#bring back the scene from s1 ep 8

[iiheartarc]

MY TAKE ON THE CAITVI DISCOURSE

total wordcount: 1591

I will say that I've briefly commented on their dynamic in the past, but it was worded really badly so I feel like I need to defend my writing skills a little bit as well with this, but that's just a sidenote. 💀

I think what a lot of people are missing when people do criticise CaitVi is that they aren't necessarily hating on the ship, it's what writing choices have done to it.

I'm not even going to even say I'm a CaitVi hater, I'm not (S1 CaitVi my beloved, you deserved better), but I do think the choices that writers made this season heavily effected how audiences portrayed the ship, even including myself.

Idk I hope this insight might give some people more perspective on why CaitVi became so hated in this season, people rlly need to start looking at both sides and not taking criticism as a personal attack. It really could've been avoided too if the writers had added more time or extended the series onto a third season, but that's another issue on its own.

1. Caitlyn hits Vi

I really don't get why people are so quick to defend Caitlyn on this one, especially considering the amount of hate Vi got when she hit Powder. Are both inexcusable? Yes. But I do think that the situation is a little different when it's a fifteen year old child who had just witnessed the death of her entire family and a twenty something year old woman who took out her anger and grief on the woman she loved because she blocked her shot.

I do think that people also do ignore the immense amount of trauma that Caitlyn suffered at the hand of Jinx, but unlike when Vi 'abandoned' Powder, (again, that's a whole other conversation, we know she was not abandoned), Vi was not that direct source of anguish to Caitlyn the way Powder was to Vi. (Pls lmk if you want me to expand further on this)

Again, not excusing Vi hitting Powder, I'm pointing out the differences.

It's then also incredibly tone deaf when Caitlyn hits her on two more occasions with the same gun, the third time being played off as a joke. It really doesn't come off well, especially when Vi had been a victim of police-brutality even before the abuse she faced at the hands of the enforcers in Stillwater.

And then, even after all this, it's never addressed. It's brushed over, like Vi's entire trauma in the show, the most we get is Caitlyn brushing her hand over Vi's abdomen in the cell scene. Again, can be taken as an apology, but I think that for some very specific things (like hitting your romantic partner), verbal apologies do need to be made in order to communicate healthily and somewhat build a healthier relationship.

I don't really want to talk about the abusive implications of this, because I don't think I'm someone who can talk about it with a full understanding because that's something I've fortunately never been through, but the blatant disregard and shunning of abuse survivors when they pull up the red flags raised because of this is disgusting. In real life, or if it had even been someone else in the show, if the ship had been a heterosexual relationship, people would call Caitlyn an abuser and would be outraged that Vi had been paired with her in the end. But I digress.

1. The cell sex scene

Initially I hadn't been too bothered about this when I had first watched the episode, but when you really think about it, it shouldn't have happened. Hell, they could've had sex in Caitlyn's office and half of the criticism wouldn't have happened, the ship wouldn't be so hated and the fandom wouldn't be half as divided as it is now (from what I've seen).

First and foremost, the cell.

All I can say is wtf. It was such a poor choice it's actually unfathomable to me now. I don't know why the writers thought that it'd be a good idea for Caitlyn and Vi to have their first time in a jail cell, not only the one Jinx had been locked in, but the one Vi had herself been locked in for what we can assume to be hours. The place of her abuse should not be somewhere where the writers could possibly think would be a suitable for a victim to have such an intimate moment with her partner.

Then there's the fact that Vi had looked to have had some sort of breakdown, we see she's sh and there are literal crates in the wall from where she punched it as well as her knuckles bleeding. As soon as she sees Caitlyn, there's a parallel to when they first met, to when Vi is quite literally caged. She's clearly not in the right state of mind, and so when the scene eventually happens it inevitably comes off as wrong because Vi is incredibly emotionally vulnerable in that moment.

"But Vi initiated it!" That still doesn't make it okay. I do think that this also came with an issue of timing, but then again, as I mentioned earlier, it literally could've been in the office as they argued and it would've been recieved so much better then the cell scene was. Vi wasn't breaking down, she wasn't locked in a reminder of the abuse she faced and her sister hadn't just ran off to do goodness knows what (in Vi's POV, us as the audience know exactly what she's about to do). They could've even have it fade to black and cut to the next scene tangled in bed doing whatever they would've been doing in the cell, Vi would assumably have had time to calm down, would be having sex in a warm and safe environment, and guess what? The audience would've been even happier.

Sure there would've been criticism, but Vi could literally save a thousand babies and adopt them all and still face hate, because a lot of the hate is being directed to Vi too because of the situation with Jinx. That, again, is a whole other situation.

3. "Dirt Under Your Nails"

Again, for the love of god, there can be so many takeaways from this sentence but do not be surprised that people didn't like it. I didn't, it made me cringe horribly.

And before people throw 'media literacy is dead', this whole post (practically essay), is analysing a piece of media that I love. To be literate, you can draw different interpretations and conclusions and that's exactly what I'm doing. It's like saying literacy is dead if two people were to disagree on what the meaning of Macbeth's quote 'I am in blood' meant.

I digress.

I think the main issue here is the class difference between Vi and Cait. Caitlyn is from the aristocracy, a direct heir to a position of power in Piltover, while Vi is lower class, effected indefinitely by growing up in poverty. Even though she grew up as Vander's kid, they were still 'scraping for scraps'. The wealth margin between the two is almost immeasurable, and with the difference in money comes a difference in experiences, as we - the audiences - know.

It especially comes off wrong considering the class tensions and political themes heavily focussed on within the first season. The conflict between Piltover and Zaun, the abuse of power and exploitation of Zaunites by both topside and the chembarons, the prevalence of police brutality on the streets of the Undercity. Again, Vi is someone who is directly effected by this, while Caitlyn came into this blissfully naïve. She did learn yes, and in s1 she was so determined to help, but when then this progress reverts into her calling zaunites 'animals' and using the grey as a weapon, it again makes Vi's words feel uncomfortable.

Again, I think this was a massive timing issue, I would've love to see Caitlyn succumb fully to a villain arc. It would've been so interesting to delve into.

I think Vi has always had the image of herself that she'll always be viewed as less by Piltover, that she herself views herself as less. She says it herself to Vander in s1 ep2 while they're on the bridge, "I grew up knowing I'm less than them." So when she then says as her final words in the show, "I'm the dirt under your nails" obviously, that's going to come across as tacky.

People are free to think of romantic connotations for this, I won't stop you, but when you think about how the show was so focussed on class tensions, police brutality, oppression and exploitation, it doesn't come off right. Idk, that's what got me so interested with the show in the first place, the way these themes were explored so deeply but subtly in a way that didn't feel forced, so Vi's words really rubbed me the wrong way.

Conclusion

So I hope everyone that read somewhat gets where I'm coming from, this was my attempt to try and explain what I think needed to be, badly. Again, you can like the ship, I'm not saying I don't, but it also needs to be acknowledged that there is so many things that could've been worked on properly, done properly or addressed properly, and ignoring criticism won't help these issues to be fixed in the future.

Feel free to ask any questions and thanks for reading this long ass rant :)

[runninguplenorahills]

Does it ever drive you crazy?

Because it surely drives me crazy and I’ll never get over it. Not only are the characters positioned identically and the scenes are shot in the same way (except for the fact that there’s no table in between Joyce and El), El is also wearing two iterations of what is essentially the same outfit in the scenes with Mike and Hopper while the scenes with Joyce and Mike have the same context of crafting glasses that block light, and the scenes with Mike and Benny both take place at a fast food restaurant with the serving hatch in the background. The colors yellow and red are also present to varying degrees.

Furthermore, we have the dialogue with Hop in s2/ep.3 “The Pollywog”:

EL: “[Mike] said he needs me.”

HOPPER: “I know you miss him kid, but it's too dangerous. You're the last thing he needs right now.”

And the dialogue with Mike in s4/ep.9 “The Piggyback”:

EL: “I- missed you”

MIKE: “yeah, I missed you too[…]”

And the fact that both scenes function as reconciliation between the characters after a fight. I’ve written a post on this before, so you’ll find more about this HERE

Then the dialogue with Joyce in s1/ep.7 “The Bathtub”

JOYCE: “This will keep it dark for you. Just like in your bathtub […].”

And the dialogue with Mike in s4/ep.9 “The Piggyback”:

MIKE: “Okay, so, hopefully, this blocks out any peripheral light, right?”

As mentioned before, Mike and Joyce are both crafting blackout goggles for El to use in the sensory deprivation tank here.

The scene with Benny in s1/ep.1 “The Vanishing of Will Byers” has Benny speculating about how El ended up in her current condition and although I wouldn’t draw similarities between this and the particular scene of Mike and El at the Surfer Boy Pizza, I do want to point out that this is the first time we see El in the Benny’s Burgers t-shirt. A t-shirt that gets mentioned by Mike later on during his infamous monologue.

Additionally, Benny’s Burgers is actually featured as a location in s4 for the first time since s1. I personally think this is reason to believe that s4 aimed to remind us of Benny and s1 to some extent. Which then brings me to the similarities between the aforementioned scene of Benny and El and the scene of Mike and El in s1/ep.2 “The Weirdo on Maple Street”.

Dialogue with Benny in s1/ep.1 “The Vanishing of Will Byers”:

BENNY: “My name’s Benny. Benny Hammond. See? Like this, here. I got you. Don’t worry, it’s okay. Nice to meet you, yeah. And you are? *reaches for her arm, revealing the number - El flinches and pulls her arm away* Eleven? What’s that mean? What’s it mean?”

EL: “No”

BENNY: “Well I’ll be damned, she speaks.”

Dialogue with Mike in s1/ep.2 “The Weirdo on Maple Street”.

EL: “No”

MIKE: “Oh, so you can speak.”

[…]

MIKE: “Hey uhm, I’ve never asked your name. *El shows her the number on her wrist* […] *Mike surges forward to touch it- El flinches and pulls away her arm* Sorry, I’ve just… never seen a kid with a tattoo before. What’s it mean? Eleven?”

Which is almost identical. Now, considering that Mike makes a direct reference to s1 in which he mentions not only Benny/Benny’s Burgers, but also meeting El for the first time, this similarity doesn’t seem entirely irrelevant. Especially keeping in mind that the above depicted scenes look identical, this probably functions as a way to underline that Mike is clearly lying about his feelings during his monologue to El.

Mike is consistently depicted as and paralleled to someone who takes care of El, like a guardian (e.g.:“I care for you… so much” - right after bringing a plate with food on it, etc.) and while this is far from being new information (it quite possibly has been discussed to death), I will never get over the fact that they’re constantly trying to remind us of this familial relationship during scenes that are supposed to be romantic moments between Mike and El, going all the way back to:

S1/ep.8 “The Upside Down”

MIKE: “They’ll be like your new parents. And Nancy, she’ll be like your new sister.

EL: “Will you be like my Brother?”

MIKE: “What? No, no.

EL: “Why ��no’?”

MIKE: “Because… ‘cause it’s different.

EL: “Why?”

MIKE: “I mean, I don’t know, I guess it’s not”

[…]

MIKE: “Well…I was thinking… I don’t know… maybe we can go to the Snow Ball together”

[…]

MIKE: “I’ve never been, but I know you’re not supposed to go with your sister.”

EL: “No?”

MIKE: “I mean, you can, but it’d be really weird”

[…]

They kiss and the first thing Mike says afterwards is “Nancy”

[thesunfyre4446]

rhaenicent is not a tragedy. alicent and rhaenyra just lost a child and a grandchild, and will continue to lose their children in the future. you can't convince me that the tragedy of the story is that they lost their childhood friendship \ crush from 2 decades ago. this storyline was relevant to the first 5 eps of s1, but at this point it's so ridicules and removed from the plot, and makes them look so stupid i can't take this show seriously anymore. the writers don't treat rhaenyra and alicent's characters with respect, they just do stuff when the plot requires them to that have nothing to do with their personality.

ep 6 alicent said that her sons lives will be in danger if rhaenyra becomes queen, but 8 eps of character development are disregarded in a second because rhaenicent need to have their cute lil moment of "you'll make a good queen".

apparently rhaenyra is willing to risk her life (and her family's life, because they'll be fucked too if she'll be caught) just to talk to alicent. young rhaenyra was fully aware that the hightowers plotted to take her throne, but apparently now she's just so shocked by what alicent has done because she told her that "she'll make a good queen" so that surely cancels out 20 years of plotting and hatred and she just HAS to see her. why? this woman has been your enemy for the last 20 years, one dinner is not going to change anything. 12 eps of character development disregarded because rhaenicent needed to have their cute sept scene.

i really don't understand the direction they're taking with rhaenyra and alicent. i really really don't. bring ep 6 alicent back.

[hellofeanor]

I know some people are upset about this, but

Adar had a complete and narratively satisfactory character arc and here's why.

(I'm saying "narratively satisfactory" because it satisfies his purpose in the narrative even if we think he deserved better.)

The two main problems I had with Adar's arc throughout most of S2 were as follows: his decisions to release Halbrand and then rabidly charge into Eregion after Sauron make no sense, and his character was inconsistent with what was established in S1. I complained about both of these things at length with people who were willing to listen, and some people who just smiled and nodded. But certain things in ep 6 made me start to rethink, one line in episode 7 really stood out, and the events of ep 8 put everything into perspective. So let's explore.

In 6, we have the scene of Adar and Galadriel speaking about Sauron. The major theme here is that he worms his way inside people's minds, insidiously exerting his will over them. Both characters at this point acknowledge this as fact. And in light of this revelation, Adar's "decision" to free Halbrand starts to make a little more sense. All it took was that one interaction for Sauron to get back inside Adar's mind and start influencing him again. There's no reason for Adar to do any of what he does in S2 unless he's under Sauron's control. Galadriel even says it herself: this is what Sauron wants. But Adar's mind and judgment are too clouded to see.

In 7, there's one critical line. "You think it was only you who put yourself in my power?" It's Annatar speaking to Celebrimbor, but he might as well be speaking to anybody here. It's pretty telling that this line shows up in most of the character-specific teasers, including Adar's.

Which brings us to 8, where everything comes together. Adar has Nenya, which has been shown to have healing powers, and a lot of people theorized that this might lead to him reverting back to an elven form. Which is exactly what happened. But the ring didn't only heal him physically.

Previously, we've seen Galadriel gain clarity of mind through Nenya: she better understands Sauron's ploy, and her part in it, and how she fell right into his trap. The exact same thing happens with Adar. When we first see him, crouching next to a rock, hiding his face, he's not just hiding his elven transformation. He looks like he's genuinely crushed. Not by seeing himself as an elf, but from the sudden ring-given clarity and the realization that he's been used by Sauron all along. His motivation and personality do a complete 180 here, and this isn't a plot hole or a contrivance. It's meant to show that the ring healed his mind as well as his body, shaking off Sauron's influence, and he's suddenly, for the first time all season, back to where he was at the end of S1. He's himself again. The searing desire to kill Sauron is gone, and he just wants to return to Mordor and build a home for his children.

He may have taken the ring because he thought it would help him kill Sauron, but in the end, it just helps him come to his senses.

Unfortunately for him, his actions can't be undone, and by sending the uruk to war, he's put them, as Annatar says 'under my control'. The minute Annatar asks Glûg what his name is, and Glûg falters in killing him, it's over. Sauron has control of the uruk again. He's wormed his way in. How do we know this for sure?

Adar's children wouldn't have set up that elaborate ruse to assassinate him. If this were all their doing, they would have just stabbed him and been done with it. The foreshadowing all season hints that Glûg may disagree with Adar's orders, but probably would never have done anything about it without a strong push from Sauron. The scheme was all Sauron and Sauron's control. Sauron orchestrates Adar's death in the exact same way Adar killed Sauron in ep 1, specifically out of spite. Sauron even appears to watch Adar's final moments: he wants Adar to know.

Is it a shitty way to die? Yes.

Is it a shitty plot twist undeserved out of nowhere? No, because the entire season has been setting us up for this moment. Hell, even some pieces in S1 have been setting us up for this moment. Halbrand could have killed Adar way back when, but at some point must have decided that Adar was more useful alive for a while longer, and a more elaborate form of revenge was in order. Sauron gains control of Adar and uses him as a puppet warlord against the elves while at the same time setting Adar up for the ultimate betrayal at the hands of his own children once he's no longer useful.

I actually love this. It's a horrible way to go, and I'm sad to see the end of this character, but it's a complete arc for him and makes sense within the narrative. It doesn't feel cheap or undeserved or at all surprising to me. It's sad, but satisfying.

RIP Adar, you will be missed. But at least you died... uh... feeling betrayed by your own kind as a result of your own actions that you realized too late were orchestrated by the guy you hate most. And if that isn't top tier tragedy, I don't know what is.

[breathe-2am]

hey idk how to tell u this but the big cliffhanger in s1 isn’t the crew being separated it’s stede going out to find ed when ed has fallen so deep into heartbreak and self-loathing that he’s destroyed stede’s ship and split up their crew. the cliffhanger is about “how will ed and stede fix their relationship after stede broke ed’s heart and ed went off the deep end?”

bc what’s going on with the crew is not the main storyline. the main storyline is the romance between ed and stede, djenks has said this many times. the main plotline is the development of ed and stede’s relationship. the show didn’t “shove most of the characters into 1 minute scenes between much longer gentlebeard arcs” in 2.04, the crew was just part of the B plot that episode, which is to be expected because they are all side characters who are always in B or C plots if they’re not part of the plot with the main characters (ed and stede). the main A plot of 2.04 is ed and stede making up now that they’ve finally been reunited, and the show develops this storyline in a rewrite/adaptation/homage to the play who’s afraid of virginia woolfe.

it’s fine if u don’t like gentlebeard or if your main enjoyment from the show is izzy/the crew, but if that’s the case for you then unfortunately you’re always have a harder time enjoying ofmd bc the writing in the show is always going to prioritize gentlebeard over the other characters. the crew reuniting was always going to be much less important than ed and stede reuniting and making up. that’s what david jenkins meant when he said “the show is the relationship.”

Heyo! I see my meme has breached the side of ofmd tumblr I usually interact with, which is really cool! Thanks for stopping by haha

I think your response is so emblematic of the shift the show went thru from season 1 to season 2- namely, that season 1 was an ensemble show and season 2 was not. Stede was the main character, yes, and he got more backstory and focus than a lot of the crew, but the story of the show in s1 was that it was a bunch of people with conflicting personalities shoved onto a boat together. Stede’s the center, but every other character gets focus as well. This show, by djenks own admission, was not originally intended to be a rom-com romance between stede and ed. He said that he didn’t commit to actually have them be together until filming season 1 episode 6- more than halfway thru the story of the first season, and that it was mainly due to rhys and taika’s acting that made him change it from an unrequited love to a relationship. So while the story is a lot about gentlebeard, saying that every other character is secondary to them and their romance isnt true.

I think a great example to bring up would be season 1 episode 7, the episode that solidifies (via lucius) that yes, this is happening. This is a very relationship heavy episode, but crucially gb isn’t the only focus.

Here's a breakdown: we start w a 1:00 gb scene, then roach comes in asking about the oranges, which leads to a 2:00 scene w the whole crew that sets up the episodes plot (swede has scurvy, we need to get more oranges). Jim protests going to st augustine, which is followed by a 1:00 scene between jim and olu, including a jim flashback. Stede and lucius return with the treasure map, there’s 1:30 more of the whole crew, then we go into the captains cabin for 1:00 of stede, ed, and lucius. 6 minutes into the ep flashes to the crew on land, a 0:50 conversation between jim and olu, then 2:00 of the whole crew, ending then nana invites them all to eat some cake at 8:15. We then go to stede, lucius, and ed in the marketplace until the 9 minute mark (abt 0:45), then back to the church where olu and jim talk to nana for 1:15, including more jim flashbacks. Back to the adventure w stede ed and lucius, which is 2 scenes back to back, totally about 3:00 (the “oh my god this is happening” scene). Then back to the church for jim olu and nana, a 1:00 jim flashback inside a 3:00 scene. Then back to the captains and lucius for 1:30, then to jim and olu, more jim flashback, then the a and b plots converge at the 2:30 mark when jim sees stede digging up their tree. Stede, ed, and lucius exit the scene after 1:30, jim and olu have a conversation for another 1:00. We see the crew leaving, then olu and nana talk, which all takes 2:00. Back on the boat, ed and stede become co-captains in a 0:45 scene, then the final 1:30 of the ep is izzy at jackie’s with 1:30 credits

Gentlebeard: 9:00, whole crew: 5:30, Jim and Olu: 11:35, Izzy: 1:30, credits: 1:30

I would say that s1e7 is the most overtly gb episode before the kiss in s1e9. But as you can see, it’s not just gb. There’s a lot of focus on jim, who gets multiple filmed flashbacks, there’s scenes w jim, olu, and nana, there’s scenes of the whole crew together, stede and ed are really only oncscreen together for abt 9 minutes- not even 1 third of the episode. And this is the ep that says directly to the audience “yes, they have a romance building”. I’m not trying to say w this that every member of the crew needs to b given equal screentime, bc that didn’t happen here obv, but everyone is doing something, and the plot is moving forward propelled by more than just the gb relationship.

Now this is very much changed in season 2.

S2e4 starts with 0:20 of stede waking ed up, then 0:45 of stede and the crew, 0:30 of ed and buttons, izzy’s w the unicorn for 1:00. The crew kick ed off the boat in a 1:15 scene. Now at the 2:25 mark we get to the plots splitting. Ed has a 1:15 scene on land, 0:45 is spent talking to a bunny. Stede and buttons find anne and mary’s antique store after 0:45 of walking. The scene in the antique porch is 2:15. Back to the revenge where there’s a 1:00 scene where wee john, roach, and pete talk about how the kraken crew, lucius, and izzy are different, and the kraken crew thinks they’re plotting to kill them. Already we go back to anne and mary’s where theres various conversations for 3:00. We go back to the revenge for a 0:45 scene where the revenge crew scare the kraken crew and lucius by trying to surprise them. Back to land, where anne and stede and mary and ed talk for 2:00. Back to the revenge for a 1:45 scene w the crews, izzy enters at the 1:00 mark and then crawls away. Well that’s that, we go back to the dinner on land for 1:00, then ed storms out and he and stede have a conversation on the couch for 2:15. Anne and mary reenter, followed by a 3:00 argument that ends with anne burning down the house and they don’t kiss for some reason. We have a 0:20 scene of the crew preparing the unicorn leg, izzy is in his room and received the leg in a 0:40 scene, and well it’s been a whole minute on the revenge, time to go back to ed and stede for 1:00, ed and buttons talk end when buttons turns into a seagull after 1:30. Ed and stede talk for 0:30, and then we end w izzy the new unicorn for 0:45. Credits are again 1:30.

Gentlebeard: 19:50, whole crew: 5:05, Izzy: 3:10, credits: 1:30

To illustrate my point, i made some graphs

You don’t even have to think very hard to see the change in distribution of screentime season 1 vs season 2. And i’d argue that this is absolutely to the show’s detriment, because that ensemble cast is given way less time to shine, grow, or even speak. Notice how for the second chart there isn’t a jim and olu section? Yea that’s cause Jim has 10 lines this whole episode, and Olu has 5. Two characters, whose relationship, backstory, and plot takes up more screentime than gentlebeard’s in season 1, have a combined 15 lines between them, only 4 of which are longer than 1 sentence- 2 for jim, 2 for olu, and those lines are two sentences long. god bless us every one.

I get that there’s a large subset of the ofmd fandom that only cares abt ed and stede. I get that that’s how u find enjoyment in the show, and u know what? All the power to u. I’m not saying stop liking the show, stop liking gentlebeard, stop caring abt these characters. I don’t like gentlebeard, but i used to, and i remember really really loving ed and stede and their relationship in season 1. That changed in season 2 because of ed’s abusive actions and stede pivoting from being an independent character to just basically following whatever ed says (but that’s a story for another day).

But let’s be honest with each other, and with ourselves: season 1 was an ensemble show. Season 2 narrowed its focus to gentlebeard, while also making it (for some people) harder to like. That’s why a lot of people (myself included) didn’t like season 2 as much as season 1.

Also, just to focus back in on the original issue, the meme was not about gentlebeard. It was about Anne and Mary. And there is literally no way you can convince me that they were used as well as they could have been, or that they were implemented into the story in a smart, necessary, or even respectful way.

Because i'm a nice person, i made a brand new updated meme just for u, anon!

:-)

[alleyskywalker]

I finally got to writing down my thoughts/feelings/notes/reactions on S2E1 of HOTD. Under cut because spoilers.

Thie episode – but really just this show – had pacing issues, which was one of its biggest problems, very reminiscent of what entirely killed of the seeds of good or at least decent plot points in GoT S8. IDK what genius decided to cut the number of eps to 8 – or why, given that this show is very popular – but then they had this issue somewhat last season too. We are also starting to see how recklessly cutting characters comes back to bite you in the ass, at it’s just the start here.

With the episode/season paced as it is, there was no time to spend on Jace’s diplomatic endeavors. Were they strictly necessary? No, I guess, but they could have been…interesting? And helped him grow/develop/showcase to the audience as a character. Like, I actually want Jace to be a character this season, yk?

So given that, as much as I am sad that they cut my girl Sara Snow, I can’t be too mad about it because they just kinda…cut all of it for the most part.

The North intro was kinda funny tho. For a second I was so confused because I was like “is the KIT narrating this?” Cregan is very Northy-North lol. Is that sword Ice? “You, at least, have the mercy not to threaten me with your dragon.” – lol, I’m glad Cregan got this little snipe in at Jace for his Targ revisionism. Like, yea, sure “treated” aha. Also, I liked the little Decimation reference, complete with the white/black stones.

The Daemon and Rhaenys scene was good. I like that she takes no shit from his ass. Also liked her little monologue about how hearing of Laena’s death made her go into denial and she couldn’t start grieving until she actually saw her body. It feels very realistic.

This is not what I ever envisioned Alyn to look like lmao. He feels kinda too old? But on the other hand, I guess it maybe makes sense if he’s meant to be Corly’s son. Another question though: why are we getting introduced to him and not Addam first, given who the dragonrider will be? Are they…for some reason…merging the two brothers but keeping Alyn of the two???

AEGON this ep/season! Wow, this show is truly bipolar. First, they character assassinate him in S1 and now he’s so…idk, likeable isn’t really the word. But, compounded by TGC’s charm, he really, really has the potential to be a kind of sympathetic or at least fascinating character here. Excited to see this develop.

Loved seeing him as a father. Really, we needed more interaction between Aegon, Heleana and the twins, but you know. Pacing issues. The council scene with  Jaehaerys was adorable – that Aegon cares to bring his son into council, even if he’s a bit young for it now, but you can really see him trying to be the father he never got to have in Viserys. And you can see how much he adores this kid.

Really, Aegon, for all his impatience and lack of true competence is so clearly trying. He’s impatient to go to war, but brashness of youth of course, plus it’s not like Aemond is not chomping at the bit as well. But Aegon can be restrained (for now) and does listen to his councilors. You can say that’s a sign of his weak will, and yea in part it probably is, but it’s not a terrible trait really? For a young, inexperienced king to listen to more seasoned counsel.

AND THE PETITIONS SCENE. He genuinely wants to be a good king to the smallfolk, acknowledges them as a necessary backbone. No, he has no idea what he’s doing, but really who’s fault was that? (Looking at you, Vizzy.) It was a great bit of comic relief, especially with TGC’s acting, but also just a great portrayal of what an idealistic but really inexperienced, naïve, and not naturally-suited young king might be like. “He came all this way.” Awww. He tried lol.

Aegon and his buddies! I love seeing him have friends. Will be interested if they play any more significant roles (like during the war) than just background chatter. The banter was cute. Very dumbass teenage boys vibes.

Dalton Greyjoy mention!

Fuck Larys. That’s all I’m gonna say on that.

Aegon and Helaena’s conversation njglgjls. He really has not way how to communicate with her and she doesn’t really know how to convey her thoughts/feelings in general. But of course she’s afraid, poor girl :( But as estranged/kinda awkward their relationship is it doesn’t seem…terrible, yk?

The Alicent and Otta scene was nice. It felt like they found some understanding and a way to work together. But I do get the sense that yea, Otto is not completely satisfied with it (maybe Alicent’s definition of “victory” seemed lacking to him, which he’s not…entirely wrong there).

Luke’s funeral montage was very touching – the music was gorgeous. (I can only hope they allow Jae the same respect next ep…) Speaking of that montage, ahhhh Alicent in the sept praying for the dead… The fact this girl prays for Vizzy ffs. And also Luke. She recognizes that he was just a teenager and even though it pains her, she affords him his respect. As Criston says, “she has a gentle heart.”

Criston and Aemond’s conversation was so great on several levels!

First, of course, Aemond and his father-that-stepped-up making battle plans was great! They really do just have such a great camaraderie and dynamic of trust. Aemond believes in Criston’s excellence; they trust each other with secretive plans and vulnerable conversation. Loved the bit of Criston putting his hand on Aemond’s shoulder briefly before leaving the room.

The “that makes her a fool” line actually comes across better in context than it did in the tailer. (Although, still, who calls their mother by her name??) For one, Aemond’s frustration is understandable, he feels misunderstood and unfairly so (given that Alicent and the small council did start this whole thing, as he points out) but also he’s probably hurt, given his history with Luke. Remember how he had wanted to make a present of Luke’s eye to Alicent? He thought she was on the same page with him on this and she’s…not. Second, Aemond actually doesn’t realize this is what might be going on with Alicent – he seems kind of surprised after Criston’s explanation, the way that line is delivered. He’s having his realization out loud but he’s also not had time to digest it yet.

Ok SO I am in no way one of those weirdos who thinks that Alicent and Criston’s relationship is all about Rhaenyra (lol). BUT she is a point of common trauma for them. What Criston describes – Rhaenyra being a “cunning spider” and having an emotional influence over Alicent and Alicent capitulating to her because of her “gentle heart” is, yes, a description of Alicent, but it’s also a description of his own relationship with Rhaenyra, at least how it had felt from his POV. He understands Alicent’s feelings here so well and can empathize with her and defend her to Aemond because he loves her, yes, but also because he’s been there too.

OK, now ALICOLE.

I mean…Am I glad it’s canon? Well, yea, I’ve been shipping it super hard. Do they deserve to have consensual sex that brings them joy? Yes! Do I think it’s “hypocrisy”? Nope, lol, not matter now much TB screech that it is, it just isn’t. I’m pretty sure I’ve rebloged posts explaining why not.

That all said…man did they not handle this well, or at least certainly not in the best, most compelling way they could have. Now, I understand that my love for asexual/courtly love romance is not something most people share, so this relationship was going get physical if it was to be canon at all. Also, this show isn’t really the right genre for a drawn out slow burn romance, necessarily. But. It IS quite a big leap to suddenly go from “implied” and “romantic tension” to…fucking on a regular basis, just because Vizzy has finally kicked the bucket. Especially with these two characters.

Now, Alicent, I can get. She’s a widow, her marital vows no longer bind her. She has also completed her duty as a wife, mother and queen (re: providing heirs). Social interest in her private life is as low as it could ever be for a woman in that society. (So, not low enough really lol but historically, widows had a lot of freedom, compared to unmarried girls and wives.) But Criston? How does this work for him? His vows are still in place and he had been so heartbroken about having broken them the first time. I mean, yes, this is a very different situation and relationship. He’s older, he’s already broken those vows once so it’s like…how much he got to lose there? He can’t go back ever to NOT being an oathbreaker. But I really would have wanted to see some more set up. We should have seen them fight their irresistible pull toward each other, until they finally broke.

I did love her putting the cloak back on him afterward. A nice little anti-parallel to how he takes it off during the sex scene with Rhaenyra.

There really, really was no need to have Helaena walk in on them having sex after B&C. There had to be better ways to establish that this was a regular thing for them now and that the whole “we can’t do this again” is just Alicent/them being in denial. A way that didn’t take away from a moment that is/was supposed to be so horrific and impactful.

I do love the contrast of Alicent and Viserys always doing it missionary style and now with Criston she’s on top!

Blood & Cheese. Oh god. I have spent the last few days so angry about this. I’ve rebloged do many posts about this that I’m not sure I want to spend to much time on it. It’s just depressing at this point. But I will say a couple of things:

Helaena’s reaction does make sense to me. I’ve seen a lot of people, including TG people, saying that it was bad, and she should have been more frantic. But, frankly, she did seem pretty panicked and frantic to me. It’s just this Helaena does not emote/externalize much. At some point it seems like she almost dissociates from the situation. It’s understandable that she picks up her daughter and runs – she can’t save her son but while the assassins are distracted, of course she takes the chance to try to save her daughter. Even the necklace thing kind of makes sense. In the books, she asks them to kill her in part because she can’t stand to make the awful choice between her two boys – she’s rather die than choose. But here she hears them talk about her being a son; when they reject her necklace they also repeat how “that’s not a son.” Only a son will do, so offering her life is pointless, but trying to outbid the person who hired them might not be.

 The people (TB, lbr) shrieking about how this was Alicent and Criston’s fault are just willfully dense. If Alicent wasn’t having sex, she might have been sleeping or reading in her room or preying. There is literally nothing that implies that she would have been with Helaena if she wasn’t having sex, ffs. Also, Criston is not the only fucking kingsguard or guard. Wtf were there like no other guards idk. That’s just a plot hole/devise that looks ridiculous. But nonetheless, he 1) isn’t on duty 24/7, that’s unrealistic, and 2) is Alicent’s sworn shield, so he wouldn’t have been guarding Helaena or the kids anyway.

This is where we see that cutting Maelor was a BAD IDEA. It’s going to potentially create even more problems down the line. Who would have thought that cutting characters left and right might be an issue? /s It really diminishes the horror of Helaen’s situation and sets up this kind of unrealistic replacement choice which makes no sense because like…why would they even need her to tell them which one is the boy? It’s not that hard to feel the kids up and see which one has the right genitals, yk? I’ve seen people try to do some interesting analysis for how this scene is Thematically Relevant but nah. That’s just cope the way I used to cope with things in GoT that went wrong in the last seasons by doing metal gymnastics to try to spin them in a more palatable way for me.

But even if they fucked up on the foresight and found themselves with a situation where they needed to play this without Maelor…They could have still tried harder. For example: framing it less from the assassins’ POV and more from Helena’s, having the scene be longer, maybe in these circumstances have her try to offer her life/emote more like in the book, have Alicent actually be present too, have the rape threat against Jaehaera, have Daemon actually order Jae’s murder or at fucking least have him say “a son for a son” on screen because you KNOW the rabid part of this fanbase will act willfully blind and dumb to pretend he’s not at fault. I really think it’s that last one that makes me the most angry in the end, as the murder of a toddler is awful and horrific even without the Sophie’s choice.

And to piggy-back off that last, it’s the diminishing of the horror for TG and the whitewashing of TB as much as possible that gets to me the most, I think. They made this horrific, impactful event almost a par for the course (for the GoT/ASOIAF universe) sort of thing and with as little responsibility and plausible deniability given to TB as they could. The blatant bias (that they then have the audacity to pretend isn’t there) is infuriating.

In conclusion: there were plenty of nice things, but the disappointments really overshadowed them.

[chronicsyd]

Yeaaaaa my brain’s like Literally not shut up since my last spam post about this GOD DAMN SHOW and it just… keeps spiraling… spiraling… spiraling… So, let’s talk about Vi again!

On my tiktok yesterday I brought up a post from the AMA for Arcane a couple of years ago that the co-creators were answering. And someone asked, “Will Vi and Caitlyn shippers be happy with the upcoming season?” to which the answer was, “There’s that part they might like, and that part they probably hate.” To which Amanda Overton (basically the writer responsible for most of the Caitvi scenes we got in s1) said, “I take full responsibility for both and they make the show better” so that’s… not all that thrilling.

However, it’s gotten me to think about what on Earth that “probably hate” bit would be.  Now this is something I’m saying as Complete speculation, I’m not Certain that this is what’s going on but if you’re willing to take a grain of salt with me then I’m willing to explain my reasoning. With that, let’s continue.

My HOPEFUL guess is that the “probably hate” thing is that Vi and Caitlyn split again at the beginning of S2. Honestly, it could be over a number of things: conflicting motivations about Jinx (Caitlyn wants revenge, Vi’s probably still in denial and wants to find “Powder”. Because she doesn’t call Jinx “Jinx” until After she’s already an Enforcer), Vi probably feels out of place and wants to figure things out on her own (As in she can’t trapse around Zaun she’s unwanted there, but on the flipside she’s a complete outsider to Piltover. Because even though Caitlyn would probably welcome her with open arms, doesn’t mean everyone else will…), there’s really a whole list of things that could probably explain this. So, Vi goes on her own to try and figure herself out and Caitlyn tries to go back to being an Enforcer and go through life without Vi.

But just because Vi left doesn’t mean that the conflict between Piltover and Zaun stops. And simply being an Enfocer is putting targets on Caitlyn’s back, which I think Caitlyn is fully aware of. And she and the others get ambushed at her parent’s tent that I pointed out in an earlier post; to which we Also saw Vi seeing the aftermath of. And, I think Vi has to make the decision that being an Enforcer is her best shot at bringing the conflict between Piltover and Zaun to an end; regardless of what her past has been with them. So, Vi probably comes back to Caitlyn probably midway through-ish (ep 4ish maybe?) and that’s when Caitlyn leads the strike teams to Zaun with those 3 objectives: Find Jinx, get rid of Shimmer, and neutralize anyone still loyal to Silco. I think that Vi and Caitlyn are the one team that goes after Jinx in that temple scene we see in the teaser (because that’s NOT the “finale fight” between the two, there’s NO way they’re showing that this early on) and I believe this for a few reasons: When Vi says “My sister is gone” the background looks like the temple and Vi really only holds that vulnerability in her eyes when talking to Caitlyn (See the bed scene from “Oil and Water”), and the last clip of Caitlyn we see she’s clearly in the temple as well, so I bet she’s probably backup for Vi in case thing’s get nasty. On the downside of this, there’s a still of Caitlyn that doesn’t show up in the trailer where she’s still in the temple, she’s lost her hat and her hair’s a mess and the cut on her lip is fresh. So Clearly this fight doesn’t go the way that they want it to, and that’s where Caitlyn gets the scar on her lip.

Now what happens After this? Ehhh it’s hard to say, mainly because I believe that they haven’t really shown us anything that has to do with the last episodes of the show. And to be honest even with a final trailer they’re probably gonna give us around Sept./Oct. they might only show scenes from up to ep 8 of the season (I only say this cuz that’s what they did for s1).

(Although my little shit of a brain DID say “what if the show Ends with Vi getting amnesia instead of it happening During the season?” soooo thx for That brain, that isn’t upsetting to think about AT ALL…)

So, yea just more speculations on what I think could possibly happen. Also, does anyone know what was said at the Annecy festival? That was supposed to happen today, right? Anyways, I’m out until my brain comes up with something else. Bye!

[amuseoffyre]

Since it's coming in just over 15 hours, here are my last speculative predictions for the finale, based on what we have and the teaser for ep. 8.

I've been chanting from the beginning that this season is the Empire Strikes Back of the show. We're in the second act of a show that is designed to be a 3-Act play.

Act 1 sets the scenes and the characters, Act 2 is when things go wild with losses and tension and threat but usually ending with a glimmer of hope for Act 3, when the big conclusion happens.

We've had the dramatic reveals, we've had the rising tension, we've had our characters separated and about to be hauled back together by the actions of the bad guys. I'm gnawing so hard on all the set up and cannot wait.

But to the speculation!

Ed will find the letters then head back to the republic and see the demolition that has happened. He will realise that Ed-the-fisherman can't help Stede, but if he can face the parts of himself that he hates - the parts that first emerged to protect his mum - he can protect Stede.

He will dive down into the water by choice, as opposed to being thrown in or pulled under as he was earlier in the show - he will swim down and reclaim the pieces of his identity.

The Revenge is toast - my best guess is that it'll be weaponised as a fire ship mostly because I am a destructive chaos gremlin who thrives on making things go boom.

I've been suspicious about Izzy being Navy for ages, because he was able to contact Navy people and have them listen to him so easily in S1. I suspect this will come into play again. (Also, I want him to be the Lando Calrissian here - looks like he's selling them out, but double-crossing the bad guys :D)

The crews will come together and take a Navy ship, steal it right out from under them and this is a big part of the set-up for S3 - they need to show that even without their own ship, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Stede donning a uniform identical to Chauncey and Nigel's will Not Be Good for him.

The season will finish with them ragged, worn, and dealing with the loss of their home but together.

AND THEN the end credit scene drops and "we've heard you're the man who could bring Blackbeard down" and then camera tilt/pan to a man sitting much like Ed did in 1x03. And I don't know if he'll even need to say a thing, but showing his face? HORNIGOLD :D :D :D I am so convinced of it. Why else mention him in S1? Why have him given a face and more characterisation in Ed's subconscious? He is Useful. Also the way they've been luring us in with silly little end-credit scenes. It's a trap and he's waiting.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

So... Can we talk about Zheng Yi Sao please?

I absolutely adored her and she was so much fun (and love the polycule) but I am absolutely failing to see what her role in the larger narrative was.

She unites the pirates only for everyone to get blown and the pirate republic destroyed in one stroke? Because the woman who conquered China is stupid enough to trust a"gifts" British Navy minor prince whom she is blackmailing?

She is basically Stede's more competent side kick for the rest of the episode?

Another one I'm sure will be a controversial opinion! I'd love to hear what y'all think, don't be afraid to leave a comment below.

Funnily enough, my 2 remaining asks are both wanting to discuss Zheng Yi Sao (and to a lesser extent, Archie) as how both of these characters were meant to impact this story and/or failed to do so! Given that the writers looked at the limited amount of time they had and decided to write BRAND NEW characters instead of further developing the people we already liked.

I will be combining the asks, as the other person was anonymous but they spoke more to how Archie and Zheng didn't add much that was new to the story. If that anon would like me to still post their thoughts, let me know!!

First: Archie

I hate to say it, but for the most part, she feels like the response to the common criticism that S1 didn't have any leading women.

Which, yes. Is absolutely valid. This is where I feel we can sit with Archie. She's fun, and hot, and has the same Violent energy Jim had in S1. But by the time episode 8 rolls around, what is she? We know almost nothing about her, to this day. She was in a snake cult...um. She can fight, and is Jim's arm candy? Beyond that, it feels a bit hollow. Especially as Archie enters a relationship with Jim before we as the audience know Jim and Olu are in an open relationship. Yes. Jim thought Olu was dead, but I didn't really like Jim joking about Archie's tits when bringing up the fact they were dating Archie as well now.

NOW-

Onto Zheng Yi Sao! (and to a lesser extent Auntie)

Zheng had 2 rolls to fill this season, character and narriative. Her character roll was-

1.) To be an Ed mirror. She's a badass with a record, a Navy at her back, and yet we can't make her a badass without giving her the same romantic arc as Edward fucking Teach. Seriously. I was bored watching her scenes as soon as it was obvious Olu liked her. Because I could put the pieces together.

Auntie is Izzy trying to hold the legend together, Oluwande is Stede a stranger to this brand of piracy, and Zheng is Ed 1-1 from S1ep4. Congrats welcome back to Season 1, but this time faster, and with a more interesting side interrupting it every other scene.

Zheng is open to new experiences, letting herself be soft, when it comes to her new boy toy. Cool. We're repeating story beats, which I don't love... But then she gets defeated by Olu distracting her and leaving her behind mirroring Ed in ep 10. Stede and Ed's romance is condensed into 3 ish episodes. When we see her again, her arc isn't focused on her conquering the sea. Not really. It's more on how she really misses Olu. For a badass pirate we enjoy watching, I cared more about her slipping into good graces with the pirates of the Republic than her missing her 'quiet part of the day'.

The story also felt a need to parallel the mentor relationship of Zheng and Auntie, with Ed and Izzy. A thing that for the most part I don't agree with. Zheng respects and mourns Auntie in a way Ed doesn't to Izzy. Rewatch S1, does Izzy EVER change Ed's mind? Or does Ed talk down to him like he's a pesky mosquito in his ear. Ignoring him and trying to show off to Stede.

Zheng's personal arc repeats that of a character we had a lot more time with. I wish they just stuck to the cool strategy shit with her. Ironically she's a strong character because she can fight and because she cares about Olu. Which...ew. Just make her a threat, y'all. That's all you had to do.

BUT I FELL IN LOVE WITH HER IN EPISODE 7/8. OMG.

I went from being all right with her and Olu's story to seeing her as her own person. Someone who is very overwhelmed and competent. I also love her actress, so that always helps. It just sucks that she starts to have her own things going on at the very end of the story. Again, we get the Ed parallel of her throwing herself into a suicide mission after Auntie dies, but it doesn't FEEL like a direct mirror the way the romance obviously was.

She was always going to be a plot device, just like everyone else this season because-

2.) She's the reason Stede goes from being stranded on land back on the Revenge. This is the OVERALL reason she was needed here. I wish they handled this differently. I've seen some say the reason she didn't see Ricky as a threat is because the 'point' of Ricky was that you shouldn't underestimate people. But given how she treated Stede's crew like criminals awaiting trial (besides Olu), I fail to see how she would 'underestimate' the people whose claim she was trying to take over. All the characters of this season exist to push the plot forward, even if it doesn't align with how they should behave.

Given that yes. England had a STRONG foothold in the colony of a colony called 'Carolina' at this time(Florida and Georgia were held by the Spanish until the Spanish-American war), the English Navy specifically could send enough troops to push her out in around 2 months. Or hell. Maybe they'd team up with the Spanish and finally clear out the republic.

Zheng needed all the pirates in the area to match the power of their army, and at this point, she didn't have that yet. So why was she so cocky? (Oh. This show ignores history, right.)

[Fanfic concept of an alternate story for this season where Zheng isn't just another love interest that wasn't properly built up]

Personally, if I knew my budget was slashed, I'd save money by cutting unnecessary sets and using the actors I have VERY wisely. So. REWRITE TIME. In episode 1 Stede struggles to make ends meet. ACTUALLY struggling not comedic struggling. Working all hours of the day, not seeing an end in sight, the crew not wanting to go back and find Ed. Hell, some of the crew threatened to leave and get on new ships. The works. Then suddenly he is given a deal from Auntie. She knows who Stede is, and wants to bargain. He'll get a small ship, in return for his future loyalty, and potentially that of Blackbeard. Hint that this was all from the 'Pirate Queen', and BAM. No need to have the entire plot on Zheng's ship, a plot that dragged compared to that on the Traumatized Revenge, and it gives the audience something to get excited about!!

Who is this pirate queen? What will this 'loyalty' mean for the next few episodes? Etc. Maybe find Lucius early in Ep 1 at the Republic recovering, having recently been left for dead by his nearest pirate ship. This way we have another thing Stede is keeping secret from the crew and Ed, and show how Stede would react in this situation. PLUS! Epic badass Zheng slowly being hinted at taking over the Republic from episodes 6-7 before she's foiled at the end of episode 8? Yes, this gets rid of us DIRECTLY SEEING that she was betrayed by Ricky, but instead of focusing on Zheng, focus on Stede and Ricky's dynamic in ep 1. Make us see how slimy he is. Then in ep 7 show Ricky making a deal on a ship we've never seen. Think Ed in ep 3 S1, dark, smoky, and when he enters the office? ZHENG YI SAO! Badass pirate trying to expand her grasp across the ocean to fuck over the worlds militaries.

THAT is a pirate threat. Not like Jack and his story of a mutiny, or Anne and Mary of however they left the life. Or Ned whose crew was a singly conversation of Mutiny. Pirates are clever bastards who aren't to be fucked with. Zheng is new, and a different way to control the area than we're used to. Then, we the audience can see JUST how fucked over Zheng will be. Zheng goes to land and still wipes up Stede's crew thanks to legend, and maybe a betrayal after finding out about the deal. Ep 7 bar fight, leading into episode 8. Hell, maybe have her and Olu flirt. This way the audience already knows Jim's alright with it AND we get to see more wingman Jim. Which was already a DELIGHT.

My big issue with Both Zheng and Archie's romances is that their Olu and Jim didn't feel like our Olu and Jim. Oluwande S1 was nervous, clever, and good with people. Very protective of Jim, I always got the opinion that if shit ever started to look bad, he'd do everything he could for him and Jim to flee. Jim was a hard egg to crack, but sarcastic and closed off even when you got to know them. Which they RARELY did.

In S2, Jim and Olu almost feel like the same goofy characters. The twist is that they still love each other and love someone else. Which is cool, just an odd choice. Given that their reunion felt...dull. But it's obvious the writers will only develop a character if they are in a romance. (Lucius and Pete? Let's talk about trauma and recovery. Olu and Zheng? Let's discuss kindness and softness? Jim and Archie? Loyalty and compassion built by blood.) That's all they had time for, and honestly, I'd rather deepen what we know about characters like Frenchie and Wee John than see another shallow romance. Lucius and Pete worked better because, AGAIN, they were ALREADY ESTABLISHED.

Much like how the rest of this season is too fond of callbacks, Zheng's entire character can be summarized by 'diet Ed' and I hope the fandom sees her harsh, willing-to-do-anything to get the job done, attitude and expands on THAT versus a carbon copy of the main show's romance. Her roll was to get closure with Auntie in a way that Ed couldn't with Izzy. Which...yikes.

tldr: good characters, but were sadly thrown away without much development.

[mobumi]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For anime/manga : Buddy Daddies, Link Click, Mob Psycho 100, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Thanks 🌻

Hello! Sure, let's do this! I'll answer this here instead of reblogging the post so i can answer you directly :)

Sorry for the late reply, I forgot this in my drafts 😅

Ask Game idea from @threecheersforinking

Buddy Daddies

Favorite Character: Rei :3

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Episode 8 is my favorite and i love the scene from ep 6 where Kazuki says Miri has their genes, it's hilarious

Character I Think is Underrated: Miri i think, mostly because of the criticism about her character

Character I Think is Overrated: probably Rei, but nah is properly rated

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Kazurei (obviously!)

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: I love how real this anime was despite the whole assassin side story lmao

Link Click

Favorite Character: Cheng Xiaoshi but Lu Guang is really close

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I really liked the earthquake arc even tho it was sad af and I liked the noodles episode, it was really cute

Character I Think is Underrated: maybe Xiao Ling

Character I Think is Overrated: no one

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Shiguang

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: The animation and the plot, season 2 was amazing in terms of plot development👌🏾

Mob Psycho 100

Favorite Character: Kageyama Shigeo aka Mob

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: the arc with the scar organization in S1 is my favorite and also the arc at the beginning of season 2 (can't remember the names of these arcs lol)

Character I Think is Underrated: hmm idk maybe Tome

Character I Think is Overrated: Rengen. Don't get me wrong he's great, I really like him, but I don't really get the fans going crazy over him tbh

Favorite Ship/Pairing: I don't really ship but Terumob would be cute

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: the development of the protagonist is top notch!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Favorite Character: Megumi

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: I like the arc in season 1 with Junpei and I really like the scene when Megumi fights Sukuna to bring Yuji back, but there are many scenes I liked in season 2, it was just too sad as a whole

Character I Think is Underrated: Inumaki I'd say idk (but I'm not a manga reader so it's just my perspective as an anime watcher)

Character I Think is Overrated: I love him but definitely Gojo

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Itafushi 🥺 and Nobamaki

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: I love the characters and their relationships, how it's not only action but there's a lot of humanity to it too!

[agent-of-sam]

So, I was super annoyed with Wheel of Time show after the first three episodes and considered dropping it.

However, I really enjoyed ep 4. So for the moment I'm still in.

I tried to articulate my thoughts and ended up writing a mini-essay. Less because I'm trying to convert anyone for or against and more because I'm the kind of person who likes to waste a lot of time thinking about why I like or dislike things.

Overall, I think my feelings have shifted to positive despite the essay below. I'm going to try and restrain myself from excessive complaining in the future. I retain the right to poke fun though.

(readmore for moderate griping below)

My problems with the show are mostly tonal. I have what might be referred to as a relatively low "drama threshold" and the show kind of blasts right through it.

I know that's a subjective thing. Some people love to sit down for an hour of television and get absolutely clobbered with the Big Feelings stick.

For me I reach a certain limit and then just stop caring. A lot of the show changes annoy me less because they are changes and more because they feel designed specifically to bring things to the point of Maximum Drama as fast as possible and that kind of storytelling has the exact opposite effect for me.

I like my world-building to be clear and consistent and I like for there to be at least a little bit left unspoken in terms of character's feelings, motivations, and relationships.

The show does the opposite where the lore and word-building feels kind of hand-waved and then many, many, minutes of screentime are invested telling you exactly what the characters think and feel at any given moment in laborious detail. Each individual scene might work on it's own but piled up back-to-back they quickly become tiresome.

Episode 4 felt reinvigorating. After 4/8 episodes it felt like the ball was finally starting to roll. The characters are starting to Go Places and Do Things which I think is an important component in what is ultimately a Fantasy Adventure story.

Supposedly the Aiel and the Whitecloaks will be entering the story soon and I'm looking forward to that. I would really like our characters to start encountering some challenges. I feel like the show so far hasn't been challenging the characters, it has been Subjecting Them to Trauma which is different.

Cathartic? Yes, sometimes. But not the be-all-end-all of storytelling.

Note that challenge doesn't necessarily mean action either. One of my absolute favorite scenes from Season 1 was watching Moiraine lie-but-not-lie her way out of a confrontation with the Whitecloaks, and the scene that followed where Egwene confronts her about the seeming contradictions between what she's been told of Aes Sedai and what she's seen after watching Moiraine.

You can learn a lot about characters just by giving them a problem and watching how they solve it. Despite initial resistance to the big jumps in Rand's storyline compared to the books he has been my favorite character to follow so far because, in contrast to S1, it felt like he was one of the few characters with a goal that he was actively pursuing. He wants information from Logain who sends him on a sidequest for a Ghealdan Red. This brings him to a fancy noble party, an environment and group of people Rand has no experience with. His reaction to them gives us a lot of information about Rand, his values, and how he deals with stuff that will probably be important later on.

And, to the shows credit, I think there are shades of solid, individual characterization in a lot of the stories we're seeing. However, the mandatory Backstory Angst upgrades from S1 keep getting in the way. I don't think they ruin the characters. You end up in the same place, generally speaking. It just adds a superficial layer of screaming and crying that you have to push past to understand what's actually happening in the characters head.

Other people clearly feel it adds depth. I find it all a little obnoxious and think the show is better when it dials the volume down a bit.

[olivieraa]

4 mill in just 5 hours? honestly surprised me

a top 5 show of mine, I fucking love ST

Im terrified that this is the final season bc Netflix has a bad reputation when it comes to handling a final season/finale. they do both of those things bad. consistently.

already ranted about that in my sort of squid game "review"

the reason I was surprised by the view count is bc like... shows usually lose their momentum and fanbase around 4 seasons in. Ive watched this happen over and over again. very few shows continue their hype up until the end. a show that did was GoT, but that doesn't surprise me, given its endless misogynistic & pornified entertainment. people love that shit.

but most shows, yeah, the "when is this show gonna end? its had its time" comments eventually come rolling in.

it can be annoying to hear but also true.

where I think its annoying is when a show truly does have more to tell, and fans were absolutely HYPED in the beginning, when that specific show was the "in thing", and 4 seasons in they're like "ehhh... Im over it, why is it still going?" yeah its reaaaaaaally obvious you genuinely liked the show and NOT bc it was popular and had virality, mhmm

whereas if you take Supernatural... I mean c'mon... 15 seasons? absolutely milking it.

Stranger things has gotten this treatment. and its like, its bc people think its been going on for too long, when in fact, its just been in production for too long. its like... 1 season, 3 year gap, another season, 3 year gap, another season etc

the 10 year old star of the first season is in her 20's and married now. and they're just bringing out season 5.

there's not enough of this show out to be receiving the "god, when is this show gonna end???" comments which Ive seen happen after season 3 "ugh they're just dragging it on now"

but I also get it bc I cant truly fathom the reason why it takes so long for a new season. my only hope is that bc this show is literally Netflix' baby, that's why they put their all into it. idk...

like I know the actors have other commitments too, totally get that. but srsly... when these shows return, its not like we get a 20 episode season like back in the old days. you're lucky to get 8 eps.

I think squid game s3 was only 6 eps? AND they dragged that on and answered no questions only created more.

and even Avatar! with so much story to replicate from the 20 episode animated series season 1, they only did 9 eps??? skipped so much AND included season 2 shit in their season 1. made no damn sense

anyway, I get very emotional about stranger things. Ive witnessed very, very few moments that went viral in real time, but this scene was one of them

I watched that ep the day it was out. I was bawling. I went up and immediately looked it up on youtube to watch it again. and then again. still kept crying.

the scene and the song then went mega global viral. I was like OKAY EVERYONES CLEARLY ON THE SAME PAGE AS ME CAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST TV SCENES I EVER WITNESSED

and then the metallica one followed, but that scene didnt impact me like the above one.

but yeah, every ep gave me the shivers, made me so hype for the next.

no season of this show has disappointed me too much. I ofc have criticisms. ex, season 2 was basically season 1, but in a different font. however, what made that season was Wills performance, which was outstanding. I also never have a fave character, but Ive a fave character per season

s1 - joyce

s2 - will

s3 - billy

s4 - vecna & max

s5 - who the fuck knows. prob whoever they decide to kill off (which they will) will be the one that gives the standout performance

anyway, Im hyped. Im excited. Im nervous. I hope they dont disappoint me.

Ive retracted top 5 shows due to their awful final seasons (Lost & oitnb being the main 2). dont disappoint me ST

[9383hff3839]

Are they’re people that still truly believe the Rhaenyra is feminist? On my spam, Team Green content popped up and I went snooping till I found a post that mentioned Team Black stans still think Rhaenyra is feminist. From my end, the TB stans I come across accept that she’s not and support Rhaenyra for different reasons. At this point, I see that they simply support her ascension to the Iron Throne because she was mainly usurped on the basis of her gender and because they think she’s a better person than most of Team Green members (Aegon, Alicent, Aemond, Criston, and Otto mainly). A good example of this a creator called: AvataraKatara (she thinks Daeron isn’t as daring as people say he is). They’re are also a multitude of other reasons, of course, that revolve around Team Black members, for example.

The feminist point can be applied to younger Rhaenyra, since she told Rhaenys she was going to create a “new order”, when Rhaenys (her tone was harsh, tho) rightfully warned her that noblemen won’t accept her and will support Aegon’s claim, instead. You can even add her bringing up the double standards between women and men, when Viserys questions her about her outing with Daemon to Flea Bottom in S1 EP 4 (I think it was this episode).

Older Rhaenyra doesn’t seem to think and care about any of this when she mentioned the hypothetical male children of the Baela and Jace inheriting the Iron Throne, when they’re time comes, to Rhaenys in S1 EP 8, in order to gain her support in the fight against the greens. She could’ve and should’ve said, “children” but chose to say “sons”, instead.

Was it an oversight on her part? The writers part?

Was it intentional? Maybe it was…

I was confused because Viserys stated that the Iron Throne would adopt absolute primogeniture when her ascension comes along. I actually thought they were gonna have her carry out that mindset into her later adulthood (I can’t be the only one), especially with how the writers were trying to make obvious contrasts between her and Alicent when it comes to literally every-fucking-thing, but I guess not. She probably views it as wishful thinking and such childish and idealistic views can’t ever be taken seriously in the real world.

GRRM gives us nothing on her thought process about the Stokeworth and Rosby ordeal but still made the choice for the female claimants, who were older than their brothers, to not inherit their ancestral seats. They could make it parallel Alicent and Dyanna’s scene in S1 EP 8, they feel sympathy but still not feel obligation to do anything. Maybe in fear of retaliation, fear of war (mostly for Rhaenyra, tho)? All situations that come back to bite them in ass later on in the war.

We have much better runner ups for feminists icons throughout the story, especially if this is still the case, so we shouldn’t be harping around Rhaenyra (I really hope we aren’t, though).

Let’s see how they go about with the Stokeworth and Rosby situation.

I hope my explanation makes sense😅

[confusedspaceotter]

Daily avatrice analysis (day 3)

day1 day2 day3 day4 day5 day6 day7 day8 day9

Seriously didn’t think i’ll have to split season 1 ep3 into 2 parts lol

anyway i’ll try to keep it brief today since the hug™ and the hallway scenes are huge milestones of their relationship thus is been talked a lot

So

Ep 3 part 2,

First, I would like to thank father Vincent for being an ally to the avatrice ship we didn’t know we had 

homeboy sees avatrice interact for once in the canteen then decided to bring Beatrice to comfort Ava lol

Now you could argue and say that father Vincent asked Bea to befriend Ava but I think I would rather believe that Bea did this on her own because of her boarding school times(if you don’t know what I’m talking about check the day 2 post)

as much as I hate this man for lying to Ava I had to give this to him

he saw the vision when no one had 

(Sorry Camila baby but you are still the captain of the avatrice ship tho

Now back to the scene itself

Avatrice really is endgame from the start huh

Just look at her 

the moment she set foot in the room, her attention was dragged away by Ava

All hail protective Beatrice 

You can tell she wanted to comfort Ava so much yet she doesn’t really know what to do

People might think that Bea is not good at dealing with feelings and that’s why she hide it 

I propose that she is in fact too good at emotions 

well more about the dark, bad side of having it ,and more importantly how to hide it

Given her past experiences I think is safe to assume she knows too well about the consequences of having feelings and I quote: 

“When what you love, what should make you happy, only brings you pain.” -Beatrice(S1 Ep 8)

Yeah she knows what pain is

And yet 

She can’t help but look at Ava, trying to find a way to provide comfort to her

Girl was whipped from the beginning man they were just meant to be 

Now onto the hug it self

Sikeee there's something else here I wanna talk about

The moment mother superion left 

She went straight to Ava

Girl couldn’t bother to wait for mother superion to left the room really shows how much she cared about Ava even tho she might not know her well

Now you can see the obvious hesitation she had

I’m assuming that reaction is combination of repressing your emotions for a long time and the result of keeping people out due to self-loathing

which makes this scene a thousand times more meaningful

Bea, the one who actively reject/avoid physical contact Initiate physical contact Im unwell

The fact that Ava is important enough to Bea that she threw her internal cage out of the window 

I feel like in her brain is probably like:

brain sees pretty girl upset must comfort

And you know what the best thing is?

the fact that physical touch is both of their love language 

as we can see in S2

They literally can’t keep their hands off each other 

Now, many people have talked about how Bea feel or might be thinking during the hug

So I will talk about Ava instead

She is seeking comfort in the one person who is nice to her since she got here (minus Vincent he got ulterior motive

Ava your Kid is showing 

I think we can see just how innocent and precious Ava is

reminds me of a meme I saw:

as a person who also had a childlike personality i would too dive head first to the one who is nice to me (especially when they are pretty girls like beatrice 

Now onto the hallway scene

two things i wanted to point out 

one, Bea using humor to try to comfort ava:

babygirl is learning how to comfort Ava we love to see it 

and two

how observant ava is 

“there's more to it then you are telling”

Ava took one look at Beatrice and said I know what you are lmao

“there is always more”

foreshadowing to ep 8 and could possibly be about Bea’s feelings towards Ava

i swear i didn't expect to write this many words 

please lemme know if is too long i’ll try to keep it brief by not analyzing too deep with the more popular scenes(e.g. the kiss in s2 and so on)

Here’s a gif of Avatrice for making it this far <3

stay tuned :)

day4

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 3x01 Review

Happy Campers was a very strong start to S3, which managed to resurrect some of the charm of S1. Let’s dig in!

Having S3 take place at Camp Shallow Lake was just the change of pace the series needed. The outdoor scenes and bright natural light are a huge step up from the often poorly lit indoor sets of S2

Camp Shallow Lake almost feels like a character itself. There’s a clear sense of history to it which also shines through in the camper’s friendships and traditions

Portwell was great tonight, really sweet and an improvement on their lacklustre ending in S2. Of course, it’s not gonna last as the show drops any pretense of subtlety and telegraphs that Ricky will come between them

They clearly weren’t planning to effectively write Lily off so soon but the actress landed a lead role in a CW show so it couldn’t be helped

Tim’s ruthless purge of the cast would make Joseph Stalin proud. All of the new characters introduced in S2 were disposed off, most of them off screen. And Big Red, Seb, Mazzara, and Miss Jenn have been downgraded to recurring. It reminds me of Ryan Murphy basically scrapping S4 and S5 of Glee and starting S6 afresh

In an interview Tim elaborated that with so many characters and only 8 eps they just couldn’t fit everyone which led to what he described as some difficult conversations. The flip side of that is that he’s introducing a bunch of new characters so the cast doesn’t actually shrink at all

Interestingly, he described his Disney executives as asking which new characters he’s gonna introduce that will draw in new viewers. That obsession with growing the audience is why Netflix is so famous for cancelling shows after 2 seasons, they found that most shows stopped bringing in new viewers by that point. I suspect it’s much the same with Disney + shows. There’s probably not many people who are just now stumbling upon HSMTMTS and deciding to watch and their focus would probably be better served on making sure they don’t lose any of their audience

Also the idea that new characters will draw in viewers seems flimsy. Unless they’re played by well known actors there’s little reason to think that an audience will tune in for a character until after they get to know them. Maddox and Jet and the other newbies seem fun but should we be getting attached to them? Are we ever gonna see them again after S3? Which ties into the big question looming over the entire season, how much of these new characters and settings and plots will end up mattering when the show moves back to East High for S4?

Nini going off to be Olivia Rodrigo isn’t that entertaining but it is what it is. Suprisngly last night Liv actually attended the S3 premiere and posted about it which is the most promo she’s done for the show in a very long time. And even more shockingly she actually took photos with Joshua Bassett and they seemed to be getting along. Wonders never cease

The songs were fun but Finally Free had way too much autotune

This Corbin Bleu stuff is so damn meta. It was hilarious that they made it seem like he was about to be whisked away on a helicopter

In late breaking news, we learned EJ’s full name from the D23 website. His real name is Eric James Caswell. He’d probably have a bit of a WASPier name or at least a biblically inspired name given that he’s from a family of rich white people born and raised in Utah. But I think they took the right route and didn’t try to make a big deal of the name. It never seemed to be any kind of secret in universe and dragging it out would just make the eventual reveal anti-climatic. Or worse they could have tried to surprise the audience or go a comedic route and give him a ridiculously embarrassing name even though that would be highly implausible and would end up making EJ seem more like a cartoon then a three dimensional character

Until next week, wildcats

[matan4il]

I love your metas! When the ep first started, for some reason Buck appeared younger to me. He just looked younger for some reason. Anyway, once the episode ended I realized that I’m prepared for Eddie’s breakdown but I wasn’t prepared for Buck jumping further down the rabbit hole.

I got so uncomfortable watching it and I truly believe that was the intent. His face just looks so empty of any feeling to me. He is missing his anchors again and diving more into self destructive behavior. I have no crystal ball, but I truly believe Bobby will regret pairing them up. He hand pick Eddie for a reason and I keep feeling we will see why Eddie is the right partner. Love the montage we got of Eddie. I can’t wait until he gets back on the team, but I do love his interaction so far at dispatch.

Also loved the dinner scene. I’m buckling up for 5B for sure. 5x11 pressed the gas from the beginning. It will be interesting to see what and how so many things will be addressed in 7 eps.

Hi lovely! Awwwww, I'm so glad that you do, thank you so much! :D *hugs you real big*

I know what you mean, there was something so fresh-faced about him, as well as moments with his eyes going all big, that it made Buck look younger, I think. Which only serves to pull at our heartstrings even more when we see him hurting over Eddie not coming back to the 118, or feeling so awkward in his own r/s and his home, and of course, the whole consent issue (he looked so young during s1 too, when that whole theme started).

And I'm with you on so many of the points you made! I have to admit that ever since we started getting spoilers for 5b, I started asking myself how will they fit in so much into just 8 eps. Well, I think 511 def was a rollercoaster that showed just how much 911 can do with one ep. But I also suspect that quite a few things will spill over into s6.

Since you referred to Bobby regretting his choice, may I add in this ask:

do u think bobby will regret picking lucy in the end because he made that comment how picking the wrong person would destroy the 118 and people think that's foreshadowing what are your thoughts?

As always, I’d rather not speculate, but since this is a recurring subject... I think Bobby didn’t want to choose new members for the team, he had to. In so much as he’s keeping the 118 afloat, I don’t think he’ll regret choosing someone. Will he regret Lucy specifically? I think that will depend on how things unfold. Currently, the kiss is understood by Hen and Buck as being Buck’s responsibility. Assuming that’s how the show continues to portray things (and the interviews lead me to believe so), I think Bobby will mainly think that whatever friction on the team Lucy brings with her, it’s for Buck to man up and deal with the reasons behind it, rather than regret bringing her in. However, if she turns out to be reckless to the point of actually endangering the lives of others on call, then I think Bobby may come to regret it, yes. And I did have that thought about that line possibly foreshadowing that.

Thank you again for the kindness and I hope you like this reply! Have a great day, hon! xoxox

(HI! I've been juggling work overload and medical stuff, sorry I fell behind on answering asks despite trying to double my pace. I'll try to use the weekend to catch up, look out for my ask tag. xoxox)