#this is one of my least fave episodes of season 1

[mortalscience]

ten caps per episode - Law and Order Criminal Intent - s01e08 - The Pardoner's Tale

Bad guy: I should've shot you when I had the chance. Goren: I've heard that.

[grace-williams-xo]

RAMBLING THOUGHTS AFTER FINISHING PART TWO. GONNA ADDRESS MY P1 THOUGHTS FIRST. SPOILER WARNING.

1 & 2: I think Debling could’ve worked in the second half, and I’m kinda sad Cressida didn’t get a happy ending. The Creloise fell of a CLIFF after ep 5 but I think it could still be saved

5: no cishet man has ever loved his wife more than Anthony Bridgerton I’m gonna be ill

6 & 12: kanthony’s absence was felt BAD in the finale, I think their reactions to LW were sorely needed. Also Jonny and Simone have both said they’ll be at every sibling’s wedding and stick around for years but they missed Francesca’s??? Also felt their absence too much then. They’re both booked and busy I think we’ll continue to only get a couple episodes a season from them

8: Francesca did get to thrive happy in pt 2 my baby I love her

9: I think they managed to disconnect the mondrich plot even further like 😭 once again, I don’t mind them their plot just feels very empty

10: Pen and Delacroix CONTINUE to be my fave duo I love them so freaking much and they can never get rid of it

13: Portia’s growth this season continued to be 10/10 I loved her and Penelope’s relationship it really showed what it’s like to be closely related to people you oppose and the process of needing to forgive and understand them for your own peace of mind

14: that was not how I was expecting Colin to find out about Whistledown

15: Marcus felt a little rushed in part two but I think I need to watch the whole season together to fully decide

17: this was indeed the longest 27 days of my life I got Covid day after it dropped lmfao

MY ~NEW~ THOUGHTS:

We finally got character development from Cressida and if they write her out I’ll be inconsolable (as will Jessica Madsen)

I hope they paid Golda Rosheuvel good for her feet exposure. Worth more than titties in this economy

I feel the need to tell everyone that £5000 in 1815 is in the realm of £500,000 today and we cannot brush over the fact Penelope has made herself the equivalent of a literal millionaire

Anthony has two moods ‘I’m obsessed with my wife’ ‘I want to win this game’ like it is comical how drastically different his facial expression is in the game of charades compared to pretty much every other scene

Anthony saying the marriage is perfect and not hard work and Kate being like BOY I will humble you,,,, doing the lord’s work I love her so much

At some points I felt like Francesca was fighting Anthony for ‘Violet’s least favourite child’ award lmao

John saying he’s off to look at the wainscotting was unfairly funny

Cressida in the red dress is even better than I imagined fuck even if she’s not gay then I am

Peneloise back together the universe is healing I love my babies all we need now is creloise lovers and peneloise friendship simultaneously I don’t like it being one or the other sue me

However much Brimsley is getting paid isn’t enough,,,, Hugh Sachs the man that you are

I adored Penelope’s wedding dress so much and as bitter as I am still about no kanthony wedding in s2, it felt kind of right somehow for Polin to be the first wedding we properly see in this show

Most of the costumes and makeup feel like they got worse,,,,, big ‘I hired a 14 year old’ energy. I don’t need historical accuracy but I would like a modicum of care and the costume/hair/makeup dept looking at a single historical reference from before 1850,,,, please

We all got the bi Benedict we’ve been asking for and I appreciate it, and recognise that he needed Tilley to explore that, but I still would’ve preferred if they first main queer experience was not a threesome

If they go straight into benophie in s4 (which idk, I’m so torn bc I feel like F, E and B all could work well next season) then I also feel like bi Benedict was just them throwing a bone for 5 mins but meant nothing

The CONTENTIOUS Michaela Stirling,,,,, I was undecided until I saw it but that was the definition of gay panic from Francesca and it worked so well I am so excited.

As your resident peerage expert, it is much easier for women to inherit titles in Scotland than England so I wonder (not that anyone on this show knows anything) if that was a reason they chose Francesca to be sapphic [general peerage info and female inheritance info if you care]

On the above, if they can canonically end racism with one marriage then they can end homophobia with one marriage as well

We all know Eloise was the easy and obvious choice to be the queer love story but part of me does kind of like them not taking the easy route, and them going something more unexpected, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want Creloise/Sapphic El like they had eight children let’s be honest

Finch’s sneeze and Phillips’s “now Varely! The bugs!” were unfairly funny

Everything Lady Danbury said to Penelope about suspecting her and what not felt very in character and you can fight with the wall idc

Did they tell us the name of Polin’s baby boy???

Hyacinth saying she thinks of Gregory as the family pet,,,,, girl you an icon walking amongst mere mortals

Predictions I got right:

Anthony didn’t kill Colin, but “are you gonna duel your own brother” lmao I was on the right track

I knew Polin would win the Featherington baby race and I love that for them (but why were Prudence and Phillipa pregnant most of the season, barely showing, Kate was showing almost immediately, and then in the epilogue the sisters all had baby’s similar-ish ages???? Give the writers room a calendar please)

I SAID FROM DAY DOT THAT THE FURNITURE THEY BROKE FROM SEX WAS A CHAISE I CANT FIND THE POST BUT I KNEW IT I FUCKING KNEW IT WHERE DO I COLLECT MY PRIZE SOME OF YOUR GUESSES WERE TRULY FUCKING COOKED

Okay that was too long if you made it this far I’ll make you cookie ily

[confirmeddead]

Lover, Will You Look At Me Now?: An Armand & Daniel Theory

Armand and Daniel were in a relationship in the book The Queen of the Damned and have been a fan favorite for decades. Many fans were excited to see how the show would adapt this companionship.

Armand makes several appearances throughout season 1 in disguise as the servant Rashid. He reveals his true identity in the season 1 finale.

A lot has been said on how the show will approach their companionship. It’s definitely up in the air with so many things having been changed regarding the two already!

Have we seen anything that has definitively hinted at them forming a companionship? I could talk about faulty memories, a possible purple shirt, or vermouth in Daniel’s cocktails; but is any of that concrete proof?

Let’s look at the unsaid- literally. The looks and stares between Armand and Daniel.

Throughout season 1, Daniel’s attention is consistently on Louis’s servant Rashid (Armand in disguise). We see the camera (Daniel’s eye) follow him constantly. Daniel is an investigative journalist but he’s taken a keen interest into the person serving his drinks.

Daniel does a lot of looking at Rashid. We know it’s his job to investigate, so it makes sense he analyzes everything and everyone. But often times he’s distracted by Rashid’s presence, even prior to having the San Francisco dream. Daniel looks at Armand so much throughout the show, but has anyone noticed how intimate some of these moments are?

Thank you to @mirrorhouse for the Magnolia screencap!

Rashid prayer, which is interrupted by Daniel.

Louis feeding on Rashid in front of Daniel. Staring at one another (and the act itself) is very… personal? Uncomfortable?

Look at the framing of the scene by the magnolia tree. It’s intimate, beautiful, and dare I say romantic!

Most times they’re alone, it feels like the viewer is almost intruding on something (or like Daniel is). Should he be talking to Rashid while he prays? Should he stare at him being fed on? Dare they speak alone while Louis is resting?

I realize they have to look at each other during an interview, but we can see these looks are there for a reason. I think they’re trying to tell us something.

It’s easy for us to look at these things, point, and say FLIRTING! But shipping stuff aside, real people in my life (who don’t read the books or follow socials) who have seen the show have talked to me about the flirting they’re seemingly doing.

Okay, let’s see what Eric Bogosian says regarding the looks:

“I’m looking at him. I’m trying to figure something out and they can show us that and they do show us that. And we do a lot of looking at each other. Like, I do a lot of listening to Jacob, but we do a lot of looking- checking out each other as this relationship continues to go through quite a lot of changes in the next-in all the episodes.”

(Source) 2:00 mark

Wait… checking out? Like checking someone out? What an interesting choice of words.

This is where my theory comes into play.

We all know Eric’s tendency to spoil things about the show, right?

I think that term, which is mostly exclusive to someone interested sexually/romantically, was in the script!

Making a note here to say only the Pilot and the season 2 finale scripts have been released.

Remember the photos I included of the constant moments of Daniel and Armand exchanging looks and eyes tracking each other?

What’s the likelihood it was written in the script (or at the very least directed by the episode directors and Rolin)?

Wait- there’s a quote on that as well!

(Source)

So it was happening in both seasons.

We’ve got our scene moments and the quotes from Eric and Assad. Was “checking out” literally Rolin’s or the scripts words? Was that what he was telling them even back in season 1?

Spoiler Eric strikes again.

I’ll end this off by saying this is all just for fun! We’re all having to wait through this hiatus together so I figured I’d keep up the discussions on my faves. In no way do I think this theory should or is correct- I’m just yapping and love discussing these characters! I’m totally OK being wrong 😅 but it’s all in good fun.

And my asks are open!

Sources otherwise not mentioned:

Title from “I Walked” by Sufjan Stevens

Screencaps take from here (x)

[tubbytarchia]

I feel it’s unjustified and extremely harsh for you to say that Wild Life has “the least tension or meaningful viewer retention or investment in the characters” and “did bare explorations of interesting themes” only because your faves didn’t get to have a narratively satisfying ending or moments. It’s valid to be disappointed about what happened to them/their arc and I get it since I’ve felt that way too about my fave in some of the seasons, but I never blame it on the season’s gimmick or the CCs because I know nothing is scripted and things happen spontaneously. I can’t expect things to go the way it could go or be stuck on it because it’d be unrealistic of me to assume that everyone’s characters will get a spotlight or character development or have their plans for the season fulfilled. While you’re 100% allowed to feel upset and even to list Wild Life as your least favourite, it’s unwarranted to say this season had barely anything to give when it had a fun gimmick, awesome wildcards, new alliances, funny moments and skirmishes, and arguably is the most narratively satisfying season for the winner to win at. I love that you acknowledged this season wasn’t for you, but making blanket statements like those is unnecessarily cruel to the work the CCs have put into their videos.

I didn't blame anything on the CCs either, and all I stated was my opinion. I go out of my way to disclaim that I'm expressing opinion because of responses like this and still I get faulted for "blanket statements" when I don't end every sentence with "in my opinion"

I didn't watch all the POVs but none of them had me invested through to the end personally, not just my favorites. There were a lot of funny moments, it had that in entertainment value, but what I seek from Life Series is the drama and tension first and comedy second, which I acknowledged that this series just may not be trying to cater to anymore, therefore it isn't catering to me, but I can still be sad about it

Of course I'm interested in the characters by default, especially Pearl after seeing her alliance, I really wanted to see where it would go. In the end much of nothing went anywhere for anyone. BigB had a really strong start and kind of fizzled out through no fault of his own, the BAMers were a very cute dynamic and interesting for their kill count alone but then all went kind of unceremoniously and didn't leave me with a lot of emotional attachment, and I feel similarly about Gem and Joel. Scar especially suffered struggling to achieve what he had set out to do since episode 2. The Gs had some very good moments for me to chew on regarding Pearl's and Cleo's dynamic and such but that was a small saving grace. Gem and Pearl didn't get past stage 1 of their dynamic. The idea of untrustworthiness was posed with BigB and Etho pretty strongly regarding the Gs and then they just kinda stopped caring. Team BET were kind of doing their own thing and that worked really well, narratively those guys ended up having me the most intrigued and they were among the least interest for me at the start. So many alliances were proposed in passing eg Ren with Jimmy, BigB and anyone, and then nothing narratively compelling came of them if anything at all

Again, I don't blame the CCs whatsoever for any of my failed enjoyment, but the gimmicks took center stage and interferred with the tension and drama instead of encouraging it like Secret Life, which I think did what it did really well in spite of already being very gimmicky, and I feel confident in placing my problem with the series there. This time around there was just no room to breathe for at least half the episodes, the finale especially when no one was doing much of anything other than walking around deducing the gimmicks and dying to them instead of to each other until they were quite literally forced to. And that hampered the aspect that I enjoy the most and have gotten out of every season before it, hence why my disappointment is so potent. And at least one of the CCs seems to feel similarly about the unsatisfying resolutions and failed developments

Yes the new alliances were cool, yes the player that won deserved the win, etc etc, all fine in a vacuum but I didn't see much chance for them to prosper and wish these alliances and this win were part of a different season. It's my opinion and if you disagree then that's absolutely ok, and I welcome your own opinions but please stop faulting me for it. I wish I could have enjoyed it but I don't get to just change my main draw for the series unfortunately

[itssoinevitable]

acgas season 5 rant

well I must say it’s been some time since I wrote a tumblr essay but I think this one has been building all season. in fact, it will likely be part one of (?) because there are many feelings that need to screamed into the void. let me preface by saying that I am not a “hater” by any means, because I absolutely and unabashedly love this show and it pains me so much to criticise it, instead of celebrate on cloud nine like I usually would be after the finale. I ranked it higher than downton abbey the early seasons, which is a massive compliment for anyone that knows me. and I repeatedly told others not to worry bc it’s the show that keeps on giving and that I trusted these writers implicitly with our beloved characters.

so yes, it royally sucks that I have to eat my words, and that acgas season 5 did not bring what it should have brought. and it also sucks that this is only part one of my rant (for you and me both). if you loved s5, then I am really happy you did, and please don’t read on bc I don’t want to taint your experience. if you hated it but don’t know why, or bc misery loves company, pls read on. spoilers ahead, obv. 

1. episode structure

yes so — structure wise, it was a hot mess. I can definitely see what they were going for, in that they gave the limelight to a pair of characters every episode, and thought it would be fine like modern family style episodes. except, another spoiler alert: it was not fine at all, unless your faves are the featured couple for said episode. I would do an episode by episode breakdown but @owlsiehoot already did that. suffice to say, it is not the kind of show where you can enjoy 40 odd minutes when it’s not “your” characters’ turn to shine. they have nearly an ensemble cast, but chose not to treat it like an ensemble show. and while I can see what they were trying to avoid, the chosen execution method was far far worse imo. (we may never know the real reason for this change, but I hate whoever greenlit this decision).

even if they wanted to keep the longer scene structure, fine, maybe it could have worked. but if I could have recommended one change in the writing room, it would have been to split the main cast into threes every episode, instead of pairs. that would resemble the formula a bit more like the prev seasons, and would’ve given much more interesting and diverse back and forths to play off of and keep more general balance. some ways the dynamics could have been done:

Tris & Carmody were fine in ep 4, but keep it in skeldale more and add Mrs Hall into the mix to mother them, even better. (reminding the audience she has a biological son too, and not just these surrogate dumbasses whom she loves would have been a bonus.)

Helen & James are always lovely together, but add Tris in there for some mischief or more Jenny and Heston Grange for some sisterly bonding. 

Tris & Siegfried were cute too, but again they were away from the house, and usually Audrey was right in there with them and added something to all their interactions. 

Alternatively, give the ladies something to do and put Audrey, Helen and Mrs Pumphrey together again. (I will say though, at least Mrs P had more to do this season). 

Where the show suffered most was giving Carmody two stand-out episodes tbh, when in reality, they only had time for one.

2. tone

not only did the previous seasons have an amazing balance of all characters, they also managed to balance the darker story threads with lighthearted humour in an inimitable way. usually three concurrent storylines, two being more serious, and one more lighthearted to break it up. some episodes of course, were more lighthearted than others. but season 5 seems to have turned that on its head because almost all storylines were quite silly?? I respect there has always been a certain amount of physical humour, but it seems now that the gags have now replaced actual plots and meaningful character development. this is not a sitcom after all, unless they’re trying to change genre at the nth hour. notable exceptions include Bingo’s storyline ofc, and Candy & Joan (both which were early in the season btw) and James’ war and brucellosis experience right at the end. the middle was mostly twaddle if you ask me.

which reminds me: overall, the animal storylines seem to have become something of a joke too. the animals used to mean a lot more to their clients before, and the vets used to show them a great deal more love and respect. contrast to this season, many vetting scenes feel almost cavalier. the poor dog with the phantom pregnancy was played for laughs, which I don’t think it would have been in prev seasons. the horse that fell down after the injection, had no greater mystery to solve. Siegfried and Tristan barely seemed to care, and chalked it up to shock. it is quite unforgivable to me, as their great reverence for the animals was one of the things I love(d) about this show. 

imo a few subtle changes could have elevated many of the stories to their usual form. I gave an example on discord, but I’ll repeat it here. it’s episode 5, and picture Bosworth coming into Skeldale the same was as he did in canon, asking Audrey to come out to investigate a potential bomb. everything could have remained the same except that Audrey could have told the others where she was off to, and Siegfried or Tristan maybe asked her not to go. the whole family would have gathered together for a moment, expressed their fear for her and she would have said it’s her duty to go and check anyway. in this version, we would have felt the tension and the stakes, and it would be a looming threat of the war finally touching Darrowby. the end would also be the same, a false alarm and nothing more but the emotional impact of the episode would have increased tenfold.

and to me, the worst part of it all is that the season actually started off so promising. the first two/ three episodes, combined with the interviews by the cast, it honestly felt like they were exploring some very interesting things. but they dangled the carrot, only not to deliver imho. 

it seemed that Tristan was hiding something painful under his playful exterior, eventually to be teased out, but apparently he really came back from war completely trauma-free.

I was under the impression that Siegfried was supposed to have an identity crisis, where he was feeling left behind, but it didn’t seem to pan out properly either.

Audrey was supposed to be overworked, right? but we didn’t see her actually buckle under the strain of her many, many duties because she’s basically superwoman I guess?

James had this beautiful connection with Banerjee, only for him to be alive but never show up again I guess? really thought James would bring him to Mrs P’s convalescent home but guess not.

3. characters

and here is the crux of it, the beating heart of the show which is now bleeding out. because a truly good show is character-driven, and unfortunately I cannot say that was true for season 5. a glaring deus ex machina comes to mind, when the doorknob fell off in episode 4, trapping Tris and Carmody in a room. never thought the show would stoop to these cliched tropes tbh and it truly disappointed me.

not only did the episode structures do the characters a great disservice, but it seems to have foiled the overall season story arc too for each character throughline. to me, it looked as if the only two people with clear defined story arcs were James with his war trauma, and Carmody (my beloved). was it Sam West who said the characters seemed “busy” this season? bc yes, it’s accurate. but not in a good way. mostly they all had only things to do on the surface, but there was very little going on underneath. which is a crying shame because basically, characters have to suffer a little to grow and be interesting. they need to face challenges and grow and change. let’s do some compare & contrast:

Tristan changed and grew in every season, from 1 to 3 and faced many internal (and external) obstacles to becoming his best self, whether it was by being more studious or responsible and mature in his work and personal life. Now he’s back and we’re supposed to think… what? That he’s already his best self, I suppose.

season 4 Siegfried was holding his found family together, trying to cope with the workload and missing Tristan, worrying about James, terrified that Audrey was going to leave. contrast to s5, and Siegfried is… being adorable with baby Jimmy, and attracted to a goat heiress? if there was something deeper here, please let me know bc I must have missed it.

while last season, Helen was looking forward to starting a family, and then working on keeping her baby healthy and her family (James) intact despite the war. s5 Helen started off strong, struggling with balancing being a mother and big sister to Jenny, but now… she’s what? planting too many strawberries in the victory garden? being a supportive wife to James is important, but it cannot be her only feature. 

and last but definitely not least, Audrey in s4 was learning what a life outside her marriage to Robert could truly mean for her, and figuring out for herself where she belongs. conversely, s5has her making jam, and finding non-explosive tinned potatoes. yes she’s a warden, but what is she feeling on the inside?

4. conclusion — an empty vessel

to summarise this not-epic epic is that my true grouse with this season is its utter emptiness. it is truly a season where nothing happened and nobody really changed. okay, some things were different — e.g. Siegfried being better with handling his “boys”, and being more open and less grumbly in general. or Tristan being more responsible with his work, and standing his ground more firmly. but imo those were the results of previous season’s changes. within the course of s5, they did not do much growing or changing.

Tristan’s homecoming episode comes to mind the most. so many missed opportunities for deeper to surface — James being torn between treating a patient and possibly missing his son’s christening would have added some true to character dissonance. Helen leaning on Audrey for support when she had issues with her mother-in-law, could have worked beautifully and explored the character foils in an interesting way. James and Helen asking Siegfried and Audrey to be Jimmy’s godparents would have been truly touching and a testament to how deep their familial bonds are.

anyway, TL;DR I guess? maybe it’s because they’re saving most of the juicy stuff for season 6, but it mostly felt like a filler season, and if you looked forward to it all year just to get that then it’s truly anti-climactic. with all that said now, onwards and outwards. we shall see was the CS brings.

[wqintraining]

Arcane Season 2 Act 1 Thoughts:

- The visuals and direction took a big step up from the already gorgeous Season 1, and it looks amazing.

- Vi's path to becoming an Enforcer made more sense than I expected it to.

- I really like Vi burying herself and her feelings under what Caitlyn wants but just like in Season 1, this show is awful at having Vi actually feel like the main character.

- Love and adore everything with Jinx (my fave) so far, but we'll see how they handle the revolutionary angle.

- These episodes are inexcusably rushed. Season 1's fast pacing worked for what it was doing. This feels like it's on fast-forward.

- Caitlyn's (my second fave's) corruption arc is complex and brilliantly written but she is also not the least bit sympathetic after these episodes. Stop saying she is.

- Viktor continues to bore me just like in Season 1.

- Jayce continues to be one of the most engaging male leads I've ever seen in a show (low bar tbf), but I couldn't care less about his subplot with Ekko and Heimerdinger. Mainly because...

- I HATE the introduction of so many more LoL elements. Season 1 was only a masterpiece because it avoided most of this stupid crap.

- Mel is still the best. I don't care about this Black Rose nonsense, but the drama with her and her mom, the parallels between her and Caitlyn, and her scene with Lest give her an edge over the boys.

- Overall a big step down from Season 1 so far, but I'm still enjoying.

[theawkwardanglophile]

Ranking The Rookie's season finales

I tried to be fairly objective, but yeah, that didn't really happen. Oh well, here we go!

6) SEASON 2 (The Hunt): When this first aired, it felt like huge stakes and was so stressful, but now, it just doesn't hit as well. I hate Armstrong was a dirty cop. Nolan was just acting dumb in this ep (shocker, I know). 😂 I didn't like Tim's sudden change of heart to make things work long-distance with Rachel, although we all know how that worked out. So yeah, it goes in last place.

5) SEASON 1 (Free Fall): They definitely weren't going as big with the finales yet, although this is a great Chenford episode, and there was a little cliffhanger with whether Tim would be ok. I wasn't as invested with the show yet when this aired. Tim was still my least fave character at the time, and I almost didn't come back for S2. I'm so glad I did, though!

4) SEASON 6 (Escape Plan): I might feel differently over time ranking it here, but for now, this is where it lands. It was...good, I guess. The truck scene was *chef's kiss*. But SO MANY VILLAINS. I couldn't keep up because every two minutes there was a new name or new character. I still don't know how it ties back to the beginning of S6. 🤷‍♀️ And while I never expected Chenford to get back together here, I'm still sad they're broken up in the first place. The elevator scene was sort of hopeful, but I think we deserved a little bit more.

3) SEASON 4 (Day in the Hole): If it wasn't for the insanely boring Nolan desert plot that went on FOREVER, this one would be higher. Because the Dim & Juicy doppelganger plot was the most delightfully unhinged story they've created, and it was so much fun. And our very first Chenford kiss! That kiss saved my summer that year. I had butterflies for weeks, and was just so giddy.

2) SEASON 3 (Threshold): This is how you do a season finale. I love this ep so much. Lots of high stakes. I loved the flirting scene. And even though I've never been crazy about Lucy being UC, she does an incredible job throughout the ep. I love Tim being Man of Honor and trying to save Angela's wedding. And of course, SAVE ME A DANCE. GEEZ, that scene is everything. 🫠 Then Angela being kidnapped at the end as the cliffhanger. I literally threw a pillow at the tv when this ep ended because those last few minutes were just SO MUCH.

1) SEASON 5 (Under Siege): This one has the highest stakes out of any of the finales, and a huge cliffhanger. So many scary moments for the squad, especially not knowing if Aaron would be ok. Tim and Lucy's hug was beautiful, as all of theirs are, and their fight scene was incredible. "I'm happy it's you at my six." ❤️ This finale just feels the most cohesive, and it works really well.

I'd love to know your rankings, too!

[island-in-the-shadows]

I always find it so wonderfully interesting when people prefer IWTV S1 to S2 but, tbh, they're both great seasons of television.

When I saw S1 as it premiered, I consistently struggled with it. There were (and to this day are) parts of it that severely pissed me off. "A Vile Hunger..." (1x5) is still the episode I like to rewatch the least, for example. It took me watching S1 twice to totally love the show. And it's because, when I saw S1, I was holding onto the source material while I watched.

This was fucking stupid on my part, especially given I took a class on adaptation while at Uni and got the academic tools to discern what makes for a good adaptation in film terms (I've talked about other adaptations with people who are book readers first and they tend to view it way differently). Hell, I wrote a thesis on why Clueless is a great adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma regardless of the change of setting in both time and place.

But IWTV was way too personal to me, it went back to my childhood, so it was hard to let go. I did instantly love a lot of the changes. I love the time change and the change to Louis' race and background. I love that we saw more of Louis pre-vampirism and that show Louis has more complex reasons for his long term struggles whereas book Louis just seemed so whiny to me for no reason. On the other hand, I struggled with: why is it a second interview, why was Claudia SA-ed, why the DV, why is fucking Antoinette a canker sore that never leaves, why the fuck is Armand in Dubai, what the fuck is happening with this timeline? I couldn't let go and my viewing experience suffered for it.

When I sat down to watch a second time, I said, "Ok, do what you were taught and let the source go. Adaptations cannot be 1:1 due to the change in medium". And that's when things started clicking. I stopped viewing S1, and the show as a whole, as needing to use the books as a plot bible and viewed it as using them as a guidebook to function on TV terms and tell its own version of the story. It allowed me to appreciate the things I loved much more and to understand the ones I hadn't been so sure about and, even, love some of those things.

For S2, I went into it with that mentality already so I solely judged it on film/TV terms even though, having read books 1-4 and 6 and reading about the rest, I saw subtle things people with no knowledge of the source canon did not. Like when YT reactors consistently worried about Daniel being killed and I'm just filing my nails because, to those in the know, Daniel has massive plot armour. Or people being confused about Raglan James and I'm sat there like wtf does this trifling ass want? Nevertheless, I enjoyed the tale as it was told and what it was on solely TV terms.

Both season are great television but, to me, S2 just took it up a notch. Daniel Hart popped off extra hard. Carol Cutshall popped off extra hard in costuming (stg she played faves because why did Armand get more fashion slays than anyone else? ^_^). The sets went extra hard. The acting, which was already superb in S1 because this is a fucking excellent cast (Jacob, Sam, Eric, Bailey, and Delainey 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼), went harder as well because we have more players such as Ben Daniels doing the absolute MOST with Santiago, Roxane Duran being absolutely OUTSTANDING as the formidable Madeleine, and Assad Zaman stepping out from the background and giving a STUNNING performance as, to me, what's clearly the definitive Armand. To my taste, S2 is a lot less slow and I felt the pot boiling tension to the explosive ending build more keenly than in S1. And, again to my taste, the ending of S2 felt more satisfying because we have a sense of completion in Louis' journey rather than a, admittedly dope, cliffhanger. S2 has, arguably, the 3 best episodes of the show so far in "Don't Be Afraid..." (2x5) "I Could Not Prevent It" (2x7), and "And That's The End of It..." (2x8). For me, there's just no contest.

And yeah S2 isn't perfect either. The abrupt episode endings, for example, are a bit annoying---especially the end of 2x4. Yes, there's bits I would've changed a bit. (Though I will say, some book readers apparently wanted the show to include book Armand's Franken-experiments and I could very much do without it ever being included because it serves no narrative purpose other than to prolong Claudia's suffering. The show already goes hard to show Armand is a fucking asshole in other ways and it's gonna add to that in S3. We don't need that detail.) But, as a season of television, it just went the extra mile.

Still, I love that some people prefer S1. I love that they prefer S1 because it's more intimate or because it's more of a family season or because of the good Louis and Lestat moments or the good vampire family moments. Or maybe they love it for other reasons, it's all very personal.

I still think "In Throes of Increasing Wonder" is an outstanding pilot and it's one of my favourite episodes. Louis' confessional scene/the church scene is definitely one of the top moments of the show. Claudia's monologue at the end of "The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood..." still gives me goosebumps. Claudia stomping on Antoinette's fucking face and Daniel reading Louis to absolute FILTH at the end of "The Thing Lay Still" both make me clap and stomp like I'm at a concert or a sporting event.

Either way, S1 or S2, it's great TV and it deserves more love and recognition. I hope it gets it because it's truly deserving. Maybe we just need to hear our Brat Prince have his say for the uninitiated to awaken to it. S3 I have been seated since they made the call to release that teaser.

[gildedlavender]

Ok, so it took me a little bit to gather all my thoughts about the first half of this season (mainly about Jiara)

First, I’m absolutely loving the season so far! If part 2 is just as good, it’ll be my favorite since season 1.

All of the Jiara scenes we’ve gotten so far have been perfection. The only thing I’m slightly disappointed about is the lack of casual kiss scenes between them. I mean only one short kiss at a odd angle in five episodes? Everything else was amazing though and I have a good feeling we’ll get at least one more kiss in part 2. We better or I’ll genuinely be pissed. We deserve it after waiting so long.

I’ve seen people complain that we didn’t get enough physical affection from JJ towards Kie, but I think it’s been done on purpose and is totally in character for JJ at the moment. He knows his relationship with Kie is real and he’s terrified of messing that up and her leaving him. He’s also been abused his whole life so I think that plays a part as well. I guarantee that’s going to be part of his character development by the end of the season. He’s going to finally feel comfortable showing affection with her in public, saying “I love you” first, and be the one to initiate a kiss. I would also love it if he finally takes her on a real date.

That hyperbaric chamber scene was wild, but one of my faves, and seeing JJ be so protective of Kiara this season, especially with the Kooks had my heart.

All in all I’m so excited for part 2 and I think we’re going to be fed well. It looks crazy and I’m excited for the angst of JJ trying to push Kie away but her not letting him. As sad as I am for all the stuff he has to deal with, I think we’re going to get some amazing scenes and character development from him and Jiara as a couple. Rudy and Madison are nailing it so far!

[autisticandroids]

Hey ur my fave spn blogger by far (heavy is the head that has the crown etc etc) it occurred to me I've never heard u talk in Bobby? Any thoughts? Id love to hear em.

hey! so this is an interesting question. probably the reason i don't post much about bobby has to do with the fact that... well... i actually broadly enjoy bobby, and i enjoy him for exactly the same basic, surface level reasons as the show expects me to.

like, normally, if i'm watching supernatural, i am at least somewhat in conflict with the text. it expects me to like things i don't like (these are called "dogshit episodes" and they're a common hazard), and when i do like it it's often not really for the reasons that the show is expecting me to like it.

like... if you really want to see me shout and cheer, you should see what it looks like when i rewatch exile on main st., but neither a randomly selected mainstream audience nor miss gamble herself would necessarily agree with or even understand why i was doing so. like my enjoyment of that episode requires a lot of interpretive effort.

but fast forward three episodes to weekend at bobby's, and i could sit in a room with a general audience person, a reddit bro, a wincestie, and dabb/lofflin themselves and we would all basically have the same watch experience. i might be critical of the treatment of japanese culture, or annoyed by the way crowley's heel turn was handled, or something else, some specific element. but in terms of the broad strokes - bobby going around doing things, hunting a case, existing in relationships with a series of other characters - i like it for exactly the reason i'm meant to.

and that's kind of how bobby as a character is for me. there just isn't a lot of distance between what i'm supposed to enjoy and what i do enjoy. and it's that distance, and the interpretive labor required to close it, that generates thoughts, and thoughts are what generates posts. which means i don't really have a ton of posts about bobby.

i guess i will say... i used to be cautiously pro-killing-bobby-off in s7, definitely more than other characters who died in gamble era. because i was like "man, you gotta kill the father figure." that's the nature of these things. but upon rewatch, i actually think bobby's role as father figure is overstated. certainly it's overstated by the fandom, but even in the show to an extent. although i will concede a bit because i love when soulless sam tries to kill him. only good thing that happens in appointment in samarra. but overall bobby is as much just a friend as he is a father, you know? he engages with the boys on much more equal terms than a parent does.

but anyway. i don't like that they killed him because 1) they kept bringing him back, frequently stupidly. i liked safe house, but otherwise i am against basically all of bobby's appearances post-s7. i guess inside man was fine, but like. that's just the thing. it was fine. resoundingly okay. and safe house could easily have happened with bobby alive, just like. have him having the flashback. and 2) i think it has a bad effect on the show because like... after bobby died, the interpersonal conflict became even more dour. and it's already so fucking dour. there are no outside characters whatsoever to observe when things happen and so stuff spirals into madness even more and worse than it used to. no one is there to yell at dean the way bobby did in season four, you know? and then 3) i just enjoy bobby a lot i'm an enjoyer. i would have liked the show more if he stuck around in a meaningful way (and not just as a constantly recurring oh he's back from the dead for an episode plot).

[i-am-grell]

I’m Back! Throw Anime at Me!

If you’re new here, I suck at starting and finishing series and making choices, so I let Tumblr pick which anime I’ll watch next.

I’ve just returned from vacation, and have the freedom once again to include longer series - and long long series (description of how that’ll work below with the propaganda) - in these polls!

As always, propaganda* (*rambles about series I haven’t finished and how little I know about series I haven’t started yet, etc) below the poll. You’re welcome to reblog if you wanna bully your followers into voting for your fave. Other people’s followers and assorted Tumblr users: you don’t have to know me, follow me, or like me to throw anime at me. You don’t even have to like anime if you just wanna press a button. Go wild.

Propaganda:

How the long long series will work in my polls:

We all know some anime series are hundreds - even thousands - of episodes long. When it comes to these polls, rather than straight-shotting through these beasts, I’ll break them up by however the series is naturally divided (by season or arc - whatever that series has chosen). If there’s a shorter season/arc, it may be combined into the next one (for instance if one arc has 16 episodes and the one after has 30, I’ll watch 46eps for that poll option, since that’s pretty manageable. We’ll play it by ear, folks). I’ll always be specific in the propaganda about how far I’ll be watching for that particular poll and update my pinned post with my progress for that specific series after. The series may not show up in back-to-back polls for the sake of taking breaks and not burning myself out on the same thing.

Rambles about the options:

Blue Exorcist - I watched everything available circa 2014/15ish, but now there’s more? Apparently? I guess? Cool! I’ll probably rewatch what I have seen since it’s been a while and proceed from there.

Free! - I watched ISC and ES as they were airing. In sub. And y’all know I prefer dubs (of course I went back and watched it when there was finally a dub). But while everything past Eternal Summer was airing, I was in my busy period… 😬 Still have to finish it - but to be clear, I will be marathoning everything, starting yet again with Iwatobi Swim Club. Also I absolutely don’t mean to influence the vote but the longer Free! stays in these polls, the more 50% Off! quotes I get to use. If you ever see “backstroke for days,” assume I’ve run out.

Zombie Land Saga + Revenge - This has been in the polls before and I’m sure many of you have seen my propaganda for it before. TLDR: Love it, wanna finish it, TERFs aren’t welcome here 😌

Bungo Stray Dogs - I think about Dazai at least once a day and I haven’t even watched this show. I have 1) seen pictures of this man 2) listened to anime tiktok simps talk about this man. Do with this what you will.

One Piece - There’s a quote from an episode of Um, Actually… where Mike Trapp says he hasn’t read Wheel of Time because, while he’s always meant to, it “feels like nerd homework.” One Piece is my “feels like nerd homework.” For the purpose of this poll option, if chosen, I will start One Piece by watching the first arc.

Mashle - Anime OP make brain go brrr. Also from what I understand, it’s regular guy brute-forcing his way through Legally Distinct Hogwarts.

[reliablejoukido]

Digi-memories, summer 2000 (feat. me crying more than once)

On Saturday, June 24, 2000, I was on vacation in the mountains with my family. I was 11 at the time. We were staying in a cabin with electricity and running water, but obviously no computers, phones, internet or cable. We had a tiny, black and white TV with rabbit ears that we brought with us, and it got like 3 local channels that would cut in and out. One of them was Fox! I knew the final two episodes of Digimon: Digimon Monsters were airing that day (Fox Kids waited a whole month to air them for some reason). And amazingly my sister and I were able to actually watch them! In black and white of course. And the reception did cut out for most of Apocalymon's famous pizza crust speech. But I got to see the finale with the full version of "Hey Digimon" and the trolley car and Mimi's hat, etc.

And I cried. A lot. I was (and still am) incredibly sensitive and prone to crying at the drop of a hat. We had only just started the week-long vacation when the episodes aired and (according to my parents), I was "annoying" all week because of how upset I was. I thought it was over forever. That I'd never get to see Digimon again. That my faves' story was over and they would never get to see their Digimon again. I remember grabbing my spiral notebook (which was at the time filled with Team Rocket fanfiction), and started writing letters to the Digidestined. I wish I still had them, tbh, because I'd love to know what I came up with for Joe, who I was not a fan of at the time. Probably most of the emotion went to Matt, who was my favorite character back then, and Izzy, who was my sister's.

Anyway, there was this stretch of time between June 24, 2000 and August 19, 2000, when the season 1 dub had finished airing and the 02 dub started airing. Apparently 02 began airing in Japan in April, 2000, so by the time the season 1 dub ended on Fox Kids, there were already a number of 02 episodes out in Japan (apparently 13 episodes to be exact).

That summer, I read a rumor on an English language Digimon message board claiming that the new season (02) was going to "completely cut out the characters of Matt, Sora, Mimi and Joe". Since I was 11 years old at the time, I took this at face value (though if you remove the word 'completely', the rumor is largely true).

I remember going into the basement of my house and crying my eyes out (again) for Matt, Sora, Mimi and Joe. I made up a rambling song that essentially eulogized them, and I sang it for hours in the basement with the lights off for some reason. I remember telling my parents about it and they had no idea what to do to console me. My sister was 6 years old, so who knows if that "news" affected her in any way. It's funny because at the time, I didn't even particularly like Sora, Mimi, or Joe. But I was still devastated by their "loss".

There's nothing else to the story, really. I think I was probably surprised when most of the older Digidestined did show up in the first handful of episodes of 02. I don't think 02 made me cry (or at least not as much). But after it was over, I wrote like 20 love letters to Davis and wrote some cringy self-insert fic. All of those I definitely do still have.

Does anyone else remember Digimon that summer (or whatever time it ended/aired for you)?

[bee-named-alex]

So episode 6 of IWTV s2. My thoughts? Many. Enjoy them, I'll try to make it as coherent as possible in my current state. Spoilers and my mental breakdown below the cut

Fuck this. I cannot wait for a week after this episode, how am I supposed to be normal after this???

So I guess I'll start from the start? The tension is in every word and I get why Daniel's getting afraid for his life, I mean I am afraid for his life rn and he's not even real.

The Dubai scenes, they contrast really well with the first couple episodes of this season. The cracks in Loumand relationship are very apparent now, they can't even decide on what painting to have in their house. And I read a post that was like "season 1 was music, season 2 is art" and it's so true and this means like their relationship is empty i guess or something. Maybe just that it's falling apart.

And the way they began this season holding hands and sitting so close, acting like everything was perfect, ready to fight Daniel and now they sit as far away as possible, fight like all the time about everything and Louis and Daniel (and even Rashid I think) keep on further unionizing against Armand... I think that's just great.

And Armand knowing that they know and from the start trying to spin it. I'm not sure how the sentence "Why do you ask, love?" from Louis is like the coldest thing ever but it just is.

I'll talk more about Dubai later.

But now to Paris. Claudia's diary "Fuck these vampires" - girl's so right (in both meanings of that word btw). Claudia was never really my fave, but out of everyone I feel like she deserves a happy ending the most (not counting daniel here) and fuck, she's not getting it. i know but it still hurts like hell.

Her and Madeleine's relationship is great. Inbetween all the plotting and manipulation and murder this feels like one of the only peaceful things. In the scene where Claudia reveals herself I though that she's like Madeleine's guardian angel. But also an angel of death. But Madeleine doesn't mind and I think that's very important, that she doesn't really see Claudia as a monster - or maybe she does, but it doesn't change what she feels (after all, she thinks that she's a monster)

Then the turning. First Louis trying to convince Armand and him not obeying- as Daniel says "maitre only when it's hot or convinient" (it was hot in the art room btw and it's so not fair that we didn't get to see at least a little more i mean that whole scene was inexplicably so hot and i need moreeee).

But it also reminded me of another post, the "Armand is a willingly leashed tiger" because like yeah, Louis has the power up until the point when Armand no longer wants him to have it. (also Louis persuasion being "imagine me without the burden of her" sucks, like sorry but this hurts, even if you didn't mean it and yes it matters if you meant it. But his later method - aka kiss to shut him the hell up - seems much better.)

Then I got a little pissed or perhaps confused at his "Are you asking or making me?" because we know that Louis can't actually make Armand do anything, not when he is 100 % sure he doesnt want to. Because if he could, Armand would've turned Madeleine. (speaking of, Armand not having turned anyone is pretty interesting, but i guess that that's how it was in the books and it was important so sure why not)

Also Louis' "It's ok, it's ok" here reminded me of "Of course, of course!" and also "It's fine, he's fine, we're fine" and it's just so funny how they all think that if they say things over and over again they'll convince themselves that they're true.

The turning itself was beautiful, as Louis said it would be. Like it wasn't violent, there wasn't fear, no tears. Just love and devotion and I'm so sad that Claudia's and Madeleine's beautiful dream didn't last longer.

Louis not caring afterwards is just another exampke of his dissociative state and I worry about his mental well-being. (All of their mental and physical well-beings tbh)

In Dubai again, Armand finally talking about the erased memories and how they both hate on him for it and they're right. Like what do you mean Daniel doesn't have the right to be angry, of course he does. It's fun to see Daniel delighted about fighting Armand.

But also... Louis asked him to get rid of those momeries (if he believe him. And I, in this episode more than ever and despite my better knowledge, do believe Armand. Maybe it's just because of Assad's phenomenal acting but I believe his words and I believe his tears. Which actually makes this all worse btw.) and that makes the whole situation suddenly much more complicated.

Other Paris plot - Santiago (fuck Santiago) and his coup -, yeah that kept me on my toes for the entire episode. Like Armand says that he was in love and Louis says that he got lazy but I just think he must've been blind to not see it.

I feel like Dubai kinda reflects this (Louis and Daniel unionizing as we've said and so it's like Armand losing his power over his people again) but also. Paris and it's aftermath was the biggest crisis of their relationship, must've been (followed by San Francisco and Daniel I'm sure). But now as the recount it they are also reliving it and are also in a full-blown crisis and i hope this one doesn't end in a fire.

And the ending of it all. Fuck. I was near tears watching it.

The double-date in the cafe felt like a dream, they even said in the episode insider that they wanted it to feel surreal or something like that, like a romantic comedy. And for a few minutes it does. They let you believe that they could be happy. You know they won't, you know that shit's about to go down and everything will end in ruin but this single scene makes you beg, no please, no don't fuck it up, just stay happy, like this, it can be good. And despite knowing what's coming, you stick your claws into this idea of happiness like a lifeline.

And then it hurts that much more when this perfect bubble pops.

I admire all the actors because idk what Armand was feeling the moment he stepped outside but through Assad's acting I felt it too. And as Louis looks around, seeing the world stop, here I know exactly what he must've felt- the realization hits, the betrayl and then the immense worry for Claudia and Jacob portrays it so beautifully.

"He chose." This breaks my heart. Because what did he choose exactly, or better yet, what did he choose over? I mean this is terrible, the trial, but what was his other choice? He calls himself a coward so maybe it was Louis and Claudia and Madeleine or him that the coven would go after. But maybe this was actually the better choice idk.

But like you see the regret in Armand's face in Paris but especially in Dubai and I trust him. I believe him that he regrets it, I believe him the tears and as I've said that just makes it so much worse. Because he chose this and now they suffer for it and he suffers for it too and blames himself (rightfully so), but it still hurts.

And then Lestat. Fuck. I knew this was gonna come (I just couldn't help myself and because of my recklessness saw a spoiler, that he's gonna be there) but that in no way did that knowledge diminish what I felt when I saw him. Because, hell, idk I'm just so excited to finally have him back because I love him but also I hate him and am so scared as to what he's gonna do. He's gonna testify against Louis and Claudia sure but what if he won't? Does he want to kill or fuck Louis? Will his and Armand's past play part in this or is that a box to remain unopened until later?

"You cannot script a hurricane" they said and so this means Lestat will go off script. But to what extent? At least to which it results in burning the theatre down.

The preview didn't help my state, quite the contrary actually. Louis in Paris is scared that Lestat's gonna come. Santiago's laughing. What does Armand feel? Who knows not me, I'm just scared. And excited. I feel like I won't fall asleep for two days after this but it's fine. I'm fine, everything's fine.

[subtlehaz]

there’s so so much still to explore s8 like I have so many thoughts oh my god

Mara !!!!! and that bitchy councilwoman

Gerard obvs 😒 sidenote: do we think he’s in cahoots with the councilwoman from hell and why did the chief do fuck all to protect the 118?? do we think the chief is also in cahoots bc he wants to run for office? the speculation is speculating

Mr. Eddie Diaz absolute menace to himself and others: still needs to accept that a) Shannon wanted a DIVORCE and B) THE WILL and C) Christopher coming back and repairing their relationship omfg pls put them in family therapy I beg I want my faves reunited D) I want him speaking more Spanish !!!!! we got a tiny little ‘dios’ this episode but still

Buck ??? pls for the love of god let this man exist outside his love interests I wanna see him succeed in life and hobbies and work and peace and NO ROMANCE FOR A MINUTE for gods sake give him a dog or something but not another LI

Bobby like,,, can we get some confirmed closure idk like man’s was suicidal one episode then almost died and now is back within the next episode has he PROCESSED HAS ATHENA HAVE I

MAY AND HARRY back together again!!!! pls expand their storylines like how was Harry??? Not home during the fire was he having a sleepover like omg

Madney. Let them live. Let them remain happy moisturized at peace. I want a goofy gossip episode of the dream team and Jee like keep them wholesome it’s the least you can do after their bs wedding

RAVI MAIN RAVI MAIN GIVE US RAVI BEGINS

I miss captain mehta I wouldn’t mind a visit from him. or Linda in dispatch. oh my god or Josh??? we haven’t seen most of dispatch since the wedding? I’m sad

just. idk fighting actual fires lmao. I miss when they all did their actual jobs. I miss when we got the goofy 9-1-1 calls at the start of the ep and the super emosh voiceovers at the end of the episode like that’s when we were a real country

OH MY GOD ALBERT

also:

will we ever circle back to Denny’s father storyline? will Hen’s mom ever return?

is sperm donation baby gonna make a comeback? bc the top 5 recap promo before this season started brought that up and I haven’t forgotten 911 Instagram I haven’t forgotten 10 bucks says it serves to remove Tommy when Buck learns he doesn’t want kids

okay that’s it thank u for reading my brain blast

[sneezingisnotnormal]

The Definitive Best Episodes of DnDads

What do I mean by best? These are the episodes that have so many good emotional/hilarious beats that it’s hard to pick out any single moment in it. Every second is iconic. They are in chronological order, but they coincidentally also build from least iconic to most iconic. Spoilers, obviously.

Season 1, Ep. 44: Deck Picks

I think about this episode so much. The literal terror in the air from every which way. The jokes about this being the last episode. Ron literally getting punted out of the story forever. Mr. Moustache weighing the options of getting back his only friend ever or the person he used to be, then completely unrepentantly choosing Scam Likely. Scam Likely then IMMEDIATELY becoming Well Actually. Henry just casually getting a card that makes Lark hate him, literally setting up the ENTIRETY of season 2. Glenn picking a fight with a literal squirrel. Glenn winning AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. Glen losing. So. Hard. It’s the ultimate karma episode. Every moment feels predestined. There is nothing that makes a story better than complete and utter chance.

Season 1, Ep. 55: Mark! A Vagrant

Just conceptually, this episode is absolutely perfect. Bringing Ashly in to add to the utter chaos of the Jodie/Glenn dynamic was the PERFECT CHOICE. You have Goliath!Darryl having an identity crisis in the background. You have Will playing Jezball. You have Ashly and Anthony whipping out every embarrassing childhood memory they can think of. And of course, the crème de la crème, you have Glenn and Jodie fighting so hard to get the last word that they can’t even finish the goddamn fight. I swear to god I think about that shit every day.

Season 1, Ep. 56: SWAP (SWitched Ass Papas)

I mean. It’s a body swap episode. Of course I’m going to love it. Everyone’s interpretations of each others characters are so fucking perfect. Will!Ron looking to Beth!Darryl for advice on how to be a better Ron?? Immaculate, no notes. Beth!Darryl being fully just handshake and Catholicism? Hilarious. Matt!Henry basically just having a panic attack the whole time? 10000% accurate. Jimmy!Glenn and Freddie!Jodie sniping at each other every 5 seconds? I love it. One of my fave Beth May lines of all time: “I see the dramatic irony and I stick out my hand and say ‘Hi, I’m Darryl Wilson.’”

And THEN the conversation between Jodie and Dee Snyder. The call from Morgan that Jimmy!Glenn picks up and the pain of Glenn hearing his dead wife alive and well but no longer his wife. All of reality crashing down around these two men. A perfect blend of sad and utterly hilarious.

Season 1, Ep. 61: Death of a Salesman

Ron Stampler my absolute beloved. This is the only episode on this list that isn’t really funny and that’s because Beth May and Anthony Burch can tell a story like no one else oh my god. Going through Ron’s memories to find his anchor was such a clutch move. Starting off with something simple like Willie pushing him into the pool to teach him how to swim. Going on to Ron trying to cook dinner by himself. Then finally doing something good, something that made him worthwhile, only for Willie to walk in the second there’s an accident. Having to give up his dog. And finally, the fishing trip. Older Ron watching his younger self sadly, trying to prod him to do what Willie wants him to do, to not be a fuck-up, even though everyone else can see that it’s not his fault at all. Glenn going back to punch his principal. Finding the anchor in the fishhook, the thing Willie told him was special, that led Willie to trying to kill Ron, falling and dying in the process. It’s so fucking poetic and it makes me cry every time and everything about it is so well done. I could write essays about this episode.

Season 2, Ep. 34: Finding Tori

This is the episode I come back to if I need something to listen to because there’s no slow moment in this episode. It’s bit after bit after bit and I just cackle my way through it. I’m just gonna have to go chronologically through it.

First, the tight fives. Linc earnestly sitting down and over-explaining his favourite funny movie for 5 minutes is actually the most realistic thing I’ve ever seen. Taylor as Austin Powers doing anime themed stand-up to an utterly unimpressed Tori. Will being so fucking mad that he doesn’t get to be Austin Powers. Beth completely misunderstanding the assignment and doing 5 minutes of Napoleon Dynamite standup that’s 90% sexist jokes and 10% “wanna hear my Goofy impression? Gorsh.” Normal getting flustered and just completely ruining his chances with Hermie, who just fully to his face goes “you never loved me.” Anthony putting on full Joker makeup and delivering the BEST Gotham stand up the world has to offer. Tori just completely ripping each of them to shreds. Hermie’s “oh that’s ok I’ll kill myself.”

And like. That feels like a whole episode right? BUT NO. SCAM LIKELY JUST THROWS THEM INTO SPACE WITH A LIMBLESS NICHOLAS.

And now we have such bangers as Scary going insane! The wildest plans you’ve ever heard! ALL OF THE TEENS GETTING MARRIED SO THAT THEY BECOME ONE SOUL AND CAN USE BANISHMENT. The second they go to space it’s just a complete scramble to find a mechanic they could possibly use to get out of this. It’s truly DnD to its MAX, using the tools available to you to think outside the box.

Season 2, Episode 35: Apollo Four Teens

This episode, man. It almost feels like a completely different genre. I literally can’t pick a favourite part.

I mean you have them being forced to navigate their CANONIZED AND LEGAL POLYCULE. Anthony sending them back into space for 12 hours every time they try and say that their marriage isn’t real is maybe my favourite bit of DMing ever. Linc dealing with the episode 2 trauma of having a whole other life with a whole other wife who told him that she never wanted him to remarry???? Literally Matt is the king of random bits of lore that are brought up and resolved within 5 minutes I love it. Terry calling her mom to tell her she’s married is so fucking funny, I love Terry Marlowe. All the conversations about what pet names to call each other and the logistics of potentially opening up their relationship?? I love these guys being forced to seriously handle the consequences of their bullshit, it’s actually beautiful.

And then the fucking love triangle drama?? The Hero/Taylor enemies to lovers suddenly being shattered by Linc just trying his best to wingman for his husband?? Hero forcing Normal into all of this as HER wingman??? Normal pining like crazy over Hermie while Hermie suddenly falls HARD back into his crush on Terry??? And then Hermie offering a thruple to Normal to get him to wingman for HIM??? Peak comedy, someone get Normal therapy, he needs it after this shit.

And then you’ve got their plan to get Red Bull to sponsor them. Fucking insane plan to start with, and then they almost fuck it up just by literally doing the lamest stunts possible. I just can’t these teens are so stupid I love them so much.

Season 2, Ep. 37: Cut My Life into Pizzas

Ok. This is my favorite episode of DnDads. Hard stop. No other thoughts behind it. And that’s because it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it makes me scream. It’s perfect.

First off, the All Star parody. Why did they do that to me. My heart simply cannot take it.

And then you have Terry freaking out, trying to find a way to fix the problem, putting on the hat just to get it out of the way, having all the memories flood back in. And Scary just can’t process what happened. And you get to see in real time as Scary realises that Willie doesn’t actually give a shit about her. And she decides that she CAN’T lose her stepdad. And you get to see in real time as Scary tries to fight back only to find that she’s given all her power to a man that wants to use her as a telephone. And you watch her lose all hope. She leaves her friends. She leaves her stepdad. She joins the kiddads and goes to help them get the final anchor.

The final anchor, which is the garlic knot heart of a pizza king. And it’s that kind of crazy ass piece of this world that makes DnDads the funniest fucking podcast out there. You will never make me laugh as hard as when I’m about to start crying.

And then you have the whole battle of Linc, Taylor, and Normal trying to get up the tower. Linc and Taylor becoming a fighting machine. The absolute insanity of Linc using Taylor’s toes a la ratatouille??? And of course, completely leaving Normal behind, causing Normal to officially snap: “LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE’S FALLING IN LOVE EXCEPT ME.” Deeply hilarious, and also deeply tragic in such a small and painfully familiar way. Meanwhile Scary is trying to find consolation in Sparrow’s stories about Terry Jr. and just feeling worse and worse. The👏emotional 👏turmoil👏

And then they get to the top and it’s a fucking meat door labelled vegans only. Anthony you motherfucker. And Scary just teleports in and rips that man’s heart out and offers it to anyone who can revive her stepdad. And she just completely shuts down when everyone says they can’t because she’ll never get to tell him what he meant to her.

And THEN, AS IF I’M NOT CRYING ENOUGH ALREADY, Linc confronts Grant. This kid who IDOLIZES his dads has to confront his dad and say “you’re doing the wrong thing. You had a choice and you chose wrong. And I can’t forgive you for that.” Grant trying so hard to explain to Linc that he can’t change who he is, only for Linc to say “well you knew you were messed up and you still chose to raise me. You chose to put all this onto me one day.” Jesus Christ. I need a character study on the Wilson’s. They hurt me. So bad.

Honorable Mention: 3.6 A Car is Born

An episode so fucking insane that the least memorable part is Francis getting a FUCKING GUN. The Tony Collette backstory. The moth Jesus. Dewar. I can’t with these idiots

[gffa]

THE HIGH REPUBLIC READING PROJECT UPDATE: Since I finished Phases I and II (aside from Young Jedi Adventures previously), in the interests of not having a mile long post, I'm just doing Phase III stuff now. I've also decided against including The Vow of Silver Dawn since I don't think there's an official English translation--though, I am reading the fan translation. (Slowly, I've been reading ORV when I do have time to read.) Look how close I am! I'm even an hour and half into Defy the Storm and I've started the Phase III comics and I'd guess I have about ten issues left in total to catch up on and I finished Young Jedi Adventures. I can totally do this over the next week and a half!

MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE III:

The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness

The High Republic: Escape from Valo

The High Republic: Defy The Storm

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE III:

The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight - 4 issues

The High Republic (2023) - 7 issues [ONGOING]

The High Republic Adventures (2023) - 5 issues [ONGOING]

The High Republic - Saber for Hire (2023) - 1 issue [ONGOING]

ONESHOT COMIC ISSUES - PHASE III:

The High Republic Adventures: Crash Landing

EVERYTHING ELSE:

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures - 25 episodes + 6 shorts

I enjoyed Escape from Valo a lot more than I thought I would, Older's and Wong's books usually just aren't my jam, but when they got in a bunch of new characters, I found myself more intrigued this time around. Part of that is probably that Phase III feels a lot tighter and more impactful now that they've had time to really get in gear as an initiative, but also I think maybe it feels like Older and Wong are spreading the story around to more characters and ones that resonate better with me. A lot of it is that I feel like Older is a little too close to Ram's character and winds up making him feel like The Most Specialest Boy Ever, but putting him into smaller chunks made him go down a lot better for me and I found his struggle to connect with the Jedi younglings versus becoming attached to them (in the way the Jedi mean it/more Buddhist-aligned) worked well for me. I think the book still fits into the overall trend for me--mostly one of my lesser faves of the Phase, but with 2-3 absolutely BANGER scenes about Jedi philosophy that make it worth reading for. Now, on to Defy the Storm and I'm curious how this will go, I like both Ireland and Gratton's work, but I do get a little "...." at Ireland's writing for Avon, who I thought worked well enough in the first book but starts to feel like she's not allowed any real flaws because she's too special. I just want a little more variety with the heroes, to let them have some genuinely unlikeable moments to be relatable. (This is personal preference, I might feel different if these were established characters or I was more in the target range.) I also finished Young Jedi Adventures and I honestly enjoyed having it on in the background! It's very much aimed at a preschool audience, but it does so with charisma and charm radiating out of it in every scene. The voice acting is top notch, the animation is gorgeous, the character/setting designs are stunning, and I admit, I got a little invested in the characters over the time spent with them. To the point I'm kind of genuinely champing at the bit for a second season because I NEED Taborr resolution, YOU CANNOT END IT THERE??? I NEED TO KNOW HOW THIS TURNS OUT???? I NEED ANOTHER SEASON!!!! At least tell me that someone else is in the same hell that I'm in of wanting to see how that conflict plays out and getting weirdly invested in that little shit that just wants real friends. ;__;