#its a comedy episode obviously

[grimbeak]

i think there should be a nv bonus episode where cecil keeps getting killed every time he resurrects for some unknown reason and who has to solve the mystery? the two most cecil-obsessed people possible. earl and kevin.

[bookshelfdreams]

.

[dashiellqvverty]

disclaimer that OBVIOUSLY there are still people talking and posting about it that im just not seeing BUT i think its really funny that season 2 of ofmd sucked so bad that everyone just stopped talking about the show forever

[oh-no-its-bird]

Special edition Christmas fic where genin aged team 7 decide hatch their newest plot to see Kakashi's face: using mistletoe

Because if they trap him under it with someone, he'll surely have to take his mask off to give them a kiss! ...Right?

(Sasuke thinks this is fucking stupid)

The entire thing is just a fucking slapstick comedy as Kakashi goes "what's the funniest way I can go along with this." And decides he will in fact lower his mask and give a kiss to everyone the kids corner him with. But only when they look away / blink / their view is obstructed

The kids are chasing him around with a string on a stick w mistletoe tied to the end of it, and every time they miss seeing the kiss (and his face) hey scream even louder

Reactions range from "???!?????!?!??????" (Iruka) to straight up passing out (Gai) to laughing hysterically with a bright red face (Kurenai) to just sort of freezing up like a deer in headlights (Asuma)

Kakashi, having way too much fun, makes a shadow clone to pull the Sukea thing again. And the kids get "Sukea" on board, thinking he can take a photo the second Kakashi pulls his mask down for a smooch. Kakashi has WAY too much fun, essentially role-playing with himself and swooning dramatically. Then, at the end, Sukea goes, "Oh no the camera's memory card is gone, Kakashi must have stolen it :((" and the kids all scream in agony

They try to get him to describe Kakashi's face and Sukea gets all coy and goes "umm... its kind of... indescribable?"

(They get another person to try to snap a photo of him but they turn out to be a freezer so they don't take the picture. When the kids harass them ab it they just giggle a little maniacally ab his face)

This does escalate to doing this shit w enemy nin btw. Funniest option is obviously Tobi but I'm also raising u a really freaked the fuck out Itachi looking like an angry, surprised cat after Kakashi gives him a peck on the cheek (Sasuke is gonna fucking KILL HIMSELF)

Obito gets the full makeout session bc its funniest.

He shows up looking for a dramatic fight but like halfway through his villain speech, team 7 dangles the mistletoe over him, and he's so thrown off guard he just kinda "???? excuse me I'm kind of in the middle of—"

Kakashi, who is a) in too deep to stop the bit now, and b) recognizes a good way to throw off an enemy, fucking launches himself at him, pushes Tobi's mask up just enough to kiss, and starts to make out w him

His back is turned to the kids and they're all scrambling to try to catch a single glimpse, but he keeps his back to them as they scream and run around (thus prolonging the kiss)

Kakashi is totally checked out of the actual kiss, this is all fun and games to him. Obito is having a fucking religious experience wrapped in a manic episode flavored internal breakdown topped off with a very loud high pitched kettle noise that may or may not be confined to his brain

This lasts for like a solid minute before Kakashi releases him and readjust his mask, pats him on the shoulder and goes "sorry about that teehee"

Obito just kinda 🧍‍♀️ and they stare at eachother for another solid minute as team 7 screams and cries and throws up in the bg

Kakashi, seeing the opportunity to leave and avoid what was for sure going to be a potentially devistating fight: "cool. So, anyways. Bye lmao." And runs for it w his students

Obito is left tanding still as a statue in the middle of the clearing. After like 20 seconds alone he starts hyperventilating.

Merry Christmas everybody 👍

[matmiraculous]

Encanto TV Show

So. I had Ideas. I want to know peoples thoughts before I actually start writing. (Ignore the fact that i'm almost 4 years late to the fandom)

Season 1

1 - Pilot: The Family Madrigal (Whole Fam Feat: Mirabel)   Mirabel helps the family adjust to healthier habits in the early days after Casita is rebuilt, gently guiding them into a new chapter of life together. 2 - A Room of Ones Own (Mirabel)   Mirabel feels like the family is avoiding her and gets really upset and lonely, only for the family and Casita to reveal that they made her her own room! 3 - Luisa Lets Go (Luisa)   After accidentally breaking something during a vulnerable moment, Luisa realizes she still ties her worth to being strong and learns what it means to rest. 4 - Camilo Cares To Much (Camilo)   Camilo shapeshifts nonstop to please everyone, but when a young fan copies him a little too well, he starts to unravel. 5 - Of Rats and Men (Bruno and Julieta)   When a strange illness spreads in town, Bruno’s rats are unfairly blamed. He and Julieta team up to solve the mystery, healing a bit of Bruno’s reputation. 6 - Antonios Big Adventure (Antonio)   Antonio discovers a creature that can’t speak to him, forcing him to explore other ways of understanding, and learning that connection takes more than magic. 7 - Game Night (Madrigal 3rd Gen + Mariano)   The Madrigal kids (plus Mariano) have a game night that quickly devolves into chaos, competition, and comedy, before ending in giggles and heartfelt bonding. 8 - Flashback 1 (Madrigal 2nd Gen as Teens)   Teenage Julieta, Pepa, Bruno, Félix, and Agustín navigate early gifts, clumsy romance, and Alma’s rising expectations during the miracle’s first years. 9 - Guys Night (Agustin, Felix, and Bruno)   Félix and Agustín drag Bruno out for a night in town, challenging the village to treat him better while Bruno learns how to loosen up and be seen again.

10 - Power Swap (Whole Fam)

   The family wakes up with their gifts completely shuffled. Cue hilarious chaos, instant regrets, and a whole new respect for each other’s daily struggles. 11 - An Artists Touch (Isabela and Mirabel)   Mirabel and Isabela try to collaborate on a mural, but their wildly different creative styles clash until they find a way to blend beauty and mess into something uniquely theirs. 12 - Pranksters (Mirabel and Camilo Feat: Whole Fam)   Mirabel and Camilo start a petty prank war that escalates into full family participation where everyone picks a side. 13 - Flashback 2 (Madrigal 3rd Gen. Pre Camilo and Mirabels Door ceremonies)   A goofy happy episode about the Madrigal grandkids before Camilo and Mirabel both ahd their gift ceremonies. 14 - Still Abuela (Abuela Alma)   As the village moves forward and relies less on her, Alma questions her place in the family, until Mirabel reminds her she’s still their light, even without the candle. 15 - Bedtime with Bruno (Antonio and Bruno)   Bruno tells Antonio a bedtime story, and one by one the other kids gather to listen. Bruno feels like a part of the family finally. 16 - The Babysitters (Mirabel and Camilo)   Mirabel and Camilo babysit a group of chaotic village kids and clash hard on parenting styles, until they learn that fun and structure can coexist. 17 - La Ratonovela (Rat Telenovela Feat:Bruno and Dolores)   Bruno narrates one of his full-on dramatic rat telenovelas in person for once while Dolores keeps interrupting with ideas and questions. 18 - Hearing Hearts (Mariano +Madrigal 3rd Gen)   Mariano tries to plan a romantic surprise for Dolores, while navigating the absolute nightmare of dating someone who can hear literally everything. 19 - Flashback 3 (Pepa Feat: Newborn Antonio)   The story of Pepa’s pregnancy and the day Antonio was born. Its chaos obviously. 20 - Birthday (Madrigal Triplets)   The triplets celebrate their first birthday together since Bruno returned, unlocking sweet childhood memories, unresolved guilt, and the quiet power of forgiveness.

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 5

Part 5 - Translating humor and wordplay

Translating jokes from one language to another can be difficult, especially when the humor revolves around wordplay that's only apparent in the original language. Luckily for a comedy series like SxF, most of the humor relies on concepts that are universal to all languages, but there are the occasional jokes that require creative translation in order to get the same effect in English. What I think is the most well-known example of this kind of joke in SxF is from chapter 26, where Yuri tells Anya that "knowledge is power" during their tutoring session.

The Japanese phrase for this is 知は力 ("chi wa chikara"). Anya mishears this as ちわわぢから ("chiwawa jikara"), which means "chihuahua power," which is why we see the image of a muscular chihuahua in her thoughts. This results in Yuri calling her チワワ娘 ("chihuahua girl") from then on. Obviously this joke would be lost if translated directly, so Casey Loe, the official English translator for the SxF manga, got creative with making it work in English. He cleverly utilizes the English expression, "the whole enchilada," which sounds enough like "swole chihuahua" for Anya to believably mistake the two. This translation also makes it so that Yuri calling Anya "chihuahua girl" later on makes sense.

But unfortunately, because a series can have different companies working on the localization of its anime versus its manga, inconsistencies between the two often come up. In this case, the anime team translated this joke completely differently, and less effectively in my opinion. You can see from the below screenshots that they had Yuri use the word "unleash," which then led to Anya associating a (muscular) dog without a leash as powerful (?) Again, this translation was a stretch in my opinion and not as good as the manga version. This also makes it so that translating Yuri's nickname for Anya as "chihuahua girl" won't make sense.

But what's interesting is that, many months and episodes later in season 2, they stayed consistent with that translation and had Yuri call Anya "stupid leash girl" in episode 28.

Despite my dislike for this translation, I have to give them kudos for remembering it all that time later and not just directly translating it as "chihuahua girl." Though it makes me wonder if they'll stay consistent in season 3 where Yuri will be referring to Anya as "chihuahua girl" once again.

A further complication is that, not only do these kinds of inconsistencies exist between the anime and manga translations, but they also exist between the different streaming services that stream SxF with English subtitles throughout the world. I only have access to the subtitled version from Hulu, which is where my screenshots are from, and I think other streaming services in the US like Crunchyroll, Amazon, Netflix, etc, use the exact same subtitles. So when I refer to "the Hulu subtitles" throughout this post, I mean other major US streaming services too. However, I'm not totally sure if they all do share the same subtitle script, so if anyone who has these services could confirm, that would be great! However, @tare-anime informed me that Muse Asia's English subtitles for SxF are completely different! For example, they translated the above joke more closely to the original, by using the phrase "puppy power" and keeping Yuri's nickname for Anya as "chihuahua girl."

There are further differences with Muse Asia's translation as well, for example, they directly translate Anya's names for Loid and Yor, "chichi" and "haha," as "Father" and "Mother" instead of "Papa" and "Mama."

(thanks again to Tare for the Muse Asia screenshots!) This is different, not only compared to the Hulu subtitles, but also the official English manga as well, both of which have Anya consistently use "Papa" and "Mama."

Tare also let me know that Disney Plus in Asia, another service that streams SxF, has yet another version of the English subtitles! And these are only the subtitled versions for the US and Asia - if SxF is streamed with English subtitles in other countries, I wonder if those are different as well. That means there's at least 3-4 different English subtitle scripts for SxF, with different ways of translating certain things, like what I described above. This could make things confusing for someone without any knowledge of Japanese who reads the English version of the manga and watches the subtitled version of the anime on one or more streaming services...if they read the first few volumes of the manga with the "swole chihuahua" translation, then watch season 2 of the anime, they're gonna be confused about why Yuri calls Anya "stupid leash girl." There's other more minor inconsistencies too, like how the Hulu subtitles have Yor call Anya "Miss Anya" all the time, but the manga doesn't.

I'm sure there's some licensing reasons why there isn't one official English subtitle script that all the streaming services can use, and why they don't consult the manga translations, especially for the more difficult-to-translate parts. It seems like wasted effort for so many official English translations to exist for the same thing.

But anyway, back to the translations of jokes in SxF, another one that stood out to me occurred in chapter 23. During the scene where Loid is asking Anya about a name for Bond, he explains how dogs have trouble discerning the sounds of consonants. The phrase he uses for this is 子音の聞き分け("shiin no kiki wake"), which means "distinguishing consonants," with "shiin" meaning "consonant." However, there's another word "shiin" with the kanji 死因 that means "cause of death." This is what Yor thinks he means - 死因の聞き分け ("shiin no kiki wake"), which means "determining the cause of death." So in her thoughts, she imagines asking Bond if he prefers death by blood loss (失血死) or by being crushed (圧死), and when he shakes his head at both, she says "you're not good at these distinctions, are you?"

This is a difficult joke to translate, so Casey got a bit loose by having Loid use the word "plosives" instead of "consonants," and then having Yor mishear it as "explosives." He then changed up Yor's dialogue by having her say that Bond prefers C-4 explosions over other methods of death.

While I don't think the translation of this joke worked as well as the previous one (I feel like Yor wouldn't know about C-4 explosions?) I couldn't come up with anything better myself, lol. It just goes to show how translating things as closely to the original as possible isn't always the best choice…but oddly, that's what the Hulu subtitles did! For some reason they opted not to even attempt to rework this joke for English, and kept both Loid and Yor's dialogue as exact translations. This results in an exchange that makes no sense and will leave people wondering how Yor could mistake Loid's "can't tell consonants apart" as "can't tell causes of death apart."

However, there are some cases where the wordplay works similar enough in both Japanese and English that the joke can be translated without too much modification. An example of this is in chapter 59 where Becky asks Yor how she was able to "get" Loid…"pierce his heart" as she puts it. Yor thinks she means this literally, to which she replies that she wouldn't hurt Loid.

The Japanese version is very similar, with Becky using the verb 射止める("itomeru") which means "to shoot down" (with an arrow). However, it has a figurative meaning too, which is "to win" as in "win someone's heart." Yor thinks Becky means the literal meaning of shooting down, so she says that she wouldn't shoot Loid and that she doesn't even use a bow and arrows.

The Hulu subtitles translate it more or less directly, having Becky say "shoot an arrow through his heart" and keeping Yor's "I don't use a bow and arrows" that the manga omitted. Rare case where I think the anime translation worked better than the manga!

In the case of this joke, the concept of "shooting someone's heart" to mean "winning someone's heart" is universal in both English and Japanese, so little reworking was needed. This also helped keep consistency with Yor's tendency to associate otherwise benign concepts with violence due to the nature of her work.

I'll wrap up this post with what I think is the most commendable translation of a joke so far in the manga: how Casey translated the names of the guest characters at the ski resort in chapter 94.

Their names are puns in Japanese as well, and Annie over on Twitter already did a great breakdown of how each of the wordplay in their names was translated, so definitely check out that thread here. Since this chapter has yet to be animated, I'm really curious how the anime translators will handle this…since it seems like they don't reference the manga, they'll probably either translate the names literally or come up with their own pun names, and either will unfortunately lead to the same kind of inconsistencies between the anime and manga translations that I touched on earlier.

To summarize, humor can be a very culture/language specific thing, so it's up to the translator to make sure the same feeling is conveyed in their translation even if they have to essentially make up their own jokes. With that said, it's a shame that there isn't collaboration between the translators of the anime and manga to ensure consistent translations across the franchise. So I hope this post helped shed light, not just on how some of the jokes in SxF were conveyed in Japanese, but also on why some things in the English version of SxF seem inconsistent between the anime and manga.

Continue to Part 6 ->

<- Return to Part 4

[cecilysass]

Happy Heart (-Shaped Hail) Day! Fic Recs for Rain King for Valentine's Day (or Any Time)

It's funny how in the fandom circles I tend to spend time in now, Rain King seems to be a pretty beloved episode: super shippy, romantic comedy, multiple fanfic tropes made canon.

When it aired, the online fandom's opinion of this episode was pretty mixed. There was a large contingent of fans who really hated it. (I remember this because I am 4,000 years old.) Season 6 had already been perceived as being too light in tone, and we'd already come off of a run of Triangle, Dreamland I and II, and How the Ghosts Stole Christmas. There was a lot of anxiety about the move to LA killing the show's dark and angsty feel.

Me, I always liked Rain King (and Triangle, and Dreamland I and II, and How the Ghosts Stole Christmas). And while I can identify the tone change in season 6, I don't hate it, nor do I think that the show really loses its darkness and angstiness (a lot comes back in the second half of the season). I'm also not someone who believes comedy is a de facto more stupid or less substantial genre than drama or suspense, so I think that's part of it.

Rain King has generated so, so much fanfic, and most specifically fanfic that zeroes in on this little fun fact: THEY CANONICALLY SHARE A MOTEL ROOM BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ONE ROOM. Obviously many of the fics I'm recommending below are based on that premise. So here are my Valentine's Day recs based on Rain King. (Even though I think it's not actually set at Valentine's? Because the cold open happens months earlier? There's some kind of timeline hijinks, idk.) But anyway, it's the clearest Valentine's episode we have, so happy Valentine's Day.

Free Merlot at the Cool View Motor Court by Sarie_Fairy @sarie-fairy Scully tries a little experiment with Mulder after the reunion that gets rapidly out of hand. This is smutty fun—the kind of high end sexy times this author is really known for. Dating Kings and Queens - Baroness_Blixen @baronessblixen A pure romantic comedy style plot variation on the ending of Rain King. The agents discuss the last time they've been on a date. Turns out it HASN’T been so long for Scully. This is just so charming. 

Kroner by DM When Mulder finds out about the “flicked switch speech,” he deals with it in a flirty, somewhat less sentimental way that feels very in character to me. I like a fic with dialogue that feels like it goes a little unexpected.

No Big Deal by dreamingofscully @dreamingofscully Scully offers to help Mulder sleep in the hotel. This is UST, but deliiiiiiightfully so, and heavy on the complex feelings.

Can’t Fight This Feeling by mldrgrl  @mldrgrl A sweet and more subtle little feelings reveal after Rain King by an author who does this exact thing well. Also there is slow dancing to 80s music.

Time Enough At Last - baylorrific Absolute textbook classic one room trope, but it stands out for me because I like how it focuses on their mutual discomfort. They’re both so awkward here, even though it’s Mulder POV. I also like how the classic Twilight Zone episode Time Enough At Last is in conversation with what’s happening with the MSR.

There’s No Place Like Kroner - MonikaFileFan @monikafilefan You know what would make a “there’s only one room” Rain King fic extra fun? DIANA. Okay, okay, I admit I wrote this prompt for the exchange, lol, so of course I think it sounds fun. But Monika wrote the actual fic, and you don’t want to miss it.

Pillow Talk - Alelou This is a short piece about a chatty Mulder very carefully putting out feelers in the motel room after the reunion. Sweet and in character.

Land That I Heard Of Once in A Lullabye - leiascully @leiascully In Kroner’s tiny airport, Scully takes stock of where they’ve come from and where they’re going. I love this. It feels especially spot on character-wise for season 6.

All that Lights Upon Us - wonderland @amplifyme This is a very different kind of Rain King fic, part of a series, although it can be read alone. During the events of Rain King they share a first kiss, but this fic is about their conversations afterwards (Mulder and Scully, as well as Mulder and Maggie). Gentle affection, and the process of taking little steps towards one another.

On the Flicking of Switches - SisterSpooky1013 @sisterspooky1013 Mulder initiates an awkward conversation in the motel room after the reunion. SisterSpooky1013 always has her characterization shit together, but I think this is an especially compelling character sketch of season 6 Scully.

Break in the Weather - ATTHS_TWICE @atths--twice Mulder and Scully can’t fly out another night in Kroner, so they kill time by going to a drive-in movie. Honestly, this is just adorable.

Still Raining - Donna When Sheila sends them both a letter a few months later, she alludes to what Scully told her in the bathroom. This raises questions for Mulder.

Stop Me - Gina Rain A little seduction by Mulder in the Kroner motel room. It starts with her feet, if that’s your thing. But it’s not exclusively about feet, if that isn’t lol.

They're SOOOOO MANY great Rain King fics, so drop any I missed in the comments! And if you want to read my Valentine's Day recs last year based on Milagro, they're here.

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 20th April ✨

Had such a busy week in the best way. So nice to see friends and listen to good audio drama!

🌲 @hellofromthehallowoods (187) I loveeeed the introduction of house break-in to the long list of hallowoods horror tropes. I had forgotten Diggory’s plan so the threat felt VERY real. Something about Valerie reaching for a bat made my heart hurt. I don’t think this is the first episode to have Valerie and Mrs Wicker both feature heavily and does it set of my mother issues?? Yes! I love how this show explores motherhood and associated imperfections. Forever hoping Val and KA will do the right thing. We’ll see… 

🧳 Travelling Light @monstrousproductions (43) !!!! Jealous Traveller is one of my favourite Traveller moods!! As someone who struggled a lot with jealousy in my youth, it is SO fun to experience this fictional ridiculousness as some kind of elder who’s done The Work. I also loooove the symbiotic BIG lad the other recording was about. Sweet, big creatures are when sci-fi is at its best and this is no different!! 

💍 @forgedbondspod (14) I don’t trust Zeus (obviously) and I think he’s more manipulative than he lets on. Hopefully this new deal works out for Hera!! 

🔎 @224bbaker (19) NOW THEN. First of all, I want to say a huge congrats to the co-creators on their wedding! Being married is so much fun, I wish you nothing but health and happiness!! 

I listened to this episode twice this week because I adore it so much and I’m just going to have to list my favourite points so bear with me (it is a long list): 

I love how the team manage to do physical comedy in an audio format. It is truly unparalleled!! Hampton shouting ‘branch!’ So we can imagine a funny run-duck-run situation. Hampton’s voice doing a glissando as the only indicator that this tiny man has been lifted from the floor in a hug. 

I actually wanted to cry when I realised that the reason they were going to crack the case was because each of the trio held an important clue. They’ve spent so much time apart this season, and I’m a soppy sod who loves it when the gang is back together. 

The fucking focket. (God, I hate even typing it)

Um, Archie Cartwright riding a stallion but like . . .  the horse!! My god. And he blew up the Café! What a man! 

I can’t even express how PERFECT that H+W scene is. My GOD.

I said before that Tom Crowley is possibly my fave Watson ever and I stand by it. All that emotion, all that trauma, all that love, always simmering away and just-restrained. It’s perfect to me. Literally perfect. 

And, congratulations to the happy couple 🤭 The way they laugh together - love is real, you guys!! It’s in this podcast!!!!

LOTTIE IS WATSON’S WIFE !!!!!!!!! YES!!!! AMAZING!!!!!! I pulled the biggest shock/shit-eating grin at that reveal. LOVE THIS FOR US. Love this for Madge, specifically. More Beth Eyre in S3 pls pls pls and thank you!!! 

I love Hampton getting his chance to speak and I loved the perfect last use of ‘you thick knob’ this season. Anyway, thank you 224B team for another WONDERFUL season. You’ve kept me laughing through an objectively rough winter and I can’t thank you enough for that!! 

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Related to your previous posts about the Love Square, how long do you think was too long, waiting for a reveal? Because 5, now 6 seasons, over a span of ten years, I think it's reasonable to say that's too long to try and keep the hype train chugging, but was there a specific point you feel the reveal should have happened, or alternatively, a point of no return where you realized it never would?

While I wish the square was revealed by now, the issue with the square reveal is not that they've drawn it out too long. The issue is that they've given the secret identities too much narrative weight for them to still be a thing. Generally speaking, you don't want to make a secret like this a major focus of your long running show if you aren't planning to address the secret until the bitter end. That's not satisfying for your audience.

There are lots of well-loved stories that draw out a reveal for absurdly long periods of time, but those stories make the wait work by keeping the stakes minor. In these stories, the secret is limited to being a source of comedy or minor mishaps. When you do that, you keep the secret from feeling like a ticking time bomb that needs to be addressed.

A great example is the fact that Clark Kent is Superman. In every version of that story, the audience wants someone in the cast to learn the secret, but so long as the secret isn't hurting anyone, there's no sense of urgency to the reveal. It will happen when it happens and, in the meantime, we can enjoy the shenanigans that come with secret identities. Spy X Family is another solid example. That show is full of crazy secrets, but it's told in a way where the secrets aren't hurting anyone so it doesn't feel like reveals need to happen for the story to be satisfying. A reveal might actually be a bad thing there because reveals would either end the show or dramatically alter it since its main focus is on the secrets leading to insane scenarios.

Miraculous has obviously not gone those routes. The secret identities aren't a major focus of most episodes and the lack of an identity reveal has caused some major problems for our characters. That means that the reveal has too much narrative weight for the writers to draw it out for seasons on end. The biggest example of the secrets causing problems was the season four final where Marinette only lost because there hadn't been an identity reveal. Season four also ends with Ladybug promising to trust Chat Noir more and with Adrien fully aware that Ladybug only lost the miraculous because Felix was impersonating him. Those are some bold moves to make if you're not going to follow them up with a reveal in the next season. Way too much narrative weight for a setup with no payoff!

For me, a reasonable time frame for season four's ending to payoff was the first few episodes of season five. By the time we reached Illusion, I was no longer excited for the reveal because we were too far from the setup for the payoff to work. By the time we got the end of Kwami's Choice, I gave up on the reveal being even remotely satisfying. I'm not totally sure when I fully gave up on the reveal being in season five because I stopped caring about anything after Derision. I do remember thinking that it would happen before the final fight because the final fight wouldn't be satisfying if it didn't include Adrien and Gabriel revealing and it's hard to do that while keeping Marinette in the dark.

In other words, if there was a time to do a reveal, season five was it. It's basically the only way to tell a good story while honoring season four's ending. If Ladybug and Chat Noir can go through that and still decide to keep identities a secret, then what needs to happen to make a reveal worth it? I've got no idea and that means that I can't get invested in the story anymore. It's officially jumped the shark.

Another issue is the fact that they keep giving other characters identity reveals, massively cheapening the love square reveal. I've mentioned before that I can justify Ladybug and Chat Noir keeping their identities a secret pretty easily, but that justification only works if the rules are applied to the whole crew and they haven't been. If Alya can know Ladybug's identity even though the supervillains know that Alya was an active hero, then no identity reveal is off the table. The fact that Alya was revealed to the villains three times (Rena Rouge, Rena Furtive, and Scarabella) without serious long-term consequences makes it impossible to see the love square reveal as a bad thing. Two of those reveals happened after she knew Marinette's identity!!!

Of course, it's not just Alya who knows. At this point, half of Paris knows that Marinette is Ladybug and there have been a handful of other reveals that seemed to go fine, so what's holding our heroes back outside of the hand of the author? I can't think of a single thing. The fact that Nathalie, Felix, and Gabriel all got to know before Adrien is insulting especially since none of those reveals were treated as bad things. Gabriel learning was the closest thing to a Ladybug reveal going wrong, but it was just used to add lackluster hype to the final fight so it's hard to view it as meaningfully bad.

[thefirstknife]

Feeling abnormal about Echoes continues. Apologies for the scrunchy screenshots, it's from a recording. Immediately starts with Saint and Osiris killing me on the spot:

A little bit of comedy to ease on the crying:

Help. Osiris obviously doesn't want to do this because like. He's seen this before and it made him very unwell. Seeing Saint's dead body is very clearly not something he wants to experience again, but Failsafe says that Saint needs him so he goes anyway. Yippee.

Then the answer to my question. Nessus basically holds an archive for the Vex which includes the archives from the Forest, which is where we're going. I expected something that doesn't require lengthy explanations about how we're getting to the Forest. Saint even helpfully asks:

Some more info:

This is a really neat explanation that migth allow us to revisit this some time without having to go through the hoops of complicated shenanigans with what happened to the original Forest (and Mercury). But also it does leave me with the feeling that they may just never give us that answer. This will take me a while to process and come to terms with.

More interactions to kill us:

And then the big room. I'll put it under read more because damn:

From above where you enter:

It's a whole new area. It's absolutely bizarrely filled with a lot of details. There's four gates to the Forest, each designed differently. Spent a long time wandering around trying to figure stuff out and it's quite interesting. Makes me feel like we will use this area for something again because this level of brand new designs only being used one would be very strange.

So this one without the actual blue barrier:

This is the "Nessus" gate. When you gate closer, you can see the new plants from this episode and stuff. It's also used at the end of the mission to leave to the core of Nessus. The other three gates have the barriers and they later open, though we can only enter one of them. The one from behind that's basically the last you can actually see... Is Europa:

The snow? The ice crystals? The blue ice streaks? This is completely new. It looks like a gate leading to Europa. When it opens later, the enemies that come out of here are the normal Vex, which you can also see on Europa. I'm saying that because other gates have Vex associated with what the gate looks like. This is unhinging me. What does this mean. It can't just be a random thing they made to use once. There's no way. Bro...

And then there's this one which is the one we use to get to Saint's tomb; it's a gate leading to the future:

VERY interested in the enemies that come out of there. Obviously Descendants aka future Vex, but that also includes WYVERNS. Which are the first Descendant Wyverns we've ever seen:

And there's this one which I couldn't originally place; it looks too similar to a lot of other stuff, including Nessus itself, but I thought it might be Black Garden or Venus. Turns out? Black Garden. When you fight in the center later, Sol Divisive Vex come out of that gate.

The Europa and Black Garden gates fully open when you start the fight and they let the Vex out; as I said, normal ones from Europa and Sol Divisive from the Garden. Then when they're cleared, the future gate opens too and there come Descendants. The other two gates remain open but you can't access them; there's a firewall. Let me in.

In the future gate, there's the worn down corridor and then directly after it is the tomb.

And then the tomb.

I highly recommend doing this yourself or checking out a playthrough for all the lines because I can't feasibly summarise it all. Osiris and Saint show up and Saint interacts with the body, then experiences its memories and finally realises that every Saint is equally the same Saint. He also gets the information on how to find the Conductor. But before that we're treated to emotional damage about Saint and Osiris. Primarily Osiris' incredible worry and also trauma which more or less sends him crying which is fine and okay (lie). Like it's not actually sobbing on screen, but it's very much implied in how he moves and the way lines are delivered.

Okay I guess! How about we all jump into lava! Just to make it clear, Saint's last thoughts before he died were of Osiris. And in Immolant, when Osiris thought he would die, his last thoughts were of Saint.

But there is one where Osiris finds happiness. He finds a time away from strife. He finds Saint—a dream of warm serenity. The peace to his purpose. With Saint, there is a future that could have been enough.

So we're all jumping into lava, right?

Outside we fight Agioktis, except this time it's "Archived Mind" aka the archive of the Martyr Mind, the Vex that killed Saint originally.

Then we move on into the planetary core which reveals... certainly a sight. Of something that looks like an alien civilisation, with like a garden and also a HUGE pyramid inside of a artificially made Vex crater. And that's inside of Nessus. And now we know what they meant in the showcase when they said we'll be exploring an ancient civilisation.

I am unhinged. We don't even get to see more because the cutscene starts when you move forward and then we get the beautiful cliffhanger that will make me the most normal Destiny fan for the next 3 weeks.

Maya explains that she's here because we all suck apparently and she wants to fix the world by using Vex radiolaria to essentially convert everyone and everything into a "better" form. She's having a normal one.

Radio message is more or less a recap on all Veil Logs for people who didn't listen to them and the lore page, which randomly now isn't on Ishtar yet even though all others were available right away is about... well. Maya and Chioma living together in the Vex network peacefully and lovingly until the page break and we see the Conductor experimenting by doing open surgery on Exo Chioma. Very normal. very fine. But I guess now we know what that Exo thing from the trailers was.

Now we have to wait 3 weeks.

[captainventi]

Stars On Ice

The new season of Stars on Ice, a hit reality show where celebrities learn to skate alongside professional figure skaters, kicks off! Fateful encounters, first steps on the ice, grueling training sessions, and dazzling performances await the star-studded participants. And, of course, their main goal is to make an unforgettable first impression.

Episode 1. APT. (Rosé, Bruno Mars)

Pairing: celebrity!Caleb x figure skater!MC

Summary: An Olympic figure skater reunites with her childhood friend, now a popular baseball player, on the ice for a routine that turns unexpectedly personal, as they navigate old memories and unspoken feelings.

CW: figure skating!au, friendship, fluff and a little bit of awkwardness

Notes: this is one of the first episodes of the planned oneshot series that I hope I eventually finish. Post with all episodes (as soon as I write them) here. Caleb header from pinterest, dividers by @/saradika_graphics

One of my friends, a pair skater, once told me she spent some time skating with her ex — and that was a whole experience in itself. But honestly, I think my own story might just top hers now. How would you feel skating with the guy who stole your first awkward kiss during a game of spin the bottle? And even better — skating a routine about spin the bottle? Sounds like ready-made material for a stand-up show, doesn't it?

The main culprit clearly enjoys the joke that's gotten way out of hand. No, of course, he hasn’t gone blabbing to anyone about that embarrassing episode of my life — he’s way too good of a guy for that. For everyone else, we’re just two old friends performing a light, funny routine that’s a nostalgic nod to our good old sports college days. But he definitely loves smirking at me every chance he gets, making it very clear that the North remembers.

I honestly don't know if the producers of Stars on Ice, who paired me up with a popular baseball player, were aware that he actually used to be my next-door neighbor and my college buddy. Maybe they just figured we'd look good together and hoped for some Lady and the Tramp vibes — the graceful figure skater and the laid-back boy-next-door with a bat. Well, if that's the case, Caleb and I smashed those stereotypes right on our very first day: we ran into each other in the locker room and immediately broke into our college anthem — and then its much more inappropriate parody version. After our first practice, when he dragged me to a coffee shop suspiciously similar to the one by our main campus building, we were already reminiscing about the good old days, safely away from the all-seeing cameras.

That's when the infamous story resurfaced.

And, well... it was technically my fault. I mean, nobody made me say it. I just blurted it out, staring at his almost unchanged features I'd once known like the back of my hand:

“You know, I’ll lose it if the producers try to push any romantic stuff on us. I mean, come on, nothing’s gonna top that one spin the bottle disaster.”

“Well, at least none of the other pairs can brag about such a unique experience, right?” he smirked.

And he wasn’t wrong. That kind of comedy could only ever happen to us.

Somehow, it got to the point where we’re now skating to APT. — two young, goofy idiots in almost matching t-shirts and leather jackets. No sexy undertones, obviously. Purely brotherly. I mean, even our first kiss was purely brotherly... in its own deeply memorable way.

Caleb looks at me with that mischievous glint in his eyes, holding my hand as I lead him into the dance, silently asking, What else have you got, pipsqueak? How else are you gonna surprise me? And I deliver — maybe not surprising exactly him (we've been rehearsing this for three weeks, after all), but definitely surprising the audience: I leap onto him, and he instantly catches me, spinning around. It takes a lot of trust to attempt a lift like that with a rookie, and honestly, with anyone else, I probably wouldn't have dared. But this is Caleb — the same Caleb who never failed a trust fall test when we were kids, the same Caleb who always caught me whenever I crashed backward into him. It feels like catching me and carrying me around is as natural to him as breathing, smiling, or swinging a bat.

“Good job, pips,” he manages to whisper in my ear — how many times have I told him not to? He'll lose his breath just like that — but hey, he's not used to rhythmic sports, after all.

Naturally, he loses the beat a little, and I scramble to cover for him, improvising instead of doing our planned synchronized twizzles. I catch a flash of surprise in his eyes, but he immediately goes with it. He trusts me, too. And I know I need to learn to be a real partner — not just a solo skater anymore.

Things are different now. We have each other, and that changes everything.

"Don't do that during a program again," I tell him backstage as I hand him a water bottle — I’m dying of thirst myself after skating. "I get that emotions run high during a performance, but this isn’t a baseball game where you can just shout your thoughts right after a good pitch."

"Okay, okay, I won't," he says, giving me these big, apologetic puppy eyes. "It's just... you nailed that jump so perfectly, I couldn't help it. You're my little champ, how am I supposed to keep that in?"

And that casual "my" — you're my little champ — hits me like a bat to the back of the head. My? Since when? Who decided that I somehow belonged to him?

But I choose not to make a big deal out of it. Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, nothing more.

Maybe I’m just overthinking things.

Maybe.

[stephenleasheppard]

Murderbot adaptation thoughts and spoilerous predictions maybe?

So I have thoughts about Murderbot, a show I subscribed to Apple TV+ to watch, as an adaptation of The Murderbot Diaries, a book series I own in its entirety, have gifted a copy of to another, and have read through about six or seven times. These thoughts necessarily delve into elements of the show that have not aired yet but have appeared in trailers, and which if true are probably spoilery. Spoilerous. Whatever. Seeing as how episode 3 is I believe going live in, like... an hour as of me posting this? (Turns out "Friday, May 23rd" actually means "Thursday, May 22nd at 9 PM EDT" which itself means "6 PM PDT"), I'm going to put them down in a public medium behind a cut before it airs so that I can gloat if I'm right or, I dunno, get roasted if I'm wrong.

Adaptations necessarily change details of their source material to fit the new medium. The Bourne Identity, spy thriller novel about an ex-special-forces operative and university professor brainwashed into thinking he's a government assassin with amnesia as part of a secret government plot to kill real-life terrorist Carlos the Jackal, was adapted into a film about a real government assassin with actual amnesia escaping his government handlers, for example. That is a hell of a change. Murderbot hasn't gone that far yet, but it has changed a bunch of stuff.

For example, Drs. Overse and Volescu are gone. Dr. Mensah is having her panic attacks four books early, and everyone is slightly stupider and less professional. There is a comedy love triangle that's new. Although I would like the ideal, perfect adaptation of the books, I think all these changes are necessary and, if I'm right about something, potentially very clever.

The PresAux crew as of All Systems Red is big and as of that book, not super fleshed out as people. A TV cast of SecUnit, Mensah, Bharadwaj, Arada, Overse, Pin-Lee, Ratthi, Gurathin, Volescu, and presumably some named villain later is kind of bloated. Removing one or two of them feels inevitable for budgetary purposes, and since Volescu does not make any on-screen appearances past All Systems Red, cutting him is obvious. Cutting Overse and replacing her marriage to Arada with a marriage between Arada and Pin-Lee makes a bit less sense. But before we cover that, let's circle around to the bit where everyone is dumber and less professional.

In a book, Martha Wells can have two characters reference alien remnants as if they already know what they are and then have SecUnit give some narration explaining them. In the show they are being very careful to have SecUnit's internal narration only cover his priorities so it won't feel overused, which means things like alien remnants have to be covered for the benefit of the audience in more detail through dialogue, so somebody has to not know what they are. This results in the PresAux crew looking less competent because in the book, this group of planetary surveyors all obviously know that alien remnants are a danger you face during planetary surveys, why wouldn't they, but in the show someone doesn't so someone else can explain. Clearly, this is going to extend to other things in the future. We are going to need more exposition, which means we are going to need characters who need things explained to them, and the overall baseline level of competence of the PresAux crew will need to be slightly lowered so these bits of exposition do not feel out of place. But while those of us who love the books and love our foundationally competent yet circumstantially out of their depth PresAux crew may object, TV audiences with no knowledge of the book won't be put off by a character not knowing what alien remnants are. "Oh. Clearly, that stuff's just rare enough this character hasn't heard of them." It's not a flaw in the adaptation, it is a sensible choice given the needs of the medium.

But speaking of needing targets for exposition, there's a character in the trailers who hasn't showed up in the show yet. You know who she is, she's the one who does that "Do you think it has a peepee?" comedy bit in the hopper. Judging by the placement of the characters in the trailer scene in which she appears, she seems to be introduced to the cast immediately after the expedition to the DeltFall hab, which suggests she might be a DeltFall survivor. That'd be a new character, and a legitimately interesting addition to the story. What if they pulled someone out of the DeltFall hab, rather than everyone being dead, and that character could then introduce more tension to the group and also be a potential target of exposition?

Except I don't think she's a new character. I think that's Overse. Why cut Overse and then introduce a new character, after all? It would not be a big change to adaptations of later books if, in the show, Overse is a DeltFall survivor who immigrates to Preservation following the events of All Systems Red.

"But Lea," you say, because I go by Lea. (Pronounced "Lee.") "What about Overse's marriage to Arada, one of her only defining character traits in All Systems Red? How could this meaningfully be the character of Overse if she's missing one of the only defining character traits she has?"

First of all if all you can say is she's in a relationship with another character, your character is not strongly defined, but whatever. It is a ten episode adaptation of a short book; they need more stuff to happen to fill time. (We've seen it already; Gurathin and SecUnit's autism-off in episode 2 is great, no notes.) But as much as those of us who'd like more normalized, boring polyamory in pop culture would wish otherwise in this case, TV shows like to have relationship drama in their relationships, so let's look at the setup for that love triangle.

SecUnit says Arada and Pin-Lee are married, and Arada has a thing for Raffi, but Raffi hasn't noticed because he has a thing for Pin-Lee. We then see them them get together into a contracted throuple, in which Pin-Lee is clearly inviting Raffi in for the sake of her love for Arada but has reservations about it herself. Cool! That seems like a recipe for disaster. Imagine you're Arada in this position -- your wife brings a third into your marriage for your sake, but then the third is more interested in your wife than you. Also everything is exploding and burning and sinking into a swamp and giant two-headed centipedes keep trying to eat people and a new girl enters the picture you feel a connection to.

What I am saying is, this seems ripe for a messy breakup in which by the end of the season. Arada and DeltFall-survivor-Overse are together, DeltFall-survivor-Overse moves to Preservation to be with Arada, Raffi and Pin-Lee are single, all of them are trying very hard to stay cordial friends post-relationship-explosion, and the status quo now exists in a state roughly matching that of the next couple of books for ease of adaptation except with a lot of drama hooks. If you've watched Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film adaptation and contrasted it with the books, you have seen something like this before, where Aragorn in the books stays the same confident would-be king throughout but Aragorn in the movies has an arc that ends with him being the character he was in the books all along. Plus DeltFall-survivor-Overse will need to have Preservation explained to her, and we, the audience, can watch.

As for Dr. Mensah's panic attacks, well, she has them in the books post-Exit-Strategy, or at least post-Exit-Strategy she suffers from psychological distress that could reasonably be rendered on a TV show as panic attacks for audience comprehension.

Assuming Murderbot is a success I would expect to see adaptations of future books in future seasons, with the most reasonable structure I can imagine so far being that Season 2 would be an adaptation of Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy, with the first two books taking up the first half and the the third taking up the back half, and with the events of AC and RP being intercut with a B-plot where PresAux is doing corporate politics stuff leading up to Mensah's kidnapping. (For practical reasons relating once again to limitations of the medium, namely that if you have a cast you have to pay them and use them, it's not practical to have a season where half the main cast isn't in half the episodes.) I don't think there is any point during the events of that hypothetical season where Mensah's character would be rendered less compelling by her having, but not taking advantage of, an opportunity for counseling, and she would not come across as less SecUnit's idealized actual-intrepid-space-adventurer she is in All Systems Red merely because she's pulling off everything she pulls off there while holding on to her composure with her fingernails. Giving her her panic attacks early, much like the messy love triangle, gives her (and the showrunners) more stuff to do. So much like my prediction re: Overse and Arada's relationship, putting Mensah's panic attacks in here affords more opportunities for drama but does not actually mess up adaptation of future material.

[holleringfromyourrooftops]

Another thing I want to rant about is the House-Thirteen dynamic that I'm starting to love

SPOILERS BELOW

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My GOD I loved the episode "The Dig" (s7 ep18) because it features like two of my most favorite characters: House and Thirteen.

I've always been interested in their duo ever since Thirteen left the team and House was trying to win her back in his own House-like way and it was like a game between them. I loved their fights and my god did I love their fights in this episode in particular.

It started off fun with us also being in the dark about WHY Thirteen was in prison but there was always this sense of tension that something deeper was going on, and all the comedy, and diagnoses was just a distraction to drop a bombshell and my god did it DROP.

Of all the things I expected from Thirteen's mouth, I never expected her to say that she killed a man. And obviously, like House, I jumped to the most normal theories and deluded myself into thinking this might be a lie or the guy did OD, but even then I knew something was wrong. Mostly because Thirteen is an exceptional doctor and I doubt she would let anyone die on her watch without being more fucked up over it.

And my doubts were proven right during the scene where Thirteen was crying in the night and House didn't react and just listened. And that speaks a lot: he didn't pretend he was sleeping, he didn't do anything and simply listened and slowly worked out all the information in his head, further proven when House mentions this ("You don't cry at night...") to Thirteen while he was explaining how the man she killed must've been close to her. House is rarely emotional; he's logical and thinks of everything as puzzles and yet we can also see that he was starting to care deeply for Thirteen, even smiling fondly at her in one the previous scenes. Their relationship dynamic was getting more depth and truly it reached its peak when Thirteen finally revealed why she killed her brother.

House didn't react AGAIN; no witty quips, no revulsion, no anything. He just stood there and listened as Thirteen cried, didn't even offer her a hug---because that's who House is, he's logical, he knows that a hug doesn't fix anything so he didn't offer one despite Thirteen needing one.

The loneliness that Thirteen spoke of, her fear of being alone during her final moments, is something House can truly resonate with. He JUST lost the one person whom he thought was going to stick by him, who he thought would love his twisted, diabolical self and who MADE him a better--more happier--person, made him care more about something other than puzzles---and all of that had come crashing down in the form of Cuddy almost dying. I feel like this was truly the first time House was ever scared shitless, ever scared of losing someone so much that it caused his leg pain to spike up and revert back to Vicodin just to show up and be there for her. He truly went through HELL in just a day, stripped to his rawest form, and then left bleeding in his doorway by the one woman he has ever loved and cared for deeply. Of course House understood Thirteen, he was the embodiment of her fear; alone, with no one--except a half-empty bottle of pills--next to you to numb you, even momentarily, from the pain.

So of course House didn't say anything, because he was in that exact situation and simply, refused to tell the cruel truth that he's so used to telling other people. He didn't even comfort her because he was in shock about what she had revealed and what this had made him realise about himself. All he could do was turn around and go back to the competition. Perhaps it was his way of punishing Thirteen for hurting him and drive in the fact that yes, she was going to be alone and die alone, or perhaps he was running away. Regardless, his inability to take action at that moment and Thirteen's hurt at him for not doing anything was probably what Cuddy felt when he showed up stoned and was there for her.

However at the end, we can see how the parallels between what happened with Cuddy and what happend with Thirteen end where House offers that he could euthanize Thirteen if she wanted him too, thus proving Cuddy wrong about how he hasn't changed, how he couldn't change who he was, when in fact that scene alone proved how House had changed from his past mistakes. He offered to euthanize this person whom he cares deeply about, just because he didn't want her to feel lonely--to feel like he did and still do--doesn't matter that House suffers breakdowns even when he loses even one patient (the woman who got caught under the rubble, I dont remember the exact episode) whom he slightly interacted with (sure maybe you could chalk that upto him and Cuddy fighting), he was still willing to step up and be there for Thirteen, and he said this with the most sincere tone he could muster up. He comforted Thirteen with simply his words, something that House had previously stated he was incapable of, and showed emotional maturity in his relationship with Thirteen.

So yes, House did change and perhaps it was Cuddy breaking up with him that made him change the most---to allow himself to be a part of other people's lives, to empathize and care for them and even TRY to be there for them emotionally even though he had earlier told Wilson that he sucked at comforting people. Or perhaps, House has always been that kind of person and it took him years to finally let that side out.

[hoodiedcrows]

I like that in the special episode I feel like we saw Tattoo’s feelings for Aran coming to the forefront. Specially with the jealousy scene. However They are both still hesitant to make a move because of insecurities and hang ups. I feel like Tattoo will have it be the one to make the move because he’s the one with the bigger issues surrounding money and class and the show hasn’t been explicit about his sexuality (although I think he’s atleast bi?)

I agree, we are seeing more of Tattoo's feelings. We've seen some jealousy(ish? proto-jealousy?) from him before, at least a couple of times with Hoy and Aran, but those times are more vague and could be explained away (or at least Tattoo would try to - he is not ready for that convo). Whereas in the special we get a clear shot of Tattoo's reaction to Aran 'flirting' with Jack, and I don't think there is any ambiguity here. He's jealous! Totally miffed that Aran is complimenting Jack's muscles (even though he said nothing to Tattoo about his! Hmh!). And to my mind Aran is doing this on purpose since Tattoo rejected him that morning.

As to why the both of them are hesitant to advance things, I think you're right on the nose by mentioning insecurities and hangups. However, it seems to me that Tattoo's issues around money and class are no longer directed towards Aran (or Joke, or even Rosé), after Joke effectively absolved him of the deeds he felt forced to do. These issues might still be in play, of course, but there's something else that I find myself thinking about when it comes to Aran and Tattoo's relationship and its progress.

It is this: his mechanic's brain, his way of looking at the world and creating his own. He wants to understand what makes things tick. And obviously this extends to Aran. This is the most baffling creature Tattoo has ever met, sometimes annoyingly so. And that is what I find myself looking at, looking for, when I watch the two of them. A simple example is Tattoo's reaction when Aran pulls away from the hug. Sure, there's some disappointment there. But there's also bafflement at yet another case of push-and-pull from Aran, another piece of empirical evidence to tinker with later within his own mind. (And it does still seem like rudimentary tinkering when it comes to these things, however experienced he may be with the concrete things he builds. He might find his talent in this as well though!)

Another aspect that creates insecurity is the way Tattoo sidesteps any straightforward answers about his feelings. This is in his character, sure, but it is also due to the genre. There's a post languishing somewhere in my draft pile about the three genres that we get with the three couples, and Tattoo and Aran are playing by comedic rules (sometimes dramedy and sometimes romcom, as far as my tentative understanding of genres goes). All of their serious scenes are either interrupted with a comedic beat or by a person, or else we just do not get to see the aftermath (looking at you, special ep stab scene! Not the only one but the most notable to be sure).

So, often Tattoo's role is to act as comedic relief. This means we get light quips about 'huh, why would I date/hook up with him"; or he breaks a moving moment by saying he meant for Aran to go wipe the counter (towel scene my beloved). And that in turn means it is difficult for Aran to take Tattoo's gestures seriously, and if he does the trust it would build is undermined by the comedy rules they are playing by.

As for Aran, he is clearly attracted, clearly infatuated, and just as clearly hesitant to take things further. On the surface, he makes it seem like this is about wanting a wealthy guy with model-like good looks, rather than plain old Tattoo. (Not my opinion of Tattoo, just what Aran is telling us in the special and indeed before that.) I don't think these are real issues at this point, though. Rather, it seems to me he is hurt, wounded by the way he was raised after his mother died. These hurts are there in his other close relationships as well. He's only now building any close relationships, and who is the closest one? Dear old Tattoo. So, we need only to remember what the hug Boss Alice gave meant for Aran, and we see it's no wonder he backs off from the one(s) with Tattoo. (I think there's much more there as well, something about not wanting to have to be the one to make the move, and not being certain of Tattoo's feelings (esp since Tattoo is comedy-forced to make light of them), annd other considerations but this is getting long so I'll wrap this up here for now.)

Oh, and as to who will make the first move, it's interesting that the poll we had going during season 1 had most people voting for Aran to be the one to initiate, and now I feel if we had another poll the result might be the opposite. But this is seriously long so I'll just say I hope we get to see it, whichever way it goes! (Personally I'm a fan of situations where they are stuck together for whatever reason and the tension forces one or the other to choose to close the distance, but that's... not the point here.:D)

Whew! Thank you for the ask and sorry for the wait, it takes me time to put things into words, esp in English.:)

[canonsinthehead]

so hows the night life in the villages? which is the best and worse? 😸😸

Glad you asked... there are few topics ni the answer ill go deeper in another post but i hope yall get the picture...

Naruto Headcanons - Ranking Nightlife in Different Villages (from best to worse)

1- Kumogakure (THE Party City)

Obviously Kumo takes the first place for its unmatched nightlife culture. It is alive at night and very welcoming of foreigners, some people make a whole trip to Kumo just to party.

There are sooooo many nightclubs of different types. Hip hop, Pop or Western etc. Kumo is known for being the only nation to have stripclubs. other countries, always claim to be more conservative in that area. it ties into the more liberal/accepting expression of sexuality (especially from women).

everything is intertwined when you look up the country's music history. Many famous artists strated in nightclubs.

The city lives at night, many sports clubs are operating during dark hours and inviting the night owls to join in. Along this, you can take all types of classes/courses taking place at night if clubbing is not your cup of tea.

Kumo is so diverse, there is a district/area or stores/businesses for all types of preferences, interests or way of life. Are you LGBT, plus size, disabled, a salary man, vegan, emo, a sneaker head or whatever it is, you will find a place for taste.

it has become a challenge some residents (and tourists), to make a 6PM to 6AM Challlenge. where it consist of staying awake and indulging in the nightlife until sunrise. it was popularized by an episode of Killer Bee's Showtime where they came up with the concept and has became a legit tourist attraction since theres so much to do

2- Konohagakure (6 to 9 Heaven)

In Konoha, a lot of people have a 9-5 schedule so big part of the village nightlife is centered around "after work" activities. When you go out on weekdays, you will mostly encounter employees trying to unwind after a long workday

regardless there are so many activities to do after the sunset. the most popular are karaoke, hot springs and street food stands.

Konoha's foundation being a mountain, there are many hidden spots hidden in its complex foundation. when look over it, you can observe spots of hundred of spotlights all over the city because small goups loves to meetup in various places and just chill together

the largest cinemas are located in Konoha. it one of the few places where you can go watch movies from other nations to the exceptions of Kiri for their heavy censorships laws and Suna for being in a different language.

Cabaret clubs are huge in Konoha.

you can find many 24/7 ramen shops and Internet Cafes

The comedy scene in Konoha is big. off course it doesnt match Kumo's but Konoha produced many well known comedians. All the "Comedy Open mic nights" are to die for.

Konoha scored high also for being a welcoming nation and embraces tourist/foreigners with open minds.

3- Iwagakure (Rock 'n' Roll)

if you are looking for a good music concert to attend. especially for rock and indie music.

it scored lower because many of those locations (to party) and the culture surrounding them are sometimes hard to find

mixed with the nightlife, Iwa has a strong adult entertainment industry. There are countless soaplands and burlesque show, again only if you can find them

(Honorable Mention) 3.5 - Modern Kirigakure (Work in Progress)

On the way to become like Konoha (along with their own sauce) but is not there yet

outside of the capital, they still operate like the previous system like the rest of the country of water.

4- Sunagakure (Organized Events)

The nightlife of Suna is more made of organized events where mass of people attent. The largest venues happen on Fridays since there are a lage diversity of shecdules among the population but everthing stops from Friday night to Sunday morning.

A typical night activity is enjoying tea, there are hundreds of tea stands across the country, sometimes even in the middle of nowhere for travelers during their long journey in the desert. they along serve flavourful whiskeys and tasty snacks. It is the #1 socializing spot.

The food is to die for. The culinary scene of Suna is unmatched, with all the ingredients natives to the regions it gives unique meal you cant find anywhere else. there are many restaurants of all types open until the early hours of the morning.

Live performing is a very prevelant part of Suna's nightlife,

A lot of night activities are meant to be enjoyed in large numbers especially among families since many of them are large.

the problem is that Suna is really weary of tourists/foreigners, so accessing certain areas, restaurants or pubs may be denied because they require invitations. That would limit your acess to tea houses and restaurants in the main city/touristic areas where the inflation is crazzzzyyyyyyy for outsiders. Also the language barrier doesnt help...

the best deal would be to be invited among someone's familiy and celebrate with them, it's just as good as going out

5- Old Kirigakure (Dangerous Territories ahead...)

It is advised for regular citizen (especiall women and children) to stay inside as soon as the sun sets. They say the freaks come out at night, all criminals and gang members come out after nightfall. they occupate various pubs and bars. The city is dual face because it is literraly re-birthed at night for a whole different aura to plague the city at night.

most illegal activities take place at night.

there are a lot of brothels operating under criminal leadership. along with illegal/dubious boxing matches and fight clubs where gambling happens.

Gambling is no joke, it is a serious widespread practice where you can witness (and participate with) players with dices on street corners.

At all time, territories are clearly separated, either by criminal affiliations, ethnicities or caste levels. cross it and will likely pay it with your life.

as a foreigner, if you fit the physical attributes of the local men, you could go unnoticed for some time but it adviced not to even try since you may be cooked when people ask for your paperwork to enter certain spaces. also even if you make and get "accepted", the wrong gesture, word could lead to a misunderstanding and escalate into violence

Kirigakure is male centered society. 90% of the people outside at night are male. many levels of society caters to them hence why a lot of adult males without criminal affialition have no problem going out at night to drink their souls away.

you can witness public intercourse

going on the previous point, there is a deep (but hidden) male LGBT culture running in Kiri. many of them are affiliated with various gangs or crimelords like Gato. Some would suggest that homosexuality is lowkey normalized among gangs (do the homie) but it will never be confirmed. So if you know where to look, are determined (crazy) enough, and looking for a hookup with a tattoed muscular dude with a questionable (dead) body count, then go ahead.

Ironically, the gigolo scene industry is as large as female adult entertainment/prostitution in Kiri. they are not going to tell you that most of them are gang members who fell from grace/punished for making mistakes or literal human trafficking.

6- Amegakure (DO NOT TRESSPASS)

RAVES. The rave culture is unmatched. If you are looking for hardcore parties with moshpits and loud eletronic music you are looking at the right place.

The night culture is really the bulk of what there is to do in Ame, its residents uses thoses parties and alcohol to escape for the reality of their daily lives.

Like everything in the country, it is so hard to acces and it doesnt like outsiders not even a little bit. most of them are not allowed to even enter the city's walls.

There you can find the HARDEST drugs in the entire world. Addictions is a real issue in Ame but when i mean hard i mean amnesia (you forget your life before you consumed it) type of hard

if you go there, you 10000% getting robbed.

thanks yall for your request, that was fun to do. hope the formatting is not too much.

shoutout to @getyourmindrightson, @oceanjenna! thanks for the support.

[raisinchallah]

contemplating xenas place in tv evolution or whatever like xena and gabrielles relationship is such a unique time capsule in a few ways like it obviously inherently owes a debt to plenty of other like buddy shows that came before it a tried and true television formula of like a two hander about characters who do everything together which has of course been kind of homoerotic from the get go and more explicitly romantic as more shows dabble in the buddy format with a man and a woman but they are also in some ways stuck between eras of the end of episode reset and the long form relationship storytelling that there is a very coherent arc for xena and gabrielles characters and their relationship from season 1 to season 4 but on an episode by episode basis there is not necessarily a clear sense of escalation or obvious connective tissue leading to back to back episodes the modern viewer sometimes struggles with when watching in order that like they follow up gabrielles rosemarys baby experience with a new crazy xena backstory and then hit you with three back to back comedy episodes for levity that leave some viewers heads spinning its also interesting in the landscape of long form television romance so predicated on the will they wont they that also what is perhaps so unique and gratifying about xena and gabrielles relationship is its always they will from episode one they may make attempts on each others lives betray each other in ways you might think they could never recover from the show deftly switches genres that make them suddenly a comedy duo or in a broadway musical where suddenly such impossible odds are not so impossible to overcome they remain forever within the framework of the buddy show

theres a level of stability generated by that genre because everyone watching knows that gabrielle isnt gonna up and leave xena one day and the show loves to play with that never taunting the possibility of gabrielle leaving in a cheap way but instead asking if she wants to leave what terrible events must occur to keep her here next week oh shes gonna get married and return home no this is about her awakening awareness to violence which further binds her to xena does she want to give up her life of violence and start a hospice with najara? no najara is evil but also gabrielle knowing she may very well die side by side with xena by seasons end has decided clear eyed that come what may that is where she wants to be genre convention and realities of television turned into character and relationship building this also places it in contrast to the recurring problem of long form television romance that once the will they wont they is resolved what next can generate tension the relationship can feel stale the moment it begins this was also often the tension toyed with in a lot of iconic queerbaits that there remains a stone unturned but for xena and gabrielle there is no real beginning no real end the nature of the buddy show means that theyre bound together and best friends from day one but also due to the episodic nature there is not necessarily a linear progression of relationship development one week theyre sobbing over the others dead body and the next theyre fighting about if they should go fishing or sight seeing the death totally forgotten let alone the use of one episode love interests but again xena and gabrielle deliver on the central desire behind shipping of buddy characters that of seeing romance as part of a larger complex relationship that is not just cordoned off into very specific roles as dictated by television convention and misogyny and by never actually declaring themselves a romance they are also shorn of the necessity of laying out each piece and let the viewer instead fill in the blanks focusing instead on the moments of the highest drama if other relationships feel bogged down in the realities of tv romance and their associated tropes xena constructs a story that would remain almost entirely unchanged if the characters were explicitly stated to be in a romantic relationship compared to something like the x files that lived in a level of paralyzing fear of what the level of character and relationship development of an explicit mulder/scully romance would do to the show so they remain in many ways trapped in the early tentative stages of romance for nearly a decade while xena and gabrielle have gone thru every stage from puppy love to honeymoon breakup cheating widowed dying side by side comedy tragedy fated lovers and more and also they do not remain hampered by the need for any particular structure of building tension climax denouement in some ways freed to tell the most interesting stories they want to tell by nature of plausible deniability and the needs of genre television and the buddy show and they harness that freedom for some of the most compelling relationship writing on television