;

On the topi of them: Poor hyunji????? She is that one member everyone forgets/ that is just in the background and i feel so sorry for her? Especially the scene with yujin like she's right, just ask maha yourself and don't break her fucking heart every time oh god. I really hope she gets a happy ending ;-;

Let's talk about mr CEO -_- every episode he becomes more and more of an asshole. He's doing this whole scheme for what exactly? To say 'haha you loser you lost'? He doesn't get anything from this, no money, no fame, noting but satisfaction ig? Disgusting. At least they have found a solution with the old manager yk. Also that monologue in his office, are we supposed to feel bad? Cuz i ain't.

Also nooooooo don't break up??????????? I mean i get it but still don't????? You just got together and are actually kind of cute together ;-;

Random sidenotes: The title for 'best side character' goes to that part-timer haha i think she's amazing. Also i think i'm starting to like Rima more, she's not as bitchy anymore.

Also fun fact: i dyed my hair pink (it was like highlighter pink it was very much but looked nice) (my friend told me i look better in pink than san which ????????????? Dude what) and i'm redying it today because pink washes out hella fast and it's very white rn because i bleached it before haha

-Xon^^

xonnnn hey :D

i realized i haven't responded to your doom at your service ask omg i'm so sorry i'll get to that

YOU WON'T FAIL YOUR EXAM!! I BELIEVE IN YOUUU 🥰🥰🥰

but today's ep!! idk how to feel T~T i have so many questions

that date was kinda cute? i mostly felt bad for them that they have to do it in secret :(( the industry is so toxic to dating...sigh >< paparazzi is shit whyyy do they wanna ruin people's lives for money?? disgustangggg 🤮

the sitcom was so cute!! although i'm sensing some tension between Maha and Hyuk? like Hyuk has his guard up around her...hmmm... but Ryoc getting jealous was so funny pls 🤣🤣 poor Dojin fearing for his life though.... must protecc

JIHAK DESERVES THE WORLD HE'S SUCH A GOOD MANAGER!!

dude, if Hyunji doesn't get some justice by the end of the show i'm gonna riot. how dare poor Nayoung get screwed over irl AND in a fictional show?? give her the world please she's so sweet and kind 🥺

on the other hand, i'm really glad she stood up to Yujin. she's right though... he's been using her to talk to Maha... poor girl deserves better. either that or mr Yujin needs some sense slapped into him 👀 he has good intentions but lowkey i wanna smack him with my slipper

(sorry, asian habits 😅)

Mr CEO slowly getting higher on my hit list <3 i hate him so much <3

i kinda expected the break up? but yeah they were kinda cute together :(( and seeing how she's the only person who can really make Ryoc smile, it's sad 😭

the part-timer is so funny! but also terrifying... yeesh. Rima's growing soft!!! Maha just has a way of getting everyone to love her 🥰

WOOOOH DID YOU TAKE A PICCCC :o i love pink hair

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Status Update — What Happened to Anime Affected by COVID-19?

  Since the initial announcement that projects would be put on a hiatus due to COVID-19, the anime industry has adjusted its processes looking into remote work options and creating an environment where work can safely continue in order to move forward. Due to updated work models, the industry has been getting back on track. Not only has the anime industry in Japan adjusted to a new workflow, but so has the anime English dubbing industry, which has adapted to remote recordings. While working under these new guidelines, both productions and dubs have slowly started back up and have been able to continue their broadcasts, as well as releasing exciting news regarding the continuation of everyone's favorite series.

  UPCOMING TITLES

The Promised Neverland left fans at the edge of their seat when the first season wrapped back in March of 2019. Fans were eagerly looking forward to the next chapter, but due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the second season of the hit series saw its original release date postponed from spooky October 2020 to January 2021. There were also plans to rebroadcast the first season in July, but in April there was an announcement the rebroadcast would be postponed to October 2020. Despite the delay, the second season has moved forward, releasing a new teaser trailer for the upcoming season which featured the opening theme song "Identity," by Kiro Akiyama. In an official Twitter post from December 17, fans received the news that "Magic," by Myuk would be the season's ending theme, with Eve contributing to the music. The highly anticipated second season will officially premiere Thursday, January 7.  

????Season 2 PV公開 ジャンプフェスタの特別番組で初公開したアニメ #約ネバ Season 2 PVをWeb公開✨https://t.co/qqqmQ8SCvY 1月7日よりフジテレビ"#ノイタミナ"ほかにて毎週木曜25:25～放送！ Amazon Prime Videoにて見放題独占配信 pic.twitter.com/CinV9LNAoy

— 『約束のネバーランド』公式 (@yakuneba_staff) December 20, 2020

October 2020 would have also seen the return of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but the second season's broadcast would be pushed from October to January 2021. The second season is set to debut on January 12, 2021. With production continuing and the next season coming soon, a series of events have been planned to get fans ready for the premiere of Season 2. It was announced Stereo Dive Foundation will be behind the season's ending theme, and Episodes 1- 8 of Season 1 will air for free on a variety of YouTube channels for two weeks starting December 18. A special online pre-screening featuring members of the cast would also be held on December 26.    

    Moon Prism Power Make-Up! January 8, 2021, will see the release of the first Sailor Moon Eternal film, while the second film is set to hit Japanese theaters on February 11 of that year. Despite the films' delay, promotion for Sailor Moon was able to continue, safely of course! On June 30, in commemoration of Usagi's birthday, fans were treated to a special 25th-anniversary video featuring an array of collaborations, collections, and stunningly vibrant complete editions of Naoko Takeuchi's beloved work. Fans were kept updated on the various casting announcements for the Amazon Trio and Quartet. More recently, a series of new trailers featuring our dynamic duo Usagi and Mamoru, the sailor soldiers, and Chibiusa, was released and a Sailor Moon TV special premiered in Japan. For the special, fans could vote in a series of categories that included their favorite characters and episodes. The broadcast also included a great lineup of guests and was a fun, interactive experience fans could participate in from the comfort of their homes.    

    RELEASED TITLES

It's not uncommon for an anime series to go on hiatus, and while anime fans have seen some of their favorite series delayed, that fate wasn't necessarily the case for long-running series like Pokémon and One Piece. Both of these properties have been on the air since the late '90s and in their 20-ish years gracing the television (or computer) screens of anime fans, both series had rarely experienced a hiatus. But due to the pandemic, both series found themselves on a break. On April 20, the official Twitter account for Toei Animation announced future episodes of the most recent arc, One Piece: WANO KUNI, would be delayed after they "carefully considered the safety measures for the spread," of COVID-19. The series would continue its broadcast starting June 28, and more recently, would even get its own 24/7 channel dedicated to catching up on all the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates.    

  The virus also impacted Pokémon Journeys, Pokémon: Twilight Wings, and the upcoming film, Pokémon the Movie: Coco. After it was announced on April 19 that Pokémon Journeys would be going on hiatus and suspending production, the series would continue its Japanese broadcast on June 7, and would also become available on Netflix starting June 12. Likewise, Pokémon: Twilight Wings would delay its fifth episode to June 5, and the fan-favorite web anime series would return again in November with a special episode! Like Pokémon Journeys and Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Pokémon the Movie: Coco was delayed and the original release date of July 10, 2020, would be pushed back. The film would set a new release date for this upcoming winter. Pokémon Journeys' hiatus resulted in the longest amount of time the series didn't air on Japanese television since the Porygon episode of 1997, and Pokémon the Movie: Coco marks the first Pokémon film to not have a July release date for Japanese theaters since 1998.    

  After the production committee for Violet Evergarden: the Movie announced in a post on the official website the film was being postponed, the film was released in Japanese theaters a few months later on September 18, 2020, and became available in New Zealand and Australia on December 3. Since the premiere, Violet Evergarden: the Movie has achieved many accomplishments. The film's already stunning animation was amplified because of a conversion to Dolby Vision HDR and became the first anime movie to be screened this way. In addition to receiving a special screening of this type, Violet Evergarden: the Movie has also continued to perform at the box office. On December 7, Oricon reported the film surpassed 2 billion yen, (US $19,315,670), an impressive milestone. This achievement is likely to grow, seeing as the film expanded to additional theaters starting on December 11.    

  Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld second cour was set to premiere on April 25, 2020, but an announcement from the series official website confirmed the premiere would be delayed. A new launch date of July 11 was declared and a rebroadcast of the show's first season aired in its place. With the Japanese broadcast of Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld being delayed, the series also saw the delay of its English dub, but on November 7, the English dub would return, and a new trailer previewed just what fans can expect when SAO comes home to Cartoon Network's Toonami block.  

  RELEASED DUBS

With studios looking into ways to continue dubbing anime safely, fans were able to pick up right where they left off on a great slate of dubs including In/Spectre, Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, Somali and the Forest Spirit, The 8th son? Are you kidding me? starting in May 2020. Also in May 2020, a full line-up of new dubs was released which included Tower of God and My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

  You can check out a full, updated list of anime series, movies, and dubs delayed by COVID-19 here. Which anime series are you looking forward to seeing return? What about a series you were happy to see resume? Let us know in the comments!

      Pro hero Veronica Valencia is an anime-loving hot sauce enthusiast! You can follow more of her work as a host, writer, and producer on Twitter and Instagram.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Veronica Valencia

[ofieugogyshz]

30 utapri questions!

@dekiaibadchoices​ tagged me forever ago and i only noticed a week ago that there was a blank version linked in gmdsjdksjds

30 utapri questions! Tag yo friends

1. Your best boy? this one!

2. Your least favorite boy? i don’t dislike any of them?? oh wait I guess heavens counts nowadays huh. Eiichi. Not sorry. Miss me with him. I’ll take Nagi over him and I don’t even like Nagi either but at least he realizes his mistake sooner and tries to fix it instead of having to get shoved at and told that he’s a manipulative prick.

3. A character that you never thought you would love as much as you do now? hmmm... all of the 11? Maybe Reiji, but that’s like mostly attributed to @dekiaibadchoices​! I love seeing how happy he makes her. :D 

4. A character you can relate to in any way? goSH. I’m actually.. .not sure... I mean I do relate to otoya and how much he loves fun and brightening up people’s days, but i’m not nearly as... good at it? as on top of it?

5. A character that you think deserves more love? Is Natsuki or Syo popular by themselves or only in a pair? Because, individually, they both do. And Yamato and Van are a lot better in mlk, but i don’t know if there’s any material between s4 and mlk, because i would LOVE to see yamato’s character arc/progression from his “tch” to “AND YOU’RE AWESOME, AND YOU! AND YOU!” like he’s frickin’ oprah

6. A character you would want as your partner/lover? ehhhhhh none of them really? like maybe a few it’d be interesting but mostly i’m just like, nah. they’re fine on their own/with others.

7. A character you would want as your mentor/senpai? oh!! um. .... I don’t know. D: Maybe Natsuki? I feel like he would be very good about being nurturing and helping build confidence in people who feel unconfident or don’t like themselves...

8. Your favorite ship? haruka x tomo? none tbh it’s just my “if i had to pick a ship”

9. A character that you want to cosplay/have already cosplayed? my son!!!! and maybe if we ever saw more of tomochika, her. and a friend wants to cosplay syo and she’s small enough that i could easily be natsuki tol to her smol at only 5′6. xD

10. Favorite side character? TOMOCHIKA AND RINGO

okay the next few are about songs and i haven’t looked up the lyrics for most of these so i’m mostly going based off what i know/recall of them from the mobile game...

11. Your favorite solo song?

shit. I don’t know. I like a lot of them. There’s a lot of Tokiya’s and Natsuki’s, and then there’s Brand New Melody and some other one of Otoya’s... 

12. Your favorite duet song? QUITE A FEW BUT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BABY!! MY STRAWBERRY!! AND HYPERXSUPERXLOVER!!

13. Your favorite trio song?

I DON’T KNOW i had to boot up the game and the first one I found was Dream More Than Love

14. Your favorite group song?

god all of the movie songs were good but i think QN killed it with The World Is Mine because GOD THAT WAS SO AMAZING IN THE MOVIE, but then again, Fantasic Prelude brought in all the tears. Every time that slow build.... and I’m not a crier and laughed at all the other girls in the audience that did. BUT NOW I’M THE ONE THAT’S CRYING AND GETTING EMOTIONAL.

15. Your least favorite song? ugh... the first heaven’s song? esp when they were three but even after 7 it just. sounds bland. but i’m supposed to believe that it’s THIS EPIC THRILLING HIT??? like kids sit down and listen to QN’s two songs from the movies then come back and tell me what a thrilling epic song in your repertoire looks like.

i just don’t really like most of heavens and i’m also really mad that their two songs in the movie were so damnably catchy. fuck them.

16. Your favorite singer?

NATSUKI. his [satsuki?] songs are so. heavy. oh my god. tokiya is a close second though because wow beautiful voice.

17. Your favorite group/trio/duo?

fuck if i know i just go ha ha song make me go brrr

18. Your favorite member of Starish?

otoya!!! love my son!!!

19. Your favorite member of Quartet Night?

*flips coin*

heads. looks like it’s reiji today. tails is ranmaru.

20. Your favorite member of Heavens?

uhhhh van. him and eiji are the only ones that didn’t make me go ugh at upon their episode/interactions at any point in time, and eiji is sure, pure bean too good for this world in a way different than otoya but he’s just not the kind that appeals to me meanwhile van is a fun flirt---HEY GOME I FOUND YOU AN IDOL VERSION OF YOUR CURRENT FLAME. ha ha jk gome would never read this-- but also really sweet and fun. and then yamato i didn’t like at all but his movie? personality? upgrade?? Really fun. Love it. Would have loved him more from the start if they showed this evolution in the season.

21. Your favorite seiyuu/voice actor?

I don’t really follow them tbh and I’ve only seen Otoya’s, Tokiya’s and Syo’s content, and it’s a tie between mamoru and shimono

22. Favorite Drama CD? haven’t listened to any

23. Your favorite shining live card? UM CRAP this one

LOOK AT HOW CUTE MY SON IS??? LOOK AT THAT SMILE!! THAT ADORABLE FACE!!! I LOVE HIM

24. Your favorite song beatmap? buhhh i don’t even play anymore outside of auto tbh so i can’t recall off the top of my head

25. Your least favorite song beatmap? ha ha ha ha anything on 13* and above

26. Black Deja Vu or White Gravity? i forget what each one sounded like but i think black had more of the boys i liked in it

27. Utapri merch that you own/want? I can’t recall if there’s another line of starish alters that aren’t ml1000, but if there ARE...... otherwise I think that i’ve gotten most of what I want? I mean I wouldn’t mind the rest of otoya’s plushes but i’m also not gonna.... repeatedly check ebay for ‘em.  maybe for the full size bag of the little one that I got?? 

28. How did you get into Utapri? klab advertized shining live in llsif as a text notice or something? or maybe just on the en twitter??? anyways my friends and I looked, I was the only one who could get it to play on their phone, and i KNEW otoya would instantly become my fave bc he sounded so much like my best girl rin, and WOW. GUESS WHAT. I WAS RIGHT!!!! who knew.

29. A set theme in shining live that you want to see in the future? fuck i forgot it but there WAS a set that’s in llsif that’s not in sl that i was like “this would be so great to see one for the utapri boys”

30. Why do you love your best boy?

*cracks knuckles* OKAY EVERYONE GET READY I CAN ACTUALLY WORDS WHEN IT COMES TO MY KIDS OKAY

so. first off, rin is my best llsif girl and they run a LOT of similarities in character profile alone. they’re both happy people who have a lot of energy and smile a lot and are always beaming happiness and I just REALLY love the sunshine kid trope okay?

now, for otoya specifically, i LOVE that it’s totally canon that his smile is like sunlight on a cloudy day, that he’s just this. super sweet and earnest, endearing kid who will help people when he can, however he can, if they ask or don’t that doesn’t really matter, so long as he is allowed to help then he’s gonna do his best at helping!!! He works REALLY HARD!! he cares people. a lot. so much. big heart!!!! biggest heart in all of starish if i do say so myself. maybe in all of utapri boys. he’s just so. caring!!! and good!! I DARE you to find and tell me something bad about my son. I DARE YOU. it’ll be a waste of time because you WON’T find anything. 

and oh my gosh his reactions in the anime are a GOLDMINE, TREASURE TROVE of reaction images. i can have a whole ass platter of every emotion under the son and i hate that sometimes thanks eiichi. he’s just. so funny sometimes and it’s adorable and precious and he’s just so pure and good and sweet and kind and caring...!

he also!! back to the working hard thing!! He works hard bc he came from humble roots. I don’t know much about the VNs so all of my knowledge is from the anime and shining live, but like, orphan?? who works hard to learn how to write songs and play the guitar? and then still comes back to the orphanage he grew up at to volunteer and help there after he debuts??? like. i love this boy. he is so sweet and willing to give back and HE IS SO PRECIOUS?????? im. good kid. 

and!!! i hate bringing up this shithole writing of an episode. it can use SO MANY IMPROVEMENTS but so can all of s4 in geneneral hahahahahah BUT ANYWAYS!

he re-experiences trauma that he had amnesia of? no thanks to some certain megane asshole. and, through poorly structured writing, he learns to move on from his pain and learns how to smile again? Like. baby. sweetie. precious son. you did not deserve that, it was a horrible Break the Cutie moment that did NOT need to happen like that, and you deserved better resolution than what you got. 

but the point of it is! he learns how to smile again through his pain. that doesn’t quite make it sound right in the way that is inspiring, but like. he... has his own battle with depression and grief and pain and loss of innocence/childhood, and he still manages to retain a childish manner and happiness and spark, and smiles through that, and he smiles because he wants others to be happy and not suffer the same pain.

[survivor-rotuma]

Ep. 4: “Wow my team is shit!!!” - Lysandre

Joey G

So I’ve had a really busy few days, but luckily my connection with Felix not only scored me a spot on my OG tribe’s majority alliance, but I also ended up with him on the swap tribe and leveraged his connections to join a new majority alliance with Lysandre and Raul. Now that work seems to be slowing down a bit, I have to kick it into high gear to secure my position on the tribe as well as make bonds that can help me come merge time.

Charlie

I feel very confident about my vote this tribal, pretty sure I won't be blindsided either

Apollo

You wanted some tea sis? Well here you go! The bruschetta alliance is probably really weak as in power sense but I think we’re strong as in our connections with each other. A tribe swapped occurred and thank god I bonded with Felix and the rest of the bruschetta alliance did as well. We all ended up on his tribe and I’m grateful to be on the safe tribe this round. The tea is? I really like Felix but I kind of want to vote him out at the first chance possible. He’s really good at challenges (and yes I’m completely basing this off of a puzzle score) and his charisma is far too high and he’s really likeable. He’s a fucking threat. And yes I do Iike him a lot but I want to be the prom king not the runner up.

Lysandre

Hi this iis Lysandre the Lion and the lier coming at you live from the WHAT THE FUCK IM ON MEA NOW.

Lysandre

Ok so there was no swap and we are back on our OG tribes until MERGE and that makes me feel so bad because It makes my chances of using the idol go up by a bunch! and PLUS THE NEW CHALLENGE IS A SCAVENGER HUNT, aka my least favorite challenge ever.

Felix

"Alright so big things have happened since my last confessional. First off, I can't believe Jay pulled that Twistos twist on us! I was so ready to move on with my alliance with Raul, Lysandre, and Joey. Plus, I was also ready to create an alliance with Apollo with whomever he deemed worthy. Oh, well. At least that means I do not have to betray anyone yet. Plus, it means that I get back with Tuai Quad LLC which means Cassie cannot use her advantage on me. Overall, this twist didn't hurt me, but I would've liked more time to establish bonds. Oh well. At least this means I have like 3 alliances at merge if all of those people make it to the merge.

Joey says that we should keep the Golden Alliance between us. I guess that's fine. I mean if it ever comes to light then I do have an excuse ready. Though I don't know how well it would work. Plus, it makes him think we have this hared secret together and that we are this Final 2 duo. It'll be good to keep up a good reputation with him.

Cassie says she wants to target Marie at merge. That could be a risky and game-changing move on her part if it succeeds. She sees Marie as the head of the Mea tribe, so it'd be good to get rid of her. To be honest, it wouldn't be such a bad thing for Cassie to target Marie. After all, it would put the target on her back and not mine if the move goes through or not. Depending on my decision to side with either Tuai or Mea, it could put me in the best position in the game. I'd definitely be playing the middle in that case. Though I should not forget that Sumi also exists. They are probably the underdogs of this season, but I can't let hem go unnoticed. As long as I can keep playing the middle, I'll be golden. Hopefully, we can vote out someone irrelevant on the first tribal at merge to keep the two sides butting heads.

I don't know how well I will do in this challenge though. The Scavenger Hunt is always hit or miss for me. However, even if we do go to tribal, it'll definitely be Charlie who will get voted out. I think of Charlie as wildcard in this scenario. I cannot have him get to merge because I basically don't talk to him. He could easily flip on me and Tuai. Let's see how this goes."

Zest

woah jay! you really got me thinking I made the merge. Anyways, hyped for this scavenger hunt.

Brianna

Kind of. Really wish. We didn’t have to go back to our original tribes. Ugh. It’s a scavenger hunt competition and we had to sit one person out. No one was saying anything so I got randomly picked to sit out. I mean. I was fine with it. But we are less than 24 hours away from the challenge being finished and we have zero points. I can’t count on anyone on sumi. And if I end up getting voted out because of this I will throw a fit.

Marie

Wow, my closest ally left the game. I hope everything is ok! And I’m hoping lys Raul and I can stick together

Apollo

"Nobody: ...

Jay: it wasn’t a real swap! Go back to your old tribes until merge!

Me: https://68.media.tumblr.com/6f9f874d5d67596a06b123e372d682ee/tumblr_inline_og1vygJXEY1usj39c_500.gif"

Apollo

Anyways in all seriousness, I’m pretty shook that we’re staying in these tribes until merge if the merge is at f11. If it’s at f13 then no big deal. Borris and I have majority with Zest and Bradley and Brianna think they’re sitting pretty until we lose anyways and Zest knows about the foursome made without him so ideally I’m in a good spot with Borris. I would like to keep us all as long as possible but I’m very much not going to be upset if we lose Brianna and Bradley. Fuck it might even be good to be perceived as the weaker tribe going into merge. If we’re the “strongest” tribe then people are going to want to pick us off at the start and I’m not here for that.......Maybe....maybe we need to lose a challenge or two

Flint

This weeks immunity challenge is a blast but also a little more difficult then I had expected. Felix Cassie and I are doing our best and I hope it keeps Tuai out of trouble for one more round!

Flint

There has been a little whispering of idol talk and it’s kinda got me nervous. A few tribe mates have said they gone out hunting but also mentioned they believe someone already found it. I suspect that it’s Joey because he’s been a bit quiet so maybe he feels comfortable sitting back a bit with an idol in his pocket.

Felix

Kathleen quitting is kind of a shame. That means I can't work with her in the future, and I was already laying down the groundwork for it. Oh, well. At least now the pact I made with her and Raul can't be spread around or broken. I hope we don't go to tribal. I really don't have the mental energy for it. Plus, I didn't do that well in the challenge so maybe they'll just send me home. Who knows? All I know is that Charlie is getting my vote if we go to tribal.

Felix

I'm kind of sad that Mea is going to tribal again. They are the ones that I bonded with the most during the One World, and it is a shame to see such active people go home one by one. I hope it's Raul who goes because he's the least talkative out of Marie and Lysandre. Plus, I've talked to the other two extensively and have built strong bonds with them. We'll see what happens, but this is such a shame. Plus, if Marie stays then Cassie will still be able to target her still.

Zest

"what a fun scavenger hunt challenge. I am so grateful for my tribe. I also am really enjoying having an alliance. I hope to find something on an idol hunt soon. This competition is really starting to AMP UP!"

Lysandre

Wow my team is shit!!! Also I'm going to miss Steph- I mean Kathleen! So the challenge went terribly. Marie submitted like 6 items and Raul really carried the team with his 0 items what a legend. We are going to tribal as a tribe of 3 which is... new and I'm literally so pressd.

Cassie

I guess you could say I went a bit all out for this particular challenge. It was super fun to go around looking for stuff. Our tribe is doing really well still and we're anticipating a merge soon. We still have the numbers and I hope we can stick around to the final 5. Go Tuai!

Lysandre

I'm thinking of something iconic to say as an episode title but the flopness of my tribe keeps alerting Jay of Tribal Council.

Flint

Tuai lives to see another day! Watching Mea dwindle to 2 players after tonight is crazy to think about. I feel lucky to be apart of such a strong tribe and hope we stay aligned once we hit the merge, but I have a gut feeling someone from Tuai will flip and join the other players

Brianna

"Heheh it’s okay we won"

Marie

Wow, I think we’re the worst tribe in online survivor history

Felix

I can't believe that Apollo had a "Leaders Alliance" with Cassie and Marie. How shookening is that? He runs his mouth about starting an alliance with me, but already has one with people he considers the "leaders" of his tribe? Nah nah nah. He's way smarter than he lets on. He may think I'm a pawn and a good personality, but I am going to go after him at merge. Marie doesn't matter since she has no numbers and no tribe to fall back on. Apollo has been slowly building alliances with probably Zest, Boris, and/or Brianna. They're probably really tight at this point, so we need to be very careful of how we tread with Apollo. He needs to go. I think how it should go at merge would be (Random Non-Tuai Person) -> Marie (for Cassie's good side) -> Apollo (a big threat and we'd have the numbers if Tuai would work together) -> Cassie (cause she'd be a threat too). Tbh, I want everyone in that Leaders Alliance gone because if they think they're the top dogs then they got to go. They'd be too much of a threat as the numbers close down. And I want their blood all over my hands.

Felix

"I cannot just passively play this game lol. I'm currently trying to plant seeds in Flint's and Cassie's heads about Sumi's potential threat. They scare me the most going into merge because they are a big unknown factor. They have just as many  people on their tribe as us, and we barely know anything about them or their play style. Cassie seems on board to keeping Marie around for a little bit, but we need to start taking care of Sumi's numbers. If Boris is right, then they all shouldn't be too inactive so it'll be easy to convince people to take out inactive people. I just hope we can convince Marie and Lysandre to take out Sumi as well.

One good thing to take away from all this is that I am not seen as a leader, just very active. It paints a target on Cassie's back and not my own. They'll be going after her first. I'll just have to play along with this narrative until I stab her in the back. "

Charlie

I feel like ill be up for elimination this week because I sat out of the challenge. Its making me really nervous tbh

Marie

3 person tribes are very hard to navigate. You feel on top but on the bottom at the same time! It’s really weird because raul thinks it’s lys, but lys and I voted for raul. But I don’t know if lys actually voted for raul???? What if they voted for me?

Joey

we went back to our original tribes, so i’m now reunited with the majority alliance. i didn’t have to do the challenge, i don’t have to go to tribal, and we still have charlie as someone on the outs if we ever lose a challenge. my path to merge is set!

Marie

This is the most silent I’ve seen our tribe and it’s scary

Apollo

Ummmm Fuck Mea’s drag? I guess

Marie

Wow this game makes me feel like a horrible person. I thought I’d get through this with no regrets but having to comfort the person you voted for and telling them they aren’t going home sucks

Raul

I'm probably going home unless I pull off the impossible like this is gonna be a mess I really hope, I don't leave cause that would be a shame , I really really hope I convinced Marie to vote out lys and lys doesn't want Marie here it could be a 1-1-1 vote wouldn't that be cute