#seriously i literally had a mental episode when i heard she makes me laugh

[john-lennon-unofficial]

reblog with 5 tags that come up when you type "literally" because i just realized i use this word entirely too often

[youranxiousnerd]

Showtime Thoughts

bc i am in love with julia lester

spoilers below

First off, why is this episode so short?

ngl i forgot mazzara was a regular

ricky ded besties

awww nina and the letters 

she looks very good in her dress

ashlyn and ricky look so good

“We’re screwed!”

ash and ricky are too funny like where were they this season?

chaotic and pretty best friends

sidenote, why did they go see north high’s production? 

oh my god ricky and nina are talking

SEBLOS IN THE BACKGROUND

i am taking what i can get

RICKYS FACE WITH THE CARD!!!!!!!!

my favorite part of the episode

his makeup looks very good

he looks very good

as @organic-guacamole said, he is very pretty

its been like three minutes and it already is so chaotic

yessss kourtney’s mom!!!

so howie and kourt are fine? gah since when?

“look for the shortest fork” mood

I CANNOT TAKE EJ SERIOUSLY HE LOOKS LIKE AN ANGRY BIRD

big bird ej comin at you

oh

PORTWELL DATE

wait isnt this ejs last show? is he going to miss his last afterparty for a date?

true love bitches

GINA MY LOVE

“Is he with us?”

NORTH HIGH SET OUR BEST BOI ANTOINE ON FIRE APS GET READY

seb being a supportive boyfriend is everything i needed

jenny is frazzled

i love how all the techie turned actors are nervous at some point during the episode

REDLYN CONTENT

awww thats so cute love the callback!!!

ooo howie is here

love how the writers leave a cliffhanger and then close the book before it turns to tragedy with one line

mazzara and ej, thats it

jenn what

why is mike there?

that was so unnecessary like aren’t mike and jenn over?

LILY

“did we forget to build a moat around the school” 

let ricky be single challenge

she just said “lol” i cant

props to ricky for keeping calm during the show after he saw mike and jenn

ah so lily is a child of divorce?

“lily scram”

RICKY AFTER THE CURTAIN OPENS WHY IS THIS FUNNY

STOP MAZZARA IS THE VOICE OVER

HE SOUNDS REALLY GOOD

how did ricky do that so fast-

put on gloves over the cast, makeup, and a mask?

i dont work with costumes 

AMERICA EXPLAIN

The one scene we get from the show...

Yay Steph!!!!

“Big Red has not thrown up in twenty minutes” ashlyn’s little smile

“she heard wrong”

someone please explain how spotlighting the judge is a good idea it makes it seem like things went wrong

“Carlos is a seasoned professional” honey carlos is on the verge of a mental breakdown

“He says help

Communication

Seb translating for Carlos is beautiful dramatic, yes, but im right. 

im so proud of them. they go from not talking for a week to seb being able to tell how carlos is feeling based off a stoic expression.

SOULMATE SHIT

IM SORRY NO BOP TO THE TOP CALLBACK

LIKE NONE

WHO WANTS TO RIOT WITH ME?!?!

wait so carlos goes from on the verge of a mental breakdown to full on performing and speaking?!?!?!? Speaking well too, not stumbling.

he looks so comfortable on stage when not even ten minutes ago he looked like he was going to vomit?

h e l p

ashlyn’s little laugh!

NINI IS A FORK IM LAUGHING THIS IS GREAT

big red lookin’ at his girl

ricky what are you doing?

ASHLYN AND GINA

I QUIT THEY’RE ADORABLE

GET IT KOURTNEY

howie’s little mouth drop

i cant with sebs costume i should not be laughing how is he able to do a kick line

ASHLYN MY LOVE

be our guest was enjoyable. it had a lot of moving parts. frankie and dara sounded really good. it’ll probably grow on me the more i listen to it.

is it just me or did be our guest lack some energy?

NATIALIE IS SO AGGRESSIVE

awww gina bb

portwell!!

“my mom sent me jordan fisher”

big red and ricky!!!

...what is big red doing? has he been faking sick?

“PLEASE EVERYONE REMAIN IN THE SAME ROLE YOU STARTED IN” 

BEST LINE OF THE SEASON OMFG 

alright what the hell is up with howie?!?

kourtney is so excited and then downer howie comes to ruin it

nina just write “thanks for being the best bro and glad youre not dead”

btw kourtney and gina look really good in their costumes

ASHLYN!!!!

SHES SO PRETTY THANK YOU

redlyn!!

gina and jamie!!! 

he looks so proud

glad gina gets to see her family!

cute scene, jordan is a nice addition!

RICKY AND THE BOWL

julia lester is killing it with the vocals

big red is so in love

seb bouncing in the costume 

“she’s never looked at me that way before” evil smirk

PORTWELL GLANCES

my heart fricking stopped when carlos went on stage 

being early on your cue/missing is awful would highly not recommend

a bop to the top callback after this would have been perfect

those harmonies!!

THEYRE SO IN LOVE

ummm phone call?

CHIPS BIG SCENE

...why wasn’t seb cogsworth? 

alright that was really good. everyone (even the backup) sounded really good. portwell rights! ashlyn rights! kowie rights! acting rights! 

so mazzara and jamie?

Ashlyn is the perfect Belle fight me

“Eat it Zackey Roy!” how about “yay kiddos, nice job!”

ej’s little dance

“bc you’re ginas brother” 

he is enamored by her it is adorable

EJ CASWELL RIGHTS

“hey, jordan fisher, would you like to f up one of three stableish ships in hsmtmts?” “sure, im in!”

ej!!!

aww hopefully he doesnt take the conversation too heart. they both like each other so much.

Portwell is so enjoyable to watch.

return of the bro

ej go get your girl dont worry about her brother please

SOMEONE TOUCHED THE PROPS

all hands on deck

“Can you just jump off something high”

I seem to remember Ricky falling from something high last episode, is that correct? 

She tells this to one of her most UNSTABLE kids

Oh shit

Miss. Jenn

Wtf

like what the actually hell

look at the kids faces they’re heartbroken

Miss. Jenn why. You’re stressed about the show, but you’re not performing it. They are. They have to worry about lines and cues and pitches, not you. Miss. Jenn has literally gone at the kids this season. Opening night speech too Ash and Ricky, shutting Seb down, that comment. She has become obsessed with the Menkies and North High. It has gotten really bad. These kids have put everything into this show, even their relationships (both platonic and romantic) and that is how you repay them? 

I didn’t think they would address this, I lost hope after last week but I am so glad they’re going too.

Someone send Seb after Miss. Jenn please, let him rip into her, he would do very well.

Miss. Jenn is supposed to be the role model and she just told a kid to jump off something high.

nina has been a godsend this episode, props to her!

haven’t been the biggest nini fan this season (off and on for me), but she was very behaved this episode. 

if there is anything the east high kids are good at, it’s bullshitting their way out.

“aim for my face” character growth

I KNEW IT

LILY WHY HOW WHEN WHY 

WTF THEY END THERE I CANNOT WITH CLIFF HANGERS

I liked the episode. Didn’t love it, but liked it. I really wish we got to see more acting, like we didn’t even see Big Red and E.J go on stage. Not even the iconic yellow dress. Some of the drama is so unnecessary, like why Mike and Jenn? What is with the Kourtney and Howie drama the writers insist on having, can’t they just be happy?

Besides the whole harness incident (burn that harness and mask it is causing so many problems) the production went very well, too well. This is East High we’re talking about.

Promo thoughts because what

oo they’re sneaking, maybe Big Red’s thingy

YES ASHLYN GETTING THE LOVE SHE DESERVES

oo Kowie confession?

portwell please be okay

what is up with carlos’ hair?

so seb, miss. jenn, and carlos scene? this has the potential to be very beautiful.

“It’s not over” not this again... 

i’m thinking carlos and seb are going to talk to miss jenn.

Sidenote, if we do not get a good seblos scene I will riot.

Hopefully Miss. Jenn apologizes with a billion sorrys

rini you just broke up please dont get back together 

im scared

if it is a scene where they close the book i will be very happy

Are we getting a flash forward scene? I’m pretty sure Miss. Jenn said Menkies aren’t till two plus weeks after the show.

We know based off the promo pics Ej and Gina are at the cast party, what went wrong?

Wait do we not get to see the finale of the show?

We better see the goddamn transformation

how does lily home and core four song fit in? im more curious about the lily one.

In conclusion, I am not ready for this to be over and the transformation needs to be sent to hell.

[geekkatsblog]

Reviewing Grey's Anatomy Episodes but this time its Season 17

(To those people on my page who don't watch Grey's Anatomy but are being subjected to this I'm so sorry but I really just like to vent about this show.)

Its season 17 now Yay.

They're dealing with the covid 19 pandemic and I'm sure the writers probably did lots of research to make sure that they had the most accurate representation of the situation in the hospitals and otherwise.

___________________________________________

First we're going to start with the love triangle that is Teddy, Tom and Owen.

Owen

Now this is in no way excusing what he's done in the past for the longest while I've loathed Owen Hunt but..... now I feel sorry for him. He saw he had a problem he went to therapy to get himself right, he was actually a good partner for once and communicated in his relationship, he took his time and didn't jump into marriage spontaneously and then Teddy cheated on him over but dial to be heard by everyone in the operating theater with Owen on their wedding day. (I don't want to sound bad but this might also be karma coming to but him in the ass.) I felt so much 2nd hand embarrassment for him and the pain he had in his face the whole time he pretended not to know about her cheating was just oof. I loved though the end where he drove away for the mean time I really do agree with him taking some time and space before he makes a decision. Most of the times he made a lot of sudden decisions that later came back to bite him.

Teddy

Oh Teddy, she used to be one of my favorite characters from a little after she came to the time she left but now they just carried her character so far down hill that it's hard to keep the same energy I had before, now. Everyone at Grey Sloan is on Owen's side and giving her the cold shoulder and she really wants everyone to mind their own business (I honestly agree though, you're in the middle of a pandemic mind your business and do your job now isn't the time to be shunning coworkers because they cheated.) However when she did explain her side I kinda understood it a bit better. It's still an awful thing to do but I know plenty of people who sabotage their own happiness because they aren't used to it. Hell I do it myself sometimes. But then I was also pissed when she just pretended she did nothing wrong at first. First thing first she acted kinda offended when Owen explained why he hadn't called to cancel the wedding to her. Was it kinda sus? The answer is yes but you literally cheated on him that same day, you needed the extra time sis. Not to mention the several time he hinted to her that he knew and gave her the chance to confess yet she lied through her teeth whenever he hinted at it and flat out lied again when he asked if she had anything to confess. I get the whole sabotage route but God was I happy when Owen got in his truck, drove off and left her.

Tom

I was honestly rooting for Tom in the beginning, despite him being a douche I knew deep down he had a heart somewhere, but I actually started to feel less sorry for him last season when he continued to sleep with Teddy despite knowing her situation which he pointed out to her several times and she still ignored it. I know he loves her but let's be honest, she's going to pick Owen as long as he decides to actually take her back and Tom will be left alone and heart broken with his $100000 worth of boxes in booties and a golf club to measure 6 ft distance between him and everyone else. Honestly I kinda saw a panic attack coming, if they're treating Teddy bad then they're probably treating him even more like crap based on the fact that no one besides Teddy, Catherine and maybe Amelia liked him to begin with. This may also be an unpopular opinion but I actually agree with Catherine for making him resign of chief of all chiefs his head hasn't and probably won't be in the game for a while. At least he still gets to be head of neuro. He bought a whole $100000 dollars in booties alone by mistake during an already tough pandemic between that and everything else going on around him I'm not surprised he broke. What did surprise me was that no one even went near him to help even after the attack was finished. Dislike him or not at least ask him how he's doing geeze.

___________________________________________

Jo and Jackson (Never thought I'd have to put the two of them together in a title.)

Truly the biggest shock of the night besides the trailer for next week which I will freak out about later.

Jo

So Jo has decided that in order for her to feel herself again she has to do the devils tango with someone and because they're in a pandemic and she trusts him she chose Jackson. The night of the appointment to do the deed Jo ends up crying in his mouth. The way she treated him afterwards at first was a little uncalled for in my opinion, I mean she was the one who asked for the favor. But later they talked and it was all cool again. Jo didn't really have that big of a plot this episode so not too much to talk about.

Jackson

Agreed way to quickly to doing the devils tango with Jo if you ask me. Seems a little sus. I really hope they aren't rushing him and Jo into anything give the girl some room to breath and also give Jackson a proper plot he seems to be a plot filler for everyone right now like they have no real purpose for him on the show at the moment. I'm beginning to really think that he was the one who was supposed to die last season. I really do love his and Richard's relationship. Jackson never really had a good father and Webber seems to be filling that spot quite nicely. Him pushing Webber to fight to get better and convince him that his career can be saved was heartwarming. And can we take a moment to talk about Harriet finally appearing from the world of Narnia to bless us with her presence? And boy was she a blessing. That baby that plays Harriet was awesome from her repeating Vic saying she can't be a step mom all to her facial expressions. I hope to see baby Harriet again very soon. But speaking of Vic, did she not know that Jackson was a father? How the hell did she expect to never run into her at some point? Then there's the whole question of what did she even expect of the relationship with Jackson if she never intended to even try to accept being around his daughter? also if she really want to be Robbie Rotten from Lazy town and avoid being around kids, maybe she should call or text first instead of showing up in just a fluffy jacket and nothing else.

___________________________________________

Deluca

Glad to see he finally got the help he needed and is back put tho work. I felt so upset last season when everyone just treated him like crap without trying to help him, but they made up for it a little by trying to help him with the intervention. He was also right about the sex trafficking case and I was so glad to see that he was able to be there as her doctor. Plus he's now also finally in dark blue scrubs it has felt like forever before he got those but I digress. He is now on his way once again to be a kick ass surgeon with the awesome skills hes already showcasing. I just hope he continues to look after himself. Deluca shine like the star you are babe.

___________________________________________

Maggie

Has finally found a man who understands her, he is so nice and kind and caring the whole episode I was mentally yelling go get it hun to the screen. She deserves someone who can take her seriously and understand her awkwardness as well as her tendencies finally she has stepped out of the role of cheerleader and support character and is branching out to something else and I'm here for it. And her yelling at Catherine, to share her piece of mind. I was so proud. Go get it sis.

___________________________________________

Richard

Richard Webber is back in the building, finally the king has returned to himself and already solving problems in day one. At the beginning when he publicly called Catherine a pain in the ass I was so stoked I finally thought that he was done being pushed around by her but then he took her back in the end it also kinda felt like she bought him in order to get him back with the hiring him as the new chief of chiefs but I wish them the best of luck, Webber deserves to be happy. I was also happy to see him and Bailey interacting like friends again. For a while it was awkward between them but now it's like the balance has been restored. Side note, him laughing at Teddy and Owen made me laugh so loudly especially when he asked Teddy if her name was still Altman despite the fact he clearly knew about the phonecall drama, not gonna lie I'd do the same.

___________________________________________

Catherine

Not much there, just her being angry at the pandemic and loss of money, lack of power to save lives as well as trying to win Webber back which she successfully did after firing Koracick and giving Richard his job and finally giving him a heartfelt apology without being petty.

___________________________________________

Bailey

It might just be me but so far despite the fact that it's only been 2 episodes. Bailey seems somewhat better this season. Her guilt over Deluca was definitely warranted but at least she tried to make up for it (and just like Harriet her OCD has decided to rejoin us for a visit from Narnia.) For the past few seasons she's been a slight pain but now she seems more like herself.

Her and Ben are adorable as usual, coming every 12 hours to clap for the doctors just to see her then the cute hand signals they made for each other, between Ben, Link and recently added to the group of awesome partners Winston, I'm beginning to wonder where I can find me one of these super thoughtful understanding handsome men. The two guys that knocked her over as well spraining her ankle really should have to pay or something or at least apologize, they literally just knocked a doctor off her feet and made her wheel chair bound, the chief ro be exact. Her and Webber are on talking terms and well again but she really needs to know how to express concern better. She once told Ben that when she's scared she yells but a lot of things would have gone a lot more smoothly if she'd just reminded him he was a high risk for covid and state her concern for him to begin with instead of barking out orders.

I'm also wondering if shes going to be able to handle the whole Covid situation so well for the whole time, with all the chaos and disorganization with the whole ordeal not to mention the whole fit she had with the germs in the episode. I think it'll be a good storyline now that Grey's seems to be bringing mental awareness back up.

___________________________________________

Link and Amelia

They have now officially reached my list along with Ben and Bailey and a few others that are no longer on the show that have reached the stage of killing the couple goals on this show.

Despite the fact that they're not only raising their own baby but also Bailey, Ellis and Zola yet their relationship is still solid. I'm so proud of my baby Amelia she has come a long way from the woman who didn't even want kids to begin with.

I loved the fact that he wasn't upset over her forgetting his birthday and acted like nothing was wrong, just so she wouldn't feel bad about forgetting. I would have been livid set a reminder on your phone babes. Either way she definitely made up for it later with the whole redoing his birthday thing. Also welcome to the world Scout. Looking forward to seeing them more often.

___________________________________________

Levi

How did it all turn so bad, Nico has turned into such a jerk at this point I'm not even sure I'd be to upset if he left if it wasn't for the fact that I ship the person he was before and Levi so much I'm still hoping that they'll go back to how they were before Nico became a lying hypocrite. At the end I was practically begging Levi to push him away, Nico doesn't deserve it not after the way he treated him and he hasn't even shown a hint of remorse to this day.

___________________________________________

Meredith

The biggest shock of the whole episode. I honestly knew something was going to happen to her from the time she fell asleep and started the dream on the beach. Dreaming of beaches have never been a good sign on Grey's I just thought she was going to collapse from stress because she really had been pushing herself all episode. The thing with Meredith is that she cares so much for her patients and does anything she can to save them, but based on the preview of the next episode and the tests they showed it doesn't seem to be test. And let's just talk about that huge bombshell they dropped by bringing back Derek I never thought I'd see Patrick Dempsey on the show again. By the end of the episode I was already literally shaking in anticipation for the next episode. I know they can't kill Meredith, without her there literally is no Grey's Anatomy. That being said I really hope they don't give her cancer, (I know Patrick is involved with helping a charity for cancer.) And I also really hope she isn't getting alzheimers I just hope it's nothing serious in general. She's been through enough man. I just want this to be a really touching moment where I get to see Merder have some touching moments and it doesn't end up to be Izzie and Denny all over again. I don't think anyone is ready to handle that. I read in a spoiler that there's supposed to be some more visitors arriving on the beach and I'm stoked for it so I really hope it's a real spoiler I'm tired of rewatching the newer seasons to experience some of the old joy.

___________________________________________

Imma need them to give that intern Perez an official recurring contract for the show because he is currently one of the best things to come on that show in years. He's a breath of fresh air.

[zuffer-weird-girl]

I got a problem...I just watched the bnha episode that had Kai in it and now I love pretty crow man even more...So I was wondering, how would Overhaul react to a really understand and all around nice s/o who is super shy, but secretly is a badass. It might be kinda funny cause she could just walk up to enemies and they never think anything of her until they try to attack kai or something and she is quickly able to disarm them.

I just have a little tiny heartattack evertime he appears (also mimic's voice, dear god, I couldn't stop laughing when he said "PUNK")

Overhaul/ Chisaki Kai x reader

It was just a simple walk on the city, a simple, calm walk with you on the streets of the city of Tokyo... He was becoming so stressed with the experiments and all of his work on the yakusa that he was at the point of what you called "exaustation".

"So there's a group of rats that wants- Overhaul?" Hari stopped on his rambling just to see his boss staring numbingly at the front door. He called but no response.

"Overhaul?" He tried once again waving his hand at the front of the young leader's face just to all of the sudden his head falls straight to the table.

Nemoto and Kurono stares for a while with wide eyes before Hari made his way out of the office while saying "don't let anyone enter, I will bring (Y/N)..."

Let's just say that he was just a bit tired, just a bit...

On that day you and him talked for a while about his health and while Kai was extremely careful with any sickness and germs he was terrible when it came to mental health or when he reached his limit but wouldn't admit it... After minutes of coaxing the stubborn golden eyed man, you finally had him convinced to take one entire day off of work; you had to talk with Pops before and he only said "please make him, he is going to kill himself with exhaustion, that boy never stops..." he does this because he is gratefull to you Pops :(

So there you were, walking besides each other on a quiet street with only the city lights to illuminate the dark night. He took just one moment to look at your features and your reply was just a silly shyly smile making one grow on his lips as well under his black surgeon mask. It's almost impossible for him not to take at least two minutes of a day to just admire your figure.

You were so reserved and shy; it took longer than he expected to develop a relationship with you but no way in hell he was gonna to say that he regret it. You were perfect, the incarnation of the only good things on this word, why do you think he called you angel all the time?

He is not going to hide his pride as well when almost everyone of the base and all the eight precepts are enchanted by you... Your gentleness and care were at first allarming to them but as the time goes by, you had become like a sacred object to them. Overhaul made very clear to every one in the base that if anything wrong happened to you, the person whose was responsible was going to view something way worse than hell itself.

Mimic strangled a guy when he asked for your number one time and Chisaki was very grateful...

Well but what was suppose to be a loveable walk to relieve his nerves turned to one annoying encounter with a man, recognizing Overhaul's features and daringly aiming a gun at his head.

"You bastard! You killed all of my comrades you fucking sociopath!" Yelled the man trembling as he stared with fear yet with rage at the both of you.

Chisaki annoyingly took a big breath and securely pushed you behind him never lowering his guard but also not alarmed neither.

"Angel stay back, this will not take too long." He whispered not even once breaking eye contact with the man.

"I WILL KILL YOU MONSTER! MAYBE THEM YOU WON'T HAVE ANYMORE YOUR FUCKUNG PRIDE STICKED TO YOUR FUCKING-"

"Are you seriously going to yell at this hour of the night? Don't act so foolish, the more sound you make you will atract the heroes here, and as far as I know you aren't a saint and they probablygoung to arrest you, so I would think carefully..." he monotonous spoke.

The guy flinched at hearing his voice and when he notice Chisaki carefully starting to take his right glove off the man nervously aimed at your head trembling more than ever and sayed:

"O-one more move from you and your little toy is dead! I know she's quirkless! One wrong move from you and you can say bye bye to her right here and now!" He almost cried while saying this to Overhaul's face, and he couldn't miss it the way Kai's eyes darkened at his threat.

How. Dare. This piece of trash. Involves you in this?

That man iss going to wish to never had born after he is done with him.

"Go ahead."

"W-what?!" The guy flinched

Chisaki finally broke contact with the guy to stare at you.

"What the hell you're doing?" He whisper-yelled at you, suddenly gripping you with his arm to prevent you got any closer.

Didn't you notice this guy was aiming a fucking gun that could explode your brain?!

"You heard me, go ahead." You pointed at your head mockingly "What? Scared of what might happen to you after?"

The guy yelled an "I warned you" before he merciless pushed the gate.

"(Y/N)! DOWN!" Overhaul yelled.

.

.

.

Wait what?

Where was the gun shot? Where was the bullet?

Chisaki started to looking for any injuries in your body, but got nothing.

He stared at you with wide wondering eyes which you only replied with a giggle holding in front of him some bullets.

"It was quite simple actually! He got distracted following us so I took the chance to sneak around, remember when I said I only wanted to check out something?" You shown with more enfasis all of the gun's ammo.

If it wasn't for the mask you could see the proud smile that it was forming at the face of your boyfriend.

Before he could reply something, both of you flinched when the guy yelled grabbing a knife out of nowhere and came rushing in the direction of Chisaki.

You buffed mumbling something close to "it's like an cockroach, you can't get away with it that easy" and simply punched the guy straight on the jaw with a following kick on the stomach causing him to fall on his back on the dirty ground. He tried to grab the knife that scaped his hand but you were quicker and stepped hard, merciless, on his hand. You pulled his hair to expose his neck while with your another hand you aproach dangerously the knife to his skin.

Chisaki crossed his arms over his chest admiring the scene with a smirk all the time; taking steps closer to a point where he is inches away from both the man and you.

"Done already?" You asked pulling closer the knife to his neck.

"My, aren't you a sneaky dangerously little angel yourself darling?" Chisaki mused ignoring the guy's presence.

You choose to ignore the coming blush to prevent the stranger to get away.

"N-no wonder why you are with this f-freak..!"

Now the strong kick he felt on his face was from Overhaul, making the guy actually hit, with force the wall of the alley. Oh dear, now that wall had a little of blood printed on it.

Chisaki helped you get up as he talked with someone over the phone; looks like this guy is in a hell of a ride.

"Angel, wait for me out of this alley. It will not take too long." He spoke while carresing your cheek with his gloved thumb.

You nodded, he took very quickly his mask to give you a peck before putting right back where it was.

"Mind me giving me this?" He pointed to the bullets that you stole from earlier.

You gave straight away and as you make your way out of there you could hear a faint "click" and the voices of Chrono and Rappa before you completely got out.

After a half or a entire hour you saw your boyfriend calling over to you, he was clean and just with his hair a bit messy but besides that no one could tell what had happened on the inside of that alley.

Honestly? Neither you wants to know... Chisaki Kai can be very cold and cruel when he wants and whenever he wants.

"I didn't know you had that on you angel." He mused impressed aproaching close to your ear to whisper "such a deviant... where did you, shy little angel, learned such brute movements?"

You blushed at his closeness and avert you eyes quickly to anywhere besides his eyes, that were practically glued on you.

"W-well..! J-just some combat lessons I am taking... Can't be the partner of the yakuza's boss if I have all the time Chrono to check over me because he was demanded..."

"Hm. I se- Wait. How did you know about that part?"

"Kai I'm shy. Not stupid."

He stares at you for a while before smirking to himself and pulling you for a quick hug. He chuckled when you yelped at the sudden contact.

"Maybe we should enjoy my breaks inside the base instead?"

"Probably?" You smiled holding him just as tight as he was.

Both of you parted and for a second you thought that was over until Kai spoke in authority voice.

"I'm delighted to see that your actions on there were for me not to get harmed but that doesn't mean Chrono will stop guarding you."

"W-wha-?! Why?!"

"You literally said to that scumbag to shoot you straight on the face." He spoke on a manner of tone voice.

"B-b-but..! He was out of bullets! I-I took them!"

"Yes, I already said I'm impressed but that doesn't change the things here angel."

You exhaled in defeat murmuring:

"I bet Hari hates me at this point..."

You don't notice Kai picking his phone again and dialing Kurono's contact.

"Chrono have you been making (Y/N) uncomfortable by any chance?" You yelped hearing that.

"What?" Spoke the voice in surprise.

"You heard me. What did you do?" Chisaki replied in a dangerous tone now.

"H-HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING I SWEAR!" you gripped Kai's sleeves to prevent that he talked more with his friend about your thoughts.

[what-a-messsss]

2x2 rewatch

Eeeeehehehehe, why the fuck am I laughing this hard when I realized it was the roadkill compost episode?  That is not in the least funny, it’s actually pretty gross, but I’m literally paused 3 seconds in chortling to myself so hard that I’m having to wipe away tears.  ...I think the stress is getting to me.  Anyway, back to fictional Wyoming!

It’s actually a pretty genius business model, to be honest.  Taking a sadly repeating resource and using it to enrich the soil?  Tough work, no doubt, physically and mentally, but a smart and very niche thing.  I hadn’t thought about the fact that cleaning up roadkill would have been part of Walt’s job as a deputy.  Lucian said in S6, in his fantastically circuitous way, that it had been 10 years since he and Walt had worked together (if I remember correctly).  Which... wait, is that right?  Had Walt really only been sheriff for 4 years when the show started?  Which is a single term, before Branch ran against him.  I think I’d had the impression that he’d been sheriff for longer than that.  Or is my math just super borked?  (A very real possibility.)  Who were Walt’s deputies before these three?  Branch has  probably been a deputy for a while, Vic was hired a few months before the show and it isn’t clear for Ferg but it’s implied at least a chunk longer.  So who were his deputies for the rest of those 4 years?  (Aaaaaand this is how I grow OCs.  Shit.)

She names the roadkill?  Eeeeeh...

Branch, you douchecanoe.  You are very clearly not welcome in her home anymore; the fact that she hasn’t moved the spare key isn’t a fucking invitation to break in and invade her privacy, oh my gods I hate you so much.  This is predatory behavior.  You need to either go through official channels with the department to do a wellness check or FUCK RIGHT OFF into the deepest reaches of hell.  Excellent plan, fucking off.

Henry,  I adore you beyond measure.  “Thanks-taking.”  Vic... Seriously?  “God, you people really hold a grudge.”  Somehow, I think they’re kind of entitled to, what with all of the wars, genocide, stolen land, racism, broken treaties, and the like.  Get bent.

Genuinely, Henry’s dry as anything sass is quite possibly the best thing about the whole show.  We didn’t get nearly enough of it during the later seasons.  And his little smiiiiile at having made Walt chuckle, oh my heart.

The “Hands up!”  O.o  “Hands down!” little comedy gag is totally sold by KS’s face, haaaa.  And Ferg’s bafflement, but collected response to those truckers thinking he was a rentboy was solid.

I kind of have to applaud that sex worker’s gumption to just try to take off in the truck.  Not the best thought out plan, to be sure, but gutsy.

Ok, Branch has just had a line establishing that they’re not in Absaroka, and then Vic and Ferg look annoyed/confused when Walt tells them to cut the sex workers and customers loose, but then Branch finishes with, “Absaroka County wishes you all a fine evening... at home.”  So are they in Absaroka, or not??

Kudos to Walt saying, “Which will allow you to get out of here.  If that’s what you want.”  Not falling completely into the savior complex bs is good, and acknowledging that she is an adult who can make her own decisions, even if they’re ones he would wish she wouldn’t is good.  ........If only he could extend that same courtesy to his own daughter.  

Branch, wtf.  It’s a felony to even have burglar’s tools.  Legit, it’s a felony punishable with up to 3 years in prison or up to $3k, or both.  Unlawful entry is 10 years and/or $10k, and I’m pretttttyyyyyy fucking sure you don’t have a warrant to be in Cady’s house.  FUCK OFF.  You giant douchecanoe.  (Min and I also have a headcanon that the random coloured empty frames are Branch’s fault, because they don’t really go with any of the rest of the decor, and we hate them.  So we decided that when he saw the Andy Warhol style print she had that he got those for her and she just never got around to taking them down after they broke up.)  And isn’t tampering with someone’s mail a federal offence?  You are the worst.

Aaaand then Walt calls the Collettes showing Ross Lanten’s wife video of him with prostitutes “interfering in his marriage.”  Okaaaay.  Because helping get a woman and kids out of what has several hallmarks of an abusive marriage is “interfering,” I guess.  Not the happiest about that word choice, I’m not gonna lie.

Aaaaaand then Whitish is super racist, and I hate her.  Henry handles it with grace, but fuck, I cannot imagine how wearying that must be.  And Branch makes obnoxious and offensive assumptions (playing to his strengths, natch), and Henry once again demonstrates how he is also the Actual Best.

Nobody has heard from Cady recently, but the tiny little hesitation Henry has before he confirms that he hasn’t heard from her either is so good.  LDP is so good.  Just from that, it reinforces how much that bothers him, and that he’s worried, but also that he really doesn’t want to talk to Branch about any of it.

“If you do, will you let me know?”  “I most certainly will not.”  Such a classy way to basically tell Branch to fuck off and get wrecked.  

A lady threatening Henry with a knife and I should not be focusing on how great he looks in a vest, but heeeeere we are.  (I do love that brown vest.)  And even after she is drunk and rude and racist and threatens him, Henry’s look when she says that she knew the dead man still has concern and compassion in it.  Waaaaaah.

Do I remember what Walt did to his hand?  Was that something from this episode that I’m not remembering right now, or are they actually having some intra-episode continuity and that bandage is him still recovering from the start of frostbite?  [Dang it, my Xbox controller just pooped out.  Now I have to go swap it out for the other one and stick this one in the charging dock.  But I’m so cozy in bed with my jar o’ tea and everythinggggg.  Boo.]  ...  [It has been long enough since I wrote that last bit that my Xbox has shut itself down twice in the interim.  Oops.  I’m super great at focusing.]

Fuck, that “I was some place I shouldn’ta been” hits hard.  This whole seen in rough.

Aaaahaha, why is the fact that Ferg is also standing there looking at Walt when he wakes up so much funnier than if it had just been Vic?  And his little grin.  And Ruby with a mug of his toothbrush and such for Walt!  Rubyyyyy!  (Holy shit, the fact that they have this little set up is alarmingly adorable, and I heckin’ adore Ruby.)  And then she sasses Branch, and I just want nice things for her.  

Walt’s “If you want,” to Ferg came off to me more like, ‘waste your time if you want to,’ (though that could well be my own issues projected” but I’m proud of Ferg for running with it.  And I do appreciate Walt calling the sex worker a lady.

Of course, he pulls Henry into his bs, getting him to solicit a sex worker.  Why does Henry put up with him?  I’m sorryyyy, but the pointing is so awkward and I cringe so hard, but what else is he going to do, I guess?  And how does he recognize her anyway?  Did Walt take a picture of her before letting her go, or something?  It doesn’t seem like he even got her name, to pull up a picture from a rap sheet, sooo...  Why am I even worrying about it?  And at least Walt doesn’t think that it’s not rape just if it’s a sex worker.

The flashback scene sure hits hard, too.  Damn.  I’m trying to remember the last time I saw anybody other than Vic actually pull on a glove in consideration of fingerprints.  I think there might have been one time or something, but nothing comes readily to mind.

For all that I rag on Walt for just collecting his assumptions and taking them to the bank, there is heavy irony with him now laying out the reasons he’s not arresting Whitish, because there is reasonable doubt in the form of the Collettes.  

Ooooooope, and then Branch brings up Cady.  I sure this can only go really well.  Aaaaaaaaand of course Walt has one of his Longmire Epiphanies and just walks off in the middle of the conversation, such as it was.

Does a college registrar’s really have your birth certificate on file?  I’m pretty sure I didn’t have to submit a copy to mine, but I also don’t really remember?  But that seems weird.

Ah, the bandage was about the frostbite.  I appreciate the continuity.  

Hmmmmmm, Cady leaving her phone at home when she drove to CO seems unlikely.  It seems unlikely as a generality for her generation, and on practical levels (directions to the precinct and such?), and just... That’s pretty hard to buy.  If I don’t want to talk to somebody, or even a bunch of people, I’d ignore calls or even block numbers, but her not taking her phone gives the impression that there is literally nobody that she would want to talk to, and that plays into this really weird bit of characterization void that the writers fell into of Cady just not knowing any single person other than her dad, Henry, Ruby, Branch, and Ferg, and I guess Vic.  As if she just doesn’t exist outside of her relation to one of them.  She doesn’t want to talk to any of the 6 of them, so there is not a single other person on the planet who she would want to be able to talk to/have them contact her?  There’s not a single other person on the planet that she knows who if they called and said, “I have an emergency, can you talk/help?” that she wouldn’t want to be available for?  Bullshit.  The entire rest of the series when she’s onscreen is showing how much she cares.  She’s a fucking Hufflepuff, and she’s not going to leave her damn phone at home while she drives 6 hours away into another damn state.  If you so desperately need to that she’s not even seeing his call, have her leave it in her car when she goes into the Denver station.  Like, unless she has a second phone that she did take, I’m not buying it.  Even as an attempt at “she’s so caught up in her mother’s murder now, oooo, Longmire tantrum and singular focus’ characterization.  Just, boo.

[ryttu3k]

I want to have them all on Tumblr, so. Here are my reaction posts, in order, for Resolution of the Daleks and season 12, part 1!

Resolution of the Daleks

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Resolution! Spoilers, obviously!

Okay, negative first, just to get it out of the way. Doctor Who, I really appreciate that you consistently have queer minor characters and queer couples. Just super casual and all, as it should be. Now can you please stop killing off half of said couples? Angstrom's wife, Frankie, now this young guy? It's really not cool.

Don't think the voiceover worked. I feel the prologue would have worked better with just visuals.

Again, Yaz didn't have much to do. The Doctor got a ton of action, Ryan and Graham both had significant interactions with Aaron, Yaz was... just kind of there. I'm hoping that when the show comes back in a year, now that Ryan has largely dealt with his issues, Yaz will get more attention?

UNIT was killed by Brexit?! Fuckin' rude!

Okay, on to the positive!

The Dalek was, frankly, fucking scary. Despite knowing that the Doctor would beat it, obviously, it caused huge swathes of damage and racked up a... rather high body count. Like it felt like a proper threat. Also, its ability to stop the TARDIS tracking it and stuff. Lin's terror felt extremely genuine and it was just nice and horrific overall, like - if it wasn't for the Doctor, it would feel like a genuine threat to the entire Earth.

(Also, it shut down the wifi. On New Years Day. What a monster!)

Oh man that Dalek laughter. Creepy as fuck. The Doctor dragging it in via hologram to dare it to laugh in her face? Fucking iconic.

"I've learned to think like a Dalek." Oof.

Doctor vs Dalek. Not just the physical aspect, but the mental part - the Doctor recognising the seriousness of it, but also having that element of cockiness ("Oh, mate") because, frankly, she's dealt with bigger threats. She's right when she points out that the biggest problem will be if regular humans try to engage it!

Elements of Dark!Doctor when she asks the team - almost desperately - if she gave it enough chances, if she was nice enough. Because the Doctor can get fucking scary around Daleks and she knows it. She's nice. She's friendly. But she's also the Doctor, and the Doctor has done some really damn questionable things to stop the Daleks, and she knows that. Fantastically done and I still desperately want some proper Dark!Doctor.

Really liked the parallels between the Doctor using scrap to make her sonic screwdriver, vs the Dalek using scrap to make its armour. The Doctor makes a tool, the Dalek makes items of war. Of course, well, the Doctor is probably more dangerous just with a swiss army sonic than a Dalek blaster...

I love how the whole, "Dads are complicated... so I've heard" bit could refer to either the loom thing or the Doctor having actual parents or the Doctor being a shitty dad themself XD

Graham was so excited to show off the TARDIS! Like he's just going, "How cool is this?!"

There were some legitimately funny moments! Graham's chair, "I suppose... we'll have to have a... conversation?", "Junkyard chic"... UNIT was killed by Brexit like that's so awful but. But in a kind of funny way.

Okay, now the unsure. Ryan, Graham, and Aaron. Ryan and Graham have sorted out their issues - but Aaron is still such a big overshadowing part of it that it's a bit of a shock when he comes back in. As someone with a similarly shit biological father, I was completely empathising with Ryan in the coffee shop conversation. And I do understand why they wanted reconciliation, so they showed Aaron as acknowledging his bullshit and Ryan ultimately choosing to forgive and save him.

But it's just... not that easy. It's not all going to be perfect just because they stopped a Dalek together. Aaron's neglect hurt Ryan really badly, and it just felt... too easy? Like it helped that Aaron was genuinely contrite, and that he had that good stepfather talk with Graham, but just... yeah, not sure how I feel about it, honestly.

The Doctor's first words to him being, "You weren't at Grace's funeral. Ryan waited for you, you let him down" were so, so good. Like the Doctor is just going "fuck you I'm his father now". Like tbh I think she was 100% prepared to yeet him off the TARDIS and be done with it. Like damn don't emotionally hurt one of her crew.

Some wonderfully savage lines, though. The Doctor's, "You're almost making up for your parenting deficit!"; Aaron and Ryan's, "Is that how you talk to your dad?" "I don't know, he's not been around"; Graham's fucking smirk when Ryan pointedly calls him 'Gramps'.

I did see a suggestion that would have made it much better - instead of the Dalek capturing Aaron, it captures Ryan. First, it ups the threat in the mind of the Doctor and Team TARDIS - this isn't some dickhead, this is one of them. And instead, it's Aaron who reaches out to Ryan, Aaron who risks his life, Aaron who has to come through for Ryan, instead of the other way around. Also would have tied in beautifully with, "Family isn't about DNA, or a name. It's about what you do, and you haven't done enough."

Also, 'srs tech skillz'. With a Z. Doctor why.

In conclusion, I am going to fight Nigel Farage for killing UNIT.

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Spyfall part 1

Current response to Doctor Who: making a near-literal SDKFJHGSDASDKFH sound, grabbing a cushion, nearly throWING THE CUSHION.

More intelligent commentary when my brain comes back online.

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Okay. Am calm. Am good! We're good.

MAJOR SPOILERS for Doctor Who: Spyfall, part 1!

So yeah I actually literally screamed (kind of... scream-laugh-holy-shit-yes). Like, even before Dhawan finished speaking the, "Or should I say spy... Master?" line because of the way he had said 'spymaster' in full in the line before and there's nothing that grabs my brain like that one word in that one context. It wasn't quite as mindblowing as the Utopia reveal, since, let's face it, it's only been a season since we last saw that magnificant arsehole, but still.

(Actually, since I didn't watch Twelve's run, the last time I saw them was exactly a decade ago in The End of Time, broadcast New Years Day 2010. And I still fucking cry over, "Get out of the way." So. That may have been why I literally screamed lmao)

I mean. It's the Master. I can't not. They're my favourite jerk. This is probably slightly concerning.

Anyway. Comments!

The good

Episode was just flat-out exciting. It reminded me both of the Three and Ten eras, a bit? Fun gadgets, fancy suits, and what ends up being a giant game! Did start wondering when they were talking about spies and codes and stuff. It's basically a puzzle that's been set up for the Doctor to solve. Plus, the way she was pretty much enlisted into it! Thirteen and Dhawan!Master might end up having a more Pertwee-Delgado-esque dynamic, maybe? I would be down for that!

(My introductory episode to the Master was The Mind of Evil. Let's just put it that way XD)

"I'm her best enemy." <3

I mean, in retrospect, isolated house full of high-tech stuff and a wall full of books about the Doctor... oh honey. Long, looong game of playing Spies and Conspiracies just for, apparently, the sheer funsies of it. Oh, honey. They're such a disaster and I love them.

The reveal scene, Jodie's acting. The way she just... freezes and hunches in on herself. She's been hiding her past more than other Doctors have in the past, and suddenly, here is her past!! Right here!! Laughing and joking and right there in front of her! And she's just like, "Ohhh shit, I was not ready to have this conversation again..."

Yasmin and Ryan's dynamic. I do like that they split up the usual combos of Thirteen-Yasmin and Graham-Ryan for once, because I do like seeing the way they play off each other! It makes them feel more cohesive as a group. I liked Ryan trying to comfort Yasmin after her experience.

Post-reveal, I'm now wondering if the weird zappy forest thing is the Master's TARDIS? Something to do with changing and processing DNA into something else? Something based around neurons, with the electric travelling system? Am also wondering what happened to Yasmin while in there, since she seemed to be processed in some way, and I'm wondering if she had part of her DNA rewritten as well - or maybe if she's been replaced entirely, like she's currently piloting an alien version of her own body while her actual self is still in there. They did already do that with Flesh!Amy, though.

Once this arc is over, I think Thirteen is definitely going to have to sit down and tell the Fam who the hell she actually is. Graham is having some serious questions, and the Master was definitely egging that on, pre-reveal.

How much do I love that even in a tux, the Doctor still has the culottes and boots? A lot, that is how much. Also, how much do I love the Doctor in a suit and on a motorbike? A lot, that is how much.

"I've had an upgrade." <3

Thirteen playing Snap. It's okay, Thirteen, you still win my heart <3

"Worst! Uber! Ever!!"

"Kisses!" Yes, we know ;) They've been texting! Someone write me a WhatsApp chat fic with plenty of subtext and double meaning, I require it. Also, memes. You know it's true. The Master isn't a Time Lord, they're a Meme Lord.

"Everything you think you know is a lie." Season hook? :o

The hmm

Main concern is how they're handling the Master's characterisation? Last we saw, they were so ready to jump the Doctor ship. Now it's back to games. Kind of wondering if that means the Master is just at the point of being resigned that they and the Doctor just don't work and so is going back to games because at least it makes them happy, but I'm happy to wait until next week to see how things play out!

Did see a suggestion that this is the Master from one of the alternate universes (or at least that seems to be the general consensus on why there were multiple maps), so not actually necessarily the same version as Missy. Alternatively, this could actually be a pre-Missy version! Maybe between Simm!Master and Missy, since we never actually see that regeneration?

Actually, if this is the one immediately before Missy and this two-parter ends with the Master regenerating and we actually do get Thirteen and Missy together on screen I may cry.

(Like I'm aro-ace and agender but I'm still so gay for both of them. There is no word other for this emotion other than 'I'm gay'.)

I kind of wish someone had double-checked the name of the company because VOR running the world is. Is. "Right now, VOR is more powerful than most nations." Just. *pinches bridge of nose* Like okay you know how we say 'oh yeah just google it' 'yeah I googled it' are they really gonna say 'yeah I just VO

'I'm going to V

I can't say it. I can't.

Apparently the Australia scenes were filmed in South Africa. Kind of assumed it wasn't really Australia as soon as I saw actually greenery in the background h e h.

Highkey wish I could have seen Missy and Thirteen together. Dhawan!Master is very fun so far but. Missy and Thirteen. See comment above about the Master's characterisation!

...ABC are you really going to keep to Thursday night broadcasts even after the UK switches their Sunday nights / our Monday mornings? Well that's a good way to guarantee I'll be watching them online first! I was happy to wait twelve hours or so so I could watch it with Mum, but like hell I'm going to wait three and a half days!

In conclusion, am dead, send help, is it Monday morning yet?

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Spyfall part 2

Thoughts on Doctor Who: Spyfall, part 2!

GALLIFREY LOOOOORE.

Oh man I'm hyped. We got a teeny teaser to the Timeless Child way back last decade but now we may actually get to see what the fuck is going on. And hell, if nothing else, at least the discovery is being teased to be so devastating it did undo Missy's characterisation. If this incarnation of the Master is after her, at least. Still not necessarily anything to suggest that. The Master will likely be recurring over this season, so we'll find out more, at least!

God, the Master is so fucked up. Like. He's seen something apparently so massively traumatic that he had to destroy his own planet and legitimately does look broken by it? Unless he was acting, but I did not get that impression from the message at the end. And the only way he can think of to get the Doctor's attention is to start his old tricks? Not sure if it's better or worse for him to be pre-Missy tbh.

It's just... such an interesting dynamic. Also I really want to read into the whole... scene where the Master asks the Doctor to kneel and call him 'Master' in front of everyone - then, when she does (defiantly! Stubbornly!), he... kneels to be at the same level as her. Like, "I'm going to play these BDSM-esque power games with you but when it comes down to it, I still consider us equal."

Anyway the Master is def a service top.

This comment from Tumblr user upslapmeal:

"'why would it stop? I mean how else would I get your attention’ what did I say about the Master being like a cat knocking things off shelves"

I mean. Yeah.

"Contact." Old school.

The Companions! They get a capital C because they were rad as hell. I love them all deciding that what they do next is: carry on to save the world. Like they're all heroic af without the Doctor and it's so good.

"Don't make me do a soft-shoe shuffle!"

And questioning at the end, oooh man. There are some Implications there, yeah. They've found out some surface information, yes, but no real hint at the deeper trauma. And given what this coming season is hinting at, I strongly suspect we will indeed be getting that deeper trauma and maybe even Dark!Doctor. Gallifrey does tend to bring it out of them...

The whole on-the-run thing seemed to definitely be a callback to Sound of Drums. Uh, what's that going to do long-term? Send out a worldwide message saying, "Sorry, our bad, they're fine"? I mean, last time that happened... okay, Jack was already with Torchwood and so is used to Not Really Existing, but Martha definitely couldn't go back to fuckin' medical school. She ended up at UNIT and then went independent. They did not return to their normal lives.

Barton: needs a goddamn punch. He killed his mother what the fuck. On the plus side, at least he seems to have thoroughly destroyed his career? Be interesting to see if he reappears later, you don't go from the most powerful person on the planet to massive pariah overnight without Repercussions.

On to our guest characters! I hate to brag but I guessed who Ada was as soon as I heard her first name and saw her outfit. I mean the computers theme was already there, who else would she be? :D And I admittedly didn't know who Noor Inayat Khan was except in passing, but still. Little upset about the erased memories (Donna ;_; ), but I can see why the Doctor did it and like... this way, I'm glad they were able to avoid the implications of, "Ada only developed computing because she had already seen the future." Like people said that with Rosa Parks even though the Doctor said explicitly to only ensure there were enough seats filled and the act itself was all Rosa, so they may have wanted to play it safe.

I... really want to comment on how Ada definitely was crushing on the Doctor (and really, who wouldn't?), but she was a real person so I shall avoid those implications. (But really though!)

Doctor how many times have you been in someone's liver. This is some Magic School Bus Inside The Human Body bullshit and I love it.

Doctor's recording: "First of all, you're not gonna die! Second of all, don't talk back to the screens, obviously I'm a recording and I can't hear ya. Third, don't panic. Especially you, Graham."

Graham, panicking: "I'M NOT PANICKING!"

Doctor's recording: "Yes, you were! And I did just say, don't talk back to the screens!"

Graham: "????!?!!"

I want an entire series of the Master having a really infuriating seventy-seven years on Earth. Please.

Comments on continuity issues regarding that, "It's worse than Jodrell Bank!" "Did I ever apologise for that?" "No." "Good." exchange XD;; Like people are going, "Continuity error!! It was the Pharos Project, not Jodrell Bank!!" and like. Pharos was a project. Jodrell Bank is an observatory. You can do projects at observatories. Also, you can refer to projects by location, too. Am I referring to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Project or Tidbinbilla Station? Both! They refer to the same thing! In the Whoniverse, they likely did the Pharos Project at Jodrell Bank, and just had some lighthearted bantz about that time where the Master killed the Doctor, no biggie.

So, onwards to... an apparently unrelated episode for next week! Also, the Kassavin? Still there. Like. The Master only gave suggestions. They still have all those agents everywhere! They're still ready to act! And yeah, now they have the Master in their hands, so... I wonder if they'll make the Timeless Child a long, ongoing arc, and have the much more immediate threat of the Kassavin as the season finale?

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Orphan 55

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Orphan 55!

...whew.

First thought: anvilicious, but some anvils need to be dropped, because, uh, have you seen the world lately.

It feels like quite a brittle episode? Even beyond the immediate tension of 'there are large angry creatures trying to kill everyone', there's just this sense of... like, tension. There's the tension between Benni and Vilma, which at first is kind of a sweet tension then becomes a life-threatening and sad tension. There's the tension between Roger Parslow Silas and his dad, with Silas not being taken seriously (although I do think him running out while they're in life-threatening danger is a bit much). The obvious and major tension between Bella and Kane that drives the whole episode, yes.

And there's also the tension amongst Team TARDIS! The episode starts with the Doctor still in Some Kinda Way about last week, and I felt a bit of tension between Yaz and Ryan? She seemed rather unimpressed by Bella, at any rate. I do like how organic the relationship between Ryan and Graham feels, at least. "It ain't the aliens that are gonna kill me, it’s worrying about you!"

Set and costume building, I felt, was kind of... eh? I liked how Tranquility itself looked, but the tunnels looked Very Generic, and some of the looks I felt didn't really work. Silas and his dad's green hair just looked very obviously fake, and I saw a description of Hyph3n-with-a-three looking like a cross between a Jellicle Cat and John Candy in Spaceballs (which... yeah, honestly). And I'm not sure about the Dregs, although I did initially have the thought that whatever the original inhabitants of the planet were, they must have been humanoid was amusingly accurate...

"I just pulled this out of a friend of mine! >:("

"Oh! ...We do not make any judgments on our guests and fully support any way you choose to enjoy yourself here at Tranquility Spa! ^_^;;"

"... ... ...It wasn't recreational! o.O"

God you could feel Hyph3n-with-a-three's embarrassment...

"If I had crayons and half a can of Spam, I could build you from scratch!" Excuse me I am at least Tofurky.

Also a logical issue on the whole journey to find Benni, because frankly, it just wasn't... sensible. Okay, bring a kid. Father of the year right there. Okay, bring an old woman. Granted, she could have insisted because it was her man-friend they were looking for, but surely she would have known she would slow them down? Her 'heroic sacrifice' felt very wasted, because dammit, she could have survived if she had stayed in the Dome where it was at least a bit safer!

"At least three eighths of a plan, right here! ...Two eights. I'll be honest, all I've got is the letter 'P'..."

So the Doctor is almost at the point of passing out from oxygen loss but hang on, let her first indulge her curiosity...

The sheer existence of orphan planets is very depressing. The sheer fact that there's at least fifty-five is very depressing.

There's an interesting comment about how straight after discussion of the reveal, the first shot of the preview is the Statue of Liberty. Very Planet of the Apes! (No apes next time, just Tesla vs Edison!) Also feeling a strong connection to Midnight (stunning resort on dangerous planet with a very personal enemy), and I saw a comment about Thirteen unintentionally The-End-Of-The-World-ing the Fam (and making a connection between 'very angry trees' and the Forests of Cheem). Bit of Ravolox. Bit of... fuck what was it... Curse of Fenric.

Although, we know that the Earth will eventually be consumed by the sun, and it was done in a way that was like... it was its time. This was not its time, was a colossal fuck-up on a planetary scale (and the Doctor continues to be 'eat the rich'), but it's also only one potential future. Which is good, because that got dark. Even more than The End of the World, even more than Utopia, even more than fuckin' Frontios, because this is the near-future. The shots we saw of the destruction were modern day! That was the Dome of the Rock you saw getting bombed!

"Be smarter than what made you." PAGING THE GOVERNMENT...

Going to put it on a solid... maybe 7/10? Some really good elements in there, but also some clunkers, and unfortunately not a patch on the same writer's It Takes You Away, which was one of the strongest of the last season.

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Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror!

Opinion before episode: man, Tesla's cool. Opinion after episode: man, Tesla is fuckin' cool! :D That was a well-done personality-based historical, absolutely - I think it's my second-favourite personality-based historical only to Rosa (there are other pseudo-historical based ones set in the past that I love, but they're not personality-based; the Human Nature duology is a good example).

But yeah, Tesla just came across as a really, really cool character. Genius and he knew it, yes, and the real Tesla did have some questionable views (sexism, mostly), but otherwise the archetypal Idealistic Genius who wants to change the world for the better. Contrast with Edison, who was... a businessman. With, like, a really punchable face. Still pretty intelligent, but... very, very punchable. I've read about the Tesla-Edison feud before and always sided with Tesla, and let's face it, so did the writer XD

Good mix of character combinations - with a lot of characters, it's easy for someone to get sidelined, but this managed to handle Thirteen and the Fam, and Tesla, Dorothy, and Edison, pretty well. There were some neat combinations, like Ryan and Dorothy bonding over the sense of adventure, and Graham and Edison's confrontation; I also really loved the whole conversation between Thirteen and Tesla on the joy of just... creating. There's actually a very nice overlap between arts and sciences.

Antagonists - not bad? I feel a lot of people were expecting the Racnoss, and there was such a similarity that I would have liked at least a throwaway line about how the Skithra were related or something. Ooh man she definitely brought out Dark!Doctor, though. Teleporting the queen back to the ship, specifically so she can be fried? I mean, she might have survived it. Might. And just that fantastic little change of expression when the queen asks the Doctor if she's ever seen a dead planet before! Whittaker pulled that one off.

There's a very interesting compare and contrast between the Skithra and Edison, I found. Thirteen has her speech about how once the Skithra are gone, they won't be remembered. Caput. Forgotten. They left nothing behind. Compare and contrast to Edison, who was openly accused of using other people's work, but who's able to learn from his mistakes, end on an even(ish) setting with Tesla, and who does get remembered. Which kind of stings, honestly, if you look at Tesla's actual history.

Like. Apparently that, "The man just didn't understand the American sense of humour," line was an actual historical line, according to Tesla's own records. The absolute main reason for the difference in fame and recognition is that Tesla was a genius who didn't know how to market. Edison was a marketer who could invent a bit. So in conclusion Edison is a dick and Tesla needs more respect, the end.

Favourite lines and scenes:

Tesla: "Is - is this your own design?" Thirteen: "I made it! Mainly out of spoons! :D" Tesla: "You're an inventor! :D" Thirteen: "I have my moments." Tesla: "I knew it! So you... so, you can understand how it feels, you know, when you have an idea, and - and to make it real. I don't think there's any greater thrill!" Thirteen: "I couldn't agree more." Tesla: "You... you spoke of aliens. People here laugh at the very idea." Thirteen: "But not you." Tesla: "Well, apparently I'm not like other people. It can be difficult, you know, to feel no one else sees the world the way you do. It's like you're, uh..." Thirteen: "...out of place."

Graham: "Yeah, still. I bet you'd jump at the chance to have him back working for you, wouldn't ya?" Edison: "Yeah?" Graham: "Yeah!" Edison: "How d'you figure that?" Graham: "'Cause I had a supervisor like you at my old depot. And men like you don't pay a bloke that much attention unless you think there's a payout comin'."

Thirteen: "I wouldn't go killing me and Yaz. 'Cause Yaz... can tell you what this is." Yaz: "It's a camera!" Thirteen: "Bingo!" *FLASH!*

Edison: "I couldn't figure it out either." Tesla: "The internal dimensions transcend the external." Thirteen: *GRIN* Edison: ._.

Thirteen: "You do realise, it's killing Edison that they want you and not him? ;D"

Graham: "Don't worry. This ain't our first rodeo!" Ryan: "We've never been to a rodeo." Graham: "...you're not helping, Ryan..."

Thirteen: "And what are you queen of, exactly? A stolen ship and second-hand guns? A queen of shreds and patches. You're not a ruler, you're a parasite." Queen: "And what are you? So clever, stealing onto my ship, taking what I claim as mine. But where has it got you? No weapons. No armour. No escape. Just the desperate hope you might change my mind." Thirteen: "No, we are way past that. I gave you your chance." Queen: "A chance to be like you?" Thirteen: "A chance to evolve. But you were too stupid to take it. When you die, there'll be nothing left behind - just a trail of blood and other people's brilliance. No one will even know you existed."

(Side note: I love that this speech was actually in front of the companions. They're starting to see that things are Not Okay.)

Thirteen: "Don't give up." Yaz: "Whatever anyone says." Tesla: "Well, let them talk. The present is theirs. I work for the future... and the future is mine."

Favourite incorrect lines:

Thirteen and Tesla, firing at the ship: "VIBE CHECK!"

-

Fugitive of the Judoon

I'M GONNA... NEED A HOT MOMENT TO PROCESS THAT...

-

WELL I. UH. OKAY.

lmao I'm serious I don't even know where to begin.

Uh, some very disorganised comments on Doctor Who - Fugitive of the Judoon!

I squealed when I heard Jack's voice then saw him in the flesh. I gasped audibly when 'Ruth' broke the glass. I yelped when we saw the buried TARDIS. I MAY HAVE SCREAMED A LITTLE WHEN 'RUTH' INTRODUCED HERSELF.

(Also can we talk about her outfit. That was on point.)

I'm getting a very... very early vibe? She didn't know what the sonic screwdriver was, and that was introduced with Troughton. Since we saw the Hartnell-Troughton regeneration, she must be pre-Hartnell? Maybe a Doctor whose memories were rewritten to the point that they thought the Hartnell incarnation was the earliest? Not to mention that was a pretty old-school-looking TARDIS!

Alternatively, maybe between Troughton and Pertwee? Either option has some inconsistency - if she's post Troughton, she should have known what the sonic was, although it admittedly did look very different. Plus, her TARDIS is already its police box shape, which was implied to have set in the junkyard. Also, we never actually do see the regeneration between Two and Three, and it could explain why Gallifrey was after her - she escaped after her trial after The War Games!

Definitely early, though.

Alternatively alternatively, Thirteen actually does say 'time is swirling around me'. Maybe an alternate timeline. Something to tie back to the Timeless Child?

"I've lived for thousands of years, so long I've lost count. I've had so many faces. How long have you known me? You don't know me. Not even a little bit."

That wasn't just aimed at the companions. I feel that was aimed at the Doctor themself.

(Related: the response from the fam was flat-out beautiful. Doesn't matter who she was or who she'll be. They know her now, and they love her.)

Just. Wow. Wow.

Really cool note from Twitter - disguised name was Ruth Clayton. Ruth = 'friend, companion'. Clayton = 'of the Earth'. She literally named herself 'friend of the Earth'.

"You're probably a bit confused right now."

I mean. Yeah. Confused and intrigued and what.

"Don't do points! I do points! Points are my thing!"

Jack. Jack. Smooching Graham, hitting on all the companions, getting into Shenanigans! The Lone Cyberman - I wonder if that's a totally different crisis that isn't even related to the current Gallifrey-Timeless Child one? The more important part is Jack's presence - the presence of another time traveller with a... unique relationship with the universe. The actual warning could be a red herring, but Jack showing up anywhere in the first place is a sign that something is happening with time?

Orphan 55 had a timeline that may or may not have been the 'real' one. Being only a potential future kind of doesn't work with what we know of established DW continuity, so I'm liking the 'alternate timeline' theory, maybe?

Ryan: "I liked him. Kind of cheesy."

Yaz: "But good cheesy."

Thirteen, smiling: "That's Jack."

Graham just standing there going, "He kissed me tho? ...Wasn't bad, actually."

"Is she safe?" Jack, honestly, is she ever safe?

"When she needs me... I'll be there." Oh yeah, he's so coming back later this season.

Also, Judoon, chameleon arch, the Master, Jack - getting big season 29 vibes here and that's a big thumbs up for me because that's my favourite season. We just need Martha to make an appearance now!

...hehe honestly, between Jodie's entire existence, and now, in the span of five episodes, introducing Dhawan!Master, Gat, and now Jo Martin as the first black female Doctor, and reintroducing Jack, one of the most overtly and openly queer characters on the series, the 'Doctor Who is too PC!' bunch are going to be so mad XD

"A platoon of Judoon... near the moon." / "Look at you, your platoon of Judoon near the... that lagoon..."

Man. The close-up in the very first shot of the watch. Nice tie-in.

"The Doctor never uses weapons!" "I know! Shut up! >.>"

Where do the Kasaavin come into play? Is this something they've done by integrating themselves throughout time and space? Maybe they're fraying the fabric?

My mind is blown. I can't wait for the rest of this season :D

-

[Part 2 - Praxeus to The Timeless Children]

[nataliedanovelist]

GF + OH - Fallen Owls pt.1

Summary: What happens when the milf of The Owl House meets the dilf of Gravity Falls? Find out in this multi-chapter crossover fic.

pt.2

~~~~~~~~~~

Episode Placement:

GF = after finale (S3?) OH = between S1E5 and E6 It was late, passed the gremlins’ bedtime, but it was summer, meaning the term “bedtime” had very little meaning unless Stan was tired and needed to make the kids quiet. But as of right now he was content sitting in his old armchair, boxers and undershirt and slippers and all, munching on popcorn with his family, sitting around telling stories. Stan and his twin brother, Ford, had just finished telling Dipper and Mabel more about the sirens they had faced a few months ago. While sailing around the world was a dream come true, it was nice to take a break to spend the summer with the niblings.

Dipper, having just heard how Stan had been charmed by the sirens’ song, chuckled and asked, “So, did you ever have any luck finding ‘babes’?” Stan rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “Nah, but there’s always next year.” “Yeah, don’t worry about it, Grunkle Stan.” Mabel said as she popped some popcorn into her mouth. “You’ll find some pretty girl that is everything you deserve!” Stan, turning red, waved the subject away. “Thanks, sweetie, but it’s fine.” Ford, sitting on the dino-skull, elbowed him lightly and teased, “He’s still heartbroken over Carla McCorckle.” Mabel blew a raspberry. “If I ever find her I’m gonna give her a left-hook and break her nose!” Stan laughed and ruffled her hair. “That’s not necessary, kid. I’m over her.” “And it only took you forty years.” Ford added, earning him a punch on the shoulder. “I’ll have you know I’ve been with plenty of gals after Carla!” Stan quipped. “Heck, I was married once when I was traveling the country!” “Wait, what?!” The whole room gasped at the same time. Ford blinked like a confused owl. “I… I didn’t know that.” “Me, neither.” Mabel said and leaned on Stan’s knee. Dipper, meanwhile, was silent, a memory coming to mind. “Truth is I’ve been divorced once and slapped more times than I can remember.” “What happened? GASP! Do I have a secret Graunty you never told me about?!” Stan barked a laugh. “Hah! No, sorry pumpkin. I was actually married for less than a day. Vegan situation. We reached for the same slot machine handle and it was love at first sight. Marilyn. Had hair like a airline stordis and a neon pink shirt that said ‘Over thirty and very flirty’. Man I was, I was putty in her hands.” Stan said lightly, recalling the most romantic evening he ever had. “You should’ve seen the way she threw dice. One time right at my head. Turns out she only married me to distract me while she stole my car and my winnings. I guess her name was fake and, hair was fake. But ya know, the love was real.” Stan added with a casual shrug. “She was really the one that got away. Like, literally, it was a proper get away. She was chased by cop cars for a mile out of Vegas before ducking out of a door and into a canyon and making off with my loot. Sometimes I still think of her.” The old conman admitted. “That pale bingo hall skin. That one weirdly sharp tooth.” Stan’s face dropped at the sight of his family and he quickly said, “Sorry, I’m getting nostalgic.” “More like love-sick.” Dipper teased. “AW!” Mabel squealed. “That’s so sweet! Maybe you’ll find her one day!” Stan laughed and shook his head. “I doubt it, sweetie, but hey. Who needs stealing babes when I’ve got you three, right?” Mabel yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Ford chuckled and stood up, popping his back. “I think you two should head to bed. It’s getting late and we’re going camping tomorrow, remember?” Mabel gasped happily and stood. “You’re right!” She hugged both her uncles and wished them goodnight and then walked with her brother up the stairs for the attic, then Ford left to go finish packing, leaving Stan alone. He leaned on his knuckles, elbow on his armchair, and he remembered Marilyn. ~~~~~~~~~~ Mabel was grinning from ear to ear as she skipped ahead on the trail in the woods. “Finally, a real family camping trip!” Grunkle Ford, Dipper, and Grunkle Stan were right behind her, the Pines family heading back to the Mystery Shack after a fun night sleeping under the stars around a campfire. They were all smiling and happy to be reunited for the summer. While some things drastically changed and some things hardly changed at all, the Pines in appearance changed a little since Dipper and Mabel and turned thirteen. Mabel had always been nothing but smiles in the past, but if it was even possible she grinned even more now, proud to show off her braces-free white teeth. She still sported amazing sweaters with colorful headbands and skirts, today wearing a brown skirt and a yellow headband with a light-brown sweater with an owl on it, claiming she wanted to match the woods and her Grunkle Ford; he only proved her point when he blushed. Dipper and Wendy switched hats again when they saw each other when the twins came off the bus, but over his orange t-shirt he wore a green flannel unbuttoned and he matched it with blue jeans. No longer out in the freezing Arctic, Stan left behind his long coat, but he kept his white t-shirt, dark pants, red beanie, and water-proof boots for the hiking trip. Ford, the easily cold twin, still wore red turtleneck and dark pants and boots, but his smile was much more genuine and the crack in his glasses was gone. Grunkle Ford patted his niece’s shoulder. “It is nice to have some quality family bonding.” “Next time I say we go fishing.” Stan injected. “Not as many creepy spider-fires or whatever.” “Scampfires.” “I still say whatever.” Dipper chuckled and continued to sketch in his pinetree journal, shading in trees of his drawing of the woods. But he was pulled from his pleasant thoughts by his great-uncle. “Seriously, kid, you’re gonna walk into a tree and then I’m gonna laugh. You need to get your head outta book and see the rest of the world.” “Grunkle Stan, how do you think people shared the world back in your day? You know, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth?” Dipper quipped. “Oh, ho! Wise guy, huh?” Stan wrapped an arm around his neck and rubbed his knuckles on the top of his head. “Alright, Poindexter Jr…” “No! No nuggies!” “Yes nuggies!” “Ford!” Dipper laughed, calling for backup. Mabel, meanwhile, was slowly being pulled away mentally from the touching scene of guys being dudes as the internet would have called it. Distracting her, a tiny brown owl with cute round eyes was hopping. Not just hopping, appearing from behind one oak tree to the neck, but hopping with a sack clamped by the beak. Mabel watched it with wide eyes, hoping for another look, and the second glance she got of it was so brief she didn’t know how much faith she should have in her eyes, but it looked like that sack had things like a Cubic Cube, a newspaper, a floppy disk, a basketball, and other items that could be classified as junk. Mabel decided not to wait for another glance at the owl and to go look at it for herself. Mabel wandered off the path animals had made and moved in between trees and bushes quietly. Her brown eyes eventually landed on the little owl and she followed it; the clattering of the owl or it’s determination to finish it’s job must have been the reason why it didn’t hear Mabel and try to hide or lose her. The young Pines lady watched, walking farther and farther away from her family, and the owl hopped behind a tree and never emerged. Mabel smiled, thinking she was about to find an owl’s nest in the tree or a stash of human things by the tree’s roots, but when she turned to look behind the tree, she gasped to find a doorway that glowed white. Mabel looked around her for anyone that might have an answer or for any clue as to why this doorway was here, but she was alone. Gravity Falls certainly was where this sort of thing might happen, but that did not guarantee that this was safe. Maybe she should have the guys look at this thing. Mabel turned around, her back to the doorway, to leave, but she saw something above her and took in a sharp breath. Stan had Dipper pinned on the grass now, both of them laughing, with Ford shaking his head and scolding lightly. “Stanley, that’s enough.” “Don’t worry, Grunkle Ford, I promise not to break such an old man.” Dipper teased as he lightly fought back, “Old man?!” Stan repeated in pretend offense. They were interrupted by a blood curdling scream that made their hearts drop. Stan immediately got off of his nephew and stared ahead, terrified. “Mabel…” And he ran for the direction he heard the scream with Ford and Dipper at his heels. Mabel pulled her grappling hook out of her hiking-backpack and tried to calm down, but it was hard to with the dangerous anomaly liking it’s chops at the sight of her. It was like a gray lizard, but ten feet long, including the tail, and only on it’s four legs it was seven feet tall. It’s eyes were red and narrow and cold, and it had long sharp claws like a dragon’s and a long snout like a crocodile. Mabel shot her grappling hook at the monster and it hit it on the snout, tossing its head back. The lizard hissed but did not back down. It advanced, getting closer to Mabel, and she wanted to back away, but she was careful not to touch the spooky doorway. Stan saw the scene first, appearing out of the corner of Mabel’s eye. “Mabel!” “Grunkle Stan, what do I do?!” She asked, her eyes glued to the giant lizard. Ford and Dipper caught up. The younger moved to jump between his sister and the monster, but Ford stopped him with a firm six-fingered hand. “No! Listen to me, Mabel. That thing is called a Stone-Reptilian. They're excellent at camouflaging into mountains and can hang onto a one-hundred-and-eighty degree wall for hours, waiting for its prey. It actually has two tongues: one for licking its eyes since it doesn't have eyelids, and one for paralyzing it’s dinner and dragging the meal into its mouth.” “So what do I do?!” Mabel begged, shaking a little at the idea of being paralyzed and then eaten alive. “Mabel, stay calm, it’s alright.” Ford soothed with a voice as soft as silk. “Stone-Reptilians have excellent eyesight, but they’re deaf. Notice how it’s isn’t reacting to us. Now, I want you to…” The Stone-Reptilian suddenly whipped out it’s long, thorn-covered tongue to paralyze Mabel, but she was too quick and leaped through the doorway to survive. As she did, it disappeared, and the Pines men were left to scream and then fight for their own lives. ~~~~~~~~~~ “Whoops, can’t have another stowaway, can I?” A voice said, and then before Mabel knew it, her way back home was gone. She observed her new surroundings. Misfit things like a refrigerator, a grandfather clock, an old mattress, and cardboard boxes full of items cluttered what looked like a big tent, judging by the cloth walls and such. Mabel smiled with wonder at the things. “Wow. What a collection.” She whispered. Her eyes landed on a small glass ballerina on top of a music box. She turned the ballerina around with a finger to catch a few music notes. Mabel smiled, but was once again distracted. “Right, let’s see here… Nope. Garbage. Garbage. Another one of these? Oh, well. Good thing the potions have been selling. I should really thank Luz for helping me take out that competitor. Or not.” Mabel covered her mouth with both hands to keep from snorting; that sounded like something her Grunkle Stan would say. Her heart sagged a little and she turned to look back at where the magical doorway once was. Despite what he might pretend, Mabel knew Stan would be really worried about her. She needed to find a way back home. She crawled on her hands and knees out from under the tent and then got up to explore. “Okay, let’s see…” Mabel looked around to find herself outside in the open air. She raised an eyebrow. “The… Crawlspace? I thought it was underground? Maybe there’s more to it! Won’t Grunkle Ford be surprised!” Mabel cheered and looked around for anything familiar, but the longer she looked, the more she realized nothing was like back in Gravity Falls. She stood at the edge of a cliff, overlooking an odd city of some kind. Giant monster hands with no body stood like trees. Smoke rose from chimneys of medieval-looking houses. A small herd of cat-sized dragons flocked by the clouds. A mammoth roared like a lion and then walked into the ocean. Something resembling an orange nun was selling bags of oozing red stuff to tiny red monsters with teeth and fangs for a face. People were riding a giant caterpillar from inside its mouth and then kissing it for a toll. Mabel’s heart was racing from excitement and fear. Nothing here was familiar, but she was familiar with the unfamiliar. She grasped the straps of her backpack and took a deep breath. “Okay, Mabel, you’ve obviously discovered another rift and came to another dimension. Just remember what your grunkles taught you. Don’t touch this dimension's version of yourself or everything will explode. I just gotta live long enough for them to find me. Easy.” Her stomach suddenly growled. Mabel clenched her stomach on reflex, but then remembered her bag of marshmallows, pulled them out, and began to munch on her fluffy sugar pillows. She turned around and walked away from the tent she had left, saw she was in some sort of market, and walked down the street to explore calmly. ~~~~~~~~~~ “And remember to apply it twice a day for the best results.” Luz said friendly to a blue monster made out of goo as she handed her the small bag of dust and the customer closed the door on the human. Luz wiped her sweaty forehead with her wrist and groaned. “Man, it’s so hot today. Ready to head home, King? King?” She looked down to find that the king of demons had found the perfect spot on the porch to nap in the sunshine. Luz smiled, scratched his back, and scooped him up one-armed while her other hand carried the empty sack. “Eh?” King woke up, angry and cute. “Luz! I was having the perfect dream!” “About what?” “What could be more perfect than sleeping?!” “You were dreaming about sleeping?” Luz clarified with a confused smile. “Don’t you?” Luz snorted a laugh and walked through Bonesburrow. Compared to the rest of the Boiling Isles, the apprentice had learned that this was the quietest neck of the woods. King’s nose caught a delightful scent, but the demon was unsure if he should believe it. He sat up in Luz’s arm and smelled the air. “What is it?” Luz asked. “Hm, it’s sweet. Really sweet.” King commented and shivered. “Like, really sweet. So sweet it’ll put anyone in a sugar-induced coma.” “Well, why don’t we just go home and we can have some of Eda’s strawberry jelly instead.” Luz suggested as they turned a corner. She immediately saw the one really really weird thing in the Boiling Isles, apart from her. Another human. After being away from home for about three weeks, Luz didn’t think she would be so happy to see another human girl or see human food that wasn’t red, but here she was, eyes sparkling with happy tears over the sight. Mabel’s eye eventually landed on Luz and the two stared at each other, a good twenty feet away from each other. After a few moments, however, they both shouted, “ANOTHER HUMAN!” And ran towards each other, King clinging onto Luz’s arms in order not to fall. “Wait,” The brunette said and looked worried. “Is this your first time seeing another human here? How long have you been trapped here?!” She apparently had drawn the conclusion that there was no way out of this place. “Oh, no,” The Latino smiled and shook her head. “I’m not trapped here; I can leave whenever I want, I just choose not to.” “Oh. Cool! Hi! I’m Mabel!” “Hi, Mabel.” Luz greeted. “I’m Luz! So… how did you get here?” Mabel’s face dropped a little and she looked around. “You know, I’m not really sure. One minute I was camping with my family and the next I’m falling through a door that disappears and takes me here.” Luz giggled and shook her head. “You must have fallen through Eda’s door. Don’t worry, I can get you back home.” “You can?!” Mabel hugged her tightly, squishing King in between the two girls. “ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!” Luz, who was quite the hugger but lived with two hug-haters, grinned and relished in the hug, until a high-voice yelled, “AH! What is with you humans and this tight holding ritual?!” Mabel’s eyes got wide and she jumped away, looking around wildly; that voice sounded too familiar for comfort, but when she saw the king of demons, she gasped with a huge grin and shining eyes. “OH MY GOSH! How cute!!!” She squealed. “Thanks.” Luz giggled and rubbed his belly. “This is the King of Demons.” “This little bundle of joy?” Mabel asked, happily smoothing over his skull and scratching his back. “That’s what I said!” “Hey, hey, easy with the merchandise!” King complained. “What makes you think you can… oh! Oh! Right there, yup, right there.” Mabel had found the right scratching spot, just between his shoulder-blades, and King relaxed in Luz’s arms, almost asleep he was so comfortable. Mabel giggled and asked, “So, how can you get me back to my family?” Luz gave it a moment’s thought and said, “Well, I guess we could take you to Eda and have her send you home, but she’ll be going home soon and it’s kinda…” The girls screamed as a huge guard jumped in front of them. He glared down at the humans and said, “Human previously associated with Eda the Owl Lady, you’re hereby under arrest!” “Not today, sucka!” Luz yelled, threw down one of Eda’s smoke bombs, and grabbed Mabel’s wrist. “Come on! I know where to go!” “Crazy monsters, criminals, smoke bombs, demons… I LOVE IT HERE!” Mabel cheered as she was fleeing with her new friends. ~~~~~~~~~~ Stan huffed, catching his breath, with his hands on his knees. Ford helped Dipper up cautiously, scanning him over for broken bones from when the monster swung his tail at the boy and slammed him against a tree, but apart from being shaken up, he was fine. Now that the Stone-Reptilian was gone, the Pines men were free to worry about the most important thing in their whole world. “MABEL?!” Stan screamed and looked around wildly for the rift that took her away. “MABEL! MABEL, SWEETIE!” “Mabel!” Ford called out. “Mabel, can you hear us?!” “MABEL! MABEL!” Stan screamed and ignored his stinging eyes. Dipper’s own brown eyes were aching, too, but he refused to be seen as weak and he powered through. “Did… did that thing… g-g-get her?” “No.” Ford said firmly. “I saw it. She fell through… some sort of door, or a rift.” “A-A door?” “It was rectangular like one, but it was hard to tell.” “The Crawlspace!” Dipper gasped and slapped his forehead. “Don’t the entrances change randomly through Gravity Falls? What if she fell through and is down at the black market?” “What, you mean she’s probably surrounded by dangerous monsters in some freaky market?” Stan asked. “It’s a likely possibility.” Ford speculated, holding his cleft chin. “Scour the area. If it was an entrance to the Crawlspace, one will show up again soon.” The three men split up, relatively close, and searched for an anomaly. Maybe a hole in a tree or in the ground, what might have been passed as a bird’s nest or a groundhog’s home could actually be an entrance. Stan was checking some bushes when he thought he heard a strange noise and he looked ahead. A rectangular white light appeared on an oak tree and soon an owl with an empty sack in its beak hopped out. Stan gasped and thought that this was the doorway that took his little girl. Ford saw his twin run out of the corner of his eye and then disappear through the hole. “Stanley, wait!” He called and ran towards him, disappearing, too. Then the doorway was gone. Dipper looked around nervously. “Hello? Guys?” He paused, letting it sink in that, once again, he was alone. “I swear if she’s at MAB3L again…” ~~~~~~~~~~ Stan had stopped. Ford then accidently ran into him and they both fell forward. “Sixer, get off!” “Shh!” Ford slapped a polydactyl hand over his brother’s mouth, which made him grumble, but before Stan could lick his hand in response, he heard what Ford was hearing. “I’ll give you fifty snails for the whole lot.” A laugh-filled snort followed. “It’s seventy-five, kid. Take it or leave it.” That voice… something was familiar about that laugh. There was grumbling and what sounded like items being collected. Stan and Ford exchanged looks and slowly got up. After looking around the tent, they peered out of the crack in the curtains to see an odd market. They awed at the sight of dozens of weird creatures. One looked like a turquoise hairless-cat. One looked like a pig with green eyes and it breathed fire on a piece of meat on a stick to cook it for a snack. A kid with pointy ears dropped a basket full of eyeballs and scrambled to pick them up. Ford grinned excitedly like a dork while Stan winced at the sight of an ice-cream eating a customer. Stan glanced to his left and he had to hold his breath to keep from gasping and blowing their cover. Wearing a tight-fitted, torn maroon dress and matching boots, gold on her chest and ears and fingers and a sharp tooth, her eyes sparkling like gold coins, a woman with big gray hair and pointy ears leaned against a table full human things and flicked through a Gold Chains for Old Men magazine with a skeptical look on her face. Stan was nearly as pale as she was when she snorted another laugh and flipped a page. “Hah! Not a bad read. Better than that kindling Luz keeps around.” She mumbled and made herself comfortable in her chair, waiting for another customer, one leg crossed over the other and she lightly kicked it as she read. Stan swallowed. There was no way. No possible way… then again, given everything weird that’s happened to him, from freaky portal, to demon triangles, to gnomes and unicorns and sirens and krakens, even to a full-blown Weirdmageddon, should he really be all that surprised that faith would bite him in the butt like this? Ford glanced down at his twin and found he could read him like an open book. “Stanley…” He hissed. The lady straightened in her seat and looked up from the magazine, listening. Now it was Stan’s turn to cover Ford’s mouth. They were still, waiting for the ady to find them, but she shrugged casually and continued to read. The men backed away, out of sight, and were each on one knee, facing each other, as they whispered. “Sixer, where the heck are we? The Crawlspace?” “I’m not sure.” Ford hissed. “I have never seen these types of anomalies before. I suppose it’s possible they hide here during the day and I had never seen them at night, but… this place feels off. To summarize, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” “Fine, but when what do we do about Mabel?” “Our objection is still the same. Let’s just keep a low profile and try to find her.” The twins froze when the curtain was thrown open and the lady stood before them. She immediately sneered down at them. “If you amateur pickpockets think you can…” But then she stopped, for several reasons. One: these creatures were clearly old, about her age, and so unless they had a sudden career change, they were not amateurs. Two: as a human expert and a teacher and hostess of a human, she instantly recognized these two big-eared creatures as humans. Three: something about the one in the white shirt and red hat was very familiar. “No… way…” She narrowed her golden eyes. Stan was now confident that his memory wasn’t flawed; the way she reacted to seeing him, recognizing him, confirmed that he knew her. Before he could do anything, she grabbed each twin by the ear and pinched; they were at her mercy and receiving flashbacks from when their mother was angry with them. “You two got some explaining to do.” The lady sneered. “Gah! Let us go, crazy old bat!” Stan barked as she dragged them out from the tent and made them sit on barrels for stools. “Who are you calling old, human?” The lady sneered and crossed her arms over her chest. “Just tell me what you think you’re doing here.” “Begging your pardon on our introduction,” Ford said coldly, but then softened as he and his brother did have an important mission. “But our grandniece is missing. We believe she came through here.” And he pulled out a picture of Mabel hugging a stuffed-penguin from his wallet and showed it to her. The lady peered down at the photo and said, “Sorry, old-timers, I haven’t seen anyone like that around here.” “Now, how can we trust you, Marilyn.” Stan sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. Ford’s eyes widened as he pocketed his picture. He was rendered speechless for a moment. “Oh, like you’re one to talk about honesty, Stan.” She deride. “You two know each other?!” Ford gasped, looking from his brother to the stranger rapidly like a game of tennis. “She’s your ex-wife?!” The lady snorted a laugh and sighed happily. “Ah, good times, huh?” “Not really.” Stan sneered and stood. “You still owe me five hundred bucks!” “At least you got your car back, Grumpy.” The lady teased and patted his cheek; he swatted her hand away in response and growled like an angry pitbull. “If you want my help finding your girl then play nice.” “So, you honestly didn’t see her.” Stan repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, I may be a conwoman, a pickpocket, and the most powerful witch you’ll ever meet, but I wouldn’t lie if it was gonna endanger some kid.” The lady snapped her fingers and all of the human collectibles floated and gathered into a green cloth, tied up like a hobo’s luggage. She pulled out a staff and put the bag through it, making it easy to carry. Eda whistled and the little owl flew to her and landed on her staff and turned into wood. “Come along, humans, we’ll find your niece and get you two home.” Ford followed the lady and decided to be the “nice” one since Stan was obviously too salty to be one; someone had to be nice to the lady that was going to help them find Mabel. “Thank you, Marilyn.” “Oh, right. That’s not my real name…” “Knew it.” “... you’re a fool to give your real name to a casino in Vegas. It’s Edalyn, but just call me Eda. Or your worst nightmare.” “Whatever you say, toots.” Stan growled as they walked down the street. “So, Eda,” Ford cut in to try to cut the tension between the two. “What exactly is this place, and what are you?” Eda stopped suddenly and turned around, wearing a proud grin. She stabbed her staff on the ground with a small bang, making the owl come to life, the sack hanging by her fist, and she proclaimed, “I am known as the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch here on the Boiling Isles!” “A witch?” Stan laughed. “More like a b…” “I am a feared, respected, vigorous force to be reckoned with!” Eda went on and let go of the staff so it floated like a witch’s broomstick. “Come on, old-timers, let’s get a bird’s eye-view to find your girl.” They each grabbed the staff when Eda sat upon it and yelled with fear as she had them fly up in the air, leaving the old twins to dangle in the air. “GAAAAAAAH!” “EDA!” Stan yelled. “Put us down!” “That can be arranged.” Eda said cunningly and swooped down quickly. With the air drying Eda’s eyes and forming tears and the brother holding onto the staff (and each other) for dear life, all three were yelling, one with delight, two with fright. “STANLEY!” Ford shouted. “PLEASE try not to piss off your ex-wife!” Eda laughed and at the very last second, right before the men would crash into the ground, she flew them up into the sky. “Ah, don’t worry, I won’t let you two knuckleheads get hurt.” They flew softer and calmer above the Boiling Isles and the humans awed at the scene. In the carcass of a monster, by the sea, the Bones of the Isles sat snug in the midst of chaos. Eda floated to allow the men a moment to take in the scenery, smiling down at their round brown eyes. “It’s beautiful.” Ford admired. “Yup, not too shabby.” Eda commented casually. “It’s not much, but it’s home.” “We know what that’s like.” Stan muttered. “Speaking of which,” Eda said casually. “Where did you two say you were from?” “We didn’t. Gravity Falls, Oregon.” Ford answered, keeping an eye out for Mabel. “Oh, I’ve heard rumors about that place.” Eda said as she flew calmly over the town. “My door has a bad habit of appearing there way too often. I need more variety in my human collectibles.” “So, you steal our junk and try to sell it for a great price?” Stan asked; he sounded a little impressed. “That and I sell potions on the weekdays. When I’m not mentoring my student. Enough chit-chat, see your girl down there?” The men took a few more minutes to look, as well as Eda, but there was no sign of her. “No.” Ford’s voice dripped with concern. “Eda, what are the chances she was kidnapped or hurt?” “Oh, that probably didn’t happen to her.” The witch said calmly. “If she’s not safe she probably got eaten or taken by Warden Wrath.” “WHAT?!” “Relax, Sixer,” Stan said, confident in his pumpkin. “She’s our little fighter, she’ll be fine.” Eda snorted. “Sixer?” “It’s Stanford, actually.” His face was a little red over the fact that he couldn’t hide his six-fingered hands, too busy holding the magic staff to keep from falling. “Meh, I’ve seen weirder.” Eda looked like she truly didn’t care how many fingers he had; Ford appreciated that. “Well, I’ve got a great tracker at home.” The Owl Lady said and started to fly towards the red forest. “Why don’t we go pick him up and see if he can help us out. Got anything the girl held?” “Yes,” When the men landed on their feet and Eda hopped next to them, Ford pulled out his wallet again and took out a folded-up, hand-drawn picture of Stan and Ford on a boat, a gift from Mabel while they were apart that she had mailed to them. “Aw, that’s so cute.” The witch cooed. “Who knew all Pines men were putty in girls’ hands.” She laughed at her own joke and shook her head. “Ah, keep moving, boys.” Stan hurried to catch up and he walked next to Eda with narrow eyes, ignoring the way her odd golden fang sparkled, how her eyes gleamed with spunk, how she held herself up high with pride. “So, you’re gonna answer some questions for me…” “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.” “If you’re a witch, what were you doing in Las Vegas?” “Hey, a witch’s gotta make some gold, too.” Eda shrugged as she smiled. “I haven’t exactly kept a clean record here so making a living takes a bit of extra effort, but it’s much for fun and unpredictable, the way life's supposed to be.” Stan raised an eyebrow at two things: the fact his ex was a criminal in this world too, and her philosophy. “I can respect that, seeing how I was there for the same reasons.” “I know.” Eda rolled her eyes teasingly. “You wouldn’t shut up about how you were gonna make it big and show the world what this big lug could do.” And she elbowed Stan, which he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Heh. Yeah, what can I say, I’m a real loud-mouth. Say what’s on my mind.” “Hey, nothing wrong with being brutally honest to make up for lying, am I right?” Eda said with a shrug. “So, was your hair fake back then, or…” “No, no, it was real. I was really proud of my hair back in the day, flaming red and wild.” “Looks pretty good now. Love it, in fact. Big and bold, hard to miss.” “Hey, you aged pretty well yourself, handsome.” Ford smiled as he watched the exes tease and pick on each other. If a compliment was given, it dripped with sarcasm and there was no guarantee that it was sincere, but they must have seen a gleam in their eyes or felt a “vibe” that Ford didn’t experience, because the conversation progressed well as they walked through the forest. Ford was happy to see Stan get along fairly well with this woman and wondered if this would go exceptionally better than the whole McCorkle incident. They emerged from the woods and found a large house standing by some cliffs leading to an ocean. It was about as far from the seas as Pines Pawns was all those years ago. The house was big, maybe bigger than the Mystery Shack (probably not if counting the basement-floors) with a big stain-glass window that reminded Stan of a cat’s eye and Ford of Bill’s eye, but then they both individually remembered Eda’s title and realized it was probably representing an owl’s eye. A weather-vane with an owl sat on top of the house, a broken-down tower stood behind, and an owl’s head was on the door. The humans were startled, but they quickly recovered, again having experienced much weirder than a live owl-head on a door. “Girl knows how to keep a theme going.” Stan commented as they approached. “Oh, boy!” The owl on the door hooted. “More company! Maybe they wanna hear some of my stories!” “Not a chance, Hooty.” Eda quipped. “Is King still home? We need his help, and we might want Luz’s too while we’re at it.” “They’re both telling stories to that new human. The one with the pretty owl sweater.” “Wait, what?!” The three old people asked and Hooty swung open the door. Luz was holding King on her lap on the couch, sitting with Mabel as all three were laughing. Even King was rolling around and holding his little fluffy body with glee. Mabel’s back was to the door and she resumed her storytelling as she wiped a tear under her eye. “So then I look down at Dipper and see that he’s still got his socks on!” Luz cackled a laugh and held her head one-handed, her other arm still holding King, but it was to no avail as the demon fell off from all the laughing. Eda, Ford, and Stan smiled as the girls were having fun. They had no idea how they found each other, but it was better for them to be here, safe and happy, than to have the newbie be someone’s meal. Luz fanned her reddening face and finally noticed the company. “Hi, Eda. Sorry, but she was lost and needs our help.” Mabel turned, on her knees on the couch, but grinned with a gasp. “GUYS!” And she hopped over the arm of the couch for her grunkles. “Mabel!” They opened their arms and got on one knee for their girl. Mabel ran into their hold and they hugged her tightly, relieved to be with her again and to find her more than okay. “What did I tell you about scaring me like that, pumpkin?!” Stan asked as he held her with all of his might. “You didn’t tell me, Grunkle Stan.” “Oh, right.” “We’re just so happy to find you alright, my dear.” Ford loosened his grip just enough to look up at Luz, who was smiling admirably at the reunion. “And I see you’ve made some friends.” Mabel let go and nodded. “Yeah! That’s Luz! Luz, these are my grunkles! Stan and Ford!” “Nice to meet you guys.” Luz said and waved politely. “Mabel said you’d come, but how did you two survive out there?” “They nearly didn’t.” Eda lied easily. “Were in the mouths of a giant giraffe when I saved their butts.” “Yeah right!” Stan barked a laugh. “Anyways, we’ve been through worse, kid.” Luz gasped excitedly. “Worse than giant bugs and centaurs with eyes on their chest and man-eating slugs and fire-breathing eye-less fangs and jealous witches?!” “Worse. I’ve punched a pterodactyl in the face and a few zombies, fallen down a Bottomless Pit, lost my hands to a witch, fought off eagles and explosions, survived giant man-eating spiders…” “Stanley, that is all impressive, but have you fought a talking chair, battled in four wars, conned an abominable snowman, outran a volcano, examined floating eyebats, been turned to gold…” “I find that hard to believe.” Eda snorted. “I believe them.” Luz said with a shrug. “You always said weird stuff leaks from this world into theirs.” “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Ford said, stepping forward. “What exactly is this place? I’ve heard rumors of a place called the Boiling Isles, but I just thought it was a little hiding place like the Crawlspace, not an entirely new dimension.” “Nope!” Eda corrected happily. “This whole world is the Boiling Isles, a world full of despair, monsters, gross-stuff, demons, and magic.” “This place sounds so cool!” Mabel cheered. She looked at Luz and said, “No wonder you wanted to stay here. Wait! Do you have your own room?!” “Yeah! C’mon, I’ll show you!” And the girls ran off with Luz scratching King’s tummy and leaving him to nap on the floor, tired from laughing. Eda plopped down on the couch and gestured for the men to do the same. “I’d offer refreshments but all we have is apple blood and some disgusting beverage Luz likes called orange juice.” Stan looked up at the wanted poster of Eda and the reward promised for her capture. He smiled, impressed and interested. “We’re okay, thank you, Eda.” Ford said. “If you don’t mind me asking, our niece said something about Luz choosing to stay here?” “Yeah, that’s right.” Eda reached under her couch-cushion and rummaged as she spoke. “Kid came through my door when Owlbert brought over some little treasures to sell. Sweet girl. Kinda naive and gullible, but clever in her own right and she’s a fast learner. Stubborn with the forces of positivity.” Stan snorted. “Heh. We know someone like that.” “She said she didn’t fit in at home.” Eda finally found what she was looking for and pulled out a wrinkled, crumpled up pamphlet at read, Reality Check Summer Camp: Think Inside the Box. “Don’t really understand some of this human stuff, but I figured it must be pretty bad if it made a kid not wanna go home, so I read over it and this place sounds awful! Totally squandered any creativity or individualism! Her own mother was sending her here!” Eda let Ford look it over and she shrugged off the rant. “Anyway, she said she wanted to stay and she was willing to work for it, so I took her in as my apprentice for the summer and now she’s learning how to be a witch.” “Hm, sounds a lot better than kidnapping.” Stan approved with his arms crossed over his chest. “This place is completely horrible.” Ford commented about the summer camp. “They teach kids how to appropriate public radio!” “AM or FM?” “Both.” “Ouch.” “So, what exactly are you doing with such a cute girl, Eight-Ball?” Eda asked, getting Stan’s attention. “And what is a grunkle?” She snorted with a smile. “She’s our grandniece.” Stan said proudly, puffing out his chest. “We’re her great-uncles. Her grunkles.” “Aw, who knew you were such a softie?” “I am not!” “You watched over five hours of video-tutorials on how to braid hair.” Ford said behind the pamphlet. “She asked me to braid her hair and it bothered me that I couldn’t do it!” Eda cackled and touched Stan’s shoulder. His eyes followed and he smiled at her cute laugh. “Aw, you’re worse than King.” King peeked an eye at her and sneered, “One more passive aggressive comment and I’ll…” “That’s not a passive aggressive comment.” Eda said as she picked up the little goofball. “I can do better than that.” “Huh, and here I was thinking that was just one of Luz’s toys.” Stan teased. “Hey!” King stood on the couch by Eda’s side and pointed a bony paw at the old man. “Since you’re a human, I’ll let you walk away with a warning, but have it be known that I’m the King of Demons and shall one day drink the fear of those who mock me!” Ford folded the pamphlet and observed King cautiously. He didn’t like… his voice. His voice sent shivers down the old scientist’s spine. Stan snorted. “Sorry, pipsqueak, but I’ve faced worse demons than you.” “Oh, yeah, like what?” King asked. The girls came back, smiling and holding hands, and Luz asked, “Eda, can we please please PLEASE have a sleepover?! I want to show Mabel the new light spell I learned and show her how to properly scratch a demon’s tummy.” Ford chuckled and stood. “I’m sorry, ladies, but we really should be heading back. I’m sure Dipper is worried sick.” Mabel gasped with horror. “Oh, NO! Dipper!” “Oh, hey, don’t worry.” Luz eased. “You two are totally welcome here anytime you want.” “Aw, thanks, Luz.” Mabel hugged her and said, “I promise I’ll bring Dip-Dip next time. He’d love it here! And he could tell you all about the Manotaurs and the weird copy-machine.” Eda and Stan stood up, too, and the Owl Lady had her arms crossed over her chest. “Well, looks like we’ll be seeing each other again pretty soon. You okay with them hanging out?” Stan shrugged and pocketed his hands in his jeans. “Yeah, sure. Good friends are kinda rare these days. Gotta hold onto ‘em and never let ‘em go.” “Agreed.” Eda said and saw them exchanging those odd codes on their glowing rectangles. “Well, have your girl tell my girl when to open the door and I’ll see what I can do.” And she held out a hand to Stan. He hesitated (not just because of whose hand it was, but because shaking hands always seemed to lead to something bad, but maybe this time will be different), but he took it and shook it gently. “Yeah, and if your girl never needs a break in the human world, have her tell my girl.” Eda smiled at Stan and shook Ford’s hand, as well. She pulled the key out of her hair and unlocked the door, making it appear and swing open. Mabel skipped to her great-uncles and waved goodbye to Luz, who waved back, and she went with Ford through the door for home. Stan stole one last look at Eda, who winked at him, and he disappeared with a pink face.

~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note: OKAY, first things first, when it comes to fic, I personally don't really like crossovers. Crossovers can be a fun NON-CANON crossover for animation or actors. I get more enjoyment over fun fanart than I so of fics, because I like mine more plot-driven and it's hard to get a good story going just because you wants certain characters to mingle. HOWEVER, I find Gravity Falls and The Owl House just fit so well together! Why? #1: Alex Hirsch and Dana Terrace (the creators) are dating and Dana Terrace is responsible for the awesome Ducktakes reboot (season 1, anyway) AND the famous Not What He Seems scene. So having such a strong connection creativity wise of the shows is very apparent, more so than the other shows. #2: Evidence that supports these connections. Both shows have referenced each other and a theory goes that Eda and Stan were once married for less than a day. (plz check this video for more) And #3: ... I ship it pretty damn hard, okay? So I hope you guys will enjoy this fun little crossover as much as me! And thank you so much for reading!

[mini-moongi]

Notification [REVAMPED] || 2

Taehyung x reader

Genre: Slice of Life, comedy, fluff, slow burn?? Idk I feel like I’m describing an anime lol

Summary: Alert!AU, School!AU; A mysterious app appeared on your phone and you can’t get rid of it?? It texts you people’s thoughts. One day, you accidentally send the star basketball player, Min Yoongi, to the nurse’s office.

-A/N- This revamped version is already super diff from the original lol I have some stuff planned so this might be a bumpy ride on the love coaster.

Chapters: 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 coming soon!

series masterlist

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The last school bell rings, signaling that you can finally escape this hell-hole. A sigh escapes your lips, and you look back on the wild roller coaster of today. You fell, re-sprained a guys ankle, ate lunch with hot boys, and then suddenly a new forensics partner too. You asked Yoongi for his schedule earlier, and you’ve just picked up all of his assignments. The teachers praise you for your kindness as you walk out of each classroom.

It’s been about 15 minutes after school officially ended, but you’re still roaming, trying to find the exit. You’re walking down the now empty hallway when you suddenly see girl and a guy around the corner. You press your back against the wall; you’ve stumbled upon something you shouldn’t have. It’s almost like you’re intruding on a very private matter, oh wait, you are. The two are blocking the nearest exit, and you really don’t feel like walking across campus. 

“...I’ve liked you for awhile now, Jungkook.” A feminine voice echoed in the desolate hallway. “I know other girls like you too, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Will you accept my feelings?” She’s timid, and you start to feel guilty that you’re eavesdropping like this. 

You’re in it for the long haul now; if you started walking, it would definitely ruin their moment. You were hoping for the boy to say yes and then leave, but a heavy silence fills the room. You grow anxious and peek around the corner to get a glimpse.

The guy named Jungkook is just standing there. He’s very attractive, and he has a very well built figure. He’s not looking at the girl, and his body is stiff. He’s like a statue; a very intimidating statue. The name Jungkook was familiar, but you can’t pin point why at this time. It’s probably because you’ve seen him in the year book, that’s all.. His brows are furrowed, and he is silent for a painfully long time.

“...I can’t.” His words are clear and sharp, piercing you like an arrow. The wound is cut clean, but the pain still stings and lingers. You aren’t even the one who confessed, but damn, that hurt. Without another word, he walks past her. He’s coming your way, and way too quickly at that. 

Panic fills your heart, and you have to think fast. You pretend like you were just walking down the hallway and definitely not listening to their interaction, but Jungkook strides quickly down the hallway as if he never saw you. His eyes were zoned out, and you could hear his shaky breathing when he passed by. It was like he had a tunnel vision. Curiosity ate away at you, and you followed him.

 He ends up against a wall, sitting down with his head in his hands. His breathing is ragged like he’s been exercising for hours, and his fingers are trembling. Is he having a panic attack? Your good citizen heart thumped in your chest at the helpless stranger. 

“..Hey, it’s okay.” Gently you place your hand on his shoulder as you whisper in a soft voice. “What do you need?”

“I.. I can’t... breathe..” His eyes are dilated and darting in multiple places. His breath is shallow and short, too distraught to come to his senses.

“Concentrate on it. Breathe with me, slowly.” You count slowly as he breathes in and out. His hands open and close, as if he can’t feel them. “Do you need something to hold?”

When he nods, you grasp your hand onto his left one. It’s a gentle squeeze, but it reassures him that you are there. After another minute, he calms down. He’s come to his senses, but he still seems uncomfortable by you. It suddenly occurs that you never introduced yourself, and you mentally facepalm.

“--Sorry! I’m L/n Y/n. I have a cousin who has panic attacks sometimes, and I just did it without thinking..” 

He avoids your gaze but he mumbles a “Thank you.” Another moment of silence passes, so you get up to leave. “W..Wait!” He stammers. When you turn to look at him again, he stands abruptly. He bows like his life depends on it and speaks to you. “My name is Jeon Jungkook, I’m a sophomore, and I really appreciate what you did for me today.”

His super formal introduction surprises you. You thought he’d be older than you at first glance, but now that he mentioned it, you can tell how young he looks despite the muscular build. “Oh. It’s no problem. If you ever need help, just let me know.” You send him a pleasant smile and finally head towards the exit.

He hesitates, but jogs to catch back up with you. “Is there any way I can make it up to you? I’m actually... really shy around girls.” His hands are in the pockets of his hoodie as he looks to the side. When you give him the questionable hum, he quickly adds in. “--I’m not sexist or anything..  You seem really nice! I swear!!” 

You laugh. It’s a sweet and innocent laugh as you look at him. “It’s okay, Jungkook. I believe you.”

“Where are you going?”

When the words left his mouth, you wondered. Where are you going? You have Yoongi’s assignments, but you forgot to ask him where he lived. “I was going to drop off homework to this guy named Min Yoongi, but I forgot to ask for the address..” You don’t have any of the Bangtan boys’ numbers, so there really is no hope in going to his house today. You shrug,” Well, I guess I won’t go today.”

Jungkook looks at you in surprise. “You know Yoongi?” When you nod to him, he says,”I was just about to head over there to see how he was doing. Can I give you a ride? My friend’s about to get here.” A smile lights up his face, completely destroying the intimidating impression that you had of him. ” I’d usually take the bus, but my buddy just got his license.”

And so, you both wait for Jungkook’s friend to take you to Yoongi’s place. As you wait you check ECHO for the last time, curious about what Jungkook thought of you.

[16:30] Woah... who is she??

[16:32] A hero? An... angel?

[16:33] oh fuck she’s leaving uhhhh do something!!!!

[16:44] Is she like a secret Bantgtan member or something?? That would definitely explain how she knows Yoongi... 

[16:47] She’s so cool, I hope we can be friends ヽ( ´ ∇ ｀ )ノ

A black car pulls up to Jungkook, and the driver rolls down the window. Jungkook’s shoulders block the window, so you can’t get a proper view. He talks to his friend for a minute, and moves out of the way to introduce you. The first thing you see is a pair of wide eyes and messy brown hair. “Y/n?”

Jungkook looks at you confused, but your feet move on their own. When you approach the car, Taehyung smiles. “You missed me that badly? I would’ve waited for you if I’d known that you needed a ride.” He sends a wink your way, but you mentally swatted it away. It’s just who he is, y’know? You can’t take anything this guy says seriously..

You roll your eyes at his flirtatious comment, but it makes you grin nonetheless. You and Jungkook get into the backseat of the car, and head to Yoongi’s home. During this encounter between you, Jungkook, and Taehyung, you’ve realized why you recognized the sophomore. 

Of course it’s all connected... He’s another Bangtan guy. He’s super young, really buff, and talented at literally everything. You don’t know much about Jungkook, but you heard from all of the girls in his grade that he was really intimidating. To girls, he was curt, rude, and many of them started to think that he was gay. The boy you’re sitting next to though is shy and innocently sweet, contrasting to his reputation.

“...Jungkook, you’re not secretly a thug, are you?” The question falls from your lips while you were lost in thought. You didn’t mean to say that out loud, but you are curious of his answer.

He looks at you incredulously,” What?? No, why?”

“My sweet Kookie would never!” Taehyung pipes up from the front. He sounds like a soccer mom who’s defending his son for cheating during the game. “He’s an innocent little boy.”

A small protest full of giggles ensues,” Hyung!!” 

You laugh as you apologize to him. “Sorry, Jungkook. It’s just that.. When I first saw you, you looked like you were going to murder my secret lover in my sleep. It was straight out of a soap opera!!” You and Jungkook laugh at your ridiculous analogy.

Taehyung gasps,” As if!! I would never get murdered in such a way.” Him implying that he was the secret lover made Jungkook practically howl with laughter. His smile is so big and uplifting, you wondered where his murderous look ran off to. His doe eyes are shut closed, and he’s holding onto his stomach. 

“Taehyung, I...” He tries to fight out the sentence in between fits of laughter,” I did abs today.. I’m so sore!!” 

Somehow, you all managed to arrive at Yoongi’s in one piece. One by one, you each stumble out of the car with happy tears in your eyes. In that duration, you three managed to create a whole k-drama-esque episode, full of comedy and unrealistic reactions. Jungkook leads the way as he walks up to a door that was attached to, presumably, Yoongi’s house.

He lifts his knuckles to knock, but suddenly the door opened. Instead of the Yoongi you were expecting, another figure stood in the doorway as he shouts at someone inside the house.

“Yah, how am I supposed to remain immortal if you keep stressing me out?!” The man in the doorway has all three of you stunned, and you could only watch him argue with the mysterious voice inside the home. He grumbled to himself,” ...just you wait. I’m gonna come back with the ingredients, and I’m going to shove it down his--”

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

-A/N- 

Chapter 3 will hopefully be up sooner than this one did. I’m going to work in a uhh cute?? moment w y/n and Taehyung lol What will happen in this crackhead household?

[napofamikrokosmos]

Episode One: That Girl

Never did you imagine you’d be going to the most expensive and extremely prestigious school. Never did you imagine you’d be standing in the midst of the country’s elite. And never did you imagine you’d have the two of the most important bachelor’s in Seoul fighting to impress you.

MASTERLIST | NEXT EPISODE

❥ Title Credit: That Girl - All Time Low 

❥ Pairings: RichBoy!Hoseok × Commoner!Reader, RichBoy!Namjoon × Commoner!Reader.

❥ Word Count: 3.3k

❥ Genre: Boys Over Flowers AU, Meteor Garden AU, Angst

❥ Warnings: Swearing, Bullying, Hoseok is a dick

❥ A/N: This is pretty shit towards the end cause I just wanted to get it done to post it so. If you want to be in the taglist send me a message or something so I can add you.

You were balancing a tray of drinks in one hand and clutching a pile of books in the other as you weaved your way through the somewhat crowded cafe. The five boys were seated in their usual seats at the back corner. You stood awkwardly at the end of their table mentally shifting your weight between your arms, trying to decide what to put down first. Luckily Yeonjun and Taehyun noticed your struggle and were quick to take the stack of books from your arm. You gave them a nod of thanks as you placed their drinks down in front of them. "Thank you noona!" they chorused "If I was actually your sister I would be telling you guys to stop drinking this junk every day." You said with a laugh "If you guys need anything you know where to find me" You ruffled Yeonjun's hair and he groaned swatting your hand away while the others laughed.

You quickly made your way back to the front of the cafe, dropping the tray onto the counter. Leaning on it with a tired sigh, You rubbed your hands over your face. The phone rang, You and Jungkook looked at each other before shoving each other to get there first. He stuck his tongue out at you as he answered it “Bomnal Cafe, may I take your order?” he brought his attention to whoever was on the other side. You leaned against the counter watching as he messily wrote down the order, before hanging up. Ripping the paper from the pad, he waved it in front of your face as he walked past you, to Seokjin to give him the order. "Hey Y/N, you better not ditch us for those rich people now that you’re going to Huimang” Kook jabbed his finger toward you.

“Oh trust me, if I ever choose them over you guys you have every right to pour that over my head” You nodded toward the coffee that Jin was making. He gave you a look of concern before continuing with his work. "If anyone messes with you, I swear I'll fight them" Kook jokingly assured you. Yoongi and You both looked at each other before laughing "Thanks I'll keep that in mind" You patted his back hard as you walked past, to serve one of the customers. "Seriously though, you should be careful, I heard that B4 literally rule that school" Jin warned "I’ve heard they're dangerous. They've done things to drive people to drop out just to get away from them."

Kook tilted his head curiously at Jin's words, pulling out his phone, most likely to search up who they were. The older boy stopped working and you and Yoongi leaned in to listen to him  "Apparently everyone at that school will do anything to kiss ass to B4. Anyone who gets a red card becomes a target for the whole school and it doesn't stop unless they leave, die, or B4 themselves declare an end, which is yet to happen" You couldn't help but shake your head at how nonsense that sounded. Obviously, a school as prestigious as Huimang wouldn't let even their most powerful students treat people like that. “You think I’m joking?” Jin asked, noticing your reaction. You simply nodded with an amused expression at how serious he was about this. 

“The members of the well-known B4, who are currently students at Huimang Highschool are, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Kim Namjoon, and Jung Hoseok” Kook read off his phone. You rushed over to him grabbing his arm to look at his phone screen “Park Jimin is the only son and heir of Yojeong Tech. Kim Taehyung is a young artist and photographer, the son of the former president of The Teugiseong Group. Not much is known of Kim Namjoon after the car accident that killed his parents, the founders of The Kim Corporation, he was hidden away from the public eye.” Jungkook scrolled to the bottom “Last but not least we have Jung Hoseok. The heir to Jung Industries, one of the biggest companies in Asia." Jin groaned "Stop that" it was his turn to shake his head, taking the phone from Kook's hand and stuffing it into his pocket. “Seriously, Y/N, Please just promise me you’ll be careful. Especially of Hoseok, who knows what could happen if you get on his bad side”, he held out his pinky to you. Sighing in defeat you linked your finger with his. After that, the topic of your new school was forgotten as you all went back to work. 

The flow of customers started to wind down as the afternoon turned into evening and soon after your shift had ended. Kook offered to walk you home, not that it was far, but because his parents weren’t home and he knew your mom would invite him for dinner. You shake your head in amusement at his request but gladly agreed. Linking your arm with his, walking down the street to your family's flower shop together. The lights were still on as your mom was just closing up shop. The bell above the door rang as you and Kook entered, catching your mother's attention. "Ah, Y/N, Jungkook!" she greeted you both "Just in time" She quickly rushed past both of you to lock the doors of the shop. "Your dad should be almost done cooking dinner. Jungkook, since you're already here, why don't you stay for dinner" Jungkook glanced over at you with a huge smile on his face, nodding at her offer. You rolled your eyes, punching his arm playfully. Taking his hand you quickly dragged him up the stairs to your family's apartment, directly above the shop. As soon as you entered you were hit with the strong smell of food. "Hi Dad, I'm home. Jungkook's here too" you pointed toward your friend who you had literally dragged into the house. You all gathered around the small table that was covered in food. Kook didn’t even wait before he started stuffing his face. You laughed at him, you and your parents suddenly focused more on watching him eat than actually eating yourselves. 

After dinner, Jungkook left, satisfied with freeloading off your parents’ cooking. “Are you ready for tomorrow?” your mother asked as you were busy washing the dishes. All you could do was shrug earning a sigh “You don’t have to go. It’s not like we’re paying for it” she nudged your arm, half-joking. “I’m not going to throw away a scholarship to a school like Huimang just because I’m nervous,” You told her, just as you finished cleaning the dishes. “I’m going to sleep, Jin’s driving me to school tomorrow” You quickly excused yourself from the conversation, disappearing into your room. The more you thought about it the more nervous you were about Huimang. Especially after what Jin had told you. That night you went to sleep despite the anxiety.

The next morning wasn’t any better. The heavy, weight of nervousness hung over you as you got up. Your hand gently touched the fabric of your uniform, as if you were scared to ruin it. The sound of a message on your phone was the only thing that snapped you out of your trance. Jin’s name flashed across the screen and you sighed finally finding the energy to get dressed. As soon as you’d put on the uniform it felt foreign. Sighing once more you looked at yourself in the mirror, straightening out your clothes, despite it not being out of place. Your anxiety was already getting the best of you and you were starting to fidget to try to calm yourself. Jin’s name flashed across your phone screen with another message. Grabbing your bag you rushed down the stairs of your apartment, shyly and discreetly saying goodbye to your parents as you ducked out through the flower shop.

Jin was already waiting in his car outside. “Before you ask, yes I am positive I’m doing this. And No, I’m not going to let you talk me out of it” You said before he could even get a word out. He quickly closed his mouth and started driving without another word. Both of you sat in silence the entire drive there, which was unusual for either of you, as when you were together nothing could stop you from talking. But now it was nothing but a tense silence, thick enough to cut with a knife. Jin was obviously worried for you, you could feel his overprotectiveness radiating off of him. You, on the other hand, were extremely nervous, and your best friend could tell even before you got into his car. After what felt like an eternity you finally spoke up. “I already promised you I’ll be careful.” you reminded him. “I know” he sighed, “It’s not you that I’m worried about-” He started “It’s B4” you finished his sentence earning a small nod in response as he pulled up in front of Huimang.

Jin grabbed your arm before you could open the door and you looked at him “I’ll be ok Jinnie” you spoke softly, trying to reassure him and now, yourself. He gave you a look and you laughed shyly “You know I love you right? But sometimes you worry too much” you teased smiling at him, finally getting him to drop his worried expression, instead, a soft smile spread across his face. “I love you, too” he kissed your forehead and smiled wider at you, before finally letting you get out of the car. You watched him drive away before spinning around and taking in the school building in front of you. It suddenly felt like you were in another world, the fact that you were standing in front of Huimang Highschool, about to start your first day as a student was unbelievable. Letting out a nervous breath you walked up the stairs into the building. You felt extremely out of place as you wandered, somewhat aimlessly, through the corridor trying to find your locker. 

You ended up stumbling upon the school’s massive, and impressive library which was empty, other than the boy who sat at a table in the back corner, alone. His attention completely focused on the book in front of him, concentration spread across his features. You must’ve been staring for a bit too long cause his attention shifted from the book to you, looking up at you. You gasped quietly and quickly turned away as he looked at you. Literally running out to save yourself from embarrassment. 

After a few more minutes of wandering, you finally managed to find your locker. As you were putting your stuff away someone shouted from downstairs and everyone started running down the steps, some bumping you as they did. A crowd forming by the stairs and around the door. Curious and confused you leaned over the railing to see what was going on. Four boys were walking into the building, silence fell upon the building, the crowd parting in the middle for them to walk through. You didn't even need to look for very long to figure out who they were. It was B4 the very group Jin had warned you to be wary of. A quiet gasp echoed through the room when they all suddenly stopped walking. 

The one at the front, who you recognized from the article Kook showed you as Jung Hoseok, looked at one of the male students and everyone nearby backed away from him. The poor kid was literally shaking just from B4’s stares. Hoseok reached out for the bottle in the boy’s hand, which he quickly surrendered. He then began to slowly pour it over the boy’s head, you couldn’t help but feel shocked at what was unfolding in front of you. No one was trying to stop Hoseok and no one was trying to help the other boy. The sound of the empty bottle clattering onto the floor was almost deafening from the silence that had fallen upon the crowd again. Then just like that, the four boys walked away like it was nothing and the crowd quickly dispersed.

"Jin was right, they are insane," You said mostly to yourself. Someone clears their throat behind you making you turn around. The three girls were all looking at you with disgust "You're not talking about B4 are you?" the one at the centre scoffed "You shouldn't disrespect them like that" the other girls nodded at her statement. "Who are you supposed to be?" You shot back in the same mocking tone. The girl stepped closer to you and you were able to read the name on her ID. Cho Narae, the other two you still had to figure out. "You don't know us, but we know everything about you" Narae jabbed her finger at you "And if you keep talking about B4 like that, we'll make sure to make your life hell" she threatened, shoving your shoulder.

You didn't say anything as they walked away, only scoffing and crossing your arms at how obnoxious you found them. Clearly, they were just overzealous fangirls of the four boys, who seem to have the entire school wrapped around their fingers. It frustrated you, so much. That's how you ended up on the roof screaming your thoughts at the sky. "Damn it! Jin was right! I’ve barely been here for twenty minutes. Everyone sucks! Everyone at this school thinks they can do whatever they want." You slammed your hand against the concrete ledge. "You know, you really shouldn't be talking shit about other people" you searched for the source of the voice only to see the boy from the library, leaning against the wall reading the same book from earlier. He shut the book and pushed himself off the wall. Now that he was in front of you, without his glasses, you recognised him. "I- You're- It's-" you stumbled over your words and struggled to speak, cringing at yourself. Namjoon smiled slightly at how flustered you got before disappearing down the stairs. You sighed loudly before heading back inside.

You managed to survive the first half of your day. It went by without any other incident, other than Narae and her friends constantly watching you like a hawk. Lunch came around and you were lost once again. You were sitting alone at a table in the back of the cafeteria knowing no one wanted you at their table. "Is this seat taken?" A voice asked softly, pointing at the chair across from you. Surprised and unable to speak from the food in your mouth you nodded slowly. She smiled at you and happily sat down "I'm Ko Byeol" she introduced herself "I saw you wandering around this morning. And you didn't talk to anyone in class. I felt bad seeing you all by yourself" She explained still with a smile on her face.

You swallowed your food before smiling shyly at her with a nod "Thank you" you mumbled "I'm Hwang Y/N" you introduced yourself. Narae and her friends strutted by your table purposely trying to catch your attention. A sigh of annoyance followed as you watched them take a seat nearby, near enough for you to hear them talking. “Hey, ignore them” Byeol placed her hand on your arm, prying your attention away from the three girls. “The food here isn’t that good anyway, I know a better place. Come on” She didn’t give you a chance to argue before dragging you from your seat and out of the cafeteria. Before we could even get out of the cafeteria she ran into someone, spilling whatever they were holding all over their shirt “What the fuck!”. Byeol stepped backwards away from Hoseok. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. It was an accident.” she bowed. 

A crowd had now gathered nearby. They were all clearly ready to watch another person’s social standing get ripped to shreds. Hoseok stepped toward Byeol but you stepped in front of her. “She knows what you can do to her. She knows that it was her fault. She already apologised.” You defended “If apologies worked, why would we need the police?” Hoseok stepped toward you but you didn’t move. “I wish I could say it’s so that people like you could learn right from wrong. But clearly, you’re hopeless,” you replied without a second thought. A gasp echoed through the crowd at your lightning fast comeback. His expression didn’t change but you could tell he was fuming. “Who are you to talk to me like that?” he spat. You huffed “A nobody with nothing for you to destroy” you bumped his shoulder as you walked past him. You didn’t see it but Namjoon was watching you walk away, covering his mouth as he laughed quietly.

Byeol ran after you as you stormed out of the cafeteria. “Do you have any idea what you just did?” She practically screamed at you. “Yeah. I was standing up against an asshole with an over-inflated ego. Thanks for asking” You simply shrugged. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my fucking god.” She checked over her shoulder before dragging you into the bathroom. She quickly shut the door and locked it. “You’re shitting me right?” she literally grabbed you by your shoulders, shaking you. “They are going to destroy you!”. You rolled your eyes and pushed her off. “I’d love to see them try. I’m not afraid of a bunch of rich boys with nothing else to do with their lives”

Byeol didn’t try to stop you from leaving, she just stood there scared for you. You went outside to clear your head before your next class. It was only your first day and it was already a mess. You had to push through a bunch of people to reach your locker. It was hard to ignore the whispers as they all watched you. Thinking nothing of it you opened your locker, everyone gasping and whispering. The red card fell to the floor, landing at your feet. You simply shrugged it off and grabbed what you needed before slamming your locker shut. You kicked the card across the floor as you left. You could feel people staring at you as you walked the halls, pointing and talking in hushed whispers. Everyone would fall silent when you entered a classroom, all of them watching you intently.

When you reached your desk you noticed it was covered in snack wrappers and garbage. Rolling your eyes you simply dragged the garbage by your desk and cleaned it up, without making a fuss. The room was still silent, and everyone’s attention was still on you. You slowly sat down in your seat, instantly regretting as a cold sticky liquid started soaking through your skirt. There was barely any time for you to process that as something was poured over your head. “We told you not to mess with B4. This is what you get” Narae and her two minions surrounded your desk, dropping a now empty can of soda into your lap. Everyone burst out laughing as you quickly stood up. You ran out of the classroom running into the nearest bathroom. You could feel tears in your eyes, but it wasn’t because you were upset or sad, you were pissed. Jin was right and you were dumb for not listening to him. Who knew your first day of school could go this wrong? 

The sound of the faucet as you attempted to wipe the stickiness off your skin drowned out the sound of other people entering the bathroom. Sighing in defeat you gave up staring at yourself in the mirror. Only then did you realise you weren’t alone anymore. “You’re not allowed to be in here,” You said while looking at the two boys through the mirror. “The rules don’t matter when you got the red card” one of them mocked, tilting his head at you.

Taglist: @naipi-world​ @taezeus​ @jayhoee​ @fruityloopsxoxo3​ @illuminss​ @mygukandonly​

[itsclydebitches]

Three different topics

Hi! Sorry to bother you again. Jist wanted to know your opinion on 3 RWBY topics that have been swimming in my brain.

Ironwood was fine with it

I find it hilariously sad (maybe even ironic?) that the RWBY writers tried so hard to frame Ruby&Co as completely in the right for not saying anything to him because ‘who knows how Ironwood would react?!’ But in the end, they’re still wrong. He reacted just fine. Better than, even. No yelling, berating, or mental breakdowns in sight. So they proved themselves wrong. While trying to prove themselves right. I’m torn between laughing until I can’t breathe or screaming until I can’t breathe. 

Whitley 

With the way the writing is going, I’m kinda worried that they’ll end up playing the 'Whitley is like his father’ thing seriously. Because if they don’t, then Weiss would have been wrong about him. And in this pro-protagonist dystopia that they’ve created, that’s not allowed to happen. But in order to make Weiss the righteous one, they’ll have to demonize Whitley to prove that Weiss was correct about him. And I’m incredibly uncomfortable with the notion that they might just end up doing that. Because while they haven’t been so far, I don’t trust them to stick to their story the way it’s been written. They haven’t stuck with anything else after all. (Except hating Ozpin. Seriously, did the voice actor or the character do something to them? At this point I’m wondering 'did Ozpin run over your puppy? Steal your significant other? Call your mother fat?’ This level of hatred seems a bit obsessive..)

The Grimm and Salem

I don’t know if both the writers and the characters have forgotten, but… do they understand that the Grimm still exist separate to Salem? Like, she can control them, sure. But she didn’t bring them into existence. She dived into a Grimm pool that already existed and gained her abilities. Do they realize that the way the story is setup even if the main characters defeat Salem, the Grimm don’t just cease to exist? One of the biggest 'Ozpin is evil!’ arguments that I’ve heard is that he was sending people to die by going up against Salem, but he was sending them to fight Grimm. The things that she did not create. The things that will still be roaming around attacking people with or without her. I don’t know if that was intentional? (I doubt it.) But this is a major problem with the narrative. 'Ozpin was sending people to die!’ Yeah. Against the Grimm. The things that you already signed up to fight and potentially die to. As far as I can tell the only ones who were actually supposed to be doing anything involving Salem were Qrow and Raven. And they were just supposed to be surveillance. 'We just have to take down Salem!’ But there will still be Grimm. The terrible nightmare creatures that like to tear people apart. Remember them? 'Just collect the relics! That’ll solve the Grimm problem!’ And then you’ll have to deal with uniting people. Everyone. Like Jacques Schnee. Unless you plan to kill everyone that presents a problem to you. It just feels like the show is focusing way too heavily on the 'Salem’ part of the story, when the other two problems are just as bad, if not worse. Salem at the end is one person (simplified down). The Grimm are much bigger in numbers, can show up anywhere, and don’t go down by taking out one. Uniting humanity is another problem because there’s always going to be someone who thinks of themselves as 'better.’ But, you know, Salem. Sure.

************

RWBY topics, hell yeah! Putting the rest below a readmore to save dash space. 

1. Oh my god don’t get me started on that. The real kicker is that I agree with them. In that I agree that EVERYONE should be very careful about who they reveal this information to. I’ve never once thought that Ruby and company were in the wrong for being cautious, only in their and the writing’s insistence that only they can be cautious whereas Ozpin and Ironwood are horrible, flawed people for doing the exact same thing. Regardless of that though, the group was indeed proven wrong this last episode whereas Ozpin was proven RIGHT:

Ozpin: I don’t want to tell you this because I’m afraid that you will betray me and lose hope in our mission

Group: [Proceeds to betray him by stealing the relic, stealing Jinn’s name, ripping his whole past from him, denying him any sympathy or support, physically assaulting him, driving him off, losing hope for a stretch, and continually painting him as a convenient scapegoat to all their problems]

Ozpin: [Hanging out in Oscar’s head] Oh wow look at that, I was totally justified in being cautious with them. They handled that horribly.

vs. 

Group: We’re going to do to Ironwood precisely what Ozpin did to us---only with more stakes attached---because who KNOWS how Ironwood might react. If we went on drinking binges and attacked a kid over this, imagine what a man with real power would do

Ironwood: [A level-headed adult who, unlike the group, has actually proven his trustworthiness in the past, who is not inclined to blame others for bad situations or physically attack them] Wow this is horrifying. Astoundingly though I’m not going to punch you over it. However, I am going to jump straight to blaming Ozpin and absolving you because heaven forbid anyone acknowledge the hypocrisy around here 

tl:dr yeah I’m still salty 

2. Oh man I hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility... but yeah. It’s far from impossible based on a) how we’ve seen RWBY treat male abuse victims in the past (not well) and b) RWBY’s endless ability to straight up ignore things they’ve established. Meaning, we saw in The Lost Fable a huge amount of sympathy for Ozpin which was then completely erased to make him the thematic antagonist. In the same way, we may have seen Weiss coming to that realization that Whitley needs her help... but in RWBY’s writing that means absolutely nothing. We can’t bank on them following up on that because they haven’t bothered to follow up on so much else. We may very well get an evil!Whitley arc and a heroic!Weiss arc to contrast him, leaving the viewer wondering, “What happened to that epiphany you had with your mother about how Whitley has little to no chance of change unless he receive support from someone other than his father?” and the answer will be, “Wait, you thought RWBY was consistent?” 

3. Perfect example of this: literally everything you’ve laid out in regards to the grimm. That has frustrated me for volumes now, ever since the group (and the fandom) started painting Ozpin and his connection to Salem as the sole reason for why things are bad in the world. As if there isn’t, as you say, literal monsters running around devouring people entirely disconnected from her and her spat with the gods. The group willingly signed up to risk their lives to fight grimm. They knew they were fighting an immortal enemy in the form of the grimm. They know they’ve done important work by protecting people from grimm. They know the grimm will still be there even if the Salem threat is taken care of... but no one ever acknowledges this. The writing has forgotten its primary antagonist. Is Salem a super big danger that they need to take care of as soon as possible? Absolutely, but getting rid of her doesn’t solve every problem like the group seems to think it will and it certainly can’t act as a convenient excuse now that things have gotten harder. “You had us risking our lives to kill an immortal woman!” This is what I mean when I say that RWBY’s writing and much of RWBY’s fandom literally just makes stuff up. That is not what happened. Everyone go back and watch Ruby begging Ozpin to let her into Beacon because she, of her own agency and free will, wants to fight the very real monsters that are threatening her world. Salem only makes that problem worse. 

[john-lennon-unofficial]

Mike Nesmith really just stopped using his accent when he sang with Micky huh?

[abbyfreemansmind]

Let’s talk about Hazbin Hotel

So, I finally sat down and watched Hazbin Hotel. I’d heard so much about it and felt the need to launch myself headfirst into having my own opinions about it instead of just listening to other people talking about it. This is gonna be a long post, so I’m gonna put it behind a neat little read more. Please note that this is coming from someone who genuinely enjoys adult humour and edgy humour and themes. I’ve got no problem with something that’s all swearing and raunchy jokes. It just needs to be done right.

Point 1 - The Plot The plot is describes as the Princess of Hell trying to open a new hotel to rehabilitate sinners so they don’t get exterminated during the yearly heavenly extermination to deal with Hell’s overpopulation problems. This plot is quickly undone through a few things that anyone can notice during the first viewing. 1 - Overpopulation? WHAT population? The scenery is most often noticeably devoid of any signs of life, outside of when background characters are called for. The scene where Charlie’s doing her news presentation is the most notable example of background characters. After this scene, we see almost nobody outside of the main cast and those weird little egg things. There are a few throwaway demons but outside of that, the streets are devoid of people. There aren’t even the corpses we had just seen during that opening scene. 2 - Charlie may as well be a total nobody what with all the power being the Princess of Hell holds. Just look at how the other characters treat her. You’d think the Princess of Hell would have some kind of benefit that would sway people towards agreeing with this whole idea. Instead, she gets mocked by just about everyone for reasons I can only guess involve winning her sympathy points from the audience. 3 - At no point does she give any proof that redemption would work. She basically says, “Hey guys! I hate seeing you all die, so I have this idea that has no backing evidence, that may or may not work, to try and get you guys into Heaven! Let me sing a song about it where I insult you all!”

Point 2 - Presentation I applaud the animators. Must’ve been hard, especially for Charlie’s overly fast song that really didn’t need to be nightcored, or literally any time Angel Dust was on-screen. Frame by frame. No rigs. All those stripes. All those colours that blend if you stare at them too hard or squint even slightly while watching. All that unnecessarily constant movement. It’s no wonder the thing took four bloody years to animate. Outside of animation, there are too many unneeded details and not enough needed details. Seriously. 1 - The turf war. We didn’t need this. We didn’t need this at all. If you take out the entire opening to it and the entire actual fight scene here, the episode still flows smoothly and we get the same amount of information and worldbuilding. In a pilot/first episode, you should only give the audience necessary details. Leave them wanting more, yes, but make sure they actually know what they’re getting into from the first episode. Make every scene count. Make it mean something. Don’t just shove every detail you can think of together and call it a day, especially if you don’t actually give the audience much information from it. 2 - Why is Hell overpopulated? Why isn’t Heaven? Why can angels go from Heaven to Hell, but demons can’t go from Hell to Heaven? Why does nobody care about being redeemed if Hell is so overpopulated that Angels annually come down and kill people because of it? Why does everyone treat the Princess of Hell like she’s worthless? Why doesn’t Angel Dust know about Alastor if they got into hell within 10 years of each other? Where is this supposed overpopulation problem? Would redemption even work in the first place? Why should I care about most of these characters (who are mostly complete jerks with no redeeming qualities other than “PROTAGONIST”, especially when two of the fan favourites repeatedly sexually assault other characters and, in one case, is both sexist and racist at one point)? Why are there turf wars? I should not be having to ask these questions. Don’t hold the audience’s hand, but don’t leave every single question you present in the show unanswered. Some of the questions presented make absolute sense to leave unanswered. Why does Alastor want to help with the hotel? Why are characters like Vaggie and Niffty, who do nothing all that bad, in Hell? These are questions that make total sense to leave unanswered for now. 3 - What crime is too terrible to be redeemed for? Charlie seems to think that literally everyone can be redeemed. That means murderers, rapists, abusers, tormentors... Certainly her song holds some kind of key to figuring it out! “Inside of every creepy hatchet-wielding maniac” Hmm... Okay... “All of you cretins, sluts and losers, sexual deviants and boozers” Uh... “So, all your cartoon porn addictions, vegan rants, psychic predictions Ancient Roman crucifixions end right here All you monsters, thieves and crazies, cannibals and crying babies" Oh... Also, did she imply that mental illness, alcoholism, drug dependency, plant-based diets/lifestyles, rabies and enjoyment of sex were sins in that song?

Point 3 - Edgy for the sake of edgy Hazbin Hotel tries to be an adult cartoon, but comes off as something a mentally disturbed teenager wrote during their emo/scene phase. 1 - The swearing and sex jokes. Oh boy. I’ve worked with children under the age of 15 who swear and crack sex jokes better than the adults in this show. The swearing and sex jokes are the only reasons this show couldn’t be aired as a Cartoon Network show aimed at edgy teenagers. It’s so poorly done that it in and of itself takes away from the quality of the show itself. Also, we have a character who’s name is an actual sex joke itself. Vaggie, full name Vagatha - a lesbian sex worker, of course. Fun fact for those who don’t know, but all of her previous character drafts had her name as some form of joke on the word vagina. This isn’t an accident, this is blatant and intentional. Also, here’s a pro tip for you! You can make an adult-oriented show without having swearing, slurs and sex jokes taking up a solid third or more of your script. 2 - The... “Representation”. Yes, Hazbin Hotel has LGBT+ characters! Yes, it has biracial and Latina characters! Charlie is bi, Vaggie is a Latina lesbian, Angel Dust is a gay man, Alastor is ace and biracial, Husk is pan, Niffty is Japanese (YIKES). Except none of it actually matters. No, really. Vivziepop was all like, “btw you can ship w/e, idc! also, i rlly like the fanon version of human alastor (who is whiter than marshmallow fluff even though he’s supposed to be half black)! :)” and threw all that out the window because... Who knows at this point. Now, if you look at the connected series, Helluva Boss, you get Moxie and Millie - an extremely obvious and loving couple. In Hazbin Hotel, you get Charlie and Vaggie who you probably couldn’t tell were a couple without somebody telling you that in the first place, what with all the loveydovey-ness going on with them. In fact, the biggest hint we even get is literally one line. “Life ain’t a musical, hun.” But then again, I’d be more apt to believe Charlie and Vaggie are friends, or Vaggie is pining after Charlie. Also, Charlie is a really bad girlfriend! She lets Vaggie get abused by practically the entire cast without so much as a single word in her defense and ignores everything Vaggie says. It came as no surprise when I remembered hearing about how the only reason these two are a couple is because one of the people on the team thought they were during storyboarding and Vivziepop just went with it. Also, fun fact, Vaggie fits both the angry lesbian and fiery Latina stereotypes. Charlie fits the stereotype for the bisexual cheater, what with how she seems to actually like Alastor more than her own bloody girlfriend. Alastor is canonically ace because he’s too full of himself to be with anyone else. Speaking as somebody who’s ace... WHAT?! As much as I don’t like Charlastor, it’s partially more popular than Chaggie because Vivziepop actually made them act like a couple for an entire musical number. Also, he’s annoying. He not only kept telling Vaggie to smile (heck you dude), he also smacked her butt, which is a form of sexual assault, people. This was all played for laughs, along with Vaggie’s (actually very reasonable) anger. Niffty is Japanese. A yellow-skinned demon who’s boy crazy and obsessed with cleaning... Big yikes. Finally, Angel Dust. The kinky gay man porn star/drag queen/drug addict/prostitute who verbally sexually assaulted two guys. Where do I begin. When it came to this guy, Vivziepop must’ve been like, “Imma throw every stereotype for gay men on this guy and call it a character!” If you look a Helluva Boss again, you get Stolas, who verbally sexually assaults Blitzo over the phone and also cheated on his wife with him in the first place, so this isn’t a one-off. Also, he was originally AFAB, so that whole line about “Why are you all women?” is more than a little heinous and in extremely poor taste.

In conclusion, this show is terrible. Everything about it. It needs some serious reworking, because as it stands, it’s really truly not that great of a creation.

tl;dr: Needs a lot of work and “ThEy’Re In HeLl!!1!!one!!!eleven!!!11″ isn’t even remotely an excuse for the genuine problems in it. Remember, at least one actual human being on Earth, not in Hell, wrote this garbage fire. Also, the animators deserve a higher wage than whatever they’re getting to deal with these designs. I shudder just thinking about animating them, with or without a rig.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Top 20 BEST Animated Series of the 2010s-7th Place

>Insert long exaggerated sigh here<

It’s here that I really, really, REALLY hope nobody that I know personally is reading these.

(Also, sorry that this was a day late)

#7-My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010-2019)

The Plot: In the land of Equestria, a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle moves to a happy little town called Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship. There, she meets her best friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Together they’ll do what most friends do. Which is to sing songs, defeat creatures who seek to destroy everything, and learn that friendship truly is magic.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Hell, I knew what you were thinking before I even explained the plot: “Isn’t this just a show for little girls that twenty-year-old losers fell in love with? How is this in the top 10?!” Now I’ll be the first to admit, there was a time when I didn’t get it either. When I heard that a fanbase grew around a My Little Pony reboot, I thought people were losing their minds. But, on one fateful day in 2014, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to watch ONE episode that seemed interesting to me. Unfortunately, it was the first episode in season two, and I had no idea what was going on within the first few minutes. So then I decided to watch the entirety of season one and then ONLY watch that episode in season two. And the episode after that because apparently, it was a two-parter. And then I watched the next episode after THAT because it also seemed interesting to me, plus the episode after that, for no reason other than I just wanted to. And then I watched all the rest of the series until the season four finale. And the two spin-off movies called Equestria Girls and Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. Soon, I found myself reading fan-fiction, writing fan-fiction, looking at fanart, and even reading these spin-off comics that aren’t even canon, but I just couldn’t leave this magical world because it TOOK ALMOST A WHOLE YEAR FOR THE FIFTH SEASON TO PREMIER! ALL BECAUSE I JUST WANTED TO WATCH AN EPISODE WHERE A CHAOS CREATURE MENTALLY BROKE OUR MANE CHARACTERS! AND YES! I DID WRITE MANE INSTEAD OF MAIN BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THIS SHOW DOES TO YOU! IT MAKES YOU SO ACCUSTOMED TO THE WRITING AND LINGO, THAT’S WITHIN BOTH THE SHOW AND IT’S INSANE FANDOM, THAT YOU’LL END UP CATCHING YOURSELF FROM SAYING MANEHATTAN INSTEAD OF MANHATTAN!

>SCREAMS WITH INSANITY<

…

So as you can tell, this show is surprisingly good once you get infested.

The biggest hook it has is the animation. While it doesn’t beat The Amazing World of Gumball’s quality, it is pretty impressive when considering that it’s all done in flash animation. Most flash animated cartoons tend to look cheap and slow, and Friendship is Magic is thankfully one of the rare exceptions. The movements are insanely smooth, and the facial expressions are pretty comical to look at. Even in the background of scenes, viewers will notice a lot of little jokes the animators put in. Seriously, the biggest reason why I kept watching the series for so long was that it was nice to look at (which is the case for most people, from what I’ve heard). And the best part? The animation somehow gets better with each passing season. And only 0.1% of the time does it show it’s cheapness, which isn’t that big of a deal considering there are two hundred and thirty-two episodes with a twenty-two-minute runtime. That’s nearly five thousand, one hundred, and four hours of animation that’s good for 99.9% of the time. While you could argue that it’s not the best, it is still pretty good animation quality.

Another thing that drew me in was the comedy. Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean Friendship is Magic is the funniest show on the list (that also goes to Gumball). Humor is subjective, and just because I found myself laughing with this series, that doesn’t mean everyone will be on the same page. That being said, I was surprised by the fact that I found the show funny in the first place. It’s hard to pinpoint what type of humor the show relies on (for me, at least). For some cases, Friendship is Magic has dialogue-based jokes that use smart or random lines to get a laugh out of audiences. Other times it's visual humor that requires slapstick or comical facial expressions that will make people laugh. But while its comedy falls between two different spectrums, that doesn’t change the fact that I find myself losing it every once in a while. Even during some of the worst episodes of Friendship is Magic, there’s at least one line or gag that got me to chuckle at least once.

However, both the animation and the comedy cannot top the main selling point of this series: The characters. Friendship is Magic might just have one of the biggest cast of characters out of any show on this list. Most of them manage to be funny, relatable, and are downright likable to watch. What’s even more astonishing is how well this show handles character growth. To be fair, there can be certain characters whose development is slow, but for the most part, everybody grows significantly with each new lesson they’ve learned. There are even moments when the characters say something along the lines of “I’m no longer that pony I used to be anymore because I finally learned how to change.” However, this doesn’t mean that every pony in the show is worth the time. There are a few unlikeable characters, but they’re either meant to be unlikable, forgotten after an episode’s end, or are redeemed after a triumphant return.

This is good because it’s the characters that make the stories in the show work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is split into two different storytelling genres: Slice of life comedy and adventure fantasy. And unlike Steven Universe, it’s Friendship is Magic that mixes both these genres together perfectly. I’m not joking when I say that an episode where Twilight rekindles an old friendship can be just as intriguing as an episode where Twilight fights this soul-sucking centaur made to look like the devil. Hell, some fans even argue that the slice of life episodes are even better than the adventurous episodes. Because while the adventure episodes are cool and action-packed, it’s the slice of life episodes where the characters are allowed to grow the most and are actually given time to be themselves. As for the grand adventures, while their fun to see, the cast is forced to stick to their central personality traits to move the plot forward.

Unfortunately, as fun as this show can be, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it. Not because there are elements that I think are bad, but because there are elements that might turn people away from watching. And the most significant repulse this show has is also the most important hook.

Yes, the characters in this show are great, but there’s also a lot of them. Some might even say too many. By season nine alone, there are a total of twenty-seven different characters that have the possibility of taking/sharing the spotlight in an episode. And that’s not even counting important figures, recurring antagonists, supporting characters, and even recognizable background ponies (yes, that’s a thing). Because if you want to add those to the mix, you’ve got yourself a total of one hundred and twenty-seven characters (give or take). That is one hundred and twenty-seven different names, faces, and personalities to try to keep track of. Luckily the personalities are easy enough to remember, and it’s mostly the most (in)famous figures that make a return. Even for some of the obscure characters, the show is kind enough to give a brief recap so the audience can get caught up. However, this is reasonably a lot to take in for a casual viewer. Case in point, in season eight, the show decided to add six new characters to the main cast, and it only took me a season and a half to learn their names correctly. It’s even worse since these “new” characters can sometimes feel like carbon copies of the Mane Six (Yes, that’s how the main six characters in the show are referred to as. Deal with it).

And the excessive amount of unnecessary characters are just one issue to deal with. The lessons that the show teaches are another. Before I say anything, I want to clarify that this show has fantastic lessons it teaches kids. In fact, there are even great lessons that are perfect for adults and only adults (know your audience, I guess). However, here’s the thing about morals: Not everyone will share the same view on what’s good and bad to teach children. Every person on this planet has their own life experiences, and with those experiences come different ideas of how the world works. One person can believe that a lesson is good, where others view it as awful and potentially dangerous. Things get especially bad when specific morals are misinterpreted or taken too literally. The best example is the episode “Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep.” I believe that there are two possible lessons within the episode. One is that to truly be forgiven, a person must seek forgiveness from themselves and others. The other conceivable moral is that the cure for self-destruction is to get over it and move on without any professional help whatsoever. Now, take a wild guess on which lesson gets talked about more. And in all honesty, I blame poor/rushed writing that causes specific morals to be muddled, as well as a person’s own life experience in whether or not you find an episode’s lesson to be intriguing or insulting.

Another thing that depends on one’s own personality is (kinda spoilers ahead) how this show handles reformations. I may have commented on how Steven Universe uses redemption poorly, but it’s even worse in Friendship is Magic. This show seems to have the idea that the transition from bad to good is as simple as flipping a light switch. Now, on the one hand, this is not something I should be mad about. The show’s title is Friendship is Magic. So, of course, the series would push that making friends will lead to peace and prosperity. Where making enemies will lead to war and violence. The problem is that from a storytelling standpoint, it isn’t that entertaining. Or, at the very least, not as much as it should be. The art of a good reformation is taking the time for the transition to be believable. Characters suddenly deciding to become good seemingly out of nowhere will do nothing but have audiences rip their hair out of frustration. It doesn’t help that most of the villain’s reasoning and backstories are pretty pathetic when they actually should be sympathetic. However, while the reformation itself can be frustrating, I personally think some characters are made more intriguing post redemption. Don’t get me wrong, these villains were great as they were, being the perfect mix of both funny and terrifying. But when the show actually allows characters to grow and deserve the hand-er-hoof of friendship, they begin to have more fascinating personalities to dissect. Now, not everyone is going to feel this way. And if you genuinely believe these villains were better as villains, I can absolutely see why. But for me, I’ve come to enjoy how far these ex-cons have come from their more evil days. 

But none of this compares to the final controversial element that this show has to offer, where there is a fifty/fifty chance that you’re either going to love it or hate it. I, of course, am talking about...the songs. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has four different types of songs. Depending on the episode, these musical numbers have many purposes. They can move the story forward, only work within the episode’s context, try to one-up Disney, and reveal everything you need to know about a character. Now here’s the thing about the music: I don’t hate it. I’ll admit that the lyrics are pretty lackluster most of the time, but at least most of them sound pleasing to my ears. But I have heard how some people seem to hate these little numbers, and I’m willing to put money on that fans even skip them. Everybody has their own tastes in music, and there’s nothing I can do to convince them otherwise. Only respect their opinions and hope they do the same to mine.

In the end, your enjoyment of this series, once again, depends on who you are. Some of you might think this is a dumb kid's show that should only be viewed by children. Some of you will understand that this show has great characters, comedy, and animation, but you just don’t think it’s for you. And some of you might be like me. A person overwhelmed with curiosity over the weirdest phenomenon in the last eleven years and ended up being pleasantly surprised with how magical the show turned out to be.

(And just a heads up, you don’t have to watch the Equestria Girls spin off series or movies in order to enjoy Friendship is Magic. EG isn’t technically canon, and the only noteworthy thing that makes it worthwhile is Sunset Shimmer. And while I personally don’t hate it, I completely understand how others will. But you do need to see My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), though. It surprisingly plays a big part in season 8 and beyond.)

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X20

I liked this episode for the most part, but I did not like the ending. It made no sense to me as pretty much everything to do with DeLuca and the hot mess that is his character does. It was heartbreaking watching Richard be sick and get worse as the episode went on. My heart broke for Meredith and Maggie. Also where the hell was Hayes this episode? He was at the Conference last week and he helped Maggie get Richard off the stage. At the beginning of the episode we see Maggie and Richard heading back on a private plane, but don’t see Teddy or Cormac anywhere. What did they have them fly commercial?

But then Teddy shows up back at the hospital going about her business so obviously they all made it back okay. Where the heck was he? He saw Richard’s presentation and he’s a close personal friend of Meredith’s so obviously he’d want to help figure out what’s wrong with Richard. He’s the head of Pediatric Surgery for crying out loud and he’s lived in three countries. Wouldn't they want his expertise? He should have been in that War Room!

Also I hate the fact that where Hayes was wasn’t addressed. I know that he’s currently billed as a recurring guest start so I get why he can’t be in every episode, but his absence from this one made no sense. Especially because there have been times when they’ve had him in an episode, but he played a small role. Like in the episode “Give a Little Bit” where Meredith headed up a pro bono surgery day. Hayes was there, but he wasn’t super prominent.

So they’re clearly okay with doing that which makes his absence from this episode all the more baffling. I’m also just genuinely confused as to how that works because I get that there are different rules as to how many episodes an actor is in based on how they are billed I get that. But they brought Teddy back as a reoccurring character and then upped her to a main character again. But following that she’s only been in ¾ of the episodes each season. I looked at the episode count and DeLuca’s been in more episodes in the last two seasons than Teddy has.

That makes no sense. Teddy’s character pre-dates DeLuca’s existence as a character by several years. And he’s not a good character! He’s not nice, he’s not interesting, he’s not a good doctor, or a brilliant surgeon. I get that they like the actor, but what the hell? It also makes me sad that there were likely more episodes planned that had Hayes (and Teddy) in them, but we won’t get to see them this season because it was cut short and instead are forced to endure DeLuca prancing around our screens being an idiot.

I don't see why they seem to like him so much. His character is awful and that’s their own fault. They made him this complete asshole and they keep giving him all this screen time when the majority of fans just don’t care and it takes away from other characters that we actually care about that we could be seeing. Also it’s their own fault. They made him into an asshole. He didn’t have to be. They could have made DeLuca a likeable character that we actually cared about, but they chose not to which makes their choice to give more screen time extra baffling.

Also I hated that they didn’t explain where he was at all. It would have taken one line to explain that. They could have said he decided to stay an extra couple of days in LA so that his boys could spend more time with their Aunt or said he was treating a critical patient and that’s why he was unavailable. But they didn’t address it all! Or if they did it was so quick that I missed it.

I also felt like there was a great set up in this episode for Hayes in that it would have been great to see him supporting Meredith as a friend and confidant as well as supporting the other doctors as he has good working relationships with most of them and can obviously tell that Richard means a great deal to all of them. He should have been there dammnit! He should have been in that War Room. It would have been great to see him bring Meredith a coffee or a tea as he’s done in the past. I would have loved to have seen her confide in him and talk about how she was feeling.

Instead, we had to put up with DeLuca and more of his nonsense. After being suspended and riding off into the abyss on his motorcycle he’s back for some reason. He somehow got past security and into Richard’s hospital room after kidnapping a patient and having to be surrounded and then escorted out. Security is sleeping on the job in this place I tell you. Bailey finds him talking to Richard about squirrels at the park. Literally. Effing squirrels. What the actual heck? I don’t understand why Bailey didn’t call for an immediate psych consult.

DeLuca is clearly still unwell and he needs treatment not the brush off. WTF? He tells her he heard the news about what had happened to Richard and came to visit. Bailey is not happy. He’s violating the terms of his suspension by being there. Can they just fire him already? They definitely have the grounds to do it at this point. He tells Bailey that him and Richard hang out socially and he’s there visiting a friend. Seriously? Since when? The last time they hung out socially was before Richard knew he was dating Maggie. That was ages ago. They’re not friends. They don’t hang out. He’s just inserting himself into a situation because he can.

Bailey tells him to get the hell out and sends him away which should have been the end of it. As the episode ends we see Meredith enter the research library. In her voice over she talks about how there are moments she wishes she could relive and ones that she wishes she could forget or do differently and that no matter what she does they keep coming back to haunt her. I expected her to sit down on the floor and start reading like she did with Cristina in the pilot when they were trying to help Derek treat Katie Bryce. It would have been a great callback and an amazing parallel.

Instead we get more of DeLuca and his nonsense. Meredith enters the library and sits down at one of the tables. The camera pans over and we see DeLuca sitting there with a pile of books. Seriously how did he get in there? They’ve established that the library has a special code lock that only certain people have access to and DeLuca’s been suspended and was personally kicked out by the Chief of Surgery for violating the terms of his suspension. Security should have escorted him off the premises. How in the heck did he get into the library?

Meredith is there to work and try to figure out what’s wrong with Richard. She surmises correctly that DeLuca is also trying to figure it out. She asks him what he’s got so far and in response DeLuca mocks the fact that he’s mentally ill and is refusing to admit it or seek treatment. What the hell? Mental Illness is no laughing matter and I just don’t understand where they are going with this storyline. Are they trying to make Meredith and DeLuca friends now? They still have nothing in common and he still hasn't picked a specialty! Pick a lane!

Meredith and DeLuca broke up over his own insecurities. Meredith was annoyed and then she moved on and then instead of apologizing DeLuca kept trying to gaslight her and say he didn’t actually break up with her. She slept with him once and they briefly got back together, but then he started spiralling out of control and she tried to get him some help. In response DeLuca became violent and aggressive and broke up with her multiple times over the next several episodes and made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her.

Then he drove off into the abyss and Meredith clearly wasn’t that concerned about it. Now he’s back, clearly still unwell, and is making fun of the fact that he’s unwell. What the heck? They keep switching what they are doing with him and I just don’t get it. Having Meredith and him break up and go their separate ways amicably? Fine. Having them have this explosive blow up and she moves on? Also fine. Having him get sick and got out in this blaze of glory? Sure. Having Meredith and DeLuca become friends, end on good terms, and have her move on with Hayes? Fine. But pick one!

They keep flip flopping around like a fish out of water and I don’t get it. Which is one of the reasons I don’t like his character because he’s all over the map. He’s super inconsistent all the time. What DeLuca needs at this point is rest and treatment, but he’s clearly refused to do both those things and Meredith  can’t force him so she might as well use what he’s got. I wish Meredith had actually said that instead of just implying it through her words and actions.

It also bothers me that they inserted DeLuca into an episode about Richard being sick. This is a storyline about the characters we know and love rallying around one of their own to help him get better. How dare they insert DeLuca into this when he has no place being there. Him and Meredith are not together and he has no friends and his only close relationship is with his sister. I just don’t get what they are going for here. Him and Meredith are clearly not getting back together.

He’s mentally unstable and violent which means he can’t be alone or anywhere near her kids or her pregnant sister. I honestly don't understand how Meredith was comfortable being alone in the library with him late at night after he punch a wall in frustration and Hayes had to step in to help her. He also isn’t at all concerned about how Richard’s illness is affecting Meredith, Maggie, or Amelia. He heard the news and decided to sneak back into the hospital to try and diagnose him and save the day. He didn’t call or text his ex-girlfriends or his former mentor to see how they were doing at all. Meredith just happened to stumble upon him hiding out in the library.

On top of that there’s no way Meredith and DeLuca can be together long term because he doesn’t want to be a part of her family. He was only ever interested in her. And that’s not my opinion that’s what DeLuca actually said. When Jackson tried to help him out with Zola he straight up told him he doesn’t want to be anyone’s Dad. Meredith has three kids. He has made absolutely no effort with her friends or family who lets not forget openly hate him and he’s fine with that. None of their scenes have been romantic in any way since their hookup. They’ve all been instances of Meredith expressing concern and trying to help DeLuca or them working together on a case.

Last week’s episode was fantastic and I gotta admit this one had me right up until the end. There was such a great set up and I really thought that in the following episodes we were going to see Meredith and Hayes interact more and see them move forward romantically. Instead he was conspicuously absent and we had to put up with this nonsense. That’s the other thing that frustrates me. Prior to this there was a good set up for Hayes to ask Meredith out and for them to start dating. Now there isn’t.

Richard is sick and Hayes knows that which makes it a weird time for him to ask Meredith out. They also didn’t explain where the heck he was this episode and why he was missing from all the action which puts that in a weird place. On the other hand, Meredith could use some joy in her life and I’d love to see their relationship move forward after so much build up. I’m worried that there was more planned on this front and we won’t get to see it until later because of the shutdown.

I felt so bad for Meredith when she kept insisting that it wasn’t Alzheimer’s because she knows the disease so well because she had a front row seat to it with Ellis when it was obvious that it was clearly one of the possibilities. The scene where Meredith finds Richard in the OR and is forced to confront that it is a possibility and had to talk him down from hurting himself was gut wrenching. At first I panicked because I thought he was actually operating on someone and then I was horrified when they showed that he was actually hallucinating and trying to operate on himself.

When he didn’t recognize Meredith and called her Ellis my heart broke for both of them. It also reminded me of the scene years ago when Adele got sick and came to the hospital to see Richard and thought Meredith was Ellis and kept telling her to let him go. And if that’s what Richard’s seeing that also creates problems for Meredith trying to help him or be around him because he and Ellis were having an affair and if he thinks Meredith is Ellis she can’t be around him when he’s in that state of mind.

I hope they can figure out what’s wrong with him and find a way to fix him or improve his quality of life in some way. I hope he doesn’t go out like this. He’s a great character whose come a long way and has worked really hard to get there. Also Meredith cannot lose anyone else she really can’t. I thought it was a bit odd the way they did the scenes with Richard and Maggie and talking about her as his daughter. They are family, but she didn’t grow up with him around and Richard didn’t even know that Maggie existed until a few years ago.

They’re close, but Meredith and Richard are closer. She’s known him the longest. He’s been like a father to her since she was three. He got fired standing by her and lost his marriage over that. They have an incredible bond and I felt like they should have emphasized that more. I thought the storyline with Tom and his ex-wife and her sick child was interesting but also kind of frustrating. Greg Germann did an amazing job portraying Tom in this episode. He captured the feelings that were going through Tom’s mind perfectly.

As soon as Amelia’s started experiencing pain early on in the episode I knew they were going to come back to that, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t give birth just yet because that deserves it’s own episode. Amelia and Link were super cute this episode! They’re going to be great parents! I loved Link’s comment that his life as he knew it is going to be over soon and Jo’s comment that he had a good run. Link going “Yeah I did,” with that smirk! He had a good run and now it’s time for a new adventure! Jo and Levi were hilarious and adorable this episode. I’m glad to see that Jo is getting her groove back and not letting what happened with Alex hold her back.

I’m glad that Tom and Amelia were able to help Guthrie. He seemed like a great kid and I’m glad he’s going to get better. Real talk though his ex-wife Dana is a horrible person for bringing him to Grey Sloan and just springing him on Tom like that when he looks so much like their dead son David. What the heck? Also did anyone else notice how old Dana and her second husband looked? They looked ancient compared to Koracick which means either Tom is a lot older than we thought and has just aged really well or Tom is a lot younger than Dana and her second husband. Also did anyone else find it strange that her second husband didn’t really seem to know who Tom was or the history there? 

He spoke to him like a stranger. That’s definitely not the man Dana left Tom for after David died which implies that her previous relationship ended and then she remarried to someone else. Teddy pissed me off so much in this episode! When we were watching the episode I ran out of words to describe my feelings so I spent a good part of the episode flopping my hands in front of me like a discontented seabird in an effort to describe my reaction to my best friend who was watching with. She said it was hilarious. I’m sorry you all missed it.

God this woman. I’m not even that invested in Teddy as a character. I like her and I think she’s interesting to watch, but I’m not a hard core fun. But I could not with her this episode. I can’t even. She needs to pick a lane and stay there. One episode she’s happy and in love with Owen and they’re raising all these kids together and they’re getting married. Next she’s unhappy and having an affair with Tom and lying to Owen about it. Then we find out Allison wasn’t just her best friend, but her lover and she named her baby after her and it’s implied that Owen doesn’t know any of that.

This episode she’s running around supporting Tom through a difficult time like they’re a couple and then she turns around and has sex with Owen in a supply closet and tells him she wants to get married this weekend. Owen still doesn't know about the affair. What the hell Teddy? You can love many people, but you can’t be with all of them at the same time unless everyone knows that and is on board and clearly they are not. Pick a lane woman! Pick a lane!

Catherine was all around awful in this episode as she has been for the last little while. She briefly redeemed herself in my eyes when she played along with Richard about her being at the Conference because I thought that was a really good idea, but then she went off on Jackson and everyone else for not being able to do the impossible. She essentially called them stupid because they couldn’t magically figure out what was wrong with Richard after she bought his hospital out from under him and left him.

Catherine gets mad and asks how they didn’t see that something was wrong, but like Jackson says they did see that something was wrong. They thought he was depressed because of what Catherine did to him which was a perfectly logical conclusion until he started hallucinating publicly. They’re doctors, not psychics. It’s Catherine’s own fault that they didn’t see this. If she hadn’t left him or bought Pac North out from under him she would have been there when he started deteriorating and the symptoms would have been more obvious to those around him.

The patient of the week was funny I’ll admit although they left it a bit too open ended for my liking. Is she just like that now? Does she just keep singing forever? Are they going to follow up on that? We are left with more questions than answers. Due to the shutdown caused by COVID-19 it looks like the next episode will be the last of this season. I’m disappointed but there’s no way anyone could have predicted this. My hope is that they’ll tack the remaining four episodes onto next season.

Until next time!

[azuresquirrel]

rhiorhino

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Someone remind me to later put down some random...

Oh? I’m super interested to hear your thoughts!

oh god I love to say that I’m going to talk about a thing and then forget about it and then be unable to come up with anything coherent

BIGASS SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE ENDING OF THE GOOD PLACE AND BOJACK HORSEMAN INCOMING and also this got so fucking long so I’m throwing it under a cut anyway

I’m going to try to put things as simply as possible (ETA: oh my god, I didn’t) - I thought the very last episode of The Good Place was a lovely and fitting send off for each of the individual main characters we’ve gotten attached to, but in terms of setting up big philosophical truths regarding morality large parts of season four really let me down.

(wow you expect a network TV sitcom to give you Big Truths, Shannon? Well when you put it IN THE PREMISE, KIND OF? and no I’m not expecting TGP to answer the question of life’s meaning, if we were capable of answering that question for good I think we would’ve managed it at some earlier point in history than an NBC sitcom, I’m just saying you put that out there)

I’ve been seeing a sentiment floating around that TGP had a great season 1 and 2 and then seasons 3 and 4 were lesser. I don’t agree on season 3, I found that on par, but season 4 verged on some issues I had with the last season of Parks and Recreation where characters were suddenly given absurdly over-the-top happy endings and what little conflicts there were were contrived and solved without much effort.

Basically I’m deeply unsatisifed with their treatment of the Actual Good Place, and if they were going to go there and fix it it had to take more than ONE EPISODE. 

Also this is ENTIRELY a “me” problem but I don’t think the sentiment that “life only has meaning because it ends” is a profound, radical statement (honestly I’ve heard people say it so often it might as well have the depth of a “Live, Laugh, Love” poster). For that to be the answer of how to “fix” the Actual Good Place left me cold and underwhelmed. Everything the show said thematically up to that point was that the reason people want to be good and owe it to themselves and each other to be good is COMMUNITY and CONNECTIONS. I thought the focus should’ve been on THAT versus immediate instant gratification of all of ones hedonistic desires, but what do I know.

Also I found the sheer terror at the prospect of the nothingness beyond death as shown in “The View From Halfway Down”, the penultimate episode of BoJack, to be a much more honest and resonant reaction. To me the whole “oh life only means something because it ends” is just as much a coping mechanism as is the idea of an “eternal paradise” to try to offset the terror that we simply Do Not Know what death is like.

Speaking of BoJack, things ended on a more hopeful note in that show than I expected, but it didn’t feel inconsistent with what had come before, and was more satisfying because it faced extremely difficult questions about the behavior of its protagonist and the duties of the people around him to help him or not in the face of that.

Perhaps that is unfair of me to ask from The Good Place, which was always conceived as an inherently optimistic show, and more focused on ideas of “what ideal environment would make people choose to do good” and less so on grappling with what to do about truly evil actions. 

But I find that in its specificity - in choosing to focus on essentially a few individuals instead of making broad statements about “Good,” BoJack more successfully grappled with the real kind of moral dilemmas that we face in this very imperfect and very real world we live in. 

People can make mistakes, can do bad things. It’s good to help people and to help them be better. These things are easy to say. But what happens when other people are seriously hurt by someone’s bad actions? When it’s a person who has a lot of power - power of money, fame, social status - and that person’s victims, their “collateral damage” don’t have that? BoJack doesn’t say that people can’t change - they can. But does that actually erase the hurt? What role does consequences play in a just universe?

It’s easy to condemn actions from Evil Characters twirling their moustaches. BoJack makes you sympathize with him. It’s hard not to want to root for BoJack when you see his terrible, terrible childhood, how the deck was seemingly stacked against him from the start. But the show BoJack makes it very clear that that stopped being an excuse from him deciding not to grow a very long time ago.

In the end, BoJack got exactly what I wanted for him. I didn’t want him to get a happy ending, he didn’t deserve one from his actions. But I also didn’t want him to get a bad ending, giving the idea that some people are just doomed from birth and will never get better. What I wanted was for BoJack to experience the consequences of his actions, but also to be able to find peace for himself. And both things happened.

I’ve also seen it floating around that by not killing BoJack, but by letting him live in the final episode, that the show “let him off the hook.” I absolutely disagree. Despite said terror in “The View From Halfway Down” death would have been a way out for BoJack. For him to not have to wake up the next day and deal with the mess made by his own actions again. And finally everything caught up to him. As said in the final episode, “sometimes life’s a bitch and you keep on living.” Becoming a corpse in his pool from yet another self-loathing bender was seemingly BoJack’s destiny, but he doesn’t get that. He needs to do the hardest thing possible for him - learn to live with himself.

So it’s much more fitting that we don’t end with BoJack’s End. It’s left up in the air. There’s a hint that he might relapse to addiction again (not to drugs or alcohol but his worst addiction of all - the spotlight), but it’s not final. 

The show also makes it clear that it is more than okay for the others around BoJack to move on with their lives and not be defined by his toxicity. The show doesn’t condemn Hollyhock, the kindest and probably most mature character, for cutting BoJack out of her life when the interviews aired. She doesn’t exist to be BoJack’s “morality pet” to exist in order to prove he is a Good Person because he cares about her and her opinion of him. She had a life long before BoJack and she’ll have a life long after him, and faced with that pattern of behavior she made the most healthy and safe choice for herself.

And likewise with Diane, who has struggled so much with her own mental health issues and is far from perfect but always cared so much more about the potential consequences of her actions than BoJack ever has. (of course you could argue she took it too far the other way, as Guy said once, “I don’t know why I should have to suffer because you have a moral perrogative against feeling good”). Of all the characters Diane struggled the most between her duty to BoJack as a friend she cared about personally, and his actions as yet another rich, protected, powerful man with a history of damaging less powerful women. And the finale lets her let him go. “What if this was the last time we ever talked to each other,” and Diane doesn’t answer.

Because for BoJack to have everything he ever wants, after the hurt he’s caused people like Penny, Charlotte, Sarah Lynn, Gina, many others - is that really a fair and just universe? 

BoJack is messy the way that life is messy and it doesn’t provide easy answers, but it does provide hope, it gives us the truth that life, that living with yourself is often just FUCKING HARD, but you keep on doing it. In the hope that maybe you’ll find some peace. And it doesn’t ignore that real pain caused doesn’t magically “go away” when someone decides to “get better.”

Basically, BoJack to me really grappled with difficult questions of what is to be done when someone we like does bad things, and what are the necessary consequences of that when real hurt has been caused. 

Early on The Good Place was radical for suggesting that the mundane flaws of its main four humans - not war criminals, but selfish, conceited, passive, and unthinking - made them indeed, not good people. It was then radical again when it basically came to the conclusion that true goodness is compromised in a capitalistic system. But in the final season it just kind of devolved into pleasantness instead of grappling with real questions in the way BoJack did.

Again, no one on The Good Place ever did anything as bad as BoJack did - for one, none of them are culpable for the death of a woman in their care like BoJack was for Sarah Lynn - but there was at least some meat to its philosophy. Rolling into paradise and fixing it in the space of one episode does not match that depth or complexity, nor give the sense that anything is really on the line here.

OKAY I HAVE NO CONCLUSION TO THIS, this is literally just unconnected thoughts I have on why I found one series end more satisfying on a thematic level than another’s - maybe???? God help you if you read all the way through this, I have to get back to work now.

[kcwcommentary]

VLD8x04 – “Battle Scars”

8x04 – “Battle Scars”

This episode contributes to the season’s unbalanced storytelling. This is a whole episode spent on what really amounts to like five or ten minutes of story. That wouldn’t be a problem if the season didn’t also have so many episodes later on in which too much happens in a single episode, causing everything in those episodes to be really confusing with really difficult to follow logistics.

Given this episode’s focus on Pidge and her Olkarion/plant thing and the threat of a weblum, this episode feels like it was written after someone finished rewatching season two, though this episode revisits two of the least interesting stories from season two.

The big reveal of why the mecha was attacking Olkarion does not provide an answer to at least one of the mysteries the episode sets up: Why is Olkarion now a dead planet? Also, we’re shown several Olkarion ships evacuating Olkari, so why did they not immediately contact the Voltron Coalition once they got clear of Olkarion to tell them they had been attacked?

The episode starts with the mecha sent by Honerva at the end of last episode arriving at Olkarion. Cut to somewhere in space, the Lions travelling wherever they’re going. I like the first shot of this big shot of the nebula with the Lions so small since it helps make space feel appropriately large. They’ve checked, according to Pidge, 11 star systems in three days, and haven’t found any sign of the mecha. They talk about the “quadrant,” and if you’ve read some of my past commentaries, you know that I’m really not a fan of the use of that word since when it gets used, it almost always is not referring to one-fourth of an area like the word quadrant means. Here, Pidge says that this quadrant is “230,000 light-years in diameter,” Hunk says that he “can’t even process what that means.” Well then, let me help. The diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy is approximately 150,000 light-years. The Milky Way is not particularly a large galaxy. It is possible that the Paladins are in a really large galaxy, and that 230,000 light-years could amount to a quarter of that galaxy, so maybe, just maybe “quadrant” could be an applicable word, but I doubt it. It’s more likely that the show just yet again threw around that word without thinking. I imagine most of the writers on this show being just like Hunk in this moment, not able to process what astronomical distances mean. Of course, Hunk, having been a student at the Galaxy Garrison and having spent considerable time travelling throughout the universe, should be able to have an idea how big 230,000 light-years is.

Allura says, “Perhaps we should set our heading to the Altean Colony.” Keith counters, “We talked about this [….]” Anyone remember when Allura was a leader? When she was viewed by the Paladins as the Princess of Altea? When what she wanted to do had weight with the Paladins, and they didn’t condescend to her the way Keith just did? Moments like this is why Allura becoming the Blue Paladin was a demotion. The executive producers’ desire to have Keith as Black Paladin, and thus the leader, didn’t just take a leadership position away from Shiro, it took a leadership position away from Allura too.

Allura wants to go to the Colony to look for clues. Keith doesn’t want to go because of how difficult it was for him when he and Krolia went there in the past. What Keith doesn’t include is that his progression through the quantum abyss was through use of his jetpack and a space whale; if the Paladins went now they’d be using their Lions. I think their Lions can handle things far, far better. We’ve had Lions navigate a precise path between two black holes and a giant blue star before (2x08 “The Blade of Marmora”), so clearly the Lions can handle navigating through complex gravity.

Allura becomes very understandably annoyed, “I’m tired of hearing what we can’t do and what we don’t know.” She specifically locates her annoyance in the fact that what Honerva is doing is being done to Alteans, her people, so this feels personal for her. I think she’d be totally right to feel annoyed just because everyone else seems casual about what’s been happening. Allura says to the group, “You don’t understand.” Lance jumps in with, “I understand what it feels like to see someone I care about hurt so much.” Honestly, I’m kind of over people acting like this. If someone tells you that you don’t understand what they’re going through, then just countering by saying that you do understand is not demonstrating that understanding. (I get that Lance was technically saying that he feels sorry to see Allura so upset, but I’m focused on how he was written to use the specific words he did.) The person wouldn’t have said that you don’t understand if you were demonstrating that you do. The fact that they told you that you don’t understand indicates you need to reevaluate your behavior toward that person. Too often, it feels like when someone says that others don’t understand what they’re going through, people who counter by just saying that they do understand are just trying to avoid self-examination, they’re trying to take the cheap way out of the social situation. Applying that to this situation, I don’t think anyone has demonstrated that they recognize what effect this situation is having on Allura. It’s been well over a season of this show since anyone’s really paid attention to Allura, and Lance wanting to date and kiss her does not count as anyone paying attention to her thoughts and feelings about what’s going on in her life.

They then write Allura to apologize to Lance as if Allura was in the wrong here. Grr!

Hunk says, “Maybe we should head to Olkarion. They’re just a few galaxies away.” I know this show has been the loosest possible when it comes to depicting accurate scale/distance of space and travel through space, but it sounds ludicrous to say something like it’s “just a few galaxies away.” If the distance to Olkarion is so casual the way Hunk talks here, why haven’t they already called up someone on Olkarion and asked them if they’ve heard anything?

“And it’ll be awesome to see everyone again,” Pidge says. “I wonder what kind of technological advances they’ve made in the last few years.” Why didn’t she ask them when a bunch of Olkari came to Earth at the end of last season to help Earth after the occupation?

Allura remains mentally isolated from the group. Not that any of the others can currently see Allura’s face, but she clearly looks sad. This is more of what Allura goes through this season that made me feel during my first time watching this season that Allura was seriously depressed (and no one really cared). With Allura seeming depressed, as I said in my commentary for 8x01 “Launch Date,” having her story end with her death really feels like the show is saying that the only outcome available for someone who’s depressed is for them to die.

Lance asks, “Allura, what do you think?” Why is he asking this? She’s told everyone what she thinks their next action should be: look for clues at the Colony. They rejected that idea. Allura is essentially pressured into dismissing her own judgement and accedes to everyone else’s desire to go to Olkarion.

Pidge tries to contact Olkarion to tell them they’re coming, and no communication can be established. One, Olkarion is probably the Voltron Coalition’s biggest member, at least until now when Earth’s added the Atlas to the Coalition’s resources. Team Voltron spent nearly a whole season parked on Olkarion earlier in the show. Since the Coalition has learned that Honerva has these new mechas in play, why wouldn’t the Coalition/Paladins have contacted their biggest ally a long time ago to spread the alert to the Coalition members?

I’m also left wondering what the parameters were of the Olkari coming to Earth to help post-occupation. Are there still Olkari on Earth? Are there Olkari on the Atlas?

I genuinely laughed at Lance’s, “They’re probably too busy untangling calculations. Am I using that right?”

Pidge says, “I’m guessing there’s a delay due to our distance.” This show has never had distance cause a delay in communications be a thing before, so why would Pidge think it was a possibility? (I’m remembering Pidge expecting an instant communication with her father on Earth back at the beginning of season seven, for example. She was super far away from Earth at the time but didn’t think a distance-based delay was a thing.)

Keith orders Voltron formed, and the animation really feels like it’s just there to take up time. Keith has Voltron use its once-special but now-common wing engines to go faster. They very quickly jet from where they were to “Olkarion’s galactic neighborhood,” as Lance says. He also then asks, “Did we ever hear from them?” You mean within the literal just a few seconds that have passed since you previously tried contacting them? Lance’s line is written like a notable amount of time has passed, but the animation hasn’t had time pass, the animation has had them quickly form Voltron and we saw the literal few seconds they spent in transit, start to finish, from where they were to where they are now. Maybe this is just the director not building the shots of the episode in a way to convey more time passing, but as it is, it’s only been like a couple of minutes, max, for the Paladins since Pidge tried contacting Olkarion.

Pidge tries contacting Olkarion again, and she detects something coming toward them. It’s a weblum. For a bit, Voltron weirdly just floats in the weblum’s way before finally moving so that it doesn’t blast them.

Allura asks where the weblum is going, and Pidge calculates and says Olkarion. Voltron was headed toward Olkarion. The weblum is headed toward Olkarion. Voltron and the Weblum were headed in opposite directions initially. So, Voltron was headed away from Olkarion then. If the director couldn’t keep something this simple straight in setting up the shots and logistics of the episode, I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised that the show’s direction becomes maddeningly confusing when the season’s story gets more complicated.

Voltron had disassembled the wings to make its shield, but then cut to Voltron using its wings, as if it had been in wing-mode the entire time, to beat the weblum to Olkarion. Voltron separates into Lions when they get to Olkarion.

There, they see Olkarion’s city destroyed. I say city, singular, because this show only ever seems to depict populated planets, Olkarion included, as having a single location of habitation. Pidge is sad, saying, “They were our allies, our friends.” Yeah? Then why hadn’t you guys contacted them before now to let them know about Honerva’s mechas?

Keith acknowledges that they’re under a time pressure to act since the weblum is coming there. He orders the Paladins to engage in search and rescue if possible and to try to find out what happened to Olkarion. For not having much time, everyone seems to be acting slowly, taking time to look around. Only Hunk and Keith are using their Lions. There are some really powerful sensors on the Lions, so I would think using them would be the first thing they would do. Instead, Pidge takes time to look at single, crumbly leaf. Allura, being who she is would be the one most able to know, says that the land has been drained of quintessence. Hunk says he and Lance have found traces of the metal that the mecha is made of.

I imagine Pidge being sad over Olkarion’s destruction is meaningful to people who are fans of Pidge’s character. I don’t have any immediate objection to how her sadness is being portrayed, I think it’s logical that her character would be sad, but because this show’s past plots with Pidge have annoyed me so greatly, I can’t help but to just not care that she’s sad.

She falls to her knees, crying, and then there’s a white light and she can see Olkari kids playing before her vision returns to normal. Allura says that because the Olkari and Pidge both have a “profound connection to the land” – despite the show nominally having added this yay-nature dimension to Pidge’s character, I’ve never seen her act in any way that demonstrated she developed a connection “to the land,” but whatever – that maybe the planet is showing Pidge something. How? If the planet hadn’t been drained of its quintessence, I would think that could explain how, but as is, it’s just happening because that’s what’s been written, not because there is any explanation for why. And the show never explains why. Allura says, “Concentrate. See if you can tap into its energy.” It has no energy! Allura literally said the planet’s quintessence is gone just a short bit ago.

Pidge closes her eyes until she starts having visions again. She sees the mecha plunging through the atmosphere. She and Allura move to the city, where Pidge has a vision of the mecha hitting the ground. Ryner was here when it happened. Pidge sees the mecha attack the city. She jetpacks to a location closer to the initial attack. She sees Ryner order evacuations and counter attacks.

Hunk and Lance report that they only have ten minutes to get out before the weblum hits Olkarion due to the weblum tripping some “low orbit trackers.” I guess the weblum’s arrival is supposed to be unexpected? Like its there earlier than its distance and known possible speed would have it able to arrive? But also, they used “low orbit trackers?” A low Earth orbit has an approximate maximum altitude of 2000 km. Most of Earth’s satellites and the International Space Station have a low Earth orbit. Since they knew the weblum was coming, they should have been monitoring to know it was there long before it was knocking on the front door. So, this new time pressure is just the show having a contrived situation again.

Allura asks Keith, Hunk, and Lance to try to buy Pidge time to learn more about what happened to Olkarion. Pidge reenters her vision, sees the donut cannon try to blast the mecha, which reflects the blast and destroys the cannon. Ryner orders Olkari soldiers to hold the mecha off as much as possible while other Olkari “preserve the information from the communications tower.” So, Pidge, knows where to head to next.

Keith, Hunk, and Lance make their way to the weblum, which is visually not even remotely close enough to have tripped any low orbit sensors. Hunk tries to slam into the weblum to knock it off-course. They try various Lion weapons, but it doesn’t slow down.

Pidge reenters her vision on the communication tower. She observes two Olkari discuss why they were unable to detect the mecha until it hit their atmosphere. They look at a few records of some space-time anomalies and realize that the mehca arrived via wormhole. Ryner communicates orders to them to transfer all data from the tower to a safe off-planet location and then evacuate. They finish their data transmission just as the mecha blows up the tower. Pidge relays the information to Allura but asks for more time. Allura leaves to join the others against the weblum, which continues to be nowhere near a low orbit of Olkarion.

Hunk contacts Coran, who instantly returns communication (so no time delay to long-distance communication in this show), to ask how to stop a weblum from destroying a planet. Coran’s communication conveniently, but at least it’s purposefully done for humor, fades at the important parts of Coran’s instructions. It mirrors the video and audio errors in the instructional video that Keith and Hunk watched about weblums in 2x09 “The Belly of the Weblum.” Ultimately, the inclusion of Coran here is solely for this one joke, and nothing he says has any impact on the story. Allura arrives in time to use Blue’s “sonic” cannon, which causes the weblum to stop an imminent mouth-blast.

Back in Pidge’s vision, she sees Ryner ordering more evacuation, the mecha destroying more city, and (finally something important that the audience didn’t already know) the mecha taking several Olkari cubes. Pidge tries to ask vision-Ryner why the mecha wanted the cubes. The episode thinks it’s giving some big poignant, emotional moment by having Ryner talk to some crying kid who’s “scared [and doesn’t] want to leave.” Ryner spends an unrealistic moment, the city falling around them, telling the kid, “You mustn’t cling too tightly to the past. The Olkari have always been able to adapt and move forward. It is our greatest strength, and it will live on in you. The old must give way to the new, it is the way of the universe,” and she sends this random kid onto the evacuation ship. Pidge leaves the vision, the Green Lion picks up Pidge, and they leave Olkarion.

I just don’t feel what the episode is trying to make me feel with Ryner and the Olkari. It’s not that I dislike either Ryner or the Olkari (though I do dislike how the point-connection for them both to the story has been through Pidge because this supposed yay-nature aspect of Pidge has never felt true to me). But the sadness that should come with seeing Olkarion destroyed just doesn’t happen for me. I think part of it is that the destruction of Olkarion doesn’t get to be about the Olkari. It’s all about Pidge.

Hunk says, “If you think about it, this isn’t really the end of Olkarion. Weblums eating dead planets is just the first step in the process that leads to the growth of new stars, planets, and galaxies.” This is more of the non-poignancy from Ryner’s speech. I know the show has established that weblums eat dead planets, though I guess “dead planet” is specifically a planet that once had abundant life, but something has happened to kill off all the life on the planet? Because the vast majority of planets in the universe are going to not have life on them, thus most planets are dead planets unless “dead planets” is only defined as planets that once had life. Also, the creation of the weblum for this show to function as some kind of space recycling system is kind of obnoxious since we actually know a fair amount about the actual, real destruction and creation processes for stars and planets. It’s pretty much all about stars exploding. The weblum has always seemed like the show trying to apply the circle-of-life concept to inanimate astronomical objects. It’s like the show has misapplied one area of science to a different area of science.

Pidge apparently knows some way to now track Honerva’s mechas, I guess through the cubes the mecha took? The episode ends.

So, can anyone tell me how the entire planet’s quintessence was drained? The mecha attacked one city, destroyed some buildings, grabbed the cubes, and left the planet. The mecha is never shown to drain the entire planet of its quintessence. Maybe a small area within the city, but not the whole planet. So, when did the planet-draining happen? And who did it?

Technically, this episode isn’t totally pointless: it does advance the find-Honerva story by the reveal that the mecha took the cubes at the very end. But I can’t help but to still feel like this episode mostly just takes up time that the season could have better used to keep the second half of the season from being so confusing and so chaotically directed.