#this episode of game changer was PHENOMENAL

[jade-jupiter]

Once again, dropout closed captions are my favorite flavor of closed captions

[brennan-lee-mother]

I love gamechanger because where else are you gonna get episodes that leave you with a lingering sense of dread and an acute feeling it’s not over yet even after credits play?

[drowninginredink]

You know. I was being charitable and thinking that Sam picked "who is the most mid" just because that's a phenomenal premise for a Game Changer episode. And then that Lord of the Rings box set came out and I learned that no, this is just Yes or No part 2. God bless you, Sam Reich

[clarionglass]

so i have been bitten by the sam reich!master bug courtesy of some phenomenal art by @northernfireart and uh. as is too often the case i had to write something otherwise if i didn't get it out of my brain i would go absolutely insane

(there may be more vignettes coming if i have ideas..... there are definitely other episodes i'd like to give the Treatment to, plus with the new dw series coming out on the weekend i may have ideas for how to incorporate the dw gang! however, i promise neither more writing or no more writing. that said, this was a lot of fun so there'll probably be more at some stage :D )

this has full spoilers for the game changer ep "escape the greenroom", but hey that's been out for a while now so,,,, if you haven't seen it i'd highly recommend it as an episode!

so, without further ado:

--

Samuel Dalton was a complete fiction, of course, but that didn't mean that when Sam Reich snuck back upstairs to get tied up in the “out of order” bathroom, the Sam that remained on the monitor, laughing at the contestants, was a pre-recording. And if Brennan, Siobhan and Lou had snorted at the idea of a time-travelling evil magician great-grandfather (for good reason), going in with the actual truth of the matter would have sounded like jumping the shark.

It sounded bizarre, but the time travel bit was the only part about his new partner in crime that was confirmably real. Admittedly, the jury was still out on “evil”—he gave off a weird vibe at times, but so far, no lines had been crossed, and it had all been funny as hell—so for now, Sam was willing to roll with it. But perhaps most surprisingly, there wasn’t even the possibility of blood relation between Samuel Dalton Reich and the guy who had shown up out of the blue one day with his exact face and a plan to really fuck around with things on Game Changer.

Yeah, the whole alien thing had really ruled out that particular prospect.

There had been various bits and pieces of confirmation that this guy wasn’t human through the time Sam had known him, but the final nail in the coffin for that one was when his doppelganger had looked him dead in the eye and tried on one of the heart rate monitors—sorry, “range extenders”—for As a Cucumber. The damn thing had literally sparked up, then died completely. Trying to process input from two separate heartbeats at once would do that, apparently. 

His doppelganger was a Time Lord, or so he had nonchalantly said one afternoon in casual conversation, though Sam still wasn’t sure if that one was a joke or not. It was hard to tell, sometimes, because he said the wildest things with the straightest face, and so far, most of them had turned out to be one hundred percent certifiably true. The time travel, the space travel, even the changing faces thing—it sounded objectively insane, but the proof was undeniable. 

There were some notable exceptions, though. Saying he’d been trapped for aeons inside Neil Patrick Harris’s gold tooth went just that bit too far to be believable, though Sam did appreciate his double’s slightly warped sense of humour.

It was that offbeat line of thinking that lent itself well to game design, as it turned out. He had a knack for coming up with ideas for Game Changer episodes, albeit with the occasional suggestion that went way beyond the bounds of good taste, and, as in the case of Escape the Greenroom, had devised some blinding twists on concepts Sam had already half-formed. The letter puzzle unlocking the secret door? It was perfect.

Understandably, Sam’s doppelganger had wanted to observe the fruits of their labours in real time, rather than watching the recording later. It happened, sometimes, particularly when it was one of his ideas that had made it through to the episode list—they’d swap places for a session, with nobody being any the wiser. Watching those edits back always felt a bit weird—it was uncanny how flawless the mimicry was—but hey, the guy was right. It was always fun.

Escape the Greenroom, specifically, with its “Samuel Dalton” conceit, provided them with a unique opportunity. Instead of swapping out the camera feed for a recording when the cast piled into the tiny secret room behind the wall, as per the original plan to get Sam in position to be discovered in the bathroom, they could just swap out the people. Sam would go upstairs, and his double would take his place at the podium, ducking out of sight when everyone came back to the main stage to “defuse the bomb”.

Sam was keen—hell, if their situations had been reversed, he’d want to be there to watch, too—but caution raised a flag. “You don’t think it’s too risky?” he’d asked when the subject was first raised. “Both of us being in the same place?”

His doppelganger had shrugged one shoulder with supreme unconcern. “The crew won't notice.”

At the time, Sam had shot him a sceptical look, but right now, Sam-Reich-in-a-purple-tie and Sam-Reich-in-an-orange-tie were standing backstage post-record, clearly visible and and calmly chatting, and not a single member of the crew had given them so much as a second glance. 

…Hardly even a first glance, come to think about it. If anyone looked over their way, their eyes seemed to… not exactly go through them, but slide over the two of them like water. He was tempted to wave to Nico or Ash or someone, just out of pure curiosity, but something in the back of his mind told him that wouldn’t be the world’s greatest idea. He had a funny feeling he wouldn’t like to see what would happen next.

(He’d given the prop bomb back to the crew once the cameras stopped rolling, and though it looked the same as the one he remembered from before he’d headed upstairs, it felt different in his hands. Heavier, more… serious, somehow. He was sure nothing would have happened—but at the same time, he was suddenly very glad that the cast had cut the correct wire with no less than a minute fifteen to go.)

(The jury was still out on evil, after all.)

“Worth coming in for?” he asked instead.

“Absolutely,” his double replied with relish. “Locking those three in a small room for an hour? Brilliant, fantastic. Inspired. It was absolute chaos.”

“Have you seen up there?” Sam asked, a smile starting to spread across his face. “They messed up the set real bad.”

His doppelganger smirked at him. “You know it took literally two seconds from you telling them to escape the greenroom for Lou to smash that guitar?”

Sam shook his head. “Oh my god. Yeah, they were stressed.” 

“Mmm. Some real panic in that room,” his doppelganger agreed, and Sam chose to ignore the faint note of satisfaction in his voice.

He shifted his weight, settling back to lean against the table behind the set, in the exact instant his double decided to do the same thing. It really was freaky how similar they were, down to the smallest mannerism—like looking in a mirror, only weirder, because the face that looked back at him was truly his own face, not mirror-reversed. Even now, it still caught Sam off guard from time to time, but at least it had faded into a more comfortable kind of strange. He had an exact lookalike who was an actual time-travelling alien. Cool. Doesn’t everyone?

The pair shared a companionable silence for a few moments, before a thought Sam had been turning over for a while rose to the top of his mind. He shifted again, this time on his own, and he felt his double’s regard swing up to fix on him like a magnet. 

“Okay, real talk,” he started, and his doppelganger frowned back in an approximation of confused innocence. “What’s all this for?”

“Who says it has to be for anything? Aren't we just having fun?”

Sam hummed, considering. “Yeah. No, I'd believe that, if I didn't sometimes walk into production meetings and find out I'd apparently been very specific about the people I wanted for certain episodes.”

“Point for Sam,” his doppelganger acknowledged with a grin. “You got me. Wasn’t hard to make a few phone calls on our joint behalf.”

“Yeah, but why?” Sam pressed. “I mean, Siobhan, Brennan and Lou are always great comedy value when you put them together, and it was awesome to have them for this, but I get the feeling you’re thinking of something other than making good content.”

“Who, me?”

With that, his double gave him a look of such overdone pantomime innocence that Sam suddenly and thoroughly understood why, not half an hour earlier, Brennan had very seriously threatened to push him down the stairs. 

He rolled his eyes, which earned him a smirk for his troubles.

Dropping the act, his doppelganger continued. “I’m expecting an… old friend, I guess, to show up at some point, and—well, I’d like to put on a really special show for them. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a few things out, you know?”

Ominous pause aside, that was actually kind of sweet. Sweeter than he’d been expecting, that’s for sure—he was half anticipating the revelation that he and his cast were subjects in some weird experiment. Hey, that still couldn’t fully be ruled out, but still.

“Okay,” he acquiesced. “Well… just let me know, next time? Before you start ordering in my cast like takeout?”

“Who says they’re your cast?” his double shot back with a twinkle in his eye, and Sam snorted.

“Fine. Our cast, then. But seriously, let me know?”

His doppelganger nodded, which, if not quite fully convincing, was good enough. 

“Oh, and do you know when your friend might be arriving?” Sam asked. “Because if you wanted to plan something, we can—”

“I don’t know,” his doppelganger interrupted. “So yeah, we’ll have to move fast when they do get here. But I’ve got it under control.”

He broke off, then shot Sam a mischievous grin. “In the meantime, though, I’ve had this fun thought about time loops…”

[moss-sprouted]

it baffles me that certain other content creators would try to follow in dropouts footsteps when the content that dropouts making is almost far exceeding the small price point they offer

and i know theres other small streaming services that came off of youtube, and they dont personally have anything im particularly interested in but ive heard great things!

however compared to the one im vaguely talking about, dropout is really just killing it, And still offering free content and shorts to Advertise that paid content and that fully pulls me back in

and the stuff theyre putting out lately has been beyond phenomenal, and they still have their great old faithful shows to fall back on like dimension 20 and um,actually and even with some of the changes made to those shows over the years, theyre still fantastic and theres SO much backlog to watch

and now very important people? fucking incredible show, such an interesting concept and so fucking funny, ive been unable to watch any of the full episodes in a bit cause im waiting to subscribe when i have all of fantasy high junior year to watch or at least i can catch up before the finale (and as a consequence of waiting months, will have a huge backlog of incredible shows and episodes to check out as well) but either way every short i see of that show is so incredible and i know that the full episodes wont be disappointing

and game changer really is such a fucking fantastic show and im so glad it exists, ive watched every episode and all them are so good and absolutely hilarious

idk dropouts really just killing it and while i hope it stays 6 dollars for the foreseeable future, the content provided is worth so so so much and they actively encourage password sharing and idk i could just gush about dropout forever, im so glad i checked it out and i can keep coming back to it every few months and have so much stuff to watch, and if you have the money to spare i would highly encourage it, or even just the free trial

but if you cant, theres full seasons of d20 and so much other content of it to see... for free, on youtube funny how that works? and they still make money?? who knew!

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (7-13 Apr 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 If This Is As Far As We Go (BeauRadley) - 124K, stucky no-powers AU - after a year of being phenomenal hookup buddies, bucky ends their arrangement & throws steve into a tailspin - slow burn, angsty, oblivious steve slowly realizing his true feelings, good supporting cast

😊 Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid (Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert) - cute graphic novel about art students forming a softball team to exploit a financial aid loophole

😍 Death in the Spires (KJ Charles, author; Tom Lawrence, narrator) - historical murder mystery set in 1905 Oxford - another KJC absolute banger: incredible sense of place, fantastic characters, perfectly done 'whodunnit' tension and a HIGHLY SATISFACTORY resolution. Loved every word

💖💖 +76K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

The Man, the Myth, the Legend (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: gen, 2.9K - Holster's beatboxing skills brings all the a capella groups to the Haus - a short, fun, funny, outsider POV fic

Say it louder for the people in the back (redhook) - MCU: shrinkyclinks, 14K - reread, forever fave - sometimes you just get a yearning to reread the best glory hole fic ever written

In Focus (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: zimbits, 6K - Jack's photography eye knows what's up before his conscious brain does

Entering Orbit (museaway) - Star Trek AOS: spirk, 30K - good post-AOS canon-divergent fic where Jim goes home to Iowa to escape the press & Spock joins him

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Conan O'Brien

QI - series S, ep 13

Game Changer - s6, e5 {Bingoception}

Um, Actually - s9, e4

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Dawn of Justice" (s21, e14)

D20: Adventuring Party - "We're Running on 200%" (s16, e14)

Death In Paradise - s11, e4-8; s12 e0-8, s13 e0-8

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Working - How to Be Both a Critic and a Creator

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #10: Of the Reaching Green

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep10 "Of the Reaching Green"

Short Wave - How Climate Change And Physics Affect Baseball

Consider This from NPR - Bad Omens Or The Cycle of Nature? How The Ancient World Viewed Eclipses

⭐ Armchair Expert - Anna Kendrick [Rerelease from 1/9/23]

Today, Explained - Is college still worth it?

The Sporkful - Jewish Food Is More Than Matzoh Balls

WikiHole - BEYONCÉ (with Zoë Chao, Nat Faxon and Poppy Liu)

⭐ All Songs Considered - Songs to make you laugh, with 'Weird Al' Yankovic

In Defense of Fandom - Season 2 Episode 2: Putting my theory to the test

Dinner’s on Me - Orville Peck

⭐ Switched on Pop - Chasing old sounds: Djo's "End of Beginning" with Joe Keery

⭐ 99% Invisible #577 - The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant Persons

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Ada Limón

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Brown Mountain Lights

Short Wave - The Order Your Siblings Were Born in May Play a Role in Identity and Sexuality

⭐ Code Switch - How Frederick Douglass launched generations of Black and Irish solidarity

⭐ Decoder Ring - Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

⭐ Imaginary Worlds - African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #11: Promises Promises

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep11 "Promises Promises"

What Next: TBD - Does Google Suck Now?

Short Wave - What To Know About The New EPA Rule Limiting 'Forever Chemicals' In Tap Water

Code Switch - Reflecting on the legacy of O.J. Simpson

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Atlas Obscura Live: Two Places And A Lie

Dear Prudence - I Lost a Lot of Weight and Now I Enjoy Being a Mean Girl. Help!

It's Been a Minute - The car culture wars; plus, the problem with child stars

Endless Thread - RIP Lil Miquela

Shedunnit - You Probably Imagined It!

Armchair Expert - John Cena

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - [One Shot] A County Affair: Prologue

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Bonnie Raitt

Lowrider Oldies

Huge House Anthems

Djo

Classic Soul BBQ

A LA SALA [Khruangbin] {2024}

Presenting Khruangbin

Happy Beats

'80s One-Hit Wonders

Feel-Good Classic Rock

[reelvibes91]

"Breaking Brad" Loki Season 2, Episode 2 Review

Loki season 2 continues to dive deep into the aspects of time travel and alternate branches of the timeline. Here we find Loki and Mobius continuing the search for Sylvie and learning more about what He Who Remains is up to.

I found this episode a lot slower overall than the first one. It really played up the subplot of chasing X-5. It really could have bypassed a lot of the filler moments about whether he had the information Mobius and Loki were looking for.

What worked in this episode really worked. Loki using his powers to create mischief was phenomenal. The scene where he uses the shadow play was a top tier Loki scene in the MCU so far.

It really seems like they are taking their time with the story. I fully expected to see Majors in this episode to help further the plot along. Next week is the halfway point of the season, and it really needs to be a game changer. Marvel can not afford another series that haphazardly goes into the second half of a season without a clear story. There are a lot of possibilities as to where this show is going and it absolutely needs to pick a direction and run with it.

While there is still enough time for a course correction for Loki, recent Marvel tendencies have me slightly worried about not using early episodes to their fullest potential. Perhaps with Sylvie back in the fold, we will get a lot more in the next episode. One can hope. Marvel needs something big to happen and fast.

[huntingteeth]

Where do you watch Dimension 20? It’s not on YouTube, is it? It sounds like something I‘d like, but I don’t want another subscription...

Some episodes are on Youtube! All the seasons are on Dropout, which you do have to pay for but honestly is a) the cheapest subscription I have and b) the most worth it subscription I have. You can subscribe for $5.99 per month or $59.99 for the year. Besides Dimension 20 (of which there are like 20 seasons plus talk-backs for about half of those seasons), Game Changer is phenomenal and I don't say that lightly. Other shows I watch on it are Um, Actually (a nerdy game show), Very Important People (an interview show where the interviewee is dressed up and must embody the character they become), Dirty Laundry (players have to guess who the secret belongs to and there's a fun cocktail recipe for each episode), Make Some Noise (an offshoot of Game Changer), and Paranoia (think playing mafia but the players have to guess who's high).

Plus their values are great for a streaming service, which is honestly so refreshing (interview with Sam Reich!) -- something, something no ethical consumption under capitalism but Dropout's doing pretty alright.

[blimmo]

Everybody does better with a good coach in their corner. In part 1 of a two-part episode, Buffini & Company coaches explain why expert coaching is the best way to get unstuck, make positive change and achieve phenomenal success in...

[madamemerola]

✨DISCOVERING YOUR PLACE OF NATURAL AUTHORITY. 💎This topic was a game changer for me a few years ago when I was trying to streamline the areas I was coaching and consulting in and focus on one or two things. It’s what you all know as “niching” but for me it was a deeper revelation than just niching down. I discovered my PLACE OF NATURAL AUTHORITY. 🎯 ⁉️Do you believe that every one of us has an area of natural authority that we can thrive and dominate in? ⁉️Do you know you have a zone of great competence that comes with ease and what that zone is called? Join me today LIVE on Season 5, Episode 42 of Live A Phenomenal Life Show with Madame Merola. 📌TOPIC: DISCOVERING YOUR PLACE OF NATURAL AUTHORITY. 📌DATE: TODAY, Monday 3rd April, 2023. 📌TIME: 12noon UK 🇬🇧/ Nigeria 🇳🇬, 3pm UAE 🇦🇪. 📌VENUE: Instagram and Facebook @madamemerola page. 📣Inspiring, Empowering and Transforming lives one show at a time on Live A Phenomenal Life Show with Madame Merola. Powered by Merola TV @merolatv. 🚨Set your reminder and I look forward to having you join me later on the show. XoXo from #madamemerola #thebangcreator #drabiolaignitws #liveaphenomenallifeshow #talkshowhost #transformationzone #totaltransformationcoach #empoweringlives #igniter #thoughtleader #personalmastery #personalempowerment #personaldevelopment #mondaymindsetmotivation (at Discovering Your Best) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqkPuedDA2J/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[vexillologyisenjoyable]

the official cast recording is leaps and bounds ahead of every single other episode of game changer(I will regret saying this when the s6 finale comes out), if not in the twist or the humor, then certainly the quality. They make a musical. A whole musical. On the spot. Yes, they have a podcast where they do that 300 times, but this one was special. A phenomenal episode like beat the buzzer is delightful, sure, but the official cast recording is truly sublime. It is half an hour of pure joy, from splitting a fruit basket to sexy Tina, train conductress. It is very different from other episodes of game changer, so it might give them a poor impression of the show, but it’s up to you.

going to make my friend watch an episode or two of game changer with me later. any recommendations for which episodes?

[betterthinkofme]

I'm sorry I'm still mad about it but 609 really made me feel like shit. The real 'game changer' here would have been to retcon BrBa to include Kim in it. Jimmy goes full Saul? That's because Kim goes full BatshitCrazy!Kim and they enable each other even more. They become awful and vile together, they build the Saul Goodman persona together and burn everything around them. That would have been consistent with their characters and their choices. Kim suddenly packing up and leaving everything and Jimmy becoming Saul (he doesn't even try to stop her???) was the lowest hanging fruit, not a game changer by any means. It's sad because it's a beautiful episode filled with emotional scenes and the cast is phenomenal as usual, but Kim's resolution rubbed me so, so wrong. Rhea's statements about how Kim feels and that she's just doing it out of self-hate slightly made it more palatable, but it really didn't feel right to me. Idk idk. Maybe I'll change my mind but I need to let it rest a bit.

[awkardly-yours]

So i just watched s02e05 of euphoria. Wtf that was the best episode of my life

I just started to slowly appreciate season 2 but e05 is such a game changer for me. I had some issues with the major changes they made, mainly with the pacing and the way I thought the show was going.

To me, the first few episodes were visually lackluster, i tought that the cinematography, makeup and wardrobe were too simple. S01 asked a huge suspence of disbelief of its audience and s02 is way more down to earth so it felt kind of strange. I also felt like the show, on a narrative stand point, was a bit empty. Maybe i remember s01 wrong, but there seemed to be way more event/story around the different characters (except lexi lol)

I love how we see rue's addiction destroying the life of the persons she loves by trying to escape the help she needs. It starts with the ones she loves the most, her family and Jules, then she reaches out to acquaintances, her school friends, then her (ex?) dealer, then people she doesn't even know during the chase to finally end up in mallory's appartement, who is actively trying to harm her. So she goes to a supportive environment to a hell hole, impacting and hurting everybody in her way.

And during the chase, she goes from hiding in a rich people house to crashing in the garden of the middleclass, then running in the street near homeless people and finally ending up in a trashcan. It mirrors the path she has created for herself and the warning is clear: you will ruin your futur if you continue to run away from your problems, if you dont face them and get help.

(I feel like in those scenes, the police represents necessary help that will be painfull at first but will ultimately end up being a positive thing.)

And the visuals on this episodes were dark, with normal clothes, almost no music and no visual trickery. It tells a real story by showing you real life. You dont have to suspend your disbelief like in the rest of the show. I really noticed the wardrobe and makeup of maddie and Jules who are two of the most stylished characters but were the complete opposite of what we knew. Jules is dressed badly because she feels terrible. On the other hand, maddie is dressed down and has minimal makeup because she doesn't need her armour of glamour with her friends that she trusts (wich makes cassie's betrayal hurts so much more). Maddie was able to be soft, to not be a badass cause she thought they couldnt hurt her

I didnt notice it while watching the show, but they apparently used hand held cameras during the chase, removing even more polish due to the shacky cameras.

The acting was phenomenal and im certainly not the first person to say it. I also liked how all the actors talked about needing reassurances and good vibes in between takes. Makes the whole process way less taxing on their mental health

[marloart]

                                     ❝I am Hippolyta. Discoverer.❞

I’ve been absolutely adoring the show Lovecraft Country every week but the latest episode “I am” was a huge game changer even though I’m continuously amazed that they manage to outdo the previous episode. I was really invested in how they would expand and explore Hippolyta’s space trip from the book version and they just completely blew me away that I don’t even really have words to say how grateful I am that the show runners and writers (especially Shannon Houston) put into this episode?? And don’t get me started on how much raw acting talent Aunjanue Ellis brought to the role. Because watching it I just knew it would be something I’ll think about for the rest of my life. This show already meant a lot to me because of the nuanced characters, clever references, intriguing plot, and so much more that I don’t even know how to convey without writing something novel length. Episode 7 is just flatout a masterpiece. 

If for some reason you haven’t watched Lovecraft country yet and like eldritch horror that turns H.P. Lovecraft’s bigotry on its head by having a phenomenal and unapologetic message that Racism is more vile and dangerous than any surreal monsters. Then please do yourself a favor and watch this show.

[personshapedsplder]

What’s an anime I should watch?

AHHHH WHAT A GOOD QUESTION THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME !!!!!!!

ok so!!!!! number one is obviously death note. the entire death note script is actually etched directly into my bones. i love this franchise with the fire of a thousand burning Rue Ryuzakis (lol haha get it. the joke is that hes on fire). if you haven’t seen dn yet, you probably don’t follow my dn blog, but its right here for you when you do!! @misas-biggest-fan im absolutely FERAL for death note. if you don’t know, it’s abt a guy named light who finds a notebook that will kill anyone who’s name he writes inside and he decides to use it to BECOME GOD. absolute game changer for me.

and then next, naturally, i’ll suggest mob psycho 100. it’s absolutely phenomenal! And it rly subverted a lot of my expectations. I’ve also seen one punch man, by the same author, which I like, but it doesn’t have the same /punch/ as mob. (oh im on fire look at me with all my jokes) anyway, mob is abt a little boy named mob who has extremely powerful psychic powers, and the positive ways he influences the people around him. the anime is also VERY impressive.

and then, the one ive been talking abt for the past few days is called Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so thats what ill recommend most to you right now. (and unfortunately, im having trouble finding the rest of the fandom.......... *eye emoji* i’m on the hunt. if anyone likes this anime, pls send them my way a;lkjsfd) 

BUT this one is great, its abt this teenage princess who loses her memories, and the boy who loves her goes on a journey to help her find them. But they aren’t what i love most abt the show-they’re accompanied by 2 adults, kurogane and fai, who are both on this journey for their own reasons and they’re almost exactly opposites, but they have this SUPER tender and loving relationship. it’s an absolute joy to see them interact a;lkjsfd theyre SUPER cute.

anyway, all together they go on this journey throughout universes. it’s SUPER fun

(there IS vampires, if that sweetens the pot any ;D it rly does for me LOL)

anyway ive been watching it here at this link that will probably give me viruses, but its worth it for Them........... 

https://www19.gogoanime.io/tsubasa-reservoir-chronicle-episode-1

if you watch it or read it, im begging you to tell me all your thoughts. hmu, raid my tsubasa tag, i need someone to love this with me.........

[consoledacup]

AoS Episode Showdown -- FZZT

This episode is so damn good I was almost late to work because I wanted to keep watching. Even though I’ve seen it at least 10 times. There’s a lot to say.

In this episode, 1x06, Skye says that FitzSimmons is psychically linked. Fitz scoffs at that and then looks on horrified as Simmons does a Ward impression almost exactly like his. In 2x06, that psychic link is completely subverted. Any sort of attempt Simmons gives to finish Fitz’s train of thought is immediately squashed by him. In 5x06, the psychic link is well intact when they both propose to each other at the first opportunity. And then, of course, 6x06 literally has Fitz and Simmons psychically linked. 

Fitz tells Skye she “made the rounds” and apologized to all of them. I love the idea of her going up to May, Ward, Fitz, and Simmons individually and apologizing to each of them. Although, my guess is FitzSimmons is in the same room when she approaches them.

FitzSimmons both imitate Ward with their hands on their hips. When the team arrives on the campsite, Ward has his hands on his hips. 

When Coulson, Ward, and Skye are talking about Adam Cross, Ward says that “everyone looks clean on their first go-round.” While, yes, this is a clear foreshadow about Ward, this also applies to the show as a whole. Up until 1x17, the team and the audience were both lulled into a sense of trusting that everyone had good intentions. Over the years, both the team and the audience have learned to trust. no. one. I love it.

In 1x06, Simmons tells Fitz that as a scientist she “has to dissect something.” In 6x06, Id Jemma literally cuts into Fitz, claiming, “I like dissection.”

In 1x06, FitzSimmons has the dynamic of a bickering married couple. In 2x06, Hunter and Bobbi take on that persona, while Fitz and Simmons maintain a dynamic far less friendly. In 5x06, Fitz and Jemma have a brief married couple spat involving who proposed first at the very end of the episode. In 6x06, they are literally a bickering married couple. 

Tony Diaz’s death is heartbreaking. His realization when he repeats his friends’ names and thinks about what happened to them... 

In 1x06, when Tony asks Coulson about what death was like for him, Coulson says, “It’s beautiful.” In 6x06, when Jemma is pleading with Fitz, she says that there was “a lot of death, yes, but there was beauty too.” I just really like that word used when coupled with death.

When May tells Coulson he did everything he could for the fireman, Coulson gives a little nod that breaks my heart. He’d like to believe that she’s right, but he knows he could’ve done more. 

In 2x06, even though we don’t see Imaginary Jemma in the outfit first shown in 1x06, there’s a scene where Fitz is turned away, caressing his shoulder and murmuring to himself before the real Jemma arrives.

1x06: “Oh, Fitz. It’s the most perfect opportunity to see the world. We’d be fools to pass this one up.” 6x06: “Chin up, Fitz. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” I’m sure these were both said during the same conversation. Both show Jemma’s insistence that they join and Fitz’s reluctance. And in 1x06, Fitz does not disguise his blame, and Jemma does not disguise her guilt.

“You’ve been beside me the whole damn time.”

When Jemma requests that Coulson tell her dad first, he says they’re not there yet, and he refuses to listen. You can tell he’s still harboring guilt for what happened to Tony and will be damned if it happens to Simmons. But then Jemma emits a little please, and Coulson gives the second devastating nod of the episode. He’s already so attached to her, and his helplessness is killing him.

Ophelia describes Fitz’s true nature as being a romantic, and she’s right. The moment Jemma’s life is threatened, Fitz barrels through the lab doors, risking viral infection, and then prepares to jump out of a plane. Without question. 

But there’s something else about that too. From episodes 1-5, Fitz has a crush on Skye. In this episode, his feelings shift dramatically, and I’m one of the herd that believes that that last shot of Fitz was him discovering his feelings for Jemma. Even if Iain didn’t play it that way, I think the script does. That doesn’t mean the last shot isn’t layered and nuanced, and there are more things about that last look that can be discussed. His affection for Jemma does not waver until the end of “Self Control” when his memories are displaced, and he’s devoted to Ophelia. Once he’s out of the Framework, he’s all in with Jemma again. There is not a single episode where Fitz is not romantically into someone. I wonder if part of that, the desire to be with someone, has to do with the lack of affection from his father that he endured as a child. 

When Fitz is struggling with the parachute straps, Ward appears with a thump, so I think he jumped from the top stair of the spiral staircase, and I gotta give him props. 

Skye hugging Simmons is everything. Even though Fitz is Jemma’s person, and Coulson is Skye’s, Skye and Simmons care a lot about each other, and their relationship subtly grows into something beautiful. And when you think that in the prior episode, Skye was betraying her team to save her boyfriend, it’s a nice touch to see how much Skye cares for Simmons despite everything she’s done. 

Also, aesthetically, in 1x06, Skye hugs Simmons after Ward and Simmons lightheartedly talk about Ward saving her. Ward is off to the side, allowing Skye and Simmons to have their moment. In 2x06, the three of them have another short scene. But this time, Jemma steps in front of Skye, cutting off contact between the two, and tells him the next time she sees him, she’ll kill him. Oh, the times... they are a’changing.

In 1x06, when May asks Coulson how Simmons is doing, Coulson answers that she’s “amazingly resilient. You’d never know she almost died.” I have to give the writers all the props with this because what Coulson says displays the main way Jemma handles trauma from here on out. And not only is that seen time and time again, It’s discussed and addressed as incredibly unhealthy in 6x06.

“Don’t let anyone know. That’s the whole idea.” 

In 1x06, May intuits that the traumatic experiences both Simmons and Coulson endured have affected them in a big way, whether they acknowledge it or not. In 3x06, May has a similar discussion with Bobbi about her traumatic experience with Ward. May is the quickest to catch on to these changes in mood and action for incredibly obvious reasons. 

In 1x06, Fitz laments that he couldn’t have done “the whole James Bond in mid-air type of thing.” In 5x06, Fitz leaps from the balcony, shoots the laser barrier control in mid-air, and lands on the platform. 

In 1x06, when Jemma says, “you’re the hero,” Fitz gives her a little yeah. The last shot of him shows how much he doesn’t believe her. I think this is a gorgeous last scene.

Not only is the FitzSimmons storyline incredible with phenomenal acting, but the rest of the team have nice character moments too. And if that wasn’t enough, the monster-of-the-week plot is incredibly engaging, and the actor playing Tony Diaz gives such a beautiful performance. In many ways, this episode is a game changer, I’m not going to even play coy about ranking it:

FZZT

Eye Spy

Pilot

Girl in the Flower Dress

The Asset

0-8-4