#it just happened to be what i wanted to rewatch at the time and i decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak

[tuttle-did-it]

@quodo-brainrot cheers, friend. I mean.... with regards to ST:PIC, all I can say without going into a very long rant is that it made me hate not only ST:PIC and nearly every character on that show, but it also retroactively made me never want to watch TNG again. Aside from showing a friend two episodes - 'Threshold' and 'Sub Rosa'- I have not watched Trek since. I haven't wanted to. And when I think about TNG now, the characters are so retroactively poisoned with how much I absolutely loathe ST:PIC, I may never watch TNG again. Not even the episodes I enjoyed. Because sometimes, things are destroyed and you cannot save that.

Why did I show a friend 'Sub Rosa,' and 'Threshold' you ask? Why, Tuttle, out of all the episodes of Trek would you do that to someone who has never seen any Star Trek? Simple. We were all celebrating the annual holiday Threshold Day, and she asked what I was going on about. And I explained Threshold Day because she didn't believe me. Then after we watched 'Threshold,' she said 'so, that's the worst Star Trek episode, ever? And I said 'of course not. Each show has several of the worst. Then, I explained 'Sub Rosa' and the granny ghost sex candle. She didn't believe me. So we watched it. I think she regretted the conversation.

Anyway... one of the reasons people were so mad at the Enterprise finale is because they shoe-horned in the TNG crew, made it all about them, and ENT didn't even get to finish their own show. PIC does this-- but for their entire last season!!! like, the premise of the show was his adventures after TNG-- new crew, new adventures, moving on the way people move on. For two awful seasons. Then season 3, they just jam in ever TNG character they can with the worst storylines possible-- if they got storylines-- and just took over PIC-- for an entire season. And in doing this, they pushed all the PIC characters aside- they either disappeared completely or were turned into wallpaper. It is not PIC s3, it is TNG S8, and it's the absolute worst.

Seven -- one of the most dynamic Legacy characters-- spends the entire last season sitting in the dark listening to Picard's *horrible* son monologuing, or being abused and deadnamed by some arsehole shit man. She's not even allowed to be with her lover-- Raffi, a Black woman who was, arguably, the best character in the show-- because Raffi spent the entire third season getting told that she needs to learn how to control her anger by a man. Yeah. They literally went there. I thought we left telling a woman of colour to control herself behind with B'Elanna, but here we are.

I have hundreds thousands more reasons to hate PIC, but the main point is that not only was PIC hijacked by the TNG crew-- something Patrick Stewart promised would never happen when the show began-- but they then spent that entire last year torturing the queer women on the show mand making me absolutely hate every single TNG character to the point where I wanted every one of them to die.

Oh. Oh. And they fucking fridged Ro Laren. In her ONE fucking episode appearance. The rage. I cannot tell you the rage I have for them all.

I grew up watching Trek. I grew up loving it, I grew up loving TNG, and have spent over 40 years loving it. DS9 is still some of the best TV I've ever seen, and I used to rewatch TOS, TNG, VOY and DS9 regularly. Like, as in, I've been rewatching it for over 40 years -- on VHS and then on DVD/streaming. There has been very little time in my life I was not rewatching some Trek.

And PIC made me never want to watch Star Trek again. In just a few months, it will have aired 2 years ago. And in all that time, I have watched two episodes-- 'Threshold,' and 'Sub Rosa' - and that was for my friend. Had she not asked to watch them, I would probably not have watched ST since. And I have not had the urge to watch ANY of it. Closest I've come is watching the Delta Flyers podcast as Terry and Armin talk about DS9 with Robbie and Garratt. Terry, Armin and Robbie often have a lot of interesting things to say about how they really feel about storylines, how they really feel about certain characters or Trek in general. I find they add interesting context to it, so I have watched that. But I don't rewatch the episodes they talk about. Because PIC has poisoned it all for me. Every Trek. All of it.

So.... mayyyybe watching ST:PIC will help? If you are a cis het white man who consistently fails upward, it might be your bag! Or maybe, like me, it will contaminate any love for Trek you've ever had. A tv form of Russian Roulette, I guess? Good luck to you, friend, if you do.

star trek characters will literally go through the most life changing traumatic multidimensional extrasensory eldritch hell torture imaginable and then they're fine and the next episode they gotta deal with a guy who is bald

[dixons-sunshine]

Running Out Of Time | Vincent Bauer x Fem!Reader

Summary: With the world being in shambles, you and Bauer found solace in one another, enough so that the two of you grew closer and entered a relationship. Bauer would do anything for you. However, due to a mistake, he was at risk of losing you, something he never wanted to happen.

Genre: Angst with a happy ending.

Warnings: Swearing, talks of suffocation and death, allusions to sex (but nothing crazy).

Word count: 2.3k.

A/N: Requested by an anon. I had way too much fun writing this. I just wanna apologize in advance if there’s any inaccuracies regarding some details. I didn’t have the time to rewatch the entire movie while writing this, so I had to go based on my memory alone. Anyways, I hope y’all like this! (Italicized paragraphs showcase memories).

“How the fuck could you let that happen?! You were in charge of makin’ sure everythin’ was in order!”

“I said I was sorry! It was an accident!”

“Well, ‘sorry’ isn’t gonna bring her back if she ends up fuckin’ suffocatin’, now is it?!”

In his panicked haste, Bauer accidentally hit his side against the edge of the table. He muttered a quick pained ‘shit’, before ultimately resuming his mission of trying to find something, anything that could help out in that dire situation. Blueprints that showcased how the sleeping pods were built were strewn across the table, along with seemingly all of Bauer’s tools. He needed to find a way to fix this.

He needed to find a way to help you.

“Go see if you can find anythin’ that can help us.” When Cartwright made no haste to comply with his request, he was met with the loud banging of tools being thrown to the floor. “Are you deaf? Fuckin’ go!” Bauer roared, effectively scaring his companion into doing what he asked.

Bauer grabbed a screwdriver from the tools that were littered across the floor—although he was not sure what use he had for it—as well as one of the blueprints from the table and rushed back to your sleeping pod. He placed the paper on top of the glass, his ocean-like eyes flickering down to look at your sleeping form. You were deep in slumber, the drug that kept you asleep not having worn off yet. And if Bauer did not find a way to get you out of that pod, you were going to suffocate.

“Fuck,” he mumbled to himself. He looked over the prints that showed how the sleeping chambers had been built, trying to figure out how to fix the problem—the pod would not open, and he had discovered that if he attempted to open it, the air would leave the pod and you would slowly suffocate. However, if he simply left you there, you would suffocate, too.

He did not know what to do. He was at his wit’s end. His throat was constricting as he tried to right back the tears that burned his eyes. Why did it have to be you? You were the genius when it came to thing like this. Why could it not have been him in your place? You would have been able to figure out how to fix the situation. Him… He was not sure he would be able to.

Bauer closed his eyes. Unwillingly, he thought back to the moment the two of you had made it official. Well, as official as two people could make it when you were stuck underground with only one other person who would know about your relationship.

You giggled as Bauer pressed kisses to your flushed skin, his arms encircling your waist. “Vince…” you trailed off, leaning your head back against his chest.

He repeated your name in a similar fashion, his chuckles vibrating against the exposed flesh of your shoulder. “What?”

“We can’t do a round two. We already wasted enough time with round one,” you reminded him. You turned around in his embrace and gently cupped his cheek in your hands, his stubble grazing against your palm.

Bauer turned his head and pressed a soft kiss to your wrist, his hands falling down to your hips to pull you closer. “We can make it quick…” he trailed off suggestively, leaning his forehead against yours and bumping your nose with his.

You laughed lightly and gently pushed him back. “Woah there, tiger. We have responsibilities.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “To hell with responsibilities. I wanna spend time with the most gorgeous woman in this place.”

“I’m the only woman in this place,” you pointed out.

“Doesn’t make you any less gorgeous,” he retorted. He wrapped his arms around you again and pulled you flush against his chest. “And now I get to call you mine.”

“Is that so?” you asked with a small smile, although you did not mind the sound of that at all.

“Yup,” Bauer confirmed with a grin. “All mine. And I’m never lettin’ you go.”

“You promise? I don’t like lying.”

“Pinky promise. I’d never lie like that.” He pressed a kiss to your lips. “I promise I won’t let anythin’ happen to you, either.”

Bauer’s eyes snapped open again. He forced himself not to dwell on the past. You were in trouble now, in the present. Not the past. He had made a promise to keep you safe, and by god, he was going to keep it. Even if he has to figure out a way to break the glass to your chamber and let you use his pod instead. He would offer up his life for your’s in a heartbeat.

“What do I do, Darlin’?” he questioned, his eyes trailing over your unconscious form. “How do I fix this?”

Naturally, all he got in response was silence. It made him even more frustrated. He had to fight against the urge to break something. He wished that some force could knock the knowledge on how to help you into his brain. He needed to know how to help in this emergency.

“For fuck’s sake!” he yelled angrily, gripping his hair as he realized that the blueprint was of no help. At that moment, the thing was merely a stupid piece of paper. It gave him absolutely no insight to how he could potentially open the pod. “Stupid piece of shit!”

“Calm down, Vince.”

Bauer lifted his head, shutting his eyes tightly. Your voice echoed in his head, anchoring him from whatever dark place he was descending to. He had to have a clear head if he wanted to be of any use.

“Calm down,” he muttered to himself, his grip on the screwdriver in his hand tightening. “Calm down. Just think. What would she do in this situation?”

Bauer lowered his head to rest against the glass of your sleeping pod, both as a way to force himself to focus and as a way to bring him some closure. You were still there. You were not gone yet. And by doing that, more memories flooded his mind.

“What’re you doin’?” Bauer questioned, leaning back in his chair as he threw the ball against the wall, caught it, and repeat.

You looked up from the book in your hands and gazed into his beautiful cerulean eyes. “Reading,” you stated matter-of-factly.

Bauer rolled his eyes at your response. “No shit,” he retorted playfully, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth, “but what are you readin’?”

You lifted your book for him to see. “A manual. It’s pretty interesting.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Bauer said with a chuckle, rolling his chair to be closer to you.

You scoffed and softly punched him on his arm, laughing when he overdramatized it. “You’re such a dork.” You sighed and leaned your head against his shoulder. “It’s good that I read this. It tells us what to do in case of emergencies. If the air runs out, if we need to get certain doors to open, if there’s a problem with the pods, things like that. Now I know what to do if we ever run into these problems.”

“I stand correct. You are a nerd,” Bauer began, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. “But you’re my nerd. And I’m not even gonna lie, you talkin’ to me, showin’ off how smart you are… It does things to me.”

A laugh emitted from your chest. “Is that so?”

“Damn straight.” Bauer turned your head and crashed his lips against yours for a deep kiss. The book fell from your hands in favour for you to cup his cheeks, your tongue slipping into his mouth.

“The book!”

Bauer practically shoved himself away from your pod, the screwdriver falling to the ground with a loud ‘clink’. He rushed over to the locker that held some of your things and flung it open, quickly beginning to search for the one thing that could potentially hold the answers to the problem at hand. However, despite the revelation that he could potentially find something that could help, it was not that easy to find it. It was not in the locker.

The timer on the wall was steadily counting down, precious seconds ticking by until it was time to go to sleep again. Bauer knew he had to act fast. The next place he looked was the drawer where your singular extra change of clothes were. Once again, no luck.

The man tried not to let his hope dwindle. It would not do anyone any good if he were to throw in the towel. He needed to think. Where else could you have put it?

He let his feet lead him to the trunk at the far end of the room. When he opened it, he was met with a meager select few objects. However, on closer inspection, his eyes caught the glint of a brown hardback cover.

“Yes!” Bauer exclaimed excitedly when he picked up the object and it was, indeed, the very same book he had been trying to locate.

“What? Did you find something?”

The sound of Cartwright’s voice made Bauer turn around. He quickly looked at the index at the front of the book and flipped to the page where all the information regarding the sleeping pods began. His eyes scanned through everything, and thankfully, he found exactly what he needed; a way to get you out, and without having to risk anything else.

“Read this to me,” Bauer instructed his companion, shoving the book into his hands and showing him where he needed to start reading.

He did not give Cartwright time to process what was happening. Bauer rushed over to the array of tools that were littered across the room, picking up a flathead screwdriver and rushing back over to your pod. He pressed a hand against the glass, his brows furrowed together.

“Just wait a little while longer,” he whispered so that Cartwright would not hear. “I’ll get you out. I promise.” He turned around to face the other man, a spark of determination swimming around in his ocean-like pools. “Start readin’.”

Cartwright, who cleverly sensed that it would do him no good to argue, nodded and shifted his attention to the pages of the book in his hands. “Okay. So if you look beneath the pod, there should be a little hatch-like thing. It says here that it’s not easy to open, so—”

Before Cartwright could even finish his sentence, Bauer had the hatch open. It revealed a keypad, and by pressing the bright red button, the screen flickered to life. “Now what?”

Cartwright hesitated for a moment, completely taken aback by the fact that Bauer was working at lighting speed, but he quickly shook himself from his thoughts. “Um, next you activate the keypad—”

“I already did that. C’mon, what’s after that?”

“Jesus, can you give me a chance?” Cartwright snapped, glaring at the man that was crouched in front of your chamber.

Bauer returned his glare with one just as fiery. “Can you hurry the fuck up? We wouldn’t even need to do this if you hadn’t fucked shit up in the first place!”

The man inhaled sharply. The urge to retort was strong, but he held his tongue and instead continued on. “You gotta enter a code. Ten digits.” He looked back up at Bauer and was met with an impatient look. “Okay. No need to look at me like that.”

“I’ll tell you what. We can talk all about looks after we get her outta this fuckin’ thing.”

Cartwright sighed and tried to keep his cool. “Okay. So it’s 7-6-0…”

Bauer typed those numbers out onto the keypad. “7-6-0,” he repeated to himself.

“2-1-9…”

“2-1-9.”

“8-5-7-3.”

“8-5-7-3.”

The screen flashed green, showing that the code had worked. Bauer breathed a sigh of relief. However, it was short-lived when he noticed that the pod was not opening, and you were still in a deep slumber.

“It didn’t work,” Bauer muttered to himself, before raising his voice in panic. “It didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?!”

Cartwright was flipping through the pages hastily. “I don’t know! That should have worked!”

“Well, clearly it didn’t!” Bauer exclaimed, raising from the ground and stalking over to Cartwright to grab the book. “You must have missed somethin’!”

“I didn’t miss anything!”

“You—”

Their argument got cut short. Behind them, the pod hissed as the air left it, an all too familiar sign that it was going to open. Bauer dropped the book on the ground and rushed forward. He peered over the pod like he had done many times before when he had waited for you to wake up, although this time, instead of waiting for you with his signature playful smirk, a worried frown was in its place instead.

The seconds that passed felt like an eternity. However, when your eyes opened and you gasped for air, Bauer could feel the relief wash over him like tidal waves. The door that held you from his reach opened way too slowly for his liking. When it finally did, though, he brought you into his arms, holding you tightly against him.

“Vince?” you asked hoarsely, utterly confused by the way he was acting. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Bauer shook his head and pressed his lips against your head, fighting against the lump that formed in his throat. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

You frowned. “Of course I am.” You slowly turned yourself around in his arms, gazing into his eyes. “What’s going on?”

Bauer simply sent you a strained smile. “Let’s get you up and going first. Then I’ll fill you in, okay?” When you made no move to agree, Bauer cupped your cheeks in his hands. “I promise.”

You slowly nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

[waywardmillennial]

Puppet History Trailer Breakdown

The PH season seven trailer dropped on Watcher TV today and I'm going to try to break it down New Rockstars style - so settle in because this is a long one!

disclaimer: I am an oxymoron of a human who notices lots of details and misses other clues - so I might not have caught everything but I tried!

[s7 trailer easter eggs and spoiler-y thoughts under the cut]

The trailer opens with the Professor looking at the billboard for Phorgedytol, the tagline of which reads "(something) WITH YOUR BRAIN"

[note: this is different to the Phorgedytol billboard we see at the end of the trailer that reads "FRENCH THE VOID!"]

the first shot of Ryan in the trailer is from the episode with Aria Inthavong

behind them on the bookshelf you can see what I think is a brachiosaurus (from the late Jurassic era), a pair of alpacas, and the Genie lamp very prominently displayed!

then we cut to this interaction Ryan: How long has it been since we've been in class? to which the Professor gives a very non-committal "Uhhhh...."

[Interesting, no? Possible side-effect of the Professor taking Phorgedytol maybe?]

then we cut to guest Alex Song-Xia with a possibly foreboding comment

[this probably has no lore implications but I like that there's a framed copy of this photo that Ryan tweeted in 2021 on the set]

the trailer continues with the Professor talking to the guests

then the trailer cuts to what could be a major lore drop with Ryan saying, "You keep my wife's name out of your god damn mouth!" as he marches to the theater to slap the Professor

[notice how this is in black and white -that's the trailer edit not mine- so perhaps this is a flashback of some kind? Maybe to something that happened to make the Professor want to take Phorgedytol?]

Remember in s6 Ryan and the Professor were friends (see: the JC Penney photoshoot) so seeing a moment like this in the trailer is, for lack of a better phrase, a slap in the face

Based on what all the guests are wearing in the trailer it looks like The Slap will happen in Claudia's episode, based on the shot right before Ryan gets out of the chair (their reaction face is gorgeous btw)

we get a great out of context line from Sara Rubin

and the Professor talking about his anatomy with Brennan

Then the Lore Drop Hits

[yeah the rest of this was just a drop in the bucket in this trailer tbh]

The cuts happen fairly fast with overlapping VO - I posted most of the main shots earlier and there are some shots of the history skits that I skipped to focus on the Lore. These shots also have some alt descriptions in this post of things I noticed on the rewatch

VO Script Mysterious Puppet: No, you louse. You sops. You absolute men. Ryan: Well, this is collusion. They clearly- Professor: That's not collusion. Ryan: It's collusion! You guys fucking figured it out before this. Brennan: Just get on his wavelength, man. Professor: Get on my level! Ryan: You're just not ready for the truth!

[First reactions: The Professor is wearing a party hat for a lot of this trailer, and so is the new puppet. So they must have been at the same party. Also, the Professor is standing in front of a sign that reads "Six Nasty Seasons" even though this is the trailer for season seven. Is that from the season six wrap party? Could it also point to Phorgedytol symptoms that we're 'missing' a season?

The horse puppet looking through the door has a moustache, so is very likely not Dorothy Ruth or Stanley Melvin Murphy. Maybe DR's fiancé? This same moustachio'd horse is in the pasta scene

Hard to say which horse is walking towards The Brown Derby but fun to note that was a real chain of restaurants in LA starting in 1926]

Then the Professor meets with the new Shane character - shall we call them Patch for now?

and that's the trailer in a nutshell!

*Roll End Credits*

Other reactions:

Delighted that we get canon confirmation that the Professor goes by Connie McNasty, at least some of the time

Love that Joyce and Garrett are back this season!

The noir, old Hollywood vibes of this trailer are gorgeous and overall it looks really well-made!

I hope we get some explanation for the slap that's not Ryan and the Professor becoming enemies again

the Liza Minelli* of it all

Not too sure on many theories at this point, but I'm sure it's going to be a great (but maybe nail-biting) season!

[yichens]

edits i made in 2024 ✨

thanks for tagging me krish @i-got-the-feels [x] ♥ am also trying to incorporate the tumblr top ten posts into this bc i don't want to do that as it is, so thank you for tagging me into that antania @riggerbison [x] and zey @fadelsburger [x] ♥

Post your most popular and/or favorite edit/gifset for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

tagging: @forcebook @thamepo @chezlalune @ruanbaijie @luna-lina @srnileforme @wanderlust-in-my-soul no pressure and if you've done this or something like this already, please send it my way or tag me into the post's replies! i'd love to look at everybody's creations and give them some love :')

JANUARY: morkday + holding hands [x]

the most popular and tbh my personal favorite was this morkday edit i made based on a quote that is from the damn city of bones (2007) by cassandra clare. i didn't know that back when this quote punched me in the face and made me think about it for a couple of days but i honestly laughed when i finally googled it... worked out very well tho! i love hand symbolism, especially in last twilight, and the golden colors are lovely for them ♥ i also ended up loving the last image in this set even if i first struggled with the composition.

this was my number 1 post on my tumblr top ten.

(also gotta add that it still feels insane that last twilight was still going on in 2024... it feels like it was ages ago. i barely remember most of it anymore, probably bc of the heartbreak and trauma. i'm a changed person in january 2025)

rest of the months under the cut bc i ramble!

FEBRUARY: valentine's day vice versa rewatch [x]

my best decision for last year was to rewatch both my school president and vice versa during the time before valentine's day. it healed me, held me gently, filled me with love and warmth. am happy that the set i made after that to show love, once again, for the romance show and soulmates couple of all time was both my most popular and personal fave ♥ i love how the set turned out and how the colors work in this. i will forever be thankful to vice versa for its colors and overall brilliance.

this was my number 8 post on my tumblr top ten.

MARCH: 23.5 episode 3 [x]

it's a close call between several of my 23.5 episode edits but this happens to be the most popular one during this month. i never finished 23.5 which somehow saddens me, but towards the end, i just lost interest, and so this edit series was also left unfinished. i liked the concept tho and loved playing with the colors each week!

tribute to mork methas [x]

personal favorite cannot be any other edit than this bc i put all my heart into creating it. i am still so angry about what last twilight did to mork as a character; how all his trauma and pain was pushed aside, how the story never gave him the space and time he needed, how on top of all else they managed to butcher this amazing man. i don't even want to look at him in episode 12 bc i cannot recognize mork there. he is no that person, at least not to me. mork my beloved, i wish the writers didn't hate you so much </3

(btw i have this whole explanation/essay written under this post in my drafts. it's mostly me sharing in detail the thought process behind me making this edit and going through the several elements in it. if anyone is curious, i can post it, just holler haha)

APRIL: us / thamepo pilot crossover [x] [x]

the most popular edit for this month deserves to be the edit i made for the us pilot that was revealed during gmmtv 2024 part 2. i am still very excited to see the show itself and follow their filming journey occasionally on twt. i am just soooo ready to break my heart over the tragic lesbians woven together with strings of comfort, self-discovery, and heart ache.

this was my number 2 post on my tumblr top ten.

i picked the thamepo sister set as my personal fave bc i cannot separate these two. it was fun to connect them together and switch around the dialogues we hear in these pilots bc they just worked. they had very similar vibes and both talked about somewhat forbidden love. no wonder am currently so into thamepo (i hope it stays that way, am done with all the disappointment i've experienced with shows lately).

this was my number 4 post on my tumblr top ten.

MAY: 23.5 episode 9 [x]

the most popular set of the month. not much else to comment. i love the shot of ciize in this one, she's so cute :(

puentalay k-i-s-s-i-n-g [x]

my favorite for this month! a very impulsive edit that happened solely bc this ear worm of a song (that puen would def listen to) wouldn't leave me alone. it's silly, it's fun, it's cute, it's sexy, it's passionate. it's everything i could ask for! i honestly had a ton of fun with this edit despite having to edit a bazillion (26) separate images for this. the fact that those images are mostly of puentalay kisses makes it worth it.

JUNE: we are episode 12 [x] / 11 [x]

during summer, i was deep in my we are era. i honestly loved each set i made for the series bc for the longest time, i've wanted to make sets like this. i had my struggles with some of them but they all worked out in the end! episode 12 was the most popular one and episode 11 is just my personal favorite bc i love the purple + hints of yellow/golden -combo.

JULY: we are final episode [x]

to honor this show and all its relationships, from romantic to platonic, i decided on a rainbow set. it worked super well and i am happy it was so popular ^^ i miss this whole bunch and the amazing summer we had together. (sorry about the quality of this screenshot, the set is too long to fit it on my screen hhh)

this was my number 10 post on my tumblr top ten.

morkday + pvris songs [x]

probably my favorite set i've made this year overall. my whole year was defined by pvris's music (my spotify top artist) and it felt appropriate to link it together with morkday (and puentalay). i love the layout of this set, the colors, the noise. getting into the lyrics and choosing fitting parts for each image was the best part. my favorite image in the set is the last one that i started from while creating this set. i love the background image for that so much. another one i like is the green one for anywhere but here, bc of the image itself but also bc of the song and its message.

AUGUST: we are couples [x]

due to traveling around a lot in august and being exhausted from that, i didn't create much. but i am extremely happy with this set that is both the most popular and my personal favorite! everything about this one just worked out. i feel like it really summarizes all of these couples and shows their different sides.

as a fun fact, i have to say that i never put too much thought into choosing the animals for each couple, other than picking the bird for chainpun (for obvious reasons). cat for phumpeem came through peem more than phum who is very dog coded to me. instead, dog (or wolf?) ended up with tanfang bc of tan's puppy-like nature. qtoey getting the bunny feels like a stroke of genius given to me during the making of this set bc looking at it now, it's perfect. they have that sweetness and energy in them i connect with rabbits.

SEPTEMBER: sanvee + moon phases [x]

ok i might have lied in the july part bc this might be my overall favorite edit i made in 2024. creating it was a battle tho, and i felt like screaming for the best part of the process bc nothing felt like it was working out and i had a ton of problems while figuring out the aesthetic and the typo and the texts. but it all came together better than i ever expected and i just love this set now. i was happy to see ppl liked this too, so this is the most popular edit of this month.

(oab)plawan + hurt by sleeping at last [x]

it's hard to pick a favorite for this month – despite the sanvee edit already being my obvious FavoriteTM – bc i also love my set for miss mhon (day's mother) [x] that let me went my frustration towards her and my puen x phum parallels set [x] that makes me feel wrong in the head. but i loved this love doesn't have long beans a crazy amount compared to how short and silly that show was. there's just something about oab and plawan - about sailub and pon. they dragged me deep into places with this show and this edit is my ode to that. it was fun to make in its simplicity, i love the colors in it, and pon as plawan is just too pretty (especially when he cries).

OCTOBER: pluto episode 1 [x]

considering how popular pluto has been and how desperate we all are for gls, am not surprised this set is the most popular one for this month. tbh all my pluto edits have been doing quite well in my standards. i love making these so am just happy you guys like looking at them ♥

pit babe pairs + cartomancy [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

never thought 2024 had a sudden pit babe obsession in its sleeve for me but i decided to embrace it. they've talked that the second season would start airing in april, after boys' journey s2 has ended most likely, and i am so very normal about all thi. i've fallen in love with all these boys, both the characters (more than i already was) and the actors, and this edit series only made everything worse. i haven't spent this much time researching things for an edit in a while and i just loved all the analysis i got to do. the process had its ups and downs but overall, i have to say i had a blast.

(picture chosen purely bc i vibed with this kim picture today, tho the kentakim edit might also be my favorite in the set bc the yellow is so good)

NOVEMBER: pluto episode 4 [x]

absolutely deserves to be the most popular set of this month! it's also my personal favorite out of all the edits i've made for pluto. the colors for this one just worked super well and the scenes are perfect, too. let's see how the series ends in two days, i hope i manage to find some fitting colors for the last episode, too :'D

this was my number 6 post on my tumblr top ten.

DECEMBER: yuanyi + you can love him, but you can't keep him [x]

the most popular set and also my favorite of this month, all bc i've gone down the rabbit hole with fangs of fortune. i spent an embarrassing amount of time making this set with all its details; starting from screenshotting the whole damn show and then picking the pictures for this edit from the over 400 images i got, to drawing the golden lines by myself on my drawing tablet so i got them just like i wanted. i shall be making so many more edits for this show, be warned.

this was my number 7 post on my tumblr top ten.

top 10 posts of 2024 then are:

morkday + hands (381 notes)

us pilot (295 notes)

last twilight episode 11 (285 notes)

thamepo pilot (283 notes)

jimmysea for starry magazine (271 notes)

pluto episode 4 (252 notes)

yuanyi + you can love him (231 notes)

vice versa rewatch 2024 (222 notes)

last twilight episode 10 (211 notes)

we are final episode (207 notes)

(you can check your top ten posts here)

it was fun to look back into my year in edits like this and see how i've gone through so many phases in 12 months. i cannot even recognize the person i was in around, let's say, last february. or during summer. it's insane how the night changes or however that thing goes.

thank you if you read this far, and if you've liked my creations or left nice tags under them, i thank you even more! it's an honor to be creating to everybody here and i am grateful that others keep enabling me even when i usually create for myself and maybe two other ppl. it is very important to me tho that i get to be part of this amazing community and don't need to just yell into the void by myself ♥

[madeby-meru]

Episode 11 Review (Jason & Thomas)

I actually have rather little to say about this one, overall it was an okay-ish episode and it didn’t have much in it for me (still keeping it under the cut to contain the yapping lol)

beware of spoilers!

One of th few times I saw both routes fully, i usually only go see Thomas' special scenes and illustration but I was pretty curious about this one and I am starting to like him more and more, the scene felt so shooooooorrrrt I wish they had talked more and discussed his finger licking habits 👁👁 the ilustration was very pretty too, i LOVE his expression~ I was a bit sad when we couldnt go to the planetarium :c I hope its a hint for a future episode, maybe an actual date?

Now Jason's route... I am a damn broken CD repeating myself over and over but I really and i mean REALLY dislike Ysaline. She is such a brat and such a pickme and so rude and judgy for no reason.

The whole "uuuuggghh i dont want to have dinner with himmmmm but i gave my woorrrddd but i dont want to be with hiiiimmmm" was so silly cause... dont go? say no? whats he gonna do sue you for hurting his feelings? why are u acting like u have a gun to your head lmao and also why are you acting like spending time alone with him is a torture? the last few times you two spend time together he was sweet and kind, he opened up to you, he helped you and clearly showed you that he DOES like you as a person!! what is there to hate at this point i dont get it, and youre also obviously horny for him get your shit together

And just dipping from his house leaving the dinner there.... I'm sorry that is extremely rude I cant deal with that. The reasoning is, again, so stupid. No, she is not betraying her company because (like Jason says) the rivalry is between him and Devon, Ysaline is not part of the equation she is not even a variable to consider. And no, she is not betraying her "friends" either because she has none! the game is very focused on the route to the point of our MC not making friends, this is not HSL where you got to constantly interact with the cast, raise their LOM, get to know them, etc. Here Ysaline is alone with her LI (and I cant take the argument of "the friendship happens behind the camera" cause thats just lazy af and leaving up to the VIEWER to fill in plot holes, for all I know she could also be addicted to cocaine and thats why she doesnt have money to pay the groceries).

Anyway, her bullshit aside, I actually loved Jason this episode! He is funny, witty, bratty in his charming way, he is so gentlemany, he cooks for her, drives her in his car (sighs like a teenager). I really like his character these past few episodes (it does bother me tho that this ep is SO bland without the special scene :/) and i hope he continues this way !!

Back to bitching- Just to quickly comment on the whole cameo thing: I am not a fan. I dont really mind them per se and I am not bubbling with rage, the cameos are well placed and they make sense and dont feel super out of pocket (amoris is a small city after all) but... I want our own characters, I want our own NPCs to interact with semi-frequently, I looooved the introduction of Devon's brothers and that cap remains my fav up to date (i want to rewatch it on Thomas' route again just to see Tasha and the boys more~). I want more characters that Ysaline can befriend and forge friendships with :c

That's pretty much all, like I said a mid chapter, not bad but not good. Pretty curious about the next one and how Jason will fit there!

[senjutsunade]

Godaime Characterization

Note: This became a bit too long but I feel will be useful for those who interact with me.

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, and now that my keyboard’s finally cooperating, it’s time—

My portrayal of Tsunade is that of someone unapologetically snarky and, at times, delightfully full of herself. But this summer, a nagging doubt crept in: am I depicting her right? Or worse, am I letting my own personality bleed into her characterization?

So, I went back to the source. I rewatched every scene of hers in the anime, scrutinized every manga panel featuring her, and came to a glorious conclusion—the woman is a menace. She’s brutal with her words, smug as hell, and absolutely insists on having the last say. Any reservations I had went straight out the window, and my Tsunade officially became the reigning queen of snark.

That left me wondering: why had I doubted myself in the first place? The answer was clear—fandoms. They’re incredible spaces, no question, but sometimes, fanon bleeds into canon so much that the lines blur. Over time, Tsunade’s portrayal shifted. In fanart and fanfiction, she’s often reduced to either the “drunk grandma” trope or a hypersexualized symbol, and somewhere along the way, her canon personality got lost in the shuffle.

But NOT here. Not on this blog. Tsunade is no one’s trope.

Why is she the way she is?

She’s a prodigy, plain and simple. The fandom tends to forget that sometimes. Tsunade became a Genin at six. Six. By the time most kids are learning to tie their shoes, she was already on her way to revolutionizing the medical field—single-handedly, might I add. She defeated Chiyo, the world-renowned poison specialist, while still in her teens. Let that sink in.

She’s also a Senju. One utterly spoiled by her grandfather. Shinobi royalty, through and through, treated as such from the moment she could walk. The “Hime” title isn’t just for kicks—it holds weight. Even Danzō uses it, and we all know he doesn’t do respect lightly. Tsunade was used to getting her way from an early age and rarely, if ever, heard the word “no.”

Her teammates? Just as guilty. Watch any scene with the three of them, and you’ll see it. Jiraiya and Orochimaru practically invented the art of indulging her. No matter how outrageous or dramatic she was being, they always gave in. They solidified her Hime lifestyle long before anyone else could question it.

And then there’s her clan name—that privilege that few in Konoha could dream of having. When she decided she was done with shinobi life and walked away, leaving the village to wander the world, what happened? Nothing. No hunter-nin were sent after her. Anyone else would’ve had a team on their trail within days, but not her. Being a Senju gave her a free pass.

Here’s the thing: Tsunade likes to have her way. Always has. But the difference? She’s got the skillset to back it up. Honestly, who in their right mind would dare to challenge her?

The Konoha I write is a far cry from the idealized version often found in most fan portrayals. There are no shining heroes here—save for Naruto, the outlier. My depiction leans heavily into the grim reality of what it means to be a shinobi.

What are shinobi, truly? They are assassins, thieves, spies, saboteurs, and manipulators, trained from childhood to master the art of psychological warfare. They operate in shadows, their hands stained with blood, their morality twisted into shapes that serve their purpose. Their loyalty isn’t to some lofty ideal of justice—it’s to their Hokage and their nation. Konoha and Hi no Kuni come first. Always.

To protect those, no act is too foul, no line too sacred. Once they fasten that hitai-ate, they cease to be individuals with their own wants or friendships. They become weapons—willing, obedient tools forged in fire and duty. On missions, there is no room for personal morality, no hesitation over relationships or past bonds. A shinobi of Konoha will burn villages, poison wells, and manipulate lives if the mission demands it.

This is the shinobi world—cutthroat, ruthless, and unrelenting. My Konoha basking in sunlight is more an illusion; in truth, it thrives in the shadows, because that’s what it takes to survive.

As the leader of such people, my Tsunade is no heroine. Her loyalty lies with Konoha—her homeland, her inheritance, her duty—and she will protect it at any cost. This is the essence of leadership in a world as brutal as theirs.

Take, for example, the moment she places a bomb seal on Kakashi and sends him to Hiruko, knowing full well it could mean his death. She hates it but goes through with it. Doesn't hesitate—not because she’s heartless, but because the mission demands it. Protecting Konoha always comes first, no matter the personal toll.

Then there’s Jiraiya. Sending him to Ame wasn’t a decision she made lightly, but it was one she made without faltering. He was the best suited for the mission, and as Hokage, her duty was to assign it. Even when it meant sending her oldest friend to what might as well have been his grave. She hated it, but it was her duty to send the best person for the job, even if it was her best friend.

Tsunade’s choices aren’t about heroism; they’re about survival. That’s the cold reality of leading shinobi.

As Hokage, Tsunade isn’t here to coddle her shinobi. She doesn’t have the luxury of being soft or overly kind—not like Sarutobi was. Her leadership is harsh, but fair, grounded in the cold reality of their world. Konoha’s survival depends on it.

The village has lost too much—too many shinobi, too many elite warriors. The wars, the Kyuubi attack, the Uchiha Massacre, the Suna/Oto invasion… each loss has chipped away at Konoha's strength. The names they’ve lost are legendary: Hatake Sakumo, Kato Dan, Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Fugaku, Orochimaru, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi—shinobi who had the power to solidify Konoha’s reputation as the greatest force in the shinobi world. Now? That power is gone.

Tsunade doesn’t have the luxury to be kind. She doesn’t have the luxury to be gentle. Every decision, every action, must be ruthlessly pragmatic. Konoha can’t show weakness. If it does, every other nation will pounce. They’ll capitalize on it—crush that illusion of Konoha's might.

After their defeat in the Third Shinobi war, Kumo and Iwa were desperate for the chance to topple Konoha. Tsunade knows this better than anyone. And she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure the village’s strength isn’t seen as anything less than absolute.

Her personality as Hokage is often reduced to that of an angry, impatient, sullen woman. That’s the general consensus, isn’t it?

Let’s break that down.

Yes, she’s angry. But why?

It’s because the state of Konoha when she returns as Godaime is a direct affront to everything she’s ever stood for. Konoha is barely hanging on, and it terrifies her. The administration? A disaster. The hospital? Using techniques she’d deemed redundant and inferior more than twenty years ago. The village infrastructure? In shambles. The elite shinobi? Either dead or too wounded to serve. Konoha is bleeding out in every sense of the word, and no one is acknowledging the scale of the damage.

They’re broke. The shinobi who remain are spread thin, and they can’t take missions fast enough. Refusing missions? It’s not an option. The clients they depend on would abandon them, and with that would come the collapse of Konoha’s reputation, its economy, and its power. The other villages are hungry, and they would use this vulnerability to tear them apart.

So what does she do? She sends exhausted, overworked shinobi—people who don’t even know her, who are only loyal to the Hokage title she was suddenly thrust into—on missions. No breaks. No recovery. Physically drained, mentally shattered. Tsunade KNOWS how dangerous it is, how damaging this will be. She knows this could ruin any future relationships with these nin, but she has no other choice.

For Konoha’s survival, for the survival of the Will of Fire and everything it stands for, she has to bury her compassion, stifle the medic within her, and step into a role she never wanted.

Because sometimes, survival doesn’t care about what you want. It only cares about what you’re willing to sacrifice. As a war veteran, she understands that.

She lacks patience. Why? Because while all of this is happening—while her focus should be on pulling Konoha from the brink—the damn council insists on getting in her way. They act like they can push her around, like they can dictate the way things are done—the way things have always been done. Politics. She hates that shit. She doesn’t have time to deal with their petty games. But the village is still unstable. The system is crumbling. So she grits her teeth and tolerates their interference, for now. She knows that once she has a firmer grasp on things, once Konoha is breathing again, she’ll finally be able to shove them all out of her way and take control. Until then, it’s just another battle to survive.

She is sullen. Why? Because in a matter of days, her world has been reduced to a narrow, suffocating window. She’s always been a free spirit—wild, untamed, the kind of woman who craved freedom, who spent the last two decades roaming, choosing her own pace, living without the burden of responsibility. Now, she’s shackled to duty. She understands the weight of the job, the honor, the privilege of the seat her ancestors once held. She respects it, gives it her damned best. But it’s a duty she never wanted. And that realization eats at her, slowly, like a poison she can’t spit out. It takes its toll, grinding her down, moment by moment. This was her brother's dream. Her lovers dream. Her having it is a double edged knife.

She’s back in a village that mirrors the one she left behind, yet it feels so alien. So many faces are missing—comrades, friends, family—gone, never to return. Does anyone else realize that an entire generation—her generation—never made it home from the war? That she’s one of the few survivors, one of the handful of nin out of hundreds? Do they understand the emptiness that lingers in the village, the gaping hole left by those who used to fill it? She does. And it fucking hurts. She barely recognizes anyone here anymore. The ones she does know—Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza, Kakashi, Genma—she remembers them as bumbling, clumsy Gennin and Chūnin. Not as the adults they’ve become. It’s… disorienting. The sharp, bitter jolt of seeing them as grown nin. Something she didn’t expect.

She’s fucking irritated. The state of the village, the crumbling infrastructure, the political cesspool she’s had to wade into—it’s all too much. And it's endless. Paperwork and reports pile up like a mountain she has to climb every damn day. She's forced to get reacquainted with the village she once knew so well, only to realize that it’s changed in ways she could never have imagined. The entire structure has shifted since her absence. The leadership, the economic landscape, the political networks—everything has morphed into something she never trained for, never prepared for.

She was never meant to be Hokage. Hell, she was never trained to be Hokage. She’s a medic, a fighter, a leader by force of will, not by political maneuvering. But now, she’s thrust into this position without warning, without preparation. She’s forced to navigate through a maze of alliances and rivalries, figure out the intricacies of the village’s economy—an economy that’s buckling under the weight of too many wars, too many lost resources—and the cold, calculating clan politics that lurk in the background, waiting to seize any opportunity to further their own agendas.

On top of all this, she has to ensure the day-to-day operations of the village run smoothly. Shinobi still need missions. The people still need security. The economy still needs to turn, even as it teeters on the brink of collapse. All this responsibility weighs on her shoulders, with resources running dangerously low, and no clear path forward.

She’s brilliant, yes. But this? This is a goddamn nightmare. Balancing all these responsibilities with nothing but her sharp instincts and raw determination? It’s like trying to juggle a thousand knives with only one hand. And the worst part? She can’t let it show.

In light of all this—

For most of her shinobi, Tsunade is a no-nonsense, iron-fisted leader. Loyalty isn’t just expected; it’s demanded. Unquestioning. Absolute. These are her subordinates, not her friends, and they will respect that distinction. She doesn’t have the time, the patience, or the luxury to coddle them. Her expectations are high, and she won’t tolerate the slightest hint of insubordination. They’re tools, necessary for the survival of the village—and they better damn well know their place. The fact that the name of each nin that never returns home from mission is carved on her heart is a secret she shares with no other. The longer the list becomes, the less she sleeps.

Then, there are the nin who eventually become part of her inner circle—

The ones who get to see beyond the Hokage title, those fools she’s somewhat at ease with. The idiots who can get away with being obnoxious and absurd around her. They take the brunt of her endless snark and biting insults—don’t mistake it, though, there’s no permanent damage. Just enough to keep them in line and remind them who they’re dealing with. It’s the price they pay for being in her somewhat trusted circle. But then they of course know when to abuse their freedom and when to bow before their leader's will with no questions asked. Tsunade trusts them to know this.

Among this circle, the most prominent is Kakashi—her right hand. She considers him one of her closest friends, despite his tendency to be an irritating enigma. Then there’s Shizune, often seen as Tsunade’s assistant, but her actual role goes far beyond that—she’s an advisor, head of the Hospital, and reformist, shaping the place into something Tsunade would approve of.

Shikaku enters the fold next, stepping up as her left hand, a level-headed voice in the storm.

Then, her guards—Genma, Raido, and Iwashi. They’re stuck with her now, so she may as well make it worth her while to torment them. Genma, in particular, becomes her favorite target. He gets away with being far more obnoxious than the others, but also endures the brunt of her snark and absurd demands.

Anko, the ever-persistent menace, forces her way onto the list. Tsunade doesn’t have the energy to kick her off, so she stays—reluctantly. It’s not like Tsunade can’t handle her, but sometimes, the headache isn’t worth it.

Gai. His eyebrows will forever make Tsunade cringe. And if he cries one more damn time about how much he respects her “power of youth,” she’s going to be the one to make him lose all his hair. She has her limits, and that? That is crossing them.

Izumo and Kotetsu—her favorite jesters. Reliable idiots, the pair of them. She has a soft spot for them. Why? She doesn’t know. She just does, dammit.

Ibiki—Tsunade works closely with the stoic man for weeks and learns to appreciate his dark humor. The man’s got a decent alcohol tolerance, and Tsunade takes a twisted satisfaction in watching him terrorize his subordinates. A kindred spirit if there ever was one.

Shikamaru—Goodness, the Nara kid had no right to be as damn tactical as he was. Besides, he was the only one who could balance out Naruto’s absolute stupidity. Some days, she wonders if the kid's maturity came straight from his smarts or his sheer exhaustion from putting up with everyone else’s nonsense.

_

@konohagakurekakashi & @minaa-munch I finally got around to this after forever. Cold medicine gives me twitchy fingers. xD

[quantomeno]

Professor Layton and the Raiders of the Lost Legacy

aka "I've finally pinpointed exactly what's wrong with Azran Legacy and it's Indiana Jones"

(spoilers for all the layton games. Not many for Indiana Jones films but there are some mostly to do with the Last Crusade)

(also sorry this is such a long post I got carried away)

So, the other day I was rewatching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (it was new years eve and I had nothing better to do and it was on tv) and as a Layton fan I chuckled a little at the opening where Indy talks about how archaeology isn't about hunting for buried treasure etc because as we all know, Layton spends even less time being an archaeology professor than Indy and honestly even less time doing anything remotely related to archaeology.

And as the film progressed, I had Layton in the back of my mind. I was a massive Indiana Jones fan around the same time I was a massive Layton fan but since Layton in the original trilogy is hardly an archaeologist I don't think I ever really made the connection between the two series.

So, the problem I've always had with Azran Legacy is twofold. One is the story letting you do the different locations in any order, because it forces the overarching plot to stagnate and is what I think is a big factor in the rushed revelations at the ending (where we have like five different things going on and like everyone dies and comes back to life like woah, slow down). The other is that it just doesn't feel 'Laytonesque'. Now, Miracle Mask also has this issue, and in that case it's kind of the point because of the move to a new console and the new graphics and the series was getting repetitive by then. And some of the things I'll discuss later will be true of MM but I think they're more pronounced in AL.

The thing I realised watching the last crusade was that there's something else: AL is an 'Indiana Jones game' (in a sense).

OK there are a few key features of an IJ film for those who haven't seen them:

Indy meets someone who wants him to track down a valuable artefact that has some sort of mystical properties (e.g. the Holy Grail)

He discovers that some bad guys are after the treasure for evil purposes (it's often nazis)

What follows is an often violent chase across countries as he tries to piece together the mystery

In the end, Indy discovers the secret but just before he can get to the treasure, the bad guys get there first

He typically gets betrayed at a pivotal moment by someone he trusted

Indy has to help the bad guys under duress (e.g. his dad is shot and can only be saved by the Holy Grail)

The bad guys get the treasure but then do something stupid because of their greed/pride/ignorance and then they get killed by the magic power of the treasure (and the myths around it are thus proven true)

Indiana Jones rejects the allure of the treasure's power and either returns it to its rightful owners, leaves it alone or it ends up hidden away in a storage facility and forgotten (despite the fact much is made of his catchphrase 'it belongs in a museum', most of the major treasures don't actually end up in a museum)

Now, if we look at Azran Legacy:

Layton meets a guy (Sycamore) who has found a mysterious girl frozen in ice who is tied to some greater legend

He soon finds out Targent is after the girl and then they discover the second clue (the Azran eggs) and realise Targent want the 'Azran Legacy'

What follows is an occasionally violent chase around the world as Layton tries to piece together the mystery and find the eggs before Targent

Layton puts together the key from the Azran eggs but it gets stolen by Descole (his 'arch nemesis' who who was disguised as Sycamore)

Everyone chases Descole to the Azran sanctuary but then Layton gets betrayed by Emmy who was secretly working for Targent

Bronev (Targent's leader), in his desire to get the Azran legacy at all costs, sacrifices the frozen girl (Aurora) by stabbing her with the key

Laputa Castle in the Sky happens robots are unleashed on the world and to stop them everyone present must sacrifice themselves

Aurora (she got better) resurrects everyone with Azran magic science and then dies herself (she was a robot so she wasn't really alive anyway)

The Azran sanctuary and the robots crumble to dust and Layton, having rejected the allure of power and so on, returns home (after dealing with some family drama but that's a whole other story)

But you see the point? Azran Legacy is a stereotypical treasure hunting plot. Which is of course The Point, but it really shows just why it doesn't feel like a Layton game.

Compare Lost Future which is often the target of criticism for its over-the-top final act. Why is LF still a Layton game? Because we don't have the 'magic' elements Azrran Legacy has. Because the location is quite fixed and isolated. Because the evil guys aren't chasing us around the globe. Sure, they appear every time we go onto their turf, but 1) that's their turf and 2) they are no chase scenes. There isn't this final act where the villain wins the prize because there is no McGuffin.

And that is the other key thing: Layton games actually very rarely have McGuffins that are actual items.

CV's golden apple is really Flora.

PB has the box, obviously and that one I concede.

Last Specter has the flute? I guess. But the golden garden is the real treasure everyone's hunting for but that's not a 'thing'.

LF has the time machine? Maybe that counts?

Eternal Diva has Ambrosia/the secret to eternal life, but Ambrosia is again a place and the secret isn't a thing either.

MM has the mask (duh).

And AL has the eggs and later the key. The point being that there's an actual hunt for the eggs. Unlike in Last Specter where the flute never really changes hands.

The next point that then arises is why don't PB and MM suffer from this problem?

PB has only got Don Paolo as the 'villain' who wants the treasure. The other treasure seekers are either the real owner (Anton) or his brother who is kind of just hanging around grumpily and leaves after being told off by a hotel clerk. There's no 'chase' and the treasure doesn't physically appear until Don Paolo drops it and then leaves the plot entirely. Also its 'magic' is explained scientifically in a (somewhat) believable (or at least comprehensible) way.

MM avoids it because it is actually a Scooby Doo plot and not an Indiana Jones plot: the villain is a guy with a grudge in a costume, the magic item had no powers and was just a key to some weird contraption that lifts up the city (for reasons) and all the 'magic' was just circus tricks. The fact it mirrors the Last Crusade's "other hand" scene is hardly relevant. Even the ruins segment is decidedly not Indiana Jones since, again, there's no race against time aspect and there are no bad guys chasing them. MM definitely takes a lot of cues from IJ but overall the game is still Laytonesque. It is a character study more than an adventure.

And for people who complain about the weirdness of Last Specter. That's not that weird. Dinosaurs existed once it's not completely insane that a big aquatic animal was hiding in the town's reservoir.

I think this even ties into why I dislike the AL 'finger point' scene: all the other games build up to that moment because it answers an important mystery at the core of the story (or leads to it). Because a Layton game is a mystery game, but AL is hardly a mystery story, or it's really just a bunch of mini mysteries embedded in a treasure hunting chase story. Like, there is the 'what is the legacy' mystery, but that's not something you solve the same way you do the hallucinations of PB or the identity of LS's spectre. It just appears by itself at the end.

In trying to make a big, exciting, globe-trotting game, Level 5 overlooked the fundamental features of a Layton game, in particular the overarching mystery, and supplanted them with treasure-hunting tropes. AL is the least Laytonesque game of them all as a result and while this is not inherently a bad thing (we all know the original trilogy's twist was getting a little stale the fourth time they did it), it does change the flavour of the game to such a degree that I personally don't love it to the same degree as the other games.

Also the whole Layton I am your brother and also Bronev is our father bit was way too rushed and I can't forgive it for that. Honestly that's actually 75% of why AL is my lowest-ranked main series game but that's less fun to talk about than all this.

[koifishhies]

yes yes yes yes yes!! oh my god i completely forgot about eating food with his hands part. every day I’m less and less convinced chibnall autism coded this man on accident. another thing I’ve noticed is in his little office, he always has the lamps on and rarely the ceiling light. or after Sandbrooke is solved, when he goes to have a good cry in the empty interrogation room, he keeps the lights off. probably a sensory thing. ceiling lights can be a sensory nightmare.

ugh there’s just so much about him. the way he wears the same things every day, is an extremely picky eater, doesn’t really say “hello” or any kind of greetings and it rubs people the wrong way. i need to rewatch this show with my notepad out like a maniac.

also ABSOLUTELY agree with what you said about Ellie, when she chews him out about how he behaves and he begrudgingly takes the food. that’s definitely around the time he was starting to build respect for her and see her abilities. so he backtracks—where before he’d completely dropped the mask and decided to disregard and forgo even trying to make any social connection in Broadchurch, he decides, hey, this one is worth it. he compromises, he takes the food. and he starts working with her more, challenging her, bouncing ideas off her. and though he may be framed as the more experienced one, her contribution teaches him and makes him a better detective too.

but then, the whole ordeal with Joe happens, and Ellie is absolutely wrecked, obviously. but even though this whole time Alec has been the one telling her to close her heart, be objective, look at her town from the outside, etc etc, he doesn’t go in with an “i told you so” mentality. he is so, so sympathetic, and he is so horribly sorry for her. you can see how hard he’s trying to be gentle and comforting when breaking the news to her. because he’s been through this before. he’s been through an absolutely horrific case that tore his family apart. he’s watching all that happen again, to someone he might even dare call a friend, and he can’t do anything to stop it. he can only be there, and understand.

though they had the potential to be close before, I think this really cemented their bond/friendship. the whole situation leads to Ellie being socially ostracized, which, in a way, puts them on the same level. who can she spend time with, who won’t look at her with either judgment or pity, but Alec? the man who’s been socially ostracized his entire goddamn life?

when Alec brings her into the Sandbrooke case, you can argue he does so because he wants her fresh and different perspective, while also trusting her expertise. sure. but I doubt he would have done it if Ellie hadn’t gone through what she had. it’s such a vulnerable thing for him to do, isn’t it? he said it himself, this is the case he nearly died over, the one that completely ruined his life. he even tells her about his trauma with dragging Pippa’s body out of the water. it is such a blatant display of trust. and I absolutely adore your take of saying he did it for her sake, to occupy her, to give her something to do because he cares about her in that way. it’s like he’s trying to tell her, hey, look, I made it out of this. yeah I came out a little broken, but I made it out the other side, and you will too. broken hearts can mend, after all.

and Ellie’s not ready to accept it yet! even if it’s exactly what she needs! she works on the case, kind of pretending the whole time that she only did it because Alec asked her to, and that’s all. she doesn’t want the olive branch, she doesn’t want the hugs, she doesn’t want the comfort. and Alec doesn’t push any more. he does what he can, and he leaves. but the foundation has cemented itself, and by the time he returns to Broadchurch in s3, look who’s working together again!

it’s such a multi-faceted, complex bond you don’t see portrayed so well in media very often, ESPECIALLY between just friends, ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY between male-female friends. i absolutely rambled for way longer than i intended to and this post is INSANELY long at this point, but i love them so much and finding different angles to look at them is making me foam at the mouth with joy. no wonder David says Broadchurch heavily changed and influenced the landscape when it came out, you can’t expect this level of care and depth from just any detective drama

I just love how broadchurch (unintentionally) made an autistic-coded detective, but instead of going the sherlock route they made him just. a guy. he’s not special in any way, he’s not a savant, he’s just kinda There and Traumatized About It the entire time.

like alec hardy wants one thing in life and it’s to do his job, but he’s also constantly faced with the unfortunate reality that his job Sucks. he’s also actively dying half the time. and that’s it that’s his character.

also he’s not a twink like most autistic coded savants in media, and I may not be a middle aged dad but that’s the kind of representation I can get behind

[brainrotcharacters]

"I walked away. They called after me and I walked away. I always do."

[langernameohnebedeutung]

gonna say, something or someone being misogynistic is on its own a good enough reason not to like it or not to spend time with that person. It's not just that misogyny is so normalised that not watching a show or not spending with someone just because of misogyny is treated as not enough of a reason - it's also that as a woman, you are under constant scrutiny and constantly thrown tests to show that you are 'not one of the difficult ones', that you can 'take a joke'.

But 'your friend keeps saying degrading things about women' is a good enough reason not to hang out with that person or not to go to a gathering. 'i read the last book by his author and it was deeply misogynistic' is a good enough reason why you don't want to read things by that author anymore. 'This comedian specifically makes a lot of mean-spirited jokes about women' reason enogh not to watch that or see that show, even if your friends want to go. 'This content creator keeps going on weird tangents about women' reason enough not to watch their stuff or support them.

and it is especially a very good reason not to date someone.

[pa-pa-plasma]

hey i feel like we're really sleeping on that time Danny possessed Vlad & framed him for assaulting a minor

Editing with the clip because people don't believe me. Episode is 41: Eye for an Eye.

[gcballet]

I think the reason Harry has more collossal fuck ups than anyone is the exact same reason he has more gloriously funny successes, and it's just that he's willing to take more and bigger risks on stage. They pay off probably as often as they don't. So often, it's Harry who will out of nowhere yell something which jumps a plot forward a bit or to a new setting. For example, in Ipswitch It Up he interrupts a bit of dialogue between Susan and Josh which is dragging, the characters are negotiating if they want to go on a date, and he yells 'WELCOME TO PIZZA HUT!' - and then he doesn't even participate in the scene he initiates, he just yells out a new location. If the others didn't pick up what he did and introduce a date scene, that could have made him look an absolute buffoon, and sometimes that's what happens, especially if Jonathan misunderstands and pauses to correct or question.

The other thing with Harry is this thing 🧍‍♂️

And it's objectively kind of funny that mostly he just stands there with his hands clasped, but he doesn't waste energy moving around and doing unnecessary physicality? He does use the whole space really well, especially the foreground/downstage, but he doesn't gesture much. He has a really interesting approach to what he does as an improv actor, and it's very different from the style other Mischief cast go for. Even Lauren Shearing, who's pretty experienced in improv, does something more naturalistic than him. Need to look into if he's ever done interviews about improv and stuff bc I suspect his style is very deliberate, like, holding a fairly neutral pose most of the time give you scope to be 'being' almost anything? It mitigates errors like the bit in The Tur Key To Christmas Joy where Shields enters as an old man, then changes his mind and decides to be a turkey.

Also I think I commented it on your old YT upload that's now gone, I think Harry does the mystery box in the Ashopocalypse trilogy as a specific reference to LOST. The Mystery Box is a storytelling technique coined by JJ Abrams in a 2007 TED Talk, and in LOST it usually means like, a mysterious briefcase, or a locked bunker discovered in the jungle but not opened till the end the season. I'm convinced that Harry does this in response to Niall repeating the original catchphrase from LOST - 'we have to live together or we're going to die alone'. LOST is exactly the sort of thing you'd rewatch over lockdown. It's just a good framework for a long plot.

Rewatching 'Hull School Musical' and am currently wondering exactly how I missed this absolute gem of a line the first time:

The thing I love about Harry Kershaw in MMNI is that occasionally he'll come out with something that's pure genius (and possibly the best thing in the entire movie for that show) that kind of slips by relatively unnoticed and then the rest of the time it's just...Delta Von Tassel and Christmas Bonanza Boy...

[only-lonely-www]

So basically ATLA brain rot has hit me like a truck

[magicaldragons]

the promise.

deva knew exactly what he was doing when he made that promise to Varadha.

Only for you, when you call me, I'll come back.

That promise, even though it was made for Varadha, was Deva's selfish desire to tie Varadha to him – to make sure Varadha wouldn't be able to leave him within the past.

Deva knew that Varadha was the realistic one of the both of them, the kind of person to put his head down, understand a situation, and accept the constraints he had to live within.

Even as a child, Deva understood so well that, if he didn't leave a life line for Varadha to hold onto, Varadha would force himself to accept their separation, and wouldn't strive for more, especially with how self-sacrificing Varadha was.

Deva's mother asked Deva to forget Khansaar – asked him to let go of everything associated with the place – and Deva knew that the situation they were in would require Varadha to forget Deva's existence too, for Deva's sake and his own.

Deva offering Varadha that promise was his only way of saying, 'I won't let you forget me.' and it worked.

The seed Deva planted within Varadha functioned exactly as Deva knew it would, and it definitely tempted Varadha countless times to call for Deva. It kept the idea of Deva being a part of Varadha's future alive in Varadha's mind.

Of course, Deva didn't count on Varadha holding himself back for twenty-five years, but it's why Deva was so confident Varadha would definitely call for him at some point.

[somuchbetterthanthat]

I know it's all a joke and all, when people questions Vi having sex with Caitlyn right after her little sister made some Ominous and Sad Statements letting it on that she was going to do something drastic to herself but. the way i read this scene is...

Every single thing that Vi has done, perhaps ever since she went on that job, forever ago, that led to the explosion, turned out badly, if not for herself then for those she cared the most for. If you can recognize how much the trauma of that has resonated with Jinx, surely you can see how the trauma of that affected Vi as well. And ever since she got out of prison, it didn't go much better EITHER.

Plus after the whole finale happens, and so Vi decides. Ok. Sister is gone. Time to go with Caitlyn. Except Caitlyn is ALSO changes, and staring at that little girl protecting Jinx and the barrel of Caitlyn's gun, she realises "maybe she's chosen wrong again". Which ALREADY sends her in a spiral of horror, actually: she doesn't seek out her sister. She doesn't seek anyone else (although I guess she could have seek Ekko and realized that, while she was out there "giving in to enforcers" Ekko DISAPPEARED TOO). It takes a good bit of coaxing from Jinx to get her back to a shade of herself.

AND EVEN WHEN SHE GETS A FEW ?? DAYS. ?? WEEKS ?? or relative peace and happiness back, trusting Caitlyn still leads to her dad dead again, Isha dead, her sister completely gone, etc. And still she goes to her sister!!! WHAT ELSE CAN SHE DO BUT HAVE HOPE IN/FOR JINX???

It's just. The scene is Vi breaking down. This scene is Vi saying out loud her decade of trauma and constant loss in her eyes, the latest one having just happened a MOMENT AGO, and then Caitlyn is here and telling her "I'm not judging your choice, I was expecting your choice, and I'm here because of your choice."

Caitlyn is giving a (somewhat, relative) positive stance to Vi's desire to always believe in people at the end of the day.

Of course Vi craves more of that, in this highly emotional moment.

Anyway. Just my personal reading of the scene. I think Vi was paralysed in this prison cell. Not just trapped by her sister's choice, but by all her choices leading her right back where she'd started. And Caitlyn offered a key. Again.

[nikolas-ghostbusters-fixation]

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is how everyone thought Egon had gone insane. What Happened that made them think that. They've fought a gigantic Stay Puft Marshmellow Man TWICE (counting the 2009 video game because iirc it's canon? Correct me if I'm wrong), fought an interdimensional god, fought a blood thirsty ruler that killed thousands and was hated by all that was trapped in a painting (and managed to get in to beat him by making THE STATUE OF LIBERTY start walking down the street with slime that reacted purely based on vibes), found an underground abandoned transit system full of the moodslime, had a bathtub try to eat Dana and her baby, fought a giant murderous black widow lady, fought the fisherman ghost who turned an entire hotel floor into the bottom of a ocean, and that's not even mentioning them getting trapped on an island that randomly raised up from underwater that had been abandoned for decades created by Ivor Shandor who worshipped Gozer. So what did he do or say that made everyone else think he'd gone insane?? All I can think is maybe he was acting strange / eratic before, but he's always been like that to some degree.

I don't know. It's something that I've been thinking about. The correct answer is 'it's not that deep and they needed a reason that the others weren't together anymore and weren't aware of Egons death or know what was going on,' but also. What Was He Saying that prompted everyone, including Ray, to think he lost his mind when he'd been right almost every time before that.

I'm genuinely so curious as to what he was up to before this. What was he doing. What insane idea was working on prior to this or was he even working on anything at all??

Also want to clarify this post isn't negative 😭 I really love the newer movies and their lore / the newer storyline / characters, I just like thinking about small stupid things like this. Gives me something to think about / speculate about / figure out an answer to.