#i'm still missing 4 episodes don't spoil me

[michcio]

i can't believe i fell for people saying "the main characters are cute girls and they're engaged" and "it's so different from the rest of the franchise" despite knowing what mecha anime are always and i mean always about

[imgeekgirlfan]

The Curse of Cassandra [EP : X]

Read in Ao3 : here

Pairings :  Qimir x f!reader(SEA Reader)  [The Acolyte]

Content Rating : Mature 18+ Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warning (AT YOUR OWN RISK)

tags/themes : Alternate Universe - Dune & Star wars, Partners in Crime, Strangers to Lovers

Summary : At the Jedi Temple, everyone confronted a shocking truth about themselves, whether it was Sol, Yord, or yourself.

Status: just finished writing this fic! (It will end in Episode 14)

A/N : I'm not spoiling anything, but two things: First, Qimir's out of the picture for a bit after this, while the story shifts to the Jedi Temple, where you'll learn more about his and the reader's backstories. Second, there's a super important character here you won't want to miss.

Ps.If you enjoy my work, please reblog it. Just liking the post won’t help others discover it.

➡  Intro // EP : 1 // EP : 2 // EP : 3 // EP : 4 // EP : 5 // EP : 6 // EP : 7 // EP : 8 // EP : 9 // EP : 11 // EP : 12 // EP : 13 // EP : 14 (Completed)

Special OS : Phantom Thread

[Episodes 10] Hand of God be my witness; I am the voice from the outer world

They won't believe me.

The thought crosses your mind as you survey the interrogation room in the Jedi Temple on Olega. The room is nearly barren, with bare gray concrete walls and no windows, furnished only with a table and two chairs on opposite sides. You choose the inner seat, facing the door, patiently awaiting the arrival of another.

It isn't long before the steel door slides open, revealing the tall, gaunt figure of a middle-aged man dressed in a yellow Jedi uniform. Sol’s expression is grave as he takes the chair opposite you. Without preamble, he begins to speak. “I apologize for keeping you waiting. The things you’ve told us are... quite shocking.” He pauses briefly, then continues with a polite tone, “It will take time to verify the truth of all this, and we may not reach a conclusion soon.”

You reflect on everything you've revealed to them earlier. You told them all they needed to know—that Qimir was behind the Jedi slaughter on this planet and that he was a Sith Lord disguised as a harmless apothecary, hiding right under their noses for years.

To the Jedi, however, your account is just hearsay. After all, everything you said came from your visions, lacking tangible evidence to prove your story—no proof that what you saw was real and not some fevered delusion.

You know your fate hangs by a thread. There’s a strong chance the Jedi will deem you delusional and might even cast you out of the Temple. That is a risk you cannot afford to take, especially when Qimir knows you have escaped and is relentlessly pursuing you. Nowhere in the galaxy will be safe for you except under the protection of the Jedi Order. It's your only hope for survival.

“You don’t believe me either, do you?” You decide to test the waters, assessing Sol's demeanor behind his neutral exterior.

Sol clears his throat, visibly uncomfortable as he speaks. “I can't say I believe everything you've said, but I don't think you have a reason to lie, given that you admitted this man was your lover.” His gaze meets yours with sincerity. “But some parts don’t make sense...”

“It doesn’t make sense because you believe the Sith have long since vanished," you interject, interrupting him before he can finish. "But I'm telling the truth. I've told you everything. Qimir is a Sith Lord. His goal is the destruction of the Jedi Order, and he won't stop until he achieves it.”

Sol sighs. He remains skeptical of your words and seems caught between belief and doubt, but can’t help feeling concerned, aware that this issue is far too serious to ignore. The implications of your claims could threaten not just the Jedi Order but the stability of the entire galaxy. It is beyond the capacity of a single Jedi Master to decide alone. “The problem is we have no evidence to confirm the Sith still exist,” Sol says cautiously, his tone now even more guarded. “And the way in which these Jedi were killed doesn’t align with typical Sith methods.”

"But it aligns with Jedi methods," you murmur, though Sol hears every word clearly. "He kills Jedi in the Jedi way. That's why you initially suspected the culprit might be one of your own, or perhaps a former Jedi."

Sol's eyes widen in shock, staring at you as if your words are the most startling thing he has ever heard. "How do you know all of this?" he asks urgently, his voice laced with confusion. He clearly remembers that none of these details were shared with you. So where did you get this information?

You offer him a faint, mysterious smile, one that makes Sol feel unsettled in ways he cannot fully explain.

"I know what you know. And I know what you don’t," you say, your blue eyes momentarily distant and lost in thought. "Your suspicions aren’t wrong. Qimir isn’t his real name, and he was once a Padawan among you. As for the rest... you’ll have to find the answers from your own people—someone who knows him far better than I do."

Sol is taken aback, concern reflected on his face. For the first time, the words of this stranger evoke a pang of fear within him. "Who are you talking about? Who among us knows the Sith Lord?"

"Your friend, Master Vernestra."

Sol furrows his brow, thinking of the Mirialan Jedi Master, who is indeed his friend. At this point, Sol's doubts multiply as he struggles to find answers for himself. How does she know about Vernestra when they've never even met? he wonders.

Sol turns his gaze back to you, his eyes now filled with analysis and wariness. He's no longer sure how to feel about you—whether to be amazed or afraid.

"Who are you really?" he finally asks.

In truth, the more appropriate question would have been, “What are you?”

You sense the confusion and doubt etched on his face, making you start to wonder as well. "You really don't know who I am?" you ask, almost to yourself.

Sol shakes his head, not pausing to consider his response. "I don't know you, and I’m sure no one else here does either."

How is that even possible? You wonder; the memory is still vivid. When Qimir first captured you, he warned that the Jedi were after you too. You were certain their intentions were the same as everyone else's—to claim the power of the last Bene Gesserit for themselves. That's why you always avoided the Jedi. But when things changed between you and Qimir, you had no choice but to reluctantly seek refuge with the Jedi, knowing it was your best chance to evade Qimir.

You had prepared yourself for the possibility that your secret would be exposed here, which is why you dared to use your visions in front of Sol. Even though you hadn’t said you were a Bene Gesserit, you knew that the Jedi, who already held an interest in the Bene Gesserit, could easily piece the truth together on their own.

Yet, Sol’s response is not what you expected.

Confusion swirls within you as you meet Sol’s gaze. You desperately want to peer into his thoughts to understand what he’s truly thinking, but you can’t do that. Despite having prophetic powers, you lack the ability to read minds like a Force user. This limitation makes predicting the future so difficult—human thoughts are ever-changing, and so too is destiny.

However, Bene Gesserit training provides a solution to this weakness through a technique known as the 'Way of Perception.' This method focuses on observing every minute detail in your conversation partner’s movements—like the slightest twitch of a facial muscle, a shift in the eyes, or a swallow—each subtle gesture that reveals their true intentions. By employing this meticulous observation, a Bene Gesserit can analyze another’s thoughts, discerning truth from deception without relying on the Force.

You use the Way of Perception on Sol, meticulously observing his reactions and analyzing them as you have been trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit. What you discover is that he’s telling the truth. Sol and the others here neither know of nor acknowledge the existence of someone like you—a Bene Gesserit.

In that moment, a realization hits you with blinding clarity—a truth you have never considered until now: Qimir has been lying to you all along.

You remember when he first approached you out of sheer curiosity, manipulating your fear of the Jedi to keep you from running. He worked to earn your trust, all in a bid to uncover your secrets. When Qimir finally learned that secret, he realized you were too valuable to fall into anyone else’s hands. So, he killed everyone who knew about you, all to keep your power under his control.

And what better way to control someone than through love?

That’s exactly what he did to you. Qimir tried to make you fall in love with him, to surrender yourself completely—body and soul—to serve his grander purpose. His ultimate plan was to resurrect the Sith and exact revenge on the Jedi. With the aid of a Bene Gesserit, he believed he could conquer the universe.

But what throws everything off course is that Qimir, instead of merely seeing you as a tool to achieve his goals, has become genuinely attached and has fallen in love with you. 

Then, when you decided to drink the Water of Life, you allowed yourself to foresee the terrible future that unfolded, with countless possibilities and impossibilities stretching out before you.

You know that Qimir's plans will never succeed. Sooner or later, he will meet his end before reaching his goal. Even so, your bloodline and his will succeed nonetheless. Anakin Skywalker will become everything Qimir has ever aspired to be—the one to lead the Sith to greatness, the one who brings the Jedi to their ultimate demise. 

And so it goes, you think to yourself. You expected to feel more sorrow, yet you find your thoughts and heart curiously cold.

As days pass, you lose more and more of yourself. It’s as if you’re no longer human but merely a data system, recording and processing the flow of events in your mind. Fate itself has become nothing more than a set of data inputs into a system, repeating endlessly until it loses all meaning.

You resign yourself, allowing your mind to swim once more in the currents of temporal data, hoping you can still alter those paths, even if only slightly.

And you decide to start with Sol.

"I know what you did on Brendok ten years ago, Master Sol."

Your voice comes out deeper and raspier than usual, almost resembling a man's voice rather than your own.

Those words hit Sol like thunderbolts. You instantly read his reaction, analyzing every movement. The tensing of his shoulders betrays the fear he's trying to suppress. Sweat beads on his temple, indicating pressure and dread. His lips tremble, momentarily rendering him speechless.

It’s a secret Sol has kept hidden from everyone. In the past, when he was still a Jedi Knight, Sol was part of a team assigned to explore Brendok after the planet endured a devastating natural disaster. There, he encountered twin girls named Osha and Mae—children born of the Force, raised by a coven of witches, a group of women attempting to mimic the ways of the Bene Gesserit, who had been hiding on this planet for quite some time.

The twins' strong connection to the Force sparked Sol’s hope that they could undergo training to become Jedi Padawans. However, the witch coven opposed him fiercely. Osha and Mae were the future of their coven; they wanted the girls to inherit the witches' path. They didn't want the Jedi to take their children away, as had happened to other families across the galaxy before.

Tensions between the witches and the Jedi finally reached a breaking point when Sol accidentally killed Aniseya, the twins' mother and the leader of the witch coven. This triggered a violent battle, resulting in the deaths of the entire coven, including the twins, who were trapped in a burning building during the fight.

That calamity has haunted Sol ever since, a nightmare and stigma he has carried to this day.

The entire story was covered up by the surviving Jedi, as this grave mistake could have led to their permanent expulsion from the Order. There's no way an outsider like you could know this secret, which is precisely why you bring it up. You understand that this is the only way to prove the truth of your words and make Sol fully believe what you’re about to reveal to him.

You lock eyes with Sol, unwavering, before unveiling your truth.

"I possess foresight. I can perceive all secrets and discern the fates of every life. That is why you must trust me."

What’s happening to Master Sol?

Yord ponders, watching as the once-calm Jedi Master suddenly storms out of the interrogation room, his face pale as if he has just seen something profoundly terrifying.

For a moment, Yord hesitates. He considers asking what happened but ultimately decides to stay silent. He remains where he is, observing from afar as Sol approaches. Yord notices that Sol seems entirely unaware of his presence, lost in his own thoughts and drifting past him as if he isn’t even there.

Yord's gaze follows the Jedi Master until he disappears down the hall. A frown forms on Yord’s face before he turns his attention to the steel door of the interrogation room where Sol had just exited.

Suddenly, Yord feels it—a deep, undeniable sense of certainty, as certain as knowing the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. He knows what's inside that room. He knows exactly what made Master Sol so shaken. He knows who is in there.

Yord bites his lip, torn between the urge to open that door and simply walk away. But curiosity wins over; he takes a step forward, tension rippling through his body. Cautiously, he pushes the door open and steps inside.

There you are, seated on a chair, with only a metal table separating you from him. You greet him with a faint smile, your demeanor calm, showing no surprise, as if you’ve been waiting for him all along, or perhaps you already knew he would come.

“It’s good to see you again, Yord.”

Hearing his name makes Yord freeze. It’s not just the fact that you know his name, even though he’s never told you, but the way you say it—your words and tone are exactly as they were in his dream last night.

There’s something eerily familiar about you, something Yord can’t quite shake off. It’s as if you and he share a connection that runs far deeper than the mere acquaintance, although he still doesn't know who you really are.

For the first time, Yord begins to suspect that he’s caught up in a mysterious and complex pattern beyond his understanding—something his mind can barely comprehend. 

And he knows. The only person who can explain it all is you.

Yord takes a deep breath and moves to sit in the chair across from you, his hands clenching nervously in his lap. “This might sound strange, but... I dreamt about you before we even met,” he says, the words spilling out before he can stop them. “I saw your life. I glimpsed what has happened and what will happen to you. How is that possible? Why do I feel like I've known you all my life when we've just met?”

“Dreams are messages from the deep,” you reply. “They’re a form of prophecy, a sign of the gift we both share. But your family's lineage has abandoned the old ways, which is why your power is weaker than mine.”

Yord senses a hint of sympathy in your voice. Though you speak of it as a gift, he can tell you view it more as a burden—an inescapable curse.

His eyes lock onto yours, searching for answers, but when your piercing blue gaze meets his, it feels like you’re the one reading him instead. In that instant, he’s certain that those eyes can see straight into the depths of his soul.

"You mentioned my family... Do you already know who I am?" he asks. 

"I do," you nod. "Our ancestors are connected."

With each word you speak, Yord’s confusion only deepens. "How do you know all of this? Did you see it in a vision?"

"I didn’t see it; I was there," you correct him. "I stood at the mouth of the cave the day my sister was born. I held her in my arms. That child grew into a woman, and eventually she loved and secretly gave birth to a daughter before she died. Your bloodline began with her."

"How is that even possible?" he argues, his voice growing tense. "How could you have been there thousands of years ago?"

"I’m not telling you this to make you believe. I’m simply informing you." You give Yord a gentle smile, a fond smile like an elder gives to a child. "If we’re counting, you are as much my descendant as she is."

Yord raises an eyebrow in surprise. He just notices that your choice of pronouns has suddenly shifted. Instead of using ‘I’ to refer to yourself, you now use ‘she’ as if you’re speaking about someone else.

And then it hits him. Yord suddenly realizes that the woman in front of him is no longer herself. Her spirit is tainted, like clear water muddied with black ink. Something is possessing her—something he both fears and cannot comprehend, like an ancient mystery sealed away for eons, only now unraveling.

“Who the hell are you?!” Yord shouts, one hand instinctively reaching for the lightsaber at his side, ready to strike if the person in front of him makes any sudden moves.

But you remain calm, unshaken by the threat of violence. "You know exactly who I am," you reply evenly. "Think carefully. Your mother warned you about my coming. You’ve always known who I am, just as I’ve always known who you are."

Your words send a shiver down Yord’s spine. His throat tightens, and he finds himself unable to speak. 

He remembers clearly what his mother warned him about before she passed away. Her wrinkled hand gripped his tightly as she whispered the important secret of the universe that no one knew except him—the return of that person.

All his life, Yord had dismissed those words as nothing more than the ramblings of a dying woman—just imagination and meaningless superstition. But today, when he faced you himself, he finally realizes that it was all true.

As the truth crashes down on him, Yord unknowingly utters the words.

“Lisan Al-Gaib.”

A/N :

Yord when he know who you are

[0aurelion-sol0]

*sigh*...

Let me just say, I'm not going to act like I got spoiled because there was barely anything in this behind the scenes "teaser" to be spoiled by but still! I wish I didn't see it regardless because I would like to go in as blind as possible. But I guess I won't be able to escape everything that's out there anyway but still I hope I'll be able to do that.

And before you start, my feed was full of reactions about this from many people so there was no point acting like I didn't see it anymore because a thousand posts with the same screenshots over and over, kinda hard to miss.

But anyway 3 points that I want to talk about:

1) There was something about Will that I theorized about and that I will elaborate at some point here that I think has been hinted at here. However the way they do it will depend on what they will explore that season. A pattern that connects back to season 1 & season 3 that I think will be reused in season 5.

2) A character possibly has a more important role than I thought they would have but I'm not sure about that yet. Luckily, I think I almost got spoiled that part of the season but I didn't & escaped but we will see, again will try to be careful about these things. It could be interesting, I just hope it doesn't become the center point of that season to the point it overshadows other characters & the things we need to actually be exploring.

3) The aesthetic is very reminiscent of season 1 but seems duller than it in some parts which is interesting but I'm going to be careful, I thought we would get that for season 4 and we know how that turned out, it was closer to season 2&3's aesthetic than season 1 most of the time.

Most of these are probably from the very first episodes like 1&2 and maybe few of it from 3 or 4 but I don't see it going much further than that given the state of filming.

But the most important part of this "teaser", was that we got Joyce's long S1&2 iconic & beautiful long coat and for that, thank you Stranger Things 5.

[thosewildcharms]

Well i was talking about towl fav ep and fav richonne moment but i want your thought on twd too now :)

thank you so much clarifying anon, and for the question! i think the easiest way to do this is to break it up by show.

towl

favorite episodes: I think it goes without saying that just like everyone else episode 4 is my favorite. it's a stand out not just for towl but for twd as a whole and is magnificent from start to finish. as for the rest? i have a lot of trouble ranking them actually because i love all of them for different reasons, but I guess my other favorites in no particular order are:

6 because it was just SO satisfying. that reunion seriously healed something in me. I love the flashbacks and how their pillow talk was incorporated throughout.

3 because it had me literally screaming at my tv and i love angst <3

1 because i didn't realize how much i missed rick grimes until i got him back, and i'm still so impressed by how much they accomplished in that one episode. also i think andrew lincoln was phenomenal and the ending was perfect. it gave me that WE'RE SO FUCKING BACK!! feeling that set the tone for the whole series.

favorite richonne moments:

the family reunion in episode 6 goes without saying right? it's all i wanted from the series and they gave it to me and it was everything

like, all of episode 4 lol but the standouts for me are "you don't have to thank me ever" (like, that whole sequence of him saving her) "the only time I feel safe is when I'm with you" (because i'm STILL reeling from that) the without you I die monologue obviously and i also really love the specific way rick's voice cracks when he says "you think I didn't want to be with you? I tried everything" and the way michonne's lip trembles in response. i talked about how rick is suppressing his emotions throughout that entire episode and that's one of the few moments he loses his composure - it's SO effective

the full reunion in episode 2!

rick putting the ring on michonne's finger MID THRUST. hello?

the proposal! his nervousness! her obvious joy and delight! i actually really love how light and funny they were all throughout episode 5. i re-watch all of those scenes a LOT

rick pulling his gun on thorne when she put her hand on her knife while interrogating michonne/rick stepping in front of thorne's gun when she had it pointed at michonne.

MICHONNE THROWING THEM OUT OF THE HELICOPTER

an underrated moment from the finale i really love is when rick grab's michonne's fingers when thorne orders them to walk with their hands up. i love that he needed that contact!

in the finale when rick says he just wants to go home. he wouldn't have, and they both know it, but i love that he was allowed to express that. AND i love michonne's reaction to it.

michonne dropping her sword (again!) when she thinks rick is dead

i really really REALLY love the dream sequences from episode one. it definitely felt like a huge fuck you to everyone who said they never would have ended up together if the apocalypse hadn't happened. like! sorry but no! michonne is rick's soulmate! die mad about it!

twd

favorite episodes: 6x10 the next world, 7x12 say yes, and 3x12 clear for obvious reasons. I also really love 6x09 no way out for having one of my favorite richonne scenes ever, 4x09 after, 4x11 claimed, 5x11 the distance for the amazing richonne build-up, 9x01 a new beginning (richonne just feel VERY married), 9x05 what comes after because i was tense and distraught the whole time even though i was spoiled for the ending, and 9x06 who are you now: michonne's grief is so palpable even years later, danai was incredible and that scene with judith at the end wrecks me. plus the RJ reveal!

favorite richonne moments:

"i've never seen your face like that before." listen. LISTEN. years ago i saw a gifset of this exact scene right here on tumblr dot com and it was so cute that i decided i would watch the zombie show if those two get together. and now HERE I AM. it's the scene that started it all for me, and it's still one of my favorites because it's so cute.

FIRST KISS ON THE COUCH. arguably the best first kiss of all time

all of say yes but SPECIFICALLY when michonne drops her sword, and how she jumps into his arms when it turns out he's alive, the panicked way she says "no no no" when rick tells her she could lose him. but also, how goofy and silly they were the rest of the time. they have fun together! they don't just love each other, they like each other!

THE END OF 6x09 WHEN RICK WALKS OUT INTO THE HERD. michonne loses her shit completely in a way we didn't see again until the bridge. nothing is more terrifying to her than rick (or her kids) dying, and that will always get to me. the way she was the FIRST one out the door once denise gave the go ahead? the fact that the ONLY thing that kept her from running after him sooner was the fact that carl still needed her? GIRL???

rick smiling at michonne and carl on the train tracks AND the "i'm okay/I know/how?/because I'm okay too" exchange also on the train tracks. i'm a 'rick fell in love with her on the train tracks' truther forever and ever amen.

that hug at the end of 7x10 and the little kiss on her forehead :)

"I'm still with you." everything about that scene is just the two of them saying "i love you" without actually saying it.

"we should go to washington" oh my god the look on her FACE

in 4x09 that whole sequence where michonne sees herself in the walkers, kills them all, makes the deliberate choice to follow the tracks and they lead her directly to rick and carl???? the way she LOOKS TO THE HEAVENS AND CRIES??? rick's incredulous laughter and "it's for you"? what kind of invisible string tying you to me-soulmate bullshit?

the 9x05 "do you know why i fell in love with you?" dream sequence

9x01 "how'd I get so lucky finding you?" the domesticity of that entire scene.

first meeting at the prison. it's SO charged and it's so amazing to re-watch that scene and be like rick!!! that's your wife!!! and again. towl just confirms it really WAS soulmates meeting for the first time. incredible!

[popculturebuffet]

Sam and Max The Devil's Playhouse Retrospective: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy lagomorphs and welcome back to my look at Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse! Last time our heroes saved the world again, found psychic powers, got ominus foreshadowing max was gonna die, and I got to bask in the fact the Soda Poppers are fucking dead

But found out Bluster Blaster is now missing from most of this game

Still The Penal Zone left a great impression a truly sterling first chapter in this final bow for now for sam and max.

And i'm happy to say the Tomb of Sammun-Mak continues this hot streak. It's another excellent, deeply hilarious chapter, once again proving to be the best of the previous two chapters; big set pieces that look fantastic mixed with comedy that's still dark but less overtly cruel than Beyond Time and Space. I mean there's still some messed up stuff but it feels less nasty.

The Tomb of Sammun-Mak is a format bender, following our heroes as they use one of the toys to astral project/watch film reels of their ancestors, Sameth and Maximus, the spooky scary skeletons we found last time. TTOSM cleverly uses this to shake up the formula: instead of a three act structure, with the third being some sort of big flashy finale with limited options, you go back and forth between each reel as you find out new info that helps you past another one. It's a fun structure: While more linear than usual, as generally there's only so much you can do before you have to swap reels, the structure makes it easier to play. It's a bit disorenting at first as what's in your inventory at the time depends on the reel, but eventually your brain adjusts and it's fun to, like last time work backwords to get an item you had earlier. I needed a guide once or twice and if you liked the challenge of an adventure game this chapter may be for you, but as someone just here for the story and one liners, I was fine with it and Tomb is now one of my faviorite chapters. So step under the cut to see more reasons why.

Tomb picks up exactly where we left off, something that looking ahead at the wiki for the endings of the next few chapters (Just the endings, I still like a little suprise for what spoilers I don't have), is a trend. It seems Devil's Playhouse takes place over only a few hours, maybe 12 at most. Beyond Time and Space flirted wtih this a bit with the ending of chapter three and the last two taking place over a few hours but otherwise there tended to be an in universe gap of about a month.

This change also fits in with Devil Playhouse's other big change, one i'd heard about but really sinks in here: the story is heavily seralized: while each chapter has it's own distinct rythum and antagonist from the looks of it, it's one big story that happens in rapid succession. It reminds me of say Legend of Vox Machina: it's episodic, instead of just being one big story put into chunks, but ther'es an ongoing arc the whole time and each episode largely leads into the next. The previous two games did have it all tie together, but it was looser; someone was clearly behind the hypnotisim plot in Save the World but our heroes being who they are don't really look into it till the last minute, while in Beyond Time and Space there's hints hell is involved in the first chapter, but you don't really get a sense how this ties together till the big reveal and even then it feels a bit reachier. Here from what I know without over spoiling myself, each chapter builds on the previous ones in some way, both in the overaching plot of the toys and in who the villians are. This chapter in paticular hints at chapter 3's antagonist and introduces chapters 4. I won't say which is which or who in facse you haven't played them.

Our heroes are also caught up in it a lot faster, as each chapter is someone after their toys and sam for his ability to use them. There's a bigger sense of urgency as while our heroes are still themselves, their more directly in the line of fire rather than waiting out some big nebulous plot they have to solve at the end. While the previous two games aren't bad, I like this structure a lot better, as it gets the plot going, allows it to breathe more, whlie still delivering a satsifying episodic experince. I play these monthly (Or if I get behind as in this case two this month) so I get the best of both worlds: the cozy comforts of the remaster with the feel someone would have playing it on it's own and waiting about a month for the next one.

So onto our adventure. Max is aghast at the skeletons as he thinks Sam killed him. Which... given everything max does if Sam did Kill max he was either about to fire all the nukes at once or took the last piece of Meesta Pizza.

Either way Sam quickly points out this is a clue (complete with note) and not them. It's their relatives Sameth and Maximus, from 1901, with the note leading them to a nearbye projector with some reels. The duo fight over this because with the office down they can't fight over the phone as easily. Gotta keep those reflexes up.

This accidently reveals that the Projector is the Astral Projector, one of the toys of power. It allows them to live through their ancestors pasts. Though it comes with a caveat that explains why all the reel swapping: They only have information they've learned as they don't fully gain their ancestors memories. It's inconsitant as they do remmeber what's on the reel but i'll let it slide for being a solid way to do this out of order.

That said we'll be covering these in full chronological order rather than jumping around jumping around get up get up and get down. The reasons are simple: It's easier on me and my brain which is about what you'd expect

And it's easier on yours as it's a bit more coherent to just cover the story as it happens.

So with that in mind

REEL 1: THE CHALLENGE OF THE SPUNX!

First of Spunx. Given the series we're in they probably knew that was a sex thing these days as i'm pretty sure using spunk as a jizz metaphor was a thing back then. Or i'm just a dirty weirdo. Both things can be true.

Our adventure begins with Sam and Max attending a theater exibition from Monsuier Paperwhite. Paperwhite apparently comes back somehow, and is notable for being the only character in these flashbacks to have a completely new model. Every other character is either a mole, who I suspect were made the ancient guardians of the devil's toybox to make more characters easier as they can just copy harry's model and put new clothes on it, or from Beyond Time and Space. Paperwhite is offering two free tickets to sunny egypt to anyone intrested. A pitty he's about 27 years too early for any joestars to stash those away for later use. To get them they have to pass the CHALLENGE OF THE SPHUNX, which looks like a hippo and is a repica of the real thing.

I love the pulp feel of this one, those sort of adventure stories like Scrooge Mc Duck, Indiana Jones and Tintin. The globetrotting adventure, mysterious characters and period trappings are just so fun and it's a perfect fit for sam and max. Especially since the embodiment of Noir used to live next door to them.

Anyways, the other guests are a Mole in a Babuska and Santa himself as Nicholas J Kringle. While santa was a bit of an ass in the finale to ice station santa, here he's a robber baron monster who barely pays his elf workers and has them living in little arctic circle, the local elf ghetto. A sentence that's actually said and is the kind of thing that makes covering these games so damn fun.

Kringle heard there were toys involved, as Paperwhite has one of the toys of power, the Can o Nuts. I'll let a known expert explain this classic prank

But here Maximus can fit himself and whoever inside. Naturally to even the odds since Maximus like Max has THE POWER and can at the very least move the Spunx tounge by standing on it, Santa has one of his elves Yoink the can and run off. While we're here we can pick up some of Santa's Cookies, a sunday funnies page written in hyreoglyps and by distracting santa, an adress.

So it's off to Little Arctic Circle just south fo the theater and in present day the street our heroes live on. We see the Mole Woman has some Beef with the elves as she goes back to her house as our heroes ask and answer an age old question

So we go to talk to the Elves but their petty little assholes. They also don't want to unionize but in fairness i'm pretty sure Santa's unionbusting would be horrifying as it was holly jolly. I mean this was back when horsewhipping an employee for unionzing was probably legal.

They won't give us the can unless we give them a great toy idea since Kringle wanted the can but didn't you know... leave the ehater to fetch it from them. Before we give it to em we talk to the mole woman. SHe's cursing their leader slushy as it turns out mole people have magical curse powers. WHo knew? This is handy knoweldge for later. She came to this country ahead of her family who are stuck back in the old country.. being egypt despite the russian accent. Anyways she translates the glyps for us, which is literally just saying what the glyph looks like, and some comics which wax about how wacky it is to cut cucumber lengthwise. Being sam and max this will be importnat later.

For now we give the Elves our idea... this is about an hour later in game but we give them the idea for a toy biplane, it'll make sense later and with that they refuse to pry it off their friends head and make the mistake of pissing Sameth and Maximus off.. which like their decsendants is only a recipie for broken bones and scapulas. At least Slushie can regenerate.

With that we can complete the riddle! and have a toy of power! hot choclate! Completing it is standing on the creatures tounge, giving it an offering (the cookies), saying the glyph then enterting the gate using the can o beans. With that our heroes win two tickets to sunny egypt!

Reel 2: The Train to Egypt/In the Tomb

The title changes depending on your progress. The first scene is mostly just there to introduce a major supporting character and provide an obstacle to easily clearing this chapter so you get the swap gimmick down.

Our heroes are on the train to Egypt when they end up with a stoaway: Baby Amelia Earhart! She's a little rapscalion who wants to journey with us. Sameth and Maximus aren't like their succesors and have no use for kid sidekicks/surrogate daughters and tell her to go screw but when their tickets blow away they have bigger issues. You sing her a shut up laden version of cry of the valkryies to make her sleep, something picked up from the next reel, and use the can to avoid being ticketed.

Many Wild Adventures Later our heroes have ditched Baby Amelia Eardhart and head into the tomb. They find the chest.. but also find Grandpa Mole, who sets up a security hex. We can't touch the chest so we explore a bit. We find an old familiar face in a diffrent phase of his life: Jurgen! Pre vamparisim. Kinda. He was cursed to be one but you have to be bitten by one for it to stick. He was trapped in the wall and wants our help getting out. Obviously this is a trap but it's something our heroes really can't get out of.

So manuvering around the corridors we find a bust and remove it freeling jurgen.. and trapping us. Jurgen leaves having acomplished nothing and not even getting the box, for now. Which is on brand for him. Thankfully whlle the two guardian figures in the wall we're now trapped in are less than sympathetic they are willing to let us leave for a good joke. Specifically cucumber being cut lengthwise. Which.. honestlyw hile not ha ha funny is something kinda nuts to do.

So our heroes are free and soon head to the west hall where we find the dad, who sounds like harry moleman. He apparently isn't but gotta flip them assets. He has a chamber of death which I genuinely thought might slice you good.. but turns out nope the guiltine won't hit you at all. For now. You find his daughter Nefertiti, who he's scaring all the boys away from with his powerful sexo rejexo curse that repels the opposite sex. Apparently Molemen don't know queer people exist, which tracks.

We need to get past her as her giant Asp

Which also ate the next toy of power (?), Charlie Hotep. He's a ventriloquist dummy that allows you to throw your voice! Fool your freinds! Fun at parties! Thankfully we get in the asp by using the can o nuts, a solution I had to look up. What is with this game and "assuming the player will figure out the animal does things". At least this time it eating the puppet is a clue and not "the pidgeon will do the thing you just have to belivieeeeee"

So now with Charlie we can fool Nefertiti's dad into thinking she has a crush on sam and max.

Though in fariness tormenting a tweenage girl and getting her father to curse us by basically making him think we might be pedophiles is still a long ways away from "sending an innocent child to hell for fun and profit". It's more funny than awful as it more pisses off a moody tweenager for two seconds and gets us cursed to complete a puzzle more than it actually. .HURTS anyone. We'll save actually hurting her feelings for next time.

For our hubris though in addition to the needed sexo rejexo, Max gets turned into.. A COW! which sameth takes with patience and dignity

It's a great gag. You also get a great reaction or two if you use stuff on him before Maximus changes back. So onward to the rest of the puzzle. On the right sid eis grandpa mole and baby amelia earhart, who escaped and is pissed at our heroes for running the fuck away from their unwanted sidekick and plans to loot the tomb .Grandpa Mole wants a grandkid to talk to since his actual grandchild no longer likes him. So we simply need to use sexo rejexo and a nearbye sarcophogas to blast the small child into the weird old man

Thankfully he's not a pedophile, and is a good sport and lets us roam around. Sadly this new friendship has to be ruined as we need his curse to complete the puzzle after looting some rune blocks. So we riffle through his brouchers, possible vacations as everyone says grandpa needs a break, and ask about Stuutgart. Being a xenophobic weirdo , he curses us for that with a bad luck curse. This means the guillotine will actually work now and thanks to a tip from kev I knew to toss the idol from earlier in. It's now a twofer and both halves go into indentionts near the guardian mural, causing them to bend. We go back into the painting, use the new bridge, and fuck up grandpa's curse runes. Also his curse seems to be the only one tha tneeds an elaborate set of runes. Maybe they evolved.

With that we can grab the devil's toybox and end this reel.

REEL 3: THE JOURNEY HOME

After escaping a gun toting santa

We arrive back on the train only to find the trunk we put the Devil's Toybox in is empty! So it's a mystery on a train. Man this serial has everything: a fun act one in a theater with an old timey showcase, an anceint tomb to raid, and a train mystery. I do love a good story set on a train so this reel had me.

It's also a lot of fun. The overworld is a bit of a pain in the ass to get around as you can't run for some reason despite how small it is and train is a straight line so to get anywhere you usually have to backtrack. Which would be fine but without being able to run it makes this segment slower

Thankfully the rest is a lot of fun as everyone so far is in attendence, forwhadowing what's to come. The Mole Dad and Neferiti are on their way back, with Mole Dad a little sore at first you stole his priceless treasure, but admits it was for the best and loosing it means he can join his wife in the new world. His dad is taking that well deserved vacation.. to see the Sphynx. But hey his duty was guarding one small room of it and now he can look over all of it. I mean it's still not very big but hey.

Next door is Jurgen, who won't let you inspect his room filled with vampire stuff and with throw you out. And who also wants to call evens on the whole "betraying you and trying to trap you forever thing" kay. I am really happy to see Jurgen again and while he's not as funny as his previous two apperances, he dosen't have his hilarious 2000's rave kid astetc since it's a century too early for that, it's nice just to see him again.

Also on board are Kringle, whose hiding in his cabin and won't come out, and his elves. Slushie is looking a bit... vampish but insists he's fine. He dosen't even crav eblood that much. He does need a subject to test that toy you pitched. Thankfully Baby Amelia Earhard has both forgven the boys mostly and sold a ton of her plundered loot to get herself her own cabin.

So to get further we need to get that toy test. Thankfully the sexo rejxo curse works wonders. We simply use charlie again, which both lets us check out the moleman's luggage. As it turns out he has the vampire reverse curse inside, the way to cure Jurgen before he turns.

The curse violently throws people around, and thus pushes baby amelia erdhardt into slushie. I.. I really wish there weren't so many puzzles that involve shoving a child into an old man but that's where were at. Thankfully the elves just show her their toy biplane, which of course is a hit with the future ace aviator.

So the next bit's a bit complex, mostly beause of all the back and forth. We grab a glass from Santa for.. reasons that will horrify you in a moment. Then we see Neferitti give a love note to jurgen, having a massive crush on him while he's intrested in is getting the reverse curse off her dad. So we have to piss her off again and her dad, telling him about the crush as responsible adults

So he casts a sexo rejexo curse on Jurgen, and a mad Nefertiti turns Maximus back into a cow. Sameth's chiller this time and er.. mliks his little buddy

I didn't need this, you didn't need this, even shippers didn't need this. It's fun to Ship Sam and Max together. Not so much their relatives both due to the horrifying incesty implicatoins and just the fact that even if this were sam and max, maybe don't.. mlik each other. At least as a cow. Other way's fine. This just feels.. wrong. Why is it saved the world is the only game that didn't give me cow based nightmares.

So we then feed the milk to santa with cookies, and put the can o nuts on the tray to sneak in, and suprise him. We raid his trunk to find .. it empty. He DID try to steal it but someone stole it from him.

So after getting thrown out we deal with Jurgen. Nefertiti is tounge tied, tounge tied, whenever he's around. Whenever he's in town boy. So we make up the words for her making him think the curse is in a sarcophogas we found under some luggage earlier. Then it's as simple as telling Slushie to go see santa , a meeting he dosen't make as he has to stop for a quick bite on the way. With that we've ruined Jurgen's life, but get to loot his room to find nothing.

Turns out it wasn't any of our rogues gallery but BABY AMELIA ERDHARDT!

To the team's credit this twist.. actually works. The prevoius two reels , which are usually finished before this one, set up how much our heroes tossed the kid around and neglected her, so her betraying them to try and take the toybox for herself works perfectly, while still being just out of left field enough, ther'es no foreshadowing besides our heroes being dicks, to be funny. The way our heroes beat her is also funny.. they just.. use the curse a third time and knock a baby off a train, which somehow isn't the worst thing our heroes have done today. Or even in the top 10. It is hilarious though.

So that leads us to our finale

REEL 4: THE BIG REWARD!

So sam's gotta go wag the dog so to speak, and tells Max not to keep watching while he's away. Max... watches it anyway which Sam shoudl've seen coming but ey.

So our heroes recap their adventures for a lovely audience Paperwhite's gathered.. then we get to the inevitble betryal you probably saw coming from this setup. Paperwhite plans to use the box to summon Yog Sogoth! though weirdly while the other toys levittate impressively , stealing our can o nuts... charlie just.. falls to the floor. Hrmmm.

Paperwhite puts sam over a vat of man eating ants that's been there the whole time. That's not a joke it was there in act one, well setup chekov's gun. I just didn't need to mention it till sam's dangled over them. You can just do what paperwhite wants, and summon Yog Soggoth, his lord and master. And... it eats you because it eats the summoner. it's why he bothered getting someone with the poewr and having them die for him. Thankfully this reel is multiple choice so Max distracts our big bad while Sam uses the newspaper to flame a rope to knock charlie near max, who uses him to lure Paperwhite to the circle.. then mime him saying the words. it's a clever finale and one that does away with our villian who will come back which dosen't suprise me: besides the new model there's also the simple fact last time, I assume a man wasn't dead from an axe to the head and turned out to be entirely right. Death does not happen easy in this universe and even then you can just come back as a ghost as Mama Bosco showed us.

We then get a cutscene showing us what happened to Samteth and Maximus, they took the box to the mole family, who agree to guard it... only for their protection spell to go haywire. Since Maximus is afraid of being a cow again he accidedntly bolts into the way, Sameth tries to save him. .and they die. The moles leave their bones behind and the toybox, to be found by the mole cult later. It's honestly way sadder than I expected. Still funny with how quickly the moles move on from it, but it's a tragic sacricie. It's also a bit of a more coherent story than normal setting up WHY the box is wher eit was found and why max has powers: they were passed on.

So Sam comes back to berate Max.. only to find.. his brain missing. And it's creepier than I expected to, the detail on his debrained body is neat and really creepy and it's unsettling how the top of his head just... flops open.

So with that cliffhanger we end this chapter. It was a delight as you can tell, is one of the best and if you haven't played the game yet please, please please go do so. Thanks for reading

NEXT TIME: Sam goes noir! Max is left a brain in a jar! Reality bends in half! Fun for all ages!

[bigolbard]

Okay. I literally just finished S3 of LoVM and I have thoughts. Also, I just need to write those thoughts out to try and process what I'm feeling. Because I'm feeling a lot.

If it isn't obvious, everything that follows this is going to spoil the fuck out of all of LoVM and also CR C1, so, y'know, stop reading if you haven't watched yet and care about spoilers. You're beautiful, and I love you.

Okay. So. First, things that I want to praise unabashedly:

Laura Bailey is a fucking angel sent from the heavens to show humanity what god-tier voice acting is. I cannot get over her, and at this point I don't think I ever will. Love's First Crit was fucking phenomenal and heartbreaking and you bet your ass I was crying in the club.

Thordak-Raishan was cool as fuck and I loved the way they did it. I actually wish we got a bit longer of a fight there, it almost felt too quick. Would have loved to see Raishan fully let loose, but the narrative supported a sort of Keyleth v Raishan finale, so not a huge thing for me. I thought it was dope.

I saw you reading Der Kattenprintz to your daughter, Syldor. Don't think I didn't see that.

Kaylie's Song was as beautiful as I knew it would be. Sam and Mr. Fantastic and Neal Acree having been making fucking gold from Day 1 on this soundtrack, and I suspect they'll continue to do so in Season 4.

And now...the rest. The thoughts. The things. There are two big ones, and I'll start with the smaller of the two:

I did not like everyone splitting up for the first half of this episode drop. Was it technically both thematic and narratively sound? Yeah, absolutely it was. And I 100% get that this is something you can take advantage of in a TV show that doesn't really work at a D&D table. But for the Matron's sake, the show is called The Legend of Vox Machina. It is still about Vox Machina as a group, not as individuals. And the party is the heart of the story in the animation as much as it was in the live play. And splitting them up for such big moments feels like shit.

The other teams members not being there to see Earth Elemental Keyleth? That sucks. I know she got to show it off later when she killed Raishan, but it still sucks that that huge development moment for her happened completely devoid of the rest of VM.

Vax and Vex killing Ripley on their own? Sucked. Absolutely sucked. They went through all the extra work of building Ripley into a much bigger villain in the show -- both by having her survive Glintshore but also by us seeing her working with Umbrasyl in Season 2 and then again with Thordak in Season 3. They turned her into a proper major villain, and then never had the party as a whole fight her.

Her and Percy go mano y mano at Glintshore with no party intervention, and then the twins kill her with not only no party intervention, but not even telling the party they were going after her.

Like I get that Percy matters a whole hell of a lot to Vex, and by extension to Vax, but the rest of the party also loves him? And misses him? And wants him back? And they just...never get to fight Ripley?

Yeah, it's a TV show, you can have characters doing different things, but now you've lost a party experience. Vox Machina did not kill Anna Ripley. Vex and Vax did. And I'm sure some people are totally cool with that, but to me it really kills the heart of the story which is the party as a whole and the experiences they have together.

And speaking of splitting up.... what the fuck was that decision to replace Bard's Lament with the entire party just being like "well I guess we'll go do our own stuff now!"

Yes, the threat of the Whispered One will force them back together. Yes, because of the streamlined nature of the show we don't have as many side plots holding the group together now that the Conclave has been defeated. Yes, TV is different than D&D.

But holy fuck did I hate that decision, from both an adaptation standpoint and a narrative standpoint.

The first bit there is self-explanatory -- they fully removed one of the most iconic parts of C1. Despite -- in my and a lot of other people's opinions -- spending the better part of Season 2 and 3 setting up Scanlan's departure only to pivot at the last moment. I get making changes to fit the medium and the time constraints. But it was so obvious they were setting Scanlan's leave up from Season 2, and all the writing was on the wall, and then it was just nothing. And I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed we won't hear "what's my mother's name."

But even if I look past that disappointment, the narrative of it feels underwhelming on its own. Scanlan leaving is a huge moment for him, realizing he needs to look after his own needs, and having Keyleth basically echo the same sentiment really diminishes that moment. It feels like a goodbye episode -- and I get that S4 just got picked up like three days ago so they probably made that change so the show could end there if S4 wasn't ever made. That's probably the realistic answer.

But wow did I not like it. Wow wow wow. Like.... wow wow wow. I just...it felt so underwhelming. I kept waiting for the big moment, for the big season ending punch -- like the Chroma Conclave flying in at the end of S1 or the Raishan reveal at the end of S2 -- and there was just nothing. Yeah, we got the Vecna stinger, but that didn't involve the party. That didn't command immediate "oh no what's this."

It felt like it was setting up four new spinoff shows, not another season of the Legend of Vox Machina.

And let me be clear, this is all one dude's very fresh rant. This means nothing. If you loved these episodes, do not let me dillute your enjoyment. And I know CR and Titmouse don't owe me a damn thing -- they're not making this for me. I get that. But I just cannot believe that's the route they took.

In my opinion, the first two season very much felt like an adaptation. But this season felt more "inspired by," rather than an adaptation. And how much of that hits for you is totally personal preference. If I'd never seen any of C1 I'd love every moment of this. As its own things, it's still an incredible show and incredible art.

But it just felt like the heart was missing -- for me, at least -- in the back half of this season. Maybe I'm a hater. Maybe I'm resistant to chance. But it just didn't quite land and I needed to write all this out just to process my own feelings. Which is all they are. Feelings.

I still love CR. I still love LoVM. And of course I love y'all. Bidet.

[ivysangel]

wally’s death was the first character death that i ever experienced from a character that i LOVED. like i was crushed and i cried so hard my mom thought someone actually died so i understand your pain!! and when they did the kind of flashback thing in season 3 where dick was hallucinating about being robin with the team and wally was back while fighting on granny goodness’s ship??? the writers were SICK for that!!

also dinah mentioning the sanctuary part at the end of season 4 is supposed to be how wally comes back but i don’t see how cause in the comics he’s stuck in the speedforce but the writers say there is no speedforce?? which why not??

the time jump was the dumbest thing i’ve ever seen cause why??? we missed tula joining the team and then dying, we missed kaldur discovering who his real father is and going to the light’s side (even if it was just undercover), we missed dick becoming nightwing, and we missed ALL of jason. don’t get me wrong cause i love tim and i wanted to see him as robin too but jason is such an important part of tim and dick’s stories so what gives??

and the writers are especially sick for how they did wally and artemis!! cause why tease us with them for the whole season, finally give us spitfire in the last episode of season 1, then have their ENTIRE relationship off screen, and then they kill wally?? we really got no time with them!! like spitfire is arguably the best couple on the show even if the writers clearly do favor connor and m’gann. especially m’gann and i love her but why was dick barely in season 4???

i don't think i cried when wally died bc i'm p sure i spoiled it for myself but i was still GUTTED. me and one of my friends who also watched yj have talked about it so many times. she actually stopped after he died and said she wouldn't continue the show unless they brought him back. i think dc knows what young justice fans want i just don't think they gaf bc that have quite literally not implemented a single thing that fans have REALLY asked for. you'll say "we want wally back!!" and they'll be like "ohhh okay let's remind everyone that he's dead and literally nobodies truly recovered!!!"

also, once again, FUCK that five year time jump. the young justice writers' room utilized the FUCK out of time jumps like every season has at least one or two??? mid-season they'll be like "1 year later" WHAT??? but like i said, nothing is worse than that five year time jump between s1 and s2 because five years is such a long time, especially because the team were practically babies at the beginning. they had so much potential and then the show just jumped to them as adults and a whole new team.

i also fully hate that they introduced rocket in the second to last episode or smth and pretty much benched her as a superhero for the entire rest of the show, i do not understand that decision AT ALL.

and yes, the fourth season being advertised as a season about the og team only for it to be so heavily m'gann and conner centric was so…i did enjoy that we finally got some real zatanna screen time but ugh god i wish it was with the team. like i don't really know how to explain it or if this even makes sense, but even though the show is about a team i feel like we barely get to see the team do actual team stuff like they used to. it feels like a lot of solo plotlines that happen to be going on in the same show with coincidental correlation.

also i think it might've been season 4? maybe 3? but WAY TOO MANY CUTS TO VANDAL SAVAGE'S LIFE STORY. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK.

[biolizardboils]

so heads up! im popping a LOT of Prime Season 3 posts into the queue--they'll start coming out one week from now, on January 22nd! if you can see this post and haven't watched it yet, here's some tags to block: #prime spoilers, #sonic prime spoilers, #sonic prime s3 spoilers, #sonic prime season 3 spoilers.

got all that? great! here's my final unorganized little rambles about the show:

shoutout to Rusty Rose's Birdie, who only appears in the very first and very last eps for some reason 😭 her speech about it not being her power source came outta nowhere too, but i loved the message behind it

when everyone arrives at the Grim, just before the ep ends, Nine starts breathing heavily and it. instantly reminded me of Movie!Tails when the bar was calling them freaks. fuck. its a nice reminder of where Nine's coming from

speaking of Nine his poses getting more unhinged over time!! hell yeah

i love that the final fight(s) felt like a kid smashing 3 different Lego sets together, real Robot Pirate Island shit

i laughed a little too hard when the Grim's dome started closing in cus Nine's citadel-thing already reminded me of a thing that happened in Fortnite once, but hell naw they had to add The Storm too sdfghj

METAL BIG DESTROYED ME LJKHGFDV im SO glad i wasnt spoiled about it!!! a while in i started finding it creepy instead of funny, which is an added bonus

i was spoiled about the Advance flashback and its clashing sprites though. the utter whiplash of seeing that without warning mightve made me choke on my hot cheeto puffs. someone's already remade it btw, check it out

i fistpumped at the small reprise of "me beauty" gfhjk ill miss you so much Dread

we're four years into the 2020's and Sonic has nearly died an agonizingly slow death 3 times in 3 different continuities! and dare i say it was delicious every time >:)

unless Word of God says otherwise I'm gonna assume that the giant shadow at the end was The Return Of Metal Big lpoihgfds

So... Twitter, huh? My spoiler filters there had some leaks, and I saw some discussion out of context that... actually made me kinda scared to finish the show. But then I did, and had fun with it just like the other two seasons, and I remembered that Twitter gets high-strung about things that don't matter so much, and that giving it sway over how much I enjoy things is silly lol.

Yes, I think the last season could've been paced differently so it wasn't 5 episodes of the same Final Boss Fight. Yes, I think the writing switches jarringly between gearing for a young new audience and for a seasoned old one. Yes, I think the 2D flashbacks look and move worse than what fans constantly make for free. Yes, I think the final episode doesn't do nearly as much housekeeping as it should (does the Shatterverse still exist or not??). Yes, I think declaring the show is canon to the games or whatever they said probably wasn't the best idea. And yes, I think Black Rose should've had a shoulder-parrot!Birdie to match the other Amys. All valid critiques! All sensible things to think when you've been around the Sonic bush!

But I swear to god, people on Twitter act like these things spoil the whole package. Where's the nuance? Why does every opinion there become an absolute worth tearing others down for? Is it the character limit? I bet it's the character limit.

There's so much I love about this show that were infeasible for the Sonic brand just 3-4 years ago. Externalizing the characters' facets to explore them in-depth. Said exploration spanning multiple episodes instead of being one-and-done. The sheer amount of genuine Sonadow food (and I don't actively do shipping, so me adding it here should hold a lot of weight). The snappy, playful, yet blistering fight scenes that, dare I say, feel like a successful TV-budget Spider-Verse. It was all so much fun!

But I guess stuff like Green Hill being the gang's "home" is a big deal-breaker?? Like?? I thought that was silly too, but not worth ratio'ing people with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over? Get well soon, I guess??

Rambling over, shout-out to the entire country of Canada for giving me the most fun I've had with a Sonic show since X! I'm gonna go figure out how to address all this as The End lol

[pistachions]

HI. HELLO. I said a while ago that I REALLY wanted to compare up my favourite shows cuz they're both SOOO undderated and here that is

A COMPARISON BETWEEN MILO MURPHY'S LAW AND STRANGE HILL HIGH

First.. I feel I need to introduce both shows

MML

If you didn't know.. it's made by the creators of and takes place in the same universe as phineas and ferb (it has a crossover too !!).. but as its own show, its SO unique. It follows a boy called milo who suffers from a family curse called Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) and his adventures with his friends !! Most of the episodes are just like general shenanigans that follow milo but it does have a plot that is introduced later on :) Also, because its made by the creators of pnf, its got the same humour .. it's really funny

CHARACTERS

The main trio are milo murphy, zack underwood and Melissa chase (in that order on the picture below) and they have a ... pretty standard TV trio dynamic, BUT all of the characters are SO fun and likeable!! Like, for instance, zack was in a regionally famous boyband and other fun things like that :)

Remember how I said there's a plot introduced later.. yeah, well it's basically created by these geezers (dakota and Cavendish, in that order on the photo below) who are introduced as time travellers set out to save pistachios. They're really funny and also voiced by the shows creators (or the same vas as doofenshmirtz and major monogram). They also REALLY remind me of me and my best friend, which means like ... nothing if you aren't us, but if you have a similar dynamic, it's SO fun to see

I dont want to spoil the plot much at all but the first season is about time traveland the second is space travel. If I'm honest the 2nd season.. isn't great cuz they made doofenshmirtz a main character but plot wise its still fun (season 1 is amazing tho still nothing tops it to me) so here's a picture from missing milo (one of the main plot episodes in s1)

And now to..

SHH

I'm gonna be so fr.. I've watched this show since release but have like 0 fandom interactions with it (thats a lie actually i have like 10 but thats not the point) so idk how much introducing it needs (still any is too little to me. imo this show should be standard watching for everyone) so anyway... the show doesn't rlly have a PLOT like all the episodes are stand alone, buutt it does mostly follow Mitchell as he starts at strange hill high and all the insane things that happen there (idk how to explain it cuz of how different every epiosde is but its SO good pls trust me). Its also fully posted on YouTube cuz it's like.. old and cancelled or smth so that's always good (not the cancelled bit tho lol)

CHARACTERS

Just like mml, shh also follows a main trio and has a great side cast. It's trio is becky butters, Templeton and Mitchell tanner (in that order below) and again have a .. pretty standard trio dynamic BUT more like the kind of British TV drama dynamic (.. cuz its set in a british secondary school). I LOVE these geezers SO much and they're just that kind of cast that to this day, I still don't know which one I'm more like

Because its not got a plot to vaguely explain, I'm going to tell you about my favourite episode 99 things to do with a time machine. It's one of my FAVOURITE episodes from any show ever. I love it. (I think it was also the first shh episode i watched cuz i watched it live on tv first before like.. downloading the whole show in 4 different places). The premise of the episode is that the gang is late for school so Mitchell decides to change the school clock so it doesn't LOOK like they're late. This actually turns back time and they abuse the hell out of this. Here's an image.

NOW TO THE COMPARISON!!

Ahhh.. this is like the MAIN bit but for 2 shows that are like permanently engraved in my brain its actually challenging me sm to compare them up like this. Why? No clue. Getting people to watch both is literally what I set out to to lmao

Shenanigans

Like I said, most of mml and ALL of shh basically revolve around whatever shenanigans the trio are doing. In mml they're very much unintentional cuz of murphy's law and the episode normally involves doing whatever to overcome the damage. This is more like the opposite for shh. The trio normally end up discovering smth wild going on in their school and mess about with whatever it is. Two examples I chose for this is mmls athledecamathalon, where the pitch gets destroyed and milo helps his sport team win, and sshs first episode, king Mitchell, where the gang discover a Knight who serves mitchell

These aren't exactly the CLOSEST comparisons I could make .. but you get the idea. VIBE wise they are VERY similar

SETTING

I also want to talk about the setting. Mml takes place all round danville (at different time periods too) and then a planet called octalia by the end of s2. Shh takes place EXCLUSIVELY in the school .. cuz it's puppetry and yk theyd have to actually BUILD a set

CONCLUSION

Ngl tumblr ate the rest of my essay. Twice. (Probably served me right for not having a backup but oh well) and it's kinda annoyed me. I promise you they're so similar is vibe PLEASE watch them both they're great

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

I won't spoil the rest of the season, so just focusing on the first two episodes, it is an adjustment. And even then I think this season will split the fans. Cause a lot of things feel off here.

Hopefully the rest of the season won't be that bad for ya, but I can understand where this season might not be a favorite.

I'm just glad your honest about it!

Things definitely feel off to me! Not to everybody tho. So i can definitely see what you're saying about this season splitting the fans!

I actually don't have a favourite season (and i doubt i ever will i'm not that decisive) just cause I love the first 4 of monkie kid so much that I can't pick, but oh yeah for me season 5 just straight up can't be a fave for me, not cause I think the season itself is terrible or anything,; even if the story is baller it still wouldn't make it up there with the faves cause it's missing a lot of the reasons why I really loved monkie kid in the first place. But yeah hopefully I'll be able to adjust a little more!

Oh yeah ofc dude! Doing my best to be honest about how I feel without finding unnecessary things to criticize o7 Thanks for the ask!

[ruievans]

I read chapter 11 of the wonderful fanfic Eldarya: The Dragon's Call (Lance) from Tetra (@tetrakys ). I really like Lance's character. Just missing his real in the game. I really liked the moment in the hall with the crystal, so I took out the tablet again. It's a pity that all good things tend to end quickly. It pains me to know that the next chapter will be the last. It still hurts me from the realization of what plot we have lost and how the bees have spoiled our souls without giving this plot. I sincerely respect and love Chino for the fact that even after so much time .... how to say it correctly .... she remembers the canons of the characters. From small details of clothing, to moles and scars. Chino loves his characters. This is what bees lack. They don't care about the characters! Otherwise, they would not have destroyed such an amazing fantasy world in which so much more could be invented! All you need is fantasy. At least that's how I see it.

P.S. It's my personal opinion. Correct me if I'm wrong about something.

P.P.S. I started for health, ended for peace .... I had to say it. Everything that has been accumulated in the soul over the past 4 episodes. I was blind for so long ... I sincerely liked the second season, I defended the plot, the bees and sincerely loved the new Lance because I was waiting for him so much, but starting from the 16th episode my world began to crumble and by the 19th episode it collapsed completely. My eyes were opened. I saw how spoiled, the plot and characters. How much they ruined Lance. Although I still have some warmth towards the new Lance, I like Lance from the origins and from fanfiction more. He is straight NATIVE. Thank you for listening. I won't take up your time anymore.

P.P.P.S. If you have something to say, then you are welcome in the comments. And forgive me for my English. Now that's all for sure.

[hath-e]

So now that I've actually watched 10 anime I wanted to rank them from best to worst

1. MSG: the Witch from Mercury; I have not seen any other Gundam show but I don't think this one is leaving #1 spot ever, and Bandai were cowards and homophobic for not showing us either a kiss or the wedding even though they got married, also I'm so mad that I episode 11 during the hug they didn't even say "I love you". The robots became the least interesting part of the robot show (8th I watched)

2. Bocchi the Rock!; probably what I want most anime to be, can't wait for the movie('s), this, G-Witch and Your Name might as well both be #1, also I want a cute Bocchi plush but I can't find one that's affordable without a high delivery :< (7th I watched)

3. Your Name; A movie that I found on a trans subreddit about a year ago, I didn't think it'd be as good as it was or that it'd affect me as much as it did, but I was left in tears when the credits came on, the story went somewhere completely than I thought it would, 10/10. also tied for first place, it deserves to be watched in a movie theater so much (10th I watched)

4. Cowboy Bebop; twink and his bear friend go on space adventures oh and the twink has his own shadow the hedgehog (6th one I watched)

5. BNA: Brand New Animal; the one of 2 studio Trigger show I've seen but from what I've read and heard they have a pretty mid reputation, I really liked it tho, I watched it around the time I came out and it's a pretty good trans allegory (still feel a tad weird about the ending) (4th one I watched)

6. Neon Genesis Evangelion (and the 1st movie); (don't)Get in the robot Shinji, I had been interested in it a bunch, big robots and all that, but only just got to it. The self perpetuating loop of abuse and trauma that Shinji and everyone gets put through because Genduo can't get over the death of his wife is horrible and I can't think of a more despicable antagonist than him, the movie was so fucked up. I still struggle to get what Seele was supposed to represent. I loved every scene where the Eva's get shown as demons, those looked real cool (9th I watched) (watched it entirely cuz of Signalis)

7. Cyberpunk Edgerunners; watched this before I played the game, the abuse that David went through combined with the end that I miss interpreted put me a bit off and I missed the point, but I got it after a rewatch (3rd one I watched)

8. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure; now that I've grown as a person I can safely say that it deserved to drift from spot 1, part 4 is still my fave. And it's still really really good in spite of how low it is (1st I watched)

9. Guilty Gear Xrd & Strive story mode; I am both counting and lumping them together, I liked the oversized Smurf with a gun, also Elphelt bby girl, still would've preferred an actual game tho(5th one I watched)

100000000000. Future Diary; I've watch this in a trade to get someone else to watch JoJo's, they came out better off with that deal, I am also no longer friends with that person (not because of the show but it's funny to mention) (2nd I watched) I still think it's missing some zeros, just add however many you believe it needs

Honorable mentions:

- Signalis; I know it's not an anime but it's anime adjacent and it's the best story I've ever played through, I don't even like horror games or gore at all that much but I will 100% this game and get all the endings, I wish I could talk about it more but spoiling ANYTHING about it feels wrong and making posts where half the words are censored just so fans get it isn't gonna work

- Pokemon; I loved the XYZ and B&W runs but I haven't watched it all and only remember catching it on TV

-Scott Pilgrim takes off, I watched the first few episodes, I don't particularly care for it, but it looks pretty good

Dishonorable mentions:

- Attack on Titan; I've had a run in with the series back when season 1 came out, back when I thought gore was cool, now I have negative interest in the series, I literally couldn't care less and I'm only putting it here to be fair

Conclusion:

After the Witch from Mercury and Evangelion, I don't care for big robots as much as I used to.

Oh and I'm watching some more soon-ish gimme recommendations

[starseneyes]

Chenford REWIND - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 2 Eps 15, 16 & 17

Season 2 is such a fascinating era for Chenford, especially post-DOD and with the Rachel subplot. I'll be honest, I never hated Rachel. So, forgive me if I'm a little nicer to her than I am Ashley/Chris AKA Season 4's Obstacles of Awful.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are spoiler-averse, you are Rachel Meta-averse, as well. I will spoil the entirety of these episodes, as well as anything that has come before. I do try to write these without foreknowledge, though.

I'll be honest, the first two episodes here make me super uncomfortable. See, I'm a former journalist, so that one gets under my skin. And then the other with the medical stuff is tough, too, for someone with a fun list of issues.

Everyone squared away? Huzzah! Let's dive in together.

"Hand-Off" AKA Go Back to Mayberry

"What exactly is being assessed?" "Occupational integrity. From how we maintain our equipment to the upkeep of all of our certifications."

Lucy directs her question at Grey, but I do like how Tim jumps in here. His Rookie asked a question, and he's actually answering it instead of making Lucy jump through sixteen hoops to figure it out herself.

"So, are you nervous about meeting Rachel's dad?" "Please." "It's gotta be a tick nerve-wracking. Rachel adores her dad." "And he's gonna love me. Colin was a sheriff for 30 years." "Yeah, in a town with two stoplights." "LA or Mayberry, cop's a cop."

First off, I have to say I love seeing Tim's confidence, but I'm torn because it stems from his position as a cop.

That's Tim's default. He leans into his profession, using that as a measure of his worth while completely missing his value as a human being.

And, yes, there are a lot of reasons for that (that Season 2 Rachel wouldn't know), but future Rachel wants to give Tim a big hug, take him out for a beer, and explain to him that while he is a great cop, he's also a great human.

"No, he's from Sweet Home, not Mayberry." "No, I know. It's Mayberry, like the TV show." "What TV show?" "Nevermind."

That. Hurts. Me. Look, I know I'm getting older, and I'm much closer to Tim's age than Lucy's, so this moment hurt me. Ouch. I need to go adjust my dentures and invest in prune juice.

These young folks are carting me off to the Nursing Home so I can watch TV in black-and-white with a nostalgic smile on my face.

Also, it makes sense that Tim would invest in a show like that—a cop who loves his son. Someday that'll be you, Timmy, my boy.

"Lopez and her TO were first on the scene. Officer Rowland died in her arms." "That's awful. Ten years ago, Lopez would have been a Rookie." "It was her first shift."

It wasn't Lucy's first shift when she was tugging a shot, bleeding Tim out of the line of fire, but it was close. Coming into this job, there's no guarantee that your introduction will be smooth.

But Lucy also remembers what it was like with Tim... and while she might have imagined it going the other way, Lopez lived it on Day 1.

As I've said before, there but for the grace of God go I.

"So, have you decided where you're taking Rachel's dad for dinner?"

Lucy has this knack of getting Tim to talk personal stuff in the Shop. Yes, I know they both know Rachel (since Lucy set them up), but it's still a breach in protocol for TO Tim. Love it.

Look, these two aren't anywhere near ready to shack up in a hotel all night testing the stability of the earthquake protection systems. But, I love how Lucy draws him out.

Once she talked about someone liking him and he cut her off with a reminder that he was married and saying they don't talk about that.

Now, neither of those statements is true. Tim's dating, again, and he's talking to Lucy all about it.

"Auto burglary cases have a 0.02% solve rate. How is failing to recover her Dad's suitcase my best foot forward?"

They were actually kinda cordial before that, falling into a rhythm that's closer to their Season 3 banter.

But, now Tim's worried he's going to start off on the wrong foot, so, in the words of Marlin the Clown Fish, "Good feeling gone."

"Smokehouse. I love their bread."

Is this where the world-famous Twitter Crumb-o-Meter came from? I could believe it!

"Look at you in that uniform." "It's so good to see you, again."

It's so bloody nice to have someone in Lucy's circle support her who is in the same age-range as her parents. It's a shame he lives so far away.

"Sir, why don't you climb in the Shop? We'll drive around, do some hunting. See if we get lucky."

Yikes, Rachel's dad is coming in with some bark. He does NOT like what he's seeing in Tim Bradford, for whatever reason, and he's giving him grief. And it sucks to see Tim's confidence deflate so swiftly.

Like, I'm fine with him ending up with Rachel. *ducks* I know someone just threw a shoe at their screen. I hope it didn't break!

But, hear me out. Chenford at this point is a fantasy, a hope, a wish. In the grand scheme of ships, we're only 2 seasons in, and there's plenty of time to change direction.

Would I prefer for Tim and Lucy to get together? Hell, yeah. That's the Endgame dream, right? But most of the time when shows set up a "placeholder character", I hate them. I can't wait to get them off my screen.

Rachel's a decent, kind, hard-working, heart-filled human who really does like Tim Bradford very much. At a time when he's just easing back into the dating scene (well... Tim kinda dove in head-first, if you know what I mean), she's fairly easy-going.

Also, we share a name. And I like 90% of Rachels. (Yes, there is one exception. Yes, I've given her many chances over the last two decades to change my opinion... not yet).

A far as Tim and Rachel goes, let's see how it plays out, yeah?

FAST FORWARD: YES, future Rachel knows how this plays out. But I write these as though I'm watching them for the first time! Part of the rules! ... Please stop throwing shoes at me. I can almost feel my own screen shaking from the impact.

Back in the scene, I can't keep my eyes off of Lucy, because Melissa O'Neil is crushing her reaction game in this scene. I laughed every four seconds because of her.

"I know. But try and stay positive, okay?" *arm tap*

Yes, Lucy got this into this mess. But she was trying to be helpful. And while she is very aware of the tension here, Lucy always has that can-do, positive attitude that tries to lighten Tim's grump.

And the fact that she's retained that brightness post-DOD says a lot about her as a person. Lucy is resilient, yes. But also determined not to lose that part of herself.

It'd be easy to let trauma swallow it... but she chooses each day to reclaim who she is, to never let the bastard win, even in death. What a fuckin' inspiration.

"The thing is, if he's smart, he hit as many cars as he could in 10 minutes and then jumped on the freeway. He could be in Barstow by now."

Lucy with the assist! Again, Tim and Lucy are in friend-mode, so she is trying to help him with Rachel's dad, who she knows.

But it ain't helping.

"Look, clearly you're a good cop." "I appreciate that." "Dedicated, selfless, and takes pride in his work. A little sphinctered, maybe, but that can be good, too. Just not for my daughter."

Ouch. So much ouch. And, look, my Dad was never a fan of any of the guys I dated. He even told me when we were preparing for my wedding that "Matt's the one I disliked the least".

Yes, he loves Matt. This is one of the dangers of having an ex-stand-up comedian for a Dad. Never feed him a straight line.

But, oof, Rachel's Dad's being a little tough, right? Right? Stay tuned...

"I'm so proud of you." "Thank you."

Lucy needs that more. I mean, can you imagine how much she wants to hear these words from her own father? To know that her family accepts and loves her and supports her? That's the dream, right?

And, you absolutely can lead a fulfilling, beautiful life without the approval of your parents. Tragically, too many parents cut their children off for not meeting a certain list of expectations. Lucy's parents are about a thread away from that.

But she wants them to be proud of her. It would be nice, ya know?

And, I get it. You leave that door open to them, hoping that one day they'll knock and be ready for a real relationship. But, in the meantime, you have to keep living. And that's what Lucy's doing.

"What are you talking about?" "Uh, I thought she had told you." "Told me what." "Rachel may have Huntington's Disease. It's a fatal genetic disorder. "

Oh. Suddenly it all comes together, and it all makes sense. This is why he's been so hard on Tim, so tough on him, coming at him from every angle to distance them.

"But she may not have it."

Is that hope, Tim Bradford? Or more confidence in the science knowing it might not've been passed down? Either way, I appreciate Tim taking the opposite position where Rachel's father is waiting for the perceived inevitable.

You can't live your life based on a "maybe", yes. But ignoring it entirely might not be the best answer, either. It depends on the person.

My grandmother (mi abuela) died of small cell lung cancer. She went from diagnosis to death in 2 weeks. It was fast. It was sudden. It was heartbreaking.

My employer at the time told me to take my laptop and stay at the hospital with my Dad while I worked so I could be there for him, help walk him through losing his mother. "I trust you," she said. I'll never forget that.

Mima and her last living sister (my tia) spoke on the phone one last time, about a week before she passed. Neither mentioned to the other... they both had cancer. Neither told the other. We didn't tell them, either. Not until she passed.

And, oh, what a tough decision. But that meant their last conversation was filled with joy, love, and light. And for Mima, I think that's what she needed.

So... it depends on the person, I think. I'm not really here to judge.

That said, if you're dating someone, and this is a possibility, I think it's definitely something to discuss if you're see a future together. But, that's just me.

"... if the worst comes to pass, Rachel's gonna need someone who'll put everything else aside just to care for her. And we both know that's not you."

This pissed me off. Because, we all saw Tim with Isabel, and this guy didn't. We saw what he was willing to do to save Lucy from Caleb, and this guy didn't. He's making assumptions about a man he barely knows, and that pisses me off.

Yes, I hear his point. But he's allowing perception to color perspective. If he got to know this man—Tim Bradford—instead of jumping to conclusions, he might see a different picture.

"You had no idea Rachel might have it?" "No. She never told me."

I have such mixed feelings about this. Tim should not have shared his girlfriend's medical information with his Rookie. At all.

But the fact that he did is fascinating, and yet another step toward them growing closer.

But, Tim really shouldn't have said anything.

"We should go talk." "No, we shouldn't. This is none of your business."

If it's none of his business, truly, then this relationship may not have a future.

Look, it is her call to share or not share her medical history and information. Absolutely. But blind-siding Tim ten years down the road and giving him no time to prepare mentally and emotionally is a bad look.

Again, it's just my opinion. And Tim and Rachel aren't walking down the aisle, yet, so there would be plenty of time to address it before then. But, I do think it would be better to be honest upfront.

It's the first (but not last) time that someone in a couple on this show conceals medical information pertinent to the relationship.

And, honestly I'm more understanding about this one than that one simply because these two are dating, haven't yet moved in together, or talked next steps, and there's still an easy out.

Tim and Lucy look to one another as Rachel leaves, and I feel the air of partnership between them. It's them against the world, sometimes. And their bond is only growing stronger with the passage of time.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Tim doesn't scare easily, so he's not running from this. Just like we knew. We know who Tim is, and he loves deeply and completely.

He invests in relationships with everything in him, partly from a desire to be known and loved, and partly because he wishes that's what his father did with his mother.

Yes, spoiler alert, but I'm not saying too much, I don't think.

And I totally support her not wanting to know. Because she doesn't want to live her life around something that might not come. She wants to live freely. And isn't that all any of us want? Yeah.

"The Overnight" AKA Do Android Cops Dream of Electric Sheep?

The Canadian Idol Goes American

Did she just? She... I... WHAT!?!?!

Rachel on her first viewing had no idea Melissa O'Neil was Canadian Idol's Season 3 winner. Her singing was beautiful in the barrel. But this was a powerhouse vocal performance. Gee. Freakin' Whiz!!

How did we get so lucky to have this multi-talented performer as our Lucy? Wow.

One thing that really struct me about this performance was the joy that bubbled out of Lucy as she sang.

In the barrel, she sang as a source of comfort. Of strength. Of hope. She was dreaming the dream... that someone would find her.

Today, she's singing from a place of joy. The song bursts out of her, full-voices and strong. Lucy has reclaimed the joy of singing.

And while the convention might be a little forced... I love this moment. I love listening to her, watching her, and marveling at Melissa O'Neil's performance as a very layered character reclaiming her joy in front of us.

Powerful stuff.

"What are you doing in here?"

Tim bringing her back to earth as they try to pass her a Golden Ticket. And Lucy goes to him. Because, much as Lucy is an incredible singer, police work is her heart.

And I kinda love that message. Just because you excel at something doesn't mean it has to be your profession, or even your passion. Only you know your passion... so pursue that.

"Ever given blood before?" "Every 8 weeks, like clockwork." "Good for you." "Yeah, save lives. Get a personal oil change. It's win-win."

This is so Tim Bradford at his best. He likes organization and routine. But to choose the routine of donating blood to save lives? Oh, how beautiful!

"I didn't know machines had blood."

Nyla, I cackled aloud at that one. Well-played.

"You know the media will say or do anything to get you to back up their headline."

Oh, the stories I could tell. I started as an intern in a nationally broadcasted news room as 19. My first job was to watch 9/11 and Iraq War raw footage and mark the sections that were usable for broadcast.

I worked there a few years as a freelance Associate Producer after before determining I couldn't keep up with my full-time university schedule, my voice over job, and being called in randomly at 5AM for work after finishing class at Midnight. I was also a Student Teacher, at that point, and had papers to grade, lessons to plan, and lessons to teach.

Yes, Rachel has always been an overachiever.

After uni, I went to work at a local station. I was there a year and a half before I moved on because it was one of the most toxic places I've ever worked.

So, this episode makes me super uncomfortable because a lot of hit hits close to home.

This is not to say we should automatically distrust all journalists. But, I think a bit of skepticism is always a good place to start. They don't all have our best interests at heart.

"You shouldn't let him talk to you like that." "He's my Training Officer. That's just kind of his style."

Lucy really is accustomed to Tim at this point. And while I hear miss Journalist, Tim doesn't cross the line. Okay... Season 2 Tim doesn't cross the line. We can have words about Season 1 Tim in another Meta.

And Eric Winter's wife gets to check him out in-character. Yes, that's his beautiful, talented wife, Roselyn Sánchez!

She's built her own incredible career, and is currently on a television show, herself, in addition to the podcast these two share. Plus they have kids. IRL. Power. Couple.

I didn't know it the first time through. So, in case none of y'all knew either, now you know!

"I'm telling you, reporters always have an agenda." "To get the truth? Sounds horrible."

Lucy... you should listen to your husband on this one. I'm not saying all reporters are bad, but, speaking from experience, he's not entirely wrong.

"God, you don't trust anyone." "'Cause trust has to be earned."

Tim looks to Lucy, and she doesn't talk back. Because, that's not a bad way to live. And she knows he trusts her.

Look, you might think I'm quick to trust because of what I share here. When I tell you that's barely scratching the surface of my life, I mean it.

In this space, I get to control what I share and what I don't. But, if you get to know me and become a real part of my life, I'll definitely give you more. But, I need to build that trust, first.

And a default of not trusting journalists who want something out of you isn't a bad one. Just sayin'.

"He's not gonna make it. Animal Control's 10 minutes out. EMT's won't step foot in here until that snake's been neutralized."

Tim says it so matter-of-factly. He can accept it, but Lucy can't.

"You can't kill it." "What the hell are we supposed to do with it? Snuggle?"

Oh. My. Gosh. I so hope Lucy bought him a stuffed snake and had Rachel sneak it into his bed (and took pictures when he found it) because that would be hilarious.

Seriously, I watch this scene over and over just for that line and die laughing every time.

"Boot! Don't be a hero. It's venomous."

Clever girl. As she steps into the garage, she looks back to Tim with her, "I'm gonna do this" look. He answers with his, "I don't like this but I'm not stopping you" look. And I'm sitting here marveling at Eric Winter and Melissa O'Neil communicating so much with just .25 seconds of screentime each on that.

Tim is anxious the entire time. But he knows enough to stay out of her way, sometimes. He knows she's tough, and he knows she's capable.

"What are you doing?" "I'm texting Tim. I need a senior officer here." "No you don't. He'll just steal the credit." "Look, I am out on a limb here, okay? And as a Rookie, that could get me fired. So, either we do this by the book, or I walk."

This is how Tim trained her. Valerie is jumping into this situation without knowing how anything works. She wants the glory, but she's not putting the work in in the right way.

Lucy has worked her ass off, and she's not letting anyone take this away from her.

"Hey, thanks for coming." "Mmhmm." "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" "Mmhmm."

Lucy being the one to let me in makes me happy. Yes, she's in trouble, and she knows it. But, "when it counted" she made the right call, again, right? Yeah.

Wopez Proposal

Oh, I have future things to say about all this. This is so Wesley and Angela. And that is what matters. It's them. Each couple has their own story and path. Yes, there's a formula to television, but there isn't a form you fill out.

So whenever we get to Tim and Lucy stuff (If they get their acts together), I'm not holding out for grand speeches. Tim is a "show" guy and Lucy isn't overly flowery. They're going to do their stuff their way.

That's why we gravitate toward certain characters. These characters are unique, as are their relationships. So how they get together, propose, etc, is going to be unique to that relationship and those characters.

I think that's important to keep in mind.

Control AKA

"Sorry. We're not real cops."

Welp... this just went Meta... in a Meta. Seriously, I was rolling laughing.

"Do you think Rachel's disappointed I canceled last night?" "I don't know." ... "You might find this surprising, but we don't talk about you. Ever." "Wow."

Considering how much Lucy and Tim talk about Rachel, I can see why this would be a little surprising to Lucy. But Tim drawing hard lines makes total sense.

He isn't at a point, yet, where he needs/wants to talk about Lucy in his off-time. He gets enough of her every. single. day.

"Bradford's your TO?" "Yeah." "My condolences." "That's what everyone says."

Lucy laughs it off, but Tim does have a reputation. He's good at whipping Rookies into shape or scaring them off.

"He seems nice." "Sure." "Do you know him well?" "Play a little pick-up basketball together."

Lucy is vibing with this guy. And while I'm not ecstatic for her to find "the one" and it not be Tim, Emmett seems like a decent guy, and there's definitely some chemistry there.

"No." "What?" "No, forget it." "What?!" "Your social life is not my responsibility. I learned that lesson the hard way."

That line kills me on every watch. Because Tim used to distance himself from her solely because of his hard lines between personal life and professional. Now, Lucy is quickly becoming a friend, someone he cares about. The lines have gotten a bit more blurry.

But he still has hard lines he's not willing to cross, again. He truly believes that he overstepped and she got hurt because of it. We all know that's not what happened, but Tim has a knack for blaming himself.

"Oh my God. I am the third wheel."

This is said in such a hilarious manner, but I struggle to laugh because I genuinely hurt for Lucy. I feel like pre-DOD Lucy never would have fallen into this role. It just wouldn't have happened.

But, much as she wanted to jump right back into "normal" life, she has been changed by her experiences. They're a part of her, now, and sometimes they sneak up on her when she least expects it.

Lucy has been clinging so hard to "safe" that she's forgetting how to live.

"Chen. Grey need another team on the DEA op. You wanna put in some OT?"

Awww. He's inviting her to spend the evening with him. But, seriously, Grey needed a team, and Tim asked if she would join him. He didn't demand it. Progress!

"I mean, obviously I've been using Jackson and Sterling as a crutch. Together they kind of make the perfect boyfriend."

Tim's already rolling his eyes. He looks over, like, "Are you kidding me? because he already knows she's talking to noone.

"More importantly, they're safe-"

"Safe". That thing she wants. That thing she needs. She's just not ready to take the leap, quite yet.

Nyla and Angela tried throwing her to the wolves to get her moving, but that's not how Lucy works. Lucy needs time. She just didn't realize that in taking that time, she was encroaching on someone else's.

"Who are you talking to?" "Rachel."

You're talking to me!? Damn, and I forgot to respond. I'm so sorry.

Yes, I know it's fictional. But when you were born in the 80's and had a very popular name, you hear your name everywhere. That's why I started going by an abbreviation of my last names at age 9. I became SL (Yes, that's where Esselle came from).

"Hello?"

I'm dying. I don't think I can finish the meta because I am laughing so hard, I can barely breathe. Lucy, honey, you did not just answer the call and then say hello when he's a foot away.

"Hello."

And he said it back. Nope. Definitely can't breathe. Laughing too hard.

It makes it all the funnier that they say, "Hello" since they are both more of "hi" or "hey" people. It's so formal and that makes it all the funnier.

"Rachel is in a staff meeting, which means you are talking to no one."

In a move of synchronicity, they hang up at the same time. Love those touches, even if it's purely accidental because the script reads, "They both hang up" or something similar.

"Not no one. Me."

He's watching her, but she can't look up at him. Much as she is strong and confident in who she is, she's feeling vulnerable right now. The last time she went on a date it didn't end too well, and she's unsure of her instincts.

Nyla said she needed to be confident in her intuition... and she's not quite there, yet.

"I talk things out to process them, and I knew you wouldn't do it with me, so—" "Why would you even care what I think?"

He doesn't think his opinion holds weight beyond the badge. When he holds her fate in his hand, damn straight, his opinion matters. But beyond that? Why would she care what he thinks?

"The last time I gave you romantic advice, I pushed you towards Caleb and... you almost died."

Now he can barely look at her. The shame. The pain. He thought he was helping her blow of steam, and she ended up buried alive. He still blames himself.

He can't even look at her until he gets that last word out.

"That's, that's ridiculous."

Lucy shifts so she's fully facing Tim in the seat. Tim shakes her head, not believing her, still internalizing the guilt.

"There was no reason to expect anything. What happened- What happened wasn't your fault."

He finally looks to her, again, wanting so badly to believe her. Can she absolve him of his guilt? Find a way to forgive himself for something he never even did wrong?

He looks quickly away after their eyes meet.

"It wasn't mine, either."

Hell, no, it wasn't. No victim blaming here for psychotic assholes.

"Look, I wouldn't ask your advice if I didn't value your opinion."

Tim. Has. Value. Of course he does, but he's hearing it. It's good for him to hear it, and important that it's coming from Lucy. Because, much as he isn't ready to admit it, her opinion matters to him. So, it's nice to find out that's reciprocal.

He looks away, licking his lips as he tries to fight back the tears. He switches gears, fast.

"You can do better than Emmett."

Hell, yeah, she can! There's this guy (maybe you've heard of him) named Tim Bradford. And he's just about perfect for our girl. Well... not quite yet, but I really have a good feeling about him. You should send her his way.

"What? Why, why would you say that."

Because, girl, he's gonna marry you. (shoutout to my RoomFriends on that one!

"He's a firefighter for God's sake." "I know, he's hot!" "Okay, no. No. See, if you're gonna act all contrarian, I am done with this conversation." "I'm not being a contrarian." "You know, I-I think you're threatened by his hunkiness." "Hunkiness?" "Mmhmm." "That's not even a word."

Future Rachel has so. much. to. say. But, because we're in the past, I can't really talk too much about it. But, Tim and trying to get Lucy to admit his handsomeness is gonna be a running theme... just sayin'.

"Chen."

He comes around and the first thing he says is her name? Yes, it's Season 2. Yes, they're nowhere near that, but I can have my immature moment, right!?

"You okay?"

I don't know if there are two words combined like that he says more to her. Tim constantly needs to know that Lucy is okay.

And... that wraps it up. I think it's important that Lucy dates someone before she considers Tim, just as I'm glad Tim's not jumping right from divorce to Lucy, like Nolan did.

But I also think these episodes show a lot of growth between them, and I think Rachel helps with that. She becomes this common thread between them.

FAST FORWARD: And once she's gone, that closeness don't disappear. It's lasting. Tim and Lucy are on their journey of growing closer and closer.

I'll admit, the first two were really hard for me. Personal discomfort and whatnot. But, I'm glad I got through them, and I hope you enjoy.

Now, I gotta finish up my waiting in the parent pickup, wait anxiously to hear back about the car loan (yes, we're getting a car!), and check quotes from the 2 roofers thus far.

Thank you so much for reading! Can't wait to see you on the next.

[rottenbrainstuff]

IWTV 4: Ah, Claudia. (Spoilers)

So I generally like the changes they've made from the book. It does seem though the things that are my favourite parts of the book are the things in the show that it takes me a little time to warm up to. Claudia is one of those things.

She's one of my favourite characters in the book, and I also liked her a lot in the old movie. I like how she looked, I liked how young she was, I liked how her violence was innocent but also completely remorseless, like a kitten having fun playing with a mouse before it kills it. I liked how she used her appearance of vulnerability to lure people in. I liked how Lestat admired her ruthlessness and I liked the dynamic that the two of them had - where Louis argued with him and refused to be like him, Claudia embraced everything (because she could not even remember having any humanity to miss).

I really liked that. So, I missed it a little. But by the end of the ep I liked this Claudia as well, because she’s not bad, just different. I liked her childish silliness at the beginning evolving into curiosity about sex. I think exploring Claudia becoming interested in sex and all the issues this brings up is interesting, and I know it would have been difficult to film and distasteful to watch if they had a younger actress. I like her diaries and I hope she continues to keep writing them up until the end - something to keep Claudia stuck in this in-between nowhere land, a being who is decades old with the thoughts and emotions of an adult, but in the body of a child, who still plays with dolls and writes in diaries. (I also like that it was suggested to Daniel that he begin at the left, so of course he picks up the book on the very far right.) Looks like she’s going to be getting into some trouble next ep.

I wonder why they made the significant change of making Lestat himself responsible for all the steps of her making? When it's the two of them each with a part, they really do each feel like a biological father to her. When Louis begged Lestat to help, and he grinned, (which was great - such a calculating prick at every turn) I thought for sure he would bargain and tell Louis that he has to be the one to drain her, then Lestat will let her have his blood, because it would have been such a great opportunity to manipulate and entangle him further, but then he didn't. Claudia has so much fury at both of her makers later on because of their respective responsibilities in making her what she is - is that just not going to be a thing now? Or is Louis' part in the fire supposed to take that place now? Is it to make it more sad? Lestat is unambiguously now the only one that made her, but he seems to have a distaste for her, she calls him Uncle instead of Father, and she will turn on him later? I dunno. I know that whoever is writing this is very smart, and very carefully considers the source books and even the movie, so I know the changes they make are specific and for a reason. Oh, poor Claudia.

I like Claudia asking the good questions about Lestat's past. Yes Lestat, why don't you tell us all about the vampire who made you? I wonder when the show is going to get into all of that.

And I LOVED Armand playing it up, Rashid the obedient little servant. How the hell did he convince Louis to go along with this stupid idea? I do wish I hadn't had that spoiled for me (then again if I hadn't checked out so many things about the show, I don't think I would have got enthusiastic enough to watch it on my own). I feel like that reveal would be especially surprising for fans of the old stuff, I suspect they would be more shocked than the new fans to find out that Armand was sitting there in plain sight since episode one. (and playing minecraft, apparently?) My daughter keeps mentioning that she thinks he's funny, can't wait to see her reaction. I like that Daniel is not stupid, and has a word doc of questions that he needs to investigate.

My daughter thinks this show is GREAT, I'm so glad I showed it to her. It's inspired her to grab some books for Vampire: The Masquerade, and she wants to see if she can get together a group to play a little game maybe.

(Btw, why does each ep begin with a “immortal universe” title card? Are they wanting to do all the stupid spin offs and the witches and stuff too? Why does everything these days have to be a freaking cinematic universe?)

[forest-hashira]

omg fallon!! i’m so dumb i mean to respond to ur reply but i would love some podcasts recs!! i like listening to scary stories ones (like personal anecdotes / folklore etc) and true crime ! or any just good nonfiction ones! i will say i can’t really get into the ones that are fictional >< ik a lot of people recommend some of the fictional horror ones, which is what i always stumble upon when looking for ghost stories… and then i get bummed they’re not real HHAHA. but if you have any suggestions i’m always open :)

AHAHA no it's ok!!! also i do want to say i saw this like right after you sent it but if this answer isn't up right away it's bc i went overboard with the recs whoops. but i have a friend from college who used to refer to me as "the podcast queen" and also i'm never chill about anything ever so. prepare yourself.

i'm gonna separate these into true crime & not, just for your ease of picking something! i'm also including the app(s) i use to listen to them. these are in no particular order btw

True Crime

Serial - this is probably one that you've heard of/had recommended to you before, but if so there's good reason. i've listened to season one, about adnan sayed, at least a dozen times. i skipped season 2 (about bowe bergdahl), and season 3 (about the justice system of a city in ohio, i believe it's cincinnati?) was lower stakes but still interesting. season 4, about guantanamo bay, is also really good so far. on spotify.

Cold - three seasons, each about a different case of different utah women who went missing and whose body has never been found. i've listened to season 1, about susan powell, probably 6-7 times. i never finished season two, about joyce yost, but as i'm typing this i'm listening to the season 3 finale, about sheree warren. seasons 2 & 3 include descriptions of sexual assaults in varying levels of detail, but the whole show is worth a listen. i love the journalist who narrates it. on amazon music & spotify (s1 & 3)

Beyond All Repair - about sophia johnson, who was accused & convicted of murdering her mother in law when she was 6 months pregnant, pretty much solely on the word of her brother. i won't say anything else so i don't spoil it, but it's a case i never would have heard of without this podcast. on spotify.

Dr. Death - about a spinal surgeon that really should not have been allowed to operate on people. i haven't listened to season two (about a different doctor), but season one is NUTS. another one i've listened to multiple times. on spotify.

Your Own Backyard - about the disappearance of Kristin Smart. the host was born & raised in the same area Kristin was from, and it bothered him that her disappearance was never solved. the show brought the case back into the spotlight and helped get convictions. on spotify.

The Clearing - about a woman who realized later in life that her father was a serial killer while she was a child. another one that's absolutely bonkers and i have listened to multiple times. on spotify.

The Shrink Next Door - same production company as dr. death, about a psychiatrist that completely took over a patient's life & finances, told by the patient after he got out of the situation. you can listen to episode 1 on spotify, but the rest has unfortunately been put behind a paywall 😭

Heaven's Gate - about a cult that committed the largest mass suicide in north america at the time (i believe it was pre-jonestown). on spotify.

Supernatural/Etc.

S-Town - same production company as serial, but only one season. about a small town in alabama and one man who lives there. sort of true crime, kind of not. on spotify.

Let's Get Haunted - they cover true crime occasionally, but mostly do conspiracy theories or stories about ghosts/cryptids/folklore. the hosts are hilarious. this is the podcast that helps me sleep at night and that literally got me through my last two years of uni. there's like. almost 200 episodes so if you want a few specific episode recs lmk i will dm them to you!!! on spotify.

Myths & Legends - the title is pretty self explanatory, but the whole show is about myths, legends, folklore, and fairytales from around the world. it's like if a friend read the story and then recounted it to you in detail, i love it, but i am Very behind. on spotify.

Lore - about various ghost stories & the history behind them, mostly in the usa but from other places too (mostly like. canada & europe from what i remember). i am also years behind on this one but i remember really enjoying it. on spotify.

National Park After Dark - about true crime cases/disasters/supernatural stories in national parks from across the globe. i've only listened to a handful of episodes but it's pretty good! on amazon music & spotify.

ok beyond that what i listen to is either fictional or it's not worth a recommendation AHAHA. sorry if this was overwhelming but i cannot sit in silence and you asked for recs!!! thank u for giving me an excuse to talk about this 💜💜💜

[asukiess]

hi! I left the ml fandom early november to avoid the leaks and only watched the first 4 eps from s5. I almost never see anything about miraculous nowadays but I heard about the new leaks (I only know of them, but I didn't see anything). I've been thinking about watching the rest of s5 –only the eps that are in chronological order – and coming back to the fandom bc i miss it but idk if it's worth it. could you tell me if the new leaks were too drastic? are the spoilers/leaks damaging your viewing experience?

sorry if you already talked about this before, I'm not using tumblr at all these days. thank you anyway!

hi!!

since the leaks are quite literally everything - storyboards with voice acting (IIRC) and the scripts up to the finale, as well as gloob teasing eps 21 and 23 - I would say it's a very tentative time to be interacting. it's like a minefield, especially if you use IG/Twitter. the main tag here (miraculous ladybug) has had some disrespectful people not using the right tag, too. all in all, tumblr is my preferred choice, but I would definitely vet the users you choose to follow - a lot of people will have a post or two saying if they will or won't be talking about leaks, if they tag them, etc.

also, if you use discord, @frostedpuffs has a discord server and IIRC, they won't be discussing the leaks, and their server is nicely organized (art, writing, other fandoms stuff, headcanons, stuff like that!) and has a ton of really nice people to talk to :) (the server is linked on their tumblr profile bio) Have the spoilers/leaks damaged my viewing experience? Not exactly. like, I still massively enjoy the show for what it is. I am not going to lie - I have been spoiled on a lot, but I don't care to talk about it or really even think about it because I haven't seen the episodes past ep. 10, and watching the episodes in full means the most to me! it's mainly damaged the fandom experience.

edit to add: you should definitely catch up regardless, because the episodes get really good! :)