#if there really is a secret 7th episode which i still doubt

[krillbeans]

During the height of BBC Sherlock, and season 4 was released, people were disappointed by the leaked finale. It only had 3 episodes, but because of certain lines in the show (Must be something comforting about the number three, people always give up after three) and by the creators (the lost special), people started picking up "clues" that there would be a secret 4th final episode that would air. People believed it was an ARG, they thought the lost special would play during an inauguration, during the premier of another show, a fake website was made. It never came. I guess a summary could be found here, from 58:55 to 1:09:10

And thus the cycle repeats, we have been through all this before

Twitter going wild for the number 7 theory

Gabriel switching the light on and off which is a morse code for the number seven, Michael Sheen tweeting 7 dots (with a heart), 7 being god's favorite number...

PLEASE LET US GET A SEVENTH EPIOSDE

[iwishicanbeagoodpianist]

the Wifilcon and the Winter Router

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OC/Reader Summary: When Bucky learns that his neighbor has been stealing his wifi for months. Warnings: None A/N: I'm not a fanfic writer at all, this, like all my stories, are adaptations to fanfics. My original stories are not written in english, so this is also a translation. please do not repost my work

For an instant, Bucky thought that the knocking he was hearing was coming directly from his head, I mean, it wouldn't be the first time his mind played tricks on him, but he realized that the sound was actually coming, unluckily for him, from his apartment door. Oh no no no no no no no, I just got back from putting up with Sam for almost 6 full weeks, I don't need interaction with more people for now.

Bucky thought for a minute to ignore the sound, to wait for the person to give up and leave, anyway he didn't spend many days on this apartment, almost no one had seen him leave or enter the building and he had no contact with the neighbors, only with the lady on the 7th floor who once lost one of her cats, which ended up in Bucky's apartment, accidentally. Not that I found the cat in the alley and actually brought him to my apartment, it doesn't mean that I stole the cat, he was in the street by himself, I rescued him.

When the banging on the door stopped and Bucky thought he could breathe calmly again, a voice between altered and annoyed was heard all the way to the living room where he was sitting trying to overcome his third panic attack and fourth existential crisis of the day .

-"I know you're in there! I saw you coming in a few hours ago! I've been waiting for days for you to come back!"-

More out of instinct than anything else, Bucky pulled out the knife hidden in his right boot as he slowly backed away from the door. Do I really have a spy as a neighbor? Should I call Sam? Is he in danger too? Never mind now, you need an escape route Bucky, concentrate, third floor, window to the alley, 2 minutes max, the bike is parked far away, I'll have to run, but to where, rendezvous point, safe place, think....

- "for God's sake, open the door, I need you to pay for your fucking internet plan, I'm in the last season of my series and I need to know if Carolina died or not!"-

- "The internet?"- Between the andrenaline from escaping and the shock of not understanding what was happening Bucky spoke louder than an assassin, with over 60 years of experience, should have spoken. Oh, shoot.

-"Yes! Your wifi, I need it to finish watching my series"-

Whispering "wifi" to himself, Bucky tries to remember where he has heard that word before, this is what I get for never listening to Sam when he talks to me. But before he can continue his mental analysis of all the conversations with Sam about such stupid things as his favorite American Football team, the New Orleans Saints, that I remember, to how Antonio could possibly leave María on the last episode of the 6 o'clock telenovela of which Sam is a fan, his apparent "neighbor" spoke up again:

-"Jesus Christ, can you open the door? So we can resolve this like adults"-

Bucky resigned to the fact that he has given his position to the "enemy", walks to the door and opens it waiting for his death. Well at least if I die I won't have to listen to Sam again talking about Antonio and María. But on the other side of the door, there was a woman, who in her pajamas, very unthreatening but cute, was watching him as if he were a ghost but still with defiance in her eyes, in one breath she introduced herself and continued her speech about her complaint to Bucky:

-"As I was saying, I need you to pay for your internet"-

-"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean"- mumbled Bucky.

- "Good Lord"- To Bucky's surprise his neighbor, pushes him and enters his home, well not so much a home home, more like the headquarters of his secret club, of which he is the president, vice president and only member, the point is that it is his place, where he can (and wants to be alone), as she lives here. This must be a dream, maybe I hit my head too hard in the last mission and I am unconscious in the hospital.

Crossing the room, Bucky's unwanted visitor looks around searching for something while whispering the words "I see you are quite minimalist, but maybe this is too much, someone urgently needs to look for some inspiration on Pinterest". She stops abruptly in front of the shelf where, in theory, a TV should go, while shouting: "EUREKA", she bends down and picks up a white device which has two antennas and like a million little blinking lights, damn, that looks like something out of a spaceship, I'm being watched by aliens? I'm being spied on by Kree?

-"This is your router, this is where the internet signal comes from, which I need you to pay for so I can finish watching my series"-.

Bucky, still in shock for the third time in less than 15 minutes, as he processes the idea that perhaps Thanos' unknowing twin is spying on him for a second invasion of earth and revenge for his brother's death. He can only nod to his now more relaxed and happy neighbor.

-"Perfect, thanks! I need to check the food I left in the oven, I'll talk to you later"- and as quickly as she came she left through the same door, leaving Bucky with more doubts than answers, peeking down the hallway, he realizes that she is the neighbor who lives next door, to his right. When Bucky comes out of his initial stupor, still not fully understanding what is going on, he decides to take his cell phone out of his pocket and call his own personal Google to solve his doubts about this century: Sam Wilson.

-"Hey Buck! What's up?"-how does he always manage to sound so happy? focus Buck.

-"What the hell is a router and why do I have one in my house?"- somehow Bucky manages to formulate, although maybe his voice cracked a little on the last words.

-"That thing's been there for at least two months and you didn't even notice it? Have you even paid the bill?"-

-"You put this in here? Without telling me????"- maybe Sam is also a Kree? Who can I trust now? It's all a trap?

Listening to Bucky's accelerated breathing, Sam tries to explain to him slowly, that in this century life without internet is not life, but obviously as Bucky does not even know how to set the alarm on his own cell phone, he was in charge of buying the router and creating the contract with the company so that, the 106 year old man could have his personal network at home. He had given it the name but he had not given it a password so that Bucky himself could set it up later. "I am an excellent friend, I mean co-worker, if I may say so"

-"Sorry man, after all that happened, we got called for a mission and I forgot to tell you, do you have your laptop over there? I'll help you set up a password, so your neighbors won't steal your internet anymore"- and with that comment everything started to make sense in Bucky's slightly screwed up but functional mind about the events with his seemingly non-spy and harmless neighbor.

Meanwhile Bucky was trying to remember his own password to unlock the laptop in front of him, also courtesy of Sam. "Bucky, when you learn about online banking and that you can pay your rent, electricity, phone and everything with a click of your computer, you will thank me". It should be noted that Bucky hasn't used that laptop once, like a good 100 year old grandpa he goes to the bank to make his deposits and pay his debts, which obviously consisted only of electricity, water, gas and phone because the man had no idea that there was a device in his house that spit out internet, apparently only his next door neighbor knew this. Buck tells Sam how he thought his router was an alien device and how he thought his neighbor was a KGB agent coming to kill him. "Relax Buck we all have undesirable neighbors that steal our internet signal sometimes", well undesirable is not the word I would use to describe her but ok.

When Sam finally explains to him how to connect his computer to the internet, Bucky can finally see the name that his wonderful co-worker, not friend, because he could never be friends with someone so stupid as to think that the name "THE WIFILCON AND THE WINTER ROUTER" was a good name.

- "my god Sam, you're such an asshole!"-

-"HEY! That's a great name!"- Sam responds with as much indignation as possible, he's the best at naming everything from dogs to wifis.

- "I can't believe you're Captain America, I can't believe we're even friends"- Bucky really can't understand his luck to have friends, well, co-workers whatever.

- "Well excuse me but we're co-workers..."-

- "Well, take this call as my formal resignation, bye"-

-"Wait a minute Buck..."- Bucky ended the call, to finish -his self-imposed- punishment of listening to Sam Wilson talk for over an hour. At least I asked him how to use the bank's website to pay for the internet. Suddenly, without warning and without explanation, the memory of his neighbor is lodged in his head, her hair in a ponytail, her reading glasses, pink shorts, her sweater from some university of which he can't even remember the name because he was watching out for other things... that she wouldn't kill me obviously, he was watching out that she wouldn't pull a knife out of her back and kill me right there. The message on his laptop indicating that he can now set a new name and password to his wifi distracts him enough to stop thinking about his sweet and cute non-spy neighbor and how she would look with her hair down and her glasses off.

Still with the sweet feeling in his chest and the desire to see her again he writes as the new name of the wifi, while laughing:

"If you want free internet, you owe me at least one free dinner"

After paying the internet debt and closing the laptop, Bucky gets up hoping to find something edible in the kitchen, while leaning over to look inside his fridge and analyzing how bad it would be to eat a fried egg with pasta and sriracha, he hears again a knock on the door, but this time it does not cause Bucky the anguish and anxiety that caused him the first time, but quite the opposite.

-"Open the door Winter Router! I prepared chicken pot pie for dinner"-.

[pinkie-satan]

So I just reread umineko (I think I'm addicted to this story now) and I was wondering what other umineko fans think of the differences between vn and manga, especially the part about Battler and Beato escaping the island together, aka the magic ending of 8th episode.

Manga shows us what happened in a very detailed way from the beginning on that night, we get to see clearly that Sayo dressed as Beatrice survives the shooting in the the secret golden room.

She's full of fear and grief discovering her loved ones are gone.

Then she meets Battler who recognizes her as Shannon and she explains her story to him. She still acts in very polite and shy way (quite opposite of Beatrice).

Then they find a boat, escape from Rokkenjima and Beato jumps into the ocean like in the vn. Yet Beato's thoughts are a little bit different. One of her main concerns is still her body.

Now let's take a look at vn Beato. The last time we see Sayo (we know it's Sayo, she's very calm and doesn't seem to care about her life, despite beeing voiced by Sayaka Ohara who's Beatrice's seiyuu her voice is quiet, sounds kinda like Shannon's voice) is when she is beeing shot by Kirie at the end of the 7th episode.

And that's it. We don't see her get up. Sayo is dead. And I think that's why the what happens next during the family conference of 1986 is called magic ending. It's not Sayo who saves Buttler. It's an illusion of the witch Beatrice.

Just look at her. She behaves in this nasty and rude way as the Beatrice we know would. And Battler is not suprised at all. That's the Beato he knows well and the Beato he loves. He fully acknowledges her beeing this awful witch. If it was Sayo that she just met and found out about her past, he wouldn't do that. And now it makes sense why she tells him that she has to return to the world of illusion. She's not real. She's one of the people Sayo's soul was devided into and she can only exist in her illusion, in her Golden Land. And that's why there's no body left when she finally drowns. We know Battler's body is being lift up and it's only a part of his soul that joins Beato in the abyss, but her body should be lying at the bottom of the ocean. And yet there's only a golden rose left. It's because Sayo's real body vanishes in the explotion.

I think both versions of those events are right. What really happened on Rokkenjima is probably what is shown in the manga and what we see in vn is just the magical reconstrucion of that day. There are some differences (mainly in characters' behavior) but it's still the same story. I really love how it is presented in vn, Ricordando il passato playing in the background as Beatrice and Battler sink together into their magical abyss. It's the ending that reader can perceive the way he wants, it's not said strictly why and how it happens so we're free to interpret it in lots of different ways (you can even think it's still Sayo since it's neither denied nor confirmed, I think that kind of situation is what we call the devil's proof, right? *wink wink*) . I also love what they did in the manga, showing us Sayo's fear and doubt about her beeing able to live. Then we see her commit suicide and it just adds to her tragedy. Despite finally going away from Rokkenjima with Battler, as she dreamed since her childhood, she decides to kill herself. I find the manga version way more sad but the vn is way more magical to me.

What you think? Which one do you prefer? Or maybe I'm just looking to find something that doesn't exist and despite of what I said you think it's still Sayo-Beatrice at the end? Does it even matter to you? And most importantly, tell me I haven't miss something and my writing makes sense to you cause maybe I skipped something and didn't get things right??

[creppersfunpalooza]

( @whumpy-wyrms )

HI THIS’LL BE A LOT SHORTER SINCE ILL ONLY BE DOING THE CHARACTERS YOUVE SHOWN ON THAT BLOG OF YOURS (just for your own comfort)

WELCOME TO THE SECOND ROUND OF CHARACTER RANKINGS!!!! THIS ROUND’S CONTESTANTS INCLUDE A VAMPIRE MORTICIAN AND THAT IMMORTAL WEREWOLF TRAPPED IN THE MORGUE, A LOVABLE MAD SCIENTIST AND HIS ANIMAL PALS. AND ALSO THAT GUY WITH WINGS. YEAH YOU KNOW THE ONE. i’ll also throw pierce in here just for funzies and variety.

IN 7TH PLACE, WE HAVE THE GUY WHO WONT STOP ROLLING AROUND IN MY FLOWERBEDS AND PRANCING AROUND DURING FULL MOONS, ASPEN!!!! they’re only this low ranked just because i don’t know a ton about them and he’s super cool don’t get me wrong but like he’s joyous and i can’t have that in my household. we don’t support love and joy here. aspen buddy i hope you live your best life…… but if you keep rolling in my flowerbeds im calling silas man.

FOLLOWING THAT, WE’VE GOT PIERCE IN 6TH!!! look i won’t apologize for liking crazy scientists ok. i have a love hate relationship with him. on one hand he seems hella interesting but on the other i plan on slamming him into a way as soon as i can. like violently. he seems like he’d use the nerd emoji unironically and also get really angry whenever anyone misspells something. like he has perfect grammar and punctuation in text.

IN 5TH, THE BELOVED AND SLITHERY SASHA!!! i have nothing bad to say about her and ive warmed up to her a lot but i am still recovering from basil. im salty about basil ok…. i love sasha don’t get me wrong but BASIL….. BASIL……….. i do love sasha’s friendship with dew though and im kind of curious if she knew that anton knew about the vents. i doubt she did but i think it’d be super heart wrenching. but considering how hard she was workin to keep it a secret i doubt it. sorry abt the mini rant. i’m excited to see the role she plays in the future of the story!!!!

NEXT UP IN 4TH PLACE IS SILAS!!!! i’m very predictable yes he’s higher up here just because he’s a vampire and also cannibalistic and also silly and whimsical and fun (lies). i love the entire concept of a vampire mortician just because it is so fucked up but in practicality it’s actually very effective considering a necessary process for conserving corpses that they do in morgues is draining blood and other fluid from the body. sure silas is a bit more messy about it but honestly i can’t blame him. he’s allowed to get hungry and want a little snack. i would too. he just seems so cool and has so much potential and im insanely excited for the new series and seeing how it plays out.

OK IN 3RD….. WE HAVE BASIL!!!!!!!! i really like basil a normal amount. they’re so silly and god i am still so so so so so so so so so so so very sad. i don’t think ill ever recover actually. i really wish we got to see more of him in tllr but i do think what we did see of her was really cool on its own. their special bond with anton also really warms my heart. like my god. you know how to make someone cry that’s for sure jay… but TRAGEDIES ASIDE basil is just such a cool character. like she and sasha are so unique from each other especially with their connections to anton (which makes sense since basil and anton basically grew up together but still). like they sort of have different ideas of what loyalty is which is really interesting as well. i can’t want for the basil au honestly. like yes give them a little human form and tubes of glowing green liquid….. they deserve it ok…..

NOW TO THE TOP 💥 TWO💥‼️‼️‼️‼️ BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, LET ME DISCUSS THIS ROUND’S PRIZE!!!! THE FAVORITE CHARACTER OF MINE GETS A GUN BECAUSE I THINK ITD BE REALLY FUNNY. like i know you’re currently picturing the two remaining characters with guns right now. admit it you’re imagining it and it’s wonderful. i think they deserve to get a little wild. don’t ask where i got it okay. you don’t need to know.

————————————————————————

unfortunately for this episode we could not afford a sponsor. vian accidentally got caught up in a weird scam and now we can’t really find people willing to sponsor us that aren’t over elaborate pyramid schemes.

oh hey wait there’s one oh wait shit never mind that’s a whole ass cult.

————————————————————————

WE’RE DOWN TO OUR LAST TWO!!! WOOHOO!!!

YOU KNOW HIM, YOU PROBABLY LOVE HIM JUST AS MUCH AS I DO, IN 2ND PLACE, ANTON!!! love his design with that swooped back hair it’s so funky and so so so hard to draw for me for some reason. regardless, i love him in all of his test tube baby glory. i don’t know what you expected. he’s a crazy scientist, he’s trying to break the laws of what is possible, he loves animals and made friends with both a mouse and a snake. he’s great. like dew cmon man it’s not that bad being stuck with him even if he’s putting you through painful experimentation on a regular day basis. like just get a better pain tolerance or smthn…. i also love how anton is very accommodating like yes we love a scientist who respects the needs of neurodivergent and trans individuals (while also being both)!!!!!! he’s inclusive!! that’s respectable!!!!! free fucking top surgery!!!!!! fun fact when i first saw that chapter that was like the point where i decided that i needed to befriend you because that was so funny and yet so great like my people in the hypercluster google doc can vouch that i was like updating them on the story like “guys he’s giving him free top surgery”. i love how determined anton is as well to be a good person while also being morally dubious at best. like what normal person replaces the guy you kidnapped with a whole ass clone. that’s fucked up /pos. logically i’m wondering why he didn’t just use the clone for experiments but i don’t think that would be any better from a morality standpoint since the clone still pertained all of his memories n shit. idk just thinking :3

AND FINALLY, THE FIRST PLACE WINNER AND OWNER OF A NEW GLOCK, DEW!!!!!! CONGRATS BUDDY. god dew i love dew so much. his character development is also insane and i appreciate it so much. like when chapter 14 came out jay you know i was like rushing to you with the fun juxtaposition shit like i was going crazy. like oh my god he’s a completely different person than he was before and you portrayed it so beautifully. both at the start and the end, dew is my favorite. i love how he values his friends more than like literally anything else as well like same man. also the minecraft comparison in an early chapter was another thing i was giggling over like the “this is nothing like minecraft” god i love your brain dew….. he’s so fun!!!!!! he’s also got a pinch of cynicalness to him but not enough that he’s like snarky and i think that’s also really cool.

hi reply to this if you want me to make a personal list of my top favorite characters of yours in order and with reasons because i feel silly rn :3

[dramaruni]

@bpdaf so this answer opened a can of worms (that I can call procrastination) and I wanted to address it, but with the limited characters in the reply function, I decided to answer it with a new post. Also sorry if this come as an attack, I promise it's not. I just became really curious if I had the wrong idea about the live-shooting system as I was ready to refute your points, but realized I didn't have enough knowledge to do so.

*also tagging @jahe, @yasmini24, @le-amarant as they also replied to my post and I figured maybe you were also interested in this (although it's really long and rambly, so I don't blame you for ignoring the post entirely). So yeah warning, this post is really long.

So I'm well aware of kdrama's live shoot system. But I did wonder if it was normal to start shooting 6 months before the first airing episode, as I was under the impression 6 months of shooting exceeded the standard duration of filming. But I couldn't actually refute it without some data to back that up. So I went to find data.

According to Wikipedia's page on Korean Dramas, they write: “As producing a series involves high expenses, production companies seek to shoot the episodes in the shortest time possible. In contrast to practices elsewhere, the first four episodes of Korean series are usually shot in advance, but the rest are shot continuously as the series is being aired.”

This fits in line with what I believed about Korean dramas live shooting system. They film a couple of episode ahead of time and then rest comes while it's still airing to fit with the audience response to it. Even preproduced dramas are sometimes reshot and re-edited while it's airing. But it didn't really say anything about the average filming duration for a drama or what shortest time possible was defined as. Probably because all dramas will aim for different things and given the content it can vary a lot how long it takes to film.

But I highly doubt it took Vincenzo 6 months to shoot something around 4 episodes and then crammed the rest into the 2 remaining months, as they knew from the start they had 20 episodes to fill.

So let's go through some other drama's shooting schedule to compare with Vincenzo.

I chose to limit the list to 2020 dramas (as they were likely affected by the pandemic) and tvN dramas, so it's the same broadcasting company as these dramas will likely share the same practices. Obviously with the amount I have included, I can't make any definite conclusions, but it does show a pattern.

*disclaimer I tried my best to accurately determine the shooting duration from when filming started to when it ended, but not all of these dramas had that information readily available, so I made do with the information I had at hand. This means some of these are just estimations.

So without further ado, here's the list:

Vincenzo:

May 2020, Director Kim Hee Won and writer Park Jae Bum teamed up.

July 2020, Song Joong Ki and Jeon Yeo Bin were considering the drama, while Ok Taecyeon had confirmed

September 2020, filming started

February 20th, 2021 first episode aired

No episodes April 17thand18th

April 17th, last episode script delivered

April 23rd, filming wrapped

May 2nd, 2021 last episode aired

Shooting time: 8 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 6 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 8 days

1. Crash Landing on You

*not affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic * includes overseas filming

July 31st, 2019 – first script reading

End of august 2019, filming overseas begin

December 14th, first episode airs

January 12th, filming wrapped

February 16th, 2020 last episode airs

Shooting time: 5 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 4 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 1 month + 4 days

2. It’s okay not to be okay

I couldn’t find the exact time shooting started, so these numbers are based between March and May, as I assume they didn’t shoot without Oh Jung Se being casted and while the table read photos were released in May, it could very well be they had started shooting before this.

February 2020 Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji casted

March 2020 Oh Jung Se casted

May 8th 2020, first script reading photos released

June 20th 2020, first episode aired

July 31st 2020, filming wrapped

August 9th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: 3-5 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 1-3 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 9 days

3. Start-up

August 4th, all the leads are confirmed for casting

September 2020, promotional starts to come out

October 17th 2020, First episode aired

November 21st 2020, Bae Suzy wraps up filming (assuming filming wraps up around the same time as her as she is the lead)

December 6th, last episode aired

Shooting time: 2-4 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 1-2 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: around 15 days

4. Hospital playlist season 1

*only aired 1 episode pr. week

October 2019, principal photography took place

March 12th, first episode aired

Late April 2020, filming wrapped

May 28th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: 7 months (couldn’t find when they actually started shooting, so let’s just pretend they also filmed around October)

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 6 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 1 month

5. A piece of your mind

February 7th 2020, article of the first script reading

February 13th, first photos from drama unveiled

March 23rd, first episode aired

April 8th 2020, tvN announces that 4 episodes are cut due to low ratings

April 28th, last episode aired

Shooting time: 2-4 months

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 1-2 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: N/A (couldn’t find the exact time but they also axed four episodes and I don't know how much that affected filming)

6. Psychopath diary

*not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

August 2019, first script reading

November 20th, first episode aired

January 9th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: n/a

Shooting duration before first aired episode: 3-4 months (assuming they started shooting shortly after the first table read)

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: n/a

7. Stranger /Secret Forest season 2

* preproduced based on the information I found

January 2020, first script reading

June 20th, 2020 lead actors wrapped filming (But I only found this article that says this)

August 15th 2020, first episode aired

October 4th 2020, last episode aired

Shooting time: 6 months

Shooting duration before first episode aired: 6 months

Filming wrapped before last airing episode: 4-5 months

What does this mean?

So the drama that comes closest to Vincenzo's filming duration is Hospital Playlist, but they also did things a bit differently. According to their Wikipedia, they only aired 1 episode a week to comply with 52-hour week system and to avoid overnight filming for the cast's and crews' health. So that would extend their shooting time. They also had the same amount of shooting time as Vincenzo before the first episode aired, i.e. 6 months, but Hospital playlist was only 12 episode drama so they also had less content to fill.

The rest of these dramas has a shooting time with 6 months or less. I will say though a lot of these dramas are not action-packed (also I haven't checked the budget for any of these), so comparatively they probably have different needs when filming. The drama that comes closest in terms of action is Stranger/Secret Forest, and it's also pretty close in shooting time with only 2 month different (that's counting from the first table read though). This was however pre-produced so they wrapped up filming before the first episode even aired (if my information is correct). Also this was a season two so they were operating under a little different circumstances.

But with the exception of Stranger/Secret Forest (preproduced) and Hospital Playlist(tried to work with humane working hours), none of this drama has a 6-month filming duration before the first episode aired. In fact some of these dramas don't even exceed 6 months of filming. Meaning they had less time to shoot before the first episode aired. Their production was probably also lower and none them did CGI (although I haven't watched all of them so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) as that should also be accounted for.

So 8 months of filming is a lot to allocate to a drama, at least it's not the norm. There are other dramas that exceed that filming time that didn't make the list (Mr. Sunshine sorry too much research for at this point), but obviously that is not the standard.

Obviously I don't know how the filming was divided, how many of the episodes they had filmed before the first one aired. I don't know how many of the episode scripts were written before it aired. But I can see that even with the live-shooting, Vincenzo has some very uneven scheduling that doesn't align with how the rest of these dramas did their scheduling and airing. None of the mentioned dramas had any delays (in airing, I can't be sure about filming as some of them are probably affected by the pandemic), and yet Vincenzo did, even though they had spent more time filming before the first episode aired.

Also, most of these dramas wrapped up filming with more than a week to spare before the final airing, with It's Okay Not To Be Okay coming the closest to the airing date (with the ones where I know the date when they finished shooting), but they also only had 1-3 months of filming before the drama actually started airing so much less time than Vincenzo. And although they didn't have CGI, they did have the animations for each of the fairytales which I don't know how long it took but I can imagine it took some time.

So then I looked up another drama not by tvN but by Park Jae Bum:

Good Manager/Chief Kim

December 15, 2016 first script reading

January 25, 2017 First episode aired

March 30, 2017 Last episode aired

I couldn't find the date they finished filming, but given they only started a month before airing (honestly I felt super sorry for the cast and crew when I saw these dates), I am assuming the hit the last airing date pretty closely with filming, and that would give them 3 months of filming roughly. And they also had 20 episodes like Vincenzo.

I haven't seen this drama myself, so I can't say anything about the writing quality, but here Park Jae Bum was working under even more time pressure and was able to deliver the ending on time and as I hear, it was pretty a pretty good ending (but I haven't seen it, so feel free to refute me). And yet he couldn't do it for Vincenzo. So I do think something happened with ending, whether it was Park Jae Bum just took a long time writing it for whatever reasons, or someone/thing (be it something personal, writer's block, execs not liking the ending etc.) actually interfered and that prolonged the writing or entirely changed the ending.

Anyway this became too long, so let me just end it here.

I wish I had time to make a more comprehensive list so I could be more definite in the conclusion because obviously I can't base everything of the schedule of 8 dramas that also vastly different in production quality, genre and content.

So yeah I might have just wasted the last three-four hours making something that doesn't even make sense. But hey, at least I'm less prepared for the exams now, good use of time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[swissmissficrecs]

Favorite fics of 2012

2012 was when things really started happening in earnest in the fandom. There was a veritable explosion of fic, and many of the absolute classics were posted. I have something like 15 pages of bookmarks from that year, and as such, it was incredibly hard to narrow things down to a manageable number for a rec list. Here are the ones that I felt are the must-reads, that have stuck with me the longest and strongest.

A Cure For Boredom by emmagrant01 (81K, E, Johnlock, John/OCs) They'd never talked about sex in the year they'd known each other. Well, that wasn't quite correct: Sherlock had never said a word about sex; John had bemoaned his personal dearth of it on many occasions.

A Goose Quill Dipped in Venom by Polyphony (52K, M, Johnlock) Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, is called in to a very ordinary although brutal murder. Something is badly out of tune with the whole scenario and Sherlock finds himself becoming more and more obsessed with the crime - and also with the victim.

Across the Sky by Mazarin221b (23K, E, Johnlock) Top Gun AU. After an accident that nearly cost the life of his previous RIO, Lieutenant John Watson (Call sign Doc) has grown reckless and arrogant, but an even better pilot than he was before. A heroic maneuver and complete chance sends him and his new RIO (call sign Copper) to Fallon, Nevada, home of Top Gun.  Problem is, the ghosts of John's past could cost them more than just the Top Gun trophy—it could also cost John a chance at happiness.

An Avalanche Of Detour Signs by gyzym (56K, M, Mollstrade) In which Molly Hooper gets a job, gets a degree, breaks a heart, has her heart broken, falls in love, keeps a secret, saves a life, runs a morgue, falls apart, pulls it together, and finds exactly what she didn't know she was looking for--not necessarily in that order.

Applications and Practices of Basic Arithmetic by 1electricpirate (128K, M, Johnlock) After Reichenbach and in order to 1) Keep Sherlock alive, 2) Keep John alive and 3) Get Sherlock home to England as soon as possible, Mycroft devises a plan that will not only incentivise John's continued sanity and survival but force Sherlock to come running. It is a perfect plan, though perhaps less than ethically sound. He has no doubts that using frozen samples of your younger brother's sperm to create children for his husband to care for falls deeply within the realm of socially unacceptable behaviour, but it is efficient, and that is what matters most.

Ava Watson verse by keeliethompson1 (347K, M, Johnlock) Five year old Ava Watson's life is changed forever when her Daddy's old friend comes calling.

Be Here Now Universe by Todesfuge (181K, M, Johnlock) John Watson was already fighting demons when he and Sherlock met. With Sherlock's suicide, it all comes flooding back, forcing Sherlock to intervene before he's solved the persistent riddles of Jim Moriarty and his game. Together they find that something darker lurks behind Moriarty, forcing Sherlock, John, and Irene Adler into an even deadlier game with a much more dangerous foe.  Begins six months after the events of The Reichenbach Fall.

Burn Down & Reignite by augustbird (20K, E, Johnlock) When love isn't enough.

Castle and Sand by grey853 (158K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock and John both have difficult pasts that affect their evolving relationship. When John prevents a mugging, it sets off a dangerous chain of events that not only impacts him, but his whole family. In the end there's a wedding and a honeymoon, but will there really be a happy ending?

Cinnamon series by lbmisscharlie (150K, E, Johnlock) When Sherlock invites John to live with him, he fails to mention that he's a single father to a four-year-old girl.

Collared by VelvetMace (83K, E, Johnlock, John/Sarah) In a world where the British Empire is still strong and slavery is her economic backbone, John has become a terrorist for the abolitionist movement. He is caught by Mycroft, enslaved, and given to Sherlock for training. The goal: To test a new kind of slave collar with the power to break even the strongest willed fighter. One that will make even John learn to love being a slave.

Common Grounds by couchbarnacle (66K, M, Johnlock) John Watson is working at Holmes Manor for the summer and is caught up in the whirlwind that is Sherlock Holmes. Teen AU.

Electric Pink Hand Grenade by BeautifulFiction (67K, E, Johnlock) "If Sherlock's brain is a hard drive, then these attacks are an electro-magnetic pulse." Sherlock Holmes does not do anything by half, not even a migraine. It falls to John to witness one of the greatest minds he has ever known tear itself apart, and he must do his best to help Sherlock pick up the pieces.

End of the Story by kres (53K, E, Johnlock) Post-Reichenbach. The return, the fallout, the pieces you pick up.

Equilibrium by augustbird (12K, M, Johnlock) At Baskerville, John is infected by a virus that turns him into a genius. But when the infection progresses into neurodegeneration, it's a race against time to save himself. Flowers for Algernon fusion.

Given In Evidence by verityburns (97K, M, Johnlock) Coming back from the dead can be a complicated business. With a new case on the horizon, rebuilding a life is one thing... rebuilding a friendship quite another. For Sherlock and John, things may never be just the same...

Hearts At Home series by yalublyutebya (74K, M, Johnlock, Viclock) A series of stories chronicling the intertwined lives of Father John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

Just a Kiss by emmagrant01 (19K, E, Johnlock) Five times John and Sherlock kissed because of a case and one time they kissed for real.

Limping Forward series by bendingsignpost (58K, E, Johnlock) As the newest instructor at St. Bart's, John has been explicitly warned to never do Sherlock Holmes any favours. Too bad the sex is so good.

More Things Than Are Dreamt Of series by 1electricpirate (37K, E, Johnlock) In which John is (reluctantly) a wizard, Mycroft is (apparently) omniscient, and Sherlock is (surprisingly) oblivious.

Murderous Imprint by MojoFlower (52K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock should be focusing on the series of brutal vivisections Lestrade has brought to him. Instead he's distracted by a most amazing and unexpected experimental opportunity from the basement apartment of 221C. Will he figure out the one in time to stop the other? And does he need help in order to do it?

Renegades by augustbird (39K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock Holmes takes down Moriarty’s syndicate.  He also takes John Watson with him.

School For Scandal (orphaned) (222K, E, Johnlock) Sherlock lusts from afar. John tries to fool himself. (Boarding school AU)

Spectrum series by thisprettywren (95K, E, Johnlock) In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Stranger at the Gate by bendingsignpost (85K, E, Johnlock) As far as initiation rites go, kidnapping a human doctor from a defended town ought to seem extreme. When James Moriarty offers him the challenge, Sherlock never considers saying no. (Fantasy vampire AU)

Northwest Passage by Kryptaria (95K, E, Johnlock) Seven years ago, Captain John Watson of the Canadian Forces Medical Service withdrew from society, seeking a simple, isolated life in the distant northern wilderness of Canada. Though he survives from one day to the next, he doesn't truly live until someone from his dark past calls in a favor and turns his world upside-down with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes.

Our Brave Boys by unknownsister (29K, E, Johnlock) John worked himself to the bone to get into military school. He meets Sherlock Holmes, who doesn't want to be there at all. Sherlock simultaneously insults him and turns his curiosity up to eleven, in mind and body. As if John doesn't have enough to deal with.

Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (32K, M, Johnlock) The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.”  The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

Tennis series by Jupiter_Ash (216K, E, Johnlock) John and Sherlock are professional tennis players and it’s Wimbledon. One is a broken almost was at the end of his career, the other an arrogant rising star tipped for greatness. It should have been a straightforward tournament. It really should have been. How were they to know that a chance encounter would change everything?

The Bone Fiddle by htebazytook, Vulgarweed (61K, E, Johnlock) Appalachian AU! In November 1973, Vietnam vet John Watson returns to his family's old home in Arthel County, West Virginia, deep in coal country. His low expectations include recuperation and boredom. Instead he finds a ruined landscape, a series of grisly murders, and one of the world's weirdest neighbors.

The Brave and The Cunning series by thequeergiraffe (95K, E, Johnlock, Adlock, Sarah/John, Sheriarty) This series will have one fic per Sherlock episode, with series one being set in John's 6th year (and Sherlock's 5th) and series two being set in John's 7th and final year at Hogwarts. Fics will have similar (but nowhere near identical) plots to the actual BBC Sherlock episodes, with most locations being replaced with HP-universe settings. This series is set well after the Second Wizarding War and involves next to none of the HP characters, instead using Sherlock characters and the occasional minor OC.

The Fabric of Life (orphaned) (156K, E, Johnlock) The fabric of life rearranges itself around the re-emergence of Sherlock.

The Good Morrow series by greywash (216K, E, Johnlock) My post-S2 series where everyone has a lot of feels about everything and plausibility is stretched unto breaking. Also: fucking.

The Great Sex Olympics of 221B by XistentialAngst (58K, E, Johnlock; John/OCs, Sherlock/OCs) John Watson thinks Sherlock Holmes should admit that he, Watson, is more of an expert on sex than Sherlock is.  But Sherlock refuses to concede the point.  He comes up with an experiment plan that will resolve the issue.  The results will determine who wins the prize.  But sometimes even the best thought-out scientific study has unexpected consequences.

The Green Blade by verityburns (72K, T, Gen) As a serial killer hits the headlines, the police are out of their depth and the next victim is out of time. With faith in Sherlock Holmes at an all time low, this is a case which will push loyalties to the limit...

The Iceman Cometh by Polyphony (60K, M, Johnlock, Viclock) An intriguing puzzle tempts Sherlock to accept Victor Trevor's invitation to the French Riviera, but all is not what it seems. Frustrated by the case and increasingly concerned about an absent John, Sherlock uncovers far more than he was meant to and is forced to become a fugitive, pursued by those on both sides of the law, as he fights for his freedom and the lives of all those around him.

The Making Of by emmagrant01 (58K, E, Johnlockstrade) In the aftermath of Sherlock's death, John Watson and Greg Lestrade take comfort in each other.  But of course, Sherlock isn't really dead, so this is all about to get complicated.

The Paradox Series by wordstrings (98K, E, Johnlock) In which what's in Sherlock's head is never going to get any better, and John is nearly thrown out of his flat.

The Prize by Trillsabells (101K, E, Johnlock) On 29 January 2010 an unknown Event wiped out 98% of the population. This is the story of the survivors, four months on.

The Quiet Man by ivyblossom (157K, E, Johnlock, Warstan) "Do you just carry on talking when I'm away?"

The Sustain Stories by maybe_amanda (151K, M, Sherlolly, John/Sarah) "So now you're behaving like a six year old 'cause he didn't take you along on his honeymoon?"  Lestrade said.  "Grow the hell up."

Through the Looking Glass by obsidienne (106K, M, Johnlock) When you chase criminals over rooftops, death is always a possibility. We woke up in 1889 instead. Which is not a place two men in a relationship want to be.

To Light Another's Path by BeautifulFiction (128K, E, Johnlock) Teaching John to observe seems to be a losing battle, but when Sherlock falls ill and submits himself to John's care, will he realise that there is more to life than the science of deduction? Meanwhile, there is a murder to solve, and John must try and convince Sherlock not to sacrifice his own health for the sake of the case.

Watches 'Verse by bendingsignpost (66K, E, Johnlock) First, he is shot in Afghanistan. Second, he wakes to a phone call in Chelmsford, Essex. Third is pain, fourth is normalcy, fifth is agony and sixth is confusion. By the eighth, he's lost track.

[suckerforsaikik]

Hypothetically, HYPOTHETICALLY, if someone were to write a Saiki Kusou no Psi nan crossover with assassination classroom. In your opinion, what would be the funniest, clever or most mysterious way to integrate him into class 3-E? (Assuming you've read/watched the series that is).

(this took way too long because i ended up binging the whole series for ‘research’)

Summary: Saiki tries to hide his psychic powers from the assassination classroom when he finds himself in their world.

Saiki needed to stop getting himself into these situations. He didn’t know which gods felt the need to torment him like they did, but an angry letter of complaint to their office wasn’t enough to make up for what happened.

It started as soon as he woke up. Approximately 0.0076 seconds after he got out of his bed, Saiki had noticed something wasn’t right.His limiter had fallen out during his sleep, and was now partially under the pillow. His bed and the better chunk of his room were submerged in sand, which went on for miles. Using his clairvoyance, Saiki still couldn’t see any people for a good 50 kilometres. He had found himself in the middle of the desert.

“Yare yare, I must’ve teleported.”

He then had tried teleporting to his house, but he couldn’t find it. He went through the whole neighbourhood, but his dad and mom didn’t seem to… exist? He even checked the whole country, But popping up all over Japan attracted the attention of a few parties.

And that eventually ended up with him here, With a government agent prattling on about whatever threat the world faced. After revealing his telekinesis on a surveillance camera (thankfully they never found out about his teleportation), the government of Japan had noticed him, and had immediately dragged him to a secret government bunker, talking about how they knew he had special powers. Not that he was listening. Instead, he was worrying over what had happened to everyone he know. The latest theory he had come up with was he had hopped a dimension. It only happened once before, and ended with him running from powerful espers from the 7th division of Claw. He soon realized it would take a day to get back to his normal dimension when he was trying to get back, so that was probably the minimum amount of time he’d have to spend here.

“What a cliche trope”  Saiki sighed. “I’ll just have to play along, I guess”

“-the reward is 30 billion yen to kill that yellow monster. Will you do it?” The annoying side character agent, who introduced himself as Shiro, finished.

Saiki rolled his eyes. Even if he’d rather spend the day taking advantage of this universe’s coffee jelly, he knew he couldn’t escape the plot. If he tried running, he would just get dragged back into it for some stupid reason, or he’d be pulled into another, more ridiculous, story. It was the only thing that could beat him.

A nod confirmed his alliance.

“Excellent! I’ll get you prepared.” Saiki’s mind-reading abilities told him Shiro wasn’t the most mentally stable, but he figured he’d have a few episodes before Shiro went full crazy.

“Time to get you enrolled in the assassination classroom.”

—

(Somewhere in a sketchy government facility)

A bloodstained report smacked onto the desk of the prime minister.

“We have intel.” the spy who had delivered the file spoke, with his toque shading his eyes, and you could only see his dark pupils drilling down into your head.

“What’s it aboot?” The prime minister’s eyes had seen his fair share of wars, they were dark and unbreakable like a beaver’s den. He pulled the files toward him, examining the files with the intensity of as if they were tickets to a professional hockey game.

“The Japanese have been keeping secrets from us, sir. They have been hosting a dangerous octopus creature, who says they’ll destroy the Earth next March.”

“Those bastards.” The prime minister stood up from his desk, causing his chair to scrape the floor as it moved away from him.

“When I’m done with them, I’ll show them no mercy.” He furrowed his brows. “I’d bet a toonie they thought we couldn’t help because we’re a ‘peaceful’ country. I’ll show them… when we BLOW UP THAT MONSTER OURSELVES!!”

“How do you plan to accomplish that, sir?”

“Heat seeking missiles. We aim it right at the students so that damn octopus can’t escape, then we bomb the whole thing with anti-teacher pellets.”

“Sorry for doubting your plan, sir.”

“Sorry for making you doubt my plan.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

—

“I hear we’re getting another student transfer, Kayano!” Nagisa stopped to chat with his fellow student on the way to their mountain school.

“Do you think they’ll be normal this time?” Kayana said.

“Doubtful” Itona appeared. “The only transfer students we have are freaks. I had tentacles, Ritsu’s an assassination machine, and Karma has too many problems to be ‘normal’.” he listed the transfer students’ ‘quirks’ on his fingers.

“You might want to stop insulting me,” behind Itona, Karma stood. He smirked, then said “But I wouldn’t disagree.”

Everyone made their way to class, where KoroSensei was waiting.

“Hello class.” He tittered. “ The new transfer student comes today, and he has ALREADY challenged me to a fight, so we’re moving quite fast. Ooh, telekinesis? How intriguing!”

After staring at the note intently, KoroSensei held it up, showing japanese kanas spelling out the time and place for meeting, along with the students known powers.

“Now please be patient, everyone. The student should arrive right–”

The door to the classroom blew open. Shiro stepped into the scene, with Saiki a few seconds behind him, yet already regretting it.

“Hi.” Saiki said.

Stepping into the classroom, The minds of the students told Saiki about the previous fights of different rivals of Korosensei. All of them had failed, obviously. They tried to kill him, got beaten badly, then learned the value of friendship and working together. It seemed that was what was expected of him as a transfer. Saiki could at least help speed the process up.

‘Alright,’ he thought, ‘ I guess I have to do it.’

He held up his hands in surrender.

“Oh no. You are too strong, I can see it now. There is no way I can beat you. I’m so sorry, Shiro, I guess I’m giving up.” He walked off to the empty seat in the corner of the classroom, right next to a window. He smirked. A few more hours and he’d be out of this classroom .

“W-What?!” Shiro sputtered, stepping closer to Saiki with an intent to murder, “You’re supposed to fight. Get up and KILL HIM!!” he reached to grab Saiki’s shoulder’s before Korosensei’s tentacles pulled him away.

“You’re not allowed to hurt any of my students, Shiro.” Korosensei said, smiling. “Please excuse yourself from this classroom.”

Shiro left, albeit slowly. Saiki’s recently created plan was going well.

As Korosensei started the lesson, a student with flashy red hair (‘Karma Akabane’ Saiki noticed) leaned over to talk to him from the other desk.

“So, I heard you had telekinesis.” Karma face was two inches from Saiki. Saiki couldn’t really deny his powers here. He nodded.

“Interesting!” His face was now just an inch away. “Can I have an example?”

Yare yare. Saiki waved his hands, and a spoon flew into his hand from a nearby lunchbox. Letting go of it so it could float on its own, the metal spoon bent before Karma’s widening eyes. He let out a gasp,  making everyone turn to see the spoon that was levitating thanks to a certain psychic’s powers. Now he had an audience.

“Wow! I guess it’s true. How much power do you have?  Can you lift a car? A train? Could you fix the moon?”

“Why would I need to-” Shoot. That was close to revealing himself as an outsider. His telepathy showed him the broken crescent moon that all the class was thinking about. Could he fix it? He would have to take out his limiter and turn it back seven years, though it wouldn’t be hard theoretically. But if he said yes, that would mean they would ask him to fix it. It also wouldn’t make sense to how he could fix a whole moon and not defeat a yellow octopus man. Lying was the better option here. “I mean, no, Nothing bigger than spoons.”

“Um, okay.” The whole class was staring at him now. He could tell they were suspicious. He just had to switch the subject, and then they would forget.

“So what are those weird pink balls on your head?”

Shoot. He had forgotten to telepathically suggest they were hairpins. Being the center of attention was too dangerous.

“They’re my hairpins.” Everyone seemed to accept that, thank the gods.

“Wow! Can I pull them out and see them?” one classmate reached for his head.

“No.”

Yare yare. He might not survive today.

—

As Saiki was being tortured by the students of 3-E, Korosensei was sitting read The Great Gatsby. Even when he was thoroughly enjoying his book, his nose caught the faint smell of chemicals. Normally this wouldn’t be the biggest issue, but the chemicals were a fuel-oxidizer mixture, they were up in the air, and they were coming closer at a rate too fast to be a plane. Missiles, then. He could smell out the steam of infrared electricity, so they were heat-seeking missiles, specifically. Why would anyone send heat-seeking missiles to him? He didn’t produce that much heat, so the missile would more likely go to actual people like-

The children.

They were aiming for the schoolchildren, to keep him here. Korosensei couldn’t smell it now, but he bet there was also an anti-sensei missile searing through the sky towards him.

How could he solve this? He needed to stop the missiles, firstly. Should he tell the students? No, that would only worry them about problem with an obvious solution.

He flew off from his desk in the classroom. At Mach 20, disabling the missiles would be easier than stopping them physically with his lack of strength. Then he would have to bury them in the ocean, or maybe space. Speeding up to the closest missile, he noticed a Canadian flag design on its side.

“Canada, hmm? It’s always the quiet ones.”

He tried to open up the hatch to the missiles wires, but his tentacles burst as he touched the metal plating.

“Anti-sensei plating.” that made it harder. He could go back and grab his napkin to hold it, but he couldn’t navigate the wire system accurately with such a huge handicap. The only option was to evacuate the students and hopefully get out of the missiles range.

He flew back to the classroom, where a certain psychic was sitting.

Of course, Saiki knew about the missiles. With a quick check using clairvoyance, he counted 3 in total. Heading straight for them at about Mach 15. There was enough explosives to decimate the whole mountain. Korosensei may try and save all his students, but there were only 20 seconds left. He wouldn’t make it.

Korosensei quickly shoved his students out the door of the classroom.  He talked quickly as he persuaded them out of the building, but he was too agitated to fully explain the situation. Now there were 15 seconds. The missiles could be seen before Saiki and rest of the students were all outdoors. Everyone immediately realized what KoroSensei had been trying to do, and started to sprint, but no one here was fast enough to escape except Korosensei, and he would not abandon his students. 10 seconds. They seemed to realize the couldn’t outrun their death, so they just stood, motionless, wondering what would happen next. Less than 5 seconds left.

—

Saiki knew he had to do it. They would question it, and ask him why he hadn’t used his powers. But even if he hated confrontation, and talking, and socializing, that wouldn’t matter if they were dead. His rule of not interfering would be broken, but he could make an exception. No matter what excuse he made to himself, he knew he wouldn’t run away.

Two seconds left.

Saiki calmly stepped forwards to the missiles, putting himself in front of all his classmates. His hands stretched out before him. Like they were frozen in time, all three missiles slowed to a stop, five feet away from the students they were to kill.

But that was only a temporary solution. Taking out his limiter, Saiki set the missiles to seven years in the past. Plates of metal materialized to take their place, and fell to the grass. The clattered onto the ground unceremoniously

No one spoke.

“Wow.” Karma was the first to break the silence, “One question. How?”

“I’m uh… not from around here.” Saiki fiddled with his hands too much to be normal. He’d rather get hit by a missile than be asked awkward questions in front of a crowd.

“You’re American??!”

“No, that’s-” Why was everyone so stupid? “A bit farther than that.”

“You’re an alien!!”

“No…(Yare yare) well, close enough.”

“So why?” Nagisa asked. He seemed to have completely recovered from the shock of certain death, and now stood in his usual pose. Not cocky or reserved, but unfazed.

“Why what?”

“Why would you lie?”

“Because then you’d ask me to kill KoroSensei,” This much talking and honesty was getting uncomfortable. He might end up teleporting away from his problems.

“You can?”

Korosensei had gotten over the attempted bombing of his students and his regular smile was now imprinted on his face. “Now now, class, I’m sure he wouldn’t be able to,” he coughed. “So you aren’t remaining to study with our class?”

“No, I have 20 hours left in this universe”

“So you’re staying with us until then.”

“I was going to go and grab some coffee jelly from-”

“Great! We can teach you some assassination moves!”

They started to forcefully drag Saiki up the mountain, back into the classroom.

“So Saiki,” Karma said, in a cheery tone, “Can you fix the moon?”

“Yes, I’m powerful enough to.”

“Will you fix it, please?”

“No.”

[dobe-and-teme]

sns month

As I have mentioned here, I was working on a sns month that will be hosted from 1st december till 31st december. Each day of the month has their own theme and three different prompts. I even planned one big event, and two smaller ones [→ more information under ›special events‹]

Then, one little information: The last years, bahare re-blogged all the posts that were made for the week on her own blog and tagged them, so y’all could find them easily. I want to do the same, but with a difference. I created a extra sns blog for all the events, like sns weeks, sns days, secret santa sns, sns month - and there we will reblog everything. ›We‹ because I asked friends of mine to help me manage this blog. [You can see here who they are.] The blog is called @snsfestivals.

Also, many of you may already know, but there is a discord group for sns. Discord is basically just a message app, with special and great features, such as voice chats and servers (which are group chats). It’s very safe since you don’t have to give your personal information away and you can control who finds you and not. If you are interested in joining, please drop a message at @dobe-and-teme. 

「 RULES 」

You can post any format you want for this month: fanfiction, fanart, videos, gifs, graphics, edits, analysis, headcanon, etc but it’s has to involve sns as a main pairing or Sasuke/Naruto as a main character! Other ships and characters are allowed, but it can not be the focus.

Reposting is not allowed, unless you are the original creator or have been given the permission from the original creator. If you are not the original creator, please make sure to credit the creator and add a link to the original post.

NSFW is allowed! But it must be properly tagged, flagged as sensitive, and/or hidden beneath cuts as necessary. Also please don’t forget to tag it with #nsfw.

Please don’t post things ahead of time! You can certainly work on things before hand, and you can definitely post things late, but don’t post anything for prompts before the prompt day!

Make sure that you tag every post with #snsmonth2017 within the first five tags and the day from which the post belongs to. [like this → #day 7]

Try to stay positive and don’t spread any hate. This should be our month, don’t let some anti ruin it for you. If you see an anti-post, please try to ignore it - it’s not worth it and just ruins the sns month.

「 SPECIAL EVENTS 」 

→ the big event is the Secret Santa Event, which will take place on the 25th december. Every person that participates has to prepare a sns related presents for someone I assign them with - in exchange, they will get a present from another person. If you are interested in participating, here are some informations. Everyone who is not interested, can skip this part:

→ If you are interested in participating, you have to write me a private message, no asks! If there is someone you absolutely don’t want to make a present for, write it please in the message! You can also make three wishes for people you want to make a present for. » Warning! It can happen that this person isn’t participating or I have to assign them with someone else.  → You will not known which person you have to prepare a present for until the 1st december. You can still of course prepare a present even before you know for who it is, since you will likely not know the person personally. But it can happen that the person is a close friend of yours, so it’s better when you start preparing the present when you know for whom it is. → If you don’t know what you should prepare or you don’t have any ideas, just message me and I will contact the person for you, to ask if they would like anything in particular. → When you post the present, please add a ›Secret Santa for @url‹ → Deadline for Registrations: 30th November

→ one of the smaller events will take place on one week of december. Bahare did it last year, and I would like to continue with it. Last year she streamed all sns related episodes on rabbit, and I really love the idea. The stream will take place on 7am and 7pm (in Germany, UTC+2) and will last till 10am and 10pm, and we will watch the exact same episodes on both times. If you still have questions, come and ask me!       → The stream will take place from 11th - 17th december.

→ the other small event is the 31st of december. On the last day of the month, I would like to ask you all to spread positive vibes in the fandom.  I want the month to end with something special, something that will make everyone a little more happier. On this day, I want you guys to send lovely asks to your favorite persons! Be it a amazing sns artist, graphic maker, writer, blog or just one of your favorite persons in general. Go and write them something to make them happy. [To the people receiving this asks: It would be nice if you could tag your posts with #snsmonthvibes, so we can find them and reblog them, thank you.]

「 THEMES & PROMPTS 」

For the following, the bold ones are the themes of the day and everything after the arrow are the prompts. You are allowed to combine two or three of the prompts together, but only prompts of the same day! Or you can just ignore all three of them and do your own thing, as long as it fits the theme of the day.

1st december » Naruto Uzumaki → Everything is allowed, as long as Naruto is the main focus.

2nd december » Sasuke Uchiha → Everything is allowed, as long as Sasuke is the main focus.

3rd december » Bonds → Team 7 / Team Taka / Family

4th december » Now And Forever → Proposal and Wedding / (Adoptive) Children / Anniversary

5th december » It Shouldn’t Be → Distance / Unrequited Love / Breaking Up

6th december » The Price Of Freedom → Forest of the Dead / Partners in crime / Slaves

7th december » First Times → First Love / First Kiss / First Fight

8th december » The First Secret → Cheating / Secret Crush / Dark Past

9th december » Acceptance → Confession / Coming Out / Meeting Family

10th december » It’s Not Me You Want → Fake Relationship / Broken-Heart / Hanahaki Syndrome

11st december »  Beginnings & Endings → Time-Travel / Origins / Valley of the End

12nd december » Another World → Deja Vu / Reincarnation / Mythologies AU

13rd december » Good Old Days → Ninja Academy / Training Sessions / Rivals  

14th december » Outer Space → Moon & Stars / Shooting Star / Galaxies

15th december » The Devil Inside Me → Monster & Demons / Betrayal / Self-doubt

16th december » After The War → Nightmares / Funerals / Orphans

17th december » Day Enemies, Night Lovers → Rome & Juliet / Fighting Kingdoms / Fantasy AU

18th december » Lovers Time → Domestic / Holding Hands / Dancing

19th december » By Your Side → Pining / Trust / Vacation

20th december » War And Peace → Heroes / Burdens / Supporting Shadow

21st december » Destined → Soulmates / Yin & Yang / Sun & Moon

22nd december » Stolen Kisses → Mistletoe / Lazy Morning / Cuddling

23rd december » Christmas Preparations → Baking Cookies / Wrapping Gifts / Placing Decorations

24th december » White Holidays → Building Snowman / Snowed In / Snowball Fight

25th december » Christmas Eve → Christmas Date / Family Traditions / Christmas Spirit → Secret Santa

26th december » Please, Come Back → Mission / Promise / Leaving

27th december » Never Letting Go → Hope / Jealousy / Fear 

28th december » Don’t Leave Me Alone → Death / Last Words / Fight

29th december » Medieval → Royalty / Master & Servant / Knights & Warriors

30th december » The Goodbye Look → Amnesia / Nukenin / On the Run

31st december » Free Day → You are allowed to do whatever you want, as long as you follow the rules.  → Day to spread positive vibes.

[littlelovelymemes]

✰ * º ❛ more popular text posts starters. ❜

‘  plot twist: you let someone in and they don’t fuck you over  ’ ‘  you would not believe bill nye... if ten million Science Guys  ’ ‘  the lack of cuddling i am experiencing right now is upsetting  ’ ‘  why was shrek’s soundtrack so incredible like who sat down and decided that a movie about an ogre would have a beautiful rufus wainwright ballad followed by a smash mouth/eddie murphy cover of i’m a believer and how can i thank them  ’ ‘  i justify my impulses by the fact i’m going to be dead one day and none of it truly matters in the grant scheme of things it’s that “treat yo self” nihilism  ’ ‘  all i do is listen to music really loudly while i walk in circles and daydream :/  ’ ‘  but you are an entire universe and i am a bigger cooler universe where everyone skateboards  ’ ‘  my insecurities have destroyed so many opportunities   ’ ‘  maybe you and i exist together on a different wavelength than the rest of the world. perhaps, we are on a separate frequency.  ’ ‘  will u still love me when im no longer young and ok looking  ’ ‘  ʸᵉᵃʰᶜᵃⁿ ᴵ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵘʰʰʰʰʰʰ some fuckin physical affection  ’ ‘  stop thinking about everything so much, you’re breaking your own heart.  ’ ‘  concept: me traveling the world alone, figuring myself out, taking tons of cute aesthetic pictures, befriending kind strangers, drinking a cup of tea on a cute cafeteria, and trying out things for the first time.  ’ ‘  holy shit thank god vine is gone like can you imagine all the vines about fidget spinners  ’ ‘  me: reads the bad reviews of a book i didn’t like to seek validation  ’ ‘  if you think you’ve hit rock bottom, just remember that my bank once froze my accounts because I bought a healthy ready meal at my local supermarket and they classed it an “uncharacteristic purchase”  ’ ‘  i’m a dumbass and that’s just how it is  ’ ‘  y'all actually seek validation from people that don’t give a fuck about ur feelings??? LMAO bitch me too why are we like this  ’ ‘  special thanks to all the 10 year olds out there for making all those music lyric videos on youtube  ’ ‘  i am so gentle and kind hearted... and stupid  ’ ‘  there she goes again being over dramatic and by she i mean me  ’ ‘  just letting everyone who’s ever told me a secret know that its safe with me (and my mom)  ’ ‘  me n my eyebrows…………we been thru a lot  ’ ‘  i wanna jump off a building and not die just relieve stress by slamming onto the sidewalk and then get up and go get a slurpee or something  ’ ‘  all I want is vintage lingerie and good skin  ’ ‘  nsfw: nobody’s safe from wonderwall  ’ ‘  do you ever wish you could unmeet someone…. like,, we had fun times,, but it’s time for me to wipe my memory Sorry Bud  ’ ‘  date a boy who reads. or better yet date a 37 year old recent divorcee with a highly diversified stock portfolio who’s looking to feel young again and can treat you to what you deserve  ’ ‘  if you knew me in 7th grade i’m sorry  ’ ‘  *cha cha’s real smooth away from academic responsibilities*  ’ ‘  anyone else feel like they’re inherently worth less than everyone else  ’ ‘  be open with your love and loud with your laughter. life is so much brighter when lived genuinely.  ’ ‘  i really wish i could get a refund for all the love i’ve wasted on people like! repay my emotional labour your bill is in the mail  ’ ‘  i’m such a tease. i’ll tell you how bad I want to fuck you and then probably fall asleep.  ’ ‘  i’m crying my best  ’ ‘  i want to be known as someone who’s full of love and radiates light  ’ ‘  i’m in philosophy and were talking about how you can doubt everything’s existence except for your own consciousness and the guy that sits in front of me just turns around tears streaming down his face and goes “i am on so many drugs”  ’ ‘  how fucked up would it be if an astronaut was coming back to earth and everybody hid for a bit  ’ ‘  some kid just skateboarded down my street crying  ’ ‘  do you ever get in an “i don’t know” phase in your life. where you literally don’t have a solid answer to anything. you. just. don’t. know.  ’ ‘  which of the three pillars of modern music is your favourite, burnin’ up by the jonas brothers, beautiful soul by jesse mccartney or lucky by britney spears  ’ ‘  i guess at this point i should just consider dating myself  ’ ‘  there is no doubt in my mind i’m really that bitch  ’ ‘  after you hit 21, you start forgetting your age cause ain’t nothing else to look forward to, besides sweet death.  ’ ‘  why am i not currently in the italian countryside with a fruit plate wearing a light linen dress? unacceptable  ’ ‘  hands are weird because one of them can do absolutely everything without a problem and the other one can’t even hold a spoon  ’ ‘  remember to drink a fucking shit ton of water every miserable day of ur life  ’ ‘  is he………you know…….*makes football throwing motion*….straight?  ’ ‘  mATH, deATH -- wake up america  ’ ‘  does anyone else have a resting bitch face™, but kinda enjoys looking intimidating  ’ ‘  time flies when u take a 2hr depression nap in the middle of the day  ’ ‘  roses are red, i’m going to bed  ’ ‘  u know when ur hairs greasy and it makes u feel so so so bad about urself. and ur entire life. everything is awful bc my hair is greasy  ’ ‘  i’m just so glad the word “ugh” was invented  ’ ‘  just another day of loving with all my heart and believing in the universe  ’ ‘  you know when dogs sit outside with their face turned towards the sun and their eyes closed and they look so relaxed and when you pet them they’re warm? that’s how I want to feel always  ’ ‘  come into bed and listen to the rain with me  ’ ‘  people are so petty and then here i am, me, an angel,   ’ ‘  can someone please be proud of me like fuck i’m trying  ’ ‘  concept: a really nice Italian restaurant but it’s spelled “spagooter” on the menu and the waiters won’t take your order unless you pronounce it like that  ’ ‘  just found out neanderthal passed on the dna for depression and now we know why they stayed in caves and painted horses all fuckin day   ’ ‘  i want kids but i’m scared they’ll blame me if they’re ugly  ’ ‘  does anyone have any tips for not thinking about it  ’ ‘  “what’s a queen without her king?” well, historically, better  ’ ‘  i want something that doesn’t taste like alcohol but has a lot of alcohol in it  ’ ‘  my kink is getting some fuckin sleep  ’ ‘  i’m alive out of spite  ’ ‘  not to vent but: fuck  ’ ‘  i think i accidentally break my own heart a lot  ’ ‘  can’t wait to be balls deep in love  ’ ‘  why are there so many days?? i feel like we just had a whole day yesterday… they don’t stop  ’ ‘  i walked in on my 4 year old nephew sitting alone on his bed eating grapes in the dark and i didn’t even get a chance to say anything before he said “i don’t have answers”  ’ ‘  *adjusts my tinfoil hat* y’all are crazy  ’ ‘  do raccoons have people hands or do we have raccoon hands?  ’ ‘  mark your territory by crying on things  ’ ‘  any size titty is lit  ’ ‘  love lemon trees! i too am bitter but growing  ’ ‘  my only constant is the black hair tie around my wrist. no mans gonna be there for me like this hair tie has. no ones presence is gonna be as reassuring  ’ ‘  me???? tired???? sleepy??? yes constantly  ’ ‘  the box says “four servings” but my heart says one  ’ ‘  the lengths i would go to to both get attention and avoid it….astounding  ’ ‘  i hope everybody is doing their best even tho we’re all doomed  ’ ‘  young adult things: washing your colors with your whites because you don’t care you JUST don’t fucking care  ’ ‘  I just want to help out all the people with no money but i am people with no money  ’ ‘  bricks are just domesticated rocks  ’ ‘  being nice is so easy just do it  ’ ‘  lets start wearing cloaks and swords again. its time  ’ ‘  classes are like a high level dora the explorer episode. person up front asks a question, stares at you blankly for a few seconds, and then answers their own question.  ’ ‘  the average orgasm is 7 seconds. keeping a feral hog in your basement lasts for 5-16 years depending on your ability to care for it. the decision should be clear  ’ ‘  will i ever have my shit together  ’ ‘  i live in a time where a major selling point for food is that it uses “real” ingredients.  ’ ‘  “what the fuck” is an emotion now and its the only one i have  ’ ‘  it’s not a real party until you sneak away to the bathroom to question your existence as you stare at yourself in the mirror haha  ’ ‘  every hard day you make it through makes you one day closer to stranger things season 2  ’ ‘  assert your dominance by calling your friends by their student i.d. number  ’ ‘  i feel like each year has progressively gotten worse since the year of luigi ended  ’ ‘  um that’s u’re* not ur  ’ ‘  i wanna be a villain so I can just saunter everywhere. the heroes are always sprinting, always running. you ever seen darth vader run? hell no. and I ain’t about to either.  ’ ‘  i have nothing to say but will i shut up? No  ’ ‘  i cannot believe another week is like beginning we just finished one  ’

[yawnjockey]

PLL 4x19 “Hot For Teacher”

OK, so by now we know that I think that Ezra is the one currently testing Aria and her loyalties. 

I was rewatching 4x19 “Hot for Teacher”, which you will famously know as the “Chickpeas” episode. Also the “Sometimes the Villains win” episode. A great episode for EzrA believers.

Season 4, is a really heavily suspicious season for Ezra. Which I think speaks to the fact that, before they got renewed for a 6th and 7th season, they were planning on running it home with Ezra and a partner as ‘A’.

Anyway... Ezra spends most of season 4 trying to isolate Aria from her friends and loved ones. Making them keep their relationship a secret, so that when they are together, they have to be alone. frequently making her choose between concerns with her family and friends and time with him. Guilting her into choosing him, whisking her off to a remote cabin for isolated weekends together.

in 4x19 they have the exchange shown above. 

Aria says that she wants to go home, she’s tired of lying to her friends and family. 

Ezra says: “Have you ever thought that maybe this feeling you have of being torn between me and your friends maybe is not such a bad thing?”

Aria: “Is it supposed to be a good thing?”

Ezra: “Maybe. I know it feels like you’re growing away from them, but maybe this feeling is you and me grower closer.

Aria: “Right and I want to be able to share that with my closest friends.”

Ezra: “And I agree with you. And I think we are past the point in our relationship where we have to hide but...If what we have is going to last, you have to start thinking of me as the person you’re closest to. The person that you want to share everything with. And I have to do that with you.”

----

I think this season is Ezra trying to gear up to tell Aria about his involvement with ‘A’. She sticks by him during the stuff with Malcolm, she chooses him over Jake. Even when confronted with stories about Ezra’s violent encounter with the blonde woman in that car, she still chooses to believe him. She doesn’t believe her friends when they’re suspicious. No one can tell season 4 Aria that Ezra is a bad guy. She has been loyal to a fault.  

Ezra thinks he can trust her. But he has to be certain. He thinks that he and Aria have what it takes to go the distance, but only if she can handle the truth about who he is. And he brings her up to the cabin to tell her the truth. 

But then she unleashes on him that she has doubts, and that she can’t lie anymore. So he decides to test her. He “writes a book”. He types up a cheap manuscript, and in 4x21 he plants it in a place that he knows she can’t help but look. He hides it a Carnivore’s Delight cookbook, after we’ve been reminded again, that Aria is a vegetarian. Hides it on the freaking coffee table. 

This is a man who wants to be found out. 

Since he has camera’s on the girls at all times, he knows that Aria is fielding suspicion from her friends. He knows that she’s coming. He clears out the basement lair, hides the book, and waits. The cabin is very remote, and far from home. But in 4x21 he shows up shortly after she has found the book. Just enough time to get notice from the security company that someone gained access to the cabin. He knew she was coming to look for something, and he was ready for her to find it. 

Fun side note: Isn’t it awfully funny that Ezra had a security system installed, and alerts set up, and a very Ezria specific password... for a cabin that belongs to a friend? 

Anyway, she runs from him... like ya do... and when they’re trapped together on the ski lift he says “ I know. I lied. I wanted to tell you so many times. But I was afraid. I was afraid you wouldn’t forgive me.” 

^That’s the truth. He did want to tell her, and he was scared. But not about the book. He was scared she wouldn’t forgive him for his ‘A’ work. Whatever good motive he had for doing it. 

The book is full of misinformation, because the book is fake. He wrote it up in a hurry, or had a minion write it up, so that there would be something for Aria to find. Fake the book to cover the truth. 

[natlovetheauthor]

Mr. CAvAnAugh is  A.D (Updated Theory)

If you haven’t already please read my last theories about Mr. Cavanaugh so you can catch up! I promise everything comes in full circle and your questions will be answered! I was going to do a huge edit to make everything fit, but I decided to leave my other theories, and to update this one.

PLEASE READ OR ELSE IT WILL NOT MAKE SENSE, AND YOU WILL HAVE TOO MANY QUESTIONS……

   1.       https://prettylittleobsessednatalie.tumblr.com/post/159816157736/mr-cavanaugh-is-big-bad

   2.       https://prettylittleobsessednatalie.tumblr.com/post/159816162046/prettylittleobsessednatalie-winter-chill-recap

   3.       https://prettylittleobsessednatalie.tumblr.com/post/159816067786/spoiler-alert-i-cant-get-over-how

   4.       https://prettylittleobsessednatalie.tumblr.com/post/159816169151/prettylittleobsessednatalie-in-season-7-episode

   5.       https://prettylittleobsessednatalie.tumblr.com/post/159816108756/i-was-getting-upset-because-my-phone-wont-let-me

Okay so let me begin……

After reading the book Winter Chill, I have came to the conclusion that the person behind the mask will not only be somebodies parents, but will also be A man. I have been thinking that A is Mr. Cavanaugh since the beginning, and I have a lot of reasoning behind it. I have used Bethany in a lot of my old theories so for now let’s pretend that Charlotte is the new Bethany.

   1.   LOLITA is the first book theory I have conducted. A lot of people       think Lolita was just about the Aria/Ezra or Alison/Ezra       relationship, but I honestly think it was deeper than that. Lolita is       about a 40 something year old man that had a relationship with a 12       year old girl. Although both Alison and Aria were young and having       relations with Ezra, Ezra was never considered old enough to be       Humbert. (Please read my Mr. C theory to know where I am going with       that one.

   2.   We have NEVER met Toby’s father (Mr. Cavanaugh) nor have we ever met       Jenna’s mother. They are one family that I believe should have been       seen by now especially since all these “accidents” have happened to       both Jenna and Toby. When asked if we have seen A.D before, Tyler       Blackburn claims “You’ve never met them. You kind of have. When you       see it, you’ll understand what I am saying.” What a perfect way to       sneak in a parent that has been mentioned but no seen. Another factor       comes from the book “Winter Chill” where the parents, ultimately the       father was the corrupt at the end of the book. It would work PERFECT!    3.   Spencer was asked the join the –A team a couple of times. If you       think about it, Toby, Spencer and Charlotte were all on the –A team.       This team could have been formed for the safety of the A team.       Whoever A.D. is, is making sure that the –A team is safe, which is       why he/she is so upset that Charlotte was killed.    4.   Charlotte sang “Lord help the mister who comes between me and my       sister.” I still think that Charlotte knew exactly who her mother is       no matter what, simply because she used the last name “Drake.” If she       knew that Mary was her mother, I would not doubt that she knew that       Spencer was her sister ESPECIALLY if she and Melissa really had a       conversation “that night.” I believe she was going after Toby when       she sang this, but I don’t think that Toby is the villain. I think       the show is showing a lot of sketchy things about both Toby and Jenna       but it could be aimed towards the parents (step) of these two.    5.   In an “A” text that was sent before the Charles/Charlotte reveal       there was a text sent to Spencer that said “We’re all related Spence.       Some more than others.” Charlotte knows the entire game too, and       someone on the “good” side knew and killed her.    6.   Toby made a comment about never leaving Rosewood. Is he here to       protect his father?    7.   Keegan Allen (Toby) made a comment about how he couldn’t sleep after       watching the reveal of A.D. is this because it had something to do       with him?

      Mr. C is A.D.

      I believe Mr. Daniel Cavanaugh has been around the beginning. Alison       was the hit of the town and Toby’s father may have taken a “Lolita”       liking to her. She always talked about being with older men and may       have strung Mr. Cavanaugh along and used him, or he could have simply       been infatuated with her. He would fit the perfect age for a Humbert       character.  We see Jenna’s family moving into the Cavanaugh house       shortly after Mrs. Cavanaugh’s death. We have never seen Jenna’s       mother or step father which I think is totally sketchy because both       Jenna and Toby’s parents are mentioned. Toby mentioned wanting to get       away from his “screwed up family” 3x05. When Ali claimed to see Toby       spying on the girls while they were getting dressed, I received       strange Mr. Cavanaugh vibes. We have no idea what he looks like, and       in Wikia it claims that Mr. Daniel Cavanaugh looks similar to Toby.       This screams NAT club to me, and I’ll get to that later. Along the       lines of Toby’s screwed up family we are aware that Toby’s mother had       a mental illness (just like the mother in WINTER CHILL). In LOLITA,       Charlotte, Humbert’s wife finds out about his obsession with his       daughter and nymphets in general from his diary. She confronts him,       tells him she is leaving, runs in front of a car, and gets killed.       Although Marion’s death was supposedly done by Bethany, I believe       that she could have found out about Mr. Cavanaugh’s NAT obsession by       watching his videotapes. She had to go because she knew too much.       Mr. Cavanaugh also is mentioned in 4x16 after Peter Hastings plans on       shutting down Radley, then decides against it.(I believe he thought       twice about it, or was threatened with the truth being exposed about       Spencer being a Radley baby.) Mr. Cavanaugh and Toby were given a       settlement for his mother’s death, but told not to speak about the       situation again. Spencer voices that she thinks that Mr. Cavanaugh       should not be involved with the process until they know everything       about Marion’s murder, but Toby tells Spencer that “I want to do       this, I NEED to.”With the settlement money, Mr. Cavanaugh would have       been able to build a dollhouse comfortably. We are still unaware       about what Mr. Cavanaugh does for a living, but I am sure Toby hasn’t       got his handy work from just anyone.       It is very possible that Charlotte and Jenna could have been friends.       Charlotte knew how much Jenna hated the liars and could have let her       in on the plan to a certain extent. We know that Jenna now knows who       A.D. is and she seems very comfortable with who it is, almost as if       she knows that she is “safe.” Who could keep her safe more than       anybody? A parent most definitely. Charlotte and Jenna have been       playing for the same team since it started. I believe Charlotte was       just a pawn just like Mona was. In this episode right after a news       report on Bethany Young was mentioned, the Cavanaugh house blew up.       This could be WINTER CHILL foreshadowing. After the death of a child       the inner monster was created in the book. In 4x16 A.Cavanaugh was       seen in 4x16 which can be literally mean A. Cavanaugh or Daniel       Cavanaugh. The cabin in 4x16 showed two boys in a photo, which is       supposed to be Ezra’s cabin. I’ve mentioned twins before but this       very well could have been Toby and Charles as young boys. 5x15 “Fresh       Meat” Toby finds his old Family knife with blood on it in the woods.       When Spencer asks how he knows it’s his he tells her “my dad popped a       top off the jar with it when I was 8.” Toby also says “When I saw it       I froze, a million things went through my head and for a minute I       forgot I was a cop and left it.” Or did he really know that his dad       very well could have been the one to actually USE this weapon? Toby       also tells Spencer and Caleb “that knife could be the murder weapon.”       Spencer was under the impression that they were being framed for       Mona’s murder, but I believe Toby may have figured everything out at       this point in PLL. In regards to Jenna, not too many people have       noticed that the games did not start until she moved in with the       Cavanaugh’s. When Jenna came, Ali disappeared soon after. Ali was       mean, and snooty to Jenna, and then blinded her with a firecracker.       All the reason for a parent to absolutely hate Ali, seek revenge, and       cause chaos to her entire family, just like she did to the Cavanaugh       family.       I believe that Mr. Cavanaugh may have inserted himself into the game       more fiercely after his house was blown up. According to Marlene,       Charlotte is the one that blew up his house, but the reasoning is       unknown. Maybe Charlotte was actually trying to help the liars, and       this is the reason she was forced onto the A team. Charlotte was       definitely a pawn, and this is why her story made absolutely zero       since. She was told to fake it, and made the decision to kill her       ‘family’ to end everything. She may have known exactly how the game       would end.       As far as Melissa, she knows all and I truly do think that she has       been protecting Spencer all along. I think Melissa knows everything       about the NAT Club, the affairs, the secret kids, Mary and whatever       else everyone is hiding, and to protect her family she is playing       along with A.D. It definitely makes sense that she would be       considered A.D. Melissa stays out of the way a lot and I believe this       is to protect herself. When she does play along, it is for the safety       of spencer and her parents.       In 2x13, as Hanna and Aria were walking through the woods, a person       in a mask popped out and scared them, and when it did it touched       Aria. Could HE be the one that Alison fears the most? Could that have       been Mr. Cavanaugh?       Sara Harvey (RIP) claimed that every year on Septemeber 7th, HE would       bring her a red, white and blue cupcake. The liars blinded Jenna       around the 4th of July, and next to their mailbox was a small       American flag (red, white, and blue). Also, in a recent episode 7x07       when   Jenna tried kissing Toby (WIERDO) they were out on the lake on       the Fourth of July with fireworks going. All of the 4th of July       references with the Cavanaugh family cannot be a coincidence.       Mona definitely knows everything, I’ve said this a thousand times and       will say it a thousand more. She is working to keep the liars safe,       probably from guilt because of what she has started, but she is smart       enough to keep herself safer.       NAT CLUB.       The NAT club, the biggest clue yet! I believe the ultimate villain       will be the one behind the scenes of the club! Mr. Cavanaugh. Because       Alison ‘caught’ someone staring at the girls through the window, and       Ian was recording Alison in a provocative way, I will assume that the       NAT club was more than just secrets about everyone, it may have been       a little raunchy. (Quilty from LOLITA). I could see Mr. Cavanaugh       having his pawns recording for his pleaure, but also collecting and       having dirt on everyone in the NAT club, so that no one had the urge       to spill his secret. It is no coincidence that EVERYONE from the NAT       club is dead EXCEPT for Jason, and I really think this is why he       stays away from Rosewood just like Melissa. He knows a lot but his       years of partying could have made him forget a lot as well. Quilty       from LOLITA had a secret pornographic business going on, which       reminds me of Wilden’s stash that was found in 4x07. Wilden       definitely was apart of the club and could have been worried about       people finding out about his past which made him desperate to shut       Ali and whoever else needed it up.

      I noticed that Toby had a couple parallel’s this season. One was the       similarity he had to A.D. with his glasses on. Antoher was the fact       that he is now a widower just like his father. He has stated many       times about how he can’t leave Rosewood…..

Thanks for reading! M. Natalie Love May 12, 2017

[kyuukancorbie]

JG Summary 1-4 Mato

Mato, or the Devil’s City. 1940.

Disclaimer: 1. I assume everyone knows what’s already in the anime. 2. The information is based on the Chinese novel, I do not claim credit for translation. 3. Everything is quoted. My comments are in parenthesis. 4. Please do not post outside of tumblr. 5. Corrections are welcomed.

Main Character: Yukihito Kusanagi （行人　草薙）/ Fukumoto （福本）

  Note on the title

Mato, or 魔都, is a name given to Shanghai, specifically the Shanghai Concession, by Japanese around the 1930s. If you remember 魔王 as the devil king, 魔都 would be the devil’s city, or sin city if you prefer. The word “魔都” is revived in China today as a slang for Shanghai.

Another disclaimer, the military ranking may not be accurate, as it is very confusing trying to match Japanese and English terms, when I can only refer to Chinese terms. So any corrections are welcomed.

Story is told from the perspective of Sergeant Eiji Honma. The anime follows the novel quite closely, so I’ll just be focusing on the characters rather than the whole plot. I will still add details in the end to give you guys a flavor but you should really just wikipedia as I do not intend to write a history essay.

List of characters: 

- Eiji Honma (英司　本間) (Honma): Storyteller, former officer of the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu in Japan (特別高等警察, or literally Special Higher Police, the Japanese secret police. See bottom of the post for notes). Transferred to Shanghai Kenpeitai 3 months ago and has difficulty adjusting to the locality. He is tasked by Captain Oikawa to investigate internal information leaks.

- Masayuki Oikawa (政行　及川) (Oikawa): Captain of Shanghai Kenpeitai. Relatively slender and delicate build for a soldier, engaged to the daughter of Lieutenant General Yokozawa and about to get a promotion.

He was known to be a perfectionist and a mysophobe, but this eventually led to his mental demise in the 5 years working in the Western Shanghai District, the most dangerous area of all Shanghai. He states that 5 years is too long. He fell for gambling, drinking, whoring, and agreed to secretly exchange opium kept by the Kenpeitai for his own pleasure. It is revealed that he sells military intelligence as well. To hide his crimes, he instigated a robbery of the Kenpeitai’s opium warehouse, hired a boy from the casino to kill Nobuteru Miyata, then blew up his own house so the series of events looked like the works of anti-Japanese terrorists.

There is a detailed analysis of Oikawa’s background and the historical locations in present day real life by the same person I linked last time, in Chinese. Please note that the photos of Shanghai are taken by the author herself and should not be reproduced without her permission.

- Nobuteru Miyata (伸照　宮田) (Miyata): Sergeant Major of the Shanghai Kenpeitai, killed not long ago in the alleys, shown in the beginning of the anime episode 4. He was originally investigating the missing opium from the Kenpeitai, before secretly killed.

- Yutaka Yoshino (豊　吉野) (Yoshino): Leading Private of the Shanghai Kenpeitai. He is Oikawa’s accomplice in smuggling opium. However in the end the poor guy killed Oikawa for killing his lover.

- Hajime Shiotsuka (朔　塩塚) (Shiotsuka): Graduate from Tokyo Imperial University, present day Tokyo University, and currently a writer for a Japanese newspaper based in Shanghai. As a student he was caught by Tokuko (特高) police reading a left-wing magazine, but quickly broke and swore repentence (…) after some questioning and was subsequently released. He left China some time before Honma’s encounter with Fukumoto, who used him as a disguise.

- Yukihito Kusanagi (行人　草薙) (Kusanagi): D-Agency spy of the episode. Graduate from Tokyo Imperial University, classmate of Shiotsuka. He is identified by Shiotsuka as a D-Agency spy, although the Shiotsuka that Honma meets is probably Kusanagi in disguise. In the anime, Kusanagi is Fukumoto.

Kusanagi is described as extremely smart in school, a mysterious loner, with a fair, cold face like a mask. No one knows anything about his family, though some students speculated he is a bastard of an important guy and a geisha. There is no evidence for this. It is also rumored that after graduating with exceptional grades he continued to study somewhere abroad.

When Honma looks at Kusanagi’s graduation photo, he notes that his face is not one of an extremist, those he usually dealt with in the Tokko days. Although the photo is a front picture, it feels as if Kusanagi is looking sideways. While the photo is taken for an entire group of students, it seems as if his personal picture. Honma realizes that Kusanagi has the expression of egotist who believes in noone but himself, aperson who takes huge risks and difficult tasks just because he can.

(This is a possible background for Fukumoto, except for the fact that the Shiotsuka describing this is probably Kusanagi/Fukumoto himself. No doubt he is using Honma, but he may be playing with him as well, as I’ll mention on a later point, but the graduation photo seems real. It is possible that Yukihito Kusanagi is his real name).

 ———————- 

Notes: 

Tokkō (特高): the Japanese secret police that patrols the country for communist suspects. They are called Peace Police but are known more notoriously as Thought Police. They are initially a division of the Home Ministry but was added to the command of the Kenpeitai in occupied regions. Before WWII every Japanese embassy in China had a police department with a Tokko division. (Honma worked as a Tokko officer in Japan, but is not a Tokko when transferred to Shanghai).

Shanghai International Settlement: The following is an introduction from wikipedia.

The settlements were established following the defeat of the Qing army by the British in the First Opium War (1839–1842). Under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking, the five treaty ports including Shanghai were opened to foreign merchants. Unlike the colonies of Hong Kong and Weihaiwei, which were sovereign British territories, the foreign concessions in Shanghai originally remained Chinese sovereign territory. However, the Qing government gave up sovereignty in the concessions to the foreign powers in exchange of their support to suppress the rebellion in 1853-1855. The following year the British and American settlements formally united to create the Shanghai International Settlement. As more foreign powers entered into treaty relations with China, their nationals also became part of the administration of the settlement, but it always remained a predominantly British affair until the growth of Japan’s involvement in the late 1930s.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident: September 7th, 1937.

Also known as the July 7th Incident, the Lugou Bridge Incident. (七七事变、卢沟桥事变)

The battle marked the beginning of Japanese invasion of North China and the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, which is also part of the Pacific front of WWII. The story of Mato or Episode 4 takes place in 1940, which means China and Japan had been in state of war for years. The novel notes that since then the British have been favoring the Chinese government in Chongqing and tends to turn a blind eye to anti-Japanese activity in Shanghai.

The Battle of Shanghai: August 13th, 1937.

This was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the entire war, described by Peter Harmsen as “Stalingrad on the Yangtze”. The Chinese and Japanese were fighting in Shanghai for 3 months before the Japanese took control of city. After the battle, the originally bustling Zhabei and Nanshi Districts were destroyed, the Chinese area of the Shanghai concession became essentially slums, the international settlement north of Suzhou River was seriously damaged and occupied by Japan. The settlement south of the River, as well as the French part of the concession, was left out of the battle and continued an eerie four-year prosperity called the “Lone Island Era （孤岛时期）”. The Western District of Shanghai, under Japanese control, became the hotbed for crime, which is where the soldiers in the novel are working.

Yuuki’s designs for Shanghai:

(Note: In the anime, it is revealed in the end that, by encouraging a person from the Kenpeitai to deal with Kenpeitai’s internal issues, the Agency helped the Kenpeitai save face and thus, the army has agreed to Yuuki’s plans. However it does not say what the Yuuki’s plan is, possibly because of the time limit, or because it involved a good deal of political and historical complications. In the novel, Shiotsuka told Honma their plan, and Honma reasons it out in considerable detail.)

The plan: 2.5 billion fake notes of Chinese Yuan brought into Shanghai, to be distributed throughout the country. According to the novel, this is worth the sum 3 years of Chinese military expense in 1937. Numbers aside, this is intended to wreck the Chinese economy with inflation, destroy the currency’s credibility, and ultimately prevent them from importing weapons and raw materials from abroad.

While supposedly this plan can win the war without a fight, not only the army, but also the public if they ever get to know about it, will definitely accuse the plan as being utterly dispicable.

The Green Gang（青帮）: To carry out the currency warfare it is also rumored that the D-Agency will be cooperating with the Green Gang in China. They are a secret society unrelated to national sovereignty, similar to the Japanese Yakuzas. While there were historically many secret societies in China, the Green Gang based along the Yantze River and in Shanghai are said to be the most powerful yet and now commands China’s underground economy. The Green Gang’s primary source of income is opium. Honma remembers how much damage opium has already caused in China and how unsettled he feels every time he passes an opium den in Shanghai.

The War: Honma believes that the objective of war was supposed to be freeing Asian people from the oppression of European imperialists. He then wonders why the war has come to this distasteful state.

Looking at Kusanagi’s photo again Honma feels like Kusanagi is looking down upon the whole world, laughing at every existence. He then remembers several words: daemon, devil, dangerous, darkness. Honma ponders about the meaning of the name “D” agency, but stops himself from overthinking and leaves the scene.

At the end of the chapter, Honma is in Oikawa’s office watching the dead bodies, and he sees the bodies of two men bewitched by Mato, Shanghai, the Devil’s City. A question is raised: “will you be able to handle situations like this?” The final sentences describes a pair of eyes peering at Honma from the dark.

Note: speculations on why Kusanagai/Fukumoto gives Honma Kusanagi’s name

1. He may need a second alias becausing leading Honma to the night club under the name Shiotsuka could perhaps cause unnecessary suspicion. 2. He needs an alias that interests Honma enough to make Honma follow his lead. 3. He announces the presence of the D-Agency as a headsup or warning for Honma to keep an eye out as the agency will continue their surveilling, and they may need direct cooperation from the Kenpeitai in the future.

Or 4. Kusanagi/Fukumoto is playing with him because he can.

A funny note: when disguised as Shiotsuka, he states that even if Honma learns all the languages and habits involved in Shanghai culture, locals will still be able to tell a Japanese apart from sight. The way they wear their clothes could be different, even they way they wash their faces are different. At this point Honma asks about what is the difference. Shiotsuka demonstrates that while the Japanese have their hands closed, moving up and down their faces, the Chinese move their faces up and down their hands. Honma takes note of this.

I will say this as absolute nonsense. Bet 99% that Shiotsuka/Kusanagi/Fukumoto is just playing with the poor sergeant.

@jgfiles