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florrickandassociates · 3 years ago

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TGF Thoughts: 5x05-- And the firm had two partners...

Hello and happy season 6 renewal! I think I assumed TGF would last three years when it premiered—not five, and certainly not six (this assumption was because I thought the CBS All Access experiment would fail and it would take three seasons for them to admit defeat). Now, I kinda think TGF might just run as long as the people involved want to do it. The way I’ve come to think of TGF is that, because it has no overarching arc or plot and because it is always topical, it is a show without a clear end point. That’s why it’s still fresh even though it is a spin-off in its fifth season. I could see it still feeling fresh in its tenth season if it continues to evolve and change. Anyway, here’s to season six!

Thoughts on season five, episode five, which I didn’t really love, under the cut.

The episode kicks off with TikTok and Jay’s hallucinations... yay. I’m hooked.

Look, before we get further into this episode, I’m going to comment on Jay’s plot as a whole. I am really, really glad this show decided to dedicate screentime to showing how horrific COVID is, and especially how horrific the disparities in treatment by race and class were. The hallucinations pay off about as well as they could. And I still do not like anything about this plot. I wish I could say I did.

Rivi is now out of the hospital and suing Harbor Hospital. He claims that his daughter died of COVID due to their improper care.

I’m intrigued by Rivi’s wife. She’s deaf and reads lips, and her first scene—where she reads the lips of Harbor Hospital’s lawyers privately discussing settlement—establishes that she’s a partner to Rivi and not “just a wife.” (I think this is going to also help distinguish Rivi from Bishop. Both care about families, but we all know Bishop had his wife killed.)

Julius and Diane talk about Kurt’s case. Diane looks incredulous when Julius floats the idea of Kurt taking a deal. I almost laughed at Diane’s expression because, well, she’s talking to Julius, her former client who spent time in prison for something he didn’t do. Luckily the show remembers its history, and Julius notes this to Diane.

Julius also points out that Diane is acting more like Kurt’s wife than his lawyer in this situation, and he won’t share things that are relevant to her personal life but not her professional life.

I am also not going to recap too much of the COVID stuff. Everything I have to say about it is going to be a variation on what I said above-- I'm glad they’re spotlighting important themes but I still don’t like this plot.

I do like that Jay notices Carmen saying “darn” instead of “damn.” She blames parental training and notes she also starts every email with “Dear.”

I do not like that Jay now hallucinates a woman who is literally credited as “naked woman” to illustrate that he has a little bit of a crush on Carmen.

Why are they already bringing the suit before they have found any evidence of discrimination at Harbor Hospital and before they’ve looked into what type of care Pia Rivi actually received?

Jay asks Carmen if she wants to join a group of RL staffers for drinks. Carmen says she’ll think about it. Yay for Carmen plots that bring her into the firm’s social circle.

I also don’t think I’ll have much to say about the Diane and Kurt plot. These FBI investigation plots are always the same: a lot of rehashing of the same fights, lots of new twists and turns where it always feels like the facts are changing, and a clean slate when all is said and done. I was thinking about this the other day and was like, “Ah, wouldn’t it be nice to go back to the good old days before the stakes got so high that the FBI was always investigating one of the regulars”? And then I remembered that season 1 of Wife has a plotline (which ends up being mostly inconsequential) in which the FBI investigate Peter.

The FBI’s investigation of Peter in season 1 is so inconsequential, in fact, that it brings us Elsbeth’s first appearance and I STILL see people thinking that Executive Order 13224 in season 3 is her first appearance. It is forgettable enough that people manage to forget ELSBETH TASCIONI.

Anyway my point here is just that this feels like familiar territory and until the writers prove to me they have something new to say, about Jan 6 or about the FBI or about Diane and Kurt’s marriage, I... am not that invested.

Julius calls Diane out on being part of every conversation with Kurt. This is a good point. This is something that I would like to see the show address more. Didn’t Kurt ask Diane last episode not to be involved? Why don’t we get to see the fallout of that decision and how it impacts their marriage? I know this show is not character driven in the way I’d like it to be, and I know that is part of why it always feels fresh. It just tries my patience sometimes.

Diane looks really red in this scene.

LOL @ the stock footage of an ambulance pulling up in front of Harbor Hospital that clearly says “LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT.”

One problem I have with Jay’s plot in this episode is that it feels very, very similar to the hospital episode of Evil. This is only a problem because the episode of Evil is much better. The hospital episode of Evil uses horror to show racism in the healthcare system; it’s very innovative and suspenseful. This episode wants to do the same thing... but I don’t think the writers found the exact right tone to pull it off. I can see what they are trying to do and admire that they are trying, at least.

I am struggling to articulate why I dislike this plot so much! The best I can say is that something just isn’t clicking. And, honestly, this may just be a problem with how little I’ve ever understood the hype around Jay. I’m not sure if I’ve ever said this before, but the show seems more enamored with Jay than I am, and I’m always at a little bit of a distance from the character. (I suspect it’s an acting thing, not a writing thing.)

There is also just a LOT going on in all of the Jay/hospital scenes, probably more than is needed to get the point across. It’s like the episode can’t decide if it’s all in on being horror, if it’s trying to be surreal, if it’s trying to be quirky, if it’s trying to be heartfelt, if it’s trying to be pointed, or if it’s trying to be about Jay’s emotions. I actually think this plot would’ve worked better if it were a little toned down.

Starkey is in Diane’s office and it’s time for one of those scenes that happens in all of these FBI plots where the FBI agent is annoying and then the person they’re annoying walks away and is sassy towards the FBI. This scene feels like a mix of the one in the season two premiere where Starkey tries this strategy on Maia and some of the clunkier moments of the TGW series finale.

Danny Pino is on The Good Fight now! I’m excited to see him! He’s super charismatic; I see why they had him playing a politician on BrainDead. On this show, he insists everyone call him Racehorse.

Racehorse is now representing the hospital, and Carmen is a little outmatched.

Predictably, Racehorse’s strategy is to try to force Rivi to testify by bringing a countersuit. Testifying is obviously bad for Rivi since he runs a criminal enterprise and would have to answer questions under oath.

Really long pause before the credits. Also, I don’t like this thing where we don’t get to see Liz until after the credits. I demand more Liz!

This episode is called “And the firm had two partners” but has nothing to do with Diane and Liz and the drama about who should be a name partner. It barely even has anything to do with Liz! Misleading.

Yay for Nikki M. James, who directed this episode!

Okay, I saw a post on Reddit about how everyone looks red in this episode and didn’t think anything of it, but on rewatch? That post is spot-on; everyone looks red. The scenes in Diane’s home are particularly bad. Kurt looks like he has an awful sunburn.

I’m glad to see Diane’s home also has a kitchen; I was getting concerned it really was just that one room.

I love Diane and Kurt but sometimes their plots rely too heavily on just being like, she’s a liberal! He's a conservative! Tension ensues!

This episode is, sadly, Wackner free and very light on Marissa. I am fine without Wackner for an episode (sometimes a break from gimmick is nice) but I really miss Marissa’s energy.

Diane asks Marissa to investigate something related to Kurt’s case. Marissa’s not thrilled, seeing as she is no longer an investigator and has two other jobs, but she agrees anyway.

Diane doesn’t learn, does she? Two scenes ago she was apologizing to Kurt for meddling and revealing info he didn’t want her to reveal (the name of the rioter) and now she’s trying to get more information so she can... put herself in a position where she can act on more information Kurt doesn’t want her to act on? Cool.

LIZ!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

Rivi and Isabel want to talk to Liz without Carmen present. Isabel, wisely, wants Liz to be on the case along with Carmen. Liz protests, but Isabel insists. She notes that she could see some associates using a racial slur against Rivi... and Liz knows she has to join the case to keep Rivi on as a client. She apologizes and then fires all three associates involved in the joke.

There’s a whole subplot about a doctor who posts TikToks that allege racism at Harbor Hospital, but also silly TikToks to boost her follower count. I do like that they allow this doctor to be both someone who wanted to do good and someone who wanted fame.

After this, though, we lose the thread of the TikTok dancer (and of the COTW, kind of) because the plot becomes more about Jay. That’s fine, though it’s a little bit clunky.

There’s a reveal that Jay’s hallucination of Frederick Douglass is actually a fellow patient who was in the COVID pit at Harbor Hospital with him. As I said before, this is the best payoff for the hallucinations possible, but there were still too many scenes of the hallucinations.

Wow, I actively do not want to watch these scenes a second time.

NRA lady from the season 2 panel (with Adrian, Mr. Elk, the Florrick fan, etc.) is back. She is friends with Kurt, because of course she is, and could speak up and defend him. She doesn’t want to.

God, I hope he isn’t fucking her. I can barely do another one of these FBI plots—don't make me sit through another Kurt Likes Pretty Ladies with Guns plot.

Even though NRA lady doesn’t want to speak up, Marissa has followed Kurt and identified her.

More stuff happens with Jay.

What if the hallucinations don’t end with this episode? I like showing that Jay is a long hauler but omg do I loathe these hallucinations.

I do like that Jay clues Carmen in on the hallucinations.

Why is Julius even allowing Diane to tag along on visits to Starkey, and why must this gag with the dead birds keep going?!?

More Jay stuff.

I just don’t get why they’re asking about the Pit, where Jay and lots of other black or brown people with COVID were held, before they have any idea where Pia Rivi was held in the hospital. Are they just trying to fact-find?

Shockingly, Pia Rivi was never sent to the Pit and actually received special care because no one wanted to anger Rivi. I... would have assumed this from the start or looked into this before bringing the suit? I know the whole point of this case is to get to explore Jay’s experience in the hospital and shine light on disparities in healthcare but I can still nitpick!

Jay recalls hearing someone say that he was taken out of the Pit and given better care after the hospital received a call. He asks Liz if she made that call—she didn’t. She says she wishes it had been her, but she didn’t know the situation was that bad. I’m a little surprised we didn’t get references to Adrian or Marissa here. If they could’ve made a call, they absolutely would’ve. Adrian’s like a father to Jay, and Marissa is a loyal friend. Adrian has enough sway to get Jay better care, and you KNOW Marissa is resourceful and connected enough to get him good care.

I really love this Liz and Carmen scene where Carmen asks Liz for advice and Liz helps her out. I like that Carmen still has things to learn—and knows it—even as she’s a great, capable, talented lawyer.

Carmen starts to leave, then turns around and says, “I want to learn from you. I don’t... My attitude is knowing, but it’s just my attitude. It’s not who I am.” YES! I’m so glad we’re getting lines like this that make Carmen’s personality clearer. She’s not a malicious sociopath who wants to defend drug dealers and help bad people get away with horrible crimes. She’s a new lawyer who wants to be ready to handle anything, make a name for herself, and come across as untouchable. This line makes everything click into place: this is why she’s willing to represent Rivi, put forward her own strategies, and be so polite it's rude to Liz... and why she also would rather stay at RL than go work full time for Lester.

Liz smiles, realizing she’s gotten through. “Carmen. When I was your age, I acted exactly the same way. I wanted to be perfect. So, I acted like I was perfect. Because bluff is always a part of it, but just... just let me help you, when I can. Ask questions.” I believe it. And now I really just want to see an episode where young Liz and young Alicia face off. My guess is Liz tried to project boldness and fearlessness, while Alicia tried to project hyper competence and that’s why they clashed (and why Alicia was thought to lack a “killer instinct”). Okay, okay, I’ll stop talking about Alicia.

Racehorse deposes Rivi and it ends with Rivi beating the crap out of Racehorse. I assume this is setting up a longer arc. You don’t introduce a personality as big as Racehorse played by a Kings-favorite like Danny Pino without having plans.

Also, it’s heavily implied that Isabel is a huge part of the leadership of Rivi’s drug empire. I’m no longer surprised by “actually the wife isn’t so innocent and is also a criminal!” reveals, but I still like this. I think it works better because there’s never any implication that Isabel is an unknowing innocent. Rivi treats her like his equal from their first scene together; she clearly is aware and okay with his prison time and the accusations against him.

We spend a lot of time on how the whole fight was caught on camera. Wonder if that will come back. (I can’t remember—did that accidental sex tape of Maia and the DNC girl ever come back into play?)

Diane threatens NRA lady until she agrees to help Kurt out.

Jay asks Diane if she made the call to help him. She didn’t. Like Liz, she’s apologetic that it wasn’t her.

Turns out it was David Lee. He claims it was a business decision. Sure, David. This is so fitting with David Lee’s character—he's always doing stuff like this. And he always likes to say it was about business. I think he secretly has a heart, though.

(I don’t have much to say about this reveal since it’s familiar territory for David Lee.)

I like that Jay’s hallucination appears to him as his friend, rather than Frederick Douglass, in his last scene of the episode. I hope that is the end of the hallucination plot.

Kurt gets the news that NRA lady is going to speak up for him. He tells Diane and says “it’s amazing how close we came to disaster right then,” as they have a drink. KURT AND DIANE, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER—IT IS NOT OVER UNTIL IT’S OVER. And this? Is not over! Does anyone really think this is over!? It will be more surprising to me if NRA lady actually follows through and this all gets wrapped up than if there’s a Big Twist.

I know these writers and I know these arcs. They are meandering and full of twists and turns and add up to a complete picture that doesn’t really hold together. That’s why I’m so negative on this episode even though I’ve been positive on the arc in the past. This feels like the mid-season misdirection that it almost certainly is, and I was hoping this arc would be a little more about commentary and a little less about convoluted plot nonsense.

Diane and Kurt dancing at the end of the episode HAS to be a reference to Diane and Will’s post-victory dances, right?

#this is definitely shorter than most of my recaps because i had VERY little to say about most of the plots in this ep #the good fight #tgfthoughts

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forestwater87 · 4 years ago

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Every episode of Camp Camp ranked: A very (non)objective list

It's well past the time of year when Season 5 of Camp Camp would've dropped. I fully understand and support it not coming out; the crew's health and safety are much more important than a comfort show.

However . . . man, would it be nice to have some comfort right now.

So I'm reliving the entire series! I've been known to share with the world a whole bunch of Spicy Hot Takes, but I've never really sat down and talked about my feelings about the show as a whole.

And what's the best way to do that? Well, just ask Jenny Nicholson: a numbered list! That is, here's the series ranked from worst episode to best, because I want to get the negativity out of the way early and focus on everything I love (and because people enjoy complaining, so let’s frontload all that).

The takes will be hot. The feelings will be intense. The post, I'm assuming, will be largely unread.

Let's do it!

Oh and duh, there are spoilers. I tried to keep it pretty chill, but you’ll want to have watched the whole show or just not care about spoilers before going forward.

Also slashes in the middle of “naughty words” are meant to prevent this from being kept out of the main tags. Who knows if it’ll work? I don’t.

60. Who Peed the Lake? (Season 4, epis/sode 3)

Ah, good ol' Pi/ss Lake (or as @hopefullypessimistic84 calls it because she's funnier than any of us will ever be, “Pis/s Fe/tish Dot Com”). Terrible, one of the few I’d consider nigh unwatchable. I actually kind of love this episode for being such great shorthand for "the absolute worst one."

Who signed off on an entire episode centered around Sherlock Holmes meets a bad om/o joke? Give me names and addresses: I just want to talk.

59. Reigny Day (Season 1, episode 6)

And nobody was surprised.

I'll admit I'm more willing to defend this episode than many people, but it's not . . . like, good. It seemed okay when there were only 11 other episodes to compare it to, but now that there have been so many bangers, this comes across as extremely weak.

And let’s just say the Na/zi jokes hit a lot differently in 2020 than they did in the summer of 2016.

I’m overall happy with the direction the showrunners have moved Dolph’s character in, and I can’t totally blame them for using a kind of humor that was fairly common in the pre-Trump era, but yikes, this has aged like milk. And it wasn’t even very funny at the time, so it aged like milk that was already pretty bad to begin with.

58. Squirrel Camp (Season 4, episode 10)

This is a dumb one.

Not much else to say; it’s just kinda stupid and lame.

57. Fashion Victims (Season 4, episode 13)

I love Sasha, but this is filler. Which isn’t in itself a bad thing -- I have a couple episodes near the top that could reasonably be called filler, and a valid argument could easily be made that “filler episodes” don’t actually exist in a show with no plot -- but as much as I adore the Flower Scouts and enjoy the handful of good moments we get in this episode . . . who cares? Does anyone really give a sh/it about anything that happens here? Does anyone get their life from this one?

I didn’t think so.

56. Foreign Exchange Campers (Season 3, episode 3)

I know, I know, your Russian waifu came from this episode. Why do you think it’s so low on this list?

Okay, for real: this is . . . fine. It’s fine. It’s fine? I’m not mad at it, it just feels tonally incongruous and not very memorable beyond the fact that the fandom got really weird and kinda gross about Vera. But the episode itself? There’s some cute stuff with Neil and Nikki being jealous, but for the most part it’s a big hunk of white bread with some super mild white cheese that’s kinda soggy from sitting in a bag for too long and getting all condensation-y.

That is to say: it’s fine.

ETA: Space Kid does say “fu/ck.” I can’t decide if that’s a point in the episode’s favor or against it.

This is the last of what I’d call the “bad” episodes. Everything after this ranges from mediocre to mind-blowingly amazing. But whatever our failing tier of Camp Camp episodes is, it stops right about here.

Onto the good stuff!

55. Night of the Living Ill (Season 2 Halloween episode)

I keep switching this with “Eggs Benefits,” which probably means they should be tied. But whatever, this is my list and I am in charge and I’ve finally decided, after like 5 changes, that I like this one a little bit less.

It’s a fun Romero parody with nothing I’d call bad. Really this one’s only so low on the list because I think it’s kinda icky, and looking at those green snotty faces makes me queasy. If you think this is a bad reason to put it near the bottom of the list, then make your own post.

54. Cameron Campbell Can't Handle the Truth Serum (Season 4, episode 11)

I . . . don’t remember this at all. I initially had it a bit higher because I tend to love things with Campbell in them, but then I realized that nothing about this episode stuck in my brain even a little bit.

Oh, this is the “Dolph has autism” episode that made everyone either extremely happy or really mad? Okay. I guess that’s the most remarkable thing about it. Neato.

Cam, I love you, but this was just not the best use of your sleazy charm.

53. Eggs Benefits (Season 2, episode 9)

This is one of those episodes with enough cute moments and good ideas to save it from being totally unmemorable, and I mostly enjoy rewatching. Platypus being a mom is a fabulous idea, and pairing the campers the way they did was mostly really interesting and fun.

The Preston-Nurf stuff takes it down several pretty significant notches, though. It’s what the kids would call problematic, and while I normally enjoy how the show doesn’t skew away from darker themes and jokes, it didn’t really fit either of their characters and just . . . isn’t fun to watch. It’s not especially funny, it’s not especially tragic, it’s just uncomfortable.

52. Camp Campbell Wants YOU! (Season 1, episode 0)

Honestly, this would be a lot higher if it was a full-length episode. It’s funny.

The next 5 or so episodes fall under the “cute but not very memorable” umbrella:

51. Nikki's Last Day on Earth (Season 3, episode 4)

I love the ensemble episodes, so this was always going to score higher than any of the single-character “meh” eps. I didn’t see the twist coming, though I know a lot of other fans did. Textbook example of “cute but not very memorable” -- the Platonic ideal of that concept.

50. The Candy Kingpin (Season 3, episode 9)

A clever idea that plays on Max’s worst characteristics and then calls him out for them, while also giving Dolph some much-needed character development. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it really picks up until the last third of the episode, leaving the rest just kind of sitting there.

49. Campfire Tales (Season 4, episode 13)

Who doesn’t love campfire stories?

That’s all I got. They’re campfire stories.

ETA: OH SH/IT THIS ONE HAS THAT REALLY SCARY STORY! Where David’s all like . . . Slenderman’d. Fu/ck, I didn’t remember that until I was writing out my thoughts for #35 or so. That definitely elevates it, but I’m too tired to try and re-decide where this should go, so just tie it with “New Adventure!”

48. New Adventure! (Season 4, episode 4)

New trio! Focusing on these 3 was a definite risk, and I think it really paid off. While the “plot” itself isn’t anything special, there are a handful of really great side gags (hi, Dirty Kevin!!!!) and it’s fun to see these three interact. They all get some nice character beats. It’s a good time.

47. Something Fishy (Season 3, episode 8)

This might’ve hit me harder if I’d actually seen The Shape of Water, but the send-up works fine without having more than the seen-the-trailer level of understanding. Gwen dresses pretty, which I love; Max sucks, which I also love. What drags this one down is mostly feeling like the surreal aspects of the comedy go a bit too far into the “what the fu/ck am I looking at?” territory without really . . . making an actual joke beyond “look! Wacky!"

Why is David at the opera with a bird? Why??

46. City Survival (Season 3, episode 11)

Literally do not remember a single thing about this episode except David getting mugged and being called a “homeless twi/nk.” That should probably rank it lower on the list, but David being a fluttery mother hen saves it for me -- as does the fact that it leads directly into one of my favorite episodes, and the single best story arc of the series.

Next set of episodes is what I’m going to arbitrarily call “okay! but like the good kind of okay, not the bad kind.”

45. Bonjour Bonquisha (Season 2, episode 7)

Max and Sasha masterminding a scheme is really fun; their dynamic is great (though it won’t be fully realized until Season 4), and heartbroken David is so tragically cute it actually makes my heart explode out of my chest.

Also I can’t resist a good “3 kids in a trench coat” gag.

44. Anti-Social Network (Season 2, episode 2)

Neil is very relatable and I don’t have much else to say about this one. It’s fun to see an episode that more heavily focuses on our nerdy science boy, and Max and Neil teaming up to save Nikki was really charming and sweet and set my Makkiel ship out to sea.

43. A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever (Season 2 holiday episode)

Why does this episode have a musical number? It’s not good.

Okay, that was mean. This is fun and cute and Gwen wears a pretty purple sweatshirt and Space Kid gives her a present and it’s really sweet. But that musical number is an instant fast-forward for me, sorry.

42. Preston Goodplay's Good Play (Season 4, episode 7)

We get some Preston character development! Awesome!

It’s done in a really trippy and surreal way that totally fits his character and heightens the drama of the episode! Awesome!

David has an apparently-tragic history of being a French mime! Not a good call!

Next tier: Some good sh/it! (Tbh, these could all be put in just about any order; they might as well be one massive tie.)

41. Cookin' Cookies (Season 2, episode 11)

I love the Flower Scouts. I love Dirty Kevin. I love the idea of accidentally starting a dru/g empire. Another weird, borderline experimental one focusing on side characters, and I think it works better than “New Adventure!” because the scale of the melodrama is just so over-the-top.

The fact that this is in the bottom 20 but I have nothing but good things to say about it illustrates how dang good this show is. It’s only getting better from here, folks!

40. Romeo & Juliet II: Love Resurrected (Season 1, episode 7)

Preston is a terrible playwright. This makes sense, because he’s like 11, but he’s the kind of hilariously bad I wish I’d been as a preteen, because his play is absolutely bonkers. Max fucking with David is great, Tabii vs. Bonquisha is great, Bonquisha in general is a giant amazonian goddess and I want to be swept up into her giant arms. Neil is . . . a robot, for some reason?

So much fun!

39. Camp Cool Kidz (Season 1, episode 4)

I don’t love Ered’s characterization in this one, but there are a lot of wacky hijinks in this episode that I think make it really enjoyable. Max’s wide-eyed revolutionary naïveté is a fun change from his usual dour pessimism, and Nikki’s loyalty to Ered is both very gay and very charming. Plus we get to learn a bit more about how the camp operates (and fails to operate), and it’s a nice way to better establish the campsite as its own setting.

(Definitely think “Cool” should’ve been spelled with a K though. But whatever, I don’t write for the show.)

38. Scout's Dishonor (Season 1, episode 3)

The birth of Neeancy! The introduction of the Flower and Wood Scouts! Neil saying “cu/nt” -- one of the first and only truly shocking uses of profanity in the entire show! ZUKO!

I don’t know if my fondness for this one is rooted mostly in nostalgia or if it was actually really fun, but I enjoyed the he/ll out of it. Not as highly-rated as some other episodes mostly because it doesn’t really do anything, character or story-wise, but not every episode needs to be a massive game-changer that drowns us in feels. Sometimes it’s enough to have a fun romp, and this is very that.

37. Ered Gets Her Cool Back (Season 3, episode 2)

Awww, Ered. I have a soft spot for her, because I love the archetype of a spoiled bit/ch clearly still figuring out how to be a person and have friends. You really get the sense of her as a teenager trying to sort her shi/t out in this episode, which I would love to see more of. Her interactions with Nerris are top-tier, and I like that it’s a continuation of how her character’s been softening since Season 1 into this kind of big-sister figure.

Also, all the female campers in this show are lesbians. I do not make the rules.

36. Attack of the Nurfs (Season 4, episode 2)

I feel like this is a pretty underrated episode. But then again, I feel like Nurf is a pretty underrated character, so maybe that’s just my own personal bias.

I really enjoyed all the different iterations of Nurf, and I think Blaine did a killer job giving each one its own personality and life. It’s a fun episode that plays hard with cartoon physics (a 3D printer printing people! I love it!) and has a surprisingly moving ending.

At least, that’s what I think. Most other people seem to find this one pretty forgettable. Again: make your own da/mn list. I liked it.

35. Mascot (Season 1, episode 2)

This entire episode is memorable for so many things, but a few of my favorites:

David is established as kind of a di/ck.

Platypus arrives and kicks all the as/s.

Quartermaster is the best.

Nerris, Harrison, and Space Kid all get little moments to show off how cute they are.

Neil and Nikki bonding.

This:

34. Quest to Sleepy Peak Peak (Season 2, episode 3)

I love watching Nerris and Harrison bicker, and Neil and Nikki fit really well into their group. It reminds me of being a kid, and of playing Dungeons & Dragons (as an adult, because I’m so cool), and of summer . . . which is a really good thing for this show. There are a lot of funny one-liners, and it’s just a good dang time.

33. Quartermaster Appreciation Day (Season 2, episode 6)

I don’t think this one is all that well-loved, but I thought it was funny. There are literally zero important plot or character moments, but it made me laugh a lot, and that’s all I need a Camp Camp episode to do.

I love QM, and the more we learn about him, the more confused and disturbed we end up being. What a fu/cking champion.

32. Arrival of the Torso Takers (Season 3 Halloween episode)

I lowkey hated this one when it came out, because I knew the Daniel stans were going to be exhausting. And they kind of were? But looking back, it’s a great way to reintroduce this motherfu/cker. He’s a lot scarier than he was the last time around -- but also less competent, which is a great way to kick him in the proverbial ba/lls -- and while I wish it had a lot more Gwen in it, it’s a clever and creative Halloween episode.

31. Operation: Charlie Tango Foxtrot (Season 3, episode 10)

Charlie . . . Tango . . . Foxtrot . . . CTF . . . OH! Capture the Flag! I never got that before. Oh, that’s neat. I love this show.

Listen, every time the writers decide to take a risk and do something bizarre and creative, I’m going to be here for it at least a little bit. An entire episode told from the POV of the Woodscouts, explaining how hard they failed in all directions? A great gag where everyone in Petrol’s story talks in grunts? The return of Jermy Fartz?! Fantastic.

30. Panicked Room (Season 4, episode 16)

Listen. I’m a sucker for my trash grandpa; anything Campbell-centric is probably going to be pretty good (except #54), because he’s just one of the most consistently funny and engaging characters. Good times are had whenever this terrible man is on the screen, and giving him a romantic backstory? A tragic romantic backstory full of mistakes and emotional damage?? One where he waited 17 YEARS for the love of his life???

We have no choice but to stan.

29. Party Pooper (Season 4, episode 15)

I’m so predictable. If you put Gwen in something, I will be happy. If you make an entire episode about how Gwen is under-appreciated and overworked and just trying to do her best despite the circumstances, I will dedicate my firstborn child to you.

Anyway, this episode is really sweet, and I liked the unexpected direction the writers took her relationship with her dad. He seems like a nice guy, they seem like they have a nice relationship, and . . . well, an episode about how hard it is to be an adult millennial hit pretty hard. Plus this was just a really pretty episode -- and not just because Gwen was in so much of it! Seriously, that night sky was a thing of beauty.

Also if you say a fuc/king word about Max and that godda/mn dog I will choke you out with your own intestines. Few things are more hilariously, annoyingly ironic than the fact that the entire fandom ignored and failed to appreciate Gwen . . . in the episode all about how everyone ignores and fails to appreciate Gwen.

28. Culture Day (Season 3 holiday episode)

Now, would it be arrogant to point out that I had the idea for a Culture/Heritage Day back in September 2018? Yes, especially since I don’t think the writers ever read fanfiction and it has literally nothing to do with this episode. Will that stop me? He/ll no it will not! I am a creature of ego! Read my stuff!

Anyway, this is a really fun look at Neil’s background, personality, and relationships. Max looking out for him is just . . . oh my god, I cannot, I’ve written like 30 of these and my brain is starting to melt, but these two are so cute. I love arrogant Neil, and I love protective Max, and I love QM and Gwen fuc/king over the Flower Scouts to save the day. Everything about this episode is lovely.

27. Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper (Season 3, episode 7)

This should not be ranked so high (even if these are all essentially tied). This is a dumb episode based on a really, really dumb premise.

But . . . I don’t know what to tell you. “Samboy Kidwell,” Max realizing he and Campbell are disturbingly similar and not liking what his future could look like, David’s “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” face . . . this episode happens to hit all of my favorite things. It had a really good balance of heavy-handed moralizing and goofs, it was part of the most graceful lead-up into a finale the show has ever had, and I’m just all about it.

Excellent job, Samboy. Count Olaf would be proud of your disguise.

There ends the “some good sh/it” tier. We’re starting to get into the really excellent stuff now!

26. Parents' Day (Season 2, episode 12)

I know. You want this to be higher. I hear you.

Honestly I’m kind of shocked it’s this high; it’s my least favorite of the season finales so far, and I had to push past a lot of prejudice to actually rank this where I think it deserves to be, as opposed to somewhere in the like mid-40s. Mostly because it gave fuel to the raging inferno of “Max has terrible parents and David should adopt him” headcanons, which I’ve detailed my problems with extensively in the past (in a post that, statistically speaking, none of you have read).

But, trying to be objective: is this episode actually any good?

Well . . . yeah, it really is.

So much work was put into giving each of the campers families that make sense with their characters and bounce absurdly well off of them, ranging from wholesome and adorable (Nerris’s family) to quietly tragic (Harrison’s parents), and they’re all designed so well; they’re fun to look at and fun to watch interact with the kids and each other. (The only exception is Dolph’s dad, who is both kinda lame and misattributes the cause of the weird Na/zi thing because it did not come from Germany, I assure you. But things with Dolph are always a little off, and I don’t really know how you would give him a backstory that actually works with the character, so they were caught between a rock and a hard place there.)

The drama of David having to choose between the man he considers his father and the camp he considers his home is really touching, and him and Gwen choosing to take a sad camper out to get pizza instead of covering for their boss’s a/ss is such a beautiful moment for both of them that I can’t really blame the fandom for losing their mind over it. Campbell’s arrest leading into the arcs of the next two seasons was great as well, and the finale left us all with this weird sense of foreboding because we didn’t know what was going to happen next; it was the only finale that actually ended on something close to a cliffhanger, while still being satisfying enough to keep us all from melting down.

Plus, it’s funny. Carl and Candy are really funny and the idea of Neil and Nikki’s parents boning is funny in a horrible way. The joke about Quartersister is funny. It’s a good episode.

Should this be higher? Maybe, but I can’t bring myself to put it above the rest of these episodes. Again: make your own list.

25. Mind Freakers (Season 1, episode 10)

The episode that launched a thousand ships. Assuming those ships are all Harrison/Neil, anyway.

It’s hard to talk about these Season 1 episodes because they feel so classic. Like, what is there to say? You’ve all seen it a couple dozen times; I’ve seen it a couple dozen times. Harrison is a di/ck, Neil is possibly an even bigger di/ck, and magic may or may not be real. (Though spoilers for literally every season: yes, magic is definitely real.) It’s so much fun watching these two smug as/sholes snipe at each other in an almost literal playground hair-pulling way that could very easily be read as flirtation.

And the fandom did most certainly read it that way, at least for a little while.

24. Gwen Gets a Job (Season 2, episode 8)

It’s Gwen. What, was I supposed to not put it this high?

This was the first Gwen-centric episode, and it absolutely slaps. She’s pushed to the breaking point and responds by being a cold-hearted BAMF, and it got her some pretty significant hate from fans but I don’t give a fu/ck, I loved it. We got to see her all dolled up, and then we got to see her all disheveled, and both of those looks were gorgeous. David gives her a tiny fragment of the love and validation she deserves (I don’t know if this is when gwenvid started taking off -- I think it wasn’t really until “Parents’ Day,” or even Season 3 -- but I ate that s/hit up).

Also, again: job hunting post-2008. It’s a bad time, y’all. Camp Camp gets it.

23. Follow the Leader (Season 4, episode 6)

Yeah, I was kind of surprised at how high this landed, too. I guess I’m just a sucker for unlikely companionships, and these three have a great chemistry. The combination of competitiveness, sass, and reluctant admiration make their interactions a lot of fun. Their motivation of doing petty errands for Campbell for the sake of getting at the Box of Illegal Contraband is a great framework too, with high enough stakes to justify all sorts of wacky shenanigans without causing actual anxiety.

I want to see these characters forced to spend more time together. Please, RT, make that happen.

22. Escape from Camp Campbell (Season 1, episode 1)

In terms of numbers, this feels so low, but considering everything from about #45 on is ranked as at least decent, this is actually a pretty high rating. There are 21 episodes I’d call better than this, but these decisions were all pretty painful.

This introduces us to everyone! The main trio, the counselors, Mr. Campbell; we get a snapshot of the major personalities running around the camp, the major points of conflict (Max vs. David, primarily), the major building blocks of future episodes, setting, and relationships . . .

Again, I don’t know how much of my love for this episode is nostalgia -- there’s a lot of squeeing at familiar faces and gags; this is the first time David gets hit by a bus!!! -- but it was a fun and funny introduction to a series that’s ended up being so important to me, and I’m so grateful this wonderful, quirky little show with its wonderful and quirky little premiere.

Of all the episodes, I really can’t look at this one objectively. It’s too important.

21. The Fun-Raiser (Season 3, episode 1)

David and Gwen scheming is my ki/nk. They very rarely scheme together, but every single time their teamwork makes the dream work (or, more frequently, makes the dream fail horribly and have disastrous consequences) my soul flies out of my body and takes to the stars, where I write another 500 first chapters to gwenvid fanfics I’ll probably never finish.

This is a great follow-up to “Parents’ Day,” where we immediately see the consequences of the previous season finale and what happens when the one adult in the camp disappears. Mr. Campbell was a terrible adult, true, but at least he was smart enough not to steal QM’s hook. Like . . . whose plan was this? It was so bad. These two are hilariously incompetent sometimes -- often when their bad ideas are feeding off of each other, actually, a la this and “Space Camp Was a Hoax” -- and watching them frantically try and keep all their balls in the air is so great.

The ending is satisfying, too; a bit graphic, in keeping with a show that tends to keep the violence limited to periodic spurts of bloodshed 1-2 times a season and mostly pretty mild the rest of the time, but between Max stepping up and fixing everything while still being his shi/tty self to our dear dumba/ss counselors getting their dumb as/ses handed to them (deservedly so, if we’re being honest) . . . it’s such a great note to begin a new season on.

20. Journey to Spooky Island (Season 1, episode 5)

A classic.

We get to meet our spooky boy Jasper, we get to watch the comedy trio play off each other and continue to sketch out the general contours of their friendship, and we get to see the Quartermaster with a big purple dil/do for a hand. What’s not to love?

19. The Butterfinger Effect (Season 4, episode 17)

CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES! GET YOUR CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES HERE!

I’ve already gone into some pretty intense detail about why I think this one is actually really good and carries the theme of embracing change that everything about Season 4 was centered around, but none of y’all read that so here it is in short: this episode is super funny, almost all of the campers’ transformations work really well as extensions of their characters while still being strange and surprising, and the fact that Nurf creates all of these problems by trying to solve them is deliciously fun to watch in a karmic sort of way.

Or maybe it’s just because any Nurf-centric episode is going to rank pretty highly for me. That is also possible.

18. Space Camp Was a Hoax (Season 2, episode 10)

Our camp counselors being bad people: it’s my drug of choice.

We get Space Kid tripping balls in what might be one of the funniest sequences in the show, the entire camp coming together to try and pull off the stupidest, most impossible task (and kinda maybe almost nailing it???), and once again the fun of watching Gwen and David scramble to keep from getting caught in their boss’s shit/ty lies is so great. And Lindsay’s voice acting is absolutely killer, even more so than usual.

17. Jermy Fartz (Season 2, episode 4)

I get the sense this might be a somewhat controversial one.

I’ve written before about why I think this episode is a lot of fun, but it mostly boils down to two things: watching the campers try (and fail) to be nice to the most bully-able person on the entire planet, and the essential likeableness of Jermy.

No, really.

I think a lot of people were put off by Jermy’s general grossness, because . . . my god is he disgusting, but he’s also polite and good-natured, and seems totally self aware of how difficult he is to be around, without letting it make him depressed. He’s cheerful in a weirdly downbeat way that’s impossible to understand until you see him in action. He’s so matter-of-fact about his own awfulness in a way that I found entirely endearing. I don’t think I’d want him at my camp, either, but get that kid to a good dermatologist and gastroenterologist, teach him some basic hygiene and social skills, and you’ll have quite a little gentleman there.

I do however find it hilarious that apparently David got the type of tree wrong when making fun of Jermy. Not only is that a great moment for reveling in David being an as/shole, but he didn’t even have the right wood. F/ucking idiot. I love him so much.

These last ones are my favorites! (Well, duh, that’s how this whole ranking thing works.) Maybe not perfect, but just really good and with limitless rewatch value.

16. St. Campbell's Day (Season 4 holiday episode)

They Grinch’d Camp Camp. Those brilliant bast/ards, they really pulled it off.

Ignoring the fact that David is truly frightening-looking for most of the episode, this is a great bookend to Season 4, following up on the theme established in the first episode about how David is a flawed and selfish human being despite trying his best not to be.

This is another one I was surprised to find so high on the list, but the more I thought about it the more I realizes how good it is. David being a jerk is always one of my favorite storylines, and the fact that the trouble comes from him trusting Mr. Campbell too little instead of too much is a nice twist on the usual formula. Gwen coming to help him out despite a blistering hangover gave me aggressive shipping feels, yes, obviously.

Between a lot of really funny little gags like QM’s failed satanic ritual and the genuinely touching moral about the importance of spending time with the people you love, it’s just a really lovely episode that gets just the right amount of maudlin for the holiday season.

15. Jasper Dies at the End (Season 2, episode 5)

I kept switching this and “Dial M for Jasper”; it was a really difficult decision to make, figuring out where these two belonged. I think in the end, while the John Dies at the End reference was very, very good, this one loses me a little bit by being told from David’s perspective. Now, normally the more David is in an episode the more I’ll be likely to love it (see my #1 for proof of that), but his blinders when it comes to the camp and Mr. Campbell result in a really funny story, but one without the same emotional heft as hearing about what happened from Jasper’s point of view.

That doesn’t mean it’s not perfect for what it needs to be: each Jasper episode builds on the previous ones, and having the same intensity of “Dial M for Jasper,” where we learn how he died and how his relationship with David fell apart, would be weird and heavy at this point. In Season 1 we just found out he’s a ghost (and eagle-eyed viewers realized he’d been a camper with David); in Season 2 we find out how David views their friendship and time at camp; and in Season 3 we get Jasper’s perspective. It’s an absolutely wonderful raising of the stakes (for lack of a better term), but the one that packs more of an emotional punch is going to rank a bit higher than the one that’s mostly just for laughs.

That being said: there are plenty of laughs in this one. Everyone -- Griffin, Miles, Travis, the animators -- nailed this one, and it gets funnier every time I watch it.

14. Camporee (Season 1, episode 11)

AKA the episode where Forest realized she was in love with Gwen.

What a great idea for an episode, seriously. Every coming-of-age story has a talent show or a competition or a big game -- something where the kiddos can show off their improved skills and teamwork to beat their bullies or whatever. And this show has both kinds of bullies: the popular girly girls and the violent muscleheads. What a great moment to pull everyone together and show how friendship can help us accomplish anything!

Except . . . of course that’s not what happens. Of course they’re absolute garbage, and of course teamwork isn’t the answer. Gwen is the perfect foil for David here, being the anti-teamwork, anti-Camp-Campbell adult who can perfectly and effortlessly undermine David’s relentless optimism. David wants so badly for his campers to live in the same coming-of-age summer movie he did as a child, and their staunch refusal to do that leads to a really heartbreaking closer to the episode, as well as lead into the next one. Everything about this, from the challenges to the setup to Gwen shouting “we are winning this FUC/KING trophy!” is just gold.

13. David Gets Hard (Season 1, episode 9)

We have David. We have Nurf. We have Gwen. We have Max trying to be helpful in the shi/ttiest way possible.

We have all the makings of a da/mn good episode. And they deliver. Not a very emotionally intense or moving one, but so, so funny.

12. Dial M for Jasper (Season 3, episode 5)

This isn’t the fate any of us expected for Jasper, and it’s not the fate of a lot of people wanted. But godda/mn it, it worked. The constant bait-and-switch the episode keeps playing with, where you keep waiting for something really dramatic and tragic to happen . . . and then the reality is that Jasper died because Mr. Campbell was stupid and careless, and it was all just a horribly sad accident.

It’s anticlimactic, but in a way that suits the series, both as a comedic counterpoint to all the hype throughout the episode and as a way to establish that Cameron Campbell is a bad man first and foremost through selfishness and laziness, not Daniel-esque sinister evil. Jasper’s death was totally avoidable and totally Campbell’s fault, and while that’s sad, it also adds a weird sort of lightness to the episode. David didn’t do something terrible to kill his best friend, Jasper didn’t kill himself, and without having actively chosen to murder a child (well, not this time), the door remains open for fans accepting Campbell’s later pseudo-redemption. It was just an accident, and Jasper was “haunting” David to tell him that he was sorry for how their friendship ended. That’s really sweet, actually.

I think it’s the best way this reveal could’ve gone, and I’m so impressed with how they pulled it all off.

11. Into Town (Season 1, episode 8)

This might actually be the only flawless episode in the entire show. I mean, I call a lot of them flawless, and I mean that on an emotional level -- “I love this so much I cannot see anything wrong with it” -- but this one is a masterpiece of storytelling. All the technical jumbo I’m bad at, like planting and payoff and tension and all of that, is just perfect.

I feel like this is the kind of claim that needs to be backed up with a long-as/s essay full of citations and video clips and references to, like, Joseph Campbell or something, but this is my 49th entry in the list so I am not going to be doing that. Besides, I don’t think my English degree qualifies me to critique film/animation; I don’t even entirely know half the terms I’ve used to compliment this episode. Someone else please explain why this is such a good one.

10. The Quarter-Moon Convergence (Season 4, episode 5)

I’ve mentioned in other entries that the weird, surreal humor sometimes doesn’t work; it feels too much like being odd for its own sake, and sometimes gets so distracted in being surreal that it forgets to include anything funny or meaningful.

This . . . is not one of those.

Putting Harrison and QM together is a stroke of genius; the two of them are literally the most magical beings in the entire show, and using them as the conveyance for this great Lovecraftian horror-comedy was such a good idea. I don’t know if we’ll ever see these two interact in another episode -- honestly, this felt a bit like lightning in a bottle, and I have a hard time imagining what could possibly bring them together again -- but if this is the only episode we get, it is such a fantastic one.

Harrison makes a really good everyman, despite his powers; he’s just the right amount of confident and insecure to pull off that wide-eyed apprentice to QM’s grizzled wise mentor. (The fact that QM is objectively a terrible mentor is beside the point.) I still don’t entirely know what the two of them accomplished, but it feels baffling and momentous, with the perfect amount of gravity to make things extremely tense all the way through to the end.

Also, I guess God is an octopus? That’s kinda cool. I like octopuses.

9. Camp Corp. (Season 3, episode 12)

Another unpopular opinion? Oh ho ho, I am so contrary! I am Not Like Other Fans! I am the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, refusing to have the same opinions of all you prepz.

I know this wasn’t the most well-loved episode, but I think it did a really great job tying together story threads woven throughout Season 3: Max’s selfishness leading to him hurting other people, his growing realization that he cares about his friends and the camp itself, the parallels between him and Mr. Campbell (and the fact that they both get this redemption moment in the finale).

This is the most Max-centric season, focusing on his flaws and character growth, and they pulled it off in a really organic way that felt faithful to his character, touching without being too maudlin. The fact that his feelings about the camp are echoed in Gwen, Neil and Nikki, the other campers, and even Mr. Campbell drives home how important the camp -- and David -- are to this strange little family.

Each season, Max reluctantly becomes a better person, without changing the fundamental core of who he is. That’s a really hard putt for the writers and Michael, and I’m blown away every finale by how they so consistently nail it.

8. Time Crapsules (Season 4, episode 18)

Gwen-centric? Check.

Max learning how to be a better person while still being the bratty kid we know and love? Check.

Looks at one of the most under-appreciated character dynamics in the entire show (i.e., Max and Gwen)? Checkity check-check-check.

I don’t really have much to say about this one, which I should: it was considered a pretty serious letdown to a lot of fans, and I’m not sure how to explain why I loved it so much.

Comparing Max from “The Order of the Sparrow” to Max from this episode is wild. It’s not like 2 different characters: they’re still very obviously the same cynical, self-absorbed 10-year-old trying to survive summer camp. But he’s become a more considerate friend and decent version of that kid, and it’s great to watch. The moment where he and Gwen go too far and immediately regret snapping at each other is still painful (on my god, the VAs in this show, they’re so talented), Nikki and Neil both get nice subplots about how they’re also growing up, and the ending is fuc/king hilarious, perfectly breaking the tension from Campbell’s speech, which is both beautifully done and important to hear, especially if you’re in a period of uncomfortable transition (like, say, in your late 20s, or living through about 5 different national and global catastrophes).

And okay, I found that speech on the wiki for this episode and it made me deeply emotional, so here:

Here's the thing: you've got to take your failures and make something out of them. Take Camp Campbell for instance: a lot of poor decisions went into making this place what it is today. Sure, somewhere along the line it maybe strayed from its path, not living up to the camp it wanted to be. At some point, the camp realized that the camp would never reach the end of its path until it was ready or until it gave up. So, if the camp wanted to keep embezzling money and dealing with foreign powers, so be it! But, at some point, it didn't anymore. I never saw this coming, but I'm starting to think this camp is the best it's ever been.

If this is the last episode of Camp Camp we ever get -- and for at least a little while, it looks like it’s going to be -- I can’t think of a sweeter, funnier, and more lovely bittersweet note for this show to go out on.

7. The Lake Lilac Summer Social (Season 3, episode 6)

And again: No one was surprised.

This is the longest non-finale episode of the show, and it uses that time perfectly. Rather than having some big emotional moments and character arcs -- which are great, don’t get me wrong -- the writers use the extended time to build a series of shenanigans as complicated as Gwen’s matchmaking web, and watching her try to set up a series of dominos (with David, for once, being the responsible, level-headed one) is almost as satisfying as the catastrophic results.

Neil and Snake steal this episode, even from someone as in love with Gwen as I am, and for an episode that’s largely about making fun of shippers, there hasn’t been one that launched nearly as many ships as this. Neil/Snake? Tabii/Erin? Max/Nikki? GWENVID?! It’s all here, and I am here for it.

It was also fun to get a traditional episode setup in a very non-traditional show. I assume this means the beach and/or hot springs episode is forthcoming. (No, Pis/s Lake doesn’t count. Obviously it doesn’t count.)

6. Keep the Change (Season 4, episode 1)

Again, this is an episode I’ve said a lot about in the past -- and I was pretty uncharitable toward Season 3, which in retrospect was very unse/xy of me -- but I stand by a lot of my opinions then: this is a fu/cking great episode.

David is an as/shole, Max is an as/shole, Campbell is an as/shole. No one escapes the as/sholery. David schemes, Max catches him in the scheme, Campbell gets drunk and kind of gay . . . I’m 54 entries into this list and I don’t have much to say anymore: it’s just really good and fun and I love it.

5. Camp Loser Says What? (Season 4, episode 9)

This is another one I kind of hated when it came out, and again for fandom-related and personal-grudge reasons.

Fu/cking Daniel. That motherfu/cker. He shows up for 12 minutes and Tumblr bursts into flames. Every single time.

However, it’s really hard not to love this one. Daniel-as-Trump is a clever but subtle -- I mean, for this show’s definition of subtle -- allegory, and it’s amazing how much this slimy freak and the Woodscouts slot into it. David is a bise/xual disaster with the absolute worst taste in men, Dirty Kevin and Daniel are onscreen together for all of 2.5 seconds and the kevdan shippers lost their minds, and Xemug looks like Megamind for some weird reason.

My only minor complaint is that the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but it plays on Daniel’s stupidity and the value of teamwork, so it’s a very small nitpick in an episode that mostly works like gangbusters.

4. Cult Camp (Season 2, episode 1)

Duh. There’s a really good song and we’re introduced to a charismatic, sinister, and totally dumba/ss villain. What’s not to like?

I don’t think I even need to say anything about this episode. Season 2 started off the summer by throwing a lit firecracker directly at the viewer’s face, and ignoring the fact that we as a fandom proceeded to eat each other, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the episode’s wild energy.

And dude, that song. Fabulous. Fu/ck Daniel, but thank god he’s around to be such a prickly little pri/ck.

Now for the top 3: Literally perfect, wouldn’t change a single solitary thing.

3. After Hours (Season 4, episode 8)

I’m not sure anyone loved this episode as much as me. But this is my list, and I will put this up at the top if I want to and you cannot stop me.

It’s much easier in a lot of ways to talk about the episodes I hated than the ones I love this much. What do I say besides “literally everything about this fills me with joy and my life is better because it exists”? I don’t know. The counselors are my favorite characters, and between Gwen and QM having the weirdest bonding experience, Gwen getting to meet up with people who care about her silly fanfiction, Mr. Campbell being the trash grandpa of my dreams, David getting in way over his head . . . it’s the episode I always wanted, and they made it work so well.

Also, I just discovered that “Gwen Isn’t Your Mother So Stop Asking Her to Rinse Your Dishes” is an actual song and I am overwhelmed with delight. Here, I’m embedding it as well as linking because it’s so good:

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God. This show. What the fu/ck even is up with this amazing, weird-as/s show.

2. The Order of the Sparrow (Season 1, episode 12)

Duh.

The entire first season is a great time (except “Reigny Day”), but it’s a pretty low-stakes kind of great time. There isn’t much in terms of emotional depth until the very end of “Camporee,” despite some hints at darker themes in one-off jokes and quick asides, so this episode comes a bit out of left field, tonally speaking.

But that’s not a bug, it’s a feature; if the show had been this overtly emotional from the outset, this finale wouldn’t hit as hard, and the rest of the season wouldn’t be as funny.

This manages to serve as a capstone to the conflict of the first season, building on episodes like “Into Town” and “Escape from Camp Campbell” in a way that feels totally natural for both David and Max’s characters while revealing new sides of them. It works because it’s so unexpected, but it doesn’t come across as incongruous with their personalities. It’s the first and only time David swears in all 4 seasons, and that line -- I don’t even need to say it, you know exactly what I’m talking about -- still gives me chills.

Also, Gwen sings the camp theme song. Impossible not to cherish.

1. The Forest (Season 4, episode 12)

I’m not sure if this one is a surprise or not. It might be the obvious first place, or it might be a bit of an oddball for some people.

I had a really hard time choosing between this and “The Order of the Sparrow”; I switched their places half a dozen times, and the difference in quality between the two is razor-thin. I think part of that is because it accomplishes a lot of what “Order of the Sparrow” does: puts David in a situation where he’s pushed to his absolute emotional and physical capacity, crushes every shred of hope he has left, and sees what he’s actually made of when you strip everything away. It’s much more dramatic this time around, but it’s the same basic concept.

And just like in the Season 1 finale, what we see is a man who’s determined to do good even when he isn’t rewarded for it, even when he’s actively punished for it. Who wants to love nature, and life, and make the world a better place -- despite his faults, his selfishness and thoughtlessness and anger, David proves that he is fundamentally kind. He’s not nearly as deludedly optimistic as he seems; he just refuses to stop trying.

Because somebody fuc/king has to.

I’ll admit, some of what puts this one in first place is that I’m a sucker for whump, and David really goes through the ringer. However, I also think it’s important to acknowledge the risk Joe Nicolosi took with writing this episode: it’s all centered around a single character, it’s darker and more viscerally bloody than any other episode in the show’s history, the art is focused on these grand sweeping backgrounds that must’ve taken forever to paint, and there’s very little talking in a show that runs 99% on clever dialogue. This could have so easily backfired -- and for some fans it did -- but it was brave and beautiful and breathtaking.

I’ve actually only watched this in full once. It’s really hard to get through; it’s just so intense and even disturbing. But if there’s one episode I'll remember for the rest of my life, even when I’m 80 years old and haven’t seen the show in years, it’ll be “The Forest.”

It’s funny how such a sharp departure from the format and style of the rest of the show somehow manages to perfectly capture the heart of it. Talk about a fuc/king achievement.

So what have we learned?

I don’t entirely know what the purpose of this whole exercise was. I think it was mostly to get myself a nice Camp Camp fix that came from something other than slogging through 20 different fanfic WIPs, and to remind myself of what a strange and fun ride the last 4 summers have been.

I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what Camp Camp means to me. This show has been hugely important to me on a personal level: I met two of my best friends through this fandom, and I’ve never been more connected to a community or readers than I have with CC. I know I bi/tch about this fandom a lot, but it’s a big extended internet family, and I’m so happy to be a part of it. Going through all these episodes, getting the chance to ramble about the things I liked and the things I didn’t, was a great way to reconnect with a series and community that I love.

So . . . what have we learned?

1. Season 4 was all over the place.

Some of this has to be due to the sheer volume of episodes, but when I sat down and organized everything into tiers:

There isn’t a single category Season 4 doesn’t have at least one episode in. I was surprised to see how high a lot of them ended up; it really was the best and worst of the show so far.

For the fun of it, I decided to give a number to each placement -- 60 points for the #1 episode, 59 for #2, etc. -- and see how each season broke down. Because that’s that kind of thing I think is worthwhile, apparently. And . . .

2. Seasons 1 and 4 are really good, actually.

Well, I don’t think anyone’s surprised to see how well Season 1 stacked up; it was amazing. But I was surprised to see how much I ended up enjoying Seasons 3 and 4, when if you’d asked me before this little project, I would’ve said they were the most underwhelming. Maybe I messed up the numbers a bit -- I’m no mathmagician -- but not only are they all really close, but Season 4 was one of my favorites.

3. This entire show is really good, actually.

One thing that really struck me when I put it all together visually is how most of the episodes sit in the “good,” “really good,” or “amazing” categories. The amount of episodes that are memorable, fun, and/or emotionally resonant is crazy. I don’t now how many other tiny cult-hit web series can say the same, honestly, and all of the writers, animators, directors/producers/other people whose jobs I don’t really understand, and voice actors should be commended for their outstanding talent and hard work.

4. Thank you, Camp Camp.

It was a real pleasure to relive all of these episodes again and think about what they meant to me. It won’t be the last time I sit down and watch this show -- and it certainly won’t be the end of my being a shrieking fangirl over it -- but with this break, where we have to get through a blazing, extremely difficult summer without a new season to fawn over, it’s nice to stop and appreciate what a precious gem of a show this is.

I hope everyone involved with Rooster Teeth is taking a much-deserved rest and prioritizing their health and well-being. Thank you for creating something truly special, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

#campcamp #camp camp roosterteeth #thank you RT Animation for giving me my life these past 4 years #cc david #cc max #cc gwen #i'm not tagging all the characters #campcamp masterpost #i really hope this doesn't get hidden from the tags but #guys this was a super intense labor of love please check it out #but also reading it is also a super intense labor so i get it if you don't XD

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ifeveristoday · 4 years ago

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Let me explain… no, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Strap in kids, it’s Boom! Buffy issue #20 and the last issue we get this year. So long and fuck off, 2020.

Spoilers underneath the cut

Well. That was bracing.

In this issue we get the spotlight on the adult characters and their struggles - the status of Giles and Jenny’s relationship (on a break), Wesley Wyndam Price trying to convince Faith of her sacred duty and oh, that vampires are real, and a direct callback to Wesley’s standalone issue and the shadowy Watcher’s Council, and Anya, who finally reveals her true purpose of being in Sunnydale. Or does she?

Subplots involve Willow’s conversation and off-page deal with Evil! Xander, the status of Robin and Buffy’s relationship (ghosty ghost avoidance on Buffy’s part), and the unspoken elephant of broken trust in the room (everyone else).

There really is a lot going on - so I’m going to break it down by character, because that has always been a strong point in Jordie’s reimagining of the Buffyverse. Jordie writes about the characters and their motivations and their inner lives and not so much about the Plot (though she’s improved on that front).

Jenny

Clearly has seen and suffered a lot of Shit, but it isn’t delved into for trauma porn - and she’s had enough. She loves Giles, but she doesn’t want to be a part of whatever is unfolding, but she still has compassion for Evil! Xander and can see that his actions are not too far off from his human self’s desires, only twisted. Evil! Xander wants love and attention and now he has the power to force it - but somehow is talked out of it by Willow. Jenny makes the choice to protect herself, even if it means walking away from Giles and their relationship.

Giles

When not in a Jenny-daze, Giles picks up an important clue from their last conversation and calls in the troops to discuss the matter of trust and truth. It’s a nice nod to the previous issue’s reunion with Willow and the rest of the Scoobies - Willow not being comfortable about the trust fall, even though she suggested it, and here, being evasive and lying to everyone about where she got her shiny new trinket. I also notice none of her adventures in gay witch cult utopia have been folded into the Jordie timeline yet, but I assume that will be a reveal for later. Giles trying to mediate the conversation-turned-argument is interesting because for a lot of the series, he’s been on the side of caution and covering up because of the Council’s indoctrination process.

Anya

This was the surprise of the issue for me and one of the high points - all those previous crumbs of Anya referring to herself as a demon witch, and then Giles saying she was a watcher too, and then mention of a past Watcher being friends/school mate of a demon, and somehow just appearing at the right possible time to solve problems/save the Scoobies while hiding in plain sight. Anya being the connection to the Watcher’s Council and her dealings with vampires, Wolfram and Hart, she’s the perfect agent of controlled chaos. The reveal of her being the demon figure helping out the previous Slayer Morgan (who I now think is the original character they were hyping up issues ago and all that talk about multiverses and such - she and Anya are most likely behind what happened in Hellmouth). A revenge demon working with a Slayer is just *chef’s kiss* because who wouldn’t want revenge if they’re a young teenage girl suddenly tasked to save the world and not have her own life?

Anya’s conversation with Willow about demons being morally grey and that souls don’t need to come into it (along with the Princess Bride reference - “Anyone who tells you is a fool or selling you something”) is one of the themes running throughout the issue. Jenny hints at it with her compassion for Xander’s soulless self and his still very human desires and wants, and Anya’s team up with Morgan at the end. They don’t think what they’ve done (the Watcher killings) is bad because they’re giving the Slayers their normal lives back - Anya can open up portals to store her magic knickknacks, why wouldn’t she be able to open up new timelines to ‘save’ Slayers? It would fit into her revenge scheme against the Watcher’s Council too. It casts a different light on her previous actions - giving Buffy the stone to call Xander’s soul back for an unspoken fee later, but not money, showing up at the eleventh hour to lead the girls into battle during Hellmouth with her convenient stash of weapons, tricking Dru into setting Camazotz free to gain Buffy’s and Giles’s trust later...and she knows Giles’s full name, so you know stuff is going to go down.

Willow

Tangled web, Wills. And all the little lies - why didn’t she tell her best friend and everyone else that she got the new shiny gem from Anya? Who is she really protecting? Herself or/and Xander? Willow’s (un)trustworthiness and growing capabilities in magic are going to be Issues with the gang later, definitely. And a possible source of isolation, because everyone at that meeting is paired off and she’s alone - Buffy and Giles presenting the slayer/watcher bond, Kendra and Rose as girlfriends and protective of one another.

This is also an example of Anya being a subtle architect of chaos - she scolds Willow about good and evil being too simple of a concept and that Willow should be smarter than that, and suggests the possibility of doing the wrong thing (in Willow’s case, lying) for the right reason (saving Xander). This could also be a clue to the other Willows we’ve seen in previous issues - it could actually be original time line Willow just visiting multiverses to check on Xander and Buffy.

Wesley

is finally in Sunnydale and completely out of his element, not only as an Englishman in small town America, but as a watcher with an unruly lone wolf of a Slayer, who doesn’t even believe in the cause or that vampires are real. It’s hilarious. They provide the lighter side in the issue, and I look forward to what Jordie has planned for them, because right now they’re channeling Odd Couple energy and I’m here for it.

Also, Wesley brings up the English vs Irish rivalry and FINALLY, someone says it. There weren’t enough Spike and Angel fights about their places of origin.

If Wesley’s ideals are just the baby version of Giles’s loyalty to the Council, Faith is the pragmatic version of Buffy’s stressed but down for the cause Slayer.

Faith

Faith doesn’t really question why she suddenly can cause a bunch of messed up looking people dusty death, because vampires can’t possibly be real, but aliens, sure. It’s a refreshing and meta take on the whole lore - Faith even cheekily bringing up that vampires are clearly a metaphor for sex and she doesn’t have time for that.

Look at that, a skeptical but roll with the punches Bad Guys-because what else is she going to do- Faith. Not oversexualized but blunt and funny and upfront about what she really wants - which is a burger. A good update to the character. I do wonder if Jenny’s earlier line about ‘good Faith’ was purposeful because of this introduction to Faith, or just a regular line.

Buffy

After all she’s been through in the previous issues, Buffy takes more of a backseat in this issue, but that’s okay - there really was SO Much that Buffy and Robin’s continuing communication problem really wouldn’t fit as an A plotpoint.

Girl still has huge trust issues, and with Willow’s defensiveness and her own reluctance to really talk to Robin, that’s going to be a problem for later on.

Robin

Still juggling the responsibilities of being a regular guy, Buffy’s almost boyfriend, trainee Watcher, and son of presumed dead Slayer Nikki (though with what we’ve seen so far, Nikki might be alive in another multiverse), Robin is mostly the diplomat in this issue, giving everyone respectful space.

Rose and Kendra

Are cute and happy together and that’s all that needs to be said really. The only couple that’s figured out communication and presenting a united front in this issue, honestly. #goals

Morgan Palmer

Another WOC slayer! Can’t wait to see what she did/has plans for the Scoobies and Sunnydale.

#buffy comics #boom! studios #boom! verse #thoughts and reactions #spoilers #excellent way to close this hellmouth of a year

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moonttaeil · 4 years ago

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not related but, I want to know how each story of the frathouse series was born

oh well, this is going to be one long answer and I'm sorry in advance. also, spoilers down below!!

to be completely honest, each story was born from different little things in life. so, the first one I wrote was johnny’s story, and being completely hones I think that’s the only story that fits the “college au” at its finest. of course the hidden message of having personal interests and maybe using people in order to achieve them is there, but I think that story is not as deep as others can be, you know? johnny’s plot is heavily inspired on my own experiences on campus (lmao not all calm down) but yeah, I came up with the plot because I've lived that too.

then, the second one I wrote was the bro? hmm, I just wanted to write a fluffy best friends to lovers but yeah, don’t forget that I don’t know how to write fluff! yay! the plot of it came out of pure angst and I don’t know, I just made them sad for no reason lmao. the display of love on that fic is just-- pure. like, neither of them knows what love really is because what they feel for one another has been there inside of them all of their lives, and the moment they separate because of college it’s like a break up but without being a break up, so they’re brokenhearted without knowing it. I think it’s a really cute story that can show you that love does not always come with the “I love you” and “will you be my girlfriend”, it can be the “have you eaten today?” that haechan asks Y/N when he sees her studying, or the “please, study you dumbs” Y/N repeats to him every time.

the third one was the trust fund baby, now I have a lot of contradictory emotions with this one. I started it off with a clear idea in mind, and as I was writing it I saw that the story that I had written had nothing to do with the idea I initially had. that’s something that happens to me a lot, I get an idea and then I don’t realize how changed the whole story is on the document. but anyways, I started Doyoung’s story thinking that’d it would be a hot steamy 15k fic on how a rich kid feels attracted to someone who is not from his social circle, but oh well! now you have an almost 50k story on how a person’s childhood can deeply affect on how their relationships develop when they get older! the story was born trying to be smut, and ended being an existencial crisis for me, tbh. also the second part I got the idea while showering, why don’t I give this mf a child? let’s do it. the crazier the plot twist, the more I want to write it.

I don’t know if I wrote the shadow next, but my initial idea for mark was to make it like a mysterious boy who doesn't really talk about his private life nor does he socialize with people a lot, but then I thought: he’s in a fucking fraternity he has to socialize!! but the main idea of the plot (Y/N being unable to write) was because I felt that way at that moment. Y/N is literally me because I had literally zero inspiration to write, so I said to myself, just sit there and write just exactly that. how can you help yourself? you just gotta write, that’s the only way to beat the writer’s block. also all of the myths and the books they talk about I read while writing the story too, so everything came together really nicely!!.

the jerk has given me: HEADACHE. I had an initial idea which was the accident and yeah, all that. but once I wrote the first part of the fic, like after the accident and when Y/N wakes up I was like: what the hell do I do now. I think I rewrote that story like two times. the the jerk was born out of HATE for the plot because I had no idea on how to make it move but I really liked it, you know? the plot itself came to my mind because someone I know had an accident a while ago, and she was a pianist and she had broken her wrist, so yeah-- a lot of crying during that time of my life, but I thought it was a great way to show that someone can recover from anything if they’re strong enough mentally.

next was the heartbreaker: pianist taeyong will forever have my heart. I came with the plot because recently I listened to a lot of classical music, and I really wanted to write something SAD. like really SAD. like TEARS EVERYWHERE. So I thought what’s the best way on making someone sad? make the protagonist someone who has suffered a lot in another time of their lives: aka taeyong lost the love of his life and he has clearly not recovered from it. that’s the plot of the heartbreaker: pure and utter sadness. im so sorry.

aaaaaan the Einstein. I have changed the plot for this fic so many times I've lost count. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know HOW to do it. I remember I deleted a howl 11k archive because I THOUGHT I WAS BORING. And boom it was gone. I felt really sad because it had been a long time since I last updated something, so I really feel like the fact that I felt pressured to write the Einstein was the reason why NOTHING GOOD CAME OUT. So I just deleted it, and said to myself Nikki: calm the fuck down. you just need a good story with a greater plot twist. the next day I woke up with a revelation: boom the Einstein and its 24k words were written in less than 48 hours!

#anonymous #ask game

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nanowrimo · 5 years ago

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How I Turned My NaNoWriMo Novel into a Published Book

Maybe you’re at a point in your writing where you have an actual manuscript sitting on your desk. Congratulations! Now, how do you take that looming stack of finely turned phrases and well-placed plot points and convert them into a bound book? Today, author and NaNoWriMo participant Nikki Hyson delivers a step by step guide to support you on the journey to publication:

For the record, those two words still leave me in a state of dazed awe: Published Book. As a lover of words from a very early age, seeing my name on the cover of a book… just wow…

But you didn’t come here for the wow. I’m betting you came here for the facts. How did I turn a squalling, unwieldy, fledgling NaNo novel into something bright, shining, and ready to walk the stage with diploma in hand?

In November of 2012 I finished my third NaNo Novel. Like the first two, I loved every minute of it. The world building, the character developing, and the plot twists that came out of nowhere. In true pantser fashion, I even gave myself a cliffhanger ending that not even I saw coming. But that’s where it ended. It went on a shelf and I moved on. It’s what I did with all my stories (I have boxes of journals to prove it). Except, this novel, these characters, wouldn’t stay on the shelf. There was a quite decided “what if” hanging over it like a golden cloud.

I heard about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, so I spent all of 2013 second drafting, asking a few friends to beta read, and polishing it with the help of a story coach. In the meantime, I wrote the sequel during NaNo 2013. Well, I didn’t make it out of Round One of the Amazon Contest. Still, two novels deep in the series, I started thinking about traditional publishing.

Over the next four years, I redrafted it twice with EJ Runyon of www.bridgetostory.com and wrote at least a dozen different query letters to over forty agents. Radio silence. Hmm. Give up? I nearly did. For a year, I stopped sending it out even though I’d written two more NaNo novels, rounding out the story arc and tying up the loose ends.

That’s when I finally heard the question that’d been nudging for a while. “Why not publish it yourself?”

There’s an easy answer to that. It’s terrifying! Having the final say on every word can be extremely liberating to most, but it also had me shaking in my boots. What if I mess this up? Of course, I was watching Batman Begins for the eleventh time. Why do we fall? To learn how to pick ourselves up.

All right then. Time to learn. I spent nine months learning everything I could about self-publishing, marketing, what to outsource (cover design!), and where I could cut corners (not buying ISBN and using whatever KDP gives you—for now, anyway). It was a crash course (thank you Chris Fox, Writing Gals, and 20BooksTo50k), but I learned enough to move forward—to plot a course.

On March 16th, 2019 I hit publish on my first fantasy novel, Second Door to the Right. On May 8th I published the sequel, The Forsaken Corridor. Currently, I’m second drafting the third novel out of my messy NaNo 2014 first draft. I hope to have it out the end of July. I still set aside time every week to keep learning, watching podcasts, and scrolling group feeds on Facebook. There’s always something to learn, some new direction to grow, and the words… they won’t mine themselves either. So, like Dory, just keep swimming. Just keep writing. Have faith. Keep your joy. Hope to see you on the shelf beside me.

After spending her teens hopscotching around the country, Nikki settled in Alaska and found it suited her. When she isn’t weaving spells with her words, she can be found snuggling with one of her senior-aged Labradors, walking in the woods, cooking for friends, or lost in a good book. She believes chocolate was invented by wizards, a good cup of Matcha can cure anything, and every maiden is just waiting to rescue the fair prince in distress. If only he’d stop to ask for directions. Visit Nikki on Facebook, Pinterest, or check out her books.

Top photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash.

#nanowrimo #writing #amwriting #publishing #self-publishing #nano novel #by nano guest #nikki hyson

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cathygeha · 11 months ago

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REVIEW

Final Fix by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Rachel Ryder #8

Intense, tightly woven, intricately plotted story that grabbed me on page one and kept me reading till the wee hours of the morning…literally. I started reading around 10pm thinking that I would read till midnight and turn the light off BUT couldn’t stop reading then or even when the electricity was cut at 2am…kept reading till I finished a bit after 3am then had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. This is a wonderful addition to the series!

What I liked:

* Rachel: widow, detective, team player, determined, dedicated, intelligent, does what it takes, has a bit of a temper, in a relationship with DEA agent Kyle, takes this case personally * Bishop: Detective, Rachel’s work partner, mature, professional, a good balance for Rachel’s personality, on a health regime and, in a relationship with Cathy unless she messes things up * Kyle: Rachel’s significant other and has moved in with her, DEA agent, recovering from gunshot, assists with this case, really like him with and for Katie * The team: Bubba (tech), Nikki (CSI), Michels & Levy (detectives), Jimmy (police chief), Dr. Barron (coroner) – all do their jobs professionally and work together well

* Tony Garcia: Ex-detective from Chicago now a PI, left his job due to corrupt cops, works undercover on this case, might show up again as he and Levy have some chemistry they are acting on * The police procedural aspects of the story * The plot, pacing, writing, twists, and turns * That all of the threads of case were tied together by the end of the story and the bad guys caught * Knowing that there will be another book to look forward to What I didn’t like: * Who and what I was meant not to like * Knowing that there are evil people in the world as bad as or worse than the ones in this book – people who consider people and animals easily expendable.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to the BookSirens, NetGalley, and Severn River Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

BLURB

Detective Rachel Ryder stumbles upon a case that will force her to confront her past like never before.

At a local fair, Rachel unexpectedly crosses paths with Sean, a familiar face from her past. The encounter, laced with awkward tension, takes a harrowing turn when Sean sends her a cryptic message, begging to meet. When Rachel arrives, she's met with a chilling scene-Sean, deceased from an apparent overdose. But the presence of his baby at the scene whispers a different tale, one Rachel is determined to uncover.

The investigation takes a sinister turn as she discovers Sean's secret dealings. Heated confrontations, clandestine exchanges with ranch owners, and a rising body count point to a puzzle far more intricate than a straightforward overdose.

As Rachel and her team navigate a treacherous web of lies, they must outwit a ruthless adversary whose reach extends far beyond their city. The stakes rise when the lives of those closest to her hang in the balance, forcing Rachel to question just how far she's willing to go to unmask the truth and deliver justice.

Final Fix by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson is a gripping crime thriller that takes readers on an intoxicating journey into the underbelly of crime, where the price of truth is higher than ever before.

#Carolyn Ridder Aspenson #Rachel Ryder 8 #Severn River Publishing #NetGalley #BookSirens #whodunnit #police procedural #cartel #drugs #animal abuse #crime #murder

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3w-writer-with-wings · 5 years ago

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asks6,5

5. List all anime you have ever watched

This one is sort of impossible to do, because I sort of stopped counting about five years ago when I started watching seasonal anime. From what I remember I grew up with Kimba the White Lion, Moomins, Pokemon, Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Digimon and sometimes I would catch glimpses of Sailor Moon. The “real” anime that really got me in anime was D. Gray Man and from that point on I got into Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, Black Butler, Bleach, Wolf’s Rain, Ouran High School Host Club and Ao no Exorcist. I think I never really got into long series like Naruto (I had a friend who watched all episodes several times and pretty much just told me the whole plot after I gave up somewhere in the middle of Shippuden) and Fairy Tail (my other friend really liked it and tried to get me into it, but I don’t think I watched more than 50 episodes). I also watched Death Note and I found it pretty interesting (though I needed subtitles in my native language cuz I was still 13 at the time and didn’t know a lot of difficult English words). Yu-Gi-Oh! was that one anime for which I didn’t lost interest and it also convinced me to start watching anime in Japanese (5Ds was still ongoing at the time, right somewhere in the middle of Dark Signers arc). I was slowly getting into cosplay at the time and I met a very good friend at one of the local anime conventions who introduced me to a lot of good anime like Shiki, Mirai Nikki, Attack on Titan and Code Geass. I guess that’s when I figured out I like certain genres, especially supernatural and mystery, though there were several anime whose genres I didn’t like that much, but I still loved the anime. Sometime in 2015 I started watching seasonal anime aka. I would read all descriptions for upcoming anime, pick up to eight of them and pick one that was “old classic” alongside it. This hasn’t changed much ever since and it is a pretty good way to stay in touch in anime. I tend to drop a few of them after 3-4 episode rule, but I try to be patient if the story, characters or setting are especially good. The current anime I’m watching right now are: Pokemon 2019, Pet (anime version of Inception basically), Breakers (anime shorts about para-athletes), Somali to Mori no Kamisama (cute story about a golem and a little girl that he adopts), Uchi Tama?! Uchi no Tama Shirimasenka? (hilarious show about daily lives of cats and dogs), Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (supernatural mystery about urban legends in school aka. Seven Wonders), 4th season of My Hero Academia and Mairimashita! Iruma-kun (My Hero Academia basically, but with blue Deku and demons). Out of “old classics” I’m watching Fafner in the Azure (mecha, post-apocalyptic anime) and Kyou Kara Maou (probably the funniest Isekai anime I ever watched and it is just getting funnier ever after 50 episodes).

So yeah it would be better to just ask me if I know a certain anime or not, rather than asking me to list down everything I’ve watched so far.

6. Popular anime you didn’t like

The thing with me is that I’m sort of following the rule “First watch, then judge” and that I tend to avoid popular anime because I enjoy rare gems more. Like I needed a while to get into Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia because it was everywhere and so talked about it was annoying, but it is still among my favourite action series due to incredible story writing, memorable characters and unique setting. It was easier with Yuri on Ice! and Kimetsu no Yaiba because I got to watch it before they became so popular and that’s one of the many reasons why I started following seasonal anime.

If I have to point at one or few popular anime I don’t like, then that’s probably long shounen series like One Piece and Dragon Ball. I don’t think I saw more than twenty episodes for both and I guess the reason was that I just didn’t find it interesting enough to continue or I didn’t like the humour. The main issue I have with long shounen series is that they follow the same cookie-cutter recipe where you have a hero who goes through a long training arc and then goes through a long villain fighting arc which just gets tiresome after a while. There are long shounen series like My Hero Academia and Kimetsu no Yaiba that put more emphasis on the well-paced story and don’t drag on as much.

I’m also not that fond of popular romance, drama and slice-of-life anime like Toradora and Clannad. I understand why people like it, but I’m very picky when it comes to such genres in anime. That doesn’t mean I don’t watch such genres at all, it is just that I prefer them in a certain way. For example, I really love Charlotte, anime that is considered bad due to a plot twist somewhere in the middle and rushed ending, but I actually really like those parts and find them really emotional. The story was just so well put together. But for anime movies like Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and Silent Voice… I didn’t find it emotional at all due to how forced it felt and the story was very clumsy when exploring such difficult themes. In this case, it wasn’t that I didn’t like them but more like I saw potential in them and was disappointed when it wasn’t properly developed.

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xpeachesncream · 3 years ago

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plot twist (pjm) | one.

a lowkey series spin-off ft. park jimin

❊ summary: jimin isn’t interested in fake dating, but he’s definitely interested in getting to know someone the right way. after all, he feels like he’s ready to put himself out there and give it all he’s got. so, he takes a risk in trying something completely out of his comfort zone and hops on the new, popular dating app - only to come across and get to know someone he didn’t expect to meet.

❊ pairing: athlete!reader x nerd!pjm

❊ genre: (18+) college au, (partially) smau, friends to lovers au, dating app au | fluff, angst, smut

❊ words: 3.2k

❊ warnings: cussing, some mature language, minor implied sexual content, nothing too bad tbh - serious [pokemon] threats, talks of this dating app circulating amongst the boys and ppl on campus, mentions of indie horror games and miles morales lol, jiminie is unsure about this app stuff cause he doesn’t wanna get hurt ): , as we know they call each other a lot of names jokingly - this is just their dynamic as bestfriends, enter oc and wooyoung briefly and jimin instantly finds oc intimidating, playful bickering btwn the boys, to app or not to app?

series masterlist || series playlist || character aesthetics

Jimin shoves off the straps to his backpack and lets the heavy piece of shit fall to the ground before taking his seat next to Taehyung at the library. He lets out a hefty sigh, lowering his head onto his arms that rested on the table.

"Dude, we're only a few weeks into school. How are you so tired already?" Taehyung doodles in his notebook.

"Shut up." Jimin groans, grabbing a hold of a crumpled piece of paper and tossing it at his head. "The question is, why are you always this excited? Your eyes are about to pop out of its sockets, weirdo."

"This cute girl said hi to me on the way to class." Taehyung wiggled his eyebrows and did his smug little smirk, making Jimin cringe and look at him with a disgusted expression.

"Yuck, why would she do that?"

"Hey! Take it back or I'm never giving your Pokemon Sword Edition back." Jimin's eyes widen.

"Don't ever."

"Hmph." Tae happily smiles and wiggles in his chair as Jimin accepts defeat.

"Screw you! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been able to experience it!"

"Right, anyways. It's senior year. Maybe things can be different, Jiminie." Tae gently nudges his side. "What if I end up finding my own peanut?"

"Would be quite nice."

"Should probably try out that app."

"Huh?" Jimin cocks an eyebrow.

"The dating app, haven't you heard?"

"No? There's apps for that? I don't quite necessarily find myself pondering on these so-called dating apps during my free time."

"It's called Coffee."

"Huh, interesting. Why, though?"

"The goal is to get someone to go out with you. Like for coffee or something, duh. Dummy."

"Give me back my game." Jimin smacks him upside the head, a small 'ow' from Taehyung following shortly after.

"Are you guys talking about the dating app?" Hoseok sits his bag on the floor before taking the seat in front of Taehyung.

"Mmmmmhm." Tae responds, continuing to doodle.

"How do you know about it?" Jimin looks at him.

"How do you not?" Hoseok looks back at him. "It's the talk on campus."

"So like.. what? You see pictures of girls and message them?"

"Yeah, it shares profiles of pretty ladies nearby. You have to swipe right if you like them, but you can't message them unless they swipe right on you too. It's called—" Taehyung draws a rainbow in the air with his hand. "A match."

"Huh." Jimin repeats, still slightly confused about the concept. And so he does a small head tilt before reaching over to grab his Epidemiology and Statistics book and flipping it open. "What ever happened to approaching someone and telling them you like them. You know, like back in the day?"

"Times have changed. It's more fun this way I suppose." Hoseok cutely smiles.

"Okay, the only fun we know well is yelling at each other during video and board games." Jimin lets out a sigh with a tiny pout. "As a matter a fact, I miss you guys talking about mobile games instead."

"Touché. I haven't been playing anything new, though. My stats are dead." Hoseok nods. "But the app sounds enticing, right? I'm curious."

"Same, dude. Should we just do it?" Tae directs his question towards Hoseok.

"I need to find a good picture of myself."

"Oh right—"

"Ah, come on guys. Really? I just feel like we shouldn't meddle." Jimin nervously responds. He was coming from a good place though, one where he knows very well that they'd get their hearts broken easily from a stupid app. Or maybe, he was projecting his own fear onto his friends. He knew they'd try and egg him on to try this app, and he'd give in. Then, he'd find someone he was interested in getting to know— only to be rejected.

Fucking ouch.

Just the thought sucks. Jimin knows him and his friends still aren't the most sought out boys on campus, even after everything they've been through during their junior year. Things eventually settle, the waters eventually become calm, the leaves finally fall— they're back to square one at this point.

They're just.. the same boys they were when they first started, with a few more appearances at parties and club events alongside their beloved peanut.

Oh well, Jimin doesn't mind it either way. But, since Jungkook and peanut have been going strong, Hoseok and Taehyung had become even more determined to be the next boys in line for someone's heart. Quite frankly, it'd be nice for Jimin, too. He wasn't lying when he had told Taehyung that minutes ago. But Jimin is afraid. He's afraid of feeling hurt, he's afraid of not being good enough, he's afraid of his innocence and virginity being the center of attention in a relationship.

He's afraid, and he just can't see anyone wanting to deal with that at this point in time.

Jungkook was lucky to have crossed paths with peanut— because although she had been the most popular girl on campus, she was patient, she was kind, she was incredibly caring. Sure, Jimin does play the devil's advocate a lot and he still has some hope in humanity, but he thinks finding another with the same attributes is super rare. He needs someone who would be patient with him, someone who would teach him the ways and not be upset when he does something 'wrong' in a relationship. Someone who wouldn't care that he didn't necessarily have a past, someone who won't mind reassuring him that he is enough. Someone who wouldn't lie, someone who he felt safe with and could easily trust.

It seems like a lot to ask for, so Jimin doesn't want to ask at all.

Let alone does he want to see his friends get hurt.

"Look, if no one wants to swipe right on us, it's fine. At least we can say we tried it." Tae responds, typing away on his phone. Jimin peers over his shoulder, only to see him making an account for this so-called dating app and entering all his personal information. Tae's mouth slightly hangs open as he focuses on the task at hand [as if it was something that required all of his effort for the day]. "See, it's not so bad so far."

"You're only making your account, mouth breather." Jimin fires back, making Taehyung give him a look.

"At least I'm making it, dipshit." Hoseok giggles.

"Come on, Jiminie. Join us."

"No."

"Why not? What do you have to lose?"

"What does Jimin have to lose where?" Jungkook asks sleepily, gently letting his bag fall to the floor as he sits next to Hoseok. Great, Jimin thinks. Jungkook to the rescue.

"Kookie." Taehyung says in a cute voice. "Why do you look like that? Why do you both look so tired already? The year just started."

"Ugh, it's not even school-related. I spent hours trying to teach peanut how to play the Miles Morales Spiderman game last night. She wouldn't stop swinging and crashing into cars or buildings. And then, every time a villain came up, she'd use the same attack move! She had so many upgrades she could do for her web attacks."

"All you heard last night was 'no, no, no! swing left, swing left! slow down!' or 'use the combo!' it's right there, showing which buttons to press! right— in— front!'" Jimin mocks him, making the table laugh loudly.

"And the best part— 'okay, okay, you're done. you're done.'" Hobi adds, reenacting Jungkook's tone when he apparently took the controller away from peanut.

"She was so, so cute, don't get me wrong. But I couldn't do it anymore." The table chuckles together once more before it dies down for a bit. Jimin peeks over at Taehyung going through his photos for the dating app, swiping to see which ones would be an acceptable picture.

"Which picture should I use? I need an acceptable dating app photo."

"What the hell does an 'acceptable dating app photo' even mean?"

"You know, something hot. Something all the girls will swoon over." Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows. "Like this—"

"I'm not entirely sure that's even acceptable to put on Instagram." Hoseok makes a face at his recent pictures that highlighted the fact that he had his natural hair color back, all while Tae furrowed his brows.

"You're unaware of what good art is, I suppose. Excuse you." Taehyung rolls his eyes.

"Oh, is that what you guys were talking about when I came? Jimin hopping onto the app?" Jungkook adds as he pulls out his laptop.

"Jimin is not hopping onto the app, thank you very much." Jimin responds for himself.

"I repeat— what do you have to lose?" Hoseok adds, now also plotting on the perfect profile picture.

"I'm gonna be honest, I don't wanna get my feelings hurt." Jimin gives off a nervous chuckle. "I feel like I'd get too dependent on the app, especially for reassurance and stuff like that."

"He has a point, you know?" Taehyung puts up his pointer finger as if to shush Jungkook.

"You get no say in this because you have a girlfriend." He says, with the most serious face ever. Jimin laughs at him before shaking his head and flipping the pages to his notebook.

"But yeah, I think I'll pass. Let me know how it goes."

"I still think you should just see it for like, a week or something though." Hoseok adds.

"He also has a point." Jungkook adds, disregarding Taehyung's previous comment.

"What did I just say, dude?"

"Fuck off, alright? If anything, you should get no say in what photos to use since you're plotting on using your weird instagram ones." Jungkook fires back.

"Where is the point in Hoseok's statement, Jeon Jungkook?" Jimin flips the switch and asks.

"Just try it out for a day or seven. You aren't signing a contract."

"It almost feels like I am?!"

"Think about it, Jiminie." Taehyung adds.

"I'm not listening to any of you guys."

"Well, I'm pretty sure peanut will say the same thing."

"Well, I'll hear it from her myself."

"Cool, she's coming in a couple of minutes." Jimin sighs. Suddenly, the library gets a little louder as the senior basketball boys and basketball girls walk in. It's a trip to the boys, especially to Jimin and Jungkook— seeing that their class were now the seniors walking around campus, and Seokjin and his boys weren't the ones causing chaos everywhere they went.

Actually, moreso Seokjin than anyone else.

But that stays in the past, things are well and everyone has moved on.

Jimin actually enjoys his senior class. He hasn't really had issues with anyone, no one topping the asshole rank like Seokjin did. Everyone was nice in their own way, even if it meant ignoring Jimin and his friends and not bullying them the way other senior classes have. It felt nice, felt peaceful for once.

At least, for now.

"Dude, shut the fuck up." Wooyoung says loudly, with that high-pitch laugh of his ringing through the loud section of the library. "Y/N, baby. Tell him that's not how it actually went."

"I wasn't even there, how am I supposed to back you up?"

"You're the only one who understands me." Wooyoung pouts playfully, throwing his arm around your shoulder and letting his hand hang loosely.

"Yeah, well. Not with this one." Jimin looks up and catches eye contact with you, giving you a small smile as you walk past. He's familiar with you, mainly because of your status as an athlete on campus and through sharing a class or two with you in the past. You were intimidating to him, though. Greatly intimidating. You and your entire team were. It could be the resting bitch face you unintentionally sported, or the fact that you were never afraid to speak up about an unpopular opinion in class and carried a tough persona. Jimin never really goes to basketball games, but he's certain you'd be just as scary on the court— maybe scarier. He'd simply greet you and keep his head hung low because he didn't want to cause any issues or be annoying. He kept his interactions with you to a minimum, and you had wished he didn't.

"Hello Y/N." Taehyung chimes in, knowing you through the Advanced Writing and Research class you both shared.

"Hey." You say softly, causing the rest of the boys to look up at you briefly before returning to the work in front of them.

"Suuup." Wooyoung adds his greeting for Tae and the other three before laughing along with the rest of the ball boys walking in with you two. You give Jimin one last look, but he doesn't spare you another glance. At this point, Wooyoung is tugging you along to the usual table your group occupies, sitting you down next to him as you settle to get started on some homework before participating in open court later tonight to run a few games with the boys.

"She's cool. Must be hard to balance sports and schoolwork."

"I bet." Hoseok adds. "I barely can balance school work and finding new horror games to play on the PC."

"She's quite intimidating." Jimin adds.

"Why? She's nice to me in class."

"I never said she was mean, Kim Taehyung." Jimin looks at him. "She just seems tough. Someone who wouldn't back down in a fight, you know? We're like polar opposites."

"Imagine she swipes right on you, then what?" Jimin shrugs.

"I don't know. She's pretty, but I don't think she would ever do that."

"Oh come on, Jimin." Tae clicks his teeth. "Just picture it for a second, will you? Would you go for her?"

"Maybe? Again, I feel like we're opposites. We might not click well. Or, to put it quite plainly— she won't have the patience for me."

"You never know. Maybe she has a thing for nerds cause she's got an inner nerd herself. That's why you should get on the app."

"Wow, you douchebag. You totally egged me on just to try and sell the app?" Jimin pinches his arm, causing Taehyung to yelp an 'ow' once again. "Besides, a thing for nerds? Yeah, cause Jung Wooyoung is definitely a nerd." Jimin rolls his eyes and continues his homework.

"I don't even think they're dating like that."

"They go everywhere together, how could they not be?"

"I think they are just close." Jungkook adds his two cents. "I'm pretty sure I heard someone saying they matched with Wooyoung on my way to class."

"Okay, I'm tired of talking about this app." Jimin turns to Hoseok. "Have you found any new horror games we can play?"

"I did my research on a few indie games, even came across some free demos. So far I kinda wanna play Anemoiapolis, The Broken Veil, Stray Souls, Backrooms. They all seem creepy enough. I can share what I found later when we get home."

"Question is, would you actually play?"

"Mind your business, Kookie. I can do my research and not play. However, I will." Hoseok sassily brushes Jungkook off, knowing he's probably the biggest coward of them all.

"I heard about The Broken Veil. I wanna test it out. Maybe we can hop on later tonight." Jimin adds, finally being able to focus on the rest of the homework in front of him while the table quiets down.

Later that night, Taehyung welcomes himself to the apartment while Jungkook gathers a few things to spend the night at peanut's. Hoseok situates himself at his computer, with Jimin and Taehyung pulling chairs beside him to go over his list of horror games he had wanted to look at. But Jimin isn't gonna lie, after peanut had showed up and gave her two cents about the app— he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Of course, it didn't help that his friends were adamant about getting him on the app even for a couple of days.

Should he just do this shit to see what's good?

"Hello?" Hoseok turns to him.

"What?"

"Dude I asked if you were ready to watch Hollow's gameplay video on this?"

"He's thinking about the app." Taehyung smirks, making Jimin cringe.

"Shut up, I was not."

"Hey, we already told you how we felt about it. It'll be good."

"Oh yeah? And how's it going so far?" Jimin fired back as Hoseok quietly sat in the middle of his bickering friends, pursing his lips together in a tight-lipped smile with his dimples starting to poke through.

"It's.. fine. That's besides the point, Jiminie."

"No, it's not. How's it actually going, hm? How many people have you 'matched' with?" Jimin puts up air quotes.

"It's none of your business." Taehyung says close to a whisper, trying to respond in a sassy manner.

"It's none of my business because you have no business to share!"

"Oh, fuck off! It's only been a couple of hours since we signed up!"

"A couple of hours is a lot, okay?"

"You don't even exist on the app so you can't say anything!"

"Maybe it's better that I don't!" It's quiet between the two, even as they continue to stare each other down. Hoseok lets out a breath and places his hand back onto his mouse to navigate the pointer to the play button.

"So, can I press play now?" Hoseok looks at the two of them. "Because I'd really like to get his opinion before I spend a whopping 2 dollars on Steam for this game."

"Yeah, go for it champ." Taehyung finally calms down and adjusts his position in his seat. As Hoseok presses play, he leans over once more just to give Jimin a final message: "By the way, when someone finally swipes right on me, I swear on Kratos' supremacy that I will rub that shit in your face until the very end." He whispers, causing Jimin to flip him off.

"Kratos isn't real, okay? And that's fine, cause I'll probably die first before that even happens." Jimin whispers back.

"The game is starting. For the love of God— shut up." Hoseok whispers in between the both of them. It finally settles and the three are able to watch the gameplay in peace, minus the screams and jolts due to sudden jump scares.

After a few hours, with the clock hitting close to midnight, they finally help Hoseok finalize a list of games they'll purchase and play together. Jimin gets ready for bed, turns off his room lights and lays under the sheets staring at his ceiling. He should be tired, but he's not. He scrolls through his phone, going through his Instagram explore tab and finding more gameplay videos to add to his 'Watch Later' list.

And then he thinks about the Coffee app, yet again.

"Goddamit." He groans to himself as he navigates to the app store on his phone. He takes a minute or two to peek at the reviews, eyes full of curiosity when it's actually rated 4.5/5 stars on the store, followed by all the written reviews.

Found the love of my life on here!

Met some good people!

Plenty of potential!

Lots of options for a one night stand!

Girl I met had a good mouth— and I don't mean for talking!

"Ew?" Jimin furrows his brows at the last review he was able to glaze over. "My god, people are really like this?" He mutters to himself. His thumb hovers over the 'GET' button next to the app's icon. He lets out a breath, pondering on this sudden urge just to get the fuck onto the app and see what it's about.

So, he does it. He presses the button, figures he could delete it if he really didn't find anything beneficial from it.

Why not?

It's his senior year, this is called growth [in a way, I suppose]. Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone.

"Shit, shit, shit." He whispers to himself and whines a bit, watching the app finally download. He presses the icon and watches it come to life in front of his eyes.

Here goes nothing.

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