#i literally do not remember watching that episode as a kid either. i KNOW it's in season 1 and that's all netflix ever had

[worstqueerbaittournament]

Submission message for Klance: howdy, would like to submit keith and lance from voltron (lmao)

Submission message for Bechloe: Beca and Chloe from Pitch Perfect (mainly Beca but Bechloe was the ship they baited the most)

Additional propaganda Klance: Now Keith and Lance on the other hand was a whole fucking mess that they then shoehorned in an hetero romance to try and "fix it" but by lord it was bad, everything about voltron is so fucking bad

Anyway this is my Klance propaganda : They were actually bait

Klance's queer baiting by the team was the worst!! We had to deal with NETFLIX ALSO GETTING IN ON THE QUEER BAITING!! If you searched up Kkance during the times for season 6-8, the SHOW WOULD POP UP. The directors would make jokes about it being canon, even Lance's VA got in the joke!

Their queer baiting was the worst for anyone who was even looking for an ounce of queer rep in that show. The only queer rep we got was a man who died after not even 5 minutes on screen, and shoehorned in the credit scene of a gay wedding of a character that was neither Keith nor Lance.

I do not know Agatha and Sophie, so I can't argue that klance was bigger bait or not, I just know voltron was mean lmao. the creators said stuff like "lance will be someone's first choice!" (meaning NOT ending up in a relationship with allura bc she very much chose another guy over him) and heavily implying he would be Keith's 1st choice (or a guy in general bc of point number 2). point number 2: they also released official art showing how super cool and diverse the main cast was! race! gender! LGBT - they had shiro (who was......canon gay but that's a whole other can of worms) and lance hold the sign with LGBT on it and then did absolutely nothing with that w lance at all (he hit on allura, so obvi he's not gay, but at least bi or smt) (UNLESS you count the scenes where he's flirty with keith). I just remember going into the last few seasons being like "klance probably won't be happen be honest with yourself there's like no queer kids shows!! but damn like it so could tho!!! because of how much it's been teased both in the show and by showrunners like I can't have no hope with the way the producers talk about it!" lmao I should have had no hope, but i genuinkey believed there was a possibility it could happen. and actually I discovered after the fact that i think one of the writers for the show who was the main advocate for klance (they had a lot of diff writers for eps, which led to lots of character butchering but ANYWAY) left not terribly long into the show I believe bc he didn't like the direction it was moving in and didn't want to be tied to the show anymore. so it's not like fans just made klance up either - it was written into earlier episodes with the hope and plan to continue developing later, and then just nothing ever happened with it besides INTENSE teasing it to keep queer fans around. esp after shiro's relationship was literally only a flashback and then his fiance thing or whatever got blown up before we even got to watch him interact w shiro as we knew him in present time in s7, so I think they kept being like hmmm klance and the stuff about lance being a first choice before s8 to keep ppl around. also esp bc klancers made up such a big portion of the fan base. then they made a horrible szn and ended it w a flashforward to shiro marrying some random background character who maybe had 1 line? I just remember hitting the flashforward and being like uhhhh who is this dude??? but they did that to hit those diversity points wow first gay marriage in a cartoon or smt idk it doesn't count to me really. so anyway voltron in general is queerbait lol but klance is because it started out as a legit possibility and then they said sike! but only maybe sike bc u guys are mad at us burying our guys in s7 so maybe klance could still happen haha okay now we're serious no it's not happening. anyway I think klance is p bad queerbait and a vote for them is a valid vote, not just u liking the ship.

Here is my really boring and incredibly dry argument for #KLANCESWEEP:

There are countless examples of the Voltron showrunners queerbaiting when it comes to Klance. I will leave that argument and discussion to others. Instead, I would like to focus on why/how I believe Klance is the more significant instance of queerbaiting, despite Johnlock's queerbaiting being markedly more famous.

Queerbaiting is when a shows teases/hints at a character(s) being queer, but then never actually follows through on making the character LGBTQ+. Queerbaiting is, above all, a marketing technique; the show dangles the possibility of a queer romance in order to "bait"  a queer/ally audience into watching, and then continues to dangle or drag out the possibility of a same-sex romance in order to keep their audience hooked and continuously profited off. Queerbaiting takes advantage of peoples' hope and optimism, and that's why the betrayal stings so deeply once the queerbaiting is realized.

I argue that one of the major components of queerbaiting is that the show/writers must never explicitly confirm that there will NOT be queer romance. Queerbaiting is only sustained so long as the illusion of possibility persists.

Now, there are plenty of nuances to this.

If a showrunner comes out and explicitly states that there will be no queer representation in the show, this statement alone does not absolve the show of any queerbaiting it previously did. But, it DOES blur the lines for what can reasonably be defined as "actual" versus "willful" queerbaiting and subtext in the show going forward.

okay let me drop the pseudo-academic tone and just put it bluntly. what i'm trying to say is that, if a showrunner explicitly says "NO GAY ROMANCE," but the show's audience continues to insist and read for gay subtext anyway, and then the audience feels betrayed when the show ends with no queer romance --- at a certain point, wouldn't you argue that it's the fans that are actually baiting themselves, and not the show itself? this is what i mean by "willful" subtext.

As early as 2010 (this article/interview was posted the day of the first episode), the Sherlock showrunners explicitly stated that there would be no romantic relationship between Sherlock and Watson. Between 2010 and 2016, the showrunners repeatedly stated in multiple interviews that Johnlock would never happen.

I am 100% aware that I was drinking nothing but Kool-Aid while Voltron aired. I absolutely baited myself with desperate hope each season. But, in my weak defense, the flames of my Klance delusions were very much flamed by the promises made by the Voltron showrunners, who repeatedly floated the promise of queer representation in the show and spoke about Klance in the same breath. Klancers didn't bait themselves out of thin air; they desperately clung to the rope the Voltron writers threw us, and we were pulled in: hook, line, and sinker.

-

TLDR:

Queerbaiting involves willful deception and deliberate misinformation on the part of a showrunner/show.

If a showrunner encourages a queer ship, or makes vague promises of queer representation, then it reasonable for the show's audience to assume that a queer romance will happen. When a queer romance does not happen, this is clear-cut queerbaiting.

But if a showrunner explicitly states that a show will not have a major queer romance, then the show's audience should reasonably assume that the show will not have the queer ship they favor. If shippers continue to insist that their ship will come to fruition, and continue to pin their hopes on their ship, then the lines between who is actually baiting whom become very blurred.

Johnlock fans knew going into the show that John and Sherlock would never have an explicitly queer relationship. Fans continued to read for subtext, and maintained hope. The lines of queerbaiting become blurred, as it was not entirely clear if the show was actually baiting its shippers, or if fans were the ones baiting themselves.

In contrast, Klance fans were repeatedly encouraged by the showrunners, Netflix's marketing, and to some extent the VAs that Klance was possible (and that queer representation would firmly happen), and so Klance shippers were repeatedly strung along each season, up until the final season when Lance and Allura started dating and the Klance ship was torpedoed once and for all. (Do not talk to me about post-canon Klance, I am willfully defiant.) This is a firmly clear-cut case of queerbaiting.

In summary, Klance is the more textbook case of queerbaiting. It matches all the elements of queerbaiting: there was the willful deception by the showrunners, which encouraged Klance shippers specifically to hang onto the show, allowing Voltron to profit off its Klance audience. It's true that Klance shippers also continuously baited and deluded ourselves; but in our defense, we were following the example and promises set by the show itself.

Additional propaganda Bechloe: Ok for a little propaganda, since you may have forgotten pitch perfect, I want you all to know I first saw it as a 16-17 year old at gay youth group and can you imagine my fucking surprise and bafflement when they werent lesbians. Like basically thru the whole movie I was like “fun lesbian film nothing out of place just waiting for them to actually be gay” I know this was mostly the youth group organizers fault but I still think pitch perfect should have to answer for their crimes

I could talk so much about this but I want to point specifically to this promo for pitch perfect 3:

Bechloe - Pitch Perfect 3 Promo

Bechloe is REAL!

YouTube

and they then proceeded to give chloe an absolutely godawful love interest and like really overdid it (they also tried to give beca one too but anna kendrick was having NONE of that)

IIRC, Beca and Chloe were supposed to be lesbians but Universal vetoed it and made them give Beca a male love interest. Whether that changes things is up to you.

Even more Klance propaganda under the cut:

@klanced pretty well summarizes why Voltron was *more* queerbaity, but I think we should also consider what it means to be *worse.*

Make no mistake, the Sherlock team was.... for lack of a better term.... almost gaslight-y in their press, by disregarding the subtext that they themselves had written. But they were consistent. And their messages as showrunners did bear through, even as they were being cruel. Most importantly, Sherlock never needed the people they were baiting, so they could act aloof. That distance was horrible, but nothing like Voltron.

The relationship between Voltron and its fans was toxic, parasitic. Voltron couldn't have stayed around for that long without dragging its queer-baited audience behind it. It was a Netflix show, and those are always so close to the hangman's axe. It was the online fervor that sustained it.

And so, they had to appease the fans, pay the piper. But they had their own ideas for how the story would bear out, and each creator wanted something differently. In the end, they consistently used marketing tactics to imply something that could have been possible, if not for distinct creative voices that instead weakened the queer stories until they were watery piss.

Anyway, this was rambling. Vote Voltron for dangling queer alignment and ambiguity. Vote Voltron for pretending to be an ally. Vote Voltron for the stupid fucking LGBTQ banner that has Lance on it. Johnlock hurt, in a distant way, but Klance was worse.

I actually said this earlier on a different post, but I'll say it here too:

Its completely reasonable to think Klance was originally planned. Their interactions in the early seasons seemed a little too romantically coded to be something completely made up by fans. Thats why Klance was so popular, because it seemed all too possible.

However, when Dreamworks forced the creative team to change the story in order to keep Shiro alive instead of permanently killing him off like they originally planned, their entire story got fucked over. Seasons 3 and 4 were too far into production to stop and completely redo them, it would have been too expensive, even though it was the logical course of action. Instead, the producers had to make serious last minute changes to the story in order to keep Shiro in the picture. As a result, Shiro and Keith's switched places in the show, and Keith was almost completely written out of seasons 4-6 because Shiro was never supposed to be there. Any and all possible plans for any sort of development between Keith and Lance were thrown out the window because Keith wasn't there.

But as previously said, Voltron wouldn't have survived until the end without the rabid and feral online Klance fandom. The writing was very rapidly going to shit because there wasn't enough time to properly rewrite seasons 3 and 4 in order to meet Dreamworks' demands, and every season that followed suffered because of the decisions made for seasons 3 and 4. Everything was being improvised, and the storyboards for season 8 weren't finished until MARCH 2018 because of how behind schedule they were.

(I feel like the creative team don't get enough credit. Sure the show was a MASSIVE flop but their working conditions were less then ideal. Its impressive they got anything done on time due to the constantly changing ideas.)

The VLD producers knew that the Klance fandom was the only thing keeping the show alive, and continued to use Klance as bait until the very end. The VLD producers willingly enabled the notoriously toxic and violent Klance fandom with thumbnails and HotTopic merch, and allowed it to reach a point that the lives of their cast and crew were being threatenedby the rabid Klance fandom, just to get the ratings they needed to stay afloat.

THATS the disgusting part of all this. Whether Klance was originally planned as endgame or not, the producers used its popularity to keeping their already declining show running at the expense of the safety of their cast and crew.

I know next to nothing about BBC's Sherlock and Johnlock and whatever, but what the VLD producers did was sinister. Putting their creative team through both production and online HELL for some ratings, and it blew up in the most humiliating way possible. They did alllllll that, just to get one of the worst endings to an animated series of all time. Literally everyone hates them for what Voltron became, putting the lives of their creative team in danger was for nothing.

And obviously the producers can't completely blamed for the show's outcome, Dreamworks ruined their original plans. But continuing to use Klance as a marketing tactic while your fans are getting out of control and your creative team is being put in danger is just appalling. It was in their power to tell the Klance fandom Klance wasn't endgame, and that probably would have quelled the fire, but instead, with every season, they threw more and more gasoline into the dumpster fire.

So if you haven't already, vote Klance in this poll.

(I'm linking my source for all this info here. Its a video essay that I totally recommend watching. Super duper interesting.)

[wheucto]

finally decided to start watching s2e17 of ii

[oh-meow-swirls]

the anime's unhingedness is even funnier when you remember that the dub aired on disney xd. this shit was airing on disney-

[witch-from-a-block-of-flats]

The first half of episode 2 deserves more attention.

Warning! Yapping ahead!

(Also sorry for any potential english errors, it's not my first language)

He brings that up so casually. Honestly I don't blame him, because who would believe you if you said you have some sort of special ability? Only other people who know that superpowers actually exist. It's was kinda smart of Liu Xiao if you think about it. Dropping the word superpower and then watching people's reaction to it.

Now that's interesting. Because Liu Min is our villain from season 1. You know, that guy:

If you remember season 1 and begging of season 2, you know that Liu Min had a difficult relationship with his father (Liu Jing) who wished he "had half the ability of his younger brother" - younger brother being Liu Xiao. Does Liu Jing know that his younger son has superpower or was he just talking about his intelligence?

Also how on earth Xiang had met Liu Min when LM was a kid? Was he babysitting or something? Why does he mention Liu Min when Liu Xiao says "You know boss Liu (Jing)?". You know, his DAD.

Superpower user spotted?

I still don't know how to interpret this moment. Just an artistic representation of deduction/prediction? But the eye... the eye color change... Are they doing this on purpose? Are they trolling us? Powers related to the future finally appear? Am I reaching? Will we learn more about Xiang? I hope so, since he knows about Cheng Xiaoshi's dad.

Ok ok I know that this moment roughed some feathers and almost no one is buying that Liu Xiao's power is just hearing other people's heartbeat. I'm not sure what to think either. I mean his song is literally called "Manipulator" I wouldn't be surprised if that was a lie.

But let's say he is telling the truth. You may ask why would he revealed his power to someone who clearly doesn't like him and could use this info against him? I think that this isn't a stupid move. His power is simple and not as powerful like time travel through photos for example but... you can't really do anything about it. Like what are you going to do, stop your heartbeat? We don't know the exact rules and limits of this power yet. Is there a distance limit? Does it work through phone calls? Does it work on recordings?

After thinking about it, personally, in my humble opinion, I think it's good for the show that we have someone with less spectacular power. Because:

It shows how diverse powers can be.

It forces writers to be more creative about how Liu Xiao deals with the obstacles.

There is certain charm to a character who is "weaker" on paper but is going toe to toe with someone who has a powerful ability. Sometimes it's not about pure power, it's about creativity.

I am genuinely curious how this man looked at his power [hearing heartbeats] and thought "yes, I will be the one to merge all the parallel lines".

Besides, we already had a power not related to photos - Li Tianchen can possess people he touches - so I don't think it's doing much harm to the series.

And now we go back to CXS's dad. There are so many questions. Why is he so important to Liu Xiao? What's his connection to Xiang? Is he still in Bridon? IS HE STILL ALIVE?

Xiang was terrified when Liu Xiao mentioned him so maybe he had/has a powerful ability? I think Xiang had something to do with Cheng Weimin disappearing. My current theory is that someone dangerous was after Cheng Weimin and his family (maybe the superpower police?) and Xiang helped him in some way but that's just a gut feeling. It's just as likely to be true as a version when Xiang helped people who wanted to get rid of him (or maybe capture him and use him? so many questions, not so many answers).

And to end this post that is already way too long...

WHAT DOES THIS BEETLE THING MEAN? P.H.? DO WE KNOW SOMEONE WITH P.H. INITIALS? If it was H. P. I would pull out my lovecraftian hat but it's not (unfortunately).

Paris Hilton is that you???

[randomsufff]

HEHAHBFKI More South Park doodles I think I’m going insane.

Actually this is kind of the product of me being liking South Park way back in high school but was too embarrassed to draw them when I was bored in class and now it’s all kinda flooding back 💀

Read below if you want to know more about my New Kid and my thoughts behind some of the doodles cause this turned out longer then I though 💀

Anyways- introducing my New Kid. No name cause I literally have no idea. Whatever the cannon name is ig- though I’d think it’d be funny if she was referred to New Kid by literally everyone like in game. I like the idea that a lot of people have with their New Kids that they liked the makeover section with the girls during the Stick of Truth a little too much. I also like it cause… uh… I didn’t play Stick of Truth. (The combat system is not my cup of tea) So it’s not until the start of TFBW does she know shes really a girl.

To give context to the top right drawing- I couldn’t remember the dialogue Wendy says in the alleyway if you say you’re a trans girl- but I do know what she says if your a cis girl (I always knew you were a girl) cause I did a second play through as a cis girl. And I don’t know if there’s supposed to be a huge time jump between the end of Stick of Truth and TFBW but I think it would be funny if it was just the next day- so combine these two fact to get “Wendy always clocked New Kid as a girl but NK just found out yesterday 💀”

Anyways- she’s such a cutie, I love her and her cool superhero outfit I gave her. Outside of the game- I’d like to think of her basically exactly how she acts in game. Mostly non-verbal, with the occasional zingy one liner, and just kinda goes along with the crazy shit the happens in South Park un phased. Like if she was in a episode- the plot would happen and she would be on screen, but wouldn’t say anything, and anytime another character would address her, they’d respond however as if she spoke lmao. Aroace, just like me, so she’s just friends with everyone (except Cartman) and vibes with everyone.

The mini Style comic I though of cause 1) I wondered if Kyle had the same elf ears as the other elfs did in game (again, never played and it’s been a while since I saw gameplay so whoops if it’s confirmed or whatever) and 2) I thought it would be funny if Stan was caught lacking and tried to /rp his way out of it (I wanted to add an extra bit where Kyle would be like “Oh, are our characters gay for each other??? (ARE YOU /SRS OR /J STAN)” and Stan would have to just “yes, and” his way out.)

The last three images were kinda of a stream of consciousness put on paper and made neat lol. I really like showing that all the costumes the kids wear are homemade and stuff- either stuff taken from their parents or visibly taped together etc- cause I think it’s charming. Anyways- I though Kyle’s little robe could be like one of his parents bath robe- and it would be a little too long for him to run without eating shit so he’d have to hike it up like a skirt/dress. Which lead to me thinking that Cartman would say some shit about that and how Kyle, who has a literal Golf Club, would smack his ass up. Which then lead to me thinking about how since Kyle’s the Elf King and Stan’s basically his right hand how he might lift it up wedding dress style if needed (/RP GUYS, RIGHT?RIGHT???) and how Cartman would react, which lead to that one JoJo meme cause thats literally how they’d retaliate.

Always- I’ll probably have at least one more post about South Park I swear. There was a period of time before I stopped watching (I gotta pick it up again) where I would doodle a bit of whatever was happening in the episode, each episode. Crazy I know, but not only did it improve my drawing skills but it helped me remember what actually happened in episodes cause I have shit memory and definitely don’t remember some of the episodes I watched. So I might redraw some of those- see if anyone can tell what episode they’re from.

[quirkle2]

something i've noticed in my obsession with ritsu kageyama is that he underestimates people a lot

i think the first example of this is in episode 8, and it's absolutely littered throughout the rest of season 1. it starts with koyama, and the way ritsu says, "that guy is finished—it's over," when shigeo reaches 100%. while he Does have good reason to believe this, and so does the audience, koyama still manages to "win" by pulling a trump card that completely negates anything shigeo would be able to throw at him

when he's locked up with the awakening lab kids, his first idea is to act like he and the others don't have powers at all, which Wildly underestimates claw's communication between members. ritsu was literally noted to be an above-average esper, and "special treatment" was suggested for him. the fact that he even thought that would work at all suggests he either thinks they're incompetent (which, since all he's seen from claw is koyama so far and koyama can pack a fucking punch, is a little silly) or he's panicking and clinging to desperate, sloppy plans. it also kinda reminds you he's Literally Thirteen. god . he'sso small

also, the fact that ritsu doesn't even remember the awakening lab's kids names is another example of this—he deemed them "unimportant" during his arc, and continued to think this for a good while (i'd say he even holds onto some of those views well past the show's runtime, if his little comments about the twin's telepathy in the transmission arc is anything to go by) (also also, that <- deserves a post all on its own bc the fact that he meets another pair of siblings with esper abilities and sees that it's brought them closer instead of torn them apart . wow that makes me ill)

reminder that he listens to one of the kids "get killed" in another room and then watches a claw member drag the kid back out and throw his bloody, lifeless form to the floor. This Happens To Him. he watches this go down, and then he Continues to misjudge them. his little comment about the claw lackies "underestimating them because we're kids" is a bit funny to me now, given this entire post

he does it to shou immediately. he doesn't see a scar on him, so he immediately assumes he's lower tier and about as strong as the lackies. even after shou stomps and cracks the fucking hallway in half, ritsu walks right up to him and doesn't seem threatened. i doubt he's trivializing this situation just bc shou is a kid—that just wouldn't make sense from ritsu's perspective on things

he's already seen the biggest baddest esper in town—he lives with the guy. he knows the strongest esper is his own brother, so his view on other people's powers are very skewed. ritsu is so caught up in his trauma that he thinks shigeo is unbeatable, and i think part of that is because he was so young when The Incident occurred. anything scary that happens to you at that age is going to seem insurmountable to you, if you've never tried to overcome that fear. ritsu fully believes ???% is completely invulnerable (and yes, that's largely true) but he seems to carry that idea over to shigeo as a whole

maybe dimple's comment about ritsu being able to reach shigeo's level got more into his head than i originally thought it did—he "knows" he's at least close enough to shigeo to eventually surpass him, and since he puts shigeo's powers on a pedestal built with shaking hands, he thinks, hey, i must be pretty close to that. i must be pretty invincible too

he tends to mentally call fights finished before he's seen everything his opponent can do. ritsu straight up responds "i don't believe that," to shou's little you can't defeat me, and he's seen basically nothing in shou's arsenal

to his credit, once all the scars show up, he shuts his mouth and admits he's no match. and i think after the 7th division arc, he stops brushing people's abilities aside so much

this is why the shimazaki fight is so important for his character.

he fights him even though he Knows he'll lose. the shimazaki fight is Not ritsu underestimating him—previously, he's lost battle after battle because he truly and fully thought he'd win. he does not think he'll win this, and he's doing it purely to distract shimazaki from shou's position

ritsu kageyama is 1000% ride or die, especially when it comes to his own beliefs and trauma. i think if shou's situation wasn't as similar to ritsu's as it rly was, ritsu wouldn't have tried so hard to help him. ritsu risks his life to give this kid just a few extra minutes to deal with his father, and the way he enters the fight speaks pretty highly of how much he Wasn't underestimating him

he enters the fight by blinding shimazaki, by pulling a trick from his pocket underhandedly, and even though it obviously doesn't work, it shows that ritsu believes he'll need to do more than just use his powers like he normally does. i believe this is the first time he fights this way as well, with this covert trickery that uses his environment to his advantage—he keeps doing it throughout the fight; throwing cars, dislodging rocks to collapse ceilings. he's truly trying to think outside of the box because he entered this fight with the knowledge that he'll likely lose, and he needs more than just Himself to stay alive

but enough about ritsu underestimating claw, or awakening lab kids. i think the person he underestimates most of all is his own brother.

maybe i'm stretching the definition of "underestimate"—maybe there's a better word for it that i can't think of right now—but the way ritsu seems to think that shigeo will snap at the slightest issue in his life is... well. it's a little,,, patronizing, isn't it? he doesn't seem to have faith in shigeo's ability to keep a cool head, and even though he knows for sure that shigeo is Powerful (and even, sometimes overestimates that aspect of him) i think he tends to undermine his control over that power, tends to believe he'll blow up and scarcely doubting that assumption. he grew up like that, constantly in fear of his brother unleashing that "monster" again, and that in and of itself is an example of ritsu not having enough faith in his brother

when he sees onigawara talking to shigeo loudly in the hallway, ritsu sees how nervous shigeo is and narrows his eyes, like he senses something building in him. when reigen gets slashed during the 7th division arc, the fear in ritsu's gaze is not directed to reigen's "killer," it is directed to his brother, in fear of an oncoming explosion. and i Would say he gets better at this, but even at the tail end of s3, at the beginning of confession arc, ritsu fully believes (until he sees the car that hit shigeo, i think) that ???% came around because tsubomi rejected him. he thinks his brother would react so negatively to that, that other side of him would come out to wreak havoc.

when mob Does actually ask tsubomi out, he just cries when he's rejected. he reacts like every other teenage boy reacts, by quietly crying to himself. it's a very normal thing—after the absurdity and the sheer vastness of power and destruction the audience was just put through, mob walking away and crying quietly about being rejecting by a love interest is the first taste of normalcy we've had in like three episodes. what ritsu thought would spark this is actually the thing that calls the story and the audience back to a place that is solid and grounded

i'm not saying ritsu is a bad brother—that is so so SO far from my point—i'm saying that he's young and he's full of multitudes, and that includes mistakes. and that is Refreshing

this little guy is So full of faults, and it's one of the many things i love about him. he's a character that's practically built upon flaws with "good traits" as an afterthought, instead of the other way around, and the fact that he's been written like that, but introduced to be the polite, honor student, supportive, younger brother type is So Fuckin Cool!

it compliments his arc perfectly, because the reason big cleanup arc starts is because he's tired of being all that. he's tired. i never stop thinking about his maybe i wanted to find out what it would feel like to be a fool, it's Such a good line, and even if his reasonings for big cleanup arc seem nonsensical to some, i think it makes perfect sense in this odd, fucked up way. he literally Says it, right there. he explains everything in those few lines during that rooftop scI'M GETTING OFF-TOPIC

ritsu is a good character and his numerous flaws are what make him interesting to me. if he stayed that polite, honor student, supportive, younger brother type, i probably wouldn't give a shit about him. he is interesting Because he's made some pretty bad choices, Because he's made some pretty disgusting assumptions. he's a kid, fumbling along, with trauma dragging him by the wrists. i could talk about him for hours

[awes0me-p055um]

UNCLE SAMSONITE THEORY!!!!!

idk how to hide the thing but don’t scroll if you don’t want spoilers

-

OKAY SO BASICALLY FATHER JOHN IS SCRUNCHY CHUNKS. YAY!!!! SEGWAYS INTO THEORY IN EPIC FASHION

evidence a: they both use guns. could mean something!!!

evidence b: both say mother of judas. could just be a reference but AHHHH LET A DIVA DREAM

exhibit c: both wear a black coat

exhibit d: he knows way too much. like how does bro already know this much about the bowens and uncle samsonite?? he even knew about the green one. not to mention that offbrand sofa being sam’s weakness was like a big reveal in the start of the series. but he knew ever since his first scene!!! ALSO NOT TO MENTION HE JUST. HAD SIR BOWEN CHILLING BELOW TH CHURCH. EITHER ITS HIS SPECIAL INTEREST OR SOMETHING ISNT RIGHT!!!

exhibit e: remember that one scene from episode 3 where father john and uncle sam were like

“to whom am i speaking?”

“oh i think you know..”

DIVORCED PEOPLE!!!!! THEY KNOW EACHOTHER!!!!!!!

exhibit f: isaac’s death

this is a more specific one i apologize. but do you remember how isaac’s lore is that he was possessed by uncle samsonite as a kid??? well he’s still possessed by sam in uncle samsonite returns, the video where scrunchy chunks first appears. and even though throughout the whole series father john BARELY SHOWS EMOTION BESIDES SERIOUSNESS, he seems to really care about isaac. when isaac dies, he shuts his eyes like he can’t even watch. and he says “it should’ve been me” like he’s blaming himself. like he couldn’t protect him. OOOOH YOU SEE WHERE IM GOING WITH THIS BECAUSE IF FATHER JOHN IS SCRUNCHY CHUNKS, HE WOULD’VE SEEN WHAT SAM DID TO ISAAC AND MAYBE WOULD FEEL GUILTY

exhibit g: HOW THE HELL DOES FATHER JOHN TRACK UNCLE SAMSONITE??? HE HAS A WHOLE SECRET BASE UNDER THE CHURCH. HOW WOULD HE HAVE GOTTEN A LITERAL TRACKER, DATABASE, ETC IF HE HADNT BEEN CLOSE TO HIM AT SOME POINT LITERALLY AND OR FIGURATIVELY!!

exhibit h: you know how in uncle samsonite returns, scrunchy chunks says “i’m cameron’s imaginary friend!!! you wanna rub my tummy???” well he’s an IMAGINARY FRIEND. imaginary friends are typically made up to entertain kids and keep them happy right?? well. in s2e8 when mr dad and jake get back to the church, father john doesn’t instantly get to fighting uncle samsonite like he typically would. instead, he says that jake needs time to rest. so if he was scrunchy chunks, if he was an imaginary friend at some point, maybe he’d still have a soft spot for children.

ALSO I ASKED JAKE BOWEN ABOUT IT AND HE SAID THIS

[inkblotsonmyhands]

----------------SPOILERS FOR ARCANE SEASON 2 ACT I BELOW----------------

Alright then, hopefully no one who hasn't watched Arcane S2 Act I yet is reading this. I don't know if this has already been said or not but I was (like so many others) blown away by Act I last Saturday and literally cannot wait for the next two. Full disclosure in case I get any facts wrong (feel free to correct me!!), I have never played League of Legends in my life and know no lore whatsoever outside the show.

I'm fascinated by Isha and Jinx's currently nonexistent but gradually growing relationship. First of all, if I remember correctly, we know that this child's name is Isha only because of a subtitle—she never introduces herself, and no one ever calls her by name. Jinx only acknowledges her grudgingly, and until the very last scene of Episode 3, Sevika acts like she isn't even there.

I think there's parallels to be drawn between Powder and Isha, starting with what I mentioned—both of them are often ignored by the people around them. Of course, Powder was loved by her sister and adoptive siblings and father, most of them just rarely got the chance to really show it. I don't think Sevika or Jinx particularly care about Isha at all as of now, but we don't know much about her past. There's got to be some reason why Chross's men were chasing her, and there's got to be a reason why she apparently has nowhere to go. I would guess she's associated with either Chross, another chembaron, or perhaps a figure like Vander—relevant to the Lanes, but not a chembaron. I would also guess that, like Powder, whatever familial figure she has/had is either dead or has abandoned her.

She's small (although we do not know exactly how old she's supposed to be), does not appear to have much fighting ability, was scared the first time she saw Jinx kill people, and, despite it all, seems to be unnaturally resilient. From the little I've seen, she seems to be good at hiding and sneaking around. These are more traits that seem similar to Powder's. I'd like to add that her flinching when Jinx fired at Chross's men does not necessarily mean she's never seen violence before, but that she's probably never been in the direct line of it. I also think she has some emotional attachment to her hat. That could just be because it's useful, though.

The larger case I want to bring to light, however, is not her resemblance to Powder—but how she differs. There's two scenes where I think this really stands out.

The first is the Jinx and Sevika vs Smeech fight. The setting of the fight bears some similarity to the fight Vi, Claggor, and Mylo get into against some thugs at the beginning of Season 1. Obviously, Jinx and Sevika are much more experienced than the kids were at the time of their fight, but they're also fighting against equally powered opponents. Regardless, the two fights bear a resemblance in where they take place—the streets. Powder is present in one fight mostly because she goes where Vi goes; Isha is at the other because she was following Jinx. Powder, in an act of self-defense, tries to use the bomb she made, which backfires and results in her losing the loot and, in a way, nullifying the others' victory. Isha, in an attempt to help Jinx, throws the bomb that Jinx made—successfully distracting the thug, and allowing Jinx an easy kill.

The second instance is the Jinx and Sevika vs Vi and Caitlyn fight. There's no obvious similarity here, but I think, especially from Isha/Powder's perspective, this is a very similar situation to the fight Vi and everyone gets into against Silco's gang in the warehouse at the end of S1 Act I. Assuming Isha has very little context (just like Powder did, at the time), to her, it's a very big, very scary fight of the people who are "with" her—the good guys—vs the people attacking them—the bad guys. Powder, in an act of bravery, tries to intervene with a device she knows nothing about other than the fact that it explodes—and it does explode, and ultimately kills most of the people she was trying to save. Isha, in an act of bravery, tries to intervene with a gun, something she has presumably never held before, to save Jinx's life—and she succeeds. Another interesting detail is that in Powder's case, Silco's gang, armed with Shimmer, was blatantly and dangerously overpowered—Powder brought in the Hextech, which in theory, evened the odds, or even tipped them in their favor—but still cost them the fight. The fight Isha was witnessing was fairly evenly matched—Vi and Caitlyn had more Hextech weapons, but Jinx did have one Hextech weapon, and she and Sevika had the advantage of it being on their turf. Isha intervened with a simple gun, arguably the weakest weapon on the scene, but still succeeded. Lastly, Powder's intervention was from a distance, while Isha threw herself into the action. It should go without saying that I'm not trying to put Powder and Isha against each other at all—I'm just observing the situations they got put into.

To address the elephant in the room—I am aware that Powder and Jinx are the same person, but I'm drawing a distinction here because I'm examining the similarities between Powder (young Jinx, if you will) and Isha, wondering how Jinx would perceive them (if she perceives them at all), and how that would impact her relationship with her. I have no predictions as to what that may be, but I do expect Jinx and Isha's relationship to be an interesting one, and potentially, Isha may even play an important role in changing Jinx.

One last thing, although this is unrelated to the parallels—I mentioned earlier that Sevika acts like Isha doesn't exist until the very end of Episode 3. When Isha throws herself on Jinx, Caitlyn continues attempting to fire, and Vi attempts to stop her, I believe Sevika triggers the blast, ending that altercation, largely to save Isha. When she realizes that Caitlyn won't back away, she does the best thing she can to put a stop to the situation right there.

I could draw this even further into a Vander-Vi-Powder hold parallels to Sevika-Jinx-Isha theory, but that may be a stretch, even for me.

[imagionationstation]

*Throws more turtles at you and runs away*

And a litle bonus

TURTLES- Why does Mikey looks like he’s breaking the fourth wall in the last one. He looks like he’s playing narrator.

ARE WE MAKING EYE CONTACT-

1) "She saved me" I mean, objectively, he's not wrong XD He just doesn't have the right reasons in mine. Ah, Leo.

= New Girl In Town

2) SPLINTER! DONNIE IS GOING TO HAVE TO FIX THAT TV DON'T BREAK THINGS YOUR KID HAS TO REPAIR!!!

= The Noxious Avenger

3) All I'm saying is that KARAI was stalking the turtles 24/7 and that's how she ended up needing Leo's saving. Plus, most of the time it was only with the worst intentions, but no one's going to talk about that or how creepy it is. Is it because she's human? Or she's puuuurty? 🤨 

Sexism or specism, okay, pick a side /jkjkjk

= Enemy of My Enemy

4) The shift between The Super Shredder and Darkest Plight always jars me because they have the same conversation but slightly tweeked between episodes and it's like: WHAT'S THE CANON CONVERSATION WHICH ONE IS A LIE??

Or maybe they have the same conversation twice because of grief or disbelief. I don't pretend to understand turtle minds.

I love how in this scene shows just how much they've adapted to their roles when Mikey pops up and exchanges a subtle look with Leo who nods and then Raph smirks and Donnie watches them move with a calculated gaze because they're all on the same wave length and then Mikey distracts like he does best and hkjhkhgks GROWTH

= Darkest Plight

5) ...Donnie honey no don't look so sad *sad sounds* Raph coming in with that hand on his shoulder for comfort OH THIS SCENE-

= The Mutation Situation

6) GUYSER- GYSER? GY... GEYSER CAVE!! Also. Chimera ✨

= Eyes of the Chimera

7) Green gas room. Mikey be doing his thang.

= New Girl In Town

8) I originally thought The Crypt of Dracula but then I was like: April wasn't there. She was bitten. Soooo, space outfits! They're in space. When did they temple in Space? Oooooh-

SAVE THE MIKEY, RAPHIE! GO!

= Riddle of the Ancient Aeons

9) Yeah I can't sleep when I'm annoyed either, Mikey. BUT THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO STEAL FROM DONNIE'S LAB WHEN HE BORROWED THAT FROM SOMEONE ELSE, MIKEY!

Donnie SHOULD be getting coaxed to bed and instead his nap is going to get interrupted so the sleepy kid can get YELLED AT

This is why this kid can't ever get his 8 hours.

Everything goes wrong when he tries to snooze!

= Bat in the Belfry.

10) 👏 I should👏 know👏 this 👏

But I cannot remember for the life of me what it is. HUmf.

11) I HAVE NO IDEA BUT I NEED CONTEXT FOR THIS PLEASE??

12) iT'S VIDEOS GAMES. BUT TRAINING! (Teenage turtles 🙄)

= The Arena of Carnage

13) Egyptian! I see Egypt stuff in that backgrouuuund!

= The Curse of Savanti Romero

14) Mikey is just so randomly awesome all the time. It really does him injustice to pretend like he's some depressed child who's constantly underestimated or mistreated by his brothers. "Mikey, you never cease to amaze me" like c'mon they know his potential.

His whole gig is "this shouldn't work" BUT HE MAKES IT WORK

He's just "super dope like that, fool!" jgdlkjgldfkjgldfk

= End Times

15) Room full of screens. "Not now DonnIe- ohhh, sorry Mr. O'Neil." Yep yep yep I'm pretty confident in this assumption

= Operation Break Out

16) Literally have no idea what this comes from. BUT HE'S CREEPING ME OUT NO NONONNNO- AHHAHAHAHAHH- I WANT TO STOP MAKING EYE CONTACT NOW-

[erithel]

Hello...Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any media that you love (books, anime/manga, tv series, movies, games, etc)? Thanks if you want to answer. Sorry if I ask too much....

That's such a fun question!

And definitely one that's difficult to answer... But let me see what I can come up with.

*These are not in order of favorite, just in the order I thought of them.*

1- Agni Kai ("Avatar the Last Airbender") This one is just a literal masterpiece. The visuals, the action, the music, the lack of dialogue, the show of character in their fighting... Literally mesmerizing.

2- Eri smiling ("My Hero Academia") She is the sweetest little girl and watching her smile as the darkness washes away from her after everything she was put through...it makes me cry.

3- Nadiya winning "The Great British Baking Show" I love Nadiya, and it was such an emotional moment to see her talk about how she would never doubt herself again, you could see how hard she was on herself and how much she didn't believe she could do something like this - and it was just so encouraging to see all her hard work pay off.

4- Kars for Kids ("The Good Place") We had to pause the episode to let me finish laughing because this caught me so off guard. Especially because it feels like an inside joke, almost. Like either you don't know what they're talking about with that song, or you are like YES THAT IS THE THEME SONG OF HELL.

5- I Want it That Way ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") It's just brilliant. It's so funny, and no matter how many times I watch it, it always makes me laugh.

6- Rooftop scene between Daredevil and Punisher ("Daredevil") This scene always stood out to me because it didn't resolve with either character caving into the other's beliefs. I was so used to scenes always having a resolution, so this one was captivating because it was some of the best and most realistic dialogue I remember watching at the time.

7- Poison ("Hazbin Hotel") All I will say is that this was so hard to watch, and that was the point. Whoever worked on this did such an amazing job in conveying the situation from a place of understanding and not just for shock value.

8- Bad Wolf Rose ("Doctor Who") This moment always stuck with me because it showed what humans were capable of. And the fact that all her lines were spoken in a very soft, gentle tone made it all the more powerful.

9- Dracarys ("Game of Thrones") This moment I liked because it was just sheer comeuppance and satisfaction. I also was working retail at the time, and this had such "I AM the manager" vibes lol.

10- Riza Hawkeye shooting ("Full Metal Alchemist") She's such a good character, and she was usually so stoic and in control of any situation - until she thought the man she (at least in my mind) loved was dead, and she just absolutely lost it.

There are some shows/movies where I liked too many moments that it's safer to say I just like the thing as a whole, and no one moment stuck out too much. And I left books off the list so I could add a gif/video to this post.

I know that the minute I post this, I will think of many more moments, but I'm trying not to overthink this or I'll be here forever lol

I generally like moments of big emotion. Or at least moments that make me feel things - good or bad.

Thanks for this question! It was fun to think about. :)

[m1ssunderstanding]

Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day Eight

So Ringo walks in first thing in the morning carrying not one, but two drinks. Either he’s being very gentlemanly to MLH (likely) or we’re getting a peek at his alcohol problem (also likely)

Ringo your boooots! Ugh, I want them so bad. And paired with the shiny red shirt and jeans? Like if Dorothy was rodeo royalty.

Paul’s defense-mechanism overdone charm coming in strong today. Playfighting with some random old man, winking at someone else as he walks by, all chipper and bouncy, boyish and cute.

“If it came to a push . . . between Yoko and the Beatles, it’s Yoko, you know . . . ‘Why do you build me up, build me up, buttercup baby, just to let me down?” Linda grabs his hand and he shuts up. Another on my list of covers with *meaning* and if this one isn’t obvious, I don’t know what is. Even Linda was embarrassed for him. But here’s the thing. He’s so sure that if he pushed John to choose between Yoko and the band, that John’d choose Yoko. And he’s probably right there. But what John wants, IMO, whether he knows it or not, is for Paul to push him to choose between Yoko and HIM. Not the band. I really do think that’s what John wants and the fact that Paul’s not doing that confirms John’s belief that Paul doesn’t love him.

“Permanently engaged?” *literally starts to vibrate with anxiety* *whistles to self-soothe*

Okay, but, if I’m remembering correctly, actually in the nagras Paul’s answer to MLH’s “Do you think if you put any pressure on him that he’d go your way a bit more?” is actually “I don’t know, you know . . . can’t be bothered.” Not. “I don’t know, you know . . . and then there were two.” As AKOM said in one of their Get Back episodes, that line is actually a joke not even from that moment. So the tears? Real. The line? No.

Ringo is Not a fan of Paul just casually planning ways to announce the breakup.

Couldn’t even get a picture of Paul jumping out of his chair to talk to John because he moves so fast. Poor baby.

I wonder how early on Linda and Paul developed the “she says what he can’t say while he’s gone” play? You know? I definitely don’t think this early, but this moment does remind me of that little strategy of theirs.

“He’s coming in.” Just now takes his coat off. Meaning he's just now decided to stay? Or he's just now remembered he's still got it on? Either way, Paul's suddenly all easy smiles, relaxed, joking. John’s coming in. What could be wrong?

I was literally so pissed when I first watched this lunchroom conversation. I won’t claim to be a nagras expert or anything, but I was very familiar with the secretly-taped conversation, and it was just so butchered and spliced. Also, even if it was just them talking, it’s still not a private conversation. They’re in a crowded public space. So it’s still coded and veiled and layered etc. MLH you should’ve bugged their coats for the meeting at George’s if you’d wanted a private convo. (obvs I don’t condone that sort of thing don’t come at me)

Paul and John invite Ringo to go see George. Ringo: I was going anyway. Of course you were. Ringo’s the glue, everyone. Lewisohn can think it’s John that everyone had their closest relationship with in the group, but actually, it’s Ringo.

Ringo and Mal’s little two-step. Adorable!

See, and Ringo being the one to suggest they rehearse. It’s not just Paul being bossy all the time, kids, and it’s not just John being a leader all the time, kids. Sometimes it’s Ringo.

“Why don’t I leave my favorite guitar here as a sign?” “Look, look, what greater faith could a man have than to leave his list?” You know, like when that mean teacher makes you give them a shoe or your phone or something when they let you borrow a pencil just to make sure you won’t steal it?

[worstqueerbaittournament]

Submission message: howdy, would like to submit keith and lance from voltron (lmao)

Submission message: BBC Sherlock and Moriarty / BBC Sherlock and John Watson

Additional propaganda: Now Keith and Lance on the other hand was a whole fucking mess that they then shoehorned in an hetero romance to try and "fix it" but by lord it was bad, everything about voltron is so fucking bad

Anyway this is my Klance propaganda : They were actually bait

Klance's queer baiting by the team was the worst!! We had to deal with NETFLIX ALSO GETTING IN ON THE QUEER BAITING!! If you searched up Kkance during the times for season 6-8, the SHOW WOULD POP UP. The directors would make jokes about it being canon, even Lance's VA got in the joke!

Their queer baiting was the worst for anyone who was even looking for an ounce of queer rep in that show. The only queer rep we got was a man who died after not even 5 minutes on screen, and shoehorned in the credit scene of a gay wedding of a character that was neither Keith nor Lance.

I do not know Agatha and Sophie, so I can't argue that klance was bigger bait or not, I just know voltron was mean lmao. the creators said stuff like "lance will be someone's first choice!" (meaning NOT ending up in a relationship with allura bc she very much chose another guy over him) and heavily implying he would be Keith's 1st choice (or a guy in general bc of point number 2). point number 2: they also released official art showing how super cool and diverse the main cast was! race! gender! LGBT - they had shiro (who was......canon gay but that's a whole other can of worms) and lance hold the sign with LGBT on it and then did absolutely nothing with that w lance at all (he hit on allura, so obvi he's not gay, but at least bi or smt) (UNLESS you count the scenes where he's flirty with keith). I just remember going into the last few seasons being like "klance probably won't be happen be honest with yourself there's like no queer kids shows!! but damn like it so could tho!!! because of how much it's been teased both in the show and by showrunners like I can't have no hope with the way the producers talk about it!" lmao I should have had no hope, but i genuinkey believed there was a possibility it could happen. and actually I discovered after the fact that i think one of the writers for the show who was the main advocate for klance (they had a lot of diff writers for eps, which led to lots of character butchering but ANYWAY) left not terribly long into the show I believe bc he didn't like the direction it was moving in and didn't want to be tied to the show anymore. so it's not like fans just made klance up either - it was written into earlier episodes with the hope and plan to continue developing later, and then just nothing ever happened with it besides INTENSE teasing it to keep queer fans around. esp after shiro's relationship was literally only a flashback and then his fiance thing or whatever got blown up before we even got to watch him interact w shiro as we knew him in present time in s7, so I think they kept being like hmmm klance and the stuff about lance being a first choice before s8 to keep ppl around. also esp bc klancers made up such a big portion of the fan base. then they made a horrible szn and ended it w a flashforward to shiro marrying some random background character who maybe had 1 line? I just remember hitting the flashforward and being like uhhhh who is this dude??? but they did that to hit those diversity points wow first gay marriage in a cartoon or smt idk it doesn't count to me really. so anyway voltron in general is queerbait lol but klance is because it started out as a legit possibility and then they said sike! but only maybe sike bc u guys are mad at us burying our guys in s7 so maybe klance could still happen haha okay now we're serious no it's not happening. anyway I think klance is p bad queerbait and a vote for them is a valid vote, not just u liking the ship.

#im sorry but johnlock is a household name in ther queerbait trenches

I don't know much about blaze runner, but this website made me endure Johnlock FOR YEARS, that ship makes me so fucking angry, and it's so much bait, the whole fucking show is just 4 kinds of bait in a trenchcoat trying to pass as something good, and Tumblr(and the rest of the goddamn world) ate it up like a five course meal. So anyway that's why I'm voting Johnlock

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s6 episode 4 thoughts

hello all. today is a bit of a gloomy day where i live. i have no desire to go forth and watch an episode, but we must push through and do things we love rather than give into despair. am i right?!?!

so, last episode was quite fun. mulder loves scully. did you know that? i knew it, but hearing it out loud made things even better. 

it seems that today we will be dealing with some sort of body swapping problem. which is deeply unfortunate. no idea how such a thing occurs or how one goes about reversing it.

post-episode thoughts: this was literally 45 minutes of mulder atoning for his crimes of being a moody man. he went through so much that i actually forgive him for his previous actions. he has served his time. poor man. sopping wet meow meow.

but also, poor scully!! it's a good thing i'm not her, because i would have whipped my sig out right in the middle of the office and brought the adventures of mulder and scully to an abrupt end after a Certain Moment. DAMN. no one was winning in this episode! poor sweet scully... truly she has suffered so much.

we begin today in nevada. with my friends the FBI agents!! 

“outpost 134. two miles to go” “i’m alllllll atingle” <- LMAOOOO, oh scully. she does not give a damn about area 51; meanwhile, he's going on a sacred pilgrimage, and the excitement is visible on his face

he’s convinced that this dude who gave them some vague information is not a liar and that this time they will REALLY get the proof- but scully just wants a break!! i can't blame her. how many times now has he been convinced that "proof" is right around the corner?

scully monologue! “mulder, it’s the dim hope of finding that proof that’s kept us in this car, or one very much like it, for more nights than i care to remember. driving hundreds, if not thousands of miles, through neighborhoods and cities and towns where people are raising families and buying homes and playing with their kids and their dogs, and… in short, living their lives. while we… we, we just keep driving”

OH MY GOD, we are barely a minute into this episode and i’m already going to cry. she sounds so sad!!! she wants a life!! or at least thinks she wants it, because tbh i find it very hard to picture her “settling down” and putting aside all the Kicking of Ass and Saving of Lives- but damn it, she wants a house and a dog, and maybe when mulder works out whatever it is he is experiencing, they can obtain a baby.

but then again, he’ll always have something he’s chasing in terms of aliens and bigfoot and x files… so maybe that wouldn’t be for the best. babies are a lot of work. however, he seems to really want one, and has talked about "settling down" before. or does he just like the IDEA of a family because he is chasing bringing his own back?

but again, i also think that there would be something that scully is always chasing! some new medical mystery will need tending to, or scientific phenomena will need to be explained. does "settling down" imply giving those things- the late night drives and quests for proof- up? what is the alternative?

this poses some serious philosophical questions about our lead characters that i lack enough life experience to answer.

how are you supposed to get the kids home from elementary school if you're tracking down a governmental conspiracy and half of DC wants you dead? the vetting process for godparents must be INTENSE.

also, love her use of the word "we" about the continued driving in favor of "living their lives". it implies that whether they keep chasing aliens or give it up and get a more normal job to get a house and a dog, either way it will be done together. which is especially fascinating because they haven't even kissed.

oh god. please display some sensitivity to this rare scully display of emotions, mulder.

while she asks if he ever wants to settle down and have a normal life (to which he replies “this IS a normal life”), four cars surround them and keep them from going any further. which has never happened to me, personally, and i claim to live a pretty normal life. so we have different definitions as to what that means.

they are ordered out of the car, and a guy smoking a cigarette approaches them (later revealed to be named morris, but it gets far more confusing as the episode progresses). which is visual shorthand for a bad guy in this show.

morris says they have to leave, but then something that looks like a UFO approaches!!

OHHHH... mulder’s grabbing her arm as it flies closer……. god. he is investigating. but he also needs to make sure she sees this. because so often she does not see these things.

but then scully walks away with the other guy, morris?? calling him mulder??

oh man. oh BROTHER. so does mulder see himself through the eyes of this other dude?? a real-deal body swap? what a headache!!

(intro time)

we have yet to have a full-length intro this season! it's throwing me off of my rhythm!

these soldiers are waiting to take orders from mulder, who is in the body of morris, and he is utterly gagged, because he just watched scully leave with a stranger!! oh, if i were him, i would be losing my MIND! who is this man driving away with scully?!?!

so mulder is in the body of a guy named morris, who is part of some top secret area 51 project. the other men in the car with him are asking why he let the FBI agents go, but some other guy says they’ll have the FBI handle their own people. right, that's surely what morris meant! absolutely! definitely! (/s)

oooo, this is both an immense opportunity and terrible situation for mulder to be in. because he can learn all the secret area 51 stuff in this body, but he also isn’t himself, and who knows wtf this other guy is gonna try with scully!! personally, i would be too focused on getting back into my own damn body to go on any alien sidequests! but who knows what he will do; mulder has interesting priorities...

there are all sorts of mysterious aircraft in area 51!!

omg!!! we, the audience, see him as mulder, but when he looks in a security camera, he appears to have the face of this morris guy!!

he unfortunately does not know where to go, but thankfully morris’ door has a name tag on it. and it’s filled with photos of him doing his job with people like ronald reagan. 

but he just looks at them and mumbles “scully” <- OHHHHH :( not even getting all of the answers to his biggest questions will keep him from thinking about her

(also... the way he thinks of her when he sees the photos of morris with his wife and kids on the wall... someone hold me. i'll faint)

how will he convince her of this predicament?!

meanwhile, the real morris (in the body of mulder) is driving scully, who wants to know if he is okay!! he hasn’t said a word since they got caught, and he just tells her the gas cap is on her side, which throws her off. ohhh…. i feel so BAD! she wanted to check in on him!! and she thinks mulder is just blowing her off!!! :(((

morris-as-mulder is cranking up the music in their car, which we know to be unlike the real mulder. while real mulder-as-morris tries to call her, but he gets interrupted!!!

morris-as-mulder asks for a pack of cigarettes, and she’s asking “since when do you smoke?”- he is MEAN to her about that (AND he called her dana, which is so evil!!!!)

oh, she knows something is afoot… even if he has been acting weird lately, this is TOO weird for him. picking up smoking?!?! nuh-uh.

(i love that post that says they get to call each other by their first time approximately once each calendar year because it is so true. c'mon scully, you HAVE to notice that this is unusual, even for him, the guy who is famously very unusual!!)

some other guy is trying to explain to mulder-as-morris that there is an info leak in their department, but since he’s actually mulder, he has no idea wtf to say. when mercifully, his phone rings. 

OH NO!! it’s morris’ wife!!! and she wants him home!!! and also, he must bring the milk!!!

oh god. this is going to be so weird. 

he’s being dropped off at morris’ house (sans milk, i do believe) and i am immensely uncomfy at the idea of what will happen next.

he tries to call scully on the house phone, but the operator asks him if he wants an outside line and he says no. which maybe means he cannot call DC? idk. GAAAH!! how will he reach her?!

oh gosh, mulder-as-morris must get in bed with his “wife”. i am uncomfy!!!

NOPE, he shuts the door!!! LMAO!!! he did not sign up for that shit. i respect that immensely.

is he going to fall asleep to some porn? sleeping on the couch instead of with his "wife" in bed?!?! this dude is going to fuck up morris’ marriage, LMAO.

(what an odd guy. never heard of people falling asleep to porn before... i've heard of people putting on regular TV shows or football games just for the white noise, but moaning? very strange)

somewhere else, a bunch of fires are being put out. there was a crash of the secret area 51 aircraft!! this guy, the pilot, is inside a rock??? and the other pilot is speaking a foreign language!

so maybe they got switched around, too. although idk how to explain the rock situation.

back in washington, scully is waiting for morris-as-mulder at some sort of meeting with kersh. and he is late!! and says he got lost!!! scully is not pleased at these words!!! she knows something is up...

oh no… kersh has been told to reprimand them… and morris-as-mulder is yapping about the whole thing being a big mistake. scully, meanwhile is like, what the actual FUCK is going on?! morris-as-mulder promises that he will never EVER disobey kersh again. which is horrible, because i imagine that mulder will, in fact, do that again.

scully is MAD, LMAO: “what was that about? ‘i’d give you his name if i had it?’ whatever happened to protecting our contacts? protecting our work?” <- she has had ENOUGH!! she said there NEEDS TO BE SOME INTEGRITY IN THESE OPERATIONS!!! and i love that about her!! that fundamental Need to do the Morally Correct Thing!

but he’s going back into the office to FLIRT WITH THE SECRETARY?? oh, if i were her i would be so MAD! and she is!!! “what is going ON with you?”

OH MY GOD, HE SLAPPED HER ASS???????????? asking if she was JEALOUS????

my JAW………… it is on the FLOOR….

we need to kill this morris guy. but we also need to make sure scully knows that was NOT mulder. he would NEVER!!!!! oh god, can mulder just sneak out to a payphone and call her…?

(this moment made me immensely uncomfy!!! it seemed like it was supposed to be some sort of joke, and i didn't find it funny! i would have supported scully throwing hands!! does the FBI have a good HR department? bleugh! it made me feel sick! the horrible idea of someone you have lived with and loved, no matter how you define that "love", for years, suddenly treating you like meat... i'd cry!!)

OH NOOO!! poor mulder-as-morris, who fell asleep watching porn on the couch, is slapped awake my morris’ wife, and he goes “scully?” <- AWW, POOR GUY :( he thought she came to save him :(

his not-really-his-wife is FURIOUS with him!! asking what the kids would think if they saw him up to such behavior!!!

and then one of those kids comes downstairs, he calls her by the wrong name, and she starts SOBBING LMAOOOOOO oh man. oh man. this is a nightmare. he just wants to know where his keys are. 

oh gosh, i’m laughing, but also cringing with secondhand embarrassment as he is asked about the daughter’s nose… WHAT about her nose?!?! 

“um… i think… i think she’s a little young for plastic surgery, don’t you think?” (she starts sobbing) “oh, for god’s sake, morris- a nose ring! she said she wants a nose ring!” 

BAHAHAAAA, OH MY GOD… poor mulder… he is paying for his crimes!! he is literally atoning… this teenage girl is saying she hates him and she wishes he were dead!!

well. having glimpsed life with teenage children, i have a feeling he is going to be put off by the idea of settling down and having a life as scully earlier proposed. and can you blame the guy?

(he also is such a dumbass, though. like, he could have just said "yeah" or "i need more time to think about it" to get out of answering whatever the nose question was. he went to the worst possible answer. smh!!!)

his wife asks if he wants a divorce, and he’s like NO NO NO, i don’t want to do all that! at least he is trying to think of morris and the family while stuck in some other guy's body!! but frankly, i'm sure his wife could do better than morris, so maybe if he did call the whole thing off, he'd be doing her a favor.

then she points out he’s in the same suit from yesterday. and getting changed finally allows him to see himself as morris. filming that mirror scene had to be hard. and now he’s DANCING around??? when the wife walks in!!! oh no!!!!!!!

he’s such a loser BAHAHAHA

but fun time is over, because someone from work is calling to let him know he has to get here NOW. 

the guy from the aircraft crash before who was talking in a different language- captain mcdonough- is mumbling prayers in hopi! but the dude whose body he is in has no known foreign language skills. he claims to be mrs. chee, a 75-year-old hopi woman!! meanwhile, mrs. chee is in the next room, behaving exactly as captain mcdonough!

oh lord…

at the FBI, morris is playing golf video games, and frankly, if i were scully, i would have shot him already. but her phone rings, and hopefully it’s really mulder, and he can explain what is going on. 

it is!! but she doesn’t believe him, or even remember the UFO incident. she has morris-as-mulder jump on the line, but real mulder picks up that it isn’t secure, and hangs up. 

this is the part where i would be making “mulder” answer incredibly specific questions about my life before proceeding. 

oh god, morris-as-mulder makes another awful misogynistic comment. things seem to be clicking for her… 

real mulder is buying some sunflower seeds. and i am happy for him for finding joy in such circumstances. but as he drives away from the gas station, some sort of earthquake thing begins!!!

more men in white jeeps are arriving, saying he has to come with them. execute that flawless k turn, mulder. 

what is going on!! he runs back to the gas station to try and find the attendant whom he just purchased the seeds from.

oh my GOD??? the man is severely injured, and when mulder-as-morris advocates for taking him to the doctor, the other henchman just takes his gun out and shoots and kills him. bro. these people are CRAZY. holy hell.

so what is causing this body swapping slash earthquake phenomena????

they light the gas station on fire and leave. damn.

NO!!! scully goes to mulder’s place, where she finds morris-as-mulder KISSING kersh’s secretary!!! oh, she looks BEYOND furious. you can tell from the way he is putting back on his clothes that they just hooked up, which raises all sorts of ethical questions on the ability to consent when body swapped.

“mulder, YOU, are out of YOUR mind!! WHAT IS UP WITH YOU?” <- YELL AT HIM!!! oh my god, i PRAY that she can come to believe he really did get body swapped, because!!! i would not forgive him for this shit!!!!

“this is your LIFE’S WORK!!! your crusade!!!” “as i understand it, we’re off the x files” <- ohhh, and she SLAMS THE DOOR AND WALKS AWAY!!!!!! morris calls her a bitch!!!

we need to draw and quarter this man, and i’m not joking. 

back in nevada, some lizard has had its head turned into a rock??? like the pilot who was also rocked before???

the area 51 guys say that there has been a tear in the space-time continuum from the space craft malfunctioning. poor lizard…. now his head and the rock can exist in the same space.

oh god, mulder-as-morris wants to know how to reverse it, but the other dude doesn’t even think it’s possible. PLEASE FIND A WAY. i cannot watch either of our agents suffer any longer.

scully has driven down to nevada by herself!!! and that is a hell of a drive!!! featuring her big ass flashlight!!! she is investigating the gas station where earlier the mystery nevada men lit everything on fire

oh GOD, mulder is again going through the motions of being yelled at about morris’ marriage. “it’s just that you don’t want to ever make love to me ever again, that’s all. that, and you mumble something about scully in your sleep” <- OH MY GOD???? oh lord, i don't want to see all this...

he deflects the accusations of cheating by asking DOES SCULLY SOUND LIKE A WOMAN’S NAME, LMAOOOOO

he is acting his ass off here, saying he doesn’t know who he even is anymore. and he apparently sells it, because she thinks he just needs viagra. OH MY GOD. CRINGE. stooooop, he is going to need 8 million years to recover from this.

LMAOOOOO NOOOO, THEY HAVE THEIR HEARTFELT MOMENT AND THEN SCULLY SHOWS UP AT THE DOOR LOOKING FOR MORRIS FLETCHER........ LMAOOOOOOOO STOP. oh my god. i'm gonna claw my face off.

ohhhh, he’s trying to hard to explain everything to her, but she is wondering why some dude named morris fletcher wanted to meet with her??? he must convince her!!!

“all right, your full name is dana katherine scully. your badge number is… hell, i don’t know your badge number. your mother’s name is margaret, your brother’s name is bill jr, he’s in the navy and he HATES me. lately, for lunch, you’ve been having, like, this little six-ounce cup of yogurt, plain yogurt, into which you stir some bee pollen, because you’re on some kind of bee pollen kick, even though i tell you you’re a scientist and you should know better”

AWWWWWWW, STOOOOP :( 

he notices so many stupid little things…. and he knows bill hates him…. and why has she been into pollen lately now that she knows some pollen has an alien virus in it...?? i have so many questions!!

she still doesn’t believe him, though!!! and she drives away!!! while his "wife" is calling him a cheater and tossing all of his stuff out of the house!!!

ARGH, scully!!! i want her to BELIEVE him!!

maybe he should have gone more esoteric with his confessions. that post about them needing some secret word to truly identify each other gets more and more true the deeper i get into this series.

it would have made things very awkward, but i would have said "last week you saved me from drowning in the bermuda triangle, and when i was in my hospital bed, i confessed my love to you, and you probably thought i was high, but i meant it. i meant it. and you were the only one in the room so HOW COULD I HAVE FOUND THIS INFORMATION OUT? PLEASE, scully, it's ME!"

"remember that time 5 years ago we were hunting the liver eating lizard man and you got me a liver sandwich? that was so funny!" etc etc.

it is safe to say i would not handle being placed in this situation well. he says he can find evidence and prove to her that the body swapping really did happen. i am glad he has not given up hope.

but morris-as-mulder followed scully down to nevada??? and he calls the guy who morris works with, saying that he knows who leaked the information??? oh my GOD!! he's going to frame mulder so he can keep staying in his body!!

so mulder-as-morris is in area 51, shuffling through classified documents, trying to find the scientific evidence to prove to scully that such a time warp could take place by stealing a bunch of evidence and attempting to dip. which i imagine will not go well, because someone is watching him!!! 

NO! kersh calls her!!! he says she better follow his instructions to the letter or don’t bother coming back to DC at all!!!

i really despise this kersh fellow.

NOOOOO!!!! she is forced to organize a sting operation when she meets up with mulder-as-morris!!! and he gets taken away as he tries to bring her the proof!!!! he’s screaming that he wouldn’t do this, and that it isn’t him!!! 

ohhhh :( this makes me sad!!!

to be continued...

this was another somewhat silly one with the agents being thrust into such a ridiculous situation, but i am sad for each of our characters!!! scully was literally assaulted and her bestie turned into a horrible person overnight, and mulder is trapped in another person’s body!! and no one believes him!! ohhh :(

there are definitely some elements of this episode that have... aged poorly. misogyny, man. it is a hell of a drug, and very rarely a funny punchline, one that i am not finding funny on today of all days. whew, boy. i don't enjoy seeing scully subjected to such things.

i'm also a staunch scully defender, but this time i was like, oh my gosh queen, please just believe. just this once! it's okay! i won't even snitch that you are betraying your tidy worldview!

i do think by the end she was believing him based on the way she apologized and how furious she was with morris-as-mulder; i mean, i can never, EVER imagine mulder slapping her ass or not caring about the x files. like. c'mon. that's mr. spooky. he will never abandon the grind or his life's work.

i think this episode was pretty okay, but yuck, morris-as-mulder calling scully a bitch, hooking up with that random lady, slapping her ass, disrespecting her... you'll forgive me if i say "ew". yes, i get it, that was the point; real mulder wouldn't do those things! but that doesn't mean i have to enjoy the idea of scully thinking he would or experiencing them as if it really was him doing so. we have enough of that in real life to the point where i want to see it addressed in a serious manner rather than a cheap joke, or just not at all.

(gestures vaguely to the current state of things to make my point)

yeah, i know. the 90's. things have changed. i know!! but you're getting the show through new eyes, and this is how i see it.

maybe in time this episode will grow on me, because it did have very funny elements, but it is hard to say.

also, looking back, i am laughing at how intensely i analyzed that opening scene, only for them to be IMMEDIATELY separated. many such cases.

so. where do we go from here?!? i guess we shall have to tune into part 2!

[madamegemknight]

How about MOTU hot takes? From any iteration (the 80s cartoon, the comics, the cgi reboot, the other serious reboot)

rubs my hands together maniacally. boy oh boy crispy you are ENABLING me here we go >:3

The 1987 movie really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It's not great, don't get me wrong, but the people who made it were clearly passionate about what they were doing and it's a fun (if somewhat aggravating at points) ride. Dolph Lundgren is a good He-Man who understands that the character is just as much about his heart as he is his muscles, the way it and the Power Tour serve as sister experiences to each other with their incorporation of music and Earth storylines is fascinating to examine, and while Julie's subplot about her dead parents is utterly pointless, I think Kevin and Julie are two genuinely likable characters who deserve a second chance in the grander scheme of things.

The Greatest Show on Eternia is the worst episode of the Filmation series and should have never been made, but the way Masters of The Multiverse chose to "address" it was immature, childish, and nearly tipped the comic into edgelord territory for me. If something is bad, you should take the time to figure out what went wrong, then try and fix it - you shouldn't murder the only tolerable character in that episode and then have an aside about how the Eternian Circus is being thrown into chaos because of that murder that does nothing to progress the overall plot!!! wadda heck!!!!

CGI!Krass did literally nothing wrong. She was a deeply traumatized kid who was absolutely correct regarding pretty much everything (especially wanting to guard the Tiger Tribe instead of running off and ignoring it forever like Adam did, considering the later reveal that the Dark Masters kidnapped Justine), and the fact that the show is more willing to blame her flawed behavior on "evil rock that makes you evil in her helmet" than acknowledge she watched her parents die and literally cannot be in enclosed spaces without Adam as a result is legitimately disgusting. CGI tries so hard to have their cake and eat it too that they end up portraying Krass as in the wrong for wanting things to stay the same with Adam while ALSO establishing in one of the tie-in books that if she'd never met Adam she would have never even partially recovered from her trauma.

Speaking of which, considering that this IS apparently a hot take outside of my own little circle of incredibly cool and correct mutuals: CGI Season 3 is bad. It is so bad it makes the flaws of the previous two seasons, which I could mostly ignore up until that point, painfully obvious. It is genuinely upsetting to me that a series where the SOLE SURVIVOR OF A GENOCIDE BRAINWASHED INTO BELIEVING THE PROPAGANDA HE WAS FED ABOUT THE COLONIZATION OF HIS PEOPLE is made into a villain will be some kid's introduction to MOTU, ESPECIALLY considering how tolerant and accepting the Filmation series was.

Orko is a good character and plays a vital role in the franchise overall! Wow yeah it's weird to remember how that used to be a hot take in any non-tumblr MOTU fan community until like...2021. Crazy that huh.

Maybe not a hot take per se, but I don't personally think that Trollans have that different of a lifespan/age rage from Eternians. As far as I'm aware, the only implication of that being true is from the UK comics, and even there it's said that "it has been suggested" that Orko is over 500, not that he is - and this is also the same comic that said that nobody knows what Trolla is like, something that is patently not true, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that maybe the UK comics have some slightly incorrect information and possibly shouldn't be blindly trusted when determining major factors about a character! There are several times in the Filmation series that he either flirts with or shows a very clear attraction to adult Eternians (something that would be Weird if he was aging at a different rate than an Eternian), and while he does call Adam "kid" when they first meet, that's just how Orko talks - he says "atta boy" unironically for crying out loud. I have always envisioned Orko being around the same age as Adam, if a little bit younger, and while Trollans probably do age at a different rate on account of being a different species, it's probably not to that extreme of a difference otherwise it would have been mentioned elsewhere.

Netflix She-Ra is not special for having Adora start out as a brainwashed soldier who has a crisis over realizing she's been fed imperialist/fascist propaganda her entire life. That is literally the plot of The Secret of The Sword, which was released in 1985. I love Netflix She-Ra dearly and always will, as without it I would have never become a fan of MOTU in the first place, but head in my hands if someone calls it bold and innovative for doing things that the OG series did back in the 80s one more time, I am gonna wind up on the evening news 🙃

[blorbologist]

Yawns, g'morning.

I'm thinking about Vaxleth and episode 51, as. Most of us are, really. Holy shit.

And I think Vax's divine nature played a role in how Ludinus was able to set and bait this trap. I don't think we'd have gotten this outcome if Vax was still a mortal Champion, like his sister. Furthermore, Keyleth’s position as Voice of the Tempest was also critical here.

Let me explain: let's say some other half of a ship could have fulfilled this orb critera. If we pretend that any Champion could do (I think they needed the divine aspect of Vax's unlife but play along here), why not bait the trap for Vex, or Pike, or Scanlan, or Yasha?

Beyond the 'Vax is practically an angel now and has orb properties' angle, I think part of it is the sheer... everything that is mortal. If Percy was captured Vex would have any number of solutions - send Trinket in, attack at range, Rogue it up, or do the sensible thing and bring in friends. The living are variable, you can't count on them to behave as you need.

Ludinus loathes gods and their servants: of course he'd expect them to be predictable - and he'd be right! Vax is not all Vax anymore (see Dalen's Closet and Tal’Dorei Reborn), he's a deathless shepherd and servant of the Raven Queen. Why would he think this through? He has no life to lose, only Keyleth’s to save. You don’t need to consider how to use a shield, you just do. People shape their plans around the steady expectations of gods, their almost immutable domains, and Vax is divine enough for that to apply to him. They'd know he would behave exactly as he did. It could be argued living!Vax would as well, and there are several songs and historical records about him, so worst came to worst Ludinus could hope that this is maintained. But that's an uncertainty, and not fitting for a centuries-long plan.

And now the second part: it had to be Keyleth. They couldn't have used Vex to draw him out, I don’t think, as much as it pains me. Either the story of Dalen's Closet was limited to the guests and any lil kids who heard the Ballad of Derrig or it proves the Champion cannot willingly approach his sister. It took a Wish for that.

Vex has had five kids, spent thirty years protecting Whitestone, and has her fingers in the financial goings on of all Tal’Dorei. By no means does she have a small impact on the world: her smallest taxation decisions could mean poverty or wealth for thousands! But many of her biggest impacts on the future, on destiny, have already come to pass. Her adventures in Vox Machina, the children she bore, the decades of decisions she's already made (I doubt she'd be on the council for even a few years without changing much of her sphere to her liking.)

Keyleth is the Voice of the Tempest. She will, hopefully, live almost two thousand years. Imagine all the lives she will impact in that time! Directly! The Matron must be so familiar with her strand of fate because it touches so many, many others!

Even if Vax, somehow, did not remember her. Even if he was a shell of himself. This is someone the Matron cannot let die before her time (hopefully a thousand plus years from now). This is one person she would have to bend the rules for and see saved, and there's just the man for the job. She would not allow intervention for Vex, or Percy, or those nieces and nephews Vax surely watches. Not Velora, not Scanlan, not Gilmore. Keyleth, with centuries of work to do in this world, with generations to guide, is too valuable.

What I'm saying is... literally no other ship could have pulled this off. None. This was built for Vaxleth, from its very bones. You could have, say, an AU where Vex is the Champion of Ravens (wink), and this would not be certain enough for Ludinus to bank on it. Very likely, but not assured (the Matron could refuse to intervene, or they could intervene in a less 'take me instead you lil red-storm shit' way, etc.).

Evil plans bank on the inevitable. Gravity, greed, time. Their love is inevitable, a law of nature.

It could not have been anyone else

[bisexualnatalies]

i know this has been said probably 1000 times in 1000 different ways and im just screaming into the echo chamber repeating everyone else's takes here but . the girls are literally just kids when that plane goes down. suddenly they go from worrying about competing at the highest level of high school sport to worrying about how and what and when they're gonna eat. and it really is that fast. they've been out there for three days and they're already rationing food and water. and you think obviously, of course they are, they're smart, they want to survive it's common sense. yeah it is but ........ they thought they were going to nationals. you see nat and travis stuffing paper into their clothes so they don't freeze to death being out from before dawn to dusk looking for food and you think oh. right. because this was supposed to be nationals. this was supposed to be a trip where they'd either win or lose, maybe do some sightseeing for a couple of days, and then head back to their lives. that's it. you see shauna taking one of their rare spare blankets because "lottie's cold" and you remember oh .... right. because that's her friend. because they were teammates, because despite all the violence and trauma and horror they've all endured, despite the fact shauna beat lottie bloody and lottie let her, they're still teenagers. they're still friends. they can still see the people they used to be in each other even if they can't see it in themselves. because lottie's cold is what you'd do for a friend, a teammate, someone who won't or can't help themselves and who you love and care about. because this was supposed to be nationals.

you see van say i thought maybe i survived because i had a reason to but i'm not seeing it. because she's lost track of the amount of times something should've killed her and didn't. because she's not a god, she's not even indispensable to the rest of them, she's just a teenager. and teenagers are dying all around her, and one of her friends almost did giving birth to a baby that couldn't survive anyway, and one of her their friends actually did and they ate her. and you watch that and you think oh ........... right. because !!! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NATIONALS !!! NONE OF THIS WAS EVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN !!! this is also why i think putting the health class flash back right before one of the most traumatic incidents/episodes for the girls is such an impactful choice because it . REMINDS YOU of exactly where they came from. exactly who they used to be. it's good and it's funny and it gives amazing context but it's also the harshest reality check. these are kids - now watch them scramble and sacrifice and pray. because what else are they supposed to do? they're kids.