#i just think there is a good discussion about the line between us as viewers and the players at the table to be had

[the-knight-of-destiny]

On Fantasy High, Redemption, and Agency (General Spoilers for Junior Year, sort of?) Also this post about FHJY is long as fuck, as all of mine are getting. In short it's my understanding of how Brennan Lee Mulligan sets up the teenage villains of Fantasy High.

Fair warning, this is LOOOONG below the cut.

Y'know when I said I wasn't going to talk about Ratgrinder discourse? I lied.

So Brennan as a DM has a very specific narrative language for how a villain is 'redeemable' and it primarily has to do with the level of agency a villain has in their actions. This isn't particularly hard to notice when you look at our very own (and fan favorite) reformed villain squad.

Starting with Ragh, while he was in his right mind for most of his villainy in Freshman Year, he really didn't do too much other than beat people up and be a bully? While he worked with Daybreak on some level, he wasn't anything more than muscle and not very in on most of the plans. There was also some implication of grooming and manipulation from Daybreak to Ragh.

Zayn as an example also helps build this thesis, while he also hasn't done a TON evil he's generally a bit more discerning than Ragh. However he builds the understanding of how Fantasy High looks at it's redeemed teenage villains, when Zayn is found as a ghost he explicitly calls out Daybreak as being the only reason he's still housed, were he not to go along with the Freshman Year scheme he'd have been sent back to his abusive parents, the foster system, or homeless as like, a fifteen year old boy.

But the actual silver bullet to understanding this is Aelwyn, to preface. Aelwyn fucking sucks in freshman year, way worse than Ragh or Zayn. She's also responsible for way worse than any other teenage villain in the series. She's arguably committed worse than Dayne Blayde or Penelope Everpetal, but there's an important component to her redemption in Sophmore Year, something Brennan has her stay conscious despite making death saves to explain.

In tears Aelwyn notes that Kalina was actively threatening to kill her had she not complied with the Kalvaxus plan.

So there's a running theme here, Ragh didn't seem to have much of an idea of what the wider plan even was and was just muscle, Zayn was under significant threat to his personal safety (and unbeknownst to him, also under threat of death, a threat that actually gets carried out), and Aelwyn was literally convinced she'd be murdered for not complying.

This tracks with the teen villains who DON'T get redeemed by the way, Dayne had no qualms about casually murdering his classmates with a great sword, Penelope didn't seem to mind the idea of throwing her best friend Kalvaxus for a power play. They both get killed because they don't seem to really care what happened, were fully complicit, and had no form of remorse at all.

This leaves us with our code to cracking if Brennan sees the Ratgrinders as possibly worthy of redemption (IMO, signs point to yes, but it's complicated.) We know the Ratgrinders are being manipulated heavily by Porter (I have so many more thoughts about Jace's place in this but that's for a whole other post,) however they don't have Ragh's excuse of being mostly in the dark.

Kipperlilly and Oisin for sure know exactly what's going on, and the rest (sans Buddy) probably do too. The actual question is how much does Ankarna rage affect one's reasoning, and the thing that's interesting about how the Ratgrinders have been set up is that question is sincerely ambiguous.

Signs point to the corruption needing some sort of genuine anger or frustration to latch onto, but this is my first hot take here. This isn't really that damning? Pre-Rage Kipperlilly said some concerning things, in private confidential counseling. She (at the time) understood her fixation on Riz was a problem and perhaps not fair. Oisin probably was mildly frustrated or saddened a girl he had a crush on didn't notice him, but to cast Pre-Rage Oisin as a full on Biz Glitterdew incel is, in my opinion, unlikely. Ruben was already seeking attention but wasn't anything worse than a mildly annoying teenage boy, etc.

These aren't exactly 'good' feelings but they are pretty normal for 14-15 year olds. Pre-Rage Ratgrinders really aren't that much worse than Pre-Character Development Bad Kids, let's not forget that they too definitely act out in really mean, unfair ways at around the same time as Pre-Rage Ratgrinders (Fig and Fabian, most notably.)

As for agency though, they clearly have a bit more of it than previous teenage villains, and are a bit more aware of their actions. They're not under direct threat of violence like Aelwyn or Zayn (though the way Porter and Jace act around them may make that threat implicit.) and they don't have Ragh's excuse of being seemingly largely in the dark.

The Ratgrinders I feel are an intentional test for the Bad Kids (and the Intrepid Heroes as players) because they're significantly more antagonistic than previous teenage villains. Heck, even ones that turned out totally evil. Dayne's kinda chill to the Bad Kids initially, Penelope is a bit backhanded but she isn't outright mean. If you count him, even Johnny Spells humors Riz and is relatively lax to him. Ragh's honestly way more harsh for most of the first half of Freshman Year, Zayn's initially more rude and confrontational to them too.

That said they're both being influenced by a much worse adult (Like everyone in the Reformed Villain Squad) and have a rage god clouding their judgement to an unknown degree. If we follow previously established patterns, they're salvageable by the story's own logic.

The test is for the party, it's easy to forgive Zayn when he openly cries and apologizes immediately when finally confronted about his place in the villain plot, it's easier to forgive Aelwyn when she openly puts herself in harm's way and almost dies to save Adaine.

It's going to be harder, emotionally, for both the player characters and the players themselves to forgive the Ratgrinders and recognize they're also victims in some sense when the Ratgrinders have been actively fucking with the Bad Kids for the whole season, and taking an obvious amount of satisfaction in it.

The challenge Brennan has set up for the party, I feel, is a test of their character. Fighting a possibly ascended god Porter is gonna be a lot easier without a whole other party of enemies in the fight (and even much easier if you can convince some to fight alongside you as a part of heroes.)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

YASASHII NO DE

HE CAME IN 20 PULLS……………….. ……… ….. …. . … …. .. .. . . … . .. . .. . . . TRULY YASaSHii OF YOu, GOOD SiR 😭

***Crowley Groovy, chibi sprite, lesson lines, and vignette spoilers below the cut!***

Unfortunately, we do not get any more details on his profile. It’s the same as the profile he had before the update. Age and birthplace unknown, 185 cm tall, favorite food is wild game, and his hobby is vacationing.

SDFHEGYOGYFQEN;jkhaCWIDODB A LOT OF CROWLEY'S LINES ARE VERY CHILDISH OR GOOFY... Like he has one where he complains about Grim eating his snacks, tells on students who are sleeping in class, and gets distracted by shiny objects (which, I guess, is par for the course for a crow).

Crowley cannot attend Alchemy class and does not have Chats. His Buddies are Deuce, Vil, and Grim (with Grim being his Duo Magic partner). Deuce and Vil are interesting choices, I wonder why those two in particular... (Some friends and I were memeing earlier about how "all those characters have single parents so Crowley must be a single parent" and, "Vil is the Evil Queen and Meleanor is a princess of evil", etc.) Crowley can, however, attend the other lessons and it’s every bit as awkward as you think it is. (He has a pre-lesson line where he expresses surprise taht he has to do homework 🤡)

THE CROWLEY DOPPLEGANGER ALLEGATIONS ARE TRUE 💀 He can just straight up run into a clone of himself during lessons… THE DEVS KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING, they even goofily have Crowley say, “Oh! Hello, me!” while the other Crowley is in class for the special lesson… THEY KNEW HOW DUMB THIS WOULD BE 😭 (The dialogue states the Crowley that barges into class is a magical projection…?)

Here are some of his chibi sprites, as well as his Groovy candy. Crowley is not only very yasashii, but also very cute!!

He does, in fact, have vignettes but they are unvoiced. The first part is him running an assembly with the dorm leaders present. Crowley discusses the health of an adolescent apple tree in the school's courtyard, and no one seems to be interested in his speech. Malleus barges in late and, in a fit of anger at having not been invited, starts unleashing lightning. Wow, just like how Meleanor shoots lightning at Lilia... Like husband, like wife/j Everyone retires to their dorms, leaving Crowley to deal with an upset Malleus. The second part features Crowley having lunch with the other staff members (Sam included!). Each staff member is eating something different (Vargas is of course having eggs), and Crowley is revealed to have a great appetite in spite of his age. Crewel and Trein wonder how many decades old Crowley is, since he was apparently still headmaster when Crewel was a student and when Trein started teaching at NRC. Finally, Crowley is walking down main street and spots Yuu, Grim, and some mob students skipping class… so he uses his Lash of Love to discipline them! He binds everyone together and proceeds to drag them back to class. (It was surprising, we haven’t seen the Lash of Love since like… what, the prologue? I almost forgot about it.) Crowley alludes to the fact that even though the students joke about him, he is actually a very powerful mage that shouldn't be taken lightly, you know?? The vignettes end with Crowley referring to his students as "apple trees" that he is nourishing and watching over as they grow, which rounds us nicely back to the apple tree he mentioned in his first vignette.

BUT ANYWay HEREmS thE GROOviY in JUICy DETAIL INkjoW YOU WERE ALL WAiTING FOR

It’s so pretty AaAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaAaaAHHHHH 🥺 His grotesquely detailed hand reaching out to the viewer, who appears to be awaking from within a coffin… and do I have to mention the parallel between Crowley here and the mysterious hand that is offered to us in the mirror at the very beginning of the game????? Which could imply that Crowley is beckoning/summoning us into another world... The dim room, light spilling onto the Mirror of Darkness… So atmospheric!! If Crowley knows how to do one thing well and consistently, it’s drama~ The Groovy totally reminds me a lot of the prologue when Crowley tells Yuu to go before the mirror to get sorted. Omg guys... He's posted like Masquerade Malleus/j

One detail I super appreciate in this illustration is that you can see the dorm leaders in the background! If you squint, you’ll realize that there are 5 of them posing exactly like how they are in the following promotional artwork:

The one without a matching pose is Idia, who is present via his tablet. Though… I feel like we’re forgetting something 🤔 … Eh, I’m sure it’s nothing, nothing at allllllllll~

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

My thoughts about episode 1, season 3 of The Legend of Vox Machina :

I'm going to start with a bummer : I'm disappointed they didn't include the "Call me child one more goddamn time !!" in the discussion with Raishan. I'm just going to hope they will do it later. It was such a good Keyleth moment, and it could have been integrated in this scene where we see Keyleth's (justified) anger...

The Plate of the Dawnmartyr retrieval in Ank'harel is a small change (it was originally in the City of Brass in the Fire Plane), but one I welcome. This change means we get to Ank'harel much sooner, and honestly the elemental plane of fire has been already seen last season. And Raishan already explained how Thordak escaped, so no narrative reason to go there.

This moment ! Grand Poo-ah !! the mayonnaise !!

The Vaxleth kiss we were all waiting for !! Haaaa

Got to say though, I'm not thrilled by the fact that it's Vax that sees Keyleth destined to survive Vox Machina. In the campaign, the moment where she reveals it, and she reveals that every second she thinks about what it means to complete her Aramente, and thinks about all of her friends dying before here... that was so powerful, and it was hers.

i laughed so much at Trinket's face there

"What could possibly go wrong ?" with a hard cut to Vax falling was easy, yes, but also supremely funny

ANK'HAREL IS SO BEAUTIFUL WE AGREE RIGHT ??

fucking Stassmans

it's Hiiiiiiiigh Nooooooon (yes I caught that 1st time watching but I couldn't explain to my sister why I laughed, it would have taken too much time)

the Scanlan song while he rides the broom was so fucking good. Me and my sister were dancing !!

Oh, hi Matt :

that was such a fun scene. I love it. Also I don't know if they'll later include the drug use arc for Scanlan, but my guess is no, there's no narrative need, the seed of discord between him and the group are already planned, and this scene serves enough as a wink for Campaign viewers. But I could be wrong of course.

RIP Lance Reddick. He was such a good actor. His Thordak lines are so good, the lines in themselves are so over-the-top (the use of "shall" multiple times makes me laugh) but he could make it work like no one else with his amazing voice. Thordak is scarier because of him. The world will miss him.

[the-bi-space-ace]

There’s been some discussion recently about the subplot of bullying in The Bad Batch and I had some thoughts so I decided to write them out to discuss them.

I wanted to bring up some things that maybe can put together this disconnect we seem to see between the show The Bad Batch and the show The Clone Wars and maybe explains a bit about this whole bullied versus bully concept.

To me The Clone Wars paints a very different picture than The Bad Batch in a way that only serves to make the lines blurry and make the viewer think (perhaps not their intention but I think maybe they fell into this more on accident). The Clone Wars batch rolls in with a reputation that’s already not too great. Jesse even says it: it’s not that they win. It’s how they win. The batch is known for dangerous stunts that put other people at risk. They don’t always think through their decisions outside of themselves. Then we get this scene of them walking off of the ship and they are very arrogant. They show off, they talk big, they don’t exactly give off ‘approachable’.

We get into the mission and Jesse, in particular, is not a fan but it isn’t very aggressive yet. Crosshair is being confrontational - staring Jesse down, making snippy comments, and being an overall ass (I love Crosshair, don’t get me wrong, I’m just talking about what I observe in this introduction). I think it’s because he senses Jesse’s dislike of them and wants to poke at it.

We’re not off to a good start.

Where I think the batch fails in this episode is letting Crosshair insult Rex and further goad Jesse. Crosshair shouldn’t have said half the stuff he did and Jesse (and later, Rex) are justified in hitting back at him.

They’re soldiers. They’re going to get in each other’s faces if someone starts talking shit.

When Jesse scolds Crosshair - I think Kix is somewhere standing in the background but not directly involved- Wrecker steps in and turns things violent.

It’s not a moment I’m most proud of them. It’s actually one of the moments I’m least proud of them. Crosshair and Kix get into it when Crosshair shoves him for trying to help Jesse and Rex is attempting to get Wrecker to let Jesse go. This escalated quickly and I’m not sure I can say that this was justified. It seems like a big jump to me (but maybe someone disagrees, feel free to, I’d like to know someone else’s thoughts).

In this episode we’re really led down one path that says the batch and other clones don’t get along and from this limited perspective in this episode it seems like the batch are instigators. They roll in, avoid consequences for themselves, and roll out without giving anyone else a second thought.

The Bad Batch tv show paints an entirely different picture and it is definitely to make them more likable and relatable to a young audience. Every kids show has the character that’s an underdog, it’s who we want to root for. It makes the people in The Bad Batch’s age range connect with them more and I can’t exactly blame them for writing it this way - although after seeing the batch in the clone wars it does make me sigh a bit, I won’t lie.

I was bullied as a child. Quite severely, actually, so I find myself justifying the disconnect with a few things. Perhaps the batch puts up a front so they push other clones away before it can happen to them. I’ve done this. I put on a really abrasive attitude to keep people away when I was in high school and I regret it. However, I got over myself as I got older and worked through my own issues rather than blaming other people. Because you have to. It’s not alright to continue to hurt other people because you were hurt and I remind myself of that every single day. It’s the only way to move forward. I never have to forgive people who have hurt me but I can’t start using it as an excuse.

I mention this only to say that maybe their behavior in The Clone Wars was a mask built from past hurt and that could make sense to me. You build up walls when you’ve been hurt and you create behaviors based on experience. However, I still don’t think their behavior should be excused. I still think they escalated that situation far before anyone else did. In the same way I think Jesse made a lot of snap judgements about the batch and just kept finding ways to reinforce that judgement based on what he’d heard about them prior. And this snap judgment isn’t the best way to go about working with new people. It’s not an excuse, just an explanation.

I even think the batch’s behavior in episode 1 of their own show kind of contradicts some of their behavior in TCW. Particularly Crosshair. Crosshair doesn’t engage in the cafeteria until he absolutely has to while in TCW he is the primary instigator. We can try to explain this by saying it’s because his chip activated and his personality shifted. I just think it’s something worth pointing out.

I’d also like to add that of course the batch are the primary instigators in The Clone Wars because the clones we knew and loved in that show are technically the heroes of the episode. Of course they’re portrayed in a better light. It’s the same as the batch in episode one of their own show. Of course they’re portrayed as the ‘good guys’. It’s their show. To me it’s less of a character moment and more of a way to get the viewers of the show to root for somebody, whoever they want us to root for in the moment. The Bad Batch is told from their perspective so they are going to be the underdogs while The Clone Wars brings the batch in as outsiders to the group and gives them a more aggressive interaction to further our already beloved character’s narratives.

This was a very long way to say, I’ve always been kinda meh about the whole ‘the batch is bullied’ subplot and I tend to avoid writing it in my own fics because I think there is inconsistency with the writing between the clone wars and the bad batch and this can possibly be boiled down to a few things like different writers on the creative teams, an uncertain future, and wanting to paint certain characters in certain lights because of the show they are on. Rather than actually being a truly defining character arc it is a tool, as most writing is, it’s just not a tool I particularly care for in this story. And while I do think there are inconsistencies I can piece together some things to explain it if I really want to. I don’t think one side is right and one side is wrong. I think there are a million explanations for hurt on both sides and we decide it for ourselves because neither show truly made it clear enough for me to draw any lines in the sand. (And if you’ve been reading my stories at all you know I love a good grey area so I probably wouldn’t draw lines at all.)

I always try to be fair to everyone when I write stuff like this so I hope I’ve covered all of my points well enough. There are plenty of things to say about this topic and it has been talked about a few times recently in other posts that you can read. Tagging 1 by @laughhardrunfastbekindsblog and 2 by @gars-technician because these two posts inspired me to write this.

I’d definitely encourage open discussion here if anyone wants to chime in 😊 while I know we might all have different opinions I’m certainly willing to hear them as long as everyone is respectful.

[aceofnace]

Nancy’s Feelings for Ace

Nancy told Ace that the first time she realized she had feelings for him was during the dreamscape with the wraith, because that was her official “oh” moment, but as a viewer we know she had feelings for him long before that, even if she didn’t know it. The first real signs for us were her obvious jelly feelings as she watched Ace flirt with Amanda in 2x07 and her mind immediately jumping to Ace when she heard the sentence “the one with the pretty eyes” in 2x08. But really, it goes even further back than that.

Nick asking Ace in the last episode if it was ever really only friendship and nothing more between him and Nancy got me thinking back to the very beginning. And to be honest, I don’t think it ever was only friendship. For either one of them.

We know now that Ace had a crush on Nancy in high school. So naturally, when she started working at The Claw, that crush returned right away (even if he also had a crush on Bess at the time). And we know Nancy met Nick and it was lust at first sight and she immediately embarked on a physical relationship with him soon after. This all happened before the show began. What else happened before the show began and it’s one of the first things Nancy tells us about Ace when her narration introduces us to him?

The smoke break.

Upon first viewing, it feels like an unimportant throwaway line. A piece of information that could just as easily have been left out. But it wasn’t. Why? Because I think that smoke break, a moment we’ve never gotten to see, was when Nancy’s feelings for Ace actually started.

Think about it for a second. We know that Nancy has always found Ace attractive. When she hears the term “pretty eyes”, she’s like “Who, Ace?” When she’s under the spell of a lust dress, she lets it slip out that she’s always imagined how soft his hair would be. In as early as episode 1x02, she’s placing a hand on his shoulder for no reason while she talks and she doesn’t let go until she’s done. He may not have necessarily been on her radar in high school like she was on his, but he certainly was as soon as she started working at The Claw.

So, now that we have obvious physical attraction out of the way, that smoke break. We know very little about it. The most of what we do know about it is made up from the minds of countless fans who’ve written their own fan fic version of it (myself included). But the one canon thing about it, the thing Nancy told us herself, was that he didn’t judge her for tanking her grades after her mom died. And how did he even know about that? Because she told him.

Nancy Drew, who at the start of the show was the queen of high emotional walls who didn’t like divulging personal information to anyone, divulged some pretty personal information to this boy she barely knew (and even though it’s never discussed again, there’s a pretty good chance that wasn’t the only smoke break they ever spent together). Meanwhile, she was hooking up with Nick and even sorta calling herself his girlfriend, but any time he tried to get her to open up and talk about anything, she shut him down immediately.

I feel like this is something that should be discussed more. The fact that she was able to so quickly and comfortably share stuff like this with Ace and nobody else is a huge deal. And in the beginning, it’s completely overlooked because Nancy’s love interest was Nick, and then after they broke up, Owen was next in line. For most of season one, she did not outwardly show any significant interest in Ace as anything more than a stranger–turned–co-worker–turned–sleuthing buddy–turned–close friend. But that interest was there.

And why wouldn’t it be? As I already mentioned, Nancy was always physically attracted to Ace. She knew from before the show began that he was a good listener and easy to talk to. And then early on when she learned about his hacking abilities, she saw how smart he was. Soon after that, she learned how loyal and dedicated he was. The boy risked his entire future to break her father out of prison, and he did so without her even asking him to. He willingly drank what could’ve been poison to prove she was right and to keep her from getting arrested. Every time she called, he answered. Every time she needed help or needed a favor, he delivered. How could she not possibly fall for him?

So, she did fall for him. Most likely even in season one. It was evident during the library scene where they were reading Ryan and Lucy’s emails out loud. Hearing Ace say things like “I think I love you too” and “I want to be with you, I don’t care what anyone else says” made her feel something, hence the look the two of them share afterward. But here’s the thing: if Nancy recognized that feeling at all, she would have shoved it down so far and so fast because that feeling was something real. Something more than she was used to feeling. And that scared her.

Nick was a distraction from the grief over her mother’s death. Owen was also a distraction from that grief, as well as from her break-up with Nick. Ace wasn’t a distraction. He was a friend. A confidant. Someone she could rely on. Someone she could count on under any circumstances. This kind of relationship with a guy was one she wasn’t accustomed to. And she knew that it could someday lead to something more serious—something she most definitely wasn’t ready for.

In 2x10, while under the spell of the lust dress, Nancy theorized out loud that perhaps the dress was intensifying feelings of attraction she already had but was repressing, and she said it while turning and looking directly at Ace. Keep in mind that (somehow) 2x10 in the timeline is not that far from where they were in season one, so to assume those repressed feelings started in season one is not that much of a stretch. And looking back, even starting within the first few episodes of the series, you can clearly see she has always been drawn to him in a very subconscious way. She would always stand so close their arms would almost touch. She would lean closely over his shoulder when he was on his laptop, their faces sometimes only mere inches apart. She would practically bump into him while walking side-by-side. She’s always had this unrealized need to be near him. To be close to him. And he’s the only one. I challenge anyone to find scenes that show her casually existing so closely next to Nick, Owen, Gil, Park or even now Tristan. You can’t. Because they don’t exist.

And this makes sense. Canonically, they are soulmates. And that would explain why Ace could simply see her make a volcano erupt in high school and develop feelings for her. It would explain why since day one, Nancy has had a bond with Ace that she’s never had with anyone else. And I know the writers say that Nace wasn’t the plan from the beginning, and I do believe that, but somehow, they inadvertently set it up perfectly for these characters to end up in the situation they’re in right now: desperately in love and desperate to be together. They are each other’s person. And they always have been from the very start.

To go back to what they were before would just be staying the same. They’ve never been just friends. And the sooner Ace can admit that to himself, the sooner they can get back to trying to break that curse and securing their future together.

[transflynnscifo]

Words left unspoken-- Flynn and the XBOX 360 ending

Today, I finally wanted to make a post about something that might be a little obscure. Whether it truly is would depend on whether

a) you’ve watched/seen the original version of Vesperia,

or

b) you enjoyed the game through PS3 or Definitive Edition and have looked into the significant differences done between the same game.

To preface, I think it is no secret to anyone that the original 360 version did not have Flynn as a playable character, whereas Patty was just not present (though there was a hint in the original version, if my memory serves me right, that there were plans to implement her even before the ps3 version)

This is my warning to avoid reading further, as this entire post contains spoilers for the ending of the game, regardless of the version.

To make sure all readers are up to speed, it’s important to mention that Flynn is not brought along for Tarqaron in the 360 version. If the player wants to talk to him as an NPC, he would be present in Aurnion (and the Colosseum as an enemy if you’re doing the 100-man melee). Regardless, this significantly changes the progression of the ending cutscene, once you are able to defeat the end-game boss. I would suggest to take a few minutes to watch and compare the original vs updated ending, which I am providing now, below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e91L4AIKcyg The version used in PS3 and Definitive Edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgeMz8Vyocw The version used for the XBOX 360 version, in English.

[I want to mention that I think the part where the rest of the party runs up to Yuri is cute in both versions. In the older one, Yuri kneels to greet Repede! Um, they forgot Patty in the new version somehow, but I imagine she’s doing her Dream Star arte and is about to explode the others.]

Let’s put our focus on Flynn, though!

In the Definitive edition, you know that he approaches Yuri happily, and they both do their little handshake/high-five thing before running up to the others.

In the XBOX 360 version, we get something entirely different! We have Flynn looking up softly at the sky in order to declare his pride for Yuri, without Yuri ever being able to hear that, let alone know it was even said.

Why does he not say it in the newer versions of Vesperia? Your guess is as good as mine, but I will still propose an idea: The moment was different.

Time and time again Flynn witnesses Yuri and the gang do so many good deeds without taking the proper credit for it. In the case of the original, Flynn is not playable, so he witnesses even less of what the party is doing. I think this cut away from the party perspective in the original to show Flynn is meant to assure the player (who usually may be controlling Yuri) that yes, he genuinely considers Yuri in that high of a regard. He doesn’t personally witness the defeat of the Adephagos in the original, so his only line of thought is to assume Yuri was able to defeat it himself. In fact, the original helps the viewer know that Flynn is perfectly certain this was Yuri’s doing.

Though Flynn goes through the same issue of Yuri refusing to take credit in all versions of the game, he is able to travel with the others and establish more of a bond (albeit awkwardly) with them in PS3 and onward. I think part of him not saying the pride line in those endings was also because he was generally relieved to see the Adephagos defeated with his own eyes. I assure you he probably still is proud of Yuri for it.

Let’s move on to a more interesting observation. Since the English XBOX 360 was very big for the west and there was no dual audio at the time, many players have missed out on how the line is spoken in the Japanese version of the original. So I wanted to compare them too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5h6QoedZ9o&t=322s The 360 ending, in Japanese.

INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:

This part of my post isn’t meant to say which version is superior, but to discuss the choices done that make the lines both similar and different. Please keep this in mind I am saying this as a(n English) Language major thank you and godspeed.

Anyway, let’s put the lines together:

……君こそ僕の誇りだよ。親友 ...I am so proud to call you my friend, Yuri Lowell.

The website I’ve referred to for years by now does not offer a fan translation for the 360 version, but only for PS3 and on. In my experience playing the game in Japanese audio, watching my sibling play it in the dub, studying Japanese, I have found that the only significant times the fan-TL and the localization differ are when translating arte names. (Here is the website https://hyouta.com/vesperia/index.php?version=ps3p&locale=jp&compare=c2)

Some notes: こそ is used to put emphasis after pronouns. だよ is also used to put emphasis too, but in a very informal manner. Flynn typically ends many of his sentences with だ in Japanese, especially when he is speaking casually with Yuri and other party members. He even switches his first person pronoun depending if he’s on duty or not.

(for だよ: https://www.alexrockinjapanese.com/meaning-of-dayo-in-japanese-and-english-how-to-use/, for こそ: https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2015/10/22/japanese-word-koso-%E3%81%93%E3%81%9D-explained-in-detail/)

With my beginner-level Japanese, I will try to offer a translation of the former line, with the help of dictionaries such as https://jisho.org and the above resources to help me parse out a meaning.

“...You are my pride, close friend.” ← where arguably, switching close for the word dear might convey the message better. Frankly speaking, this ended up being the same translation as the one provided by a fluri quote bot that was used on twitter (pay respects for it no longer working).

Now, you might have noticed that I put an emphasis on ‘you’. Well, it’s because Flynn’s wording would be impossible to convey in the translation otherwise.

Let’s compare this and the official English localization! Several elements here are the same. They are marked:

...I am so proud to call you my friend, Yuri Lowell. ← Subject: I, Predicate: am, Complement: to call you. I’m not making the rest of the sentence now as it’s not that important. ...You are my pride, close friend. ← Subject: You, Predicate: are, Direct Object: my pride

So why is the English one so different? I can’t be truly sure, but even with a glance I can say that the syntactic construction is more complex, for one. I am interested in the switch between ‘pride’ and ‘proud’, with the former being a noun, the latter, an adjective.

What I also want to highlight here is that they ARE saying nearly the same thing. With the words ‘pride’ and ‘proud’ being able to be formed from one another, the meaning behind the words are not lost. In fact, when looking up the kanji for pride in the script of Vesperia, it is always translated interchangeably, depending on context.

If I must further simplify Flynn’s words, we get the following:

ENGLISH: I’m proud of my friend JAPANESE: (close) friend is my pride

depending on whether the difference is significant may be subjective.

Let’s determine the reasons /why/ the two versions wind up ultimately different while saying the same thing.

1. This is something my friend Choc pointed out. The possessive adjective. MY FRIEND vs MY PRIDE. When pulled from all context, the Japanese version comes out more intimate. But putting them back in it makes the scale more equal

I am proud + you are my friend = you are my pride + close friend

2. Troubles in translation: 親友 (しんゆう)

This kanji is not easy to translate. I’ve seen posts talking about it used in Naruto, where even there, it is difficult to emphasize the meaning in a translation. Even directly translating it like I did may come off awkward when in English. Translation and localization are one of the hardest parts of offering a Japanese text to non-Japanese speakers. And what can one do when the direct translation fails to impart the word?

You find other words that attempt to impart a similar connotation/meaning. This lies at the core of translation studies. It’s why a translator is REQUIRED to be a good speaker of the source and target language. The capability of having a wide range of vocabulary AS WELL AS being able to use it in the best placements are at the core of what one could consider a good translation. And even then, such a term is very subjective depending on which language speakers you ask. Especially when this comes to languages as different as English and Japanese.

But is 親友 truly lost in translation? I think the average English speaker is still able to infer that Flynn genuinely means his words in regards to Yuri. If not through one word, I think everything else that is said in done in the game is proof enough.

“I am so proud to call you…”

3. Cultural translations and implications

This point arose in further discussion between me and my friend Choc on the topic. Though I have operated with both lines saying they convey the same thing, I have not considered the semantics and cultural aspects of such phrases.

Firstly, Japanese is taught in a way where there is a large emphasis on formality. Most of what is seen in anime/manga/games can be considered at best informal and rude at worst. So it is important to keep such a thing in mind when looking at a Japanese texts. While we can translate something, we also need to understand how intimate it can be read, and subsequently, how would such a sentence come across in English.

“X is my pride” as a phrase is much less common than “I am proud of X”. And, subsequently, a speaker comes to alert if the former would be uttered. Why call someone the noun when you can describe them with the adjective?

This is speculative on my end but, in the case of Flynn’s line, I think it’s perfectly fine to say it’s intimate. That’s the intention! He and Yuri have known each other all their lives, and have been through the roughest parts in their relationship. They already speak informally with each other in Japanese, so such a line should not be too surprising, right?

Well, the perceived issue with using “You are my pride” in the localization could be that its meaning alters when it enters English. Semantically speaking, most English speakers would perceive this as romantically charged in most contexts. Part of it could be due to how direct it is when dissected syntactically, whereas the official localization lengthens the sentence and makes it more complex. In personal experience, many sentence structures I’ve already learned in Japanese are short and direct. Though Flynn’s line breaches intimacy, the structure is not why, but because of “こそ” and “だよ” that I mentioned earlier. Once more, the direct translation would in theory create a miscommunication of intention in the translation.

Ultimately, the most devastating part of Flynn’s line is the fact that Yuri will never be around to witness it. Yes, Flynn is still pretty direct with his feelings, we have that one line before the Aurnion fight, and it seems he can still convey his feelings non-verbally in a fight. But for someone who begins the story as demotivated and depressed, continues on to a point where his self-esteem plunders further, and manages to find what he wants to do while holding certain unhealthy ideas about Flynn (such as putting him on a pedestal, check the conversation with Sodia in Nor), Yuri probably really should hear those words, even if he is allergic to praise or positive affirmations aimed at him.

Ultimately, what can be done as a result is to ponder ideas after the end of the story and hope that Flynn eventually actually uses his words. But who’s to say! What did I do for this? I made edits. This is your reward for making it through my post. Maybe someday I’ll post them separately too.

Thanks for reading. Flynn Scifo is gay

[dr-futbol-blog]

Before I Sleep, Pt. 4

Sheppard never joins them in the infirmary where they finally discover who the mystery woman is. For what ever reason, he chose not to follow them there just then.

They have a meeting about it in the meeting room, and we next find Sheppard and McKay seated opposite each other. They are much further apart now but with a clear eye sight to the other. They are both also seated at the ends of the table with the least amount of obstacle between them. Sheppard is making use of having a clear line of sight to McKay, too, mostly looking at him and not at the person speaking. The shot is framed so that we we are not shown them looking at one another, just out of frame--and we will see this kind of editing more and more; they use negative space that requires the viewer to actively use their imagination to complete the picture. But they are positioned in such a way that it's clear who they are looking at. They are also mirroring each other, both holding their left hand up.

Sheppard's eyes keep drifting to McKay even when he's trying to pay attention to the person speaking. And he's not so much resting his chin on his hand as he is pressing his fingers against his own lips. This is called autoerotic touching that results from the skin of the mouth becoming increasingly sensitive to touch and other stimulation when someone is, you know, turned on.

McKay, on the other hand, is doing the hand thing again. I once wrote a long treatise on Jensen Ackles having made an acting choice to do a similar gesture every time Dean Winchester was trying to not be turned on by something. Just to throw that out there.

It seems like the older Weir is a time-traveler prompting them to discuss the topic. McKay, who seemed to be a little bit offended by her "[Missed you all so terribly,]--even you, Rodney!" which makes it sound as though one would not miss him under any normal circumstances, isn't ready to believe her at face value. We don't actually know how well Weir and McKay knew each other before the expedition but certainly the events of the past few months have brought them closer together, has given them an opportunity to get to know the other person in a way that they never could have an Earth. But it's certainly possible that even Old Weir had known McKay enough to suspect that he would simply not believe he was included in the group of people she had missed unless she literally, explicitly told him so. Regardless, McKay isn't just ready to accept her claims as being true:

McKay: Well, let's not be too quick to exclude the possibility that the woman might be, um, what is the clinical term… nuts? Weir: She may be senile, yes, but that doesn't explain that she knows so much about all of us. Ford: Is time travel even possible?

Sheppard's expression indicates that he agrees with McKay's assessment, which must come as such a shock to Weir. She would probably be more surprised if they ever disagreed on something. Unlike previously in the lab, this time McKay chooses to answer Ford's question as it's relevant. A really cute moment happens then:

McKay: Well, according to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, there's nothing in the laws of physics to prevent it. Extremely difficult to achieve, mind you -- you need the technology to manipulate black holes to create wormholes not only through points in space but time. Sheppard: Not to mention a really nice DeLorean. McKay: Don't even get me started on that movie... Sheppard: I like that movie!

Sheppard makes a reference to a well-known science fiction film, probably thinking that because it's science fiction, McKay might enjoy it. He catches the reference, obviously, but reacts in the way that people who were likely picked on in high school for their genuine interest in science often do--ridiculing the make-believe science part of science fiction to assert superiority that is really just trying to mask feelings of inferiority. It's a good movie, it's a good story, most people enjoy it. What's not to like? But he has to pretend he's above the fictional timey wimey stuff being a real scientist. He has a reputation to maintain.

Only, Sheppard seems so comically betrayed by his response. He had expected McKay to have liked it. And he tells him that he likes it, like it's supposed to mean something to McKay. He doesn't say "I like that movie!" as though he's offended, he's saying "I like that movie!" in a genuine childlike way, raising his eye brows like he's saying that since he likes the movie and McKay likes him, he has to like the movie too.

When you're still getting to know one another, you've got to at least pretend to like the things the person you like likes. It's in the rules. If they had access to films and the nearest copy of the movie wasn't in another galaxy, McKay would have had an unavoidable evening of watching the film with Sheppard in his near future. And yet, in spite of McKay's reaction, he still chose to share this with him. Sheppard chose to make himself vulnerable, the man who very seldom shares any personal information about himself. Yes, other people were present for this, but it is clearly to McKay that he said all of it. He wasn't entertaining the whole class with his humour, he was flirting with McKay.

So, Sheppard likes Back to the Future. There are many reasons why he might. He is fond of cheesy science fiction, this we already know. Perhaps the idea that one might be able to go back and remake one's life, to get a happily ever after, to get a better version of your family appeals to him. Perhaps he liked the romance of it, and we learn over the seasons that he does have a fondness for romantic stories like The Princess Bride (and War and Peace). Perhaps he wished that he had someone like Doc Brown in his life when he was a child, a safe if quirky adult he could have turned to instead of his parents. He also likes things that go fast, although he has specified that as "anything that goes more than two hundred miles per hour" in Rising (S0101).

Many, many reasons.

The thing is, Marty McFly is eroticized in the film. He is the object of his mother's desire, and hence there's a an objectifying gaze on him. His father, on the other hand, thinks that Marty has the hots for him due to the focused attention he is giving him, and since his masculinity is already being ridiculed by the school bullies, he tries to keep him at a distance. It's a kind of a love triangle that flirts with incestuous themes. But because of this, Marty McFly is eroticized in a way that few male protagonists ever are in mainstream films. Usually, the audience's gaze is the male gaze and you would see this kind of objectification only in "chick flicks". But we are asked to look at Marty McFly through both his mother's eyes and his father's eyes, both of whom view him in erotic terms in their own ways, which creates a very interesting, very different gaze that we as the audience put on the character. And this gives young boys that are still exploring their sexuality permission to look at him with desire. After all, it's an action film, it's a science fiction film, and it just happens to have a lot of romance in it, have romance at the heart of it. So it's easy to see why Sheppard would have liked it.

Also, one of the reasons George McFly is bullied in the film is his love of science fiction. If McKay had been bullied at school, which we later learn that he was (McKay and Mrs Miller, S03E08), he might over-identify with the character (and, given his name, people might even have used the name McFly to tease him; "Hey McFly, I'm talking to you, you Irish bug!").* And yet, Sheppard admires George McFly since he shares the character's love of science fiction. He admires Doc Brown for being a genius scientist. He admires Rodney McKay. This is what he was trying to communicate. And once more, it's McKay's negative self-image that keeps him from understanding this.

Even after he's offended Sheppard to his very core by insulting one of his favourite movies, Sheppard still has his entire body turned toward McKay (and away from the women) while he's politely trying to follow other things happening in the room. The focus of his attention is clear. John Sheppard knows what he's about.

Continued in Pt. 5

.*McFly seems to be a name made up just for the film whereas McKay is an actual name of both Scottish and Irish derivation. We don't know the origin of McKay's family, and given that the name Meredith is Welsh, the family seems to be of a general Gaelic derivation. But it's interesting and, perhaps, not coincidental that in Scotland Mckay is a gender-neutral name meaning happy, rejoicing... as in, gay. Rodney McKay is literally gay.

Children being cruel, they might also have called him McGay (also a real Gaelic name), which may later have increased his desire to take a beautiful woman to the equivalent of his class reunion where people still assumed that it must be his sister--and not just or even predominately because they simply thought Rodney McKay couldn't get a woman. But we'll get back to that with Brain Storm (S05E16), where Malcolm Tunney ("One of my old… this guy") was most definitely his ex.

[quarterlifecrisis-activated]

So I’ve been thinking about my earlier post (idk how to link posts 🤷🏻‍♀️ so it’s the one about Zheng) and I’ve been trying to figure out her character arc. Because she’s not in the show a lot and I know there’s more there that got cut for time. I’ll be honest and say I never fully understood why she went to Ricky for her plan or what her full motivation was. I have some theories but I’m trying to piece together an arc using the gaps in said arc so it might be rough. So if you disagree please let me know because I’d love to discuss this more.

I love Zheng and I think she deserved more screen time in season 2. I tend to believe that Zheng does operate with good intentions overall, but when the point was raised about some of her totalitarian tendencies I had to restructure my view of the character. Because we don’t see much of her I use the little we do see and what other characters say about her to form my opinions. But there are different ways to interpret things and I go back and forth on what is actually going on. For example, her “join me or die” line is interesting. I took that line as a woah harsh, but that’s just piracy. We as an audience have to adjust our standards of acceptable behavior towards what is common for pirates. On the other hand that line indicates that Zheng doesn’t let people walk away from the table. And her recruitment of the Republic of Pirates is in a similar vein. Again, as a viewer I took what she was doing as kind of a pirate union, because of her demand for a livable wage as well as Olu, Jim, and Archie’s positive reaction towards it. Of course it’s also extortion by a powerful crime boss, which is far less wholesome. (Even though extortion of the British Crown is rad as hell.) I believe that these two opposing views are in a way both true and intentional of the writers.

Which brings me to Ricky and Zheng. I was caught off guard originally when I saw them meet together and initially brushed it off as “plot stuff that needed to happen”. But I think there’s something there. In many ways there are parallels between Zheng and Ricky, they’re both in charge (kinda for Ricky) of massive fleets and they both are striving for even more power. In Impossible Birds they have similar lines Ricky calls people rubes who don’t know the puzzle chest is valuable. And Zheng in the same episode says “you people know so little” in reference to the same chest. While I believe Zheng’s statement comes from her years of experience, Ricky’s is very obviously classist. She’s a character that is on the path to becoming like the people she hates. If she got that power she could very well turn into that authoritarian leader who only cares about power. But it’s her interaction with the crew and her relationship with Olu that is going to pull her back. We see her appreciation for Stede and the crew grow throughout the season, whereas she rejected and mocked it at the start. The destruction of her fleet was necessary and I don’t think it’s going to come back.

Which leads me to season 3 predictions. Cause the shows coming back and no one tell me otherwise. Zheng’s goal is to get Ricky and rebuild her fleet. I think Jim is going to play into her arc a lot during this season. They understand wanting Revenge and will probably push Zheng to appreciate the people around her, like Olu. Her ultimate arc (fitting with the theme of the show) will be about realizing the error of her ways and understanding community and softness. My theory on kind of how this happens is they’ll meet Captain Henry Morgan. I’ve been listening to Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates at work and it gave me ideas. Captain Morgan has a fleet to rival Ricky’s and I can see them enlisting his help to get revenge. He also is a piece of shit. He stole money from his own men and fucked off and is still regarded as a great pirate. I can see him being like a Mr. Beast type, where he’s a cult of personality that cares little for other peoples safety but he still has a rabid following. It’ll be a great parallel as to what Zheng does not want to become. We’ll also get to see how pirates typically operate (Stede and Zheng are the exceptions) which will provide more context to Ed’s Kraken era. It’ll be a great way for the show to say how different Ed was truly operating in regards to pirate culture. I think it’ll be similar to his Kraken era but the confirmation will be nice to get.

Anyway, let me know what y’all think cause I’m spit balling her and I’d love to discuss.

[becauseimanicequeen]

In Defense of Ji from To Be Continued

(Or “Let’s Look at Characters From a More Non-Binary Perspective”)

I’ve been thinking about writing a post like this since the 5th episode last week (but haven’t gotten around to it). But after reading a couple of comments with the general consensus that Ji’s actions were at the risk of becoming irredeemable, I felt like there was no time like the present. Better late than never, right? (This is a long one, so I’ll put most of it after a break with a TL;DR at the end.)

(Btw, that purple light between them is so well placed. They're clearly not communicating, symbolized by that line being drawn between them. And the purple, a mix of blue (trust and loyalty) and red (love and fate), symbolizes the mysterious and unresolved feelings they're both having (or are beginning to have) towards each other. )

The response to Ji and Achi that I’ve seen has been interesting. The little response I’ve seen (since I haven’t seen this series being talked about that much, or perhaps I’m just bad at searching for it) was utter annoyance with Achi the first few episodes until we were shown that Ji made Achi cry in the past and (mostly) everyone I’ve seen writing about this turned on Ji all of a sudden.

(It’s hilarious to see how easily viewers change their opinions. I mean that genuinely. Some of that is more entertaining than many QLs I’ve watched.)

My mindset isn’t that binary, though. (I don’t see things in either black or white because that’s too limiting for me.) That means that I’m neither for nor against either Achi or Ji. (I can definitely like one character more than another, but that doesn’t mean that character is “better” than any other. And in this particular case, I like Ji and Achi equally.) It just annoys me a bit when a character gets torn to shreds for an isolated scene or situation (akin to the whole Non vs Jin situation in DFF, which got waaaaay out of hand).

(Obviously, this is by no means a call for deep analysis of characters–essay style–every time anyone wants to say something about a character. But I do feel like taking an isolated situation out of context means that the meaning, however differently all of us interpret that meaning, gets lost.)

Based on what we’ve seen so far in To Be Continued, both Achi and Ji have made mistakes (in the past and present), they are both terrible at communicating, both are clearly confused and/or terrified of their feelings (especially towards each other), and it seems like no one wants to be the first to fess up. That’s the general situation of their relationship in the series so far.

A discussion on who’s at “fault” for Ji and Achi’s current situation based on what I just listed is pretty much unnecessary because they’re both equally responsible. However, since it’s so easy to play the blame game and spread it like wildfire on the internet just because there’s a character one doesn’t like or see eye to eye with, I thought it was a good idea to include it in this post anyway. Especially since my answer is based on my non-binary way of thinking. (Spoiler alert: it’s not either/or, it’s both/and.)

(I’m putting fault between quotation marks because I feel like its connotation is too negative when something like responsible would suit better. But since fault is often thrown around when playing the blame game, I’ll stick to that word.)

If we look at Ji and Achi’s actions (the ones we’ve seen so far), I feel like 3 moments stand out:

Achi pestering Ji in the first few episodes even though Ji said he wanted nothing to do with Achi. (Present)

Ji asked Achi to introduce him to Pear. (Past)

The mixed signals both of them are giving each other. (Past and present)

I’ve previously written a post about Achi choosing not to respect Ji’s boundaries (even when clearly stated), so I won’t go too deep into that. What I will mention here, however, is that it doesn’t matter how desperate Achi is in trying to keep Ji close. Breaking someone else’s boundaries is not okay. Whenever someone needs space, it should (ideally) be respected.

Achi is being way too pushy in the first couple of episodes, and he’s not even communicating why that is. I think he says once (or twice?) that he’s missed Ji all these 10 years they’ve been apart and that he wants to know how Ji's been, but that’s no excuse.

If you doubt that some space would make any difference, look at how Ji reacted during that whole montage of Ji finding those bags with food (or whatever it was) that Achi hung on his door in ep. 5. And those notes they write to each other when exchanging those bags is probably the best line of communication they’ve had since they got to know each other. That’s how much can change if a person’s boundaries are respected.

(Sure, you could argue that it was a result of Ji showing respect first when he thanked Achi for coming over with food in the scene before the montage. Sometimes you need to first give what you want to get, and that “thank you” to Achi might've made Achi realize he could back off without being terrified of losing Ji (or whatever his reason for being so persistent is).)

When it comes to my second point above (Ji asking Achi to introduce him to Pear), it’s very interwoven with the third point (the mixed signals both of them are giving).

In the whole montage of them going on that day trip and playing games and stuff in the past (ep. 3), you can clearly see that there are feelings involved from both of them (whatever that may be; friendship, fondness, curiosity, love, whatever). But every time Ji looked at Achi (especially when they were at one of those lookout points with a beautiful view), Achi turned away. I mean, if you look at that whole jacket scene, you can see that he literally steps back and avoids Ji’s gaze.

Ji doesn’t seem to mind though, it’s not like he’s surprised or worried about it. But it still doesn’t change the fact that Achi is giving him mixed signals. Achi is both hot (giving Ji his jacket when Ji’s cold) and cold (stepping away and avoiding Ji’s gaze when Ji is looking and smiling at him).

And then there’s the scene on the pier/jetty at the end of episode 4 (which is also from the past). This happens after Ji asked Achi to introduce him to Pear (which I still believe was very innocent at first because Ji seemed genuinely interested in her, and there’s nothing wrong with that).

On that pier/jetty, Ji is tentatively trying to figure out how Achi is feeling because he can sense the tension (at least that’s how I interpret it). Ji does so by first asking Achi if he has feelings for Pear (because that could be a logical explanation for the tension), but Achi says he doesn’t. That’s when Ji has this look on his face:

It’s like he’s trying to think of another reason for the tension, which I think is what leads to the moment when he says that Achi’s got pretty eyes, nose, and lips.

I feel like he’s being genuine here. At the same time as he’s trying to figure out what the tension is all about, he’s also giving Achi an opportunity to clear things up, to be honest with Ji, and for both of them to get closer.

Then Ji lays his head on Achi’s chest as if to listen to his heartbeat (perhaps listening for an answer rather than being told, because we already know that their m.o. isn’t communication).

Achi is swayed for a moment, but he still chooses to change the subject and ends up leaving the pier/jetty (once again giving Ji mixed signals, especially after looking at Ji with heart eyes only moments before).

Achi’s reaction is probably based on a fear of being rejected since he thinks that Ji is interested in Pear, so it makes sense. But, even though his actions make sense, he’s still choosing to participate in giving off mixed signals.

(I mean, if someone looked at me with hearts in their eyes and then avoided me like the plague when I wanted to get closer, I would ditch the bitch. But, this isn’t about me…)

What’s interesting (and something I think some viewers are forgetting) is that this scene from the past is mirrored in the scene in Ji’s bedroom earlier in the same episode (which is in the present). In the present, it’s Achi who says that he thinks Ji’s eyes, nose, and lips are pretty (confessing to Ji only when he thinks Ji is sleeping, which seems to be his m.o., btw).

But then he repeats it when Ji asks him what he said.

I feel like Achi is trying to bring back that moment from the past because he knows he missed an opportunity to be honest about his feelings at that moment on the pier/jetty. The difference is that this time it leads to them kissing (a kiss that should never have happened until they had cleared up their shit, btw, but who can stop these two confused, love-sick, adorable idiots? Well, the screenwriters can, but what would be the fun in that? I digress…).

This time, Ji is the one who breaks the moment. He knows just as well as Achi where those words came from. He remembers that moment on the pier/jetty in the past just as well as Achi. And I swear that he remembers the rejection too.

It’s possible those memories were too much for Ji. It’s also possible that he realized the kiss wasn’t a good idea (he has shown previously that he’s not okay with Achi just kissing him, like in ep. 2). And as we saw with the previous kiss, it takes Ji a moment or two before he realizes what happens an/or realizes the implications of what’s happening (it took him a moment before he pushed Achi away in ep. 2, and the same here in ep. 4 before he pulled back).

So, who’s at “fault” here? Who’s at “fault” for creating more tension (and hurt feelings) between them?

Is Achi at “fault” considering he brought up the past when mirroring that moment on the pier/jetty? Is he at “fault” considering he initiated the kiss in Ji's bedroom (he was the one who leaned forward first and the one who held onto Ji with both hands/arms)?

Is Ji at “fault” considering he rejected Achi? Is he at “fault” considering he told Achi to leave his bedroom after the kiss (clearly needing some space)?

And don’t come at me with the whole “but Ji hurt Achi’s feelings by hitting on Pear, not to mention taking her to the same movie that Achi took Ji to.”

First of all, was that a conscious choice of Ji’s? Possibly. Was this the best way to go about it? Debatable. But it should be said that Ji got interested in Pear before he started sensing the tension between him and Achi. It was all good feelings before that (and it could be that Ji didn’t think his relationship with Achi was beyond friendship, because delusion and confusion are every teenager’s middle names).

Secondly, on that same pier/jetty in that same scene in ep. 4, Ji mentions that he doesn’t like romantic movies, whereas Achi says that it might be because he’s never been in love. Is it then so far-fetched that he takes Pear to that same movie (which I assume is a romance) to test out if he sees the movie with new eyes now that he’s with Pear? Not really.

(Could he have chosen another romantic movie? Sure. Was there another romance playing at the time? I have no fucking idea because this is fiction and they didn’t tell us and we’re probably supposed to read between the lines that it was a romance and that Ji was influenced by Achi’s words and I’m totally getting off track here…)

Thirdly, and probably the most important point: Let’s not forget that there’s actually a possibility that Ji is bi (the same goes for Achi who had some sort of relationship with… what’s her name, Mona?).

I know it’s difficult in this generally binary-thinking world to understand there’s a possibility of something in the middle of black or white. You’re either gay or straight, right? Wrong! There’s such a thing as bi- and pansexuality. And since we’re living in such a binary-thinking world, it’s easy to be hella confused as bi- or pansexual.

(I won’t go into the bi-hate that viewers spew out in comments and reactions to QLs, especially when the lead roles are bi (and especially when they are together with or hook up with the opposite sex), but it’s so fucking annoying. I want to write a post about this one day, or reblog someone else's post who might’ve written about it better than I ever will, so if anyone knows a post on this, send it my way.)

If Ji is a bi character, can you blame him for being confused? If he’s not bi but is having his gay awakening, can you blame him for being confused?

Can you blame him for asking Achi to introduce him to Pear, especially since Achi has never expressed his romantic interest in Ji and Ji seems genuinely interested in Pear? Can you really blame Ji for trying to figure out what the fuck is going on with Achi when he notices the tension between them?

Can you really blame Ji for not being able to read between the lines (has anyone forgotten he’s a teenager?)?

And I’m not saying all this to say that it’s Achi’s “fault” either. He’s just as confused as Ji. And none of them are brave enough to take the first step to clear things up either.

Again, it’s both Ji and Achi’s “fault” that things are the way they are. They are both responsible for their situation.

There’s still much to be revealed in this series, so a lot of it is still up for speculation right now. Clearly, however, something happened that made them go their separate ways and be out of contact with each other for 10 years.

If I were to put my money on a bet, it would be that they split because of a misunderstanding on both their parts. What that misunderstanding is, though, remains to be seen.

(If I were to guess I think they hooked up, Ji was confused and needed some space to process, and Achi took it as a rejection and left the country (since we’ve seen that his mother lives in the US). But I'm probably wrong.)

Ji's actions, so far, are not irredeemable (he’s not even on the verge of being irredeemable). And if they were, Achi’s actions would be just as irredeemable.

It’s easy to play the blame game, especially in today’s world. It’s a lot more difficult to be open-minded. But the latter will always be more rewarding.

TL;DR: Both Achi and Ji have made mistakes, they are both terrible at communicating, and both are clearly confused and/or terrified of their feelings. No one is at “fault” for their current situation because they’re both responsible for it.

*stepping down from my soapbox*

[monocle-teacup]

Hi! I am glad that someone is interested in my posts! I think it would be more comfortable to respond to your reblog this way, if you don't mind, of course.

- On the lack of a first name

I agree, this was most likely the original plan, but it seems to me that by the end of the season the authors decided to make a completely black-and-white morality, so they had to dehumanize Meridian, and revealing the name and the emotional scene between him and Alex would not help this new idea. I don't blame it on the need to develop the plot quickly, because literally one or two lines of dialogue would fix it. So it was the authors who probably decided to go this way.

-The circumstances around him losing his arm

I understand this, and what surprises me is that there was not a single flashback or further details about this fateful event in the character's life. For example, at the GHOST base, in addition to working for Croft, he was looking for a cure for himself. The viewer could be shown some kind of screen with X-rays or diagrams in the background, where we could see some additional structures that were added by Arachnamechs. That would be an interesting little detail.

-The deal with him and Croft

Yes! I really like the way Meridian worked at these moments, his emotions and attitude towards Croft are obvious, as is her attitude towards him. My problem is that it looks like a puzzle with about 1/5 of the pieces missing. We understand what kind of picture should be in front of us, but the key point is missing. Meridian has been drafted and is supposed to hate the entire organization, not just Croft, but he's not trying to destroy the GHOST or kill other employees. Croft treats him not just as an employee who needs to be exploited to the last, until there is no replacement, as the head of a large villainous organization would behave. No, she does not feel such a level of inner hostility and does not show it towards other employees, only towards Meridian. I got the impression that there must have been a personal conflict between them, some specific event or series of events that made them hate each other. But here either the authors did not want to delve into this additional plot, or they did not come up with a reason.

I'm always up for chatting about Mandroid and other aspects of ES! It's actually quite nice to be able to actually discuss Mandroid's character deeper since IMO there's a lot to talk about.

The thing that gets me is that in the show's Production Bible, Mandroid's character description outright refers to him as a tragic villain. It's like the writers were afraid to actually explore this concept fully since that would go against the show's obsession with making humans that hate Cybertronians automatically terrible people.

There really needs to be a Battle of the Bay flashback not just for Mandroid, but so many other characters as well. Dot lost her leg in that conflict and it's when Megatron switched sides. But nope, the show was too busy bludgeoning the audience with the whole importance of family thing.

The thing about Mandroid is that from what's been shown he only goes after humans if they interfere with his plans (the Maltos) or in Croft's case, treat him like garbage. I see some fan content where it has him going after random humans when he just wouldn't do that. His main concern is Transformers not people.

I've made a post about this before, but IMO Mandroid and Croft are good foils to each other. If Mandroid is fire then Croft is ice. Croft is a very frigid person in general going by her interactions with Schloder and when she tries to arrest Dot and Alex. As ridiculous as her master plan of conquering Cybertron is, it does fit in nicely with her control freak tendencies. I mean, she has a personal army of mindless robots while Mandroid went out of his way to give the Arachnamechs personality. I have this headcanon where the two just instantly disliked each other upon first meeting.

[pinkbowsandprettyprose]

Everything posted so far on Twitter re: TMMN Episodes 13 - 14 ✨

Potential spoilers under the cut! I’ll continue to update this post as more info gets posted.

HUGE disclaimer that this is all speculative based off of what is being posted to Twitter from people who saw the episodes firsthand. Not all of this will be perfectly accurate. Don’t come for me if eps 13-14 air and some of this isn’t quite right 🫠

OP/ED impressions:

Sentiment is generally positive saying that both the opening and ending are really cute, but at least 1 person commented saying the animation quality is not as good as the S1 OP, and hoping they’ll fix it up a bit for the broadcast on TV.

More than one person said that Smewthie sounds like they are getting to be better performers. The person who was disappointed in the animation quality remarked that they think the music was the main focus and got better, while the animation got a bit worse.

Apparently there’s a bunch of ship bait in the opening including Zakumint and Tart/Pudding.

Plot beats (in no particular order):

Episodes 13-14 revolve around Ichigo and Masaya being boyfriend and girlfriend, Deep Blue’s awakening looming, a sidebar about Mint and Ichigo’s friendship and Mint’s home life, and the aquarium battle where the Blue Knight shows up.

We get to meet Ichigo’s mom and dad for the first time! Mint runs away from home in episode 14 and has dinner at Ichigo’s house with her parents / has a sleepover with Ichigo while discussing the trouble in her home life. It’s apparently really sweet. One viewer said they cried during this episode.

Ichigo and Masaya kiss at some point — unsure where this is, I’m thinking this might happen in the scene where they’re hanging out after Masaya’s kendo practice and he dozes off in the lawn, so Ichigo goes to pick a piece of grass off his face and they get super close? Totally speculating here, OP didn’t specify.

The Blue Knight has long pants. Yeah, I know. 😭 Pour one out for the bootyshorts.

Mint has a character song! This probably happens in the scene where she’s staying at Ichigo’s.

Some of the Mews have upgraded/new attack styles. Lettuce was specifically mentioned as having a cool new attack.

As I suspected, Quiche has an existential crisis over his mission with Deep Blue because of his feelings for Ichigo, and tells Pie as much. He goes a lil psycho during this dialog and threatens to do something drastic after he’s told not to lose focus on the mission.

The aquarium battle has all 3 of the aliens instead of just Quiche. In fact, Quiche doesn’t participate in the actual battle portion as much as he’s there just to harass Ichigo.

And oh boy, is the “harassing Ichigo” bit way different from the manga AND the original anime. According to one viewer, Quiche fabricates a whole new alternate dimension that kinda looks like the underwater Ryugu Palace from One Piece, and transforms Ichigo into a matching dress for it (a la Labyrinth). He tells her that even if the rest of humanity dies, he’ll save her. There’s something in here about a scene with a merry-go-round. Obviously she tells him to piss off, so the illusion is shattered.

Quiche is livid when the Blue Knight shows up to protect Ichigo, and has to be held back by Pie and Tart at one point.

There’s one line where Ichigo tells the aliens that they’re protecting their Earth, and Quiche laughs and says something to the effect of “you really don’t get it, do you?” So, expect more building on the alien’s belief that they’re entitled to Earth / the reason between their mission.

The aquarium battle is more intense than the original manga battle. One person used the word “murderous.” Battles might be getting grittier for S2.

TMMN gets rid of the scene of Alto showing up to change Ichigo from a cat back into a human before the aquarium scene.

There’s some food for Ryou/Lettuce shippers 👀 It’s not super clear in the post I just found, but Ryou may have a scene where he catches Lettuce from tripping, and in another scene, Lettuce brings him a cup of coffee while he’s working (Ryou takes his coffee with two milks no sugar)

[panelshowsource]

anon!!!!! it’s a really unique cast, one of the most random and unique we’ve ever had, maybe? when it comes to random hodge-podges of people, i’d vote series 8, 12, and 15? maybe? so it’s hard to say just how i feel about them because these groups can take the longest to sort out their dynamics

taskmaster has this funny way of making you dislike(?) someone you thought you liked or come around to people you thought you didn’t care for. john kearns on catsdown back in the day used to make me want to rip my flesh off — now, because of taskmaster, i will always see him as paddington bear and no one can take that away from me. A SWEETIEPIE. i know many people walked away from s8 liking lou a little less and walked away from s13 liking judi a little more. despite at least a few great routines and his obvious wit, ivo graham’s 90s-hugh-grant-but-bitey/cynical-instead-of-bumblingly-charming schtick has never been up my alley. i am really curious if this series will make me come around to him, because i do think he’s let his guard down a lot more in this environment than the more cutthroat comedy environments — and i like him more for it thus far :) he’s really putting the effort in, too! hahaha

frankie is for old gen panel show fans and old gen panel show fans only!!! i love him sm, he’s the wittiest and his giggles are iconic, and i died of cuteness hearing his kids participated in beating the shit out of him during one of the tasks. i already really enjoy his dynamic with alex; alex has his awkward beats and frankie meets them with his own calm and wit really well. i don’t know if a lot of people have realised this over the years, but there’s a shyness to frankie that i hope doesn’t end up depriving us of frankie content throughout the series. as confident as he can be in his comedy and his opinions, (these days, at least) he doesn’t cut people off, showboat, hog spotlight, etc. so i am nervous he won’t get ample screentime like some of the more hot mess figures like ivo and jenny. AND JENNY IS SO DELIGHTFUL LMAO you’re right the older, quirky ladies who don’t take the show too seriously are hit and miss for a lot of viewers, but i hope with jenny’s enthusiasm that she’ll be on people’s good sides. taskmaster is, at its core, silly. jenny is silly. match made in heaven!

mae and kiell... i don’t have strong opinions about mae. a lot of people like them because they’re very pleasant. i know they’re polite, kind, and explore narratives in their writing that are sensitive and engaging to many, but i wouldn’t say they make for spectacular tv in the context of taskmaster. pleasant. not hysterical, but pleasant. will probably win the series? is it too early to say? (i wonder if a more hyper-on-average cast would help them either open up more or have a more stand-out dynamic/character in comparison?) kiell on the other hand? hm... on the most recent episode of the taskmaster podcast, ed and kiell talk a lot about how kiell is genuinely frustrated or angry with the tasks, the surprises, the inconsistent scoring — and that’s already evident, especially by episode 3. ed suggests it’s his character for the season, but ed and kiell discuss how it’s real and kiell really couldn’t help it showing as the series progressed. this is something that i don’t like and don’t think is funny and don’t wanna see on the show. throwing a fake tantrum, arguing with greg because it’s funny take him by surprise with a random bout of impertinence or give him an opportunity to hilarious retort as the egotistical taskmaster character, jokingly(!!!) calling alex out for his trickery, and so on is funny. though it’s not necessary for a good watch, i do looove when contestants can walk the line between comedy and genuine competitiveness: joe wilkinson did this sooo well if you revisit s2, throwing certain tasks for fun while trying fucking hard and demanding his flowers for other tasks; ed gamble, kerry godliman, and bridget christie are more examples of people who knew where to draw the line in excessively arguing, nitpicking, whining, fuming, sulking — but were still able to deliver enough of that that it was hilarious when their efforts were squandered by alex or greg threw down the hammer. i know it’s a fine line for those who try to walk it! i’m worried kiell is gonna be too butthurt and too sulky to the point that i’m distracted. you have to be able to laugh everything off in the end. speaking for myself, when contestants like james acaster and iain stirling took their butthurt and sulkiness too far, it was hard for me to watch, so part of me is already distracted by the fear of being distracted by this type of attitude. ig that’s all to say i’m not very excited by kiell rn (having never seen him before; no, i haven’t watched ghosts), and i’m a but frustrated the taskmaster podcast made me somehow less excited than i was before, but i hope he hits a funnier stride next ep ...

it’s not that deep these are just my initial impressions after 3 episodes LOL it’s cute so far!

i hope you enjoy jenny!! jenny was such a cute pick for this show, i love when taskmaster thinks a bit outside of the box when considering who can compete and comes up with fun people like her

i know! god, i swear there was once he said he wouldn’t do taskmaster or wasn’t that interested in it, same as david mitchell... if my memory serves correct? ...! that gives me hope david might one day change his mind heh... but then, i’m not sure what victoria would have told him about the experience to sway him one way or another HAHA

can you imagine if frankie and miles had been on the same season 🥲

anyways, a win for old school panel show fans! any other older school comedians or personalities you’d like to see? not to be basic but we need jimmy carr

omg good choice anon! it was fun always seeing them do cool stuff~

personally — and i apologise now to all of the james acaster, phil wang, and rhod gilbert team fans — i most prefer seeing the duos/combos who have crazy good friendship harmony and simply love shooting the shit together. for me, that’s mark watson & nish kumar, jessica knappett & kerry godliman, and david baddiel & jo brand (and maybe bridget christie, judi love &sophie duker)? obviously so many teams have so many great moments, but why did all of these teams feel like real besties?? i remember jo going to the bathroom during a task and david not giving a shit LMAO

also, shoutout to al murray, dave gorman, and paul chowdhry for just being the most random team of people ever 

i’m gonna listen to it tomorrow anon!! if you have a favourite episode pls lmk ♡

[gigglyramblings]

The Glory part 1 and 2 Overall Thoughts

Slight spoilers ahead!

I think The Glory is the perfect kind of show for the watch style that Netflix likes to promote with its originals. I don't think I would have enjoyed this show as much if I didn't get to binge part one all in one sitting and do the same with part two. Binging really disguises many of the miniscule flaws this show probably has and in the end we're left with a deeply satisfying and cathartic revenge story.

This show is understandably not going to be everyone's cup of tea. The opening episodes have scenes of horrific bullying that can be triggering and incredibly hard to stomach. I understand why it was necessary though as it allows the viewers to feel the visceral anger and hopelessness of the main protagonist Moon Dong Eun.

The acting performances in this drama are top-notch but the standout in my opinion has to be Shin Ye Eun who plays the young version of Park Yeon Jin the main antagonist. I never thought Shin Ye Eun was a great actress before this but she's legitimately terrifying in this role, I both wanted to see more of her and less of her at the same time because she's so good as young Park Yeon Jin but I knew if we saw more of her we would have to see more of the horrible bullying. It got to the point where part of me wishes young Moon Dong Eun could have gotten revenge on young Park Yeon Jin just to see her reactions.

Slight spoilers ahead where I discuss two particular issues I had with the drama.

Like I said before, the show probably has more flaws that I'm not specifically pointing out I know there are people that have issues with the show and I don't really want to put too much of my focus on that because overall I thoroughly enjoyed this show.

The first issue that really stood out to me is although this drama does a really good job at centering bullying from a victim's perspective I do think they put a little too much emphasis on the physical scars that bullying leaves compared to the emotional ones. What I mean by this is that we see Moon Dong Eun use her scars to shock both Joo Yeo Jung and Ha Do Young and try to get them when they tried to dissuade her from getting revenge. In my opinion by doing this it kind of ignores the fact that people get horribly bullied but not have any physical scars but a multitude of emotional ones.

The second issue I have looks like it's probably a common complaint that lots of viewers have with this show and has to do with a character of Joo Yeo Jung. But I think my complaint differs from most people in that I didn't dislike the love line between Song Hye Kyo and Lee Do Hyun, the common reasons listed for being against their love-line are the big age gap between the actors and the fact that Song Hye Kyo has more chemistry with Jung Sung Il, all this is true and the love line is definitely the dramas weakest link but there's so little of it until the very end that it's pretty easy to ignore. However, I understand the writer's old school intentions behind the love line even though never translated to screen all that well. In the end, Moon Dong Eun got everything her 18-year-old self never got to have and got her version of a fairy tale ending.

I personally just wish the character of Joo Yeo Jung was a shade or two darker than he ended up being as we know Lee Do Hyun has the acting chops to pull it off in fact I think it's mostly thanks to his natural screen presence and acting skills that the character of Joo Yeo Jung doesn't feel out of place. His character's best moments definitely come when he lets out some of the darkness under the Pretty Boy veneer. I don't think any of the actors in his age group with a similar level of fame could have pulled it off.

I think I speak for most of the viewers of this show but Lee Do Hyun would be terrific in a psychopathic role. K-dramaland please let this man play a psychopath already!

For me it's hard to talk about the flaws of the show because in my opinion it got most of the really important things totally right. It never dumbed down its villains so the protagonist could have an easy win it made each win feel hard-earned and best of all satisfying. And perhaps most importantly it never tried to make you sympathize with its villains it portrayed them as fully fleshed human beings but never tried to justify their horrific behavior. It wrapped up every single storyline without any plot holes and I will always be thankful it handled Ye Sol's storyline that way it did. I was totally expecting them to screw up the storyline somehow but no Ha Do Young is Ye Sol's dad forever!

Whether you love or hate this drama, it's hard to discount the cultural impact this show has had on Korea and different parts of Asia in terms of the subject of bullying. Because of this show there has been news reports of people finding the courage to confront their bullies and famous people getting outed for their past bullying. With that being said I guess I have to touch on the fact that the director of the show himself had allegations of bullying what against him when part 2 got released. I don't think anyone should boycott the show because of the allegations as it seems like the situation is not so clear-cut. I think this article with its title sums up the situation the best so I'll just put the full title here: ‘The Glory’ director Ahn Gil Ho faces ‘bullying’ allegations from accuser that oddly seems to admit bullying themselves

TLDR: The Glory will not be for everyone but is a super satisfying revenge tale that boosts terrific acting performances with a few missteps along the way but those miniscule imperfections will most likely be in your rear-view mirror after the cathartic Netflix binge. 9/10

[astradyke]

i have so many thoughts about commentator dan because i have Opinions on commentators in general and he would be such a good one !! and ur right about going off on tangents he 100% would basically as long as someone is skating bc when someone is skating he keeps the comments as minimal as possible bc he wants the viewers to appreciate the music and the skaters musicality and artistry!!

in said tangents he would mention phil SO MUCH and like he doesnt even realize phil is just like always part of the conversation when hes discussing skating and his co-commentators keep track one time and are like "you said phils name in 57 times during this two hour competition" and hes just like... well yeah! (ppl online make compilations thats like "everytime dan howell mentions phil lester while commentating)

and all the skater in the figure skating community AODRED them after everything bc of their bravery and all that kind of stuff like skaters are lining up to be coached by them and have dan do their choreography. the isu (who is the governing body of international figure skating) and the british figure skating association bc the isu doesnt like when skaters are like Actual People british figure skating association was mad bc the fake datin gidea came from them and dnps reveal made them look bad

and them teaching their niece is the the thing i think about most often maybe. like dan skating with her on his back and phil taking videos and them each holding one of her hands while she skates between them and them getting her her first pair of real skates.

OHHHH i see okay so my idea of commentary was flipped he'd want to go on tangents while they skate. oh i'm imagining him going on tangents about music and whatnot now... ugh. he has my love

HELP the online compilations is so real!!!!! that's so sweet he absolutely would he cannot keep phil's name out of his damn mouth. i also love the idea that sometimes he might not even introduce phil by his full name in the sort of we/us fashion the two of them have where it's like to know dan you just Gotta know phil. which like yes most people in the figure skating world probably would know phil if they knew dan but man you gotta speak to the lay person. alas dan is just too sappy to do it

OH ATEEEEEE THEY GOT AT THE INSTITUTIONS !!! That's really cool :] i'm so glad they get their little figure skating community that's awesome. so so sweet.

PHIL TAKING VIDEOS OH I WILL DIE!!! I WILL DIE YOU WILL KILL ME!!! him using his photography as a love language (for lack of a better word) is already lethal enough but dropping it into this au where he like photographs dan skating with their niece.... UGH. also dan skating with her on his back is so fucking cute :( this makes me so happy

do you think the two of them would try to teach martyn and cornelia to skate or would those two be abandoned to time

[itwasperfectlysplendid]

So there's kind of this through line... Crowley calls Aziraphale unpredictable, and that's repeatedly demonstrated for us. He gives away his flaming sword and lies to God about it, he helps save Job's children and lies to the angels about it, he swaps Furfur's photo (fooling even Crowley)....

We as viewers have an understanding that Aziraphale will do what he believes is the good thing (which may or may not be the "right" thing) but in universe, these aren't things angels do, and re: the last example, he's supposed to be terrible at traditional magic.

Then at the end you have this discussion in the coffee shop, "Do people ever ask for death?" "How predictable." There are some great analyses about the Metatron and his manipulation, but I think this conversation and the play in general tell us a good bit about the dynamic here, beyond "manipulative authority figure gaslights naive underling."

The Metatron is playing chess. He makes a move, brings the coffee as a gift which Aziraphale will be obligated to accept for propriety's sake. He tries to feign a connection "I've ingested things in my time." Aziraphale yields and tries the coffee, agrees to talk, but only after very obviously checking in with Crowley.

We know Aziraphale is hyper aware of the trouble he could get into for his Arrangement with Crowley, and the voice of God telling him they know he's formed a de facto partnership (in terms of "work").... Well, that's the coffee or death moment, imo.

Metatron makes another move. Compliments Aziraphale on his angelic qualities, we know and Aziraphale knows to be slacking.

I think it's hella shady that we don't get to see the actual conversation between the two, and it's hella shady the way Aziraphale starts his speech about it, but even if it's relayed completely accurately in the flashbacks, the Metatron just bringing up Aziraphale's relationship with Crowley reads as a threat.

When Aziraphale doesn't respond correctly to the flattery, Metatron makes that lateral move.

Because while the bureaucrats of Heaven were cowed by the hellfire thing, this is now the voice of God implying that he's aware of what Aziraphale has been getting up to and the extent, from which the logical conclusion would follow that God is aware and watching (also, something something almonds and God's watchfulness).

That, to me, is enough of a threat without any need for anyone to say they'll play take-backsies with Crowley's existence. But come do this job and we'll ignore it and you can even bring the demon with you to safety.

I think one thing that's solidly clear across all theories, even as some people gnash their teeth over how shitty they think Aziraphale is, is that he doesn't feel like he has a choice.

And he's likely not wrong. He was accosted by both angels and demons, and it was a great way for him to see that they aren't going to just be left alone. They won't get to live the little life they carved out in Soho.

And running away doesn't seem like a viable option when the voice of God is sitting there telling you he (and therefore, hypothetically, God herself) has examined your "exploits."

The options are to go and try to do something about it from the inside or to refuse and face an unknown punishment, whether that's falling or being erased from the book of life (which he has seemingly just learned is on the table) or something else entirely.

And that's not even taking into account what could happen to Crowley or the offer to restore him to angelic status (which feels like a fucking lie) (as a tangent let's take a moment to consider angel Beelzebub as restored by Gabriel).

Regardless of whether there was more to the conversation or not, Aziraphale doesn't approach the bookshop like someone excited to share good news. He looks like he's steeling himself.

And there could be a lot of explanations:

Face value, he's overwhelmed by his good fortune.

He's anticipating this being a hard sell.

He's about to try to push Crowley away for his safety.

He's about to put on a show and wait for Crowley to read the signs that he's in trouble.

Etc etc etc etc

But I think the one constant is that he's going to do this with or without Crowley, because there's no other viable option and it doubles as the good thing to do, to fix heaven for everyone's sake. And Metatron is expecting this to be the case. He thinks Aziraphale is predictable.

But Aziraphale doesn't drink coffee, and the Metatron doesn't actually know Aziraphale or what Aziraphale is about, and what we see outside of Aziraphale's monologuing suggests that he's aware of this.

And Aziraphale is good at magic tricks when it counts. So maybe that's relevant to the final episode or maybe it's relevant to the next season. Maybe an angel that's spent 6k years living with humans, who's just a bit of a bastard is just enough of a murder hornet in a bee's clothing to fuck some things up. It's gonna be a wild ride.

.... Meandered a bit more than I intended... Oh well.

Give me coffee or give me death

I don’t believe in the Coffee Theory per se. I think the whole ‘drugged coffee’ thing is a bit too spy movie to be in Good Omens, but- BUT

The fact that that coffee is in the intro;

The fact that you can see The Metatron in line, waiting for his turn, BEFORE he gets into the coffee shop, like if he was an out of place detail you were supposed to notice and ask yourself questions about;

The very long and apparently superfluous dialogue about choosing coffee instead of death, and how “predictable” that is;

The fact that for two seasons we NEVER see Aziraphale drinking coffee, like that’s not his thing, that’s Crowley’s thing, he’s the “six-espresso-in-a-big-cup” guy, Aziraphale drinks hot chocolate or tea, and we have to assume The Metatron knows that, because he went into that coffee shop and asked for such a specific thing that makes you think that’s something he chose specifically for Aziraphale (who still doesn’t drink coffee, so why?).

He looks reluctant at the idea of drinking it at first

but he accepts it out of courtesy, I presume, and this is the face he makes when he tries it:

Even he is surprised he liked it. He’s on Earth since 6000 years, so we can assume he tried coffee before and chose not to drink it. He’s either lying about liking it out of courtesy, or this is the only coffee he’s ever enjoyed, and The Metatron knew he would have liked it and chose that coffee on purpose.

So, the coffee is either important as a physical element, as something that had an actual effect on Aziraphale and changed him somehow, or it’s important in its metaphorical significance. In Good Omens almost everything is metaphorical, so the second option is very likely.

Now, what’s the coffee supposed to represent? The only certain thing we know, is that the coffee is something The Metatron offers Aziraphale, so it probably represents the offer he’s about to make.

Considering the whole “Does anyone ever choose death?” conversation, considering the fact that we don’t know how the conversation between The Metatron and Aziraphale went, we only know the version Aziraphale chooses to tell Crowley, and considering The Metatron is the angel that decided to erase Gabriel’s memory just because he said “nah” about Armageddon 2.0 and Aziraphale is the traitor, the one who stopped the Armageddon 1.0, so The Metatron has no reason to be friendly with him, my question is:

Did Aziraphale actually have a choice?

Or the alternative was worse than leaving Crowley and the bookshop?

Was it actually coffee or death?

[davecortel]

A personal reflection on how sitcoms can boost your social life

Growing up, I never quite fit in with the crowd. While others effortlessly mingled and formed bonds, I often found solace in the world of sitcoms. From the nostalgic charm of "Lizzie McGuire" to the witty camaraderie of "How I Met Your Mother," "Friends," and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," these shows became more than entertainment—they became my companions in navigating the complexities of social interaction.

As a child, "Lizzie McGuire" was my go-to escape. It wasn’t just about the humorous mishaps of adolescence but also about feeling understood. Lizzie and her friends faced relatable challenges and triumphs, showing me that even in fictional worlds, social bonds are crucial. Fast forward to adulthood, and sitcoms like "How I Met Your Mother" and "Friends" have become my virtual social circle.

Sitcoms excel in depicting diverse personalities and dynamics, from quirky individualists to tight-knit friend groups. Watching Ted Mosby navigate the New York dating scene or witnessing the inseparable bond between the friends in Central Perk taught me valuable lessons in empathy, humor, and the art of creating connections. Each character’s quirks and struggles resonated with different aspects of my own social journey.

Laughter truly is contagious, and sitcoms provide a treasure trove of shared jokes and iconic moments. Whether it’s Chandler’s sarcastic one-liners, Barney’s elaborate schemes, or Jake Peralta’s childish antics, these comedic elements bridge gaps between viewers. Quoting favorite lines or discussing plot twists with fellow fans creates a sense of belonging—a shared language that sparks conversations and fosters friendships.

Despite being fictional, sitcoms mirror real-life scenarios. They tackle everything from love and heartbreak to career setbacks and personal growth. Witnessing characters navigate these challenges helps us understand our own experiences better. It’s comforting to know that even the most iconic sitcom characters stumble and learn along the way, just like we do in our own lives.

While sitcoms offer comfort and laughter, they also inspire action. They encourage us to step out of our comfort zones, initiate conversations, and embrace spontaneity. Whether it’s suggesting a trivia night at a local bar or organizing a themed costume party, sitcoms remind us that memorable moments often arise from unexpected adventures.

In a world where social interactions can be daunting, sitcoms provide a safe haven—a place where laughter reigns supreme and friendships flourish. From childhood escapades with Lizzie McGuire to navigating adulthood with the gang from Central Perk or the precinct in Brooklyn, these shows have enriched my life in ways I never imagined.

So, if you find yourself seeking connection or simply a good laugh, don’t underestimate the power of sitcoms. Embrace the humor, cherish the camaraderie, and let these beloved characters guide you through the ups and downs of your own social journey. Who knows? You might just find yourself quoting Chandler Bing or practicing the "Smelly Cat" song with newfound friends sooner than you think. After all, in the world of sitcoms and beyond, laughter truly is the best medicine for the soul.