#meant to post this while i was actually watching the ep but my computer was lagging so i just drafted it and forgot lol

[leslieseveride]

mouch and trudy are the funniesst fucking couple on this show btw.

[irondad-not-ironsad]

WandaVision Episode 1 Reaction

Spoilers below!!

I enjoy the music over the marvel logo

But also a 43 second logo feels kinda long for a 29 minute episode- is it just for the premier or is this gonna happen before each ep?

Also I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that there is a title sequence, which will probably be similar in length. Combine that with the lengthy credits people have been complaining about, it seems that the percentage of the thirty minutes that is actually the story is lower than it should be

not that I don’t love a good title sequence! But I’ll take a well fleshed out episode over fancy logos, title sequences and credits any day

now that I’ve got that of my chest, on to the actual show

I like how they have the frame shaped like that of an old timey tv, combined with the black and white it really adds to the old timey sit come vibe

I like these bells

Ok I know I complained about to much time being wasted with logos and such, but i LOVE how cheesy this theme song is and I love them showing vision and Wanda driving tp there house in wedding attire

“A regular husband and wife” 2 seconds late *vision disappears into a cloud of sparkles*.... 1 minute 8 seconds in and I love this 

Even there acting is reminiscent of an old timey sit com this is amazing

feel like I should note he title sequence ends at the 1.36 mark approximately, which may not seem like a lot but again the show is less than thirty minutes so it adds up

Wanda talks with a fifties accent: I already love this show

Also I wish I had magic I could use to clean, I’m moving back into my dorm right now and Wanda’s powers would be SO helpful

Also I LOVE the laugh track

Also Wanda’s short curly hair is so cute

I love how neither of them knows what the heart means so they play it off by being like “yeah of course I know what it means, how could I forget? Do YOU remember what it means

Also Vision is literally part computer shouldn’t he have a photographic memory? 

Also how old is Wanda? I could have sworn someone said she was 19 in civil war, which would make her like 21 here? I think?? Idk tho, as a 19 year old I don’t think she has ever looked 19 in the movies, even back in Ultron she looked at least in her mid twenties

The face Vision makes when he makes himself human is so funny

Also Vision blowing Wanda a kiss and her reaching back to grab it is the perfect amount of corny that makes it still cute

Also I wonder what vision’s job is

The backing music is so funny

I can already tell Agnes is going to be some great comic relief in a show that’s already hilarious

“I assure you, I’m married. To a man. A HUMAN one!” I know I’ve said before that I was never the biggest fan of Wanda or Vision but I love Wanda in this show

Obv there is something clearly off here, but I feel like I need to mention that it’s clear this is some warped reality. If I had never seen any of the MCU before, I may believe it was just  witch and her robot husband living in the fifties, but the little details really make it clear to the audience (the majority of whom I am sure are familiar with the mcu) that something is off. This scene is one of those, where Wanda cannot seem to recall how long her and Vision have been together and plays it off by saying “It feels like we always have been together”

Is Agnes giving Wanda advice for the bedroom? is this really what I’m watching? Or have I wildly misinterpreted this?

Love the old timey lingo

Vision working a desk job is so funny

Love that vision doesn’t even know what they do at his job, I know it’s part of the false reality thing but also lowkey relatable

“you’re like a walking computer” “I most certainly am not! I’m a regular carbon-based employee made entirely of organic matter”

I started this like twenty minutes ago and have only gotten 7 minutes in because I keep stopping to type my reactions. I am going to try to shut up and watch, and stop screaming about every little detail for a bit 😂

Real quick though does Vision just go by Vision at work?

Ope apparently he does. 

I wonder if Vision took Wanda’s last name

Or is he Vision Stark-Banner since it was Tony and Bruce who made him??

He probably isn’t called that but I think it would be funny if he was

Love that instead of writing “dinner with boss” or “Dinner w/ Harts” or even just “Harts” he drew a freaking heart like im dying

if my lack of emojis seems weird I’m typing this on a computer which I never normally do and I’m to lazy to pull up the emoji keyboard, so basically imagine there’s a cry laughing emoji after everything funny

“No skeletons in the closet?’ “I don’t have a skeleton sir.”

Yup I was right, Agnes is giving her sexy time advice

“you should stumble when you walk in a room so he can catch you. It’s romantic!” that is the only way I will be flirting from now on

Also I got to say, I'm guessing it’s a fifties thing but those pointy bras don’t look comfortable

So she answers the phone “Vision Residence” Is Vision also their last name now? Does he go by Vision Vision??

They make the best facial expressions

This phone conversation where Wanda think they’re having a date night whereas Vision is talking about his boss coming for dinner is comedy GOLD

also I love the fact that they’re giving us stereotypical sitcom drama while keeping it clear that there are bigger problems than dinner with the boss

Fake commercial break is at 9.56 (these time stamps are for myself I want to calculate how much of the episode is actually the story)

I do love the fake commercials tho! And I suppose in a way they ARE part of the show

They missed the chance to make it the toastmate three thousand and make every ironman fan cry

The beeping toaster sounds like a ticking bomb..... also the little red light is the only color we’ve seen this episode I think

Commercial ends at 10.46

Also love that it was an SI toaster, still wish they had made it 3000 instead of 2000

How did Wanda confuse Mr. Hart with her husband? Not that I’m complaining, her coming out in a robe and covering Vis’ Boss’ eyes is HILARIOUS

“This is the traditional Sokovian greeting? Didn’t I tell you my wife is from Europe?” “How exotic!” “We don’t break bread with Bolsheviks”

Visions pants are SO high waisted

“It’s our anniversary!” “Our anniversary of WHAT?” “WELL IF YOU DON”T KNOW I”M NOT GONNA TELL YOU”

Poor Vision is trying to figure out what kind of company he works for this is sooo funny

Agnes coming in clutch with a full meal

So Wanda needs the ingredients in order to magic a meal she can’t just make one appear

Vision breaking into song was amazing

How did one chicken turn into like 30 eggs

Vision is singing old McDonald with his bosses wife this is great

“Diane!” “That must be my wife summoning me!” “She calls you Diane?” “Yes... it’s her pet name for me” “I’m coming... Fred”

So many clichés in this show but it’s done in such a purposeful way that it’s still funny

Also we have only seen three rooms: the kitchen, the living room and Vision’s workplace

“Well I think tonight’s going SWIMMINGLY”

Mrs. Hart is SO NOSY

But I love that they don’t know the answers

Wanda looks SO disturbed when Mr. Hart is demanding her and visions story, you can tell her mind is fighting itself and it’s so sad

Mr. Hart is choking, is it bad that I think he deserves it?

Mrs. Hart keeps cheerily repeating stop it, and gone is the stereotypical sitcom camera angles and and the backing music is switched for something eery

This is lowkey scary, Mr. Hart Dying while his wife keeps cheerily saying Stop It and it just feels creepier the more she repeats

Wanda looks distressed and vision is just looking to her for what to do, her old timey accent is gone and she sounds nearly robotic as she tells Vision to help

Poor Wanda, she is so clearly going through it mentally right now

Laugh track is back, and just like that the Harts are leaving, despite only having one bite of food

And somehow Mr. Hart is impressed? Was Wanda rewriting reality to make them so?

I know that this is clearly some alternate reality and nothing is right, but wanda and vision deciding to choose that day as there anniversary and this little convo here is soooooo cute

Aw her making them rings and them both saying I do is soooo cute

And vision saying “and they lived happily ever after’ is so sweet but also so sad in context

What is that little remote vision is holding meant to be?

And love the hexagon closing in on them with the cute music playing to end the episode

Are the people in these credits real? Because it lists the start as Wanda Maximoff and Vision but are the rest actual people?

So there is some sketchy dude watching the maybe fake credits so there's something going on there

The actual credits start with 7.13 left and I’ve been told there's no mid or post credits scene. I’ll let them play while I finish this up anyways

8 minutes and 49 seconds of this show is the logo, title sequence and credits. Out of 29.36 total this means only 20 minutes and 47 seconds is the show, which I suppose is standard for a sitcom but I think I felt deceived by it showing as 29 minutes

Also 50 seconds of “commercial takes the show time down to 19.57 if anyone was wondering

I swear tho I’m not all that bothered by the length, just did the math in case anyone was curious like I am. 

I thought I was going to really enjoy this going it, but it still really surpassed my expectations and I can’t wait for episode 2!

This is my raw reactions, but I’m sure that as I mull it over more I’ll be posting more about the show

This is somehow a perfect combo of lighthearted comedy and mild horror

I wanna let this episode stew for a while, so I prob won’t watch episode 2 for at least a day

Also what are your guys’ thoughts on this format of reaction? Did I write to much?

Also what did y’all think of this episode? Feel free to let me know what you think of my reaction, and whether you agree or disagree. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[trulycertain]

Whelp. I binged Defenders in a day. Apparently I like it way more than I like the individual shows. Something about how it's filmed: Luke Cage and Jessica Jones just made me feel icky. (Didn't watch past the first ep of Ironfist because my god, that dude's a moron.) Defenders, on the other hand, was actually fun. (Daniel is still a moron though.) I'm gonna try out Punisher, but I don't have super high hopes; I don't particularly like Frank as a person, but the idea of him does compel me.

Oh! I'm really glad you had fun! I was worried it might be boring or frustrating for you, so I'm really glad it was a good surprise. Any particular bits you liked most?

I'll also say that Defenders letting characters be a bit dafter and leaning into awkwardness and comedy beats may have been part of what helped with tonal ickiness, maybe? It was also, palette-wise, a lighter show with more daytime scenes, which could definitely be a pacing help, now I think about it. Also, I mean... I adored Foggy and Claire. What's new? Wish Karen had had more to do, but DD S3 seemed to realise that was an issue and kind of addresses that, at least. And while it felt really weird to have a Luke and Danny who weren't Best Bros 4 Life, and my Heroes For Hire heart ached, it was unexpectedly fun watching them bond.

I still haven't seen most of the individual shows, either, though I might at some point. I actually did like JJ s1 a whole lot, but it was a heavy watch.

Daredevil was an easy sell for me, because I've loved Matt Murdock for twenty years and we DD fans never get adaptations, but I'll still admit to being uncertain about how dark and sometimes slow that first pilot episode was, until ep2 grabbed me by the collar and got me. (I blame Claire. That and the times we saw Matt being quietly daft with Foggy, where I went, "...Oh. Still not ginger, but yeah. That's my guy." )

I definitely was interested in Frank as a tragic arc, but also uncomfortable with the kind of violence he trades in. (Heck, I often frown worriedly at Matt for how punitive his brand of justice can get, but I... also kind of hate guns, so hard sell.) I also had the misfortune to have a friend who was very into The Punisher but turned out to be not such a good friend. The combination of all those and not being able to put aside some current events Stuff meant that I never gave it a try when it came out. I might well give it another chance, though, not least because I'm fascinated by where the Netflix stuff takes Karen.

I'd literally just started season three's first ep when my computer had to go in for repairs, and it's the one season I haven't got on disc, so... Still waiting on the big rewatch until I don't have to battle with my TV. Also stuck on a phone keyboard, so fewer rambly meta posts til things are back in order. Season three is my next move, then I'm considering going back and trying out some more of the Netflix 'verse, particularly Luke Cage s1, which I've seen bits but never the entirety of.

[ivory-sunflower]

Arty Art Things ✨

Hellooo!

I've decided to post some of the arty things I've done either recently or in the last few years, well the pieces I'm somewhat proud of at least. All my posts tend to be a lot more wordy than they need to be but hey it's what I do here!

Conchúr White

Anyone one who's been on this blog for a bit will have probably have seen me talk about this lovely Irish fella. The pencil drawing is actually a year old as of yesterday, I only know that because screenshots of me flipping out about Conchúr following me on twitter popped up in my memories yesterday. I think I'd sent it to him at about 3 in the morning (I was not in a good head space at that point in time), so probably not what he was expecting to see when he opened his phone in the morning aha

The biro version is much more recent: I got bored while sat at my desk and doing research about university courses, saw a biro, saw my old drawing of Conchúr, had an idea. I revisited my GCSE art techniques and here we are. Again, I put this up on Twitter and now (at the the time I'm writing this) when you google "Conchúr White" it's the third top image of him which is a bit mad really. I think I spent all of about 20 minutes on Conchúr but another 45 minutes on the words behind him. The words are the names of the songs on his EP 'Bikini Crops', he doesn't just really love the idea of Channing Tatum driving him around at night in a daisy print bikini... Well maybe he does but what he does in his spare time is none of my business...

TechDif

So I mentioned that the pencil drawing of Conchúr came from a rough patch in my mental health and this one is no different! In fact this one came from an even worse circumstance so we love to see it. I had a bad, bad time in July and this started as a way of distracting myself from what was going on in my head. Without it, I can't honestly say I'd still be here so even if the final product of this had been a terrible mess I would still love it for keeping me alive. However, it did not turn out to be a terrible mess!

Now that the origin of this is out the way, where do I start with TechDif? Unlike Conchúr, I haven't really talked about them on here (unless you count one brief post about Citation Needed) before so I guess I'll do it here. The Technical Difficulties are a wonderful group of 4 British fellas who have had their fair share of fun online and even before. They did a radio show at university together, which went on to become their Reverse Trivia Podcast, later moving on to a panel show called 'Citation Needed': and a game called 'Two of These People Are Lying'. All of which I would thoroughly reccomend, they're one of my go to things when I'm having a rough time. All 4 of them are excellent! Tom Scott (red top, blue jeans on the picture) has his own YouTube channel which does content aside from TechDif. If you're quite nerdy and like science, linguistics, computers, or any number of other things you may enjoy Tom's channel. He is probably best described as "The Moderator" of the group, much like a tired teacher he tries desperately to keep everyone on track with what they're meant to be doing, but usually it does not end well for him. Then we have Matt Gray (space top, holding an ice cream) who also has a channel away from TechDif stuff, he does techy electronic things and has a series called 'Will it Soft Serve?' where he puts all kinds of strange things through a soft serve machine. Matt brings a very specific energy to TechDif and I can't fully describe what that vibe is but I love it. Matt and Tom also share a YouTube channel where TOTPAL is posted and they had a series called 'The Park Bench'. Moving on to everybody's favourite Gary Brannan: Gary Brannan (SATIRE hoodie, glasses) and can I just say, what a fella he is! He's just excellent! He is the one that will argue and rip into Tom the most (not in a malicious way) and hilarity ensues. There are some episodes where he is absolutely on it, getting all the points and others where he very clearly has no idea and that's where some of his funniest quotes come from. Given how badly I was doing at the time I made this, his response to it on Twitter was so so lovely. I specifically remember one tweet where he said I'd made him happy and although it was probably a flippant comment, it just made feel alright for a bit. Yeah I might be feeling awful right now, but I've made someone else happy so that's a nice feeling. Then last but certainly not least, we have Chris Joel (buffalo check shirt, beard)! I would be lying if I said he isn’t my favourite... His sense of humor is the one I vibe with most, he can get rather dramatic in parts and can chat bollocks like a champion. He has absolutely no online presence away from TechDif and, like Rens from Temples, I fully believe he’s a cryptid and lives off in a tree somewhere. 

The picture took me about 4 days to complete, well 4 nights because I did most of it between the hours of 12 a.m. and 7a.m. - I remember watching the sun come through my window each morning. It’s made up of lots of little pieces, all cut out and stuck on; even the sky and hills are made of separate pieces of paper. Nothing was actually drawn on the piece of paper it’s all stuck on, it’s not how I usually do things but if I messed up one little but I could just redraw it rather than ruining the whole thing. The most tedious parts to make were Chris’ shirt because I had to draw each square individually and then join the as well, and cutting out the ban-hammer in the bottom right was surprisingly hard. Every single detail of the picture is a reference to the podcast/shows, I still have the plan sketch and reference list knocking about somewhere. I listened to a lot of true crime videos while making it to the point that certain parts remind me of different cases: the brandy now reminds me of Peter Tobin, and the big spiral thing reminds me of Tim McLean (very harrowing case) - sorry that fact is a bit morbid but interesting nonetheless. 

I did post this for a little bit back in July, but I received some rather awful messages so I took it down. Generally, Tom Scott/TechDif fans are lovely but there’s been a few that have taken a disliking to me for some reason so I’m hoping they don’t resurface again. I’m in a better head space now though, so even if they do I’m more equipped to deal with it this time.

Hozier

This was a quick sketch I did in April, I was getting bored with lockdown and decided to summon the bog man himself. There’s not really much more backstory than that, no poor mental health story, no fun twitter story - he’s just here. He’s vibing. I will say I’m particularly proud of his nose, I just think it’s one of the best noses I’ve ever drawn. His hand is okay, but I think that the hands on my Conchúr drawings are better. So there is the Hozi-Boi...

The Corpse Bry

I’ve talked about Bry on here before as well, I love him, he’s excellent, top lad. He is a living Tim Burton character, he’s 6′6, very skinny, and his legs are longer than my will to live. I was watching ‘The Corpse Bride’ a few weeks ago and suddenly had an idea and so ‘The Corpse Bry’ came to be. I gave him a little panda friend because the panda has always been his animal - he used to wear a panda beanie all the time and his album had a panda on the cover. Again, there’s not really a fun story behind this one, I guess it’s somewhat fun because it’s the first art I made after finishing my psychology exams in October so it was nice to actually have the time to draw.

James Bagshaw

Ginger talking about Temples for the third post in a row? it’s more likely than you think! I did this one last week, I’d had a bit of a wobbly day and had group therapy on Teams in the evening and I just couldn’t concentrate on what was going on and I ended up doodling Mr James E. Bagshaw, the glitter crying fraggle man himself. It’s a bare-bones drawing that I could definitely work into more but I’m happy with it as it is to be honest. I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit and add the individual bits of fringe to his jacket, just thinking about doing that makes me tired. Maybe I’ll get around to drawing the whole band at some point...

Alice in “Wonderland”

This one is from about 5(?) years ago, it’s not my typical style and was a “study” based on another artists work (basically i just had to copy this fellas work). I’ll be honest, this one has a sketchy backstory that I won’t go in to because it’s not exactly a nice one, and because of that I also won’t say who the artist is that it’s based on. Despite this, I’m still really proud of this one and I’m so sad that I never got this piece back after I got taken out the class. I’ve considered trying this style again, I’ve even joked about doing another Conchúr drawing in this style as a nod to my progression through GCSE art, eventually leading to Conchúr drawn in ink on music manuscript and stained with neon paint and dyes - it would be quite the project!

So this has been quite a lengthy post so apologies about that but life goes on. Similar to the vinyl post, I’ll probably add to this as and when I make more art. Even if no one is reading these posts, I’m enjoying making them so that’s the main thing. It’s just nice to document things and the feelings that go with them. 💕

~ Love Ginger xx 

29/11/2020

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Root/Caret & Dry Riverbed Symbolism

Okay, this may seem a little random, but it’s something @wdway​ pointed out to me before the back half of the season began and I just haven’t gotten around to posting it until now. Most of this is just me copying and pasting our conversation because I’m too lazy to restate it in my own words. 😉 We talked about this BEFORE 10x09 (where Connie got lost in the mine) aired.

So, when Daryl and co jump across the dry creek bed to go into the cave in 10x08, we’re seeing a lot of symbolism there.

@wdway: “See the pointing up/ forward shaped root left of Daryl's foot as he's climbing out of the creek bed? This is what's been haunting me. I don't think it's just a root. I think it's a directional symbol. It reminds me of the symbols that Morgan used to carve into things.

Morgan’s carvings usually pointed to the left which I always thought meant go back. This one is pointing up/straight ahead/forward? It bothered me so much I went back and watched this part of the scene several times which led to side tunnels for me.

This is where we see Alpha going into the area that leads to the cave, we do not see her cross the creek bed. We see Carol following, crossing the creek bed and she climbs up on the left side of this root. 

Later the rest of the group (except Daryl) cross the creek but we see them from the opposite direction. In other words, we do not see the root with the group. The camera direction changes back, and we watch Daryl's feet as he crossed and climbs up the side and steps to the right side of the root.

If the symbol does means forward, then it might mean that Carol and Daryl will be on opposite sides of the forward symbol going in the same direction but slightly apart which seems to be what their story has been pointing to so far. There was so much emphasis on Carol and Daryl's crossing and such a focus on Daryl's feet that it made me want to go back further and watch to see if anything else stood out to me. I backed up to where Daryl points down a path and says, "Lydia would've taken the river down this stream to our side." They all start moving that way and this is when Carol sees Alpha and starts chasing her. Daryl and the group follow, and it switches back and forth between Alpha Carol and Daryl running. That's when something caught my eye during a snippet of Daryl running.

What you're looking at is a small group of trees, Daryl is on the other side, you can see his arm and a little bit of his crossbow. Do you see what's carved into the tree, I'm not sure what that symbol is or even if it is a symbol, but it is an intentional marking. It made me wonder if it could be a 1, I'm not saying it is, but my mind went to a certain episode where there was a 1 that's always been a bit of a mystery.

This is from Slabtown, when Dr. Edwards gets up and walks over to the painting of Peter's Denial. And of course, I have to point out that the two books that are clearly placed so that you could read the titles. One is Anesthesia (where you are put to sleep/ unconscious). The other is Critical Care (what you would need if you were shot in the head). I don't know if that symbol/mark on the tree is a 1. It's just where my mind went when I saw it.”

@frangipanilove​: “I have a theory on the arrows of Morgan that they simply mean back. As in return, but also as in the back of a car, as in trunk (tree trunk/car trunk). But it can of course mean more than one thing. (Check out @frangipanilove’s Tree Trunk Resurrection post HERE.)

@wdway: “And the last strange little thing that I'll mention is going back to the scene where Daryl mentions the river and following a stream. This whole thing reminded me of the creek bed that Sasha was following in the episode Them. The one where we saw frogs and all the X's in the creek bed. 

And for some reason it reminded me of Carl giving Maggie the music box so I went and checked that out. I was hoping he said something about the river. He didn't, but he did tell her that he found it while they were searching for water. I thought that was pretty cool, how the writers get that mention of water in, which makes water connected with the music box.

S8e4 Some Guy, where we saw the King, Carol and Jerry trying to cross the creek bed, it had some water in it or polluted water I should say. That's where the king’s tiger was killed. Another super important one I just thought of was the eroded bank area in s2e1 that Rick hid Sofia in. There was some water, but it wasn't overflowing or rushing water. We could clearly see the erosions. That's why Rick thought it was safe to put her into a indention in the creek wall.

I'm back because it just hit me two other incidents about the creek or at least one. Henry hid in a creek, I believe that was in season 8.We didn't actually see him hiding but we were told later about it. Carol, Morgan thought he was dead but he was alive because he said he hid in a creek. The other thing that popped into my head, we do not see her hiding but for five years we saw Beth in the flash running through the forest. Oh, wow! this little creek is suddenly having so much meaning, love it!

@twdmusicboxmystery: “Also Daryl found Sophia’s doll in a river/creek. Just saying.

I really like all this! I might as well tell you guys what I was thinking about in terms of a dry creek bed theory. It turns out, it’s not all that groundbreaking. Just a subset of “Beth = water.” I was thinking that a dry creek bed has no water. So, the dry creek bed we saw in Them simply is there to symbolize that Beth is not there. And she won’t be for the coming arc. That would work in other instances too. For example, last season we saw Daryl in a dry creek bed with Connie. Connie has been a proxy for Beth, but she’s definitely not Beth. Beth is not there. Meanwhile, we’ve had a lot of water symbols associated with Connie and water = Beth.

But then there’s a little caret symbol ^ you pointed out. I hadn’t noticed that in the dry creek bed they jumped over in ep 16 had it until you pointed it out. But it reminded me of another time we saw it created from tree branches and that was when Tara was heading for Oceanside. So, I was thinking that maybe that arrow or caret symbol points toward water. In other words, it points toward Beth. I honestly don’t know why they would have Morgan carving it into trees. The best I could come up with is that back when he was with Eastman, they were often by water.

I was thinking that water could also represent positive mental health. When Morgan was with Eastman, he got to a very good place mentally. But by the time he found Rick again and they were conducting the war in S7/S8, his mental health had already begun to slip. It slipped until he ran away from the group and ended up in Texas. And of course Beth equals water and Beth was all about emotional positivity, right?

So, I went back and looked at the part with Tara and I expected to find the caret pointing toward Oceanside. Actually, it doesn’t. It’s pointing back the way she came, in the opposite direction of Oceanside. Tara is headed toward the community at the time. But then it occurred to me that she just washed up from the sea. So, the arrow is still pointing at the water. And remember, this is the episode where Cindy and Rachel found a bear washed and from the sea as well.

So possibly, the caret symbol in 10×16 that we see Carol and Daryl and the others jump over might be pointing toward Beth. Especially if those spoilers we talked about the other day are true and Connie goes missing [this was before the mine incident] I’m thinking that she’ll end up wherever Beth is and Daryl will go looking for her. Hence, Connie will lead Daryl to Beth as we’ve been theorizing since the beginning of season 10. I’ll admit this isn’t a very fully formed theory but it’s what I’ve been thinking about the last few days.”

[@frangipanilove then asked me if it was really called a Carrot symbol. See, when we were messaging, my phone kept autocorrecting ‘caret’ to ‘carrot.’ It really was just a typo/autocorrect, but kind of an interesting one, given the carrot symbolism, no?]

Me to @frangipanilove: “Lol. Well, it both is and isn’t a typo. It reminds me of a caret symbol (see the pic below) which is used to insert something that’s missing into a sentence, as well as having other, computer-related uses. But my phone keeps autocorrecting to the “carrot” spelling. Lol. I had to type “caret” above 3x and click on it to keep it from autocorrecting.”

But think about that, guys. It may be pointing backward or to water, but it’s also a common symbol used to insert something that isn’t there or is forgotten. As in Beth?

But what I’m seeing here is possibly a cause and effect chain. Carol chasing Alpha into the mine (and bringing everyone else in after her) resulted in Connie being lost. If Connie brings Beth back to Daryl in some way, then this arrow really was pointing toward that.

It also resulted in the war and the current situation in many ways. Because Daryl went looking for another way into the mine (which he only had to do because Carol went in in the first place) he ran into Alpha and got hurt. Subsequently, Lydia helped him and they went back to warn Hilltop. That warning, so they had some time to prepare, is the only reason anyone at Hilltop survived at all, and lived to fight this second battle against Beta.

See what I mean?

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this chain yet, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out and what it leads to. Just wanted to point it out to everyone.

And now you have some idea of how me and my fellow theorists spend our days hashing things out. It can be very sprawling, but this is how we come to understand what most things in the show mean. Plus, it’s fun! 😁

What do you think?

[kinetic-elaboration]

May 21: The 100 2x11 Coup De Grace

It’s late, my computer’s more tired than I am (and hardcore hates me and very well may decide to eat this entire post who even knows), and this is probably a bad idea but I’m gonna do it anyway.

Or at least start.

Another episode, or partial episode, of The 100.

This opening torture sequence makes me so uncomfortable. Which like I get is the point but tbh I’m just not into ‘look how unflinching we are at the realities of Bad Stuff.’ Especially when my tired computer is skipping and the sequence becomes, like...trippy. Trippier.

This is probably a super bad idea because my computer literally cannot handle video lol. I am going to restart it.

It’s actually kind of nuts that Monty’s been missing for 2 days and Harper even longer and Jasper and Maya are like ‘this is weird and upsetting but I guess we’ll find them somewhere!!’ Well, Maya more than Jasper. Mount Weather isn’t THAT big.

“You have to look like nothing’s wrong. Like everything’s okay” is so sad. I think it’s situations like that that make S2 my favorite, just b/c I’m a sucker for scenarios of enclosed tension. Like, forget war and blah blah blah, I want this, like... secretive, spying, being spied upon, uncertainty. That’s the real horror in a satisfying way.

Gosh his haircut is awful though.

When does Clarke learn to ride a horse?

I have literally no idea what’s happening bc I rewatch these eps so infrequently.

Clarke just got “yes ma’amed.” I find that semi-hilarious, not because she’s 18 but because you knew Grounders used words like “ma’am.”

I love Clarke’s single-mindedness. “We can’t stop for water. We can’t stop for anything. We’re on a mission. And Bellamy might have called!” AWWNH!Clarke is so OOC lol but she has a different background okay?

I’m not really in the mood to trust Abby about anything. Does she... actually make good decisions? I feel like you’d have to track her through all of the seasons but I am inclined to say...perhaps......not.

So the Mountain Men tried to assassinate Clarke and Lexa. Completely forgot about that.

The introduction of Echo. I just... I just have no opinions on her, I guess. Literally my only opinion is that she should have been the Ice Queen and, not being the Ice Queen, she’s just not interesting to me. I will say, she couldn’t have been in Mount Weather long if she knew who the Sky People are, as they’ve only been on the ground about a month. But also...why does she hate them? They were only fighting with Trikru, and Azgeda territory isn’t even, like, in the vicinity.

I love Dante but he has some major balls looking Jasper in the face and saying he doesn’t know where his friends are. I mean, he doesn’t, because Cage stole them, but how do you just MISPLACE people in a 600,000 square foot bunker? Where COULD they go?

I’m sure I’ve said this before but as someone who went to a high school with a uniform I find it HIGHLY unrealistic that all these teenage boys tuck in their shirts and keep them tucked in all the time without exceptions.

Jasper being protective of Monty <3<3<3.

So it was MW that told them there were no Ark survivors. Did I know that? Did I forget that? Not that it matters as my Clarke/Maya fic is done lol.

Dante is the most Hilarious and Wonderful of all of the attempted father figures on this show I said what I said--they’re all terrible but at least he bring the Weird Father Figure energy to 11. I’ll lie to you but it’s to protect you, call you son (always weird), super good at self-defense--ah-ha! sword at at your neck!

“This is not a toy.” If the sword is in MW it’s probably Important and Famous.

IMO and I completely stand by this assessment, it’s harder for Jasper to be brave than it is for other people, and he was really brave, and it worked, and I’m proud of him.

I realize this is also a problem with the literal world but we actually do know that torture isn’t effective so Indra being all upset that she’s not allowed to torture Emerson is just so....exhausting to me. Like Clarke isn’t suggesting not torturing him bc she loves the high ground and must walk it at all times. She’s suggesting not torturing him bc the last time she tortured someone, she got 0 good information. And even though neither of them know it, it was the shit information garnered from torture that led Finn to TonDC! Also if they had let Emerson die, the Grounder would have also still died--it’s not that they chose to use resources on one and not the other. They had two different types of wounds. I mean I guess if they’d brought them in faster without patching up Emerson in the field? That’s probably what she meant. However the Grounder Death Cult and their complete willingness to declare their fight over at the merest papercut makes me again less sympathetic to this point of view.

I’d literally already forgotten that someone tried to assassinate Clarke like an hour earlier. Abby doesn’t need to be concerned about that, lol, Clarke’s used to it!

Okay first I did have a longstanding headcanon that Echo had a crush on Bellamy going way back--I mean that’s practically canon, yeah?--but now I’m super convinced because in their second scene together, he sacrifices himself for her using information she gave him (that MW takes the loud/strong looking ones), even though she greeted him by spitting in his face, and actually, that was very heroic and selfless of him. I’d fall in love too.

Second, I thought she had no tattoos because she’s a spy or w/e but I CLEARLY see tattoos on her legs. And they are not white either.

I don’t think I ever realized that Maya found Bellamy because she was in the infirmary/harvest chamber looking for Harper and Monty. I do not have a good memory for each scene leading into the next. AND she think she’s found them when she sees how fast the random patient’s treatment is working, because that has to be a Sky Person and she would never guess Bellamy.

They really do just talk about their little torture machine casually all the time. “I need to go over the treatment schedule so I know how many cages to clear.”

Hey so like how did Maya get in if she’s not cleared for this facility?

What a wonderful time to remember yet again that if Bellamy knows who Maya is from her reference to Jasper, Clarke, who saw Maya and Jasper flirt like ONE TIME, must have told him about them, which is cute and funny all at once.

Maya: “I wanted to see what was so special about him, but... he’s dead.” Bellamy: Ah yes! I’m dead! * immediately closes his eyes * Why am I laughing so hard at this?

Good thing they take dead bodies down slowly instead of just thunking them on their heads.

Maya, Bellamy, and Echo v. Lovejoy is a pretty satisfying fight. Also, what did Clarke just say about Emerson talking b/c they saved his life? Echo helps Bellamy because he saved her life. Sometimes you get more flies with honey.

I tend to forget that Bellamy literally strangled this guy with his bare hands. Like it was self-defense to some degree, in that this had to be a fight to the death, but it was also just pure fucking rage. Like he said, he (like Clarke for a while) wants to kill everyone in the Mountain.

And then he thanks Echo and asks Maya if she’s all right. A True Catch. Tbh I could see something forming out of Echo and Bellamy here, but not after some of the later twists and turns in the later narrative.

Honesty, I’ve always loved Maya but... let’s just appreciate her, shall we? That was horrific, seeing someone she knew killed in front of her--and helping, because she knew he was on the wrong side, even though that was the same side she’d been on her whole life. Is she completely in the moment, or is she already seeing that there’s no way out for her here? That the people they’ve brought into the Mountain are really going to destroy it?

Bellamy coming out in Lovejoy’s clothes looks like a kid trying on new clothes at the mall before the new school year. Except he’s just dumped a body down a trash chute.

Like “I’ll come back for you, I promise”--I can see a basis for a ship in that. So far it is 100% built on how Echo would have to be dumb not to fall in love with Bellamy but still.

This Maya and Bellamy scene is amazing. I love every aspect of it.

Lemme just...watch that Jonty hug on repeat.

Honestly they even ended the scene with them walking out the door together even though there’s no way anyone could have moved Harper that fast and there’s also no indication of who moved her or how. Guess she’s...not that important...?? LOL??

Kane has only two modes: fairly ineffectual bastard or utterly ineffectual neo-hippie. “You’re not grasping the situation! We’re nice! Be nice to us!” I probably shouldn’t mock him bc he is me lol, I also would not know what else to say to Emerson other than ‘please????’ but still. Common sense and peace and love would be great but those aren’t shared values I guess.

And then he goes 180 to ‘let’s torture him then?’

What you should be doing is good cop bad cop. Or like, wearing him down with repeated questioning? I heard that’s an effective interrogation technique, although here Emerson has a certain advantage of time and that his interrogators are way more easily annoyed than he is easily worn down or confused.

Anyway I remember now. Clarke ultimately solves this problem with that ultimate BDE moment, sending him with a message and 6 hours of oxygen. She really is just the Smartest.

At least Kane acknowledges that the Chancellorship is a completely random title since Abby literally just kinda stole it? Like Jaha is the rightful Chancellor and Kane is the second-most-rightful Chancellor and she’s just sorta...there? But it also doesn’t matter because as established, Clarke is the one actually in charge.

This Bellamy and Maya elevator scene is also the kind of tension that I like. Is Bellamy...legitimately considering shooting him? In the elevator? That would end badly lol. He has this idea to just start randomly offing people in public/enclosed places, while Lexa is all like ‘we can’t save TonDC bc it would blow Bellamy’s cover!’ like the irony.

I wonder if the MW classes are like...to some end, like, mandatory schooling that must be completed, or if they’re just like for funsies? I think the second, partially because it’s an “Expressionist class” which doesn’t seem like the Three Rs and partially because this dude doesn’t seem upset that Maya didn’t show, like he’s just vaguely wondering where she was.

“We’ve accomplished great things” in that tone is like the MOST American thing I have ever heard. (I can say this because I’m American.)

“We’ve been bleeding people to stay alive for generations. That’s our legacy” is true in the sense that Dante’s line in the sane is...truly in the sand. But also has it been ‘generations’? I’m not sure you understand how time works, show-as-a-whole. I mean maybe this is technically true? They probably discovered Grounders like....50 years ago? Which is sort of “generations.” But when you say it like that it makes it sound way longer.

You wanna root for Dante over Cage because he’s on the side of our heroes but in terms of like bitter logic Cage has the advantage. What they’ve already done and what Dante has managed to rationalize to himself is bad enough. They’re already Doing Bad Things, doing yet more bad things isn’t going to bother anyone. Especially when these extra bad things (1) come out to the same--torturing/killing people and (2) lead them to a permanent home on the ground.

I wonder if Dante/MW justified what they did to Grounders with stories of them being like...irradiated mutants. Like literally inhuman. So it ‘doesn’t count.’ I mean objectively they’re wrong of course but I mean in their heads. And then for Dante the line is so obvious between killing radiation casualties and killing just normal humans like themselves, whereas for Cage--who sees the Grounders more because of Cerberus, and knows they don’t look that much different, that they are also just people underneath the masks and big clothes--sees no difference between the Grounders and the Sky People, and if he’s already sullied himself by using one set, he can continue sullying himself, for a greater cause, by using the other set. It’s just a question of which story you’re telling yourself and how much you’re willing to lie.

The plotting of this season is, overall, very good. Especially in the second half.

I think Clarke’s default mode when stressed is order giving. It’s part of the control thing. She’s okay if she has everything under control, and if she knows everything, and when she has all that knowledge and control it just...spills out of her, directing people with what they need to do and where they need to go.

Whereas Raven’s in full ‘falling out of love with Clarke’ mode.

Also I think Clarke is very quick to comfort people and she is genuine in this but because she ALSO has her agenda and her strident tone and her controlled demeanor, it can look like manipulation. Or at least, if I were her friend, I would always wonder if she really cared or if she just wanted me to calm down so my emotions weren’t in the way of The Plan.

My 15 second Raven, Clarke, and Octavia scene. Lemme just rewatch this a bunch of times too.

“Jackson found genetic marker anomalies that can only come from someone born on the Ark.” Remember when people were theorizing that this was a big deal in some way? The Arkers were genetically modified to withstand space? I remember that being a theory. Anyway in retrospect, it’s just a Plot Device. Possibly a Pseudo-Science Plot Device I would not know.

Never mind. “We were genetically engineered. They weren’t.” So it is in fact canon, just meaningless canon. HOW IS THIS SOME RANDOM THROWAWAY LINE?

Clarke’s feral moments are the best.

It’s cute how Abby continues to think Clarke isn’t in charge.

Having Bell run into Lovejoy’s son is cheap but effective. I still remember that scene and I can really feel the full effect on him through Bob’s acting and the music. I also always remember that line “What did you expect you’d find here?” Because the answer is obviously ‘monsters.’ They had their simple narrative too: about how MW were the bad guys and thus they could destroy them all and it would be vengeful and feel good. But it’s more complicated than that: everyone in the Mountain is complicit in terrors. But many of them passively so. Bellamy was ready to kill all of them, and so was Clarke, but he changes his mind based on this encounter, tells her about it over the radio, and makes HER change her mind and in fact change her entire plan, by the time she explains it in 2x15.

And it’s sad for Maya too because Bellamy is being aided by her but she is still a Mountain Person. It’s easy to say ‘she’s an exception, she’s Jasper’s friend, she’s our friend.’ But she’s done everything he hates the Mountain for. If the whole Mountain is evil, she’s evil. And to the extent you can’t be both pro-MW and pro-Sky People, she’s put in this impossible position of choosing sides, or trying to switch sides abruptly. Bellamy sees that, and it’s like yet one more additional layer to his guilt over what he did, because he sees a new angle to how it affected Maya,  without whom he’d be dead.

Jonty the leader couple. And Jasper’s face when Monty says “We’re not safe here.”

S2 is my favorite bc of plotting like this episode: just as the 47 are about to leave, Cage stages his coup. Just as Bellamy is about to see his friends, the doors lock and they’re trapped. The moment when Jasper sees Bellamy--with absolutely no reason to believe this could even be possible. In trying to plan fics that use S2 I tend to get confused about the plot bc it goes back and forth and circles around a lot, but in actually watching it, it’s quite effective, and I think part of the circling confusion is just bc there are so many moving parts, people need to be in the right places at the right times, meet and separate at the right moments, so it can read awkwardly in summary. But they did a good job ultimately, I think.

Another thing about S2 generally is that even though it’s much more expansive than S1 in terms of locations and number of characters and groups of characters, ultimately almost everything revolves around one story (except for the CoL setup stuff), and 2 main locations that have meaning, with various points in between. So it is more concise and more centralized and more meaningful than later seasons, which become increasingly spread out and disjointed. Or so I try to explain to myself at 1am.

Yaaaay emotional Princess Mechanic and then Bravenlarke. I live for these moments when characters are just like...emotional together.

I don’t know if I find it realistic that Clarke would be like ‘it’s over’ so fast but nevertheless I like Raven and Bellamy picking her back up.

Clarke’s relieved face...she’s in love.

Bellamy: I’m fine. Me: He’s a liar!!! But I guess they can talk about his emotions later.

When they’re all together, they’re all better. Like immediately. Even Clarke’s “Raven’s going to help you” with a little look to her, like, this isn’t an order, and Raven nods....

I love that Bellamy took Maya’s expression to mean “It’s not a problem” when it quite obviously meant “It’s a huge problem.” But also Clarke smiled for .05 seconds so I think she knew he was a-lying. This could be a sitcom if it were a totally different show.

Weirdly, I watched part of 2x15 again for a fic I decided not to write atm and...they don’t actually use the Grounders as a Trojan Horse army. Their plan NOT to kill everyone including the kids meant basically that they used their real army as a distraction and then just took the inside-Grounders out the back way. Or that was the idea. Which in retrospect is actually kind of disappointing.

Clarke’s power walk through the hallway with her Grounder Entourage is just so....satisfying. This is the emotional payoff that got me into this show.

Clarke just literally staging a coup against her own mother, using the Grounder force that sees her as a leader, is so.... I feel like I have never appreciated it before this rewatch. I think in the past I found it kind of annoying tbh. But this time I like it a lot more. I like Clarke’s just insane levels of confidence and self-assurance. It is a good look.

First of all the parallel to the Wallaces. But more importantly, I always wanted this big story line of Delinquents Versus Arkers that never fully came as I wanted it, but this is pretty close, where she’s just used to being in charge by now, so you know what, she is. And the only thing she needs to make her desire for power real is muscle, which she has, thanks to Lexa, so she uses it. It’s also very satisfying. And should ultimately have been the groundwork for the delinquents to form a separate community but WHAT DO I KNOW?

All that said, and this isn’t contradictory, but Clarke picks like the MOST inflammatory way to go about her plan. She just does it, she gives no explanation, she stages a showdown at the gate with her own Mom the Chancellor. There is a subtler way of doing this. But I like that she didn’t do subtle because it’s IC for her. It’s IC for her age (who is more Dramatique than a teen?) and it’s IC for her place in her hero’s arc: under L’s influence, she’s becoming big-headed, leaning into the sin of pride, here in the form of “I do can do no wrong,” and by 2x16 in the form of “I can do no right, no one has ever been more wrong than I, no one has ever been more sorrowful than I, let me perform penance in the woods.”

Pride: the most annoying deadly sin.

Anyway.

And Kane, who always bows to the Alpha Female in the room, immediately enables Clarke’s Drama.

“Let our people go and we’ll let you live. It’s just that simple.”

“The Grounder army is bigger than you think and the acid fog can’t hurt them” is honestly a bluff though? Because again, they do not use or even PLAN to use the inside Grounders and they DO plan to take out the acid fog so??? I guess the point, if she was protecting Bellamy, WAS the bluff, WAS the distraction.

I think it was unnecessary to take out his O2 but I guess she’s really just showing off, which again is IC and I guess has the purpose of showing MW she means business and is Not To Be Fucked With. Still, it is important that her message make it to MW since it’s the distraction Bellamy asked for, so it seems like something of a risk to make it hard for the messenger to arrive home safely.

I do like that she gets to use that classic retort “That sounds like a you problem.”

And so.... I meant to go to sleep like 3 hours ago, and my power is flickering. Time for bed. The end, goodnight.

[vulcan-highblood]

Not According To Plan 4/5

Fandom: Supergirl(TV) / Legion of Super-Heroes

Summary: (Post Season 3 Ep. 18 “Shelter From The Storm”) Querl and Imra return to the 31st Century. It’s not at all what they expected.

Read it on AO3!

Chapter 4: Requisition

Upon inspecting Legion Headquarters, it became clear that Querl’s prediction regarding the state of technology had been correct. HQ was, externally at least, very similar to the headquarters they had left behind when they had been thrown back to the past. However, this building lacked the sophisticated security system Querl had painstakingly installed, and all other systems that had been operated by COMPUTO. 

Now Querl was stuck in his lab with an actual physical notepad, taking down the information on the individual they were seeking so he could determine the best way to make use of their limited resources and travel back in time again. He was finding that not being able to use an omnicom was both frustrating and painful. Frustrating, because it meant he had to physically scrawl all of his notes in Interlac, which took far longer than simply mentally dictating and watching the words appear on a screen. Painful, because he had been scribbling his notes in interlac for the better part of an hour and was beginning to develop a cramp in his wrist.

He was unused to hand-writing his notes. Even when he’d been in the 21st century, most of his work had been on computers. It was degrading, to be reduced to mere strokes on a page to try and work out his ideas. Everything was so sprocking slow, his mind felt as though it was whirling away from him, so much faster than his cramping hand.

“Well, Brainy? How’s it look?” Rokk asked, coming up from behind Querl to read over his shoulder.

Querl turned slightly, so Rokk wouldn’t be able to read his notes. Not that it mattered. They were so cramped and convoluted he doubted the Braalian would be able to make heads or tails of them anyway. His handwriting was atrocious. He had never needed it for more than the occasional scribbled notation prior to this point in his life, so he didn’t feel particularly put out by this failing. It didn’t make his wrist feel better, though.

“I have identified the technology advances that led my temporal predecessor to believe that this individual was the best choice to counter my cousin’s attack,” Querl said, “and I am in the process of learning the identity of this individual.” Turning, he looked at Rokk, clarifying. “The information on this person remains shrouded in mystery, but they appear to have hailed from the twenty-first century.”

“That’s where you just came from, wasn’t it?” Rokk asked, ignoring the fact that, technically, he’d been in the 21st century too. He had simply been asleep for the duration of the visit, and thus did not recall their lengthy stay.

Querl wrinkled his nose in irritation. It was troubling that he had not anticipated needing to rely on such an individual while he had been in the right place, at the right time. Then again, Querl had absolutely no recall of this individual in his own mind, which implied that this… (human? Likely. Though not all residents of Earth at that time were truly human, statistically speaking, it was the most reasonable assumption) inventor was possibly a survivor of the Blight who would have died without their intervention.

Fascinating. Their own actions to prevent the Blight also provided a solution to their problem, a problem which was also a result of preventing the spread of the Blight. While this was an intriguing conundrum, trying to determine the identity of this individual with limited historical records and significantly limited access to computer systems was proving to be a challenge.

“Everything has changed as a result of our actions,” Querl pointed out. “I do not even know of this person as their works are all completely unheard of from the time of the Blight, and yet… some of the technological advances pioneered by this individual appear to be foundational structures upon which today’s technology is based. It is…” Querl resisted the urge to sigh, “…admittedly genius-level work. Considering, of course, the limitations of the time.”

Rokk’s eyebrows jumped towards his hairline. “Did you just admit to another person’s work being genius?”

“Having only recently returned from that time period I can unequivocally say that managing to produce any functional tech is a work of exceptional skill and likely boundless patience.” Now Querl did sigh, turning to look at Rokk. “It was so sprocking frustrating, their computers are so stupid it was like talking to a stone. Twenty-first century computers are a lump of electrical impulses and silicon, they have no heart…” he shut his mouth suddenly, feeling as though he had shared quite a bit more than was intended. “It was infuriating,” he summarized.

Rokk was giving him a look, a look Querl received from his peers rather consistently. They didn’t understand computers, and likely did not understand the severe chasm that divided 21st century technology from the 31st century. But when you were a part of it, it was impossible to forget.

“Sounds rough,” Rokk said, neatly underlining the precise problem with the universe at present.

The people of this time still had not fully come to terms with everything they had lost. Could not appreciate how much his family had torn from them all. “What I am trying to say,” Querl turned back around to stare at his blocky interlac notations,  “Is that the AI virus is far more dangerous to us than people from another time - we don’t know how to survive without AI. We haven’t needed to, for centuries.” He glanced back at Rokk again, trying to clearly explain his theory. “An individual from the twenty-first century would not feel as though they were being deprived, precisely because they have never known the level of advancement we once had in this time.”

Rokk shrugged lightly. “I’ll take your word for it.” He turned to leave, then paused, as though he’d remembered something. “Oh, right, I almost forgot -” he quickly approached Querl, extending a large bundle of physical note paper. “I just brought the physical images and information from all the history texts in the National Archives related to the unnamed inventor that you asked Luornu to get for you. I’m guessing that’s the same one you’re researching?” He waved a small handful of paper in Querl’s face before dropping them on top of Querl’s notebook. “There’s probably two hundred pages more that Jo and Luornu are still printing off, plus they found some more research notes that your past self made about the inventor. I put that on top of the pile, actually - I figured you would like to start with what your past self had already decided was important.”

“Yes,” Querl agreed, “Let us hope that my former self’s last days were spent on useful research. I would hate to see my previous research only to discover it is all useless, necessitating additional months of fruitless study while society as we once knew it continues to crumble.”

Rokk made a strangled noise like he wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

Lucky for him, Querl wasn’t expecting a response. It had been a bit callous to make sarcastic remarks about his own untimely death, but Querl was stressed and under a lot of pressure. He felt as though he had earned the right to be a bit of a nass about this whole sordid predicament. But he recognized that this attitude was unhelpful, and so, taking a deep breath, Querl spoke again.“I appreciate the information,” he told Rokk. “I am certain the notes will be useful.” It was, after all, his own research.

“Right,” Rokk said, moving for the door to Querl’s lab. “I’ll just… leave you to it. Good luck.”

Querl lifted a hand in a gesture of farewell, already picking up the pile of notes Rokk had dropped in front of him. He had work to do, and time was running out. If not for him, then certainly for the Legion Cruiser. He needed to gather the necessary information quickly if they stood any chance of traveling back in time again. If only he could use a sprockingcomputer.

Querl lifted the first page, unintentionally dragging the side of it along his fingers, and - “Sprock! Grife! What the-” it had cut him! Why was this paper sharp? Nursing his wounded hand, Querl glared down at the pile of notes, which stared back at him accusingly. Sprocking grife. It was shaping up to be a long day.

~~*~~

Querl was beginning to regret the lack of natural lighting in his laboratory, as the harsh glare of the lights appeared to be causing him to develop a low-grade headache. It wasn’t a particularly painful headache, it was just difficult to concentrate when absolutely anything that strayed from the norm forced him to pause and run a self-diagnostic. Despite his near-certainty that he had not been infected in the short amount of time spent in this timeline, Querl nonetheless found himself bordering on paranoid. He had already died before seeing this mission through to fruition once. If he died this time… well. Querl didn’t expect there would be many other people in the universe capable of plotting a route through time and space using only pen and paper.

To be fair, though, other people would be able to use a computer without risking contamination. So perhaps he wasn’t the only person who could plot their route. He was simply faster than the others. With a sigh, Querl stared at the “historic artifact” that his previous self had found incredibly important and frowned. He could have sworn he’d seen it before, but his recall was taxed by the fact that he had multiple thought-tracks running system diagnostics at regular intervals while several other thought-tracks were attempting to plot a route back to the 21st century. Even so, Querl knew that this ‘artifact’ had been noted, once before. It was in his mind, somewhere. Which meant that at some point during his time int he past, he had been close enough to the inventor to actually take note of their work. How frustrating to know this now, when it was going to be so hard to get back to the same time and place as he’d been before. If only he had a name, or at least a face, to put to the inventor. He could work with that! He could work with…

Work. Why was it that work had sparked something? Immediately dismissing the system diagnostic, Querl attuned three of his thought-tracks to pursuing that line of thought. He could work with the inventor.

Perhaps, he already had.

As he focused, he brought up memory after memory, scrutinizing them for details, the slightest hint, and what he found was… frankly, unexpected. It couldn’t be. Despite the fact that even Querl would have been hard-pressed to predict a Blightless future with anything even resembling accuracy, the fact that he’d been so close was incredibly frustrating. It didn’t matter how unlikely it had been for him to know this, he still felt as though he should have known. Knowing that there was no reason for him to know such a thing was irrelevant in the face of an emotion as illogical as frustration.

Taking a deep breath, Querl set the artifact aside and steepled his fingers, attempting to quiet his mind as he considered the revelation. The thought-tracks he’d commandeered quietly went back to their system diagnostic as Querl mused on what he’d learned. All in all, it made a surprising amount of sense. After all, Winslow Schott had, at least according to DEO records, once opposed and prevailed against his descendant, Brainiac 8. Perhaps he was the right person to oppose Pirn. Or Brainiac. Depending on how much of the younger Coluan’s operating system had been subsumed by his evil ancestor, he might be willing to use that name instead. If Pirn was insisting on going by Brainiac 6, there was a good chance that Vril’s ancestral memory had somehow wrested control from the young Coluan entirely, as the cousin that Querl remembered hadn’t seemed the megalomaniacal sort. Of course, the mother Querl remembered hadn’t seemed the filicidal sort, either, and yet-!

He was going to need a lot of time to think about the meaning of family when this was all over.

For now, he had bigger things to think about. Well. Not bigger, simply more urgent matters than really thinking about the fact that no matter what timeline he fled to, apparently his family was still the sprocking worst. But he didn’t have time to dwell on that. He needed to figure out how to plot their trajectory as precisely as possible, preferably before the Cruiser, which was still equipped with onboard AI systems, shut down for good. At least now he had something to go on, but finding a way back to that time would be troubling.

Querl straightened up, rolling his shoulders, and reviewed his system diagnostics. All clear. His headache appeared to be strictly biological in nature, then. Perhaps because he hadn’t slept since he’d arrived in this century nearly 47 hours earlier. Querl shook out his hand, absently wondering if he would end up developing carpal tunnel from all the unfamiliar motions, and resumed his calculations. The fine-tuning would come later, but at least he had a more clear idea of where - and when - they needed to go next.

[fanimeconfessions]

so I caught up to yaoi the fanime yesterday (I was made aware of it two years ago for a confession and didn’t watch past the first ep, idk I forgot to) and something i had been thinking for a while, but couldn’t really put into words somehow, became very clear and I felt the need to make this post.

maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like within the community itself there’s kind of a fear to be completely genuine? like there’s a worry about being too heartfelt, so you have to wrap your work in a layer of irony or bullshit or something. i feel like the popularity of things like nyan neko sugar girls might have promoted that idea, not to imply that they didn’t put time into it. that, and the existence of let’s watchers ragging on things made 12 years ago that may not have been great, but were completely genuine.

i feel like since the outsiders’ perspective of fanime is almost always nyan neko sugar girls, that the stuff that tends to get really popular are things that are coated in that irony. that things that you make when you’re being 100% sincere are the ones that are considered embarrassing, so we have to make wobbly ms paint characters when we would rather be doing something else because otherwise it’s going to get overlooked, or worse, it’s going to get blasted on some dude’s YouTube channel because we dared to tell a story in that medium.

yaoi the fanime helped me find the wording for this because I think it’s a good example. to start, I do like this fanime and dont mean anything here as a drag. it’s very obvious from the stock poses, character names (Pittsburgh, Cockslut, Literally The Dial Up Computer Noise), and all the voices being text to speech that this was meant to be presented in a jokey, ironic way. don’t take it too seriously. but then i actually start watching past the first episode, and though the situations are outlandish and comical, the subtleties really speak to me. they recognize the reality that a friend of theirs was killed, dial recounts fond memories of him, all the characters bond with the limo driver. right down to even smaller things like pittsburgh’s resistance to the word “monotonous” and an offhand guy fieri joke having substance in a later episode.

not to look into things too much, but I do often look into things too much. I feel like a lot of thought, a lot of care was put into this. there’s a story here that I’m genuinely invested in. these characters are more than just the names they’ve been given. and it really does make me wonder how differently this story would hit if the characters were drawn in a different style, if they had names besides Cockslut, and it wasn’t called “yaoi the fanime.”

it reminds me how often i feel that for my own fanime projects that I need to add in some layer of irony. I’ve said before that finishing your fanime surpasses making it look perfect, and I still stand by that. but I feel like whether we want to or mean to, we take it a step further and put in all of these other details to signal to viewers Hey, Don’t Take It Serious, It’s A Joke. I know I rag on nnsg a lot, but even that series, the one that arguably perpetuates this need to hide behind irony, has its own story. I feel like even the creator of that series wanted to do more, and it shows that by the end, there’s a significant jump in animation as tragedy unfolds.

I feel as though I’m circling around, but I feel like series like that, yaoi the fanime, and others use that irony to get you interested so that their genuine feelings come through. Series like Tokyo Magic Star (which started as a stealth parody) and Panties Warfront (premise alone) ended up shedding their irony to be serious, to be genuine with you and me, the viewers. I look up to them a lot for it. But I don’t fault the people who have to use that irony out of fear of judgment, or to just get people to even watch their series in the first place, because I fall under that category too (see: Trashbag Cupid)

I’m not sure I had a point here, or if people even agree with me, because I might be looking into it too much. But I wish it didn’t have to be this way, is all.

[ficsinhistory]

,As the second season is over, I can finally do it! The second part of Karmi's character analysis per episode!

Despite all the flaws she has, I love how complex she is! She is bold, sarcastic and not made to sympathize at first, this with her not being automatically a villain! Showing to the target audience that people have nuances, that not always someone well acts in black and white, with some managing to overcome problems and not let interfere, but that others get quite marked with these experiences to the point of influencing how it handles some things and someone good can always improve, because not all their attitudes are the best. Which is not bad if you have a good character development, exactly what I'm going to analyze.

And then I want to score one thing: It's okay that you do not like Karmi. Since she needs more development to become a character and that's okay! But some people reduce it to imprecise definitions, deleting important traits of it, distorting it completely as the character is. So, I'm going to do my analysis with that in mind and try to talk about it too, okay?

Internabout

Ah yes! This is where we started the first season. A very cool episode with Trina, NBB, where Hiro arranges a stage and several hilarious and somewhat tense things happens. And of course, Karmi appears in a very interesting way.

Her first appearance was during the gang tour. She is in the lab when she is introduced and where she boasts of the internship, something she has earned because of her lifelong study. Even though she has said it presumptuously, no one can deny that it is a great achievement.

I know, I know, Liv is bad and all, but it does not obliterate the fact that Karmi had her attention because of the talent of prodigy that she has and knowing Amara, even wanting to use it, would not have something common to have in her plan, but, yes, something really impressive. At this point, it is Hiro who is rivaling Karmi, so much so that the gang itself asks why he is still jealous, and does what he can to have something to rub as a victory to Karmi. He arranges an internship with Krei and the episode unfolds.

Her next appearance is at lunch, where she is taking care of her own affairs.

 Hiro comes and tries to provoke her, which she does not leave cheap and refuses giving Hiro a little nervous attack. Both at the beginning and in this scene, it was proof that Hiro also plays this rivalry and that, once and for all, Karmi may be a jerk, but she is not a bully!

Does she have bad attitudes? Yes. Does she need to improve and apologize and change her behavior? For sure! Is she a bully? As someone who has suffered for years this, I can say, no.

According to the definition, bullying has as main pillar the misuse of power in the relationship, generally leading to a total isolation of the target. Karmi has no power imbalance with Hiro, except to be taller, she is practically equal to him. She is a student like him, what she talks about does not affect his reputation, at the most it irritates him, that when he does not rebut, and the stage that she gains in this episode does not harm him in anything but to hurt his ego, thing which already happens since "Big Problem". This stage was won honestly, without Karmi having sabotaged Hiro at all.

Since the beginning of the episode, she's been taking care of her own affairs and the only time she's talked to Hiro was on the Scoraxy tour. After that, she basically reacted to Hiro the whole episode. 

They are rivals and Hiro is not afraid of it, or Karmi. Both are provoked and Hiro has some of the blame on the disagreements, something very different from what constitutes bullying, mainly where the victim usually is afraid, at least, to react.

The next time she appears, her interaction with Hiro was not even required

since they met by accident. That's when Karmi discovers that what he said was "an important task" was just being Krei's servant. In contrast to what Karmi did in Smal Hiro One, Hiro did not tell the truth about what he was doing, trying to trick her when Karmi burst into laughter. (Let's be honest, it was funny and you would laugh too.) She then left and did not show up any more.

In that episode, it was shown how the rivalry comes from both sides and how Karmi simply reacted to Hiro's taunts as he did hers, which is totally different from bullying. It also showed that Hiro reacts well with the injured ego and has flaws, one of the points they have in common.

Pray Date

Ah yes! One of my favorite eps! Here we had many good scenes from around the world and a wonderful character development in general!

The first time Karmi appears is when Hiro and Fred go after them to try to get to Sycorax's lab to check Knox. Karmi at first does not want to get involved, but Hiro practically manipulates her, being honest here, but he had the best of intentions and they were desperate measures so it's forgivable.

Here she also warns about security, which was hilarious! And Fred ends up spoiling various cultures of microorganisms. As a scientist, I can say that this takes time and she was rightly angry. Despite everything above, she actually went to check what Hiro "asked" and eventually discovered that she did not have access to the file. Which led her to question Liv about this, with a very curious body language that I'll look into later.

He loved the dispensation and Karmi ends up meeting Fred, Hiro and Baymax. Hiro questions her about Knox, which leads him to hack into the company's computer and Karmi can identify that something is wrong with his genetic code.

She still does not want to go, understandably, but when Hiro states that someone has to help, she is convinced. They go up to sub-level 9 and fiddling with the files discovers a cure, however they end up being caught and after Liv takes Fred out, they start being chased by Knox, which leads them to a difficult situation.

Hiro wants to disable the security protocol, but Karmi says that would not be good, because it would put many people in danger and suggest waiting until she finds a cure. They argue and Karmi continues underground while Hiro and Baymax leave.

Her next appearance is questioned on Liv's decision, asking her to let him try to find a solution without killing him. However, no one buys the idea.

Then she appears already with a cure and watching worried about a Knox going to the lab, meeting with "Captain Cute" and stating that they would help. However, she questions about Hiro, asking about his status. Gogo claims that he is well and she appears for the last time, having a civilized conversation with Hiro, stating that the "Sycorax" had healed based on her research. This episode was incredible for Karmi's development and brought relevant information about her personality.

The first thing is that it breaks one of the main concepts that many had that Karmi would be a villain. However, it is shown that she has one of the best moral sense of the series.

She may have started helping Hiro because of the ego, but she ended up helping because, as seen in part one of this post, she is a good person. And the evidence of this ran through every episode. The first, and perhaps not so obvious, is when Fred comes in with a club in her lab. Karmi can be a bit harsh when she acts, but she did it to protect Fred.

As a virologist, her work is not only dangerous but extremely deadly, so much so that there are danger signs throughout the lab. One of the basic rules of a lab even is that you can not eat, and taking into account a biology laboratory, this gets even more severe. Fred could become infected with a serious and deadly disease, since Karmi works with extremely lethal pathogens. So it was not just anger, she was trying to protect him.

The second is after Hiro hacks the file. Karmi clearly did not want to break the rules, which could not only put her stage at risk as it was illegal because it was an invasion. However, when she heard that Knox needed help, she went without question, only worrying about how they would arrive at sub-level 9. 

Showing once again how much she wants to help people, as we have seen her speak since the first we saw her, it is not about breaking rules, but if helping someone demands it, so be it. Another situation is when they are fleeing from Knox. One thing very well punctuated by Ari @princess-kidatheart17​ is that she could have fled by herself, but she pushed Hiro to go along.

She worried about his safety and acted on that feeling.Not to mention she bothered to help Baymax as well.

Already the main act of altruism of every episode, at least in my view, was when they were considering what to do. By this time, Hiro had no hope of Knox's healing and was concentrating on leaving the scene, probably resorting to recapture. However, Karmi still had faith that Knox could be normal again which motivated her to take high risks, not only that, she was willing to put her own life on the check and stay longer with a monster that was hunting to kill if it meant not only that he would have a chance to turn human again as she was thinking of people who could get hurt if Hiro turned off security. This was said quite explicitly by her!

Karmi at no time here thought of itself, putting the life of the people of the city and the own Orso Knox above hers. In addition to that when Hiro left her leaving alone, she was faithful to what she believed and began working on a cure.

 When she’s back, she’s questioning Liv herself, stating that she could help.

But the conditions were against her and as Hiro had been captured, it would be too much to ask to entrust a life to her with such urgency. I think Karmi herself would not think that was a good idea, for all intents and purposes, she remained true to herself and continued her healing.

Speaking of Liv and Karmi, we have seen how Amara manipulates her in a way very similar to Gothel and Rapunzel. Karmi is treated like a child by the same one and it constantly has its opinions rejected and painted as inferior or infeasible, which is aggravated by the poor social aptitude that it has. When she goes to speak, Karmi is insecure and nervous, which leaves her vulnerable and Liv knows it. This is dangerous.

She does not want to disappoint her and Liv takes advantage of it. Already afraid and nervous when talking to Liv, the woman leaves her hands tied for being beyond her superior in the company, since she is the CEO, also takes advantage of the vision that our biotech has of her.

Now, the most moving situation of the episode is when she shows concern for Hiro. Something I found interesting is when she asks if he's hurt. Karmi could wait until the next day to see him at SFIT, but she was genuinely worried about asking Big Hero 6 himself. Not only that, when she'll ask if he was hurt she took a break.

The possibility of Hiro getting hurt makes her so distressed that it becomes bitter to think about it, showing that they do not hate each other. Karmi cares. Then the episode ends with her and Hiro talking where we see that a friendship is possible in the future. Honorable mention for the fact that Karmi has canonically Hiro's phone number.

Nega- Globby

Here she interacted more with Honey Lemon, which made me thrive both because she was someone different from Hiro, and because she showed that she could interact with other people after all. This episode showed what I said before about barriers and how Hiro and Karmi are to blame in the rivalry, showing how he talked about how Karmi could not be friends with anyone. Being someone who has social difficulties, this must have been such a blow to Karmi, who again only answered the height. It also showed the vision she has about Hiro and that she finds him very convinced of himself, as well as hinting that the animosity she feels has a much deeper motive.

Her past and what has gone by is still a complete mystery, but it must be big enough to keep it a secret for so long. In any case, here it shows that she has friction with Hiro, but still can be very helpful with others.

She went to find Honey at Grandville's request, however she continued to help on her own, and while having her personality conflicts with Honey, they worked well. Even not being much of a "person of hugs."

Many people may have been surprised that Hiro and Karmi have returned to normal fights, including myself in this. But after much thought, I came to the conclusion that Pray Date was not an episode for these two to finally understand, but rather an episode that pre-established information for this. That's why they're still arguing. In Pray Date important things have been stated, such as Karmi's moral standards, which are very high even, the fact that she cares for Hiro, the two do not hate each other and that if they want, they are capable of peaceful coexistence. So we just have to be patient.

Something Fluffy

This episode brings me a lot of information and theories, besides being the last appearance of Karmi until now. In addition to important statements.

Karmi suddenly appears the first time questioning Hiro about why he publicly accused Liv of creating the monsters. What she did was very unpleasant and unexpected, honestly. But, I assume she acted like this because it hits her on a personal level, not so much by Liv. If you watch this part, even questioning Amara, Karmi felt more offended because she makes "part" of Scoraxy and, as she believes they do good, accuse the company and how to accuse her of something absurd and she would never do , how to create monsters.

K: Why were you attacking Liv with your baseless accusations?

H: Baseless? Sycorax is super-secret genetic modification research!

K: We are the future.

H: No, you are a monster factory.

You may notice that Liv's name is only quoted at the beginning and then the discussion is more conflict-based than Hiro and Kami's views on the company and especially themselves in general. 

In the middle of the fight, Hiro uses the direct focus for Karmi and calls it "monster factory". Not Liv, not Sycorax, but Karmi personally, showing that rivalry also affects him, including how he talks to her. Karmi is part of Sycorax and she sees it as a good thing due to not being aware of Liv's actions, so it's understandable that she finds Hiro's personal accusations, because it's not just Liv or Sycorax, it also hits her.

After that, after all, she's a reasonable person. Hiro has had fits of jealousy before and could be the same occasion, so what does she do? You say Liv is innocent without stopping? 

No. She asks if he has any proof. In the face of so many accusations, it is natural that she expects something to support his theory. She was willing to listen, and I believe that if he had any, even against her likes, Karmi would have listened as she did on Pray Date. However, Hiro did not and this led to an abrupt end.

The next apparition is when Hiro is freaking out and they are gone again. The kid is not in the best shape, unfortunately, and Karmi does not believe her. I can, again, understand, since he is visibly paranoid and, honestly, I would not put faith in anyone in the state where Hiro was. Not to mention that the Mayois were not yet aggressive, but as cute creatures, which did not help much for Karmi's belief. Not to mention that it's not just Karmi, nobody believes in Hiro.

Well, the Mayois start to become a problem and that forces Hiro to get help from Karmi, which brings another interesting point. She does not believe him and does not seem to have any mistrust of Liv, yet she was willing to help search for some answers, even if it was for the boy who was accusing the company she was interning. 

With her help, we discovered that the creatures were made of fungi, and again, even if it was none of their concern or concern, Karmi is open to making a reversal serum to help.

It reveals other things about her personality. Karmi may have an admiration that she may become blinded by Liv, but she has no blind loyalty for Liv. We have to remember that Karmi is oblivious to the harmful actions of Amara and all the respect she feels is because of the good deeds that the CEO seems to have what makes her see it as inspiration, but Karmi is open to evidence and disobey Amara to do what's right, as seen in Pray Date. Not only that, Karmi has an altruistic soul and would not follow any of Liv's disastrous steps. As we have seen, the reason she disagrees with Hiro is not because she thinks Liv was unlikely to have done it, but rather because she has done so many good deeds and has shown it so often that it is ridiculous to accuse her. She has a basis for disagreeing with Hiro, even though she is wrong, it is not based on blind faith, but on tests that Amara cleverly left very convincing, deceiving not only Karmi but also every city.

Not only that, even though she does not believe in Hiro, she is willing to listen to him and help him, even if he does not get along very well. Karmi could have refused to help on all previous occasions, she had to lose including life at various points, but when she saw that she could help, she embarked on her head, she was never stingy at that point. Because, once again since some people do not realize it yet, she is a good person. But like anybody, she has flaws.

In the end, she boldly helps to fight the Mayois and does not appear anymore.

Overall, this season is proving to be a great season overall, increasing the stakes and giving development to the characters including Karmi. Now wait for the next few chapters. Anyway, I'm a sucker for analysis and thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, until the next

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 36-37: Local Mom-Friend’s Weird Trick, Doctors Hate Him

Hey y’all it’s a surprise midweek post because I’m in Canada this weekend woo. Surprised I even got this post done, TBH, I finally get some time where I’m not commuting around to and from San Francisco or corralling small children and I can just sit at my computer and focus and have some peace and quiet and I got--a mysterious sickness from all those kids! *yay* So, since I can’t really focus on anything, I’ll type in here and see if any of my words make any sense at all and hopefully I won’t go on some weird ass tangent like I tend to do like every other post.

So Yugi is still dueling Kaiba, much like he has for the past like...it feels like 4 years. I know I’ve only seen 3 seasons but this is...this is a really long duel. Maybe because there was a month-long break for me in the middle, (during which I watched the entirety of Evangelion, 2 Seasons of Gotham, Stranger Things S3, and the disappointing season of One Punch Man so like...I’ve had some time away from Yugioh) or maybe...maybe it’s because they’re actually playing card mechanics that go more in depth...

But yeah, despite everything, they’re still dueling.

And honestly, I’m looking at that episode number above me and it’s like...so there’s this Kaiba and Yugi Duel and then...only one more duel, right? Is it going to be a ten episode duel? Like unless Rebecca comes back for a weird cameo like...how...?

Whatever, we’ll get there when we get there.

Anyways, everyone who’s been avoiding this duel like the plague is down with the plague victims in the hospital. That’s where Tristan gets a bright idea and it’s one of his dumber ones, believe it or not.

Man, I forgot that comatose Joey Wheeler is still wearing that duel disk Pharaoh slapped on him during all this too, haha.

Also, why does he have to have all these pectoral suction cups while they just kinda...gave up on Mai? I mean I know they can’t show boobies on a Y7 show but like...it really feels like the doctor just kinda shrugged at Mai and was like “I only have one set of boob suction cups, I really didn’t think I’d need more than that, if at all.”

(read more under the cut)

And so Tristan decides that if Joey is at the window which is like...600 ft below Yugi Muto’s duel, a duel you can’t...really see from the ground...then Joey Wheeler will arise.

I mean, it’s gonna work, it’s just also kind of laughable that Joey wasn’t able to hear any of this nonsense from the bed that is two feet away from the window.

But wtv, it’s very dramatic and Tristan gets to cry some more and feel useful I guess.

The haunted underwear mannequin plot-thread was dumped between that episode and this one, and I’m kinda bummed out that more things haven’t turned into haunted underwear mannequins.

Instead of horrific underwear mannequins, Joey’s dream has gone back to the standard fare of Joey picking on middle schoolers and wearing a much better outfit than he has for most of this show.

I will super miss Joey in a fitted suit. Like, soak it allll in horny preteens, because pretty soon, Joey Wheeler will be back in that scruffy oversized T-shirt just like...well, just like how a teenager would be. I mean there’s some REASONS Mai can’t date Joey, but the fact he has a fitted suit he refuses to ever wear is one of the top reasons right under, youknow, the fact he’d need a fake ID to ever go out with her.

It’s kind of amazing actually, how my whole life I kinda just figured this was a show of insane character designs, only to find out when I actually watch the show that there is like a ... REALLY horny line just going all the way through it.

Honestly, me trying to figure out how and when this kid’s show got so damn horny has been a very big mystery I’ve been trying to solve in the background this entire time. Like, I was told “yeah the Yugioh boys get very attractive.” and I was like “ehhhhhhhh I don’t even know what you’re talking about” but, little by little over the past 3 seasons, these animators are starting to draw these boys just waaaaaaay older than these kids actually are. I’m starting to see what people are saying. It’s still not my thing, personally, but uh yeah I can see how this spawned all that fanart now.

Anyways, speaking of, the other day a friend of mine’s sister was talking about how she, as a millennial, has been wired to love very tall skinny boys in skinny pants and very long coats with popped collars and I immediately was like “Lol are you admitting to Seto Kaiba?”

And she meant Cumberbatch Sherlock, LOLOLOLOL.

And so, back on the duel field we got Seto Kaiba, who’s a lot like Sherlock except a Sherlock who is suffering from both short term and long term memory loss. And, who does cards instead of heroin.

They probably both play violin.

Kaiba, despite having arc after arc where his little brother is his main motivation, has decided to just ditch Mokuba and it’s like...either he’s psyching Yugi out or Seto Kaiba forgot he had a brother for a little bit. He might...he might have forgotten. Mokuba is standing behind him, after all.

And so, because Joey is facing Yugi at just the right moment and at just the right time, somehow he can do his little force ability again and just do this:

Thanks, hallucination!Joey.

And out he goes, drawn like a romance anime character lol.

Anyways, he’s back to being a slob so...welcome back, wrinkle shirt, it’s been a while.

And then Joey looks around and actually said this:

“Did someone get hurt?” He asks, after being burned, electrocuted AND drowned just yesterday.

I was kinda very much hoping Tristan would deck him out.

Glad that, as predicted, the moment Mai doesn’t need to be Joey’s main motivation anymore, the moment he puts the cards away, she may as well not even exist. This show and the way they write straight romances.

Please admire the matching lace up boots on the Kaiba Corp’s Emergency Squad. This would be the most obscure Cosplay on earth but maybe the most wearable Yugioh cosplay outside of Bandit Keith because you wouldn’t need a 400 dollar wig.

And then for some reason Tea just loses her mind and has a complete breakdown. She’s been kind of a mess since Yugi walked out like 2 episodes ago, which seems kind of...I dunno, both out of character but very much in character at the same time. I mean we’re assuming they “have” a relationship it’s just never actually say that they do, so her acting like her man is dead is kinda like...it still feels like it comes out of freakin nowhere.

Anyways, Tea who is strong enough to lift this entire plane and who is, in fact, possessed by at least 2 powerful ghosts (remember Shadi did spends some time there and he did NOT like it), is now a seeping crying mess that refuses to lose any more of her hospital-prone boys.

I mean they were going to go anyway, but they let Tea pretend she had any control over that and kind of glazed over this.

Back in this game that no one else is really watching anymore, Seto Kaiba is still monologuing about his entire life story that he’s never gotten any therapy for, except for that time his evil step brother accidentally gave him therapy.

Quite upset we never see the color of Mokuba’s little tuxedo.

Course...didn’t...Noah wear a little tuxedo in that same exact shape? I mean it’s a silly headcanon but youknow...it could be a yellow tuxedo they just happened to find in the back of the closet.

And it’s at this point that Mokuba just lost his lid. I’m so used to Mokuba unconditionally supporting his crazy brother that this would have been the biggest anime betrayal of the whole series, if Mokuba had said any of this outloud (which he wisely did not).

It was like...damn Mokuba. He actually said something along the lines of “I liked you better when you were poor” and it was like. Holy cow, Mokuba. Damn.

Anyway, a bunch of card stuff happens, and Pharaoh has decided that Seto has too much anger in his heart, and that’s why he will lose. Then, Pharaoh played the card proof for how angry Seto is, and if I actually payed any attention to cards, it would have been very meaningful.

But anyways, kudos to Pharaoh on not mind-wiping Seto Kaiba this time or launching him directly off this very tall tower like he attempted to do last time. They actually played a game start to finish with eachother and nothing exploded except for every television in Domino. Progress.

and then Mokuba started crying and initially I thought...wouldn’t he have WANTED his brother to lose but then I kind of remembered oh yeah now Mokuba has to deal with this oncoming aftermath.

RIP Mokuba, I guess.

Anyway, I’m out of town for the rest of the weekend, escaping to the far North to get away from the weather. I should be back next weekend, but if I’m not, I was probably eaten by a bear. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to my Yugioh recaps in Chrono order from the beginning.

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 9 Review

Tephi was upset that I didn't include this in my last post:

Ah, Farquaad. Who I just looked up the voice actor of- John Lithgow?! Wow, ok then. Farquaad, you may have been one of the few characters who had absolutely no redeeming qualities. I mean, at least the pictures I posted were of characters who had beneficial goals, even if they went about them in the most cartoonishly evil ways possible. Farquaad was just a dick. But that quote does a damn good job of summing up Bunny-Cat.

Afraid that I’ve been busy studying for a test this Monday, but I think I can snag some time Tuesday morning to start Ep 10. Until then, maybe a short post on my thoughts-

Keeper of Tales said:Ranubis you have probably noticed the sharp up-swell in conversation since you began hitting oh, episodes three, six, eight and nine. Part of this is that you came into this series with a very different mindset than usual and there was a real risk of ruining that. If you read this before the next episode could you tell us what your thoughts upon the characters are and how they have changed? The entire cast if you can. Thank you for your time.

Ok, make that a detailed response on each of the characters. Here we go!

Madoka Kaname

Our title character and protagonist… who’s kinda just been along for the ride all this time. She really bucks the trend of main characters that I’ve gotten used to in most shows. No powers, no real strengths of her own beyond her kind nature. Heck, if she wasn’t the first character to appear and the show wasn’t named after her it wouldn’t be hard to call her a side character. I think back to Gurren Lagann, how Simon had the same meek attitude and was overshadowed Kamina. But then, he got his mini-mech by the end of the first episode, Madoka has yet to pick up any tools. Even Sayaka showed up next episode with a baseball bat, Madoka’s just been tagging along.

And yet, everything revolves around her. Madoka had the Future Dream at the very beginning. Sayaka got involved because she was Madoka’s best friend. Homura focused on Madoka that first school day and tried to warn her away from the trials of Magical Girl-ing. Mami tried to recruit Madoka because she sensed she would become a powerful MG in helping defend the city. Kyoko, who showed up as a hard-line Magical Girl, in the space of apparently a few days joined the Madoka Protection Brigade. And of course, it’s clear now that the Incubator’s been manipulating things to ensure that Madoka makes a Contract, that will net it a ton of emergy.

Still, we’re nearing the end of the show, and I’m 50/50 on whether or not that Madoka will actually make a Contract, especially if Homura has anything to say about it. I mean, if the Incubator flat-out tells her that only she with MG powers can save the day, her helpful attitude is going to steer her straight into selling her soul. The question remains: how far is Homura going to go to stop that?

Sayaka Miki

Best friend of the main character, initially I was amused at how she bucked the Red Oni, Blue Oni trope as being much more outgoing and aggressive than Madoka (pink is a lightish-red, it fits). That got flipped around later when she turned into a Paladin and contrasted with Kyoko. Such a fun character, cheerfully bringing a common baseball bat to fight the monsters, calling herself an Ally of Justice, a great heroine. Unfortunately, it seems that that is Urobuchi’s favorite character-type to stomp on, the show could probably be called “Everything goes wrong for this poor girl Sayaka”. She loses her soul, her crush, her idealism… guh,

It was just depressing, seeing how Sayaka kept going further and further into her Paladin identity until she had nothing left. Losing her optimism, going on a Roaring Rampage of Despair fighting familiars instead of getting Grief Seeds… I keep thinking about Homura about to kill Sayaka. She said it was to protect Madoka from more suffering, but I think that there was at least a little bit of mercy to Sayaka there too. Kill the girl, before she becomes a Witch.

I just wish that things could have been better for Sayaka. She meant well, wanted to save people. Yes, there was an element of wanting to be with Kamijo in her Wish, but can you really blame her for that? She wanted to be a hero. Instead, she became a monster.

Kyubey (Incubator)

Yeah. I can only imagine how you jerks were sniggering in my early posts. I mean, I start out thinking “Ok, here’s the show’s mascot, I’m a little creeped out by the red eyes but whatever.” Then I start thinking he’s cute, plays off the girls well. Then I get annoyed at how he keeps acting like a salesman, really pushing the girls on the Contract. Then… well, then Bunnycat was revealed for the absolute jerk it is.

Seriously. The show’s mascot turns out to be the main villain, twisting plans and leaving snide little comments to achieve it’s goal of turning these young girls into batteries. No, not batteries, coal: fit for one quick burst of energy, who cares where the smoke goes afterwards. All that smiling, those cute comments, those pushes for a contract to be made, not telling the girls the true cost of the Contract even when he knows, or rather because, it knows how they will act, implying (but never outright lying) actions that play right into its tiny, bloodstained paws.

And we can’t even kill it, apparently. Homura shot it what I would normally call an unnecessary amount of times. But as it turns out, it was just a waste of ammo, since the Incubator can just show up in a new body. It can show up without an invite apparently anywhere, it can’t be killed… in a show of murdering Witches, it is the real monster.

Mami Tomoe

Mami… :’(

I was so happy when she showed up that first episode. An experienced Magical Girl who can summon a ton of muskets? Standing up to the (apparent) Bad Girl, taking our main character and sidekick under her wing? And she only got better from there, teaching our characters about the world, fighting a Witch one-on-one, destroying it with an artillery piece and then landing for tea.

Classy.

Then we get a tragic backstory, she’s shown to be lonely. But our characters are there to help her fight these monsters and stop whatever plan the Bad Girl is brewing up! And look at that, she and Madoka are so adorable together, I can’t wait for them to-

And then Urobuchi took my heart and stabbed it.

Mami’s story should not have ended there. If she had just listened to Homura about the Witch, if Madoka or Sayaka had Contracted and could help her, if she had not gone into that fight distracted and happy about the future and focused more… but she didn’t. And she died.

Ever since that episode, Mami’s absence has cast a pall over everything. Madoka is understandably terrified from seeing her mentor eaten right in front of her, Sayaka was driven to imitate Mami’s lone fighter style, Kyoko got involved because she was attracted to the “open territory”, and Homura seemed to hope that it would scare off the Muggles from Contracting.

For a while, I thought that “Ok, that took me completely by surprise, but now I see what will make the girl’s Contract! Madoka will wish for Mami back, we’ll get our lovely team fighting these monsters a little more cautiously now that they know the risks but it’ll still be exciting and they will be adokrable on these missions and Sayaka will tease them for being so cute and…”. But nope, it was just the start of the Pain Train.

Kyoko Sakura

Oh jeez, has my perspective of Kyoko changed from that first scene of her looking down on the town. At first I thought she’d just be a competitor, maybe an ally of Homura. Then she spouts off her philosophy of letting Familiars go to kill people, and she supplanted Homura (who I thought planted that Hospital Grief Seed and caused Mami’s death) on my List. Urobuchi then worked his magic and made me sympathetic for a character who had so much working against her, with a backstory more tragic than Mami’s, the discovery of the true nature of Magical Girls, and her growing attraction to Sayaka even as the Ally of Justice was crumbling, all culminating in me screaming at my computer as she kisses her Soul Gem and sacrifices herself to defeat Sayaka’s Witch and save Homura and Madoka.

Kyoko, I would like to apologize. I can understand where you started from, seeing your family die in connection to your well-meaning Wish, and how you would focus on yourself after being hurt so badly. I am so proud of you, for rising from that and regaining your morals, to the point of helping out Madoka.

Homura Akemi

Homura. Homura, Homura, Homura.

I started this show convinced that you were the Big Bad, or at least an agent of them. Then, before I learned the true nature of the Incubator and thought that there was an anti-Kyubey running around causing the Witches (I can only imagine how much you lot enjoyed that, thank you so much for not spoiling me), I considered that maybe she was just trying to secure her own power, remove competition so that she is secure. Then there was the huge “Homura summons Wally-Witch to get a Super Grief Seed, cannot put down what she called up” theory that I thought would culminate as the series finale, give our main characters time to shine and teach Homura the power of Friendship.

Then the true nature of Magical Girls was revealed, and she was not surprised. Then she attempted to kill Sayaka, citing that doing so would spare Madoka pain. Then she killed the Incubator (but not really).

Then we learned that she is a time traveler.

Just… just wow. It actually makes sense. All of my crazy theories, and time travel trumps them all. She knows the truth about Magical Girls because she learned it in the previous timeline. She knows Bunnycat is a dick because it pulled all this shit before. She tried to warn the girls away from Contracting because she knew the costs, and that they would turn into Witches. She knows that Wally-Witch is coming, to the day, because that’s what happened before-

Oh! I get it now! I really get it! That Dream Vision, Homura fighting the Super Witch but losing, reaching out to Madoka… I get what happens now. Madoka arrives to see Homura is losing. She knows that with all the other MGs dead, there’s no choice. She makes the Contract with the Incubator.

And for her Wish? She Wishes for Homura to get another chance, or something along those lines. And the Incubator (who is a dick) ‘interprets’ that in the way that best suits its interests, and throws Homura into another timeline, so that they can harvest Madoka twice.

Damn it. If I understood the credits-teaser right, next episode is going to be Homura’s story. If we see this happen, Homura reaching our timeline only to try and warn people, but no-one believes her… this is going to be rough.

[ponyregrets]

That last ep was A MESS can you please do a fluffy bellarke fic for some therapy? :)

I was working on something else but idk when I’m gonna post that, so here’s something quicker. @apanoplyofsong pointed out that a question from a recent My Brother, My Brother, and Me sounded like a Bellarke AU, and she was def right.

Also on AO3!

"So, what's the correct reaction when you find out someone is going to be naked on TV and didn't tell you?"

Wells' hand stops with his croissant halfway to his mouth, and he puts it down and just cocks his head at her. "One more time."

Clarke sighs. "You remember Bellamy?"

"Your roommate's brother? The hot one?"

"That would be him."

Wells nods. "I can see why this is a crisis."

"It's weird, right?"

"I still don't know what it is, I just assume everything involving Bellamy is a crisis for you."

This is, unfortunately, kind of accurate. Bellamy is a problem because the first few times Clarke met him, she hated him but also wanted to make out with him, and while the hate faded, the desire to make out with him never did, which just leaves her with a huge, stupid crush on her college roommate's brother, and nothing to do about it because Bellamy, despite no longer hating her and, by all appearances, being pretty fond of her, has showed no signs of wanting to make out with her.

But he also didn't tell her he's going to be naked on TV, and she's not sure what to make of that. All she knows is that she's been reading into it non-stop.

"He got cast on a new show. It sounds really good, like--one of those prestige things, on Showtime, probably really great for his career. He's been really excited? We've been talking about it a lot. But he didn't tell me he's apparently got nude scenes."

"So how did you find out?"

"Octavia brought it up. And it felt like everyone else already knew? She was like, I hope he tells me when the nudity is so I can skip it, and Raven was like, I hope he tells me so I can have a viewing party. And I didn't know at all."

"So you're upset he didn't tell you he was going to be naked."

"Not upset. I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do. Like, do I act like I don't know? Do I watch the episode and tell him--I don't even know what I'd tell him."

"Look, I get why you're overthinking this. I've met you, I know how you are. But he's on a TV show where he's getting naked and he told you about it. He's got to know that you might see him naked."

"So why wouldn't he tell me? Just, like--as a head's up"

Wells shrugs. "You could ask him."

"Yeah, that's normal. Hey, Bellamy, why didn't you warn me I was going to see your dick on TV?"

"Okay, first off. Let's pretend for a second that this isn't the guy you've got a crush on. I know you love pretending you don't have a crush on him."

Clarke glares. "Shut up."

"What if it was me? What if it was my dick?"

"If it was you, you would have told me you were going to be naked." She sighs. "It just bothers me? Like--he told his sister and Raven, why wouldn'the tell me? I thought we were friends."

"Maybe it just came up when he was talking to them and it hasn't come up with you yet. And Octavia is his sister," he adds. "If I was going to be naked on TV, I'd tell all my immediate family so they'd be prepared."

"But not your friends."

He taps his jaw. "I guess it depends. Like, maybe he thinks he shouldn't assume you care. You're an adult, you've seen a dick before."

"So has Raven. I think she's seen his dick."

"So it's probably not a big deal for her." He sighs. "Seriously, I don't know what you want me to tell you. Do I think it's weird? Sure. Do I have any idea what I'd do if I was appearing on TV naked? No. So if you want to know what he's thinking? You've got to ask him."

"You're no help," she mutters.

"I don't know why you thought I would be. You knew this was what I was going to say."

"Would you ask him? If it was you."

Wells opens and closes his mouth, apparently changing his mind a couple times before he finally says, "Honestly? I'd probably try to figure out how to get him to bring it up. Like--drop some hints or whatever."

Clarke chokes on her coffee. "So, on a scale from one to ten, how much nudity is in this? Asking for a friend."

"I was thinking about watching this with my grandmother, any reason I shouldn't?."

"Perfect, yeah." She sighs. "How bad is it that I'm really looking forward to the episode?"

"It's bad because you should be putting more effort into actually seeing him naked and less into worrying about seeing him naked on TV. Maybe he didn't tell you because he's hoping his dick will impress you and he doesn't want you to miss out."

"Is that what you would do?"

"I still don't think there's a ton of point in putting me in hypothetical situations where I'm naked on TV," says Wells. "What would you do?"

It's a valid question, and Clarke clucks her tongue. "I think I'd tell him because I'd feel weirder if he found out on his own. But I don't know how I'd tell him."

"So maybe he's just waiting for the opening. You just need to give him one."

"Like asking if I can watch with my grandmother."

Wells smiles. "For a start. You know when the episode is on?"

"Not yet. The show premieres next month, I think?"

"Cool. Let me know when he's going to be naked."

"Obviously," says Clarke. "What are friends for?"

*

"I think you're going to regret this."

Bellamy scowls, more at his computer than Clarke. "I already regret this. Jesus, how do I decide who to follow? Why are people already following me?"

Intrepid is Bellamy's first really big recurring role, a significant part on a prestige show that's got a lot of network support. It's not necessarily his big break, but it's the best shot he's had, probably ever, which means he's putting in some real effort to capitalizing on it.

Which means he signed up for twitter and then called Clarke as soon as people found out he was on twitter, because now he's terrified. Not shockingly.

"Because the show account welcomed you to twitter and people are excited."

"The show hasn't even started yet."

"Do you understand how publicity works?"

This time, he is scowling at her. "Clearly not. I've been told if I understood how publicity worked I would have already had a twitter."

"Probably, yeah."

"I don't see how it helps me if I don't use it."

"The idea is that you use it."

"Thanks for the update."

"You did call me."

A smile tugs at his mouth. "I did. I saw you followed me."

"Well, I'm a fan."

"Thanks." He cracks his neck. "I can follow you back, right?"

The question actually requires some thought. "It depends on who else you follow."

"Why?"

"Well, if you follow me and like--no other regular people? You're showing that I'm your friend."

"You are my friend."

"I'm just saying, people might read into it."

He rubs his face. "Fuck, am I really expecting people to read into my twitter follows? Is that a thing?"

"I don't know," she says, slow. She's not actually involved in the industry at all, but she grew up around Hollywood, and she does brand management for companies, which is kind of similar. Bellamy's not a big enough deal to hire an actual dedicated person for social media, but she also likes him. She's willing to advise him pro-bono. "But it's better to start off careful than realize you need to be careful and haven't been."

"I guess. Can't I follow you because you're a professional? You do--things."

"It's my personal twitter. I do professional tweets from the agency account. And I'm not exactly famous on any of my accounts."

He thinks it over. "I'm following you anyway."

She's his first follow, which is flattering, even if it's also a kind of terrible tactical decision.

"Okay, you should follow the show too, and the other actors." She worries her lip. "What kind of fan base are you expecting?"

He shoots her a sidelong glance. "What are my options?"

It's not exactly how she planned to bring up the whole nudity issue, but since she didn't really have a plan, the excuse is appreciated. "Are you hot?"

Adorably, he looks down at himself. "Uh, I think so? I look pretty good."

She bites back on her smile. "I meant--is your character showing off how hot you are? Do you think a lot of people are going to follow you because you're attractive in the context of the show? Or are they not going to know you're hot?"

"Oh." He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think being hot is kind of a character trait."

"Okay, so you should expect to get a bunch of followers who just think you're hot. I'd probably try to go for kind of--normal vibe."

"What does that mean?"

"Tweet every couple days with just stuff about your life. Engage with the other actors. Do you have a love interest?"

The pause stretches. "I have a sex scene."

"With a guy or a girl?"

"Guy. It's pretty good, honestly. In terms of being--I don't know. It's how they reveal my character is queer, they haven't specified exactly how yet, and I don't love that, but the scene was well written and I liked how they handled it."

"How explicit?"

"The actual sex scene is pretty tame, but I wander around naked after."

"So you're telling me as soon as that episode airs, you're going to pick up ten million twitter followers."

"You're telling me that. I'm humble."

Clarke smiles. "Okay, fine. Here."

He blinks as she hands over her phone. "What?"

"Log into twitter. I'm taking over your social media presence. I've got this."

"Don't you usually charge for that?" he asks, but he's already putting in his information.

"Usually, yeah. But we're friends." She bites her lip. "Were you going to tell me about the sex scene?"

"Is that something I was supposed to disclose?"

"What if my mom was visiting and I told her we should watch your show together?"

"I assume your mom has seen a dick before." He sighs. "I don't know, it's weird, right? But I wanted you to watch the show."

"And you thought your dick would scare me off?"

"This is why I didn't want to have this conversation."

He really does look a little uncomfortable, and Clarke feels guilt rush over her. It probably is really awkward for him. Just because she's hurt doesn't mean he did anything to hurt her, and he doesn't deserve her petulance.

"Sorry," she says. "It's not--I'm curious. It's not like it's a big deal. It's your job, right?"

"Yeah. And it's a good job, I don't mind. But this is a first for me."

"Hey, at least you look good naked," she says, and he smirks.

"Are you spying on me or just going on blind faith?"

"Not blind faith. Informed faith. I know you have a great workout routine, and you look good with clothes on, so--" He's still smirking, and she glares. "I'm trying to make you feel better, shut up!"

"It's working, keep going."

"I thought you didn't want to have this conversation."

"I didn't realize it would involve you telling me how good I look naked." His expression softens, going gentle in the way that always makes her heart lurch. "I was trying to figure out how to tell you. Without it being like--hey, check out my dick. Or beware of my dick."

"That's what you told Octavia, I'm guessing."

He winces. "She told you? You knew?"

"She and Raven were talking about it. It felt a little weird being the only one who didn't know about your dick."

"Raven's my roommate, she got the first freakout. Right place, right time. Or wrong place, wrong time, I guess? Depending on how much you want to hear about my dick." He clears his throat. "And, yeah, I warned O. She was asking how embarrassing it would be to watch. And then--honestly, yeah, you probably are the only one who didn't know."

It stings a little. "So, you could tell everyone else to check out your dick?"

"Well, Miller and Raven have already seen it." He bites the corner of his mouth. "I was trying to figure out the right approach. Raven told me I was a total failure if I couldn't turn it into a pick-up line, but I wasn't having much luck."

"Hey, check out my dick?" Clarke supplies, heart racing. "It was right there."

"Yeah, but it's not exactly romantic. And I was hoping to, uh--I was really going to do better than freaking out at you about twitter and accidentally talking about my dick. A lot. When you already knew about it. Fuck."

Clarke can't help it; she starts laughing. Bellamy doesn't join her, but his mouth does twitch up into a sheepish smile, and Clarke gets her own reaction under control. "Sorry, just--Bellamy, come on. You didn't have to do anything special. You didn't even have to bring up your dick! Just--hey, do you want to get dinner sometime?"

"That's it?"

"You seem really invested in making this complicated." She smiles. "I like you. It doesn't have to be some big thing. Just--yeah. Do you want to get dinner sometime?"

He laughs, leans in and presses his mouth against hers, a kiss that's supposed to be quick, but she doesn't want to kiss him quickly. She wants to kiss him for hours.

"I definitely want to get dinner," he murmurs, when he finally pulls away. His grin is almost blinding. "You want to check out my dick sometime?"

"Before the episode airs?"

"Special sneak preview. Any time you want."

She leans in to kiss him again. "I'd love to."

*

Raven does have a viewing party for the episode, but since she's done that for every episode, Clarke assumes it won't actually be a big deal.

In retrospect, this was a stupid assumption.

"I didn't even know they made this much dick-shaped food," says Clarke, leaning over the bowl of dick pasta.

"Bachelorette parties. Gag gifts. Trolling your friend about his big sex scene. They're good for every occasion. And some of them aren't technically dicks. The cake is supposed to be a palm tree on an island or some shit. But hey, anything can be a dick if you believe in yourself."

"And you're very dedicated to trolling your friend."

"And I am." Her eyes flick over Clarke. "How weird is this going to be? Watching your boyfriend be naked on TV with all your closest friends?"

"Probably less weird than if I wasn't dating him. This way at least I already know I get to fuck him after."

"Yeah, I guess that would be a plus. I assume you're not going to be overcome with lust or anything."

"Depends on how good the sex scene is."

Raven rolls her eyes. "You two are disgusting. But congrats, I guess. I'm glad he actually managed to leverage a nude scene into a relationship."

"I'm very smooth," Bellamy says, coming up behind Clarke and grabbing a gummy dick out of the bowl on the table. "Shut up."

"Literally all he had to do was ask, and he didn't," Clarke says. "Leverage is a strong word."

"You asked me out during a conversation about my dick. Which was causing you a major crisis. I'm counting it as an overall win."

Clarke grins, leaning back into him. "Definitely a win."

And it is, admittedly, a little weird to watch the scene, but it's the usual kind of surreality that comes along with having a boyfriend who's on TV. Bellamy's a great actor, and it's not really like watching him. The sex he has on screen is nothing like the sex she and Bellamy have with each other.

It's great and all, good direction, good acting, but it doesn't even come close to the real thing. And that's all hers.

[thingsarered20]

Jeremie Belpois and Jerlita

I’ve seen many characters get undeserved hate in fandoms and Jeremie Belpois is definitely one of them. 

(According to some in the fandom this is the face of pure evil)

it’s bad to the point where I can't even google Jerlita to find pics or just jerlita things without Jeremie hate popping up. So, I’m making this Jeremie and Jerlita appreciation post to give you my interpretation of him and the Jerlita relationship. Don’t lose all your life points and grab a snack and cup of tea folks, this is going to be a long essay that’s going to be a four -parter with each part focusing on a season. This part is going to focus on season 1, I’m starting chronologically with XANA Awakens. In XANA Awakens Jeremie stumbles upon the Supercomputer and with it Aelita. Its love at first sight and he decides to try to find her a way out of Lyoko. Ulrich stumbles upon him being shocked by the vending machine and later being attacked by his own robots in his room. Realizing he’s in over his head Jeremie lets Ulrich in on the secret and introduces him to “Maya”(the name he gave Aelita when she couldn’t remember her own). Odd and Sissi later enter the picture and when they are discussing the Supercomputer and Jeremie states he wants them to get “Maya” to the red tower which, at the time, he believed was the way to bring her to Earth.Ulrich at first disagrees and states “Too bad for Maya but its not like she’s human” and Odd earlier referred to Jeremie as “nuts” for “flipping for a program”. Jeremie states that “She(meaning Aelita) is still some sort of intelligent being, and that she has emotions like we(meaning humans)do”. From the start he saw her as a person whose life mattered rather than a packet of computer data and didn’t care that others viewed him as “nuts” for falling for a computer program.Yumi later joins the group and they agree to help Aelita (who figured out her name) deactivate towers so they can buy Jeremie time to find out how to materialize her. This is important because a commonly used argument against him is that he's solely at fault for XANA but the others consented to help him. They could’ve easily told the cops or principal that this crazy kid who fell in love with a computer program was a threat to global safety and had the computer shut down but they didn’t.

In Holiday in the Fog, Jeremie is not only willing to give up his vacation but he’s also willing to taint his reputation as a star student to continue his work on Aelita’s materialization. That’s devotion if I've ever seen it. His sharp tongue against Sissi when she starts prying about XANA was also very amusing to watch and unexpected. We also get a tiny Jerlita scene in which Aelita states “Jeremie, thank you. Thank you for everything you’re doing for me”. To which he replies “That’s ok”. He doesn’t care about putting his personal health him on the line as long as it means Aelita will be safe and free from XANA.

(Gurl if you don't get out of my personal space...)

Cruel Dilemma has Jeremie’s materialization program completed after a blunder by Odd and it is now operational. However, later in the episode, Yumi falls into the digital sea and Jeremie must face the titular Cruel Dilemma:Yumi or Aelita?.Jeremie chooses Yumi and states to Aelita that he is both “Happy and Sad”. She in turn states she knows Jeremie will get her to Earth one day and that she has faith in him. I felt the need to bring this episode up because it shows Jeremie isn’t so lovesick that it blinds him from making the right choice to bring back Yumi. It also goes against the “Jeremie is selfish” accusation that gets thrown his way. 

(The world’s most beautiful E.T reference or the creation of the world whichever you prefer)

Next episode I'm going to talk about about is Frontier, in this episode Jeremie is frustrated at yet another failure to complete his materialization program, and when Aelita states she did a modification Jeremie had already done prior, an already angered and stressed Jeremie takes it out on her and snaps. When he realizes his mistake he feels awful and apologizes but she logs off before he can say anything more. Still feeling horrible and wanting to apolgize to her in person. Jeremie asks Yumi to send him to Lyoko. Jeremie not going to Lyoko is another commonly used argument against him but in this episode he is perfectly willing to go. Not because he’s being forced to but simply because he wants to apologize for hurting someone he cares very deeply for. Yumi presses a button she shouldn't have and the transfer is screwed up and he is locked inside a place between Earth and Lyoko which is known as the Virtual Limbo, Jeremie and Aelita develop an intimate mental connection and are able to hear the each other’s thoughts and feel each other’s emotions.Once she has the scanner’s memory that she needed to save him Aelita is able to enter this virtual limbo and see Jeremie in person for the first time.They desperately reach out to one another and their fingertips touch for a brief single second before Jeremie is sent back to Earth and is found passed out in one of the scanners. His friends take him back to his room and wait for him to wake up. When he does wake he is giddy and states the experience was “FANTASTIC” despite the fact that he nearly died because to him nearly dying was worth that one touch with her. In the end, Jeremie and Aelita discuss relationships and Jeremie reveals that when she came to rescue him, he understood how she really felt about him. We already knew how Jeremie felt since Teddygodzilla, the very first episode, but in this episode we get the confirmation that Aelita feels the same and they now know how they feel about each other. The thing about Jerlita is they already know how they feel about each other after this episode, which is why I felt they never required some big love declaration scene. The scene in the void was basically their big “I LOVE YOU” scene that you’d see in Disney movies only no words were necessary. The moment was too beautiful to spoil with words.

(See what I meant about the E.T reference?)

(There was something different about you this ep Jer...did you get a new pair of glasses? Very hipster)

The next episode I'm discussing is Ghost Channel. While on a mission to Lyoko,Odd makes a mistake on Lyoko but makes a great comeback and states to Jeremie “Next time just enjoy the show and let the REAL pros get the job done, okay?” The implication being because Jeremie does not go to Lyoko he is not a real part of the team. Jeremie is cleary stricken by this and Odd’s “I was just kidding” justification falls flat and Jeremie slumps eyes closed in hurt at the computer chair. 

(As someone who suffered from poor self-esteem issues since I was very young and still has them now as an adult I feel you Jer...)

The next day, after the shock and hurt wears off Jeremie tells his friends they did great but learns they are missing not only from class but it seems they’ve vanished from the face of the Earth, there’s no trace of them in Lyoko or Earth.It is eventually discovered that they are trapped in a Coraline-esque world(I mean that in the it’s an exact copy of Kadic with copies of all the students and faculty to boot way). Jeremie decides without hesitation to go in after them and save them. Before he goes he takes a minute to tell Aelita that he’d “much rather enter a virtual world to find her there waiting for him” but after saying Aelita’s name he hesitates before saying the line. Was he about to verbally admit his love for Aelita but ultimately decided against it? It’d make sense since dropping an I love you on her before possibly dying and never getting to see her again is a burden he probably realizes she could do without. When he enters the world he is confronted with his fake Kadic counterpart. Who it turns out was being played by XANA himself! XANA states that the real Jeremie would never virtualize himself because he’d be “much too frightened” However, the real Jeremie tells his friends to decide which is the real one. His friends rightfully pick the real one and XANA confused by this illogical display of trust and friendship loses all restraint and turns into a twisted version of Jeremie. Aelita destroys the simulation bubble that was holding the world before any harm could really be done and everyone escapes unscathed with the other warriors sans Aelita having no memory of the event. Aelita does eventually explain the situation and the episode concludes with the warriors going to fight off an army of Bloks(I believe that’s how it’s spelled). This episode shows that just because Jeremie does not go to Lyoko it does not mean he is not willing to put his life on the line for his friends and that one does not need to fight off monsters and be able to punch out a giant in one punch to be brave and heroic. That’s actually a pretty superficial way of looking at bravery.

(As overly sugary as this part was, it’s still one of the purest moments in the show)

Come False Start the wait is over, Aelita is here on Earth with the rest of the group. However, she is still bound to the supercomputer and as such they need to break the bond( which was originally believed to be due to a virus). After finding out this information out, Jeremie walks Aelita back to Yumi’s house and what follows is an adorable scene of him introducing her to Earth things such as the cold,flowers, and photo booths. These times don’t last however, and Aelita must go back to Lyoko to deactivate a tower that was being used to materialize Kankerlats into the real word. Jeremie is hesitant at first but, ultimately lets Aelita go once again putting something else before his happiness. At the end we learn that despite the return to the past erasing the walk to Yumi’s the photo booth pictures survived.

(Was it the power of love that saved the photos? You decide!)

Part 2 will be put up sometime

[ilkkijangege]

123

Chad Chronicles is on hold while we work from home.

I'll keep updating this post if anything does happen to us.

Basically, I was telling Jacqui how J*ck told me I should join Tinder, use it during work to find out of he is there and if we would match. But Jacqui was like "what if you don't see him there but his friends see you??" So I was like "Then good na he's not on it 😂 as if he's ever talked about me to his friends 😂"

Then, nearly an hour later, I looked at my "Friends You May Know" on FB (there's a rumor that that is a list of people who's viewed your profile) then I saw that one of his friends are on it!!! I was shook, if the algorithm theory is right, then his friend was stalking me which means he has talked about me to his friends. LOL AYAN NANAMAN OVERTHINKING BES EH 😂

Then Jacqui told me how she asked her bf: if you offer a lift to a girl, does that mean he's interested? Her bf said yes but I shouldn't overthink and wait for another big sign.

Anyways, my Mandalorian plan is still going ahead. 😂

20/3/2020

Well, we didn't really talk online, he welcomed one of the guy on our team because he just got his access sorted today but I did not get the same treatment yesterday 😭

It's G tho 😂 Seems like he really is super smart because I looked into one of his chats and he used the word "futile". I'm just....wow big word 😂

Lol anyways, we're out for the weekend, Disney+ comes out on Tuesday, will try to binge it as soon I can so I can message him by Thursday or something 😂 really hope our conversation can flow naturally. Like I will just say "oh I've finished it and I am now obsessed with Baby Yoda or I can see why you are obsessed with Baby Yoda, he is adorable!" Then hopefully he can be like "What did you think of it?" Etc etc and we live happily ever after. CHOS.

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21/03/2020

Swear everyone is telling me to either text him or to keep my feet on the ground and let the connection grow.

I REALLY DO NOT KNOW. He keeps doing all these things to me and I am always overthinking it. My friends have told me not to but it is sooo hard. They told me to wait for other signs.

I really want to take a risk and tell him but I really do not want to ruin our new found friendship. I mean I really hope he's just waiting to make more signs because he doesn't think it's time yet or something but I just don't want to give give give and not have anything in return. Haaaay Lord, please help me!

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22/03/2020

This morning, I told my mom about the fact that he drove me home. At first, I couldn't tell her immediately, I was just staring at her the whole time and she asked "Anong kailangan mo sakin?" I said "nothing." "Bakit naka tingin ka sakin?" Then finally, I said, "Wala lang, may update lang ako sayo." Then she was like "ano may date ka???" I replied, "No update!!! Hinatid nya ako kila tita nung last time kaming pumasok.." and she was just like "ayie, hinahatid ka na ha." Then she told me, "yan dapat, cool ka lang. Pero tapusin mo muna.." She didn't complete her sentence but I knew she was talking about my FE1s but then she was probably thinking that I am nearly 25 and she should let me be. Hahaha. Then she asks "nag offer ba xa?" Sabi ko oo 😂

Then she asks me if he texts me and I told her no, we only talk in work. Then she replied, "ganun talaga" 😂 hay mother, if she had asked more details, I would have told her how I am getting mixed signals from him kaya di ko tlga sure kung gusto nya din ako 😂 but she didn't, so let's leave that for another time. 😂

Lord, pleaseee I trust you. If he doesn't reach out to me, ako na tlga mag rereach out. Need to binge The Mandalorian asap.

.

23/03

He keeps reading my messages on our GC immediately but does not with other people

ANO BA GUSTO MO PARAMDAM KA NAMAN PLS

Happened again at 16;09 ANO BA HUHU

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24/03

STOP SEEN ZONING MY MESSAGES AS SOON AS I POST THEM AND START TALKING TO ME

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25/03

No sign of Chad life anywhere, he was pretty much quiet today, not reading/replying to messages etc

.

26/03

I FINISHED THE MANDALORIAN YOU GUYS.

I took a risk and messaged him. It took me a whileeeeee but I just took the plunge.

Basically, I asked him how he was and how working from home has been coming along. It took him like 6 mins to reply, which was fine, we were in work so understandable.

He told me he is relaxed but about to get boring. He asked me ‘how about you?’ So I sent him this quite long response how I’ve been relaxed working in my jammies and binged watch Mandalorian, bummed about 2 eps so illegally streamed the rest. Told him that I am now also obsessed with Baby Yoda (he laughed react to this). Then he said how it was dumb for Disney not to release everything at once. (Was upset he didnt ask me what I thought of the show)

Then I told him if Netflix can do it, so can they. But he said people would just sign up for trial, watch it then cancel. Thennnn he asked if I liked it. I said yes except for Ch.6′s characters. He said he thinks you were not meant to like them.

Then I asked him if he thinks Fennec Shand is still alive. He was like which one was HE again? So I told him correction she* (laugh emoji) then explained her character. He was like ‘Oh yeaaahhh. Then boba fett was supposedly the one who found her” I replied ‘yup that’s the theory but I feel like she was pretty much lifeless already and maybe just a teaser for boba fett then?'

Then nearly 3 hours later, I go check our workplace chat and he seenzoned me. Okur. He read the message at 20.27. He better reply tomorrow or I’ll take it a sign that he really just isn’t interested in me.

On a side note, he went on lunch at 6pm, came back at around 7ish but didn't change his Status xD it's either he forgot or na distract na sya sakin CHOS sige laaaangg.

I swear I hope we can talk more tho. Since he seenzoned me, I will not message him again cos I don't want to look eager/desperate so yeah. Byeeeeee.

.

30/03

STOP READING MY MESSAGES, dear heart and head, STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM.

I know you get notifications that "Bianca messaged..." Does your heart flutter when my name appears? STOP OVERTHINKING BIANCA.

Ayan nnmn tayo sa seenzone eh 14:55. Ano ba?

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1/04/20

I had a dream that he messaged me. He asked me how I was and for some reason, he told me to go to Google Music because they were having a sale and that I should make a track for him. (Like what?)

Also dreamt that he took me home again. When we got to our house, he told me we needed to talk. I think he confessed.

Ay ayoko na.

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5/4/20

Why do I keep dreaming about him? I dreamt that he messaged me on FB, really long paragraphs of him confessing his feelings.

Urgh.

Oh and I also paid for a tarot reading of how he really sees me. I mean idk if it's real but there are feelings there but there may be a third party but the reader could not 100% confirm it. It is highly probable, he's a single man who could totally date around. The reading also mention how he finds me attractive and sees a long term energy with me. It also says how he may not be ready for a serious romantic relationship but he can see it progressing down the line. But honestly, I do not see him as someone who longs for sex, yknow? I am nearly sure that he could still be a virgin but the fact that he frequented Krystle in college, makes me question it. I mean, he is a white male, it is something I am not super pressed about.

I've just been thinking, if I were to get with a Filipino guy, is there anyone out there who has never had a girlfriend or who has even dated anyone?

Chad really gives me the vibe of never having a girlfriend before but I really see him as not looking for anything at the moment to focus on his dream job.

.

6/4/20

Okay, why did I have a dream that he proposed to me??

I think we argued over something and then a few days later, he proposed. Wtf.

From what I remember, he only proposed in his car. lol

.

8/4/20

So we had a team call today. He has not been working since like Thursday last week because he could not get his VPN to work.

But dang. I heard his voice after 3 weeks. He sounds the same as in real life but his American accent is more prominent 😂

Then our TL said we might still be working from home for the next 3-4 months and I'm just like. HUHUHU.

Will I be over you by then?

.

10/04/20

Had a dream we were back in the office and we were having banters again like nothing has changed.

I think he also messaged me on Facebook one of these isolation days...

I swear I know it was probably unintentional for him to ghost me like that.

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11/04/20

So I've been searching his Gamer tag on Google, even before I decided to let go of him and there is this one file I keep noticing, it is League of Legends and it seems his password is Yugioh246 😂 it is actually hilarious 😂 I didn't know he is that big of a nerd. I don't see it as a bad thing because I like nerds and I am drawn to them but I hope he is not an incel because that is a major turn off.

Yes, I am not wishing for us to be together anymore but I really hope he finds the woman of his dreams. He deserves to have someone who will understand him for who he is.

.

13/04/20

Another thing, how do I listen to songs without thinking of him?? It is getting frustrating. I used to listen to these songs without thinking of him and now all I do is associate these songs to him. Nakakainis.

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14/04/20

Why do you keep reading my messages then stop reading others' after mine??

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18/04/20

Argh why did I dream of him again?

We were back in the office daw and I sat in a different computer because I was avoiding him as in. For some reason, the coat rack was behind him so when it was home time, I grabbed my coat as fast as I could so he would not talk to me. He was slouched in his seat and looked really tired. His hair was long like mid length sufer dude hair, he was not wearing his hat. But then he saw me and called me and said "Bianca, I'll give you a ride home." I replied, gaga naman ate nyo, "If it's not raining, I can walk but if it is, I'll take the bus." He replied, "What time is your bus?" I replied, "In an hour." He replied, "Okay, if it's raining, I'll wait for you here, let me know." Then I grabbed my stuff from my locker, I went out the office and it was raining. I went back into the office and told him that it was raining. So he got up from his seat and we walked to his car. On the way, I noticed he looked really tired and his eyes were red so I asked him, "Did you not sleep?" His reply was: "Yeah I came to work with no sleep." So we just walked to his car and he opened the door for me. He even adjusted my seat.

Then for some weird reason, we ended up in Dolphins Barn, like the flats and around Tesco. Then there were billboards for Book of Mormons and he saw it he said or read "What about the Mormons?" Then I was confused at first so he pointed at the ads for the Book of Mormons. Then I told him: "Oh I really wanna see that! I heard it's meant to be one of the best Broadway shows." He then tells me he is not a big play fan but there is something he likes. I asked him but he saw another Book of Mormons billboard and pointed to it. Then we reached Reilly's Ave and idk why but my whole family and our old neighbors were all outside. Bsta ang weird talaga na he dropped me off in our old house. Dreams are weird.

So I just thanked him and watched him leave.

Aish why did I dream of you again???

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20/4/20

Had another dream about him. Just why oh why? What are these dreams trying to tell me? I haven't been thinking about him seriously so idk.

Basically in this dream, we were all back in the office. So we got a few newbies who joined our team. And management/TL thought it was a good idea to blend the newbies with the senior agents so there was a complete seat change again. Chad and the guy beside him moved to my old area, as in Chad moved to my old seat. While I was stayed in my current seat. Of course I felt sad that I won't be able to see him face to face as often anymore and that I felt like our friendship will drift apart again.

Basta ano baaa I don't understand this. Do I still have feelings for him deep down?

Oh and he read my message on the group chat again. 10:18am. I mean ok he's been active on the UKI chat today so here's me overthinking again.

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23/04/20

Another day, another Chad dream.

So in this dream, I was in Tesco with my mom or Aldi, anyways a supermarket.

I wanted to make Tacos so I was at the spice aisle, looking for a taco spice mix. Then out of nowhere, he pops up and sees me. Says hello and asked how I was etc, while I was grabbing the taco spice mix.

Then I told him goodbye but I still kept seeing him everywhere in the store even though I purposely was avoiding him.

WHY DO I KEEP DREAMING OF HIM.

It is honestly annoying. 😭

I just wanna move on.

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27/04/20

Been a while since my last dream but I dreamt that he drove me home, yet again, but I only remember the part where we entered Cherrywood and then I just got out of the car and don't even remember saying thanks. I stood at the front door, until he left.

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28/04/20

Arghhh he read my messages again on the office chat almost instantly at 2.37pm 😩😩😩😩 Whereas our own team's chat has been active all day, yet he has not read the messages on there since yesterday morning!!

Were you expecting that I messaged you or something??? CMON IF YOU WANNA TALK TO ME JUST MESSAGE ME. I already messaged you first, it's your turn.

Ugh I hate overthinking this!!

Also, 26th of April marked the 1st month since we last talked. Hmmmm have I fully moved on? I really don't think I have but I am just trying to live my life. Why must you be an introvert Chad, we'll be waiting for each other forever.

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6/05/20

Hmmmm... Beginning to think he actually has 3 siblings contrary to the fact that I thought he said there are 3 of them in the family, him being the eldest, followed by his sister then his younger brother.

If it is his brother that I saw on FB then it makes sense now because remember when he gave out chocolates for Christmas? I heard him say "my brother's work had them on sale" or something along the lines. And the other brother I was aware of was only a kid. This person I saw matches the bill, from Chicago and went to the same secondary school as him. (AND LOOKS LIKE HIM!!! We may be the same age or a year younger because he graduated secondary school in 2014) [yup he is older than me by 6 months and just like his older brother, he is also very much into Star Wars and video games. But he seems more social than his bro. Haha xa na lang date ko 😂 Chad 2.0 chosss Chad introduce me to your bro para di tayo awkward sa work 😂 They are actually only 10 months apart, I wonder if they are close.]

Hmmmmm why am I such a stalker 😂

(7.6 update: nah saw his bro's IG and he seems like a fckboi, his DP is a mirror selfie of him shirtless, showing off his v line abs 😂)

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13/05/20

It's been a while. As of yesterday, he is fully back to work. We had a team meeting on Monday and he was on it. He said they gave him a laptop to work on. I had myself on mute so I was just listening to him. Yes I wanted to join in on the convo but I needed to stop myself. I need to distance myself until I fully move on from him.

Anyways, today, a case was assigned to me at around 8.30 in the morning. I didn't action it because the office was going mad with chats so I said I was gonna action it when I had a chance later on.

Then I noticed that it disappeared from my queue. I went to my closed cases and I saw that he had actioned it. I mean, I am not saying that he did it on his own free will, our TL may have asked him to go through our team's response received internal queue. Which is aight but this case was not originally mine, but one of his office broskis, na mean? So it's either he did not read the email thread at all or he just decided to close it in MY name. I mean he had to type my name and I wonder if he felt something. CHOSSSSSS 😂

But I'm telling you guys, ever since he got access again, my heart started fluttering again just like when I was still crushing on him, before I moved in front of him and he started giving me all these attention that made me fall in love with him.

I have been trying to move on. I even wrote a 7 page journal entry about my feelings. I've been super distracting myself by watching Kim Possible and staying away from sappy romantic shows 😂

I need more time to heal but it will be okay!

Update 14/5:

I got another case from the same broski, which he actioned yesterday and closed it under his broski's name but he closed the other one on mine.

Ugh why am I overthinking this again!!!

Chad please go away from my feelings 😩

15/5

Today, I helped him out with one of his cases.

He said 'thanks!' whereas the past few days, he's only been replying to people on our team with 'ty!'.

Made me overthink again but I was just being ridiculous 😂 'ty' tapos today sakin 'thanks', special ako chos 😂 honestly wasn't that bothered but okay! Stop giving me special treatment please 😂 don't treat me differently from others if you don't feel the same way because it's unhealthy for me 😂

Helped him again with another one and he said 'thanks!' again urgh. Swear tho, I was hesitating a bit when I was helping him. My heart was thumping again like it did before we started getting comfortable with each other 😭😭😭

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17/5/20

Exactly 2 months since I saw him and when he dropped me home.

Oh Chad. Will I ever be over you.

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18/5/20

Helped him with another case because no one was helping him so I was just being nice.

Bianca don't be marupok pls. You've been making progress. Don't relapse now.

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20/5/20

Another day of helping him out....

Basically he asked our group chat for help, no one replied for like 5 minutes so I said I'll help him.

Then he private messaged me about the case. He told me there were a lot and said "ahah". I should have joked around but I didn't or even asked him how he was 😭

But after I helped him, this was his reply:

Huhuhu parang ang happy nya na may tumulong sa kanya. Chad naman, don't do this to me! I am trying to move on 😭

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21/05/20

Haaaayy... Reading my messages again as soon as I post them. Chad Chad Chad ....

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26/05/20

He legit have not read messages on our office GC since 10.30 this morning. I messaged a few times around 3pm and he kept reading them. Ano ba kasi Chad.

Don't be scared of rejection, I know I may not be showing real signs but I am an awkward turtle, just talk to me.

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27/05/20

As usual no one was helping him again so I private messaged him and asked if anyone was helping yet.

His response:

Hahaha cute 😂 so I told him 'give me the deets, I'll send it up'.

He said 'ty!!', gave me the deets.

Then when I completed it, this was his reply:

Hahaha naloka na xa, double a. Choss. I replied with "anytime 😊" 😂 para konti landi to let him know na I am here to help anytime HAHAHAHAHAHAHA chos

BAKIT HIRAP MAG MOVE ON MGA BESH

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5/6/20

So I've been hesitating about posting this but about 2 days ago? I had a dream about him again. It wasn't just him in it but the dream mostly centered about him and I.

Basically, we there was a party in the office and for some reason, I was getting ready at my desk as in curling my hair (so weird 😂😂😂).

Then Chad decided to go out of the computer area, probs was on a break or something. Then my team decided it was a good idea to hide his baby yoda plushie so I hid it in my locker and when he came back, he kept looking for it and we were just laughing at him. 😂

That was it haha.

But you guys, I've been diligently praying for my vocation and I've been getting signs about marriage etc. What if he's the one? God, please give me more signs.

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15/06/20

So it's been a while. I've been helping him here and there over the last few weeks.

Today's response was "awesome, thanks!"

And that made me kilig inside. 😂

I am awesome, chos! 😂

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16/06/20

Just saw the July Schedule and he is taking 2 weeks holidays 😂

Lol fam watchu gonna do? 😂

Tara let's go on a date chos 😂

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24/06/20

I miss him ☹️ But I've been good with not thinking about him a lot but I just really can't wait to be able to ask him out in person hahaayyyy

Hmmmm I also suddenly wondered if he still has the card I gave him for Christmas. That was a cute card, €4 din un ha hahaha

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3/07/20

Yo wassup.

I had a dream, so we were back in the office. We were on the weekend shift and for some reason, I decided I was staying back for a bit more so he left before me.

Basically, from this dream, it seems that we were on minimal speaking terms. So like as he was leaving, at the computer area door, he said bye to me and idk why, I asked him to have dessert with me on Monday 😂 it was weird 😂

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12/07/20

Okur, I had a dream that he dropped me off again in Cherrywood, like just out of nowhere. Like all I remember was that we were walking to his car together.

He even opened my door and carried my bag and walked me to the front door. Haaayyy....

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14/07/20

So today, I was overthinking again.

Basically there was a post in work where an SME asked him to tag his team. He tagged me first over his broskis and that made me quite overthink again. Like the way he tagged our team was not as if it was alphabetical order. So why did he tag me first?

Hahah ako ung unang pumasok sa isip nya

Huhuhu ayoko naaaaa

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19/07/2020

So he is on his 2 weeks PTO from tomorrow.

Haaaaayyyyy miss ko na xa, bakit ba kasi ako ganito. Pero as long as he has not said that he is not interested in me, may chance pa rin tlga kami eh.

Wag lang tlaga xang umalis ng company and it will be grand.

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08/08/20

Been a while since this was updated, nothing's been happening between us so there is nothing to report. But anyways, lately I've been having (r-rated) fantasies about him 😂 argh I just want to be with him 😂

He's also started playing Fall Guys on the PS4, we have something in common na chos 😂

Also, there's an SME position in work and I have a feeling he might apply huhu if he gets it, he'll be level 12 and I won't be able to date him 😭😂

Honestly still think may something sila ng QA namin huhuhu

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16/08/20

So I told MF on the 14th of August about everything that has happened, like how I was getting mixed signals that made me overthink alot to me messaging him twice and being left on read, also how I plan on asking him out when we get to the office. (Also how he dropped me home.)

I told her how it's been very hard for me in the last 5 months, trying to move on from someone I don't even talk to. She was very understanding and told me that she also has not talked to Chad since WFH, as she was also left on read. She said he may not be the texty type because he's quite shy.

I was honestly shook. I thought they talk, even on our workplace chat because they are close in work. Cause I asked her if it was even a good idea for me to ask him out or if she knows if he's seeing someone because I don't want to intrude. I told her I want to take a risk with him but a part of me fears rejection.

She asked me if I ever thought about asking him out for coffee since things are opening up. I told her, yes but I don't think we are in that level where I could just ask him randomly.

So her plan is to build up a rapport with him again and find out the goss. I really hope she can build something up with him and that if ever, this time, there will be progress.

Until I know I have a chance with him, I can't move on. If he's seeing someone, then okay at least I'll know where I stand.

I'll let you know if there's progress.

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19/08/2020

So today, I helped him out with a case.

One of the internal tools was not working for him so he asked for help. I was the first to reply so I told him to send me the details and I'll do it.

When I did it for him, he said 'Perfect thank you!' and I just replied, "No worries 😊" landi landi with that emoji 😂 Wish we kinda had a conversation going though 😭 Wish I asked him how he was but it wasn't appropriate okay 😂

Haaayy can't wait to find out if he's dating anyone or when I'll see him again so I can ask him out. HAAAAAYYYYSSSS.

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9/9/20

So yesterday, I asked our group chat for help on a case. I didn't really expect that he would be the one to respond but he did and that was cute. Awww. ❤️

Looool I wish I could've thanked him personally but other people started helping me out so yeah. But for a brief moment, I was kilig haha

Really wanna ask him out already! But cases are rising again and I don't want him to use Covid as an excuse so I'll wait again until cases have slowed down.

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13/09/20

So today, I had a video call with MF. She told me that she got a new job 😭 meaning, she won't be able to be my wingwoman now 😭

I am happy for her but this cuts down all my chances with Chad 😭

But she did talk to Chad and he applied to the SME role apparently, I think he may have already been interviewed but he didn't hear back from them yet.

MF also said that we should meet up for a coffee date "with Bianca" and he said we should hahaha cmon MF make this a reality please so I can talk to him 😭

[electriccenturypl]

New interview with Mikey and David!

“Way and Debiak's synth-rock band also shares 'You Got It Wrong,' a track previously only available on limited edition CD.

Four years ago, My Chemical Romance disbanded. Since then, each of its members have pursued solo music endeavors in some capacity: Frontman Gerard Way and lead guitarist Ray Toro have unveiled solo LPs, and rhythm guitarist Frank Iero released two -- under frnkiero and the cellebration, later adopting his current moniker, Frank Iero and the Patience.

The odd man out is bassist Mikey Way (Gerard's brother), who, right after MCR’s dissolution, actually seemed to be the the most active musician. He quickly announced a new project, Electric Century, with longtime friend David Debiak (Sleep Station, New London Fire) and in Feb. 2014, released a debut single, “I Lied.” Almost as quickly as they began, things went south for the band, or so it seemed: when Way thought he was meeting his pal to finish their debut album that same month, Debiak had other plans, and drove Way to a rehab facility where he received long-needed treatment.

Electric Century’s journey has been a complicated one of personal growth, loss and addiction. They released their debut LP, For The Night to Control as a freebie in a 2016 issue of U.K. magazine Kerrang! The album will get an official release for the first time ever July 14 via New Jersey indie label Panic State Records. It's an unusual approach to introducing a new band to the world -- while Electric Century has been around since the end of My Chemical Romance, they've actually just begun.  

Confused? We were too, so we asked Way (EC's multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist) and Debiak (lead singer and also, player of several instruments) to break it down for us. Below, listen to the band’s New Order-channeling single “You Got It All Wrong” and read their first in-depth chat in years:

You guys have known each other for a long time now. How did you meet?

Mikey Way: We’ve known each other for 15, 20 years. Dave’s brother works at Eyeball Records [My Chemical Romance's label] and we immediately hit it off.

David Debiak: We shared a rehearsal space. The first conversation I ever had with Mikey, we were talking about music and I said, “Dude, want to play some bass?” He said, “Last week my brother asked me to start playing with him, so I think I’m going to give that a shot.”

The course of history could’ve changed!

Way: New Jersey, like every scene, is incestuous. A bunch of my friends who went on to start bands that are still playing asked me to play something in their band. I was always like “Me and my brother, we’ve got this plan.” There are so many instances of like, “Wow, what would’ve happened?”

When did Electric Century officially start? Was it right after My Chemical Romance called it quits?

Way: It did. I was doing a lot of soul-searching at that time. I still had a lot to say, musically. I had a lot of riffs and vocal melodies lying around. It was pretty seamless jump. There was no time between.

Debiak: We started talking about doing something together when Mikey was on the last leg of the last My Chemical Romance tour.

At that time, were you aware My Chemical Romance was breaking up?

Way: If anything, I thought we were taking break. I thought, “Now is the time because we’re taking a break.” Eventually we all decided it should be more than a break. We initially thought it was going to be a break, then we all did some soul-searching and decided, “No, this is definitely the end.”

When you started writing together, did you know that this is the sound you were going to pursue? It’s different from My Chem -- pretty goth-y, '80s, English…

Way: Yeah! Britpop, new wave. I always wanted to scratch that New Order itch. Since I was a teenager, I wanted to do my version of New Order. I was in middle school when I came up with the name Electric Century. I was in science class, I remember. I used to write band names on my notebook. I came up with Electric Century and was like, “Whoa, I like that, I’m going to remember that one!”

Did you immediately consider Electric Century a serious endeavor to pursue?

Way: Oh yeah. There was a ton of label interest. It got very serious very fast. We started getting attention that I didn’t see very often. Alternative Press had given us a cover at some point and we hadn’t ever played a show. MTV was talking to us as it was unfolding. People were excited.

“I Lied” is the first Electric Century song you released, back in Feb. 2014. That’s also when you conducted the MTV interview where Mikey told them, “I’m a drug addict, I’ve been a drug addict my whole life.” Lyrics aren’t always transparent but in that song you mention darkness, filling veins, lying -- I think lying is a dead giveaway with addiction. Was it meant to be autobiographical?

Way: When we were writing that song, Dave saw what was happening. Drug addicts are notorious liars and at the time, I was a notorious liar about my addiction, that I didn’t have a problem. I was in denial for decades. It was fitting that it was the first song anyone could listen to and that it was released while I was getting admitted into rehab. All of it was this weird cosmic joke -- art imitating life imitating art.

Electric Century spent most of that year in the dark. Later, Mikey, you revealed that it was because you went into rehab.

Way: I came home [to New Jersey in February] but I wasn’t there to record. [Dave] was going to take me to a facility. I thought we were going to finish the album. I woke up at Dave’s house, we went for coffee and I said, “When are we starting?” and he said, “You’re not here to record.”

Debiak: I lured you out here with the thought process that we were going to record and on your way out I researched what facilities were available and who had room. I drove you that day and not for a second did you put up a fight. It was more important for you to get help than for us to finish the album.

Way: It was a relief. It was something I put off for a very long time. That’s the thing about Dave, he cares about me like we’re from the same parent. You don’t run into many people like that in life.

​Mikey, do you think the end of My Chemical Romance, something so tied to your identity, acted as a catalyst for your self-destructive behavior?

Way: 100 percent. The band ended, and I was going through a divorce at the same time. I do the most stressful things in clumps. The way I knew how to deal with that, through life, was to self-medicate so that’s what I did. The tail end of My Chem was so dark for me -- I was in a fog. Life caught up with me at that point, and I was getting by. I was in the ocean with the water by my lips. I was trying to stay up and I was failing. I had always self-soothed through narcotics from an early age.

When you get out of rehab, especially as much damage as I had done to myself, you’re basically starting over. You’re standing outside of this house that you built, you’re lighting it on fire and you have to start over again. You have to learn how to get back what you had without being high. For me to be me, sober, that was the true journey afterwards. When you get out of rehab, that’s when the real s--t starts.

Debiak: I came up to visit you in rehab and we did “Let You Get Away.” We borrowed someone’s old school boom box to play music on and we talked about that song a lot.

That song is the next one you shared, in 2015. Then you released a self-titled EP for Record Store Day -- it reads like you were easing back into the project post-rehab. Were you testing the waters, gauging interest, or is that how you work -- you release things when you have songs to release?

Debiak: Both. Watching Mikey come back together again -- he had to rebuild his life -- I was in no rush to make him do that faster than he needed to. As he started feeling better, we starting talking more Electric Century. There was a period were we didn’t talk at all because he was going through the pains of growing and learning how to be sober. That was more important than Electric Century.

Last year you released your debut LP, For the Night to Control, through U.K. rock publication Kerrang! It seemed like you wanted to make something temporary because it’s limited edition and only a few people would ever hear it.

Way: I was trying to emulate the excitement of when we were teenagers. Like, “Ok Computer comes out at this time, let’s go to the city and wait in front of HMV and we can buy it at midnight.” The only way to do that is to couple it with something. I wanted to give it away. The money thing isn’t a factor. I thought it was more of a statement. We’re releasing it to one part of the world. It’s still not out yet, technically. If you bought the magazine, you have a copy, but it’s not out.

Why give it an official release now?

Way: I was waiting until my life finally made sense again. I woke up one day last summer and it was like, “Yo, there he is!” I had finally gotten myself back 100 percent. Prior to that, I started to creep back into it. I did the Alternative Press Music Awards where I played bass with [Black Veil Brides’] Andy Black. Over the summer I had secretly gone out and played bass with Waterparks on their U.K. tour. I was doing things again. I was re-establishing myself with music again. We didn’t immediately jump back into the machine, which would’ve been a mistake. It’s purely for the joy of it.

What’s in store for the future?

Way: Me and Dave are working on the second Electric Century record. We’re planning two shows: one in New Jersey and one in L.A. It’s a matter of when. I think, down the line, I would love to play the U.K. and Japan with this. I could see us touring this, but I don’t want to jinx it. The project has been around so long, but it’s still new to us.

For The Night to Control is available for pre-order here. “ - Billboard

[meetmeatthecoda]

All right well...

... I didn’t think I’d be making any more posts about The Blacklist any time soon but hey, life has a way of surprising you that way (see: the current American political climate). So I have some feelings about tonight’s ep (WHAT ARE FEELINGS I BARELY REMEMBER) and, believe it or not, they’re mostly good! So, in case there’s anybody still out there who gives a shit about this show and/or my opinions about it, here’s a summation of my current state of mind.

Fair warning: This is a long-ass post.

Okay so last week’s ep was complete shit. The whole “WE HAVE A BIG SURPRISE CAUSE OH NO A MOLE WHO COULD IT POSSIBLY BE OH WHOOPS WE SPOILED IT IN THE PROMO BUT OH WELL WE’LL JUST PRETEND WE DIDN’T” fiasco with nary a scene with both Red and Liz in a room together because, what, like that works? Whatever, you get it, it was crap. But I’m gonna talk about THIS week because my sanity is important to me.

So. I actually thought it was really pretty good (I know, how are pigs not flying and meatballs not falling from the sky). As long as you ignore the vomit-inducing Keen2 playing house and “repairing their relationship” bullshit. (That was physically hard to type btw.) There was actually an interesting, if initially slightly creepy, blacklister story, no completely boring post office team shit, Red displaying some very interesting goals and behavior (ohhh, don’t worry, we’ll get back to that), and some actual Red/Liz interaction. Shocker. So, obviously, I’m gonna focus on Red & Liz because.... well, what the fuck else is there? Okay, so.

First of all, let this lizzington rant be prefaced by the fact that, yes, I know Tom still exists, unfortunately, but he is leaving for the blessed spin-off in February hopefully after a Jupiter-sized blow-up fight with Liz that will make him never come back. Ever. This hope is inspired by the stupid, god-forsaken promo that I accidently saw on NBC the other night where Tom says into a phone, “A second chance. That’s all I want.” Didn’t he already get this? You know, when Liz took back her abuser and started a family with him? Why would he need another (fifteenth) second chance? Did the whole “perfect family” thing with Liz fall through? Why, oh why, would that be? A discrepancy about parentage of one little girl perhaps? (second filming in the shipping container anyone?????? Pleaseijustreallywantthattocometosomethingcanyoublameme) Well whatever. I don’t care what drives Tom away so long as something does. So with the spin-off, I’d like to think we’re pretty much guaranteed that, at least for a little while (dare I type it?) So with that in mind, I’m just gritting my teeth through the Tom scenes for now. Okay, moving on. Also because I apparently have nothing better to do than watch this stupid show out of the corner of my eye while pretending to be on my computer and not let this shenanigans affect me at all

So. Back to where we all want to be: Red&Liz. Based on this ep, they seem to be on pretty interesting footing. Liz thanked Red. Maybe it was a bit of a backhanded compliment. Oh well. I think we’ve come to expect that from Liz. At least she mentioned it. I’ll take it. I was, however, surprised by Red’s rather frosty reception. He’s not groveling at her feet for scraps of attention as he once did. As @ihaveyoulizzington graciously reminded me, Red & Liz still haven’t really talked since Liz faked her death and Red was wrecked. So yeah. Some residual hard feelings are to be expected. Since being reminded of that, Liz’s cheerful, friendly attitude is a little ridiculous, per usual. But I think she is trying to be nice, with the whole Red asking to see her new place (CUTE BABY) and her kindly saying, “not yet, maybe someday” (some DAY?! Not some TIME?! Are you SHITTING me?!) and Red’s cute pouty lip and “welp, okay then, whatever” expression. In summary, I think they’re trying. (The puzzle piece was also very symbolic, I thought. As soon as Liz said “someday” and Red accepted that, the last puzzle piece fit right into place. Maybe with that promise from Liz, Red can start putting himself back together again, just like that puzzle. At least that’s what I got from it.)

And now back to Red’s behavior. From the beginning of this ep, I thought that it was a little strange. The first scene or so of the ep was depicting Tom and Liz’s “blissful home life” (a la the pilot) and then they went to Red in that weird all white apartment, freaking out the real estate lady, when he usually goes to such lengths to put innocent non-criminals, especially women, at ease around him. And for the whole ep, he was obsessed with the white carpet and how there was no stain. Red is usually not stuck on one topic for that long. But he just kept raving on about it with a weird look in his eye. I think he was trying to block out the guilt he still feels (and Dembe is still inflicting) over Kate’s “murder” (in quotes bc she’s still alive bc no one dies on this show). This manic, obsessive behavior coupled with trying to complete an all-white puzzle in an all-white apartment throughout the whole ep was, I though, really meant to represent his current mental state. Kind of shell-shocked, not processing everything that’s happened and affected him more than he’s willing to let on, in denial about a lot of his feelings, feeling distanced/never really reunited with Lizzie, and just his ever present mountain of guilt. Just call him Atlas, amiright? Sorry, I’ll stop. So yeah, I think Red is really lost and hurting and it looks like that’s gonna come to a head real soon and I couldn’t be more glad that they’re actually showing that. ALSO, DEMBE. THAT PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL. I HAVE MANY FEELINGS. Firstly, when that underling Red manipulated into betraying his boss asked Dembe, “Could you shoot your boss?” and Dembe said, “I don’t know.” WHAT. NO. DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE TPTB. DON’T YOU DARE RUIN THE MOST PRECIOUS, INNOCENT, HEALTHY, AND SOLID RELATIONSHIP ON THIS SHOW WITH YOUR BAD CHOICES. NO. DEMBE LOVES RED LIKE A FATHER AND RED LOVES DEMBE LIKE A SON. DON’T YOU DARE RUIN THAT. I WOULD NEVER FORGIVE YOU. IS2G. *ahem* Sorry. I mean I get that Dembe has some hard feelings about Red “killing” Kate, that’s only to be expected, cause I imagine Kate was the only mother Dembe ever really knew. So I get it. But Red is also the only father Dembe knows and Dembe would never hurt him. Never. It was much more in character and exponentially pleasing to me to see Dembe go to Liz about Red instead. Like yes. That is straight out of fanfic and I’m fucking here for it. And before Dembe mentioned the whole “Red ‘killed’ Mr. Kaplan btw I don’t think you knew g2g bye” I was ALL FOR Liz going to Red because SHE’S THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP HIM and saying, “Red… I’m here. Come back to me. I need you to be here.” Etc. Don’t fucking get me started, I can reference a list of approximately 894 fanfics where this happens and I want to see every single one play out on screen. Anyway. In reality, it’s probably going to be an angry confrontation but I’m actually looking forward to it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there will be tension and anger between the two of them because of a NEW ISSUE. NO FATHER DRAMA OR “I WANT ANSWERS” BLAH BLAH this is a new thing that hasn’t been addressed before that has strong emotional connections for both of them and I’m here for that ensuing argument like

Liz: “Red, how could you?! She was only trying to help me! And she loved you! How could you not at least try to forgive her?!”

Red: “She took you from me! I almost died when I lost you and she was behind it all! I cannot forgive that, not even for her!”

Like yes. That’s some good-ass drama and some feelings may come to light and I’m here for that shit. Yes.

Anyhoo, before I get too carried away with that (even though restraint is kind of a lost cause at this point in this endless post), let’s just touch on that promo, shall we? Undercover-thief!Liz. Sign me up. That shit has potential. And with that above argument leading into Liz just snapping, “I’m going undercover. Don’t try to contact me. I think it’s best that we spent some time apart anyway. Goodbye Red.” And then Liz goes undercover to be a younger, hotter, more criminal Liz all while Red looks on with that anger and tension bubbling underneath and he can’t help but find himself even more hella attracted than usual to this especially sexy version of Liz that is all of a sudden a lot more like him. Yus. Gimme some of that, please and thank you. This is practically fanfiction writing itself. I have about 57 scenarios running around in my brain, half that I’ve read in fanfic already and half that I definitely want to read asap. Example: Red not listening to Liz and bursting in on the undercover scene and taking out his frustration with her by introducing himself as her bf or husband or some kind of sexual relation and they get rid of some of that tension by acting sexy for the others cause they gotta sell that fake relationship so Liz doesn’t get made, right? No I don’t have a favorite trope of course not why do you ask Anyway, what I’m saying is this could actually go somewhere, ya know? I’m kinda excited.

Sooooo believe it or not, I will watch next week and hopefully enjoy it. Here’s hoping for a good time. Also PLEASEEEEE for the love of god please let this spawn some undercover-thief!Liz and interfering-criminal!Red sexy fanfic. Please. Okay, thanks bye.

(Also, if you made it to the end of this shit-ass post, you deserve an award. K.)