#maybe i'm underestimating (overestimating???) them idk

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

[fibonaccisnail]

My thoughts on Paulie (1998)

Containing major spoilers (if you even care)

Everyone should see this movie because I love it

First, the way the movie plays with the lifetime of a parrot. Conures can live 20-30 years. This story takes place over the course of that lifetime, but Paulie isn't aware of that. (Which we can see at the end when he is confused that the other little girl isn't Marie.)

The little girl who plays Marie is the Pepsi girl and Jesse Eisenberg's sister

Thank GOD they didn't go a Bee Movie romantic angle with Paulie and Marie

The quote "The girl couldn't speak, the dad couldn't listen, and the mom couldn't cope, so they got rid of me" continues to be poetic genius in my mind.

I still cry at the scene where Paulie is driven away. I don't know what they put in that kid's Pepsi to create such a devastating performance but dear God I'm glad they did

What's Up Pussycat being played repeatedly

We have to talk about the old woman who adopts Paulie first. Her name is Ivy and she comes in to the pawn shop to sell her husband's easel. She starts this whole story about the easel but stops when she hears how rude Paulie is?? She trades the easel for Paulie??? What were her original plans with the easel? What did she need the money for? Also, very clever with the "go on, fly away" thing

AND THEN THE CAT GOT HER

I still think the shot of Paulie flying over the Grand Canyon at sunrise is the most beautiful part in the movie

Paulie getting distracted by the girl bird in LA (very understandable Paulie, me too)

God bless Ignacio for being a chill guy just trying to make his way in the world. And fuck Benny for ruining it all

Also, the actor who plays Benny also voices Paulie. There's something in that, I just know it. He does a good job though

This whole story, by the way, is being told by Paulie to this guy Misha who is a janitor at the university where Paulie is being kept. Paulie himself is in a cage in the basement for reasons we learn as the story goes on.

At one point, Misha tells this story about this woman he was in love with back in Russia before he immigrated. It is very sweet and very sad.

It is very funny how Paulie is a naturally rude bird but Ivy taught him to be polite. So he calls people names and criticizes them, but also says please and thank you?

Someone goes out of their way to mention how polite Paulie is

Paulie is stopped by a child with a toy bow and arrow while trying to steal jewelry for Benny's girlfriend and then nabbed by the kid's grandpa

Also, fuck the scientist the grandpa took him to. Evil old man (the grandpa is cool though)

This is about the point in the movie where I started to feel bad for the grad students. They didn't sign up for this!

I seem to remember a lot of swearing in this movie, but the only time I actually heard it later was about here. Paulie does some name calling and acts stupid like a normal parrot when he finds out the evil scientist is trying to pull one over on him

Paulie gets shoved in the basement in the cage and pretty much left alone for the next while

Misha bribed Paulie at the beginning of the movie with a mango and I will forever remember the way he says "Maengo?" in his accent

Jailbreak!!!!

More "oh man, the grad students are going to hate this"

Also, I am notoriously bad at spotting bad photoshop in things, but I thought they did a great job animating the bird talking. I think its because they were very minimal about it

Also, this may be the movie makers' misunderstandings of how much someone can make as a janitor, but the amount Misha seems to earn in a very short amount of time. It's either a maker mistake or a "good ol' 90's" moment

They find Marie!!!

Ah, phonebooks

Also, when Paulie is finally convinced that the person talking to him is Marie?!

Okay, maybe I'm just overestimating the age of Misha/underestimating the age of Marie, but I don't think they would work out romantically? Idk, in my head they become friends instead. Like a cool uncle and his niece kind of thing

Anyway, please watch this movie

[blockgamepirate]

thing about the red festival: i've been watchign a lot of techno's bedwars stuff lately and like techno tends to overestimate his opponents bc they have access to the same tools he does so obviously they should be able to use them in the ways that seem obvious to him, right? and him theoretically fighting at the red festival would be like,, extreme bedwars (single point to defend, if the defense gets hit you lose), and he is REALLY REALLY GOOD at breaking defenses in bedwars (1/2)

(2/2) idk if bedwars specifically is canon to dsmp!techno, but it definitely informs cc!techno's style and he's clearly not deliberately holdign back in pvp. so techno is probably looking at the red festival and seeing all the very obvious and easy ways (to him) that his enemies could kill tubbo and him because figuring out how to break through defenses to kill a single point that's unable to defend itself is like exactly what he specializes in

Dude, that's actually wild because I was thinking about talking about bedwars in the follow up post too! Although my angle was gonna be about how this is basically like one of those times where his bed gets destroyed early while all the other teams still have their beds, so they can afford to die and respawn but he can't. Also his teammate has absolutely no gear, somehow even less gear than you get by default in bedwars. And every other team is streamsniping and could be crossteaming on him. (Although in reality the festival crowd was not quite so unanimously on board with Schlatt of course. And some of the ones who were might have chosen not to meddle anyway.)

But your point is really good too, with Tubbo as the "bed". From Techno's point of view the others could easily take him down if they wanted to and he could do nothing to stop it, and they could kill Tubbo even more easily. In fact it's worse than a bed because Tubbo is killable even with projectiles and you can't cover him in blocks because you need to get him outta there. AND he won't even help you respawn. xD

Would they actually have been able to react that fast if Techno HAD tried to do a rescue mission? Maybe not, it seems kinda unlikely they would be organised or skilled enough, although they did have Punz and Purpled. The difference between the usual Technoblade bedwars video/stream and this is that some of his opponents actually are that good.

I feel like that's the thing, you only need two actually good PVPers for it to become extremely risky. He might have been able to handle the entire rest of the crowd AND Schlatt and Quackity all alone, but I'm really not sure about Punz and Purpled if both of them decided to go for him and Tubbo. At the very least it would have been trivially easy for that tag team to kill Tubbo.

(Of course in character c!Techno doesn't know most of these people's skill levels)

And honestly even small things could have an effect, someone could just by chance manage to hit an arrow shot, Schlatt and Quackity might have time to put armour on if he shoots the crowd first, or conversely if he kills Schlatt and Quackity first, the crowd could armour up, and then he can't get quick kills, and then in the time it takes him to kill Schlatt and Quackity, Purpled and Punz might be able to reach the podium... I mean it's true that Techno has a nigh infinite catalogue of insane clutches on his channel, but there are also times when he doesn't clutch, when something goes wrong and he's overwhelmed or makes a mistake and goes down in the end.

So it's not like it's a bad call to overestimate his opposition rather than risk underestimating it. He has a better chance at survival that way around. And during the Pogtopia arc he was playing a very risk-averse character. I think it might have been partly about wanting to maintain his reputation as unkillable, and partly because it just provides more tension for the content than if his character just didn't fear anyone or anything and easily defeated everyone every time. But it also makes sense for a character like his, someone who must have had too many close calls to count along the way, someone who knows that battles are chaotic and you can't get too cocky.

(Either way it's what contributed to the theories about him having only one life afterwards (which I think was absolutely the right call to make for his character, because it just works for the way he clearly wanted to play his role in the story, I just wish we'd gotten the confirmation sooner and in a less awkward way.))

But yeah, I don't think the two of them escaping was impossible, Techno has survived wilder situations. It's just that insane clutches are called insane for a reason. Usually they don't happen. You can't rely on them happening.

[itsnotacastle]

@tiny-little-bird

I agree with your point on how Daenerys's ambition for the throne is corrupting her but i don't really think it's leading her to taking a "dark character arc". I think that the corruption of power is the whole point of the series. How the pursuit for something as trivial as a metal chair damages a character's integrity and challenges them into making decisions that are bigger than just themselves.

Saying that Daenerys would not march north is a fair point, but she was prepared to do it even without Cersei agreeing to the truce. ( end of beyond the wall ) I agree it took her a long time to do it, but when she finally did, it wasn't because Jon had finally plead fealty, it was because she has a reason to fight, now ( losing her baby dragon ).

I don't think it's safe to assume that Jon would believe Sansa about Cersei, it's not like he's paid attention to the important advice she's given him before ( battle of the bastards ). Jon needed cersei to come help in the North as much as Daenerys, regardless of what Sansa told him about her. It's better to assume that Tyrion, Dany, and Jon are all underestimating Cersei, or overestimating her grip on reality, idk. Tyrion lost dany Highgarden and Dorne, by underestimating her emotional value to that place, which honestly was a huge faux pas on Tyrion's part.

The truce wasn't only for Dany, Jon needed it too. One of the first scenes of the season was the letter he received from Cersei demanding him to bring Sansa, and to plead fealty to her in King's Landing. If we are to believe Jon and Sansa's exchange the north is already under threat, from her. So Jon's decision is to convince first Daenerys, obviously the better ally with fucking dragons, then get Cersei to like idk stop trying to absorb the north??? Point is, Jon doesn't have a clue who cersei is or what she's capable of, ( "there's a thousand miles between us and cersei" ). This is pure speculation, but Jon probably changed his mind when he realized what she was capable of when dany lost all her allies to her. Then Jon understood the only way to get Dany's help is to deal with her shit, which is dumb i know, but to Jon it's better to come back with one ally than no allies.  Call him naive or whatever but we can't expect him to know cersei like we know cersei. The only option he had, at the time was to prove to anyone that the army of the dead is real and by the end of the season, he was successful. Though he came out one hand short, cos of cersei, he still went south and proved to people what was coming.

So, I wouldn't call the dragonpit meeting useless. I mean yeah, cersei didn't agree, but she wasn't the only one there. Bringing the wight to King's Landing got a whole lot more people other than cersei to see what the army of the dead really is. Jaime being the primary example, if he can defect from cersei's rule, then maybe so can others, and Jaime is a valuable asset for the War for the Dawn.

Blaming Daenerys for "giving" the NK her dragon is absurd, yes she was risking a lot by going north but its not like she knew what was gonna happen. Daenerys was convinced up until she left for Eastwatch that nothing could hurt her dragons, which is naive on her part, but there hasn't really been any indication that her dragons could die at all. Yeah Drogon has gotten shot at and shanked with spears and shit, but he's survived everyone of those encounters. The NK took her dragon. Simple as that. She didn't willingly give it to him. It's unfair to expect her to know what the audience knows. I mean, Tyrion and Jon discussed on top of the cliffs that even if it is really real it's hard to convince anyone that the Army of the Dead is coming. She doesn't even know yet that viserion got resurrected, no one knows besides Bran.

I'm not coming up with excuses for her. As of the end of season 7, she definitely has a lot to answer for, but i definitely wouldn't go as far as calling her a "villain" or a "dark" character. I'm not gonna put her on a pedestal, or an Iron Throne, but i don't understand what people are suggesting by not acknowledging the position Daenerys is in. Everyone is making it out to be that everything bad that happened in the season is her fault because of her pointless war. What I mean is that even though she isn't innocent, she is fighting a war of liberation or retribution, not really sure what to call it. 

She fought hard to get where she is, and isn't completely willing to abandon what she's fighting for, especially if she doesn't know any better about what the real enemy is. The whole trip north was more or less to prove to herself, and to everyone that what Jon is fighting is real and is a bigger threat to anyone.

What reason does Daenerys have of blindly following Jon, a man she didn't know existed, when she already has this war she has to fight. Obviously she's gonna fight the war she declared first, because it's the war she had been preparing for her whole life. I don't understand why people refuse to acknowledge the fact that she is actually going North by the end of the season. Everyone is just complaining about her not going sooner. There was no substantial reason for her to abandon the war for the IT in the beginning of the season and going north. Jon couldn't convince her on the first meeting, just like he hasn't convinced Sansa. Refusing to blindly believe Jon doesn't make her a "dark" character, it just makes her a smart ruler. Burning Sam's brother makes her a "dark" character, threatening to burn varys makes her a dark character, but not knowing any better doesn't make her "dark" it makes her flawed, which she is. She is heavily flawed, she had to spend a long ass time learning to be a queen, and when she felt she was ready she comes to a country that is entirely different than what she was preparing for.

You can't expect her to know what the audience knows, it's not fair to her character, or any character really.

Jon ‘I’m utterly frustrated and disappointed’ Snow