#i made this post off the cuff as i was watching his ep

[lillypad-monopoly]

@cloudwritesblockblorbos I-is this a fandom in-joke I'm not aware of and may I have the context please?

Grian saying he remembered Etho and Joel being soulmates because they lived in "the Friendship" is insane levels of straightwashing. It was the RELATIONship. They were IN LOVE.

[castle-dominion]

castle 7x6 time of our lives

the it's a wonderful life episode liveblog

holy crap I haven't watched a castle in like two weeks bc my days off from work are spent at school... at least i finished writing that fic. Now I just need to edit & post. I was actually hoping to watch an ep tonight but lil bro skipped his evening activity so my bros & I watched Monk instead of me watching Castle & finally catching up. Well since I only have an hour until bed (it's fucking 7pm) I'll spend some of that liveblogging off the transcript. Not doing schoolwork, not exercising, not watching castle for real, not showering, not doing chores, actually I cooked supper today & am doing laundry but otherwise I'm not doing what needs to be dne I'm doing what I fucking WANT to.

Mathias Gensler. Wow briefcase cuff, typical. (I can't believe I'm in s7, that's so late! That's the last quarter!) My man is so tired

Nooo renzo! I totally thought he was in on it {there is a reason} & he just fLAILeD when he died! It was great!

Lol smash cut chopping veg. Pi vibes. haven't slept WELL, becks. He has slept, just crappy. Or is this the one abt nightmares? Martha! I feel like sometimes fasting can make you woozy not clear headed... Wait martha u can do it! & I realized this is the AU episode! Yessss! They mention Will Sorenson! We don't get to see him but he is mentioned & inviting becks to the wedding! She's kinda mad lol {I actually saw this episode & thought that all the fanfictions about captain beckett were referencing this episode, until I got to s8.} UwU I love it, KB: So we’re bad for each other, huh? RC: The worst. [They kiss] RC: It’s like It’s A Wonderful Life. Every time your phone rings a victim gets their wings. Too accurate

Swiss Wait who are the witnesses Ryan nice tie RC, in typical Castle way not the smart s1 castle way: So what was in the case? Nuclear launch codes? Deadly virus?

spoiler parenthesis {THE MANIFEST ONLY LISTS THE PICKUP} NOOOOO RENZO MY BELOVED, kr: Uh … there’s no one to call. (he points to the other body) The driver, Renzo Conrad, owned the service. He was a one man band. KB: Speaking of one man band, where’s your partner? KR: *mouth opens comically* RC: Yeah. (suggestively) And Lanie? They're adults, not horny teens! Adults prioritize being on time! XD romeo (wow I'm only this far in during my watch watch & now I need to effing go) (watch blog: wow it's my day off again & I need to go to school cook supper & go to a .. basically a band practice. a troupe meeting. life is awful we need a 4 hour work day & a four day work week as full time.) That look ryan gives esposito XD

... Castle? LP: Castle, what are you doing with my body? KB: Just pretend that you don’t know him. I love rocks & geology but even I'm not that good. Castle smart moments & early derrick storm <3 (mmm I love rocks. & coal. Reminds me of that city in canada where they have coal & dinosaurs) She humours him! To the coal plant!

oh noooo I'm so excited for this ep but so scared I'll talk too much. I'm so excited I'm so afraid. I will have thoughts. Marcus Lark(us) I've seen sstaacks like that on my bike ride home from school; my marker for where to turn. No wedding is a perfect day. & u should rly go visit him.

RC: You know I’d give anything to change what happened, right? This ep: *takes it too far, sort of like that shrek movie where rumplestiltskin is retconned into a different character* But also according to the later ret-con mess to figure it out, he kind of did have a choice, including the moment when he paid vinny the scar to crush the car. Castle did have a choice, & he made that choice.

Coal bucket. (she calls for backup castle)

Castle just fricking opens it? Wait she asks him to... lmao artifact? KB: Why do you always have to touch everything? RC: I thought you liked that about me! (not clipping)

Flashbang

Heeheehee & now it's where the wonderful life part begins!!! thing is gone love the dirt on his face

wait why would the case be gone in this scene? well ig caskett was there to interrupt them & they were at the coal plant Right Now to take the briefcase, & thats why they were present to start shooting at em... Good zoom there!

Insane insane insane (I wish ryan was wearing less fancy suits, make him look a little more like how he did in s1, make him look the way he did pre-jenny, or make him look the way he did by the end of s3 but no later bc that's when monty died & becks probably became captain idk) the lighting "Cap'm" But she WOULD recognize him from book jackets & stuff, & she HAS met him before, didn't they meet at a book signing? *pokes esposito* (could clip for my gifs) describing scene aaaHHHHH (the aah was written in my transcript blog but I was literally laughing & quietly screaming & doing the adhd stim with my hair right now bc of that scene & esposito's look & jahskdjfh) esposito fricking grabs him XD

The musical bweyeng when ryan says "tell us the story" In bed with Beckett *high five* XD XD (could clip putting his hand down ig) (also esposito totally slept with beckett at some point, yes even like seven years ago or more) this is a dream *me stimming* *steals the file* "Hey!" (won't clip bu tLove that face) JE: You had me worried there. For a second there I thought I didn’t exist. Esposito threatens to restrain him yet ryan is the one to manhandle him back down

RC: It was adorable KB:

FUN FACT DETECTIVE MCNULTY WAS THE NAME OF THE OTHER DETECTIVE IN THE PILOT, HE WAS THERE IN 1X1 BUT IN THE ORIGINAL PILOT THERE WAS NO RYAN & THERE WAS JUST MCNULTY.

Except u did meet at a book signing

Martha <3 I don't remember what I was thinking when I first watched this. But yeah martha <3. & ofc ryan is a fan. I love martha sm (& esposito pushing castle)

She bailed him out a little while ago, s1e1.

Ryan & martha together <3 MAME! Preggo lanie! (mad at esposito ig?) Sad esposito. I think when I first watched this I thought they were together. Music sounds like meet the medic. *ryan looks up & puts his hand over his mouth* *esposito facing his paper but watching lanie* also they are using beckett's desk I think. Castle says it can't be good but I think it IS good. To these ppl your universe is horror. Imagine a world where lanie isn't happily married & pregnant, she's still on-&-off with that detective. or imagine a world where martha is not acting anymore.

The loft! Oh babey! Mortgage! The painting behind castle's desk is not stairs it is giant martha. (imagine a world where martha hasn't decorated the apartment to look nicer & instead it's rick's boring or rich person crap /neg) Life savings mr rich man! Blondes & racehorses! Bad novel!

Alexis is hot af omg, she was hot before but dang. & moved to LA & she's saving the world & like... wow. (Imagine a world where Alexis isn't off saving the world she's some post-secondary student who doesn't know what she wants to do with life & still has her boring hair & lives with her daddy /neg) (but also wow she moved to LA in like s3)

RC: Whatever all of this is? A coma, a dream, some weird hallucination, or even just an undigested bit of pizza? (XD) I’m ending it. Ha now we have ryan beckett AND castle all stuck into ice water. We just need esposito to join the party. btw alexis has a hint of purple in her hair she is soooooo pretty

I kind of wish we could see what was going on with the detectives in our universe. I read a fic once where ryan & esposito went to tell martha her son was dead & then castle came out like "holy heck you guys I went to an au where I was friends with you two & alexis was still living at home as an adult & my mom wasn't a broadway star & lanie wasn't in a happy relationship starting a family"

Chelsea XD (brunette? can't tell) beckett o no. Lol blue pills in my purse young young woman

world wide web. Oh wow the thingamajig medallion. love the wallpaper btw

SWISS wow yay incan fucking give it back to the native owners then.

(Imagine a world where martha isn't boundlessly talented going out & doing broadway)

AC: Somehow? Implying smth happened This is why I live with mom? So which of her parents is crazier? Crazy meredith or rick? (imagine a world where alexis lives with crazy dad)

SEE SHE WAS A FAN! Thank you writers for remembering! Castle good lying rn. Good for him. & maybe he can help this world's castle write nikki heat books! RC: I eat with her, I sleep with her. But I know you are not her. ... Police scanner? (her face falls a bit) KR: Hey cap KR: *looks at caslte* KR: what's he doing here? KB: I'm not sure KR: RC: KR: KR: Ok Castle continuously interrupting ryan XD & then ryan opens his mouth & castle puts his hand on his shoulder & not clipping but this liveblog is so long I'm love. (& anout the lighting, it seems more... sepia? cool? less red? less blue? less vibrant? I can't tell but I love it & want an audio commentary of this with the person who did the ligting) *still somehow nodding with ryan lol*

Mind connection still! Ryan looking from one to the ohter (could gif but won't) (I ljust love the way he looks with his eyes & face incrementally) noooo renzo! *bites her lips a little bit, this rly reminds me of s1. She hates him but she is still a fan & attracted to him but he's soo annoying but he's also somehow helpful)

Wait they don't have the coffee machine!!! *I hear the single stomp of esposito entereing the room & it is so good yet so subtle*

Esposito <3 I feel like huertas really enjoyed playing "I hate castle this guy is so sus" esposito this ep. *takes his mug* No, say "I inferred it was coal & the most likely power plant was located here, it just made sense"

I should watch Psych. *holding his temple* Castle you could also say other stuff like I know you were in special forces, you lost your partner, (you slept with the captain,) you like jalapeǹos & olives on your pizza, (sry for the wrong n, I only have a french keyboard,) you used to watch chiquetitas growing up with your abuela... JE: Ryan has a big fat mouth. That’s how you know. Yeah he does struggle with commitment doesn't he. Remember s8 the sonia ruiz episode? yeah. (& btw I love his outfit) his facial expressions. "Yeah no we haven;t met" "why bring that up oof" "lol got u ryan tattled" "don't u come for my commitment issues" *doesn't give him back the coffee*

Ryan: *case* Ryan: *sees castle* ??? Ryan: Beckett: *it's cool*

RC: Uh, Captain? Would it be possible for me to ride along? Strictly for research purposes. (he wants the incan doohicky) JE: Is he kidding? RC: I would just love the chance to observe. Get some details for my book. KR: Yeah, sure, Cap. We’ll take him along. JE: What the … KR: Dude, it’s Martha Rodger’s son. He can get us house seats. (to rc) You can get us house seats, right? (WAIT US? does esposito want to see martha rodgers? does he want to see martha rodgers With Ryan?) (imagine a world where rysposito isn't canon) RC: Ab … solutely. Calls him house seats XD He doesn't have his writer vest

*pops his head between them* RC: So the Captain, is she seeing anyone? JE: *kinda shocked but then mostly annoyed & keeps his eyes on the road* (they r not used to having anyone with them* KR, who IS friends with beckett: She has boyfriends. Nothing serious. (why is ryan sharing that info?) JE: Why, writer boy? What, you think you have a chance with her? (EYES ON THE ROAD MISTER) [to RYAN] And what are you doing? Telling crazy over here about everyone’s private life. (which is valid bc he just did) KR: Me? JE: Yeah. You told him about Lanie and me. All: No. No, no, no. I didn’t. No he didn't, I have a gift. What are you talking about? Personal life. Yes you did! That's-- Dont! Just a bunch of yelling I can't hear bc I'm a little hoh & the captions aren't good RC: No. Listen, I have a gift, all right? I look at people and I see things. KR: (laughs) Yeah? Uh … what do you see when you look at me? (wow voice got deep for a sec there) Me: undercover irish mob? (bc who knows if that happened in this au, oh & besides they'd keep it out of the papers so yeah castle knowing would be scary) Irish mob, several sisters, piano playing, hold on I wonder what would have happened with 3xk in this au maybe they arrested gates, narcotics, uncle abducted by aliens RC: Honey milk and freckles. (& the vampire girl ig, keep adding all the ppl u know) KR: (mouthing: what) Noo! (inconsistency in where esposito is looking but shush) JE: *shocked* JE from the other angle: *annoyed* KR: That’s Jenny O’Malley. JE: *looks away annoyed* KR: She used to … make me honey milk. (wistfully) She could’ve been the one. (I thought u said u made it for her to help her sleep. mr in-bed-by-10-pm.) (omaalley not omahlley, they pronounce things differently than me. I assumed it was deever & omolley but it's déver & omaalley) RC: Could have been? KR: Yeah. Um … when Beckett was promoted to Captain our case load doubled. I guess I never had time for her. (wow ryan really does talk abt everyone's personal life) (but how recent was jenny that this "i see when I look at you" is relevnt?) RC: Maybe you should give her a call. JE: Maybe you should mind your own business. (I read a fic once where esposito acts like this in the car ride bc rysposito is canon in this universe & like "if u r really so psychic then u should know he's mine) He shoves RC back into the backseat. The fanfic I read: canon rysposito, esposito was pissed that castle who said he sees things when he looks at people doesn't see their relationship & also don't tell my man to get a gf. (wait lol I double blogged that bc one was in my transcript liveblog & one was in my watch liveblog)

watch blog: Ok it looks like I probably need to go now. I've been spending way too much time on this liveblog mostly bc I like it & miss it partially bc I'm writing All my thoughts not the important ones (none r that important lol)

El chozo peruvian restaurant

Stay n the car or I shoot you (he hasn't signed the form yet tho lol) Wanna crack a window for me? Ha! s1 castle moments

Oh he's not so bad *castle's face in the window* s1 castle Dad dad dad! dad dad dad!

Oh I'm feeling anxious now, I messaged my teacher saying I couldn't make it to class today asking him to send me the powerpoint so I can stay on pace & my chef just called me asking about how many kilograms of cream I had (62.942) & how many kilos of egg yolks (~6 in the pail meaning he needed 11 more cartons & 650g of the last one to get 17.628kg) & ofc the sugar was already perfectly measured it's just the one litre cartons of stuff I had to empty & didn't have time to finish. Anyway seeing all the hotel pans & funnels & mixing bowls & stainless steel bowlsjust caused my heart to start racing, genuinely

Take him home! Or give it to the detectives Or maria sanchez is there. No it broke! So much happened! Or it's fake bc yeah it just looks ceramic. (evidence also broken) This is a fake :D !! This is a fake >:( lol cuff him too so valid bestie

RC: Actually, that kind of is my best behavior. JE: Oh, I’m just enjoying the show Mom & dad fighting (clipping)

Snatches it away

JE: KB: Yes, Detective Esposito? (calls him detective) JE: You’re not letting him get to you, are you? (he is her friend) KB: Don’t you have a case to close? JE: Mmhm (they totally slept together at some point in the past)

Storm fall, the last derrick storm book I just noticed, is storm fall the same as the castle title card? Jim beckett on her desk!

camera whip

(so dark) Castle went up instead of down lol, look at him sneaking back in XD & the music

Heck yeah maria Ah that's why there was a fake in a case at the chozo Ah! Three groups! Swiss legal thieves, incan peruvian righteous re-thieves, & random thieves! Tracker? What guy? What guy?

Transcript: CASTLE startles, harder than if it were GATES. I was just um... *smiles gummily*

Convict therapy. She never told him she used to read his books & met him before? (u can confirm if it was a real au by asking her this in the normal universe original reality) Ew feels like a lot longer shup but also could be the books KB: There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Us: it's going to be smth important RC: Anything (always) KB: *question abt his books*

Mm the bass

Whyd they wait so long after the airport? maybe waiting for a quiet location

Castle still hiding in the break room lol

Looks like a heart

She has elephants Ooh captain beckett prop! Does a 180 RC: And … if you come I will tell you why I killed Derrick Storm.

(beat gates by six weeks for detective) Paperwork & poitics? sounds like 1pp asking her to run for senator ag's office the necklace!!! Tell her! the elephants! But also in this au she is clean rn whereas in our universe she relapsed into her mom's case addiction (imagine a universe where she is again obsessed with her mother's case like why an ex-alcoholic doesn't drink) We had an australian emmigrant/canadian immigrant (possibly of french heritage) whose dad taught us rugby for gym class once in elementary or no it was jr high

I need to go to bed now yuck.

Yeah so the last time I liveblogged was supposedly sept 9 & it is now the 22nd. Well I started this yesterday on the 21st. I have abt 45 minutes at home before I need to leave. (I had work in the morning but took only a half day so I could perform violin at a mental health clinic.) Do I want to start watching this? ... Yes. I do. btw by 45 minutes I meant I got home at 2.30 & need to leave at 3.10 & I need to set my alarm ten minutes early so I have time to pull on my shoes & it is already 2.45 so... yeah maybe I won't... Maybe I will!

Or not bc my computer randomly died & now I literally have only eight minutes to watch. You know what? fuck it. I got my computer back online in about ten minutes, I can spend about ten minutes watching castle! Fuck you! /pos

watch blog: I didn't know I never finished transcript blogging. Huh. I'm skipping school for this lol.

KB: stay here: RC: *hands up-ish like yeah ok sure* KB: *turns around* RC: *immediately gets up*

*suspect checking her out* ooh music fun!

Whose desk has that frosted glass animal ball on it?

Yeah contact robbery, maybe bring demming back lol, the homiicde part of it is done Love the music My world? As in my book? Castle be careful why focus on hte lawyer's face? strong goodbye there huh

He's almost done his book & you can see how appalled he is lol

Different stairwell art! tbh I like it. I feel like I'd enjoy touching the wallpaper but also hate it. Lol alexis going back upstairs before he notices (& fails) (wow she's so pretty)

Alexis kind of joking youre stuck here with us kind of humouring him but when he asks why they fell apart she stops humouring him bc she was joking & this is serious. & like... nobody is THAT concerned over the fact that richard is basically having a psychic break.

He called THIS his magnum opus? really? really??? Or not bc he wrote it several years ago & it flunked & he tried writing other stuff which slowly got worse? & he ended up writing the brobeck dreams of betty book & it was crap according to him.

Castle family so good so god & the million impoerceptible ways & reality & all this crap & aaaaaah this is so much of a thing

Except she isn't relapsing into her mother's case addiction in this world, she made captain in this world, your mother is a star again in this world, your daugter is changing things with her nonprofit in this world, you have flings with beautiful women in this world ig...

Gets her the coffee & doesn't kate ask lucy for a coffee vanilla two splendas in future seasons? ye love this. He knows her coffee order from his O.R.

Ew yucky baarista touches money with her hands

Ok abducted at gunpoint (did the cops ever check this place out?) marcus lark the attorney WAIT MARCUS LARKUS

Wow thingamajig. Pick it up castle make the alarm go beep beep beep

this guy picks it up but no beep beep beep

there is no such thing as truth lol of course lark wants infinite possibilities, he's a real estate agent, ofc he wants multiple realities

RC: You’re rich. Successful. You have everything. Why would you want to change your destiny? *accidentally did that bc he thought he was bad for becks*

Castle maybe pick it up & wish to go home & try to make it work even tho u don't know how bc maybe it will work & you will go home. Woah beckett! smacks him in the head Luck... or fate Maybe tell her the truth...? Or don't just in case you're stuck here. (reminds me of that tumblr post "reblog if you are a safe person to come to in a time loop")

The answer for how to use it see THIS is how u jump in front of a bullet. You don't jump while the bullet is moving u don't have time, u jump before they shoot. & if u have time to jump in front, they have time to jump out of the way.

Blue light, dangerous situation, I love you, (possibly death; die in the dream die irl doesn't work here idk) (possibly also castle just immaterializing bc he was from an au)

I read a fanfic where rysposito have to go to martha's apartment to inform her that her son died & castle answers the door & says "holy crap I had a dream that I was in an alternate universe where I was friends with you guys!"

engagement ring!

IT IS THE EX MILITARY AUSSIE FAN & THE GUY WHO UT A GUN TO HIS BACK

KR: Hey, Castle. Missed all the excitement. We were awesome. (<3) Weren’t we, Javi? (first names) JE: As usual. (I love this joking overconfidence) & marcus lark!

evidence & fancy artifact & u'r just touching up on it?

The one where I made it to our wedding <3 love their music

We just do, I do "go down to the courthouse just do it right now"

Yay their wedding Alexis no suit learned smth GOOD from the AU!

Becks gets a third wedding dress lol but it was probably not a wedding dress it was just any white clothing she had but where is her maid of honour lanie? I mean yay at least jim is here

Oh she's wearing the earrings No music but I love love the tie on the back. Seems awful but I think it's pretty. (green screen?) Nice ring Oh I love the vows! I remember someone made a gifset for this for caskett week.

KB: The moment that I met you, my life became extraordinary. You taught me to be my best self, to look forward to tomorrow’s adventures; and when I was vulnerable, you were strong. I love you, Richard Castle; and I want to live my life in the warmth of your smile and the strength of your embrace. I promise you, I will love you. I will be your friend; and your partner in crime and in life; Always.

When she said when I was vulnerable, you were strong my first thought was roy calling castle to help protect beckett. crime^fighting

RC: The moment we met, my life became extraordinary. You taught me more about myself than I knew there was to learn. You are the joy in my heart. You’re the last person I want to see every night before I close my eyes. I love you, Katherine Beckett. And the mystery of you is the one I want to spend the rest of my life exploring. I promise to love you, to be your friend and your partner in crime and life, ‘til death do us part and for the time of our lives.

I love the parallel between the starts of the vows the rest of my life, always crime & life again parallels & until death us do part and for the time of our lives

but where is Lanie the maid of honour?

Why are the wedded couple not drinking champagne?

His phone <3

romance <3 <3 <3

Thaat was so good! I started today's liveblogging (it's the 27th) at like 11.30 or noon & now it is 14.45 or basically 3pm so that's 3 hours, I usually allot myself an hour & a half, & I already liveblog watched it a few days ago & I liveblogged the transcript twenty days ago holy crap. At least I'm off my internship now, maybe I'll have more time to liveblog & clip & finish the series & finally return them to the library w/o paying too much in late fees. & then I can finish all the fanfics I want to read & all the fics I am writing or want to write & then I'll finally put this hyperfixation to rest & be free to do normal stuff again.. Until I get a new hyperfixation.

Update: It has been four weeks, I am only now getting around to tagging & posting

[jq37]

hi, so i went through every single post tagged with tuc (sorry, been on sort of a binge recently!) and i noticed you posted your thoughts on near-every ep except for the last few, so i'd love to hear your thoughts on the tuc finale the same way you've offered food for thought for the earlier episodes if you're able to!

Don’t apologize for reading all my stuff! It’s always great to hear.

I don’t remember exactly what was going on during that last couple of episodes of TUC but I was majorly busy and I didn’t think I had anything super groundbreaking to say on the eps I I figured I’d just leave them alone unless someone specifically asked me and this is the first time someone specifically asked me, haha. 

I think I recapped up to Broadway Brawl? Which would make sense because that was the high point of the season for me. Absolutely my favorite TUC episode.

Anyway, I’m thinking back to the TUC finale and yeah, some wild stuff happened like Kug’s sacrifice and Ally’s obligatory nat 20 for something they fully made up and asked for but those are things I kinda expected so they were good but unsurprising. 

I love when DM’s split up groups for one on ones so I liked that whole sequence but, for the most part, it was good but unsurprising. 

But the one thing that hit me hardest from that sequence--and, really, the entirety of TUC--is Rowan’s bit where she pauses for a second after The American Dream makes its offer and she goes, “My love,” and Brennan makes this face:

That face 100% says, “Lol, well fuck me.”

That speech hit me hard man. That it was delivered completely off the cuff floored me, and you think I’d be less surprised/impressed by this point but nope! Every time man. 

And then I distinctly remember thinking about that scene a little later at my desk and I was like, “Well it makes sense that the speech about immigrants and stuff would resonate with me because my parents aren’t from here.” And then I stopped and I was like, “Oh wait. Siobhan’s not from here either.” And that extra layer just had me like, “I need a minute.”

For me, Unsleeping City scores higher marks for setting/lore than its other aspects but damn that was an A++ character beat.  

Anyway, that’s most of what I remember from the finale since I haven’t watched it since it aired. If there’s a specific thing you wanted me to talk about, remind me of it and I’m sure I’ll have an opinion.

(Also, yay for Esther finally getting some. Good for her.)

[paulisweeabootrash]

First Impression: Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Is this the real life?  Is this just fantasy?

It's Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

More isekai

I'm not that surprised to see...

... Ahem.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (2018)

Episodes watched: 3

Suzuki Ichirou (no, not that one), a programmer for a game company, is working on a "death march" of rushed changes to two RPGs, falls asleep under his desk after 30 hours of work, and finds himself dreaming that he is in another world... one that seems to be a combination of his two games.  The game/dream world has saddled him with the name "Satuu", the character name he uses IRL while testing things.  The subtitles, meanwhile, have saddled him with the name "Satou", despite it being spelled on-screen as "サトゥー" (a small ゥmodifying the ト from "to" to "tu") and despite him and other characters clearly pronouncing it with a long u (or ɯ if you want to be even more pedantic than I am).  So that's an odd bit of carelessness on the part of the translators that bugs me more than it really should.

Anyway, he starts out at level 1 but with a game-breakingly powerful set of starting abilities which were proposed to fulfill an obnoxious client request IRL.  Using his OP starting spells on an army of lizardpeople that attack him causes him to level up rapidly, and with no way to save or quit, he sets out to explore the world and how it works.  As you do if you're a game designer trapped in a game.  Satuu finds his way to a walled city governed by callous bureaucracy, overt fantastic racism, and slavery, the last of which is casually handed out as the punishment for overstaying your visa — or apparently for being a demihuman.  Luckily, he escapes this fate, having crafted a convincing story that he lost his papers, and is instead issued new papers courtesy of a magic scanning device that informs him that his character is 15, apparently the age of majority in this country, and that he still appears to everyone else to be a lowly level 1 although his early rush of experience points has actually pushed him all the way to level 310.

On his way into the city, he saved Zena, an NPC soldier, while her unit was fighting a wyvern, and she responded predictably by (1) developing a crush on him and (2) showing him around town to go do "this anime works by RPG rules" things like buy things from street vendors and explain the background mythology.  Zena and Satuu then intervene to stop an angry mob trying to kill a group of demihuman slaves they believe to be in league with demons, although figuring out why they're doing it requires a couple of leaps of inference from Satuu that I'm not sure were really warranted given the information available.  After he talks down the crowd, a demon does turn out to be present, and it teleports Satuu and the slaves into a dungeon they have to find their way back out of.  It is at this point where I really hope Satuu believes this is all a dream, since he doesn't take much convincing to accept that the slaves consider him their new master.

It's got some pretty good gags centering around the world functioning by game mechanics.  For example, he acquires skills when he is in a the situation to first use or observe them, meaning that Satuu "acquires" the skill "hand-to-hand-combat" by coming in direct contact with an NPC for the first time... when the wyvern mentioned above flies into him while he's mid-jump.  Likewise, he acquires the skill "Abduction" by quietly subduing agitators who are encouraging the angry mob.  The latter action demonstrates exceptionally well how completely ridiculous a world functioning by RPG rules can be.  He sneaks through a crowd in broad daylight incapacitating people in one hit each and drags them away undetected, then apprehends the ringleader and successfully calms the crowd down by bullshitting an off-the-cuff speech.  Throughout this, he is also rapidly and accidentally obtaining numerous "titles" ranging from "clown" to "god-killer" and quickly decides that revealing his true level and alarming-sounding set of titles would cause more trouble than it's worth.

Although clearly a show playing with the silly implications of video game logic, it kind of comes off like someone had an idea for a game they couldn't implement so they made a show about what the game would've been like.  Much more work seems to have been put into the fictional user interface and worldbuilding than into the characters or animation quality so far.  I don't know if I have a good basis to evaluate this as a game in general since I am not a game designer nor do I play RPGs frequently, but I do want to flex my degree a little on the user interface.  There are distinctive icons and good indicators of the current system state (icons changing colors to indicate what mode of interacting with the world, the minimap, animated and therefore eyecatching notifications of newly-acquired skills), but it also contains a lot of tabs and drop-down menus, so the whole thing seems like it would be more at home in a game you can pause (or at least greatly reduce the play speed of), not one unfolding in real time.  The UI must also be more similar to those in the games Ichirou works on than the game world itself is for him to figure out how to use it so quickly and consistently — although to be fair, this does make sense with the interpretation that it's a dream, and even if it's not, we do see him explore the interface a bit and he's presumably getting a lot of practice in with it if he sees it constantly while moving around in the world.

I like the ambiguity it has so far about whether it's an elaborate dream about games brought on by overwork or whether he really has been transported to another world.  My wife (who told me to watch this) informs me that future developments tip the scales much further toward it being a real world, not a dream, but I haven't gotten there yet.  She also informs me that Satuu just sort of shrugs off keeping the slaves as slaves.  So... uh... yikes.  Either way, it has an intriguing premise, but I'm not impressed so far, and at only 12 episodes long, I seriously doubt it will do much to flesh things out.  But hey, I've been surprised before.  I'll keep watching it, but I'm not doing a followup post unless something really surprising happens that changes my impression.

-----

W/A/S: 2 / 2 / 6

Weeb: Not weeb so much as geek.  RPGs with these sorts of backstories and mechanics are hardly exclusive to Japan.  The premise of working on a "death march" may be the most foreign-sounding thing to the average American audience, but it's a software industry thing, not a Japanese thing, and the term was even coined by an American.  Or perhaps the particularly Japanese variety of demihumans as humanoids with dog or cat or lizard features instead of the Germanic/Anglosphere elves, dwarves, trolls, et cetera.

Ass: Very little, especially considering the costume designs and lonely teenage POV you might normally expect from this genre.

Shit (writing): The idea that the fantasy otherworld contains an unwise cheat-like starting condition the protagonist himself opposed including in one of the games he works on IRL is a pretty funny and clever justification for an OP character.  Plenty of details are revealed in dialogue, mostly between Satuu and Zena, but the dialogue itself doesn't seem very natural, even for NPCs trying to fill in a player on vital background information about the game setting, but then.

Shit (other): I love that we see the user interface whenever we're viewing events from Ichirou/Satuu's first person perspective.  The opening and ending themes are very good, the other music is okay.  It's a nice touch by the voice actor that Ichirou/Satuu talks in a noticeably higher-pitched voice to other characters when talking or even thinking in-character than out-of-character, which highlights the age gap between himself and his character.  Even though the CG used for certain elements (the UI, wagons, horses, lizardpeople, demons) is better than that used for, say, the unnaturally-moving draft dragons I complained about when I reviewed Re:Zero, it's also somehow harder to look at and everything but the UI looks even more out of place than the Re:Zero dragons.  The 2D animation is disappointing, too.  The character designs are nice, but in motion, any given shot has very few moving elements, sometimes have very low frame rates, and I swear I saw Ichirou appear in-frame instead of smoothly entering it in a scene in ep. 1.  I also strongly disliked the backwards speech during spellcasting but by ep. 3 it started growing on me.

Content warning: slavery, obviously.

-----

Stray observations:

- Credit, or at least lack of annoyance, for the 29-year-old lead finding the innkeeper attractive instead of her 13-year-old daughter.

- Who eats quiche with their hands?!

- The line "I might be able to use this Abduction skill... Better max it." is definitely something I would expect to hear a lot of RPG players say, but that doesn't make it any more reassuring.

[renaisty]

Some Flash rewatch things.

Can’t believe I forgot my fave lines.

“We’re not a two.”

“Oh no, we’re a one and one.”

The Barry and Joe relationship still owns my ass

With all its ups and downs and its less than perfect aspects. I love it, and I can do nothing about it. Generally the West family is so feelsy I cannot. They make me so happy T_T

I forgot how much I liked Barry and Linda together. So cute.

Seeing everyone lying to Iris about everything... So frustrating. Not a good call, people.

Really should’ve connected that footage from Barry’s lab to Wells spying on them.

Lots of stuff is much creepier this time around, thinking of that.

Huh. For some reason, I thought Barry and Caitlin had more screentime together...

Guess it’s the fandom. Oh well. At least now I remember how Caitlin and Cisco have more stuff going on between them than ppl tend to focus on.

The mood whiplash from the Linda as Dr Light episode... Oh my, I laughed more than ever on a Flash ep... and then. Everything was pain and misery and tears. Damn.

Caitlin’s insistence on there not being a Killer Frost on Earth 1. Ever.

Heartbreakingly hilarious, or hilariously heartbreaking? Take your pick.

Hunter Zolomon or what?

Man I feel stupid.

Ok but watching them navigate the new dynamics of the family with Wally is (while v awkward at times) soooo interesting and fun. I love it. I just... Rly rly love the West family.

Omgs Henry you have no idea what’s going on don’t. Why.

That moment when you’re like ‘there was 0 reason that someone needed to go with Cisco’ but also ‘woah it’s so awesome how Iris brought him back’.

I can’t decide. Hmm. #help

Idk if this is gonna sound weird but. I love when the team gangs up on Barry. When it’s justified of course. But yeah, love it.

I mean, personally I do think he wasn’t in the right mindset. But beyond that, maybe it’s just me, but you know. Good to let someone else make the decisions sometimes.

I kinda love Harry? Esp. by the time s3 rolls around, I want him around too. HR was fun-ish, but there’s only one Harry.

(’it’s gonna take a while even when i do meet them to get to the cuff stage’ - ok that comment was so worth having HR...)

Did I say the West dynamic with Wally could be awkward at first? Well. It has nothing on post-flashpoint dynamics omgs that second-hand embarrassment in the 2nd ep... I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.

Oh my gods everyone being so against Wally using his powers like I’m so. Mad. #LetWallybeKidFlash2k17!!

“That investment’s gonna pay off” welll. fuck.

“How do we know he isn’t spying on us right now?” Idk Barry, but I think Savitar might know everything you’re doing. You know, through the connection to you. Funny.

Oh man now that I’m looking for it, “I never asked for any of this, Joe.” as well as “Reverb told you you could be a god.” Are fucking. Dead giveaways. Especially the way he said ‘Joe’. Gods, save me.

Look. There’s only one thing I don’t understand. Why tf did he just... stand there?? Barry I-have-to-try Allen?? Just... standing there?? While Wally was ‘taken’ I guess?? Wtf was that?? *rages*

And ofc come next ep he’s 1k% willing to sacrifice himself for Wally. Yeah, saw that coming, that’s a given, but why man? Why did he just stand there? I am. Confused.

What is it with the Speed Force and creating clothes?

I mean, I get it it’d be awkward if they turned up less than clothed, but I’d love for someone to comment on it.

“I had a feeling.” Fuck. Fuck. The first time I assumed he’d Vibed it and was being cheeky about it, but oh no, now it’s so so much sadder not my bby *gross sobbing*

And in the next ep, oh my gods it’s so scary to see the ice head for his hands like, ‘oh no not this noo’. And then Barry fucking ran in front of him, and it reminded me of what he said, that’d he’d ‘fix it’. *more gross sobbing*

Ohhhhhh Joe and Cecile are such  a joy to watch.

‘You’re not so scary without your armor’ oh man so true. I could never get over that armor even on a rewatch, but I just... can’t be scared of that face.

You know you’re stupid when you don’t realize why it was ‘ironic’ that Savitar would keep it to himself until you’ve seen it three times. Why me.

Joe and Iris talking abt stuff and being happy-ish in the second-to-last ep... I love it so much, and the thought of everything actually made me cry T_T Such a sweet moment. Also, daaaaamn now they just need some dirt on Wally and the mischief family is complete heh

Wait. Savitar wanted Cisco to build him something before getting the memories that meant that Iris was alive... Does that mean he changed his mind about wanting to effectively commit suicide, or was that always his plan??? Hmmm things to think about.

I... it’d have been so easy for HR to run. It rly would’ve. But he stayed there and let Savitar kill him. I’m not his biggest fan but. Man. That took guts.

I’m not in the habit of getting taken in by pretty faced villains but. This is Barry. I’m. So ugh. Ugh. (Also, while I’m on the subject, did he use ‘every hour every minute’ like in the fucking song? I am. Cackling, I’m sorry.)

OH GODS NO THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THEIR HAPPY ENDING FUCK

[mantra4ia]

Lucifer 2x13 - A Good Day to Die Reaction’d  (was live 1/30) *spoilers*

PRE-SHOW: Press release description - “Lucifer must find the antidote to the Professor’s poison before it kills Chloe. He travels to hell to find the Professor’s soul and get him to turn over the antidote. While he’s there, he is forced to confront his guilt about Uriel’s death. Mom heads to hell to get Lucifer back, but Lucifer still feels betrayed by his parents because of something he discovers…” So my question is, due to the ep title, does Chloe die or does Lucifer kill himself to get to hell? Or is it a literal movie reference due to Lucifer’s pop-culture geekdom?

PRE-SHOW: Uriel/ Michael Imperioli is making another appearance! Fan life is grand!

SHOW: 2 minutes in it’s gonna mess me up, you watch…yep!

1x05 - When can I drive? I’ll never let you drive / 2x13 Drove the frickin car with the lights on!I vote BEST FAN SERVICE MOMENT!

#I'll rip your spine out and beat you with it! - New standard for bro vs bro family squabbles.

When Chloe takes Lucifer’s arm going down the stairs, all those little things, that to me in more gratifying than their kiss moment.

“YOU LOOK HEAVEN SENT” - new standard for boyfriends

Douchifer / Dan-squared is back. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit pleased.

Why isn’t Lucifer kicking ass?

Oh wait - nevermind…hahahahahaha! He busted out of those cuffs and saved Danzel in distress.

“Swing that thing and I’ll shove it so far you’ll have splinters in your stool” - The bar for squabbles has ALREADY BEEN RAISED!

“Miracles aren’t my thing, but…” OMG character development!

So my first instinct was right: RIP Lucifer! But how is he going to do it, a) it would have to be in Chloe’s vicinity. Wouldn’t she see? OR b) he would need wings. OR c) Mom would have to take him…

“Turnabouts fair play” - Things Linda learned from Lucifer. Yes, the therapy works both ways. YES! Reasons I am living!

Lucifer: “Who wants to kill me?” - all family members raise hands - they are officially a squad!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO my TV reception is crackling. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH thank Dad we’re back!

Painkillers- no problem that’s what my hip flask is for. - Really Lucifer? You have narcotics for that, believe me we've seen your stash in many episodes.

Lucifer putting the EMT paddles on himself! - heavy episode but quite humorous.

I LOVE how they made hell into a series of rooms. It’s straight out of a play, very NO EXIT esque.

Trixie: “[to Amenadiel] Are you a guardian angel?” Played right into the fan hands.

Trixie: “[also to Amenadiel] I like your necklace.” The fan service guys, it’s unbelievable.

Ella from Brooklyn - my girl!

“THE PEACE IS HERE?!?” I knew he whispered something but what?

Linda: "[I might just go to hell] There are things you don’t know about me” - I KNEW IT! I have been waiting forever! - Wait, you are not giving me backstory?! Dropping that line and making me wait - you guys get a temporary cell in hell.

Maze couldn’t kill Lucifer, but Lucifer’s mom? CLEAR! BOOM!

Maybe Amenadiel will get his time freezing powers back because he is trying to save Chloe?

Does everyone on this show have a brother?! Ricky!

Finally, Mum takes accountability. Hell cell exchange!

They played that SONG! X Ambassadors!

You fight them off Amenadiel - GO BRO GO!

I feel like this is a herring. Is Lucifer still in hell? Something about this ending seems off,

Guess not must be my imagination / just hell-like sunset coloring. That would have been a good twist though.

#hide the strippers. (But 300+ calls Chloe, truly?)

POST SHOW: I am not going to survive till May!.

Favorite character of the episode- Amenadiel. Way to finally get back to the ass kicking, nobody moves me unless I damn well feel like it, I am barricading this door with my body badassery. I knew you had it in you to cut the apron strings. My man Amenadude!

Best one-liner: Ella basically calling Dan out as a straight-laced Grandpa after she picks a lock and moves around like she's about to boost a car.

Seriously though, how did Mum plan to use Chloe to get back to heaven? I am still waiting for that to make sense and now that Luci has gone (more) rouge, I feel as though that plan/ explanation is going to wither and die.

I am still trying to deduce why they teased the spark of Azrael's blade and so far that hasn’t come to fruition.

Come to think of it, this is all quite unsettling!

However, I do like the fact that the writers constructed some “hell fine print.” You can get out when you feel like you don’t deserve/ belong there anymore. I wonder how the writers will use that in future. I hope they do, it’s a hell of a good plot point to waste!