pretznerd

[crow-eyed]

sofia wip!

[allisoinreynolds]

what podcasts do you like?

ok! so! yeah theres these:

the strange case of starship iris: probably my favourite, its about a biologist whose ship has an accident and ends up joining another ship. its just really really good, i dont wanna spoil anything accidentaly but like: i love it.

the penumbra podcast: my other favourite one. anyway. it follows juno steel, a pi in hyperion city, mars. theres also another storlines, like one called the second citadel which is basically fantasy and appears a lot in their second season parallel to the juno steel stories. this one is really popular but honestly its….. good. its really good.

ars paradoxica: currently listening to this, but i like it so far, it follows a woman who accidentally time travels back to the 1940s while the second world war is happening. i cant say a lot because i am still in s1 but its good so far.

the amelia project: tells the story about an agency who can fake their clients deaths. this is nice too! it only has one season right now, but s2 is coming out soon, and i liked it.

alice isn’t dead: follows a trucker as she searches for her missing wife. its by the same people who make welcome to night vale, and its really good. it does have some elements of horror, tho, maybe. i cant really tell because i wasnt scared by it, but yeah i think i remember people mentioning it. (also they dont have tw in their descriptions of the episodes, i just checked, but i dont remember if they give any warnings before the ep starts, so theres that. i think its really good if that doesnt bother you, though)

lesser gods: follows the five youngest people on earth in a future where humans are unable to reproduce and humanity is dying, as someone seems to start targeting them. i think its good? its not my favourite, i always feel like there’s something missing but i cant tell what, but lately it got more interesting, so. yeah, i did like it just fine, i would recc it before some other stuff ive heard.

limetown: follows reporter lia haddock as she tries to find out what happened ten years ago in a town where everyone suddenly disappeared. ive been thinking about this one some more and honestly? season one i still think its really good, but season two… i mean i liked it, but it might not be as good. s1 tho i still think its really good. again, i think some episodes had some ‘scarier’ things like sudden loud noises but i cant remember anything else.

the adventure zone: currently listening to this one. i actually really like it! its just not one i like to binge, so its taking me a while because each ep is one hour and it came out a long time ago, but i like this one, its three brothers and their dad playing dnd, its fun, i wasnt sure i was gonna like it, but its fun.

ive also listened to like, rabbits which i just…. thought wasnt that good, or as good as i thought it was gonna be. other than these i have a lot of stuff im suscribed to because i want to listen to next, but the main ones that are tempting me right now are king falls am, greater boston, eos 10, the last show, the magnus archives, victoriocity and wooden overcoats. also, wolf 359, station to station, marsfall, startripper!!

im stopping now before i write my entire library but yeah! those are the ones ive listened to so far

[him-e]

It bothers me people complaining about Luke in tlj, I know int the ot he's this hopeful hero and I know the character is iconic but you can't expect Luke to be the same before and after rotj, I mean, Vader death and redemption affected him, becoming a master affected him, Ben and the rise of the first order affected him. If they have put a Luke that was the same than in ep iv it wouldn't be realistic, Luke has grown, it's not the same 19 years old boy

Sometimes growth weighs you down, instead than lifting you up. Also, I feel like this sort of (not really) antiheroic-anticlimatic approach is just par for the course with the setup for this new trilogy. The OT’s curtains closed on such a finite, unequivocal happy ending that a sequel trilogy couldn’t be anything but disruptive of this happiness and fulfillment not only on a galactic scale, but on a personal level too. (after all, the “star wars” in star wars are all but a backdrop to this huge familial drama, aren’t they?)

You have what’s basically a carbon copy of the old Empire on the rise, and this happens despite the fact that our heroes have been in charge of the galaxy for all these years. So what went wrong this time? Because, obviously, something DID go wrong. And this time you no longer have the Jedi Order or the corrupted Republic of the prequels to blame. By signing up to the entire premise that kickstarts TFA, you must know you’re going to be faced with some hard truths, uncomfortable truths about your heroes, sooner or later.

and like, I’m a major Kylo/Ben stan and even I don’t think that Luke’s misstep destroys his characterization. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t devastating from Ben’s perspective, because it was—waking up to your uncle and most powerful jedi in the galaxy hovering on you with his lightsaber ignited because he’s afraid of you? TERRIFYING. Twice as traumatizing if you consider that Ben’s parents (from his perspective) gave up on him and passed him off to Luke, so the moment when Luke, the last person entrusted with his *soul*, no longer thinks he can be saved, is the moment when Ben just stops fighting and lets his shadow loose (and for god’s sake, I can’t stop thinking about this, it’s haunting me. when did this account become so deep).

But on Luke’s part, it’s just human. A human error. 

And to be clear I think there’s a fundamental difference between the joyous, abstract idea that “everyone can be saved”—and getting to actually save in a blaze of glory, age 24, your absentee murderous father whom you have never spent more than 3 hours in total with—versus living every day, every hour of your life with someone who is practically your own child and pouring in him all your love and your wisdom AND YET. The darkness continues to only grow and grow in this kid, and it seems that whatever worked on your father isn’t working on him for some reason and maybe you’ve grown old and the Light has dimmed in you and maybe you were wrong and some people are just too dark to be saved and maybe…. Luke doesn’t outright say it, but I think these thoughts were the dark side tugging at him without he realizing it. Not Snoke, just Luke’s own dark side that has always been there. It tugged and tugged until something snapped. And you know the rest.

So what is that destroys Luke’s character? This one moment in which he thought he could save a million lives by killing one à la Stannis (or, like any parent of a problematic child knows, has a fleeting “I wish you were never born” thought and instantly regrets it)? The fact that he didn’t try to fix it immediately later? The fact that maybe he felt so ashamed and guilty and devastated that he had to literally cancel himself from existence, not even telling Leia? (he still can’t tell the truth to Rey, a perfect stranger who has almost no dog in this fight, six years later, so it’s clearly something that ripped him apart)

Oh, okay, Luke isn’t hopeful anymore. And? I will always scoff at the idea that once people subscribe to a happy, bright, optimistic version of yourself, you are forever obligated to perform that character even if it doesn’t represent the real you anymore, and you’re not allowed to show your scars. Life has a tendency to break you. Especially as you grow old.

But what prevents it from being a bleak narrative is that Luke actually has his own [ redemption ] arc in this movie and reacts. He reacts because Rey makes him react, she violently calls him out on his apathetic bullshit and leaves with so much of his old stubborn hopefulness that it reminded of who he STILL is (so much for *Rey only revolves around Kylo*—Rey is MUCH more proactive and assertive of her own agency in this film than in TFA, where she just reacted to what happened to her. In this movie? She’s deliberately the catalyst for MANY things. She actively makes choices. On her own). 

It’s like he suddenly wakes up.And what he does is going to confront Kylo, who is entirely his demon, his own Frankenstein’s monster, created by his hubris (so much of TLJ is about hubris and its natural consequence, failure), and ask Ben forgiveness. This is truly the most heroic thing to do, for someone who spent years wrapped up in his own guilt and unable to process it and believing the only way to atone was to die like a hermit. I was actually surprised they gave the climatic Jedi vs Sith lightsaber battle to Luke (I was expecting Rey), and I’m still shaking for how beautiful and poignant that scene is. “See you around, kid”.

That’s a lot like Obi Wan in ANH but also… much more complex than Obi Wan in ANH. While Obi Wan was guilty of seeing the darkness too late, Luke is guilty of being hyperaware (perhaps, it’s precisely Anakin & Obi Wan’s cautionary tale that made him paranoid about Ben’s darkness, effectively turning his legitimate concerns into a self fulfilled prophecy). In the end, the stakes of Luke’s sacrifice are even higher than they were for Obi Wan in the OT, because a) that’s literally all that’s left of the Resistance that he’s dying to save, and b) we know that the root of Ben’s wrath is precisely his relationship with his family and specifically with Luke. Luke who failed Ben so BAD because it was a relationship that involved trust, parental care, and power imbalance. Luke who still loves Ben so much. Luke who was probably (at some point) Ben’s one true hero, even more than Han. We already have the backstory at this point in a way that we didn’t when we saw Vader strike Obi Wan down—but Ben/Luke is much more visceral, much more painfully the decisive factor in Kylo Ren’s villain origin story than Obikin ever was in the creation of Darth Vader. So the last duel is emotionally charged in a way that the OT’s Vader/Obi Wan one wasn’t, because we have taken young Luke’s place in watching his mentor (and hero) sacrifice himself for him (for us) and it’s much clearer that he’s also sacrificing himself for the villain, too.

[keimanzero]

Greetings fellow Toonami anime fans! I am now keeping those of ya who cannot get CN's Adult Swim Toonami on TV informed and up to date on Toonami's eppys each week. From now on, I am going to be posting updates weekly (Usually on Sundays) here at FB and Twitter as well as at Gaia's Chatterbox.

First off here's the new ASToonami schedule (All times Eastern):

10:30 PM: Dragon Ball Super

11:00 PM: Dragon Ball Z Kai

11:30 PM: Black Clover (NEW)(8 eps)

12:00 M: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

12:30 AM: Gundam:Iron-Blooded Orphans)(NEW)(Season 2)

1:00 AM: Hunter x Hunter

1:30 AM: Lupin III Part IV

2:00 AM: Naruto Shippuden

2:30 AM: Outlaw Star

3:00 AM: Cowboy Bebop

3:30 AM: Ghost/Shell:2nd Gig

Samurai Jack has been terminated but this coming 28-29 October Hall-o-we'en weekend, Toonami is airing a marathon of the final season of this long anime series.

Updates for 2-3 Dec 2017:

DBSuper:  Universe 6 is finally defeated by U 7 when Beerus's 'secret weapon' team member (The lil pink shrimpy guy Monaka) somehow 'defeats' Hit.  Begrudgingly, Bulma gave Whis and Beerus the incantation to summon Super Shenron which must be given in the 'Divine Language' unknown to any but gods and angels. Summoned, the dragon swallowed everyone! However, Whis told them this was the only way to 'see' the dragon who was the size of a few galaxies! Beerus told Bulma he wished for a decent bed but secretly he wished for his brother's U 6 Earth to be made habitable again and repeopled. Back on Earth and preparing for the next tournament of Universes, the gang celebrates while Goku challenges the no powers at all Monaka to a fight. Instead, Bulma has Pwar transformed into Beerus so Beerus can disguise himself as Monaka. Beerus easily defeats Goku and all is well? What's next? Find out soon!

DBZ Kai:  Trunks and Goten finally master fusion and become GoTenks while Buu continues his rampages across the Earth. When Goku and Gohan somehow break the Z Sword, the Supreme Kai from 15 generations ago is released who promises to imbue Gohan with the power to defeat Buu. Gotenks is unable to even put a dent in Buu and he returns to the Lookout. This enrages Piccolo because Goku gave up his full time on Earth to teach his son and Vegeta's son fusion to defeat the monster. Meanwhile, Mr Satan tries to placate Buu w/ poisoned chocolates, exploding video games and finally, becomes Buu's servant. Some hero huh? Buu's 'servant' finally shows Buu he must not destroy and kill and it works fine until a vicious hunter kills Buu's new pet puppy dog. Meanwhile, back to training for the impetuous GoTenks who arrives at Buu's place just in time for Fusion to wear off. Back to the Lookout where Trunks is bandaged by Mama Bulma while poor GoTen gets a bare bottom spanking from Mama ChiChi. On Kai World, Gohan's training continues- all he needs to do is sit still- for another 20 hours! The Supreme Kai from 15 generations back keeps falling asleep while transferring power to Gohan via mind send which is similar to Trek's 'mind meld' technique. The Kai World continues to prepare while Buu has been cowed by Satan w/ a puppy. However, the bad guys come back and one kills Satan who is revived (Buu cannot restore life) by Buu. However, this causes a split between innocent good Buu and a his alter ego, a thinner and deadlier evil Buu. The latter blasts the hunter dead with a ray of red energy (Kryptonite maybe?) and now it's a whole new ballgame with two opposing Majin Buus. Stay tuned!

Jojo's BA: The latest Stand is a witch! Polnreff is almost killed by Centrefold's Mama's 'Justice' Stand which can reanimate the dead! This is in revenge because Polnareff killed her son- Centrefold. Jotaro to the rescue! When Mama nicks JoJo, he uses his Hamon powers to easily defeat her. Next stop- Egypt and DIO! The gang takes Mama along for questioning. Arrived at karachi, Pakistan, Dan of Steel, DIO's newest killer, reveals his Stand to be a Kenpachi Zasaraki (Bleach's #11 Cpt) power where he plants his Stand inside a hapless enemy's brain so that whatever pain is inclicted on Dan, his enemy feels it and his enemy is Joseph. Dan kills Eyama the old lady before she can reveal DIO's ultimate Stand's power to the gang. This is a two parter of The Lovers. Jotaro is tortured mercilessly by Dan while the other 2 Stand users retreat w/ Joseph to pull off a Fantastic Voyage operation inside poor Joseph's brain!

Gundam:Iron-Blooded Orphans: Orca now leads Tekkaman's kids as advisors to the now allies Gallahorn but all is not so peaceful.  After defeating the Dawn Horizon pirates, Orca and Miyazuki confront the leader of the Liberatis group (Allendium) who sent the DH pirates against Tekkadan and Gjallahorn. Miyazuki kills Allendium. Meanwhile, theprincess discusses the future with her friend on Earth. Tekkadan defends the new Arbrau Defense Force and Mars's princess returns with them to Mars. A war of attrition betwixt Arbrau/Tekkadan/Gjallahirn vs the Imperial Armies but beware! Does Tekkadan have a traitour in their midst? With the loss of Astin and other Tekkadan kids, the war finally comes to an end. For how long though?

Hunter x Hunter:  Despite losing a hand and sustaining varying injuroes, Gon finally defeats Genthru the Bomber Hunter. Using Angel's Breath cards, Bisky, Killua and Gon heal their enemy team trio and Gon. However, Killua opts to let nature and time heal his own injured hands. The game of Greed Island is now over for Gon/Killua/Bisky so it's party time! What now eh?

Lupin III: Lupin and Fujiko hatch a plan to swipe an Alfa Romeo car from a seller (To drive the price up) which Lupin does steal w/ 'Pops' right on his tail. Only Lupin's not controlling the car. Who is? The mind of the car's owner, a dying lady singer. Oh yes and Zenigata and the cops are forbidden to interdere and arrest Lupin.

Naruto S:  More reminiscing from Naruto while they rebuild the Leaf Village. Naruto recalls his group's (Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke) first mission with Gaara and his Sand Village team.

Outlaw Star:  Hard to say, but I think Jimbo and Gene are at loggerheads about work. I missed most of Naruto S and all of OS, CN and GS this weekend.

Cowboy Bebop:  Jett unwittingly plays odds and evens with dice w/ Faye Valentine and literally loses his shirt and pants! While exploring an old fridge in the Bebop's hold, he contracts a serious illness which he shares with the others. Can Spike figure it out in time and save the crew?

Ghost/Shell: 2nd Gig: A reluctant Section Nine team helps out when the PM changes the rules on refugees yet again.

At long last! A new Gundam game- Gundam Versus w/ 90 different mobile suits, a slower pace and more baddies. PS4. Tom and Sarah give this one a 7.5 outta ten. I'd give it an 8 myself.

See ya next time, gang. Tell your friends about my updates.- The Keiman.

[scottstiles]

I'm conflict about the sciles because on one hand, it was beautiful, but like I didn't want them to separate??? I mean, from all the DOB stuff it was obvious that Stiles wasn't going to be in 6b, so it wouldn't have made sense for them to go to the same college and then only have Scott return and not Stiles. I just feel like it's a little ooc for Stiles not to return with his friends if Beacon Hills is in danger, so that's why I thought him dying would've been more in character. Your thoughts?

i’m not really conflicted. after sleeping on it a few hours ive woken up still pretty miffed. everybody said to me last night the sciles in this ep was so wonderful so beautiful i was gonna be so happy about it and let me tell you….i wish it had been. but i don’t think it was. and i’m gonna try to explain why.it started off promising- stiles looking for scott the second he broke out, screaming each other’s names now and then, trying to solve things together again whoohoo and all that but…i mean…i was even disappointed by the hug?? liam had to make them stop because hey there’s a man on fire over there, we didn’t get more than the few seconds shown in the sneak peek, and once again, they didn’t talk about ANYTHING. so okay, i held that in thinking we would finally get something eventually, but i was still disappointed. “wanna split up?”“absolutely not”“wanna split up?”“never again”

AND YET……? was there any more sciles in the episode that didn’t include them actually splitting up/being torn apart?!

they spend the majority of the episode being ripped into different places by ghost riders, and then i’m supposed to be happy with the final discussion being about not living together or going to the same school or even being in the same state when the beginning of seasons 5 AND 6 talked about them staying together through college?! i’m supposed to accept this?! i don’t think so.

“i need you”“i missed you”

okay.

BUT YOU LOVE EACH OTHER JUST FUCKING SAY SO. i’m sorry but boys are allowed to say they love each other. even if it’s not romantic. just let them say it god fucking damn it.

on top of it every time they get close to saying something important stiles has to make a joke instead. all this tells me is that the writers really just aren’t interested in giving us even one more second of detail about their relationship. they were done 2.5 seasons ago and they’re never going back.

ya. i’m a bit bitter.

sorry i just re-read you ask so now i’ll speak to your points a bit more-

as for them not returning together for 6b, tbqh i had no expectations. i knew they wouldn’t kill him off, but i was trying to not think about what it might be like. i expected something like this, but i expected more that none of the old mains would really be around in 6b- more like scott would turn into obi wan’s ghost for liam or something over skype and i kind of secretly thought sciles would live together and stiles would just be unable to come home for whatever reason. i could handle that. i can probably handle this as well, i mean, long distance is a great fanfic trope and if stydia could turn into fanfiction why tf couldn’t sciles….okay i’m reaching. but yeah, i have no idea what i’m gonna feel about 6b. this season was a fucking rollercoaster for me and i’m gonna need a year to recover.

[katsvra]

yyh and inuyasha !!!

hello miss falen!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank yo u so mcuh omg such excellent taste in showss hhhh

yu yu hakusho

haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation

fav characters: KURAMA!! and hiei, kuwa, yusuke, botan, koenma, keiko :o literally everyone i cant choose faves

least fav characters: toguro brothers!!! and also that one guy who kept beating up kurama after he was unable to fight >:((( and also i would include karasu because yuck but i also love his character design so :( 

fav relationship: yusuke and keiko are super cute !!!!! and i love the interactions between the main 4 so much :(( 

fav moment: too many !!!!!

when yusuke absolutey DESTROYED that asshole that kept beating up kurama, what an absolute power move. 

also !! like when yoko kurama’s “bang”? i dont know how to explain it but it like,,,, w woww love him

when kuwa was losing to that guy but he heard yukina and just immediately won the battle?? all that build up asdhjkasjkl

also all scenes where yusuke’s hair is down because Yes Please !

THAT ONE PONYTAIL KURAMA SCENE !! @ togashi why would u show us the potential of ponytail kurama and then never bring it back

that funeral scene for yusuke also Fucked Me Up 

so many so many i could continue forever and i havent even finished it yet sahlajadjlks

headcanons/theories: ???????? none 

unpopular opinion: ???????????????????? 

how’d you find it: miss falen you were live tweeting yyh and you were loving kurama so much and i got really interested because!!!! 90s anime !!!! and then i found out that kurama was a) a furry boy that was b) voiced by komaeda’s seiyuu and c) kinda looked like inuyasha when he is in yoko form and i was Sold

random thoughts: im really so glad that i started watching this and im surprised i didnt find it earlier!!!! its exactly the kind of anime i absolutely adore. i love the animation style so much,,,, like all 90s anime just looks really rounded and squish and faded if that makes any sense??? the characters are adorable and stupid but they all undergo so much growth ??? like their character change so much throughout the story???? and idk man the first ep made me cry and ive never not liked an anime that makes me cry. also im planning on watching the dub because apparently it is !!! really good!!!! so my game plan is to actually finish watching the series first and then watch the new ovas and then watch the dub so i can cry all over again good plan good plan

inuyasha

haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation

fav characters: literally the entire main crew and also sesshomaru and rin and kohaku and koga

least fav characters: um i used to hate kikyo when i was a kid but like i dont anymore so i guess its just??? naraku now?? fav relationship: inuyasha & kagome !!!! literally my first ship ever, way before i even knew what that meant . they are just so dumb and cute :( fav moment: i have so many so like heres a list and also big fat spoiler warning ok 

okay so like that ep with the thunder brothers and inuyasha thought kagome and shippo were dead and passing onto the next world and totally freaked out until he realized that oops the blue glow was shippos dad all along, idk that scene was so funny to me

also fateful night in togenkyo at the end where kagome thought inuyasha died but he comes up and makes fun of them for crying like an Asshole, inuyasha ur so dumb sometimes

any scene w/ human inuyasha bc human inuyasha >> literally anything

also i rlly love the scene where inuyasha turned full demon and was like in the cocoon thing and i dont even remember what happened i just remembered loving it because i love pain

oh also scenes where inuyasha and koga keep trying to look cooler than each other to impress kagome as if they werent the biggest losers in the world, ya those scenes are great

theres like so many more please i will keep talking if yall dont stop me i love inuyasha so much

headcanons/theories: u would think that i have some but tbh nah

unpopular opinion: i actually like miroku ! like im 100% sure it has to do with the fact that ive loved his character for 10+ years and im sure i probably wouldve thought very differently of him if i had started watching recently instead

how’d you find it: ok so like when i was 6 or 7, i had this friend that would come over and watch anime with me and in the evenings, all the violent anime would air on Bionix and we thought it was so rebellious to watch Older Kid anime so we would watch it every week and one week inuyasha came on and it was the episode where he got absolutely impaled by a demon tree (which is like every other episode) and i was so scared that i cried. anyways thats my first memory of inuyasha and i havent stopped watching it since, i love that show so much my dudes

random thoughts: what can i even say? this show was my entire life. it still is my entire life!! when i first discovered it in first grade. then in third grade i developed a big fat crush on inuyasha. in sixth grade, i was teased and was so embarrassed by it that i stopped watching the anime and reading the manga. in tenth grade when i heard affections touching across time and i was hit with such a strong wave of nostalgia that i binged the entire series that month. and then when i watch the very last episode and i cried because this show that had been with me my entire life just ended and it left such a big hole in my heart. i dont always talk about it but i will never stop loving this show and its dumb characters and its ability to lift my mood no matter what, its my absolute fave. 

[sueboohscorner]

The Vampire Diaries S8, Ep. 8 "We Have History Together" #TVD

When last we saw the Salvatore brothers, they were headed out of Mystic Falls to carry out their mission for Cade: collecting the souls of evil-doers. Note the word “evil-doers,” because it’s a twist on the original mission Damon had been sanguine enough being part of; the original mission was collecting evil people’s souls, but Stefan’s new marching orders are to lure otherwise good people into committing even one evil act. It’s entrapment on a cosmic level, and Stefan is gung ho. Damon is clearly conflicted.

This week begins at an anger management support group meeting. Where better to find a person with evil in their heart, right? But the test they employ in this scene is flawed, to my mind. They ask a guy if he would rather see someone else from the group die, or if he would accept dying in their place. I don’t think that’s a measure of evil so much as one’s will to live. Most people wouldn’t choose to die in the place of some random acquaintance. (I mean, would they? Am I just more evil than the average? I suspect that most people, given time to consider their answer–and compelled to answer honestly, wouldn’t agree to die in place of someone they don’t deeply care for. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t make a split-second choice to jump in the way to protect someone on instinct, definitely doesn’t mean they wouldn’t give their lives for their loved ones. Again with the weird morality on this show!)

Anyway, Damon dutifully kills the guy who said he’d rather live than die for his support group confidants, but when he looks up, he sees that Stefan has killed the entire rest of the group in that same time span. (He can’t have drained them all that quickly; Rippers are wasteful!) He chastises Stefan, but Stefan brattily points out that he didn’t rip their heads off, so he’s still in control of his Ripper tendencies. Um, whatever you say, bro.

Back home in Mystic Falls, Caroline is heading back to high school for an assignment. She describes it as being “embedded,” and for a moment, I wonder if they’re doing a Never Been Kissed (they’re not). She sits down in history class and asks how they like their history teacher. Somehow, she doesn’t get immediately terrified at how worshipful they are toward this new teacher…who of course turns out to be Sibyl.

Sibyl rolls her eyes at Caroline’s aggressive reaction and reminds her that she’s massively outgunned on every level. She states the obvious (that she is responsible for Caroline’s being assigned here in the first place), then illustrates the stakes by way of a demonstration: She can psychically kill any of these students in an instant. Caroline has no choice but to go along on the class trip.

Matt Donovan is still gamely sticking around town to be supportive and badass. Man, I love this guy. He heads over to the Armory to check in with Dorian (whom I will finally stop calling “the other intern,” now that he is in on the truth and actively involved in the plot). Dorian is getting some assistance from a local who has some key information they need…of course, it’s Peter Maxwell, aka Daddy Donovan. Man, screw this guy.

Damon awakens in a hospital bed, vervain weakening him through an IV drip. Stefan is quite sinister and smug about Damon’s predicament: unable to fight, flee, or compel anyone, Damon must simply lie there and take what comes. Stefan has another surprise for Damon; he tells him all about the doctor who will be checking on him: a pretty young brunette whose parents died tragically…of course, you can see where this is going. Her name is Tara, and she is a major league do-gooder, deeply involved with the organ transplant program, knows the names and stories of those in dire need by heart…so she’s ripe for Stefan’s spoil-the-good mission. And her resemblance to Elena makes it extra fun for him, as it allows him to torment Damon just a bit along the way. 

Stefan is going to mess with this doctor’s mind and test her moral compass, and vervain-weakened Damon can’t do a thing to interfere.

Stefan turns on the charm with the doctor, softening her up with his mega-watt smile, then inviting her in on a private moment with his vaguely mournful gaze as he questions whether his selfish brother even deserves to be saved…especially when you consider all the innocent people in need of organ transplants at this very moment. Because he doesn’t have his humanity right now, he can’t tell when he’s going too far–he actually tells the doctor he’s been looking on the website where the top-priority transplant patients are listed, and he mentions a specific name. This is the moment where any sane person would recognize he’s a nutter who actively wants to see his brother die…and Dr. Tara disengages from him emotionally, telling him that she “can’t think like that,” because a doctor has to look at every life as equally worth saving.

Realizing he pushed too hard and is losing this one, Stefan cheats and compels her a little, leaving her with the implanted belief that Damon is actually the drunk driver responsible for her parents’ deaths. Suddenly, she has some skin in the game, and her Hippocratic oath is a little more abstract. I wonder if the cheat is entirely kosher, per his arrangement with Cade…Cade’s whole approach with Stefan was about Stefan’s charm, not his compulsion skills. But results are results, probably, when you’re dealing with the devil.

Dr. Tara goes in to talk to Damon, and you can see in her face, she’s already made up her mind to kill him. She’s not proud of her feelings, but she’s giving in to them. He feebly begs her to listen to him, to not do this thing, but she injects an air bubble into his IV line.

In the hospital parking lot, Stefan approaches Dr. Tara. She is understandably shaken when Damon joins them. Stefan gloats. Damon looks miserably resigned but also a touch less sympathetic to the woman who just blithely murdered him.

So, this week’s Mystic Falls history lesson is about the town’s origins. Caroline parrots the story she’s always heard about the Gilberts, Fells, Forbes, Lockwoods, and Salvatores in 1860, and Sibyl says, Nope! She doesn’t want to talk about the “story” of Mystic Falls, rather its actual history, which has been whitewashed by the so-called founding families…right down to the part where they call themselves the “founding families,” because they didn’t “found” the town so much as they found an existing town and claimed it as their own. Sibyl has brought the class and Caroline out to the site where 100 witches were burned at the stake in 1790. This, she says, is the true history of Mystic Falls.

The students are doing some incidental busywork in the background, and Caroline briefly asks about it but is ultimately distracted by Sibyl’s lesson about the witches and a gifted metalworker in town working together on a big project of great mystic significance…and oh by the way, I’m going to need you to find me a relic from that project, and if you don’t, these kids are all going to burn at the stake. Yep, while she had Caroline talking history, the kids have carried out their brainwashed instructions to build a network of stakes, tie each other up in groups, douse everything with fuel, and light a torch.

Caroline quite reasonably asks how the hell she’s supposed to know where to find this artifact, and Sibyl identifies it as the charter bell that is part of the parade through town every year on Founders’ Day…except not really, because the current bell is a replica. The original was tossed off Wickery Bridge years ago (by deadbeat dad Peter Maxwell, incidentally). The bridge connection is why she’s leaning on Caroline; Sheriff Liz Forbes, while dragging the river to retrieve the bodies of Elena’s parents, also discovered the bell. It was last seen at the Forbes home, among Liz’s effects.

Speaking of effects, Damon’s were given to Stefan at the hospital, Elena’s necklace among them. He suspects the necklace is the reason Damon isn’t having as much fun as he is, that Damon is clinging to Elena and thereby his own humanity. He bullies Damon into tossing the necklace out the car window, then, of course, into killing the Elena-ish Dr. Tara, sending her soul on to Cade. 

Back in Mystic Falls, we’re getting another angle on the story of the gifted metalworker who created the bell back in 1790. His last name: Maxwell. That’s right, Bad Dad has a whole sob story about how he’s descended from real Mystic Falls history, and he coulda been a contendah, but those crappy rich people showed up and told the Maxwells, Hey, you make great bells and stuff, so we’d like to hire you, but we’ll never invite you to our fancy parties, because we’re rich and you’re not. And somehow this led to Peter Maxwell feeling cheated out of his shot at happiness 200 frickin’ years later, as if the world owes him something because his ancestors were merely respected and sought after craftsmen rather than part of the social elite. It’s gross, and once again, I’m thinking how lucky Matt Donovan is that his lousy father wasn’t around to poison his young mind with bitterness, resentment, and baseless entitlement. 

Sibyl and Caroline dig through boxes at the Forbes home. Of course, instead of finding the bell, they find a note from Seline, taunting Sibyl over the bell. Ha! If we are stuck with Sibyl, whom we can’t do a thing to harm or even annoy, at least we’re getting an occasional assist from her pissed off sister.  

But Sibyl is petty…she psychically triggers the torch-holding student to set the pyre alight. As Caroline’s rage shows, Sibyl reminds her, you know you can’t kill me, and by the way, I may or may not have a psychic link with your daughters that would destroy them if anything ever did happen to me. Crap.

Matt and Peter just barely free all the students in time, and then we get a final lame guilt trip from Peter, telling Matt not to walk away from family, because it’s the worst mistake I ever made, blah blah blah. Whatever, Bad Dad. I mean, Matt is such a quintessential good guy, he’ll probably be a little conflicted about this and give you a chance, but I sure wouldn’t.

The day after tossing the necklace from the car window, Damon sneaks back to look for it. He admits that he’s not even sure why he wants the necklace, but it makes him feel better to have it. 

Reunited with his memento of Elena, Damon goes to rejoin Stefan. Unfortunately, he finds a massacre of headless bodies–Stefan has gone full Ripper.