#we just (re-)watched this ep and i had no memory of it so we were both thinking of a very different storyline

[thesoftestcowboy]

House MD trans masc moments

[watchingblsnowandforever]

My updated GMMTV 2024 lineup in order of my preference: (these are only the QLs. Most of the het shows fall under my Indifferent category. If I feel like it, I'll watch them.)

The Heart Killers. Pretty sure this is #1 on most of y'alls lists and for good reason too. My reasons? Pretty simple. I love action, mafia and romcom and this is all in one. And also FirstKhao and JoongDunk so-

Peaceful Property. After TayNew outdid themselves in the beautiful soft little thing that was Cherry Magic Thailand (anyone wanna join my Cherry Magic Th propaganda?), I can't wait for this series. Also: if they give me besties, it'll be a hard pill to swallow but I'll be fine, but if they give me bromance, I'll commit homicide.

Pluto the series. A GL? With NamtanFilm? I'm in.

Revamp. Previously: The Vampire Project. Love me some vampires <3. Also, BounPrem.

Sweeth Tooth, Good Dentist. The plot sounds super fluffy and cheesy, so of course I'm in. And no way I'm missing Mark Pakin first lead. (Also, as a dessert-loving person who had many teeth-related problems as a kid, the premise just sounds too relatable. Except the falling in love part with your dentist obviously.) But... JittiRain. I have complicated feelings for her works.

ThamePo/My Heart Skips A Beat. It seems soft and sweet, though it does have the secret/forbidden relationship overtones.

Ossan's Love. I found the trailer hilarious, but trailers, especially pilot trailers lie. Also, I'm not hearing the greatest things about the original, but I haven't watched it so I will reserve judgement. If I like it I'll like it I guess.

Us the series. You might ask how a GL ended up so low in my list. Personally, it's a bit jarring to see BLs have this safe space/bubble for their gay bois, but GLs are proclaiming love between women as "taboo" off the bat. I also saw this in 23.5, and yeah okay I get it, wlw is seen in a much harsher eye sometimes, but in 23.5 all Ongsa did was go on repeating "But we're both girls..." without explaining the why and resolving it properly. For now, I will not think too much into it, and worry about it when the time comes.

Perfect 10 liners. What put me off in the trailer itself is the clear discrimination based on looks/physical appearances. It also seems like at this point they're just trying to give each pairing some screen time this year but have run out of plots, and are thus shoving pairings into series like it's the metro/tube/subway/whatever you call it in your country during rush hour. Will I like it? We'll see. After New Siwaj gave me the masterpiece that is We Are, and crushed my doubts like mosquitoes, I'm willing to give Perfect 10 Liners a good strong chance. The premise still bothers me a bit, but I'm keeping an open mind.

Finished Airing:

We Are. It's absolutely great for my tastes and I get to detox once every week. Love it. Has absolutely no plot but has loads of fluff, and it's something I didn't know I needed in my life until I had it. It's one of my favourite BLs ever, and it's definitely going on my comfort shows and re-watch list. It will forever live on in my memory. I definitely keep coming back to this. Very high on my list and my #1 comfort show.

Only Boo. I kinda like it, but I have zero idea where they plan to go with the current storyline. Fluffy and cute, I'll keep watching, but it probably won't end up high on my favourites list. I'm behind on a couple of episodes (I'll catch up before ep. 12, no worries) and I was right. I do like it. It's something new, and I'd like GMM to explore this more, but it's not ending up very high on my favourites list.

Wandee Goodday. My favourite fake boyfriends with benefits! I'm behind a couple episodes with this too (sorry, my brain has been a little too obsessed with We Are T~T) but overall, I really like it. It's P'Golf, so I never had any doubts, but I do worry a little about the angst. It's bearable till now, so fingers crossed. I really like it! College has reopened, so I'm behind on the last two episodes, but I'm hoping I'll be able to complete it by this week. Final update: I've finished Wandee Goodday! All around, it's a very good BL. It dared to explore, and I'm impressed. Top 20 BLs.

Currently Airing:

My Love Mix Up! Thailand. I'm still skeptical, not gonna lie. But it's GemFourth. And I didn't feel much about the first few eps of MSP either, and look what happened with that. I still don't know how hard the original will clash with Thai BL's specific style, but I'm willing to take the chance. Please don't disappoint me. I like where this is going. They are so cute and lovely, and that high school vibe is evident. All I need now is for ep 11 curse to not happen. (From what happened in MSP, I think there will be some sort of conflict in the last ep, but as long as I don't have to wait one whole week for it to get resolved, I'm okay with it.)

The Trainee. Well, it's OffGun's usual tsundere seme/innocent uke. Office romance though- that's new. I guess they finally graduated from university 😭😂 I don't feel anything about it right now, but let's see what happens when it starts airing. Rating changed. It's only been four episodes (and I missed today, that is ep 4, because I have college early tomorrow) but I like where this is going. I think it's going to be the typical 5-7 romance ep pattern, but as long as they don't bring back the ep 11 curse, it's all good.

[originalaccountname]

There are some posts I've seen floating around that at the start Dazai may not of known that Chuuya wasn't a vampire which I kind of agree with. I'm at work currently so I cant double check but when he goes "that's a nasty trick you've pulled fydor" im pretty sure its in his thoughts?? To which why would he think that if he knew the whole time. I think dazai must of caught onto the fact Chuuya was faking it at somepoint but not sure when that would of been. Also at the end of the ep Dazai said he didn't have a plan. (I did watch the episode at just after 2am my time when it came out and then fell asleep afterwards so my memory could be not correct). I do think chuuya not being a vampire at all is a little disappointing tbh but this idea softens the blow. Would like to know your thoughts on this idea if you are open to sharing?

I'm in that category too, yes. I've left a few tags saying basically the same thing on some posts.

First, there are a few things the anime didn't answer (more than failing to justify Chuuya faking it since the start, there's Sigma's case about needing to help the ADA, which... didn't happen at all) so either we haven't seen the repercussions of this arc yet, or we got the shortened version of what the manga will offer. Which could work either way. (not ideal necessarily, but besides huffing what can we do huh)

Dazai not knowing though! Dazai did admit to his "plan" being to mostly adapt on the fly and trust his allies to help him back. He implied this prison break was one big trust fall. But that's how I've always interpreted Dazai's way of planning! I even made a post about it a full year ago!

Since Dazai knows Chuuya slowed down the elevator (which I can accept, Dazai's ability shouldn't affect random objects he touches, and Fyodor had told Chuuya through a comm to go finish off Dazai because he wasn't in the room), I assume that by then he was aware. Maybe not before though. Definitely not at first. Because this?

I refuse to believe was entirely scripted. Why is he acting? For Sigma? For corpses? I'm of the opinion that no matter what is going on through Dazai's head, his expressions are always genuine (ex: he might react with surprise at something he completely expected, if only because of how sudden it was, or when/how it ended up happening. Here? genuine distress.)

And I extend that feeling to Dazai having an emotional moment, complete with flashbacks, while "drowning" Fyodor and Chuuya. He did say he wasn't expecting to kill them that way, but perhaps it really was a moment of weakness triggered by concern or guilt.

I can accept Dazai having caught on during his face-off with Chuuya. That's Mr I-know-your-breathing-patterns we have here, so if they didn't high-five after the elevator crash-landing (still broke Dazai's leg), I would say Dazai knows physics enough to go "hold on" and connect the dots. So yes, that baiting of Chuuya, the light taunting, the bratty attitude he only really has with Chuuya, the angry YELLING and insults when Chuuya shot him in the shoulder? The destiny talk? Yeah I can re-contextualize those as Dazai over-acting his part. And then not being able to shut up after being shot in the head.

Maybe there's some reaching here, maybe this will not be totally accurate to the source material. But Asagiri does have a habit to write scenes from an outsider pov while knowing whats happening in the characters' heads and behind the scene, but then not give us that input directly. Never before today was it confirmed that Dazai improvises a lot in his plans. And yet! That's something I've believed in for a very long time.

This all could very well be covering Asagiri's poor decisions, but between this being the adaptation and bsd being an unfinished story, I have a hard time deciding at the moment how much of a poor decision this was. Maybe it's worth a raised eyebrow. Maybe it deserves some criticism in hope the author takes notes. Maybe this was an anime-original resolution due to time constraints (think of the Fifteen final fight). I can only raise concerns for now, and wait.

[darling-wendy]

kazurei clues part 1 (ep 7)

Now that the content of Mitsuhito Tsuji's twitter likes have been going around, I'm gonna start going through the occasions where I feel the writers were doing their best to throw out clues about what their intentions were with Rei and Kazuki. First up, because I've got the episode queued up to re-watch and because it's both (imo) obvious and subtle, are the ones I see in episode 7.

To start with, we hadn't seen Kazuki go back to Fairy Lips after episode 1, but this gives concrete confirmation that he stopped going. Of course, raising a young child is busy work, especially when you fell into it with no preparation or experience, but once Miri starts attending daycare, that opens time for him that he could've used with quick trips. Incidentally, we saw what his first choice was for relaxation.

He just wanted to hang out with Rei some more, how quaint lol. (There are several hours in-between them dropping off Miri and them going back to pick her up. I really, really reeeeeaallly wanna know if they seriously just sat in Kyu's restaurant for the whole day lmao.)

And this takes me to what Dorothy says next.

I can't quite make out the exact word she uses in Japanese, but let's assume it is indeed something gender neutral like 'sweetheart'. In the moment, Kazuki is focused on fleeing before Karin can see him, but once he's away and alone with his thoughts, this is what he zeroes in on:

That's what he dwells on for hours, all throughout the rest of his walk home, while doing household chores, at dinner, even during his talk with Kyu. His struggle is the way he's determinedly holding himself in the past because he thinks it's the only way to keep Yuzuko from slipping out of his memories. Being happy, being fulfilled by something else, would mean she's getting shoved out. But in that vein, the mention of having a sweetheart could (and should?) set him in a similar way. Yet they don't overtly go back to that. But they very much tossed that breadcrumb out there.

I'd argue that Rei is functionally filling that role (hell, the preview for this very episode had a back and forth between Kazuki and Kyu where Kazuki obliquely compares Rei to his mom friends' husbands 😭). Miri is the catalyst for the big changes in their household, but it's pretty notable that once he and Rei start raising her together, he loses the inclination to flirt and party with women, and is only shown to do it again while he's in the middle of a breakdown. He hollowed himself inside so as to keep Yuzuko tethered to him. The rush of gambling and partying at Fairy Lips only briefly and shallowly filled the void. But once he and Rei outright form a family unit with Miri, he starts to heal.

Also, look at this face and try to tell me that he doesn't "ironically" refer to Rei as 'hubby' in his head!

The shot preceding this had a POV gaze at Rei's hand over Miri's, followed by a pan over to Rei himself, asleep. The shot of Kazuki smiling all fondly lasts 3 seconds. That's a good amount of time there. I can't help but think the animators were drawing attention to Kazkui having a moment over Rei.

[twig-tea]

Let's Talk about Cheum

I've had multiple Cheum posts in my drafts since at least episode 6, and the main reason why I haven't posted them is because I keep waiting for the show to give me more. There have been some great posts reflecting on her character this week, so I thought I'd give it a try anyway right before the finale this weekend.

@waitmyturtles laid out her thoughts on Cheum here and this was followed up on with some excellent context by @ctl-yuejie re: the split in the audience around their reception of Cheum.

@my-rose-tinted-glasses tied the way that folks seem to want to iterpret Cheum's character to the trailer, which was an interesting take I hadn't considered! I like it.

I've been pushing back on Cheum being the voice of the audience or the only character who has it together for the entire time we've been watching this show [one of the places I've done this most explicitly was in my scene-by-scene breakdown of ep6]. Nothing in the actual show, to me, encourages us to see Cheum as the one who 'has it together'. She gets sloppy drunk out of the gate in ep1; she's rude, she's catty, she seems like a party girl. She's kind of mean about her girlfriend's films behind her back, she constantly insults Boston, Ray, and Mew in subtle ways, she supports Top as a "good candidate" for Mew even when we all in the audience know that he's a player, and even after she knows he betrayed Mew's trust (we can debate over whether it was "cheating", this is how Mew saw it and how Top knew he would see it); she says she's tried to help Ray in the past but we only see her enable Ray's alcoholism--in other words, I have been baffled this entire time why anyone would see her character as the voice we're supposed to trust as a reliable narrator or moral voice of the show, when the audience has enough information to know she's very often wrong. I said after episode 10, in which Cheum accused Boston of assaulting her brother despite her knowledge of Boston's character and the fact that the photos did not support Atom's story, and with the audience knowing she's in the wrong, that I was so thankful this would have to be the nail in the coffin of the theory that Cheum is supposed to be the "voice of the audience" or the "correct" one in the show, and I am aghast that this still seems not to be the case.

In my post about Cheum after ep 10, I said:

When Cheum realizes that Atom lied, though, if she just shrugs it off the way she did Top sleeping with Boston or Ray bringing drugs to the hostel...my rage will be fierce. Part of unconditional belief is holding your sibling to account if they abuse that trust.

But of course I wrote that because I suspected she would, because that's how her character's been to date. So my own previous post is evidence that Cheum has actually been legibly and predictably written, at least to an extent.

And while I like @my-rose-tinted-glasses' theory that maybe folks are being influenced by their memory of the trailer (in their post linked above), I also suspect that a lot of that comes from the audience bringing their sexism to their viewing experience, and assuming that a female character has to be The Voice of Morality if they are not an Evil Seductress, and cannot simply be as messy and nuanced as the other characters. And also maybe from the assumption that SOMEone in this show must be right, when I think that's a faulty assumption to make.

To be fair to the audience, a lot of what's going on with her is subtle, because the show to date has not often explicitly called her out on her bullshit. I remember being so happy to get the confirmation that she knew Ray was in love with Mew this whole time (during the big blow-up at Yolo bar) for example, because it confirmed what I had thought: that she was not oblivious, she intentionally was not acknowledging the tension between them in order to keep harmony within the group. But I would not necessarily expect everyone watching to put that together, especially not as a reveal in the middle of that dramatic scene where so much else was going on.

Cheum is, like @wen-kexing-apologist said in the fantastic post about hypocrisy, just as young as her friends, and just as flawed. She's a bit of a nag, a bit of a party girl, a bit of a people-pleaser, and a bit of a selfish 20something. But so many viewers are refusing to see her that way, and I don't think that's all on the show. And none of this makes me hate her. She's actually the character I relate to most (I know I said I'd be mad at her for not holding Atom to account, and I am, but I don't hate her for it).

Knowing to pay more attention to the rudeness of her language has helped me with this too, because I was looking for a lovable personality trait, and I think @ctl-yuejie's point (linked above) is a great theory as to what's missing for the English-speaking audience. The difference between an asshole character I hate and an asshole character I love is often (a) intention and (b) eschewing social/societal expectations (as opposed to being an asshole in order to meet societal expectations). I don't think we are given enough about Cheum to tell much of the former (though she says she cares, and I do believe her to some extent, I just think she's also blind to how selfish she often is); but knowing she has been doing the latter helps me connect with her in ways I may have been struggling to before.

That being said, as I hinted at above, I do still agree with a lot of what folks have been saying, in that I think she has been under-written, because what I don't have for Cheum (in the same way that I don't have this for Top) is any sense of what motivates her, whether she really does love her girlfriend or she's just riding out the relationship she's in, how much work she's actually doing at the hostel (we see her work the party, but otherwise it's just implied that she's the one doing all the work on the ground, but we never get to see it and in a show full of unreliable narrators, it's hard to know what's true); and how much she really cares about these friends of hers, since most of what we see is her saying she's a good friend but not actually doing things that a good friend would do (or doing things a good friend would not do, like inviting the ex you're still mad at to the party, or yelling at her friend as he's being arrested, or listening to his explanation after he's been accused of a crime). We don't even really know why she wanted the hostel project to be a thing to begin with, or why she cares enough to keep working on it.

I'd like to give the show the benefit of the doubt and say that could be intentional; Cheum is a bit of a fringe member of the group; she doesn't hang out with them with her girlfriend that often, so she's not always around, and she's clearly not best friends with any of the three others. She's who people go to in order to vent and decompress after something happens, and so most of the time we see her, she's helping someone else process their emotions, usually with an eye to reconciliation--though again, the advice she gives is often not good lol. She gets the most mad when someone does something that disrupts the harmony of the group, which is one of the reasons why I read her as the peacekeeper in the group, or the "link" as her name means in Thai I think, that holds them together. Ironically it's her who severs the group in the way that's most permanent to date, by kicking Boston out of the project. But if this is what they were doing with her character, keeping her as the solder rather than a member of the chain (apologies for this belaboured metaphor), I don't know that it was successful; as always gotta wait to the end to be sure.

In the final episode, I would love to get a peek into the core of who Cheum is, or alternatively, Cheum herself saying she feels lost and unsure of who she is. I would also love for someone to point out Cheum's bullshit to her face so that more people understand that what she says is not the moral backbone of the show, though I'm trying to let go of that part of me that wants everyone to get it with this show because I know that's just not possible (and thanks to all of the excellent previous conversations we've had around that). It would be an exciting reversal, and very in character, if Cheum makes Atom's lie and her subsequent banishment of Boston all about her, and then someone calls her on that, for example. And I'd also like more Cheum and April together on screen because they are very aesthetically pleasing and I am a simple creature.

Also just to say, I am hesitant to chalk up Cheum's character having gaps as a 'men writing women' situation because Yo is given the grace to be a full character in fewer scenes than Cheum; also Top as a character suffers from the same problem. So I think this is uneven writing, rather than sexist writing. But I'm open to debating it (and it's not something that we'll ever necessarily know for sure).

[magadauthan]

Ep 26: Under the Sky So Blue

Thank you to the @trigun98watchparty for making this possible, and to all of you who have been reading along with me to this point. It's been a great trip down memory lane and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with other '98 fans who watched the first Trigun and loved it despite its flaws.

Also big thank you to those who engaged in meta, especially @tiggymalvern! Finding you again was the nicest surprise of all!

Without further ado, I am plant-ing (HARF) my tongue firmly in cheek for the intro to this recap.

Knives. We need to talk.

You have spent the last 130 years working on becoming the most basic bitch on NML, and you've done a good job. You couldn't be any blonder or blue-eyed. You have (had) a loyal second-in-command who did all your dirty work for you so you didn't have to get your hair mussed. You have a Squad who secretly hates you but sticks around because they want to be on the right side of things if you win out. And you have a silly-looking pair of boots.

It's also well known that you are the Beverage Boy of NML. On your desk (which is sitting in front of a big loopy wall art stating "Live, Laugh, Murder Everyone") and next to the "Universe's #1 Brother" mug you bought yourself is a canvas frame that says "But first, coffee." You probably killed everyone else at Target so you could get the latest Stanley.

But Knives. Knives. The wine? That's a red you're drinking. Red wine doesn't get chilled. It should be decanted and served at room temperature. Plus, basic bitches drink rosé, or a white zinfandel. To make your declassé behavior worse, you're drinking it out of a martini glass. If you're going to have a Cosmo, have a Cosmo. It's no shame. But really - how are you going to claim that you're a superior breed if you don't know such simple rules of etiquette?

Get a grip, Beverage Boy.

--Aw, baby Vash.

--I wonder whether the twins need to eat and drink, or whether it's just easier for them if they do.

--You know, Knives, humans wouldn't have had to rely so heavily on the Plants if you hadn't crashed the ships. Ofc he didn't intend to have anyone survive besides himself and Vash, which sounds pretty boring. What were the two of you going to do for all eternity?

--Was Knives working on the guns before the ship crashed, and that's what he went in to find?

--I remember seeing somewhere that the little cartridge above the barrel of the Long Colts is a teeny Plant, or Plant-stuff. Anyone else recall this?

--NOW who's the big whiny baby, Knives? (my leg, it hurts! Why?)

--That must be a very young Doc on the ship. Although, there's nothing to say that a year on NML is the same as a year on Earth. It would be more surprising if it was, rather than it wasn't.

--LOL William Conrad (aka Revnunt Buskus) is from Cleveland, Ohio

--No but seriously, how did Knives get himself and Vash's severed arm out of July after getting blasted to smithereens?

--"Hi Knives! Living as a human was great! Congratulations bro, I am done with your shit!"

--Vash kept quite a few of Leonov's wires. They've come in handy.

--Knives has learned Vash's physical tricks well enough to keep up with him... and Vash has finally figured out how to control his Plant powers well enough to cancel his brother out. (Tristamp really nailed this; their battle in the final ep was fantastic)

--Vash is worn out. Not only has he been shot through the shoulder by his brother, he's likely not completely healed from the encounter with Legato.

--Even in death, WW is looking after his friend and kicking his ass to do something, damnit! I'm right here to help you!

--The peppering Knives got from the Punisher likely wouldn't have been enough to put Vash off, but Knives has never been able to handle physical pain. Vash remembers this very well and takes excellent advantage of it.

--that boy has jawlines for days

--A blast from the well, the cauldron of Rebirth. Vash is reborn to be his own person, to make the right choices for himself and his conscience, rather than for her memory.

Which is what every mother wants for her son. I should know.

--go get your man, Meryl, he won't keep you waiting. if he did you'd go find him anyway.

--Vash leaves his coat, his gun... and his sunglasses. He's done hiding behind them. He doesn't need to anymore.

--This would have been the ending scene, for most anime. Anyone who watches anime gets used to the vague ending, the things left unsaid, and the ambiguity. There's rarely a "happy ending" the way Westerners think of them. Vash could have wandered off into the sunset, leaving the viewer to wonder whether he ever saw Milly and Meryl again. That's pretty normal.

And then there's Trigun, which takes that expected ambiguity and says "nah, we're not done."

Vash comes back to town. He's made his choice to accept the girls into his life, of his own volition, and he's going to let them make their own choices about having him (and his brother) in their lives. There would be an awful lot to sort out, but he wants to try.

This is the very next scene. Don't tell me otherwise; I don't want to hear it. (credit: doujinshi circle Nail Cut Club; title Meteo Strike).

I have Big Thoughts about what could happen after this, and of course a fanfic, but my cat wants me to go to bed now. She's being very persistent.

Thanks to all of you who read this far. You're the best, and I love you all! And talk to me, I like hearing from ppl!

[mylittleredgirl]

finally, m*a*s*h update!

season four disc two! ("quo vadis, captain chandler" to "dear ma")

there is a LOT going on in the frank and margaret department

i kind of tipped my hand here when i posted about my new obsession, but even if you are not circling the drain on this doomed ship... the Unresolved Breakup Tension is fuckin WILD in this disc

she literally punches him in the face!!! how was that not a breakup!

but then he buys her something or does something to charm or impress her, and it works! then he blows it again!! rinse and repeat!!!! i am 👀🍿

sam and diane from cheers are still theeee platonic ideal of slap-slap-kiss but these clowns definitely walked so they could run

i literally jumped off the couch when his wife found out, aaaaa it's so juicy

I'M SORRY i realize this doesn't speak well of me as a person, but those long close-ups on her face as she voluntarily eavesdrops on him dismissing their relationship (twice!!) and her heart gets fully crushed??? i could eat popcorn to this all day.

this is the kind of dysfunctional relationship that my artist friends would choose in our youth so that we could Suffer and Make Art, so i really hope margaret is writing terrible poetry about it

anyway, we're peroxide-roots deep into GIRL WHY??!??

and then bj very gently explains to radar that well, see, frank and margaret both kinda suck and we're in the middle of nowhere, so they're all they've got

and i had to spend three or four days staring at the ceiling about it, because YEAH. it's not just that they're each other's only rank-appropriate source of star-spangled orgasms

(and they both care far more about military hierarchy than they do about marital fidelity)

but they are so consistently unkind to everyone around them that they have no other choice for any human connection full stop.

i'm not even talking about their ongoing bullying war with hawkeye and trapper or bj, because that's dirty pool on both sides, but i could count on one hand the number of times either of them have interacted with a subordinate nurse or enlisted man without threatening them. like they literally would not have anyone else to talk to.

but the reveal that she still wants to MARRY HIM? oh god. ohhhh honey. noooo.

that fake proposal prank was so genuinely mean. mostly because they ruined her hot date! 👏 let 👏 margaret 👏 fuck 👏 random 👏 dudes 👏

"isn't general barker the one who wanted you to spank him?" lmaoooo

OKAY i swear i can talk about other things:

hawkeye continues to just NOT pull without trapper here. the nurses are fully dismissing or ignoring his efforts, and honestly is he even trying that hard?? have we seen him get even one date?

i've been trying to come up with an "intricate rituals" joke about hawkeye and trapper but where the rituals are... girls. you get me.

i re-watched the pilot and the desk ep (for frank/margaret reasons DON'T JUDGE ME), and hawkeye and trapper LITERALLY end the pilot handcuffed together, and in the next episode talk about sharing a nurse. how am i supposed to take this???

speaking of nurses, you know that little 🙄 you have to ignore in 2024 whenever the women on m*a*s*h get called honey and sweetheart and baby on the job (though tbh i worked on a construction site and an ad sales office in the 2010's and got the same treatment -- but in the modern day it's done ironically babe)

BUT when potter calls margaret "good girl" after he gets shot??? total opposite feeling. i literally had to pause and take a moment. he's her dad now.

also when he tucks radar in???? everyone's dad actually

in loving memory of radar's other dad though, two important points:

how proud would henry have been of drunk & disorderly radar??

and henry's "i've always wondered if i might be radar's dad" bit is genuinely 900% funnier now that we know radar's mom looks EXACTLY like him.

i don't think i have ever circled back to talk about klinger, who became so so so awesome

it's so funny that in klinger's very first appearance and 30 times since then, he has been told straight up that wearing women's clothes will never work to get him out of the army. there's no explanation for his commitment to this particular form of passive resistance except that he genuinely loves it

the swamp rats built a still and klinger got a sewing machine and learned a craft. he's so good at it!! his looks are 🔥

i feel uncomfortable when i see him in fatigues tbh. it happened a few times in this disc and i would like it to Stop actually

also precious baby father mulcahey... Protect Him.

i LOVE that everyone showed up for his church service when the grand poobah chaplain was in town. they love each other!!! (also the life magazine jeep shoot!!!)

"quo vadis, captain chandler" was really good. i'm still over colonel flagg's whole deal but i now understand why everyone loves sidney freedman, and the guest actor they had playing not-jesus was incredible

bj continues to be the best little brother hawkeye could have asked for

also he maybe invented cpr?

i didn't say much about him here but I LOVE HIM and also his off-screen wife

forward and onward!!!

[crazykuroneko]

IWTV S2E01 First Watch Note

The notes I took while watching in case anyone is interested. Under the cut.

Anyway, I'm grateful they have improved the Episode Insider and now it's really something worth watching

• It's still a recap but the score slays already. Omg Daniel Hart you deserve all the awards

• I love how it says episode 8 and the silhouette of war torn Europe.

• On Claudia dreaming: Present Louis holding onto Claudia's diaries to provide a fact in the past

• Delainey is insane. Just from being silent, we could feel how torn Claudia is

• Interesting they gave ep 1 to a new director to set the tone

• So before this interview happened, when Louis still believed he killed Lestat in NOLA, he got to read this edited diaries and didn't understand what Claudia wrote? I mean, imagine reading the bitterness in her words yet you didn't know where they came from. The break down in Ep 7 triggers more memories for him to remember

• I think Daniel is similar to Lestat in a way. The more he's afraid of Armand the more crass he is. That Shah Rukh Khan comment, boy stfu

• It's insane how Louis posed dead Lestat like Jesus. 

• Okay, I'm gonna "translating" DreamStat lines like I did with dead Abigail Hobbs

• The way Dreamstat shows Louis still misses Lestat and starts to ponder if Claudia worth it. The resentment building.

• OH THE LOUSTAT LEITMOTIF AFTER LOUIS SAID SORRY TO DREAMSTAT. slower version of In Throes in Increasing Wonder

• The lines Dreamstat did are so loaded with meanings. Louis' guilt for killing Lestat; his fear that he will come for revenge; his fear that once he's finally in better place, everything will crumble again; and his longing for him just from how intimately they're talking

• Oh, Louis is obsessed to get everything right. That will gradually eat his mental stability 

• Photo of Grace as his wife. Louis you're so funny

• Real Rashid deserves a hell of bonus and a promotion istg

• I don't understand Russian etc, but the use of foreign language and accented English has been smooth so far. A world better than whatever the fuck Mayfair Witches did. And they only had to cover one language.

• "In a landfill and five years of garbage on top." Louis, garbage wouldn't stop him 😭. I wonder where Lestat has been for 5 years tho. Recovering with that many rats are easy. Okay, let's say 3/6 months on rats. Once he gets up, he could kill the first person coming to a landfill. Then it will be smooth sailing. One year tops to recover. Two years, if you'd think he's depressed over Louis killing him idk. 

• The emotion in Claudia's eyes 😭

• "Change the subject when the truth blinds you" Oh, she got him.

• That insane monologue Jacob does. Louis starting to remember which is true which is not (he re-remembers the fall, mind you). 

• So because the blood is bad, vampires there can't get warmer and feel their sadness and sickness as well. And when they want to turn someone, it's either fail or they turn into a revenant. At least according to Louis.

• Oh, Daciana can taste how strong their blood is. How long they can live. 

• I wonder what went through Claudia's head, seeing Daciana emulated herself. She (deservedly, after all his lies) didn't believe Lestat when he said his maker burnt himself. Ofc it didn't make any sense to her ears at that time, burning yourself after you turned someone. But now she witnessed it herself. Someone who could have told her everything, killing themselves after feeling lost and untethered (Daciana lost all of her fledlings)

• "My name is in some of those pages" Louis isn't even listening to his fear. He's deadset on this. And Armand is anxious.

• The face Armand made. Does Louis know he has men around his pinky just for a drop of his affection?

• Louis agreed with Armand to basically shut Daniel up and turn him into a fumble journalist again when he still wants the truth is interesting 

• Is that the groan? It's louder now.

• Daniel's reaction when seeing Loumand walking in together is so funny 🤣

• Wait, Session 7 is Ep 7. There are two sessions in this episode and it's Season 10 now. so, what happened in Season 8?

• The way Lestat is there during the You and Me lines, but it's not really Lestat. It's the embodiment of Louis' doubt on this new life he chose together. The way Claudia sitting there so small; Lestat lovingly softly gazing at her. Oh, Louis so wants to believe his words himself.

• Louis arrives in Paris with desperation to prove that this life is worth it; that killing Lestat was worth it; that he'll get that happiness. Even though he's afraid Lestat will come or it will crumble the moment he reaches it. Oh, Louis.

[buddiebeginz]

Would not tuning into the re-airing help? Like if they don’t get viewership on that episode do you think it would steer them in a direction away from BT? I’m so scared that all the positive attention that ship gets means that Tim is going to just give up on buddie and that sixe years of development and buildup is going to be flushed down the drain because of the people who jumped ship… would it be any good to just ignore the ep re-airing altogether? I’m already planning on not tuning in bc I’m going to be working at that time, but maybe trying to rally buddie fans together to boycott the ep and then get buddie trending on twitter?

I really don’t know if I will be able to handle Oliver posting anything about this though… it would really feel like a nail in the coffin for us to me

I don't think they're reairing the episode as some tribute to B/T. They've been reairing the s7 eps (since the season ended) so I think that's mainly why they're showing that one again. It also refreshes people's memories of what happened in the previous season leading up to s8.

I get why you and other Buddie fans are nervous going into s8 but I really wish you guys would calm down a little. Everything is pointing towards Buddie going canon. I know a lot of us have been waiting years for this to happen so I get being afraid to to hope and be let down. I know it sucks we didn't get more solid confirmation of Buck and Eddie's feelings in s7 but we still got sooo much.

If Tim wasn't invested in Buddie trust me you'd know. When you compare s7 to s5/6 you can see how drastically different the show is handling Buddie now. When Kristen was running things she made it clear that she was not on board with Buddie ever being a couple and you could see that with how little time together they had in those seasons especially compared to how much time was put into Buck and Taylor in s5.

Now compare that to B/T and how little time Tim allotted for them and how they were given next to no development. And what development they did have consisted of T*mmy being a dick most of the time. Meanwhile Buddie were in almost every single episode in s7 and with some really important scenes that further cemented their relationship.

I know that the B*mmy stans are loud and a lot of them make it a point to try and rub it in our face that their ship is canon and how they think ours never will be. The thing is they do that because deep down they know their ship isn't going to last. If they didn't think Buddie ever stood a chance and they thought the show was really putting effort into B/T they wouldn't care so much about things like us seeing Eddie as queer.

Back to 7x04 though. I don't think anyone should boycott it. That ep was about so much more than T*mmy. It was about Buck realizing he's attracted to guys and that he can act on that attraction. It was also heavily centered around Buck's feelings for Eddie and that's not a coincidence. It's not a misread or a mistake that Buck spends the whole episode where we finally learn he's bi all about Eddie and then ends up kissing a guy who we're told is basically a lesser version of Eddie.

7x04 was meant as Buck's bi awakening but also to give us a glimpse into how strongly Buck feels for Eddie. What I believe was meant to happen was by the end of the season we would have at least had indisputable confirmation of Buck's feelings for Eddie. That didn't happen though I think because they got picked up for s8 and decided to hold off on moving forward with Buddie until s8, when they'd have more time to flesh out their story. None the less 7x04 is still an important Buddie episode.

No one has to rewatch when it airs and I get it if people don't want to watch Buck with T*mmy but I still think people should rewatch the rest of the episode again at some point. If for nothing else than just to see how much it wasn't about T*mmy or B/T it was about Buddie.

This is why I made the post I did about getting something trending for Buddie when the ep airs. Because the episode is about Buddie. But also I'm sure B*mmy stans will be online showing their support for B/T. We need to be on social media more making it clear to Tim and ABC how our fandom isn't going anywhere and the love for Buddie is stronger than ever.

[adhd-merlin]

merlin S1 rewatch: episode 9

let’s move on to ep 1x09 because I need to get on. with my life. I already re-watched this ep months ago and I can’t be arsed to do it again so I’m going to use screencaps and perhaps the transcript to refresh my memory.

kilgharrah warning merlin that excalibur MUST NOT be wielded by anyone but arthur, and merlin handing the sword to uther literally the next morning is so funny to me. it's kind of the same thing that happens with the cup of life, when iseldir tells merlin “hey this is important so don’t lose it okay?” and five minutes later we see the cup rolling down a hill. I love consistent characterisation. please don’t give this boy anything important for safekeeping he has enough on his plate already!!

I think Arthur’s coronet looks a bit dumb but still it’s nothing compared to the horrendous Burger King crown he'll wear as king. why did uther get such a prettier crown. why couldn't arthur just wear his father's crown. so many questions

why did they name the undead knight tristan, was he supposed to be the tristan? I think he was. I think their take on tristan and isolde in S4 was so disappointing btw. anyway moving on

Merlin: Gaius have you seen that knight’s crest before? Gaius: No, I don’t think so. I didn’t see it clearly. Actually I’m not even sure I saw a knight. Perhaps it was a trick of the light or a collective hallucination

Sir Owain: I don’t need luck Arthur: oh fuck he’s going to die

Arthur’s face after Uther holds him back and someone else picks up the undead knight’s gauntlet. so much self-sacrificing acts of bravery and NONE of them done by him. wrong and upsetting

S1 Arthur I'm not sure how to tell you this so I'll just say it. your haircut looks dangerously close to a mullet

Merlin: maybe arson can fix this

Nimueh telling Uther she was his friend!!! fuck season 6 I want a Merlin prequel

he’s a precious baby. he’s shmol. only tiny

gwen doing her whole “you know I'd grant you anything merlin… I mean, not anything! haha” meanwhile merlin is too worried about keeping arthur alive to notice. GIRL HE'S BUSY

WHY. who stands like this

he holds this stupid pose the entire time morgana is talking to him. imagine begging someone not to commit suicide while they brood and look out of the window like a sullen byronic hero. I would have pushed him out of the window. drama ass bitch

this is the second nighttime encounter between uther and gaius in this episode. uther saying goodbye to gaius before going to fight in arthur’s place. toxic yaoi. is this anything

YOU KNOW NOTHING YOU STUPID CHILD. I love that Kilgharrah is a hater and a bitch. to be fair to him he spent 20 years in solitary confinement so he's earned it

gaius drugging arthur then gently helping him into his bed is hilarious. he’s so good at lying and drugging people. big fan of gaius using his evil talents for the greater good, or just to have a laugh sometimes which is equally valid

what a fine blade you have there… it would be a shame if something were to happen to it

he’s wearing silver bracelets!! plural!!

[Enter Arthur, visibly furious]

Gaius [gathering his things]: I've just remembered I've left something on the stove. I must go right now immediately

Arthur [while Gaius scurries away]: YOU HAD GAIUS DRUG ME??

arthur and uther little father and son moment was cute ngl

there are a few more scenes until the end but I don't have much to say about them except that I love gaius and merlin's relationship

Gaius: [stares loudly] Merlin: [pretends not to notice]

[ansbobcar]

EP 12. A Mother's Wish

WORD COUNT. 1156

Link to overview

_ _ _ _ _

Her rabbiphone rarely rung, she told herself as she picked it up from the counter. Something urgent must have happened at the Bureau, as she answered it, setting it down an a forearm away from her soiled station. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Auntie,” a familiar voice echoed through the speaker as she continued to re-pot a few plants. “How have you been?”

“The usual, I wasn’t expecting a call from you this early in the morning though,” she noted, bringing over another bucket. “What brings you to call me?”

“Apparently, Rinka has been dating Orter Madl for the past few months. Did you know that?” His voice mused with a sinister curiosity.

‘I didn’t take her to be interested in anyone apart from him,’ shuffling through her memories. She showed no signs of developing affections for anyone else. How did it change so suddenly? “Orter Madl? Isn’t he the Divine Visionary from last year?”

“Based on your tone, I presume that you don’t.”

“You know me too well,” she felt humoured by his words as her heart slowly sunk into unease.

“But… aren’t you worried?”

The sight of their fingers locked together amidst the crowd solidified this as more than a mere rumour and gossip. Her daughter who was hopelessly ridiculed and targeted by evils had strayed from it. Her daughter had been seduced. That could be the only reason she wasn’t notified beforehand, she watched as the young man collapsed forward with visible confusion.

‘He took in the potion more quickly than I thought.’

Unease settled into the atmosphere as her lovely child stood up and placed a pillow under his head. “Since when did I introduce you to your son-in-law? And I thought we had a deal?” as she examined his eyes. Unresponsive.

"I didn't hurt him, dear,” she began, clutching onto her hand with delicate firmness as she looked back into her brown eyes. “Just a calming potion. He's clearly a bad influence for you, I heard you got injured while going out on a date with him!” Her mother wasn’t supposed to know about that. “Please go back to the good man..."

She scoffed at this remark. “Didn’t you tell me there were no good men in this world?” yanking her hand away from hers.

"Then why are you in a relationship?! Didn't you make a promise to consult me first before you committed to one?" The brunette gripped onto her collar instead.

"That was because I didn't know any better when I was younger!” She screamed back at her before calmly stating, “I can make my own decisions now, you can help give advice. Isn't that how your own mother did it to you?”

Her golden eyes only strained towards her one and only daughter who smirked as the grip on her collar tightened. "We don't insinuate that name in this household, Rinka Ontarin!”

With little remorse the blonde uttered, “Don’t make me write out another rule, Mother.”

"This is all in your best interest, Rinka!" The older brunette pleaded, eyes welled up in anxiousness. "What if he finds out? Aren't you concerned about what will happen to you?” Oh what would she do without her sole purpose to live. Her reason to lead her life as it was, her fingers now cupped the young woman’s face from such a simplistic fear. “What if…”

"If that happens, then I'll follow along with you to the afterlife. That's how she would've wanted it, right?” she replied, her short silhouette wrapped its’ arms around the woman’s funeral gown, simplistic in it’s design. Her chest clutched by those words as the others eyed her child with more than just contempt. 

Barely above a whisper yet as if she was on her knees, the mother murmured in hopefulness. "Promise me?” Her daughter’s hand held firmly onto her own at those words but her eyes gazed into her soul with pity. "You've nearly broken a promise already, I don't think you can keep up. It’s unwise to do such a thing.”

Tears drowned out her sense of loss as she was guided back to sit down. Nothing felt righteous, each choice equally staining her judgement further than the last. Perhaps, this was the transformation she had tried to postpone and veil just a little longer from it’s inevitable end. “Is it true then?” 

Was she finally ready to leave behind such a frail old lady and begin living as herself? “You’re being too cryptic again.” Did she finally find a solution to their problems? “Not yet.” Was it atonement that she found? Or a companion to replace such a mother? “You’re being too harsh on yourself. Nobody can replace one’s own mother.” What about her wish? “Will it be fulfilled? I’m sure it will. I’ll make sure of it.”

"I... love you so much…”

"I love you too," a subtle warmth traced her cheek with those words as she tucked her mother and let her drink 2 teacups of her own potion to sleep.

_ _ _

With two adults knocked unconscious by mere tea, Rinka searched the kitchen for traces of ingredients to such a concoction. It would be wise to know what her mother had made. A woman incapable of harming others intentionally.

Arrowroot, mint, lavender, dried mandragora, coral skeletons, “Sedative #36”, a pestle, and tea strainer were found lying about, or pooled in the sink. Pacing back towards the teapot, there was a lingering scent she hadn’t picked up on before but it was familiar. Elementary in fact as she checked the contents of it. Nothing. Pure liquid.

“Based on the technique, it’s likely just tea mixed with a potion that induces lethargy,” she deduced. Although that also meant it’s much stronger than a mere calming potion. It would explain why Orter succumbed to the effects with more cups than her mother. It’s possible for a magic user to grow more immune with repeated exposure to such potions after all.

Her mother has barely bypassed both laws. A person receives a hefty fine or a maximum of 5 years in prison if they are found making, selling or distributing lethal homemade potions. She runs a vegetable business, so the need for a licence is avoided. 

“The wake up elixir would be best but they both deserve a much needed break,” checking some jars. ‘Lethargy spells and potions never last long though, regardless of the dosage.’

‘But just incase, they might sleep in!’ Promptly using the kitchen to make it. The night passed by peacefully.

_ _ _

We left early for work, you seemed really peaceful so we didn’t want to disturb you.

Sorry for the lack of goodbyes! I’ll see you soon!

Love,

Your one and only daughter

Flipping over the paper revealed another note with different handwriting. Droplets trickled and strained the small paper at the phrase.

I hope you’ll allow me to take care of her moving forward.

_ _ _ _ _

This is like scheduled just before my birthday and my midcourses. Uhhh. I have like 2 episodes left but I'll probably post them in May (I am very distracted and my priorities are whack. I'm gonna die!)

[lurkingteapot]

Last Twilight ภาพนายไม่เคนลืม Ep 7

It's been two weeks, but I finally caught up on this on a long train ride yesterday. Watching on phone meant no liveblog (I know that's how I tagged it, shh), but just quickly, from memory:

I still love Gee, and I still love Phawjai. They're fantastic.

Day was setting himself up for failure (well, a win, but ykwim) with the "everything like before" and he knew it early on

the excuse for the sleepover was one of the weakest executions of plot device I've seen in this show to date, but otoh we got to see Day at Mawk's place, and to get more Phawjai-Day-interaction, so I'll take it

had a moment of "Day, love, your mum and her huge house raising two kids 'by herself' is very different from someone with a shitty job having to do it", and I think Phawjai had that, too, but she was kind enough not to comment

conflict was predictable but not unrealistic -- Day may be a nationally ranked athlete for Badminton, but he's also inofficially a champion at jumping to conclusions.

loved Mawk finally snapping and telling him what was what.

LOVED Day taking the final step towards Mawk by himself, of his own accord. He chose that. He chose him. (again.)

enjoyed the proposal, cringed (but happily) at the proposal re-enactment

whispered "hands!!" excitedly and got a weird look from the person in the set next to me

loved the Night-Phawjai-interaction a lot

also very happy to see Night sees Day and Mawk's ~thing and supports? at least doesn't mind? it

happy to see the beach episode coming up

[ladyarrowhead]

Rena (Re)-Watches Downton Abbey: Ep 1

Rewatching Downton Abbey and deciding to just boringly write down my observations, thoughts and feels. Nothing is important and I am not re-inventing the wheel - but it is nice to write down thoughts!

The Episode

I love the Titanic Sinking as THE moment to start the show, I remember it hooked me before (does this count as a nautical pun). And I will never get tired of a good inheritance plot - though if it was good or not remains to be seen given that I only vaguely remember. I think I read an article about the legality of the entail and I want to find it again. We also find out that money has been tight in this family (?) and that initially Robert persued Cora (who is utterly gorgeous) for the money.

The arrival of Mr. Bates and the consequences in position both due to his injury as well as Lord Grantham's and his aquaintance rightfully have everyone be a bit confused - and that this starts a long series of Granthams suddenly crashing into the servant's kitchen. Still, when Obrien just kicks away his cane? Holy shit! I gasped!

30 Minutes in and my brain tells me "technically Downton Abbey is just watching people talk" and I am okay with that.

We are also starting the schocking event of the Duke arriving and being immediately given sleazeball-vibes. I thought Mr. Pamuk would arrive this season but he's not there? Whoops? Sleazeball Duke whose name I immediately forgot still bothers me just by breathing.

I think what happens when binge-watching things is stuff melts in together. Instead the biggest "reveal" in this episode is Thomas being gay ? And ofc the reveal of Dan Stevens as Matthew.

The Characters

Grantham Family slowly being introduced and taking their pace with it is usually really nice to me, though I am already dreading how long it will take Edith and Mary to have decent conversations with each other. Goodness did that frustrate me - right here we find out that Mary did not care much for her engagement emotionally and that Edith very much cared for Patrick (and man am I happy that never happenned, this would have just made them awful to each other if Edith would have had a thing with Mary's husband even if they both seem to be like it would have been fine). I am interested to see who I like more in the end, I remember in the end deciding on Edith and then the movie happenned and I have no memories of the movie.

I also remember watching this mostly for the women and Lady Violet and Lady Grantham are still having my heart.

In general I remember being endeared to everyone of the initial cast. I watched Downton Abbey specifically the first time because I wanted to focus on the servant context more and I feel the downstairs' side of the cast often has the more engaging storylines!

The moment Mr. Carson speaks I just get happy - I remember really liking him. What I do not remember is him being unable to look Mr. Bates in the eyes because of his leg - how the heck DID you make it to calm and collected butler this way? He certainly has character! I forgot Carson seeing the Granthams as "the only family I have got" .

Anna's kindness touched me a lot during the first watch, and her witnessing Bates sobbing was just so heartwarming. It's still right there but, this time knowing this is to set them up romantically, I kind long back to when I thought their relationship would be platonic - I think, ultimately, that would have made the scene stronger. But I know I've come around to them before.

It's also nice seeing O'brien and Barrow scheming evil plots during their smoking breaks.

Mary vs Edith Awfulness Scores

While considering to award points during their conversation as of Mary saying she'll happily have tossed Patrick aside and Edith would have taken him, Edith replying she would have gladly done so means they both would have gotten a point here. Given that this is episode one, I am generous and decide to forgive.

Edit: Nope, I will not forgive this but we're just grouping this as "pettiness points" so we are not ignoring it.

Point for Edith for revealing at dinner in front of most of the family that her sister Mary took the Duke up to the attic and into the servant's rooms.

1:2, Edith is currently in the lead.

Other Stuff

I remember by now that Lord Grantham is played by Hugh Bonneville and whenever I see him playing someone else (most recently alongside @pagegirlintraining as Mr. Rushworth in Mansfield Park), I am sad that this is now my first connection because I think he does an amazing job.

Mary Crawley waking up and looking just done is a mood.

The Main Theme is so beautiful, I will never tire of it.

Edith still wearing dark colours when meeting the Duke while Cora, Mary and Sybil are wearing tender violet tones.

Bates' actor (Brendan Coyle as I have googled) I think has amazing skills just with his face alone, I love how he can go from soft to capable to intimidating. The range of him is already there in the first episodes!

Quotes of the Episode

"No one wants to kiss a girl in black."

"If you're feeling homesick there's no shame in that. It means you've come from a happy home."

[ryder616]

Rewatching SI EP 3

*spoilers spoilers spoilers*

"We're gonna be uniquely programmed weapons of mass destruction. All of us. Super Skrulls" you stole yourselves destructive powers. That's never ever ended badly for the perpetrators before, so I'm sure you'll be fine

"I invite you to join me in the extinction of the human race" tired of waiting we do it ourselves, eh?

I'm side-eyeing Fury because it seems like he noticed Varra only when she looked human and she always wears her fake human face with him. Perhaps I'm overthinking this

a foldable smartphone? She's gonna be evil, isn't she?

"I'm a good liar" I'd suggest a re-evaluation of your proficiency level, Gravik's been onto you since last episode

I keep forgetting they're in the UK until someone gets into a car and the wheel is on the "wrong" side lol

Talos, why are you telling him your plans?

they really should not have put the multiple Graviks scene in the trailer. Or I need to stop watching trailers so when something cool happens I can actually be surprised

Is it me or Neptune is a lazy name for a sub?

This show needs 100 % more Olivia Colman. Also, Hasbro, Funko & co, if you sell an owl with an eyepatch, I'm going to buy it

The deconstruction of Nick Fury continues. Much of his professional success was apparently due to the advantage of having a team of shapeshifters at his disposal, of which SHIELD knew nothing about

Skrulls don't just get long term memories thanks to those contraptions they stuff the people they imitate in but also, apparently, feelings, because I don't think the kid was a Skrull, which means "Bob" cared for his wellbeing like his real father would. And I'm guessing they had already established this and the characters know, otherwise Fury wouldn't have threatened the boy

Fury keeps saying nobody calls him Nick but there are at least 4 or 5 documented instances of friends/allies calling him Nick.

How big of a fridge did the writers' room came equipped with?!

but I doubt this is the last time we see Emilia Clarke in the show. Either that wasn't the real G'iah or some other kind of fake-out

Mrs. Fury is conspiring with someone who sounded suspiciously like Rhodey. Who called Fury "Nick". Confirmation or misdirection?

I still really hope Rhodey isn't a Skrull. Besides being predictable, that rather brilliant convo with Fury last ep loses a lot of points if he was an impostor

[amyriadfthings]

[Cleaned up a little night rant turned essay and reposting]

God, just rewatching ep 2 and it´s so crazy to see the difference in power Wille can wield around school compared to the court, like making August call him Crown Prince, and challenge him whenever he pleases, while the larger institution of the royal family represented by Jan-Olof can just move in from one moment to the next and physically take him out of school. (The way the headmistress just says goodbye to him at the start, like it´s a decided fact while Wille doesn´t even know what´s happening yet.. wow.)

(It´s also quiete unnerving to see how Jan-Olof continues to correctly address Wille with his title while mercilessly ordering him to get ready to leave or bluntly tell him he can´t just issue threats. How Jan-Olof politely asks Malin if she could please... not even saying the actual words, but let´s close the door so nobody sees.

How cold the court seems, cruel behind that appearance of meaningless politeness.)

The absolute shock value that has, to see Wille so powerless, after what we´ve seen him do to August up to this point. And to realize that that´s what they want Wille to know and feel, too.

Sure, he prevails and stays, but they demonstrate to him they absolutely can and will do this to him. That his presence at school, where his life is, is fragile. That there is no regard for his autonomy whatsoever. At the beginning of ep 2 that´s now an established truth. He´s nothing in the big machine but a cog that has to do its job or otherwise be removed or hammered into shape, and they make it clear to him in a way that I can´t even imagine experiencing as a 16-yr-old kid and then just continue interacting on a semi-functional level with your family.

(And you´re also made aware Wille´s power over August that´s been so satisfying to watch means nothing in the big picture since August is himself just another cog in that big machine.)

But that´s not even all. Because then the phone call happens and the machine shifts into next gear.

Jan-Olof tells him (orders him) to talk to his mom (no, the queen) and you might wonder if it wasn´t the plan all along to just scare Wille into submission. And then you realize, yeah, that was probably the plan.

Because the way the queen then talks to him in that phone call, absolutely unaffected, sounds an awful lot like she´s gaslighting Wille into making him feel unreasonable: After all, he´d issued the threat against the court, so naturally this would be the consequence.

Wille, meanwhile, is literally sitting on the floor after having been tackled by Malin, holding shards of glass in his hand, and visibly numb.

And his mom, the queen, tells him matter-of-factly that Wille fully well knows "Jan-Olof is only called in when it´s absolutely necessary", so he did this to himself.

The sympathetic tone of her voice is making me nauseous and almost scared for Wille there.

The way she effortlessly moves from soft, apparent understanding of his grief that she suddenly brings up (after he just flashed back to a memory with Erik and in the remaining sharp fragments of which he´s now sitting) and implies what was just done to him moments earlier was a result of his grieving, a punishment he must receive for acting out, which he is surely just doing out of grief and no other reason, is just masterful and chilling.

Again, the levels of manipulation, of first telling him what he feels and then suggesting that his action must be from those feelings and also that he has now been punished for them are stunning.

Then the queen has the audacity to tell Wille his parents love him for who he is. The queen is conducting this phone call while on a plane, doing business. This phone call is business.

She is telling Wille she wants him to be able to come out on his own terms, and I´m getting whiplash from listening to her saying he´s not mature enough for that, after she almost had him, this, her 16-yr-old kid physically dragged from school.

She tells him that he has to manage his outbursts after the (controlled, deliberate) outburst we just watched being afflicted on him. Oh, and whoever they choose to let into the machine (Simon) must of course also accept the way things are handled, and submit. All of this is said in a parental soothing voice.

Then the queen adds it would have been "misconduct" if she "didn´t act" after what Wille said, directly telling her son that all of what just happened was her. And again making it sound like she didn´t have a choice because of his behaviour.

This scene is unbelievable on rewatching.

The way they then start to negotiate. Negotiate. Making it even more obvious this was a game move to make Wille do what she wants.

But also, and I´m just realizing more things as I write, it doesn´t even seem hard or unnatural for the queen, just like the whole interaction hasn´t been, nor unusual for them to get to this point of where they negotiate.

Wille seems to fall into the dynamic naturally, too, as numb as he is.

So much of this scene looks and sounds like internalized, normal behaviour on the queen´s part just because of the easy flow of it. And Wille has been subjected to it his whole life. There is NEVER going to be a separation of queen and mom no matter how much Wille pleads for there to be. Because clearly, those are not separate entities that exist in the queen.

(Jesus, Wille, how are you even semi-normal? My gratitude for Boris is growing by the minute and I was already so happy about the therapy. The fact that the queen honestly wants Wille to go to therapy, too, fits the idea that this was her natural response and she wasn´t being extra cruel in any of this interaction. Or maybe it just doesn´t even matter. There are no separating lines anyway.)

By the end of the scene you´ve come to the painful realization that the court=the queen, and this season are not playing around getting their messages across, and it´s honestly brutal to watch. I know I didn´t even fully took all of this in on my first viewing.

But now, rewatching it again and seeing Wille by the end of that phone call negotiate with his mom for his life and level of participation in his role as he´s sitting on the floor in that glass and holding on to the shards and poking at them defiantly, and seeing the queen roll her eyes as she hangs up, hits you with the power of an anvil after already breaking your heart, and I´m kind of in shock.

[soltiana]

tristamp ep 11 ramble

I almost forgot that if I had longform (IF INCOHERENT) thoughts about something I could just...blog about them?? i'm still getting used to having this power again. cut for spoilers of course, this ep was so fucked (positive). I have thoughts/hopes for the finale too but I'll keep those to myself so I don't get hooked on them lol whatever will be will be.

meryl and wolfwood exchange pretty standard pleasantries. it's obvious ww is going to come back to try to help vash despite his contract. i still think his chances of making it out alive are pretty good, but i guess we'll find out.

then we're directly thrown into the pussy juice tank. like. last week the episode ended on knives throwing vash into what looked like an oversized version of a plant bulb container, so I was like haha he threw him into the pussy juice funny :) but tristamp pointed directly at me and was like this person knows exactly what we're doing here. what a smart person. yes. the entire tank is pussy juice and it's FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH KNIVES' EGGS. there are plant "buds" everywhere, following up on conrad's discussion last week about how knives has been "helping" him create the perfect living creatures, like himself, but the conclusion they had both come to is that knives' offspring were missing an ingredient, what humans call a soul. the new plant lore dropping is that while humans originally created plants they don't quite understand where their powers come from, other than a "higher source" (god).

tesla vash and knives are what conrad and other plant scientists call "independents" because they have:

souls (from the higher power, presumably)

wills of their own

biological non-independent plant mothers (who died giving birth to them)

and, according to conrad's analytics, while knives "gate" is receptive to the higher power from god, vash's "gate" can not only receive but transmit this higher power (souls) as well. in other words vash is. just. chock full of sperm. he's a humanoid vector for getting other creatures god pregnant, so since they couldn't air vash literally fucking knives pregnant, they settled for him inseminating knives' dozens of pre-laid eggs like a horrifyingly beautiful deep sea nature documentary.

so to get back to the meat of the episode, knives connects his body to vash by stabbing into him with his chains of knife tentacles, and immediately after losing his senses from this black roots begin to grow out of the points the two brothers are connected. the roots seek out each of the eggs, and glowing energy begins to transfer, through knives' manipulation, from vash into each of the eggs.

then we take a trip inside of the twins shared headspace and watch knives brainwash vash one memory at a time, erasing his past for him so that he can be wiped completely blank. when this process reaches a critical point, vash's external body starts reacting defensively - this part is speculation but i think he senses that knives is seeking his memories of rem, and starts instinctively re-creating her before it even happens. so new roots start to grow, this time straight down, following vash's will instead of his brother's, and through the rest of the episode this set of roots expands and becomes a monstrously enormous tree literally in the shape of rem, covered in bio-luminescent blue geraniums.

this is also the moment where instead of knives seeking vash's memories, vash begins visiting knives' instead. vash begins appearing both in memory form as well as his current dream self, which implies a subtle growing grip that vash has on the situation, despite being at 90% synchronization physically. so it's vash who starts entering doors in the ship that leads to knives' memories, beautifully complimented by the fact that the next one he accesses is him solving a problem knives can't figure out on his own. we get our tesla reveal moment and it's fucking incredible.

birthday confirmed canon july 21 happy birthday boys. it also says they were born in the year 2455 so let's just hang in there a couple hundred more years and say hi to them.

vash looks into another door that rings with mechanical sounds, but when he tries to enter it knives takes him instead to the rec room, where they both seem to be recovering from their discovery of tesla. the mechanical door memory is skipped, either for vash, the viewer, or both. in a reversal of their manga conversations where knives is more manipulative and vash is more depressive, knives despairs of human wrongdoing while vash urges knives to have faith in humanity's ability to change. knives interprets this to mean that vash, who has no powers of his own, feels the need to bow to human might and expectation out of self preservation, and makes up his mind to eradicate them so he doesn't have to. adult knives appears in the memory he's curated to explain this, and to tell vash once again that the fall was his fault, since knives did it all for him, to protect his vulnerable twin from human cruelty.

this is the point of mind break for vash, and knives, taking advantage of that vulnerability, becomes empowered and moves in to finally remove rem from vash's memories. symbolically, as soon as he does, vash's red coat carbonates, and knives synchronization (the tristamp version of melding from the manga) reaches 100%. with no memories left to access, we return to knives in the physical world, quietly elated, wishing his brother a happy birthday since believes he has literally re-made him in his own (rem-free) image. while knives and his plant eggs all give off light in the pussy juice tank, no part of vash is glowing anymore, he only reflects light.

then (through vash's power) knives opens the final pussy, the opening to the higher plane where plant power is drawn from. this is the moment that vash's mega-rem geraniums begin to bloom as well. and the plant eggs, still attached to vash's insemination roots, open, revealing non-independent female plants that are connected to vash via their enormously swollen pregnant bellies.

conrad is revealed to be dying, a hostage knives took as an adolescent to fulfill his wishes. this is not news but it is sexy. the knives conrad relationship in tristamp is weird and really good. knives finally disconnects from vash, leaving his motionless shell behind in the pussy juice tank as he crosses through the gate vash opened for him. all the while, vash's giant rem tree is growing, literally suffocating the entire city of july and killing or driving its people to flee. at the moment that knives seems about to make contact with the core he believes to be the source of their power, vash's tree rem fully takes form, and blooms.