#i think this show is Excellent

[california-112]

[micamicster]

"I'm... I'm here to tell you..." To tell him what? That it's fine? That I don't hate you? That everything is fine? That I don't blame you for having killed Jin ZiXuan? It was impossible. But she couldn't say anything that was the opposite either. And so, she didn't know what else she could say to Wei Wei WuXian, under such circumstances. It was just that she felt like she had to see this brother of hers once more. / "You ran so fast, I could hardly get a look at you."

The Untamed vs Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat

[bacchuschucklefuck]

okay unironically I love so much that porter is like this world SUCKS its BAD here and it HURTS you why do you care abt it!!! and literally every single bad kid is like ngl we just hate ur ass it does not matter what ur philosophy is

[scificrows]

Okay, my brain refuses to think about anything other than Murderbot, so I looked at every use of the word "friend[s]" in TMBD and... created some pie charts. Normal human activities.

Some Thoughts™ I had while putting this together (under the cut):

In All Systems Red, Murderbot notes that the PresAux crew are all close friends (twice! and goes on to explain their internal relationships which I think is very cute). This is pretty much the only use of 'friends' in ASR, except for when Murderbot says that SecUnits can't be friends with each other.

It seems that this may be one of the first times Murderbot has ever really been around a group of friends before? Murderbot notes that this is not the norm for its contracts and admits that the fact that they are all friends and the way they interact with each other make it actually enjoy that contract (before!!!! the hostile attack, so it already enjoys this contract before they start seeing it as a person etc ghghhhh). [Inference: Friendship seems enjoyable.]

The first character that calls Murderbot its friend is ART in Artificial Condition. Murderbot immediately refutes this (and then goes on to call ART its friend to its clients for the rest of the book). [Inference: Maybe ART is Murderbot's friend. And maybe that is... agreeable]

Rogue Protocol has more than twice as many instances of the word 'friend' as any of the other novellas. Why? Miki. Friendship and its implications for non-humans are a central theme because Miki is friends with everyone. Murderbot initially scoffs at the notion that Miki and Miki's humans are friends. At the end of the book, after witnessing how desperately Don Abene tried to stop Miki from trying to save them, and her grief after its death, Murderbot has to admit that she had in fact been Miki's friend. [Inference: Humans can be friends with bots and can sincerely care about them]

In Exit Strategy, Murderbot tentatively uses the word "friends" for its humans for the first time (several times actually). It questions whether it can actually call them its friends or not and later realizes that it had been afraid what admitting that the humans are its friends would do to it. At the end of the book, Mensah tells Murderbot the PresAux crew are its friends, which is the first time a human has directly said that to it (at least on-page). [Inference: Humans can and want to be Murderbot's friends]

In Network Effect, Murderbot seems to be more habituated to the word 'friend', confidently calling ART and Ratthi its friends, like it is no longer just trying the concept on unsure if it fits. There are many instances in which other characters refer to MB as ART's friend or the other way around and Murderbot's humans refer to Murderbot as their friend several times. Generally, there seems to be less hesitancy, because yes, all of them are Murderbot's friends, why wouldn't they be. [Inference: SecUnits can have friends. This SecUnit has friends. They care about it a lot.]

Conclusion: The Murderbot Diaries tell the story of a construct that does not seem to consider the possibility of friendship for itself and is fine with that - until it accidentally starts caring a little too much and suddenly more and more people annex it as a friend (ew) to the point where it can no longer deny that this is happening and has to begrudgingly admit that yes, it has friends now and maybe that is actually not a bad thing.

[jemmo]

seriously I don’t think any show has captured the pain of being a bystander more than miseinen. like i just can’t stop thinking about everything he’s told in this episode and everything he sees and how powerless he is to do anything about it. when you say bystander, you think of people that chose to do nothing, who just stand on the sidelines and watch but don’t get involved. and maybe that’s how minase started out, but this show proves over and over again that it’s not a choice anymore. given the choice and ability, minase would stand up and do something. he’s not the person anymore stood outside hirukawa’s house with the emergency number dialed but ultimately doesn’t do it. bc he cares too much now, and when you care, you want to help. but the world is so rigid in what they expect of him and hirukawa that there is no way to help.

i keep thinking about what the teacher said at the start of the ep. this doesn’t concern you. it’s already settled. don’t make your parents worry. when minase says he’s telling the truth, he’s told to focus on what’s important- and so the truth isn’t important here, neither is what hirukawa thinks or minase thinks. it’s what someone has already decided they are, and they are just too busy or just don’t care enough to go to the effort to see whether that decision is right. it doesn’t affect them whether hirukawa is the awful person they think he is or misunderstood, to them he’s just a part of the job they want to deal with and move on. even though no other adults are as present as hirukawa’s dad or minase’s mom, the show still has these small moments that show us that there is no other option for them to get help bc no one at school cares either. i said before they live in a world of ignorance where they’re unable to ignore, and so they deal with it all instead of being able to find help. and it feels equally horrible when you consider that unlike a parent, who yes should feel some responsibility or obligation but ultimately there’s nothing holding them to that, teachers are employed and paid to care, they should help these kids as much as they teach them, so to see them chose ignorance too is just as hurtful.

and back to minase, this episode showed us perfectly how much it can hurt when you know you can’t do anything. he can’t comfort hirukawa no matter how much he wants to if hirukawa won’t let him, he can’t change his mind and how he thinks of himself bc hirukawa’s trauma traps him in that mindset. he can’t stay by hirukawa’s side and support him if hirukawa sends him anyway, he can’t fight against what someone who’s hurting wants, all he can do is listen, bc no one ever listens to what hirukawa wants, so he will, even if it hurts him, even if he knows that it’ll hurt hirukawa too. minase is done with being a bystander but even here he is forced to be one, bc the truth doesn’t get through to hirukawa just like it didn’t get through to that teacher. what’s right, which would be to stay with hirukawa and help him, doesn’t matter just like it didn’t matter to that teacher, all he can do is listen and do as they say when people tell him to walk away, that he can’t do anything. and that’s why this show is excellent, bc it makes me feel the pain of knowing but being powerless just as much as I do the pain of actually experiencing these things.

[twig-tea]

Ryan in The Trainee is on such a satisfying character journey

Ryan as of ep3 of The Trainee is so frustrating to watch (as a people manager in my day job, watching him gives me work anxiety lol), but he is also clearly trying, and Jane has noticed. It is his attitude and effort that is being rewarded by Jane giving him more chances, and slowing down to explain things to him pre-emptively and more often.

Ryan was late when he was told explicitly what time he had to be there by, but he responded by finding his own way to the location and showing up to work mostly on time anyway. He was hesitant to tell the extra no the first time she asked to be able to leave, but he stood his ground the second time, after he was instructed to be more firm. When she circumvented him and left anyway the third time, he came up with a solution that worked to save the shoot. He fumbled with that phone ringing too many times, but after he was warned about it, he made sure to cover his responsibilities at his other job (which he understood better than the ones at the set), called his sister to say he was turning off the phone, and did so. He admitted he didn't know how to use the walkie talkie when asked, and later, when Jane called him on the walkie talkie, he correctly used it (after having been shown how), and came running even though Jane didn't ask him to rush--he is clearly eager to do a good job and be where he's needed.

My biggest frustration with him to date is that he has been proactive when there is a problem, but not proactive in preventing problems in the first place. But this comes with experience, is what Jane is teaching him, and we have seen that he knows how to do this and does it at his parent's print shop, so I am confident we'll start to see him do this as he builds confidence and experience in this new workspace.

This show is so well written so far, all of the character journeys are so clear and they are all moving at a pace that makes sense based on the circumstances of the show. It is such a satisfying watch week to week, even when the workplace drama spikes my blood pressure.

[doesnotloveyou]

if you're watching the fallout show as your introduction to fallout and want to know if it's anything like the games. yeah, yeah it is. except it's funnier

[hotasfahrenheit]

100%

in case you needed this bit of sunshine and/or this gif to use in everyday conversation

[peaceful property 01.03]

[fjordfolk]

Finally put this years' ribbon crops up with last year's, technically our last shows are this weekend but mentally I think we're both done for the season and doubt she'll place. Still can't believe she grabbed a CC at a specialty show with 85 entries tho

[lilacerull0]

essential 11amy thing you must understand in order to perceive them accurately is that, at their core, they are about girls and their rockstar apollo-like figures. what do you mean our identities are forever morphed never to be separated what do you mean discovery of self through the other but the other is a barely palpable creation that exists as a product of somebody else's creative essence and your own imagination. music and sunlight and healing. whatever.

[joethehoeee]

Rise of titans actually made me laugh for so stupid reasons and I wanted to share this with you.

It's insane honestly.

THE PURE LOOK OF HORROR IN STRICKLER'S FACE WHEN JIM FALLS TO HIS DEATH AND THEN-

Barb is like 😯

Mrs. Lake, your son is falling to a cruel and unimaginably painful death and THAT is your reaction? Even you won't be able to fix him up after that, even if you are a good doctor.

Strickler looks so desprately fearful as if it is the worst thing he could ever imagine (it may be) and Barb is like "oh, well, surprised he made it this far"

GIRL THAT’S YOUR SON!!!!! YOUR S-O-N!!!

Where did the worried mother from 3 damn seasons go? Why is she not here.

And before you ask, this is not just an unconventional screenshot, it's the whole shot. (as far as I remember, tbh I refuse to rewatch it more than once)

Like real talk, this is so funny to me.

The difference is insane...(I should stop using that word...but I don't know anything else)

Walter could be used for memes tbh.

I BEG YOU ALL. Make memes as much as you can. Unrelated or related to trollhunters. That would be so funny !!! We need to take over the fandom!

[hatchetation]

the way teenage bounty hunters DESERVED a second season. like what a tightly written, quippy, funny little show with so much heart. there’s so much good going on in it but things I particularly love:

Twin themes!! There’s so much good foreshadowing surrounding the big reveal (iykyk) and there’s also so much DOUBLING. Double lives especially is a big theme. Like, Debbie hiding Dana; sterling and Blair hiding their bounty hunting; the (functional) froyo shop being bowser’s bounty hunting lair; Terrance the lone wolf bounty hunter and bowser with his little “teen white savior” teammates; Yolanda’s sister who is a perfect foil for her; miles hiding Blair from his family; sterling hiding april from Blair…and then april hiding sterling period.

And I guess the doubling is kind of showing like, here are all the possibilities and here’s what happens when we let love in and here’s what happens when we shut it out

so much good stuff about being from the American south. As someone who grew up in the south and who grew up visiting close family in Atlanta…it is cool as fuck the way the south is portrayed in all of its complexity. The show does not shy away from issues of race, religion, SES, etc SPECFICALLY in Atlanta and manages to do it in a way that doesn’t come across as heavy handed. This show could ONLY be set in the south—it would be a fundamentally different show in any other setting

Also, like I said with the doubling points above, this show is full of secrets and secret keeping!!! But yet a fundamental point of the show is that being silenced is one of the worst things that can happen to a human being. There’s a scene where Blair is telling sterling that her dad yelled at her and that the worst part of all is that he told her to Be Quiet! And like in some ways that scene highlights what a loving household Blair has grown up in that the one of the worst things her Dad has ever said to her is be quiet (not even shut up)…but it really made me be like wow being told to stop questioning and be quiet IS something terrible. It’s a denial and a violation of our right to use our voices

and like it’s not a coincidence that in the final ep Dana gags sterling. Because the way sterling is talking to her is powerful and you can tell it is making her hesitate and question her whole life

so yeah anyway watch teenage bounty hunters! Or if you haven’t in a while, it’s definitely worth a rewatch

[howtodisappearcompletelyand]

20/10 stars little guy

[senditothemoonn]

I don't know if you've done other vintage outfits before, but your recent post just made me think of France in a 50s dress, maybe the Christian Dior style from back then with the cinched waist and the full skirt! He'd look so classy 😌🩷

“It was as if Europe had tired of dropping bombs and now wanted to let off a few fireworks” 🎇 🎆

[holliwoobz]

i think my biggest complaint about the arcane character arcs was the backseating of familial relationships to romantic ones?

maybe it was part of the tragedy of it all but it was hard to care about caitvi/jayvik/timebomb/jaymel when there didn’t seem to be any resolution between any of the familial relationships that to me were the core tensions of the show (obviously the sisters vi & pow, but also vi & jinx & vander, jinx & silco, jinx & isha, even mel and ambessa). i don’t think my qualm was that they didn’t have a happy ending (though that would have been nice), but that it seemed like the relationships were pushed around and broken apart just for the shock of betrayal, then kind of just left there at the end of the show. a strong theme threaded through the show was family love, and it was just left dangling in lieu of satisfying romantic arcs

like, vi and jinx deserved to forgive each other. the constant betrayals undermined the “complicated sisterhood that’s always ultimately there for each other” and i honestly lost track of who did what at the end, or even what their relationship was supposed to mean/show. like you’re telling me “big sister loyal to a fault hothead grudge holding” violet gave up on her sister for some police chief pussy?? side eye to the gods.

speaking of jinx, she didn’t really get a satisfying arc for me, especially given the attention she was given in the plot overall. the aftermath of her relationship with silco was pretty much discarded completely, as was her relationship with vander. let’s not even get into her and vi (fym vi calls her jinx and not powder?? the name she had as her kid sister vs the name of her greatest regrets??). isha was the PERFECT mirror of vi/powder and then. That happens and reduces it all moot.

maybe i’m just biased as someone who’s very close with my sibling & adores a good exploration of complex family dynamics but i do feel like there were better ways to tie off the threads than the way they were handled

[jemmo]

if i think about haruki too much, i will just start crying.

and not just for the obvious things, the hurt he endures to protect other people, the want he has to be loved and cared for, the softness and vulnerability he shares with jin. but also for the way you can imagine he’s lived and built his life. at the end of the episode when he’s sat taking blame, i wondered why. not just why is he taking the blame, but why is he made to feel like he should, not by anyone else but by himself. it’s hard bc we don’t see anything that haruki has actually done that is bad that could’ve influenced majima to behave badly. we don’t see any of that before that were made to believe happened. that makes me think, is majima saying he was influenced to steal just by being friends with haruki who has built up this bad boy image for himself, that just by getting involved with those kinds of people he too has become a bad person. bc that says a lot. it says a lot about how the world seems to continually blame and hurt haruki for things he didn’t do- not only did he never do anything bad, but this whole image is constructed as a defence to hide the truth, both an excuse to explain bruises, but also by befriending these people, he isn’t asked about his life, no one questions where he’s been, what he’s been doing, what his home life or family is like. befriending these people and being this role means he has no one to pry- or rather, no one to care, and that gives him a level of safety. except here that all backfires.

and it says a lot about the influence of people. if haruki can influence majima to do bad things, can haruki’s father similarly influence him? that’s the question that weighs on haruki, is it that simple, does our environment really make us who we are that much? and it hurts to know he still asks himself that question when we see him so outwardly and actively trying to not be like his father, not fighting back, even when he could hurt him easily, not punching majima, and more than the physicality of it, he tells majima that he’s not trash, neither of them are. he’s not his father bc he will not put someone down and make them feel like they’re worthless, esp not to try and make themselves feel better than them. he never lowers himself to the level of those that hurt him, it’s like he has that center of goodness that doesn’t let him, a small but strong pride in who he actually is or could be that won’t compromise. and by taking the blame for majima, is he sticking to that pride and taking account for the situation, bc whether he intended to or not, majima was still influenced by him? or is he going along with what everyone else expects of him bc he no longer believes he deserves to change, now that he’s seen that just like his believes his father has for him, he’s influenced someone else to be bad. the balance of self-worth in haruki is truly fascinating and heart-breaking, bc in him you see a kid who is just trying to do what is right, in a world that doesn’t treat him right in return.