#its people who stopped watching after like season 5 and then watched a few eps and then the finale

[idolomantises]

Rewatching Adventure Time, I can't help but think so much Princess Bubblegum discourse would be non-existent if people actually watched the show to completion instead of randomly hyperfocusing on some of PB's bad deeds.

There's a very bizarre and commonly held belief that Princess Bubblegum did terrible things and got away with it, that nobody held her accountable. When the show makes a point, repeatedly, that Princess Bubblegum is well meaning but deeply flawed, and to some characters, straight up evil.

I see fans point to "The Cooler" a lot as proof that PB is an irredeemable character, and while it is her worst act in the entire show.... I think people forgot that that was the point. Near the end of the episode she stops spying on people in Ooo because it was an invasion of privacy. In another episode she's called out for exploiting some aliens and lets them go. She feels ashamed that her own people are terrified of her. She loses her entire kingdom, and realizes she needs to get her shit together.

I'm pretty critical of shows that are way too lenient on flawed female characters but Princess Bubblegum isn't one of them. She's awesome, and heavily misunderstood.

[fomee-c]

Adventure Time has the best redemption arcs

I love deep-diving into my favourite shows, which makes me lucky that Adventure Time has been analyzed to death.

It's awesome because it feels like the show itself is growing up along with Finn. The older seasons are a lot more episodic and focused on the surreality of Ooo. Meanwhile, the later seasons really embrace the show's complicated lore and the idea that morality isn't black and white. The progression of maturity in this one show is INSANE. As the show becomes more mature, so does main character Finn, physically and emotionally.

Nowhere are the show's themes and Finn's personal growth better demonstrated through the show's use of redemption arcs. As the show progresses, classical villain-hero archetypes are subverted to show that Finn is learning that people aren't exclusively good or bad. As the show and Finna age, being a hero or doing the right thing evolves from the basic idea of "fighting evil" to being empathetic and seeking peace.

Heavy spoilers for the main series after the cut.

Some context

I just wanna mention some facts about the show's history.

If you watch the first AT episode followed by the last episode, you're gonna feel disoriented. They're clearly the same show, but it feels like they have very different goals. Early AT is more lighthearted and less serious. The episodes have morals, but they're pretty simple. The randomness of Ooo is played more for comedy than for lore purposes.

Around season 5, the show started taking on a different direction. It's still funny and weird, but the characters are more fleshed out and the messages the show is trying to convey require a lot of digestion. For example, Princess Bubblegum is always smart, but the way she's depicted in episodes like"Enchiridion" vs "Burning Low." Although I consider this a massive improvement, it's unclear how much was pre-planned. Was PB always destined to become a control-obsessed, unethical ruler-scientist? Or was her initial characterization just Finn's crush?

Yes.

Episodes as early as season 1 ep 24 ("What have you done?") show PB acting more like a tyrant than a princess and have the Ice King depicted in a less antagonistic matter. The reason for the tonal shift in the later season is that as Finn grows up, his experiences change the way he perceives reality.

Ooo through Finn's eyes

Adventure Time is about Finn the human and Jake the dog, but really it's mostly about Finn.

The other characters get character arcs and have plot-relevant conflicts, but the show's main focus is dedicated to Finn's coming-of-age story. Finn is Ooo's hero: he's social, caring, and brave, and he's motivated by a strong sense of justice and a desire for adventure. All he wants is to try new things and help others at any cost.

However, he's only 12, at least at the beginning. His idea of being a hero is rooted in black/white morality. If you do bad things, then you're bad. Stopping bad people makes you good. And as a 12-year-old, he believes the only way to stop bad people is through violence.

The show is immature in this respect, too. For the first few seasons, there are two main antagonists. There's the recurring Ice King and his plots to force princesses to marry him, playing off the "save the princess" trope (more on him later). And then there's the Lich, who's a genuinely powerful cosmic entity that seeks to destroy life in all its forms. Naturally, Finn fights them both off through righteous punching.

The show presents this basic understanding of evil, that evil is as evil does. In the beginning, there's almost no nuance to these characters. And this is true with good characters, too.

Billy is a huge catalyst for Finn's character development, but you can see the show's limited understanding of heroism in his debut episode. Billy is Finn's predecessor in a way, being the number one fighter against evil. In "His Hero," Billy realized the fighting evil through violence didn't treat the root problem, opting instead for community activism. However, the show makes this look like a bad thing, with the moral of the episode being that violence can solve problems. Ironically, Finn's character development mirrors Billy, as he realizes over time that he fighting evil might mean hurting people he cares about. Case in point: Simon Petrikov, the Ice King.

The power of redemption arcs

Redemption arcs are controversial because they're ideal but they feel forced if they go unearned. In Adventure Time, redemption arcs serve a two-fold purpose: to convey the message that "evil" people can be understood and rehabilitated and to show Finn's developing maturity as he realizes this.

Ice King

The first character to get a real redemption arc is the Ice King. Initially, he's portrayed as Jake and Finn's natural nemesis, especially when he targets Princess Bubblegum. However, as the show goes on, it becomes clear that the Ice King isn't really malicious; he's just lonely and he doesn't know how to socialize in an appropriate way. Over time, he becomes a sympathetic villain. However, this changes with the Christmas specials "Holly Jolly Secrets, parts 1 and 2." In this episode, Finn and Jake discover the Ice King used to be a man named Simon, whose personality and sanity were corrupted by magic. Simon's backstory is further developed in "I Remember You" and "Simon and Marcy." From this point on, Finn starts referring to the Ice King as Simon, acknowledging Simon's true self and stops treating him less harshly. This leads to a really heartwarming moment in "Don't Look," where Finn's perception literally warps reality, causing the IK to revert to Simon (in appearance but not in personality).

Consequently, the Ice King becomes less antagonistic in general and we even get IK-centric episodes where he takes on a heroic role. For all intents and purposes, post-season 3 Ice King is Finn's friend. The show went from using a cliché villain-type to dedicating a significant amount of time and plot to Ice King's eventual return as Simon. From this, Finn learns that treating people with kindness is imperative to stopping evil. Not only did finding out that IK's personal life was tragic but by treating him as a friend he diminished IK's evil inclinations.

Magic Man

Magic Man is one of the more disturbing characters on the show. He always shows up to do something gross or psychologically messed up. Unlike the Ice King, who was shown to be evil because he wanted companionship, Magic Man wants people to suffer out of pure contempt for the world. His "pranks" include simple stuff like turning Finn into a foot, to more deranged acts like forcing Jake to escape a dream world where doing so would mean destroying all his new friends.

What's interesting about Magic Man's redemption arc is that Finn and Jake have little to do with it. Magic Man redeems himself practically by accident.

We gradually learn that Magic Man's wife was destroyed by GOLB, a powerful entity that can erase things from all realities. So Magic Man's cruelty is best described as frustration or vengeance to an extent. He is constantly suffering, which he tries to mitigate by deriving pleasure from others' suffering.

However, he eventually loses his magic powers (and with it, his anger and sadness) in"You Forgot Your Floaties", grounding him back in reality. From then on, his journey is one of atonement. He tries to reconcile with his family and seeks forgiveness from the people he has tortured.

This arc says more about the show's maturity than it does about Finn's. Although Finn shows no hatred towards a magic-less Normal Man, he seems pretty indifferent. The show, on the other hand, takes the time to make him a tragic figure and offers him a chance at redemption. It wants the audience to know that experiencing loss is not an excuse for being a jerk, but it can explain someone's actions.

King Man's (his title after rejoining the Martian community) redemption arc also demonstrates AT's advancing writing skills. Instead of giving King Man a clear-cut redemption arc, the show depicts him as genuinely sorry without changing his personality. King Man is still obsessed with Margles and is harsh with Martian prisoners, but he's no longer angry with the world. He hasn't moved, as is difficult to do with grief, but he wants to contribute to society instead of rage against it.

Betty Grof

Betty marks a milestone in the show and Finn's personal growth. She is the first antagonist who is shown to be sympathetic from the start. It helps that we know Betty before she goes crazy with magic, but despite that, Finn nor the show ever thinks of Betty as an "evil" character. She's misguided and unethical but well-intentioned.

Betty's whole deal is that she wants to be with Simon, which requires curing him of the Ice King Crown's effects. However, after she absorbs Magic Man's madness and sadness, she starts undertaking strategies that cause Ice King more stress than good.

She becomes a true antagonist in the Elemental mini-series when she prioritizes Simon's recovery over the lives of Ooo's inhabitants, despite the Ice King begging her to save his friends. Even after she betrays Finn, he doesn't seem to see her as a villain specifically. The real source of conflict in the Elemental series was more so the unchecked emotions of Finn's friends; Betty was just an obstacle.

Betty's redemption arc is completed in the show's finale. Betty summons GOLB, risking the entire universe's destruction to save Simon. Except her goal is not only to save Simon but to save their relationship. In an act of self-sacrifice, Betty manages to banish/merge with GOLB to save Ooo, despite knowing she could never be with Simon.

However, it's not as clear as I make it out to seem. While Betty does sacrifice her relationship with Simon, she still manages to save him, begging the question: if Betty couldn't save Simon, would she have made that decision? (I'm inclined to think no, but let me know what you think!)

Even if the "redemption" part of her arc feels rushed, it's Betty's journey that highlights the show's maturity. Just because she does bad things doesn't mean she's a bad person. Finn gets this; he doesn't blame Betty for almost destroying the world. He's more focused on aligning with her desire to save Simon and the rest of Ooo.

Through Betty, Adventure Time explains that it's impossible to judge people as good or evil. To do the right thing doesn't mean to help people who you think are "good" or oppose people you think are "evil" but to find common ground and a common goal.

Uncle Gumbald

He's basically the last antagonist of the show. I don't think there's a lot to say about him that hasn't already been said, so this section will be short.

He's a lot like PB in that he's a visionary. Their conflict stems from their competing ideas and the fact that they both want to subjugate each other.

They almost reach an understanding in the finale when they experience each other's lives, with PB realizing that Gumbald deserved to be treated as an equal. However, he isn't redeemed because he attempts to subjugate PB anyways by faking a truce. I feel like this was supposed to highlight PB's character growth as early PB definitely wouldn't have been willing to share authority.

Fern

I would say this is probably the most important redemption arc for Finn's character. It's weird to say that because Fern is introduced so late into the show and his arc is completed when he dies in the last minutes of the finale. Furthermore, he's a strange character to begin with. He's a grass clone of Finn made from two magic swords, and he's hardly antagonistic toward Finn except in the last two seasons.

But let's look at what we're dealing with here.

Fern's internal conflict is an identity crisis. At one point in the series, Finn comes into contact with a past self (merging timelines situation, dw about it), turning one of his selves into a sword. It's intentionally ambiguous at first, but it's eventually revealed that there is a miniature Finn inside the sword who is cognisant of the world around him. Because of Real Finn's carelessness, Sword Finn ends up getting busted, and eventually infected with a grass parasite, creating Fern.

Up until now, Finn has been acing his new pacifist approach to conflict resolution. He now prioritizes understanding someone's actions and reasoning with them, saving fighting as a last resort.

Fern represents Finn's greatest empathy challenge: trying to understand someone he thinks he already understands. To do this, Finn has to accept that his preconceived notions of Fern are wrong and take the time to get to know the real Fern. He thinks that because they share some sort of biology and memories, they are the same people. He fails to acknowledge the different life experiences that have forged him and Fern into distinct people.

When Fern heel-turns into an antagonist, it's not a surprise. We have seen repeatedly the jealousy that he feels outcasted by the real Finn. We also know he's frustrated with the dissonance between his past "life" and his current circumstances. Like Betty, Finn doesn't see Fern as a villain. However, he doesn't try to understand where Fern is coming from. He assumes that because they are similar, Fern will be willing to talk things out. In other words, Finn wants to reconcile with Fern but doesn't get how devastating Fern's identity crisis is.

In the finale's dream-dimension fight sequence, we see Finn finally hear out Fern's concerns and the two explore Fern's past together.

Fern does die because of plot reasons, but not before re-establishing his and Finn's friendship. I don't really like it when stories sacrifice one character for another's development, but it makes sense given Finn's narrative is about realizing that doing the right thing isn't always a feel-good experience. Finn wants the people he cares about to be safe, and he knows that Fern is in danger by siding with malicious characters like Gumbald. Fern also decides to align with people who care about him rather than someone who wants to use him. If Fern's villain arc is caused by feelings of inadequacies, then it's resolved through self-acceptance. Redeeming Fern requires Finn to truly understand Fern, but this means Finn loses someone who gets him.

I think it's implied Fern could never be at peace alive, since the grass demon was keeping him alive while corrupting his heart. It's a unique take on a heroic sacrifice: setting Fern free means letting Fern go.

Misc. thoughts

Not all redemption arcs are equal. I wanted to touch on a few mini-redemption arcs that either didn't fit the post or had a lesser impact on the story. These aren't relevant to the text, so feel free to skip to the conclusion.

Irredeemable villains

Some AT antagonists never get redemption arcs. These are usually one-off villains who don't get much characterization apart from just being evil. I don't think that AT wants to imply these people are beyond help (see Magic Man for proof), but maybe becoming a good person means that someone has to understand you first, which is harder to do in some cases. Examples include:

Ricardio the heart man

Thief Princess

Wyatt

Redemption arcs?

Originally, I wanted to write a section on Princess Bubblegum and how she gradually releases her iron grip on her kingdom. However, I decided against it because Finn never really sees her as a bad person. However, understanding that she's not perfect is definitely part of her arc. If I were to write about PB, it'd have to be a separate article, probably incorporating how Marceline plays into her character development and how her relationship with evolves over time.

Another character I omitted from this analysis was Lemongrab. I wouldn't describe his arc as a redemption arc because I feel it was more focused on self-discovery than making up for his past actions.

Finally, I thought about writing about the Lich's transformation into Sweet Pea, but I almost don't count it since they are essentially two different characters. A redemption arc to me means that a character undergoes a change of heart. I feel like Sweet Pea is more like the Lich reborn, and while you can argue that the events in "Whispers" are the good Lich fighting against his dormant persona, I feel like it's clear that Sweet Pea and the Lich are not one and the same. Either way, Sweet Pea being the Lich's redemption is to muddy to discuss in this context.

Becoming good

One thing I like about Adventure Time is that no one tries to make the bad guys turn good. Redemption arcs are mostly self-initiated. With characters like Ice King, Finn doesn't try to turn him into a hero, he just stops treating Simon like a villain. Unlike in other media, heroes and villains are not real roles in AT. They are more like social constructs that are easily altered once you start to empathize with supposed villains.

But while "villains" is a flexible term in AT, evil-doing is not. AT puts forward the standard that people should seek forgiveness and atone for the ways they've caused harm. It's a pretty grown-up idea that we should own up to our actions but also forgive people who want to be forgiven.

Conclusion

In Adventure Time, Finn wants to be a hero, but in trying to do so, he needs to answer this question: "What makes a hero?" Originally, the show asserts that a hero is someone who beats up bad guys and obeys people in authority. But as Finn and the audience get older, the show's ideas evolve, too. Through the use of its extensive rogue gallery, Adventure Time affirms that "bad people" are usually just normal people with personal issues. Heroism becomes less associated with righteous violence and more geared towards empathy and reconciliation. Eventually, Finn and the show give up on the hero-villain dichotomy, acknowledging that these categorizations prevent people from helping those who need it most.

Note: this is the first analysis I've posted on Tumblr and I'm planning on writing more with the goal of getting better at writing and media literacy. Additionally, I really love this franchise and I'm always down to discuss it further. Please let me know what you all think?

[lesbenson]

lovely ali @fairydyke-mothr tagged me to post 5 things i can't stop writing <3 i am not much of a writer beyond fics aka half formed fic ideas so this list will be a lil messy. i have the most stuff for ted lasso and svu but ill focus on svu here LOL

1. toxic WASTE eo like love confessions buried in the nastiest arguments ever. im sorry i just love mess. similarly, someone saying i love you and being hit with like "no you dont. die" or "i wish i didnt" also eo as the soulmates who should never have met ive blown apart my life for you and eo from every outside view being the two most infuriating people ever (as explained by kathy stabler to barba, and amanda to liv and to elliot). eo who became a swirling black hole that took everyone with them. i think its easier for me to write eo from like other character povs bc i didnt originally watch the eo seasons so theres always an element of like. ghostly entity elliot stabler coloring my perception of him And i find their dynamic really hard to put into words in like. an interesting way. theyre just insane idk

2. the olivia bensonism of right where you left me and her constant fear of being left behind + her pushing people away + single most important person in my life and you just disappeared i have a few different "i cant do this" lines written and this last ep has obviously only made me worse

i also have elliot getting offered a transfer back to rome and in a moment of pure insanity telling liv he'll do whatever she asks him to. and because shes Her she tells him to leave and hes like okay ? and shes like i am obviously lying what is wrong with you.

a lot of sad liv internal monologues about how she misses elliot every moment that shes with him

3. the girls are fightiiing my list of conversations amanda and liv have never had and my ongoing list of out of pocket things liv has said or done to amanda <3 mess ! and a random fight about kim that leads to kissing lol

also a list of random thoughts about liv and amanda when i was first figuring out their dynamic like "real canon compliant rollivia means fighting and miscommunication"

4. amanda taking eo matters into her own hands. she talks to stabler. a lot. and she yells at liv for not making a move after she finds out about the intervention. more on this as it develops.

5. girl. grief and parental trauma ! the mother wound chile ! olivia bensons slight obsessive jealous homoerotic hatred of other women in non professional settings ! this became a note about how she separates everyone she meets into a kathy stabler or a serena benson and uses that to inform her feelings towards them

uhhhh if anyone wants more of any of these lmk?

tagging @o6666666 @heinouslydedicated @hargiloni @electricnachos @katiecotugno

[moonsuke]

rewatching bluelock to prepare for the 2nd season and man I forgot how hype it was 😭

ep 5 was the first peak and what got me (and many others I suppose) locked on lol. tho the build up in the first few eps were already pretty good, esp in the one before when isagi first realised his “weapon” was his propensity to “smell” where the goal would be, a sneak peak to all the hype that would follow. (also funny how the sense of smell is usually used for such circumstances, similar to tanjiro’s ability). it was all thanks to rensuke! and the eps before had bachira alerting him to the presence of their “inner monsters” which basically just means their instincts lmao. and then finally in ep 5, after isagi’s spectacular vision and play, chigiri finally told him his “weapon” is his good spatial awareness. i think it’s neat how they introduce his main “sidekicks” in team z like this.

before ep 5, what I enjoyed about bluelock was how fucking dramatic and edgy it is lol. I’ve always hated teamwork and friendship is magic themes, so the fact this one directly shot down that concept and shove it in your face to focus on being egoistic in a very dramatic and edgey manner is just so fucking enjoyable to me

after ep 5, all subsequent eps had me chasing for the hype like some drug addict. the build up, the piecing together of all the puzzle pieces, isagi’s constant narration and analysis, the being at the right place at the right time… its just so exhilarating 😭

iirc the next really hype moment is chigiri’s when he finally let himself go? or it could be another isagi moment but anyway, from the way chigiri’s animated and how the anime focuses on him sometimes, it seems like he’s a very popular character? which no surprise, people seem to just love the “sonics” and the speed lol. I love him too. bachira too is very well-loved but i never caught on to his character, or characters with similar tropes. his voice too really annoys me…

and finally what really sold me on this series is the MC! most times I tend to HATE the MC in shonen animes. so whiny… they wouldn’t stop playing with the underdog theme… the moralising… the nakama power…

but isagi 😭 my goat 😭 he got rid of his “hesitant nice guy” status so quickly and went full fledge bad ass I LOVE him 😭 like in the first ep, despite being the one who actively kicked the ball at the top player to get him disqualified, he had to be all apologetic after, going all “I didn’t mean to…” like shut up bro, you made him lose, OWN IT.

fast forward to ep 5, we have isagi, after fucking over everyone and winning the match practically all on his own, just stared down at the face of his opponents and at the fact he just ended all their dreams and went “IT FEELS SO GOOD” like even i came there and then wtf. if i were to describe bluelock it would be an anime with a series of football climaxes lmao.

he’s still “nice guy” off the court but I guess it’s cute

also since he’s so good at analysing and picking up key hints and clues, he’s aware of his weaknesses and what needs to be done to quickly improve himself which is yet another relieve because I haaate the hesitancy in many shonen protags. and even if there’re quite a lot of build ups and hesitancy in bluelock too (with isagi just constantly narrating and analysing and being in his own head waiting for the right timings and pieces to fall in place), the pay off is so fucking good I don’t even mind it.

gonna continue watching, and maybe actually read the manga this time?? i look forward to nagi and chigiri scenes since they were my fav the first time round (plus isagi). tho iirc, i was a lil sad and unmotivated to keep watching once the later top players were introduced. my hypocritical ass began to miss the “team” between the 4??? 5?? 6??? key players 😔 the one where isagi nagi and chigiri were all in one team 😔😔😔😔

outside of the characters, I just really like the abstract approach this series took to explain football lol. it’s abstract, so unrealistic and so dramatic yet so entertaining and actually makes logical sense. like the concept of 0 to 1 when we form soccer out of nothing. “0” was the chaotic mess with zero rules and everyone in the team just wanting to score goals. “1” was when finally someone broke through, shined above everyone else, scored a goal, and made themselves the centre, that’s when the other players rearranged themselves naturally around this “1” striker, how the subsequent roles and tactics were formed, how structure was created from a formless mess. how “soccer” was born 🤡 who knows how realistic this was for football’s history but hey as I said it’s unrealistic but makes a lot of logical, abstract sense and that’s what I like about it

[agentcable]

Chicago Fire Season 5 Ep. 12 "An Agent of the Machine"

CPD intervenes when Casey and the squad are targeted by a man with a grudge against them. A man who knows Severide's father follows the squad. Brett's relationship with Antonio is rocky. Casey gives Dawson a gift.

If you want to watch the series for yourself, stop reading! This post contains spoilers to the storyline.

Gabby Dawson and Matt Casey plan a date night. In the store, the man who pulled a gun on Matt asks Gabby what he can use for his burns. He says it must be nice for Firehouse 51 to decide who lives or dies.

Gabby and Matt tell her brother, Detective Antonio Dawson, what happened at the store. He'll contat the Chicago P.D. Jay Halstead review the security footage. As he locks the door, Sylvie comes out of hiding. She offers to pick up Diego and bring him to the firehouse.

Kelly Severide comes into the locker room. Matt still hasn't given Gabby her wedding ring. Severide tells him to stop stalling. Gabby and Sylvie leave Diego with Otis. Their call takes them to the same building where Matt was pulled on gun. They come to the basement where the owner is lying dead. Chicago PD arrives as Gabby explains what happened with the man and her husband, Matt. Halstead questions the woman who called 911. She denies knowing anything about the man living in the basement. Gabby tries to talk to her daughter, but her mother calls her away.

At Firehouse 51, Severide brings over Chief Mack, an old friend of his dad. He's retiring in a month and visiting cities to improve his Springfield firehouse. Chief Boden calls everyone to the briefing room. Boden says they need to be careful because the manhas guns, has followed Matt and Gabby to the store, and now the building owner is dead. He tells them to watch out and not go on their own.

Chicago PD detective Halstead arrives, and Boden takes Severide and Matt to his office. The owner did time in prison and probably met this man there. Matt picks Eddie Owens in the photo lineup. Jay says he rigged a bomb that failed and has been on the run ever since. The CPD have nothing on Eddie except a few squad cars outside the firehouse.

Stella Kidd asks Severide if he likes Anna and wants her back in Springfield. She wants him to call her, but he'll think about it. Diego is playing chess with Sylvie when his mother arrives to take him home. Laura calls Sylvie into another room and says she doesn't like the woman around her son. She says she learned chess so she could spend more time with her son. She tells Sylvie to stick with what she knows and leaves with Diego.

Severide wants this crew to run some drills for Chief Mack. No one does, so Chief Mack does one and falls. Sylvie tells Gabby that Laura took Diego away and how she feels. She asks Gabby if she should get involved with her brother. Before Gabby can answer, they are called into a meeting.

Boden says they're looking for anything that will help the police and ease people's minds. Mouch asks how bad the guy is. They learn he tried to blow up a federal building with a fertilizer bomb.

Carly returns to the firehouse after calling 911. Gabby runs after her. She's scared but says she saw Eddie that morning before she found the owner. He called Carly the "chosen one" and said the firehouse chose Miranda and that he would die. He said he was going to make Firehouse 51 pay. The alarms sound, and the crews leave.

Gabby stops Chief Boden before they leave. She says she needs to talk to him. He tells the crews about the threat Eddie has made and makes the firehouse "out of service". Stella and Herrmann protest, but Matt says they're going anyway. Everyone agrees.

Chicago PD arrive at a sealed house. Someone has broken in. CPD can't clear scene due to chemicals. Matt finds a teenage victim wearing goggles and a mask who is breathing. Herrmann lifts the teen to take him outside, but someone knocks him out. It's another teen. They're just robbing the place of its copper.

Ambulance 61 returns, and Antonio apologizes to Sylvie. She says they're done because he isn't ready. He tells her to forget it and leaves.

Chief Mack gets ice from Joe Cruz. He asks Cruz if Severide is a good leader. Cruz says they'd follow him anywhere.

Jay Halstead from Chicago PD returns to tell them the urgent care clinic where Eddie got the drugs is willing to work with them. They call Eddie to say there's a problem with his drugs. If he's addicted, he'll show up there.

Severide comes to see Matt, who is still feeling guilty about Eddie. Severide takes the ring from Matt, saying he shouldn't be carrying it. Chief Mack walks with Severide and says he deserves a promotion.

Otis plays chess with Sylvie and says Diego's name. He asks Sylvie if she's okay. She says chess is stupid, knocks over a piece, and leaves. Boden says Eddie is in police custody after going to the clinic. The firehouse responds to an alarm. They arrive at an empty warehouse. There is a lot of smoke, but no fire. Boden believes it is an electrical fire. Inside, they find barrel fires for heat. While the firefighters are inside, Boden gets a call from the detective. Halstead says Eddie wasn't at the clinic. It was a crackhead he paid to go in for him.

The crew finds fertilizer bombs on the south side of the building. Eddie opens fire on them, focusing on Stella. He says they are just agents of the machine, choosing who lives and who dies. Matt stands and tells him to shoot at him. Boden sees the pictures and realizes the bombs could destroy the block. The Chief says they have training for this in Springfield. They need to disrupt the liquid inside the barrels. They puncture the barrel and pour in water from the firehouse.

Matt jumps on Eddie, who turns on the detonator. Matt knocks him out with a hammer. Police handcuff Eddie to the gurney. Gabby hugs Matt and scolds him for shooting at people. Stella and Matt nod.

Matt, Gabby, and Sylvie are eating dinner at home. Sylvie wants to dye her hair pink and asks if Gabby has spoken to Antonio. She says he hasn't answered her calls. Severide says they're going to Molly's. Sylvie goes home to get ready.

Sylvie leaves her place and bumps into Antonio. He says he messed up and that Sylvie deserves better. He has kids and a job that won't put her first. She deserves to be first. Sylvie cries and takes his hands. She says they were great together and maybe they can check in later. He agress and they hug.

Severide and Mack planned this as their wedding reception when they brought in Gabby and Matt. Herrmann says they're an inspiration and proof that love conquers all. He jokes that Gabby is stubborn. Matt opens the ring box and puts it on her finger. He says they are the luckiest people around. Gabby accepts the ring, and everyone cheers. Antonio and Sylvie watch from opposite sides of the bar.

Mack says he hasn't been honest about why he's there. There's a battalion chief job in Springfield if he wants it. Mack says he's the fire commissioner and wants to train him to take over soon. He says Anna is in Springfield Medical, and they want him there.

[matchstickdolly]

Lucifer 5B: Cutting off Touch to Spite Your Fans

Spoiler warning: This post assumes you've watched all of Lucifer, season 5, part B.

CW: There's plenty I like about season 5, but this is a negative post. I know not everyone is up for negativity about the things they love. I also generally avoid it and (try to) keep my mouth shut about things I don’t like in most spaces. It’s good etiquette. But this is my space, and I have thoughts specifically about purity culture and the treatment of sexuality and trauma in fiction. You’ve been warned!

---

I'm a professional writer (not in TV). I've worked with enough bad clients, editors, and other writers to recognize some hallmark behaviors in how both Fox and Netflix gave Lucifer's writers incredibly difficult, unfair, and frankly weird situations to create through.

Fox did them dirty, interfering and ordering too many eps in S3. Netflix did them dirty, ordering 10 eps for S4 when it clearly needed ~13. Then Netflix ordered 10 "final" eps for S5—then, just kidding(!), 6 more after they'd done their writing for the 10. (What the fuck?) And then Netflix ordered 10 more for a "final-final" S6 after the writers had done their best to tell their whole story in S5. (MORE what the fuck.)

Talk about whiplash for creators, and half of those who consume content don't even care to understand such creative pain.

So, there are problems on multiple fronts. There's much I'll forgive writers, accordingly. I go into most shows expecting plotting/pacing issues. I look, instead, for characters and relationships that will triumph over those issues.

Heart is what the show Lucifer has always had in spades, both in its characters and in the immensely committed, wonderful ways the actors have tried to realize the characters' humor, love, trauma, and—most importantly—struggle to find healing. Yet, when given the opportunity to show health alongside another in a relationship, the writers/directors of 5B chose to remove most sexual humor and physical intimacy from their female lead and bi/pan characters to, I feel, sanitize them and troll fans. What happened?

Well, for one, say hi to showrunner Joe Henderson bragging about how the writers decided to be colossal dicks to the fans who helped secure their jobs:

From CBR's 'Lucifer Showrunner Joe Henderson Dissects Season 5B's Chaos'

Have we not suffered sidelined/repressed female characters, "bury your gays," and, oh, Chloe fucking a serial killer enough? Must we also say hello to neutered relationships once characters find stable love (whether same or opposite sex)? The result of withdrawing more sexual humor and physical intimacy from paired characters is an uncomfortable suggestion that they're reformed by "pure" love—more chaste and aloof, more acceptable in polite society. This is only done to end-game committed relationships.*

The writers seem to think they're edging the viewers, but the reality is they're taking traumatized minority characters who rejoiced in sexual freedom, but lacked and craved an emotional connection, and showing they can't have both, or, if they find both, it will never last. They've taken hypersexual characters and said, here, even they can have the love and commitment they desire, but some physical intimacy, especially sexual intimacy, is what they must trade for it.

There's always one more case, phone call, or coincidence interrupting intimacy. Traumas or deaths deserving emotional and physical comfort go on to receive none or only one aspect. Done sometimes, it's fine. Done always, it's sick. Dan dies, and there's no hugging? Really?†

Don't craft characters who crave a full range of emotional and physical intimacy, only to rob them of related scenes every chance you get. That's not complexity. That's bad writing. To even achieve this in 5B, they must squash banter and sideline their female lead yet again.

What a gift to purity culture, which tells us to be more palatable by bottling and buttoning up. That sex should be taboo, but violence glorified. That there is no heated desire among "Good Women," that sexual minorities of all genders shouldn't experience it much at all.

5A is so good. At the very least, it's on the right path (clearly, since the plot payoff from 5x01 to 5x16 is great). It shows a couple working through difficulties and trauma, toward each other emotionally and physically. It even pokes fun at people who think an established relationship means the death of romantic and sexual appeal (a tired and hugely sexist trope). And then... And then 5B reverses that, pretending established relationships are barely physical during emotional struggle and that the honeymoon phase doesn't exist. It robs characters of joy and comfort through physical intimacy when they need it to move through or push beyond trauma.

It's telling that so many fan wishes for Deckerstar are about healing touch and existing in each other's spaces: amending Chloe's spicy PDA history with Cain, Chloe caring for Lucifer's wings, soft family scenes a la Monopoly night and shared meals, morning-afters, etc. Reasonable fans aren't asking for porn; they're asking for connection and humanity. They're asking for writers not to forget characters (and, yes, including hypersexual characters) on their way from Point A to Point B.

That 5B lacks these things isn't a "tee-hee frustrating" slow burn or a cockblock. It is, in so many scenes, excising from characters a core part of what nearly every human and fictional monster craves. And it's a slap in the face to the "found family" trope. When you remove or tamp down a casual physical intimacy that was previously there, characters and their relationships fall flat, even if only partially. They become blunt weapons creators wield against watchers or readers begging for scraps of warmth.

Minorities shouldn't be killed off with ease, and they shouldn't be stifled with ease, either.‡ And maybe there shouldn't be deep trauma driving a wedge in a romantic relationship if you're not going to explore it through that relationship, too—physical intimacy included.

I'm still reserving some judgment. I loved the family drama and the end. (Although, again, where was the physical intimacy? No intimacy when Chloe or Lucifer return from the dead? Really?) I see where they could do awesome things, and could have done more if not for network BS.

But I no longer trust Lucifer's writers and directors. They thought S5 was the end. And what they gave us of Deckerstar, of the relationship that symbolizes health and healing in their fictional world, is this: cold distance. And they got a kick out of doing it, apparently.

If this is a "love letter" to me as a fan, I'm burning it. I can only hope S6 course corrects. If not, the writers who made these choices shouldn't write sexual minority and/or traumatized characters again. If you don't understand most of us, you should stop fucking using us.

---

* If you don't believe me about the differences between casual/short-term relationships and end-game relationships in Lucifer, go back and look at how Lucifer and Maze are with strangers in all the other seasons. Look at Chloe's sex dream, her propositioning of Lucifer in a library, her sex with Pierce in the evidence closet. Look at how much physical intimacy there is between Lucifer and Eve, and then between Eve and Maze (if only as a ploy). Across seasons, there are sex/kink jokes and scenes galore.

Compare this to how these same characters are portrayed when with their end-game loves. Notice the gentle pecks on the lips and the huge general drop in sexual humor between 5A and 5B. How boring. Where's the spice these characters had? Also, give me a damn break. Buttoning up in a relationship is contrary to four and a half seasons of emotional character work that's been communicating security in our relationships is personally freeing.

† I'm not just talking about sexual intimacy in this post, though that is a big part of it because of the characters. 5B lacked crucial found family scenes, too.

Chloe should have been at God's family dinner, but being so would have prevented more ham-fisted angst. Chloe never even has a one-on-one with God, probably because that would demand a straight answer about her miracle status, which I would guess will be used to drive yet another wedge between her and Lucifer next season, but we'll see.

In multiple before- and after-work scenes, there was no reason for Lucifer and Chloe to be apart more, even, than they were in S1 and S2. Monopoly night was in S3, for crying out loud. Most horrifying of all? No one touches Chloe after Dan's death, but Trixie. Meanwhile, Linda, Amenadiel, Ella, Maze, and Lucifer all receive physical comfort. No wonder Chloe's tired of being strong.

‡ If you don't think it's offensive that they stuffed all their wlw content for two hypersexual characters into a few clunky, irrational, and chaste scenes that rushed I love yous, a marriage-like proposal, and the mention of soulmates, I don't know what to tell you other than get off my lawn.

[jaesqueso]

The Bachelorette: NCT edition - Ep. 5

The season of love is finally here! An interactive series where you’ll get to choose who goes home each week and ultimately who Y/N chooses in the end!

pairing: nct(ot23) x fem!reader

summary: A week to relax clear things out, but it turns out to be one of the most stressful weeks with big decisions

episode guide

word count: 6,451

warnings: mentions of alcohol (all responsible!)

☽ ・・・・・ ☾

Last week on the Bachelorette:

Y/N challenges the 23 men that decided to join this experience and fight for her heart.

As bachelors are sent home week by week the decisions become harder and harder and a single moment can decide each men’s fate.

9 guys remain on the game to win the bachelorette’s heart, but tonight only 7 will remain.

Who will she choose? Who will she reject?

Find out on the Bachelorette!

-

“Hi all!” Chris Harrison walks into the living room of the guest house and the boys excitedly gather around. “Glad to see you all excited because it’s time we change things up!”

The bachelors look at each other wondering what will be changing and if that can possibility affect their chances with you.

“This week we’ll still have a group date but only 1 one-on-one date.”

The guys widen their eyes, this will decrease their chances of getting that desired alone time with you.

“But don’t worry, there will be a new type of date, a two-on-one date! This means two of you will be going on the date with Y/N.”

Faces brighten up, this actually gives them more chances to spend more time with you.

“But there’s a downside to this date. Only one of the two people will receive a rose and that means the other person will automatically be sent home.”

Right now the men seem really worried, whoever goes on that date will have a face off with the other guy because either they win or they lose, no safes.

“This being said I wish you all luck and I’ll see you in the rose ceremony!”

Chris leaves and the siren is heard, not giving anyone time to take in this new information.

All this decision making week by week is leaving me a bit stressed and I could use some time off.

The guys are confused, what do you mean time off?

I hope you’re in the mood for some relaxing Jaehyun. Don’t bother bringing a lot of clothing!

The guy chuckles at the last sentence.

“Nice one bro!” Johnny shakes Jaehyun’s shoulders as the latter silently thanks him.

“This means you’re safe from that two-on-one date.” Taeyong points out.

“Not that I would mind some competition.” Jaehyun glares but the laughs. “But I’ve been wanting on this date for too long.”

“Same!” Taeyong and Johnny say at the same time and laugh.

“It could be the two of you facing each other though…” Jaehyun teases.

Their laughs quickly come to an end as they look at each other. They sure hope it’s not them.

-

The next day Jaehyun gets ready and gets on his ride, excited to met you and see what’s in store for the two of you today. The car comes to a stop in from of a spa and he’s pleasantly surprised however looking around he’s confused because you’re nowhere to be seen. He decides to go in and look for you inside but he still can’t find you. That’s when a lady from the spa hands him a letter.

Get (un)dressed and come find me.

Y/N

He smiles at your mysteriousness and heads to the locker rooms. He takes off his clothes down to his swimwear, wraps his body in the robe provided and puts on a pair of flip flops. He starts walking around looking for you and stops by the pool area.

Your eyes meet and a smile grows on your face. He watches you swim to the nearest border to where he’s standing and then push yourself outside. To his eyes everything happened in slow motion and he almost had to pull his jaw back up when you walked to him all wet wearing only a bikini.

“Glad you found me.” You smile as you put your robe on.

“I was starting to think you ditched me.” Jaehyun pouts.

“How could I ever?” You wink and he chuckles. “Are you ready to relax?”

“By your side? Always.”

“Good because I signed us up for a couple’s massage.”

“Sounds great to me.”

You take his hand and lead him to the massage room. There are two massage tables and you both take off the robes and settle in each one, stomach down. Right after the masseuses get in and greet you.

They pick up some oils, taking some on their hands and then proceed to massage your backs. You hum in satisfaction and turn your face to look at Jaehyun who’s already looking at you. You bite your lip to hold in any embarrassing sounds as the masseuse touches all the tension places getting rid of all your stress, you really needed this and he seems to enjoy it too judging by the pleased look on his face.

The masseuses then move to the legs and combined with the soothing music in the background and the tranquillising smell in the air you feel like you’re in cloud nine. Jaehyun lets out a low moan when the pair of hands massage his tights and you can’t help grin as your mind drifts off. He mouths an apology and chuckles but you just lightly shake your head letting him know it’s ok.

You turn your bodies around for the second part of the massage and you can’t help let your eyes travel through the lines of his body. Gulping you look back up and he’s smirking at you. Embarrassed of getting caught you turn your head to the ceiling and close your eyes letting out a happy sigh and enjoy the rest of the massage.

Once it’s done, you two thank the masseuses and put your robes back on. You leave the room and walk to a lounge area where a table with some light food and natural juices awaits you.

“Did you like it?” You ask as you two sit down.

“That was amazing.” Jaehyun smiles taking a sip of his juice. “Sorry I got a little carried away.”

“Don’t worry about that.” You fight a giggle as you recall his moan. “I was just glad you were enjoying it.”

“I would’ve enjoyed it more if we were massaging each other.” He gives you a suggestive look and you bite your lip.

“Maybe next time if you’re lucky.” You wink and he sticks his tongue on the inside of his cheek, clearly pleased with the way you’re able to flirt back with him so easily.

-

In the guest house nervousness fills the air.

“Who do you think will be in the double date?” Haechan asks.

“It could literally be anyone…” Jaemin states.

“Hopefully not you because whoever the other person is, they’re going home!” Jeno laughs.

“Why don’t know that.” Jaemin laughs too.

“That’s true though!” Haechan points to Jaemin. “She’d definitely choose you over someone else, you two definitely have something going on.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jaemin scratches the back of his head. “I’m at the same level as you guys.”

“You’re definitely not, she’s really into you.” Jeno comments.

“I bet you even kissed her already!” Haechan glares at him for not saying anything.

“We definitely did not kiss, I promise.” Jaemin throws his hands in the air.

“I wonder if she has kissed anyone though…” Haechan wonders.

Jeno clears his throat before these questions turn to him not wanting to admit he has kissed you already. Twice in fact.

“What do you think Renjun?” He addresses the boy who always has an opinion but has yet to say a word.

“What?” He gets out of his trance and looks at the others.

“Who do you think will be on the double date?” Jeno repeats the question Haechan did a few minutes ago.

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about it…” Renjun sighs and the other guys look amongst each other before turning their attention to Hendery who was sitting alone possibly lost in the same thoughts.

The awaited siren is heard and everybody gathers around the living room.

It’s a-boat time I take you guys on a trip no?

The guys are intrigued to know if that was a typo or a clue.

Unfortunately I can’t take you all with me so if you don’t see your name in the screen I’ll meet you in the next date!

Everybody takes a deep breath as the names start to come up on the screen. For the first time they’re all wishing to be chosen for the group date.

Johnny | Taeyong | Yuta | Jeno | Haechan | Jaemin

See you tomorrow!

Renjun and Hendery exchange a look before dropping their gaze to the ground. The others tense up but are also relieved that the fight between the two will finally come to an end with one of them leaving. At the same time they’re worried about you as this date could go terribly wrong.

-

After talking for a while you decide to move the conversation with Jaehyun to the hot tub that’s in a private area of the spa. You strip down your robes again and get into the warm water. You sit next to each other as the bachelor doesn’t want to spend any time away from you.

“Thank you for choosing me for this date.” He smiles.

“What can I say? I felt like pampering you a little bit.” You smirk.

“Shouldn’t I be the one pampering you?” He lifts an eyebrow.

“We can pamper each other, how about that?”

“I’m okay with that.” He wraps his arm around your shoulders pulling you closer.

If it wasn’t for the warm water around your bodies you’d be embarrassed of the way your body temperature increased as your almost naked bodies touch.

The conversation keeps its usual teasing tone and before things get even more heated with his eyes piercing through your soul, his face coming closer and closer and he forgets you’re actually in a public place you decide to make a suggestion.

“You know what, how about I give you that massage?” He looks at you in surprise and yet licks his lips. “Just a shoulder one, don’t get all excited.”

Jaehyun chuckles as you turn him around on the hot tub. He lets his arms rest on the borders as you settle behind him placing your hands on his shoulders. Your grasp is soft because you don’t want to hurt him but your thumbs pressed on his muscles. His skin is so smooth, but before your mind starts to drift off again he lets out a groan that startles you for a bit.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” You stop massaging him but keep your hands on his shoulders.

“No no, on the contrary.” He quickly answers. “It feels too good.”

“Maybe I should stop.” You chuckle.

“Oh, please don’t.” He turns his head to the side and places a kiss on your fingers.

All you want his to pull his face closer and put your lips on him but considering the lack of clothing the whole scenario just looks a little too sexual and you don’t want the wrong message to come across. Instead you push yourself back and get out of the tub.

“Come on.” You extend your hand to him. “We should go.”

“Why do we always have to leave at the best part?” He complains but still takes your hand.

You two go back into the locker rooms to get changed and head out for your ride together back to the mansion. Inside the vehicle you make the question he was dying to answer.

“Thank you for making me relax today, you definitely deserve this.” You show him the date rose. “Do you accept it?”

“I have no reasons not to.” He smiles brightly as you pin it to his shirt.

Before he has a chance to make a move on you the car stops and you two get out. You say your goodbyes and turn to go to each of your destinations. But after only two steps you turn back around.

“Hey Jaehyun!” You call out.

“Ye-” Before he can finish the word you grab his shirt and pull him in far a quick kiss.

You let out a giggle before finally heading to the mansion.

“Oh Y/N, you’re going to be the death of me.” He takes a hand to his chest, biting his lip and walks to the guest house.

-

The following day the guys get their ride to meet you leaving Jaehyun, Renjun and Hendery at eh guest house. They’re dropped off by the sea and walk along the pier until they see you. You’re wearing a nautical summer dress and some dark sunglasses.

“Hey you guys.” You greet them with a smile. “Ready to go sailing?”

You point to the boat on your right and they cheer with excitement. You all get into the boat and drift off into the sea. It’s a warm sunny day but it’s made better with the damp breeze coming from the waves.

The boat comes to a stop where you can only see the shore far far away. Johnny decides it’s the perfect time to make some cocktails so he gets behind the bar. You decide to join him, taking a seat on a stool as the other guys enjoy the sun.

“What can I get you, beautiful lady?” Johnny asks in his effortless charm.

“Why don’t surprise me, Mr bartender?” You challenge him with a grin.

“Pleasant surprise coming right up!” He winks and starts preparing you a drink.

You attentively follow the movements of his hands with the bottles and the mixer as he tells you all about his passion for cocktails and mixing drinks.

As much as you’re enjoying this hobby of his you can’t help but wonder if this is too much of a bachelor activity, not very family friendly, and you have to think that the objective of this is finding your forever person to build a family with. All your worries and doubts are thrown off the boat when he looks at you flashing his bright smile.

“Hope you like it.” He places your drink in front of you. “I mixed the flavours that remind me of you and a little bit of myself into it too. It should taste like us.”

He winks and you giggle before taking a sip. The explosion of flavours inside your mouth is intense and makes you widen your eyes. You never had a drink like this but from now on this is the only drink you want to have.

“I’ll take that as a good sign?” Johnny says in anticipation of your feedback.

“Johnny, I’m speechless. This is out of this world!” You lick your lips not wanting to waste a drop of it.

He pats himself on the back and you both laugh at is action. You keep talking about other interests as he seats in a stool next to you and you both sip on your cocktails.

“Hey, how about some food with that?” You turn to the side and see Taeyong waking in.

“That actually sounds pretty good.” You get up from the stool.

“I’ll just make a few more cocktails for the guys, you two have fun.” Johnny gets back on his temporary bartender position as you and Taeyong walk to a kitchen area.

You start cutting up some fruits as Taeyong prepares a cheese and crackers boar, something light and fresh for you all to enjoy in this warm day.

“Oh wow, you have to try these grapes!” You tell him as you eat one.

“Shoot me.” He parts his lips wide and you take a successful swing, the grape landing right inside his mouth.

“Yes!” You celebrate as he happily chews.

“Nice aim!” He congrats you. “Ok, my turn.”

He picks up another grape and you get ready to catch it like he did. When he trows it you lean back a bit and manage to get it in your mouth however you lose balance and start falling back. But like in a cliche scene from a drama Taeyong grabs one of your hands and the back of your neck, kneeling down next to you and preventing you from hitting the ground.

“Are you ok?” He worriedly asks.

You gulp with the proximity between the two of you, getting lost in his beautiful eyes.

“I-I’m fine.” You stutter as he helps you up. “Thank you Taeyong.”

“You sure you’re alright?” He eyes you up and down.

“I’m alright, I promise.” You give him a reassuring smile and he smiles back accepting it.

You two finish setting up the food and you glance at him biting your lip. You sure could use someone in your life that takes good care of you as he does to everybody around him.

Once everything is ready you two go outside to meet the other guys that already put on some music and are dancing and having fun. You and Taeyong put down the food you prepared and join them.

A few minutes later your attention shifts to Yuta that is taking off his shirt and getting to the edge of the boat. He looks at you blowing you a kiss before he back flips into the ocean. Your jaw drops and you hurry to check on him. Looking down you see him coming up to the surface and flip his beautiful hair.

“Come on, join me!” He calls you swimming backwards to give you space.

“Isn’t the water too cold?” You giggle.

“It’s perfect, trust me!” Yuta motions for you to join him.

You think for a second before you mutter ‘screw it’ to yourself, after all this is supposed to be a time to relax and have fun so why not? You pull your dress off of you to reveal a tiny bikini that earns you whistles from the guys that are still on the boat. You chuckle before coming close to the border and take a dive.

When you raise to the surface you look around confused because Yuta is nowhere to be seen. Then something wraps around your waist making you squeal.

“Gotcha.” He whispers in your ear and you let out a relieved breath.

“You little…” You start saying while releasing yourself from his grip trowing water on his face.

“Oh game on!” He trows some water back at you initiating a friendly fight.

You two laugh and swim around like two kids on vacation. First in the amusement park and now here in the sea, you love how Yuta brings out the fun side of you and you are able to forget all your worries and focus only on him. You can just imagine what a fun dad he will be someday.

After a while you two decide to hop back on the boat. He helps you up and wraps a towel around you teasingly bringing you closer as he tries to dry you. You giggle at his smooth move.

-

In the guest house the atmosphere is tense.

Renjun and Hendery quietly sit down as they have since they realised one of them will be going home after their date.

Jaehyun on the other hand is over the moon having secured his rose for this week but it feels weird to share his excitement when the other two are gloomy like this, he doesn’t even know what to say to lighten the mood.

A siren is heard and Jaehyun thanks every lord, maybe this message will get them to at least start talking. He almost wishes they’ll fight!

The three bachelors gather around the TV.

Hey guys, I hope you are not feeling defeat already, there’s still time to show me you deserve to be here!

Jaehyun raises his eyebrows. If only you where here to see them.

Bring comfortable clothes and come prepared to align your body and soul.

Jaehyun looks between the boys trying to get a glimpse of a possible reaction but they give him nothing. He sighs and leaves the room.

Hendery and Renjun look at each other and curse under their breaths.

-

You see Jeno sunbathing alone and decide to join him to try to dry off your bikini.

“Can I offer you some company?” He opens his eyes to look up at you and a smile opens up on his face.

“I think I’ve been laying in the sun for too long, I’m seeing an angel.”

“Oh my god Jeno.” You laugh at his cheesy line and lay down next to him.

You two stay In a very comfortable silence until the boy decides to break it.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” You simply answer.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to answer.” He continues.

“Now you’re getting me nervous.” You lift up your torso slightly turning to face him. “What is it?”

“Well… Yesterday the guys were talking and they were wondering if you had kissed someone already…”

“And?” You chuckle. “Do you need me to answer that?”

“No.” He laughs lifting his torso to mimic your position. “I was just wondering if there’s more than what I know. I’m sorry, I don’t want to sound jealous, we’re all here for the same thing.”

“So you want to know,” you lean closer with a grin, “if you were my only kiss yet?”

“Only kiss!?” You two turn back hearing a third voice. “So you two already kissed?”

“Haechan were you eavesdropping?” You feel a little annoyed to have your alone time with Jeno interrupted.

“No, I was just passing.” He sounds so upset people back on the land could feel it. “But I guess it’s good to know.”

Haechan goes into the cabin and you look at Jeno unsure of what to do.

“Go talk to him.” He takes your hand giving it a kiss.

You nod apologetically and go after Haechan.

“Haechan wait!” You call him and grab his wrist once you catch onto him. “What the hell was that?”

“What? Am I not allowed to be jealous when we’re all out here trying our best and you just go around giving out kisses?”

“Hey! I won’t tolerate you speaking to me like that!” You start to get really upset.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” He lowers his head. “It’s just that… You seem to have made your mind already.”

“Just because me and Jeno kissed, it doesn’t mean I’ve chosen him already.”

“This is just really frustrating, I don’t know what else to do…” He sounds defeated now.

“Well maybe don’t explode like that for the smallest things. I…” You sigh. “I need some time to think.”

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Haechan says but you’re already heading out of the cabin.

You walk to the other edge of the boat where nobody is at. You sit and hold up your knees not knowing what to do. You were definitely not expecting this reaction and you don’t want these men to have the wrong idea about you. This is exactly why you where so hesitant to kiss Jeno that day on the hill, but in the moment it felt right. You trusted that he wouldn’t go around and brag to the others and he didn’t but sooner or later everybody would find out, you just didn’t expect it to be like this, like you two were holding a dark secret.

You were too lost in your thoughts that didn’t even notice a presence sitting down next to you until you heard his voice.

“Are you okay?”

You look up at Jaemin, your eyes glistening from the tears that were forming that you didn’t want to let out. Instead of waiting for your reply he simply threw his arm around your shoulder pulling you into his chest where lately it felt like your safe place.

You stayed like that for a while admiring the view as the boat returned to the pier. You eventually initiated a conversation with him not wanting to talk about the reasons that got you upset. He didn’t ask either, respecting your choice. This is just one of the reasons you are drawn to him, he always respect your boundaries and never forces you to talk if you don’t feel ready for it, but once you do he’s there to listen.

As the shore comes closer and closer you decide to hand him the rose you had for this group date. You spent some good time with the other guys too but this last moment with Jaemin just warmed your heart and honestly today you just want to head back to the mansion because unfortunately this Haechan incident isn’t the only thing keeping your mind busy.

-

The next day Hendery and Renjun exit the guest house, minds set on making the best out of this date so they don’t loose their chances with you. The driver drops them off at a Yoga studio and they glance at each other, not really what they had in mind.

They enter the building and widen their eyes when they find you inside a room stretched out on a yoga mat. When you notice their presence you graciously get up to greet them.

“Hey you two! How are you doing?”

They seem speechless so you just chuckle and point to the yoga mats, one at each side of you.

“Things have been a little bit tense between you two and it’s affecting me and the other guys too so I thought today we could do something relaxing. Can you do this for me?”

A moment of silence follows as you anxiously wait for a reaction.

“Anything for you.” Renjun’s face softens up and he smiles taking a place next to you.

Hendery simply nods taking the spot on your other side.

The instructor comes in and greets the three of you as no one else will be joining this class. You all stretch before starting on the actual exercises.

You have taken a few yoga classes before but never surrounded by two guys that are interested in you. Now you really understand when they say this is a very sensual activity. You try to focus your attention on what the instructor is saying but you can’t help glancing over the guys when they stretch and their shirts go up a bit revealing their lower abdomen, or when they bend and their clothes shamelessly reveal the curve of their butts.

But you’re not the only one peeking. Their eyes also follow the lines of your body and the relaxed expressions on your face that make them gulp and look away before something else starts to show through their clothes.

You all clap and thank the instructor as the class comes to an end.

“Alright guys, do you feel more calm and relaxed?” You face the them.

They both nod in agreement and finally you see a genuine smile on their faces.

“Great! Should we go get something to eat?” You suggest.

“Please, I’m starving!” Renjun agrees.

“Yes, let’s go.” Hendery adds.

You go to the locker rooms to get changed and meet again in front of the studio. You take them to a nice restaurant downtown. You get settled and order some drink to start with.

The conversation goes surprisingly well considering the tension that still exists between the two of them. You notice that they’re making an effort not to ruin this date but you can’t help feel that more from one of them than the other.

As the night and the chat progresses you start to feel nervous for the decision you’ll have to make. In both you can see thing you like and things you don’t but you have to choose what matters the most to you and for the plans you have for the future.

Hendery is someone family driven which you really appreciate because you want to build a family too. He’s also very nice and funny from the little talks you had. But he let the competition get to his head and you can’t help feel that this bickering has shifted his focus from you on his head, and this is definitely taken its toll on him.

Renjun came up a little abruptly, sometimes not understanding the right time to do things and you have felt that certain moments seemed forced between you too. But on the other hand he’s one of the people who makes the most effort to have his time with you and to get to know you no matter what it takes. And unlike the other boy, he doesn’t let this stupid war get on his way.

As you finish the meal you think this is the best time to announce your decision.

“As you know I only have one rose to hand out tonight and that means however doesn’t receive it will be going home.”

They gulp as you take out the rose and hold it in your hands.

“Before I tell you who I choose I just want you to know I really like both of you but I just can’t have you with me at the same time if this will cause trouble.”

You look between the two of them and take a deep breath before you say the name.

“Renjun.” He gasps. “Do you accept this rose?”

“Hell yes.” You pin the rose to his jacket and he can’t take off the smile on his face. “Thank you so much, Y/N.”

You glance over to the other bachelor who’s looking down and shaking his head.

“Hendery,” he lifts his head, “can we talk before you go?”

“Sure.” You two get up leaving Renjun inside.

You stand outside the restaurant as Hendery’s ride arrives.

“I’m sorry it came down to this.” You give him an apologetic look. “I wish I had more time to get to know you better but I feel like I stopped being your focus the moment you two started this fight.”

“I don’t even know what to say…” He almost whispers as tears build up in his eyes.

You have seen him happy and you’ve seen him angry in the past weeks but you’ve never seen him get this emotional.

“I really wish you made a different decision tonight, but I respect it, even though you’re breaking my heart.”

With that he turns around not wanting to cry on camera. As he gets into the car you can’t keep your own tears from rolling down your face. His last words are like a sword to your heart. You knew this would be hard but you never meant to break anyone’s heart because you don’t want the same to happen to you. And with this thought, Doyoung’s last words resound in your head. You tried to ignore it but you need to face everybody and find out the truth.

“Y/N, are you ok?” Renjun joins you outside wrapping his jacket around your shoulders.

“Yeah, thanks.” You wipe your damp cheeks and put on a smile. “Should we go? I’m tired.”

“Of course.”

He holds you in his arms until the car arrives and then helps you in. The ride back was quite as Renjun didn’t want to force you to talk considering your fragile state, even if his heart was bursting from being saved tonight.

-

The boys are already in the living room waiting for you but Chris comes along two. Confusion is in the air as the boys gather in a semi circle.

"Good evening gentleman. You might be wondering why I'm here so early but there's something Y/N wants to address before we start." 

Chris steps back giving you a nod for you to take the lead on the conversation.

"Hi guys. This week has been though for me because there's a piece of information I've been trying to ignore but I can't any longer."

The bachelors seem curious yet scared about what might be going on. 

"Before Doyoung left he told me to be cautious because somebody here is lying." 

Their eyes widen in surprise. 

"I've been trying to not pay attention to this but I'm afraid that I might be sending someone home who is here for me and keeping someone who already has somebody." 

Tears build up in your eyes but you continue. 

"So I'm here asking you all directly. If someone has a girlfriend back home please speak up because I'm here to find someone real and honest and I don't want have my heart broken once again." 

Chris places his hand on your shoulder as your voice starts to crack by the end of your sentence. 

"As you can tell this is something that's really bothering Y/N and we've told you from the beginning, if any of you is not here for the right reasons please speak up." 

"I need to know if this is true or not, I think I deserve to know." 

Silence fills in the room as no men dares to speak up. A tear falls down your cheek and you quickly wipe it not waiting to be this vulnerable right now. 

"Do you think he might have made it up because he was upset you sent him home?" Yuta finally breaks the silence. 

"I don't know, that's why I'm here to clear things up." You take a deep breath. "Please don't lie to me. If you want to leave please do it now before I start developing deep feelings for you." 

Nobody says another word as looks are exchanged between all of them. Chris then decides to end the dreadful moment. 

"Y/N, do you want to proceed with the cocktail party?" 

You look at him and shake your head feeling defeated. 

"Do you want some time to collect your thoughts?" 

You nod and leave the room. Before Chris goes away he gives out a last warning. 

"I ask that you re-think the reasons you are here and know you are free to walk out this house at any time. As you understood tonight we won't have any more time for you to chat with Y/N and we'll be back later for the rose ceremony." 

Chris exits the room and the bachelors seem to have some words for each other now. 

"Guys, if you're not serious here just go, some of us might loose our chances because of this." Taeyong says. 

"Yeah, I was really counting on tonight to talk to Y/N and now I might be going home because somebody here is a coward." Haechan adds. 

"We don't even know if this is true." Renjun comments. "Or it could even be Hendery and he already left." 

"Oh you shut up, you already have your place secured for another week!" Haechan responds. 

Renjun throws his hands in the hair in defeat and the group splits up not to let things escalate further. 

- 

You're already sitting in the decision room on the upper floor of the mansion when Chris joins you. 

"How are you feeling?" 

"Honestly I'm confused." You sigh. "I don't know who to believe." 

"I'm not here to take sides but there is the possibility that Doyoung made this up to steer the game before he left." 

"That's what I'm scared of, that I might be falsely accusing them. But then again this might be true and I don't want to keep someone here for them to later break my heart." 

"As always take your time and trust what your heart tells you, I'm sure you will make the best decision for you." 

"Thank you Chris." 

"I'll be back when you're ready."

Chris leaves the room and you lower your head starting to doubt ever joining this show. You thought you'd come here to find your true love but you might be leaving even more broken. 

-

After an hour, that felt like days for the bachelors downstairs, you and Chris join them. 

"Before we start, does anybody want to say something?" 

Nobody wants to speak. 

"Well then, our Bachelorette has in the bowl 4 roses to hand out tonight. Jaehyun, Jaemin and Renjun already got theirs ont he dates so that means one of you will be leaving. Y/N, whenever you want." 

Chris leaves and you pick up the first rose. You don't have it in you to say anything else tonight so you call out the first name. 

"Yuta." 

He steps forward with a sympathetic smile. 

"Do you accept this rose?" 

"I do. And I promise I'm not here to hurt you." You bite your lip not wanting to cry as you pin the rose to his jacket. "Thank you." 

As he steps back you pick up the nest one. 

"Jeno." 

He walks with his signature smile that warms up your heart. 

"Do you accept this rose?" 

"Of course." You pin it to his jacket and he whispers. "I'm not a violent guy but I'll beat up whoever tries to hurt you." 

You smile as he returns to his place. 

"Taeyong." 

He releases a deep breath he was holding. 

"Do you accept this rose?" 

"Absolutely." You pin the rose. "Thank you so much." 

When he walks back Chris re-enters the room. 

"Y/N, this is the last rose tonight. Have you made your decision?" 

"Yes." 

Chris takes the empty bowl leaving you to announce the next guy you want to keep for another week. Johnny and Haechan look nervous as they expect to hear their names. 

"Johnny." 

He looks relieved and the other boy just looks down in defeat. 

"Do you accept this rose?"

"Definitely." You pin the last rose of the night. "Thank you for trusting me." 

Chris comes back into the living room. 

"Haechan unfortunately you two were not meant to be. You can say your goodbyes to everybody." 

He hugs the guys and then approaches you. 

"I'm sorry Haechan." You hug him. 

"I should be the one apologising." He holds you tight. "I had no right talking to you like that, I hope you can forgive me."

"No hard feelings ok?" You smile. 

"No hard feelings." He assures you. "Good luck with these suckers!" 

He kisses your forehead and leaves while the rest of the group laugh. 

-

In the next episode:

Things are awkward between the bachelors as they try to figure out who can possibly be deceiving you.

“I bet it’s you. Just admit it!”

“If I go home and find out a cheater gets to stay I will be pissed.”

And two more men will be leaving the competition.

“I thought we were building something special.”

“I can’t keep you all here.”

“You gotta make every second count.”

Stay tuned for next weeks episode premiering 18/07.

☽ ・・・・・ ☾

Episode 6

a/n: oh man this week was a true challenge! juggling between lack of motivation and ideas, but I managed to get it out even though I made some scenes smaller than they should be... do give me some feedback please! ❤

taglist: @skrtbabe @yutahoes @yokshi-unbeliebubble @nakamotonudes @n0hyuck @negincho @love-and-other-possibilities @readers-posts @sylviacxt​ @tyongf-sunflower99​

If you’d like to be included in the taglist for the series do let me know ❤︎

[bon-nii]

There's literally no stakes in the anime at all. Its so bland and emotionless. I don't feel anything for these characters. Everything is being handed to them. Give me back my son, Adam. He is far more intelligent than any of these anime characters. They all drank stupid juice.

Yeah, I definitely agree. I'm just watching to see where this ends up at this point (and also to shitpost lmfao)

Every Thursday me and two of my friends (one has read most of the manga, the other is anime-only) watch it on discord, or talk about it on discord and man... my friend who is anime-only is like "yeah, this sucks ass, I need to just read the manga" and is confused with stuff. We just kinda clown on it at this point. It's basically just someone's shitty canon-divergence AU playing out on screen.

Random assortment of thoughts:

I can sympathize with Manga Norman. I can understand WHY he is doing what he is doing and what his motivations are. It is, quite frankly, completely disgusting what he wants to do, but I can get why he wants to do it and I don't hate him. He is a very complex character, trying to make sense/live in a very complex world. Anime Norman on the other hand? I feel nothing for him like, I just Do Not Care. Norman is, imo, the best written out of the three mains and my personal favorite, but they've completely squandered his writing... ugh

I've held strong by this belief: If you are going to adapt TPN, there are 3 major characters who you *cannot afford* to mess up. Isabella, Yuugo, and Norman. (I'd even throw Peter and Leuvis in there as well) Well, Yuugo's gone and if they *do* decide to have him show up his character is completely different (i.e. the out of character note he leaves at the bunker). Norman has next to none of the depth he had in the OG story (I can't remember, but didn't Cislo or Barbara say that he saved the kids at the mass production plants? Uhhh, what?!?!). And Isabella is being built up as the big villain YET AGAIN which does not align with her development at all (though I do think they will still pull a bait-n-switch on us like in the manga) so there goes that.

Peter and Leuvis oh where do I start? Leuvis is my personal favorite villain of the story for multiple reasons (I think I will write an entire post on him sometime) and Peter is the epitome of everything Emma stands against and is essentially the Big Bad. Leuvis is gone, Peter is in the op but has had ZERO screentime thus far, not even any fucking hints to his existence at all. There's 5 eps left so he has to show up at some point, right? He's in the opening soooo... where the hell is he? How are viewers supposed to give a shit about him? He's pretty fucking dangerous and has been influencing the plot since day ONE, but whatever I guess??

Anime Ray is the only one I vibe with rn, and even then he's meh. Anime Emma is on thin fucking ice, and Anime Norman can be fed to the Dropkick Murpheys for all I care.

Infodumps. My god. These bitches be talking like they're reading a wikipedia article.

The literal butchering of Emma's character. Goldy Pond would have been the ep 19 of Demon Slayer of this anime season if they had adapted it, and I stand by that. The amount of HYPE on social media that would have happened after Emma pulls herself from the brink of death to challenge Leuvis would have been insane. There are so few strong, well-written female shonen protagonists... damn shame that the brilliance of Emma is relegated solely to s1 and the pages of the manga, she is a husk of herself in this season.

No character growth. Trio is separate for 90 chapters. That's literally half of the entire manga. There's no feeling of separation, no feeling that they are wildly different people now. These three have spent their entire lives together. Ray and Emma have to struggle without Norman, and Norman has to struggle without Ray and Emma. It's so important. This dynamic *literally* dictates how they grow as characters. When they are finally reunited it is so emotional and amazing, but also a bit unsettling because Norman is *clearly* not the Norman we remember... but in the anime we don't feel any of the impact of those 2 years.

Yuugo and Lucas. Contrasting the love Isabella gave to the kids with the love these two dads give to them. Adds a lot to the story. RIP.

Also RIP Adam and the Gold Pond kids... jeeeeeze there was so much potential.

Anime sacrifices extremely hard-hitting and emotional moments for cheap shock factor (namely, bunker raid and the trio reunion)

Speaking of the trio reunion, why the FUCK does Anime Norman not give a shit about Anime Ray? Hes completely ignored, and it's not like in the manga where he came in later no, like... he's there, seeing Norman at the same time Emma is. There's like, a solid minute and a half of Norman and Emma crying over each other while Ray just stands in the back like 🧍‍♂️and then is added as an afterthought. Emma's like "oh yeah, I brought Ray" GIRL??? And Norman is like "oh hey Ray.." BITCH?!?! YOU KNEW HE WAS GONNA FUCKING KILL HIMSELF AND HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING WHETHER OR NOT EMMA WAS ABLE TO STOP HIS SUICIDE, FOR 2 YEARS??? AND YOU JUST IGNORE HIM?? AND THEN ACKOWLEDGE HIM AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT?? I--okay!

Manga Norman: Emma and Ray are my best friends and I love them more than anything in the world, but Ray understands me in a way that Emma doesn't. They are both important to me.

Anime Norman: who the fuck is ray

Zero suspense. Minimal world building. Very minimal lore building. No mystery.

What the fuck is up with the William Minerva part of the plot like... uh, that's pretty important??? He's been completely dropped and there's zero reason for us to connect him with Norman. Like, he had his phone call in ep 3 and then any mention of him dipped. Disappointing as hell. Don't get to see the parallels drawn between him and Norman. Man...

Yeah idk what else... am I being too critical? Honestly, not sure. I think my criticisms and frustrations are well-founded, but I am definitely basing most of this off of the anime's failure to adapt the manga. Though I suppose, looking from an anime-only standpoint who has no idea just how much of the story has been axed, it might be okay or it might not be? Or it might depend on the person... in any case, I cant fathom how anyone could look at this season and go "Yeah, this feels like the same show as season 1!"

[rwby-sk]

My ship thoughts

This will be a long post, so I’m putting it under a ‘keep reading”

Bumbleby  - Until Vol.4 I wasn’t sure if the Bees liked each other. Like yeah, we’ve had solid evidence since, like, their Vol.1 trailers. But still. I wasn’t sure CRWBY would do it. But wow was I impressed.  - Probably my favorite well-known ship - Their EYES are the colors of each others SOULS what more do you want??? - I wish my gf would throw a motorcycle at my abusive ex...

Nuts and Dolts  - I tried pushing this ship out of my mind for so long. I did. I wasn’t ready for it  - I appreciated the things people made for the ship. I knew it had potential  - But wow. Vol.8 really said “Nuts and Dolts rights” and I respect that - They’re so cute together. It’s like if Pyrrha came back to life and could be with Jaune again.  - But healthier this way (see Arkos)

Renora  - Wholesome - Cute - ‘Boop’ is one of my favorite songs - We all saw it coming. But how we got there was the fun part  - That Vol. 4 finale though...

Arkos  - First off, Arkos is my favorite ship from Vol.1-3 - Himbo is taught how to drink his respect women juice by an Amazon? Sign me up  - The character development, the mutual respect, the CARE - ForeverFall still fucks me up. I cry when I listen to it - I love Pyrrha, she’s my girl, but... She really betrayed Jaune’s trust at the very end. He told her specifically he never wanted to be helpless and watch his friends fight for their lives again. And she did exactly that to him. Making him wonder if he could have made a difference had he been able to fight by her side with her in the end.  - But it’s not really even Pyrrha’s fault. Ozpin’s expectations and Cinder’s plan are more to blame - Still high tier - It’s just so tragic

WhiteKnight  - Cute in theory  - But it’d have to be done so carefully to be a good romantic pairing  - As friends? I LOVE IT. Make these two best friends right now! - But Jaune moved past his feelings for Weiss in Vol.2 when he finally realized she meant it when she told him she didn’t like him  - I’m shocked though that so few people pick up on Ep.3 Vol.1 when Weiss is making fun of Jaune and mockingly calls him a “cute boy”. I think Jaune just thought Weiss liked him already, and went from there. He hits on Pyrrha pretty quick in Ep.4 too - I think it could work with who they are now, but I think they’re better as friends 

WhiteRose  - The sole reason I didn’t ship Nuts and Dolts sooner  - Vol. 6 messed me up okay? That red scarf really threw me for a loop - Chasing each other in the Argus Limited?  - Weiss sassing Ruby non-stop Vol.1-3?  - It also completes the RW BY JP NR pairings. I like to joke that the Emerald forest is actually “true love” forest. And whoever you lock eyes with first you fall in love with them. But that only works sometimes  - Also that part where they call out each others names when Jinn shows them Ozpin’s past 

Ladybug  - Cute and interesting  - I’m not against it. I would just need more of it to ship it myself - They just have such solid connections with other characters  - I do love Blake’s introduction to the main cast though, and how much Blake looks up to Ruby 

Freezerburn  - Similar to LadyBug  - Cute, but I just ship them more with other people  - That hug in Vol.5 was a bit sus though - Yang does seem to open up the most with Weiss - And Weiss defended Yang so quickly after the Mercury fight  - It’s not unfounded, I’ll say that  - Analyzing it has opened my eyes 

Crosshares  - Yes  - Just  - Yes  - High femme fashion ICON Coco Adel  - With fan-fave Velvet Scarlatina - WLW powercouple  - I wish I was Coco and Velvet is cute, not much to understand here, keep scrolling 

RoseGarden  - I have my concerns  - Oscar is a wonderful kid  - He probably has a crush on Ruby  - And he is a wholesome boy who deserves all the happiness  - But he also has a manipulative immortal Wizard in his head  - So - You know

Lancaster  - I never saw Lancaster. Jaune is the first boy Ruby meets. And Jaune calls her cute and quirky once, but... - I love Ruby’s talk with Jaune about failure in Vol. 1, then his return to that speech in Vol. 4 in return.  - I think they lean on each other as leaders - But I don’t see it going further - Cute though. I’ve seen nice fanart 

BlackSun  - I read an analysis a long time ago that really sat with me  - Blake asked for space (not out loud, but in action) when she ran away - Yang gave her what she wanted. She didn’t like it. But she gave Blake what she asked for.  - Sun on the other hand, didn’t. He followed and helped her anyway. (Believe me, Blake could have used all the help she could get in Vol. 4-5) But in doing so, he kinda took himself out of the running as love interest.  - He’s and excellent Foil for Blake though, so I love him

SeaMonkies  - Two bros, chilling in a hot tub... - Is it gay to become junior detectives with your best friend and only hang out with him for like 3 seasons?  - These two are just  - So fucking stupid  - Apart, they are fine. Very competent.  - Together though - They are just so dumb I think its cute as hell 

JNR  - Wholesome  - I could see it in Argus. In front of Pyrrha’s statue - They love each other  - Maybe its not 100% romantic  - But they love each other  - I could be happy here

JNR+Neo  - CRIME + Ren  - The pure chaos of Nora and Neo  - The exhausted mom-friend energy from Ren and Jaune - The power polycule that could take on Salem alone and maybe win? - I think it’d be cute, but I personally ship them in the two pairs a bit more. 

Bees Schnees  - We add Blake and Yang’s angst, Yang and Weiss’ trust, and Weiss and Blake’s mutual understanding and growth  - Wow okay  - I have to give it to you, I kinda like it

Neo x Jaune x Ruby  - Based on my response to Lancaster, you might be able to guess my answer here - I think a lot of the ship’s points lie in “What’s better than one short girl dating the tallest guy in the cast? Two short girls dating the tallest guy in the cast!” - Cute though, I think it’d be chaotic and wholesome  - But poor Jaune would be exhausted trying to make sure the house doesn;t burn down every five minutes 

May x Winter  - Look - If I hadn’t made a Neo x Jaune side blog  - I would have made a May x Winter side blog  - The comparisons  - The family legacies  - The pure amount of how attracted I am to both characters  - What happens when two tops date each other?  - What if they were partners in Atlas?  - What if May was Winter’s first crush. And after May came out, Winter was like “Oh thank the gods, I was worried I liked all women and only one guy for some reason. Cool, crisis adverted. So anyway, Marigold, here’s how you do your makeup” - I could go on - Haha don’t tempt me - I’m serious  - Please let them sass each other at some point

GuardDogs  - Marrow = Just doing his best  - Jaune = Just doing his best  - Marrow and Jaune = two himbos just vibing in this world  - If we don’t get Silentknight, I’d be proud to get GuardDogs - Marrow sure has been worried about “Juan” this whole time, huh?

Emercury  - The sass - The pure sass  - Mercury’s unearned confidence paired with Emerald’s quick temper  - Wow, I hope Em can turn him away from murdering people.  - If Em gets 1 friend, I hope its Mercury and not Cinder  - At least Mercury cares about her (But he’s too cool to admit that outright) - Mercury is going to see Em on RWBY’s team and just immediately walk over and join up. No questions asked. “I guess we’re good now. Sorry Tyrian, its been cool, not really”

Happy Huntresses - Yes - Look at that HUG - Ladies, is it gay to go off into the tundra and form a rebellion against the fascist government with three of your hottest gal pals? 

[lizacstuff]

Bölüm 45 asks

Plus a few asks from 44, and one about the fragman for 46

Read more under the cut

Anonymous asked: I cannot believe that Ayse revived the "Kemal is Serkan's real father" theory but I think I'm down for it? At least now Kiraz has one decent grandparent and he seems like genuinely nice man. I've been wishing for him to have some scenes with Serkan because the way they set up this S2 plot, they could relate to one another and I was sad to see that he spent 5 years hiding instead

I'm down for this plot! See, now that I know they're doing the long-lost-father plot, it makes all the sense in the world why Serkan doesn't like Kemal and they didn't forge a relationship in the last five years. If they had, then finding out he's his dad would have been a lot less jarring and dramatic. Finding out now and then forging the relationship I think will be a bit more meaty story so it works for me.

To me this story works on a lot of levels, and makes sense with who Serkan is and his very strained relationship with Alptekin. It's like Alptekin sensed it, and resented Serkan his whole life. For those worried that Serkan will no longer have the last name Bolat, I'm not sure where that's coming from. Maybe I'm just not familiar with other cultures, but that is his name, Alptekin raised him, adults don't just up and change their name because of genetics. If you're adopted and you meet your bio dad as an adult, you don't change your name to your bio dad's.

Serkan's name is very much a part of his identity. Which is why this story has so much potential, because it could shake Serkan to his very core to find out who he thought he was, was wrong. He thought he was unlovable, most importantly maybe he'll finally realize there was more at play there and it wasn't at fault.

Anonymous asked: There were a couple things in the last episode that didn't sit well with me. 1. I can't believe Eda made Serkan sleep outside at night and didn't feel bad in the morning when she realized he got sick! 2. The way Seyfi announced Aydan and Kemal's secret relationship. It wasn't his secret to tell, though Aydan did deserve the way everyone reacted. So I got over that pretty quick. 3. Burak!!! He's not the one for Melo. She deserves better and if they end up together in the end, I'm gonna protest.

1. Unless you're going to put the same energy into not believing that Serkan had the gal to remove his bed on the floor as a way to maneuver himself into Eda's bed before she was ready, I really can't relate. It was done for comedy, my advice is to unclench and just giggle along.

2. Or you could look at it as being unfair of Aydan to burden Seyfi with that secret and require he lie to his other employer for five years. I mean I don't disagree that it wasn't his secret to tell, but Aydan had plenty of chances, and it was time for it to come out.

3. This one we are in 100% agreement about. MELO DESERVES BETTER. I will die on this hill.

Anonymous asked: Hi! Do you think Serkan actually believes in Kerem's abilities (he trusts Eda's faith in Kerem) or is this part of his plan to win Eda back? Either way I'm okay, just wondering what you think.

No, I do not think he gained a sudden belief in Kerem's abilities, but I do think he believes in Eda. And if Eda believes in Kerem then when push comes to shove that is enough for Serkan. Of course, he did it as part of his plan to win Eda back. Serkan is taking every opportunity to let Eda know that he respects her and believes in her and I think this was another example of that. There was also an aspect of him trying to win over another person in Eda's circle who was suspicious of him. The fewer people he has working against him, the better! He knows he has no shot with Burak or Ayfer, so this episode he worked on Melo and Kerem. But mostly it was him trying to make Eda's life easier, by smoothing over a personnel problem she was having, thus making working out of Art Life a more attractive option for her. All of those things in one!

Anonymous asked: What do you think about Eda and Piril's friendship? This episode really highlighted how close they've gotten.

Yes, they have gotten close, and I'm happy Eda has a friend, but at the same time I don't trust Piril. This is a woman who discarded Eda and embraced Selin when she was manipulating and abusing a brain-damaged Serkan.

Eda might be able to forget, but I can't. Also as a character she's just boring, rigid and humorless. One of my least favorites on screen.

That being said I do like the triad dynamic of Kiraz/Can, Serkan/Engin, and Eda/Piril, it was fun when they were calling each other at the same time.

Anonymous asked: Idk if they reached out to Maya just because she looked like Hande considering she had no acting experience, but this little girl is like the best casting I've seen. The chemistry with Hande and Kerem is amazing. She's so expressive. I am a Kiraz stan.

She's doing a fantastic job, precious thing! I have no idea how they found her, I know she was an instagram model, but the SCK casting director strikes again. This season doesn't work if we don't fall in love with Kiraz. Thankfully, we did!

Anonymous asked: Hi! Since it seems that we will have 13 episodes, do you think that Edser reconciliation/wedding will be left for the finale, 12-13 ep? Cause Ayse loves to drag and keep them apart.

I think the wedding might be closer to the end, but I think reconciliation will be a bit sooner than that.

However, I have to say that it's really not like they're apart.. is it? I mean this episode we had them living together, sort of casually planning their future together. Next episode we have them pretending to be married and ramping up the sexual tension to white-hot-sun levels, these are all good things. With episodes like this, I don't personally consider the show dragging it out.

In fandom I see a lot of peeps upset because Eda isn't getting immediately back with Serkan and I am feeling inpatient as well, do you think the writers are making a mistake keeping them apart?

Again, I guess my response to you is, by what definition was this episode "keeping them apart?"

Yes, they aren't having sex, but they are living together, working together, raising their daughter together, and I'm a-okay with having a couple of delicious episodes of that while they are still not fully back together romantically. Let's be real, they're still waking up in bed together, flirting, and having a romantic dinner together, so it's not like things aren't moving forward, they are. I'd advise putting aside your impatience, and just sit back, relax, and let the story take its course. There is no need to be anxious with this one. They are going to end up with their happily ever after together, but what we're seeing right now is delightful. It's them in family and domestic situations, them with their child. Most shippers only dream of getting to see this.

This sort of goes back to my stance on episodes 16-24, I know that was a frustrating time for a lot of fans because they were "broken up" but I've always said they may have been officially broken up, but they were in a committed relationship that entire time. And I enjoyed those episodes from that perspective, that tension of them being "apart" but still functioning as a unit and still being emotionally tied together underneath it all. There's kind of a similar situation here, they aren't officially back together, Eda is resisting him, but they are in a committed relationship and I don't understand what the need is to rush through this part? Enjoy the sexual tension of them living together, but not sleeping together. Enjoy the rom com romp of Serkan trying to get in her bed, and Eda taking steps to keep him out. Enjoy their daughter putting them in situations that force them into close proximity, and enjoy them falling into easy compatibility without even trying. Enjoy Serkan planning romantic dinners, and Eda enjoying it despite her every effort to protect her heart.

To me this is very good stuff, and spending this time being impatient and wanting what didn't happen yet, instead of enjoying what did happen is pretty much the recipe for unhappiness not just with this show, but life.

Anonymous asked: i feel like i've seen the exact same frustrations ppl have had with eda right now back around the 20s too after serkan told her about her parents' secret. it was like, now that he's told her the truth, she should automatically forgive him and get back together. same thing happening here, with him accepting his role as kiraz's father. it feels like the same impatience that's put on eda to just forgive him already bc everyone wants happy edser and she's in the way lol.. like girl needs time!

Agreed, and it makes me wonder if these folks have ever watched television before, lmao. Patience! There's a story unfolding and from the first 6 episodes it's clear they have a season long arc planned. All in due time.

Eda spent five years thinking that Serkan stopped loving her, and discarded her for work. The second time he used that excuse to break her heart. My goodness, it's more than okay if she needs a little time to adjust and learn how to trust him again. PLUS that means we get to watch him work on her, try to make inroads, romance her, forge a relationship with his daughter and earn Eda's trust back. What's bad in that?

What did you think of the fragman? It's kind of dumb and unrealistic that they have to dance for a school admission interview.

LMAO. Yes, yes it is, but my question to you is, sana ne?

I mean why do you care if the set up is dumb or not? Or if it's realistic? It's a device to get Serkan and Eda to pretend to be married before they're fully back together and an excuse for us to see Edser smash themselves together in a sensual tangle of limbs while they pretend to be unaffected, while both are being engulfed in USTy flames.

I'm not complaining, why are you?

Come on, this show is silly, it has been from day one, enjoy the fact that we are getting silly plots that force our couple into hilarious and hot situations, because Hande and Kerem are going to give us gold, I guarantee it and I'm going to smile through every second watching it.

xxxxxxxxxx

These asks are from episode 44, they came in and I didn't have time to answer before 45 aired:

Anonymous asked: Do you think there is a point when there are too many “parallels” and it becomes more like scenes are being recycled? Because I kinda felt that way in the last episode. Like she’s just tossing in as many things as she can from those first 11 episodes but I’ve already watched those and Id rather we focus more character progression. I feel like they regressed from those honest conversations last week and were back to being petty this week.

I guess my answer is... no, I don't think there have been too many parallels. Episode 44 was partly about truth bubbling to the surface, with the biggest truth being that Serkan has been in love with Eda every minute of every day since they parted. That is a very important thing for Eda to understand and know and they really can't move forward until she does, because she felt unloved and forgotten all those years. Most of the parallels were illustrating that by showing that he held on to their history, he remembered their history and he honored it. Okay by me.

Anonymous asked: There were some amazing dialogues in the episode. I have two that tie for top. One was when Kiraz said that Serkan was her wish (when blowing her birthday candles), and the other was when Serkan said Apollo was never going to give up on the woman he loves nor on the cherries! Oh my heart had feels both times. What were your favourite dialogues in the episode?

Oh man my head is in 45 now, but both of those examples of yours were great. I loved both of them.

The other than springs to mind is while fishing, Eda telling Serkan that he didn't need to be perfect for Kiraz to love him, he just had to be himself.

Swoon.

That's so important for Serkan to hear, because he doesn't think he's worthy of love as himself, so hearing that from Eda is impactful.

Anonymous asked: reading your ep review, i think a big reason some people are hanging on to hate the s2 plot no matter what are just bc they hate the writer. of course not everyone, but a lot of people will just hate on anything she writes out of spite, even if objectively the episode is very good. idk why that is or when ppl decided they hated her but it's not warranted at all imo. i can understand not liking the premise of this season, but after watching it so far there has been SUCH an improvement edser-wise.

People can like, dislike, love, hate anything they want. Consuming entertainment doesn't have to be a team sport. That being said, from what I've seen I'd agree with your assessment. Teams have formed (Anti-Ayse, Pro-Ayse, etc) and the former are too invested in hating everything she does, the former possibly too forgiving at times. That's their choice, but I have to say I feel bad for the anti brigade, this is a show they loved, and most of them are still watching, but they've completely sabotaged themselves from finding any joy in any of it and I think they're going to regret it once it's over.

Also season 2 is so much better than I thought it could be. I honestly thought there was no way to get back to the early quality, but it's here. The show is really watchable and fun this season, and it's a shame for those who've let their attitudes get so negative that they can't enjoy it.

Anonymous asked: Ok so I'm aware this would be highly uncharacteristic of a dizi - but if they know there's only 6 eps left, my dream would be no more big bad events and just spend it rebuilding EdSer as a couple and a family. Would that be too much to ask lol. They've jumped from one disaster to another. Since we're at the end & they have the luxury of knowing it, I just want to see them working through things as a real unit. They've dated for like 7 eps out of 45? Can we get that above 10 at least????

Congratulations! Because that's exactly what we've gotten so far in season 2. Once we got past the trauma of the 5 year time jump, all the drama has been internal to Eda and Serkan and their relationship. The whole season so far has been about rebuilding Edser as a couple and a family. And if you're watching without the tauntruming twitter teens in your ear, you'd realize we ARE watching them work through things as a real unit.

I'll say this until I'm blue in the face (apparently) just because they are not currently sexing each other up, does not mean they aren't emotionally doing all the things necessary to reach their full potential as a couple.

They are. It's happening. Enjoy it.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Sarah Ellen Parsons

Sarah Ellen Parsons has 18 X-Files stories at Gossamer and 19 at AO3. If you want high quality fic with interesting characters, go read her stories. Some of my favorites of her fics are The Crouching Thing and My Constant Touchstone Who Makes Me A Whole Person (which are two very different stories!). Big thanks to Sarah Ellen for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

With today's binge-watching culture, I'm not at all surprised. You can watch a bunch of eps and then seek out fic that is where you are in the series.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

I took away a writer's group Yes, Virginia, that is still together.  Mostly as friends, but whenever I write something, or someone else writes something, it's the first place we all run for machete beta. I have betad SO MANY novels.

We have a number of folks who are published writers since then and our time in X-Files fic brought us lifelong friendships IRL and made us all better at our craft. The majority of those folks were better writers than I am. And I make my living as a writer in my day-job.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I belonged to a couple of the largest lists and posted there and bitched about the show on usenet with everyone else.  We had our own Yahoo group for beta.  We all had crappy GeoCities websites that we programmed the HTML for ourselves and hooked through various fandom link circles to get traffic to our stories.  But the main method of distribution was the lists.

Fun fact, I found a free page counter thing that I used at work one time through fandom. So fandom pays off in skillz.

Even without social media, we managed to get our stories in front of readers who would enjoy them. Where there's a will, there's always someone ready to step up and find a way.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Again, I have lifelong friends IRL that I got solely from fanfiction. That's the best takeaway.

Fandom disappointed me because it, like everything else, is ruined by people's egos, backstabbing, and petty people who get in positions of power and then use those positions to punch down or dictate. I was young when I was writing X-Files and I still had hope that people would rise to their better natures, so I got involved in various futile efforts to try to make people behave the way I wanted them to behave, I guess. I did a lot of public bitching that didn't serve me or my friends well. I now put that effort into politics, where it does actual good.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

X-files was made for me. It combined science fiction, mystery, horror.  I love all of those genres. Plus there was Scully. No matter how sexist that writer's room was, Scully was awesome. But you kept seeing bad writing. Even in the heyday seasons, like Season 3, there were really terrible eps that made you want to fix things.

I'm a lifelong speculative fiction fan and a published feminist science fiction author. I actually was published before I fell down the fic hole. I got involved in fanfic due to getting my fantasy novel turned down from every major publisher for being "too dark". And I needed to get readers to see my stuff to prove to myself that I wasn't terrible at writing. I got a ton of feedback and it was like market research to see what people wanted to read.

My time in fanfiction made me 100% a better writer than I was.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I went to the X-Files Expo to see if I could make contact with someone from Harper Collins because the tie-in novels sucked so hard.  I got rejected with my pitch as I didn't have a literary agent.

Around that time, a pal who I watched X-Files with IRL was looking for a free X-files wallpaper for her work computer when she found the website where fans in Pennsylvania had fic archived. She read some and wrote to me - "you need to see this, and you can do better."  So I started reading and was.... I probably CAN do better. So I wrote The Batman Plot. And made two friends I'm still friends with with that one story.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Nonexistent.  I couldn't even watch the latest season and I saw only 2 of season one of whatever that was before I gave up. I have never watched the second movie.

X-files is my first fandom bad ex-husband. I loved it SO MUCH, but it betrayed me.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

I was deep into Harry Potter for a while, but I didn't end up publishing anything in it. All my stories were novel-length and I was writing so much for work, I never completed anything. I called Snape/Lily when Prisoner of Azkaban was published and got Jossed by Rowling in one of my big ideas. (This is bad fandom ex-husband 2. JKR will never get a dime of money from me again because of her hateful stance on transfolk. I have RL friends who are trans and NO.)

I wrote fic in Supernatural. It was the obvious next thing after X-Files. However, the misogyny and bringing in all the Angel/Devil Christofascist stuff lost me. The ep where they declared all other religions other than Christianity as invalid and killed a Hindu god made me stop watching for good. I know enough Christofascists IRL that I can't tolerate it in my fiction. (Bad fandom ex-husband 3)

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

This list is far too long to actually make.  But characters I spent time writing about include: Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Co. (I wrote three unpublished Star Trek novels before I found online fandom). King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay, Sherlock Holmes (I wrote a Sherlock Holmes play after seeing "Crucifer of Blood" and entered it in a national competition, where I got very nice comments back.), Mulder, Scully and Krycek, Rowling's Hermione and Snape (like him or not, its masterful characterization), Dean and Sam Winchester, John Winchester and Bobby Singer.  I wrote one comedy story starring Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  A couple of Roswell stories under a different name. Catwoman and Batman. I have some unpublished Avengers fanfic lying around as I'm an OG Marvel fan with a massive comic collection.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I was on a business trip a few years ago and FX had a marathon and I watched part of it when I was in my hotel room. Early seasons are comforting, but I don't go back there now.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I don't read X-Files fic anymore. I read a tiny bit of Star Wars after the second movie because Rian Johnson had it right. Now I don't care. I love Mandalorian, but am content to watch.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

Too many to count.  All of YV. Which reminds me, I need to go update our entry at Fanlore. I promised Punk I'd do it a while back.  I need to at least get everyone linked.  Right now it's only Punk and Sab.

But it was a ton of us.  Marasmus, Maria Nicole, Cofax, CazQ, M. Sebasky, Livia Balaban, Kelly Keil, Wen, Ropobop, Jess Mabe, JET, fialka, and a bunch of others that I can't remember their fic names any more, just their real names because I know them all IRL. I need to go back and look up their fic names and link them up there.

In addition to my little group of pals, I loved reading Mustang Sally and Rivka T, Rachel Anton - I keep trying to find her to encourage her to write romance if she's not doing it already, but no dice, Dasha K., Anjou, there were so many great ones, but their names have slipped my mind in the past 20 years.

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

I'm most known for Prone, and I'm proud of that story for all kinds of reasons, but I think my very best is The Crouching Thing.

I mostly didn't publish anything I didn't think was good and hadn't been machete betaed within an inch of its life, but I'm not sure much of the angsty romance stuff holds up as well. I think it worked when the show was still ON and we were all in that emotional headspace, but probably not now.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

Funny you ask. I am currently reworking a plot idea I had for an X-Files fic into a contemporary M/M novel, which I will publish under a different pen-name. The plot is the idea I had for X-Files, the characters are very, very different other than one is uptight and the other more easy-going. But no more Mulder and Scully.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I have been making my living as a writer for 25 years. I write the word count equivalent of 5 Tolkein novels a year, just for my day-job.  I am turning back to original fiction, which is where I was before X-Files.  I'm working on the M/M thing, a high fantasy thing, a low fantasy historical thing and a bunch of M/F Regency romances as I get time and energy.  I publish Fantasy and SF under my real name. Romance has pen names as you don't want that getting back to your workplace, either.

SEP is fic only and here she will stay.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

I have too many ideas to count.  I try to write them down when they come, so I won't forget. At least the outline of the idea. Often a scene. I've been like this my entire life. I started writing novels seriously at 15. I wrote a 500 plus page one about Morgan Le Fay during breaks in high school because "Mists of Avalon" pissed me off so bad as I'd read the original source material and that was a Wicca recruitment polemic.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Sarah Ellen was my great-grandma, Parsons was her grandma's last name.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

Half my friends ARE fic friends. Most of my friends know as does my brother, who thinks writing for free is dumb. This is universally agreed on by non-fic friends who know. My mother still doesn't know about the fic. Just the "real" writing.  I write under a pen name to keep it away from my job and my published work.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

My X-files stuff is up on Gossamer mostly. I'm trying to get the stories all moved to AO3 for all the genres. I'm working on this now.  SEP is really not a living thing anymore, but there was a time when she was more me than me.

If you want to find my "real" non-fic writing, write to me at se_parsons at yahoo dot com and I will point you at it.

And PLEASE someone, hunt down Rachel Anton and get her writing something we all can BUY.  Where are my old Krycek bitches at?  Do any of you know where she is? [Lilydale note: I’ve tried contacting Rachel Anton for this Old School X project but have not had luck. I would love to find her too!]

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

The community I loved has mostly moved on, but I think we left a legacy of solid work crafted out of our love for the show.  Find a living community you love for a show you love.  There are great people out there creating and get involved.  It will be worth it.

(Posted by Lilydale on December 15, 2020)

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 66 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 244 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here.

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RATE THE EPISODE 238 Responses

“Assault” was a total hit with the fans, with 93.7% of respondents rating it a 4 or 5. Nobody gave the lowest rating this week, and only a couple of people weren’t as impressed with the episode. 

I wasn’t a fan of previous episode but GOD I’M BACK TO HYPE! This episode was so full of awesome scenes that picking just one favourite and one that made me most emotiona seems unfair

Incredible improvement. Almost reminded me of Season 1 with all the impact/shockwave flair at times

Was amazing

THIS IS THE BEST BY FAR AND EVERY CHAPTER IS FREAKING GOOD

It was a banger 

One of the best episodes in the ENTIRE SERIES. At first i was skeptical because the cgi often kept throwing me off but i was PLEASENTLY surprised how fantastic the last episode was

it was awesome

So proud of MAPPA with what they've done so far! Appreciate them! 💕

It was breathtaking and MAPPA did tje manga justice!

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ACTION MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 237 Responses

Armin making his entrance by blowing up the harbor took the edge this week, with 28.7% most hyped up about the scene. Following closely behind with 26.2% of the vote is Eren using Porco as a nutcracker to eat the War Hammer Titan. 19.8% most enjoyed watching Mikasa fillet Porco’s legs, and 17.3% liked the scene where Sasha and Jean help take down Pieck and the Panzer Unit. 

Jean vs. Pieck was epic!

Levi was so awesome!  It was great hearing his voice again, just everything about him made my day.  this episode was perfect <3

NUTCRACKEREN

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS MADE YOU FEEL THE MOST EMOTIONAL? 237 Responses

To counter the breathtaking action this week, some scenes also brought out our emotions. 25.7% were most affected by Gabi and Falco desperately calling out for Reiner to save Porco and help them. 20.7% felt the same pain as Mikasa as she watched Eren brutally kill another person. 15.6% were pained to see Armin’s reaction to his horrific action of destroying the harbor. At some smaller percentages, people were also emotionally touched by these scenes, in order: Seeing the Panzer unit’s pictures in their cabins, Porco’s desperate pleas for Eren to stop using him to kill Lara Tybur, and Reiner’s continued desire to end his own life. 

Seeing hange onscreen again has added 100 years to my lifespan.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW EERIE DID YOU FIND THIS IMAGE OF THE WAR HAMMER TITAN? 232 Responses

Overall people weren’t too spectacularly creeped out by the haunting image of the War Hammer Titan at the beginning of the episode. About 45.7% of respondents feel they’ve seen things much creepier, while about 33.7% felt it was more close to the thing of nightmares. 20.7% were simply somewhere in the middle.

REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT GABI’S CHARACTER, HER SEIYUU TRULY WENT ALL IN ON HER SCREAMS FOR REINER. ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW BONE CHILLING WAS HER PERFORMANCE? 228 Responses

Gabi’s seiyuu truly sold this scene and the fandom seems to overwhelmingly agree that she did a fantastic job, with nearly 93% of respondents ranking her performance a 4 or 5. Only a small handful were less enthused, finding the screams more annoying than impressive. 

I’m usually a defender of Gabi, but Falco and Gabi’s screaming annoyed the f out of me

SOME FANDOM SPACES SEEM TO BE MORE POSITIVELY RECEPTIVE ABOUT THE CGI IN THIS EPISODE. WHERE DO YOU FALL ON THE SPECTRUM? 225 Responses

After much disappointment in the previous episode’s usage of CGI, people in the fandom are feeling a lot more pleased with it this week, with no one even ranking its usage as a 1. The majority felt that MAPPA did a good job, likely hoping that the trend continues.

I Thought the CGI Section in the opening bits looked incredibly wonky, But after that it was used well.

I've been fairly tepid on the CGI while acknowledging its necessity. However, this episode used in amazingly after I was a bit dissapointed with its use last week. Very satisfied with pretty much everything this episode.

DID MAPPA DO ONYANKOPON JUSTICE? 228 Responses

Onyankopon finally makes his appearance and the fandom is overwhelmingly positive about MAPPA’s character design for him, with just over 87% of respondents either stating they are super happy with the design or that they’re straight up starstruck and in love. Only a small handful felt he could have been done a little better. 

Nailed it! Though I had to come back and see him in the rewatch. Was too focused on Hange and Armin. 

I honestly don’t care as he’s a relatively minor character in the manga

They did onion coupon really damn well

ONION COUPON!!!

He is significantly more bad ass looking than I assumed he would be 

He looks super cool but his voice is too soft. 

He looks even more like Finn than in the manga, and as a John Boyega fan I think that's a good thing!

Onion

Idc about his appearance, hope his character will just be portrayed correctly.

MAPPA HAS AVOIDED KEEPING IN SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS THAT ZEKE COULD BE WORKING WITH ANYONE BUT MARLEY UP UNTIL THIS POINT. WHAT DO YOU THINK - WILL ANIME ONLY VIEWERS BE THROWN TOTALLY OFF GUARD NEXT WEEK? 223 Responses

One of the joys for some manga readers when the anime seasons are running is seeing the way that our anime-only counterparts react to the story developments. One of the big plot twists next week will be that Zeke was working with Eren/The Survey Corps and people are eagerly anticipating the fan reaction to the revelation. 44.4% feel that anime only watchers will be totally thrown off guard and that MAPPA has done an excellent job of concealing this plot twist. 27.4% feel similarly positive about the fan reactions for this reveal, though a little disappointed there was a bit less room to theorize. 14.8% aren’t sure as they don’t really keep up with anime-only fan reactions, and a few either feel they’ve probably already pieced it together, or just don’t care. 

The Jaw might be down for the count, but jaws will still drop next ep.

I've been watching reactions from anime only people for this season and some are definitely putting together correctly that Zeke is in on the plan.

I listen to an “Anime only” podcast Where are you they literally called Zeke working with Paradis, but I’m not sure about others. 

I've already seen several theorize that Zeke is working with Paradis. The suspicious nature of his death in this episode clinched it for some of them.

Some of them will be surprised, but the ones who watch the anime more carefully and like to think about things most likely know that Zeke might work with Paradis.

MAPPA ADDED PICTURES OF THE PANZER UNIT TO THE INSIDE OF THEIR CABINS. DO YOU THINK THIS MADE THEIR DEATHS MORE EMOTIONAL? 227 Responses

A small addition, but impactful nonetheless. 53.7% felt more saddened about the Panzer Unit’s deaths after seeing how strong their bond with each other was (or, alternatively, how hard all of the boys simped after Pieck). 37.4% agree that it added just a little more depth to the characters, though it ultimately didn’t do anything to move them too much emotionally. A handful don’t care or were just salty about the addition in general. 

Their screen time was short in general. It was a nice touch, definitely made me pause to get a better look and feel a bit bad for them.

That, and them screaming for Pieck as they get blown up :( amazing additions. 

I gotta be honest, I didn't even notice until I saw this question. I was too busy screaming over Sasha being amazing. It's a nice addition though.

Yes. It shows that the marleyan warriors were not emotionless monsters, but they had their lives, families, friends and were normal people overall. I felt really sorry for them. 

I didn't notice until I saw this question, but I do think it adds to the sadness. 

I was upset by their deaths because they and Pieck were a team and looked out for each other

I loved to see it! It really added more to their characters. The entire Panzer unit being Pieck simps, that is. 

They cut out the scene where the bullet actually HIT Carlo.

it just shows once again how complicated attack on titan is and how much their actions have consequences. no side is innocent

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW DISAPPOINTED ARE YOU THAT MAPPA CUT THE PANEL OF PORCO SANDWICHED BETWEEN BURGER-CONSUMING PIECK AND COFFEE-DRINKING ZEKE? 225 Responses

In the manga, we see a shot of Porco having a meal with Pieck and Zeke while he becomes distraught over the assault on his comrades. MAPPA omitted it, though for the most part fans didn’t really seem to care. Only about 21% of respondents felt something was missing without the small flashback, while the rest were indifferent or felt it never really fit in anyway.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW HAPPY ARE YOU ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF AN EXTRA LINE FROM PIECK TELLING FALCO TO RUN AWAY? 228 Responses

As expected of the fandom, they agree that any new Pieck content is good content. Even though it was a small one-liner addition, the vast majority were very pleased with MAPPA’s scripting of this moment. Only a small handful felt it was unnecessary.

EREN USING PORCO AS A NUTCRACKER WAS SOMETHING THAT SURPRISED A LOT OF US WHEN THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTER WAS PUBLISHED. WHICH MEDIU, DO YOU THINK THE SCENE HAD A BIGGER IMPACT IN? 227 Responses

A rare occurrence, but the fandom seems to agree that MAPPA excelled at adapting this scene and made it even more impactful than it was in the manga, with nearly 50% stating that they preferred the anime’s take on this moment. 35.7% feel that the impact was of equal strength in both mediums, and only 10.1% still prefer the original manga portrayal. 

I feel like the anime dragged it out a little bit and some angles were meh bc the cgi was more noticeable. I'll have to go back to the chapter to see how many panels were dedicated to the scene

Porco's seiyuu SOLD it. 

I think both are pretty equal but hearing Porco scream and beg for Eren to stop made it a bit more nerve racking.

titan eren’s face during the nutcracker bit was legit terrifying in a way I can’t quite explain 

The music, the voice acting, the scary CGI attack Titan. This scene was impeccably strong! I give it 100%

I felt more surprised in the manga because i didnt expect it, but in the anime porcos reaction made it more horrifying 

Hearing Porco made it even more impactful

Ngl, I was much more grossed out watching it animated than in manga form. Just all that blood and the swallowing...*shudders*

Eren was absolutely in the right here

The swallowing noises and the weird thick blood was absolutely disgusting 10/10

PIECK AND JEAN ARE CURRENTLY WORKING TOWARD THE SAME GOAL OF KILLING EREN IN CURRENT MANGA EVENTS. DO YOU THINK SHE’S FORGIVEN HIM FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE ATTACK ON HER AND THE PANZER UNIT DURING THE EVENTS OF THE LIBERIO ATTACK? 225 Responses

Unrelated to the episode itself, but remembering that Jean was partially responsible for the deaths of people Pieck loved was something that had us thinking, and we were curious what others thought as well. 39.1% feel that Pieck would never be able to forgive Jean for his part in the assault, but is big enough to move on and leave it in the past. 25.3% don’t want to make a call either way, as Isayama hasn’t done much to explore this facet of her character. 14.2% feel she’s moved past it completely and has forgiven Jean for his role. Smaller percentages either felt she doesn’t hold him responsible at all, or that she will always resent him and is only working with him insofar as to reach her own goals. 

It's war.

dont care fuck pieck

I mean there's no indication that Isayama has even considered this in my opinion so the answer is completely speculative. So like my answer is "She forgot and moved on" :D

She still has a pain in her heart after losing the Panzer Unit, they were her friends after all. But Pieck is smart and she understand why Jean did that. Also, the world is in fire so she doesn't have a time to think about it now.  

The Alliance characters are not allowed to keep grudges (thought at least it fits for Pieck)

The scene with Panzer Unit was so powerful in anime that it detroyed all my Jeanpiku hopes I had after the last chapter :’) I think Pieck could come to an understanding and blame others more than Jean but I’m not sure if she’s ready to fully forgive

I think that Pieck doesn't hold Jean responsible, understanding that it wasn't personal and just counts it as a tragedy from the war.

Pieck seems to be really understanding character and full of empathy. She’ll forgive Jean as soon as he shows he’s sorry for what happened (and he probably really is as long as he hates the idea of killing people)

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 233 Responses

We’ve got a heavy episode coming, and a number of things to look forward to. As expected, 40.8% are most anticipating the scene where Sasha dies by Gabi’s gunshot. 31.3% are looking forward to seeing Levi confront and arrest Eren. 23.6% are most looking forward to the big reveal that Zeke was working with Eren all along. Only a small handful are looking forward to the Gabi and Falco content before they board the blimp. 

I'm NOT ready for the next ep...

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON THE EPISODE?

This is where the fun begins both in anime only reactions and in seeing fantastic scenes brought to life.  

So good. Chills everywhere. Watched it so many times and still getting chills. The 3 minute sequence starting from Armin blowing up the port up to Pieck falling from the rooftop is mindblowingly good. Perfection. 

I remember being really sad when the WHT left the plot so quickly in the manga because it had the best titan design imo. I know we've seen her again in the recent chapters, but the WHT was even better with Lara seen controlling it. She looked so cool, calm and collected in that crystal the whole time. RIP Lara Tybur :( 

Ost are awesome !

Thought it was the best episode of season 4 so far. They kinda gave Hange the mappa egg head syndrome in their first full face shot though. 

It was phenomenal!! And really, if people still don't understand why Gabi goes off, they have their head in the clouds. Everything was so visceral and I genuinely felt fear for the warriors. It moved so quickly just back to back; I could taste the kids desperation. 

I think ending the episode with Reiner transformed is misleading yet strategic since it will tear apart the audience in the next episode.

This was the best episode by far! For a long time I couldn't get over how awesome the attack on Fort Slava in the first episode was and it remained my favorite, but this episode potrayed the war so well and you could totally feel the terror of the war with them!

So, so, so, so good. I was surprised by how emotional I got over it. Mappa is really making everything hit so hard!

Loved the episode! I believe this adaptation has even improved on some scenes (like Armin's tranformation and Gabi's screams), the ost and voice acting give it so much more power and the CGI looks better than in previous episodes. Really looking forward to ep 8 and the little surprises Mappa will give us with it 

This episode was really great, the 1st to get me truly hyped. I was very disappointed last episode because it felt very underwhelming was I watched it, so much so I didn't even want to participate in the poll last week because there was enough negativity about it out there and I didn't want to add to it. After staying away from others opinions and having watched this week's episode i gave 65 a rewatch and I honestly think it's a good episode, with small flaws here and there. I guess all the negativity can really affect how we perceive this adaptation. I realized I watched that whole episode looking for any moment mappa had messed up, moments that I knew people would complain about. This week I didn't and I enjoyed it a lot more. So even though it may not be like this for everyone, distancing yourself from all of the exaggerated "criticism" might just make you enjoy and appreciate it a lot more. 

I still strongly dislike how the CG Attack Titan looks but this episode looked MUCH better than the previous one and was even better lit, IMO. Armin looked beautiful, the colossal titan looked amazing and Levi looked the best he's ever looked to me. JEAN! He looked so good and so did Sasha! I absolutely love the character design this season and everyone looked fantastic. Loved it!

makes me wish porco hadnt died 

I think that I was so disappointed with the previous episode that I just lowered the bar. Either way I enjoyed this episode. I'm still very disappointed with the music choices and much they faded in the background even during climate scenes. But I did feel a lot better about the CGI specially since the barely used it in this episode aside from the titans. Oh man I cant wait the anime fandom reaction to Sasha getting shot. 

The episode was much better than the previous one. I loved it. I loved the moment of horrifying silence after WHT was eaten. The lack of music made the scene more serious and dreadful. Gabi's seiyuu made an excellent work as well. I didn't know I was going to say that but I think that Armin is pretty hot. In the manga he still has his cute baby looks, but MAPPA made his appearance more mature. Now I feel jealous of Annie ;P

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 215 Responses

Thank you again to everyone who participated!

[cblgblog]

I'm curious about your take on Wakanda being wronged hard in FaTWS, and by Bucky specifically? I haven't seen many people talk about it, but I'm just angry and confused as to why Bucky was to careless and rude towards Ayo and the Dora Milaje, acting as if their anger about Zemo was an overreaction. Hell, Walker got more respect from him in the end than the Dora did

I'm looking at the writers' perspective here, it was their decision and I'm wondering why. What was the thought behind it? Why did they make Bucky so insensitive? At first I thought it had to be some arc, but nothing came from it. I'm wondering what made them look at this series and think "Yes, let's make Bucky screw over the people that helped him".

It wasn't just him wronging Wakanda, it was his behavior towards Sam too, how he was so ignorant during the cop scene, dismissive of Sam's feelings, and obsessed with the shield to a point of lashing out at Sam for things that weren't his fault. Why was this a choice that was made? Bucky didn't have much personality in the other movies, they could've done anything but they chose this, and I think more people should talk about how wrong that is. Not for Bucky, but for the black people in the series who were wronged.

Okay so here’s the deal. One, I’m white, so know that going in, take my take on this for whatever it’s worth accordingly. Two, I haven’t watched the eps since they aired, with the exception of a couple scenes, so my memory—not so much of events but of specific nuances of how Bucky reacted to them—isn’t fresh.

I say that last part specifically because of Bucky and his interactions with Sam, because ultimately they bother me much less than the Wakanda stuff, and here’s why. Bucky is, to varying degrees depending on situation and episode, a dick to Sam about the shield for most of the series. Undoubtedly. But I get that, to a point. He at least explains his feelings in 1x05, why he reacted like that, and admits he fucked up. He had all his feelings for Steve wrapped up, incorrectly, in that shield, so when Sam just tossed it aside (from Bucky’s perspective), it caused him to freak out/lash out. Which was never fair to Sam, but at least culminated in Bucky recognizing that. Sam keeps saying to him that the two of them have not lived the same experience, the shield and its legacy do not mean the same thing to them, and Bucky finally realizes that. He acknowledges that neither he nor Steve grasped the full reality of the situation, and he apologizes. Does that erase what came before? No, but it’s not supposed to. It’s him acknowledging his own ignorance and trying to do better.

So, at least there’s an arc there, which is the other reason his stuff with Sam bugged me less. There was an evolution in his thinking, there was a change from wah wah, you gave up the shield, to oh wait, I kinda get it now. He realizes that his reactions were wrong, even if his feelings were understandable. Which, on a human level, I think they were. It’s a very human thing for Bucky to equate that shield directly to Steve, and take Sam’s rejection of it as a rejection of Steve. It’s understandable how he got there, given the bizarre nature of Steve’s time travel shenanigans, the nearly endless nightmare that Bucky’s life has been since he fell from the train. Losing yet another 5 years when he’s already lost 70+, all the unprocessed guilt and grief that isn’t helped by him having actually the worst therapist ever, oh my God this woman sucks at her job, she’s funny, but she’s awful. His feelings, I believe, were valid, given everything that went down. His reaction to them—the lashing out, whining, refusing to see Sam’s side of it—his reaction was not valid. But at least he gets to a point where he realizes that. At least there’s an arc.

Could they have found a different way to create conflict in the series? Sure, and I’m not gonna argue with anyone who wishes they had. For me personally, I was okay with it. Bucky’s ignorance and misplaced anger made sense to me. Bit of an aside, one of the few scenes I rewatched for this (because Youtube and knowing exactly where it was) was the cop scene, because you referenced. I’m assuming you mean the bit where Sam gets stopped, gets the ‘calm down sir’ treatment. I didn’t think Bucky was a dick in that scene? He seemed aware of what was happening, given his angry, “No he’s not bothering me, do you know who this is?” It’s actually one of a relatively few instances in the first 5 eps where Bucky does seem genuinely aware that he and Sam don’t live in the same world, even when they’re walking the same street, right next to each other. So, as far as illustrating that, and Bucky coming out of his own feelings long enough to pay attention to Sam’s, I thought it was one of the better scenes.

So, Sam and Bucky, I’m less bothered by. Bucky and Wakanda? That’s a hot garbage fire.

Zemo’s whole inclusion here, and nearly everything related to it, was incredibly botched. He’s randomly rich as fuck now, and a Baron, to match his comics counterpart. Which is not only an incredibly lazy retcon, it kills much of what made his character interesting in CW. In that movie, it was one guy, working alone, limited resources, dedicating himself to his cause. If nothing else, you had to admire his tenacity. Now suddenly he’s got a butler and a plane and piles of cash? Where was that in CW? More importantly…why? What purpose did it serve, besides making him more superficially similar to his comic self?

Why did we detour to him at all? None of his plans ultimately affect the larger narrative all that much. He starts out in prison and…ends up back in prison. Why? Why would the Dora just leave him there? Ayo says that they will bring Zemo back to face Wakandan justice…and then they just don’t. They leave him in the hands of the same people who lost him to two random dudes who were able to bust him out of prison on their own, one of those dudes being an entirely human guy, no enhanced powers, no Serum. In CW, okay, T’Challa did a deal with Everett Ross I guess, fine. But once the Americans proved they couldn’t hold him, it made no sense that the Dora would just go, okay, here you go again. They aren’t Batman. They have no reason to keep throwing the baddies in Arkham Asylum to wait ‘til next week when someone breaks out again.

The Zemo stuff had no arc to it. The only worthwhile thing was Bucky proving to Zemo that he can’t be controlled anymore, but that scene could have come about in a million better ways than it did. Ultimately, the weird little team-up with Zemo feels very cliché and contrived. It feels like a trip down a side road that dead ends to nowhere. It feels like filler, which is a particularly terrible crime when there’s only 6 episodes in the damn season.

Bucky’s dickishness towards Ayo and the other Dora really is baffling, especially when the writers went out of their way to give us that flashback, a direct, show don’t tell indication of all the Wakandans did for him. And it’s not his feelings for Steve that have him acting out this way, or at least it shouldn’t be. Steve has nothing to do with this aspect of things. Steve obviously had trust in and respect for T’Challa, and there’s no reason to think that wouldn’t extend to the Dora as well. Strong, badass women who put it all on the line for their country? Yeah, Steve should/would get that. He would have broken Zemo out of prison, if he thought it was the right call to make, but he also would’ve been like yeah, I did that, I understand that I fucked you over, I’m fully prepared to accept the consequences of that once my mission is complete, I’m sorry it went down like this. See the, “I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action,” he gives Phillips in First Avenger, after he goes to rescue the 107th. If it’s an authority he respects and acknowledges as having good intentions (Phillips as opposed to the Accords), Steve will ultimately give that respect back, even if he goes off to do his own thing first. He respected T’Challa and Wakanda. Bucky should have respected them even more, given his more direct connection, given the flashback scene in FatWS, given his acknowledgement that Wakanda and it’s people gave him a rare respite, a calm in the shit storm that’s been his life since 1945.

So yeah, it doesn’t make sense that he was so flippant and dismissive towards Ayo and the rest. It makes even less sense that they put up with it. It’s bad writing, that’s all I’ve got. The show is incredibly irritating, in that a lot of the plot-driven stuff is pretty fucking awful, but most of the character study stuff for Sam and Bucky is so good.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Moriarty 8 - 11 (FINAL) | HypMic 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Taiso Samurai 7 - 9 | Akudama 9 - 12 (FINAL)

Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to all that backlog soon, because...I don’t want it to keep accumulating and Skate-Leading Stars (first winter 2021 anime) already has an advance 1st ep. up...

Moriarty 8

(Moriarty 8 notes deleted accidentally…)

Moriarty 9

If you want a modern equivalent to the Baker Street Irregulars, then I’d suggest you look this way *jabs finger at Odd Jobs Yamada (from HypMic)*.

These CGI background horse and carriages are…kind of distracting…

I’m guessing back in those days, the Irregulars were better than Google at finding info…because Google didn’t exist until the internet did.

Moriarty 10

Just this ep and one more until the end…at least, until spring 2021.

Wow, the use of colour here is really striking!

White lilies mean…purity/chastity…?

I’ve never heard of “bending someone’s ear” until now. It means to talk to someone, especially to ask a favour or to talk at length.

Probatio diabolica: the devil’s proof. I didn’t even know that was a concept until now…(I never once studied law, as you can tell.)

“William” isn’t normally shortened to “Liam”…It’s normally “Will”…also, notice all the footprints on the floor…

Moriarty 11 (FINAL)

Last ep. before spring 2021.

LOL, kabedon.

The fishy thing about Brits is that they’ve named things across the world names from Britain. I know there’s a Doncaster which isn’t anywhere near Britain, for one thing…

Observe the weird finger-like marking made by one of the bloodstains and the scratches on the suitcase. The latter was probably forced open.

Considering the number of signs the killer left, he was clearly in a hurry…

Well, based on that shoeprint we can find the killer if we can find traces of blood on his shoe.

“Duram” (sic).

Ah! If it was raining in Durham, then there would be traces of mud on the killer’s shoes. I remember early on in Detective Conan Shinichi, then newly shrunk, deduced Agasa was running in the rain based on the mud on his pants…this is similar.

Chloral (hydrate…?).

The “washroom” (apparently a Canadian term, the British term is “water closet”) has privacy and a place to get rid of the evidence, to some extent.

What about the rest of Eddie’s clothes?

Considering there are still 5 minutes of the ep. left…there’s going to be some kind of stinger for the next season. I can feel it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait…Director Holmes??? Y’mean, Mycroft?! That is a good stinger! See you next time.

HypMic 12

“Ever since I was born, there was never a time I’d felt I’d accomplished something.” – Aw, Doppo, sweetpea (<- this blogger calls people “sweetpea” when they’re feeling lots of moe feels for them). Please don’t say that. You’ve accomplished more than enough in your life!

…Oh, almost didn’t notice it until Hifumi hid behind Doppo and the angle changed to confirm the jacket was on the bed, but Hifumi doesn’t have his jacket on.

I think I saw a tweet that said something about a wall being wrecked (specifically “Wall: Ow…”) but I wasn’t sure of the context, so I saved it in my bookmarks…LOL, so that’s what it means?

Samatoki, I know you don’t like Ichiro…but please stop trying to preach what his 2nd character song says in the title…(i.e. Break the Wall, LOL)

Jyuto’s very much a “I’ll leave this problem to the other guy” guy.

When the Funi subs say “dame”, I think Samatoki is just referring to an “onna” (woman). It’s a bit of an odd choice, really…although I can’t go and interrogate whoever was responsible for it. I don’t have the authority or the contacts that will allow me to.

This is not the time for fighting one another!!!

Notably, in the manga, Jakurai was going to chaffeur Hifumi and Doppo to their place, but then he had to go to work and so they rode the train with their prize money. This “run from Special Forces” ending is better, I think, since people got grumpy at Jakurai for having to abandon them with the money.

“…permission to cover a story.” - Permission from…who?

*screams* I was thinking Tom, Rex and Iris worked for a foreign government! They work for Ichijiku – why didn’t I think of that?!

LOL, I couldn’t even tell what Tom was saying until I played it back…it’s English, just…said in a spot where you don’t expect it.

“…that scares me.” – This may be nitpicky of me, but osoreru is actually a derivative of osore (fear), so “it strikes fear in me”…? “It strikes fear in my heart”? What would sound right…?

Go, host mode Hifumi! (...but does that imply host mode Hifumi is the only “version” of Hifumi able to rap? Certainly, he was able to do Wrap and Rap without his jacket, right…?)

You can tell Tom still respects Jakurai after all this time because he (the former) calls him (the latter) “Sensei”. Also, this’ll be interesting, we haven’t seen many mics and speakers beyond the standard bad guy ones (depicted in both the anime and the manga).

My gosh! All I knew of this song was that m-flo, also responsible for Human Lost’s theme song (and notably they’re a hip hop group with techno influences), was responsible for this song. Man, this s*** slaps! It’s great! (Sorry, I’ve just never really had the chance to capitalise on all the info I gathered on EDM DJs when talking in terms of things from Japan…m-flo is basically the only act I know which does that, so I’m really excited…can’t you tell from how verbose I’m getting in this note?)

That’s interesting that Matenrou won and Tom still took the gold chair symbolism to represent him and the Secret Aliens as the victor instead.

Iris’s parts are awesome. M-flo has a female vocalist and so I’d assume Iris takes on Lisa’s (m-flo’s vocalist’s) parts.

…Hmm, Gentaro’s made a reference to the track “Me Against the World”, has he?...Maybe.

I’m not quite sure, but I think Ramuda said “majo” (witch) when he was referring to Beauty and the Beast in the English subs.

…gosh, what is up with that airhorn…? Still, next time is the last time. See you on Christmas…no, Boxing Day.

HypMic 13 (FINAL)

This is the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning…y’know, considering how stuff trended on Twitter, I’d say this anime’s gonna get a 2nd season, but you can’t really say that until it actually happens. I mean, Boueibu is much less popular than HypMic and that got a 2nd season…

This is the 1st episode where I woke up early enough to watch without spoilers and had no obligations to place over it, so…this is exciting, in its own sense, but in a sense, it could also be called “profoundly disappointing” because this experience is only available to me as of the final episode.

One of the tweets I saw a few weeks back came to mind – someone became interested in sakuga houkai (terrible animation, literally “animation collapse”) because of HypMic…I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…

…Dude, you probably shouldn’t answer a call from someone who just revealed themselves to be a traitor last episode…*sweatdrops*

(Spoiler for rest of franchise) Hmm…Dice’s face is pretty straight. Assuming at this point we knew Dice was Otome’s son, this is a good poker face from him…!

This thing about gangs was mentioned in their profiles (although the words used implies they “went delinquent”), so it actually doesn’t surprise me.

I wonder if this subway exists in the mainline story…?

According to the next ep. preview I saw on Twitter, TDD will reform to take down the Secret Aliens. I’m not sure if that was a guess or whether that’s true, so I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on it.

Samatoki-san, not -sama. Hmm…

There was definitely the word “team” in Dice’s line, so it’s “what the legendary team was made of”.

…oh gosh…they’re still using that airhorn…?

Again with the play on “lonely thunder”. It’s a really fun pun, but one I’d like to see in the rest of the series more.

Notably, Iris’s rap in English missed the word “charisma” where it could have fit (unless I missed reading it the first time).

Note Samatoki does actually use the word “shinsensa” (freshness), so there’s no lie there.

I still love how much they went in on Rex’s theme, even in his raps.

Huh, that’s new. Never seen a tag team like this before.

It seems Tom’s signature is using a lot of English, which makes it easy for us English/Japanese pair translators.

Saburo didn’t actually say “Ichi-nii”, did he…?

…based on the rock intro, this is Rhyme Anima, the OP, or something that sounds similar. What I’d need to confirm this is the “nautilus” line and the “ends corruption” line, which are the OP’s two biggest tells for AMQ.

“rainmaking” – Hmm, another link from Gentaro to Rei. This might be a different part of Rhyme Anima (OP) that wasn’t used as the OP proper.

“this white light invites and heals” (<- paraphrased) – Sounds like Sensei, alright!

…now that (rainbow bit). That’s sakuga!

*a silhouette appears* - Oh nooooooooooooooo! Now they‘ve done it! They’ve included Rei! That’s more than enough spoilers to last a lifetime for y’all anime-onlys!

I wish someone would work on this collaboration between Saburo and Riou…

Hmm…what is the series endgame? Putting in Dice as the new ruler??? I mean, Dice is the worst possible politician ever. He’s far too lax about things.

*Nemu enters* - No! Nemu!

Not only is Iris a “ramen shop owner”, it’s Tom’s favourite food…No wonder ramen has significance to her.

…ooh! A new song! Update: I don’t know what this song’s name is, although it probably will become clear what its name is on the 13th. I’ll keep my eye on Twitter in case the answer is there.

…I knew it was far too early to say if there was an s2 – the DVD’s live events go until September 5th and the 2nd DRB finishes in March. That almost felt like a stinger right there. Oh well, I’m more than happy to call this anime a success, even if I would call it the worst of the arms of the franchise. All HypMic’s anime had to do was deliver fun, before anything else, and it delivered on that front. See you around!

Taiso Samurai 7

Anime burnout means I’m coming back to the anime after the day it finishes.

This dancing scene is kind of like the one at the start of ep. 2 of IWGP, except it has the owl to represent the setting as well as the dance stage.

Leo doesn’t seem to know kanji or katakana, only hiragana.

Even though this part of the anime is set in London, the characters are still speaking Japanese (lel…?).

LOL, Edward Scissorhands much?

LOL, these background gossips are like the Plastics from Mean Girls…haha.

…LOL, that’s not one of those dismounting moves, is it? It’s just kind of…jumping off the bar.

Lookit how Leo’s sticker is 90 deg. sideways from what it should be, haha.

I don’t think it’s true that Olympic gymnasts have never failed. Like other people at the top of their game, they’re probably failed millions of times, but only outside the view of most of the world. Persistence and passion are what’s key to becoming the best at what you are, no matter what field you’re in.

Now Aragaki’s what I call a “determinator” (see TV Tropes on what that is).

Taiso Samurai 8

Notably, the word used for “clothes” is specifically for Western clothing, like dresses.

Well, now we know why Leo can do those stretches…

They’ve clearly sped up the dance here, but…it’s basically the same sort of movements Yuri on Ice used to suck me in. I’m here for it!

Leo seems to be the type who tries to push away his worries by distracting people (including himself) with other things…I see. I didn’t have much of a grasp of his character beforehand.

Britney! F*** you, Britney!

Ah, that must be the (a?) fabled owl of Ikebukuro. I’ve never actually been to Ikebukuro…the closest I got was Akihabara (to memory) and even then, that was for electronics, not anime…so I’ve never seen the owl statue I’ve been talking about close up.

Rei does kind of look like her mother like this.

Ah! Rei and Kitty have a pair look now! “Twinsies”, they call it.

Amakusa’s head is located right next to Leo’s butt, so I end up staring at it…LOL.

The Hoover mission.

“I <3 Ninja”, LOL.

LOL, “Nyapoo!”

*sighs* The problem with being multi-talented is that you’re going to be told to one day put one passion above the others, even if you don’t want that.

LOL, you can be a ninja with this WikiHow article. (I was looking for Kitty’s quote, but found that instead. It seems to be a quote from one of Tomoyo’s movies.) Update: I was right.

There’s a movie in the back where the title is “Black Rainmaker”. (Tomoyo, I presume) Mifune is the 1st person credited.

Considering this is 2003…you won’t be on Mars in 2013, Kitty.

Wow, a tape! That brings me back to 2003, indeed.

Charlie’s Angels…so that’s what the tape was.

LOL, a shoebill.

“blade in your heart” – That would refer to the character for “ninja”, which has a blade over a heart. Y’know Kiss Shot Acerola Heart-Under-Blade (from Monogatari), yeah? Like that.

…you might think emails were out of place in 2003, but a virus from an email caused me to be an avid reader and that virus was unleashed around the late 90s – early 2000s.

LOL, Kitty’s cat belt buckle.

You said it, Rei. You said it.

Taiso Samurai 9

Lausanne, Switzerland.

I noticed one of the boxes at the start of the OP says “Horizontal Bars”, rather than some random name to make the boxes look like they were discarded.

Someone encoded the video funny…

LOL, BB’s getting possessive of his territory.

Fuku-chan the fukurou (owl) in Ikebukuro…LOL.

LOL, randomly there’s a skeleton with a hat in the background of Britney’s clinic.

Notably, one of the wall hangings says “heart” on it – alternatively, “soul”.

Notably, Atlanta was the 1996 Summer Olympics…there is no 1997 Lausanne Olympics, as far as I know.

Akudama 9

I watched the part where it glitches twice and I can’t quite figure out what that circular symbol is…maybe it’s Hacker’s symbol…?

Ah! Only now they properly confirm Swindler used to work in the Seal centre.

“Life that never dies is defective.” – Doctor

Does that mean Doctor is actually older than she looks, due to plastic surgery…?

Marker? What marker?

Apparently that flower is a cherry blossom…according to Detective Conan.

…I know this anime wasn’t made in America (it wouldn’t be “anime” otherwise), but Anime Feminist is going to have a field day with this one…if they haven’t abandoned it already due to their idea of morals.

…now I can even see parallels between HypMic’s authorities and Akudama’s. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

“Why did this have to happen when I’m chief?” – Sounds like…basically every authority during COVID and BLM, to be honest.

See? Akudama likes the S word. I told you.

I haven’t watched The Shining, but reading the synopsis, you can figure out why Cutthroat is the way he is…sort of.

How does the iconic quote go? “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Danny!” (or something…?)

They even copied the iconic eye shot! There you go!

Way to take a guy out (with the door, LOL).

…with all this killing, I can see why Akudama Drive was only in one magazine now. (Then again, HypMic was in basically all of them and that also has a tonne of problems…)

Akudama 10

万死 literally means “10000 deaths”.

Babel.

That police chief is such a mood, LOL.

I can see why people didn’t recognise Swindler, but Courier never changes his look, so…uh…

You can’t become a police chief without a sense of justice, no?

“Since when did you know that I’m not-“ - *facepalms*

Is this what they call an “ass-kickin’ Christmas”? (LOL)

Y’know, Sister, you could just do the whole “wherever you are, I’m also seeing the same sky as you” thing some other anime do.

Notably, there are shide (the paper strips) and a rope over the vault…they really do treat the shinkansen and its immortal children as a single god, huh?

Hmm? They don’t care about Sister anymore? Just Brother? (Somewhere along the way, the priorities must have shifted.)

In the end, the best ship is Brawler and Hoodlum (lel).

Akudama 11

One more ep after this. I’m gonna miss this anime, even if it was crazy over-the-top and I didn’t finish it until after the day it ended.

I think the scariest scene in all of Akudama Drive is the one where the “cleaner” tosses the girl aside.

“This nowhere place!” – Around this time, the bunny and shark’s shirts say “morning”/”afternoon” (shark) and “evening” (bunny).

The blue bird of happiness…literally. That character on the birds is the one for “happy”.

…LOL, that one glitched Courier looks more like Cutthroat.

Hacker’s drone matches Courier’s head angles, LOL.

I guess if you think you’re falling in Kanto, you’re falling in Kanto and if you think you’re floating (like Courier did), you float. I always liked that concept.

War Games. Now the title makes sense!

…but they can be together if they stay here in Kanto as vessels for the citizens? (That sounds mighty antagonistic of me, but…that logic does compute.)

Maybe swindlers play games with the truth…? (What an interesting concept.)

“Just fine.” – I think Hacker needs a “This is fine” meme.

“We can hear your heart talking.” – It means something like “We can hear you spouting your true intentions.”

“…worth every last penny…” – That’s a weird thing to say for someone whose life got changed by 500 yen…Just goes to tell you how American the subbers can be sometimes.

Swindler’s smug face is so good, LOL.

Akudama 12 (FINAL)

This episode isn’t named after a movie. It’s named after the anime itself.

The TV says “Please watch away from the TV”, i.e. stand back from the TV while you watch.

“They came and stole the offerings…” – At this point, bunny’s shirt says “freedom” and shark’s says honpou, meaning “wild, uninhibited, rampant, extravagant”.

…where did Shikoku come from? Is that where Swindler and Sister landed after they tried going to the moon?

Ohh! That Christian imagery! That’s scary!

Is Akudama Drive a tragedy? No, I think…on the contrary, it’s a story of hope.

LOL, “s*** guy”.

I thought the girl had a bomb. Turns out she has a gun, which is…far worse, come to think of it.

Instead of red characters which say things about the situation, now Shark and Bunny have Hacker’s symbol on them.

There’s no way anyone who wasn’t immortal would survive the attack Courier took…

…why is it that falling over represents vulnerability in children in all of these stores where a war has happened and/or there’s a chase? Hmm?

Wow, Sister did everything with heels on…?!

Anyways, that was a fun time. See you next time!

[potahun]

Personal top 5 in Wo Men De Ge  / Our Songs, Season 1

After finishing all 12 eps of the 1st season of  “Wo Men De Ge” / “Our Songs”, I am listing my personal top 5 pairs of “Young Singer x Old but Gold Singer” teams in the show, mostly just to have an excuse to gush and recommend some of my favourite performances from this beautiful, beautiful music show. 

5. Xiao Zhan x Na Ying (and Angela Chang) - Team: Na Zhan Dui

What I really liked about them: The fact that they challenged many styles! Perhaps it’s because Xiao Zhan is currently an actor and not specialised in any music type, but their performances were among the most diverse. They did rock, disco, old Chinese classics...Singing-wise, Xiao Zhan does nice switches to falsetto, Na Ying’s voice is broad and with its own feel, and Angela Chang who replaced NY for a few eps has such a special and beautiful voice ugh. But what I liked most about them is probably Na Ying herself. Her outspoken personality and sense rly got to me and she was my favourite “Model Singer” in Group B. She was also so open to accompanying XZ in trying new styles and to put an emphasis on performance (as in, the visual aspect of it) to help XZ out. I think for someone who’s not currently a singer, he got very lucky she was his partner. 

What I found to be a pity: Xiao Zhan sings pretty nicely, but it’s true that when you have Ayanga and Zhou Shen next door, it’s pretty hard for his voice to stand out. A few times, I found myself feeling like Na Ying or Angela was carrying the song single-handedly and couldn’t rly notice his voice anymore. Angela’s voice especially stands out, so sometimes, it feels like what I remember most from Na Zhan Dui performances is Angela’s great voice and the visual effects. Also, maybe it’s because he has to manage his image a bit more than the other young artists, but Xiao Zhan did come across as quite nervous during the entire show, including during many of the performances. If you only watch him based on this show, he comes across as just a very polite young person (with a pleasant voice). 

Favorite performance(s) from them: 

Gen Zhe Gan Jue Zou / Going with the Feeling (not rly a performance but the song with which NY and XZ got “blindly” paired up, and somehow the song in which he was the most relaxed imo)

Jun Gang Zhi Ye / A Night at the Naval Port (classic lovely song. Imo it was the song in which their voices matched up most seamlessly)

4. Xiao Gui x Luo Qi - Team: Wang Zha 

What I really liked about them: I knew neither of them before the show, but felt like this team truly tried to make a new sound each time and to mix modern elements into old songs (which fits perfectly with the show’s theme). Luo Qi is so open to Xiao Gui’s suggestions and so humble about trying things outside her comfort zone, even though she is the senior. They also had a really nice old sister-little brother relationship, full of mutual respect, and it was kind of refreshing to have the young artist be like ‘it’s ok, it’s ok’ and being the encouraging or optimistic one in the team. Among the younger artists, Xiao Gui is the only rapper, so being on this show could be pretty challenging but Luo Qi being so open to trying new things made it work. She really went outside her comfort zone, and I loved this team for it. They are also both really pleasant - mostly quiet but polite and comfortable. All-round lovely pair. 

What I found to be a pity: In a way, because Luo Qi was so accommodating and humble, sometimes it felt like Xiao Gui might have overpushed her a bit? Perhaps he could have been a tad more considerate, but we don’t see much of their interactions and overall they do seem like they have a good relationship. 

Favorite performance(s) from them: Hui Lai / Come Back (the way the rap got mixed into this song feels so very natural) 

3. Ayanga x Fei Yuqing - Team: (God Xiao Ge team names are hard to remember) Yun Dan Feng Qing 

What I really liked about them: Well of course, the voices and the singing technique. haha I did not know Ayanga before this show, but HOLY SHIT. Not a musical actor for nothing. HE CAN SING. And he can sing so many styles, too. He is GOOD. Watching them, I thought, shit, among all the young artists we saw, only he could have been paired up with a senior like Fei Yuqing (and perhaps Zhou Shen, but we’ll come to him later). Their voices are distinctive, but the style in which they sing have certain similarities, so they match quite well. Basically, this is a team based on talent, skills and experience. They only sing songs that sound like classics but holy fucking shit, I loved the way they sang them. Other than the singing - and this is not a team thing - but I was rly surprised to find out that Fei Yuqing was quite funny. Individually speaking, both he and Ayanga were entertaining while remaining ever so pleasant. They were real pleasures to watch. 

What I found to be a pity: I thought there was a lack of team chemistry, which could be in part due to how they got paired up, but yeah, they just never really felt like a team, more like two very polite and courteous singers who decided to work together for a few performances. Also, I am absolutely not surprised by it, but I guess, since it’s the Fei Yuqing, both young artists were fully accommodating him and not the other way round. It is not a bad thing in FYQ’s case because his singing is beautifully amazing and hey its his last show anyway, but it would have been fun to see more sparks here and there.

Favorite performance(s) from them: 

Juan Zhu Lian / Rolling up the Beaded Curtain (haha are you ready for pure skills to fuck you up? I liked Juan Zhu Lian before, but this version is incredible)

Xin Yuan Yang . Hu Die Meng / New Mandarin Duck. Butterfly Dream (again pure skills but also the harmonising. a+++) 

2. Liu Yuning x Ren Xianqi - Team: Jie Tou Pai Dang

What I really liked about them: This team is one of the teams that felt the most like a team. They have similar past experiences and I liked that they had a chill older brother + reserved younger brother chemistry. I also liked that they both seem to be people who are passionate about different aspects of music (like singing yes, but also music arrangement overall). Ren Xianqi was so open to letting Liu Yuning express what he wanted / add in the elements he wanted to each performance, or have LYN’s band be in charge of re-arranging the songs. Before this show, all I knew from Ren Xianqi was his “Xin Tai Ruan”, but I found him so lovely and nice during the whole show! He only had kind praise for all the other artists, was positive throughout, and well, Group A only had lovely "Model Singers”, but RXQ stood out in this respect. He and Liu Yuning had such a comfortable dynamics and many of the songs they sang happen to be all-time favourites of mine so of course bonus points. Singing-wise, I love Liu Yuning’s voice. It’s not like he can hit super high notes or anything, but this guy rly gets the right feeling out of each song through his voice. All in all, I loved the team.

What I found to be a pity: Literally, the only thing I find to be a limiting factor for this team is Ren Xianqi’s voice aaaaa TT. It felt like he struggled a bit at times, and compared to other senior singers, his voice doesn’t have as much of a distinctive feel, which I thought was a pity... Some of his uh...moves during some of the performances also felt a bit old-fashioned, but I think I can live with that.  

Favorite performance(s) from them: 

Tian Ya  (the song...the arrangement...the spirit...the LYN’s singing...)

Ai Jiang Shan Geng Ai Mei Ren (mainly because this song is one of my all-time favourites and you cant go wrong with it, but this is not my favorite rendition of it either)

1. Zhou Shen x Li Keqin - Team: Qin Shen Shen

What I really liked about them: EVERYTHING FUCK HAHA. ok so. I started this show with pretty even feelings for all the teams, but if one team really grabbed my heart from ep. 1 onwards and threw it into the fire pit, it’s these two. GOD Can I even talk about them neutrally?? Chemistry-wise...where did they even get all this chemistry? No one knows. On stage, I don’t know if I’ve heard two voices that match as well as theirs when they harmonise before, but if I did, I don’t remember. Zhou Shen’s voice is high and floating like some kind of ethereal mermaid’s, while Li Keqin’s voice is so stable, so warm it’s the perfect match. But the chemistry off-stage?? It’s even more incredible??? If Liu Yuning and Ren Xianqi are like a pair of older and younger brothers, what are Zhou Shen and Li Keqin? No one knows, and certainly not them. All the terms have been thrown in: match made in heaven, perfect match, a couple that separated and had a child (thanks LKQ) but also father and son, ‘someone who likes music’ (what?)....but basically, everyone on the show agrees that their chemistry is uncanny and it’s not stopping them from continuing with whatever they’re doing. This team basically has it all and they know it: Singing skills and technique? they both have it. Passion for singing? They both have it. Perfect chemistry? They have it. Stellar and complementary sense of comedy and humour? They have it. Theatrical smoke as their only visual effect on stage? They have it (jk). Every episode that they’re on, I am laughing and smiling from ears to ears and thanking the heavens that they got paired up. Why are they like this.

What I found to be a pity: The fact that I can’t buy an album from them as a duo? hahaha OK, perhaps just the fact that they stuck mostly with ballads (except for Ye Lang Disco) and so I would have loved to see more sparks from them. But this complaint is also very empty because it’s not like I didn’t thoroughly enjoy every single ballad they sang...haha haha....Ah, one thing I found to be a veeerrrry slight pity is that, as ZS himself says, he’s quite insecure. In contrast, LKQ is quite optimistic, so it makes for a lot of comedic clashes in this respect (annnnd it becomes a thing I like about them again). OK ok one thing is perhaps that ZS’s jokes can be a little bit borderline, but honestly, they receive each others’ jokes so well it becomes part of their charm and chemistry.........I guess I’m biased....ok....I'll shut up

Favorite performance(s) from them:

Tian Xia You Qing Ren / All the Lovers in the World (oh my God oh my God oh my God thank you Zhou Shen for choosing this song)

Ye Lang Disco / Wild Wolf Disco (?) (BECAUSE THIS IS Qin Shen Shen AT THEIR FINEST: ABSOLUTE DORKS WHO SLAY AT PERFORMING. Na Ying mentioned this as the inspiration for her and Xiao Zhan’s disco challenge, and that’s for a GOOD reason.)

Honestly I thought Zhou Hua Jian should be there somewhere, because I am a HUGE fan of Zhou Hua Jian songs, but I did feel like his performances were a bit...slapdash in this show haha. And Yi Qiao seems very nice but most of the time, I didn’t feel her presence as much, and it felt like I was enjoying the performance because no matter what, ZHJ’s voice  is fucking good. I also found it to be a pity that he had to constantly remind the audience about points and voting - in the beginning it was funny, but by the end it felt a little repetitive - and that some of his comments could be a little bit borderline and clumsy. So not in the top 5, but his team’s performance of “Qi Shi Bu Xiang Zou / In truth, I don’t want to leave” did make me cry. A lot.  

Anyways, overall, I rate this show 10 / 10 and would encourage anyone who likes music to watch it! I know many people who watched the show are international Xiao Zhan fans, well, if so, you’ll see a lot of him at least! (and your attention might get snatched by some others if you’re not careful)

[spacedlexi]

Hello! I like your TWDG art and I'm curious if the Final Season was your first exposure to TWDG series? What do you think of the series overall, if you've played them? Any favourite characters outside of S4? I personally stopped playing the games after S2 left me severely disappointed, I think S1 will always be the best of them.

oooo cool questions. and thank you!!

my first exposure to twdg was actually when the demo dropped for the first season!! yea ive secretly been here the Whole Time lmao i didnt play it myself tho i watched my friend play. it was the first time i had been exposed to the telltale choice game kind of format and i didnt really know how to feel about it so i didnt pick it up for myself i just watched others play. it took me a while to catch up and i didnt finish the first season until after s2 ended

the end of season one, like with most people, left me like.....really super heart broken and emotional like man i was Empty inside ahah that ending still and always will get me just Right in the fuckin heart meat. so, feeling as empty as i did and wanting to know where clems story went i jumped Right into season 2 ............ and that left me even More fuckin empty and sad than season 1 lmao fuckin season 2 is probably The most depressing season imo i didnt think i could feel worse than the end of s1 but s2 took it as a challenge

i Hated s2 and was really suffering through it but when kenny showed up i was like OH THANK GOD a familiar face (even tho he really tested my patience in S1) because i capital H Hated the new cast. sarah was fine and luke was Generally ok for the most part but the adults pissed me the Fuck off and still do for how they treated clem (an 11 year old!!) like a whole ass adult and personal therapist. but then kenny got Real scary after the whole sarita thing and jane was pissin me off for not only constantly pushing kenny (a man who was desperately holding onto a very thin thread) but for trying to convince clem that she didnt need anyone and that she’d be better off on her own (AN 11 YEAR OLD!! in the zombie apocalypse!! even tho yea the s2 cast were shit to be around). looking at s2 in hindsight the only good thing about it was AJ..bby boy...

and then about a year or so later the trailer for s3 dropped and i was like YES look at clem fuckin badass fuckin shotgun fuckin take no shit Yes but then i was soooooooooo so disappointed when i found out you were gonna be playing as some fuckin Nobody new character i was like fuck off i just want clem back. season 3 was just....pretty boring in my opinion and the only saving grace was whenever clem was around and the whole “wheres aj” plot that i wish the game focused on instead. out of the s3 cast (minus clem/aj) i only really cared for javi and mari...and well.....we all kno what happens to mari and how fast l o l rip. eps 1-3 (generously) were ok and interesting but the final eps just... ehhh. also jesus was ok but hes also a part of the comics/show whatever so he doesnt rack up points for telltale. javi flirting with him was pretty cool tho. both protags are bisexual you love to see it. bi rights hell yeah

AND THEN....SEASON 4. i immediately fell in love with the entire cast (even when vi was mean to her when they first spoke cuz i was like “yeah yeah i know you dont mean it i saw the way you were lookin at her from the wall i KNOW youre gonna be a romance option”). the whole troubled youth boarding school was such a great choice finally clem was around people her fuckin age no more adults looking to her for guidance or to parent. and she was Top Dog these kids had no real experience and i knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped into the role as their leader. i was NOT expecting it to be because of how ep 1 ends like omfg the end of the 1st ep is just.....Real Good. the ep itself was pretty slow getting you introduced to everyone but my god shit gets Real the moment clem walks into that basement and from then on out the ep is just Wild and ends with a (literal) bang.

E2 started testing my patience with a few characters (lookin at you louis specifically (even tho i still like you) because i will never get over how now AJ was the one being treated like an adult (A 5 YEAR OLD WHO ONLY KNOWS KILL MONSTERS TO SURVIVE and has never been in a group setting that he can remember))(its why my clem could never romance louis sorry dude) but violet was 💕💕 amazing standing up for clem and aj against the whole group and she takes on the role as leader cuz “no one else stepped the fuck up” i love her.... and then lily shows up and the whole drama with the raiders AGH love it

up until this point i was still just watching others play since the seasons were either too depressing or boring for me to want to pick it up for myself

but then telltale shut down. and i was like.....oh my god....clems story is gonna get cut right at the end?? i loved this new cast and i dont get to see how it ends??? im not gonna get to play it for myself!??!?! so when skybound stepped in and saved it i bought it up IMMEDIATELY i was like “that was TOO CLOSE im gonna finish this series for myself Dammit” and i did and it was great i played eps 3 and 4 when they dropped at midnight im so glad i got to experience the ending for myself on my own. i cried ahhaha so fuckin hard and i still do CLEEEEMMMM you did it bitch i love you

season 1 and 4 are really the only ones i like. and for me s4 ranks higher than s1 because of the cast and the found family trope and how its just..not as fuckin desperate and depressing and hopeless. it really just comes down to preference but s4 wins for me with s1 close second. i only ever go through seasons 2 and 3 for the sake of setting up s4 like its just formality aha. plus getting ajs plot established makes it worth it. and knowing how clems story ends makes the depressing parts easier to get through

SO YEAH OOF SORRY for the long answer i talk way too much ahah but i do really love this game. seasons 1 and 4 now reside snugly in a little corner of my heart where they will stay until i die lmao. if you havent i definitely recommend at least going through s4!!