#this post is a lot shorter than my first analysis post. mainly because I didn’t have as much to say and I wanted to reel myself in a little

[sunflower-chai]

Hi!! This is a really dumb question, and you 100% don't have to answer it, but I keep seeing your reblogs of dsmp - what is it? What's it about? How had it taken a hold of your soul and what do you take from it?

oh mouse. you have opened the floodgates.

so basically dsmp (aka dream smp but i don’t call it that anymore bc the content creator dream, who the server is named after, is a terrible person. which is a whole other can of worms i won’t get into) is a survival multiplayer (hence SMP) minecraft server that tells a story via improvised roleplay. it ran from april 2020 - april 2023 and grew from 4 members on the first day to 39 members by the end. it also featured a handful of guests including, i kid you not, michael clifford from 5 seconds of summer and lil nas x. the story was primarily distributed via livestreams on youtube and twitch, though some members and fans created highlight videos on youtube.

how do i explain what dsmp is about? overall, it’s a heavily character-driven story with many different factions, wars, and eras. each member essentially wrote their own story, and fans could pick whose POV they were most interested in and follow along with whatever lore was created. (at one point there was a head writer who, surprise surprise, also turned out to be a terrible person. are you sensing the pattern here?) so honestly the answer to “what is the dsmp about?” is different depending on which members/characters you choose to pay attention to.

i got interested in the server in early 2021 when someone i followed on tumblr for a completely unrelated fandom started posting about it (which is how i get into most new interests these days lol). i looked up some clips on youtube and discovered the content creator tommyinnit via an among us gameplay video. i thought he was really funny and checked out his channel. the first video of his i watched was “the funniest minecraft video ever,” which was edited from one of his dsmp streams where he and two other members created a religion based on twitch prime subscriptions. it’s ridiculous and still makes me laugh to this day. so after that i decided i wanted to know what this minecraft server was all about. i found VODs (archived livestream recordings) of the big events on the server and watched as many as i could. honestly i had to skip around a lot because there was simply too much content to catch up on, and a lot of members didn’t save their VODs. that was another reason i tended to follow tommy’s POV, he uploaded all of his twitch VODs to a separate youtube channel. he also streamed less frequently and for shorter time periods than most of the members so it was a more manageable amount of stuff to watch. after i got decently caught up, i started tuning in for the dsmp streams live. and boy oh boy did i become obsessed. spring of 2021 i was a junior in college and i hardly left my apartment because of covid restrictions. i was incredibly bored and developing depression (which i would not realize until i went to therapy that summer and got referred to a psychiatrist for diagnosis. but i digress). dsmp was genuinely the only thing that got me excited anymore.

spring-summer 2021 was honestly a golden age for dsmp fans because so much lore was happening at such a rapid pace and it was EXHILIRATING. the fandom would churn out analysis, fanfics, art, animatics, and even original songs at the speed of light. everyone would liveblog during big lore events and it was just such a fun community to be a part of, even though i mainly lurked on tumblr back then. the source material was nothing but minecraft blocks and webcams, so i think it really allowed the fans’ creativity to flow. the fans truly carried that server, particularly SAD-ist’s animatics on youtube and derivakat’s fan songs, though my favorite song was beetlebug’s “an ode to l’manburg.”

so you’re probably wondering: what the heck is l’manburg? so this gets into what i think truly made the server worth investing in, which was the storytelling. “l’manburg” was a fictional country created on the dsmp server. it actually started out as a van used to sell “drugs” (aka minecraft potions), created by c!tommy and c!wilbur (c! = character, to differentiate between roleplay and the actual content creators). basically wilbur wanted to roleplay breaking bad lol. a bunch of the other server members cracked down on this “illegal” business, so c!wilbur decided to form his own country on the land surrounding the van (now a hot dog van), declaring independence from the greater SMP so citizens would be free to do what they want. he called it l’manburg because it “sounded european,” and all of the citizens at the time were european while those still loyal to the greater SMP were mostly american. the citizens of l’manburg at the time were c!wilbur, c!tommy, c!tubbo, c!fundy, and c!eret. the greater SMP didn’t take kindly to this new country’s existence, so c!dream issued a declaration of war, and thus began the l’manburg war for independence, which was really an excuse to do hamilton roleplay (yes, it’s all very silly but i love it. it gets much more serious later on). anyway i don’t want to say much more in case you decide to give it a watch, but if you do good luck. i would recommend blueberry tv on youtube, who does a great job condensing the most important moments into 20ish minute episodes. they have a playlist called “dream smp plot playlist” which is a good place to start.

okay now i’m taking this opportunity to gush a little about c!tommy, one of my favorite characters in anything ever. he starts out as a loud, funny, slightly annoying, mean-to-your-face but kind-at-heart sixteen year old kid, and by the end he’s eighteen, he’s literally been to hell and back, he’s a little quieter, a bit jaded, and doesn’t easily trust others or even his own mind. but even after everything he goes through, he still tries to believe the best in people and stubbornly holds onto hope that things will get better. he’s incredibly loyal to his friends. he loves things that most people would overlook and he loves them hard. he communicates his feelings in convoluted metaphors that are accidentally poetic. he constantly listens to music, probably has an unhealthy attachment to it, but he’s willing to give it up if it means freedom and happiness for his friends. he deals with so much unfair treatment and abuse and trauma and he could so easily give into despair or allow those experiences to darken his morals but nothing is ever able to completely dull his spark. it would honestly be easier to give up or become the villain, but it’s just not in his nature. i just love him so much man 😭

[cuntycassandra]

Why I think the beginning of this scene is extremely important to Sebastian’s redemption arc.

• scene from ‘Glee, Season 3, Episode 14, ‘On My Way’, timestamp: 17:44’.

Tell me, when you look the above images, what is it that you see?

Most people will recognise the photo for what it is when presented to us amongst the cluster of the rest of the episode, the opening cut to Sebastian’s very ‘rushed’ character development segment, which starts out with him writing school notes/doing homework, drinking a coffee, and waiting for Brittany, Santana, Kurt and Blaine to show up for their scheduled chat. On a surface level, that’s exactly what this scene is, nothing less, but maybe something more.

I’m going to elaborate on why I think this section sets the correct tone for the upcoming scene, and how I feel it makes Sebastian seem a lot more genuine than he is shown to be in prior episodes.

1) Teenager or Adult:

One thing I think Glee truly struggled with, even throughout its earlier seasons, was the mismatched attempts at making the age of their characters believable. Between seasons 1-3, their youngest teenaged individuals were 14/15 (Artie and Tina in S1), and their eldest were 18 (the graduates of S3), your typical high schooler age range. However, throughout the filming of S1, many of the actors portraying our favourite glee kids were actually in their late 20s (for example Cory Monteith was 27 as he played 16 year old Finn Hudson). This concept wasn’t new to TV at the time, many shows even to this day use young adults to play their spritely teenagers, and while it may fix a lot of issues behind the camera (legal working hours, maturity levels, contract signings and professionalism), this can cause a few show-based misdemeanours for the audience.

While watching from afar as fans discuss characters wrongdoings, I’ve come to notice that a lot of people overestimate the actions of each character based upon their ‘ages’. It’s easy to forget that Quinn and Puck were only sixteen years old in season one, when they’re portrayed by 23 year old Dianna, and 26 year old Mark. Psychologically, it is much easier to be angrier at somebody you perceive to be in their twenties as the age is often used as a scapegoat (“they’re 21 years old, they should know better), especially in comparison to that of a sophomore. I mostly see this sort of misinterpretation in characters with more faults than strengths, so for example Santana, Puck, Rachel, and yes, Sebastian. If we take into consideration that throughout season three Sebastian would’ve been 16, if only just 17 at the latest, this should add a layer of understanding to his maturity levels, especially when considering his upbringing? But again, as a flawed character being played by the 21/22 year old Grant Gustin, I think that subconsciously this gives people a reason, or even an excuse, to discard this segment of his redemption, as I often see it does with other characters.

“He’s sneaky, he’s manipulating them, he’s irredeemable”, what he is, is a spoiled teenager with a brain that literally isn’t, and won’t be for years to come, fully developed. Whenever I flip this argument on somebody and say “are you irredeemable for the stupid decisions you made as an emotionally confused sixteen year old?” And to that, it’s always: “it’s different for Sebastian, he’s evil and should know better.”

No it’s not different. Sebastian should be held accountable for his behaviour, I’d never dispute that, but do that, and only that. Don’t force a false vindictive narrative onto a character because you dislike them, and especially don’t set up a double standard when it comes to actual facts. He’s a teenager, a minor, a spoiled little brat who did need his ass handed to him for lack of a better phrase, but a child no less. Treat his wrongdoings as such, hold the accountability, but don’t force evil intentions when they aren’t there because you think it’ll be held, allow him room and a chance to grow up. Everyone, especially teenagers, is entitled to that.

- Redditor comment from the glee subreddit.

- a more in depth version of my teenaged vs adult argument, written by myself on a Reddit comment.

2) How this timestamp rectifies this:

I find that this timestamp helps put into perspective Sebastian’s age, and as a result, his maturity levels and mentality (or lack there of…). I know that in the US uniforms aren’t a common practice unless it’s for a prep or private school, but I genuinely think the use of the Dalton blazer adds to the legitimacy of the canon ages of the character. I tend to associate a uniform with a high school, especially the stereotypical blazer, tie, shirt and nice shoes, this works for the unholy trinity and the footballers in their letterman jackets and cheerleading outfits too. It really sets the tone that these are high schoolers, aged 14-18 year old kids who are going to make really stupid decisions sometimes, keeping in mind the emotional turmoil that comes from puberty and hormonal changes around these ages too.

Now this next point is the one that scratches my brain itch. Sebastian 👏 is 👏 doing 👏 homework 👏. We hardly ever see any of the kids in glee doing homework, or anything school related unless it sets up for a song (in a classroom). I know people don’t tend to look at it this way but even just the principle of Sebastian doing his school work sets such a realistic tone for who actually is. A teenager. He’ll sign his name at the top of that piece of work like any other student, he’ll hand it in to get feedback like the rest of his class, he’ll anxiously await to receive his weekly grade, much like any other teenager would, when it arrives he’ll either be pleased or disheartened, and he’ll discuss it with his friends. The simple idea of him doing something completely unrelated to sabotaging the NDs, even if it’s just as simple as a bit of homework or finishing up a phone call, really sets apart that this is a person, not a monster. He has a life outside of hurting your favourites. I adore how much this puts into perspective that underneath the layers people associate with him, rightly or wrongly, he’s still a 16/17 year old boy, both recognising his age and his maturity level along with it.

3) Video essay:

Audio clip: https://youtu.be/hhYQBudh0vc : timestamp: 8:41.

That’s all I really had to say, definitely not as in depth as my very first analysis post, but this is one of my favourite details about our lovely meerkat no less. This can really be applied to a lot of your high school faves from glee, mainly Quinn, Puck, even Artie to an extent off of the top of my head. It gets a little trickier to defended when the behaviour continues as they grow up and still act this way in a professional work place and/or college (not naming any names, but I’m thinking them-), but beforehand, I’m not going to have anybody try and wipe away Sebastian’s redemption for the price of nothing, and these are just the aspects I think help set the tone for who he truly is, not who he’s painted himself to be in the eyes of an audience.

[radiocmyk]

Predatory birds that aren’t hawks

Something I’ve noticed during my time in the aviankind community is an overabundance of hawk and eagle therians, mostly red-tailed hawks, which I think is directly tied to the tendency for people to 1. confirm an avian theriotype and 2. feel a prey drive so they 3. immediately say they’re a hawk or eagle as if hawks and eagles are the only birds who hunt.

So, for any bird therians who are questioning and feel as though they’re a predator, here’s a few other birds to at least cross off the list before you land on red-tailed hawk:

Every other kind of hawk. Guys, there are over 200 species of hawk. Many are extremely similar to red-tails in terms of behavior and morphology, but have key differences that you might disregard if you’ve already decided you must be a red-tail because those are the ones you know about.

Owls. If you think you may be a nocturnal animal, you might want to look into owls before hawks. Hawks are strictly diurnal (active during the day). There’s also a few physical differences; smaller beaks, usually shorter tails, different-shaped wings and very different talons being a few.

Falcons. Falcons are actually unrelated to hawks and eagles. They’re more closely related to parrots and passerines like songbirds. Hunting methods often differ; many species of falcons hunt by attacking other birds mid-air. Many other falcons, though, have very similar behavior to hawks. So be thorough.

Fish-catching birds: kingfishers, herons, egrets, ospreys, cormorants, loons, albatrosses, some ducks, pelicans (no I am not kidding). Consider what kinds of prey your hunting urges are directed toward. Take notes on your shifts, especially beak shifts if you have them. Many of these birds have very different beaks than the hooked bill of a hawk. And if you feel a prey drive towards fish, you might want to look into one of these birds.

Insect-catching birds: rollers, swallows, flycatchers, potoos, bluebirds, warblers, wrens, swifts, waxwings. Again, think about what kinds of animals you feel urged to hunt, and the way you want to hunt them. Most of these birds fly after insects in the air and catch them mid-air. A lot of these birds are smaller, too, so that’s something to pay attention to shifts for. Don’t disregard these birds just because they aren’t as cool or bugs are icky.

Skuas. I’d put them in the fish-catching category but they also prey on terrestrial animals, steal eggs, and scavenge. They’re carnivores but will take any meat they can get.

Shrikes. Also a smaller bird, but I personally think these guys are pretty cool. If “impales smaller animals on thorns to save them for later” strikes a chord with you, maybe look into shrikes. Brutal, isn’t it?

This post is mainly for questioning bird therians who feel a prey drive, but if you’re questioning hawk just on the basis that you know you’re a carnivore, consider: vultures. I know, I know, ugly creepy birds who eat dead things. Well, I might be biased, but imo vultures are some seriously cool animals. I get the aversion though; I have a theriotype I didn’t consider at first because I had no beforehand opinion on it. Just because something isn’t your most favorite animal since childhood doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider it if it matches your shifts.

Now, I am not trying to convince you you’re definitely not a hawk. You very well might be. I just see a lot of bird therians not put a lot of time into questioning and just go with the easiest answer. And I know this happens from personal experience, as someone who used to think he was a red-tail himself (because it was the easiest answer).

As a bird and an ornithology nerd, I’d love to see more care taken with the questioning process - self-analysis can’t hurt, and you’ll definitely learn some cool stuff along the way even if you do confirm you’re a hawk! Remember, the three most important things in questioning: research, introspection, and take your time!

Good luck!

[himbo-buckley]

Intimacy, Sex and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 2

G’day friends, family and lost travelers! Welcome back to another instance of: I read too much into things!

This is where we really dive into the Character analysis and it’s gonna be a fun ride!!! (well, maybe. For me at least because thanks to 3.16 I am living! That episode validated me so much and now I truly believe I am right)

This is part two of a three part Meta / Character Analysis, and while you probably don’t need to read part 1, I would recommend it, so here is the link:

part 1

Also:

I should preface this by saying this meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics.

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney* voice we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something?

This Meta will so far have three parts (this is part two), one for each season and is organised by episode so you could technically follow along

So here goes nothing, Season 2: (Also called „Why is Ryan naked so much?“)

Episode 2.01:

I’m not gonna talk a lot about this episode, because I feel like it’s been analysed to death already. Important to know is that Buck hasn’t yet given up on Abby coming back (see the shower scene), he is very lonely and there is a lot of homo- erotic tension.

Basically this episode goes like this:

Buck *after meeting Eddie*: nooooo, Dad, I don’t want a brother! He’s better than me! Put him back where he came from!

Eddie *takes one look at Buck*: Ui, you guys lied, he’s an ass - I like it! This is way better! We’re gonna be friends!

And then Buddie decides to something stupid to prove themselves (to each other) and they end up saving the day and bonding.

Also Eddie saying: „You guys hungry?“ after the Ambulance blows up? Iconic! He is such a little shit.

Episode 2.02 / 2.03:

(I’m putting them together because two-parter)

This episodes truly proves how hard they’ve already bonded, despite Buck not even knowing Eddie has a kid yet, especially from Eddie’s point of view: I actually think he started seeing Buck as his partner first. 

I love how he always takes charge, even in his first episode and expects Buck to go along with it - which Buck does (after some initial reluctance), because Buck is good at following orders and trusts Eddie. It might be an army thing, probably is an Eddie likes control thing. What is truly unique about Buddie, is the fact that Eddie defers to Buck’s judgement as needed, something he doesn’t do with anyone else, I think, unless the chain of command tells him to. Just look at how annoyed he is by Ali and her interfering.

That being said it really isn’t all to relevant for this meta, except to say: Interest- ing how fast they trusted each other and became a unit - I guess it’s true what they say: birds of a feather flock together.

Episode 2.04:

Here we get our first real insights into Eddie’s character (aside from that he is a little shit and likes to take charge) as well as some very nice shots of the man’s body, proving my theory that someone in charge really wants to get busy with Ryan Guzman. Which I am not exactly complaining about.

I do think however it’s a very noticable shift from the way they treat the other young, attractive guy in the cast. I talked about this a little in the first part of this Meta, how they went out of their way to hold Buck accountable and make him relatable, but refused to bank on his sex appeal, aside from a few scenes which mostly were about explaining why Abby reached out to him (and uh, we do not need to talk about how creepy that really was, do we?). Eddie though really gets sexualised from the get go. Or maybe that’s just me and I missed something? (Someone with more insight on such topics take the wheel? Because that really isn’t my area of expertice and I don’t wanna say anything false)

A main difference between Buck and Eddie at this point (or in general) is that Buck is always looking for connection. He craves emotional intimacy but it scares him because he cares too much and people keep leaving so he searches out physical intimacy - or he used to. Actually by Season 2 Buck is actively looking to connect emotionally with another person.

Eddie on the other hand isn’t even on the same level as Pilot!Buck, because he avoids both physical and emotional intimacy (except with Buck because, you know, steam engine). The episode implies that it might be caused by Shannon leaving, but the rest of Season 2 and specifically Season 3 show us that it’s an Eddie thing (likely caused by his upbringing if you fast forward to 3.15). And it really makes me want to know how Shannon and Eddie met and how long they had been dating before she got pregnant. Probably not that long tbh.

One thing to notice about the episode is that it parallels Eddie both with Buck (neither wants to date one of those girls, both deflect about their reasons) and with Abby - watch 1.03 and 2.04 back to back, both are about a character taking care of a special needs family member, both have another family member consider them stuck when they themselves do not and both feature Buck trying to help (passively by talking to Abby on the phone vs. actively by having Eddie and Carla meet)

Also as I pointed out in another post the conversation about dating is kind of similar to the car conversation, and I really am clowning now - which is why I will not try and parallel the conversation between Maddie and Buck with the one between Bobby and Buck in 1.09!

I still don’t fully understand the need for that scene (you know which one) aside from being another instance where the boys get sexualised and giving us our first insight into Eddie romantically and also the first time he uses Christopher as a shield (also not the last).

The general take away from the episode is that Eddie is bad at asking for help and Buck is bad at asking for permission which means they fit really well - because Eddie doesn’t have to voice his needs and Buck doesn’t have to feel bad about steamrolling him.

In terms of the overall theme of this meta your main takeaway from this episode should be:

Buck - no longer substituting physical intimacy for emotional intimacy but also not seeking out emotional intimacy, both because he has a connection through Maddie and is building one with Eddie but also because he still considers himself spoken for, though the episode ends with him realicing he might not be (and then he keeps realising, because he is one stubborn mf).

Eddie - avoiding both physical and emotional intimacy and using Christopher to deflect, mainly because he doesn’t have the time for either (but still getting a connection through Buck, thanks to someone just punching right through his boundaries)

Episode 2.05:

no relevance, our boys are barely in it

Episode 2.06:

Well, if you want to write about Buddie crumbs than yeah, definitely important. Also, you can draw a definite parallel between Abby and Taylor, because Buck knew both their voices before he saw their faces and built an emotional connection to those voices. This fits because, well, Buck is afraid of emotional intimacy, but when it’s just a voice it’s easier for him to let himself be vulnerable cause it’s not an actual person.

Plus, considering the thing with Taylor is one sided prior to their meeting, he isn’t actually cheating on Abby. Or so Buck thinks. (Also Taylor doesn’t have a chance to hurt Buck and leave him because you know, she is not aware he exists?)

Also Eddie talks about becoming a firefighter because he missed the camaraderie of the army - aka the emotional connection he had with his squadron (is that the right term?). So technically he did actively try and seek it out - to a point at least. Because, as I will discuss in Part 3, Eddie may consider the 118 his family but his relationship with the other three firefighters in not on the same level than the one he has with Buck.

Episode 2.07:

Let’s all give a warm welcome to Shannon Diaz! I like Shannon, I think she is great (I also think she and Eddie are similar because they both run away from problems which is why they would never work out - unlike another possible relationship mentioned sporadically in this Meta, hint hint ;) ... okay, moving on)

We learn that „not in the picture“ means Eddie is still married, which begs the question how much Eddie has told Carla and the 118 about Shannon up to this point (as little as possible), what they assume about her (probably the worst) and if Eddie ever sets the record straight (I’m assuming yes, because while Eddie doesn’t share - Eddie is also protective of his family and Shannon is his family for better or worse - I really wish they didn’t kill her off and instead played out the divorce storyline because there was so much chance for growth! Although that was probably too similar to Athena and Michael, which is why they didn’t do it. So they fridged her. Damn, and I am still salty about it.)

I really love when she comes to the house, because we learn so much about them as a couple. Like how her eyes grow warm when he opens the door but Eddie’s don’t but then he goes in to hug her (and you can really tell that Ryan Guzman is an athlete in the way that he always acts with his whole body and conveys so much through movement). And the fact that Shannon immediately pushes to meet Christopher (probably because with Eddie you need to push, because he is very stubborn and also in need of control), and her saying she never thought Eddie would be into something so fancy? Yet another insight into Eddie’s character and into his upbringing, which while probably not poor seems to have been fairly modest.

Also love how they fight almost right from the get go, implying that it is their normal (as proven in 3.15). They really never stood a chance!

There is a lot of backstory we get through their fighting, both at the house and at the school, most notably that even in marriage Eddie was never able to fully open up to Shannon - aka be emotionally intimate with her. Which made her feel very alone.

And I don’t wanna defend Shannon and her actions because other people have said it before and this is not what this Meta is about but I can see her point of view. With Eddie and the way he just always needs to be in control and make the decisions she probably thought she had to do something drastic to get him to notice her and her struggles.

Interestingly enough Eddie is emotionally vulnerable with Shannon at the end when he tells her that he understands why she left and that he misses her, but then he immediately kisses her and look, we don’t know what happens next  but we can guess from the latter episodes.

And look, tbh with Eddie it’s a little bit harder to draw the line between physical and emotional intimacy than with Buck because Eddie’s love language is touch and actions, so technically in a way he is always emotionally intimate when he is physically intimate (probably why he didn’t wanna go out with any of the girls in 2.04 - Eddie, different to Buck, can not just separate feelings from sex, while Buck has a hard time reconciling the two)

On Buck’s side of this Meta he finally comes to terms with Abby leaving, which doesn’t have too much relevance for this meta except there are a lot of parallels between Buddie in terms of: how long is too long to wait - because while Eddie pretends to have given up on Shannon, he actually hasn’t, whereas Buck outwardly is still waiting for Abby but on the inside has given up hope - something they both come to terms with in this episode

Episode 2.08:

Fun fact: The german title of this Episode is Lovestorys. Can you guess if there is anything of relevance in it?

Okay, first off for the millionth time, in case you haven’t read part 1 or you aren’t convinced yet or maybe you just forgot: Evan „Buck“ Buckley was never a sex addict. Kay? Good.

Also, remember when I said the show doesn’t sexualise Oliver the way it does Ryan? Yeah, this episode exactly. Buck has sex twice and we see less of his body than of Eddie just getting out of bed. Is it a contract thing? Was Ryan always running around naked on set? Did Oliver refuse to take his shirt off? Is he always cold because he’s vegan? Should I figure out Twitter just to ask the cast these questions?

(Also, remember when I said with Buck it’s mostly Girl on top, yay, it stays true)

In terms of actual relevant story, there’s that woman on the freeway (highway? Idk guys, I’m not from the US) reinforcing that Buck has finally accepted that Abby and him are over and then there’s the Taylor Kenny - story, which is sort of just beating the bush of sexual vs emotional intimacy with Buck trying for the latter and only finding the former (remember the Brunette from the Pilot? Yeah, that’s why I’m reminding you).

What I like is the fact that, after spending so much time calling out Buck 1.0 (and they should, because stealing a fire truck? Twice? Babe, for realsies?), this episode went: look, maybe girls like meaningless sex, too? Although, technically they have been telling us from the the beginning, that those girl were using Buck in the same way he was using them (again with the Brunette) - Buck just never understood that until Taylor.

We also get the soulmate scene with the very sweet couple, once again, rein- forcing how lonely Buck is and how much he is craving love and a connection and stability. That really is what his character boils down to at the end of the day: a lost kid trying to find his place in the world. And now I’m sad.

As for the Ali storyline, oh man, I’d really rather ignore it? Not because I have anything against the character per sey it’s just - we get to see their first meeting and then 5 episodes later their first date and by the end of the season they are in love love except by Season 3 she is gone? And in between she is hardly ever mentioned? So I really don’t know how to comment on their relationship in terms of this meta and what it means for Buck except: I think it was one of those right times right moment kind of things and Buck is sort of transfering a lot of his wishes and needs and feelings onto her, but their relationship has a weak foundation, which is why it ended so fast (except we don’t know how fast it ended because there is a 5 month gap between Season 2 and 3 and the breakup gets mentioned one (1) time. Soooooo...)

And Eddie, well, he was in the episode.

Episode 2.09:

I like this episode a lot and it tells us so much about Hen’s issues, but in terms of this meta: no relevance!

Sidenote: I do always forget they did Hen before they did Chim. Then again this episode in general feels very disconnected because there was no prompting, no connection to the present.

Episode 2.10:

Ah, yes, that one! The gift that keeps on giving in terms of Eddie and this meta (and also Buddie, but I’m trying not to be ship-y around here)

(One tiny sidenote though, I do think we see Eddie roll of off Shannon, and, while I don’t want to reinforce some stereotype about Top and Bottom, because I am not a gay man and therefore not qualified to comment, with Buck it’s generally girl on top? So Buck usually lets his partner set the pace while Eddie prefers to be the one in control? Okay, you know what, let’s just say it fits with their characters and maybe they match and leave it at that?)

(also, again with the Ryan shirtless, I mean, not that I am complaining, it’s just ... yeah, please, someone who knows this stuff come talk to me about it and explain because I don’t know and maybe I am seeing things?)

(sidenote #3 with actual relevance: They did not mention Buck’s girlfriend even once. They never do until the final.)

First of, this episode proofs what I said before: With Eddie there is no separating Sex and feelings. It is interconnected („We are working things out.“).

Also there is a point to be made about Eddie and control. So far we have always seen Eddie be the one in control and make decisions and this is our first real indicator that it actually bothers him, that maybe he wants someone else to tell him what’s right or wrong, too.

I’m gonna fast forward a bit, because we are nearly at the end of Season 3 irl and so far we have seen Eddie ask for help several times but only with two people - Buck and Lena - he actually takes the advice. I don’t want to say too much because it really fits better in Season 3, but wether you ship them or not, it is noticeable that out of everyone Buck is the one Eddie let’s help the most. The one he trusts the most.

(Man, they are both just two lost boys looking for their home, aren’t they? (and now I am sad again.))

There is also the topic of trust brought up, which you know, we hear about a few times from Eddie, and it really is such a big thing for him, isn’t it?

To fast forward again, that is one big difference between Eddie and Buck. Both struggle with self worth and trust but while Buck’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t trust people to like him, if they actually get to know him (or if they even want to get to know him), Eddie just plain old does not trust people? Because Eddie is a pessimist, so he doesn’t even try to connect, while Buckeroo trusts way too much and too easily and he is such an optimist and gives away everything and then he still isn’t enough - and then and only then does he give up hope (which is something we see happen in canon maybe twice? With Abby, maybe with Ali, and with Christopher, but again, Season 3 you guys!)

These two really are the different sides of the same coin, huh?

In relevance to this Meta, Eddie is trying very much this whole episode to be open and vulnerable and he struggles so much because he is very scared. The main issue with Eddie is always (and specifically with Shannon) by making himself vulnerable, he opens Christopher up to getting hurt as well (and vice versa because he can’t let Shannon into his son’s life without letting her into his own life) and this is what we see him struggle with in this episode and also what intensifies his already existing issues with intimacy throughout the show in general, his need to protect his son. 

It should be noted that in the end Eddie puts Christopher’s wishes above his own well-being which is in fact what he will always do because Christopher is the most important person in his life.

As for Buck in this episode, well, after having so much development in his last episode, he really was there more as a sounding board for other characters. However I will mention that, after the show points out the whole thing is none of his business twice, Eddie then turns around and makes the Shannon thing Buck’s business, because well, connected and all that. Trusting and giving up control. Emotional intimacy. Just repeating myself now.

Episode 2.11: No relevance.

Episode 2.12: No relevance.

Episode 2.13: No real relevance.

There is the scene in the hospital between Buck and Eddie that reinforces the peas in a pot thing they got going on and a reverse from the Christmas Episode when Eddie asked Buck about what he should do. Here Eddie acts as the sounding board (even though Buck has already done the thing but then so has Eddie by hiding Shannon).

This is also yet another instance of Buck trying to help another person with no regard for his own safety but I’m with Eddie here: I have sisters as well. I too would do countless stupid things to save them with no regard to my own safety and I’m a girl - I was not raised on the believe that is was my job to protect them from harm like both Buck and Eddie probably were (because gender rolls).

Also Buck thinks it’s his fault that Doug even found Maddie and Eddie explains to him why its bull. To reinforce the whole connection thing, it is very noticeable that these two always give each other exactly what the other needs - with Eddie from the get go always working on building up Buck’s self worth and Buck always lending a hand to Eddie and taking control when needed (remember Carla? That was Buck taking control for Eddie because Eddie didn’t know what to do).

There is also the short scene when Shannon comes to the hospital and it prob- ably did a lot to help rebuild Eddies trust in his wife.

Episode 2.14:

STOP MAKING EVAN BUCKLEY WORRY ABOUT HIS FAMILY 2k21 (because it’s too late for anything before that)

It’s also our first real: Eddie can be a dumbass, too sighting and there is that one scene (you know which one) which in text is not shippy at all, but ended up in every gifset because Oliver is looking at Ryan like he wants to eat him alive.

Aside from that, this episode really isn’t about them and that’s okay.

Episode 2.15: Crime is hard. That is all.

Episode 2.16: No relevance.

Episode 2.17:

First of all, Eddie is not shirtless? At the beach? Damn, what’s wrong, 911? Is it because Gavin was there? Have you used up all your contracted shirtless scenes by now? Did Ryan find out he was the only one running around set half naked?

Also poor Eddie, you know, you’d think getting married your done having those: what are we - conversations and then bam: there it is again. He really can’t catch a break, can he?

Also I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: Eddie Diaz is not in love with Shannon. Maybe he has never been or maybe he just stopped at some point, but right then and there he isn’t in love with her. He does however love her deeply (she is after all the mother of his son) and she is his family which is sort of where the problem in their relationship lies. Because Eddie, who has problems with trust and intimacy, frankly doesn’t care enough about Shannon (and also doesn’t trust her enough) to try and be open and vulnerable with her, which is what he needs to be in order for them to work, a fact that Shannon seems to be aware of and have accepted.

(Because if you have to wait for a sign on what to do in your relationship, yeah, you already know - you’re just not accepting it.)

And this episode is so heartbreaking and I just had to stop myself from ugly crying because Shannon loves Christopher so very much. And I just hate that they killed her off, so in my mind I have already half plotted a fix it fic in which she survives because that was just unnecessary angst.

Though that’s the topic of another post.

In terms of the relationship-story I am similarly floored as I am by the „Help!“ scene because (at least for me) this is the first time I have seen media really address that yes, you can be a good parent and still not be ready for a serious relationship because those two things are very different. Sure, you sometimes see examples of it through subtext but never before has it been so outright stated.

And I like that both Shannon and Eddie ask themselves that question, but come to a different conclusion - or actually they don’t. Like I said above, for Eddie this relationship fits because it’s easy and he doesn’t have to change or better adapt. He can just keep avoiding the hard stuff (being vulnerable) and still have the good stuff (sex). And then Shannon might be pregnant again and look at his speech at the restaurant: He is basically saying our child is awesome, so we should get back together because if we make such awesome children than we can’t be that bad together. And that is so very wrong, which Shannon understands.

The problem is, that Eddie doesn’t fully understand why their marriage hasn’t worked in the first place. If you tie it into 3.15 Eddie Begins, I think for Eddie, the reason why Shannon left him was a little to get back at him for leaving her and a lot about feeling left alone and being unable to cope with raising their child alone, but all of that is gonna be different now because he will be there for her physically and emotionally as he is no longer in the army! So the issue is solved. They should be a family again. Even without a new kid. After all: they love each other.

And look, those are all fair reasons and true but the thing Eddie doesn’t understand about relationships in general and his marriage to Shannon in particular is that she also needs him to be emotionally vulnerable with her. Shannon needs Eddie to let her be there for him, just like he is trying to be there for her. Because relationships are always a two way street.

SO obviously this is where the episode ended. There were no more scenes af- ter that. Nope. Bit weird how it was so short but you do you, 911, you do you!

And well, Buck was there too.

Episode 2.18:

I’m just gonna come out and say it: Ramon and Helena are bad parents. Flying to your daughter-in-law’s funeral only to bad mouth her and then try to take your son’s son away again? Yeah, I do not like your style. I wonder how much of Eddie Begins was already planned at this point or if they built that plot about his family for 3.15 based on this episode. Huh. We might never know. (except Twitter)

Also me thinks Eddie choose LA because of Pepa and Abuela, not because of Shannon. She was probably just a bonus.

As for Buck (and Ali): the actors seem to have had fun doing those scenes? I guess? Other than that it’s a little cringy and very out of nowhere and probably more caused by the show having money left over and deciding to built a new set. ANd damn what a set. I wonder how Buck is supposed to be able to afford that because that apartment has probably about 50-75m2 considering there is a kitchen and a living room as well as a room behind the living room and probably an extra room in the upper floor as well (someone do a floorplan and also tell me why Buck needs so much space and wether they think I could move in with him. My apartment is not this nice and LA isn’t that long a commute).

Point being I don’t know why they brought Ali back in the first place, especially in this episode. She was never mentioned after their first date, so why? Just to give people something to discuss during hiatus?

There was no point to have those two incredibly lovey dovey scenes only to have that scenes about what he wants to do next because all those scenes? Would have worked just fine with, you know, his sister (except a little different because incest). Who actually has the what if you can’t go back to being a firefighter - scene with him. So why have a girlfriend you barely introduced and never used before? I’m not mad, 911, just confused! (Fuck me, I really am getting twitter)

As for the topic of this meta, there really isn’t much too tell. Ali honestly doesn’t figure into things except to create more abandonment issues.

I should point out that this episode reinforced the whole Buddie connection thing - from Eddie holding Buck’s hand the whole while he’s pinned to saying „Almost (back to normal)“ to Buck going to Eddie’s ceremony despite probably still being on somewhat of a bed rest.

Other than that, that’s it for Season 2. Whew!

Before I let ya’ll off the hook, though (look, you’ve read it this far, you can now just bear it a bit longer) I wanna comment real quick:

Compared to Season 1 Buck barely had any character development (mainly because he had so much in Season 1 and sometimes stuff like that needs to settle - real life would be the same way)

Eddie however has nearly no development at all and in fact as of Season 3, not a lot has changed in that regard. His issues just became more obvious. Which is something I actually like a lot, because one: he went through a lot of shit in a fairly short amount of time and two: he is such a stubborn and reserved character, anything else wouldn’t be in character and ultimately feel rushed. Plus, because this is his personality it’s feels like we’re actually getting to know him like you would a person in real life? Piece by piece, no unnecessary exposition. Or maybe that’s just me, I don’t really know anything about storytelling.

I also want to comment on Buddie real quick because it would be dishonest if I didn’t and also it’s just glaring me in the face:

The thing is, while I do not necessarily believe they have any intention of making them romantic (because I have been burned too often and just recently by a show that liked to praise itself for its diversity (so a heartfelt fuck you to Sera Gamble and who ever decided to kill off Quentin Coldwater, because that character mattered so much and you destroyed it)), I do think we are right when we talk about connection and parallels and being each others person and just generally being each others closest relationship. Because they parallel their stories so much and they connect them so often and they did do it from the get go like as early as Episode 4 - which was already written and probably already shot by the time Episode 1 aired. So there. I said it. Buddie is real, wether it’s platonic or romantic, it is real. And that also matters!

(although of course if they went with romantic? That would matter a bit more! Tim Minear, listen to me, you could make TV history! This would be bigger than Supergirl making the sister gay in the second season! Ya’ll would be legends, revered by fans for years to come! Also I’d bake you a cake?)

And there you have it! Season 2! We made it! And only like 2000 words more than Season 1.

Can you believe at this point I have written nearly 10.000 words on these two exceptional characters and their issues? And it’s technically only one issue, like I’m ignoring so much stuff just glaring at me right now!

(also on a side note, this is where I tag @angelcamael , who asked me to do so and @greyhello because she inspired me to write this meta in the first place and while it is now ... no longer about that original topic, I’m still gonna tag her)

[reroseshi]

🦇Psychological Analysis of Diabolik Lovers❤:

Hi! I've decided for my first own Tumblr post that I should talk about the franchise that I have been a fan of for 6 years: Diabolik Lovers. After being in this fandom for so long I felt personally kinda cheap for me to just do a short funny post about DL

… sooo~~~ i've decided to share my personal psychological analysis on all the diaboys! Disclaimer: 

1-My memory is quite short and trying to analyse 13  fictional mentally ill boys is quite tricky so please be easy on me.^^

2- English isn't my first language so there might be some mistakes so please pardon me for that!

3- I am currently still working on the Mukami's, the Tsukinami's and Kino so they aren't gonna be in this post!

4- I based myself on the manga and MAINLY HDB and MB for my analysis.

Thank you and have a good reading!^^~ <3

-Rero

Sakamaki's:________________________________

-Shu Sakamaki:

Shu is the first born and the heir of the Sakamaki family. Thus, whether he wants it or not, it was decided even before he was born that he will be the victim of a lot of pressure. That pressure to become worthy of being the heir not only came from both of his parents but the servants as well. He couldn’t be free for two seconds. He was obliged to stay inside the castle/mansion (sometimes in the garden with his mom) to study and train, but he wasn’t allowed to go somewhere else. As he lived in a strict environnement, he wasn't happy as a kid and wanted to escape from that life. Meeting Edgar gave him true happiness. He was his first real best friend and he eventually lost him in the flames of his village. Imagine the thing or person who made you discover true happiness burning in front of your own very eyes. You will most likely lose hope in making other close relationship with anything or anyone. That's how Shu is. A depressed, borderline suicidal man who doesn't have any hope anymore and thinks that it is all his fault. Refusing anyone close to him and empty on a daily basis, he uses music as a way to cope with everything. If you think that Shu is easier to love because "he is less harsh than the other brothers" then you are wrong. Shu doesn't want to be involved with anything or anyone. If you try to get close to him, then get ready to be hurt because he is a sadist like his brothers and can hurt you if he doesn't want you near him.

-Reiji Sakamaki:

(If you want a more detailed and a well done analysis, please go check this one:

Reiji was severely neglected as a child by both of his parents. He basically spent his entire childhood trying to get their attention or at least some recognition from them, especially his mom’s, but never got any or if he did it was to remind him that he should be a good younger/brother/servant/right-hand man for his older brother, the next heir of the Sakamaki family Shu. Thus, as he grew up he developed a strong feeling of jealousy for his brother to the point of having a severe inferiority complex. In addition to that, the bitterness that he has for ages inside of him about his mother still resides in him and as we know he is still trying to revive her. Reiji is a man who holds grudges from his past and seeks revenge. He is also someone who loves attention (maybe not as much as Kanato) and wants to be recognized as superior to his brother whom he despises so much to the point that you cannot even talk about Shu around him without having either a death glare or a ass whooping. By putting high standards on to himself, not only in the present but also in his past, he’s become a perfectionist who cares a lot about image and manners. He even forces Yui in his route to learn the perfect lady etiquette. Why does he act this way? Simple, in my opinion it is because he likes to keep a perfect image of himself in a way to detach himself from his brothers whom he despises a lot. You might also ask: if he hates his brothers, then why didn’t he kill them yet? Well, Reiji in one interview (https://prevolt.tumblr.com/post/103068375676/diabolik-lovers-dark-fate-stellaworth-complete )admits that he doesn’t completely hate living with his bros, also if he would’ve killed them, his father would’ve punished him. Even if he seems not that bad with his gentleman personality, Reiji isn’t a kind man. Reiji can easily kill someone. To end this, to go back to the butler-like image he gives himself, I think it could be a mask to hide the insecurities he has. I also believe that he constantly lies to himself and that he doesn’t truly understand his own emotions or even himself has seen many times in his HDB route and in the manga.

-Ayato Sakamaki:

(For Ayato I fell upon this really interesting analysis if you are interested ) 

Ayato, in his childhood, like all of his brothers, was not treated well by his father but he , most importantly, got overpressured by Cordelia to be number one. He couldn’t get out and play freely like any normal child can do because when he would sneak out, he got punished and got slapped in the face by his own mother telling him that if he cannot be number one, he is not allowed to call her “mother” again.(Also, do I need to remind you all the lake scene from his childhood… )For him, you cannot be loved and/or appreciated if you’re not number one. Because he had to live such a childhood, he developed a severe narcissistic personality. Narcissists are not born, they are made, and they are made by being over praised as a kid for their success (such as having a good grade at school, winning a competition or an award, being the best in what they are doing) and by being emotionally neglected. (Ex: throughout the day the child is getting good compliments from their parents by being the number one at school but when the kid will start crying, the parents will ignore or punish him for it. Not giving him any love or support. Which will lead the kid to build himself an ego higher than Yūma’s height and rejecting his own emotions.) I think it describes Ayato’s behaviour and his past pretty well. Another thing that is important to consider about Ayato is that he looks as if he is frozen in time. (Which is a trait that can also be found in any real life narcissists) Even if his mother is dead and that he has nothing to prove anymore, he is still stuck in the “I need to be number one” as if his brain didn’t move on to the present. In addition to that, Ayato is a really childish man. I mean: he needs Yui’s attention and approval all the time, pouts like a kid, acts like a kid (when he asked Yui to stroke his hair in a childish way, plays pranks on Reiji, …) and sometimes speaks like a kid when things are not going the way he wants them to go. Also, once states that he doesn’t wish to have someone special in his life again because the last one who was special (his mom) broke his heart. Ayato himself and himself only and the only goal in his life is to prove that he is the best. To do that, he will use ANY sadistic method and won’t stop even if you beg. Heck, it’ll only excite him more. He is a narcissistic sadist who keeps his emotions far away from him.

-Kanato Sakamaki:

(For this character I highly suggest that you take a good look a this psychological analysis since in my opinion really detailed and the author made a really good job making it: . Thank you~)

Just like his brother Laito, Kanato throughout his childhood was severely neglected and treated very harshly by both of his parents. The only thing that was valuable to his mother’s eyes was his beautiful voice and literally made him sing until his vocal cords bled. I suspect that Kanato probably suffers from Asperger syndrome from how he acts when he is mad, the fact that he doesn’t understand his or the emotions of others and his overall behaviour. In the present we can all see that he is almost, if not, the scariest of all sakamaki brothers and I think that it is mainly due to the lack of attention and support from his parents. Of all the Sakamaki’s, Kanato is the one who, from very early in his childhood, needed attention and support the most. Why do you think he always has a teddy in his arms (with his mother’s ashes in it must I remind you..)and makes his own doll made out of the body of dead women? Kanato simply cannot stand being alone. He would rather have you dead by his side for all eternity than being rejected or even worse, ignored.(I really recommend to read Kanato’s analysis since it really explains well his behaviour on that aspect^^)

He is maybe cute, remember that he is unable to understand your emotions and that he has no problem killing you. Also to be able to survive with him, you will have to abandon your logic and read in between the lines which isn’t an easy task..(This one is shorter because I think that Kanato isn’t that complex. He is just really different but still stays, in my opinion, pretty simple and easy to understand)

-Laito Sakamaki:

Laito is what I would call an empty pervert who uses sex as a coping mechanism. He believes that there’s nothing more real than pleasure. He even goes further in his “crazy” beliefs that “even the sweetest pain can become the greatest pleasure”. Behind his playful, sociable, perverted personality is a really cruel, cunning and manipulator expert who knows the best tricks to manipulate someone since his mother uses those on him in his “young adulthood” to have sexual intercourses with him. Only used as a sex partner by his mom as a child and never received any unconditional love from his parents, he has a bad definition of love. For him love=lust, real love (true love or even unconditional love) doesn’t exist and that it is all fake. He spends his time having sex to forget about the women that broke him and would even go as far as threatening Yui to death if she resist him when she doesn’t want to get involve in his “activities” or “little games”. But even after all that he can’t forget her and still is captive of her “love”, still feeling her, remembering her scent and everything about her. He can’t escape from that jail. Finally, it’s important to remember that Laito is a sadist who takes an amount of pleasure by having someone succumbing to him in a mental and sexual way. He is not someone to be taken lightly. You might not see the danger totally at first by that’s just how Laito is. He even says it himself in his HDB route, he is the type of man who will follow his prey in an alley before attacking it. Therefore, he is not like most of his brothers, he is not going to attack fully. He’s slowly going to take little bites of you and before you even realize it, you won’t be able to escape from him anymore.

-Subaru Sakamaki:

First of all, we need to know that Subaru was born (just like almost all of his brothers) just for the sake of Karl’s plan. What is different about Subaru is that his mother became crazy when she had her child. (I just want to state that she did want the child and Karlheinz did not totally raped her since it is stated that she accepted but we also all know that she was being manipulated. Since for the moment I want to concentrate more on Subaru I will not spend too much time explaining his parents relationship but it is something that we should definitely analyse as well in my opinion) Subaru was severely neglected by his father and he never knew what it was to have a normal mother. Throughout his entire childhood, he’s witnessed his mother’s unstable mind, bipolarity, her tantrums episodes and even worse, not only her insults being thrown directly at him but her literally asking him to kill both her and Karl. Because of that, he’s developed anger issues, a lack of trust with women, a severe depression and he is, if not, borderline suicidal. I also want to state that (He even states in his route in HDB that the two people he hates the most in “this world” is 1) Karlheinz 2)himself)Subaru is one if not the most sensible emotionally. So that means he feels harder than the others. You can also see that he has developed similar traits has his mother has you get to know him more in his route such as: bipolarity (when he orders Yui to always come and tell him where she’s going and then get mad when she does so telling her that he doesn’t care) and random tantrums. (when he gets mad à Yui for no good reason and even makes false assumptions) Not only does he usuels violence as a coping mechanism but he also always isolates himself, not letting anyone in his hard shell because he believes that he can’t do any good and that he is useless. In his presents, he still believes in his mother’s insults and thinks of him as someone filthy, disgusting, weak, a monster who can’t do anything to help the person he loved, his mother. He hates himself. He is constantly irritated by everything. If you want to love him you will have to endure the violence that he’s going to give to you and live with his confusion and irritation against not only everything that surrounds him but also against himself and you, and you will have to give up your life to make him trust you entirely.

[unordinary-analysis]

Episode 174

Honorable mentions:

I’ve been thinking a lot about Cecile recently (I don’t know why) and about how she went from being in control and having authority behind the scenes to being John’s punching bag. It’s scary really how much power John has over people. Cecile, I’m almost certain, still has ambition though, so I am looking forward to seeing what her next move is. 

I’m not going to talk about the basic confirmation of the New Bostin/Wellston association in John’s mind because I’ve said everything I wanted to say about that in the last handful of posts, and I’m looking forward to moving on past that analysis (mainly so I don’t have to restate everything I’ve ever said in every post ever every time I want to write a new analysis lol). I might write something on this in the future though because it was a big part of this episode, but not right now lol.

The height difference between Arlo and John gets me every time ksjdfhsjeraksjngj

Rereading episode 123 reintroduced me to John’s, “ARLO, YOU BITCH”

The same thing happens in episode 123 and 174. Arlo is obviously better off in the situation, but for some reason John feels the need to punch him in the face. And both times it’s not strong enough to even move Arlo’s jaw sidkfhskjfrnkk.

I just want to say that it is pretty much confirmed that John has some sort of mental health issues as a lot of people were saying in the comments of this episode. Arlo also says something that sounds like he thinks this. I’ve talked about this before (don’t remember where/when), but I just wanted to put this here as an acknowledgement of that. I don’t know. I’m not sure if that will lead anywhere specifically in the future or if I’ll talk about it.

While writing this, I accidentally almost wrote Seraphina as Claire and I just--

I think from now on I’m going to be trying to keep these posts shorter because I think they get hard to digest when they end up at almost 5k words like last week’s. Also, I want to learn how to be able to shorten things without losing any substance, so that’ll hopefully happen. Who knows.

John:

The thing about John’s development as a character is that it’s so subtle that it’s a while before the changes are really obvious. I mentioned this while talking about how the switch between John’s fake side and his dark side had become so apparent after such a long time of watching John’s side, but I’m talking about something different now. I think that chapter of this fake vs real John in my analyses ended last episode along with that climax. Right now I want to talk about John’s violence.

I know it’s not exactly (or at all lmao) new for John to be extremely violent, but while in the past that violence had always been targeted at Arlo or Cecile or someone else, now it’s being targeted at Seraphina. For the most part (besides that scene between John and Cecile in episode 167), Seraphina has been kept out of that drama, and that is because John was still trying to convince her of the whole innocent cripple thing. But now, as she just told him that she knows who he is and what he’s done, there’s no more reason for John to hold back, and he doesn’t. In this episode, John grabs and yanks her arm and stuff. And in general he hurts her like he doesn’t care about her. It really was more of his demeanor that made his actions stand out. But everything just seemed so much more extreme because we’ve never seen this with Sera before. Sera’s always had this special significance to John that we kind of got used to. Anyway, that’s why in this episode, even more than all the others of Joker beating up people, John’s violence is very obvious. I also want to say that I think John’s violence has peaked. And, yes, I say peaked because I don’t think John will get any worse from here on. He might stay at this level, but he won’t become even more violent. I mentioned that I closed a chapter of my analyses last episode, and that chapter was about the inevitable takeover of John’s true, dark nature. When John finally became fully dark last episode (or however I said it), he reached his worst point and I think that is the limit to how bad he is going to get. I might be wrong though. 

Another thing that I noticed was just how different Seraphina and John’s dynamic has changed throughout the story. Obviously, there was going to be a change, but I realized it’s been a complete switch. We started this comic with John as the quiet, but will fuck you up cripple and with Sera as the everybody’s scared of, powerful bitch. Now we can just reverse those and it fits. As some of you may know, I am a sucker for dynamics and this had me thinking. I’m just wondering how their dynamic is going to change again. Because, oh boy, it will.

Arlo:

    When Arlo walked in, my heart stopped, but that’s a little off topic for this-- Anyway, as I said in honorable mentions (and yes this had to be said twice), that height difference between John and Arlo has me livingggg. Height difference is a really good, kind of subtle way to compare two characters, and I think uru-chan does this on purpose because it was something she also highlighted in episode 123. Height difference is used in this comic to express authority/superiority. In episode 123, Arlo stands up to John for one of the first times and refuses to keep being his errand boy. While previously in their scenes, the height difference was never stressed, in this episode, multiple panels show it, symbolizing that in this scene, Arlo has more power, has more control. And in this week’s episode, there’s a similar meaning. When Arlo walks in, John is taken off guard and stutters Arlo’s name. Arlo, on the other hand, is presented as cool and calm. This dynamic, too, helps to orient Arlo as the person most in control in the room.

    Anyway, besides in relation to John, I feel that this episode is really where Arlo starts to gain his authority back. We all know that he’s been struggling with losing his title as king and watching John ruin the school, but he never did anything about it because he felt it was hopeless. But, as I said, Arlo is portrayed as the most powerful in the room in this episode, even though he technically isn’t. That’s difficult to achieve and something that used to really set Arlo apart from others: his ability to command authority. This is one of the reasons why Arlo made such a great king. Anyway, Similarly to Sera and John, I think that this part of the story is a turning point for Arlo too. He’s being pushed back into the drama by Seraphina and I think he’s finally going to get himself back. That authority we saw from Arlo in this episode is what I think of him as. It was nice to see it again.

Hallway Scene:

    This is going to be a quick little section, but I didn’t want to put it in honorable mentions. During the hallway scene between Seraphina and Arlo, I felt that when Arlo brought up John, he was talking from a more outside point of view. He says, “He needs help. He’s so lost in his own head… Nobody can get through to him. Not even you.” This was a very observational thing to say, which I feel Arlo is really good at. Arlo knows when he needs to step back. Seraphina, on the other hand, still seemed caught up in John’s thought. She says, “I’m just a cripple. And you’re just his errand-boy. The Royals, and this whole school… all garbage.” Sera is still trying to figure John out, she’s still only focusing on him, which can be expected, but is still not ideal. She does say, “If that’s how he truly sees us… then what makes us worth listening to,” and, “Now that it’s over, I just want to move on. I have more important things to focus on,” which do state that she wants to move past John, but just the fact that she hasn’t accepted that she can’t even begin to comprehend John’s thoughts separates her from Arlo. Seraphina is still treating John as an equal part of this situation, whereas Arlo knows that he’s just a distraction. I’m not sure if that made a lot of sense because I struggled with words, but who knows.

Terrence:

    Just here to say that I absolutely adore anything there is to do with Terrence because of his potential and link to the underlying plot of UnOrdinary. That’s it. I’m just excited. You might be asking yourself, if they thought the previous point could’ve gone into honorable mentions, why not this one? It's even shorter! To that I say ha. Imagine limiting Terrence to a single bullet point. The disrespect.

[whoslaurapalmer]

for the directors cut thingy what are you doing the rest of your life? this is one of if not my most favorite warm fuzzy lemonberryice fic so any part of it you want to talk about, but especially the bit starting with “‘I wouldn’t run,’ I said. ‘And I will thank you not to point out my previous track record of doing just that’”

thank you!!!!!!! also, true to form, this is, so long, cause i just did the whole thing. what else would i do. the tl;dr of it all is that when i write fic, i am always thinking about writing structure and individual characterization and what the point of any given story is above all else, and that consumes a lot of brain power. and that you could give me any line in a fic and i will have an incredibly specific anecdote for it. 

the first lemonberry ice i wrote!! what a time. i specifically tagged it as ‘very little angst and no one dies!!!’ because i’d just posted beatrice like. three months before??? and i said to myself ‘hmm. i don’t want people to think all i can write is angst......’ so i wanted the fic to be like, look! nothing bad happens here this time!! it’s all good!!!!!!!!! and i had wanted to write something happy!! i like fluff a lot!! 

like bertrand, i was also searching for the right sinatra song for this fic. if it isn’t obvious, by now, three years later, i love sinatra a lot. on my previous laptop, the file for this fic was still titled after the first song the fic was supposed to be about, but when i backed up everything in googledrive i titled it properly, so the file name is the proper one now, but i’m, 99% sure the original song was i get a kick out of you (specifically this super jazzy one, not the one with the opener, it’s slower and doesn’t sound the same). but LIKE WITH EVERY CHOICE I MAKE IN A FIC i wasn’t sure it really captured what the fic was about. especially the “you obviously don’t adore me” line, because the fic was certainly more upbeat than that. so i dug around on youtube for one i thought fit better and found what are you doing the rest of your life. for three people, living such turbulent and unpredictable lives, to hear this song about always wanting to be there, for everything, no matter what it is, and for the rest of their lives, to admit that’s possible............ i couldn’t find a recording of young!sinatra singing it, though, which bummed me out a little. nothing wrong with old!sinatra, but you can start to hear more of the.....age his voice, you know? 

since this was 2017, only the first netflix season was out, and we all still had such high hopes for it, and i sure did, and tito puente was mentioned in miserable mill and because s1 was so good i didn’t mind making a couple references to it because EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL, and i just wound up sticking him in beatrice and what are you doing the rest of your life because his music was great and it was a fun callback! simpler times indeed........

my main goal with the fic was, i think, to try and figure out how i thought the three of them worked in a relationship, since it was my first time writing them. which is why there’s really specific lines like, “A year had gone by and I still wasn’t used to how free Bertrand was with his affection.” and “I grinned, because after all this time I knew when she was kidding. Beatrice’s razor-sharp wit, and the touches of playfulness behind it, was one of my favorite things about her.” they’re lines that i still think are absolutely in character for lemony, and i probably wouldn’t change them if i wrote it now, but i do feel they’re a little too, on point. or not on point, just.....obvious. like, not only did the lines have to make sense in the style, but they had to make sense, for me, as i was writing, as i was trying to figure out their characters and what would show lemony’s nerves alongside bea and bertrand’s habits and their relationship as a whole, and that’s a lot to try and do

“‘Sonnets,’ I said. ‘Beatrice will write sonnets.’” truly. i am truly haunted by this line now. it will keep me up at night. 

oh boy, that section is. a lot. i gotta go through the whole thing. i do. 

“I wouldn’t run,” I said. “And I will thank you not to point out my previous track record of doing just that, because they were all for relatively legitimate reasons.” I liked to think that I wouldn’t do it again, if the sort of situation arose where it was something I had to consider. (i think every writer in this fandom will admit that one of the hardest things to do, when writing a happy fic, is trying to find the line between, ‘i cannot avoid the legit canon events that have happened to these characters and turned them into the people they are, and i need to address that, no matter what i’m doing’ and ‘i want them to be happy and they deserve it’ and i think that’s a lot of what this section is. referencing how in canon lemony runs to not necessarily avoid his problems, but also, mainly, i think, because he believes 1) that’s the only way to protect the people he cares about and 2) that they’re better off without him, and how there’s definitely a gap between him leaving stain’d-by-the-sea and returning to the city, where anything happened, that counts as ‘leaving,’ and it was also supposed to reference one of the giant fics i was working on at the time, where the climax was, of course, and like any good slow burn fic, a misunderstanding that involved lemony leaving before reconciling with bea and bertrand. this fic would’ve taken place after it.) I liked to think that marriage wasn’t one of those things, because it was something I genuinely wanted. (2017!me had no idea what 2019!me would do......) But the uncertainties of the world sometimes made even that lovely thing seem so far out of my grasp that, if I was honest with myself, I had considered slipping away into the night so that I wouldn’t ruin anything else. It was an upsetting thing to think, but I had thought of it as much as I had thought about those musical numbers. (i still think about that, sometimes. lemony and bertrand, proposing like true theater nerds.) 

Bertrand looked out over the water. “Do you think I’m not scared too, Lemony? About the things we do, the positions we put ourselves in, whether this assignment or the next one will be the one that takes one of you away from us?” (my mental checklist of things i write include ‘lulu, is there a moment in the fic where like, The Point Of The Fic Is Made,’ like the moment where it all comes together and, this is what the fic was For an What It’s Supposed To Say, and that’s what this scene was for, and it’s definitely in what bertrand’s saying here.) (but because it’s 2017, like some of the earlier lines, i feel as if The Point is Too On Point. but it’s something i still struggle with, even now.) (it’s still important for bertrand to say it, though.....) 

“No,” I said. “I’m not that much of a fool to think that my fears aren’t universal.”

“Sometimes you act like you do,” Bertrand said quietly. “And I am under no delusion that our feelings for each other will fix any or all of our problems. But they can be a little easier to deal with that way, when you know you aren’t alone. You know that, don’t you?” (i had a lot of characterization notes around this fic (and the giant fic i was writing) since i was, again, just writing them and trying to figure out how they all worked, so i had a little list of like, what each of them do for the other, and parts of it were “bertrand prevents beatrice and lemony from being too dramatic, bertrand prevents lemony from being too self-deprecating, lemony allows bertrand to feel less self-conscious (and probably less worried because bertrand knows someone else shares his terrible anxieties)” and there are things i write differently now, because i’ve been at it for a while, but it was important for me to figure out how they connected with each other and....not what they offered each other, and certainly not how they fixed each other, but how each of them lessened certain canon elements that would make their relationship go differently. because again all my lemonberry ice fics (with the exception of the letter) are written from a standpoint where they would rewrite canon, especially this one. anyway, that’s.....that’s what that dialogue was supposed to do. when all three of them are together, they’re capable of being that support for each other and evening each other out.) 

I wanted very much to believe that, but every time Beatrice or Bertrand said it, it never seemed to sink in the way it should. It is one thing to love someone, or multiple someones, to love them so much you often can’t think of anything else, but another thing to trust them and the things they say and yourself, especially when you live the kind of lives that we lived. (i hate to keep bringing up years i know it’s like. weird but it’s how i sort where my brain was, and 2017 was a great year for analysis in this fandom and i don’t remember who exactly had brought up, that lemony sees a difference between love and trust, especially after ellington (he loved her but he didn’t trust her), and that’s something that’s so true that i’ve never forgotten and that gets brought up in other fics too (bea in the letter loving lemony but not trusting him.....). there are certain headcanons, of my own and of others, that i tend to just get, attached to, so they just. keep. happening.) Perhaps I did forget about it sometimes, the terrible recklessness with which Beatrice occasionally acted, how Bertrand tended to be much too quiet at times, the things all of us did when we forgot we weren’t alone. (yet another ‘line that has to work in the narrative and Say The Point’ because that really is a big thing in how i structure stories. i feel like it’s so necessary for there to BE a point to each thing i write, ESPECIALLY in shorter pieces, otherwise, why???????? and you know what, i need to be less strict about that, really.) The three of us were not perfect people, not by any means, but three imperfect people doing what they can for each other in a turbulent world is sometimes better than three perfect people going through life without a care about anything else. (i rewrote this line a few times, but it’s one of my favorites. this fic really has aged well, especially with lemony’s narration, this line in particular.) 

I squeezed Bertrand’s hand and didn’t say anything more.

speaking of lemony’s whole love vs. trust thing and my rewriting, i tend to keep most of what i cut out of a fic, especially while i’m trying to figure out a certain line (although sometimes i’ll just rewrite over it and then it’s lost to time), and the file has my original attempts for this scene, which still had some good lines -- 

I think it is a universally accepted truth that if you love someone, you trust them, in one way or another, but I have never felt that way. there have been quite a few people whom I loved a great deal but didn’t trust them, or people that I knew I could trust to act a certain way but certainly didn’t love at all. I believe it comes with the sort of upbringing that involves a great deal of suspicion for even the people around you.

the circumstances around you meeting them. but sometimes also because of the things they do. or you can not love someone at all and trust them, because you know them to be a horrible person and trust that they will continue to act in horrible ways, and that at the bottom of every root beer float you drink in their presence there will be a small collection of thumbtacks.

bertrand looked out over the water. “we love you very much, lemony,” he said, “and I don’t expect that to fix any or all of our problems. but do you trust that we feel that way?”

I did. or I wanted to. the thing about trust is that it is a very difficult thing, and as much as I wanted to spend the rest of my life between the two of them, the amount of uncertainty I felt about myself and our lives and even about that uncertainty was a heavy thing.

“what if it’s not enough?”

“maybe it’s not,” bertrand admitted. “but it’s good enough.”

“‘Hey, hey!’ Beatrice said, snatching the plate from him. ‘Don’t be like that with the good plates.’” still one of my favorite actions. still makes me laugh, even though now i think bea would be the one to be reckless with dishware. 

and beatrice talking about their apartment being too small for children is a top favorite fic ending. i love her. so much. 

[zuka-themed-username]

z-t-review: My Fair Lady (National Tour 2018 w/ Asaka Manato)

After a bit of a delay I’m back with the rest of my reviews from my vacation! Two days after I saw Elisabeth I headed down to Oita in Kyushu to see the final performance of Asaka Manato’s first post-taidan show, My Fair Lady. I am absolutely obsessed with this show/film*, so even if Maa-sama wasn’t in it I think I would have still tried to see it. As my Japanese is not that great I was curious to see if I could determine how they would make Eliza’s Japanese sound different. Would she use Saga dialect, as that’s her hometown? Or some other dialect? Frankly I’m still not sure, but as with my other review I’ll be outlining my experience in randomly ordered bullet points. Let me know if you have any info on what specific dialect might have been spoken!

*Apparently it was performed in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater in 1963, with a male Henry Higgins! I didn’t think they’d allow that lol XD

-  Maa-sama played Eliza very girlish. The previous time I saw her perform she was the stalwart Russian guy from Land of the Gods, so this was a welcome change, and there didn’t appear to be any discomfort from playing a female role. At times she leaned a bit toward the dumb side, but in a humorous way that played well with the audience. I forget that, given the age of the actresses playing the character in most productions, that Eliza is supposed to be 19-24-ish (it has moved toward older in newer productions I have seen) so I was glad to see a cheery approach, and it allowed for a stronger shift in maturity in the second act.

- I was curious how Maa-sama’s voice would sound - and it was great! Better than the videos online! She could hit all of the notes, though she sounded a tad tired on the highest ones. Not really strained per se, but as if she had been doing dozens of performances in an unfamiliar register, which, of course it was lol. It’s clear that she was really pushing for lower notes in Takarazuka and almost seemingly faked the strain on the ‘higher’ ones (in comparison now not really high at all). I say seemingly faked because she already sounds great in a higher register after such a short time. She has no doubt worked incredibly hard with a vocal coach, and I’m so happy she was able to perform these songs so soon and so well after her graduation.

- One small change however was the final section of “I Could Have Danced All Night”. The final note was shortened in length, though I don’t wholly disagree with just making it shorter in all productions. It’s a tad unrealistic for someone to be singing in an operatic register at 3AM regardless, but to hold that final note for what, four measures? Beyond unrealistic XD.

- Speaking of voices, everyone sounded incredible! Absolutely fantastic singing from everyone. Honestly, the maid/butler choir was distractingly good. This is mainly because

- Only the songs were amplified? They clearly had two audio settings - one to lightly boost the spoken scenes and another to really bump the music and singing. It was great.

- Speaking of which the orchestra was on stage, split in two and elevated on either side, about a full story up. They sounded wonderful; the bass really popped and if I didn’t see them I almost would assume it was recorded.

- The sets and costumes were quite nice, though they were often carbon copies of the 1964 film. No complaints, but I’m always down for new interpretations in design.

- Some notes on translation:

     * For the uncultured accent, “hi” became “shi”. Thus Professor Henry Higgins was Professor Henry Shiggins and I never not found that funny. It also made for a cool stage trick with a lamp. It had a real flame that if you made “shi” sounds into it the flame would not flicker, but if you made “hi” sounds it would. There was then a kotowaza or phrase of some sort that alliterated on the “hi” sound, which of course led to a wonderful gag of Maa-sama nearly passing out trying to get the flame to flicker on “shi” instead. She eventually just blew it out and her look of pride and then embarrassment read from 10 miles away and was fantastically hilarious. In those moments she built instant empathy for Eliza.

     * I’ve not explained the plot of the show at all (apologies) but there are some set phrases that Higgins attempts to drill into Eliza using a xylophone. One of which in English is “how kind of you to let me come”. In Japanese it was “something arigato gozaimasu” and the way Eliza said it, “arigato goseimes” had the audience rolling. She would not drop it - Higgins was borderline screaming “goZAiMASU!” to her response of “go..seiMES!”. No doubt was leaning into it as it was senshuuraku and I was dying. This led to a gag where Higgins shows her cards - a 5 (”go”), a rhino (”sai” but he flipped it to “zai”), and a trout (”masu”). Eliza proudly looks at them and goes, “Go! Zai! Sakana!” And the woman next to me in kimono legitimately guffawed. The audience was all in and I loved it. 

     * One of my favorite songs “Show Me”, starts in English with a very clipped, “Words words words I’m so sick of words!” But “words” in Japanese is “kotoba” so Maa-sama had to cram “kotoba kotoba kotoba” into the same short rhythm and it was a tad clunky. But the energy was still strong and upset so no qualms there. 

     * I’m not a fan of Higgins in general (small wonder in 2018) but I did feel for the (wonderful) actor Terawaki Yasufumi when “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” started, as that music is ~so~ specific to those syllables the translation simply did not flow well. Again, acting saved the day, and I’d rather a fully translated show then “here’s some random English line and then we’ll explain it with the following lyrics” setup that some Zuka songs have.

- Any moment for dancing was always blown out into full intense segments for the ensemble and it was fabulous. Eliza’s father’s crew was having a blast and I wished they had more time to just trash about on stage. A+

- Also A+, the Ambassador’s Ball was gorgeous, Maa-sama looked ~amazing~. Similarly the Ascot Gavotte cracked me up but the audience did not find “Come on Dover, move your bloomin’ arse!” as funny as I did. Ah well. When Eliza doesn’t stop sharing shocking family gossip though is a universally hilarious moment and Maa-sama’s expressions are priceless. I hoped they filmed it so I can gif the hell out of it.

- As I haven’t really gotten into the plot or characterizations here I don’t want to go on a full analysis on the interpretation of Eliza/Higgins in this story, but I did find that, unlike more recent Western productions which tries to give Eliza as much agency as the plot allows and tends to diminish Higgins, the relationship here between Higgins and Eliza was a bit more romantically-leaning. In the final curtain call Maa-sama and Terawaki Yasufumi who played Higgins did like a fake proposal and lots of “you first, no you go, no, let’s go arm in arm with a head leaning on a shoulder” dealios. It was cute, and audience members were as close to “aww”-ing as they could. It’s not my favorite interpretation, but I think this is the closest I will ever be to experiencing the 1964 film live, which is cool in and of itself. As I listened to the curtain call speech where Maa-sama mentioned how this show helped her post-graduation from Takarazuka, I thought of Sagiri’s first post-taidan show, Woman of the Year, and I realized that both shows have very polite spins on traditional female characters. With her next show after her concert being Sister Act it looks like she’ll continue to kick ass in theater like Sagiri, so I look forward to catching her in more productions in the future.

Next review is either Castle of the White Heron or Thunderbolt Fantasy/Killer Rouge from Taiwan! Stay tuned!

[amisbro]

Broc and “Going Dark”

Alright just so we don’t have confusion here I feel the need now to bring up this so when you read it you’ll get it Broc - Nickname I use for Broccoli (The company behind UtaPri) “Going Dark” - When no new info about a release is given for a period of time (at least my interpretation of the term) This post is more of a “vent post” because Broccoli has a history of doing this and the (Western) fandom doesn’t seem to think much about it.  I do mainly for reporting purposes but there are other reasons too and I would be lying if I said they didn’t involve my group With that said let’s get started and if you don’t want to read this post just scroll by otherwise this continues under the cut

Alright so...let’s get started First off we must remember when I started in the fandom it was around 2014.  This is also when I started to review Animes and such and do episode analysis.  Knowing THIS will help you understand why I hyperanalyze Anime and in this case UtaPri to the utmost degree.  I’m the type that leaves no stone unturned and when it comes down to it my “tinfoil” SOMETIMES has turned into FACT!  Kind of scary So where do we want to begin?  Let’s start with the end of Season 4? Why that recent?  Stick around! UtaPri in many ways has been wrote as 2 Season “Arcs”.  Seasons 1 and 2 were to get STARISH debuted on a “Domestic” Front (Read:  To the Japanese fans) while Seasons 3 and 4 became a battle to see what group was going to be the one that would get an “International Debut” effectively at the Anime’s version of the Olympics!  This can be looked at as “curious” but whatever right?  It happened so we’ll let that go Before Season 3 (”Revolutions”) what happened?  Broc “went dark” about the release date of the season in 2015.  This was curious because we kind of knew the story for it and eventually single titles and performers but that was it!  Eventually though we did get a date for the season so all was well there and THEN that season effectively ended on a cliffhanger of “Who won the Triple S” election AND THEN we don’t hear about the Season 4 date until January when 5th stage happened! Let’s put this in perspective Season 3 ended 6/27/2015 5th Stage happens - January of 2016 Season 4 of UtaPri - OCTOBER of that year Alright now here is the thing Between 5th stage and the Season 4 premiere we learned VIRTUALLY NOTHING!  I’m trying to remember when the story of the season came out but I want to say it was August.  We go from January of 2016 to August to find out what kind of season its going to be (A STARISH/HEAVENS season) but between that time if I remember there was no news about the season.  There might have been posts about the story before then but I don’t think that popped up till after the site switched over to the one currently up on the .tv site. So keep this in mind for me The time that Broc had their “dark period” from S3′s end to 5th stage was 6 months The time between finding out intel for Season 4 was about 7-8 (give or take a month since the release YEAR of the season was in fact given in January) Notice the pattern though?  UtaPri’s information always seemed to take longer to come out from between end of season/stage show to near the premiere. Now their could be a reason for this:  They want to make sure that all the parties that are going to be signed on are and that’s fine PLUS getting TV station clearance helps too!  I get that but when fans (probably more International than Japanese) are combing places to get info the idea of not having anything to go off of is...unusual! NOW let’s talk about Season 4′s end to the (IMO disastrous) 6th stage This time span was...shorter (5 months) so they learned their lesson when it came to announcing the new project which is a movie (I’ll talk about that in the next post) and someone discovered that the movie would be released December of this year (a FB post on April 1 claimed either this year or 2018...not sure if its 100% accurate about the 2018 thing) Here is the thing right:  Since the announcement of the Movie Broc has “gone dark” about it.   What is the movie about?   Are all three groups in it (the FB post claims yes but I want to hear it from Broc or I don’t buy it you get me)? (On a related note btw about the plot of the movie.  If its legit about a “concert” I’ll explain how odd that is in the next post and it will make sense...at least it does to me) What will the run time be of the movie? (IF this is a legit concert that is supposed to end the Anime I probably am thinking at least 2 hours especially if they do older songs) If all 3 groups are included then how much representation will they have? the BIG ONE will its soundtrack be officially available on CD for people to purchase? Broccoli has been very quiet about details and this is September.  IF the movie is to come out this yet they SHOULD have started the change over of the site to promote the movie or put up some kind of splash page.  The reason I say this is that by being quiet about it that could tell me that someone went “Wait a second...we’re doing a movie but do we really know WHAT we are going to do with it?”  This had to get people to stop and think because I noticed there was a fan meetup page slated for 2018 of next year on another site.  This ISN’T that big a deal BUT let’s think about this While yes you can have meetups if a series is over (and I’m sure Sailor Moon did this a lot when the Anime originally ended) for a series like UtaPri for some reason I found it suspect that there would be a fan meet 2 months after the movie!  THIS leads me to think the movie might be next year because right NOW...it would be the biggest rush job ever AND...look at all the stuff they have to promote between now and then! AA/SS Love! QUARTET NIGHT LIVE Shining Live Singles HEAVENS SKY single And those are JUST the things I can remember off the top of my head! IF the movie comes out this year it is liable to be the biggest “scramble job” that a company had to do to get out information about it.  Hell for it being on wiki that movie is coming out in December there is no info added to the sidebar about it if you look...at the movie would be less than 3 months away! I dunno...maybe its just me but Broc’s bad habit of NOT giving out the info seems suspect AT BEST but again that could just be me.  I find it interesting that we know nothing more about the movie even from the 7th Anniversary event BUT maybe someone has some info or is working on a translation of info and we just don’t have it yet...takes time I know Anyone else think this is odd behavior or just me?

[fromtheringapron]

WWF This Tuesday in Texas

Date: December 3, 1991

Location: Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas

Attendance: 8,000

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan

Results:

1. WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Bret Hart (champion) defeated Skinner. 

2. Randy Savage defeated Jake Roberts.

3. British Bulldog defeated The Warlord W/Harvey Wippleman.

4. Repo Man and Ted DiBiase w/Sensational Sherri defeated Virgil and Tito Santana.

5. WWF Championship Match: Hulk Hogan defeated The Undertaker (champion) w/Paul Bearer to win the title. 

Analysis

This Tuesday in Texas is Vince McMahon’s attempt at establishing Tuesday nights as a marquee pay-per-view night. Unfortunately, due to the show’s mixed critical reception and relatively low buyrate, this idea wouldn’t be revisited again until Taboo Tuesday in 2004. That’s not to say This Tuesday in Texas doesn’t mostly deserve its status as a complete footnote. It plays out more like footage from an average house show or hours-long television taping.

There’s also the pervasive feeling the show is the product of a promotion currently on its downswing. By late 1991, public scrutiny over allegations of steroid and sexual abuse are beginning to overwhelm the WWF, and McMahon is looking for anything to reel viewers back in. Hulk Hogan is also starting to see his popularity somewhat lessen. Though he’s still the most popular wrestler in the world, there’s a fraction of fans growing weary of him on top. When he reclaims the WWF title from The Undertaker at the end of the show, it doesn’t even feel like something worth celebrating over.

Fortunately, the show does have quite the upside. The Jake Roberts/Randy Savage blood feud is one of its main draws and it absolutely delivers. Roberts gives one of the greatest heel performances of all time, no hyperbole. His pair of promos disturbing and sinister, his slapping of Miss Elizabeth outrageous and unforgivable⏤Roberts makes it uncool and dangerous to be the bad guy. Kudos to Savage and Elizabeth as well for playing their roles excellently, and Gorilla Monsoon’s “He should be suspended for life!” is a wonderful sound byte. It’s one of the most intense, and at times terrifying, pieces of television ever produced in wrestling history.

Elsewhere, the show isn’t bad, but does little to justify its existence. Despite its commercial failure, it does open up the door for cheaper, shorter monthly pay-per-views a few years down the line. Attitude Era connoisseurs may also take note of how the show trends darker. The WWF is really starting to emulate a dark comic book by the year’s end, and the Roberts/Savage feud is one of the earliest signs of the WWF experimenting with more mature content. For a show that’s become relatively obscure over the years, there are seeds planted here that will grow into things that would change the business forever.

My Random Notes

First and foremost, Jake fucking Roberts. Holy shit. Jake is one of my all-time favorites but, seriously, how good is your heeling that praising it would make me feel rotten to the core? His pre-match promo starts out like he’s reading some poetry he just wrote (beautifully written poetry, I may add), before quickly dovetailing into his sadistic infatuation with Miss Elizabeth. But then his post-match promo, my god his post-match promo, is just so horrifying and disturbing in every conceivable way I won’t even bother quoting it. And, still, amidst all this depravity, he manages to make everything feel so literary. Jake’s promos here have something of value to say about how authority can still fail to protect the most vulnerable members of its community and how our society can wind up protecting predators than actually punishing them. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it speaks to Jake’s abilities to make his feuds so thematically rich that I can even reach these conclusions without it seeming like a stretch.

Everyone talks about Jake Roberts’ promos (and rightfully so!) but Savage’s post-match promo is some next-level shit. His voice manages to hit 7,000 different octaves and he falls to the floor as he rants without catching his breath and stays in character the entire time. I mean, when could your faves?

Another Roberts/Savage thing, my god: It took me forever to realize Savage holding up the ring bell to signify he’s going to take it to Roberts’ throat is a callback to his feud with Ricky Steamboat. Like, are you kidding me? Fantastic.

While I agree Roberts/Savage should’ve lasted until WrestleMania VIII (then again, there’s a lot of thing I’d have wanted for WrestleMania VIII), it’s almost unfair to say the feud lost its heat after this. How could it possibly have gotten more heated? The only way it could’ve intensified even more is if Savage legit murdered Roberts in the middle of the ring.

Kinda wish they put more effort into making this show look unique. I would’ve even accepted that hokey cowboy stuff from Survivor Series 1994 because it would’ve at least made it look different from, say, your average episode of WWF Superstars.

I always forget The Warlord had a W shaved on the back of his head. How cute.

I love how Heenan shoehorned that Skinner is undefeated mere seconds before he taps out to the Sharpshooter. So much for that story, eh?

Why didn’t they add Repo Man to Money Inc.? A guy who takes items from people for not paying them off seems like a good fit. Not that I’m seriously complaining. I really do like the idea that Repo Man is just a sociopath who uses his loose repo credentials as an excuse to steal stuff. <3 <3 <3

This show brings me back to Survivor Series 1991, my first review for this blog. That’s a show I’ve always disliked, mainly because they turned it into one long commercial for this show.