#unless it's been shown onscreen

[thatgirl4815]

Why would he refer to Ray as his 25th hour then if they've been together only once? And the way he mentioned collecting rent from Ray for staying over so often. I don't think Ray comes over to chastely sleep beside Sand in bed. They've definitely been hooking up on the regular ever since that first night

The main reason I've been hesitant is because of everything we've been shown since this scene--

In Ep 4, we saw them go to the record store together and presumably later that night, Ray sat alone in his bathtub contemplating things. The only other time it's been specifically alluded to that they could've hooked up is here--

The more I think about it, the more I interpret their expressions here to mean that they definitely intended something to happen when they got back to Sand's place. So maybe it wasn't just the once. The part at the beginning of Ep5 certainly seems like a bit of a time lapse (with Sand repeatedly waking up, etc.), so maybe we're meant to interpret it like this "phase" of Ray and Sand's relationship (proceeding Ep4) has been going on for a few weeks? In which case, them hooking up wouldn't be out of the question.

About the part where Sand mentions paying rent...he says, "More often than this I'm going to start making you pay rent" which doesn't necessarily signify that Ray has been over multiple times beyond the two times we've seen him stay over there, but it also doesn't eliminate the possibility? I think it's intentionally pretty vague.

Of course, it's very possible that they have been hooking up this whole time. With things like this, I generally focus on what's shown explicitly in the show, unless there's a very specific indication of what has gone on beyond the scenes (like for BostonNick, given their conversations about going at it multiple times).

[givehimthemedicine]

El's protectiveness and friendships in the lab

wanted to take a minute to appreciate that El's protectiveness isn't a character trait that only emerges post-lab. she's always been that way [assuming, for this post, that NINA stuff more or less happened]; it just couldn't always present in a way that looks badass on a poster.

El and Eighteen

only crumbs here, but if I have to point out a lab kid that El is friendlier with than the others, it's Eighteen.

El holding Eighteen's hand is the only affectionate act I've ever noticed between any of the lab kids, and offering that comfort to her littlest sister is probably as "protective" as El can afford to be (esp as an eight year old with the least power and social standing of anyone).

when the kids in general laugh at El for failing at the light game, Eighteen is not one of the kids shown doing so.

Eighteen is the first dead child El is shown to be upset about. it's not that she looks more distressed about her than the others, but it's odd that she saw Ten dead on the floor next to Brenner a second before this and didn't really react. (maybe she couldn't tell Ten was dead from the doorway? idk)

maybe an El/Eighteen friendship is cornplating or whatever the youths are calling it, but bearing in mind that we're never actually told that El/Eight had some super close friendship, maybe theirs looked something like this.

side note - are friendships even permitted in the lab?

letting the kids form friendships could be dangerous, as Brenner, couldn't it? risks them forming alliances against you? this is why I was asking the other day if socializing seems discouraged in the RR. like, even the bullies, who were "friends," never chatted openly in there unless the cameras were off. maybe any lab friendships have to be hush hush by nature.

anyway idk there's just something about us going "🤯 same numbers!!!" upon seeing the 001 / 011 tattoos, and then 008 + 018 being the only other kids El is hinted at being friendly with... why are we reusing the same pattern? 001 / 008 / 011 / 018 just happen to be every combination of those three numbers within the number of available children.

especially with El "being 8" (as in, years old) at this time. it's giving Henry, 12 / mother of 5. idk where I'm going with that but I'm squinting. Eighteen, you're not some bizarro Little Eight who has an inverted friendship with Big El, right?

El lashing out in the lab

we're shown repeatedly that El hates seeing people get hurt, but multiple times onscreen (and you know innumerable times off) she witnesses severe abuse to her siblings, and we never see her act in their defense like post-lab El would. of course, that's because she realistically can't. we know trying to help anyone in the lab accomplishes little except getting both people in trouble. but I was thinking about how we DO see El lash out for her own sake in 1983. so what's the takeaway? El cares more about protecting herself than others? nah. let's look at the other guard killing scene (again. assuming this really happened):

when similarly cornered in 1979, El's immediate response is silent surrender.

why is her behavior so different? because she's weak? too scared / well controlled? too nice to kill? all those factors have already been established as non-issues in this moment. (she does have her powers here; the circle game proved that Brenner can't control El and knows it; killing when cornered is canonically within her nature)

you might think having a staff member on her side would make her more defiant, but instead she's more compliant here than in '83 (either time. even in the non-guard-killing flashback, El screams and struggles the whole way.)

El and One

he's the difference. she doesn't know he's her brother or has powers yet, but he has presented himself as a fellow prisoner rather than someone in a position of authority. she's also already seen him get punished because of her.

as far as El knows right here, if she lashes out - whether she then escapes successfully or not - she'd be bringing SEVERE punishment onto a nice guy who can't defend himself or escape.

she has a chance at freedom, the power to kill, and the escape route all planned out, but she doesn't do it. the thing that's not in her nature is abandoning a friend to God-knows-what punishment on her behalf.

so while One killing the guards is an act of protection to El, it's also a massive act of protection to One that El is ready to throw out the whole plan right here. don't miss it just because it's not the classic El-screamy-hand thing.

she's sacrificing her chance at freedom in hopes of slightly mitigating his punishment. (they're both doomed to very bad punishment upon capture right here, but if she escapes I think he'd get punished even worse. so she's choosing to share in pretty bad punishment over him being punished extremely severely and her not at all.)

even aside from punishment, she knows she'll be returning to an even worse home life than the one she believed necessitated her immediate escape (Brenner apparently arranging for her to be killed).

so here, can she afford to act out not only because she's acting alone, but because she's an only child, so to speak? there's no one else who could potentially suffer as a result of her actions. no other siblings to use as leverage. no one to protect.

whatever consequences Brenner carried El off to after killing those orderlies, she bore it alone.

I can sorta read this as protective of the other kids in general - not that she did it, but that she didn't until now.

am I saying Brenner might have randomly punished other kids as a result of something El did?

have you met the guy? definitely would've threatened it, might've actually done it. manipulation by whatever means necessary.

when you work in a building full of superpowered people who hate you, you gotta control them psychologically, because physical control isn't something you can maintain for long. it's imperative that they're more afraid of the consequences of kicking your ass than they are of whatever torture you're putting them through. emotional manipulation using friends and innocents as pawns is a classic move. (another reason the kids might want to keep lab friendships secret even if they're allowed.)

that's not theory - we've seen Brenner use this tactic onscreen, telling El that he'll have Owens killed if she tries to get to him. he knows he can't physically control her, so he exerts psychological control by placing Owens' blood on El's hands to get her to cooperate.

the phrase "blood on one's hands" means being responsible for deaths, not having literally, personally committed murder. this imagery is used onscreen to denote El's sense of guilt about the massacre well before she comes to the conclusion that she actually did it. (this could be symbolism that El's mind organically dreamed up instead of engineered fuckery, but who knows. we have no textual explanation yet for how her hands would be that bloody).

and together with Brenner very textually using the kids against each other in other ways - having them literally duel each other in the circle game, but also the "driving them to do exactly what he wants" stuff - I don't think it's unreasonable to figure that fear of harm to the other kids was a manipulation tactic used in the lab.

that definitely includes One - lines like "I'm not going with you / if he finds me he will find you" "I wanted to help you, but I only made things worse" smack of a guy kept in line by fear of something happening to the kids.

and the Brenner-orchestrating-El's-murder story smells like a psyop. is this just Brenner wanting One to think harm would come to El as a consequence of his actions? (she became "uncontrollable" as a result of his coaching). El is too valuable an asset to actually kill. who would know better than One that the treatment for being uncontrollable is soteria, not death? assuming One is being truthful, why would he not see through that. idek what I think is going on here anymore

anyway. MKUltra is ALL about manipulation but I'll talk more about that in my other post

times El protects her friends the same way she protected One

practically every move El makes is about protecting her friends but I want to point out a few times that are specifically reminiscent of her protection of One, where she's ready to give up her freedom to protect her friends even at risk of the worst case scenario (going back to the lab):

sacrificing herself to protect the party from the demogorgon ("no more") <- is that line in reference to the 6 people the demogorgon has snatched, or is that a massacre reference given how incredibly parallel these scenes are. I'm not sure whether "goodbye Mike" meant she thought she'd die or just get so wiped out that she'd be easily recaptured by the lab

leaving Kali and "freedom" to return to Hawkins and protect her friends, where she volunteers to go back into the lab to close the gate

leaving Cali and "freedom" to return to the lab to get her powers back to protect her friends

final thought: I just had a chuckle with myself at the fact that iirc it's Mike and Nancy whose lives El has individually, directly saved the most times.

[honorable mention for Max because I don't know how to quantify 4x9. is that like one massive save?]

like, Mike, okay, but why the Nancy emphasis when she and El have basically zero onscreen relationship. (actually I have a lot to say about El and Nancy coming up soon that might add context)

idk.. lab sibling guilt smth smth El protecting Nancy "she'll be like your new sister" and Mike "will you be like my brother" Creeler. you gotta love it

[eddiediazismyhusband]

I totally get you with the bait vibes and I am apprehensive about buddie/its timing this season. My only thing is that Oliver has spoken so much in the past over worrying about baiting people with buddie and Ryan has spoken with so much care about these characters together that I just can't see either of them suddenly going all in on baiting with buddie without knowing that there are good things coming for them. Not saying they'll go canon in episode 2 or anything but they likely know the general arc/storyline for the season and knowing how much we and they care about buddie, I don't see Ryan or Oliver toying with the fans for fun and being careless or meanspirited about it unless they felt assured about where things might be going this season

this is why the fact that it’s on the official 911 account worries me. because it’s not just ryan and oliver posting, it’s olvier filming a video he was told to for the official account that ryan was also in, and the conscious decision for that video to be posted was made by someone who knows all the attention buddie brings in. if it was for olvier’s personal instagram then maybe id be a little less concerned about it, but the simple fact that it was for a video on the official 911 account doesn’t give me good vibes

i think often times in fandom we view the actors as having a lot more say in things than they actually do… obviously i don’t know what rules and regulations regarding social media involvement the cast have to follow, but i think the fandom automatically assumes that ryan and oliver get veto rights on things just bc of how involved in the show they are, when that’s often not the case— most of the time in show business, actors have to get things approved before they post them to keep from accidentally spoiling things.

that video wasn’t just ryan and oliver goofing off on set (i mean it was); it was intentionally chosen by someone on the 911 team and approved for the official account. it was chosen and approved bc ryan and oliver together means fandom interaction. it’s the same reason we had so many ryan and oliver interviews before s7 with all this pr talk of “they get closer than ever” and “they have such a strong bond” just for buddie to have very few actual meaningful moments onscreen. it’s textbook baiting, and tim has shown he’s not afraid of that.

i know oliver and ryan both feel strongly about buddie and both want to be careful about not baiting, but they’re not the issue here; the issue is that they are both employed by this production, and that means that sometimes they aren’t allowed to say “no” to how something is promoted.

(small addendum)

in regards to the “general storyline of the season” thing you mentioned (and i do not meant this to come across bitchy or rude at ALL) but tim has also stated that he doesn’t plan out seasons. he may bring up storylines he has ideas for and have an idea of where he might go, but he himself has said he doesn’t plan out full seasons (which is….. kinda what his whole job is supposed to be but i digress) and on top of that, we saw in s7 how quickly he made the decision to completely scrap his original ideas for 7b, scrapping a storyline w abuela that was mentioned, as well as bringing e*y and l*u back for more episodes than they were originally supposed to appear in, and creating that god awful “vertigo” mess…

im sure ryan and oliver are told “oh yeah we’re aiming for buddie canon this season” just like the show tries to do to us with the interviews and bts content, only to change their minds a few episodes in because they intentionally convolute/switch up the plot and say “ohhhh it just didn’t go there naturally :/“ (which is complete bullshit for reasons i shouldn’t have to explain to anyone)

overall i think fandom is too disconnected from how the show works/has worked in the past, and that we often ignore things that have been said in favor of the shiny buddie bait from the production (which is the whole point of the bait to begin with) and all that does is sets us up for disappointment in the long run because we convince ourselves that buddie is happening based on oliver and ryan talking about it, when oliver snd ryan most likely are also being strung along, and don’t have any veto power in that.

[valentinerose529]

New Fanfiction: Nanatsu no Taizai!

Dear fandom friends, are you annoyed by the questionable writing of Jericho's actions in Four Knights of the Apocalypse? Do you wish there was something truer to her character as it was developed in Seven Deadly Sins than what was done with her in the sequel? Are you appreciative of a polyamorous relationship between a king, a queen, and their best knight, and want to see this dynamic applied to Ban, Elaine, and Jericho?

Then I have the fanfiction for you!

Sir Jericho leaves Benoic to swear allegiance to the kingdom of Camelot. But not all is as it seems—for ten years, Jericho has been the most loyal knight of King Ban and Queen Elaine. Even King Arthur doubts the speed of her defection, and suspects her more than any other knight-errant due to her former coexistence with the Fairy people of Benoic. Jericho locks it as deeply as she can within her heart, but in the end, the truth will come out.

His Most Loyal Knight is a short fanfiction written by yours truly exploring exactly that: an attempt to explain Jericho's canon actions and dialogue through a long-con deception and where her loyalty really lies, and a reliance on the ficwriter's tenet that a nothing a character says has to be true unless it's shown onscreen. Coming in at 6k words, it's told in a series of flashbacks as the truth is revealed. But the reader isn't the only one discovering the truth...

His Most Loyal Knight (5966 words) by ValentineRose529 Chapters: 6/7 Fandom: 黙示録の四騎士 | Mokushiroku no Yonkishi | Four Knights of the Apocalypse (Manga), 七つの大罪 - 鈴木央 | Nanatsu no Taizai | The Seven Deadly Sins - Suzuki Nakaba (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Ban/Elaine/Jericho (Nanatsu no Taizai), Jericho & Lancelot (Nanatsu no Taizai) Characters: Ban (Nanatsu no Taizai), Elaine (Nanatsu no Taizai), Jericho (Nanatsu no Taizai), Lancelot (Mokushiroku no Yonkishi) Additional Tags: Spy Jericho (Nanatsu no Taizai), Memory Alteration, Loyal Knight & Monarch Dynamic, Polyamory, Jericho Does Not Love Lancelot (Nanatsu no Taizai), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Benoic | Benwick (Nanatsu no Taizai), Camelot (Nanatsu no Taizai), Not Beta Read, Flashbacks

Content warning for discussion of the one-sided pedophilic relationship as it appears in canon; however, rest assured that it does not actually exist in this fanfiction, it is a falsified tale used for deception and is used in conjunction with canon-typical manipulated memories.

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "A Dicey Situation" Episode Followup, Part 2

Captain O origin story continues, below the break!

Okay...this whole dice randomization thing is clever. Hate to do it, but I have to award another point to Tasha.

Yeah...yeah...he would have a dance to resemble a tragedy, bless him.

...No.

I would have been happier if they dropped a year. No thinking about the timeline. Drop a year and run.

On trillions of levels. No.

Instead they didn't, and I'm left with whatever assfuck shit this thing is that's supposed to be an old-timey version of a smartwatch but is not.

I do, however, appreciate the dice math lesson. That's pretty unique. Another point to Tasha.

...No, actually, subtract one for this completely arbitrary guessing and the contrived shit that will make one of their guesses right.

Considering they're partners in the same way Iroha tells Satoru that she feels "a special kind of wonderful" when she's with him in Precure, this is cute.

"We are so in sync!"

Man, Tasha's just getting all the ambiguously LGBTQ+ people in this series, huh?

You see that ship in the front?

AND NOW IT'S DRIED UP SO NOW WHAT. NOW WHAT???

That's what I thought Captain O's ship was gonna be. Had it spinning in my head and everything.

Okay, we get it, Orli and Ozzie are here, they are listening, please move on.

You...I mean...you haven't beaten them before? With your dice rolls?

Lmao okay sure.

Okay, I honestly have no idea why Osgood has a phone too, but it's bugging the absolute hell out of me because he's clearly on the line with Dottie but she's only on the line with Captain O.

Make it make fucking sense.

You roll your eyes, but there are hundreds of islands out there, so even though she just revealed her own weakness, this logic actually makes sense.

Love the chickenpox, hate the psoriasis.

Brought to you by Lilly Pharmaceuticals.

Oh this is bad news to drop on people who are trying to catch a villain. Fucking timing, my guy.

11 fucking minutes and Tasha can't even give a fucking reason why Captain O has to transfer to begin with?

B- h- why though. Why though.

Unless this is gonna get answered at some point during the finale, this is extremely disappointing. And even if it was, here the Admiral could have just said "an...incident has come up" or some other vague reason, and just left it at that to perpetuate the mystery.

Got the cartoony faces, but with all the charm of Ohlm.

And we all know how Ohlm turned out.

*long deep sigh* God save me.

THEY BROUGHT BACK THE TIME CARD??? FOR THIS?!?!?!?!?!

No...no...I fucking can't. Let me remind you that the one time a kraken was ever featured in this franchise, it was so horrifying that it wasn't even allowed to be shown onscreen and scared the hell out of everyone, Oprah included.

I'M SORRY???????

If I extended my middle fingers any more, I'd have to get the doctors to pop 'em back in.

To hear that this bitch can just summon krakens to attack literal children -- which, you know, can eat said children -- is so stupid and so out-there and so continuity-breaking that I am revoking every point Tasha has ever accrued and sending her to Seren Hell, where Odd Squad episodes are played on an endless loop and all there is for food and water are rice cakes and lava.

Make it make sense or I will bring my ass to wherever and make it make fucking sense myself.

And then it ate her, right?

A-and then it ate her, right.

'Cause that's what krakens do.

...SAY IT, TASHA. FUCKING SAY IT YOU COWARD.

(Also, Captain O wears pants here but switches to a skirt when she transfers. It's a nice touch, but I'd prefer if she kept the pants.)

...WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT DIDN'T EAT HER???????? FUCK YOU TOO!!!

Okay, for the sake of my sanity, I'm deducing that this is Odd Squad poker and this will never, in my lifetime, be up for debate.

"this is why you'll always be my first best mate"

he is literally in a position lower than her in the hierarchy

I'm sorry, was "second-in-command" not anything tossed around in the writers' room or??? Because that would have made this precinct a lot better.

It is always this same dumbass dance move and I hate it. I like the party in "Box Trot". Draw stuff from there.

And your credits for this episode. Octo is not listed in here, for some reason -- probably because he has miniscule speaking lines.

-------------------------------------------

Overall...this was one big pile of ough. Better than "The Triangle Sisters", but not by very much. Other origin stories -- "Weight of the World", "Totally Odd Squad" -- were much better, but "Mission O Possible" still ranks as the worst of the worst for me. This one is not nearly as bad.

Methinks Tasha needs to do a little more work before returning to the franchise, because both of her episodes were swings and misses in more ways than one. It is a good concept with a good math lesson and a good villain, but it needs to be fleshed out and freshened up a little more.

Next time will be "Lift Off", or the biggest cultural clash of the entire damn series/season. If there's a popstar clam...I wonder if we'll get a song? Food for thought.

Seren out!

[gayofthefae]

You know how I talk about season 4 being shot in Will's POV and how that affects our perceptions of the dynamics (both in the romantic dynamic between Byler but also how all the happy Milkvan scenes are through the lens of Will). SO much of that is made up of reaction shots.

Imagine we used some REAL SHOTS OF MIKE REACTING TO WILL in a slightly different way. Originally, this gif of Mike was him taking a moment before speaking as opposed to framed as a reaction but sequentially it, of course, was ALSO a reaction to Will (because talking or not, you take in your conversation partners' reactions and react to them). So let's mess with it a bit to be a reaction shot.

The thing about shots like this of Mike is that yes they seem more romantic isolated, but the point of that isn't to take them out of the context of the scene. It's to take them out of the context of the EDITING. Let me try again. Keeping it in the scene, even.

B)

Shift the dynamic from Mike talking and Will reacting to realize that one can react while talking to someone who isn't talking. Switch it to appear as if he's reacting to Will talking and it looks different. Not even talking, even just with his back turned at all. Because really,

These are the same hesitant, overjoyed, tender faces. Framed differently.

I repeat:

The only difference between Mike and Will's feelings as shown onscreen in scenes with one another was Will got reaction shots and close ups where Mike's reactions were grouped with his next line, he made faces like this that weren't the primary focus, sometimes even subversively chopped up (he looks over at Will in the van home from the roller rink but because it doesn't cut to what he's looking at, you can't tell unless you track closely).

The only difference in Byler this season was editing. That's a lie. Had their editing been the same, people would worry Will didn't feel the same about Mike.

Will's POV so heavily is just compensation for how subtle his actual feelings are. Mike doesn't need focal shift to pick up his feelings (only to confirm them..that's why I'm here. And that's why season 5 is there.)

[caitas-cooing]

Hi! As someone who follows you and knows nothing about Shining Nikki, what is the game about and why do you love it so much? I'd like to hear you talk about something you're passionate about :)

Okay, that is something that could take a while to explain, but let's start with the basic. Shining Nikki is a 3d dress up game and is the 4th game in the Nikki series, although Love Nikki and Shining Nikki are the only ones that are still on the Play store with active servers. Nikki up2u (the first one) was up on the door a long time, probably due to being an offline game overall so there was no server costs, but it was taken off somewhat recently though I don't remember when exactly. Nikki up2u was my first Nikki game because even though Love Nikki was out at the time I happened to stumble across Nikki up2u first, and then love Nikki a few months later. Shining Nikki is the only 3d one though, all the other entries are 2d. There's going to be another game called Infinity Nikki which is going to be an open world dress up game, but who knows when that's coming out, and when it does it still probably take a few years for us to get a global server.

Shining Nikki is important to me because I have been playing the Nikki series on and off since highschool. The combination of story and pretty clothes intrigued me and even though the translation can sometimes be not great (Love Nikki had some interesting statements and typos in there, Shining Nikki is much better in this regard but it still pops up occasionally) they are very interesting stories that are often darker than the cute clothes and bright colors would have you believe. Love Nikki's story involved being sent to another world called miraland where every dispute is solved by fashion battles, and later you find out that the reason that happens is because the people there are under a blood curse so that is they are violent against each other they will die painfully unless they take drugs to stop that from happening. Also someone stabbed Lunar onscreen and I was not expecting that from the game which was mostly lighthearted up to that point, but that scene probably alter my brain chemistry somehow I swear. Like the showed her getting stabbed onscreen and then she died in Nikki's arms while Nikki is crying. This happened in a dress up game. Lunar did not deserve that, Nikki did not deserve that. Lunar's death haunts me because of the shock of it all. Also Nikki gets swords and knives and guns as handheld objects in these games so that's fun.

Okay now finally onto Shining Nikki (you know, the game you actually asked me about originally and then I got sidetracked horribly). This game also takes place in miraland but in the past, so like before the blood curse happened. They still decide a lot of things through fashion and the use of "styling power" which can be used to do a lot of different things including controlling people like puppets or making illusions that people with lower styling power can't see through. These are both things villains in this game do in like the first few chapters of the game. That said, because it does take place before the blood curse there is a lot more violence, there are guns and knives and swords and gangs and wars. This stuff is described more than shown, but they are very present. Shining Nikki takes place in the past because miraland was destroyed in the time she was originally taken and she's trying to stop it from happening again. This games story is dark from the start unlike Love Nikki.

Shining Nikki also made the inspired decision of having Nikki directly talking with the player as a big part of the game and she is such a sweetie and I love her. She'll celebrate your birthday with you and ask if you've eaten and compliment your sense of style. Hearing Nikki say "I know you enjoy your leisure time at night, but try not to stay up too late" is so nice every time. She'll also sing a son about what she would do if she were a cat and complain about how Momo never lets her touch his toe beans. She'll say sadder stuff sometimes to like how she feels lonely when she remembers she doesn't belong to this time and space or how she misses her family at night.

There's more stuff to say too but it's way later (or technically earlier) than I thought it was so I should attempt the sleep thing so I'm stopping here. This whole ramble was a mess and I apologize for that.

Anyway look up Shining Nikki Star Sea and I think that will help explain some of the appeal too. Pretty animation make my brain happy. The physics in the hair and dresses in game are also neat. It goes whoosh

[utilitycaster]

not to be all “only i like my blorbo correctly”, but i’m fully convinced that certain people would hate Imogen as a character if they actually engaged with her outside of “conventionally attractive sadgirl that’s one half of an aesthetically pleasing queer ship”. fully believe that if she looked like Chetney or Ashton or even Fearne, and didn’t come with a prepackaged ship, people would be forced to look at her as the complex, unique loose cannon that she is

Hey anon, I agree with much of this and I hope you don't mind if I go on what might be one of my weirder tangents/theories but this has been percolating for a few weeks and I think I've cracked the secret to one of the more toxic segments of the fandom.

I definitely think that if Imogen were not a woman, a lot of people would hate her (granted, a different group of people who hate her now would probably like her more if she were a man, because misogyny is extremely extant outside of the bubble, and even a little bit within the bubble, that is Tumblr). However, they'd be fine if she looked like Fearne...but many wouldn't be fine if she were also played by Ashley. Or yeah, if she weren't easily shipped with Marisha's character.

Here's the deal. When I and a number of other people were like "oh hey! Imogen is not really taking other people's feelings into consideration and is being rather insensitive about the Ruby Vanguard, given that they've killed half the party, particularly since she's literally known Laudna like 10 times longer than she's know her mother was alive" the attitude was "wow, you hate Imogen, you hate women, you're so unfair" and yet now, at a table that is half women (and a group of characters that literally has only one man) everyone who thought I hate Imogen and how if she were a man everyone would care is now literally just mostly ignoring her (and honestly like, everything) and instead constantly whining about how they miss Laudna. Which is frankly weak as hell, like, anyone who's loved Pike or Yasha is like "oh you must be new here", and at least people talking about Travis being missing during the gap between Bertrand's death and Chetney's arrival were making good memes. But I digress.

My theory, which I do admit is the most tin-foil hat I think I've gone, comes from some polls I've seen circulating complaining about queerbaiting in past shows, and also my recent interest in Glee as ground zero of really horrible fandom behaviors (thanks to people who have provided insight into that!) Anyway. I recently learned that apparently Quinn and Rachel was a really popular ship, for reasons I cannot, for the sake of what little decorum and kindness I am maintaining here, speculate on. Setting aside that this is not queerbaiting and it's wildly inappropriate and damaging to say it was, given that this show was full of queer characters and Quinn was shown hooking up with a woman, this has in fact clicked into place for me why people constantly ship Marisha and Laura's characters despite chemistry that is inconsistent at best and tepid on average. It's not terribly hard to draw lines from Quinn to Vex and Rachel to Keyleth, especially if you consider how fanon tends to handle these archetypes. Then they transferred this to just Laura and Marisha's characters in general, and here we are, and man if it hasn't gotten even more flavorless with every transfer.

So anyway yeah a lot of people really don't like Imogen much as a character unless they can project onto her, but because she's half of The Ship, they also will not tolerate any exploration of her flaws that could threaten The Ship and so they need to remove her agency and blame it on various rocks instead of Imogen being cranky and impatient as a person (like, again, if you want to interpret her powers as chronic pain, why are you not allowed to grant her the same complexity as Ashton, who is also cranky and impulsive?) But really the kicker is that if Marisha isn't physically onscreen, they start acting like a cat you locked out of the bathroom and simultaneously forget they're supposed to care about or enjoy Imogen as an individual.

[telomeke]

MOONLIGHT CHICKEN – WEN'S NAME AND ITS LINKS TO POLITICAL COLOR SYMBOLISM

The way Wen's name is represented on screen in Moonlight Chicken is really interesting.

It isn't a Thai name, and is more probably Chinese. However, the Chinese character or ideogram isn't shown to us anywhere, not even in the Cantonese or Mandarin subtitles – they just spell out Wen in letters of the Roman alphabet instead of using a Chinese character:

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.1 [4/4] 9.28

But it's possible to find out what it is in Chinese (kind of), and this is what I did.

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.5 [4/4] 14.21

Jim has Wen's name stored on his phone as เหวิน, and it's the same Thai word used for the Chinese Emperor Wen of Sui – and his name employs the character 文. This is a word that refers to language, culture, or writing. It can also mean formal, literary or gentle, and because of all this it has a scholarly vibe.

But Wen's name really takes on significance when we see how else it connects, and surprisingly one of the weightier evocations is political in nature. 👀 Take a look at how Wen's name is represented in his own phone:

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.5 [1I4] 16.20

The w and n are present, but what happened to the e? Wen calling himself wn doesn't quite make sense – unless it's being done for other reasons. And in fact, the abbreviation does begin to take on significance when we look at it another way.

Now there is one thing that Thai people sometimes do with the Roman alphabet – they play around with the visual similarity that some letters have to letters in the Thai abugida, using Roman letters to spell out Thai words for a bit of fun. (Director Aof introduced this to us with the Inwza of Pat's chat ID in Bad Buddy – see this post linked here for more explanation.)

There appears to be general concurrence that the Roman letters w and n somewhat resemble the Thai letters พ and ท respectively – so the wn in Wen's phone can also be rendered พท. Noting that Wen's formal first name – วงศกร or Wongsakorn – means ancestor according to some online dictionaries, I think Moonlight Chicken is telling us to look more closely at the predecessor of Wen's พท for deeper meaning.

An online search of พท brings up several results, of which the following two are the most interesting:

พ.ท. – an abbreviation for Lieutenant Colonel (พันโท, pronounced something like phan tho);

พท. – an abbreviation for Pheu Thai Party (พรรคเพื่อไทย).

Looking first at Lieutenant Colonel (พันโท), the first word พัน (phan) means a thousand, while the second word โท (tho) can mean (among other things) two, second or double. It's probably just a coincidence, but it nonetheless reads like a neat little tip of the hat to the drama A Tale of a Thousand Stars (ATOTS) – it's as though the words thousand and second are signaling that Moonlight Chicken is Thousand Stars Pt.2 (remembering that ATOTS was also helmed by Director Aof, and also starred Earth, Mix and Khaotung).

However, it's the second meaning of พท – an abbreviation of พรรคเพื่อไทย or Pheu Thai Party – that's really interesting, because its appearance onscreen looks like a purposeful decision colored with political impulses.

The Pheu Thai Party (PTP, sometimes also called PPT because, you know, Thai language) was the third incarnation of Thailand's ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's original political party, after the first two were dissolved by the courts. (The first party, Thai Rak Thai, was founded in 1998 while PTP was founded in 2007, to give you an idea of the time period involved. This is around and after the time Jim and Jam ran away from the family farm, and so they would have been witness to the political drama with regard to this party, right up close in their cities.)

Before joining politics, Thaksin Shinawatra was in the police force, and attained the rank of – you guessed it – พ.ท. or Lieutenant Colonel (it was revoked later, after his fall from power). But he came from a family of businessmen, and had always been active in business.

Not to go too much more into detail (because I already have) the PTP and its previous versions rode into power in several elections on a platform of poverty eradication. Support from the rural poor was immense for them, especially because of welfare policies that the party introduced.

However, it was clear the party (in all its incarnations) was also on the side of big business, and once in power continued to engage in such. Opposition to Thaksin and his activities began to form, and came primarily from a coalition with a large base of support among the urban elite (intellectuals and the educated) and also royalists. They eventually formed a party to counter him formally, called the PAD.

The party espousing rights for the poor (while still affirmedly capitalist) was nicknamed the Red Shirts, while the party leveling charges of corruption against them, with the support of high-thinkers, intellectuals and royalists, became known as the Yellow Shirts. Protests would see throngs of supporters dressed (separately) in these two colors.

A detour into an explanation of the colors is in order here. As mentioned before in my write-up on Wen's friend Gong (linked here), in Thailand the color yellow can sometimes be seen as suggesting links to higher authority and the wisdom of greater experience. Shades of it (ranging to darker tones of mustard, even with nuances of rust) are reminiscent of the saffron robes worn by Buddhist monks respected for their piety and wisdom. And yellow is also the color associated with the current king as well as his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej before him – and we need to bear in mind that the majority of Thais absolutely revere the king, with him being seen as an incarnation of God in all his wisdom.

Director Aof has riffed on this significance of the color yellow before, in Bad Buddy Ep.12, when Korn comments on how much ex-bad boy Wai was reformed and religious:

(above) Bad Buddy Ep.12 [1I4] 5.32

In the scene above, Director Aof showed that Wai's rehabilitation was complete by dressing him in yellow, even as the dialogue made references to religion, good manners, temples and (Buddhist) donations. The choice of color was absolutely intentional – they actually dressed Wai in a woman's shirt (you can tell from the way the shirt placket overlaps right over left), and they did this not to suggest he'd been emasculated, but because the color was just what they needed for the character in this scene (suggesting his pivot to a life more monastic and respectful). So the choice of the color yellow (with all its connotations of religiosity and reform) took precedence over any ideas about gendering, which kind of fits nicely with other themes in Bad Buddy too.

As for the color red, its symbolism on the Thai flag is that it represents the land, its lifeblood (the people) and also blood spilled to maintain the country's independence. And these are concepts clearly laden with passionate emotion.

Although Thailand's population is now slightly more than 52% urban, it was still majority rural at the time before and during Thaksin's premiership (and rural populations were almost always poorer than urban ones). The idea of urban Thailand as having rural underpinnings was prevalent, and the Red Shirts capitalized on this – if the color red symbolized the land and its people, people working the land would surely be the best example of this lifeblood.

So what the Red Shirts did was to appeal emotionally to the rural populace, that had long felt ignored, and spoke to their sense of marginalization with handouts and welfare, and made them feel that they were finally being seen. Thus the color red came to be associated with championing the cause of the (rural) poor during those times, along with the heated emotions that were being stirred up in this segment of the population in support of the party.

With regard to the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts – I'm not at all taking sides or writing about who was right and who was wrong. But because of what these colors mean in Thailand (and especially during the era of the Red and Yellow Shirts referenced by Wen's name), I think in Moonlight Chicken the colors yellow and red speak of the dichotomy between living your life based on rational thought, as opposed to emotional reaction (the age-old conflict of head v. heart). And the connection that the color red also has to socio-economic class struggles in Thaksin-era Thailand also resonates around Jim, Wen and the diner in particular (noting that the heyday of the Red Shirts was also the same time that Jim was beginning his new life in the city).

I don’t really do wardrobe color analysis (please visit @respectthepetty's archive linked here for stuff that's much more in-depth and wide-ranging across many different shows 👍). But I'll take a stab at it for this aspect of Moonlight Chicken, painting only with the very broadest of brushstrokes (noting that you can't apply the color palette too strictly anyway, because it'll make the characters look like they're in uniform and the whole effect will turn cartoony).

In Moonlight Chicken I think the color red (echoing the cause of the Red Shirts) does represent the downtrodden and their struggle to survive. Jim's diner has red aprons, and we see a lot of red on Jim, Saleng and Li Ming – they're quite clearly represented as the underclass.

Wen having wn or พท on his phone to refer to himself may be a sign that he aligned himself with the Red Shirts' point of view, at least at the beginning and with regard to the underprivileged. From Ep.2 onwards, we see Wen's wardrobe starting to take on more red even as he starts to feel increasing empathy for Jim and Jim's found family, especially when he begins helping out as temp staff at the diner. (This parallels how the PTP, that shares the พท on Wen's mobile phone, was also identified with the Red Shirts and fighting for the poor).

But red is also the color that we see Jim's money-grubbing landlord representative wearing in Ep.3 [2/4], even as his bike is yellow:

(above left) Moonlight Chicken Ep.3 [2/4] 2.26; (above right) Moonlight Chicken Ep.3 [2/4] 0.57

Meanwhile, Wen also works with the Marina Development that threatens the diner (and this organization is symbolic of big business, just like the party associated with the Red Shirts also had similar interests). When they show us Wen's first in-office meeting (that we get to see), he's still in red but he's also cloaked it with a neutral (indicating that his loyalties may be divided):

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.3 [1I4] 1.42

So I think the color red in Moonlight Chicken not only symbolizes the oppressed, but also the systems oppressing them. It may be associated with the poor and their lot in life, but it may also be appropriated by those with less-charitable intentions. When applied to Jim's landlord representative, who's using both yellow and red, we can't see where his true loyalties lie, and the colors serve to illustrate his basic untrustworthiness.

In these two examples (Jim's troubles with the landlord and the Marina Development) we are reminded of how the party of the Red Shirts, the PTP, may have been helping the poor with handouts (appealing to their emotions in exchange for votes), but it was also on the side of big business, and engaging in mega-business dealings that would line its own coffers (that might or might not be channeled back to help the poor – I have no idea as to their actual plans).

The Yellow Shirts certainly didn't think this was right though, and charges of corruption were leveled against Thaksin and his party, eventually leading to his political demise.

But in Moonlight Chicken, what we see as the series progresses is Wen beginning to wear more and more yellow even as he's drawn in closer to Jim's circle. This to me signals that he's applying more reasoned thought on how to resolve his divided loyalties (keeping in mind the monastic/intellectual/royal significance of the color yellow, and the scholarly connotations of his name 文).

The following outfit paints a picture of Wen's journey (and it's the same one that he wears when we get a first glimpse at the wn on his phone):

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.5 [1I4] 12.36

The color red is still predominant, but we're also seeing pale apricot and saffron orange (of the same family as the colors of monks' robes) starting to creep in. (The blue can also be read as a reference to the revered monarchy by the way; it's not just the yellow that suggests this – the color blue also represents the royal family on the Thai flag). The red reflects Wen's heartfelt care and concern for the struggles of the diner and its people (echoing the mission of the Red Shirts), but the increasing amount of yellow (and related hues) also shows how he's starting his journey to reason with his head (echoing the elite, high-thinking origins of the Yellow Shirts), and not just blindly following the dictates of his heart.

Significantly, the scene that follows also parallels this, in the flashback of Wen (in yellow ochre) proffering wise words of advice to Jim (applying rational logic to matters of the heart):

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.5 [1I4] 17.32

I wouldn't have been reading so much into the significance of the wn on Wen's phone and all the political backstory with the colors, except that Wen himself actually makes a comment regarding politics later on, casting himself in the role of a politician:

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.7 [2/4] 8.04

This moment is Director Aof taking the opportunity to make a statement about LGBTQ+ rights by having Wen, in Buddhist-robe saffron, hand Jim a mug with "Love is Love" in rainbow colors while they talk about queer struggles and the unavailability of same-sex marriage in Thailand. But at the same time, it also underscores Wen's connection to politics and the significance of the colors he wears. 👍

Interestingly, from time to time we also see Jim wearing versions of yellow (shading into other tones like orange and ochre), even as his wardrobe retains touches of the red that signals his underprivileged socio-economic class. I think this parallels his journey to realizing his best life using reason and logic, an enlightenment of sorts, rather than relying on the prejudices and received wisdom he's stored in his heart (inherited from generations before him) or the emotions that plagued him after Beam's passing.

And the culmination of this is when he allows Li Ming his freedom, and also relinquishes the diner for a food truck (which in a sense allows him freedom too). This is given a shout-out in Ep.8 [3I4], when he doffs his red apron and passes it to Saleng (symbolically giving up the weight of his emotional decision-making, that tied him to a life of poverty) while still wearing a saffron top (symbolizing the rationalized decisions that got him to a new, unburdened life):

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.8 [3I4] 7.45

And the parallel journey for Wen is when he finally, rationally, makes a clean and solid break with Alan, no longer hanging onto the past out of sense of obligation to Alan's feelings, or misplaced compassion after his accident. (Wen overstaying where he shouldn't, because of the emotional pull that he feels, is actually foreshadowed way back in Ep.1 [2/4], when he dawdles in Jim's home the morning after their one-night stand. 👍)

By Ep.8 [4/4], we see that both Jim and Wen found a way to accommodate the dichotomy of head versus heart in their lives, using sensible logic to address their own needs, and the needs of their loved ones, rather than relying only on the instinctive tugging of their hearts – a battle that they ultimately won, that was symbolized by the yellow and red that they wear, and that was first signaled to us via the innocuous wn or พท representing Wen's name in his mobile phone. 💖

[thefourchimes]

🍎🍍🫐🍐

🍎: Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

Oooh, well, overall, bashing of characters (especially the ones that lead to complete OOCness because bruh), proshipping (fuck that shit), and smut (I'm uncomfortable with writing and reading this personally)

I'm not sure if there are others I forgot to mention but those are the ones off the top of my head

🍍: What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with?

I generally like all AUs as long as the premise and summary of the fic is interesting!! As long as it hooks me in some way, I don't mind

Don't really have beef or hate for any particular AU, not unless the AU's aim is to only bash characters in some way

🫐: What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

Ooooh, this is a tough one, hm...

What does one consider as underrated in Encanto?

I'm blanking so hard, omg

Characters and various things probably considered underrated in this fandom are not considered underrated in my head because of how I think about them so much, so I'm not actually sure HASFUHASF

Plus I don't think it helps that I never really was in the fandom when it was in an all time high, and my hyperfixation only skyrocketed around three to four months ago

Oh well, I guess I can mention Casita, love Casita sm <33

🍐: Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

Well, this is another tough one, considering how Encanto is from Mirabel's pov which means it makes sense that some things aren't shown on screen, but even then, I think I still would have loved to see more dynamics and relationships between all the Madrigals, like a conversation between Isabela and Luisa for example (we saw them individually with Mirabel but not with each other—their moment in All of You is not enough 😔)

So it's less fix and more of explore in this case, especially since the only concrete canon we have are the movie and some comics and books

Though another thing I would love to fix are the misunderstandings, not in fics actually but rather with other people's perceptions and takes with the movie, because so many people miss several points completely in some way that it physically pains me every time, the "media literacy, where are you" type of thing

But I digress

Thanks for the ask!! :DD <33

[faeriekit]

🍌🍐🫐

🍌 In your opinion, what’s the funniest joke/reference/pun you’ve made in a fic?

I have no idea! Real talk, I put all my points into making words instead of remembering them, so I know what I've written, but less...how?@nutella-icecream keeps a little digital quotes book of a lot of funny fic lines, which is how I remember most of them, but I'm a little proud of "the phone cord had more kinks than Brucie Wayne" in Blister Pack.

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

I don't know! Mostly everything I do is about stuff that happens in the margins-- logistics, thoughts, feelings, mental health struggles, unhealed plot points, so it all sort of blends together... But Valerie and Danny should have been endgame, or at least had a conclusion. Real talk. Everything else is variable due to taste and plot of the week, but Valerie deserved better. I dunno, I think of a new problem in canon to fix once a week.

Unless we're talking about PJO, in which case, TOT is entirely about uprooting canon from the ground up and chopping it up for salad. What the hell. This cannot stand. I am still convinced I can rewrite the whole series.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

I have two crazy people ships, and that's Tucker/Jason and Bruce/Desiree. I believe (as of last I checked) that they are still the only ones in their specific ship tag. No one sees what I see, and that's because, like, why would you; Bruce/Desiree are doomed aro worsties, of course, but you CANNOT convince me that Tucker/Jason does not have a chance!!!!!!!!! LOOK AT THEM. THEY COULD DO IT. THE WORLD'S MOST TRAUMATIZED ANGRY MAN AND THE WORLD'S BIGGEST DORK TECH TWINK. COME ON. OPEN THINE EYES AND—

Ahem. Also I like very normal things, like TimKon clone baby fics and silly domestic shenanigan in absurd circumstances fics, but these ships are, by far, the most out there thing I write. Have written. ...Both...?

These were fun! Thanks for asking!! 🧡🧡🧡🧡

[blogofloathing]

A loud, cheesy anthem plays as an awful stylilized OCWE appears on a black and white TV screen

"Good belated myorning folks, I am your esteemed host! Gillian Barlows Jr! And you are watching the Ocean City Watcher Éire! Hyere to bring you the latest scyoop on the people of our great city! who are they? Why are they? When are they? How do they peel their y'apples? Let's find out nyow!"

A new fangled transition effect plays as Gillian gives an overly exaggerated shocked expression.

Approaching our first interviewee, Gygan Clarks of the Ocean City Watchful Eye, but it seems he isn't particularly excited to see us haha, wonder why.

Our trusty boom man sticks the mic in his face, at which Gygan looks visibly annoyed, sheesh you'd think we killed this guys business or something.

"What do you want Gillian" he spat, frankly I'm offended he would be so rude to a reporter!

My cameraman delivers the question after a discreet go ahead sign waved in his direction

"Look unless you think apples can make coffee taste better I'm not interested," Gygan hisses, and after a short pause mutters "with a pocket knife"

And indeed if the bulge in his pocket isn't due to seeing me, he carries said weapon on him.

Let's move on from this wannabe newsman before he gets violent! You know how those types are.

Grumbling to himself, something about "fuckin' trend hopping fast news pieces of-" haha anyway!

An apple shaped transition plays, and due to formatting issues doesn't properly disappear

•••

Our next guest went up to us herself upon hearing there was a survey, so give it up for.. Simone Chekhov! Of the S.I.T Robotics department—

Somehow interrupting this audio added in post, the girl fires up a seemingly long held rant.

"Well actually it's Robotechtronics there's a very subtle but important difference in the two fields but anyway I made a machine that peels them so precisely the skin dissolves in contact with the air due to being sliced at such a thin micromascopic level that their mololcules are-" a thin homeless girl sticks a thumbs up wildly behind Simone.

The video is suddenly stopped here due to space, a cartoonish image of sad Gillian giving a thumbs down is shown onscreen for a few seconds.

•••

we're sorry to cut this short but our camera ran plumb out of juice trying to record it all haha!

Though this did little to falter her one sided rant, even as we turned our attention away from her

Moving onto the aforementioned hobo (it's good to get a perspective from the less than fortunate.)

"OOO OOO you're gonna ask me a question! Give it here!" She jumps excitedly, the words slamming into our crew much in the same way she physically rammed into my mic man in her overzealousness

The dusty girl, who we made sure didn't touch any of our equipment, had been chittering something inane at Simone when we asked, somehow able to properly talk between each other rather than over.

"I dunno I just chomp em, see?" taking a playful bite out of her sour face, leaving a toothy mark.

... the sounds of crickets chirping has been added

"Agh! Victoria!" She expleted, wiping her face off with her sleeve, "that's gross- you're gross!"

Though Victoria didn't seem too bothered, a sly little grin making its home on her spotted face.

"Hey don't pretend ya didn't like it" she slithered, at which Simone gave her a rather hard smack on the head "and there's more where that came from!" The bespectacled girl tittered haughtily.

A tinny and muffled laugh track plays, as Gillian audibly clicks a tape recorder to start and stop

•••

Moving on from those, shall we say interesting, characters, our boom operator caught wind of some music playing a few blocks down.

And we followed the groovy tunes to their source, coming upon quite the cello fellow!

Who is contentedly playing his instrument, my team having to remind him of the question, "oh I just slice em up with my trusty pocketknife!" Holding it up for a second before going back to ringing out the tunes.

Looks to be the same kinda knife as that.. eh I forgot his name already.

I say someone should definitely toss that guy a quarter, not me though.

Really if he can afford a cello is he actually that poor I mean cmon- ah, I've been instructed by my cameraman to stop here.

A bubble and wave crashing sound effect plays too loudly, with a chintzy fade to black transition

•••

Taking a dip per sé, we find.. someone else to ask.

Attempting to avoid being seen, the oddly slimy fellow is hiding against a wall, but seeing as his clothes aren't the exact shade and texture of bricks, "I, I don't know what an apple is? please leave me alone.." he croaks out in a froggy tone.

"Would you like to try one?" My boom operator chipperly inquires, at which the still unnamed weirdo looks even more terrified of us than before

"N-no I'm good really I.." it trailed off, guess they make hobos different these days, I can't get a read on what this guy might be on the street to beg for.

"Cmon I'll get ya a fresh one" he says again, taking a step closer to it, making the thing jump loudly.

Before running away from my team in a lurch, leaving weird wet slappy footprints in his wake.

Well that was certainly productive, why don't we heed this guys words and move on to another!

A hexagon transition with a splat sound effect, it doesn't even fully segue, cutting halfway through

•••

At the urging of my team, we reluctantly almer over to a goblin for questioning, she seemed to be dancing animatedly.. or maybe boxing with the air?

"Hi! Yes yes Hello! To apples slicing? No no, Gabby is practicing see?" It said, nearly assaulting one of my cameramen, "Gabby is champion of the box!"

a goofy swirl sound effect and then a laugh track

We don't speak creature so I have no idea what any of that meant, I'd say we get out of here before that thing gets aggressive, I've heard the stories of these kinds of monsters being dangerous!

They're lucky they don't have rights or else we'd totally sue them for emotional damages.

a spooky transition effect plays, bats flying across the screen and a very poorly done witches laugh

•••

As we were making our way back to the studio, my mic man caught eye of some kinda hobo living in the alley, I insisted we don't interview something like that but who listens to me around here?

Walking up to her, I'm already less than enthused about her appearance, something in her eyes wasn't like it should be, they seemed to stare directly inside of us unlike anything.

"Hello ma'am how would you say you peel-" my other cameraman began, being cut off by her wheezily trilling poem, "peel? Peeling, skin peeling wallpaper off the wall, apples falling trees cutting"

I.. wow! Okay! That is not at all what any of us were expecting, all our hairs stood violently on end.

Like looking into the den of a wounded predator about to make a strike, protecting its wounds.

She stepped closer to us, gazing through us, it felt as though she saw more than just my skin.

"Apples and oranges" it felt as though she wasn't even talking to us, despite facing our direction.

No one bothered putting a transition effect here, the camera simply cuts right to the next scene

•••

aaaaand one last questioneer today folks! As we were wrapping up and dutifully wiping down and sanitizing our stuff to get all the filth off them, a distracted old guy bumped into us, and sooooo!

"Oh! Eh uh, I mostly just eat cheese" the weirdo said emphatically before forcing us to look at a horrible mass of aged milk madness, before reassuring us that "it's Käse Brezel! The finest in the city! If ya see me come and buy so-" yeah no

Sorry sir I don't even know what language you just spoke there but I can tell it ain't somethin I'm gonna be eating, especially from someone like you

Though my crew seems oddly interested in it, I'll have to show them what real food is like I guess,

gives me an excuse to hang out with those mooks.

anywho, our final stop of the day was a nice little cheese pretzel shop, the finest in the city!

An equally loud and somehow even cheesier little outro theme plays as we fade back onto Gillian

"Well thyank you all for tyuning in this fine after nyoon, we hope we could answer all of your deep byurning questions! As always I am your esteemed host; Gillian Barlows Jr! And you have been watching the Ocean City Watcher Éire, where we catch up the scyoop and throw it to your hyoop! See y'all nyext week with our next Q: how good is the government doing right now? ( A: pyerfect!)"

[trashworldblog]

i think the "nice doing business with you" line from the s5 finale is definitely going to have significance to season 6. there are too many examples of innocuous lines that end up being foreshadowing to overlook it. it's also a general rule of genies that they can't bring things back from the dead, so i think that's going to end up playing into whatever the "deal" with ryan was. the genie could've said it was against the rules to bring prof back, so ryan made another deal to get him back (1/2)

[i think there's also going to be a conflict with time travel in season 6. it's such an integral part of the show, and ryan definitely screwed the timeline by bringing prof and his family back. if we hadn't seen the article with the photo of the prof and his parents' fossils, then i would be a little less convinced of this, but because its explicitly shown onscreen, its very likely that something will go wrong with the timeline (2/2)

oh i also think that the substitute survived defenestration, but i think he's going to be a minor antagonist next season. just a nuisance, if you will. like yeah he's still a problem, but there are much bigger fish to fry than a 1'2" puppet hologram with an obsession with murder (3/3)]

...

sorry for taking so long!! this has been sitting in my drafts and ive been slowly pulling my thoughts together on this so its taken me some time!! (plus ive been chillin with the holidays and such) i appreciate this ask so much!

!disclaimer! i may accidentally pull from shane's commentary on the season finale on pateron. im doing my best not to because i know some people dont have access to patreon content. (plus its fun to make it more challenging) all puppet history lore is like marbles in my brain and its hard to separate what ideas came from where. im doin my best tho!

ok lets jump into it!

i am So. Curious. on how ryan and the genies whole deal is gonna shake out. was that it? will there be consequences? i have a feeling we'll be seeing some kind of fallout from this wish. it feels like they cut their conversation very short for a very specific reason. theres gotta be something going on there.

I think that ryan didnt *technically* wish the professor back to life, he just wished the professor back to the present. i also like the idea used in @ask-the-substitute that ryan used his 3 wishes to bring the professor back and thats how the profs mom and dad got to the present. its so perfect, i love it. just the idea of ryan thinking the first wish didnt work so then he tried again, and again. incredible.

i am curious if there is gonna be any time travel conflict! im not sure what that would look like (my brain kinda melts when it comes to timey wimey bullshit). honestly this is the part im the most unsure of. like theyre probably is consequences, but i dont even know where to start for what that would look like. i still like to think that the article showing the professor's family's bones just faded away like how people in photos did in back to the future.

the substitute ABSOLUTELY survived the defenestration!! watcher hq is one story and im slightly convinced the substitute cant die (unless we go by hot daga hologram logic, in that case you would need a witch and a volcano to kill most holograms [and i dont have a volcano handy])

i hope the substitute turns into either

1) a minor villan thats more annoying/funny then anything.

2) character redemption arc. we really like this funky guy and it would be cool to see him chill out with the stabby stabby. (just a little, he can stabby stabby as a treat)

now it would be REALLY FUNNY if the substitute did ad reads for future seasons Especially for nord vpn and other online security stuff.

i think the bigger fish to fry is gonna be those puppets trapped in the wonderium arena!! we gotta get them outta there and back into their earthly bodies!! how is that gonna happen??? god is asleep, the devil isnt gonna help, and neither is the genie. how the hell do you even get to a purgatory like that? dorthy ruth has moved on even though her husband isnt really dead!!!

what im really curious about for next season is

1) who is gonna be the musical guest. if the professor cant time travel, where is he gonna get his musical talents? will he reuse the substitutes tech to make guests?

2) any new stuff to go with our new professor??

3) are dino mom and dad gonna be involved? casually mentioned? i really hope a guest asks if the professor has a family just so that he can excitedly say "yes!! i do :D"

those are most of my thoughts going into s6! pretty excited to see what next season is going to look like! not sure if its gonna be lore heavy. ill be keeping an eye peeled for any hints 👀 either way, im excited to learn :)

[relaxxattack]

I can't remember if it was you discussing that the grubs that troll eat aren't troll grubs (primarily because there'd be more jokes about it) but I just thought about something I think maybe most of us in the fandom forgot about trolls naturally being hardwired against cannibalism (can't stand the taste of troll blood, unless they're a rainbow drinker [rare]), so that kinda disproves that they're eating troll babies when the mention grub-based meals and condiments

i believe the post you're thinking about is from @knights-unwelcommentary, but that is a very good point you've just made and if that's been shown on-screen*, i completely agree.

although i do think at some point hussie probably considered the joke that trolls eat their babies, because why not that makes perfect sense for a shitty evil alien race, they didn't commit to it quite enough for it to fully stick to me.

i mean, all of their games are also called grubs. so are their neighborhoods. so are their fucking computers. none of THOSE things are made of babies. i think it's more likely that trolls just like to use the word "grub" in things. but i'm also fairly biased.

*the only times i could find trolls ingesting blood onscreen was kanaya with her lusus blood (she didn't like it) and terezi with kanaya's blood (she also didn't like it, but maintains that it could be grubsauce, meaning that grubsauce likely tastes like blood, which is really just another point for grubsauce in fact being made of troll baby). though perhaps i missed one.

[eviltothecore13]

Why do so many people think Wesker was conditioned/brainwashed into feeling anxious whenever Spencer wasn't around?

Even if we just look at the English and not the imo clearer Japanese version, it says almost the exact opposite of that. Spencer's existence, Spencer's presence, was the source of the concern (note: the Japanese word for "anxiety" used refers to feeling anxious or worried about something, and is NOT the same as the word used for a clinical anxiety disorder. People who do not have anxiety disorders can feel worried about things. It is not stated anywhere in canon that Wesker has an anxiety disorder and neither does he display symptoms of such onscreen) that Wesker felt. Not the *lack* of his presence. He was worried because he knew Spencer was still out there and still hiding secrets from him, he's not a lost puppy with separation anxiety.

Wesker sought out Spencer looking for answers to the unanswered questions (about Umbrella, and Spencer's plans--there is no indication anywhere that Wesker knew Spencer had anything to do with his own childhood and in fact it appears that he was completely taken by surprise at the idea) that had been worrying him. The other kids were similarly manipulated into wanting to seek Spencer out--the details of this are unclear but given that in the Japanese version in particular, words like "concern" but also "interest", "curiosity", etc were present (saying that e.g. "Wesker was only curious about/interested in/concerned with Spencer because he had been made to be so") it suggests that they were also manipulated into seeking out *answers*, not just feeling constantly anxious whenever he isn't around (which they were never shown or stated to feel). Especially since it's also stated that once Wesker HAS those answers, Spencer has no more value to him and no more ability to manipulate him.

(Also a side note about the word "programmed" used in the English translation: I'm not saying it's wrong, but I do think it's put some inaccurate images in some people's heads. People picture someone strapped to an operating table with a device over their head that zaps their brain. That kind of sci-fi brainwashing doesn't work in real life, and hasn't really been shown working quite like that in RE--there's P30, and there's the technology used to make Carla believe she is Ada, but those are both stated to be recent inventions and also are only partly effective and don't work quite like the typical image of the trope. I REALLY don't think the RE universe had that kind of tech in the 60s and I don't like to introduce these sci-fi brainwashing tropes to any universe where they're not shown onscreen to be true, mostly because I think the whole trope should be thrown into the sun. But also because I think more realistic and subtle manipulation to make characters do certain things is more interesting both to write and to read. The phrasing used in the Japanese file could easily be translated as "he was made to do [X]", "he was influenced", manipulated, etc. Now, I don't actually think the English translator was necessarily TRYING to give a sci-fi brainwashing impression, because lots of media uses the word "programmed" to refer to the actions of real-life manipulative groups that of course use mundane methods of manipulation and NOT brain-zapping devices. But since 2009 a lot of media like the Winter Soldier etc has come out that put sci-fi brainwashing more at the forefront of people's minds and now that's the kind of assumption a lot of people have made. It's not actually explicit canon and unless it becomes explicit canon I'll assume it's NOT what went on because it's a trope that I really hate and introducing it to the 1960s would also just completely fuck up the whole timeline of what was invented when in the RE universe. If it IS made explicit canon at some point...idk I'll probably delete all my fics and WIPs and leave the fandom.)

[canonicallyobserving911]

Storylines for the ensemble cast aren’t being equally distributed and a lot of them lack resolution

One of the most important promotion points for 9-1-1 has always been its ensemble cast but for the past 2 and a half seasons, some viewers have noticed the way storylines haven’t been equally distributed amongst all the main characters.  The lack of equal distribution is causing some viewers to feel like the show has been off balance since season 3 or it seems like something is missing.  There’s no depth or breadth in the storylines that are being established and while some of the mains are continuing to get storylines each season, they rarely last for more than one or two episodes.  Others haven’t had individual storylines in more than 4 or 5 seasons unless it was inextricably linked to their significant other’s storylines, while only one of them has consistently been given storylines that last for multiple episodes or entire seasons even though he is also constantly involved in other main cast members’ storylines.  There has also been an issue with the lack of resolution for some storylines because they were abruptly ended without any closure which means the audience had to do mental gymnastics to try and figure out what could have happened offscreen as opposed to those resolution scenes being shown onscreen.   To illustrate the way storylines have been unequally distributed, summaries of the main characters’ storylines or lack thereof have been included below.

Disclaimer: This is a long post but it had to be long so that each main character’s storylines or lack thereof could be analyzed and evaluated.

Main Characters

Athena’s had several storylines over the years that were all her own including the unsolved murder of Tonya Kingston that was finally resolved and closed in 6x3 “The Devil You Know” but once she returned to L.A., she didn’t tell anyone, including her best friend Hen about how relieved she felt after it took them 45 years to find out who did it.  Also the man who killed Tonya knew Athena and she told Bobby that Junior used to chase her through those orange groves so that should have been traumatic for her.  She first told Hen about Tonya in 2x7 “Haunted” so it would have made narrative sense for them to have a conversation about it instead of them talking about lottery tickets in 6x8 “9-1-1 What’s Your Fantasy?”.  After all the trauma her and Harry had to deal with regarding Jeffrey in 5A, it would have also made sense for Athena to still be in therapy about her attack and Harry’s kidnapping.  Additionally it would have been great to show how Athena coped after she worked with the police in a different state to help them solve Tonya’s murder in 6x3, especially since she knew the murderer and since she has two children of her own and one of them is living in another state. Unlike May who is an adult and is in college, Harry is still young and even though he’s in Florida with his father, Michael, it’s clear Athena still worries about her son because she was upset in 5x14 “Dumb Luck” after that teenager got hit by a car because he was wearing sneakers that reminded her of Harry.  To illustrate how she was feeling, she should have been shown dealing with all of that in therapy instead of it being brushed under the rug like everything else has been including her therapy after 3x17 “Powerless”. While it’s great that she’s a sergeant, it’s also noticeable that she’s usually the first and sometimes the only one from the LAPD to respond to a scene with the 118 like she did in 6x8; therefore some other recurring characters should be continuously included in those storylines that require police or detectives to be present during a call like Detective Ransone. Athena can’t be the only police officer who responds to the majority of the 118’s calls even though it appears their paths cross a lot since they’re probably assigned to the same geographic region of L.A.  In real life, the same police sergeant wouldn’t show up at every scene with the firehouse that’s captained by her husband. There are so many things they could do with Athena’s storylines including have her train a rookie.  Maddie did a ride along with her in 2x5 “Awful People” and they worked great together as a team to save the owner of a restaurant who had been stabbed; therefore it would be interesting to see her train a young police officer who is fresh out of the academy.  If she were allowed to do that it would be a callback to 3x7 “Athena Begins” because she was a rookie and the audience had the chance to see all the things she had to deal with as a young African American woman who joined the police force when it was still being predominately employed by Caucasian males. If the rookie is a woman, then Athena could tell her about some of the discriminatory behaviors that still exist within the police force.  Or maybe Athena could pursue another promotion again even though she turned down the one that was offered to her in 2x4 “Stuck”.  It would be great to see her have another awesome storyline that doesn’t require her getting almost killed or having her family put in danger like they were in the past including when May tried to commit suicide in 1x3 “Next of Kin”, Michael became ill and it was diagnosed in 3x10 “Christmas Spirit”, Bobby getting shot in 4x14 “Survivors” or when Harry was kidnapped by Jeffrey in 5x2 “Desperate Times”. She’s an awesome police sergeant and she definitely has the skills to teach rookies how to be good at their jobs.  Her and Bobby have discussed retirement a few times after Athena was attacked in 3x17 and the reality for both of them is they are maturing and will likely have to consider retirement sometime in the next few years.  Therefore a “beginning to prepare for retirement” storyline is plausible so that she could begin to explore available options that will include what she will do once that day arrives.

Bobby is captain of the 118 firehouse but based on the way his storylines have been treated since 2x16 “Bobby Begins Again”, the only way new viewers would know that he’s the captain is by reading his helmet.  He hasn’t had a storyline that didn’t include Athena since season 2 when he got suspended. Yes, they are married but Athena’s had several storylines that didn’t include Bobby because he was just there for her moral support like he was in 6x3.  What happened after Bobby was shot in 4x14 “Survivors”?  Did he go to therapy? Like Eddie’s shooting, Bobby’s shooting was told from his partner’s, Athena’s perspective so the audience would like to know how Bobby dealt with or is still dealing with being gunned down by a former LAPD sniper?  Eddie had panic attacks (of course his attacks were about more than him being shot again) but Bobby’s the captain and his team was in danger.  He told Eddie in 5x18 that it’s his job to protect his team; therefore a sniper who was targeting firefighters had to be traumatic for all of them.  There’s a lot to explore with his character including his legacy firefighting family, his interactions with other fire captains and he should be training someone to take over as captain of the 118 since he and Athena are maturing which means they will have to face retirement at some point in the future. When will the audience be introduced to someone, anyone from his family of legacy firefighters?  Are his parents still alive?  How many brothers does he have?  Is he the youngest, oldest or in the middle?  Does he still communicate with them or did they write Bobby off after he caused the apartment fire that killed his wife, children and more than 100 other people in Minnesota? Has his family met Athena?  It’s a fair question because Athena’s parents met him during season 2 but other than his deceased wife and children, no one has seen any of Bobby’s family.  It would be interesting if one of his brothers moved to L.A. to join the LAFD after being involved in a scandal in Minnesota.  The audience hardly knows anything substantial about Bobby so it would be great if he could get a storyline that’s all his own.  He’s getting older which means he can’t keep working as a firefighter/captain forever.  Also why can’t he be sent to an LAFD retreat with other fire captains so they can discuss any problems/solutions that happened within their firehouses, i.e. Jonah Greenway? When will Bobby be allowed to deal with all the guilt he’s been carrying for years?  In season 1, he had continuous conversations with his priest about the things he experienced on the job but he hasn’t been shown talking to his priest in more than 5 seasons.  It was clear in 5x3 “Desperate Measures” after Harry had been kidnapped by Jeffrey that he still prays.  Also Bobby is still carrying the guilt associated with the Jonah situation from 5x17 “Hero Complex” but it hasn’t been mentioned since he poured that bottle of alcohol down the drain after Eddie left.  How is he dealing with the fact that two of his paramedics were almost killed by someone he hired?  When Chimney said, “The call was coming from inside of the house” in 5x13 “Fear-O-Phobia” regarding his and Maddie’s breakup, his statement can also be applied to the Jonah situation because unlike 4x13 “Suspicion” and 4x14 “Survivors”, the call/traitor was already inside of the 118 and the LAFD not the LAPD; therefore Bobby should be in therapy discussing the way he feels responsible for hiring Jonah which put his two best paramedics in danger.  He should also be working with Chief Alonso to implement some standards regarding new hires to prevent someone like Jonah from being hired again.  Additionally he can send LD back to the 147 where she came from since she was hired at the same time as Jonah and Bobby was shown to not trust her in 5x18.  Why hasn’t he done any evaluations with Chimney, Hen, Eddie and Buck?  He should have annual performance reviews with them to determine what their goals and aspirations are and/or where they want to be from a career perspective within the next 3 to 5 years.  If he knew what everyone wanted to accomplish, then there wouldn’t have been a need for him to go through the motions of choosing LD in 6x1 “Let the Games Begin” to be interim captain since he didn’t ask anyone to do it and he just assumed her 10 years of experience made her more than qualified for the job.  It appears he and Athena like to be detectives and solve crimes during their off time so maybe the show could explore them thinking about starting a detective agency when they retire which would be a callback to 4x12 “Treasure Hunt” since they worked together to find the treasure.  Bobby’s the leader of the 118 and while he has been there for his team, whenever they needed him, when is someone going to be there for him like Eddie was in 5x18 “Starting Over”? Bobby needs his own storyline that revolves around him being a fire captain but it doesn’t have to be about everyone else at the 118.

Chimney hasn’t had a storyline since season 3 when Albert arrived in 3x11 “Seize the Day” and prior to that he didn’t have one that wasn’t linked to Maddie since season 1 when he had the rebar through his skull and it included his relationship with Tatiana.  Even during season 2, since he was stabbed by Maddie’s husband Doug, that storyline doesn’t count as one that was solely about Chimney. Season 5A could have been the perfect time to give him an awesome storyline since he was a single father after Maddie left. Buck, Albert and the Lees could have helped him raise Jee-Yun while she was away but just like everything else on the show, the storyline they chose didn’t make any narrative sense at all.  Why was a paramedic, who had a 6-month-old baby, sent on a road trip to drive across the United States to find Maddie when he could have been at home working and getting help with their daughter from her two uncles?  Maddie could have been sent to an in-treatment center in Northern California if they didn’t want her to be in L.A. (more on Maddie in the Maddie section) but that would have been too easy or made too much sense.  Also Chimney could have his own storyline in season 6 regarding the way he's struggling with learning to trust Maddie again.  It was clear in 6x1 that he still has trust issues with her because he told Eddie and Bobby that he was still waiting for…after they had their one-night stand. Of course his trust is still affected since she left and didn’t tell him where she was going.  Also it would be a callback to season 1 with all of the trust issues he’s had with women like Tatiana when he didn’t believe he was enough so he told her stories about other firefighters instead of telling her the true stories about himself.  This is one of the many storylines that just evaporated into thin air and wasn’t revisited. Maybe they should have kept his and Maddie’s couple’s therapy in 6x1 instead of foregoing it for a lackluster blimp emergency that only had two emergencies and was over before the first commercial break.  Also Chimney had a rebar in his skull after he got into an accident in 1x3 which means him being trapped in a car with a drunk driver in 6x4 should have been somewhat traumatizing for him.   Additionally his brother Albert was involved in the drunk driver accident on the freeway in season 4 so that too should have prompted a reaction from Chimney since he could have died if the driver would have wrecked his car.  Why wasn’t he allowed to go to therapy to discuss that?  He went to therapy after the stabbing and he mentioned it to the team in 3x9 “Fallout”.  How is Chimney dealing with almost being killed by Jonah in 5x17 “Hero Complex”? That had to be traumatizing since his heart was stopped twice.  Yes, he and Hen discussed it while they were in the hospital but Chimney literally could have died at the hands of someone they all trusted (except for Hen because she never trusted Jonah).  Finally Chimney could have a storyline about helping Eddie become a full paramedic since they’ve been paired together throughout season 6 instead of them just being together to make jokes and laugh at things about curses like they did in 6x7 “Cursed” which was almost identical to the way their friendship was portrayed in 4x6 “Jinx”. Chimney could be his mentor and help Eddie get whatever certifications he needs to become a full paramedic instead of him continuing to be a medic.  What are Chimney’s goals?  Does he want to be captain at another firehouse someday? Why can’t he be the lieutenant at the 118?  Does the 118 even have a lieutenant? These are topics that could be explored instead of just keeping him on the sidelines to sit in the bathtub with Maddie to talk about her job like they did in in 6x5 “Home Invasion”. Have they even had any meaningful conversations since 6x1?  No but they certainly had a lot of time to talk about Magda, the nanny Maddie ended up re-homing at the end of 6x5.  Why can’t Chimney’s storyline involve the dangers associated with the job especially since he has a daughter now who needs him to come back home? Are they ever going to talk about him being trapped in that car with a drunk driver?  Probably not but Chimney needs a storyline that’s all his own so that he can get closure on things that haven’t been resolved since season 1.

Christopher could receive his own storylines since he’s older and he has asked Eddie for more independence.  He was skipping science club meetings to meet with his friends so maybe a storyline that illustrates how he has to make a tough decision like skipping school instead of just skipping science club meetings could be beneficial.  It would show that he knows how to take care of himself since he told Eddie in 6x4 that he wasn’t a baby and that he didn’t need Eddie to take care of him.  He’ll be entering his teen years soon which means he should start having storylines all on his own like the crush he has on someone he goes to school with that was mentioned in 6x8.

Hen’s most recent medical school storyline ended in 6x6 “Tomorrow”, however prior to that, she hasn’t had a storyline all of her own that didn’t include the others from the 118 since her and Karen were foster parents and had to deal with Evangeline’s, Nia’s mom, return; since her mother, Toni showed up during season 4 or since Eva returned in 5x7 “Ghost Stories” to say she was moving away (Hen and Karen’s interactions with Eva could have happened OFFSCREEN!  She could have written them a letter to say she was leaving forever so that Karen didn’t have to talk to her).  In season 5, her medical school storyline was practically ignored except for in 5x6 “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1” but Toni’s storyline was front and center in 5x9 “Past is Prologue”.  Hen was the only one who was ALWAYS suspicious of Jonah so what happened after they were adult napped and tortured by him?  That was Jonah’s storyline not hers so will she be called to testify before a grand jury or will he be taken to trial?  Has anything else happened with Jonah or are they going to act like Jonah just went to prison until two more seasons have passed like they did with Jeffrey and Athena? It was obvious in 5x18 that she was still upset about it because she was the one who turned off the TV when the announcer mentioned TayKay. How is Hen dealing with the fact that she had to watch Chimney’s heart be stopped by Jonah?  She discussed it with him in 5x17 but that had to be hard for her to watch as her best friend’s heart was stopped, not once but twice. She was very distraught after she hit that woman with the ambulance in 3x8 “Malfunction” so the incident with Jonah should have warranted some type of therapy session instead of it just being resolved and everyone moved on from it.  What does the future hold for Hen? Will she and Karen start fostering children again since Hen dropped out of medical school and their lives won’t change the way the social worker said Karen told her their lives would?  Hen was an excellent interim captain so what are her future career goals? Is she just planning to be a paramedic until she retires?  Does she even want to be a captain again?  Is there a role as a lead paramedic she could aspire to obtain?  What will she do now?  Since she’s been in medical school will she be allowed to implement the medical training she learned as a paramedic or will it be like it was in season 3 where she’ll get reprimanded for performing a medical procedure that she wasn’t supposed to? Since she’s no longer in medical school, there should be a way to incorporate the things she learned into her job as a paramedic.  Maybe she and Chimney could both work with Eddie to help him become a full paramedic.   All three of them have been working as paramedics since the beginning of season 6 so it would make narrative sense if that was an option they decided to implement for her storyline.  Also based on the synopsis for 6x9 “Red Flag”, Denny is supposed to ask about his biological parents again so hopefully they WILL NOT BRING EVA BACK because Hen and Karen have suffered enough.  They are happy now especially after Karen and Denny were in danger in 6x6.  Can Hen get her own storyline that doesn’t involve or include Eva?  It would be great if she could because there are so many other things that could be explored with her character.  She’s a natural born leader and now that she and Bobby had a conversation about her being the interim captain there shouldn’t be any guessing as to what her character can do next.

Maddie’s storylines are always GLOOM AND DOOM and even though the actress has the ability to cry and it’s unmatched by some, it would be nice if some of her storylines didn’t revolve around her ability to cry.  Many viewers have commented that they are tired of seeing Maddie cry in almost every episode and if one were to view her scenes, it’s true, her storylines always have her crying.  The audience gets the fact that she was in an abusive marriage and while no one expects for her to ever be over that, there should be some lighthearted storylines that can be written for her.  During season 5, was the only option to let Maddie run all the way to Boston to learn how to stop running? Seriously? She couldn’t learn how to do that from a treatment center located in Northern California?  It wasn’t like she went to Boston and visited the house she and Doug lived in or to move on from that part of her life.  Actually, she said her goodbyes to Doug in 3x10 “Christmas Spirit” when Frank took her back to the woods where she killed him so the Boston thing didn’t make a lot of sense or the storyline didn’t include enough details for it to make narrative sense.  Also she tried to help a woman who was being abused by her husband in 3x8, the woman accused Maddie of stalking her and Maddie almost got fired because of it.  Therefore it would make sense if a position was created within the dispatch center that would allow Maddie to incorporate specific protocols for callers who are involved in domestic abuse situations that would get them the assistance they need like she was able to obtain for Lourdes in 6x4.  Since Maddie experienced domestic violence and it’s obvious from the call she took from Claribel that it still affects her, she should be allowed to start a First Responder’s Foundation for Victims of Domestic Violence within the call center and she should be allowed to assist with those types of calls if and when needed.  There are so many things that can be written that are lighthearted and fun especially since Jee-Yun is growing up. Why can’t she have a mother daughter day with her?  Or maybe she could take some different types of 9-1-1 calls instead of her always taking calls that reignite her personal traumas?  Why can’t she take a call from a child who needs help with their homework in CANON?  She mentioned they take calls like that to Albert in 5x13 “Fear-O-Phobia” but she’s never been the one taking them.  Maddie had to raise Buck practically on her own when their parents emotionally checked out of their lives so that is definitely a topic that could be explored since some children have to step up when their parents won’t in real life.  Also Maddie said in 5x12 “Boston” that she doesn’t talk to her mother about things like depression so that would be a good storyline for her to have with Margaret.  Maybe they need to talk to each other directly without Philip and Buck being present so that Maddie can tell her how she felt as a 9-year-old who had to become a mother way before it was time since her little brother, Evan needed her.  That conversation could be EPIC if it’s handled properly and Maddie should be able to share how she doesn’t want Jee-Yun to experience the types of things she had to experience while she lived with them in Hershey, PA. Maddie’s storylines should be allowed to evolve and show how much she’s grown since she had the courage to leave Doug in season 2 and since she’s been able to rebuild her life and happiness.  It hasn’t always been sunbeams and moon pies but she’s trying and things are getting better. She still has a long way to go but she’s back at work and she told Chimney that she missed the call center in 5x18 so she’s on the right path.

May’s season 4 and 5 dispatcher storyline was never shown to be closed because there were two things that were left unresolved.  May was never told about the cause of Claudette’s death since they finally became acquaintances in 5x16 “May Day” while they were in the quiet room which wasn’t long before Claudette died.  This is especially jarring since May was the one who said, “Hen, she was fine. I don’t understand” at the hospital and she also said, “It feels like it should be somebody’s fault” after the funeral in 5x17.  Did anyone tell her that it was Jonah?  It obviously wasn’t a secret since Taylor broadcasted the story to the greater L.A. area before the man had even been charged so why couldn’t the show have included a scene that had May asking Bobby about what happened to her?  Or maybe she could have had a conversation with Hen and Athena about it.  The second thing that didn’t receive any closure involved May not being shown telling her friends and co-workers goodbye after she worked at dispatch for two years.  Like Eddie, she just left dispatch in 5x18 but neither of them were shown talking with the other people who worked there before they left.  Finally where are they taking her storyline now that she’s in college? Especially since she had to revert back to using her 9-1-1 dispatcher skills in 6x8 “9-1-1 What’s Your Fantasy?”  What’s her major in college?  Is she still planning to be a lawyer or will she change her mind after 6x8 and become a police officer like Athena?  One thing that would close one of her storylines is if she could participate in her college campus’ suicide prevention center since she was affected by the 9-1-1 call she took where the young woman took a lot of pills but was saved after the paramedics arrived.  She could also be a student career counselor because she worked for two years before she decided to enroll in college.  Even though the actress is enrolled in college in real life, her storylines could be more exciting than just having her rescue her boyfriend Darius from the disturbed roommate who assaulted him in 6x8.

Eddie’s storylines are always shortened and his scenes are crammed in at the end or somewhere during the middle of an episode but they always end abruptly and it seems like some of his scenes were being cut or didn’t get filmed.  That’s how his hero storyline was handled in 5x17 “Hero Complex” because his part was over right after the 30-minute mark within the episode which also includes the airtime used for commercials.  The reconciliation scene with Ramon just ended and it was like, ok all is good now with Ramon and Eddie since they made up but there weren’t any additional scenes to confirm that until 6x4.  Also most of the time his storylines get sidelined so that the spotlight can be pointed towards Buck.  His introduction in 2x1 “Under Pressure” was shown from Buck’s perspective and most of his storylines have continued in that manner. Eddie had a support system with his abuela and his aunt when he first moved to L.A. but once Buck stepped in and introduced him to Carla in 2x4, Isabel and Pepa were sidelined and only included in episodes that have Eddie’s other family members in it, the Christmas party at the 118 in 3x10 or his welcome home party in 4x14 which also included TayKay (who everyone knows Eddie never liked and therefore her being there didn’t make any NARRATIVE SENSE other than to keep the audience from believing that Buck and Eddie will end up in a romantic relationship) but his abuela and aunt were barely shown in seasons 3, 4 and 5.   He hasn’t had a storyline that was solely about Eddie since season 3 when he started participating in that fight club in 3x5 “Rage” that didn’t end until 3x8 “Malfunction” and that too was somehow made to be about Buck because Buck made that about himself in 3x9 when he asked Eddie if he really wanted to punch him while he was fighting. In 3x15 “Eddie Begins” the whole episode and storyline was supposed to be ABOUT EDDIE (hence the title Eddie Begins) but one of the most memorable scenes from that episode included Buck clawing at the ground in an effort to dig Eddie up with his hands. Eddie was sidelined from his own shooting in 4x13 and 4x14 because even though Eddie was the one who got shot, THE AUDIENCE NEVER HEARD anything from Eddie about The Shooting based on the way it affected him because just like Bobby’s shooting was told from Athena’s perspective, Eddie’s was all told from Buck’s perspective.  Bobby told Buck that what happened to Eddie wasn’t his fault and even when Buck arrived at the hospital after Eddie woke up from his coma, Buck told him it should have been him who got shot instead of Eddie.   Eddie’s panic attacks were also overshadowed by Buck because Buck was the one who made Eddie tell him what was going on in 5x2 and he was also the one who told Eddie to break up with Ana.  The same thing happened with most of Eddie’s PTSD storyline because he told Buck to move on in 5x11 “Outside Looking In” but he said it during the dinner he prepared for Buck that took place at his house but Buck brought TayKay with him which also didn’t make any narrative sense because EDDIE HAS ALWAYS DISLIKED TAYLOR so her being there was JARRING.  Then he walked into the bar, looked at Buck and left because he felt left out since he quit firefighting.  To top it all off Eddie’s breakdown was also told from Buck’s perspective in 5x13 because the audience didn’t see the destruction he caused to his bedroom, only the aftermath was shown after Buck broke down Eddie’s bedroom door.  His breakdown scenes were shortened and pushed to the end of 5x13 when there was only 5 minutes left before the episode ended and it seemed like a lot of the scenes were left out and that was confirmed when a season 5 “We are family” recap video for 9-1-1 surfaced and it included some unseen breakdown footage of Eddie and Buck that never made it into the episode.  Even the Equine Therapy scene was overshadowed with Buck and TayKay because he asked her to help him find Charlie when he should have been allowed to talk to Athena especially since she’s a REAL POLICE SERGEANT and not some amateur detective like TayKay was in 5x7 “Ghost Stories”.  They didn’t let Eddie tell Buck to break up with Taylor in 5x18 even though they should have because Buck was the one who told him to end it with Ana in 5x2.  Now Eddie has his own storyline and it’s all about Christopher growing up and Eddie learning how to let go so that Christopher can have some independence.  That too is being overshadowed by Buck’s ridiculous sperm donor storyline because it’s preventing him from being there for Eddie and Christopher ONSCREEN.  It’s been clear for a while to viewers who’ve cared to notice that BUCK AND EDDIE HAVE BEEN CO-PARENTING Christopher for years so it’s not a stretch for viewers to notice that something is off with their relationship in season 6.  While it's obvious that they are talking to each other OFFSCREEN, hence the Hoover handoff in 6x5, it doesn’t make any sense especially when they’ve always been within arm’s reach of each other.  Buck has always been there for them even when Eddie’s deceased wife was present in 2x10 “Merry X-Mas” because Eddie took Buck with him so that Christopher could visit with Santa instead of taking his wife who is also Christopher’s mother.  Is Eddie still in therapy?  If so, it would be nice to see more of his sessions especially since he hasn’t been shown talking to Frank since 5x14.  What is going on with Eddie and Helena, his mother?  He went to El Paso for Ramon’s retirement party in 5x17 but he never told his mother how she affected him while he was growing up.  Reminder, Ramon wasn’t there since he spent 40 years traveling for work but she was so it doesn’t make any narrative sense for Eddie to avoid having an in-depth conversation with her too.  He’s talking to Ramon regularly but does he talk to Helena?  Where is Eddie’s Tia’ Pepa?  We haven’t seen her since 5x17 and she still lives in L.A. so that doesn’t make any sense either.   Since Christopher is getting older and is almost a teenager now, is it still necessary for Carla to be involved with Eddie’s and Christopher’s father/son moments?  It seems like those moments would be better served if they happened with someone from his family instead of with Carla.  While Carla was in 5x10 “Wrapped in Red” and she was also mentioned in 5x18, why couldn’t Tia’ Pepa have been the one who was allowed to help Eddie and Christopher get ready for the dance since Buck wasn’t allowed to do it?  Pepa knows Eddie better than anyone except for his abuela Isabel, therefore she would be able to provide more insight about his feelings regarding his son growing up along with the things Eddie will have to start doing for himself. What are Eddie’s goals now that Christopher is growing up?  What will he do other than sit home alone whenever Christopher’s gone out with his friends?  Does he want to move up in the LAFD?  Or is he happy where he is now as a firefighter and medic?  He needs a storyline all his own too just like Chimney and Bobby. Can the audience please see Eddie and Karen’s friendship ONSCREEN instead of them having to scan through episodes to see them standing next to each other to try and figure out when they became friends?  A wine night between the two of them would be EPIC!  Also can the audience please get some serious ONSCREEN conversations happening between Eddie and Chimney?  After 6x5 when Eddie went to Chimney’s apartment, it was evident that they are friends but their friendship is never shown outside of the firehouse.  They had breakfast in 6x2 so that would have been a great time to show them talking about other things like Chimney’s trust issues with Maddie so that Eddie could give him advice on how he handled or didn’t handle the trust issues he had with his deceased wife. There are so many things that can be done with Eddie’s character but they’re being overshadowed and ignored.

Buck gets the most and the longest storylines of any main character on the show and he’s also included in almost everyone else’s storylines.  But it hasn’t always been like that because in seasons 2 and 3 his storylines lasted for a maximum of 1 to 4 episodes but now his storylines last for 14-18 episodes and one carried over from season 4 into season 5. He’s a part of an ensemble cast which means everyone should receive an equal and balanced number of storylines but that’s not happening.  The storylines for Buck aren’t even good ones because they don’t show him growing, progressing or maturing and the audience is not happy about any of it.  Comments from audience members that have been posted on different social media platforms include: “Whiny baby!”, “I hate Buck’s sperm donor story with my very being”, “He’s so immature.”, “I can’t watch his scenes anymore”; “When are they going to let Buck grow up?”, “I just fast forward through his scenes now”, “OMG, he’s becoming so hard to watch”, “Stop regressing him”, “Buck just gets stupider and stupider every season”, “Is Buck going to always be someone’s punching bag?” and the list goes on and on. His storylines have been all over the place during season 6 and it started with him wanting to be interim captain but that ended after he moved his leather chair to the middle of his living room in 6x1. Then he started his search for happiness in 6x2 “Crash and Learn” but he quickly abandoned it after Lev died while they were on the scene at the Happiness Convention.  Then he started a year of saying “yes to the possibilities” but that dropped off after he agreed to be a sperm donor for his former roommate in 6x4 which doesn’t make any NARRATIVE sense because he hadn’t talked to Connor in more than 3 years. He was hiding it from his found family which means he really didn’t want to do it but he made the donation anyway in 6x7 and now he’s spending all his spare time with Hen since they’ve had several conversations about his “swimmers”.   Buck constantly blames himself for everything (including things he has no control over), he makes other people’s problems about him, he never admits when he’s hurting and unhappy and since he’s not being allowed to grow and mature, the audience would like to know when his storylines will show the way he’s grown over the past six years.  If he’s supposed to be regressing or suffering from some mental health issues then it’s not translating well to the audience because his erratic behavior isn’t much different from where it was in the past.  What’s with the showrunners’ fascination with what’s in Buck’s pants? Every season his storylines revolve around someone trying to get into his pants. In season 1 it was the random women he hooked up with, Dr. Wells and Abby. In season 2 it was Taylor and Ali, in seasons 4 and 5 it was Taylor and in season 6 it’s Kameron, even though she’s doing it indirectly through her husband Connor. There’s an abundance of storylines available for each character but for some reason Buck gets most of them and his storylines always drag out for 18 episodes unlike everyone else’s, who is lucky enough to even get a storyline, are usually over within 2 to 3 episodes.  Buck should be written as more than just a HIMBO who hooks up with women because he has other characteristics that aren’t being properly explored. He was an excellent mentor to TK in the LS Crossover episode 2x3 “Hold the Line” when Owen and Hen were missing after their helicopter crashed. He told TK that even though his captain wasn’t his dad, he may as well be because Bobby never gives up on him even after he stole the firetruck.  But one year later, on OG when Buck was training Ravi in 5x5 “Peer Pressure” he acted like a narcissist and didn’t treat Ravi with any respect at all. That would have been the perfect time for Bobby to step in and tell Buck that he didn’t train him like that so he should have been more of a leader especially if he wants to become a captain someday.  But that was probably too much because Buck wanted to transfer out of the 118 after he saw Ravi getting a simple pat on the back from Bobby for doing a job well done.  Please explore Buck’s other characteristics instead of continuing to use recurring characters who are being incorporated into his storylines for the sole purpose of doing the same things to him that his parents did which was use him for his body parts because he’s smart and he has a lot to offer. Not only does Buck get a lot of storylines that drag on for multiple seasons; he’s also included in other people’s storylines as well.  For example, instead of either Karen, Athena or Chimney being the one to encourage Hen to ask her professor to retake her exam in 6x4, it was an offhanded albeit drunk comment from Buck that caused her to make the decision when he said, “You would have made one heck of a great doctor” after she helped the 118 with a call about Hoover the dog.  Why was Buck the one searching that woman’s house in 6x5 after Athena told him they had already completed a sweep of the house and didn’t find anyone? Shouldn’t a detective have gone searching in the kitchen? Buck has time to go to a Renaissance Faire with Hen and Denny in 6x8 but he couldn’t go to Christopher’s school with Eddie for Christopher’s first dance?  Why didn’t Buck admit how unhappy he was in 5x18 when he broke up with TayKay instead of admitting something he already knew about her?  The available interim captain spot in 6x1 was another storyline that was made to include Buck but nothing came of it since he stopped talking about it.  He asked Hen about happiness in 6x2 but just like the interim captain spot, nothing came of that either.  It made sense for Eddie to show up at Marisol’s house since he was in the ambulance with Chimney when they transported her brother to the hospital in 6x5 but why was Buck there instead of Chimney? Or in fact, why wasn’t all of the 118 present to help repair her house instead of just Buck and Eddie and all those other people the audience didn’t recognize? Why is Hen not telling Buck things he needs to consider about being a sperm donor since they are besties now? Why is Buck not talking to anyone about his decision to be a sperm donor?  He’s always told everyone what’s going on in his personal life so this storyline DOESN’T MAKE ANY NARRATIVE SENSE because he’s acting OOC. Will it end soon since the Buckleys will be present in 6B?  How much longer will Buck be regressed back to the season 1 version of himself?  While it’s true he’s not having sex with random people anymore, he’s still not able to make any formidable decisions for himself. Buck had a conversation with Thomas in 2x8 “Buck Actually” more than 5 years ago but he still hasn’t grasped what Thomas told him.  Basically Thomas told him that he could live his life however he chooses and love whomever he wants to in order to be happy but Buck STILL DOESN’T UNDERSTAND. He talked with Red almost three years ago in 3x16 “The One That Got Away” but he’s still not getting it because he's supposed to be building a life for himself instead of being committed to his job but he is still stuck and continues to neglect building a life of his own which is the exact opposite of what Red told him to do. Eddie and Christopher are right in front of him but he keeps looking past them. Then Lev told him months ago in 6x2 about the secret to happiness but Buck missed it. He was supposed to realize that he can choose to be happy now instead of waiting until he’s Lev’s age and regretting everything he did since it would all end up being a blur anyway. Buck’s storylines could be so much better than the way they are being portrayed but for some reason the ones being chosen for him keep him looking like a HIMBO.  He isn’t portrayed like that when he’s with Eddie because when they’re together he's more of a HUSBAND.  It would be great if the show finally allowed Buck to mature and grow so that he can realize what’s in front of him.  It’s the family he’s always wanted with Eddie and Christopher but for some reason they keep putting people in his path within the storylines to stunt his growth and to delay him and Eddie from becoming a romantic couple.

Buck’s storylines have been drawn out to last for entire seasons while Bobby and Chimney haven’t had dedicated storylines since season 2 for Bobby and season 3 for Chimney.  Any storylines they’ve had were inextricably linked to Athena for Bobby and Maddie for Chimney.  Eddie gets storylines but they’re always sidelined or overshadowed by the ridiculous storylines that have only shown Buck regressing and not growing. Other than Hen’s medical school storyline (which is over) it appears there aren’t any plans to do anything other than have her possibly have to talk to Eva again since Denny will ask about his biologically parents in 6x9 “Red Flag”.  Instead of recurring characters being brought on solely for Buck’s storylines that last for 18 episodes, recurring characters should also be considered for the other mains’ storylines too.  There’s no reason why Captain Mehta couldn’t be brought back to have conversations with Bobby or another fire captain from a different firehouse.  Maybe they could bring back RAVI since the audience loves his character but his storylines have been vaporized and it’s like he was never on the show since they won’t mention the character anymore. Recent comments from viewers on one social media platform have stated how they will decide after 6x9 “Red Flag” airs if they will return to watch in 6B because they haven’t enjoyed the first 8 episodes of the season so far.  While the second half of the season appears to be promising, it has a long way to go if the show wants to get all of the viewers who stopped watching in 5B and to prevent those who might decide to stop watching after 6x9 to return. The storylines have to be better for the second half or they might risk losing even more viewers than they already have.  Just like at the end of 5B, the audience is EXHAUSTED but season 6 won’t be halfway finished until after 6x9 airs, therefore this shouldn’t be happening especially since all the mains are present and accounted for during season 6.  Also with 5 million or fewer viewers watching episodes each week, it appears all the show cares about are the demo numbers instead of reading the complaints from viewers that continue to be posted regarding the way something seems to be missing from the show. The number of viewers they have achieved this season is still a far cry from the success of other shows that have been on for a lot longer.  Hopefully things will be better in March 2023 and storylines will become more balanced for the entire ensemble cast.