#oh those ep titles are SCARY similar

[finalgirlkateausten]

You've tried. That's all we can do.

[luci-cunt]

Hannigram??? Works???

aka: Hannibal and Will’s relationship isn’t healthy but at the end of the series its sort of has the potential to be? Or: a very long and rambly analysis of idiot gay cannibals and the power of equal standing in relationships

(1.5k words because I murder brevity with my teeth)

Trigger/ Spoiler warning for: Hannibal

-------------------

Ok I said they have the potential to be healthy and not that they are healthy because--lol, they’re not. 

In the first season they’re “friends” but Hannibal’s also gaslighting the hell out of Will/ keeping a life threatening disease diagnosis from him/ framing him for murder/ shoving their daughters ear down his throat.

In the second season they’re almost enemies? but not really? Because Will is just as fucked up as Hannibal is so he doesn’t actually consider Hannibal to be his enemy, he just realizes he has Hannibal twisted around his finger and starts jerking the fucker around and it takes Hannibal all the way up to the finale to realize he’s not the one in control anymore.

In the third season they’re struggling because they don’t know how to be equals, they’re both fucked up and don’t know how to have normal, stable relationships so they’re jsut kind of feeling in the dark, falling back on old habits (eating your problems, murdering your problems, running away from your problems, etc) when things get uncomfortable. It’s--again--not until the season finale that they both realize that’s what they’re BOTH doing and find a comfort in realizing they’re both trying, but not succeeding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Hannibal finds people interesting he “fosters codependency” so they cannot leave him (Abigail with the Boyle murder cover-up, Bedelia with getting eaten, Will with literally all the first season). Meanwhile Will just doesn’t do close relationships. Alana is the only person he considers to be his friend but she’s constantly fighting to keep that title, same with Beverly actually. Will himself doesn’t put any effort into keeping those friendships, he leaves it entirely up to them.

But Hannibal and Will’s bond forms so easily that it surprises both of them--and then when Hannibal defaults to his need to make Will dependent on him so he can’t leave, Will defaults to his rejection of dependency and points out that’s what Hannibal’s doing but also goes along with it because he finds himself almost wanting to be closer to the man.

This--the fact that Hannibal’s attempt at closeness is recognized and accepted, and that Will is allowing himself to be open with someone--is new to both of them. Equally.

(By the way this is in the form of Abigail, Hannibal fosters codependency by putting the responsibility of Abigail on both his and Will’s shoulders and Will allows this by recognizing it, pointing it out [”You’re fostering codependency doctor.”], and then still allowing it [going along with the Boyle cover up].)

Just--ok think about Dolce. (The ep where they reunite in the third season and Will tries to kill Hannibal only to get shot by Chiyoh and then for Hannibal to decide he’s going to eat Will’s brain before the Italian’s show up and kidnap them both.)

Will finding Hannibal is big for both of them: because it means that Will looked for Hannibal--actively sought him out by reflecting on past conversations they’ve had--and it also means that Hannibal was where Will could find him. It’s a shaky apology on both sides because they aren’t willing to actually apologize for any of their actions but they recognize the pain they’ve caused on another.

However, Will tries to murder Hannibal because he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I mean--he does--what I mean is that this relationship is such unexplored territory for both of them that it’s uncomfortable at first, and Will doesn’t trust Hannibal to be waiting on the other side while he stumbles thru the dark rn, so he falls back on old habits and tries murdering the problem.

Hannibal tries to eat Will’s brain because he’s also falling back on old habits (eating his problems) because he’s also uncomfortable with the new territory. He’s just more open to fumbling, but he’s hypersensitive to rejection (Mizumono, Dolce, getting himself arrested when Will tells him to get gone, that “Was it good to see me Will?” scene, etc.), and he takes Will’s stabbing attempt as rejection. At least until he drags him away and they have their “you forgive like god does Will--would you have made it quick? Or would you have stopped to gloat?” “Does god gloat?” “Often.” Conversation, and he realizes he’s not being rejected BUT he reminded that he’s still terrified OF the rejection so--boop eat the man.

(Oh also Will running away from the problem by letting Hannibal kill him--which, yes, is what was happening. He could have warned Jack that Hannibal was under the table as SOON as Jack came in the door but instead he waits until the last possible second. Also you can’t blame it on the drugs either if he can complain about Hannibal’s soup and keep up with this idiots waxing poetic ramblings he can tell that Jack came in. Also also also: Hannibal told him Jack was coming and also got under the table literally there was no reason for Will to NOT call out to Jack when he came in except that he didn’t want Jack to stop Hannibal.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is that in season one the power balance is in Hannibal’s court--and season two it’s in Will’s--and then in season three it’s wildly rocking back and forth between both of them before someone hits a metaphorical pause button--aka the “this is all I’ve ever wanted for you--for us.” “It’s beautiful.” scene.

Fundamentally I think this show is about Hannibal and Will’s relationship. The cliff scene is as much an ending as it is a beginning. That “it’s beautiful” exchange is both of them realizing they’re EQUALLY having trouble finding footing in their relationship, they’re realizing they’re BOTH uncomfortable to a certain degree with the new territory and that it’s just that for both of them--new territory.

Idk, you know when you’re taking a test and you have no idea what the answer to some question is so you’re slyly trying to look around to figure out if you’re the only one being stupid or if it’s just a hard test? And you don’t see anyone else looking around so you just miserably try your best but it’s not your best becasue you’re already in the mindset that you’re an idiot? And it’s not until after the test at lunch when you hear everyone else talking about how difficult it was that you realize you weren’t the only one struggling?

THATS this.

Hannibal and Will are both extremely lonely people becasue they’re fucked up. No one can know Hannibal entirely because he’s a serial cannibal, and no one can know Will entirely because his boredom with other peoples mortality scares them. Neither of them have been seen entirely until the other came into their lives, but they’re not used to being seen so it’s scary.

Both of them react to one another hostilely first--Will blatantly being an asshole at the prospect of Hannibal psychoanalyzing him and then Hannibal putting on this guise of “I’m completely removed from the situation and just curious to wind this man up and watch him go” but he’s not removed.

Honestly to me it feels like it was originally Hannibal’s plan to just leave Will in jail taking the blame for his murders, but actually misses Will, because being seen was scary but the other option is so lonely.

Will’s going through something similar, but he’s less inflammatory. Hannibal is all action, present--Will is getting too close? Get rid of him. He starts missing Will? Get him back. He has a problem and he acts on it immediately.

Will is patient and willing to wait and watch--Hannibal frames him for murder? Set up an elaborate series of events that will end in Hannibal losing something he holds more dear than his own life--his freedom. Mason kills his unborn child? Convince Mason to kill Hannibal so that Hannibal will torture Mason for Will.

Hannibal is dramatic and Will is apathetic, they’re both danger but different brands.

If the first two seasons are them trading power, then the third is them wildly grabbing for it despite the fact that they don’t want power over one another, and that final episode--that final scene--is them realizing this.

I said it was a beginning as much as an ending because it’s now that their relationship can finally actually advance, but it’s also the conclusion of them working separately, and instead embracing the idea of fumbling together.

I honestly don’t know where people get the idea that the show is about Hannibal “corrupting” Will. If that’s the case then this final episode makes this show a tragedy. Good succumbing to evil.

But--motherfuckers its not!!!

Will isn’t good, he tells us from the first episode he enjoyed killing Hobbes, that the reason he stopped being a cop was because he knew once he started killing he wouldn’t be able to stop. He manipulates people constantly, he got Abel killed, tried to get Chilton murdered, and then a season later he gets Chilton burned alive. He’s not good, he’s fucked up!!!

This show isn’t about corruption--it’s about realization!!!

Idk I love them, I hate them, and I love them.

[cavesalamander]

My brief thoughts on this season of anime!

Just a quick review of the ones I’d recommend and/or keep watching. I managed to find all of the below on Funimation or Crunchyroll or Youtube!

Horymia: (Yes) This is looking to be a very funny romcom slice of life style anime, and seems to be a fairly good one! Had me laughing a lot. The Main couple are a nerdy quiet boy who’s actually dumb as a sack of bricks using his disheveled appearance to hide his tattoos and piercings, and a popular pretty girl who’s actually a total homebody. Their friends seem to have a lot of potential to be fleshed out as the series progresses and I look forward to seeing how it goes!

So I’m a Spider, So What?: (Yes) Whooo another isekai (excited)! This time a girl and her entire class!? Get isekai’d in a massive explosion. The main character reincarnates as a trash monster in a dungeon and must fight her way up the food chain just to survive. Meanwhile her friends who have mostly reincarnated as Cool Humans or the occasional elf or baby dragon, have mostly found each other, and want to figure out what happened/why and if they’re all okay. It’s genuinely pretty funny, though leans a little too hard sometimes on the gamey aspects of this new world. I think it may get darker as it goes along too.

Mushoku Tensei: (No) Whooo another isekai (derogatory). 34 yo old man gets reincarnated and uses his worldly experience to Learn Magic Fast and creep on his mom and prepubescent tutor. If you can stomach that stuff, it actually has a fair amount of potential? It did set itself up to touch on some interesting stuff down the road, but I’m kind of Over the horny toddler/young boy trope and it kinda just seems like the protagonist is Just Awesome At Everything but not in a remotely charming way.

Cells at Work Code Black: (Yes) If you liked Cells at Work, this is that but dingier, and is able to tackle some darker themes - like what stress, smoking, drinking, and probably eventually STDs can do to your body.

Kemono Jihen: (Yes) I don’t wanna explain TOO much about the plot of this one because it looks to be a mystery series, and the first episode sets it up the characters very very well. A man from the city is called to a rural town where animals are being mysteriously killed and found rotting. He’s tasked with finding and killing the perpetrator, assumed to be a monster of some kind. It does the horror very well, and even in the first episode manages some twistyness.

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter: (No) Even for a blatant fan service anime this one is just......... stupid. It might have a scrap of joy to it if the protagonist were anything other than a boring sycophant. His harem just all seems to be random girls who’s singular personality traits are to be in love with him in various stereotypical ways, that he just uses to min max his Cool Stats. But like, it’s not even self aware enough to make that into an interesting premise.

Sk8: (Yes) It’s a racing anime that seems super stylish and fun and very well animated. The protagonists have some cool chemistry already, and it really leans into the Underground Illegal Racing part of the fun - all the various characters who battle in death defying races through this abandoned mine, all have seemingly ordinary day jobs. Definitely worth a shot if that sounds up your alley.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a starter town?: (Probably) Okay so the premise is just there in the title and is actually pretty fun. Think: a random NPC who is considered pretty weak where the monsters are lv 50 moving somewhere where the monsters are scary at lv 5, shenanigans ensue. The MC boy is hilariously oblivious to the fact that anyone with a shred of sense can see he’s insanely over leveled to the area, and just trying to be nice and polite to everyone ^u^. The tentative nature of my recommendation is that it is kind of leaning harder on the Girls are Obsessed With Him train than is ideal. How much it depends on that as opposed to utilizing the premise to its fullest extent will have an enormous bearing on how fun the show is to watch going forward.

Ex-Arm: (Absolutely not but yes) It’s a fucking train wreck.

Heavens Design Team: (Yes) God decided to outsource creating animals to a team of angels, and works as a client giving weird ass requests for the angels to fill. Hilarity ensues, and it is peak edutainment to boot. It’s so much fun learning weird shit about animals, or trying to guess the animal these seemingly random train of failed attempts leads to.

Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist-: (No) It has a promising premise and some good moments. The main characters are solving these weird “diseases” that people get by finding the actual emotional cause and using magic of some kind to monkey paw it into a resolution. This could be really fun and interesting, but something about the execution just... falls flat? Like maybe it picks up as the season goes on but for now it’s not rly worth it.

Vlad Love: (Yes) I was going through the list of anime this season and was like wtf is this and literally just now watched episode 1. It’s about a girl with a blood donation kink and her vampire girlfriend. Literally. It’s rly funny and over the top ridiculous but like, gay vampires.

Back Arrow: (No) It’s like... fine. It’s about these two warring kingdoms surrounded by a wall with a mountain range between. They worship the wall as god, and occasionally get gifts from beyond it, in the form of mech suits they use to fight each other in. One day a boy shows up from beyond the wall in one of those suits and no memories of anything and he wants to get back. Which... could be promising I guess? But something about the show just didn’t grab my attention.

Skate-Leading Stars: (No) It’s like Yuri on ice if it was less gay and less well written I guess...? The first episode set up the Drama competently enough, but I just... couldn’t give a shit.

Project Scard: (No) For some reason part of Tokyo has been turned into a post apocalyptic hellscape where people just murder each other. They also have super powered tattoos and use them to fight each other. Animation is very similar to Handshakers - which is an Aesthetic that may not appeal to some. The first episode didn’t rly do much for me but I could see it going somewhere if it tries.

Wave!!: (No) Might have been a tentative yes if I hadn’t gone on and watched the second episode. First ep went hard with the queerbaiting cause they want to be the new Free! but with surfing, but Ep 2 just forgot all about that entirely. Dialogue is mostly boring and there’s like 3 sets, which becomes painfully obvious very quickly by ep 2.

Idoly Pride: (No) Literally looks like they ripped off the waifus of a bunch of other more popular anime and made an idol anime with the most basic ass idol plot. Nothing exceptional here.

Gekidol: (undecided) It’s an idol anime... set after a mysterious apocalyptic event? It’s mostly so far seemed intriguing as hell but not my jam. Mysterious craters destroyed parts of Japan, and its rebuilding and the MCs wanna bring light to the world. Maybe aliens exist? Idk! I’m intrigued.

I*Chu: (No) Another idol anime but this time it’s cute boys! Idk maybe this is a decent idol anime but it rly didn’t grab me and idol stuff isn’t usually my jam. I couldn’t tell anything exceptionally unique about this one from just the first episode.

WIXOSS Diva: (No, but) I don’t normally watch spin-offs of series but I didn’t realize until halfway into this that it was one cause Crunchyroll didn’t attach it to the core line. It’s like... magical girl battle idols in VR! Which honestly if you’re a fan of that it might actually be worth checking out.(edited)

Idolls!: (No) Another idol anime! But this one uses mocap 3d models. Phoned in plot line delivered by a weird tiki statue that tells the girls what to do. Seems extraordinarily low budget, and more just a way to sell music. The whole episode happened in a single set and  was basically just... girls want to make it big as idols... oh no... gotta book a stage! Yay they got one! Now must get an audience! Like... ok

Hortensia Saga: (No but) Sword and sorcery fantasy setting that’s mostly sword, main character is a princess masquerading as a male knight alongside the son of her dead parents’s also dead bodyguard. The first episode is very lore heavy and felt kinda like the prologue to a video game. So it ended up feeling a little expository and trope laden, but it has potential. Seems a bit Game of Thronesy? Wasn’t like... bad or anything, so if it’s your thing you might enjoy it.

Otherside Picnic: (Yes) I think it’s gay first of all, two girls going exploring / treasure hunting / monster hunting in a bizarre mirror world to their own. Girls are cute, it’s very interesting premise and writing seems solid.

Wonder Egg Priority: (Yes) It deals with some HEAVY themes? But it’s... a bit of a psychological horror but in a way that feels very like it’s dealing with some of the real life issues. The main character girl comes across as neurodivergent, and it’s just... idk man the first episode was good and left me wanting more.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Waver 1 - 13 (FINAL) | Prisma Illya 1 - 10 (FINAL) | Prisma Illya 2wei! 1 - 3

Another (and to be honest, the last) batch of impressions from the Fate/ project.

Waver 1

Well, this’ll be interesting. I’ve been hyping this show up for a while for myself, so let’s see how it goes.

Geez, this intro is like a dang movie! I’d love to see a proper Troyca movie! (<-Says the fan of Troyca.)

Wait, if it’s Kayneth Archibald, then is Archibald relatd to Archisorte? Or am I just making thing up here…? Also note Reines refers to Kayneth as “Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald”, possibly meaning Archibald is the middle name, since El-Melloi is a shared surname (or is that a title…?). That probably means Archibald =/= Archisorte and both are similar-sounding middle names. The fact Reines is Kayneth’s niece also explains things quite a bit.

Why is Waver upside down…? Won’t the blood rush to his head soon? (Sure, it allows me to ogle his hair more, but…logic rules more than my stupid whims, y’know?)

Interesting. You can see that although Waver grew out his hair, there’s two layers to it – the longer one in the front and the shorter one in the back. (I’m just curious because I like the hime cut – which is pretty similar - and long hair on dudes in general, in part because both are fairly rare.)

Okay, that explained my gripe with upside-down Waver. Thanks, Reines. (<-genuine)

Aw, Waver buddy, even at this stage, you’re plenty cute. Don’t ever change! (<- As you can see, I am an easily pleased person in most cases.)

Melvin who now???

Troyca’s comic animation rules! It’s too bad Idolish7 Second Beat is using chibis instead of this…

Professor Kayneth. I forgot he had a formal title. I wonder, does Waver - I mean, El-Melloi II – have that title as well?

I guess I should’ve known Saber had the capability to look scary, but…I never knew Saber could look so scary…

*cut to eyecatch* - *points at eyecatch* Okay, someone tried to save budget here, didn’t they???

Aw, friendship between fiction boys is cute…until it involves the puking up on blood on one end.

Waver is the OG underdog here…don’tcha think?

“…with several demands.” – Uh-oh…this is gonna be bad, isn’t it?

You need a Tuner for Magic Crests? (…Like a tuning fork, but a person?) *brow raised in suspicion*

…is it appropriate for me to say “Oh, good lord!” now? (Okay, I did that rather deliberately, but normally in these notes I’d self-censor it to be “oh, goodness” or something like that.)

Seriously, the black-haired dude in the Ionian Hetairoi is my favourite, even if only because he looks like Waver (and he’s really easy to spot, to boot).

Why is this in first person??? I’ve dropped entire shows based on their usage of 1st person cam! Room Mate and Makura no Danshi basically scarred me for life on that front…and both of those are TV shorts!

Hey, wait a second. This “use a quote on the titlecard” thing is clearly an Ei Aoki sort of thing to do. I mean, it’s in ID: Invaded as well…

Waver 2

*new blonde girl appears* - So this is the rumoured Animusphere girl (Mary), huh?

Bounded field, huh? I’m glad I chose to watch F/Z before this, then. Now I actually understand the (rough) mechanics of how that works.

There’s assassins and then there’s Assassins…*thinks about the Holy Grail War*

As it turns out, astromancy is basically astrology.

The one thing that bugs me about “Modern Magecraft” (there’s a similar concept of New Magic in Mairimashita! Iruma-kun) is…how is the magic “modern”…? Especially in a work like this, where the magic is based in arcane rituals and bloodlines…you really need to establish how the “modern” bit works.

Gray is facing away from the Animusphere girl (Mary), I noticed.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” – Sherlock Holmes – Basically, the fact I’ve memorised this quote is one of the lingering impacts of my time in the Detective Conan fandom, as it can be used on things like quizzes, not just mysteries.

Can we please use proper English, Waver??? (Says me to a character whose name I still find nonsensical enough to not be proper English.) As I said previously, “whydunit” is modus operandi or motive…the new bit is “howdunit”, which would be the method.

I do believe the geocentric model was overthrown by people like Kepler.

Gray kind of looks like Saber with that hairstyle, come to think of it.

With the way Gray hides herself under that hood, it’s no mystery as to why guys love her…at least, I know ThatRandomEditor does. Of course, I’m heavily neutral on the whole affair because I don’t swing that way, but…you know…

LEMPC seems to stand for “Lord El-Melloi Production Committee”, if I’m guessing right.

I seem to remember there was a quote somewhere that said the only constant in this world was change…hmm.

Waver 3

They seem to keep calling Japan “the Far East” (or at least, Japan is part of the Far East). That’s a pretty antiquated term for a supposedly “modern” magic anime. I get vaguely peeved by the term “the Far East” because it causes people to take an oriental viewpoint on things and thus it’s kind of like people from the Anglosphere looking down on Asians. (I also get vaguely peeved by the term “Westerners” for much the same reason and “Caucasians” because it implies all people of the Anglosphere come from the Caucasus, which is false…then again, these niggles are specific to international studies, so I have a vested interest in explaining them.)

…Wow, that star-eyepatch girl is…really something, to be thirsty specifically for Waver’s Iron Claw. (Then again, with my weird tastes in things, who am I to critique her?)

Flitz von Erich. I was surprised to learn this guy actually exists…on Wikipedia, at the very least.

“Any lady should know about wrestling.” – I disagree, Luvia.

Blue furry electrical creature…I dunno how the zoology in this show works, but the fantasy series I’m reading as of the time I was typing this comment has a blue creature called a Raiju (literally “thunder beast” in Japanese, so it would suit the “Thunder” in the episode title). If it’s anything like that, I’d laugh myself silly.

This girl on the poster seems to be called Flan Noir (or something similar).

“…yellow, round, fluffy-smelling…” – What? Svin, you have no right to call a girl those words!

When is this series set if people don’t have phones as a standard? *Googles* Okay, if F/SN is set in 2004, then F/Z is 1994. That would make sense, actually. The internet as we know it was first used in 1995 and didn’t become widespread for home use until a few years later, as I remember having computers in 2004 (albeit the blocky ones with the dial-up).

I was looking at images for the source material and I think I know why I like Waver (aside from the fact he has long hair). Normally I like the boys whose appearances are hard to get right, such as En…Waver in the novels and manga for this series sometimes looks grumpy, sometimes he looks constipated and worst of all, sometimes he looks like Snape with a hook nose.

Okay, so I googled Caules to figure out who his sister was…and I got Apocrypha spoilers. See, his sister is Fiore, who is apparently in that series.

The videos got encoded funny again…

There seems to be a mystery around why Svin and Gray can’t be together…well, one deeper than just “Svin is gaga for Gray [for reasons we don’t know at this point in time]”.

Ha, the El-Melloi Class is basically just the Misfit Class from Mairimashita! Iruma-kun.

“Only the flesh was bitten off.”  

This Jupiter gibberish, I assume, is drawing upon the mythology of Jupiter – that is, Zeus – as the god of thunder and king of the gods (thus presiding over living beings).

The English is good on the bill, bar a space between “Mystics of magecraft”.

Norwich is apparently a “faculty” which the Modern Magecraft Theories guys – i.e. Waver – rule over.

Can you imagine Waver swearing? Since I had the volume off, I basically made him say “…if Sir Gueldoa had resorted to brute force, we would’ve been f***ed” in my head…and that was hilarious.

Aw, thanks 7Mononoke. “A cowardly thief sneaks away in the night. If you stride away, bursting with song, you are a conquering king.” That’s a quote from Rider himself.

So the Association has set positions for Masters in the War? Geesh…that must be hard on Waver to find out they’re closed, considering how much Waver pines for Rider.

Waver 4

I finally got the chance to listen to the ED last ep and now it’s the OP I can hear properly. This OP isn’t particularly impressive, considering it’s an instrumental (instrumentals always seem to have less impact for me unless I’m looking for something to chill to), but it does capture the London-esque spirit of the setting very well.

What’s up with this metal (?) maid off to the side, anyway?

“Good thinking to leave the door open…” – For some reason, even though it’s a completely different and much more benign context, this made me think of KyoAni and my heart sunk.  

Atrum Galliasta…I hate that man. He may look hot, but he was nothing but a b*stard to Medea.

Bolo ties…nrgh…Basically, ever since Arima wore a bolo tie, I’ve become fairly bugged by them. That’s why Bram’s bugs me.

Aw, Waver, buddy, plase don’t sacrifice yourself again. I read on the wiki you become a Servant’s vessel (specifically for Zhu Ge Liang), so keep your hopes up.

I’m seriously feeling ID: Invaded vibes from this episode, what with the lightning.

I suspect a locked room murder is going to happen soon, knowing the genre. Either that or some other crime.

Considering Fate/ was an eroge-based thing initially, these sex jokes…there’s probably plenty of them out there.

Well, it seems this series only makes sense in that non-Detective Conan way, i.e. you want to know how it all comes together and can’t necessarily figure it out for yourself until you know how the magic works. I’m randomly going to guess this is more Jupiter-based stuff and call it a day on that front.

Seriously, I never got what was up with nightgowns (or just pyjamas in general) having hats. You don’t need protection for your head at night…that’s what pillows are for, yeah? (The only reason I see a hat-like thing working with nightwear is a onesie and that’s meant to be part of the inherent appeal of the thing.)

Waver 5

I feel like Adashino is meant to be an Irene Adler-type figure…

“Peaceful Fairys” (sic)

Where did Kairi’s scar come from…?

The Black Dog was in Mahoutsukai no Yome as well, but this one looks a lot less inviting, huh?

It seems, like the name Rail Zeppelin implies (as “Demon Eyes Collection Train”), most of the people involved in this case have Magic Eyes (or whatever they’re actually called). I wouldn’t be surprised if Kairi had them as well, considering he’s wearing dark glasses in the middle of a thunderstorm.

“King Arthur is a dude, right?” - *laughs madly* They finally managed to parody their own bulls***! (Well, I’m not counting Carnival Phantasm or whatever else because this is the first time they threw a meta joke in there in the whole of this project, as far as I can remember.)  

Trimmau seems to be the maid’s name…huh. They never mentioned that earlier, I don’t think.

So what’s the difference between Fairy Eyes and Mystic Eyes?

Wait, does that even work…? The entire house is the murder weapon? That’s basically breaking the “secret passageway” thing on a larger scale.

So what’s Trevor’s motive…?

The dogs running towards the Workshop reminded me of the Hunger Games for some reason…must be the climax.

That fairy isn’t emoting much…

Oh cra-Wills is going to sacrifice himself, like Adashino was going to do! That’s the second time I’ve seen that in 2 days (the first was in the Hypnosis Mic manga about the Dirty Dawg).

Uh…Waver’s not particularly fit or fast, is he…?

Can you be paid for your case if your client is essentially dead…?

Adra? I read around and Adra seems to be a way to spell the location (or whatever it is) in the first case…which got adapted into a stage play, but not an anime. That’s probably what he’s (Waver) referring to.

Notably, the title is translated to “lance” but yari means spear…

Waver 6

I seriously wanna slap that pink-haired girl…Update: Her name is Yvette.

This is basically Gray fanservice…

If Gray = Saber and Saber =King Arthur…hmm…does it count as a girl’s party?

Homeland? Since Britain is Saber’s (aka Gray’s) home country, I think they meant “hometown”…I’d hav to listen to the Japanese to make sure, though.

I still think Waver is a stupid, or at the very least false, name for a boy, especially if he did come from Britain. That’s basically my one limitation on him as a husbando.

The red bit of the eyecatch was shapd like an eye…it did catch eyes in a sense, after all.

So Trimmau is sustained by magic.

Locked-room…or rather, bounded field…mystery time!

Luvia did mention wrestling in another episode…

I had to google that, but the Separation Castle is from the Adra case mentioned in episode 5. No wonder I don’t remember it…

“Are you suggesting there were faults…” (from Luvia) - Ooh, I was thinking the perpetrator was caught inside their own bounded field or maybe it was an outsider, but that works too, Reines.

Add calld Luvia out for her extravagance, LOL.

Catch-as-catch-can appears to be “no-holds-barred fighting”, particularly wrestling.

That case was both informative and possibly solveable by the audience. Both good qualities for a mystery.

If you summon the spirit again, is it the same Rider with the same memories? Or can you summon a different version of the same Rider with amnesia, much like Rin did with Archer? Update: Oh yeah, I did read this on the wiki at one point but then forgot about it. The next episode (7) confirms that Rider wouldn’t remember Waver if he were summoned again.

Waver 7

…C’mon, admit it, show. The glasses are not only there for plot reasons but to up Waver’s status as megane boy for the rest of this case. Not that I mind – I actually really like megane boys, but I’m nowhere near the love of Meganebu – but in the case of plausibility, I wanna poke holes into it.

Auction for which Mystic Eyes now…?

There’s a guy…with an elephant head…I know I shouldn’t be bugged by it, but I need the MST3K mantra right now.

This is gonna be a Murder on the Orient Express thing, isn’t it? All cases set on trains seem to take cues or make homage to it. (I may not be that proficient on Christie in comparison to Holmes, since Holmes was Conan’s inspiration, but Murder on the Orient Express I have read and I did secure an anthology of 4 Christie novels at one point specifically so that I could improve in this area.)

The main series never explained the bad blood between the Church and the Tower, did they…?

*sweatdrop* Let me guess…when Yvette mentions “multiplay”, she means a threesome, right?

How do anime people see out of those blindfold thing, anyway??? (Or is it that Leandra has Mystic Eyes that were sold off or otherwise tampered with?)

I believe the word is “palate”, Kairi (or subbers).

Anime characters being bagworms with their blankets is always appealing, no matter the gender. It’s funny and/or relatable, after all.

Does Gray get motion sickness…? Update: Seems I spoke about a minute too soon. She does.

Waver 8

How does Waver know that Adashino got the documents about the train? Is it because she was in all those places at all those times and he connected the dots?

This lady has heterochromia. Specifically, one is brown and the other is blue or green.

Hmm? I thought the character design was familiar for this. As it turns out, Jun Nakai (who did the character design for this) also did Gate’s, which explains it.

Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, IIRC. Hephaestion is, as (s)he explained, the confidante of Alexander the Great (had to google this one).

It’s hard to see before the brightly-lit scene where Olga reappears, but as shown, Waver seems to have cut off part of his forelocks on the left side.

What’s an Odo???...ooh, fanservice…*ogles*

The summoning of Hephaestion and Trisha’s murder may or may not be related…we just don’t know how, yet.

I think a Detective Conan Murder on the Orient Express-style mystery would be a good video ga-*googles* There’s at least one of them out there already (albeit only in Japan)...namely, this one. Spoke too soon.

Oh yeah…this is Olga’s new room, isn’t it? I almost forgot about that.

Update: I think this look at the Adra Separation Castle case is interesting. It’s similar to posts I would write, but done by a professional – namely Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku and Anime News Network.

Waver 9

So if there’s a Servant…you have to find the Master.

Olga reminds me of Reines…kind of.

LOL, whoever thought of a zombie cooking show…?

This series really goes all-in on the zombies and the fake-outs thereof, huh? Dangit, Melvin, don’t scare us.

Melvin has a really odd relationship with Waver, huh? If you’re really insisting you’re “the only person to ever be able to hurt Waver”, I don’t quite see how you guys can be friends in the normal sense of the word.

Why would someone have a violin at a time like this…?

Interestingly, they don’t bother to do any fanservice of Caules. That scene with Gray and Yvette was fanservice for those who like them, but the only guy who’s getting to do any fanservice in this series is Waver himself…(what with him being naked and knocked out right now.)

“Sibyl” seems to be a synonym for “virgin”…(*whispers “Awkward…”*)

Update: After reading some of Marth’s posts on this series, I’m inclined to call this “Murders on a Train (with an Exploding Helicopter for Good Measure)”.

Waver 10

For some reason, there’s episode 0 – 9, then 11 – 13 on the service I’m using. Where’s 10?

I think Waver’s relationship with Rider is interesting because of the way I think of relationships myself. Waver has made it clear that he wants to see Rider again so he can basically prostrate at his feet all over again (and maybe win a wish and/or see Oceanus while they’re at it), but – hey, hear this! - I used to believe, when I was still an impressionable kid, all relationships, whether they be between friends, family or even lovers, lasted roughly in the same state basically forever (as in, friends stay friends forever, they’ll never be so far apart that they can’t kep their relationship alive etc. etc.)…Obviously, I was wrong and arguably, this change in thinking, plus the related changes in technology, are where my ability to fleetingly but passionate love both 2D boys and the series they come from comes from.

Wait, so the Child of Einasshe (sp?) is the forest, yeah? I don’t think I got that 100% straight.

I never thought the shield form of a Mystic Code could be used for snowboarding down a mountain/hill…whatever Gray just went down. I didn’t even know Add had a shield form, for that matter.

“[U]sual individual” – LOL. What a way to refer to Waver.

“Wait a minute!” – I’m just imagining Phoenix Wright all of a sudden. A Waver legal mystery series would be boring as all get out – I’m far less interested in the courtroom versions of mysteries and more interested in how the pieces fit together. (Update: Then again, I am a person who likes the action genre and courtroom mysteries don’t have much of that, which might also explain my choice.)

“…lacking the element of motive to begin with.” – Well, Waver’s not wrong…

I’m observing this apple and noticing someone skimped on the detail around the stem. Does anyone still remember Art Academy for the DS? After looking at some promo material for it, I basically learnt how to draw a proper apple (and nothing else, really). If an apple is just drawn as a circle, it doesn’t quite look like an apple up close. (Two of the main things I screw up on when drawing are perception and the colour of highlights, both of which are covered in something like an apple stem and the related indent.)

Oh goodness…I was hoping Karabo would keep his vision (or actual eyeballs)…but that’s gruesome.

I’m guessing, based on the wheelchair, that Waver’s still paralysed or otherwise not able to move around like normal. Update: Spoke too soon.

Someone encoded the video funny again…

Waver 11

What was that crossword thing…? A warding spell of some sort?

Is that an owl in the back?!

Stealth fighter…Rider wanted on, didn’t he?

Every time he appears on screen now, I basically curse Melvin. He’s entertaining to watch, sure, but he’s annoyingly prodigal (= wasteful). He’s basically Dice from HypMic at this stage (aka he’s the sort of person who’d bet away his own clothes, given the chance and incentive).

Look at the way Waver’s hair drags behind him as he walks…it’s gorgeous…

“Residual Image” (as translated in the title) is literally “the left-over image” (zanzou). Not surprising, but I find the exact combo of characters used interesting since it could be short for “nokoru eizou” (where the nokoru’s character is read as zan in the combo, as you can guess).    

Waver 12

Wow…this series really pulled something out of its butt this time, huh? “The guy without a heart”…no viewer would’ve known that actually referred to a character called Dr Heartless unless they knew of his existence somehow (the closest they would’ve been was having an inkling that this pointed to a name of the culprit).

There is an owl in the back of the auction room!

Ay? So what the heck is Pandemonium in this case?

“dotard” – Turns out this means “an old person, especially one who has become physically weak or whose mental faculties have declined.” You can’t say I don’t enrich my vocbulary through watching anime, huh?

I’m still wondering…why adapt case 7 of this series (Rail Zeppelin)? Why not case 1 (Adra)? Update: I don’t know where I pulled the number 7 from, since this is volume 4 – 5 of the series. Apparently some of the cases were anime-original though.

Waver 13 (FINAL)

Oh, Flat, you stupid…

Waver’s exasperated faces are great. No wonder Reines likes to toy with him…

I can assume Rail Zeppelin is a Ghost Liner, yes?

Can I guess that Adashino ~likes~ Waver…? Update: Turns out that’s not quite the case.

Ooh, Waver without his shirt is se-okay, I’m getting distracted. Seriously though, Waver never showed his Crest in F/Z. I never even knew what it looked like until now! The fact it’s such a simple design in comparison to his Command Seals is…kinda underwhelming, really.

I think there’s a bit of a pattern between Jakurai (from HypMic) and Waver…namely, they suck when it comes to drinking. (Also, of course, the long hair. Don’t forget it, never forget it.)

Shut up, Add!

For some reason, I felt like a lot of that last part, while getting closure for Waver, it almost had connotations of “I’ll meet you on the other side, Rider”…so it felt kind of sad, to be honest. That talk between Reines and Olga I don’t think I’d understand without Apocrypha and Grand Order, but I guess that’s to be expected in such a huge franchise. Anyways, moving right along!

Illya 1

I’ve been a bit worried about what I’ll have to subject myself to for the sake of Magical Girls…

Was that…Taiga?

Who’s Liz…?

Okusama, huh? (Okusama = someone’s wife, although it seems to be used in the plural here since I don’t think Kiritsugu and/or Iri are dead in this timeline.)

The subs I’ve got say Shiro is adopted here too (when it’s not in the Japanese), although I wonder exactly how much of UBW is going to be true in this anime…

Hmm…a bit of digging reveals Luvia’s not a Master. So throwing out Lancer is really just a joke on how Lancer gets roasted early on in Grail Wars, right?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…squick, much…(Thank goodness the source I was using edited out the loli fanservice, so I can tolerate this series a lot more…but still, suggesting you have a romance with your step-brother, even if it’s known you’re not related from the beginning, is…you already know my feelings on that, based on my reaction. Shiro is, what, 15? About twice Illya’s age!) Update: Okay, so he has no confirmed age in Prisma Illya, but he’s 17 in F/SN so I’d assum the same or similar, seeing as he attends the same school. It’s fine if it’s platonic, but this is clearly an Onii-chan, daisuki! thing the likes of which Oreimo throws down! Thank you for calling it out though, Ruby.

Oh my gosh, this looks like the Rhongomynaid (Detective Waver) and Excalibur (or whatever Saber’s Noble Phantasm is called) summoning beam! LOL!

Ruby, you lech! Don’t go praising the angles! *shakes fist* (Seriously, what if magical girl mascots were paedophiles…? *blank face* Welp, considering what’s out there on the internet, I wouldn’t be surprised if a hentai or something had such a concept.)

Hmm? Turns out the word for Servant means something like “celestial hero”. Makes sense.

Nice callback to Saber and Shiro!

Illya 2

I thought Illya would say that her parents are dead…turns out the show’s not that grimdark (to the point where it wouldn’t set the show after Kiritsugu and Iri’s deaths), huh?

Do the sticks have a gender? The subs said “she” for Ruby…

LOL, it’s Rider. I thought Lancer was gonna get his butt kicked all over again (thinking more along the lines of CCS).

It’s Gay Bul-I mean, Gae Bolg! (I’ve been reading TV Tropes again…can you tell?)

This episode was pretty pedestrian. I like it more than the first one.

What’s up with the CGI…?

Oh! Bunbun, who does Yuki Yuna! Update: They only did the illustrations for some of the series. They also did SAO illustrations, although that’s of less significance to me.

Illya 3

The sticks do have genders!!! That’s like claiming Jesus for kakera with Mudae! (Yes, that’s possible. I got him in one server.)

The power of fujoshi…is amazing! How did it get to a girl who’s so young?!

These angles are a bit disturbing…

“Casao”, LOL.

Magical girl nakama, huh?

Illya 4

MST3K mantra!

Whose quote is that again…? “Don’t think, imagine”? Update: It turns out to not be anyone’s quote at all, if Google results are to be believed.

Uh-oh! Saber Alter!

Illya 5

Padding the episode already…?

The mist is a quality of a Berserker, right?

Geez the angles piss me off…

These sticks have brains???

Can you call it teamwork if they’re always complaining about each other?

Illya 6

More padding…

Illya’s UBW!

Geesh, that last-minute shot of Rin and Luvia popping out of the ground scared me for a bit…

Illya 7

*sigh* It’s the sick episode…

I recognise the vacuum cleaner. I have the same one at home.

*sigh* Random fanservice of elementary school girls. This is what gives anime a bad name.

*Sapphire pulls out a USB port* - Ohhkay, is that stick fanservice, in a sense…? Because that’s awkward too.

Maids went out of fashion years ago…

“Lyrical Radical Genocide” - I think this Lyrical Radical things is parodying Nanoha.

Based on the cloak, it’s an Assassin.

“Listen, if you aren’t careful, you’ll die!” – Yep, because people die when they are killed. I almost missed that meme for a bit.

Illya 8

Illya’s still reeling from Miyu’s talk, huh?

I noticed it said tomoda(chi) in the background at one point.

Does Miyu exist in any of the alternate universes?

Ah, there’s yuujou (friendship) in the background as calligraphy.

I think the video got encoded funny again…

Geez, complaining about boobs? The series got worse…oh, I forgot Shiro was around in this series.

…who’s left? There’s been Saber, Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Rider, Caster and…who? Berserker, that’s who.

Illya 9

Ohhhhhhhh brother, not more bath scenes…

Iri looks almost exactly like she does in the Eiznbern Consultation Rooms! (I found those around and watched them today.)

Thank goodness the fanservice is censored…

I never realised Berseker had heterochromia until now…

One thing that I assume makes Saber’s outfit look nice to thos that like girls is the window in the top…but it goes to waste on Miyu, LOL.

I find it interesting Illya has all these concerns �� the ones (or similar ones) Iri harbourd in F/Z.

Hey, the bridge! This is the bridge where Rider dies inn F/Z, yeah?

The ED looks different this time…  

Illya 10 (FINAL)

E-Eep…loli fanservice…

Now Miyu is basically what Waver is to Rider, no doubt about it.

Bulls***! Speak of the devil! I was wondering what Waver looked like in the Illya style, because I read on the wiki he makes a cameo in season 2, and…here he is. Didn’t expect him in season 1, though.

Another new ED animation. I find it interesting they’ve never once had to recast any VAs throughout the entire existence of Fate/ anime…not that I know of, anyway.

Hiroyama Hiroshi is the original Illya creator.

Okay, that’s the end of one season. I feel kind of fatigued since I finished the Eiznbern Consultation Rooms today as well, so I’m going to take a break from watching more Illya until it’s necessary to watch again in a few posts’ time.

Now that they’ve collected the cards, I’m wondering what the series intends to do next…

Illya s2 Pt 1 Ep 1

They clearly skimped on the budget when Shiro was leaving the house…

I keep forgetting Illya is meant to be German…

That bad English…is actually there in the ep. title…

Oh great…schoolgirls talking about erotic swimsuits…

This s*** is what you call “Class-S”! I have no interest in it, because I don’t swing that way! (Sorry, yuri fans…)

The problem with series that aren’t 100% made with you in mind is that your favourite characters might look ugly…that’s especially the case with En, Jakurai and Waver.

Ryudou Temple, eh? Let’s hope Assassin still looks good.

I don’t think I’ve seen that before…namely, being able to hear what’s going on outside the transformation while it’s happening.

Now this 2 Illyas thing…this is new, alright.

Illya s2 Pt 1 Ep 2

LOL, what a horoscope.

Truck-kun! I don’t think Illya would make a good isekai protag, come to think of it.

Who is this nurse? I feel like she’s from some other part of the Nasuverse… Update: My guess was right. That’s Caren Hortensia, protagonist of Fate/hollow ataraxia and Kirei’s…uh, daughter. I know he had a wife. We never met said wife, but seeing the daughter really drove that fact home.  

Uhhhhhhhh…okay, now the lesbian loli scene just made things go off a cliff for me. I’m not against lesbians or yuri – to each their own – but that scene was clearly meant to be pleasing to a certain audience.

How does anyone kill anything gently…?

Ohhhhhhkay, strike 2 for loli fanservice.

I seem to remember…that’s right, Alice from the [something] no Kuni no Alice series was evaluated on her coffee-making skills (by Julius, I think it was). That’s why I’m thinking of Alice when I see Luvia praising Miyu on something similar.

Wa-hey! It’s Rin’s Azoth dagger!

Well, the mechanics of the transformation are also something you have to think about. I’ll give the show kudos for that.  

Illya s2 Pt 1 Ep 3

Can we not with the whole “Onii-chan, daisuki!” thing?! That’s it! That’s the last straw! I’m finishing this episode and aborting early so that I can preserve my dignity…and get some proper sleep for once.

The fact Miyu thinks Shiro resembles her brother must not be a coincidence…(I’ve become far too Fate/ savvy, haven’t I?) Update: It seems I was right. Apparently, Miyu was taken in by Kiritsugu in a certain universe, but apparently this is a bunch of spoilers.

Genki na aisatsu was in the back.

This is just getting worse and worse…

So now Kuro’s name is Kuroe (Chloe), huh? Anyways, good riddance, loli fanservice! So long! I won’t miss you one bit!

[miguel-manbemel]

Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 11: Bitten by Laziness: Beware the Sanders Sprites

Entry number 11 of Aspects & Fanfics, the fanfic based on “Sanders Sides” by Thomas Sanders, Joan and the Foster Dawg Team. Yes, I know I said this entry could be delayed, but when the muse kisses you, work runs incredibly fast, I wish this happened more often. In this entry I introduce a new original concept that I think it’s gonna be juicy in future episodes. Also, there’s gonna be a stellar appearance by Sleep. Well not exactly the Remy we know, but a character based on him, just like the Prince Guy, the Teacher Guy and the Dad Guy inspired Roman, Logan and Patton. Thomas said that he would never make Sleep a Side, and I have respected his wishes. Sleep is not gonna be a Side in this fanfic. He’s gonna be... something different. You’ll have to read further to know more. Also, in the end card I decided that the story called for me to get in full Prinxiety mode, so get ready for that if you like it and be warned if you don’t. As always, you can read all the previous entries of Aspects & Fanfics here. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Until next time.  P.S. At last I’ve learnt how to put a “read more” link on Tumblr. Sorry for all the times I published the long posts on the tags and the nuisance it may have caused. I’m still pretty new on Tumblr, I’m still learning.

SYNOPSIS: Thomas feels like he’s lost all his creative capacity, so he calls Roman. When he doesn’t answer, they get scared and go to his room to check if he’s okay. It turns out he’s been bitten by a Sprite, a creature that represents a minor trait of Thomas’ personality, not strong enough to be a Side of its own. A Side bitten by a Sprite is possessed by it and if it stays attached to him for too long, it can erase the Side completely and take his place in his body. Soon, the Sprite starts talking through Roman’s body. All the Sides and especially Virgil, worry about Roman’s safety and try to find a way to set Roman free from the Sprite’s control before it’s too late.

WARNINGS: Some main characters are gonna live situations of danger, specifically body control by another entity, all in the context of a fantasy story that shouldn’t be a bad trigger, just thrilling, but just in case it could be a trigger, there’s the warning. As I said, there’s Prinxiety at the end of the story, and not platonic, but there is not nsfw material in there, it’s all romantic, the warning is here for those who don’t like ships in Sanders Sides fanfics.

EPISODE INDEX

THOMAS: [dejected voice] Yes. I was supposed to open this video with a joke or a pun of some kind… But I couldn’t come out with anything, so let’s go straight to the title screen which is what you’re waiting for anyway, shall we?

[intro sequence]

THOMAS: [same dejected voice] What is up, everybody? Sorry about earlier. I swear that I tried my best to deliver something good for you, guys, but, strangely enough, I feel dried out. Did you hear of that thing called the blank page syndrome? Well it’s not a pleasant feeling, I can tell you, but it’s what I’ve been getting lately, and I don’t know why. Getting to put some letters in my word processor for a project is a task that lately I’ve been finding exhausting. I thought it would pass, that when I least expected it, I’d get an idea and I would go back to normal… but… it’s only getting worse and worse… It’s… I don’t know… as if I had lost my will to create, completely.

LOGAN: [rising up, concerned] What?

THOMAS: Yes, Logan, and I don’t know why. I suddenly lost the drive to create, and, on the contrary, all I’ve been wanting is to sit down on the couch and watch TV.

LOGAN: Thomas, that’s not good. I hope that at least you haven’t indulged in that unproductive feeling.

THOMAS: No, Logan, as a matter of fact, I didn’t, because…

VIRGIL: [appearing, his creepy music box tune starts in the background] I didn’t give him that pleasure. Thomas! You have videos to make, songs to sing, media to release! Remember? It’s your job! Your way of earning a living! If you don’t create anything, you’ll lose your audience and you’ll end up starving! And so will your employees! Think about Joan, Talyn, Camden, Adri, AJ, Quil, and the others! What will become of them if you don’t deliver!?

THOMAS: [anxious] Okay, okay! I already know that, Virgil! That’s what makes me… anxious about it! What will become of us if I cannot create anymore?

PATTON: [rising up] I certainly don’t like this either! This is not like you at all, Thomas.

THOMAS: I know, Patton.

PATTON: But what’s worrying me more than anything now is… This is a problem of creativity on your part. Where is Roman?

VIRGIL: [puzzled] That’s right… We’ve been criticizing his working routine and he hasn’t showed up with his offended Princey noises!

PATTON: Perhaps something happened to him?

THOMAS: It would be the most probable thing. He’s my creativity. If I lost my will to create, that means he’s switched off for some reason. I think we should call him. Roman? Roman, can you hear me? Roman, come right here at once!

[there’s no response from him, but a faint sound of jingle bells is heard]

THOMAS: Nothing. Maybe he’s in autopilot?

LOGAN: Wait a second… Thomas, call him again, and then everybody stay quiet and listen carefully. Go ahead.

THOMAS: Roman! Come here!

[again, he doesn’t respond, and again the sound of jingle bells is heard]

LOGAN: Did you hear that sound?

VIRGIL: I did hear it. What was it?

PATTON: [scared] Oh, my gosh… do you think that…?

LOGAN: [concerned] I’m afraid so, Patton… This is serious…

THOMAS: Guys… I hate when you do this thing of talking to each other about something I don’t know about without explaining to me first.

LOGAN: Apologies, Thomas. But if you want to know more, you’ll have to let Deceit let us speak.

DECEIT: [appearing] Did someone say prince?

THOMAS: No… and why are you using Roman’s catchphrase?

DECEIT: I intended to say “did someone say Deceit”, but it looked better in lie form, it suited me better.

THOMAS: Okay… Well, as a matter of fact we did mention your name. What are you making Logan and Patton hide from me?

DECEIT: I don’t know what you mean…

THOMAS: Let’s not get back to falsehoods, Deceit. How could you not know what you’re hiding from me?

VIRGIL: I don’t know either, I have no idea what Logan and Patton are talking about.

LOGAN: It’s about the sounds of jingle bells we heard earlier that clearly indicate that… [puts his hand on his mouth] …mmm, mmm!

THOMAS: [annoyed] Deceit!

DECEIT: I’m not doing it on purpose. I know I’m a liar, but I swear that I don’t know myself what Logan’s talking about, and I’m being honest. I just have the impulse of hiding it to you, whatever it is, because you unconsciously don’t want to know about it.

PATTON: He’s telling the truth, Thomas. Neither Deceit nor Virgil know anything about this.

THOMAS: Well, that means it’s something bad…

DECEIT: Like the first time, Thomas, the power is yours. Only you can make me break the spell and let them speak, but you must truly and sincerely get ready to hear what they’re going to say. Until then I can’t do anything other than following your wishes, Thomas.

THOMAS: This is scary…

VIRGIL: Thomas… even I am intrigued about all of this, so please, overcome me and say yes. I do want to know too.

[Thomas takes a deep breath and closes his eyes]

THOMAS: Okay… I think I’m ready… Let him speak, Deceit.

[Logan takes his hand off]

LOGAN: Thank you, Thomas. As I was going to say… Roman may have been bitten by a Sprite.

PATTON: I was afraid you’d say that!

THOMAS: A Sprite? What’s that?

VIRGIL: Yes, what’s that?

LOGAN: Sprites are little spirits, with the shape of bright floating lights, similar to fireflies, that populate the Mind Palace. Like any other living entity in the Mind Palace, they surge from traits from your personality, Thomas. We are the Sanders Sides, the main entities in the Mind Palace, because we come from your strongest traits in your personality. The Dark Sides are equally strong traits, but originally repressed in your subconscious. However, there are multiple facets in you, Thomas, that also have an influence on you but which are not strong enough to be Sides, and neither are repressed enough to be Dark Sides, they’re somewhere in the middle. These are the Sanders Sprites.

VIRGIL: Why didn’t I hear about them until now?

DECEIT: Yeah, me neither!

LOGAN: The Sanders Sprites are allergic to the Dark Sides, they never approach you. Furthermore, they’re invisible to you as a self-defense mechanism.

PATTON: We can see them, but usually too late, as they can be quite sneaky when they want. Only the jingle bell sound they emit when they bite and the little light they emit when they approach serve as an alert of their presence. That jingle bell sound we heard must mean that Roman has been bitten by one of these Sprites…

THOMAS: Why do they have to bite you? And what happens when they do which scares you so much?

LOGAN: I think it would be better if you see it for yourself, Thomas. We should go to Roman’s room to check on him, as he will be needing our help anyway. I warn you, you’re not gonna like what you’re gonna see.

THOMAS: All these warnings in advance are only scaring me even more… Is that bite poisonous? Is Roman sick? [face of horror] Or worse, is he…?

PATTON: No, no, don’t worry, Roman is still alive… The problem right now is… of a different kind.

THOMAS: Still talking in riddles… Okay, let’s get over with it. Are you all coming?

LOGAN: [to Deceit and Virgil] It would be better if you come too. You could serve as a protection for us. Should any unseen Sprite be there, he won’t approach us if you’re there covering us.

VIRGIL: So we’re coming as your bodyguards? This is new.

DECEIT: I saw it coming that someday you would give us this task… Just kidding.

THOMAS: Okay… Let’s go to Roman’s room…

[Thomas and the Sides sink down. Then, they appear in Roman’s room. As seen the previous time Thomas, Logan and Joan were there, in the back wall there’s a huge royal portrait of Roman riding a horse, holding his samurai sword with one hand. Below the portrait, on the back couch, there’s Mrs. Fluffybottom, the bunny doll, and the shelving is full of fairy-tale books. The kitchen counter is full of medieval-like pots, huge wooden spoons, a roasted turkey, and other stuff. In Logan’s spot there are books of spells, magic wands and bottles with potions. In Virgil’s spot, the walls are covered with a forest of thorns, but there’s a beautiful purple rose blooming from one of them. Roman’s spot has a huge golden throne with Roman’s shield hanging above it, and red curtains framing it. Thomas and the others show a face of horror when they see Roman lying on the throne with his head resting on his right arm. There’s a red pixie light on the back of his neck and the sound of jingle bells is coming from it.]

VIRGIL: [horrified] Roman! Are you okay!? Roman!

[Roman doesn’t respond and doesn’t move a muscle]

THOMAS: Oh, my gosh! What’s wrong with Roman? That red light… Is that the Sprite?

VIRGIL: What red light?

LOGAN: Yes, Thomas, that’s him. You can’t see it, Virgil, but it’s there.

PATTON: Do you think we’ve arrived on time to…?

LOGAN: I don’t think so, Patton. He’s already unconscious, he must have been fighting that darn creature for a long time and he’s losing the battle. Probably he’s on the verge of…

THOMAS: [over the top terrified squealing] …dying!?

LOGAN: My goodness, Thomas, what is that obsession with death? It’s not that.

THOMAS: Then wha…?

[He doesn’t finish his question, as the jingle bell sound gets stronger and Roman’s body starts shaking. He then wakes up and sits on the throne. At first he shows an emotionless, robotic face, as if he was a dummy doll. Then he looks around and starts sporting a mischievous, slightly evil smile]

THOMAS: Roman? Are you okay?

ROMAN: [sassy voice never heard before on Roman] Roman is gone, sweetie, it’s only me.

THOMAS: What? What does that mean?

LOGAN: You see, Thomas, the Sanders Sprites are not strong enough to manifest physical bodies of their own, so they use us as hosts whenever they get to bite us. Roman is… you could call it… possessed… by the Sprite, who is using his body as a puppet to do his will. The Roman we know is still there, somewhere, but he’s unconscious. And of course, in that state, your creativity is completely inoperative. That’s why you didn’t have the will to create anything.

VIRGIL: My gosh, thank goodness we don’t have to deal with that…

DECEIT: True…

THOMAS: [to the Sprite in Roman’s body] Then who are you? What’s your name?

SPRITE: [through Roman’s body, with the same sassy, unconcerned voice] I’m not in the mood of telling my name, sweetie. It’s been a long struggle to get this body working and today I don’t feel like doing anything. Nothing at all.

THOMAS: [imperative voice] I command you to tell me your name!

SPRITE: [mocking him] Ooooh… look how I’m shaking… Well, I command you to… back the F… up, okay, honey?

THOMAS: What?

LOGAN: Thomas, unfortunately you don’t have control over the Sprites. They’re creatures so ethereal that they don’t follow anyone’s orders, not even the Light Master’s. They always do whatever they want, whenever it pleases them.

SPRITE: Oh, so you’re the Light Master in person, huh? [mocking him] What an honor…

THOMAS: Yes, I am Thomas. Why don’t you want to share your name with us?

SPRITE: Well, since you’ve been so nice to tell me your name…

THOMAS: Yes?

SPRITE: [lowering his voice] My name is…

[there’s a huge silence]

SPRITE: [high pitched scream] NOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Everyone yelps, scared. The Sprite laughs lively]

SPRITE: Oh, my goodness, you should have seen your faces! You almost made a dent on the ceiling with your heads, so high you jumped! And Roman wouldn’t have liked that you destroyed his room, would he?

THOMAS: [with his hand covering his heart, recovering breath, with an annoyed voice] Only two minutes in and I’m already hating this guy…

SPRITE: [negating with his finger] Uh, uh, uh, Thomas… Hatred is wrong. Right, Patton?

[The Sprite starts laughing like a maniac]

THOMAS: Well, it’s clear we’re not getting anything from him. So what do we do now?

VIRGIL: Perhaps I should get closer to him. You said that the Sanders Sprites are allergic to Dark Sides, right? I wouldn’t mind giving him a little… tackle of friendship.

SPRITE: [affected sigh] Why do you always have to resort to violence? Where is your sense of humor?

VIRGIL: As if you were being funny at all.

SPRITE: [imitating Virgil’s voice] Said the most sulky individual I’ve ever met in my life.

VIRGIL: [angry, reaching out his fists, Logan holds his shoulder] Why you…

SPRITE: [imitating the scene from Snow White, with low pitch voice and crossing his arms over his chest] Oooohhh… You must be grumpy!

LOGAN: Stop, Virgil. Remember if you try to hurt the Sprite, you’ll only be hurting Roman.

VIRGIL: But you said they were vulnerable to us!

LOGAN: If we had arrived on time, he would have been, but sadly he’s taken control of Roman’s body, and while he’s in there, he’s protected from you. He’s using Roman’s body as a shield.

[The Sprite sticks out his tongue at Virgil]

VIRGIL: [sighs nervously] I can’t believe someone would get on my nerves so much. He’s much worse than the real Roman in his worst times…

LOGAN: Don’t fall into his trap, Virgil. Ignore him. I suggest that we get back to the living room to tackle the situation.

SPRITE: [fake sad voice] Awww, you’re leaving, after, like, ten minutes of being together?

THOMAS: But what about Roman? We can’t leave him like that!

LOGAN: He’ll be okay, Thomas. The Sprite needs him, he wouldn’t hurt him. Besides, we need to talk on our own without him present.

SPRITE: Oh, keeping your plans under wraps? As if it was going to make a difference…

LOGAN: [ignoring him] Thomas, let’s go now, quickly.

THOMAS: Okay, if you say so, let’s go…

[Thomas and the Sides sink down, the Sprite smiles and waves goodbye]

SPRITE: See you later, pretty faces!

[There’s a white flash and Thomas and the Sides rise up in the living room. Virgil and Deceit get a little dizzy after rising up, but they recover soon]

THOMAS: Okay. Are you sure Roman will be okay, Logan?

LOGAN: As a matter of fact, Thomas, I have my concerns.

THOMAS: [scared] What? But you said…

LOGAN: I know what I said, and I only said it to avoid revealing anything to the Sprite, Thomas. The truth is the situation is really tricky.

THOMAS: Why?

LOGAN: Roman will be okay… for the time being. But his time is running out. If we don’t expel the Sprite out of his body soon, he could bond with him, and if that happens, Roman will be gone forever.

VIRGIL: [horrified] Oh, no!

DECEIT: This is totally not serious at all, less than I anticipated…

THOMAS: There has to be a solution, right? Right?

LOGAN: We have to identify exactly what Sprite has bitten Roman. Once we know, it will be easy to defeat him. You’ll just have to perform an action that conflicts with the trait that Sprite represents to weaken him enough to let Roman fight to reclaim control over his body.

THOMAS: So that’s why he didn’t want to tell us his name. But how will we know who he is?

LOGAN: Let’s see… Sanders Sprites are of different colors, just like us, Sanders Sides, and the color they have is the color of the Side they affect. In the case of Roman, his color is red, and red was the Sprite Roman had on his neck. Therefore, that Sprite comes from a trait that affects creativity… what could it be? Dang, if Roman was here, he could help us… Thomas, don’t you have anything?

THOMAS: I… I don’t know…

LOGAN: Describe the exact way you’re feeling in regards of creating something.

THOMAS: I… I…

VIRGIL: [anxious begging voice] Please, Thomas, do an effort! Roman’s life depends on it! [mumbling to himself with a whining trembling voice, his eyes fill with tears] I… I don’t want to lose him… [noticing the others have heard him, he quickly dries his eyes with his hand] I mean as a friend!

DECEIT: [mischievous smile] Excusatio non petita, accusatio manifesta… See? I know Latin too.

VIRGIL: What?

DECEIT: Never mind, it’s not the moment right now.

LOGAN: [a little angry] You’re right, it isn’t. Could you all focus, if you please? Thomas, we’re waiting.

THOMAS: Let’s see… When I try to think of something to write… I feel dried out, like I said, completely empty… I also feel…

LOGAN: Yes?

THOMAS: I also feel a strange tiredness, also like I said before… I just want to lay on my couch and do nothing for the rest of the day…

LOGAN: [thinking] Mmm…

THOMAS: Was that helpful?

LOGAN: [suddenly his face lights up as if he had an idea] Of course! The Sprite said it himself and we didn’t notice!

THOMAS: What?

LOGAN: Remember what he said when you asked for his name the first time? He literally said: “Today, I don’t feel like doing anything, nothing at all.”

THOMAS: And what…?

LOGAN: That’s from “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars!

VIRGIL: How do you know about Bruno Mars…?

LOGAN: We’re dealing with your laziness, Thomas! The Sprite that has bitten Roman is Laziness! It affects creativity in the sense that you can’t create anything if you’re dominated by laziness.

THOMAS: [in disbelief] My laziness? I mean, I’m lazy at times, but I’m not so lazy. I try to stay productive as much as I can, and you know it.

PATTON: Well, that’s why Laziness is a Sprite in you, kiddo, and not his own Side. It comes and goes, but when it sits down, it can cause trouble if you indulge in it and let it set roots in you.

THOMAS: I suppose this is my fault, then…

VIRGIL: That doesn’t matter now. The point is what are we going to do to rescue Roman. We’re wasting time! We’ll be late if we wait for too long!

PATTON: Relax, Virgil, getting everyone anxious won’t solve anything!

VIRGIL: I know, but…

PATTON: You’ll see how everything comes out right, kiddo. Now, let the grown-ups speak.

VIRGIL: [frowning] I’m a grown-up too, Patton.

PATTON: [cute voice] Of course you are, my precious boy!

[Virgil sighs and decides to ignore Patton and keep on listening]

LOGAN: As I said, Thomas, you must fight your laziness and try to stimulate your creativity to give some strength to Roman. If he manages to set himself free, we have two pest exterminators here who can take care of the bug… and sorry for the qualifier.

VIRGIL: Oh, don’t worry, We’ve been called worse… and it’s a job I would be more than delighted to do…

PATTON: Who called you bad things, Virgil!? Tell me so I can call their parents or physically fight them!

VIRGIL: Now it’s you who should relax, Dad.

THOMAS: What do I do to fight Laziness?

LOGAN: Well, creativity is not my department. My suggestion is that you think of new ideas for shows, new shorts, new songs… Anything may do, but concentrate on it, and try to develop these ideas to stimulate creativity, and Roman with it. Laziness won’t make it easy for you, but you must endure. You can do it, Thomas. We’re rooting for you.

PATTON: We’re with you Thomas. You can win this battle.

VIRGIL: If anyone can be helpful for Roman at this moment, I can’t think of anyone better than you.

DECEIT: I’m totally not going to say that I agree with them all. But I do.

THOMAS: Thanks, guys…

LOGAN: Let’s get started, then. First, we need to bring Roman and Laziness here. Call Laziness.

THOMAS: Can we? You said I had no control over him.

LOGAN: You don’t have direct control over his actions, but now that you know his name, you can summon him like anybody else.

THOMAS: Laziness! I command you to come here right now!

[Roman appears, he’s frowning and Laziness shines bright red in his neck]

LAZINESS: So… I see that you know who I am, Thomas. But that won’t make any difference. Look how strong I am now!

[Suddenly, Roman’s shape changes into Sleep’s shape, only that his shirt is red instead of white and there’s no label on his chest]

LAZINESS: Just give up, gurl. You can do nothing against me, and Roman is almost gone anyway.

THOMAS: It will sound cliche that I say it, but I really mean it: we’ll see about that.

LOGAN: Go ahead, Thomas. You can do it.

THOMAS: Okay, a new idea for a short…

LAZINESS: [evil giggle] You have nothing… [tempting voice] And don’t you think that couch behind you is comfy? You want to lay down to watch TV… Even better, you want to spend a whole day sleeping in the couch, don’t you?

THOMAS: [mesmerized by Laziness] Yes… [putting himself together] No! I don’t! And I have an idea for a short, precisely.

LAZINESS: [shows a face of slight shock] No…

THOMAS: Yes. It goes like this. I haven’t been able to sleep all night. My Sleep comes in at the worst time, and he looks exactly like you do like now… Although I think I’ll need to put a label on the chest that reads “Sleep”, to avoid confusion among viewers…

LAZINESS: Stop it!

THOMAS: …I ask him where he was last night and he tells me there was a concert downtown, and offers to work in that moment, but it’s two in the afternoon, not exactly bedtime, so I complain.

LAZINESS: [angry] That’s story is awful! Stop it!

THOMAS: And he goes away again, “oooutt”, as he says… And I’m fed up with him because Sleep is never there when I need him and shows up always when he should be away…

LAZINESS: [loses balance] Ugh…

THOMAS: I think I’ll title it… “So Rebellious, Out of Control”. I’ll film it just tonight. And who knows? Maybe I’ll make a series out of it. That Sleep character could blow the audience away!

ROMAN: [struggling voice] Get… out… of meee…

LOGAN: It’s working!

PATTON: You can do it, kiddo!

VIRGIL: Come on, Roman! You’re the bravest and mightiest knight I’ve ever met! You can do this! Fight!

LAZINESS: [now struggling too] No… Noooo… I’m losing control! I’ll be back! I swear I’ll be back! Noooo….!

ROMAN: [struggling yell] Get… oooouut… NOOOOW!

[There’s a red flash. Roman recovers his usual shape and falls down unconscious. Laziness, now a Sprite pixie again, flies around for a moment and disappears]

LOGAN: He’s gone! You did it!

VIRGIL: Come back, Laziness! I just want to give you a big round of applause… with you between my hands!

[Roman regains consciousness. He gets up, a little dizzy]

ROMAN: Ooff… That was outrageous. How dare that miserable Sprite do this to me?

VIRGIL: [emotional happy] Roman… Roman!

[Virgil runs and jumps on Roman and hugs him, squeezing his shoulders]

ROMAN: [wide smile] Whoa, whoa! Relax, Emo Viking! It takes more than a red firefly to defeat Prince Roman!

[However, he also hugs Virgil and they stay like that for a minute or so]

PATTON: Awww… This is so pure…

[Finally they separate and Virgil goes back to his spot]

VIRGIL: [emotional, a black tear has fallen down his cheek] I thought that I… [quickly corrects himself nervously] I mean… we, were losing you… We were so heartbroken… You better watch out for bugs carefully next time, don’t you dare scaring me… I mean, us…  like that again!

ROMAN: [loving, grateful smile] I promise, Virgil… [to Thomas] And thank you, Thomas. I couldn’t have won this battle without you.

THOMAS: Of course, Roman. I was not going to abandon you, my dear friend. And we also must thank Logan. Without his knowledge, this wouldn’t have been possible.

ROMAN: Thank you, King of Specs.

LOGAN: You’re welcome, Prince of Ilusions.

PATTON: How are you feeling, Roman? Are you okay?

ROMAN: I was feeling awful… [furtive glance to Virgil] but now I feel like I could conquer the world. I’m so lucky to have you all as my best friends… [suddenly grimaces in pain and covers his neck] Aww!

VIRGIL: [scared] What’s the matter?

ROMAN: It’s suddenly hurting in my neck, right where the Sprite bit me.

THOMAS: Should we be concerned? Maybe Laziness sneaked back and bit him again.

LOGAN: Nah… It’s completely normal. Have you ever been stung or bitten by a wasp, Thomas?

THOMAS: Yes, a couple of times, and it was painful…

LOGAN: This is something similar. It’s the pain Roman wasn’t feeling earlier over being under control of Laziness, that now he’s feeling in all its extension, but he’ll survive. A Sprite can’t bite a Side twice in the same day, they need a few days to recuperate.

VIRGIL: However, we should take care of that lump. It could get infected, right? Have you got any med kit in your room?

ROMAN: Yes, I think I do.

VIRGIL: [sinking down] Then let’s go, Princey.

ROMAN: [sinking down] Um… okay, Virgil, if you insist.

PATTON: Isn’t it cute? They’re such good friends now.

DECEIT: [giggles mischievously] The best kind of friends, I think.

PATTON: Why that giggle?

DECEIT: Have you ever seen one of our wounds getting infected, Patton? We’re not humans, we’re immune to mundane microorganisms. [voice of being obviously lying] I wonder why Virgil was so interested in getting to be with Roman in his room all alone…

PATTON: [confused] To have a cup of tea?

DECEIT: [sighs, while sinking down] Oh, Patton, sometimes you’re so naive it puzzles me how, among all of us, you’re the only one who’s managed to be a father…

PATTON: [sinking down] I don’t understand you. Deecey, explain?

LOGAN: I wonder that too…

THOMAS: Well, thank you again, Logan.

LOGAN: You’re welcome, Thomas. I’m glad that I could be of help this time.

THOMAS: Will we ever hear of the Sanders Sprites again?

LOGAN: Most certainly. They’ve been a constant pest, even though it was always hidden from you.

THOMAS: Have you ever been bitten by Sprites before?

LOGAN: Sometimes. Not all of the Sprites are as dangerous as Laziness. Some are more benign, they bite us, play with our bodies for some time, say whatever they need to say, and then leave us. They are a little bothersome but harmless in the long term. Others, like Laziness try to replace us and are more difficult to defeat. Thank Franklin that these don’t show up often. But we’ll have to be more alert to our surroundings. Roman, Patton, Honesty and I are potential victims of them and we can’t drop our guard. Well, I think Honesty may be safe. He was once part Dark Side and I’m sure there are still remnants of Deceit in him that may make him immune to the Sanders Sprites. Who knows?

THOMAS: I hope so, the less of you they can affect, the better.

LOGAN: By the way, I’m going to tell Honesty about this. He’s not gonna like that he’s missed another adventure of ours again. [sinking down] But that’s what he gets for being in autopilot so often.

THOMAS: Bye, Logan. Tell Honesty hi for me. [to the camera] We all can be bitten by laziness from time to time. It’s completely normal and it happens to all of us, one moment or another. Of course, we must get the proper amounts of rest that our body requires after a long day of work, school or whatever, but we must try to stay active so that laziness doesn’t conquer us and makes us lose our capacity to shine as much as we can. Sometimes it’s difficult, but I’m rooting for you. I’m lazy too at times, as you’ve seen, and if I did it, so can you. Let’s get rid of this lazy bug together. Until next time, take it easy, guys, gals and non binary pals. Peace out!

[ending card]

[Virgil is putting a band aid on Roman’s neck]

VIRGIL: There you go. That should do.

ROMAN: Thank you so much, Virgil.

VIRGIL: Of course, Roman. You’ve gone through a lot today. You deserve to be taken care of for a little while.

ROMAN: I’m sorry I worried you.

VIRGIL: What are you talking about? It wasn’t your fault.

ROMAN: In a way, it was. I should have paid more attention. I was caught off-guard like a fool. If only I could have asked for help… But I couldn’t speak. From the very first moment I sensed the bite, I felt his consciousness invading me, slowly numbing all my members, turning me into a worthless puppet… It was a horrible sensation…

VIRGIL: [grabs Roman’s hand] It’s okay, Roman. It’s over now, and you’re here with me… I mean, us, again.

ROMAN: [grabbing Virgil’s hand] Virgil…

VIRGIL: Yes?

ROMAN: Isn’t it funny how our relation has evolved? We started as the worst enemies, then with our silly arguments, the name callings, the bickering… and then, almost without noticing, we became best friends, and now…

VIRGIL: You were right, Roman.

ROMAN: About what?

VIRGIL: About how worried I was about you… When Logan said that you could have been gone forever… I pictured a life without you there. Even without your over-dramatic acts and occasional nuisance, and I felt so empty… I don’t ever wanna feel like that again. Please, always stay safe. You’re important to us… You’re important to me. You have no idea how much.

[Roman looks at Virgil with a loving glance]

ROMAN: All of my life I have always been looking for the prince of my dreams, even back when I was young and they told me that I was required to marry a princess to secure an heir to the throne, you know, the royal protocol and all that jazz…

[While he speaks, Roman gently caresses Virgil’s cheek with his hand and passes his finger over Virgil’s eye-shadow, while Virgil holds that hand and looks sweetly at Roman. Roman’s finger gets stained in black from the eye-shadow, as it is wet from Virgil’s earlier tearing]

ROMAN: Who would have thought that the perfect one, the real prince of my dreams I was looking for, was right here under my nose all the time, wearing a hood instead of a crown.

[Roman approaches Virgil to kiss him. Suddenly, Virgil shows a face of fear and walks back, dropping Roman’s hand]

ROMAN: [confused] What? What’s the matter?

VIRGIL: We can’t do this, Roman.

ROMAN: But I thought…

VIRGIL: And what you thought is true, Roman. I… I love you. I love you more than I love myself. But… Precisely for that, we can’t be together. I’ve let myself get carried away, but we can’t do this.

ROMAN: I don’t understand…

VIRGIL: Our relationship would be dangerous, Roman, dangerous for you. I’m a Dark Side, and you’re a Light Side. Remember what happened when you stayed in my room for too long? What could I do to you if we stayed together for a lifetime?

ROMAN: I don’t care about the danger. I just want to be with you…

VIRGIL: Please, try to understand. I don’t want to run the risk of doing the exact same thing that Sprite almost did to you today. I don’t want you to be endangered because of me.  If something happened to you because of me, that would kill me. I must renounce to you, because I love you, and I care about your safety and well being more than I care about my feelings. I’m sure you’ll find someone better than me who will make you happier than I ever could.

ROMAN: But Virgil, I…

VIRGIL: I must go, Roman. This was a mistake. Let’s do as if this had never happened and remain being friends, okay? Please don’t tell anyone about this. And if it serves as a consolation, always remember that my love will always be yours, till our final day. See you later.

[Virgil sinks down, leaving Roman’s room. Roman approaches Virgil’s spot and looks at the purple rose in the forest of thorns]

ROMAN: And what’s the use of a long and safe life if I have to live it without you, Virgil? I don’t want anyone better than you, should that person even exist. I want you, my hooded dark prince. I love you, Virgil…

[Roman looks at the purple rose, then at his finger, still covered in Virgil’s eye-shadow, and starts silently crying]

[ain-t-bovvered]

14x04 Commentary

Zeta and Giuls scream together, and then die.

Me & Zeta will watch together season 14′s episodes as they come out and we’ll do our commentary while watching.

1  2  3

14x04 Mint condition

[intro talking about ghosts]

oh it will be a ghost ep then.

TIME FOR A FILLING EPISODE THEN

zeta: I guess

SO THE BROS CAN BOND

[episode starting]

....lol the beating sound of the television ad.....suspiciously similar to the title into

-really.....? a trenchcoat...? 

-So handsome

zeta: so angry

-lol that’s us with Micheal. 

MOTHERF- THAT SCARED ME DAMN CELLPHONE

- “Hey Sam”. ....

zeta: built by Tony Stark’s second cousin. Damn cool down bitch.

-this is like the LARP episode . Talk shit, get quartered by horses.

zeta: I think he’s already dead. THUNDERCATS.

-uh uh.

zeta: Don’t dude

- why does it feels like the film “Small Soldiers?”

-AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHH ARE THOSE NOODLE SOCKS WITH “SEND NOODS” ON THEM?!? 

[opening amazon] I need that shit

zeta: Hello

-My slob *sobs* that is too cute 

zeta: 80′s are calling.

-OH look it’s your decade.

zeta: Shut up bitch

lol

- OH LOOK IT’S YOU

zeta: SHUT UP

US:

-Naaaaaaaah WhERe iS thE BEaRd. Whyyyyy.  so smooth.

zeta: Dolphin belly

-WHYYYYYYYYYY

- The socks bitch

zeta: cute motherfucker

-Slobby Dean is canon and I’m living

-Cass and Jack are on a Father and Son trip *sobs*

-”Our life is ...a scary movie”.....true dat.

zeta: Panthro kicked my ass. I grew up with the thundercats.

-THUNDERCATS SERIOUSLY LOL. 

-That Panthro is mine”  ....love me some nerdy Dean.

-And Sam’s little pleased smile??...I hate them ...so cute-

zeta:short sleeves.

-Captain Khaki

- The fake laugh of Sam AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHH MY GOD

D” ahahahah so lame”

zeta: the lollipop

-[vietnam flashback to my first fic]

-D”she’s like your twin- Soft delicate features ...”

zeta: Luxurious hair. Look at that happy face!

-My skin is clearing

zeta: my allergies are cured

-"Vintage hotwheels”

-THOSE ARE NOT THE INSURANCE’S GUYS I GET THO. HOW UNFAIR IS THAT?.

zeta: true dat. Oh Chuck , his face is killing me

-Of course he is.    zeta: of course he is

-W  T  F . I HAVE A KINK . THOSE GLASSES IN PARTICULAR ARE MY KINK NOW.

zeta: yep, Can’t word.

-THAT’S MY FIC REQUEST FOR YOU BITCH. GIMMIE THAT .

-ALSO...that switch of mug . DEAN MAH BOY U CUTE.

- Apple ciders !  D” sHE OfFeRed”

-CAMBLES AND SONS’ INSURANCE

zeta: I’m Zelda

- Why do you know what that means?  zeta: Why do you know what that means?

- Sam quickly looked the other way

-DAMN THAT JACKET

zeta: yeah

-He looks like he just came out from Mad Men, and  I’M SO HERE FOR THAT.

zeta: GIF, bitch . also....we don’t eat that much candy.

- [the mom in 50s gears] lol but ....ME

zeta: you

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAH 

zeta: shut up.

-U SHUT UP

HUNTER EXPERTS

zeta: oh crap. the gun porn.  

zeta: LOOK AT

-DAMN he looks good.

zeta: -THAT

me:

zeta: Hello

-wow.   zeta: holy fuck

-What’s up with the mom tho? why she dressed like that?...creepy . Favourite pillow.....ok.

zeta: everything is not fine

-Everything is not fine, I said that in my mind when he said the positive one first.

zeta: I need the Sam beard back.

YES...LASTED A BIT LONGER THAN MICHEAL THO.

zeta: that dude is HUGE

me:  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- “nice Sam ...smooth”

zeta: smooth

- Sam envying the dude’s beard

zeta: Head tilt. 

zeta: Bow legs bitch

-Super awesome. lol the dude’s jacket tho

zeta: oooooh damn

- I. SMELL .PARALLELS.

- OH HI  ζ

zeta: Shut the fuck up.....I did have the same earrings.

-DEAN IS A NEEEEEERD

zeta: Completely. Look how happy he is.

- I’M DYING STAPH. MY HEART.

- And again there is that focusing on the keychain . hmmmmmmmm my hunter’s senses are tingling

zeta: creepy dude.

-She’s too little to be Sam’s parallel tho.

zeta: everyone is too little, he’s humongous.

-THE KEYRING BITCH I KNEW IT. 

-CO detector. nice save Sam. That fake scream tho.

zeta: 80′s bitch. 80′s.

-S” are you okay?”

Fem!Sam: 

- Fem!Sam “ I was pretty busy screaming” 

-ahahahahahahha lame

-Sam is so offended that the glass didn’t break. “But I used my moose force”

zeta: fuck me sideways

-GOD I LOVE HIM. OMFG . GIF

zeta: he’s excited

-He should not be that excited.

-SEE I TOLD YOU THE FUCKING KEYCHAIN

zeta: Capish   capish

- D : IMMA SMASH- oh no wait *opens cabinet*

-How to make a bomb casually . Sammy 101.

zeta: I think he’s not gonna stay inside the circle.     

if an incredibly hot guy who shouldn’t be that hot in that outfit tells you to stay in the damn salt circle you STAY IN THE DAMN CIRCLE.

zeta: Nope

- OH COME ON....awww please don’t die I like you.

zeta: fine go through him. And those earrings.

-Lol you had leg warmes too right?

zeta: Yep

-Knew it...and those gloves.

zeta: and the fucking top. JFC IT IS ME

-YEP.

zeta: hell.

-I had a messed up childhood     zeta: messed up childhood.

-THat iS noT HoW thAT wOrks

zeta: nerds

-don’t call me that.

zeta: oh fucking hell

-” I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT”  bitch how many time did I write Dean saying that? I’m having a stroke.

zeta: Casper?! -bitch you bet your ass that lil’ bean Dean stayed in motel rooms and started his scary movies thing with Casper.

- D: “ ...I send you there ..”  hot

-Lol why is that so funny

zeta: don’t know but it is- That side smile.

-GuRL I’M LIVING THAT JACKET

zeta: the pants could be a tad tighter tho.  BABY!

-bitch they are not jeans, they’d explode on Jensen’s ass equation curve.

zeta: true....a tad.

-AWESOME    zeta: that was awesome.

zeta: don’t ruin this for me

-Feelings talk. I’m never getting over it.

-CHIEF   zeta: CHIEF

-whyyyyy

zeta: his watch beeped?

-OMFG I LOVE THAT. GIF...GIIIIIF *whispering* adorable.

zeta: adorable.   Continue.

- what

zeta: spin the bottle. Disappointed. Hurled. looool I’m wheezing.

-I thought Sam didn’t like halloween becasue..you know....DEAD GIRLFRIEND ON THE CEILING ?!?

-Shaggy and scooby       zeta: Thelma and Louise    

-Bert and Ernie .....that’s weird 

-Loving the crazy look on Dean 

and the scared af of Sam.

zeta: oh hell.  ugly.

-dude....you fugly.

-wut....wha....that, that’s the end?  what .....a waste of footage ok

zeta: that was fun.

.

.

.

send an ask HERE or to @waywardbaby if you want or a smoke signal, idk whatever I’m tired af.

TAGS: @supernatural-teamfreewillpage @destiel-honeypie @mariekoukie6661 @dragontamerm  @closetspngirl

[meny-sempai]

MO DAO ZU SHI IS A MASTERPIECE – part 01

OH MY GOD EP 15! That was so… UGH. I have so much to say, yet I’m speechless at the same time! Aaaaa! Ok, that’s it! It’s time!

The first season is over and I can finally talk about my experience with the piece of art that is Mo Dao Zu Shi. Yes, it is a piece of art and I will prove it to you in this short series of my thoughts about the show.

I just have to say – I’m not a native English speaker so bear with the mistakes I’m bound to make. I did read the novel, but only as far as the Exiled Rebels Scanlations translated it (thank you Rebels, you’re gods). I started reading the novel after the first airing of the third episode, so at the very beginning of MDZS mania – I went in blind and… it was FUNNY. I’ll talk more about that down below. And yes, I know a lot of spoilers, but I can’t say I know the whole story – If I start theorizing be aware that I’m just theorizing, I’m not actually telling the plot, but, just to be sure: SPOILERS ahead, I will use the facts I know for my analysis.

For the first two episodes I’m going to tell you my blind reactions and compare them with my impressions after finishing the season. My misinterpretations are hilarious and I admit I was really dumb. Enjoy my stupidity.

The rest of the episodes will have my impressions and analysis that I now have after finishing the show. There will be a few of these kind of posts on my profile because I can’t fit everything I have to say in just one. I don’t actually do analysis of shows here, because this is my personal art blog, but I sometimes make exceptions. As an animation student I just had to talk about Mo Dao Zu Shi. I want more people to see it. I want people to know that it is much more than BL.

So… Here we go!

INTRODUCTION – or, who the hell even asked for my opinion?

I’ve been a fan of anime/manga since I was 13, which was 12 years ago (I’m old, I know). Sure, I’ve watched Digimon, Pokemon, Bayblade and all that jazz when I was even younger, but that doesn’t count, because I had no clue about the concept of anime.

I’ve seen a lot of shit, I’m quite open to a lot of shit and if I’m in the right mood I can take a lot of shit, but I still regard myself as someone who has a good taste. The older I get the less time I have to take a chance at something I wouldn’t normally watch. Even if there is something I’d watch I usually end up not having time for it. Since I started studying and doing animation myself, my criteria for the quality skyrocketed. I long gave up on the three episode rule. One episode is enough to see potential if there is potential (some shows can still trick me – I’m looking at you Sirius the Jaeger).

Ok, ok, I’m not bashing on Sirius the Jaeger. I’m just saying the show had a lot of potential and threw it out of the window. If there was no Mikhail and Yuliy dynamics… Scratch that – if there was no Mikhail in the show, the story would have been completely empty. At least for me.

Since we’re talking about other shows, I’ll use this opportunity to declare Mo Dao Zu Shi as the animation of the year. Sure, the year’s still not over, sure I only watched Cells at Work, Free! Dive in to the Future, Sirius the Jaeger and BANANA FISH, but I still believe in what I say.

Sorry Cells, you’re cute, you make me care more about my body, you make me have weird feelings about Cancer (WTF). I wish I can show you to all the school kids in my country, but you’re not the best this time. Please, give me another season, thank you. Love the manga. Guys, please watch this anime!

Sorry Free, you… Pfff… Ok, yeah, FREE, I love you dude, thank you for all the sexy muscles and almost BL drama (and some actual deep moments). Thank you for all the Rin, we can never have enough of Rin. And thank you for Kisumi and Asahi – didn’t know I needed that. Thank you, but… yeah, know your place (hint: it’s right here in my arms).

Sorry Sirius, I wish you had more episodes to explore the story and the characters. Liked the OP and the animation.

Sorry BANANA FISH, oh god, I really am. Before MDZS I lived for you BF, I lived for you! I was an old fan of the manga and I was so hyped. I can’t say I’m dissatisfied with the anime adaptation. I liked a lot of things they did, the way they adapted stuff, added and changed stuff, but it was just too much plot for 13 episodes and the effects of it became clearer and worse while the anime progressed. I have no idea how MAPPA will handle the second season. My fingers are crossed. Guys, watch this anime. Even with all the flaws it’s worth your time. 

And yes, I watched Voltron and The Dragon Prince. This will be a really long post if I start on those, so I won’t.

So… YES. Mo Dao Zu Shi came out of nowhere for me and took the crown. Wow… where to start…?

How did I find this show…? Actually, how did this show find me? Well… It was my beta reader, I think. After 13 years of being a silent fan of Asian comics and animation, I decided to finally write a fanfiction. Surprisingly, it was for the small fandom of the Korean comic Noblesse (nobody cares, carry on). I don’t know why, but my beta told me about this new BL “anime”. When I realized it was Chinese I rolled my eyes. I’m an asshole, I know, but I just never liked anything I saw from the Chinese (I haven’t seen much, but what I saw was poorly animated/was in 3D and I’m not a huge fan of 3D). I also never liked the voice acting… Ok. OK, I admit! I never liked the language, ok? Shoot me!

Then… Everything changed when the Wen clan attacked.

Anyway… I was bored, I was lazy and didn’t want to do work for my university, so I said: “What the heck! Hit me with some Chinese BL.” I clicked on the first episode not even bothering to read the summary. Man… My expectations were the low of the lowest.

EPISODE 01 – or, what the fuck did I just watch and is there more of it?

Oh shit… I’m terrible at names, especially Chinese names! Am I supposed to remember all this, is this important? The clans, the wars, the titles? This is BL, right? Should I take out my note book? Fuck, pause it. Ok… Ok… I get it? Let’s just continue.

(When I look at it now it was pretty clear. I really am dumb. To be fair, you need time to get used to how they use names. And for someone who never watched Chinese animation seriously and doesn’t know anything about the culture it really was a lot of new information. But don’t let that stop you from watching it!)

Ughhhhh…. 3D… damn it. And it was going so well. Ugh, just look at those wings flapping! Are the wings broken? What the hell! Why do they do this?

(Lol, I was so triggered. XD The bird is actually fine. I like how the scene transitioned from the pupil of a scared man to the pupil of the crow. As if they were watching each other in the eye, only adding to the creepiness. The lighting is also great. Everything is dark and gloomy, fitting the “horror” atmosphere really well, yet at the same time the dark scenes are vivid and clear. It’s hard to make the misty night look clear and colorful. The flying is a bit iffy, but it doesn’t really matter because the effect of hundred birds covering the sky is strong and meaningful.)

Holly shit! This is amazing! Pause it! No, go back, I wanna see this again. Oh my god, that flute! The music is awesome, I’m having goosebumps. Ooohh, love the music, I never heard something like this. Oh, this dude is so cool. Red eyes and zombies and… What is this show about again? Zombie BL? Really? It’s not really zombies, right? Please don’t be about zombies, I hate zombies.

(Honestly, this scene is stunning. A really effective way to reveal a character. Especially a character that we are not sure whether he is good or bad. The most amazing thing for me about this is how they used music. It isn’t just the background music to accompany the atmosphere. It isn’t there just to tell something about the character and make him stand out (it’s not a character theme). The flute is not alone here, there are many themes working with it. Together they are not there to tell us “this is a scary action scene” so feel this, or “this is a sad scene”, or a “funny scene”. No. The music here is its own art piece. It’s actually there to tell us in its own language the story that we are seeing on screen. I don’t know how to explain it. For me, the way the music changed was perfectly synchronized with the way people were saying words, the way Wei Wuxian moved his head, the way the corpses stood up to attack. If I close my eyes I can see the scene by only listening to the music. This is something that regularly happens in this show. I don’t know how they do it, but I applaud to it. I can’t remember the last time the music left such an impact on me in the animation series. And this is just the first episode and the first scene. We have no idea who these people are. We are not expected to feel emotional for them. But I felt the connection. I felt like I was there and the corpses were about to get me.)

Ugh! 3D, you’re killing me! And it was such a cool intro! Ok, calm down, what are they saying? So… That’s the guy with the flute, right? No, it was Wei, but Wei Something else. No, wait, it has to be him. Go back. Yeah, it is him. What the hell is a courtesy name? Ok, never mind, try to remember.

Oh no…! More exposition, more names and clans! My brain is melting! Cool smoke/ink animation, though. Hmm, purple ring. Nice. That’s important, right? Oh! The amulet thing! Remember that. That’s gonna bite us in the ass later, ain’t it? Alright, so “Wei something” died. Killed by… shidi? So… the younger clan member? So…? This Wei also had his own clan? Am I getting this right? I’m probably not getting this right. Ugh, just watch the damn episode, quit pausing every goddamn second! It’ll explain itself.  

I like the OP! The similar smoke/ink animation and… Wow, ok, there are too many handsome guys here. I’ll have to focus. The music is catchy. I like the singer’s voice. Cool!

(I’m now quite fond of the 3D in here. The tortoise and everything. XD Also, in my defense - they have three names, like, come on. I didn’t see that coming. I don’t even have a middle name. Although, I do think having three ways to be addressed is pretty interesting. You can tell and convey a lot by just picking a name the character uses in his speech.

Fun fact no1. – at the time I couldn’t even recognition the names when they would speak. All of the words sounded the same to me, which was so unusual. I can now recognize a lot of words and phrases. And, I think… Well, you’ll see what I now think about Chinese and VAs. I’m just gonna say this: I’d like to learn Chinese just so that I can write a love letter to Guo Haoran.

Fun fact no2. – It took me 6 episodes to actually pay attention to the lyrics of the OP and ED and to realize that they are representing Wei Wuxian and Lan WangJi. That’s a really beautiful touch, very smart. And it brings so much meaning to the table when the ED changes. I don’t think I ever saw OP and ED used in this particular way.)

Well, this is getting really dark and interesting. This Wei may be a refreshing MC. Probably a good guy at heart, but shady as fuck and ready to kill. I do have another name to worry about, but Mo is easy to remember (“Don’t close mountain” – if you know what I mean :P). I wonder if Mo is important to the plot. I see potential for some twists here. 

2D animation is looking good so far. I like how they made us look from the protagonist’s POV. Really refreshing directing… hmm… Still not buying the Chinese, but Wei has a nice voice. The music is still great.

Bahahahaha! Scratch that, Wei is an idiot! Good to know that liquor is your priority, Wei! XD Omg the donkey, too, look at that face, look at the eyelashes!

The fuck is this shit? Are those people flying? While standing? Are they standing on something? What the hell? XD Man, that sky is nice. Oh! Oh, oh, wait, those guys! Those were the shadows I saw a scene earlier. Mmm… Attention to detail. Nice. Looks like I’ll have to pay close attention to every scene. Been a long time I had to focus so hard on an “anime”.

(10 minutes and I was already very intrigued. I didn’t know shit, but I was in. With all the pausing I probably spent 50 minutes on this episode, but it felt like barely 20 minutes had passed. At the beginning I paused a lot because I was too slow to read the subtitles (no, I don’t watch dubs, I’m just too used to Japanese and their culture references that reading subs is child’s play, but this was new territory for me). I also paused a lot because I felt I’ve missed something, or because I was surprised at how some scenes looked. 

I don’t pause that often now. Mo Dao Zu Shi trained me to see and hunt for detail. As I said, it’s been a long time since I had the need to carefully look at the backgrounds and pay attention to all of the characters’ expressions. Mo Dao Zu Shi tells a lot in silence and in small details. It awards you if you take time to look at the scenery. When I find something that I’d usually miss, I don’t necessarily feel smarter, but I feel the show is treating me as someone smart. MDZS respects its audience. It makes them think and remember. Which makes this show 100% re-watchable. I watched all the episodes 3 times. Some I watched even more – like episode 11. And I always have a new experience. I love coming back to it. Even when I work I play the episodes and listen to them. It’s interesting. Try it. Try just to listen to the audio. It has rare quality to it. The sounds and music are used wisely and a piece of music always has a legit reason why it’s played.)

Ok, this run is too slow. I get that he’s fat, but still, the foot exchange doesn’t fit with the distance he’s making. Also, the flying guys are not flying anymore. I got more info. And MORE NAMES. Kill me now. The info is interesting, though. Cultivators are Chinese exorcist, right? I really should have read the summery.

(I still think the running was not convincing. There are moments such as these in the show, but honestly, MDZS has fascinating animation and it only gets better in the later episodes (I’m not even gonna start with ep 11 – ep 11 will get its own post). The animators know what they are doing and the director knows how to make a scene work at full capacity.

Fun Fact no3. – D.Gray-man destroyed me. I now only know how to say “exorcist” the Japanese way.

MDZS also has a way of making seemingly stupid stuff look and be cool. Surfing on swords sounds pretty dumb, but when you actually see it and have it explained to you, when it has plot significance it becomes a fresh idea. I want to have my own sword to surf on!)

Well, hello… Lan… Jingyi ~ (How do you read this? O.O) Mmm… I’m digging the art style. Cute boys~

Also, Wei, you’re a fucking genius! XD The Oscar goes to you, my dude.

(… I still think Wei Wuxian is a fucking genius. I’m not gonna talk a lot about him right now, but I just gotta say that he is such a classic MC, yet at the same time he is so original. He’s just one of the proofs how great the writing this series has.

Speaking of writing – this show has some of the best dialog I’ve ever seen. Not only because of what is being said, but also because of the VAs, directing, music and animation. Dialog��often has more than one meaning and always serves to deepen the characters and their relationships. I love how they use animation to show how the characters are truly feeling while saying something and what they actually mean when they say it. Everything they say has a reason and it makes you pay attention to other’s reaction to what is being said. I love how the character can say the same thing in so many different ways and that this is used to show his development and growth. I’m also amazed at how simple “hmm-s” and “mmm-s” mean so much in this show. 

I’m not saying character animation and rich expressiveness is something new, but it is rare and this show is really good at it. For example, quite a few characters laugh or cry but they all do it differently. They raise their eyebrows differently, they’re surprised and scared differently etc. This all sounds as a no-brainer, but it’s not so common. It’s difficult to pull off and I’m not saying MDZS is perfect, but it’s close.)

(Please… You think you can take down someone who spent his whole life perfecting the art of climbing up trees? Pff! You’re not Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan.)

(He looks so comfortable among corpses. It’s funny, yet so sad. These are all great hints for the mind-set of a character that you’ll miss at first watching, but you won’t forget about it. And when the memory clicks – it makes a loud click. Not a second is wasted in this show. Everything has a point. I’ll elaborate more on that with some examples in other posts.)

Bahahaha! I feel you bro! XD

But I feel you too. I mean, I don’t care about you, wench, don’t get me wrong, but it’s kinda sad. I’m liking these zombies. They’re my way of creepy and there’s potential for a deeper plot for them if it’s true that their personalities are still there somewhere. This just adds to the debate whether Wei is good or bad. The grey area… I love the grey the most. All 50 shades of it. And I’m enjoying the mystery vibe of this episode. Was there a mystery tag on this “anime”? Also, the fight scenes are not bad. And it’s cool how they all hate Wei but use his technics and knowledge. Realistic. Cool.

Oh my god! The colors! Whaaat? What the hell, look at that hair animation! And the music from that… string thingy- instrument – so cool. Ooohh, wait, this is the white dude, THE dude. Here comes the BL!

Ooohhh, I see what you did there. Kudos for you, director! Similarities and contrasts. Nice. And it’s over, I can’t believe it’s over! How can you cliff hang like that?! There’s a second episode, right? Mm, the ED is so pure. There IS a second episode! Well, while I’m here, don’t mind if I do!

EPISODE 2 – or, how I got everything wrong!

I bet he’s thinking: “The fuck is with this aim? The little shit almost killed me! I’m annoyed and amazed! Better play a fool and run for it.” But, seriously, that aim! Wei actually paused (love the little wobble effect on the arrow). And I have another name to remember! Ugh! And another color! Are they color coded? That could be helpful. Also, look at that tree. Wow… They’re blending the 3D backgrounds quite well with the 2D.

And Mo is important to the plot! Nice! So he has connections with the Yellow clan. The plot thickens.

I just gotta say – all of them have interesting designs. I wonder if every cultivator has his own sword. Bleach style or something. On the other hand, animators must be pulling out their hair because of all the details. XD

Cool little battle. Great camera work. They showed the difference between a student cultivator and an experienced one in an entertaining way. That soul summoning was nice too.

(This fight served as a nice show of power difference. It adds a lot to the future episodes where all of the main cast are students and have to face various trials. It gives us a hint at how powerful the clan leaders must be, it gives us a new perspective on the war and its casualties. We now get why many cultivators died so “easy”. It also hints at how talented students are different from the average which is an important detail in the plot. This little “unimportant” fight grounds it all and makes the levels in the clan system believable and palpable.)

This is really clever. Kudos for the reflection. Wei, haven’t you ever watched an anime? It’s clear the kid doesn’t have a mom. He probably doesn’t even have a dad.

(Ok… prepare for a full on fangirl attack.)

… My ears are tingling.

… This voice… Oh my ears, please calm down, something big is happening right now. Wait… Oh wow, he knows him! Look at the face he’s making, oh shit! And this new guy…! We haven’t even seen his face and he’s making threats! Hmm… Can’t say I don’t like that. Yeah, I like that… He’s gonna be the villain, isn’t he? I always like the villains and they always have the best voices. Well… if he’s a villain, let’s hope he’s hot-

Oh, wow, this is really good. The way the light appears, and that little shine of the… bell? Purple… Purple? The purple ring? Is this connected? Well, anyway, he has a pretty dramatic reveal and nice music – yep, he’s the bad guy. Let me see your face-

Wei… why are you so scared? They sure take their sweet time in revealing this guy. This may be more important than I thought. Don’t miss anything!

(Are you prepared?)

HOLLY MOTHER OF GOD WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD WHAAATT??? Was he this beautiful in the OP? Whaaaatt? AAAAHHHHHH!!!! SCREENSHOT! WALLPAPER! GO BACK, REPEAT THE SCENE! YOU! YOU, MY BOY, HAVE ENTERED MY HAREM. Oh what a day to be alive! Mmmm, ok, calm down, we’ll draw him later, let’s try to focus. Jiang Cheng. Ok, it’s a more common name, I’ll remember him. Heh. Like I could forget this boy. Oh, no, not a boy, a MAN. This is a man. Uhuhuhu~

(Aaaand my mind was a bit hazy for the rest of the episode – you will see the results.

Fun fact no4. – Immediately after this episode I looked up MDZS on Tumblr and realized that the fandom is calling Jiang Cheng JC. Still under the effects of what I just saw I thought calling him God was quite appropriate.)

NICE PROFILE!!! Is he going to be the other love interest for the MC? Are we gonna see the cliché love triangle? If it’s with this dude, maybe it won’t be so bad~ Ok, seriously, watch the show!

Ok, the magic light here is a nice touch. This Jiang Cheng is a bit cold even to his nephew. He doesn’t recognize Wei, but that’s expected. Wei is strongly reacting to him. What’s the connection? Judging by the music – it’s sad? I expected something more, I don’t know, menacing? Evil? But it’s just sad. Maybe he’s not a villain. That… that could open so many doors… TO MY KOKORO.

“Feed your dogs.” Ouch, that’s dark. Someone really hates the “demon” cultivators.  

“Could this boy be…?” What? What is he? Want’s the connection? Should I know, did I miss something?

The white dude and my purple man clash! Holly, Jiang Chang sounds pissed (passive aggressive enough?), while White poster boy here doesn’t give a damn! XD Ahahaha! Could Jiang Cheng be the Chinese tsundere? No, no, no, let’s not call such a man a tsundere. It’s too early.

Oh, Uncle is the leader of the sect. Nice. How old is the Uncle? Is he married?

This obvious metaphor of concealing the light is distracting me from fangirling. It’s interesting how it connects with the Jiang Cheng reveal. I feel that… shit is about to go down.

I was right! He’s the ring! What does the ring represent? And he’s doing what I always do! I play with my ring like that all the time! Nice.

SCREENSHOT! Oh, but he’s pissed. Oh, but I love the way he looks at me~ I feel all mushy.

Ha! Interesting. He’s smart, he has some self-control. Refreshing. But don’t turn your anger at your nephew, please. Also, it seems like the white dude and the Uncle have some history. Hmm…

I thought so. The white dude was the one who killed Wei. The tragic love. I can already see it.

(Yep. I thought Lan WangJi was the Shidi who “killed” Wei Wuxian. You are allowed to face palm.)

Oh no… I know where this is going. And the music…

Oh man… It’s the second episode and I’m already having the feels. What happened, Wei?! I refuse to believe you’re a bad guy!

But, I get Wei’s reaction to Jiang Cheng now.

(I don’t know how it happened, but I was thinking… What if she was killed by Jin Zixuan’s sword? We know Wei Wuxian stopped using his. From this shot we know he wasn’t the one who stabbed her, so was it Wen Ning? It’s obvious he was involved in the tragedy. As far as I know SPOILERS Wen Ning killed Jin Zixuan. If the killer sword is the one we know – if it’s Jin Zixuan’s then Wei’s reflection in this episode has a deeper meaning.)

Bahahaha I feel you, honor student. I like the kids.

(Honestly, they balance the humor and the serious stuff masterfully.)

I died.

This is giving me Gantz PTSD. That shit gave me nightmares. Nephew is really bold.

(I believe Jin Ling has some of his Uncle Wei’s recklessness and hero complex, but he also wants to prove himself just like his other two Uncles. I’ll talk more about them in another post.)

Uuhh, Wei is playing the flute! Risky, I like it.

(Ok, people. Be prepared for the ultimate face palm.)

Oh my god! Don’t tell me he summoned his own body! This resembles the scene from the narration… and he’s wearing black!

I’m right! Nephew wants revenge! Great shot by the way. You can feel the rage in the movement.

(You face palmed yet?)

I really love the way they use the flute! It depicts the flow of the camera so well!

… Wen… Wen what? Wen Ning? Who’s Wen Ning? What? Wait, are they talking about the corpse? What’s going on??? O_O Who’s Wen Ning?! Did I miss something? What’s the full name of the MC again? Ugh… This is so tiring… Ok, never mind, enjoy the beautiful flute song.

Busted!

I swear to god, this guy is illegal!

Oh, boy he figured it out too and he’s… sadistically happy? Eh… But, I get it. If he believes that Wei killed his sister, I get it. And her husband? Did he “kill” the dad, too?

I can’t believe he has a whip AND a braid? And he’s purple??? Did someone look into my diary? Is it Christmas yet? XD Am I dead?

Did he just smile? Am I imagining things? XD I can’t figure him out!

Please! Don’t lie, white dude! “He’s path is uncommon”, yeah right, we all know what you want.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I’VE SEEN AND HEARD IN MY LIFE.

(This would have annoyed anyone no matter who said it, but because it was Wei Wuxian, I think it was even more annoying in Jiang Cheng’s head. Wei Wuxian knows him too well. It’s even funnier when you know that JC is blacklisted. XD He’s no good even to the lunatic.)

And at this exact moment Wei knew he fucked up. XD This is golden. 

... Please DON’T turn into rape BL.

(It so DID NOT.)

Oh Wei, you’re no match for this guy! :D

Hmm, looks like we’re going back in time. I love me some juicy flashbacks. Can’t wait to see more.

... I can’t believe I actually like this zombie BL. I just hope they don’t fuck up the animation later on.

(And the rest is history. As you can see - I’m obsessed.)

-----

That’s all for today! Next posts will have more character, story and art analysis. Hope you liked this and please forgive me for making this so long. See you! 

[nautiscarader]

Kim Possible season 3 recap

And here is part 3 of my KP marathon notes. Obligatory thanks to @fereality-indy for encouraging me to watch this awesome show. 

So, what will happen this this time? Will Kim Possible save another kitten from a tree? Will Ron discover something better than nachos? Will Doctor Drakken release the Krakken? Will Shego puncture her ego? Will Lord Monkeyfist buy Club Banana just because he is bonkers? Will Duff Killigan finally score?

So, let’s see what’s the first big problem KP has to deal with!

Kim being alone on a Friday evening. Okay.

Also, amusingly, everyone is doing something on a Friday evening, including the villians. 

Motorhead turns out to be Drakken’s cousin. okay.

And people know the address of Draken’s lair bc of mailing list

See, it’s the little touches like those that make this show a very accurate portrayal of superheroes and villians. 

KP gets jealous of Ron’s friend in wheelchair because they spend too much time together playing video games, so she has to find a way to “fit in”.

Okay, so they can approach it in a sensible and subtle, or so-cringe-worthy-and-painful-the-skip-button-presses-itself way.

So, which did they choose?

painful it is

Few stupid scenes later, Draken STEALs THE WHEELCHAIR FROM A DISABLED KID

shego: what’s next, stealing lolipop from a baby?

and there is a brilliant running joke about it

is it ableist to say that a joke about disabled person is “running”? Well, this is tumblr you gotta be carfeul

Anyway, turns out that Drakken and Jake the Dog make an actual competent combo, even though they end up in prison. And momma Lipski is still clueless about her son’s profession

Next ep: KIM CHANGED HER HAIR! and she looks cute

Ron is a pickle, but that’s normal

Draken and shego steal moodulators (get it?) from random scientist #464

Shego: if you are so smart why do you always steal instead of inventing things yourself

Draken: it’s called outsourcing, shego

God d amit, that is a smart show. 

And of course moodultaors accidentally fall on KP and SHego, so they act random throughout the day. And boy it is weird when it’s set to loveskick

Shego: steals lolipop from a baby for Drakken because she luvs him

KP turns into  a proper stalker mode for her Ronnie

And Monique is completely fine with it. 

and then kim KISSED him!!!

OMG NOSEBLEED

And then poor Ron has no idea what to do with dating KP so suddenly, and the whole scene where he debates what to do is absolute gold with a punchline that defies expectations. 

Draken and Shego go on a date and boy it is weird. SHE CATWALKS TO HIM

I can already see Disney censors thinking when it’s going to be too much for The Mouse

and kim’s dad threatens to send ron to a black hole when he takes her on a date

Also the random professor wants to sell his no-longer-existent moodulaTors on auction and he thinks about blaming it on the mail. You know, i’ve seen some approaches how to handle a world where superheroes/villians/geniuses live in our society (like in BNHA, for example), but KP so far makes it the best approach, because it makes them so relatable. 

And boy the finale is satisfying because everything completely backfires

Shego and KP got stuck in an anGry mode, and chase their boys. Ron tries to hide in the same place as drakken

Drakken: Dibs!

Ron: Double dibs!

Drakken: all right, you won with your superior dib-calling (ACTUAL QUOTE)

And the day is saved thanks to the power of friendship and not that Kp and ron are definitely in love with each other

KP, Ron, Drakken and Shego somehow manage to get into Tv, where they visit parodies of famous shows

Honestly, meh. I remember a similar episode of Teen Titans, that one was funny as heck.

and then we find out who’s the real villian of the middleton high: THE SCARY LIBRARIAN!

And turns out Ron accidentally put a book Kim rented in his backpack, causing her to get into trouble doing library duties. 

So he goes on a mission to revisit all of the bad guys they fought to see where he might have left it

Okay: calling it now, it’s still in his backpack

Shego: Where’s Possible?

Ron: She’s not my girlfriend!

Shego: Never said she was. 

And Ron accidentally saves the world on that book hunt

Lord Monkey:Ron Stoppable!

Ron: You’re the only one, who remembers my name, I respect that

Okay, so Wade can make stuff invisible. Like, how?

And there we go: the book it was in his backpack all the time. 

Oh, and Ron takes a book from Lord Monkeymonkey contaning a spirit of a monkey demon.

And he returns to the library, saving Kim from being bored to death by retunring the book. 

GUESS WHICH ONE HE RETURNED.

Oh, it was another half-episode. Weird. 

And the next one is about giant bugs. Interesting how Kim tells Ron not to be afraid of bugs, and next moment she’s all squirmish while Ron befriends a giant roach and calls him Roachie. 

KP: Ron, did you start working on the project? it was supposed to be autobiographical

ron: No, I’m waiting for it to write itself.

WE MIGHT GET RUFUS’ BACKSTORY!

Oh, and Drakken tried to take over the world with shampoo. Honestly, it’s funny as heck

he tries smarty mart to sell it

he even makes loreal-style ad, but it doesn’t sell

so he tries product placement in a hip hop song, and the artists is like “Aw, hell no”

And then 

and then

turns out that Shego and Drakken are having karaoke night every friday.

God dammit, i don’t know why but that is beyond funny

and turns out that Drakken can sing. 

and shego points out that he could sing about the shampoo

so he goes to an american idol

And I think I realise what really makes it funny: Kp is barely in this episode, helping ron with homework. No evil-doing is actually done, we only get to see, for the most part what goes behind the scenes of an evil plan that is so insanely and unnecessary convoluted it is beyond belief. 

OH, AND kp GETS TO RIVAL HIM ON STAGE, OF COURSE.

people hypnotised by the shampoo so far: one (1) random henchman

one (1) old TV producer in a sauna 

one (1) Simon Cowell

And...holy shit, his song is actually good. 

And instead of KP, who is busy fighting the mean lean green machine, Ron sings about Rufus. The song is titled “Naked Mole Rap”. And it is FREAKING PHENOMENAL.

Oh, add one (1) Shego to the list. 

Okay, so far that is the most crazy episode. Like, seriously, the quality was through the roof.

SCRATCH THAT NEXT EP is EVEN WEIRDER

So, the Team Impossible, which we have learned about in the movie, is angry at KP for saving the world for free, whereas they actually charge people for it. 

And they try to cut Kim from all of her world-traveling assets and knock her out of competition.

THAT IS FUCKING V ILE

And they hack Wade

AND TURNS OUT YOU DON’T FUCK WITH WADE

YOU DON’T CUT THEIR INTERNET CABLES OF A NERD

SINCE THIS IS ONE WAY TO MAKE AN OBESE SUPER GENIOUS  WALK OUT OF THEIR ROOM

AND HE LOOKS SO FREAKING BAD-ASS WHEN HE STORMS INTO THEIR HEADQUATERS

aaand TI is defeated the same way they would have been defeated had they answered the call. 

Pretty funny, and it does go into the details of how on Earth superheroes work in this world. 

And we have another episode about the secret ninja high school Ron was sent to 

And Yori travels to US for Ron 

And Kim is super jelaus

Wade: Kim, you are jelly

Kim: So not

Monique: You are jelly 

Kim: So not

Kim: *is jelly*

So she pretty much stalks Ron all the way to the school, and nearly fails the mission of trying to save the levitating magical jedi principal. Seriously, he’s OP as fuck.

And he’s escaping from a huge monkey. turns out it’s crazy dna lady who turned herself  into monkey for Lord Britishmonkey. 

Next episode is bascially one huge satire on the movie industry, down to the title (”and The mole rat will be CGI”). KIm and Ron accidentally crash a movie set, after Senior Senior Junior crashes it first since he accidentally applied for a role of a henchman in said movie. 

It was supposed to be set in Britian, but the movie set was in New Zealand, since “it was cheaper”

And I was like 

Is that a “Lord of The rings” joke? Someone tell me if I’m right.

Oh, and we have another long episode WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE IS ANOTHER MOVIE?

And it looks like it’s a three-part episode again, I wonder if the formula’s gonna work again. 

The beginning feels like a short promo scene for people who might not know what KP is about, and I’m not gonna lie, this sums it up perfectly. Action, drama, explosions, more drama, goofy ron, naked mole rat kicking ass and more drama. By the way, what;s the title? 

I guess the intro is an homage to the James Bond ones, with lots of colourful, surreal visuals floating in the background to the soothing, slow music. Love it, too bad it’s short, but again, it had to fit an episode’s running time.

 wait so the Nakasumi president CAN speak English? Even the movie calls him wacky for whispering all the time as if he couldn’t. 

Okay, now the movie just fucks with us. 

mr and mrs possible almost switch their cloaks with important documents, but she switches them back just at the last moment

mr posible ALMOST deletes his work file worth three billion dollars but undos it at the last moment.

it’s like the plot TRIES to start itself

And I bet the key is under the doormat

So the dating drama IS going to be the theme of the movie, huh. 

Wade: Drakken has been spotted in the Bermuda triangle

Bermuda triangle: *turns out to be a hotel*

And Ron just happened to have his suit under the scuba diving gear.

Shego proves to be once again, way more competent than Drakken.

and we have obligatory fight between two kickass ladies in dresses and high heels. This IS a James Bond movie. 

So, the prom drama continues, and it is sadly kinda goes into the cringe territory, with some new dude falling in love with Kim and Kim falling for him, Ron feeling sad, they both being conflicted, yep, seen it. 

But for once Drakken helps the cause and moves the plot forward, stealing some super project from dr Possible.

he deletes the file like he did in the opening, but GASP drakken has some mind reading machine

I do wonder if the coat switcheroo is going to be part of the plot. 

Holy shit

Drakken’s plan is so crazy that it actually makes sense. Take over the buneo nachos and put kiddy meals in it with robot toys that take over the world. And neither kim nor Shego could have forseen it. 

And more prom drama. Ugh. 

I always like when Possible family work together to stop the evil-doers.

So Drakken’s plan was brilliant, minus the part when the entire army of robots shuts down when the signal goes off-line. Kinda a major fuck-up. 

And they kindapped Kim’s boyfriend to lure her.  

OH, SO HE WAS A SYNTH ROBOT

I genuinely didn’t see that coming. 

Drakken learns Ron’s name, yeah! And it’s shot like Drakken’s yelling a curse to the skies, love it. 

Also, HOLY SHIT, Kim kicks Shego into the tower so hard it looks like she was about to kill her. Like, that was genuinely chilling moment, especially with an ominous, lightning-filled close-up onto her later.

Spoiler: she didn’t die. 

Okay, colour me confused: I didn’t think that Kim and Ron were going to kiss and start dating now, I thought this movie was going to be one huge prequel to a movie by the end of S4. Or more precisely, it feels weird NOW, knowing that there is a whole season ahead of me. Cos that felt like a pretty good end of a series, something akin to the Last Airbender one, so I’m slightly concerned how it’s going to be played into season 4, cos this can go haywire pretty easily. 

Uh, not going to lie, I’ve got mixed feelings about the movie. On one hand, it gave us a proper evil plan from Drakken, one that attacks Kim psychologically, showing that for once, he DID his homework and actually studied Kim’s behaviour. On the other, the prom/dating drama is kinda painful to watch, but fortunately gets resolved in the end. Maybe it’s just me, but I had the same expression as Rufus when he and Ron said that guys don’t talk about feelings. It felt kinda clumsy and not subtle at all, and what’s worse, the show itself did way better job of portraying romance in previous episodes, most notably the moodulator one. But as I said, those last few scenes with Ron and Kim fighting together does make up for it. 

also, Rufus once again is the unspoken hero. He did so freaking much, including, but not limited to: saving ron from the tentacle monster, freeing kim and ron, defeating the synth boyfriend, pushing Kim and Ron together... He really is a badass.    

So, not a bad one, though I preferred the first movie. Also, on the whole Season 3 was significantly shorter than second. Wonder what’s gonna happen in the next season.  

[britishchick09]

sherlock ep 1 a study in pink livewatch

for the first livewatch of 2021 (and the first liverewatch), we’re taking a look at something i saw exactly 4 years ago! now that i’ve written my own sherlock holmes inspired story, the show will be a lot more interesting than it was in 2017 (hopefully). let’s dive right in! :D

this starts out with GUNS WAR SCREAMING DEAD NO

poor john :(

what a bleak flat :(

ooh laptop

i hope sherlock will be able to brighten up his life :)

OMG DAS THE BLOG!!!!

dere he is! :D

john has a therapist just like monk! :D

also he and molly’s dad from ag both have ptsd and the blog is to help cope with that... i wonder if molly’s dad had something similar like a journal (he had knitting which would help john’s shaky hands)

john: “nothing happens to me.” oh really? ;)

cool dramatic intro :D

the wheel is a dan and phil reference! :D

REDRUM ALERT REDRUM ALERTT!!!!!

poor wife :(

aww john is alone in the rain! :(

REDRUM RED RUM!!!!!

ooh blackberry! :D

a lady said ‘ignore the texts’ and that makes sense since ya know THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE LISTENING TO LESTRADE

these other people are cool and all but give me more john plz!!!!

ooh john has a friend before sherlock! :o

why does his friend look like his dad

OH HELLO MR

HE’S SLAPPING SOMETHING AND IT’S THE MOST HILARIOUS THING EVER OMG :D

the lady is super confused too like ‘???’

oh he’s checking for bruises it still funny tho ;D

of course he wants black coffee

the first thing sherlock does is ask john for his phone awww :)

that looks like a ds lol :D

aww sherlock wants to know if john plays violin like him! ^_^

john: “we just met and you want to look at a flat” it’s called true luv bby ♥

also wowza sherlock really wants a friend huh

sherlock just infodumped about john and john’s like ‘:o ???’

THE WINK THE WINK!!!!!

ooh coolio! :D

john is about to go inside baker street when sherlock comes out of a taxi what timing!

did sherlock just say florida

ah yes mrs hudson the number one johnlock shipper

aww she hugged sherlock and john! ♥

dere it is!!!!

my computer randomly shut down here GOSH DARN IT COMPUTER!!

it’s back let’s return to baker street! :D

aww john has a cane :(

john: “very nice indeed!” see sherlock is the light in his life already!

mrs. hudson: “there’s another bed upstairs if you’ll be needing two.” sherlock “of course we’ll be needing two” johnlock shippers be like ;)

mrs. hudson scolded sherlock for his messy flat WE LOVE A MOM!!! ♥

oh yeah sherlock had a website once! rip that :/

i almost expected mrs. hudson to call sherlock ‘lockie’

omg 4 murders? DUN DUN DUNNN!!!! :o

sherlock: “i need an assistant!” aww that’s code for friend! ♥

sherlock just jumped around and said “BRILLIANT!!!” first of all ADORABLE and secondly that’s what my own sherlock would do! (but he says ‘smashing!’)

he’s so excited about the murders wtf :’)

sherlock: “it’s christmas!” lol

aaand he’s gone

mrs. hudson said ‘cuppa’ that’s british slang for coffee (as seen in my own sherlock story) the more you know ;)

mrs hudson said ‘i’m not your housekeeper’ to sherlock and now john is that gonna be a running joke with her

oh hey lockie’s back

john: “i’ve seen too many deaths.” sherlock: “want to see some more?” john: “oh god, yes.” ...ok wasn’t expecting his ‘oh god’ to sound like that

i think the version in my story (’would you like to see a murder?’ ‘you mean a flock of crows or a gruesome death?’ ‘yes, we meet at the park every thursday- of course i mean a gruesome death!’) is better sorry sherlock :/

sherlock: “there’s finally something fun going on!” indeed there is! :D

sherlock: “the game, mrs. hudson. is on!!” and there’s the tagline for the series! (jk i don’t think it has one of those)

and off they go! (the theme music is really good btw)

why does sherlock’s voice sound a bit stuffed

john: “the police don’t consult amateurs!” BOI

sherlock said ‘mp3 player’ how very 2010 of you

sherlock’s deduction is cool :D (and a bit scary like how do you do these things)

john: “how can you possibly know about the drinking?’ as my holmes character once said, ‘detectives always know’ ;)

john: “that... was amazing.” indeed it was! :D

some chick just called sherlock ‘freak’ WOAH WOAH WOAH SISTER :o

aww sherlock called john a colleague how cute :)

woah anderson is a cranky perfectionist

why are they talking about deodorant

guy: “who is he?” sherlock: “he’s with me” johnlock shippers be like ;) ;)

yo are they in hazmat suits

credit cards how modern

of course kids found her

the lady’s in pink TITLE REFERENCE!! :D

i love how sherlock randomly says ‘shut up’

ooh sherlock’s thought process being shown is cool :D

as are the floating words!

guy: “got anything?” sherlock: “not much” lol :D

OP THERE BE RACHE!! :D (book reference!)

ooh cardiff that’s the cardiff giant

he wants john to examine the body because it’s fun how nice :)

the shade of pink is ‘alarming’ according to sherlock that’s because it’s so dark!

guy: “you’re just making this up!” boi sherlock doesn’t make anything up ;)

john: “that’s fantastic!” sherlock: “shut up” lol :D

sherlock clapped his hands together like maria in sound of music aww ♥

sherlock: “huston, we have a case!” nice one ;)

sherlock: “PIIINK!” panther!

is ‘rache’ really ‘rachel’ tho? ;)

great sherlock took off now john’s all on his own :/

jerk lady: “you’re not his friend. he doesn’t have friends.” he does now ;)

john: “i’m nobody.” no watson you’re... THE LAST SKYWALKER!!!

john and sherlock say ‘taxi!’ the same way awww :)

yo who’s calling john :o

john: “who’s this?” AN AD APPEARED JUST AFTER THAT WHAT TIMING!

is this guy moiarty or mycroft or whoever the villain’s name is in the holmesverse

he’s definitely a villain that voice is so scar!

the lady in the taxi knows john WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE

the car stopping sounds like tardis

the villain guy has a cane too YEP HE’S A BADDIEE!!!i

john: “you could just phone me... on my phone.” lol :D

john said the villain isn’t frightening BOi

villain: “since yesterday, you’ve moved in with him and now you’re solving crimes together. might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?” johnlock shippers be like :D!!!!!

also my watson moved in with holmes three days after they met so things are going super fast for the bbc lads i see! :)

villain: “he does love to be dramatic.” yeah he sure does!

the villain said ‘221′ as the actual number and it sounds weird

villain: “i worry about him constantly” is this sherlock’s bro?

this guy is creepy wtf :(

and he’s using an umbrella as a cane why

the villain and john held hands i bet people ship them

yep this is sherlock’s bro alright they both infodump!

SERIOUSLY WHAT IS THIS GUY’S NAME????

he says john misses the war and the ‘oh god yes’ makes perfect sense

yo why does john want to see the taxi lady more SHERLOCK IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF FRIENDSHIP PLZ ♥

yo sherlock has a nicotine patch NO SMOKING

sherlock: “breathing is boring”

he’s lying on the couch with his hands in prayer that’s so sherlock

john: “you brought me here to send a text?” the most 21st century question ever

sherlock about john seeing his enemy: “oh which one?” oh boy...

john: “who is he?” sherlock: “the most dangerous man i’ve ever met” AND HIS NAME IS....???????

sherlock in the text: “i must’ve blacked out...” wtf lockie

aww john called the dead lady ‘the pink lady’

sherlock just hopped up on the chair while holding onto it what a lad

i hope bennedict cumberbatch’s voice isn’t that deep and it’s only because of copyright it’s woah :o

john: “did i just text a murderer?” only in the holmesverse!

sherlock: “you could watch the telly...” OMG MY HOLMES CHARACTER SAID THAT EXACT THING!!! you go subconscious! :D

john: “you get off on this (solving cases)” plz don’t say it like that

wowza it’s so dark outside!

sherlock: “who passes unnoticed?” the cabbie!!

op here’s the diner scene from the sarah z’s tjlc vid!

waiter: “on the house for you and your date!” john: “i’m not his date!” johnlock shippers would like to disagree with you watson ;)

john: “you don’t have a girlfriend, then? do you have a boyfriend? which is fine by the way” OH COME ON

sherlock: “i’m married to my work and am flattered by your interest” OH COME ONNNNN

that lip licking john THAT LIP LICKING

oh boy the queerbaiting was strong with that scene

sherlock: “why a taxi?” cuz the cabbie did it boi!

see i remember things from this ep now!

WOAH SHERLOCK ALMOST GOT HIT BY A CAR WTF

sherlock and john going through town to get the cabbie with the street signs is something i easily remember from my first time watching. it’s so cool! :D

the music is great too!

sherlock: “this way! ...no, this way!” lol :D

and he almost gets hit by a car again! fun times with lockie :)

yo is the cabbie american

THAT WASN’T THE CABBIE MURDERER LOOLL!!!!!

sherlock pickpockets lestrade when he’s annoyed lol (that’s something my holmes would so do)

sherlock: “ready?” john: “ready when you are!” ♥

awww they’re laughing against the wall! :) ♥♥♥♥

imma be honest when i first saw that in gifs i thought it was a bed o///o

john forgot his cane and was able to run through london SEE SHERLOCK IS THE LIGHT IN HIS LIFE!!!

sherlock has said ‘shut up’ three times now lol :D

WHY IS EVERYONE AT THE FLAT

oh so rachel is a person! :o

onto part 2!

the first 10 seconds of part 1 are in the beginning how nice! :)

sherlock is ‘everyone’s favorite psychopath’

awww rachel was stillborn :(

of course the lady would think of her daughter! sherlock’s right!!

sherlock: “that was ages ago, why would she still be upset?” even after 14 years people can still be upset of a loved one’s death (just ask paul and addie) :(

mrs. hudson: “they’re making a mess!” oh mrs. hudson and her messes :)

sherlock: “SHUT UP, EVERYBODY, SHUT UP! DON’T MOVE. DON’T SPEAK, DON’T BREATHE!” gretchen from bob’s burgers: “GIVE HIM SOME ROOM!”

he’s so happy because the dead lady’s clever!! :D

smartphones, emails, online, gps... how 21st century!

mrs. hudson called sherlock ‘dear’ awww :)

sherlock: “who passes unnoticed wherever they go?” THE CABBIEEEEEE

CABBIE CABBIE CABBIE CABBIEEEE!!!!!!!

sherlock didn’t order the taxi THE CABBIE WANTS TO MURDER HIM AND THUS THE CABBIE MURDERED THEMMM!!!!!!!

SEE I REMEMBER THINGS FROM THIS EP!!!! :D

in my own holmes story the cabbie isn’t the killer IT HAS EVEN MORE OF AN EPIC TWIST!!! (although the cabbie twist is pretty epic too)

THE CABBIE WANTS TO TALK TO SHERLOCK AND KILL HIM OOHHHHHH

then the pills will come in

sherlock’s phone ring is old-fashioned awww :)

the others have given up but john won’t!

the cabbie has been on sherlock’s website IF ONLY I COULD TOO :(

sherlock knows all the streets of london coolio! :D

the cabbie knows of a ‘nice quiet spot for a murder’ while the villain guy said something of a quiet place hmm....

YO DON’T POINT THAT GUN AT SHERLOCK MR CAB MAN >:(

john’s gonna save sherlock!!! :D

sherlock’s in the pill room isn’t he

i remember this they sit down and sherlock has to choose the right pill

AND IT’S A RISK!

of course sherlock will choose the right one! :D

is sherlock’s ‘mortal enemy’ also the ‘fan’ that the cabbie speaks of?

cabbie: “this is... the move.” ;)

john in the taxi brings up an interesting question, do people in apartments not have cars or is it just a london thing?

they’re talking so much JUS TAKE THE PILLS!!!!

it’s good explanation, but that’s why i got out of sherlock in the first place- it’s goes on for so long in some places!

THEY TOOK THE PILLS!

and the cabbie died, his last word being the name of his beloved (just like the lady writing the name of her own before she died)...

sherlock: “what’s this blanket they keep putting this blanket on me-“ john: “it’s for shock.” sherlock: “i’m not in shock!” lol :D

sherlock: “i’m in shock, look i got a blanket!” double lol :D

wait does john not have his cane?? :o

john: “he wasn’t a very nice man.” yeah he wasn’t!!

awww they’re laughing about the cabbie :)

john: “you can’t giggle at a crime scene” ♥

moiarty is the bro!!!!

YEP HE IS!

♥

this was such an amazing first ep and i loved it even more than when i saw it in 2017! i’ll definitely be watching more (maybe in another livewatch wink wink). i guess you can say i’m now... johnlocked ;)

[flammene]

5 things and some ramblings on ep. 81

Best thing about Wednesday night? YEEES, it’s the Magnus Archives, and I hate the middle of the week a bit less... Well... we can say the first episode of Season 3... happened. The last few hours before it was released I was just all nerves, I was finishing some reading, but it was really hard to concentrate, I was a bit too excited. And then it was here, and it said it was a statement from Jon. I’d hoped the 1st episode of the season would be his statement, but I hadn't given much thought to what kind of statement that would be. And for it to be the story of his first encounter with the supernatural... well, I was beyond excited by that point. 

It also means I only managed to fall asleep by 5 a.m., so if I'm not very comprehensible now, you know what to blame. 

There was so much there that I probably need a few more relistens to go through the whole paradigm of reactions properly, because the first (out of two, at the moment) time I listened my brain just went from 'I'm scared of how well-written it is' to 'actually scared now' to 'oh wait how does that work' to 'so sorry for what's happened to you' to 'well but your suffering is written really beautifully'. 

So, five random things that I took away from it. Spoilery spoilers below.

1.  'A guest for Mr Spider'. WHAT A DELIGHTFUL TITLE. Among my favourites for sure. I should squash together titles of all the episodes that mention spiders sometime and look what happens. 

While I’m at it, let me talk about the Spider for a minute. Is the Spider just a hungry thing that will devour anything? Or almost anything, considering that Mr Spider doesn't eat flowers. Or is it more about the web? What about people like Annabelle Cane? Of all the entities the Spider confuses me the most, largely because of its assumed name. All of the others seem to have their nature or their purpose reflected in what we have taken to calling them. The Spider, meanwhile, is just the spider, it bears the name of an animal, a concrete noun that doesn't explicitly stand for any concept. Maybe we've yet to find a name that fits it more accurately than just the physical way it manifests. Or maybe... I don't know. Because we still don't know what it wants or what it really does. Also, the fact that 'What do the spiders want?' is a hashtag is hilarious to me. I can visualise the spider book very easily. Funnily enough, while Jon did not get the feeling of having read it before, I feel like I've seen it. I wonder if it's just me — I've actually encountered quite a few similar-looking books with black-and-white covers and those kinds of illustrations, though most of the books were poetry (and didn't depict spiders). I think. Still, maybe not. The descriptions were very detailed, and very affecting. It could've just been their vividness, I suppose.

2. I did imagine Jon a bit older. Considering I couldn't possibly know what he looked like, it probably should be attributed to 'something in his demeanour' in this case. The fact that he is apparently just a couple of years older than Martin took me a few hours to get used to (it still feels kind of weird!). And while I didn't have any specific headcanon for what his family was like, aside from 'distant', I did have some headcanons of how his life could have been up to the point when we met him as the Archivist. Time to re-imagine now! 

Also, now I'm more curious about how old everyone else is and what sort of look exactly did Tim and Martin and Sasha give Jon when he first mentioned his age to them (assuming he did mention it himself). It would be interesting to put it in this perspective. 

3. I was expecting the first episode to be exposition-y, I didn't expect it to be very scary. WELL I SHOULD HAVE. Every time I think the show won't surprise me anymore, it just proves me so wondrously wrong. I'm not easily scared by stories, especially if the text is in English (I read an article once that said you’re more likely to be emotionally affected when you're dealing with something that’s in your first language, it apparently has to do with how the language was studied or picked up). The last one that managed to truly shake me was Fatigue. Well, this was at times almost worse. (What I mean to say, of course, is: absolutely literally stunning). 4. When I heard the other voice, I knew immediately it was Georgie. Not to give myself too much credit, of course, I mean, there weren't that many options, but still. I wonder what their relationship is like. I wonder what she is like. From what we've heard it seems to me like she fits Melanie's description of who the industry is comprised of ('Sceptics pretending to be believers pretending to be sceptics...' — 'I think the word you're looking for is charlatans'), but she sounds really interesting. And she's not pushy, which means I instantly like her as a character. 5. When I relistened, I picked up something I hadn't noticed the first time, what with all the emotions and terror. Jon mentions to Georgie (who runs a podcast called What the Ghost) a familiar group of things, may I say, which include money, socks and apparently rubbish mattresses. It's hilarious and I have to transcribe it. 'I suppose you are rolling in all that sock money. Up to your eyeballs in mattresses?'   'Oh, don't... They did send me one, you know. Oh, it was dreadful, I couldn't sleep on it. I managed three days before my back gave out. I've still got it somewhere in the guest room if the other one is not up to your exacting standards'. 

And if I’m to finish off with a TBT reference, then what I have to say is: the best thing The Black Tapes could’ve done for me is introducing me to The Magnus Archives. Last winter I found a recommendation on Reddit... and it’s been the best thing in the podcasting world for me. And I can’t wait to hear more of it.

[aspiestvmusings]

SCORPION SEASON 4 TEASERS by EPISODE:

THIS POST WILL HAVE INFO ON ALL THE SCORPION S4 EPISODES.

INFO/SPOILERS TBA LATER...WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.

The list is on-going (new items will be added when they become available):

Current status: info/teasers for eps 4x01 - 4x22 available..kinda

SPOILERS WILL BE UNDER THE CUT

<Reminder 1: all information is subject to change, because on TV (production) things change all the time. Dialogue/Scenes can be re-written many times during pre-production, & changes made during filming & also during post-production (editing). Scenes can be cut...easily. Changes happen all the time. So not everything teased will happen in canon, on screen. ETA: and the premiere eps already proved that...>

<Reminder 2: PLEASE READ THE DISCLAIMER/IMPORTANT NOTE ALSO AT THE END OF THE POST (REGARDING TV TEASERS!) AND REMEMBER: ALL TEASERS ARE JUST ONE FANS (ME) PERSONAL TAKES ON THINGS - MY REACTIONS TO SPOILERS (casting list, episode title, ep summary, shooting locations, etc) & DO NOT NECESSARILY MATCH WITH OTHER FANS TAKE ON THE SAME EP/STORY/SCENE/THINGS.>

GENERAL S4 SPOILER/TEASER FOR QUINTIS FANS: 

The Quintis continues to be strong in the episodes. We get constant Toby/Happy scenes and development. More focus on some eps, a little less in others. But just like in past seasons, there is a continuous Quintis storyline going on (among the other continuous plots related to Quintis). Every ep has some sweet, cute, funny, or more serious/dramatic Quintis scene. And their teamwork...both case related, and personal, continues to be strong. They are written as an amazing Team working the cases & an amazing Team outside work... being a married couple/family. Look out for some scenes you might not have expected to get. And while you should not expect kiss scenes and such in every episode, no season will pass without some shippery scenes like that...or similar to that. ;)  

And yes, we have not, don’t and will not get as many Quintis “domestic” (dates, hanging at home) scenes... as we do for the shows main ship, but that is logical, because: 

tv shows always reserve more focus...for such things...for their main ship, the secondary ship gets less focus in that way. You just have to accept this about main/secondary ships on tv shows. 

there have been no domestic scenes (except 2x16 end) to avoid building an extra set (Happy’s apartment)... this is why we’ve only seen the outside of her/their house...until now. (and no date scenes either cause the married dorks mostly go to Kovelsky’s, and they’ve avoided actually building that set...so far...too..)  

but no, I would not change it! Even if I will not object..at all...to the domestic scenes, and everything else. But what we’ve gotten..is a lot. 

Also..unlike the main ship, which has one genius/1 normal, our face ship consists of 2 geniuses so they’re both less traditional, also in what they consider date nights & romantic nights at home (re: installing security system)... and their first date, traditional dinner at a restaurant didn’t go so well... (1x20)

And since this show is a comic-book family show, then smooching is basically all that is shown on the show. So we don’t... usually... get to see their private moments. But who knows... lots has changed this season, so perhaps we’ll also be getting some domestic or date night  or similar..scenes... ;)

SEE/READ THE SPOILERY TEASERS FOR PAST EPS - ONES THAT HAVE ALREADY AIRED (401 - 416) -  HERE 

teasers for episodes that have already been aired will be moved to the other post, and this one shall  have the teasers for upcoming episodes only... 

4x19 "Gator Done” – source1  – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this) #H2O #DNA

“See you later, alligator?” and, btw, the case...originally...isn’t about gators at all! But instead tiny insects! Oh... 

Get ready for a lecture on DNA! 

This episode focuses on H2O... a lot! On many ways...

Team Scorpion (including Ralph & Flo) have been very busy with building &  inventing new things! I love it!  Time to reveal those new “inventions” 

The solution to the weeks case (in the swamp...where there are gators...according to the Doc...) is pretty clever... considering some other plotlines happening at that time #reversedsolution #whatsinthebox #whatsinthecanister

I kinda have a feeling that somehow in some way this episode case/story was influenced by 2017 hurricane season... #thisisjustmyguess

Go Team Patty, Ralph, Sly & Flo! 

Half of the team heads over to “Florida”/gator land! #swamp

Have I said how much I love Walter? The thing he is trying to better himself at in this episode... and his cute  awkward way of doing it ... so relatable!

The team is divided into “three teams” in this episode: 1 person in the garage, 3 “meeting the alligator” and 3 + 1 working on another project. 

Guess who stays in the garage during this episode? #HappyStaysInTheGarage #waitingonthenewsfromDocBrown  #parallelsto306

This episode is a follow-up on a storyline that has been kind of mentioned earlier this season... (think: Sly fighting for the Science Club in 404 & then the WhizKids in 414). An idea/mention from past episode has been turned into a storyline. #waterproject

Oh, and this episode tells us also a bit more about Patty. And I just love how the Patty & Sly friendship has grown over the season. #PattyIveNeverHadATardy #WeestAltadenia

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #QuintisFeels #HereWeGo  #Iwannasaysomuch #IhopeyouwilllikeitasmuchasIdoalready 

4x20 "Foul Balls” – source1  – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this)  #LetsPlayBall

This episode is all about sports & playing ball. In other words: the greatest fear of the Team Genius 

According to Walt this is the biggest threat they’ve faced...til now (I beg to differ, dear Walt & Team Scorpion  writers... we’ve seen this before... and will again... soon... ;) ) 

What is going on between Happy & Florence? What’s THAT all about? And how is Ralph connected to all of this? 

Happy is on a  mission ...and she’s scary. No-one really knows what she’s talking about....

Happy also steals a limo & kidnaps a 6 feet 4 tall athletic guy! For the sole purpose to have help reaching for stuff on the high/upper shelves. ;) #asafellowshortpersonIgetit #HappyPattyFlorenceAllinTinyClub

Several blasts from the past? We just got a mention of the “interloper” in the ep 416. And there’s another mention of him in this episode. You never guess by whom!

Who is Inmate #98763, the future step-son (whose?)? 

How do dandelions help save the day?

Guess whose is back? This episode features many many (loved & not loved)  guest characters we’ve met before, but only one is significant to the episode main plot. 

How did Cabe (kinda his doing) got the team into this weeks mess? 

There is also a small Quintis side-plot..that I see as similar to 322 thing, and it provides for some great Quintis moments/talk. And can we just  appreciate how far Happy’s come? (we again see how strong the ship is, and how much she’s evolved...and how she “learns this weeks lesson”... or... will there be a twist...coming soon...?)

The ep ends with the team having a meal together...as a family... at Not-Kovelsky’s

Just like in S1 with Drew & Ralph & baseball... the team again uses math  science to play the ballgame!

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #MajorQuintisFeels #HereWeGo #LetsPlayBall  

4x21 "Kenny, and the Jet”  – source1   – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this)  #PlanesandTeens

There is a (jet)plane in this episode. 

There are no snakes on the plane. But... the team does make an unexpected discovery... regarding cargo on the plane...

Quintis & vehicles... all sort of vehicles!  #motorcycles #planes #wheels #BeCarefulHappy #HubbyIsWorried

Toby is very worried about his wife & mother of their future kid(s), though it’s not her who gets hurt in this ep

I get a lot of s1 Pilot & Xmas ep “feels”... with some “parallels” (some things in this ep remind me of some scenes in those eps). I can find parallels/similarity to things in eps: 101, 121/122, 223/224, 305... etc

Quite a Ralph-ep! #TeenageRalph #RalphAndKenny

Walter uses/tries to use math & science to solve a personal/non-science dilemma he has... 

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #KindaRalphEp #TeamEp #MajorQuintisFeels #HereWeGo  

4x22 "A Lie in the Sand”    – source1   – Teaser/Fun thought, not a spoiler (don’t read into this)  

OMG! #thisepshouldhavetheothergreatstuff #seasonfinalePt2 

Team Scorpion plays/does MINESWEEPER

The case takes us to the desert .. a sandy place...in Africa. #ThisEpisodeAndCaseDoesNotSayFinaleToMeAtAll #haboob 

There are secrets keps that need to surface, but will they...before the episode ends? THAT is the question. 

OK, yes, the Quintis family plan storyline does get a resolution..kinda ...in S4/this finale.  #Icannotandwillnotspeakofthisjustyet #ButTheFinalAnswerComesAtTheVeryEnd #AfterTheDayAndTeamIsSavedWeGetToItFully

What do pterodactyls (a kind of ancient flying reptiles) have to do with any of this? Why are they even mentioned? You might find out, when you tune in for the ep. 

This episode mentions several creatures...  pterodactyls, centipedes, and scorpions... included

This is everything the Quintis fans & Happy/Quintis have wished for... forever... This is exactly what she/we wanted & how she/we wanted it. :) #accurateonbothaccounts

This is a very Team-centric episode. Kinda. (but Flo, Ralph, and Patty aren’t going to the desert... to name a few characters..so..) 

Toby, the doc, in action! 

Where have all the (medical) books gone? Tune in to find out what has happened to Toby’s “library” (book collection) 

And why is Toby “testing” his own blood?

And what does Happy say that Toby responds with a simple "I know.” ? #IveKnownSinceEps307and404ThatStartedTheJourney

The Doc is worried about the Mechanic #NoMoreStuntsForawhilePlease

A little Happy/Walt talk... that IMO is missing something (that can still be added before the scene is filmed) that should be included. #parallelsto223

Sly sets it all off... with his actions, and more... and we learn a few things about what has been going on “off screen” for a while... 

Everything is not what it seems...or sound like. Some stories are a bit “tweaked” ... sometimes... is the lesson of the hour. 

Tell her... is still valid! And it applies to several characters/storylines, actually.  

There are twists...major twists happening within the hour. #calmbeforethestorm (do I mean the sandstorm though?)

There is a small (few weeks) timejump within the episode (think s3 finale & the “3 weeks later” moment... this is done in same style)

The S4 finale...in some ways..also reminds me of S3 finale. And yes, among the many references to past eps... the island adventures are also mentioned. 

#IfYouSeeAScreenshotOfThisPleaseDontReadTheseAsRealSpoilers #myreactions #notspoilers #dontoverthinkthings #Igeekoutovertheweirdestsmalldetails #MajorQuintisFeels #HereWeGo #FinallyTheFinale  #SlyEpKinda #RevealingAnytingElseAoutTheCaseAndEpWouldBeSayingTooMuch #CannotTellWhoTheTeamIsDealingWith #Iwaswrongaboutsomething #Iwasrightaboutsomethings 

YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF SEASON 4

22 EPS IN TOTAL

PS. ? [question mark] - means that it is a guestimate, not certain date

IMPORTANT NOTICE: “Teasers” are not actual spoilers (and spoilers aren’t “accurate, detailed, word-to-word, singular truths/descriptions of a scene/plot”) The goal of spoiler teaser is to “mislead”. Teasers tease & Spoilers spoil (both are misleading & easy to misinterpret). But only because the teaser does not give the context or the details, and hence fans tend to interpret it whatever way they choose, and consider it “factual”, when teasers are usually about little things, not revealing any actual plot points. 

Read THIS POST & THIS POST on spoilers & how to “read” spoilers. And do not overthink things! Teasers are little fun comments, not spoilers that you should take as direct descriptions of scenes.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: PLEASE READ THIS “DISCLAIMER”/POST WITH INFO ABOUT “HOW TO READ/UNDERSTAND TV TEASER SPOILERS POSTED ON THIS BLOG” POST IN HERE 

Last update: March 28th, 2018

[kuciradio]

SXSW - Tunde Olaniran Interview

By Shay Mehr and Stephan Masnyj​

Photos by Shay Mehr

Shay M: So how would you describe yourself as an artist to someone who hasn’t heard of you at all pretty much?

TO: I think that I would say that I’m a performance artist that takes the structure of pop music but fills in the gaps with really like unexpected sounds and unexpected performances unexpected vocal takes, but within a pop structure so that it’s kind of easily digested and easily enjoyed.

Shay M: Okay so you would say that you’re like pop mostly? Because I’ve read that people call you like a musical chameleon or like you genre hop a lot, how do you feel about that?

TO: Yeah I think… I mean I think easily …when I like I’m in an airport and someone’s like “Oh you’re a musician? What kind of music do you do?” I’ll be like oh it’s Kanye West meets MIA like that’s the most basic thing to say, but yeah on the larger scale I think it’s pop, dance, electronic, there’s like folk elements, there’s country elements so it kind of spans pretty wide genres for me.

Shay M: So the first track of yours that caught my ear was ‘Brown Boy’ off of the Yung Archetype EP. A lot about it really stood out to me: the beat obviously first, and then your range as far as you sing a lot and then you rap as well. The message is kind of somewhat serious but like delivered playfully, right?  How representative is this of your work as a whole would you say?

TO: I think “Brown Boy’ is actually a really good example of like where I started as a producer and also as a writer. I think that the really abrasive sounds is something that has always appealed to me and so all the drums in Brown Boy and the samples to me can be really loud and abrasive but I think they come together and make a really playful and like different emotional dimensions like in the song. So that’s like a really good snapshot of kind of where my brain is at as a producer. I think new stuff is going to sound a little different but ‘Brown Boy’ is like a really good track to start if someone’s never heard me before. I feel like that’s a really good place to start.

Stephan M: I’m sorry to jump in but I did want to ask if you’re saying that’s like a good jumping point but your music is changing where do you think it’s headed now I supposed as opposed to how ‘Brown Boy’ may sound, you know?

TO: I think that like any artist or any work that you do, the more you do it, the better you become at it. The more tools you use and maybe the more nuanced you become because you’re challenging yourself like whatever the field. So I think that my production is different and like better in some ways, it’s a little bit softer now and I do a lot more singing. So I think that it’s danceable but it might not have as many jagged edges as ‘Brown Boys’ does but still kind of include it in parts of the production in newer stuff so even if it’s a smooth pretty song like there will be a moment where something jarring happens because that’s just..I’m the kind of person that can’t listen to an album all the way like I’ll skip around..that’s how my brain works so yeah.

Stephan M: Yeah so you like the songs to also inhabit that space.

TO: I don’t want you to get bored. I don’t want you get bored listening to it. I think that music sounds so much the same like every song sounds so similar now. We’ve been touring with the sleigh bells and we’ve been in the van and like every song I’m like oh is this is this the same person? This is like the fifth song that sounds exactly the same so I think it’s important to like as artist maybe push yourself and push listeners to think about like oh this is a new way…this is a new way to have a pop song you know? But it’s still fun for me or I’m still enjoying it. Or it’s still like am emotional thing for me so hopefully we can give people like a little diversity in what they’re listening to.

Stephan M: Very cool, yeah that’s awesome.

Shay M: So how much does activism play a role in your art? I’ve read that your day job is at Planned Parenthood and you’re from Flint, Michigan both of which have gone through some pretty large crisises lately.

TO: I think we’re all kind of in a time of really intense transformation in this country. I actually left my job at Planned Parenthood and stepped out as a full time artist which has been a super super interesting and like invigorating and kind of scary moment. Which  I think again, a lot of us are in one way or another. I don’t know if I would call myself an activist as much as just an advocate so like I’m the kind of person where if I have a show where I have control of it, I want women on the bill, I want women of color on the bill. I think those are simple things that you can do if you’re feeling overwhelmed as a person like how can I make a difference. It’s like the immediate sphere around you, you do have some influence so like try to exercise that a little bit. I do also think that having music that you can like turn up to but it’s not problematic and like you can organize and movement build but if people don’t have a connection that’s a little bit deeper like where we’ve gone out together and gone to a club, you’ve like had like some sloppy, messy moments you know like you’re never going to really have like a strong movement you know? So I think that the party is always as important as the protest. Do you know what I mean?

Shay M: Yeah. We were at the Women’s March actually in Los Angeles and they had this big van playing all these like bangers, but they were all objectifying women. I and I was just like who DJ-ed? I don’t know why wouldn’t you get a female DJ and like put the intention there? Speaking of intention I’ve read that you have a lot of intention with your work so how much are you hands on with like each aspect from pretty much like your website to like I’ve read you design your back up dancers costumes to your videos. How much are you like hands on and what do you kind of like step away from?

TO: I think that I’m hands on with anything you can see or hear I would say and then it’s like I don’t you know…code the website things like that. It’s best to like let someone who’s really good at their job do their job. But let’s say I have jewelry that I design so I’m really hands on with but then at the very last stage I give it to a carpenter who that’s his job, make it really great. But in terms of clothing, the visuals, I make a lot of the stuff, I have a lot of it made, I think it’s fun. It’s not necessarily that I want to control it, it’s just like I enjoy having, playing with like fabrics and colors and textures, like that’s really fun for me. And it’a way to maybe even if I’m not going to be fashion designer I can like have some fun with clothing and stuff on stage and still focus on the music you know?

Shay M: So you would say that level of kind of attention and intention is also found in your music I would imagine?

TO: Yeah I think so. I think in some ways like you have a balance you kind of can plan something but a lot of times like ‘Brown Boy’ or other songs have been written really on the fly or I’ve like produced the heck out of it and I’ve had like all this production but the writing does happen until like a day..the night before or the day of recording. So I try to leave some room for like inspiration that even I can’t source that just comes through. I want to leave room for that. So sometimes with visuals or even designing the album, if I get inspiration I don’t even question it I just kind of go with it as opposed to like mapping.. some of those things you can’t map out ‘cause it feels a little forced if you do that. So it just depends, yeah.

Shay M: Okay so this is.. I probably should have asked this a while ago. But how do you pronounce your whole name?

TO: Sure uhm it’s Tunde Olaniran. I tell people think cartoon and the a day of the week. Tun-de. That’s really easy and then Ola-niran is my last name.

Shay M: Okay that’s pretty close to what I’ve been saying. So phew, phew!

TO: For the longest time I had like my name phonetically, on my Twitter account I had it like phonetically spelled out because so many people would just hit you up and not know how your name was pronounced.

Shay M: So speaking of identity, your name is interesting so I asked you how you pronounce it but would you share with us its meaning?

TO: Sure so I have a much longer full name. and the full name basically is a traditional Yoruba name, my father’s Yoburba, a culture and dialect in Nigeria. And basically I was the first boy, born after my grandfather passed away and uhm the full name is the spirit of the father’s gone but will return again to bring back the wealth that was promised to the family, that’s like the full name.

Stephan M: Don’t worry her name is also like 16 letters and her last name is like 20 something letters.

Shay M: My name that you know is fake by the way. Or it’s been re-named, it’s my artist name. I don’t want to put words in your mouth but is that why you have seemingly such a large interest in identity because you have sort of a large-like a big pair of shoes to fill with a name like that or what? Why is it that a lot of your albums are titled after identity and things like that?

TO: I feel like I mean I studied Anthropology in school and like I’ve always been interested in cultures and how-how like – I’ve been interested in what’s taboo and what’s like not okay. And how something so seemingly simple like what bathroom you want to use, you know can like incite violence against you or how you wear your hair. Or you know so many things that seem insignificant…or you know what color of cotton threads you wear like those kind of things can end your life or get you kicked out of your family or put your employment or housing in danger and so I’ve always just been really fascinated by how society separates that stuff. Like the rules of what’s okay and what’s not and how arbitrary they are. And I think a lot of that is whether it’s your own identity or the identity that’s put upon you that’s always been interesting. And then I’ve also just been in a lot of scenarios where I felt out of place and so I’ve always been very self-conscious about oh like fitting in you know so whether it was my Nigerian side of my family like I don’t speak Yoruba- I’m not very like a good Nigerian son in that way or follow a lot of the traditions or you know moving to Flint and being like- I’d never been around black people at one point and then going from living in Germany to that always kind of feeling a little out of place. Not horribly so but enough to make you conscious of it a lot so that probably is what influenced it more than anything else.

Shay M: Okay so you have an album titled Yung Archtype and then Transgressor, do these titles identify you or your music or neither? Because I feel like- is Yung Archetype like a tease? Because I feel like you’re pretty anything but an archetype?

TO: I feel like it was like a play on words with Carl Yung and it was like a joke. Because in a way I was going to be a totally different ridiculous name. I wasn’t going to actually release that EP as an EP it was going to be a mixed tape but I ended up signing with a label. So in a way I wanted to talk about different archetypes in society with/through some of the music but again I just went what came to my mind. So I’m like why is this name speaking to me? I’m going to just go with it. Sometimes it reveals itself to you later like why it came to you so that name really just like came to my mind when I had to create a name for that EP. So I like left it at that. With Transgressor that was more of what I mentioned earlier of like identity politics and like how something so simple can be seen as like a huge transgression. A lot of the songs are about those kind of moments or being in those kind of spaces. Does that makes sense?

Shay M: Totally. Can you tell us anything about the album you’re working on or is that pretty hush hush?

TO: That’s not hush hush. I just have been making a lot of music and trying to not put any pressure on what it’s going to be. And have had like three or four rounds of alright we’re going to sit for two weeks and like pound out a bunch of songs. So right now hopefully we’re getting a single ready for the summer and again I’m going to play it by ear and see what feels right. But we have some really strong songs. And I’ve been trying to like- I’ve been writing songs with piano first so it’s like very melodic.  Things that can be stripped down but then we have a lot of production. So I feel like- I think we’re going to have our full length ready and its going to be a lot of singing a lot of like-a lot of emotions but I think the productions going to be pretty fun too for people that are into that stuff that I’ve done before.

Shay M: Is this your first SXSW?

TO: As a solo artist uhm yeah. I’ve been here with like other groups kind of like doing featured stuff. So this is my first time being on stage especially me having these project released. I’ve been here and I’ve actually just come as a fan, a music fan.  So it’s not like new but its going to be it’s going to feel new with doing the performances while we’re here. And the tour that we’re on is brand new, I’ve ever done a U.S. tour like at all and that’s been like really intense so it’s all kind of new right now.

Shay M: So what is your impression of SXSW then?

TO: I think it’s different. I have to get into the weekend to really see how it is. So I don’t know if I can say quite yet, but I will say that even just here at Empire people seem really just generally upbeat and positive which is a good feeling when you walk into a venue that people aren’t like closed off so that’s good.

Stephan M: I just wanted to add something to that which was interesting is that uhm I mean it’s the first time we’ve been here as well and I mean we’ve been to other music festivals but it’s interesting to me how this festival seems-it’s almost like a paradox right? There’s such an emphasis on like small up and coming DIY bands and the city fosters that culture really well but at the same time walking around here there’s just like the Dell building and the Budlight tent and all of this stuff. There just seems to be this weird dicotamy between like super large corporations that I’m not quite sure if they’re just using these bands to their own benefit or if it’s like sort of this happy medium between commercialization and DIY which I haven’t figured out yet and I’m just curious to know if you have?

TO: All brands have to. Corporations don’t create culture artists do. So they have to tap into artists because they wouldn’t have any culture that they could use to like tweak your nostalgia or tweak your emotions you know? So I feel like there are human being that work for corporations and I feel like some of those people maybe musicians some maybe artists. There is an undercurrent of corporate money under this conference like any other festival you go to. I do think the cool thing about this as opposed to like bigger-or other festivals is that like you said there’s more of a chance like an artist I really love on the internet who’s maybe never going to come to my town. So like it’s cool to come here. And I’ve had people like when I came before be like ‘oh I know you from the internet like as another artist’. Walking down the street you’ll see people like ‘oh crap I know you!” so  I think that’s really cool about South by. And those folks like even in the green like I didn’t know knew who I was and that’s awesome that we’re connected now so.

Stephan M: Actually a good example of that is like uh a band a I interviewed a couple days again mentioned that like South by is like this gathering of musical tribes like everyone comes together to this one place to meet.  I thought that was an interesting way to put it.

TO: I think it’s more so than most festivals. Because most festivals are like it’s very curated and structured and so. I think it’s kind of limited of like who you’re going to be able to see. I think with South by it kind of feels a little more like a free for all, which can be frustrating as an artist too but I think there’s an opportunity to see some gems that maybe you wouldn’t see at like Pitchfork or Bonnaroo.

Shay M: Okay I have one last question that I’ve decided I’m going to ask everyone because it’s just interesting…is what fulfills you?

TO: Creating. Just getting to create anything is really fulfilling to me.

[shaymehr]

We sat down with the multi-talented Tunde Olaniran before his set at Empire in Austin to discuss his upcoming album, his ideas about identity, and intention in his work. Needless to say we found him quite interesting and you will too.

Shay M: So how would you describe yourself as an artist to someone who hasn’t heard of you at all pretty much?

TO: I think that I would say that I’m a performance artist that takes the structure of pop music but fills in the gaps with really like unexpected sounds and unexpected performances unexpected vocal takes, but within a pop structure so that it’s kind of easily digested and easily enjoyed.

Shay M: Okay so you would say that you’re like pop mostly? Because I’ve read that people call you like a musical chameleon or like you genre hop a lot, how do you feel about that?

TO: Yeah I think… I mean I think easily …when I like I’m in an airport and someone’s like “Oh you’re a musician? What kind of music do you do?” I’ll be like oh it’s Kanye West meets MIA like that’s the most basic thing to say, but yeah on the larger scale I think it’s pop, dance, electronic, there’s like folk elements, there’s country elements so it kind of spans pretty wide genres for me.

Shay M: So the first track of yours that caught my ear was ‘Brown Boy’ off of the Yung Archetype EP. A lot about it really stood out to me: the beat obviously first, and then your range as far as you sing a lot and then you rap as well. The message is kind of somewhat serious but like delivered playfully, right?  How representative is this of your work as a whole would you say?

TO: I think “Brown Boy’ is actually a really good example of like where I started as a producer and also as a writer. I think that the really abrasive sounds is something that has always appealed to me and so all the drums in Brown Boy and the samples to me can be really loud and abrasive but I think they come together and make a really playful and like different emotional dimensions like in the song. So that’s like a really good snapshot of kind of where my brain is at as a producer. I think new stuff is going to sound a little different but ‘Brown Boy’ is like a really good track to start if someone’s never heard me before. I feel like that’s a really good place to start.

Stephan M: I’m sorry to jump in but I did want to ask if you’re saying that’s like a good jumping point but your music is changing where do you think it’s headed now I supposed as opposed to how ‘Brown Boy’ may sound, you know?

TO: I think that like any artist or any work that you do, the more you do it, the better you become at it. The more tools you use and maybe the more nuanced you become because you’re challenging yourself like whatever the field. So I think that my production is different and like better in some ways, it’s a little bit softer now and I do a lot more singing. So I think that it’s danceable but it might not have as many jagged edges as ‘Brown Boys’ does but still kind of include it in parts of the production in newer stuff so even if it’s a smooth pretty song like there will be a moment where something jarring happens because that’s just...I’m the kind of person that can’t listen to an album all the way like I’ll skip around...that’s how my brain works so yeah.

Stephan M: Yeah so you like the songs to also inhabit that space.

TO: I don’t want you to get bored. I don’t want you get bored listening to it. I think that music sounds so much the same like every song sounds so similar now. We’ve been touring with the sleigh bells and we’ve been in the van and like every song I’m like oh is this is this the same person? This is like the fifth song that sounds exactly the same so I think it’s important to like as artist maybe push yourself and push listeners to think about like oh this is a new way…this is a new way to have a pop song you know? But it’s still fun for me or I’m still enjoying it. Or it’s still like am emotional thing for me so hopefully we can give people like a little diversity in what they’re listening to.

Stephan M: Very cool, yeah that’s awesome.

Shay M: So how much does activism play a role in your art? I’ve read that your day job is at Planned Parenthood and you’re from Flint, Michigan both of which have gone through some pretty large crisises lately.

TO: I think we’re all kind of in a time of really intense transformation in this country. I actually left my job at Planned Parenthood and stepped out as a full time artist which has been a super super interesting and like invigorating and kind of scary moment. Which I think again, a lot of us are in one way or another. I don’t know if I would call myself an activist as much as just an advocate so like I’m the kind of person where if I have a show where I have control of it, I want women on the bill, I want women of color on the bill. I think those are simple things that you can do if you’re feeling overwhelmed as a person like how can I make a difference. It’s like the immediate sphere around you, you do have some influence so like try to exercise that a little bit. I do also think that having music that you can like turn up to but it’s not problematic and like you can organize and movement build but if people don’t have a connection that’s a little bit deeper like where we’ve gone out together and gone to a club, you’ve like had like some sloppy, messy moments you know like you’re never going to really have like a strong movement you know? So I think that the party is always as important as the protest. Do you know what I mean?

Shay M: Yeah. We were at the Women’s March actually in Los Angeles and they had this big van playing all these like bangers, but they were all objectifying women. I and I was just like who DJ-ed? I don’t know why wouldn’t you get a female DJ and like put the intention there? Speaking of intention I’ve read that you have a lot of intention with your work so how much are you hands on with like each aspect from pretty much like your website to like I’ve read you design your back up dancers costumes to your videos. How much are you like hands on and what do you kind of like step away from?

TO: I think that I’m hands on with anything you can see or hear I would say and then it’s like I don’t you know…code the website things like that. It’s best to like let someone who’s really good at their job do their job. But let’s say I have jewelry that I design so I’m really hands on with but then at the very last stage I give it to a carpenter who that’s his job, make it really great. But in terms of clothing, the visuals, I make a lot of the stuff, I have a lot of it made, I think it’s fun. It’s not necessarily that I want to control it, it’s just like I enjoy having, playing with like fabrics and colors and textures, like that’s really fun for me. And it’s a way to maybe even if I’m not going to be fashion designer I can like have some fun with clothing and stuff on stage and still focus on the music you know?

Shay M: So you would say that level of kind of attention and intention is also found in your music I would imagine?

TO: Yeah I think so. I think in some ways like you have a balance you kind of can plan something but a lot of times like ‘Brown Boy’ or other songs have been written really on the fly or I’ve like produced the heck out of it and I’ve had like all this production but the writing does happen until like a day..the night before or the day of recording. So I try to leave some room for like inspiration that even I can’t source that just comes through. I want to leave room for that. So sometimes with visuals or even designing the album, if I get inspiration I don’t even question it I just kind of go with it as opposed to like mapping.. some of those things you can’t map out ‘cause it feels a little forced if you do that. So it just depends, yeah.

Shay M: Okay so this is.. I probably should have asked this a while ago. But how do you pronounce your whole name?

TO: Sure uhm it’s Tunde Olaniran. I tell people think cartoon and the a day of the week. Tun-de. That’s really easy and then Ola-niran is my last name.

Shay M: Okay that’s pretty close to what I’ve been saying. So phew, phew!

Stephan M: We’ll edit it and start the interview with that. Like Tunde Olaniran.

TO: Like you’re talking and then my voice comes in and you just keep going like.

Shay M / Stephan M / TO: *laugh*

Shay M: No because I-We always we’ll air a lot of new people. And we’re always like hoping we’re saying it right, but we’ve never met them, we really don’t have any reason to know so we’re worried about that.

TO: For the longest time I had like my name phonetically, on my Twitter account I had it like phonetically spelled out because so many people would just hit you up and not know how your name was pronounced.

Shay M: So speaking of identity, your name is interesting so I asked you how you pronounce it but would you share with us its meaning?

TO: Sure so I have a much longer full name. and the full name basically is a traditional Yoruba name, my father’s Yoburba, a culture and dialect in Nigeria. And basically I was the first boy, born after my grandfather passed away and uhm the full name is the spirit of the father’s gone but will return again to bring back the wealth that was promised to the family, that’s like the full name.

Stephan M: Don’t worry her name is also like 16 letters and her last name is like 20 something letters.

Shay M: My name that you know is fake by the way. Or it’s been re-named, it’s my artist name. I don’t want to put words in your mouth but is that why you have seemingly such a large interest in identity because you have sort of a large-like a big pair of shoes to fill with a name like that or what? Why is it that a lot of your albums are titled after identity and things like that?

TO: I feel like I mean I studied Anthropology in school and like I’ve always been interested in cultures and how-how like – I’ve been interested in what’s taboo and what’s like not okay. And how something so seemingly simple like what bathroom you want to use, you know can like incite violence against you or how you wear your hair. Or you know so many things that seem insignifigant…or you know what color of cotton threads you wear like those kind of things can end your life or get you kicked out of your family or put your employment or housing in danger and so I’ve always just been really fascinated by how society separates that stuff. Like the rules of what’s okay and what’s not and how arbitrary they are. And I think a lot of that is whether it’s your own identity or the identity that’s put upon you that’s always been interesting. And then I’ve also just been in a lot of scenarios where I felt out of place and so I’ve always been very self-conscious about oh like fitting in you know so whether it was my Nigerian side of my family like I don’t speak Yoruba- I’m not very like a good Nigerian son in that way or follow a lot of the traditions or you know moving to Flint and being like- I’d never been around black people at one point and then going from living in Germany to that always kind of feeling a little out of place. Not horribly so but enough to make you conscious of it a lot so that probably is what influenced it more than anything else.

Shay M: Okay so you have an album titled Yung Archtype and then Transgressor, do these titles identify you or your music or neither? Because I feel like- is Yung Archetype like a tease? Because I feel like you’re pretty anything but an archetype?

TO: I feel like it was like a play on words with Carl Yung and it was like a joke. Because in a way I was going to be a totally different ridiculous name. I wasn’t going to actually release that EP as an EP it was going to be a mixed tape but I ended up signing with a label. So in a way I wanted to talk about different archetypes in society with/through some of the music but again I just went what came to my mind. So I’m like why is this name speaking to me? I’m going to just go with it. Sometimes it reveals itself to you later like why it came to you so that name really just like came to my mind when I had to create a name for that EP. So I like left it at that. With Transgressor that was more of what I mentioned earlier of like identity politics and like how something so simple can be seen as like a huge transgression. A lot of the songs are about those kind of moments or being in those kind of spaces. Does that makes sense?

Shay M: Totally. Can you tell us anything about the album you’re working on or is that pretty hush hush?

TO: That’s not hush hush. I just have been making a lot of music and trying to not put any pressure on what it’s going to be. And have had like three or four rounds of alright we’re going to sit for two weeks and like pound out a bunch of songs. So right now hopefully we’re getting a single ready for the summer and again I’m going to play it by ear and see what feels right. But we have some really strong songs. And I’ve been trying to like- I’ve been writing songs with piano first so it’s like very melodic.  Things that can be stripped down but then we have a lot of production. So I feel like- I think we’re going to have our full length ready and its going to be a lot of singing a lot of like-a lot of emotions but I think the productions going to be pretty fun too for people that are into that stuff that I’ve done before.

Shay M: Is this your first SXSW?

TO: As a solo artist uhm yeah. I’ve been here with like other groups kind of like doing featured stuff. So this is my first time being on stage especially me having these project released.

I’ve been here and I’ve actually just come as a fan, a music fan.  So it’s not like new but its going to be it’s going to feel new with doing the performances while we’re here. And the tour that we’re on is brand new, I’ve ever done a U.S. tour like at all and that’s been like really intense so it’s all kind of new right now.

Shay M: So what is your impression of SXSW then?

TO: I think it’s different. I have to get into the weekend to really see how it is. So I don’t know if I can say quite yet, but I will say that even just here at Empire people seem really just generally upbeat and positive which is a good feeling when you walk into a venue that people aren’t like closed off so that’s good.

Stephan M: I just wanted to add something to that which was interesting is that uhm I mean it’s the first time we’ve been here as well and I mean we’ve been to other music festivals but it’s interesting to me how this festival seems-it’s almost like a paradox right? There’s such an emphasis on like small up and coming DIY bands and the city fosters that culture really well but at the same time walking around here there’s just like the Dell building and the Budlight tent and all of this stuff. There just seems to be this weird dicotamy between like super large corporations that I’m not quite sure if they’re just using these bands to their own benefit or if it’s like sort of this happy medium between commercialization and DIY which I haven’t figured out yet and I’m just curious to know if you have?

TO: All brands have to. Corporations don’t create culture artists do. So they have to tap into artists because they wouldn’t have any culture that they could use to like tweak your nostalgia or tweak your emotions you know? So I feel like there are human being that work for corporations and I feel like some of those people maybe musicians some maybe artists. There is an undercurrent of corporate money under this conference like any other festival you go to. I do think the cool thing about this as opposed to like bigger-or other festivals is that like you said there’s more of a chance like an artist I really love on the internet who’s maybe never going to come to my town. So like it’s cool to come here. And I’ve had people like when I came before be like ‘oh I know you from the internet like as another artist’. Walking down the street you’ll see people like ‘oh crap I know you!” so I think that’s really cool about South by. And those folks like even in the green like I didn’t know knew who I was and that’s awesome that we’re connected now so.

Stephan M: Actually a good example of that is like uh a band a I interviewed a couple days again mentioned that like South by is like this gathering of musical tribes like everyone comes together to this one place to meet.  I thought that was an interesting way to put it.

TO: I think it’s more so than most festivals. Because most festivals are like it’s very curated and structured and so. I think it’s kind of limited of like who you’re going to be able to see. I think with South by it kind of feels a little more like a free for all, which can be frustrating as an artist too but I think there’s an opportunity to see some gems that maybe you wouldn’t see at like Pitchfork or Bonarro.

Shay M: Okay I have one last question that I’ve decided I’m going to ask everyone because it’s just interesting…is what fulfills you?

TO: Creating. Just getting to create anything is really fulfilling to me.        

[lagroupie]

Interview: L.A. Witch (ENG)

On Sunday, 5th of March, L.A. Witch were playing in Vevey in a secret place for Studio 603. The venue they were playing in was small but packed, and there was a friendly atmosphere as well. Once the concert was over, I met the trio for an interview. We talk about many things including their lives in L.A., their upcoming album, singing on stage, how they got a lot of support after getting robbed in Bristol… Sometimes the conversation gets funny and sometimes it gets emotional. Sade, Irita and Ellie are friendly, humble musicians, and above all very talented and passionate about what they do. Join me as I get to know L.A. Witch!

Welcome back to Switzerland! Did you like playing here in Vevey?

Sade Sanchez: We loved it! This was a very intimate experience. You know, we’ve been playing different venues with different capacities and it was very nice. To have people sitting down means that they’re more listening. I think that was really cool, and everyone has been so friendly.

Irita Pai: Yeah. We were in Paris Psych Fest last night and there was probably hundreds of people. But you know, I think the size of the audience doesn’t really matter. It’s how you connect with it, and it felt really nice.

I liked it as well! It felt like we were watching you play in your rehearsal space!

Sade: Yeah, it felt like that!

Irita: This is nicer than our rehearsal space though! (laughs)

What is your life like in Los Angeles when you’re not touring?

Ellie English: Well, when I’m home I really like gardening. So the first thing I do is that I usually pull all the weeds out that have come in. Sometimes I buy new plants, and I also give drum lessons to little kids. And I walk dogs, so I do that as much as I can. And then I practice as much as I can and try to learn new stuff. And then, I hang out with people! (laughs)

Sade: Irita and I live the closest together. I live in Silverlake and she lives in Echo Park. They’re both artists communities, a lot of music scene.

Irita: Yeah. Well, I could walk to your house if I really wanted to take a long day of walking.

Sade: We like to walk a lot at home. I like to go hiking. I have a dog, he’s like my son! I go jogging with him by the Hollywood sign. To me the Hollywood sign is symbolic to being home, in Los Angeles. And I have a motorcycle, so I ride around. Also, I’ve been trying to learn how to skateboard… That’s pretty much my life!

It seems so different from here! It sounds amazing.

Sade: Well, that’s California you know! (laughs) We have a lot of sun, so a lot of outdoors.

Irita: You can do everything. You can go to the ocean, that’s an hour away, there are mountains and there’s snow, that’s like, 2 hours away.

Sade: You can go to the desert!

Irita: Yeah, anything you want – you can do it in California. It’s the best.

I love this picture of you three in this dry river that goes across L.A. …I forgot its name-

Irita: Oh, the L.A. River? Yeah, that’s the L.A. River. It actually has a lot more water now, because we’ve been getting some rain. But there’s just been some point in L.A. River where it was just sand, and there were cactuses growing out of the wash! (laughs)

Sade: A very serious drought.

Do you manage to live off your music?

Sade: No, we don’t.

Ellie: It’s a real hassle.

Irita: We do what we gotta do. Actually, we’re not home enough to hold a day job. We’re literally home two weeks at a time maybe. It’s impossible.

Sade: So we find ways to make money, whether we have the Etsy shop, or we walk dogs for our friends, or we move things with our vans. Do you guys have craigslist here?

Yeah, we have similar websites.

Sade: So I look on Craigslist for one-day jobs to make money to pay bills. I used to walk dogs, or if somebody pays me 50 dollars to move their mattress with my van. So we all have weird jobs, but it’s okay.

I hope it doesn’t get too weird though!

Sade: It gets weird for sure, but you know what? We’re free, and that’s what’s important to us. We’re free to do what we want to do. We don’t make money, but we have our freedom to make music.

Irita: That’s more important than anything.

I agree. I wanted to ask you about your Etsy shop Kill My Baby Tonight as well.

Irita: Well, we were doing it for a while. Sade and Ellie were modelling, and I think they made the best models ever! But you know, we’ve been on tour so much and it’s been hard to keep up with it. You can’t really ship stuff from the road. So it’s kind of on hold, but we’ve been working on our merch site, which I think is really cool. Sade’s been designing t-shirts, and we’ve been figuring out pins and all. So I think it replaces that mean for the time being.

By the way- what is the title of the last song you played tonight? Is it a new song?

Sade: The encore song? It’s called Feel Alright. We have never released it. It’s gonna be on the album, which may be coming out in August. That’s what we’re aiming for right now. We just signed on to a label for the first time, called Suicide Squeeze.

Irita: They’re amazing, we love them so much.

Yeah, Guantanamo Baywatch are on this label as well!

Irita: Yeah, they’re really cool people! We met them in Dallas.

I’ve met them too! They even offered me pizza.

Everyone: Aaaaw, that’s really sweet!

Irita: For the record, we love you!

Sade: The Coathangers are also on Suicide Squeeze, which is another of our favorite bands.

Ellie: We love them!

Aaaw, I miss them every time they come to play over here!

Irita: You have to see them! They’re so good live!

Sade: Yeah, they are the dream!

Sade, I really like the way you sing! What’s your mindset when you’re on stage?

Sade: When I’m singing, I’m thinking about the reasons the songs were written. I’m very passionate about giving everything I can to the people who have come to see us, and trying to be as real and genuine as possible with them. I’m a very shy person, so I don’t talk very much and I may seem like I’m very reserved when I’m actually trying my best to connect with people as much as I can.

Both Ellie and Irita were great too, but sometimes we couldn’t hear you well enough! Perhaps it was because of the microphones? (ndlr: after having talked to the staff, they told me they were indeed having technical difficulties regarding the microphones interfering with other instruments because the venue was so small.)

Sade: Well, they just started singing this year, and I think singing is a very scary thing you know.

Irita: It’s very personal.

Sade: It’s a very hard thing to do, and I think that the more they do it- eventually it’s gonna show more. I think right now it’s just the beginning stages, and it’s hard to show your true self to people and to be so vulnerable.

Yeah. I think getting on stage is one of the most terrifying things you can do.

Everyone: It is.

Also, I wanted to congratulate you on the crowdfunding you did after you got robbed in Bristol.

Irita: Thank you, it was a very bad situation.

Ellie: It was amazing how many of our friends and family stepped up and donated. It ended up being a beautiful crazy thing. We all cried.

Irita: I mean, it was such a hard situation. And for that to happen kind of made it all the way. Because then you realize how much people actually care, and how good people are. It’s crazy.

Sade: It actually made us stronger, because we didn’t realize how many people cared about us you know. When you’re in a hard situation and so many people are helping and supporting you, whether it’s giving money, letting you borrow gear or just telling your story- they showed their love and made us realize…

Irita: …Just how great the community that we exist in is. They’re so supportive, so wonderful.

Sade: Yeah, we just want to give them back what they deserve.

Ellie: Even random people were texting us and sending us messages, and we were like “You care, you know about this?!”

I feel like- to get robbed while touring is the worst thing that can happen to a band. Yet you were able to turn the situation around, and it got even better…

Sade: Yeah, even better than when we started.

Yeah. Now you’re stronger, and if I were in your shoes I would feel more confident as well, because so many fans cared.

Sade: Exactly.

I also wanted to talk about your upcoming album if you don’t mind.

Sade: It’s the first album that we’ve ever put out, it’s taken us a while. Recording has been a learning experience for all of us. We’re all very new to recording on a professional level, and we’re very excited about it. We’re aiming for August.

Will we find new songs on it?

Sade: Yeah, I believe so. I mean, there’s a few songs that have already been released, but there’s a lot of stuff that we’ve never released before.

It’s interesting that you said this album will be your first professional recording experience, because I thought your Eps sounded really good and that the whole garage sound was on purpose!

Irita: That’s really cool, I mean I really like the vibes of those recordings. We worked with our friend Joel, he’s in this band called Dios and he’s super talented. He recorded pretty much all the singles we released, and they just have a really cool vibe to them.

Sade: Also, it’s different when you’re just releasing one song as opposed to nine songs. Our full album is more like a bigger story, whereas one song is just a tiny little bit of it. And when you’re doing this whole thing- it’s something that we never thought about when we started the band. We never were thinking ahead of time as like- we never thought we were gonna be playing festivals, we never thought we would be recording an album. We were just happy to find each other, and to be able to release stuff.

That’s beautiful. And here you are now!

Irita: Yeah, that’s crazy actually! (laughs)

Sade: It’s really weird for us, but we’re very grateful.

Finally, if you had to eat one Swiss thing for the rest of your lives, what would you choose between chocolate and fondue?

Irita: We’ll take both of them, if that’s an option!

Ellie: I guess we’re all just gonna fondue!

Irita: Fon-don’t-do-that!

Ellie: The fon-do’s and don’ts of life. (laughs)

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