#random rumblings

Notes:

Side note: As I'm currently typing this, while switching back to cable after I was on Pluto TV, I briefly watched the match between New Zealand vs Belgium in the Fifa World Cup this year, and currently losing.

Update: NZ lost to Belgium 1 - 5

1. I've more than said my peace with this episode, however it goes without saying, it's well remembered and acted & impactful within this show and fandom for good reason. I actually had to look away from my phone camera while recording bc I couldn't find it within me seeing Kendall's brokenhearted expressions. Like @btr-rewatch mentioned in her recap, seeing a good & solid guy like Kendall (who's like the fixer of everything and everyone in his life) going through something traumatic like this makes this episode so hard to watch. And I do credit Kendall & Katelyn's acting here specifically in this episode. They brought the emotions all on display here.

2. Mr. Nostalgia just recently did a video discussing this very episode couple weeks ago, and he brought out some great points. There's a lot of couples and romance plots in Disney/Nickelodeon shows that feel stale or cheap, but for BTR as a whole (as cartoony any wild things get), the writers surprisingly lock in when it comes to dramatic/romantic storylines. He also compared this episode to the Jonas LA finale with a similar plot of Stella leaving back to NJ after learning Joe got a movie deal in...you guessed it, New Zealand. On which, I'm glad he's mentioned that bc you would think with a kid sitcom with the big moving plot would have the love interest do a uno reverse card and stay at the last minute. No, Jo actually leaves (for the time being) and again, I respect and appreciate the maturity.

3. I really love the line Jo saying to Kendall, "Maybe you only come once in a lifetime". It broke my heart and my brain hearing that in the episode promo, and I'm sure it did for Kendall as well. Who would respond if someone saying that to you?

4. Kendall really has W friends for supporting him at his lowest moment. The last few moments of them at the airport after seeing Jo off really moved me and really showed their friendship, and with no needed dialogue either. Also, notice how Carlos had his helmet off for the whole scene, in respect to what Kendall is going through. Love that detail.

Writing "Temporary Misalignment" was draining. In a way, that I did not expect it to be.

Shen Jiu crawled under my skin, tore my heart out, burned it to ashes, and gave it back with the sweetest smile he was able to give like

"Here you go, jiejie, I got it for you"

And even if it hurt I couldn’t help but thank him for the gift.

Because Shen Jiu? Is a creature of love, one so fierce he's overflowing with it in comparison to any character I have ever written.

He loves fiercely, but not flexibly. To love means to prevent loss.

Love is an obssession, but I call it protection.

Love is possession, but I will frame it as devotion.

In that sense, A-Jiu is a mirror, a fractured one, of his environment.

For him, there is no good or evil, it's only what is mine and what is a threat.

And I don’t even know why but... I saw this boy's life through his childhood, teenage years, and into adulthood. There was no possibility of me not loving his character.

I want them to talk about sharing their thoughts after the war ends, their Ackerman bloodlines, talking about random things and probably a

"Thank you,"

Will be nice.

From all of the characters that could understand and close to Mikasa is Levi (Armin included but well that's different topic). Mikasa and Levi could bond either in romantic or platonic ways. It's up to readers what they've wanted to perceive it. Please respect to those who want to perceive it in romantic ways, that's their choices, not yours.

Some of the non-RM shippers agree that Levi and Mikasa should have talk and interact. They could have better chemistry and development in the manga. Even some people notices Rivamika has a good chemistry.

"WhAt ThE FuCk! LeVi anD MiKaSa RaRelY InTerAct,"

C'mon, the manga already ends in 2021 and the anime is NEARLY end. It's been more than 10 years the manga has been released including the databook.

As a RM shipper myself, Mikasa could help Levi opening a tea shop, gardening or etc as a gratitude for him saving and helping her when they are in the military. And perhaps, Levi could be the same since Mikasa is the people he's close with after Hange and Erwin death.

Then, they could build themselves on what they have lost in the war/past- Family. They lost their beloved friends and family and yes the Ackermans deserve better.

I've commenced my “Fav BTR Episodes” rewatch list last weekend with the pilot & BT Crib and now continued on with BT Terror & BT Break. I decided to watch at least two episodes at a time with what's on my list to see if my choices held up.

Two notes:

Bless Pluto TV, I think it's one of the few streamers out there that mostly emulated how TV felt like back in the day. Especially for having this show on the platform. The last time I've seen this show was few years ago on Netflix when the show was added. It's always great to see this show again, especially on a free streaming service.

Glad to confirm that this show is still very entertaining. I was laughing constantly through this episode. After revisiting BT Break, I essentially realized it's sort of a "filler" episode. Heck, there's not even a song/performance at the end but I do appreciate (with both these episodes) seeing what the guys like to do for fun/side quests outside the studio. In BT Terror, the guys jam out with the other Palm Woods residents, Fish Sticks for dinner on Fridays, hanging by the pool, catching ghosts, etc. In BT Break, James wanted to audition, Carlos wants to find his missing helmet, Logan wants to meet his idol at an all girls school, and Kendall wanted to get close to the new girl Jo, despite having a "boyfriend".

I know I've talked about Jo & her relationship with Kendall before, but I actually agree with this take this one user has on her character as a whole. Despite her flaws and K +J differences, I do like the fact that Jo is always willing to accept everything Kendall has in his life, including his friends (even though we don't see it too often in the show). Some may call her boring or too much like Kendall nor carries the other traits the other ladies have, but if I was a character in the show I could see myself being friends with her; besides the guys, Katie & Camille. She brings the stability and balance in the relationship, but is always down to an occasional scheme and hijinks once in a while (Big Time Pranks, Big Time Party), even though we don't see it too often in the show. When I was younger, she was always one of my favorite female BTR characters, next to Katie, Kelly and Camille, and any appreciators/defenders of Jo Taylor is not only welcome but acknowledged. Again, I don't see these kinds of posts too often especially on Tik Tok or Reddit, so credit when credit is due.

Opened Tik-Tok last night and this was the first thing popped up on my feed. Who remembers the episode when Jo came back & Kendall had to choose between getting back to her or be with Lucy? Needless to say, yall know where I stand when it comes to that. As much as I enjoy Lucy as a character, Kendall's mind saw her everywhere but his heart, and it led to Jo. The OG Worldwide Girl. ♥️

Since my birthday was two days before this episode aired back in 2012, I remember having a celebratory slice of bday cake for dessert that night seeing Jo at the door. Noticed how she had been crying and how her voice cracked when she saw Kendall. I love that small detail 🥹

Hey y'all! Remember when @cant-get-enough-btr-forever did a poll this week about the BTR subreddit and most of the results have never even seen/heard of it? Well... you're most likely better off. This is not my typical post & you guys didn't ask but here's my story of my experience within the BTR subreddit (and the website in general).

I was u/YogurtClosetevery669 and this was my avatar. Side note: look how cute it looks? Don't ask about my username though. As much as I do like yogurt, it's a strange username.

I was active on a few subs, and one of them was the BTR subreddit. I started doing appreciation posts, to spread a little positivity and find my stride within the community. One of those posts that really caught on and blew up was about the appreciation of the male BTR fanbase, and that got A LOT of warm comments and upvotes. I loved hearing the many stories from the guys' perspective and it somehow motivated me to keep going with it. I would also converse here and there with the other users in the comment sections and DMs. It was good for a while, or so I thought.

The last post I've done on the @YogurtClosetevery669 account was how vocally bummed I was not being able to go to a BTR show last year at the IRL Tour, despite my best efforts to get tickets. The comment section was pretty supportive. Then, soon after 24 hours, my account got banned. Permanently. I did try to get it back, used different accounts, etc, to no avail. Personally, I think Reddit thought I was a spam bot account since I post regularly. I will say, I did miss making friends that I had on the platform. In fact, that's how I virtually met @cant-get-enough-btr-forever, she can vouch that. There's a few gems of amazing, pleasant people in the BTR subreddit. However, there's a few people that just LOVES to spread negativity/drama or rumors. One user has especially made her mark I think to make the BTR subreddit miserable whenever she posts about the guys personal lives (iykyk). (THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY IN THE SUB WHO ACTS LIKE THIS, BTW.) Nowadays, since I left the platform, it kinda died down since the tour wrapped, but it persists somehow through these kinds of unhinged posts through some users. Not like I can't actively comment on there anyways, I barely interact with the sub due to my circumstances.

I've learned some few things about Reddit with my experience:

The site is like a very hive-minded, biased mindset full of echo chambers. When you voice your own opinion on any topic, and goes against the general consensus, you'll be downvoted at best, banned at worst. Sometimes, for no reason. During my time on Reddit, there's certain popular subs (popculture subs, fauxmoi, Millenials) that feel like that one singular voice represents the whole sub and it's the ONLY voice that matters. It's very high school lunch table mentality. It gives more space for negativity & people obsessed with having the last word in arguments. Especially the snark communities for certain celebrities. Those people I find more dangerously obsessive than the fans are, it's insane.

Because of the anonymity, the users really get to say anything in the comment section, and repeat it in many forms to the point where it gets annoying. Basically the spamers and trolls. I won't say no names (obviously b/c IDK who that person is in real life) but there's a person I befriend few years back and he seemed harmless at first. However, as time went on, his posts has gotten absurd. For instance, this user is obsessed with the rapper Pitbull and every time he posts, it's some form of invasive asking of a BTR and Pitbull collab, or a list of unreleased songs from the ELEVATE album he got on YT years ago, he swears to the bible that it's real. Another user claims that every childhood show he watched is good for a show that's mostly disliked. Another user claims how good a show is just by using ratings, which sometimes doesn't always equate and justify said show being good or not. Mainly that happened in the Nickelodeon subreddit. Luckily, the other users really don't pay them no mind.

The reason why I made the move to Tumblr was bc it was always a site that I “used” but never that deeply, if you know what I'm saying. I had accounts over the years, but it was always to scroll and like a post, much like Twitter. When I started doing this BTR project two years ago, I've thought about what other platform would be perfect to display what I came up with, other than physically with a book. Can't really use Reddit anymore for obvious reasons. Same reasons for Twitter. I barely use Facebook as it is. I've thought about Substack, but let's be real, that site is full of intellectual essays and insight, it's no place for me to chronicle my personal nostalgic story of a childhood show/band. Tumblr, so far, just allows me the space and canvas to say whatever I want to say, and like minded people would follow and resonate. No judgment, no fears. Also, since I'm smart like that, some of my BTR Reddit appreciation posts have become the journal entries I've curated. If you wanted to know how I come up with these journal entries, here's why. Well, that and I have them stored on my notes app on my phone for almost two years now. And the fact that I'd always chronicled my BTR journey back in the day, but never to a “bigger scale” to do so.

Since @btr-project made it's social media debut during the holidays, the posts that I've been making genuinely find their way to the people who are meant to see them and I made friends along the way. I've been regaining my stride on Tumblr thanks to this side project blog, and so far so good imo. It's now been one of my favorite things to do. Thanks to those who been there along for the ride. More content coming soon!

If you have read through this entire thing, thank you for listening to my TED talk and I'll give you a cookie if you do (🍪)