#this show is so good... there's not a ton of whump... but there is a little!

[chiisana-sukima]

nine people i want to get to know better

Thank you for the tag, @slutsons-blog! Starting a new post because I'm autistic and therefore mostly only care about the "Current Obsession" question, and want to ramble excessively as usual in that one.

Last song: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team: Pokemon Square because I'm currently playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon with my daughter. Otherwise I honestly couldn't tell you. Whatever was on in my car.

Fave color: Purple

Currently watching: Star Trek Discovery

Last movie: Knives Out

Sweet/spicy/savory: Sweet, tart, salty

Relationship: married x 27 years

Last thing I googled: the word "dependent", for spelling assistance. which is a good thing because I spelled it "dependant".

Current Obsession: it's been spn since 2016. Truly we are the Hotel California of media franchises. I did recently play Disco Elysium twice in a row in quick succession, and I follow the DE tag. I can't recommend the game highly enough.... but I can feel my Special Interest-level obsession with it fading already. Spn has never faded even a tiny bit and I wonder if it ever will.

@slutsons-blog I feel after reading that you're watching spn for the first time, that I did you a bit of a disservice with my Sam takes to you before in that I mostly talked about Sam's evolution as a character as the show goes on and very little about him from the first five seasons.

Gotta be honest and tell you that although I liked both brothers all along, I was a Dean girl until the end of s6/beginning of s7, when the balance of who gets whumped the most started shifting and my subconscious suddenly decided to switch allegiances. It's not that I liked Dean any less; my id just loves a sopping wet pathetic kitten of a man who has been sexually abused, and Sam got suddenly way more kitteny and pathetic after the Cage. So I don't actually have a ton of takes on "what to love about Sam in the early seasons". I do love early seasons Sam too--she is my beautiful baby princess--but my early seasons takes are a lot more inchoate.

I count myself lucky about my id's sudden defection though, because I think we have limited control of who our blorbos are, and having Dean as a blorbo is a tough row to hoe as the later seasons go along. You know how you noticed that in s6, Dean suddenly gets a lot more assholey without apparent reason? Unfortunately he never gets better again, and in fact keeps getting worse and worse as the years go by, until by the last seasons he is openly far more abusive to their joint child(-in-an-adult body) than John was to him and Sam. It's a realistic picture of what can happen when trauma keeps piling up on people, but it's also honestly pretty distressing, especially if he's your blorbo.

If one is in it for the ship, there's some good destiel content in the later seasons, but if you're in it for Dean, you're left either 1) dealing with the fact he's got extremely significant interpersonal problems that he never gets much of anywhere on solving and that negatively impact his chosen family in profound ways, or 2) pretending he's the same character he was in s1 and Sam is the same Sam from s1, only more boring, and Dean is just trying to put up with him because he was brainwashed by John (or ig 3- something in the middle between those two. But that seldom seems to happen in practice for whatever reason). These two versions of the show are poorly compatible, and that's how the Sam girls and the Dean girls end up in isolated silos. A few people manage to live in both, but not many.

Anyway, I feel like without the context of how Sam and Dean change in the mid to late seasons, the two fics I recc'd as Sam character studies are going to seem insanely Dean-critical, so if you haven't read them yet, you might want to wait until s10. In the meantime, the general recs are fun reads and hopefully do a good job of showcasing both characters earlier on.

Tagging (but I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn't specify there's no pressure to respond, since I almost always fail at responding to tag games myself): @adihildilid @aliusfrater @quietwingsinthesky @sammygender @ardentpoop

@peanutbutterandbananasandwichs @schizosamwincester @normalbrothershow @jellybracelet.

[convenientalias]

Do you have a wuxia rec list? I really enjoyed mysterious lotus casebook from your posts on it where it was just relaxing to watch. I was planning to watch Meet you at the blossom next, but not sure what to watch after.

Sure, but tbh I haven't actually watched that many wuxia! Also if you finished Mysterious Lotus Casebook you're technically ahead of me there bc I never watched the last six episodes. I'm just really bad at finishing things sometimes lols. But I do love that show and maybe this will be what finally makes me finish it!

Anyway here is a quick rec list:

-Nirvana in Fire: If you've never watched Nirvana in Fire (have you? I can't remember) I'm contractually obligated to rec Nirvana in Fire. It's more political intrigue than jianghu adventures so it may not be as relaxing to watch idk. Nevertheless it does top my wuxia recs list bc it has the best plot and some of my favorite characters. and it is also very funny. IF WHAT YOU LIKED FROM MLC WAS: the whump of a guy with an incurable poison in his body or the identity porn of a guy who used to be kind of famous re-encountering ppl he knew a while back but now pretending to be someone else. then Nirvana in Fire is a perfect watch for both of those things.

-Ancient Detective: If you like a group of people just wandering around solving mysteries in the jianghu, this show is more purely that than MLC. It has a fair amount of whump and bromance but it's also largely a case-per-maybe-three-episodes show. However, sometimes that's what I want.

-The Flame's Daughter: This is a drama with a bunch of inter-sect war and intrigue. There's also a big love polygon going on and imo the winning side is the most boring. At its worst, the main romance had me going "whyyy" but at its best, there is some really good whump, intrigue, murder, and general jianghu travel and shenanigans. However, out of the list thus far I would say it is the least similar to MLC (if only bc of a focus on m/f romance).

-Handsome Siblings (2020): This is a show about twins separated due to some Nefarious Schemes and then raised by villains to Murder Each Other without knowing their siblings. The level of goofy jianghu shenanigans and whump is absolutely through the roof. Like every few episodes you meet some new villain who's like "Hi my name is Black Spider and I will tie you up and poison you". It is all a bit silly.

Tbh that's about it from me for "this is definitely wuxia" recs but I would like to add one more "this is not wuxia but it is adjacent and in 2023 it was my most similar to MLC watch" rec, which is:

-A League of Nobleman: It's just a historical mystery show set in the capital, with a heaping helping of political intrigue and revenge quest. Similar to MLC, there are mysteries investigated every few episodes, and each is tied into a larger scheme at work. Meanwhile our protagonist is seeking justice for his father, unjustly accused of treason many years ago, and having a (b)romance with at least three different guys. It's not wuxia, there's no real martial arts going on and not a ton of jianghu travel, but as far as MLC comp titles go, it's not bad.

Anyway I'm glad you enjoyed Mysterious Lotus Casebook! I really need to finish watching it lol. And I didn't mention Meet You at the Blossom bc you said you already intended to watch it but yeah I think that show's a lot of fun, it's rather sappy and whumpy and comedic and I enjoyed it a lot.

[kats-kradle]

ahhh hello! i'm the one who commented on your er fanfic (absolutely loved it, by the way.) and it's so relieving to see more people join the fandom,.,

who's your favorite so far?

boy oh boy you’ve won a rant about ER! Buckle in it’s gonna be a ride. I’ve seen 8 full episodes but my thoughts are Many.

First off thank you so much for your kind words about my fic! I really wasn’t expecting anyone to read it and definitely not the same day I posted it lol since the show is like 30 years old. So it was a nice surprise thank you!

To make a short answer very long, I had heard about the show when my mom told me about the episode where Carter and Lucy get stabbed. It was related to the conversation in some way but I remembered that because. Well. Whump. Fast forward many years I’m now watching the Librarians tv show. It’s funny. It’s good. I love Noah Wyle. He’s a great actor. I wonder if he’s been in anything else so I search him on tumblr and lo and behold the stabbing episode!! I am elated and it is a strange full circle moment. I then search on YouTube for all the Carter whump clips I can find. Then I’m watching all the Carter clips I can find. Then I’m watching other clips and I want to write for this show but I figure I should have some basic information so I find the first season and I get sucked in and—

Carter. It’s Carter. He’s such a puppy of a man. I love how the hospital staff have collectively adopted him. Noah Wyle is an amazing actor my favorite thing about him is how fast he can go from a comedic beat to a serious one. He’s got RANGE man.

Anyways now you get to hear my thoughts on the other characters too!

I like Greene a lot. He set the tone well in the first episode (see what I did there ahaha) and he gives fatherly vibes. He’s just a nice guy. I love his friendship with Ross too it’s really believable that they are friends. I don’t like Greene’s wife she acts like she’s trying to seduce him is every scene instead of actually dealing with their problems?? Ma’am that’s your husband stop batting your eyelashes and biting your lip your making me uncomfortable. Honestly I skip through most of their scenes because I am Uncomfortable.

I liked Ross at first. I found his immaturity endearing up until when he went to Carol’s house to try and win her back. I was cheering when she chased him down to chew him out. Now I just think he’s a bit of a jerk because he won’t leave Carol alone.

Carol is my girl. She needs to decide what she wants but she’s my girl. It was really a bold move for the show to start off with such a heavy topic such as a suicide attempt of a close friend, but they handled it really well. I love her and wish the best for her, but girl make up your mind about which guy you want to be smooching.

Benton isn’t as bad as I thought he was from the clips I saw. He’s a bit brusk but he really does seem to care about Carter and his experience as a student. He seems like a good teacher and he does give out praise and comfort when required. He’s also a good student too. He seems to take his own critiques gracefully, even if it’s clear they get to him. I loved the part where Sarah was like “you’re just mad because you want to sleep with me” and he was like “not only do I NOT want to sleep with you, the thought has NEVER crossed my mind” what a mic drop moment.

I feel bad for Lewis and the situation with her sister but more importantly girl get away from that psychologist can you not see how pompous he is??? I don’t like that man. Bad man. Go away man.

I like how the show feels so real. Ofc I know there’s a ton of medical inaccuracies, but the interactions between the cast members feel real and it really elevates the show to another level. I think so far they’re doing a good job of handling sensitive issues too like suicide attempts, rape, racism, etc. I’m probably not gonna watch the whole thing but for now I’m hooked and scheming other fics to write.

ANYWAY who’s your favorite character? What are your thoughts on the show? I already know all the major spoilers so don’t worry about trying to keep it unspoiled for me

[picnokinesis]

HI!!! sorry if this is out of the blue but I just read "disarmed" and OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!! I am going insane over it and I needed you to know!!!! I am really into blood and gore especially when it comes to thoschei (I would read about them destroying each other over and over again in any way really, especially in fucked up ways where they almost kill each other and kinda enjoy it), but somehow it's really difficult to find a good fic that is ACTUALLY that descriptive and visceral, and it's especially harder to find one that has no smut (I don't really like smut so it was amazing to find a fic that fits all my criteria). I was hooked from the first chapter and oh my god I don't usually read ffs and when I do I usually skip the ones with more than two chapters but I literally got recommended this one on here after I asked for specific recs and after reading the first chapter I was like oh my god this is insane and went through it all at once I even had dinner eating with my phone in my hand reading with eyes wide open 😭😭 aaaaaa. Also I am a sucker for spydoc with religious undertones and I always yap about wanting more fics that explore that so those lines here and there where the doctor is described as a god in the master's eyes were a really nice surprise (I am obsessed with them). And the doctor-laika parallels !!!!!!! insane !!!!!!!! And on top of this I LOVE temporal loops so what more could I want?????? this was a beautiful read and I'm gonna think about it for a while ....thank you for this...wow

Oh my days HI HELLO this is SO lovely AHH thank you so so much!!!!

Okay first off - real talk, I feel your pain EXACTLY. I'm a firm believer in people writing whatever they want, however I am sex-repulsed, and so genuinely just can't read smut. Thus, with any fandom I'm in, there's always a ton of fics that just are not for me. But on the other hand, I love whump, blood and gore - especially the sort you can get with spydoc, where the violence is intimacy and the intimacy is violence. But, as you said, it's really hard to find content in any context that explores darker adult themes, but also doesn't go into sexual territories too. I think the most obvious example of this is like, horror movies? So many horror movies have sex in them rip

BUT YEAH SO LIKE...if you're looking for that sort of fic, you have absolutely come to the right person oh my days, like that's PRECISELY my brand lmao. I am so honoured and utterly delighted that 1) someone recced by fics to you 2) you enjoyed disarmed this much like ahh!! Also, the fact that you read it whilst eating dinner is sending me, you're a brave soul hahaha, but ahhhhh <3 <3 <3 BUT YEAH it's about them being entangled in each other and hating it, about them trying to cut these threads tying them together and only ending up knotting themselves up tighter. The religious undertones thing gets me so much as well though, because it's like - the Master thinks that the timeless child stuff makes the Doctor like a god, even though it doesn't, it just makes her a child that was exploited, but HE sees her that way and it's really fun to play with that. I definitely used the line 'irreverent reverence' in a fic somewhere once, regarding how the Master looks at the Doctor, and that's the exact vibe. I think Disarmed in particular is my most rancid fic, mostly because I gave myself permission to go ham with it. It was a story that had been sitting in the back of my brain for years, and so actually making it happen was such a cool process - even though, at times, I lowkey hated it haha. Disarmed is like a feral cat that scratches your arm raw when you try and hold it hahah

Okay but if you want more fics, I can dig some up for you. I guess it depends on what you want? Unfortunately, the best example of "extremely visceral gore but no sex" spydoc that I can think of is not on ao3 anymore, and I made the mistake of not downloading it, but it's by river_of_words on ao3 and if it ever shows up again, I believe it's called 'the unusual hungers of theta and koschei' - and it is extremely rancid but also gorgeously written, and horrifying. That is easily the goriest one. There was also another one that weirdpug wrote for whumptober one year but that's also gone. However! I can rec you a few more that range from gory to heavy whump to general whump:

Fics by other people:

the art of dying by lupescx (where the Master keeps getting killed and the Doctor keeps reviving him)

my greatest escape is my biggest mistake by BlueLillyBlue (ft bloody swordfight between the Doctor and the Master)

what's life like bleeding on the floor? (currently on anon but this one only posted yesterday and it's FABULOUS)

Blood In The Waters by Val_Creative (the Master finds the Doctor dead in a rather horrific way)

As a rule: you should read everything by SleepyMaddy and empty_of_dust just in general because they both write fantastic spydoc. They don't really write gore as such, but they do write these two trying to destroy each other quite often, and definitely write blood and whump on occasion haha. To narrow down their whumpiest fics, off the top of my head you should check out:

i'm all yours (but you're all mine) - (ft the Doctor psychically torturing the Master)

swimming through mercury - (ft the Master having a pretty gnarly arm injury whilst fighting off the Cyberium)

these eyes are made of winter - (this is more psychic whump? It's excellent - divisioned!Doctor vs the Master)

it makes me who i am (i burned it all but i'm doing fine) - (again, psychic injury, but there is blood!)

and without you (is how i disappear) - (the Doctor threatens to cut up her and the Master's shared timeline)

And then, this one is more of a character study for the Master, but it's fantastic - the gardener by riptheh - and involves the Master doing a lot of murder, however it's not that explicit in terms of blood and stuff.

Fics by me:

Outside of Disarmed, by two goriest fics are definitely:

and i find you all unwoven - (aka the heart surgery one)

i'm the paper cut that kills you - (aka another timeloop one!)

There's also scalpel (the Doctor rescues the Master from black market surgeons, and is grumpy about it the whole time) which isn't gory as such but it does match the rancid vibes of Disarmed.

don't go (you're half of me now) - (ft the Doctor and the Master dying together because they mutually murdered each other)

your ex-lover remains dead (i'll kill who you hate) - not gory, but the Master and the Doctor do psychic surgery on each other whilst holding off their regenerations? I don't think this one ended up being that visceral at all, compared to Disarmed, but I do describe the psychic surgery like brain surgery, if that's of interest.

Translation Notes - not gory, but it does focus, again, on a psychic injury which I use a lot of visceral imagery to describe. Fundamentally though this one is about linguistics haha

And then there's also my zombie au but if you're not one for multi-chapters as a rule, and if you're not into AUs then this probably isn't the one for you, but I thought it'd mention it anyway! It's got a lot of violence and blood but actually this one is really more about trauma and virology than anything else lmao (but it is also 100% about the relationship between the Doctor and the Master, so...)

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head but hope this keeps you busy for a while! :D But thank you so much for this ask, this was SO lovely!! And definitely let me know if you find any other non-sexual bloodthirsty spydoc fics, or have any gore/whump related thoughts with regards to these two!!

[balrogballs]

Ik you said before but I’m interested to know what other fandoms you were in?

Hahaha so I wrote fic for these but I wasn’t “in a fandom” for anything except one of these, as in I wasn’t on fandom Tumblr or Twitter or anything like that, just wrote for them… defo a couple of other things but these were the main ones 😅

NBC Hannibal: I mentioned I had a Tumblr for like 6-7 months in my mid teens—it was for this one, I don’t think I was particularly popular and I didn’t write for it but I did make some good friends and we’re on each other’s socials etc to this day… I was very obsessed with the show and Mads Mikkelsen in general… this was the only “fan community” I was in. If I remember right, I made those flower crowns with antlers for a bit

Naruto: longest running, I wrote a bunch of stuff for this one between, I think 13 and 19? I was never involved in a community, just posted on FF net and later, Ao3 (same for all the below fandoms as well)… these profiles have been nuked though! I shipped Kakashi and Obito, and did a ton of modern AU oneshots lmao 🤪

Chronicles of Narnia: I wrote only one fic for this and it involved Shasta and Aravis from Horse and His Boy (yeah, that one 🥲) just saying “fuck Archenland” and going to travel the world with the horses because courtly society in The Good Place was very bigoted towards their relationship… listen, I was 16.

Anne of Green Gables: I was just very into Gilbert Blythe whump?

Fullmetal Alchemist: I was obsessed with Scar, obviously. I had him and Roy Mustang hatefucking to kingdom come.

Harry Potter: I was never that into Harry Potter because I was really scared of Dumbledore as a child, however, I had a brief yet intense phase a few years ago where I got really into Remus/Sirius… not Marauders era R/S as I think is currently the hot choice, but them being incredibly depressed and ridiculously horny in Sirius’ mansion during OOTP and wrote a few things along those lines 😇

[shiveringgroovy]

coming off anon to feed you more headcanon asks

you answered an ask about social medias but heres for the real good stuff

fandom headcanons? who watches what, who reads, who is blissfully unaware of the community they're surrounded by, etc

jesus christ i'm going insane for this one. started this in april uhm hi chat i'm alive again (october)

ATSUSHI

doesn't participate in fandom spaces tbh

but he's into some old-school games

don't ask me why i think this but he's an emulator guy

DAZAI

HOMESTUCK. HE WAS IN THE HOMESTUCK FANDOM NO I DO NOT TAKE CRITIQUE

crazy into it too. keyboard warrior about it. ranpo was there

bless his heart

YOSANO

cult classic films !!

really into the craft, kill bill, maybe the scream franchise ? also perchance saw but not after the third movie

doesn't participate in online fandom spaces because she has better media literacy than everyone else

RANPO

homestuck and hetalia

need i say more

KYOUKA

saw because yosano got her into it. (her favorite is saw 3 because yuri)

and sanrio. ik it's a common headcanon but i think it fits !!!

loves a lot horror films/franchises but saw, the exorcist, and alien are her favs

also i think she likes cheesy shoujo romance anime!!!

HIGUCHI

you can't tell me she's not a himefujoshi on ao3 and tumblr

into tons of animes and shows

writes insane comments on ao3 too. many an author has questioned her sanity

has gotten into proship discourse before

she also like vocaloid, her favorite is megurine luka and has visceral reactions when you call teto a vocaloid

CHUUYA

be fr he would not give a shit about fandoms

dazai tried to get him into some of the stuff he liked as a teen but it never worked

he watched breaking bad though i guess

GIN

they loveee the scream franchise

has a ghostface mask they post pictures with from time to time

does not play at ALL about stu/billy

TACHIHARA

also into scream

really likes video games as well!! legend of zelda and the elder scrolls WHOA WHO SAID THAT

LOUISA

she's a fujoshi. draws yaoi on her plans

only really into fluffy stuff

tumblr girlie for SURE. hides her account like drugs even though it's just fluffy bl manga and art

NIKOLAI

he's a horror fiend and lurks online for content because duh

watches heavy gore/body horror films like it's instagram reels

i think he tries to keep his digital footprint clean for obvious reasons but if he sees a take so bad he'll tell op to die brutally

he's totally that guy to say "this is MILDDD" to the people he's watching american psycho with. he's an ass about his preferences sorry

SIGMA

they have better things to do ???

TERUKO

idk how to explain it but she's really into nana, tomie, uzumaki, and other darker/grittier manga/anime

and yuri/gl. she doesn't play about her toxic screwed up yuri

she seems like a whump fan. fucking up that dead dove with her hunting dog teeth

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s6 episode 22 "biogenesis" thoughts

season finale time!!! 

i haven’t watched an episode in a week to avoid having to finish the season, but i have started working on my favorite moments list so i would be better prepared. and here we are!

mulder thinks that life began somewhere that isn’t earth… because of some metallic stuff… well. let’s investigate!

i hope we get some answers on his crankiness. but i’m expecting a ton of plot and little character development in this and the next one. but i can hope to be proved wrong! even if i don’t think we’ll ever beat the s2 finale. sighs… how good we had it.

(post-episode thoughts: i need answers. i need krycek's head mounted on the wall the way people display their ten point bucks. i need justice for skinner and to place both of the agents in a big cozy bed where they can have a sleepover.

this episode was actually pretty good! i'm a bit cynical when it comes to mytharc stuff because it is usually just TOO MUCH going on at once, but this one gave me lots to ponder. i love mulder whump and angry protective scully, so!! i was pleased. but also mad af at Certain Characters. i almost went right ahead and watched the next episode despite my system of rules, but it is a THREE-PARTER, and that is going to take me at least a week to get through ON TOP of still having to post my s6 favorite moments😭so i will just be stuck Suffering over here in cliffhanger land for the foreseeable future!)

anyway. back to the beginning!

ah. we open on the earth. i expect a monologue. oh! it’s scully this time!! i’m so used to mulder monologues on the nature of reality, this took me by surprise

scully is gonna tell us about single-celled life. from the sea. maybe that’s why she feels a kinship with the ocean. and then multicellular life comes next.

for a split second there, i felt like i was watching a nature documentary narrated in scully’s soothing voice. to be honest, i didn’t hate the experience. 

440 million years ago… mass extinction. no oceans. then plants. then bugs. WHAT? ANOTHER mass extinction after that? come on!! it was just getting good!

AND IT KEPT HAPPENING?? can you tell i’m not a science girly?reptiles showed up and then got killed off AGAIN? then birds and dinosaurs. and again. mass extinction.

okay, well i knew about the dinosaur one. give me some credit.

humans emerged 100,000 years ago. and this is the stuff i know. 

look at all of these very 90’s visuals. i feel like i’m in a bill nye episode.

“rising to a world population of over five billion people” well! it is still above five billion people. just… a lot more than that these days. 

ahh... i can just hear it. “you’re my one in eight billion, scully” (accompanied by a light forehead kiss)

she says we are all related to that one singular cell. which i don’t want to think about. but no one knows where that first cell came from. 

“is there a plan, a purpose, or a reason to our existence?” girl, you’re catholic! but i suppose even catholics who have a party line with all the answers to those big questions still muse on the nature of reality. especially if they are scientists and also named scully.

i don’t want to think about a 6th extinction… not of humans or all the birdies… and jaguars… no. we shall simply have to not die.

ah. now we have transitioned into the plot rather than musings on the meaning of life. men are shouting in swahili as something washes ashore. it is… a rock looking thingy.

intro time!!!!!! you can’t help but dance to such a spooky tune!! i still get nostalgic for watching season 1 last may sometimes! 

no special words on the intro this time… hmm! i thought we were due for some.

on the ivory coast, we see that krycek will be in this episode thanks to the opening credits. but other stuff is happening, too. the metal thing is here!!

it is taken to a university for studying. where a man (later revealed to be named dr. merkmallen) carefully unwraps another one!!! the two pieces look like they’ll fit together, but when he holds them next to each other, they merge into one and shoot across the room!

this guy’s office looks so cool. OH DAMN! the metal piece cut into his bible!!! a revelation indeed. and now it’s spinning???? and getting faster!!! he wraps it back up. 

ohhh, it cut into genesis as this fellow calls for an international operator… how… prophetic. 

three days later, the gentleman arrives at the american university in washington, which sounds like a fake name for a school, but it is a real place. he is looking for professor sandoz from the bio department. 

no! this other dude has monkeys!!! what is he doing with them??

sandoz is the monkey guy. and this other fellow is dr. merkmallen. sandoz welcomes him in and asks to see this mysterious object. merkmallen was almost detained for having it

ohhh, the monkeys do NOT like this mystery object. they are screaming terribly. i really do not like monkeys, bro. the pieces have merged together. 

oh shoot! when he asks merkmallen if he’s had any luck reading it, he realizes that is not dr. sandoz!! nooooo!!! leave him alone!!!!!!!

someone else hears the angry monkeys, and enters the room to find the metal piece missing. WHERE DID YOU TAKE MERKMALLEN? NOOOO!! he is dead on the floor!!!!!!!!!! come on, we just met the guy and you take him from us already?!

bow tie dude who found them dead seems freaked tf out

(we later learn that bow tie dude is the REAL dr. sandoz, and the other guy who dr. merkmallen was speaking to was named dr. barnes. i have to insert this note here because it makes sense when you're watching the show visually and can see the different characters, but typing this up can lead to some confusion. so. bow tie guy = sandoz. monkey guy = barnes. got it? okay)

hey! it’s skinner! polishing his glasses. saying he thought of someone, given the nature of merkmallen’s views. “i believe agent mulder is familiar with his work”

mulder is pondering. he looks good today. he usually does, but just thought i’d voice all the thoughts running through my head. scully reads his file- his body is missing. 

mulder says the word “panspermia”, which he says is a fringe theory.

OH! scully finishes his sentence. LMAO, yeah. she knows this concept: the idea that life began on another planet. mulder is watching her intently. 

skinner asks if it’s plausible, and she says it’s a theory. lots of scientific theories are plausible.

skinner hands her a rubbing of the mystery artifact that allegedly held the meaning of human existence. and dr. sandoz had made a similar claim in a SCIENCE (pointed mulder tone and look at scully) journal

but they can’t ask dr. sandoz anything… he’s missing!

scully thinks this is a police matter at best, but mulder says oh come on, skinner wants us on it!

this elevator is very crowded. yeah. force them into close proximity. hahaha!

oh… when he opens the paper, he can’t hear anything or anybody. scully thinks he didn’t want to listen to her say that she doesn’t understand his relentless pursuit of the truth, but he clarifies he couldn’t hear it!

OHHHH... scully with her arm up against the elevator….. yeah <3

“look, after all you’ve done, after all you’ve uncovered- a conspiracy of men doing human experiments, men who are all now dead- you exposed their secrets. i mean, you’ve won. what more could you possibly hope to do or to find?” “my sister”

oh, i GASPED! because at the end of the day, that’s really what it’s about. a boy looking for his little sister. sometimes we forget that with all the mothmen and slowburn stuff. but… man. my heart.

they head off to the university. where something is afoot, as shown by the shadow crossing the scene and someone snatching up crime scene evidence.

the police say they have a probable weapon with blood and prints, but no word of dr. sandoz.

dr. barnes, the head of the department, says there is plenty of speculation on what went down. “apart from his laughable ideas, my colleague was capable of almost anything to advance his rather questionable reputation” <- LMAO... so they did not like this guy or talk with him at faculty department meetings. got it.

he was speaking of a mystery artifact- scully shows him the picture and asks if he means this thing. and again, mulder hears a bunch of weird sounds!! scully watches as he leaves. and dr. barnes says that these men who claim life comes from elsewhere are embarrassments.

mulder’s trying to splash his face with water in a sad water fountain. aww. poor guy. scully asks him what it is. OH. she touches his forehead to look for a fever………… oh. see, that’s always gonna get me. he thinks it’s the thing making him feel terrible! 

she opens it and he hears it again. despite it just being a piece of paper.

scully is conducting some sort of meeting. “you’re late!” “i’m sorry, i thought this was my office” <- this is why you are being punished with evil ear noises

she called chuck to get an explanation. “you know me, this is right up my twisted little alley”, he says

chuck seems vaguely familiar to me, but not deeply. i'm sorry 💔 i guess i'm a fake fan

oh! the writing is a fake! it’s phonetic navajo, but it makes no sense in a literal interpretation. is it code?

maybe it’s a magic square? thankfully they explain what that means- it allegedly comes from god and is used for trapping and storing potential power. maybe that is what someone would want mulder to think it is.

change those projector slides. do not let the light hurt your eyes, scully! 

so barnes wrote an article exposing sandoz as a fraud. he made a career exposing science and religious fraud. but that was him at the beginning with the monkeys, right? and sandoz came in later with the bow tie? and then left?

why produce a fraud with navajo writing in africa? again! a great question! but when he puts the picture of the artifact on the projector, poor mulder's head hurts!!! 

OH!! she goes up to him and gently says “hey” and he groans….she leads him outside. so gently. could this pain have to do with what happened to him at the end of s2? where he was brought back from the dead with the navajo healing? and maybe somehow seeing the writing triggers something?

scully says she will schedule him imaging testing immediately- if nothing else, he should be home in bed! but he refuses, saying he knows what is causing this! he thinks barnes killed merkmallen! 

“well, i hope you’re not going to suggest that we arrest him on that rather baseless assumption” <- LMAO, she has time to be a little pain even when he is suffering

“no i’m not. not until after i show you what he did with the body” <-oooo, it’s getting juicy….

they go to visit sandoz’s place, where the landlord does not want to deal with them. DO NOT WAVE YOUR HANDS AT SCULLY, MR. LANDLORD! they’re searching about…. mulder finds some luggage from new mexico. 

OUR FRIEND ALBERT HOSTEEN!! pictured on the wall with sandoz!!! mulder says that maybe sandoz was using him to read the symbols… but scully says “or write them” <- now, albert is a good man!! do not accuse him of being involved in forgery!

i guess he could have asked albert to translate some stuff and then not explain what it was for... so he wouldn't have been in on the knowledge he was being used for forgery... but still. i think he would be deeply insulted at the thought of his culture being used to make forgeries of mysterious artifacts.

EUGH!! scully asks him to make good on his body prediction, and when mulder opens the trash, he does indeed find just this! it’s merkmallen!!! or just his head. NASTY!!!!!

the agents go to skinner, saying they think that sandoz is innocent and framed- just afraid for his life because of what he knows and has.

skinner asks him if it’s this (passes over the rubbing) and mulder is struggling….. “scully could you please tell…. what your medical exam found in the lab report?” he asks with his eyes closed. 

body parts were missing. all of which would show radiation. and they did find some radiation! cosmic galactic radiation! mulder insisted that they test for it!!!

OH SHOOT!!! he is getting worse… and says to skinner that he knows there’s someone else on the case that he’s not telling them about!!! “i hear it… in my head” “mulder, let’s go” 

ohhhh... she says he’s losing it!!! but he claims skinner is spying on them!! i do not think skinner would do this. scully banishes him home, saying she will look for the artifacts. and he doesn’t really put up a fight, which i know means he has something planned…

but shoot!! skinner closes his door…. and there was a camera in his closet!!! he pulls out the tape and hands it to KRYCEK!!!! NOOOO!!! because he has the kill switch!!!!!!! for his weird disease!!! nooo!!!

oh, skinner…. this is so sad. and how did mulder hear in his head that skinner had someone else on the case just from the rubbing of a piece of metal?!

krycek leaves after skinner and him stare at each other for a bit. 

scully heads down to a new mexico hospital, where she finds someone being rushed to another room. is that albert? there’s a translation of the writing on the artifact! IT’S A VERSE FROM GENESIS!! the same one that the artifact ran into at the start of the episode!!!

and it was mr. hosteen being wheeled out!! the nurse says she cannot tell her what is going on, but scully flashes the badge and says she knows him, and she confesses that he has cancer and is dying. :(

mulder is wearing casual clothes- one sleeve rolled to his elbow, one pulled down to his wrist, a bold fashion choice- in the university where barnes teaches. boy is doing some recon, i guess. he sneaks in somewhere he shouldn’t be…..

ah! he’s in his office!!! and barnes comes in…. realizes that his things have been touched…. and rushes back outside…. he goes to find the monkeys. where mulder was hiding!!! 

but mulder hears the stuff again!!!! and he keeps hearing it as he walks down the hall. bro is going to collapse in this hallway full of undergraduates. he tries to go up the stairs. but it isn’t working well. he’s crawling on his hands and knees and he falls!!!!! what is going on!!

meanwhile, scully is waiting for albert, who is rolled back into his room. but someone was watching him!!! and she chases after him!!! was that barnes?? where did he go??? the music is so creepy…..

she finds him!!!! it’s not barnes!!! it’s sandoz!!! she says she needs answers from him!!!

mulder is still on the ground, writhing in pain!! FUCKING KRYCEK FINDS HIM!!!! and just walks away!!!!! WHAT DOES HE KNOW?!?!

where is he going…….. he goes to barnes and says they are destined to be great friends, handing him the tape. why do they know each other....

back in new mexico, sandoz says that albert was the only translator that didn’t dismiss him- he recognized the importance of the artifact. but it was only one fragment. until merkmallen found two more. 

oh! he thinks the bible came from the aliens!! so would that make navajo the original language of the aliens??

scully is very skeptical. the newest section of writing on the artifact seemed to be just random letters, and albert was working on translating it when his health got bad. and it starts spinning in front of them!!!

phone call time. where is mulder??? he says he’s at home, resting. was he with marita? a woman answers...

scully is not pleased with his idea that aliens put us here. WHERE IS HE?? he says it explains everything. “mulder, i will not accept that. it’s just not possible” “well, then you go ahead and prove me wrong, scully” (cranky sick man hangs up)

HE’S WITH DIANA?!?!? I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH THIS!!!! 

okay. so it is his apartment, which now has a bed. a very cozy looking bed, may i add. i'm happy for him in that regard. but in every other way, this situation is deeply unfortunate.

and diana is in his apartment. she’s calling someone, saying mulder is in distress, and she’s not leaving until she finds out. AND SHE TAKES HER SHIRT OFF???

GIRL, HE’S DYING!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!

she was talking to CSM?!?

holy hell... is diana going to assault him........? what tf is going on.

scully narrates again… the big bang. an act of violence. who did this?

no! albert is being taken to a funeral pyre!! she looks at the stars above. 

wait! he’s not dead. it’s the healing tent! sandoz asks if she wants to come, but scully doesn’t think it’s right for her to join, as she doesn’t share their faith. this is very respectful of her.

skinner calls!!! mulder is in serious condition!!! she has to get here now!!! but she told skinner that sandoz is in new mexico!!! will skinner have to tell krycek?? how quick can you get to DC from new mexico?!

somehow she gets back, but he's not telling her what is going on. skinner calls her dana and grabs her hand….. (omfg... has he ever called her dana before?!) and he says he doesn't know what is going on, but he knew she would want to be here.

mulder’s walking around in a padded room!!! mumbling!!! screaming!!!! and diana is here, too!! 

he’s too violent for them to run more tests!!! he should be in a coma!! scully says to let her try talking to him!! he wouldn't be a danger to her! OH........ oh.... :( she thinks he wouldn't hurt her.... oh. my heart.

“can we speak in the hall?” “about what?” <- OH! she does NOT have time for diana’s tricks… but skinner says her name… and opens the door. and mulder looks up at the camera watching him. 

OHHH what is going on here…??? skinner says that scully has evidence the case is a fraud, and she turns and says “i never sent you that report” <- OH!!!!!!

diana is asking if she can help him- she asks scully to tell her whatever she knows... she says she found him in the stairwell and he could barely speak.

OH!!!! she tells diana she’s a liar and goes to leave. skinner grabs her wrist and she says “you’re both liars”

OMFGGGGGGGGGG….. treacherous skinner CONFIRMED…. but it isn't his fault!!! she escapes from his grip. and he stares at diana.

back in new mexico, more chanting is taking place around albert. sandoz is there.

scully runs into the office, looking for bugs. and she finds a camera in the smoke alarm!!!! but just as she does so, the phone rings. is she going to answer….?

sandoz calls her from new mexico…. she says it’s not a secure line. why did he call right then?! he says the stuff on the artifact, when translated, reads as coordinates for the human genome!! 

but the horses are stirring out in new mexico by sandoz… and there is a gunshot…. and krycek picks up the phone!!! the rat bastard!!!! so did skinner tell him where sandoz was?? or was krycek listening in on the line?!

36 hours later. back on the ivory coast. scully is here!!! trying to find more pieces of the artifact!!! she is led to one….. and she reached in the sand…… and it’s huge!!!!!

it’s some sort of spaceship?? space cathedral?!? huh???? vaguely churchy music plays as the camera pans out...

to be continued?????

girl…. WHAT is going on!!!

skinner is being manipulated by krycek. sure. that’s fair enough. and diana is using mulder for CSM. but to what end!!! did she drug him?? why did she take off her shirt??? can they cure skinner and get him to stop doing all of this?? how long have they been getting spied on??? did the syndicate get to watch their whole baseball flirting session through that smoke alarm camera? is skinner attempting to plot his own resistance? it seems like he is just going along with the whole thing! and that is deeply unlike him!!

UGH!!! how will mulder get better??? was he okay in the time that scully was away??? she must have felt so horrible flying to another continent while he was so sick...

i might break my own rules and watch the next episode tomorrow, and THEN edit my notes. and i’m usually SO principled. i think i’ve only done it once or twice in the entire time i’ve run this blog. but i NEED to know. because like. this diana issue must resolve itself. and what about albert!!!! and fucking krycek!!!

ahhhh!!!!!

oh, FUCK ME!!! i clicked onto the next episode, and i saw that this is a THREE-PARTER, not a mere two-parter!!! so i basically cannot do this plan of watching them all at once!!! because i would get super backlogged when it comes to editing my notes!!! and i still have to do my favorite moments list from s6!! i simply cannot bite off more than i can chew!!! FUCK!

AHHHHH!!! well. i guess that means i’ll get these notes up tomorrow and then start on the favorite moments list. and not have answers. sadly kicks a rock….

so, i have many questions, and i anticipate that few of them will be answered. why is krycek working with dr. barnes? are they trying to expose the x files as fraud? because that is what dr. barnes does- exposes people for fraud? but then why would dr. barnes kill dr. merkmallen? unless dr. barnes is part of the syndicate... there's a pretty big difference between writing a scathing academic article calling bullshit on your coworker's alien theories and actually committing murder. so he must know of the importance of the artifact but is trying to conceal it... because that is the only explanation as to why he would kill somebody over it. and krycek said they were destined to be great friends... and i can't tell if that implies if they knew each other already...

so clearly dr. barnes is lying, because he knew dr. merkmallen was coming, and he asked if the writing had been translated yet. so he knows that the thing is powerful. okay. it's not super clear how his interests correspond with that of the syndicate, but maybe he's an alien?

so. the artifact. the bible MAYBE comes from space, and the aliens use the navajo language. sure. why not?

if it means we get to see our friend albert again, that makes me happy. but he isn't doing very well. it's almost like the writing on the artifact made him sick... because sandoz said that he fell ill when she started to translate it. maybe whatever is happening to him is also happening to mulder? and mulder is in the early stages of whatever it is? and so if scully can find a cure, maybe she can help them both?

or maybe it's something totally different, because mulder was screaming and having his brain go wild, whereas albert was said to have cancer. maybe one progresses into the other?

i am so troubled by skinner working with diana and krycek and CSM. obviously he doesn't want to be doing this! but is he just going along because he knows if he doesn't, he'll die? but he made that promise on his death bed to do better and help the agents more!! is he somehow sabotaging them? did he call her "dana" to tip her off to the treachery? he knows scully isn't stupid...

and scully knew right away that this wasn't a matter for the FBI, but once again mulder got taken in and fully believed the promises of investigating aliens with no real evidence to support it... only that it was coming from skinner, one of the few people he should be able to trust, and the terrible aching desire to find his sister that keeps him up at night and makes him so easy to manipulate...

fucking diana. i thought she was gone!! i should have known better. what is she doing with him? he goes from hearing things to having crazy brain activity when she conveniently finds him? did he really call her and ask for help? i don't buy the story for a second! and she calls CSM and says she won't leave until she knows what is going on... and then she takes her SHIRT off... is she trying to manipulate him? or did she straight up assault him? he's dying!! he doesn't want to see your boobs!!

scully immediately clocking that diana and skinner were lying to her face... yeah. this is immensely satisfying to me.

well. now i have to edit my other notes before i can watch what happens next. and as i type this up on a sunday, i imagine that it will be tuesday at the earliest before i get to watch part two. and then goodness only knows when i will be able to watch part three! this is deeply unfair! but alas. i stick by my routine.

diana and krycek... you freaks deserve each other... although i still think krycek/spender is far juicier. even if spender might be dead. sorry. i will speak my truth.

[azure-firecracker]

The X-Files Season 3 Review (First-Time Watcher)

Wahoo, we’re back! And just in time before I head off to school. I don’t know if it was the pre-college nerves or just the consistency of this season, but I blazed through this. It’s either the fastest I’ve ever binged a season of this length or close to it (barring times where I’ve been sick).

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure where the show was going to go following the high drama of season 2. I said in my Season 2 Review that the season resembled an alien soap opera, a tone I felt suited the show extremely well. But the events of Season 2 were so incredibly high-stakes that I wasn’t sure the show could keep up the high-drama tone. I mean, you can’t get much more high stakes than the Season 2 abduction arc.

As it turned out, the show’s solution was yet another tonal switch. While Season 1 (read my review of that here) felt like a riff on campy sci-fi stories, and Season 2 felt like a dark alien soap opera, Season 3 adopted the tone of a fast-paced film-noir action style movie. Our agents were in fights! They were running after villains! They were firing at bad guys!They were jumping onto trains! It was very high-stakes and exciting, but in an adrenaline-rush sort of way rather than mimicking the desperate, melancholic vibes of Season 2.

While my personal subjective tastes do tend more towards the high-drama vibe of Season 2, I think the action-movie energy suited the show (and the writers) well. The episodes in this season were consistently good at grabbing my attention and keeping it. Due to the fast pace and the constant reveal of new information, I felt like I was always running right alongside Mulder and Scully, racing to find new information and uncover each twist and turn. And if I were to describe this season in one word, it would be consistent. The show writers clearly perfected this fast-paced-film-noir vibe and found a comfortable rhythm creating it. This season had the longest unbroken stretch of fantastic episodes yet, and VERY few misses. More on that in the individual episode reviews.

I think this season’s new energy served Scully well as a character. I said in my Season 1 review that I was irritated with Mulder always taking the lead in investigations, and I felt like it was his mental journey that we were watching, since he was the believer and always right. While that wasn’t my main problem with Season 2, the Mulder-sole-protagonist feeling was still somewhat present. It makes sense: Mulder, as the more angsty and openly emotional of the two, is well-suited to being the main character of a cosmic drama. But Scully, with her sharp observation skills and calm demeanor under pressure, is well-suited to being the main character of a film-noir-action case. I was happy to see her taking the lead several times this season, both in solving cases, but also in becoming more assertive in going after information and figuring out a ton of clues. Her intelligence was showcased so well across so many episodes! I even felt like she got more camera time this season - a testament to the fact that she and Mulder are becoming equals in the eyes of the show. This was the first season where I 100% felt like they were equals (and the first season where Scully outnumbers Mulder in rescues! Yahoo!)

My whump-addicted heart did miss all the saving each other, but at the same time, I’m glad we got a break after Season 2. (A WHOLE SEASON WITHOUT SCULLY GETTING KIDNAPPED! I REJOICED!)

I don’t have many gripes about this season. It was just very consistently high-quality and consistent with itself, though I will say that its consistency made me more irritated with less stellar episodes than I would have been in Season 1 or Season 2. This is probably reflected in my episode ratings. I also think that, while it made sense to do a tonal shift, I could have used just a few more emotional moments in the vein of Season 2. While the stakes aren’t quite so dire this season, it’s still MSR and raw moments between them are part of what keep me coming back to the show. I could have used a little more of that.

My biggest complaint is that I felt like the mytharc episodes got a lot worse after Blessing Way/Paper Clip. I loved the Season 2 mytharc episodes because they directly tied into Mulder and Scully’s story, and the emotional stakes were just as high as the physical ones. Season 3 mytharc episodes had a little too much infodumping and not as much emotional weight as I would have liked. We got SO MANY scenes of Cancer Man or someone else from that group of old white men that I don’t care about talking on the phone and being ominous. A little bit is okay, but at a certain point, I ceased to care.

But overall I felt that this season was VERY strong and VERY binge-able (look no further on your next sick day!) Especially the middle-end of the season I felt was pretty damn near flawless.

Individual episode reviews under the cut:)

The Blessing Way/Paper Clip: A BANGER of a season opener. Easily the best opener the show has done so far. This is what I mean when I talk about balancing infodumping with emotional stakes. We learned so much about the government’s shady behavior and its history, but its ties to Mulder’s father and Scully’s abduction kept it emotionally relevant enough for me to stay invested. Mulder’s borderline-afterlife stint was giving hardcore protagonist energy in a bit of a clichéd way, but it’s okay because at least the Blessing Way ritual is real and they didn’t just make it up (I wouldn’t put it past them). Skinner came through this episode - I know he’s a bit morally ambiguous but I like him! And God, Melissa😭 This death hits so hard because it’s deeply unnecessary, and that’s what makes it so tragic. The scene at the end with Mulder and Scully in the hospital was absolutely beautiful. 10/10

D.P.O: This is what I mean when I say this season made me less forgiving of mediocrity than I would have been back in Season 1. This would have been a totally fine Season 1 episode, but here, especially coming off of Blessing Way/Paper Clip, it was just kind of meh. Not much to say about anything here (except Jack Black! Cool!) 4/10

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose: Hooray another comedic episode! But also deeply emotionally poignant, and walking the line very well. Peter Boyle was a phenomenal guest star, bringing a mix of humor and genuine grief that was absolutely perfect. Also my comments about Scully being more of a leader this season? This is what I meant! She got so much camera time! She was the one bonding with their important magic person! She solved the case based off of A THREAD OF FABRIC LIKE SOME AGATHA CHRISTIE DETECTIVE! She shot the killer and saved Mulder! What an icon she is. Obviously 10/10

The List: I know this is a well-liked one, but for me, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it. I watch this show for supernatural angst and escapism, not to watch prisoners get unfairly treated and beaten up in a way that feels a little too real. Plus Scully was acting lowkey OOC this episode. I just didn’t enjoy watching prisoners get horrifically beaten up, and even though I’m not supposed to enjoy it and the episode is making a point, what can I say? I didn’t enjoy it. Objectively this is probably an 8/10 but closer to a 5.5/10 for me subjectively.

2Shy: Another one where I have to admit my own biases. I did not appreciate the way this episode treated fat people, as a chubby girl myself who can get a tad insecure when watching shows from this era. The episode kept trying to pretend all of these not-even-that-fat women were ugly when they were not (not that being fatter is bad, but it just goes to show how insane 90s body standards were). It just…was not a good time for me, even though it’s objectively a decent monster of the week, I guess. I propose this alternate ending: the fat women being targeted all actually have fulfilling lives, do not need this creep for anything, they all band together and get to beat him to a pulp. Army of beautiful fat women saves the day. Anyway, objectively probably a 6/10, subjectively at more of a 2/10

The Walk: What happened in this episode? I think I fell asleep. But also it was yet again unnecessarily dark and realistic! This is a 2/10

Oubliette: I have mixed feelings on this one. I know what it was trying to do, but for the first time in terms of Mulder trauma episodes, I think it missed the mark a bit. Scully was acting weirdly mean for half of it, and I wish that they’d developed Mulder’s relationship with Lucy a little more. The ending scenes were fantastic, but would have been even more fantastic with the proper buildup. I’ll give this one a 7/10

Nisei/731: And so begins this season’s phenomenal streak! This was an excellent two-parter! While not as emotional as the opening episodes, it was a well-done, high-stakes, fast-paced action story with lots of twists and turns. I loved the ambiguity around what was aliens vs. the government, those super tense scenes between Scully and X (that’s what we call him, right?), Mulder jumping onto the train, Scully getting the exit code from the tape (another noir detective moment!), and of course, X getting Mulder out of that train, adding to the moral complexity of his character. I did feel that Nisei was mostly 731 setup and couldn’t stand as well on its own (a theme of this season), but I still adored this. 9.5/10

Revelations: An episode I don’t see brought up a lot, but I adored! I loved the role reversal of sorts between Scully and Mulder, the episode really allowing Scully to take center stage and be the hero, exploring her relationship with life and religion and her job and her science…all wonderful! Also her relationship with Kevin was so sweet, and her getting the answer off the recycling bin…once again, noir detective moment! And the ending confession scene? Poetry. This was a 10/10 for me!

War of the Coprophages: Comedyyyy! Lmao this was hysterical from start to finish. Some of the scientist scenes were a little boring, but every scene Scully was in was comedic gold. She’s so funny, and we don’t talk about it enough. Her at home is such a mood. Also some truly iconic lines. “Her name is Bambi?” *said with barely concealed jealousy* and of course the iconic “this is no place for an entomologist.” Hilarious. 9.75/10

Syzygy: Apparently this isn’t very well-liked, but I found Mulder and Scully’s bickering to be hilarious. Every duo fights sometimes! And I appreciated the withering humor of this whole episode. Also I liked that the villains were two teenage girls. Given the way they were talking about the other girls in their class…did they even need supernatural involvement to be pure evil? 9/10

Grotesque: I am immediately filled with a deep need for more Mulder profiling. I loved how much it brought out his darkest instincts, and how obsessive he can get about it! What an interesting and phenomenal character exploration! And I really didn’t know if he was possessed or something! Wonderful suspense! And some nice MSR moments, too! This one opens the door to SO MANY fanfic possibilities. Honestly 10/10

Piper Maru/Apocrypha: This is where those problems with the mytharc episodes that I mentioned began to show up. I loved Piper Maru, and thought it was an intriguing setup with lots of suspense, but the payoff in Apocrypha was less fulfilling. Possessed Krycek was such an interesting idea, but we barely got any of him, and the climax of them going to the empty silo was very weak in my opinion. We also got WAY too many old white men on the phone scenes to keep my interest. On the bright side, I loved everything Scully did in this two-parter. Her speech to Skinner at the beginning, her childhood nostalgia, standing guard over Skinner when he’s been shot, and then fully taking down and SCREAMING at Melissa’s killer. We NEVER hear her yell like that - major props to Gillian Anderson. Anyway this was a mixed bag. I’ll give it an 8/10

As I write this, I’m realizing that this is just Scully’s season, isn’t it? As it should be after what they did to her in Season 2.

Pusher: Favorite episode of the season (tied with one other, anyway). I love a Sherlock/Moriarty cat and mouse dynamic, and this pulled me in just like a good old murder mystery novel. Modell is a terrifying villain, his roots in normalcy just as horrifying as his power, and the way Mulder just walks right into his game because he can’t refuse, even though he knows the extent of the danger - DAMN good writing. Plus the way Scully follows Mulder into that hospital without a second thought-her loyalty knows no bounds, and Modell knows that and it makes everything so much worse. And the climactic scenes in the hospital are some of the series’ best (probably the show’s best climax so far). Of course this is a 10/10

Teso Dos Bichos: And so ends the longest streak of greatness. Oh well! This episode was pretty boring, apart from me yelling at the powers that be to please keep the composers away from what I have dubbed the ethnic flute (you know, that one instrument they play every time they’re dealing with a non-White culture). Killer cats is kind of funny I guess? And I do appreciate murdering colonizers. I guess I’ll give this a 4/10

Hell Money: Once again, please take that flute away from them. They need to stop trying to make political episodes about non-White cultures. They’re not good at it. At least they used a real Chinese festival (I looked it up!) and all of the episode’s side characters were actually engaging. I thought Detective Chao’s speech about being American-born and not fitting in with American or Chinese culture was actually pretty interesting and poignant. A small detail, but I also appreciated the use of the lesser-known Cantonese rather than Mandarin (at least according to the subtitles). I’ll give this one a 6.5-7/10 for effort.

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space: My mom said this was her favorite episode and I can see why! Some of the show’s absolute best comedic moments (all of Blaine’s narration, and of course the phenomenal pie scene-which I saw in a compilation and mentally inserted into S1 for months until I was corrected). I will say I got a little too tripped up in the unreliable narrations and alien plot to 100% appreciate the comedy, but I guess that’s kind of the point. 9.5/10

Avatar: I don’t know what the general consensus is on this one, but I really enjoyed it. I think that we’ve now spent enough time with Skinner that it was time for a look into his life - and what a compelling look it was! Characters who close themselves off seemingly for the greater good but end up damaging what matters most are so fascinating, and I liked the moral ambiguity of his guardian spirit thing. My favorite scenes were the ones in the hospital with Sharon - some DELICIOUS parallels to One Breath that had me screaming at the television. 8.5/10

Quagmire: Okay, this was hilarious and poignant and so quintessentially X-Files. But why did the dog have to die? I loved Mulder being sort of desperate for there to be a horrific monster so he could catch it. But why did the dog have to die? The conversation on the rock was amazing and has so many implications for Mulder and Scully both as individuals and as a pair. But why did the dog have to die? Scully winking at the sheriff to get resources was hysterical. But why did the dog have to die? 9.5/10, especially for the 1000/10 conversation on the rock. But why did the dog have to die?

Wetwired: My one complaint about this is that the emotional climax took place so long before the end, and I think the scenes with Mulder and X could have been in the next episode. But GOD, the rest of this?! The ACTING?! The PARANOIA?! The TRAGEDY?! Everything Gillian Anderson did in this episode was perfect. Mulder’s quiet but profound pain when he goes to ID the body, and the way he abandons his quest for her sake in a heartbeat even though he thinks she’s already dead. The scene where Scully tears her room apart, and my God, she’s got SO MUCH trauma for this paranoia thing to tap into, and holy shit Gillian Anderson. The emotional climax. “He’s never trusted me.” “Scully, you are the only one I trust.” And what if I died? Right there? Tied with Pusher for season favorite. 10/10

Talitha Cumi: As a precursor to Herrenvolk, this is fine. As a season finale, it’s weak. Not much happens, most of it is setup, and it doesn’t feel epic. Yes, Anasazi is impossible to follow as a season finale, but this feels the least like a finale of all 3 finales so far. I think Wetwired (with a few tweaks) should have been the finale, and this along with Herrenvolk should have been the Season 4 opener. As a 2-parter with Herrenvolk, maybe an 8/10. As a season finale, 6/10.

That’s it for the season review! Once I go off to school, I’ll be posting much less frequently but still around, so please feel free to send asks, fic requests, etc. Keep an eye out for more meta, fanfic, live reactions, a master post of all my content, and a special post to celebrate 3 seasons (vote on that here) in the coming days:) Until then, the Truth is out there👀

[aceofwhump]

Hey ace just wondering if you've seen The Ark. I just got done with the first season and it has a good amount of whump. Surprisingly when I went to find gifs or a whump list there's like nothing on it which it weird cause I thought the whump was good. I have strong hopes for the next season

OOOOHHH!! Do you wanna know what I literally started watching this week??? THE ARK!!! My sister has been bugging me to check it out for so long. Honestly she sold me when she told me one of the main characters is Scottish and he has an illness he's keeping secret that will kill him eventually and he passes out from it. Immediately sold me. The problem was I haven't had the emotional capacity for a new show in ages. UNTIL THIS WEEK!! Friend!! I love it!!! It's so good and I love the whump and I looooove Brice. My sister was right lol. I'm currently on episode 10 of season 1.

But yes why is there like zero fandom for this lovely show!!!! There's only 7 or so fanfics on ao3 in total!! And I can't really find gifs of it let alone whump gifs. (shoutout to @ghostlyarchaeologist who has been making tons of Ark gifs and I've been spamming their blog lately and liking every set I can to reblog later when I have more time. You're doing the lord's work there friend. please never stop).

But, but, but!! Since I've started this show and fallen in love with it I have naturally become a tiny bit obsessed and I am in the process of making whump gifs of Brice. I've post a few of them already so please go look at the tag! And more will be coming. (this is a heads up notice for those of who want to watch but haven't and want to avoid spoilers. BLOCK THE TAG! THE GIFS I'M GONNA POST WILL BE SPOILER HEAVY).

I'm also make, at the very least, a whump list for James Brice (gee who is my favorite character? can't tell lol.) and maybe a short list of the big stuff for the others (Like Sharon, Angus, Lane, and Felix who I know so far have been whumped in season 1).

So anyways that's my very long winded way of saying I JUST FOUND THIS SHOW TOO AND I LOVE IT AND I'M SO SAD THERE'S SUCH LITTLE CONTENT FOR IT IN FANDOM SPACES!!!!!

[convenientalias]

I binge watched Study Group in three days! Just a lot of very fun action scenes and humor. Main thoughts:

-Any time Yoon Ga-min uses one of "uncle's forbidden techniques" it's just so badass and fun. But I need to see the full list! also possibly a training montage.

-I enjoyed the background music, very hype and energetic.

-The characters each had their own tragic backstory of sorts, as you do in a high school fighting drama. I do feel like I wanted a little more from some of them. Like what the fuck was up with Lee Joon and Anti? (I guess Anti's just a jerk now and maybe that's realistic but seriously!) And why can't we get more wholesome family scenes with Lee Ji-woo and Lee Hyun-woo? Maybe if there's a second season.

-I do NOT care about Pi Han-wool, I'm sorry. I know he's this big mastermind for why the school is full of delinquency and crime but honestly I would have preferred if it just naturally was a mess like that rather than one big bad engineering everything. And as a character, he doesn't have a ton of depth and only gets one real fight scene. So, I just... don't care about him. (And Ga-min has cooler fight scenes than that finale, for that matter.)

-As the show goes on, it gets a bit more focused on action and plot and less on humor, which is kind of a loss. I would guess this is also the case in the webtoon it's based on; action shows and webtoons both have this tendency. At least it keeps its snark and a sense of timing, even if by the end it tends to be more dramatic timing than comedic.

-I love Ga-min just making "please study with me" puppy eyes at people, especially when he's wearing glasses. HE'S SO POWERFUL.

-I feel like you expect Ga-min to be more pacifist early on bc of his love for studying, but actually, once you let him get into one good fight, he's really gung-ho about fighting from then on! He just needs a good reason. But as long as you touch his berserk button of "someone who likes to study is being bothered", it is pretty easy to goad him. The thing is, it really does have to be about studying for him. He doesn't really swoop in on random fights all around the school. But if he sees that someone has FLASH CARDS in their pocket and later finds out that they're in trouble with a gang, he will go and fight the whole gang for the sake of those flash cards. BECAUSE THEY SHOW THAT PERSON WANTS TO STUDY.

-I'm not sure how I'd rate this show in terms of whump. People are definitely getting beat up and bloody. But we're going by shonen manga rules here, where you can get beaten within an inch of your life and still be back at school the next day with mild bruising. LEE JOON GOT STABBED NEAR HIS FUCKING HEART. AND HE WALKS IT OFF. WHAT. It also feels fairly inconsistent whether you get the sense that people are actually hurt by getting punched etc or if they're just going to have a harder time winning the ensuing fight. There are some decent whumpy scenes, though, if you're fine with the fact that everyone gets beat up constantly and none of this will have lasting consequences.

Overall, this is the most fun I've had with an action focused kdrama since Bloodhounds! I'd definitely recommend :D

[zaxal]

Self-rec time! What are your favorite five fics that you've written and why? After replying to this ask, feel free to tag five other writers to spread the love. 💗

thanks for the tag @ripeteeth !!! i've been sitting on this for a few days because i have not had the fortitude to say nice things about myself or my writing without also being incredibly critical, but i think we're there today.

all of these are the ones that i remember being the most fun to write, the most fun to reread, and the ones i'm proudest of :}

Breaking But Not Yet Broken - Psych, Shassie, M, ~8.1k, 2012

After being held captive and hurt, Carlton's relationship with Shawn starts getting complicated.

this was my first ever whump fic, and it was so fun to write that i have simply never stopped writing whump since lol. like, yes, technically this is me projecting on lassie for 8k words, but it is also an exploration of the loneliness of healing after trauma (even when someone went through the same traumatic event as you!) and allowing yourself to Be vulnerable when you already feel that all your defensive layers have been forcibly removed from you.

both shawn and lassiter are characters with a ton of these defenses, and they try to default back to them or find comfort in them (with mixed amounts of success) but even when they aren't working (and they can recognize that they aren't working), they can't simply Stop their bullshit.

Mistakes We Never Made (Until Today) - Psych, Shassie, E, ~3.6k, 2015

Things pick up from where they started. His marriage is on its last legs, and Shawn Spencer comes waltzing back into his life.

so this is a post-canon fic where happily-ever-after fails, the canon relationships break up (and it IS the men's fault to be clear; juliet and marlowe have never done anything wrong in their lives--), and these two decide to use each other to self destruct.

and i love it kdsjfksd. look. i love fluffy shassie. i love romantic shassie. i love slow burn shassie. but they are both capable of being such unrepentant assholes, and writing them being their worst selves is so much fun. an extreme vibe of 'bitter exes but they just started dating.'

everything lost - Good Omens (TV), Aziraphale/Crowley, Gabriel/Aziraphale (One-Sided, Abusive), E, ~33k, 2023

For two-thousand years, Aziraphale was sexually harassed and assaulted by the Director of Heavenly Operations. Years after Aziraphale and Crowley break free from Heaven and Hell entirely, Gabriel shows up on Aziraphale's front step with no clothes, no memories, no divine powers, and an inexplicable, unshakeable attachment to Aziraphale. Old and new trauma alike plague Aziraphale as he struggles to get rid of Gabriel without bringing the wrath of Heaven down on him and Crowley both.

i saw the GOs2 trailer and lost my mind. this plot bunny sprung forth from my mind fully formed like athena. she was written and published before the season dropped because i felt in my heart that gabriel would get a face-turn and people would get weird about dark!gabriel fics, and because i wanted it to be irrefutable that i knew nothing about the season before writing.

which didn't need to be a thing i was worried about at all lol. but i had a trailer, a poster, a feather duster, and a dream, and i made it work.

aziraphale whump, my beloved. love using aziraphale's kindness, pragmatism, and manners to keep him locked in a deeply unpleasant situation that's slowly whittling away at his nerves and sanity.

i also really love putting crowley in an outsider position. aziraphale hasn't told him what happened; it's supposed to be over. when crowley wakes up and starts to help him, the presumption is that they'll get this settled and then never see gabriel again, so what point is there in bringing up old hurt? i love writing crowley and aziraphale as a Team, but they spent 6k years pretending they aren't, and i like thinking about the residual habits that they're gonna have to work to get rid of.

Ash and Blood - Psych, Shassie, E, ~61k, 2015

A string of identical murders leads Lassiter down a dark and treacherous path.

in 2012 @inouken asked me to write a lassie vampire fic and i emerged three years later with a novel. like a normal person!

this is really long lassie whump with some shawn whump thrown in for spice. it could count as case fic, if you're good with knowing who the killer is in the first 5 chapters.

because this is one of zax's first wordcount monstrosities, i had a lot more room to play around with characters. shawn and lassiter's relationship develops fast, but i had more room for them to become serious about each other instead of it being right away immediately (even tho those feelings were already there). i played around with some OCs and tested them against the main ship. my biggest regret is not doing more with gus and juliet, but the bits of them that are in here really lead towards the strong relationships they have with their respective partners and are v in character and i'm proud of them.

but OVERALL i really love this fic. i feel like there's a good balance to psych humor vs being in lassiter's head (when babygirl is naturally grim and grumpy when he's Not dealing with suddenly dying and becoming a vampire), relationship fluff vs people dying and figuring out how to fight back, and developing an understanding of the OCs i introduced (feds and santa barbara vampires) and how they fit into finding/taking care of The Killer.

Lambs To The Slaughter - Good Omens (Book/TV), Aziraphale/Crowley, Lucifer/Aziraphale, E, ~142k WIP, 2019 - Present

An angel and a demon dance along the knife's edge of destruction together in an eternal waltz. The demon who had been Aziraphale and the angel who would be Crowley answer to powerful forces that care not for the individual cogs in their celestial machines. This will be their undoing.

twirling my hair, so this is lambs, my reverse omens fic where aziraphale is the sheep demon azram and crowley is the star-spinner seraph corvai. it's my pride and joy and wouldn't exist without @transfemmbeatrice for brainstorming, obsessing with me for YEARS, writing large portions of the middle-end and end with me, and making corvai and azram Real with me.

i go into many AUs with the mindset that i want to push my faves off script. i want them to still be recognizable as themselves, but i wanna see just how far i can twist them around the core of Who They Are.

and i went into lambs with the idea that i wanted azram to be someone terrible but not irredeemable. the idea that he would be simply 'evil' and written off as such didn't appeal to me. i wanted to ask Why a character like aziraphale (a blended form of book and tv; this is why god uses they/them pronouns to set them apart from both) would become harsh, cruel, possessive, sadistic, beyond just Falling and just Being that way after. and how to balance that with the softer parts of who aziraphale is (as said earlier in the bit about everything lost: kind, despite everything, and so capable of loving both crowley, humanity, and earth to his own detriment).

corvai is, similar to aziraphale, a good angel. she is what a good angel should be. unlike aziraphale, corvai is a punk with authority issues and a lot of anger at heaven, at god, and at themself. trade in canon crowley's anxiety for constantly simmering anger and a lack of experience dealing with demons other than azram that means corvai lacks crowley's defensive layers of cool. he's very open and earnest, even when he knows it's a quick way to getting hurt.

i originally wanted there to be some question about whether corvai was secretly raphael but i added the tag to clarify later that they're not. azram will take his time learning this, because azram is an idiot even though corvai, unlike the rest of the seraphim, cannot heal, and raphael is, famously, the healer.

i could keep going but i'm going to cut it off there bc this post is long enough and our power blinked so i'm scared if it'll even post and if you read this far, congrats! i'm sorry!

tagging: @transfemmbeatrice @anethara @andithil @alivingsaint @christocentricqueer

[madokamagicaposting]

You read any fanfic on AO3?

There's lots of great ones, I like canon compliant original characters (until walpurgis is out) like:

Fargo, & Chicago both by Bavitz,

The girl who sucks(oc whump).

Or main cast crossovers like:

Hope's private secretary (there's 4!)(doctor who),

Homura breaks hero acadamia.

I would do more, but that would be so many and also (shy (anon))

I have read like 2 AO3 madoka magica fanfics until the end lol

A different path

Wish Box

They DO have oc's in them that show up sometimes and they're cool. Wish Box did tons of crossovers but like.... it's series I haven't watched lol

If you like canon complaint pmmm ocs maybe you'd like the comic I plan to make for MY pmmm ocs (I'll probably make it before I die)

What I like in fanfics is I guess reading it and thinking "Omg this character would TOTALLY do that". Wish Box and A different path don't do that for me though. Wish Box does make me laugh a lot and the drama in A different path is pretty good

As a fellow shy person going anon for asks, I understand you

[lisupandowntown]

Hey Lis! I was thinking about this question recently and it made me curious - which one of your OCs cry the most? The least? What's the attitude towards crying, towards being comforted/alone during it and what are the usual causes? @writing-whump

So this made me think. I haven't shown my characters crying a ton, and honestly, that's a mistake on me. Because most of them do cry, and I need to be better about showing it. I can't really rank them, but I have the "more likely to cry" and "less likely to cry"

Least Likely: Gabe and Adam, but for different reasons. Gabe because for the most part, things don't upset him that much. He's become more in touch with his emotions since dating Logan but even then, he's just not a cryer. Usually. There are exceptions of course, and we are going to see one in an upcoming arc.

Adam, because, well, Adam. He keeps most of his emotions locked up pretty tightly, showing only what he wants. It would take something pretty momentous to make him cry, and that's all I'm going to say about that for now.

Logan is not a big cryer. We've seen it in a couple of fics, but she usually uses logic and words to handle her emotions. Growing up, there were a lot of tears in her house because of her brother and she never wanted to give her parents more reasons to worry, so she really learned how to stifle her emotions. Not exactly healthy.

Middle Ground: Noa, Jeremiah, and Rory. Noa will cry over anger and frustration, less from being "upset". Jeremiah has become more of a cryer as he's grown more comfortable with himself - not just his sexuality, but his confidence in who he is and not feeling like he has to impress people all the time has made him generally accept his emotions too. He'll occasionally tear up over a patient, but only after the fact at home with Drew. And he gets teary thinking about how lucky he is to have found a partner in Drew - for so many reasons. Rory, for all his intensity and privacy, does cry. Not over everything, but he feels deeply, and that emotion spills over sometimes. But he's very good at hiding it when needed. Not surprisingly, he gets the most emotional over things having to do with Noa, but also when he's remembering his sister.

Biggest cryers: Drew and Avery. Avery wears his heart on his sleeve. He's not a faucet, but he's the one to cry at sappy movies and he's also the one to cry secretly at home when he's upset. He has not cried over Adam (yet) but he did definitely cry when he and his last boyfriend broke up. He can hide it when needed - like at work - but he's also used it to his advantage a couple of times, playing the "good, sensitive cop" to Rory's "bad cop".

Drew is a open about crying. Again, not an overly emotional faucet, but he cries with patients and when he's happy, and when he's just feeling silly in love with Jeremiah, and, yeah. He's open about it and doesn't mind showing his tears.

[wollemi-whump]

WIJ Day 19 - Favorite Blogs

I could put like fifty but that would take forever so here are ten of the whump blogs I really like!

@whumpdoyoumean (thank you for getting me to watch tv shows also i love your fics :))

@cakeinthevoid (I love your OCs very cool)

@seth-whumps (good posts nice to read)

@whumpninja (your writing is awesome)

@whump-is-love-whump-is-life (fun and nice variety of posts)

@whumpystuff (I just reblogged like twenty posts from them yesterday)

@aceofwhump (your gifmaking posts finally gave me enough confidence to start making gifs :) and yours are always nice to look at)

@cinnamonrollwhump (I've reblogged a ton of stuff from them)

@anguishmacgyver (very nice gifs and im so glad you watched SG-1)

@random-fandom-whump (ol reliable when it comes to whump gifs)

@whumpmasinjuly-archive

[protectingtulpas]

Hi! I hope you and your headmates are doing as okay as you can be. I'm looking for some advice. I'm in the process of creating my first tulpa, but I also often enjoy whump/angst when thinking about characters and I'd really like to avoid those characters becoming Actual Guys With Trauma Baked In. I'm also using Longbow's tulpamancy guide in which the host doesn't super actively decide any base traits for their tulpa, so I'm also a bit worried about my tulpa absorbing(?) this trauma somehow. Mainly I've been dealing with it by relating these characters to myself (to avoid attributing them to my tulpa), or just actively thinking of them as *characters* and trying to avoid anything like asking for their responses and such. Idk, is this even something I should be worried about? I have no personal problems with enjoying whump/angst, I just don't want that negatively impacting my tulpa. I think I may have gotten an emotional response from them a few days ago as well (though I'm not sure) and it was a feeling of anxiety/nervousness, so that's adding to my worry.

Oohh ok so this is actually a really good question, our host has had to think abt this problem tons of times. There're a few guidelines we try and follow and maybe they'll help you all too

- First off, DEFINITELY don't associate your tulpa with any trauma or angst from fictional characters. You're on the right track with avoiding looking for responses from whump characters, but tbh you don't hafta worry about this as much when you're just talking to your tulpa regularly since you're not making a fictive/basing them off a fictional character. As long as you're not connecting the two intentionally they'll probably look at it from a third-person perspective like most ppl. (ik this might sound hypocritical but I'll get into that)

- Introduce them to whump slowly once they start to feel more solid, maybe show them the more positive parts like hurt/comfort and the rehab and stuff. You're not gonna want to avoid things u like around them forever, and you never know, they might like it too! Positive associations are key 🔑

- Do things you enjoy with your tulpa and give them leads into figuring out what they might like! This is more generalized but they're less likely to associate themselves with bad shit early on if they have good things to lean on. Do different activities with em, not just angst related stuff

- I said positive associations are key and like that's 200% important when it comes to traits from characters. Like, okay, my fictive source is the dark reflection of my host Madeline, made up of repressed feelings and shit. That sounds like a super bad idea for a tulpa, right? But when Prism created me, their repressed desires were very centered on freedom, getting to do what we want without judgement from others, and having the guts to try new things in life. They focused on these things, positive associations and shit, and now I'm the embodiment of our drive to do things with our life, not give a shit about what anyone else thinks, and prioritize ourselves first.

- Lastly, yeah you're worrying too much. If your tulpa is anxious it might be because you're anxious. Focus less on avoiding bad things and more on giving them good feelings and associations. Like, you enjoy whump and it gives you good feelings, yeah? Let your tulpa see That while they're still developing and vulnerable, and stop focusing on possible trauma. (that being said, you don't needa worry abt all this as much once they're more solid and responding consistently. It's only rlly in the very early stages u needa watch what kind of energy/vibes you're putting in)

Yeah hope these help, ik this is kinda late but I'm sure things'll turn out alright - just support em and engage positively with em and it'll probably be ok

[evilwriter37]

From thedragonandhisboy: I have an evil whump question for you...

What is your favorite Hiccup whump for each season of both shows? Like season 1 of ROB, we loovve the lightning strike. Season 3? You know it's gotta be stryke out. I think season 4 is a rough choice...

Hm... I haven't watched RoB and DoB in a while. I do know When Lightning Strikes is an awesome episode for whump at the end. DoB, from what I can remember, Hiccup gets so beat up from fighting the Screaming Death that first time.

Time to refer to that handy list on my pinned post about episodes with Hiccup whump.

RTTE Season 1: There's not a ton of whump in season 1, but I like Hiccup getting knocked around a lot in Imperfect Harmony.

RTTE Season 2: Another not very whumpy season for Hiccup. The Zippleback Experience though? Very whumpy for him.

RTTE Season 3: Definitely Stryke Out. He was gassed and chained up and beaten around. It was so fun.

RTTE Season 4: Midnight Scrum for sure. I just... the chain around his neck...

RTTE Season 5: Sandbusted. That is such a good episode.

RTTE Season 6: King of Dragons part 2. That man went through it. And mm... how his hand twitched every time he got punched.