#it's a callback to the previous episode

[itswhatyougive]

Steve's breathy little "Easy, easy...." said whilst Eddie is climbing up the blanket rope lives rent-free in my head

[katygorl]

I have to say today's Drawfee episode(where Julia draws a starter Pokémon then Jacob and Nathan draw its evolutions) has now become one of my all-time favorite episodes of theirs... Literal tears of laughter lol

[amelikos]

Promotional stuff for HZ082 (here).

[thelaughingmerman]

Everyone was exasperated with Eugene by the end of episode 4 but in episode 6 when they find the discarded fish net Hildas like " Well I don't think fish appreciate being caught 😠" and that's nice.

[les-pompiers118]

I’m watching Full Moon (Creepy AF) from S1 again, the scene where Buck pulls the tapeworm out of the sushi-loving guy in the ambulance...

And he says to the guy...

He says...

“Congratulations, Connor. It’s a boy.”

🤣🤣🤣

[deancasforcutie]

#this is right and you should say it #it’s fine to dislike specific authors #but there’s this overwhelmingly collective default to insult the writers room #as if none of the writers are capable of their craft #and it’s not just an spn fandom problem #i’ve seen this in multiple fandoms #it’s exhausting (via @dotthings)

#spn prime #spn writers #spn is a good show actually (via @ahundredbillionheavens)

It's just kind of.... Odd. How dismissive so much of the spn fandom is about the writers who worked on the show. Treating them like they're talentless hacks and proverbial monkeys at typewriters but the thing is that they wrote the thing you love.

Actors will make changes to delivery or tweak lines when filming but ultimately, they are bringing words to life off the page. Words that were written by writers. I am not trying to devalue actors (bc they are also talented professionals), but they are building off of what the writers have created and are breathing life into it -- it's a collaborative partnership.

When a show runs as long as spn you're bound to have absurd coincidences like the villain of 07x12 telling Dean (on the in-universe date of 5 Nov 1944) that his future is covered in black ooze only to have 15x18 and the confession air on 5 Nov 2020. You can have happy accidents like casting an unknown actor in a guest part who is so good that he then goes on to play that role for 12 years. But to dismiss all of the themes and longer narrative arcs and every story decision as the result of writers banging on typewriters with no consideration?

You're devaluing the labor of creatives when you say everything was an accident and nothing was planned and you're playing right into the hands of networks and studios who are trying to screw over and underpay the creatives who they've made their money off of.

[infizero]

its funny how before i started rewatching adventure time i was under the impression in my head that it was mostly just episodic stuff with the occasional overarching things thrown in there, but it actually has some of the best continuity i've ever seen 😭😭

[caldella]

MASTERMIND SPOILERS

When Blitzø puts together what Stolas is doing in the song, right before they duet, it was bugging me why this particular pose looked familiar.

Then I realized...

Blitzø has seen that pose once before, and he recognizes it:

"Goodbye, Blitzø."

This is the face Stolas makes when he's about to send Blitzø away. In Full Moon, and here.

Stolas is saying goodbye again, but this time permanently, as he believes he's sacrificing himself for Blitzø. The fact that it happens on the Just Look My Way space motif, with Blitzø at ground level and seeing Stolas as the bright object to try and reach?

Blitzø has finally reached the same emotional point as Stolas and understands how deeply Stolas cares for him. It's the 'I could never move on and forget you,' deep, not the 'I have feelings but will be able to move on,' like he had thought.

It took disproving his fear that Stolas would eventually leave him, to the extent of Stolas taking Blitzø's place in death. With the one 'Goodbye Blitzø' look, Blitzø realizes the condescending villain act Stolas is putting on is to save him, and he knows Stolas doesn't expect to survive it.

I am never going to recover from the way this show does symbolic callbacks to previous episodes.

[in-the-multiverse]

Also, secret life has the most references to past seasons especially to limited life. It’s almost like the clocker family never quite left, they still called each other mom, dad, son- Bdubs held on to the gripe about not being the favourite son. Cleo gave him the title, and they all laughed knowing that Scar would be upset. Almost every episode, they acknowledged the family in one way or another

The bad boys still helped each other out. The exchange of hearts and Joel calling it in the name of bad boys. He got tricked into completing Grian’s task in the beginning, but when the entire server was red later on- he didn’t hesitate to help Grian one last time. Even death didn’t separate them. Jimmy stuck around as a guardian angel, guiding one of his boys, laughing as they did ridiculous things- just like the old days. Every now and then, they remembered

The nosy neighbours didn’t forget each other. Although their interactions were rare, when they brought it up was special. Pearl tried apologizing to him (I can’t remember for what), Bigb says he doesn’t forgive her. Just like that, Pearl brings out her big sad wet eyes “but…nosy neighbours?” and Bigb immediately softens his voice and says he was joking. All is good between them. In the finale, Pearl sees him peeking out behind a wall. A fond, familiar sight. “Always watching?” Bigb shifts away and says it back “Always watching” they go their separate ways

I’m not sure if there were references to mean gills or team ties, but those other teams stood out strongly. And there were plenty more to double life, last life, 3rd life. It’s sorta strange, but in a welcoming way, to see more and more callbacks to previous teams. In a season where a huge part of the game mechanic is keeping a secret, in a series where past alliances are usually brushed aside, people leaned over to each other and went “hey, remember when…”

[justanotherhyperfixation]

obviously: chapter 10

Wille has taken to sleeping with his phone tucked under the edge of his pillow so that if Simon calls him in the middle of the night again, he will feel it vibrate but won’t disturb Evy. This is why, when he wakes to it vibrating in the deep darkness of a January night, he doesn’t even open his eyes, just grabs it blindly, answers the call and says hoarsely, “Simon?”

“Wille, it’s Mamma.”

He props himself up slightly on one elbow and hears Evy shift in bed behind him. “What time is it?” he asks groggily.

He will remember, afterwards, another call that had come at two or three in the morning, when he was much younger, a call from one of his mother’s brothers. They’d still had a house phone, and its ringing had woken Wille up. He had sat at the top of the stairs listening to his mother cry until his father had carried him back to bed.

“Wille, älskling,” his mother says, his question ignored. “It’s - it’s Erik.”

Read the chapter on AO3.

[psychopomp-namine]

yingdu episode 2 thoughts:

for a show about time travel, it's surprising that link click went two seasons not focusing on the butterfly effect. S1 and S2 were very strict about making closed timeloops, because the overarching theme has always been: "past or future, let them be"

yingdu is the first time we actually have the butterfly effect as one of the main themes of the season

we now know from YE2 that whenever the screen shows up in black and white, there is a change in the timeline. events happened differently in a previous iteration

if we are to believe lu guang's time travel rules from S1 (which, imo, are still suspect, but whatever), then some nodes will alter the future irreversibly (like with xu shanshan) and some will not as long as the "critical event" still happens (like winning the basketball match in the earthquake arc — none of that mattered, since the earthquake will still happen)

so here's my best guess so far:

this frame shows up immediately before lu guang asks cheng xiaoshi what he's hiding. there is a distinct lack of red string

so I think cheng xiaoshi not asking about lu guang's abilities is still okay as a timeline change, because he's gonna ask them eventually, or lu guang will tell him eventually. it's a change, but a fixable one.

(edit: like when he tells him later in the vivian case)

when cheng xiaoshi doesn't ask lu guang to use his abilities on the photo, the red strings start appearing.

and of course, once they decide to actually go to bridon, it's just a whole mess

idk, I think this might be one of those "critical events" that cause a butterfly effect.

so my questions are:

did they NOT go to bridon in previous timelines? or maybe cheng xiaoshi went there before but like... in a dive... and not in the present? or it was under different circumstances? whatever the case, lu guang is clearly not happy with the change, nor was he expecting it

the timeline already changed as early as the afternoon of the anime con at least. since cheng xiaoshi didn't ask lu guang to explain his abilities -> he doesn't know what exactly lu guang can do with a photo -> he doesn't ask him to look 12h into the bridon picture. (edit: I forgot lu guang told him after the vivian case, nvm!) we've theorized that this could be because this is a future!cxs diving into the past, and there's also cheng xiaoshi with the gold eyes in the vivian case. I think this is still the case tbh, but I also want to explore another theory: there was a timeline change even earlier than this that is causing the butterfly effect. which is our actual theme for this season.

I am still not sure what exactly that change is, but it's most likely during their basketball meet-cute.

possible callback to S1E4:

then again, their conversation was interrupted because someone sent them a message about the fraud cases in bridon. so it could be liu xiao is messing with the past just as much? maybe? though I don't think a small interruption like that could make cheng xiaoshi forget to ask lu guang to use his abilities...

anyway, it's just a thought. as much as I love the idea of future!cxs messing with the past like lu guang, I also love thematic stories, and I think "(trying to fix the) butterfly effect" is an interesting contrast to "past or future, let them be" and reflects the contrasting arcs lu guang and cheng xiaoshi are going through.

but I really don't know with this show. we don't have full context, so anything could happen, really...

edit: oh I just found out that some people are interpreting the red strings as lu guang's attempts to control the timeline, which is the complete opposite of what I think lmao (to me, the strings symbolize the lack of control he actually has in the timeline — hence why he actually tries breaking them off at the end of the episode). guess we'll see in future episodes which one is correct...

[madlori]

7x06 thoughts

That was the best episode of the season and it's not even close

Kenneth Choi is Amazing, send tweet

Tim really coming in hot with the previous seasons callbacks and I LOVE IT

I'm GLAD they cut down the bachelor party nonsense because if it had been more it would have been totally out of step with the rest of the episode which was WRENCHING

Chimney Han the man that you are. You have encephalitis and you snap into paramedic mode immediately, probably saved some lives without even knowing who you are. WE ARE NOT WORTHY.

She's awful but Madge Buckley looked phenomenal in that MOB dress.

When Chimney wanted to go home he went to the Lees' house I AM NOT OKAY

I'm gonna guess it's been a few weeks since the end of 7x05 based on Buck and Tommy's comfort level with each other. They've been on other dates in the meantime.

A lot of predicted Chimney might fall victim to some kind of crime but nobody that I heard predicted this and I LOVE IT it was so...appropriate? somehow?

Okay so That Kiss

holy fuck

um

Buck is super horny for his hot firefighter boyfriend who he just called a beast and mauled in a hospital corridor and if they haven't already they are having a bunch of sex tonight

I loooooooove putting in this lighthearted moment at the end of such a wrenching and tearjerking episode.

Having Buck come out with that goofy rom com trick was somehow perfect? Eddie's smug little smirk (ha ha ha I knew already!) Hen saying "it's about time" and just ALL OF IT yes thank you

I'm somehow really happy we got some firefighting calls during the flashbacks? I've missed them, the season's been a little light on them.

10/10 NO NOTES

[teds-asso]

Honestly, I was so confused by this show in the second half. It was like no one knew which way anything was going to go. That late in the season, they shouldn't have been pulling the rug out from all of our feet in every episode, especially with this allegedly being the last season. When Ted walked into Rebecca's kitchen, I was honestly relieved because fucking finally we had an actual conclusion to one of the plotlines they'd set up and I was only marginally rooting for the ship.

I guess all the hints and insistence on the “romcom” aspect of the show and talks of soulmates and signs and t/r’s parallel past lives were all accidental

This is such a nonanswer to a perfectly valid question. Do they see how they fucked up when someone completely lays out why tedbecca was set up as romantic? In what sense was any of it *platonic*???? They’re barely even friends in season 2 and 3

[sepublic]

The Gus sequence of Luz’s nightmare in the finale messes me up because it hearkens back to Enchanting Grom Fright and how Luz didn’t conquer her fears about her mother there… And this reminder comes just after doing so with Camila no less?

Plus all of that happened in front of the school, whose reactions to Gromila weren’t shown for Luz’s narrative privacy, and they didn’t make fun of her for it thankfully; Luz did do the job none of them would’ve, and still technically succeeded!

But it does call back to Luz’s ostracizing and bullying, and this fear of public shame by her peers and even teachers who maliciously fail her (hence that art teacher from Thanks to Them and even scrapped character Caduceia), leading to moments like Luz worrying about the Tunnel of Love being too cheesy for Amity; That moment spells out that Luz was bullied directly, and still questions because of it whether she should be herself. And it’s not enough that Luz’s friends hate her in this illusion, so does all of Hexside, which DID accept her, and whom Luz just helped in the previous episode; Undermining another development from FtF!

This moment is meant to make Luz doubt her decisions and believe she’s just hurting people again, just as Grometheus did; This nightmare as a whole is a callback to Grom! Except…

Luz does conquer her fears and face them while they wear the faces of loved ones, and does realize they would never say that to her, with said loved ones and everyone else confirming it afterwards; They love her! Hell yeah.

(I appreciate String Bean’s very helpful input and advice during this moment; Specifically, existing. Funky lil thang.)

[j00d]

Octavia, Azathoth's Tears, and What It May Mean for Sinsmas

So... I'll admit, I might've been left in the oven for too long, but I have to ask:

This still of Octavia:

Doesn't this remind anyone else of Azathoth's Tears?

And how the colours in both previous pictures are similar to the colour of Octavia's power?

Granted the colors aren't all 1:1 and could be coincidental, but I can't help but think that if this is, in fact, supposed to be one of Azathoth's Tears, it means that she's holding a symbolic manifestation of, as Stolas said, "tears made of the hopes and dreams of every living thing that never came to be." Specifically... her own.

(But let me cook just a little bit more. I promise I turned the oven on broil and I'm just trying to get some nice kwispy browning on top.)

Based on the (admittedly limited) animation this clip of Octavia provides, I also believe she's singing. Here's the list of why I think that:

The framing of the animation

Octavia's mouth animations are slower than normal talking speed (speculative)

The second half of season 2 focuses on parallels and theme callbacks to the first half

Octavia's mental state last we saw her in Mastermind

The show's emphasis on incorporating musical theater language into the narrative (when emotions run too high to talk, you sing, and when emotions are too high to sing, you dance)

Viv's confirmation there's at least one song (diegetic or nondiegetic) included in every Helluva episode

I'm not 100% saying this is true, just that I think it's a decent argument to make, given what context we have.

Okay, let's assume there is an Octavia song in Sinsmas. What does singing have to do with the connection I made between the clip and Azathoth's Tears and the color of Octavia's powers?

If Octavia does get a song, it'll be about how her hopes and dreams concerning her own family are never going to exist and how she needs to let that go.

"You never loved Mother, and you don't love me. You love him."

If this quote is real and not a fabrication, then it also supports this idea due to how definitive it is. Compare it to her previous speculative tone in S2E2 when asking Loona, "Why does [Stolas] hate her more than he loves me?" The definitive nature makes me believe that she doesn't need to speculate anymore.

Regardless of whether she's actually correct or not, whether Stolas hates Stella, loves Octavia, and/or loves Blitz, she's already made up her mind about what's going on. Her letting go of this familial hope manifests as this definitive statement.

It's up in the air about how sympathetic or unsympathetic she'll be towards her father by the end of season 2, but if my theory crafting is true, we gonna get a pretty fucking huge character moment for Octavia one way or the other.

Or I need to get tf out of the oven.

Idk.

Maybe Stolas' brain is being a bitch and hurting our already hurting birdie babe.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's past 4AM, and if I don't get to bed in the next 10 seconds my fiancee will absolutely slaughter me worse than a goddamn D.H.O.R.K.S. agent.

[amelikos]

Something about the way Gibeon said he doesn't want to look at Amethio anymore and the way Crave avoids Amethio's gaze (refusal and avoidance) adding salt to Amethio's wound and highlighting his need for validation and to be seen.. which, in turn, also reframes Amethio's interactions with Friede in the first chapter in quite an interesting way since Amethio asking Friede to not look away from him is one of the first things he actually screamed at him.

Looking back at their battle in HZ005, Amethio brought up a variation of "where are you looking/don't look away from me" three times (which is quite a lot).

This was the first time. (Friede looking away briefly because Roy managed to get some help for the ship and his crew, and Amethio immediately reacting to it by asking where he is looking.)

This was the second time. (Friede looking away from the battle once again because he was concerned about Roy being in trouble.. Amethio getting irritated and pulling the "don't look away from me" line.)

And this was the third time at the end of the episode. (Every time Friede looked away from the battle, it was because he was concerned about Liko, Roy, or his crew.. people he has the duty to protect. They were in trouble because of your subordinates, Amethio-)

However, even though Friede was distracted during the battle because of outside reasons, he was actually paying attention and these scenes connect to a later episode (specifically HZ022).

This was during the episode in which Galar Fire first appeared. Liko and Roy got separated from Friede, Amethio came across Friede in the mines and they engaged in a battle. At some point during their battle, they heard a cry (which was Galar Fire's cry) and they were both distracted by it.

Amethio quickly focused back on the battle, and Friede did so as well by specifically making a callback to the line Amethio told him 17 episodes ago at the time. (And both episode 5 and episode 22 were written by the same writer btw, so the reference to this line was intentional.) Friede focusing back on the battle and saying "I won't look away."

Quick tangent on their battle, but Friede's behavior stood out to me in this episode at the time because.. usually his confrontations with Amethio were more about creating a distraction or buying time and he wasn't exactly engaging in a battle with the intention to "finish" it. Their battle at the mine was the first time I felt like Friede was partaking in the battle with the intention to see it through the end. Liko and Roy were both separated from him in the episode too. Friede heard a strange cry from a Pokemon which could spell trouble for them. Friede really could have ran away from the battle to look for them, but he didn't. Even though he knew something was happening in the mine, at that moment, he decided to prioritize his battle with Amethio and said he wasn't going to look away from him. Which felt meaningful at the time, because he remembered what Amethio said to him (despite everything that was going on, and Rayquaza's first appearance later on which surprised everyone) and used his own line back at him. It felt like Friede was acknowledging their previous encounter at Roy's island, and wanted to continue where they had left off. Being able to continue that battle meant a lot for both of them.

And now, this specific exchange also feels even more significant with the additional knowledge about Amethio's family situation and the fact that Gibeon (his grandfather) currently refuses to look at him and that Crave (his father) avoids looking at him. (I'd be curious to know how Amethio felt when Friede used his line back at him in HZ022. I wonder if he heard him say that he wouldn't look away.)

In general, I think Amethio's "don't look away from me" feels more "heavy" now. It's pretty interesting to think that he looked at Friede and decided to project his issues on him. Like, his cries of frustration got to be expressed through Friede and he had the opportunity to put into words things that he might not usually say. (I think Amethio seeks validation from adults he might perceive as an authority figure, or who aren't below him in the hierarchy. Which is why this specific attitude wouldn't have worked with characters like Hamber or Zir, because they serve a different role and function in his story. It had to be Friede, and he was the only one who could pull out these sides out of him.)

Amethio was transferring that need for validation and to be seen onto Friede. Friede gave him that too, since he actually properly looked at him during their battles. Which, to me, also gains additional layers to it now, since we know Crave was Friede's former superior and someone who helped him become the person he is currently.. Crave seemingly doesn't approve of Amethio being involved in the Explorers (he doesn't want him to get involved with the Rakurium), and Friede stood as a "wall" in front of Amethio in the first chapter and stopped him from going too far and doing irreparable things while keeping an eye on him.. Unknowingly, Friede was looking at Amethio while Crave couldn't. Just like how Lucca entrusted Liko to him.