#excited for s2! also i'm due for a rewatch..

[thematicparallel]

I give you a contact who can make it for you. Who? Someone who's as likely to slit your throat and bury you in an unmarked grave as help you.

[hkthatgffan]

Do u have any criticism of the owl house?

Well, I've never made it that big a secret I'm not personally the biggest fan of The Owl House. I mean, back in 2018 when it was greenlit, I was actually more excited for it than I was for Amphibia, but in the end, I came to love Amphibia more so. That's not to say I dislike TOH. Compared to SVTFOE, I love it. But it never really was my cup of tea.

I mean, I never personally to begin with was a big fan of the whole magic, witches and wizard stuff. No prizes therefore for guessing that I never grew up watching Harry Potter as a kid. I mean, I never even finished watching all the HP movies till years after they came out. I just never have been a fan of that kind of stuff (and quite frankly these days with Harry Potter at least, that's probably a bullet fucking dodged so, thank you 8 year old me for being more into planes, Top Gear and Phineas and Ferb instead of anything JK Rowling made).

But seriously, I can love and appreciate TOH for the show it was and all it did. Plus, there's no denying it was a beyond important show for what it did with Lumity and LGBTQ+ rep in Disney cartoons. No matter what else, to have gone from Alex Hirsch being told he couldn't have a lesbian couple in Gravity Falls to Luz and Amity dancing in Grom and becoming girlfriends is a massive achievement and something that no one can ever take away from TOH, Dana Terrace or her crew (though, also credit to SVTFOE for being the first DTVA cartoon for having a same sex couple kiss, Jackie having a girlfriend by the end of S4 and Star even once being implied as bi, as well as Gravity Falls for Wendy who is technically also bi as we now know and Mabel too as it's been theorized)!

That said, looking back, I find some of the episodes to be somewhat forgettable and boring. In fairness, Amphibia had some like that too, but whereas I've found rewatching Amphibia episodes from season 1 for example to be pretty fun, I don't as much see so with TOH. But that's just my personal nitpicks and quite frankly, the overall show is solid...even if season 3 and the ending felt super rushed, though that was more so the fault of the show being cut short than maybe problems the writers didn't address.

And speaking of the cut, the way it was handled is quite possibly, my single greatest piece of critique for The Owl House. In case you don't remember, the very same day the trailer for season 2 was released, Dana and other news sources revealed TOH was greenlit for season 3 and it was a shorter order due to the show being cut short.

Now, I get that Dana announcing it the way she did was partly out of frustration and tbh, I'm sure I'd think the same if it was my show on the chopping block, but the choice to say that so early on before season 2 had even started opened a sorta pandora's box that TOH fandom still suffers from today.

Suddenly the focus was not as much on season 2 and what would happen in it and more on the cut and anger at Disney about it. I mean, we had TOH fans bombarding the comments section of DTVA posts about it, changing their pfp's to be anti DTVA, etc. It was crazy. And I mean, I get it. I was frustrated too when this was revealed. I still am. But I wish they had announced this not before season 2 had begun, but closer to season 3 starting.

It was like all anyone ever talked about after that in relation to TOH was always in the shadow of this. Even as season 2 improved in quality more and more and I too found myself being interested in TOH again after taking a break from it to focus on the end of Amphibia the following year, this was still a huge chunk of the conversation. Hell, in some ways the cut even became a good scapegoat for a lot of shortfalls with season 2, even though S2 probably had already been in production before the cut and many issues or plot holes in it may have been resolved with a full season 3.

What I'm trying to get at basically is that announcing The Owl House was ending before season 2 had even begun, when the fandom was as mainstream and popular as it was, just caused a shift in tone with fans not as much seeming to enjoy, theorize and watch the show and instead be left with the impending knowledge that it was nearing the end.

Comparably, Alex Hirsch did not reveal that Gravity Falls would be ending until November 2015; when there were just 2 episodes left. I go on about this in my video back in February about Alex's Tumblr post but I said basically that compared to TOH, it was a better way of announcing the show was ending.

Announcing Gravity Falls was ending when only 2 episodes were left meant fans had time to accept the end was coming, while also being made clear that there was nothing that could be done to reverse this. And even if fans before hand had assumed GF was nearing the end, they couldn't say so with assurance as Alex had not said anything confirming or denying it. Simply put, GF fans until the very last second, watched the show as if it was ongoing and not nearing a close. There was no worry about how many episodes were left or begging for season 3 to the same extent, given fans didn't know if this was it or more was to come. They just enjoyed the show and not worried. At most, if there was a season 3, it would be a longer wait. I mean, that was the mentality I had with DuckTales season 3 and thinking season 4 may be a longer wait until they finally revealed S3 was the last just a few episodes before the end.

Of course, I'm saying this all from what limited knowledge I got from GF fans who were there and my personal experience with DuckTales and TOH, but comparably, TOH fandom knowing it was ending so early on left them a lot more angry and upset. Now anything that happened in S2 was overshadowed by the impending end. And while much of what I said here is based on what I saw in my experience, it got tiresome real fast to see TOH fans complaining about the show ending and yelling in the comments of DTVA posts about it, as if any executive at DTVA who really could reverse that choice would see that.

Should be clear, I'm not saying I have issues with Dana telling TOH fans the show was ending and being upfront about it or her critique of Disney and how they treated the show. Nor am I saying I dislike that fans were angry about it. Both had every right to be so and I would probably be as upset myself if it was Amphibia instead that got this treatment.

But IMO, it should've been revealed AFTER season 2 ended or just before the season finale. Maybe there was a hope the fan reaction would make Disney change course. Maybe it was just a case of announce and get it over with. I feel personally that TOH fandom would have benefitted from learning season 3 was the last season a lot later than when they found out.

For me, it made the fandom experience less enjoyable and made me not as interested in TOH probably in turn. After my bad experiences in the Star fandom, I had a feeling TOH fandom would have similar issues once the show began to get more popular post Grom. So, I jumped ship off it and chose to be more a fan on the sidelines and enjoy it on my own. And I have no regrets about doing that. I'm a GF fan first and foremost and I ended up having fun being able to work on my GF projects more so without having to commit to another show's fandom and instead enjoy it at my own pace. But I always heard stuff and what I did see was what I've mentioned here.

Maybe you disagree and your TOH fandom experience was better and not as full of this type of stuff. I've heard this was more so a TOH fandom on Twitter and Instagram issue than say, Reddit TOH fandom. But IDK enough to make a firm answer so, I'll just say what I know from my own experience.

Long story short, Alex Hirsch made the right call announcing Gravity Falls was ending 2 episodes before the end instead of just before Scary-Oke even began. I mean, imagine going into GF S2 in 2014 knowing you had just this season and no more after that. Easier as a post finale fan but maybe a shocker if it was back in the day.

Then there's Matt Braly who did the best of both worlds and announced Amphibia would end after season 3 in 2021 too on his Reddit AMA but with fans knowing it always was gonna end that way.

Long story short, of all the criticism I have for TOH, that's probably my main issue that I feel I can at least explain. Anything else is just personal preference I have for Amphibia more so over it.

Still, all this to say, The Owl House deserved better. Fans should've gotten a full final season just like Amphibia got.

Also, I miss Hooty!

[raayllum]

I was wondering what your thoughts are on the Soren+corvus ship, and if you think they will be canon?

Ah Sorvus!! I do have some thoughts (spark notes edition)

I didn't ship them too much post-S3 (I was more into Gren/Corvus or Corvus/Opeli and was also reading Corvus as closer to 24 than 20) but I thought they were cute. Like, a passive ship-not-ship y'know? Then I accidentally made myself ship them when writing a very brief interaction between them in S2 divergent fic (if heaven and hell decide, which is not Sorvus focused at all) and upon rewatches, largely cause their personalities have a nice contrast and they do have implied shared history (potentially went to camp together?)

But I figured that if Soren was going to end up with anyone in canon, and if Corvus stayed on the crownguard (since post s3, we weren't sure if he'd stay with Ez - my preferred - or go back to serving under Amaya), it'd probably be Corvus.

I ship them for a few different reasons:

Shared goals/loyalties. They won't have to worry or stress about picking their duty (Ezran) over each other in a tense scenario because it's a shared understanding and choice.

Personality contrast while still getting along and being friendly with one another

Acceptance/history, i.e. Corvus has seen Soren at both his worst (early to mid S2) and his best (wanting to protect people in 2x07 and helping Ezran in 3x05). Corvus is also one of the few people in the show to remark positively on Soren's intelligence ("Credit where credit is due: Soren was the mastermind") outside of Claudia's one "you're a genius" line in S1 about a joke pun.

But yeah, I do think they'll be canon, just cause they're clearly close (early S4), the general gay vibes of "changing of the guard" (a pre-s4 canon short story in which Soren asks Corvus to join said crownguard), have shared goals, and it may only be as a background pairing/couple, but they kinda fit organically enough that they don't need a ton of time to develop as a couple. Plus I'm down for anything that fleshes out Corvus more! Overall they're a very sweet pair and I'm excited to see more of them going forward

[bourbon-ontherocks]

… il était bizarre ce chapitre de PQENCEL… (as far as I’m concerned the newbie’s full name is timothée daniel paul guichard, now. also I think he has grounds to get morgane fired for sexual harassment) but jarring similarities aside, I barely have anything to say about 303, tbh? it was ok. the blorbos didn’t break me this time, I won’t need 5-10 business days to recover 😅 the most emotion I felt was when gilles expressed his hurt, moh 🥲 though roxane clearly was the star of the show this time (and I’m glad it inspired you fic-wise, hehe). I wonder when she’s gonna pull the "your colleague kissed you and you forgot to mention it?" card 😏 by the way… anyone else felt something in the air when she saved morgane’s life? no? just me? 👀

star #2 was SOFIANE 💓😍💖💘🥰 our prayers have been answered!!!!! 🫶 he managed to be snarky in a total of 2 lines. hope he comes back for much more! glad they brought bonnemain back too 😄 in a way the cast-related excitement made up for the lukewarm plot. speaking of, what’s more unlikely: a teenager channeling early 00’s energy by choosing "bledigirl" for a stage name, or the fact she didn’t figure out "princesse" was autobiographical because the name of her cousin is literally the title of the song? je veux bien qu’elle ait pas la réf à un film des années 1970 mais le coup du prénom, quoi 😭

gotta say I loved the beard running gag, lol. there’s something terribly wrong with le commandant’s face, mais quoi… 😂 (+ it has a tiny backstory! unexpected) love daphné’s inability to hide her digust. as well as her willingness to lend her new responsibilities to morgane’s scheming. AND (she was so good in this ep) "on peut mieux faire" re: women murderers… daph, never change 🤣💛 she must be so proud of their own statistics!

surprised adam was the one saying the episode title this time. ushering in a new trend, perhaps? it was entertaining to see him bear with morgane’s passive-agressivity. (now that I think about it, the tension throughout this ep probs felt surface-level because we didn’t get a glimpse into the characters’ feelings… et qu’est-ce qu’un chapitre de PQENCEL sans débrief ?) did like the phone cord thread; look at morgane letting him back into her life by stealing his charger! oui j’ai décidé que c’était symbolique. 😂 thank you for your patience and see you on thursday! 👻❣️

Oh my gosh, anon!! So let me just start by saying that I felt TOUT PAREIL the first time I watched that ep! It was even one of my least faves ever. But full disclaimer: this episode grew on me A LOT through the rewatches.

And the more I've thought about it, the more I believe that this ep isn't odd in itself, but it definitely feels so when lined up with the previous two. There's a real and quite unexplained tone shift here, which I think is tied with the whole comedy/dramedy switch and the fact that eps 1 and 2 were shot in July so probs still in the spirit of season 2 (due to the early shooting date, we can assume they were written at the same time as late S2 eps, and the writing of the rest of S3 probs resumed a couple of months later) while ep 3 inaugurates a darker mood for the season. Now let's dive into the specifics.

I wasn't joking when I said that Parce qu'entre nous predicted the season. Targeted home attack? Subsequent police protection? Banging the said protection barely two nights in? I SCREAMED (although while I'm all for Morgane getting some good time this season bc she clearly deserved it, couldn't they at least give her somebody enticing to look at? My guy Paul/Daniel/whatever his name emotes like wet bread. Ew.)(also yeah, I'm kinda bummed with the obvious lack of consent here, not in itself since it narratively and character-wise makes sense, but in the fact that the whole thing is filmed under a ~comedy angle while it would have been completely inappropriate to do so had the genders been reversed. Something something equality works both ways you know? Yikes)

Gilles expressing his hurt and preaching for forgiving to the people who hurt you has to be one of my favourite scenes in the ep and the season (don't get me started on it because I'll start to tear up and word-vomit a non-coherent rant), but I'm surprised it was the most emotion you got from ep 3? I'll get back to the other emotional scenes that I found worth noticing later though, otherwise this post is gonna be all over the place. So Gilles. GILLES, my baby, my love. The thing is, I love Morgane, but she tends to be extremely toxic to everyone around her, she uses people, she doesn't apologize, she ghosts them, she doesn't care about their feelings. And the fact that someone gets to tell her exactly that, that she HURTS people, the people who actually love her and care about her enough to get her out of jail, and the fact that of all people it's Gilles who gets to tell her that, well it made my heart swell. Because Gilles is the nicest person who has ever lived and that makes his speech way more impactful than if it had been Céline's or Adam's.

Also his words are literally the reason why Morgane finally reopens the door to Adam a little at the end of the episode, but again, I'll get to that later.

Let me just tell you that I absolutely love Roxane's arc this season and the way she no longer takes bullshit from anyone. I personally don't think that she bought Morgane's lies on who kissed who, and I do believe she already knows it was entirely Adam's initiative, although that's a personal headcanon of course. Not sure I felt any vibe between her and Morgane though but you know, I can get onboard that train pretty easily!

Now as for Sofiane, I must say I was glad he's back, and true he manages to be snarky in two lines, but my problem is that he ONLY got two lines?? Like... What was the point of calling him back just for this???? 😭 I need moar. Also Bonnemain wasn't gone, he was here in 301 if I remember correctly?

The implausible parts of the case didn't particularly hit me but also I haven't been a teenager in a looooong time now, so I didn't exactly notice the vintage vibes of bledigirl although it's quite obvious now that you pointed it out (I'm having skyblogs war flashbacks now, thank you very much 😂). And as for Sarah's name I'm not sure to see where you're heading at? Cause if it's Princess Sarah then I wouldn't have had the ref either (while I did get the Peau d'Âne one lol), but again, my teenage years are far ago.

Now Daphné. I juste LOVE how we get to see more of her in the season (not saying more but... yea) and the unexpected development of having her as the new workplace discrimination referee was a GENIUS move. The "on peut mieux faire" line has to be one of my absolute faves in the ENTIRE show (je crois qu'elle a même détrôné "excusez-moi de m'intéresser" c'est dire), and her reaction to Adam's glabre face was priceless (as was the whole shaved-his-beard thread, at least we got a consolation prize for losing beardie 🥲).

I actually never noticed that it was Morgane who'd usually say out loud the eps titles? Wasn't it Bonnemain who said Phyllobates Terribilis? Or Gilles who said 55 kilos first? To me the titles always refer to one of the clues that get Morgane to solve the puzzle but it never occurred to me she was the one saying them haha.

Mais bon en vrai on s'en fout parce que c'était juste pour introduire la partie sur Adam et... Okay.

"the tension throughout this ep probs felt surface-level because we didn’t get a glimpse into the characters’ feelings"

So this is exactly the part that grew on me with subsequent rewatches. I guess I was perhaps expecting too much, or was too used to writing myself what was happening in the blorbos' heads, to really get into what happens here on my first watch. But there's actually so much going on, blorbos-wise it is now one of my fave eps in the season!! (There's also some mildly annoying borderline ooc stuff happening but I'll get to that). Morgane is hurting so badly in this episode it's honestly heart-wrenching.

Obviously she's not going to show it eagerly, but it's visible at first in the way she flinches when Théa asks her if she's ready to work with Adam again (which also makes me wonder how much exactly Théa knows about what happened but that's a topic for another day). Then she goes full-on passive-aggressive mode with Adam, which says a lot, it all culminates in the cringiest song ever (I pasted the full lyrics in the end if you're curious), and then Adam does what??

He confronts her! Il essaye de communiquer !! Il veut crever l'abcès 🥹 And she cannot say it. She's the one who always comes up with angry punchlines but right now she's hurting so much she doesn't even have it in her to SAY IT 😭😭😭 and storms out instead. cue my first death in this episode.

BUT. She might be hurting and angry, she'll still lie to Roxane to protect his relationship. While she could very understandably retaliate by tanking it. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 Cue my second death, obviously.

Now we're getting to the part I honestly didn't like so much, because Morgane just got out of prison, and then she escapes a murder attempt, and nobody gives a shit about it? They can be mad at her all they want, and Adam can be shocked to find Roxane at Morgane's place, what happened to "je tiens à vous" huh? I didn't write "j'ai droit à un câlin à chaque fois que je frôle la mort ?" for nothing, and also I need to check that bingo box, thank you very much 😠😭 So I get that Adam is in the quite delicate situation of "oh shit, looks like wifey and mistress are hanging out behind my back", mais franchement ça lui arracherait une molaire de demander à Morgane comment elle va ?

Biggest OOC move from him as far as I'm concerned. 🔪🔪🔪

Now...

Actually wait no, I'm still angry, give me a minute.

...

Where was I? The show sort of made up for it after that because Adam being in charge of her protection!! While he's mad at her because he's thinking she ratted him out to Roxane!! And she's mad at him because, well, you know!! She physically cannot stand to be in the same room as he is and they are forced to hang out?? And he gets it? And he tries to talk to her but then the pressure explodes? And she FINALLY says it out loud? And exposes her feelings in a clearer way than she's ever done before? Because what else putting Adam at the same level as [redacted] means but "I was in love with you too"???? Cue my third and final death right here.

And finally, for me the phone charger thread as a symbol is not a theory, it's a fact! The way they insisted on how she refuses to use it at first to not owe him anything, for her to eventually steal it after Gilles' speech about forgiveness is pretty transparent, and so is her final joke about his beard. And the way she delivers this final line? This was absolutely not what she intended to tell him. She just didn't master the courage to say out loud "I forgive you", so she settled for something much safer but the meaning remains. Cue my undefined stare at the ceiling 🥹🥹🥹🥹

Honorable mentions to:

Jérôme's burnout? How? When? I need answers 😂

Céline yelling TIMOTHÉE ?! in the precinct

The cats

THE ELEVATOR STARE 😱😱😱😱😱😱 I didn't include it to the blorbos' emotional journey because it wasn't painful but my! God! the! absolute! tension! here!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Cue my actual death

And the lyrics to Morgane's song if anyone's interested:

C'est l'histoire d'un amant Qui s'est pris pour un Don Juan T'as cru qu'il était ti-gen Parce que le gars mettait ses gants Il t'a fait nan-nan-nan Chérie tu te méprends

C'est l'histoire d'un condé Qu'a voulu jouer les BG Il s'est pris pour Superman Mais il bouffe trop de kouign amann J'ai fait miam miam miam Par ici le croque-madame

J'fais monter la mayo (x3) Pour le poulet... (suite incompréhensible)

T'as cru qu'il était gentil Parce qu'il portait un képi Mais c'était que du mépris Il t'a tej comme un débris

[destinationtoast]

Top TV shows (and TV podcasts) of 2022

It was a great year in TV! Lots of new shows I really enjoyed. I mostly haven't been pulled into the transformative fandoms, but there have been a hell of a lot of TV podcasts out there that I've been enjoying as accompaniment. I've listed podcast recommendations where applicable.

Favorite new shows

In roughly descending order -- though the first two are tied for first place:

Andor (Recommended podcast pairing: The Ringer-verse's House of R, which you'll see mentioned multiple times; it's multiple hours of thoughtful analysis for each episode of show from two of my favorite podcasters, Joanna Robinson and Mallory Rubin) -- it totally caught me off guard how good this is. It's absolutely my favorite Star Wars property. It feels uncomfortably relevant, full of people living under slowly growing tyranny and having to make all sorts of morally uncomfortable decisions about when to act and what to sacrifice. It also has the best droid ever, I think, and my favorite dark!bureaucrats. It felt a little slow initially, but the last half of the season gripped me so hard -- and I've heard that on rewatch those first ones planted all sorts of interesting seeds. There are a couple early threads that I'm really hoping we revisit in S2, because otherwise they're a bit dissatisfying and messy. But everything else in the show is so carefully and well done, that I expect we probably will.

Interview with The Vampire (Recommended podcast pairing: official AMC podcast, hosted by comedian/tv writer Naomi Ekperigin -- this had great interviews with the show creators/actors/bts folk; also enjoyed The Ringer's single-ep discussion) -- I was unprepared to love this one, too. Adored the books in high school (there were only ~5 at the time), but did not expect them to be turned into a brilliantly updated and compelling show. Making Louis & Claudia black and moving it forward in time were terrific moves. And making the sexual relationship text instead of subtext, with all the queer crisis that that puts Louis through, on top of the conflicts due to race... Ugh, it's so fucking good. I also am intrigued by what they're doing with the framing story. I totally re-fell in love with these characters enough that I'm about to embark on a reread of at least the first few books, even though I think a lot of the adaptations choices surpass the original work.

Severance - This was fantastic, but I never found a great podcast. I'm also a little worried it'll be a mystery box show that never has satisfying payoffs for a lot of the weird stuff that's been set up. But I loved it, and I'm excited for more.

House of the Dragon (RPP: House of R; also enjoyed HOTD by Bald Move) -- like many, I was wary following the debacle that was the end of GoT, but it felt good to be back in Westeros. This season didn't hit the highs of the best of GoT, but it also came nowhere near the lows, and I found it pretty compelling throughout and loved how much of it focused on women. I hope next season follows a wider set of characters. This was the only show on the list I felt compelled to write fic for, and I am disappointed that there's not more canon-compliant Alicent/Rhaenyra fic.

Station Eleven (RPP: official HBO podcast, hosted by showrunner Patrick Somerville) - I read the book when it came out and mostly found that it wasn't really for me. but I thought that I would probably like an adaptation for the screen. I was right, and having an IRL pandemic arrive on the scene in the meantime only made it more interesting to me. I really liked about 70% of the changes they made to the book in adapting it, and even though I thought some of what they did with the "big bad" failed, I still enjoyed it considerably. And listening to the showrunner talk about the process of adaptation was terrific.

Rings of Power - (RPP: House of R; also enjoying @wildwren and @aadmelioraa's new rewatch/deep dive podcast, Where the Shadows Lie, which covers some of the fandom discourse as well as the show - but it's by two new podcasters exploring the format, so I don't mean to set it up as competing with long-established professional podcasters! XD ) - this show was definitely slow at times, and I wish it hadn't invested so much in a couple character reveals, because I don't think the identity mysteries were nearly the most interesting parts. Still, I loved a lot about it, including both worldbuilding and some of the characters (harfoots and elves and dwarves ftw!), and I am looking forward to more. This may be the show where podcasts added the most additional meaning for me, in part because they provided interesting tie-ins to source material I hadn't read, but also because they unpacked a lot of layers of characterization and worldbuilding that I didn't always catch on first watch.

The Sandman (RPP: Endless, hosted by author Lani Diane Rich and author/comics editor Alisa Kwitney) - Been a huge fan of the source material for decades, and I was delighted to be able to see it onscreen at last. I generally thought the adaptation was very good (good enough that I haven't felt any need to explore it through fic), and I'm also enjoying all the tumblr fanart a great deal.

Heartstopper - I didn't think about this one much at all when not watching it, and never thought to look for a podcast. But I binged it rapidly twice (once with my BFF, Mr. Maccas), and it was delightful both times.

Favorite continuing shows

For All Mankind (RPP: Hi Bob! by Bald Move) - This show continues to be such an interesting alternate history, with a number of great characters, even if I find some of the storylines a bit uneven. Why isn't everyone talking about it??

Tuca & Bertie (RPP: Baby Geniuses isn't directly show coverage, but it's cohosted by show creator Lisa Hanawalt and Emily Heller -- a writer for Barry -- and it's weird and hilarious and occasionally serious, much like the show) - I'm so bummed this was just canceled, but the seasons we got were amazing. Contained a surprising number of deeply real issues that I don't usually see portrayed (e.g. the intense menstrual pain being dismissed by doctors was all too familiar, plus a bunch of the career-related compromises & angst), all mixed in with hilarious bird-person + plant-person worldbuilding and delightfully absurdist humor.

Star Trek: Lower Decks (RPP: Greatest Trek, hosted by two guys with a history in filmmaking and who are extremely endearing and goofy... these two have entertained for years with their The Greatest Generation podcast, which I also recommend.) - Every episode slays me. It's great to have a funny podcast that helps me spot all the references and Easter eggs.

Honorable mentions to messy yet compelling Euphoria and White Lotus.

Shows I wanted to continue watching but didn't get to yet: Barry, Industry.

Shows I enjoyed rewatching

Ted Lasso (RPP: Unspoiled! Ted Lasso - the two bestie hosts are having so much fun watching the show, as hardcore fan RoShawn introduces it to newbie Natasha; they can get rambly, but it's usually cute) - I rewatched it a bunch because of reasons; never stopped enjoying it.

BtVS (RPP: Buffering the Vampire Slayer -- hosted by songwriter/musician Jenny Owen Youngs and queer activist Kristin Russo, who are hilarious and also write a good song about every Buffy episode omg) - I'm currently rewatching S4 and interspersing Angel for the first time ever (I'd previously binged them separately), and Angel is comparatively quite rough, but the crossovers sure are making more sense this way. :)

[nocturnalswarehouse]

Tag game!

I was tagged by @blossom-adventures and @thequeenofthewinter :)

3 Ships:

I'm going to delve away from Skyrim here because my procrastination response if I don't want to be productive around my place, is to immerse myself in as much media as possible. So an obvious one is OC/Brynjolf. Otherwise, Adi would not exist XD my others are OC (or reader)/Jacob Frye because I'm still hyperfixating on AC Syndicate. I also recently finally started Jane the Virgin, and I'm a slut for Jane/Rafael

1st Ever Ship:

I was but a young child, barely able to comprehend reading when my first ever a ship came to be. I shit you not. I think I was 5. It was Blue/Magenta in Blue's Clues. I found out a couple years ago was also my first gay ship, and I am HERE for it.

Last Song:

Boyfriend by Dove Cameron

Last Movie:

I watched one in my filmmaking class by a local director who created a film about a Ukrainian woman who immigrated to modern-day Winnipeg. Do I remember the title? Nope. Do I want to? Nope.

This movie was filmed back in like,,, 2019 I believe, is what he said and released like last year. It's two hours and could've been easily cut down to one. Very slow, almost too slow. I liked a lot of the shots. It was interesting to watch a film where only two characters - who were in there briefly - spoke English.

So there are good things about it, but it definitely could've been way better. I felt like the writing was almost too dry, and the director didn't give us any context as to what the plot was or any warnings that were needed (nudity and a certain subject related to nudity that is unpleasant to watch, to put it nicely).

I just think we should keep cishet white north American men away from creating films with that kind of subject because they don't,,, get it. Granted, neither do I but I do have an entire family of immigrants.

Currently Reading:

Well, it was my personality psych textbook, but no more! I hope to finish @thequeenofthewinter's fic because I'm behind due to school, and after that? Well, when the term starts, one of the texts for one of my classes is "The Handmaid's Tale," and I'm VERY excited to read it.

Currently Watching:

Too many things at once.

Jane the Virgin

Wednesday (I get the hype, I have critiques, but imma keep them to myself because it's very nitpicky and a bit pretentious)

RuPaul's Drag Race S14 (I'm on episode 7)

Canada's Drag Race S2 (I'm on episode 4)

The Witcher (started it in September, had a depressive episode)

Slow rewatch of Avatar: The Last Airbender because I'm following the podcast recaps and discussions

Slow rewatch of Kim Possible because I got bored and switched to the Witcher (it's great to watch after a long shift at work, though)

Wizards of Waverly Place (helped me through the depressive episode. Downside? I've seen it so many times the show is fully memorized)

Hunters on Amazon Prime (They re-edited the show to take out the scenes that got a lot of negative press, and I'm mad, so I stopped because they also re-edited my favourite scene in the entire show)

Teen Wolf (gotta prep for the movie coming out in 2023)

Okay yeah, so my fam and I have a lot of streaming services. Welcome to my Dad, and I are movie buffs

Currently Consuming:

Water. I'm pulling an all-nighter because I gotta be at the airport in two and a half hours, so if I sleep I will miss my flight. Gotta stay hydrated!

Currently Craving:

Tacos from a place back home, and lemonade from a pop-up lemonade stand that ends up at every big event in my city back home and if I can convince my parents I'll be able to get one and won't have to wait until Stampede in July next year. It's the best damn lemonade I've ever had.

The specific tacos I'm craving are the best damn fast-food tacos I've ever had, but I've definitely had better. My sister worked at a Mexican restaurant specializing in tacos that a family member owns, for god's sake. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I also crave those. I think I just want tacos.

I can't really think of anyone to tag (the main person I would've tagged, tagged me first XD), so I pass this on to anyone that wants to do it :)

[mylutteoheart]

I've been very absent lately due to real life happening but in the meantime, I've been thinking about doing a rewatch of sl since I have plans for yt videos and I forgot most of the things that happened.

I'm excited to see it again but last time I gave up in the middle of s2 because it's my least favorite season and I find it hard to get through.

I think I just need to focus on the good things like gastina and simbar but also Luna's journey and investigation.

[segernatural]

Char, firstly please accept all of these hearts for that ask that made me smile so much: 💕💞💓💗💖. Secondly, I love your long tags on spn posts so much. You’re always so articulate and smart! I’m rewatching the show at the moment (got up to around 10/11 when I was watching it as it aired) and it’s been a trip and a half. I’m nearing the end of season 3 so I’m very excited to see a certain angel soon. I was wondering if you’ve watched the whole thing or you’re still getting through it and if so how far you are at the moment? I’m enjoying getting back into it a lot more than I thought, like there are moments that fall a little flat but also good moments! Dean is definitely still more interesting and likable next to Sam for me, I’ve found. Have a good day, my friend! ☺️💕

Aww nina! I'm so glad that it made you smile😊 we always have such wonderful interactions that i was like 'nina wants to know why i follow her? Time to send some love!' 💛💛

I really do appreciate that you take the time to read my little essays in the tags! They're a lot of fun for me to write--i tend to have a lot of thoughts on things, and you saying that they come across as articulate and smart really warms my heart :D i try my best!

Wowie you're going through the rewatch fast! I 100% get that feeling of being excited to see Thee Boi. He's wonderful, and Lazarus Rising is an amazing episode.

I'll let you in on a bit of a secret: i hadn't watched spn at all until the craziness that was November 5th. There's a few layers to that though. I have been a part of online culture since like, 2013, so due to cross-fandom contamination, i've been aware of supernatural for a very long time. In fact, when i heard it was having its final season, i vowed that i would check in on the fandom after every episode--to pay my respects, in a way. This fandom is responsible for trailblazing a lot of what fandom exists like today, so i wanted to check in and see how folks were doing.

Which means, while i had little context, i was around for the big moments of season 15. i felt the highs and lows, just not as deeply. I didnt even know its final eps got delayed, until the night of november 5th when the world was holding its breath.

Thee scene was my first ever spn scene. And it was such a ride to be a part of the experience of that night--i had heard theories and things from the show, but i was like i *have* to know how it got there. Bc i couldnt believe (in a good way!) that fans were right.

Bee and i had a breakdown over it all--and we kind of havent stopped 😂 i ended up watching both 15x19 and 15x20 *live on television* despite not seeing the 325 episodes that preceded them.

I wrote meta before even watching a full episode.

And that christmas, i decided that i was gonna commit to watching the whole show. Bee's doing a rewatch, whereas i'm seeing it all for the first time.

I take copious amounts of notes while watching--screenshots, commentary, quotes, the whole deal. And it has been an absolutely fascinating show. I'm not really a horror person--ive never seen a horror movie. Early seasons spn is not a show that i would normally watch, but because im paying such close attention and taking apart the layers, it has been a lot of fun. Ive been genuinely having a great time. It's so interesting to know bits and pieces of this show--plot points, scenes, characters--by cultural osmosis by being in an online space, that i know some of what happens next, despite never actually seeing it.

As to where i've gotten? We're at the season 4 finale tonight!

There's something about all three of our main guys that fascinates me--although i am a self-admitted dean-coded casgirl. Currently we've got all the actors giving it their all, which just makes the characters so compelling. Jackles throws his heart into dean from the get-go, which instantly made me very intrigued by his character, and s1 doesn't do a lot with sam, other than he's kind of there. S2 and 3 sam is really, really interesting, and he shines in episodes like Roadkill and Heart, along with Memory Spot. There are aspects of sam that i definitely relate to, and i really like him! I also, unfortunately, have eyes, and cannot look past how awful his hair was in 1-3, and the 2005 styling of the wardrobe was not good 😂 we've gotten to better hair but he still can't dress himself.

Dean is a fascinating character. He's a walking contradiction that shouldn't be as compelling as he is, but jackles does a fantastic job at piecing together this man that is intricate and understandable. As sort of implied by the self-diagnosed 'dean-coding', i feel like i have a grasp on how he thinks and operates, which means i am with him on every decision he makes. It all makes so much sense. Even if it hurts. His hurt strikes me to my core. Also, the wardrobe team doesn't usually do dean dirty, and jackles pretty, so,,, 😂

I've only just started to truly get to know cas, but his ideologies in the show conflict so much with the boys' and its just fascinating to watch. Its an opposing side, in a lot of ways, but its a very rational one. And getting to watch him fall for the first time, while knowing the Truth, is incredible. Misha is phenomenal as cas, and i can't wait for more. I love our lil gay angel. He is Thee Boi. Amazing. 11/10.

I could talk about this for ages, clearly 😂

I'm glad you've gotten into the show again! It truly has been a mindblowing experience to go "wait. The show did that. Really?!?" And have the rest of the fandom go "yeah! They did!" And to fully realize how not exaggerated any of their thoughts are. Its literal text in the show, that the network and writers try to avoid. Like. I get it now. I one thousand percent understand why people shipped and continue to ship dean and cas FROM THE FIRST EPISODE with them together. It's electric.

Ok i was gonna stop and then i got going again 😂

Thank you for this lovely ask nina! I wish you the best day as well :D 💛

[bee-zs]

I'm still crying over the finale! any thoughts on where Shiro would be? You excited for dual-wielding Galra Keith?!?!! Do you think Keiths' mom is alive or died to keep him hidden? LOTOR CONFIRMED! Do you think he'll be bigger and badder than Zarkon or simply be a powerful aid? Personally, i'm leaning towards a power act where Lotor takes out Zarkon to become emperor (I mean, Lotor's been probs waiting this whole time for the guy to keel over so he can have the throne).

alright sit down babes its time for some quality Speculation™ i also haven’t slept in way over 36 hours and am only functioning due to the 3 cups of bitter, bitter black coffee i chugged back in the airport so lets see where we can go from here

Here are my thoughts on Shiro’s disappearance:

There were a lot of hints at this kind of ‘other’ plane of existance that the black lion (and it’s paladins) can access through their bond. Zarkon tells Shiro that if he dies during their fight there, his actual body dies too, so it’s safe to assume the place is pretty legitimate and dangerous. With this in mind, its entirely possible that Shiro is inside the mind of the black lion, or, worse, Zarkon himself, due to the three-way bond. There are a lot of huge gaps in the continuity of what exactly the hell happened in the final scenes of the season though, so I’ll probably revisit this after a couple more hours of sleep and a solid comprehensive rewatch, but these are my initial thoughts on what went down.

On Galra Keith:

We knew it was coming but now, folks, now we have it. With this comes a LITERAL fuckton of questions, and also the fact that pretty much the entire fandom somehow managed to overlook the possibility of Keith’s mom being his Galra parent instead of his dad. Sorry, Thace. Better luck next reboot.

Going off this, my theory is that Mysterious Mute Space Mans keith pulled out of the pod during the weblum mission could actually be his mom, or at least possibly someone with knowledge of his past. It’s way too convenient that this character is introduced right as keith is struggling with confronting his past and his new identity, and I will bet any amount of money they come back to revel something about keith in seasons to come.

On Lotor / Zarkon:

From the looks of things, Zarkon got pretty well beat in the final fight of the season. My guess is that a lot of Season 3 is going to find Zarkon on his sickbed while Lotor, his son or heir or whatever, steps up to the roll of Resident Asshole Space Tyrant and vows revenge on voltron for nearly offing his dad. My guess is that Zarkon is somehow linked to Shiro’s disappearance, so there might possibly be some more mind-control battles going down between the two of them in the future too, who knows. 

Since I’m on a roll I’ll also add that looks like Keith, our Resident Lovable But Occasionally Disaster Inclined Impulsive Loner, is gonna have to step up to fill Shiro’s shoes while he’s away, since thats what Shiro wanted and all, but there is probably going to be a lot of internal struggle caused by this. Keith hasn’t exactly figured out how to be a leader yet and I’m not entirely convinced the other paladins are going to be interested in taking orders from him anyways. On that note, because Keith is going to play Shiro’s ‘heir’ in that sense, it’s probably going to make for some cool dichotomies between him and Lotor, who is Zarkon’s ‘heir’ in a similar sense.  

seems like season 2 gave us more questions than answers, hopefully s3 will continue to build on the odd new string of events set into motion by s2