#like from what i remember and just rewatched... it would've made sense had they like... idk actually gone there

[teenitrash]

I just finished my rewatch of AOT and one thing I noticed is how different Connie is after Sasha died (or just Season 4 in general)

We know him to be an idiot and a joker even in serious situations, like in Season 3 where he made a joke even though the rest of the Survey Corps was literally dead (honestly he was so real for that. I, too, use humour to cope lmao) and then Sasha hit his head as a result.

Obviously, all of the younger main characters had drastic character development after Season 3 and it makes sense because of what they've been through. For example, Armin spoke up more and wasn't as timid as he used to be. Jean's leadership skills really showed itself in Season 4 and he became less of an asshole.

So yeah, they all changed quite a bit, but in my opinion, Connie changed more obviously because it sort of went in a "negative" direction. Him changing is not bad but because he became a little more aggressive (something we don't really see in S1 - S3) and he lost most of his joking nature (something we DO see in S1 - S3), it was more noticeable to me.

He became more angry or defensive in certain situations and he kind of lost his joking nature after Sasha died. It's not a bad thing at all BUT this just shows us how much Sasha meant to him and how much of an impact she had in his life, just as he did in hers. He really meant it when he said they were like twins and that she was his other half that died. The only joke I remember him making and the only time he ever laughed throughout the entirety of Season 4 is when Annie was stuffing her face with pie and that's it. Here are 2 examples of when Connie got really aggressive that, for me, felt out of character for him compared to Season 1 - 3:

When Onyonkapon released them from their cell and Connie's first response was to choke him against the wall and shout at him. It doesn't ONLY have to do with Sasha's death, but I feel like if Sasha were here, he wouldn't react as aggressively

Same here where he demanded that they feed Falco to his mom and even went as far as kidnapping him. If Armin and Gabi hadn't shown up the next day, there would be a higher chance that Connie would've made his mother the Jaw Titan. Even when they were camping in the forest, Connie started talking to himself, saying that he misses Sasha

I'm not entirely sure about the reason behind Connie's character development, but Sasha was definitely a huge part of it. Even if he didn't become angrier because of her death, it was definitely that that made him joke around a lot less and made him become more serious

[imthepunchlord]

So, awhile back, you mentioned that for your miraculous rewrite, you were considering turning some of the akumas into their villains, so out of curiosity which akumas do you think could works as their own villains?

Teeeechnically spoilers, though the fic isn't coming that soon and I guess this wouldn't really give away too many details and not everything is for sure...

Honestly, most of them, so far, are a handful of the season 1 akumas. I can't think of any akumas from s2 that stood out to me as potential villains to stand on their own, and I stopped watching around s3 so any akumas post s2 I either don't remember or just haven't seen.

Horrificator I'd vote to be a mythical creature, as in hindsight, it's kinda icky that the plus size girl is the only one with a monstrous akuma out of all girls (that I know of).

So Horrificator instead may work better to be her own thing, and be an intro to other types of magic out there than just the Miraculous.

Darkblade I feel could've been his own thing, could've tied him to the Arthurian legends (maybe he has a corrupted Excalibur), or could've been tied to the Catacombs, which I don't think Miraculous has covered yet, and he could've had a magical sword that animates suits of armor. And if Chloe was to have an arc, could work off him targeting her family as he seeks to be the mayor.

Mime I could see possibility in being his own villain, the ability to mime could be it's own sort of magic and could be fun; but I do also think he was one of the better akumas in s1, having a good balance of being powerful but having limits, and a good set up for him becoming one. So he could go either way.

Pharaoh I'd lean being his own villain. Rewatching it recently, he was a very awkward akuma as he wasn't working off Jalil himself, he was like he was the actual pharaoh revived, talking about how he clashed with a Ladybug hero 5000 years ago and I'm like...

Does this mean the Butterfly also has the power of letting old souls possess people in the present? Or is Jalil just LARPing as an akuma? Idk. It was just really awkward so he's be an akuma I'd vote to just go ahead and be his own thing. And it can work off classic mummies being enemies.

The last one off the top of my head is Volpina. I'm of the belief that Lila either should've come to Paris already having the Fox, or she did actually buy the Fox Miraculous from the jewelry store. This also goes in hand that I don't think Fu should've had 16-17 Miraculous with him (depending if you think he does have the Rabbit or not as that seems kinda up in the air). It actually makes much more sense that he lost more than just 2 or 3 given the chaos, and it better works off him sending out the very two Gabriel wanted if Fu had more limited options on what he could do.

This also could've had Volpina nicely reveal to the heroes that there are more Miraculous out there than the initial 3 they knew about. This also would've made Lila work more naturally as a threat if she had a Miraculous and was playing hero, competing with the other heroes for glory, and coming to side with Gabriel later. A lot better than her spending s2 sulking in her room.

There could be others, but off the top of my head, these are the major ones.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

What do you think of yuya and the other zarc boys

Aghhhhhhhh I can't remember any of my opinions on Arc V anymore but I'll do my best to answer this and keep it brief.

Yuya, within canon, is the one and only Yugioh protagonist I found disappointing. His arc had potential that I felt wasn't fully realized and his quirks, while charming at first, became grading to me on rewatches of the series. I enjoy him in fan works though (my friend in particular writes a really fun Yuya). And him with Yuzu is a cute ship, probably still my favourite Arc V ship.

Yuto is the only Z-Arc counterpart I can confidently say I still like. He's like a beta Yusaku and while I like Yusaku more, I like Yuto for similar reasons: I like seeing such a jaded serious character with a backstory to back up that behaviour. He's a decent spirit guide in the Xyz arc, deserved more screentime, and him with Ruri is just precious. His friendship with Shun is nice too. Really my only complaint with Yuto is that I would've liked more of him.

Yugo... I can't really remember how I feel about him honestly. I didn't find him or the fusion joke they always tell with him particularly funny but I don't outright dislike him. Him with Rin is also an okay ship, could've used more screentime though. He's just. Fine.

And potentially my hottest take is that I straight up dislike Yuri. He's like the epitome of the problems I have with Yuga Goha from Sevens but done EVEN WORSE somehow. Yuri and Yuga Goha are both built up as a great villain in their respective series then just completely swept under the rug by a completely different villain with less build up and then ultimately given a hasty redemption. Except with Yuga Goha, I personally can believe his redemption because his backstory and motive are made far clearer and said redemption actually happens onscreen, unlike Yuri who's seemingly just forgotten and nullified by being merged with Yuya. It really feels like Yuri was just a plot device for the Z-Arc story and nothing more. Such a huge letdown that it makes me so uninterested in him and his episodes in hindsight because they just feel so useless and oftentimes aren't even entertaining enough for me to make up for that. Also his duel with Asuka legitimately pisses me off but that's not as much on Yuri as it is on the writers so I don't hold that against him.

Side note: Another friend of mine's version of Yuri also makes more sense and fills in a lot of canon's holes. Always love it when fans can take a character I don't particularly like and make them at least more interesting then they were in canon. Keep up the good work!

Also, I know this wasn't asked, but I'll talk about Z-Arc real quick as well. I genuinely like the version of him we get in those brief flashbacks and I think his story is really interesting. I like THAT Z-Arc a lot as a character, it's just his final boss duel and the way he's characterized there and then shoved into a de-aged baby Layra that pisses me off. But the emotional conclusion to his arc is one I still find lovely despite that latter thing: Yuya finally understanding him, which was all Z-Arc really wanted, was just a really nice scene and continues to be a bright spot in the final season of Arc V for me.

[monsterblogging]

So I rewatched Pacific Rim: The Black to refresh myself on how bad it was, and once again I am just kind of in awe at how god-awful it is.

The Black very literally takes the magic out of Pacific Rim. You know how "drift hangover" refers to a persistent psychic connection between pilot and jaeger? Welp, here "drift hangover" is used to refer to a headache after drifting. Ghost drifting (you know, when pilots get psychic with each other) is turned into ghost piloting, which is when a pilot drifts with the memory of another pilot. Like, it's understandable if most people don't clock the mysticism and animism underpinning Guillermo del Toro's vision of Pacific Rim, but this is a very deliberate effort to erase where humans can just have funky psychic shit happen to them sometimes.

The Black doesn't really seem to understand how drifting works. Two characters have a heated argument without falling out of alignment. Another character functionally has a mind-reading ray. There's no real comprehension of what drift compatibility is and how it works.

The child soldiers are younger than ever. Taylor looks like he was maybe twelve at most when he was taking his pilot's test. Like. Actual twelve year olds are getting certified as jaeger pilots in this world. And this is framed as a good and desirable thing. Literally what the fuck.

The Black calls Horizon Brave "Horizon Bravo," and claims it's a Mark IV jaeger. If you have literally any access to any information about Horizon Brave at all, you know it's a Mark I jaeger.

The jaeger piloted by the children (Atlas Destroyer) is claimed to be a Mark III jaeger, yet uses the type of fuel cells introduced in Uprising. Like it was a whole fucking plot point that Lady Danger was a nuclear jaeger. Literally all they would've had to do was make Atlas Destroyer a Mark VI. It would have been fine.

Atlas Destroyer has a bunch of features Mark IIIs definitely didn't have. Remember how Raleigh and Yancy needed a crew to help them into their drivesuits? Atlas Destroyer just automatically tosses 'em on itself. Remember how Lady Danger's AI mostly just gave status updates? Atlas Destroyer's AI holds entire conversations. Again, you could've just made it a Mark VI, show.

And speaking of Atlas Destroyer's AI, for some goddamn reason the PPDC gave her an emotion chip. Because it's not hard enough to be a pilot already, now your jaeger gets to have anxiety.

The Black claims that Trespasser "smashed the Australian wall in the first attack." This is wrong on every conceivable level. Trespasser attacked San Francisco in the first attack, in 2013. The first kaiju to attack Sydney was Scissure, in 2014. The kaiju what smashed the wall was Mutavore, in 2025.

There is one queer-coded character. He is murdered in gory fashion.

There is one Indigenous-coded character who studies kaiju and their biology. He is depicted being into New Agey woo and wrongly believing that the kaiju he raised can love him. He dies when one of his kaiju eats him.

A major antagonist is depicted as a ruthless man who will kidnap, mindwipe, exploit, and even murder children. Then the show attempts to give him a redemption arc and we're supposed to actually care.

The PPDC refused to let the children's father retrieve them and the other survivors left behind in "the Black." (Read: Australia after the PPDC literally bombed it from space after a bunch of breaches started opening all over it.) Yeah, the PPDC can bomb an entire continent from space, but they can't spare a goddamn rescue helicopter.

Despite all of this and the aforementioned child soldiers, the PPDC is framed as the good guys and the only respite from the horrors of the Black; getting to the Sydney shatterdome is an unambiguously happy ending.

Early on we're lead to think that the PPDC might be getting its hands dirty with kaiju genetic experiments/bioweapon development. Later on we learn that it's the local kaiju cultists doing it. Now come on, which suspect actually makes sense here; the PPDC who can afford to build a killsat, or the kaiju cultists who apparently can't even afford a sterile room to perform a blood transfusion in?

The kaiju cultists are pretty obviously inspired by far right conspiracy theories about evil cults, rather than the actual behaviors of actual cults.

The kaiju sisters recruit by kidnapping women, turning them into kaiju hybrids, and forcing them into their hivemind. For some reason they kill all men. Despite this they are really obsessed with the idea that the half-kaiju smol, who for all appearances is a boy, is going to be their kaiju messiah. It really doesn't make sense, but then again, what can we expect from a slapdash job of far right conspiracy theories?

By the way, this is the PPDC banner literally hanging from the PPDC training center, in the show that is very firm in insisting that THE PPDC IS THE GOOD GUYS WHO PROTECT YOU:

[charmedpruehalliwell]

Hey, I need the lore on the Wil Wheaton national TV fiasco. I'm intrigued.

I apologize for letting this sit in my inbox for a hot minute, being an adult with responsibilities and stuff is stupid 😒 (especially when you have an uncontrolled chronic illness on top of it, but anywho)

my time has finally come

okay I lied just a little because it wasn't technically Wil Wheaton that made fun of me, but you'll get what I mean in a moment

So about ten(ish) years ago, Wil had a short lived series on Syfy called the Wil Wheaton Project and for those unfamiliar, he would basically discuss the geek news of the week (like, I know Gotham was airing at the same time, so he would often talk about the latest episode) and there were sketches and guest stars and things of that nature.

But, let me give you some context on me ten years ago, so I can really paint the picture of how batshit this was for me. So, I would've been around 19, maybe 20, at that time, and I had just watched Next Gen for the first time and instantly fell in love (it was actually the first star trek series I had seen, and it's what got me into it). But, not only did I love the show and characters as a whole, I was OBSESSED with Wesley in particular (and Data, but that's not relevant to this story), and at that point in my life I was so much worse than I am now in the sense that, when I was fixated on a certain character, I was FIXATED. Which made me want to look up what Wil was doing in the present day. (it certainly didn't help that i developed a brief little crush on adult Wil). Like, I bought and read his book, I watched and rewatched every movie of his I could get my hands on (Toy Soldiers and Stand By Me in particular were practically playing on a loop), I would rewatch the Wesley episodes like. It was bad lol

So, when I found out he was going to have a new show on Syfy, ofc I was super thrilled and my ass was SEATED from day one when it first premiered. I would faithfully watch it every single week while live tweeting. But, obviously the only episode I ever missed live ended up being the one where I was mentioned lmao I can't remember exactly why I couldn't watch it right away, it's been ten years lol But, I think I was just out or something so I had my DVR set. Normally I would've just watched it the second I got home, but my Mom really enjoyed it as well so I promised I would save it until the next night so we could watch together. As soon as I said good night to her, I logged onto twitter and. all these random people were tweeting me and retweeting a couple of my tweets and I was like "????" I used twitter a lot back then, but I still like. my following was very modest, and I was only involved in one (1) fandom on there, so things like that did not happen to me. And what's worse, the first few people that tweeted at me didn't really explain why?

BUT THEN. I got to one that I still remember it to this day both because it's when I was sort of clued in to what had happened and also because the tweet itself was kinda funny to me. It said something like "just watched the wil wheaton project and immediately had to run to twitter to see if you're real, I'm so glad you are. Have a good evening!" and that's when the adrenaline kicked in. I saw a few more tweets mention the Wil Wheaton Project so at this point I'm literally shaking lmao and I ran into my Mom's room to show her and to freak out a little so she's like "alright, let's go watch it"

And we're watching it, and everything's normal, Wil's just talking about the nerdy stuff that happened that week and I'm just getting more confused as to what I had to do with this BUT THEN

(as a sidenote, they obviously showed my twitter username, but I'd rather not repeat it here because I started it when I was a very young teenager and I no longer have access to it and I'm sure there's stuff on there from past me that would get me doxxed and killed on the "we piss on the poor" no nuance website)

Anyway, he had this segment with Skeletor where Skeletor would read mean tweets, and since this was the season 1 finale (which, unfortunately, also turned out to be the series finale), Skeletor was reading tweets disparaging the Wil Wheaton Project. AND THEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN, MY TWEET POPS UP ON THE SCREEN BEHIND WIL AS HE SAYS SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF, "I happen to know a lot of people like watching the show. For example, [REDACTED] said, 'My Tuesday isn't complete without a new episode of the #WilWProject :)'"

and that's about where I burst into (very excited!) tears lmao my mom had to lovingly shush me because she was trying to hear what was being said but I was too busy crying

So, then Skeletor made comment about how I must be a woman of sophistication before he pulled up another one of my tweets that read, "I love sitting on countertops and I don't know why" and then he said one or two more things making fun of me and my love of sitting on countertops and that was about it lol

But the thing is, those two tweets were not back to back. I was a young millennial on social media, I was posting every damn thought that popped into my head lmao and idk when they started planning out the next week's show and writing the jokes, but there's about a 50% chance that either Wil himself or someone on his team saw some of tweets where I talked about how adorable I thought Wesley was in his uniform 🤦🏻‍♀️ (I like to imagine my absolute nightmare scenario where Wil and maybe a few writers are all sitting around some table and my tweets are just projected onto a screen in the front of the room or something. I don't want to be corrected if that's not what happened, I'd rather just live with that image forever 😂)

Anyway, I can't remember exactly how long it was after that happened, but I believe it was at least a few days, Wil posted on his website that unfortunately, the show had been canceled. Except he titled that particular post with "if you like sitting on countertops..." which was so bittersweet for me. Like, I was obviously super bummed his show hadn't made it but it was so exciting that I wasn't just a blip on his radar, like I was still a part of the running gag! And, as I said, it's been a decade since this happened but I still think of it at least once a year on the anniversary, if not more often, because it was legit one of the top 5 moments of my life lol

I've always hoped that I would get to go to a convention or something and meet him so I could be like "I'm the countertop girl!" but sadly, especially with COVID, that hasn't happened yet. Perhaps someday :)

[innitmarvellous]

I finally finished Inside No. 9 after not watching an episode for ages. I had stopped in the middle of S7... Anyway, I took some notes about the episodes which are possibly interesting for a rewatch. They're pretty vague, but I'll hide them under the read more link just in case. ^^

Kid/Nap: Not my fave episode, but the double twist was kind of intriguing. Although I guess it would've been possible to expect it.

Wise Owl: Wow, I didn't expect this to get so dark towards the end. I mean, it wasn't a happy episode to begin with, but that 'come upstairs with me' bit... But I liked that he freed himself from the influence of 'Wise Owl' at the end.

Bones of St Nicholas: Didn't like this one too much tbh. It was a nice spooky story I guess, but not really what I'd expect from IN9 idk

Mother's Ruin: I'm glad I didn't watch this while I was eating something, lol. Idk, but I did quite like it. Lots of surprises (although I knew that it wasn't their mothers ghost talking lol)

Friday 13 (no, I can't remember that title and I'm not sorry xD): The first part was pretty funny, although really anxiety-inducing. That stuff about various annoying things happening when you just quickly need to do something happens in my dreams all the time and I hate it, lol. Well, the reveal of what it really was about was alright too. But I KNEW that something would happen in the end after all. I knew it.

Love is a Stranger: looking back it was so obvious what was going on, but it was a great misdirection, so I was nevertheless shocked when I realises the truth. Probably tells a story about prejudice and how it makes you perceive things and people

3 by 3: idk why, but this one made me really uncomfortable, even though I knew it was an ep of IN9 and not a quizshow. But I thought the twist was a bit too late, too small and if you knew what it was it was easy to pick up on the hints beforehand. I assume the effect would've been greater if watching it blind, but then I would've turned off long before the end of the episode because that was one lame quizshow :D

Last Weekend: HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT ENDING, I think this is the first episode I definitely won't ever rewatch, lol.

Boo to a goose: this one made a big impression on me when I watched it and the social criticism is really important, but I think it loses a bit of its effect the more I think about it. It really is an interesting watch though and I kind of want to rewatch it to pick up on more hints like the ads on the windows etc.

Trolley Problem: I didn't expect the story to take this turn and I found it thrilling to watch (the mind game episodes are always the best ones tbh), but I can't really say much about it. Of course there's the moral thing that 'just doing nothing' doesn't mean you're free of any guilt.

Mulberry Close: I found this one oddly funny? The twist wasn't even that big, but the ending was just great black humour, I'd say.

CTRL ALT ESC: I actually really liked the metaphor, even though I didn't understand it at first. And I didn't expect that he'd actually made his 'escape', so the last minutes were pretty tense. Oh, and the title…I initially confused it with the command used to open the task manager, but that's Ctrl+Shift+Esc. The combination in the title is used to force a switch between the active and a background programmes (iirc), so in a sense…someone needed to use that key combination on him to get his programme aka consciousness to the surface again. Kinda clever, and yet you don't realise it immediately :O

Curse of the Ninth: Oh, I loved the classical music theme! The ending with that use of music (and the way he tricked her lol)! And Reece's character constantly getting Devonshire's name wrong was kinda hilarious to me…maybe because it didn't seem to fit the tone of the episode at all, haha.

Plodding On: They might as well have called this episode 'Steve and Reece say: RPF is fine' lol. It was an unusual episode, but idk, I kinda liked it. That fucking 'Time to say goodbye' clip collage tho…that song always almost makes me cry for some reason, haha.

[banjomelodies]

Spoilers (since I recently rewatched Scaras videos and saw comments about the Nameless Child) (+unintentional Ei rant)

I remember seeing a lot of people question Scaramouches whole thing about holding a grudge on a dying child, but, honestly, as an immortal being that was still learning for the most part at the time, I think it makes sense. He mentions in his character stories that he wasn't aware a human could deteriorate and pass on in a single night. To him, he believed he had so much more time. They had made promises, he cared for that child, showed him the home that once imprisoned him. And if you really think about it.. he didn't really witness death like this until now. He never saw Niwas body, and I don't know if he ever actually saw the bodies of the various workers in Tatarasuna when they finally passed away, as he also mentions that he didn't expect to be flooded with a negative emotion upon witnessing death (though granted, his relationship with the Nameless Child would obviously be drastically different than the random acquaintances of Tatarasuna, so there's just a chance that he really didn't get hit by heavy emotions).

All that he was aware of was that he was alone again. Ei abandoned him, and he only knew that Niwa supposedly ran away and left him alone, and then the child he treated as family left him too. Grief forms in so many different ways, and anger at things around you, or the person who is deceased, can be a common part of it. There's anger at being abandoned, anger about how life suddenly changed.. so many different factors go into it. And instead of being able to handle that anger in better ways, he found himself burning down a building, and attempting to off himself in the flames, and when he lived and tried to keep going with a newfound fear and hatred towards humans who only ever broke his expectations, or had the potential of only hurting him more, he landed in a group that took advantage of and fed that anger.

Scaramouche never had the chance to properly grieve or figure out how to handle emotions that were still new to him at the time. Him having a grudge on Niwa, Ei, and The Nameless Child makes sense, as it's all he knew. There was never anyone there who actually tried to properly help him. In his brain, he was abandoned again, and again, and again, and it eventually just spiraled into a hatred for other people.

I know a lot of people don't usually go for the "I'm going to try to analyze the characters emotions!" route when watching videos about things like this, since, obviously, why would you. But, there are legitimate reasons as to why Scaramouche would be mad at someone for dying, and it's a sucky situation all the way through. But the best thing is, he probably finally got over the anger he had on Niwa and The Nameless Child upon becoming The Wanderer (I don't care what anyone says he doesn't owe Ei any forgiveness - Her situation was straight-up just child abandonment. Which, yeah, sure, she was doing it because she didn't want to control him, and wanted him to live his own life without her interference, but you couldn't just like.. leave him a note explaining that? Check on him once in a while? Hell, even drop him off in civilization that'd love and care for him? You imprisoned him for who knows how long in a domain that probably just felt mind-numbing as everything was always the same until he was finally broken free from it. You say you didn't want to interfere with his life, but then threw him into a situation where his life would've sucked and been non-existent as he could only just stare at walls and trees. Unless she was just gunning on humans to break him out to give him an actual meaningful life, considering he didn't have his strength at the time. But this isn't a Raiden Ei being a shitty mom rant post, so uh!!)

Ignoring my Ei rant for a second. I hope this was. A decent read. Despite how short it is. I always loved analyzing Scaramouche as a character, so making posts about his backstory is very fun.

[mayasdeluca]

I rewatched Marinas first meet scene after so long and my God the chills I got from it. What made it even better was that I was watching it with a friend and it was her first time seeing the show. She turned to me after that bar scene and just gave me the biggest smile and was like OMG what was that... are they going to be become something... and all I could say was you have no idea. Suffice it to say, she's now hooked.

But it got me thinking what was it about that first scene because if you just look at it it just seems like a normal scene but idk there's something electric about. Swear to god the hair on my arm stood up watching it after so many years.

I wasn't around the fandom in the beginning when Marina started but damn it makes total sense how and why this fandom started after that first scene.

It's truly such an incredible first meeting scene. Their chemistry is insane and it makes sense why they mention the table read of it so much too because obviously they just had it right from the start and it showed. I really wish we could have seen how it was at the table read too because that would've been amazing!

It really was such a simple scene but the way Danielle and Stefania played it and played off of each other you could just tell it was going to go somewhere or should go somewhere based off the looks they were giving each other and the electric feel it gave. I remember watching it live and thinking that this must be the start of something especially after the episode had focused on Maya and her rough past and how it was a rough start to her being Captain and now finally there may have been some light at the end of the tunnel. Definitely one of my favorite episodes even if some of the flashbacks with Lane are hard to watch.

[porcupine-girl]

Hidden Blade thoughts!

IT WAS SO GOOD

YIBO WAS SO GOOD

I would've followed a bit better if I understood more about the political landscape of WWII China, but it wasn't too bad. Definitely one of those movies where I want to go back and rewatch it immediately now that I know what I know from the end.

I will put the rest under a cut because very definitely spoilers.

The entire first half, I was kind of confused and disappointed because Yibo's role was barely a background character? I was like... how did he get second billing? How did he catch the critics' attention?

Then he has the scene in the bathroom with his ex-fiance, and from there suddenly he's the main character of the second half of the movie. It's like Tony Leung got half and he got half LOL And he's so damn good in his half.

I don't particularly like or care about fight scenes, but his were so good?? That first one with the bitchslap, he's just explosive. In the bathroom scene he becomes a ticking time bomb that's just waiting for an excuse to go off, and when he does it's breathtaking. But then he manages to just bottle that energy back up as soon as he's done with one fight, and spends the rest of the movie like that. Like every single scene he was in from there on I was convinced he was about to go off and kill someone or at least maim them - he only winds up doing it a few more times, but anytime he's not being violent you can just feel the violence he's bottling up inside radiating out of him. I can 100% see why the NYT chose the words "simmering" and "mesmerizing."

I will admit I might not have been as transfixed during Yibo & Tony's big fight scene (which, the bts is just a tiny clip of a very long scene) if it weren't for the fact that I'd seen the clip of the truck scene so I knew they both survived, so I spent the entire time holding my breath like how the fuck do they both survive this. Like, it just doesn't seem like the kind of fight where one is gonna let the other walk away. But speaking of that...

Two bits my husband and I did not understand by the end:

If Ye was actually on He’s side the whole time, why did they have the huge fight?? Like that seemed way more than necessary just to continue pretending to be on opposite sides. Sure, Ye couldn't have just let He go or vice-versa, but like they both nearly killed the other multiple times, and tbh the only reason Ye survived that fall is movie magic (it might not be wuxia but it did inherit just a smidge from that genre in terms of this fight scene I think). Why such a knock-down drag-out fight if they're actually on the same side? Surely they could've made less look like more.

Then the much smaller thing: Early on, He buys pastries to pass a note to… his wife? It happens so early when you don’t know who anyone is, by the time they come back to it I couldn’t quite remember what had happened. I think it turned out to be his wife. Anyhow, then later the Japanese guy asks what took him so long and he says he was buying dim sum but then produces the pastries??? Why did he say it was dim sum? Such a weird lie to tell when you've got the pastries to show him (I assume He bought two boxes). And the Japanese guy doesn't comment on it or anything. Were the subtitles just mistranslated or something? IDK my husband thought he heard them say dim sum but obviously he wasn't paying close attention to that detail as they were saying it, that was just in retrospect after he realized it wasn't dim sum, so maybe they said something else and it got mistranslated.

Edit: Mystery solved! @trickybonmot says she heard them say 点心 (dianxin), and according to purpleculture.net (whose dictionary is top-notch and I trust way more than Google), that can mean dessert/pastry OR dim sum! So it’s not exactly mistranslated, they just chose the translation that makes less sense to English-speaking audiences.

Overall, btw, the translation was great. SO much smoother and less awkward than literally any TV show I've watched. They had both Mandarin and English subs up the whole time, even when the characters were speaking Japanese or Shanghainese.

It was very violent and there were a lot of things that were highly disturbing in a "horrors of war" kind of way. Like yes some bits were gory but I think the disturbing outweighed the explicitly gory by far.

The nonlinear narrative has gotten mixed reviews; I think it's the kind of thing where if you like that type of storytelling (which I do!) you'll like it and if you don't you won't. If you're neutral idk what you'll think. There were definitely a few times when I wasn't totally sure when we were, but usually it didn't make things outright not make sense. There are also a few scenes that I'm still not sure why we went back to them, but I bet if I rewatched it those choices would make more sense.

It was definitely communist propaganda, but I don't think that was heavy-handed. They just showed the communists as definitely The Good Guys of the war. Obviously Japan was The Bad Guy, but they kind of just pushed the non-communist Chinese nationalists to one side and ignored them? IDK, again I might not understand the politics or get the references well enough to know how they actually handled it, but it mostly seemed like that side was more ignored than, like, actively portrayed as bad the way the Japanese were. It doesn't actually, like, make any claims about why communism is good or anything, it's more like “communists” just happens to be the name of the good guys in this war. The ideology itself makes like one brief appearance when Ye's ex-fiance talks about laborers, and even then she says maybe I'll marry a laborer or an intellectual and I was like 😬 and how did communism work out for the intellectuals in 20-30 years? Not sure if that was actually a subtle dig on Cheng Er's part or not.

Anyhow I am very excited to talk about the movie with anyone who's seen it, or I can answer questions for anyone who hasn't!

[chaoticriderlessb]

Carmen Sandiego Thoughts

Ok, mostly really random, and I know I don't really get on Tumblr, anymore....

But, I've recently rewatched "Carmen Sandiego" on Netflix, mostly for a fanfic of mine that's now being rewritten. I totally thought there had been a season 5, but then again, I am an idiot, lol!

I gotta say, though...(spoiler alert for those of you who have not seen the show, yet) the last half of season 4 really disappointed me. Personally, I hate it when creators or show writers decide to just make the main character evil, especially out of the blue. I never grew up or watched the original "Carmen Sandiego", but I know that in the original, I think Carmen was evil. For the most part, anyway. Even so, in this reboot of "Carmen Sandiego", I didn't like what they did with her in the last half of season 4. That was just...very strange, and like I said, I personally don't like when main characters just suddenly turn evil.

I also didn't like that V.I.L.E. was so easy to take down when they're supposed to be...what, the most powerful evil organization on the planet? They had like, over a hundred operatives or something, and even the faculty members were supposed to be pretty powerful! Not just physically (Coach Brunt), but also mentally (Maelstrom). I feel like Cleo and Bellum would've been a combo of both, especially with Bellum's tools. Out of the four of them, I would've thought Maelstrom and Brunt to be the hardest to take down. But instead, every faculty member (except Shadowsan, of course) were so easily caught? What?!

Carmen being evil was just...pointless. It didn't even last very long, and there was nothing shown for it, other than a random time-skip. I just don't think it was very necessary.

About the Gray/Carmen thing.... I'm not much of a shipper, and I never shipped those two, together, anyway (honestly, if anything, Carmen and Julia being a thing would make more sense, but...ship whoever, I guess...just don't war over it, please). So, I'm not sure how to really feel about that, other than to me, it was just weird.

And if I remember, correctly, from the last time I watched the show's finale, Carmen just up and split with everyone? Ivy, Zack, Player...did Shadowsan go with her? And what about Carmen's mom? They never found her! Did they?! I don't quite remember....

Overall, I do think the last half of season 4 was very rushed (no thanks to Netflix probably pounding on the show's door to hurry things up or whatever...because it's Netflix), and I also think that yeah, there should have been a season 5, and made that the last season. I don't think I'll be rewatching season 4, again, if I'm being completely honest. I mean, first half of it was fine, and I liked the episode with Ivy/Dash Haber (I do ship them, sue me). But other than that, I think I'll be rewriting things for my fanfic or something.

Some people say that season 3 was pretty useless, but I don't know, I liked it. To me, the different shift in tone was nice, and giving the V.I.L.E. faculty a lighter side made me laugh. I don't know, maybe I'm just easily amused by that kind of thing. I don't really see anything wrong with the 3rd season...but, that's probably just me.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for today. If you agree with me, cool. If you don't, cool but please don't get at me for my opinions and feelings. Please, respect them.

Later!

[gentil-minou]

YOUR 2521 ASK REPLY, YES TO ALL OF IT. god, this drama could've been top 3 dramas of all time if it wasn't for the ending. never going to forgive them giving us a story about hope and love, and friendship only to end it that way. like you said, if they wanted me to BELIEVE these characters would do this to each other, you shouldn't save it for the last 2 episodes. they were literally not wanting to let go of each other at the bus stop. the writer could've easily fixed the story then. they couldn't be apart or not care about the other that they RAN TO FIND EACH OTHER, CRYING, HOLDING ON TO EACH OTHER, THEY DID NOT WANT TO LET GO. also... when people say its realistic... not for them, it made no sense for them. like you said, they built such an amazing foundation as friends and suddenly they break up and suddenly, they can't ever speak to the other again apparently??? how is that realistic? even if they did break up, u cant convince me heedo and yijin wouldn't have kept in touch. also, heedo carrying yijin everywhere with her, from the rainbow chairs to writing what she did on her daughter's ballet shoes, to her looking like she still feels grief about them not being together. btw idk if you know but they were planning to add a shot of heedo's husband with their daughter when she was younger getting on a bus, and im glad they didnt use it cus where have you even been? the way heedo's face lights up when she talks about him or when her mom mentions him. the way shes constantly saying 'thats life.. nothing lasts forever' god i hate it. like yeah but how do you not remember a trip you took with someone you cared deeply about and also your new friends. for the first time in your life, these were your actual friends. things dont last bc you dont put effort into them anymore, obviously sometimes life gets in the way but we started this show in the time of the pandemic... would've been so nice to see them still connect with each other at the end on video call or something. i knew the show was based off this song about lost love, but i actually thought the writer was way too hopeful with her characters to actually end it on a bad note. i thought it wouldve been the same intentions til the end but the last 2 eps felt like they threw darts to pick an ending. 9/11?? bro come on. anyways sorry this is so long, i have lots of feels about it but ironically i miss the characters so much im on my like 4th rewatch (where i skip older heedo and the last 2 eps) but ngl, it never feels right when i end it there :'(

E X A C T L Y

Literally yes to all of this. None of it made any damn sense and it had to be that the director and writer were telling two different stories. In kdrama land, I think the writer only needs to have the first few scripts ready for the production to pick it up and that's why the director and actors chose it cause those first few eps are like among the best episodes over ever watched. I feel like they starred the drama thinking it would end a certain way and when it didn't the writer didn't want to change her story to adapt to the characters (which to be fair I get that it's her story). It just feels like a major disconnect between the production team and God I will never be okay

[notebookmusical]

Okay I'm back! So the musicals I watched were Merrily, The Outsiders and the Notebook! They were all really good and had different things I loved about them. But unfortunately it was kinda out of order or took me a while to watch. The first one I started with was Merrily and my sister fell asleep like 20 minutes in so I turned it off since I always wanna watch with her. The next day I somehow found Outsiders and got really excited so I wanted to watch that..my sister got tired again lol. The next day during some downtime I told my sister to catch up on Merrily so we did and watched Act one. My sister gets tired again. The next day I found a Notebook one! We were drinking cuz I thought it might help her stay awake so I suggested going back to Outsiders cuz we were more familiar with that show and it matched the vibes somewhat. She mostly stayed up until the last 30 minutes which I ended up watching anyway. Then I suggested watching The Notebook cuz she napped earlier so it made sense to watch the longest one compared to finishing Merrily which we did. At this point we still havent finished all of Merrily but I thought I should reply to you by now lol. But I enjoyed them all but they were all different..it would be hard to rank. I'm pretty sure The Outsiders was my favorite but I'm also really familiar with the show at this point..like I've read parts of the script to figure out the differences between the book and movie before watching the show so I knew the dialogue. I will definitely send it to you whenever you're ready for it. So in a way that was a little distracting actually and because of that it felt like the show was going so fast and from song to song but that's cuz I knew it so well already. I felt that with the Notebook only a little, from knowing the plot, but it wasn't like I knew what exact song was coming when..there were some songs I couldn't remember lol. Unfortunately the quality was kinda bad but it got better in Act 2. The act two definitely seemed shorter and faster though..almost like am I missing something or we were already at a certain part so idk. Also it did switch timelines a few times and I guess that makes sense..otherwise they would only be in act 2, but still. I guess I wasn't giving it my full attention or something. Also I did not notice the change to the 1970s at all. I think I wasn't in the mood to watch it either..itbdidnt feel as emotional to me as it could have. Merrily was fun cuz I didn't know what to expect and went in pretty blind but I also got confused with the timeline a little bit. I do love the characters and some songs though and I liked it. I just didn't love it yet I think and I want to. Basically all of them might need a rewatch lol, Outsiders just cuz I like it haha. Idk what's wrong with me but I love them all. I also wanted to mention that Ryan Vasquez was actually a part of the Outsiders musical as the oldest brother before it went to Broadway but I guess he ended up choosing the Notebook but I think that would've been pretty interesting. I think he fits middle Noah very well though.

I can't believe you haven't watched Little shop before! My first introduction was the movie which I love. But I'm not sure what you would think about it. It's also another of those musicals where the age is pretty vague which you mentioned about Mattress lol. I actually put that in the ask that didn't get sent..having no idea you weren't familiar with the show lol. If you don't know the show, do you listen to the cast album first or usually just watch the bootleg? Just curious cuz I always try to find a bootleg first. But it made me wonder what it would be like to listen without context of the show. I would recommend the movie too though.

So I didn't have a chance to go to Wicked which is okay cuz I've already seen it. I'm not going to watch Joker 2 either but I did the Lady Gaga album. At this point idk what my next show is..but hoping for Hamilton. The new Warriors cast album came out too and i'm interested in that but I've never seen the movie. another thing I try to do is watch the movie a musical is based on to compare it as well. I'm not sure when I will get to it though..maybe by Halloween. I hope you have a good time at your shows..that's awesome. Im not sure if Im going to be able to see Back to the future yet. I listened to Brat and my favorites were the same as the ones you mentioned before even hearing it lol. what were your favorites? What else have you been listening to? I listened to The Last Dinner Party finally and Pale Waves this week. I also would recommend Orla Gartland's new album but I think I preferred the first album a little more. Omg well the first album i heard was Color Theory and the first song was Yellow is the Color of her eyes which I love a lot. But yes you can go in order but she also has some unreleased songs from unofficial albums I really love too. I think I'll just recommend a few from each album. Molly Ringwald, Henry, Switzerland, Try, Waiting For Cars, Scorpio Rising, Still Clean, Yellow is the color of her eyes, Circle the Drain, Shotgun, and Fire in the Driveway. Out of the new songs, my favorite is called M. I hope you like them if you do check it out. I will be listening to her and Halseys albums this next week. I think Halsey's vision and the impersonation theme is really cool so I'm also excited for it. I hope you have an awesome weekend!

welcome back 🤍 i always love hearing your thoughts!

i love merrily! i am so excited that we're getting a proshot. i hope you'll give it another go! i am unsurprised that you like the outsiders the most (said affectionately with love) and am really excited to get into it hopefully before the year is over. the notebook my beloved. it's definitely more simple/less ~ flashy ~ than the others, but i love it so much. the first time i saw it i wasn't super emotional about it but then i listened to the cast recording later and wept. and now it's one of my favorite shows (i know, shocker, tumblr user notebookmusical loves the notebook musical). and it definitely hits different in person! i hope you get to see it on tour 🤍

i was actually reading about ryan vasquez earlier because i was trying to find an answer to something (was unsuccessful) and found this — in response to "We hear you had a choice to work on a few Broadway shows, including The Notebook, and The Notebook won. Why was it the winner?", which i think is interesting:

Ryan Vasquez: Since beginning work on The Notebook in 2020, I have been consistently struck by the impact the piece has on people, especially men, who are struggling in alarming ways with regulating emotions and expressing vulnerability right now. The show is many things, but above all, it is profoundly moving. And not just because it's a love story, though the romance is moving in its way. It's a deeply human story about life and loss and love in all its forms, and I wanted to be a part of something that had that impact.

oh i should add little shop to my list of things to listen to this week! i just keep forgetting, honestly! i usually listen to things when i walk my dog or when i'm at work but then sometimes i get distracted/sucked into work or i just end up looping the same album for hours... oops! if i don't know a show well, and if there's a bootleg available, i'll usually just watch the bootleg if i can but lately i've been doing cast recording first, then bootleg if i'm still interested!

i am seeing wicked next month, and i've got my tickets for the wicked movie for the day after thanksgiving! so it will be a very wicked month haha. i haven't listened to warriors yet either; let me know if it's worth listening to! i listened to the new orla gartland!! one of my friends loves her, so it was fun — my favorites were sound of letting go, the hit, and everybody needs a hero. and i have jotted down your recs hehe!

very intrigued to hear your halsey/TGI thoughts! i got to listen to the album early and loved it so much. i think it's probably my second favorite halsey album (badlands is soooo special to me 🤍).

[darkclouud9]

okay after the last three hours, no more watching 12 hour Desbug video. I've watched it maybe 4 times in the past week? I fall asleep watching it all the time

I wanna go back and watch all of his smm2 again, but I started rewatching Naruto a little while back and only made it to the chunin exams, specifically right before all the pre battles and I wanna see the battles!! very curious on the order of the battles cuz I started talking abt it randomly yesterday

I thought the Gaara-Lee fight was early but then I remembered that Lee and Naruto were upset bc they wanted to fight but the randomiser wasn't kind on them and they had some of the later fights. Sakura n Ino feels somewhere in the middle. I refuse to think anything of the Hinata-Neji fight being early.

also there's no reason for it but the end of the Hinata-Neji battle to me is so funny

what do you mean it took 4 jonin (Hayate's technically not jonin, but a *special* jonin), FOUR jonin, to stop Neji from killing his cousin.

and what do you mean it was Hayate to just. boop Neji on the forehead. like Kakashi and Kurenai both take each of Neji's arms, Gai headlocks him.

and then Asuma's off in fairyland (<- the funniest bit to me. like he did nothing. Kurenai and Gai make sense, their students were fighting, Hayate makes sense, he was the number one observer.(idk what to call him if you can't tell. announcer? commander? ???))

and then I made the joke that Kakashi stopped Neji bc if he killed Hinata she never would've got with Naruto-

[theheightofdishonor]

Unforgotten night - The trashiest of trash watches. Has an early 2000s vibes to me for some reason. You need to disengage your brain but if you do, it's funny. 2/10

The untamed - Watching this after woh was a mistake. It was fine, it was pretty, I just didn't personally enjoy it while watching. You're still going to see tons of it on my blog because the fandom's great. 5/10 for wei wuxian's evil era.

until we meet again - The plot is so well paced, great side couple, and I love InKorn. Oh and the soundtrack during Pharm's breakdown slaps. Unforunately, i don't like deanpharm or pharm as a character which made this an excruciating watch at parts. 8/10 though for ep 17 and for because i loved the plot so much

Vice versa - it's the only bl i've followed along as it airs and is a good example to why i probably should never do that again. A week inbetween episodes is a lot of time to pick apart and analyze a show and man does vice versa have gaping plot holes to pick into. I'm a fantasy girl at heart so i adored the concept and it was going really well for the first couple eps and then it became clear that my expectations for this show were far above anything it wanted to deliver. Ugh. Ruined JimmySea for me. What's the point of giving them a cool concept if you're not going to do anything with it. 3/10, one each for Talay, Ohm, and Nanon.

We best love - Since i've been breaking up most of the other 2 part series, might as well do the same here. WBL delivers a simple concept with flawless execution, sizzling chemistry, and great acting. The ultimate proof that tropes aren't inherently bad. 10/10.

We best love: Fighting for Mr. Second- I love when a a trope is followed to its aftermath because it gets less predictable and is less often done so I actually like this one better than the first installment. Also, Sam Lin deserves an award for that couch scene if he hasn't gotten one. For this entire installment actually because acting is just that good. Like, could rival nanon for my favourite actor good- and if you know how partial i am to nanon you know how high a bar that is. 20/10 and I can't see it losing it's place as my second favourite bl anytime soon.

Where your eyes linger - For someone who doesn't like a 'rich kid/bodyguard trope', i watch too many of them. But the leads' dynamic in this show is so good and the tension between them is gorgeously built, gorgeously paced. The characters are also surprisingly fleshed out for how short the series is. Han Tae Joo might be one of my favourite bl characters ever. Like I want to rip him apart with my fingernails and watch him bleed, i want to crawl inside his head, i want to spin him around in vat of concrete, he's my character of all time, my scrunklo. There are a few nitpicks, like I would've preferred if there had been more time for the tension to build and explode before they got torn apart and the end was kinda mediocore but atleast there was a happy ending! 10/10.

Why R U? - This show is a personal attack against my face blindness. There were two many couples and i couldn't tell most of them apart so by ep 2/3 I ended up skipping everything that wasn't tutorfighter because it wasn't making sense to me when i can't tell the characters apart. Zee and Saint do have great chemistry though, enough to be compelling even when the plot and pacing gave up. 3/10

Wish you: your melody from my heart - Entirely run of the mill. Even considering the short runtime, there's no depth, the acting is mediocore, and the music isn't my style. 2/10

Word of honor-Listen, my attention span sucks and I still watched this show end to end twice, it's that good. There's found family, the lead pair is great and it's fun to analyze. 11/10.

You make me dance- I thought i'd like this based on the concept but I found it hella boring. 1/10

and that's everything i remembered watching so far. this list was actually pretty helpful, if only so i don't have to go back and rewatch if i forget what any of these are about

i can't pick which hyperfixation to focus on so imma pivot in the opposite direction and just comment on all the dramas i've watched in the last couple months, both queer and not

2gether- Tropewise this should've been a home run but sarawat and tine just didn't vibe with me as a couple. If i was ranking it, it'd be like a 4/10. Basic, boring, those peep marshmallows with no depth of flavour.

Still 2gether- No plot but they had better chemistry this time. 6/10

3 will be free- 9/10, delightfully queer, I liked the side plots, i liked the main plot, point off only because Shin getting insecure and running off got repetitive.

A man who defies the world of bl 1+2- It was funny, i loved the parody aspect of it, probably would've liked it more if i had more than a cursory familiarity with yaoi as a genre. Liked s1 better than s2. 7/10

About Youth- It was fine? I liked it well enough while watching but it didn't stick out. Nothing you haven't seen before, rich/poor, popular/outcast etc. It had more of a queer vibe to it but i wish it lingered more, like old fashioned cupcake or itsay does. The love interest's best friend though, I loved. 5/10 because it's more interesting than 2gether and the chemistry was pretty good.

Bad Buddy: someone said that starting with this show was a bad idea because it would set the standards too high and they were absolutely correct. This show might as well be perfectly catered to me, it's got great chemistry, is fun to analyze, it's queer, it introduced me to Nanon, what's not to love. 12354678/10. Incomparable.

Be loved in house: I do - Office enemies-to-lovers. Very cute. Basic's only a crime if i didn't enjoy it and I did so 6/10.

Blacklist- The expectations I had for this show. Prim, Love, Ohm, Nanon, Khaotung, basically all my favourite gmmtv actors were in it and it sucked ass. I could've dealt with the growing ridiculousness of the school plot if the romances weren't the flattest, most cliche shit known to mankind. As it is, I didn't finish the show nor will I ever. Also watching this after Gifted is a special kind of hell because Nanon's playing the same character except written worse. -3/10.

Blueming -nothing special, I liked how the lead's family dynamics were portrayed. Like most kbls, too short for my liking. 5/10.

F4 Boys over Flowers. Believe it or not, this is the first version of boys over flowers i've watched. It meandered at times but was overall entertaining. I like useless bickering in my romances and Tu is charming as Gorya. Bright was pretty good too, I liked him better here than I did in 2gether. Milk's characters should've been in love with Gorya instead of Thyme though and the fact that she wasn't when they had so much chemistry is a crime. 8/10.

Business Proposal - As seems to be the trend with het kdramas, the beginning and end are both boring af, but the middle portions were pretty good. Both the romances were cute and I liked the chemistry between all the leads well enough. Also, i love a good running gag and it was funny watching everyone misunderstand the ceo and bodyguard's relationship. 7/10 because it's the first kdrama i actually watched til the end which just made the last ep that much more dissatisfying.

[wannaliveattheholidayinn]

rewatched quite a bit of one day at a time, and i have to say, i think i'm a bit in love with alvareider

[love-byers]

breaking down mike's apology to will

mike goes into will's room on his own and closes the door, he intends on having a private conversation

"thanks by the way."

"for what?"

"for knocking some sense into me i mean i was being a total self pitying idiot."

mike has clearly thought about this a lot since the roller rink day. it was a big day for mike. i encourage you all to rewatch the airport/roller rink scenes knowing A) mike was being a self pitying idiot and B) will was knocking some sense into him during their fight

"i didn't say it."

"you didn't have to."

what will said to mike made him realize he was being a self-pitying idiot, without will having to flat out say it

"which is why you decided to be a douche to her all day? [...] you were! you were! you were rolling your eyes, you were moping, you were barely talking you basically sabotaged the whole day!"

"well she was lying to you, mike! straight to your face ever since you got here! and i've been a total third wheel all day it's been miserable. so sorry if i wasn't- if i wasn't smiling."

[...]

"and us?"

"we're friends! we're. friends."

"well we used to be best friends!"

(tense silence)

mike had been a dick to will all day, right from the second he landed in cali. it's likely that this is because will had been pushing him away over the 6 months and it hurt mike's feelings. so when he gets there, he acts like he doesn't care and pretends to ignore him because he feels bad for himself and want to give will a taste of his own medicine. (it's also because he likes will and doesn't know how to act)

however, mike wheeler is a dumbass and couldn't keep the act up. seeing will mope and not talk got under his skin in a way he couldn't ignore. wills moping. wills not talking to him. it makes mike feel bad. and he lashes out at will because of self pity. self pitying idiot.

will implying they're not best friends anymore made mike realize he'd been a jerk to will for pushing him away when in reality will feels the same way mike does about this. but he's mike wheeler so he self pities more because he realized he was being self pitying

"hey, also, about the- about the last few days-"

mike went right from acknowledging his self pitying behavior to the last few days, aka the time period where he was acting weird. remember, mike went in will's room knowing what he was going to say.

"you don't have to say anything. i was being a total jerk to el..i deserved it."

"no—no you didn't deserve anything."

remember when mike said "which is why you decided to be a douche to her all day?"

will says he was being jerk to el because he thinks that's why mike was being weird. he thinks that's what mike was about to talk about. he thinks this is about el, but it's not. and i know that because:

"listen, the truth is, the last year has been weird, you know?"

mike goes straight from talking about being a self pitying idiot, to the weird past few days, to how weird he's felt since will moved. which means all three of those are connected. mikes behavior was because of how he's felt since will moved. if will didn't cut him off when he said "about the last few days" mike would've explained how his weird behavior is because of how he's felt since will left.

and how has he felt? well:

"and you know, max, and lucas, and dustin, they're- they're great, they're great, it's just...it's hawkins, it's not the same without you."

i was being a self pitying idiot –> i've been weird to you the last few days –> it isn't the same without you and you're different from my other friends 

home isn't the same without will to mike. not only was he hurting because of the move, but will was pulling away and not reaching out so it made everything hurt worse. mike was will-less for a whole six months and felt bad for himself.

"and i feel like maybe i was worrying too much about el...i don't know maybe i feel like i lost you or something. does that make sense?"

let's add to it:

i was being a self pitying idiot –> i've been weird to you the last few days –> it isn't the same without you and you're different from my other friends –> i feel like i've lost you since you moved

we don't need to Prove that mike was being weird because of how he felt after will moved, because he tells us himself