#unfortunately forgot about episode 8

[anliafail]

naomi thomas + outfits (S13)

[rockpaperscissuhs]

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH + BAND OF BROTHERS:

JOSEPH "JOE" RAMIREZ

Born October 5th, 1921, in Nebraska

Died April 8th, 1988 (age 66), in Martinez, California

Joe Ramirez enlisted in September 1942 (age 20) in San Francisco, CA, and he trained with Easy Company at Toccoa. Holding the rank of Private, he served in Normandy, Holland, and Bastogne. He was hospitalized in January 1945, and discharged in July 1945. After the war, he was married for many years, and had children and grandchildren. When he passed away he was buried with his wife, who had passed away 11 years earlier. Further information about him is scarce, but the brief character profile in the Band of Brothers series bible describes him as Mexican-American, and his personality as "sensitive and nervous."

Appears in Episodes 1, 3-8, and 10; portrayed by actor Rene L. Moreno

Sources below

A million thanks to @bleedingcoffee42 for tracking down this info for me!

[secriden]

Genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, I'm so grateful for the journey Fadel is forced to take in episode 9. In previous meta posts, I shared my thoughts on how precious discussions about 'love': for eg in Episode 4 was really a promise of safety (which tragically becomes unfounded) and Episode 5 was really an exploration of trust and trust betrayed -- but I think Episode 9 is finally when we are dealing with love in a head-on collision between Style's unflinching commitment to stay by Fadel's side and Fadel's anger and fear of loving; a conflict which utterly demolished the last of Fadel's crumbling walls.

Because, while Episode 8 did give us this beautifully tender moment of shared camaraderie -- one where they were both filled with wonder at witnessing the way love can overcome hurt and anger, the way forgiveness can make a pathway to happiness; and a moment they were both aware of and wordlessly acknowledged to each other -- it was, unfortunately, also almost immediately tainted by this:

You can see the resignation and cynicism in the way Fadel is holding himself. This wasn't a betrayal from Style, but it was a harsh reminder for Fadel that love can be deceptive and harmful no matter the guise. Even when it (love) isn't aimed at him, he winds up betrayed (deceived) and in danger, and literally hurting (it's the first time Fadel overtly shows how much pain his broken arm is causing him), and it makes sense why we see Fadel harden once again after this point.

And as frustrating as it was for us to watch, I'm also glad that the show made room for Fadel's retreat behind the last of his walls. Because at the core of Fadel's fear is the experience he’s had that love, and more importantly loving, has always brought him pain: the traumatic and sudden loss of his parents and the cruelty of a lover who (maybe? I have my suspicions...) chose not to stay with him were both lessons Fadel has deeply rooted in his heart; a fear which his desire and now love for Style is constantly at war with.

Which is why we see Fadel so firmly choosing resistance at this point. Everything about his demeanour and the harshness of his words depicts a cornered animal with his hackles raised in self-defence. You can almost see the bared teeth behind his words. He doubles down on the assurance that he will see this decision through, that Style is destined for death by his hands. It's interesting because in Episode 9, Fadel seems to have mostly given up on denying that he has any feelings for Style whenever it's brought up (partly because Style has already made it clear he doesn't believe Fadel when he does), but has instead decided to claim that those feelings aren't strong enough to save Style from Fadel's decision to kill him.

So I kind of love that the narrative immediately forces Fadel face the reality of his claims. For what better retribution could there be than Style dying by becoming tangled up in the very thing he was supposed to put Fadel in jail for? What could be more fitting then to see Style destroyed by the very aspect of Fadel's life that caused Style's betrayal?

And even more, I love that the writers chose to have Style become injured like this. Because of course the boyfriend of a hitman who is on the run from the law was going to be shot -- the trope practically demands it -- but it is just deliciously dramatic that Style gets injured precisely dressed in the clothes he'd picked out so he could "at least die in something that's actually my style" and in the place Fadel said Style would haunt only minutes prior. It forces Fadel to face not only the thought of losing Style, but puts front and centre what it means for Fadel to be the cause of that loss.

Because the thing is, Style only needs to be bait at all because Fadel forgot to bring the extra bullets for his gun; because he does not have a plan when Style asks what they should do. I love that all of Fadel's training, his fastidious and careful nature, is being so fundamentally compromised because his mind has been too preoccupied with his complicated feelings for Style. Fadel is being forced to face the consequences choosing to fight against his heart about Style and that directly puts both their lives in peril. And all Fadel can do is look at Style with a wordless plea to stay safe, even as he watches Style run directly towards danger.

And I love that Style's immediate instinct is to throw himself into the situation to help. There's no hesitation, no momentary pause where Style considers running away and leaving Fadel to handle the gunman alone. Style fully embodies the promise he made to stay by Fadel's side and moreover it shows that, on an instinctive level, Style trusts his life in Fadel's hands (even though we get verbal confirmation later in the episode that Style actually was only about 50% sure that Fadel wasn't actually going to kill him in the end!! That's! Fucking incredible!?!).

Which is also why I think Fadel's anger redirects itself once they get to the island. He's at the end of his rope, a mess of emotions, arm probably still aching and then he sees Kant -- the source of not only the very real threat of Fadel and Bison being caught by the police, but also the reason why Style became entangled with Fadel in the first place. Fadel cannot help but lash out at him despite it making no sense to deny Style an additional pair of helping hands and, moreover, the comfort of a true friend that he trusts and who cares about him. Fadel is not thinking clearly, but it's also a sign that the choices he is making are still fuelled more by his anger and hurt then his love.

And again, this makes a certain amount of sense. For Fadel, anger is a familiar friend; something almost comforting, that gives him a sense of control, because he understands what to do with his anger. He understands how to direct his rage in ways that are productive and help to keep the things he cares about safe.

Until, that is, Style puts his life on the line next to Kant's and suddenly the gun in his hand becomes a danger to someone he has already been forced to acknowledge (in the conversation with Bison) that he cannot kill. I adore Style so much for immediately bringing this point up, because it means that Fadel has to actually consider why he didn't just let Style die. If Style had bled out and died from the wound, it wouldn't have technically been Fadel's fault; Style was simply caught in the crossfire. It was, in some ways, a relatively guilt-free way of getting rid of Style. But everything in Fadel rebelled at the thought of letting Style die and Fadel is once again forced to confront why he held Style's hand so tightly in both of his own, why he told Bison to be gentle and careful with Style, why hearing Style yell in pain was agony to Fadel too.

And this beautiful moment of friendship also gives both us, the audience, and Fadel this incredible understanding of Style's loyalty. To Style, the thought of dying next to Kant is not something he resents, but something that merely makes him wistful. And for Fadel, this puts into perspective what it meant for Style to promise to stay by his side; the full weight of Style's devotion is laid out for him to witness, and it's enough to shake Fadel lose from the hold his anger has on him.

But even then, even now, there's still something holding Fadel back and I think it boils down to the fact that Fadel has gone down this path with someone else before, and found only betrayal at the end of the road. He has loved and thought he was loved in return; he was ready to give up his job (his security, his sense of control, his “family”) for someone who he thought he could hide his darkness from and live in happiness whilst keeping the lie between them. It's so interesting to me that Fadel was about to do the exact same thing to Style (try to get out of the hitman life without ever telling Style about it), without knowing that the possibility of it was never on the table for him.

Because Style is the very antithesis of Fadel's ex: not only does Style find out his secret well before love truly blossomed between them, Style has no fear in him (anymore) of it. This gesture is legitimately insane, but it also illustrates how thoroughly Style embraces this aspect of Fadel's past and character. Fadel has just learned a very tangible lesson about Style's loyalty to the people he cares about, so this gesture carries the weight of knowing this matters to Style, despite the carefree manner of his expression. Style gives Fadel the security of knowing that he is making his commitment to Fadel whilst also giving Fadel permission to stay the way he is. Style's love isn't for what Fadel could someday become, but for who he already is, and that's encompasses a level of acceptance that is as crazy as one would expect from a person who is in love with a hitman.

And it's just so great that they actually addressed the whole "dated me for a car" thing, because Style is right. Fadel is grasping at the last embers of his anger but all of it is directed at a Style who doesn't even exist anymore. I don't even think Style was avoiding telling Fadel about this; it just genuinely was a non-issue to Style because getting to know Fadel changed so much about Style's motivations (he said as much as early as episode three), that this wasn't even a factor that Style was aware needed to be addressed. But I also appreciate why Fadel insisted on coming back to this -- because I've said before that I think the biggest part of Fadel's hurt and betrayal comes from the thought that Style's interest in him was a lie, so this was important for Fadel to vocalise, especially because it took a certain amount of vulnerability to even admit that this bothered him that much. So as silly as I personally found this plot point to be, I'm glad the show actually decided to have our boys talk explicitly about it.

But my absolutely favourite part is that the final hurdle, the thing that ultimately makes Fadel completely let go of his anger and resentment is Style threatening to drown himself (or at least make his wound become infected). Partly because it was the exact kind of hilariously overdramatic gesture that feels fitting for Style, but mostly because this gesture opens the door for Fadel to finally (literally) take steps towards Style. Fadel's previous actions in this episode -- making sure Style was stitched up after he was shot and letting Kant live after he threatened to kill him --- were both incredibly significant, but largely leaves the relationship between them at a stalemate because for the most part Fadel is reacting to the circumstances whilst still maintaining the emotional distance between them. But what Style wants, ultimately, is not just to survive this very lethal roadtrip but to actually bring about a mending of their relationship and for Fadel show that it's what he wants too.

And I've seen some call this manipulative, but I think Style actually does understand Fadel well enough to be accurate in this claim. I've mentioned before that Style seems to have an almost instinctive understanding of when to push Fadel and when to back off (in this meta post on ep 5), and I think we're finally seeing a moment when Style could tell Fadel needed a little nudge. And the reality is that Style wasn't in any real danger, but it shows us just how much of Fadel's walls have been dismantled that Fadel's concern for Style overwrote his logic and reason.

And I just find it so lovely how it cumulates in Fadel kissing Style because it's an expression of his own desire. If Fadel had kissed Style at any point between the confrontation by the empty pool and before this moment, I think it would have, at least somewhat, felt like Fadel was giving into Style. But this moment is different because it's Fadel giving into himself, giving up on the war he's been waging against his own heart this entire time.

And this journey was so important, so necessary because it's the reason why Fadel is able to be so completely transformed by the end of episode 9. We see him become almost carefree in his affection, everything about it is open and honest and loud in a way Fadel has never been able to be before this point, and it was only possible -- only realistic from a narrative standpoint -- because the show took the time and made space in the story for Fadel to have to face the truth of his love for Style over and over again.

Because this vulnerability, this clear comfort he feels around Style, this ability to rest in Style's arms, was only possible because Fadel was forced to grapple with the full depth of his love for Style, and in so doing, found forgiveness and happiness and peace in letting go of the last of his fear of being in love — and in so doing, proved the truth of Styles words in episode 4: “It’s okay to (be in) love”.

[echotunes]

hey! What is Tatort Saarbrücken and is there English subtitles for it? (Also where can I watch it?)

hi anon! so. bear with me here,

First you must understand that Tatort ("Crime Scene") (Wikipedia) is the German cop show. A lot of German television is cop shows, but this is the one - it's been running every Sunday since 1970 (making it the longest-running German TV drama), in the prime time slot at 8:15pm on public-service broadcast organisation ARD's TV channel Das Erste, right after the evening news program Tagesschau. Murder-of-the-week style, every episode deals with a homicide case that the characters then investigate and eventually solve (and it's all very dramatic, as crime shows tend to be). So you understand Tatort is very mainstream. The mainstream. Your parents watch Tatort. Your grandparents watch Tatort. It's a Thing. (it's also obviously all copaganda we're aware of this)

(This makes the fact that it trends on Tumblr every year very funny to everyone involved. Because it's, y'know. Tatort. Half the reason people (including me) get into it is because they go "why is Tatort of all things trending on Tumblr what is all this about")

There's different versions of Tatort, set in different cities and all produced by the public-service broadcast services of that region - each focusing on different characters (but all of whom are cops because that's what the show is about). Each location only gets one to three episodes a year, so it switches through every week. There's Cologne, Münster, Berlin, whatever; and then there's Saarbrücken. Saarbrücken is the capital of Saarland, the smallest German state after Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin (all of which are city-states). It's... unremarkable. You never usually hear anything about Saarbrücken. Or Saarland in general really (sorry Saarland). So you wouldn't expect its Tatort to be remarkable either.

Except! This particular set-in-Saarbrücken Tatort has been running since 2020, and people on Tumblr got interested in it because the two main guys have a Dynamic(tm) going on. After episode 3 they also officially added the two women to the main team because they forgot about them the first time around or something (thank you mainstream tv). but anyway our four characters are Leo Hölzer (the buff guy in the holster, kind of the glue of the team), Adam Schürk (dishevelled blond man who is really bad at his job and Angsty(tm)), Pia Heinrich (workaholic in the sports jacket), and Esther Baumann (big football fan, seemingly the only person on this team who actually takes her job seriously).

Tatort Saarbrücken is also affectionately known as "Spatort" (Spaten (spade) + Tatort), because a lot of Leo and Adam's Dynamic is about the fact that they knew each other as kids when Adam was being physically abused by his dad, and Leo eventually hit the dad over the head with a shovel, putting him in a coma (which, spoilers, he wakes up from at the end of the first episode). And then Adam went missing (left the city) for like 15 years but now he's returned to Saarbrücken for mysterious reasons (it was Leo. Leo was the reason). and now he and Leo are work colleagues and they have queer-flavoured tension going on and this backstory is still very much relevant in between the usual crime-solving. they are honestly not very good at their jobs but well that's part of the appeal. and people enjoy gay shipping them because of course they do. (is this queerbaiting? maybe! but again the fact that this is all in Tatort is very ???-inducing to many)

Pia and Esther were only officially added to the "main team" in episode 3 because I guess the writers forgot about women for the first two. which is unfortunately not surprising but well they're here too now! until last episode they felt like they might have had some sort of queer thing going on too but then in the 2025 episode Pia had a suspiciously-het-romance-teasing scene with Adam (they do not have romantic chemistry this was a weird choice we all agree on this) and Esther was flirting with a previously-unseen French colleague (who was a woman though so win for queer Esther enjoyers) so who knows. but we like them too! even though there's less dramatic backstory for them both, there's still things hinted at (like Pia's sister having gone missing years ago. knowing this show this will be relevant at some point)

Also as you may have already gathered there is only one episode of Tatort Saarbrücken released every year. So basically every January we all come together and tune in to watch our annual 90 minutes of cop show episode, liveblog together, make gifsets about it, trend on Tumblr, and then go back into hibernation until the next year. It's a beautiful event for the German tumblr community

As for watching it: It's public television, so it's available for free online in the ARD Mediathek. The six episodes there have been so far are, in order:

Das fleißige Lieschen (named after the codename for the V-3 cannon (Wikipedia) - 2020)

Der Herr des Waldes (The lord of the forest - 2021)

Das Herz der Schlange (The heart of the snake - 2022)

Die Kälte der Erde (The cold of the earth - 2023)

Der Fluch des Geldes (The money curse - 2024)

Das Ende der Nacht (The end of the night - 2025)

As for English subtitles - there's no official ones, but you can check out this post for info on fanmade ones!

[the-solar-eclipsed]

astral projector watcher gem fanart :D

just gonna put some lore that ive seen + my own twist to watcher gem

gem was a failed experiment in the watcher realm, she was created by the watchers and has no true parents, her purpose was to be the watchers killing machine and they would have succeeded if grian hadn’t broken out of the watcher realm, since the watchers were so focused on hunting grian down the security weakened and gem escaped

the 1.18 lets play was gem trying to learn how to be “mortal” and blend into the world so the watchers wouldnt find her

at the time pearl was still with the watchers and knew gem existed just now who she was specifically eventually pearl escaped the watcher realm when grian came back to save her

gem met xisuma and was invited to season 8 of hermitcraft, which pearl was also invited to because grian introduced her

pearl, grian, and xisuma knows something’s off about gem, but they can’t figure out what it is

obviously then the moon crashed and stuff and season nine came around, gem is much more comfortable as a mortal and almost forgot her past

until she subbed in for cleo in limited life, where she learned the watchers make these death games for entertainment and to harness the negative energy

unfortunately for the watchers they gave her the ability to dimension hop (she is a cannon dimension hopper to those who dont know) and she joined secret life, to the other players she was just added and the watchers just assumed some other watcher added her so they never bothered to ask about it, and then the boogey curse happened and the watchers had no idea that they assigned 1) one of the best killers on the server, and 2) a hell of a good actor this task. unlike other watchers who were turned, gem being a “pure born” watcher makes her essentially immune to any of the curses and magic that watchers use to run the game. it was really difficult, since she didnt actually have the curse she would have to run to the person killed and tell them about the task/how to act, and it worked somehow, she played the act that a curse was spread all around the server and the watchers were none the wiser… except grian, he knows first hand what the boogey curse is like secondhand and firsthand, he knows how people act - violent, careless, and overall just a sense of bloodlust - and gem showed none of the signs. her kills were tactical, there was pain in her eyes every time she killed or influenced a kill. but grian is still really confused with wondering what gem could be he never really though she was a watcher because how could she be? grian and pearl are watchers and they still get really affected by the games (so no grian doesnt know gems a watcher)

its now wild life and gem realized shes going to need to adapt and change otherwise the watchers are going to be suspicious, she does hold a slight grudge on pearl but not as strong as she makes it out to be, the watchers think they’re farming even more negative emotions but they actually are gaining less and less as gem is in the games just because that’s how she is.

of course she is still a watcher and killing still calls to her, which is why even as dark green she helped people when they wanted to kill - so she can collect the energy to eventually stop the watchers and because something in her loves seeing the death happen -

we can also see this with the snail episode, she loves the snail and admires how they’re violent little creatures, saying its a shame they cant be allies - peaking a slight suspicion in the watchers but nothing huge

and back to some shiny duo stuff: pearl is so confused as to why gem is like this, she wasnt like it in secret life and real life and it scares her, theres something so brutal and cold in gems eyes that most people dont see as gem is just the peaceful one who even kept her barn burn down, but pearl can see it - gem is hiding something, which is why she always is trying to bug gem, to understand what, but gem is trying to protect pearl and so she stays cold and “hateful” to pearl whenever she comes by, heck she even is hateful to impulse because she is so scared of the soup group members being hurt

but now the main stuff: her astral projection powers, grian knows what everyone’s powers are, and again, gem is confusing him, he doesnt get why gem has that power, and honestly neither do the watchers, gem managed to give her one of the powers that she normally had when she wasnt in the games, but something in the games restricts her and she just wanted some freedom back, and using the power re-energizes her

to anyone who read all this: thanks! ive been meaning to dump some ideas about watcher!gem since she was already cannon to me but this made it even better!!

[being-of-rain]

Now that the whole series has been released, I binge relistened to all of Once and Future. And wrote down all my thoughts, of course.

Definitely the series' main problem is something that affects a lot of Big Finish; it wants to have a story arc, but clearly the writers barely planned with each other or put any effort into that aspect. There's no flow or natural build-up to the finale, unlike what the premise and first episode might lead you to expect. Without much of a compelling arc, the only thing the series has to mark it as a special occasion is its many cameos and crossovers ...but in order to have more of those than the average Big Finish series, they had to pack so many in that most episodes struggle to handle it (in one way or another).

As a series, it unfortunately adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

With all that said, it's a series that I enjoyed a lot more during my relisten, since I could adjust my expectations. I forgot my desire for a grand or satisfying larger story, and just took each standalone episode on its own merits. There's a varying level of quality, but overall its not as disappointing as I remembered.

I decided to rank the episodes from my least to most favourite, and write a paragraph on each one.

8. Time Lord Immemorial I was told this was added to the series at the last minute, and I believe it; it features the imminent destruction of every universe thanks to the use of the degeneration gun, and this little fact is not mentioned at any point before or afterwards. The plot is about a dull and generic all-powerful Time Lord fairytale with an incredibly convenient rhyme to tell everyone what to do. Not that anyone actually does much of anything in this episode. It's mostly descriptions of some impressive visuals and the trading of some half-hearted banter. The only thing of any substance at all in the story is the slightly interesting (though not as interesting as it could've been) relationship between the Lumiat and the Doctor, which is okay if you like that, and unfortunate if you wanted Liv and the Unbound Doctor to have any focus at all.

7. Two's Company This episode is the poster child of being assigned a long and truly random laundry list of characters by the producers. All elements of the episode feel like they're thrown together haphazardly, from the total disregard of the previous episodes' plot hook onwards. But the friendship of Jackie and Lady Christina, two of the least likely characters to be teamed up with the sixth Doctor, is perhaps the highlight of the episode (even though Jackie is written rather stereotypically). On the other hand, Harry Sullivan doesn't really add anything, and the bizarre introduction of The Two borders on the insulting. Back when The Eleven was first introduced, the audio took pains to note that his mental illness was not the cause of his villainy. Later authors seemed to have missed this memo, and none fly in the face of it as much as Two's Company. On top of it all, I think Lisa McMullin is just an author I do not vibe with. She's the only one who wrote two episodes of this series, and they're my two least favourite.

6. The Union I'm not a big fan of finales written by Matt Fitton, which is bad news for me because he's been Big Finish's Go-To Finale Guy for over a decade now. He always makes the plot a bit too busy and never quite lands the emotional moments for me. Once and Future's climactic episode gets a lot of fanservicey moments (some that I can enjoy and some that feel like an obligation), but the story arc that the series had been stumbling and crawling towards concludes with the Doctor winning a nonsensical moral argument about how he's fine with being and meeting himself, something that isn't demonstrated in this anniversary special and is contradicted in most others. The villain/s are a bizarre choice and rather unthreatening- but at least River and Susan are fun to listen to.

5. A Genius For War It's slightly baffling that in the middle of a series that flaunts its random character line-ups is a fairly standard Time War episode, with characters you'd expect to see in it (except for the Seventh Doctor I guess, but he doesn't feel that out of place in a Davros story like this.) I refrained from calling it a "bog-standard" Time War episode, because it does actually put some effort into being relevant to this series specifically, and is a fun little action movie to while away an hour (and celebrate the Doctor's longest-running alien foes in all their mediocre glory). Still, the fact that this ep is just before halfway through my ranking means that I enjoy this series more often than not.

4. Past Lives This is a charming episode, largely due to its fun cast of characters. It takes its time with its story, being literally halfway done by the time all the characters have been brought into the plot together, but I'm not saying it's badly paced. I'm certainly fine with it just giving us the Doctor and the Monk for the first 15 minutes. But the moment of this episode that always sticks in my head the most is the Doctor and Sarah reacting to all the pictures of the Doctors in Osgood's house, having a little bit of an existential crisis about it. It's amazing how taking even just a small break from the action for some genuine emotion can add to a story. See number 1 on this list for more. Oh I do wish it did more with the King Arthur/Once and Future theme though, especially seeing as it was what gave the series its name.

3. The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 Michelle Gomez and David Tennant are so good together. I don't have an awful lot more to say about this one, it's just solid entertainment. It's got great characterisation and a lot of funny lines. The episode really understood the Master when it said "Only one Time Lord would ever do something so mind-bogglingly, time-consumingly ridiculous."

2. Coda—The Final Act The final episode is second only to Two's Company in how random and long its list of returning characters is, but it handles them with much more grace and a satisfying story. I mean I do wish that Vienna Salvatori had a bigger role, but that's just because I'm a fan of her series, she works fine narratively (and there was a Jexie reference to appease me). Really my biggest complaint about this one is that it doesn't quite commit to the Doctor vs Doctor premise as much as I wish it would, with it all being a contrived trick, but it doesn't do that badly, it's fine. Wait, maybe my biggest complaint is the title: why give it two? Why not just call it Coda? Anyway, Bernice was a great choice for this episode, she's always been great at speaking her mind to the Doctor. And it was easy for me to forget this this is Jo Martin's first audio because she sounded so at home. Great stuff.

1. The Artist at the End of Time This might not be the episode I go back to listen to the most, but I think it is the best made, with the most time to breathe and the most coherent themes. (And it also happens to be the episode with the least amount of returning characters heaped upon it. What a coincidence.) The degeneration giving the Doctor something of an existential crisis, compounded by the end of the universe and the presence of the Curator, gives the series some much needed time to reflect on a key aspect of the franchise for its anniversary; the Doctor themself. It certainly works a lot better than whatever The Union tried to do in its last 15 minutes. Aside from all that, Five and Jenny and the Curator are just a rather sweet team to listen to, with an interesting problem to investigate and a lot of witty dialogue.

[williamaltman]

My late thoughts on 2x7 because I said I would but then forgot:

Like everyone else I was expecting Lestat to be portrayed worse than he was. They actually let him have so many moments of honesty and/or vulnerability. That's kinda the case on the book trial too but in a very different way, and since Lestat wasn't as fucked up from the murder attempt on the show I thought they would go heavy on villanizing him.

I don't think we're getting a "real trial" version on episode 8 like people had assumed either.

We got as many Lestat & Claudia crumbs as possible which I really appreciated. "I see the best of my vampiric nature in her", "Claudia is my blood", him looking proud, his reaction at her death.

I actually wasn't expecting the trial to be where they would revisit the "fight" or even Claudia's turning. I thought it was interesting that we got a "Lestat version" of things even though it's technically not his POV yet.

I didn't really like the new version of Claudia's turning, it was even worse than the previous one which I didn't think was possible.

The fight... I actually appreciated what we got of it. I was hoping they would make it more "equal", because my biggest problem with it was how extreme it was (which is still the case unfortunately) and how one-sided it seemed with Louis being seriously injured while Lestat was barely even hurt if at all. Making it more equal and showing that for a moment Louis had the upper hand, was the one going at Lestat the most and got to hurt him too is a weird relief to me... It's like a contradicting mix of feelings where I both feel better for Louis and also kinda side-eye him for it, you know? Lestat's bloody ass face and disoriented expression compared to how he looked on episode 5 is a huge difference, and it means the "follow-up" to it wasn't quite as we saw either.

Still wish they did something about the drop, like saying that Louis asked/taunted him to do it or something or that it wasn't as high as it seemed. I always thought the idea of saying either it or the "fight" didn't really happen was too big of a cop out. Even though I wish they hadn't even written that a tall, they did so they have to commit to it (to an extent at least).

"My immortal companion is Claudia. My coven is Claudia." was just beautiful. I kinda wouldn't mind them not giving Madeleine any chance despite her not having commited a crime, especially cause in the show she was sort of a "forbidden" fledgling which is against the rules, but I'm glad that they adressed it because of this response. Her choosing to die with Claudia is probably the biggest act of love in this damn show.

I guess we're not getting the TVA version of Claudia's death. It's still possible I guess since we only see her death through Armand's POV, but I always thought it didn't make as much sense in the show to begin with considering Claudia being older among other things, and I think it would change the logistics of what we saw too much since that still has to be at least slightly true.

The preview... Seems like Louis will directly threaten Lestat and *really* think he died in the fire? In the book it was always kinda weird cause he just assumed so and didn't think about it (on page at least) until Armand told him he was alive. I'm curious how they'll deal with all that considering some stuff we got.

[knickynoo]

while I'm busy drawing Lorenzo, Ted and Lauren, here is all the 1st season episodes. 15 in total.

BTTF CARTOON 2025 REIMAGINING

1 - The Trouble with Pterodactyls: Everything's normal, except if your a McFly. Especially if a dinosaur appears from a rift and tries to attack you while your on a date with your girlfriend.

2 - Not a House Cat: Officer Parker bites off more than he can chew when he takes a case for mysteriously vanishing cattle.

3 - Hoedown in the streets: A cattle wrangler lands on Strickland's car and immediately starts causing good-natured mayhem.

4 - Can't con a con-man: A 1940s Con-man ends up in 1980 Hill Valley, and starts adapting to the sudden displacement.

5 - Scene Kid on the Scene: Dave McFly's day out is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a brightly dressed kid.

6 - Don't go to 2020: Marty and Doc try to figure out why there's rifts, when a woman from 2020 accidentally shows up and freaks out.

7 - The Rules: Doc tries to make sense of it all, while Marty's in charge of setting some ground rules. Unfortunately, Lorenzo doesn't like the rules.

8 - Roll the Dice: Dave McFly and Ted bond over Spires & Sphinxes (aka Dungeons and Dragons)

9 - Sugarcane Craze: Jules and Verne Brown have fun with Grace Anderson, when it all goes downhill after she eats some candy.

10 - Can't Walt me now: A con-man named Walter tries to worm his way into Hill Valley's economy. Too bad that Lorenzo's already decided his territory.

11 - Verne's pills: After Verne has a seizure, he has to take pills... and Doc is in full parent mode.

12 - That camping feeling: Marty and Jennifer attempt to have some time together. Unfortunately, the Temporal Six keep causing issues.

13 - Parent Teacher Creature Feature: After watching a scary movie, Verne and Grace are convinced Strickland is actually an alien. (Spoilers, He isn't.)

14 - Linda's Way: Linda McFly attempts to bond over something with her music and strategy-game loving brothers.

15 - Lauren in Wonderland: Lauren nearly dies when she tries to prove to herself that she's just dreaming and not really in 1986.

which episode is the most intriguing?

Hello there! It's me, finally getting to the pile of asks I've been ignoring for weeks to months. I forgot you had sent me this episode list for your animated series rework!

These are all so interesting. I'd say the ones that jump out to me the most are

"Can't Con and Con-Man": because that whole concept is an intriguing one, and I'd love to see what kind of chaos a guy from the 1940s could cause in Hill Valley.

"Parent Teacher Creature Feature": this one just sounds like such a cartoony episode! It'd even fit into the actual animated series perfectly.

"Linda's Way": I'm obsessed with thinking about the McFly siblings dynamic and love anything that focuses on them. This would be such a cute episode.

Thanks for sharing these with me!

[scruffyplayssonic]

Are the ArchieSonic comics actually an 80’s/90’s syndicated cartoon? Episode 66: Summary (part two)

This is part two of my summary and conclusion to my blog series investigating how the ArchieSonic comics were remarkably similar to the format of a syndicated cartoon from the 80’s and 90’s. If you haven’t already, you can read part one here.

Okay, back to it!

Episode 40: The one episode that’s unique to the show’s premise and characters

I chose four arcs for this one - Mecha Madness, Return to Angel Island, Iron Dominion, and Spark of Life.

Episode 41: Recap origin story in yet another clip show

They didn’t do it as more clip shows, but the origins of the series were further explored in new stories multiple times in both pre-boot and post-boot. Perhaps the most memorable instance is from Sonic #43, in which King Acorn was trapped in his memories and reliving Robotnik’s coup.

Episode 42: Haunted house

We got this in the Sonic X comics, with issues 13 and 14 bringing in King Boom Boo from Sonic Adventure 2 and that one episode of the anime. Oh, and he was possessing everyone he could get his non-corporeal mitts on.

Episode 43: Hero suddenly becomes elderly

This one happened in Sonic Super Special #8. It wasn’t pretty.

Episode 44: Hero suddenly becomes six-to-eleven years old

This is another one we didn’t get in the comics, unfortunately. I used that episode as a good time to talk about the Sonic Kids comics, which gave us stories from when the Freedom Fighters were younger.

Episode 45: Boys vs. girls

I feel like this episode is supposed to be about boys and girls on the same teams turning against each other, so for this one I’m going to say no, that didn’t happen in ArchieSonic. The closest we got was that one time in Sonic #14 when Robotnik and Snively kidnapped Sally and Bunnie because they thought, “lulz girls are weaksauce.” They got more than they bargained for.

Episode 46: Unusually serious “drugs are bad,” episode.

Sigh, yes. The Chaotix Caper in Knuckles #13 - 15 is infamous.

Episode 47: Evil alien invasion

In pre-boot there was the Xorda in Sonic #124 - 125. In post-boot there was the return of the Black Arms in Sonic Universe #59 - 62. 

Episode 48: Benign Alien Visitors

The most memorable example is Ceneca-9009 of the Bem, who came to Mobius to change all roboticised Mobians back to normal. After first testing champions on both sides, of course.

Episode 49: Hero becomes blind. Magoo jokes aplenty. Ableism ages episode horribly.

Another one that didn’t happen in the comics. The closest instance was in the godawful Sonic Super Special 15, which featured ten freaking pages of Sonic wandering around in the dark or in a blizzard and unable to see crap.

Episode 50: Major event that dramatically shakes up status quo. Turns out to be a dream. 

I’m going with Sonic #37 for this one. Some might argue that Bunnie’s nightmare wasn’t really that big an event, but I would argue that one of the main characters slowly becoming a robot and turning on her friends definitely counts.

Episode 51: Villains team up

Oh, so many times. So many times in fact that I had to make a second post for all the examples I forgot. Let’s go with that time in Sonic #62, when a whole bunch of locked up villains thought Snively had been responsible for their jailbreak and signed up to work with him.

Episode 52: Rashomon homage

Yes, in Sonic Super Special #5. Sonic, Sally and Antoine all argued about how they each single-handedly defeated a combot that had attacked them.

Episode 53: Henchman joins heroes for one time only.

Snively did team up with the Freedom Fighters in a couple of issues when Robo-Robotnik invaded Mobius before agreeing to work for the new Eggman. He would later join the Freedom Fighters for awhile, starting in Sonic #152. He eventually went back to the Eggman Empire again, of course, because he’s awful. Post-reboot he had left Eggman's forces and was supposedly working for GUN, but was secretly plotting his own conquest from within their ranks.

Episode 54: Random child rescues hero. The episode’s all about them now.

There weren’t really any good examples that fit this one. Hope Robotnik and Ken Penders’ son and niece from the Sonic Live! special certainly had prominent page time in the stories they were involved in, but they never actually rescued Sonic, despite what this cover might have you believe.

Episode 55: Invisibility potion

Yes, but it was so effective that everyone (even Sonic himself) thought that he was dead.

Episode 56: The Writer’s Barely Disguised Fetish

Oh god, where do you even start with this one? Let’s just say yes, it happened on multiple occasions, and leave it at that.

Episode 57: Can’t eat favourite food

Weeeeell, I guess so. There was that one time in Sonic #11 where he ate too many chilli dogs before bed and had a trippy nightmare. When he woke up he decided to go on a diet for about thirty seconds. (cue canned laughter)

Episode 58: We have to save the environment, and so do you!

A lot of the early issues focused on stopping Robotnik from destroying the environment, but the best example of this one is probably the nuking of Robotropolis. Sonic managed to trick Eggman into turning on his city’s forcefield after the nuclear missiles were already inside, meaning that all the destruction and radiation was safely contained in an impenetrable bubble. In later issues Eggman and other villains would try to penetrate this shield, to release the radiation out into the surrounding environment.

Episode 59: Stranded in the ocean

I’m going with Waves of Change from Sonic #260 - #263, where Sonic, Amy and Rotor had to go to the underwater city of Meropis on their quest to restore the shattered planet.

Episode 60: Stranded in the desert

There are two instances here that fit this one best. The first one is Sonic #62/63 again, where Sonic and Tails crash their biplane in the desert and are “rescued” by the inhabitants of Sandblast City, who worship Sonic and refuse to let him leave. The other is the Knuckles mini-series, in which Knuckles and Archimedes were yeeted into the desert by Enerjak (something that seems to happen a lot with the various Enerjaks, I noticed).

Episode 61: Stranded in the snow

Continuing right off from Sonic #63 when Sonic and Tails escaped from the desert, they ended up trapped in the snow in the very next issue when their biplane failed them yet again.

Episode 62: Stuck in an elevator

I wasn’t able to find any instances of specifically being trapped in an elevator, so I broadened the category to its base trope, which is two people, usually enemies or rivals, being locked in a room together. There were lots of cases of this, such as when Dr Eggman and Dr Wily were locked up together during the Worlds Unite crossover.

Episode 63: Clip show to set up two-part finale

Well, Sonic #283 was a set-up story for the finale of the Sonic Unleashed adaptation. It had two stories - the first featured Sonic and Sally calling their allies around the world to explain their plan and ask for help, and the second featured Eggman watching the pirated footage of that video call and making a counter-plan. Is it a clip show? Not exactly, but it’s close enough.

Episode 64 - 65: Two-part Finale

I cited various finales (or planned finales, in the case of Endgame), including the end of the Knuckles series, the end of the Super Specials, the end of the Sonic X companion series, the end of the pre-reboot era, and the end of the post-reboot era. As I said in the final post, in my mind the proper finale of ArchieSonic is Sonic #287, despite the cancellation of the series not happening until three issues later and the fact that the last ArchieSonic comic ever published was actually Sonic Universe #94.

So out of the 65 episodes listed, we didn’t get the hiccups episode, the Wonderful Life parody episode, the hero has a cold episode, the origin recap clip show episode, the hero regressing to childhood episode, the boys vs. girls episode, or the hero blinded episode. That comes to only seven out of sixty-five episodes that we never saw happen in the ArchieSonic series. But does this mean that the comic wasn’t really a comic at all, but actually a syndicated cartoon? Well, let me just quote myself from the very first post I did regarding this topic.

So there you have it - of course ArchieSonic is a comic book series, there was never actually any doubt. 

Before I finish up, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has read this series, especially those who commented with encouragement, ideas and suggestions. 

In particular I feel that I once again owe a big thank you to former ArchieSonic contributor Aleah Baker, who not only read and commented on my pieces but also gave her precious time on more than one occasion to offer behind the scenes insight and answer my questions about certain issues or characters. She was incredibly generous with me and I’m extremely grateful for all the help. 

This has been an extremely interesting topic for me to explore, and I’m going to miss writing about it. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with this blog after this. A few people have suggested that I go into a full commitment to review the entire series rather than just portions of it like I’ve been doing with this blog series, and I have certainly been considering doing that. But on the other hand there are so many others who have done that so well - a few of my personal favourites are @robotnikholmescomicblog (who has branched out to video essays after finishing his initial reviews on Tumblr), the ArchieSonic Digest podcast, and of course, Bobby Shroeder’s @thankskenpenders. If I was going to do a full ArchieSonic review series, I would want to find a way to put my own spin on it rather than just rehashing what they have done. So I’m going to have to keep thinking on that. Thanks again for reading, everyone, and take care!

[meguemii]

Hardy Friends.

[episode two — the morning after]

chapter synopsis :: nobara invites your for breakfast and tells you the summer plans over some breakfast

[wc : 1.2k]

navigation station. 🚉

the sheer sound of an alarm was enough to jerk you awake from a deep sleep. throwing your arm over yourself to grab the phone and turn it off. unfortunately about half an hour later another alarm started going off, finally making you get up and check the time. 8:30. ‘lovely’ you thought to yourself as you sat up, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes with a yawn.

the uncomfortable and scratchy feeling from wearing your clothes from last night started to set in as well as the raging headache.

light seeping into your room through the crack of your curtains. a big groan of dissatisfaction leaving your vocal cords as you threw your head back and squirmed out of your clothes to get comfortable and burring your head into the pillows in an attempt to go back to sleep. and that’s what you did. for 10 minutes. your phone started going off again. sitting straight up and grabbing your phone yanking it off your night stand.

nobara’s contact photo displayed on your screen with ‘swipe to answer’ written at the bottom.

“what can I do for you at THIS hour?” you asked sarcastically, annoyance and sleep prominent in your voice. “hi gorgeous! wanna get breakfast? i’m on my way over now” she said so cheerily. how she did so after drinking so much was beyond you. “do not show up at my pla-“ cut off by her interrupting you, “bye love you! see you in 30!”

“girl..” you said to yourself out loud and over enunciating, dragging yourself out of bed to try and get yourself together within 30 minutes. sweatpants and a t-shirt would have to for now. you had a few minutes to think before nobara would get there. scrolling through the snapchat stories from last night you see you and yuta in the back of a photo, as well as megumi, memories from last night also flooding back into your mind. having that moment in the car with him where you actually felt like friends again. but you weren’t. shaking the thoughts of a blossoming friendship from your mind you get up to leave. making your way to the door to grab your shoes. yuuji was sat at the kitchen table with his forehead pressed against it and a glass of water and some ibuprofen beside him. “me too yuu, me too.” you said only getting a mumble from him in return. walking past him, snatching the bottle of ibuprofen, grabbing your keys and leaving your apartment you made your way to the parking garage to find Nobara’s car. 30 minutes went by way too quickly you thought to yourself.

you felt and looked disgustingly tired. your point was proved when you got opened up the car door. “Hey girl” she said looking up from her phone to look at you and her face scrunched up. “oh.. you look.. dead. you look dead.” there was never any sugarcoating it with her. “as much as I appreciate your honesty, but this is your fault” referring to your current state.

she started her car and tossed you her phone to play music, “by the way, i forgot my wallet at home so we need to stop before we grab food” nobara said as she peeled out of the parking. “it’s fine i’ll pay” you offered just wanting to get food in you as soon as possible, “sorry girl but i need my wallet which has my license in it too” you threw your head back with a playful groan.

you stared out of the passenger window people watching. the morning was a pretty quiet morning, people on their commute to work and others just enjoying their mornings. it was peaceful, especially with the soft music of nobara’s car as she hummed along. a small smile crept up your face as you turned to look at her. “i love you” it was random and she just chuckled, “i know.” moments like these made you grateful for your friends and your life.

a small bit of driving later and she pulled up to her apartment “did you wanna come up with me? i don’t know how long i’ll be.” she asked as she opened her door, “yeah i’ll come”

you guys trudged up the stairs to the 11th floor where hers and megumi’s home was, making your way to her door she played with her key ring to find the key for her door. “ladies first!” she said with a smile ushering you in. nothings changed since you were here last, except the boy who normally hid in his room was frantically searching cupboards for something.

“kugisaki, do we have any advil?” he asked still searching the cupboards, clearly unaware you were here too. “no, but I can grab some on my way home” she said retreating to her room to find her wallet.

he looked sickly. guessing you, megumi and yuji were all in the same boat. hangovers are the worst. “I have ibuprofen if you want that” you chimed in, he kinda jumped back and whipped his head around. clearly spooked at your sudden appearance. “uhh sure.” he said as you walked into the kitchen handing him to bottle “thanks..” and awkward silence sat in the air, you grabbed a glass and filled it up with water for him “don’t mention it”

“yn, i found my wallet. let’s go” she said as she exited her room towards the door with you following in suit.

you guys made it to your usual cafè get breakfast, you ordering a taro bun and an iced coffee and nobara ordering an american breakfast as well as an iced coffee.

“so megs and i have been planning something but i need yours and yuu’s full commitment.” she said breaking the silence. you just looked up at her through your brow as you ate.

“we wanna go to osaka, as a group. you won’t have to pay anything at all since mr gloomy’s dad said it’s a reward for getting good grades all year.” she just kept spitting out new information, it’s like her best tactic when it comes to convincing people.

“i’ll go, as long as he’s civil.” you told her. “don’t even worry, he’s already agreed to no bickering between the two of you.” she said.

after all that was out of the way, the two of you started discussing what you would wear and what you would do, and the kind of place you’re gonna be staying in during the rest of breakfast and as nobara drove you home.

you were about to get out when she stopped you. “I think mai and miwa are throwing a party tomorrow night, i’ll text you the details and we’re all going shopping tomorrow” you groaned as you got out.

walking into the apartment, yuuji was sitting on the couch watching some romance movie it seemed. “how does osaka sound?” you asked plopping down beside him.

“osaka?” he tilted his head. “yeah like how does it sound? all of us going. me, you, nobara and megumi”

“yeah sure, i’m down. as long as you and megs don’t argue the entire time.”

“it’ll be fine” you rolled your eyes at his comment about yourself and megumi. “he’s fine with it, in fact he paid for it all.” you got up making your way to your room. you hated when nobara or yuuji implied you and fushiguro couldn’t be civil with each other.

guess you have to be on your best behaviour this summer.

prev. masterlist. next

emi’s notes :: not proofread LOL. love you guys :3 sorry for being inactive. HAVE A CHAPTER!!

t. list — open

@kasumitenbaz @ladytamayolover @becsmarvel @hisheadismountfuji @dazaisfavgf @hfuensiekabhsufnd @hannya-exists [the ogs 🗣️] @lees-chaotic-brain @noodlejitsu

[warriorprincesstramp]

ok LOST RANKINGS. last one before the season finale rankings. last watched ep the whole truth for the record. ok let's go shit has changed a LOT:

1. sayid. duh

2. jack. duh!

3. sun... <333. yes this is def recency bias but ummm shut up!

4. eko 🫶

5. rousseau. you know it's insane we haven't put her on these lists. as if she doesn't deserve a spot?? that's literally danielle rousseau. and she's crazyyyy love her!

6. kate. honestly I don't even know if she should be this high but I can't bring her any lower in my heart. I can't put her under ana lucia I'm sorry...

7. claire <3 maternity leave was hugeeee

8. ana lucia. look at us!! clawed her way out from the bottom... she's kind of swag now I can't lie

9. rose & bernard 😁 really they're higher up in terms of like sheer fondness but of course they're not around very much and aren't that complex unfortunately...

10. hurley. he's just chilling

11. realised I forgot locke... here seems right he's like. extremely key to everything about this show which I appreciate I appreciate his manic pixie old man swag I appreciate him getting a little gay with it... in fact I even appreciate his bitchfights with jack they're fun and interesting and make me go oooohhh. but of course say it with me now. an enemy of jack....

12. new guy... beth I don't even know if you've met him yet I don't remember his name I'm not totally sure we even know it initially he wasn't gonna be included because we know nothing about him really HOWEVER. now I think I can rank him as a mysterious figure. personally I'm having a lot of fun with him and his causing problems on purpose problematic gay swag. he's like the worst philosophy major you know. and yes he votes conservative... I like him! and I like that everyone hates his ass for almost no reason...

13. libby. I have no problems with this girl she just hasn't done anything <3

14. jin. he's on thin ice.

15. micheal. honestly I forgot about him because he's been fucking nowhereeeee when are they gonna let us see whatever stupid shit he's doing... also not including walter for this reason but on a larger scale. I like that he's doing something insane and dangerous and he's actually trying to save walter like honestly everyone's just forgot about that little kid LOL... he's having a rough month!!

16. charlie. SHUT UPPPP OH MY GODDDD.

17. sawyer. back to the bottom. well it was nice watching you die pathetically in the horrible man polycule while it lasted. KILL YOURSELF!

beth when you get to the long con episode you and I are gonna be discussing. or not even discussing we can just both be like what the fuck...

[starbuckaroo]

ok in the spirit of not dumping a huge rant into the tags of someone else’s post I’m gonna actually make my own for once. Unfortunately or not, without the tag limit, this got really fucking long. And ended up being about more than just what that other post was talking about so.

from my pov the frustration with Eddie is in large part due to the nebulous (and frankly ridiculously long) time frame. 3 mos is better than 6 mos but the show hasn’t been clear about that and knowing Chris is there during the school year? And for how many months missing doctor appts and friends and whatnot? idk.

My biggest issue is that Eddie HAS a lot of other parent friends/coworkers/whatever and he has family in LA and Chris has a big support network in LA. For Eddie to let him go for more than a few weeks? To me?? That’s bonkers. especially given his age and the fact that as far as we know, Chris hasn’t been back to El Paso at all since they moved. (Now that’s a leap and it wouldn’t be surprising if they have made visits together but not canonical ones.)

So for him to go and stay for that long? Unprepared? Did Eddie change his will again? Write out new legal documents giving his parents temporary guardianship? those would be necessary for Chris to get medical care in another state (some insurance will allow ER visits but not PT or any routine care) and would be necessary to enroll him in school out there.

Which I’m sorry but if Eddie is serious about getting him back he would be back in therapy and reaching out to his support system for help. And I refuse to believe that chim and hen and Bobby and Buck and Pepa and Carla and a licensed therapist collectively forgot to give him good advice. idk.

The biggest problem I have with this storyline is that it fucking blows and this show was NEVER going to be able to handle it well. and showing Eddie getting through 8 episodes and 3 or 6 months without his kid and only having a handful of conversations about him and then deciding without talking to anyone that he will buy a house???? And move away?????????????? In order to try and talk to Chris again??? what the fuck happened to flying out for a few days when he’s off work?? What happened to bringing Chris back and getting him some sessions with his established therapist who he saw during the other seriously difficult moments in his life? What happened to “no Chris you can’t fly to Texas indefinitely with zero warning but you can go stay with Pepa for a week and then we can talk about you visiting your grandparents after that”

and frankly it’s out of character for Buck as well, in my personal opinion but I agree that the text of s6 did distance him a lot more from making parenting choices (though my blood pressure is gonna shoot through the roof if I think too hard about all the ways s6 did the characters dirty wrt their character arcs/growth as pertaining to parents and parenting).

anyways. I’m not actually criticizing Eddie exactly, I just think the writing for this storyline fucking blows, and regardless of the actor’s lack of availability, there were 100 better ways to tell a story about Eddie and Chris that involved Chris not being onscreen for half a season that didn’t fucking obliterate their relationship and write Eddie (and tbh the rest of the team) heinously out of character. By which I mean “incongruently with previous major character traits as expressed within the text of the show itself” and trying my best to steer clear of fanon. Tho I’m likely failing at that. But an attempt is being made.

I’m also coming from a standpoint of someone actively living through some fairly serious family trauma not wholly dissimilar to this storyline and yeah it’s got me way too heated up about it. It’s very different in a lot of important ways but my teenage brother experienced some trauma at home and didn’t get the support he needed (bc our mom didn’t have the support SHE needed in order to support him). He also doesn’t have anywhere else to go (coz his dad refuses to take him), so in that way it’s not comparable, but tbqh if my horrible abusive grandparents had offered to take him I would have argued against it!!!! Even if he wanted to!! And I’ve spoken with a half dozen mental health professionals about my situation with my brother in the last 2 years and none of them have ever suggested that completely removing him from everything familiar (including his school and friends and other family members) would in any way help the situation.

but whatever. In my opinion it’s first and foremost a failing of the writing, but from a watsonian standpoint, yes, I do not think Eddie has done enough. But also his friends have also fucking failed. Unless the answer is that he’s lied to all of them about what happened with Chris, in which case there we are again back at it being Eddie’s problem. Which really sucks for him, like I’m not unsympathetic here, but if the options are “humiliate yourself in front of your friends and therapist to get good advice and support for how to bring your child back home” or “downplay what’s going on to everyone around you and wait for your teenaged child to stop being stubborn and ask to reconcile and come home” GUESS WHAT THE RIGHT ANSWER IS.

now I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the awful emotional saw trap Eddie is in that’s led to him making these poor decisions, bc he’s always predisposed to thinking he’s a bad parent and making the wrong choices, ESPECIALLY when faced with his own parents being in the mix, and the situation that upset Chris DID happen bc of a bad choice he made (tho again arguably seeing Kim was another narrative trap he would really have struggled to get out of any more gracefully than he did). And he already struggles with self worth issues and blaming himself for everything etc. but that’s why 8A has been such a bummer bc imho Eddie should have been a fucking wreck this whole time a la the beginning of 5B!!! He should be facing down the worst psychological torment of his adult life, and for some reason feeling so bad and gross about it that he’s refused to even tell anyone that anything is wrong or ask for help! But I’m sorry that should be pretty obvious to his friends who know him well by now!!!

ITS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ENSEMBLE FOUND FAMILY SHOW. I even used to swallow my disgust and just look away from the copaganda shit bc it was such solid chosen family storytelling!! And it just fucking isn’t, anymore, which is why this storyline sucks so bad. Whatever. The show has been leaning this gross ass direction since s6 and I got caught up in the bi buck enthusiasm but truly even if buddie went canon in the next episode I will never forgive this show or be able to actually love it again, not after this. Yes I got into the show right away bc I loved Buck from s1e1, but I fell in love with the show as soon as Chris was introduced. Eddie and Christopher’s relationship (and later on them w Buck as well) was the main reason I fell for this show. (That and the grant-nash dynamic before s5). Single parent of a disabled kid, learning to build their own chosen family??? Hey, that’s MY family story! Of course I loved seeing it on tv. But they broke it with the bullshit about forgiving the parents so the children could have grandparents in s6 and then obliterated it with 7.10. I could have forgiven them the grandparent shit if they hadn’t fucked with Christopher and Eddie.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

this rehearsal went way better. praise the lord

a guitarist who had been using the rehearsal room with some other players asked me if he could watch the rehearsal and i said "i don't see why not" and he said he'd ask tita conductor, who put him up in a corner with a chair to watch the proceedings

i was going to refill my water and ran into tita conductor as she was returning from the restrooms and i was still in the Hey Girl, Are We Still Chill With Each Other? mood left over from the aftermath of tuesday so i gave her a wide berth and didn't make eye contact right away but she still gave me one of her most affable smiles as i went past

my stand partner leaned over to me as i sat in my seat and said quietly "it's a good thing you left when you did last time [editor’s note: i left at least five minutes before i was scheduled to] because if anything, everyone's mood just got more off after you were gone”

we were chatting over some bits of the pieces when i noticed tita conductor in my peripherals ostensibly taking attendance, which she likes to do by standing in front of the first stand of the section and staring at who is sitting in the seats like

i didn't look back at her until i noticed that she was not Moving On so i looked up and raised my eyebrows and she stepped closer and said to me "next quarter i think i will just ask you to take attendance. it is so hard to keep track of everyone with all the varying schedules, like [community member] is sitting with [part-time member], and there's an empty seat and i don't know..."

so i got up to stand with her and looked over the section and told her who was sitting where and with whom except for one, whose name made me draw a blank momentarily before i perked up and said "kylie! 😃" and tita conductor looked over at me and said "oh right, she did email me... probably that she wasn't going to be here today. i forgot" and smiled a little ruefully before moving on.

we got started with the first movement of the dvořák 8 and i leaned into a particularly lilting bit and tita conductor said ‘seconds, that was so beautiful’

so i guess we're cool? maybe? perhaps?

i had no clue how fast tita conductor was wanting to go with some of this which is not a great thing to realize just under a week to the concert. even some of the problem spots i had brought up to an expected speed were not up to the one she decided

i also had not been aware tita was conducting in two in some places and read her as a slow 4 which caused me to miss an entrance entirely and annoy her. i fixed it but man sometimes i need to know things that get agreed on... god i cannot WAIT to be full time again! i am so motherfucking tired of being part time

also my co-principal unilaterally deciding bowings to match the firsts and not telling me about them until i'm caught with my pants down at rehearsal on the backward bowing to her. sorry if this makes me a bitch but girl please communicate…

“trumpets! this is the moment you've been waiting for your whole lives. BABABABABABABABABA!!!!!”

littlebrothercore concertmaster was unfortunately not present (he had an exam) so his stand partner (who has cleaned up his act) was in his place. acting concertmaster drew slight tita conductor ire for having his phone on his stand however he didn’t argue and set it down immediately when she asked him

however he dropped it from a few inches off the ground and it made a loud noise. and from the podium tita conductor let out an unholy snort of laughter

for some reason my phone (which i keep hidden on my stand to monitor time so i can make it to my next class) failed to notify me that i needed to leave, so i wound up being a few minutes late to my next class. a small price to pay for being where i am happy

the guitarist from the beginning loved our rehearsal and thought we were “insane”, which was sweet and reminded me that when you’re not on the inside or in the know, the imperfections are not so obvious

coming up on our next episode, a sunday rehearsal, also known as one where i finally get to be there for more than an hour for the first time this term. stay tuned!

[ultimatebottom69]

Could you make a list of your 10 favorite Romance club love interests?

So Anon. I made the list. And as usual imma explain each choice of mine. And mainly i will take stories that have ended except for 2 of them. My rating is my taste so the main rating is How entertaining was it ? Did I get bored ? Did I think of never finishing this book ? Did I like the characters ? Was my female LI interesting ? And yes stories who haven't ended do get points taken away. Did I laugh out loud while reading it ? Did It take long for me to end the book ? Did I like the plot ? Did I give a fuck about the characters's fates ? Did I spend money ? Did i do it on DR ? Can I say to someone a part of the book I liked WITHOUT searching it up ?

Also Did I need the walkthrough ?

All this contributes to the list below. Again this as an Female LI romancer specifically. It was a time before slots. So i am judging specifically how much entertainment was I getting despite My LI not being here at all cause every female LI here is sidelined as usual.

1- Arcanum. Argue with the wall, Mary's route was a good 9/10, Alice was cooking and serving I did like the change of ambiance compared to season 1. Because despite the weak ass season 2 we had our moments and Selena's obsession with bridges...Incredible I would have liked a longer season 3 cause what do you mean it was all connected ? Also the fucking horses. Selena is such a delight because she is a RED FLAMING FLAG. No need for a red flag LI with her ass and yet they delivered Mary. No one could beat that in FLI (Xantheia enters the chat) I would like to remove my previous statement about no competition.

9.7/10

2. Heaven secret 1. I know. I know. But in my defense *pulls out Mimi out of a comically small bag* This fine lady was in here. Also the plot...Is funny, the main character was hilarious and very bold. The team of friends "Adi and Sammy" were a delight. Lucifer was an asshole but what's new. Fencio...Well I am mad we couldn't kill the man. I was on demon's path and i really liked it. Also the fact we killed Malbonte with his own power. Not bad for a gal who has an art degree at best. Bravo Victoria.

9.65/10. Because Alice is homophobic. I am not forgiving you for Austie not being in the li roster woman. Also for robbing us of Bont. I am still mourning.

3. Exceptionnaly I'm going to add a story that hasn't ended yet but to me it's the same as if it is cause it's just too good. Path of Valkirye. God damn. It would have beaten HS1 by a fucking landslide had the author stayed the same. In fact it could have beaten everyone if it wasn't for the fact the author changed unfortunately. The Loyd route ? Hmhm. Finger licking good. The plot ? 10. The characters ?8. Loki and the blod guy are here. I did like the blonde gal and the one episode we had of jealousy because I was romancing both at the same time. Also Loyd carrying me like a sack of potato. That is all I ever wanted.

And she is litterally HOT, 9.55555555/10

4-HOT. Now. I know what you're thinking but in my defense. Gisella is the GOAT. MVP. Hell yes. She is an icon and she is the moment. Except for her weird fart joke accolyte. I forgot his name fuck that guy. She was the real one her route is a 10. Simply for how long the episodes are. But there is no plot holes at all. None. I did hate the interlude had the most interesting moments. And also rare book where you can shoot a man in the balls with a fucking arrow.

8.5/10. Yes i did include the weird SA jokes in the grade but we can shoot a man in the balls. It kinda evens out. If we could have shot more people (including the people who were trying to SA) I would have made it a 9.

5. Vying for Versailles. Maria Theresa. For short we call her MT. The plot is cool but god damn you need the walkthrough for this book. Like oof. But i loved the characters loved the accurate ass historical representation of Louis xiv cause yes as a french we all knew that guy sucked MASSIVE ass in a bad way. I do love the book made him the town bycycle by how many women were passing through.

Hated we couldn't kill the guy but they DARED let me the option to kill my queen ? Fuck you author. I am meeting you in the parking lot for that one. Square up. Oh and I am doing that for Bonne too. This was a hate crime. Loved the happy ending, loved the vibe, I surprisingly liked the religious talk, mainly because I am fine praying with Maria Theresa yeah I am converted this is my religion now, if it gives me an excuse to have more time with her. I am still beating your ass.

8.25/10, the bonus point was cause I am french. Also louis's mom had got it going ON !

6 .Heaven Secret 2 : Yes. Yes yes. Yes. I know. I know. I know. I know. I never said my taste were immaculate. I can enjoy a shitshow when I see one cause this was Shepha's goofiest ass apocalypse I ever seen.

The chaos was worth every diamond. The goofy ass reveal of Vicky's true power. The reveal of Mammon dying a second time just to go "Psych ! Still alive." Eliza. Lord above. Mimi you lucky your mom ain't an LI. Austie's dad...Being a bad father ? Please this was not a reveal, you look at Austie three minutes and you can tell she has a difficult relationship with her parents.

I am mad we didn't see her more by the way.

The Mother of life was...Well she was not giving Mother, she was giving Cunt Slay Wine Aunt. Good for her is all I am saying but huh the sprite was not it. War was...Well i killed him. I am mad we didn't kill or fuck Plague. Yes I am one of these peoples. Sue me.

And the CG for Mimi were highly AI generated. The wedding and the last one. Like hm. But Mimi saved this book for me despite her change of sprite, and her weird decision to try become an actress and I am over here like "But you said back 10 years ago that....You know what ? Sure. I'll watch you with pleasure." . She was everything and it took me 5 episodes to love HS2. Can't wait for HS3. Now the rating is low. What would have upgraded immediately the rating ? Let me kill Rebecca in the finale battle. Let me do it. Why you cockblock me. Why are you a misogyn Alice ?

7.99/10

7. Rage of Titans. Now. I love greek mythology. I love that shit. Love Hercules. This book was supposed to be ranked higher but the plot was all over the place but the endings were a chief kiss in comparison. The female LI was good except for her change of personality...Well more like gain of a personality because until the reveal of they are Gods she was bland. Another book where the brother dies. Frankly heh. Aphrodite's route got a CG my lord. A cg like hmmmm. Also any book that lets me insult Zeus scott free gets my vote also...There were very funny background moments. I don't remember his name but one of sprite is so funny in season 3 the demi son of zeus. Good story too bad for the weird plot definitely needed another season and more then 1 female LI.

Anyway 7/10

8.Ok so. Another story that hasn't ended yet. But overall it is one of the rare stories where I don't really have a bad opinion of it. But I don't have either a strong love for it but I would say it fits here for me and my taste. W time catcher. So the book is solid. Again well Fantasy and I. Love story. Main female LI. She is MILF. Love the diverse cast no sprite looks like the others. The MC is super interesting. The only person I don't like of the squad and that's why i don't love the story much is the nonbinary pal with the pink streak in his hair. I don't really care about him but that's a me issue. The plot is bland in my opinion but again I prefer books who are very chaotic and have tons of comedy. WTC fits ONE criteria. The comedy is here it is funny. So I am giving a

6.6669/10 for now when the story ends I am pretty sure I will rate it differently.

9. Gladiator Chronicles. I like swords. I like gladiators. I like killing people. I like blood. So why is not higher in the classement ? Well the plot kinda...Huh. exploded like the death star. Augusta became sidelined somehow and did went through a personality change. Which we can't say the same about her brother. Fuck that guy. Nor her sister miss Delias 2.0. The ending was good and I had the meme "Oh Hi mark." On repeat. 6/10

10. Flower of Tiamat fire. Ok so. I like magic. I love fantasy. I love random fantastical animals. I loved the plot. I loved the side characters. Fuck Niall though, Hate the man. It was a guaranteed hit for me. Loved the story. It took only 2 days DR for me to finish it that's how good I was having it. I was buying them tea cups like it was black friday. The mother of Life ??? BITCH SHE WAS GIVING MOTHER OF LIFE ! Also the chaos energy thingy loved that plot line. Now though, why is it not in top 5 ? Despite all my praises ? Well IT WAS in the top 5. Until. Sue's ending ? I am mad. Very mad. Extremely mad even. This is me going "We were rooting for you, WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU ! HOW DARE YOU ?!" level of indignation. Author this was worse then just being homophobic. This was a total let down. I never been more mad in my life of a fucking ending especially how the route was built up. Like damn. I spent my money on this and THIS is the thanks I get ? I hope every water you drink always taste bad and you can never smell food, get out my house. 5/10. My disapointement is immeasurable and my week was ruined.

[tinyplanetss]

lego monkie kid s5 spoilers !

i won't say too much here as it definitely needs a rewatch but. i enjoyed many of the character moments but was utterly BAFFLED by the overarching plot. i felt like i had NO idea what was going on the whole time, and they didn't introduce their antagonist until episode 8 and then he disappeared saying it was up to mk or something? i dont know. im baffled. this was very much the Hey guys! We have a lot of questions to answer and instead of taking our time and letting the answers come out naturally we are going to speedrun them! so we get one samadhi fire episode, one mystic monkey powers episode, and i just wish they had taken their time!!!!! idk. i did enjoy a lot of aspects of it but ive been so spoiled by s1-4 i forgot was it was like to watch a show with major lost potential. man. i probably wont say much on the animation, besides the fact that wildbrain clearly did their best with what they had and had a lot of moments that emulated the cartoonish style pretty well. although the animation definitely took me out of the moment fairly often. but again. please put me in the alternate universe where lego just waited for flying bark to be free and gave these subplots time to breathe. okay im done i dont want to be too negative i just want to get my thoughts out👍 when i rewatch i may try and do some rewritten oneshots if i feel up to it because so many of these moments were barely touched on that couldve been HUUUUGE scenes!! will ponder it. lots of spaghetti was thrown at a few too many walls we just gotta let the ideas breeeeeeeathe <3

tldr; this is something that will probably become more clear with a rewatch but the plot did not feel immersive to me though i enjoyed the silly and emotional character moments, the latter felt a bit bogged down by the animation unfortunately. i wanted to be on the edge of my seat again like with the lbd or azure finale!!! but i was kinda just sitting here like but. we talked about other options. why is this his only choice i thought we threw off destiny alreadyyyyy why would they write him fated to die if he already BEAT the whole destiny controlling him thing idk

post post script: THEY DIDNT LET THE MONKIES HOLD HANDSSSSSSS <- remembering the stuff i really liked about the season because I SWEAR THERE WAS POSITIVE my literary analysis brain just took over tryimg to solve it 😭😭 i promise i liked soooo much of the voice acting and stuff

[forensicated]

Lewis and Emma - 1/2 years. Dan and Will 4 Years, Leela 5 years, Honey 7 years, Yvonne 8 years, Reg and Tony have to be at least 25 years - can't quite read their years.

Smiffina Episodes - Episode 440

Heaton charged Gina with looking after his prized orchid when he left for annual leave - unfortunately she forgot and has crept into his office on the morning he returns to replace it with another.

On his desk she spots confidential information with a spreadsheet that compares the older officers salary with the more modest newer intake's salary with another station and she sneaks a read - caught by Smithy who makes her jump.

"John Heaton notices everything." "It's a plant, Smithy. I've not murdered his budgie!"

She tells him what she saw in the report, "Long story short you can get three for the price of two!"

John notices his orchid has been swapped and asks Gina to bring it back to him in the hope he can revive it. He also doesn't mention the paperwork that Gina saw, but did order 12 officers to be on high visibility policing on the Jasmine Allen given its introduction onto the 10 highest crime rated areas in London. Smithy tries to calm Gina down over what she saw but she snaps back that the highest paid/longest serving PC's at Sun Hill are Reg and Tony and she won't let him just sack them. "If he wants a fight he's got one!"

Adam is in for a meeting and tells Gina he can't interfere with how Heaton decides to run the station. He also tells her that he's taking some time off unpaid to go and regroup in Nigeria.

Gina later goes to talk to him about it and she admits she looked at the confidential documents. Heaton won't be drawn and tells her only that he's aware of the merits of more officers and also the consequences of losing those with longer service. He says he'll make his report within the next 2 weeks and that their conversation is over.