#and then episodes later you get to see what actually happened before the series takes place and you're like ohhhh okay nevermind fuck em!
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Gates: you can't mansplain manipulate manwhore your way out of this one captain
Flint: welp. manslaughter it is then *proceeds to strangle him*
#black sails#we've reached the sad point of the rewatch lads#also the point where you start to be like oh geez flint i dont know if whatever you're hoping to achieve is worth the pain its causing#and then episodes later you get to see what actually happened before the series takes place and you're like ohhhh okay nevermind fuck em!#if there is one motivation i can support its spite so go ahead bestie
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'buck and tommy only had a one episode build up' no if they had a one episode build up that would be fine, tk and carlos were fucking within like an hour of meeting and i have no issue with that because they have an actually palpable instant attraction and connection rather than being thrown together randomly for shock value, their relationship actually developed really well after that, they're both very well developed characters, neither of them is significantly more invested in the relationship and their makeout scenes don't look like somebody frenching their dad lmao.
Regardless, the attraction between the two is real. They’re in a non speculative and canonically proven romantic relationship that’s been said to be healthy and will come off as a romcom. Just wanted to get that out of the way before I got into anything.
Evan and Tommy weren’t a slow burn. They didn’t see each other across a room and go “I’m gonna take you home later” or anything similar to that. It was just one guy unaware of his attraction towards another until the other guy in question made the first move. (Which was bold asf btw)
There’s no one way to jumpstart a relationship. Sometimes it’s taking a leap of faith and acknowledging your feelings in whatever way you can.
The kiss was always going to be shocking hence the uproar of homophobic outrage afterwards. If Evan, for whatever reason, kissed who you wanted him to kiss then I’m positively sure you’d still be pretty surprised that the kiss actually happened. A scenario that will live and die on the internet btw.
And you’re right to imply that Tommy isn’t a fully developed character. There’s still so much we don’t know about him. I’m assuming that if the writers want him around more, then not only will they build onto his character and background, but they’ll also build on his and Evan’s relationship.
I’m assuming the dad thing is you making fun of Lou’s age. I don’t have a problem with it. Unfortunately for you, though, neither does Evan. We’ve seen papa Buckley before, and I hate to say it, but Tommy doesn’t give that at all.
And I love Tk and Carlos, but using characters who have been sure and open about their sexuality since before their series began as a “gotcha” moment for Evan and Tommy is a bit odd. They know what they want and have experience identifying partners and forming relationships. Evan just came to realize that he’s bisexual. It’s new to him so it’s understandable if he’s not making moves like TK.
It’s a show. Let things fall into place. The story is still being told. Exhale.
#if it sounds like I’m rambling it’s because I am#bucktommy#evan buck buckely#evan buckley#tommy kinard#tevan#kinkley#oliver stark#lou ferrigno jr#911 abc#911 season 7#911edit
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Can you call Tina Belcher driving through a parking lot at an anxious snail's pace a driving "style"? So why do we try to use "style" as a defense for LO's pacing problems?
There's something about how Lore Olympus engrosses people within its weekly doses of H x P content and cliffhangers that makes people not realize just how long Lore Olympus takes to get to the point of, well, anything. Many plotlines are setup, and then go untouched for weeks, sometimes months at a time, before seeing any sort of progress, much less a resolution. In this, I'm going to actually give you time ranges on some of the more egregious payoffs and continuations of plotlines that were setup - some that are now resolved, others that have yet to see the light of day.
CONTENT WARNING: I will be discussing the SA plotline, and there will be spoilers for Episode 265. I will also be showing pictures of some rancid ass tattoos, I know that sounds random for what we're discussing, but trust me on this one, I have a point to make. Also there's a Junji Ito panel from The Enigma of Amigara Fault... yeah, that one.
LEUCE
Let's start with an easy one that's not exactly tied to the main plot. The Leuce plotline. She was first introduced in Episode 201 as a 'bargaining chip' from Zeus to Hades, in a misfired attempt to get Hades to call a truce over the embargo between the Underworld and Olympus.
At the time of this episode's release, by all accounts this seemed to be a cut and dry reference to Hades' first wife, Leuce, unfortunately reduced to a mail-order bride who Hades, of course, turns down, because he doesn't want the "I can't believe it's not butter" Persephone, he wants overpriced, tastes-the-same-but-costs-more-because-of-the-brand-name Persephone.
But then she came back, 36 episodes later - in real time, this was roughly 38 weeks for free-to-read users as the series went on a 2 week hiatus near the start of S3 - only to be used as a cliffhanger leading into a recycled Minthe plotline, in which she attempted to seduce Hades in Episode 238, only to be shot down for the second time.
If you're having a tough time wrapping your head around how long 36 weeks really is, that's nine months. If you got pregnant when Leuce was first revealed, you'd be entering the final window of pregnancy by the time she returned, assuming the baby didn't come pre-term.
Another 7 weeks later, enough time to actually get pregnant again following that first baby, we got the sudden continuation of that plot, with Persephone invading her home and filling it with barn animals, with a not-so-subtle threat to Leuce to stay away from her husband.
"But what about the text messages? Were they really from Hades?" Well, if you were someone reading this comic in real time, you wouldn't have this question answered for another SIX EPISODES - that's a month and a half in real time - and the answer would ultimately be "she made it up, she was 'manifesting', none of it's real, they should call her Deleuceional!" Six weeks for a nothingburger answer to wrap up a nothingburger sideplot, all in the pursuit to 'prove' for the 1275903729 time that Hades and Persephone are truly meant to be together.
EROS AND PSYCHE
This is a big one. The Eros x Psyche plotline was one of the most popular romance subplots, second only to Hades and Persephone, throughout the comic. And yet, despite people holding their breath to see what would become of the star-crossed lovers, a mortal and a god-
-readers in September 2021 would not find out how their recent skirmish with Apollo in Episode 171 would resolve itself until Episode 218, A YEAR AND TWO MONTHS - ROUGHLY 60 WEEKS AND A MIDSEASON HIATUS - LATER, and even then it would only show us Eros, who quickly summarizes what happened to him during the entire trial and Kronos arc that his anticipated romance storyline got sidelined for - he got married and now he has a child.
And it wouldn't be for ANOTHER six weeks that his wife and the mother of his child would actually show up, not alongside Eros, but Aphrodite and Hephaestus, in Episode 224.
What happened to her after finally having her 'true form' revealed to Eros? Well, that's not shown for another three weeks in Episode 227. During this a bunch of info about how Psyche got out of that sticky Apollo situation is dumped on us and we just have to go along with it as she becomes a goddess, not because she earned a place among the Olympians, but because Zeus needs her to spy on Apollo, which was actually shown one episode prior in 226.
So let's say you got knocked up again after that Leuce baby, when Eros and Psyche were shot out of the sky. Welp, in the time it took for Rachel to get around explaining what happened to the both of them, now you just had your second baby and for all we know, you could have gone for a third and already be well into or near the end of your first trimester, if you really wanted to get busy. You'd have a Dionysus, a Melinoe, and maybe even a Demophoon. Congratulations.
And speaking of Melinoe-
MELINOE
Turns out the interloper and the child in Tartarus were one and the same, or at least that's what I'm assuming, because otherwise that would mean there's some whole ass other baby to worry about that we haven't even been introduced to yet.
Melinoe, or "the child deity", was first established in Episode 218.
But as per LO tradition, the child would only mentioned in passing every now and then until finally being revealed as Melinoe in Episode 252, a whopping... THIRTY EIGHT FUCKING WEEKS LATER.
And that waiting is still ongoing as Melinoe is, of course, still trapped in Tartarus, with no end in sight. Since then, Hades and Persephone have gotten married, kidnapped a child, Persephone has terrorized a nymph and caused yet ANOTHER genocide, and they've resurrected a child that was suddenly revealed to be Demeter's. Thirty eight weeks and counting of dragging on a plotline that we're supposed to believe is dire while the characters do sweet fuck all.
What was the name of that other dream baby that Rachel referenced from some obscure non-legitimate source?
Riiiight, Brimos. Congrats, there's pregnancy number 4. But can we find a way to make a fifth happen?
KASSANDRA
We're first introduced to Kassandra, another implied victim of Apollo's, in Episode 226 when a photo of her is found on Apollo's pen drive which was conveniently left on the ground for Psyche to swipe.
In Episode 227, they theorize on how they could track down this mystery woman, using either Eros or Aphrodite's abilities to find her through the power of
✨love✨
How will that actually work though? Has anyone ever been in love with Kassandra, or has she ever been in love with anyone else?
Any bets on how long it would be until we'd get our answer?
Episode 251. The same episode where we're finally told about Leuce's delusions, we suddenly skip to the reveal of Kassandra being Apollo's personal oracle.
And it still doesn't end up answering our question as to how Kassandra was tracked down, by the way. Eros and Psyche sorta just conveniently find her at the same time Apollo happens to be there when he's getting her to deliver her big prophecy to him.
That's twenty four weeks, meaning you're now near the end of your second trimester with child #4. Whoever the child is remains to be seen but I'm sure Rachel will find a way to shoehorn another helpless baby into the plot for Hades and Persephone to rescue who we can use for this metaphor.
But none of these come close to the greatest unresolved plotline of them all, the one plotline that has outlasted even the main H x P plotline of Lore Olympus' story-
APOLLO
Or more specifically, the SA. Rachel has tried so hard to twist Apollo into a villain of Disney proportions, through his sudden involvement with Ouranos, while also using him as a mouthpiece for her own critics by having him literally dish out word-for-word the criticisms that have been made towards Rachel's writing of Persephone-
But the core foundation of his plotline goes all the way back to 2018, when he assaulted Persephone, a plotline that has yet to resolve itself or show any progression beyond Rachel's half-baked attempts at speedrunning Persephone's healing process, while Apollo is still at large and hasn't been brought to justice.
We've seen her in very poorly-written therapy where her assault was addressed once. We've seen her grapple with the potential consequences of the SA through a gynecologist scene that, as I've discussed before, does more harm than good in helping the discussion around women's sexual health. And of course, Rachel will pepper in vague references to the SA every now and then when she's bothered to remember that it's a plotline she wrote and still hasn't resolved:
And judging by how the story has been progressing, Rachel seems far more intent on simply using Apollo as a mouthpiece for criticism and a puppet for Ouranos rather than focusing on the bigger issues, all while Persephone has helped more people cope with the assault that happened to her rather than receiving help herself.
What's really telling is that despite half of the Olympians at this point knowing what Apollo did, not one of them even tries to convince Persephone to come forward, or say something themselves. Daphne has more than enough reason to come forward. Artemis, Hera, Eros, Hermes, and Hephaestus all know what he did, and yet none of them say a thing, even when those of them who haven't been conveniently shoehorned out of the plot are still in the same room as him-
The assault scene happened in August 2018. It's been five and a half years since it was established, and while there have been small efforts made to resolve it - from Hera and Hephaestus having the photos deleted to Persephone seeking therapy - there's less reason now than ever for it to not be addressed, especially with so much at stake. I could side with Persephone not wanting to say anything in the beginning, when he was blackmailing her with the photos and her TGOEM scholarship was on the line, but now that she's a Queen, rich, and married to Hades, living in the Underworld where he can't get to her, without any schooling or scholarship or job to worry about or the photos hanging over her head, it comes across as flat out irresponsible that not a single person thinks it's worth mentioning. Even the narrative itself seems to be trying to undo the SA entirely.
At this point, I'm not confident it will be mentioned at all, and that Apollo will be conveniently dealt with as a pawn of Ouranos rather than as a perpetrator of violence towards women.
A FINAL ANALYSIS OF LO'S PACING
There are certainly far more examples of this weekly edging happening throughout LO, but I hope the ones I provided get across the point I'm trying to make about its pacing.
Of course, none of these gaps in time are happening back-to-back-to-back. This is Lore Olympus' writing "style", if you can call it that - constantly bombard the reader with separate plot points so that they'll either not remember the ones that were left behind, or so that Rachel can buy herself time to get herself out of the corner she wrote herself into. It's the equivalent of clickbait, constantly grabbing your attention with shiny new things that will replace whatever you just saw in your brain, on a constantly repeating cycle. It's the writing process of inexperienced amateurs, like what you'd see in short stories written by fifth graders - "and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened", with no theme or overarching meaning tying them together; and if you were to ask them why a certain thing happens, especially if it logically doesn't make sense, the answer is just, "well, because it does." There's no rhyme or reason, they just thought it was cool.
And I say "style" because while fans of LO have definitely defended the story's pacing as just a writing style, the actual execution of what they're implying is painful to watch and not what any experienced writer would call a legitimate style. It's not uncommon at all in long-running series like this to jump from plotline to plotline, often times longform stories like these have to balance multiple side plots at once to keep things engaging and to bulk up the plot with more actual content.
But in most cases, the reader will expect the speed of a plot's resolution to be relative to its urgency. If a casual B plot with low stakes is introduced, it's not necessarily doing any harm if it just sits there for a bit before finally being resolved. After all, it's low stakes and no one is being hurt by it existing on the sidelines. It might feel a bit like pointless fluff, but there's nothing necessarily wrong with fluff and it can offer fun and relaxed reprieves from the overarching narrative, assuming you integrate them well so they're not drawing attention away from those more urgent plotlines at the worst possible times (looking at you, Stranger Things S2 Episode 7-)
But when even the high stakes plots are being hung out to dry and treated like distractions and fluff, it comes across less like a decisive writing "style" and more just directionless pantsing from an inexperienced writer who's gotten themselves in way too deep.
And that's what really separates Rachel's writing problems from "style". Style is decisive. Style is the act of referencing over a set period of time, crafting what you like and what you've learned into something new, with rounds and rounds of fine-tuning. Style is experience put into action.
And, while I don't typically like using my own work as a comparison, LORE | REKINDLED is meant to try and recapture the original magic of Lore Olympus' art style and writing foundations - and even then, you can still see the clear difference between Episodes 14 and 44, which use the same panel from the same scene, but look vastly different due to the improvement and refinement that's happened over time.
Same style, but different levels of experience and skill, which is to be expected after weeks and weeks of fine-tuning and deliberate practice.
If you're lacking in your fundamentals, whether in art or writing, you can't equate that lack of skill to "style" because you're not choosing to be inexperienced, you just are. And that's okay! But to try and pass it off as 'style' implies that you're choosing to be inexperienced - when in reality, if you tried to put out anything beyond your skill level, you simply wouldn't be able to, because you haven't gained those skills yet. Like fifth graders writing short stories with the "and then this happened" model, "it's just my style" is often used as an excuse by young artists and writers who don't understand that style is not exclusively an end result of inexperience.
I'm gonna go on a tangent here, but there's this controversial but trendy style in tattooing called 'ignorant', and it's best defined as "tattooing badly on purpose".
These tattoos are regularly praised for their simplistic ingenuity and visual aesthetic but equally criticized for being the opposite of what many artists have worked to overcome - being "bad at art". After all, who would willingly pay for a bad-looking tattoo? It's because it's the style that's in demand. I would argue that it takes a lot of confidence and mastery of the craft to be purposefully bad at it and make it look good, as contradictory as that sounds.
As much as the lines may be wobbly and the anatomy poor, ignorant style tattoos are done purposefully by experienced artists who still know how to properly tattoo. As much as they may look like they were drawn by a middle schooler, they will still heal properly, the lines will hold up, and the client will not (or at least, should not) experience any excessive scarring or unhygienic practices as one would experience from an actual inexperienced artist-
In a genuinely poorly-done tattoo, the evidence of the inexperience is literally written all over the body. The skin swells, the ink bleeds out, the lines are inconsistent in their depth, and there's clear signs of trauma to the skin that will undoubtedly result in a poorly-healed tattoo (and that's not even getting into the larger health risks such as contracting blood diseases due to a poorly kept space). It's not hard to see the difference between a bad tattoo and a tattoo that's intentionally bad.
It's the age old saying in a different medium - only once you learn the rules can you properly break them.
Rachel never learned these rules in her writing and it's evident to anyone who knows these rules and is viewing LO through a critical lens - or in my case, experiencing it on a week to week basis. It's a regularly occurring problem in the medium of webcomics as a whole - thinking that knowing how to draw is enough, and that writing comes dead last, if at all. When in reality, comics are a marriage of art and writing, you can't simply do one really well and allow the other to drag behind. That's not to say there aren't comics that succeed at having bad art and good writing, if anything a well-written comic can save bad art-
But if you have a comic with good art and bad writing, that's when a comic opens itself up to harsher criticism. As much as art may be the visual forefront of comics, if you want to keep your audience along for the long road that stretches ahead, you need to have a strong foundation in writing, or at least, enough of a plan to ensure you're not driving in the dark. The art can be as gorgeous as you want it to be, but if the plot is weak, then no one will have any reason to check back in week to week.
And such is Lore Olympus' biggest weakness. Much of what we praise LO for back in its first season was simply its foundation. It's very easy to praise a story's writing when it hasn't had to payoff what it's setup. Having ideas is easy, and early LO is rife with good ideas - but many of those ideas have since fallen flat, even the ones you wouldn't expect.
Ideas are a dime a dozen, but actually executing them in a way that can be engaging from start to finish and resolve itself in a way that's satisfying is a whole other challenge that many creators, including Rachel, find themselves unable to tackle; and nothing is a greater example of that than LO's third season, which is now fumbling its plotlines that have failed to resolve themselves properly after 5 years, while introducing new ones that serve as mere distractions, as if they were a laser pointer aimed at a cat.
I hear the argument, "LO is a better story if you binge read it" a lot, which - while I can certainly understand in today's culture of content that's churned out to be binged - I still fail to see how it actually makes LO a better story. Binge-reading LO doesn't remove the pointless plotlines. It doesn't fix its blatant timeline problems, its retcons, or its inability to stay focused on one topic for more than 5 panels. All it really fixes is the waiting, the ritualistic toiling over each and every cliffhanger that caps off the weekly episodes just for them to either be resolved in the next week or left behind with no in-between. And while having all that waiting removed certainly makes the reading experience a lot smoother, it doesn't make the story or its writing better.
The relationship between a story's writing and how the audience experiences it shouldn't be overlooked. Many stories depend on how the audience experiences it within the mind to succeed and leave an impression.
Junji Ito utilizes the dreaded page turn to scare his audience, an effect that can only be truly gained and appreciated if you read his books in traditional print.
Marvel spent years meticulously building up its Avengers franchise, culminating in a once-in-a-lifetime cinematic event through Avengers: Endgame, which is truly the epitome of "you had to be there", because if you watch Avengers: Endgame in 2024 in your living room, you're likely not going to experience the same level of hype as audiences experiencing it in the theater in 2019.
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The same can be said for James' Cameron's Avatar, which entranced audiences with its innovative motion capture CGI and immersive 3D effects, an experience that could only be lived to the fullest if you saw it in 3D in IMAX theaters back in 2009. Without that experience, most people in 2024 find the movie to be pretty generic and uninteresting, a reverse Pocahontas with blue people in space, but when it first released in IMAX theaters in 2009, it was a cultural and technological phenomenon due to how advanced it was in its VFX. I can't even share with you clips of it, because obviously it would just be proving my point to try and show you how groundbreaking Avatar was in theaters through a bad shaky cam Youtube upload of its IMAX release on Youtube, but let's just say that it wasn't uncommon for people to brag about how many times they'd gone back to watch the same movie just to feel what they felt from the first showing all over again.
All that's to say that while Lore Olympus may offer a 'better' reading experience when binge-read - regardless of whether or not it actually helps the story's pacing problems - the reality is that LO is still being written exclusively with the weekly format in mind, and its been very much to its detriment, both in the short-term and in the long-term. Readers are often left in the dark on plotlines for weeks at a time, Rachel loses track of what she has and hasn't addressed, and the extended waiting times trick readers into believing that weeks have passed in the comic's story, when in reality it's only been a day or two, sometimes as little as hours depending on the sequence; meanwhile, if you binge episodes that had those problems in hindsight, you'll likely be a lot more quick to notice how many plot beats are either retconned or abandoned entirely, because you don't have the weekly waiting times artificially inflating the pacing of the story and causing you to forget what was established weeks before, because when binged, those weeks are reduced to hours and minutes.
And worst of all, with the assumption that you're reading on a weekly basis - as it wants you to do - Rachel tries to pull clever stunts by matching up LO's episodes with real life dates and holidays, which often just makes the story beats feel rushed or random in their execution - because to the vast majority of readers who haven't caught on to this or are reading the episodes through the physical books, they are rushed and random, and they can't exactly explain why.
Binging these episodes doesn't solve the problem, if anything it exemplifies them because, as a shining example, Hades and Persephone suddenly get married right in the middle of an ongoing issue, which isn't exactly the best time to wrap up the story's main plotline. Since then readers have become less and less interested in their story, and can you blame them? By all accounts their story is over. Everything now just feels tacked on to give them something to do in a story they no longer fit into.
There's an episode behind the FastPass lock right now, Episode 265. It unlocks for free on February 17th, three days after Valentine's Day. Guess what episode it is?
Ah yes, the episode where Hades' initiates sex without consent with his wife who's suffering from panic attacks, who also happens to be a rape victim. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
I actually made this particular discovery while writing this essay, so that was a very unwelcome surprise, but it explains the sudden random shift from Persephone being so stressed over the ongoing situation that she's passed out to Hades just deciding for the both of them that now's the time to have sex. As much as the fans will defend this as a husband and wife's last chance at intimacy before diving into a dangerous situation, they'll also still conveniently forget - just like the narrative and Rachel herself - that Persephone is a rape victim, and Hades initiating sex with her after nearly having a panic attack isn't exactly a good look.
This is why our theories as to when LO ends are so firmly cemented in one specific time range, because the story's pacing and distractions seem only intent in one thing - getting the story to last until spring, when the series will most likely conclude. It's basically been all but confirmed by Rachel, from her stating the series would be ending in early 2024, to Inklore - an imprint that seems designed specifically for Rachel and LO - launching officially in spring of this year, undoubtedly just in time for Rachel to wrap up LO for good.
(and boy, do I have some words about Inklore and its plans for "Rachel Smythe Presents", but that's another essay entirely.)
At the end of the day, LO's pacing is equivalent to paint drying on the wall, but it relentlessly convinces us to keep watching because the paint is blue and pink and maybe, maybe it'll turn into a piece of art. But as is evident in the comment sections of the newest episodes, even the fans are starting to realize that paint will not magically turn into the final piece of art they've been waiting to see if the hand that wields it doesn't know what it's doing.
Though style may be gained as an accidental side effect of one's influences and experiences, what Lore Olympus' intent is remains to be seen, and the longer the story goes on, the blurrier whatever intent it could have becomes. Unless it somehow manages to pull off a twist of Attack on Titan proportions that thoroughly explains and ties together the plotlines that have been left in the rearview mirror, the vehicle that is LO will continue to trudge along at a snail's pace, until it inevitably either crosses the finish line or crashes - but by that point, anyone waiting for it could very well be gone, their good faith left behind at the starting line when there was still plenty of time to change its trajectory or stop.
Such a time is long, long gone.
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Spoon Theory
This is arguably the single most important The Bear meta post I will ever make so please bear with me.
The first spoon we see in the entire series is when Carmy takes Sydney's spoon to try her stew. This is right after he cut his hand from not being able to find his sharp knife, and before he has to meet with Natalie to get Mikey's jacket, which was stressing him out. She "gave him a spoon" and a bit of positivity when he needed to calm down and get some energy by knowing at the very least Sydney can cook well.
Needing a spoon is needing help. When he hands over the brigade to Sydney he is waving around spoons the entire episode, when she really needed his help and his "spoons". Later on Sydney is not afraid to just ask him for his help.
With the risotto she gave him a "spoon" that would help the restaurant, that brought in a good review and customers, but he didn't have enough of his own "spoons" to deal with it as he was stressing out over the window that just got shot through and the IRS needing the missing tax returns. Right before trying the risotto Carmy had told Richie he is afraid of something good happening. He is afraid of Sydney and him doing well, because the better it gets the more it will hurt him when something goes wrong. That is why he keeps self sabotaging the restaurant and doubting Sydney.
After Sydney quit, she is still using her spoons for mental energy to make sure Marcus is okay and to try and figure out her next steps career wise. Carmy grabbed a spoon to open the tomato can lid, which he really didn't need because he could've just used the can opener, and then found the money. When he finds the money they both know they would be fine on their own, she could find another job, he could fix up The Beef. But they still need each others emotional spoons to achieve their passions, so he reaches out and she comes back.
In Season 2 she did need his "spoons" to help create the menu and decide on the details for the restaurant, but he barely gave her any because he was still so caught up in his past trauma and the literal and metaphorical forks in his life.
Fixing the table really didn't physically need more than one "spoon"/person. But he needed her there to work through his mental block. With the inspiration food tour, she did it on her own and she didn't physically need him for it, she needed his emotional spoons.
When they are not communicating well with each other and Carmy is trying to reach back and be involved again, he gets as close as he can to her spoon without actually using it.
And now the dark side of spoons.
The originator of spoon theory has lupus and first came up with this theory at a restaurant to explain what it was like living with the condition to a friend. They could've easily said Sydney's mom died of cancer or an accident or anything else. But this is all so intentional, out of all the things it is Lupus. I don't want Sydney to be sick as much as the next person, but Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that has higher likelihood of developing when you have a family member with it, and can be triggered by environmental factors such as stress. It is an invisible illness and Christine's own handle is butyoudontlooksick, which could really explain Sydney and what she has going on behind her walls that people can't see. She has been a rock to so many people and over exerting herself, but there might come a time soon when Sydney will genuinely need other peoples "spoons", especially Carmy's, because she's all out.
Now that Carmy said he is choosing to give Syd his focus aka his "spoons", will he actually be able to follow through?
Read The Fork Theory next
Read The Knife Theory
#spoon theory#the bear meta#the bear#sydcarmy#sydney adamu#carmen berzatto#chefs kiss#syd x carmy#platonic and messy#charged and sexy#carmy x sydney#christopher storer#joanna calo
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When 'Star Wars' dilutes the impact of a "Kurosawa samurai standoff"...
It's no secret that one of the major inspirations for Star Wars was Akira Kurosawa movies. The Hidden Fortress influenced the basic structure of the first film, was a basis for Lucas' character archetypes and his use of narrative POVs.
But, really, all of Kurosawa's films were an influence on the making of Star Wars. Including the duels seen in his and other samurai films from the 60s.
Dunno if you've seen a kendo fight, but they're pretty similar.
The duelists size each other up, and there's a lot of mind games going on before the strike actually happens.
If you hold your sword this way, the other guy adjusts his stance.
You move your foot that way, the adversary responds accordingly.
Cinematically, this process allows you to play with a whole treasure trove of elements to build up the drama and suspense. We see this slow-yet-tense approach to dueling reflected all over the Original Trilogy. And we've seen it again in recent Disney-released content.
The perfect and first real example of this in Star Wars is the fight between Ben Kenobi and Maul, in Rebels.
The tension increases more...
... and more until the two fighters move, the music swells...
... and then it reaches its climax.
Beautifully executed.
Dave Filoni's done his homework, it shows, and while it's an awesome homage, narratively it also holds weight. There's a reason why this fight is so quick:
This time, Obi-Wan isn't fighting to avenge the death of his master, he's not fighting to save his own life... he's fighting to protect Luke's. And that means there's no time to fuck about. He'll end the conflict swiftly and decisively, he won't let it come to a prolonged acrobatic fight. So he lures Maul in by making him think he's taking Qui-Gon's form, and strikes true when Maul, increasingly consumed by his own rage to the point of blindness, falls for it.
Again: a wonderful fight and an excellent homage.
Then we get to Luke's stand-off with Kylo on Crait, in The Last Jedi.
An interesting take on the trope, also with meaningful narrative impact. As Rian Johnson writes in the TLJ screenplay:
"This is not like a saber fight. This like an old-fashioned samurai duel."
Here too, the tension gets built up...
... and every time we're close to getting that climax, Luke dodges.
It leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction, which is exactly what Kylo is feeling as he boils with rage.
Suddenly, we do get the climax...
... and a twist. Luke was never actually there. Boom. Those inserts during the build-up phase? If you look at them again they're clues (Luke doesn't leave a mark on the ground, salt doesn't land on his clothes, etc). Luke wasn't engaging because he wasn't actually there, he was buying time for the Resistance to escape.
Okay. Cool.
Next time we see a "Kurosawa" duel... it's here, in The Mandalorian.
Again, a lot of posing, slow movements and patience, as is expected from the trope.
But we know nothing about the opponent Ahsoka is fighting other than her name is Morgan... so no emotional impact, there.
At some point, Ahsoka loses a lightsaber. The apprentice to the Chosen One is struggling against some rando.
We find out later on that Morgan is a Nightsister from Dathomir, and that's cool... but we already know how Jedi-trained folks fare against the Dathomiri.
If you ask me, it feels like manufactured stakes. But that's beside the point. In fact, y'know what? It's fine.
Though the impact of this duel isn't as great as its predecessors, the whole episode is filled with visual homages to Kurosawa's work.
It makes sense that the duel would be too. Also it's the first time we're seeing Ahsoka in live action, in a lightsaber duel, the hype is real. Let's cut 'em some slack.
So we come to the series Ahsoka... where almost every duel in the the show has the Kurosawa posturing and tip-toeing and... I dunno. I was bored?
Like, the primary purpose of this approach to duels is that it's meant to be suspenseful and intense... and now it's not.
Because we know Ahsoka is gonna beat the crap outta these droids...
... so why even bother faking some semblance of "what's her next move gonna be?" suspense? There's a hole right behind her, gee, I truly wonder.
Oh, you think putting her against an Inquisitor's gonna make us fear for her life, wonder if she's gonna get outta this situation unscathed?
She was wiping the floor with two of them at the same time, a decade prior. At 17, she was killing Inquisitors while disarmed.
Do you really expect your audience to fear for her life in a fight against Marrok?
So we get to the fight with Baylan, and the posturing and studying opponent's next move would be welcome here (two Order 66 survivors, knew Anakin, both well-trained former Jedi)...
... if we hadn't literally seen that same dynamic with Marrok who, again, we knew was gonna die.
No tension was built in either moment, the only thing it achieved was me pressing >> on my keyboard.
It's not captivating anymore, it's just slow and un-dynamic.
Bottom line:
Tributes to Kurosawa are nice. They're part of what makes Star Wars what it is. But c'mon, we get it already.
Lightsaber duelists don't need to tiptoe around each other and change poses at every fight. Because when the actually meaningful duels come up (like the one with Baylan), the impact will be lessened.
The "Kurosawa samurai duel" is artistic and interesting, but it should be used sparingly in order to maintain its charm and not get old and trope-y. AKA too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing.
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Comprehensive Trigun Stampede Timeline
(With sources and references!)
I will use the abbreviations EY to stand for Earth Year and PE to stand for Planet Era, the calendar and year system used by No Man's Land. I will use ~ in front of a date to indicate that it's not concrete but is about that time.
This should hopefully be a comprehensive timeline for TriStamp. I've done my best to comb through both the series as well as some of the extras from Studio Orange on Twitter, and I will provide sources/pictures as well as reasoning where relevant. So onto the actual timeline starting with.....
~EY 2256 - Project SEEDS leaves earth - based on Rem saying that it has been about 200 years since they left Earth and in that scenes the boys look like they do after at least a year old.
EY 2405 May 3rd - Tesla is born
EY 2455 July 21st - Vash and Nai are born
EY 2456 July 21st - Vash and Nai's first birthday
~ EY 2456 - The Big Fall - due to the fact that Vash and Nai still look about the same age it is either the same year or pretty close to it when the Big Fall happens
~ EY 2461 - When Vash runs away from Home to confront Nai and he gets his arm cut off. Brad says it had been 5 years since the Big Fall.
PE 00 November 1st (~ EY 2502) - The first city November is established as well as the Planet Era Calendar. Based on Vash, Nai, Luida, and Brad all saying it has been about 150 years since the Fall at the time the actual episodes take place, the math works out to this happening about 46 years after the big fall. This information comes from Studio Orange's twitter where they posted some extra world building info.
PE 00 December (~ EY 2502) - 2nd city December is established
PE 01 July (~ EY 2503) - 3rd city July is established (RIP your theme song slapped)
PE 01-02 (~ EY 2503-2504) - The rest of the seven cities of Augusta, Octovern, May, and September are established
~ PE 79 (~ EY 2581) - Rollo is taken and Eye of Michael-ed. Based on a combination of what Roberto and Conrad say in episode 5. Conrad says in the flash back after Rollo has been experimented on that he is the first to survive for 5 whole years. And then Roberto later says its been about 20 years since the town was abandoned aka since Rollo came back as Monev the Gale and wrecked the place. Roberto says the 20 years comment when looking at the state of the house and before finding the photo of Vash and bby Rollo.
PE 81 (~ EY 2583) - Meryl is born! This also helps us establish the year the episodes take place as Meryl was born in 81, is 23 years old, and just finished college in 103 which you can just make out at the bottom of the screen. (23 + 81 = 104) Meaning the majority of the episodes themselves take place in PE 104
~ PE 84 (~ EY 2586) - Rollo comes back to the windmill town as Monev the Gale and wrecks the place.
PE 99 - PE 103 (~ EY 2601 – 2605) - Meryl is in college!
PE 104 May 25th (~ EY 2606) - We finally get to Episode 1! Meryl and Roberto find Vash half dead and he has the duel with the military police! As stated earlier we have determined the year based on Meryl's resume.
PE 104 May 25th/26th - Episode 2/3 happens. This episode may either be the same day as episode 1 or it could be the next day as there is multiple ways to determine the timing.
First way: As Vash is attempting to leave Roberto does say "Wait... You told me this morning." when asking who Vash is seemingly running away from. This would indicate that it is the same day as episode 1 since that is when Vash first tells them about Knives.
Second way: Episodes 2/3 take place the next day as in the intro sequence while Vash is cleaning his gun it is night outside as shown by the window in his room, and later on we see it is day and we know it is a window as when Vash is leaving you can see the light outside. I personally still think this is the case since the town people have also had a chance to get together and plan Vash's capture, and when Roberto is referring to the morning that could be referring to the interview he and Meryl were doing with him in the bar.
PE 104 May 29th/30th - Episode 4 happens. The radio states it has been 3 days since Jeneora Rock.
PE 104 May/June/July - Sometime in this period episode 5 happens. I suspect towards the mid/end of July since Vash and Wolfwood are still upset with each other over Rollo during the start of episode 6. (@ StudioOrange what happened during their off screen road trip we wanna know)
PE 104 ~ July 20th - Episodes 6/7 happen. The timing on this is entirely based on how long Vash remains passed out in Home before waking up, but at least one day passes from 6/7 to Vash's very bad no good day that is episodes 8/9/10/11/12 since it goes from day on 6 to sunset on 7, and then back to day when Vash wakes on the ship.
PE 104 July 21st - Episodes 8/9/10/11/12 aka Vash goes to Soup day aka the twin's 151st bday or thereabouts. We know for sure it was July 21st thanks to Nai giving his bro the worst bday present ever and the radio announcer confirming the date explicitly during the anniversary for the epilogue.
PE 106 July 21st (~ EY 2608) - Episode 12 epilogue happens as stated by the radio announcer.
BONUS:
SE 110 June 2nd (~ EY 2612) - Now this is an interesting date, as this is the "effective" date listed on Wolfwood's pastor contract.
We do know for sure however that the date June 2nd SE110 cannot equal June 2nd PE110, and equal the current day and year, as this happens on July 21st. It also cannot be the date Wolfwood is sent after Vash as they meet up May 29/30th, and even if that date is wrong (like if more than a day passes between episodes 1 and 2 somehow), if the year was 110 then Meryl would be 29 years old, very much not a fresh out of college newbie since we know she also graduated in 103.
General theorizing from myself and the wonderful people who have commented on this post and on others post seem to align with SE possibly meaning Sinners Era and being slightly off from the Planet Era year system the rest of the planet uses.
For my personal theorizing, the closest match to this date is if SE110 is equivalent to PE104 (so a six year difference between year systems), and an extra 3 days happen between Episodes 1 and 2/3, then it may be the day Wolfwood was sent after Vash. It could also be that we are making the incorrect assumption that they are using the Earth calendar with Earth calendar month lengths. If May is 28 days then that would place Episode 4 on June 1st with my current timeline which would be even closer.
In summary:
The important part is that Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl, and Roberto spend a total of about 2 months traveling together between May 25th and July 21st. And I have no fucking clue what's going on with Wolfwood's contract.
#trigun#trigun stampede#please appreciate this it took so long#if you see anything wrong that I need to correct please let me know#and if you have any theories about Wolfwood and his contract also please let me know cause I love over analyzing shit#random dribble
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Phee and Jin as parallels in DFF episode 7
I feel like I haven't seen enough people talk about how Phee and Jin are parallels in episode 7. Both reacting in anger in ways that damage Non, and that they likely carry guilt for in the future...
Spoilers for episode 7 below:
In episode 7, we see both Jin and Phee react to Non badly after finding out that Non has had sex with Keng. And the way they both react to that information is... not good.
Phee reacts to the knowledge that Non has been "cheating on" him (I'd like to remind people that Non was coerced so we as the audience shouldn't label it that way, but from Phee's POV that's what it was) by telling Non to "get lost and die"
And he says this despite knowing that Non has su*cidal tendencies and tried to take his own life what seems like mere days before this.
I feel like people gloss over this because they understand why Phee is angry. And I understand too. But the point still stands that Phee basically tells Non to go k!ll himself despite knowing that the consequences of that could be dire... and permanent. If Non actually d!es, disappears, or heaven forbid actually kills himself after this? I don't doubt that Phee will carry the guilt of those final words for the rest of his life, and think of what he could've and should've done differently to prevent that unfortunate fate...
On the other hand, Jin. Who reacts to seeing Non sleeping with someone by recording him. Jin isn't shown to post the video himself, but he still made that snap decision in anger. Copper has said Jin reacted this way because he thought Non was cheating on his boyfriend...
But regardless of his intentions, the fact remains that the video he recorded is the one that was later released. And you can see on his face even in the past that he feels bad about it, feels guilty for his part in what happened. And in the present you see that same guilt...
There's a parallel drawn between these two boys. The two leads of this series who have revolved around Non this entire time. One with a crush, one, his boyfriend. Both dealing with harsh emotions and dragged into the mess that's been created by the others. They both react in anger to the same situation, both do something INCREDIBLY damaging to Non in a snap moment of anger. And both of them, I'm sure, carry that guilt into the future...
It changes Jin from a happy, smiley person into one who is serious and harsh to his friends, who has a damaged relationship with those closest around him, who calls himself a coward and wants to run to another country and never come back.
And it changes Phee from someone who whole-heartedly loves and asks the person he loves to be his boyfriend... to someone who can't get the words out, who seems afraid of commitment. Because he could get hurt? Or because he could hurt them again?
The impact of these actions have changed both boys in the present, and the parallels in the episode are so striking and interesting... and I don't think people talk about it enough. There's potential for a compelling story about these two learning to heal and forgive themselves.
And I hope the show delivers on it, because it would be an incredibly deep and compelling story that touches on dark pieces of humanity that we all carry. The guilt and shame of not always being our best person, and the impacts that has on the people around us. It could show something really touching and heartfelt if these two people who were kids during all of this can learn to forgive each other, forgive themselves, and move into the future together.
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In the debate between pro-aang-kill-ozai and anti-aang-kill-ozai. Which side are you on and why? If it's the anti then did you like how it was done or do you picture something else?
I think I've mentioned before, but I am not inherently against Aang not wanting to kill Ozai. Some of my favorite heroes have a no-kill policy. I don't even mind the lionturtle solution itself. What I didn't like was how it was handled. There was plenty of time to address Aang's reluctance to kill before the second to last episode. I can think of three points in particular where it would've been thematically appropriate and given Aang's bland, two-dimensional character some depth.
First, right after the siege at the Northern Tribe. Aang may not have technically been the one who killed all those Fire Nation soldiers, but it couldn't have happened without him. You would think that someone who is both committed to pacifism and also the one the entire world is relying on to end a war that people have been fighting and dying in for a century wouldn't just be able to shrug off what happened. Aang did, though. Didn't even cross his mind when he was whining about people expecting him to kill Ozai.
What should have happened was the next season should've opened with Aang grappling with what happened and his part in it. He should feel guilty about it, not because he was actually wrong, but because it should feel wrong to him. Then, Katara and Sokka should comfort him and tell him he did nothing wrong. Build it up that their word are comforting him a little, then drop the bomb when they start talking about how cool it was. How amazing it was to see all those soldiers running in fear for once. How relieved they are that so many of them died. Then have Aang snap on them about the sanctity of life. He needs to be angry and hurt, and this should be the point where he decries the powers of the Avatar. He'd call himself a monster, and maybe he would call Katara and Sokka monsters, too. Then they (probably mostly Sokka) would argue with him that they aren't monsters, they're just trying to survive, and the Fire Nation is a threat to be taken out. This would be the first time it's brought up that Katara, Sokka...the entire world expect Aang to kill Ozai. I think it would be perfect as a season 2 opener. Season 1 was light and goofy, and Zuko was their biggest immediate threat. The siege raised the stakes, and season 2 should continue on that rising. Aang should also have started looking for another solution here. In the library, Aang should've asked Wan Shi Tong if it was possible to end the war without more violence. We should've seen Aang coming to terms with the fact that the world is suffering and he is the one they are looking to to save them. One thing I think the Harry Potter movies in particular did well was that shift from goofy and whimsical to darker and more frightening (as far as kids movies go) as the story went on and the stakes got higher, and the danger felt more real to the characters. Aang never gets that realization. He has moments when the danger feels real, but he's goofy and whimsical for pretty much the entire series until the plot of an episode needs him not to be.
The second place they should have brought up his reluctance to kill was DoBS. This really should've been a no brainer. Aang was loosing sleep over facing Ozai. He had his anxiety about losing- though not really what losing would mean for his friends and the world- but he didn't even consider what winning would take. If DoBS had been successful, there's no way Ozai would've been able to be taken alive. Logistically, killing him would've been the easiest, safest option. You mean to tell me no one brought it up? No one asked Aang how he was planning to take Ozai out? No, instead we get Aang proving he knows what enthusiastic consent looks like and taking away his excuse for what happened later, but nothing about Aang weighing his personal beliefs against the needs of the world. That training montage and confrontation that he has with his friends in the second to last episode should've happened here. This should've been when his tendency to run away should've been challenged, too, because half a season before he was crying about how he abandoned the world again. Now his instinct would be to run, but his friends would challenge him, calling back to that moment. They could demand that he present an alternative to killing Ozai. I don't think any of them would object to him living to stand trial, but Ozai is a rabid dog, essentially. He needs to be put down. Aang's got nothing, but not for lack of trying. When he tells his friends about all his efforts to find a non-lethal way to defeat Ozai, they are unmoved. They are at the doors of the Fire Nation, and now is not the time to be indecisive. He has to go face Ozai. And he's probably relieved when the plan fails. This whole situation would have the added bonus of skipping that first Kataang kiss because no way would Aang want to kiss Katara after her insisting he terminate Ozai with extreme prejudice.
The third place Aang's no-kill policy should've come up is TSR when Zuko asks him what he's planning to do when he faces Ozai if he's so against killing. This should scare Aang, and it should be his focus for the rest of the season. He should be more withdrawn from his friends, because with all the training he's doing (and he would still be training on all the elements because he's not that good at any of them), talks about the most efficient way to kill would be unavoidable. Katara might actually try to teach him bloodbending. Toph would just tell him that a big rock is just as effective as some fancy bending move. Zuko would be warning him about his father's ruthlessness and cunning. This would be where Aang looses his patience with his friends and insists that he's a pacifist and Ozai doesn't deserve to die. This would piss Katara in particular off because by this point, Aang knows what happened to her mother. He would get an earful about how Ozai's plan is to do to the Earth Kingdom what his grandfather did to the Air Nomads and how he's going to let millions of people die because of his refusal to kill one. Now, Aang can take off, only instead of just running away from his friends because he doesn't want to hear them anymore, he could be making one desperate last ditch attempt to find a solution that both ends the war and keeps him from having to kill Ozai. EIP could still happen in this circumstance, but instead of getting mad that he's being played by a girl, he would focus more on how eager for his death the Fire Nation is. That would come up in the argument about killing Ozai.
Now, for the lionturtle. I'm about to blow some minds. I have been vocal about my hatred of the Lionturtle/Rock of Destiny desu-ex-double team, and I do still hate it with a passion. However, as a concept, I don't mind the lionturtle. This is a fantasy adventure. You expect a bit of magical intervention. What I wanted was Aang grappling with this problem for more than half an episode. I wanted him working on a solution the entire time, starting from right after the siege. I wanted to see him take initiative. To actually think about the problem. Maybe have him specifically looking for the lionturtle. Then when it shows it, it could be because it knew Aang was looking and decided he was worthy of a meeting. Aang could still have his meeting with his past lives, and that could still go the way it did. Then the lionturtle could speak up. Instead of poo-pooing the idea of killing Ozai, it could agree that it was the most effective way to make sure that the war would end. Then, when Aang is despairing that he'd wasted all that time trying to find a different solution, the lionturtle could offer the spirit bending. But it would have to come at a cost, and it might not work the way that Aang hoped. Now Aang has to make a choice. Sacrifice something for this spiritbending ability (I'm thinking he loses his airbending, because it seems poetic) that might not have the outcome he's hoping for, or give up his pacifism- one of his few connections to his heritage- and kill Ozai. He chooses the spiritbending. Instead of the conveniently placed rock, Aang would actually have to give up his attachment Katara. I think he would be half-way there, having finally realized how little he understood her. He "loved" her because she was pretty and took care of him, but he's come to realize there's a lot more facets to her that he hasn't gotten to see because they don't fit his narrow view of her. He also understands what Guru Pathik was trying to tell him about one person not being able to replace everything Aang has lost, and he realizes how unfair to her he had been. He still loves her, but as a friend and caretaker. This will actually lead to a deeper friendship between them. Aang defeats Ozai without killing him, but now he has to deal with the loss of his airbending, which only now does he realize was a much of a connection between him and his people as his beliefs. He still has spiritbending. He can still airbend in the Avatar State, but he's effectively cut off a limb to keep his integrity. He will go the rest of his life wondering if it was worth it, especially after Ozai goes to trial and is sentenced to execution anyway. The effects of that on his children could be explored in LoK.
TL;DR I don't have a problem with Aang not wanting to kill Ozai. I just wanted to see him deal with it before the last minute. I think the show would've been better for it, and Aang would've been a more interesting character.
#atla#anti-kataang#aang#how it COULD have gone#he would've been a much better protagonist if we actually saw him struggle with his destiny#spiritbending should have consequences#that's too much of a power up to just give to the hero#and ozai should still die#it just doesn't have to be at aang's hands#THE YEAR OF CONTENT!!!!
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Regarding Editing and Innovating in the space, 2 people who get a Fraction of the credit they deserve are Ivan Van Norman & Marisha Ray. I mean, they created and developed one of the original mixed media cinematic interactive actual plays, Sagas of Sundry: Dread, and then Sagas of Sundry: Madness, and Marisha (later hiring Ivan as well) has continued that trajectory in some of the more intriguingly edited mixed format Actual plays at CR, like Call of Cthulhu, Undeadwood, and others, and being Instrumental in the developments at CR. Like, when you do watch the interviews you get a sense of just how Much of CR's current content designs, ttrpg intentions, and series are marisha's brainchilds, and it sucks that she doesnt get the credit others involved in similar projects, and even those projects, do.
This is a great point. I've mentioned this before w/r/t the fandom - Marisha, perhaps more than anyone, gets reduced even by many fans to "she's pretty and her characters are like what if a girlboss were a girlfailure" and her creative direction goes unheralded. It feels like this has gotten worse in recent years; I was baffled at how many people seemingly resented Calamity or Candela for taking up space they felt should go only to the main campaign when those were not only showcases for Marisha as a performer but also clearly something in which she had a strong hand in designing. Whenever people whine about there only being two main campaign episodes in a month because of Candela Obscura, I do think "You realize this was probably Marisha's call?"
I was focused in my response much more on Daggerheart, and so on the game design side (quick side note - reviews of A Familiar Problem, which Marisha worked on, were pretty positive; I wonder if something's happened in the past 2 years since that's when I've really felt this Damn Critical Role energy among actual play journalists), but I had been thinking about Sagas of Sundry and Undeadwood! I think I mentioned Sagas of Sundry in one of my posts about how Kollok isn't, in my mind, impressive. I loved Dread but never finished Madness before Alpha folded, but actually I was imagining something like Madness - fully on a set, people walking around like it's a play - for Kollok! When I saw everyone at a table with that rotating rock I was like "is this...it?" And, you know, Sagas: Madness wasn't entirely for me, but you can't fault the innovation. Similarly, when I think about the (baffling) criticism from one of the prominent actual play journalists I've had in mind while writing this, that Candela Obscura the show did not fully teach people Candela Obscura the game, I think about how Ivan Van Norman did straight up teach Savage Worlds during Undeadwood. Whenever people gush over the shadow puppets in Burrow's End I think it's deserved, but when they claim it's utterly new? Nah. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace did it first. And Marisha had a guiding hand in the creative direction of all of these.
I think this is sort of elaboration on one of my points in my original post: I think a lot of the journalists are really out of their depth. I don't remember seeing their names when I first started watching CR in 2018, or when I got deeper into the fandom in 2019. My first actual play was TAZ, which I binged in late 2017. I really think a lot of the journalists flat-out don't know Sagas of Sundry or Undeadwood because they didn't show up until after Alpha folded. I've mentioned this elsewhere but so much of the claims of novelty and innovation are completely incorrect and not even terribly obscure. Look, I've seen/listened to most or all of 9 actual plays (this is counting D20 and CR each as one single unit, by the way - I've seen all but scattered one-offs from either), and seen or heard an episode or two of many more. I think that simply by doing that? I know more than a lot of these journalists.
Again: Worlds Beyond Number? The innovation is with the Witch class and the Wizard of the Citadel subclasses, and the allowance of extremely long downtime, but: longform podcast actual play with sound design? RQG did it starting in 2015. Griffin McElroy and Emily Axford have been composing their own music since 2017 or 2018 for their respective shows, both of which are also longform podcast actual plays. Again, Brennan pretty explicitly said "I don't think D20 is new, nor longform" in a quote and the article that quotes him argues that Fantasy High is new and longform...and that article also talks about how before D20 most AP video was livestreamed before talking about how boundary-breaking D20 was for having a livestreamed second season (you know, the thing that they just called old hat a paragraph earlier) that quickly pivoted to remote (even though remote livestreaming was actually quite common in smaller productions well before the pandemic, since you don't need anything but laptop cameras to produce it). I don't even keep up with much in the really indie AP scene, but those people I know who do are even less impressed by the state of Actual Play journalism than I, because D20 executes a lot of things extremely well, has a very talented roster of performers, and a budget most productions cannot hope to match, but a good deal of what it's credited for inventing (and which, again, it never claims to have invented. I want to be clear that the journalists decided to be like this for no clear reason) already existed. And, by placing this heavy emphasis on production, they are automatically making it hard for indie productions to impress them. For all they claim to be going after the 700 lb gorilla, they are simply cozying up to the 600 lb gorilla. It's real "um, why don't you try this little indie game called Pathfinder" hours.
I am fairly sure a lot of the people in prominent journalistic positions in the actual play sphere today came in only after the collapse of Geek and Sundry, is my point, and so I think they literally do not realize how much the medium owes to, for example, Marisha Ray and Ivan Van Norman, because they weren't watching in 2016 nor even skipping through the G&S archives, as I did as a new CR fan. I think they're absolutely out of their depth, and most of them don't even realize it.
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How the Bad Batch can end well
So here are my 5 thoughts on season 3 and what’s to come after. I recommend @eriexplosion if you like reading interesting thoughts, analysis and ramblings, a lot of their recent posts inspired this one.
First of all, the trailer was a work of art. It gave us some really random scenes, but also some very direct information that we can speculate on like crazy, if we want to. Also, the title-episode list comes in handy, I will refer to it.
1.) Episode 1-3 one go
I’ll come back to why the show needs to end before May the 4th later, and that’s another reason for the multiple episode days.
When a streaming service like Disney drops more than one episode, they often do so because they think viewers might be lost, because the single (first) episode does not have the full “boom-bang-drama” potential.
I think we’ll see the liberation of Crosshair, maybe even Omega, in the first three episodes. The trailer makes no secret of the fact that Cross will rejoin the team. So this story will not be the main focus of the whole season and the first episode might built up solely for the climax of the escape/liberation in episode 3. At least something heavy will happen at the end of “Shadows of Tantiss”
2.) Omega as the main character
Omega’s character is a very typical tool in storytelling. Throw a character who knows nothing into an established system, so she learns everything with/for the viewer. Sure, the boys are main characters, too, but Omega is the point of view of the kids(! - I’ll come back to that later)-show we’re watching. She can’t be gone for that long, because I don’t think season 3 will be a “Omega’s adventures on Mt. Tantiss”. I think episode 6 and 7 (“Infiltration” and “Extraction”) the latest will bring her back.
3.) So what’s the story?
Actually, and some might say that’s a big take, a lot of the first episodes will be about Tech. I don’t think I need to elaborate to anyone why it makes no sense for him to be dead and never had.
When we first saw this Clone X, there were some interesting “Undercover-Tech” ideas, but after analyzing the trailer in more depth and especially what appears to be an attack on Pabu led by this Clone, well, I think that’s Tech. And not undercover, no, the full on brainwashed, highly dangerous Imp!Tech. Episode 10 is called “Identity Crisis”, which could very well be Tech’s. But they’ll get him back, don’t worry, also because the second part will be about the BB finally deciding what to do with their lives. Which leads directly to 5.), but first:
4.) (Almost) no one dies
Two reasons. First: We already had that devastating Tech-death scene. He AND Asajj will be brought back from the dead this season. Any further death this season wouldn’t convince anyone anymore, not even the kids.
Second: The kids. It’s still a children’s show. Yes, Star Wars kills of characters in them too, but @eriexplosion made a very good point in this post: That’s not what this show is about. TBB has been about the struggle of Clones finding their place, finding family, finding a meaning. All of that would be for naught, and that’s why I think everyone survives.
Also: The last episode is called: “The Cavalry has Arrived”.
5.) About the future
I think the Bad Batch was intended to be released earlier. As well as the trailer. But with the strikes and Filoni being promoted, their was a lot going on. With the triplet opening and the double episodes, we’ll finish on May 1st. And that would be just to perfect to announce the follow-up-project on May 4th. I see another Clone series on the horizon. The Clones work, the people love them, it’s all there, the characters, the stories, the animation. It’s a safe bet for Lucasfilm. And sure, it would work with Rex, Cody and more as main characters, but the Batch was intended to be and is a stark contrast to the “Regs”, especially if they get Cross and Tech back.
Sure, Omega could be the leading figure again, but… nah. I am writing this because I’m absolutely convinced that we won’t have seen the last of the complete BadBatch after season 3.
Star Wars is about Hope. So I hope.
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"Misery"- Once in a lifetime chance (Midsommar AU) Chapter 1
part 1 of 4 || series masterlist || next part
pairing: modern!Aemond Targaryen x Reader
summary: As if it isn´t enough that your relationship is drifting apart, tragedy can´t seem to leave you alone. But then again there might be a chance to get away from it for a while.
word count: 1,3k
warnings: mentions of character death and grief, mentions of mental illness, mentions of verbal fighting, afab reader
general HotD taglist: @urmomsgirlfriend1
(As always, if you want to be tagged in this mini-series or any other character/general fandom taglist, send a comment, ask or DM my way.❤️)
Life has never been nice to you or easy. The only thing that ever truly went well for you growing up, was school, but as you got to University, even that began stressing you out to no end after a while. Even more so when you gotten to know and started to date Aemond Targaryen. He was a nice person at first. Your relationship was good. Your parents liked him and you would often accompany him when he would meet up with his brother, Aegon and his nephew, Jacaerys. In the beginning it was kind of a weird dynamic to witness between the three of them, but you soon got used to the banter. Once you gotten to know them a bit better, the two men were nice enough. However, juggling your studies at KLU, trying to keep up with your family and the seemingly quickly burning out relationship with Aemond all threw you for a loop. And you would be lying if it didn´t bring you back into a deep depressive hole bit by bit. You didn't really have any friends of your own, aside from him. Which made things a whole deal worse whenever you did have a fight. Which occurred more often as time went on. Mostly about the relationship with your sister. For as long as you could remember struggling with depression she had struggled with bipolar disorder. Yet while you had tried to get into therapy, which wasn´t always that simple, and taking your meds, she let all that kind of slack off. Now, even so used to her behavior, it still freaked you out majorly when she went into `one of her phases´ as Aemond had called it once. He wasn´t happy, a massive understatement, with the whole dynamic between the two of you. As if you didn´t know how unhealthy it was. You were. Without a place in therapy in sight, you had been leaning onto him more and more. It made you feel bad to no end to rely on him like this. Yet at the same time you didn´t know how to move past it. And when times were good between the two of you, they were great. So you didn´t lose hope that it could be like that all the time again soon.
Then after an especially bad night, where you try to reach your sister and she doesn't answer, you hit your deepest low yet. The whole evening you spend messaging, e-mailing and calling her in hopes she would respond to anything, while venting to your friend about how this was scaring the ever living shit out of you you and how you simply couldn´t tell Aemond about it, as she would always do this. All the while she tried to calm you down. Telling you that that´s what he is there for. Despite her assurance you don´t tell him anything. Instead you ignore the feeling, that this time something was actually wrong, heading out to meet Aemond at Aegon´s place, where all of them had assembled for the evening. Of course, this would come to bite you in the ass. All throughout the night you have to excuse yourself again and again, as to not let them see what you were feeling. When you get ready for bed later that night, in quiet and cold conversation with Aemond, the police from your family’s hometown calls you. You almost miss it and when you pick it up, you wish you hadn´t. The officer on the other end of the line addresses you with a tone that lets you know what happened before he even says it. Your parents had been found dead. Presumedly killed by your sister during an episode, committing the crime before taking her own life. They couldn´t say for sure yet, but she was living with them and nothing pointed to anyone else being the perpetrator.
The news make your throat close up with a large knot. Tears veiling your sight the second you hang up the phone. Heavy sobs shake your whole body and if you would be thinking clearly you´d probably be concerned about disturbing the neighbors with your loud wailing. But you are not and the sounds push their way out. You cry into his lap, curled up in on yourself, until there are no tears left and no sound comes out of you. Until your body is too exhausted to keep you awake.
When you wake up the next morning Aemond lays beside you with his back turned to you. You remember how he had tried to console you to no avail before going to sleep himself. With a dull pain in your head and burning eyes, you turn to your side. Burying yourself in the blanket. Forging a relative safety which you barely flee for you don´t know how long. Only when Aemond forces you to eat or shower you move from your spot. Mostly you either sleep or cry though. Especially at night, when the nightmares come. It further strains your already near broken relationship. You are aware how Aemond pulls away from you. You don´t need to listen in on his conversations with Aegon and Jace about how he wants to break up with you, but can´t because of your families death. Eventually you are able to talk yourself out of bed and into attending life again, though you are aware that it still isn´t like before. You still try, for both your and Aemond´s sake.
Which lands you were you were now. At a party with your boyfriend, Aegon, Jace and a man who Aemond had introduced to you as Cregan a week or so before. Cregan is nice. The genuine kind of nice and empathetic in a way that the others never could be. During the conversation you find out that he had invited the three to attend some festival back at his home in the north. Him mentioning the invitation stunts you a bit, as you couldn´t remember Aemond ever mentioning something like this. For the sake of not provoking another argument, especially in public, you refrain from saying anything of the sorts. Only congratulating them and giving Jace the stage as he almost giddily informs you all that the afformentioned festival only happened once every 90 years and he was so stoked to write his thesis on the customs.
He looked much like a golden retriever in those moments of joy, as Aegon and Cregan jokingly never fail to remind him and in your distracted mind you have to agree.
You hold your tongue all the way until the next day. You didn´t even plan on it coming up again, but when Aemond brings it up again you. And of course it blows up into a full argument ending with you trying to mend things as best as you could. Everything to not drive him away any further.
“I´m sorry. Truly, I´m sorry. I was just surprised is all. You shouldn´t let me hold you back from this chance. It will be great for you.” You take his hands in yours.
“Are you are sure this is all? You will be fine?” He asks suspicion lacing his tone. Eyebrows still laced together tightly.
“I- yeah… It´s only a little while right?” You mutter. Still unnerved by the disagreement.
“No, you know what? You… You should come with us. If you want. Cregan surely would not mind.” The fact that he says it like this stings. The indifferent tone and `Cregan would not mind´ instead of `I want you to come´. It makes the pit in your stomach grow tenfold.
“Y-yeah. It would be nice. It´s probably good to get out of here for a while anyway, right?” The insecurity drips from your words and is met with a coldness that chases a shiver down your back.
“Yes, probably.”
You don´t feel entirely ready for a journey to the north, but you push it down. You didn´t want to pull Aemond down with your bullshit any longer.
#modern aemond#aemond targaryen x reader#aemond x reader#aemond one eye#aemond targaryen#hotd aemond#aemond x you#aemond targaryen x you#hotd#house of the dragon#hotd fic#house of the dragon fic#hotd x reader#midsommar au#modern hotd au#modern house of the dragon au
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The Sun ☀️, the moon 🌙 & the stars ✨
Chapter 13: Cloudy Skies
Pairing: alpha!steve Rogers x alpha!sam Wilson x alpha!bucky Barnes x omega!reader
Word Count: 3.2K
Warnings: Little bit of angst, fluff, the boys being the best alphas, smuttiness at the end (not super detailed),
A/N: I love these four so much. This is a bit of a day or week in their life.... More plot coming in the next chapter.
Series Masterlist
The front door slams shut. You huff and stomp your way further into the apartment leaving three confused alphas in your wake. They can feel the mixed emotions through the bond but you don’t seem to be in a talking mood. Loud music comes from the ensuite bathroom in the shared bedroom so the boys know you’re going to be in there a while.
“I’ll text Jonah and Ricky to see if something happened.” Sam mutters as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
“I’ll go check up on her.”
“And I can start dinner. I’ll make her favorite.” Bucky offers before all three of them split up to do as they said.
Sam and Bucky watch as Steve heads toward the shared bedroom. The ache in their chest doesn’t seem to lighten up though and they worried that someone might have hurt you.
“Ricky and Jonah said that work was really busy. Maybe she’s just overwhelmed.”
“Hmm, maybe.”
“Come on, let’s get dinner started.” Sam says as he moves towards the kitchen.
A few minutes later Steve joins them with a defeated look on his face.
“She just said she needed some alone time.”
“Well work has been busy for her.”
“Ok, so then let’s just try and give her a relaxing evening.” Steve says. Bucky and Sam nod their heads in agreement.
Eventually you come out of the bathroom dressed in their coziest clothes. Instead of sitting at the dinner table the boys had brought dinner to the living room. You gave them a little thank you and wrapped yourself up in a blanket before getting comfortable in Sam’s lap. They give each other concerned looks but still try to give you a nice night. You end up eating a little while watching an episode of your favorite comfort show and falling asleep before it’s over.
The same thing happens for the following two days.
Bucky, Sam and Steve get out of the car in front of your job. They’re determined to figure out what exactly is going on at work so that they can better help you at home. If they find out that someone is making your life difficult they’ll deal with whoever it is too.
“You three, come over here.” Mrs. Levy calls them over from her place at a bench. She has her signature scowl in place as she watches all three men head in her direction.
“Mrs. Levy.” Steve says with a small nod.
“You must be Sam.” She looks straight at him.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Hhmm, I would have preferred to meet you before you sunk your teeth into Y/N’s neck but oh well. I’ll still give you the same talk I gave these two.” She motions towards Steve and Bucky as if they weren’t super soldiers that could handle anything thrown at them. “You better not hurt her, you hear me. And neither of you better get all controlling alpha on her either. You know she’s a tough cookie but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have people that care about her.”
“I would never dream of it. It’s actually why we’re here. Y/N’s come home upset and we’re trying to figure out why so that we can help her.”
“Yeah, the end of the summer programs tend to get overwhelming for everyone. I bet it can’t be easy for her when she’s also dealing with being a new omega and being bonded recently. Just make sure she has her favorite things for her nest.”
It was like a lightbulb went on at the same time for all three of them. They felt dumb not realizing what it was you needed until now.
“We absolutely will. Thank you Mrs. Levy. Now if you’ll excuse us we would like to take Y/N out to lunch.” Bucky says.
“Remember what I said. You take care of her.”
“Yes ma’am.” All three of them say in unison before going inside and taking you out for lunch.
****
“Surprise.” Steve says as he pulls his hands away from your eyes. He had ambushed you at the door and covered your eyes until he took you further into the apartment.
You blink slowly a few times as you look at what you’re being shown.
“An empty room?”
“Your empty room.” Bucky says as he stands to your left leaving Sam to stand to your right.
“Ok?”
“Well it’s yours.”
“Thank you?” You turn to look at them, still confused. “Did you want me to clean it or something?”
“What? No. It’s for you to do what you like. It’s the room you had your first heat with us in so we thought you might like to make it yours.”
“Isn’t this your personal room Steve?” You say as you walk in and take a look around.
“I took my things and I’m going to redo the study since I’m usually in there the most. We just wanted to give you a space that was just for you. You can do whatever you want with it and we can’t come in unless you ask us to. Or if there is an emergency.”
“Really?” Your eyes seemed brighter immediately and they now know how dumb they had been for not realizing sooner. What you had needed was an alpha free space. Somewhere you could relax without the overwhelming presence of anyone. Most omegas had a room like this.
“Yup. And even more importantly we’re going to take you shopping tomorrow so that you can get anything and everything you want for your room.”
“You’re kidding.”
“We wouldn’t joke about this, sweetheart. We want you to be happy and comfortable, this is your home too. ”
You launch yourself into Steve’s arms and bury your face into his chest as you thank him, then repeat the same actions for Sam and Bucky.
“This is perfect, I can close out my lease at the apartment and just finish bringing my stuff over.” You murmur as you turn back to the room and start making plans. First you call Jules and Wanda and they agree to meet you in about an hour to help you plan what you should do with the room and what you’ll need.
“What about a bed?” Bucky asked as you walked through the store focused on omegas and their needs.
“It’s on my list and they have one here I want to check out. It’s circular. Just imagine all of these pillows and blankets on it. I’m going to make it so comfortable.”
Bucky smiles as you walk ahead with the cart that’s already half full of pillows and blankets. He tracks your movement through the store as you stop by Steve who shows you something he had been holding. You scrunch your nose but shake your head and then kiss his cheek so that he doesn’t feel bad. Next you make your way over to Sam who holds up a diffuser. You nod and Sam places the item in the cart.
The three alphas are more than happy to follow you around the store like love sick puppies. Grabbing everything you point at. When you get to the register they don’t even let you think about paying for a single item, they handle everything. The car ride back to the tower is filled with ideas and requests for help with putting everything together. You’re seated up front while Steve drives and Bucky sits in the back with Sam. You miss the way their eyes light up as you pull up another inspiration picture on Pinterest. How their smiles are soft as they agree to do whatever it is you ask of them. The fondness and love within the bond that connects the four of you as mates soothes your soul.
After a few days of painting and moving and organizing your room, your nest is finished. It’s perfect in every way and it looks better than you had imagined. There are various shelves for all of your current and future books. The bed is a pile of soft and delicate pillows and blankets arranged in a way that provides the most comfort. It also helps that you took some of your alphas’ shirts and hid them in there. You also have a reading nook against the floor to ceiling window.
Seeing everything in its place exactly how you wanted it to be and knowing that it’s all yours causes some emotions to come bubbling up. It was so sudden it almost knocked you off your feet as you began to cry silently. Just as suddenly as the wave of emotion hits you, your alphas are at the door to your room. The feeling is too much for them to handle and they open the door but don’t come in. They don’t have to since you rush towards them and bury your face in someone’s chest.
“Are you ok?” Bucky asks as he runs a hand up and down your back in an effort to soothe you.
“I’m sorry.” You say between sniffles. “It’s just so much.”
“What’s so much sunshine?”
You just motion back to the room that’s filled with the things they’ve bought you and some of the things from your apartment.
“Do you not like it?” Steve asks cautiously as you move to wrap your arms around him next.
“I love it, it’s just no one’s ever given me so much. It’s always been me looking out for myself. I mean Jonah and Ricky have been there since day one but no one has ever done this for me. Nobody has ever cared this much.”
You don’t need to say who you were referring to. It’s always been obvious to them that you’ve never had a constant protector in your life. Now there are three.
“I know this is still all new to you and you’re still figuring yourself out but we hope one day you see that we’d give you the world if that’s what you wanted.” Sam says as he comforts you.
“I know that. It’s just difficult to accept sometimes. I was made to feel like I didn’t deserve anything.”
Sam places his hands on your cheeks and tilts your head back. He leans down and kisses you softly.
“You deserve everything. Not just the things in your room but all the love and care and attention.”
“And we’re going to give you all of that and more.” Bucky adds. “You’re just going to have to get used to it, Moonbeam.”
It had been a few days since your nest had been finished, the words your alphas had said played over and over. They were willing to give you everything you wanted but still there were times when it was difficult to ask for something. Your first instinct was to not say or ask for anything but you had to be open to change. You found your alphas hanging out in the living room.
You clear your throat to get their attention. When their eyes are on you, you give them a small smile.
“So, every year at work they have an end of the summer party. Well it’s like a party and a fundraiser event at the same time to try and raise money for events that will happen during fall and winter. It’s next Friday.” You inform them. “I mean I understand if you have missions but if you don’t I’d like you to go with me.”
“You wanna show us off, sweetheart?”
“Maybe.” You smile as you move to sit on Steve’s lap. “So?”
Steve looks over at Sam and Bucky who nod.
“Of course we’ll go.”
“This is going to be great.” You kiss Steve’s cheek and get up. “Jonah told me he was going to ask Wanda to go with him. Now I’m gonna go and figure out our outfits.”
Word quickly got to Tony about your job’s small fundraiser and he reached out to your boss Mr. Burke to make the most of the event. He seemed impressed that you knew Iron man and you realized that he had no idea how many times your mates and Avengers came by the lobby of the community center.
Friday night had rolled around and you had your arm hooked around Bucky’s. The ballroom of the hotel Tony had chosen was decorated in such a beautiful and elegant manner that it had your jaw on the floor. It was definitely far nicer than any end of the summer party your boss had tried to put together. Then again most of the guests were very wealthy people and before you even arrived at the venue your boss’ secretary had messaged you that the community center had surpassed the donations goal. It was great news because that meant that more programs could be held during the fall and winter months and more families could be helped too.
“This is amazing.” Your eyes travel from the people to the venue.
“You should see what Tony can do with more prep time.”
“Mr. Burke would lose his mind if Tony had more time.” You lean into Bucky as you talk.
“I think he’s losing it at this very moment.” He nods toward the direction of your boss who is shaking hands with the Mayor.
Mr. Burke nods and smiles and has no problem talking the Mayor’s ear off, poor sap. It makes you smile though, the community center does a lot of good work and it deserves to be recognized. Bucky leads you to the bar where Ricky, Jules and Jonah are ordering drinks.
“Jules you look amazing.”
“So do you.” She says as she gives you a quick hug.
Wanda soon joins you and everyone begins to have a small conversation. Then Sam and Steve join. It was just the beginning of the evening but you knew this would be the best party the center has ever had.
****
Your alphas take turns dancing with you. First Sam then Steve and now Bucky. He swayed with you. A dopey grin on his face as you stared into each other's eyes. You hum along to the song but Bucky is so into it. He sings along happily but only loud enough for you to hear.
“Just the two- four of us. We can make it if we try.” Bucky mumbles with a chuckle. “Just the four of us. You and I…and Sam and Steve.”
You laugh as Bucky dips you and pulls you back up. The song ends as you pull Bucky in for a kiss. Then he escorts you off of the dance floor. You lean into Steve once you reach him. Steve along with Tony and Nat are having a conversation with Richard and Jules.
“You ok, sweetheart?” Steve whispers into your ear.
“Yeah.” you look up at him and smile. “I’m more than ok. Are you?”
“Just a bit tired but I’m good.”
“We should get out of here then.”
“No, I don’t mind staying a bit longer.”
You smile and look around and shake your head. “We should go anyway.” You nod toward the hallway where the bathrooms are. Sam is pulling Bucky by his tie into the darkened hallway as they kiss. Steve rolls his eyes but takes your hand and leads you down the same hallway.
“Let's go get them and leave before they get banned from this place forever.”
You giggle as you follow Steve through the crowd. Following Sam and Bucky’s intertwined scent is easy enough and soon Steve stops around the corner of where Sam has Bucky pushed up against a wall as they make out. Steve brings you to stand in front of him and you both lean forward and watch as Bucky and Sam get handsy with each other.
“Don’t they look so good together, sweetheart?” Steve whispers in your ear. It sends a shiver down your spine as you nod. “They can’t keep their hands off each other. What do you think they would do if they saw us watching them like this?”
Steve’s hands sit on your hips as he pulls you back against him. He kisses you from your shoulder to his mark on your neck. His hands slowly bunching up the skirt of your dress and then disappearing into your panties. Your eyes flutter closed as you whimper at the contact of Steve’s finger on your clit. When you open them again you meet the darkened eyes of Bucky as he watches you and Steve. He murmurs something and soon Sam looks in your direction.
As quickly as he started, Steve stops. You whine at the loss but he’s moving again and taking you with him. Sam and Bucky are right behind you. Soon enough the four of you are in a conference room. Steve pulls you up onto the table but it’s Sam that kisses you until you’re breathless. Bucky focuses on undressing you and giving attention to your breast. Behind him Steve and Sam are sharing a kiss of their own. It always turns you on to see your mates together like that. It didn’t help that they knew this and loved to put on a show for you.
The mixed scents of the four of you is intoxicating as it fills the room. Steve slots himself between your legs and pulls you closer. Next to you Sam and Bucky were already semi undressed. It wasn’t uncommon for the four of you to get wrapped up in each other. Just four people chasing pleasure and a connection deeper than physical.
It was total bliss as Steve thrusts into you and Bucky kept your moans and his quiet with a kiss. Sam groaned from behind Bucky, his forehead resting against Bucky’s back as he rolled his hips. Soon enough you tense as your orgasm washes over you. Steve follows shortly after with a few stuttered thrusts. He leans forward and captures your lips with his.
“You were so good for me.” He mutters against your lips.
“We should go before someone finds us.”
“You must be joking.” You say as you look at Bucky, still breathless. “My legs are jelly.”
“Yeah, Steve tends to do that.” Sam chuckles as he starts to get redressed and then helps Bucky.
With a groan you sit back up but you wouldn’t change the delicious ache you feel between your legs. Steve helps you fix your dress up. With lasting touches and giggles the four of you sneak back out to the party. Sam pulls you back onto the dance floor.
“I can’t wait to get you home ‘mega.” Sam whispers against your ear.
“Mmm, maybe we should leave.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I don’t think it would take a lot to convince Steve and Bucky.” You reply and you both look over to them and they’re all over each other.
“Let’s go get them.”
You take Sam’s hand and you make your way through the crowd. When you get to the other two alphas you tell them how you would really like to go home and they all but sprint to the front doors. Hand in hand with Sam you follow them. You were more than ready to spend the rest of the night in a tangled mess with your filthy alphas.
Ch. 14
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ᗯι𝜏ԋ Ɛʋҽɾყ Ɲҽցα𝜏ιʋҽട, ㆜ԋҽɾҽ 𝓐ɾҽ Sσ𝓶ҽ Ƥσടι𝜏ιʋҽട... ♚
⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰⋆⃟⋆ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⃟⋆⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰⋆⃟⋆
So, because I'm in a bit of a shitty mood due to a whole lot of work I have to do before my break, and I don't feel like piling onto the already large list of what's wrong with the Helluva Boss series - and also, because everyone liked the Beelzebub list, I decided to do a quick list of my top five favorite songs from Helluva Boss. Despite the questionable writing, characters, world-building, creator, etc, the songs are actually truly solid when they want to be, and for that, I'm willing to give praise.
𝟏.❞𝕂𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙❞ 𝐛𝐲, 𝐆𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐳 & 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐦
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❥ Putting aside my general love for these girls, however brief their appearances were in the episode, this song was just incredible to me! The dancing was smooth, the beat was heavily reminiscent to Kpop, which I just love anyway, the visuals were stunning, in addition to their overall designs, and I'm honestly just sucker for fish-based characters since they have a whole siren aesthetic going on. Speaking of, many people find these twins to be reminiscent to The Dazzlings, from EQ Girls, and that's just the cherry on top for me! The full version truly makes this even better and, overall, I think the song was brilliant in establishing the whole rebranding of Mammon and how these two pose great threats to Fizz, much like those badass singer villains in Saturday morning shows. You know, the one's everyone ends up simping for at some point in their childhood. Anyway, because of the new episode, this song managed to shoot its way to the top of my faves, knocking down my original fave in the process!
𝟐. ❞𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣❜𝕤 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕝❞𝐁𝐲, 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐳𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐛
youtube
❥ This song walked, so "Cotton Candy" could trip and fall on the scalding hot pavement. Apologies if I sound dramatic, and you happen to like Cotton Candy, but the amount of disappointment I feel towards the fact that we didn't get this song is indescribable. Now of course, I understand WHY we couldn't (again, waste of time when someone could've just gotten Rochelle in the first place 😑) but I digress. Aside from the fact that a specific line in the song gives clear clarification of who the hell the flying fox is, it feels like the cool, degenerative (said affectionately) party girl song that I would've actually liked to hear.
❥ To me, it's reminiscent of "Cannibal" and "Die Young", and I feel like both themes generally tie into what we think of a Modern Beelzebub to be like. The beat, the shift in pace of the lyrics that brings out the fast party vibe, the fact that it felt like a real pop song that didn't take fifteen minutes to get through just to see the rest of the episode – all these are what made this song my former #1 favorite, now my #2. And the "non-binary specimen" line was a cool, quick inclusion to me.
𝟑. ❞𝕁𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕀𝕫 ℂ𝕠𝕠𝕝❞ 𝐛𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧
youtube
❥ I know this is technically too small to be an actual full song, but I still loved it regardless. It was really cool in its short runtime for the following reasons: the Tom Hardy's vocals (idk what it is, but something about Australian accents that just sounds satisfying, especially when singing), the praising of the Twins, and the satisfaction of seeing Fizz squirm a bit. Apologies to any of you who like Fizz. I don't hate him per se, but rather, I'm just bitter that we're loosing out on other character development because of him and Ozzy. And, I prefered Robo Fizz who was an unrelenting asshole and not another UWU boy that, imo, there are one too many of in Hell.
❥ Anyway, it was cool seeing more visuals of the Greed Ring stage. And seeing the spider visuals that are associated with Mammon. I understand if some people thought it was kinda tacky, but I personally think it could work if assessed the right way. (Hint: I'll be explaining more about this in later Greed Ring Headcanons and/or Mammon Headcanons.)
𝟒. ❞𝕍𝕒𝕔𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝔹𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕟❞ 𝐛𝐲, 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲
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❥ Admittedly, I was a bit iffy on whether or not I should include this considering my feelings on Verosika. I don't hate her by any means considering, you know, it's Blitzø, but she has nothing going on for her and her one note personality just feels unfair to her considering what she had to deal with. That being said, I realized that I'm judging based on musical appeal and not entirely on character, so I said "fuck it" and put this as #4.
❥ While notably slower and softer than the other songs, I enjoyed it after revisiting it. The pink aesthetic and visuals were just gorgeous to me.
❥ It's slow, playful, and it reminds me a lot of Doja Cat and her songs, and I really loved that. Above all else, it was soothing and nice, and I feel like it was wasted on the Spring Break episode though as, while the episode introduced it a bit more worldbuilding, it felt like a whole load of nothing considering it all happened in one place and that same worldbuilding went out the window almost immediately. Still love the song though. Honestly, if there was a musical battle between Verosika and the Twins, I'd struggle to pick a winner.
𝟓. ❞ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕤𝕞𝕠𝕕𝕖𝕦𝕤❞ 𝐛𝐲, 𝐀𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐮𝐬 & 𝐅𝐢𝐳𝐳
youtube
❥ While my opinion of Asmodeus has wavered lately, his debut song was incredible! I loved the deep vocals and jazzy tunes used in the song, and I didn't completely mind the bits with Fizz in it given all that's happened. Above all else, I adored how they called out Stolas publically in the episode. Shame it couldn't stay that way. Seriously though, as sexy as the man's voice is his design just doesn't fit that. But, yeah, that's my opinion.
⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰⋆⃟⋆ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⃟⋆⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰ ⋆⋆⃟⊱✪⃝⃞⃝⊰⋆⃟⋆
Anyway, yeah, that was my list. Let me know what y'all think and whether or not you agree with my choices. If any, do you have a favorite song in Helluva Boss? Or a least favorite? Let me know. ✌🏾
#Youtube#helluva boss critical#vivziepop critical#helluva boss criticism#hazbin hotel critical#helluva boss critique#helluva critical#helluva boss#hazbin hotel critique#vivziepop criticism#hazbin hotel#songs#Helluva Boss Ranking List#helluva boss glitz and glam#helluva boss verosika#helluva boss asmodeus#helluva boss fizz#helluva boss beelzebub#helluva boss mammon
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spn thoughts as requested
tw & spoiler warning
they should have kept the grungy filter and aesthetics from the early seasons
bring back the southern / midwest gothic vibes
dean would've listened to and loved 90's & 2000s grunge - I know that the whole "there's no good music past '79" is a key part of his personality but pre series/early seasons dean is soo nirvana / Weezer / smashing pumpkins coded
there is too much flannel in the later seasons - I miss the carhartt and leather jackets so bad
BRING BACK DEANS JEWELRY
there's so much about cas that we don't know. there's all the episodes where he just isn't there and they never tell the viewers what he's doing or where he went
on the same note, cas's personality isn't nearly as flushed out as sam's or dean's are. who is his favorite musician? what's his favorite place to travel to? why does he like the pimpmobile so much? does he actually like the trench coat or does he wear it just because it's there?
so many people characterize cas as a little guy, and while he is cute, it's important to remember that he's also an incredibly powerful eldritch horror who leads angelic armies and brands Michaels vessel just because
dean is bisexual and in love with cas - I won't take the time to list all of the reasons here, but you can definitely find those reasons somewhere
i would've loved for them to use the handprint as a physical manifestation of their bond instead of having it be just a scar that fades with time
i'm actually really ok with the way cas dies, I think it makes sense for his character and provides closure (for him, at least, not for dean)
the parallels of cas and dean meeting in a barn and then dean dying in a barn
cassie is deans first love, cas is his last
the imagery of the empty as cas's wings in 15x18
why do the subtitles spell cas as cass, its awful
there's a few lines in the early seasons that seemingly reference dean getting roofied / sa'd and are subsequently played for laughs, Jensen Ackles confirmed that dean would've done underage sw when John didn't leave them with enough money. I believe that this trauma is a major reason that dean never accepted his sexuality
the way deans alcoholism is overlooked and joked about is actually insane
having dean be completely ok after 15x18 is also insane, especially after the widower arc where the show specifically shows it's viewers how deeply dean grieves cas when he dies
deans death is literally so stupid. I get that the show is trying to make a really meta point about the characters not having plot armor anymore because chuck is gone, but dean deserved to find peace. if the events of the show had never happened and pre series dean had never gotten pre series Sam back into hunting it would've ended the exact same way - dean dead on a hunt and Sam dying from old age
dean spends as much time on earth as he did in hell, and while he would never be the same, I like to believe that if he had been allowed by the narrative to live longer he would've gotten back a little of the twinkle in his eyes that he had before hell
in 15x20 Bobby says that cas helped rebuild heaven but if he was there he would've gone to see dean. additionally, there's no way cas should have been able to escape the empty. this is such a glaringly obvious plot hole and it drives me nuts
I would've liked to see cas's wings in the show - not just the shadow of them
the only time I tolerate serious discussion of wincest is in the context of ethel cain
i am a Sam disliker - while he does have many positive qualities, I have a really hard time getting past him not looking for dean when he was in purgatory and him joking about deans alcoholism and other traumas
i like Sam the best when he's with Eileen, I think they're adorable together and I'm mad they killed her off
I am a chronic jack defender, that boy has done nothing wrong
it would be interesting to explore cas and jacks relationships with their respective genders
there's no way being forced to murder the dean clones didn't affect cas, we only saw him kill the last one but the first few he had to kill had to have been devastating
i'm really disappointed by 14x13 Lebanon, we get the scene with John and Sam but I would argue that dean has significantly more reasons to be upset with John and it's unfortunate that the episode just glossed over this - I believe a screaming match between the two would have cleared the air a bit and been at the very least cathartic for dean
i'm fairly sure that it's canonical that John sent dean away on his 17th birthday to kill lesbian ghosts. my personal hc is that John suspected that dean was bi and sent him to teach him a lesson
i saw a post on here comparing hunting culture to biker and cowboy culture and viewing those things through a queer lens and I thought it was fascinating - there's so much spn could've done if it cared about the show more than money and losing viewers
every time cas and dean beat the shit out of each other, it serves as further proof of their relationship rather than discrediting their relationship - ie demon dean and cas fighting in the library is used to parallel Cain and Collette. it could even be assumed that their love is stronger because Cain killed Collette but dean left cas alive
The purgatory love triangle was so silly
once dean worked through all of his trauma and toxic masculinity he would've been a swiftie
all of the main characters have old / vintage cars but in like season 13/14 dean sam and cas just collectively own and use this really ugly silver truck from the 2010s. its such a small detail but it absolutely ruins my viewing experience every time I see it
dean is actually really smart but most of the fandom overlooks it because Sam is characterized as the smart one. if you know anything about cars you know it takes an insane amount of brains to build a car from scratch (he did this with baby multiple times throughout the show) also he just makes an emf meter using basically nothing. if dean had been given the same opportunities he gave Sam, he would've been an engineer or something
i will always be a John hater, if this man has 0 haters, I am dead
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opinions on morgwen
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHDSJFH;DAJKSDJ
hot take of the day: morgwen, when looking at just the plot and its existing holes, actually makes more sense than merthur
ik!! ik!! outrageous. proposterous. INSANITY. but morgwen would actually ASSIST in fixing my biggest problem with the entire series, the biggest hole in morgana's very holey character arc: her hatred for arthur.
ive actually talked about this before, in this post:
"for example, when morgana began to hate arthur and want him dead and stuff—that development came out of nowhere. for the entire series up until that point, she had loved and cared for him. now, all of the sudden, she wants him dead?? now, it had made sense for uther. he had done terrible things to morgana and could very clearly see the line between her love and hate for him. you could to watch her tip-toe along it in real time until she began plotting his murder. that arc made sense. but arthur? there was no point where we saw arthur do anything that would make her hate him the way she did. he was just randomly lumped together with uther as another pendragon she had to kill to get the throne. but, again, it doesn't make sense! she never lumped them together. in the episode To Kill the King, morgana directly compares arthur and uther by telling him that, 'You're a better man than your father. Always were.' again, she never lumped them together! yet, later on, that's exactly what she does."
expanding on the beginning of that quote: in my opinion, this is what a character arc should look like: (and behold, the reason this ask took me a hundred years to answer... a CHART (made by moi))
^that is a very basic idea of a character arc, when a person starts one way and ends in another, all because of different inciting incidents forcing them to change. a slightly more complex version of this will look a little like this:
In this one, there is a very clear "Point B" where you can see that they've changed—that there is still more change to come, but that they have grown. this is how Morgana's character arc is shaped. in season two, you can very clearly see that Point B, and it's actually why it's my favorite season of Morgana's character development. season two showcases her gradual downfall as she struggles being a sorceress in the center of Camelot as Uther's own ward. everything you see her feel and struggle with feels very real.
season three is when it all starts to go awry. we obviously know that this is the season that she reaches that horrible Point C, when her character arc is complete and she turns into that wretched villainess we all know and love.
the issue with this is that there is a very important checklist-style of things she needs to believe in order to turn into this person:
✅find out about her magic
✅hate Uther
✅meet Morgause and believe in her goals
✅hate Arthur
i fully believe that she would not and could not change into the person she became without hating Arthur, because that was why she wanted to take the throne—she believed that both Pendragons couldn't be trusted to repeal the magic ban, and would continue the endless cycle of genocide. if she still cared about Arthur, still had faith in him, then she wouldn't have been so desperate to be crowned queen.
do i think that Morgana's faith in him was already wavering? absolutely. but i also believe that something HUGE had to happen to shatter her faith in him entirely. what could have been one of the best ways to do this?
eating away at her affections for him, slowly, with one or two issues before wiping out every good feeling she has ever felt for him with one big incident. how does morgwen tie into this, though?
it's simple: make arthur and gwen's relationship very obvious to morgana. force her to encounter it often. make her uncomfortable, because SHE loves gwen, has always loved gwen, and now her brother who spent years not even knowing who she was is supposedly in love with her?? that would be enough to eat away at anyone's affection for their brother. morgana wasn't stupid. she figured out their relationship very quickly, and was obviously disgusted with the idea. BUILD on that disgust. and then, once its obvious morgana is heart-wrenchingly jealous of arthur, make arthur do something stupid or harmful towards magic. shatter morgana's faith in him.
it would work so perfectly!! everything would fall into place!! all those weird plot holes surrounding morgana's downfall would make a million times more sense. imagine really only loving two people in the world: your best friend, your maidservant, the love of your life and your childhood friend, your ever-lasting nuisance, your brother. imagine them both falling in love while you can only watch helplessly. that's a perfect villian origin story, paired with uther's abuse, morgause's manipulation, and her own alienation from the people around her.
so, i know this was a lot, and took me a hundred million YEARS to respond to, but i'm literally so passionate about this its not even funny. if you want me to expand on anything or if you have any questions, please let me know!!! i love talking about this part of the show:)
#morgwen#merlin#bbcm#bbc merlin#merthur#arthur pendragon#morgana pendragon#gwen merlin#gwen pendragon#merlin bbc#merlin emrys#uther pendragon
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RANDOM THOUGHTS: Unknown ep. 10
I’m going into this episode hoping for further progress in Qian and Yuan’s relationship (especially after Qian’s moment of introspection at the end of the previous episode). We also saw in the preview that we’re getting more about Qian’s health status in this episode and that Yuan might get pissed at Qian for keeping that from him. And then, let’s see if they cut the episode before the kiss or not.
Shitless Qian! That’s a nice start (if we ignore the nosebleed, which, to be fair, isn’t that ignorable).
The way Yuan stared at shirtless Qian… I mean, 100% relatable.
I wouldn’t want to sleep alone after that Russian roulette shit either.
The way they’re fucking snuggling in bed! Qian’s leg over Yuan’s, Qian holding Yuan’s arm with both hands, and Qian brushing his thumb on Yuan’s arm in that comforting manner…
Wait, Le is worried Qian’s condition has worsened? So, he knows that Qian has a chronic condition? (I can’t remember if this has been mentioned before or not. My memory is hella fuzzy when there’s a whole week’s wait between episodes.) Perhaps that’s why Le’s been so adamant to keep Qian out of the gang and make sure they don’t cross paths again.
Nosebleed again…
”I’m fine.” The biggest lie ever told (and most used) in the history of humanity.
The way I cackled when the Doc suggested that San Pang should also get a neurological examination.
WTF! Nosebleed again… Please, Qian, get yourself checked out!
The whole ”don’t tell Yuan” will cause more trouble than actually telling him, though. I’m sure that’s why Yuan avoids Qian (the short snippet, in the preview of this episode, when Yuan walks into the house). I’ve been in Yuan’s shoes, and it fucking hurts when the truth comes out later than it needed to.
Yuan must’ve heard more than he let on. He practically tried to run away from the clinic. And the fact that Qian is lying to Yuan… Trouble, trouble.
I don’t mind that Yuan is getting bold (or, bolder). The talk about tying up Qian… I’m on board with that to a million percent!
Yuan definitely knows something serious is going on. But how much does he know about the whole truth? Most likely a lot more than he lets on. Like I wrote before, he must’ve heard what the Doc said. But he might not yet know how long it’s been serious. Qian has had issues for years, right?
Oh lord… Look at these idiots trying to cover up for Qian. I’ve got to love their loyalty to Qian, though. Even though I need someone to tell Yuan the truth (preferably Qian, but I don’t think that will happen…).
Seriously, I would fucking snap if I was in Yuan’s shoes. No way I would take part in this bullshit coverup. Either you tell me the truth (because that’s always easier to deal with) or I’ll avoid you like the fucking plague.
Lol, Yuan is really laying it on thick when he talks to San Pang. Emotional blackmail. But the situation clearly calls for it. Qian is more silent than a brick wall.
And then he uses the Lili-card. He knows exactly what to say to get San Pang to cave. I love him. So, please, someone tell him the truth, for fuck’s sake!
Just as I thought, Yuan heard everything at the clinic that day.
Finally! The truth is out. Thank you, San Pang.
Yuan: ”Do you still think this is just about you?” That FUCKING. BROKE. ME.
I’ve been sitting here, trying to get my eyes to stop leaking for the past 30-ish minutes so I can watch the rest of the episode. What is this series doing to me? They’re gunning for my emotions with Yuan’s reaction because it’s relatable to me.
Qian must know he fucked up, though. If he blames San Pang for telling Yuan, I’ll be fighting back an urge to kick his shin. (I know he’s fictional, but that also means I can give him a fictional kick, just for the fun of it.)
I can’t call that blaming San Pang. Not really. Okay, Qian, I won’t fictionally kick your shin. Not right now, at least…
Btw, San Pang not telling Lili about Qian’s condition… She’ll be just as pissed at him as Yuan is with Qian right now, right? I honestly can’t wait to see her lose it on San Pang and him begging for mercy and forgiveness. Is it weird that I want to see him on his knees as he begs? I wouldn’t mind him crawling either…
I get Qian’s fear of going to the hospital and perhaps never coming out again. BUT! If Yuan and Lili knew the truth, they could prepare themselves for the possibility that Qian might not make it. Qian just dropping dead isn’t going to help anyone, though. And how would they feel if they found out about his condition after that? And finding out that he knew about it?
I wonder how Qian would feel if their roles were reversed. As in, if he found out either Yuan or Lili (the two people who are most important to him) had kept something like this from him.
Am I the only one who loves that Yuan is avoiding Qian? Because I fucking LOVE IT! And he ignored Qian even though Qian had made Yuan’s favorite dishes. This is my shit! (I know, I need help…)
Oooh, Yuan is both bold and bossy in this episode. I didn’t know I could love him any more than I already do. I was wrong.
Is it weird that I’m excited to see the confrontation I know is coming within the next 10-ish minutes?
San Pang is saying all the right things and asking all the right questions. Now it’s up to Qian to figure it out on his own (perhaps with a bit of help from Yuan).
Qian getting emotional is making me emotional. What is this series doing to me?
San Pang: ”Do you want him to have a future without you?” My eyes are leaking again! What the fuck is this series doing to me?
I stopped mid-confrontation because Yuan’s calmness was killing me. But, also, some of the things Qian has said so far gave me the feeling that his approach to figuring out if his feelings for Yuan are brotherly love or something more is more about thinking/reflecting on it rather than feeling it. In my experience, thinking isn’t the best way to gain clarity when it comes to emotions. Clarity comes from feeling and experiencing the emotions. So, just shut up and kiss already… Perhaps it’s time for Yuan to give Qian a little nudge in the right direction, even though he’s been so cautious not to cross the line since he came back home.
Qian: ”All I know is I can’t live without you.” The fact that he’s admitting that, out loud, to Yuan… We’re making some progress.
Seriously, Yuan’s calmness is killing me. He still thinks it’s his problem that he fell for Qian. He still thinks it’s his shit to handle. He still doesn’t want to put that on Qian. Being calm is almost like his armor.
I fucking knew they would cut pre-kiss! That’s just mean.
This episode was great! I loved that Yuan finally found out the truth. I loved that he ignored Qian (again, it’s a me-thing). I loved all the emotions. Seriously, the amount of time I spent crying… I just realized it took me just a little less than 2 hours to watch this 30-ish minute episode…
What is this series doing to me?
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