#i wanted to edit but I'm sleepy

[november-rising]

The Bear: Season One, Episode One...Part Two

I want to thank everyone for the likes they've shared! I'm not sure where this is going but even if you join me for one post, I am appreciative. It means so much to me. Let's continue!

NOTE: These posts will be a mixture of reactions, favorite moments, callbacks, and attempts to make some sense of a nuanced show.

4:38 – Watching from the last time stamp to now shows so much more about Carmen. It’s an unveiling. He’s resourceful through a trade with prize-worthy jeans (I believe they are mid-century selvedge Levi') and a plethora of quarters. The way the scenes between Carmen startled alive to him running on all cylinders to make things work harkens to, well, everything. He’s passionate. He’s single-minded and he’s scrambling. Fast cuts emphasize that sense of urgency we learn more about in season two. Heck, the instrumental playing invokes a frenetic though tightly controlled regimen. It’s a pacing. It flows. It hums. It matches what needs to be done as Carmen begins to attack the situation at hand.

5:01 – This is my first realization of the clock in the background. The clock has been ticking for a while. Initially, this observation was a “DUH” after watching season two a few times and reading metas. However, reminding myself that this is the first episode…wow. Carmen’s always been on a deadline. This restaurant is a ticking time bomb meant to implode or explode.

5:06 – Carmen takes a breath, looks at the clock and it reads approximately 10:23a. I found this lingering shot intriguing. We are shown the moments ticking away to family, to service, to starting again.

Time is of the essence. I want to review this moment and/or motif later. What I do what to share is that I said aloud, when seeing the analog clock: “What does his mirror say?” Time is a critical element throughout this series. It’s abrasive and all consuming. It’s a comfort and a purpose. It’s a suffocating expectation that renders learning/enjoyment as a punishment for the mistakes learning can create within a constraint.

I find it interesting that as the clock is showcased, zoomed in on, and emphasized that’s when Carmen calls Sugar.  We hear Carmen call Sugar for a favor. We don’t see when he asks for Sug’s help. Yet, when he describes the jacket that his brother gave him, Carmen is in focus – overwhelming the screen. Mickey is overwhelmingly important.

Though time is of the essence, and it will not allow them to acknowledge the sorrow in the restaurant, we see Carmen’s world start to take expand – to breathe. He asks. And then hangs up the phone.

5:26 – And just like that, here comes Syndey, wide-eyed and bright. There’s been plenty of fantastic observations, metas, likes, etc etc etc. concerning this brilliant moment. The look this man has when he lays eyes on Sydney at 5:31 is enough said. And I must say, damn Carmy! This is the epitome of like recognizes like! He sees her. I don’t know how but the vibe is strong. (Am I even normal enough to use the word: vibe…?)

But, like, you have someone staging, Carm. How do you forget that you have someone of culinary experience and/or education coming to intern? Initial thought: he doesn’t see support and help when it glares him in the face. He sees himself as an instrument for others to become better, to use him, learn and move on.

Sidenote: Carmen, please go drink some water, eat a sandwich and go to sleep. How did you not remember that UPS is under the category of mailing services?

6:37 – Sydney laying it all out on the line within moments of meeting this renowned chef tells us so much about her. I need to pay more attention to her. She knows her direction. She deserves to be understood. I hope I can understand her better.

[lizardkingeliot]

That can’t be all there is.

[nat-20s]

THE GIRLS (FOURTEEN AND DONNA) ARE FIGHTIIIINNNGGG'

aka Donna has some lingering Feelings on the whole mind wipe thing and she's gonna shout about it <3

The Mess That's Made of Us

She didn’t mean for an outburst. They were having a calm, rational, adult discussion, not a fight. She didn’t even want a fight, not really. But The Doctor, he couldn’t just let it go and let her sort out her big stupid feelings on her own. No, he had to needle, he had to inquire, he had to push. He had to say that “everything had turned out all right, in the end”, and oh, that so wasn’t the fucking point. Nearly choking on the words, she yells out, “What would you have done?!”

After he startles and she has a moment to be thankful no one else is home right now, he’s shockingly even when he replies, “You..you know what I did.”

She lets out a right and proper growl of frustration. Clenching and unclenching her fists a few times in an attempt to ground herself, she grits out, “Not what I meant.”

“Donna, I don’t-”

“I meant, you pedantic little-”

She cuts herself off, takes in a deep breath in and out through her nose, and tries again. “I meant if our roles had been swapped. If I had been the one to take that year away from you, if you were about to have an essential part of the person you had become stripped all away in a moment. How would you have reacted? What. Would you. Have done?”

“I..”

She doesn’t let him finish, collect his thoughts, say pretty words that would fix it all. See, she can push, and push, and push too, now can’t she, Doctor? Generally, Donna doesn’t consider herself a cruel person. Sometimes oblivious, sometimes obnoxious, sometimes inconsiderate, but not cruel. But she knows she’s capable of it. She knows, if she so desires, she can hurt someone. She’s not trying to hurt The Doctor, except that she is, not to wound but to pull him to where she is right now. To make the grief and the rage and the conflict be shared. So she keeps going. “It’s not the same though, right? No, of course not. One year out of a billion, maybe more, that doesn’t make much of a difference, does it? Like forgetting what you had for breakfast that morning, barely a breath. I bet it would’ve been so easy, for you.”

“Donna!”

When he says it, his face is hard, and frustrated, but not cold. That’s something she’s still getting used to, with this new-old face. He used to have the coldest rage she ever saw, standing like a stranger. Now, he doesn’t tend to rage at all. It’s enough to make her clamp her mouth and actually listen for a second.

“Respectfully, what the hell are you talking about? Barely a breath, easy for me? Do you really believe that our time together meant that little to me? Do you really not understand by now? I mean, look at my face, Donna. And this is the second time that I’m completely rearranged myself in memory of you! One day with you changedme. One full year with you? Rewrote me.

So yes, removing my time with you would’ve made a difference. It would’ve made all the difference in the universe. And I don’t know what I would’ve done. If I had to get rid of the part of me that was made from you. I’m not sure I could.”

Such pretty words. And, well, the face in front of her right now does suggest some truth to them. But she can’t quite believe them, and she can’t quite look at said face, so instead her vision drifts over to the Tardis parked outside their kitchen window. Folding her arms and staring listlessly, she counters, “Yeah? Don’t you think you would’ve, I dunno, blinked and gone ‘oh that’s odd’ before putting on one of those manic smiles and inputting the coordinates to Venus in the 15th century, and that would’ve been that?”

Out of the corner of her eye, The Doctor’s face goes through a rapid series of motions that she can almost sort out, before stopping at realization. Oh. She didn’t like that one bit.

“Ah, that’s what you think did happen, huh? You think I flew away in my box and had magical adventures and found someone else in a day. It would make sense, right? Start pallin’ around with the nearest redhead I could find, forget all about me ol’ mate Donna, it’s not like she was gonna remember, so why should I?”

She sniffs, and tilts her face up, and resolutely does not let any tears fall. She also does not look at him.

“Donna, there was no one else, not until I was someone else. You want to know what happened, after I lost you? I broke. And then died. There was no me without you.”

Fuck. He changes his tune then, and she’s pretty sure they’re no longer fighting. They’ve always lacked a talent for it. He comes closer, placing both his hands gently on top of her still crossed arms, and moves until she has to look him in the eye. He even throws in a smile. Damn him to hell, he knows it’s near impossible for her to see her best friend smiling and start smiling a bit herself.

With a breath that borders on being a laugh, he continues, “But you! You got married, and yelled at parking attendants, and had a kid, and you existed. And I can’t regret that, I can’t. So I’m sorry, I really am. I ignored your pleas, and I took some of you away, and I’d do it again. I’d do it every time.”

She lets out a sigh and lets her arms drop to the sides. “I know.”

Wiping a hand down her face, she mixes a huff and a shrug. “Honestly, Doctor? I think I’ve already forgiven you.”

With a nod, she stands up straight and tells him straight, “I think I forgave you the moment it happened. I just..I just need time. I know it’s been years but I’ve only been able to think on it for a week.”

“I understand. Hell, there’s things that take me a couple thousand years to process, so.”

Donna rolls her eyes and let’s out a small chuckle, before opening her arms and saying, “C’mere, spaceman.”

The Doctor quite readily does, and the hug fits just as naturally as it always has. They take a moment to breathe together, and Donna gets to listen to the comforting double rhythm of the two healthy hearts in his chest. The silence is comfortable and the sharpness has eased.

When she pulls back, she can’t help but ask, “Wait, second face? What was the other one?”

“Ah. About that-”

[paperglader]

sometimes i'm living my life and sometimes i'm hit by the fact that c3 has become so intwined with my very being and in a way it's probably because of how it feels like it has been fully mirroring my journey since the moment i started watching- specifically with the imodna's- in the sense that i feel like i went through a period of so much healing and a bit of hardships, and then this year has been really hard, till it came to a tipping point maybe like a little less than a month from now and now the imodna's are like broken up and doing really bad and i'm like. i.want.to.sob.all.the.damn.time.about.it. but also, do i really want to sob that hard about it or am i just sad cause of life? and the answer is sort of, both, cause sometimes i just want fiction to be okay when real life isn't. Like, yeah, i've been rewatching early campaign with my roommate, and there was so much healing there along with the pain, but now it just feels so sad and broken (which, truly is ok). it's not like, doomed sad, but sad in the "shit. why did it get this level of fucked up?" kinda sad and like, i really really really really want a soft epilogue for the sad little lesbians, but also i very much want a soft epilogue for myself (also a sad little lesbian)

[431989]

more resident alien posting. predictions... spoilers so beware

well. i'm upset that the shows going to have a difficult time having more serious scenes now. and that's probably what it's going to try and set itself up for.

i reaaaally would have loved to see this show do something ACTUALLY different and good. by different i mean in terms of writing and not necessarily drifting from source material. yes i'm still sour over last ep, but i wouldn't be AS sour if everyone on the show didn't treat harry and asta's relationship as "mother and child." and also if the show didn't take such a nose dive into the type of comedy it's putting out.

ALSO? IN A RECENT INTERVIEW? Sheridan going on to state that harry would lose his first """love""" (more like lust. awesome that a show trying to teach human emotion gets those two things mixed up) and then realize there's love everywhere or something? why does this feel like "weird" people are forever left to the role of outcasts. already fucked it up once i guess the guy's trying to fuck it up more. could've just left it at "he'll lose his first love, then he will have to reconcile with his feelings." but he had to drop in that last corny bit.

like. the show's source is already good. i don't understand all these decisions they're making to try and make it seem "unique." and now to get numbers back they're dumbing it way down. WHICH. BY DOING SO. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE YOUR DRAMA? like how am i supposed to take anything seriously in the show. i *could* in season 1 and parts of season 2, but now it's just whatever. it's too goofed up for me to care. and now people who love the goofy won't give two shits about whatever message you want to drop or plot you want to develop. i dont give a shit about the greys!!! i dont care what theyre doing!!!! who gives a fuck if theyll blow up the earth. none of the characters really care anymore either. oh well!!!

also, predictions kind of. i'm not trying to say this will be the be all end all but it certainly could be a turn the show takes. in one of the issues of the comic (suicide blonde i think), harry is investigating the "suicide" of a woman. by the end of the issue, he catches up with her ex-lover and ex-roommate. they were both ladies. and the girl who died had a drinking problem btw. and was constantly seeing boys. i'm all for gay couples on screen as a gay guy myself but it'll feel so cheap to pair darcy and asta together despite the way theyve been played on screen. maybe its doable. i don't know. but i genuinely could care less considering the overall tone of the show's drifted more towards a sitcom than anything else. i think the small handful of 40+ year old gay wine moms would probably love it, but the vast majority of viewers wont. either they'll hate it and say it's forced diversity (there's already people saying that about the gay couple on screen this past episode) or it'll be another nothing moment to a further nothing story. if anything it'd feel one step removed from tokenization, considering they see harry as a manchild. ableism! show's trying to seem fucking wholesome but they can't be bothered to care about their nd viewers. like "haha look we have a main gay couple!!! what do you *mean* our show has rampant ableist tropes, we have a gay couple!"

i'm just so bummed. the show's cornered itself into a sitcom so meaningful moments aren't a thing anymore. plus the comparison of harry to a child is really getting at me. like he's a grown man as a human, and hes a grown alien thing as an alien. it's such a big slap in the face to any person who cherished the witty and unique story telling of the first season... like.... i don't know.... people who would've been fans of the comic too? i have small gripes about the comic, but at least it takes itself more seriously. but the show runners haaate the people who read the comics. why? i dont know. well maybe i do know. probably seen as too nerdy and weird for their idea of the show's viewerbase. despite the fucking basis of the show being weird and nerdy.

they couldve done the darcy asta thing better if they do go down that road. i'm just saying i wouldn't be surprised. they already scared off everyone who would've cared for something like that, so i don't know how they'll manage to find an audience that cares. everything in s1 was so organic and felt real!!!!! now its just!!! nothing!!!!!!!!!!

im also thinking about the fact that after posting that one resident alien drawing i did, i've had to block tons of people because they're freaks. loud and proud conservatives. man this shit sucks.

[heatherfield]

The Trousers are paying me fifty whole dollars to film their Sleepy Hollow town history play.

Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story, Episode 4 “The Star on the Stage” [x]

Bonus:

[lizzerswillpoststuffmethinks]

Spoiler: I didn't go to sleep. But I will shortly after this post

[beeholyshit]

THEY'RE TALKING‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[that-was-anticlimactic]

happy tourette's awareness month!!!

ts awareness month goes from may 15th-june 15th, with june 7th being like The Day!

remember to be kind and patient and accepting <3

[iamthepulta]

IT'S FINALLY UP. IT'S FINALLY DONE.

[icewindandboringhorror]

recent things

[rossithepixie]

Thinking about giving someone sleepy lazy kisses on the back of their neck as we watch things. Not fully paying attention to what we're watching anymore. Getting them to try and shrug because maybe it tickles a little. I take the chance to playfully nip at their ear before getting them to turn toward me so I can kiss them properly while our show is entirely forgotten

[niuxita21]

One day I’m gonna write a book. Can you imagine? A novel about everything that you and I have gone through? [Mariana laughs] It would be called “Ana and Mariana.” We’re going to be free soon, and we’ll be able to reinvent ourselves. So I’m sure you’re gonna write that book, and it’s gonna be awesome. We’ll see what happens. We have to let things flow, right? I think your novel is gonna be one of those that are pretty dark. Maybe one of those that are so romantic that you can’t put them down?

[evtoine]

hi!! 25, 30 and 68 for leyla from the tav asks🥰

Tav Asks

25. Does your Tav have any biases against other classes or races?

Leyla inherently trusts druids. Straight up. She always assumes good intentions from them, she grew up in nature and surrounded by druidic magic, so she feels connected to them.

Leyla also loves meeting other wizards. She doesn't trust them like she does other druids, but she loves having conversations with them. They can learn things from each other, which she appreciates! It's also easy to learn what not to do by meeting other wizards.

Also. It was a joke during her campaign that Leyla was only attracted to clerics. I will not comment on if it's accurate or not.

Other than that, she doesn't really have any biases for classes or ancestries!

30. How does your Tav react when someone insults their friend/partner?

Leyla, despite being a squishy wizard, is ready to throw down if someone insults someone she cares about. She won't stand for it, unless it was really deserved because her friend/partner was being an ass. She has enough wisdom to not start throwing punches immediately all the time... But she daydreams about it. She uses her words as weapons more often instead. She's said some vicious stuff in her time. She's probably burned a few bridges because of it, but she doesn't care. No one insults her friends and gets away with it.

68. How does your Tav get along with each party member?

OH BOY HERE WE GO. Gonna go in order that she met them! Under a cut since this is going to be pretty long... Gonna only do the origin party members for now but I might add the others later if there's interest!

Lae'zel initially scared her quite a bit. Leyla was still reeling quite a bit from getting a tadpole inserted into her brain and Lae'zel can be quite forceful. In time Leyla came to appreciate her dedication and her will, and feels terrible what she had to go through growing up. She was ready to fight a god on her behalf.

When she first met Shadowheart, she wasn't quite sure what to do with her, since she obviously wasn't trying to be too open about her past... But also, Leyla had studied the gods from a young age, and it wasn't too hard to place the holy symbol of Shar she had plastered all over her things. Still, Leyla played along and pretended she didn't know until Shadowheart was ready. And she was glad she did, as Shadowheart ended up becoming a very good friend after everything.

Her intuition told her to trust Astarion. Even though she really probably shouldn't have, given everything he'd done in the first few days of knowing each other. But something about his demeanor told her that this was a defense mechanism. Leyla didn't appreciate him constantly questioning his decisions at the start, even though in time she started to understand why. Overall they weren't the best of friends, but she hopes he's able to live a happier life now that he's free to do with it what he wishes.

Leyla was immediately charmed by Gale. She knows a wizard when she sees one, and his ramblings when he first fell out of the portal onto her were delightful. She loves talking magic with him and is happy to listen to him speak about the things he's passionate about. He reminds her of Traven in a way, which was both comforting and painful in the beginning. It's no wonder she fell for him.

Speaking of falling for. Leyla had a crush on Wyll for the longest time. She loves dancing, so they quickly became dance partners! It ended up not working out between them, but she still cares for him platonically. Honestly, he's probably her closest male friend of the group.

Leyla adores Karlach's intensity. She's got a love for life that Leyla strives to meet. Also... Don't leave these two alone if you know what's good for you. Absolute chaos if left unsupervised. Leyla's common sense plummets when she's alone with Karlach and they would absolutely get up to wild shit that could get them both injured.

Bonus: Alfira is Leyla's best friend. From the moment they met, they clicked. She wasn't able to travel with them because Leyla didn't want her to be in harms way, but after the Absolute was dealt with? They spent so much time with each other.

[perilegs]

oh hell yea i'm back on my bullshit

[spicygambles]

Some art for A Couple Steps Away! Tried some weird colouring techniques for this, which isn't too visible in its cropped state lol sorry. As usual, full image elsewhere, but to be fair you aren't really missing much ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯.