#wish there was a little more foreshadowing for the jealousy motive

[the-ophelia-gallery]

Something I’ve found really funny on re-reads of tafwvg is how Stockill is introduced as this cold, aloof, calculating character. He's almost presented as the more rational of the doctors, even with the whole create-a-plague-and-become-god thing. Only for the basement scenes to happen and that image gets completely shattered with the realisation of ‘oh, he’s pretty fuckin' unhinged actually…’

[ellsieee]

I'm really going to miss SWM despite the sad ending. The actors really did a great job with what they had and could do. I knew the accident was going to hurt me, and that it would be a OE, but I did not expect it to be more like a BE. More about that later. At least we got a whole episode of happy boys before all the shit hit the fan.

This scene really touched me. Su Yu pushes Wu Bi to achieve his dreams and is there to support him all the way. We also get another hint of what Wu Bi's time capsule wish is. My guess is that he wished for he, Su Yu and Doudou to always be together. Normally it's Wu Bi who is always saying he doesn't want to be separated from Su Yu, but this time, it's Su Yu telling Wu Bi not to leave him, pulling on Wu Bi's heartstrings. 🥹

Why does Wu Bi have a picture of his and Su Yu's epic bike ride framed? Did his mother draw that? Did he get the idea from her? Wu Bi, I have so many questions...

Su Yu wrote a wish card for Wu Bi too. 🥹 I am not ok. 😭

One last shout out to the shipper girl. She knows. 🤭 I'm glad they didn't write her as a crazy person, inserting herself into Wu Bi and Su Yu's relationship and doing a bunch of weird stuff to get them together.

Arghhhh the foreshadowing! When Su Yu said that, my heart filled with dread even though I already knew what was coming. No. They're going to ride their bike together forever ok. 😭

Wu Bi is so completely smitten with Su Yu. It's all heart eyes, all the time. They are so cute. Was this the reward Su Yu was talking about? I thought it would be something 🔞, but taking Wu Bi on a date might motivate him even more. I mean what kind of equestrian center has prince charming equestrian outfits? 🤭 I think they look great, but this totally looks like a date (Doudou is just there to make it look less gay).

Wait a minute... that's not what the director demonstrated! I wanted to see that peck on the lips! Please tell me they shot two versions and we'll see the uncut version later. 🙏

Psycho alert! 🚨 Mo Yi was hella creepy here. I was a bit scared he would actually hurt Su Yu. You can feel all the resentment he has for Su Yu. First his ex-gf wanted to be with Su Yu rather than him. Second, Wu Bi has chosen Su Yu over him and is acting like a little bitch towards him. Not defending him, but I honestly don't think Mo Yi would have felt such hatred and resentment if Wu Bi hadn't started being really rude and bratty towards him after falling in love with Su Yu.

The ultimate sacrifice. 😭 Wu Bi knew there was no way to stop the car safely so he chose to protect Su Yu by crashing the car on the driver's side. Even though I knew the accident was going to happen, it still hurt so much. Wu Bi will always protect Su Yu no matter what. I read some comments scolding Su Yu for sleeping even though he knew something was wrong with the car. My interpretation is that Su Yu wasn't sleeping, he was worried too, but he trusted Wu Bi completely, and Wu Bi told him to rest because he can handle it, so he did. The level of trust and confidence you need to have in your partner for that is just...

I didn't notice this the first time watching because I was too busy wailing, but Wu Bi hugged Su Yu to protect him. FUCK. 😭😭😭😭 For all the unreasonable jealousy and temper tantrums, Wu Bi really is the best boy.

This is so painful, I can't screencap bloody Wu Bi anymore. It killed me that Wu Bi woke up for a second to stare into Su Yu's eyes when Doudou called to complete their OT3, only to fall into a comma again.

Argh this ending! Is Wu Bi alive or dead? I didn't notice that the doctor nods a little when speaking to Su Yu the first time around. Doctors usually only nod when the operation was successful, so I guess Wu Bi is alive but what about the empty house? Only Wu Bi's stuff is still there, meaning that everyone left him? How is this not a BE? 😭

Of course this makes sense as a set up for a season 2 but I feel like they still could have given us a conclusion. Something like Wu Bi lives, but Su Yu left because he knew Mo Yi was crazy and he wanted to protect Wu Bi. Then the new season would be about how the boys find their way back to each other. It wasn't necessary to leave viewers hanging and heartbroken. 😢 And with 24 episodes of 30+ minutes runtime, I felt the team had enough time to tell a complete story. It shouldn't matter that book 1 of the novel ended like the series because the drama should stand on its own outside of the novel. Besides, wouldn't it have been safer just to film the whole thing at once to avoid the risk of not being allowed to film part 2?

There's a lot of doubt that S2 will actually happen, but someone asked Mo Yi's actor if there will be a 2nd season and he said that there should be. I'm not going to get my hopes up too much before there is official news that everyone is shooting again to spare myself any disappointment, but of course I am hoping for a second season. In the meantime, I hope cjd will release the uncut version of the series that she teased about before. I really do love this series so much even though I was disappointed with the ending. I'll have to treat SWM like MODC and skip the end. SWM only has 22 episodes. Yup. 🤡

[lizacstuff]

I'm sure others will ask this but what are you thoughts on the episode of SCK?? I love your in-depth analysis lol. I personally loved it!!! Also can I just say that the edser/hanker chemistry is off the charts lol. If this was the first episode I watched ever, without subtitles, their scenes would be a giant neon sign that says "THESE CHARACTERS ARE MADLY IN LOVE!!!". Eda was beyond cute/in love/adorable in this episode with serkan, girl has got it bad and I wish she didn't have her stupid grandmother and these insecurities in the way ahhh. I really love the Ayfer/Aydan duo, they're fun when they're together and Ayfer wasn't annoying like the last few EPs. Also, Balca can go choke lol, I'm so glad Serkan didn't fall for her trap for him to stay over!! He was like nah come to the party (my girl is waiting!!!). Was serkan about to tell Eda that he had to stop by her house? He seemed really nervous. ANYWAYS, I love EdSer and am going to go watch their scenes 1000x before next week 😭🥰

Thank you! I love Edser too!!!!  Like you, I enjoyed this episode, though it was despite some of the narrative issues (that I posted about here.) There were good, meaty Edser scenes, which is why I watch this show. Once again I'll start with the non-Eda/Serkan thoughts and then get to the feelsy stuff at the end.

Babaanne's introduction did not disappoint. The actress has the right energy for the role. I guess we now know why Eda has been adamant about cutting her out of her life, Babaanne is next level controlling and vindictive. We'll have to see how she develops and what her endgame motives are. Does she want her revenge more than she wants her granddaughter and daughter in her life? Or does she think if she wins and arranges everything including an advantageous marriage for Eda, Eda will eventually go along and decide it's awesome and reconciliation will come about that way? *evil laugh* She doesn’t know her granddaughter at all if she thinks that’s a possibility. 

(more under the cut)

I enjoyed her non-Balca scenes, especially when she was going toe-to-toe with Eda. That scene in Serkan's old upstairs office was intense, both actresses really brought it and kudos to Eda staying true to her defiant character. No one pushes her around. Prepare yourselves to see her waver a bit, I'm sure it's quite jarring to see your loved one in jail and know that he's there because of you, but she'll get to the point of fighting beside him. I have no doubt.

It was nice to see Ayfer protecting Aydan and Seyfi, it made for some great comedy and it was a good change after all of Ayfer's annoying, unrelenting negativity in general and about the Bolats. We'll see what happens between the two now that they appear to be vying for Chef Alexander's attention. Nesilhan just cracks me up when she's portraying Aydan play acting, the stilted voice she takes on is always hilarious to me, like when Ayfer was introducing "Aisun" to Serkan.  As we move forward, though, I want to see some badass Aydan. She  was introduced to us as a force of nature, so I hope we see that woman, a woman who will go to the mat for her son and Eda, emerge at some point. No hiding from Babaanne long term. Everyone needs to gear up to fight!

Peril and Engin got married! Their scene at home was really well done and gave me a bit better insight into them and why they might work. The only thing I was disappointed about here was that Serkan was not their witness. He counts them as some of his only friends and they didn't call him? Come on, show!  They could have easily structured the ep to have him get the call while there was chaos at his loft that morning and it would have been the perfect excuse for him to grab Eda and head to the wedding leaving the moms and Babaane to Chef Alexander.  It wouldn't have changed anything about the episode because Eda still could have gone to do her thing after the wedding and everything else would have been the same, except it all would have had a bit more heart. Missed opportunity there. 

I've decided that Ferit is a catch. At the beginning of the show he was just so naïve, that he seemed foolish, but he's really turned into a sweet, upstanding man. You hold on to him, Ceren. The irony in his relationship with Serkan is just outstanding to me, because ALL of this started because Serkan was willing to upend his own life (and Selin, Ferit and Eda's) will the sole goal of keeping Ferit out of his business, and now here we are 24 episodes later, Selin is long gone, Eda is the love of his life, and Ferit has turned into a solid, trust-worthy business partner and friend who is putting Babaanne in her place on the first day. Love to see it. 

Balca, that snake just gets more unhinged as we go along. Good GAWD. WTF is wrong with her? Her eventual comeuppance better be big. I'm really to the point that I can't enjoy any scene that she's in, it's just too maddening, because neither Serkan nor Eda are taking her seriously enough. Which I realize they don't know what we know, but dang I hope Serkan is finally connecting the dots because her behavior is not normal. As Eda says, who gives a gift like that to their boss? Who calls their new boss instead of the police when there's an intruder in the house?  By now he should be able to figure out she's manipulating him.  

Also how was she not daunted when she called and Eda was there?  What did she think would happen when he came to get the gift when he had Eda to get home to? On top of everything else she's shameless and delusional.  As for the gift, that was creepy AF. Did she seriously think that her boss, who she's known a week, would be romanced by that?  Or any man for that matter? Did Selin give her the impression he was so arrogant that this would be the perfect thing for him? As much as I want less of her on screen, I would like to know the thought process behind that embarrassing monstrosity. Because it was not a savvy move. But the good news is that no one was more creeped out by it than Serkan Bolat. It seemed to really unsettle him, which it should. It was nice to see Eda getting over her jealousy, perhaps that came with her decision to try and move forward. Before she was in this state of flux, deep-down wanting Serkan to be hers, but not being able to admit that and feeling an outside threat during that confusion. 

I saw some criticism of Eda because she was openly mocking and dismissive of Balca. However, while I agree her behavior was a tad immature at times... Balca was totally asking for it.  She's been at the company for mere days and her weird, manipulative, obsessive behavior is totally inappropriate. Also if she didn't take a hint from Eda opening mocking her, Eda picking out her gift from Serkan, Serkan deferring queries about his NYE plans to Eda, Eda being at his house when Balca called, I think we can safely say that Balca in unaffected by any of Eda's behavior, thus Eda isn't hurting anyone. While Balca is over here, claws out, trying to start a war. Balca is the villain here, not Eda for recognizing and making fun of it.

Despite the emotional inconsistencies between Eda and Serkan in this episode, during one scene they were hot, the next, one or the other was cold without rhyme or reason, there were many great conversations. I really enjoyed their conference room scenes in particular. Serkan confident and calming her down, Eda being enraged by Babaanne, but listening to him and letting him calm her down. 

His little Eda Bolat coffee cup gag was priceless, he did succeed in both diverting her and flirting with her in one suave move. Also a nice bit of foreshadowing there, which there was a lot of this episode. Not just this and the bouquet catch, but also every single one of their domestic scenes. 

As I said in this post, the rewrite, or whatever happened this episode, did cause some pretty big emotional inconsistencies from scene to scene. I know most people loved the scenes when Eda went to find Serkan, but it was a little whiplashy for me.  We go from Serkan being calm and collected and happily flirting with her about being Eda Bolat at the office, to a short time later him being moody and standoffish with her at his house? It's understandable that he would be upset at her suggestion that she leave the company, but I would think the man that broke her heart for her own good, would understand why she might think of  leaving in order to get rid of someone who is threatening him! 

It just felt like a weird time for him to hit his threshold with her, especially since this was when they were supposed to be heading to Paris (huge writing fail that there was no "Oh I guess we have to postpone Paris" throwaway line).  However, perhaps that was accelerated for him in the face of a real threat?  Like if it was just another day he's fine with her waffling and their little contract game, but he feels in his bones that this is go time and he needs to find out if she's ready for what's coming?  (Look at me finding reasons for the inconsistencies as I answer this ask, lmao).

Then the shaving scene was interesting. She starts by saying "Leaving was a dumb idea, I'm still here, I'll be by your side," which YAY and seems to me to be a huge step forward for her.... but then he doesn't feel it. Why exactly, didn't he feel it?  So then she transitions to the biggest head scratcher of the episode for me, and I really hope it's a translation fail. She basically references the movie they saw and says,  "If I could erase all memories of you, I would." Um... what? Is she really saying to him she wishes they never met? I sure hope there was some modifier in there, like "bad" memories only or something. It seemed way harsh and inconsistent with their feelings for one another. However, once he starts talking about being a machine before meeting her and his heart being too heavy without her, the dialogue is pretty great. He really bares his soul and she reciprocates with intimacy.  The second half of this scene is absolutely lovely. 

The visit to Aydan's house was interesting.  At some point I'm gonna need Aydan and especially Ayfer to step up when it comes to Babaanne.  Ayfer ran scared the whole episode and it's just not fair of her to leave the burden on Eda. Hopefully, she'll get there. There was a reason Babaanne told Eda not to tell Ayfer about the threats, and threatened harm to Serkan and family if she did so. I'm guessing Ayfer may be better equipped to deal with her mother than was suggested in this episode. The conversation about Eda running from her grandmother as a child and losing the bracelet was very affecting and well done, and thankfully Serkan was out of his sulky mood and in full-on supportive boyfriend mode. Phew, good to have you back, Serkan.

That throne Babaanne brought in was something else. Worth a good laugh. However, I feel like it highlights a few cracks we've already started to see in Babaanne's scary façade. First, there's the one I just talked about, with Babaanne not wanting Ayfer to know what she's up to, so we now know who might be successful in opposing her or might know things that could shut her down.. her daughter. Then this ridiculous throne move had to be her way of unsettling everyone, but as we see that fails with Serkan. He's pretty unflappable when it comes to her nonsense antics. 

Then Babaanne singles out Balca as her ally, which on one hand, it was astute of her to figure out who was the outsider, ripe for the picking, but she straight up choose the wack job, who let's face it, is not going to be all that competent of a foot soldier for her, because she has no allies and she's not in anyone's confidence. Plus she made that critical error with the present being so off-putting to Serkan. Balca might be able to cause problems, but she can’t get Serkan to transfer his affection for Eda onto her, so her usefulness here is limited. Babanne needed to try and fool someone like Melo, Ferit or Leyla. Prey on the nice ones who might try to be accommodating just so everyone gets along. 

Anyway, I loved the Edser scenes in the office, he brought her lemon water! My heart.  And I loved the meeting with the inner circle. Serkan has a plan! Of course our boy does, he wouldn't be Serkan Bolat if he didn't. It's always fun to see how much they all trust him to lead them through these tough times. He will once again emerge victorious. It just may take some time on this one

Note Blaca wasn't invited to that meeting, someone already can sense she can't be trusted. In the meeting later with Babaanne, I loved how Eda was sitting next to Serkan at the head of the table, totally squared off against her grandmother. That blocking was not by accident. It showed them facing her. On the same side. Together. United. That's what we call foreshadowing and that's how they're ultimately going to defeat her. Together. 

It's interesting to me that earlier in the day when Eda tells him maybe she should leave the company he gets upset, but when she shows up at his house and straight up says they can't be together, he's completely calm and is his normal confident self, talking her into staying the night with his usual ease. I'm thinking her manic rambling about him getting tired of her and her grandmother separating them was just too obvious of an emotional spiral after an exhausting day (that lasted 47 years and multiple wardrobe changes) so he didn't take any of it to heart.

As for the reason she needed a place to stay, WTF is Ayfer doing letting Babaanne stay in their home??  Kick her out for the love of God. I don't mind, since it gave us this fabulous sleepover, but come on woman, at one time you were strong enough to remove your niece from her which could not have been easy, where is your backbone now? Find it. Fast. 

LOVED LOVED LOVED every second of domestic Edser. How cute are they? Serkan wheeling her dinosaur suitcase was so adorable. And how cute is it that he bought hot chocolate for her? And THEN, THEN when they went to look at the stars? My heart melted clean out of my chest when he said, "I'm already looking at the most beautiful star."  Remember in 13 when he asked her, "How are you real?" and she basically told him to be careful or she'd get spoiled and expect that kind of romance all the time? Well apparently the romantic robot has an endless capacity to generate heart-stopping one-liners so she really needn't have worried. 

Eda's phone call with the girls was another whiplash moment for me. So wait... all episode her trepidation has been around her grandmother interfering or Serkan getting tired of her, but now she's back to wondering if he can change? Ne? And she isn't articulating what she wants him to change, or talking to him about change at all, only asking her friends if they think it's possible?? The change thing made perfect sense to me in eps 20-22, because she was coming off of his lie that broke her heart, but now I can't figure out what she wants from him. I think this is another casualty of whatever writing changes happened in this episode. I really hope the writers pull it together and figure out what the character's headspace is and stick with it. It's one thing to yo-yo from episode to episode, but to yo-yo scene to scene is too much. 

I know that they're trying to create suspense for whether she would meet him to ring in the New Year, and start fresh, but there are much more elegant ways to do this than constant retread conversations that don't make sense in context with the scenes that came before. Honestly, this episode had a LOT of wonderful scenes and humor and heartfelt moments, but it also felt like a franken-episode,  like if different writers were assigned different scenes and then they assembled the episode without going back to smooth out the tone and emotions.

That leads us to Serkan discovering Eda in the bath. What do we think was going through his mind there? lmao. He looked exceptionally pleased and he did the jokey flirty thing, taking a mental picture, but then when she comes downstairs in her jammies, he has gone into stone-cold work robot mode. I suppose the best I can guess is that he knew she was confused, he knew he had convinced her to stay under the guise it would be platonic and the "last time." 

He's always been a gentleman with her. So perhaps he felt compelled, for her sake, to keep it in that place, but seeing her in the bath send him into overdrive and the only thing he could do is throw himself into work to make sure the situation didn't go any further before she was fully ready? That's my best attempt at explaining it.  Still she was flirting hardcore with him when she came downstairs, it feels like that was the moment he's been waiting for since episode 19, and he let it sail by.  Ah well, at some point soon both their engines will be revving at the same time and we’ll finally get to the sexy times. 

The next morning was 100% adorable. Serkan Bolat serving breakfast in bed. I swoon!  What a sweetheart, because I'm pretty certain that Serkan does NOT like crumbs in his bed so this was a big gesture. And you could see how much she appreciated it, despite teasing him about the portion size. Eda, that breakfast would have been just fine by me, but if the girl has a big appetite, so be it.

Also, Edacim, it would be a lot easier to buy your "confusion" if you hadn't brought him a heartfelt gift that would have taken a good while, like weeks, to procure and then sketched in it for him!!!!  She had to have been planning that for some time.  Anyway, a very sweet gift and one of those moments where actions speak louder than words. We all want to hear Eda say the words "I Love You," but she just said it very loudly here in the form of this gift. Even if she wasn't fully aware she was saying it. It's obvious where her heart is, she just has to give herself permission to follow it.

This ep also brought the funny when half the cast of characters barged in on Edser’s little love nest. Good for both Eda and Serkan for refusing to be a part of the subterfuge for Babaanne. I'm hopeful we're going into a secret relationship/engagement storyline, but at this point I like that neither were cowing to her. Eda is an adult and it's nobody's business but her own where she stays the night! 

It cracks me up that Eda and Serkan were discombobulated by the intrusion, had the silent #married conversation, and headed upstairs together. Mostly because they are the two in the dark, what are they going to figure out by going upstairs alone? What they really needed was to talk to any of the other people to find out what in the hell was happening. Not that I blame them for wanting to escape that scene together. However, what was beautiful was their connection in these scenes. They were functioning as partners, as each other's person, as the one each turns to when they need support (or escape).  And that's really saying something since they were in a room full of the people they're both closest too.

Finally, I'm glad they spoiled the final scene in the fragman, because I would have been too stressed watching Balca's psychotic efforts in keeping Serkan away from the party, and Eda, if I hadn't known he would make it.  As it was, it  was too much to watch. They've done absolutely nothing to make her even a little sympathetic. I feel zero empathy for her, I don't understand why she's willing to take these risks. No man is worth it, girl! Especially not a man you just decided you wanted because of his initials!  The character needs to serve her purpose and go. Soon.

As for Serkan making it in time, THANK GOODNESS. I don't think Eda could have handled being stood up again. Even taking her call was a mistake. That's why we have voicemail, Serkan. And clearly he should have called the police on his way. I sincerely hope that he finds out the break-in was a fake and that's what makes him realize what level of crazy he's dealing with. I assume, because he didn't know what else to do, he left Balca in his home and that's what he wanted to tell Eda right before the police arrived. I shudder to think what damage she might do there alone. Installing a hidden mic or camera for Babaanne? Going through his things? Planting more items. Ew. If that spec is right the place will need to be fumigated.  

Serkan's gift was, of course, perfection. Talk about love in gift form, and did you notice that one of the charms was an "E" and one was an "S"? A sweet, heart-felt detail and a nice little nod to which initials really matter on this show.  Interestingly, after a full episode of inner turmoil, once Serkan arrived, Eda seemed to be all-in. She was bubbly and happy to see him and definitely acting like he was her date. And then the hug! Finally! They've obviously been physically close in recent post-break up episodes, for example elevator, pottery, dancing, skating, but what a relief to finally have this pure, intentional display of affection from her to him. Also a cheek kiss! This show, I swear it makes me grateful for the most chaste of moments.

As I said in another ask, I think the, "Will you be my girlfriend?" was in Serkan's head. We didn't see him say it, she didn't respond and the audio was hollow like it was a thought or memory or dream. However, what I can't answer is why we heard that. Why put it in there? We know he wants them to get back together, so that line doesn't inform the audience of anything they don't already know. So maybe proposal foreshadowing?  On the other hand, there is the line earlier in the episode that was voice over added after the fact (when Edser are in the small conf room and Serkan says he’s going home) so maybe they added the audio after the scene for some reason? I don’t know with this episode anything is possible. 

Then, of course, Babaanne ruins their moment with her evil plan. Next episode will she be sitting on her throne stroking a hairless cat Because it feel like Babaanne may like a bit of evil aura to surround her. Anyway, next stop... jail! I'm honestly excited to see how the next ep plays out. We're going to go through some things, so prepare your soul, but I honestly think we may end the ep in a better place. (new cliffhanger notwithstanding) We shall see. 

[gothamslimpestwrist]

s1e2 selina kyle

killcount:

“doug” the childsnatcher: “soldier” (homeless guy)

oswald cobblepot: douchebag college bro from the car, probably the other douchebag college bro as well.

jim gordon: quillan’s janitor

“patti” the childsnatcher: cat scratch fever dude w/ no eyes

episode total: 5 total count: 12

the dark knight rises: shit is clearly fucked in gotham. crime families are ruling the city, yes, but honestly that’s the least of it; look at the police force. we see that bo, the first responder, is late to the scene of the crime because he takes protection money from a local restaurant & gave them first priority (in other words, he’s a crooked bitch demanding a racket, AND it gets in the way of him actually doing his job). the cops are pretty much, explicitly, just an extension of the mob at this point. 

interestingly, we also see the start of an exploration of the wayne’s corruption; falcone refers to “the wayne empire,” mirroring the way they talk about the crime families And Also setting the waynes up as, like, a picture of the wealthy elite taken to a whole ‘nother level. gotham is the last modern vestige of the city state--and that is the wayne empire. who takes the crown now that the emperor and empress are dead? 

in OTHER news, the waynes really fucked bruce over. the murder itself was the lynching pin, causing him to jump over the fucking edge, so to speak, but he is Just A Little Boy! he is so troubled! he’s self harming and alfred yells at him and HITS HIM for being stupid, he’s listening to loud music and drawing fucked up shit, he’s both burned himself and is apparently cutting, and alfred, seeing all of this, refuses to get the boy who saw his parents shot a therapist, because the waynes told him to essentially let bruce raise himself. “the children are thoroughbreds,” basically. 

quoth barbara (thinking about essen shushing the child snatcher case in fear of bad press): “i can’t believe the system is so corrupt.” quoth jim (thinking about how he was yelled at for not beating a perp, thinking about the cop/mob connection that demanded he kill a man to prove his loyalty, thinking...): “you have no idea.” 

oh! and jim tells bruce the kids need more than money to keep them safe.

sliding scale of barbara kean’s sanity: she seems to be doing alright, but she’s troubled by jim’s troubles. also, this episode sets up some shit that will lead to irreparable damage later on; jim, even when he’s telling her things, isn’t telling her everything. she knows it. she hates it. he specifically hasn’t told her about oswald, which gives her reason to believe he’s a murderer pretty soon. plus, what she does w/ the information he does give her about his work (go straight to the press) gives him immediate reason to start trusting her less... and so they spiral.

sliding scale of ed nygma’s sanity: he’s a little bit more of a lurker this episode. creeps outside the captain’s office until someone notices him, lingers inside until everyone in the room makes it obvious he’s not welcome. he’s trying his best, but he’s not... very... “well liked,” shall we say.

continuity: montoya and allen are looking into the murder of oswald cobblepot. he was their snitch, after all. so that’s problems... many things are subtly set up in this episode: falcone and fish discuss maroni and his anticipated power play (adding another piece to the political chessboard of this season), the atp drug the child snatchers use is established to have been developed for arkham asylum, which is also established to have been closed for the past 15 years AND to have recently been in the works for a reopening, specifically by thomas and martha wayne. and that’s all just offhanded discussion. also related to the atp, when ed is listing the only three places that still stock it, it’s quillan pharma, drakatech (?)... and welzyn, which isn’t relevant at all to THIS episode (quillan’s the one dealing with the childsnatchers) but WILL become relevant to everyone in a few episodes, when welzyn manufactures viper. oh, and naturally the identity of the man the childsnatchers are working for: the dollmaker. hm!! on a lighter note, harvey’s ex-white knight tendencies that we explore in spirit of the goat are foreshadowed here; essen accuses him of leaking the child snatchers story to the press, w/ the reasoning that he’d done it before. after jim & barbara established that it was the right thing to do....

parallels: jim & selina meet in this episode. they are... The Same™. (look, i’ll come back to it later, but even tho my parallel in the pilot was btwn selina and oswald, and even tho they’re the two that are the villain counterparts to our heroes, jim and SELINA are the matched set.) also, this is the episode where fish expresses the wish that penguin wasn’t dead (because she wants him to suffer), but also she tells jim & harvey that she knew it was a mistake to order them killed as soon as she did it. so that means something? 

neither here nor there, but gertrud tells montoya & allen how elegant and well dressed oswald is, and bruce comments on the orphans’ scruffy appearances and buys them new clothes... we love a dandy, i guess.

characterization: we meet some irrelevant street kids that selina knew; zeb, smoke, and mackey (corey in the house). i’m basically using the characterization tab as fanfic reference so i might as well record that.

lazlo, fish’s lover, is relevant, in that falcone beats him to get to her. it definitely does affect her, though she says she only keeps him around for exercise. maybe more b/c of falcone’s threat and the fear of what it implies, though. 

and gertrud! ozzie’s mom. everyone connected to oswald, even outside (maybe even especially outside) of his mob connections, is a little twisted. she’s no different; she’s clearly a bit out of her head, she mistrusts the police (which i guess we’re supposed to think is suss, though really...Fair and Just), she’s got that almost creepy codependency with oswald while not really knowing what’s going on there. (other examples: elijah, oswald’s gothic horror father, martin, oswald’s lowkey homicidal son, edward, oswald’s fascist dog, jim, oswald’s corrupt boyfriend...) she also seems to think oswald has run off with some painted lady (actually, she says painted slut), which might be indicative of her experiences w/ van dahl and some unstable jealousy more than it is of oswald, who’s... you know. 

in other news, jim is all over the map here. he stops harvey beating mackey (and later, quillan, after they’ve already gotten info out of him) and protests that they should leak the story to the press, but he also seems content to keep his mouth shut until barbara takes doing good upon herself. he adapts to the mob shit pretty quick, but expresses disgust w/ the corruption in the system. he gets off on the wrong foot w/ mayor james because he disagrees with locking up the kids w/o a trial, but he doesn’t... step in... either. we see this willingness to compromise and bend the knee that means he’ll never be the hero gotham deserves. 

also, not to be a jim apologist on main or anything (ha, ha), but he’s just so... brainwashed. all this, & he still tells alfred that being a cop, which has thus far caused him nothing but pain & misery, is the “best job in the world.” because he thinks he’s helping people. (and he likes getting to feel like a hero... so where do the misguided good intentions stop and the selfish motives begin?) he also kills a man for the first time on screen this episode because for all its examinations of dirty cops... gotham is still, at the end of the day, Copaganda. in an actual moment of me drinking I Love Jim Gordon juice, jim is the one who advocates for bruce going to therapy, and tries to convince him to go personally, even when jim himself is too emotionally stunted for it to help him. 

also, backstory: harvey pegs his love life, saying, “high school sweetheart, then a bunch of hoes (read: eduardo dorrance) overseas only made you sad... and then there’s barbara.” he also calls jim a monkey riding a race horse; jim’s face is really good @ that. i misinterpreted the line about high school sweethearts back in the day to mean that barb was jim’s highschool sweetheart. this is on account of auditory processing disorder and also general dumbassery. anyway, the point is that jim is a boring, predictable bitch! whom i love.

...in terms of characterization from the episode that i don’t agree with, i can’t really see oswald writing all the shit that they had on his conspiracy board, lmfao. “crybaby brucie,” “gordon=STOOGE,” & so forth. i pretend i do not see it.

[wingsfreedom]

Small analysis about Fire fam

Ursa and Azula’s relationship is complex issue.

In regards of Azula, I think Ursa’s disapproval had two results:

The first, she actually did love her daughter and did teach her right from wrong through all the scolding, despite she didn’t do it in the best way.

The second, because of the scolding and badmouthing, Azula KNOWS which of her actions are wrong and chooses to do the wrong thing either way because that was the only way to get both her mother’s attention and her father’s approval.

Ursa went a long better with Zuko because he was more receptive to her personality and teachings than Azula was. (though, Ursa's teachings are still always there in the back of Azula's mind as that come to light in the mirror scene.)

But for me, the worst part in this story is that Ursa sometimes unconsciously encouraging Azula’s behaviour. Ursa, despite complaining a lot about Azula’s odd behaviours, often causes and/or reinforce them, (e. g such as in the 'rose' scene in The Search), she comes to loathe them and punish Azula for them without understanding the core of her actions; that was getting attention from her mother who was focusing on Zuko (most of the time, her favorite).

Taking Azula's behaviour in the 'rose' scene in consideration, this is propbaly equal to her behaviour when throwing rocks at the turtleducks as well while Ursa's around with her and Zuko. It's her way to rebel against Ursa and everything she stands for, for focusing on her brother on her expanses and/or wanting her attention.

EDIT: "Azula throwing rocks on the turtleducks" was a misconception, what she really was throwing is bread, and she wasn't throwing it on the turtleducks but in the water. Zuko's bread hit the turtleduck by accident likely to foreshadowing Ursa's sacrifice. So Azula was NOT cruel to animals to get back to her mother, she was trying to feed them because this was something she saw mother do.

For most Ursa's intercations with her children:

When she wanted her children to play together and get along, (which was great -and contradict for Ozai- but), Ursa only shown speaking to Zuko, calling him "darling" and encouraging him to play, then said "go for a little while", means 'go and comes back to me again when you're finished,' which implies he was always under her wing by her side most of her time, without addressing that Azula appearntly was behaving better than Zuko at that point. Where Azula is asking her mom for something that WOULD yield approval from her, which is why Azula is doing it.

This "evidence" also does not convince anyone that Ursa ever made any efforts to correct Azula's bad behavior in a positive and proactive way. She never teaches Azula not to behave destructively in any such proactive ways. We've seen her scolds, seen her glares, seen her asking what's wrong with her. If her relationship with Zuko was remotely similar, she'd be caught talking just as poorly about her beloved son, but she isn't.

Second, when they perform Firebending, Ursa only addressed Zuko's performance and encouraged him without spare a word for Azula whom performance was better, because she got her Father's praise, she doesn't need her, but Zuko does. Which suggest that the parents' reaction toward the children's Firebending achievements includes their school achievements as well. Azula has her Father's praise, Zuko gets his father's disdain, Ursa has to be always by Zuko's side to make up for Ozai's disdain, neglecting her daughter in the progress. (which, I think, made Azula open for terrible influence watching this mother-son bonding, for all we know Ozai wasn't a loving parent even though she was his favorite)

It's common behavior for mothers in abusive household to protect the abused child from their abusive father by giving them her love and support, and that child--in her eyes--was mainly Zuko, BUT this is also where Ursa's grave mistake lies as well. For her giving more attention and affection to Zuko than she does to his sister.

While I don't like to use the comics as evidence for bad writing, this aspect of Ursa's favoritism still stand.

Ursa’s inability to empathize with Azula, to understand her wishes and desires or even emotions, and Azula’s reluctance to mend their relationship, only drives them further apart. And I believe Ozai may play a good hand in this too.

He match up with Azula's competitive, perfectionist nature 'I must be the best at anything I do (the world values winners. I'm what I do to earn my place)' with his 'only the strong survives in this world' influence, which eventually shaped up her cruelty (toward herself and everyone) and (especially) spiteful reaction against her brother, and believed the hard life Zuko endures is a well-deserved punishment for being a weak and a failure while still motives by feelings of jealousy, abandonment and insufficiency that her mother left. Which of course doesn't make her any less of abusive sibling but this is only to analyze her mindset not justify it.

But the siblings' damaged relationship, I believe, is largely both parents' fault first of all, with Ursa's good-bad influence and Ozai's all-terrible influence.

From Avatar wiki:

[The 'rose' scene in The Search mention]

That's it, Azula got no "darlings", got no encouragements, got no smiles. Just confronting Ursa's love for Zuko daily, with bad attempts to gain her mother attention.

TL;DR Regardless of how Ursa feels about her daughter: Azula has zero solid evidence that her mother loves her.

Now from how I see it, due to unhealthy relationship with both parents, Azula finds it hard to trust the people around her. So she started to use power and fear tactics to basically force Mai and Ty Lee to become her friends as this drive come to shine obviously at the Boiling Rock famous betrayal intercation (though Azula may does that on subconscious level).

Which, of course, doesn't make her any less of abusive freind (I don't think she was abusive to Zuko their relationship was mutually toxic) because at the end of the day these were the choices she made, but this is what make her well-written character to me: understandable in drive, bad in choices.

PS: Anything's possible, Azula's complex character as it is but make her the sole culprit for 'not feeling loved' (that is a main drive in her actions) just so Ursa can appear flawless, ("she never hurt her daughter in any way", "she's not responsible for anything wrong happened in the family"...est) Just no.

[elliepassmore]

Crown of Midnight Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: Throne of Glass, fantasy, magic, mystery, court intrigue, multiple POVs, strong female leads I think it’s funny that these first two books focus so much on mysteries when the next five put the mysteries on the backburner. They’re still there, but I definitely feel they’re more present in this one and ToG. As a brief reminder, there will be mild spoilers for the previous books reviewed. We’ll start with Chaol, since he was the one I had the biggest complaint against in the last book. He’s better in this one, in my opinion. Something changed since Celaena won the Championship and he killed Cain, and he’s a lot nicer to Celaena. Unfortunately, it seems to be at the cost of a soured relationship with Dorian, which is a shame since I did like their friendship. There are still moments of it here, but both men are too wrapped up in their emotions, and eventually their own problems, to really be able to fully get over themselves and go back to how they were. Chaol’s eyes are being opened throughout the book to how he’s had a blind loyalty to a king with such vile plans. It takes him a while, but he does come to the realization that his complete obedience to the crown has the ability to do more harm than good. Despite all this, he does still have his moments when he’s unaccepting of Celaena and easily willing to believe the worst of her. I really don’t know what he expected, getting into a relationship with an assassin, but he definitely seems to have issues with her job. All in all, though, reading Crownback-to-back with Throne makes it obvious that Chaol has experienced leaps and bounds of character development. While Chaol moved forward in his development, Dorian seems to have regressed a bit. He’s snippier in this one, and more closed off to the people around him, showing a stark difference from Throne, when he seemed more engaged with the people around him. It’s a bit of clever character-to-plot play Maas has going on, since I think a lot of Dorian’s change in behavior is not only due to Celaena turning him down, but also due to the ancient powers awakening. In this context, it made Dorian and interesting character to have narrate, but in the context the change being based on bitterness and jealousy re: Celaena…then it’s not my favorite move. Aside from that, Dorian has some interesting things going on in his life that make his scenes and POV a bit livelier than they would be otherwise. He adds another layer of complexity to the world of mystery and ‘magic is gone….right?’ that Maas created in the books. I can’t quite tell what I think about Celaena in this one. On the one hand, she’s in character for how she acts and everything she does and says slowly inches her closer to the apex of her overall arc, and especially the arc Maas has planned for Celaena for the first three books. On the other hand, after seeing what Celaena can do in Blade and Throne, I felt like she decreased in skill for a lot of the book. Sure, sure, there are scenes where she’s most definitely the superior fighter in the room and lives up to her name as Adarlan’s Assassin, but there are also scenes were someone with far less training and experience than she is able to get the upper hand, which was frustrating. I really, really liked how dark she got in this book. We saw some of it in Blade, but haven’t really seen it since, and I was glad it was back out during certain parts of the book. Nehemia was a character who definitely came through in this one. We get more scenes with her, as well as some parts of the book from her POV, which was nice. You also get a better sense of how much she loves her country and how far she’d go to protect her people. Having read the book before, and knowing just how many secrets she was keeping during it made me want to t h r o t t l e  h e r. I (perhaps obviously), unlike Celaena, understand why she was keeping the secrets. She looked at all the available options and decided the one she took was the one that made the most sense in the long run not just for her people, but for everyone under Adarlan’s control and beyond. It was a damned shame it had to go like it did, though, and I understand people’s complaints re: representation. But I will say, I do like Nehemia’s character a great deal *SPOILER* and I wish she was in the books for longer*SPOILER END*. Archer Finn was a new character, sorta. And by ‘sorta,’ I mean he was briefly mentioned in Blade. Um…as a subjective reader, not a fan. As an objective reader and as a fiction writer myself, I like how his character was written. Subjectively, he’s oily and a dick, but at least for most of the book he’s a dick that helps rebels, so that’s a plus. The level of ease with which he handles the situations he finds himself in is astounding, which is why, I suppose, Maas has him as the character doing…stuff in this book. Like Celaena, I was easily captivated and fooled by the desperate courtier face he put on, even knowing how his arc was going. It’s easy to say that knowing everything he does combined with his comment about Rourke Farran makes me want to rip his head off on Celaena’s behalf. Objectively, however, I think he’s a wonderfully written character with complexities and motives we only really get to scratch the surface of. Like, we know he wants free of Clarisse—the brothel lady—but it’s not quite obvious just how desperate he is to be free of those chains. In this sense, he reminds me a bit of Sam, as in, he’s one of the few people so far who understand that Arobynn Hamel and Clarisse whatever-her-last-name-is might not put their proteges in literal chains, but that the shackles are there just the same. It makes everything Archer does that much more interesting. One character I’m bummed we didn’t get to see more of in this one was Philippa. She’s mentioned a few times, but I don’t think we get a solid interaction with her throughout the entire book. The only lines of real dialogue she has are toward the beginning when she addresses Nehemia and Celaena while they’re breakfasting. I really liked her character, and she made such an impact on Celaena too, not just in Throne, but in this book as well, and it’s such a damned shame we didn’t get to see more of her. As for the mystery in this book, it really goes round and round in circles for a while before revealing even an aspect of itself. I liked it, since it made it feel contained within the book while also giving off tendrils for the future books and even tying off some of the ones from the last one. Elena is back in this one and we also have a new helper, Mort, who is a pain in the ass, but at least he’s a funny pain in the ass. Elena kind of makes my blood boil with her sympathies and missions and general unhelpfulness. Like before, Elena offers a shred of the mystery and leaves the rest up to Celaena, who then has to deal with whatever slick and dark creature has clawed its way up this time. Despite the mystery creating more questions and problems than it answers and solves, I find it has a satisfying conclusion within the book, with said conclusion making it feel like the mystery has been closed at least a little bit. There’s been a lot of foreshadowing set up in Throne, Blade, and even this book, for what turns out to be a reveal at the very end. If you’re looking for it, you’ll be able to see the pieces and thread them together. I think it’s absolutely brilliant, and love that that’s where Maas took the storyline and all the potential that the reveal brings. While, admittedly, these first two books aren’t exactly my favorites out of the series ( Heir of Fire holds that title, actually), I definitely still enjoyed them and think they’re crucial for the set up of the rest of the story. Plus, it’s funny going back and rereading them after the end of the series and seeing all the Easter eggs Maas put in as well as how much the characters have change over the course of all eight books. Also, I always end up liking these first two books more than I remember liking them, so that’s a bit of an added bonus/surprise.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT Rewatch 4X15 - Poor Unfortunate Souls

I’ve always loved this episode, but I can’t help but wonder what kind of SOUL searching I’ll need to do as I watch this one again! XD

Eh, he got it.

Anyway, review’s under the cut!

Main Takeaways

Past

So, it goes without say, but Poseidon is the best god! He has a tough commanding voice, a method of carrying himself that commands respect, a solid character arc, and MINIONS! What god doesn’t have minions that dress in uniforms and follow his every order without lip?! Additionally, he’s egotistical, placing his need to have Ursula by his side over her desires to sing and awful in that sense that he’ll buy her love rather than earn it. Basically, this guy has the presence of a god. Characters like Nimue and Merlin would have this similar presence, but as for Hades and Zeus, the other actual gods, they really don’t.

I love the story development in this episode. I’ll get into this shortly, but what makes this episode work so well is that Killian is shown to, despite being a ruthless pirate, be someone who does have the capacity for good in his heart. He’s someone who has that potential to care for another person and to be willing to go to great lengths for them. 

It’s great how Killian doesn’t go full tilt against Ursula upon getting a possibility for his revenge, but he does still retreat to villainy somewhat. The trip to Glowerhaven is now a trip not fully made out of goodness and selflessness, but also for profit as Killian asks for the squid ink before he transports Ursula away.

But the way he does ultimately go evil is interesting too. It’s not about hurting Ursula, but about hurting Poseidon. And that makes it worse -- the action that harms Ursula wasn’t made to hurt her, but out of spite. Ursula is turned in that instance from a friend into a pawn. And it’s interesting how Ursula takes agency in her own story back from both Poseidon and Killian. She stands up to both men and even takes the former’s triton to become a goddess and a villain. It’s so tragic, but also kind of badass!

Present

Killian’s development in this episode is fantastic! I like how we see the difference between the hero clan and Killian. While their first thought, as David puts it, is to “save August,” Killian’s is to find the Dark One’s secrets. And I like how this isn’t a bad plan in comparison to theirs, but different. It’s an important part of dismantling Rumple’s schemes in the long run. I also like how the episode shows subtly how Killian’s mindframe about doing good changes within the scope of the episode. When he first announces how he’ll return Ursula’s happy ending, it’s done out of a need to get revenge on Rumple after he screwed them out of the dagger. Listen to how he talks about helping her: “Now’s the time to use it [his backstory with Ursula].” He also calls her a “creature” and a “monster,” and even when she stands up to him for the name calling, he doesn’t apologize.

And look at the way Killian talks about returning Ursula’s happy ending. Normally, a line like that is given lighter and more triumphant music to accompany it, but not here. That’s because it’s not about wanting to do right by Ursula, but that is the mindset he has to learn. He’s sort of on the right trail -- he even points out to Emma how he’s taking a page out of her book -- but because his mindset is botched, he’s not in the right mindset for when things go wrong. While Snow, David, or Emma would try to take a next step after the shell doesn’t originally work and assure Ursula that they’ll help her out, Killian doesn’t think of her wants and needs and just demands the information, endangering himself.

Ariel was both a weird choice and the BEST choice to help Killian along his trail to redemption. For one thing, it allows for the real Ariel to finally get some justice after what happened with Killian and Blackbeard and her in season 3. But most importantly, she highlights that getting a happy ending isn’t necessarily dependent on you alignment, but how you go about getting it. And this prompts Killian to ask for help. That asking for help s so important because of how it shifts Killian’s perspective from wanting to help Ursula for himself to wanting to help Ursula for her own good. That’s how a hero thinks. And it turns out that when he starts thinking that way, he’s not bad at doing good at all!

“If Gold did to me what he did to Hook, I’d want to shove that dagger through his heart too.” I kind of hate a lot of this show’s approaches to anger. Killian’s pissed -- and Emma’s pissed for him -- that Rumple took advantage of the growing trust between himself and Belle in order to reclaim his power, and now the entire town is in danger because of it. This line is treated as a way to foreshadow the possibility of Emma going dark, but honestly, it’s just anger. It’s a valid emotion and in from here until the end of the series, that anger tends to be framed as something that’s not allowed to happen, and the show is worse off for it. Is the agner a touch excessive? Arguably, but given how personal this crime was, I can get that it reached that extent. And Emma even elaborates on that point immediately afterwards.

All Encompassing

Out of all of the episodes where Killian screws things up in the past, but rights things in the present, this I feel is one of the best ones. Killian’s not heartless in either segment, his actions aren’t too bad that they can’t be made right by the events of the episode, and Killian’s approach has to change in regards to his own morality and motivations, which it does.

So, let’s talk about Ursula. On one hand, we never get to see or even hear about any of her villainy and that undermines a lot of her presence in the series. Despite all of the power that she supposedly has, it’s never used to any villainous effect. Because of that, to some extent, she’s less of a villain in a lot of way and more of a vessel for Killian and Rumple. And that’s not really fair. That said, I do think that her character development in this singular episode is quite substantial and in a way, redeems Ursula’s character. She’s given a clear and concise motivation for her villainy as well as a redemption that makes emotional sense. She’s tragic and unique in a lot of ways and her characteristics in both the past and present, despite that lack of villainy, make for a three dimensional character.

Stream of Consciousness

-I love the callback in the opening to both the source of Killian’s apprehension over mermaids from “The Heart of the Truest Believer” and to “The Little Mermaid.”

-I like the design for Ursula’s grotto. Sure, it’s probably like the show’s final Rumbelle scene where it was designed in a minimalist way by painting the set all black, but just as it was there, it’s pretty!

-I like the allusion as Ursula listens to classical music instead of torturing August and only begrudgingly joins Cruella at Cruella’s behest that Ursula is not all that interested in being a baddie.

-I love the clear BS’ing yet improvising skills that August puts on display here!

-”Well it wouldn’t be the first time he lied to my face.” Regina, get Elsa back here because Rumple gave August a BURN! XD

-I do appreciate that Emma points out how fucked up it was to steal a child! It’s not as far as this conflict should have gone, but it’s a good step.

-Between the magical eye drops, giving David half of her heart, Cora’s possession, all the breastfeeding she must be doing, and now this, Snow must be SO tired of sharing her body! XD

-I also appreciate how Regina’s first bit of dialogue was to tell Emma that Pinocchio was fine and what happened.

-”Who? Me?” This is some perfect comedy right here! I love the slow buildup and the way every character’s head is given its own individual moment to turn to Killian. It is a perfect punchline!

-”Even when I didn’t think he could deceive me any more, he found a way.” I feel so bad for Belle with this line. She’s so tired of being tricked by Rumple and now even trusting in those that she wants to is dangerous.

-”Then your name would’ve been written across it.” …”When you can see the future, there’s irony everywhere.”

-I LOVE this rendition of “Mysterious Fathoms Below.” It’s so soothing and beautiful. It feels both like a lullabye and what a group of sailors would want to hear after a long day, and that’s an interesting balance to hit.

-I love the costumes of Poseidon and his underlings. I like the beach-y things the cover the tops of their gold and their hats that look like conch shells!

-”It’s unwise to insult the size of a pirate’s ship.” Wouldn’t be OUAT without the occasional dick measuring contest.

-I actually totally forgot about that dream sequence Regina had. So, now that I remember again AND have the context of the Evil Queen arc, I think that arc either alluded to a fear of Regina’s evil impulses threatening to separate her from Robin or foreshadowing of jealousy from the Evil Queen and that’s Wish Robin that’s there.

-I love the absolute look of HORROR on August’s face as he’s turned back into a puppet.

-I’m starting to realize that anyone with a “code” in this series has a code that is weak as fuck!

-Thankfully, that nice swim will be UNDERcut by some FIN-terference, so he’ll SEA you later! XD

-Snow hitting Cruella over the head with a frying pan from back of the room was perfect! Not only is it so funny, but it was a great reminder of just how tactical Snow can be!

-Awww! That August and Emma reunion was soooo sweet! We really see that friendship they had come fully back and it’s honestly so heartwarming.

-I loved Poseidon’s apology to Ursula. There are no excuses and he really gets into how badly he screwed both her and himself over, and not in an egotistical way.

Favorite Dynamic

Ursula and Killian. I like the framing of their dynamic. Killian is very much a ruthless pirate and Ursula is clearly defined as someone who can break through that thanks to the peace her voice brings him. It’s an unconventional, but organic friendship. And I like how it’s not just Ursula providing Killian with things, but also Killian providing Ursula with emotional validation. Ursula doesn’t seem to have many friends (which makes sense given how she’s the daughter of a god), and that’s implied by just how much Killian’s words and promises impact her. You can see how badly she’s needed to hear that her way of honoring her mother hasn’t been wrong and that despite what Poseidon says, she’s doing the right thing. And in return, Ursula gives Killian peace and a chance at some level of redemption. Because of her voice and mercy, he’s able to see some good inside himself and offer her help. And until his revenge gets in the way, and he starts treating Ursula like a pawn, he holds himself to that.

Writer

Andrew Chambliss and Dana Horgan are in control today! And they did a good job! This is just a cohesive episode. Unlike “The Apprentice,” these guys knew exactly what they wanted to do with Killian’s character and did exactly that. They made his character consistent and kept his feelings throughout the episode clear. This is an enormous change from the Killian who didn’t even have a distinguished facial reaction to being forced to hold an old man hostage while he was sucked into a hat. And they still managed to put in nuanced discussions about what it means to think like and be a hero. Writing decisions like that make the kind of material that define a character and these guys brought their A-game to both segments.

Rating

Golden Apple. While I had my nitpicks, this was an amazing episode. Killian’s character development as he descends to and rises from villainy is really well done, the episode’s supporting characters are great, and Ursula is for the most part very three dimensional.

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Captain Swan - “Don’t you know, Emma? It’s you.” I love these guys. I love how they value each other. I love how in this episode, Killian calls Emma his happy ending and the slow, meaningful reaction to that including the kiss. I love how Emma stands up to David when he even considers that Killian could be evil again. She really believes in him and trusts that he can do the right thing and get them the information they need.

-----

Thank you all for reading!!! Shout out to @watchingfairytales and @daensarah!!

Season 4 Total (131/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (34/60) Jane Espenson: (20/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (38/50) Andrew Chambliss: (32/50) Dana Horgan: (16/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (22/40) Scott Nimerfro: (14/30) Tze Chun (8/20)

Operation Rewatch Archives

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 3x18 Earshot

aka it was the lunchlady in the kitchen with a box of rat poison

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And I’m not sure where to focus with today’s episode. Not to mention, that as someone living outside of the US, I’m just never gonna have the same context with a pseudo school shooting storyline - even if it ends up being not that? I guess? It’s weird.

I mean, why does Jonathan have a sniper gun? I feel like someone who owns a sniper probably has a hand-held gun lying around somewhere as well? Like, I get it, it’s set up so that we have another red-herring, but it also makes me think that there may have been some last-minute changes in the story there.

Regardless, as I said, I don’t really have the same context for a school shooting storyline as an American audience might. So when I think about Earshot, I usually think about Buffy’s speech, and perhaps one or two funny moments that we get with the mind-reading aspect.

Buffy:  Sure. We can work out after school. You know, if you're not too busy having sex with my MOTHER!

The scene in the library between the Scoobies is also highly enjoyable. Whether it’s Oz’s little inner existential crisis, Willow’s mind immediately going to the fear that Buffy wouldn’t need her, Xander being… well, Xander, the reveal that Cordelia literally says what she thinks, or Buffy making eye-contact with Wesley while he’s desperately trying not to think about Cordelia… There’s just a lot of stuff here.

I also tried rewinding for myself the classroom scene a bunch of times, to get some more meaning and parallel out of that Othello discussion… But I’m not sure I got much more than what the text is already telling us with Buffy’s jealousy about Angel, and Faith representing Buffy’s darker side - a reading that I was already aware of.

Last episode, I spent a lot of time talking about how I see Buffy breaking things off with Angel more about how she was feeling about Faith than anything else. And perhaps this episode somewhat tries negating that, but at the same time, there are some inconsistencies.

At the end of Enemies when Buffy visits Angel, her reasoning for the break-up to him is that it was about seeing him playing evil that gave her pause. Here, however, it’s treated as if it’s all about her insecurity that Angel might actually like Faith.

I wish I had an elegant way to reconcile all these seemingly different readings on Buffy’s feelings… But I don’t. Partly because it’s late, but also because emotions are complex and layered and half the time even we don’t know why the fuck we feel the way we feel, and all the reasons we do the things we do.

For now, let’s just appreciate the below out of context line:

Buffy:  Look, the thing about Faith, I'd understand. You know, she has, you know, that whole bad girl thing working for her.

I’m sure you’d understand, Buffy, I’m sure you would…

What I didn’t quite remember about this episode is just how much Scoobies action there is in it. And it’s especially a nice change of pace that Cordelia’s part of that unit, as she’s been mostly absent from these group activities post-Xander break-up. But here she is now, interviewing murder suspects with the rest of the gang.

…Which I thought was actually a pretty fun and nicely executed storyline altogether, with all the Scoobies being paired off with all these real characters that we’ve been previously and organically introduced to during the episode.

Seeing Willow taking charge was especially fun. Her relationship with Percy, who they seem to have a genuine and sweet rapport with by now is just straight up adorable. (Even if he needed to be bullied by her Vampire alter-ego first for them to get here.)

But it was her interrogating Jonathan that really got my ear perked:

Willow: Fantasies are fun, aren't they Jonathan? Jonathan: Uh... I guess. Willow: We all have fantasies that we're powerful, more respected. Where people pay attention to us. Jonathan: Uh... maybe. Willow: But sometimes the fantasy isn't enough, is it Jonathan? Sometimes we have to make it so people don't ignore us. Make them pay attention. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

There’s definitely some nice foreshadowing here for a particular future episode for Jonathan… But it’s also interesting to note that this is Willow projecting some of her own motivations onto him, so perhaps there’s some interesting beats of her upcoming character arc as well in there.

Then we got Xander and Larry.

I already mentioned that I only recently heard about the Buffy trivia that there were plans for either Xander or Willow (which is eventually what we’ve got of course) having a coming out story at some point in the show… And that puts so much about Xander’s arc into perspective? We’ve also got blatant lines like these:

Xander:  Hogan Martin thinks he's sooooo hot. Like we should all be awed by him cause he can put a ball in the net. Hogan:  Hey, Xander. Xander:  He said my name! He knows my name!

On the other hand, his scenes with Larry are still played as a joke. Like “Larry thinks he’s gay and isn’t that funny?” and all of Xander’s no-homo panic that accompanies that.

Still, it’s nice to know that the writers at any point might actually considered giving him that storyline, because that would’ve certainly recontextualized these moments between them.

I’m also just gonna end this with copying in Buffy’s speech, because I still think about that a lot:

Buffy:  Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're too busy with their own. The beautiful ones. The popular ones. The guys that pick on you. Everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling. The loneliness. The confusion. It looks quiet down there. It's not. It's deafening.

Sometimes just knowing that we’re not alone in our pain is enough. It has to be.

[queenyuyu]

I need to rant before I start my day. I started to watch Chihayafuru

And I love it; I think it funny and adorable, and I have always been a sucker for friendship-based stories. But can we talk about how utterly annoying the main characters love triangle is, please? Like seriously I hate this unhealthy portraying of being obsessed with one another. And the fans of either couple are toxic.

As for now, neither Taichi, nor Chihaya, nor Arata are ready for a Relationship or should be portrayed romantically. Hence them constantly saying each others name at random times and working “for” each other “to meet again”, becomes so utterly annoying. Yes, I understand the motivation behind it, but it's just freaking frustrating but let me get in depts: Chihaya obsession with Arata is just freaking the worst. Like the amount she randomly says “Arata, Arata, ARATA!” at times that have absolutly no conection to him, is so utterly annoying that I cringe so hard and ugh just urgh! It ruins her character to me because let's keep in mind that dude has not stayed in contact nor cared about her for YEARS! Yes, I have a childhood friends, I daydream about and would love to meet again too, but I'm not obsessed with them, even if they would share the same game obsession it wouldn’t be my number one thought all day long, at every little step I make in my life. GET A LIVE CHIHAYA, START TO LIVE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR DREAMS!

As for now, EVERYONE that has ever played with Arata has the same “connection” as she does, they have nothing more in common than their love for Karuta. Nothing! They simply motivated each other to play once! WOW, HOw couldn’t I see this"SOULMATE MATERIAL” BECAUSE SOMEONE TOLD SOMEONE THEY COULD BE GOOD AT SOMETHING! Keep in mind that therefore Taichi, Retro, Nishida, or Shinobu, heck everyone else that played against him and was in awe, has a connection with him as well. They probably also had more dialogue exchange then Chihaya and Arata ever had and ever will have. If anyone I would probably rout for Shinobu at this point they at least have some chemistry and share some similarities, other then starring at each other blankly saying each others name. They also actually had and I’m serious a deeper conversation then the “main couple”.

  Arata seems to be more interested in Tachi then he is in Chihaya, so can we make him gay now? Because seriously that how he acts imo. He prefers to write Taichi rather then Chihaya, so clearly he is not interested. UNTIL, Of course, he sees her and of course she FAINTS, because that's the ultimate sign that they are meant to be, even though it Taichi that actually catches her, but he is friend zoned so that doesn't count. Even then all he thinks is her name. Now he needs to say and think her name as often as she does and BOOM COUPLE GOALS! Loving each other's Names! Wow, that’s so deep from a natural talent winning everything, and being so deeply in love with his cards. Like all, we learn from all the other character that seems to be important in Karuta is not portrayed in him, but yeah, but I guess plot armor.

And can we talk how freaking rude she is, I get the I need to sleep because I’m so exhausted at random moment comedic relief moments, but bitch please, you can’t even announce your win? Can’t you even hold it together for your teammates? At the time she acts so freakingly egoistic, that I have to give credits to everyone putting up with her.

  Taichi, dude, I get Arata is your Rival, but you share and do so much more with Chihaya that this obsession is really stupid, and either you move the fuck on or tell her because this is stupid.

And I know, I KNOW, Arata will end up with Chihayam the “random” moments, when they “romantically” exchange saying their names and nothing more is foreshadowing to that. And yet they didn’t have a single conversation. NONE! While Taichi *sigh*, pretty much is her best friend, pillow, the one supporting her dreams, and pushing her on. Let’s be honest WITHOUT TAICHI; she would not have made it to where she is now. He is a great friend and cares for everyone beyond a point where she can’t because she lacks empathy or is too self-centered.

So think about you want about Taichi, from annoying brat to be deserving of her love. Their relationship as for now is definitively the better one, but let’s also be straightforward, the amount o time he is self-conscious because of Arata would’ make him a pretty shitty overly jealous boyfriend.  Taichi too is unhealthily attached and obsessed with Arata.

  In short, all three of them are utterly stupid characters when it comes to their relationship with each other. I can’t ship or root for them. The one with the most personality is Taichi, and because the writer chose not to make him perfect, most people don’t like him, when he is the only one who shows great character growth and empathy for everyone even Arata, but then again, she ruins it with his “ARATA!!!!”-jealousy-obsession!!!, and I swear I get so annoyed whenever I hear his name.

  Also, can we fucking speak of how much of a freaking overpowered character Arata is, he does nothing and automatically is better than anyone else. Sorry, that’s quite boring, and I’m so glad the story didn’t involve him too much as for now. I know this changes, and yeah … see my exciting face. I might have to drop this series because the main characters cannot keep up with the strength and the wit of the support characters.

And that frustrates me because the idea of the story is beautiful and great, and the side characters are beautiful and have so much depth to them, even the main characters are loveable. But their “faithful-bond” is so utterly overdone, and thrown in your face, that the story becomes almost secondary to the frustration of this poor excuse of  “relationship” they are supposed to share.

  It almost 2019, and this is still the main romance top young girls are feed to read. CAN WE FINALLY GET FOR ONCE RELATIONSHIPS THAT ARE BASED ON ACTUAL CHARACTER GROWTH DEVELOPMENT AND GROWING OF FEELINGS BASED ON WORKING ONTO IT- make me care for their relationship because “destiny” doesn’t do it for me. It’s an unrealistic unhealthy portraying of relationship; I wished we could finally move on from.

  Also, the best character is Akito Sudo, fight me!

[ruiningvoldemortday]

#hogwartsreread: The Vanishing Glass

Part two of @ravenclaw-headcanons #hogwartsreread and now I’m all caught up with the cool kids!

- Seriously, Dumbledore KNOWS Harry lives in a cupboard.  Was it too much to ask for him to send somebody to intervene?  Is this one of those “suffering builds character” bullshit moments that mentor-type characters like to put heroes through?  FUCK.  THAT. - Most of my notes for this chapter were just INCOHERENT RAGE. - But at least Harry is still a sassmaster.  Not that I condone fatshaming but “a pig in a wig” is a wonderful line. - Who the hell gets 39 birthday presents and why is Vernon encouraging his son’s tantrums? :/ - MRS FIGG IS IN CONTACT WITH DUMBLEDORE WHY COULDN’T SHE HAVE DONE ANYTHING DEAR GOD.  FUCK THESE PEOPLE. - Harry needs a hug. - “My hair growing back immediately?  My clothes shrinking on the spot?  I just appeared on the roof?  It’s just a thing that happens. - Also surely that sweater would have fit Harry at some point. - Also also Harry accidentally Apparated what a little badass. - I have been to this zoo and this reptile house and my mother has photos somewhere - Snakes don’t have eyelids, I would just like to point that out. - He’s speaking Parseltongue!  This will be a Thing!  This is foreshadowing! - This snake is a lot less scary tho - People (and snakes) from Brazil speak Portuguese, not Spanish smh. - NO MEALS.  NO.  MEALS.  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME.  FUCK.  THESE.  PEOPLE. - Harry wished someone would take him away.  This poor baby.  Someone please hug this child. -  No really imagine if Sirius hadn’t been arrested or there wasn’t some kind of bullshit legislation keeping Remus from taking him (I assume it’s illegal for werewolves to adopt because lycanthropy in this book is an allegory for homosexuality?  Idk). He would have been so much happier.  My heart hurts.  Everything is pain.

Discussion question:  Can you forgive Dudley since he’s primarily a product of his surroundings? What about Petunia? How do you feel about her knowing her hatred of magic stems from jealousy?:  It’s not really Dudley’s fault and he does get better.  Even though up until OoTP he is a disgusting loathsome little turd.  Petunia, however, has no excuse.  It’s like a more mild version of “cool motive, still murder”— yeah, you’re jealous, but you’re still abusing a child and making him live in a cupboard and not feeding him.  Sorry Lily was a witch but damn, woman, get over it.

[bookreadalongs]

November 9

17:16 5/9/2017 I should've waited until 11/9 to read this. It did not escape me that those numbers were 9/11 in a different order. This is not that kind of book at all though. Was. It a huge fan of the first part. It was not relatable , unbelievable, and just full of instalove. It was interesting that Fallon pointed out a lot of the shit. They both pointed out a lot of it, actually. It just felt weak...yet here I am, unable to put it down. Second November 9 Also, I did appreciate that he could not articulate his thought spectacularly. I appreciated that as a writer (and a person in general) he knew the importance of digging beneath the surface, finding motivation and truth that cannot immediately be seen. 87. A manic episode? So...he's bipolar? - also, doubtful now...but I thought he could possibly be a prostitute when his room mate was like yoooo where ya been 99. He seems to be the only one (okay, only Fallon and her dad are the other people I took into consideration) emphasizing her life in the whole...ordeal. 104. haha that's Kyle's girlfriend, right? Who's living with them now? I went to go back and check, but then I stopped myself. I should just read on. - Ah...so Fallon is what he wished his mom was...weird phrasing. I meant, alive. Hey, Fallon also compared Ben to her mom. 111. Yeah, as soon as Kyle came in and acted like that I was 10% more intrigued. Now, it's been amped up to 25% more 112. I don't get it. Is Kyle...it can't be Fallon in particular that he had a past with. CHoover has already done that shizz. 127. He's so loaded... 133. She so isn't going to be able to do all that with him. It's too perfect...too planned. This book is about things- reality- stopping plans from coming to fruition 138. You got a last minute plane ticket for her. Her dads not rich, but she seems well enough off to see you. And this book will be weird if one of the only times you see each other in five years is a phone call. 152. All of her nakedness and he hadn't even been shirtless yet. I've a feeling his jealousy is no match for what hers should be comparing his romantic endeavors with hers. I'd like her to keep the shirt 168. This is good. I like this. It's just not as compelling as LJ...maybe I'm just not grown up enough...but this is just... wry clearly a romance novel 171. Did he cause his mom's death? I have noticed (obviously) CHoover's method of having a character have some deep dark secret. Blaming himself for something that is not his fault is...not it. I don't know. 176. I appreciate CHoover's consciousness of people (okay, admittedly frequently females read her books) are quick to blame the female character. I'm kind of glad I didn't. I used to be that way. Such double standards... 180. Oh my gosh. HOW DID SHE DO IT? I TOTALLY FELT THAT WOULD HAPPEN? WHAT FORESHADOWING DID SHE DO? Like how it was obvious that one guy was deaf. She just gives out these subtle vibes. That's what really impresses me. I was thinking how it would be weird if brother thing...THEN IT HAPPENED. But it's also like...they were at their weakest ever...surely it couldn't have continued...yet her we are. Talk about bad timing, huh? Always. @LJandJohnAmbroseMcClaren 182. Wow. That's what he thinks? That's really what he thinks...that's what t alluded to I suppose. 183. I realized why it seemed like he was with Jordyn. He was being a dad. I mean...that had to been all there was...but, hm. I don't know. Those vibes, man. 184. I'm dying. This is it. This is why. I can feel so enamores and captured by the book even if I feel kind of a tinge apathetic and a little not connected to the characters...yet also tear up at these moments. 185. Obviously you can't leave like this...on the off chance you both decide to come back next year. "Off chance"...but for them it could be the last time they see each other. I guess she just makes weirdly real characters even though they also feel so fake...I really do admire her as an author. I feel like that admiration isn't coming through enough. I do love her work. 186. WOOO LOVER BOY NOTICES. This just makes for such a fucked up family. Like, the future? After they've had se x? Like...no. What the heck. Uncle...uh...Ben? And mommy? Ewwww! 188. Ohhhhhhh! Ben was with Jordyn first? Maybe? Interesting! I just read about Fallon not wanting to take him away from a woman who has been through so much. How did that cause me to think that? How does she write like this? 189. AH THAT WAS GOOD. That was SO GOOD. Fifth September nine 193. I bet this is the first one that started...not about one of them thinking about the other. The fire. I want to read Slammed. She says that...because she's afraid she'd lose the race of love. 198. "I'm studying the probability of soulmates" I love it. I hands down love it so much. That is my favorite sentence in this whole book. Because, of course he's studying that. That's just...him. I love it so much. Especially after Fallon began this chapter not believing in fate. It's great. 199. Okay, maybe I'm completely being ignorant here, but I feel like vibes were to be given off that Theodore was being a like...I need to find another word...rapey. 200. He never loved her though...did he? See, if I as the reader don't know, it's completely fair for her not to know. Did amber tell him? 202. They. Not we. Home? Surely he lives somewhere else then? But...that house is too big for only the two. 206. STOP SHE IS KIND OF A LITTLE DRUNK INSTEAD OF ROOTING FOR HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE NOVEL I WAS LIKE WHAT THE HECK 207. So, Amber did not tell Ben.... 208. Haha cue the scene where you're meant to love Amber 209. Ahhh! So it was Glenn! Obviously. Good job, dude! 210. I want her to say no. But that tomorrow-yes, that would be good. She needs to feel bad for how he felt too. 211. HOW DARE YOU!! Awww her friends....plus Ben 213. Agreed. Very agreed. A million times agreed. I hope the epilogue is like November ten -year six A year needs to pass OF them being a couple for an epilogue 214. He never told her he loved her. Not in those words, sure that he was falling in love with her, but not actually there. 215. See? That's what I knew would be really weird and bad and icky for a long time. 219. Okay, when is his bombshell going to drop though? It's always in these last few pages. 221. AHHHH HOW DID HE DEPICT HER? Maybe that's it. I feel like it'll have to play a role. Maybe after she broke his heart? I don't know! I'm so excited! 224. Honestly, better restraint than me. 227. Wow. I imagined he was the cause of his mother's fire. This is...not what I really thought. Awkward. Weird. Very secretive. Not poetic. 228. He did evade that one question early on. It was before I started taking notes. Mental notes though...Amber, I think asked when they met-no. That was how long they were dating. Fallon said something? I don't know, oh wait! About the first time he saw her, I think? Then he was like "well when I first saw you in that booth an hour ago..." and I was like that's so not what she said. But he didn't know the accident or...I guess just the situation she was referring to...oh. Welp. 228. Why would he incriminate himself by telling everyone? I'm confused by that. 230. I thought he commit arson for so long. How does she do this? 232. I like it. Like, that's what he dad instilled in her for so long. She had so many walls built up. For the one to help her take them down to hide this...and do it. Woah there. 234. I came into this book thinking it would be the fact that she didn't know he was writing about her would be the breaking point. Then, she knew the whole time, so I stopped thinking that...well...assumptions will be the death of me. 236. Wow. I like it. Ah, yes. Another year. 241. Okay, we all know it wasn't Amber. 243. Okay, even though she won't read it obviously her mom would. Or else, how else would their love story progress? We see his perspective to understand it's true. It weed out the fabrications imagined by a girl who has only seen him 5 days over the course of her life. 249. What? Was Fallon's father the cause of it? 250. Apparently...she went through with it. So, no foul play. Her tattoo, how does t relate to his? I guess just the fact that she was a poetry major. What about the fact that it was on a staff? 251. I see now. Something to do with his father, maybe? Uhg. Please don't let them be siblings...unless Fallon's mother was also unfaithful, but that would just screw up HER character. 252. I guess he did say music was important. Well, he only said that because of his mother. I need to go to that first time he went home. I need to reread that. 53-54. Where was he last night? 254. No page numbers is making this difficult. This is...obvious, right? 258. Oh, was he outside of their house that night? I want to go back to when Fallon talked about the girl who married for the money Donovan didn't have. I want to see Ben's response. Again. Not now though. Not right before the arson. 265. Panic attack? What does he have? Anything? Definitely something. Counting down? Ah, DEFINITELY something. 273. So, when Kyle died...he lost. He lost everything. 276. Wowza. This is long. I feel like my suicide letter- woah. Like, hypothetically. Completely hypothetically, would be super long too. Because I ramble. This note is very inappropriate. Did not realize that when I began it. Welp. What can ya do? WOAH WOAH WOAH PLOT TWIST. I saw the others coming, this? Not so much. 278. Had Kyle read the letter? He tossed the money on the table like he knew what he was doing. If Ian had to go to the station, and only just picked up a copy...Kyle couldn't have read t yet. WOW LOOKY THERE! BEN DID KNOW! That date was important for Ben too. That's why he was at their house the night before. That's why he was so unkempt. That's why neither of them slept much. 280. What do you mean half the manuscript? That was three chapters, none of which had you. Oh, she must have read more. Must have, right? 281. Oh. So, he wasn't visiting their house. He was with someone. Just as I thought earlier. Who the heck is it? How did Jordyn know? 382. He said once he met and talked with and did everything that day with Fallon, actually, it was in the middle. Because that's when he saw Kyle. But he said to himself, in his inner monologue, that he would change now...because of her. 283. Uhhhhhhhgggg fuck. That's exactly what I thought. Kyle. Kyle knew...that's fucking kid. Oh my gosh. I'm so blown away right now. Kyle was such a fricken trooper. Oh fuck. Goodness gracious that was such a trip. Good. I'm so glad. 287. Ahhh! Then you follow him to wherever he goes because you want to talk? 296. Ahhh! After all those spin offs of the story from the guy's side, this is the best. Well, she always alternates. She tries to make them more...masculine with boobs and whatnot, but they're always sensitive. Not just her, a bunch of writers. That's okay though. Because they're so dang lovable. Wait wait wait. Half way through the manuscript? That isn't that long. Certainly not enough for a novel...hmmm... 298. Ah, yes. Fate was in that little poemy bit hat has been before each action. HEY MY EPILOGUE IDEA OF NOV 10 IS LIKELY...or they'll just finish things up on the ninth like usual. I'd actually, again, prefer a flash forward...so Year 7. Like Harry Potter! But...why did they always wait so long so solve any bit of their problems? Interesting. "Last". Wasn't the fifth the last? Is it one in the same? It must be. Obviously they must make up...now. 305. Throwback to before when I started writing notes and she was like and there's this awesome guy who's practically a fictional boyfriend in front of me and I was like hah eye roll. 306. Aww that's actually quite cute. Could've gone straight to him though...and just gotten it together. You really scared him. But, it's fine. 307. Haha spoilers. I love it though. It's just as cutesy as one would only expect. Also, it's good that it didn't end on the twelve thing. I like that. It's cause of the whole author thing and her love of reading. Can we take a second to adore that she opened up a whole new genere to him? That's huge! A whole new world of possibilities were introduced. That's so sweet. I mean...also that they saved each other, but details, you know? 20.57 read straight through for the first time in a while 4 stars