#i think this would be silly little way to rewatch. mixing the bad and the mediocre and the good all together

[wander-wren]

now, i want to preface all this by saying i do *not* have the capacity to run anything right now, but if someone else did i would gladly hop on board. also, no one asked me to do this but i hyperfocused a lil bit and by the time i stopped doing that i was 2+ hours deep and had to finish, so

*deep breath* may i present......

supernatural, most unhinged and nonsensical version:

SEPTEMBER

10th- 5x1 (Sympathy for the Devil)

13th- 1x1 (Pilot)

17th- 5x2 (Good God, Y'all!)

18th- 4x1 (Lazarus Rising)

20th- 1x2 (Wendigo)

23rd- 7x1 (Meet the New Boss)

24th- 5x3 (Free to Be You and Me), 6x1 (Exile on Main St)

25th- 4x2 (Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester)

27th- 1x3 (Dead in the Water)

28th- 2x1 (In My Time of Dying)

30th- 7x2 (Hello, Cruel World)

OCTOBER

1st- 5x4 (The End), 6x2 (Two and a Half Men)

2nd- 4x3 (In the Beginning)

3rd- 8x1 (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

4th- 1x4 (Phantom Traveler), 3x1 (The Magnificent Seven)

5th- 2x2 (Everybody Loves a Clown)

7th- 7x3 (The Girl Next Door), 10x1 (Black), 11x1 (Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire)

8th- 5x5 (Fallen Idols), 6x3 (The Third Man), 9x1 (I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here), 15x14 (Last Holiday)

9th- 4x4 (Metamorphosis)

10th- 8x2 (What's Up, Tiger Mommy?), 15x1 (Back and to the Future)

11th- 1x5 (Bloody Mary), 3x2 (The Kids Are Alright), 14x1 (Stranger in a Strange Land)

12th- 2x3 (Bloodlust), 13x1 (Lost and Found)

13th- 12x1 (Keep Calm and Carry On)

14th- 7x4 (Defending Your Life), 10x2 (Reichenbach), 11x2 (Form and Void)

15th- 5x6 (I Believe the Children Are Our Future), 6x4 (Weekend at Bobby's), 9x2 (Devil May Care), 15x15 (Gimme Shelter)

16th- 4x5 (Monster Movie)

17th- 8x3 (Heartache), 15x2 (Raising Hell)

18th- 1x6 (Skin), 3x3 (Bad Day at Black Rock), 14x2 (Gods and Monsters)

19th- 2x4 (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things), 13x2 (The Rising Son)

20th- 12x2 (Mamma Mia)

21st- 7x5 (Shut Up, Dr. Phil), 10x3 (Soul Survivor), 11x3 (The Bad Seed)

22nd- 6x5 (Live Free or Twihard), 9x3 (I'm No Angel), 15x16 (Drag Me Away [From You])

23rd- 4x6 (Yellow Fever)

24th- 8x4 (Bitten), 15x3 (The Rupture)

25th- 1x7 (Hook Man), 3x4 (Sin City), 14x3 (The Scar)

26th- 2x5 (Simon Said), 13x3 (Patience)

27th- 12x3 (The Foundry)

28th- 7x6 (Slash Fiction), 10x4 (Paper Moon), 11x4 (Baby)

29th- 5x7 (The Curious Case of Dean Winchester), 6x6 (You Can't Handle the Truth), 9x4 (Slumber Party), 15x17 (Unity)

30th- 4x7 (It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester)

31st- 8x5 (Blood Brother)

NOVEMBER

1st- 3x5 (Bedtime Stories), 14x4 (Mint Condition)

2nd- 2x6 (No Exit), 13x4 (The Big Empty)

3rd- 12x4 (American Nightmare)

4th- 7x4 (The Mentalists), 11x5 (Thin Lizzie)

5th- 5x8 (Changing Channels), 6x7 (Family Matters), 9x5 (Dog Dean Afternoon), 15x18 (Despair)

6th- 4x8 (Wishful Thinking)

7th- 8x6 (Southern Comfort), 15x4 (Atomic Monsters)

8th- 1x8 (Bugs), 3x6 (Red Sky at Morning), 6x8 (All Dogs Go to Heaven), 14x5 (Nightmare Logic)

9th- 2x7 (The Usual Suspects), 13x5 (Advanced Thanatology)

10th- 12x5 (The One You've Been Waiting For)

11th- 7x8 (Season 7, Time for a Wedding!), 10x5 (Fan Fiction), 11x6 (Our Little World)

12th- 5x9 (The Real Ghostbusters), 9x6 (Heaven Can't Wait), 15x19 (Inherit the Earth)

13th- 4x9 (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

14th- 8x7 (A Little Slice of Kevin), 15x5 (Proverbs 17:3)

15th- 1x9 (Home), 3x7 (Fresh Blood), 14x6 (Optimism)

16th- 2x8 (Crossroad Blues), 13x6 (Tombstone)

17th- 12x6 (Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox)

18th- 7x9 (How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters), 10x6 (Ask Jeeves), 11x7 (Plush)

19th- 5x10 (Abandon All Hope...), 6x9 (Clap Your Hands If You Believe...), 9x7 (Bad Boys), 15x20 (Carry On)

20th- 4x10 (Heaven and Hell)

21st- 15x6 (Golden Time)

22nd- 1x10 (Asylum)

23rd- 13x7 (War of the Worlds)

25th- 10x7 (Girls, Girls, Girls)

26th- 9x8 (Rock and a Hard Place)

28th- 8x8 (Hunteri Heroici)

29th- 14x7 (Unhuman Nature)

30th- 13x8 (The Scorpion and the Frog)

DECEMBER

1st- 12x7 (Rock Never Dies)

2nd- 7x10 (Death's Door), 10x8 (Hibbing 911), 11x8 (Just My Imagination)

3rd- 6x10 (Caged Heat), 9x9 (Holy Terror)

5th- 8x9 (Citizen Fang), 15x7 (Last Call)

6th- 14x8 (Byzantium)

7th- 2x9 (Croatoan), 13x9 (The Bad Place)

8th- 12x8 (LOTUS)

9th- 10x9 (The Things We Left Behind), 11x9 (O Brother Where Art Thou?)

10th- 6x11 (Appointment in Samarra)

12th- 15x8 (Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven)

13th- 3x8 (A Very Supernatural Christmas), 14x9 (The Spear)

JANUARY

6th- 7x11 (Adventures in Babysitting)

10th- 1x11 (Scarecrow)

11th- 2x10 (Hunted)

13th- 7x12 (Time After Time)

14th- 9x10 (Road Trip)

15th- 4x11 (Family Remains) 16th- 8x10 (Torn and Frayed), 15x9 (The Trap)

17th- 1x12 (Faith), 14x10 (Nihilism)

18th- 2x11 (Playthings), 13x10 (Wayward Sisters)

20th- 10x10 (The Hunter Games), 11x10 (The Devil in the Details)

21st- 5x11 (Sam, Interrupted), 9x11 (First Born)

22nd- 4x12 (Criss Angel is a Douchebag)

23rd- 8x11 (LARP and the Real Girl), 15x10 (The Hero’s Journey)

24th- 14x11 (Damaged Goods)

25th- 2x12 (Nightshifter), 13x11 (Breakdown)

26th- 12x9 (First Blood)

27th- 10x11 (There’s No Place Like Home), 11x11 (Into the Mystic)

28th- 5x12 (Swap Meat), 9x12 (Sharp Teeth)

29th- 4x13 (After School Special)

30th- 8x12 (As Time Goes By), 15x11 (The Gamblers)

31st- 1x13 (Route 666), 3x9 (Malleus Maleficarum), 14x12 (Prophet and Loss)

FEBRUARY

1st- 2x13 (Houses of the Holy), 13x12 (Vrious and Sundry Villains)

2nd- 12x10 (Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets)

3rd- 7x13 (The Slice Girls), 10x12 (About a Boy), 11x12 (Don't You Forget About Me)

4th- 5x13 (The Song Remains the Same), 6x12 (Like a Virgin), 9x13 (The Purge)

5th- 4x14 (Sex and Violence)

6th- 8x13 (Everybody Hates Hitler)

7th- 1x14 (Nightmare), 3x10 (Dream a Little Dream of Me), 14x13 (Lebanon)

8th- 2x14 (Born Under a Bad Sign), 13x13 (Devil's Bargain)

9th- 12x11 (Regarding Dean)

10th- 7x14 (Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie), 10x13 (Halt & Catch Fire), 11x13 (Love Hurts)

11th- 5x14 (My Bloody Valentine), 6x13 (Unforgiven)

13th- 8x14 (Trial and Error)

14th- 1x15 (The Benders), 3x11 (Mystery Spot)

15th- 2x15 (Tall Tales)

16th- 12x12 (Stuck in the Middle [With You])

17th- 7x15 (Repo Man), 10x14 (The Executioner's Song), 11x14 (The Vessel)

18th- 6x14 (Mannequin 3: The Reckoning)

20th- 8x15 (Man's Best Friend with Benefits)

21st- 3x12 (Jus in Bello)

23rd- 12x13 (Family Feud)

24th- 11x15 (Beyond the Mat)

25th- 6x15 (The French Mistake), 9x14 (Captives)

27th- 8x16 (Remember the Titans)

28th- 1x16 (Shadow)

MARCH

1st- 13x14 (Good Intentions)

2nd- 12x14 (The Raid)

4th- 6x16 (...And Then There Were None), 9x15 (#THINMAN)

7th- 14x14 (Ouroboros)

8th- 13x15 (A Most Holy Man)

9th- 12x15 (Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell)

12th- 4x15 (Death Takes a Holiday)

14th- 14x15 (Peace of Mind)

15th- 2x16 (Roadkill)

16th- 7x16 (Out with the Old), 15x12 (Galaxy Brain)

18th- 9x16 (Blade Runners), 10x15 (The Things They Carried)

19th- 4x16 (On the Head of a Pin)

20th- 8x17 (Goodbye Stranger)

21st- 14x16 (Don't Go in the Woods)

22nd- 2x17 (Heart)

23rd- 7x17 (The Born-Again Identity), 11x16 (Safe House), 15x13 (Destiny's Child)

25th- 5x15 (Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid), 9x17 (Mother's Little Helper), 10x16 (Paint It Black)

26th- 4x17 (It's a Terrible Life)

27th- 8x18 (Freaks and Geeks)

29th- 13x16 (Scoobynatural)

30th- 1x17 (Hell House), 7x18 (Party on, Garth), 11x17 (Red Meat), 12x16 (Ladies Drink Free)

APRIL

1st- 5x16 (Dark Side of the Moon),10x17 (Inside Man)

2nd- 4x18 (The Monster at the End of This Book)

3rd- 8x19 (Taxi Driver)

4th- 14x17 (Game Night)

5th- 13x17 (The Thing)

6th- 1x18 (Something Wicked), 11x18 (Hell's Angel), 12x17 (The British Invasion)

8th- 5x17 (99 Problems)

11th- 14x18 (Absence)

12th- 13x18 (Bring 'Em Back Alive)

13th- 1x19 (Provenance), 12x18 (The Memory Remains)

15th- 5x18 (Point of No Return), 6x17 (My Heart Will Go On), 9x18 (Meta Fiction), 10x18 (Book of the Damned)

18th- 14x19 (Jack in the Box)

19th- 2x18 (Hollywood Babylon), 13x19 (Funeralia)

20th- 1x20 (Dead Man's Blood), 7x19 (Of Grave Importance)

22nd- 5x19 (Hammer of the Gods), 6x18 (Frontierland), 9x19 (Alex Annie Alexis Ann), 10x19 (The Werther Project)

23rd- 4x19 (Jump the Shark)

24th- 3x13 (Ghostfacers), 8x20 (Pac-Man Fever)

25th- 14x20 (Moriah)

26th- 2x19 (Folsom Prison Blues), 13x20 (Unfinished Business)

27th- 1x21 (Salvation), 7x20 (The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo), 11x19 (The Chitters), 12x19 (The Future)

29th- 5x20 (The Devil You Know), 6x19 (Mommy Dearest), 9x20 (Bloodlines), 10x20 (Angel Heart)

30th- 4x20 (The Rapture)

MAY

1st- 3x14 (Long Distance Call), 8x21 (The Great Escapist)

3rd- 2x20 (What Is and What Should Never Be), 13x21 (Beat the Devil)

4th- 1x22 (Devil's Trap), 7x21 (Reading is Fundamental), 11x20 (Don't Call Me Shurley), 12x20 (Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes)

6th- 5x21 (Two Minutes to Midnight), 6x20 (The Man Who Would Be King), 9x21 (King of the Damned), 10x21 (Dark Dynasty)

7th- 4x21 (When the Levee Breaks)

8th- 3x15 (Time Is on My Side), 8x22 (Clip Show)

10th- 2x21 (All Hell Breaks Loose [Part 1]), 13x22 (Exodus)

11th- 7x22 (There Will Be Blood), 11x21 (All in the Family), 12x21 (There's Something About Mary)

13th- 5x22 (Swan Song), 9x22 (Stairway to Heaven), 10x22 (The Prisoner)

14th- 4x22 (Lucifer Rising)

15th- 3x16 (No Rest for the Wicked), 8x23 (Sacrifice)

17th- 2x22 (All Hell Breaks Loose [Part 2]), 13x23 (Let the Good Times Roll)

18th- 7x23 (Survival of the Fittest), 11x22 (We Happy Few), 12x22 (Who We Are), 12x23 (All Along the Watchtower)

20th- 6x21 (Let It Bleed), 6x22 (The Man Who Knew Too Much), 9x23 (Do You Believe in Miracles?), 10x23 (Brother's Keeper)

25th- 11x23 (Alpha and Omega)

Between Dracula Daily happening again and all the posts about enjoying old(er) media during the writers' and actors' strikes going on in Hollywood right now, I feel like there's an opportunity for someone to organize a rewatch of some show, using the original air dates of the episodes as a guide.

I have too much life stuff going on right now to do it myself, but if you've heard of someone doing this (or you're inspired to do it yourself), share in the notes?

[absolutebl]

These Weeks in BL - This Is Very Late, Or Right on Time depending on where you sit on the temporal debate team

Sorry I got distracted by work. In my defense: I was paid.

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

March 2024 Wk 1 & 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube grey) ep 12 fin - Unfortunately, there was singing. But what can we do?

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth, with no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up. Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it still stands. This is a great show, a solid adaptation, and a pleasing take on the original yaoi. I personally like it better than the Japanese live action, but I think that’s because I just really like Thai BL and I LOVE TayNew. I doubted them for this and I shouldn’t have. They did a great job, as did the sides. I will say all the kissing was both present and better than any other iteration. As it should be. Definitely one for the rewatch rotation. 9/10 

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 1 of 8 (10?) - Damn it, I love it. And I don't want to. It’s more classic BL than I thought it would be, and far less Only Friends or Playboyy. (Thank fuck.) We got a big cast and a lot of tropes going down out the gate, including SMITTEN popular hot guy versus nerd with secret identity. (Incidentally, Khem did drop into rude / informal when arguing with his Aunt and defending his ma. Bratty boy.) The leads have good chemistry (First always does), and everyone is very pretty. The main boy reminds me of J-Min's role (and look) in Love Class 2. I am entertained. (And faintly wonder why this isn't a MosBank vehicle.)

To Be Continued (Thai C3 Thailand grey) eps 1-3 of 8- High school sweethearts who had a bad break up reunite a decade later when both of them have full time jobs (celebrity & doctor). Dr Ji is a familiar face (hi Dream it's been a LONG time) and everyone is way too old for high school, but I guess I prefer this to child actors?

I'm enjoying it, actually, the cast may be older but they're solid as a result and the chemistry is on point for a pulp. Whether our celebrity is on the DL or cheating or something else remains to be seen but he sure is smitten. The way he LOOKS at Ji = hawt.

Frankly? Celebrity/doctor is a good pairing and this is a solid Thai BL. I hope we have a nice angsty reason for the break-up and we're not in another Promise situation. I like the sides too. Carry on, little show, I'm disposed to be pleased with you.

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 12 - I am enjoying it, actually. It’s incredibly silly. But I don’t really mind. STOP SINGING. 

1000 Years Old eps 3-4 of 12 - I love that these kids basically adopted a vampire pet. And one of them accidentally got a vampire boyfriend. This suddenly turned from a PNR into a family drama about domestic gays opening a food stall and I'm not mad about it. Nothing makes sense and I don't care because... rainbow umbrella!

A Secretly Love (Thai WeTV grey) eps 1 of 10 - I don’t love it. I make no bones about the fact that a pining uke rarely works for me, especially if he’s younger (cute supportive besties not withstanding), the power dynamic isn’t good. I always like Kimmon, he’s a stiff actor but v pretty. (I shallow af.) Still it’s time he started acting his age… literally. Having to watch ads again as well… for this? Ooof. I'm not sure I'm strong enough.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Perfect Propose (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 6 fin - It was very cute. I liked that there was uke instigated kisses. However I have some reservations on this one, much as I enjoyed it.

Adapted from Mayo Tsurakame’s manga, production team included Tadaaki Horai (My Love Mix-Up!) and Takeshi Miyamoto (Old Fashion Cupcake). Essentially Perfect Propose was about finding hope in a person when all other hope is gone. This show focuses on apathy, and perforce is somewhat apathetic and un-engaging especially as the pacing was off (and with only 6 episodes? now) However, this is countered by great visuals, good archetypes, and a clean story of childhood sweethearts reuniting after loosing their way in life. I landed on 8/10 mostly for a demanding younger seme and some great kisses. 

Unknown (Taiwan Tues Youku YouTube) eps 2-3 of 11 - Oh it’s great. I love it. I’m still worried by how gritty and "Taiwanese short-esk" it feels, but wow does this hit all my favorite taboo tropes and buttons. I also adore the little found fam, they the cutest gay older bros ever. The younger one who wants so bad to grow up and take care of the older one and pushes himself because into self sacrifice that’s the only model of love he has. ARGH. BOYS. Why so much pain, just smooch already! Sheesh. It's on YouTube for some of us, here's the schedule.

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) eps 6-7 of 10 - They remain questionably cute, and that is probably going to be my ultimate review of this show. Awe cameo! (Hi babies, hope the ghosts are leaving you alone.) The irony does not escape me that the person in the relationship with the most emotional acumen is, in fact, the robot and not the human. I'm sure that's meant to be deep.

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Gaga) ep 1 of 6 - A tortured second chance romance featuring a reported and a successful celebrity(?) academic. The kid actors look nothing like their adult counterparts, but they do look much younger. So, okay. Ah the utter embarrassment of first love. Oh I like it a lot, so very messy Japanese emo. Sigh. Here we go again.

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (Japan Thurs Gaga) eps 8-9 of 10 - They are a cute couple. They both trying so hard and so confused and awkward and polite in trying to understand each other but TERRIBLE at communication. 

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) eps 3-4 of 8 - I don’t know how I feel about this. But I do know it’s not my thing because it’s not BL. I’ll finish it because it’s short but… meh. 

It's done, ready to binge, but I have no time

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - will binge when I have any spare time. 2024 is crazy busy for me so far.

The Servant and the Young Master (Vietnam YouTube) - I will try when I have a window of time.

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) - A Burmese BL? @heretherebedork vouched for it, so I will watch eventually.

It's airing but...

Dead Friend Forever (Thai iQIYI) - finished it's run and I won't be watching it. It's horror with BL elements and the ending, well, let's just say that's a "no thank you" from me.

Ossans Love Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 5 years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan so… no. I'm not watching this. I dislike this franchise.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - dropped it at ep 4.

Takumi-kun (2023) movie version AKA Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa released on FOD 3/5/2024. The original project was a 6 ep series. Having seen all the previous iterations and read the (terrible) yaoi I admit to being intrigued. If anyone finds eng subbed please let me know with a link in comments or in a DM? For those intersted in this show, probably the world's first true BL franchise I chat all about it here.

Gossip

James Supamongkon has withdrawn from the series Love Upon A Time and the NetJames pair is no more. Net Siraphop will continue with the historical BL project alongside a new partner. Can I interest you in Tod Techit... almost as pretty, legs for days...

The Complete Chronology of the Assault Case Against GMMTV Actor Win Pawin

I'm merely directing your attention to these articles, I do not wish for discussion of this content on this blog. Please don't ask for further info, I don't know the answer, follow the link that's why it's there.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Still Coming

3/21 Two Worlds (Thai IQIYI) 10 eps - announced here. One of those "he's dead Jim so time travel" thingames staring MaxNat. I'm over them but Asia flipping loves this trope and I do adore MaxNat. Phupha (Gun) and Khram (Nat) love each other but Phupha is murdered. Then Khram is pulled to a parallel world where, 12 years ago, Khram and Tai (Max) were in love. However, Khram was killed by Thai’s dad. Now Tai finds alter-Khram apparently alive. But then there is ALSO an alter-Phupha (played by Gun Thanawat who is Khom the repressed butler bodyguard from Unforgotten Night).

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

How flipping adorable is this vampire with his big gay umbrella? SUCH A DORK and we got more vampire dorks coming.

Thailand has found its vampire line and it's awkward and geeky and quite cheerful. 'Bout what we expected, to be fair. It's a good look for them.

And vampires.

In other news...

That's your random moment of thirst, Lim Jimin shirtless AKA my Just B bias (I mean, I could talk about how good his extensions are and how I love a husky voice in Kpop but really, just LOOK at him). I'm very very very shallow, remember? Full vid is here.

Why am I mentioning Lim Jimin (aside from the obvious)? If Just B doesn't break soon, I could some of them transitioning to BL. Jimin in particular would be a win for us, obvs.

Also, can we talk about Bain (my bias wrecker) KILLING it on Build Up? I had no idea he was that good. Anygay, this has been your Kpop end note.

Seriously tho, is ANYONE else watching Build-Up?

(Last week - well, 2 weeks ago)

Streaming services are listed how I'm (usually watching) which is with a USA based IP

The tag bragade: @doorajar

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will. Easy peesy.

[waitmyturtles]

SPOILERS FOR THE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC FIRST EPISODE OF OS2 X BBS

(I’m on the far, far end of the international date line, so hopefully most of y’all have seen it or are close to seeing it...)

I MEAN?!?!?!?! I MEEEEANNNNNN?!?!??!?!?!!?

Maybe I was a little (okay, A LOT) worried that these episodes would feel like an appendage, maybe in kind of the way I felt The Eclipse episodes turned out (but I really need to rewatch those again).

But how could I not trust Aof? It almost seems like he started writing this as soon as he was done with BOTH BBS and ATOTS to put this story together. 

I was getting mixed up in mom brain with @miscellar a few days ago, thinking that there was going to be a body swap thingy, and kind of groaning about it, so I’m SO SO GLAD I WAS WRONG, and that this is going to be set up to be a mini-drama about two couples going through their growth shit. 

I dunno, y’all. What can I say. The MAJORITY of you all have been waiting MUCH LONGER than me to see Pran and Pat reunited, as I only watched Bad Buddy in January, and ATOTS late last year, but still, really -- I have this seriously strong sense of nostalgia that I am so happy to see Pat and Pran HAPPY, and/or at least working on their relationship, AND, JESUS, to see Phupha and TIAN TOGETHER, and omg, THAT MUSIC THAT PLAYED WHEN PHUPHA TURNED HIS HEAD and Pran was googly-eyed, and I was literally DYING AT THIS STARBUCKS, actually covering my mouth with giggles because not only is it so good to see all these guys back, but ALL OF THEM TOGETHER, and acting together, and FUCK, THIS WHOLE TWO-WEEK DEAL IS GOING TO BE SO FUCKING GOOD.

Like, this storyline does NOT seem played out. (Listen, I enjoyed PatWai.)

Honestly, I can’t really conjure analysis, LOL. I’m just too overwhelmed. The fucking shots of Chiang Mai and Pha Pun Dao. Pran sticking his hand out of the car and seeing the green hills. PRAN IS THERE, Y’ALL, PRAN. I mean --

IT’S DOUBLE NOSTALGIA TIME. THAT’S WHAT AOF DID, THAT’S WHAT HE’S DOING TO US!!!!!!

GAAAAAHHHHH. I think that’s it. I’m getting hit TWICE, Y’ALL, TWICE WITH THE FEELS! PatPran, PhuphaTian! Flashbacks to Tinidee and Chiang Mai! Campus and hills of tea! It’s too much! Too much for an almost menopausal woman like myself! I’m fuckin’ gonna give myself hot flashes with this shit!

And Tian is SO FEISTY, UGH, and Pat is SO DETERMINED but still making silly mistakes, but being SO HONEST and reflective about those mistakes, and Pran is still such a buggy little SHIT, but has opened up so much, as we can see, to be open and honest about his feelings, while these guys still know and maybe slightly regret that they have to keep things secret.

I FUCKING LOVE THAT THIS EPISODE MADE MULTIPLE REFERENCES TO UNCLE TONG AND THE IMPACT THAT HE HAD ON THEM. THAT THEIR HONEYMOON TRIP WAS THE LAST TIME THEY COULD BE OPEN AND OUT TOGETHER.

I might have more to say later, but I’m just agog right now. This was so well done, at least so far. These guys fucking hauled ass to do this show, I mean, Ohm had finished filming Double Savage like the day before this. I’m shaking my damn head. This was fun, it was flirty, it was emotional, the bros are still fucking bro-ing (WTF KORN, BTW! I mean, did you out them, or was that a slightly homophobic comment?!), it’s filmed BEAUTIFULLY, but what would you expect of Aof otherwise. 

I mean. I just wrote a whole bunch of gibberish, but I honestly have no words. I’m so, so, so, so, so, so, so glad to have all of these guys back, in one place, all four of them, acting together, working together (PAT IN THE CLASSROOM OMFG I’M GONNA DIIEEEEEEE TOMORROWWWWW). 

I’m a CROSSOVER STAN, NO PROBLEMS WITH IT. I AM SUITED AND SEATED FOR IT. Ohm x Nanon x Earth x Mix -- FUCK. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

[bohnsky]

Vegas 23

Vegas was silly, way too much unnecessary show and all it really did was making me want to rewatch the Ocean's movies.

But here are my thoughts on Vegas and my favorite drivers 6,5 months into liking f1:

1. Alex Albon  

I've got to say, quali made me fucking happy and the first few laps, when both Williams could hold their positions. I'm sure no one really expected them to stay up there, but I feel like they would've deserved at least some points. 

Also, when he fell during the Netflix Cup. 

2. Sergio Perez 

VAMOS!!!! I'm so happy for Checo!!! 

I was so scared, after that turn one ichident, but luckily everything turned out okay. Even though I feel like Red Bull don't celebrate that championship 1-2 enough. It seems like they tend to forget that Checo brought Max his first Championship AND Red Bulls first 1-2. 

Also, I was so stressed in that last lap. Why did it have to be so fucking close again? My heart can't handle that. Plus, I'm getting really mad at the German commentators again. They just keep bullshitting on Checo to the point that I actually think about watching with the English commentary. And then when he does good in the race, they just act so surprised as if he hadn't done this before, qualifying badly but then totally killing it in the race.

3. Charles Leclerc/Lewis Hamilton 

My little Ferrari heart was happy for the majority of the weekend, but it also broke a little. Being a Ferrari fan comes with tons of mixed feelings. 

Also, I was a little mad at Charles for overtaking Checo on the last lap, but I can't really be mad at him. He deserves that 2nd place and I'm happy for him, even if he himself is not happy with 2nd. 

I feel a little bad, because I haven't been rooting for Lewis at all, but I just needed Checo to get that 2nd place in the championship. Now that that's out of the way, I can root for Lewis again :) 

Also them having a few moments together this weekend made me happy. 

4. Lance Stroll 

I'm so happy!!! 

Here the commentators were shocked as well, because Lance is like Checo a victim of their constant bullshitting. He's showing the world that he does deserve his seat and I couldn't be happier for him! 

5.  Lando Norris 

I'm sad. It was a horrendous weekend for him. Even without the crash. I just hope he really is fine and doesn't just say that to not worry us. 

Also can we talk about how wag coded Max Fewtrell is? I love it. 

Honorable mentions: 

Logan. I was so happy for him in Quali! I just wish the race would have ended a little better for him. And then I watched a clip of him and remembered how fucking American he is. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Americans. I love Americans, but they can be real silly. And Logan is often very silly. 

Carlos. I refused to wake up at 5am to watch fp1, waking up to "red flag because of SAI", "FP1 will not be resumed" and "FP2 will be delayed for 2 hours, because the track needs to be fixed". Let me tell you, I was imagining the worst. I thought Carlos had sent it into the wall or something. It took me a while to understand what had actually happened. And how dare them give Carlos a fucking 10 place grid penalty for THEIR mistake? I'm furious! Well at least he got P6. 

Max. I have finally decided that I love Max. I am no longer torn when it comes to him. My favorite thing about this weekend (after Checo securing 2nd in the championship) might be that Max tried to help Checo on that last lap. I really didn't expect him to, but that was sweet, just a little too late. But that's not his fault. 

Liam. I miss him. He seems like a fun guy and I really liked him and Yuki together. 

That's it, thanks for reading. 

[moccabunie]

things I actually like from bungou stray dogs anime adaptation

Bones hasn't been my biggest joy lately, so I'm doing this to cope and remind myself why I am here

so! I have to start mentioning that the anime was my first contact with the series. I thought it had kind of a cozy vibe – the lighting there was REALLY GOOD. Generally, bones is pretty good doing backgrounds, and I love the ambients they usually make for BSD (side note: this is one thing I don't like about the current season, but I'm not here today to talk about the things I don't like).

From the start I have loved the colors, the lights and the vibe in each episode. It makes everything stunning in a way that from that point on, there are a lot of scene that gain a lot just because of the light used. I'm not mentioning the color symbolism because it's not really my thing, but it's another asset that is present to identify characters. I personally like the shade of blue used for Dazai's no longer human and I LOVE the purples for Fyodor. And I also have to mention the blacks, because sometimes it's just deep-black, but another times they put shades and textures inside the black (rashoumon, for example) and it makes everything a lot more vibrant. I like a lot of scenes just because they are vibrant.

And, another view I have about how Bones use the color is that here they manage to complement the manga for the good. The light/dark discourse is a present thing in the main plot and it's important to show characters's psychology and development, so this aspect really adds in the anime and helps to illustrate the message in the story.

ADA is the light. Port mafia is usually night. Sometimes they mix up. And in the middle you have twilight, when you have no good or bad, just picking the most convenient or less damaging option. I reallyreallyreally love sunsets in bsd.

It's Atsushi discovering he has the right to cry a man he hated. It's Atsushi deciding that an alliance with the port mafia is the better option. It's sskk coming to terms.

So, in the same way, I don't think that the comeback of double black was settled during night time by far causality.

Also twilight and pink shades are used for life-changing-core memories, and it's just the way it adds a extra nostalgic vibe that these scenes are so precious to me.

second thing; the filler/extra eps

This would not be typically called filler, I think, but it easier this way – I'm talking about scenes that they took/mixed from the light novels, and I am specifically talking about Sasaki here:

Plus, I enjoy a lot Dazai, Kunikida and Atsushi as a group :") the series started with the three of them and I'd love to see more of them solving silly detective cases.

The anime adaptation for Fifteen and Dark Era were good to me (speaking now as someone who hasn't read this two novels yet). Dark Era is pretty much my comfort arc (?) and I rewatch it anytime I can. I just love to have the perspective of this Dazai in contrast to his current self – moreover, I love to see different shades of him in a way that one can't say who is his genuine self.

Honestly, the one thing I loved about season 5 was the anime adaptation of Ranpo's backstory in Untold Origins. I haven't read the lightnovel just yet, and to this point I think that could be the trick since I didn't focused on what they were not animating, and instead I enjoyed the things I liked.

I found myself doing exactly this along the chapters for this season – until I just couldn't do this anymore, it makes me sad but I was really getting upset, and if a thing I love beggins to not bringing me joy I would rather take a step appart (and yet here I am lmao).

So I'm gonna focus now on specific things I like about this season, both parts 1 and 2.

things I'm thankful bones did for bsd season 4

the opening. VIBING!!! THIS PART was specially beautiful, like? I love how both of them look a little insane here.

my mind went blank when I saw them, I paused and replayed again. They had no reason to do this but they did it anyway and I am so grateful for that.

the use of grey tones in Untold Origins, I just love the vibe, it makes the animation here really special for what I have told about how bones play with the color.

Mushitaro! Mushitaro!!! My little babygirl. He is easily one of my favorite characters and I honestly like how they animated these chapters. He looks pretty and smackable. He is so dramatic, he wears the drama. HE is the moment.

this moment. Forever changed the trajectory of my life.

Sigma. Sigma falling from the sky casino. Sigma giving up. Sigma's interaction with Atsushi. Sigma with Fyodor. Sigma as a concept.

Obsessed with his eyes btw. I love Sigma's grey eyes from the manga, but I also like a lot anime Sigma's gold ones.

the siblings ever ♡

There are way more things, but I'm stopping here with just my top favorites. I'd say that I like most season 4, but we must remember that season 5 is still incomplete :") even if we feel dissapointed now, there are still more chapter in their way. I think that the anime can be enjoyable for those who haven't read the manga, and I completely understand that we are upset with the things they took away with no apparent reason. I'd like to know more about this, honestly, because I'm aware that animation is just a different media with different rythms. Anyway, hopefully I'll edit this later when the season had finished and I could add more scenes I have enjoyed!

things I'm thankful bones did for bsd season 5

the second op. man, that was insane. I love everything about it.

I would forgive the entire season just for this moment. I haven't recovered yet.

I choose to focus in the sskk we have instead of the sskk we don't. This moment felt amazing to me.

and...

Can you give me a reason to live?

Sir? I think my entire personality has been rewriten just seeing this interaction between them.

I'm gently sobbing, what the fuck is this.

That would be everything. Please, take into consideration that I'm writing this the very same day bones decided to take away dazai's naked elbow... I had to make a concious effort to ignore that they broke my heart today and speak nicely anyway. Have a nice night :)

[ghostfalls137]

rick and morty 6/10 spoilers / talk

i think like... a lot of this season was talking to the viewers as morty. Havent seen many people mention this aspect to it so I wanted to ramble lol I feel like most of season 6 was just set up yeah... people were saying how inconsistent the show was getting, and they decided to REALLY DRIVE IN CONSISTENCY bringing up old bits like sleepy gary and the butter robot. just a lot of the writers having fun yet also driving forward each character, as each character got their own ep this season directly, to add them all back to relevancy a bit more bc the show does, revolve around rick and morty. so it did that a little less this season

im all over the place here sorry lol I still need to recover from this last college semester lmao

ok so the main point i wanted to make, was in 'story train 2' aka the uh. the episode with Campbell that harmon DEFINITELY wrote. there's a point where rick points at the camera but is talking to morty and he was like 'youre what matters' to the camera aka the viewers. and the last scene in 6/10 reminded me of THAT. his ramble that he always does, the rick and morty 100 years rant, it was the writers talking to us, the viewers.

you wanted this. you wanted the dark backstory, you wanted the serialization and the focus on other character arcs. you wanted to see rick change. and here, now you get it all! you get what you wanted despite the warnings. idk I was baked when I saw the ep, I've gotta do a season rewatch and then a series rewatch again to trace it, but it felt DIRECT. that scene was the writers talking to the viewers. a lot of the season was, really? with the story cycle episode and jerrys internet famous arc 'when they start looking for shit to hate you for that's how you know you made it' yeah that feels like a harmon line for sure. i know there was a lot of internal conflict of what they wanted the show to be, but they seem pleased with what they settled on. this year alone harmon and roiland said that the show could easily go on for 1000 episodes. if one arc gets finished, if one UNIVERSE gets finished, they've created a setup that they can exhaust forever. they always wanted to be like the simpsons and tbh I hope they get a long run

but im VERY VERY excited theyre taking this turn, story wise, writers aside. its honestly the best way they've could have gone, I remember seeing the reveals and being like :] cus yeah. we got rick developing. we got rick regressing! we got to see more of the other characters, id say we got very nice storylines as well. i enjoyed it all a lot and I am very scared-excited for season 7. its interesting to see how many mixed reviews they get and how much bad writing criticism when I can literally trace their thought process for it... as this season showed rick trying to improve and grain mortys trust and respect, the writers were saying the same to the viewers. in a similar sense, as rick showed morty that he would always be rick and to watch what you wish for, the writers were doing the same. no more silly random adventures, were going full canon and you wanted this.

[unknownmousezoe]

Cherry's Media Well

Part 2 of the 2023 media recap

Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon- God I hated this, the worse slog of all of them so far. It had less like bottom of the barrel jokes, but in return it was just the most "how much longer is this" so far. I do not enjoy these movies. 1.5/5

Midnight Suns- Honestly the game-play is really solid here. The story is also really good, feels like a B tier comic event in a nice way. I have to say some negatives also tho. Glitches are BAD and some latter enemies just ruin the fun when they show up. Still glad I played. 4/5

Melon Journey- It is a really small free experience so I can not really complain but like, there really is nothing here. It is a game that is one long fetch quest with not real story. The gbc inspired nature is cute but not really worth the time. (time to play the sequel) 3/5

Melon Journey: Bittersweet memories- MILES above the first game holy shit. So many fun little detail and a really solid small plot. Really really liked this one, charming and actually funny def worth the money to get and time to play. I am really glad I gave it a chance 4.5/5

Parsnip- One of those cutesy on the surface but actually d a r k games. Eh I do not think its great but Idk it also has a charm to it. Its a little experience like maybe 30-40 mins and is free so I think its fine just nothing more then that 3/5

The Testimony of Trixie Glimmer Smith- The sequel to Parsnip, it is a much better story, tho it does kinda lose some of the charm of the point click nature of the first game. Did a great job mixing horror with a grounded story with multiple though small paths. Love Trixie 4/5

Three Lesbians in a Barrow- I still enjoyed this one, but it was a downgrade from the scope of Testimony of Trixie. I def am happy with it, but I hope it gets a sequel with more content, because the characters are great I just wish more was done with them here. 3.5/5

Three Lesbians in a Winter Special- Surprise! There is one more game in this series. Yeah this was really good tho super short (like 10 mins at most). Just a cute extra bonus epilogue on the three characters. Art style change was a little hard to get used to but it was nice 4/5

LiveScream- I decided to play this just to get my head in a light hearted spooky mood. It is fine ,the fear mechanic was not the greatest? But it was a quick 20 min experience, so like its fine. It was so short I kinda find it hard to really rank it at all so uh yeah. 3.5/5

Spider-man 2-(rewatch) Still a really good fun movie. Really campy like most good Raimi movies are. Going back I do have some minor nitpicks, I really do not like this movie fuels the narrative of "Peter Parker cant live his life without constantly suffering". Also awful MJ. 4/5

Spider-man 3- Yeah no this movie blows. Characters all suck, and they super butcher venom. Outside of the now memeified silly lines nothing really good here. That being said still kinda fun to watch with friends so its not allll bad. 2.5/5

Transformers: Age of Extinction: Yeah, really bad. It was like 85% human stuff and I hated the humans so much in this one. There was also WAY to much factions in this holy fuck. Why did there need to be three villains all with their own goals. Just was a huge mess god. 1.5/5

Into the Spider-verse(rewatch)- Man I hate to say this is still fantastic with all the recent news with how awful the making of these movies are, but like if I didn't know about that all I would have to say is writing and art are fucking fantastic. I hate to say it but still 5/5

[cha-melodius]

Where Doesn’t It Hurt?

Tropetember Day 3: Hurt/Comfort, Whump

Rating: Teen & up Pairing: Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo Fandom: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Illya Whump, Caretaking, First Kiss, Getting Together, Tenderness, Fluff, Banter Summary: Napoleon encounters resistance when he tries to clean up Illya's wounds at the end of a long day, and their bickering takes a turn that neither of them expect.

Author’s Notes: I'm not gonna lie, I straight up stole the backbone of this scene from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. I rewatched the movie not long ago and this scene spoke to me as so intensely Napollya that I had to write it for them. Then I didn't really have anything to do with the scene, so I wrote a bit of framing and decided to put it out as a little one-shot for Tropetember. It's very silly, and I hope you enjoy.

AO3 Link (the whole thing is also below the cut)

*****

None of them had been in the greatest shape when they’d stumbled onto the ship that Waverly had booked them passage on, but Illya had certainly taken the brunt of it. The steward had looked at them with exceeding skepticism, even though it wasn’t like they were actively bleeding on the floor, but he’d shown them to their cabins. Napoleon had even managed to convince him, with a sizable tip, to bring a basin, some washcloths, and a large bottle of Scotch to their cabin before they got underway.

Gaby had, of course, managed to finagle her own cabin, but Napoleon and Illya are stuck sharing. Napoleon supposes it could be worse; there are two bunks set on either side of the room with a small table that folds down from the wall between them. By the time he gets back from filling the basin with warm water, he finds Illya slowly peeling off his shirt, wincing as he goes. He’s got bruises and abrasions everywhere, which is what happens when you try to stop a car that’s too powerful even for the Russian giant and get dragged behind it because you’re too stubborn to let go.

Napoleon wordlessly passes him a tumbler of Scotch, which he downs in one shot then grimaces against the burn. It’s clear he’s hurting quite a bit, even though he had been of course hiding it on the way here. Now, though, he’s moving at a snail’s pace and hissing in pain as he lowers himself onto the berth. Napoleon watches him for a minute until he can’t stand it anymore, because Illya will of course never ask for help.

“You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?” Napoleon scolds as he bends down to lift Illya’s trailing ankle into the bunk, since it seems possible he might not manage it on his own. “You have to take better care of yourself.”

That nets him some grumbled Russian swears in reply. Illya reclines back against the pillows and closes his eyes, probably hoping Napoleon will take it as the dismissal he intends it to be. Fat chance of that. Napoleon pulls the basin closer to the edge of the table, wets a cloth, and perches himself on the edge of Illya’s bunk. He reaches up to dab gently at one of the worse abrasions on Illya’s shoulder, which predictably results in Illya jerking away from him.

“What are you doing?” he demands, trying to bat Napoleon’s hand away.

“You’re hurt,” Napoleon answers simply.

“I don’t need a nurse, I just need sleep.”

Napoleon, however, is not deterred. “Oh come on, don’t be such a baby.”

“Cowboy, leave me alone,” Illya grunts, trying to pull away from him, but in the small bunk there’s nowhere else for him to go.

“Look, just let me clean the worst of these,” Napoleon tries.

Yeah, Illya’s banged up, but they’ve both had worse. Which, come to think of it, might be why he’s being so petulant about being helped at the moment. Still, he’ll be grumpier if he lets these lacerations scab up with all this dirt and grime in them. Napoleon leans forward to renew his efforts, but he doesn’t get very far. “That hurts!”

“Goddammit, Peril, where doesn’t it hurt?” Napoleon snaps, sitting back in frustration, the wet cloth still clutched in his hand.

“Here!” Illya huffs, lifting his elbow up and pointing at it.

Napoleon blames what happens next on his own exhaustion. Maybe Illya is the one who’s more hurt, but he’s the one who spent the whole time worrying about his partner’s absurd theatrics. He’s already half bent over Illya so when the elbow comes up just about into his face he closes the small gap between them and kisses it.

Illya is quite clearly shocked, and frankly so is Napoleon. They stare at each other for a long couple of minutes, neither of them daring to speak, until, astoundingly, Illya slowly raises his hand and points to a point at the top right of his forehead, just under the brim of his cap.

“Here.”

A tiny smile tugs at the corner of Napoleon’s mouth as he reaches up to grab the cap and pulls it off, tossing it across the cabin. He holds Illya’s gaze as he leans in, daring him to draw away or stop his progress, but it never comes. Napoleon kisses Illya’s forehead, then sits back again, waiting.

“Here is not so bad,” Illya mutters almost offhandedly, pressing a finger to his eyelid as he closes his eyes.

It’s no more than a silly game until Napoleon bends down and lightly presses his lips to soft, delicate skin. At that moment, everything changes. There is an electric tension in the room when he withdraws, not far this time, just enough to meet Illya’s eyes when his lashes flutter open again. Napoleon feels like he can scarcely breathe, which is diametrically opposed to how Illya’s bare chest is heaving under him. For a moment they are frozen, faces inches apart, until Illya’s hand shoots up and curls into the front of his shirt. He gives a short yank and then their lips finally meet, a fierce press that resolves into an intoxicating give and take as Napoleon tilts his head to fit their mouths perfectly together. Illya tastes like the smoky sweetness of the Scotch mixed with the faint metallic tinge of blood, and Napoleon can’t seem to get enough.

Napoleon can’t deny that he’s dreamed of this, very nearly since they’d met in Berlin. Well, who could blame him, when the Russian agent looked like that, with those stunning blue eyes and lips that just begged to be kissed? He’d always assumed it was only an idle fancy, that Illya would never allow such a thing, but apparently he’d been rather sorely mistaken on that fact. That wasn’t to say that there hadn’t been times when he’d wondered, but each time the something or someone had intervened, and the moment had been lost.

The washcloth slips from his fingers and he brings his hands up to gently cradle Illya’s head, still cognizant of the fact that Illya is covered with injuries that he’d rather not brush against. Eventually Illya’s movements slow, his grip on Napoleon’s shirt slackening, and Napoleon pulls away a little to find… he’s apparently fallen asleep.

“Peril?” he whispers.

He gets no reply. Illya’s definitely out like a light. Napoleon huffs in (admittedly mild) frustration as he sits back again, shaking his head fondly at his partner. He never did get to do much cleaning of Illya’s wounds, but he doesn’t have the heart to wake him now. Well, they’ll make do in the morning.

“We never do get a break, do we?” Napoleon mutters, then leans down to press one last gentle kiss to Illya’s forehead before he heads to his own bunk.

[demonslayedher]

(Hi!!! First of all, I want to wish you luck on your test!!! You've got this!!! We're all cheering for you!! Sending all of my good vibes and [meager] brain cells your way!!!!) Second of all, I've been wondering about the Mugen Train Arc after rewatching the movie. If Nezuko hadn't, for whatever reason, been there to burn the ropes and the tickets, do you think Rengoku and the Trio would have woken up? Hhhh I know it says something about it in the manga, but I'm just a teensy bit uncertain. ILY!

(Thank you for the extra brain cells, Anon! I've caught them and I shall pack them full of extra trivial nerd stuff! One more month of study to go and then Asks may get turned back on!)

Going back and reviewing it, the manga goes into extensive explanation that Ufotable decided could be left unclarified--for example, the impasse Rengoku finds himself in while choking his intruder as far as he can get without killing her, and that cutting the ropes with Nichirin would had made thd intruders unable to wake up (a risk Enmu didn't explain), and that Inosuke and Zenitsu have unusually strong senses of self in order to manifest in their unconscious spaces, and that Tanjiro's water-self warning, the glimpse of Nezuko's box, and the appearance of his father were all self-generated, a way of desperately trying to put form to something he already subconsciously knows but hasn't quite hit upon (that he needs to hurry and get out of there by breaking the illusion with a violent wake-up call). You already mentioned the tickets too, which was here in this Taisho Secret after chapter 59.

"Nezuko burned Rengoku-san and the others' tickets so the three of them woke up, woot woot!! Sorry for not fitting that in the actual content, my bad!"

(Wani-sensei, you're lying, Zenitsu is still asleep.)

So it seems Nezuko's fire had three effects:

1. Help Tanjiro start to rouse (but this did not cut off his connection to the sick boy, who was still freely prowling around and cracking his way deeper and deeper into Tanjiro's mind even as Tanjiro had enough willpower to leave his family behind, sob... sob, sob)

2. Cut off the link between the intruders and the victims (makes me think that when Nezuko originally went pyro on her thick-headed brother she didn't burn the rope yet, and that was a purposeful effort afterward)

3. Burning the ropes may remove the intruders, but waking up requiring eliminating Enmu's spell by way of burning the tickets (and some amount of willingness to wake up, stop looking for where Dream Nezuko ran off to and wake up, Zenitsu! No wait, don't, stay asleep. Yes, good). On that note, Rengoku might had taken a little longer than Inosuke to come around, and even Inosuke might had still been in a touch of a haze mixing dream and reality (or nevermind, silly me, Boss Inosuke is totally reality).

So if we consider how this would had gone without Nezuko's help, my thought is that it wouldn't had been impossible for this particular, peculiar band of Demon Slayers to find their way out of it. They each had their own subconscious responses to the danger, be it as self-preservation or a sense of duty or a mix of both.

But would it had taken a while? Highly likely. Enmu probably could had eaten a lot of people in the time it'd take them to break out through sheer willpower.

Good job, Nezuko! 200 passengers owe you their lives!

"Mm!"

(Translation: If you don't pat my head I will start fires.)

[shewhotellsstories]

Hi!

What is called when a dark-skinned character is punished for her attitude / personality and is tortured to change her personality to a more submissive one, but when a light-skinned character has the same attitude/personality, the narrative does not punish her and forgive her because she had a difficult childhood :(. that character goes to prison for the crime she did but when she gets out of prison, she still has the same bad Attitude she had before(she is still the same arrogant bi*ch who thinks she knows better than anyone else).

The light-skinned character is 'punished" for being a criminal, not for her personality as they did with the dark-skinned character. The lightskinned character's mistake is to be a criminal, the darkskinned character's mistake is to be the way she is, have a strong and confident personality.

Dude that's good old-fashioned colorism. When I was little in my family my mom and aunts would talk about who was "color struck" aka the family members who'd say to "stay out of the sun," as if that's possible in July. In college I'd learn Alice Walker coined the term colorism in the 80s which means the, "prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color.”

Sometimes it means things like this study showing that darker skinned Black kids get harsher punishments in school, other times it means darker skinned characters get less understanding and are vilified by the narrative in fiction. I've said this before but it's infuriating that most tv shows and movies have no problem casting dark skinned actors when they need a throw away love-interest, a bully, a villain, or a character to be subservient to the other characters. Bridgeton is a good recent example. But colorism is also why I can't bring myself to do a Proud Family rewatch and have been on the fence about rewatching a lot of 90s sitcoms.

On Martin as a kid I really didn't get why Martin was always calling Pam ugly or saying she looked like a horse or a dog. I thought he was just being silly, but now it makes me side-eye that show.

Anyway, it'd be great if casting directors didn't behave as if light-skinned Blackness is the only/most desirable form of Blackness.

“And for all their marginalization on their respective shows, most of the actors and actresses of African descent with speaking roles on teen television are of mixed-race and relatively light skinned. When these actors’ and actresses’ multiracial backgrounds are acknowledged on the shows and reflected in the writing for their characters, it is refreshing. But dark-skinned Black teenagers need to see themselves visually represented on teen television and films, too.”

-Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, The Dark Fantastic

[bucksblr]

tagged by @leonzhng​ thanks for making me dig through my most embarrassing crushes 😭✋

i’ll tag @highwarlockkareena​ @yibobibo​ @lan-xichens​ @purplexedhuman​ @aheartfullofjolllly​ @lanzhansmiles​ @nyx4​ i feel like i tag you guys in everything i am so sorry please ignore this if u don’t wanna do it !!

putting this under a read more for reasons

MEN 2010 – 2016

literally nothing more embarrassing than falling on the same type of white man over and over again (with the exception of minho from shinee bless his heart)

tommy joe ratliff → he was the bass player for adam lambert during his glamnation era (think of songs like for your entertainment and if i had you) idk why exactly i liked him so much but i just did.... however i searched him up again quite recently and found out he’s one of those republicans that says the dumbest shit on twitter so Big Yikes

harry styles → “baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, and when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell...” and BOOM 13-year-old me was sold for well over two years

louis tomlinson → basically i liked harry most until around 2013 when for some reason i started to like him a little less, and i got more focused on louis tomlinson, and although i didn’t like one direction anymore louis tomlinson always had a special place in my heart

ashton irwin → so ashton is 5sos’ drummer, i discovered 5sos through one direction & i stanned them until late 2014

harries twins → the harries twins (jack & finn) are basically the reason i started spending a lot of time on youtube, they were funny and pretty and they just had good videos in general, so for almost two years i’d watch their content regularly

choi minho → my first steps into kpop happened bc i was watching videos on youtube (most probably the harries twins) and suddenly i saw the sherlock mv in my recommended videos so i clicked on it and then 14-year-old me proceeded to fall for minho like an idiot

brooks twins → still youtubers, the brooks twins were 3/5 of the janoskians (jai & luke brooks, beau brooks, daniel sahyounie, & james yammouni), an australian youtube comedy group that was active from 2011-2018 though i was only around from 2012-2014 (when jai brooks was dating ariana grande)

jc caylen → surprise! another youtuber! jc caylen was part of o2l (our2ndlife) a youtube collaboration channel on which each of the 6 members posted videos on a certain day in the week (mondays with connor, tuesdays with ricky, wednesdays with sam, thursdays with jc, fridays with trevi (my 2nd favorite member bc she participated on the x factor), saturdays with ricardo, and then they had surprise sundays every week) and i remember how much joy jc & the others always brought me with their silly videos

misha collins → up next, you might know him as the gay angel that was sent to superhell after confessing his love to the homophobic hunter on supernatural, it’s misha collins! basically misha was a huge source of comfort for me, and i even went around calling myself emmisha for almost two full years (cringe)

henrik holm → he played even bech naesheim in skam and my crush on him reached that level of ridiculousness where i actually tried my hand at learning norwegian (i can only remember how to introduce myself and some curse words i would make a great first impression on him)

MEN 2016 – 2021

min yoongi → okay so my baby steps into kpop happened through shinee’s sherlock, but i only got really invested when yoongi dropped agust d 1 because Holy Fuck y’know??

kim namjoon → oh man i remember thinking namjoon was cute and a very good leader and then BAM he dressed like THAT at the 2016 mma’s and i fell in love. hard

park seojoon → i started liking park seojoon whilst i was watching hwarang (you guessed it, i watched it bc of taehyung), although he wasn’t my favorite character by far, but he was very silly off camera & i liked that (i’m not that into him anymore tho </3)

kim seokjin → OH BOY LET ME TELL U i liked seokjin from the very beginning (i got to know bts in late 2014) and i always liked seeing him perform and be himself and god once i realized i had a crush on him it just hit me like a mf truck, and he’s still one of my favorite people to this day

jung hoseok → god fake love era hoseok really hits different.... also yes i know i have all of bts’ hyung line on my list BUT bts was a really big part of my life for almost 6 years soooo honestly they deserve it i still think they’re great guys

choi san → when ateez made their debut in 2018 i immediately fell in love with san, he was such an amazing dancer and he captivated me right from the very beginning, to this day he’s still my bias in ateez uwu

xiao zhan → AND THEN, OCTOBER OF 2019 HAPPENS AND I WATCH CQL AND... i fall in love with xiao zhan, something i’d never expected would happen bc when i watched cql for the first time i wasn’t as invested in the story, but i really really really liked xiao zhan and one thing led to another and now here i am as a xfx

wang yibo → the thing is, i’ve known yibo since eoeo except i didn’t know cql yibo was uniq yibo (bc i’d forgotten his name) and when i looked it up i can tell you my jaw dropped to the floor bc holy shit????? also he is very silly and i love him loads ok

lee minho → ah, the man who has been my skz bias since 2018, not only is minho my bias i also kin him (there’s a lot of aspects of myself that i see in minho and vice versa) and he’s very comforting to me

bang chan → honestly, it was only a matter of time before i’d fall for bang chan, i knew the moment i got into skz again that i’d start biasing him and, well, here i am, double biasing chan & minho

WOMEN

this list is shorter bc i’ve in general always had less crushes on women than on men??? blame society forcing me into thinking i was straight for a LONG time

ariana grande → remember the 2011 layout of twitter?? where u could not only have an icon and a header, but also a background and ur twitter page was smack in the center of ur screen with the big ugly menu bar at the top??? yeah ariana grande was always my background for my l*rr* st*l*n*s*n layouts

perrie edwards → this was right around the time she was dating zayn & little mix was breaking out into the spotlight, yeah i just really loved her

andrea russett → okay so remember o2l?? andrea russett was kian’s girlfriend for a pretty long time and they always did videos together and i always thought she was super pretty

lily collins → maybe i don’t like clary in tmi all that much but i sure liked the way lily collins looked

alona tal → MY BISEXUAL AWAKENING, it’s only when i saw alona tal in spn that i realized, fuck i might be gay

park jihyo → i discovered twice (my 2nd jype group after day6) through the like ooh-ahh mv and red-haired jihyo really did something to my heart (i just rewatched it and god zombie bang chan is so mf cute)

kim jisoo → when bp made their square two comeback i was immediately smitten for red-haired jisoo in playing with fire, it’s also when i realized she was my bias out of the four members

shin ryujin → the reason that i have blue hair is partially bc of ryujin and her amazing intro in wannabe :D

xuan lu → her portrayal of jiang yanli was SO ON POINT and she’s just such a kindhearted wonderful person wow i want her hand in marriage

lee yoobin → god i’ve known dreamcatcher from back when they were still called minx and ever since i’ve always looked at dami that bit more than the rest, i was also able to see dreamcatcher live in october of 2019 and the whole experience was just so amazing !!

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

there’s a whole lot more than just these 10 but i wanted to fit the evolution into one (1) slide as best as i could lmao

peter pan → this movie came out in 2003 (?) and he’s honestly the first fictional character i remember ever having a crush on

legolas → i was really doubting between placing haldir or legolas here but i only really got a vague haldir obsession when i was like 14

zuko → LOOK. ZUKO IN ATLA? HOT. ZUKO IN LOK? HOT EVEN IF HE’S AN OLD MAN.

will turner → man was annoying sometimes but i really liked him and his relationship with elizabeth was cute

jo harvelle → gosh i can’t believe she’s the only female character in here???? yeah she was one of my two spn faves and i’ll never forgive the screenwriters for the way they killed her off

castiel → does your fave ever get sent to super hell for being gay? no? well. mine did

kili → fili and kili’s storyline tore my heart out, spit on it, and then laughed straight in my face, KILI WAS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE DWARF

howl → i only watched this movie for the first time in 2020 so i kinda fucked up the tl cause i watched cql in 2019 but shh, anyways howl with his blonde hair was good looking but howl with his black hair just hits differently. i want a howl

lan jingyi → MY BABY BOY, TINIE LITTLE BABIE WHOMST I MUST PROTECT ok no but seriously this kid. i love him a lot

mu qing → BARK BARK. that’s all (that’s not all i love him a whole lot and it hurts me to see so many people misunderstand his character and only see the bad parts of him when they can forgive others for fucking up (eg. xie lian himself & feng xin) but bc mu qing doesn’t deal well with emotions suddenly he’s the bad guy??? i s2g if ppl are gonna do to him what they did to jiang cheng in the tgcf la i will RIOT)

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 5x05-- And the firm had two partners...

Hello and happy season 6 renewal! I think I assumed TGF would last three years when it premiered—not five, and certainly not six (this assumption was because I thought the CBS All Access experiment would fail and it would take three seasons for them to admit defeat). Now, I kinda think TGF might just run as long as the people involved want to do it. The way I’ve come to think of TGF is that, because it has no overarching arc or plot and because it is always topical, it is a show without a clear end point. That’s why it’s still fresh even though it is a spin-off in its fifth season. I could see it still feeling fresh in its tenth season if it continues to evolve and change. Anyway, here’s to season six!  

Thoughts on season five, episode five, which I didn’t really love, under the cut.

The episode kicks off with TikTok and Jay’s hallucinations... yay. I’m hooked.  

Look, before we get further into this episode, I’m going to comment on Jay’s plot as a whole. I am really, really glad this show decided to dedicate screentime to showing how horrific COVID is, and especially how horrific the disparities in treatment by race and class were. The hallucinations pay off about as well as they could. And I still do not like anything about this plot. I wish I could say I did.  

Rivi is now out of the hospital and suing Harbor Hospital. He claims that his daughter died of COVID due to their improper care.  

I’m intrigued by Rivi’s wife. She’s deaf and reads lips, and her first scene—where she reads the lips of Harbor Hospital’s lawyers privately discussing settlement—establishes that she’s a partner to Rivi and not “just a wife.” (I think this is going to also help distinguish Rivi from Bishop. Both care about families, but we all know Bishop had his wife killed.)  

Julius and Diane talk about Kurt’s case. Diane looks incredulous when Julius floats the idea of Kurt taking a deal. I almost laughed at Diane’s expression because, well, she’s talking to Julius, her former client who spent time in prison for something he didn’t do. Luckily the show remembers its history, and Julius notes this to Diane.  

Julius also points out that Diane is acting more like Kurt’s wife than his lawyer in this situation, and he won’t share things that are relevant to her personal life but not her professional life.

I am also not going to recap too much of the COVID stuff. Everything I have to say about it is going to be a variation on what I said above-- I'm glad they’re spotlighting important themes but I still don’t like this plot.

I do like that Jay notices Carmen saying “darn” instead of “damn.” She blames parental training and notes she also starts every email with “Dear.”

I do not like that Jay now hallucinates a woman who is literally credited as “naked woman” to illustrate that he has a little bit of a crush on Carmen.  

Why are they already bringing the suit before they have found any evidence of discrimination at Harbor Hospital and before they’ve looked into what type of care Pia Rivi actually received?  

Jay asks Carmen if she wants to join a group of RL staffers for drinks. Carmen says she’ll think about it. Yay for Carmen plots that bring her into the firm’s social circle.

I also don’t think I’ll have much to say about the Diane and Kurt plot. These FBI investigation plots are always the same: a lot of rehashing of the same fights, lots of new twists and turns where it always feels like the facts are changing, and a clean slate when all is said and done. I was thinking about this the other day and was like, “Ah, wouldn’t it be nice to go back to the good old days before the stakes got so high that the FBI was always investigating one of the regulars”? And then I remembered that season 1 of Wife has a plotline (which ends up being mostly inconsequential) in which the FBI investigate Peter.  

The FBI’s investigation of Peter in season 1 is so inconsequential, in fact, that it brings us Elsbeth’s first appearance and I STILL see people thinking that Executive Order 13224 in season 3 is her first appearance. It is forgettable enough that people manage to forget ELSBETH TASCIONI.

Anyway my point here is just that this feels like familiar territory and until the writers prove to me they have something new to say, about Jan 6 or about the FBI or about Diane and Kurt’s marriage, I... am not that invested.

Julius calls Diane out on being part of every conversation with Kurt. This is a good point. This is something that I would like to see the show address more. Didn’t Kurt ask Diane last episode not to be involved? Why don’t we get to see the fallout of that decision and how it impacts their marriage? I know this show is not character driven in the way I’d like it to be, and I know that is part of why it always feels fresh. It just tries my patience sometimes.  

Diane looks really red in this scene.  

LOL @ the stock footage of an ambulance pulling up in front of Harbor Hospital that clearly says “LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT.”  

One problem I have with Jay’s plot in this episode is that it feels very, very similar to the hospital episode of Evil. This is only a problem because the episode of Evil is much better. The hospital episode of Evil uses horror to show racism in the healthcare system; it’s very innovative and suspenseful. This episode wants to do the same thing... but I don’t think the writers found the exact right tone to pull it off. I can see what they are trying to do and admire that they are trying, at least.

I am struggling to articulate why I dislike this plot so much! The best I can say is that something just isn’t clicking. And, honestly, this may just be a problem with how little I’ve ever understood the hype around Jay. I’m not sure if I’ve ever said this before, but the show seems more enamored with Jay than I am, and I’m always at a little bit of a distance from the character. (I suspect it’s an acting thing, not a writing thing.)

There is also just a LOT going on in all of the Jay/hospital scenes, probably more than is needed to get the point across. It’s like the episode can’t decide if it’s all in on being horror, if it’s trying to be surreal, if it’s trying to be quirky, if it’s trying to be heartfelt, if it’s trying to be pointed, or if it’s trying to be about Jay’s emotions. I actually think this plot would’ve worked better if it were a little toned down.  

Starkey is in Diane’s office and it’s time for one of those scenes that happens in all of these FBI plots where the FBI agent is annoying and then the person they’re annoying walks away and is sassy towards the FBI. This scene feels like a mix of the one in the season two premiere where Starkey tries this strategy on Maia and some of the clunkier moments of the TGW series finale.

Danny Pino is on The Good Fight now! I’m excited to see him! He’s super charismatic; I see why they had him playing a politician on BrainDead. On this show, he insists everyone call him Racehorse.  

Racehorse is now representing the hospital, and Carmen is a little outmatched.  

Predictably, Racehorse’s strategy is to try to force Rivi to testify by bringing a countersuit. Testifying is obviously bad for Rivi since he runs a criminal enterprise and would have to answer questions under oath.  

Really long pause before the credits. Also, I don’t like this thing where we don’t get to see Liz until after the credits. I demand more Liz!  

This episode is called “And the firm had two partners” but has nothing to do with Diane and Liz and the drama about who should be a name partner. It barely even has anything to do with Liz! Misleading.  

Yay for Nikki M. James, who directed this episode!

Okay, I saw a post on Reddit about how everyone looks red in this episode and didn’t think anything of it, but on rewatch? That post is spot-on; everyone looks red. The scenes in Diane’s home are particularly bad. Kurt looks like he has an awful sunburn.

I’m glad to see Diane’s home also has a kitchen; I was getting concerned it really was just that one room.

I love Diane and Kurt but sometimes their plots rely too heavily on just being like, she’s a liberal! He's a conservative! Tension ensues!  

This episode is, sadly, Wackner free and very light on Marissa. I am fine without Wackner for an episode (sometimes a break from gimmick is nice) but I really miss Marissa’s energy.  

Diane asks Marissa to investigate something related to Kurt’s case. Marissa’s not thrilled, seeing as she is no longer an investigator and has two other jobs, but she agrees anyway.  

Diane doesn’t learn, does she? Two scenes ago she was apologizing to Kurt for meddling and revealing info he didn’t want her to reveal (the name of the rioter) and now she’s trying to get more information so she can... put herself in a position where she can act on more information Kurt doesn’t want her to act on? Cool.

LIZ!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

Rivi and Isabel want to talk to Liz without Carmen present. Isabel, wisely, wants Liz to be on the case along with Carmen. Liz protests, but Isabel insists. She notes that she could see some associates using a racial slur against Rivi... and Liz knows she has to join the case to keep Rivi on as a client. She apologizes and then fires all three associates involved in the joke.  

There’s a whole subplot about a doctor who posts TikToks that allege racism at Harbor Hospital, but also silly TikToks to boost her follower count. I do like that they allow this doctor to be both someone who wanted to do good and someone who wanted fame.

After this, though, we lose the thread of the TikTok dancer (and of the COTW, kind of) because the plot becomes more about Jay. That’s fine, though it’s a little bit clunky.  

There’s a reveal that Jay’s hallucination of Frederick Douglass is actually a fellow patient who was in the COVID pit at Harbor Hospital with him. As I said before, this is the best payoff for the hallucinations possible, but there were still too many scenes of the hallucinations.

Wow, I actively do not want to watch these scenes a second time.

NRA lady from the season 2 panel (with Adrian, Mr. Elk, the Florrick fan, etc.) is back. She is friends with Kurt, because of course she is, and could speak up and defend him. She doesn’t want to.  

God, I hope he isn’t fucking her. I can barely do another one of these FBI plots—don't make me sit through another Kurt Likes Pretty Ladies with Guns plot.

Even though NRA lady doesn’t want to speak up, Marissa has followed Kurt and identified her.

More stuff happens with Jay.  

What if the hallucinations don’t end with this episode? I like showing that Jay is a long hauler but omg do I loathe these hallucinations.  

I do like that Jay clues Carmen in on the hallucinations.  

Why is Julius even allowing Diane to tag along on visits to Starkey, and why must this gag with the dead birds keep going?!?  

More Jay stuff.  

I just don’t get why they’re asking about the Pit, where Jay and lots of other black or brown people with COVID were held, before they have any idea where Pia Rivi was held in the hospital. Are they just trying to fact-find?  

Shockingly, Pia Rivi was never sent to the Pit and actually received special care because no one wanted to anger Rivi. I... would have assumed this from the start or looked into this before bringing the suit? I know the whole point of this case is to get to explore Jay’s experience in the hospital and shine light on disparities in healthcare but I can still nitpick!  

Jay recalls hearing someone say that he was taken out of the Pit and given better care after the hospital received a call. He asks Liz if she made that call—she didn’t. She says she wishes it had been her, but she didn’t know the situation was that bad. I’m a little surprised we didn’t get references to Adrian or Marissa here. If they could’ve made a call, they absolutely would’ve. Adrian’s like a father to Jay, and Marissa is a loyal friend. Adrian has enough sway to get Jay better care, and you KNOW Marissa is resourceful and connected enough to get him good care.

I really love this Liz and Carmen scene where Carmen asks Liz for advice and Liz helps her out. I like that Carmen still has things to learn—and knows it—even as she’s a great, capable, talented lawyer.

Carmen starts to leave, then turns around and says, “I want to learn from you. I don’t... My attitude is knowing, but it’s just my attitude. It’s not who I am.” YES! I’m so glad we’re getting lines like this that make Carmen’s personality clearer. She’s not a malicious sociopath who wants to defend drug dealers and help bad people get away with horrible crimes. She’s a new lawyer who wants to be ready to handle anything, make a name for herself, and come across as untouchable. This line makes everything click into place: this is why she’s willing to represent Rivi, put forward her own strategies, and be so polite it's rude to Liz... and why she also would rather stay at RL than go work full time for Lester.  

Liz smiles, realizing she’s gotten through. “Carmen. When I was your age, I acted exactly the same way. I wanted to be perfect. So, I acted like I was perfect. Because bluff is always a part of it, but just... just let me help you, when I can. Ask questions.” I believe it. And now I really just want to see an episode where young Liz and young Alicia face off. My guess is Liz tried to project boldness and fearlessness, while Alicia tried to project hyper competence and that’s why they clashed (and why Alicia was thought to lack a “killer instinct”). Okay, okay, I’ll stop talking about Alicia.  

Racehorse deposes Rivi and it ends with Rivi beating the crap out of Racehorse. I assume this is setting up a longer arc. You don’t introduce a personality as big as Racehorse played by a Kings-favorite like Danny Pino without having plans.  

Also, it’s heavily implied that Isabel is a huge part of the leadership of Rivi’s drug empire. I’m no longer surprised by “actually the wife isn’t so innocent and is also a criminal!” reveals, but I still like this. I think it works better because there’s never any implication that Isabel is an unknowing innocent. Rivi treats her like his equal from their first scene together; she clearly is aware and okay with his prison time and the accusations against him.

We spend a lot of time on how the whole fight was caught on camera. Wonder if that will come back. (I can’t remember—did that accidental sex tape of Maia and the DNC girl ever come back into play?)

Diane threatens NRA lady until she agrees to help Kurt out.  

Jay asks Diane if she made the call to help him. She didn’t. Like Liz, she’s apologetic that it wasn’t her.  

Turns out it was David Lee. He claims it was a business decision. Sure, David. This is so fitting with David Lee’s character—he's always doing stuff like this. And he always likes to say it was about business. I think he secretly has a heart, though.  

(I don’t have much to say about this reveal since it’s familiar territory for David Lee.)  

I like that Jay’s hallucination appears to him as his friend, rather than Frederick Douglass, in his last scene of the episode. I hope that is the end of the hallucination plot.

Kurt gets the news that NRA lady is going to speak up for him. He tells Diane and says “it’s amazing how close we came to disaster right then,” as they have a drink. KURT AND DIANE, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER—IT IS NOT OVER UNTIL IT’S OVER. And this? Is not over! Does anyone really think this is over!? It will be more surprising to me if NRA lady actually follows through and this all gets wrapped up than if there’s a Big Twist.  

I know these writers and I know these arcs. They are meandering and full of twists and turns and add up to a complete picture that doesn’t really hold together. That’s why I’m so negative on this episode even though I’ve been positive on the arc in the past. This feels like the mid-season misdirection that it almost certainly is, and I was hoping this arc would be a little more about commentary and a little less about convoluted plot nonsense.  

Diane and Kurt dancing at the end of the episode HAS to be a reference to Diane and Will’s post-victory dances, right?  

[stephantom]

Haven't watched any DS9 in a looong while, but between you and another blog posting a lot of it lately, I realize I absolutely should watch it. Do you recommend starting from Ep 1, or is it a TNG situation where it really gets enjoyable after a season or so in?

Oh, gosh, I feel a lot of pressure to answer this right! Lol like I love the show but it’s a mixed bag and people’s enjoyment of things can be so particular, you know? But hmm, so, I DO think that it gets more enjoyable a season in or so. But I’m also really glad that I didn’t skip anything with it, or with TNG. The goofy bad stuff was part of the good for me, and part of how I bonded with the show. And you probably get that since you have already seen both shows at least in part?

There’s stuff in the first few episodes of DS9 that establish a lot of kind of important things, but OTOH if you’re already familiar with the story and characters, maybe it’s skippable? (God, my autocorrect tried to make that “shippable”—I’m ridiculous.)

Season 1 is a little slow and not all of the characters have really been figured out yet, feels like. (Maybe Dax and Bashir particularly so?) But some episodes that stand out in my memory: “Emissary” (the first episode(s) is important for everyone (the setup of the entire situation and political backdrop, etc) but especially the Siskos. “A Man Alone” is good for establishing some major aspects of Odo as a character (and even Odo and Quark, a little—and “Babel” has some good moments between them too). “Move Along Home” is widely regarded as a ~Bad episode~ I think? but it’s the first episode that I remember really enjoying—it’s just really silly fun, idk. I think it was the first moment where I was like, “ah yes, this is stupid, just like TNG.” “The Nagus” and “The Vortex” both have some good Quark and Odo content (respectively). I think “Dramatis Personae” was fun? (Can’t fully remember. But it felt similarly stupid-TNG to me.) “Duet” was kind of impressively heavy, maybe the first good example of how intense DS9 can get, aside from the opener? “In The Hands of the Prophets” ends the first season and iirc is the first multi-parter (not counting the season opener) and creates some good momentum and character/character dynamics growth. It’s either this episode or a directly related one afterwards that has one of my favorite found-family moments with Kira and the others.

Some people say the show really takes off in the 4th season, but I feel like that’s skipping so much character development and fun. Idk. DS9 tends to have great narrative multi-episode runs that start at the end of seasons and run a few episodes into the following season. The one which starts near the end of season 5 and goes several episodes into season 6 was especially good, in my opinion (even if it then proceeded to completely drop some threads, devastatingly). But it might be weird to just jump into that?

Idk, there are a lot of different “if you’re watching for this” episode lists out there, so I would recommend googling a little if you’re interested in something like that. But I guess I’m kind of a completionist with these shows. There are skippable episodes, definitely, but it’s hard to know which moments you’ll be glad you caught ultimately and which slower points make the payoff better for the points that pull things together in a satisfying way. But I also don’t know how much you remember if the show. A rewatch is a different matter which I haven’t given enough thought to!

Sorry, this response was way too long with too little specific advice!

[nothingeverlost]

Donut (Penny for Your Thoughts verse, Rumbelle)

@halfwayinlight I thought I would have this up for Christmas.  Sorry it’s a tad late.

It’s a quarantine Christmas vacation

II

“I’ll see you after the new year.”  David gave her a hug before he left the office, catching the elevator with Graham and Emma.  They were all headed for his house, where Emma would pick up her son.

“Give Mary Margaret and Neal my love, and tell her that when she gets tired of you there’s always an empty room above our garage,” she teased.  Though it was a joke she would miss him.  They’d been sharing Archie’s apartment for months now, and though they both longed for their families it had been an interesting bonding experience, bringing them even closer.

Belle only lingered a few minutes extra in the office, leaving a few surprises in Ariel’s desk for her to find.  While the rest of the team was taking the month of December off, to spend time with their quarantined families, Ariel had volunteered to liaise with the team temporarily taking their place.  Belle was pretty certain the decision had been at least influenced by the agent in charge of the team, Eric del Mar.  The first time they’d met in the cafeteria Ariel had been so flustered she’d accidentally stolen a fork.  She still kept it in her desk, jokingly calling it her lucky dinglehopper.

With one last look around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything - a month was a long time to be away from work - Belle headed for the elevator and punched the button to take her up to the lobby.  Her bags were in the back of the car; it was the first time since September she’d been home.  Not being there for Thanksgiving had been hard, but knowing she would get the whole month for Christmas had made up for it.

Archie’s car was in the carport, leaving her spot in the garage free.  Belle hoped he’d only moved out of her space recently; it was silly not to use it when she was gone, not that Archie would be driving much.  The sound of the garage door meant she couldn’t hope to surprise anyone, but it didn’t matter when the door opened and Claire raced out to greet her.

“Mommy.”  She was barely out of the car when her daughter jumped the last few feet, certain that she would be caught.  Belle scooped her up, hugging her tight.  She needed a million hours of cuddles to make up for missed time.  “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby.”  

“You can’t go in the kitchen ‘cause it’s a surprise, but papa said that if you’re hungry I should show you the cuter board in the living room.  Uncle Archie let me help with the crackers and the grapes but not with the cheese ‘cause the knife is sharp.”  When she put Claire down her daughter still stayed close.

“I think papa probably said it was a charcuterie board, but I like yours better.”  She had to guess that it was Archie’s influence more than Gabe’s, unless he had somehow discovered pinterest and been way more bored then he let on.  “Where is your papa sweetheart?”

“He had to take Donut outside so she could go potty.”

“I don’t think I understand.”  She tried to puzzle out what Claire might mean about taking a donut outside.  None of her toys, to Belle’s knowledge, were named donut.

“You will.”  Bay chuckled as he came out of the kitchen, a towel tucked into his pants.  He probably hadn’t grown at all in the past couple of months, she just wasn’t used to thinking of him as being that tall.  When he hugged her her head fit neatly under his chin.  “Welcome home.”

“I’m so glad to see you sweetheart.  Thank you for all the videos, they brighten my day.”  Bay had introduced the whole family to Tiktok, setting everyone up with private accounts.  The rest of the team now had accounts, and shared videos, but Bay and Henry were responsible for most of the sharing.  She was grateful for the multiple one minute videos she saw each day, and often rewatched, though Claire’s fascination with the fireplace had given her more than one moment of concern.

“Of course the damn dog would decide it needed to go out the moment you arrive home.”  The back door slammed, letting in a cold breeze, her husband, and a dog.  It was an odd looking thing that could only be classified as a mutt, with a reddish brown head that looked vaguely like a retriever and a body in gray and white that looked like it should belong to another dog entirely.

“Donut?” she guessed.  Her attention only lingered on the dog for a moment.  She was much more interested in the man crossing the room towards her.  Almost three month since she’d been able to touch Gabe was almost criminal in her opinion.  Someone should be arrested

“I can think of some names that would be more appropriate for the mutt but your daughter insisted.”  She couldn’t answer, not with Gabe’s lips on hers and his hands at her waist.  God she’d missed the taste of him.  And the feel.  And the smell.

“They’re kissing already,” she could hear Claire whisper loudly.  “Do they have to take a really big breath like when you some swimming under water?”

“Something like that,” she could hear Bay reply with a chuckle.

“Hugs are better,” her daughter declared.  Belle had to laugh at that, when the kiss ended.  

“I like hugs too, sweetheart.”  Gabe was wearing one of the sweaters they had picked up on their trip to Ireland last year, and the wool was soft against her skin.  She wouldn’t mind standing just where she was for a while.

“Especially when less clothing is involved,” Gabe whispered in her ear.  Bell elbowed him lightly in the ribs.  That wasn’t fair; it would be hours before they could have that kind of alone time.  

“So is anyone going to tell me about this new addition to the family?”  No one had mentioned a dog on any of their calls, which were at least once a day.

“She was sleeping in Claire’s playhouse a few weeks ago.  We made calls but no one seemed to be looking for her.  The vet gave her a clean bill of health and a little snip snip so it looks like we are pet owners now.”  Gabe groused, but couldn’t hide a smile when he looked down at his daughter gently petting the dog and whispering confidences in her ear.  “She certainly is more comfortable sleeping on Claire’s bed.”

“I thought we should call her Goldilocks since she was in someone else’s house.  Archie voted on Snow White for the same reason.  But the short one had the final say so she’s Donut.”  Bay shrugged.  “I’m going to go check on things.”

“Things?” Belle asked as he headed for the kitchen, where she wasn’t allowed to go according to Claire.  She assumed that he was helping with dinner; Archie had mentioned something about cooking lessons with Bay which was good, since Archie knew more about cooking than Gabe by quite a bit.

“Dinner, obviously, but I promised not to spoil the surprise by sharing the menu.”  He tugged her towards the sofas, where the ‘cuter’ board was laid out on the coffee table along with an open bottle of Bordeaux.  Belle sat on the sofa next to him but turned so her legs were across his lap.

“So you decided that a six year old, a college sophomore, and a full time roommate with his six computers wasn’t interesting enough, you added a dog to the mix?”  She and Gabe were both relieved that Bay’s college was still doing online classes, and Archie being around made sense both for Archie not being alone and for help around the house, but it was a full house especially when both kids were home schooling, Archie was working from home and Gabe was working on a new book.  

“It was snowing.”  Gabe was full of bluster, but Belle knew that he’d been thinking about getting a dog anyway.  In fact she was a little surprised it had taken so long, except that they had talked about waiting until Claire was old enough to have some of the responsibility.  Gabe loved on every dog they saw at a crime scene.  “She’s gentle with Claire.”

“You’re a marshmallow, Gabe Gold.”  She kissed him on the cheek.  “I am confused by the name, though.”

“It’s your fault, actually.  You know how she loves stories about when you were pregnant, and how much you loved eclairs.”

“I always love eclairs, I just loved them a little more then.”  And Gabe, bless him, had indulged her with early morning drives to the bakery, late night drives to the grocery store, and at least a few times special flavors overnighted from out of state bakeries.

“Most people would call it an obsession, sweetheart.”  There were no eclairs on the charcuterie board, of course, but he did hand her a cracker topped with brie and raspberry habanero jelly.  “You know how she likes to say that she is mommy’s favorite eclair.”

“She is my favorite.”  It had been a joke at first, calling her baby a little eclair.  She and Gabe had spent months debating baby names; sadly between the two of them there were many names that reminded them of cases they had worked and people they did not want sharing a name with their baby.  It was a nurse who had misheard eclair and thought she was saying Claire, and the name had worked.  She and Gabe both loved it.

“Claire reasoned that her favorite treat from the bakery is jelly donuts.  Like mother, like daughter.”

“You can’t fault her logic.”  Belle laughed, even more amused now that she understood the name.  “I’ve heard worse names for a dog.”

“Bay says dinner in five.”  Claire appeared a moment later, dog at her side.  Belle scooped her up, holding her on her lap.  It didn’t get much better than holding her little girl while cuddling with her husband.  

“Good, because I’m very hungry.”

“I’m very hungry too, and Uncle Archie made…”  Belle quickly put a finger to her daughter’s lips.

“Let’s let Bay and Archie have their secret for a little longer.  They wanted dinner to be a surprise, remember?”  

“I forgotted.  I won’t say anything, okay?  Papa says secrets are good sometimes like when Bay says something is a secret or when there’s presents under the tree.  But sometimes secrets make you feel bad in your tummy and then you have to tell mommy or papa.”  Claire nodded her head wisely, explaining back what had been explained to her.

“Papa’s right, sweetheart.  You should always tell mommy of papa if someone wants you to keep a bad secret.”  She hated thinking about anyone like that near her daughter, but she and Gabe knew too much about the kind of people that manipulated children.  They’d talked a lot about how to keep their kids safe.  “But this is a very good secret. Bay and Archie are making yummy food.  And we know it must be yummy because they’re not letting your papa in the kitchen at all.”

“Hey, I can cook,” Gabe protested, though not with much vigor.

“You cook more than you did when I first met you, though that’s not saying a lot considering I think you spent at least five years using nothing more than the microwave and coffee pot.”  While no one would call him a gourmet he could pull together a meal.  Spaghetti was still his most often made dinner.  Grilled cheese and tomato soup were a close second.

“That might be true but you could still spend tonight on the sofa if you don’t watch yourself.”

“That anxious to spend the night alone again?”  She raised an eyebrow, teasing him back.

“Never again, if I had my way.”  They kissed again, over their daughter’s head, only stopping when Archie coughed politely.

“Dinner’s ready.”  Claire wiggled down first. Belle was slower, but when she stood she gave Archie a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  

“We have so much to catch up on, Arch.  We’re going to eat so much popcorn.”  

“My tivo is full of things to marathon.”  Their online marathon dates hadn’t been the same, and David had no appreciation for corny sci fi.  “It’s been killing me not to watch Star Trek Lower Decks until you got here.”  

“I can’t wait.”  She followed Archie to the dining room, Claire holding her hand and Gabe right behind her.  Bay was waiting next to the table which had been laid out in all the best china.  In the center of the table was a platter of turkey meat.  There was cranberry sauce and corn souffle and mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls, candied yams and green beans.  It was a full Thanksgiving feast.  “Oh!”

“We didn’t want you to miss Thanksgiving.  Facetime Thanksgiving isn’t really the same.”  Bay’s apron was covered in a million questionable stains, but Belle didn’t give a thought to her clothes before hugging him.

“I didn’t tell, Bay.  Not even a little bit,” Claire proudly exclaimed.  Bay picked her up.  

“Of course you didn’t, Plum.”  Bay set her on her chair.  Next to her on the ground was a dog bed and a large bone.  “Before eating remember that this is only possible because Archie taught me so if anything’s wrong it’s his fault.”

“It’s going to be perfect.”  Belle say down between Gabe and Claire, holding both of their hands.  “I am so thankful for all of you.  My family.”

[moviemunchies]

Disney made a movie about the making of Mary Poppins.

The story goes like this: P.L. Travers, the author of the Mary Poppins books, is broke. She needs money. And for the past twenty years Walt Disney has been desperately trying to buy the rights to adapt one of the books into a movie. Travers, however, being a stuffy English woman who doesn’t want her works adapted into a “silly cartoon” and thinks that Disney will butcher the material, doesn’t want to. But as her attorney points out, she needs the money, so she agrees to go to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks and negotiate. There the scriptwriter and lyricists attempt to work with her on how the movie will go, but Travers proves difficult to work with, and refuses to budge on what seem to be very minor points.

All the while, the audience (and P.L. Travers, it’s implied) are receiving flashbacks to her childhood in Australia, which seems to start as a somewhat idyllic life in the Australian countryside, but quickly shifts as her father’s alcoholism becomes more and more obvious to the audience.

It is a bit of a difficult movie to really wrap my head around. It’s not a complicated Plot or anything, but it’s a movie that’s essentially about trying to convince an author to sell out to Disney. And in a world in which Disney owns an absurd amount of the entertainment industry, trying to frame a story about Disney being a nice company just trying to share good stories with the world… well, it’s a bit of a hard sell. And this movie did come out in 2013, when it wasn’t quite as obvious to all of us that Disney was taking over EVERYTHING yet--although it should have been, considering they bought Lucasfilm and Marvel at that point, but we all just kind of joked about it--so it’s a bit lighter of a blow, but it still hits very weirdly. I like this movie, but I don’t know if I should feel bad about it because it’s so obviously Disney making a movie about how it’s okay that absorbing all these properties and twisting them into something with their brand stomped on it.

...I did also rewatch Lindsay Ellis’s video on this, yes, if you were wondering. And to be clear, her video is probably better than anything I’m about to say.

It is a fascinating movie about the process of adaptation though. Because I feel as if people of my generation were very much of the opinion, back when our favorite books like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were being adapted, that a good adaptation was one that was an exact translation from the book onto screen, all with the smiling approval of the book’s author. And even in very good adaptations or I don’t think that’s how it works at all. I think most people think that Mary Poppins is a good movie, but that doesn’t change that it’s not a very accurate representation of the book it’s adapted from. 

In a way, we have that on full display here. P.L. Travers never really loved the movie of her book; but at the end of her life she’d made peace with it as a well-made film, although she didn’t consider it related to her own work. In the film we watch her desperately try to exert more control over the movie 

Travers demanding that the entire process be recorded on tape was a real thing, BTW. You might have figured that out from the bits of audio played during the credits.

It’s also all tied up in her memories of her father--hence the title. Because (in-film) Travers identified the fictional Mr. Banks she created with her own father, and her acceptance of Disney’s adaptation is tied up with that--making sure that they understand that even if he wasn’t perfect, Mr. Banks wasn’t a monster, and he needs saving more so than his children. Hence the resolution of _Mary Poppins_ is about the redemption of Mr. Banks, rather than just about his children (hence the movie’s title).

I have no idea if this is remotely true or not; after all, while P.L. Travers is a pen name that she took from her father (his first name was Travers), the first Mary Poppins book was dedicated to her mother. But it’s an interesting conjecture and I, who knows next to nothing about the subject matter, think it works.

Emma Thompson manages to make Travers both kind of terrible but also very likable in her performance. No, her being rude to everyone doesn’t endear her, but the frustrations she’s being rude over are relatable, if just expressed in a way that would make you very exhausted with her in real life. Which is why her more emotional moments in the film stand out and make them that much more heartbreaking.

Tom Hanks as Walt Disney is pretty much… well, it’s what you expect. It’s good casting. The movie paints Disney a lot lighter than he probably was in real life, but it doesn’t lose the fact that he’s very much out to make money--the film just also balances that with him trying to make people happy with it.

Apparently Tom Hanks campaigned to show Disney smoking on screen, but this was overruled, so you just hear him coughing and he mentions it at one point, and that he doesn’t like to smoke in public for fear of being a bad influence (which was true).

Paul Giamatti plays Ralph, Travers’s driver while she’s in Los Angeles. And he’s cool. Basically he’s there to show Travers becoming less harsh.

Bradley Whitford plays Don Dagradi, the scriptwriter of Mary Poppins, and B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman play the Sherman Brothers, the lyricists for the movie. They're kind of just there to have Walt be nice to and Travers be mean to. They don’t get that much to do other than shuffle about and awkwardly try to do their jobs. Novak, as Robert Sherman, gets a little more to do, in that he actually snarks back a few times, but overall these actors are underused. And I get that it’s hard to use them more and give them more material, because this isn’t their story, but they basically do one thing the entire movie and that’s it.

In the backstory, we have a very good performance from Colin Farrell as Travers Goff, Travers’s father, who is able to portray a man who is both a charming father but also kind of a massive jerk as his alcoholism and illness takes over his life.

Annie Rose Buckley plays young P.L. Travers, Ginty Goff, and she does a great job? I’m not usually critical of child actors, I suppose, but I think she did a phenomenal job of a girl who just has no idea what’s going on with her dad until it’s far too late.

It’s a good movie. I enjoy watching it. Yes, it’s whitewashing the history of the company, and presenting the ending to be a lot happier than it probably was in real life. And that’s not bad! A lot of good movies are like that! But I have really mixed feelings about it nowadays with Disney’s business practices and the way it dominates the entertainment industry. A movie that tells it’s perfectly fine for Disney to eat up and profit off of all fiction is a harder sell for me nowadays. Maybe that’s a ‘me’ thing though.

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Howdy dowdy, everyone! We are getting so close! So close to finishing the first season of Ranma 1/2! Last episode ended with Akane still having no clue who Ranma is, so this time they’ll resolve that? I think? I am fairly sure she remembered him throughout the rest of the series. I guess I’ll see how after I rewatch the episode, which for you will be with the next paragraph.

There we have it! The end to Shampoo’s introductory arc! How did I feel about it?

That’ll be more clear later on, let’s start by going over what happens in it. Ranma and Akane head back to her house, with her still unaware of who he is. Her family is only now starting to understand that this is actually happening, that Akane has somehow actually forgotten Ranma.

Shampoo shows up, when she glomps onto Ranma out of pure instinct Akane attacks him. Realizing that there is some part of her memory left unaffected, Shampoo goes to do the attack again, but Ranma intercepts it and steals the shampoo. He immediately tries using it on Akane, but it just knocks her out, it doesn’t regain the lost memories. Dr. Tofu shows up and reveals that’s because the formula he stole only takes memories, it can’t give them back.

Luckily, he has a book that has the recipe they need. Unluckily, Kasumi shows up and in his lovestruck silliness he rips the book into tiny pieces without realizing it. With no other choice, Ranma decides to head to China, since they’ll have the shampoo formula needed there. Everyone asks for personal souvenirs (though I don’t know how he’d buy any Ranma is usually broke) and Akane wonders why this stranger is doing so much for her.

Speaking of that very question, Ranma quickly runs into Shampoo, who wants to know why Ranma is trying to get Akane’s memories back so much. All he says to that is that he doesn’t like the idea of being forgotten by someone. Clearly, that is all it is, there is no other context to the situation.

She messes with Ranma a bunch, faking him out with a bunch of other kinds of shampoo, but eventually after a lot of hijinks Ranma is able to strike a deal with her: all it will take to get the memory-restoring shampoo is killing the ‘girl Ranma’. Well, half-kill, Ranma could at least negotiate to that.

And if you need someone to half-kill Ranma, of course there’s no one else to go see except Ryoga Hibiki. Only problem is, for once he doesn’t want to beat Ranma up, no matter how nicely Ranma asks. After all, if Akane’s memory is never restored, it gives him a chance to be with Akane instead. Still, Ryoga does have a temper, and Ranma eventually goads him into a fight...that Ranma quickly wins, unscathed.

Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome step up for the job, but Akane sees them attacking this poor defenseless (and as she sees it, weak) teenage boy and tries to stop them. That annoys Ranma, since he’s going through all this pain for her, but when he insults her in annoyance, she reacts to it. So, Ranma insults her a bunch and her memory comes back.

The only problem there is, now that Akane remembers Ranma, Shampoo is back to wanting to kill her for being an obstacle to getting with Ranma. This leaves Ranma with what he feels like is no choice, and he shows Shampoo that he’s both the man she loves and the person she was trying to kill. (Without mentioning the curse, mind you, instead telling her that he has just been ‘pretending to be a guy’) As he seemed to expect, she jumps to wanting to kill him, but it quickly becomes clear she’s crying, and she runs away, telling Ranma they’ll never see each other again. Then there is a short scene of Ranma and Akane having a spat. The end.

I think this time I'm going to start with the stuff I liked. I appreciate the structure of the narrative here, as Ranma tries one thing after another, any way he can, to solve the problem. It moved fairly quickly and was a good fodder for some jokes.

The bigger reason I liked the episode, of course, just comes from how far Ranma is willing to go to help Akane. He plans to swim to China, by himself, if it means getting her memories back. He can say whatever he wants, but I do feel like this episode was great at showing just how much he really does care about her.

It also made fairly good use of Ryoga, though it’s something they’ve done with him a few times now. By this point, it seems his love for Akane and how he sees Ranma as the thorn in his side have become his primary character traits, rather than his original driving hatred. That’s not necessarily bad, but I’m glad that, as far as I remember, it won’t be his main focus forever.

That last scene with Shampoo is also fairly strong, though I’ll get more into my thoughts on her in a second. All of the things I liked aside, there was definitely one part of this episode I really didn’t care for.

It probably sounds dumb, but I just really didn’t like the solution to the memory loss. To put it more specifically, I like the idea that they’re able to break through what’s been done to her through her connection to Ranma. I just don’t like that it involved Ranma insulting her over and over again. Like, I get it, he’s a dick to her sometimes, that reminds her of him more than all the nice things he’s been doing.

But it’s also just rough to watch, at least for me? I didn’t find it funny. In a way, the whole thing casts a strange shadow on the entire Ranma/Akane dynamic. Arguing a lot is one thing, but the sheer level to which Ranma was insulting her felt closer to negging then anything else. Especially because it’s all focused on how Akane looks, things that are clearly a big insecurity for her.

Enough worrying about those two, let’s talk about who this arc was more properly about, Shampoo (no last name)! This is our first Character Spotlight in a while, so let’s make sure it’s done well!

Let’s talk about her voice actresses, shall we? Her original Japanese voice was provided by Rei Sakuma, who was also the cat Jiji in Kiki’s Delivery Service (which is kind of funny considering something happening to Shampoo next season). Like some of the other voice actresses we’ve talked about thus far, she was in the idol group DoCo. For English, she’s portrayed by Cathy Weseluck. Some of her more well-known roles are as Near in Death Note and Spike in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. (Both of which are not roles I’d expect from Shampoo’s voice actress.)

They both play Shampoo very similarly, I’d say. Shampoo has a very high-pitched voice, and at least so far her vocabulary in ‘Japanese’ isn’t very large, so half the time she sticks with Chinese instead. This gives her an almost baby-like quality to her voice, which is contrasted by how cold it is when she starts talking about how Ranma or Akane have to die. What I would say as a point of delineation, at least so far, is that Sakuma’s performance feels more genuine, while Weseluck makes it seem like the childishness is just a front, it doesn’t sound sincere.

That kind of voice, genuine or not, is pretty emblematic of what we’ve seen of Shampoo thus far. Namely, that she’s fairly simple. Shampoo is chasing after Ranma, to kill or to marry, because of ancient traditions of her people, not because of what she really wants. Yet she pursues him relentlessly anyway. She’s eager to fight, eager to love, and absolutely willing to use underhanded methods to remove anyone from the picture if they get in her way.

I will say that, in terms of fighting ability, it’s pretty vague thus far how good Shampoo is. Ranma is capable of beating her with no problem over and over again, but she never gets to really fight Akane, all she does is give her hair the works.

Speaking of Akane, I will say that Shampoo’s presence does highlight certain aspects of her character. They’re both rather jealous, and prone to violence over it. But where Akane and Ranma are still trying to work through their baggage, Shampoo is down to cuddle from second one. Shampoo is also the first other fiance of Ranma’s, though that’s less something planned out for him and more something he made happen by accident.

I guess it’s time to talk about it, no use putting it off any longer. Shampoo has never really been a character I liked in the franchise, and part of the fun of this Rewatch is seeing how my thoughts have grown on her. I used to just kind of find her annoying, but now there’s more there too. Namely, racism. Yeah, the broken English/Japanese she speaks, combined with how she’s written in general, give Shampoo a kind of ‘dumb’ quality that never sat well with me, especially now that I know that it’s emblematic of the kind of stereotypes Japanese people tend to have about people from China. I still hope to have my opinion changed on Shampoo, but it hasn’t really happened yet.

It hasn’t been made clear yet, so I will say now that I do like this episode. It has some good comedy, I enjoy the hints of Ranma’s burgeoning devotion to Akane, and it closes out Shampoo’s initial storyline pretty well. But I’m also mixed on it, mostly just because of that insulting scene. It’s strange, having a story that I liked about 80% of, because it’s difficult knowing how to weigh that 20% that I didn’t care for. (Also, can I just say I hate that the title feels like a lie?) In the end, I’m placing this just one spot above the last episode, which means the current standing is thus:

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Next time, we are closing out the season! It’s kind of strange to consider that, I’m actually almost done with the first season of the series, known here in the States as “Digital Dojo” and in Japan as the only season of Ranma 1/2. (The next season to the end was all Ranma 1/2 Nettōhen) Will I like I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!? That’s the big question, and I’m eager to see. Ta ta for now!