#out of all of this the only speculative moment of that ep is deciding whether they fucked at the end of that date or not?

[eddiegettingshot]

thank you for your posts which has helped me get a handle on my own feelings about the ep and that one of my big issues was feeling like buck not immediately apologizing on the court or at any point afterwards was so out of character for him.

like i think i'm not even as bothered by the shove itself as some people. maybe it's because i'm into sports generally but i get a heat of the moment emotional shove during a basketball game, like i'm not excusing it but i get it.

but the buck who post-lawsuit was chasing after eddie's forgiveness and attention would not go radio silent and not even reach out to his best friend after doing something like that. i just don't buy it.

i’m glad that my ranting has resonated with you! and yeah, totally valid re: the body checking, i think part of that for me was also that it was just like. viscerally weird and upsetting to watch buck decide to chase EDDIE (eddie!!!!!!!) down and then… do that. to EDDIE. but obviously different interpretations and all!

his response in the aftermath was what was just completely unacceptable to me, especially if we’re supposed to believe that everything he did in this episode was actually about tommy—because as much as everyone is enjoying their buddie speculation, this reading (and it IS there once the buddie goggles come off, that’s the way they WANT you to read it) suggests that buck actually doesn’t really give a shit about eddie at all, at least not when someone shiny and new shows up. and that’s… not buck. that’s so out of character for buck. it’s DISRESPECTFUL to buck’s character, even.

because, like. buck says multiple times that he feels bad, and people seem to buy it generally and think that his conversation with maddie was proof. except for the fact that when buck feels bad, he doesn’t avoid things. he runs headfirst into them trying to make it better. you’re seriously telling me that if buck had actually caused eddie injury—and let’s not forget that it could have been bad enough to bench eddie from work, they just got lucky—he wouldn’t be over at eddie’s house day and night, trying to make things easier for him? sure, maybe he was in shock at the court (i don’t buy it for a second lol) but what about in all the time afterwards? buck, in general, has never cared about whether people want him there, but now it really matters that eddie might be upset with him, and he doesn’t take a second to think why eddie would be when he’s never upset with buck for things that aren’t his fault? and this thirty-two year old man needs not one but two people to teach him lessons that actual children should already know?

the conversation with tommy makes everything 100x worse to me because, aside from the whole thing about exclusion being secondhand embarrassing, the fact is that buck still hasn’t said a word to eddie but is able to make jokes about it. for some reason, he needs tommy—a guy he might like but has known for a week—to TELL HIM to call his best friend. it continues to be absurd to me that they chose to have these two flirting over buck hurting eddie. and on tommy’s part, any rational grown person should have been like, “it’s kinda weird that you did that to my friend i really like who’s also sooooo important to you that we’re gonna talk about how great he is for 2 minutes.” not “oh that’s so charming and i want you.” sorry 🤷🏾‍♀️

when we only had the script leak, i assumed that buck did apologize in the moment for whatever he did and then withdrew, or that there would be a scene after he spoke to maddie where he apologized. but now it’s obvious that they couldn’t have shown buck’s normal response to doing this to eddie because it was all in service of him having his moment with tommy. so because they used eddie and buck’s friendship with eddie as a plot device, they ended up assassinating buck’s character and regressed his development to a truly ridiculous level.

i maintain, and have maintained since before the episode came out, that this was the worst possible way to go about this arc. and it’s weird to me that we’re just glossing over it to be like, well they were talking about eddie! they were talking about christopher! tommy is like eddie! well, yeah, sure, but buck treated eddie like dog shit, and i’m pretty sure he’s not gonna grovel about it. so. like i keep saying, i’m very glad that bi buck is canon and i think it’s important, but i can also think that they fucked up the execution and that i hated it and wanted better for a character i really do love.

[rebeccadewinterthinks]

Good omens The Book of life Conspiracy theory Part 6

the previous parts of this theory you can read here

6. Hide a tree in the woods

so, it's not so important whether Gabriel remembers anything about his former life or not. The problem is that the Book disappeared in the interval between the erasure of memory in the elevator and the appearance in the bookshop, and this period remained with Gabriel only in the form of vague sensations. He carried the box somewhere for a long time, his hands ached.... the rest was a blur.

when the Archangel walked down Wickber Street, the box was already empty, which means the Book is not in the shop. However, if he doesn't know or remember this detail, he might think that is where it is. After all, it's a very logical decision to hide the book among the books, right?

and you know what? There are at least three people looking for the book in the series, and all three think Aziraphale has it somewhere. The trap of the obvious.

let's start with Gabriel. Yeah, he doesn't remember it, but he's looking for it. I don't know why.

there are two moments in the series that indirectly point to this search. First, a very strange activity that Gabriel found in the bookshop: shelving books by the first letter of the first sentence [06:05 Ep.2].

«– But look, what exactly are you doing? – Oh, I thought, I'd make the books easier to find, so I thought if I put them in alphabetical order.

– Alphabetical... by author?

– What's author? No, I was shelving the books by the first letter of the first sentence.

– But no one would ever... Jolly good. Good idea. Thank you, Jim. Carry on. »

an occupation, at first glance, as ridiculous as possible. But! Aziraphale's permission allows Gabriel to open all the books in a row without raising any questions or suspicions. He doesn't remember what the Book of Life looks like, but he obviously recognizes it when he starts reading it. And he really may not know what the author is, because the only book he knows has an obvious "author" as well.

the second point is the dialog about gravity. Gabriel drops the book on the table. Crowley says it's gravity, it's needed for things to stay where they're put [16:17 Ep.3].

«– Gravity. It's um...a thing that happens when object are pulled together. In this case they're all pulled downwards because the earth is the largest thing around.

– Why?

– Ah. Honestly, um, I don't remember. Seemed like a good idea when we were all talking about it. So things would stay where you put them, not just drift off.

– But it doesn't stay where I put them. It goes down. Except for flies, they go up.»

yes, here again they draw our attention to the fly, but in the beginning the conversation is about the fact that books don't stay where Gabriel puts them. Maybe this is a hint like «I remember putting the book in the box, but now it's not there, where could it have gone?».

we can also speculate about that the book hanging out in space next to Crowley when he launched the nebula was the Book of Life, and it certainly didn't fall anywhere then. This idea is entertaining because it could suddenly shoot up in season three, if Neil does decide to develop the Book storyline in some way.

[slutneto]

Babe no offence but Greg saying are you trying to seduce me is not literal. He is talking about Tom trying to seduce him to that lifestyle. I like the ship and Tom has actual moments, but that isn't one. Greg still is at the most friendly. That may evolve though. I still buy 'you just ruined it'.

babe, how did you watch tom ask greg out two seconds after shiv told him she won't be in for the night, followed by them getting a table for two in a fancy restaurant, with tom plying greg with food and wine, with greg literally asking if he is being seduced rn, and doing the sluttiest hair tuck, while smiling coyly and blushing slightly, when tom says that he is trying to seduce him. how did you watch all of that and still came up with 'friendly' as the best way you could describe it. how.

[thepersona]

Extraordinary Attorney Woo: Thoughts on episodes 11-12 (spoilers!)

Check out my midseason review here!

Lots to unpack this week.

First, let's talk about romance. Most dramas with a major romantic storyline have a defining moment (kiss) near the midpoint of the series, and a 'Now what?' phase that tends to mess with the plot towards the finale.

And the 'mess' can manifest in different ways, and it's not a bad thing when handled thoughtfully. The most common I can think of:

The writers give the couple something to disagree on / misunderstand because the honeymoon phase only lasts so long on and off screen.

The writers separate the couple because of a third party (family, love triangle, other).

The writers give the couple something to fix that may not have anything to do with their relationship to give the lovey-dovey stuff a break.

The couple gets boring because the relationship is put on the backburner and the writers are flipping a coin whether to set up a wedding or a breakup. (This is the worst.)

This week's episodes have shown signs of the first three. Don't get me wrong, conflict is necessary in any story, otherwise it wouldn't be interesting and succumb to the fourth point. What I love about the romantic storyline in EAW is that it blends well into Young-woo's overarching struggle to be just another person making her way in the world. It makes so much sense that her inexperience and unintended insensitivity would frustrate Jun-ho, seeing how much effort he puts in to be the best possible boyfriend to her.

Gwang-ho's reaction to seeing them kiss, first comical then slightly dramatic (masterful acting from Jeon Bae-soo btw, you just see the words Taesan and Boston pop in his head through his eyes). His decision regarding Tae Su-mi's offer is still up in the air and we don't really know which way he will lean towards once he officially meets Jun-ho.

I'm waiting to see how this unfolds now that trash boy Kwon Min-woo knows, and the preview for the next episode where it seems more people (Jun-ho's family?) are telling him to find someone else.

Now let's talk about the cases / themes.

I must say I wasn't the biggest fan of the lottery jackpot splitting-turned-divorce case of ep 11 (which really said men ain't sh*t except for the men in Young-woo's life minus KMW). I mean, people fight over money all the time so we are bound to see a money-splitting case more than once, but it was a little weak(?) compared to let's say the three brothers' case. The ruling just felt so unrealistic (though I'm not an expert to say it's impossible) and even a bit rushed just so they can show how the husband did a 180 because of the money.

Then there was the issue of attorney-client privilege. I'm sure if it came down to it, there would be a big issue about Young-woo and Jun-ho visiting the gimbap shop if the husband ever decided to sue. But then he died so that was that.

Overall, I felt that while it wasn't a case for Young-woo to showcase her talent and that's ok, the case was a bit too on-the-nose in driving the theme of how men (yes, it's getting a bit misandrist, I know and that's a problem, too) can drastically change in a relationship and that they are not what they seem (poor Su-yeon deserved a better storyline this week).

I think the biggest misstep in ep 11 was choosing to feature another relationship case. We just came from the massive r*pe case from episode 10 so it is inevitable that the audience would automatically look for and speculate looming similarities between the case and the relationship between the leads. Perhaps to minimize ridiculous suspicions towards Jun-ho, they chose to add Su-yeon's storyline to show that anyone, no matter how well-adapted, could fall victim to betrayal and deceit.

The other theme was about Young-woo's inflexibility with the law, which could have been more central in ep 11 but the writer chose another route. This was mostly used to add funny moments in the episode but it didn't have a very sound resolution because the truck did all the work. And let's talk about that truck for a moment. While I'm happy to see the husband's demise given how abusive he became, the accident in itself was so rushed-deus-ex-machina that I was scratching my head when it happened. It cut the looming divorce case so abruptly. It also gave us a chance to see Jun-ho in hug chair mode and more amazing acting from Park Eun-bin and Kang Tae-oh. However, it cuts directly to him walking her home, saying cute things about the hug chair, and another kiss in full light this time.

My problem isn't with the romance, but the lack of transition between the truck accident and the next scene. Maybe the exchange between Tae Su-mi and Kwon Min-woo could have come right after the accident, then have the romantic scene so it ends on the shot of Young-woo's dad catching them. I'm nitpicking at this point but it definitely contributed to how disjointed the episode felt overall.

Episode 12 had the better case and storytelling. I loved seeing Lee Bong-ryun play the activist Attorney Ryu and the return of Judge Ryu from ep 6. I liked the wrongful termination case and how sexist it could be. The outcome wasn't in favor of the underdog, but it felt more grounded in what actually happens due to legal loopholes that favor big companies.

The character of Attorney Ryu was very enjoyable to watch. Loud, but likeable. On the manipulative side, but knew well enough not to throw Young-woo under the trashy bus driven by Kwon Min-woo. She also has a strong sense of morality, but is willing to play with the gray areas of the law. We may never know how she really got the HR manager's notebook and that's ok. See, this is the kind of good characterization I've been missing since ep 9. And well portrayed at that.

Poor Jung Myung-seok went through a lot in this ep. I certainly hope he isn't fatally ill. Stabbing fugitive aside, it was a bit surprising (but also not surprising) to hear him rant about his interpretation of what attorneys do. It was a strange feeling, I felt a bit disappointed in him as Young-woo's mentor but I agreed with him to an extent. It was a practical take on his job as a corporate lawyer.

Along with the legal opinion statement that Hanbada drafted for the company, this certainly puts Young-woo on the crossroads between the expectations of the law firm and the type of lawyer she wants to be by challenging her understanding of right and wrong. A wonderful link to episode 5 (sunflower vs. letter on the wall) as I thought they had forgotten about that for a moment.

It seems we'll have a Jeju-do episode next week so maybe they'll stumble upon a case there about whales. I do hope they'll expedite the secret-child drama and give Su-yeon something substantial next week. At least let her meet Geurami who already calls her an angel!

That's it. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. See you next Whoa Whoa Wednesday.

[matan4il]

Ok so I know you don’t really like to speculate, so feel free to ignore this, if it’s not something you want to do, but: where do you think the journey with Taylor and Buddie is going? I feel like Taylor is there to make a point or cause some development and I can see the narrative framework for it (like the Ana parallels) but I can’t quite grasp it yet? Do you think it’s still too early to recognize or do you have an idea?

One speculation I’ve seen a few times is her causing Eddie to be jealous but to be honest I don’t think her and Buck are actually close enough to be jealous over? Like, compared to Eddie?

Anyway, I hope you have a great day and your Meta was awesome as always! :D

Hi hon! It's true, I prefer not to speculate too much, I feel like it's better to not get any hopes up and thus not suffer any disappointments, but I also try never to leave any ask unanswered...

I feel like a part of the reason why we got Ana and Taylor is 'coz Buck and Eddie were the show's only single characters, who went through ALL of s3 being single, and on a TV drama, that's not a situation that can last. So something had to happen for them romantically.

I do think it's very telling that the show would give them both girlfriends within the same time frame. One would have been enough, but nope, once more the show chose to parallel them.

Now, I believe what Ana contributed to Eddie's romantic journey was spelled out in part in ep 406 (Bobby telling Eddie explicitly that it's ok to move on) and in part only when they broke up in 503 (when Eddie finally chooses himself over pleasing this heteronotmative idea of a "perfect" family he had, "the idea of us" that he mentions to Ana).

Just like with Ana, I think we won't be able to fully say what Taylor has contributed to Buck's romantic journey until her part is over. Especially because right now, she doesn't feel significant enough to be able to point to something she’s given Buck, unlike how with Ana, it was clear from the start that she was the moment when Eddie was supposed to let go of his Shannon past, and where he could see it's alright to date again.

BUT the bit that stands out to me as the theme with Taylor for now has to do with Buck saying to her in 414 that he's done running after people who didn't want him. He did that with Abby, he did it with Taylor in 208, and again to a degree in s4. Even though he supposedly broke the pattern in that season’s finale by not chasing after her, he's once more the guy with the notably missing gf. So, I think that's what he needs to face, that he's still in a relationship where his partner is only partly present, and he has to decide for himself whether he's actually ok with that...

I hope this helped, lovely! Thank you for sending this ask! xoxox

To anyone who sent me an ask, I am going through all of them, thank you so much for your patience! If you wanna check whether I've replied to yours yet, you can have a look at my ask tag. xoxox

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Why The Darkling Might Get Redeemed.

So I know there are varying opinions amongst fans on whether or not Aleksander will be redeemed in the show or not and also whether or not its possible for a darklina endgame. Personally I would love to see both a redemption and an endgame. I know there's alot of talk about what how it doesn’t end like that in the books, but well tv adaptions don’t follow the books often anyway so I’m not going to let that deter me. So in that spirit, here are a few things that the show changed from the books that I think might indicate a possible darkling redemption/ darklina endgame. Obviously this is all just my own speculation and obviously there are both show and book spoilers.  

You Looked Like You Needed Saving

Ok to me this is the most obvious one, but remember that scene when Alina enters the room at the winter fete and after Aleksander approaches her she says this line about how he looked like he needed saving? Well right after that the inferni begin their demonstration and the flames cause light to surround Aleks.

In this moment Alina is talking about saving him from his conversation with the tsar and tsaritsa but I do think the scene is largely symbolic. I do think this is suppose to symbolise how he has kind of lost himself in the darkness a bit and how Alina’s light is the thing that can save him. I mean I really don’t think its just a coincidence that at the moment alina talks about Aleks needing saving he is suddenly bathed in light, to me this is very obviously planned by the showrunners to symbolise something.  

Dome of Light 

So on the same vein as that, another scene which I think has similar symbolism is the scene where Alina creates the dome of light around Aleks in the war room in ep 4. 

In this scene the shadows/darkness is creeping closer as Aleks becomes more and more lost in his dark thoughts, his pain and his anger. These are the things and the thoughts that drive him to his darker actions, which is why it is interesting to me that in this moment Alina reaches out to him and a dome of light pushes the darkness back. I mean maybe its just me but what I take from this is that Alina is the one that can pull Aleks back from those dark thoughts and maybe show him another way. Its almost like she puts up this protective bubble around him. But what it also interesting (and yes I am aware that I am most likely reading way too much into this) but once Alina lets go at first they are both plunged into darkness before the room lightens again. This could maybe be symbolic of Aleks potentially causing Alina to lose her way and go a bit dark before they both find a medium a balance between her light and his dark, if that makes sense. Or it could be symbolic of the state of their relationship that they are now going through darker times before they reconcile.

Another scene that I think might be relevant here is the one where Aleks confronts Kaz and learns that Alina ran on her own. It was at this moment for Aleks that he lost Alina and it is at this moment that we see that encroaching darkness again, only this time Alina isn’t there to balance it with her light.  

 I really do think that this shows how without Alina, Aleks will once again lose himself to his own darkness.   

Aleks’ Humanity

So there’s no denying that in the show Aleksander is alot more human than in the books. Even down to the fact that they decided to give him a name, General Kirigan. They also revealed his first name alot sooner too (sorry book darklinas I know that ones a sore subject) and I think they did this to help the audience connect with him more. Not only did they add scenes that weren’t in the books at all but some of the scenes that were in the books have been changed to highlight Aleks’ humanity. For example the war room talk I mentioned above where we see how much the wars of his long life have had a toll on him, the scene at the fountain and the flashback have all been added to give the character more depth. Then you have the ones they changed, their first kiss is changed so not only is it Alina who makes the first move but in that scene we see Aleks as being quite vulnerable and maybe even nervous. Then obviously their second kiss where Aleks stops to ask if she is sure. The make me your villain scene where he literally has tears in his eyes. Even the scene where he finds m*lina and the stag, yes it was sort of  dark for him to ask her to choose between the stag and mal but this was still different from the books where he just taunts both m*l and alina about their kiss at the fete and doesn’t show any care at all towards alina. Whilst like I said it was morally grey of him to make her choose between them I don’t think it is something that book darkling would have done he’d have just let m*l die. There’s also that line of m*l just protecting miss starkov which I think shows that even though he is angry with her he still cares for her. Also in the books he threatens m*l with death in this scene, in the show he is offering to heal m*l. Even the scene where the collar is put on her, whilst still awful, when Alina struggles he stops and takes the time to talk to her and he can’t look at her but in the books he just puts it on her and when she tries to resist he hurts m*l.

To me I feel like they’ve spent alot of time bringing that humanity to the audiences attention for a character that is supposedly irredeemable. I know alot of it was ben barnes but some of those scenes that show his humanity are scripted scenes, so someone behind the scenes must have also had some care about making sure this character was still a human character.

When Is A Monster Not A Monster? 

We all know that quote right, ‘when is a monster not a monster, oh when you love it’. Its that idea that a monster can’t love and can’t be loved. Its like what I was talking about above how in the books the darkling is very cold and doesn’t really show much love towards anyone (though there are some glimpses). Villains are often depicted as being these unloving creatures who only care about themselves. But this is not how Aleks is depicted at all, we know that he can love and be loved and the writers added a whole backstory to the character to show this. We know from the flashback in ep 7 that Aleks loves Luda and that she loved him back. This makes the character again not only more human but more sympathetic. Losing someone we love, the fear of losing someone we love is something we can all relate to and so in that moment you can understand Alek’s pain at losing his love. On top of that this flashback shows us that it is Alek’s grief and pain that leads to the creation of the fold, that the fold was an accident not an intent. In the books we are never really told the story of how the fold was created but it is often suggested that Aleks made it out of greed and thirst for power. So they have changed this to kind of make it not really Alek’s fault. I mean its his fault in the sense of he did use merzost when he probably shouldn’t have but his reasons for doing so were honourable and something we can sympathise with. 

They also show us that Aleks has strong and deep feelings for Alina, unlike in the books where post reveal the darkling seems mostly uncaring and even nonchalant towards Alina, even when show Aleksander is at his angriest with her we are still shown that he also still cares about her. We are also shown signs that she still cares for him. It again is going back to this idea of love being something that is inherently human and not something villains are typically associated with. Again I have to ask the question of why make this change for a character that is irredeemable? 

I Never Really Liked Farms. 

Ok so this one is more to do whether there could be a darklina endgame. During a scene with Genya in ep 5, Alina talks about how she’s always wanted to travel the world, she also mentions how M*l always talked about retiring to a farm but that she never liked farms. This isn’t a conversation that ever happens in the books, that I am aware of. To me it is kind of weird that they would add the line about her not liking farms considering that is basically what her fate is in the books, I mean she is basically saying hey you not the ending I got in the books yeah don’t like that. But hey maybe I’m just interpreting that wrong but it was an interesting choice to have her explicitly say that it wasn’t something she wanted. That is M*l’s dream not hers. Also I briefly touched on this in an answer to an ask I got but its interesting that Alina has a love for travelling and Aleks is also a traveller. So her dream is better suited to Aleks than it is to M*l. But what else is interesting is that this conversation happens in the same episode that Alina decides to take her relationship with Aleksander to the next level and kisses him. So first they tell us that m*l and alina have different dreams about what they want to do with the rest of their lives, Alina’s dreams match alot better with Aleks and then we have all those adorable and steamy scenes between darklina throughout the rest of the episode, and they expect me not to ship darklina.

Make Love not War

So this is another thing that I talked a little about in another post but at the end of ep 8 when you have the big finale in the fold for some reason instead of having an epic battle between the two grisha who wield light and shadow powers they instead have a fight between M*l and Aleksander. This to me is a really interesting choice they even go so far as to bench Alina by having her lose consciousness so those final moments of the fight she isn’t involved in at all. This is completely different from the books where she is the one that stands against the darkling and even leaves him to die in the fold along with 30-40 others. She also uses the cut for the first time. So its a bit odd that they chose to not have a fight between darklina and they only reason I can think of for them not doing this is because they didn’t want to show darklina using their powers against each other or trying to kill each other. I know ben said in an interview that Alina tried to kill Aleks but correct me if I am wrong but I don’t remember any instance where Alina actually tried to kill him, I know that she cut the piece of antler from his hand but she never went so far as to trying to take him life and to me she looked concerned for him when Inej threw her knife at him. It is possible that going into season 2 Aleks will feel like Alina had been apart of trying to kill him because I don’t think he knew that Ivan had attacked her. So he might assume that Alina was ok with M*l leaving him to die to the Volcra.

 But anyway like I said in that previous post I feel like they don’t want to cross too far over a line and start having them try to kill each other or have Aleksander try to use the cut against her or something like that because they are keeping the door open for a potential redemption for Aleksander. If they cross over into the territory of them actually trying to kill each other then its going to be a lot harder to do a redemption later if that is something they decide to do. I’m not saying they knew for sure that they are going to do a redemption arc and so avoided it but I am saying its possible they are considering it and so want to make sure he is a character that can still be redeemed. 

Darklina Promotion

I am aware with this one that alot of it has to do with media and attention and making sure the show is being talked about but they seem to promote darklina an awful lot for a dead ship. I mean those BTS images of jessie and ben they keep releasing are so incredible, but some of them also to me look a little staged almost like a photoshoot and its not really something I see with the other bts which seem more candid. Obviously these bts and well any promotion to do with darklina get the most attention even out doing the season 2 announcement so obviously they are going to keep promoting them. But the fact that they do keep promoting them at least tells us that they are aware of how popular the pairing is and from the comments on those posts they know that many fans want a different ending so maybe there is the slimmest chance they might go for it. I mean they also must have seen the fallout from GOT and The 100 as to what happens when fans don’t like the ending of a show so they might want to avoid that who knows though like I said this is all speculation. Me personally I think its a case of we aren’t going to know until the final credits of the last episode roll, until that moment anything is possible.   

[renidrag]

I literally can’t stop thinking about how the finale is going to play out for Greta and Riley and was wondering if you could give me your theories if you have any.

Like we know that they’re finally going to talk to each other but who do you think is going to initiate the conversation? What’s going to happen that they finally breakdown and talk? Also, what do you think is going on with Luz? Do you think she’s the one that tells Greta about her and Riley or does Riley tell her herself? Why else would Luz be at the party though? I’m having such a hard time picturing how it’s all going to play out in this one episode. Like there’s so much that needs to be addressed will it even end on a good note for them?? If the season ends with them on bad terms and we don’t get a season 2 I’ll be devastated.

Sorry that’s a lot of questions but I just want to know how you think it’s all gonna go down. I’ve loved reading all of your other theories and analyses!

alright alright let me answer this question by question lmao but this is all speculation ofc because I have NO IDEA

because the pics we have of the conversation are in riley's room and because she's been the one to try to initiate conversation the past three times we've seen them talk - in ep 14 when riley yells at greta, the 'wow greta you look great' line (still can't believe she said this on a group facetime aljsfdjsald) and their final almost-convo in ep 15 - it seems most likely that it will be riley who pulls her aside so that they can be alone in a room together (for like the third time ever!!!) and so that she can finally hear the end of 'actually I wanted to tell you'

on the other hand I'm also thinking that maybe greta has had enough of being interrupted. she's been trying to have this out with riley for so long that maybe on this third attempt she just shuts them in a room together so that she can say her piece. if she's been thinking over this one conversation and all the different ways it could go endlessly for days then maybe she just hits the point where she can't hold it in for a second longer

from the sneak peek where greta says 'I can like someone, like really like them' the only thing that makes sense to me is her explaining that she is actually extremely into riley, that she can really like someone if she's connected with them and that that person is riley. in the hug at the end of the sneak peek greta looks like she's crying so I've seen people speculate that it's like a goodbye hug or something, but if I had finally spilled my guts to this girl that I'm all in on I'd probably be bawling too. maybe riley pulls her in to tell her that everything is going to be alright, and that she's valid and that riley still likes her so much no matter what?? they're always so tentative with touching each other and the only other time they've hugged it was pretty brief and awkward at x files night, so that hug honestly just looks like relief to me. it must feel so good for both of them just to hold onto each other like that - a mirror of the hug between chester and riley in ep 14. some people just make you feel correct

in terms of luz being there, the afterparty at riley's house is filled with a bunch of other random people from their school like the party in the pilot so it's not weird to me that she's there. maybe luz is regretting giving up on greta and is coming back for a second try, or maybe she's just there to either have a good time or start drama idk at this point

this dialogue from ep 15 has me really interested to see whether riley chooses to perpetuate her dad's cycle of dishonesty because she feels she has no choice, or if she decides to diverge from this doomed path that she thinks is set for her because of who her parents are

if they're doing it just for the drama then she's obviously going to keep it from greta and then luz will come along to ruin everything, but I think it would be much more interesting for them to queer this narrative of untruth and subvert those expectations that we have. riley's not stupid, she knows it's going to hurt greta but I would love if they let her realise that keeping this from greta now is just going to make things worse in the long run

she already has that threat of 'not yet' from luz hanging over her head, and it would be so cool and different for there to be this conversation between the two of them that is just completely honest and sets them up with a clean slate to continue their relationship on. not that I think it will happen really but I'd also love for greta to hear about the hook up and tell riley 'okay I understand that you were upset that night and that made you act in a way that you regret. I don't hate you, you're not a bad person and you're not your dad' rather than being some massive shocking revelation, like that kind of patience and acceptance of trauma is something that we never really see

I really hope that riley tells greta everything that's happening with her home life as well. the 'stuff I don't wanna tell you' line was so pointed and I need her to know that greta is literally just worried because she cares about her so much, and that she honestly does just want to hear what riley's struggling with so she can help her carry that load. we've had two specific instances in ep 1 and ep 9 (funny how the two halves of the season start with this) where riley and greta have been trying to check in and ask the other if they're okay and also get interrupted, so this is finally a chance to not only talk about their own feelings but everything outside of that as well

I really hope this season will end on a good note. obviously they won't be able to resolve everything but even just having a little moment of something at the end of the episode, like that quiet car ride with that tiny hopeful uptick that is bo replying to chester at the end of ep 8 is kind of enough for me as long as we get a season two. I've said this before but ending a season of a show about queer people on some cliffhanger of pain and misery and chaos just seems like the absolute wrong message for any creator who is also queer to send. like that's why we make art that represents ourselves, to tell kids that it does get better, and there is hope and light and love at the end of the tunnel

not to compare this show to euphoria because I think it’s reductive but there's this thing that sam levinson says about his show that I think really applies here too with how zelda and her dads talk about this show and it makes me feel at least a little bit optimistic about this final episode:

'It’s about how if you keep your heart open, there are people who can change your life, and it’s about love, and it’s a show about being seen and heard and known. It doesn’t cure everything but it sure as fuck helps.'

if you've gotten through this and you have twitter or instagram then go follow the official accounts, tweet something about how much you love this show and hashtag #renewgeneration so that we actually DO get a season 2 :-)

[chidoroki]

..You already know what I’m gonna ramble on about, right? What’s got us manga readers feeling a little bit like this? Yeah.. I have words.

Yes, I’ll be chatting about possible future spoilers, so scroll past now if you wish, but if you frequently check the usual tpn tags anywhere today (or over the next few days), I’m sure you’ve become quite familiar with this guy already, so.. here we go.

Let me start off by saying that I was beyond excited when we first found out we were getting a second season to this series. Having read the manga, I had high hopes that the anime would do so well, given the first couple arcs that follow the escape from Grace Field. From the very beginning, most of us figured it would touch upon the demon forest, the B06-32 shelter, Goldy Pond and quite possibly Cuvitidala. Of course, that was before we learned that this season had an episode count of 11 and would include some anime-only scenes, so we started to have some doubts. The new opening threw us through a loop as well, as a bunch of us speculated exactly how much this season was going to cover in terms of story and what chapter it would end off on. I was still a bit skeptical, but I put some belief in thinking we might be able to at least reach Goldy Pond. The more I thought about how many chapters this season could adapt, I remembered that Fire Force (another shonen series that has its fair share between action scenes alongside some calm, lighthearted ones) managed to fit 90 chapters into it’s first season, which was a total 24eps. I then thought it was possible for TPN’s second season to reach ch96, or maybe even ch101, since the total ep count for both s1&s2 would be 23. The upcoming arcs (GP especially) are undoubtedly more fast paced than the entire first season, which was very dialogue heavy, so naturally these action scenes would take up less time and require fewer episodes to show off. I won’t bash the second season for leaving certain scenes out and/or changing them (as the first season did this as well, albeit less noticeable), but the obvious ones come to mind. The full snakes of alvapinera scene? It was good to see the escapees overcome their first outside world obstacle on their own, sure, but overall it isn’t too important. Isabella’s scene at the gate with Grandma Sarah? Disappointing yes, but I figured they could always include that sometime later in a future episode.. at least, that’s what I’m hoping for. I can forgive the anime for those changes at the moment.. but after what episode 3 decided to pull? Oh no.. now they’ve done it!

I’m sorry.. but who exactly thought this change was a good idea? The anime-onlys must think we’re going crazy right now but c’mon, CLOVERWORKS! Are y’all for real right now?? Yeah they never even announced his voice actor beforehand like they did with Sonju & Mujika before their debut, but damn it! Also, don’t take my word for this, as I only just heard and not completely sure about the credibility, but apparently after ep4, the rest of the season will be like.. original? And I’m not sure how to feel about that if it’s true? I’ll take whatever content we get because yes, I love this series to pieces and want it to last as long as possible, but after waiting almost a full two years to see these wonderful kids animated again.. I just wanna continue on with the story we all know and love, darn it. I know Shirai is overlooking this season and giving his approval or whatever too, so that’s comforting at least.. but still, I just wish we knew this a little sooner, rather than have us find out this way by cutting out one of the most anticipated characters of this entire series! (for the time being anyways.)

Yeah we didn’t see him this episode, but he’s around.. somewhere. No one else is around to write on the walls like that, let alone get into the shelter without a pen. (i also noticed it doesn’t say “poachers” anywhere, so that’s a bit odd too..)

I just hope that whenever our man does show up, whether it be this season or not, that it follows the manga because his introduction is fantastic and his interactions with the kids are so amusing. Honestly, he’s too important to cut out entirely. The same goes for the Goldy Pond arc, which I saw some others worried about too. It’s at Goldy Pond (ch73) where Emma and another man, who we’re also anxious to meet, both find out about how to cross over to the human world via the four premium farms, the supporters, and project lambda7214.

I also saw some people concerned about Mujika’s goodbye to Emma this episode and how upon giving her the necklace, our demon friend didn’t hint at The Seven Walls at all, which is why Goldy Pond suddenly becomes that more important for us to see because it’s also there where the place is mentioned, not only by the many secret files from the pen’s cap, but from Minvera himself (ch72).

Come on now, Goldy Pond arc also does wonder for Emma’s character and appearance. It’s here where we see just how serious she is about changing the world and saving everyone she possibly can. Even if she has to fight crazy, killing poachers, she’ll do it. (also one of those poachers becomes very helpful much later in the story, so there, yet another reason we can’t skip this arc.) Though this all gets me wondering if GP will still get blown up on Jan 29th.. oh season two, you raise so many questions.

Now, could this season completely change some of those scenes even further? Of course, they’ve already done so with other bits of information. Ray figuring out the demon’s weakness in ch62 during the trip to Goldy Pond? Sonju already explained it.

The letter from Minvera that we learn about in ch56 which was originally hidden in one of the manuscripts from the shelter’s archive room? Conveniently pinned to the wall in plain sight!

I didn’t notice this when I first watched the episode but remembered just now while skimming through the manga yet again, but the episode didn’t have Gilda list off the coordinates to Goldy Pond that Minerva noted in his letter.

So how will the duo find their way there? Well, you already know.. and since GP is such an important arc, that’s another reason I believe our beloved man will show up.... eventually.

Going back to the changes now, but it’s Dominic who reveals the secret room behind the piano instead of our favorite father figure.

Although this room, which is supposed to be a full stocked armory, is completely bare..

Like.. hello? Where are all the weapons?? Are they gonna make these kids go out and raid a bunch of the other fake/dummy shelters for weapons or something? which.. actually sounds interesting and fun now that I think about it.

I also noticed that the conversation about the mass-production farms Sonju mentioned back in ch50 was also cut, but I can see the anime easily adapting it into a future episode somewhere, since said farms are mentioned again in ch56, courtesy of the shelter’s many books.

For now it just seems.. I don’t know, a bit easier? like I recently spoke about how Ray had to figure out how the pen worked in terms of coordinates and yet the anime just had the pen show a simple map, then Sonju flat out told them how to efficiently kill a demon, and the phone that allows them to contact the supporters? Oh, they found that instantly, whereas geezer had no idea such a room even existed in those 13 years he lived at the shelter..

Have I spoke too much by now? Probably. None of the changes bother me too much, aside from the geezer’s obvious absence, but I’m still looking forward to the rest of this season, as I’m sure it’ll give more spotlight to some of the other kids aside from Emma and Ray. Season one just did so well with sticking to the manga that I guess we all got caught way off guard, huh?

[taekooktimeline]

May 15 ~ 23, 2020:

BTS film Run episodes 126-127. This was days before the filming of Soop. 

Episode 126 starts with Tae and Hobi revealing the pictures selected to serve as their punishment for losing a previous game. Joon wonders what Tae will showcase and Tae tells them to guess.

On the other hand, with apparent privileges, Jk announces that he’s already seen it and gives the rest a clue.

Jin recalls a memorable incident and asks: “red glasses?” -

Jk confirms -

Jin goes “ahhh, it must be”, clearly having a moment of realization since he also had to guess, unlike Jk.

They start explaining what happened. Everyone was familiar because he accidentally posted the pic on twitter.

(Timestamp 1:18; Link ep 126: http://www.vlive.tv/video/233369)

In episode 127, a lot of the members struggled with rolling the hoop. Tae mentioned earlier that he had done this before, so, after succeeding himself, he stepped in to explain to Jk how to best complete this mission. He asked him if he got the hang of it, saw he did well, and left them on their own to proceed with the decathlon, Joon and Jin still struggling as they threw the hoop flying across the room and “fished” it.

Tae makes sure he’s good to go -

(Timestamp 12:20 ) 

https://twitter.com/taekookfolder/status/1356579250812248064?s=21 

Once Jk completed what they thought was the last mission, he got excited to go home. Jimin then tried to make eye-contact with him to send him an indirect message, or reminder, but he was having a hard time due to Jk stumbling and being in a hurry to exit the small space. Jimin stuttered while saying “let’s go home”, in plural form.

Jk says his goodbyes with confidence -

This prompts Jimin to call out his name and directly tell him to wait for him. He pulls at his ear while doing so - which could be a sign of unease and being worried about Jk’s behavior and the unfolding of events.

(Timestamp 21:07)

Despite the request, Jk is still occupied thinking about how he could’ve “gone home” sooner than Yoongi if he had done it just a tiny bit faster, which tells us that he was excited about beating the rest rather than going home soon. As explained below, he had to wait for Jimin either way.

On the way out, Jin - who owns an apartment in BTS’ dorm complex - catches up to Jk and casually offers to leave the building together, meaning it was a reasonable option and a real possibility under normal circumstances.

He’s met with a lamenting “Aaayy” as Jk cries out in humorous despair. He wished he could say yes and get off already.

Jin then begins to knowingly and animatedly affirm “It’s this!” mixed with “Aaah”s of realization. Jk confirms.

An amused Jk let’s us know that the situation is so obvious and planned out that they were able to read each other’s minds. Jin isn’t part of the suspected plot so he doesn’t necessarily need to be informed of the details in terms of execution and timing, but he certainly has to be aware of the general plan of showcasing that Jimin and Jk live together, separate from the rest (whether that’s strictly true or not).

They talk in code, per se. The wording changes from “it’s this” to “it’s that''. Jin probably meant that “this” situation was part of “that” plan, and used these words interchangeably.

Jk groans, expressing some level of annoyance / sorrow -

Jin continues making a show out of it, acting silly and bringing a smile to Jk’s face. This is reminiscent of the time Tae said “we can’t be friends” in Taekook’s recent vlive and they both laughed. Jin changes the verb tense and says “it was that?” –we suspect referencing Jimin’s request.

(Behind the scenes: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7z410v, Timestamp 3:48) 

Jk sticks to the plan and waits.

(Timestamp 26:25)

When Tae and Jimin compete to decide who’ll go home sooner, Jk implies he’s rooting for Jimin because they are heading to the same place, unlike Tae. At least that’s what they want everyone to clearly understand. The point is that, regardless of what their actual living situation is like, even if it hypothetically were to be true - this was the start of their multiple efforts to highlight that Jikook were each other's only flatmates. The authors must remind the readers we do not know the exact living situation of the members and are open to any and all scenarios. Jikook are very close friends and could live together, taking into account Taekook’s restrictions. However, based on some events mentioned further down this paragraph, we speculate this run moment is highly showcased and planned with the intention of furthering the closeting strategy with taekook, as many would think it’s incompatible with them being a couple. After all, Jk could’ve shared a car with Jin. Keep in mind this was the month the strongest closeting strategies were put into effect (tk’s “awkward” vlive, jikook’s living situation, Soop’s “reconnecting” talk...). Additionally, BTS’ first contract was about to be replaced by the new one and, apart from that, dispatch started to act hostile towards the group, although it didn’t last long. BH could have been trying to cut ties with the dreaded magazine responsible for exposing celebrities, but it didn’t go well and kept relations ongoing later in the year. These strategies must’ve still been helpful though. 

Jk awkwardly exaggerates his body movements while saying the next sentence:

Tae loses. Captions -

(Timestamp 30:40)

Tae is last in the group and has to spell out BTS in dominoes before going home. Jk checks up on Tae while Jimin changes his outfit.

Without being asked, he gives him tips and describes how he should do it.

Tae suddenly asks him to do it for him.

Jk complies without protest.

Jk and Jimin end up staying to help. Tae even takes advantage and quickly changes clothes while the other two work on the dominoes. 

(Timestamp 33:56)

Once back, Tae joined them on the task while supporting his weight next to Jk’s inner thigh.

As Tae finishes the task and gives his ending speech to the camera, Jk runs his fingers through his hair, playfully trying to hide a domino in it.

https://twitter.com/kookvtwins/status/1356584631496306689?s=21

Jk then accidentally drops the domino, almost causing the hard work to collapse. Tae pauses in his speech to share a bright, fond smile with Jk. Tae coos something to him, though subtitles don’t pick it up (some say he said “did you?”. Sara hears 괜찮아 = Gwaenchana= “it’s fine”).

Tae then proceeds to run his hand up and down Jk’s inner thigh, going way up his thigh. The movement is a soothing one and could be read as “It was a close call, but it’s fine. Just be careful”.

(Timestamp 34:47)

https://twitter.com/taekookfolder/status/1356581723736141826?s=21 

Close up -

https://twitter.com/purple_taekook/status/1356584535408971780?s=21 

Closer -

Tae starts slapping Jk’s thigh loudly. You can see his arm moving, and the sounds, though you can’t actually see the action.

(Timestamp 35:09) 

Thread for reference - https://twitter.com/tkkfrvr/status/1356588457779372033?s=21 

The maknae line all join hands in solidarity. Tae’s luck was at stake. 

Jimin initiates the gesture in support of Tae, who in turn asks for Jk’s hand. The youngest intertwines it with his, but they change the approach to turn it into a group hand hold, which momentarily confuses Jk and it’s the reason his hand searches for Tae’s -

https://twitter.com/faithfulkv/status/1356679447114579969?s=21 

Group hold -

(Timestamp 36:00)

Sadly, the dominoes didn’t fall all at once, so Tae stayed overtime. Jimin tells him he loves him before leaving with Jk.  This goodbye was given a main focus, making it a successfully completed mission. The narrative was being set.

(Timestamp 36:35; 36:55)

Link episode 127: http://www.vlive.tv/video/234891 

[nightswithkookmin]

Does Run ep 119 fall into the period of Jikook's romantic separation/distancing you talked about? By hairstyles I think this is the time you marked as being 'not a couple'? Did I get the timelines right? Please dont get mad, but they seemed especially cozy+close this ep, and not just skinship (I know this is a subjective judgement and dif points of view are allowed). Just curious if you still hold to your theory? We see only tiny snapshots of time. Do you ever retrospectively change your mind?

Me right now. lol

Running away before I give in to the temptation to rumble on for pages. Lol.

Ahhh shit! Too late. lol.

First of all, it's not so much that questions like these irk me...

It's just I've never had to worry about being 'right' or 'wrong' in forming an opinion about anything or on any topic in my life.

I think the night is more beautiful than the day. I think both Trump and Biden are trash- but better Biden than Trump. I think formal education is a damn waste of time and money. I think a lot of things. But I've never had to worry about that I could be right or wrong about them.

I never assume, when I read people's opinions too, that they are right or wrong. I either tend to agree with it or disagree with it or get informed by it if I had zero opinion prior. I find it bizarre when people want to be right and stuff- especially in a community that is nothing but a swirling vortex of thoughts and opinions. Lmho.

You either defend your stand and give evidence to support it but even then we are just all making assumptions.

Also questions like these tend to put me in a position where I feel like if I should respond then I am not only 'defending' my opinions but challenging other's opinions with my opinions and treating my opinions as if they were the facts. But they are not. It's just one opinion against another.

Know what I mean?

I used to be comfortable doing that because I thought it was all friendly debates and discourse until someone drew my attention to it and pointed out to me that when I do that I come across as 'all knowy,' 'presenting my opinions as facts' and 'challenging other's opinions with my opinion'- which y'all are well aware is the case that has launched a thousand hate comments, privacy invasion, doxing, lies and operation boycott Goldy on ship street.

I don't think it's worth it.

Then there is the substantive issue: how these questions are framed. How should I put this...

I never said anywhere that Jikook were broken up during the On era because they were not acting 'cozy'. Who's theory is that? Who said that? I've never peddled the 'Jikook is real because of skinship or their interactions' theory. If anything, I try to distinguish between Jikook's couple moments and their skinship or mere interactions because neither of those two make Jikook real... to me.

If Jikook showing skinship and merely interacting with eachother to you is a determining factor as to whether they are real- it's not, to me. I've made this much clear over the course of my blogs. If it's your metric then it differs from mine and I can't 'challenge' it. Lol.

I have said, Jikook can interact zero in a content and I still could be able to tell if they are a couple.

Similarly, two people can grind on eachother and stick their tongues down eachother's throats and I still will be able to tell they are not a couple within the same group if they are not.

Am I wrong sometimes? Absolutely. Hell, I said JK was going to post for Jimin's birthday. He didn't. I got that wrong.

I do retrospectively change my mind on a lot of things. If say, in the future, Jimin announced he has a kid and is married to a het woman I would backpedal on my theory that Jikook is real. I don't think it's that deep.

If at any one point, I have reason to believe Jikook aren't together any more as a couple within BTS, or that one of them is straight, I would change my opinion about them being in a gay relationship with eachother.

Similarly, if I have reason to believe Jikook have broken up or distanced themselves from eachother at one point, I would say so and not run around the internet yelling Jikook gay, Jikook married.

There are moments, when I thought Jikook were together but they weren't and so I had to change my mind in retrospect too.

It seems to me, that to y'all, as long as I'm saying Jikook are together then I'm right and it's Amen preach but if I say I think they are or were not together at a point in their relationship then suddenly it's, she is a Trump supporter spreading lies about Jikook and dancing in the rain with convicted serial killers while trying to pass off her published work as Jikook fanfiction. It's all very interesting how some people's minds work...

For the record, I said Jikook were broken up within that period because they were not claiming eachother, reassuring eachother, exercising rights of claim and authority, speaking eachothers love language and all the other metrics I have time and again pointed out several times across my posts that they are the qualities that to me make Jikook a couple.

So do you see why I feel some kind of way when people come at me with the, 'they stared at eachother' 'they smiled at eachther' they touched eachother' argument? Y'all must have me confused a certain shipper on the block. Lol.

You tell me they look cozy and intimate, but then I go and check and they are still not claiming eachother or exhibiting any of the qualities that makes them a couple. Lol.

If I say Jikook is in a relationship, it's usually because I have reasons to believe they are in a relationship. If I say Jikook are not together, it's also because I have reasons to believe they are not together. It's really not hard maths.

I forego a lot of sleep to ensure I share my thought process on a lot of my theories and opinions. I have shared across several posts why I believe Jikook is real. I have shared a few of the metrics I use to decide on that opinion and I have shared my thought process on why I believe in certain moments they aren't together.

It's exhausting when I have to repeat that process each time because then it's not about you asking for my opinion on the topic anymore because I've already stated that, it's about you asking me to change my opinion on a topic based on your assessment and your metric and it just doesn't work that way.

Your assertion that Run 119 was filmed in the same era as On is valid I guess... but I have to disagree. I can't tell you exactly when that episode was filmed but if I had to share my two cents on it, I'd have to place it towards the middle of April this year or somewhere around that period. In my opinion.

I say that because Jimin debuted his jet black hair around 14th April when he appeared in a Vlive with RM. Again I do not know exactly when he got his hair changed but as of March 26th, he had blondish hair.

In his March 30th Vlive- the one where JK interrupted Jin's call, he had a cap on so chilee I'm not gonna argue on whether he had dyed his hair at that point or not.

Then there is Suga, who has blonde hair in this Run 119 episode. He had blonde hair from his birthday in early March and tweeted a bunch of photos of himself in blonde hair from March through to April 28th.

Yet in the JinMinGi Vlive on April 27th when Jimin still had jet black hair, Suga seemed to have a jet black hair too. Which means he could have had blonde hair around the time Jimin went black in early April and dyed it black in late April- but that's theory and that's just my assumption. We can know for sure if and when knew content is released which was filmed around that period.

Thus, I doubt if it was filmed during On era like episode 116 and 117- where you could see clearly, Jikook were having issues.

Just because a peice of content is released in succession don't mean they were filmed around the same period...

So yes I agree with you, we only see snapshots of their time and most importantly we see them in DISORDER. BigHit doesn't release content in chronological order as per when they film them- something I keep reiterating throughout my blogs.

And just as a tip for when you want to reconstruct the timeline for accuracy based on their hairstyles, I think you should look to their Live contents and not their prerecorded content. Their VLives and Youtube lives- actual lives not the prerecorded ones passed off as live streams lol, or even their live reactions to when they win awards or do interviews etc.

I think those are a somewhat accurate reflection of the timeline and helps fit contents in their right time period. But even that- it's still 60/40. But that's me. Feel free to use your own metric to access the timeline.

And the part about them seeming cozy within- On Era, I assume? Because that's when I speculated they had a break up?

I wasn't going to address it because it requires me to provide a comprehensive reconstruction of the timeline but I can't do that until a few more years from now when BigHit has released all or most of the content they have on that period.

I'm just gonna have to repeat myself, for the n>th time though and be intentionally vague about it lol - I had decided not to talk about that period again but I have to just because you make it sound like I would go full on frying pan wielding JK on your ass, step for step, for pointing out that Jikook seemed cozy and intimate within that speculated breakup period. Chilee, I'm not a villain. Lol.

I will not whoop your ass for saying that- but you'd have to answer a seven page query if you are an avid reader of my blogs, so clear your schedule. It's gonna be a long day. Lol.

Query: How do you expect Jikook to look like and behave if and when they are not together together?

I keep saying, at the bare minimum, Jikook are friends not enemies. You don't expect them to act like they never knew eachother during such times. But it takes a while for them to settle into that space when they both feel comfortable with being friends and during such period is when you notice them putting up emotional boundaries and distance between them.

Maybe its just because I saw Jikook as friends and got used to them as friends before lovers and so spotting when they are acting as friends comes easy to me? I don't know.

I think it's similar to how people who are used to seeing Jikook as friends can't seem to see past their friendship to seeing them as a couple.

Then there are those who've only known Jikook to be a couple or saw them as a couple first upon entering the fandom and so can't seem to see them as friends or even think of them as friends. It can be a trip for such people. Which one are you?

If you see Jikook as lovers all the time, really I don't. And I don't need the tensions and the silences to sense something is off. JK unable to check RM or anyone within the group when they are crossing boundaries with Jimin is enough tell.

Same way I don't need to the skinship and 'cosy' to tell if they are together. Jk putting up emotional distance with certain members within the group- all but Jimin, is enough evidence for me.

We don't have to all see Jikook through the same lens to enjoy them. And we don't have to agree on everything too.

We are different people, with different backgrounds and experiences. We can't think the same or perceive on things the same.

I keep saying, to me, there is a quality to Jikook that makes them more than friends. If I see those qualities in them, I believe they are a couple. If not, they are not. Those are the qualities I see only between Jikook and what set them apart from the other ships in BTS.

I see their friendship and I also see their other stuff.

And I notice, during certain periods that they lose that quality that makes them couples- for them to be a couple they need to be speaking eachothers love language, exercising certain rights and privileges over each other, claiming eachother, reassuring eachother yadda yadda yadda and a whole others that don't include them merely talking to eachother or engaging in skinship.

When I talk about Jikook On Era break up period, I'm talking about the period from the 21st to 28th February this year- or the period right before it.

Thats the period I noticed a drastic change in Jikook's interactions and even their personalities. It gave me the feeling that jikook had been through something heavy prior to that date. That period seemed more like the aftermath of a break up rather than the beginning of it as there seemed to be a drastic flip in their dynamics compared to any era before that. Especially late December or around the period when they filmed Carpool Karaoke.

They weren't doing any of the things I've mentioned above that to me make them a couple- they were just interacting and pretty much being civil- except for JK. He seemed more angry, less tolerant and very assertive against Jimin and the group.

He was being super self assertive and was asserting himself even against Jimin- something he has been doing a lot this year which I keep talking about.

Jimin didn't seem different to me at all to me in that period until April.

Why do I feel you are forcing me to talk about something I don't want to talk about? Lol.

I mark that period as significant not only because of the changes that took place in Jikook's dynamics but because it marks the genesis of the JK we are experiencing today.

Their interactions within that period were reflective of a consistent pattern of behavior they've exhibited around periods when they are not together- JK putting up boundaries, not claiming JM, JM trying to reconnect etc.

For instance, at Music Bank on the 28th of February, Jimin did that thing with Jin when he noticed JK interacting with Tae but JK didn't mind him or claim.

Contrast that with their moment on the 1st March, at Inkigayo, where JK literally teleported his ass to stand behind JM when he noticed JM had started his shenanigans on the stage.

Jikook started claiming eachother and acting as a couple again from then- they started reassuring eachother and doing all these things that to me mark them as a couple. Again, this is only an assumption, I don't have the comprehensive breakdown of the period- yet because there are new contents being released on a daily.

On 6th March, during Music Bank when Hobi hugged Jimin during their interview JK reacted strongly to that too in my opinion.

On 30th March, JK interrupted Jin's call to flirt and ask JM on a date- you could see them acting as a couple from that moment at Inkigayo on 1st March throughout to 30th March and their interactions were consistent.

Their interactions in the period before that was pretty much inconsistent and filled with a lot of Jump cuts- which I'm hoping future contents will help fill the gaps for me so I can build a comprehensive breakdown of that era- at least for my self. Iol.

It's just the way Jikook usually behave after these period. They go through a reconnection phase, where they constantly try reassure eachother and then eventually end up in a honey moon phase of a sort where you'd see them flirting up and down the hills, acting super touchy, hitting the red marks- making us and the others feel weird and super uncomfortable watching them.

It's also important to note that around the period of them reconnecting, JK had started distancing himself from Tae. He puts up emotional boundaries with the others and closes himself off to them when he opens himself up to Jimin.

I mean if I'm 'wrong,' and I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying if I'm wrong because of your two seconds clip of them acting 'cozy,' then I gotta ask what happened to JK in this period? Why was he putting up boundaries between him and Jimin in that period, and what set him on this self assertive path he's been on throughout this year- think about that while I hold on to my he went through a nasty breakup and had an emotional trauma that pushed him on a path to reevaluate and set his priorities straight theory. Lol

I think some of the content they have released so far within that period were filmed either closer to or far from when that break up happened- Run 116 and 117 would be the closest to that period so far- I just don't know if it was before 21st February or after it.

Run 100 and 101 would also have been filmed relatively closer to that period or immediately after it because Jimin was behaving in those Runs the same way he was behaving during the On Comeback Special VLive which was released on 21st of February- I feel the breakup would happened before this date.

In both those Runs and the On comeback special, Jimin seemed beat, humbled and subdued. He was trying to establish eye contact with JK during the comeback VLive, egging him on to talk about his looks, and putting boundaries between him and the other members. He seemed to be on his best behavior.

For instance, in the Comback he seemed like he was walking on eggshells around Kookie and didn't want to create the impression he was going out of his way to flirt with the others or portray himself as available and so when Suga touched his waist or back, he asked him to stop.

Similary, in Runs 100/101 behind scenes or something, when they were eating and he noticed Tae had food residue on his lips, he tried to help him clean it but panicked and stopped the moment he sensedJK lifting his head up- it seemed he didn't want to piss JK off in those two instances. JK for the most part just seemed serious and less tolerant of JM's bs within that period.

Juxtapose JM's behavior in these two instances with the events at Music Bank and Inkigayo where he was hugging Jin and acting extra around Kook- which to me seemed like he was looking for reassurance by trying to get JK to claim him but of course JK didn't do that.

Jimin likes being reassured by JK when he is feeling 'insecure.' And often, JK reassures him when he notices JM going through that. Jimin does the same for JK.

They are intune with eachother's emotional needs and they consciously go out of their way to meet them.

Take the recent MAMA speech moment when JM was giving a speech and he seemed like he need support- emotional support and back up. Jk turn fully and instantly towards him to let him know he was there for him. We've seen Jikook do this a countless times. I value these moments over them showing skinship or screaming eachother's names.

In the recent BE press conference red carpet moment when JM tried it with RM- did you notice JK's reaction? They both seemed like they were trying to piss eachother other off or make each eachother jealous during that red carpet moment.

JM with RM and JK with Jin. JK grabbed Jin's neck when he noticed JM intentionally acting all up close and friendly with his buddy buddy RM and the frown on his face. He didn't seem too amused with JM doing that...

- it's weird, I know, but it's also their way of reassuring eachother and expressing interest in eachother. Don't judge. It's Jikook- just look away, keep it pushing. Nothing to see here. Lol.

Had it not been for the live events around that On period, I probably wouldn't have noticed these things because the content from BigHit around the period were only showing glimpses of their interactions which again seemed like the aftermath of their breakup and not the start of it.

I think their ability to get to that space where they are each comfortable with relating freely and 'cozy' around eachother as friends depends on how soon they interact on cameras after they've gone through such periods.

If they film immediately soon after, or during, often the tension between them is much more evident like in run 116 and 117.

If they film much later from it, then you wouldn't even notice a damn thing at all. In my opinion. Especially, if you don't know the difference between Jikook as friends and Jikook as lovers.

You can never tell though if you focus solely on Jimin's behavior during such periods- because Jimin is just that guy. He doesn't bring the drama to work. He will smile sunshine through the pain and act like nothing happened. For JK it's different, in my opinion.

Jimin has a very high emotional intelligence quotient and seems to process emotions better and faster. JK is not like that. It is why I feel, he tends to put up physical and emotional barriers with Jimin and with the others sometimes when he is going through it.

They all process emotions at different paces. In my opinion.

I'm starting to wonder if y'all think Jikook is one sided at this point. Lol. Jikook is not one sided. Jimin is not the only one in their relationship. You can't focus on him alone to decide if your ship is sailing or in a good place- because guess what? Jimin can put up a show of it.

It's just as how Tuktukkers tend to focus on Tae rather than JK in determining whether they still have a ship or not. If they paid attention to JK for one minute, they would know their ship got lost at sea at debut.

I keep saying JM's 'the boy in love with Jungkook' persona is a facade. He loves JK through this facade but you have to look past it. I mean this is the guy who told Jin JK doesn't act a certain way around him, but backpedaled and said he was just 'saying it for content' when Jin called him out on it. Same guy Jk says, he intentionally acts cutes when he notices the cameras on him.

You gotta wonder what else he does just for content and for the cameras. Isn't this why people claim Jikook is fanservice?

You have to pay attention to JK too you know? They have different personalities, different ways of handling issues, different ways of loving and different ways of solving problems.

Jimin over expresses himself and tries to establish contact when he is at the recieving end of a freeze out. He did the same thing on stage with JK during Manila when he tried to have a conversation with Kook- to squash whatever issues they had been having but JK needed his space physically and emotionally.

Jimin was sat next to Suga chatting with him, asking him questions, laughing with him but the moment Suga touched him he snapped. He did the same thing in Dynamite MV reaction VLive when JK teased him with Suga. He snapped almost instantly and didn't seem happy with it- he doesn't want to be shipped with Suga and yet he is the one constantly going 'I miss Suga hyung' 'Suga and I are the parents and JK is the son"

In run 116, you could see him trying to interact with Kook even when Kook was clearly putting up boundaries with him. Had Kook not been closed off to him in that moment, we probably would never have noticed anything was off with them honestly.

And that hug JM gave Kook in the end, did you see him looking sideways as if he was doing something wrong? Compare that moment with the Siriux FM interview where he had his hands around Kook. He didn't seem- what's the word, scared.

And by the way, that moment was also filmed on the 21st of February in the US, the same day of their Rockefeller interview and the same day the On Comeback Special VLive was released- so do the maths? Was that the start of a break up or the aftermath of it?

Jimin was leaning forward in that period true, but was JK receiving and reciprocating his actions and matching them throughout that period? No. Or may be its debatable- you tell me. Lol.

Jikook behave in a certain way and give off a certain vibe when they are good and sailing- but not all such moments is because they are a couple. In my opinion.

When they get to that good space where they can be comfortable around each other, they sail as friends too.

It's just like, when they are not good and they give off bad vibes. But not all the bad vibes they give off is because they are not good. Know what I mean?

It's all up to how you perceive them and how much you understand of their dynamics I guess.

It is my understanding that, JK opens up to certain other members within the group while simultaneously putting up boundaries with Jimin when he is having serious problems with Jimin. From my observation of their interactions.

So I ask, within the period of 21st February to 28th, was he leaning towards this certain member he was suddenly BFFs with around the time of their break up or was he leaning away from him? He literally teleported away from him to be next to Jimin when they were getting back together and Tae didn't seem amused by that either.

It's Jikook, I get it. I think you need to pay attention to the way they interact with the other members within the group too? Because that's equally telling. Sigh.

It is my understanding that, Jimin is quick to anger yet quick to forgive and he sometimes glosses over things, puts a lot of energy and efforts into embellishing his relationship with Kook and presenting them as the perfect duo and the perfect relationship- which is something that I think psychologically induces the Kumbaya in a lot of Jikook shippers and influences them into thinking their relationship is perfect and kumbaya. But that's another topic for another day.

JK makes Jikook more real. To me.

I hear often, people talk about how Jimin is less touchy than JK and has personal boundaries within the group and how over the years, he has toned down on his touchiness with the other members because JK puts up a lot of boundaries for him around the members with the frying pans and what not, and would fume whenever Jimin or anyone crosses those boundaries...

But have y'all ever wondered the kind of boundaries Jimin put up for JK within the group and expects JK to uphold within the group when they are together? Hint: It's not JK's touchiness or lack of boundaries. Y'all be connecting the wrong dots. Lol.

Jk puts up physical boundaries for Jimin because that is important to him. Jimin put up emotional boundaries for JK because that is important to him. They overlap sometimes but those times are insignificant to me.

Jk's certain bonds suffer because of Jimin. And he stops respecting those boundaries when he and Jimin are no longer together and the moment they are back together, he puts those boundaries up again with those bonds- this is Morse code, if you catch on message me with it. Wink.

JM throwing his arms around Kook during a serious interview is not him claiming JK or reassuring him. JK yelling Jimin to the power Z is not him exercising right of authority over Jimin- lovers do that. Know who else does that? FRIENDS. Lol.

It's nothing Hobi doesn't do with JM or the other ships don't do.

Listen, I saw all the good bits and things that you saw in that period too and still I formed my opinion on that era the way that I did and have. And the new content from that era, Run 116 and 117 all follow the same pattern of behavior I noticed around that period and have talked about. So no, my view on that era hasn't changed.

Unless, your objective is to have me change my mind based on the 'wrong' timeline dots you've connected, then we would just have to agree to disagree. Lol.

If you believe Jikook were together during that period, I agree to disagree on it. Feel free to disagree with my opinion too.

Always ship Jikook in the way that makes sense to you. And support them while you are at it. Jikook is real. Bless you.

Signed,

GOLDY

[lizacstuff]

Sen Çal Kapımı Fragman 35 Asks

Speculation and Spoiler asks about the 2nd fragman under the cut. (also a few ep 34 asks as well) 

Anonymous said: Thoughts on the new fragman for epi 35?

[Sing-song voice]  Serkan said he loves her! Serkan said he loves her! Serkan said he loves her!

The reign of Deniz and Selin terrorizing them is OOOOOOVER!  The reign of Deniz and Selin terrorizing them is OOOOOOVER!  The reign of Deniz and Selin terrorizing them is OOOOOOVER!  

Serkan said he loves her! Serkan said he loves her! Serkan said he loves her!  [END Sing-song voice]  

Anonymous said: Liza.. That. Fragman!!!!! Whew I had a good feeling the memory loss plot was coming to a close after the 1st fragman revealed they were so close to the wedding day and a new character was announced.. not even mad they spoiled it bc tbh, I needed SOME kinda hope. Based on different translations I'm not sure if the wedding was real yet or not.. and I was wondering what would be the new "thing" for drama in the story.. but edser are back! if it is real, I have hope they're gonna face it together.

EDSER IS BACK!  What do we always say? Fragmans are misleading. And they really chopped up that scene, lots of cuts. So my gut is saying that they want us to think Deniz and Eda marriage is actually legal, but I don’t think that it is. I think it’s a misdirect. 

Because what does Eda and Deniz being married do? Eda will get the Turkish equivalent of an annulment and it’s over. If Deniz did something to trick Eda into a real marriage when she thought it was fake, that will only make her hate him so it’s not like he gets anything out of it. It’s time for this story with Deniz and Selin to be over, so after 6 straight episodes of them having the upper hand over Eda and Serkan, why would the show hand them one last win right as our protagonists are about to triumph over their lies and manipulations?

I saw one translations where the registrar said something like, “awhile ago these two signed a real marriage contract.”  If that’s true, who are these two?  Did Deniz trick Eda into signing a marriage contract awhile ago? Or does this have something to do with Serkan and Eda’s original marriage contract? I have no idea. 

Sadly, With the information we currently have, I assume that is the last scene of the episode and will be a cliffhanger so we may have to live with this question for 10 days, not 3. Hopefully, we’ll have more context after the ep, though.

Anonymous said: Fragman 2 came out I’m so excited!! But idk something is telling me not to get too excited? What if serkan is pretending to remember just to stop the wedding because he fell in love with her again?

I guess my question to you would be, what does it matter? Whether Serkan stopped the wedding because he remembered, or he stopped the wedding because he fell in love with her all over again and said that he remembered because it seemed like the easiest way to make sure she didn’t marry another man, in my mind it’s still all good. He still said I love you, stopped the wedding and is hugging her. I’d say that is plenty to be excited about!!!  

Anonymous said: Or shoot do you think the wedding/remembering might just be eda or serkan’s dream? :(

Oh boy, possibly, but I’m so tired of the speculation that the pivotal moment in every fragman is a dream. I know that the proposal in 25 being a dream eFFed us up, but honestly, it’s no fun to theorize or speculate when you assume everything is not really happening. If it is, so be it, but I’m not gonna spend a ton of energy on that theory.

Anonymous said: The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that the wedding and remembering is serkans dream. The whole point of eda doing a fake wedding is to provoke serkan right? So if he wasn’t even there (he ran in late) why would she be acting it out, about to say yes? And would the writers really spoil the reunion in the fragman?

Okay, I guess I will spend some energy on it. Good point about her going to the point of fake saying yes when he wasn’t there, but in the fragman she says she’ll do anything to get him back. Maybe she was hoping he would come busting in and as long as its fake, does it matter? Here’s my thing, would the production actually spend a full day shooting with the ENTIRE cast at that wedding location for a dream? Seems like a pretty big expense for a dream. Also they showed a bunch of reactions. Engin, Piril, Leyla, Erdem, and Selin’s. Would a dream go into that level of detail? Complete with Engin being exuberant and Piril looking like she sucked on a lemon? Would Serkan dream about that and having a bruise on his face? Maybe, it would certainly clear away all the problems this scene potentially creates, but it’s not the most plausible scenario to me. 

Anonymous said: Maybe the confession is serkans dream, which makes him realize that even though he doesn’t remember, he still loves her so that provokes him to stop the wedding for real, and then the running/car scenes are real and the ep ends with him walking in on the wedding? Bc during the running/car scenes and when it looks like it first walks into the wedding he has a brown jacket but during the confession he doesn’t

Okay... I guess this theory is super popular. Obviously could be. However, check out the reaction shot of Engin at the wedding again, he’s holding Serkan’s coat.  So a lot happens (obviously) that we didn’t see. I guess somehow Serkan comes down the stairs and takes off his coat and hands it to Engin?

Anonymous said: I wonder why eda has a different wedding dress in each fragman?

Maybe Eda was just trying on dresses when he came in and perhaps there were several? Or maybe she decides not to wear the dress that caused Serkan to look at her like she was the stars and moon combined and say she was beautiful, to fake marry another man?

Episode 34 asks:

Anonymous said: In 34 when Selin takes the pictures to Deniz and they have their argument, did you notice that when Deniz angrily throws the photos/envelope onto the table, one (or two, I can’t remember) photos falls out unnoticed onto the floor? And when Selin takes the envelope back, presumably to dispose of the photos, she doesn’t pick up the one on the floor. Do you think this is significant at all?

I’ve seen this theory, but then I also saw someone point out that when Selin looks at the photos later they are both there. I think that might just be a continuity issue. However, we shall see. Someone has the copies and is texting them to Selin, so it’s not like there’s a shortage of ways for the show to get other eyes on the photos. 

Anonymous said: I agree with you that Eda slapping Serkan after the kiss was a little harsh. When I read the summary for the ep I was expecting him to say something mean, but what he actually said was the best case scenario. Him taking that big of a step in actively WANTING to remember her, especially after the way Ceren worded what she said to him about Eda, was a big deal! And I was like girl, did you not do this exact same thing to him in ep 29 in an effort to make him remember as well? 😂

I agree that his reaction was the best case scenario. She did do that exact same thing. And his reaction was to dazedly wander off and propose to another woman to try and stave off the feels and confusion her kiss wrought. All in all I prefer the slap. 

Personally, I think it was a huge thing that he wanted to kiss her, especially after Ceren’s unbalanced Eda-hate soliloquy at his loft. He didn’t seem to care about Eda being manipulative or selfish, he just seemed jazzed because if true it would mean that she hadn’t been able to move on from their love.

[jazajas]

okay so i finished love, victor a while ago and i saw some other reviews and thoughts about it here so now i've got a pretty good list on my thoughts and feelings.

tl;dr: it has some issues, yes, but im gonna hold out and hope it gets better later on because the same thing happened with the first few eps, i wasn't that into it but then it got good, and nothing is ever great with the first season, because at that point we're getting used to those characters.

⚠️caution: spoilers ahead (im on mobile, i cant get an under-the-cut)⚠️

1. while a leah on the offbeat movie would have been amazing movie sequel (even tho i havent read the book yet, im just here for the wlw content) i am kind of glad we got this instead. mostly because I've seen book series where one movie was good, so they decide to do the rest, turn out bad (hunger games? divergent? percy jackson? the hobbit?) because so much was cut from the book-to-first movie writing, that other scenes wouldn't make sense to future movies if they had those in while cutting others. however, i am sad that i didn't get to make the choice of deciding whether what was cut was wrong etc. about future movies, but i'll take what i can get.

2. LGBTQ+ POC as a lead! that's amazing! as a ace/bi lantina that's close to home (it also is great that victor's from texas and so is ya gorl) and even then it's a mixed latinx family! i think pilar mentioned that at least the grandmother left Colombia and i saw the Puerto Rican flag in victor's room. also the salazar's are definitely from small town texas, even without knowing the name. (church barbeques, the use of the words "such a diverse city" in regards to atlanta)

3. a lack of actual lgbtq+ main storylines (so far) is kind of sad for a show like this. i was getting serious bi/pan vibes (as a lot of other people) from victor from the beginning, and when it was implied that victor was actually gay (while great, not shaming) as it has been brought to my attention, there was a lot of looking at a lot of straight relationship problems (please let us know more about benji)- edit 6/18: upon further consideration, it very much is a show about questioning your sexuality, I'm speaking about the other straight relationship issues, not mia and Victor's, its just the first season.

4. let us talk about cheating for a sec. never okay, in any circumstance. i feel sorry for mia that she saw victor making out with benji and the fact that he was doing any of that in the first place. victor made a choice to lie about the espresso machine and then kissed benji at the hotel and then when benji was fighting with derek, basically confessed his love and mistakes, then proceeded to makeout with benji after he broke up with derek, he built that grave and now he must lie in it. i get having feelings for a guy when you are in a relationship with a girl, and not accepting yourself enough to end that relationship but you really want it to work so you can be "normal". really, he should have told mia after he got back from the trip tho. i get being in highschool and doing stupid stuff and making dumb decisions, but for a show aimed at teens i think we should also remind said teens to make good choices even if we have to lose some realism within the character choices.

4. pilar and her decisions based off her brother pissed me off. because i honestly think that if she'd kept her mouth shut about what she knew or confronted victor about it in the first place we could have avoided a LOT of mess. did she not learn from snooping around her mother's business about her relationships that going behind a person's back doesnt end well? i did, however, like the pilar/felix friendship and was really kind of hoping that they'd get together during their coffee hangout (although now im glad that didn't happen) because they had a deeper understanding of each other. same with wendy/felix, although they do seem to much alike to work out in the long run but i still feel bad for wendy.

5. i don't know how i feel about lake and andrew, as people separate from each other. both seem to be the way they are from their upbringing (not confirmed why andrew is such an ass, but if his comment about his dad is anything to go by i bet it's got something to do with attention) but andrew seems to be less, idk, superficial? like he turned down mia because he didn't want to be a rebound, he didn't out victor, he actually stood up to early teasing the other dudes in the lockerroom were doing at victor (with teasing of his own obviously but that interaction had him on my nice list until much later). lake? lake. i honestly don't have an opinion of her? not really. i mean after hanging out with pilar i was hoping felix wouldn't go back to lake. is her name laken? i feel like her full name is laken. but they also played the "im only like this because my mom is really superficial about stuff and i do like the geeky nice guy but appearances" to "actually screw the norms im gonna makeout with him infront of the whole student body". i honestly thought she was gonna be bi because she kept hitting on mia when she was helping set up for her "date" and "big night" and there was one point where i saw her face fall at something mia said in relation to her and idk i was hoping she'd be bi (i figured early on that victor/mia wasnt gonna work and was like "oh mia/lake would be cute" but now idk.

6. okay on to the "big night", i have one word. NO. i didn't like the peer pressure into having sex. i agreed with felix when he said "your body your choice" but im also disappointed that victor made out with mia and when lake was talking to felix after victor left he didn't try to stand up for victor.

7. on to age gaps because i hadn't really thought of this at first. we'll start with benji/derek: WHAT GRADE IS BENJI?! because that determines my thoughts. if he's a sophomore that meant that he and Derek started dating benji's freshman year and thats eugh, don't do that, don't care if its a gay couple that shouldn't be happening because the maturity of the two characters is DRASTICALLY different (this is also a reason i am not a fan of cmbyn) but that would explain why they were so rocky. hoping the event at the gay bar was open to anyone not just for drinking, but not liking that fact that not one of the adults with victor were like: hey, this is a 16 year old, that's kind of wack when that dude was hitting on victor. that made me question some stuff. although i figure it might be making up for the lack of a gay bar scene in love, simon. but even then, in svthsa it's a restaurant with a bar that some people go to just to drink at, it wasn't just a bar, simon could be there but should NOT have accepted drinks from college kids, not matter how attractive.

8. i loved how bram and simon and their friends helped victor out though. i like how bram was like: hey i know my friends are a lot so here's a gay basketball league becaue there's no one way to be gay. i like how Simon talked about needing help himself just to help victor and how he said his friends were cool with it because it's a community. i like of justin(?) mentioned how being what his parents wanted was putting on a mask and pretending, not him doing drag. my favorite lines from that ep are: "and before you ask my pronouns are they/them/theirs" "'they're all gay? even that guy? he's like [insert really tall number]' 'yeah. you should see him in heels'" "or in simon's case: really unathletic" "and also because bram said that if i wore [the jean jacket] one more time he'd burn it". also katya was there. and the group hug too!

9. the back hand homophobia in relation to family is sad, but realistic and i sincerely hope his parents are kind enough not to be too harsh on victor because of it. anything they say that isn't positive or supportive of victor is bad but i hope they realize that there is more to him than that and that they can come to terms with it because it's not always that hard to be a part of that community and super religious. i am biromantic and catholic. and while there are some things i wont agree on my mom with, i know that it's more of a strike against God for kicking out gay kids from families than it is to be gay, because those parents were given trust by GOD to love those kids no matter what, and be good parents. so in the end, the parents are wrong and harmful and in the case of christians against jesus's teachings to love everyone.

10. this is fan speculation but dont think simon/bram are going through a rough patch? i honestly think it'd be a little cruel to the characters to have on of their actors be producing but then not have that relationship stay. and while it's not set in stone and obviously things happen in the real world, we have no proof script wise about there being a rift. all we have are bad photoshopped ig photos and scenes where two characters are never standing next to each other probably beccaue schedules never link up correctly for minor characters. who knows, maybe nick robinson was filming for a movie where is does have an even more major role than victor's gay guru in a series about victor so his filming time was around that. im gonna keep hope that things are okay.

11. that being said: we need more mainstream wlw content, because someone said it earlier and it really does seem to be catering to straight girls. i'll admit i did freak out when benji played call me maybe which is something i associated with him and victor but then kissed a guy because who wouldn't? we get that serenade and sweetness and then it'a ripped from us. but i did mellow out. if i flipped later it was because victor was making dumb decisions and i had to give myself a moment of compsure before i continued.

in the end, i'd say that there is a lot of growth this series needs to go through, but i also know that some people just aren't going to like it and i get that. but i also know that sometimes the best of stories have rocky starts, nothing is ever perfect from the beginning. and besides, further seasons are on hold until we figure out this covid thing, which means that you bet they're gonna be looking at our feedback. they saw what we thought before, they can do it again

i really did like it but we need more ACTUAL lgbtq+ relationship stuff from this series and better decisions on what we are teaching the younger generations, as well as what we want to focus on and realism within characters. i'm giving it an 8/10, because there is always room for growth and i really hope we get better things out of this than what we have been given in season 2.

edit: someone mentioned it really seeming like it was meant for Disney+ and i felt that. also to anyone who reaches the tags agter reading ALL OF THIS: i am sorry

[wernerherzogs]

Previous anon here--thank you! I'm VERY into spooky stuff, even though I'm also a huge baby, lol.

okay!!! so when it comes to unsolved, i’d recommend just following my tips from that primer post i reblogged earlier. there’s been many episodes to date, but most of them are around 20 minutes long, so it’s like. definitely possible to slowly catch up on all of that content! it’s good stuff to watch over, idk, a dinner when you’re bored, or whenever you find yourself having some free time. supernatural eps tend to produce most meme-able shane content, but i think they can feel a bit repetitive? because even if you do believe in the supernatural like ryan (and i do) -- spoiler alert -- nothing ever happens whenever the boys investigate a location, akfjs. (the locations are pretty much always cool though!) so personally i usually prefer their true crime cases -- all of those Actually Happened, i hadn’t heard of a lot of them before (although they do cover some absolute classics, too), and it’s fun and interesting to speculate what might have gone down, etc.

out of non-unsolved buzzfeed content featuring the boys i’d recommend checking out their ladylike ep, their knott’s berry farm visit, and ryan and brent (ryan’s original bfu co-host) touring la’s best taco trucks.

if you like history, shane hosted a show called ruining history over at buzzfeed (with ryan and shane’s gf sara as regular panelists, and other buzzfeed’s employees as rotating guest panelists), and now hosts excellent puppet history over at watcher (with only two panelists now -- ryan and rotating guests). both of these basically cover messy/chaotic or just interesting moments/people/events of history, which is combined with HUMOUR. shane’s a huge history nerd, and an excellent narrator. puppet history also has titular PUPPETS, and MUSICAL INTERLUDES.

out of watcher entertainment content -- all of which is divided into neat playlists on their channel right here, my fave show might be top 5 beatdown which basically boils down to shane and ryan Knowing Each Other and Bantering with one another over various silly ratings. all eps have different guests (one per episode) who are experts on featured topics (from crisps to pixar movies!!!).

there’s also the Shane And Ryan Take Each Other Out On Dates genre!!! like, that’s Literally it. they just spend time together doing various silly things, AND IT’S THE BEST. so you’ve got the show called weird wonderful world (season two is my favourite atm), and also tourist trapped (this one had only one episode so far, sadly, because it’s also a favourite of mine).

too many spirits is a new thing, and A MUST WATCH if you’re a connoisseur of the boys’ BANTER. they read out short spooky (and VERY BAD, which makes them hysterical) stories submitted by fans while they get progressively drunker -- they filmed all four episodes on the same night. so it’s basically CHAOTIC DRUNKEN FRIENDSHIP, the best you can get with those two!!!

the rest under the cut so i don’t annoy all of my followers too much:

are you scared? is one of the shows that debuted in lockdown/quarantine times. ryan reads creepypastas in this one! i’ve enjoyed every episode, but in all honesty ryan and shane don’t get to comment that often on those stories, and also all of them are quite clearly made up, so i don’t think this one is a must watch. some of those stories were really good though, so like... you basically should decide for yourself whether you want more spooky content or not! if you do, go for it! the art featured in the eps SLAPS, it must be said.

watcher weekly is their weekly casual show where they tell us what they’ve been up to, discuss the projects that are currently on air and possible future ones, answer fan questions, and etc. if you’re only a casual fan you can probably skip it! i do watch it regularly though. they have more of that on their patreon, as well as other exclusives (i’m not a patron myself though).

other stuff they have on the channel that you can probably skip: spooky small talk is ryan’s talk show, and i think he’s GREAT with people, and should get to interview them as often as possible, but the noise was getting to me. he interviews guests in a haunted house, which is genuinely great in theory, but it tends to be overwhelming on the ears tbh (for me at least). i only watched selected episodes of this one (highlights: shane’s ep, and the one with ryan’s gf mari). haven’t watched their D&D show, too, but if you’re into D&D, you’ll probably enjoy that! they also filmed this one in lockdown.

if you’re into food, steven lim (watcher’s third founder) hosts homemade (SUPER wholesome, about family recipes vs what you can find in restaurants) and grocery run. they also do podcasts (available in most places where you can usually find podcasts, and also on their separate yt channel), but i’ve given up on keeping with those, akjjfa.

TO SUM IT UP: there is A Lot, sure, but don’t get discouraged!!! literally just pick whatever sounds interesting to you, and then HAVE FUN. do it for the FRIENDSHIP. chronological order isn’t important in any of these, i think. even if you miss out on the origin of one of their running jokes or sth, you’ll eventually have caught up on it somehow anyway, i think! they tend to mention their fave Bits a lot!

[doomedandstoned]

Meeting Bomg, Doom-Drone Legends from Ukraine

~Interview by Billy Goate~

Doomed & Stoned continues our week of epic interviews with a long overdue conversation with the great Ukraine doom-drone band BOMG, who have been desamating stages and blowing out amps since 2010. During that time, Nikolay Temchenko (guitar), Yuriy Temchenko (bass), and Anton Khomenko (drums) have put out two mammoth LPs, an EP, and a split.

I first got turned on to BOMG's sound with the record 'Polynseed' (2013), which released the year that Doomed & Stoned was founded. I recommend starting there if this is your first exposure to the mighty trio from Kyiv.

Bomg have been gradually drifting in the direction of full-on drone metal, executed in their own authentic and compelling way, as we're about to discover as we drill into 'Peregrination' (2020) -- which we reviewed last year and Robustfellow has recently reissued.

Give ear...

You state that BOMG means “vagabond” on your Bandcamp page. Can you elaborate on how the name ties in with the band’s history and core identity?

It’s an abbreviation literally meaning “with no particular place of living”. Funny thing is that its’ meaning is degraded in common use (like “bum”), but when it was incepted (60s – 70s in USSR) those who were stigmatized by it were better off going elsewhere than being part of the regime, taking it as a positive. This became somewhat of a short-lived movement even. We think that despite being prone to misunderstanding in every way, it fits the overall vibe. Blessing and a curse. But frankly, the name is a secondary thing at best.

How would you describe your distinctive sound, to someone who has never encountered it before?

Basically, trying to elaborate and add to “Black Sabbath spaghettified” idea. We try to squeeze out any possible amount of low frequency, volume, distortion and effect saturation to the instruments, not necessarily designed for it. As of similarities and influences, it’s 60s-70s heavy psych, proto-metal and proto-punk, 80s - 90s continuation of it (doom metal, stoner/desert rock, sludge, drone doom), besides that – dub, ambient, prog rock, experimental music, field recordings and whatnot.

Peregrination by Bomg

Your new album 'Peregrination' is an explosive bombshell, massive in every respect. When was the concept for the album born?

The first track was almost ready in 2011, we played it at our first show. As of concept, it started to take shape somewhere in 2013-2014, most of the lyrics were written back then. Then it took years to “grow.” First, we tried to make it so each track would fit one side of LP, but it seemed kinda compressed and landed too quick. Then we decided not to confine it to any time limit but each track landed itself around 40 minutes, so we made sure it evens out like this in final recording.

Tell us about the recording process involved. We’re very curious about instruments, gear, amps, and the general studio environment in which it originated.

Each whole track was recorded live (took roughly four weeks for four tracks), then layered with two additional guitars. Synths, field recordings, vocals were added afterward.

Gear: we used two Tank amps (Orange/Matamp clones) made from old soviet broadcast amplifiers and Tesla Disco 240 for guitar and bass (wish our Sunn concert bass was alive at that point, but it just burns transistors when turned on – we couldn’t find an exact schematic for it, even photos of the exact amp on the web, seems like it’s from some transition period).

The drums are '70s Rogers 13”, 16” toms and 24” steel shell bass drum from '50s-'70s (mass-produced for political celebrations, weddings and funerals), coupled with Meinl hi-hats, Paiste Rude China and Zildjian Mega Bell.

Guitars used were early '00s Gibson SG Standard, '72 Musima Eterna Deluxe and ’69 Musima Record; and ‘70 Cremona Violin bass.

Pedals: Poltava fuzz-wah, Noname “flanger” that is actually phaser for bass; Tesla Vrable fuzz-wah (the seller told us that his uncle was under KGB investigation for just having it), Noname dist (most likely a ProCo Rat clone), Vox wah, Boss BF-2, Lel’ parametric EQ, Lel’ digital delay, Boss dynamic wah, Roland Space Echo for guitar.

Recording equipment: Two '70s Oktava ML-19 for overheads, '50s-'60s Oktava ML15 and ML16 for room and various dynamic and condenser mics for everything else into Pro Tools, then later in mixing/mastering stage partly routed through mixer and cassette deck using beaten up cassette for analog saturation and vibrato.

Long story short, we tried to use most of the stuff we got in our studio, and at this point, it’s hard to remember every detail of the process. Referring to the environment, it is compiled of numerous weird gadgets which got to us throughout years, most of which were collecting dust somewhere for decades, and have a history (an entire topic by itself) we’re always asking for. And when used, they tell a story which then leaves a mark in recordings for sure. That was a hell of a fascinating process.

I noticed you had lyrics for each song on 'Peregrination,' but the singing doesn't seem discernable. Are there indeed vocals and, if so, how can I hear them?

Yes, there are vocals. They appear on low volume as reverberated and somewhat oscillated notes, more like presence; on high volume, you can hear words with 1-5 kHz correctly dialed in (on most audio equipment these frequencies tend to be excited, so lowering EQ at this range brings clarity), it appears as a whisper in a loud, saturated mix. Also, we added subtitles on YouTube, so you can know for sure where to find vocals. The point was to make them recognizable only with intent.

Talk about the album art. It seems there is hidden symbolism there, is that true?

It’s some sort of a window that leads to four areas, which are the visualized soundscapes to each track. There were no particular symbols, but the thing is that they fill in the picture as it is set - like a hallucination, which is often a well of meaning where symbols change and multiply interpretations, at the same time being just momentary blobs of form.

The process of making this album cover involved many iterations of drawing, running through GAN networks, editing the result to achieve the effect of a captured hallucination, close to the exact one. When hardwiring symbols directly into it, they would be eaten up by hallucinating AI. So by randomly forming a resemblance of shapes, things started popping out where they fit the most contextually - weird stuff. It’s a common thing in art to throw “open for interpretation” on everything, but this one might be.

What is the concept behind each "hobo" symbol and track on 'Peregrination'?

So, the first one means being quiet and alert, seeing what’s going on. The second one is a sign of a trolley – hopping from one soundscape to another, time travel. The third one – safe camp; it may be confusing when applied to the lyrics, but the position that is stated there facing the object is some sort of a “safe camp”, ground to stand on. The fourth one means “don’t give up”, even if applied in both meanings of this phrase to track. But the symbol references may lack context without diving into tracks.

I'm sure our readers would be most happy if you were to illuminate the meaning of each of the songs on your new album.

Well, it’s like trying to create a soundtrack to some introductory ontological theories (pretty blank, sterile stuff), realizing their intensity. Here uneven-numbered tracks touch on mind ontology, even-numbered - on reality ontology. Not diving into details too much, let them hang there.

I. Electron

Peregrination by Bomg

it's no light of star it's a light of mind walking thru a dream electron shamanism

"Electron" is covering the theme of mythical perception akin to humans and the discovery that put a dent into these beliefs. Variation on a Tunguska story, mythos surrounding Tesla, how people mythologize all around.

II. Perpetuum

Peregrination by Bomg

Across desolations Caravans astray Sand covered roads Forget old ways

"Perpetuum" goes more into sci-fi territory: endless cycles of dead and born-again civilizations, the Great Filter caused by cosmic events or beings themselves, and how we just might unknowingly observe such things staring at the sky.

III. Paradigm

Peregrination by Bomg

Giant web built and set in lines It works when mind reflects Leaving us with all the fears Or letting them disappear

"Paradigm" is based around the tendency of the mind to confine itself into some set of ideas, building a higher fence while thinking it broadens the space. Thinking of one thing while it is the opposite, fear of the structure collapsing while an event like this would alleviate any sort of fear. But breaking a paradigm usually leads straight to the next one, to which the same attributes apply. And keeping this notion brings a safe distance to it.

IV. Emanation

Peregrination by Bomg

Now the opportunity is To see the universe spinning Emit structures boundless Round its' endless borders It's the very first the very last small moment In periods of endless time When the structure merge infinite To manifest as something

"Emanation" goes somewhat contrary to the second one - a reality that may be started at some point, complicates itself, and never is truly repetitive. Also thoughts on subjective existence and the point of it, maybe being an instrument of the Universe to explain it to itself. Speculation on whether or not consciousness flows from one state to another, as energy does, returning to its inception or scattering across until equilibrium, or even said results being the same thing. And the uncertainty of these things that are left to be answered while we as beings, it seems, are just left to fade away.

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[where-theres-smoak-2]

Fandom Thoughts

First thing I want to say is this post is just me speculating and expressing my thought on things. I’m sure many people will disagree with me or have a different interpretation and that’s ok. I could be totally way off base with everything I say but like I said this is just my interpretation of and my thoughts on things, also just want to say that I mean no disrespect to anyone or anyone’s fandom so yeah.  

So we all know that B*ghead is the largest fandom and the most popular ship. There’s no lying about that. I think it became so popular out of a combination of things, I think Cole’s popularity from his time on the Disney channel did bring across a lot of fans. I mean I could be totally wrong about this but I do feel like alot of the B*ghead fans were originally Cole fans. I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch Riverdale when it first aired, it was about 6 episodes in when my sister told me it was a good show about a murder mystery and that I’d never guess who was on it? Cody from suite life. I myself originally started watching the show because I was curious about the fact that Cole was on it and then stuck around because I got invested in the mystery and because from that very first episode I was hooked by Barchie and saw so much potential with them. I do think another contributing factor to the B*ghead ship’s popularity was the fact that the actors themselves became a couple and so people weren’t just invested in the ship but in the actors’ relationship too. I also do think that the fandom was very ‘loud’ on social media and there was alot of engagement. All of that combined with the fact that they did have some cute scenes together I think was the perfect storm to creating a popular ship.  

However V*rchie doesn’t actually seem that popular to me. In fact from what I can tell its a much smaller fandom and I would argue that after B*ghead the most popular ship out of the three is Barchie. Barchie has always won out in fan polls against v*rchie and I feel like I see more comments from the Barchie fandom than I do the V*rchie fandom. To me it has always been more of a B*ghead vs Barchie thing than a V*rchie vs Barchie thing. It always felt more like V*rchie got support because it kept Archie out of the way of B*ghead. In fact I see quite alot of support for Veggie and for Archosie and alot of people admit that they liked those parings over V*rchie. I myself loved Veggie together far more than V*rchie and I didn’t mind Archosie I thought they were cute, I didn’t like them as much as I did Veggie but I still thought they had some really nice moments together. I think after Betty, I liked Archie with Josie best. 

But here’s another thing to bear in mind. Whilst Riverdale and its ships are popular online and get alot of chatter on social media and has its fandoms which are very vocal on social media, there is also the general audience. These are the people who just watch the show every week, they don’t talk about it on social media, they don’t look up interviews and obsess over every little crumb of info the writers put out trying to figure out what might happen in the next episode. They are the silent part of the audience, I suppose you could call them. And I would say that this part of the audience far outnumbers the part that are involved in the fandom side of the show. Of course its very difficult to really know what this side of the audience really thinks of the show because they aren’t out on social media telling people what they think. The best way is to know what they think is to look at the ratings and the netflix streams. 

I mean I know that the ratings don’t really matter a whole lot when it comes to whether or not the network will renew a show and that streams mean more nowadays anyway. But in my opinion I do think the ratings can still give you an idea on how interested the audience is in the show. The way I see it is that if I am really excited by a show, I spend all week looking forward to the next episode and you can bet your ass that when that show’s next episode airs I am sitting down in front of that tv and watching it live if I can, because I don’t want to wait a second longer than I have to when I want to see it. With this season all the Barchies know that the most live viewed episodes of the season were 5x05 and 5x06, the two episodes that were promoted with Barchie. The lowest two episodes not just for this season but in the shows history were 5x08 and 5x09. These were the two episodes that had the V*rchie and B*ghead content. 

I also discovered this website flixpatrol that tracks the top tens on Netflix in various countries each day of the week. You can also look up specific shows to see where in the top ten they come each day of the week and I think I found something interesting. Now obviously because its week by week I could only really get information for episode 9.  

So what can this information tell us. Well episode 9 aired on the 24th and appeared on Netflix in alot of countries on the 25th. This chart shows where in the top 10 Riverdale fell this week, I’ve outlined those two dates in red. A dash indicates that it didn’t appear in the top ten that day. Now we can see that Riverdale most definitely does better on Netflix than it does in the live views and is consistently in the top ten in most countries. However, as I said, I did notice something. On the days it appears on Netflix we can see  that in most countries it doesn’t appear in the top ten and in the countries it does it is very low on the list coming in at mostly, 8,9 or 10. To me this suggests, like with the live ratings, that people just aren’t rushing to watch it. Some of this can be explained by the fact that it airs on a week night and it does fall high on the list on the Saturday after it airs on Netflix which could suggest that people are waiting until the weekend to watch it. But again, maybe its just me, but when I really want to watch a show, when I am really excited by a show, I will stay up late or I will get up early to watch it. I mean when 5x05 and 5x06 aired I was up early on the Thursday morning refreshing my Netflix page over and over waiting for the episode to become available because I was that excited to watch the episode.

*Edit: I’ve learnt that I have read this chart completely wrong as there is a one day lag, so the ratings on the 26th show that people were tuning in on the 25th which is the day it becomes available on Netflix in those countries. So ignore everything I just said in the paragraph above. I am going to keep the chart in for those who are interested in those numbers though. But yeah apologies for that.*   

To me this doesn’t really line up with the whole B*ghead is the most popular ship. I mean with B*ghead being the most popular ship then this last episode should be the most watched and I’ll admit I was a little surprised that it didn’t have more views. So why is that, we know B*ghead is popular so why aren’t we seeing it in the views. Well I think the answer is whilst they are popular, whilst it has a large fandom, its not popular or big enough to save the show by itself. And to be clear this is just my opinion which I’ve based on what I’ve seen people saying on social media and in YouTube reactions and reviews and from this data from the amount of people tuning into the show. But I think as much as many people like B*ghead, more people dislike/ are bored of V*rchie, are bored of the repetitive plotlines, are getting frustrated with the nonsensical plots. I think it has just gotten to the point where the things they don’t like about the show, or the things they’ve become bored with, far outweigh any appeal one ship might have. Basically I just get this overwhelming sense that people have lost any excitement they felt at this show. And this goes beyond any ships, whilst I do think alot of people tune in because of ships, there is more factoring into it than just that. I feel like all the excitement that came with the time jump and with seeing something new with Barchie and seeing something new with them being adults and dealing with adult themes, has worn off. It happened so fast too. I mean after episode 8 aired it was like a dementor had come along and sucked all the happiness out of the fandom. All of that energy that had existed before was just gone in the space of 45 mins. 

But here’s my question. I did notice a little bit of that energy come back when the promo for ep 10 was released and it showed that shot of Jabitha together. Again I do think that alot of people like this idea of Jabitha together or at least are intrigued by it. Although I know there are quite a few B*ghead fans who think the romance is unnecessary. But again I think this interest in Jabitha is because it is something new and therefore it is something interesting. I’ve also seen some Veggie fans creeping out of the woodwork over the last few weeks. So what I am wondering is if the show decided to go the route of Barchie, Veggie, Jabitha, Choni and Kangs would that generate enough buzz and would all those smaller fandoms together be enough to revive the show a bit. Especially if they couple those ships with some interesting new storylines to go with them as well as keeping the interactions between characters varied. I mean I am not expecting the views to suddenly jump up massively back to what they used to be in like season 2 but I do wonder if it would be enough to breathe life back into the fandom again.   

[sarkywoman]

Finished season 2 Umbrella Academy! Now I can follow people again :D Thoughts and spoilers under cut.

Okay, so Five totally carried this season for me. He was my fave in the comics then Klaus was my fave in S1 of the show but Five has pulled ahead in this season. I love that murderbunny. I hope they never go too heavy on the ‘I don’t want to kill anymore’ angle because I don’t watch shows like this for pacifist brooding from characters like him. I like the fireaxes, the blood, the threat of homicidal rage.

Allison was an absolute badass this season. Like, she was last season so it shouldn’t surprise me but what I like about her that differs from the rest is that she is so much more capable of exercising her awesomeness outside of Academy business. I know in a way it’s the nature of the powers, but also it’s just a willingness to get involved in the world and the ability to socialise with normal people. The rest of them really struggle with that.

Diego was a big disappointment. They blasted out the daddy issues stuff without subtlety or sympathy early on and every so often hammered at it when they wanted a quick angst moment. Felt kind of hamfisted. I didn’t understand him this season. Falls for Lila when she’s basically acting like a Klaus stand-in then decides he’s in love with her, is obsessed with the president suddenly... that would make more sense if he’d been stuck with some anti-Communist group or something, or gone more military like in the comics, but here it was really random. And they tried to just say ‘hero complex’ whenever it came up, as if it explained it. They could have had him with a cellmate with an obsession with the president or something in the hospital, talking his ear off about it until he adopted some of that mental illness, but instead it just... came from nowhere.

Kinda mad Lila survived and got away. I found her quite annoying. Though I had laughed before S2 about what if she was one of the Umbrella kids as well, knowing she’d be Diego’s love interest, so that’s quite funny. 

I liked Cissy and her decision to stay was quite frustrating. Like, 2020 sucks but it’s better than leaving a trail of dead in the 60s with your misunderstood son, especially if you’ve got a girlfriend like Vanya taking you to the future.

Ray, oh Ray. He deserved so much better! I would have liked to see more of him. His relationship with Allison was really sweet and they didn’t do him wrong to make Allison’s departure an easy choice, which is good.

Klaus... meh. Episode 5 and 10 I loved him again, but a lot of this season he was just arguing with Ben. Always a risk when they were giving Ben more prominence and he can only speak to Klaus, but Klaus riffs off of the group better. Isolating him for half the season from the rest didn’t give him much time to shine. His cult plotline was the emotional equivalent of the comic arc where he gets too big for his boots, so I see why they did that. But I missed his aesthetic from season one a lot. He was so pretty in the last ep. 

I liked Ben more this season, though I did cackle at the evil goatee at the end.

Reginald... meh, it really upset the understanding I thought I had of his character, which is that he was an abusive twat because he was so invested in saving the world. Season 2 makes it clear he just... really hates children. 

Vanya, I honestly wish I could just block out fandom from the moment a new series is announced because everything that was being said around her plot sounded so shit but then watching it in context I loved it. I do think she’s erring on the side of too powerful for plot, but I assume the other powered people will have comparable strength to her. 

Luther had ups and downs. I would have liked him to have more of a role, get more growth as a character. He was often used as comedy relief and made to seem kind of stupid, which is a depressing direction. 

Also the Handler! I love her! I was so glad to see her back, didn’t expect it at all. And her outfits, damn. The spiderweb collar. I love her. Manipulative queen bitch.

Pairing-wise, I know I’m in the minority already as a shipper, but it was a shame to see so little interaction between Klaus and Diego. Especially in episode 6, which was my least favourite, when Diego tonelessly suggests Klaus is overdosing and does nothing about it. Like, even if I didn’t ship them that seems so out of character. This season made protective Diego seem like something fandom made up. I’m also super happy that they made it clear that these characters are not biologically related, that things are complicated and their dynamics are not normal or based in the real world. It’s always so strange to me when people complain about pairing any of them off, as if they’re supposed to represent healthy normalcy. Even platonically they are all very very strange. I can see sibling-esque relationships for some and not for others. Also, did not expect to hear Klaus speculating on whether Five’s gonna be hot and Allison trying to shut it down before it goes places XD That made me howl. I also thought the Alluther was handled well. Like, it’s complicated and awkward. That’s fine. Pairings don’t have to be fully resolved or overwhelmingly romantic, they can be confusing and messy and difficult. Speaking of messy, Handler/Five still seemed like it was being teased at, like maybe she had a thing for his older self. I can’t imagine him reciprocating though. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. Not perfect, but nothing ever is.