#coroniavirus

The coronavirus vaccines have surpassed expectations

The big picture: The pandemic isn’t over. There are still big threats ahead of us and big problems to solve. But for all the things that have gone wrong over the past year, the vaccines themselves have shattered even the most ambitious expectations. The vaccines represent a “stunning scientific achievement for the world … unprecedented in the history of vaccinology,” said Dan Barouch, an expert…

I finished watching one of the best anime I’ve ever watched... even though its final part aired in 2019 and now I watched it in late 2020 during a widespread pandemic. But better late than sorry, right? Right? Anyway, let us move on to the spoiler overview of this Netflix anime.

The story follows a singer-songwriter duo Carole, an orphan girl with a keyboard, and Tuesday, a runaway with a Gibson guitar, that leads them to the “7-Minute Miracle”. Oh, and it takes place on a futuristic city on Mars but we’ll get to that later. Over the series, they grow as musicians and people leading the best song ever to end a series “Mother.” We’re introduce to a variety of characters with their own flavor to add in this series including the larger-than-life DJ Etregun, the model turned singer Angela Carpenter, and the mysterious music producer/AI genius Tao.

In the first part, the girls go through many trials to become famous musicians such as making a music video and standing in at a concert. They later enter the Mars version of American Idol and although losing to Angela due to being disqualified, they only care about playing music together. This part had a lot of fun with the characters while giving us some details about them.

The second part has Tuesday’s mom running for president while pushing for immigration laws against Earth immigrants (political commentary to say the least). Other crazier things happen to other characters while our main girls try to release their debut album with their manager Gus and friend Roddy. Despite cramming a kind of political statement to reflect our world, they ended with a bang having all the singers throughout the series to join into a “We Are the World” style anthem against the oppressive government. Seriously, they send people with guns to shut it down.

This show has its flaws such as not enough time for some storylines while having too many for one character. This happened to Angela Carpenter with a tech-savvy stalker, her mother going into a coma and dying, her downward spiral into drugs, and finding out she’s a sort of clone baby in a span of several episodes of the final part of the series. Also, despite being named after the series, both Carole and Tuesday don’t go through any dramatic change or have any strong personality traits like a lot of main character in anime (i.e. Izuku Midoriya or Naruto) aside from their friendship and when they perform. Sure, they each have backstories like running away from home or meeting an estranged father; but overall, they’re just good characters who make greater music together.

One of its strongest elements is the songs and music. Pretty much every song is so heartfelt and beautifully sung by the English-speaking singers. My favorites include both versions of “Give You the World”, “After the Fire”, “Mother”, and even one of the craziest songs in the show sung by the Mermaid Sisters which I don’t think I can show without getting into trouble, but look it up and you’ll know why. There are so many songs that it’s hard to even pick a few to talk about with a whole array genres and messages.

quarantine diaries: may 25 2020

season 1 episode 10: “I Am Become Death”

gun control/gun safety. wow did not expect this show to be so political especailly with finn the so-called mr. irresponsible taking on the anti-gun side.  

raven is out here firebending. but literally raven: “hydrazine...highly unstable in its nonsolid form. if this stuff meets fire, we’re all pink mist”...less than 5 seconds later (not giving those around her much of a warning) shouts “fire in the hole” as she yeets some hydrazine into some fire causing an explosion. she really did all that to prove a point. she here trying to get that clout i guess. i swear i had to replay this scene cuz i was like wtf

jasper really said “you really don’t know what you’re made of until a moment like that when its kill or be killed and there was nothing between you and the tip of the spear” (3:19) bitch was literally speared almost to death like 10 days ago but is this in reference to that moment? no. boy you’re talking about the wrong near death experience. the grounder wasn’t even aiming at you and now look you just ignited a war. 

MURPHY IS BACK. he is clearly not thriving. banishment did him bad. the fingernails thing really made me want to vomit. i cannot.

can we also talk about how quickly we got over charlottes death. a child suicide. this show gives me no time to breath 

“then we kill him” - clarke talking about murphy. yes yes yes. embrace the chaos. 

is this girl flirting with jasper and hes just simping for octavia. and when jasper refers to her as “low hanging fruit” the utter disrespect. bitch who do you think you is. smh. monty speaks truth.  cuz octavia really is not going back to this basic white boi after gallivanting with a grounder. but also what happened to bros before hoes? *for all those feminists out there i dont necessarily agree/like the wording of this phrase but i just hate how octavia is causing a rift between monty and jasper. cuz their bromance is everything to me and arguably is the glue that holds the whole show together lol

ooo that special effects with clarke’s bleeding eyes reminds me of a certain someone in game of thrones *i don’t want to spoil GoT so I won’t mention who specifically* honestly kudos to the special effects team. they went all out this episode. these kids really be looking GROSS

clarke has really strong deductive reasoning. how did she connect her sickness to murphy so quick. like it was instant. move aside Sherlock homes

biological warfare. woow this show really be crossing some big boundaries.

“wash your hands now” (11:09) this episode really is a PSA QUARANTINE. masks. asymptomatic. this show really holds up to the test of time and remains relevant. 

hot take: lincolns drawing of octavia was not that great. look at the picture and you can’t tell me im wrong

licoln has faith like no one i have ever met before when he said “i am not surprised you are on of the strong ones” to octavia (14:48) no one would have guess Octavia as the one of the strong ones immune to the sickness. if anything i would think that she would be immunal compromised due to being lived most of her life contained under the floor. also lincoln that was a big bet man your girl really could have died if you were wrong. guess he really be about that gambling life tho.

i just love how the first reaction these kids have to seeing a sick person is to point a gun at them (17:33) this is america. literally this scene is so chaotic. i fucking love it

smooth moves bellamy with disarming that guy. 

finn catching clarke with rave shouting “finn don’t touch her” (18:25) big awkward. big big big awkward especially when they cut back to raven’s face :|

(18:39) octavia “but the grounders don’t use the sickness to kill” bellamy: “really? tell that to them (points to some dead bodies)”... is it bad that i laughed at this scene. i just have some dark humor 

the whole scene between harper, jasper, monty, raven, and bellamy is giving me life (20:45) its like the most realistic teen interaction that has ever graced this show so far. and bellamy’s face at 20:58 is everything. hes just like wtf the fuck is going on rn but id dont want to deal with it rn so imma stay quite. this king has his priorities straight

remember the last episode when finn was like no violence. no guns. the boy is here asking raven to make a bomb. i know its to delay the fighting but still. boy went 0 to 100 real quick

raven in her space suit has interstellar vibez. raven really has a patch that says float in the middle of a cross out red circle. has anyone made this an actually thing to buy because i would buy that so fast (21:44) 

i know its supposed to be some explosive liquid but that looks like some good kool-aid. hey raven pour me a large glass of hydrazine on the rocks please

bellamy with the bloody nose. noooo.... but guys i gotta say it...she’s the man with bloody noses and tampons...why are you booing me?

“hey big brother” was the worst possible way to greet your sick brother octavia. my brother would literally slap me if thats how i greeted him if he were be sick and i came to the hospital to visit him.

that punch in to finn’s face when he found out about raven and the bomb (27:32). was dramatic af. reminds me of pride and prejudice scene with that close up on mr. darcy... i can’t find a gif of it but i think its in the 2005 movie version if anyone is wondering.

since i couldn’t find that gif ill just have to supplement with the next best thing:

this the actually murphy’s law episode. first clarke was sick then bellamy. then raven. 

clarke and bellamy bonding over their sickness tho. do i see sparks. not quite but its cute. i also love clarke and bellamy’s lack of faith in finn and jasper to actually pull off the bomb plan

they really have war drums. going to war with style i see. narnia vibez

these grounders are out here looking like the white walkers and the dothraki had children

monty coming in clutch with that gun. i wish that he were the one to take the shot tho. let monty shine for a little bit plz

“i am become death” i was worried there for a moment thinking that clarke needed some basic grammar lessons. maybe these kids are better educated than me. i had to look up the Oppenheimer reference

licoln’s face is when octavia kisses him goodbye telling him that she won’t be going with him is giving me “please say sike” vibez (36:26) also that fade transition tho. like this show never used that effect before.

but ok wait imagine if octavia turned back to lincoln and said “i just gotta know are you named after abraham” i would die of laughter. 

****sad face***** when raven said to finn “but not the way i want to be love. not the way you love clarke” aaaaahhh. raven deserves better.

when raven give finn back the necklace with that origami thing...shout out to high school musical two when gabriella gave troy back his necklace

personal headcanon for raven: remember when jaha brought up the titanic in the other episode, imma assume hes referencing the movie. now assuming this then im also going to assume that in this universe high school musical 2 was still made and the people on the ark watched it during their limited free time. in particular, raven watched and really loved gabriella as a character. and when watching the movie she made a self note to herself that if she were to break up with finn she be like gabriella and give back the necklace he gave her. but also finn used to watch the movie with her. so when she handed him the necklace the got the reference and knew she was serious.

bygones my ass. i fucking knew it. murphy really be one to hold grudges. granted they did try to hang him but murdering in cold blood. nope. don’t do it.

theory: clarke’s mom is not dead. they built up her character way too much and they don’t even show her final moments. i think not. she has to still be alive.