#okay WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT EPISODE

[centrally-unplanned]

Follow-up to my Fanroad Magazine archival scan post - let's look at some cute 90's anime art! Just random ones that caught my eye:

"Hey, what happened to me!?" As mentioned, this came out before End of Eva did - as such, Asuka & crew really didn't get much of an ending in the TV show. 100% how she would react to watching episode 26, props to our artist (春原てるも/Kasuhara Terumo)

There are just so many "Rei running with toast" pieces, it was clearly a combination of a meme amoung the fans and the theme for the magazine. Love how this one brought marmalade too - never compromise on taste, no matter how late you are.

(The artist's name is "actually, I'm a Shinji fan" btw lol)

I love finds like these - these toast-lugging Rei's are by people who are professional mangaka today! The first is by いちば仔牛/Ichiba Kousei, or "Marketplace Cow" - it ain't their birth name I am sure - and they are a founding member of the doujin circle UGO - which is still going strong! And our second is by (I am 80% sure on this one) うおなてれぴん/Uona Terepin, a quite-accomplished artist who adorably published their first professional work in 1997, a year after this. Their twitter feed is 50% big titty girls and 50% model tanks, absolutely based.

Hot👏Shinji👏Fucks👏, this piece is amazing. What else do I have to say? (緋月れん/Hizuki Ren - maybe, translating Japanese names with no context is hard guys -_-)

This is one of my favourite trends - so Evangelion has a lot of technobabble? And it is very frequently in English. So fans really liked recreating that aesthetic in their art. But in 1996 they didn't have access to like screengrabs from the show or scanned splatbooks on hand? Which meant they just used ~whatever English text they could find - generally newspapers at their university or library. Which means we get Toast Rei splashed on reports of stock indices in the global financial markets, and this beautiful moe-Rei/Asuka looking solemnly out over, uh, some report about housing prices and cholesterol levels? Technobabble indeed! (嶋屋みえ/Shimaya Mei, まなせ貴也/Manase Takaya)

Rei clone army! Adorable. (藤桜智美/Fujisakura Tomomi)

Okay, moving away from Eva, there is in fact a bunch of other properties in here with fanart, but these types stood out to me:

That seinen "Kids on the Street" energy that was peaking in the 90's; fully ~aesthetic. (Keiko Kuyuki)

And to end on a weird note:

One section of the magazine is just a free-for-all of thoughts, and one Yayoi Hirone decided to give us a girl caught in the middle of undressing...alongside a recipe for cooking shrimp. Which, if I am being honest, is a huge improvement over the bullshit they throw on recipes online these days. This is the future we could have had -_-

Anyway, I hope that was fun - if anyone is struck or amused by some of the art in the magazine, I would be happy to see what stood out to you!

[mackmp3]

☕how the writers delt with river song

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP THEY DID MY GIRL SO DIRTY there are so many. good river song moments. and there are so manythat make me want to tear a strip off steven moffat like every goddamn episode with her they have to make some obnoxious sex joke or some Honey Im Home type shit & i understand this is like. A Moffat Theme & i dont always hate it but goddddd its so reductive like there is so much!!!! that could be done with her character !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is overshadowed by haha what if she was sexy like STOPPPPPPPPPPPP.

like silence in the library was a really good character lead in & i like her!!! as a character !!!! even the overly flirtatiousness unfortunately that would work on me but even aside from that. she is a good character let down but the sheer pull-it-out-of-your-ass writing of her backstory. like?? she could regenerate cos she was conceived in the tardis okay thats really cool much weirder stuff has happened when it comes to tardises & making babies but then WE SeE THIS FOR LIKE. ONE OR TWO EPISODES BEFORE THEYRE LIKE WHOOPS THAT DOESNT WORK ACTUALLY COS SHE'S DEAD UHHH SHE BETTER UHMM IDK SAVE TH E DOCTOR OR SOMETHING WHATEVER> COS HER ENTIRE LIFE HAS TO REVOLVE AROUND HIM. HASHTAG MARRIAGE AMIRITE like even the fact that her entire life was shaped around him isnt a Bad Idea it just feels like no one considered the tragic impies (implications) of this, & simultaneously doing amy so dirty in the process as well like??? she loses baby mels & then discovers she was her (never previously mentioned) childhood friend but then she uhhhh dies & turns into this woman you already know and them????? barely eveer mention it again???? holy shit?????????????????????? amy & river is a freaking horror story but one that the writers seem imcapable of dealing with because sOMEONE is too busy making obnoxious jokes about married life

a lot of thsi is specific to the General Vibes of the eleven era stuff as well which was in general so so weird about women & while its not like twelve or any of teh other doctors are expemt from this eleven is a massive dick to people quite a bit & a lot of this falls on river b/c he is seemingly (iirc i havent seen some of this stuff for a while though it Haunts Me) almost careless? with her? like a sort of 'welllllll she's here now so it was all okay in the end :)' sort of attitude ignoring that she went through A Fuckton Of Stuff before she was even a concious human(mostly??) being

even the husbands of river song is tragically guilty of some of that stuff like. she's seen some wild shit & she should have known it was twelve wayyyyyy way way quicker. like i understand why she didnt for plot reasons but she is in fact very intellegent like. she's allowed to show that. unfortunatley sometimes women cant be smart & have their boobs out at that same time I GUESSSSSSSSS

also the nine & river audios from earlier this year? i really like archipelago i listened to that a couple of times & i thought it was really powerful but AGAIN the writers make river So Fucking Obsessed With Romance like. you'd let it go by that point. nine had literally just proved he's the most aro guy in the universe (good for him) and shes stillllllll flirting at him. which. imo she wouldnt do anymore because, shock horror, she does actually like him as a person & values his company and you would think you would be friends wit hthe guy YOU ARE GONG TO MARRY OR WHATEVER. NOT THAT THEIR MARRIAGE WAS PARTICULARLY ROMANTIC EITHERIM GONNA BE SO REAL. obviously sex is important to her & good for her but yikes. it doesnt need to be mentioned so often.

like its the whole 'inherent tragedy of waiting for a time traveller' stuff which i do eat up every time meeting her in silence of the library & knowong that there is so much more there - VERY COMPELLING !! really good character intro augahagaauuaajaaajahhahahahhhh but nooooo her Entire Fucking Goddman Life has to revolve around being manipulated & The Doctor AS WELL AS !! the completely uncalled for ohhhh im a PSYCHOPATH ( <- unfounded & demonstrably untrue lowkey this is saneism right. thats an ableism there yes? ) thing they alllwaysssss have her say like well!! shes not !! theres 'youre talking about commiting a murder'/'no im not, i'm actually commiting a murder' which i like & is funny & she would say that and then theres teh vauge oooohhhhh im so Freaky & I Have A Gun or whatevr like augsugsaihuahahaouoauauoouauoauoauoauuo

also twelve & river had freaky t4t bi4bi aroallo sex after the end of husbands of river song but no actual dw writer is enlightened enough to see that because they have to flatten her into The Doctors Wife & she would have had a far better dynamic with 12 than with 11 (not that i'm biased) i wish they got more time togetherrrrrrrrrrr also you should listen to the bekdel test (diary of river song audio with missy)

[makorragal-312]

Why the BuckTommy break-up fell flat narratively...

Disclaimer: I am not defending this ship. I hate it and I'm glad it's dead.

1. Prior to the break-up, he made a jab at Abby for dating a guy half her age and riding Buck off as "a himbo." Even though he's literally doing the same exact thing.

That, kids, is what we call "hypocrisy."

2. Tommy said that he "knows how the relationship ends."

Sir, if you know how it ends, why did you go for it in the first place? This just gives off that he was only dating Buck either for a good time or because Eddie wasn't showing any signs of interest, so he just settled for his bestie.

3. Tommy tries to pawn off the catalyst of the relationship ending on Buck, saying that he would "break his heart."

Even though HE was the one doing all the heart-breaking shit to BUCK throughout the entire goddamn relationship.

4. Josh's dumbass advice.

Okay, that's not fair. Josh's advice wasn't dumb per-say, but it was completely irrelevant to Buck's issue. I know that he probably doesn't really know who Tommy is, but making him sound like he was this gay pioneer who led the charge at Stonewall and that his scars should be respected?

Absolute nope.

It ended up making Buck's move-in proposal feel like he was doing it out of obligation because Tommy's been out longer than he has, so why shouldn't he ask him to move in with him?

And on that topic...

5. The return of the hamster wheel

You would think that after dumping Taylor the way he did, Buck would remember that he doesn't necessarily have to hold on to relationships that aren't working and he can just cut it loose, right?

Wrong.

Instead, they have Buck actually take Josh's advice and pull a Taylor 2.0 by asking Tommy to move in with him. This show continues to leave Buck on that fucking hamster wheel instead of letting him get off and it's working my nerve. Even if this was just the show's way of showing that Buck's toxic relationship tendencies don't change because he's with someone of the same sex, it's still redundant and annoying.

6. Buck.

The first and only time Tommy chooses to refer to Buck by his preferred name is when he's dropping him like a baked potato.

And the show never even gave Buck the chance to tell him off about it.

The fucking audacity.

And finally,

7. TOMMY KINARD HIMSELF

This whole scene, the narrative tries to paint Tommy out to be this sympathetic character all throughout, making him look all sad and talking about how "he knew the parking spot was too good to be true" and citing Buck to be the one who would break his heart.

Despite the fact that he literally broke Buck's again just seconds ago.

I'll never understand why the show decided to take this route with Tommy's character for the episode even though in past episodes, he's been canonically depicted to be insensitive at best and flat out bigoted at worse. And throughout the entirety of his and Buck's relationship, he has said and done things that have hurt Buck and he never even apologized for it. And if he did apologize, he gave a lame apology as to why he did do.

*cough* first date *cough cough*

And it definitely doesn't help matters that the show made the active choice not to bring up his past actions within the relationship or for Buck to even know about it. Instead, they made Abby the catalyst for the break up when it could've been Tommy himself being the catalyst.

Obviously, there were a million ways the show could've given the BuckTommy break-up a major impact and there were definitely ways they could've made the break-up solid with the Abby revelation.

All in all, the break-up could've been executed better, but at least the ship is dead.

[alipeeps]

Episode 24

Welp, he did what they suggested. He went to see for himself.

I've said it before but it bears repeating - this kid is SUCH a good actor!

Jesus fucking christ, Wen Zongyu is the worst.

He took a grieving child and:

manipulated him into spying against his friends and poisoning one of them:

intended from the start to use his body as a vessel for a demon;

fucking poisoned him so that he would be able to control said demon once it was in his body!!

Oooh but your little demon trapping cage didn't work on our boy Li Lun?

So... could it actually end up now that Li Lun and the gang will band together against Wen Zongyu? The enemy of my enemy and all that?

Can't Zhao Yuanzhou use his healing ability on him?

Oh SHIT, the sword being broken affects/damages the person connected to it?

So they NEED that second sword!! Anybody else remember that it was explicitly mentioned that TWO cloud light swords were forged? Anyone?!!

And that confirms that the reason the sword cracked this time is because of the malicious qi - every other time Zhu Yan has been stabbed with the sword, he has been in control of his qi.

However... doesn't that mean that the plan/back up plan to kill Zhu Yan if he is out of control is doomed to failure, because the uncontrolled qi will crack the sword?

OUCH

Ying Lei is so fucking under-rated... they play him for comedy so much of the time but he has genuinely been the one coming up with a lot of the solutions for things. He found how to purify the Yao Water. He worked out that Bai Jiu's blood could revive the Divine Wood. And he's thought to ask the other mountain gods about ways to save both Zhuo Yichen and Bai Jiu. He is best boy!!

Uhhhh... yeah... sliiiight problem there...

Okay so we have a way to keep him going a bit longer... while you find the second sword, right? Right?!

Good on you Pei Sijing.

He is the best!!

Oh damn, he survived.

And Wen Zongyu has the gall to act pleased about it - as if he wasn't callously offering his position to Pei Sijing a matter of days ago.

"Thank you for your treatment"

"Better than I was before"

Did... did Wen Zongyu use his fucking experimental treatments on him? Is he a hybrid now?

"According to the spy" What spy? Just a generic spy keeping an eye on things... or is there another traitor in their midst?

Oh dang, that's fucked up your plans eh? Bummer. Sucks to be you.

Oh wow, that is freaky. It's Bai Jiu... but he's dressed and hair-styled Li Lun-style.

Ohhh that doesn't sound good...

Oh dang, his brother didn't have the right Bingyi blood to awaken the sword?!

But... but didn't we see it glowing in his (dead) hand when Zhu Yan wiped out the Demon Hunting Bureau? Or was that just the sword reacting to Zhu Yan's presence?

Ahhhh was it Zhu Yan they were going after? Probably... how many Great Demons are there after all?

Yup, it was, and the sword glowed in response to Zhu Yan's presence.

No wonder Zhuo Yichen didn't know how to use the cloud light sword properly... I'd thought it was because his dad and brother had died before they had chance to teach him... but they never could have taught him because they didn't have the power to awaken it and use it to its full potential...

Oh SHIT and he finds out about his brother's death by someone bringing him the damn sword?!! Wrapped in a blood-stained cloth. Like... harsh, dude?!!

And he dedicated his life to becoming strong enough to awaken the sword, to honor his brother...

I'm not crying, you're crying!!

His tears awakened it?

Goddamn the music in this show is just perfect...

Oh shit.

OH SHIT!

Wtf's going on with the fish pond?

Wtf is this, that's been hiding in the fish pond all this time?!

Of course it is. And of course it's been at the bottom of the fish pond for fucking generations. Where else would you keep it?!

Oh it can repair everything can it?

WHY do they just fucking stand there and let it happen?!!

Oh Zhu Yan did react! Hallelujah!

He sure did.

Did what? You are in this situation because of your own actions! It was literally YOUR plan to break the baize token, get unsealed, and then take over Bai Jiu's body because you knew your own body would burn up!

Okay wtf why did the stone suddenly break?

Can this show please stop giving us a teensy glimpse of hope and then ripping it away from us again?!!

Honestly the stone's a bit shit if all it takes to crumble it is the merest touch of demonic energy?

And what the fuck is this now? There was blood at the centre of the stone? Is it the famous Bingyi blood?

And it's gone zooming into Zhuo Yichen? Whose eyes have gone blue like in the flashbacks to his ancestor?

Oh damn... did I hear that right? The demon Ying Long agreed to die at Bingyi's hand... for the greater good?

OH WHAT?!!!

Ying Lei be like:

Ahhh my poor precious baby mountain god! He's too too good!

Way to be a downer, Zhu Yan.

So it wasn't Bingyi blood? It was demon blood? Unless...?

Because Ying Long sacrificed himself to save the world. Sound familiar, anyone?

Ho hoooooo! Yes indeedy, Zhuo Yichen's ancestor was also a demon... and the famous Bingyi blood is - demon blood! (So I guess maybe it was Bingyi blood inside the stone after all?)

And members of Zhuo Yichen's family were only strong enough to activate the cloud light sword if they had enough demon Bingyi bloodline in them, I guess? And Zhuo Yichen does... which is probably also why he kept dreaming about turning into a demon, I am guessing?

Ohhhhh and we finally get an explanation of how come Zhuo Yichen let Ao Yin get away if he wasn't being controlled by Li Lun!!

He wasn't controlled... he was shocked (mind you, why on earth he would believe a demon's word on that, enough to be shocked to a standstill by it and let them escape?)

So the Great Demon Bingyi was turned human...

And he lived in seclusion... and his descendants...

SO... he wasn't all THAT secluded then eh? 😂

It allows them to choose? So he gets to choose if he remains human or becomes demon? But what do you want to bet he will end up in a situation where becoming demon is the only option to save everyone, so he'll do it?

Oh mind you, no, doesn't sound like there is any choice...

Oh holy shit, is there ANY good news for us, Zhu Yan?!!

So now Zhuo Yichen is condemned to death on 2 fronts - the broken sword AND the Bingyi demon blood.

How the fuck are Chongwu spies able to so easily sneak right into the core of Demon Hunting Bureau to eavesdrop? Do you people have ANY fucking security at all?

You said it girl!

Well DUH, of course he's bloody disappeared while you idiots were chitchatting!!

Oh dang...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah 😭😭

Aww bless her, she has understood the meaning behind his words...

Oh shit!

AAaaaahhhh! You end it THERE?!!

[sherry-cleo-salvadore]

This may be an unpopular opinion - but I was not a fan of this part of the story, even more so with the way they took the direction with it ---

It was fun in fanfics and stuff - but the minute I heard it on screen I was so not impressed - but I still had hope that maybe they will handle this positively and respectfully

And then with Josh's speech I got a little hopeful that okay, maybe they will handle this story with care but then....

What the actual fuck?!

What is wrong with the writers? Why even make connections with past characters if you just wanted to kick the character off the show.

Why have Bobby call him 'good people'? Bobby, Chimney, Hen and he shared scar stories. Why have Chimney call him 'cool'? His friendship with Hen - 'Captain Wilson and I go way back...'? Why have Hen and Karen give him the protective sisters 'talk'? Why bond with Eddie and Chris? Why get him invited to Chimney and Maddie's wedding and introduce him to the family - both his biological and found family? And now connect him with Abby only for him to 'exit' and not go on with any character or story arc development?

Why even make a connection to Abby, yet another established character on the show, when the door is going to get shut? Why are there so many invisible strings when you just have to go ahead and cut them off without any resolve in future? They could have just had Buck say, 'hey, it's been six months (since the time jumps are happening off screen anyways) and things are good, why not move in with me?' and Tommy could still have the same reaction --- so what is happening you guys?

And I don't even mind the break up as such - it is the way they are saying its the final goodbye and that the door is shut which is just so disappointing - like even with that break up they had so much potential for drama, for good angsty bittersweet drama - but no they just exit the character and make it look like the door is shut.

Seriously, I am speaking as a writer (amateur as I am, but I still understand the concept of building a story) - they hit a writer's gold mine, it is so rare to have so many invisible strings full circle in the story, especially one that builds season by season and episode by episode with no exact end in vision - so why the fuck would you waste so much potential? They were given something so beautiful by the universe and they had the audacity to fuck it up - and for what?

[scorndotexe]

Out of curiosity, why do you dislike Midnight Mass? It's really like hear your opinions.

it's just so fucking BORING!! the concept is interesting i do find the concept interesting (vampire priest who believes his vampirism is a gift from god) but somehow it was done in the least interesting way possible. sometimes there's like a minute where i thought "holy shit is it finally gonna get better" and then i watched the next episode and it continued to be exactly the same.

all the characters are basically exactly the same. i know it's by monologue flanagan but can they at least monologue in DIFFERENT ways??? dear god. he edited it himself and you can REALLY tell. the fucking ten minute scene that's just "what do you think happens after we die? vcnvncmrnwbvnjef vdmnnc cmnennwneetnewnnwbefnbrtnbemrbermnbmrbtrtbwnrebeb" is crazy who thought that was a good idea. god every character was so forgettable i think i remember like 4 names. genuinely i see people talking about a character and i have to look them up and i STILL don't remember them. don't get me started on the fucking therapy speak. also riley flynn is the most boring protagonist i've ever seen i can't think of a single personality trait he has. i can barely think of ANY personality traits ANY characters have.

i know we shit on his adaptations a lot (as we should) and at the very fucking least he didn't ruin another excellent work of horror with midnight mass but he is NOT a good writer with his own stuff either!! it's so BLAND. even when it's not boring it's bland and uninteresting. i know i'm biased i know i watch extreme horror to find artistic value in underlooked pieces of media so i'm used to "that freak shit" but he did nothing!!! he did nothing with his vampire priest! he was literally irrelevant by the end because he gave that antagonist role to some other character and he was never really the protagonist either. he was just there for a really dumb late-game romance plot/plot twist.

it's such an unbearable show and the ending isn't even good!!! its tone is so fucking weird like everyone dies and yet there's still a weirdly hopeful tone to it. i feel like that's a moment to REALLY lean into the tragedy. it doesn't have a happy ending but it also doesn't let you feel sad enough for it to be truly tragic.

also there's like three different types of vampire in the show and it makes NO sense why they're so different from each other. i'm not asking for extensive lore i'm just asking for consistency.

it's like 8 hours long and i know i've probably spent way more than that complaining about this fucking show but still a waste of my time. it just sucks so much. it could have been an okay movie but as a whole show it's so dragged out and doesn't DO anything with those eight hours. i don't mind a slow burn i really don't but a) the build up has to be worth something and b) it has to have something really really good at the end of the build up.

honestly it looks SO good in gifs and screenshots and fanart that it makes me wish the show was better because you could have a much better experience just looking at those and imagining a good show than actually watching it.

on the plus side if you DO watch the actual show riley's death scene is the funniest shit in the whole thing.

[scoobydoodean]

Dean starting off 7.05 having nightmares about 1) Cas walking into the lake 2) Sam going crazy in the warehouse shooting at nothing 3) His conversation with Amy about past actions being a pattern you will always come back to, right before stabbing her.

I’m already so tired of hearing about Amy in early season 7 and it’s only been two episodes. Fuck her suburban mom schtick that she uses to justify remorselessly murdering addicts. I simply don’t feel bad for her at all and the idea that it was all a one time thing is absolutely laughable to me given she felt absolutely zero remorse for anything. But I do think she represents something deeper for Dean—the idea of an inescapable destiny. It will always end bloody or sad or with you becoming the monster higher powers told you you’d be. When Dean tells her "You are what you are" he's talking about Cas, and he's talking about Sam, and he's talking about himself. They will never escape. They will never be okay. Their world will always be full of blood and death and mistakes and all of them taking turns going off the deepend.

It’s a defeatist attitude in keeping with his depressed state and the range of emotions he was feeling in 7.04 when Osiris saw the delicious levels of guilt Dean puts on himself (most of them completely illogical—like it being his fault that Jo became a hunter, or that Sam would somehow still be at Stanford if he hadn't asked him for help finding John over a single weekend). Osiris targets guilty people because he has a type like any most other serial killers. The situation with Osiris also illustrates the differences between Dean and Amy even though Dean sees both of them as monsters. Osiris only targeted people who felt bad about the things they'd done. You could murder 1000 people in cold blood and if you didn't feel bad about it, he wouldn't give a damn. The guilt was delicious to him, and that guilt is something Amy utterly lacked... and also something Sam claims to lack (though I don't think Sam's low level of guilty feelings actually sticks).

[mvmnbnv]

Did you finish act one 1 because I need to know your feelings. Like I’m honestly not feeling the writing and pacing for the first 3 episodes. It feels like a different show. I’m feeling iffy on how they’re centering Vi’s entire conflict on Caitlyn. Like of course she feels bad for Caitlyn, but it feels like her concern is more centered on Caitlyn mother’s Cassandra and Piltover and not much of what they did to Zaun.

Yes, I know Vi becomes enforcer, but it’s so fast paced that she only dwelled on not wanting to being an enforcer for a little bit?

Also, the way they’re writing the sister’s relationship…I’m not really feeling it either. She’s didn’t even grieve her? It’s like Vi has put her own personal trauma and feelings to the side for Caitlyn’s sake.

Like I need act 2 to actually give us insight on what’s going on in her mind because she’s had time zero to process what has happened to her.

hey!

yeah, i watched act one and boy there was a LOT going on, but ofc my main focus was vi so ig ill touch on that

i didnt like how she ultimately chose to became an enforcer, and it was hardly a choice because she was enlisted even after she blatantly said no, but she kinda just watches everything fall apart after the memorial and is just like "okay fuck it ill do it" like...sister what??? and boooy do i need her to stop centering caitlyn because why tf did she let her literally gas the undercity!?!? Like i hope when she comes back as an enforcer again she actually puts her fucking foot down, espeically considering she'll probably be piltovers protector atp. but i hate how everything everyone who worked on the show pretty much alludes to everything about her having to do with cait...i can only hope that they see it as a character flaw but im not even sure atp. and boooy ep 3...oh boy that just djfhsjdkffh. a physical assault is nuts...and i already see people trying to compare it to when vi hit powder, and if thats what they were going for then they missed the mark intensely because there are just too many descrepancies that make it not the same. cait's borderline biggoted language beforehand and telling vi she thought she was different...for stopping her from possibly killing a child of all things?? it doesnt make much sense. and it literally cant be compared because vi herself was a child in ep 3 s1, a child with the intention of coming back mind you lmao, cait kinda just hit her and left for good. idk bro im still trying to rack my brain around it all

[trashyandtiredsol]

OKAY SO- I looked it up but the guy called Singed from season one is the one doing the wolf shit- I knew of him from before I just forgot his name so uh- ye👍

Back to my live reaction for this season: Next up we got episode 3!!

1: Caitlyn time again✨✨✨

2: OH the smogs called the Grey and Caitlyn's mother was providing ventilation systems for the undercity so the people of the undercity could actually breathe ajfjsjgikxkv and I think Cait's squad is opening those vents up??????? Idk exactly so take this with a grain of salt

Oh no okay no the squad ain't doing that

3: OH YEAH DEFINITELY NOT- THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT THEIR DOING

4: WHO TF IS AMARA?!!!

Oh she's got a past with Ambessa and her family okay nvm

ALSO- she knows why Ambessa is actually in Piltover so there's that nice little bit of lore

5: CAITVI TALK HERE WE GO

6: KISS KISS KISS

Also I noticed during this scene with CaitVi and the other scene with JayVik they both had "[tender music playing]"

JayVik mayhaps cannon? Mayhaps like CaitVi? Hm? 👀

7: YOOO one of the council members is using shimmer??????

Also who's this fox lady- love the ears and eyes and markings but who tf is she

8: There's ANOTHER fox lady????????? Names Lest also

OH WAIT THEY'RE THE SAME NVM

Also are they a fox or a cat- hmmmmmmmmmmm I think either works

9: We getting some literal Arcane lore and a Vi and Jinx confrontation LESSGOOO

10: OH alrighty so the squad DID open the vents to clear the streets from what was said

Also- Major Arcane lore dropping about wild runes happening ajfjdkvkdkvjxvj

11: OH THEIR ACTIONS ARE HAVING CONSEQUENCES Y'ALL THEY. ARE. HAVING. CONSEQUENCES!!!!!

THE EPISODE AIN'T EVEN OVER YET WHAT'S HAPPENING AFTER THIS AJFJSKGKDKGKXKG

12: NO CAITVI DIVORCE TO :(

13: OH SHIT THE GREY IS SET OFF I REPEAT THE GREY IS SET OFF

AMBESSA DON'T LOOK SMUG

NO CAITLYN DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE >:[

14: NO THE BLACK ROSE SHITS BACK FUCK NO

15: AMBESSA DON'T FUCKIN LIE TO THESE PEOPLE

Also Caitlyn???? Damn das a turn of events

16: Guess Singed is making a werewolf or somethin I guess

AND NOW- That's it for the first three episodes y'all!!!

GONNAA EAT THEN TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK THEN-

THEN ARCANE >:]

[kaiiscottage]

Some Matakara’s from before he got horribly traumatized <3

[babacontainsmultitudes]

He's a used car salesman. He has a heart of gold. He can't parallel park. He has two gay witch italian dads. He chops the wood. He has a magical talking cat mom. He's an assassin. He isn't an assassin. He's actually the cat from earlier. He's trans (female cat to male human). He's been shot through the heart. He was in Dewar. He was not in the war. He was in Dewar. He's on his last of nine lives. He just had a marble shoved down his throat. He's even bisexual. I didn't say his name, but he popped into your head, didn't he?

[kelin-is-writing]

I am: Heartbroken…

[edwinisms]

on my third rewatch and just got through ep 3 and man. the devlin house is such a strong fucking episode. like quality-wise. acting-wise. plot-wise. etc. that’s not to say the first two episodes weren’t strong, but the devlin house hits noticeably harder and hits different. like it’s the precise turning point episode where you realize oh. this show isn’t just gonna be campy with a dash of angst. we’re addressing some serious heavy ass trauma. and not just magical unreal trauma either like. just straight up abuse. and the boy who’s been unserious and silly this whole time isn’t just like that for shallow comic relief reasons. there is so much more there lurking under the surface. oh man it’s good

[alipeeps]

Episode 23

Oh shit what he placed his inner core in someone - in Zhuo Yichen - just before he "died"? Zhuo Yichen has been possessed by Li Lun since then?!!!

No shit sherlock!

Ahhhh this is so fucking ominous!!

Is Zhu Yan even conscious of what's going on around him? Or is he locked in his own mind, fighting to keep control?

Seems like the latter.

This all sounds like Zhuo Yichen's thoughts/feelings though, not Li Lun's? So is he not directly controlling Zhuo Yichen unless he needs to - e.g. to stop his capturing Ao Yin? Other than that he lets him do whatever, as long as it doesn't interfere with his plans. And Zhuo Yichen has come of his own volition to kill Zhu Yan, because he feels there's no other option and he needs to protect the Demon Hunting Bureau...

Honestly, that's kinda worse. If Li Lun directly controlled Zhuo Yichen to kill Zhu Yan, Zhuo Yichen would feel awful about it afterwards. But if he genuinely were to do it of his own volition, albeit because he was manipulated into it, then that would feel much much worse...

Oooh what's going on?

Ayyyy it's the manifestation of Zhu Yan's demon core...

Ooooh that's the freaky bits from the trailer!!

Shiiiit so the bit with the fingers coming up from behind to close over Zhuo Yichen's face, is a depiction of Li Lun taking over control of him!!

Smart girl.

So really it's not so much repairing the baize token as making a new one..

Oh shit Ao Yin!!

God I do love the fight scenes in this show. We've not had a proper one for a while, and Pei Sijing never fails to be badass in them...

Umm.. silly question perhaps, but why didn't one of you dumb fuckers jump up and grab the token a) the second Ao Yin appeared or b) while she was twirling around fighting with Sijing and Ying Lei?

Where did Ao Lin conjure up a copy of Sijing's bow though?

Bloody good job it was that way around otherwise you'd be dead

Yeeeah go Ying Lei!!

This is all very dramatic and all but like... maybe fucking shoot her again instead of just watching her and Xiao Bai face off?

Oh what, no? He's not controlled is he?!!

Wait, Li Lun is controlling Bai Jiu?!

But... he can't be controlling Bai Jiu AND Zhuo Yichen, surely? And it showed us Li Lun taking over Zhuo Yichen just before? So which of them is his core in?!

I'M SO CONFUSED!!!

Oh shiiiitttt he put his core in Bai Jiu when he attacked him in the illusion...

Fuuuuck he was taking over while he was sleeping...

Oh FUCK so he is asleep right now?! Ao Yin knocked him out deliberately so Li Lun could take control...

And Bai Jiu DID give the needle to Zhuo Yichen to use on Zhu Yan... which then raises the question of what the fuck does that needle actually do? Does it force him to expel his core?

Oh SHIT it will allow him to control Zhu Yan?!!

Please wake up Bai Jiu. Pleeeeeeeeeease...

Ooooh clever girl!!!!

OKAY now we got the goddamn goddess back on the team!!!

Yeah that seems like a really BAD idea? Like... deal with the threat in front of you first?

It's 2 on 2 and one of them you don't want to injure. That's not going to go well.

Ayyyy I stand corrected! 3 vs 2! Go baby bro!!

This whole fight just shows how fucking powerful Zhu Yan is. Like... he's not even fucking trying. Zhuo Yichen is leaping around the place, forwning in concentration, launching vigorous attacks... and Zhu Yan barely moves. Just smoothly sidesteps. Doesn't flinch or blink, is just cold and controlled.

Is he... firing frozen bits of his own blood at Zhu Yan? How is that going to help?

Uh.. Wen Xiao... I love you and all and I know you are worried about Zhuo Yichen but can i please suggest you deal with the bigger threat first and contain Zhu Yan before you run to check on Xiao Zhuo?

Oh damn, Ao Yin took the bow? I didn't even notice at the time...

Oh shit are they gonna kiss?!!

Oh dang, nearly... was that the contract to treat her as a colleague kicking in?

Oh noooeeees.... he thinks he's still imagining her!! My HEART!!

lol

Because she's lived 300 fucking years alone to save you buddy...

Wait wtf he BROKE the fucking cloud light sword?!!

Is this where the previous mention that there were 2 cloud light OJ swords made comes into play? Is that their next quest? To find the other sword?

Oooh and did it break because of what happened earlier with Zhu Yan? It seemed to be making crackling/cracking sounds when they were facing off with the sword stuck in Zhu Yan?

Yup - I went back and checked. The sword started cracking when it was stuck in Zhu Yan!

But whyyyy though? It's hardly the first time he's been stabbed with it and this didn't happen... Oh shit though... is this the first time he's been stabbed with the cloud light sword since the baize token was removed from him?!!

What do you mean risk your life? You're a soul trapped in a puppet and able to manifest. I didn't think you could die in a physical fight?

Aaand we're reduced to fisticuffs now between Li Lun and Zhuo Yichen.

The thing is.. Li Lun has used Truth Eye on Zhuo Yichen so he can see him as Li Lun... but he is still possessing and controlling the body of a 13 year old boy who hasn't trained in martial arts. Surely he would simply not have the strength to be packing the kind of blows Li Lun is giving? Orrrrr to throttle Zhuo Yichen like that?

Wheeeeerrrrre the fuck is Zhu Yan? Come on my boy, I am waiting on you to dive in and save the day!!

Come onnnnn Xiao Bai, break free!!

I think you might underestimate the boy Li Lun...

Oh god damn this is just painful...

OH SHIT!!

You fucking bastard Li Lun...

Oh shit what he planned this from the start? He knew the ever-burning wood would kill him once the seal was broken - Wen Zongyu had planned from the fucking start to use Xiao Bai's body to host Li Lun!!

You tell him Zhu Yan!

If it's true that you saved the memory of what happened in the dungeon in the sundial you can prove it to him.

Oh man that was EXHAUSTING!! And the ep ends with Bai Jiu still controlled by Li Lun!! Do we get new episodes tomorrow? Pleeeeeease don't tell me I have to wait a whole extra day?!!!

[buddiedaydreamer911]

bucks apartment smells like smoke.

buck is now alone in said apartment with christopher.

eddie is not there.

reasonably i know there is still an episode between now and Ashes Ashes/All Fall Down

but what the fuck

[loverboybrightsideghost]

“you finally got adopted” really got to me because how long do you think eugene and lance hoped and hoped and hoped that they would get adopted, but they never did. and then they gave up and ran away. but he finally got adopted 🥺