#i think this show is Excellent

[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

[california-112]

[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.

[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.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Everyone Look At My Son. Look At Him.

[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

[chekhovstrap]

Okay the reason I’m so intrigued by Rhaenyra and Alicent’s relationship and the love they have is because it almost has to exist solely within the subtext. Make no mistake, it is there. The tension it causes is, dare I say, what makes the entire show. But it is implicit for the most part because of course it is! In what world would either of them be able to fully confront what they have meant to each other? What they have continued to mean to each other despite everything? What would you have Rhaenyra say? “You have betrayed me in a way that has ruined me, but of course I can still voice how deeply I love and care for you without so much as a stutter” ? And Alicent, “This resentment I hold for you has bore itself so deeply it has made me a stranger even to myself, but even now my soul yearns for you” ? No. Of course they cannot say this. Yet it is still felt.

We feel it when Alicent refuses to accept the idea of killing Rhaenyra in front of the entire council. We feel it when she sends her ravens, and when we learn that she has kept the torn page from when they were girls. We feel it when Rhaenyra sneaks into KL to speak alone with Alicent. The tears that fall when Rhaenyra receives the torn page. It’s all there, yet it almost defies words.

It reminds me so much of how the relationship dynamic between Silver and Flint was handled on Black Sails. One of the writers for Black Sails, Jonathan E. Steinberg, said it best: “I think the moment you make them text, that’s the cop-out. Like, the cop-out is making it seem like it would be easy for him to address this. [...] We had to embrace the fact that there would have to be things that were left unsaid and were going to have to exist in subtext and performance and context in order for it to be honest. That felt right. There is, at least to me when I watch it, a significant amount happening between the two of them that is all under the surface. We relied on the audience a lot to fill in those blanks.”

[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

[stripeydani]

[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” 🎇 🎆

[mixelation]

do you recommend yugioh? i saw a screencap of the guy who's like "no more white wine spritzers before bed" or something and it kinda made me want to watch the show. but some shows (cough naruto cough) are like. i wouldnt recommend this to anybody even though i liked it. i'd tell them to watch specific episodes or fights but forget the whole show yk

oh boy. would i recommend it........ hmm. definitely i would recommend looking up an episode list/guide and skipping filler if you do decide to watch it. but for the rest.... depends on what you are looking for in a show!!

first, do not let my blog fool you. yugioh is about playing a card game. all conflict is solved with card games. all of it. every once in a while someone throws a punch or they have to escape a burning building, but usually somehow these events will also involve card games. somehow. there is ancient dark magic, but it doesn't come up nearly as much as just playing a card game. there are compelling characters and friendships, but most of their shonen-style friendship bonds are forged through the card game. you need to accept this in order to enjoy the series.

(the first few volumes of the manga use a variety of games and challenges instead of focusing on the main card game. the chapters are mostly episodic with a few longer arcs, and the focus is on yugi's friendships. also the ghost possessing him sets at least two people on fire. if you're dubious of the card game aspect but interested in getting to know the main cast, this might be up your alley.)

for the anime, a lot of the zanier lines you see in screen caps are from the english dub, which has nostalgic "call the rice ball a donut" and "give this character a ridiculous accent for no reason" vibes. sometimes the dub is genuinely funny. sometimes it's annoying. if you want an entertaining and over-the-top old school-ish anime, you might enjoy the dub.

the original Japanese is slightly more serious. for example, in the dub, Yugi does a magical girl transformation every time he uses the puzzle. this doesn't happen in the original. there's fewer bizarre ad-libbed lines (like the wine spritzer joke). in some ways it makes the show less fun? but also some of the zanier situations get a little more fun if, for example, the buzzsaws set to chop off your legs if you lose a card game aren't edited out. it is still VERY firmly a show about playing card games, but it takes itself more seriously.

honestly, if i did a rewatch, i'd probably watch the dub for duelist kingdom (the first arc) for the nostalgia and then switch to the japanese for the rest. my recollection is that post duelist kingdom is when the weird voice acting choices started to get grating, and also bizarre editing choices got worse (like changing buzzsaws to.... glowing disks that send you to the shadow realm. or something)

OR you can try YuGiOh the Abridges series, which is housed entirely on youtube and leans fully into how ridiculous YGO is as a concept. I've only seen a few rando episodes of it, but it's very well-loved. (also a warning that apparently it's very "of its time" so there might be some jokes that.... would not be acceptable in 2024.)