#this season is 15 episodes instead of 16 for a REASON

[echos-gal]

y'all know that if they don't bring back Tech by episode 15 (premiering on may 1st) and the series concludes with him "dead", i WILL be fully expecting a surprise bonus episode 16 epilogue releasing on may 4th showing him alive and how he survived and reuniting with his family and Phee. i am fully willing to don the clown face paint for this.

name a better may the fourth surprise. you can't.

[charlotteoccasionally]

reasons why kyman is canon (TRIGGER WARNING: KY//MAN, JOKING!!)

1. kyle continuously choosing to get in arguments with cartman instead of just ignoring him (which they have proof works) bc he gets his kicks outta being righteous

2. cartman saving kyle at the end of smug alert despite saying he hates him

3. kyle coming to help cartman at the end of jewpacabra

4. “my little monster” in its a jersey thing

5. cartman showing no denial/response when ppl think he and kyle are a couple in tonsil trouble

6. cartman making everyone think kyman is canon in cartman finds love (when he coulda EASILY found a different way to stop kyle and nicole from getting together)

7. cartman’s canon yaoi obsession (tfbw character relations graph)

8. kyle saving cartman in manbearbig

9. imaginationland trilogy.

10. kyle crying after finding out cartman was innocent after breaking his electronics

11. kyle’s response during his fight with cartman after getting with heidi (“cartman, YOU weren’t happy” instead of just saying how badly he treated her)

12. kyman hand holding in multiple episodes

13. cartman saying he loves kyle and tryna kiss him(?) in le petite tourette

14. kyle’s jealousy of heiman (ppl say it’s kyle jealous of cartman for dating heidi but we never saw any evidence that kyle liked her until AFTER they started dating)

15. the way kyle always chooses cartman as his stand in BFF when stan is outta the picture instead of anyone else/their dynamicness as a duo (crack baby athletic association, you’re getting old, ass burgers, prehistoric ice man, etc.)

16. cartman and kyle’s softening relationship as the seasons go on (compare “passion of the jew” kyman to an episode like “help my teenager hates me”)

17. the deleted “cartman + kyle” writing on the wall of the boy’s bathroom in stick of truth

18. kyman is just an inherently funny ship that if it actually becomes canon would kinda sum up the attitude of the show (m&t just don’t gaf)

[thatsmybook]

Cyberbullying in Heartstopper and Young Royals

In Heartstopper, the audience has sympathy for Charlie and Tara when they are verbally bullied or cyberbullied in the show. We understand the affect these things have on their wellbeing.

In Young Royals, Simon is verbally bullied and cyberbullied the whole show, escalating in season 3. Yet the audience has less sympathy for him and his wellbeing.

I think the reason is that we see Simon standing up for himself against the verbal bullying, so we think he can handle it. He is a strong person, so he should be able to handle it. He has a support system of a good mum and friends at home. However, when he uses this admired personality trait and stands up for himself against cyberbullying, the audience immediately decides that that's not appropriate.

The audience empathy for Simon's experience each episode of Season 3 declines even as the stress on him builds. Why? I think it's because in parallel, Wille's pressures increase. Many make the judgement call that Wille's pressures are more pressing than Simon's and that Wille is not strong enough to deal with them. He has no support. He needs Simon's and only Simon's support. (Even though he has good mental health support in Boris, who is a paid professional, understanding of his pressures through his work with Erik and could help him navigate his stress).

The audience sees Simon's stresses as minor and self-involved. Why is he affected by it? He doesn't give AF about stuff people say. Strong people can't be affected by daily relentless verbal and cyberbullying. Right?

We understand the enormity of these stresses in the Heartstopper environment. We understand why Charlie and Tara, as 15 and 16 year old kids are continuing to read comments and are affected by them. Simon is a 16 year old kid and his comments are coming from people in his town, his country even, not just his school. Is it because Charlie and Tara are not strong characters like Simon? I think they are strong. The point is, no one is strong enough for this onslaught.

Charlie and Tara both get real sympathy and support from their partners for what they are going through. Even as both Darcy and Nick are going through their own pressures. Wille is not able to do this for Simon, until Simon and his family are physically threatened. Support mostly goes one way in their relationship in Season 3.

For the audience, Simon's stress starts to become an obstacle to Wille being able to perform his role as Crown Prince and to relieve his sick mum. The audience is geared to Wille becoming the best CP he can be, and start to see Simon's 'selfish stressors' as an obstacle to that role.

Wille is also a victim of cyberbullying. Simon, in support of Wille, is concerned about that and is standing up for both of them in the comments and the perception of them as people and their relationship. When Wille tells Simon that this is how it always is, Simon is concerned with Wille resigning to that state of affairs. It's not acceptable in Simon's world view.

That, to me, is to be admired. I don't see it as naive, even as the boyfriend of a public person. All over the world, young people are challenging the status quo of the social contracts we have in society. "This is how it's always been" has been a refrain that we no longer accept. In Wille's Song, Simon sings to Wille and to the audience, "we do not have to follow the way of others and where it leads." Simon was the revolution for the show and the audience. When watching the show again with this perspective instead of Wille's goal to be the Crown Prince that his brother would have wanted him to be, empathy and balance are restored.

This is all a post to say: all bullying, specifically cyberbullying, is a very dangerous thing. It can not be minimised how damaging it is. People in every domain are greatly affected by it. No matter how strong or how old or how famous or how rich they are. Blaming the victims by saying they should ignore the onslaught, the defamation of character, all the isms innate in the bullying (every identity of Simon's is targeted: his race, his class, his nationality, his sexuality), is ridding the public of accountability when they post online about any person. It is saying that it is socially acceptable to bully online. Once one has a social media account, we are accepting the social contract that we will forever be open to this abuse. And that it is our fault if we can not manage it. (Like (in jest) shouting at Wille and Simon to close the curtains because they should always expect that someone is filming them having sex).

[kerubimcrepin]

Liveblog: Wakfu Season 2 (episodes 13-16)

Episode 13 - The Night of the Thirsters

Proof Amalia and Joris are not close friends number 829342345: if she knew the alcohol he drinks and what he considers "a clean environment to live in" she'd get scared.

WoT twitter would kill Amalia.

I know it's more likely that both alcoholic and non-alcoholic bamboo milk exists, but the thought of everyone being a-ok with Yugo underage drinking makes me giggle for some reason. Ruel would fucking do that.

Are your villains 1. indestructible, 2. want to consume something that could theoretically fix them, 3. in the process, inflict a fate worse than death upon their victim, who 4. becomes one of them?

...Necromes were a missed opportunity. Shoulda called them Wakfu Thirsters instead.

Episode 14 - The Voice Thief

It's always sad to see the way the world has been devastated by Ogrest's Chaos.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...This says:

Her singing is so cute!

She is now fully bamboo milk-pilled. GOOD.

New Krosmoz music lore: We already know that vinyls and their players exist, as well as the fact that rock music exists (due to the fact that The Blues of a Hypermage (parody of the IRL song The Blues of a Buisinessman) exists).

Now we have the confirmation that metal bands are real.

Also, electric guitars are also real.

Mics are also real. (I am totally not noting all of this down because I want to write a "Joris, Kerubim, and Atcham go to karaoke" scene in one of my fics in the future, nuh-uh...)

Hummina hummina hummina bazooooooooing! eyes pop out AROOOOOOOOGA! jaw drops tongue rolls out WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF.

It's very rare to see, within the show, characters who differ from their usual class skin and hair colours, which is a shame. (I am 99% sure this is an iop due to his clothes and his hair pointing upwards)

Text behind Eva: rien ne sert de payer il faut en fuir / there is no point in paying, you have to run away

Text behind Amalia is too shielded to transcribe fully.

This is written in Brakmarian. It says:

This means that, metal music is stereotypically a Brakmarian form of music (big news: spoon found in kitchen)

I usually don't point this sort of stuff out but, man, this tavern is really well off. Not only is there a lot of food, there are also huge hot baths...

Also, once again, canalization and running water are real in this setting.

I choose to believe that this bubble thing is the Krosmoz equivalent of vaping because it's funny.

[blushing] Would!

Jpop is real in this setting, and someday, I will be able to prove to you, that Joris is a fan of it, using some proof besides "well ecaflips are kind of japanese-coded sometimes" and "it just makes sense."

Good rooms in taverns like these not only have hot baths but also fruit, candles, and drinks... [starts writing down "Joris, Kerubim and Atcham go to an expensive tavern and start talking about some convoluted topic, with vivid descriptions of delicious fruit-eating, how good the wine is, and how soft the bubbles in the bath are" in my fic self-indulgent scene ideas document. I can live my vacation fantasies vicariously through those three men]

Of course metal music from Brakmar is about the fact that the apocalypse caused inflation and that it's Good.

This says:

ourse

olle

m al

venu

Episode 15 - Wabbit Island

Hhh she is a very good artist.

[guy who is insane voice] This means that if I ever want to use the expression "canary in a coalmine" in a fic it'll be "tofu in a coalmine" instead.

The word Sayonara exists in Krosmoz which implies that some sort of fantasy Japanese is real. Big win.

Episode 16 - The Cursed Fountain

:(

While I usually talk a lot about character parallels between Yugo and Joris (these men who had to grow up far too fast will someday commit acts which no human being can be forgiven for in the name of goodness—-) there is a lot to be said about parallels betwen Eva and Joris.

They're both artistic, kind people who try to appear logic-driven (and sadly, they are both basically the wranglers/babysitters of their entire adventuring groups).

[dumblucksers]

II 15 SPOILERS

here is my taco recap + analysis that I wrote after someone mischaracterized her in front of me:

just a disclaimer I have no idea what I'm talking about half of the time so sorry if some bits don't rlly make sense :P

ok so starting with her in season 1, literally all we see her as is this insane little cray say thing who has an iq of 7, apparently speaks French, spits lemons, screams randomly and says things that make no sense LMAO

she gets close to pickle and they stick together for basically the entire season

obviously we know now that her motivation this time was to become the fan favorite and get to the end so she can win the million (for reasons we don't know honestly, maybe find out in 16)

there are also moments in s1 where she'll slip up the act (but they play off as comedic effect) example when she calculated her fall in ep 12 or in 11 where she revealed her arms and was speaking full sentences to pickle for a second and a half

but anyway right at the end when she loses is where she reveals her true self and tried to steal the million after losing (and also severing her relationship with pickle)

one thing to point out before moving on is that taco is an analyzer, her act of being dumb gave her time to observe all of the contestants and pick the right allies and whatevs

n e way moving on to s2

taco has been stalking the entirety of s2 up until she reveals herself in 9, where she still wants the million (or rather half of it, and for reasons we still don't know) and she takes interest in the grand slams team, particularly microphone, who ironically doesn't exactly have a strong voice in the game and is, in tacos eyes, an easy target. So she reveals herself to mic and offers to help her advance in the game in exchange for 50/50 of the million

at this point taco only rlly sees mic as a pawn, and easily controlled. mic is unsure as all she's hearing is how useless and sad she is from a tiny British taco KSJSJSK

however mic is lowkey desperate herself bc she feels as though she isn't pulling her weight on her team, doesn't have much of a voice in the competition, she just lost soap aswell. so she accepts tacos help in the maze challenge using her gain setting.

now in 11 we see more of tacos strategies play out, as she further analyzes the grand slams, as it's categorized as: the alliance (baseball, nickel, suitcase) the friendship (suitcase and balloon) and the other ppl (knife and mic). Taco is more focused on the alliance and their relation to balloon, and she urges mic to get more involved in the pushing away of balloon to get him eliminated (and to further progress mic in the game) but rather than using the approach of attempting to make allies with baseball and nickel, we learn of tacos more violent tendencies. she wants to use a temporary paralyzer (courtesy of test tubes lab) to decapitate balloon. this is where mic draws the line, and also the episode where she proves herself to taco by instead of using violence, she substitutes subtle verbal and emotional manipulation instead. Taco is greatly impressed by this, and it's at this point where taco realizes that mic may not be as helpless as she originally thought.

now taco and mic are starting to reach equal ground, as in 12 they are more casual with each other and just chilling. it's also where the TIME TRAVEL STUFFF HAPPENS WHWOAOOAOAOAOOWOWOWOWOWOW

basically when they're down in test tubes lab and lightbulb activates the Time Machine portal thing, mic sees taco reach towards the portal, before it closes. this is (I think) the first time mic and the audience has seen taco look built a k o my god how tf do you spell vulnerable. ok there we go anyway this is the first time we see taco look vulnerable, and *possibly* regret towards her past actions. she reaches while saying "another chance, perhaps." and while at the time it could have been taken as another chance at stealing the million, ii 15 adds more context that she wants another chance with her relationships in the past, particularly with pickle, and she clearly regrets what she did.

now after this point mic is now a bit sus of what just happened, seeing taco reach for the portal. we also get to see another silly side of taco (not the cray say silly, just normal silly) as she tries to distract mic from the portal And from the fact that test tube and lightbulb are now in the time stuff.

oh yeah also at the end the episode knife finds out about mic and taco oh nooooo well go into that in a second

in 13 yknow they're trying to get knife to join them cuz now he knows and yeah yeah whatever. also taco and mic are getting closer as equals and as friends too so yeah

mic also brings up the portal and taco ignores, as per usual.

now let's get to the interesting stuff. Taco and mic are following knife around in the minecarts, and taco says smth like "is this you holding a grudge over my true self? For why? Everyone knows who I am now!" And mic says "doooo we thooooo????" this is like. 99% attached to the whole portal thing, bc mic saw that vulnerability and now she knows there's a teeeeeny bit more to the evil lil British Mexican food than what meets the eye

also there's another instance of taco and mics violence is bad bit, where knife is about to fall off, and while taco is like YIPPEEEE mic is like erm. No. And then saves knife

now here's where it gets even MORE interesting, where knife calls out tacos first alliance with pickle. Taco obviously gets mad at this, but mic doesn't rlly have a huge reaction except to tell knife that "she's(tacos) changing", which shows that she prolly put two and two together about the portal thing (prolly isss bc she stops pestering about it at this point)

now at this moment in 14 it's clear that taco and mic are partners in crime (well crime might be stretching it. Or not considering what happens), taco goes to shut down mepad so she and mic can teleport freely (and, to the prime shimmer spaceship) where the last violence is bad instance comes up. mic says PROMISE NO VIOLENCE and taco teeechnically doesn't promise, but yaknoww

now cut to when taco uses violence, she kills test tube and paralyzes fan to mics horror. she won immunity but at the expense of others , and that wasn't smth she was comfortable with, and that was her breaking point. she drops taco AND the entire show and eliminates herself

this is also tacos breaking point, in a way. where she realizes how much the game has shaped her into doing heinous acts, and for what, a chance at a cash prize? And now that she's completely out of luck for that prize, her work was for nothing. and it was at the expense of her two closest friends.

she pinpoints where she screwed up, and it was at the finale of season 1, where she broke her ties completely with her best friend just for a chance to steal the prize money. It was the game that fucked up her mentality, that every horrible thing that is done is for the greater good, and to use the rules of the game and the people you meet to advance for a extremely low chance of winning it all. Realizing all of this, taco doesn't want a repeat of this cycle, since the competition is so close to completion. She requests the challenge information from Mepad, and uses him as an incentive to Mephone.

But before we go there time to talk about her BANGER MUSICAL NUMBER YESSSS MY LIL THEATRE KID

anyway in the song id like to point out the banger lines "and we choose, to feel this pain, and we lose, more than we gain" which is basically everything I mentioned before about using the rules of the game and pushing away friends and whatever, and then eventually losing more than you get

next part "if I can't win the prize, I'll play my last reprisal, just to bring their lies all to an end" and then mepad is all like welll you gotta regenerate and tacos like, yeah that's prolly not gonna happen. And mepad points out how she believes she can't start on a clean slate. taco is like bro. with my track record? dawg there's no slate to begin with LMAO

but seriously with everything tacos done she believes it's too late to restart and that everything she did is irreparable (which ngl, kinda true maybe? but also not cuz she hasn't even apologized just yet) and mepad tries to convince her that yes you can change!!! youuu can make a difference...you can make it right... but taco doesn't rlllly listen

ok long story short she takes over the next part of the challenge which is truth or flare, where platforms rise if the contestants tell the truth and falls if they lie, and their fire has to reach the top and burn their rope. Taco, using her extended stalker knowledge of s2, quizzes the contestants on their interpersonal relationships and ngl as Mephone put it it's just a twisted group therapy session lmao

fast forward to nearing the end and the last question taco asks is to suitcase about what she thought she saw when she was being a floating bow tie. suitcase brings up her hallucinations, to which everyone, including taco, is horrified by. Taco sees how the game has affected suitcase, by making her so anxious that she literally HALLUCINATES, and that is yet another breaking point for her. She urges the remaining 4 to leave the competition before they go in too deep. She admits to her not caring about the cash prize anymore, as she "saw the desire took her to extremes" (the violence thing between her and mic) and how the game changes people based on how deep they get into it. She calls out Mephone for getting too deep aswell, as she brings up his challenges that clean up his messes, using tactics such as surprise double eliminations to add drama that mentally fucks with everyone involved in it. Her lil spiel is interrupted by a bush shake, since lightbulbs lil pen she's been clicking actually calls out a signal, and that anyone nearby could answer the call. Taco starts cracking out of fear? nervousness? Pressure idk anxiety any of those, because as knife points out, anyone could meannnn pickleeeee orrrr miccccc oh nooooo. knife says that she has to face her truths too, And then taco cracks completely and dies. annnnd everyone is horrified and sad, except for Mephone obviously, who is now threatened by taco since everything she said was true ngl jdhdjs

but also goes to show how mentally fucked taco is aswell, which while yes it is her fault that her relationships ended the way they did, the common denominator AND motivator is and was always the game.

anyway mepad and the other contestants force Mephone into reviving taco, and mepad formally resigns from the show convinced by tacos speech about leaving the game before it fucks them up. Mepad teleports away and stays with taco, urging her to stop hiding away from her truths and face pickle and mic, if for the last time. Aaand taco agrees

OK THATS IT WOW so tldr taco did some no no things But her unhealthy obsession with Winning a constantly (and unrightfully) changing game was the main factor, and her realization of this is leading her to a redemption arc that she and the people she hurt will (hopefully) heal from

weeee

[tangledbea]

I found this interesting post talking about Varians' age and the general series timeline.

Link: https://www.tumblr.com/rachelbethhines/623037451732123648/tangled-timeline?source=share

There are some interesting tidbits, and I have questions about a few of them. The OP references Varians fanon birthday of March 24, which makes sense when discussing Varians' age, but they also reference Rapunzel having a fanon birthday of May 12th. I know about the Varian birthday headcanon, but is this a common birthday headcanon for Rapunzel? If not your headcanon of the summer solstice, I would've figured people would headcanon her birthday being in July or August because it is canonically in summer. If it is a common headcanon, why May? Isn't that a bit early?

It also talks about S3s timeline a lot, particularly Coronan holidays that happened more than once in the series. The post says the day of hearts is 6 months after Rapunzels birthday, yet it's just a few episodes after Rapunzels return (the S3 premiere may not have involved Rapunzels birthday, but it definitely happened arounf that time.) I can explain the S1 goodwill festival happening 6 months after Rapunzels 18th birthday and S2 goodwill festival happening a few weeks after her 19th because it wasn't the real Coronan event, it was something Rapunzel planned in Varados. But the other holiday discrepancies can't be explained this way. So this post says S3 takes place over 2 years instead of 1 like the other seasons. It also says "the series creators" said 4 seasons were originally planned instead of 3. This is why S3 is theorized to take place over 2 years. Thus, due to this extra year, Varian would be 17-18 at the end of S3, not 16-17, as many people think. It would end on Rapunzels 22nd birthday, not her 21st. But is this true? Were 4 seasons originally planned? Was S3 meant to be 2 years instead of 1 as a result?

Also, sorry again if this is really long.

(Lately, I've been finding myself apologizing a lot at the end of these long asks, ever since you said you were gonna turn off anon. I don't even know why I'm apologizing, I know you don't mind...)

Let's tackle this one question at a time.

If you Google Rapunzel's birthday, you'll get May 12th. This is because someone at some point read the star charts she painted on her ceiling in the movie to determine her birthday and decided it meant her birthday was May 12th (for some reason -- I can't read star charts, so I have no idea how they're getting that). I, frankly, like my headcanon for her birthday much more and completely ignore the May 12th thing. It's not her official birthday, though, any more than the summer solstice is.

No one who worked on the series ever said the series was going to be four seasons. No one. Ever. At some point, towards the end of season three, people started saying there would be a season four, partly because they really wanted one (even though it had only ever been planned to be three seasons), and likely partly because originally the series was announced to have more episodes than it ended up having. I more than covered in my FAQ why this is. And therefore, S3 was not meant to take place over the course of two years. S1 is six months, S2 is (approximately) one year, and S3 is (approximately) one year when you include the epilogue (even though we don't know how long after the end of the episode the epilogue takes place). Varian is 14-15 in S1, 15-16 in S2 and 16-17 in S3. Or, alternately, he might be 13-14 in S1, 14-15 in S2 and 15-16 in S3. After all, we don't know when his birthday is, and since the series begins six months after Rapunzel's return, we don't know if his birthday falls before or after hers in the calendar year.

As for the inconsistencies of the holidays, have people even seen the writing of that show? It's inconsistent. They literally do what they want when they want. Maybe the Day of Hearts is based on a lunar cycle, rather than on a day on the calendar, and so the date it falls on fluctuates. Maybe the episodes aired out of order (some of them definitely did). There is definitely an inconsistent amount of time between episodes. It's not like one episode takes place every two weeks.

Maybe the fans just put more thought into it than the writers did.

[angelwithnightmares]

60 questions to ask the Duffers if Byler isn’t endgame

Thank you @merth-or-nothin for the help!

1. Why emphasize so much on the strong “Friends don’t lie” in the very first episode of the show, showing Will couldn’t even lie to Mike, only for him to lie to Mike for the first time in the second to last episode of the second to last season?

2. Why did Mike and El such a short build up before getting together? If they were meant to be endgame, why not build them slowly, so the audience could be invested in the development of the relationship?

3. Why were Mike and El separated every single season?

4. Why do Mike and El fight so much when they’re together? They barely have any cute scenes at all when they’re dating.

5. Why did El refer to Mike as "her first boyfriend?"

6. If she was meant to only date (then marry) Mike, why draw attention to the fact that he's the only boy she's dated?

7. What was the purpose of El asking Mike if he'd be like her brother in s1? Why give them a familial association?

8. In season 4, why is it revealed that Will is in love with Mike as Mike's relationship with El is eroding?

9. Why make a point to show the audience Will loves Mike the way he wants to be loved, while El makes him feel like a random nerd?

10. Why have Will in the background of every single Mileven scene (except for their bedroom fight) in the entire S4, making the audience to root for Will?

11. Why have Will love Mike at all?

12. Why bring Will into Mike and El's relationship? If Mike doesn't feel the same way, it's a waste narratively and it's anticlimactic.

13. Why did Mike change so much between seasons 2-3 without any perticular reason? And no, it wasn’t just puberty. That change made Mike go from being one of the most loved characters to one of the most hated ones.

14. Why frame Mike and Eleven’s relationship in S3 as unserious and unhealthy?

15. Why make everyone go against their relationship and why break them up as early as in the beginning of the second episode of S3?

16. Why empathize so much on El in EP3 and her independence, making us (the audience) feel genuinely happy when she breaks up with Mike and frame the breakup scene with light-hearted humor and comedy?

17. Why make Will and Mike’s first fight scene in the show dark and angsty? And making it a huge contrast to Mike and El’s comedic breakup scene.

18. Why make Max say “he’ll come crawling in no time begging for forgiveness” to El, which was true, but he didn’t come crawling back to El. He went to Will’s house, begging for forgiveness.

19. Why spend SO MUCH time on the Byler scenes and putting so much effort in them so they’ll look intimate? It’s such a contrast to Steve and Dustin’s scenes for example which is almost always comedic.

20. Why have so MANY Byler scenes at all?

21. Why have “tender emotional music” in almost all of the Byler scenes in S4?

22. Why make Will even confess behind El’s name instead of just confess himself and having Mike rejecting him right away? Why drag it out all the way to the very final season?

23. Why spend an entire day filming the van scene if it wasn’t that important anyway? If Will is just ending up getting rejected anyway?

24. Why the whole painting plot?

25. Why so many parallels with Jopper, Jancy and Lumax?

26. Why the very same soundtrack when they became friends again as when Lucas and Max became friends “On the bus”?

27. Why is Finn describing Mike’s story arc for both season 3 and season 4 as “Mike is trying to be a normal teenager”, “Mike is trying to be as normal as possible” and “He’s trying to keep on a normal path” why so much focus on Mike trying to be normal?

28. Why spending two seasons on Mike trying to say the word “love” to his girlfriend? Isn’t that a kinda boring arc for someone who’s just having bad self esteem because of his parents loveless marriage?

29. Why does the whole cast and even the Duffers always so secretive and giddy and smiley every time Byler gets brought up if it’s just another sad tragic unrequited love story?

30. Why having Will say “I’m not gonna fall in love” with such a heartbreaking tone and then end up making him not get the boy he’s in love with and has been since the very beginning?

31. Why put so much effort in the set design to queer code Mike (as in rainbows, shirtless men, monsters with muscles, the word BOY in the bg, multiple closet imagery, even a big sign towards the closet saying “One way” if it meant nothing or was just weird coincidence’s?

32. Why the triple take? What was the point of that?

33. Why filming and editing the last scene of S3 emphasizing that Mike is going to miss Will more than El? (Him looking back at Will’s house, then it cuts to Will, then it cuts back to Mike who walks up to his mom and hugs her with a heartbroken look on his face)

34. Why make El say in the letter “I think there’s someone Will likes, cause he has been acting weird” but all we see in s4 is Mike acting weird?

35. Why make Mike being able to hug everyone except for Will, when he could hug him just perfectly in s3?

36. Why make Mike treat Will differently than his other friends?

37. Why make Mike and Dustin have the same look on their faces as they watch Will and Max dance with other people and then after that Mike looks upset until El shows up?

38. Why is The Duffers so “hushy hushy” about Byler at all? If it was obvious it’s unrequited why not just clear that shit up because they KNOW they’ll get a lot of backlash if it turns out it was a big queer bait all along.

39. Why start to build up and hint at Will’s love for Mike from the very first episode and make it canon in the second to last season?

40. Why so many coded talks which easily could be interpreted differently? Like Karen’s “I want you to know you can talk to me, I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me”, Ted’s “See what happens?” About Will’s disappearance (as in see what happens if you’re queer? You get abducted, killed etc) and Ted’s “our son with a girl?”

41. Why make Mike NOD in the scene when Will talks about how difficult it can be to open up about something the other person may not like to hear?

42. Why make Will having to remind Mike of the painting and his coded speech before Mike can say it? Why could he only say it the moment El was about to die?

43. Why make it look like Mike doesn’t want to kiss El by removing her hands away from him (3.01) and not reciprocating, not kissing back with eyes wide open looking confused in 3.08? Why frame him like he isn’t interested in girls at all? (Princess Daphne, Phoebe Cates, Max etc.)

44. Why never show us Mike’s pov?

45. Why SO MUCH effort in flashbacks during the entire S4 except for the monologue when El only remembered one single moment with Mike? Why did she had so many with Max but only one with Mike?

46. The ending scene in S4. WHY put them in couples when they could just have made them stand together all of them instead?

47. Why does it look like El isn’t talking to Mike at the end of S4? Why does she look annoyed at first and THEN sad when she finds the bottle under her bed which reminds her of Max?

48. Why SO MUCH yellow and blue coding when it comes to Will and Mike? Even their colors of their clothes are almost always blue and yellow as well.

49. Why make Mike nervous every time Will is close to him in S4 or accidentally touches him?

50. Why make Mike say “we’re friends” to Will twice when both him, Will and the audience clearly knows that already?

51. Why associate the word “crazy” with “love” and then make the “crazy together” scene?

52. Why having Mike saying “it was the best thing I’ve ever done” about meeting Will but then having him say his life didn’t start until he met El?

53. Why did Mike’s words work for Will in S2 (making him being able to communicate) but didn’t for El (not until she looked over at Max)?

54. Why write the lines for Will “We could just play DnD for the rest of our lives” and ���Not possible” about him joining another party?

55. Why make Mike look at Will’s lips so much? Why the flirtiness in the bedroom scenes in S4? They could easily have remade those scenes if that wasn’t intentional.

56. Why all the classic romantic interruptions in season 4 which we’ve seen plenty of times in the show between “more than friends”-couples earlier?

57. Why make such a HUGE contrast between El’s reaction to being without Mike and Will being without Mike in S3? (El did a high five with Max while Will cried and destroyed Castle Byers)

58. Why make Mike say “Hawkins isn’t the same without you” to only WILL and not to El? Why does Mike not have any problems opening up to Will but only to El?

59. Why couldn’t Mike say the full reason why he and El had their fight in 4.03?

60. Why have so much hints and clues in the show that Byler is endgame so it’s possible to make 300+ pages slideshows, hours of long videos with proof of Mike being gay, if everything is just unintentional or “made up”?

[blackcat419]

Harwin Strong getting mad at Criston Cole for not training Jace and Luke in the same way he was training Aegon and Aemon is so dumb.

Aegon and Aemond are much older than Jace and Luke, if I remember correctly Aegon is like 12 and Aemond is around 10 or 9. Jace’s age is funky cause he can’t be older than ten in episode 8. Based on the actors ages in episode 9 & 10 with Jace’s actor being 18 and Luke’s being 15, I’d place their ages at the end of the season at 16 (the max age have can be) and 13. Minus 6 years for the time slip and you get Jace being 10 and Luke being 7. This is super generous for the ages but the main take away is that Jace and Luke are younger than Aegon and Aemond.

Now back to the scene in question. We see all the boys trainibg with Aegon being the most out there. He gets distracted by some servant girls so Criston draws his attention back by giving him the challenge of fighting him. He also invites Aemond to show how much more training they need to be able to fight him. Harwin the comes in being like “you gotta train these two as much as you train those two” and rightfully Criston is like “why are you questioning my training methods?” Then to show how much more skilled specifically is over Jace. Then Harwin gets butt hurt about it and manhandles the prince which is so unprofessional! The only reason Harwin didn’t get in trouble was because Viserys let’s everyone walk over him. Harwin also has the balls to say Criston teaches cruelty when Criston is teaching them how to fight and is doing more advanced training with the older boys. It’s like getting mad at a Karate teacher for teaching cooler kicks and stuff to a green belt instead of a white belt! (White belt is beginning level while green is middle).

It’s so funny when Criston points out that Harwin is expecting Jace and Luke get extra help and teaching to be on par with the kid that’s 2 or more years older than him by hinting at his paternity. And Harwin has no chill as his immediate reaction was to beat Criston. You want to talk about who is a hot head? HARWIN IS A HOT HEAD, not criston.

Wrap up! Harwin gets pissy because 10 year old Jace isn’t taking the same lessons as 12 year old Aegon and when Criston show Harwin their skill difference Harwin results to calling Criston a bully only to beat the man when Criston is like “okay baby daddy”.

[karamina]

Horseland Age Headcanons

Time for me to show up out of the weeds with my completely unsolicited headcannons and theories for obscure television series that I should be way too old for again lol. Today's victim:

Horseland

There seems to be a general consensus on the ages of the various human characters in Horseland. That fanon conclusion being that the main characters are all around 15 yrs old, with the exception of Will, who is slightly older at 16-17 years old. I disagree with this assessment.

First let's look at some direct quotes from some of the episodes.

Episodic Evidence

1) Episode: "You Can't Judge A Girl By Her Limo" (S1E1)

"You calmed Button down better than I could and I've been riding her for five years!" - Alma Rodriguez

This quote provides some clues about Alma's age, or at least the minimum age that Alma can be. Most riding instructors will take students at the age of 9, with some taking as young as 6 years of age. Being's that Alma's dad is the manager at Horseland, I think that Alma would have began riding at a very young age. By that logic, Alma is somewhere between 11-14 years old, unless she rode a different horse before Button.

https://horsesafetytips.com/2020/06/04/whats-the-best-age-to-start-horseback-riding-lessons/

2) Episode: "Fire, Fire, Burning Bright" (S1E5)

This episode has some interesting quotes that may give clues to the main character's ages, or at least the Stilton girls ages and Will's age.

"Let me get this straight, you got all the way to middle school without learning to swim?" - Molly Washington

Wouldn't it be odd that Molly specifically mentions Chloe and Zoey making it to middle school (11-14 yrs old, in Canada from Wikipedia) without having learned how to swim if they were high school aged (14-18 yrs old)? If they were in high school, she probably would've said that instead. Beings that the series likes to remind us that Chloe is older than Zoey, that would mean that Chloe is about 12-14, and Zoey is around 11-13 years old. Either that or they are twins, but that doesn't seem to be the case (I myself have a sister that is 1 and 1/2 yrs older than me, and I also had a close relationship to her growing up). The only evidence I have seen that points to them being twins as opposed to being siblings close in age is the names rhyming with each other (Although my mom's friend's four grandchildren all have names ending with the -en sound and I went to school with twins that had non-ryhming names so that isn't a very strong argument imo)

"But I was in charge of the trip. I am responsible for everyone." - Will Taggert

This one's a bit less obvious, but as a volunteer that has worked with minors on weekend retreats before, I know that organizations and schools typically require (often by law) at least one faculty chaperone to be 18+ yrs old and to have clearances stating that they have never abused a child or commited a crime (usually, they also want more than one adult chaperone per group as well, but we'll let this slide based on the fact that there are only 5 minors going on this trip). From this line and his role in this episode's plot, we can deduce that Will is the staff member from Horseland facilitating this overnight event, and thus is at least 18-19 years old. This makes sense. Will has a rather unique role in the series compared to the other characters. He is a sort of groundsman and riding instructor at Horseland, rather than a student. His aunt and uncle (Bailey's parents) are also his employers. Reasonably, if I had to pinpoint a narrow age range for Will, I would say that he is 18-21 years old, although I wouldn't discredit him even being as old as his mid twenties (at least in season 3), almost solely based on his demeanor and almost laid-back relationships with the other main characters. His behavior in this episode even supports this. I went through a similar predicament, albeit on a smaller scale, while acting as a hiking guide at the age of 20 on one such aforementioned retreat. I blamed myself for potentially endangering these students, even though they were told to follow my lead and instead went off trail at one of the more dangerous parts of the trail. Likewise, Will blamed himself for the forest fire, even though it was really Chloe and Zoey's actions that caused the fire, for the sole reason that he was the adult responsible for the trip and all the students he took on it and thus is immediately liable for anything bad that happens (Well more like Horseland would be liable, and Will would be at risk of losing his job and/or facing fines or criminal charges). From this episode and how Will progresses throughout the series, I'd say Will is in his early stages of leadership and that is why I chose an age range closer to the ages of majority in Canada (which depends on which province Horseland supposedly exists in). I know some of y'all may be thinking about this, so I'll address it while I'm still on Will. In several of the episodes featuring competitions, while we never actually see him compete, Will is on Jimber and wearing typical dressage wear as opposed to his jeans and t-shirt (See "Changing Spots"). Some may say that this proves that he is actually a student as well. It may be possible that he is a student as well, and simply tutors more ameteur riders in his free time, but this says nothing about his age, only that he would be more advanced than the other main characters. He also could be dressed like that just for show for the competition. Additionally, while I know very little about equestrian competitions, while I was in HS winter colorguard, my instructor (a college student) usually would compete with a different club in a different age category at the same competition. It may not be disimilar.

3) Episode: "Pepper's Pain" (S1E7) "Zoey, you guys have been together for years. Your dressage proves how well you've grown as a team." - Chloe Stilton

The information provided in this line from Chloe is ambiguous. However, the emphasis she puts on years implies that Zoey has been riding Pepper for like a really long time, although she may just be emphasizing this word as she's trying to make a point to Zoey. Regardless, it is safe to say that Zoey has been riding Pepper for at least 5 years. That would put her in the same minimum age range as Alma, 11 to 14 years old.

4) Episode: "The Competition" (S1E9)

"Oh my gosh, what a huge let-down. First off, his girlfriend was there, and they were both old! He was at least thirty." - Chloe Stilton

This ones a bit of a reach, but what teenager thinks that 30 is old? I certainly didn't (then again, I did grow up surrounded by family members that are elderly, so take my words with a grain of salt). Regardless, this statement solidifies the argument that Chloe is probably middle school aged, rather than high school aged. As we progress from childhood to adolescence into adulthood, the perception of "oldness" changes. Have you ever seen the vine where this little girl (likely kindergarten aged) famously says "I'm 16! I'm a grandmother!". If you were a middle schooler, you probably would consider 30 to be old. There are many articles that document this phenomenon:

5) Episode: "Heritage Day" (S03E10)

"Zoey, they eat mosquitoes, not teenage girls." - Nani Cloud

This line takes place after the girls are frightened by a group of bats sharing the cave they took shelter in from a storm. This line clearly states that at this point of the series, most if not all of the main girls are teenagers (ages 13-19). We can conclude one of two things, depending on how one percieves this show's timeline, since the line is said towards the end of the show's final season. A) The girls have always been teenagers or B) There is a time skip between season's 2 and 3. For me, B is plausible if we try to explain Bailey and Will's voice changes cannonically. But B is also not plausible considering Will is already an adult and would have already undergone a voice change. Thus I will say that the ages of the girls are constant through the series at the lower range of the teens, perhaps even preteens.

Plots and Storylines

Next, let's look at the plots of the episodes. A lot of the episodic plots support most of the main cast being preteens or in their very early teens. Molly getting her first cellphone, Alma getting her first crush, Chloe lying about being able to do an advanced jump to impress her peers, Sarah getting her first taste of death through the loss of a beloved pet, etc. Not to mention, many of the episodes are driven by some drama being stirred up (middle schoolers are notorious for being awful to each other). These are all typical problems that preteens face during this stage of their life. You may be inclined to think that all of the MCs are in middle school from this, but there is some evidence for some of the characters being slightly older than others. In the episode "The Best Loss", Molly is out with her friends at a pizza parlor with no parents in sight and has been able to take the public bus to and from Horseland on her own for the entire duration of the series. In the episode "Talk, Talk", she's even talking to her friend Amber about what she should wear to a party. This leads me to believe that Molly is slightly older than the other girls. Bailey also falls under this category. In the season 1 episode "Boss Bailey", Bailey is left in charge of Horseland for a day when his parents and Will have to go facilitate a parade. Even with Bailey being the owner's son, I think that they would not want to leave a middle schooler in charge of an entire riding school. Bailey is also used as an example during a lot of Will's lessons to the other MCs, demonstrating jumps, meaning he's probably more advanced than the other riders. He also does a lot of the groundwork and maintenance with Will (such as in "Pepper's Pain", "Fire, Fire Burning Bright", and "Wild Horses"). For these reasons, I think Bailey is a bit older than the girls.

Conclusion

I could go on and on, analyzing each character's behaviors one by one, but I'd essentially just be rewriting the show's script interspersed with my own interpretation. That is most of what this conclusion is, my interpretation of the characters based on my own life experiences and the collective characterizations the show provides across its three seasons. So with that being said, here are my guesses as to the ages of the characters.

Sarah Whitney -        13 Molly Washington -  14 Alma Rodriguez -     13 Chloe Stilton -           14 Zoey Stilton -            13 Bailey Handler -        15 Nani Cloud -              13 Will Taggert -            20

I chose most of the main characters to be so close in age to each other as they are all in the same "practices" at Horseland, as well as how they interact with each other.

So, what do y'all think? Do you agree with the ages I chose for each character? Why or why not?

*Side note - I know there are a fair deal of Sarah x Will shippers out there. I know that most of them do not support minors being in relationships with adults. Remember, there are no official ages for these fictional characters and this post is just my personal interpretations. While I myself do not ship these two characters, my intent is not to say that this fan population is wrong for supporting this ship. My purpose for writing and posting this is to share my thoughts on the Horseland characters ages based on my own observations and life experiences. 

[cheekypeakyblinder]

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚂𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝟸

Hi!

I'm quite busy writing the second season of Peaky Blinders, or better said. My fanfic 'The Shelby Secretary.'

While i've been writing for about a week. I'm already 4 chapters in and I just reached Episode 2 (lol)

I'm going to give you the first chapter as a sneak preview ♥

________________________________________________________

Season 1

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 (18+) | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17

____________________________________________________________

Season 2

Chapter 1 |

Wordcount: 1,19K

____________________________________________________________

It was a cold dreary morning. But all the Shelby's were gathered at the cemetery. 'I Hate coming here.' Franny cursed under her breath. 'A month ago you were telling me something completely different Luf.' John said smirking while balancing Oliver on his arm.

Katie was walking silently in front of them while holding Dotty's hand. Franny was walking with Henry on her hip.

'Oh shut up you Peaky devil.' Franny looked him in the eye. 'we're at a funeral.' she shut him up. Polly joined them as they walked up to the grave. Ada was standing alone with Karl. Franny felt horrible for Ada. She and Freddie had moved to London after everything that had happened. Franny had understood their choices and was sad she couldn't see her any other day. But they called and wrote letters to one another. Till a week ago when Ada called the betting shop. But instead of wanting to talk to her, she wanted to talk to Thomas.

And funeral preparations were starting to happen. Ada came with Karl to Birmingham to bury Freddie in the same cemetery as his mom. Everyone was silent as the priest said his final words over Freddie. When Henry started to stir and cry. John took him over from Franny trying to calm him down. After the ceremony was over, they all walked over to the other side of the cemetery. Franny had given Henry to Aunt Poll. Who was going to bring the kids home with her? And before Franny could even comfort Ada. Thomas started to speak.

'We thought now Freddy's gone, you might come back to Birmingham.' he said while lighting a cigarette. Ada scoffed and rolled her eyes. 'God, do you know how funny it is that you've got chauffeurs in uniform now?' Ada spoke trying to get the conversation on another rail. 'Just for the occasion, Ada.' Thomas answered. 'Do you know how unfair it is you've got four Bugatti's when half the country's starving?' Ada then asked. Franny had wisely shut her mouth up the entire conversation.

'So now they've made you ashamed of us?' Thomas asked while clearing his throat. 'Sometimes when I think about how I used to be, it makes me embarrassed. 'John came walking up. 'Ada, are you coming home?' he asked nicely, giving her a hug. 'I'm going home.' Ada answered. 'It's all right, John. We make Ada embarrassed.' Thomas answered. 'That's not what I said.' Ada answered guilty.

'There's another reason we want you home. we're planning an expansion. I'm taking premises in London.' Thomas started explaining. 'Tommy. it's a funeral, business can wait.' Franny interrupted. 'Fran. If Ada was weeping then I'd stop. But she's not. The expansion means it'll be dangerous to be a Shelby in London for a while.' Thomas explained.

'Yeah. Well, I'm not a Shelby anymore. I'm not even a Thorne now either. I'm free.' Ada spoke. She waited a second before telling them she needed to bring Karl home. Ada hugged Franny and then stormed off. Thomas let out a big sigh. 'I told you, let me do it.' Franny said to him rolling his eyes. 'It's all right. I'll have some men watch her house till the danger passes.' Thomas said looking at Franny and John. Suddenly a motorcycle came by stopping by Arthur and Esme. John let go of Franny and he walked towards it. Thomas and Franny stayed put. 'Till the danger passes. That will be the bloody day.' Franny said rolling her eyes once more. And walking towards John.

By the time the Shelbys came back to Birmingham the damage was already done. In the early morning, someone had blown up the Garrison. Thomas and Polly went to the Garrison and the others went back to the house and the betting shop. Arthur was gone soon after. Leaving John and Franny trying to handle things at the shop. Franny was counting when Polly came in. 'How's it looking?' Polly asked her. 'It's fine if you count out Arthur's weekly Garrison fund. We just bought new chairs for the pub.' Franny said lighting a cigarette. John came into the door looking his wife up and down before walking over to his aunt. 'Polly.' 'Did he say who did it?' John asked standing in the door frame. 'He's gone to the Black Lion.' She answered petting Franny on her shoulder before walking away from her to the Shelby family house.

'On his own?' 'Tommy does everything on his own.' Polly answered walking past John. 'Should I go to the Black Lion?' John asked her walking right behind her. 'What?' She asked him she couldn't hear him over the noise of the coins that were being counted for bets. 'Should I go there and see him?' John asked again. 'No.' Polly directly answered. 'Where the fuck is Arthur?' He asked her after biting on his lip from being forbidden to help his older brother.

'He's protecting the Garrison's whiskey from the police.' Polly walked into the house. And John followed and when he was going to close the big doors to the shop. He nodded his head to Franny who was looking at him. He was motioning her to come. And with that, he closed the door. 'For fucks sake.' he just said 'Polly.' He said calmly. 'It feels a little bit to me like things are getting out of hand.' Polly who was throwing wood on the fire looked up to him. 'So get'em in hand.' she said before looking for her cigarettes in her purse.

'Y'know what Ada said to me this morning?' He said trying to lighten the mood a little. 'She said we all look like we work in a factory, under the ground. Said we look like ghosts.' 'She'll be back.' Polly said while lightening her cigarette. 'When?' 'When she needs us. Polly answered. 'And anyway, who the fuck would blow up our pub?' John asked. Franny opened the door to the small room. And closed it silently behind her.

'Six.' Polly answered. 'Six what?' John turned around looking at Polly. 'Six questions since you walked through that door. Soon you'll have to start being the man with the answers.' Polly said while sitting down in front of the fire.

'Why?'

'Seven.' Franny said trying to bite on her lip.Polly looked over her shoulder seeing Franny in the corner of her eye.'Because when London happens, you'll have to hold up your end.Or we'll find somebody else who can.' Polly said throwing back her whiskey. John bit on his lip.Trying to hold himself together for his aunt. Franny put a step forward making the floor squeak. John looked up at her and she nudged him to go with her out of the room. Which he did. He followed Franny to his office. Where he closed the door.

'What the actual fuck is this shite.' John said cursing. Franny leaned herself against his deck with her hip. 'They're all really stressed about the pub John.' Franny tried. 'don't you think I'm stressed about the pub?' He said jerking his look up to her. Franny scoffed. 'Excuse me, John Shelby.' Franny said raising her eyebrow at him. I just bathed clothed and took care of your four children at a funeral. And came back to the same thing as you. 'Don't you think I'm stressed?' Franny said crossing her arms and looking at him. 'You're right.' John said shaking his head and trying to get the worries out. He walked over to her and lifted her chin. 'At least you're here.' John said with a soft smirk and kissed her.

[thisismehappy]

Olivia's Apartment: A study with terrible gifs

Season 15/Early 16

Seems like the back door leads to a bedroom, but you never see it so that's debatable. Brian said it was a small apartment which would seem to imply one bedroom, but it's not explicit. When Noah has been with her for four months already, she had his crib in the living room which also kinda implied there was only one bedroom. When she opens the door for Melinda there are not big lights in the hallway which we'll look at more later.

Late Season 16

Partway though season 16 the crib moves so that it's visible through the back door which is a little confusing. Is that a bedroom? Is he sleeping in a little vestibule area? In this scene there are now the big lights in the hallway that we see when Elliot shows up in OC 2x03.

Season 17-19

Partway though season 17 the back door starts showing a shelf instead of a crib. We only ever see a bedroom in this apartment in season 19 and it's Noah's. It opens to a little hallway that has a couple of doors. The implication I assume is that one is the back door we've seen since season 15 and the other is Liv's room (never seen). When someone knocks at the door she goes through the one that seems like it's the backdoor to the apartment. But when she walks through it there's a chair and an end table but when she lets the lady in, it's the same shelf we've been seeing since season 17. (The Munch scene is from 18 and the scene with the lady is from 19 right after she walks out of Noah's room.) Also, when she lets the lady in, the door is brown instead of white like it is when Elliot shows up later, but I think we can say there were some upgrades over the years.

Season 22

As far as I can recall we don't see much of the apartment in 20 or 21 and if we did it wasn't much different. The apparent in this scene is pretty much the same as always, but I like that Liv's idea of decorating for Christmas is to just drape light over things. This looks like essentially the same furniture as when Elliot shows up. Same TV stand and couch I think and the same lamp the TV too, but there's a new giant fancy one in the next scene too which is maybe why it's brighter lol.

OC 2x03 (SVU Season 23)

Okay I thought this was a different apartment which is what started me on this whole road, but upon further review, it's the same one. The door is different (could have been upgraded) and as far as I know this is the first time we've gotten a full view of the hallway. But idk for sure about that. Someone let me know if I missed it before. Also, the walls seem whiter to me but it could be lighting or she painted. They were super white in season 16 though too. So if she painted, she's done it at least twice. I just realized it didn't make it into any of these gifs but the ugly brown chair Elliot sits in has been around since season 15. In the first shot we see when they're unpacking the apartment, it's there. I like to think it was Brian's chair that she adopted when he left. (No real reason except I enjoy the idea of Elliot sitting in Brian's chair lmao.) The lights above her kitchen island are a little different too I think, but again just could have been upgraded sometime. It's also just way cleaner, but maybe she was going through a phase. (Re: the brown chair. I thought I remembered seeing it in the new place but I only have 24x10 downloaded so far and I couldn't find it so I'm not sure if I imagined that or if it's in one of the other episodes.)

The 500th Episode (later in Season 23)

This looks like a completely different apartment to me. Now it is possible that the mystery door from Noah's hallway leads to an intensely long hallway that doesn't stylistically match the rest of the apartment, but it seems like maybe this is when she moved. Or the first time we would have seen evidence of it. I think this hallway could work with the new place as far as style and size. As far as I know, these are the most recent 3 times we've seen Liv's apartment, but I could be wrong about that so if anyone's still with me let me know if you've seen other things that support or refute this idea.

@rahleeyah - Just in case you're interested lmao. You were right about the apartment in OC 2x03. I think we were just seeing it from weird angles which threw me off lol.

[msbhagirathi]

IPKKND LIVE BLOG SEASON 1 [Epi-4]

Cooooooooommmmmmmeeeeeee onnnnnnnnn. Letzzzzzzzzz beginnnnnnnnnnnn.

Lol. Episode starts with Arnav talking about 'aukaat'.

2. And, now, he's being an a__hole, here. Where Khushi is so hugely horrified over what happened last night. Arnav, ever the a__hole that he is, is smirking and having the audacity to ask, "Kyun? Kya kiya hai maine?" (Why? What did I do?)

3. Like. Really? Arnav? You want her, to spell out, what you did to her last night? Fckin a__hole. And look at that face. Fckin smirking.

4. Their debate about god and his existence is -kind of- interesting & thought-provoking.

5. Khushi is coming from a place of absolute surrender to god and an unbreakable faith and trust on her devi-maiyya. We can see that, in her words.

6. But, Arnav. His words, indicate that he has an absolute distrust on the existence of god. He believes that, had 'any kind of god' been there, then he won't have faced the situations, that he had to. He believes that the amount of pain that he faced, any god, if there, won't have let him face it, all alone. "Iss duniya main agar bhagwaan hota naa, toh dard naam ki cheez nahi hoti."

Now, who is correct, you ask? I will say, both. Yes. Both are correct, in the context, of what they faced in their pasts, what their history, with god, is. It's just that, they don't want to consider any other opinions apart from what they think is 'correct', for them. And, that is the problem. That's what's wrong with these two egotistical idiots.

7. Look at his expression when he says the first line. He is raw. Vulnerable. In the truest sense. Almost in tears. Voice trembling with anguish that he has for 'his god', who did not help him out when he needed him the most. All his guards are down. At this exact moment. We get a glimpse, of what is hidden behind, that, usually unreadable expression.

8. This is a huge thing. That, even if, he is not exactly showing his face. BUT he is, indeed opening up, about his pain, in front of Khushi. He does not have any reason to do so. In fact, he does not have to stand here, waste his precious time, explaining this naive girl, about the evils of this world.

9. Instead, of going on his way, to attend that important meeting, which can't be cancelled. Nevertheless, he does so. Something inside him, is intrigued, by this girl. Something in this girl, sparks an urge, inside him, to explain himself, even if, he doesn't need to.

10. Coming to the second part, of what he said. He thinks that money and only money gives a person, the authority, to have all the powers and make decisions related to his own fate and destiny. "Iss duniya mein jiss insaan ke paas paisa hai, ussi ke paas taakat hai."

11. Notice that, he believes this, SO strongly. Because he has seen this, with his own eyes. When he and his sister were ousted out of their own home, by their 'beloved' chachaji. He has seen that, money, indeed, has the powers and authority; all that he needed to avenge for his betrayal.

12. Look at his expression, when he says the second line. There's this confidence in his face, that he feels, when he knows, what he has observed, is totally correct. Because, he is, indeed, totally correct.

13. Only that, from now on, every time, after this, whenever Khushi would do or say something, that would be against his belief or would be something, that would force him, to re-think his opinion. It would make him, question his judgement, over her character, only then, he would find his confidence, 'of knowing girls like her very well', wavering away.

14. Wow. Enough. Now back to the epi.

15. So. She challenges him with her beliefs and he retaliates, in the worst possible sense.

16. He orders his PR team to release the fashion show footage to all the TV News channels.

17. He has, again, repeated the same thing. He did not think this through. He did not think, to the extent, to which it could destroy Khushi's life. He, also, did not think about his own reputation, here.

18. Living in a society, like that. Where your honor is the family's honor and that it should be kept hidden and protected at all costs. He did not realize that she is a middle class 'girl' in the truest sense possible. He did not realize how much it would affect her and her family's reputation.

19. After all, what was her mistake? She just challenged his belief system. He could have retaliated, in any possible way, but he chose to involve the whole world, including both their families, into this.

20. He, even, could have easily ignored a chit of a girl, who had said something about his belief on god or lack thereof.

21. He should have 'farak nahi padta' to her.

22. But, no. He is the mighty ASR. He, indeed, 'farak padta hai'. And thus, went on, to torture her, in new ways.

23. Fckin A__hole.

24. Back to Gomti Sadan. Khushi offers a cup of chai to her Amma but she refuses.

25. Amma is also upset for being a little too harsh on Khushi, I think? What's with that look that she gave her when Khushi went away?

26. Payal asks about the broken pearls of the blouse and Khushi is, again, reminded of the horrific night. Payal notices her distress and asks the reason and Khushi starts ranting about (her) 'laard governor'. I think, she -kind of- likes talking about her 'woh'. This scene, also, indicates that no one knows about their 'meeting' yet.

27. Arnav asks about Mul Rajani. "Chote log aksar aukaat se bada muh kholte hain." (People with small status often have a 'big' mouth. *pun intended*) This line is for both Mul Rajani and Khushi.

28. His meeting with Khushi, is still very fresh, in his mind.

29. "Roop suhana lagta hai, chaand puraana lagta hai, tere aage o jaanam." Can you see me jiggling my shoulders? I -kind of- got hooked to this song. Wow.

30. Amma catches Khushi dancing and jumping on the -sofa?-that furniture. Whatever. And she cannot stop herself from smiling at her daughter. Finally, Khushi notices her and hits a direct six and the ball is straight out of the stadium. Lol. I mean to say, that she is finally successful in pacifying her Amma.

31. Initially, I thought why did she give an example of cricket, out of the blue. But then, I realized that, it was 2011. That year, we had world cup going on and guess what, India had won it, under MSD's captaincy :)

32. The writers did a great job, here, if you ask me ;)

33. "Arre naach toh hum dikhawat hain." (Let me show you how to dance!)

34. Wow. Babuji joined them. What a classic 'papa' dance. Lol. I don't know but I just felt that somehow I have seen my father dancing like that too. Like. Not exactly like this. But the body language. Pata nahi choro.

35. Buaji, the Hitler of GS (Gomti Sadan. Lol. I kind of love the sound of this name.), comes and scolds them. Why Buaji? Can't they have a sweet family moment? I don't know what's your problem, Buaji. But you need to chill.

36. Lol. "Joru ke saamne bandar ban sakat ho, bitiyan ko naahi sambhaal sakat ho?" (You can be mischievous (like a monkey) in front of your wife but can't handle your own daughter?) By the way that question doesn't even make sense, Buaji. Your existence doesn't make sense, Buaji.

37. What? I did not say that, ok? I have manners.

38. LMAO. Everybody escapes from Buaji's presence. The unity that they have. My god. It's just amazing. Lol.

39. A note here. This hairstyle, for Khushi, here, was the perfect. They kept it, this way, till the office track and somewhere in the midst, they changed it, to a plain braid which was....fine, but, this one suited her more.

40. The head of Panch Bhog Caterers (Shop no. 14 Hazrat Ganj Lucknow) is -kind of- taunting them. The disgusting line of the century- "Ab e toh uhi baat ho gyi, ki thaali mein utha liya par khaya nahi; par jhutha toh hua naa." (Now this is the same thing as being picked up in a plate but left uneaten, nevertheless it would still be considered a left over by others.")

41. Guess what. He is talking about Payal. I mean. Wow. The audacity. The disgusting comment thrown around for a girl's character, so casually, as if her character really depends on whether some money-hungry family 'accept' or 'reject' her for marriage.

42. Khushi wants to speak up, but, Amma stops her.

43. And, if you thought, that was enough, then, it was not. Now, listen to him, talking about Payal, being like his own daughter and taking care of her ('dignity') after butchering her character, a few seconds ago.

44. Amma pulls her hand away. Khushi, taking the cue, speaks up. But, is uncharacteristically calm. But, what she says next, not just wins Babuji's heart but ours' as well. Wow. Writers of this show are so freaking talented, man.

45. WOW. This is amazing. The Mul Rajani sequence is just amazing. See, I searched up a bit about this name, but, turns out, its actually a surname, precisely, a Rajasthani surname.

46. So, Mul Rajani is actually a Marwari business man and has dared to stop a photoshoot for AR Designs. Because of a balance payment. He demands his balance payment for 50 lakh. Only then, he would let the photoshoot, continue.

47. But, that is not enough. While demanding, he addresses Arnav, very disrespectfully. That was fine, too, but when he crossed a line, by mentioning his mumma, Arnav lost it.

48. He slaps him. Oh. Damn. What a slap. WOW.

49. Lol. Mul Rajani says that, this slap will cost him 1 Cr. , an incomplete photoshoot and a bad name (getting blacklisted) in the industry. Arnav slaps him, again. Lmao. And then, tells Akash to give him a 'dhaai crore ka cheque'. "Pachaas hazaar iski payment aur 2 Crore do thappadon ke." (A cheque of Rs. 2.5 Cr.) (50k for the payment and 2 Cr. for two slaps.)

50. The sassy-ness in that smirk, when he sees, MR realizing that he is getting paid in surplus. Take a bow, Mr. Sobti. *bows down with joined hands*

51. You see? This is the problem. Why Arnav thinks money can solve everything. He uses his money to shut people up. And each time it works and his theory of "Paisa hi taakat hai" is proven right, each time he feels a little bit more proud of himself. That, he cracked the code to deal with 'this world' and 'it's ways'.

52. LMAO. Listen y'all, I don't care what you say, but Buaji makes me laugh. Period.

52. Ohh. So. The clip is out, finally. My poor baby. She is, again, getting insulted without any fault of hers. That freaking b_stard. ASR. Or, whatever.

53. He again managed to hurt Khushi, in the most unimaginable way, possible. Wow. Just wait till you fall for her, Bitwa, madly, shall I say so, then you will feel yourself falling into an unending pool of guilt, engulfing you, for the rest of your life. And, you will not be able to stop yourself from feeling guilty, ever again.

P.S. : No P.S. today, coz too tired to think of anything. Ok. Bye. Have a good day/night ahead. God bless you.

Previous Next Episode!

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Season 2 Rewatch Drabbles--2x14 Manhattan

Summary:  A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my   rewatch of season 2 of Once Upon a Time as an attempt to finally jump   start the muse again.  There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a   “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season.    Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an   emphasis on the very beginnings of Captain Swan’s epic love story, as   soon as a certain dashing pirate makes his appearance.  

Word Count: 482

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (15) (16) (17) (17.5) (18) (19) (20) (21-22) (22)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Note: After watching this episode again, I once again have the strongest urge to force Neal to walk barefoot across a room full of legos and rusty nails. The following fic shows you exactly why.

“I get it,” Neal said with a patronizing smirk, “we’re all messed up. Let’s just try not to pass that on to Henry, okay?”

Emma nodded and dropped her eyes, emotionally collapsing in on herself as she watched him climb out onto the fire escape to talk to their son.  Suddenly she felt small, unimportant, petty.  Suddenly she was that unloved, emotionally stunted seventeen year old again.

For years after her arrest she’d hoped and dreamed of the moment she’d see Neal again, hoped he’d come back for her, hoped there was some reasonable explanation for why he’d left her, why he’d set her up for his crimes.

But as the years passed without even a word from him, that hope had died.  She decided she really should thank him.  He’d taught her a valuable lesson: that you’ve got to look out for yourself, never let anyone in.  She’d built the walls that had protected her for the past decade, and she was stronger for it.

So imagine her shock when she’d successfully run down Gold’s long lost son this afternoon, only to discover that son was Neal.

She’d wanted to hate him on sight; wanted to throw in his face how much he’d hurt her, wanted to at least show him she was over him, over it all, but she couldn’t.  As soon as she saw him, she realized she’d never stopped loving him.  She’d never gotten closure, and so, she’d never moved past being that lonely seventeen year old who’d wanted so desperately to be loved that she’d soaked up every scrap of affection Neal gave her like the parched ground when it finally got rain.

Emma had agreed to have a drink with him, finally asking him for the truth.  When he gave it to her, she wished he hadn’t.

“Did you know who I was when we met?” 

“If I had, I wouldn’t have gone near you.”

“You left me and let me go to prison because Pinocchio told you to?”

She’d left, her heart shattered all over again.

And then he’d returned to his apartment, and everything had hit the fan.  She’d had to come clean to Henry about his father, and the betrayal in her kids’ eyes had nearly destroyed her.  She knew what this kind of betrayal felt like, and she was damn well NOT going to let Neal further hurt her boy.

She’d tried to stand up to Neal, tried to show him one last time how much he’d hurt her, tried to give him one last chance to apologize–or at least explain, but what she’d gotten instead was condescension and a chiding about being petty with regard to their son.

Maybe Neal was right.  Maybe she still was nothing more than that unloved teenager who’d never be worth a damn as a girlfriend, as a mother, or even as a human being.

                                                                               NEXT CHAPTER-->

[assassinationclassroom-studyblr]

STUDY/EXAM FOCUSED Assassination Classroom Episodes (Season 1)

TEST TIME (Season 1, Episode 6)

Mid-terms! Of second semester!

Remember your second blades!

"Those who can't wield a second blade, aren't qualified to be assassins!" (Korosensei

Set big goals for yourself! And work for those goals! but don't be disheartened if you don't reach all your goals.

"You gave us everything you had, and at the moment of truth it mattered." (Karma Akabane)

and always remember to overprepare! If you want to ace your tests and exams, you have to know everything there shouldn't be a single blank space

If you don't do well on one test, guess what? You'll get your revenge twofold, on the next test. Keep doing your best!

Definitely an episode to watch if you've just done poorly on a test or exam ( the second half) or are struggling to find a motivation to study for an upcoming evaluation (the second blade speech always gets me)

END OF TERM TIME (Season 1, Episode 15)

this one is filled with studying!

While you won't get the ability to blow up a tentacle, find someway to motivate yourself to do your best (my motivation is buying myself something, like manga)

get people who know a subject (your peers specifically) to help you understand; they can help dumb it down for you and you can speak with them more informally in a comfortable way! I always find that there's less pressure when you ask your classmates instead of a teacher

find a hot smartass to explain shit to you (Gakushu explaining always gets me)

study groups! study groups! study groups! (actually study, don't play around, have your earbuds in but use each other)

more motivation might includes spite studying; whether it's being spiteful towards your parents who say you can't do it, or students with high grades who are assholes (i hate the fact that terrible people get higher grades than me, it's great motivation)

DON'T BE KARMA

"Apply yourself for heavens sake! You can get the best overall score!" (Korosensei to Karma)

"We can both afford to relax!" (Karma) YEAH SURE ONCE YOU HAVE STUDIED (but ofc remember to relax as well, don't burn yourself out)

Korosensei's message on the board: In-Depth Reading for Finals, Slay 'em! (Special Enhanced Lesson)

Get help from your teachers!

Do your best to not underestimate yourself!

CLOSING TIME; FIRST SEMESTER (Season 1, Episode 16)

"Tests are splendid. The knowledge soaked up by those eager minds in preparation may be forgotten once the dust has settled. But c'est la vie. The character building thrill of competition, the privilege of honing ones mind to a fine point, the ecstasy of giving it your all. That's the treasure."

There's a lot of reasons to hate testing and exams; especially for those of us who don't really preform that great with complete memory based stuff but Korosensei's speech about tests always move me. It's a challenge to overcome not a terrible hurtle that shouldn't be involved in education. It makes me appreciate the value of tests a lot more.

the reason Class E did well was because they overstudied, way more than the A Class jerks so remember! Learn as much as you can!

"Akabane's a member of E Class, isn't he? He placed second on the midterms, right below me. Quite an accomplishment for a slacker." (Gakushu Asano)

You can be naturally smart but remember the people who work hard usually win above those who slack (in the end, the slacking catches up to people AHEM AHEM)

"Commendable but not intimidating. You see, I am anything but a slacker." (Gakushu Asano, continued aND proved his point with the results)

"The key to true victory, is learning how not take the game so... seriously." (Karma Akabane before he dropped like 10 spots) NOW he is right in some aspects like you don't have to take everything in your life extremely seriously but your grades and education matter! So do your best! Try hard!

"It doesn't matter how hard your opponent works if you're better than them." (Karma dumbass Akabane) AGAIN! Don't think like this! These are all examples of how not to think! Don't be one of those cocky smart assholes that you use as motivation to be better!

Ok I'd also like to add that the soundtrack behind this scene is so great, which one is it for the life of me I can't find it

The entire Korosensei lecture and speech man I can't type it all up but just all of that plus the Karma/Gakushu comparisons beautiful, chefs kiss, great motivations especially for previously 'gifted' students

be proud of your wins! (as proud as Terasaka and the gang for their home economics win)

ENJOY YOUR SUMMERS!!! You worked hard all semester or throughout the entire year (depends on your schools system) you deserve the rest! Enjoy your hobbies, go out, take breaks, spend time with your family, work on yourself, and study! Don't put it on the backburner just because you're not at school. Polish that second blade!

"Let the assassination classroom summer vacation begin! Time for a little R & R, a little supplemental study, and a lot of killing!"

[starseneyes]

Chenford REWIND - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 2 Eps 15, 16 & 17

Season 2 is such a fascinating era for Chenford, especially post-DOD and with the Rachel subplot. I'll be honest, I never hated Rachel. So, forgive me if I'm a little nicer to her than I am Ashley/Chris AKA Season 4's Obstacles of Awful.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are spoiler-averse, you are Rachel Meta-averse, as well. I will spoil the entirety of these episodes, as well as anything that has come before. I do try to write these without foreknowledge, though.

I'll be honest, the first two episodes here make me super uncomfortable. See, I'm a former journalist, so that one gets under my skin. And then the other with the medical stuff is tough, too, for someone with a fun list of issues.

Everyone squared away? Huzzah! Let's dive in together.

"Hand-Off" AKA Go Back to Mayberry

"What exactly is being assessed?" "Occupational integrity. From how we maintain our equipment to the upkeep of all of our certifications."

Lucy directs her question at Grey, but I do like how Tim jumps in here. His Rookie asked a question, and he's actually answering it instead of making Lucy jump through sixteen hoops to figure it out herself.

"So, are you nervous about meeting Rachel's dad?" "Please." "It's gotta be a tick nerve-wracking. Rachel adores her dad." "And he's gonna love me. Colin was a sheriff for 30 years." "Yeah, in a town with two stoplights." "LA or Mayberry, cop's a cop."

First off, I have to say I love seeing Tim's confidence, but I'm torn because it stems from his position as a cop.

That's Tim's default. He leans into his profession, using that as a measure of his worth while completely missing his value as a human being.

And, yes, there are a lot of reasons for that (that Season 2 Rachel wouldn't know), but future Rachel wants to give Tim a big hug, take him out for a beer, and explain to him that while he is a great cop, he's also a great human.

"No, he's from Sweet Home, not Mayberry." "No, I know. It's Mayberry, like the TV show." "What TV show?" "Nevermind."

That. Hurts. Me. Look, I know I'm getting older, and I'm much closer to Tim's age than Lucy's, so this moment hurt me. Ouch. I need to go adjust my dentures and invest in prune juice.

These young folks are carting me off to the Nursing Home so I can watch TV in black-and-white with a nostalgic smile on my face.

Also, it makes sense that Tim would invest in a show like that—a cop who loves his son. Someday that'll be you, Timmy, my boy.

"Lopez and her TO were first on the scene. Officer Rowland died in her arms." "That's awful. Ten years ago, Lopez would have been a Rookie." "It was her first shift."

It wasn't Lucy's first shift when she was tugging a shot, bleeding Tim out of the line of fire, but it was close. Coming into this job, there's no guarantee that your introduction will be smooth.

But Lucy also remembers what it was like with Tim... and while she might have imagined it going the other way, Lopez lived it on Day 1.

As I've said before, there but for the grace of God go I.

"So, have you decided where you're taking Rachel's dad for dinner?"

Lucy has this knack of getting Tim to talk personal stuff in the Shop. Yes, I know they both know Rachel (since Lucy set them up), but it's still a breach in protocol for TO Tim. Love it.

Look, these two aren't anywhere near ready to shack up in a hotel all night testing the stability of the earthquake protection systems. But, I love how Lucy draws him out.

Once she talked about someone liking him and he cut her off with a reminder that he was married and saying they don't talk about that.

Now, neither of those statements is true. Tim's dating, again, and he's talking to Lucy all about it.

"Auto burglary cases have a 0.02% solve rate. How is failing to recover her Dad's suitcase my best foot forward?"

They were actually kinda cordial before that, falling into a rhythm that's closer to their Season 3 banter.

But, now Tim's worried he's going to start off on the wrong foot, so, in the words of Marlin the Clown Fish, "Good feeling gone."

"Smokehouse. I love their bread."

Is this where the world-famous Twitter Crumb-o-Meter came from? I could believe it!

"Look at you in that uniform." "It's so good to see you, again."

It's so bloody nice to have someone in Lucy's circle support her who is in the same age-range as her parents. It's a shame he lives so far away.

"Sir, why don't you climb in the Shop? We'll drive around, do some hunting. See if we get lucky."

Yikes, Rachel's dad is coming in with some bark. He does NOT like what he's seeing in Tim Bradford, for whatever reason, and he's giving him grief. And it sucks to see Tim's confidence deflate so swiftly.

Like, I'm fine with him ending up with Rachel. *ducks* I know someone just threw a shoe at their screen. I hope it didn't break!

But, hear me out. Chenford at this point is a fantasy, a hope, a wish. In the grand scheme of ships, we're only 2 seasons in, and there's plenty of time to change direction.

Would I prefer for Tim and Lucy to get together? Hell, yeah. That's the Endgame dream, right? But most of the time when shows set up a "placeholder character", I hate them. I can't wait to get them off my screen.

Rachel's a decent, kind, hard-working, heart-filled human who really does like Tim Bradford very much. At a time when he's just easing back into the dating scene (well... Tim kinda dove in head-first, if you know what I mean), she's fairly easy-going.

Also, we share a name. And I like 90% of Rachels. (Yes, there is one exception. Yes, I've given her many chances over the last two decades to change my opinion... not yet).

A far as Tim and Rachel goes, let's see how it plays out, yeah?

FAST FORWARD: YES, future Rachel knows how this plays out. But I write these as though I'm watching them for the first time! Part of the rules! ... Please stop throwing shoes at me. I can almost feel my own screen shaking from the impact.

Back in the scene, I can't keep my eyes off of Lucy, because Melissa O'Neil is crushing her reaction game in this scene. I laughed every four seconds because of her.

"I know. But try and stay positive, okay?" *arm tap*

Yes, Lucy got this into this mess. But she was trying to be helpful. And while she is very aware of the tension here, Lucy always has that can-do, positive attitude that tries to lighten Tim's grump.

And the fact that she's retained that brightness post-DOD says a lot about her as a person. Lucy is resilient, yes. But also determined not to lose that part of herself.

It'd be easy to let trauma swallow it... but she chooses each day to reclaim who she is, to never let the bastard win, even in death. What a fuckin' inspiration.

"The thing is, if he's smart, he hit as many cars as he could in 10 minutes and then jumped on the freeway. He could be in Barstow by now."

Lucy with the assist! Again, Tim and Lucy are in friend-mode, so she is trying to help him with Rachel's dad, who she knows.

But it ain't helping.

"Look, clearly you're a good cop." "I appreciate that." "Dedicated, selfless, and takes pride in his work. A little sphinctered, maybe, but that can be good, too. Just not for my daughter."

Ouch. So much ouch. And, look, my Dad was never a fan of any of the guys I dated. He even told me when we were preparing for my wedding that "Matt's the one I disliked the least".

Yes, he loves Matt. This is one of the dangers of having an ex-stand-up comedian for a Dad. Never feed him a straight line.

But, oof, Rachel's Dad's being a little tough, right? Right? Stay tuned...

"I'm so proud of you." "Thank you."

Lucy needs that more. I mean, can you imagine how much she wants to hear these words from her own father? To know that her family accepts and loves her and supports her? That's the dream, right?

And, you absolutely can lead a fulfilling, beautiful life without the approval of your parents. Tragically, too many parents cut their children off for not meeting a certain list of expectations. Lucy's parents are about a thread away from that.

But she wants them to be proud of her. It would be nice, ya know?

And, I get it. You leave that door open to them, hoping that one day they'll knock and be ready for a real relationship. But, in the meantime, you have to keep living. And that's what Lucy's doing.

"What are you talking about?" "Uh, I thought she had told you." "Told me what." "Rachel may have Huntington's Disease. It's a fatal genetic disorder. "

Oh. Suddenly it all comes together, and it all makes sense. This is why he's been so hard on Tim, so tough on him, coming at him from every angle to distance them.

"But she may not have it."

Is that hope, Tim Bradford? Or more confidence in the science knowing it might not've been passed down? Either way, I appreciate Tim taking the opposite position where Rachel's father is waiting for the perceived inevitable.

You can't live your life based on a "maybe", yes. But ignoring it entirely might not be the best answer, either. It depends on the person.

My grandmother (mi abuela) died of small cell lung cancer. She went from diagnosis to death in 2 weeks. It was fast. It was sudden. It was heartbreaking.

My employer at the time told me to take my laptop and stay at the hospital with my Dad while I worked so I could be there for him, help walk him through losing his mother. "I trust you," she said. I'll never forget that.

Mima and her last living sister (my tia) spoke on the phone one last time, about a week before she passed. Neither mentioned to the other... they both had cancer. Neither told the other. We didn't tell them, either. Not until she passed.

And, oh, what a tough decision. But that meant their last conversation was filled with joy, love, and light. And for Mima, I think that's what she needed.

So... it depends on the person, I think. I'm not really here to judge.

That said, if you're dating someone, and this is a possibility, I think it's definitely something to discuss if you're see a future together. But, that's just me.

"... if the worst comes to pass, Rachel's gonna need someone who'll put everything else aside just to care for her. And we both know that's not you."

This pissed me off. Because, we all saw Tim with Isabel, and this guy didn't. We saw what he was willing to do to save Lucy from Caleb, and this guy didn't. He's making assumptions about a man he barely knows, and that pisses me off.

Yes, I hear his point. But he's allowing perception to color perspective. If he got to know this man—Tim Bradford—instead of jumping to conclusions, he might see a different picture.

"You had no idea Rachel might have it?" "No. She never told me."

I have such mixed feelings about this. Tim should not have shared his girlfriend's medical information with his Rookie. At all.

But the fact that he did is fascinating, and yet another step toward them growing closer.

But, Tim really shouldn't have said anything.

"We should go talk." "No, we shouldn't. This is none of your business."

If it's none of his business, truly, then this relationship may not have a future.

Look, it is her call to share or not share her medical history and information. Absolutely. But blind-siding Tim ten years down the road and giving him no time to prepare mentally and emotionally is a bad look.

Again, it's just my opinion. And Tim and Rachel aren't walking down the aisle, yet, so there would be plenty of time to address it before then. But, I do think it would be better to be honest upfront.

It's the first (but not last) time that someone in a couple on this show conceals medical information pertinent to the relationship.

And, honestly I'm more understanding about this one than that one simply because these two are dating, haven't yet moved in together, or talked next steps, and there's still an easy out.

Tim and Lucy look to one another as Rachel leaves, and I feel the air of partnership between them. It's them against the world, sometimes. And their bond is only growing stronger with the passage of time.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Tim doesn't scare easily, so he's not running from this. Just like we knew. We know who Tim is, and he loves deeply and completely.

He invests in relationships with everything in him, partly from a desire to be known and loved, and partly because he wishes that's what his father did with his mother.

Yes, spoiler alert, but I'm not saying too much, I don't think.

And I totally support her not wanting to know. Because she doesn't want to live her life around something that might not come. She wants to live freely. And isn't that all any of us want? Yeah.

"The Overnight" AKA Do Android Cops Dream of Electric Sheep?

The Canadian Idol Goes American

Did she just? She... I... WHAT!?!?!

Rachel on her first viewing had no idea Melissa O'Neil was Canadian Idol's Season 3 winner. Her singing was beautiful in the barrel. But this was a powerhouse vocal performance. Gee. Freakin' Whiz!!

How did we get so lucky to have this multi-talented performer as our Lucy? Wow.

One thing that really struct me about this performance was the joy that bubbled out of Lucy as she sang.

In the barrel, she sang as a source of comfort. Of strength. Of hope. She was dreaming the dream... that someone would find her.

Today, she's singing from a place of joy. The song bursts out of her, full-voices and strong. Lucy has reclaimed the joy of singing.

And while the convention might be a little forced... I love this moment. I love listening to her, watching her, and marveling at Melissa O'Neil's performance as a very layered character reclaiming her joy in front of us.

Powerful stuff.

"What are you doing in here?"

Tim bringing her back to earth as they try to pass her a Golden Ticket. And Lucy goes to him. Because, much as Lucy is an incredible singer, police work is her heart.

And I kinda love that message. Just because you excel at something doesn't mean it has to be your profession, or even your passion. Only you know your passion... so pursue that.

"Ever given blood before?" "Every 8 weeks, like clockwork." "Good for you." "Yeah, save lives. Get a personal oil change. It's win-win."

This is so Tim Bradford at his best. He likes organization and routine. But to choose the routine of donating blood to save lives? Oh, how beautiful!

"I didn't know machines had blood."

Nyla, I cackled aloud at that one. Well-played.

"You know the media will say or do anything to get you to back up their headline."

Oh, the stories I could tell. I started as an intern in a nationally broadcasted news room as 19. My first job was to watch 9/11 and Iraq War raw footage and mark the sections that were usable for broadcast.

I worked there a few years as a freelance Associate Producer after before determining I couldn't keep up with my full-time university schedule, my voice over job, and being called in randomly at 5AM for work after finishing class at Midnight. I was also a Student Teacher, at that point, and had papers to grade, lessons to plan, and lessons to teach.

Yes, Rachel has always been an overachiever.

After uni, I went to work at a local station. I was there a year and a half before I moved on because it was one of the most toxic places I've ever worked.

So, this episode makes me super uncomfortable because a lot of hit hits close to home.

This is not to say we should automatically distrust all journalists. But, I think a bit of skepticism is always a good place to start. They don't all have our best interests at heart.

"You shouldn't let him talk to you like that." "He's my Training Officer. That's just kind of his style."

Lucy really is accustomed to Tim at this point. And while I hear miss Journalist, Tim doesn't cross the line. Okay... Season 2 Tim doesn't cross the line. We can have words about Season 1 Tim in another Meta.

And Eric Winter's wife gets to check him out in-character. Yes, that's his beautiful, talented wife, Roselyn Sánchez!

She's built her own incredible career, and is currently on a television show, herself, in addition to the podcast these two share. Plus they have kids. IRL. Power. Couple.

I didn't know it the first time through. So, in case none of y'all knew either, now you know!

"I'm telling you, reporters always have an agenda." "To get the truth? Sounds horrible."

Lucy... you should listen to your husband on this one. I'm not saying all reporters are bad, but, speaking from experience, he's not entirely wrong.

"God, you don't trust anyone." "'Cause trust has to be earned."

Tim looks to Lucy, and she doesn't talk back. Because, that's not a bad way to live. And she knows he trusts her.

Look, you might think I'm quick to trust because of what I share here. When I tell you that's barely scratching the surface of my life, I mean it.

In this space, I get to control what I share and what I don't. But, if you get to know me and become a real part of my life, I'll definitely give you more. But, I need to build that trust, first.

And a default of not trusting journalists who want something out of you isn't a bad one. Just sayin'.

"He's not gonna make it. Animal Control's 10 minutes out. EMT's won't step foot in here until that snake's been neutralized."

Tim says it so matter-of-factly. He can accept it, but Lucy can't.

"You can't kill it." "What the hell are we supposed to do with it? Snuggle?"

Oh. My. Gosh. I so hope Lucy bought him a stuffed snake and had Rachel sneak it into his bed (and took pictures when he found it) because that would be hilarious.

Seriously, I watch this scene over and over just for that line and die laughing every time.

"Boot! Don't be a hero. It's venomous."

Clever girl. As she steps into the garage, she looks back to Tim with her, "I'm gonna do this" look. He answers with his, "I don't like this but I'm not stopping you" look. And I'm sitting here marveling at Eric Winter and Melissa O'Neil communicating so much with just .25 seconds of screentime each on that.

Tim is anxious the entire time. But he knows enough to stay out of her way, sometimes. He knows she's tough, and he knows she's capable.

"What are you doing?" "I'm texting Tim. I need a senior officer here." "No you don't. He'll just steal the credit." "Look, I am out on a limb here, okay? And as a Rookie, that could get me fired. So, either we do this by the book, or I walk."

This is how Tim trained her. Valerie is jumping into this situation without knowing how anything works. She wants the glory, but she's not putting the work in in the right way.

Lucy has worked her ass off, and she's not letting anyone take this away from her.

"Hey, thanks for coming." "Mmhmm." "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" "Mmhmm."

Lucy being the one to let me in makes me happy. Yes, she's in trouble, and she knows it. But, "when it counted" she made the right call, again, right? Yeah.

Wopez Proposal

Oh, I have future things to say about all this. This is so Wesley and Angela. And that is what matters. It's them. Each couple has their own story and path. Yes, there's a formula to television, but there isn't a form you fill out.

So whenever we get to Tim and Lucy stuff (If they get their acts together), I'm not holding out for grand speeches. Tim is a "show" guy and Lucy isn't overly flowery. They're going to do their stuff their way.

That's why we gravitate toward certain characters. These characters are unique, as are their relationships. So how they get together, propose, etc, is going to be unique to that relationship and those characters.

I think that's important to keep in mind.

Control AKA

"Sorry. We're not real cops."

Welp... this just went Meta... in a Meta. Seriously, I was rolling laughing.

"Do you think Rachel's disappointed I canceled last night?" "I don't know." ... "You might find this surprising, but we don't talk about you. Ever." "Wow."

Considering how much Lucy and Tim talk about Rachel, I can see why this would be a little surprising to Lucy. But Tim drawing hard lines makes total sense.

He isn't at a point, yet, where he needs/wants to talk about Lucy in his off-time. He gets enough of her every. single. day.

"Bradford's your TO?" "Yeah." "My condolences." "That's what everyone says."

Lucy laughs it off, but Tim does have a reputation. He's good at whipping Rookies into shape or scaring them off.

"He seems nice." "Sure." "Do you know him well?" "Play a little pick-up basketball together."

Lucy is vibing with this guy. And while I'm not ecstatic for her to find "the one" and it not be Tim, Emmett seems like a decent guy, and there's definitely some chemistry there.

"No." "What?" "No, forget it." "What?!" "Your social life is not my responsibility. I learned that lesson the hard way."

That line kills me on every watch. Because Tim used to distance himself from her solely because of his hard lines between personal life and professional. Now, Lucy is quickly becoming a friend, someone he cares about. The lines have gotten a bit more blurry.

But he still has hard lines he's not willing to cross, again. He truly believes that he overstepped and she got hurt because of it. We all know that's not what happened, but Tim has a knack for blaming himself.

"Oh my God. I am the third wheel."

This is said in such a hilarious manner, but I struggle to laugh because I genuinely hurt for Lucy. I feel like pre-DOD Lucy never would have fallen into this role. It just wouldn't have happened.

But, much as she wanted to jump right back into "normal" life, she has been changed by her experiences. They're a part of her, now, and sometimes they sneak up on her when she least expects it.

Lucy has been clinging so hard to "safe" that she's forgetting how to live.

"Chen. Grey need another team on the DEA op. You wanna put in some OT?"

Awww. He's inviting her to spend the evening with him. But, seriously, Grey needed a team, and Tim asked if she would join him. He didn't demand it. Progress!

"I mean, obviously I've been using Jackson and Sterling as a crutch. Together they kind of make the perfect boyfriend."

Tim's already rolling his eyes. He looks over, like, "Are you kidding me? because he already knows she's talking to noone.

"More importantly, they're safe-"

"Safe". That thing she wants. That thing she needs. She's just not ready to take the leap, quite yet.

Nyla and Angela tried throwing her to the wolves to get her moving, but that's not how Lucy works. Lucy needs time. She just didn't realize that in taking that time, she was encroaching on someone else's.

"Who are you talking to?" "Rachel."

You're talking to me!? Damn, and I forgot to respond. I'm so sorry.

Yes, I know it's fictional. But when you were born in the 80's and had a very popular name, you hear your name everywhere. That's why I started going by an abbreviation of my last names at age 9. I became SL (Yes, that's where Esselle came from).

"Hello?"

I'm dying. I don't think I can finish the meta because I am laughing so hard, I can barely breathe. Lucy, honey, you did not just answer the call and then say hello when he's a foot away.

"Hello."

And he said it back. Nope. Definitely can't breathe. Laughing too hard.

It makes it all the funnier that they say, "Hello" since they are both more of "hi" or "hey" people. It's so formal and that makes it all the funnier.

"Rachel is in a staff meeting, which means you are talking to no one."

In a move of synchronicity, they hang up at the same time. Love those touches, even if it's purely accidental because the script reads, "They both hang up" or something similar.

"Not no one. Me."

He's watching her, but she can't look up at him. Much as she is strong and confident in who she is, she's feeling vulnerable right now. The last time she went on a date it didn't end too well, and she's unsure of her instincts.

Nyla said she needed to be confident in her intuition... and she's not quite there, yet.

"I talk things out to process them, and I knew you wouldn't do it with me, so—" "Why would you even care what I think?"

He doesn't think his opinion holds weight beyond the badge. When he holds her fate in his hand, damn straight, his opinion matters. But beyond that? Why would she care what he thinks?

"The last time I gave you romantic advice, I pushed you towards Caleb and... you almost died."

Now he can barely look at her. The shame. The pain. He thought he was helping her blow of steam, and she ended up buried alive. He still blames himself.

He can't even look at her until he gets that last word out.

"That's, that's ridiculous."

Lucy shifts so she's fully facing Tim in the seat. Tim shakes her head, not believing her, still internalizing the guilt.

"There was no reason to expect anything. What happened- What happened wasn't your fault."

He finally looks to her, again, wanting so badly to believe her. Can she absolve him of his guilt? Find a way to forgive himself for something he never even did wrong?

He looks quickly away after their eyes meet.

"It wasn't mine, either."

Hell, no, it wasn't. No victim blaming here for psychotic assholes.

"Look, I wouldn't ask your advice if I didn't value your opinion."

Tim. Has. Value. Of course he does, but he's hearing it. It's good for him to hear it, and important that it's coming from Lucy. Because, much as he isn't ready to admit it, her opinion matters to him. So, it's nice to find out that's reciprocal.

He looks away, licking his lips as he tries to fight back the tears. He switches gears, fast.

"You can do better than Emmett."

Hell, yeah, she can! There's this guy (maybe you've heard of him) named Tim Bradford. And he's just about perfect for our girl. Well... not quite yet, but I really have a good feeling about him. You should send her his way.

"What? Why, why would you say that."

Because, girl, he's gonna marry you. (shoutout to my RoomFriends on that one!

"He's a firefighter for God's sake." "I know, he's hot!" "Okay, no. No. See, if you're gonna act all contrarian, I am done with this conversation." "I'm not being a contrarian." "You know, I-I think you're threatened by his hunkiness." "Hunkiness?" "Mmhmm." "That's not even a word."

Future Rachel has so. much. to. say. But, because we're in the past, I can't really talk too much about it. But, Tim and trying to get Lucy to admit his handsomeness is gonna be a running theme... just sayin'.

"Chen."

He comes around and the first thing he says is her name? Yes, it's Season 2. Yes, they're nowhere near that, but I can have my immature moment, right!?

"You okay?"

I don't know if there are two words combined like that he says more to her. Tim constantly needs to know that Lucy is okay.

And... that wraps it up. I think it's important that Lucy dates someone before she considers Tim, just as I'm glad Tim's not jumping right from divorce to Lucy, like Nolan did.

But I also think these episodes show a lot of growth between them, and I think Rachel helps with that. She becomes this common thread between them.

FAST FORWARD: And once she's gone, that closeness don't disappear. It's lasting. Tim and Lucy are on their journey of growing closer and closer.

I'll admit, the first two were really hard for me. Personal discomfort and whatnot. But, I'm glad I got through them, and I hope you enjoy.

Now, I gotta finish up my waiting in the parent pickup, wait anxiously to hear back about the car loan (yes, we're getting a car!), and check quotes from the 2 roofers thus far.

Thank you so much for reading! Can't wait to see you on the next.

[keef-a-corn]

Dat’s right, People, it’s time for ‘Keef watches TFP and you just get the notes!’

This is for season 1, episode 23: One Shall Fall

Please reblog or comment on this with your thoughts! I really want to know what your opinion of the episode was!

I write down the timestamps, but I watch Transformers Prime on Stan (an Australian streaming service) so they may be slightly off.

ALSO! I try my best to note points for every character, but tend to get a little caught up by Bee (although I think I do a pretty good job with the notes regardless) so do be warned.

Some of the notes for One Shall Fall was formed from an incredible fanfic I’ve read (I’ll link it at the bottom! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING IT IF YOU LOVE BEE.) so if you think I‘ve gone insane, and a little off track, you're probably right.

~~~~Transition~~~~

00:03 - does ‘One Shall Fall’ really started with ‘and it was written in the covenant of Primus’? It’s very jarring.

00:11 - perpetual: never ending or changing.

Culminate: reach a climax or point of highest development. [or: reach or be at the meridian.]

00:27 - why is this shot so pretty?

00:38 - The angle of the shot makes Optimus look like a child trying to hid behind a blanket.

00:42 - they were in sync.

00:54 - so why not mention it a little earlier?

01:13 - *throws to Optimus fans* FEAST!

01:34 - My dude has perfect timing.

01:43 - Knockout has a growth mindset.

01:57 - he must constantly be seeing the future then, huh?

~intro~

03:03 - It’s funny to see that every other post give so much more context and whoever uploaded this was just like ‘location, date and time, literally anything else? Nah.. who needs that!’ + Bee can’t even hide when in a alt form.

03:12 - amazing how he can see that far and from that angle.

03:25 - wow! It changed the text and everything!

03:26 - HE’S SO CUTE IMMA DIE

03:31 - he looks so insecure ;0;

03:37 - Best interaction to ever exist.

03:40 - as was established by the statement ‘Prime’s don’t party’.

03:44 - foreshadowing.

03:49 - the way he specifically looks at Arcee like she’s made that claim before.

03:53 - Foreshadowing. + Optimus shaking his hips slightly while Ratchet talks about him is highly amusing.

04:09 - a little bicth. Got it.

04:11 - Yes. That’s true. No one said he was. Ratchet said Optimus used to be like Jack.

04:16 - My captions said ‘Meg’ instead of MECH

04:25 - Soundwave, the sneaky lil’ con.

04:38 - Not the captions saying ‘Cap’ instead of ‘Cat’

04:30 - No need for the description. They all know what Soundwave looks like.

04:36 - Raf looks like their child.

04:40 - what is the purpose of the ‘Top Secret’ part?

04:51 - Knockout bowing and Soundwave, in the same shot? It must be Christmas.

04:55 - ‘What Soundwave said—‘ that’s just cruel wording.

05:11 - she is so short

05:15 - this short was brought to you by ✨fade transition✨

05:16 - Collecting all the scenery shots.

05:35 - Damn, Prime getting tense.

06:05 - the shot makes them look like they’re throwing lightsabers.

07:09 - ain’t Megatron lucky that was Bee.

07:12 - how does he have such bad aim?

07:24 - let us be clear.. that is horrifying.

07:42 - that looked cool

07:53 - Someone was a theatre kid.

08:00 - folly: lack of good sense

08:02 - Fruition: the realization or fulfilment of a plan or project. + A stressed Optimus as a walking Thesaurus.

08:13 - I think Megatron needs to reevaluate who is true enemy is. Optimus or Bumblebee? Because I think, at this moment, he’s got more reason to want Bee dead than Optimus.

08:21 - O0O

08:23 - She’s calling out to get a response from him, but it also looks like she’s just stating who it is.

08:32 - Megatron admits he was trying to kill Bee but failed. How the frag do you fail like that then try to seem so smug? Although ‘and’ implies that he did inflict harm onto Bumblebee. Honestly, wouldn’t even be surprised if this episode was secretly going to have plot B involve Bumblebee actually having gotten hurt, but it was scrapped.

08:35 - that rattling sound was a very good choice.

08:37 - WHY NOT THOUGH?? What is the harm in letting Bee try to kill Megatron? + that’s the way a dog acts when you’re trying to stop them from barking.

08:44 - Bee was still fighting against Bulkhead, how could he not have gotten free? Granted, there isn’t much experience to go off with how strong Bee is when he’s angry, but it would be a safe assumption that Bulkhead’s weak grip on Bee’s shoulder’s would’ve been ineffective in restraining him.

08:47 - Doesn’t Optimus say if someone’s been hurt?

08:57 - no, why did they give Bumblebee the same personality as my dogs? He forgot to be angry for a second, before turning around

08:59 - Arcee looks like a mother.

09:00 - As Arcee pushes Bee to turn around, you can see that he’s eyes go back to normal and he’s looking all innocent.

09:01 - but then he quickly arches his eyes rows. His angry, but he’s not gonna murder anyone.

09:02 - then she puts her hand on his back and right before they fade out, he’s leaning forward, most likely to check Raf. (It happens too quickly for any screenshots)

09:39 - why would Bee have come up from beside Arcee?

09:41 - ‘into’ implies that it’s in a seperate room.

09:46 - How did they do that so quickly?

10:08 - Oh cheez… Ratchet, you needed that-

10:09 - as soon as Ratchet started freaking out is when Bee expressed being upset.

10:10 - to note is that Bee curled up his hand, which is what Optimus does whenever he’s not totally calm.

10:17 - Was about to point out that Ratchet just called Raf weak, until I realised that it’s what Megatron was doing. Megatron deemed Bumblebee the weakest of the autobots, which is why he attacked him, but wasn’t bothered by Bee not having suffered because he still harmed someone weaker therefore still fulfilling the prophecy.

10:46 - heavily animated Megatron.

10:55 - his eyes do be purple… and lined up correctly.

11:20 - they’ve become aware.

11:27 - I’m embarrassed to say I thought that was a transformer at first.

11:35 - I mean.. maybe??

11:39 - How would June intend to stabilise him if she doesn’t know the severity of it.

11:56 - this would be a more effective speak if we haven’t seen her act super recklessly in honour of Tailgate and Cliff.

12:01 - AIN’T THAT RICH! + Seriously though, whatever he had said was probably a threat and he punched a wall, expressing emotions when they become overwhelming is a way to manage emotions and keep them in check. It was better he yell and do repairable damage than suppress it and let it build up over time until it becomes too overwhelming and he hurts someone.

12:37 - Ya know, Ratchet could’ve used that free time to check on Bee. May have given him a hint to work out what they could do to help Raf, or, at least, have kept both of them occupied for a bit.

12:39 - damn.. not the Cybertronian Pride.

12:46 - because he didn’t actually need to. As much as they’re taking care of the children, outside of surface level health (like getting cuts/scratches), the health of the children is not the bots’ responsibilities.

12:48 - Optimus said two lines and totally obliterated Arcee’s trash calming down speech.

12:51 - Ratchet acting all calm while Bee’s at the back having a breakdown so intense that he needs to squat.

13:07 - one of the best deliveries ever.

13:13 - For all purposes Optimus could be talking about literally any other thing Megatron has chosen to do. However, I chose to believe that he’s specifically talking about going after Bumblebee./hj

13:22 - Thesaurus Prime.

13:34 - woo!

13:54 - His willing to spare those willing to be spared.

14:03 - I think there’s a volcano.

14:05 - heh, it farted

14:10 - translation: I dreamt about that!

14:46 - the way he said ‘Soundwave’ more relaxed and twinge of boredom is hilarious.

15:11 - How does she not understand that he is saying the doctors cannot help him?!

15:15 - …………..

If that's true, then why wouldn't he have suspected that it wasn't energon when Bee was showing no signs of being affected by an energon blast.

15:23 - I refuse to believe that Bee wouldn’t have been affected by the dark Energon too. There is no way that Megatron would have a type of energon and use it to fight the Autobots if it does not hurt them. Megatron would have had no reason to believe that Bumblebee was hurt if he knew that dark Energon had no effect on bots. The plot hole that is Bee not being affected by the energon could’ve been avoided had Bee pulled over, let Raf out, then Megatron attack, completely missing Bee, but hitting Raf.

15:49 - GOT ‘EMMM

15:52 -it’s the intro

16:17 -that’s a metaphor for Optimus fighting Megatron.

16:18 - that looks so dumb.

16:50 - Megatron’s trying to get into Optimus’s head.

16:56 - wise words, Prime. + If I had a dollar for every time a bot didn’t fall victim to the decepticon trick, I’d have two dollars. It’s not a lot and shockingly so.

17:04 - Because Optimus isn’t exactly winning, Raf is dying.

17:07 - Mmm but like how isn’t Bee’s energon tainted? Don’t they have energon to spare?

17:08 - He looked worried until he looked at Ratchet. Bee’s emotional restraint comes from Ratchet in this episode.

17:55 - I’M GONNA CRY, THAT’S THE CUTEST SOUND.

19:33 -that’s what ya gotta leave your monologue for after the stab.

19:41 - she’s moving so much.

19:43 - Bee’s oblivious to the conversation and I love that.

19:46 - Ratchet’s heavily animated too.

20:05 - he broke the sword, tf dude??

20:07 - Didn’t even realise that he stabbed Optimus with apart of the sword.

21:20 - the prophecy shot!

———————

So that was One Shall Fall.

It’s a good episode, don’t get me wrong, but that plot hole in the B plot is annoying and makes no sense. If normal energon hurts a bot, dark energon would too. As I said, they should’ve had Raf already out of the car, then Megatron misses Bumblebee, but hits Raf. Instead he hit Bumblebee directly. No way could the energon have gone directly to Raf and not have effected Bee. (This is the fox I mentioned: Not The Only One by Princess Loveless)

As for the A plot, it certainly carries the episode and is a lot more action packed. Towards the end it became more seperate to the B plot, but contrasts a fair bit, so they feel like two different episodes, rather than just the one with a distinct A and B plot.

Honestly I dunno if I’d watch it in a select binge. In a general binge? Absolutely!