#not everything relates to it or is a callback!

[socialc1imb]

Chonny Jash fandom stop relating the meaning of every song and lyric to cccc challenge (HARD MODE)

[beskad]

Anyone saying to viewers or fans confused or dissatisfied by Bo-Katan's character in S3 "to understand Bo in The Mandalorian you need to go watch Rebels!" is, I think, missing the bigger issue.

Maybe Rebels addresses her arc really well and builds on TCW characterization? That's great! But the writers of Mando are not addressing it. They even appear to be currently, actively ignoring and/or retconning large portions of TCW and Rebels.

For "cinematic universes" (*gag*) like this, it's important to either adequately recap relevant existing canon, or clearly restart from square one. That way, even a casual viewer can understand the characters and and their motivations relative to the show they're watching now.

It is not a reasonable expectation to have every viewer need to have seen 4 seasons of an animated show to adequately understand a character who's been dropped into the 2nd season of a completely separate live action one.

Some decent groundwork was laid in season 2. We can't, nor should we, have all information about a character revealed to us immediately, that would just be a sloppy infodump.

Bo-Katan is the leader of a faction of Mandalorians who want to retake Mandalore. Cool. She's got a grudge against Gideon who, as we found out via Din in season 1, is responsible for the Great Purge of Mandalore, a complete bombing that made an already inhospitable landscape completely unlivable. So on and so forth.

However, at the end of season 3—a season where Bo-Katan is heavily featured—we still have received no clear explanation or recap of her backstory outside of her surrender to Gideon. There have been many opportunities for different characters to know and address that she had a leadership role in a literal terrorist group, Death Watch. It's very relevant, but it's never addressed. Even if we're going with it being previously resolved, it's a very significant and relevant part of her backstory and Bo-Katan doesn't even have private moments of reflection that might explain that to us, the audience.

She preaches about the failures of a divided Mandalore, despite having explicitly and repeatedly contributed to that division in very recent history. There's no self-awareness. from her or the writers.

If Favloni & co. want to retcon previous material—it's annoying, but they're technically allowed to do that.

However, they are not clearly committing to previous canon, nor are they doing the work to clearly establish new canon.

Regardless of the why for any of this, the fence-sitting makes for a mediocre product that tries to do both. The end result is a messy and inconsistent characterization and half-baked backstory that feels incomplete and leaves me asking the show I'm currently watching, "wait, did I miss something?"

Some additional gripes/support for my opinion that the creative team isn't committing to a clear plan for her characterization:

Bo specifically states that the planet and city didn't always look like this. But—

Completely omits that she's a key reason why it was wrecked twice over. Seized once by Maul, which I don't fault them for not acknowledging in live action because casual viewers would be confused (though technically the Solo movie did it so like, pick a lane), then later bombed into oblivion by the Empire.

She mentions her father, and that he's dead. Completely omits that she had a sister who's also dead, and who technically also died defending Mandalore (Satine's cultural genocide against her own people, which also oddly resulted in a population of seemingly all-white pacifists, is a rant for another post). There is room for a compelling and clear in-universe explanation for this! Like maybe she's in denial or tortured about it, and that's why it's not brought up. But we the audience still need to know that. However, it looks like they've just written Satine out. Maybe it would too clearly place Bo-Katan as a Bad Guy which is inconvenient for them because they don't want to take the time to address it, despite this season spending a lot of screentime with her.

They're even ignoring her characterization previously established within this same show with her showing explicit disgust for Din's faction in season 2, then somehow being fine with joining them in season 3.

[silverwhittlingknife]

#i will always be feral over this line because#is he lying? is he telling the truth?#and the answer is: yes#because before dick saved him tim clearly had no thoughts he was going to be saved#but after dick did save him well#clearly the fact that dick will always catch tim is a fundamental truth to tim#so he's both lying and telling the truth <3 (via @scintillyyy)

The other reason I think Red Robin 12 is a moment of trust between Tim and Dick is that Dick catches Tim.

Dick has a lot of issues with the concept of catching or failing to catch someone who is falling. It’s haunted his dreams.

(Nightwing #4)

It’s not so much the fall itself - Dick is fine with heights and with throwing himself off high places.

(Gotham Nights #10, Nightwing #140)

It’s about the fact he doesn’t make the catch.

One of my favourite bits of the Freefall storyline is Dick catching the Mother of Champions’ baby. Because it ties back to this fear of not getting there in time.

(Nightwing #6, Nightwing #146)

Nightwing catches the baby and is able to hand him to his mother. Wu Mei-Xin has never held any of her children before, it’s a lovely moment. It really caps off the growth Dick goes through over his solo.

(Nightwing #146)

And similarly, Dick being there to catch Tim is important imagery in their relationship.

Dick catches Tim when they’re playing around, train surfing:

(Nightwing #25)

Dick ‘catches’ Tim when he’s depressed. “You’re not catching me at a bad time”.

(Robin #156)

Dick is there to catch Tim as he falls apart after pouring out the water from the Lazarus pit.

(Nightwing #139)

And Dick is there to catch Tim as he falls from a building.

(Red Robin #12)

Dick’s grasp has never missed, when it’s Tim. It’s IMPORTANT to Dick that he make the catch for anyone, when they’re falling in front of him, but it’s especially important to him when it’s a child (and when it’s his baby brother).

Tim can honestly say to Dick “you’ll always be there for me” because a little part of him, deep inside, trusts that no matter what, no matter how impossible it might seem, Dick will be there to catch him.

[trashbatistrash]

,

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law on touching and being touched

It won't be a perverted post despite the title lol. But I won't stop your imagination, be free!

There's this funny theme going on with Law and Luffy in particular that picked my interest.

Luffy touched him first.

And he later returned the gesture, much more awkwardly.

Again, Luffy grabbed him angrily first.

Law made sure to return the gesture. (btw he also does it with Zoro, who was the first one to wrap an arm around him at post-Dressrosa feast. In Wano Law has no problem grabbing Zoro and shouts at him angrily. Again, it was Zoro who initiated the touch first).

Law grabbing Luffy to teleport them makes Luffy react in a curious way, you wanna know why?

Because it totally feels like this moment. Both Law and Ace, right after getting uncuffed, grabbed Luffy in same way to get him to a safer place. Ace-Law parallel in relation to Luffy kills me. The whole Dressrosa arc's plotline between Luffy and Law is just Marineford Went Well This Time. Ngl I kinda hated Oda at first for that. Now i dig it.

He didn't seem to like that. Luffy says "Let's all get along well!", but Law thinks alliances don't have to "get along".

Mistranslation here. What Law says here, being so surprised, is "nakayoshi ka?!" which means "you two get along?!" or "you two are buddy-buddies?!". It's a callback to Luffy declaring that Law and Strawhats crew should get along (he uses same word then, nakayoku-get along), Law learns here that Luffy's crew indeed "gets along well". You can interpret it whatever way you wish, but I will use it this time to put this scene into context:

The same gesture Luffy did to him before, but Law didn't return it to Luffy - that's because they're not crewmates. But he takes the lesson to heart and "gets along" with his own crew. Omg I can't believe i'm writing it, I make Law sound like this completely awkward adult who doesn't know how to be friends with people.

But bear with me, the shit is only starting. If you don't want to have feels I reccommend you just laugh at it and stop reading here. I digged up a feels landmine by accident. In-depth study starts below!

It's also a possible callback to the "reassurance" Law got from Cora-san. "I'm counting on you to escape" and Law did. He counts for his crew to steer the submarine well in similar manner.

Law's family didn't seem very touchy-feely, so please keep that in mind as well. He's got limited experience with touches and the few touches he did get familiar with were either taken away from him or brutalized.

Law getting patted on the head lovingly by his parent.

Next time this loving gesture happens, he gets thrown from like two-floor building into a pile of garbage.

And then he gets lied to that everything will be fine. We all know it wasn't.

Do you still wonder why he hates being touched on the head?

The sister touches his face gently while showing child Law support and compassion, reminding him not to despair, someone kind will help him.

Corazon doing the same gentle touch to the face while crying for him, thinking of all the pain Law had to experience. Indeed, the world sent Law someone kind. And Law lost him and blames himself for that.

Law holding Lammy's hand while lying to her that it will be alright. He never does that gesture again to anyone.

The sister holding Law's hand.

"Don't come closer! Don't touch us! We will get infected!" even doing the barrier gesture (I guess that's why Law doesn't get along with Bartolomeo). I used only few examples, there is much more, I just couldn't bear posting them all. Anyway, Law's got the message, his touch is unwanted. The body and mind remembers this.

Similar shit said at the auction in Sabaody about Fishmen, we don't see Law's reaction to that, but we can guess already that it was for sure triggering. Those people talking are sitting not that far away from him.

Ever wondered why Law throws people when teleporting? Besides the fact he avoids making contact with anyone unless they initiate it first, because that trauma is still strong in him ("Stay away! Don't come closer!"), there is one other possible reason:

Wonder no more! He does it to people because that's how people treated him as well, even people who apparently loved him.

Now that I have ruined the "Law is just an awkward unsocial nerd" joke for you, let me offer something to warm your heart a bit in exchange:

Corazon made sure to touch Law a lot and hold him in his arms, despite being often clumsy about it. I think he understood Law's trauma about being touched and his fear to touch or approach anyone, and tried to help him overcome it.

Being hugged and trying to return the gesture. Corazon's efforts did bring some results! But it only works for very few people, Law is still wary of people he doesn't know well. He expects to be unwanted and acts uneccessarily cold, distant and unapproachable because of that. But if you scroll back to the beginning of this post, you can see that he is trying his best to overcome it as well, one step at a time. Some things just can't be rushed.

And hey, at least he seems to be actually relaxed and almost like he *enjoys* being carried around. You think it makes him look uncool? Definitely. But suddenly it feels like Something Important, kinda intimate in a way and not just a silly comedy moment. It's a sign Law relies on people when he lets them carry him and that's why he doesn't protest.

Sanji is like "Why are you relaxing like that?! Get off!!" Finally, it makes sense why Law makes such a sour face here. Sanji should be grateful for the rare privileage after all! Anyway, this is anime-only extension, in manga Sanji actually doesn't tell Traffy to get off and Law chooses to scramble by himself, which doesn't taint the fragile trust those two just shared.

For those who made it to the end of this post, have I ruined Law's comedy moments for you forever? Because I sure just did that for myself.

I could also add one more cute thing from One Piece World Seeker Law's dlc, but I will let those interested to discover it by themselves!

I'm also amazed by the consistency of this theme. Both manga and anime never forget that touch is seemingly a big deal for Law.

[lastoneout]

The thing about Lower Decks is that it was in fact a love letter to Star Trek as a whole and it shows that in the variety of references and callbacks and tropes they used, but also, and this is crucial, it was a good show all on it's own.

Like yeah it is full of references that are clearly made out of a deep love of the source and not shallow mockery, but on top of that Lower Decks was just a good Star Trek show. It wasn't perfect, I have complaints for sure, but the characters are well written and diverse and funny, the plot is engaging and mysterious and fun, you want to see what the crew does next, you want to see the cast grow and change and improve, you care about the ship!!

You take the references OUT of Lower Decks and it STILL stands on it's own. Lower Decks, at it's best, was never about what Star Trek could do for it, but what new stuff it could bring to the table. Star Trek as a franchise is richer and more complex and beautiful because this show exists. Hell the image for an Orion on one of the wikis used to be a sexualized woman wearing almost nothing, and now it's Tendi, a character that doesn't get sexualized for an easy joke, who wears a full Starfleet uniform, who has friends and family and ambitions and quirks and everything!! That's incredible!!

I don't have the time or the energy to write a full essay on it, but when Lower Decks pulled away from direct references and cameos and reused set pieces and focused on it's own story, it's own characters, and their own unique place in Starfleet and the universe of Star Trek, is when it was at it's best. It doesn't need references to tell a good story, the characters don't have to be related to ones we've seen before or in a ship we recognize or going to planets we've seen a dozen times, they can do their own thing with the tools their medium allows for and it fucking worked so goddamn well!!

Lower Decks deserved so much better, and it should not be boiled down to a show that's just making silly references and nothing else, because it's also one of the most unique Star Trek shows we've ever seen and Star Trek NEEDS new, unique stuff, and I can only hope the possibilities Lower Decks has opened up for Star Trek as a whole get carried on to whatever comes next.

[ladybugkisses]

this is so cute and silly oh my god, 😭 💕💙💕 i love Ari asking for Rocky's opinion on what to wear by itself bUT THEN GDSKGSDS WHOOPS!! !

i've been (for the most part) keeping track of Ari's outfits and i've come to the conclusion she's the type who has a million dresses and shoes and hats to choose from and will still say "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR 😭"

[crowsongcaws]

PLEASE SAVE BIGB'S DESIGN

TL;DR at bottom (also this sounds like anger and it isn't, I'm just dramatic) Screaming, crying, on my knees BEGGING PLEASE

I know so many other Life Series/Traffic Life characters have reoccurring tropes they aren't able to escape from fandom-wise (cough cough DESERT DUO cough cough) but please for the love of EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! Let BigB be free of the cookie thing!!! It really is "yeah I don't watch him but I included everyone else so I'll include him and he has a bunch of cookie fanart so yeah BigB = cookies <3" It's a funny little callback sometimes, but for him, it's just that people don't know what else to give him. He hasn't even been OCified!!! (OCified as in a fanon version of himself has become widely known and accepted over the canon character i.e. Grian being an avian, Scar being ridiculously buff, Jimmy being a canary etc etc)

I understand why people would be hesitant to make him some sort of hybrid like most other members, but he doesn't have to be a hybrid to be OCified! For example, although Martyn also tends to be elf-like or sometimes something monster-related, he's widely regarded as a Listener! And guess what? BigB was also in EVO!

"But BigB's skin had a cookie on it---" AGES AGO, PLEASE LET IT DIE "Joel isn't 'OCified'---" Didn't ask, don't care, talking about BigB right now At this point, I could draw a cookie with eyes and limbs and say it's BigB fanart and everyone would be like "yaaay!" I desperately want and NEED to see BigB with non-cookie related designs. Can he have little stuff hinting towards the cookie thing? Of course! That's part of his character! Just PLEASE add on literally ANYTHING ELSE. BigB with 4c (read it again, FOUR-C) hair with shaved sides and a heart shaved into one side. Same hairstyle but the sides are braided back and one of the sides has a heart braided into it. Cottagecore BigB with mohawk braids that go back into a bun with that little bandana headband on! Imagine he's in friendly floral clothing holding a bouquet of flowers, and the center of the flowers look vaguely like eyes but everything else about him looks so typical you barely notice at first glance because he's totally Normal(tm) and completely unaffected by Evo as opposed to literally everyone else. Please give BigB a new outfit. That sweater is TIRED. Let it REST. Give him literally ANYTHING ELSE. Give him a fucking corset idk! A dress! Ball gown! Spacesuit! My Chemical Romance merch! LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE. "I don't think BigB as a character would wear a corset/dress/anything feminine---" Why? Go on. TL;DR Stop making BigB's personality revolve around cookies (and also being a cheater because of Double Life for that matter) and please add literally anything else to his character design/personality traits I am begging and screaming and crying because I can't unsee it

[ascesabo]

sometimes i want to reach through the screen and shake sabo by the shoulders because. god. there's just so much going on with him.

he's first introduced through the veil of luffy's memories- here he's just another feral jungle kid, sticking it out with ace and luffy, the 'nicer' brother in young luffy's eyes. and then boom. you find out he's a runaway noble trying to escape his abusive, neglectful family- and this changes nothing, they still get to become sworn brothers, but just as quickly as this is resolved, his asshole of a dad takes the three of them hostage. and what does sabo do? he gives up the little sliver of freedom he'd fought for, is willing to become miserable and lonely again if it means ace and luffy are spared. and then he comes home to find that in his absence, his parents have already found a replacement! great!

and he doesn't even get to address how fucked up that is, because stelly runs his mouth and now sabo's too busy trying to figure out how to stop his brothers and their home from getting burnt to the ground. he never gets to give them a proper goodbye- he exhausts himself trying to reach them, but he can't because. you know. he's ten. so where does this leave sabo? ten years old, with nowhere to go- he sets out to sea to try and start over, and for the crime of wanting to escape a terrible life, he's punished with an explosion to the face. he loses his memories, his brothers lose him- and so the cycle continues.

then the army saves him, takes him in; he's essentially a child soldier, with how prodigious of a fighter he is from the get-go. but hey, he thinks he's finally found his footing, even if his past's a blur to him- then it all comes flooding back. in the worst way possible. he sees his brother's corpse and he remembers, but it doesn't matter, does it? he's too late, ace is gone, and sabo's lost ten years of a life he could have shared with his brothers. we don't even know how (if, even) he recovers from this- except for a single passing statement from koala, asking him if he's 'had that dream again' because he'd been crying in his sleep. this is never brought up or addressed again. great!plus, we never do find out if getting blown up at the ripe old age of ten could have left any lasting fire-related trauma; and if it does, what does that mean for sabo, who's pretty much made of it, now?

both of these questions are answered at once- sabo treats the fire as if it's ace. it's ace's legacy he's carrying on, and it's ace he seeks freedom for. he copes by making sure ace lives on in his flames, and how can he ever hate the fire living in him if that fire is all he has left of the brother he never got to see again?

i just have to wonder about him, because he's got so many Issues that just. don't ever get addressed? every time we see him deal with his grief (episode of sabo, his own retelling of events in dressrosa) we never really discover anything about him. i wonder how it felt to finally remember the childhood that eluded him, just to find out he was an unwanted, replacable child. how he feels, living with the knowledge that he could have done something to save ace, that he'd failed to remember the two people he loved the most? i wonder just how terribly that guilt must weigh down on him- because where luffy's already begun to heal, sabo still sees ace in everything he does. his title of flame emperor is a direct callback to ace's final attack in his fight against blackbeard. he talks to his goddamn fire like his brother is still in front of him, which is sweet and heartbreaking and, considering his backlog of unaddressed trauma... incredibly unhealthy. i know these will probably be left unresolved for the sake of moving the story forward- but god, sabo, are you okay?

[siflovesbuddie]

Sorry to take this out of the tags and into the replies, but I have been saying this about the ghost of Ali lingering around and being SO LOUD! Makes me so happy that you call on it here

Buddie 617 meta

I’m gonna be honest here, this was one of the funniest 911 eps to me. I loved how this ep showed us both Buck and Eddie completely sucking at dating. It was very obvious in Buck’s case, what with each attempt to have quality time with Natalia being ruined by one of his past decisions, but then when he called out Eddie for also sucking at it, Buck wasn’t wrong. Eddie’s attempts seem half-hearted at best. First off, if he really wanted to date, then Tia Pepa’s help and dating apps are actually not that awful as options. Magic might happen there as well. The right person could even stand out more against a sea of not so great choices, turning the dreary experience into a colorful, magical one. But even when Eddie tries on his own, his attempts are LAME. Seriously, there are pastime activities that offer way more potential to start a conversation, and maybe a romance, than the ones Eddie chose. Not only that, these are not his actual hobbies, where he knows he’ll find someone who likes the same thing he does (the way he shares so much with one tall firefighter that we’re all thinking of right now. Eddie’s also being dumb about wanting it to “just happen” as if that’s not exactly what he got with buck. Also, just a friendly reminder that Buddie have been dating for almost 5 years, and they are GREAT at it when it’s with each other).

Keep reading

[vorareromantic]

anyway i have some more proof for my "mello still would've killed himself if he lost to near" theory. special shoutout to @melloneah for giving me input while i talked my head off about this. ur a real one

first of all, this:

his "great and respected predecessor, the man whose actions were a strong influence on me personally." beyond birthday, the second child much like second place mello. the second child, the backup, the second choice who went off the deep end. he could never succeed, bound for failure. and of course, mello goes so far as to say he's trying not to base his analysis of beyond on his own experience. trying, but not succeeding. he takes influence from B because he understands and relates. he knows what it's like to be second best, to feel like a copy. and the "if this was how i felt, i shouldn't even need to say how bad it was before."

then, there's this:

the emphasis on beyond's failure and loss. but then, mello circles it BACK around to "my poor, poor predecessor," which has a strong undertone of mockery, given what we know about mello and how he views failure. and then he says that B must've "longed for death," and offers condolences for the humiliation that he experienced.

obviously, i can't bring up any of this without mentioning mello's introduction to the story where he knows he's going to die and has accepted that.

mello knows he is going to die because he knows his options are a victory by default if near dies or not beating near and surviving, which as i mentioned before, he implies to be embarrassing and not worthwhile. he studies these actions through beyond as he leads himself knowingly up to his death. but he knows what he's doing. that's why he takes off his helmet. he can't and won't live with the failure and shame. he studied where beyond went wrong in his own failsafe suicide attempt so that he wouldn't make it out alive and suffer the same shame and embarassment.

not to mention the phrasing. "died like a dog," according to merriam-webster, is used to describe a dishonorable or shameful death. he acknowledges that through beyond too, with the embarrassment of failing. he knows his own death will shameful, but he also hasn't died yet, which implies his choice in the matter. he chooses to die a shameful death because he believes it's better than feeling his own defeat. he compares himself to beyond repeatedly and admittedly takes inspiration from his actions all the way until the end.

he references the hardest part of killing someone in one of the paragraphs above, which is important because it's a callback to when he says this:

he acknowledges that killing is hard, and in the part where he makes this callback, he says that humans aren't designed to die easily. so he has to do something more extreme to not make beyond's mistakes. something that would keep him from the same embarrassment of surviving when he meant to die. perhaps even something that violates those natural laws of the universe-- oh, wait, wait.

interesting. very interesting.

i also must point out my own personal views on the labb murder cases book. firstly, i do not think it is canon in the sense that everything in it happened. i do think it is how mello personally views the events that unfolded, but despite his denial i do also think it is largely influenced by his own experiences and worldview. there would be no way for him or L to know the exact dialogue that occurred, or anything beyond the major plot points. a lot of it is left open for interpretation, and mello makes up his own dialogue and perspective. was B or misora really anything like how they were depicted in this story? who knows. most of it was made up. and given he expected near to be the first to read it and the only person to care or understand, i think he knew that near would know exactly what that book was.

mello knew he would die, was yet to die, seemed to know how he would die, foreshadowed it, recognized all of the risks of the notebook and yet continued to show his face, and then all of the connections of himself to beyond especially right before acknowledging his suicide attempt as a power move and the humiliation of surviving through failure. he never had any intention of making it out alive. his case study on beyond was truly an analysis on himself. the labb murder cases wasn't just a story or a fanfiction, it was a suicide note. one last insight into the complexities of mello's mind, and perhaps most importantly, he gets the last word.

edit: i also just realized the full title is "death note: another note the los angeles bb murder cases" but none of the other death note books are called "another note" because the rest of them are not notebooks or notes. but this is. mello says he doesn't want it to be a novel, but it's because it's intended to be a suicide note and that EVEN IF IT TURNS INTO A NOVEL it is always a suicide note first and foremost.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buddie: Buck and Eddie are each other's person/people!

They found one another in 2x1 when they agreed to have each other's backs and 9-1-1 illustrated this fact AGAIN at the end of episode 8x4!

The song that played during the montage is "Find Your People" by Drew Holcomb and the same way songs that were played in CANON during previous seasons (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) include meaningful lyrics, the ones in this song MEAN SOMETHING too and if they didn't, they wouldn't have played it (related posts linked here, here and here). (I used a version of the episode that includes closed captions so the lyrics to the song would be included in the GIFs.) I haven't done a META like this in a while but I'm ready to do them again because the show is finally back on track with a clear narrative and 8x4 is proof of that.

Please note: T*mmy Kinard is NOT Buck's person because if he was, he would have been included in the montage! He's not there because he's a plot device and in 7x4 Buck WAS NOT trying to get his attention!

If the show wanted to, they could have shoehorned in a scene of the two of them, the same way they did in 7x10 but they didn't because he's on his way out!

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

The song started playing right after Hen took down Councilwoman Ortiz and the lyrics are crystal clear. Let's review them for kicks and giggles.

The song begins with "You got to find your people. The ones who make you feel alright" and that's when Hen walked back to the 118 and Bobby walked away from Gerrard to be with his found family!

Eddie's scene with Weston, Mike and Stacy was next and the lyrics that can be heard when Weston is wheeled toward Eddie are "You got to find your people, the ones that won't leave your side when you lose control. The ones that don't let you lose your soul." BE CLEAR... the lyrics are specific to the main character in the scene and I can prove Eddie's scene relates to him and Buck and it also illustrates how Eddie's not looking for another mother for Chris.

In 5x18, Buck defined what love means to him. He said, "Is that really love? I mean shouldn't it be when you're at your worst and their at their worst, you have every reason to give up and you still decide you want to try again!" (Related post linked here.) The lyrics for Eddie state for him to find his people, someone who'll be by his side when he loses control (THAT'S BUCK! He was there when Eddie broke down) and the ones who won't let you lose your soul (THAT'S BUCK TOO!)

Furthermore, at the end of the scene, Eddie watches Weston and his parents walk away from him and that was a mom, dad and a son. Eddie's not looking for a mother for Chris anymore and it was a callback to earlier in the episode with the wrapping of Mike's hand like he wrapped Ana Flores' hand in 4x6 "Jinx" but there aren't any Jinxes or Curses related to what happened in 8x4. Eddie's relationship with Ana was JINXED from the start the same way his relationship with Marisol was something but it wasn't going to last because once again he was looking for a mother for Chris instead of him looking for the person he already has in his life, BUCK!

Also, Eddie DOESN'T WANT MIKE! (There have been some posts in the tags that says he does but he doesn't because he only has eyes for BUCK! I blocked those people just like I blocked the ones that said Eddie wants the priest 🙄.) The show clearly illustrated that with the scenes they shared in the episode. The touches, the looks and everything else that happened between Eddie and Buck were intentional. Trust that Eddie Diaz only has eyes for Evan Buckley.

The next scene was Henren and Madney. The lyrics that played during this scene after Mara walked over to Hen, Karen and Denny are "In a world full of strangers, all you see is danger" which relates to Mara because she was around strangers when she was at the group home and she had been involved in a dangerous situation before Hen and Karen became her foster parents.

Also, the lyrics that played while Maddie and Chimney were hugging are "You can't go it alone. Everybody needs help. You got to find your people then you'll find yourself." Well, Madney were the ones who helped when they stepped in to foster Mara until Henren's foster care license was reinstated.

Bathena's scene was next and just like the other scenes, the lyrics fit their current situation. It began with Athena talking about rebuilding the house Michael designed for her but after Bobby said he didn't want to rebuild that house, the lyrics in the song indicated the exact reason why.

During their conversation Drew sings, "You got to find your people. The ones that make you feel alright. That tell you the truth and wish you well. You got to find your people then you'll find yourself."

Bobby told Athena the truth about the house and she agreed that they needed to build something new.

The next to the last scene is when Bobby walks back into the 118. The lyrics that were playing are "In a world full of strangers, you don't know who to trust. All you see is danger trying to find what you lost. You can't go it alone, everybody needs help." Well, Bobby was in a world full of strangers when he was at the Hotshots set and since he didn't know them, he couldn't trust them. But Hen went to see him earlier in the episode and she gave him the information he needed so he could go back to his firehouse and when he went back to the 118, he was with his found family again.

Even though they were talking, the song was still playing in the background. (I didn't include the scene with Gerrard because I didn't want to but he found his people too... I guess since he was finally able to tell people what to do on "Hotshots.")

Even though Buck and Eddie didn't have a lot of scenes together in 8x4, the ones they did have are VERY IMPORTANT and one of them was another callback to 4x13 and 4x14.

At the beginning of the episode, they weren't standing right beside each other but they were close enough and Hen was in between them with Chimney to Eddie's left and Buck to Hen's right.

When they went to the high school football game, Eddie got out of the engine right behind Buck and Buck looked at him when Gerrard asked him if he played football in high school. Now this is my speculation but it seems like Buck told Eddie the same thing he told Bobby later in the episode except it happened off screen. At the end of 8x3, when Gerrard hugged Buck, he was weirded out by it (who wouldn't be) but everyone knows Buck talks to Eddie about the things that bother him (reminder T*mmy DOESN'T LISTEN TO BUCK! He makes sex jokes instead of listening to him and when he finally complimented him in 8x1, it was an obscure statement about cones or some other BS. All he had to say was, "You're cute" but he didn't. That dude has NO GAME! 🙄), therefore he probably told Eddie he didn't like the way Gerrard kept touching him. He was looking at his soulmate and future husband for reassurance.

When they arrived at the tiger call, Eddie was behind Buck again.

The scene above could have been done with Hen and Eddie standing behind Chimney but NO... the show is doing a callback to the shooting here. It was the second time this season it was alluded to. The first time was in 8x1 when Eddie said, "I've been shot before" when they were talking about the bees and he said it in front of Buck. Reminder, Chimney and Hen were in the ambulance when Captain Mehta made the call to dispatch about Eddie being shot. Also, Ethan Copeland was a trained LAPD sniper who had a scope on his gun with Buck in the crosshair. Buck was in shock and didn't notice it but Captain Mehta tackled him to the ground (related video here).

Finally, while they were sitting in the courtroom, Buck and Eddie were sitting right beside each other and they were doing the same thing they always do, glancing and looking at one another. It's who they are and what they do.

The point of this post is to illustrate... T*MMY WASN'T INCLUDED IN THE MONTAGE BECAUSE HE'S NOT BUCK'S PERSON!

EDDIE IS BUCK'S PERSON AND BUCK IS EDDIE'S PERSON.

BUDDIE has always been the plan and for anyone who's choosing not to see it or is constantly searching for reassurances that it will happen; the only proof anyone who doesn't work for the show can provide are the things that are happening in CANON. Everything else is speculation!

THE SHOW IS NOT BEING SUBTLE ANYMORE!

[part-time-zombie]

Ok I've either reached some sort of analytical epiphany here, or I fully fried my brain and I'm no longer making sense. Either way...

seven sides = seven deadly sins.

Roman = Pride.

Easy enough, he represents the ego and pride in a most literal sense (along with passion and creativity). A wound to his ego creates literal pain, and his reputation/role as a heroic prince means everything to him since his very existence is tied to being the "good" part of imagination.

Remus = Lust.

Another easy one, but I think it's more than just the dirty jokes here. It had been suggested before that since Remus represents all forbidden/unwanted thoughts that c!thomas rejected/repressed because he thought they were bad, there likely may have been a point where he was also his closeted homosexuality in the past.

Virgil = Sloth.

Procrastination is a common practice from Virgil, one he either unintentionally prompts or openly promotes. Anytime something stressful or challenging occurs, Virgil always seems to suggest inactivity and avoidance as the solution, preferring to hide from the issue altogether instead of making any effort into fixing it.

Orange = Wrath (?)

Not much is really known here, but from what we've seen so far it's fair to assume that anger is a driving force if not a direct role for the orange side, though future videos may provide more insight.

Janus = Greed.

Greed is a desire to collect and hoard material wealth/resources, with no intention of sharing or using it. It is innately selfish (and not always in a good way) and the way I feel this translates to Janus is by him wanting c!thomas to prioritize himself above all else, even if it involves letting others down. He wants Thomas to seek out the things he wants in life (like the callback) and to take it without feeling bad about choosing his own happiness. This isn't just for goals/achievements, though, he also wants thomas to save his free time/availability for himself without giving it out carelessly. It's as he said: "it's your time and you do what you want with it". He wants Thomas to remove the blindfold and take what he wants while he still can, before the opportunity is lost again.

Patton = Envy.

This one was a little tough, but I think I made it make sense (at least to me). Patton is Thomas' morality, something instilled in him by observing and imitating those around him. As such, Patton's ideals largely come from him comparing himself and Thomas to others. Sure, Thomas is good, but is he as good as someone else? Can be be better? Can he be perfect, and what counts as perfect to begin with? Patton is constantly looking to outside influences to determine what standards to set, which is why Janus managed to help get through to him when he needed guidance in pof. In a way, Patton is envious of others for them seemingly having gotten it all figured out and being effortlessly good (which is obviously ridiculous, but Patton may have had issues with realizing that).

Logan = Gluttony.

In all seriousness, though, this is about more than just crofters. Gluttony is an obsessive overindulgence of material pleasures and consuming more than is healthy. It differs from greed in that greed focuses on amassing wealth and holding onto it, while gluttony uses up everything it can as quickly as possible. How does that relate to Logan? Well, instead of simply associating this with jam or wine, I like to think he is gluttonous of c!thomas' time. He says he experiences a "titillating, tingling sensation whenever deadlines are met" and regularly tried to direct as much of the focus onto himself and his plans as possible, and becomes frustrated without having surplus time to work. It's not like that time is wasted, though. He does quite the opposite by trying to prioritize all of the time to what he wants, even when it's at a detriment to the others/thomas. He allotted only 0.5% of the day to hopes and dreams, insisting the rest of the day be spent as he pleases. Why? Because being prioritized means he's important and respected, which for him is like the best feeling in the world. And going by how eagerly he devours crofters or chugs wine, it's clear that anything he finds enjoyable will be immediately consumed.

[its-your-girl-geekerella]

EPIC: The Vengeance Saga

I've procrastinated on this post for as long as I possibly could, but I'm here now! Let's get into it:

Not Sorry For Loving You. I love this song and I love Calypso, and you can't change my mind. I will not apologize. I'm not entirely sure why everyone hates her, but she is my smol child. The animatic cracked me up though, because while Calypso is sobbing and singing, Odysseus is hopping on his boat and sailing away like, "I'm just gonna go... yeah. Bye." It made him seem like a jerk, but it was also kinda funny.

Dangerous. It was a genuinely great song. The "Full Speed Ahead" callback showcasing Odysseus's loneliness was great, Hermes was great, the Winions were great. Everything was just great. There is literally nothing I could say about this song you haven't heard.

Charybdis. Honestly? This is the one song from EPIC that I would call truly "mid". Don't get me wrong, all of Jorge's work is epic (haha I'm so funny), but this one was slightly... less epic. Also, I'm more of a dialogue and emotions person, not really an action-enjoying one, so that may have contributed. I will say, however, that Odysseus's "NOOOO" was incredible and deeply relatable.

Get in the Water. Yes. Yes. And yes again. I had waited for this one for so long, and it did not disappoint. The dialogue between Poseidon and Ody? Chef's kiss. Immaculate writing, Jay. Poseidon's "I can't" really made it seem like he wasn't really that angry anymore, like this was something he put on his "to-do" list a few years back, and had to check off. But when Odysseus told him that he should "learn to forgive", implying that a mere MORTAL knew something more than a GOD, he got peeved. The character depth we see in this song is great, especially in comparison to the next song. Part of me does hope that aside from the finale, this is the last "dead people sing to Odysseus" we see for the rest of the show.

600 Strike. I know I said that I'm not super into action scenes, but this song SLAPS. HARD. The singing is so good, and the music really encapsulates the title of the show. When Ody says, "you're going to call of that storm", I got freaking SCARED. That last 1:40 of the song is my favorite part. The vocals are legit my favorite. And "next to my wife"????? WHO APPROVED THIS???? Jorge??? Are you OK???? Am I OK??? After listening to this last song, I literally went into an early-life crisis. I didn't talk to anyone, I ate some ice cream, and silently pondered to myself, "what just happened?" over and over again. I was fine two hours later, though😀

This Saga was everything I hoped it would be, and it was written really well. (Why am I surprised?) My two favorite songs were "Not Sorry For Loving You" and "600 Strike!"

My biggest "thing" with EPIC is that I want it to become a staged musical. I know that Jay at some point said that it may not work out like that, but then a few moths later he said that it could work, so I'm holding on to hope. After all, if EPIC never becomes a staged production, how are countless people supposed to play these characters we know and love? Don't be stingy, Mr. Jalapeno. /j

My largest concern with this Saga is that it would be the hardest to stage, especially with songs like "Charybdis" and "600 Strike". For example, the part where Poseidon drowns Odysseus. How to show Odysseus being drowned and the wind bag floating just above him and the dead people helping him WHILE still showing Poseidon above the water? I have some concepts, but it would still be really hard. Any ideas are welcome!

[arttheclown]

me sitting here at midnight thinking about Why this goofy show has become important to me again & why i’ve latched onto it again so hard Right Now but not wanting to get too vulnerable 🤐

i should be in bed but what if i wrote a multi-chaptered fic for my really niche interest. i absolutely shouldn’t because i have too many WIPs sitting around as it is and i’m terrible at finishing things but what if.

[stochastiz]

episode 11 of 4-Sided Dive has me sobbing at 7:30am

Revealing Ashton's unhealthy but incredibly relatable self-medication habits

Tal and Dani talking about Ashton's chronic pain and coming to terms with that as a lived experience. Tal saying he used to think friends with chronic pain were just being assholes and not understanding until he started having his own.

Liam saying druidcraft is his favorite ability "because you get to tell people you love them" = sobbing in gift giving is my love language

everyone trying to reassure Liam that the blame for what happened shouldn't be on Orym and him sitting there going :|

"boy I hate having something to lose now, it's really uncomfortable" and "abandonment is the theme, everything leaves the moment you care"

"i habitually keep making characters that just keep working and refuse to retire and I think that speaks more about me"

Liam absolutely lighting up at the mention of the tower

"roleplaying is a language of love and pain"

"Herr Widogast would recognize that this group has less walls between each other..."

I really wanna watch documentaries and YouTube deep dives with Ashton now

the "forever and ever and always" callback