#7 game of thrones episodes to watch before

[starstruckbyacomet]

Tevan, Buddie, and the Diversity Quota

This is a speculation about the reason behind Tevan's break-up:

9-1-1 show was launched in 2018 using racial & gender diversity to differentiate itself from other procedural shows, However, majority of audience are white cishet men & women, who are probably conservative leaning. Thus, the show's been trying to balance the casts, to make all groups within the audience happy. Most movies & TV shows, whose target market is the general audience, operate in similar manner. They include diversity in their shows to attract liberal-leaning audience, but within a certain quota, to prevent upsetting the conservative-leaning audience.

It seems like the quota of queer diversity is one representation for each queer group per show. For example: Lone Star has one queer couple (Tarlos), one bisexual (Nancy), and one trans (Paul). Other shows like Spartacus, Game of Thrones series, even Grey's Anatomy also seem to maintain one queer couple most of the time. If there are more than one queer couples, the situation is usually temporary.

In 9-1-1, there has been one established queer couple since the beginning: Henren, but the show hadn't had any bi/trans representative yet until Season 7. To attract new audience, Buck came out as bisexual on 7x04. Luckilly, this move garnered positive response from the general audience. Yes, Oliver gave a speech about how humbled and proud he was to play a bisexual character on a national TV channel. But he gave his speech AFTER the rating/viewership number came out, not before.

To draw as many viewers as possible, Tim made Tevan's love story like a romcom, a genre which has been proven to generate massive loyal audience (see Bridgerton and other Shondaland's works). Tommy is also made very likable, and welcomed by the rest of 118 family. This to make the General Audience symphatizes towards Buck and is willing to follow his journey in nursing his brokenheart. The show also put a lot of signs that indicate the possibility of Tevan reunion, to keep audience curious enough with a 'will-they, won't they' trope. How about Tevan shippers? The show expects Tevan shippers to behave like Buddie stans: watching the show religiously week after week, while searching for signs of Tommy's return. The show has been stringing along Buddie stans for 6 years and counting. It seems about to do the same to Tevan shippers. Alas, by saying that Tommy could show up in the future, Tim has dropped the first crumb, which Tevan shippers ate so eagerly.

Does Tim actually wants Tevan to be end game? After the break-up on 8x06, I doubt it. It looks like Tim genuinely likes Lou, but his hands are seemingly tied to the quota: one queer couple for every show. The queer couple spot has been occupied by Henren, that's why Tevan has to break up. And that's why Buddie will never happen.

Our only chance for Tommy return is if RATING/VIEWERSHIP LOW ENOUGH to push the show to pivot.

This is hard to happen if you keep watching via the official channels, live or streaming. Submitting complaints to the show also only worked right after the break-up episode (8x06) on air. Posting comments after 8x07 indicates that you keep watching, even after the show shattered your heart to pieces. Similarly, it's better to refrain using 911 hashtags, except to post critical pieces like this one. You are promoting the show for free, exactly what they have expected. You can use Bucktommy or Tevan hashtags instead.

[tryandbehappy]

I’m so sorry you have to go through this all over again. It’s just awful. I never watched Game of Thrones, it’s just not my kind of show — but of course I knew what happened. I remember when those episodes aired. And even though that ending was completely sadistic too, at least those main characters had strong scenes. There was closure, tragedy, something to process.

What did we get?

We got nothing. Just a slap in the face.

After episode 7, there were no real scenes for Nick and June. Just some meaningful glances from June. They didn’t even show Nick’s descent, didn’t explain why he became this way (or had become). We’re left to guess why he could shut off his empathy like that. How he could suddenly become this flat villain who lives among monsters and just shrugs at brutality. After everything they showed us before, how he suffered, how he reacted to torture, to killing.

There was no resolution. No emotional ending for the emotional core of this show. June got farewell powerful speeches/scenes with everyone else, Aunt Lydia, Wharton even, Lawrence - eyes to eyes! but not with Nick. He just got erased. From episode 7 on, they gave him maybe two minutes of screen time and that was it. They didn’t give us the space to grieve, to understand, to feel the weight of his tragedy.

And now we’re left scrambling for scraps, pitiful little crumbs trying to piece together the story of a character we followed for eight years.

Honestly? It’s worse than anything

[horizon-verizon]

Hate to use this phrase but media literacy it’s truly dead. People saying Rhaenyra doesn’t care about losing Daemon when Emma delivered Rhaenyra’ sadness over this possibility in a heart wrenching way…

She spent 6 years married to him and had 3 children in those years, to say she didn’t have romantic feelings for him and wasn’t happy with him it’s just deny the obvious. And clearly one of those feelings in succumb into a vulnerable and intimate position with Misarya, the only person who’s saying to her exactly what she needed and wanted to hear, she’s feels she’s losing everyone and Mysaria brings her a feeling that she’s still believed and capable. Rhaenyra sharing that moment with Mysaria doesn’t exclude her conflicted feelings with Daemon, she can love him and resent him at the same time. Right before kissing Misarya, she literally tells her that she and Daemon are “two halves of a whole.”

Wow, I just got off talking about this...

Huh...I didn't watch the episode, but my hunches are shared? Noice.

I think that the disconnect is that Rhaenyra also says she never trusted him, not "truly". Without the Dragonstone-family scenes I have said should have been included and expanded in S1, we can only rely on the picture of happiness and teamwork we got in episodes 7 & 8. And no, even episode 10 has some serious faults with how Rhaenyra calls it "Daemon's war", as if she wasn't the one who enlists him and marries him with the words (paraphrasing) "I cannot stand against the greens alone", knowing exactly what sort of dude this was. Which included knowing he still would always support her, not his own nonexistent ambitions for the throne. There is a diff b/t one's ambitions to become king, and one's willingness to be largely obedient to one's orders or anticipate their desires well, as what I think the writers were trying to convey in that argument but failed utterly and made it more about Daemon wanting the throne for himself. None of this "those who don't want the power are the best leaders" crap...and no, Viserys did not have any points about Daemon's loyalties, the man cut open his own wife and he decided he should question Daemon's loyalties?! Ha! When have we started validating Viserys' stupidity?!

So, to some in the audience, it is jarring for Rhaenyra to doubt him or feel miserable by his actions even under the context of a war breaking out and her doubt of getting support from those outside of Dragonstone. Which still doesn't make sense bc Aemond should rather be feared and reviled for his kinslaying, but apparently Jaehaerys' death is the only death that matters and suddenly Westerosi lords care for "compassionate" payback over oaths of loyalty. It appeared as if Rhaenyra forgave Daemon for the brothel thing, and yes completely bc the show didn't give us anything to think otherwise--again, they might have if only the show had shown us life at Dragonstone before the war. The writers play a game of tug of war with the point of their scenes and pass them off as "complex" when they are just piss-poorly written as a chain of scenes linking a story/particular arcs together.

Anyway, yeah, that's the disconnect, most likely. To set up other things, the show contradicts itself even though the scene by itself is conveying a very clear plotline AND can be connected to another moment from another episode. I don't really blame people who think this way at all.

[its-magical-here]

Bridgerton part 2 thoughts...

With part 1, I watched all 4 episodes in a row and felt a bit odd about it. But then I went and rewatched just the Polin parts and enjoyed it.

Same with part 2. All 4 episodes on Thursday and felt odd.

In the finale, there wasn't much Polin time in the beginning and found myself instantly wanting to fast-forward.

Then yesterday, I rewatched the Polin bits from part 2 and felt like it was a better watch.

Ultimately, in my rewatch of Polin scenes part 2, I actually liked episodes 5 & 6 even though episode 6 could've had much more of Polin.

I didn't like the lack of communication in episodes 7 & 8.

I totally get how Colin was so angry in episode 7 after the LW reveal, especially at the beginning. But he should've communicated with Pen sooner.

Yes, Penelope has been ignored and had to endure cruelty from her mother, sisters, and society her whole life.

But even in previous seasons, it felt like even in Penelope's friendships with Colin and Eloise, they were a bit one-sided. It was more about Colin and Eloise than her.

It's no wonder Penelope tried to save Eloise from being framed through her Whistledown column than actually talk to her.

It's no wonder Penelope tried to save Colin from a disastrous marriage with Marina through Whistledown instead of talking to him.

So in episodes 7 & 8, I was hoping for more communication between Colin and Penelope. For him to listen to her side of the story, let her explain herself, as she has always listened to him. After he had some time to cool down, that is. And before their wedding too.

Because Pen's love language is words of affirmation. So I think they needed to communicate vocally more in the last 2 eps. With the compassion that life-long friends and now lovers have for each other.

And there needed to be an epilogue scene with just Pen and Colin that wasn't just a sex scene, but them talking and joking with each other. As an aspiring writer, I like full-circle stories, so a scene like this would've been nice to show that they are still best friends within their loving marriage.

So yeah, I liked some of part 2, the sweet bits. Episodes 7 & 8 were a bit too dark and painful, but maybe that's what the showrunners intended - for us to experience the same anguish Colin and Pen were feeling.

Also, I definitely wished we had more Colin & Pen scenes. Even whenever they danced together at all the balls in part 2, they cut mid-scene to other characters talking or dancing. It felt like they weren't in their own season enough.

I remember the same criticism of season 2 with Kanthony. If they do release deleted or even extended scenes for this season, I'll welcome it.

But I still liked most of the Polin we got in the first 6 episodes. And I liked some of the side storylines:

Kanthony.

Portia and Penelope healing their relationship.

Eloise learning to listen and be more compassionate with Penelope and for them to be friends again.

Fran & Ben & Gregory & Hyacinth.

But ultimately, it feels like 8 hour-long episodes are too short for such a big cast.

The actors were great. I love the cast. The acting was fantastic. Same with the costume department, music department, sound, lighting, etc. But maybe the editing department can allow for longer episodes.

For Nicola and Luke's long press tour to come to an abrupt halt where we got doses of their lovely friendship, for part 2 to drop with an ending that needed some extra scenes, and to hear the next season won't be until 2026 all on the same day - was challenging to digest. Interestingly, I do feel some sadness, similarly to how I felt when Game of Thrones ended.

So yeah, I loved Polin and I loved big parts of this season. I still love this show because I love the characters, even if I wished the season had ended differently. But the season just needed more Polin. I look forward to rewatching their scenes together.

Okay, rant over =)

[hot-on-my-watch]

Ok you lot, I AM trying not to indulge myself in posting, but last night I saw the most Sherlock fandom thing. And perhaps the most SuperWhoLock thing and definitely the most fandom inspired thing in general!

We started the evening viewing with House MD as usual. There were a couple of instances of "I know this was before Sherlock, but this is so Sherlock." For instance, House playing a game called 'Surgeon' that looks a lot like 'Operation'. I explained that the House finale, that I have recently seen for the first time, pleased me because it was "so Sherlock."

Yet this was not the thing!

We went on to watch Inside No. 9, the episodic dark comedy series written by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, friends of Mark Gatiss and two of his collaborators from The League of Gentlemen. I'm certain that the mystery of cabin no. 9 on board the Demeter in Gatiss and Moffat's Dracula miniseries is a reference to this show, in which the action always takes place in room/ flat/ car/ warehouse etc. no 9.

It took us a while to find the right episode in order of release because iplayer's flow had been thrown off; *someone* had skipped ahead to watch 7.1. Merrily Merrily guest starring Mark Gatiss.

Anyway, next up was 6.4. Simon Says: "Everyone says the season 7 finale of fantasy epic The Ninth Cirle was pretty disappointing. But not everyone thinks that it has to be the end of the matter."

A middle aged television writer meets an uber-fan who offers him an alternative version to his own ill-received ending, claiming it resolves threads left dangling, provides more exciting answers to the show's mysteries and finally gets those two male characters together.

Ahem.

Even I didn't feel the need to comment. I just made tiny noises and nods of acknowledgement while my husband cheekily side-eyed me.

Of course I'm not saying "fantasy epic The Ninth Circle" is a stand in for Sherlock and its fandom: Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Supernatural, LOST, How I Met Your Mother and to some extent even Critical Role spring to mind. But Sherlock can't have failed to be an inspiration, and I say that as a relatively new fan and a genuine lover of season 4.

Without wishing to reveal more of the plot of Inside No. 9: 6.4 Simon Says, I will say that it touches on the roles of fandom, the ownership of stories and the effects of reception by both the public and the critics.

Personally I really enjoyed the episode in the ironic way of "haha this IS a little bit us." But, if you found the representation of fandom in The Empty Hearse distainful rather than celebratory and pleasantly teasing, you would not. If you loved the latter like I did, it might be your cup of tea. Additionally, Inside No. 9 is very much a dark comedy/ drama with varying tone and not to everybody's tastes. So do with this information what you will!

[ulquichaan]

Miraculous Ladybug - my thoughts.

Hello!

It's been a while, I know. But I come back to rant yet again! I'm sorry for any mistakes in advance - its 2am and the thoughts won't let me sleep so I have to get them out there somewhere. If you don't want to waste your time - skip it. If you actually want to read it, I'll have a cookie waiting for you at the end of this. :3

My journey with MLB.

Miraculous was that one show that I got to know about through a parody of it on polish yt channel called Surreactor. I didn't know what it was about but it looked interesting and that was a point in time when season 3 was just starting to come out. Sooo, as the curious child I was - I gave it a go. And it captured me very easily.

At first all I wanted is for Adrien and Mari to finally get together. I never had big thoughts about it. Then I got bored between new episodes and just... forgot about it.

After some time however I came back to it. It was somewhere around 4th season airing. I returned to it, watched it all over again and it captured me yet again. I completely fell in love with Adrien as character and started to read loads of fanfiction about the two main heroes. I got invested, started to draw the characters in different settings and what not. I started even posting here on tumblr the rants that blew out about Adrien and about Black Cat holders as a whole just because I was frustrated on how little love he got or that I couldn't find any theories that would make sense.

I made new friend, started to plan stories more than I did before, returned to RP with my old friend through messenger and more.

It was a blow of creativity of mine at that time. You maybe you know of "Sky Is The Limit"? That was the point for me where I had so many ideas that I had to do something with at least one of them. Talking about an overload, right?

Season 4 finale - the best finale in this show in my honest opinion. Though I am based so who cares.

The point is - I deeply fell in love with this fandom for the most part.

And then... season 5 happened.

At first I was hooked. Really. I felt that it was going in the right direction and I even wanted to watch it later so I could see it in order.

Oh boy, did I get disappointed. Very disappointed.

I was never a Senti-Adrien fan, let's be real. But the execution? Even worse.

The finale? The fight yea, fun. But why cut out Adrien out of it???

Chloe as mayor? ARE YOU FOR FUCKING REAL? It's losing braincells more and more.

And I know the plot armor was always evident in this show and all.... but i feel like it was knocked up 10 times or more in season 5 to the point it could beat Game of Thrones seasons 7 and 8. (Yeah, I know what should compare two shows where one is fenomenal and the other has always been trash, but you can't argue with me that seasons 7 and 8 weren't rushed and had very poor execution)

To say that I was angry is an understatement. I HATED season 5 with every fiber of my existence. I still do, but I'm far more calm about it than I was originally. Believe it or not.

I saw all the drama in the fandom. When people complained about the show and other people came in to defend it. And I have to say - I can see where both sides are coming from.

To the people who enjoy it, all of it - I'm glad you do! I really am!

However.

I can clearly see where the hate is coming from and anytime I saw a valid critique I couldn't help but agree with it. There were some awesome responses to that critique even from people who do enjoy the show still, but there were always people who I'll call "white knights".

Aka people who will ride-or-die for the show and always say there is nothing wrong with it!

Oh how I hate this way of thinking....

Little message to those white knights - yes there are pure haters that hate just to hate, but in the spectrum of people who are critiquing the show are also people who loved it and got disappointed. When people are angry/dissapointed they usually feel the need to express themselves and forums like Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, are just perfect for ranting. I have spent fair share in the horse gaming community to know that every flop will have a retaliation and shutting up people will make them only more angry. :|

I stopped liking the show. Why am I coming back to it?

That's a question that started to bother me just as I was going to sleep.

I have watched Hazbin Hotel (Lucifer my beloved) and fell deeply in love with it. I always liked Vivzie's Hellaverse being it Helluva Boss and now Hazbin, but there is something that just came back to me.

I started yet again imagining Adrien and Marinette but in the helllaverse. Or what if I merged hellaverse and Miraculous together in some way. Or other crazy ideas that will never see the light of day.

It's always those two characters for the most part. But the moment those two show up, the rest of Miraculous cast does too.

I fell put of the show. I don't like it. Why do I keep coming back?

My thought is - the fandom and the work it did for the characters.

I have always loved to read fanfiction even it came to miraculous. And it's always SO MANY! With many different variants of the world or entirely different settings. Ofc there are some bad fics, but the good ones are those that captured my heart and made me love the characters even more.

Let's put in some examples (and recommendations if you want to check them out):

Happiness by Somewhere_Out_Here

Once a Thief, always a Thief by @saijspellhart

Bakery Enemies by @buggachat

Heaven in hiding by @livinglittlelie

I'll guess your heart, if you guess mine by PurpleHeartsOne

Chat Blanc's Moon Waltz by @rileyclaw

The comic dubs by PhantomSavage

The little comics like "Passionate Kiss" by @edendaphne

All of these are just very few examples from multitude of content I devoured when I was in the love stage for MLB. And those things are STILL SO GOOD. (You have to check it out if you haven't already)

The point is - the fandom fell in love with the concept and if not that, then the characters. Yes, they aren't perfect. Some would say they are very much Mary Sue-ish. Some would say they are badly written. While the fact is - the characters themselves aren't badly written, the plot is just badly handled.

I can see why people love Marinette, she is quirky, funny and her ideas, while absurd most of the time, they work. And that's fine! She is supposed to be creative and what not. A great friend to have in corner, that for sure :3

Adrien on the other hand is supposed to be a bundle of issues that come with living a sheltered life and the want to be free.

(The movie handled Marinette much better than the show, let's be real here)

Sad fact - the writers of the show couldn't handle all of the potential they set up. But the fandom could and that's what's beautiful in my opinion.

The show may not be a masterpiece but they made some aspects of it so enjoyable and investing (love-square) that other people decided to execute those good things in their own stories and create something else.

The characters are just so easy to put into other stories too. Because they are written in the way they are (even if poorly handled at times) the aspects of them are very flexible, which in turn makes them easy to incorporate into other AUs.

For me it proves that you don't need a very complicated and deep character to make your story memorable. Even tho that certainly helps depending on your story. Miraculous was really lucky it got that creative fandom in the first place.

And this is what is beautiful.

Ending, some plans of mine that who knows if they will see the light of day. :]

This is only for those who are interested what I have been up to and what do i plan with this blog:

I am not quitting tumblr, oh no. I'll be probably reposting some stuff that I like from time to time.

I am returning to write "Sky Is The Limit", however I am completely rewriting it for the.... 7th time? Something like that. I doubt I'll finish it anytime soon at this rate and if I get the need to draw I might draw few characters from there or designs I have planned.

I have a very big project in mind that I might probably make a new blog for. It's still just an idea but I getting closer to actually being made so stay tuned.

I will start posting stuff from Hazbin Hotel. I fell deeply in love with Lucifer's character and you can't unglue me from that duck man!!

Other than that I went to university and I'm enjoying my time here so yeah.

And here is your cookie for reading all that! You're a legend!

(I'm open for any discussions as long as they stay respectful. Feel free to DM me :>)

[milf--adjacent]

So fucking frustrating that every new based on real history tv series has been utterly infected by the game of thrones aesthetic it's just like boring, senseless action and 2 mintues of plot an episode. "Watch these men struggle and die for 21 minutes and get 45 seconds of plot advancement at the end of the episode just before a cliffhanger that we will replay for the first 7 minutes of the next episode." I am watching VHS recordings of Modern Marvels and I Love Lucy I don't give a fuck anymore.

[fromtheboundlesssea]

ok, first off, i love your game of thrones work, and because i am tb (i acknowledge all of nyra's faults and that's kinda what makes me like the character, she is pretty unapologetic and i love it because i cannot afford to be same without consequences) i was kinda wary of starting your hotd projects. my experience with tg hasn't been the best most of the time they're raging misogynists or simply thirst over the tg actors. but today i did check out your work with awme and boy was i enchanted. you write so beautifully and your takes on both tg and tb characters were so nuanced that i stayed and gave a try to your other hotd works.

not gonna lie was quite refresing to find a tg stan this self-aware on their faves rights and wrongs, wish there were more like you out there

Thank you!

I honestly really enjoyed Rhaenyra in season 1 , especially the first half and her final scene in season 1 made me excited to see where they would take her for season 2, but the writing was so bad all around I’m honestly probably not even going to watch season 3 until it’s well over. Still haven’t seen the last two episodes of season 2.

I fell in love with Alicent because picking at my nail beds and fingernails was my form of self harm when I was her show age. Got MRSA because of it (don’t look that up, it is very gross and would not suggest anyone look at pictures). I had never seen that so explicitly shown in media before so I just imprinted on Alicent as a character.

AWME is my more balanced fic when it comes to the two teams, but I think that’s because it’s after the war and everyone is trying to pick up the pieces “winners” and “losers” alike.

I’ve had quite a few bad run ins with TB, to be honest. Reviewed quite a bit of hate, saying things about how I should have very awful things happen to me and so forth. And that I deserve to be raped and what not. I deleted those asks of course. I think there are bad eggs on both sides of the fandom tbh and because of that, a lot of people react in anger and overcompensate with hate toward the other team’s characters.

But I’m a Sansa fan, and I got just as much hate before I even openly discussed the fandom on here. Heck, after two or three years on the app, I wrote one post about hoping Political!Jon was true just after season 7 ended and I got a flood of hate when I had barely gotten even a handful of asks prior. So the hate I got from hotd fans didn’t hit me as hard because I was (sadly) used to it.

I am really glad that you enjoyed what I have so far of AWME! Thank you so much!

[maurastierney]

Tv Show Tag

1. If You Could Binge-Watch An Entire Series Again For The First Time, Which One Would You Choose And Why ?

ER. Probably not a surprise to anyone who's followed me for a while, lol

2. Most Rewatched Shows/Favorite Shows To Binge Watch?

ER, The Good Wife, The Americans, The Thick of It, Downton Abbey, The Fosters, Jane the Virgin, For All Mankind.

3. Do You Prefer Watching Things Week-By-Week or Binge-Watching?

I think there's a place for both. When s3 and 4 of Hacks came to the UK in quite close succession, it was nice to watch week-by-week as I caught up with the US, then rewatch the whole thing in a binge, haha. Also I get through Slow Horses far too quickly so an [incredibly] slow release might make me appreciate each episode individually a little more. Watching Bad Sisters in my own time has also been fab.

4. Name A TV Show That Changed Your Perspective On The World Or Taught You Something Valuable.

Ramy. Chronically underrated, hella insightful. Also Derry Girls and Blue Lights show very different but equally interesting insights into post-troubles Northern Ireland.

5. What TV Character From A Beloved Show Do You Wish You Could Be Best Friends With In Real Life?

Abby Lockhart (ER), Sara Tancredi (Prison Break) although my crushes on them might get in the way

6. Favorite Television Ships?

Generally non-canon sapphic ships, lol. Currently very into Susan/Abby (ER) thanks to this fic

7. Show You Could Never Get Into?

Many, although I was finally enticed into watching Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Modern Family (among others) and they've become firm favourites.

8. Show You Fell Out of Love With?

Maybe Jane The Virgin once I got to know how much of a hot mess the cast really was (not that it's a unique phenomenon to that show...)

9. Cancelled Too Soon?

Vida, One Day at a Time, This Way Up, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Julie & the Phantoms (Netflix has a lot to be sorry for)

10. Your character crush ?

Too many, lol. Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans), Abby Lockhart, Luisa Alver (Jane the Virgin) or Stef Foster (The Fosters/Good Trouble) would be up there.

11. Most disappointing ending or cancellation

Anything without a proper ending before being cancelled. But even when they have a choice, like I suppose teh finale after a full season 9 of How I Met Your Mother, can still be an epic disappointment.

12. A show you would like to be on

Their lives are pretty miserable most of the time!!! I couldn't hack the stress. I wouldn't mind doing a job like mine (public sector lol) in Star Trek, though.

13. A character you would love to take out on a date

Again, too many, lol. Abby Lockhart or Sara Tancredi probably the least intimidating of the lot?

14. A character with a killer wardrobe

Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)

I'm tagging @wonderofasunrise @mtvboy @sapphicsandscience @cloudsnbones @illneverletgo & anyone else who would like a stab

[icyaslack]

!! Spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 4 !!

I just bingewatched season 4 before work and it's late but I need to write a little something. The season as a whole is overwhelming and I'll need to watch it again when I'll have the force to do it. It doesn't answer a lot of questions and the characters own storylines are not explored enough at all (only 6 episodes) and let's be honest the writers don't have a good track record for that...

But watching the ending while crying my eyes out, I just couldn't think of anything but : It's just so fucking unfair!!

It may be an unpopular opinion but the relationship between Five and Lila didn't bother me. I never shiped them but they do have great chemistry and it's logical that loneliness and desperation would bring them closer together. I saw people outraged by that and really that's for me one of the only logical thing in the script. Don't forget Five has been alone for 45 years, he knows what loneliness does ; ffs he even had to imagine Delores in order to keep his sanity! Now nearly 7 years in what must seems an impossible situation with no way to win, of course they would fall in love. I was happy Lila and him had each other and in the end I found their relationship sweet (not that I forgot Diego, just I understand why they would do it).

It's the aftermath that isn't enough, I really felt sorry for Five during the last half of the last episode, to at last find happiness with someone just to having nothing in a matter of minutes, it's more than cruel. And on top of that when minutes later he understands that they'll have to sacrifice themselves, what he desperately tried to avoid his whole life, it just broke my heart (kudos to Aidan Gallagher for the acting, my God he just tore my heart out).

The ending, them sacrificing themsleves and being totally erased from not only the timelines but everyone's memory, is beyond cruel and unfair it's just purposefully horrific. They all deserved better in the end, they all did, for many different reasons. I'm biased because Five's my favourite but let's be honest, Luther and Klaus and all the others got cheated this season (where's Sloane ? where's an appropriate ending to their stories? and where's Ray while we're at it? not even an explanation), I guess they didn't had time. but stil...

It's just such an easy way for writers to wrap it all up in the infamous "erased character" ending (looking at you Marvel)! I know they have obligations with Netflix and a budget and all that but I can't help being disappointed with some of their choices. It's very unfair for your characters and the story.

So yeah, I'm writing in the heat of the moment and I missed many things but I needed to vent.

In the end, the actors acted with their hearts and souls out and I'm really grateful for them. I hope they do other things together in the futur.

Now I hope the fandom will not be awful (it's still better than the Game of Thrones ending come on guys), I really understand the frustration and I'm sure with the days passing I'll feel all sorts of emotions concerning this last season but it's never an excuse to turn on the cast and crew. It's still fiction vs reality.

[seeyounexttime]

The manga anthology magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday has a column called "Wednesday's Diary" where one author is given the chance to talk a bit more about their lives. The column began with the first issue of the 2019 serialization year.

As of April 2025, Rumiko has eight Wednesday's Diary entries.

Below the cut is translations of the entries, along with some notes

Entry #1 (published in May 2019 alongside ch. 1 of MAO)

As I showed in a previous post, Rumiko has been making manga like a woman possessed for decades, but her break after finishing RINNE is the longest gap she's taken by far - a year and a half

Entry #2 (published in Oct. 2019 alongside ch. 20)

Movie Notes: the X-Men series should be self-explanatory; Death Proof is a 2007 film by Quentin Tarantino; Train to Busan is known as Shin Kansen (written as 新感染 "new infection") in Japan; Fly Me to the Saitama is a Japanese movie (there's a video with subs on dailymotion fyi); as part of his Act Against AIDS concert, Keisuke Kuwata has performed his own solo version of NHK's New Year's song battle

Entry #3 (published in April 2020 alongside ch. 43)

What the hell's a MiniDisc? you know what a cassette tape is though... r-right?

Entry #4 (published in March 2021 alongside ch. 85)

Four years later and, indeed, there's been no beach episode in MAO

Entry #5 (published in Sept. 2021 alongside ch. 108)

The "other project" was likely in reference to the COLORS 1978-2024 artbook that released last year (VIZ announced that an English version is planned for Fall 2025). An interview with these editors is available over here - they go over Rumiko's career, it's pretty neat :)

Entry #6 (published in June 2022 alongside ch. 145)

"Taisho" – you might've heard this word before. So Japan still has an emperor (a figurehead these days), but they continue to use regnal years. In modern Japan, every emperor's reign is its own era, and years are marked by the years that that emperor is on the throne. The Taisho era covers July 1912 to December 1926. It was followed by the Showa era (Dec. 1926–Jan. 1989), then the Heisei era (Jan. 1989–April 2019), and now is the Reiwa era which is the time period where Nanoka goes to school (MAO began publishing the week after Reiwa started)

The Heian era, or Heian period (794–1185), is not for a specific emperor though. There are regnal eras within that period but I guess nobody cares? idk, but that's the time period where the past events with the Goko clan all happen

Entry #7 (published in March 2023 alongside ch. 177)

Those noodles have their own Japanese wikipedia page (it's under the Maruchan brand). It's specifically kitsune udon, which is topped with aburaage (sweet, deep-fried tofu pouches) because it's said fox spirits (kitsune) like aburaage. And it's tanuki tensoba, which is topped with tenkasu (bits of deep-fried tempura batter).

In Japanese, "cat tongue" (猫舌 nekojita) refers to sensitive tongues that can't handle heat

Entry #8 (published in May 2024 alongside ch. 230)

For more context, this is what Rumiko said about her work schedue in 2021: Rumiko Takahashi reveals her insane working schedule, and a follow-up Takahashi's schedule is Even Crazier than we thought!

I think the "tel" in the pie chart is for "telephone"? the rest says like "storyboard briefing session" so I guess this refers to what the article mentions here: "she has another brief meeting with her editor about the storyboard progress so far"

If you didn't know, Rumiko is a big fan of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team – there's always time to watch The Game

[msunitedstatesjames]

As someone who legitimately enjoys House of the Dragon, this show has some real issues with side characters. Specifically, the timing and scene quality of side characters.

I feel like I have to point out that I have read Fire and Blood, as well as all the published A Song of Ice and Fire books, but I read them all years ago and don't remember a lot of the specifics.

I'm also going to be comparing HotD to Game of Thrones in here, even though I realize this show and that one are very different beasts.

One of the great things about early Game of Thrones was its characters. Almost every character was given a unique personality, story, and enough time to thrive. Even the side characters were given this more often than not. And frequently, even characters with incredibly small parts, who might show up in just a few episodes, were memorable.

In total, Game of Thrones had 73 episodes. Hot Pie was only in 12 episodes. Shireen Baratheon was only in 10. Lyanna Mormont was in 9. The Blackfish was in 7. Robert Baratheon was in 7. Mance Rayder was in 5. Hell, Maggy the Frog was in 1 episode and I still remember her. You probably remember most or all of these characters by name and face if you watched GoT, as well as knowing some of their traits, motivations, and possibly deaths. But I'm struggling with the sheer number of side characters being introduced and rushed past our faces with very little fanfare in House of the Dragon.

I thought this was highlighted quite clearly in episode 6 with Ser Darklyn. He's been in 9 episodes, which is more than Robert Baratheon and, perhaps a fairer comparison, the same amount as Lyanna Mormont. His attempt to become a dragon rider and his subsequent death could have been a genuinely impactful scene. I really wasn't sure going into the scene if he would be successful or not. I've read the book, so I knew some of the off-shoot Targaryens did eventually succeed, but I didn't remember specifically if he was one of them. They had five episodes before this (not even counting season 1) to try to make him a memorable character whose death had some impact, and they just didn't really try. I knew this guy had been in other scenes, but his character was so bland that I couldn't have told you anything specific about him. The only reason I remembered he was in the Queensguard was because of the armor and cloak. Even when I looked him up on the wiki most of the description was just like, "he escorted Rhaenyra." I feel like Game of Thrones would have really taken the time to make this dude likeable before they had him burned alive. And it's not like they didn't have the time. Daemon's been fumbling around Harrenhal for like 5 episodes, doing very little. He even had Alys tell him in this episode to just wait 3 days for something to happen. I know he's kind of become the flagship character of this show, and I like the little cameos we're getting, but I feel like I've seen the same 3 scenes happening over and over there: Daemon is awoken from a weird dream by Ser Simon, Daemon talks to Alys, Daemon saunters around trying to threaten people. I get it. But what I don't get is why I'm supposed to care about all these randos who have been given 5 minutes of time total in the last 5 episodes.

There's Alyn, a sailor who apparently saved Corlys off screen and who has a seemingly ambitious brother. That's all we know about him for the first 4ish episodes until we find out he's Corlys's bastard. Now we also know he doesn't want others to think he's getting special treatment for being Corlys's son, but that's about it, and he's already been in 5 episodes I think.

There's Hugh, the obviously Targaryen blacksmith with the sick daughter and long suffering wife. Honestly I wouldn't remember his name if not for subtitles. I think he's been in four episodes so far.

There's Ulf, whose name I had to Google. He's another bastard Targaryen allegedly, and he seems to be a typical struggling peasant of King's Landing. That's honestly all I can remember about him. I think he’s been in 3 episodes.

I could have told you Hot Pie's name after 3 episodes. Or Shireen's. Or Lyanna's.

I understand that all of these characters will have narrative importance eventually, but the writing is just not doing a good job of making you really care. Look at Lyanna Mormont, we loved her from her very first scene.

I feel like the writers are really relying on the audience having read Fire and Blood, and either being superfans or having read it so recently that they remember minor characters who might have gotten a few pages of mentions in the sprawling narrative of that book. And this just isn't realistic for a show with a fanbase of this size.

Again, I really do enjoy this show. I think compared to other fantasy shows it is overall of good quality. It's just a shame that the writers weren't able to fill in some of the blanks left by the "historical" slant of Fire and Blood.

[rosies-riveters]

recents tag game !

Thank you to @frstcorinthians for the tag! These seem real interesting...

Last Song - In The Airplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. When I told ya'll I was in an Indie Folksy mood I wasn't kidding.

Currently Watching - Just finished the latest episode of Loot on AppleTV+. I just love me some Maya Rudolph.

Three Ships - Arya/Gendry from Game of Thrones, before the show did, well... whatever it did with them. They were MAH BABIES and deserved so much more/better. I wish I had saved all those wonderful fics I had read.

Ned/Chuck from Pushing Daisies. I MISS THAT SHOW SO MUCH. It was amazing and if you haven't watched it yet, you should really give it a try.

And because I'm totally blanking on another ship that had taken over my life, how about Me/Sleep. I really need a new mattress...

Fav Colors - Lately I've been really into greens. Just give me a forest or something and I'll be happy.

Currently Reading - Masters Of The Air by Donald Miller (the audiobook). I can at least get some listening done during work. I've got about 7 hours left.

Currently Consuming - Black cherry seltzer water. Crisp.

Ya'll still reading this? NOICE.

Place of Birth - Portugal. It is what it is.

Current Location - JERSEY BITCHES. I'll be obnoxious about it only because we get so much shit for it.

Relationship Status - happily single with my cats to keep me company. Kinda over these dudes.

Last Movie - Tramps on Netflix. Just had to watch some baby faced Callum Turner.

Currently Working On - Packing for my Amsterdam trip! I promise when I get back I'll work on getting a new laptop battery and attempt to relearn gif making.

I see alot of my moots have already been previously tagged, so I'm tagging a few I didn't see: @staud, @shoshiwrites, @easycompanys, @harrycrozby @bobparkhurst, @violaobanion and @wexhappyxfew.

Enjoy! ✨ ✨ ✨

[transmascsnearyou]

Okay so I just watched the 7th season of The Dragon Prince and i need to vent because it was so fucking stupid!

Spoiler warning for anyone actually reading this.

Like season 1-3? great. Amazing actually. Season 4-6? pretty good. High stakes. I liked it. Season 7? What the actual fuck was that?

Like why would you raise the stakes so high and hype up what could be an amazing character arc and final battle just to have it end in the most stupid way possible?

Why have the entire arc of Ezran having to grow up way too young, and having to deal with all this responsibility and grieve at such a young age just to reveal that his father is a fucking bird? Yes that theory was going around since day one and it would've been a fun conclusion in season 3. But with waiting so long this just undermined Ezrans entire character arc.

Why have Ezran be this fucking angry and vengeful towards Runaan but never really Raylla or Queen Zubea? Who were both huge parts of the whole assassination plotline!! They literally just made him angry and vengeful to change his entire attitude back to the way it was before within a few episodes. That's not character growth, that's just a teenager having fucking mood swings!

Why raise the stakes so high, have Callum be the one to be ready to sacrifice himself and realize that he's ready to do whatever it takes as long as he can save the ones he loves just to not go through with it? We've been through his dark mage arc like 2 times now why do we have to repeat the whole thing a 3rd time? And in the end he doesn't lose anything, he doesn't learn his lesson, he just does the same shit again and again.

Why can't you let characters grow? Claudia lost everything, she lost her father. Why not let her grow from the grieve? Why did they just give her another father (literally) to lose?

Also what the fuck was the mother bit? Would it really have been too much, to add like 5 minutes and get an actual real conversation between their real mother and either Soren or Claudia? She could've literally been like 'I don't care' and it would've been better than this illusion bullshit.

Also we know now that Claudia is willing to kill. Why not kill anyone off that we actually care about? This might sound stupid but Zubea didn't show up once this season except for the one fight where she sacrificed herself for her son.

Most people aren't gonna care that much for the archdragons if they barely even appear in the show! They're literally just introducing characters into the show to kill them off so they don't have to do anything to the main cast.

Why doesn't Zym get the same treatment as Ezran when his mother literally JUST DIED IN FRONT OF HIM but in the next scene everythings lighthearted and he's apparently done with his grieve?

Kill a main character. Literally just one. And I might've not hated that finale.

Also why introduce the Novablade like that and then not actually get to use it?

I know they wanna make more seasons and maybe it's so they can use it later when he comes back but it's still just really fucking stupid.

I'm sure a bunch of this has already been said before and also a bunch of people are going to disagree with me here but like - what the fuck was that? I'm honestly more disappointed than I was with the Game of Thrones finale

[very-straight-blog]

So happy to discover your blog! Love the content you make /share and enjoy reading your analysis.

I have two questions. First, how would you rate every episode of s1, or, which one was the worst and which one the best in your opinion and why.

Second, have you seen game of thrones and if you have, who was your favourite and least favourite character? If you haven't, what introduced you to GRRM' s world (books, blogs, fics...)?

Thanks!

Ahhh thank you ^_^

1 - Actually, I've already written more than once that I consider HOTD to be a bad series and a disgusting adaptation (I don't want to repeat myself, if you're interested, use "hotd critical" tag), so we'll choose the best from the worst. It would be easier for me to name my favorite scenes, because every episode suffers from logical holes and other problems. However, I'll choose "Driftmark" (ep. 7) as the best one. Here we finally see that there will be no peace between the greens and the blacks - this understanding is especially important for Alicent's children, because before that night their mother's words were empty threats, but now they see that Rhaenyra is ready to torture Aemond, although her son has just maimed him, they understand that she's truly dangerous for them. Plus, they show us Alicent in anger and ready to fight for her family - it's great. However, it's difficult to ignore the fact that this episode should be watched with a flashlight, the anger of Alicent was forgotten in the next episode, and there was also an unpleasant scene of funeral sex. I'd also put "The Green Council" (ep. 9) in the first place - because of Aegon and brilliantly played coronation scene. As for the worst episode, I don't have any specific one that I hate (the whole series is terrible lol).

2 - Questions about Game of Thrones haunt me. I have a difficult relationship with this series - I watched it and I even liked it, but at the moment I don't remember much about it. Back then, my favorite characters were Sansa and Arya, I think I'd still like them now. My least favorite character was Jon, as far as I remember. I started participating fully in the life of the fandom after watching HOTD and reading Fire & Blood (because of Aegon and Aemond, these two have me in a chokehold).

[writerblue275]

Favorite Media Music in no Particular Order Pt 1.

Inspiration: I just really wanted to do this lol. Music plays such a critical role in media (at least to me). When media has great music, it really enhances it for me. (I put part 1 because seriously I could do so many more of these lmao.)

Genre: Random List hehe.

TW: Me swearing? Otherwise a lot of these pieces don’t even have lyrics.

1. Counsel of Condemnation (Cyno Theme) - Genshin Impact

Listen this straight up slaps. I don’t even play Genshin Impact lmao! Though some of my lovely moots are into it, so I’ve been exposed through them. The song alone slaps and I need people to go watch his character demo. The General Mahamatra is not someone to be fucked with and his music expresses that really well! It’s ever so slightly sinister, but still up beat once things get going.

2. Viego, The Ruined King | Champion Theme - League of Legends

Riot managed to somehow completely encapsulate the arc and tragedy of Viego’s story in 4.5 minutes. From the death of his brother, putting him on the throne, the whirlwind fairytale of his romance with Isolde, and all the events leading to ruination. This piece manages to tug on my heartstrings in so many ways. Brilliantly done!

3. Taliyah, the Stoneweaver - League of Legends: Season 6

This piece is hopeful, beautiful, driving, and has little moments throughout the music that show Taliyah’s adventures across Runeterra. The build ups to the energetic points of the music are also just mesmerizing. To quote one of her voice lines: “Keep your eyes on the horizon and your feet on the ground.” (Love love love that she trained under Yasuo btw that’s such a good lore point.)

4. A Bicentennial (the Progress Day theme) - Arcane Episode 4.

When I say I literally gasped as the first peak of this song played when Heimerdinger opened the doors to show Jayce the majesty of Piltover post-timeskip, I fucking mean it. That moment left me breathless and it’s when I truly fell in love with the show (even though I really liked it before that point). But the low string leading into the HORNS. And the strings just do such an incredible job accompanying them as we’re shown around the new Piltover. The Piltover with HexTech. I also love the secondary swell as we see the sequence of the airship being sent to a different area of Runeterra via HexGate. It’s SO COOL.

5. Light of the Seven - Game of Thrones S6 Ep. 10

I distinctly remember watching this episode live one Sunday night with my parents and getting CHILLS as this song played over the introductory moments of the episode. The progression and rising intensity of the song fits the chaos as the viewer (and some of the characters) realize WTF is going on. And it’s incredible. Haunting.

6. Dragon Age Inquisition Theme - Dragon Age Inquisition

This song makes me feel like I can fly. (In fact I highly recommend listening to it as you’re taking off in an airplane. It’s great.) the transition from the slow intro into the drums is SO GOOD. And then the strings kick in again it’s just PERFECTION. Love this game and what an fantastic theme to go with it!

7. FAIRY TAIL Main Theme - Fairy Tail

One of the first anime I ever got into and from the moment I started watching I was like…YO THE MUSIC SLAPS. It’s so hopeful and epic! Every time the theme kicked in I was just like YESSSS HERE WE GOOOO.

8. He’s a Pirate - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

This one is SUCH a classic. One of my favorites to play in orchestra too. (Woot woot to any violists out there!) Just one of the most recognizable media themes and it’s phenomenal. There are so many moments from the scores of those films that I love.

9. Anakin vs. Obi-Wan - Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith

The battle scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar is one of the scenes that defined my childhood. The incorporation of the “Imperial March” theme is perfect, showing that Anakin really has gone to the dark side at this point. This entire piece is emotional and at points, chaotic. Which it should be. The BRUTAL battle between master and apprentice. Also just knowing what’s happening to Padme and stuff. OOF MY HEART.

10. It’s Over Isn’t It? | Steven Universe

Yo Steven Universe has SO MUCH GOOD MUSIC it’s amazing. But this song specifically makes me SOB. DeeDee Magno Hall puts so much emotion into Pearl’s vocals. So much so the show even reanimated that part of the episode to better match her vocals. You truly feel Pearl’s unresolved grief here.

11. Test Drive - How to Train Your Dragon

This is such a magical piece! Accompanying Hiccup flying on Toothless, this song makes me happy. And the main thematic elements are just so beautifully grand. And the part when Hiccup just goes like “fuck the manual” and trusts his gut? That with the majesty of the music gives me chills and makes me smile EVERY TIME.

12. Trust Each Other - Game of Thrones S6 Episode 9.

Damn the music from this show is so good, but especially S6. This plays during the “Battle of the Bastards” (Jon Snow vs Ramsey Bolton). This music plays at a very critical point in the episode and it’s perfect for capturing the energy there. Also I love how it has the GOT opening motif throughout, though it’s adjusted to fit the situation in the north.

13. Duel of the Fates - Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace

The TENSION IN THIS SONG. One of my favorite pieces from the Star Wars universe. The urgency and stakes are conveyed SO WELL through the music. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul is such an AMAZING fight scene with incredible music.

14. Kingdom Dance - Tangled

THe second half of this piece makes me want to get out my flower crowns and Renn Faire attire and go dance in a field of wildflowers. Bonus points if it’s in the rain! What a beautiful and fun piece that helps to show off Rapunzel’s first festival experience! Also the way the music helps build up the cute moments between her and Flynn Rider!! Listen as a fanfic writer, this scene is something I live for and the music is a big part why.

15. Rewrite the Stars - The Greatest Showman

Listen the lyrics to this song are fucking phenomenal angsty fanfic fuel. Like come on now. Also I love a good romance-related song in a musical. Like god damn I really have been a romantic for a long-ass time 😂. But also this song is just really good! The harmonies for the bridge and final chorus are truly EXCELLENT.

This is such a random list I decided to post just because! But I hope you enjoy! And I’d love to hear your favorite media-based music! 💙