u/Uninhibitedrmr

Does anyone else notice that no matter what Charlie does he has this strange pull towards the female cast?

He must be super charismatic because I noticed in season one Georgia was super close with him they seemed to spend almost everyday together. Ava was super close with him, I could be wrong but it seemed like Ava had a small crush on him because she turned against. Ariana as soon as she heard Charlie mention that Ariana was hot. Just going off body language alone in my opinion there was a lot going on with the way that certain members of the cast gravitated towards him. Riley seemed to be really hurt by Charlie in season 1.

Emira gives Charlie so many passes. Ariana gave up her seat in first class on a redeye to sit with Charlie in economy.

Like what does this man have??

I have been sober for almost 2 years. However by, byproduct I wasted my 20s on drinking. I spent the years where you are supposed to be young and find yourself by literally just centering my life on drinking. I had almost no hobbies, I didn't go out. I was like a seclusive drinker: The have a boyfriend who also drank to much spent all my time with him, spend summer days inside drinking, work to just get money for drinking, only went out to bars to drink then go home and drink. It was literally no going to any fun events no going out no traveling. My 20s were stay inside and drink.

Now I have 100 times more responsibilities than I had in my 20s so I can't just up and career change or travel. I have found hobbies again but have been struggling with not being too hard on myself for essentially spending the majority of my 20s drinking. Of course I try to give myself grace with this but does anyone have advice for this?

Warning spoilers: anime and movie.

I watched the anime when it first came out in 2018 and remember heavily feeling Violet's pain and what it was like to have a void that only a person could fix. I rewatched the anime this week and movie and now that its been 8 years I have been thinking of it differently.

Now the age gap thing is throwing me off but putting that aside for discussions sake as in the movie Violet is 18 and an adult.

I do see Gil's arc, he starts as a commander who takes in Violet but while he doesn't see her as a tool and even tries to get her to stay behind, he ultimately ends up using her as a solider in battle when they are in the thick of war and she is the only chance of survival. He does feel immensely guilty in doing so and resorting to that. He fakes his death because he thinks it would be best for her individual growth if he wasn't around. He later rejects her when she comes back to the island. Then he finally after reading her letter sees her as an equal. Versus focusing on his own injuries the most injured he seems is knowing that Violet lost her arms because she was protecting him.

Yet the ending doesn't sit right with me. I felt conflicted when I first saw it. I am glad Violet is happy and was not only able to express her own feelings but help so many others express their love along the way.

I don't think a character has to be perfect to be likeable. Gil literally put all his effort into rebuilding the island of men he hurt in battle versus taking accountability in his own life. I don't fault him for how he dealt with his PTSD but I think he avoided things to the point of when was he ever going to atone for his own actions versus pretending to be someone else.

I wouldn't have faulted him if he ran off to the island for a short amount of time but it seemed like he faked his death for 4 years. His mom fully died and his brother was alive and he still didn't make an appearance.

I wish that he didn't ask Violet to stay on the island because he built a life for himself there because it felt like she was leaving everything she built for herself behind. I wish they explained her reason to stay on the island more. I know an auto memories doll was becoming an occupation that was going to be out of service, but that doesn't change that Cattleya, Hodgins, Iris, and Benedict were her found family. It's like they all picked up the pieces of Violet and helped her become human while Gil just was able to reap the benefits of her healed. I know that is a little black/white way of seeing things but I just felt such a strong connection to the found family aspect of it all it was hard for Violet to not be in their lives anymore.

I did feel for Gil when he rejected Violet and told her that her life would be better without him in the movie. Or the scene where an islander casually says her name and everyones walking back and he is just frozen in place. However, I wish we were given more present scenes of them so we could understand it now. I am not saying they could not grow into liking the present versions of each other but as it left off it seemed like both were stuck on the past idea of one another versus who they are today.

I am going to rewatch the movie again at some point because I was really thrown off by the reveal that Gil was alive that I feel like maybe I didn't pick up on things and just was rushing to see how it will end.

I know the movie gets a lot of critiques because it seemed like Violet threw away her entire character development to be with Gil but I don't exactly see it that way. While I am happy with leaving the anime at that's when everything ended, I did like aspects of the movie.

Healing is not linear so it makes sense she would have moments of regression, but I do not think the version of her in the movie was bad either. It was clear that she stopped feeling fulfillment as her jobs seemed to be getting less personal.

It showed that Violet could do good work as she got scouted to write the hymn to the sea but you could tell her heart wasn't in it. Yet when she wrote the final letters for Yuris you could tell it sparked something in her and she was able to reconnect with her passion for being a doll. The ability to get important messages out of someone to give to their loved ones.

The scene at the end was very said when Hodgins was at the fireworks and he instinctively turned to where Violet would have been to talk to her and then realize she is not there by his side. It's sad because I think Hodgins really did become a father figure to Violet and she just left. I really think Cattleya, Hodgins, Benedict, and Violet had a found family dynamic where they all held each other together. Grief gets to a point where no matter what is going on in your life you sometimes feel like a viewer to it versus actually participating in it. I think that is what Violet started to feel especially because she held onto a small glimmer that Gil was alive. Which is why she choose to stay on the island with him. I know being an auto memories doll was becoming an obsolete job but she still had her friends at Leiden. Gil had built his life on the island and wanted to stay with his fresh start but it was kind of sad that Violet had built a new life at Leiden and left ??

The pinky promise at the end was an indicator that Violet got her happy ending but I wish they gave us more material that would make Violet leaving her friends make more sense.

At this point I think it would be cool if Cattleya, Hodgins, Benedict got an OVA or a special closing out their story.

Does anyone else ship them together/do they end up together?

What is nice about them is separately they both experienced how hard life can be yet current day they still find a way to live with their past and try to live in a way that they are still open to having empathy and kindness.

In the anime it was kind of nice how Cattleya teased Hodgins about his first name (Claudia) as I feel as though unless you really know someone you wouldn't have that kind of banter. In the last episode of the anime when Cattleya realized Hodgins wrote a letter to his future daughter you could see on her face that she realized Hodgins is more complex than she ever could have imagined.

Although Hodgins is seen as well liked, respectful, etc., I feel like he rarely lets those close to him in a way that is above surface level. With Cattleya you could tell he let her in.

I decided to watch it in chronological order. So I am going to watch the OVA, the special, and then the movie next but I just have to share my thoughts on the anime.

Violet's growth was realistic I think the anime did a good job at showing her growth in a realistic way. How she grew into someone that was able to get the truth out of others while still being herself was great. How she went from feeling nothing, to slowly atoning to her sins and feeling the burn, to understanding why she felt bad, to trying to carry her grief and living her current life was insanely well executed.

I liked how it showed that even though Violet ended all these lives once she was aware of what she was doing she saved so many lives. I really was rooting for her and Leon but also with their episode there is a beauty about meeting someone, them changing your lives, and never crossing paths again. Or even the progress she made with Oscar and Ann was brilliant.

I really wish there was more of Cattleya and Hodgins. I really think they would be great together. They both have been through trauma and they both are able to still be kind and live onwards with their life.

The battle flashbacks were brutal.

Here's what my symptoms are:

I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend at the time and got symptoms almost immediately

Fishy odor

Vaginal burning

Frequent urination

UTI like symptoms without it being a UTI-when they sent the culture out it was often group strep b in my urine but they didn't want to put me on antibiotics for group strep b.

I got STD tested and everything came back negative. I got tested for BV/yeast/trich also and everything was negative.

The only time I felt relief from my symptoms was when I had to take doxycycline for an ear infection but it came back after my 7 day dose.

Symptoms do not change with hydration levels

Sometimes white particals in urine.

going to make an appointment with my gyn as my pcp doesn't seem to be getting anywhere with it.

This AMV for Eremika is honestly great. I think it does a great job at creating parallels between Eren and Mikasa. The song they choose is 100% them too. It does a beautiful job of showing their relationship.

Let me preface: I don't hate Gabi/I think she is important to the story. She is not my favorite, but neither is Eren.

I can't wrap my mind around the argument that Gabi is a female version of Eren because the more I think about it she is not. Yes they are both passionate about their causes but that is it.

Eren was blindly passionate about hating titans, but he went AGAINST what society viewed as normal. He always did what he thought was right and had to be scolded multiple times growing up to go with the flow essentially. He stood up to Hannes and the Garrison regiment as a child because he thought it was so wrong that they were drinking their day away instead of finding ways to rid the world of titans and taking their job seriously.

Gabi was blindly passionate about how Eldians are horrible and her place in becoming a shifter to atone for the sins of her ancestors but she went WITH the narrative that her society was pushing. She always agreed with what she was being told by society when she was blindly passionate.

The thing that people are using to compare them they are so fundamentally different at. Eren's passion and fury came from something within him while Gabi's came from what was taught to her by society.

For those that do not watch the Valley on the extended peacock version of the reunion, Lala does explain why her and Scheana had a falling out.

Essentially their friend Jenna was on the Valley and she did not like how Scheana had kind of outed her for sleeping with Aaron (Michelle's boyfriend at the time) in the past. Lala had told Jenna to give Scheana some grace because Scheana was going through a hard time and Jenna kept on pressing it and pressing it.

I guess Lala snapped and felt like she had to tell Jenna why Scheana was going through a hard time to understand why Lala was taking Scheana's side. Lala had told Jenna that Scheana had just found out that Brock had cheated on her while pregnant and that she was going to include it in the book she is writing and that's why Jenna needs to give Scheana some grace. Lala said not to tell anyone and apparently Jenna told alot of people in the friend group including Zach (who is another Valley cast member). It got back to Scheana and Scheana got upset that the truth was out before she could put it out herself. Then that is why they had a falling out.

Lala said that she doesn't even recognize the version of Scheana that she sees today. Not sure if she was hinting that Brock kind of made that happen or what but Lala did seem genuinely upset about the whole situation.

I have not drank alcohol in 1 year and 8 months and I do not plan to. One of my biggest triggers is having a low number of sober days so once I got past the 3 month mark and especially the year mark I felt smooth sailing. However, recently I have been missing it. I know it's not logical because what I miss is thinking I can go out and have 1 drink and be satisfied when that has not happened.

Has anyone else had this happen, making it to a high milestone numbers and suddenly feeling the want to drink even though you haven't had it in so long?

Saturday I'm going to a concert at Fenway but the greenline is going to be closed. Is there any route that you would suggest? I orginally was going to do alewife to park st to kenmore but it looks like kenmore/fenway is going to be not running.

Edit: Sorry best way to get home too * if I park at alewife.

I just finished My Love Story with Yamada-Kun at Lv999 and cannot stop thinking about it. I doubt it will get a season two as romance anime often don't despite how popular they are.

I liked almost everything about it:

The found family aspect between Akane and the gamer friends.

How the characters are multi faceted and have depth. None of them are truly bad.

The slow burn of it all.

I liked how they were college aged too. It showed Akane with her friends, at college, at her job, at her apartment. I liked how it showed her separate from Yamada.

Are there any animes similar to it?

What was the last Stephen King book you read and what did you think of it?

The last SK book I read was the Long Walk. I liked it but it wasn't my favorite. I think my mistake was that it is meant to be read continuously but I took a month to read it which kind of interrupted the tension of the book's pacing. I really liked Stebbins and SK managed to make the horrors of walking shine through the story.

I have watched in the past

Narutu

Death Note

Toradora

Ao Haru Ride

Violet Evergarden

More recently I have gotten back into anime and watched

Attack on Titan

Tokyo Ghoul

I was watching Banana Fish but then it got off Prime when I was 4 episodes in I am planning to pick it back up when it comes to Netflix in August.

What I like in an anime: I like a good romance subplot with an outside factor driving the storyline. (No major spoilers just a general plot overview for these animes I am going to discuss): For example with Tokyo Ghoul there is the main task at hand which is ghouls versus the CCG but it does a great job at showing relationships and character development. Same with Attack on Titan there is the outside factor going on of the war but the anime still gives you characters to root for and moments where you could suspect characters are more than friends. For me it has to have some sort of cannon romance plot even if it is a small part because I have to have something to root for/get more invested in the plot if there are moments like that.

I was thinking of watching Orange next while waiting for Banana Fish to drop but I am open to options.

There did seem to be a shift that Amanda had this past season of Summer House.

With West at least as a viewer, it seemed like he had a hierarchy for his friends. It seemed like the summer house cast would never be on the same level as his NYC friends. Jesse was the exception but it really seemed like there was a split. In my opinion it seems like he was a different person on SH than he was in his unfilmed life.

It seemed when Amanda got closer to West this season, she almost adapted the same mindset. Especially when Ciara was talking to Amanda and was like well I was there for you too post filming and Amanda was trying to argue West was there for her in a different way and just dismissed when Ciara listed all the ways she offered to help. It was almost like Amanda was trying to say 'We stopped filming SH we are not real friends' without breaking the fourth wall. Which is sad because I think Ciara thought they were real friends.

When Amanda left summer house was it her decision or Bravos? Because I can see West in my opinion convincing Amanda to just not do Bravo because he's over it because of HIS parting with Bravo and she wants to seem cool girl so she will follow suit that she is 'over it' and 'above it'.

I could be wrong but based on the reality it seems like only a few would have a life that they have grown from their former selves. Stassi, Katie, and Ariana come to mind but they had to go through it to get there.

But it is hard to rewatch what once was my comfort show knowing how everything played out.

• Shwartz and Sandys is closed down due to it not performing well. Sandavol was touring with his band at the height of the make it or break it moment for the bar.
• The alleged TMZ video of Sandavol alledgedly pushing Victoria's dad into a fire pit.
• Ariana being a ride or die for Sandavol and took Raquel under her wing when no one wanted to give her a chance, ONLY for Raquel and Sandavol to have an affair. Which lead to a 10 year relationship being broken.
• Schwartz and Katie divorcing, Schwartz still in his awe schucks era.
• Jax in his Peter Pan era.
• The James and Ally altercation that made the news. Him about to have a baby with someone 11 years younger than him.
• Lala building a new life for herself which is great but her realizing that she still will be tied to Rand for the majority of her life.

I am sure there are more examples but it is just really dark to see half these cast mates not grow at all since VPR season 1. Or these friendships and relationships that were so connected and they have been through so much together to not even being on speaking terms anymore.

In the anime Ayato was one of my favorite characters. I really wanted to learn more about him like what caused him and Touka to separate, how was his time at Aogori Tree, and how did him and Hinami become close and if they had any moments together that gives the readers moments to root for them, how his journey underground was, etc.

In the manga does it go into Ayato's life more or is it pretty much a 1:1 of what is shown in the anime?