#Like I assume I'm one of five that doesn't listen to the episodes

[queer-devil]

I am a transcript reader for both tma and tmagp (I don't listen but I read), which means that I pronounce the names so wrong so often.

Basira I pronounced like Melissa bc I misread it (thought her name was Barisa)

It took me until like episode 6 or 7 until I finall pronounced Colin's name right ("Cawlin" and not "Cohlin")

I have absolutely no clue how Gerry's name is pronounced, not one, I go between Jerry and Gary constantly

Lena is also a mystery, but I'm pretty sure it's pronounced "lean-uh" and not "len-uh", I pronounce it "len-uh"

I am just forever cursed with calliope syndrome with the thing that taught me about said calliope syndrome

#Does anyone else have this? #Like I assume I'm one of five that doesn't listen to the episodes #tma #tmagp #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #basira hussain #colin becher #tmagp colin #tma basira #gerry keay #gerard keay #lena kelley #tma gerry #tmagp lena

[fearful-quartet]

So I've been listening to The Magnus Protocol, and managed to get my dad into TMA last year so he's now listening to Mag Protocol too. So last night we were listening in the car to the latest statement, and I was half-jokingly saying which fear the statement sounded like mostly, to which my dad starts talking about how he doesn't think these statements and the O.A.I.R are connected to the Fears at all. I'm gonna try to put a cut for anyone not caught up but here's how this led to a theory of mine:

So Lena said to Gwen that there's good and bad forces that need to be balanced, but she never said which side of that the O.A.I.R. is part of, if any. I was noting this when it hit me.

Every single Magnus Protocol Statement so far has been about misfortune coming around due to perceived fortune or a fortunate opportunity becoming misfortune.

Let's break this down ep by ep so you see what I mean.

Episode One: It's a little hard to figure out what the fortune is to the misfortune, especially since it's mostly getting us used to the characters and the overall setup of the show, but for the first statement I think it's not the statement giver, but the husband. Harriet (the one emailing) says he sounded excited in an unsettling way (I am assuming the "he" she is talking about is her husband since she doesn't mention anyone else). When she meets him, or what has him, she describes that he laughed and laughed. Her misfortune was his fortune, his joy.

The second statement in that episode of course is about the Institute, but by way of a bunch of spelunkers looking for something intriguing to discuss. I haven't quite figured out the connection here but I am sure there is one, even if it's through the characters (aka Sam) finding something within it.

Two: A lot easier to connect to this. Daria is finding joy through getting this tattoo that allows her to change how she looks and alter her appearance immensely (and grotesquely). Enough said.

Three: This statement is one that overall I just don't understand tbh, but I think it shows the opposite? As in the victim is experiencing fear and discomfort the entire time, but towards the end you'll notice he gets much more happy and calm about the situation.

Four: This is again easy, it's about a violin that needs blood but will give you amazing talent if you pay that price, and horrible bloodshed if you don't. Self-explanatory.

Five: The guy is trying to make a living off watching and reviewing horror movies, gets excited at a live showing of one just for him, then realizes it's not what it seems and posts everyone should see it. Easy enough. (Very Grifter's Bone in energy)

Six: The introduction to infamous new tumblr sexyman, Needles. I shouldn't have to spell out how he gets pleasure from others in pain by needles.

Seven: All I gotta say is it's "all for a good cause" and you should get the picture.

Eight: Utilizes that uncanny fear of false hospitality if you ask me, but either way this statement is clearly taking something associated often as comforting and twisting it.

Nine: The dice literally affect fortune and misfortune and likely make the statement giver into the embodiment of fortune. 'Nuff said.

Ten: Bonzo needs no explanation for this in his introductory episode so let's move on.

Eleven: This one goes more into obsession territory than anything, which is another running theme of the show and another theory, but it also talks about how the sea brings comfort so that could be part of it. (Also I noticed the sneaky possibly Dr. David reference in there lol)

Twelve: Now I know what you're gonna say, "How is this one connected to fortune at all, Cal? It's about some woman being traumatized at a strip club!" Well think about this: what if it wasn't supposed to end in Bonzo? Gwen gave Bonzo an "assignment," didn't she? And Lena pretty much outright says that this statement was that assignment. So it's possible this is what happened after stopping the initial outcome.

Thirteen: The latest episode as of typing this, and the most clear with evidence. The man literally gains a fortune from his own misfortune, so ya know it's right there.

So every statement is a good thing turned bad or a bad thing turned good. So what? Magnus Archives had plenty of statements similarly framed, so why am I focusing on it here?

Because what is the tagline for Magnus Protocol again?

Fear takes many forms.

#the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #magpod #tmagp #tmagp spoilers #tmagp theory #alexander j newall #jonny sims #tmagp needles #tmagp mr bonzo #magnus archives #the magnus institute #podcast stuff #the magnus pod #magnus protocol #someone please tell me I'm not crazy #cause i swear im onto something here #we'll see i guess #but if im right im coming back to this and saying i told you so

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

I get that Helluva Boss and Hazbin don't and aren't planned to have much overlap, and for the most part I appreciate that separation and the way that it makes the world seem that bit larger.

The one exception being this: I am convinced that Angel Dust and Fizzarolli are at least acquaintances, and quite possibly friends.

No, listen, hear me out.

Angel supposedly died in the forties. We don't know exactly when he was picked up by Valentino, but I think it's fair to assume he's been working in Hell's sex work/stripping/porn scene for at least a few decades before he joins the Hotel.

Fizz's backstory is obviously more detailed. We know that he was either born in the Pride Ring or came there at a very young age, because he was already working there as a circus performer when he was a kid.

By the time Helluva Boss starts, however, he's obviously moved on to operating primarily in the Greed and Lust rings, as Mammon's star performer and Asmodeus's boyfriend platonic PA who he occasionally has totally unemotional bang-sessions with.

In between these two points is the accident, which seems to have happened when Fizz was in his late teens. The last time he saw Blitz before that night in Ozzies.

So, here's where the only concrete canon 'evidence' for my theory kicks in: in Oops, Blitz claims that he and Fizz have “been in each other's relative vicinity twice in the last fifteen years” (referring to Ozzies and just now when they bumped into each other in Greed).

However in The-Mammon-Episode-With-Too-Long-A-Title, everyone can't stop talking about how Fizz has consistently won Mammon's clown pageant every time he's entered. For the past ten years.

That gives us five whole years of Fizz's life that are completely unaccounted for. We know that he started this period off in the Pride Ring with his circus destroyed and a brand-new permanent disability to get used to, and ended it in Greed working for Mammon, but we have no idea what happened in between.

So, here is where evidence ends and rampant speculation begins.

As a former child performer, Fizz is unlikely to have had much experience doing anything else. In fact, given that they were travelling with the circus, it seems unlikely that him and Blitz would even have ended up with a steady education.

Blitz obviously managed to found his own business after the accident, but Blitz had been dreaming of doing just that since he was a young child, and it was his Dad who was actually handling the business-side of the circus, so I don't think he's a fair comparison. Fizz probably spent his early years assuming he'd just keep performing forever, and so it makes sense that he'd go back to that.

On the other hand, Fizz had just lost all his limbs, and would have been having to adjust to his prosthetics. (Most likely lower quality prosthetics that he ended up with later, since those seem to be a gift from Ozzie.)

His clown act was mostly physical. Acrobatics require a sense of balance and spatial awareness. Balloon animals and juggling require fine motor control. Literally replacing all four of your limbs— even with magical Hell-prosthetics— is going to cause issues with all these skills, at least temporarily.

So. What industry in the Pride Ring is related to entertainment, but doesn't necessarily require any complex acrobatics, and would most likely welcome a fresh amputee with severe facial scarring? (For fetish reasons, if nothing else?)

I'm not saying Fizz would have done sex work, since he seems so uncomfortable with the idea, but stripping? Maybe doing some soft core porn? I could see that. He's clearly not too fussed about adult entertainment in general, because he's totally okay performing at Ozzies.

He's also probably insanely handsome by imp standards. Like, dude ends up becoming a major sex symbol throughout the rings and has the embodiment of Lust falling madly in love with him. (Plus, as a kid and teenager, he got more attention as a performer than Blitz— the guy who briefly dated a succubus pop-star and now has an ars-goetia prince begging him for a pity-fuck at every opportunity.)

So, given all that, and given his future success, it makes sense that he'd have been popular. Which immediately puts him in range of one of the Pride ring's other hugely popular adult performers: Angel Dust.

And I could see these two getting along. Since Angel is more of a sex worker whereas Fizz is more of a performer, and since Angel would probably be mainly catering to sinner demons and Fizz to hellborn (though no doubt there'd be some overlap), chances are they wouldn't be in direct competition with each other.

They have similar senses of humour and similar personalities. They both like small, cute animals. They both genuinely care about the quality of their performances, even in circumstances where they might not be expected to. They both have a tendency to mask their emotions with sex-related jokes.

Plus there's the fucking angst potential of Angel befriending Fizz when he was an independent performer, and then watching— helplessly— as his friend starts talking about this new job offer with Mammon.

Like people have already made posts about how Angel might feel watching Fizz's performance in Two Minutes Notice and comparing it to his own situation with Valentino, but fuck imagine it from the other end of Angel watching his friend fall into that situation.

Trying to talk him out of it during the initial love-bombing phase and getting told he's just jealous. Not even being able to visit Fizz when it all goes wrong because sinners aren't allowed to leave the Pride Ring.

Also, as a secondary detail, imagine Angel Dust finding out that his new friend's life-changing injuries were caused by Blitz, seemingly a pretty well-known figure in the Pride Ring.

Imagine Blitz finding out that Hell's most famous porn actor has genuine beef with him and having absolutely no idea why.

(Millie, Moxxie and Loona— based on the Verosika thing— all assume it was a bad breakup, despite Blitz insisting otherwise.)

#helluva boss #hazbin hotel #fizzarolli #angel dust #blitzø #mammon #valentino #hazbin hotel headcanons #helluva boss headcanons

[tenebraevesper]

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 7)

Welcome back to Part 7 of my Shadow, Sonic, and to an extent, Nine character analysis! This one will cover Episode 21: Home Sick Home and Episode 22: The Devil is in the Tails. In addition, this and the next post will also have a lot of gifs coz I'm hellbent to analyze every detail of this show.

So, let's dive in!

''Shadow, you're alive! Help a brother up?'' ''We are not related.''

After getting knocked into the abyss Nine made, Shadow makes an epic return by saving Sonic from the Grim Variant Trooper, with Sonic being happy to see that he's alive. Shadow... doesn't get the joke, but Sonic doesn't care. Also, Shadow does the pose from Sonic X. X3

*sighs* ''Nevermind. You okay?'' ''I survived. Nine's Alphas deployed a massive army to keep me down here.'' ''Alphas? You mean the ones that can duplicate themselves?''

''If I still had that Chaos Emerald, I could've teleported out of here. But, it's lost to the Void. And, smashing hordes of Sonics isn't the worst thing in the world.''

''Up for smashing a few more of mes?''

Okay, hol' up a second there buddy! ''Smashing Sonics?'' I hope the writers knew what they were doing, because the internet is going to take this conversation WAAAY out of context... and they already did.

In any case, we get an explanation to what Shadow was doing, and while yes, we see Shadow literally flying out of the abyss without the need for a Chaos Emerald, I assume that he meant that there was such a huge army of troopers that he needed the Chaos Emerald to get out. However, by the time Sonic arrived, the number lessened, so he could escape.

In any case, he's definitely up for smashing more Sonics.

They continue fighting the troopers, and what I really love about this fight is how they basically start playing tennis with the robot, throwing it from one to the other before Sonic slams it down.

''Hahaha! Helloooo, teamwork! Up top!'' ''These troopers are one thing, but the Alphas can generate an endless army. They are the real threat.'' *sighs* *high-fives himself*

Hey, Shadow, Shads, Shad, dude! Don't leave Sonic hanging like that. At least you could've taken the moment and high-five him since Sonic just wanted to celebrate your amazing teamwork. Admittedly, I can also understand Shadow here, as he is all business, quickly pointing out to Sonic how Nine's army works.

''Rebel's plan is working. The Scavengers are through to the citadel. They're gonna cut Nine off from the Prism.'' ''Which is in Nine's lab, guarded by the Alphas. They'll never reach it!'' ''So, how do we destroy them?''

Earlier, Sonic had managed to team up with all of the Shatterverse Variants, and instead of being reckless, he left it to Rebel to figure out a plan to get them through. However, Shadow doesn't have much faith as he understands just how much danger the Alphas pose, with Sonic recognizing that Shadow is right and asks for advice. After all, Shadow is usually the one who can see the flaws more easily.

''We don't. We're going after Nine!'' ''No, we're not!''

''We''? Did Shadow just say ''We''? He did! He shows absolutely zero hesitation wanting to work with Sonic in taking down Nine, and I have to say, I'm so proud of him managing to get to this point. However, as it was shown last time, Shadow needs to acknowledge that, while he did accept that he and Sonic need each other, they also need more help.

Also, remember how Shadow attempted to reach out for Sonic when the latter grieved his loss back at Ghost Hill, but backed away? Well, Sonic shows no hesitation here, quickly grabbing Shadow's arm to stop him. Shadow doesn't even push him away or anything, just glances back before yanking his arm out of Sonic's grip and remains on the spot, listening to what Sonic has to tell him. Their communication skills have definitely improved.

''You said it yourself. If we don't go after the Alphas, we're cooked. And the only way to win this thing is if we work together. We need the others.'' ''It is the end of the universe-''

As Sonic talks to Shadow, we can literally see Shadow go through several expressions and emotional states, and honestly, this scene was killing me when I first watched it! X3

Shadow goes from ''Not this again!'' *eye-roll* to ''Yeah, that makes sense'' to ''What the hell, Sonic!'' in a matter of seconds and I'm loving every bit of it. He is so expressive and this little moment shows that he there is more to him than it seems.

That, and he's dealing with Sonic, so obviously, he'd show more emotion than usual, since Sonic seems to be the only capable of triggering such emotional reactions from him. Not to mention, Shadow is certainly comfortable enough in Sonic's presence to show these kinds of reactions.

''-and you're still thinking about your friends!'' ''Of course I am! They're all here, fighting, sacrificing themselves, for me!''

Shadow berates Sonic for thinking about his friends when the fate of the world is at stake, with Sonic arguing how of course he'd do that. They are fighting and sacrificing themselves for him, and he isn't going to let them down. Sonic will always put his friends as his priority and he is not wrong for doing that.

''All the more reason to go after Nine while he's distracted!'' ''And let my friends get pummeled when Nine only wants me? *gasp* Nine only wants me... I have an idea!''

However, I cannot argue that Shadow is wrong either. He is right that they need to go after Nine before everything gets destroyed.

Honestly, this very argument showcases best how Sonic and Shadow's minds work. Shadow will focus on the end goal and how to achieve it, while Sonic looks at the bigger picture, at the people affected by their decisions. Both are right and wrong at the same time, and both want to take a different approach, but the only way to win this is to work together.

Especially with Sonic suddenly realizing that there is a way for them to win this war.

As Sonic and Shadow go join the rest of the group, we see all of them taking down Robot Big, with Shadow and Sonic exchanging looks after seeing this feat happen. Sonic grins, giving Shadow an ''I told you so!'' look, while Shadow is genuinely surprised that the group had managed to succeed in taking down such a formidable foe.

''Gang, this is Shadow! Shadow, meet, well... everyone, I guess.''

Rebel is glad to see Sonic, with Sonic quickly introducing Shadow to everyone else, which... awww, just look at them!

Sonic literally pulls Shadow into a side-hug, smushes his face against his cheek and rubs his shoulder, showing nothing but pure affection and being completely oblivious to everything else.

Shadow in turn, goes first into panic mode when Sonic pulls him closer, not sure what is happening, but unlike last time when he pushed Sonic away, he let's Sonic hug him. He certainly shows annoyance, but I think it is more out of embarrassment for being hugged like that in the public. He really doesn't mind being hugged by Sonic, and he even stays like this until Nine makes his move.

Also, where is Shadow's arm? It literally disappears when Sonic hugs him. Honestly, I choose to believe that he placed it on Sonic's back.

D'awww, they're so adorable!

I also love how literally everyone's reaction to this is just being unimpressed (with Renegade Knux being 🤨?).

Everyone's reaction just screams ''Sonic, did you really have to introduce your boyfriend when it's the end of the world?''

Well, of course he had to. He and Shadow are closer than ever now and it's the end of the world. One might as well do whatever they want.

SONADOW FOR THE WIN!

''Well, that's... terrifying.''

However, things quickly go south when Nine starts gathering more and more energy, making the The Grim decay even faster. This then leads up to the Chaos Council's mothership to be blown up.

''Mr. Dr., are you alive? Say something!''

Fortunately, Mr. Dr. Eggman manages to escape in his robot mech, wanting to melt Nine for what he had done. I just love how Shadow is also in the circle, wondering if Mr. Dr. Eggman survived or not. It's kinda hilarious.

With Prim's team defeated and the Shatterverse Variants being back to square one, Sonic quickly tells them their plan, and one notable thing in this shot is that, after they confront Nine, he looks to Rebel, then to Shadow, who nods in response. It is as if he's not only seeking for approval, but also making sure that they all have his back.

They're all in this together.

''Finally! Prove your worth machine!''

The battle begins anew, and I love how Shadow has beef with Grim Alpha Sonic, given how the latter had knocked him down into that abyss.

Seriously, I kept an eye on Shadow during this whole battle, and whenever he's shown, he mainly seeks out Grim Alpha Sonic, which made me think about something...

How cool would've it been if Nine had made Grim Alpha Shadow as a reference to the Shadow Androids from Sonic Heroes? I think people's minds would be blown.

However, as the battle goes on, we see Sonic's team losing, with Sonic confronting Nine. Gotta say, even if Shadow lost, look at how many troopers were sent to take him down. He would definitely be able to defeat all of them, though, if it weren't for one thing...

As we learn in Episode 22: The Devil is in the Tails, Sonic had managed to convince everyone to act as if they lost (yes, even Shadow followed that plan) and let Nine focus solely on draining the Prism energy while fighting Sonic, leaving the robots without power.

This leads to a victory for Sonic's team as they defeat the de-powered robots... at least until Nine powers them up again. Nevertheless, while Sonic (and later on, Renegade Knux) is focused on getting through/defeating Nine, everyone else focuses on the Alphas.

''You aren't going anywhere.''

When Nine orders the Alphas to target Sonic, most of them get knocked back by the Shatterverse Variants, with Shadow once again facing Grim Alpha Sonic.

We can see a parallel to Sonic and Shadow's fight from Episode 02: The Yoke's On You, but unlike last time, with Shadow fighting against Sonic, Shadow is now fighting for Sonic. He does get knocked down, leaving Grim Alpha Sonic to join Nine. I also checked that episode, and both Shadow and Sonic got knocked out after colliding. I suppose the Grim Alpha survived due to being a robot.

''We're not finished!''

However, Shadow makes a comeback, destroying the robot, much to Nine's shock.

''No! HOW?!'' ''I am... the Ultimate... Lifeform'' ''Modest too!''

Shadow's statement is once again very simplistic and factual. He is the Ultimate Lifeform, of course he'd beat a robot duplicate of his rival. I also love how Sonic jumps in with a comment, mainly because I have no idea if he was just messing with Shadow and Nine, or if he was genuinely honest about Shadow being modest. It's hilarious nonetheless. X3

Nine refuses to give up, using the Prism energy to paralyze both Shadow and Renegade Knux, while Sonic uses his own ability to create a barrier as The Grim decays faster and faster.

''He's not gonna stop.''

Sonic knows that he has no choice. Nine won't stop unless Sonic stops him. So he spin-dashes into Nine, knocking him down into the light of the Paradox Prism.

I absolutely loved how we could see here both Sonic and Shadow's growth, as well as how their ideals both clash and work together, leading up to the final confrontation (and also getting more Sonadow content because, hey, why not? XP).

Considering how Ian Flynn was a consultant for Sonic Prime, this episode really gave me the impression that this was the House of Cards arc from Archie!Sonic, as in the issues where Sonic and Tails have their big fight, but was written way better, acting like a redemption for that rushed mess.

Rest assured, the next (and last Part) will show us he big finale of this show!

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 6)

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 8)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

#Ten's Thoughts #sonic prime #sonadow prime #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #tails nine #sonadow

[magicwhiskers29]

More Prime season 3 thoughts/analysis, because I'm not done!

Time to talk about Shadow again!

He honestly came back after episode one a lot faster than I was expecting, haha. I really thought they would do a season 2 again, and wait until like. The final episode to give him time to do anything much, except for maybe give the odd line here or there, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him from episode five onwards! (I also did keep expecting him to have a snarky one-liner for Nine any time we cut back to Nine exasperated at stuff not working, but... That wouldn't exactly make sense with the explanation for where Shadow was...)

For starters, yeah, him having just been fighting robots the whole time checks out. That... was what he said he was going to do... Makes his uh... bloodlust? For a fight with Nine more understandable too. I'd want a fight with the guy who'd been sending robot clones after me all day, too.

But... His dynamic with Sonic! This was such a good conclusion to it! In episode one, we saw him finally show a bit of trust in Sonic, and here we see him fighting alongside Sonic, that trust paying off best it can. He offers to keep helping. This is a big display for Shadow, who previously in this show wanted to just get things done himself.

I was a bit concerned at first about how they seemed to be not including him as part of the friends Sonic wanted to save, but no, they were just holding back. And I think that divide is deliberate, the same way it is with Nine. Shadow isn't just someone he's found in the Shatterverse and wants to now save; Shaodw is someone he knows from home. The kind of saving Shadow needs is very different.

And... the thing is, defining Sonic and Shadow's relationship in this show is difficult, and also really interesting. (Yes, they're every fruity aghkgkghgjkhhhjjh, but in a more serious sense...)

At first, we get the sense that they don't like. fully hate each other, but that they do not listen to each other, and definitely would be best known as rivals. The implication at the start of season 1 is that they show up weekly to brawl or something. Because they don't agree on things, and tussle over the smallest things.

In season 2, Sonic is thrilled to see someone from home, even if it is his rival, and basically seems to use that to declare Shadow his friend on the spot. (Kinda like how he assumes all the Au versions of his friends are just his friends because the originals are, at first.) Shadow still sees Sonic as his rival at this point though, and more importantly, as someone who caused this mess, and is thus too unreliable to fix it. He attacks Sonic to get him out of the way, and probably also to vent a little bit. They are not prepared to work together in s2e1.

Through out season 2, we see them have to work together, for better and worse, and yeah, they still don't really losten to each other. Sonicnot about Nine, and Shadow in only focusing on the mission -- still assuming Sonic's flaws are faults. They aren't really team players.

But then! S3e1! Shadow starts to plan around Sonic's flaws, and Sonic starts to listen. They actually put trust in one another, and it's quite clear that they do care about each other, even if before they'd both just thought of each other as rivals. I've talked about this before. Shadow starts trying not to get angry at Sonic fo his mistakes, and they both try to understand each other.

And when they reunite? They start fighting together again fairly seemlessly. Shadow has Sonic's back for the big fight scenes, even if he has gone off to do his own thing again. (Sidenote, I really like the implication that maybe Shadow really did want to prove himself better than Grim Sonic, quite possibly just because Sonic said it could be modelled after him too lmao) Shadow doesn't even complain too much when Sonic hugs him and introduces him to everyone! He just gets on with things, becaus ehe knows things are serious, and he does sort of trust Sonic.

And hey! By episode 6, he's not the one saying that they can't trust Sonic's plan! He has no objections to it, and goes along with it!

He goes for Nine still at the end, because of course he does, but he stops when Sonic tells him to. He does trust in Nine for Sonic, and... Well, he lets Sonic make the sacrifice. His facial expressions (Sorry, don't have screenshots this time...) make it clear that he is reluctant to do so, and hates this, but he doesn't complain. He knows it's the only way, even if he has now realised that it will hurt him to lose Sonic.

Shadow standing on the other side to Nine, flanking him too, in the sacrifice scene, alongside him being the first to mourn, really does put into perspective how Shadow here has come to care. How he is more than just another in the crowd of Sonic's friends.

And THE ENDING. AGHHHHHH! Him saving Sonic at the end was adorable, and the line about hugging? He doesn't even deny it! He likes being close to Sonic now!! 🥺

And I really do get the sense that he's learnt something too, in the end. He trusts Sonic and Sonic's growth, so they work together in the retake of the prism fight. That little nod before the chaos control of the prism is everything. (Sonic 06 vibes haha)

Their banter is also on point... When Sonic mocks him saying "Modest, too" after the first Ultimate Life Form line? Love it. Made me laugh a little in shock. Same deal with the hugging line, haha.

They're immaculate. From a sonadow perspective and a character dynamic perspective, I love their dynamics, and I love the feeling of their parallel arcs where they grow around each other and for each other.

Oh, also I forgot about it before, but when Sonic yells out for Shadow and sounds so worried mid-battle?? That's his link back home! That's the guy he's doing this quest with!! They both want the same thing, so it's so fitting that they need each other for it, and in the end, they make it together. Shadow saves Sonic by bringing him through the gate to Green Hill, and that is the big symbol of change.

He couldn't go through gates before. But just like at the start of the season, thanks to Sonic, he finds another way. He makes it through in this new, fixed universe that he helped to make.

#Sonic prime #Sonic prime spoilers #Prime spoilers #sonic prime season 3 spoilers #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #Sonadow #Also for the record Sonknux fans should be thriving too after those last too episodes with Renegade #Analysis #Long post #Whiskers rambles

[thebroccolination]

SO ABOUT KRIST. \:D/

I'm not sure how many people have seen this photo or know the context behind it.

It was taken by a fan (see watermark) at the final episode premiere for Be My Favorite in August. After we finished watching the episode, Krist and Gawin walked down the aisles of the theater singing their duet, and then they went to the front stage to give their closing speeches. Most of us expected Krist to cry because it doesn't take a lot to make that happen on a normal day. But a fan event for a series that he put his heart and soul into? That he had resting on his shoulders since it was announced in late 2021? Certified, guaranteed, written in stone.

Even expecting it, though, didn't prepare me for seeing Krist cry in person. Especially when it wasn't the crying I'm used to seeing from him. I didn't even need to understand what he was saying to feel affected by it. Being in the theater, hearing him struggle to speak, assuming what he must be talking about, hearing how absolutely earnest every word was, that was enough.

I read the translation later. Krist was talking about Gawin. That he's always wanted the focus of the series to be on Gawin, because it was Gawin's first main role, and Krist felt like he'd taint it. In the past six months, Krist has said more than once that his greatest achievement from Be My Favorite was meeting Gawin. In another interview, he said he didn't care if no one watched the series because he has Gawin in his life now, and that means more to him than the success of his work. He said meeting Gawin changed him and made him grow up.

I always knew that Krist would be good for Gawin's career. From the moment I saw the casting announcement, I knew that Krist would do what he does with all of his friends and colleagues: promote him, hype him, celebrate him. I just had no idea how close they would become. That they would both find strength in each other, and that they would develop the incredibly close friendship they have now.

And, man…ever since I saw that photo up there where Gawin is listening with tears in his eyes as his close friend and admired senior talks about him with such affection and respect, my disappointment in everyone who continues to spread misinformed hate against Krist is so much deeper.

But it's also calmer.

Because it won't last.

Krist is so widely loved by the people in his life and the people he's worked with, and he's so effusively loving in return. And I think more and more people are starting to see that. He cares so intensely all the time and he allows so much of his vulnerability to show, and he listens to people.

So whenever I see people scoffing, "How does he even have fans?" I know they haven't actually looked into who he is. I know they watched a TikTok or a YouTube video with the same five things taken out of context and it just doesn't hold up when you actually see him.

Because this is who he is:

At MUSICON, he and Gawin did a meet and greet, and this fan shared her experience talking to Krist. She had so much she wanted to say, but she couldn't stop crying, and he patted her gently on the shoulder to comfort her. She said he kept kindly looking into her eyes while she spoke, and she finished by hoping more and more people get to know him.

He's one of GMMTV's top stars who makes eye contact with his fans and engages with them. He's popular enough that he could just coast during these fan events, but he wants to listen and interact with his fans. He remembers us.

And, like, I already did a whole thing about how he's not homophobic.

Like, seriously, he isn't. During his solo concert in Cambodia, he made a beeline to this fanboy and giddily danced with him the same as he did with the women in the audience. And he wasn't the only guy he danced with, either.

Krist also got hit on in an airport by a whole European dude years ago and he was delighted. The dimple came out to play and everything.

There comes a point when people who say "he's just pretending he isn't homophobic to make money" start to sound like they just really, really want Krist to be homophobic because otherwise they have been mercilessly tormenting him for years over misinformation they didn't care enough to look into.

The man described his love scene with Gawin in Be My Favorite as a piece of art. Like. I think it's abundantly clear that he's not the monster interfans invented just to throw knives at.

So anyway.

Back to Gawin.

I'm glad Krist has Gawin in his life. Gawin who sees him, who appreciates him, and who gives back just as much affection as Krist gives to him.

And who honest-to-God looks like he wants to protect Krist just as much as any of us do.

So yeah!

I like Krist.

I think he's neat. \:D/

(And I totally hope he'll let Gawin and Singto do a skit making light of all the ship wars during his concert next weekend. GawinSingto jokes, come to me.)

#be my favorite #krist perawat #gawin caskey #gawinkrist

[lastweeksshirttonight]

Did you want my notes on Strike Force Five episode one? No? TOO BAD! YOU'RE GETTING THEM!

(Heavy spoilers for episode 1 if you plan on listening soon!)

- I love the show's overall vibe and the "roles" that all of the guys play. It's definitely a free-wheeling, off the rails kind of show, where everyone is rambling over each other; the personalities involved can make or break this kind of podcast, and everyone thankfully is playing to their strengths.

Kimmel serves as the overall show runner and is seemingly the only one endeavoring to keep anything on track, which is a slightly thankless job with this group, but he's got a soundboard and all his radio experience guiding him. Colbert also leans into being the other "elder statesman", as it were, but is much easier to derail (and provides his own episode eclipsing derail I'll talk about later). Fallon is surprisingly reserved and a bit awkward - I'm not the hugest fan of Fallon, but in this podcast, that energy serves him pretty well. Kimmel introduces Seth as "the cute one" and he seems the most neutral so far, just there to ask questions and crack jokes. And John is their super sarcastic "evil teammate" who occasionally interjects to just destroy everyone. Perfect dynamics, 10/10, no notes.

- Seth qualifies his eyes as ocean blue. John says they're Gatorade blue. I don't think I've ever laughed harder at a description of someone's eyes.

- There's a point where I assume there must have been a really blunt edit, because Fallon changes the topic abruptly to having a doctorate. Otherwise, I love the image of Fallon just sitting on that revelation and WAITING, BURSTING to talk about how he has a doctorate, while everyone else talks about Kimmel getting paid summers off.

- Everyone mention multiple times that they have sponsors and are doing this show to help pay their staff during the strikes, which is lovely. This does not mean they aren't taking the piss out of their sponsors. I never thought I'd hear worse ad copy reading than I do on The Jeff Gerstmann Show (I love Jeff, don't get me wrong, but his ad copy screaming is hilariously bad), but the Casamigos ad in this is something else. John spends most of his reading time shitting on a bleeped-out competitor that he calls "not fit for human consumption", Stephen says "you're gonna wanna wipe your ass with it" and likens it to the smoothness of sheets you make love on, there's a disembodied "woo" at some point, Seth stumbles all over a few Spanish words, and Fallon delivers his lines in his awful fake French Timothee Chalamet puppet voice. It's pure chaos and I love it so much.

- Kimmel referring to "the despicable Matt Damon" made me so happy.

- John has never done a deposition. Kimmel saying "I'm surprised you're not in prison" gets lost which is sad, that's a fucking hilarious joke.

- Fallon tells an amazing story about his mom being a nun for a week. She left after being reprimanded for taking Lifesavers into the nunnery and then left. My late aunt and best friend, who was also a nun, probably would have loved Jimmy's mom, as she was always going on wine tastings and picked the order she joined entirely based on who would let her continue to drink after taking her vows. Jimmy also has a picture of his mom dressed as a nun holding a doll dressed as a nun, which is absurd and adorable.

- This leads to everyone but Seth confessing that they'd all thought about becoming priests at some point. That doesn't shock me about Stephen at all, tbf, knowing how religious he is.

- I have to shamefully admit that when John mentioned that he told his father he wanted to be a vicar, my brain went to an extremely Fleabag place and I had to rewind the podcast once I snapped out of it and realized I'd missed like 3 minutes of jokes (including a fantastic one from Seth about John having a doll of himself as a child, like Fallon's mom's nun doll).

- "Don't you want a whole new crop of relatives to visit and entertain?" "Do you wanna get cancelled?! :D" The two Jimmys everyone.

- Stephen reveals who he has everyone saved as in his phone, to prevent people from figuring out who his contacts are if his phone gets stolen. John's is Joliver, which 1) was his name as written on TDS scripts to differentiate him from Jon Stewart, and 2) as everyone points out, is a VERY easy code to crack. Don't really need Sherlock for that one.

- ONE OF US ALERT: Stephen collects weird late night shit, like a hat from The Chevy Chase Show (John literally goes "WOW") and a silk jacket from The Pat Sajak Show. I am very jealous of this collection.

- Next episode everyone will talk about first episodes. I cannot wait to hear John talk about how all over the place his first episode is.

- The big story, running joke, and completely wild admission from this episode - Stephen Colbert has a pair of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza's pants. Fallon asks how no one outbid him, and it turns out his MOTHER had them BECAUSE SHE DATED HIM. His uncle went to LaSalle Military Academy with Somoza, and Somoza stayed with them during holiday breaks. Everyone else in the room picks up on the idea that Stephen's mom probably slept with a dictator (or as Kimmel says, "made love to a murderer"), Seth claims his mom drinks coffee out of Ferdinand Marcos' skull, and every other male figure Stephen brings up for the rest of the episode is assumed to be someone his mom slept with.

If you asked me before listening to this podcast if I thought there were going to be a pile of elevated "your mom" jokes holding it together, I would have pretty strongly said "no". Surprises at every turn in this pod.

The beginning of this story also captures John SO STRONGLY, and he wants to hear everything about it. Definite Bugle vibes there, this man will never not want to hear about weird dictator facts. He also manages to completely kill Seth by saying "Anastasio Somoza's pants, brought to you by Casamigos".

- Finally, I have already sent an email to the show asking about Planet of the Bass, to make up for my complete failure to ask at the Q&A. I got y'all, we'll get this answer some day.

#strike force five #john oliver #seth meyers #stephen colbert #jimmy kimmel #jimmy fallon #literally wrote this at work so apologies for its complete lack of coherence #but spotify you ✨️fucks✨️

[jelzorz]

lady justice and Vestal Virgins: religion on the human side of the border

Hoping to keep this relatively short BC I'm like 90% certain I'm the only one who cares

We don't get a lot about religion in the show, particularly on the human side? The most obvious reference we have to any known religion is the royal family being pretty heavily Jewish coded but whether that's Judaism in terms of religion or culture or both is unclear. How far it extends in-universe is something different, and the only religious figure we actually get is Lady Justice, but again, how far she extends into the religion of Katolis is to be seen.

Some things we (I) have had to assume include:

That Lady Justice is a religious figure

That she's supposed guide morality and decision making

That she is served by her clerics

That Opeli and her torchbearers are the Katolis equivalent of nuns

However there are some things in canon we have observed that we can make note of including:

The role of fire in their religious rites (specifically funeral rites)

That fallen kings are supposed to be mourned for 7 days before a funeral

That Opeli, as high cleric, is the one who performs these rites (coronation and cremation)

That there are (minimum) five clerics (Opeli + the four torchbearers at Harrow's funeral)

I lied this got long

This meta has no point except that I've been listening to a podcast called The Ancients and there was a whole episode dedicated to the Vestal Virgins and also worldbuilding is fun, but there are some real-world practises we can note here.

I mentioned above that the royal family is pretty heavily Jewish coded which is inclusive of the the tradition to mourn for seven sunsets after someone's death, but Judaism, generally speaking, doesn't have an equivalent for nuns. Women in Judiasm don't have particularly large roles outside of the family (I think??? I did do a pretty good google before I wrote this but I'm not Jewish, so please correct me if I'm wrong), so it's probably safe to say that the coding doesn't extend that much into Opeli et al in their religious roles, HOWEVER, I do want to bring your attention to another group of women who bear some similarities: allow me to introduce the Vestal Virgins.

Vesta (Greek equivalent Hestia, at least probably) is the Roman goddess of the hearth, home, and family in ancient Roman religion. She is a virgin goddess but rarely depicted in human form, and more often represented by the fire in her temple. Sources say that her worship predates the Roman Empire (Kingdom, even!), and her temple (before it was moved by Augustus) stood in the very heart of Rome, a literal hearth of the city. She was served by six virgin priestesses who tended to her fire and guarded her sacred hearth, whose attire is described on Wikipedia as:

a long linen palla over a white woolen stola, a rectangular female citizen's wrap, equivalent to the male citizen's semi-circular toga.[69] A Vestal's hair was bound into a white, priestly infula (head-covering or fillet) with red and white ribbons, usually tied together behind the head and hanging loosely over the shoulders.

So, like. We don't actually know if Opeli and her girls made vows of celibacy, it's just something we assumed? But like, if she has, then yeah, it would track. The Vestals also held some political power: they were personnae sui iuris, or sovereign over themselves for one, which was a pretty exclusive right for Roman women, and they represented the State of Rome themselves, and so could give testimony in trials without swearing the customary oath to the State, pardon the condemned by touching them, and were the only women able/allowed to address the Senate directly.

So like. There's stuff there. Vestals were powerful, politically involved priestesses who performed religious rites for the State of Rome. We should note too that Opeli and her torchbearers are women. We've never seen a male cleric, so we can only assume that this role is exclusive to women, and if we run with the idea that they serve Lady Justice, a female religious figure, then this would track also. It's not uncommon for female deities to only be served by female clerics/priestesses/what have you. The role the Vestals had in the politics and justice, in trials, in addressing the senate, and in the pardoning of the condemned, feels pretty relevant to Lady Justice also.

I did also also briefly mention the role of fire in Katolis' religious rites, specifically their funerary rites. Once again, we've only ever seen this scene in regards to their other ceremonies, but something else to be noted is how the novelisation refers to the other clerics:

So they're not just clerics, they're also torchbearers, which may or may not just be for the ceremony but they're referred to as torchbearers twice in this scene and not even once as clerics. We can probably assume that this isn't the only time they carry torches either, and that the flame represents something sacred to them.

A quick caveat: Fire being a sacred ceremonial thing is obviously not unique. Fire's been special to us as humans forever, because it's hard to make without the right tools, and if you stole it from like, a forest fire or some other existing source, then you would 100% treat that as something you had to keep burning a la sacred flames in many cultures—but it's the combination of priestesses and flames and red and white robes that make me wonder if there was inspiration taken from the Vestals.

Then there's the circlet. Very few people in TDP are ever seen with one. There are the rulers: King Atticus, King Harrow, and then King Ezran (Viren too, I guess, but he's a jerk); their consorts: just Queen Sarai to our knowledge so far; and then, for some reason, Opeli???

This has a couple of implications: the first is that she's on a separate ladder. Opeli demonstrably has a fair amount of power over the council and the Katolis army (see: 2x09). She can't overrule anything Ezran says (which is fair, as he is the King), but she seems to be the default substitute for the Kingdom of Katolis when he's unavailable. The second is that this is likely Katolis' way of separating the State from the Church and the Judiciary (which may or may not be the same thing in Katolis). If we refer, once again, to the Vestals, this also tracks: the Vestals performed the religious rites under the the Pontifex Maximus or supreme pontiff. The guys on the Senate were purely just the senate and left the religious stuff up to the guys (and girls) in charge of religion. Idk what the go is in Katolis, but it's pretty well implied from the way Opeli does the crowning of new monarchs that ceremonial things are her jobs, while ruling is the king's.

One last Vesta thing: Vesta (or Hestia) is the goddess of the hearth and home. When everyone else has gone, when everything has gone to shit, the hearth remains. She is, as Rick Riordan likes to call her, the Last Olympian. As long as Vesta's hearth is going, Rome still stands (which is why it's such a big deal when it goes out). And when our heroes are out on their adventures, who remains?

Anyway, in case it wasn't clear, Opeli is my favourite adult and I Love Her, your Honour. This exists because I like history and meta-analysis, but also because world building is fun and people rarely worldbuild on the human side of the border. If you're wondering about other goddesses that could exist in Katolis, Rome had Iustita (Justice), who often appears in a pair with Prudentia (Virtue), Clementia (Mercy), Pax (Peace), and Ananke (Necessity), among many, many others. Happy world building! Hope you found this fun and interesting!!

#tdp opeli #wish i did this before i wrote the fruit but ok #a meta by me? its more likely than you think #worldbuilding #were also not gonna talk about incestum bc yall know who i ship opeli with while the scandal is spicy #live burial is Not #anyway

[ratgirlcopia]

this is just all the ghost chapters plus how painful* they are to watch and why. and also kind of just a synopsis of all the parts i consider important. and also some analysis. i don't really know what this is but it's very long.

*"pain" here being defined as the intended impact of this sort of cringe comedy but also genuine emotional pain.

chapter 1: new blood. extremely easy to watch. a 0/10 on the pain scale. it's a funny, charming introduction to nihil and imperator.

chapter 2: the cardinal. pretty easy to watch. a 0.5/10 on the pain scale. pain here attributed to nihil immediately turning away from copia in order to talk about him like he's not there. it's hilarious. (other points of note that nobody talks about: copia refers to nihil + imperator as "your dark excellencies" here and never again. imperator refers to copia as nihil's "right hand man" which makes nihil being so immediately dismissive of him even funnier.)

chapter 3: back on the road. extremely easy to watch. a 0/10 on the pain scale. this one is just regular old goofs. and they're great goofs. the abrupt cut of pro memoria into the van being shut with the bodies in it, imperator slapping the side of the van, the voiceover at the end. it's great. DISCLAIMER: pain rating here does not take into consideration the comical inaccuracies in how the embalming process is depicted and assumes this goof was semi-unintentional.

chapter 4: the accident. extremely easy to watch. another 0/10. i'm noticing a pattern here regarding the pain scale and copia's presence (or lack thereof). this one is just regular goofs. the classic "imperator listens to miasma so hard she drives off a cliff and footage of five different exploding cars plays." it's great. the nihil/imperator interactions always have the same general vibe to them, and that vibe always tends to be really funny.

chapter 5: the call. pretty easy to watch. it gets a 1/10 because of the extremely heavyhanded omen references that parallel the ghost narrative. nihil talking about how "one, two, and three are all very good" but christ appearing at the end of 3 is a "shitty ending" feels very much like a parallel to him being annoyed about copia taking over. "when you start episode 4, you have to do a lot of rebuilding." (point of note that nobody talks about: imperator gets a call from "the old one himself" and this is never acknowledged again).

chapter 6: the visit. NOT easy to watch. it gets a 5/10. copia opens the door. copia closes the door. the nurse looks like she wants him dead (judging from the 2023 halloween quiz, he may be experiencing gender envy here as the nurse does have that cornette-y hat, but...pure speculation). cardinal. sister. papa. cardinal. sister. cardinal. sister. this is the chapter with the first instance of prolonged copia dialogue, and it shows. it is agonizing, but it is funny.

chapter 7: new world redro. very easy to watch. it gets a 0/10 on the pain scale. copia crashing into the wall on the tricycle is a classic bit, but i feel like that bit overshadowed every other implication in this chapter. it needs a longer breakdown.

the "previously on" sequence at the beginning emphasizes nihil being "all out of progeny" and copia not being part of the bloodline

however, everything after that implies copia is nihil's kid

nihil refers to him as "that boy" while at the typewriter

in nihil's dream sequence, the typewriter paper says "all work and no play makes papa a bad dad." we know he was a bad dad to the other three, but they're dead. why would he dream that he's repeatedly typing this while he's in his office and copia's riding around on a tricycle unless he was still actively being a bad dad?

this dream sequence also has him sleepwalking and encountering young imperator and his younger self. bad dad + remembering the era when copia was conceived = narrative implication and nihil's internal suspicion that he is copia's dad.

chapter 8: kiss the go-goat. this almost doesn't count, since it's mostly just the go-goat music video, but let's give it a 1/10 on the pain scale just for young nihil's existence. it's a great music video, and it also retcons some earlier ghost lore (namely, that the ministry is in sweden. from this point onward, it's pretty clear that they've historically been in los angeles). and then imperator's obviously pregnant with nihil's kid here.

chapter 9: tomb it may concern. compared to 1-8, i imagine this chapter felt like 9/11 when it came out. and that's the rating it gets. a nine out of eleven on the pain scale (9/10. technically).

this is the first time we see copia in a casual context. imperator calls, is immediately annoyed that copia has already recovered from the two-for-one plastic surgery, and almost calls herself his mom.

"my nose is now very delicate." "my jaw is a little bit overdone, i guess."

imperator is checking herself out in the camera for a good chunk of this, even though she's the one who initiated the call.

copia suggesting he dye his hair, emphasizing that he has nihil's white eye, imperator dodging this with innuendo so she doesn't have to verbally acknowledge copia's parentage.

copia then faking a bad connection and trying to get her off the call. the "i love you. i like you?" that goes fully unacknowledged. imperator's "aren't you supposed to be working?" and then her skeptical/unimpressed face as the call ends.

it's a waking nightmare. it's unwatchable. it's the best chapter so far, and maybe the best chapter overall.

chapter 10: home coming & special guests. pretty watchable. probably a 3/10 for copia's general demeanor and interactions with saltarian. more lore focused and less goof focused.

the implication here is that copia has always lived at the ministry and this has always been his bedroom, so he was probably at a hotel while recovering from the plastic surgery.

in the "i can't call you papa" discussion, the heavy handed implication is that nihil is copia's father, and imperator has not explicitly told copia that nihil is his dad (saying "i think so" when asked if he understands why she can't call him papa), even though copia can tell and has tried to get her to acknowledge it via the eye comment in 9.

imperator calling him "c" and "cardi" more or less confirms at the very least that "copia" is a name and not a title, though i'm personally also a "'cardinal' is his actual given name and also not a title" truther. anyway.

he cracks his spine with the worst noise i've ever heard and rides a tricycle up to the door to greet saltarian. the implication of the tricycle here (especially since he was shown with a full-size one in the prequelle-era chapters) could be that he's kind of symbolically outgrown that era, which i always thought was a fun touch.

both copia and saltarian also ring that doorbell WAY too many times when they're coming in, unless it's the kind of doorbell that just keeps going after you press it once.

also, copia clearly knows saltarian and wants to be friendly with him. saltarian seems to think copia's a bit of a goof-off and knows him well enough to know it's definitely copia's tricycle.

the "i can smell it" comment probably refers to nihil's dead body.

chapter 11: family dinner. incredibly painful watch. probably an 8/10.

imperator kicks a football into copia's head and everyone but copia is amused by this, and imperator's "oh, stop" seems to be directed at copia's sarcastic comment to nihil rather than nihil laughing at him. then copia's "i'm very happy. i'm very very happy" after this hits as possibly the least true statement he's ever made, but at the same time, his tone says he believes it.

copia's joke about the beijing beef phasing through nihil's body because he's a ghost is met with a few laughs, so he doubles down on this joke and drags it out a bit longer than necessary.

"you can't act. i can act" "i can too act. look, that's just totally your opinion, dude." should win an award.

imperator's facial expressions here indicate that she agrees with nihil, and when copia says that he's lost his appetite, she rolls her eyes. imperator is at least 50% of the decisionmaking process behind copia doing tv (if not more, since she seems to be in charge of everything), she has just as little faith in his acting ability, just as little respect for him, but has nihil tell him this. and it works. copia gets up, addresses her and saltarian normally, and transfers his hurt and annoyance onto JUST nihil by calling him "dickhead."

and of course the scene ends with nihil trying and failing to eat beijing beef just like copia said, thereby giving copia some credibility as the only rational person there.

chapter 12: ghost goes hollywood. the most painful chapter to watch, both emotionally and from a cringe comedy perspective. it gets the only 10/10.

copia introduces himself as "c," which is notable because it again solidifies that at least one part of "cardinal copia" is his actual name, and also indicates that imperator not calling him "papa" was enough for him to stop introducing himself as such (then again, maybe he wants the audition tape to rely more on his skills than his title).

then he proceeds to misquote, in order: a few good men, terminator 2, the sixth sense, jaws, apocalypse now, john wick, wayne's world, the maltese falcon, zoolander, scent of a woman, terminator, terminator 2 again, silence of the lambs, the matrix, air force one, jerry maguire, the warriors, rocky, [no clue], who framed roger rabbit, snakes on a plane, star wars, ace ventura, the truman show.

and then he takes the tape outside and puts it in the mailbox like sophie in mamma mia, and somehow the only unfilmed movie reference there is the only one that actually hits with some level of sincerity. and then it's over.

chapter 13: the beach life. it gets a 3/10 because that's pretty much the baseline for copia interacting with saltarian, but it's actually a very nice, chill chapter.

notable lore additions include that copia can drive. it's also the first time we see him in direct natural sunlight in a chapter video.

he also looks happy to be outside. the hop-skip out of the car, the spin on the porch, etc.

the binocular interaction with saltarian is really funny, with saltarian throwing up the middle finger and devil horns as soon as he realizes copia's watching him, then winking. good goof. the slow fighting montage they have is funny, and they're clearly both having a good time. it almost feels like copia's having TOO good of a time in the grand scale of what he experiences throughout the chapters.

and then he pretends he can hear what saltarian is saying for WAY too long before eventually admitting he can't.

it's interesting that saltarian refers to nihil as "mr. nihil" instead of "papa nihil," which might indicate that saltarian sees nihil as having been demoted since his death + copia's ascension (or maybe he just doesn't use the papa title for anyone). it's a shame saltarian never directly addresses copia by name or title.

it's also interesting that right after this, copia then calls nihil "nihil" instead of "papa" when talking about him to saltarian, like this dismissal of nihil's title made him realize he doesn't have to do that (at least not when nihil isn't around).

chapter 14: road trip. it gets a 7/10. it's incredibly awkward.

copia farts horrifically in the car and tries to pretend he didn't. the first band he can think of that starts with an "s" is salt n pepa.

he says jimi hendrix for "h" (not a band, but imperator pretends this is a fine answer).

then nihil sharts in the car.

imperator's accent is insane in this chapter.

i just realized copia says "you're definitely sharting" instead of "you're definitely charting" when nihil starts talking about mary on a cross. saltarian gets progressively more annoyed with nihil and copia's banter.

nihil wants a tesla. copia thinks this is stupid.

saltarian's "i know when your time is up" line here is usually (mis)interpreted as a threat, but personally i think it's just more of a general reminder to copia that beefing with nihil is not his biggest problem and he needs to stop thinking that enough witty comebacks (or attempts at those) will make things better for him.

chapter 15. this isn't a chapter, they even scrawl over "chapter 15" on the title card. next!

chapter 16: tax season. this one is...painful to watch, but more due to the other implications. it gets a 4/10 for imperator interactions and copia being bad at video games.

saltarian pushes an empty glass coffin down the hall, looks happy about this.

copia is playing a driving miss daisy NES game (not a real thing).

then imperator calls, and copia pretends he's doing taxes. imperator's tone indicates that she knows he is not doing taxes, presumably because she can hear the video game sounds from over the phone/the room next to him.

imperator announces the forum show, and copia sees saltarian going by with the coffin and smiling. copia is concerned about this coffin.

imperator comes in and says it's a "brand new, additional coffin." imperator says he does not need to worry about that, and that "jesus is coming."

copia is visibly confused by this, then shouts "finally!" after imperator has left the room (implications i cannot even begin to process), then resumes his game and selects the "fuck off, miss daisy" dialogue option when asked if he will drive miss daisy to church (a place miss daisy, an elderly jewish woman, would not be going to anyway).

chapter 17: nap time. this one isn't that hard to watch. maybe a 2/10 for the inherent awkwardness of nihil-copia interactions, but it's just kinda goofy.

we see the glass coffin saltarian was pushing around, and that now has nihil in it. boom. mystery solved, especially if we assume in chapter 10, saltarian was talking about the smell of nihil's body. of course he'd be happy to finally get that thing in a coffin.

we also haven't seen nihil's body in a coffin prior to this point, so the coffin was obviously never for copia.

copia drops his juice box straw (the video gets crunchy here for some reason), then pats around in the fog and picks up a wrench and an american flag by mistake while looking for it.

nihil's ghost then comes out of the coffin and copia calls him "pops."

point of note: copia is in a pretty good mood here (at least better than usual in the impera-era chapters), presumably because he realized the coffin was for nihil.

copia says "i brought you something" when lifting up the gold record, but we see him walk into the room at the beginning of the scene and he's very obviously not carrying it then.

copia describes "mary on a cross" as "your old shitty song! well, it's actually quite good, but it's—not that—anyway!" which is a FASCINATING line delivery that makes my brain tick in wild ways, but that's another post.

there's a fly buzzing around. additional support for the "nihil stinks" theory.

copia says "i'll skiddle," presumably meaning "skedaddle."

conclusion

and there we have it! that's all the chapters! wow! overall, most of them are not that painful, but the ones that are...definitely are.

i guess i didn't think about it that much before, but the prequelle-era chapters barely have copia in them, so i can see how really significant aspects of his personality and mannerisms that only show up in the impera-era chapters kinda just...don't make it into a lot of fan interpretations of him, especially for people who were watching these as they came out and built their understanding of him based on that. the prequelle chapters make the ministry seem at least a little more formal than it actually is, but when you take everything into account, you end up with this:

copia has always lived at the ministry, presumably always in that bedroom

copia was nihil's "right-hand man" (probably more like personal assistant) for a long time prior to becoming the ghost frontman

copia is imperator and nihil's kid, but imperator has not explicitly told him this (either that she's his mom or that nihil is his dad) and she instead assumes he understands both of those things based on her weird facial expressions

saltarian works at the ministry but does not live there

at least one component of "cardinal copia" is copia's given name, and there's at least a chance it's "cardinal"

based on the progression of the information gleaned through these chapters, i can make zero educated guesses about the direction the ghovie will take. thank you and goodnight.

#copiaposting #boss makes a dollar i make a dime so i analyze chapters on company time. #there's not a toooon of gender theory to extract from these (ch12 aside) so a general overview post made more sense. #i've said pretty much all of this stuff before across other posts but it's nice to have it all in one place. #chapter tag #<-let's try that. i still won't be able to find this when i need it again.

[starseneyes]

Chenford REWIND - Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 2 Ep 2

"The Night General" AKA Somebody to Lean On

This one came in as a request, and it's one that I'm really excited to do. It's fun to take a look at post-Quarantine House Tim/Lucy in more detail, especially considering Tim and Lucy's movement in Episode 1 of the season via her standing up to him and his respect of her.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode and everything that came before it are fair game. If you wish to remain un-spoiled, please don't read anymore. I do try to write these as though I'm watching them for the first time without knowledge of the future.

Everyone squared away? Then we're ready to dive in.

"Chief Williams added another book to your Sergeant's Exam Reading List." "Split Second Leadership: Leading Men in the Line of Duty." "Men?" "It's from the 60's. How is this relevant to the 21st century policing?" "Ours is not to reason why, Officer Bradford. Read the book." "Yes sir."

At this point, only Tim knows why this is bad news for him. From the outside, it might look like he is being obstinate or lazy. But Tim is struggling.

My little brother has a learning disability. He's a genius with a learning disability. No, I'm not exaggerating.

My brother can't write or spell. He'll tell you an elaborate story with five-syllable words with perfect grammar, but the minute he tries to write it, it looks like a Kindergartner wrote it.

He had a teacher in college who insisted he was faking it and throwing his papers because he didn't have a written diagnosis from a doctor. He dropped out of school. He never finished.

My point? Learning disabilities can happen to anyone and it's easy to be quick-to-judge. No wonder people don't want to share. No wonder there's so much shame and stigma.

No wonder Tim didn't say anything. No wonder he honestly doesn't know... because, in his family, it would be seen as "less than", "not good enough", a "screw-up".

"If I have to suffer, so do you. So, you're going to read this out loud to me between calls. Only way I'm gonna get it memorized in time." "Or, I could drive and you could read it by yourself."

Admit it, Lucy. You're just looking for an excuse to drive! In all seriousness, it makes sense. But, again, it's easy to assume that Tim's pride in being the one to drive is getting in the way of him "taking this seriously".

"It's hard enough to listen to it without your editorializing."

Okay, I am totally with Tim on this one. Sometimes when we're reading to the kids, Matt will do this, and suddenly 10 minutes of calm reading has turned into 30 minutes of kids bouncing off the walls because they couldn't focus to finish the story straight through.

"You're gonna have to re-read all of this anyway to really memorize it." "No. I memorize best when I hear it." "Really?"

I love this shot. Lucy leaning over the book, tight on her face as she processes the information of how he processes.

My Middle is Autistic/ADHD with an auditory processing disorder and suspected reading processing disorder. Eldest is ADD or ADHD (final diagnosis later this month) and Littlest has her full testing for Autism/ADHD at the beginning of next month. I know a lot about people processing differently.

But as Lucy's wheels are turning, she realizes what might be going on with Tim. But how do you broach a subject like that with TO Era Tim?

Lucy's had fun poking at Tim with the parts of the book she likes (especially the value of every officer), but the whole reason she poked was because of Tim's apparent sense of superiority. Yes, she knows it's a veil, but it's still hard to poke through, at this point.

This is different.

"Why?" "Nothing."

Nothing is never nothing. I think I write this once every other Meta. On this show, nothing is never nothing.

"Boot!" "You might have a learning difference." "What?" "Technically, it's classified as a disability, but it really just means that you're wired to process information differently. In your case, through, through hearing, rather than reading." "I don't have a learning disability."

I remember the conversations with my husband for years.

I told him I suspected he was ADD (my mother, brother, step-father, and step-brother are all ADD/ADHD... the only reason we know I'm not is because my little brother wouldn't take his test without me and Mom taking it, too).

Matthew would shrug it off because he didn't have a "Disorder". But when he was 38, his mother let it slip to me that he was diagnosed at 8... and they never told him. They hid it. They didn't want the stigma.

So, he spent his entire life struggling and not understanding why. He got re-diagnosed at 38, and his first morning on medication, he let me sleep in. I woke to him lying next to me, tears in his eyes.

"The clouds are gone," he breathed into the space between us. And then I was crying, too.

He'd had these clouds his entire life and thought it was just how he was. He didn't know there was help. He didn't know his life could be better. All because his parents hid his diagnosis.

We put so much damn stigma on this stuff that humans are suffering unnecessarily for the sake of societal niceties. And for Tim, there's definitely stigma and shame associated with having a learning disability. It's how he was raised.

"A lot of people have them. I bet Isabel helped you in the Academy, read through the materials and stuff." "We're not talking about this."

Talk about wheels turning... we can see Tim's as he thinks about all the times he and Isabel sat up, her reading to him.

He thought it was the sweetest thing, and it became their thing. I bet she read him other things, too, like fiction books, or autobiographies on his favorite sports figures.

But thinking about Isabel (still a very fresh hurt) and the stigma of having a learning disability is too much for Tim.

Because growing up, any "difference" was called out as a failing. Yes, I know those of you in early S2 don't yet know all of Tim's backstory, so I am reaching forward a little on this one.

But, it's important to understand why Tim reacts so strongly and so swiftly.

Tim ends conversations before he can lose his cool. Losing control could lead him to become the person he hates most in the world, so he does everything to avoid it. But, he's been on edge all year.

Hell, for more than a year. Because ever since Isabel disappeared, he lost that one little piece of his life that made sense.

Then, this ball of sunshine came into his life, blinding him with goodness and light. He tried at first to temper it, but I fully believe that the longer he's in her glow, the more his eyes adjust, and the more he shifts to helping refine her rather than dim that glow.

"Watch your tone, Boot." "Oh, you don't get to call her 'Boot', Rex. You're retired. She's the police, now."

Boom, Baby!! Tim Bradford putting an asshole in his place will always be good television.

"Let's see your bail bonds license and the warrant on your jumper." "You let her talk to you like that?"

Bitch, you don't want to see how I'm gonna talk to you if you don't back off. Tim's not biting on the "camaraderie" angle, here.

As tough as Tim can be, as much of an absolute ass as he can be... he's a stickler for the rules.

"Look, the hole you're in has nothing to do with Lopez. But she's gonna pay the price when the commander's son goes belly-up halfway through training." "I told him it's not her fault." "Yeah, so tell him, again. Lopez bent over backwards for you. She protected your ass when any other TO would've sent you packing. You owe her your career." "I know."

Don't. Mess. With. People. Tim. Loves. Tim and Angela's friendship is one of my favorite relationships on the show. Tim just stood up for Lucy and here he is standing up for Angela.

Now, I'm not saying Tim loves Lucy, yet. We're a long way off from that, if these two get their act together. But, I think it's important to see his consistency.

Tim's Tests might make him seem unpredictable, but there's a reason and a rhythm for everything that he does. And when it comes to his friends—to the people he loves—he's always going to stick out his neck. Even if it means risking himself.

"Do you want me to read to you?" "No." "Come on."

Now that she knows he has a learning disability, she wants to help. Now that he thinks she thinks he has a learning disability, he wants to run.

Lucy is a gentle, kind, loving human. She wants to help. It's her default state. But accepting help goes against everything that was ever beaten into Tim.

It was fine when he was ordering her to read to him. But now that there's a stigma involved, he doesn't want it.

"You have to learn it." "I can do that on my own."

See? And Tim's not trying to be an asshole. He's trying to 'be a man', 'cowboy up', and 'do it on your own'. You know... all the bullshit men are too-often taught from boyhood.

He's shying away from Lucy's help because he's ashamed.

Alright, Future Rachel needs to tell you that Tim Bradford hasn't had an easy life. His childhood was less than ideal. His marriage seemed good until it wasn't.

Seeing the worst in himself is easy, but having others see him as weak in any way? He can't have that. He puts up all this bravado and these thick walls around his heart to protect himself.

Lucy just found another tiny crack in his defenses. And instead of letting her light in to help heal his hurts, he's afraid it will burn.

"Training for the rematch with Nico?"

Tim's blowing off steam. That fight was tougher than expected, and Tim's going to do everything he can to stay in top shape. But, he's also processing.

Lucy processes by talking things out. Tim processes with a punching bag and sweat pouring down his brow. The beautiful thing about people is how different we are, yet we find a way to coexist. We learn to speak one another's languages.

My husband's a BIG gift person. He loves to give and receive. I struggle with physical possessions because of how I grew up.

But I know that small gifts throughout the year help him remember I'm thinking of him (buying his favorite coffee... a latte from the local café). And he knows making me a chai latte at home, or holding me when I'm upset lets me know he's thinking of me.

We love one another. We just don't experience love the same way. Same is true for Tim and Lucy. We're in the phase of them learning how to speak one another's languages. This is crucial if they're ever going to be in a romantic relationship.

Tim greets her almost with a smile as he turns to face her.

"Here." "What's this?" "It is 'Split Second Leadership: Leading Men in the Line of Duty' the Audio book." "The book's out of print. There's no audio book." "Yeah, which is why I recorded one for you."

"Lucy Chen, will you marry me?" I mean, that's what he's supposed to say, right? That's what you would say, right?

Because, let's break this down for a second—she stayed up all night doing this. This morning when she asked him if he wanted her to read to him, she knew what his answer would be.

But then they had this stressful-ass day, and she had to wait for the file to finish rendering, which might've taken all day because audio files with any quality are a beast.

Look, I was a voice over artist for over 20 years. I only left the studio where I was a contract player because I couldn't afford a home studio and now live over an hour from the studio. So, I've done a lot of commercials, on-hold messages, and, yes, books.

The kids especially love my reading of "Elmo Visits the Dentist" that they can listen to on YouTube whenever they want. Why go into all this? I know how long it takes to read a book aloud at a pace that is easy for others to process.

Immediately after learning that her TO needed to listen to learn, she took the damn book home (because she was the one holding it the next morning) and she recorded herself reading it for him.

She likely got no sleep as she set it to render and upload into the device to hand to him while she got ready to leave for work.

I bet she even went home, grabbed the device, then ran back so she could give it to him.

This is a labor of love. No, she's not in-love with Tim. But she cares about him. And this ball of sunshine is radiating in his life more and more.

We are post Quarantine House. We are post Lucy calling Tim on the Isabel stuff she should have reported. We've established that they trust one another.

But this is next level. Six months into her training, and Lucy's already breaking through so many of Tim's walls.

"Uh, listen, I talked to Isabel and from what she said, it's clear you're a kinesthetic learner, which just means you need to listen while you're being active in order to absorb things."

Girlfriend just called up her future husband's ex like a boss. Again, she did this yesterday. Lucy wastes no time when it comes to Tim. Keep that in mind for the future...

"There's no shame in it. Really."

Watch his face. His jaw clench. His body relaxes as he sighs. His eyes soften. Because, all his life any sign of being "different" was weakness. Any sign of being "not good enough" was punishable by pummeling.

Isabel didn't realize he had a learning disability from what we can tell. She just knew that he'd ask her to read to him. My husband and I used to read to one another (pre-kids) and it was a tremendous act of love.

But Lucy put a name to it. And Tim's been spiraling out about it ever since. Because there's a stigma that comes with words like that, tragically.

"Honestly, it's probably why you excel at being a cop."

Tim absorbs her words. She doesn't think he's a freak. She doesn't think he's a project. She doesn't think he's broken. She thinks he's a good cop.

Her view of him hasn't changed because of his learning disability. This is so important.

My Middle has been Autistic his entire life, right? But we only got the official diagnosis when he was 5 because he stopped eating and was rapidly losing weight. A family member actually said "How can I be [related to] an Autistic child?" I said, "You've done a fine job the last 5 years."

Who he is didn't change with his diagnosis. But there are always people who recoil at it because of the stigma associated with it.

Tim was afraid Lucy would think of him differently... but she doesn't. She still sees Tim as the hard-ass, soft-hearted, semi-asshole she has to deal with every day for another six months.

And, strange as it sounds, that's the most reassuring thing Lucy could say to him.

"Thanks."

Lucy ducks her head in a nod as she leaves. It's so sweet. Lucy knows him well enough to understand this is difficult for him. She has a strong understanding of psychology, and a growing understanding of Tim Bradford.

Sticking around won't help him. Letting him get to work will help. She knows him well enough not to hover, and she knows better than to expect compliments from Tim at this phase.

Hell, that "Thanks" was unexpected and I'm surprised she was able to keep moving after she heard it instead of calling it out.

Maybe she just really needs the sleep after all she's done for him. She deserves it!

"Split Second Leadership by Curtis Philbrick, read by the best Rookie you've ever trained."

Tim can't help but smile at that. And it's a real smile. The kind the shows his teeth and reaches his eyes. The kind Lucy won't see, yet.

Lucy offered Tim a piece of herself when she handed over that audio recording. No, it's not romantic. But it is a gift, nonetheless. This was above and beyond anything required of her as a Rookie—she did it as a friend.

And Tim accepted the gift. I don't think we talk enough about this. Lucy sent him food one episode ago and he told her she "shouldn't have". But there's no fighting this gift.

Because the events of 2x01 were a big shift for these two that we don't talk enough about. Lucy making it to the halfway mark and doing well on her exam. Lucy calling Tim on his shit when he tried to distance himself from her by being extra assholery. Lucy going beast-mode chasing that fake cop.

And here we are in 2x02 and Tim who was humbled by Lucy one episode ago is now unintentionally wounded. Because he thinks she sees him as "less than". He thinks her opinion of him somehow lessened because he's been raised to see a "learning disability" as a bad thing.

When Lucy turns it around at the end and says it's his super power, that's powerful. She helped him see himself in a different way. The king of coming at something sideways has met his match. So, what could he say after a gift like that? He wouldn't reject it. He couldn't.

Because Lucy gave him the gift of a shift in perspective. And those readers who are from the future, like me, know he'll repay that gift in a huge way in that same room not too long from now.

They're not in love, yet. But they are on their way to friendship, and learning one another's love languages on the way. So if when they finally arrive at love, it'll be a deep love. It'll be a love that grows. It'll be a love that thrives.

Because true love often takes effort... but it's worth it.

Tim Pays it Forward

Look, Tim takes care of his people. We already know that. But I also like to think that Tim recognized something of himself in Rex thanks to Lucy's kindness.

Rex doesn't like asking for help. Neither does Tim. But if Tim isn't careful, he could end up like Rex.

Now, Rex likely didn't have a Lucy. But, he does have a Tim. And that's damn good, too.

As ever, thank you for reading. This one is one I'm super passionate about with my family history and the children I'm raising.

Now, I'm not going to pretend it's all peachy-keen. It can be really, really tough raising three neurodivergent children, and there are very bad days. But for Tim, his learning disability really can be a super power.

Also, oh, isn't it fun watching Tim and Lucy of Season 2 on their way? So much fun!

Hope your weekend's been lovely! Mine's been so quiet, it's lovely. Currently have three Littles in bed with me as we have a pajama/movie day. It's the little things!

See you on the next!

#Chenford #Lucy Chen #Tim Bradford #Melissa O'Neil #Eric Winter #Lucy x Tim #Tim x Lucy #Meta #The Rookie

[pepperf]

What do you do when you’re burnt out on fanfic? Like the characters just don’t feel the same to you anymore

I assume you mean writing fic, not reading? (For reading, I find that's the point at which I drift into another fandom).

It's...difficult, tbh. I am kind of in that place with TUA, too, and while I'm looking forward to the last burst of excitement with season 4, and that might reignite my desire to write endlessly about these characters, I suspect that my most passionate love affair with this show is winding down. I still adore it! But I'm not thinking about it 24/7, coming up with new meta, new fic ideas, things I simply HAVE to write...

I've never found a solution, honestly! I've been through a number of fandoms, and there always does come a point where it winds down, for me. I respect and admire fans who are still there, 20 years later, with the same passion! But that's not how I work. And it sucks, honestly. It also sometimes means that my fandom social life shifts - I will keep some of y'all, but eventually most people will find other shows to post about, as will I, and our paths will diverge. And I feel sad, and wistful, and a little autumnal about the whole thing.

It doesn't have to mean it's the end right now, however. Some people find a new spark in the same fandom - maybe that one fic idea that's just SUCH a challenge, SO interesting, that the fic itself grabs hold of you. Sometimes I find that I need to do something totally different - write in a different style, or create art instead, or...something, shake it up, whatever that means. Other people may have other tricks.

But on the whole, what I find is that I try to accept that it will simmer down, and that I won't finish every fic idea I ever had - and I look forward to whatever new and unexpected fandom will grab me in the future (and to having some downtime in the meanwhile, lol).

Sorry, that maybe got out of hand! I'm feeling some kinda way about the show coming to an end, I guess. XD To go back to your specific ask: sometimes I do a rewatch (because often I'm so caught up in fic or fandom that I forget where it all started, what made me love it in the first place). Sometimes I let myself start a new fic, something really super indulgent, the kind of fic that I most want to read but have been telling myself, nah, that's too much, no one will want to read that (don't listen to that voice, it's a lying liar!). Sometimes I go watch or read something else, and come back with a totally weird crossover idea (I don't really recommend that one, almost no one reads those). Sometimes I let myself just think about the characters, about something that's always struck me about them but that I've never quite pinned down and that I want to explore more in some way (usually fic, for me). Sometimes I just let myself stop worrying and go do something else, and if it comes back, it comes back.

I hope that's helpful - I'm not sure it is, but hey, the one thing I'm enjoying about TUA is that, generally, it's been a positive experience, and I am hopeful that we'll go out with a good and satisfying season 4. And we still have 6 entire episodes yet to see!

EDIT: Also - because apparently I have A Lot Of Opinions tonight - I find that it never completely leaves me. I care about all the shows I ever loved like this, I watch the new stuff the actors do (sometimes), I will read the odd fic, or rewatch an episode - or the whole thing - sometimes...I'm never going to completely lose TUA, and I will take forward some of the character beats and the ideas that I picked up from it, in some form or other. I may even get suddenly inspired, five years down the line, to finish a fic. XD So it's never wasted, it's all mulch to the creative mind.

#long post #boy that got rambly #I hope you don't mind me posting this aloud #writing #tua s4 #the umbrella academy

[jmdbjk]

Don't get me wrong but I'm genuinely confused why Jimin is mot doing any activities like other members. All the members are preparing for solo album and doing other works. But Jimin is only working on his album and nothing else. If we look their solo activities since announcement.

JK - he doesn't do many activities but things he does is pretty large scale. L&R MV + making + recording. Most charted somg by k soloist on BB. Performed on fifa stage - first Korean to perform on a WC, #2 debut and many locals fell for him lol.

RM - attended a museum activity, sexy nukim, WKorea with hobi, performed with balking tiger, podcast + interview, Pharrell interview + photoshoot, now host for a show.

Hobi - listening party something no members did ever lol, Lola + BTB + interviews, radio talk shows, crush collab, IU's pallet, crush interview, Zico interview.

Jin - Multiple movie premiers, Chef baek episodes, yesterday's liquor show, running man, CP concert performance, Youngji interview, interview with an old man idk his name, GQ top 10 things

Tae - ITS with wooga squad, movie premieres, Celine event, Vogue shoot, Paris schedule 2, dj radio show.

Suga - That That+ performance with Psy+ BTB, NCB event, dropping dropdead pics of insta which is definitely some photoshoots for a collab going behind scenes lol.

* Didn't included ost of vocal line because it was while they were performing and active as a group and didn't had any behind scenes.

Jimin - literally nothing and I wonder why. Is he not intereste in other activities apart from performing ? And not comfortable on appearing for those event. He's working for his album with various producers but that's it and rest members are doing the same, we saw how many collabs RM has on Indigo. Apart from all of these he's not active on sm too. Not even posting a single pic or message. I just miss him so much and not even getting to see him even as part of work.

Hello Confused Anon...

I can see why you are “genuinely” confused Anon. You seem to have Jimin mixed up with some other person you think is Jimin...

Especially since you proceeded to compare him to every other member in the group as if lauding their accomplishments like it’s some sort of competition between the members... what’s the point of that? why does your mind even go there?

You sort of answered yourself right away in your third sentence:

"But Jimin is only working on his album and nothing else."

But in case you really are “genuinely” confused... I wonder how you got so mixed up about who Jimin is? Maybe you do not pay enough attention to Jimin... here let me help you figure it out:

Jimin has said repeatedly that he is working hard on his album. Over the last five or six months we’ve seen the pictures from so many award-winning producers and musicians who are excited to share that they are working with Jimin.

I am assuming Jimin’s involvement is very time consuming and leaves very little time to travel across the globe to see fashion shows and such. He is probably feeling a little time crunch with that thing called military service looming and we know Jimin is a perfectionist... well, the rest of us do but you probably are not aware Anon because you were confusing Jimin with someone else.... anyway... Jimin being the perfectionist is cooking up some great music for us and is laser focused and has chosen not to do any one-off collabs. Any collaborations he’s done he is keeping under wraps until he is ready to release his album. Why hold that against him?

I understand you "miss" him but he’s not been totally absent... he’s had some time to get out and about...

During June/July/August 2022:

Jimin went to watch a few soccer matches with Hobi and with Sung Woon. He also went to see his friend Sung Woon’s performance in a stage musical one evening.

One thing Jimin is not: an attention seeker. Crowds are not his thing. He tried to keep it lowkey but alas, people can’t help themselves and take pics and post them on social media. People have no chill when it comes to that. Red carpets are work for him. He obviously chooses not to do them. No red carpets mean no premiers.

Jimin made a side-trip to Chicago for Lollapalooza to support his Hobi-hyung. While there he also took in other Lolla acts including TXT. Maybe you missed that too. He's living the life, Anon. 

On to Los Angeles for his work and while there he hung out with Benny Blanco amongst others. Perhaps they even worked together again? We’ll find out eventually!

He also went to the beach at sunset again while in L.A. Jimin loves him some U.S. west coast beach at sunset (I wonder why).

On September 1 Jimin was with Jungkook on JK’s birthday. Remember JK's little smirk and giggle on HIS WeLive when Jin asked him if Jimin visited him that day and JK said yes, he did. They probably reminisced about that west coast beach sunset...I KNOW you couldn’t have missed the pic Jimin posted... but maybe you did.

Then Jimin did a few WeLives for us, I think three of them, spread out between then and his birthday on Oct. 13. So he's made himself visible when he's in the right frame of mind.

One thing that has become obvious... Jimin requires structure in his life. He flat out said going to work every day was something he needs to do... “it feels like clocking out, not clocking in” when he gets to work. It lines up with his near obsession about his workout regimen. During the pandemic he tearfully told us he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing all that time. The man needs a schedule to function.

Another thing that’s quite obvious. Jimin is not gonna share anything he doesn’t want to. Except that he loves to eat but is constantly trying to maintain his weight/physique. And also he just lays around the house. Oh and also there are five moon tattoos running down his back now... see’em when you can he says... that boy... 

Yes, he’s an idol and he’s stated he is not a solo artist, he is part of a group. So this period is a real growing time for Jimin. Out of all the members, I believe Jimin will show us some things that even HE had no idea he could do. I am waiting patiently for him to be ready to show us. 

So I hope that made things less confusing for you, Anon. Any “outside” work that has nothing to do with is album is probably non-existent because that is what Jimin has chosen for himself. If you are still “genuinely” confused about that then I will just chalk it up to you choosing to be a “genuine” douchebag of a person and I hope you eventually grow out of that mindset. 

But hopefully you meant to be nice.

#park jimin #jimin #pjm1 is coming #jimins music is going to be out of this world

[aollosjustlurking]

"folklore" by taylor swift is a great album to listen to when you can't seem to get the situation of virgil leaving the dark sides (and maybe an anxceit breakup) out of your head. i've already talked about my tears ricochet, and now here's exile. i mean an angsty duet is perfect for the two of them, is it not?

I can see you standing, honey

it's important to note that janus only started showing up and being seen after virgil was accepted. this line specifically makes me think of "can lying be good?" as janus was hidden for most of the episode. besides his pro-thomas lying agenda, he was also observing the group.

With his arms around your body

Laughin', but the joke's not funny at all

Now you can choose to view this through a virgil x light side ship or through a purely platonic lens. the overall idea still is janus resentfully seeing virgil hanging out with the light sides.

And it took you five whole minutes

To pack us up and leave me with it

Holdin' all this love out here in the hall

compared to episodes now, accepting anxiety pt 2 is actually pretty short. it did not take long for virgil to open up to the light sides and effectively leave the dark sides. obviously this would be a sore topic for janus as we've seen in the series he seems to not be over virgil's departure.

I think I've seen this film before

And I didn't like the ending

You're not my homeland anymore

So what am I defending now?

janus seems to be a sort of leader of the dark sides, whether he's just making himself be perceived that way or actually is we don't know. we do know he has power over remus to some extent, spray bottle with soap, and it's not too much to assume he had a level of control or at least leadership over virgil. if you are to subscribe to the idea of past anxceit, or even past platonic relations, this would probably lead to the two of them being close at one point. now that virgil has moved away from the dark sides, janus is lost on what to defend.

You were my town

Now I'm in exile, seein' you out

I think I've seen this film before

again, the two of them we probably close before virgil's acceptance. the dark sides are almost treated as though they are exiled, as if the light sides would ban them if they could. one could view this as a explicit mention to janus being a dark side or something along the lines of him not having felt like an true outcast until virgil left.

I can see you starin', honey

in the episode "can lying be good?" virgil does eventually realize that janus has taken patton's place and has been there the whole time.

Like he's just your understudy

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

in the end care of "embarrassing phases: the nightmare instead of christmas", janus says in a taunting tone, "who knows? someday you might be rid of us all." it gives the impression that janus does not believe virgil will be able to be with the light sides forever, or at least be away from the dark sides forever. that entire conversation janus is questioning whether virgil's growth is really that monumental. he might see the light sides as simply an "understudy".

Second, third, and hundredth chances

Balancin' on breaking branches

Those eyes add insult to injury

i don't feel as though leaving the dark sides was a spur of the moment decision, i mean it's virgil he doesn't really make spur of the moment decisions. janus and virgil's motives and personalities do clash a bit and it's not impossible to think that their relationship was crumbling even before virgil left.

I think I've seen this film before

And I didn't like the ending

I'm not your problem anymore

So who am I offending now?

it's very typical of virgil to refer to himself as a problem, i think we know that at this point. who virgil is "offending" is an interesting question as when he was a dark side he was most likely not offending janus but rather the light sides as we saw with pre-accepting anxiety episodes. now he is closer to "offending" janus, though he still buts heads with the others. him questioning who he is offending and having insecurities based around it would make sense.

You were my crown

Now I'm in exile, seein' you out

virgil, in the literal sense i mentioned earlier, is no longer in exile, he is apart of the light sides. however, he can be seen as "in exile" in two ways. one being that he still has issues fitting into the group as we see in episodes such as "fitting in" and more recently "embarrassing phases: the nightmare instead of christmas". the second could be feeling exile from the dark sides and more specifically janus.

I think I've seen this film before

So I'm leavin' out the side door

this can specifically refer to virgil leaving the dark sides and being accepted by the main group.

So step right out, there is no amount

Of crying I can do for you

janus has not appeared to be sad about virgil but rather scornful and resentful. he is not begging virgil to stay, like i feel other sides if put in the same situation would, but he is not happy about it.

All this time

We always walked a very thin line

as i mentioned before, this relationship had to always be a rocky one. we know how virgil feels about lies and how they affect his anxiety, and this is bound to cause tension between the two even without other circumstances.

You didn't even hear me out (you didn't even hear me out)

this again makes me think of their differing perceptions of deception. it could also be applied to the period of time in early sander sides when virgil was beginning to have a more positive view of the light sides. any disagreement could be referenced here.

You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)

there was plenty of foreshadowing that virgil was going to join the light sides eventually. the quote "i'm not always the bad guy" is great evidence of this. janus should've been able to predict that vigil was going to leave, but he may have been lying to himself and ignoring the signs.

All this time

I never learned to read your mind (never learned to read my mind)

I couldn't turn things around (you never turned things around)

this outlines the end of their relationship. the disagreements and hurt that linger today probably started from situations like this.

'Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)

So many signs, so many signs

You didn't even see the signs

I think I've seen this film before

And I didn't like the ending

You're not my homeland anymore

So what am I defending now?

You were my town

Now I'm in exile, seein' you out

I think I've seen this film before

So I'm leavin' out the side door

So step right out, there is no amount

Of crying I can do for you

All this time

We always walked a very thin line

You didn't even hear me out (didn't even hear me out)

You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)

All this time

I never learned to read your mind (never learned to read my mind)

I couldn't turn things around (you never turned things around)

'Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)

All this time (so many signs)

I never learned to read your mind (so many signs)

I couldn't turn things around (I couldn't turn things around)

obviously there is not much to add towards the end here as it's mainly repetition. we do see a lyric change here with the second speaker, in our case virgil, saying "i couldn't turn things around" rather than "you never turning things around". i do think that virgil blames janus mostly for how they ended up; however, he knows he is not completely blameless. he left the dark sides rather than trying to work with them or bring them with him. he, to some degree, abandoned them.

'Cause you never gave a warning sign (you never gave a warning sign)

You never gave a warning sign

more sander sides x taylor swift content soon :)

#sander sides #thomas sanders #taylor swift #ts #virgil sanders #anxceit #past anxceit #janus sanders #folklore #exile taylor swift #ts lyrical analisis #thomas sanders and taylor swift are my favorite things

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Beginning my experimental journey by downloading 22 episodes each of four different podcasts and giving them all a try (not all 22 episodes of each one, just enough of each one to decide which I like best, and then I'll dedicate a massive chunk of my life to listening to every episode of that one). Starting with Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown, mainly because the first episode (well, the first non-pilot episode, but I'd already heard the pilot) features Andy Zaltzman.

The very first thing he said on the show was "You know I'm Jewish, right?" when told he has to spend the episode fighting to get out of paying a gas bill. Which I found hilarious just because I have listened to literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of Andy Zaltzman, and I have never heard him play that card before. I've heard him make jokes about how he is a "terrible Jew" because he does things like eat bacon and ignore religious holidays and not believe in God. I have, on a couple of extremely rare occasions, heard him talk seriously about how his Judaism (as part of his culture and heritage and ethnicity, even though he does not follow the religion) at times impacts his views on significant issues (it's come up a few times recently as he's argued that he is too Jewish for people to be allowed to call him anti-Semitic when he says genocide of Palestinians is bad). Once or twice I've heard him work his family's Jewish-ness into a comedy bit, but not for jokes about them adhering to Jewish stereotypes, the bit I'm thinking of is the time he managed to do comedy about his ancestors fleeing across Lithuanian borders during the Holocaust.

I have heard him do all those things, though to be honest, the vast majority of times that Andy Zaltzman mentions being Jewish it's just to say he loves pork and is therefore a terrible Jew. I have never, ever heard him make a straightforward "riff on Jewish stereotypes" joke. It's not his style. The only time I've heard Andy interact with jokes like that at all were when he went on Marc Maron's podcast, and Marc Maron kept trying to bond with him over "Oh, don't we know what Jewish families are like?" jokes, and Andy sounded wildly uncomfortable with the whole thing, and said he's not really in the Jewish community and can't speak to that.

Anyway, I'm five minutes into s01e01 of Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown and so far it's already got a laugh out of me for setting Andy Zaltzman up so nicely for the Jewish stereotype joke (hello Jewish man, we'd like you to argue for why you shouldn't have to pay money) that he had to step out of his usual style and go for the low-hanging fruit. Good for him. You take that fruit, Andy. That's what it's there for.

...I assume there will be more to the episode than that. Richard Herring is there as well (this was recorded in 2011, before John Oliver left The Bugle but after he started getting quite famous in America, so I'll be shocked if Richard Herring doesn't get in at least one joke about how both guests are the less successful member of their respective double acts, bonus points if he also names a counterpart in Pappy's), and he's been growing on me lately (not enough for me to put RHLSTP on my list of podcasts I might get into, but he doesn't annoy me as much as he used to), so this should be fun.

[fnaffersblog]

Okay hold on HOLd UP

Spoilers below for 'Earth's ORIGIN STORY in VRCHAT'

Trigger Warning below cut for: Cursing

Not five seconds after making a 'LUNAR!!!' post we get Earth lore, I am being fed today on the richest of content.

Look look look I get it The Princess and the Pauper movie is great but you cannot go wrong with Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus okay? Alright? This is now. This is now a Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus blog alright? In this house we love Barbie and the Ma

Princess and the Pauper came out in 2004 for anyone who was also wondering, but didn't look it up.

Lol.

The return of the true villain of the series: That one fuckin bouncy, physics defying plush cylinder in the theater.

The music change had me wheezing, the fucking dramatic chase music for this bouncy toy.

Followed by all three of them legitimately walking around trying to catch the damn thing.

I'd love to see an episode where they have a discussion, like a serious discussion or something in the theater, and someone throws the toy and it just bounces around forever while they're having a serious talk, and it's played completely straight the thing is bouncing and no one addresses it or tries to catch it this is wishful thinking but the idea had me laughing so hard i forgot hwo to use punctuation

Sun and Moon sitting down on the little plushies seats like kids listening to story time was so cute.

"You will refer to me as Creator" "Hello Father!" "That works as well I suppose!"

It's strange seeing how... kind? The creator is towards Earth. Like, he's always been kinder to Earth than he has been to Sun or Moon or Killcode, but it's still weird. Like, he lets her decorate her room and got her movies in preparation for her activation, and doesn't get upset when she calls him father, and he's gentle when he asks her to leave them at the end.

"I abandoned mortal flesh for eternal life as a brain!" "Oooh! That seems clever!" Lol

Huh a Garbage Guy.

...

BLOODMOON'S GARBAGE GUY??? HWAT????WHAT>>>???

I like... whatever is going on between Garbage Guy and the Creator. Like, GG is so annoyed with the Creator, but he's speaking so casually to him? Exasperated with the Creators antics. They're like... a goddamn sitcom couple or something. The Creator gives no shits about this guy's irritation. They remind me of Chatot and Wigglytuff from PMD:EoS.

So, Earth was activated around November-December 2022, during the Bloodmoon arc. She showed up in... April? I think? Late March, early April? Though she said she got lost trying to find the daycare/Sun and Moon, so she left/was sent away from the Creator sometime just before that.

Also, whos they? Fazbears? Sun and Moon? Some third party? Why would they get shut down? I may have missed something. I assume it's Fazbear's inc the two of them are talking about.

Earth raising her hand to ask questions.

They have a connected background??? The Creator got the garbage can stuck on this guys head?? Did he make him immortal too, or did he just get hired because he was immortal? What's the dealio with these two?

"Why do you have a trash can on your head?"

"Why don't we ask your Creator, hmm?"

*THE EYE*

"Can you not, with the whole brain eye thing!?"

"IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL!"

I'm crying it was mostlikely a misclick im crying that was so funny

"Um. You see. It's a, um, fashion trend that he's trying from another country."

"Oh fashion trend today is it?"

WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE ARE THEY DIVORCED WHAT AM I LOOKING AT This can't be just me can it?? I want more of it.

"Too bad. My lab." LOL

"I acquired the entire collection of Barbie movies!"

Creator enforces gender 'norms'. Asshole!

I know there's other things happening this episode but. "Was that all?"

"Nooo I wanted to ask you TAKE THIS DAMN THING OFF MY HEAD!"

Also is that the Arthur jingle? Like, the scene transition jingle from Arthur? That's what it sounds like.

"He could see?!" THAT'S what you're taking away from this Moon????

Earth out here being very right about the Barbie Rapunzel movie too, that magic paintbrush was banger, I wanted one too.

This episode was fuckin' fun. So many good quotes, I was laughing the WHOLE time. Also we might have a set up/ worldbuilding for the Creator's enemies and also more Creator and Garbage Guy stuff. Still wondering if he's dead. StG Killcode mentioned putting him to eternal rest at one point.

Also the thumbnail, again the thumbnail! IT's so pretty! The details are amazing, I wish I could look at them closer somewhere. Do we know yet who does them? I've seen suggestions in the comments of both videos featuring art so far that these new ones are done by Kiwi_Artz, but they aren't credited in the descriptions and they haven't post the thumbnails on Twitter anywhere. :(

I feel like this will most likely be the last calm episode before the 16th. This feels like a 'calm before the storm' situation and I cANNOT wait. 9 days till the 16th, that's probably 4-6 lore episodes/ 5-6 VRCHAT episodes, presuming anything is going to happen on the 16th. I'm both not ready for it, and 100% ready for it.

#fafferchat #fafferlivereacts #sams #tsams #sun and moon show #sams spoilers #tsams spoilers #mostly just talking bout the fun stuff today #there's lore but the laughs are what got me #:)

[thesoftboiledegg]

Overall, "JuRicksic Mort" was a solid episode. I actually didn't have high hopes for this one--I thought the premise looked corny, and when the dinosaurs were talking to the UN, I was like "Yeah, I don't know if I can sit through this." Fortunately, the writers were smart to focus on the characters instead of this "new world" that we know isn't going to last anyway.

I assumed that this would be a Morty-heavy episode and was surprised when, again, Rick was the main focus. Rick is my favorite character, and while I like Morty, his dynamic with Rick interests me more than Morty himself. I'd watch a show just about Rick--probably wouldn't watch one just about Morty.

However, the show doesn't click without him. I'm wondering if maybe the new writers don't know what to do with him? "Rick: A Mort Well Lived" focused on Morty and his inner conflicts, but after that, it's pretty much been the Rick Sanchez show.

Hopefully, the next episode after this insanely long break will either focus on Morty or be a "classic" Rick and Morty adventure that highlights their dynamic. I was a little relieved when Rick fixed the portal gun technology at the end (I guess that's why we're getting that huge mid-season break?) I've enjoyed watching the challenge that the writers set up for themselves, but I was always a little anxious, thinking "I hope he fixes it before something big happens!"

This seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I LOVE season five and I missed the chaotic, brightly colored sci-fi adventures that we watched last year. I'm hoping we'll return to that while maintaining the character development that's unfolded this season.

Also, is Rick's garage covered in crystals at the end? Rick has crystals in like, every third episode. Maybe that's his special interest.

I LOVED it when the president called Rick "You pompous autistic cadaver!" (did I hear that correctly? I re-listened a couple of times.) I was like "Ahh, the writers remembered that he's autistic! They didn't forget!" You never know if the crew's going to remember a tidbit that Rick dropped in 2017 and never mentioned again, especially with a rotating staff. Makes me wonder if the writers and animators are actually keeping that in mind and we're not just overanalyzing things when we talk about Rick stimming, having special interests and avoiding physical touch.

Speaking of the president--is it just me, or was their last dinner together a little flirty? I wonder if the show's actually leaning into the jokey sexual tension that they had in season five.

Rick and Morty did have some good scenes together. I thought their planet-hopping adventure where they saw the badly assembled dinosaur skeletons was funny because we don't actually know what dinosaurs looked like (of course, in the Rick and Morty universe, humans were spot on with this one.)

Rick was definitely channeling Homer Simpson when he fell down that cliff with a skateboard. Rick goofing around with Morty was fun and probably a callback to "M. Night Sham-aliens" or whatever it's called (not looking it up because I hate that dumb episode.) I also got seasons 1-2 vibes from other scenes in the episode, like Rick barging in on the dinosaurs' conference to gleefully ruin everything and point out that nothing they do matters.

I also lost it when Jerry yelled "You communist lizard scumbags!" I was JUST thinking that a book that "belongs to everyone, for free" sounds like something from a communist society.

Speaking of funny lines, I raised an eyebrow when Rick said "Elon Musk be dammed, we're blowing up Mars!" Rick crapped on capitalism in season five, so the crew is aware of the public's dimming opinion of capitalism and probably Musk himself. I don't know if the show will ever outright make fun of him, but I hope it does. Partially because Musk is terrible, and partially because kissing his ass on Twitter and giving him a cameo only to shit on him a few seasons later would be legendary.

Justin Roiland's voice acting for Rick gets better with every season. His frenetic, high-pitched style defines his characters, but at times, I don't even hear Justin Roiland--I just hear Rick. People who think he's just the "shouty" guy who burps into the microphone need to listen to some of Rick's lines and hear the emotion that Justin puts into his voice.

Finally, the family meeting behind the Oscars curtain seemed like another drop of fanservice in a season that's had lots of it--Rick wearing a tuxedo next to Summer, Beth and Space Beth wearing fancy dresses. Space Beth even wears a sci-fi outfit designed specifically for her.

Anyway, some crazy shit must be coming because this six-week break is insane. And we know nothing about the last four episodes. One episode (or maybe multiple episodes) will have Space Beth doing something creepy, and...that's it. Four whole episodes, and we have nothing but one creepy image. I guess we'll have plenty of time for theorizing.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #juricksic mort #review