#the boys season 4 episode 4 breakdown

[ellapastoral]

Here is my deep dive on the boys. I even got a special guest for this video.

[phoenixtakaramono]

Would anyone want hear my honest unfiltered opinion(s) or breakdown about what I liked/ didn’t liked/ wished the writers had done differently for The Boys season 4, now that the season is complete and all 8 episodes are out?

Because, spoiler alert:

(Click here for the detailed episodic breakdown)

[genericpuff]

The Mishandling of LO’s S3 Mi(n)season Hiatus - Part 3 2/2

ALRIGHT. THIS IS THE LAST PART. I MEAN IT THIS TIME.

I had completely forgotten how long the mi(n)season finale for S3 was, but I suppose it makes sense considering it was operating as the true cliffhanger before the 4 month break.

If you haven't read the first 3 parts of this episodic breakdown, please go check these ones out first:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 1/2

Alright, let's get this show on the road!

CAUTION: THIS IS PART 2 OF THE THIRD PART OF A 3 + 1 PART SERIES IN WHICH I WILL BE SPOILING MUCH OF EPISODES 251-253. THIS EPISODE CONTAINS TOPICS SURROUNDING SEXUAL ASSAULT. THIS WILL BE A LONG POST. BRACE YOURSELF.

We've gotten delusional Leuce. We've gotten erasure of the SA. We've gotten a complete bastardization of the original myths that this story got its claim to fame on. The dread has set in, and all I want to do is get off Mr Bones' Wild Ride. But we have one more stretch of mind-numbing track to go, because the reveal of Persephone starting winter was not the end, oh no. The true cliffhanger of this episode - upon which the fans and critics alike have sat on for 4 months - proves that when we think Rachel has gotten crazy enough in this circus she calls a "retelling", she manages to prove that yes, she can make things even crazier, and no, you will not have a good time.

Ironically, despite that opening, I actually have a lot less to say about this last part of Episode 253 than I did about the first part. Obviously there's no feasible way to top "Persephone causes winter", but this episode does come rather close in its absurdity. Ultimately, if these essays have proven anything, it's just how much Rachel retcons things, to such an extent now that she seems to be retconning or outright forgetting information that she established just a handful of episodes prior. You'll see what I mean here as we go along in this.

As soon as it's hinted at that Persephone has started winter, we cut away to Apollo. Because, as per LO tradition, we can't spend longer than 10-15 panels on a single scene.

Already this seems like... really odd framing.

This is Apollo. A character who has been a villain since basically the beginning of the comic, when he sexually assaulted Persephone. This is not something that's up for debate. This is not something that can be refuted, as much as the comic may try to erase it or twist it into something else.

And yet, the vibe I get from this is, "Misled but good-deep-down character being taken advantage of by a sinister being." This isn't the type of framing we should be seeing around a character like Apollo.

I mentioned it ages ago in my post about the SA erasure that it really feels like Rachel is slyly trying to make Apollo empathetic, from giving us an entire episode in his perspective to adding extra panels into the books to making Persephone weirdly reminiscent of feelings for Apollo that she never had.

One thing I also touch on in that post is how Apollo is framed against Zeus. Zeus is also a villain character for much of the series, and even after he's "redeemed", the fanbase still considers him largely to be an antagonistic force. So to have Apollo be trying to take down Zeus comes across as very "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and I really don't like seeing that framing when it's regarding a rapist.

And this scene largely feels the same. It feels like Rachel's trying to sway the audience into believing Apollo is like Draco Malfoy - a misled boy who "didn't know any better" and was being manipulated by a greater evil. If you haven't guessed by now, that "greater evil" is Ouranos.

Why is it Ouranos? In my opinion (so take this with grains of salt) this is because they need to somehow "one up" Kronos and give Persephone and Hades a tangible force to fight against, to draw a clean line in the sand between "good" and "evil" so that we, the audience, will be forced to categorize Persephone and Hades as "good" and someone else as "evil".

But really, why Ouranos? We're told that he manipulated Gaia to use her powers in an attempt to create "hierarchy" (whatever the FUCK that means, I don't think Rachel really understands how societal hierarchies are created) but there's NOTHING to imply that he was tyrannical or "evil" in the same way that Kronos has been depicted. Rachel's basically submitting this whole plotline to "well it's in the prophecy" but there was NOTHING dictating that she had to try and write a "prophecy" storyline to begin with. So as a result, it feels very tacked on and it's hard to tell what the point is, it really just seems like Rachel watched too much Marvel one week and decided that Lore Olympus - a fantasy romance - needed a big bad.

And by extension it feels like Apollo is being used as a pawn in this dynamic. By making him subservient to an "evil" force, it means he can labelled as definitively "evil", and thus it gives Rachel a vehicle to have Apollo taken down - or even perhaps empathized with much like in the Draco Malfoy sense - without having to touch the SA plot that she set up and never resolved.

He was evil before, but he wasn't the kind of evil that Rachel could write around. Because she doesn't know how to write SA or give her female characters any sense of retribution or agency. We've seen that already with her robbing Demeter of winter and Persephone of her feelings regarding the SA. There was never going to be a chance in hell she was going to be able to write herself out of a plotline she's been procrastinating for 4+ years.

That said, this is just a vibe I get, so I'm not gonna speak on it much more. This is one of those "we're really not gonna know until the comic returns" situations.

Once again, Rachel's trying to make Apollo seem like a "master manipulator", but she's also trying to make him seem like he's the one being manipulated, but she's ALSO trying to write him as a big dumb idiot who literally can't grasp consent. Apollo has to be one of the most inconsistently written characters in the entire comic, and yes, that includes Persephone. Again, it just goes to show she hasn't been able to fully commit to the SA plotline because Apollo's motivations and intelligence levels change with each passing episode. Sometimes he's being nefarious and plotting to overthrow the King, other times he's literally asking a nymph if she'd be willing to cut her hair to look like Persephone. The comic can't choose and so we, the audience, can't tell why Apollo is even still here.

Again, this is SUCH bizarre framing. If we're to believe that Persephone has been "cursed" by no longer being able to create Spring, only Winter, then does that make Ouranos and Apollo the heroes here? Because Ouranos is right, if Persephone is causing winter, that's going to kill the mortals, which is the complete OPPOSITE of what she's trying to do. So what are we left with? A plotline where Apollo and Ouranos might actually have a point about how she rushed into a marriage with the King of the Underworld and sacrificed everything that gave her agency and power - both metaphorically and literally - in the process?

Again, this is why Rachel fundamentally misunderstands the original purpose of The Hymn to Demeter and how she's, by and large, made her retelling worse in an attempt to be "subversive". It puts the plot and character motivations in a place where it's hard to tell what the story is trying to say, I can understand if maybe Rachel's trying to write a conflict where Apollo uses this information to manipulate her, but it doesn't help that knowing EVERYTHING we know about the H x P relationship within the context of this comic, Ouranos has a point that Persephone's union with the King of the Dead is problematic. It might not be the same "problematic" that we're all thinking of, but it really just reinforces the criticisms of this relationship. Is the comic really asking us to say "fuck the human race, they're in love" ??? Because that's NOT what the point of the original myth was in the slightest and it's just a really weird place to put your audience in.

It's 4:45 AM right now as I'm typing this so my thoughts are a little scattered, but all this really feels like is an attempt on Rachel's part to create a new "big bad" for her to use as a distraction from the SA plot and to give Persephone a "flaw", but that "flaw" really only takes away the strength of another character.

Oh, and by the way? This whole "you need the fertility goddess" thing? THE COMIC HAS ALREADY TOLD US THIS WON'T WORK BECAUSE SHE HAS TO BE IN LOVE WITH APOLLO FOR HIM TO BE ABLE TO USE HER POWERS. SO RACHEL'S ALREADY WRITTEN HERSELF INTO A CORNER THAT SHE'LL EITHER HAVE TO SOLVE OR RETCON ENTIRELY. DO YOU SEE WHY THIS IS SO ABSURD???

This line is kind of jarring because we had the Kassandra prophecy at the beginning that talked about the herb, but the prophecy Ouranos is talking about is the one about the sons of kings overthrowing their fathers. I definitely forgot about that one for a hot second reading this, I didn't get how this sequence related to the poisonous plant thing because they're framed as completely separate prophecies. It's not like Kassandra said in her initial prophecy that this plant would be used to overthrow a King again, she just said that the plant still existed and Psyche figured it out on her own that Apollo was gonna use it on Zeus. IDK that's just something that bugged me (also again, why are they believing her prophecies when we literally just had it established an episode ago that no one believes her prophecies LMAO)

Because if it wasn't enough for LO to have one Evil Robot Jeff Bridges villain, it had to throw in another one for good measure. It's just a line of dads and grandpas going back centuries waiting for their turn in the ring with Persephone.

lmao I love this 'hint' at Apollo being the one to write the note from Hebe and leave the cupcake for Zeus. Like... duh? We already put that together as SOON as Psyche said gasp "Zeus!" and then it showed Zeus eating the cupcake while Psyche called him on the phone telling him Apollo was gonna try and harm him. This sequence of 'revealing what really happened' doesn't work here because we've already been told what happened.

Except we know he won't. There's no tension to this whatsoever.

That's Hebe by the way.

It's odd that Apollo is embracing this prophecy when he has a kid himself. He literally has a fully grown son in this comic. I guess Apollo forgot about that, just like Rachel.

And that's it. That's the midseason finale. Ouranos is the new twist villain and Apollo is... whatever the fuck Rachel plans on doing with him.

Now, this leads me to my original motivation to create this series of reviews. It spawned from a conversation we were having in the Discord, discussing what it must be like to be a free reader who hasn't paid for the FP episodes that are still behind a paywall. This is not standard for LO, it hasn't kept FP episodes behind paywalls in the past during long hiatuses like this. I can even prove this with screenshots from the Wayback Machine, during the last midseason hiatus:

(whoof, that rating has dropped. I know it doesn't seem like much but for a series with millions of readers, by law of averages it takes a LOT of poor ratings to pull that number down compared to a series that only has a few readers)

Point is, this is the first time Rachel/WT have done this. Now, I will make this perfectly clear, I don't think this was a decision that was purely on Rachel. WT controls much of the backend like paywall costs, release dates, etc. so I'm not gonna go pinning this on her.

However, I do think this is a completely bungled attempt at trying to get people to pay up. LO has been dropping in views steadily but surely since the midseason break for S2. It's not pulling in the peak numbers that it used to, while it does still pull in a lot more views and money than other series on the platform, it's nowhere near the juggernaut that it once was in terms of record-breaking numbers, and I think WT knows that. So this really comes across as a stunt to get readers to FP, assuming that people will HAVE to pay if they're left waiting for 4 months.

But here's the flaw in that logic - people are still going to have to wait 4 months anyways. Reading those 3 locked episodes, especially all at once, will still leave you in the same place as you were beforehand.

And it shows in the numbers that people aren't falling for the bait.

Again, 17k likes still isn't anything to sneeze at for a FP episode, but it's still just barely above the new average that LO has gained over the past two years. I remember a time when those like counts would be 30k+. And now, despite being on break 4 months with these episodes still locked behind a wall, it's barely able to scrap by its new average of roughly 14-15k, and that average is when episodes are actually updating.

Obviously like counts = / = viewcounts but when they fluctuate, we know that the views have to be as well by extension, at least to some extent, and that's still engagement that's dropped of in and of itself. And we can also see a rough look at how the views have dropped off through the comic's landing page. Now, it's hard to compare data because there was a time when WT actually didn't give follower/view counts on the landing page (this was also when the like count capped at 99k) but we can still see a downslide in growth very visibly in the view count, sub count, and most of all, the rating, which has been steadily dropping for years now.

August 2020:

May 2021:

November 2021:

March 2022 (don't get confused by the 995 million, this is where view count comes in):

September 2022:

March 2023:

Today (October 24th, 2023):

Again, there's no way to get a true clear picture of LO's stats beyond this surface level data, but it does show that LO is just not getting the rapid growth it used to. People are moving on from it. And while its view and sub count are steadily increasing (albeit slowly for a webtoon that gets as much marketing as it does) the average rating is going down. It's clear that the majority of LO's growth happened between 2018 and 2020, which would make sense as the series was still relatively new compared to how it's become old news today, and Webtoons experienced a boom in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns - a boom that they think still applies in the year 2023, judging by their attempts to import as many series onto the platform as possible and capitalize on an audience that just isn't there anymore.

All of this leads me to wonder - what's in it for free readers after all this? Because if you recall from where we started, the cliffhanger they started on was Hades - possessed by Kronos - attempting to strangle Persephone, a cliffhanger that was resolved within seconds for FastPass readers. If they don't FastPass after that, they'll be met with numerous reveals that don't even make sense for the plot as a whole (such as Leuce making up the text messages).

Again, I don't want to claim that this was a decision on Rachel's part, but it really seems like either she didn't plan this hiatus, or her inability to write naturally without the need for addictive-style formatting as a crutch made it so that the free readers would be given the worst midseason premiere ever.

And what are we, the FastPass readers, going to return to? There are still so many plot threads that have been left unresolved, multiple villains being setup, and as far as Webtoons and Rachel have revealed during NYCC, LO is supposed to end by the spring. That's 20-30 weeks TOPS, which isn't exactly a whole lot of wiggle room for a writer like Rachel who's chronically bad at pacing and getting to the point of the plots she's established.

I know there are so many readers right now anticipating the return of this comic, some of whom genuinely believe this comic is "better than ever" and others who are critical of it but hope that the comic will come back in a better state after the hiatus. But right now there's so much evidence to support the contrary - that LO is about to come back in as bad, if not worse, condition than it was in when it left.

And through all this, for a comic that's finally ending after 5 years, I have to ask - where is the hype? Why are Webtoons and Rachel keeping the finale of this comic behind closed doors? Where's the promotional art, the hinting at what's to come, the attempts to generate any semblance of excitement for the readers who are still left after clinging onto this ride for 5 years? Why were the fans themselves barred out of their own communities during the majority of the hiatus?

And that just leads me to an even more discouraging thought. This is not meant to accuse Rachel or make assumptions. It's simply a thought that I had while thinking about what the series could possibly pull upon its return, so please, take this with MOUNTAINS of salt. It's one thing I hadn't considered with the knowledge that LO will be returning with 3 episodes still behind a paywall, a 'buffer' in and of itself for Rachel to work off of.

Rachel only technically needs one episode ready for the release. Not three as she normally would if the episodes had been unlocked like in previous hiatuses. That's not including whatever buffer episodes she would need beyond the upload schedule, but she's proven to be chronically bad at maintaining a buffer as well since day one.

We haven't seen any promotional art. No hinting. No hyping beyond what's been seen for her "Rachel Smythe Presents" series.

With all that in mind, I have one question to leave this on:

Has Rachel even started working on Episode 254 yet?

[theerurishipper]

For me, the most hilarious thing that broke Ladynoir's neck will forever be that Marinette in Kuro Neko never even realized that Shadowmoth presumably having akumatized Chat Noir as a civilian is a BAD THING for more reasons than mostly her having been a bad guardian.

That was for real at the core of her breakdown in that episode, you can re-watch it, its right there, and what Adrien had to accept and sympathize with.

That is hilariously pathetic bc that girl never even realized that if it truly had been civilian Chat Noir who had been akumatized, then merely deakumatizing him wouldn't have been enough by a LONG SHOT bc ShadowMoth fucking FOUND HIM.

Chat and his loved ones would from then on never be safe again in Paris until ShadowMoth is defeated, but Marinette at no point in the episode or even by the end of season 5 ever realizes that.

Straight up canonly speaking, In the scenario of Chat Noir being found by ShadowMoth as a civilian, the biggest victim in Marinette’s eyes was herself and her poor guardianship. That is hilariously depressing.

That boy has barely any worth in her eyes, it's questionable if she even noticed for how long he stopped showing up in the beginning of the episode. If the father son Story had dared to happen like in Ephemeral before and Adrien had been caught behind her back and now was in desperate need of her PLEASE realizing that Chat isn't showing up anymore, man, if Gabriel had been using the opportunity to try and manipulate Adrien into thinking Ladybug doesn't care for him Gabriel would have straight up succeeded here.

But sure, Ladynette is bestest gurl, leader and partner in all of fiction lol

Not to mention, Marinette just dead ass let CatWalker be the deciding voice of the Ladynoir conflict, despite him from her perspective having no right to claim he has any strong opinion on this at all.

À random prince charming showed up for 10 minutes, told her she's the most amazing and blameless person who ever walked upon earth and that Chat's an ungrateful count with no rights so HE - CatWalker - will now dedicate himself to be her magical perfect care taker 'as she deserves'

And gurl just went "well damn, you are right! Chat IS a cunt, I AM blameless and deserves a perfect therapy prince!" and just called it a day and never learned from this.

From Marinette's perspective CatWalker should have been the most blatantly obvious manipulator ever since she has no idea if Plagg actually made it safely to Fu's "second black cat" and she should have punched him in the face for how bluntly he shit talked Chat Noir and tried making her fall for and trust him - CatWalker.

But nah. shit-talking Chat and stroking her ego were when Marinette genuinely fell in love with him for good and only send him away when having CatWalker around wasn't practical for her hero performance (which was then ALSO indirectly blamed on Chat Noir in the end lol

Nice, good to know that Marinette's dream love interest and partner being a magical desperate care taker of perfection who would rather rip himself apart than ask a single thing of her, and that alarming romantic type of hers having made her incapable of paying attention to the fight was CHAT NOIR'S fault, or how else could she be a flawless queen?

That episode is AWFUL lol

And she never even learned anything at any point. She still considered Monarch finding out Chat's identity irrelevant in Elation bc one "No" in over 4 seasons was enough for her to almost agree turning into his enemy and give Monarch Chat's identity herself so she can know what name his lips are attached to. An akumatization CHAT had to prevent by kissing her despite not wanting it.

Amazing, what a role model for girls.

And at the end of season 5 Chat Noir still was the human sacrifice because Adrien knew he has no right to ask for help from Ladybug bc she's all that matters, but at least he could tell Plagg that Ladybug will "forgive him" and he'll be Chat Noir again.

Magnificent. Feminism truly peaked with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

What value does she see in him again beyond her comfort and endless moral free passes and rewards for barely giving a damn? Because I truly can't figure out what Marinette's oh so pure love for her Kitty is actually supposed to be. The more I look into it, the more superficial Marinette's side of Ladynoir and Marichat becomes.

Writers really dropped the ball on the one thing their show was hinging on huh.

Thank you for your ask!

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

(still spoilers for both the whole show and the books)

Season 2 episode 1 [What Can The Damned Really Say to the Damned] - part 3/4

- [Daniel] "Memories just keep bubbling up." - oooh, the face Louis makes at that...

- [Louis] "'Claudia was... uh... She was dreaming. Her head twitching like you would.'" - ain't no need to take a shot at Danny boy now! He hasn't done anything (yet)...

[Daniel] "'Maybe you're just uh, frosting the pie?'

[Louis] 'No. I can feel her. I can feel her next to me. She's having a nightmare. What's worse than a nightmare? If your soul's projecting out its fears, at least it's up and running. But the absence of anything? The void. The nothing. Pieces... coming back. Hours, nights. Objects, surfacing in water. It was just something she wrote. But it wasn't true. She could dream. Thank you.'

[Daniel] 'If you wanna take that break...'

[Louis] 'No. No. I want this. To remember.'"

Can I scream about Jacob's phenomenal acting? This man. I have no words. The voice breaking. The hand waving. The vacant eyes. The tears (he cries so prettily). The accent emerging from the flat Dubai accent. What a masterclass. Also who else thinks that when Louis says he can feel her next to him, he's not just talking about past Claudia in the memory but also Ghostdia in present time?

This scene has everything:

1, it showcases once again Daniel's profound compassion, in the way he doesn't try to push Louis more now that Louis is finally doing the job of being honest on his own, in the way he's looking at Louis having a breakdown with concern and immense compassion... Yes, Daniel is a catty bitchy old queen, yeah, he's grumpy and cynic and an investigative journalist who latches on his subject and doesn't let up. But he's also profoundly human and full of sympathy and humanity, and that's what makes him such a darned good journalist - he touches at the heart of his interviewees.

2, it sort of closes the theme started in s1 of memory being a monster, to open up the second theme, memory being a blessing. S1 was about how Louis ran away so hard from the truth he had basically changed his recollection of things to not face up the real events and emotions, ultimately leading him to just shut down - something that is explored more in details in s2. S2 is about Louis finally facing up to his true memories and reconciliating not just with Lestat, not even only with the memory of Claudia - reminder that he carried with him for 77 years Claudia's diaries in which she writes how much she hated him - but also and maybe most importantly, owning up to his real memories allows him to reconcile with himself.

3, it fixes a hole in Louis' heart regarding Claudia and the end of their time together. As said above, Claudia writes in her diaries that she hates Louis maybe as much as Lestat. But she also wrote that she doesn't dream, when obviously Louis' recovered memories show that she does. So if what she writes that one time is a lie, "just something that she wrote", maybe she also lied, "just wrote", that she hated Louis? Even if we can't ever know for certain, even if this session starts with Louis and Daniel agreeing to believe what's written and nothing more (a decision that's almost immediately abandoned), for Louis, just holding on to that thought, is everything.

- And there goes another queen.... Rip Emilia, you were magnificent. +10 points and a bit of grace for Morgan speaking Romanian and trying his hardest to save Emilia. [Louis] "Human affairs. Death, and how to avoid it. Their problem. Ours was in the woods." - bravo, only took you 30 years to learn that lesson. Better late than never I guess. Lestat will be pleased. With that and with the hunting.

- Claudia's sassing Louis, Louis showing off his fangs... And the revenant being a full horror show. Yep, welcome to the Old Romania portion of the story.

[Louis] "'What. The. Hell is that?'

[Claudia] 'It's... A vampire.'

[Louis] 'No, I'm a vampire. That's a fucking catfish with teeth. It's dirty. It doesn't like us.'

[Claudia] 'Us, you, the same.'

[Louis] 'Not the same, not even close.'"

This show is a comedy.

- Do you think a vampire with a rifle is more or less dangerous than a vampire with just their fangs and claws...? Someone needs to make a poll.

- One queen exits (Emilia), another emerges (Daciana)... And what intensity. What pain. A motherless mother. [Louis] "An angry woman vampire. A mom." - the fact that Louis himself points that out, as if he's somehow recognising himself in her... The way he says "a mom", full of wonder and understanding. Because a parent is a parent and no matter the words used, he is Claudia's parent, and he spent years suffering his child's absence. He knows.

- [Louis] "Through the forest, as if a fairy tale." - hello, did you know that today's Fantasy literature, inherited from the Fantastique literature, comes directly from fairy tales and folktales? There's a direct pipeline between "Le Petit Poucet" (Little Thumbling, a fairy tale about a boy abandoned in the woods finding his way back home thanks to the trail of white stones he left behind) or "Hansel and Gretel" and the musical story of "Emilie Jolie", where a little girl all alone in her house follows the characters of her storybook into the pages of the book. A very French example, I know, I know, but I was looking for something that would reference being alone and lost in the woods, like Claudia and Louis here. In any case, what I meant to say is, go read amongst others Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories", Daniel Baker's essay "Why We Need Dragons: The Progressive Potential of Fantasy" (Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2012), Carh Filmer-Davies' "On Fantasy Stories" (Mythlore, 2000) and Jack Zipes' "The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre" (Princeton UP, 2012). I have a lot more bibliography but they're more related to what I wrote about in my thesis which is Beauty and the Beast, a fairy tale that woumd be fascinating to explore in relation to Lestat, so I'm going to stop here. Man, when can I go do my folklore PhD...?

- [Louis] "But even if we could get her to talk, what would she say? What, after all, can the damned really say to the damned?" - interesting, the way the book quote (see part 1) was inserted in the show narration... Really emphasises how lost and alone, metaphorically, Louis and Claudia are.

- Welp. I have to put the entire conversation between Louis, Claudia and Daciana. Every line is fascinating.

[Louis] "'We are from over the ocean.'

[Claudia] "Five years we've looked for you. We came to where vampires are spoken of, to find others like ourselves.'

[Daciana] 'We own the night. Yes?'

[Claudia, Louis, in English] 'Yes.'

[Daciana] 'Long centuries, into the villages, into their hovels, drinking, drinking, drinking. They don't want life anymore.'

[Claudia] 'Maybe it's the blood. [In English to Louis] Tell her about the blood.'

[Louis, in stammering Romanian] 'It's blood here... Can't... You...'

[Claudia] 'Say it in English.'

[Louis in English/Claudia in Romanian] 'The blood is bad here. The humans, there's too much sadness, too much pain. We feel it too when we drink. We can't get warm. Our bodies hurt. Maybe you need better blood.'

[Daciana] 'From over the ocean?'

[Claudia] 'America.'

[Daciana] 'Another one like a burnt tray of bread.'

[Claudia] 'How many of us are left? How about this one?'

[Daciana] 'Cezare Romulo. He was a droll one. Killed a travelling circus in Sibiu, everyone but the bear... but all those in darkness go into darkness.'

[Louis] 'What's she saying?'

[Claudia] 'Who's left?'

[Daciana] 'You killed my last out in the forest.'

[Louis] 'What's she saying?'

[Claudia] 'He was hurting us.'

[Daciana] 'All of them dead now. All gone. Like cream from the top of a milk bucket. So many nights to come on the devil's road, playing in their blood, oh, you will laugh and laugh...'

[Claudia] 'And you'll come with us? '

[Daciana] 'Yes. You will take me over the ocean with you. And I will grow strong again. And tell you my story. And you will tell me yours. And we will kill for the small comforts and wait for my children to join us... The wind in our hair and bare feet in the grass. Daciana.'

'Louis.' 'Claudia.'

[Daciana] 'We own... nothing.'"

Be right back, need to add Romanian to my Duolingo list.

What a scene. A scene that will stay with Louis forever, reminding him for decades to come of the immense strength and the immense fragility of the vampire. Of the power of the creature owning the night, and the fragility of the creature bending under the weight of inconmensurable, endless time. Lesson learned, again. "All those in darkness go into darkness".

I love that Daciana, this ancient, timeless vampire, remembers little pleasures of human life and uses them as a measure of good and bad things, burnt bread one tip of the scale, cream from the top of a milk bucket the other side. As if, at the end, what sustained her wasn't the blood anymore, but those long ago memories of when she was human. A loop, ended.

Louis being the one who understands the blood and can explain it, after all those years rejecting it. He truly is the most dangerous one.

From a very meta perspective, it's hilarious that they made the character played by the actor famously known for his languages and accents abilities the one who struggles with languages. Very on the nose, very funny.

Claudia's face, the pure joy and elation when Daciana talks about going with them. And then the crestfallen, resigned expression when she throws herself in the fire. Emphasises the youth of Claudia and Louis. They want someone to willingly and joyfully guide them and teach them, an adult adultier than them. And they can't find anyone. Lestat refused, bound by his promise to Marius, his control and abandonment issues, Daciana had enough of the devil's road, and when they meet Armand, he doesn't want to guide but to, again, control and dominate. You know who they should have found? Pandora. She would have taken them under her wing if she had met them independently from Lestat. Pandora would have been worth it. I want a fic where Pandora meets them while they're travelling through Europe and decides to mentor them.

season 1 masterpost

part 1 | part 2 | part 4

episode 2 | episode 3 | episode 4 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7 | episode 8

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

My memory is terrible so I wanted to do a breakdown of my stuff every once in a while. Might be monthly, might be whenever I feel like it.

BL - Currently Watching

7 Days Before Valentine [11/12] - Unlike some other shows, this one is actually getting better towards the end. I appreciate that Sunshine did some self reflection and became a better human being and I really enjoy the visuals here. Also, 7 days before valentine we will watch the finale, so that's neat.

Cherry Magic Th [7/12]– I like what the thai version is doing with the source material, I think they are being really smart and I'm so happy I got to watch the shopping date and the helicopter ride that were missing from the japanese live action.

Cherry Magic Anime [4/12]– I'm enjoying all the parallels way too much. Part of me wishes that it had stayed closer to the manga but since I get that also from Thailand, I can't complain.

Cooking Crush [9/12]– My expectations weren’t as low as maybe other people because I'm a OffGun fan but I am enjoying this show way more than I thought. It’s so refreshing to see good communication and well rounded characters that are given the space to work stuff out and be honest with each other. I feel for Samsee, cause, been there.

Dead Friend Forever [6/12]– this show continues to surprise me every week. I’m a big horror and slasher fan so for the premise alone I was gonna watch it. But I’m liking the way they chose to structure this story, moving from the slasher bit to the past at that moment was really smart. The visuals are so strong in this and I’m enjoying the communal murdering impulses towards the original friend group.

Ossan's Love Returns [3/12] - It’s chaos but the kind that only Japan can get away with for me. That season opener alone would’ve made me stop watching if it wasn’t for that. But the thing about these characters for me is that they get to be this ridiculous because it’s all grounded in such heart and kindness towards each other. It's a balancing act that only Japan can deliver at this level.

Playboyy [10/14] – I applaud the effort to make something new and out of the bl box, I think the show is trying to talk about interesting things and there are moments where the visuals are very strong. However, the acting is the weakest part of the whole thing and so I cannot connect to the characters, which leaves the whole experience kinda empty for me.

Although I Love You, and You? [3/10]- Japan my beloved. What’s there to say? Sakae is my new favourite boy and I’m really enjoying these two bridging the gap in their personalities.

The Sign [10/12]– Phaya and Tharn are delightful. Yai is the bestest boy ever. But there’s too many loose threads considering we only have 2 episodes left. There’s still to much going on and the investigation part of it just seems too disconnected for me to care. I really hope they're not counting on a special or a second season to wrap this up.

BL - Finished

Last Twilight – No need to repeat myself. here and here

Love for Love's Sake - What a wonderful surprise this was. Yeo Woon is one of the most adorable characters of all time and I seriously cannot handle it. From the beginning there was always a cloud over the whole story and I think in the end it all came together really well, to give us a happy ending that feels earned. Also really appreciated the way the story dealt with the triangle. Most of the time I hate them with a passion so I was really happy that Sang Won didn't just disappear and stayed in the group and kept teasing Yeo Woon. And now I'm just suppose to move on?

Night Dream – I liked the beginning a lot, but, as it’s becoming increasingly frequent, it dipped as it approached the end and although I liked how it finished I wasn’t a fan of the path to get there. Time skip once again not used well.

Sahara Sensei to Toki-kun - I have not seen the finale yet but I didn't want to wait so I might update this post when I watch it. However, Toki is my favourite boy, and I just want him to be happy.

VIP Only – Cute but ultimately forgettable.

Rose Watches OJBL

So this month I started my journey into older jbl stuff in order to have a bigger understanding of the landscape and what came before. With the help of the amazing @twig-tea I've started this journey with 2 films: Ai no Kotodama (2008) - Such a wonderful way to start this adventure. Really enjoyed this film. Without spoiling it, I understand that the beginning of the film might turn some people off of it but I think it's actually really smart and purposeful. I would definitely recommend it.

No Touching At All (2014) - Also really enjoyed this one. The direction is really interesting I thought. I feel it's all very intentional and it reflects very well the characters state of mind.

And because Cherry Magic opened the anime gates I also watched:

Given (2019) - This is SO GOOD. This show rewired my brain. Just now I was listening to THE SONG and I got emotional again. Every once in a while I enter this mindset where I feel like nothing that I watch can surprise me anymore. Then I watched this show. My thoughts after watching can be found here.

Not BL - Watched this month

The Killing Vote Taxi Driver 2 Vigilante Fermat no Ryori

Well, that's it I guess. Now I have to go and make some Love for Love's Sake gifs because I just can't move on and need to live there a little longer. Speaking of gifs, I'm always happy to take gif requests so let me know.

💜💜💜

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: September 2023 ~ 

👻 Happy October!!! 🎃

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff!  -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Senior Love Me? Season 2 - September 1st (Thailand) 🌟 Naughty Babe - September 2nd (Thailand) ✅ 🌟 Venus in the Sky - September 2nd (Thailand) 🌟 Marry Go Round - September 3rd (Thailand) 🌟 Where Your Eyes Linger (movie version with added scenes + commentary) - September 5th (South Korea) 🌟 Y Star Challenge (reality show) - September 8th (Thailand)

🌟 The Promise: Honeymoon Lost and Found - September 9th (Thailand) 🌟 Our Story - September 9th (Philippines) 🌟 Rerun (starring PP Krit) - September 13th (Thailand) 🌟 You Are Mine - September 15th (Taiwan) 🌟 Bump Up Business - September 15th (South Korea) 🌟 Wedding Plan Special Episode - September 16th (Thailand) ✅ 🌟 Right Time, Right You - September 17th (Thailand) 🌟 Kimi ni wa Todokanai (I Can't Reach You) - September 27th (Japan) 🌟 Bon Appetit - September 27th (South Korea) 🌟 Absolute Zero - September 27th (Thailand)

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Naughty Babe - I'm loving this so much lol it's so silly but the comedy is so brilliant and so far I'm enjoying it more than Cutie Pie lol. The story is interesting and MaxNat's acting has improved a lot since CP which is nice. Definitely an unexpected nice little gem and also a band-aid for the soul after the OF-trauma every Saturday dskjhf

👎🏻 ø

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Like - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Live in Love - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Spirit Reborn - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Red Peafowl (starring Max N., Mek J., Boun N., Gun N., Yacht S., LongFrank & others) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Couple or Not - Date TBA (China)

🎥 Ossan's Love Season 3 - Coming January 2024 (Japan)

🎥 The Luminous Begins (Prequel to The Luminious Solution, starring Kaownah Kittipat) - Coming December 2023

Other news from the BL world

❗️ The upcoming Thai adaption of Cherry Magic will premiere in November as confirmed by the cast. The airing date has yet to be announced.

❗️ Actor Est Ravipon (LBC2, Naughty Babe) joined GMMTV.

❗️ The upcoming Thai BL 4 Minutes has been announced to air in early 2024. One of the main actors, Bible W., disclosed that shooting will begin in October and run until December. Several months back his acting partner Build J. dropped out of the production as a result of a defamation scandal. Further details, such as a recast for his role, as well as an airing date, are unknown.

❗️ Santa and Earth (My Only 12%) and EarthMix (ATOTS, MLC) respectively announced that they will be having another project together in 2024. Details are unknown.

❗️ GMMTV actor Gun Atthaphan won an award for "Outstanding Asian Star" at this year's Seoul International Drama Awards.

❗️ This year's GMMTV 2024 lineup event will take place on October 17th.

❗️ The cast for the upcoming Korean BL Jazz For Two was revealed: Song Han Gyeom (OMEGA X), Kim Jin Kwon & Ko Jae Hyun (To My Star), Byun Sung Tae (Happy Merry Ending) will be the main cast.

❗️ A third season for the Japanesse BL Ossan's Love was announced for January 2024.

❗️ At their event "Always More", WeTV announced their 2024 lineup. The following BL productions are included:

Monster Next Door

I Saw You In My Dream (WeTV x DeeHup)

Me And Who (WeTV x Domundi)

Knock Knock Boys (starring Seng W., Best V. and others)

❗️ MeMindY announced their next 2 BL projects:

Love Sea (adapted from an unreleased novel) - Coming 2024

Boy Next World (universe travel plot) - Coming 2024

Both series are adaptions from Mame's novels and will air in 2024. Earlier, FortPeat (Love in the Air) confirmed in a press conference that they will star in another one of Mame's projects, which led fans to believing they will appear in one of the 2 projects, along with BossNoeul. The official cast reveals will take place on October 3rd and 5th.

Upcoming series & movies for October

👉🏻 Sasaki to Miyano - October 1st (Japan, Netflix release)

👉🏻 If It's With You aka Even If I Fall In Love With You - October 5th (Japan)

👉🏻 What Did You Eat Yesterday? Season 2 - October 6th (Japan)

👉🏻 Lucky Love - October 15th (Thailand)

👉🏻 GMMTV2024 lineup event + press conference - October 17th (Thailand)

👉🏻 One Room Angel (manga adaption) - October 19th (Japan)

👉🏻 The Camp Fire - October 29th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Shadow - October 31st (Thailand)

👉🏻 Boys Like Boys (dating reality show) - October TBA (Taiwan)

👉🏻 Bump Up Business - October TBA (South Korea)

[snakeunderyourboot]

Some sketches from Malevolent!

I am obsessed with this podcast to the point of drawing so much about the ✨boys✨ I love when the media focuses on the relationship between characters, which is not love but not not love, they just care about each other and they try so hard to be better versions of themselves, but just doomed by the narrative. Poor guys, lets throw them into a mixer

Anyway....Enjoy!

My design of King in Yellow, John and Yellow.

The first one is the final design of King in Yellow. I love the idea of giving him pupils because the idea that some eldritch fucked-up thing has pupils really terrifies me. In the second pic, there is an old design of King in Yellow, that I changed a bit because he looked too human-like. There are also designs of John and Yellow, but I will probably change Yellow's design because he looks too human-like.

I really love the idea of a mask, so I decided to incorporate it into my designs. I broke it into upper half and lower half to bring some ✨symbolism✨. John has a lower part of the mask, which symbolizes his inability to talk and communicate with anyone except Arthur. Yellow has an upper half of the mask because from the first second, he was brought into the world, Arthur basically named him King in Yellow. He doesn't know anything besides that and never got a chance to learn about it. Therefore, he now bears the upper half of the mask as a crown of who he supposed to be

Now to the John design!

I wanted to make John's design different throughout the whole podcast, to symbolize his changes. At first, he literally is some unformed piece that was torn from someone with force(=therefore cracks). At the end of the first season, he gets his cloak and mask, with the truth of his true identity. While he is going through the Dreamlands and accepts his past as the King in Yellow, he gains a halo (which you can see in the design of the KiY. Yellow also has one, but with a different color)

In seasons 3-4, he has a human body and in general looks more human-like, which was made intentionally, to show how he changed. Also, he gets rid of the hood, which is connected with my small headcanon, that it was the King who took it off and saw how much John changed and how he is no longer his piece. At the end of season 4 he gets rid of the mask and his fire now has golden light attached to it. That is connected with Kayne's "You are the only king in this plane of existence now, take it for all I care" or something like that I don't remember correctly now. In short, it means now, that John is his own person, that isn't connected to the King in Yellow anymore. Depending on the Yellow's fate, I maybe will give John another halo

The boys✨✨

I don't have anything to say here, just wanted to draw them in their full sizes

Some small sketches about them

I like the idea when John sort of has his own body, but when Arthur turns his head, John automatically does the same. The same goes with their hand and foot

Just a small idea about John having a mouth. Definitely just an idea, but it was fun to think about. Snakey boy

I always forget, that John's hand is left, not right, but anyway, the moment from episode 26, where John calms Arthur during his mental breakdown

The obligatory “John describes in explicit detail some hideous thing and Arthur tells him to shut the fuck up”

Them holding hands!!!!

BONUS!!!

That was my first art of them! I just took the general fandom design for John and called it a day. Funnily, I drew that before I got to the season 4 finale

Anyway, thank you for your attention!!

[evilphrog]

How to make a show I will love:

1. Take a guy who has alienated everyone he cares about with his lies, who is afraid to even try putting things right so he just shovels more lies on top of them and acts cynical to everyone. He is convinced he can never be more than a total jerk and a failure.

2. Give him a huge falling out with his violence-loving sibling, who responds by joining a six-person team that fights against him. Both he and his sibling should blame him entirely for the falling out, but it should be obvious that some of the problem is his sibling’s refusal to accept any apologies. Oh, and give the sibling lightning powers.

3. Take another guy who was kidnapped by a shadowy government organization and brainwashed for most of his life. Make him radiate toxic optimism as a shield against the obvious guilt and trauma.

4. Force them together to solve mysteries involving time travel, much to the first guy’s annoyance and the second guy’s joy.

5. Make their best friend a woman who can kick anyone’s ass, but who is still allowed to be emotional. She starts the show wanting to be the perfect soldier, but ends up making her own path.

6. The titular character needs a narrative parallel in the form of a feral woman who has been raised entirely outside society. Her only real skillset is killing people, and she has negative social skills. Do not feminize her at all. She is going to be insane, violent, and dangerous. Her biggest dream is to find a new reality where she can just be a happy nobody.

7. Give her that dream, then make her watch it all fall to pieces. Have her blame herself for it, abandon that dream world, and return to the chaos.

8. The first season needs to be about free will vs. determinism, and taking control of your own narrative. The second guy should help the first guy find a way to atone for his past mistakes. It ends on a cliffhanger where the first guy does the hard work to be honest and vulnerable for the first time, but he ends up even worse off than before. He still chooses to commit to doing the right thing in spite of it all.

9. The second season starts with the first guy frantically searching for the second guy. When he finds him, the second guy is having a complete nervous breakdown because his toxic optimism has stopped being effective against the trauma and guilt. Now, the first guy has to turn the tables and be the one to help the second guy come to terms with his own past and take control of his own narrative.

10. Add a frat boy villain who represents the shadowy government organization. He has to be the dumbest human being alive, a total asshole, and have mental breakdowns every episode. He eventually betrays his older mentor for his own self-interest, and begrudgingly helps the protagonists defeat the shadowy government. He is still an asshole.

11. Throw in a lovable, hyperactive tech genius who is more interested in solving the puzzles than in the moral implications of his actions.

And boom! Instant classic.

[critical-hazbin]

Thoughts on Alastor so far? He’s probably my favorite character in HH, but after the poor writing that came from HB episodes 3 and 4, one part of me is worried the crew will ruin him when Hazbin Hotel eventually starts getting episodes.

(This ask was sent in a long time ago, sorry it took me until now to finally answer.)

Spoilers for Season 1 of Hazbin

I was almost certain they were going to mess up Alastor's character horribly. I did not have much faith in the writing for Hazbin. With Alastor specifically, there is a lot of room for error in terms of characterization, and I found personally that he was the trickiest one of the cast to write correctly and consistently. Between fandom woobifying, conflicting information, and a lack of insight into his motivations, Alastor's character has seen many varying interpretations over the years.

Well, now that the show is actually airing, I have to say that I don't think they ruined Alastor's character: they actually did a great job with him. I do understand the perspective of those who disagree with me, and miss the pilot characterization. But as a long-time Alastor fan, I feel the writers gave him surprising depth and found his flaws intriguing.

Pilot Alastor (Ed Bosco and Gabriel Brown) was goofier, more lighthearted, chattier, and more openly affectionate. Nothing really seemed to rattle him, and direct signs of his deviousness were minimal. He had more extensive radio sound effects and was truly a product of the thirties (reflected in dialogue through specific phrases), but had a smaller range of emotional expression as a result of his "radio broadcaster" persona. Husk seemed to owe him a favor, as opposed to Alastor owning his soul outright - "I suppose I could cash in a few favors" - and this was a common fan interpretation, not just a misinterpretation on my part.

Series Alastor (Amir Talai) is more temperamental, prideful, openly intimidating, reserved, and less prone to rambling. The radio effects are minimal unless needed for dramatic effect; his smile is sharper and less genuine. We see a wider range of emotions (frustration, anger, fear) from this Alastor, all with the smile still in place. There's a certain coldness about him, from his demeanor towards Husk (whom he keeps as a pet in an abusive soul contract) and his annoyance at others (Charlie, the Egg Bois, Sir Pentious) that contrasts his superficial warmth from the pilot.

It's a subtle but definitely noticeable set of changes for a character many fans had grown attached to. And yet, I found I liked the new version of Alastor, and felt that the writers added depth to a character who could have easily been a flat, all-powerful "Gary Stu" archetype. We see how these character flaws come back to bite him in the finale and how his limitations imposed by his deal set up his character for other, more interesting developments. Him having a breakdown and then immediately returning to the others with a smile on his face like everything is fine? That's the kind of Alastor that I knew was in there, and it was amazing to actually see it on screen. (I always figured he was a mess beneath the mask. That last scene was not shocking for me the way it was for many others.)

This fascinating characterization hasn't stopped other people from saying they "miss the pilot Alastor" and "wish he was still like that". I get that, I really do. If pilot Alastor was how Alastor wanted to be seen by others, series Alastor shows us who he really is. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is going to like that.

Side note: Ed and Gabriel did a perfect job voicing Alastor. Amir is also doing very nice work. I still miss the pilot voices, even though I like the voice he has now.

[gendrsoup]

2, 3, 17 for the dbda ask game!

thank you for asking!!

2. Which is your favorite episode? Why?

while i know ep 7 is the fan favorite (and for good reason, it's my second fav) i always find myself rewatching and enjoying episode 4 the most. it's a very important arc beat for most of the characters: crystal with her parents and the washer woman's prophecy, charles with his beating the night nurse and subsequent breakdown, and edwin on his self discovery journey. we also get to learn a lot about the world of dead boy detectives that i find super interesting. plus it has some of my favorite niko&edwin bits!!

3. A character you think is underrated/underappreciated?

if i were to pick a MC i'd have to say crystal. she doesn't get HALF the love and adoration she deserves. if i were to pick from the extensive cast of wonderful and beautifully 3 dimensional side characters, i'd go with kashi. he was just so peculiar and perfectly strange and i need to see more of him oml

17. Theory you have/had for season 2?

my biggest one is was that niko's soul was transported to the neitherlands and that the story would follow the arc from the comics of the ghost bone snow and charles getting there by reentering his buried body

[wolvertooth]

Did u see the news that sabretooth is confirmed to show up in xmen97 season 2? I'm extremely excited and giddy yet mortified bc of the whole useless [mag/rogue) "romance" 97 adapted/retconned into existence,

even if they had the whole ballroom dance together it was still very obvious they were showing both the implied grooming and the power imbalance mags had over her and seeing as 92 did adapt the whole silverfox flashback+ her death and the team X EP I'm really paranoid that the writers will suddenly tack on unnecessary SA implications both to torture logan and as a way to make sabes cruel and sadistic in a lazy ass way..

*sighing loudly* sorry for the long ask, I'm just really passionate about both their characters as a longtime fan boy and knowing the insane positive reception 97 got I'm just terrified that IF they do add on that implication ppl who like his character will never hear the end of it, or how he should be killed off forever bc he's a mindless murdering cannibalistic booty warrior who stomps on babies and makes kitten tacos on Wednesdays or WHATEVER lame shit they mame him do avoid writing a character that's both evil and terrifying yet charming and a lil sympathetic, God forbid we have complex characters that can still be villians and not cardboard training dummys for the heros to attack 🙄

dunno about the grooming thing, considering rogues in her 20s(possibly even late 20s). i think shes just a grown woman with a case of Wanting That Old Man Carnally. confession -> i havent actually watched past episode 3, cuz tbh i. dont care much for the xmen aside from wolverine. and he barely got to do anything. so all my context is just from tumblr posts.

also i genuinely thought u meant like. sabretooth SAing wolverine in the past. and i was like bro theres no way disney would allow that dw about it👍 then after rereading it a couple times i was like OH U MEANT THE 2003 COMIC THING LMAO. first of all, with the current rating they got, theres No chance they'd go that far. besides, shes alive, and logan knows all that was just implants anyway(i reallyyyy hope they dont forget about the whole implants thing...). second, i dont think morph would transform into sabretooth as a joke if he was really someone who fucked up logan That Bad.

anyway i literally forget that people like him as a Villain cuz im just over here seeing him as the rich merc whos an occasional annoying bastard with a heart of gold and a history of mental breakdowns.. like hes got a bit of a The Mask situation going on with his costume tbh, he'll just get written way more cartoonishly evil whenever hes got that thing on lol

anddd if they do decide to follow the previously established canon(and they likely wont do too much due to him still being on the villains side in the intro, just lemme dream for a sec here), i think him and logan are on somewhat good terms now! last time they hungout he only fought him for like 2 seconds cuz he thought wolverine was picking a fight, then dropped it pretty quick(it was also the episode that revealed any of the bad memories they had of eachother in the past were all just implants). after that, he was last seen without the costume, which is kind of a big thing for his character? i think?

..ok i just remembered the recent 97 prequel comics where hes just...#normal villain sabretooth working for sinister and the marauders. 😦😧chat......this better not mean what i think it means..........(CLONE PLOT PART 4?). but theyre also both on a last name basis with eachother so. ❓ progress?

at least the comics didnt forget about team x. so maybe we got a chance at something good

[trippin-over-my-fandoms]

So since I predicted that Sloane and Luther would get together from the day she was announced as well as a couple of scenes- I feel obligated to share w y'all my batshit crazy idea of what I thought might happen in season 4 and like now that we have TWO trailers why I think it might happen. In other words-

Me being delulu about tua s4 and y'all gotta deal w it

So my initial thought was that in this new timeline they are themselves slotted into lives they don't initially remember, that the longer they dwell in the timeline the more they remember and some come to accept. Up until the inevitable happens and the world is at risk again for whatever reason. However, saving the world means giving up these perfect lives for accepting their shitty dysfunctional reality to save each other. Because the more they stay and accept the more they lose of previous timelines.

I was gonna write a fanfic but then my resident evil obsession started and if y'all have read any of my fanfic y'all know my history with long-fics.

Why do I now think this could actually be the case you ask?

At the end of season 3 Luther takes off after our girl Sloane with Klaus following but everyone else is just so calm. Soooo which leads us to

Trailer 1

Viktor might own or work in a bar. Which the fact that he seems to be somewhat settled for sure tells us that some time has possibly passed between season 3 and 4

The sign says "home for wayward boys" implying that Allison may not have been in the group and maybe neither Viktor before the transition. I'm also wondering if now that his wife is back maybe in this new timeline they both fostered/adopted our main characters.

Oh yeah did I mention Reginald's moon wife is alive? His whole thing with the children was his alien (literally) way to save her. Now she's alive.

Allison is with claire so she also possibly has her life back.

Ben is getting out of jail and like it could be a "time has passed between seasons" thing or something happens in one of the episodes where he winds up locked up.

Diego is at a kid's party and either has his own kid or a niece or something. it's not claire and the family behind him is not his umbrella fam.

MY BOY IS SO SMALL ITS GONNA BE SO WEIRD SEEING HIM "NORMAL" THIS SEASON also he looks kinda sad. trailer two debunks what I initially thought of his reveal in this trailer because I thought oh haha what if it's a Halloween costume but like we'll get to my season 2 crazies hang in there.

Klaus is upside down in an interior (proven by the radiator) so he is either stuck, meditating, in a trance, or it's Sloane holding him there. I also kinda wonder if he's going through a clean streak or something OCD like with his addictions from the whole blue gloves thing. tbh i saw those in the promo and thought it was blue screen and his hands were gonna be effed up lol.

ben shouts "lets go kill this bitch" and allison corrects "this is a rescue mission" sooooooo is reginal and or his wife the bitch in question? and like sloane is the only one missing from our group so maybe she's the one being rescued? or maybe one of the new characters (like gene and jean).

which brings me to a theory I'll get to after my trailer break down and before the second breakdown.

side bar but the xmen stile jet is great lol

the subway is 100% a metaphor for the timelines AND that house diego and luther are at is the one from season two where they see reggie and grace at that party

the mind thingies in the blue room are so fucked up and i cant tell if thats sloane or wife hargreeves or a grace return in the bg but im wondering if it connects them to other timelines? Im wondering if the woman is sloane bc abigail has such curly hair but it does remind me of grace so idk.

upside down umbrella is insane okay

starting to think the jet might be flashbacks

A SPACE SUIT HAND REACHES INTO A RED FORCE SOMETHING FOR ANOTHER HAND AND SLOANE MAYBE????

fuck organization if you have read this far welcome to my brain- anyway- theory is that her place got swapped for abigail hargreeves' on the moon and now our beloved moon boy has to save her from that place. so symbolic.

now i was half put down a few shots later when we see victor emit a similar color power later but trailer 2 kinda backs some stuff up.

so trailer 2

opens with ben alone and confused and vicktor calls ben at the phone booth leading me to 100% believe they have split up again and have to find each other. very nostalgic of season 1 and 2

"there's something happening to you and it's only gonna get worse" so this is either about just ben OR its about all of them. either way ben did look confused so his eldritch horrors are either hulking out or he's losing memory chunks like my theory suggests. but it might revolve around ben bc vicktor specifically says "you" in the next time about the world ending.

(wondering if luther nervous farted in the car lmao)

Gene and Jean are possibly conspiracy theorists or agents posing as them but its interesting they are bringing attention to the altered timelines.

okay yeah world ending revolves around ben im tired okay and not proofing this you're stuck with my ramblings

the white violin is for sure abi hargreeves no doubt it doesn't look like sloane and plus the violin viktor got was bc reggie gave it to him that he got from his wife before she died okay. fanfic rn where viktor is the chosen child fanfic rn where abi loves all the kids fanfic rn where shes alive but shes just as much of a dick and we could have an epic trans story for viktor and expectations and yeah anyway-

whoever said it was jenny in trailer two i wanna kiss u on the lips ur prolly right and i love you for it

"ben died because we failed as a team" "and-" "and what" FOLLOWED BY LUTHERS CONFUSED FACE LEADS ME TO ONE OF TWO THINGS AND YOU ALREADY KNOW ONE OF THEM memory loss my beloved or something shocking occurs to him or like he seems something idk

more blue room stuff and uh maybe its not mind stuff maybe its power stimulation like what if they dont have their powers but ben does idk.

who TF is klaus digging up

OH GUYS NO I THINK LUTHER IS A MALE DANCER THATS WHAT THE SPACE SUIT IS IDK WTF IS THIS SHOW I LOVE IT

anyway they keep showing that one scene and like idk im delulu about sloane im so tired and i am not ready for this show to end in 8 days im sobbing y'all

[adz]

episodes 4 and 5 of the first season of Justin Willman's The Magic Prank Show provide a nauseatingly informative window into social media's disastrous effect on human relationships and humanity in general. one of the subjects is a young boy who was in a filmed prank by his sister, and his weeping breakdown went viral. he discusses the bullying he underwent as a result of becoming a minor celebrity for an embarrassing video.

he is visibly joyless the entire episode except for the scene where he gets revenge on his sister, where he is smiling while flipping her off.

another subject is a man whose husband left a drunken comment on one of Willman's instagram posts asking him to "make my husband disappear." Willman shows this man his husband's comment, and he looks sad and angry before agreeing to prank his husband in return. during the prank, the man who left the rude comment watches his husband walk into a port-a-potty, which explodes. he apparently believes his husband is dead, and when it's revealed to be a prank, he's predictably furious and jokes about divorce.

in less than an hour of television, you get to watch every single person on the screen succumb to their basest desires. if one person involved with these episodes had at any point resisted this urge and chosen to love and respect their fellow human, the show would not exist. therefore, i rate them 10/10, a perfect encapsulation of the internet age's precipitous decline of humanity

[kitkatpancakestack]

Aw man now I'm on something. nobody asked and nobody cares but here it is anyway.

My personal ratings of each 9-1-1 season!! Because why not!!

Season 1: 7.5/10. Tonally different than the rest of the show (also visually different, yikes re that god awful saturation) but some memorable episodes, I really liked the edginess they played around with even if a couple of the plotlines weren't my favorite. Connie Britton was in it so obviously that's a plus. just a really solid foundation for the character journeys to come. Gets a 7.5 for episode 1x04 alone tbh.

Season 2: 10/10 flawless no skips legend you already know how I feel about this queen

Season 3: 6/10. ppl rate this season higher for nostalgia I think bc 1) many fans started watching this season and 2) the buddie of it all goes crazy. But tbh aside from the tsunami arc and the train derailment it's kind of mid. madney pregnancy reveal at the end bumps it to a 6 from a 5 bc I love them sm.

Season 4: 7/10. lackluster start but they gained mad momentum when Future Tense aired. some bumps probably due to shorter COVID season but this shit is a banger. Also the introduction of Ravi?? Best character add-on since Maddie and Eddie. And the Shooting Arc® speaks for itself.

Season 5: 8.5/10. I know I love to bitch and moan about 5a but personal feelings aside this is an objectively solid season. they toyed with darker themes similar to s1 vibes and it worked for the most part. Flawless execution? No, but we got Boston, we got Eddie breakdown, we got Mayday, we got another wave of fandom racism and Buck stan uwu-ism so u know it was doing something right the seamless and beautiful way the season circled around and brought everyone back together at the end. They almost hit that s2 magic but nobody can be s2 as we know.

Season 6: 4/10. wtf happened this season tbh. Buck got struck by lightning. Tomorrow was an amazing episode. I think I hallucinated Buck's sperm donor storyline. literally I'm asking genuinely what happened this season lol. end of FOX era good riddance goodbye.

Season 7: 7.5/10. Really it deserves an 8 but that finale was such a letdown I didn't see coming lmfao. Bathena cruise ship disaster amazing all the way around. Buck is a boy kisser speaks for itself. Other storylines I'm not so pumped about. It was a shorter season tho and other things are in flux, but I think it did a halfway decent job setting the groundwork for what could be a really good s8.

[shi-daisy]

Hi! Dropping in to say I read your TomJake fic and I loved it. It really feels like it could be canon compliant. As to how the season's going do you think you'll keep it as is or edit it? And are you still rooting for them or even Jake as a whole?

Aaaaa! Hi anon! So happy you liked my fic! It has gotten such a good reception and so much love I'm excited to write for the fandom again soon.

To answer your questions I do think I'll edit the fic a little if only to include Tatsu who wasn't named at the time I wrote it, and maybe change a bit of Tom's part as I wrote the fic thinking he was an orphan but apparently he has a mom so I'd have to tweak some stuff and include her, maybe change the song too as I found one more fitting for it.

Okay TomJake. Oh boy, to be honest I'm slowly losing hope but holding on by a thread. These two still seem to deeply care for eachtoher but they get on their own way more often than not and while I will root for them till the very end it wouldn't surprise me to see them fall apart too. But we keep the hope until the last scene!

Now as for Jake as a solo character, I am still rooting for him too. Episode 10 has the the fandom divided as to whether or not we should root for Jake or wish for him to be next boot. Personally I want him to grow and losing the only support he has left is likely the only way he's gonna learn.

Many say he will spiral and I'll be honest I could see him having a breakdown next episode. But I don't think he'll give up, my guess is that while he has no reason to get the money, he could try and win it for Ashley's sake. He's in a horrible position now as the villains are 5 against 4 heroes and the other 3 heroes gunned for him last time so I'd like to see him play solo at least one episode as he slowly reels from Ashley's boot and from the heroes who lets face it will unfairly pin this fail on him.

Yes I say unfairly because even if he was an emotional wreck that wanted to throw the vote, the other four also threw the vote and that caused the villains to win it.

Ally hates Jake because of him picking fights and being volatile and I agree with her assessment that actions speak louder than words and that Jake was wrong. However as annoying as he is you need his number to at least tie a vote. For the time being if I was her I would've faked niceness and tried to get along with him instead of fueling the fire. She didn't and took the fight personal too and voted Jake. Okay, what if he goes? It's four heroes against five villains, you're toast unless the villains fall apart and they target other stronger players. Jake is a meatshield and she should've just kept it chill like Ashley and that way he won't go off.

Same thing with Aiden. Dude knows Jake has it out for him because of the previous misunderstanding and because he's petty and volatile. Okay, don't poke the poodle then, don't fight him, don't provoke him. Come episode 9, he starts shit. Dude I get that on 8 Jake was an ass but I highly doubt you taunting him will stop him from trying to win, hell you taunting him is what got him to throw hands on episode 9. Don't poke the angry dude if you don't want him to go off, especially if he does not like you! Quiet and unnoticed got him far in season 2. If he had done so here too, maybe Jake wouldn't have been so down to fight. Same in episode 10. The shot was accidental and Jake should've just shrugged it off and kept his yapper shut, but then comes Aiden and goes 'Don't take it so personal'...My man, you just said that to the dude who already dislikes you and takes EVERYTHING personal! What did you think he was gonna do? Give you a hug? The vote too again was dumb 'It's him or us.' The only targets you have are Riya and Gabby, Tom and Ashley are stronger and if voted could've taken the villains in a tie breaker. Shut the hell up, and everyone vote a villain. They didn't and that's what got their second strongest to go off now. It's not just Jake's fault even if he bears the most fault. Everyone fucked up this episode and are now all on the chopping block.

Self indulgent wish fulfillment ahead while many say Jake will apologize next episode I don't want him to. I want him to be silent, solo, and seething. I want the others to try and pin it all on him only to be told what I just said and for Jake to tell them 'You want me out next? Fine, vote for me again, but I'm not going down without a fight! I owe her that much at least!' I want him to make it clear they all fucked up and they can't pin it all on him alone.

I want Tom to try and apologize for the vote only for Jake to not care, and even say 'I did the same to you last season. We're even.' Let my man seethe and work alone for a bit. Let him make Tom earn him back if he wants him because while I understand his reasoning for keeping away he still ghosted the man with attachment and trust issues for two whole years, avoided setting the record straight, lied to him (knowing his trauma around lying), and topped it all off with voting for him which resulted on his beastie being the one taken out. Jake has every right to pull the plug even if temporarily.

I wanna see him maybe bond with Grett if Yul is still being the worst. Boy would recognize the signs from what he went through with his own abusive ex and probably throw hands with Yul (id pay to see that). I wanna see him and Gabby talk too, Gabby explaining how she feels about Ellie being voted and wanting to support her and while Jake loathes her maybe he could provide perspective too. 'She did this to me for money in season 1, she was going down the same bad path again and you know it. If you love her, win for her and help her but getting out was necessary Gabby and you know it.' Imagine him getting those two out of the alliance, imagine him helping get Yul out or even just fool thewhole camp into thinking he's still a mess while in reality he is secretly plotting their downfall while playing the unstable wreck again. I'd be screaming to see both villains and heroes gagged if he played it right and got the villains out, if he maybe made it further than he did last time. I really want to see my boy shine and shine bright. So yes anon, I am rooting for Jake and hoping he at least gets one or two villains out if he does not win it all, and if he does then let him help support his beastie and make Miriam proud.

As for him and Tom we'll see if it can be saved. I'm hoping for the best but I'm also petty and if our himbo cop pulls one more stunt, I won't be sad should Jake choose to cut the cord for good.

Hope this answers your questions! Thanks for the fic support!