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tully-blue · 4 years

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What makes you scared of s2? Pls share your thoughts

What’s up, Anon! I’m gonna bullet point this, and it won’t be half as eloquent as a lot of the theories/opinions I’ve seen, but oh well! This is just my opinion on the things I’ve seen, and other people’s speculations. If none of these come to pass, I’ll be THRILLED. I’d say sorry this is so long, but you asked for it lol

First and foremost, as much as I’m pumped for more representation and any form of queer Vanya, I can’t see her and Sissy’s story ending happily. I’m from the Southern US, and straight up don’t like the idea of making the first queer romance we see with Vanya set in such toxicity. 2000s homophobia is still real and kickin’. I don’t wanna think about it in the 60s.

While I’m on that - them getting together while Sissy still lives with her husband, separated or not, isn’t something I’m cool with.

Amnesia plot lines can be FINE, imo, but this one? Nope. She doesn’t get to remember shit, just like Reginald drugging her for years after forcing Allison to rumor her, and I hate it! If we’d had a few seasons in between, where she got to remember everything and expand on her powers and relationships with the others? Hella tragic, amazing potential, much better possible executions than this.

Klaus as a CULT LEADER? I’ve honestly not seen a post expressing my outrage at this, but what the HELL. Where did all of his empathy from the end of S1 go? He gets thrown back in time and instead of trying to find Dave, starts a cult??? Thanks, I hate it. I do not want to see such regression, esp if they try to play it off like he’s caring for these people.

I said the Amnesia trope can be Fine, and I feel the same way about the Asylum trope - to a much lesser extent. I am almost firmly in the Not A Fan category, but I try to stay open minded.

A lot of Allison’s motivations from S1 are now obsolete, I guess? Unless we get to see a breakdown over her still losing Claire after everything she did to get her back, I’m not gonna be happy. I’m alright with the new love interest plot, Alluther being a ship I can dig but don’t freak over, but again, she’s just lost a lot.

I guess I need to say I’m super scared of not seeing any of the Hargreeves deal with losing everything? How tf do they handle this in ten eps? I don’t like it.

Tom Hopper literally said it’s like Luther forgets about the Academy (and I am a lil like HELL YEAH bumbling but independent Luther! I’m also scared of this!)

Diego, in an asylum, because he was following Reginald’s motivations and trying to be the leader his dad wanted? I don’t even like typing these words together and now feel like I need to add a scene in MBH where he shit talks Reginald for a good, long while.

Reginald! I’m very, very eager to learn more about him, but also not ready to see him inflicting any more trauma on these kids! Hasn’t enough been done?

AND BEN. Klaus, what do you think you’re doing?? I’ve not seen much on Ben at all besides Klaus lying about him being there, and the snippet (Justin Min said this, not Sheehan, my bad guys! Thanks @sarahsharpe1231) about Ben and Klaus discovering halfway through the season that they’ve got some new powers together. I’m terrified they’ll use him as lowkey comic relief, and not give him any actual character advancement.

Have we seen any side characters from S1 besides old!Hazel? I liked a lot of them and it sucks they won’t be around.

SUPER SCARED of no more kiddo flashbacks?? None of the other 6 child actors are billed on IMDB for a second season and that sucks hard. (It was @263adder who brought the possible lack of fbs to my attention!)

Last bit, selfishly, I’ve got pretty specific ideas of Five/Luther’s parents (and I want them to be twins!!! Give me that!) and don’t want to see them on screen, tbh, cause I know they’ll be totally different. I DO love the idea of their birth mother(s) being threatened (saw this theory from @repeatinglitanies) though!

#the umbrella academy #tua s2 #tua season 2 #tua speculation #vanya hargreeves #ben hargreeves #five hargeeves #klaus hargreeves #diego hargreeves #Allison Hargreeves #luther hargreeves #reginald hargreeves #tullyanswers

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nikibogwater · 3 years

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Niki Blethers about The Mandalorian S2: ep 7

Spoilers below the cut!

*inhale*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

DANK FERRIK THIS WAS THE EPISODE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR HOLY CRUDMUFFINS

I said last week that the series has been struggling to hold my interest this season. I haven’t been super active in the fandom, and I was just overall a lot less invested in the characters/plot than I was for season 1. I was never quite able to pinpoint exactly why until this episode.

The reason I started losing interest in the show was because the show had started losing interest in Din. For several episodes, the plot was mainly focused around finding the Jedi, learning about the Force, uncovering all these Imperial baddies. The show was always at its most interesting to me when the typical Star Wars stuff took a back seat to Din’s personal story, and this season was not letting that happen as often as I would’ve liked.

But with “The Believer,” everything is solidly fixed on Din and his personal goal: get his son back. It also takes a good hard look at Din’s Creed and the Way of his tribe, which is a unique and interesting aspect of Star Wars lore that I’ve been slavering to learn more about.

I’ve seen a lot of people saying they want Din to abandon his religion, take off his helmet and be “free” or whatever, and while I understand that there are definitely religious sects out there that champion very toxic and damaging ideas, Din’s Way never felt either of those things to me. It is centered on personal sacrifice for the protection of your tribe and your honor, but at no point was it ever implied that Din was forced into this, or that he regrets swearing the Creed. He even says that nothing bad happens to you if you break the Creed--you just can’t ever take it up again once you’ve made that choice. “Sanctuary” implied that there are times when he is tempted to leave it behind and live “normally,” but he chooses to resist that urge of his own volition, because he believes in the importance of what he’s doing.

There has been a lot of helmet-removal foreshadowing in this season, and I was starting to get very concerned about the direction the writers were going in regards to Din’s Creed. I am absolutely 100% completely biased as a religious person myself, so this probably isn’t an objective viewpoint, but I think as long as your beliefs do not require you to intentionally harm other people (either physically or emotionally), it should be socially acceptable for people to believe whatever they choose. To practice any traditions they like, even if they seem weird and restrictive, as long as they are doing it by their own choice. I know this is hard for a lot of people to believe (especially in this country) but many people find a somewhat ironic sense of fulfilment in making personal sacrifices for a higher ideal. And DIn has been shown to take comfort from his Creed and the identity it gives him, and has never expressed anything more than passing wistfulness at the thought of living differently--not bitterness or resentment, simply a “Oh. Yes, that would be nice. But I’m still sticking to my guns here.”

So with all that being said...Holy crap, I love how this episode forced him to break his creed and sacrifice his identity. The show has hammered it into our heads since day one: Din’s most valued part of himself, the thing that he loves enough to die for, is his identity as a Mandalorian and follower of the Way. Din taking off his helmet was not an act of rebellion--it was truly a sacrifice, the greatest sacrifice he could ever make. Din has been shown to be pretty nonchalant about dying, but losing who he is, the code that has shaped him and guided his life--to him, that is so much worse than death. And before Grogu, I don’t think there was anyone or anything that could make him willingly give it up.

Also MAJOR Kudos to Pedro Pascal for his acting in that whole scene. The guy has already been a god of the recording booth throughout this entire series, but his physical performance during this pivotal moment in Din’s arc was just 👌👌👌 Every swallow, every muscle twitch, every eye movement was clearly very intentional, and even though Din was forced to keep a straight face and pretend this was perfectly normal, the small subtleties of Pascal’s acting clearly communicated that Din was breaking inside.

ALSO HI, HELLO, WHILE WE’RE ON THE TOPIC OF CHARACTER GROWTH, THREE CHEERS FOR MY BOI MAYFELD

You know, my mother pointed out, the first time she watched “The Prisoner,” that Mayfeld wasn’t quite on the same level of malice as the other antagonists. She picked up that there was a spark of morality somewhere in him. I didn’t think much of it other than “oh cool, different flavors of Evil in the villain squad” but hot DANG they really were teasing his redemption arc from the get-go.

Also Mayfeld being his snarky, irritating self, spewing about the faulty logistics of a religion he doesn’t actually know anything about, trying to goad Din into showing his face, was such a perfect backdrop to his reaction to Din removing his helmet. Like, just seeing him realize what Din’s creed means to him, seeing this cold-hearted bastard have genuine compassion and jump in to help out his bro--just, tres magnifique.

Din and Mayfeld were obviously the stand-out characters here, everybody else was just kind of there, but that was fine. I like that Din and Cara have a few moments of silent communication, where they just look at each other intently, and nobody goes “Alright, break it up lovebirds.” Yes. Please normalize platonic relationships being just as emotionally intense and full of trust as romantic ones.

I still don’t understand why Boba Fett and Fennec are so dead-set on helping Din, but I’m totally okay if they all come out of this as Found Family. Please give me Din bickering with his sassy assassin sister while Boba yells from the front seat “WILL YOU KIDS SHUT UP, I’M TRYING TO FLY, HERE.”

Also Fennec and Cara are Sharpshooting Sisters now, and no, you cannot change my mind, they are BFFs and they probably get into bar fights together and talk about guns.

Finally, let’s talk about the final scene (the one that broke me). “You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. Soon, he will be back with me. He means more to me than you will ever know.” EXCUSE ME FOR JUST A SECOND

*screams in Found Family*

So, everything about Din’s threat message to Gideon is perfect. Not only is he forcefully reversing their roles so that now Din is the hunter and Gideon is the prey, but he alters Gideon’s own words in order to communicate something really important. Din doesn’t say “Soon, he will be mine.” He doesn’t think of Grogu as an asset to be possessed. Grogu is only his in the sense that Din needs to protect and nurture him, but no one owns the child.

Also AAAAAAAAAH DIN STRAIGHT-UP PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT HE LOVES HIS SON, I AM FREAKING OUT, IT’S EVERYTHING I WANTED

I am pumped for the conclusion to this season now. I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a new episode in...ever. “The Believer” gets a solid 10/10 from Niki, if for no other reason than because it actually made me want to read Mandalorian fics again. Ahhhh I feel my passion for this series returning to me...it is Well and Good.

#niki rambles #star wars #the mandalorian #semi review #i loved this ep so much

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valyrfia · 5 years

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Stranger Things 3 First Reactions

I’ve literally just finished Stranger Things 3, let’s discuss:

Definitely this was the biggest season in terms of action. It did feel like a huge summer blockbuster and while it was amazing, there is always the argument that some of the more quiet emotional moments were overlooked in favour of action

The ending...it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, but I was actually satisfied

Of course I cried buckets BUCKETS when Hopper died, but I figured he would die when he went down to the basement and we knew if one was standing on the floor next to the drill they’d vaporise. Joyce has really bad luck with love interests

Billy was expected, and don’t get me wrong I absolutely hated the guy at the beginning of this season, but they did an okay job of humanising him. Sure I didn’t love him, but his sacrifice was somewhat touching. Hope we see his dad get his comeuppance at some point

And for Eleven to lose her father figure on top of all the other shit she’s gone through...oof. That shit hurts.

I love LOVE that Eleven was adopted by Joyce. I totally thought we were in for a lab abduction, especially with Hopper, her legal guardian, being gone, so I was so glad to be proven wrong.

We’ll finally get Will and El being siblings next season! We’ve been fighting for this from season 1! I for one am absolutely PUMPED.

I feel like they could end Stranger Things here and I would be totally satisfied. Arc-wise, all the characters are resolved more or less, El has her family and her powers are gone, Will had to come to terms with his lost childhood, the Byers are finally moving away from the town that’s terrorised them since s1, Steve has had his full redemption, Nancy and Jonathan are going to go off to college. It feels like a really good place to end the series. Of course I am DYING for another season (I’ll put my predictions for s4 at the end of this post) but I want to end on a high, and this is quite a high.

I assume they have a gate open in Siberia then? Or one that we don’t know about? Also Erica is so damn smart knowing full well that those cages were for demogorgans

‘The American’? Do you reckon they have Kali or one of the other numbers? Interesting.

That being said, I’m not a huge fan that they just decided to go with the usual cliché ‘Russians are the true enemy!’ trope. Are we just going to forget about all the bad shit the American scientists did in the first place?

I feel like they really underused Will this season, Noah Schnapp is a terrific actor, probably one of the best of the kids and while he has some amazing scenes, most of the time he’s just standing at the back of the party being a Mindflayer radar. We saw what he could do in s2 and I really expected the Duffers to take advantage of that. Maybe next season.

Destroying Castle Byers absolutely killed me, it was the one scene that had me full-out sobbing. However that being said, it was a big emotional moment at the end of ep 3 and then wasn’t really mentioned again except in passing.

Robin was brilliant, an amazing addition to the cast and her chemistry with Steve and Dustin was incredible

I loved the touching scene in the bathroom between her and Steve, I ALSO love how they used ‘The First I Love You’, the same soundtrack that was used for Mike and Eleven’s confession and the parallel to Nancy and Jonathan’s first kiss. Even though the relationship isn’t romantic, they care deeply DEEPLY about each other and Steve being an absolute ally and telling Robin she could do way better was just so heartwarming and actually made me tear up

Max was also incredible. I hadn’t quite warmed to her last season but she’s so fiery and loving and definitely is one of my favourite characters now.

Max and El’s friendship made me smile so so much. It definitely felt realistic, despite what the reviews said. True some things were a little cliché, like them gushing over boys in magazines and trying on a million clothes at The Gap but the scene where they were spying on random people through psychic tv and where they were cooped up talking in a bathroom felt real. I absolutely loved their dynamic this season, it’s really refreshing to see a female friendship on screen again (considering the last one was Nancy and Barb?)

Tonally, this season felt all over the place. It was definitely more messy (both in terms of what was on screen AND in terms of plot) than the previous two seasons. The stakes didn’t feel quite as high as usual and the tonal shift dampened some of the really emotional scenes.

Take the whole ‘Suzie Do You Copy?’ scene, the stakes were way high at that point and then we get a full minute and a half of a musical rendition of Neverending Story, it just felt a bit jarring and out of place.

Also, we learnt about Russian involvement but we still know nothing more about the Upside Down, the Mindflayer or the original Hawkins Lab experiments.

I criticize, but it was still an absolute joy to watch.

My least favourite out of all the seasons so far perhaps, but it’s still my favourite tv show

SEASON 4 PREDICTIONS

Considering Mike explicitly mentioned Thanksgiving/Christmas I’m expecting season 4 late 2020. Probably Christmas, I could see them releasing it around Christmas time. That’s also about the correct length of time it’ll take to make season 4. Also the Duffers are really big on framing the seasons around holidays. December 2020 calling it now.

We’ll see the gang reunite in Hawkins, obviously.

The gang would have just started high school and I reckon we’ll see them start to drift apart.

Mike will be struggling, out of everyone the two people he was closest with were Will and El. Not to mention Nancy will be gone off to college as well.

We’ll definitely get some Will/El duo scenes and I am beyond hyped. Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp are such good friends off-screen it’ll undoubtedly carry over to their on-screen chemistry.

It’s the duo we deserve.

I want to see El FLOURISH. Hopefully we find out that El has actually gone to school, that she has friends...loads of friends who just think she’s a normal 15 year old girl. I want to see this.

I hate to be THAT person...but I really hope they address Will’s sexuality. Again, as with past seasons all we got was very explicit subtext. This season is the last they can really dance around the subject. Will will be 15 or near 15 next season, you know who you’re attracted to at that point.

Not to mention that they have Robin in the mix now, someone who’s maybe not publicly comfortable with her sexuality, but has come to terms with it. A mentor figure, if you will.

Speaking of Will in the plot sense, I do wonder whether they are going to go down the route of him having powers or not. There’s loads of clues and easter eggs about it/parallels with him and El. I was quite surprised they didn’t go down that route this season and didn’t delve any deeper into his connection to the Upside Down/Mindflayer

It would be super powerful and impactful to parallel him having to keep a secret about any potential ‘powers’ from his friends and family with another ‘secret’. In that situation, I can totally see El becoming Will’s confidante for both. But I digress.

The Russians are up to no good. Again.

We’ll definitely see Kali in some shape or form, and maybe other test subjects

There’s that American after all, I do strongly suspect that’s another Hawkins Lab subject, or past employee.

I do hope they switch up the formula a bit for the big monster in s4, there’s only so many times you can close the gate after all.

Either way, I want s4 now, not in seventeen months.

TO ROUND-UP: It’s still got its charm, it’s still got its magic, it’s still got its nostalgia. Stranger Things 3, it’s been a pleasure. Bring on December 2020

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dont-offend-the-bees · 4 years

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Just finished teotfw 2

Largely spoiler-free thoughts:

It wasn’t bad. Like, it was perfectly well made TV and the performances were great as usual and there were some genuinely heartrending and hilarious moments (the bit that made me laugh hardest and feel bad about it was a scene with the ashes in the last ep). But it felt a bit like a dead end? Like, considering how much momentum the first season had with those two kids on the run from everyone and everything and feeling like they were legit all each other had in the world because they were the only ones who understood, s2 just felt relatively... slow. S1 kind of took them on this short, beautiful, tragic arc and ended with the perfect level of ambiguity after kind of taking those characters on an emotional journey that left them as better, happier, more well-rounded humans at the end of it (even if it wasn’t to last) and now it feels like they kind of hit a wall before they even started.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed watching it- mainly because I was happy to see James and Alyssa again. But overall it didn’t have the fun or the energy of S1, it wasn’t as narratively compelling and I felt like there weren’t enough moments of lightness and fun with James and Alyssa to really counterbalance a lot of the tension. I don’t think it ruins the ending of the first one- unless you let it- but if you are super super attached to the original ending and think you’d only risk watching s2 if you thought it was gonna be better, well, I’m not sure it lives up to that.

More spoilery ending thoughts below the cut

That being said, as much as I enjoyed the beautiful, poignant ambiguity of the first season’s ending, and I think just in terms of execution and narrative it was the superior ending, I did like how James and Alyssa wrapped up this time around. I like that they admit they love each other, but they’re learning to find themselves outside of their chaotic ride or die relationship. I like that James apologised for putting her on a pedestal and seems to know that he has to find his life’s track without making it all about her, and I like that Alyssa confronted her demons, decided to get help dealing with them properly and told James upfront that she’s going to take time for herself. It was sort of a levelled up, more thought-out version of the end of season one where she tells him she doesn’t want to have sex- which was a perfectly valid and necessary moment in itself but very much felt like what it was, which was a horny but scared teenager pumping the brakes even though she didn’t one hundred percent know why she was still so affected, or why something horrible with a horrible person should ruin something she wants with a person she loves. She knows now that what happened has seriously affected her, that it’s not going to go away over night and that she needs time, space and help, and James is clearly willing to give that to her, and basically I’m just super proud of both of them. They didn’t get such a complete and compelling character arc this time around but if like me you are depressed and looking for more happy, hopeful endings, watching these two kids crack it after all they’ve been through might just be your cup of tea.

#teotfw #james #alyssa #do they have surnames? i legit can't remember woops #the end of the f***ing world #mr. bees speaks

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steve0discusses · 5 years

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Yugioh S3 Ep 41-42: Surprise, It’s Cards

Yo it’s...still hot here. Not as hot as last week, but hot enough that I’m writing like 2000 words less than normal per post. Weird, right? But hey, that’s the weather, amiright? So, last we left off, Yugi was tossed yet another MacGuffin at the last minute--and because Mai is out for the count, currently being mixed with sand via an hourglass--this time the MacGuffin came from Kaiba. He is our MacGuffinGiver Now.

Not sure why Kaiba made it a point to show off how good of a friend he was, or why suddenly Yugi decided to pull a 180 from “I don’t know if I can to trust you” to “I’m Pretty Sure that I’m bestest friends with Seto Kaiba,” but man, it just took one coma for Joey to lose that bff status.

It just feels kind of weird because the last time Kaiba and Yugi were talking, Yugi was trashing talking Kaiba into pieces and Kaiba was screaming at the top of his lungs that Kaiba himself was finished, ruined, nothing, etc.

But they seem completely over it now. It’s really good for their relationships that both of these people have such severe short term memory loss.

(read more under the cut)

So the next few episodes are really duel heavy and you know how little I watch the cards here, and I’ll go over...some things? Maybe? I dunno, I mostly just want to talk about Marik’s gross ass blood pressure.

I may have mentioned this before but it must be really great for that one doctor aboard the Kaiba ship to keep walking by Marik and just every time know exactly what would cause this. Like I dunno what would have to happen to cause this, but that one doctor is just probably thinking of every disease but cards.

It doesn’t take very long for the purple shadow clouds to roll over their duel, and for everyone on and nearby the stage to slowly put their hands to their foreheads.

It’s...

Guys it’s just hangman. I mean we’ll get there but it’s hangman for illiterate people, which is perfect for Pharaoh, who, we’ve mentioned before cannot read to save his own life.

Also this happened:

For the three people who are just super into Mai, here she is! She’s been gone for about a season and a half, only showing up in flashbacks that didn’t exist between her and Joey Wheeler, but she’s here now. It’s Mai. So glad she’s back on the show, it’s been way too long. I actually do enjoy Mai so, kinda wish she had been here a little more.

Bye Mai. Glad you showed up for that one scene.

As Pharaoh is now super pumped up to enact his revenge and save Mai from Ｓａｎｄ, Marik decides to introduce to us the shtick. I’ll be honest, I didn’t see this one coming. See, I figured there was just absolutely no way that this show was ever going to get as effed up as the Murder Basement Clown With The Bandsaw ever again.

I figured, after Murder Basement Clown with the Bandsaw That Chops off Your Ankles, that they would have received so many letters from concerned parents, that they would have shut down anything coming remotely close to that again.

Thing is, that’s using 2019 logic, and this was 2001, a pretty crazy time in children’s storytelling. The era that did this:

Why slice off just ankles when you can slice up the whole damn boy!? And not just once, but an endless number of times before he’s ghosted to the shadow realm. Again, Yugioh just writing our super violent fanfiction fantasies for us.

*Tea had absolutely no comment when she saw this happen. Apparently having a Marik in your brain feels the same amount of confusing as when you don’t.*

Bro mentioned that now Tea can’t literally ghost Yugi anymore, she’ll just has to ignore him the normal way and wow. Bro going after the only canon ship on this show.

Anyways, in case you were thinking “yeah, but they’ll never actually start chopping off body parts,” well don’t worry. They do. Immediately. They were so thirsty to start chopping up little Yugi muto. And, they do it with a funny purple gas effect as if Yugi’s some sort of pipe under pressure?? Check out that cloud brush in action.

I wasn’t really expecting for Pharaoh to give up halfway through round one but I guess the world to him without Yugi in it is no world at all. Quite literally, because he cannot experience the world without Yugi existing.

But can you imagine having the audacity to forfeit the winning game of Kaiba’s tournament right in front of Kaiba? And then just having that added layer of irony that Kaiba was JUST about to blow up this island five seconds ago so that out of his own spite, this final game wouldn’t happen? But, now that he scrapped together two tiny bits of humility, Kaiba let the games continue, and then Pharaoh went up there and decided to forfeit right in front of his face? Amazing. It’s like Kaiba knew he had to blow up the island with everyone on it. He knew this would happen.

Thankfully, as one half of Yugi has a melt down, there’s always the other half to scold him back into action. The other half that does seem kinda DOWN to get strung up and chopped into pieces.

Episodes end, card things happen, God cards are played, and then we’re back straight to Fire Tornado and Joey was REALLY excited to recap the entirety of his involvement with Fire Tornado. I know that it was for the kids who are tuning into the show for the first time (lol I can’t imagine) but it was also just kinda low key funny that he turned to everyone to explain it like they were passing by a tourist attraction.

And then, remember how I was waiting like a whole season for someone to finally drop the deets that Bakura freakin died an entire season ago? Like he’s been dead for over 40 episodes. 42 Episodes.

Well it happened, and I was a little disappointed by how little everyone cared. Their reaction was very “again???” as if this has happened to Bakura before. And it was like...your friend is dead? No one? No one wants to properly freak out about it? I mean, I guess of all their friends, this is the very worst one so...can’t blame Bakura too much for always trying (and occasionally succeeding) to kill them.

And then this gross thing happened.

Which was actually kind of neat when you think about Pegasus’ powers. You do kind of wonder--why did he sacrifice an eye? But maybe...Pegasus still had both eyes the whole time, the other one was just hanging out somewhere else. Like, it infers a lot about how the Pegasus powers worked, but of course this episode didn’t dive into that at all because Marik turned himself into a final fantasy boss.

It last like...I dunno...5-10 minutes before Marik decided to hop back out of the bird and back to being just a normal guy again. It was nice that for a little while he decided to be a Yugioh version of what a Gundam is. (Other than that one time they had a literal Gundam in this show that played cards.)

Anyways, next week,

Will this island ever blow a freakin fuse? After they return to Domino to find that every TV freakin exploded, will cards finally be outlawed and only played in speakeasies or Canada (no, right???) Did Grandpa ever get off the floor of the hospital since S2 or is he still just hanging out there this whole time?

And if you just got here, you can read my Yugioh only recaps in Chronological order by clicking here

#Yugioh #ygo #photo recap #episode recap #S3 ep41 #s3 ep42 #Yugi muto #Marik Ishtar #joey wheeler #seto kaiba #tea gardner #duke devlin #tristan taylor #so many cards #like this game keeps almost ending and then they come up with this card I've never heard of before and it Keeps Going #One mention of Bakura RIP #Return of Fire Tornado but Not Lava Golem???????#Mai Valentine #Yo I almost forgot she actually came back this episode

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fatechica · 5 years

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I can’t wait for all the Mileven fics you’re gonna feed us when S3 comes out, Julie. I’m honestly pumped!!!

Aww, thank you, boo!!!

I’m super excited to see what S3 brings and what it inspires in me! At the very least, all those cutesy moments from the first couple of eps (this is an assumption, but I’m pretty confident in it) will keep me nice and fueled for mileven goodness for quite a while.

I’ve gone this long on the scant handful of scenes we got for them in s2. Can you imagine what I’ll be able to do after all the mileven we’ll get in s3???

IM EXCITE.

#stranger things #mileven #16 days and counting #why yes #yes i need more mileven in my life #why do you ask?

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transfemmbeatrice · 5 years

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I know you've reblogged it days ago but I'm curious - what about American Gods for the fandom ask meme? Still need to watch the new eps and I'm kind of pumped

thanks!! i haven’t started s2 yet, and these are gonna be mostly based on the book.

the first character i ever fell in love with: i mean its gotta be shadow right? he’s the only person you really get to know for a while. and i love him as the gentle giant, as the understated and deeply chill guy who is grieving and willing to go along with some bullshit bc why not

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: i don’t think there’s anyone i liked and now don’t but the closest is odin bc like, fuck you for making shadow go through that and using everyone, but also i still love you you devilish old bastard. OH! this is also v much hinzelmann, at least on the first readthrough

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: laura/shadow? in the book it seems like they were a cute couple and she cares about him, but i like how the show has expanded on her character! but it has made me not like them together.

my ultimate favorite character™: book!shadow very much. but my favorite of the gods is probably mr. nancy

prettiest character: shadow or bilquis,

my most hated character: HINZELMANN. also tech boy and that squad, ugh. media is cool tho. she’s awful but she’s a cooler kind of awful.

my OTP: salim/jinn!!!!!!!

my NOTP: i dont really have many ships for american gods? so there’s nothing i’m super vehemently against but not much im really for either.

favorite episode: all the lakeside bits in the book are my favorite.

saddest death: laura, the second time.

least favorite season: there’s no part of this book i don’t like tbh

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: i’m not connected enough w the fandom to know....

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: odin......

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: SAM BLACK CROW

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: again i dont rly have ships from this?? but there’s a certain dynamic between shadow and odin i liked before i knew they were related, so i felt like this retroactively

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: not really a ship but i want all the zorya’s to happily live together as sisters forever,

#american gods #asked and answered #coffeesugarcream

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martinlawless · 3 years

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Team LDN - Brother UK, Crit Series 1

‘Hog Hill’ Redbridge Cycle Centre Ilford, Essex Saturday 1 May 2021

First crit in well over a year. In my last crit, I got a puncture from a rogue safety pin and crashed out. I’ve been keen since to rebuild confidence. Here we are at Hog Hill in this Team LDN multi-crit event. It was a carnival-like atmosphere with a lot of young (or am I just getting old?) strong looking riders who all seem up for a good time.

Something seems to have changed in the shortish time since I’ve been to something like this. Everyone is looks very fit and cool. There also seems to be a strong ladies presence and I’d say more diversity than ever. This is a really good sign for cycling and racing.

In preparation, I dug up my old race bag. I found lots of kit I thought I’d lost as it was buried under the bed for over a year. It was a good opportunity to clear it out and refresh everything. What’s in my kitbag? Basically, everything but the kitchen sink. I would have put the kitchen sink in, but the sharp edges would cut the bag…

• Raceday kit (race suit)

• Helmet

• Shades, mitts, HRM - all placed inside the helmet.

• Shoes

• Spare jersey, bibs, shoes, socks, gloves, mitts, shades, bidon - in case of forgetting something.

• Spare helmet and a track pump stay in the car permanently.

• Baby wipes, gels, energy powder mix, chamois cream, ibuprofen gel, haribo, Deep Heat, Start Oil, loo roll.

• Safety pins, cash, cable ties, spare hanger, spare bar end plugs (no bar end plugs: no race).

• Hex keys, pliers, wrench, torque key set, spare tyre, spare inner tubes, small pump.

• Phone energy bank, phone cables, identity card, deodorant.

It’s a big bag. Though that’s good: not the sort of thing some low-life is going to quietly stuff up their jumper and walk off with.

The bike is race ready. The Cervelo S2 now into its 12th year. It’s a racing machine. Battered and bruised, but all in all in fantastic condition. The gears are suffering and don’t seem to stay true for long. I find out in warming up that there’s a rubbing sound when in the top gears. But I won’t fettle now. Last minute fettling is a very dangerous game to play. Along with pumping up your tyres just before the race. Pump your tyres up way in advance.

I rate my wheels super highly for racing: Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLs. Aluminium wheels with carbon flanges. Absolutely bombproof and fast and will take a battering. These are 12 years old too. Straight as a die.

I go into the race at 100psi on brand new GP5000s. Dave is at 80psi. Read all the data and debates on the interweb about tyre pressure - and then go with your hunch.

What to eat when racing near 4pm? Tricky. I say go light all day. Muesli for breakfast. One of those ‘City Kitchen’ Tesco microwave meals for lunch and I’ll be on the side hungry til near the start when a petrol station americano, half a banana, half a blueberry muffin and a few strawberry Fruitella sweets will get you to the line. It’s short race - you won’t bonk. Caffeine gel a few minutes before the start too, of course.

The drive over to Hog Hill is awful. There’s no great way to there from where I live. But I get the radio on and zone out. I arrive and see Jenny beaming having just finished her race. She has to ride the E123 which includes a rider fresh from Liege-Bastogne-Liege that indicates the standard. I park up and get my number. I get there just in time to see Brendan set off in the 4th Cat race. It’s his first crit. On reflection, not the best one to recommend as it’s a hard course and the field is looking like a group of thoroughbred hipsters. Sure enough, super strong Brendan becomes detached from the bunch on the second climb of the Hoggenberg. But he digs in and plays to his TT strength to keep the others off his back. Rolling in 20th. I’d say that’s mission accomplished for a first crit. Well done.

The view to central London from Hog Hill is amazing. Meanwhile down the side to where the course is looks lush. I feel old again, as I remember when you could see the entire circuit from the cafe at the top. Now it’s all trees!

I kit up and pin up. The CC Ashwell pro race suit is superb, but if it lasts a year I’ll be surprised. It’s very delicate. Worth it though. I feel fast in it. Lucozade Sport in the bottle. Wahoo Elemnt Bolt on. I’d buy a new one as the battery is fading. But they’ve sold out around the world.

I’m parked on a slope and warming up on the rollers is too tough. They are not allowing rollers near the cafe/HQ, so I mooch up and down the main road and adjacent cemetery. But that’s all a bit horrible so I simply loll around the HQ until we’re allowed on the course for 15 minutes before the race start. It’s a bit fresh, and windy, but not too bad.

It’s a 30 rider race, but there a few last-minute no-shows. Our Chris is nearly one of them, having been stuck in traffic. He makes it - just. There are three Ashwell in the mix, with Dave here too. I predict Craig from Nuun Sigma will win. In the mix with Simon from Beds Road RT and friend Daryl from CC London. As it turns out: I correctly predict the top three.

We’re off. Dave is a bullet and takes the front beautifully. The Hog Hill circuit is fast, hard and technical in different measures at different times. We go around the ‘classic’ way to hit the hill hard. The first corner is very technical. It drops, swoops and kicks up. It would be good to come here again and again until finding the perfect line. Then it soon drops massively for a gentle than a tight right turn. When the bunch wasn’t close to me, I found it hard to find the right line and pace here. We’re skittling along at 40mph. You have to plan your line way, way ahead. Along the flat it’s soon a gentle right and a tight left turn. This is sort of OK as the pace is deadened from the previous bend. But there’s a chance of pedal striking. Then it’s a gentle saunter to the base of the climb.

The Hoggenberg begins easily enough, then tilts for I’ll guess 30 metres, then is a sharp lift on its bend before continuing steadily for the end of the lap.

This race would see us face the hill nine times. I am OK in the bunch, but can feel I’m going to find most of the course tough on the technical sections. I decide I’ll settle in nearer the back while I suss out the course at speed. At the bottom, the bunch feel it important to hug the right side of the lap. But it’s only a gentle cross wind here and I happily take the left position here all the way up the hill, where I actually get shade from the northerly.

I find the hill OK as compared with the others. I am just off the front of the best guys as we crest the hill. I then fall back a bit more on the technical twists. But I make up ground on the descent and flat sections. I repeat this every time. Around half way I feel a bit sick and like I’ve burned all my matches. But I sort of get over that. I think the body is remembering the shock of real life road racing. But also, the undulating intensity of the effort is unsettling. I hear the cheers of Jenny and Brendan by the side and it motivates me to push on.

I suddenly notice the 2 laps to go board and am reminded this is a short race. Chris goes for it and pings off the front. It’s early, but he’s got amazing power and you never know. It’s sort of stretching out at the front with Craig, Simon and Daryl working smartly with his CC London buddies. Daryl moans that the race is over too soon. I half-disagree as I’m in the red, but can also feel the longer this is going on, I get the feeling my competition is suffering more than me.

It’s the last climb to the finish. I don’t really know how to play my full-tilt to be optimal but am keen not to blow up beforehand. It’s fairly steady at first then full-gas. I keep a clean line slightly out of the main thrust. Chris blows up having taken too many watts in the wind for too long. Chapeau though: as it was a podium move and on another day could have been very different. We get past and I dig in. We’re spread out and I can see I have clear space on the guy behind me, so I’m steady over the line. I’m 11th and happy with that. Chris and Dave just behind. I saw one ‘near miss’ between two riders and heard one coming-together group “Woah!” moment. But other than that, we’re all safe and well.

It’s a good vibe afterwards. I take my time packing up and grab a coffee and cake. I see the end of the last E12 Men’s race which looks really tough and then set off. I try Apple iPhone directions home and it takes me back a much nicer way through Epping Forest and back to lasagne and Tour of Romandie highlights at home.

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5224672022

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nikibogwater · 3 years

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Niki Blethers About The Mandalorian (S2: ep 3)

Spoilers under the cut!

I’m a day late because I kind of needed a little extra time to process how I felt about this episode. Even now, I’m still not sure where I sit on it.

WHOLESOME FROG FAMILY IS WHOLESOME. Frog Mom was MVP of ep 2, and she deserves this happy ending. Also who’d have thought that watching two frogs cuddling and loving on each other would be SO STINKING ADORABLE?! Frog Parents are my new OTP.

Other people have already pointed out that Mando was watching the family reunion very intently and that he was almost definitely thinking about Omera--and yes, that was my EXACT thought upon watching the scene (actually true story--last week, I briefly considered writing a fic where Mando watches Frog Mom reuniting with her husband and he thinks about Omera, but I didn’t really want to write something that canon might contradict less than a week later).

Mando kind of awkwardly patting Frog Mom on the shoulder and saying “Thank you” all genuine and soft-like??? WHOEVER RAISED THIS MAN GETS TEN OUT OF FIVE GOLD STARS FOR TEACHING HIM SUCH MANNERS.

“Don’t play with your food.” *wheeze!* What a Mando thing to say. 🤣

I don’t know if it’s just me, but Din looked VERY uncomfortable on that boat. Just the way he was standing, with one hand on his blaster, made it look like he was already nervous long before those kriffing stinkwads tried to feed him to the mamacore.

Also I love how Din is so very obviously the Baby’s dad at this point that literally EVERYONE can tell just by watching him for 3 seconds. Those squidy jerks took one look at him and were like “Oh yeah, we don’t even have to push him in ourselves. Just chuck the kid, this self-sacrificing dumbass is so pumped full of familial love that he’ll jump right in on his own.”

Also SWEET MOTHER OF MARMELADE, I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO STRESSED OUT IN MY LIFE. NOOOOOO THE BABY! NOOOOOO DON’T CLOSE THE GRATE! OH MY GOSH NOOOOOOOO!

...Oh. Bo Katan’s actually alive. I uh...I didn’t see that coming. I seriously thought she was going to be shown in a flashback, being killed by Moff Gideon when he claims the Darksaber. ...I’m not sure how I feel about this.

So the fandom’s been kind of heated up over the “Traditionalist vs. Liberal Ways of Mandalore.” (idk how else to phrase it lol) It seems like everybody wants to determine which side is “correct?” Some people are hoping this means Din will start to question everything he believes, maybe find out that he’s been indoctrinated by a cult since childhood. Others are pointing to Bo Katan’s past as the leader of Death Watch and saying SHE’s the extremist. But honestly, I didn’t see either side as being extremist or overtly cult-y (individuals, yes, but not the core belief systems). I don’t mean to get super real on the main or anything, but the tension between Din and Bo Katan over their religious beliefs felt a lot like the tension you sometimes see between certain groups of Catholics and Protestants (based on my own experience, anyways). And like...it makes no sense to me at all. You guys believe the same basic things, you just have differing traditions. Neither side is particularly extremist or cult-y (in and of itself, anyways. You definitely get some extremist, cult-y groups of people in both camps), they’re just different practices of the same basic tenants. Obviously you can have your own personal stance on which side is more “correct,” but I really don’t vibe with turning that into aggression against the other. So yeah, while that kind of religious tension is stupid and pointless to me in real life, I understood why it was there between Din and Bo Katan, and it definitely felt in-character for both of them. But I don’t think either of them is really a “villain” in this sense. They’re just different.

That being said, Bo Katan was being an absolute b**** and I hated her in this episode.

“This is the way.” B**** YOU SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME! I’MA SLAP YOU! IN THIS HOUSE, WE RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE’S RELIGIONS, YOU FILTHY LITTLE--

I’m glad that, while the show is clearly trying to weave in a larger-scale story, Din’s quest--and the central narrative of the series as a whole--remains with the Child. I hope they can keep it that way. I love seeing Din put his personal responsibility as a guardian over the “greater good,” as it were. He has no reason to care about retaking Mandalore or re-shaping the galactic political landscape--he just wants to take care of his son and find him a good home. And honestly, that is so much more engaging to me than the bigger narratives Star Wars often goes for.

Mandadlorian is at the top of his game again. Not only does he find the Child a good babysitter, he tells the Green Bean to “be respectful and mind {his} manners.” Fudge, I just love me one Tin Can Space Dad so much. 🥰

So I guess the Empire isn’t quite as fractured and splintered as I thought. They’re still running regular shipments of weapons in the Outer Rim and recruiting soldiers. The first season made it sound like there were just a bunch of individual remnant cells, but apparently it’s a lot bigger and more organized than that.

Kill switch molars? What...How do those even WORK?????

I...guess I liked this episode okay? It felt like I was absolutely enthralled by about half of it, but then just kind of tapped out for the other half. I still don’t know how I feel about Bo Katan being a key player in the series. I was kind of hoping that they would keep The Mandalorian mostly separate from the rest of the connected universe, but I guess that was too much to ask from a SW property. But hey, it was cool to see Katee Sackhoff reprise her role in a live-action setting. I’m not giving this one an out-of-ten rating because I honestly can’t nail down how much I liked it, but I do know that all the character interactions were good and there was decent emotional grounding, so it’s still more enjoyable for me than S2: ep1.

#star wars #the mandalorian #niki rambles #semi-review

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